Chapter Text
Throughout his life, Ace was not a superstitious person.
He had heard tales and read myths of fictional ghost creatures known as ‘Yokais’ and didn’t really bother to believe in them one bit.
But now, here he was with his friend, Sabo, face to face with the dreaded yokai.
The entity, known as a kitsune, had a mischievous grin on his face as he took the form of a young human boy with fox ears on his head and a dark-furred tail that matched his raven hair.
Naturally, with the presence of the entity before them, Ace and Sabo were on guard as they did not dare to look away from the fox.
“Hey hey! Why are you two looking at me like that?” The young fox had asked as he crossed his arms.
Judging by the voice and the appearance of the yokai, it seemed younger than both of them.
“You’re a Yokai! Stay away from us!” Ace snarled as he tried intimidating the shorter entity.
If looks could kill, Luffy would be dead right now but didn’t really seem phased by the two’s angry glares at him.
“Yokai? Is that what I’m called?” Luffy rose a brow as he childishly fell back on the branch of the tree. But instead of gravitating to the ground, the fox seemed to slow down mid-air as he bent his back to look at Ace and Sabo.
“...My name is Luffy y’know!” The boy softly landed on the floor and on his stomach as he held his head up with both the heel of his palms on his chin.
“What’s your nam—“ before Luffy can even finish his sentence, he made the mistake of letting his guard down as he was instantly tackled and tied up to a tree by the two boys.
“Wha- Hey let me out-!”
“Why are you here and what do you want from us!” The blonde-haired boy with a missing tooth yelled at the boy as he pointed a metal pipe at the ‘creature’.
“Are you here to eat our hearts or— or possess one of us!?” The freckled one with black hissed as he seemed more aggressive than the spirit of a wild fox in front of him.
“Eat your hearts?? I don’t eat hearts... Though I do eat any kind of meat I can get— Ow!” The younger wined as they tightened the rope on the yokai.
“I don’t eat humans and I don’t know how to possess people! Now let me out of this!” The fox yelled as he struggled against the knotted rope.
“Wild kitsunes are known to be tricksters, you look like a wild fox so how can we trust you if we don’t know if you’re telling the truth?” Sabo interrogated the younger boy-fox thing.
“Hmph, I don’t lie and even if I did, what would I get out of it.” The boy huffed as he closed his eyes in annoyance.
There was a pregnant pause for a moment as Sabo and Ace looked at each other and nodded.
“Let’s kill this thing.”
Luffy’s eyes instantly widened as he thrashed against the rope and the trees.
“How do you kill a kitsune again?” Ace murmured as he tried to recall the stories that were told about kitsunes.
“Noooooo!!!! Not my tail!” The boy idiotically gave out his weakness as a lightbulb appeared on his head.
“The tail! We gotta cut it off!” Ace exclaimed as snapped his fingers and nudged and urge sabo to do it.
“Why are you looking at me? I’m not cutting it, you do it!” He faced the angry freckled boy with a face of hesitation.
“Why would I do it, I was the one who said what to do so you should follow it!”
“If you know what to do to kill the kitsune then you do it then!”
As the two 8-year-old kids argued, none of them failed to notice the other escaping until it was too late.
When they had finally come to an agreement they found themselves alone as the rope had been cut and the kitsune had already escaped and run away.
While the two were glad that the fox-boy was gone and away from them, they both now felt weary of their surrounding as they thought of the kitsune ambushing them both as revenge for tying him up against a tree and threatening to kill them both by ripping their hearts out of their chests.
A few days passed after that faithful meeting and the two boys never saw the boy again, and were glad that it was gone,
but then one day…
“HELLO!!!”
The fox had appeared once again, this time he scared the living shit out of Ace and Sabo as he jumped out of a rustling bush..
“It’s been a while!” The boy laughed as he transformed into a juvenile black-furred fox and ran excited circles around the two.
“ How are you? How’s it been going? What are you two still doing in the forest? Do you live here too? ” Questions seem to go in one ear and out the other as the two didn’t even register these as friendly questions at first.
