Moon's Harvest (ASL X Reader X Various! One Piece)

Fireflies and Feelings

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!

PLEASE DO NOT SKIP!

From this point forward, Woeful and I are going to be adding some optional scenes! So, when you come across a section that starts off with:

-~-~-~-~-~-~-❤︎(Love Interest's Name)❤︎-~-~-~-~-~-~-

And ends with:

-~-~-~-~-~-~-❤︎-~-~-~-~-~-~-

That indicates a special romance scene between Reader and her chosen love interest. These scenes are not canon outside of each love interest's separate ending and their specific optional scenes and will not be mentioned outside of those scenes or the endings!

Thank you for reading this and if you're curious as to why we're doing this, feel free to ask--we're happy to explain anything or answer any questions you may have! So, don't be shy! We promise we won't bite!

Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy the chapter~!

*3rd P.O.V.*

Ace, now in a sour mood after having taught Luffy a lesson, headed off to deal with the big problem of the day.

Marco.

'You're really going to have it now, Marco, thinking you can pull a fast one on us like that!' Ace growled as he went to search for the blond in question.

It was no surprise that he wasn't alone.

"Oi, Marco, we need to talk." The freckled man told him with a slap on the shoulder, really trying to keep his composure.

Marco casually looked over to Ace an, while his expression was neutral, his eyes held a spark of mischief as he closed his locker.

"Yes, Fire Fist-yoi? How can I help you?"

There were several other people in the locker room besides Marco and Ace, including Thatch who was already looking interested in what Ace had to say.

"I rather we talk about this situation in private." He informed the blond, noticing the public setting.

"Oh, come on, Ace~. We're family-yoi. If can trust one of us, you can trust all of us. Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of them too-yoi~." Marco replied with a slight smirk.

"I don't want to make your ass kicking public, Marco, so it's best we talk in private." He replied thinly, on the verge of glaring at him.

"Oh, if you think you can, go right on ahead-yoi. I don't know what I did to deserve it, though." Marco let his smirk show as he fixed the collar of his shirt.

"By the way, Ace, I had a wonderful night last night-yoi. I had a date with the most beautiful and amazing woman~." He added and resisted the urge to grin, "What were you up to last night~? Not stalking anyone like a jealous toddler throwing a tantrum over their favorite toy, were you-yoi?"

Indeed, Marco knew about him and his brothers stalking him and (Y/n) on their date. He didn't mind though. Their attempts to ruin the date were juvenile at best.

"That's a funny metaphor coming from you, old man." Ace glared at him before folding his arms.

"Oh, and good luck trying to get on that lovely lady's friend's side; she hates everyone." He huffed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure her friend already likes me more than you since she had such a great time with me last night. For an "old man", I'm doing a hell of a lot better than you, aren't I-yoi~?" Marco sneered.

"Yeah, nothing says better like also perving on them on your free time." He snarled.

"Oh, and you wouldn't try doing the same thing if you could actually get away with it like I can-yoi?" The phoenix raised a brow.

"...They think of you as their pet. If they knew that the bird they snuggled up with, and this grown ass man were one of the same, they'll change their tune for sure." Ace folded his arms, narrowing his gaze at him.

"Maybe, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it~. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy all the kisses and pets they give me-yoi." Marco shrugged.

"Look, Ace, if you have a problem with me pursuing (Y/n), do something about it-yoi. Grow a pair and ask her out like I did. If you can't do that, get out of the way and let the grown-up's have their chance-yoi."

Ace hissed angrily, "But you cheated, Marco. You were able to spy on them, and get a feel of what they are like behind closed doors. Meanwhile me and my bros have to do things the hard way; the right way!"

Marco scoffed, "HA! All I did was ask (Y/n) for dinner when I saw her at the clinic-yoi. I didn't pull any secret techniques or use her likes or dislikes to my advantage. All I did was tell her that I was interested and asked her to dinner. It was that simple-yoi."

"Bullshit, you had to have done something in your bird form to lower the guard of her personal bodyguard. There's no way she just was like; 'Sure, (Y/n)! I will allow some random guy to date you though I keep giving your other friends a hard as hell time for far less!'" He growled.

"The only thing that happened was her mentioning that bullshit story you made up for me "saving that bird". So, I suppose I should thank your for raising my chances-yoi~." Marco grinned, "Seriously, Ace. All I did was ask and she said yes. Don't believe me, then ask her yourself-yoi."

Ace's face started to burn in anger, "T-there's no way in hell it was that easy! Just admit you had to do something in your bird form to convince Noire to not go out and attack you!"

"I'm not admitting to something I didn't do-yoi. You just can't accept the fact that she finds me attractive and actually agreed to go to dinner with me." Marco replied, starting to get annoyed now as well.

"No, I can accept that. What I can't accept is it being that easy! Sure, I can totally see (Y/n) going along with it, she's just that nice of a person, but there's no way her friend didn't at least put up a fight!" He shook his head.

"Noire did not-yoi. She was suspicious, but she didn't do anything childish like you and your brothers did by following us around and trying to ruin everything."

"Pfft, we must be talking about two completely different Noires, because the Noire me and my bros know is an absolute pain in the ass." He gripped his hair in frustration.

"Probably because all three of you are a pain in the ass-yoi. Seriously, Ace, just grow up and accept it-yoi. Stop throwing a temper tantrum like a toddler." Marco hissed with a glare.

"Says the cradle robber!" He retorted back, glaring back at him.

H-he just couldn't accept that Marco just very easily flew into the girls life with no sweat!

T-the very thought infuriated him to hell...

"Says the man-child who's not even man enough to admit he likes a girl and ask her out-yoi." Marco snapped back.

"Y-you haven't met Noire in person yet, which is why it was so easy for you! I-if I tried doing the same shit you did, she'd whip out a can of that weird spray she always carries around, and try to attack me with it!" He pointed out sharply.

"I dare you to meet her, and then come back to me to see how that goes." He challenged with a smirk.

He scoffed, "Ace, I am not about to do that just so you can prove your childish and irrelevant point-yoi. Honestly, Noire has nothing to do with why (Y/n) agreed to go out with me."

"But she's the gatekeeper. If any man wants to even breathe in (Y/n)'s direction, you have to go through her. Since you're a zoan, though, you found a loophole around it, because you're too much of a chicken to do it the hard way!"

"Actually, it's partly because of the story you told about me. Noire was touched about "Marco saving a helpless bird"-yoi. Again, if you should blame anyone for her already liking me, just look in the mirror and you'll find him-yoi." Marco sighed.

"Screw this... It's pointless trying to argue with you when you're like this-yoi. It's like talking to a brick wall." Marco rubbed his temples, "If you're not going to handle this like the adult you're technically supposed to be, we're done talking-yoi."

"You're right... we are done talking..." Ace smirked before holding his fists up.

"I am going to kick your ass, Marco."

Marco gave him a deadpanned look, "... You're not actually being serious-yoi..."

"I am serious." He told him with a glare, "Square up!"

Marco shook his head, "I'm not doing this with you right now-yoi. There's no point. If you want to lose even more brain cells, just go bash your skull against the wall-yoi. It would save me some trouble."

"I should be the one smashing your head against the wall." He growled, taking a swing at him.

He was beyond furious with this more than aggravating situation. Marco pissed him off to his wits end.

The suckerpunch landed on Marco's nose causing him to stumble back a few steps. He slowly registered what happened and raised a hand to wipe the blood from his nose, blue flames naturally healing him in seconds as he began to scowl at Ace. Now he was angry.

"I told you I was going to kick your ass, and that's exactly what I am going to do. What's wrong, old man? Are your reflexes not what they use-"

Ace was cut off as Marco lunged forward and punched Ace as hard as he could across the jaw, sending him to the ground. Blue flames licked at Marco's hand as he had punched Ace so hard he actually broke some bones in his hand, though the flames healed him in moments.

"How quickly your confidence flies away when you're knocked flat on you ass-yoi." Marco snapped at Ace with a glare.

"A-at least I have enough dignity to not try and sleep with a girl on the first date, unlike you!" He barked, going to rub his jaw, before going back to attacking him.

"She said no and I respected that-yoi." Marco stepped to the side and kneed Ace in the stomach before delivering another right hook to the same part of his jaw, sending him into the lockers.

"And I don't have to justify myself to you. She wasn't mad about it, so you shouldn't be either-yoi." Marco snapped as he tried to punch Ace again.

Everyone else in the locker room kept at a safe distance, watching the fight with interest while wishing they had some drinks and snacks to help them enjoy it.

Ace hissed, before going to dodge the next punch Marco threw, before going to swing again at his face. They were beyond the point of polite words. At this point, they devolved into a mass of punches and kicks. The lockers became horribly bent and scorch marks even started to appear here and there via Ace's flames. Soon, things began to get more serious as Ace started to use his flames and Marco began to use his talons.

"You deserve this and so much more!" Ace growled out, before attempting to slam his fiery fist onto Marco.

Marco deflected the punch and kicked Ace in the ribs in response.

Before their battle could continue, a booming voice shook the room.

"WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?"

Standing in the doorway was the large and imposing figure of Edward Newgate.

"POPS!" All the guys in the locker room immediately scrambled to make room for the large elderly man to enter the room.

Ace immediately winced at hearing his voice, before snapping back to his senses.

"I-Im trying to kick Marco's ass!" He explained, "I didn't want to do it here, but he left me no choice; he pissed me off."

Whitebeard approached and abruptly punched the top of Ace's head, causing a large bump to appear.

"YOWCH!" He hissed, holding his head in pain.

"Don't pick fights with your brothers just because they made you angry, my boy. Besides, look at the mess the two of you made." He scolded the two as they both looked around the room.

Marco winced, "Sorry, Pops. I wasn't thinking straight. Ace's suckerpunch temporarily knocked enough sense out of me to bring me all the way down to his childish level."

"Oh, that's funny, because your stupidity knocked me down to yours!" Ace snapped back.

"Enough. Both of you." Whitebeard snapped, silencing them both.

"You two are going to spend the rest of the day fixing what you damaged and cleaning up the entire locker room. You aren't leaving this room until it shines, do you understand?" He commanded sternly.

"Yes, Pops." Marco replied, hanging his head a little as his flames worked to heal his wounds.

"Alright, Pops..." Ace sighed, also hanging his head.

"Good." He said as he turned his attention to the rest of the men in the room, "The rest of you. Hurry up and get to work. We're burning daylight."

"YES, POPS!" Came the chorus of replies as Whitebeard passed by once more and exited the room.

All was silent for a moment before everyone started to go back to what they were doing previously. Marco sighed and passed a sharp glare to Ace.

