Work Text:
Bang!
With a gleeful smile Luffy watched his football smack against their wooden garden fence.
He'd never managed to kick it up this high before!
He already turned around, an “Ace! Did you see?” on the tip of his tongue but then his smile faded.
Ace was nowhere to be seen.
Luffy grumbled but went to get his ball where it had landed in the grass.
When would Ace finally join him?
Playing alone just wasn't that fun...
He'd asked his big brother if he'd like to play with him earlier.
Jinbei-sensei hadn't given them any homework and since today was an usually warm autumn day it was perfect for playing football in the backyard!
Luffy needed to practice his goalkeeper skills so Sanji wouldn't score so many goals in their next game!
But Ace had struggled to stay awake the second he'd come back home from the office and had immediately laid down on the couch for a nap.
Luffy knew that it was probably his nacholepsy that made him this tired but he was still annoyed by it.
He knew Ace couldn't help it.
It was a chronic illness after all.
Uncle pineapple had been really angry with him one time when he'd called Ace “no fun because you're always sleeping!” in a fit of anger.
Ace had promised to take him to the playground that day but then he'd had a sleep attack and had been out for quite some time.
When he had woken back up eventually it had been too late to leave – the sun had already started setting.
His uncle had berated him that it wasn't Ace's fault and that he probably felt bad enough already because he had broken his promise.
It was one of the very few times Luffy had seen Marco truly angry and so he had immediately apologized to Ace afterwards, the tips of his ears burning red with shame.
(Marco hadn't actually been angry. He'd just wanted to make sure that Luffy understood that it was never okay to be upset with someone because of their chronic illness. Of course he got that Luffy had felt disappointed. But despite his medication Ace couldn't control his narcolepsy all of the time and Luffy needed to learn that or it would put an unnecessary and ever-growing strain on their relationship.)
Luffy picked up the football and ran back to the spot he'd previously been standing in.
He still glanced over his shoulder, hoping to see Ace stepping out of the glass door but the house was quiet.
The little boy pouted and let his shoulders hang low.
He didn't want to make Ace feel bad for needing to sleep but it was so boring.
Suddenly Luffy felt really sad that they weren't living next to Bellmere, Nami and Nojiko anymore.
At least in their old house he had always been able to go downstairs and play with them if Ace had slept.
A spark of anger pricked him when he remembered that Sabo hadn't wanted to play with him either. Luffy had asked him earlier but the older boy had just waved him off and had disappeared upstairs.
Probably into his stupid library...
Luffy felt an unusual feeling coming over him, frustration, and with an angry pout he kicked the ball more forceful than necessary – and promptly had to watch in horror as it flew right over the fence and into their neighbours' backyard.
“No! Oh no, no, no...”
He quickly ran after the ball, pushed through the thick hedges next to their fence so he could peek into the backyard next door.
He looked around and eventually saw his bright red football laying next to a hedge.
It was completely out of reach and Luffy whined.
He glanced up towards the top of the fence and briefly thought about climbing up and over.
But it was really high and Ace would get mad if he found out he'd climbed the fence.
Luffy swallowed and turned his head to look at their neighbours' house.
It was even bigger than their own and looked really nice but Luffy had never seen the owners until now.
The only thing he'd ever heard from them was a loud, scary laugh sometimes.
Luffy shuddered just thinking about stepping foot into their garden.
What if the owners were mean and chased him away?
No, no.
No way.
Luffy decided he needed to ask his brother or Sabo if they'd be willing to come get the ball with him.
It wouldn't be so frightening with one of them there to protect him from the scary neighbours.
He ran back inside, took off his shoes near the glass door and then sneaked into the living room.
He could hear Ace's snores before he saw him.
Luffy carefully peeked over the back of the couch and as expected – Ace was still sleeping.
“Ace?”, he tried quietly and tapped his shoulder with his index finger.
But his big brother just kept snoring, completely unbothered and Luffy pulled an annoyed face again.
He'd have to ask Sabo then.
The boy made his way up the stairs and down the hallway towards Sabo's library.
He'd asked him earlier to please not bother him and Luffy hesitated at the door.
He spied Sabo sitting in his huge armchair, half buried underneath a huge white blanket.
He was wearing his reading glasses and stared at a few papers in his lap while chewing on a pencil.
“Sabo?”
But just like Ace Sabo didn't seem to hear him.
Luffy took a few hesitant steps into the room, then crossed the distance between them.
