will you come back in a heartbeat?

One Piece icons 1

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:51:01 GMT

Yeah. Some icons I made. XD; This is the first time I've used other art for icons (at least for LJ icons), so don't expect these to look so pretty. ^^;

Luffy / SanLu / ZoLu: 6
Heart Pirates: 10
Water Seven / CP9: 8

Total Icon Count: 24

Teasers:

Luffy /SanLu / ZoSan

001

002

003

004

005

006

Heart Pirates

007

008

009

010

011

012

013

014

015

016

Water Seven / CP9

017

018

019

020

021

022

023

024

Table created with accio.nu's icon table(less) generator

some sources:

http://neutral.noor.jp/op.html
http://www.geocities.jp/gen856/hp/top/topp.html

I can't recall where I got the others. If you want the pics, just tell me. ^_^;;;
Please credit if you're going to use any. =)

LJ Fixed!

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:26:40 GMT

Yes. From now on, besides fan fiction and notes, everything else will be for friends only. :)
Sorry. I just love privacy.
Don't you?

That aside, I've also changed - practically everything. I've got new user pics, a new layout and even new mood themes. :') YAY. It's all pretty now.

Pretty much it. Buh bye. :)

Overlapping Lines - Big Surprise (Part 2)

Fri, 15 May 2009 14:49:52 GMT

It's the last chapter! It was longer than I expected, and I'm thinking it seemed rushed a little - at least on some parts. I'm just glad I finished this on time. I hope you enjoy reading. It was fun creating this short fan fic for Luffy's always-17th birthday. xD

Special thanks to xxwhite_firexx for getting me into both One Piece and AceLu (a.k.a. D-cest). I'm utterly grateful. :')

Title: Overlapping Lines

Rating: PG13

Genre: general (probably slight drama, but nothing drastic)

Pairings/Triangles: AceLu (and just a bit of ZoLu, SanLu, ZoSan)

Summary: Zoro and Sanji think that Luffy's childish mind just doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "like" - well, until the time Luffy himself said that he "liked" his own older brother, Ace. The problem was - Ace is hanging out with someone else.

Warnings: shounen ai, AU

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, much to my dismay.

( Part 1 )

“Hey, Luffy, snap out of it!” two different voices popped in his mind. He was brought back to reality where he really was, supposedly celebrating his 18^th birthday with his friends. Zoro and Sanji had their faces close to his, examining his face. They were sure Luffy was supposed to be happy eating Sanji’s chocolate cake, at the very least. However, it seemed that he was staring at nothing while doing so. Yet, now that Luffy’s soul seemed to have returned to Earth, they both sighed with relief.

Luffy looked at the cake, forgetting to wipe his mouth again. He was glad to be eating cake for his birthday, but something didn’t feel right. Something felt missing – rather, someone wasn’t there.

At present time, far away from his childhood memories, Ace wasn’t celebrating his birthday with him. “Yeah, he’s probably hanging out with Nami again,” Luffy thought. Why Nami? It wasn’t her birthday, too – was it? No, it wasn’t. Did Ace forget his birthday, too? Impossible. Ace remembers the things Luffy would often forget. How could Ace forget his birthday when – when he kept all of these pictures for fourteen years?

Sensing Luffy’s confusion, Sanji and Zoro decided to cheer him up by continuing the small party, if it even did look like one. They brought out their own board games; Sanji brought out a bit more food for some snacks; they watched television together; they even sang. They usually didn’t like singing, especially Zoro. He clearly wasn’t even the type to laugh. Well, they did manage to make Luffy smile and chuckle a few times. The swordsman and the cook did everything they could for him, at least until sunset. This time, they hoped Luffy would sing, even a bit, on the way home.

He brought home the black box and the two presents he received from his friends. As they reached the front door, they opened it for Luffy. He turned to them with a smile, and he felt grateful – yet incomplete. “Would you guys stay again?” was what he asked of them once more. It wasn’t like any of the two could resist that, so they chuckled and entered the door with him.

It was quiet again, although it was rather eerie. It was, perhaps, too quiet. Luffy didn’t seem to notice the difference – nor that there were things of different colors hanging on the walls either. He just felt that he should enter the living room like he had done with his friends the other day, so he did. Today, however, he had more company than he had expected.

“Surprise!” the shout echoed throughout the room, though it went in from one ear and out the other for Luffy, who replied with a boring “What?” He stared blankly, but this slowly turned to a stare of surprise. He didn’t believe it. He hadn’t even noticed the confetti flying and falling on top of him.

Ace, along with Nami and a few other people that were also friends of Luffy, had set up the living room for a party. Decorations hung from the ceiling, party hats stood in multiple places; it had all been done while Luffy was away. It had all been done by Ace and Luffy’s friends. There they were, right in front of him, all in one line, and each of them were either smiling or laughing. The big birthday party surprise was a complete success.

Luffy looked behind him to see that Sanji and Zoro were smiling. They didn’t look surprised. The boy then looked at everyone else, but before he could ask anything, a hand had rested on his shoulder. Someone guided him through the crowd, and it was his brother who did so. Ace smiled at him before bending slightly to his level to point ahead of Luffy who was left speechless. Luffy looked at the direction he was pointing at. In front of him, on a table that wasn’t supposed to be there, stood a large cake in the shape of a pirate ship, having about eighteen candles in a line. Luffy was always fond of pirates, and Ace knew that. In fact, they had shared that interest since they were children.

Gifts surrounded the table, and so did a lot of paper plates, plastic utensils and plastic cups. No one forgot the napkins, either. Everything was really prepared for this day, yet Luffy didn’t know how to react. Then, when everyone waited, his face did it for him. He burst out laughing like he always does and jumped. Everyone couldn’t help but laugh with him, greeting him a happy birthday.

“Wait,” he spoke in between laughs and smiled, “everyone knew?”

“Of course, stupid little bro,” Ace answered with his own chuckle, “Everyone but you. Even Sanji and Zoro were in this one.”

“They were?” Luffy almost yelled.

“Yes, yes.” Sanji grinned and messed his hair. “Ace asked us to keep you busy.”

As he continued to mess Luffy’s hair, Zoro pulled him away and patted Luffy himself. Thus, another argument started, and everyone laughed, most especially Luffy. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He thought that maybe all that worrying paid off. In the end, nothing was wrong. At least, it seemed like it.

There was a lot of food to eat. It was enough for everyone, and Luffy suddenly realized why he had told himself to eat a lot today. It was his birthday; he often ate a lot during his birthday. There were a lot of games to play, jokes and stories to share, drinks to drink; the birthday boy himself sang. Everyone enjoyed and giggled at this. He always had a funny way of singing, just as he had with his laughing.

At the end of everything, Luffy opened his gifts. He received things like clothes that he would most probably like; some food and snacks for storing in case he couldn’t cook anything; even a few soundtracks and CDs to listen to. His favorite gift was a giant ball given to him by his older brother, because it reminded him of his childhood once again. Overall, the whole night was all fun and laughter. There was no need for worrying – supposedly.

The last people who left the house were Luffy’s closest friends (aside from his brother), Zoro and Sanji. Sanji had been quiet for some time. Zoro couldn’t help but notice. Obviously, now wasn’t the time to argue. Even he knew that. It wasn’t always badmouthing the person next to him. He decided that he should either keep quiet or start some sort of conversation. The first option was more preferable, as the latter could lead to an argument (which, again, was the one thing he needed to avoid). Nonetheless, Zoro spoke.

“Are you too exhausted or something, damned cook?”

Sanji slightly glared at him for a while but turned to look away as they walked home together. He was clearly bothered about something, and it was a wonder if he thought he was hiding it or not. Either way, Zoro continued to speak.

“You know,” he muttered, “I was surprised when you came up with the whole ‘Ace likes Nami’ situation. I know Ace told us that if Luffy found out what he was doing for the past few days, we’d have to cover it up with something. He said anything would do, but with what you said–”

“I know what I said,” Sanji retorted, “I just – I wanted to get the feeling off.” Zoro was puzzled, but Sanji carried on, “It’s hard enough to watch the person you like get hurt by someone else, especially when that someone else is the one he or she likes. The thing is – Luffy doesn’t feel the same about us as he does Ace. I wanted to help him but hope that he’d give up on Ace at the same time. It’s ironic, isn’t it?”

Silenced for a while, the swordsman contemplated a bit before reaching to mess Sanji’s hair. The blonde was dumbfounded by the action which was entirely new to him – to the both of them, really.

“Don’t put such a fucked up look on your face.” Zoro pulled away and walked ahead. “You’re not the only one who had to watch over Luffy when you knew he didn’t ‘like’ you like he does Ace.”

Sanji stared, somehow finding this – rather comforting. He didn’t know what to say in return, but he did feel embarrassed that he’d been told something like that, particularly by none other than the person he didn’t want to live with. Or – did he like living with him? It’s been a lot livelier at the house, after all.

Well, he couldn’t think about that. He had to catch up with Zoro. He made a wrong turn and was just going the wrong way home.

Back at the house that was in the possession of two brothers, Luffy – after taking a shower and changing into only a white shirt and boxers – jumped in bed and looked at Ace who was lying on his own, wearing just a pair of shorts. He smiled before asking, “Hey, Ace, what was it you were doing with Nami?”

Ace almost looked surprised. “You saw us?” He paused for a while then chuckled. “I guess I couldn’t hide from you.” He sat up to begin explaining, “I was going to places with her to prepare for your birthday party.”

“For a whole week?”

“For a whole week.” Ace nodded. “I planned most of it. I just needed a little help. Besides, I wanted your eighteenth birthday to be fun. It’s a special age. You’ve just become an adult, you know.”

“Being an adult’s no fun.” Luffy pouted in disgust.

However, his brother grinned at a certain idea that sprung to mind. “It’s not at all bad. In fact, you can start working with me.”

“No way!” Luffy yelled but blinked as he recalled something he wanted to ask, “Oh, about your job, why didn’t you tell me about your promo thing?”

“My promotion?” Ace replied and paused to think but continued soon enough and smiled, “Well, I wanted to worry about you first. Besides, your birthday is a lot more important to me than a promotion. The promotion was nothing.”

“Don’t say that,” Luffy said as he faced him, sitting on his own bed with his legs crossed, “Whatever’s important to you is important to me, too.”