Ace passed the same look back, before getting to work, but not without mumbling under his breath.

"Don't glare at me like that, this is your fault-yoi." Marco hissed.

"No, it's your fault." Ace stuck his tongue out and he went to get started by fixing his locker.

It was dented, so he thought to open it to push the dent outwards.

Before he knew it, he was under an avalanche of rubber duckies.

"Oh, yeah~! I nearly forgot~!" Thatch suddenly jumped into the argument and grinned.

"Marco told me about your recent hobby of roleplaying with rubber ducks, and I might have told a few people too~..."

Marco suddenly gave a wicked smirk, "No, you told everyone-yoi~."

Thatch laughed, "Alright, I told everyone. But we were all so happy that you found a hobby that we all pitched in to help you start your own rubber duck collection~! How great are we~?"

Everyone in the locker room burst into laughter, many of them even choosing to point at Ace's expense.

"Y-you better start running!" Ace growled, his entire body now ablaze as he was beyond pissed off.

Seemingly out of nowhere, everyone had a bag and as they darted away from Ace They pulled more rubber ducks from the bags and began throwing them at the freckled man, dying with laughter as they did so.

"I'M GOING TO KICK ALL OF YOUR ASSES!" He snarled viciously, taking swings at anybody that was near him.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

*With (Y/n) & Noire*

Noire stood back and admired her handiwork. (Y/n)'s outfit was simple but cute. She wore a (f/c) knee-length sundress and a pair of sandals that matched the outfit. With a tropical flower pendant and matching earrings, (Y/n) actually felt pretty once again. Kudos again to the raven-haired girl.

"Thank you, Noire. You chose the perfect dress for this~." (Y/n) gushed as she admired her sundress, twirling around to make the skirt flare a little.

"I'm glad you think so~! You just know how much I enjoy prettying you up!" Noire giggled.

"Since the place is going to be a surprise, I decided this outfit was the perfect outfit for any sort of occasion." She nodded to her.

"Yes, Noire! You're a genius!" (Y/n) praised, before looking over to the clock on her nightstand.

"... Sabo should be here soon..." (Y/n) muttered, starting to feel nervous all of a sudden.

She wanted this date to go well and all manner of potential date-ending scenarios started filling her head.

"Now, (Y/n), listen to me; you got this in the bag!" She coached her with a smile.

"He's going to be absolutely stunned when he sees how gorgeous you are!" She grinned.

(Y/n) cracked a smile and hugged Noire, "Thank you. I'm sure Katakuri's jaw will hit the floor when he sees you~!"

Noire blushed at the very thought, going to hold her cheeks as she squealed softly. "Y-you think so?! He's always been quite the cool customer!" She giggled before shaking her head.

"W-wait a minute, this isn't about me, it's about you! I am supposed to be reassuring you and giving you my support!" Noire bonked her own head with a sigh, giving herself a glance in the mirror.

She was wearing a simple flowing black dress with black heels, as well as some magenta jewelry.

"I have to give you my support too, silly!" (Y/n) waved her hand at her.

"Besides, I'll try not to come back for a long time, so... Go for it and give it your all, you carnivorous mink, you~!"

Noire playfully rolled her eyes, before going to spin her around.

"Same to you! I even put some candles, a lighter, and bug spray in your purse, just in case you're going anywhere super dark and buggy." She told her with a wink and giggled.

"C-candles? What would I need candles for...?" (Y/n) wondered, almost afraid to ask.

"The candles I packed you not only gives you quite a lot of light and lasts a long while, but they are also infused with a scent that wards off most pests!" She chirped.

"Oh, I see. Thanks~." (Y/n) smiled, "Oh, and while you were in the bathroom taking a bath, I made a special cake for you and Katakuri to enjoy for dessert. It's in the fridge."

"Aw, really? You're the best, (Y/n)!" Noire grinned, going to hug her.

(Y/n) giggled and returned the hug, "Thank you~. I try my best!"

She then grabbed her purse and started pacing back and forth, glancing at the clock every few seconds as she waited for Sabo to arrive.

"Easy there, (Y/n)! If you keep staring at the clock, he'll take longer!" Noire told her before instructing her to sit down.

"Besides, we have a doorbell. When it chimes, it could only mean two things; it's either Sabo or Katakuri." She told her with a grin.

"I can't help it. I'm excited and nervous at the same time!" (Y/n) whined as she paced faster.

"I get you, I am excited for my own date too! Just to imagine him putting those burly arms around me..." Noire swooned, blushing at the thought before shaking her head.

"My outfit is even color coded like his, see?" She squeaked happily.

"I'm sure the spurs on his boots will fly right off, Noire~." (Y/n) smiled as she paced.

"And I'm sure you can steal Sabo's top hat without him even objecting!" She chirped just as the doorbell rang.

(Y/n) immediately bolted out the door and ran downstairs before the doorbell even stopped ringing, practically ripping the front door off its hinges as she threw it open.

Sabo was so shocked at how quickly the door opened that he jumped in surprise before noticing that the one who opened the door was (Y/n).

He took a few moments to really look her over. It seemed no matter what she chose to wear, she would always look stunning.

"Good evening, (Y/n)." He finally spoke with a smile.

"It seems you've been eagerly expecting me." He grinned, internally overjoyed.

'Take that, Marco!'

"I-I'm sorry I startled you. I guess I am a bit too excited, hehe." She chuckled a little nervously as she took note of what Sabo was wearing.

He was once again without his top hat and goggles and, though he still wore dark jeans and skater shoes, he changed into an open dark blue flannel shirt and a v-neck shirt underneath. While she was just used to seeing Sabo wearing semi-formal and formal clothing, casual suited him just as well.

"You look really good in casual clothes, Sabo." (Y/n) complimented him with a smile.

"And you look really good in anything." He complimented back with a bright smile, a blush coloring his cheekbones and averted his gaze.

"To be honest with you, (Y/n)... I wasn't expecting this to be happening, and happening because of Noire, of all people." He chuckled, smirking slightly.

"I find it kind of funny how Pudding's attempts were to hurt us, yet it ended up bringing us even closer together." He snickered before going to gently hold up her hand, kissing her knuckles.

(Y/n) felt her cheeks start to burn from the compliments and feeling his lips against her skin, "I'm surprised too, to be honest. I... really didn't expect to be going on a date with you so suddenly, but I can't complain. I get to spend more time with you, after all~."

(Y/n) turned her head to call into the house over her shoulder, "Sabo's here, Noire! We're leaving now! Have fun with Katakuri, you she-wolf in sheep's clothing~!"

"Alright! You get him too, Cinderella!" Noire called back as Sabo blushed, turning his head away in an attempt to rid it.

(Y/n) closed the door and held Sabo's hand in her own, "Well? Shall we go?"

Sabo held her hand back in turn.

"Yes, we shall." He smiled at her, holding her close to him as he lead the way.

He just knew that she was going to love the location he had in mind.

(Y/n) followed close to Sabo and blushed as she slowly laced her fingers with his once more, unconsciously leaning against him slightly as they walked. She didn't know why, but she liked being close to Sabo like this. He just made her feel safe and warm.

"It's around here, so just keep your eyes in front of you, okay? I am certain you'll know it's the place when you see it." Sabo told her while going to rub her hand gently with his own.

(Y/n) nodded and looked around, trying to spot anything of interest. After a few more minutes of nothing but forest, a sound caught her attention. The darkness of the early night around them made that a bit difficult, however.

"Hey... I hear something..." (Y/n) thought aloud as she cupped her free hand around her ear to hear it better.

It sounded like... rushing water?

"Is that... a waterfall?" She wondered as she tried to confirm the sound that was slowly getting louder.

Sabo didn't reply to her at first, until he reached the perfect spot where she could she everything.

There was a hill littered with all sorts of wild flowers, that was in front of a quite sizable waterfall. The mist emitting from it caused the surrounding area to almost be dream-like. Since it was getting late, fireflies started to light up the area, making the area seem more like a dream.

(Y/n)'s eyes widened as the blinking gold lights of the fireflies reflected off of her sparkling eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as she stood there, amazed by the sight.

"Sabo... This place is beautiful." She breathed, looking at all the flowers that were so bright they seemed to glow in the dark.

"You seemed to really like the park I took you to earlier, so I decided that maybe this would be the perfect place to take you to for our little date." He told her before reaching from his back a basket that was tied to him.

"And we can have dinner right in front of the waterfall."

"Sabo, you're amazing~!" (Y/n) cried as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, quickly kissing his cheek in her excitement.

Sabo's cheeks flushed as soon as her lips touched his cheek, a dopey smile appearing on his face.

"And you're adorable..."

She pulled back from Sabo and felt her cheeks start to burn again as she turned her gaze to the ground, "... I'm not that cute..."

"Yes you are! Look at you being so excited right now!" He chuckled lightheartedly as he went to neatly place the blanket tied to the basket down on the ground, preparing the food and drinks.

(Y/n) pouted, puffing up her reddened cheeks.

"I'm not that cute." She repeated, being stubborn as she helped Sabo laying out the blanket and taking out the food.

"Yes you are, and you can't convince me otherwise!" He chuckled, setting up her plate first so she could start to eat.

(Y/n) removed her sandals and sat on the blanket.

"How dare you say such blasphemous things... Take this~." (Y/n) plucked a nearby grape from its vine and gently tossed it at Sabo.

Sabo gasped in shock before he went to pick up that same grape and grinned at it.

"Ooo, thanks~." He smiled at her, eating the grape.

"Betcha you can't catch the next ones either~." (Y/n) challenged, holding up the vine of grapes as she plucked another small fruit from it.

"Bet you I can, cutie~." He purred playfully, preparing himself.

She abruptly tossed the next grape at Sabo, making sure to make it arch high into the air to make it harder to track.

Sabo went to narrow his eyes, going to keep as good an eye on it as he could before doing a little awkward leap to catch it and grinning ear to ear like a dork.

"Caught it~."

"Don't be so confident yet, mister! I still have a bunch more ammo!" (Y/n) let out an evil cackle, which just came out sounding adorable, as she tossed the next grape.

Grape after grape, she tossed only for them all to be caught by Sabo until there was nothing left in (Y/n)'s hand but a bare grape vine.

"Darn you and your reflexes... How are you so good at that?" (Y/n) pouted as she went to munch on some food to tide over her frustration at losing her little bet.

"I wanted to impress you." He admitted with a soft chuckle.

"Well, wouldn't you know it; It worked." She huffed with a small smile as she admired the sight of the rushing waterfall.

"Do you have any questions for me? I'm an open book and I have nothing to hide so ask me anything." (Y/n) asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah... why are you just so sweet?" He asked her, genuinely wondering.