Interpreting the kitsune’s acts as something malevolent, the two spent the whole day trying to hit and kill the creature as it constantly ran and evaded their attacks like an animal being hunted down.
Soon the two lost the fox again as they exhaustingly breathed in and out at a dead end. The fox—Luffy was quite quick and agile when in a form of a fox, and understandably, both Ace and Sabo couldn’t compete with the stamina of a wild animal so attuned to fleeing.
Seeing no sight of the fox creature, the two had found themselves lost in the forest instead.
Normally the two were fine navigating in the forests themselves, but this part of the forest was dark and gloomy as the shades of the trees prevented the sun from casting too much light in the grove.
The two boys cursed themselves as they were tricked and lured into an unknown part of the forest by the kitsune and were now left alone to defend themselves.
Exhausted and out of stamina, the two settled to sit at a sunlit spot near the dead end they ended up in and cooled off as they tried to regain their worn bodies.
Soon, (un)surprisingly, not one, not two—but a whole troop of monkeys had appeared before the two children and aggressively tried to ambush them.
Naturally, the two tried to fight back with their trusty metal pipes as the feeling of exhaustion wore them both out even quicker. Soon it would all their effort would be for naught as there were only two of them against the onslaught troops of aggressive monkeys that were still pumped and ready to fight.
As they accepted their fate with much regret, they would soon find themselves getting saved by the very same fox they had tried to kill earlier.
Though, this time the fox took on a bigger, more aggressive, and defensive form as it raised its tail up like a peacock and snarled at the monkeys as intimidation.
When the monkeys had proved to be afraid, yet still daring to inch and provoke closer, the wild kitsune slammed his paw on the floor as his tail glowed dangerously.
This act seemed to provoke a sense of fear in the wild monkeys as the troops of monkeys retreated into the forest out of fear.
Soon, when the area was safe from the monkeys’ presence, the kitsune turned his glance to the boys as his tail soon lowered and reverted back to its normal look.
“You.. defended us?” The blonde one spoke, seeming to inch closer to the fox but was quickly yanked back by Ace.
“Yeah, sure, he defended us alright, but he lured us into this place!” Ace said as he gestured all around.
“I didn’t ‘lure’ you into this place! It was your fault for chasing me down instead of letting me talk!” The kitsune, still in its fox form, sat as he brought his front legs together and tried his best to cross them to add make him look like a pouting fox.
“Why would we let you talk? You’re a wild kitsune. You’re known to be mischievous and malevolent.” Ace huffed out as he still wasn’t trusting of the thing.
”augh, that's what they all say...” the kitsune murmured as it rolled its eyes and laid back on the grassy floor, shifting into his semi-human form.
“Mischievous, malevolent, trickster, malicious...” the kitsune started listing of words with the help of his fingers as the other two watched in confusion.
Ace was about to intrude on the boy’s rambling, Sabo stopped him before he could even speak. ”How about let’s hear him out, should we?” he whispered to the freckled boy.
As the boy soon finished as he whined on the grass,
“You humans keep describing me as if I were a terrible entity. I’m not!” The kitsune had now taken the appearance of a young scrawny boy, devoid of any fox-like features. He had the heels of his palms rubbing his eyes as he whined in front of the two older boys. "I'm a living person and I have thoughts and feelings too!"
“You guys are so mean!” the boy soon stood up as he puffed his cheeks and threw a harmless tantrum by flailing his arms all around. (Sabo found it quite endearing. But Ace did not.)
“I’ve been trying to befriend you both and you look and describe me as if I were trying to kill you,” the younger kicked the dirt, not caring if dirt got on his sandals.
The two were silent for a moment as they took in what the disguised creature said. Did he want to be their friend? of all things that they could think of, becoming friends with that thing was probably at the bottom of the list.
“...So you just want to befriend us?” Ace rose a brow and crossed his arms.
“ Yes !”
Luffy exclaimed, finally relieved that the two were hearing him out.
“What do you have to gain from us by becoming our friend, there must be something.” The freckled child suspiciously pointed at the young boy.