He was surprised, but Ace couldn’t help it. He chuckled, sat up and waved a hand for Luffy to come closer, and so Luffy jumped to his bed and sat beside him. They both leaned against the wall as Ace spoke again, “Luffy, did you know that Edward Newgate, the founder and owner of all the Newgate Supermarkets in the world, is a rich and famous man? In fact, I think he has other kinds of businesses as well. I didn’t tell you about my promotion, because I want to become someone important in Sir Newgate's market business first.”

“Why’s that?” Luffy listened obediently, but he had to ask.

“Well,” Ace thought for a while but went on, “Remember when I kept changing jobs just so that I could get us some money to stay in this house?” Luffy nodded, and Ace went on with a smile, “Sir Newgate is a good man. When I desperately needed a job, he came. He noticed my hard work and offered me a job. At that time, I had a goal. To thank him for his action, I want to become one of his best employees.”

“Why do you have to do that?”

“Luffy,” Ace answered with a soft sigh, yet he kept the smile, “I wanted to work for you; and I’m utterly grateful for the job Sir Edward Newgate has given me, so I’ve worked for him for some time now. You see, when I get an important job, I’m going to buy us a bigger house. We’ll have more furniture. I’ll buy you a lot of food. We can go around and travel like pirates do. We can even have our own ship, maybe!” Ace was happy; he laughed at all the ideas he came up with, all the dreams he wanted to fulfill. They were all for Luffy, for the both of them.

Luffy couldn’t help but smile. He pictured different events that may happen in their future; he imagined all the memories they could be sharing at that. Although, speaking of memories, there was something Luffy forgot. Without much thought, he jumped out of bed and out of the bedroom, leaving Ace surprised, and came back with the black box at hand. He mumbled an apology for taking it without permission and passed it to his brother.

Unexpected to Luffy, Ace smiled at this and brought out the piece of paper that was inside it and gave this to him. The latter didn’t know what it was, so he unfolded it. Written in bad handwriting, yet in different colors, it said, “Happi Berthday Luffy!”

“Ace!” Luffy exclaimed, “You spelt ‘happy’ wrong!” This only made Ace laugh and mention that he wrote that when he was a child, lost it and then found it along with the ball. Luffy smiled at this before he remembered that he was meaning to ask something again, so he did, “Ace? Why were you keeping your plans a secret from me?”

His brother was surprised, but he smiled and beckoned Luffy to sit beside him once more. Ace brushed his hair before looking ahead of him, answering his question, “Look, Luffy. I’ve kept this from you for a while now, but the reason I’ve been going to places without telling you is – well, let’s just say there’s someone that I’ve liked for the while, too.”

“Someone you’d never lie to?”

“Someone I’d never lie to.” Ace nodded and closed his eyes. “This person is funny, and the one I like could be trouble sometimes. Then again, at the same time, this person is really nice. I know I’d–”

Before Ace continued, he had felt something soft and warm press against his lips. He opened his eyes to find Luffy, he himself having his own eyes closed, kissing him tenderly. It was a sudden act, so Luffy pulled away shortly, although he looked at Ace with a bit of sadness.

“Ace, e- even if you like someone else, I really like you!” Luffy had said all too fast that Ace couldn’t believe it. Though he’d understood, Ace could only bring his hand to cup Luffy’s cheek slowly. The warm touch caused Luffy to reclose his eyes.

“Luffy,” Ace whispered and kissed his forehead, “If I said you thought wrong, because you are the one I like, what would you say? You really are dumb at times.”

“I’d be happy, but that’s not right,” Luffy answered and looked at him, disappointed, “You said you’d never lie to that person. You lied to me. How do I know you’re not going to lie again?”

They stared at each other deeply for a moment, each of them trying to search for the answer in the other’s black orbs. It stayed like this until Ace smiled, kissing him softly. “Why would you ask that? I told you. I kept secrets from you, because your birthday party was supposed a surprise. It was, wasn’t it?”

“S- So – you won’t lie to me for any bad reason?”

“Of course, I won’t.” Ace smiled sweetly. “I promised.”

Luffy looked into Ace’s eyes. By the looks of it, Ace was serious. Luffy’s logic told him that if someone was serious, they couldn’t be lying – not that anyone was supposed to lie even if they weren’t serious. This put the boy to ease. He sat on his brother’s lap and embraced him around the shoulders.

“Thanks, Ace.”

Ace smiled, brushing his hair. He later on adjusted himself and Luffy, so they could lie down on his bed now. It was late into the night after all. He had to work as the new assistant manager of the Newgate Supermarket that stood in their town tomorrow, so he better get some shut eye; Luffy, too. Tomorrow was the day after his birthday, but he would continue to do some fun (yet bothersome) things with his friends. There was much to do.

As he closed his eyes, Ace yawned. He held his brother close in return, fully relaxed and relieved to know that his brother felt the same. “I like you, I’ve always had,” he had said, in reply to Luffy’s confession. Luffy was the most important person to him. It was a good feeling.

Their thoughts on each other were similar. In fact, it was so similar that they (the both of them) had feared the same thing: the possibility that the other did not feel the same when, in fact, he did. It’s as though their worries, thoughts and feelings were – say, two different lines. They had expected them to be either parallel, never to meet, so to say; or intersecting, where only at point would they agree. However, instead of that, it turned out as they had hoped. Their feelings were overlapping – rather, their feelings were one.

And, that – that wasn’t a lie.

“Hey, Luffy,” Ace mumbled sleepily.

“Yeah?” Luffy replied in the same manner.

“Where did you learn to kiss?” He was just curious. Ace wasn’t caught trying to kiss Luffy before, was he? Perhaps not. Even if he did get caught in the past, Luffy wouldn’t have thought too much of it – maybe.

“Oh,” the younger brother muttered softly, “Sanji taught me.”

“Oh, okay.” Ace moved closer and tried to sleep. “You kissed well. I guess that’s good.”

Was it?

Ace felt something tighten around his throat. What was this eerie feeling? It was strange. He was sleepy, but he couldn’t get any proper sleep. Was it something that Luffy said? What was the last thing he said, again? Oh, right, it was “Sanji taught me.” There. That was it.

Ace cracked his eyes open.

“Wait – What?”

Overlapping Lines - Big Surprise (Part 1)

Fri, 15 May 2009 14:45:50 GMT

Chapter Three
Big Secret

X-:oOo:-X

His vision was blurred as the sunlight caressed his face. He shifted in bed and turned to his side to find yet another bed that was similar to his own – except empty. This wakened him a bit further until he told his body to get up, and so it did. Luffy yawned sleepily and sat back, looking at his brother’s side of the bedroom – neat, tidy and still empty. Ace had told him he would be out early, so Luffy didn’t mind – not too much, at least.

He got up and attempted to pull up his boxers slightly, as it was the only piece of clothing he had on himself, but they only fell back down to his lower waist. Shrugging this off, he sleepily walked to the bathroom across the set of stairs just outside the bedroom. He then stood in front of a mirror to look at himself.

“What should I do today?” he asked himself, rubbing his face. His eyes moved to look to his side where the calendar hung. “It’s Tuesday,” he mumbled before blinking, a little more awake now as he saw his own handwriting, “Eat – a lot? Oh, today must be special.”

Deciding not to let it mind him too much, Luffy then washed his face and dressed up into a loose yellow shirt and into some pants. He decided to ask Ace or any of his friends what was so special about today and walked down the stairs to peek into the kitchen.

“Ace?” Unfortunately, his brother wasn’t there that morning. Luffy sighed, having expected this, although he had also hoped it wasn’t so.

That morning, he felt rather calm about it. It was something that Sanji had told him the other night that got his mind off some things. He sat down quietly at the table where a plate of some eggs and pancakes was waiting for him, along with a note. He turned to read this. It was from Ace, saying that Luffy should enjoy most of the day and that Ace was sorry he wasn’t there with him at such time.

“What did Sanji say again?” Luffy muttered while placing some food into his mouth, “Sumthin abup Ess.” He tried to recall what his friends had said about his brother, so he stared into space as he subconsciously ate.

X-:oOo:-X

“Luffy,” Sanji spoke after a long period of silence, causing the boy to look at him with surprise, “Do you see now, the possibility that Ace–”

A sad smile, that had disappeared for a few moments, once again revealed itself on Luffy’s face as he interrupted, “It’s okay. I thought about it. Ace – He was happy with Nami. I want Ace to be happy.”

Sanji was silenced again, and Zoro could only watch as he stood next to them. Not before long, Ace had left the bathroom. He was surprised to see Luffy still standing by the stairs and even more surprised to see his friends were now next to him.

“Hey,” he said, taken aback, “Are you guys just about to leave?”

“Yes,” Sanji took the chance to speak, stealing it away from Luffy and Zoro, “actually.”

Thinking about it for a while, as he wiped his hair to prevent water from dripping to his bare back, exposed upper body and pants, Ace smiled. “Could you guys pick Luffy up in the morning? I’m leaving early. I don’t want him to be left alone.”

“Of course,” Sanji spoke again.

“Thanks.” Ace grinned before waving them a goodbye and walking into the bedroom. Once he closed the door behind him, the three friends then looked at each other once more.

“We’re leaving?” Zoro asked in confusion.

Luffy could only add, “You are?”

“Yes,” Sanji confirmed it, “but I have to tell Luffy something.” He turned to the youngest of the three of them before continuing, “Tomorrow, we will pick you up in the morning. What I want you to do tomorrow is, when Ace is gone, to look for something – a notebook, anything – that he might use to keep his secrets in. You should know what that is.”

“I should?” Luffy asked, not knowing that he did need to know what this – well, this thing was. This made him wonder about what Ace would keep away from him, but instead of thinking about it, he asked, “Wait, why?”

“Well, we’re going to find out about Nami, of course.” This made Luffy (and even Zoro) blink as he didn’t quite expect that answer, but Sanji went on, “You might just have even a little bit of hope left, Luffy. If Ace does like Nami, we’ll find out ourselves. He should have some sort of journal in his room, right?”

“I think so,” Luffy replied, recalling that there were a few things Ace did keep from him, but he never really thought it was so important.

“Tomorrow, we’ll hopefully know about Ace’s secrets and get this over with once and for all,” Sanji added, “You can hope that all the lies he’s been telling you for quite a while – not that we do know how long he has been lying to you,” he paused then finished, “You can hope those lies were for something else – and hopefully something better at that.”

