Cloverwrites - Blog Posts

there was only one cave

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63742741

my piece for the @alabasta-zine

the rest of the zine is available for download now so please check it out! there's so many amazing pieces including the cover art for this fic :)

as usual fic below the cut <3

~ ♡ ~

“They got away! There was a huge wall of fire!” Isuka walked past the marines gathered by Captain Smoker, she didn’t know the man that well.

“Who was that pirate anyway?”

“Yeah, he looked strong.”

Isuka rolled her eyes: the quality of recruits these days.

Isuka recognised the swordswoman standing near them, Tashigi. She had an exasperated look on her face. “You guys seriously don’t know the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' second division?”

Isuka froze as she was walking down the streets of the bustling Nanohana. She had heard rumours and even seen photos, but she was here to see for herself if what people were saying was true. 

Portgas D. Ace was back in paradise. 

She had missed him in Drum Island, but had heard from the locals that a man matching his description had been by. They remembered because, strangely, it didn’t snow that day. They said he was going to be waiting for someone in Alabasta for ten days. That meant she had a chance to finally catch up to him.

She had spent the last two days in the port town of Nanohana, hoping this was where he was waiting for whoever it was he was waiting for. The journey itself to the Alabasta Kingdom had taken five days. She was already three days behind Ace, meaning today was her last chance of finding him. Her time off was also coming to an end, so, in reality, this was likely the last chance of seeing him again. 

She grabbed one of the marines by the collar, surprising him. “You’re sure it was him?”

Tashigi nearly drew Shigure on her. “Isuka!”

“I asked. Are you sure it was him?!”

The marine was shaking. “Yes ma’am!”

“Thank you,” she let him go, nodding at Tashigi. “Where are they?”

“Escaping, probably out to sea already.”

She knew it was a long shot as she ran towards the coast, but she just had to try. Maybe she could catch a glimpse of him. That would be all she needed.

She almost fell into the sea in her haste, and two nearby people had to grab her stumbling form to make sure she didn’t.

“You should be more careful, Miss,” the man said. The lady next to him nodded.

She bowed in embarrassment, “Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Where are you going in such a hurry, love?” The lady asked.

She couldn’t answer, instead spinning around to scan the view. She saw the Straw Hats’ ship sailing and at least five other ships burning around it. This fire meant he had to have been there. So where could he be?

She nearly gave up hope, turning to once again apologise to the helpful people, when out of the corner of her eye she saw him heading back to land.

She had a chance.

“Where is that boat headed to, do you know?”

Both of them looked over to where she was pointing. “It’s all desert over there, I’m not sure what is there.”

She sighed. “Thank you for your help,” she bowed again before running in that direction, hoping to see where he landed.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka had never run so fast in her life. She sprinted back to her room and grabbed her things. She was wearing her usual vacation clothes under an open white robe and a red shawl wrapped around her neck that she covered her head with when she went outside. Her sunglasses were on her face instead of her head. Her uniform was stuffed haphazardly in her bag, and her rapier at her side once again. She had paid in advance for the room, quickly thanked the clerk and got back to the chase. 

She pulled out the map of Alabasta she purchased when she first arrived. She didn’t know where exactly he was going, but there were a few places he could land. There was a small cove-like area in between Nanohana and Katorea that was her best bet.

Stuffing the map back into her bag, she began running again. She knew it was stupid to try and run all the way. However, her options were very limited, she didn’t really have the funds to rent one of the animals that could transport her. They were hard to catch and tame and therefore cost too much. Sandboarding was also off the table since the desert was mostly flat near the coast. So, trying her best to pace herself, she continued.

By the time she made it to the edge of the town, her lungs were on fire. She knew the heat would be affecting her stamina, but didn’t think it would be this much. Her view of the cove was being blocked by a sand dune, so she began clambering up it. 

When she had made it to the crest, she stopped, taking a sip of her water and looked down. She spotted the cove, but it was hard to tell whether such a small boat was docked there. She was starting her descent when she tripped over something in the sand, an orange scale stuck out of it. Steadying herself, she drew her rapier. She didn’t know what types of animals dwelled in the Alabasta desert. She was surprised when a timid-looking purple gecko emerged tearfully, holding its head.

She immediately sheathed her sword, apologising to the animal. It didn't seem to hear her at all, and she felt bad, so, rummaging through her bag, she found some crushed biscuits and opened the packet to offer them to it. The noise snapped it out of the pain, and it suspiciously accepted them. She watched as it ate them, seemingly enjoying them. 

“You’re not very dangerous, are you?” She chuckled as it tried to bend down, presumably to be scratched. She obliged, “You’re just as needy as Kotatsu.”

She smiled fondly at the memories of the precious lynx and his owner, suddenly missing those days. She gave it the rest of the biscuits she had.

She began to draw her arm away when she had an idea. A ridiculous one but worth a try.

“Hey, do you think I could ride on you?” The gecko blinked in confusion, she signalled that she needed to get to the cove in the distance, and it seemed to understand. “Could you carry me there?”

The gecko nodded, apparently happy to be useful, it bent down to allow her to ride on its shoulders. As soon as she stopped adjusting herself, it began moving.

~ ♡ ~

She held onto her scarf as the gecko raced across the desert. Never in a million years did she think this would happen. When she neared the cove and saw the striker pulled up onto the sand, she let out a sigh of relief. Ace, however, was nowhere to be seen. 

She jumped off the gecko a small distance from the striker, just in case he would notice her from somewhere and take off. She gave him a chocolate bar he was saving for herself and watched him run back. Walking towards his striker, she noticed his footprints walking away from it, but close to nothing else. He’d left his watermelon bag in the striker. She rummaged through it, finding nothing but maps, some food and water and some pictures. She was inspecting the pictures, there was one with a suspiciously familiar vermilion bob in the background, when she heard a noise from behind her.

She drew her rapier and spun to face the source of the sound.

“Birdie?”

“Fire fist?”

Ace stood with his arms up in surrender, “What are you doing here?”

She pointed her rapier at him, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“You already know why,” he smirked. She was chasing him again, there was no way she was here out of pure coincidence.

“I don’t think I do,” there was a small blush settling on her cheeks. He stepped closer, slowly lowering his arms. 

“You don’t have to lie to me, Birdie.” he was in front of her, pushing down her sword. “Were you expecting a chase? For old times' sake?”

His smile was infuriating to her, she sheathed her sword, “I don’t have the energy for that.”

He began to jog, “Another lie, afraid Isuka? You’ll probably lose again.”

He was laughing, and she had to prove him wrong, so she chased after him, not bothering to drop her bag. They hadn’t even run 100 metres when Ace turned to taunt her and fell through the ground. Simply vanished.

Isuka ran closer, “Ace!”

There was a hole in the ground where he had disappeared. She tried to peer into it but felt the earth give way, and she was falling too.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka groaned as she sat up, a dull pain in her back. She looked around to see where Ace had fallen. She didn’t immediately register that she had fallen onto him, her vision struggling to get used to the dark.

“You know you don’t exactly weigh nothing, right?” The voice came from below her, and she scrambled off of him. Dusting herself off and holding out a hand to him.

“Are you okay?”

He accepted her hand and got up, “Don't worry about it, I'm sturdier than I look.” 

She chose to ignore his charming smile and look around instead, “Where on earth are we?”

“Good question,” he peered around the tunnel they’d fallen into, lighting a fire in his hands. “Looks like ruins of some sort.”

“Oh, I read about this!” Isuka rummaged through the bag and pulled out a book, the known history of the kingdom. “Apparently, the Alabasta Kingdom once fell victim to a massive sandstorm. Much bigger than the other ones. It buried most of the tunnels they used to use to avoid the sun. The people just built over them since their old homes were too buried. Some have been unearthed, but the majority are still buried to this day.”

“Why do you even have that book?”

“It looked interesting,” she defended, putting it back in her bag.

“Well, does it say anything about how to get out?”

“No, just that they exist.”

“Great.”

“Hey, we wouldn’t even be here if you didn’t run away!” she stabbed a finger in his direction.

“Me? You're the one who followed me out here!”

“Not to capture you! I just wanted to talk!”

“Oh,” he scratched his neck sheepishly, “about what?”

Her throat suddenly felt dry. “What on earth are you back in paradise for?”

“I’m chasing someone, a traitor. I plan on bringing them to justice,” he pulled out the photos in his pocket, “someone said they had intel to give me if I met them out here.”

She accepted the stack of photos, scanning through them, “Why did you have a photo of me in your bag?”

“Huh?” he looked like a deer in headlights, “You saw that?”

She handed him the photos, “Yes, I did. It was from far away, like someone was spying on me.”

Ace stammered, “Well, uh, Skull said that, someone said they saw you, and that photo was proof.”

“And?”

“And I kept it?” He really didn’t have any other explanation. Thankfully, she sort of believed him and hadn’t found the stack of newspaper clippings of her (that would be impossible to explain). Or that he had been the one to ask Skull about her whereabouts.

“Well, we should probably get out of here somehow. You think one of these leads out to sea?” She pointed at the fork they were standing at.

“Only one way to find out.”

~ ♡ ~

Isuka sighed as she watched Ace try to push random tiles on the wall in front of them.

“Like I said,” she whacked him on the back of his head, “it’s a dead end, so stop trying!”

“How could I have been wrong! This has to be a secret passageway!”

“Why are you surprised? You’re not correct very often,” she scoffed as she picked up her backpack and began to walk away.

“Hey! What was that supposed to mean?” He chased after her.

“We should have gone right like I said,” she mumbled to herself. “Just cause you won the coin toss.”

“Hey, I won that fair and square!”

~ ♡ ~

As soon as they were back to where they started, Ace let out an annoyed noise.

“I can’t believe we’re at the start again!”

“I don’t know why you’re acting like it wasn’t your fault.” She slid onto the floor, not caring about the sand that would end up on her. She was hungry, so she began rummaging through her bag.

“Wow,” he sat down next to her, “it’s like nothing has changed.”

She didn’t look up. “What do you mean?”

“Us,” she looked up, “we haven’t changed, we’ve been reunited for like an hour, you wouldn’t assume we haven’t seen each other in two years.”

“I guess,” she finally managed to find her emergency snack bars. Wordlessly handing him one and eating the other.

They ate in silence, mulling over Ace’s words. He was the first to get up, holding his hand out to her. She accepted it, dusting herself off when she was standing. 

