Chapter Text
The bell rang, loud and sharp — the kind that made everyone move at once.
Except Luffy.
He was still sitting on his desk, chair tilted back dangerously, staring at the ceiling like there was something written there only he could read.
“Monkey D. Luffy.”
He didn’t move.
A piece of chalk hit his forehead.
“Ow—HEY!”
The class laughed.
The teacher sighed, already tired. “Detention. Again.”
Luffy blinked. “…For what?”
“For existing at this point.”
“Hey! That’s not fair!”
“Neither is you sleeping through every class.”
Luffy grinned anyway, rubbing his forehead like none of it mattered. “But I wasn’t sleeping. I was thinking.”
“About what?”
“…Food.”
More laughter.
The teacher pinched the bridge of his nose. “After school. Don’t be late.”
The classroom emptied fast.
Chairs scraping, voices overlapping, lives moving forward.
Luffy stayed behind for a second longer.
Not because he had to.
Just because there wasn’t really anywhere else to go.
Detention was quiet.
Too quiet.
Three other students sat scattered around the room, all pretending not to exist. The clock ticked louder than it should’ve.
Luffy lasted exactly six minutes.
Then—
thud.
His head hit the desk.
“Bored.”
“Obviously.”
Luffy lifted his head slightly, eyes landing on the guy sitting by the window. “You talk a lot for someone in detention.”
The guy didn’t even look at him. “You talk a lot for someone with nothing to say.”
Luffy grinned. “I have things to say.”
“Then say something useful.”
“…I’m hungry.”
A pause.
“…Of course you are.”
When detention finally ended, the sky was already turning orange.
Luffy stretched his arms like he had just survived something dramatic. “Freedom!”
No one responded.
He stepped out of the school building alone.
Again.
The walk home was long.
Not because of the distance.
Because of the silence.
He passed crowded streets, people laughing, friends pushing each other, couples arguing over nothing.
Normal things.
Things he didn’t really have.
Luffy shoved his hands into his pockets, kicking a loose stone on the sidewalk.
“Stupid detention…”
His phone buzzed.
He stopped.
A single message.
Grandpa
“Don’t wait for me tonight.”
Luffy stared at it for a few seconds.
Then locked his phone.
“…Yeah. Figured.”
The apartment was dark when he got there.
It always was.
He tossed his bag somewhere near the door, shoes half-kicked off, and headed straight to the kitchen.
Fridge.
Empty.
Well—not empty.
Just… not what he wanted.
Luffy stared inside like it might magically change.
“…Meat would fix this.”
Silence.
He shut the door.
A noise.
Outside.
Luffy froze.
It wasn’t loud.
Just—
something.
A shuffle. Metal maybe. Or a footstep.
His eyes lit up instantly.
Not scared.
Never scared.
“Finally something interesting.”
He grabbed his hoodie and bolted out the door without thinking.
The alley behind the building was narrow, dim, barely lit by a flickering streetlight.
And someone was there.
Blonde.
Thin.
Back turned.
Breathing uneven.
Luffy tilted his head.
“Hey.”
The figure flinched hard.
Slowly turned.
Eyes sharp. Defensive. Ready to run.
Luffy smiled.
Wide. Bright. Like nothing in the world could go wrong.
“You look like you need food.”
A pause.
Suspicion.
“…What?”
“I said—” Luffy stepped closer, hands casually in his pockets, “—you look hungry.”
The boy narrowed his eyes. “Are you stupid?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“…You just walk up to strangers like this?”
“Only the interesting ones.”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
The tension didn’t disappear.
But it… shifted.
“…Why?”
Luffy shrugged. “Because I’m bored.”
“…That’s the worst reason I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah, but it worked. You didn’t run.”
The boy hesitated.
Then—
“…I could.”
Luffy’s grin didn’t change.
“But you didn’t.”
Silence again.
Then finally—
“…Sabo.”
Luffy blinked. “Huh?”
“My name.”
Luffy’s smile softened, just a little.
“Luffy.”
Somewhere in the city, far from schools and quiet apartments—
fire flickered in the dark.
And Portgas D. Ace exhaled smoke into the night, unaware—
that everything was about to change.
The steel door creaked as Luffy pushed it open.
Darkness.
Not the comfortable kind — the kind that felt… unused.
“Do you live alone?” Sabo asked from behind him, voice low, cautious.
Luffy stepped inside without hesitation, kicking his shoes off halfway and letting them land wherever they wanted. He didn’t reach for the light.
“Nah,” he said simply. “My grandpa’s here.”
A beat.
“…Sometimes.”
Sabo didn’t move at first.
His eyes adjusted slowly, scanning the apartment from the doorway — the worn couch, the cluttered table, a school bag carelessly thrown on the floor. Nothing broken.
Just… empty.
“You’re seventeen, right?” Sabo asked.
“Yeah.” It was a lie.
“And he leaves you here alone?”
Luffy shrugged, already halfway to the kitchen like it didn’t matter. He opened the fridge, stared inside for a few seconds, then closed it again with a quiet thud.
“I got used to it.”
Something in Sabo’s expression tightened.
“That’s not something you’re supposed to get used to.”
Luffy leaned back against the counter, grinning like he hadn’t heard anything serious at all.
“It’s not that bad. No one tells me what to do.”
“No one’s there,” Sabo corrected.
Silence.
It lingered longer this time.
Luffy’s smile didn’t fully disappear—but it wasn’t as loud anymore.
“…Yeah,” he said, quieter.
Sabo finally stepped inside.
The door clicked shut behind him.
For a moment, he just stood there, like he was waiting for something to go wrong.
Nothing did.
“…Where do you sleep?” he asked.
Luffy pointed lazily down the hall. “Room’s there. But the couch is fine too.”
Sabo let out a short breath, almost a scoff. “You say that like you’ve tried both.”
“I move around a lot.”
“…Of course you do.”
Another pause.
Then Luffy looked at him.
Really looked this time.
“You running from something?”
Sabo’s entire body stilled.
“…No.”
“Liar.”
The word wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t accusing. It was… simple.
Like stating a fact.
Sabo’s jaw tightened. “You don’t even know me.”
“Don’t need to,” Luffy said, tilting his head slightly. “You look like it.”
That hit closer than it should have.
Sabo looked away first.
“…I don’t stay in one place,” he muttered. “It’s easier that way.”
“For who?”
No answer.
Luffy pushed himself off the counter.
“If you want, you can stay here.”
Sabo blinked. “What?”
“There’s space.”
“That’s not a reason.”
Luffy shrugged. “You’re still here.”
“…That’s temporary.”
“Then stay temporary.”
Sabo stared at him.
Trying to figure him out.
Trying to find the catch.
“…You let strangers into your house a lot?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Then why me?”
Luffy smiled.
Not wide this time.
Just… real.
“Because you didn’t run.”
Silence filled the apartment again.
But it felt different now.
Less empty.
More… waiting.
Sabo exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
“…I cause problems.”
Luffy’s grin came back, a little sharper this time.
“Good.”
“…Good?”
“I get bored easily.”
Sabo almost laughed at that.
Almost.
And just like that without a plan, without trust, without anything solid to stand on—
a boy who had nowhere to stay
and a boy who had nowhere to go
ended up in the same place.
Neither of them said it out loud.
But something had already started.