A/N: So, I don't know much about what it's like to write a thesis paper, so forgive me if anything I say is radically wrong.

He sighed and tapped his forefinger a few times on the desk in desiccation. Looking down at his paper, Ace knew that it wasn't nearly finished, but it seemed he had hit a small bout of Writer's Block.

Turning to glance at the clock on the wall behind him, he saw that he had been working on his thesis for two and a half hours now. Had he really been toiling over it for that long? He must have lost track of time.

Nevertheless, he decided it might be a better idea to take a break now than to force himself to think when he couldn't. He could tell his mind had checked out for the day when he re-read a few sentences and it was complete jargon to him, even though he was the author. Ace slipped a bookmark into a book on developmental psychology he had open on his desk before shutting it, and tossed his pencil into the curved mug he kept his writing utensils in.

As he exited the two-person study room into the narrow hall of his double-bedroom dorm, he stumbled over a pair of shoes that his dormmate had left lying in the middle of the doorway. He cursed and kicked the damned things over the light brown carpet. Normally he would go right to the man himself to scold him, but he was out who knows where at the moment.

Ace was in the bisected kitchen slash living area in an instant, rummaging through the refrigerator for a drink. Disregarding the need for a cup, he opened the milk cartoon and drank directly from the lip. Sure, it would piss off his dormmate, but then he should have considered that when he left his shoes out, shouldn't he?

Belligerently, he uncapped a Sharpie that was sitting on the counter and scrawled I drank from this on the side of the carton with an arrow pointing up, just to vex the guy.

He couldn't, however, get his mind off his thesis. He knew he wanted to make it erudite but avoid unnecessary circumlocution; he just wondered how. Maybe he should just abjure his notion of avoiding circumlocution. Maybe he needed to get a couple more sources than he already had before he continued. Maybe someone was knocking at the door–

…Wait.

Someone was knocking at the door!

"Just a minute!" he called instinctively, forgetting that he had a swig of milk in his mouth and spraying it everywhere. Silently cursing at himself, he shoved the carton into the nearest empty spot in the fridge and closed the door. He grabbed a towel from the cupboard and laid it half-hazardly over the spilt milk, and then catapulted himself over all the obstacles in his way to get to the door that was on the other side of the room, in the living area.

Wondering for a brief second why he felt the need to rush whenever someone came knocking, he finally opened the entranceway. Standing on the other side was a boy, probably only a few years younger than he himself, with messy coal-coloured hair half-hidden by a hat composed of straw with a red ribbon, midnight blue eyes accompanied by a scar beneath the left one, and a piece of paper being fingered tightly in his hands. The boy was gazing at him with intense curiousity.

"Hi," the boy greeted after a few seconds of quiet. "Are you Portgas D Ace?"

"Uh, yes. I am. Do you need something?" he asked, trying his hardest to sound courteous.

"Well…"

The piece of paper was shoved roughly into Ace's hands. He began reading it immediately, agog.

Portgas D Ace,

Hi, Ace. I don't know if you remember me, but I took care of you for about a year or so. My name is Makino, and I run a small orphanage.

Makino. Of course he remembers Makino. He had stayed at her Centre for Parentless Youths for his fifth year of life, before he was returned to Dadan, his old guardian's care. She had had to leave him somewhere else for the year because they were moving countries, and having a little tot like him around would just cause trouble while they made the preparations. If somebody else wound up adopting him, then all the better for them. They had never exactly liked him anyways. He had returned to his hometown for college, and found that it was much different than he remembered it. However, the Centre for Parentless Youths stood exactly as it had all those years ago.

The boy I sent to you with this note is named Luffy. You see, you are his closest living relative we could find –

So, he was related to this kid he'd never met before that had just showed up unannounced on his doorstep. How wonderful.

– and I thought it would be good for you to meet him before I asked you if you were willing to take him in. Luffy is your maternal half-brother –

What.

– and while I know –

What.

– it is probably unfair –

WHAT?

– to you to tell you something of this magnitude –

A BROTHER?