She almost spat out her drink as she suppressed a sudden giggle at the unexpected question.

"Why am I so sweet?" She repeated with a quirked brow after swallowing her drink.

She contemplated the question for a few moments before answering, "I guess it's because of Noire and Mama Cerise."

"...Really...? Why's that?" He asked, quite shocked.

"Well... I already told you that I was... a much different person when I was a kid. I really had no one. When Noire and Cerise found me, they made me feel something that I hadn't in a long time; hope. It took a long time, but with a lot of persistence on their part, I eventually found myself and became the person I am today."

"...Ah, I see..." He hummed, still in shock at the thought that Noire was apart of the (Y/n) he knows today.

"Guess the two of you must of swapped personalities, huh?"

(Y/n) let out a soft laugh, "You have no idea. When we were kids, I swear to you that she wore every color of the rainbow every day."

"R-really?! You're pulling my leg!" Sabo gasped.

The very thought of Noire wearing bright colors... it was odd.

"I have proof. I can show you." (Y/n) said as she grabbed her purse and rummaged around for her phone, being careful with Gary the psychic snail.

Sabo waited for her patiently as she retrieved the evidence, playing with a blond lock of his hair. She pulled out her phone and unlocked it before opening up her gallery, searching for a good childhood photo.

"Ah-ha~! Here!" (Y/n) found a perfect example and turned her phone sideways to make the picture larger, turning it so Sabo could see.

The picture seemed to be taken in a backyard or a garden and, due to all the flowers, it must have been either spring or summer. On a stone bench sat three people under the shade of a large weeping willow.

Sitting in the center was a beautiful woman around her late twenties to early thirties. She had long, straight platinum blond hair with a fuchsia-colored streak in it. Her fuchsia eyes glittered as she smiled at the camera. On her lap sat a little girl about seven or eight with medium-length black hair that was woven into a french braid that hung over her shoulder.

By the dark purple streak in her hair, it was obvious this little girl was Noire and what she was wearing was a little shocking. She was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a pair of powder-blue overall shorts that had a cute bumblebee patch sewn onto one of the overall legs. She wore a light yellow baggy jacket, bright pink shoes, and long rainbow-colored striped socks as well as a bright orange and white-polkadotted band-aid on one knee.

"See~?" (Y/n) chirped.

Sabo gawked at the image, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"W-wow, it's like I am seeing a whole new person!" He pointed out.

"I know right?! This was taken over ten years ago. That's Cerise in the middle." (Y/n) pointed as she didn't want to draw attention to the other child in the picture who sat as close to the edge of the bench, as away from the other two in the photo as possible.

"Oh! She really is pretty." He complimented with a smile before his eyes darted to the other child in the picture, "And this is you, I am guessing? The cute grumpy one?"

"Yeah, but no need to sugar-coat it. I know I look like a nightmare-child." (Y/n) sighed as she glanced away.

The little girl, unlike the grinning Noire, was glaring at the camera with her (e/c) eyes cold and distant, the dark circles underneath indicating she might have had trouble sleeping. She was hiding the lower half of her face behind the black and white cat plush that she held in her arms. She seemed considerably smaller than Noire and the torn-up dark gray hoodie she wore almost looked like a dress as it hung to her knees and hid her hands. Her (h/c) hair was long and messy and her bangs were in desperate need of a trim. She wasn't wearing anything on her feet, showing off the many scars and band-aids that covered them.

"I will let you in on a little something... Ace was the most grumpiest kid ever!" Sabo snickered, smiling fondly at the memory of the hellish lil Ace.

"No way! Really?!" (Y/n) gasped, "I can't even picture that!"

"He also had no manners at all! Sometimes that side of him still shows up today, but he's gotten a pretty good handle on it now... for the most part..." He sighed.

Ever since (Y/n) showed up, he's been less polite than usual...

"Really... Ace being super grumpy and rude..." She mused, trying to picture it in her mind.

"I can't see it." She huffed, "What about you? Have you always been such a suave gentleman~?"

He nodded with a grin.

"Of course~." He chuckled, fishing for something else from the basket; an apple pie.

"Also, you have no idea the hell I went through just trying to prepare... If Luffy or Ace saw me cooking, they'd eat everything I bought." He sighed, going to shake his head.

(Y/n) giggled, "You could have told me we were going on a picnic. I could've made the food, that way you wouldn't have to be so sneaky about smuggling that basket around."

"But if I told you, then it wouldn't be a surprise." Sabo frowned, on the very verge of pouting, but he kept himself in check.

"Besides, I did this all for you; it wouldn't feel right if I had you preparing food for the date that I was going to take you on."

(Y/n) was stunned by his words for a moment as a blush began to heat up her cheekbones, "You know, Sabo... You're really sweet too. Thank you. For all of this."

(Y/n) shuffled closer to Sabo and leaned up to quickly peck his cheek before resting herself against him.

Sabo blushed heavily at the sudden kiss, grinning from ear to ear as he chuckled.

"I-it's my pleasure, (Y/n)!" He chuckled, though internally he wanted to kick himself for stuttering; he sounded like such a dork!

"Cute~." (Y/n) giggled at Sabo's stuttering and retrieved some more food for herself before the rest inevitably disappeared because of the black hole known as Sabo's stomach.

"N-no, you're the cute one." He choked out, once again internally hissing at stuttering.

"Compromise; We're both adorable~!" (Y/n) reasoned, poking Sabo's reddened cheek as she popped a small strawberry into her mouth.

"...Fine..." He mumbled, still not happy at being called "adorable" like he was a little kid.

He was a grown man, yet look at him now, not even being able to talk clearly to (Y/n) without stuttering like a fool.

She giggled at Sabo's grumpiness as she couldn't help but find it absolutely precious.

The two traded small-talk, enjoying their conversation as they ate in between their comments. Before long, the picnic basket was completely empty, mostly because of Sabo.

(Y/n) sighed, listening to the roar of the waterfall and the faint sounds of crickets as she watched the fireflies around them dance through the air.

"Being so close to fireflies like this takes me back to childhood when Noire and I used to try and catch them with nets so we could make little lanterns out of empty jars." She hummed.

"Aw, now that's adorable~." Sabo smiled, "Know the most you caught?"

She took a moment to recollect all the summers they tried catching fireflies, "We lived right next to a lake so there were a lot. I think we ended up making around ten jars one summer."

"That's a lot of fireflies you ended up catching!" Sabo smiled as he watched the bugs before getting an idea, quickly scooping one into his hands for her.

"Here's one." He grinned to her, showing her the bug carefully as it glowed in the palms of his hands.

(Y/n) leaned closer to Sabo and gently touched his hands to tilt them more so she could see the blinking bug, a smile tugging at her lips.

"So pretty~." She cooed softly.

"Want to hold it?" He asked her.

She nodded and cupped her hands, allowing Sabo to carefully transfer the bug over to her. She held her hands closer to her face and watched the little bug glow with silent glee.

However, the bug decided it didn't like (Y/n)'s hands and took off to instead land on the tip of her nose.

"Sabo... I have become Rudolph the gold-nosed girl..." (Y/n) whispered as she tried to look down at the bug on her nose as it blinked.

Sabo tried to hold in his snicker at that cute little description as he tilted his head towards her.

"I didn't think it was possible for you to shine any brighter, but the bug proved me wrong." He chuckled softly.

She could feel her cheeks heat up from the comment before she wiggled her nose, causing the little bug to fly off into the darkness.

She followed where it went with her eyes and smiled, "There are more of them by the shore. You wanna go walk by the water to get a closer look?"

"Sure!" He nodded and moved to stand up, but not before taking (Y/n)'s hand to take her along with him.

(Y/n) felt more heat on her face as Sabo held her hand, leading her down the soft grassy hill to the rocky water's edge. The grass was soft under her bare feet and the small rocks on the shoreline actually felt good as they had all been smoothed, most likely by the rushing water from the nearby falls.

"This really is a beautiful place, Sabo. How did you find it?" She asked, looking up at him with curiosity as they walked along the shore.

"Well, me, Luffy, and Ace liked to venture out a lot. We found this place while Luffy tried to catch some huge purple butterfly." He told her, gently stroking her hand.

He really enjoyed holding her hand.

(Y/n) felt her face burning from Sabo's gentle touch, "Yeah, that sounds like Luffy."

She giggled before she suddenly gasped and cried out as a particularly larger pebble she didn't know she was stepping on slipped out from under her, making her fall to the side right into the cool water with a splash.

The water's depth immediately dropped off from the shore and was around three-and-a-half to four feet deep. The water immediately cooled her blush and she surfaced with a gasp, moving her hands to brush her hair out of her face.

"Are you alright?" Sabo quickly questioned her, helping her to her feet as he looked over her carefully for visible injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She paused to blow a soaking wet lock of hair from her face, "Just feeling like a drowned cat right now."

She internally cursed her clumsiness and couldn't believe she just did something so embarrassing in front of Sabo. She kept her eyes down at the water that was around chest-level for her, her cheeks starting to burn again.

"Don't be embarrassed, (Y/n), these kind of things happen all the time." Sabo reassured her.

"Besides, I am just glad that you're alright." He said before gently brushing aside a drenched strand of her hair and tucking it behind her ear.

"So, you've accidentally fallen into the water too?" She asked.

"A few times, though most of those times it was because of Luffy," He admitted.

"But you don't know clumsy like this one guy on the island does. He can trip on a perfectly even floor, and he accidentally sets himself on fire." He informed her, snickering a bit as he told her.

"Oh, I'm clumsy to you now, am I~?" (Y/n) asked with a raised brow, amused by the story he just told her.

"Nope. I told you that story to make you feel better about your little trip. This guy makes it his mission to trip as manner times in a day as possible. I don't know how he even does it..." He shook his head with a laugh,

"As amusing as this guy sounds, it doesn't make me feel better at all." She huffed before a mischievous smile appears on her face, "But do you know what does~?"

"What?" He questioned with a quirked brow.

"This~!" (Y/n) grinned and grabbed onto his arm before giving it a sharp tug, causing Sabo to fall in right next to her with a splash.

Sabo let out an adorable squeak as he fell into the water in surprise. When he registered what had just happened, he pouted at her.

"...Ha ha, very funny, (Y/n)..." He huffed grumpily.

"I agree, it is very funny~." (Y/n) said as she started to giggle uncontrollably, "And the sound you made when I pulled you in was just precious~!"

"...You're precious yourself, so I am going to let this slide..."

"Let it slide?" She repeated with a smirk, "What were you going to do if I wasn't so precious~? Spank me or something~?"

"Maybe, so don't tempt me.~" He teased as he stood up, wringing out some of the water from his shirt.