X-:oOo:-X

With a pout of his lips, Luffy whined softly to himself. He didn’t think it felt right to touch Ace’s belongings without his permission. He did promise Ace years ago that he’d never do such a thing that would anger Ace ever again. It was a part of Luffy to keep his promises, too. He couldn’t just break any of them. But, as he thought about it, Ace did break his own promise about never lying to Luffy. Sanji said it should be fair, so – should it, really?

After finishing his breakfast, Luffy quickly ran back up to the bedroom. He began poking his head under Ace’s bed, searching for anything that he hadn’t seen before. Anything he hadn’t seen before meant it was kept away from him. In just a short time, he found a box. There it was, right there and so close to him. He pondered for a while, trying to decide whether it was right or not. This was it, after all.

“Luffy!”

The boy jerked at the call of his name, losing his train of thought and hitting his head against the wood beneath Ace’s mattress. “Ow!” he whimpered before pulling his head back out to rub this. He pouted his lips, peeking out the window.

Zoro and Sanji were already there, waiting for him. Zoro had his arms crossed while Sanji lighted a cigarette and waved a hand to greet Luffy.

“Hurry up!” Zoro called out.

“S- Sorry! Wait!” Luffy went back to Ace’s bed, picking the box up in a rush and hurriedly placed his sandals on. Just as hurryingly, he brushed his teeth and finished by spitting the toothpaste out, except without much intention to wipe his face. After so, he ran down the set of steps, almost tripping just as it happens every morning. In the process of running out, he attempted to fix his hair but disregarded it as it was always messy either way. When he met up with his friends, he grinned and tried not to pant for breath.

“Oi,” Zoro moved toward him to wipe his lips with a thumb, “We never told you to rush.”

Sanji slapped his hand away. “We didn’t, but you did. Don’t touch him like that.” He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Luffy’s face himself.

“You’re to talk, stupid chef,” Zoro replied angrily, pulling the blonde’s arm away.

In the blink of an eye, they were fighting with the usual kicks and blocks. Luffy didn’t laugh as he stared blankly at them, remembering that he was meaning to ask something. He stood there for a moment, trying to remind himself of what it was. It slowly and eventually came back to him. His handwriting was on the calendar, telling him to eat a lot.

“Hey, Sanji,” he spoke, “are you going to cook a lot for me today?”

His two best friends looked at him with some surprise, but they stopped fighting and brushed away any dirt off themselves.

“Yeah, of course I will,” Sanji answered and patted Luffy on the head. The boy grinned at this, so Sanji (yes, and even Zoro) was relieved. As expected of a boy who was carefree most of the time – more often than needed, rather – Luffy was able to recover from depression quickly. It was that, or it was Luffy’s childish mind that made him forget.

At least, they were able to start the day right. They headed to the Baratie for Sanji to work. It passed by quickly, as there wasn’t that much to do but eating for Luffy; sleeping – with his arms crossed on the table and his head resting on them – for Zoro; and cooking and serving (which also included flirting with female customers) for Sanji. The chef was given half the day off, so they headed to Sanji and Zoro’s house once the clock reached 1 PM.

They settled in the living room as they often do. Luffy jumped to the blue couch and laid himself there while Sanji and Zoro took their seats on the other two separate armchairs. Now, it was time to start the real working.

“Luffy,” Sanji started, “What’s in the box?”

“What box?” Luffy looked at him as he played with his feet. He rolled his eyes down to his own hands and saw that he had been bringing the black rectangular box from underneath Ace’s bed around with him all along. Sitting up, he replied, “Oh, this box. I found it; I think it’s Ace’s.”

“So,” his friend continued, “You brought something like I asked.”

“Let’s open it, then,” Zoro mumbled, bored yet curious as to what was inside. Sanji and Luffy were just as interested.

With hands hesitating to open it, Luffy told himself that he couldn’t have brought it out from Ace’s things if he wasn’t going to do anything with it. If Ace would see this as an offense, Luffy would just have to apologize. He opened the box but didn’t find too much.

Inside were a few photos, a little ball for children, a piece of paper and a candy wrapper. They were confused for a moment, at least before Luffy gasped. Clearly, he knew what these were. He took out the photos, browsing through each one of them. They portrayed one single event that dated back to one of Luffy’s childhood years, all having May 5 written on them. Luffy was an infant in these photos, together with Ace. His older brother must have kept them for so long. Seeing that Luffy was at the age of seventeen now – and that the cake in the photos had a candle with the shape of the number four – it’s been years over a decade since Luffy’s fourth birthday.

“My birthday,” Luffy muttered, staring at the photos, recalling each and every moment, “It’s my birthday.”

“What a coincidence,” Zoro mumbled as well, messing Luffy’s hair, “Isn’t today the 5^th of May?”

Luffy blinked. His mind slowly processed and registered this information before he exclaimed, “It’s my birthday today!”

Zoro, along with Sanji, heaved a sigh. He messed Luffy’s hair once again before passing him a badly wrapped box. “Happy birthday, idiot.”

He took this with surprise. Luffy felt stupid for forgetting his own birthday. He forgave himself for forgetting a lot of things, just as most people did, but he wondered why – or how – he could forget such an important day like this.

“Hey,” a voice spoke, “don’t make that stupid face. It makes me feel like my baking is shitty.”

“That’s because it is,” another voice added.

“Shut up, marimo,” the first grunted while the second replied with the usual “stupid chef” comeback.

Luffy looked at his friends who began to argue. He shifted his eyes to Sanji’s hands to find him holding a plate with a chocolate cake that had a lot of icing and two candles that stood side by side. The one on the left had the shape of the number one while the other had the shape of an eight. Today, Luffy had just turned eighteen. Although he realized this, something else occurred to him. He looked back at the photos he had at hand, then at the ball and the candy wrapper that were still inside the box.

“Ace,” he mumbled again, deep in thought, “He found it.”

X-:oOo:-X

“Ace!” four-year-old Luffy, who was celebrating his birthday, giggled and called out as he tossed a small red ball to him. Ace caught this and laughed with him, passing it back. They ran around the back yard for a while, tossing the ball around and catching this. However, as they continued, the ball flew far from them.

“The ball!” they both yelped and approached the high fence that the ball had flown over.

Luffy pouted in disappointment as they knew they couldn’t jump over to the other side, but when Ace – who was the last to throw it – apologized to his younger brother, Luffy grinned. “That’s okay! When I grow up, I’ll get the two of us an even bigger ball!” He hugged Ace tightly and added, “We’ll even bounce on it together and jump to the moon!”

Smiling, Ace reached into his pocket and passed Luffy some candy. “Here, take these. I’m sorry, okay?” He looked around then finished, “Ssh! I stole them from Grandpa Garp!” They laughed and ate some.

After some time of eating and after spotting a violet candy wrapper in Ace’s small hand, Luffy whined, “I want that one.”

Ace blinked in confusion, but replied, “I like it, too!”

“It’s my birthday!” With that said, it took a while for the other boy to give up. Ace sighed and passed it to Luffy who then giggled and added, “But, since it’s my birthday, I’m going to give it to my big brother!” The candy was passed back to Ace. Luffy’s sudden change of mind only began another argument.

                “I don’t want it anymore,” Ace insisted, “It’s your birthday!”
                “I dare you to eat it!”
                “No!”
                “Double dare!”
                “No, Luffy!”
                “Triple!”
                “No!”
                “Fourble!”
                “No, Luffy!”
                “Big number bubble!”
                “Luffy!”

“Luffy!”

“Luffy!”

( Part 2 )

Overlapping Lines - Someone Else

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:06:12 GMT

Yay! Chapter two is up!

It's about time I posted again, huh? Well, I just want to finish this, again, for Luffy's birthday (which was three days ago). Hopefully, I'll finish the third and last chapter before the 17th, which is (again) the day my family and I are starting our trip around Europe (Italy, Germany, Greece, etc.) This isn't much, I think, but I hope you like it. ^_^;

Title: Overlapping Lines

Rating: PG13

Genre: general (probably slight drama, but nothing drastic)

Pairings/Triangles: AceLu (and just a bit of ZoLu, SanLu, ZoSan)

Summary: Zoro and Sanji think that Luffy's childish mind just doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "like" - well, until the time Luffy himself said that he "liked" his own older brother, Ace. The problem was - Ace is hanging out with someone else.

Warnings: shounen ai, AU

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, much to my dismay.

Chapter Two
Someone Else

X-:oOo:-X

“Why are we here, again?” Luffy asked his best friends, with no clue as to why they had just entered the largest grocery store in town. It was practically a supermarket.

He looked around, seeing that none of the workers slacked off, doing as directed. The area was rather clean, too. It also didn’t reek of raw meat despite the fact that they sold them and some fish on one side. The store was well organized, aisles each having the right supplies of the best qualities. They say that this was the best grocery store in town as it was the largest.

“Newgate Supermarket?” Sanji replied, looking at Luffy while dragging Zoro (who couldn’t help but grumble and complain) along, “Well, first, I’m here to pick up some stocks for the Baratie, but we’re also going to see what’s making Ace so busy. He does work here, after all.”

“Instead of a chef, you became the Baratie’s little pick up boy, huh?” Zoro mumbled.

“Oh, shut up,” Sanji muttered back before letting the swordsman go. Actually, as of now, Zoro wasn’t a swordsman. The security guards couldn’t let him in with three swords. “Let’s go see the manager. I know him, after all.”

“Why do we need to see the manager?” Luffy asked, now from a distance as he began eating a pack of chips, “This sucks. All the food here isn’t cooked yet.”

“Weren’t you listening?” both Sanji and Zoro scolded him, walking to him and taking the bag of chips away. Luffy pouted in disappointment.

“Anyway,” Sanji continued while placing the chips aside, “We’re going to ask if Ace really is busy.” He now started to drag both Zoro and Luffy around to make sure none of them caused any trouble. Sanji felt that he wanted to get over this as soon as possible. It would hurt someone to help the person he or she liked when that person liked someone else. Nonetheless, Sanji was too fond of Luffy and was friends with Ace as well, so he couldn’t refuse.

Zoro felt this as he watched Sanji ask around if they could talk to the manager of the supermarket. The swordsman hated to admit it, but he felt the same. He himself liked Luffy and had befriended Ace when they first met. He could clearly remember the look on Sanji’s face when he found out the reason behind Luffy’s worries. Just as it was a shock for Zoro, it was a surprise for Sanji to know that Luffy did have the ability to worry and that he had feelings for his older brother.

