Chapter Text
Ace boarded the direct bus heading toward his university campus. It was a clean, blue bus, made rather amusing by a large sticker plastered across the rear window that read: This bus is orange. Since the vehicle was mostly vacant, he took a comfortable seat and retrieved his phone from his pocket.
He was greeted by a notification from Luffy.
Luffy : Good morning, Ace! Look where we are! Dad and Gramps took me to that super famous Khao Tom restaurant!
Ace could not help but laugh as he tapped on the attached picture. It was a selfie of Luffy grinning from ear to ear, flanked on either side by the faces of Dragon and Garp, who were both smiling. A second message appeared a moment later.
Luffy : You have to come with us next time! No excuses!
Ace : Deal. I miss you too.
Luffy : Miss you most!
Luffy : Remember that the school cultural event is on the fifteenth of December! It’s open to everyone so you must come! You must!
Ace : I will never miss it, Lu.
Luffy immediately sent a long paragraph detailing everything his class was preparing for the festival. He boasted about how they were setting up traditional Thai carnival games like Sao Noi Tok Nam dunk tanks, but his proudest achievement was his starring role in the musical showcase. Luffy had somehow been chosen to sing a classical Thai lullaby on stage, and he was completely convinced he was going to steal the show.
A classical Thai lullaby? Ace shook his head slowly, a smile coming over him. Honestly, why was he even surprised? If their previous existence had been some sprawling manga or anime created by a reclusive Japanese gentleman—someone named Od— cough, cough, whatever his name was—Luffy would have been the undisputed main character. And if one remembered his legendary, tone-deaf performance during that business in Skypiea, which was arguably the pinnacle of musical history, then Luffy getting selected for a singing showcase made total sense.
His phone vibrated again with a new text.
Luffy : Tell Sabo he must come too! And tell him he needs to recruit my friends to help Dad’s campaign!
Ace scoffed.
Ace : Are you completely out of your mind? Absolutely not.
Ace : Sabo is a bodyguard. He is not a street recruiter for Dragon’s political party.
Luffy : You’re the stupid one, Ace!
Luffy : Sabo is a bodyguard but he never actually does that job because it’s fake! He’s a spy!
Luffy : And you’re stupid twice over! You and Sabo are boyfriends, you’re supposed to know what he actually does!
Ace’s face flushed.
Ace : I know him perfectly well, thank you very much!
Ace : For your information, when Sabo was a cat, we took showers together constantly, we shared a bed every single night and I know his favourite food and his favourite colour. You certainly do not.
Luffy : I definitely do!
Luffy : His favourite food is ramen and his favourite colour is blue!
Ace : Wrong!
Ace chose not to give away the correct answers, opting instead to send a string of teasing, triumphant emojis. He basked in the quiet glory of knowing his boyfriend better than anyone else did. Luffy had missed the mark, though his guesses were admittedly close.
Sabo possessed a uniquely spiritual side that he rarely broadcasted. His true culinary love was Thai egg noodles. Whenever they ate out, Sabo would order them in a savoury broth, meticulously drink every last drop of the soup first and then consume the rest as if they were dry noodles. He was superstitious about the length of the noodles representing a long, healthy life. Furthermore, his favourite colour was not just any blue, but specifically sky blue.
Luffy : Are you going to class now?
Ace gave a dramatic sigh in the empty bus.
Ace : Astute observation, Lu. I am indeed going to my lectures, because that is precisely what a university student is required to do to avoid failing.
Luffy : Did you eat breakfast yet? Grandpa says it is the most important meal!
Ace : I ate a big breakfast at the mansion before I left. My parents are multi-millionaires, we do not exactly starve. And you should know that the whole ‘most important meal’ narrative is actually a historic myth. It was engineered by multi-national food conglomerates and bacon monopolies back in the day to manipulate public eating habits and maximise their sales.
Luffy : Oho?
Ace chuckled to himself. The phonetic spelling was so perfectly Luffy that Ace could vividly picture the exact, puzzled facial expression his brother was making at that very moment.
Luffy : That sounds fake.
Luffy : I am going to ask Dad if the bacon people are evil.
Ace : Leave your father alone and stop staring at your screen. Put the phone down, finish your breakfast and spend some proper quality time with your dad and Gramps. See you.
