Chapter Text
Ever since Dadan kicked Luffy out -along with Sabo and Ace- they had been apartment hunting for the better half of a year. They occasionally stayed at one of Ace’s or Sabo’s friends' houses, freeloading off of whatever poor soul whom had agreed to let them stay, till they found a more permanent solution.
Recently, Sabo has had some business to attend to, so it has been up to Ace and Luffy to find the perfect home. They had just met with a leasing agent, who claimed to have found a perfect, affordable apartment for them, right in the heart of East Blue City. The apartment was a simple two-bedroom, one bath, and Luffy claimed to be okay with sleeping on the couch. Other than those rooms, the apartment had a small kitchenette and a living room. It seemed like their best option so far, despite a couple of mushrooms and mold that were growing from the tiles.
“So, gentlemen, what do you think?” the agent asked, keeping a poised smile on their face
“Uh, it's definitely an option,” Ace said, “This is the only one left?”
“Yes! It’s quite charming, it will definitely have enough room for you and... your brothers,”
Ace turned to Luffy, who was just staring happily at a few colorful mushrooms sprouting from the floor. Luffy could be happy just about anywhere, but Sabo and Ace had some standards; at least not risking an airborne condition every time they came home would be preferable.
“I’ll give you some time to think, I’ll just be waiting outside,” the agent said, before leaving with a polite wave.
“Luffy?” Ace asked
“Yeah?” Luffy replied, his attention now on Ace
“I don’t think Sabo would approve of this place-” Ace commented,
“He doesn’t approve of anything, and he's not even here right now!” Luffy replied, huffing his chest, “This place is good!”
Ace let a small laugh, “You said about every place-”
“Do not-” Luffy said, before his phone started ringing.
Luffy quickly picked it up, not even caring about the number he didn't recognize-
“Hello, is this Monkey D. Luffy?” The person on the other line asked
“The one and only!” Luffy replied
“I’m calling on behalf of Enies Lobby Association. We are currently handling the estate of your great-uncle Merry.” They said
“My great-uncle, who?” Luffy asked
A few days later, Luffy met up with a person who spoke on the phone to him; his name was Fuku, or something, Luffy couldn’t quite remember.
Fuku had shown Luffy and Ace a picture of a house that he apparently inherited. It was a mansion, something Luffy, Ace, and Sabo (If he were here) never expected to even own something this big in their lives.
“The Going-Merry Estate was owned by your great-uncle Merry, who just passed,” Fuke explained to a half-listening Luffy, who was mesmerized by the picture of the house.
“And we just owe this now? What’s the catch?” Ace asked
Fuku chuckled, “As I explained, there isn't a catch. Because of your relative passing away, he left Luffy his estate. After all, from what we were able to gather, Luffy was his next of kin!”
Ace glanced at the estate. They couldn’t take care of something that big- let alone afford to keep it. “How much could it sell for?” He asked
“Sell it?” Luffy loudly asked, ‘We aren’t selling it!”
“Luffy, we can’t manage to maintain it, let alone afford it keep it. Besides its practicality in the middle of nowhere, it's barely considered to be in East Blue.”
“We don’t know that!” Luffy said
Both of them look toward Fuku, almost like they are asking him to convince this idiot next to me that I am right!
“Well, not many buyers are looking for property this size, so you have your bed and breakfast operators-”
“Wait! What if we opened a bed and breakfast!” Luffy exclaimed to Ace
“We don’t know how to cook, Luffy-” Ace replied
“Then just a bed!”
“Luffy-”
“Aren’t you sick of the city, Ace! You are always complaining about it, and Sabo too! We are being offered to live in a mansion, come on, Ace! Let’s at least check it out!” Luffy said
Ace sighed again. How could he say no to Luffy? “Fine-”
“Yes!” Luffy cheered, bringing Ace into a tight hug, “Let’s go now!”
“Luffy, wait-” Ace said, but Luffy was already out the door.
The old mansion creaked, covered in a thin layer of dust- Merry, the older he got, could barely take care of the place anymore. And no one knew if anyone else would ever take care of the place again. Perhaps this wasn’t to be an issue for anyone, other than the ghosts that haunted the mansion.
“As I was saying, this dish was beautifully crafted. I had taken careful deliberation to carve the fish, before searing it to a soft pink; the tuna had come out to near perfection. All I needed to do was-” A blonde ghost had started to speak, he was in front of an audience of his fellow other ghosts.