He now saw that Sabo must be learning for some type of test.
He had a few sheets in his hands and had just ticked a box under a question.
The whole page was full of those.
“Sabo?”, Luffy tried again.
This time the older boy jumped and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Oh... hey, Luffy”, he stammered.
“Are you still learning for your test?”, the kid wanted to know.
“...test?”
Sabo briefly glanced at the sheets he was holding.
“Oh, uhm... no, this is... Ah, forget about it. Did you want something?”
Luffy avoided his eyes and looked at his feet instead.
“I uhm... I kicked my football over the fence. On accident! Can you... come and get it back with me? It's in the neighbours' backyard.”
Luffy smiled with relief when Sabo nodded and immediately put the papers aside.
“Of course”, he answered and got up. “I think I could use a break anyway. Let's go.”
Together they went back downstairs, put on their shoes and Sabo grabbed his long, beige coat before they left the house.
“Have you seen the neighbours yet?”, Luffy wanted to know.
“No, not yet”, Sabo admitted. “I know the house over there is empty at the moment.”
He gestured to the one on their right.
“But we should have probably introduced us to our other neighbours when we moved in a few months ago.”
“Introduced? Why?”
“Hm... it's just something you normally do, I guess?”, Sabo said. “It's always good to know who lives next door.”
Luffy nodded, not entirely convinced.
He thought of the faint laugh he'd heard a few times and thought maybe it was better if they didn't know who lived in that massive house.
They left their own property and walked down the street until they had reached the gate of their neighbours' home.
Sabo looked down at Luffy who seemed a bit spooked at the prospect of meeting these new people.
Sabo couldn't blame him.
Most experiences he's had with rich people over the years had been unpleasant and had made him want to throw up.
He still faintly remembered the neighbours that had lived here in his own childhood but the whole house looked extremely different, like it had gotten a complete overhaul and Sabo doubted that the same people still lived here.
“Ready?”, he asked Luffy. “I ring the bell and you tell them why we're here, okay? Be nice and say please. I'm sure they'll be happy to give you your football back.”
“Okay...”
“Good. On one, two, three.”
Sabo rang the bell and they waited.
For a long moment nothing happened.
The seconds passed and after about half a minute Luffy started to get a bit fidgety.
“Hm, maybe no one is home”, Sabo mused but then there was a crackling at the receiver and a cheerful voice greeted them.
“Oh, hello there!”
Sabo spied a camera lens above the bell and briefly smiled into it.
“Hello! We're the new neighbours next door!”, he started, then glanced towards Luffy.
The boy jumped but quickly looked up at the camera too.
“Uhm... hello! My football landed in your garden. May I please have it back, mister?”
“Oh, but of course! Come in, come in.”
They heard a buzzing sound and the gate unlocked automatically, sliding to the side.
“Whoa...”
“Come on, Lu. Let's get your football.”
Encouraged by the friendly voice of their neighbour Luffy trailed behind Sabo and looked around the big front yard.
It was so different to their own.
Lots of big hedges and bushes were trimmed into shapes. Luffy could recognize a heart and much to his delight: a whale.
“Look Sabo!”, he said with a bright smile. “Isn't that so cool?”
“Very cool”, the older boy agreed.
Luffy seemed to have forgotten his nervousness for the moment and skipped ahead to look at the different flowers near the entrance door.
Only when the door creaked open did he run back to Sabo.
The blond showed him an encouraging smile and grabbed his hand when Luffy asked for it.
The heavy door swung open and revealed a tall, slender man.
Luffy noticed his dark skin and the huge afro, streaked with silver hair in a few places.
He looked old and he was wearing sunglasses which Luffy found a bit odd but his smile was friendly.
He wasn't scary at all.
“Hello there!”, the man greeted them. “It's nice to finally meet you! My name is Brook!”
“Hello, I'm Sabo!”, the blond introduced himself first and shook the hand that Brook was offering him. “We're really sorry if we're bothering you-”
“Oh, you're not bothering me at all!”, the man interrupted him right away. “Don't worry about it.”
He looked down at Luffy.
“And what is your name, young man?”, he wanted to know.
Luffy giggled a bit at being called young man.
This grandpa was funny!
“I'm Luffy!”, he said and because he didn't know what else to say he just shook Brook's hand too, like he'd seen Sabo do it.
“Sabo and Luffy then. I'll make sure to remember your names, yohohoho!”
