Glitch In The System · Ace x Reader

II · New Conduit In Town

been watching water 7 and enies lobby again, honestly prompted by this very story lmao-- (◎_◎;)

said arcs are probably my favourites, and unsurprisingly the cp9 own my heart uwu ♡

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- chapter 2 -

With your phone held in one hand, you looked around the small and currently empty park, waiting for your friend.

It was quite late - barely a single soul walked around at this time of day -or night, rather. The sun had long set and the moon had now taken its place, stars decorating the dark skies beautifully. It was a full moon as well, making the starry sky look even more stunning than before.

This was the ideal time for you and your friends to truly be yourselves. No worries and no fears of being seen or chased down this late; the D.U.P.s weren't all that active in this area, if they were ever even present at all. Security against 'bio-terrorists' was lacking here, because there were practically zero sightings of them.

Not that you would complain, of course. It made you feel all the more safe.

"Boo!"

All of a sudden, you felt two cold hands covering your eyes; you were startled and let out a small squeal at first, heart beating a bit too loudly for your liking, though you instantly recognized the person.

"Nami, I swear..." you mumbled, placing your hands over hers to pull them down, just at the fellow conduit phased right through your body and sat herself next to you on the bench, "I'll kill you someday."

She just giggled, shrugging her shoulders innocently.

In the years following your escape, Nami had changed - her body matured, and she was definitely more attractive. She got a tattoo and grew out her hair, taking perfect care of it and her skin alike; it was smooth, practically flawless. Her mature figure and pretty face always drew men in, even women and non-conforming people now and then, proving that she was quite irresistible to everyone.

"This empty threat has been going on for years and you have yet to act, glitch girl~" she teased, making you roll your eyes but crack a smile. Of course it was just an empty threat, but it was funny to you. "Anyway, it looks like Zoro's not here yet, huh?"

"Of course he wouldn't be," you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose, "The guy's hopeless. You could tell him to go straight ahead, and he'd somehow end up on a roof - you should know how he is by now."

"Yeah, true..." the young woman sighed, leaning back against the bench with her arms over her chest, "And I even told him to be here at midnight, hoping he'd arrive on time... What time is it now?"

You checked your phone and even held it up for her to see, "Currently 1:50am. He really is hopeless."

The time for your little meeting today was 2:00am - you had arrived just on time, and so had Nami, of course. She'd told Zoro to come here at midnight in hopes that even if he got lost -which was a given at this point-, he'd have found his way here by the actual time you were all supposed to meet up. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all. Even a child had better sense of direction this guy.

"Aww, (Y/n)... We're still your lockscreen!" she grinned, changing the subject momentarily, causing your cheeks to turn red. But, you smiled back and nodded, taking a look at your phone's screen before pocketing it once more.

It was a photo of Zoro, Nami, and yourself, wearing party hats, and with the two of you on either side of the male - essentially forcing him to smile by tugging at his cheeks. It was taken a year after your successful escape from the D.U.P.s, on Zoro's birthday, the first to be celebrated post-escape.