Luffy : Hey! I’m not an iPad kid! I’m turning the screen off right now. Gramps just arrived at the table with fresh Pa Thong Ko and sweet Nam Tao Hu. They’re still burning hot, I can’t wait to eat them!
It brought a genuine smile to Ace’s face. He loved seeing his little brother happy and well-fed, and he was grateful that Dragon and Gramps were providing him with such a stable, loving morning routine.
Luffy : Shishishi!
Ace snorted, amused. It was strange to spell out a laugh via text message, but that was simply Luffy for you. He never played by conventional rules. A follow-up text caught Ace’s eye before he could put the phone away.
Luffy : Wait, don’t go yet! You do know that my friends and I are coming to Espresso Yourself this afternoon.
Ace frowned slightly.
Ace : No, you didn’t tell me at all. What are you lot up to now? Are you invading my workplace for a class project?
Luffy : Nuh-uh, it’s a party!
Luffy : We’re throwing a late birthday celebration for Zoro! He turned a year older on the 11thof November, but school sports day was on the same week and everyone was dead. Teacher Robin and Teacher Franky are joining the party too! Auntie Banchina is letting us host the event in the café courtyard!
Ace : I see. Well, I’m on the schedule to work this evening, so I’ll be around. It’s probably for the best, as I can act as a shield between your loud friends and the innocent customers.
He placed the smartphone on his lap and turned his head toward the window. The bus was smoothly navigating the final intersection before the university terminal. Looking at the student crowds, Ace found himself contemplating how extraordinary it was that Luffy had managed to reunite with almost every single person from his previous life.
His phone gave a final buzz. It was a bright, slightly blurry selfie of Luffy shoved close to the camera, showcasing the table laden with Thai breakfast treats.
Luffy : Bye-bye, Ace, have a nice day at university!
It had been some time since Sabo had returned to being a human, and he was grateful for it. He loved the species, even if humans were, fundamentally, rather ugly. His critique had nothing to do with physical appearances, but rather the baffling intellect of mankind.
Humans were a special kind of foolish—the sort of creatures who would willingly broadcast their whole lives to strangers on the internet, clear-cut ancient rainforests to build empty shopping malls and actively ignite their own atmosphere despite having absolutely no backup planet. But then again, humanity was also beautiful. To be human meant having the unique ability to love someone so fiercely it consumed you.
“You’ve been sitting there with that exact same creepy grin for two hours.” The voice belonged to Perona. She slammed a tray onto the counter near his table. As Ace’s part-time coworker, she had zero patience for Sabo’s loitering. “You bought a single beverage and you’ve done nothing but stare at Ace like a possessed doll.”
Sabo slowly stroked the fur of the resident orange cat, the Duke, who was resting comfortably on his knees. He looked up at Perona, unfazed. “Can you blame me, though? Look at him. I have a beautiful boyfriend, and as a man in love, it’s my right to gaze upon him.”
The Duke let out a loud, affirmative meow.
“There you have it,” Sabo chuckled. “The Duke has officially validated my point.”
Perona rolled her eyes so hard she nearly pulled a muscle, looking ready to blast him into outer space. “Give me a break. How on earth do you pretend to understand the Duke? Last time I checked, you don’t speak feline, you weirdo.”
An amused, knowing smile spread across Sabo’s face. He kept the memory of his drug-induced feline transformation to himself, knowing only his innermost circle shared that bizarre truth. “You would be surprised,” Sabo replied with a mysterious air. “The Duke and I share a very long history. He was something of a life coach to me. His guidance was invaluable.”
Perona rubbed her temples, looking defeated. “Everyone around me is so unhinged. I’m surrounded by people with zero brain cells,” she grumbled. “Are you going to actually order something else, or are you just renting the chair?”
“Just another coffee for me, thank you.”
“An unoriginal order for an unoriginal man,” Perona grumbled as she began to back away. “We have a seasonal spiced mocha, an iced vanilla bean cold brew and a white chocolate latte, yet you choose the most boring option on the menu.” She turned and marched off toward the counter, still complaining loudly to herself.
Sabo chuckled softly, watching her go. “She’s a ray of sunshine, is she not?” he whispered to the Duke.
The Duke replied with a gentle meow.