“Boring! Why did you even go through all the effort to cook that fish? Can’t you just eat it raw?” A green-haired ghost asked,
“No! I mean, yes, but-” The blonde sputtered
“Just ignore him, Sanji! You can’t expect someone from the 1700s to have any standards.” An orange-haired ghost commented
“And after your turn, I explain how I single-handedly fought off 100s of soldiers in my day!” A curly-haired ghost said right after
“You’ve told us that story a million times already, Usopp!” The orange-haired ghost said, “Sanji has been here the shortest, so at least his stories are fresh!”
Sanji laughed nervously, “Thanks, Nami dear, as I was saying-” The ghost was now biting down on unlit cigarette
Yet, before he could continue, there was a loud sound coming from outside, the hum of an engine. The green-haired man got up from his chair and went towards the window, where the other ghosts followed him.
“It’s a landship!” He said, before he felt a knock on the head
“How many times do I have to tell you, Zoro! It’s called a car!” Nami said, though it took her a while to learned the name of the vehicle herself-
“That doesn’t sound right-” He muttered, honestly. Nami couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.
The ghosts huddled around as they watched two men hop out of the car, one wearing a straw hat, and the other wearing no shirt, but just pants.
“Nice,” Zoro commented, “Glad to not be the only shirtless one around,” he joked
“Yeah, I mean- they look like they would make nice… uh sous chefs-” Sanji said, looking at the two men.
Zoro raised his eyebrows at what Sanji had said, but just brushed it off- there were much more interesting things that were bound to occur.
The house was bigger than they expected, and looked, at least from the outside, to be in good shape. Luffy seemed to be beaming with excitement,
“This is way MUCH better than anything we ever looked at!” Luffy said, “Look, we even have a fountain.” He said,
“Glad you like it, Luffy- let’s put our bags down first, before I pass out,” Ace said. He drove all the way here without falling asleep, but that was also due to Luffy’s loud music taste.
Luffy grinned before hopping up the steps and opening the front doors of the house. It was much more impressive on the inside; even the outdated furniture couldn’t stop Luffy’s amazement. Ace tried to hide his, but even he couldn’t lie to himself anymore.
The ghosts watched as the pair of brothers looked around the house, the younger-looking one seemed happy about everything, while the older one kept a cautiousness around him.
“I can’t believe this place has been in your family for six generations, Luffy- I’m surprised they managed to keep it so well-kept?” Ace commented
“Oh, does this mean he’s a relative of yours, Usopp?” Nami asked-
“Huh? Oh, totally- though I doubt he could hold in battle as much as I could,” Usopp commented.
The pair of brothers kept exploring the area, and after they found the bedrooms, Ace laid down for a while, as Luffy kept looking around.
“This would make such a great hotel!” Luffy said as he looked at the final bedroom.
There was an unheard gasp between the ghosts; they were trying to exist as much peace as they could get. A hotel would ruin that- every room filled with people, sleeping in their beds, and the clutter they would leave around- and how many people would walk through them.
So they decided to try and formulate a plan to get rid of these men, and from Usopp's suggestion, haunting them is the way to go!
“Alright, so let's inventory the skills that we can use! Nami, as we know, you can control the lights!” Usopp stated
“Of course,” She said, messing with a lamp right next to her with some effort.
“Zoro! Can make anyone drunk when they walk through him-so maybe stay clear of them for now,” Usopp said
“Uh-huh,” Zoro muttered.
“I, of course, have the best power, being able to move objects, and Sanji? Have you discovered your ghost power yet?” Usopp asked
“No, I’m still trying to figure it out,” Sanji stated, looking a bit embarrassed.
“That’s fine! Usopp said, and our plan should be….
It was the next day, when the ghosts enacted their plan, all starting with Luffy, complaining about the cold water. He came out of his rarely done shower as the lights started to flicker, but he just turned them off and on again. He could have sworn he saw a nearby vase move, but he just shrugged it off, as he and Ace headed to the boiler room.
Luffy turned on the lights, unaware of a green-haired ghost wearing a sharp magenta, along with of other ghosts standing behind them.