“Well....” there was a sudden stiff aura as the two boys held they're breathe, expecting the boy to say something along the lines of ‘I want your organs in return’ or ‘I want you to do my bidding’ but what came out of the kitsune’s mouth had completely caught the two off guard.
“What I get is that I get to be friends with you guys and nothing else!” The boy announced with a wide genuine smile that wavered for a moment. “I’ll even do whatever it takes to make you guys happy!” He added the last part as it almost sounded like a plea for desperation.
The two seem to have both gained an idea as the fox-boy awaited their answer. With a grin on their face, they both knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
As it turns out, the story of folktales are not truly believed.
kitsune entities were described as sneaky, powerful, and cunning.
But unfortunately, none of those applied to Luffy at all... Sure Luffy can put up a good fight, but he wasn't powerful. He wasn't sneaky-- He was loud and clumsy, and he was far from cunning.
It was honestly a pain for the two to handle as they mostly kept him around to be able to profit from his abilities.
Granted it was messed up to use the young kitsune for his powers, but the two saw the opportunity of the fox-boy being of use to them and decided to use it.
Luffy didn't exactly have all the abilities the folktale told about kitsunes, but he had a few abilities that kitsunes were known to have, such as shapeshifting, being able to glide in the air, and summoning ‘fox fires.’
Though cool as those abilities seemed, Ace and Sabo we're kind of disappointed in the execution of those abilities,
Shapeshifting into things that weren't his fox form or his natural human form had a drastic toll on Luffy as it left him feeling very tired afterwards. So he rarely used this ability.
The Gliding in the air thing was less exciting when you realize that he wasn’t actually flying and mostly just falling really slowly.
And fox fires were actually just orbs of light that look like fireballs and aren’t technically fires as it wasn’t hot and lethal.
The most annoying part of this to Ace and Sabo was that Luffy couldn’t use these abilities unless he was in his half-form or in his fox form.
Nonetheless, the two boys had to think uniquely to make use of the younger’s abilities as they could only do the same trick over and over before they would eventually get suspected and caught.
On the other note, The two boys had agreed to keep Luffy’s existence a secret from the people they terrorized with their thievings as they thought Luffy would be captured if they didn't tread carefully.
Soon enough at the end of a tiresome day full of adventures and stealing from unsuspecting victims, the trio has to eventually separate and leave each other. Ace would most of the time be the last one to leave, allowing him to watch Sabo and Luffy go on their separate ways.
Ace had taken a mental note of when watching the two leave, Luffy seemed to always disappear into the forest, and Sabo somewhat almost stays at the edges of the forest, nearing the Grey terminal.
Luffy disappearing into the forest was understandable (since he was a fox), but Sabo staying near the Grey terminal was odd for Ace. Why would the more logical one out of the two of them stay near the Grey terminal, it just didn’t make sense.
But as much as Ace thought about this, he was quick to drop it afterward.
He didn’t bother to think too much about it, especially since when he was still seeing Sabo alive and well, so it was a sign he could handle himself there, and also it was a sign that Ace trusted Sabo and his decisions.
Luffy was five and he was impressionable. Sabo and Ace knew that.
But they still didn’t know why the kitsune decided he wanted to be their friend right away.
They barely knew the boy back then, and now they still only know the basics about him.
His name is Luffy, he was five, and he is a kitsune with ‘kitsune abilities’.
The boy wasn’t all too smart, as he acted exactly like a child that grew up in the forest, albeit with some knowledge of other things.
It made the duo wonder how did the fox-boy even learn how to speak and understand most human words.
But despite that, the two never let their guard down around Luffy. They agreed to always carry something sharp in case there would an event that the fox would attack them.
Though Sometimes it felt dumb to have their guard up for something as seemingly harmless as Luffy.
Though, Ace wasn’t willing to let his guard down even for a second when near the fox-boy.
But then again it was just in his nature to not trust anyone instantly.
