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I don't get sick.
In the mountains, if you get sick you work through it, and it makes you stronger. If you don't, you die.
But I don't get sick, so I was a little confused when I found myself lying on the floor of the bandit hideout, feeling like I'd been killed twice over. I tried to think how I could have gotten myself in such a bad way. It didn't feel like cuts and bruises, just vague discomfort all over; my skeleton ached, and my head sang with pain when I moved my eyes.
Makino was sitting nearby.
I said "I don't want her here." I said it out loud, because I always speak out loud in my dreams. I like Makino, and I didn't want her in my dreams; bad stuff always happens there. Sabo lives there. Besides, I can't stand how guilty I feel when someone does something in my dream that they would never do in real life. I had determined that I was dreaming on account that I was unable to move (another thing that happened a lot in my dreams.)
I didn't want to see Makino there, closing her book, leaning over me, so I closed my eyes and wished I'd wake up. Maybe then I would feel better.
When I opened my eyes she was still there. She smiled and brushed my hair back. It felt real. That was almost worse, because that meant I really was stuck to the floor, and Makino really was leaning over me, smiling and saying how she'd been worried about me.
People shouldn't worry about me.
It occurred to me then to worry about someone who deserved it.
"Where's Luffy?" My throat hurt when I spoke.
"He's right here. Fell asleep just a bit ago, but I'll wake him up; he'll be glad to see you doing better." She leaned down and shook Luffy, who was lying in her lap, and I felt stupid for not noticing him sooner.
Luffy sat up, rubbing his eyes, and when he saw me he grinned so wide I had to grin back. It's hard not to, no matter how lousy you feel; I think I could smile for Luffy even if I was dying. Then he dove on top of me and started blubbering into my shoulder. I wanted to yell at him to get off; he was so cold, and for a rubber kid he was all elbows. I wanted to yell at him to stop being a crybaby too, but I'd stopped doing that, since I figured the free-est man in the world should also be free to cry if he wanted to. I knew he would grow up and stop on his own, just like I grew up and stopped yelling at him. And until then, I'd beat the daylights out of anyone who made fun of him for it.
I still didn't want him crying though, so I dragged my arm up and put it around him, and after a minute he scrubbed his snotty face on his shoulder, and slid down to my side, and said "Ace, you scared me!" And I felt bad, 'cause I didn't mean to scare him.
Luffy was cold, like he'd fallen into the river, and I looked around, quickly spotting a blanket thrown across my legs. I also noticed Dadan for the first time, sitting in the far side of the room, scowling right at me. I gave her a look, and she snorted, turning away.
"I wasn't worried about you one bit, brat."
I think I'm the only one in my family who can lie for anything.
I prepared a scathing reply, but began coughing before I could finish it. Luffy pulled away, and I heard Makino ask Dadan to make tea, and Dadan saying she didn't take orders in her own home, but I could hear her going off to do it. I wanted to tell Makino that she didn't want any of Dadan's tea (which tastes like dead bugs and dishwater,) but I was busy choking on my lungs, and Makino was wrapping an arm around my shoulders and sitting me up, and cold fire was rushing around my body.
"Do you think you can drink something?"
I nodded, and leaned forward across my knees so she wouldn't have to hold me up anymore.
"Why are you here?" Makino's last visit had been just a few weeks ago.
"Luffy got me. If he'd taken a minute to tell me why, I might have tried to get a doctor to come out here." She picked up the blanket and put it around me. The room was swaying like I was in the treehouse not the bandit hideout, but it stopped when Makino put her arm around me again, squeezing just a little, even though I could sit up on my own.
"How are you feeling, Ace?"
To be honest I wasn't feeling too great right then, and I was cold all of a sudden, and maybe I leaned into her a little bit because maybe I felt a little better knowing she was there. Luffy patted my arm, and when I lifted my head he was crouching in front of me, holding up a steaming cup. I hadn't even noticed he was gone. I hate when he's quiet like that.
"Dadan's cooking meat; you can eat and feel better."
"Ace may not be hungry, Luffy."
I had been hungry every day of my life.
Makino told Luffy to sit with me while she got us food, and when she came back, Luffy refused to eat anything before I did, so I shoved some rice in my mouth and tried to remember how to swallow, while Luffy being shoveling in his own supper.
"You should go to sleep if you feel like it, Ace, it's ok, and if you feel like eating later, you can."
I glowered, lying down and turning my back to the room. I wasn't a baby; I didn't need words like that. It was hard to breathe in that position, so I ended up rolling onto my front, and I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew the lamps were out, and the bandits were as quiet as they ever were. I was so hot I was sweating, so I sat up and pushed off the blanket.
I can see pretty well in the dark. I could see Luffy lying beside me, and Makino sleeping a little farther off. She never stayed overnight; she had a bar to run.
Makino had given me her tea, and told me it would help with the coughing. The cup was still mostly full, but opening my mouth threatened to end badly, so I just held it to my forehead, letting the cool stone ground me.
I needed to be alone, far away from anyone, and out of that building, but I only made it to the front steps before I had to sit down. My head was pounding, and I felt sunburned all over, and I was just having a tough time.
"Ugh, Ace, you're so sweaty!"
Little brothers are so annoying. I had failed to notice him again, which made me double annoyed.
"Then stop touching me! Go back to inside." Do I need to tell you that he did neither? He just leaned against me all quiet, gripping a fistful of my shorts like he was the one needed me, and not the other way around.
Before I knew it, Makino was there, sitting on my other side, and I must have given her a Look, because she said that she would leave if I wanted, and I didn't know what I wanted, so I just dropped my head and stared hard at the ground between my legs. I had been going to be sick, but I couldn't in front of Makino.
She pushed the hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear.
"I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Ace; I wish I could help you more." She was apologizing when she hadn't done anything wrong. She felt bad for my sake, but she didn't know what I was. Luffy had slid down so his head was resting on my leg. He always has had an easy time falling asleep.
"Do you... Think I deserve to be born?"
For a moment the only sounds were water droplets splashing to the ground, then Makino put her arms around me, and suddenly I was just tired. Tired and cold.
"Oh, sweetheart..." She said more, but she spoke so softly, and I was distracted by the crinkling her clothes made as she swayed back and forth, so I didn't pick up most it. Eventually she pulled away, going inside, and coming back out with a blanket. Makino wrapped the blanket around us, murmuring, "We don't want Luffy to catch cold."
Luffy for real doesn't get sick. I would know; he's too much of a wuss to hide it if he did.
Makino had me lie down with my head on her leg, and Luffy woke up when I dragged him over to me.
"Hmmmm, Ace isn't hot anymore. That's good, right?"
"Yes. He'll be running around again in no time!" Makino leaned down and gave us each a kiss on the forehead. While Luffy squirmed around, complaining that he was too old for kisses, I searched for the words I was supposed to say.
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Makino."
"Yeah! Thanks!"
Makino laughed, and told us we were very welcome. Then she sat there quietly and rubbed my shoulder until I fell asleep.