“Is that so?” Sabo asked, a look of mild surprise on his face. He understood perfectly that the Duke was defending her, pointing out how wonderfully attentive Perona was to the animals, and how several customers actually appreciated her blunt honesty. “A strange but kind human, then.”
The Duke let out a distressed meow.
Sabo grimaced. “Ugh, that’s disgusting,” he muttered. The Duke was informing him about a group of weirdos and stalkers who had been loitering around the café. Due to Perona’s distinctive Gothic Lolita style, these creeps could not separate fantasy from real life, targeting an innocent young woman with their unwanted attention.
The Duke nudged Sabo’s hand with his nose, letting out a firm mew.
“Naturally, you don’t need to tell me twice. Lest we forget, I’m a trained bodyguard. Assessing threats and handling security risks is my actual trade.”
The Duke let out a lazy, rumbling meow.
Sabo let out a sharp laugh, continuing to stroke the orange fur. “You are right. The author who created this story fully intended for me to be an elite security expert, but seeing as I’ve done nothing but sit around and look pretty so far, this dialogue is clearly just a cheap way to make up for the lack of plot progression.”
The café settled into a quiet, peaceful lull as the late afternoon light began to filter through the windows. Soon enough, Luffy and his group of friends would be arriving to turn the place upside down. It was still rather funny and surprising to think about the fact that Sabo was back to being a human, yet the experimental drug that had transformed him into a feline certainly possessed lasting side effects. Clearly, it was the sole reason he could still understand the secret language of cats.
Sabo looked up from his table, his eyes instinctively tracking Ace as he walked over to serve two cups of tea to a pair of young women. The customers smiled gently, their eyes sparkling with delight as Ace grinned back, hugging his serving tray tightly against his chest while staying to chat with them for a moment.
Sabo was secure in his relationship and trusted Ace, so jealousy was out of the question. In fact, because he spent an immense amount of time around Koala—who treated Boy’s Love novels and Thai BL series like a literal religion—Sabo recognised that exact look. The eyes of those women were the self-proclaimed Mae Yok of the Sabo and Ace fandom.
Just as Sabo was about to internally remark that the women looked as though they were on the verge of a collective nosebleed from whatever scandalous scenario they were imagining, Ace turned around. Their eyes met across the room. Sabo, being a hopeless romantic who suffered from a severe case of K-drama male lead syndrome, immediately held up his hand, pulling a cheeky mini finger-heart straight out of his jacket pocket.
Ace’s face flushed a shade of crimson. The two women began to giggle hysterically, hitting each other’s arms in pure excitement. Ace quickly muttered something to them before walking away as fast as his legs could carry him.
Sabo let out a sigh, his heart melting at the sight of his embarrassed boyfriend. He found himself thinking that if this ridiculous, fluttering feeling in his chest was the reality of his human existence, he would gladly suffer through it for the rest of his days.
The Duke let out a short, mocking meow.
Sabo feigned offense, gasping dramatically as he looked down at the orange tabby. “Excuse me? Did you just call me ‘cringe’? Where on earth did you learn a word like that?” He shook his head, tapping the cat’s pink nose. “Listen to me, Duke. It might be a little cringe, but being cringe is fine. It builds personality, and honestly, it is far more fun than being boring.”
The Duke literally rolled his green eyes, turning his head away with supreme arrogance.
“The sass on you,” Sabo chuckled, shifting his weight as he playfully tried to nudge the cat off his lap. “If I’m that embarrassing to be around, perhaps you should just go and bother the other customers. Go on, leave the cringe human alone.”
Naturally, the Duke refused to budge. He dug his claws lightly into the fabric, letting out a haughty mew that clearly translated to disdain, though his stubborn weight proved he had no intention of moving. He seemed to be implying that he was only staying to make Sabo’s life miserable, and that Sabo’s brand-new trousers desperately required a thick coating of his majestic orange fur.
Sabo snorted, leaning down to tickle the tabby under his chin and along his belly. He felt a bit silly doing it, considering cats were not exactly known for being ticklish, but the Duke seemed to enjoy the sensation. The feline stretched out his paws and demanded more attention, and Sabo, knowing his place, happily obeyed.
“You know, Duke,” Sabo said suddenly. “Ace and I are a modern-day fairy tale.”
The Duke let out a low, questioning meow.