Sabo had earned his trust by being the first friend he had encountered. The two of them had a lot of time to bond and now acted like sworn brothers that were against the world that wanted them dead.
But Luffy has yet to gain Ace’s trust. The freckled boy could only mentally curse as he saw how Sabo slowly but surely found himself adoring the kitsune to some degree. He didn’t understand how Sabo could warm up to the fox–who mind you, they were still obviously only using for their own benefit.
Ace didn’t trust Luffy. It was as simple as that. He and Sabo only agreed to be the boy’s friend since the kitsune didn’t seem keen on letting them go so easily, and two— The fox-boy was a golden opportunity to make Ace and Sabo’s thieving lives easier and Ace didn’t think of him more than that.
So when Ace found himself alone with the kitsune while waiting for Sabo to appear, Ace kept his guard up.
His hand was cautiously near his blade as he watched the fox spew out nonesene that Ace didn’t bother to listen to.
’This fox is an idiot.’
Ace thought as Luffy showed him a leaf that had a caterpillar eating on it.
“Why’re You so grumpy all the time? Y’know Makino said if you frown all the time you’ll get wrinkles.” Luffy absentmindedly said as he looked at the freckled boy with the eyes of a young innocent child.
Ace only scoffed at the kitsune as he heard what he said, ’who the hell is Makino.’ Ace wondered a bit before tossing the thought away.
“You’d be grumpy too if you had someone like you burst into your life all of sudden.” and be born as the son of that damn pirate king. Said the freckled boy as he tried to keep his composure.
“Ne? I don’t think so. If I met another me, we would best buddies! Brothers even!” Luffy exclaimed, oblivious to Ace’s annoyance.
“Ugh. I hate people like you, you’re too oblivious and spoiled in life.” The boy rolled his eyes as his words seemed to gain the attention of the fox.
“Hey! I’m not spoiled or obil- oblevus- ole- whatever you just said, I’m strong and I work hard in my life!” Luffy’s ears and tail pop out as they seemed to react to his emotions.
“Really now?”
Ace said as he didn’t believe Luffy’s words.
“I am, I am! I fight beasts in the forest and I survive on my own here!”
The last part seemed to catch Ace off guard a bit as he rose a brow.
“What, you live on your own?"
“Yeah! Though I sometimes visit Makino I never stay for too long since my dumb Jiji told me not to stay with humans for too long.” The fox stuck out a tongue as he remembered his grandpa’s harsh words.
“Why are you exactly not allowed to go near humans?” Ace knew that kitsunes are most of the time feared by people in myths as those supernatural foxes would seek out and torment people, but this time it confused him on why a wild kitsune like Luffy be forbidden to go near humans.
“Well... Jiji said they’ll cut my tail and carve my heart out if humans found out what I was, he said Humans are always aggressive and cruel in nature and won’t hesitate to skin animals like me alive,” Luffy nonchalantly said, seemingly not caring about the details of death that would be brought upon him because of his existence.
Ace winced a bit as he listened to the boy explain a Gorey description of what people would do to a kitsune like him.
His existence was his very own weakness as he would be a constant target to everyone. It reminded Ace of himself and his heritage.
“...You mentioned this ‘Makino’ earlier. I assume they’re human because you visit them. But you told me you’re not allowed to go near humans. What’s up with that?”
“Ah, Makino! She’s a nice human alongside Woop Slap, Gyoru, and Chicken!” Luffy chirped happily as he said their names.
“I met her one day when I decided to disguise myself into my human form and explore a village. Makino soon took me in and cared for me! At some point, I accidentally got sick and turned into a fox by accident and still, she cared for me, after of that I learned that not all humans are what Ji-ji told me. Though I’m still kinda wary about humans.”
The fox sat with a satisfied smile as his tail gently swayed side to side.
Honestly, Ace didn’t know how to respond to that. So he let out a grunt and decided to say something,
“If you’re still wary about humans, then why are you still friends with me and Sabo? For all you know we could backstab you here right now and cut off your tail.” The boy said in a tone harsher than he intended it to be.