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” she began walking towards the path on the right. “This time the right way.”

He jogged after her, “How many times do I have to apologise for that?”

“You haven’t apologised at all.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry.”

“Save it, Fire Fist.”

“Yes ma’am.”

~ ♡ ~

“See, the sand here is damper than the sand where we fell,” she held out her hand to him. “We have to be getting closer to the sea.”

“No, it is not,” he poked it, “what are you? A dampness meter?”

She threw the sand at him, “Believe whatever you want!”

He spluttered, coughing out the sand that ended up in his mouth, “Hey! What if that makes me sick or something?”

“I thought idiots couldn’t get sick,” she continued walking down the corridor.

“Yes, we do!”

“No comeback for the idiot thing?” She asked when he caught up.

“Not a convincing one,” she burst out in laughter, and he stared in confusion. He’d never made her feel anything but annoyance before. It was starting to get increasingly warm, even though he only held a small fire in his palm.

“Come on, I think we’re nearly out.”

She was correct; they only had to walk another 10 minutes before they saw the light. It was a welcome sight. 

“It’s so beautiful,” she took a deep breath in as they stood in the sheltered cave. The waves crashed lightly, and a breeze blew past them, making her hair flutter. 

“It really is,” he smiled, looking out at the view.

~ ♡ ~

Hey guys! So excited to be sharing the piece I wrote for the @opspacezine! This was a super fun project and I loved the space zine and the opportunity to write these guys as chaotic friends <33

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62050039

Including the preview again for fun (and cuz it’s cute)

under your shadows

another tsujitsuji fic <3

also i didnt tag graphic depictions of violence because personally (as someone who does not do well with gore) it wasn't too bad. but if there's ever anything wrong with my tags please do let me know! i always complain about people who don't tag correctly but lowkey I'm bad at tagging so let me know :)

as usual fic under the cut as well <3

~ ♡ ~

Each breath was becoming more and more of a struggle to take. Her lungs felt like they were burning. Gripping her gun weakly, she tried to take a step forward, attempting to aim at the man attacking her.

‘You’re going to shoot me?’ He scoffed, ‘You can barely stand.’

He was right; she’d sustained too many injuries in the fight. Her vision was blurring, there was a pounding in her head, and she felt like she had been shot at some point.

She glanced back; there was a figure slumped over by the shutters. The pale blond hair, stained with blood, revealed his identity to her. Ayatsuji-sensei. Unconscious. Hurt. Dying.

The man was stepping closer to her now, pulling out a knife. She tried to steady her hand, reinforcing her threat of shooting him even if it was a weak one.

‘Now, now,’ he was being condescending, talking to her as if she were a child throwing a tantrum. ‘We don’t have to do this the hard way. I’m sure those drugs are doing a number on you.’ Drugs? She couldn’t remember how he’d gotten them in her. ‘I don’t want to cause you any more pain than I have to.’

‘Step back,’ trying her hardest not to sound scared. He continued to move closer, so confident that she wasn’t capable enough.

‘Still protecting him? You government agents are truly foolish people.’ The muzzle of her gun was against his chest now. ‘Well, are you going to shoot me?’ He cocked an eyebrow at her. 

She pulled the trigger, but nothing happened; the telltale click of an empty magazine echoed in her ears.

He chuckled as the panic filled her features. How could she have run out of bullets? 

She made a move to grab his knife, but the drugs in her system were slowing her down. He dodged easily. It was pathetic really, for a trained agent like her to be knocked to the floor so effortlessly.

Lying at his feet, she felt an overwhelming sense of defeat. She was going to die here. She was failing the division. She was failing Ayatsuji-sensei. She was failing herself.

Looking at his shadow, cast on the floor next to her. Maybe she was nothing without her mother’s ability.

‘Mother,’ it came out more like a cry, ‘I’m sorry.’

~ ♡ ~

Tsujimura jogged to catch up with Ayatsuji as they entered the building. ‘Sensei! Wait up! I don’t have a good feeling about this building.’

‘Why should you? It’s most definitely a trap,' his flippancy shocked her.

‘A trap?’ She fumbled for her phone. ‘Should I call for backup?’

‘Do whatever you wish,’ continuing to walk into the warehouse. He began to take in the room. There were modern additions to the older structure. There were large frames with items still on them blocking the entire room from view.

‘That's strange. I can’t get any signal in here,’ she lifted it, shaking her head in confusion. ‘We’re within city limits here.’

‘Signal jammer,’ he continued to smoke, seemingly unbothered by the situation. ‘Whoever’s doing this seems quite determined to get us alone.’

‘Maybe we should come back later with backup,’ she turned around, ready to get out of the creepy place, but there was a loud mechanical groaning. Tsujimura to stop the door from shutting. What followed was her exasperated shout and a loud clanging sound.

‘It would seem they have gotten us alone.’

‘This is bad, Sensei. The division doesn't know our location, and we cannot contact them.’ She pulled out her gun from its holster and joined him. There were no signs that there was anyone else with them, but she couldn’t shake off this awful feeling pooling in her stomach. 

They were considering their next move when smoke started to fill the room. 

‘We need to get out of here!’ Tsujimura started to move, but Ayatsuji grabbed her hand. 

‘Don't move,’ he was looking around, trying to figure out what their next move should be whilst they still had some visibility. That’s when he noticed something strange with the smoke: ‘Tsujimura, don’t breathe. Don’t talk. We need to move now.’

He dragged her along, heading out of the storage area. The smoke was virtually nonexistent in the corridor area they were in now.

‘Sensei? What’s going on?’

‘A trap,’ he was looking around for a way out, but all the shutters were closed.

‘You’ve already said that?’

‘The smoke was to lead us here and to split us up, probably.’

‘But the smoke was drugged?’

‘So you noticed it too? Not bad, special agent.’ Despite their precarious situation, she felt a little proud of herself. ‘Yeah, a low dose of an anaesthetic. If we’d attempted to stay, we’d slowly lose consciousness.’

‘Giving us no other choice but to come here,’ Tsujimura spoke as a figure emerged around the corner, ‘and to fall into this trap.’

Clapping, loud clapping, ‘Bravo! You truly are as good as they say you are, Ayatsuji Yukito.’

He remained emotionless, regarding him as if he were a pedestrian on the street; he tipped down his sunglasses to glance him up and down. ‘Do I know you?’ 

The man stopped 10 meters away from them. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever met.’

Ayatsuji took a long drag of his kiseru before he spoke again, ‘You went through a lot of trouble for someone who doesn’t know your name.’

‘Oh,’ he winked before he carried on. ‘That’s the beautiful part. You do.’

Tsujimura remained glued to the spot, unable to do anything. Her instincts were telling her they needed to get out now, but she couldn’t move, no matter how hard she willed her legs to.

‘The string of murders recently across the globe,’ the man nodded in delight as Ayatsuji spoke. ‘One man, high-profile targets, a very impressive killer. They call you Vipère?’ 

Tsujimura interrupted, ‘French?’

‘Correct!’

‘Just like his shoes,’ the criminal laughed, but Ayatsuji continued. ‘Named for his use of viper poison to kill his targets. The first of which was a French bureaucrat.’

‘You’ve done your research, detective,’ he took off his hat and took a bow, ‘how flattering that is to hear.’

‘You still haven’t told us what business you have with us.’

‘Us?’ He chuckled as if he’d just told a particularly funny joke, only he was the only one in on it. ‘No detective, my business is only with you. Sadly, your babysitter will not be joining us today.’

It happened before she could even react. He snapped his finger, and she felt something wrap around her—scaly, cold, squeezing her—a snake winding around her, binding her legs and arms. 

Ayatsuji tried to step closer. ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ he motioned to the snake as it wrapped around her neck before stopping. ‘As you probably know, this particular species of snake isn’t venomous; however, I’m sure this wouldn’t go in her favour here.’

He stayed still, his face twisting into an expression of disgust. An ability user, he’d overlooked that.

‘Perfect, now,’ he stepped closer to them, ‘to deal with you.’ 

Tsujimura tried to scream out, to tell him to get out of the building, to leave her, but the snake was slowly constricting. At this rate, she was going to run out of oxygen before it crushed her bones. All she could do was watch.

Ayatsuji put out his kiseru, tucking it into a pocket before taking off his coat and hat. ‘Usually, I would’ve asked Tsujimura-kun to hold my stuff; I’d hate to put it on this filthy floor.’

‘Sorry,’ he shrugged noncommittally, ‘I can’t have her interfering.’

He sighed before abandoning his stuff on the floor. ‘Well, whatever this is, maybe we should get it over with.’

‘There’s nothing I’d like more.’

She wasn’t sure what happened in the following moments, the lack of oxygen keeping her out of focus. It wasn’t until she felt the snake writhe and let her go that she had some semblance of what was going on. As soon as her vision returned, she grabbed her gun and scrambled away from the body of the snake. She could only guess how Ayatsuji-sensei had managed to kill it.

‘Tsujimura! Get up!’ It was Ayatsuji shouting; he was being pinned to the floor.

‘You just couldn't die, could you?’

She didn’t waste any time, aiming for the man attacking them. She shot at him twice, the latter grazing his shoulder. 

‘That bitch,’ he snarled, releasing his hold on Ayatsuji, allowing him to escape.

She kept her gun trained on him; he didn't try to move. Instead, he began laughing again. It was starting to seriously piss her off; nothing about this was remotely funny.

‘I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, but I guess this was never going to happen the easy way.’ 

That’s when the corridor began to fill with smoke, much quicker than the storage area.

‘Ayatsuji-sensei!’ Tsujimura had lost sight of him immediately. ‘Where are you?’ She heard movement all around her, struggling to place the other two people in the room. Why isn't he responding to her? 

She tried to breathe normally; the last time this happened, they had been able to retreat, regroup, and plan. 

‘Sensei!’

‘Idiot! Stop speaking; you are alerting him to your whereabouts.’ He sounded in pain, but the voice was close by. She spun around trying to pin down his location when she felt an arm on her shoulder. She nearly shot him but recognised the gloves.

‘Sensei,’ she whispered, ‘you're hurt.’

‘The bastard got a couple of hits in,’ he wiped the corner of his mouth. ‘Listen, we have to get out of her-’

She blinked, and he was gone; there was a loud crashing noise as something collided with shutters. ‘Sensei!’ She swore she saw something huge attack him.