Luffy's eyes went wide when he recognized the laugh.
It was the scary one he'd heard a few times before!
Only that... it wasn't scary at all now?
This Brook guy seemed really nice so far.
“Come on in!”, the house owner said and stepped aside.
Curious, Luffy stepped inside first.
The hallway seemed even more massive than the one in their home, the walls were a cream colour and lots of big frames lined the hallway.
Luffy gasped when he saw the first portrait also showed a whale.
“Look Sabo! Another!”
Sabo smiled and couldn't help but notice the soft way Brook was looking at the young boy.
He imagined this is how a grandparent might look at their beloved grandchild.
Not that he knew what that was like but he could imagine it.
Luffy didn't notice any of this, he was way too busy looking at all of the pictures.
He heard Sabo and Brook talk but didn't pay them any attention.
A bit down the hallway there was a door on the right side and curious, Luffy ran up to it and peeked inside.
His eyes were immediately drawn to an enormous aquarium right next to the door.
A bright light illuminated lots of green plants, pieces of wood and stone and of course the many colourful inhabitants swimming around in the tank.
“Sabo! Sabo, look!”, Luffy called and pressed his face against the glass to get a better look.
One white and orange coloured fish stared right at him and Luffy grinned back brightly.
“Oh, and who are you, young man?”
Luffy jumped when a unknown voice addressed him and he whirled around.
Another old man sat in an armchair at the other end of the room.
He had a friendly smile, shoulder length, grey hair and wore a white cowboy hat that looked kinda funny. Luffy saw he even had some strange black symbols on his chin and under one eye.
Maybe it was a tattoo?
Uncle Thatch had a tattoo as well but his' was way bigger!
Before he could answer Brook and Sabo had entered the room.
“Yorki, these are our new neighbours! This is Sabo and the little one is called Luffy.”
“Ah, the mystery neighbours!”, Yorki said. “We already wondered when we'd have the chance to finally meet you.”
He slowly got up and came towards them.
“I'm sorry we didn't introduce us sooner”, Sabo apologized with a bashful smile and shook Yorki's hand. “Between all the moving stress, starting uni and in Luffy's case elementary school, I think we just forgot.”
“That's alright”, Brook soothed him. “It's nice to get to know some new people though. This neighbourhood has been so quiet for a long time now. Which is nice, don't get me wrong but it's just as nice to meet some friendly young people!”
“Have you lived here a long time?”, Luffy asked.
The older men looked at each other.
“For about... seven or eight years?”, Yorki answered. “Ever since we've lived here the house next door has been empty though.”
Curiously, he looked at Sabo.
“Are you the owner of the house now?”
“Uh yes! I inherited it. Decided to move in with my best friend and his little brother Luffy a few months ago.”
Sabo smiled down at the boy but Luffy barely noticed, his eyes kept wandering back towards the fish tank.
“Do you like our aquarium?”, Brook asked him with a smile.
“Yes! Do all of your fish have names?”
“Of course they do! This one over there is Mizuta, the black one behind that plant is Florian...”
Luffy listened in awe as Brook effortlessly listed the names of at least twenty fish and taught him how to differentiate between them.
Then he laughed in delight when a small catfish named Marvin made his way up the glass, his little mouth wide open and pressed against the glass.
“He looks so funny!”
“They help clean the aquarium this way, you know?”
“They do?”
“Yeah! But I'll tell you about that another time. Should we get your football now?”
“Yes, please!”
“Alright, this way, gentlemen!”
Brook led them through the massive living room and only now did Luffy look around properly.
He saw a huge white piano standing in one of the corners and couldn't help marvel at it.
“Do you play piano?”, Luffy asked, pulling on Brook's sleeve to get his attention again.
“We both do”, the old man let him know. “We love music a lot.”
“We really do”, Yorki confirmed with a smile. “Dare I say, it's the music that kept us young all these long years.”
“But you two are old!”
“Luffy!”
But Brook and Yorki just laughed, clearly amused by the little boy's honesty.
“Old on the outside maybe”, Brook mused. “But inside we're as young and silly as ever.”
Luffy didn't quite get what his new friend was trying to say with that but somehow he knew it was something good and he smiled.
Brook then led them into another room and Luffy's eyes went wide.
Even Sabo gasped softly.
Instruments upon instruments - some of which Luffy had never seen before - lined the walls and rested on racks. Big, framed posters with city names and dates decorated the few spare parts on the walls.