“I’m serious,” Sabo insisted, a proud smile appearing on his face. “Think about it. My transformation into a feline was a contemporary, scientific curse. And it was a kiss from Ace that broke the spell and turned me back into a human.”
The Duke offered a highly sceptical mew.
“Oh, it makes perfect sense if you look at the data,” Sabo argued, tapping his chin. “The old hag writing our story obviously did not think it through initially, so she had to scramble for ideas by discussing the plot with her readers. Apparently, the medical team analysed my blood and DNA post-transformation. They discovered that the chemical compound of the poison in my system had a highly volatile, catalytic reaction when it came into contact with Ace’s saliva. So, that day he kissed me while I was a cat? A literal miracle. The enzymes neutralised the toxin instantly. It’s plot convenience and exceptionally lazy writing, but who cares? It worked.”
The Duke let out a dry, unimpressed meow.
“Exactly. But more importantly, it proves Ace is extraordinary,” Sabo continued, his eyes softening. “His biological makeup is different because he technically possesses superpowers. Can you actually believe it? My boyfriend ate a mythical fruit in another world, and somehow carried his fire abilities all the way into this universe.”
“Are you seriously sitting here gossiping about me with a cat?”
Sabo froze, his heart leaping into his throat as an amused familiar voice spoke from right behind his shoulder. With a sudden burst of energy, the Duke perked up, smoothly leaping off Sabo’s trousers and onto the tiled floor. He began to walk away with immense dignity, only stopping to throw a sharp, conversational mew over his shoulder before slipping behind the counter.
Sabo sighed. “Incredible. Truly a loyal companion,” he called out sarcastically. “Abandoning me the second the authority arrives? You could have at least stayed to clarify that we were having an intellectual discussion, not gossiping.”
Ace sat down on the bench right beside Sabo, their shoulders brushing as he closed the distance between them. He tilted his head, fixing Sabo with a sceptical glare. “Wow, Sabo. That’s a new low, even for you. Throwing the resident cat under the bus and using him as a shield to cover your tracks?”
Sabo offered a slightly guilty, nervous laugh, instantly taking the opportunity to extend his arm behind Ace’s back so they could snuggle closer. “It was not gossip, my love. I just can’t help but talk about you, because you are just a flawless human being.”
Ace’s skin turned red. He leaned in and gave Sabo a pinch on the waist, whispering a furious complaint about the nonsense Sabo insisted on spouting in broad daylight. Sabo opened his mouth, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he prepared to lean into Ace’s personal space and whisper: admit it, you like it when I say it.
“Don’t even start, you arsehole,” Ace interrupted, cutting him off. He crossed his arms, his pouting lips. “Yes, I like it, obviously, but you don’t need to keep doing it in front of other people just to make me die of embarrassment!”
Sabo blinked, caught off guard, before his smile stretched from ear to ear. Ace had shattered the typical romantic trope into a million pieces. Sabo felt very happy. Who could possibly compete with his luck? Why was boyfriend so flawlessly magnificent? Even if their lives were nothing more than a fictional narrative, nothing could prevent Ace from being the most perfect soul in existence.
Ace leaned up to plant a swift kiss on Sabo’s cheek before comfortably resting his head against Sabo’s shoulder, pulling out his phone to scroll through his screen. Across the café, various local Y-girls and boys giggled softly, staring at them with open adoration. As long as the onlookers remained respectful, Sabo could hardly blame them. After all, who on earth would not want to look at Ace all day? Or, in this specific case, look at the two of them being completely lovey-dovey in public?
Sabo shifted slightly, a sudden thought occurring to him. “By the way, Ace,” he said, looking around the table. “I ordered a coffee with Perona a while ago, but I still have not got it. Did she forget about me?”
Ace shifted his weight, adjusting his position so he could lay his head more comfortably against Sabo’s chest whilst reading through his university notes on his smartphone. Oh, wow, his boyfriend was an incredibly hard-working student. Without looking up from the screen, Ace casually remarked, “Oh, I drank your coffee.”
Sabo fell silent, amused by the sheer audacity.
Noticing the lack of a response, Ace pulled away slightly and turned his head to look Sabo dead in the eye, raising a single eyebrow. “Is there a problem with that?”
Sabo shook his head, the arm resting behind the bench smoothly moving down to secure itself around Ace’s waist. “No problem at all, my dear,” he replied smoothly, offering a reassuring smile.
