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January 1st started off with Luffy bursting into Ace’s room, he was full of excitement due to the fact that it was a new year — 365 whole days of new memories to make! and also today happened to be his older brother’s birthday. He wanted to make this one more special than any other.
Luffy grinned to himself, suppressing a giggle as he paddled over to Ace’s bed and mentally hyped himself up. It didn’t take long before he was ready, giddy with excitement and wanting to wake up Ace as soon as possible so the two of them could hang out together to celebrate Ace’s birthday! he, of course, ended up startling his Ace by jumping onto the bed and shaking him awake, straight to the point.
“Wuh- what the hell..?” Ace groaned loudly, opening his eyes and immediately closing them again. His head was foggy from being woken up so suddenly, he rubbed his temples before speaking. “Loof, wha’ time s’it..?” Ace sat up too quickly, his hands coming to rest on Luffy’s hips, who was sitting in his lap and beaming at him, which did make Ace happy despite being woken up so abruptly. “That’s not important! It’s your birthday today, nii-chan! I want you to come with me, it’s a surprise!” Luffy grabbed one of Ace’s larger hands with his own, admiring the difference in their sizes happily before hopping up and pulling Ace along with him. “We’re gonna have lots of fun, Ace! You’ll see!”
~
The two brothers had gone out together into the night, joking around and giggling as Luffy held Ace’s hand, taking them both towards a clearing the younger had found while looking for hangout spots, he likes hanging out in cool places!
The sky was dark and clear, perfect for being decorated with fireworks.
“Made it just in time!” Luffy quickly laid down a blanket he had brought and sat down on it, patting the space next to himself invitingly. “Oh?” Ace raised an eyebrow curiously, beginning to speak as he sat down. “What’s the—“ As soon as Ace was sitting next to Luffy there was a loud boom and he trailed off as he saw his younger brother’s face light up beautifully with color. Ace didn’t want to look away but he forced himself to, his eyes snapping to the sky and widening as he witnessed the dark sky light up with fireworks. He knew there was a festival for the new years but he hadn’t expected to get to experience it due to being far used to sleeping in late on his birthday. But luckily this time it was different, and he was grateful that it was.
Without warning Ace was suddenly being embraced tightly, his little brother was hugging him. “Happy birthday, I love you, Ace!”
He really, really was grateful.
The cake he had been craving that Luffy pulled out of his bag was just an added bonus.