She felt breath on her neck, ‘Now to deal with you.’ Before she could react, she felt something pierce her skin.

Turning around, she fired her gun. Three shots. She could tell none of them had landed. She needed to deal with the criminal, needed to check on Ayatsuji-sensei, and needed to get out of there. But with every noise, she was flitting around like a butterfly. She had fired twice more, feeling something near her; she was sure at least one had hit him again. But now she only had one bullet left; she couldn't use it until she was completely sure. 

Just as the smoke began to subside and she felt a flicker of hope, she was knocked down. Something had hit her knee, hard. ‘You really are just a stupid bitch, aren’t you?’ 

He was swinging a metal pipe at her, a crazed look in his eyes. Almost serpentine in its appearance. 

She dodged, trying to grab her gun from the floor near her. Watching her struggle, he took a step back. Taking pleasure at how lethargic her body was, her weak grip on the gun, and her difficulty in standing up.

‘You're going to shoot me?’

~ ♡ ~

The man had turned around, loading his own gun, preparing to kill them both. He was muttering to himself, Ayatsuji first, then that stupid agent. She breathed shallowly as the shadows at his feet seemed to expand. She blinked, wondering if the drugs were messing with her brain. When she saw the shadows lift off the ground, she was sure she was seeing things in her last moments.

However, when she felt the shadows surround her, she was sure it was real. She had not felt this presence since Ayatsuji-sensei’s ability had killed it. Yesterday’s Shadow Tag. 

It was weaker, unable to hold its own form. But it was strong enough to use her, lifting her to her feet and cloaking her body, giving her a renewed sense of strength. There was a time in her life when she would have hesitated to use this ability, but this was not that. 

She waited for him to turn around, watching his expression distort into one of fear. 

‘What the fu-’

She didn't want to kill the man before he could serve his sentence for all his crimes, so she knocked him out. Wrapping him in shadows so he couldn't try to escape and dragging him out with her. 

Walking over to Ayatsuji-sensei, Shadowling had slashed through the shutters next to his body. This allowed her to pick him up and exit the building. The ability stayed until she managed to get back to her car, carefully placing Ayatsuji in the back seat and handcuffing the other man.

When the shadows disappeared, she used the last of her strength to call for help. Holding out until she heard the sirens approaching them. She let herself rest when she knew her job was done.

~ ♡ ~

conversations in secret

now with a chapter 2 :)

Chapter 1: to be close to her is to be vulnerable

~ ♡ ~

‘Tough case, I hear.’

He sighed as he took a seat opposite the woman, and she continued to flip through the file. He had a long week, with Tsujimura constantly on his back about reports and endless case requests. 

They had a serial murder case at a Tokyo restaurant: guests had been dying mysteriously. Initial reports couldn’t find traces of any poison in any of the dishes, and combined with the fact that the guests had all previous health problems, it had been ruled out as natural causes and coincidence. However, the latest victim had ties to the government, and that meant they were called in. It turns out that the maitre d’ had been poisoning guests that looked down at him; years of anger had led him to take such drastic measures. Of course he had ended up dead at the end of it all, his prize swordfish being his undoing. 

‘Yeah, well,’ he took out his kiseru and lit it, ‘we got him in the end, so what difference does it make?’ 

After the whole Kyogoku ordeal, he had promised to visit occasionally. To keep her updated on her daughter’s situation. She seemed to look forward to their meetings; she obviously couldn’t have too many visitors. Considering she wasn’t technically alive, and even though Ayatsuji pretended it annoyed him, she knew better. 

‘I heard she threatened to quit.’

‘She does that from time to time,’ he leant back, blowing smoke, regarding the pattern on the ceiling. ‘She never has though.’

Tsujimura has her phases; he’s not sure what brings on these mood swings, but they are quite entertaining. She had accidentally fallen into the fish tank attempting to retrieve a possible piece of evidence, blaming him for not holding her. He had warned her that he had only been contracted to solve mysteries, not entertain wild goose chases. He had also apparently deliberately kept her out of his plans, leading her to once again be thrown at a wall. So still damp and in pain, she told him that if he kept up with this, she would quit.

‘I’m sure you would regret it if she actually did quit,’ she chuckled at his recollection of events. She had already read both of their reports, and Tsujimura’s one had clearly been written with bitterness, her writing looking extra scratchy when it came to his name.

‘Yes,’ he took another long drag from the pipe. ‘No one else in her department is quite so easy to control.’

She shook her head, disappointed but not surprised. She knew her daughter’s character, her stubbornness, her strengths, and her weaknesses. She could be partnered up with worse people; she knows the department is full of them.

‘And?’

He shot her a confused look, ‘And?’

‘How much longer are you going to deny it?’ She’d read about the Kyogoku incident in detail. Details that her daughter was never made aware of, like how he had made the choice to let Kyogoku go in order to save her life—of course that was before he knew the whole truth. Or how initially he had chosen her life over his. It was exasperating to watch him put on this performance of not caring.

‘Deny what?’

She shut the folder and sighed. She forgot how difficult he could be. With that sharp tongue of his, ‘Aren’t you tired of this?’

‘Again, I’m not sure what you’re talking about,’ he sat up, making eye contact with her. ‘Mizuki Tsujimura-dono.’

She shook her head, the lengths he would go just to avoid talking about things he didn’t want to. She could see why her daughter struggled to take charge of him; she was much too insecure in her own strength. And perhaps unaware of just how much power she had.

‘After everything you’ve done for her, are you still going to deny what she means to you?’

‘Ah,’ he went quiet for a second, choosing to look away. ‘You seem to forget that your daughter isn’t like us.’

‘Meaning?’

‘In this business you have to keep everyone an arm’s length away,’ more cryptic nonsense. He went back to leaning, choosing to smoke instead of elaborating. He just couldn’t admit it, could he? Even though they both knew what he was thinking. However, what was clear was that he had put a lot of thought into this; how anyone could forget he was human was beyond her.

‘I fear you might be past that now.’

His response was almost immediate and almost too quiet for her to hear: ‘She doesn’t know that.’

‘You underestimate her, Ayatsuji-kun; she’s grown so much,’ she smiled fondly, recalling all the reports she’s read about her daughter over the years.

‘I don’t disagree,’ he remembered the first time he had seen her. It had been soon after she received the news of her mother’s death. She had just started at the military academy, and Ango was offering her a job after she graduated, courtesy of her new ability. To everyone’s shock she had requested to be placed near him, usually people requested the opposite. ‘Tsujimura-kun has changed considerably, but I—I don’t know.’

'Don’t know what?’

‘I don’t see a future where it will end well.’ Their lives were in constant danger. His is in the hands of the government; what happens when they decide they don’t need him anymore? Tsujimura didn’t take the last kill on sight order well. Well, she didn’t listen at all, choosing to risk her life instead. Would she do that again? More importantly, he didn’t want her to, nor did he want to hear her cry like that again.

‘You forget Ayatsuji-kun, that even you cannot predict the future.’

‘Well forgive me for being a realist,’ he stood up to leave, dusting his clothing and tucking in the chair before turning away.

‘Leaving so soon?’ Of course he would leave like nothing important had been said.

‘She’s going to chew my ear off about being late to some meeting or other,’ he gestured noncommittally; at least this time he was attempting to lie.

‘Think about it, Ayatsuji-kun,’ she called out to him as he walked away.

He didn’t bother turning back to answer, just waved as he waited for them to open the doors again.

He’d thought about it enough.

~ ♡ ~

Chapter 2: your feelings amongst the rubble

~ ♡ ~

Tsujimura dusted off the debris on her blazer, struggling to get up off the floor.

‘Tsujimura-kun!’ She heard her name being called from somewhere nearby. She tried to reply, but all she could do was cough.

The last thing she remembered was Ayatsuji-sensei identifying the killer in their latest case. Then the guy tried to use her as leverage to escape. Unfortunately for him, she tackled him to the ground, and he began crying quite pathetically. Sensei revealed that his ability would soon kill the man, and he screamed something along the lines of, ‘It’s not fair!’ Before activating a bomb of some kind, how she hadn’t noticed it was beyond her. It was supposed to destroy the exits to the building, trapping everyone in so that he could kill them all one by one. Due to the frailty of the older structure, the explosion caused cracks to form in the ceiling above where Tsujimura was disarming and handcuffing the man. Ayatsuji yelled out for her to move or she would be crushed. 

She looked up, there wasn’t enough time to move. Someone, or something shoved her out of the way just in time, knocking the air out of her lungs as she collided with the wall.

She must’ve been out momentarily, waking up to dust and debris everywhere. Her head was throbbing, and her muscles ached; she must’ve hit her head. Using the wall to get up, she tried to make out where everyone was. There were multiple other people in the building as Ayatsuji-sensei pointed out the killer. She saw a hand from under the rubble, the watch on the wrist told her it was the culprit, getting what he deserved.

‘Tsujimura-kun!’ The voice was closer this time, and she was almost sure it was Ayatsuji-sensei calling out her name. She tried to make out where he was, but her vision was blurring, and when she touched her head, she felt blood. Using the wall as a guide, she tried to take a couple of steps towards the voice, though it was useless as she felt her knees buckle.

In the rubble, on her knees, she felt a sense of dread fill her. Was she going to die in this building?

The last thing she remembered before waking up in the hospital was Ayatsuji-sensei crouching next to her, telling her that she would be okay. He seemed to have suffered some slight injuries in his attempt to reach her. He was never going to shut up about that.

~ ♡ ~

‘I see you didn’t make it out of this one unscathed either.’

He shot her a glare as he made his way across the room. He had a bandage on his face and scrapes on his arm and back. He sat down in his usual chair, leaning back slowly so as to not aggravate the healing skin. She watched as he lit his kiseru as usual and relaxed for a bit before continuing. 

‘So?’ She was stifling a laugh as she took in his slight wince as he moved around. ‘Shocking to see the supposedly indestructible homicide detective injured.’

‘Why are you surprised? Isn’t it part of the job?’ His eyes were shut, and he was breathing carefully; his ribs must hurt. ‘Injury and pain?’

‘Yes, but it has been a while since you sustained significant injuries in any case, correct?’ If she remembered correctly, even during the waterfall confrontation, he had a few bruises from falling into the net with force, but that was the extent of it.