Ace smiled contentedly, apparently satisfied with the answer, and leaned back down against his shoulder to resume his studying. Sabo, however, felt a single bead of sweat form at his brow.
It was highly apparent that in moments like these, Ace inherited the exact same deadly, authoritative stare as his mother, Rouge, and Sabo knew he was utterly powerless against it.
They settled back into their comfortable little bubble. Sabo’s hand moved in a slow, soothing rhythm, rubbing up and down against Ace’s waist. He looked down at the dark green barista apron, thinking how incredibly well the uniform suited his boyfriend. Then again, Ace would look breathtakingly handsome even if he were dressed in literal rags—though, truth be told, Sabo preferred him naked and in their bed. He was only joking, of course. Or was he?
Glancing down, Sabo noticed the screen of Ace’s phone was covered in tiny, dense paragraphs of text. “How were your classes today, anyway?” he asked softly.
“Exhausting,” Ace said, finally putting the phone face-down on the table and looking up through his eyelashes. “Being a first-year medical student is a nightmare. I’ve been trying to memorise human anatomy structures and cellular biology pathways all morning, and my brain is practically fried.”
Sabo immediately placed his free hand over his heart. If Ace was going to look up at him with such a pretty, soulful expression, he might as well just die right then and there.
Ace noticed the overly dramatic gesture and rolled his eyes. “You’re such a creep,” he muttered, though he did not actually wait for a response. He sat up straight and crossed his arms. “By the way, I got confessed to by two senior students today. One of them was from the engineering department. Oh, and I also got given a load of gifts by some high schoolers from the academy nearby.”
Sabo raised an eyebrow. “And?” he teased. He knew Ace loved him far too much to ever dream of cheating, and besides, Ace was far too fiercely ethical to ever play with another person’s feelings.
Ace let out a small pout. “You could at least pretend to be a little jealous! But if you must know, I told the university seniors straight out that I already have a boyfriend. The engineering bloke was insistent and highly annoying—honestly, some people possess zero brain cells when it comes to taking ‘no’ for an answer—so I had to be a bit harsh with him. The high schoolers were much nicer, though. They’re more like fan girls. I have no idea why they even like me, but since they insisted on giving me presents, I used the opportunity to promote the café and told them to buy our drinks.”
Sabo leaned in close, his smile widening with genuine delight. “Look at you,” he said, kissing the tip of Ace’s nose. “Using your charms for corporate strategy. I highly admire your business mind, my love.”
Ace tried his best to maintain his pout, but Sabo could see the telltale twitch at the corner of his lips. Sure enough, it did not take long before Ace surrendered, breaking into a mock-annoyed smile. “You’re such a sap, do you know that?” Ace laughed, shaking his head. “Who even says things like ‘corporate strategy’ during a conversation?”
“I am a man of many talents, and I am always prepared for any scenario”
“I can certainly see that,” Ace countered, leaning back just enough to look Sabo in the eye. “Honestly, if Koala had not told me that you’ve been single your life, I would have assumed you were a seasoned player.”
Sabo let out a laugh, closing the small distance between them until their foreheads gently touched. “You can’t blame me, Ace,” he said softly. “This is what love does to a person. It brings out our hidden talents.”
Ace looked away, his cheeks turning a shade of pink, though he refused to move his forehead away from Sabo’s. “Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that. But it still does not explain how you are apparently such an expert at kissing—amongst other things—when you supposedly had zero experience before me.”
Sabo shifted both of his hands up to gently cup Ace’s face, playfully rubbing their noses together. “Well... There are educational learning materials all over the internet these days, my love. And as you well know, I’m a certified genius.”
“And I’m the Queen of England, and we’re currently floating in the clouds,” Perona interrupted, materialising beside their table with a look of supreme disgust. She looked like the most miserable person on earth. “You two are pathetic. And honestly, Ace, what a massive hypocrite you are. Did you not spend an internal monologue a few chapters ago complaining that lovey-dovey couples should be banned from society? Look at you now.”
Sabo suppressed a groan, reluctantly breaking the comfortable contact of their foreheads. He shifted back to face Perona, while Ace reluctantly sat up straight, turning his head to look at the girl. She was casually cradling a fluffy white cat against her frilly dress.
