"Who's the girl you drove here, huh, Ace?"

Ace stopped, his face quickly turning five shades of red. "How do you even know about that, Sabo!" he whispered angrily.

"Calm down, geez," laughed the blonde, elbowing his brother in the side suggestively. "I have my sources."

"It was Robin, wasn't it?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

Ace sighed, running his fingers through his raven hair. "...It's not what you think, alright? She was walking here, and what was I supposed to do? Just leave her on the road?"

"The Ace I know would have."

"I'M NOT THAT CRUEL!"

"Whatever you say, brother...But who is she?"

"Her name is Luffy."

Sabo's eyes widened. "Wow, I didn't know you were such a player!"

"...What...?"

"All the guys have been hitting on her since 6th grade, and the only ones she actually pays attention to are her friends or people she fights."

"That scrawny thing fights?"

"Apparently, she's a pretty skilled at it, too. Rumor has it that she and her friends were the ones that put Arlong and his cronies in the hospital."

"Arlong, as in Arlong, captain of the swimming team?!"

"Yep. Supposedly, the only reason she hasn't been kicked out yet is because her grandfather's pretty high up in the military."

Ace rubbed his temples and made a face. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's not like I'm going to talk to her again."

The taller let out a laugh. "Sure, whatever you think, Mr. Pyromaniac. Once she's stuck on you, you'll never get her off! She's never failed."

"Whatever. Hey, aren't ya gonna be late?"

"Touche, dear brother."

Ace paled. His first class was with Akainu, who normally was simply one strict teacher. But no, not with Ace. The man threw dirty glances at him whenever he could, called on him when he was sure he didn't know the answer, and if Ace even thought about not doing homework there was hell to pay.

Needless to say, Ace couldn't wait until next year so he'd finally be free of the bastard.

"See you at home, Sabo!" Ace yelled back as he ran off. After sprinting through a few halls, he suddenly stopped, hearing something strange. Just what the hell was that noise...? Was that...yelling...?

Ace's curiosity was once again spiked, and he knew at this point he couldn't just ignore it.

Was that what once again brought him to Monkey D. Luffy? He couldn't be sure. After all, the events that followed were what really brought them together.