"Maybe if you could actually catch me~. You're looking at a former member of my school's swim team, so good luck." (Y/n) teased as she slowly began to swim backwards away from Sabo.

"Careful, (Y/n); I heard there were jellyfish in this area." Sabo smirked, wading through the water after her.

"Jellyfish? In a freshwater lagoon like this? Right, nice try~." (Y/n) giggled, swimming faster.

"Hey, back up. I have water and I'm not afraid to use it~." She said before sending a splash of water in his direction, "That was a warning shot."

"Ooo, frightening~." He mused before he went to splash back at her, but with a bigger wave.

"And that was my warning shot, dear (Y/n)~."

"EEP!" She squealed at the sudden splash of cool water that hit her.

She recovered and gave Sabo a wide smirk, "Oh, it's on now! Bring it, Brittney!"

(Y/n) sent a wave of water at Sabo before kicking more in his direction as her kicks pushed her further away from him.

"Brittney? Who is Brittney?" He questioned, caught off guard as he shielded his face from the water before he went to go after her again, going to send more waves her way.

She let out a small scream at the amount of water that was thrown back at her. She retaliated as best she could, laughing as she tried to dodge Sabo's splashes.

"You'll never take me alive~!" She cackled as she completely submerged herself underwater, disappearing under the surface.

Sabo, deciding to play the game differently, smirked at her.

"Okay, fine!" He snickered as he stood still.

She couldn't hold her breath forever, after all...

Nearly a minute passed before (Y/n) burst from the surface and tackled Sabo from the side.

"I gotcha!" She shouted as she tried to catch her breath.

Sabo blinked a bit in surprise before smirking at her.

"Or do you~?" He snickered playfully before going to swap their positions.

"It looks like I am the one who has you, (Y/n)~." He chuckled, his nose brushing up against hers.

She giggled before winking at him, "Or maybe that was my master plan. Maybe I just let you catch me~."

"I wonder who is going to outmaster who~?" Sabo laughed, his cheeks starting to grow pink at how close they were.

Here he was, on a date with (Y/n), all alone with her, and on her.

It flustered him to no end, that's for sure, but it also did something else to him.

Something... foreign...

(Y/n) abruptly shivered as a breeze passed over them, "We should probably think of getting out soon and drying off. It's starting to get cold."

"...Uh... U-uh, yeah!" He agreed, snapping himself out of it.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-❤︎Sabo❤︎-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Before (Y/n) pulled herself away from Sabo, she noticed his sopping wet bangs covering his eye and his scar.

She reached up and slowly brushed them from his face with her fingertips and smiled.

"I still don't understand why you try to hide your scar... It doesn't look bad at all to me." She whispered with a soft giggle, "If anything, I think it makes you look even more handsome. It brings more attention to your beautiful eyes."

Sabo shuddered at her delicate touch, before his cheeks turned from pink to red.

"...R-really...?" He averted his gaze.

"Mmhm, really." She nodded, pulling herself closer to Sabo's body heat to avoid the cool night air.

It was only after she pulled her body closer to his that she noticed how close they actually were, making a bright red blush appear on her cheeks. Though, for reasons other than the cold that she didn't quite understand, she couldn't bring herself to pull away from him.

"(Y/n)... can I let you in on a little something?" Sabo whispered to her, his cheeks still beet red.

Her (e/c) eyes glanced from Sabo's ocean-blue gaze to his lips as she noted how close they were to hers, only the smallest of gaps keeping them from touching.

"Y-yes...?" She stuttered under her breath, able to hear her heart pounding hard against her chest as she internally hoped that Sabo couldn't feel it too.

Meanwhile Sabo was trying to stop the racing of his very own heart as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down and then looked at (Y/n)'s eyes.

"Everytime I'm near you, I just lose myself. I'm more composed than this, but for some odd reason, I just can't seem to properly restrain myself when I am with you..." He admitted, continuing to look deep into her (e/c) eyes.

(Y/n) was sure that her face couldn't become a darker shade of red as it felt so hot it might burst into flames. Sabo's confession made adrenaline rush through her veins as her body felt light and tingly.

"R-really...?" She stuttered, "You can't control yourself?"

He nodded.

"Yes. When I heard you were going on a date with Marco... I-I became so furious, so angry that I..." He then took another deep breath, "... wasn't the one to take you out first before him. It made me so agitated that he was able to land a date with you easy peasy while I was struggling to get on Noire's good side... to this very moment, I still feel frustrated that I wasn't the one to first pop that question to you..."

Her eyes widened before a soft smile graced her lips, "You know, I only said yes to Marco because I panicked. I'd never been asked out before--for anything. But, y'know..."

She trailed off and gulped as she moved slightly closer to him, pressing her body against him as her lips nearly brushed against his.

"If you had asked me out first, I would have immediately said yes, but not because of panic. In fact, I felt really bad when you ran off like that. I wanted to make it up to you somehow... I didn't really know how until now, though..." She whispered.

"W-what do you mean by that...?" He questioned softly, continuing to look deep into her gorgeous eyes.

"M-maybe... Maybe you can have something even more precious than a first date..." She trailed off.

(Y/n) mustered up all her courage, her pulse racing, and leaned in to close the gap between them. She pressed her lips against his for a few moments, enjoying the feel of his lips before she pulled back to look into his eyes again.

"... You can have my first kiss..."

Sabo could have sworn his heart stopped beating for a split second as he stood stunned, his entire face as red as a tomato. He stared at her in awe.

He was feeling a whole variety of emotions right now, but the most prevalent one was a... strange one...

He didn't even know what to call it... but he knew that it felt good, at the very least.

"... (Y/n)..." Sabo gasped, going to softly touch his lips that felt on fire as he then gazed intently at her.

"I... I like you... I like you a lot, Sabo... and I want to keep seeing you." She confessed, averting her gaze as she tried to ignore the pleasant tingling sensation that lingered on her lips.

"I don't mind giving you my first kiss... Who knows..." She trailed off as she bashfully spoke her next words under her breath, "... I might end up giving you a lot more than my first kiss in the future..."

Sabo's heart skipped a few beats at her confession as a hidden side of him started to take over.

He went to grasp her chin and pulled her close again before kissing her passionately.

(Y/n)'s breath hitched at the sudden touch of his lips. She was stunned for a moment before she let out a pleasured hum, returning the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer.

"I told you... it's hard... to control myself... when I'm with you..." He murmured through kisses as he brought her closer to him, wanting to feel her body heat as much as possible.

"... Th-then don't... I-I don't... I don't mind." (Y/n) whispered against his lips, her body trembling from the kisses as she felt weak in the knees.

"N-no, (Y/n), don't tell me that... that's giving me too much liberty with your body..." He frowned at her, pausing the kiss to say that, before continuing to kiss her.

She felt so good against him.

(Y/n) was stunned at his words, not expecting that as his response. This confirmed for her that Sabo could be completely trusted, and that thought made her heart flutter. Feeling fireworks being set off in her head, she deepened the kiss and ran her fingers through his wet hair.

Sabo went to do the same thing in kind with her own hair, trying to restrain himself from doing anything extra. It just wasn't right for him to do anything further with her so soon, especially with her being so new to all these sensations.

(Y/n) broke the kiss as her lungs began to ache in their need for oxygen. She kept her forehead pressed against Sabo's as she held herself against him, eyes half-closed as she panted heavily.

Sabo also took this time to breathe as well, going to look at her stunning face with lidded eyes, full of restrained desire.

"We should... probably... get out of the water... soon..." She whispered breathlessly as her lips brushed against his, though her body still refused to part from Sabo's.

"You're right..." Sabo breathed heavily as he lifted (Y/n) up into his arms and carried her out of the water.

"You're drenched, (Y/n)..." Sabo frowned, "If you stay in these clothes any longer, you could catch a cold."

She felt some embarrassment at his words, scolding her brain and quickly building desires as she instinctively wrapped her legs around Sabo when he picked her up.

"You're just as soaked as me, you know..." She panted.

"Yeah, but you take priority right now." He told her as the two were now out of the water.

"Now you're the sweeter one." She said as she pressed her lips against his once more.

He gladly returned the kiss, going to smile a bit. He made sure that his grip on her was tight enough that he didn't drop her, but not too tight to the point of hurting her.

It had quickly become quite apparent to (Y/n) that she had become addicted to Sabo's kisses. But she didn't mind, and it was quite obvious that Sabo was having trouble keeping his lips off of hers too. From the way he was returning her kisses at the moment, it was going to be a little while before they were able to stop themselves...

-~-~-~-~-~-~-❤︎-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*Meanwhile*

*With Noire*

Noire just finished setting up the table when she heard the doorbell ring.

'T-that must be him!' She thought with a happy squeak before an odd sense of deja-vu hit her as well as a thought that threw her head for a bit of a spin.

'This is just like when I had Sanji over for dinner...' Her mind thought as she shook her head.

Why was she thinking of Sanji at a time like this?

Her eyes then trailed to the lovely bouquet that sat in the middle of the table. It was the bouquet that Sanji gifted her, alongside the red rose he also gave her, that was placed neatly in the middle of the bouquet.

'W-who did that?...' She wondered as another chime from the doorbell caused her to snap back to her senses.

"Coming!" She called out as she skedaddled over to the front door, trying to not trip in her heels.

She then went to open the door with a smile.

"I've been expecting you~!"

Katakuri stood on the front step of the house dressed in a nice black suit, the blazer undone as well as the top few buttons of his shirt.

He offered Noire a bouquet of dark purple tropical flowers, "Good evening, Noire."

His cheekbones looked to be tinted pink from behind his scarf, "You look lovely tonight."

Noire went to blush as well at the sight of him as she happily took the bouquet.

"So do you." She complimented, before inviting him inside, looking over the pretty flowers.

'This is far too familiar, Noire...' Her mind told her again as she tried to ignore the thought.

Katakuri had to duck to enter the house and needed to remain hunched over in order to actually continue into the home. Sometimes, he hated being as tall as he was; it could be a real pain, especially in his true form which was even larger.

"Thank you once again for inviting me over, Noire."

Noire sweatdropped at him, not realizing just how tall he really was until he stepped into the house.

"It's my pleasure." She smiled awkwardly before leading him to where all the food was at.

Since he was a big guy, she cooked all the food she had, since she had no idea what his appetite might be.

"You can sit down while I put these lovely flowers in water." She told him, her mind coming upon another distracting thought.

'This is literally a play by play right now!' Her brain told her, as she internally hissed at it.

'S-shut it, and let me focus! I have an extremely attractive man in my house right now!' She internally shouted, placing the flowers into a vase filled with water.