He tilted his head. “My dear Perona, is there a specific emergency that required you to gracefully stampede into our private conversation, or do you derive pleasure from interrupting your coworkers?”
Before Perona could even answer, Ace reached over and gave Sabo’s side a pinch. “Sabo, stop it,” Ace scolded, turning to glare at him. “You need to behave. She works here with me.”
Sabo instantly softened his posture, rubbing his side with a dramatic sigh. “Yes, dear. My apologies,” he said obediently, though his jaw tightened slightly when he noticed Perona smirking down at him in pure satisfaction.
Ace shook his head and looked up at her. “What is it, Perona? Do you need something?”
“Nothing!” Perona replied instantly, tossing her pink hair with a look of supreme malice. “I don’t need a single thing! I just can’t endure the agonising torture of witnessing two happy people existing peacefully in my vicinity, so I had to come over and ruin it! Horohorohorohoro!”
Sabo’s left eye twitched violently with immense annoyance at the sound of her ridiculous, shrill signature laugh, but Ace simply chuckled along with her, used to her dramatic nature.
Once her amusement subsided, Perona dropped her smile, her face going deadpan as she adopted a rare tone of seriousness. “But in all honesty, it’s about your brother’s friend’s upcoming birthday party. Mrs Banchina said we can close the café early this afternoon so we can prepare the courtyard.”
Ace began to stand up from the bench, smoothing down his dark green barista apron. The moment the contact was broken, Sabo felt a sudden, profound wave of regret wash over him. His magnificent, radiant boyfriend—the literal sunshine of his existence, whose very presence could illuminate the darkest corners of Sabo’s soul—was moving away from him. Sabo could have happily remained anchored to Ace’s side for the next millennium, completely content to bask in the warmth of his skin and the sweet scent of vanilla and espresso that constantly clung to him. To Sabo, Ace was a flawless masterpiece, and every single second spent without physical contact felt like a tragic waste of time.
“Are you very certain about that, Perona?” Ace asked, tilting his head with a slight frown. He genuinely did not want to cause any unnecessary inconvenience to the business or to Miss Banchina. “Luffy and his friends are incredibly easy to please. They do not require a massive, elegant banquet or hours of meticulous preparation. We just need to pop down to the local bakery nearby to collect the birthday cake, and everything else is already sorted. We have plenty of soft drinks stocked up in the fridge.”
“Don’t be so stupid, Ace!” Perona snapped. “A birthday is a monumental occasion, especially for a tragic creature like that moss-headed idiot! If we don’t decorate the courtyard properly with giant, glowing signs and brightly coloured balloons, that directionally challenged fool will probably manage to get lost between the front door and the counter! Honestly, his lack of geographical awareness is a medical mystery. My only hope is that hosting this party and making a birthday wish might finally cure his dreadful disease, or at least grant him the supernatural ability to distinguish between left and right.”
Sabo remained silent. He could not help but reflect upon Zoro’s legendary reputation for getting lost. It was canon in their circle that the green-haired youth could manage to lose his way on a perfectly straight, one-way street, so Perona’s insults were actually grounded in terrifying truth.
Ace burst into a fit of genuine, melodious laughter, his eyes crinkling. “Alright, fine, you make an exceptionally valid point,” he agreed, shaking his head.
Sabo smiled warmly, exchanging one last look with Ace. Seeing that his boyfriend was about to start his duties, Sabo decided it was time to stand up as well. If he wanted to earn maximum points in the ‘exemplary boyfriend’ category, he should probably offer to help carry the heavy boxes of decorations out to the courtyard.
Just as he stood up, his work mobile phone vibrated violently in his pocket. Hmm? Sabo pulled the device out.
He expected a routine security brief, but the name flashing across the screen made his posture instantly go rigid. It was an urgent text message from Dragon. Sabo opened the message, and his blood turned to ice as he read the words.
Dragon : Code Red. Luffy has been kidnapped. I do not know what transpired or how they managed to breach our perimeter, but a highly organised unit took him the moment he was walking out of the school gates with his friends. Show this to Ace immediately. We need your security expertise on the ground right now. Await my next transmission.
Sabo’s heart leaped directly into his throat. He slowly raised his eyes from the screen, his gaze locking onto Ace, unsure of how to break the devastating news.