He nodded, 'It has indeed.'

‘Reigo Island, I believe,’ she chuckled, clearly amused by the memory she was recalling.

Ayatsuji seemed less entertained. ‘That ability of yours has no sympathy.’

‘In my defence, I was acting under orders.’ She had been instructed to kill the ability user when she was assigned there. ‘You held your own against us, even if it was for a short time. You must have been trained well.’

‘You still seem shocked about it,’ he was sitting up straighter now. Facing her as she continued to reminisce.

‘I was informed that despite your powerful ability, you lacked any combat skills. Imagine my shock when you tried to parry Shadowling with a nearby stick.’

‘I do not wish to talk about that time in my life.’

‘Which part? The part when I nearly killed you? Or the time you learnt to fight?’

His face soured when she brought up the fighting. ‘I think you know what I’m referring to.’

‘Fine, you’ve been through enough; I'll leave this conversation for another time.’

‘Bold of you to assume we would ever have that conversation.’ His face remained unchanged and slightly horrified.

She laughed, ‘Yes, yes. I know you have no inclination to discuss your past.’ She’d tried to bring it up before, having read all the files the government had on him. He’d shot her down then too. 

‘So? Is that all you wanted to discuss? Seems pretty mundane, even more than usual.’

‘What did you expect? You haven’t done anything of national importance lately.’

‘You haven’t enquired about your daughter once. Isn’t that why you wanted to meet? You could at least ask how Tsujimura-kun is,’ he folded his arms.

She smiled, he had an of way saying he cared, ‘And how is she?’

‘Well.’

It would seem he was being bratty for her earlier intrusion, ‘And is that all?’

‘Her injuries, like mine, were minor; she is fine.’

‘Fine? Was she not put under strict orders to rest because of a concussion?’

‘Miraculously,’ he seemed to be throwing some sort of tantrum, continuing to be petty. ‘She recovered.’

‘Well,’ she laughed, he could be such an annoyance sometimes. She felt it was her karma for not spending enough time with her daughter when she was a child. ‘That’s good.’

They lapsed into silence; he seemed to be out of things to say, or be sassy about.

She spoke first, ‘And how are you?’

‘Like I already said, I’m fine.’

‘No, I mean, you saw her in quite a bad state,’ she studied his expression, and although it remained largely unaffected, there was a flicker of something in his eyes. ‘I imagine that was not easy.’

~ ♡ ~

He was shaking her as she lay limp on the floor. ‘Tsujimura, wake up!’ He had watched her try to walk before collapsing. Running towards her as fast as he could.

Now, he was sitting against the wall, pulling her into his lap so she wouldn't be on the cold ground anymore. She was still breathing, so he felt her pulse; it wasn’t as strong as usual. He wasn’t expecting this to happen when he caught the criminal; the man wasn’t supposed to have bombs. He tucked the hair out of her face, taking in her pale countenance. He should’ve noticed the explosives in the building. Why didn’t he?

How was he supposed to get her out of here when the exits were blocked? She desperately needed some medical attention to check the head injury wasn’t serious. 

Thankfully, he knew Tsujimura and trusted she had contacted the division already, as was protocol whenever they’re sent on cases. They were the ones who clean up the messes left by his ability and make sure the others on the scene are questioned about the situation. They were already on the way, but they needed extra support.

He pulled out Tsujimura’s phone and tried to turn it on, but the crack on the screen was telling. He threw it aside and pulled out his own, contacting Ango, ‘Sakaguchi-kun, we need ambulances and the fire department now.’

‘Sensei?’ He motioned for Aoki and Murakoso. ‘What happened?’

‘There was a bomb; the exits have been destroyed. I don’t know how many people are hurt, and Tsujimura-kun is unconscious.’

‘Understood.’

He ran his hand through his hair; this was all his fault, and all he could do now was wait. He looked back down at the woman in his lap; she seemed so cold. Taking off his cape, he wrapped it around her. ‘And you called it pompous; who’s benefiting from it now?’

~ ♡ ~

‘Like I said, she recovered.’ 

‘But somehow that’s not what I asked,’ she had struck some sort of nerve, but what didn’t annoy him? Any mention of her and he seemed to clam up. 

‘I’m tired of this conversation,’ he stood up from the chair. 

She reopened her book, accepting that today wasn’t the day. ‘How many conversations will you just simply refuse to have?’

‘As many as necessary,’ he headed towards the exit.

He may act indifferent, but she had read the reports of the responding agents that day. How he had carried her out of the building, covered in injuries himself. Or how he had been insistent she receive medical care immediately, pushing her into the arms of the nearest EMT. Refusing to be seen until she had.

One day he was going to have to face facts, and she knows he’s not going to enjoy it one bit.

~ ♡ ~

Aftermath

the start of my ongoing tsujitsuji obsession

~ ♡ ~

Tsujimura found herself trying to jump out at Ayatsuji in anger for teasing her so soon after she had thought him dead. She, however, momentarily forgot the fact that she had been shot in the thigh.  

She let out a strangled sort of noise as she began to fall but found herself supported by an arm. 

‘You idiot,’ Ayatsuji had caught her. He lowered her back onto the ground, kneeling beside her. ‘We should send you to the hospital.’ He manoeuvred her around, letting her stretch out her legs, and placed pressure on her wound. For a moment, Tsujimura thought he was being nice to her, and she was reminded of the smile he showed her as he was shot. 

‘I need my servant to return as soon as possible.’

That was more like him; she looked up at him, 'Like I said, I’m not a servant.’

‘That settles it,’ he cut in, placing his free arm on her shoulder. ‘We made a deal that you’ll listen to anything I tell you in a day, right? That day is tomorrow then.’

She looked at him incredulously. The nerve of him, 'Hang on, I’m injured, aren’t I?’

‘Now that’s pretty honest,’ he snickered.

He was just the worst; sometimes she wanted to shoot him herself. However, as she watched him laugh, clothes still soaked from his dip in the waterfall, tears welled in her eyes.  

He stopped laughing. 'Tsujimura-kun, why-’ 

She punched him softly, ‘How could you let me think you died?’ The tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now. 

‘Well—’ 

‘After all I said to you, after I thought you died for me?’ She was clutching his damp shirt and sobbing into it.

Ayatsuji found himself completely lost for words, choosing to simply rub her shoulder. They were in silence for a while; she sobbed, and he comforted her. If anyone saw them, it didn’t bother him; although he had never been a touchy person, he found he didn’t mind. Knowing Tsujimura was alive and okay made it okay, so he didn’t stop her when she clutched onto him harder.

‘I’m sorry I called you selfish,’ her voice was muffled. ‘You were just trying to bring a horrible person to justice. I shouldn’t have let my personal feelings affect me too much.’

‘It’s okay,’ he chuckled softly. He’d been called much worse by people who didn’t care who their words affected. He’d grown thick skin after many years dealing with his ability. 

‘You even made me a meal before you left, and I should’ve noticed it,’ she said, taking a shaky breath. ‘You’re never that nice to me.’

He stopped rubbing circles on her back, instead patting her head gently. He spoke softly, ‘I’m sorry.’ 

She stopped sobbing for a bit, looking up in confusion; maybe she had misheard, ‘What?’

‘I’m sorry, Tsujimura; I didn’t think he would shoot you.’

‘Huh,’ the confusion had successfully stopped her from crying. A million thoughts were going through her head; maybe she was really dying and her wound was worse than she thought.

‘What?’ He asked, a little exasperated. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ 

‘You never say sorry.’

'Yes, I do.’ 

'No, you do not!’ She said that louder, and the other agents stopped to look at them. She sheepishly looked away, trying to rub away the tear streaks on her face.  

She heard the sound of a siren nearby, surprised she hadn’t noticed it before. She looked around; the paramedics had finally arrived and were headed towards them with a stretcher.

‘Sensei, help me up,’ he supported her as she slowly got up. Leaning on him, they started to hobble over to the paramedics. Immediately they had her lie down on the stretcher and began heading back to the ambulance. 

He walked along with them, and as they approached the ambulance, he noticed Ango talking to another agent.

‘Tsujimura-kun.’ 

‘Sakaguchi-senpai,’ she turned weakly, finally feeling the effects of the blood loss. 

‘I apologise that you were kept in the dark and that you were injured,’ he ran his hand through his hair. ‘We’ll discuss this in more depth after you have healed.’ 

She nodded, ‘Thank you, Senpai.’ 

‘There’s no need to thank me; I really do apologise for this.’ 

She smiled as they loaded her in the ambulance. She saw Ayatsuji climb in behind her, but she was too woozy to notice the wordless exchange between him and Ango. Technically, he should be returning to headquarters to explain the situation alongside Ango, but he could spare a few hours for him to worry about his assistant.

She remembered very little of the journey, apart from the feeling of someone gently pulling out the pins in her hair. Decreasing the discomfort she felt lying on her bun (she found them in her wallet when she got home) 

She didn’t see Ayatsuji when she woke up after surgery. Thankfully the bullet hadn’t hit anything important, so they removed it and stitched her up. He would deny having been there the whole time, in his damp clothes, head in his hands as he waited for the surgeon to come out. Or how he sat by her bedside, holding her hand and tracing the little scars she got from being clumsy. He left at the first signs of her stirring, simply alerting the nurse as he left the ward and asking them not to mention his presence to her. It had been very early in the morning, so she drifted back to sleep with the faint memory of him. 

Her first visitors in the morning had been her colleagues, bringing her flowers and chocolates. They came before heading into HQ to talk to the director, who had allowed them until morning to sort out their stories.

Ayatsuji visited much later, having showered, changed, taken a nap, and accompanied Ango in speaking to the director.

She smiled as he stepped into the room before realising he was alone. ‘Sensei! Did you sneak out again?! You know I have to report you, right!’

’Would you calm down? Sakaguchi-kun is downstairs waiting for me,’ he remained as indifferent as always, but added with a slight smirk, 'Well, escaping from here would be easy enough.’

‘Sensei! Don’t say things like that! And Sakaguchi-senpai has enough work already!’ She groaned in pain as she tried to get up too fast.

‘Tsujimura-kun, you believe things too easily,’ he dropped into the seat by her bed. ‘Did you forget you need to get better for your special training?’

‘Training?’