“..Well, that’s because I know that you two won't do it.”
Ace suddenly stopped as he looked at the boy who didn’t seem bothered at all.
“What? How do– How would you know that?? ”
Ace asked.
“It’s natural in a human’s nature to be cruel most of the time. But when I look at you guys, deep down I see that Ace and Sabo are good people. Even if you use me for stealing things and getting treasure, you guys save me and still patch me up!” Luffy ran his hands through the green grass as he paused for a moment. “It’s kind of fun being with you guys, I prefer it here than being out there alone,” he added.
Ace scoffed at the description of him being called a ‘good person.’ He was the son of Gol D. Roger, the devil’s child. He was no good person.
“Hey, Luffy. If Gol D. Roger had a... son what would you think of them.” Ace muttered out loud for Luffy to hear.
“Gol D. Roger...? Who’s that?” The young kitsune tilted his head in curiosity as he cast his gaze at Ace.
“Gol D. Roger is a man who wreaked havoc on the world and was known to be the devil incarnate. So what will be your reaction if you met his child?”
'Why is Ace asking me this?' Luffy wondered blankly.
“Well... I’d want to be friends with them.” The fox-boy answered without hesitation.
“But he’s the son of the devil? Why would you want to be friends with him? He should be killed!” Ace spat out, as the memories of the people’s words in the bar rang out through his head.
“Why would people want him to be killed? When he’s done..? nothing wrong???”
Luffy confusingly stared at Ace.
“Just because he’s the son of the devil doesn’t mean he should be killed. I think he should be able to live and become someone he wants to be!” The fox-boy smiled as he closed his eyes.
“So, If I ever met him, I’d want him to live so I can be friends with him! And then we'll go on adventures through the cool world!”
Luffy added as he clapped his hands gently at the idea of being friends with someone like that.
“What if I was Roger’s son, then? I’ve done bad things like steal and hurt people, what would your reaction be? Do you still want me to be alive and running around?” Ace grit his teeth.
“Of course I do! Devil’s son or not, I already decided that you’re my friend alongside Sabo! and because of that I want you, Ace, to live! I want to continue pickpocketing and steal with you guys! Even though that's bad I still want to be with you guys." Luffy furrowed his brows
For a moment, Ace was silent.
Luffy was oblivious to the fact that he was talking to Gol D. Roger’s son right now and failed to realize he had just said something that touched Ace’s emotions.
Luffy wanted him to live and didn’t care what he was. He genuinely just wants to be friends with him.
For as dumb and oblivious as Luffy is in people’s eyes, he was quite great at judging a person’s character.
Luffy knew that Ace and Sabo were using him for their own benefit, but he still stayed despite knowing that fact as Ace and Sabo were the nicest people he'd ever meet (except Makino)
Luffy had already accepted that it was in human nature that people would fear something like him and attempt to kill him for his existence alone and he didn't even let it bother him too much.
Ace felt like he was staring at another version of himself as he felt some similarities between him and the younger. They were both hated by the world, but instead of hating the world back, Luffy accepted it and even loved it back.
“...Hey Luffy, how old are you again?”
“I’m 5, why do you ask?”
“Nothing. I just forgot.”
At that very moment on, Ace may have gained a little soft spot around Luffy as he ended up dropping the habit of bringing a knife around him.
It had been weeks since Ace had that talk with Luffy and he was wondering if Sabo had detected Ace lowering his guard around Luffy as he felt a bit more comfortable around the kitsune.
Ever since that day, both Ace and Sabo found themselves more comfortable being around each other as they bonded and lived their life as if it was them against the world. (which was partially the truth)
Though, their bonding would soon cut short when one day, Luffy would stop appearing.
The two boys had been confused that Luffy didn’t appear to them that day, but they chalked it up to Luffy just being Luffy and maybe exploring somewhere and forgetting to visit Ace and Sabo. (It was an unlikely thing to happen, but they excused Luffy’s first absence with that.)
One day soon became two, then became three, then became a whole week of no sight of Luffy.