“Well,” Sanji started when he returned and grabbed yet another bag of chips away from Luffy (who again pouted), “We have to wait for at least fifteen minutes if we want to talk to him.”

Luffy thought for a moment before asking, “If we can’t eat, then what do we do while waiting?”

“You can help me with a few things,” Sanji answered, “I still have to get some things for the Baratie.”

Without much thought, the other two shrugged and followed Sanji who walked to the back of the grocery store. There, two metal doors were present with words printed on them, saying, “Authorized Personnel Only” Sanji entered this, and the two followed with curiosity.

“Oi, damned cook,” Zoro called as he stood to watch Sanji study a piece of paper with a list, peeking over the blonde’s shoulder to see this, “You came in here without asking?”

“Are you stupid or what, stupid marimo?” Sanji retorted back and pulled away from him, “I told you; I know the manager personally. He already knows I’m here for supplies.”

Zoro groaned, but both he and Sanji looked around in surprise when they had heard someone yell, “Hey, you stupid brat! You’re not supposed to eat those from the box!” They knew right away who that stupid brat was.

They both ran to Luffy who had been wandering around again. He was arguing with a man, saying that if he was hungry, he had all right to eat something if there was food nearby. Of course, no one else had that kind of logic, and no one else knew that except Luffy’s closest friends. Sanji tried to talk the man out of his anger at Luffy while Zoro promised Luffy that they would get him some food after this. Luffy didn’t listen as he looked around as though he was searching.

“Luffy,” Zoro called as he tried to bring Luffy to listen, “Look at me, you idiot.”

“Hey,” Luffy mumbled and blinked innocently. He paused for a while, tilting his head to one side before he added – “Where’s Ace?”

X-:oOo:-X

“Where is Ace working today?” Sanji seemed to have demanded for an answer from an old man who sat behind a desk. This man was the manager of the Newgate Supermarket that stood in their town, just one of the many other supermarkets around the world. The reason Sanji sounded harsh was the need to know the facts. At the storage room – where they all knew Ace worked – Ace wasn’t at all present. His fellow co-workers hadn’t seen him the whole day either.

Zoro leaned against a wall, not as interested as Luffy about the room. On the other hand, the most childish of the friends looked around with curiosity. The room wasn’t as impressive as Luffy thought it would be. This was the manager’s office. It was neat and tidy with a desk and a cordless phone. Hanging on the walls, picture frames portrayed photos of the current and previous managers. A bookshelf stood on one side, and a maroon sofa (for guests to sit on) sat across it. Lastly, there was a large window with the view of the village. What Luffy was disappointed about was the lack of food. He thought being a manager meant one would be able to eat a lot of it, so he wondered why this man didn’t have any in the room.

“Sanji,” the man spoke, “I thought you knew of it. Ace got promoted yesterday. He requested two days off, so he’ll begin working as assistant manager on the 6^th of May.”

“Two days off?” Sanji wanted clarification.

“Yes,” the man replied, “even Sir Newgate himself approved of it. In fact, he’s known the boy personally for a while now. It’s not a surprise.”

Sanji was silent for a moment before he gave the man a nod and turned back to his friends. He quietly led them out of the manager’s room and out of the supermarket (with Zoro getting his swords back, of course). Luffy looked confused, but as he was about to ask a question, Zoro took the chance first.

“Hey, why am I the one carrying the fucking supplies?”

“Oh well,” Luffy thought and wondered for a while. He came to a conclusion that he could ask about food after an amusing fight.

“I asked you to,” Sanji grunted, “and you agreed to do it. Did you forget? You really don’t have a brain, marimo head.”

The two began pushing each other, and Luffy had almost forgotten how funny it was to see them fight. He started to laugh, oblivious to the fact that they were walking down the streets with people who just so happen to be staring at them. After a while of walking, they arrived at the entrance to the Baratie. Luffy looked thoughtful for a while, trying to remember something that he’d be meaning to do, but forgot it almost instantly at the smell of food.

“Sanji, I’m hungry!” Luffy cried out as they entered, causing people to look at them.

Sanji winked for all the ladies and to somehow disappoint the gentlemen present. He then turned to Luffy with a smile. “That’s good,” he said, “because you’ll need all the food you can get for today.” That statement only gave confusion to Zoro while Luffy rejoiced.

At least – Luffy was smiling again.

X-:oOo:-X

“Why are we here, again?” Luffy asked for the second time that day. This time, they were crouching behind the edge of a flat rooftop. “Are we here to steal food?”

A bakery stood just across the street. Luffy knew this bakery; they all did. Most people came over here. All the other small bakeries in town can only look so simple compared to this one. It sold everything from bread to cookies to cakes and pies. The aroma even floated around the air outside the bakery. Sniffing a few times, Luffy could smell this. He mindlessly moved closer to the edge and would have fallen off, had it not been for Zoro and Sanji who caught him right away. They pulled him away for a while to knock some sense back into him, waking him up from his dreams.

“We’re hiding up here,” Zoro reminded him, “Remember? We asked people around if they’ve seen your brother, and he’s supposedly here.”

“Ace is here?” Luffy blinked. “Why’s he here? Maybe he’s buying something for me. Yeah, maybe he really does want to hang out with me.” He grinned, full of hope.

“We’re not sure why just yet, Luffy. That’s what we’re about to find out,” Sanji joined the conversation, “We’re not supposed to be seen, understand? Don’t think of food; think of your brother. You like him, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do!”

“Ssh!” Both Zoro and Sanji covered Luffy’s mouth with both hands. Luffy was louder than any person they knew. That wasn’t their only problem. Luffy had also stolen something from this bakery a few months ago. If they were caught now, trouble would eventually find them.

“What part of we’re hiding,” Zoro grumbled, “don’t you understand?”

After they managed to settle down, they moved back to the edge and again crouched down. They focused their eyes on the door and windows of the bakery in waiting. Luffy didn’t quite understand so well, but he took Sanji’s advice and thought about Ace.

Earlier, Sanji had told him that Ace was mostly free yesterday because of his promotion. That only made him wonder even more about why Ace hadn’t spent time with him. He also wondered why Ace didn’t tell him about his promotion. He had asked Sanji what a promotion was, which didn’t really matter to Luffy, but it later on seemed important. Why did Ace have to hide something so important – or why did Ace have to hide anything at all?

Luffy’s thoughts were cut short when his and his friends’ eyes saw who they were looking for: Ace. He was carrying a large paper bag with him. He was smiling wide and scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Looking closely, they also saw that Ace was slightly pink around his cheeks. The three best friends looked slightly puzzled as to why Ace seemed embarrassed – until a girl with short orange hair came out of the bakery and stood beside him. She was smiling just as much as Ace was.

The boy then looked closely to see who it was that Ace chose to spend time with, someone rather than himself. He almost thought it was unfair, but recognizing the girl, he cried out.

“It’s Nami!”

“Ssh!” His friends again pulled him away just when Ace’s female companion looked around at hearing her name.

This is Nami, a girl who was as much of a troublemaker as Luffy and loves money – just as Luffy praises food. She and Luffy were good friends as well. How they met was a story he had used to be ashamed about, but he was able to laugh about it now. They had been rivals in causing chaos around the town, but Nami had an advantage. She knew the town like the back of her hand and was able to hide – unlike Luffy. And, unlike the boy, she had a reasonable motive as to why she was – well, robbing people of their wallets.

Her adoptive mother and sister were being threatened by a man for a few years. She spent almost half her life collecting enough money in exchange for the safety of her foster family. Luffy was once used in one of her mischievous acts and got into trouble. He didn’t want to forgive her for it, so he had followed her (with the intention of getting back at her) and thus found out about her troubles. He disliked the man who had no feelings towards Nami and her family greatly and decided to “kick his ass” for Nami, doing so and then befriending Nami despite what she did to him. Because of this, Nami befriended him in return.

“Hey,” Luffy asked with confusion while they all looked at each other, “Why’s Ace with Nami?”

Zoro and Sanji were silent for a while. They didn’t know what to say to him. Luffy was about to speak again, but at the same moment, they all heard Nami laughing. They all peeked again to see what was going on.

Ace was walking down the street now, still together with Nami. The former female thief was having fun poking Ace’s cheek with a finger. Ace, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling the same. His cheeks were now a darker shade of pink due to humiliation. After a series of brushing Ace’s cheek with one finger, Nami then messed his hair playfully, skipping ahead afterwards. Heaving a sigh, Ace followed.

Though Luffy still didn’t get what was happening before his eyes, Sanji eventually stood up. He signaled for Zoro and Luffy to follow, so they did without any idea what was on the chef’s mind. He brought them back to the set of stairs that led to the same alleyway they had used to get up there. They then walked down this alley and out into the streets. It was silent for a while. Sanji was seemingly in thought; the other two still didn’t know what was going on.

“Luffy,” Sanji finally spoke after a few moments of pondering, “listen to me. It’s possible that–” He paused again, seemingly unsure about something.

“Huh?” Luffy replied, still as baffled, “What is it?”

“I’ve formed an assumption.”

“Ass – What? An ass-hump– I don’t get it.” Luffy tilted his head to one side, and thought, “Nothing about food?”

“A guess.” Sanji thought over his “assumption” and nodded.

“What is it?” Luffy asked, and so did Zoro. The green-haired man was annoyed, feeling left out of the conversation. It’s not like he walked away or vanished in thin air. Then again, now wasn’t the time to even feel that. He was surprised at Sanji’s answer – and he guessed that he couldn’t have been as surprised as Luffy.

“Ace likes someone else. He likes Nami,” Sanji had stated.

That struck Luffy like a punch in the face. The boy would often ignore the pain he received from physical punches, so he wondered why this one – which wasn’t even close to physical – inflicted even more pain. “What? He – I don’t believe that. He never told me anything about liking–”

“He didn’t tell you about the promotion either,” Sanji interrupted and eyed Luffy intently, “Listen to me. It’s a possibility. That’s why we’re going to follow them.”

He pointed ahead of him, showing both his friends (especially Luffy as to prove himself) that Ace and Nami were walking along the same street.

“I’ll tell you this,” the blonde continued, “When a man and a woman – with no blood relation whatsoever – are alongside each other, it’s possible they’re dating. When a couple goes on a date, they do things together such as laughing, chatting, spending quality time together and so on.

“I’m an expert when it comes to relationships between men and women, and you know that. Like I said, it’s just a possibility. We’re going to follow them in order to see if their relationship is true.”