Katakuri slowly followed Noire to the kitchen, being very careful not to bump his head on anything. He ducked into the kitchen and internally sighed in frustration at the size of the chairs at the table. He pulled the chair to the side and simply sat on the floor with his legs crossed, hoping Noire either wouldn't notice or wouldn't mind.

"Everything looks great. You must have worked very hard to prepare all of this." He noted, appreciating the effort she went through for his sake.

"Thanks, I wanted it to be perfect for you~." She giggled, going to sit down as well.

"Are you comfortable Katakuri, or do you want me to get you another chair?" She asked him.

"Yes, this is just fine. Thank you for the offer." He answered quickly, not wanting her to go through any extra troubles because of his inconvenient size.

"Well, feel free to dig in! I don't know how big your appetite is, so I made plenty of hearty dishes in the attempt to fill you up a bit, at least. The brothers are a bunch of kirbies, so when they're over for food, it's a nightmare for my wallet..." She sighed.

Katakuri went silent, hesitating to do so as a wave of insecurity washed over him. This was the only reason why he hesitated to take her up on her offer for dinner and this was the moment he most dreaded. He could almost hear Noire's screams of horror already.

"What's wrong, Katakuri?" Noire asked with concern, tilting her head to look at him more clearly.

"... There... There is a reason why I don't eat in front of others, Noire. I wear this scarf for a reason..."

Noire went to become even more worried.

"And what is that reason, if I may ask...?" She questioned as softly as possible.

She never really took any time to think about it, but now that she is, she could confirm that he in fact would always wear that scarf...

...She actually never saw his mouth before...

"It's... because of my mouth... It's not normal..."

"Not normal...?" She repeated, growing more concerned by the minute.

Did something happen to him? Was he born with it? A million questions were going through her head.

She could tell by his demeanor that this was a very sensitive topic for him, so she made sure to tread lightly.

"... It's not something I like to talk about, but not for the reason you'd think. I... I could show you my mouth, if you want... but I won't be angry if you become scared of me or think I'm hideous. I'm used to that reaction by now..."

Noire's heart broke at hearing those words, before she slowly nodded at him.

"...Yes, I'd like to see it... b-but only if you're comfortable with it! You're my guest, after all." She told him.

Katakuri appreciated Noire being so considerate and nodded, "It's alright... You would have seen it eventually anyways..."

He reached up and grabbed the top of his scarf, "... Before I show you, just remember that I won't hurt you. And, again, I won't be angry if you scream or if you want me to leave after you see it."

Noire nodded slowly at him, her anxiety now through the charts. What could it possibly look like?...

He pulled down his scarf, revealing the lower half of his face. Stitches extended from the corners of his lips, keeping his cheeks held together. Large and sharp teeth protruded from his mouth, his canine teeth being slightly curved as his mouth resembled that of a pelican eel's.

Noire couldn't help but gasp at the sight, her eyes going to hold deep worry.

Her eyes didn't contain fear, however.

"K-Katakuri... that looks so painful..." She frowned, slowly walking to him to get a better look at his mouth.

"May I...?" She asked softly as she held a hand up to him.

Katakuri's eyes widened at Noire's reaction. In a daze, he nodded his head as his mind was more than just a little confused.

Noire went to very gently run her fingers over his stitches, before going to gently trace his teeth and lips.

"Does it hurt...?" She questioned, all her movements being slow and gentle.

"... No... Not anymore..." He muttered, his speaking allowing more of his sharp teeth to be shown.

At his answer, she went to hug him tightly, burrowing her head into his chest.

"You're not a monster to me, Katakuri. In fact, you're still as handsome as ever." She smiled softly to him, now going to stare intently at his face, with his mouth and all.

If he wasn't shocked before, he was now. Her words and actions were completely unexpected and brought up old memories of his sister telling him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. His heart skipped a beat and he couldn't stop the small smile from tugging at the stitched corners of his lips.

"... Thank you, Noire... It's been... a long while since I've heard someone say something like that to me." He said as he felt a giant weight lift from his chest.

"And that's a shame, because you're such a good person." She told him, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"I've been waiting to do that." She smiled at him, going to sway her body a bit as she always did when she was around him.

The fact that she continued to act the same around him despite seeing his majorly flawed mouth made him happier, his cheeks reddening from the kiss.

"R-really... Well, I'm flattered. Thank you." He held back his stutter, "Shall we eat now?"

"Mhmm!" She chirped before she skipped back to her seat.

"Hope you enjoy!" She grinned, going to add something else.

"Oh, and for the duration of our dinner, you don't have to hide your mouth." She smiled brightly at him as she went to fill her own plate.

"If.. If you're sure that it's okay." Katakuri nodded, smiling a little bit more as he was easily able to reach the different dishes and fill his plate.

Before he could even take a bite, he heard a cursed sound that made him want to cringe.

*purupurupurupuru* *purupurupurupuru*

Katakuri sighed deeply as he put down his fork, "My apologies, Noire. Would you mind if I answered this call?"

"No, not at all. It must be important." She told him as she listened to that peculiar sound that the transponder snails make when they're ringing.

'I... kind of like the sound, oddly enough...' She admitted.

Katakuri pulled a transponder snail from his blazer pocket, the snail wearing a scarf identical to his own, and answered it.

*gacha*

"Yes? This is Katakuri." He said to the snail as he held it in his large hand.

"I-I am so sorry to disturb you, big brother, but we have a, uh... explosive situation back at the Chateau. We tried everything to calm down Cracker, but nothing we're doing seems to be working; we need you here right now!" The snail spoke, imitating the facial expressions of the speaker in question, as Noire watched in awe.

She couldn't help but giggle at how cute the snail he had was, though. The little matching scarf was just too much for her heart to handle; it was so adorable!~

Katakuri took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"... I'm on my way... Tell Cracker I'm going to kill him when I get there..." He growled to the snail before abruptly ending the call.

*gacha*

"Noire... I'm so sorry, but as you heard something urgent has come up thanks to one of my younger brothers." Katakuri sighed, honestly feeling bad about needing to leave as he returned his snail to his blazer pocket.

"Yes, I heard, but wait just a second... your snail is so adorable! It has a scarf just like you!" She squealed.

Katakuri released a small chuckle as he readjusted his own scarf, "Thank you. Many people end up designing their snails to look more like them."

"Well, I want mine to look like yours! It's too cute~!" She continued to giggle, as she then took off her heels, and went to quickly do something with the remaining food that was on the table.

"Before you leave, take this." She grinned at him before handing him the food that she very neatly packaged for him.

"Thank you." Katakuri nodded as he took the food from her, standing up and hunching over to avoid bumping his head on the ceiling.

"... Again, I'm very sorry for cutting our dinner short." He apologized as he hesitated to caress her jaw with a blush on his cheekbones, "I promise, I'll make it up to you."

Noire, like a cat, purred at the gentle touch, going to lean more into it in joy.

"It's alright, emergencies happen..." She grinned, enjoying his touch very much as evident by her big smile.

"No, it's not alright. I will make it up to you." He said firmly before pulling away.

"I hope to see you again very soon, Noire. Please, have a good night and give my regards to (Y/n) when she returns."

Noire pouted when he pulled away.

"N-no, touch me more..." She whined, before quickly sucking in her lips, beyond embarrassed that her inner thoughts were verbalized.

Katakuri's face became bright red as a long silence followed Noire's words.

"... Have a good night, Noire." Katakuri responded quickly as he turned on his heels and rushed out through the front door, desperate to escape from his own embarrassment.

"I-I didn't mean to say that! What I-I-" She then banged her head against the wall in frustration.

She really needed to monitor her mouth more!

'He probably thinks I'm a weirdo now..' She internally cried, beyond embarrassed.

But her mind couldn't deny it; his touch was very comforting!

*Meanwhile*

*With (Y/n) & Sabo*

While they waited to dry off after climbing out of the water, (Y/n) and Sabo cleaned up their picnic area and packed everything away in the basket Sabo brought it all in.

"Whew... Finally got that done." (Y/n) sighed as she stretched.

"You didn't have to pitch in, you know. I could of did this all while you admired the scenery." Sabo told her with a small smile, almost on the verge of pouting.

"Why in the world would I let you do all the work. I ate too and my arms and legs aren't here for show." (Y/n) replied, "Plus moving around and doing some work helped me warm up a bit."

She then pouted and pinched the skirt of her dress, lifting it a little and pouted.

"... My clothes haven't dried much, though..."

"I can take you home now, if you'd like?" He tilted his head, "I really wouldn't like you catching a cold on me now."

"That would be great! Thank you!" (Y/n) nodded, not really wanting to walk home alone at night with the Donquixote Family lurking about looking for her and Noire.

Then, as soon as Noire came to mind, so did another thought and it made her face start to turn red.

"On second thought... Maybe I shouldn't go home just yet..." She said slowly.

"Why not? Is it because you don't want to disturb her date?" He questioned.

"Yeah, that and... I would hate to accidentally walk in on something... awkward..." She mumbled, lowering her gaze as she was starting to get flustered.

Sabo's eyes widened at getting what she meant and he internally shuddered.

'Ugh, now I have that image in my head...' He gagged.

"Oh, I see.."

"Noire and I grew up in the same household--there's nothing about her that I haven't seen before. But... there are some things involving her that I would rather never see... ever..." (Y/n) shuddered, "And seeing her getting freaky with my boss is definitely one of them..."

Sabo held in the urge to vomit.

"Y-yeah, I-I get you... t-that would be quite awkward..." He coughed.

'N-no, I have a mental picture! Get out of my head!' Sabo cried internally, absolutely disgusted.

"I'm so sorry, Sabo! Uh... Think of something cute! Or try to replace the image with something else--anything else!" (Y/n) said, grabbing onto Sabo's damp clothing as she couldn't help but feel guilty for subjecting him to such a horrific sight.

Thinking on instinct, he went to grab (Y/n), and stared at her, trying to delete the nightmarish mental image that he had of Noire and Katakuri.

"...O-ok, it's slowly going away..." He nodded, continuing to stare at (Y/n).

"I'm glad it's helping, but... why are you staring at me...?" She asked, cheeks turning pink.

"You said to replace the image with something cute, and you were the first thing I thought of." He explained, sighing in relief at the image finally being out of his head.

"P-please don't do that again... I almost hurled.." He begged.

(Y/n)'s cheeks flushed a darker red and she poked his cheek, "Adorable dork..."

"Regardless, I don't think I should go home yet... I could just walk around until it's safe enough or something..." She hummed in thought, trying to think of a way to avoid a potentially really awkward scenario.

"...Well, if you do not have any other place to go, you can crash at my place?" He offered.