'Well, it would be a waste to use up my day of controlling you when you’ve been confined to a bed. Instead, I have come up with a training plan,’ he smirked, revealing a piece of paper from his pocket. ‘You’ll begin as soon as you are discharged.’

Tsujimura’s face blanched as she looked at the words written on the paper: ‘Sensei, you can’t be serious, right?’ She had a thin strand of hope as she posed the question.

‘Why would I joke around with you Tsujimura-kun?’

‘Ayatsuji-sensei, I can’t possibly—’ she sounded a little desperate.

‘That’s the face,’ he chuckled ruthlessly, ‘you do make the most entertaining expressions.’

‘So this was a joke?’ She breathed out, lying back.

‘What? No, I expect you to comply or I will simply have to report you,’ he said, folding the piece of paper back up and putting it out of her reach. Not that destroying it would be of any help to her. He got up and dusted himself off and made a move towards the door.

‘But sensei!’ Taujimura tried reaching out towards him.

He turned and stared down at her with a contempt look on his face. ‘Well, rest up, Tsujimura-kun. I look forward to it.’ He didn’t bother listening to her protests as he walked out the door. Leaving her worried and confused in the hospital bed.

‘Maybe I should ask to transfer.’

~ ♡ ~

and it felt like forever

i kinda didnt like the plot of this but its the only piece i completed for esuka week in 2023

Isuka grew up on the castle grounds. Being the ward of the captain of the royal guard meant she lived with him in the castle. Despite her proximity to royalty, she was never one of them. Her adoptive father's closeness to the king he served had meant she received some privileges - schooling, clothes, and training. But there was a line between her and the princess, the world reminded her of it constantly. 

Her world was incomparable to the life of the boy she would eventually fall for. 

Ace was a prince, despite it being through adoption, he was just as important as the ‘real’ prince. He was kind, beautiful and more importantly out of reach.

Each year, the kingdom threw a banquet for his birthday and Isuka would attend with the royal family of her country. Her adoptive father had to stay close to the king, so there was no reason to leave her alone.

She hid away most of the time, finding solace in the castle's library in the week-long period they stayed. Often because she was too scared about what the other royal kids would think of her. She stumbled across the prince a couple of times in a corner of the garden where she sometimes sat to read in peace, huddled beneath a giant coat and mittens. He was apparently escaping people who spoke badly of his father.

~ ♡ ~

She looked up, startled, a loud rustling noise making its way towards her, she hid behind the book hoping not to be told off by some grown-up. A kind old man had told her it was okay to use it.

‘Stupid people!’ A yell. The person sounded younger than she thought, so she looked up. It was a boy, he looked to be her age, his freckles had faded with the winter cold, but they were just visible. He regarded her with the same shock she did with him.

‘Who’re you?’

‘Isuka,’ she replied, hoping he would pry further.

‘Oh,’ he sniffed and she realised his eyes were red like he had been crying, ‘I’m Ace.’

‘Like the prince?’ She scrambled to stand up and bow to him.

‘You don’t have to do that, it’s not like I’m a real prince anyway.’

She looked up at him, ‘what?’

‘You know I’ve never seen you before, which royal family are you from?’

‘Oh no I’m not a royal, but I’m the ward of Knight Draw, the King of Oykot’s personal protection,’ she was proud of him.

‘Oh, is it your first time here?’

‘No, I’ve been coming here for the past five years,’ ever since she had been adopted five years ago. 

‘Oh,’ it was the prince’s 12th birthday, and five years is a long time. ‘Are you not close with the princess?’

‘We get along fine, we are inseparable,’ she imitated the Queen’s tone. When they were home it was true, they loved each other like sisters would. Medora knew how Isuka hated royal events, and even defended her when Draw would scold her for hiding away. So when they had to travel to other nations Medora would cover for her as she spent the week hiding. Unlike her Medora adored social events, and most of all the attention of other people.

‘So you hate those royal brats too?’

‘Technically you’re a royal brat too,’ she replied without thinking, when she realised what she had done she slapped a finger over her mouth. 

To her surprise he burst out laughing instead, ‘technically you would be correct, my country believes so, but the other kids seem to hate me.’

‘Why would they hate you?’ She sat back down, patting the seat next to her.

He took the invitation, sitting down next to her. ‘They think I don’t deserve to be a prince,’ he continued when he saw her confused look, ‘my father was a criminal, but the king took pity on my mum when he was executed.’

‘Well if your country accepts you that’s really all you need right?’

‘Ah, well, other countries need to like me to be king.’

‘Oh,’ Isuka’s face was red, she hadn’t learnt much about international politics yet, Medora had been learning for years.

‘Luffy and Sabo don’t want to be king. Luffy, the youngest, just wants to travel the world and have fun. Sabo, the middle one, wants to lead in a different way, he wants to focus on the common people.’

Isuka listened in amazement, he was the same age as her but already had a greater understanding of the world. He was considering her brothers’ feelings and taking on such a big burden. ‘But what do you want to be?’

‘I haven’t thought about it.’

‘Well,’ she smiled at him and the slight blush on his face deepened, ‘you have lots of time.’

‘Yeah I guess I do,’ he smiled back at her.

For the rest of the week, he spent as much time as he could with her, laughing like actual kids, without the weight of the world on them.

When it was time for her to leave, he hugged her goodbye, whispering about how he was excited to see her again.

~ ♡ ~

For the next two years, they saw each other at royal events. Medora made sure to tease her about it every single time she caught them together and if what Ace said was true his brothers were the same.

He sent a present on her birthday and they wrote letters for the rest of the year. She was starting to think royal events weren’t so bad when he was next to her, like Medora he didn’t care what the adults thought of her, even if the kids would say things.

~ ♡ ~

On his 15th he eagerly awaited her arrival and when the carriage from Oykot he watched the princess, her governess and ladies-in-waiting step out. Isuka was nowhere to be found.

When he caught the princess’s eyes she shook her head slightly and he smiled back in gratitude.

He found out the exact reason later. Draw had been a traitor, and Isuka had barely stopped a plot to poison the king. The king was in critical condition, and the queen did not want to leave his side as he recovered from the poisoning. Ace thought that Medora was strong for coming by herself, and her best friend was not there to support her.

Isuka had locked herself in her room and refused to come out. Medora had tried to talk her out of the room every day for two weeks since the incident. Even the mention of seeing Ace hasn’t convinced her to get out.

Ace tried to enjoy his birthday festivities but nothing seemed the same. Her presence made everything better. He found solace in the company of his brothers, they did their best to cheer him up. Even though their attempts often worked, not long after he went back to feeling empty.

When Medora was leaving, he pressed a note into her hand, ‘please give this to her.’

‘I’ll try,’ she reassured him with a smile.

~ ♡ ~

It would be another year before he saw her again. It was his 16th birthday and he was greeting guests as they stepped out of their carriages when he caught sight of that vermilion bob he hadn’t seen in nearly two years.

He must’ve looked absolutely silly, his mouth open wide as she stepped out. She looked different, older, more serious. There was a blade at her hip, her outfit more fitting for a knight than a young lady. 

Their eyes met briefly and he smiled but she simply looked away. He was confused at her attitude but chalked it up to the awkwardness of being older. He hoped that they would get a chance to catch up later.

~ ♡ ~

Unlike before, Isuka stayed beside her princess. It was impossible to get her alone. She was always surrounded, by the princess, the princess’s ladies-in-waiting, by other security. He hoped to at least make eye contact, for her to smile at him so the world could go back to what it was, but by the end of the first night he was convinced that she was avoiding him.

He was honestly confused, had he done something to annoy her? Was she mad at him? If so he wanted to apologise, he just wanted his friend back.

It had been an awful week for him. Of course, the food was good and the company great, but her bright red hair simply wouldn’t leave his eyesight. Constantly reminding him that for some reason they weren’t the same anymore.

On the third day he had given in, walking up to her when she was alone with the princess. 

‘Medora,’ he nodded and she nodded back, glancing over to Isuka to see her reaction, but the girl had an indecipherable expression on her face. He straightened his shoulders and mustered up the courage to ask, ‘may I speak with Lady Isuka alone?’ He didn’t know why he was being so formal - this was the girl who’d thrown a snowball at him for calling her beautiful.

‘Of course, I was planning on heading back to my room,’ she looked at Isuka who was going to protest at leaving her alone, ‘my ladies-in-waiting will be with me. There is no need to worry,’ she reassured Isuka with a smile before patting her on the back and leaving the pair alone.

Isuka didn’t meet his eyes and since she clearly didn’t plan on speaking first he did, ‘you never replied to my letter. You know I thought maybe you had died and they just weren’t telling me the truth.’

‘What do you want, your highness?’

‘You,’ she looked at him with shock, ‘I want to back to the way we were.’

‘That would be highly improper, your highness, you should focus our attention on girls who are right for you.’

‘And who would that be?’ He asked, annoyance building in his tone.

‘That’s not my place to say.’

‘Why are you doing this Isuka? Why are you pushing me away.’

‘I think it would be better for us to stick to our own worlds.’

He watched as Isuka walked away, helplessly staring at her retreating figure. 

It wasn't until the fifth day that he found out why Isuka had changed. Medora had been alone in a corridor when Ace had stumbled across her. She grabbed him and pulled him into a corner.

‘Shush Isuka can't see us together. She would kill me if she knew what I was going to tell you .’

She spent the next hour explaining what had happened since he had seen her last. Apparently, when Medora had been here on his 15th birthday she’d talked to the king and queen and insisted on joining the royal knights. She trained hard enough to become her personal knight in the shortest time possible and was the youngest royal knight ever. She had thrown herself into work over the guilt she had felt. Apparently, she had felt betrayed that she trusted Draw for so long when he had been the one to kill her parents because they tried to expose him and only adopted her so that he could win the favour of the king. She felt like she had played a part in his cruel plan and wanted to work in order to make things better. The king and queen had initially refused, placing none of the blame on her, she was a victim too. She had been very convincing.

‘But why would she ignore me?’

‘I think maybe she feels like she needs to keep her distance, she can’t be with you and doesn’t want to hurt you further.’

‘I don’t care about that, who told her that.’

‘I don’t know, she usually doesn’t care about what people say about her, but whoever it was really got under her skin.’

He buried his face in his hands, despite being one of the smartest people he knew she was so dumb sometimes.