“Even if they do stuff like that, friends can do it, too,” Luffy insisted with an angered look on his face, “so I won’t believe it until I ask Ace myself and until Ace tells me the truth.”

“Would you know the truth even with just words?” Sanji kept that intense look on his face as he spoke. “When he told you that he wasn’t free yesterday and today, was that the truth? And – even if he told you he liked Nami, what would you do?”

Luffy was silenced. His friend had made his point. Zoro himself didn’t know what to say, but the atmosphere around Sanji told him that this supposed best friend of his was serious about the situation. During a long period of silence, Luffy caught a glimpse of Ace laughing as Nami spoke to him. “Ace, is it true?” He wanted to ask his brother this, so after thinking things through with the help of Sanji’s words, Luffy nodded his head.

“Let’s follow them,” he’d agreed.

The rest of the day was spent in hiding. The Three Monsters watched Ace and Nami spend time together as they walked around the different parts of town. The two ate lunch together at a restaurant that Luffy couldn’t enter, having stolen from there as well. Then they went shopping together (probably under Nami’s request) for a variety of items. Luffy didn’t know what they were buying, but Sanji told him that shopping for anything together can be considered part of a date. This disappointed Luffy all the more.

Later on, Ace and Nami were seen resting at the park, sitting on the grass and under a tree. This must be the part they were to spend quality time together, as Sanji had pointed out. They chatted and laughed most of their stay there while the three best friends hid behind bushes from a distance, unable to make out what the conversation was about. However, Luffy could see that Ace was just as happy with Nami as he would be with him. Was Ace really that close to Nami?

The boy thought about this, but couldn’t do so for too long. People who knew of their toughness found them and caused a ruckus. They got into a fight, scaring most of the people present at the park. It wasn’t a pretty sight, either. After their victory, Luffy and his best friends then realized that Ace and Nami had left. The two parties who had fought were then forced to leave.

In fact, the day hadn’t gone too well – neither was it progressive. After a few hours of stalking the pair and giving up, they returned to Sanji and Zoro’s home. The sun was just about to set, so there was time for some resting and some snacks – at least in an attempt to cheer Luffy up. They let time pass by for the meantime until it was, once again, about time for Luffy to go home.

This time, Luffy hadn’t sung anything on the way there. This worried Zoro and Sanji, though they didn’t show it too much. They thought it was best to stay quiet to give this time to Luffy to think about things by himself. There was a first for everything. Luffy had to think this one through with utmost concentration while keeping his sense of righteousness at the same time. What was he to do the next time he face his older brother, his closest relative?

What was he to say to the one who kept secrets from him – even if it was for just a while? He didn’t think he’d even lie. Did that mean Ace had lied to him before? If so, then for how long and since when did he lie? What did he lie about? What would he lie about? Why would he, when Luffy never lied to him? Lies, they were lies. They had to be. Ace couldn’t have lied – could he?

Luffy didn’t have so much questions flowing in his mind before. He almost panicked, which wasn’t himself at all either. That was the time for his friends to comfort him. They did so, walking at either side of Luffy and patting his back from time to time to calm him down. The rest of their walk was just as silent.

No one was home again – as Zoro and Sanji expected. Luffy didn’t, however. He was saddened when he knew that, once again, his brother wasn’t home to greet him. He would have to wait for him for another night, but Luffy couldn’t ignore the quiet anymore. He turned to his friends when they reached his front door and asked them to stay with him. How could they refuse to that when they saw his lonely smile?

Luffy felt a lot more comfortable with them around the house. At least, it wasn’t as quiet as it has been for the past few days. It was almost as if nothing was wrong – almost. Though Sanji was able to cook him a good dinner while Zoro was able to play some board games with Luffy, they could only tell themselves one thing: They couldn’t replace Ace, nor could they act as his substitute. They knew this well. They were told by Luffy himself that Luffy did not lie. When he meant something, he meant it – even if he often seemed as though he was joking around.

When he said he liked Ace, they knew that it was the truth. It was fact – rather, it was reality itself. They couldn’t change that, no matter how much they liked Luffy, no matter how much they would even try to. They knew. They knew that when Luffy would set his mind and his heart to something, there was absolutely no stopping him.

They could only lessen the pain Luffy hid beneath the smile. He was best at hiding it, after all. However, they couldn’t fully heal the wound. There was only one person who could do it.

“Ace,” Luffy muttered, in the process of walking to the kitchen for another snack.

The front door was opened just as he had passed it, and standing before the boy was his sibling. Ace had returned home with nothing in his hands. Whatever he bought at the bakery wasn’t for Luffy, then. That didn’t bother Luff as much as what Ace said in greeting him.

“Hey, Luffy. I saw Sanji and Zoro through the windows. I’m sorry I kept you waiting again, let alone not spend time with you. Work is really getting in the way, huh?” He even smiled – no, he grinned when he said that.

But, being the happy-go-lucky boy he was known for, Luffy just smiled back. “That’s okay.”

Ace chuckled, messing his hair. “I’ll go ahead and take a shower. I’m exhausted.”

Luffy nodded and watched him walk up the stairs with the same smile. Once Ace entered the bathroom however, Luffy’s smile disappeared. He stood at the foot of the steps, gazing at the floor. It suddenly turned quiet around him. He didn’t know what to think, staying in place. He didn’t even hear Zoro and Sanji walking to him and calling out to him. The only time he noticed his friends was when they approached him further, looking at him closely.

He looked at them, slightly surprised. They asked him if he was alright, and it took a while for him to put on his usual grin, only with an obvious hint of sadness.

“Ace lied to me again.”

Overlapping Lines - Another Meaning

Sun, 03 May 2009 12:20:16 GMT

Well, I don't suppose it's anything great. I just want to start this for Luffy's birthday, May 5th. The whole fic will have three chapters and will be a birthday gift for Luffy. Instead of finishing it on the day itself, I thought it would be okay to post the first chapter a few days before May 5. I hope to finish it soon after. Well, here's Chapter One, "Another Meaning" I hope you like it.

(I don't really think it's nice though. Uhm... Whatever the case, here it is.)

Title: Overlapping Lines

Rating: PG13

Genre: general (probably slight drama, but nothing drastic)

Pairings/Triangles: AceLu (and just a bit of ZoLu, SanLu, ZoSan)

Summary: Zoro and Sanji think that Luffy's childish mind just doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "like" - well, until the time Luffy himself said that he "liked" his own older brother, Ace. The problem was - Ace is hanging out with someone else.

Warnings: shounen ai, AU

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, much to my dismay.

Chapter One
Another Meaning

X-:oOo:-X

“This is for you, madam. Please enjoy your meal.”

A rather large woman (blonde hair fixed to look fancy) at a restaurant was sitting happily on her seat as her order, fish fillet and vegetable soup, finally arrived. The plate was set on the table by the waitress to whom she replied, “Why, thank you. I surely will.” The female customer took her wallet from her violet purse (which matched her lilac dress). Taking out twenty belli, she gave the money to the waitress as a tip. The waitress smiled and gave her thanks before leaving the woman to enjoy her meal and attending other customers.

The woman then began to eat. She took her fork and her knife, cutting a piece from the fish fillet and placed this into her mouth, chewing. “It seems to lack some taste to it”, she thought, but with a smile, the woman searched for someone to call.

“Excuse me, sir, may I have some mayonnaise?” she stated her request to a waiter close by.

“Right away, madam,” he replied with a smile.

Keeping the smile, the woman turned back to her food to continue eating nonetheless. However, when she looked at her plate, her smile turned into a frown of horror. The fish fillet was gone. It couldn’t have walked away, and she knew that. However, as she was about to look for it, a hand emerged from under her table and searched the plate. The woman stared with shock until the hand returned under the said table with disappointment. After she recovered, the blonde lifted the table cloth to peek, finding a boy with messy black hair.

“Oh. Hey, lady. You mind keeping this a secret?” He softly laughed a strange laugh before wiping his messy face on her supposedly clean dress. What reaction can this fat woman possibly have other than to scream? Well, that’s a completely different story.

“A child, a child is under the table!”

Everyone who heard this looked utterly confused. Although when the waiters and waitresses saw the boy – they immediately recognized him. A regular customer of the restaurant would hear shouts just as familiar:

“Get him!”

“Don’t let him get away this time!”

“It’s that kid!”

This was the boy’s cue to run with a wide grin on his face as though he enjoyed it all.

“Don’t worry, madam,” one waitress with a smile (although it didn’t seem reassuring) told the woman, “This isn’t the first time this happened.”

X-:oOo:-X

The boy with messy black hair – dressed with just a red shirt, denim pants and sandals – ran along the streets of a small town. Two waiters from the restaurant he had just left chased after him, but they were not alone. There were three others who ran after the boy. This would usually be trouble for a single person who wanted to get away, yet the boy just laughed and laughed as he continued his escape. He ran until his nose told him to stop.

Yes, his nose.

A bakery was standing right beside him. It was the only thing his eyes focused on, and his eyes found something he wanted: meat pies. Without a second thought, he entered the small bakery.

This boy is Monkey D. Luffy. Although he lived in a small house and had enough money to live, he loves to eat anything his eyes set themselves on, usually without much thought into anything. He was a well known troublemaker. Almost every single day, most especially during afternoons, he would run around and sneak into restaurants (or any place that had food all around), eating as much as he can or at least taking some food with him.

“Hey, you can’t eat the meat pies without paying!”

Of course, he wasn’t very good at hiding.

Luffy laughed as he ran out the bakery and now had six older men chase him. Even though he wasn’t very good at hiding, he had enough stamina to run around all afternoon. Perhaps it was all the food he ate or the exercise he receives from running more often than necessary that gave him this. So, he continued to run in an attempt to lose those who wanted to catch him. Making a few turns every now and then, he came across an alleyway and entered this. Without knowing it, he had stepped on a man’s leg.

This man was sleeping on the ground behind a few cardboard boxes. He wore a white shirt, a green waistband and black pants. What was interesting about him was his short green hair. He cracked open his eyes upon waking up and receiving slight pain from the step Luffy made.

“Hey,” he yelled, “watch it, Luffy!”

“Ah! Zoro!” Luffy happily exclaimed.

This is Roronoa Zoro who loves to sleep more often than not and loves to drink sake. He is a former student of the village’s dojo and carries three swords around with him. The villagers normally avoid him due to his supposedly scary face and atmosphere (and the sight of three swords), but some would chase him down in the mood for a fight, because, not only did he look tough, he was tough. Frequently, a challenger would come right around the corner.