(Y/n)'s eyes widened at the offer, "You... You would let me sleep at your place? Your super secret house with a super secret anti-Pudding location?"

"Sure! As long as you don't tell Pudding, I'll take you there." He smiled playfully at her.

"These lips are sealed~." (Y/n) said with a smile, motioning to zip her lips shut.

Sabo grinned.

"Good, then we can head there now." He chuckled, offering her his arm.

She happily took it, leaning against him to absorb his body heat as he led her back through the forest to the main road. However, just as they reached the road they spotted a group of people coming their way from New District.

Taking a quick count, there were five of them in total. Their eyes were fixated solely on her, making her shudder as they grinned. Then she spotted it, on one of the men's biceps was the symbol of a smiling face with a slash running through it; they were with the Donquixote Family. Of course, just their luck.

(Y/n) gulped and moved to be closer to Sabo.

Sabo protectively shielded (Y/n) from them, as he glared them down.

"If you don't want to get seriously hurt, you'll move out of my way."

(Y/n) slowly reached into her purse and pulled something out before hiding it behind her back in her dominant hand, carefully placing her bag on the ground. It was obvious that this was about to get violent and she was more than willing to defend herself with deadly force if necessary. Especially if it meant protecting Sabo too.

"The girl is with me, so you will leave her alone, or face the consequences. I really don't want to get my hands dirty, but I will if I have to." He growled.

One of the men scoffed, "Oh, sorry. We almost didn't recognize you without the top hat."

Another spoke up, "Look, Chief of Staff--"

"Revolutionary's Lapdog." Another corrected before the Donquixote thug continued.

"Right, Revolutionary's Lapdog, we're not here for you. We just want the girl. Doffy wants to have a... word with her."

"Sure he does... " Sabo rolled his eyes.

"Well, I am sorry to disappoint him, but she is never going to have that "talk" with him." He narrowed his gaze.

"Well, we hate to do this, but you're not leaving us with much of a choice here." One of the thugs took a step forward but was stopped by another one.

"Whoa, what the hell are you thinkin'?! Are you trying to get us killed?!"

"We outnumber him and he can't do anything too crazy while that bitch is watching."

At the "bitch" comment, (Y/n) frowned and narrowed her eyes at the thugs before she looked to Sabo.

"If that's the case, Sabo, I'll look the other way so you can do what you will to them~." She said as a sinister smile started to appear on her face.

Sabo went to return the same look, going to nod happily at her.

"Of course, (Y/n). This will only take a second, I promise." He told her before turning to them and cracking his knuckles with a smirk, "You've asked for it."

The Donquixote thugs all immediately paled as (Y/n) gave them a wave and covered her eyes with her hand.

"Go for it, Sabo! Just tell me when I can look again~!" She chirped, "I see nothing, I hear nothing, therefore there is nothing."

"Alright, (Y/n)!" He chuckled, his fists catching fire before he darted right at them.

The thugs knew they were screwed no matter what they did. Rather than try to run, though they wanted to, they tried to prepare themselves to fight the advancing Sabo.

Tried.

(Y/n) could hear nothing but the sounds of the thugs groaning and shouting in pain along with the noises of Sabo's fists coming in contact with them. She flinched as she heard a few cracks as well, wondering if Sabo ended up breaking some bones too. Probably a nose or two at the very least.

"I warned you guys, but you didn't listen..." Sabo shook his head, extinguishing his flames.

"You can look now, (Y/n)." He told her with a soft smile.

(Y/n) uncovered her eyes and blinked to adjust her vision as she noted that all the thugs were now bruised and unconscious heaps on the ground.

"Wow. That was fast. Doesn't look like you held back, either." (Y/n) said as she leaned down and picked up her purse.

"They disrespected you, so I couldn't." He grinned to her, offering his arm to her.

"Shall we get going, now?"

"Yup~!" She chirped as she happily took his arm.

"Y'know, for a second there, I thought I was actually going to have to use this." She hummed as she pulled out what she was hiding behind her back.

It looked like a piece of metal that was split into two long pieces that were held together by a hinge on one end and a latch on the other that was now undone.

Sabo sweatdropped at the object.

"Well, you can put it away now, because I handled it already." He grinned softly as they left, heading to his humble abode.

"What? You act like you've never seen a balisong before." (Y/n) raised a brow as she suddenly flipped it open with a flick of her wrist, spinning it between her slender fingers and showing off the long and sharp blade the two metal pieces were hiding.

"T-that's not it... I just would hate for you to get your hands dirty because of idiots like those goons..." He sighed, going to hold her closer to him as if shielding her away from the very thought.

"Again, you're the sweet one~." (Y/n) smiled and leaned closer as she unconsciously began to flip and twirl the butterfly knife in her free hand, the metal clicking as she did so.

"Man, holding a butterfly knife like this again feels good. I'm a bit rusty though..."

Sabo sweatdropped at that remark.

"U-um, but really, you can put it away now. It shouldn't take long from here to reach my place." He informed her.

"S-sorry, am I making you nervous with it?" (Y/n) asked as she looked up at Sabo, not even paying attention to the tricks she was doing with the blade, not that she needed to.

"K-kinda...? W-wait, be careful," He warned her as the path they were walking down was now quite muddy.

"This damn area never dries..." He commented under his breath with a frown.

"Alright, sorry..." (Y/n) pouted as she flipped the balisong shut and latched it closed before tucking it away into her purse.

"It's obvious that my bad habit of practicing balisong tricks without even paying attention is coming back to me..." She sighed before looking a little panicked, "Oh, I'm not carrying two knives on me because I don't trust you or anything! I just figured I should just make it a habit again since that Flamingo guy is after me and Noire and I've been jumped by thugs before. Did I mention I'm carrying a second back-up butterfly knife?"

"You have...?" Sabo frowned deeply, hating the thought of (Y/n) being attacked.

It made him want to hurt the bastards responsible for doing such a thing.

"Yeah, I have a second smaller balisong on me... I'm not gonna tell you where, though..." She trailed off with a hint of pink on her cheeks.

Sabo bit his lip shyly before shaking the thought out of his head.

'You're better than that, Sabo! Calm yourself!' He coached himself as he sighed inaudibly.

"Okay, we should be there in no time at all now. We passed that red bush, and those two crooked trees, so..." He hummed as the rickety house came into view.

"There it is. I know it isn't much, but it's shelter." He smiled smally to (Y/n).

For lack of a better term; It was a dump. Almost like a treehouse built by kids and looked like it was painted by kids too, several different clashing colors on the roof and siding as if the kids either didn't communicate or they had a fight about what should be colored what.

"It's... colorful and... cozy." (Y/n) said, trying to find the right words that wouldn't offend Sabo.

'This place doesn't look up to code...' She couldn't help but think as Sabo led her up the steps of the creaky porch.

"Now watch your step." He told her, going to open the raggedy door before stepping to the side.

"Ladies firs-"

"SABO!" A blur of red suddenly sped through the front door and tackled Sabo off of the porch.

(Y/n) watched with a hand over her mouth as Luffy clung to his brother, giggling like a lunatic.

"I smell food on you! Did you eat something?! Did you bring back any for me?!" He asked excitedly.

"W-what I do is none of your business, Luffy! Now get off of me!" He barked, trying to shove the young man off of him.

Luffy's gaze then caught on (Y/n) standing on the porch and smiled, "Oh, hi, (Y/n)!"

"H-hi, Luffy." (Y/n) sweatdropped as she slowly waved at Luffy.

Luffy stood up and got off of Sabo, staying silent for a few moments before blinking at the (h/c)-haired girl.

"Wait... (Y/N)~!" Luffy, at realizing who he was looking at, rushed over and gave her a tight hug.

"What are you doing here? Our super secret base is supposed to be a secret." Luffy asked as he nuzzled her cheek affectionately.

She blushed at the contact, "W-well, Sabo brought me here to stay the night with you guys."

"Ooo~! We're having a sleepover?! Awesome! You can sleep with me in my room~!" He cheered with a wide grin, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"No way is that happening. You move a lot in your sleep and snore louder than a bear," Sabo pinched the bridge of his nose.

Luffy pouted at Sabo, "You and Ace snore loud too, you know."

"Speaking of Ace, is he here too?" (Y/n) asked as she leaned into the front doorway to look into the beat up house, which was even more beat up on the inside.

"He's not home yet." Luffy frowned with a bit of worry on his face as he looked to Sabo, "Maybe Pops held him back or something...?"

"Well, he did say he was going to kick a certain someone's ass, so I wouldn't be surprised if he is paying for that." Sabo shrugged, just as the freckled man in question appeared.

"...What is (Y/n) doing here...?" He questioned as Sabo placed a hand behind his head.

"Well, Noire and Katakuri are on a date, and (Y/n) doesn't want to accidentally walk into anything, so she is going to stay the night." He explained.

"Sleepover~! And she's sleeping with me~! Shishishishi~!" Luffy added with a giggle.

"No she is not!" The blond frowned at him, while Ace just looked completely lost.

"...She can bunk with me..." He suggested with a grin as Sabo glared at him.

"No, she won't!"

"Yeah, Ace! You snore! And you stink from whatever Pops made you do today!" Luffy agreed as he pinched his nose, glaring at Ace.

Ace snarled at him, about ready to punch him before stopping himself in the presence of (Y/n).

"...Well, unlike this lazy bum, I actually work." Ace commented, subtly flexing his muscles.

(Y/n) placed her hand over her mouth to help her suppress a giggle as she turned her head away.

"These adorable boys are too much for me~..." She muttered to herself.

"Well, I was trying to find some answers from people, but nobody wants to be honest around here!" Luffy pouted, turning to (Y/n).

"If Noire is on a date with Katakuri... does that mean she is having his baby instead...?"

Ace went to facepalm himself.

"You are far too caught up in that baby nonsense... can't you just let it go?" He sighed as Luffy shook his head.

"No, I want to get to the bottom of this! Something weird is going on here!"

"... Why do you think there's something weird going on, Luffy? They're just on a date. By that logic, anyone who goes on a date would have a baby." (Y/n) commented, head tilted to the side in confusion.

Luffy looked mortified by her words.

"N-no, that can't be right, (Y/n)!" He shook his head, causing his brothers to sweatdrop at him.

"Sabo, I am going to kick your ass!" He growled, as Sabo held his hands up. "Now, wait a minute, you got it all wrong, Luffy! A date is just when two people hang out, that's it!" He explained, while Ace just looked completely lost and causing Sabo to sigh.

"Really? Then when does the baby come in?" He questioned as Sabo felt like slamming his head against the wall.

Luffy asked way too many questions...

