𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 ➳ 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐚 (one piece fanfic)

Chapter 57

"Is he alright?" They asked, bent over the unmoving man, head crashed against his plate. The barista, wiped his glass while looking over, a bit concerned over the pile of empty plates and the amount of money lost. "Maybe we should..." He glanced at the man's pockets, wondering if there was anything to pay him with, in them.

A woman sitting in the corner of the room twirled her glass before gulping it down, "Don't worry, he won't die." She took a pouch of money from her coat and threw it to the barista, "Here."

That successfully shut him down, while the clients continued worrying over the sleeping pirate, "do you think he's dead?" "Maybe he ate poison?" "Shouldn't we call someone?" "How about you do it?"

The bustle managed to attract quite the crowd who stared at the dead man in wonder, some glancing at his familiar tattoo, but no one putting the pieces together yet.

"What's going on here?" One man asked as he walked in, his marine coat trailing off behind him while the smoke partially hid his face.

Ace woke up suddenly and nonchalantly continued his meal, before noticing the crowd around him, "What are you all doing over here?"

"We were worried for you!" They all deadpanned.

Smoker walked up to the pirate, inhaling his smoke with ease, "What's the second in command of Whitebeard doing here?"

The question fell dumbly on the crowd and a silence spread before chaos ensued and they all scattered like fire was behind them.

"I'm just looking for my dumb brother," he retorted with ease, while continuing his meal, "What do you want with me?" He dully noted the fact that the food tasted weird and that his hair felt sticky.

Smoker glared at his smug face that reminded him of his annoying junior that he hadn't seen in a while, and he felt an urge to wipe the smirk off his face. "How about you sit still and let me arrest you?" His hand twitched for a fight.

Ace turned around swiftly, not noticing the amused glance of the woman sitting alone in a corner and observing the scene. "Rejected, I'm afraid I can't do that."

"And I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave like that," Smoker retorted, taking out his weapon, and preparing to launch an attack. He had been bored with all the small pirates fleeing at the first sight of him, he wanted some challenge—after all he wasn't in the Marine to play with the smaller mice but to tickle the tiger's hair.

However, he was interrupted by a scream as a sudden force crashed against his back, sending him flying toward Ace and the wall. He barely had the time to curse the culprit before being sent crashing away.

They both got up at the same time, a bit winded out and pissed off.

"Who the h-" Ace stopped in his track as he saw the small black head with a tell-tale straw hat gobbling down his food. "Luff-!"

Smoker pushed down his head while walking over his body, "Straw Hat‼" He grabbed his weapon, smoke starting to fly around him.

Luffy's mouth dropped open, "You're that guy!" His mind rapidly went over his chances of winning and in a second, he was running out of the restaurant. He couldn't even touch Smoker, how could he even fight him... He knew Haki was needed for that and unfortunately, he couldn't control it yet, it was mostly random bursts of luck or his scary sister beating it out of him.

Smoker ran after him, while Ace soon followed with a shout. Konan couldn't help but chuckle at the hilarity of the scene, she didn't expect to encounter her two little brothers in the same bar with her former boss.

"My bar-" the barista was left aghast, staring at the fallen walls as his soul left his body.

Konan chuckled as she left, not before leaving some money though. She would have some interesting stories to blackmail them with later on. "Should I surprise them?" she muttered under her breath, jumping unto the roofs in one swift jump to follow them.

From afar, she could see Luffy trying to avoid Smoker's attacks while Ace tried to catch up. She felt a burst of excitement she hadn't felt in a while, it wasn't often she saw them since they set sails. Wings sprouted from her back as she flew over the scene, unnoticed by the three men.

Smoker sent a flying punch towards Luffy, only to be stopped by Ace's fire.

"Ace!" Luffy turned around, seeing his brother appear out of nowhere.

Ace smiled at his flabbergasted brother, "It's been a while Luffy." He turned back to Smoker glaring at him through the sea of fire and smoke. "Your powers aren't a match for mine, just give up."

"Why are you here," Luffy stopped running, feeling innately he was safe with his brother.

"No time for that, run for now, we'll talk later!" Ace waved him off, rushing into the flames to meet Smoker's weapon heads-on. Taking care of his brother while fighting was too annoying, he wasn't like Konan.

As Luffy disappeared, Konan decided to drop down, behind Ace. "Hello~" she whispered in his ear, blowing on it with a smirk before avoiding his fist.

Ace suppressed a shiver from the uncomfortable action, swiftly putting a hand up to his reddening ear. "What the heck-" he turned around, "Konan!"

His opponent also paused, seeing the familiar pirate who once escaped his grasp, "Paper Angel..."

Konan waved at the both of them with a wide smile, before countering Ace's fist and Smoker's blow which fell at the same time. "Wow, would you look at that!" she whistled, kicking Ace away while her wing sent Smoker flying. "In sync with each other!"

Ace went back to his attack swiftly, "How long have you been here?" He didn't sense her with his Observation Haki but he instinctively knew she had been watching for longer in the shadows. She always seemed to be there, either in presence or with her butterflies always fluttering around anything note-worthy.

Konan smirked, putting a finger over her lips before catching his fist in her Haki-coated hand. "Not long, just enough to see you flying through the walls~"

His cheeks reddened noticeably as his flames became stronger. "Of course, you did-"

Smoker calmly walked out, hesitating a bit before throwing all caution to the wind and jumping in to the three-sided fight. He was already in trouble for acting out of his allowed territory, might as well go with a bang...

Konan's smile stiffened as she found herself in-between two troublesome opponents which she knew all-too-well. She knew Ace was just trying to cover his embarrassment and gauging his progress at the same time while Smoker was both fulfilling his duty as a marine and getting his share of revenge from when she left without fighting him all those years ago.

Ah, she thought as she saw in the corner of her eye the people staring from afar, she wouldn't be able to fulfil the promise she made with Sky of not standing out.

"Where are you looking," Smoker asked sarcastically, his Jitte hitting her arm with full force.

She couldn't help but wince internally, her stomach was churning uncomfortably from the blow.

"I'm looking for your chances of winning-" Her wing transformed into a flurry of needles that Smoker barely managed to avoid. "Sorry, couldn't find it~" her smile widened when she saw his brow twitch in annoyance.

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finished just in time to watch MCC (Minecraft Championship) 😊🎉

that aside, i feel the unnecessary need to inform ya'll that i passed my driving exam (the theoretical part, not the actual driving one) with full score, and damn after working on it for the whole summer that's a relief and a half 🙃