“It’s Luffy’s green-headed friend!”

“He’s been scaring away the customers from the restaurant!”

“It’s their fault for getting scared, dumbasses!” Zoro could only yell back as the men who were chasing Luffy turned up. Once Luffy laughed and continued to run, he got up and ran with him. “Luffy, the next time you meet up with me, lose them first!”

“Meet up with you?” Luffy asked, innocently looking at Zoro who ran by his side, “I got lost.”

“Huh, I guess that makes sense. I did, too.”

Luffy laughed his usual laugh. “Zoro, you have no sense of direction!”

“Shut up! You’re one to talk!”

Both Luffy and Zoro ran. The village saw them as best friends, and so they were. How Luffy met Zoro is a simple story. Two or three men had framed Zoro half a year ago, and Luffy just happened to hear their secret. Upon finding the infamous Roronoa Zoro of his village, Luffy told him who had played tricks on him and decided to help, simply by saying, “All we have to do is kick their ass, right?” After things have settled in the village then, they met up often and did things together.

A few of them would involve being chased.

They continued to run for a while until they finally managed to lose their pursuers for good. Their problem now was that they were in another alleyway, just somewhere around the village. Where? Well, it’s a wonder if two friends with no sense of direction would know, isn’t it?

“You two, you ought to bring a map with you.”

This is where a second best friend comes in.

A blonde man jumped down from the fence behind them with a sigh, saying, “Well, I don’t think you’d be able to read a map anyway. I’ve been looking for you two.”

“Sanji!” Luffy called happily.

This is Sanji, a blonde man with an odd curly eyebrow who smokes often yet cooks marvelous food. He often wears a black suit no matter where he goes and loves to flirt with women. For a living, he works as a chef at the Baratie, probably the best restaurant in town that specializes on seafood. As a chef, he’d offer food to those who starved at times, he himself having past traumas that involved starving, and he’d always take good care of his hands. He was an ideal chef.

“Damned cook,” Zoro muttered.

“Stupid marimo,” Sanji did the same in return.

Zoro and Sanji fought more often than getting long – if they even ever got along. One of the things they share in common was Luffy. Both of them were his best friends, after all. How Luffy met Sanji is yet another simple story. Hearing that the Baratie was one of the best restaurants ever known, Luffy – being the food-loving monkey that he is – decided to try to get some food from there. Although, the Baratie chefs were not to be taken lightly, so he made the wrong decision. They knew how to fight for the restaurant. When they mean fight, they mean beating up anyone who does any damage regarding the Baratie, its owner, employees and customers. When Luffy tried to run away, they caught him immediately.

However, once they decided that Luffy must work at the restaurant to pay for the food he stole, an armed man came in to threaten the owner, Head Chef Zeff, who had a private meeting with wealthy men on the same day. Luffy couldn’t quite understand the situation, but he only knew one thing: he had to kick the guy’s ass. In the end, they let Luffy go for helping the restaurant. Sanji, who highly respects Owner Zeff and the Baratie, couldn’t thank Luffy enough. The childish 17-year-old boy decided it was better to be friends.

That’s where they are today, although as said, Zoro and Sanji didn’t get along. Luffy didn’t mind that, oddly enough. It was either his mind was too innocent to think badly of it or that he knew they would come to be very good friends sooner or later. With the three of them together, it was all fun and laughs for Luffy. He even gave themselves a group name: The Three Monsters. In reality, it was suggested by a few villagers due to the trouble they caused. Luffy thought it made them sound strong, so he went along with it.

“Sanji!” Luffy called out, “I’m hungry!”

“Right,” the blonde replied, walking out of the alleyway and beckoning them to follow, “Let’s head over to the base.”

The base, as Luffy called it, was Sanji and Zoro’s house. The two have been living together for two reasons: Zoro didn’t have enough money to live life, so he had lived at the dojo with his former sensei, and Sanji thought it would be a good idea for Zoro to guard his home while he himself worked at the Baratie. Just as they had their reasons, they had their problems. Zoro would mostly sleep or decide to walk around, defying the second reason they had for living together. When he did walk around, he’d often get lost and/or get into trouble.

Luffy thought it would be great to have them all live under one roof, but Luffy already had his own home. Under his request, Zoro and Sanji decided to put up with each other and live together. Their house was the usual hangout of the Three Monsters, thus the name Luffy gave it, their so-called secret base. Sanji lead them there, and when they arrived, he walked straight to the kitchen.

“Luffy, wait at the living room,” he instructed, “I’ll cook something for you.”

Luffy happily skipped to the small living room, and Zoro followed. He paused for a while, sitting on the navy blue armchair across the matching sofa which Luffy decided to lie down on.

“What about me?” Zoro groaned.

“Who’d cook for a freeloading marimo like you?” Sanji asked from the kitchen across the hallway.

“You should be happy I even eat your shitty cooking.”

With the blink of an eye, Zoro found a powerful kick sent to the side of his face. He was thrown off the armchair but immediately stood back up to block an incoming kick with his sheathed sword. A series of kicks from Sanji continued whilst Zoro blocked each one all the same. Luffy laughed, watching them with amusement.

“You two are funny,” Luffy stated in between laughs.

The two sighed once they stopped fighting and put on a small smile simultaneously. Despite the fact they fought, there was one person who could calm them down – and that was Luffy himself. That’s the one thing they did agree on. They were fond of Luffy. His smile, his laugh, his recklessness and carefree personality, his good heart and innocent mind – they enjoyed all of these, everything about him. In fact, although it may not even be a secret anymore, both of them liked Luffy. They had even fought over him, and they still do every now and then.

They also tried winning his heart at the same time. They competed for him and eventually confessed to their very childish friend. However, as expected of someone like Luffy, they both received the same gullible answer:

“I like you, too!”

At that point, they agreed that Luffy’s mind probably didn’t know that the word “like” had another meaning.

The rest of Luffy’s short stay at their home (or the base) composed of a lot of eating, laughing, watching Sanji and Zoro fight in amusement, chatting, idiotic planning, watching television and waiting for the sun to begin setting. Whenever it started to set, it was time for Luffy to go home. Both Zoro and Sanji would get into trouble if they didn’t bring Luffy home on time. When dusk came, Luffy’s best friends left their home to lead him back to his house which wasn’t too far away. Sanji knew the way there, and Zoro just wanted to make sure the chef didn’t have Luffy all to himself. Nothing special usually happens during their walks to bring Luffy home. Luffy would often sing to himself and wave good bye to his friends once they dropped him off at his front door.

This is what happened today and yesterday – and the previous days before that. However, for a few days now, the day would end differently. Once Luffy entered his small home, he rushed up some steps and entered a wooden door to the right of these steps. He flung the door open, grinned sheepishly and exclaimed.

“Ace, I’m home!”

No reply came. No one but himself was present inside the bedroom of two separate beds on each side, both empty, and a lamp. In fact, Luffy was alone in the house. He never had the house to himself for most of the day up until recently. The house wasn’t as quiet, either. Luffy pouted his lips in disappointment and decided to walk back downstairs. He searched the rest of the house which made up of four tight rooms such as a small living room, a kitchen that also served as a dining room, a bathroom and the bedroom for two. No one was home.

The boy entered the living room which was right by the front door. He sat on the lonesome sofa and turned the television on, browsing through channels and found nothing that interested him. He wasn’t used to the quiet, though he hadn’t noticed it until after two or three days. Soon enough, his stomach begged for food, so he got up and explored the fridge in the kitchen, scavenging for something to eat.

In the end, all he could find was a bag of chips, because everything else needed to be cooked if he wanted to eat them. Luffy couldn’t cook, so he resorted to a bag of plain potato chips. He slumped onto the sofa once again and focused on the television, eating mindlessly.

“Ace,” he mumbled sleepily, “come home.”

X-:oOo:-X

The wooden door creaked open as a man stepped into the house. It was two hours until midnight, so he had arrived home rather late this time. As he turned around to close the door and lock it, he heaved a sigh, mumbling, “I know he’s not very bright at times, but leaving the door unlocked is a problem. I’ll worry if something happens to him.”

He thought for a while until his thoughts were interrupted by a sound he’d ignored. It came from the door to his right, so he entered this. What he saw was a boy sleeping on the couch with his arm dangling off the edge and a pack of chips still at hand and almost empty. The man sighed, hearing voices from the television that was left on.

Brushing his hair (wavy, black and slightly longer than that of the boy’s), he walked to the sleeping figure. He studied his state, making a rather obvious guess that this boy slept while watching television, eating chips and waiting for someone to come home. He then moved to turn the old television off before taking the bag of chips to finish eating the rest of it. After throwing his trash into a trashcan, he returned to the boy’s side and picked him up. Smiling slightly, he brought him up the set of stairs and into the bedroom.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” he whispered and brushed the boy’s messy hair, “Luffy.”

This is Portgas D. Ace. He is Luffy’s brother, older by three years. He has freckles on his face and sharp eyes unlike his brother’s big, round, innocent ones. He wore a white shirt, black pants and a wrist band. His job at home is to watch over Luffy and himself as they lived alone. Whatever happened to their parents was something Ace never really wanted to talk about, so there isn’t much that Luffy knew about them. Even so, they were often visited by their grandfather whose name is Garp and who may be more frightening than any other old man despite being busy with work.

“It’s Ace,” Luffy mumbled in his sleep, smiling.

Seeing this, Ace smiled back. He felt a tad guiltier about leaving Luffy alone to wait for him, but he told himself that he had his reasons. After tucking Luffy in bed, Ace then walked out the bedroom and into the bathroom to get changed into baggy shorts and a light shirt. He felt that the day was long, so he decided that it was best he himself get some shut eye. After he brushed his teeth and washed his face, he headed back to the bedroom and lay himself down on his own bed. He eyed his sleeping brother for a while, closing his eyes after doing so and tried to get some sleep.

X-:oOo:-X

Beams of morning light entered through the glass window, softly touching Luffy’s face. He shifted in his sleep and moaned, not wanting to leave his dreams full of meat. His nose twitched at the scent that drifted through the open door and into the bedroom. For a moment, he lay in bed unmoving before the blankets were thrown aside. With drool still sliding down his chin from his lips, he sat right up, fully awake.

“Breakfast!”