"(Y/n), when does the baby come into the picture?" He asked with an innocent blink as Ace scratched his head.

"Wh-what do you mean when?!" (Y/n) squeaked with a blush before covering her face with her hands, "W-wait, you think that just because Sabo and I just went on a date that... Oh, my sweet baby Atlanta--this is the Ace dirty dream all over again!"

Ace's eyes widened in horror and he went to glare certain death at Luffy, who started to sweat anxiously, before he then averted that same glance to Sabo.

"Sabo... start running..." He hissed as the blond waved his hands furiously.

"N-now, calm down, we have a guest with us! If you get mad now, you might blow up the house!... Again..." He added as Luffy returned to being confused.

"But I still don't get it! You mentioned babies, (Y/n), so you have to know when they come in!" He whined.

"AFTER MARRIAGE!" She shouted, very flustered as her face was bright red.

Ace would of snickered at Luffy's ironic word choice if not for the fact that he was beyond furious at Sabo. W-why were they on a date?! How was this allowed by Noire?!

'W-what the hell is going on around here?! I leave for a few hours, and come to chaos!'

"Marriage? What's that, some sort of food?" Luffy questioned with a raised brow before going to grin.

Her jaw dropped, 'He doesn't know what marriage is?!'

"(Y/n), I want a baby that looks exactly like me, shishishi!" He chuckled as Sabo hung his head at this beyond crazy situation, while Ace still looked furious.

"Look, there are a lot of things I need to catch you up on, Ace, but I am really tired right now, as is (Y/n), so we should save this for tomorrow, hm?" He tried to reason, as Ace folded his arms grumpily.

"Fine, but tomorrow, I am going to kick your ass as soon as she leaves." He threatened.

"I would also like to dry off... My dress is still wet from falling into the water." (Y/n) tried to ignore Luffy's "desire" and held the skirt of her dress out as a passing breeze made her shiver.

"Right. You should take a hot bath to warm yourself up, while I fetch you something clean to wear." Sabo suggested as Luffy piped up at the idea.

"Sounds great to me! I'll join you, (Y/n)!" He chuckled, his two brothers immediately smacking him over the head in unison.

"NO, YOU WON'T!"

(Y/n) blushed at the suggestion, "U-um... A bath sounds great. Uh, where would the bathtub be...?"

"I can show you." Ace volunteered before Sabo, who then went to politely bow to her.

"I will go get you some clothes, in that case." He told her, stepping into the house as Ace went to lead the way, all the while Luffy just frowned at no one paying attention to him.

"O-oi, why is no one talking to me?!"

"S-sorry, Luffy. I-I can explain marriage to you later, if you want." (Y/n) called over her shoulder as she followed Ace into the house, looking around at the surroundings.

There seemed to be a problem with the construction of the house wherever she looked. In fact, she wondered how the house hadn't collapsed on itself by now.

"Okay!" Luffy chirped with a bright smile before proceeding to raid the fridge.

"And here it is." Ace showed her, opening the door to the bathroom.

There were dirty clothes all over the floor as well as random bottles of soap, both open and not. All in all, it wasn't pretty at all.

'B-beggars can't be choosers, I guess.' She thought as she sat her purse on the counter and reached down the front of her dress, unclipping the smaller balisong knife from her bra and setting it on the counter.

She was so shocked at the state of the bathroom, she forgot that Ace was even there.

Ace gawked at her, not believing she just did that right in front of him, as his face burst into a deep red.

"U-uh, I guess I-I will leave you to it, then..." He coughed.

Suddenly remembering his presence, (Y/n) completely froze and turned red herself.

"... I-I am so sorry... I-I, my knife--I had to unclip it--I didn't mean to... flash my b-bra... Oh, goodness..." She stumbled over her words, wanting to bury herself in the dirt somewhere.

"...Enjoy your bath!" He quickly managed to get out before promptly dashing out of the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind him.

'That really did happen!' He internally screamed.

(Y/n) felt like jumping from the nearest cliff as she slowly shuffled over to the bathtub through the mess of clothes and started to run the hot bath water.

"Let that never happen again..." She squeaked as she pulled her wet sundress over her head and peeled it off of her.

No sooner was she about to put the wet dress on the cleaner part of the bathroom counter the door suddenly opened with a loud creak, causing (Y/n) to freeze like a deer caught in headlights.

Sabo was now at the door, his eyes wide in shock before he quickly turned his head away from her.

"U-um, you can wear this..." He coughed awkwardly, making sure to keep his blue eyes averted from her.

(Y/n) squeaked and tried to cover herself with the dress, turning into a blushing mess as she quickly tiptoed across the room and swiped the large shirt from Sabo's hand.

"I-I am so sorry you had to see that..." She stuttered in a small voice.

"I-it is not your fault, i-it is mine... I should of knocked instead of rudely opening the door..." He blushed heavily, his head still turned away.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked, his voice still meek.

"N-no, it's okay. I'm not upset. And I can manage from here, thank you." She muttered under her breath.

"A-alright... just... call me if you need anything..." He mumbled, quickly closing the door and internally screaming at himself.

She immediately went to lock the door, but found no such lock.

'No, I suppose they wouldn't... They're brothers who live together in a secret location, so no overnight visitors--of course they wouldn't think of something like privacy...' She internally sighed before tiptoeing back to the bathtub.

She just hoped and prayed that there would be no more interruptions and nervously removed the rest of her clothes, quickly hopping into the tub.

Thankfully, no one else decided to walk in and she quickly washed her hair and scrubbed her body, using some of the various soaps that lay strewn about the bathroom.

(Y/n) finished soon enough and allowed the water to drain from the tub as she hopped out and tried to dry off, using what she could only hope was a clean towel.

She pulled the gray v-neck shirt over herself and noted how baggy it was, nearly slipping off her shoulders with the hem a couple inches shy of her knees. She carefully hung her clothes up to dry on an empty hook on the wall, covering her delicates with her dress to spare the potential awkward sight.

(Y/n) ran her thin fingers through her wet (h/c) hair, trying to comb through it the best she could as she grabbed her purse and small knife before leaving the steamy bathroom.

She hardly took two steps out when she bumped into a familiar freckle-faced man, squeaking as she jumped back at the sudden contact.

"A-Ace! I-I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." She apologized, her cheeks naturally flushed pink from her hot bath as wet locks of (h/t) hair clung to her.

"I-its okay... it's just going to take some getting used to to adjust to you being here." He chuckled nervously.

"I guess it will." She giggled nervously, "How the tables have turned between us, huh? First, you get stuck wearing nothing but a towel at my house and now I'm stuck in nothing but an oversized shirt at your house."

Ace chuckled awkwardly.

"Y-yeah, funny how that works, huh...?" He scratched his head, "Um... know where you are going to sleep...?"

"I was going to ask Sabo, since he's the one who invited me here." (Y/n) replied with a small shrug, "But I guess the couch would be a safe guess..."

"N-no, I can sleep on the couch! I invited you over here, so I am going to make sure it is a good experience!" Sabo interjected out of nowhere, as Ace nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, the couch is no place for a beautiful woman like you to sleep in." He added, which earned a glare from his blond brother.

"Wha?! No way--I can't let you take the couch! It's your house, if anyone should take the couch it's me!" She argued, clenching the shirt she was wearing in her fists as she pouted at the two.

"No, you are going to sleep the night in my bed, and I'll take the couch!" Sabo argued with as much of a pout.

"You can take my bed instead if you want." Ace smiled at her as Sabo folded his arms.

"I am the one who invited her over, so let me handle this, alright?"

"Compromise! If none of us are willing to let the other take the couch, we'll just share a bed!" She blurted out.

The two brothers instantly blushed at that idea.

"W-what?!" Ace gasped as Sabo sighed.

"F-fine, I'll compromise..." He told her, as Ace shot him a pointed look.

"H-hey, you can't possibly be going through with this madness!" He argued as Sabo turned to him.

"What the lady wants, is what the lady will get." He simply said in response.

"Would you rather have to share your bed with me?" (Y/n) asked Ace with a raised brow and a pout, "Because it's either that or I sleep on the couch. You'll have to physically fight me otherwise and I'm not afraid to use a knife; I've got more than one on me right now."

Ace's eyes bugged out in shock.

"F-fight you?! Knife?!" He gawked in disbelief.

"That's what I pulled from my bra, duh." She huffs as she waves the balisong in her hand.

"D-don't talk like this with me!" Ace waved his hands frantically, blushing up a storm as Sabo fought to keep his composure.

"What, you don't like knives either?" She blinked as she suddenly opened the knife with a flick of her wrist and started to casually do tricks with it, "Geez, you guys are both weird with knives... Are you afraid I'll cut myself or something, 'cuz I'm in the cooking business."

They both shook their heads.

"N-no, but... you're (Y/n)! W-why would you be having a knife on you?!" Ace continued to question; this day was just too much for him...

"I used to carry them on me all the time when I was a kid. I just stopped after a while because there was no need to have one on me. Now there is, so..." She giggled as she began doing more complex tricks with the smaller balisong in her hand.

"S-stop it! My head, ugh...!" Ace held his head, as Luffy suddenly popped in.

"Aw, Ace, are you jealous because I'm so good with my hands?" She giggled, completely unaware as she flipped the knife closed.

Ace blushed the darkest shade of red at her words, as Luffy obliviously stood around.

"You can bunk with me, (Y/n)!" He chirped with a bright smile.

"Besides, I never got to hang out with you like Ace and Sabo have!" He whined grumpily.

"Sure. Ace and Sabo are being weird about my habit of practicing tricks with my balisong." (Y/n) smiled as she began doing more tricks with the knife.

Luffy cheered at this small victory, while other brothers stared at him in shock.

"Yay! I think it is pretty cool how you can do all that! Are you good at swords too, (Y/n)? I can introduce you to my friend Zoro!"

"I wouldn't know; I've never even held a sword. It's mainly just butterfly knives like this that I'm good with. I can throw knives and darts pretty good, though!" She replied as she passed Sabo and Ace to be next to Luffy, "Your friend seems pretty cool though, just by hearing his name."

The two continued to be in shock, while Luffy not-so-subtly stuck his tongue out playfully at them.

"Yeah, Zoro is pretty cool! He can use three swords at the same time!" Luffy chirped to (Y/n), while his brothers continued to look on bewildered.

"Seriously?! That's amazing!" She awed at the information with sparkling eyes, "If you want, Luffy, I could teach you how to do tricks with a butterfly knife. Not now, though. You can't just start out with a real balisong, otherwise you'll get a bunch of cuts on your hands like I did. I'll let you borrow one of my trainer balisongs."