There was an old dresser with a record player on top, like the one Dadan had at her house.
The dresser was filled with a huge collection of vinyls and despite Luffy not being into music that much he couldn't help but look at everything in awe.
“Can you play all of these instruments?”, Sabo asked and Luffy thought he sounded impressed as well.
“Of course, yohohoho”, Brook answered him with a proud smile.
“Brook has a rare talent for music”, Yorki told them. “I can play piano and guitar and I can sing but Brook has mastered pretty much every instrument he's ever been handed.”
“Oh, you flatter me”, Brook laughed.
“Can you play something right now?”, Luffy asked eagerly.
“How about we get your football first?”, Sabo proposed before their neighbours could answer. “That's what we came here for after all.”
“Oh, yeah... Okay!”
They were finally led out into the garden and Luffy immediately started looking for his football.
After a minute of looking around the maze of hedges and more funnily shaped bushes he found it next to a little flower field.
“I got it!”
He picked it up and ran back to the adults.
On the way there he passed by a big pond and when he peeked inside there was a massive koi fish in there, along with many smaller ones.
Immediately Luffy stopped in his tracks to get a closer look.
“Whoa! Mister Brook? Does this one have a name too?”
“Yohoho, of course!”
The old man came over to the pond as well.
“The big one's name is Laboon. He's such a sweet boy. Would you like to feed him?”
Luffy gasped and he looked up at Brook with a bright smile.
“Can I?”, he asked, excitement sparkling in his eyes.
“Sure you can. We haven't fed the kois today, so you came at the perfect time!”
Brook led him to a small shelf, tucked away in the corner of their terrace.
It was filled with boxes, one of which contained the koi food.
Sabo and Yorki stepped closer and Sabo offered to take the ball from Luffy for a moment.
Luffy gave it to him and then listened to Brook who showed him what they used to feed their kois.
“Laboon is really friendly. If you offer him some food he will eat it right out of your hand!”
“Really?! Can I try?”, Luffy gasped, his sparkling eyes cutting from Brook to Sabo and then back.
Brook waited until Sabo had given his okay with a nod, then he smiled at the young boy.
“Of course! Come on, I'll show you how it's done.”
Luffy cheered and followed Brook back to the pond.
Yorki and Sabo trailed after them a bit slower.
Luffy heard them talk to each other but didn't listen because as soon as they reached the pond Laboon swam closer to them, his fins softly rippling the surface of the water.
“Look! He's excited to see us!”, Luffy called.
“Hello Laboon”, Brook greeted the koi and slowly knelt down near the edge.
Luffy copied his action but made sure to stay a bit away from the water.
“Watch how I do it first, okay?”, the old musician suggested and Luffy nodded obediently.
Brook took a bit of the food out of the bag and gathered it in his palm.
Then he carefully submerged his hand into the water and the big koi happily swam up to him and ate the food right out of his hand.
Within seconds it was gone.
“Whoa!”
“He's a big eater, our Laboon”, Brook smiled lovingly. “Do you wanna try it now?”
“Yes!”
Brook shook a bit of the dry food into Luffy's waiting palm.
“Give me your free hand, would you? We wouldn't want you to fall in the pond.”
Brook had noticed that Sabo had taken a step closer and he threw a soothing smile over his shoulder as Luffy obediently took his hand.
The young man still looked a little worried but he smiled back and stayed close.
Under Brook's careful instructions Luffy slowly leaned a bit forward while holding onto his hand for balance.
Luffy grinned when the big koi swam up to him now and he offered him the food like he'd seen Brook do it earlier.
The water was cold but Luffy only squeaked when he felt the fish starting to eat out of his hand.
“That feels weird!”
It tickled a bit too and he laughed but soon – too soon – Laboon had eaten all of it.
Luffy pouted.
“He can have a bit more”, Brook mused. “Here, give some more to your new friend.”
He let Luffy feed the big koi again while he made sure all of the other ones got their share of food as well.
“Okay, that's enough now. They can't have too much, otherwise they'll get sick.”
Luffy was a bit sad that he couldn't feed the fish any more and he pouted.
“You're welcome to come back and help me feed them any time you want”, Brook offered and Luffy's sad pout instantly turned into a surprised smile.
His big eyes sparkled.
“Really?”
“Of course!”
“That's so cool! Sabo, did you hear that?”