The two boys would even wait hours at their meeting spot just to see if Luffy would appear, but the kitsune never once appeared.
Sabo and Ace became worried when the absence of the boy was prolonged. Ace especially as he had somehow grown an attachment to Luffy through their shared experience of being told that the world wanted them dead.
“Maybe he’s just into hibernation? It’s been getting pretty cold lately so that’s probably the case.” Sabo tried to think of a reason why Luffy suddenly disappeared on them.
“I don’t think Fox creatures like him hibernate Sabo.” Ace hastily replied as he worriedly thought that the fox-boy might be dead as they speak.
“...Sabo.. Do you think he was...”
Ace turned his gaze at Sabo’s eyes, not wanting to finish his sentence.
“Luffy is a kitsune Ace. He wouldn’t get killed so easily. And also this is Luffy we’re talking about, that fox is still probably somewhere in this island.” Sabo reassured Ace as he held onto the small hope he had that Luffy was alright and fine.
Looking into the forest cove at their meet-up spot, the two can only hope that the fox is still alive.
Ace and Sabo had turned 10 when Luffy had come back.
Ace didn’t really expect to see the kitsune again much less being held on the scruff by that bastard old man, Garp.
Ace had come back from his hunt and brought home a giant boar for the bandits and him. But when he had reached the house, his eyes momentarily went wide when he saw his Grandpa holding up a black-furred creature that wore a straw hat.
When Garp had spotted Ace, the old marine hero instantly faced him and showed the creature in his hands.
It was a black fox with two tails and on its head was a straw hat. The fox’s face seemed to have red markings and a distinct red scar mark under its left eye. Ace, despite seeing the different features on the fox that Luffy never had, he still recognized The young kitsune as that being that had both mysteriously appeared and disappeared from his and Sabo’s lives.
“Bwahahaha! you seem flabbergasted Ace. As expected from someone who's never seen a kitsune before.” Garp spoke as he held up the unmoving fox by the scruff, and introduced it as Luffy.
For a moment Ace thought the fox was dead, but when the marine dropped the thing on the ground it instantly started stretching its limbs like a cat.
“From now on this brat will be staying with you after causing a ruckus on another island. I hope he grows up well in your care!” He joked as he soon left the scene with Dadan yelling something at him.
Ace didn’t care to listen to what the old hag yelled about as he quickly approached the fox who looked at him with eyes of familiarity.
Upon registering the freckles and the black hair, the kitsune instantly shifted into their human form as they leaped onto the human boy.
“ACE!!”
Ace was expectedly engulfed in a warm hug and accepted it with not much of a fight.
It had been a year since he’d seen Luffy and ever since that neither he or Sabo knew what happened to the fox.
The two thought prompted to wait for him at their meet-up spot back then, but after countless days of waiting, Luffy never came back.
But now here he was, alive and in the flesh, now hugging Ace tightly and wailed out about how happy and glad he was to see him again.
It honestly warmed the heart of Ace that the kitsune still cared for him and glad to see him alive.
“I see you brats are getting along nicely. Now Get in now we’re setting up lunch.” Dogra said as he urged the boys to come in the house.
Luffy had followed the short man eagerly as the kitsune seemed to have retained his love for food.
Upon following Luffy and Dogra from behind, Ace realized that Luffy was wearing a red kimono that had a few patches of blue sun patterns.
He wondered where had he gotten that outfit as the kimono kind of complimented his appearance as a Kitsune. But not his personality as Luffy. (Ace was still kind of in the middle with the straw hat though, it fit him but it also didn’t. But he’ll have to get used it.)
Soon, later that day after Luffy had learned to never let his guard down while eating with the bandits, the fox-boy quickly followed Ace out of the bandit-filled house and into the forest.
The walk there had reminded him of old times as he watched the messy-haired kid lament about missing the forest scenery of Mt. Columbo.
Soon they both met up with Sabo as the blonde-haired kid had widened his eyes at the sight of the familiar kitsune.
“Luffy!? Where have you been! it's been so long! You have another tail!?”