Without further thought, he immediately ran out and down the stairs, completely ignoring the fact that he did so with bare feet. He almost tripped in the process but regained his balance and made a right turn to the kitchen upon reaching the end of the wooden steps. There, a familiar man had his back facing Luffy and was frying some eggs for the morning. The younger male couldn’t help but grin, running to the man and wrapping his arms around his waist.

“Good morning, Ace!” he laughed.

Ace wasn’t at all surprised, but he smiled and lifted an arm, so he could look at Luffy who continued to hug him. “Hey there,” he greeted him in return, “You’re as lively as always, little bro.”

Luffy just laughed again before letting him go and taking his seat at the table. He put on a wide smile on his face, waiting patiently for the food to be served. Ace was just about finished with the eggs, so he added these to two plates which already had an even amount of rice, bacon and pancakes. He then walked to the table to pass Luffy his share and settled himself on his own chair. Contentedly, they started to eat.

“Hey, Ace,” Luffy spoke with his mouth full, wanting to start a conversation, “Yeferde wuss Sonde.”

Ace chuckled, pointing his fork at Luffy and told him, “Say that again when you’ve swallowed your food, Luffy.”

Luffy obediently did so, repeating, “Yesterday was Sunday. We were supposed to hang out like we do on Sundays, but you were out the whole day!”

“Oh, about that,” Ace didn’t seem embarrassed about it, “Work made me do a few more things.”

“Even when it was supposed to be your day off?” Luffy asked, pouting his lips.

“Hey, you know this is the only way we could even live in a house, Luffy.”

“Fine, fine,” Luffy groaned, “I was thinking that we’d hang out today, instead.” He grinned at the idea. It’s been a while since they did spend a day together. A week may be a short while for anyone, but to Luffy, it was – a while.

“I’m sorry, Luffy,” Ace said and tried to sound disappointed himself, forking his food, “I’m not free today either.

For the few days that Luffy had been ignoring the fact that Ace wasn’t around him as often as he used to, this one statement finally hit him in the face. He averted his eyes from his brother and ate quietly. He tried to smile, doing so sadly.

“That’s okay. I’ll just hang out with Zoro and Sanji again.”

X-:oOo:-X

The rest of the morning passed by slowly. Luffy met up with his best friends at the front of his house and decided to visit another one of their usual hangouts, the Baratie. After making sure that Zoro wouldn’t do anything to Luffy, Sanji headed to work while the other two stayed at one of the balconies on the second floor. Luffy and Zoro leaned against the edge; Luffy leaned forward against it while Zoro leaned back.

Whenever they were there, there would always be something to do. It was unlikely for their visits at the Baratie to be quiet – rather, it was unlikely for anything they do to be quiet, but for this particular day, Luffy was awfully silent. Zoro, despite loving a peaceful sleep and thus preferring a quiet moment, found this awkward. He observed Luffy from the corner of his eyes, and wondered why the sudden change in mood. Earlier, when they had seen each other, Luffy was smiling. Now, he seemed troubled.

It never occurred to Zoro that Luffy would ever be in this state, so it took a while for him to figure out what to do. After some time of thinking, he heaved a soft sigh and faced the boy.

“Luffy,” he called for his attention. When Luffy looked at him with wide, confused eyes, he continued, “You seem – down.”

“Oh,” Luffy spoke softly and looked back at the streets below, “It’s nothing.”

“Well, it can’t be nothing when it feels like something and when you have such a dumb, lonely smile,” Zoro thought. He returned to watching the customers eat inside the restaurant but also continued the conversation, “I thought you’d never lie to us.”

This made Luffy frown. “Jackpot,” Zoro thought. He was right, but who wouldn’t be? For a boy, who always seems to be happy, to suddenly meet up with his friends and not come up with the weirdest and strangest – and really idiotic sometimes – ideas, who else wouldn’t think that “nothing” was wrong?

“It’s,” the boy in question spoke in the same tone. He paused for a while, not used to explaining things, especially at a time like this. Zoro waited patiently until Luffy continued, “It’s Ace. We didn’t hang out this week.”

Zoro didn’t look at him. He’d already noticed it before. When he and Sanji would bring Luffy home for the last few days, no one else seemed to be present at the house. “Well,” Zoro answered, “He has been busy working for you, right? That’s what he told you.”

“Yeah, I know. It just bugs me a lot. I mean – I guess he’s kind of like a best friend, too.”

“You’re brothers. Of course you’d feel that, and of course it would bug you.” Zoro looked at him again but saw that Luffy still let out a depressed feeling around him. This has probably been the longest time he’d seen Luffy – well, sad.

That wasn’t the only thing that bothered Zoro. Luffy’s answer gave him a shock as well.

“But,” the boy had said, “I like Ace.”

Maybe, just maybe, Luffy’s mind did know that the word “like” – had another meaning.

ICT Notes 1/26/09

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:02:04 GMT

I had to repost again. <.<

Terminologies

record
- row
- collection of related fields

field
- a single cell

field name
- describes data that will be entered in the field

data file or table
- collection of records

Data Types

text
- any character (255)

memo
- more characters (65,000+)

number
- any numeric value
- numbers will be used for computation

date/time
- formatting

currency
- monetary value

autonumber
- automatic numbering

yes/no
- for questions answerable by yes or no

OLE Object
- to insert or attach picture, videos, etc.

hyperlink
- for weblinks

attachment
- other files

Lookup Wizard...
- already prepared

ICT Notes 1/22/09

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:08:19 GMT

Yeah, I could only post now. I couldn't last week. D: Sir didn't allow internet access.

More notes!!

Database Terminologies

field - space designed to accept and store a certain type of data

field name - like a label that describes what data should be entered into the field

record - contains a group of related fields

data file - table, collection of related records

Group Fields into Tables

Guidelines

- what sort of data they expect the database to contain
- what kinds of reports they require
- what types of summary information they would like to see
- it should hold information on only one subject

Field and Table Names

- no more than 64 characters
- cannot include . ! ' [ ] "
- cannot have a leading space
- brief but descriptive

Data Types

- text
- memo
- number
- date/time
- currency
- atounumber
- yes/no

ICT Notes 1/15/09

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:28:20 GMT

Haha. School again. Yes, I'm at school, taking down notes here, because it's easier for me to look for my notes if it's in here in Lj.
~~Yeah, right. I just forgot my notebook.~~ It's true! lmao

... This was short, though.

Continuation...

Normalization of Database Tables

First Normal Form - list of possible column names

Second Normal Form - take out the unneeded and repeating names

Third Normal Form - "exploding" or simplifying column names; finalized (ex. Name -> First Name / Last Name and Birthdate -> Month / Day / Year)

ICT Notes 1/12/09

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:22:03 GMT

Yeah, I just needed this for school. And yes, I was at school when I did this.

... Oh, wow. I have another use for Lj. lol

Database and Information System

Database
- any collection of data stored in a way that enables people to add, find, sort, group, summarize and print data

- data
- any unorganized text, graphics, sounds, or video
- goes in

- information
- data that has been processed so that it's organized in a way that people find meaningful and useful
- goes out

Types of Database Programs

Database programs are application software used to create databases or work with the data in existing databases.

1. file management program - creates flat file databases, which only contain one file or table

2. database management systems - can manage multiple files or tables
     a. flat
     b. heirarchical
     c. network
     d. relational
            - data in several files is related through the use of a common ley field
            - a collection of two-dimensional tables

Advantage of Database Management Systems

1. Data Integrity - refers to the validility of the data contained in the database

2. Data Independence - data in the database is separate from the data that controls the applications

3. Avoidance of Data Redundancy

4. Data Security - means that the data stored in a database shouldn't be accessible to people who might misuse it

5. Data Maintenance - includes procedures for adding records, updating records, and deleting records for the purpose of keeping the database in optimal shape

Normalization of Database Tables

Normalization
- process for assigning attributes to entities
- reduces data redundancies and helps eliminate the data anomalies

Normalization works through a series of stages called forms:

1. First normal form (1NF)
2. Second normal form (2NF)
3. Third normal form (3NF)
4. Fourth normal form (4NF)

The highest level of database is not always desirable.

Conversation to First Normal Form
- relational table must not contain repeating groups
- repeating groups can be eliminated by adding the appropriate entry in at least the primary key column(s)

First Normal Form
- describes the tabular format which:
     - all the key attributes are defined
     - there are no repeating groups in the table
     - all the attributes are dependent on the primary key

Ricordi - Three Percent

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:16:03 GMT

Hah. My first post. *gasp*

I didn't even mention anything about myself. Though...

Yeah, basically, I made an account just for fan fiction.

And here is the fan fic I am currently working on - with its first chapter already up.

Title: Ricordi

Rating: R (in the later chapters)

Genre: drama, romance

Pairings/Triangles: GaaNaru, SasuNaru, GaaNaruSasu

Summary: Having suffered amnesia, what more can Naruto do as he finds himself continuously torn by forgotten memories that keep haunting him... especially when he is torn by the two men that he loves - who come from the past he does not even know?

Warnings: yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, much to my dismay.

Three Percent

X-:oOo:-X

A newly polished black Chevrolet sped through the highway towards Konoha, one of the finest – and richest – cities standing in Japan. The sun took its time rising into the pink sky as the digital clock read 6:08 AM. The sky was beautiful, nonetheless. A peaceful morning presented itself to the owner of the expensive vehicle as it entered the eastern region of the city.

The car drove through the city streets until it reached a rather tall and wide gray building which seemed to have at least twenty floors. The Chevrolet drove to the empty parking lot behind the building and was parked on a reserved space. The driver’s door opened, and a man – dressed in a black suit, along with a red necktie that complemented his hair, and shoes equally as black as his car – stepped out of the vehicle with his black suitcase at hand.

Making his way toward the building’s entrance from the parking lot, he nodded to show his gratitude to the security guard who opened the doors for him. Very few people were present inside, and they greeted him a good morning. Everything seemed perfectly fine. His car was safe with its doors locked, his suitcase was not forgotten with important documents kept safe and clean inside, and there was no sight of any irritating presence.

He rode the elevator to one of the highest floors, making his way to his office quietly. The floor was empty and just as silent as he was. The only sound heard was that of his footsteps. It added to his peaceful morning.

Arriving at his office, he entered and closed the door behind him. Embossed on the small glass window of his door were the room number and his name.