So when it was time for them to leave, he waited and grabbed Isuka’s hand as she tried to get in. He handed her a note and waited for her to take it from him. She looked puzzled and in a sort of half daze accepted the letter. He helped her up into the carriage and watched as they left.

On her way home Isuka opened the letter, trying her best to conceal the contents from Medora who sat next to her.

Isuka,

It has come to my attention that you’ve been ignoring me for my sake. Well, I have to say that it’s a load of rubbish and will continue to bother you until you reply.

Waiting eagerly for your reply, Your fire fist

She smiled fondly at his use of the nickname she made for him, and then immediately stopped when she noticed Medora smirking at her.

‘He won’t be receiving a reply any time soon.’

‘That’s not going to stop him.’

‘He can try his best.’

~ ♡ ~

Isuka,

Hoping this is actually going to be read and not immediately burned. Will you be attending my brothers’ banquets?

Your wonderful and amazing Ace

P.s. please reply

~ ♡ ~

My dear Isuka,

I am going to take your silence as a yes every time I ask a question. If you don’t want me assuming weird things you should really reply.

Your dear Ace

~ ♡ ~

Oh wonderful and gorgeous lady Isuka,

Since the party is next week I shall be assuming your attendance and will be awaiting your arrival

The extremely hot Ace

~ ♡ ~

He did indeed see her at both his brothers’ banquets in which he spent the whole affair sending her notes. Paying little royal brats with sweets to give them to her. sometimes a small gift would be sent instead of a note, a flower or a piece of jewellery. The flowers she kept in her notebook, going to preserve them and the jewellery stored away safely.

~ ♡ ~

My beautiful and splendid Isuka, whose hair shines too bright sometimes,

Will you be my girlfriend?

Your stunning now boyfriend Ace

~ ♡ ~

To my breathtaking, charming, dazzling, extremely good sword-fighter girlfriend,

Happy birthday, I hope you like your present. Bet you were wishing for a kiss right?

Ace

~ ♡ ~

He would not stop sending more letters with longer and more ridiculous lines. She couldn’t reply of course having been ignoring him for close to a year now.

She definitely couldn’t let anyone know that she kept those letters in her box, tucked safely next to her other treasures. She loved his handwriting, the scrawling way he wrote her name. She read them again and again, hearing his voice talking to her softly. 

She was falling for him and she found herself minding less and less as she received more and more letters.

The words Draw had said to her as they dragged him to his execution faded slowly in her memory. 

~ ♡ ~

When she saw him next he was turning 17. This time she let him pull her into a hug, ‘I hope you plan on listening to me now.’

‘Yeah, I missed your stupid voice.’

‘Why do you always do this,’ he pulled back.

‘Do what?’ she stared up at him with innocent eyes. He was taller now, and definitely had way more muscles compared to the last time she had hugged him.

‘Insult me,’ he was pouting now and she resisted the urge to poke one of his freckled cheeks.

‘Get a room the both of you!’ Medora shouted from the stairs.

Isuka pulled away from him so fast, the blush on her cheeks spreading to her ears.

Ace chuckled, looking back at her ‘so technically I did just assume we were dating, your answer is yes right?’

She smiled sort of deviously and for a second he was worried. So when she kissed him on the cheek and whispered a yes into his ear, he froze and she used the opportunity to sprint up the stairs to join Medora.

~ ♡ ~

Nameless

why was this lowkey dark

‘Hey Isuka, how’d you get your epithet?’ Ace turned to look at her, curious about the nickname. Skull had once mentioned something about riddling people full of holes, but it’s not like she had a signature move like him.

The question caught her off guard. It was a part of her life she wanted to forget completely, but the memory plagued her.

‘You haven’t heard captain?’ Skull asked.

‘No.’

‘Well it’s her story to tell.’

‘I don’t like talking about it,’ she dusted herself off as she got up, ‘Skull can tell you if you’re still curious.’

She didn’t hear his shouts as she walked away.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka had joined the Marines at a young age, from working as a chore girl on a small East Blue base to an Ensign working in the Grand Line; the years had almost blurred together. She had almost no memorable moments apart from maybe the times she and a couple of other kids would celebrate their birthdays (quietly, with small slices of cake and handmade gifts). 

There was one memory, however, that constantly haunted her - the mission that promoted her to Ensign and gave her the epithet ‘nailing’. 

She had begged Draw to let her take part in more significant missions, to let her sail the Grand Line. She simply wanted to do more. In the East Blue, the pirates mainly were weak rookies, but in the Grand Line, the big names existed. She wanted to get rid of them, not waste her time chasing good-for-nothing newbies.

Draw had sighed, refusing her request multiple times, until he received what he thought was a small enough mission for her, big enough to maybe deter her from asking further.

She remembered it clearly. It was the day of her 16th birthday. She’d been celebrating the way they always did - a small slice of cake from that cook who liked them (she always let them take extra food since they were growing children). Ryu had given her a card he had made himself. There was a little bird inside, a crossbill that popped up when she opened it up. She had no idea how he had the time or materials to make it. Kai had gotten her a book, one she’d wanted to read for a while. He would have had to sneak out to purchase it. Tashigi had made her a bracelet, it was red like her hair, and it was meant to be a friendship bracelet, and a good luck charm rolled into one. Tashigi already had one on her wrist, a dark blue that matched the design of Isuka’s.

They had been laughing about something when Draw walked in; his commanding presence had them all scrambling to get up and salute him, trying to hide the gifts under a blanket.

‘Well kiddo the day you’ve been waiting for is here, got a mission for you, if you succeed you could be Ensign soon.’

‘Really?’ Her eyes had lit up; the others looked happy for her. They knew how much the opportunity meant to her.

‘You leave right now, so get changed right away.’

‘Sir, yes, sir!’ She saluted him as he turned around and walked away.

‘Isu this is it! Your chance to shine!’ Tashigi squealed along with her.

‘Lucky, I’ve been asking just as long as you,’ Kai grumbled.

‘Yeah, but I’m stronger than you, so obviously, they picked me,’ she playfully nudged him, and he reciprocated by nudging her back.

Ryu was uncharacteristically quiet, and when Isuka asked what was wrong, he said, ‘it seems dangerous. Please be careful.’

She pulled him into a hug, ‘don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.’

She hugged them all once again before shooing them out of her room and began to change. She slipped on her gloves and picked up her rapier before heading to Draw’s office.

‘Ready to leave, sir.’

He sighed and got up from his desk, ‘there have been reports of a group of bandits terrorising islands this side of the East Blue. I was asked to send an officer to take them down. So considering your requests, I’ve chosen to send you. Don’t make me regret it,’ his stern face almost made her nervous, but this was what she’d been training for. Present her watched the memory with dread in her stomach. She should have said no and asked him to send a higher-ranking officer than her, but she was stupid and opportunistic. 

He led her to the small ship that would take her to the island they were currently believed to be at. Her crew was small, made up of a navigator, chef and a medic (if they weren’t at the island, she was to check the surrounding area, there was no point for her to come back and then set sail again). She was the only soldier they were sending. A small group of bandits was not a difficult fight at all, one someone like Draw wouldn’t even need to break a sweat.

She climbed aboard, clutching the rapier at her side tightly. Draw didn’t wave as the ship pulled away, so neither did she.

The journey was three hours, and she couldn’t stop her heart thumping in her chest as they drew closer. She didn’t know whether it was from excitement or dread, but she couldn’t back out now.

When they landed, Isuka gave them instructions: she would canvas the island and report. If they were on the island, they’d all be back before the day ended. They nodded as she jumped off the side and onto land. She’d studied the map on the way here and had chosen the most efficient route. 

She began looking around, hoping she didn’t stick out like a sore thumb with her uniform. She spoke to locals, some who were more valuable than others. She was able to conclude that if the bandits were on the island, they were taking refuge in a cabin in the woods.

She walked back to the ship and explained the situation. She’d been instructed to go alone and take out the bandits. The others would wait here. Only if they hadn’t heard from her in an hour would they make a move. With a pat on her back from the elderly cook for good luck, she left.

She took the fastest route through the woods, climbing up trees to make sure she was headed the right way. When she reached the cabin, she hid behind some dense overgrowth whilst taking in the situation. There were five of them. They looked older than they probably were and clearly had no regard for personal hygiene.

There were only two rooms in the cabin. It was evident that it wasn’t a place to live but rather to hang out. There was a larger room where four of them sat, drinking, smoking, and laughing. They were disgusting. There was a smaller room in the corner that had a door leading out. She decided to lure the man in that room out first. She threw a rock in the direction of the room, hoping he’d be stupid enough to step out without a weapon. And he was.

She stepped out behind him, driving her rapier through his heart just like she’d been taught. Draw had told her to leave no survivors, that the group wasn't worth it. The man didn’t stand a chance as he crumpled to the ground. He hadn’t made much noise, but one of the others stepped out to check on him and saw her, bloody sword in hand and his partner in a heap on the floor. He shouted, trying to swing the beer bottle at her, but she dodged too quickly for his drunken reflexes. She followed suit and stabbed him in the leg, immobilising him just as another of the group ran out. 

She swung out at him, causing him to take a step back, stumbling. The man she’d stabbed cracked the bottle he had and tried to lunge at her, but she flipped out of the way, ending up behind him. Just like the first man, she stabbed him through the heart, and he fell. He put up a bit more fight, trying to claw at the rocks on the ground, but they wouldn’t move.

The other man swore at her, charging like a bull. He wasn’t holding a weapon either, so she figured he was trying to knock her over and tried to dodge him. He was more intelligent than she gave him credit for and drew a knife out of his sleeve and slashed at her. In his frenzy, he managed to slice her near her ribs, ripping her uniform and the white slowly dyed red. The pain stung, but she attacked back. She’d felt worse pain before.

It took a little longer to kill this man. She’d stabbed him in more places, but he didn’t fall like the others. It wasn’t until she had the opportunity to stab him through the heart that he died. 

She didn’t realise that she was out of breath, panting she realised that the other two might have gotten away and run to the front of the cabin. 

The two men were sitting by the entrance.

‘A kid huh?’

‘Looks like they were weaker than we expected.’

They were underestimating her. They thought she wasn’t powerful because she was still young. They had no idea what was coming for them.

‘Sorry kid, this is nothing personal,’ he apologised halfheartedly as he grabbed the gun behind him and got up. The other man picked up his katana.