Sabo exclaimed as he found himself engulfing the younger in a tight hug.
“Shishi, it’s been a while hasn’t it? I missed you guys!”
Ace watched as the two hugged each other and expressed joy as Luffy tried to hold in his tears of joy at the sight of Sabo again.
The freckled teen reminisces about the time when he and Sabo were still wary of Luffy existing right next to them, it was honestly funny and dumb thinking about how they were so cautious about being with Luffy back then.
“It was awful! Jiji grabbed me by the scruff that day and dropped me off on another island!” Luffy complained to the two as he acted more annoyed rather than shaken up from being taken away from the island.
Honestly Ace was kind of surprised that Luffy was related to Garp. He couldn’t picture the man having a grandson like Luffy, much less having a son.
“On another island? What was it called?”
The two were now seated on a patch of grass they decided to catch up with what had Luffy been doing in his disappearance.
“Hm, I think it was something along the lines of Ecchi?- Itechi- Etchi island? I didn’t listen.”
Sabo let a sigh as he didn’t recognize that island. Ace seem to catch onto that as rose a brow.
“Why’d that shitty gramps bring you to that island?”
“He said it was to train me, or something. The island had other foxes that were just like me but they were protected by the villagers!” Luffy raised his arms up in the air as his twin tails followed suit and raised up as well.
Ace and Sabo rose a brow at that information as it was quite odd to hear about it.
The existence of Luffy, a kitsune was quite a shock to them on them back then, but when the boy had mentioned an island full with other foxes that were being protected by people, they wondered why an island like that would even exist.
This info seemed to shock Ace a bit more as from what Luffy told him back then, he thought kitsunes were normally hunted down by people.
“Garp said that I have to learn from those other foxes and become a shrine fox thingy just like them so I could stay with them and be ‘safe’. But I didn’t really want to become like them because those foxes were boring and too submissive to the people that kept hurting them and using them.” Luffy let out his tongue in disgust as he explained to them what was a common occurrence on that island. Luffy couldn't help but wince as he remembered how the people threatened to even cut off the foxes' tails in an instant if they were to revolt against them.
The two boys listening couldn't help but seethe at the unfair justice the island brought to kitsunes like Luffy. At some point it made the two of them a bit guilty as it reminded them of how they had only become Luffy's friends to use him. But now they put that all behind them as Ace and Sabo stopped what they were doing then and actually took Luffy's kindness to heart.
Luffy continued on with his talk as he soon told them about how both the villagers and kitsunes alike disliked his wild and unpredictable nature,
Though the island and its inhabitants tolerated Luffy at first, there had been that one point where the inhabitants genuinely got close to throwing Luffy into the ocean, but were unable to continue on with it because of Garp. (Sabo wondered if the man had blackmailed the people of that island to taking Luffy in)
“One day a pirate crew docked at a neighbor village and I decided to visit them! They were so cool and awesome, I wish you guys met Shanks and his crew, since he saved me, gave me his hat, and told me what it’s like to be a pirate!”
The two curiously eyed the kitsune as he happily shared with them every story he heard from Shanks and his crew and Luffy’s general experience with pirate crew.
“At some point, I kind of dozed off and accidentally ate this weird fruit, and the next thing I know I have another tail, and my body is made out of rubber!” Luffy explained as he pulled his own cheek to show the other two. “It also affects my fox form too so I’m practically made out of rubber in all my forms!”
The older two seemed to look in shock for a moment as Luffy pulled his own cheek at an inhuman rate and then let it snap back into place.
Ace wasn’t familiar with devil fruits so he didn't know how this was possible, but unlike Ace, Sabo who had at least heard about the concept of these Devil fruits.
“Though after eating that fruit Shanks freaked out really badly as he then told me that was called a devil fruit and that I can no longer be able to swim anymore..” The younger hesitantly said as he laughed the nervousness away. He didn’t really mind the loss of being able to swim since he didn’t even know how to swim in the first place.