“I did, Lu.”
Sabo smiled at their neighbours.
“Thank you.”
“Can I come back tomorrow after school?”, Luffy asked right away.
“If that is alright with you?”, Brook said, looking at Sabo.
“Uh, tomorrow is my long uni day”, the blond reminded Luffy. “But I'm sure Ace can accompany you.”
“Ace? Is that the other young man living with you? I think I've seen him run down the street in a hurry a few times. Dark hair? Always wearing shorts?”
“Yeah! That's my big brother Ace!”, Luffy explained. “He's the best!”
“Ask him later”, Sabo said to him. “I'm sure he'll be excited to meet our neighbours too.”
Luffy nodded.
“Okay!”
Then he looked at the older men shyly.
“Mister Brook? Mister Yorki? Can you now play something on the piano?”
“Sure!”, Yorki agreed with a warm smile. “Come on.”
Luffy made sure to say goodbye to Laboon and the other fish before he followed the others back inside.
They returned to the big living room where Brook sat down at the white piano.
He invited Luffy to sit next to him and of course the boy didn't say no and immediately hopped on the piano bench next to his new friend.
“How about an old classic, my dear Brook?”, Yorki asked.
He'd taken one of the many instrument cases and now revealed an expensive looking violin.
“It would be my pleasure”, Brook answered with a smile.
Yorki smiled right back and then counted to four.
Brook started to play the first few notes.
Luffy had never heard this song before but leaned from side to side, following the rhythm of the song with a smile.
He didn't pay attention to Sabo and so he missed his surprised expression that turned into shock when Brook and Yorki started singing.
Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho!
Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho!
Gather up all of the crew
It’s time to ship out Bink’s brew
Sea-wind blows
To where? Who knows?
The waves will be our guide.
O’er across the ocean’s tide,
Rays of sunshine far and wide.
Birds they sing
Of cheerful things
In circles passing by.
Luffy listened, mesmerized by this new song and he made sure to sing along to the “yohohoho!” parts every time.
It sounded a bit like Brook's funny laugh and Luffy liked it a lot.
They played for minutes and yet Luffy was feeling a bit disappointed when the song ended.
“Next time we can play it again”, Brook promised. “And I'm sure you'll learn the text in no time. Then you can be our third singer.”
“Okay!”
He hopped off of the piano bench.
“Thank you for letting me feed the fish and for playing the cool song!”
“You're very welcome, young man”, Yorki answered with a bright smile as he carefully put the violin back in its case. “It was fun to play in front of an audience again.”
Luffy grinned so wide all of his teeth were showing.
“We should go now”, Sabo then said. “Thank you so much for everything. You really made Luffy's day.”
The little boy noticed Sabo smiling down at him fondly.
“It was luck that you kicked your ball over the fence, hm? Now we finally got to know our neighbours.”
Luffy giggled, a little shy but he still beamed, happy that their new neighbours were cool and friendly instead of scary like he'd assumed at first.
“Thank you Mister Brook! Thank you Mister Yorki! I promise I will come back tomorrow after school!”
“We'll be waiting for you then!”
The two older men accompanied them to the front door and waved the whole way Luffy and Sabo needed to get back to the front gate.
Luffy called one last “See you tomorrow!” before the gate closed behind them and they disappeared out of sight.
“That Sabo kid”, Yorki began, a smile curling his lips. “You think he noticed?”
Brook laughed.
“He did. Didn't you see his face when we started singing?”
Yorki chimed in now.
“What nice young men they are”, he sighed then. “Especially the little one. Looks like we finally made some new friends.”
“Yeah...”
Brook smiled happily, then laid an arm around Yorki's shoulders.
“Come on”, he said. “I suddenly feel like singing some more.”
“Good, I'm not the only one then.”
“Sabo, will you play football with me now?”, Luffy asked as they entered their own home again.
“Uh... sure.”
He gifted Luffy a brief but bright smile.
“Go on ahead already, yeah? I'll just get a hoodie. Can't play football in this long coat.”
“Alright!”
Happy that someone finally wanted to play football with him he stormed ahead but then suddenly stopped right in front of the glass door leading out into the garden.
If Sabo was playing with him Luffy could try being the goalkeeper this time!
It was best if he'd get his gloves for that!
As he was returning to the coat rack next to the front door he could hear Sabo's voice coming from the living room: “Ace! Ace, wake up! I think our neighbours are super famous musicians!”