‘Save the apologies for the after life,’ she spat back as she drew her rapier again.

‘Have it your way kid,’ the other one replied, drawing out his own sword.

Every lesson she’d had about fighting was running through her mind, the teachers yelling about footwork, about stance, about power. She knew this fight was going to be difficult and wasn’t going to waste time. 

Her blow was easily matched, but he seemed shocked by her power, unusual for a kid her age. She glared up at him, light shock on his features. 

As they traded blows, almost equally matched, she dodged a bullet. She had almost forgotten she was fighting two people, not just the one.

She defended herself from the swordsman’s blows, all while dodging random bullets. She had more cuts on her now and had been grazed by a bullet. He’d even managed to hit her once or twice, throwing her to the side, but she had to get up. To survive, she had to get up. The adrenaline kept her running. In training she would have been exhausted by now.

When she managed to disarm the swordsman, causing him to fall to the ground, she felt the gunman aim at her. So instead of stabbing him, she kicked him in the face and turned to face the gunman. When he shot the bullet this time, she used her rapier to slice the bullet in half, a trick she’d only done twice before. It worked in shocking the man. She took the opportunity to run up to him and slice his gun in half. The man was stunned, unable to understand what had happened as she left him defenceless. The man would have been dead if the swordsman hadn’t gotten up and gotten to her in the nick of time. He slashed at her, and she had to dodge, cutting her arm. She watched as the swordsman whispered something to the other man; he must be telling him to grab the goods and run.

She wouldn’t allow it. She charged at them. He didn’t draw his sword fast enough, and she managed to stab him in the shoulder, her rapier almost scraping the other man too. The swordsman shouted in pain as she drew the rapier out, blood splashing on her face. The blood drained out of the other man’s face, and he immediately turned around and ran into the cabin. She wouldn’t let him get away. 

She slashed at the swordsman. It was met with a weak defence, his dominant arm useless. She easily disarmed him, slitting his throat, the noise of him choking on his blood following her as she stepped into the cabin.

She shouted at the man, and he whirled to face her. He grabbed one of the beer bottles in fear. But that fear slowly dissipated as he noticed an injury on her leg. The swordsman had managed to get one last good move in; the wound was deep.

‘Guess neither of us are at our best.’

‘No, but it won’t be me begging for mercy,’ she snarled, charging at him, using her last bursts of energy to attack him. She knocked the bottle out of his arm and stabbed him in the stomach. He yelled as she pulled out, more blood splattering onto her, mixing with her own and the blood of the other bandits. Her uniform was ruined. She would have to burn it.

She stabbed him multiple times, each time he yelled, trying to grab at her, trying to gain some sort of control.

‘You stupid bitch,’ he wheezed.

‘What was stupid was underestimating me,’ she replied, her voice cold as she drove the rapier into the heart with the very last hit of her strength. The sword embedded itself in the wood of the wall behind him. She didn’t even hear him yell, just watched the colour drain from him.

She fell to the ground, exhaustion catching up to her. She winced as she felt her wounds ache. The adrenaline was wearing off. She ripped a piece of her uniform shirt to try and stop her leg bleeding. 

She couldn’t remember what happened to her next. She simply woke up in the infirmary of the base.

She was told what happened by the worried friends as told to them by the crew that came with her. It had been an hour since they heard from her and, as per her instructions, they came looking for her. They saw the dead swordsman and were worried for her. They found her inside, unconscious but alive. They immediately treated her so she didn’t end up with lifelong injuries. The medic then went in ahead, carrying Isuka to the ship to properly tend to her.

The room itself was a scene of horror. The blood splatter spread around the room like an artist had finally lost it. And at the centre of it all, a man, held up like he’d been nailed into the wall. Like the others, he had stab wounds as if someone had hammered nails into them. It was horrifying to see bodies riddled with holes. It was even more horrifying knowing who’d done it.

They had tried to pull Isuka’s rapier out of the wall and the man, but even with two people, they couldn’t pull it out. So much strength in such a small body it was impossible to believe. Instead, they broke it and pulled it out of the man, taking it back with them to the ship.

They dragged the men into the cabin and set it on fire, making sure it didn’t spread to the wood surrounding them. No one would ever want to set foot into the cabin again. Not if they knew the extent of the brutality.

They then returned to the town, informing the head of what had transpired.

As Isuka had said, they made it back to the base before the day was over. They were met with immediate worry as the medic was carrying an unconscious Isuka. 

When she woke up, she found her friends passed out in different corners of the infirmary; Tashigi by her side, and Ryu and Kai somehow squeezed onto the one couch in the room. When they realised she was awake, they immediately pounced on her, expressing worry and anger. She had been out for two days.

Tashigi picked up the rapier placed at Isuka’s side, broken and bloody. Isuka asked them to get rid of it. She felt sick remembering what she had done. But everyone else sang her praises, acting like she’d created a masterpiece of blood and violence. She felt disgusted at herself.

Draw marched into her room on the third day of her recovery. He didn’t praise her, said nothing but, ‘headquarters called, you’re to be Ensign now.’ And marched straight back out the door.

Her friends were more excited than her, talking about how lucky she was, how she’d have her own crew, her own ship and get to sail the Grand Line, just like she’d always wanted.

Isuka felt unworthy, but she’d achieved her goals. She just wasn’t sure it was worth the cost.

~ ♡ ~

Back then, it had never struck her. Why would they have promoted her for the small feat of defeating some bandits? It wasn’t until Draw had been defeated by Ace that she found out. He’d basically sent her on a suicide mission. Headquarters had suggested that two to three ranked officers be sent as the enemy had proved their strength against the navy multiple times before. She will never know what he wanted out of her death or severe injury. She’s not sure she wants to know.

Later she found out that Draw had kept the rapier. To him, it was some sort of trophy. She had thought of it as a curse. That’s why she had asked to be rid of it. The more she found out about the man the more she felt sickened by his actions. 

~ ♡ ~

Isuka refused to talk about the story to anyone. Once a crew mate had asked about it, and she simply shrugged, saying it must have just caught on. For some reason she couldn’t bare them considering her a monster.

She knew Skull most likely knew, and if Ace had asked, he would have found out the truth. He would know what a horrible person she was, just as she thought he'd finally begun to respect her.

She can never forget the truth of her past, no matter how hard she tries. It was a dark mark in her record she simply couldn't burn away.

Whenever anyone brought it up, she wished she had remained nameless.

~ ♡ ~

Priorities

a crackfic with zero plot

Deuce winced as he heard the familiar voice; they had managed about two days without getting into a fight. Which may be a record for Ace, but with how close Isuka’s voice was, it was just a matter of time before they were fighting. Deuce was unsure whether Ace had heard it too; he was easily distracted by the food surrounding them. They were in a market area, and if Ace hadn’t heard her voice, it would be best to keep it that way.

‘Hey, wasn’t that Isuka?’ Deuce cursed under his breath. He could never catch a break.

‘I don’t think so. Why would the Ensign be here? Hey, isn’t that your favourite snack,’ Deuce was using all his powers of distraction, but for some reason, Ace wasn’t listening.

‘Nah I’m pretty sure that’s her, where do you think it came from?’

Deuce sighed, ‘why do you go looking for trouble? If she hasn’t seen you yet we should probably leave.’

‘So you did hear her!’ He said incredulously.

‘Yeah at this point hearing her voice puts my body on autopilot, we need to leave.’

‘Oh come on, it would be rude to leave without saying hello.’

‘Since when have you cared about manners?’ Maybe he lived just to annoy Deuce; if he died early, the cause of death should be listed as Portgas D. Ace.

They hadn’t been able to pinpoint her location just yet, the marketplace was a bustling hub in the middle of the city, and one would think the Marine’s uniform would stand out. 

‘Hey I’ll pay!’ They heard Isuka argue with someone, and Ace twirled around to see Isuka, not in her uniform but in casual clothing. There were two little kids next to her; one of them was clinging onto her leg, and she had a hand on the other one's head. From their angle, they couldn’t quite see who she was arguing with, but it was clear she was close to this person; otherwise, they wouldn't be arguing over the bill. 

‘Who are those kids,’ Ace turned to Deuce, who looked just as confused; they didn’t know anything about her personal life.

‘Why don’t we order double, then we can both pay,’ Isuka’s shoulders sank, but it was because she was laughing. Ace grimaced slightly; Isuka barely ever laughed around them; she was too busy fighting them. Deuce wanted to point out that it wasn’t his fault Isuka didn’t laugh at his jokes. It was really that they were on opposite sides of the law and that most of them were insulting the Marines. He couldn’t, however, deny that she looked good when she wasn’t scowling. She looked younger and more peaceful.

‘Fine, fine, I can never win with you,’ she pulled out her purse and took out some bills while her friend asked for more from the vendor, who seemed quite pleased with all the sales he was making. Isuka carefully took the little parcels of food and gave them to the kids, the little one clutching her one and the older one grabbing a few more.

Both pirates snuck a little closer, trying to get a closer look at the other party. By the voice alone, they could tell it was a man, but nothing else. As they stopped, hidden behind a cart of sweets, they were finally able to see his face. He had one of those faces that exuded calmness. He was good-looking if you preferred plain and boring guys. He seemed tall and well built; he was probably a Marine, but what was really bothering Ace was why would the both of them be on vacation together.

‘Maybe we should help them with the food, we have quite a few parcels,’ the man suggested as he took a bag of food.

‘Yeah, we should,’ Isuka ruffled the younger one’s hair. She leaned over to take one of the bags from the man, but he refused to fork one over and pushed her forward instead. She held the younger one’s hand instead, carefully leading them through the crowds. They passed Ace and Deuce, the latter diving behind a stall to hide; Ace stood watching as they disappeared.

‘Do you think her radar is broken?’

‘Radar?’ Deuce questioned as he dusted himself off and apologised to the startled drink vendor.

‘Yeah her ‘Hunt Fire Fist’ at all costs one,’ Deuce decided he must’ve lost his mind out of hunger and tried to push him towards the food stalls. 

‘I think you need some food, you’re talking crazy.’

‘No, you know how she never gives up on a chase, and no matter what crazy turns I take she always manages to find me, how? Her crazy find me radar.’

Ace looked proud of his explanation, but Deuce could only sigh, ‘sure buddy, but it looks like she’s taking a break, maybe she doesn’t want to fight you.’