19-057
Sabaku no Gaara

X-:oOo:-X

A young man immediately parked his bicycle at the parking lot, securing it to the rusty metal railings with metal chains and a padlock. Keeping a tight hold on his suitcase, pieces of paper sticking out of it, he ran to the main entrance of the building with a glimpse of the current time, thanks to the enormous clock behind the front desk. If he saw correctly, then the time now was 1:50 PM.

He had hoped it was wrong or that the clock was at least broken, just as malfunctioned as his alarm clock. As he raced towards the elevators, he could only think of one thing:

'It’s my first day of work, and I’m already running late!'

Once he reached the elevators, however, his nightmare turned toward a path which led to the worse. Out of the four elevators, one was unavailable, two weren’t at the ground floor and one was just about to close.

He didn’t know if he screamed out loud or if it was just his imagination. What he did know was that if he wasn’t able to reach that elevator, he would have to face the devil’s dreaded wrath.

“No, wait!”

His hand touched the cold metal doors once they had closed, probably one second late – a mere second that had to ruin his life. He cursed time.

But not staircases.

He thanked whoever made staircases.

No. No, that wasn’t right.

He thanked God for creating the person who invented staircases.

He headed to the nearest fire exit and decided to run all the way up – even if where he needed to be was close to outer space. He thanked stairways for they weren’t always used by the common people known as co-workers. Therefore, no one was there to block his path.

Indeed, he praised whoever created this inclined plane known as stairs and hated time, for time was always in the way – at least as far as he could remember. Nonetheless, he believed that it was better to be late than to never come at all. Although, as he ran up, he thought that – it was probably best never late.

He ought to keep that in mind. As he was oriented the other day, his boss was the son of the industry’s president – and that his boss was slightly ill-tempered, very frightening if angered. He wouldn’t want to bring out his bad side.

Thinking about it, as he reached the tenth floor and went up further, he came to a conclusion that this new boss of his – who he hadn’t even met yet – most probably had hundreds of other assistants in the past. He nodded in agreement with that conclusion as he reached the fifteenth floor.

“Stupid suitcase just adds to the weight. To heck with gravity,” he muttered under his breath while resting there, but he told himself to think of something positive, “I can get some muscle and lose some weight with this. Besides that, I only have – four more floors to go.”

He sighed and took a deep breath. Upward he went, and toward his destination.

After a while of desperately climbing up the last set of steps, he reached the nineteenth floor – at long last. Before entering the floor through the dirty white door in front of him, he tried to make himself a little more – presentable.

Biking to work at full speed and breaking his limits (using his remaining energy to run up stairs and to defy gravity), caused him his nicely done hair and lots of sweat. It looked as though he went out jogging in his suit. And even if his suit was black, it had been stained by – was that bird poop?

Well – It certainly didn’t smell bad. It must have been the mayonnaise from the sandwich he hurriedly ate for lunch. Added to that, his blue necktie was loose, shoes were no longer shiny, and it seemed as if his suitcase was about to burst open if he didn’t place it down soon.

After an attempt to fix his blonde hair and his tie, an attempt to brush off the mayonnaise and an attempt to keep his suit shut with one hand, he took another deep breath and walked through the door.

As he paced through the area, he noticed that very few people walked around this floor level. The floor had pure white tiles; not a single stain was seen. Walls were painted in a pale shade of blue, and a nice fragrance was lingering in the air. The brightness of the white light coming from the ceiling was just right. Plants stood at the sides, and the man who had arrived late for work spotted a small counter with a pitcher and a box of small packs. Coffee, perhaps? Sugar, too.

Smiling, happy that there was barely anyone to see him in his messy state, he made his way to find his new office. The fact that there was only a small number of people up here also meant that this was a place for important people alone. 'Well, of course,' he thought, 'I’m working for the president’s son, the head of the music department.'

Walking and humming softly, he greeted anyone who tried to smile at him. However, he stopped in front of his boss’ office, and the smile on his face disappeared. The door read “Sabaku no Gaara,” although to him, it had “Devil” written all over it.

There was a small window on his door, and he decided to peek inside. He saw only the red hair and the back of the man that occupied the room. He was staring out the window, seemingly in thought.

It was practically a miracle.

The blonde that had arrived late grinned and sneaked into the room next to where he stood, trying not to catch the attention of his boss, because alas, he was here. With pride, he read his name aloud.

19-058
Uzumaki Naruto

X-:oOo:-X

Naruto placed his suitcase under his desk and dropped himself on the blue office chair behind it. He tapped his wooden desk and treated it as if it was holy, carefully lifting a provided ballpoint pen. He smiled and looked around his new office to familiarize himself with his surroundings and to feel at home.

Though it was a small room, it was comfortable. The walls were painted white. Dark wooden shelves stood at the side to his left. Across the room on the same side was a blue sofa while a glass coffee table was placed in front it, along with a black ashtray that rested on that table. There was the wooden door beside that and then a large painting placed hanging on the wall to his right. Next to it was a window to the next room.

It showed him a small portion of Gaara’s office. Naruto could clearly see his desk and Gaara still looking outside the big window. Wondering what was so interesting outside, the blonde looked out with his own blue eyes.

There wasn’t anything but the common people – known as citizens, a very busy lot who hurried to who-knows-where – and even more buildings. The cars filled the streets, and it was probably noisy outside despite the fact that the floor was many feet above ground level. Hardly anything was interesting.

Thinking that he could figure things out by looking at his boss, he averted his eyes from the window behind him and looked at the other window to his right.

No one was left in room 19-057.

Before Naruto could get up to look for Gaara, however, his office door slammed open. The painting clearly tilted to its side, but that didn’t bother Naruto. What bothered him was that his nightmares came true. The man that stood at his door evidently had fiery and fearsome red hair.

“The devil is here!” Naruto screamed and stepped back.

Dumbfounded, Gaara stared at him with disbelief at what he just called him. “Devil?”

“Ah!” – with a gasp, Naruto straightened himself and then took a deep bow – “Good afternoon! Pleased to meet you, boss!”

‘Boss? Am I part of the mafia?’ Gaara asked himself in his mind but heaved a sigh and stated straightforwardly, “You’re late.”

“Y- Yes,” Naruto murmured, “I’m aware, but please excuse me!”

Slightly annoyed, the redhead twitched. He averted his green eyes from the man that stood behind the desk. It was worse than he expected; not only was this new assistant late by two hours, he was simply a mess.

‘What was Kankuro thinking?’ Gaara thought with another sigh. Looking back at his new employee, he demandingly said, “I don’t want to hear from you. Get me coffee right away then start working on the paper work left on your desk.”

Frightened and able to sense the anger unhidden in the tone of Gaara’s voice, Naruto nodded furiously. Once his boss went back into his office, Naruto rushed out of his own workplace and headed to the counter that he had seen earlier. Taking the pitcher of hot water, he poured some into a small plastic cup before browsing the area for small packs of coffee with slight confusion.

“Let’s see,” he mumbled, “This should do.”

X-:oOo:-X

Dark liquid stained the important documents on Gaara’s desk as he spat out the coffee that was given to him. Was it even coffee? Who knew?

“It’s too hot and too bitter,” Gaara threw at Naruto angrily, “Is this poisoned? Are you trying to kill me?”

“N- No, it’s not that,” the blue-eyed male attempted to defend himself, “I – I don’t really know how to make coffee.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tha- That is, uhm, I usually just – buy coffee.”

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Are you a fool?”

All the more irritated, Gaara leaned on his desk with one elbow supporting him. He scratched the back of his head and closed his eyes to think for a moment.

After some thought, he told Naruto, “Alright, forget the coffee; never mind it. Besides the papers on your desk, you’ve got more waiting for you in room nineteen-oh-twelve. The room and the papers aren’t hard to find. If you have any questions, go ask the secretary.”

Taking it as a chance to escape the devil’s lair, Naruto left without hesitation.

Gaara stared at what was supposed to be his coffee in disbelief. The fact that his new assistant couldn’t come on time, couldn’t give a good first impression, and couldn’t even make coffee – the fact that he probably couldn’t do anything right but make a fool out of himself helped Gaara come to a conclusion that Naruto was the worst assistant he ever had – the worst.

It brought up the question as to why – or how – he even got the job.

Walking around the 19^th floor was a little easier for Naruto now, since he’d rather be anywhere else and far from Gaara’s office. He found the hallway where rooms 19-001 to 19-015 were found.

It was a quiet, empty hallway, just like the most of the hallways found on the same floor. With a small smile, he walked down the hall to look for the room he was instructed to find. Eyeing the golden plates nailed to each of the wooden doors, his eyes easily found 19-012. He entered this quietly.

It was a room full of shelves. Labels were placed under each portion of the shelves, stating which papers belonged to which employee. His name was just as easy to find as it wasn’t too far from the door. Stepping before it, he found a small pile of papers. He took these papers, relieved that he didn’t have as much to do on his first day as he had thought he would have.

Browsing through the documents mindlessly, though humming softly, he walked his way back through the same hallway. He continued to do so until he stopped right outside of room 19-001.

Its door was slightly opened.

Naruto felt that his attention was drawn to it by some magical force, as if it called out to him and cried for him to open it. Instantly forgetting about work, he looked around to make sure no one was watching. With the very few people on this floor, not one person was even close by.

‘Just a minute,’ he promised through his thoughts and sneaked into the room before him.

X-:oOo:-X

“It’s been an hour and he hasn’t returned to his office yet,” Gaara said aloud, eyeing the window to his left a second time, almost glaring at the empty office chair, “Could it be that he’s blind as well?”

With – yet another – heavy sigh, he got off his own seat and left the room. He asked his secretary if, by any chance, she had seen Naruto. Unfortunately, she hadn’t seen him for the past sixty minutes either. While heading to room 19-012, he made a mental note to fire the missing man the next time he causes disturbance at work.

Not once had he encountered an employee who caused trouble on just his first day of work.

Reaching the hallway of his destination, he saw room 19-012 but stopped in front of the first room in the hallway. He looked to his left to see room 19-001 and its closed door. Although he knew what was inside, he heard soft music play from inside that room. Someone, whoever it was, was playing a soft G chord on an acoustic guitar, followed by a D chord. The music continued, and Gaara was starting to feel enticed by it.

Curious to see who was playing such soft yet sweet song, he opened the door slowly. He first saw a blur of bright yellow and then succeeding it was black. In an instant, he knew who took hold of the guitar.

“Uzumaki?”

X-:oOo:-X

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