– in a note rather than in person, you should have considered that before you drank straight from the milk carton –

AH! HOW DID SHE KNOW THAT?

– when you were five, shouldn't you?

…Oh.

If you're willing to take care of him, please contact me. We can pack up his things and help him move in with you, or you can say no and your baby brother can stay at the centre until he turns majority age and sets out into the world alone, functionally family-less…

She was trying to guilt trip him, wasn't she? That sneaky, conniving, manipulative –

Ace took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Well, it wasn't as if he had intended to say no in the first place. How was a person supposed to say, "No, I don't want you" when a little brother is dropped in their lap? He had always secretly wanted a brother anyway, and besides –

He snuck a peek at Luffy, who was watching his every move with undisguised, enraptured fascination and eyes pleading for acceptance.

– Who could say no to a face like that?

It was strange enough for him to unexpectedly learn that this stranger was the son of his mother, but he could scarcely imagine how Luffy must have been be feeling. It must be a real shock, to meet your older brother for the first time, and wait to find out whether he was willing to embrace you as family or not. Especially after having lived in an orphanage for who knows how long, not knowing any other living relatives, possibly even bereft of companionship…

"So," he began, looking his otouto straight in the eyes, "when do you think we can go pick up your stuff?"

Luffy's eyes widened considerably, which was surprising considering how uniquely large they were in the first place. Then he grinned a grin of absolute radiance and made the most adorable little squeaking sound, suddenly grabbing his Nii-chan in a bear hug. As Ace chuckled and wrapped his arms around the younger, carding his finger's through the boy's dark hair, he couldn't help but think he had the most lovable otouto in the –

"Oh my, Ace, don't tell me you have a catamite now," the voice of his dormmate interrupted. They jumped a little at his sudden return.

"Thanks for ruining the moment, Law!" Ace replied sarcastically.

"My pleasure. So is he really a catamite?"

"No, screw off! What's wrong with you?"

Ace froze for a second and mentally reprimanded himself. No! Bad Ace! That's not how you make a good first impression!

However, Luffy only laughed at the overly melodramatic face Law made, provoking Ace's dormmate to glare at the younger. I can tell we're going to get along splendidly.

"Fine then. If he isn't a catamite, who is he?" Law capitulated.

"My little brother," he declared proudly, drawing another happy sound from Luffy, who was still holding tightly to him.

"Really?" Law blinked. "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Neither did I, actually," Ace shrugged insouciantly.

Law opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then seemed to think better of it. He shook his head, giving up trying to make sense of anything (or anyone) related to Ace. It was always a futile effort.

He strode briskly past them into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. Ace and Luffy had gone back to hugging each other like there was no tomorrow when they heard a cry from Law.

"Ugh! Ace! You drank straight from the carton?"

"Uwah! HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

"YOU WROTE ON IT, YOU BASTARD!" Law yelled at him. "Exhibit A!" He presented the carton, where I drank from this with an upwards arrow was written in black ink.

"…Oh, yeah, I did. Forgot," Ace said lamely.

As Law seethed, Luffy broke into raucous laughter.

"Well, that's what you get for leaving your shoes in the hall," Ace snubbed him.

Law made a sound of indignation as Luffy laughed even harder, letting go of Ace to actually roll on the floor as he laughed.

Huh. I've never actually seen anybody do that before.

Looking between his dormmate and his brother as they began to banter and smirking at the creative nicknames Luffy made up for Law, one thought surfaced in his mind.

Oh yes, Luffy and I are going to get along just fine.

A/N: Guide to getting on my good side: Leave long and thoughtful reviews! The idea for this fic came from MatchboxLuffy, and the original prompt was, "Ace's life was one word, average. He was 22 now, almost done with college and living in a 2 bedroom house near the campus with a roommate named Law. But that all changes when Ace hears the doorbell ring late one night. When he opens the door he finds none other than a baby boy wrapped in a blanket with a note." Obviously, I took a little creative license with it, seeing as Luffy is no baby boy, but, nevertheless, that's where the inspiration came from.