"Really? That'd be awesome!" He cackled happily before going to lead her away to his bed, "I am so happy to have this sleepover with you (Y/n), shishishi!~"

"I'm happy to be here too. I'd rather be here than interrupting whatever awkward thing Katakuri and Noire are doing right now~." She replied as she gladly started following Luffy.

Luffy blinked blankly at her.

"What would they be doing?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"Nothing that I'd want to see or even think about and something that you seem way too innocent to be subjected to." (Y/n) replied with a sweatdrop, feeling that it would be sacrilegious to even think of explaining that to him.

Did he even know about that stuff? She couldn't help but doubt it.

"Oh well; I am happy they're doing their thing because it means you can sleep with me!" He chuckled before he then presented his bed to her.

"Here is where we will sleep!" He giggled.

To say that Luffy's room was messy would be an understatement. It looked like he never cleaned it, not even once, and his bed was already messed up with half of the sheets hanging off the side.

(Y/n) sweatdropped, '... Beggars can't be choosers... I chose to sleep with Luffy, so here I am...'

"C-cool!" She chirped as she carefully stepped over the floor that was blanketed by dirty clothes and sat down on the edge of his bed, setting her purse on the floor and putting the small balisong away.

Luffy went to flop on his bed, patting the empty spot beside him for (Y/n).

(Y/n) felt a slight blush heating her cheeks as she moved over next to Luffy and laid down beside him, trying to keep her mind off of this situation she put herself in. Honestly, she should have fought Ace for the couch. She didn't realize that this is what it would feel like being so close to one of the adorable brothers in their house, but she was stuck here now.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-❤︎Luffy❤︎-~-~-~-~-~-~-

(Y/n) closed her eyes and tried to think happy thoughts to distract herself from the fact that Luffy's body was nearly touching hers.

'Calm down, (Y/n). We're not actually touching and even though you're in just a shirt, Luffy isn't at all that kind of guy.' She reassured herself as she could feel her heart starting to beat harder in her chest.

"Since we're having a sleepover, (Y/n), we should play a game!" Luffy chirped out of nowhere, a sly smirk on his face.

He just came up with a brilliant idea...

"Hm?" (Y/n) opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Luffy, "A game? What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Wrestling!" He chuckled deeply, as he suddenly plopped himself on top of her.

"Whoever wins gets to eat the yellow apple I have!" He snickered.

She suddenly squeaked being suddenly body slammed by Luffy and tried to protest, wiggling underneath him.

"Wh-what?! B-but I already told you, my muscles are super weak! You'll win in a heartbeat!"

"But this is a special kind of wrestling! I want to play the same kind of game Ace played with you in his sleep!" He very innocently said before chuckling again.

"S-say what?!" (Y/n)'s eyes widened as her face burned bright red, "N-n-no! W-we can't do something like that!"

"Why not? I thought it'd be fun to watch you bob your head around while trying to dodge me!" He pouted, not getting it at all.

(Y/n) began to sputter, unable to say anything that could be understood as speech before she shook her head and found her voice.

"Th-that's not the kind of thing you should do with someone so casually! It has to be someone you really like and trust!"

"But I do really like and trust you, (Y/n)! It's why I want to play this game with you!" He frowned softly, still on top of her.

(Y/n) stopped thrashing around and stared at him for a moment before she suddenly wrapped her legs around his waist and threw her whole body into him, flipping them over so their positions were reversed.

"Luffy, listen to me, okay?" She said, doing her best to pin Luffy under her by pressing herself as firmly against him as possible.

"Th-those things that Ace was dreaming about... It's not something that you just do unless that person is someone you love as more than just a friend. It's someone you would do absolutely anything for and you would have no problem spending the rest of your life with them and maybe having a family with them someday." She explained softly, staring directly into his eyes as she did so.

Luffy stared back at her, before the smile returned to his face.

"Okay, then let's continue the game!" He chirped as he then went to switch their positions.

"You had me for a second there, but I plan on winning!" He giggled.

"D-did you not hear a word I said?!" (Y/n) squeaked after gasping at the sudden change of positions.

"I did! That's why I want us to continue!" He told her.

"Y-you're telling me that you like me more than just a friend?! And you actually see yourself spending the rest of your life with me?!"

Luffy nodded at her, his face now serious.

"Yes, I do."

Her face burned bright red as her heart felt like it was trying to escape her rib cage, adrenaline starting to pump through her veins as her head felt light.

"B-b-but w-we can't just jump right into doing... that! W-we have to start of slower; spend more time together, y'know?! I-I mean, we haven't even kissed yet! I haven't even had my first kiss!"

"I can give it to you now." Luffy bluntly told her.

"But, that means you lose the game. Don't you want us to wrestle a bit more before that?" He questioned.

"I... I made a promise to Cerise, my adopted mom and Noire's aunt... I promised that I wouldn't give myself to anyone unless I was sure that I loved them more than anyone else in a way I've never felt for anyone else." She muttered as she averted her gaze, "I like you a lot, Luffy, but... I don't quite feel that way about you yet. So, I can't do that with you yet. I'm sorry..."

"Aw, so you don't want to play this kind of game, then? Okay." He sighed before moving to get off of her and lay on his side.

(Y/n) actually felt really guilty about turning him down like that, but she was sure that Luffy didn't even know what he was asking to do.

Seeing Luffy pouting did tug at her heartstrings. It was like seeing a sad puppy that was just denied affection, and it hurt her. She bit her lip before she rolled over and hugged Luffy tightly.

"I'm sorry... I'm not saying I'll never want to, I just can't right now." She said softly.

"I understand. When you feel like playing this game, just let me know." He told her as he hugged her back, snuggling her a bit.

"Thank you, Luffy. Thank you for being so considerate of me." She said before lifting her head to look into his eyes, "I can't do that, but I... I can do this right now..."

She tentatively leaned up and gently pressed her lips against his for a moment, feeling a sudden hot spark shock her lips for a moment at the contact.

Luffy was taken aback by this, not expecting her to make the move at all, thinking their game was over, as he suddenly frowned. He then proceeded to press his lips against hers more, going to dominate the kiss.

'S-she tricked me! But, I am going to win this game!' He thought to himself.

Amidst this little game, however, Luffy felt another sensation wash over him, one that was really strange. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that it felt good, and that this game was what was causing it.

'This game is really fun!' He thought, now smiling, as he went to bring (Y/n) closer and going to really passionately kiss her.

(Y/n) was completely floored, not at all expecting him to return the kiss or return it like that!

'H-how in the heck is he good at this?! Is he really as innocent as he acts?!' She thought.

She would have pulled away from the pure shock of having Luffy kiss her so passionately, but that passion was making her whole body feel warm as his touch made her skin tingle.

(Y/n) nearly let out a soft moan, but caught it in her throat as she returned his kiss with just as much passion. She pressed herself against him even further as her hands clung to the back of his shirt.

Luffy then, while still kissing her, rolled so he was back to being on top of her, using his legs and arms to keep her completely still, as he continued to dominate the kiss.

'Shishishi, I'm winning!~'

(Y/n) whined against Luffy's lips at being restrained like this and decided to gently bite his lip as she tried to wiggle her arms and legs free.

Luffy interpreted this as challenging him, however, so he went to gently bite her lip back, not wanting to give her even an inch, especially after "tricking" him.

Her lips parted as she suddenly let out a gasp at the abrupt love-bite he returned to her. She attempted to flip them over once again by arching her body and throwing all of her weight into him.

Luffy responded by slamming his body against hers, keeping her down.

'You're not going to win after tricking me, (Y/n)! I am going to win~!' He thought with a wicked grin, as he continued to maintain control of the situation.

'Seriously! How in the world is he good at this?!' (Y/n) internally questioned as she decided to do something slightly more daring to loosen his grip, or at least distract him enough to pull her limbs free.

She pressed her lips more firmly against Luffy's and gently licked them as she prepared herself for an opening to at least pull her legs free.

This tactic didn't work as Luffy simply returned the favor and hummed to himself.

'Aha, I knew it! They had food and they didn't even bring any for me!' He pouted.

"Say my name, (Y/n)." Luffy suddenly ordered her, holding her face firmly against his hands.

Her face was completely red as she did not expect any of what just happened, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

"... L-Luffy..." She managed to whisper between labored breaths.

At her saying his name, he smirked from ear-to-ear.

"Yay, I win!~" He cheered, now getting off of her as he went to do a little celebratory dance.

Meanwhile, (Y/n) was completely disheveled. Her face was completely red, she was trying her best to catch her breath, her (e/c) eyes were glazed over, and her oversized shirt was out of place with the hem starting to ride up and the v-neck collar to slip off of one shoulder.

"Th-that... That was not a game..." She panted heavily.

"Oi, don't try tricking me again! I won this wrestling game fair and square!" He huffed with a proud smile.

"That wasn't wrestling, that was kissing. There's a big difference and it's not a game. A game doesn't make you feel... like this, does it?" She frowned slightly.

Luffy went to stare at her in confusion.

"I thought the kissing was apart of it?" He questioned blankly.

"It-it is, but it's not a game. It's a way to show affection to someone and it's very serious and important, Luffy. It's especially important to me since I just entrusted you with my first kiss."

"Well... in that case, take the kiss I gave you as affection." He told her with a smile.

(Y/n) leaned over and hugged Luffy tightly, "Y-you're lucky that I like you so much... And... I wouldn't mind kissing you again sometime..."

Luffy hugged her back, the smile on his face growing.

"Then let's kiss again!" He chirped before leaning into her.

"Y-you're too goofy." (Y/n) whispered as she leaned back into Luffy and kissed him once more.

She couldn't deny that whenever his lips touched hers, it felt like her heart was swelling up inside of her chest as it throbbed in the most pleasant way. She couldn't help but wonder if Luffy felt it too...

When Luffy kissed (Y/n), he felt a very new but amazing sensation flow throughout his body, particularly in his chest. It was the equivalent of eating delicious food for him; it felt really good.

Unaware of each other's thoughts on the matter, they continued to kiss until (Y/n) found herself slowly passing out from exhaustion as well as the constant lack of air to her lungs that her kissing with Luffy was causing.

Luffy started to slowly doze off as well, feeling very comfortable around (Y/n).

'It... feels good to be your first kiss, (Y/n)...'

-~-~-~-~-~-~-❤︎-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It wasn't long before Luffy and (Y/n) slowly fell asleep. Before (Y/n) passed out, she felt Luffy's arms wrapping around her waist as well as something long and fuzzy brushing against her bare legs as whatever it was started coiling around her.

It was a familiar sensation, and yet it also felt so different...

Regardless, it still gave her a sense of comfort and safety as she drifted off to sleep.