“Who are these guys?” A ghost commented,
“Not sure!” Another said
Luffy immediately started messing with the boiler, much to the yells of the ghosts- he did in fact not fix anything, and possibly made it worse. Oh well-
Usopp was still stuck on moving the vase; he had to prove that he could do it-
“What are you doing? The livings aren’t even here”, Zoro asked
“I know! But this is for me, between me and this stupid vase, it's personal,” Usopp said
Luffy seemed a bit frustrated at the still cold water-
“Do you think it's possible to get it fixed when we come back, like hire someone or-”
“If we come back, Luffy-” Ace said
Luffy pouted a little, “Ace! Come on-”
“I don’t want to move here, Luffy-”
Sanji and Nami gasped; they were rather bored and were watching the two brothers talk.
“Luffy, I tried to be open-minded, but this whole hotel idea is a lot- I mean, you know, it's too much, to just leave the city.”
“But Ace, don’t be scared! This is an adventure, just like the ones we went on as kids- I feel a connection to this place, Ace! I think it will be fun!” Luffy said
“But we aren’t children anymore, you need to take this seriously, Luffy!”
“I am! You just don’t get it anymore, Ace!” Luffy exclaimed before running out the door.
Usopp had just barely been able to tip over the vase; in his succession, he and Zoro failed to noticed the straw-hat walking straight through them. It happened all to fast, due to the sudden drunkenness and a misplaced vase, the poor straw hat took a loud tumble down the stairs.
The last thing Luffy could make sense of was Ace, panic-calling his name, and two figures, one with a long nose, and the other with a giant sword slash across their chest.
Ace had never felt so much fear in his life; he couldn’t lose Luffy- if the last thing they did was fight, he would never forgive himself. Thankfully, the ambulance had arrived shortly, and his brother spent the next two weeks in the hospital. This accident had even caused Sabo to return, but as soon as Luffy's conditions were stable, he had to fly out again, much to his discretion.
Ace had been there when Luffy had first woke up. The idiot still wore a dumb smile, acting like nothing even happened, even calling himself a zombie, after learning he had been technically dead for three minutes. Ace had a lot of time to think over those weeks and decided he didn’t care where they lived, as long as he could have Luffy by his side.
After they were allowed to leave the hospital, Ace drove them back to the manor-
“And that's how I fought 72 soldiers at once, with a simple firecracker-” Usopp said, finishing his story
“How many times have you told us that?” Zoro commented
“321 times,“ Nami said
“It’s a good one! Worth re-telling-” Usopp said
“I like it,” Sanji said
“That’s because you haven’t heard hundreds of times, Curly!” Zoro said
"Oh yes, because I much rather hear about your thrilling, sword-maintenance stories, Mosshead!" Sanji replied
The house was rather empty of late, with those two other guys leaving after the Strawhats' fall. Usopp felt rather guilty about causing the accident, but tried to ignore the feeling. Before Usopp could recap another thrilling tale (or before Zoro and Sanji could fight), they heard the familiar sound of a car engine.
“The landship is back,” Zoro said,
“The living are back?” Usopp said
Before the two brothers left the car, Luffy woke up from his nap
“Huh? I thought we were going back to Koala’s place?” Luffy asked, rubbing his eyes
“Luffy, I decided- you were right, why not have an adventure again? I decided- let's keep the place!” Ace said, right after Luffy hugged him, “Careful, your neck!”
‘Thanks, Ace!”
“I already called some contractors, even though we can’t afford it, I was able to get some loans,” Ace said, as a few cars pulled up
“Want to go inside?” Ace asked, Luffy nodded, rushing towards the entrance
The house was the same as he remembered; he was happy Ace had decided to keep it. He couldn’t imagine selling it- as Luffy glanced around, he spotted a man in a suit, who looked a little thin, and had blonde hair, he had been biting down on a unlit cigarette
“You are super fancy for a construction worker!’ Luffy joked, before moving on
“Huh?” Sanji gasped, rushing to find the other ghosts- his cigarette falling on the floor, before popping back into his pocket.
“Everyone! The straw-hat kid? He could see me!” He exclaimed, “He talked to me!”
This exciting news intrigued the rest of the ghosts, who went to find the strawhat, who was in a spare bedroom with talking with his brother. Nami was first to walk through the walls, followed by Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji. The strawhat's eyes widen, before a big grin came over his face.
“You're right, he can see us,” Nami commented
‘Who?” Luffy said, much to the confusion of Ace, his eyes darted around the four.
“We are the ghosts, poor spirits who dwell on, unable to be able to-” Usopp tried to explain
“You’re ghosts?!” The straw hat exclaimed