“Pft, becoming rubber in turn for the inability to swim? That’s dumb trade off, I bet becoming Rubber isn’t even worth it.” Ace crossed his arms as he wondered what abilities could one even get after ‘becoming’ rubber.
“Hey! Being rubber isn’t dumb! I’m immune to blunt damage and I can stretch my limbs also I can heal faster!” Luffy exclaimed as his tails lowered in disappointed at the fact Ace wasn't impressed with his new ability.
“If you can heal faster, then why do you have that scar on your face?” Sabo pointed out curiously as he pointed below Luffy’s left eye.
“Oh, this? I got this before I ate my devil fruit so it’s there forever I guess.” Luffy shrugged.
Sabo found it odd that his body didn’t heal that scar but he didn’t seem too bothered about it as the scar somehow suited Luffy’s look.
“Oh yeah, that reminds me-“ before Luffy can finish his sentence, the annoying sound of clothing being torn riddled Ace and Sabo’s ears as they winced in discomfort at the sound.
The young kitsune had ripped off the long sleeves of his kimono and began tying his lower half together into a make-shift shorts.
“After Shanks left and saved me from this giant sea king, I was forced to get taught by this teacher and tried to teach me on how to become a ‘proper kitsune.’ it was honestly a pain,” Luffy paused as he groaned in distain at that topic. But he was able to quickly recompose himself as he looked at his now self-modified outfit.
“After learning how boring being a kitsune is, I decided that one day I will become a pirate instead and become the pirate king!”
Luffy pointed to the sky as he stood proudly.
“I will become the freest person in the world and I will have the best crew known to this world!”
He announced with a bright smile as he confidently faced his two friends.
The two humans watching, Ace and Sabo, seemed to let out stifled laughter when they heard the boy’s dream of becoming the pirate king.
It was quite a bizarre idea for Ace and Sabo but at that moment they promised that they wouldn’t let anyone but themselves laugh at Luffy’s dream.
Luffy couldn’t help but smile proudly at this, as despite being laughed at by Ace and Sabo, he knew they would support him and his dream.
“hey you told us your teacher taught you some other things, can you tell us what he taught you?” Sabo suddenly asked, as he was genuinely curious about what the boy had been taught on that island.
After hearing out Sabo, Luffy’s tails seem to gently twist for a moment as Luffy contemplated, “Hmmm, this is a tough one, I don’t really remember much of it because It was boring and I didn't listen...” Luffy rubbed the side of his head in circles as he tried to remember.
“He taught me about some manners... some stuff about my abilities.. And this one emergency instinct all kitsunes have! “
Ace and Sabo rose a brow at this so-called ‘emergency instinct’ and naturally asked about it.
“Mmm, he told me that when a Kitsune is verrry injured we apparently get locked into our fox form.” He tried his best to remember the older kitsune’s words but only remembered a few parts. “I think he also told me that our senses are heightened when that happens.” Luffy added while he picked at his nose, feeling bored of his own words.
The two older boys nodded at that information as Luffy was prone to injury and made sure to remember this as one day Luffy would probably end up becoming seriously injured.
For a moment there was a pregnant pause as the ambiance of the forest filled the air, the act of Sabo standing up broke the paused moment as he clasped his hands together,
“Hey Luffy, how about you show us what you’ve learned about your abilities by hunting something to eat just like old times,” Sabo said as two perked up in delight at his suggestion.
“Yeah! I can show you guys how strong I’ve gotten too!” Luffy jumped up as he punched the air.
“Heh, I bet your punches are still weak.” Ace teased as he crossed his arms while now holding the trusty pipe that Sabo handed him from the ground.
“My punches aren’t weak anymore! You’ll be left crying after you get hit by them because my punches are stronger than a pistol’s!” Luffy retorted back as he offendedly flailed his arms around the air.
“Yeah right, I don’t believe you.” Ace grit his teeth as he found himself offended that Luffy assumed he would cry after getting hit by someone like him.
“Hey hey! Save those punches for when we find a good target to hunt!”
Sabo yelled as he pushed the two away from each other, wanting to hit them both on the head with his pipe.