‘Nope, how many times has she abandoned what she was doing to chase me?’ He pointed out, ‘no, something's going on, we’ve got to find out.’

Deuce buried his face in his hands and groaned, ‘why can’t things go my way for once,’ but Ace was already dragging him in the direction she was heading in.

They were walking for a while before Ace decided to jump on someone’s roof to try and locate the pair walking together. He caught sight of them walking toward the slums to the north of the city. He jumped back down to tell Deuce and broke into a run to catch up with them.

When they reached the slums, the little kid who had been holding onto Isuka’s hand let go and ran towards another kid, holding out the little parcel of food. Soon little kids were surrounding the two Marines, and they were handing out the food to whoever was there. Isuka was crouching down to talk to them, ruffling their hair and accepting little hugs. The little kids seemed overjoyed, running back to their houses to share. 

When the food ran out, Isuka stood back up; they had just about enough for everyone. ‘It’s a good thing we bought double.’

‘See this is why you should listen to me, I’m always correct,’ he nudged her shoulder with his.

‘This is coming from the person who thought the red line was a literal red line in the middle of the sea,’ she pressed back.

‘I was 10. Give me a break,’ there was a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.

Ace was getting more annoyed as she playfully teased him. Deuce, on the other hand, was more shocked to see this side of the Ensign that usually chased them. In her pursuit, she was ruthless and powerful, but now, seeing her laugh carelessly really proves how little they knew about her.

‘How about lunch,’ she suggested as they began to walk back. Deuce pulled Ace into a random house to hide, apologising to the terrified occupants.

‘Yes I am starving, it’s my treat though,’ he emphasised.

‘No it’s mine, take it as a way to congratulate you for your promotion.’

‘Exactly! My promotion, I should be treating you with my pay rise.’

She laughed, ‘you’re an Ensign now, I know exactly how measly the pay rise is. Let me treat you, plus I am older than you.’

‘By like 3 months, you don’t have to keep bringing that up.’

Ace waited for them to turn the corner as they walked past the house before following behind. Deuce thanked the family before running after him.

‘Ace I think we should stop now, clearly there’s nothing wrong, she’s just enjoying some time with her friend,’ Deuce stopped next to him and took a couple of breaths. ‘Although it’s a little weird seeing her so happy, I think the only time I’ve seen her smile was that time Kotatsu jumped her and ended up tickling her with his fur.’

‘Nope,’ he was being stubborn for no reason at all, ‘we have to get to the bottom of this mystery.’

‘What mystery? Last I checked we’ve been pointlessly following around a Marine and her probably Marine friend.’

Before he could get an answer out of Ace, the pair they were following turned a corner, ‘come on we’re going to lose them!’

It was a little while before they seemed to finally make a decision on where to eat. It was a restaurant that had a riverside view. They waited for them to be seated before entering themselves.

‘Could we get seats that have a clear view of that table?’ Ace pointed to where Isuka was sitting on the deck overlooking the river. She was finally using those sunglasses she always had in her hair.

The waitress seemed intrigued and was glad to help them spy on the two of them, she must’ve thought something was going on, and Deuce felt the need to clarify that there wasn’t anything actually happening. The waitress remained unconvinced and showed them upstairs to a seat on the balcony overlooking where Isuka was sitting. She bought them menus and a jug of water, and Deuce couldn’t stop fidgeting. They were at a semi-fancy restaurant, and they were following a Marine.

‘Hey don’t you think this has gone on for long enough?’ Ace simply glanced at the menu. ‘She seems happy, and that’s good because I don’t particularly want to spend the rest of our time at this island running from her, she’s kinda scary you know.’

‘Pffft, Isuka? Scary? You must be out of your mind,’ he paused, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of him,  ‘she’s just mildly terrifying.’

‘See, even you have to admit she's clearly a lot more at ease right now and we should let her be. Wasn’t there like a million things you wanted to see, you’re not going to have any time if you spend all your time following her.’

Ace sighed, looking down at the pair of Marines; she was laughing at something he’d said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was beautiful in a gentle way, looking soft in the way the sunlight hit her. She was beautiful in the way she fought as well, fierce, like fire. 

Deuce rolled his eyes; Ace was never subtle; the look in his eyes as he watched her gave away his reasons. He said goodbye to all his plans, seeing as how Ace was simply not going to let this go.

'Fine, let's at least eat something while we're here,' Deuce called over the waitress so they could order something.

Ace immediately dived into the food as soon as it arrived, but he still managed to keep tabs on what Isuka was doing. Watched as she sipped her glittery drink and the way she gripped her cutlery.

It felt like hours had gone by as he waited for them to finish their conversation. Deuce was more shocked that Ace hadn’t spontaneously fallen asleep during the meal than by how long they could keep a conversation going.

When Isuka got up to pay, he watched as they fought over the bill before getting up himself. Before Deuce could point out that they needed to pay, Ace had left. He pulled out his wallet and placed some cash on the table before running after him.

~ ♡ ~

Deuce was already beyond bored as they hid behind a bush. Isuka and her friend had spent hours walking around town, visiting different shops.

Isuka had tried on so many clothes they’d never even thought she’d wear, but she looked stunning in all of them. There was this blue dress that had Ace tripping over the mannequin they were hiding behind. 

They waited outside a bookstore for close to an hour, sat on a bench and shared a large newspaper to hide their faces. Isuka came out with a bag full of books at the end of it.

When they’d finally tired of walking, they sat on a park bench, and Ace decided to hide in a bush nearby in the hopes of catching parts of their conversation. Deuce mumbled something about his butt hurting from sitting on the hard ground, and Ace shushed him. To his dismay, they chatted about the books Isuka had purchased, something about them being a series she loved as a kid and didn’t know there were more books in the set. Ace still paid attention to her every word, no matter how boring. Deuce ended up lying down on the ground and taking a nap.

It was darker when Ace hurriedly woke him up, saying they were going to a bar to get a meal and some drinks. He pulled him up and continued his pursuit, with a sleepy Deuce trying not to bump into the street lights.

It was harder to sneak into the bar without the two Marines noticing them. It was much smaller than the restaurant, and they barely managed to make it to a table before Isuka saw them.

Isuka could clearly hold her alcohol as she easily downed many cups of liquor. That’s one thing they had in common, Ace loved to party and could easily outdrink most people. Unluckily for him, he often collapsed, making people think he was a lightweight. On the other hand, Deuce was a terrible lightweight, so he sipped at his cup, hoping no one would notice he was on the same cup from the beginning.

‘D’ya think she’s given up on me?’

‘Who Isuka?’ Deuce poked the table with his fork as they waited for their food.

‘Yeah, we’ve been following her all day and she hasn’t noticed us once. I know we’re not exactly amazing at subtlety so has she just given up?’

‘Isuka would never, she’s got that stubbornness about her,’ Deuce took a small sip of his drink, ‘she would never stop chasing you.’

Ace laughed, but it was sort of sad. Deuce patted him on the back, ‘maybe we’re just better at stalking people than we thought we were.’ And this time, Ace laughed for real.

For the next two hours, Ace had seemingly forgotten about Isuka laughing and chatting away on the other side of the room, and he joked with Deuce like normal. That was until Isuka had gotten up to pay and leave. She placed her sunglasses on the bar as she handed the shopkeeper some bills but left them there when she left the premises. Ace was immediately up and bolting out of the restaurant, grabbing her sunglasses to follow her.

Deuce shouted after him, but it was hopeless; he’d already gone. Begrudgingly he took out his wallet yet again and paid before running after him. 

When he caught up, Ace was somehow on a rooftop, following the pair from a distance, and Deuce considered clambering up to join him but decided to stay on the ground.

They followed them for a while until they heard Isuka gasp loudly, and they stopped.

Isuka had been walking quietly and enjoying the crisp, cold air. She took a deep breath in and decided this was the best moment. She reached up to her head and feigned shock, ‘I left my sunglasses at the bar!’

‘Want me to come back with you?’

‘No, no, you go on ahead, I’ll get them myself,’ she pushed him forward before turning around to head back to the bar.

She turned the corner before leaving against the wall and calling out, ‘I know you’re there Fire Fist.’

He jumped down from somewhere, and Deuce simply stepped into the light. He was smiling at her, ‘how did you know?’

‘You’re not subtle,’ she smiled and held out her hand, ‘I’d like my sunglasses back, I assume you grabbed them on your way out. They were a gift from someone important.’

His smile dropped, and he stepped towards her, grabbing the sunglasses out of his pocket. He ignored her outstretched hand; instead, he stopped, unusually close to her. He placed the glasses back on her head, trying to remember the exact angle it fit between the vermillion strands of hair.

‘Where are they from him?’

‘Huh?’ Isuka was taken aback. She’d barely managed to register the fact that he was trying to adjust her hair, tucking loose strands behind her ear, let alone pay attention to his words.

‘You said they were a gift,’ he retracted his hands, happy with his work, ‘was it from him?’

‘Who? Ryu? No!’ She buried her face in her gloved hands; 'a different friend got me these, she’s a swordswoman like me. I haven’t seen her in ages.’

‘Oh,’ Ace rubbed his neck sheepishly; he’d jumped to conclusions again.

‘Why were you even following me Fire Fist, shouldn’t it be the other way around?’

‘That’s what I said!’ Deuce looked exhausted, and Isuka sympathised; keeping up with someone like Ace was hard work.

‘No reason,’ he looked down, kicking a random stone, ‘just thought it was odd you didn’t notice me.’

She couldn’t see his expression because his hat successfully covered his face, but she could easily guess that he probably looked like a sad puppy.

She burst out into laughter, and Ace looked up in shock, ‘of course I noticed you! It would be impossible not to! That hat is so obnoxiously orange!’

‘You did? Then why didn’t you do anything? Usually, you’re chasing me before I even see you.’ He chose to ignore the hat comment; to him, it was a perfectly acceptable colour.

‘My priorities have changed Fire Fist,’ she explained, but he looked so utterly shocked she had to elaborate further. ‘Well I’ve been receiving complaints from my crew lately about how catching you can’t always be my priority and that I also have to relax and enjoy meals. You know, not abandoning whatever I’m doing to pursue you.’

Deuce failed to suppress a laugh, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were aware how annoying it is.’

She glared at him but continued, ‘so when I saw you at the market I decided you weren’t my priority, my friend was and that I wasn’t going to abandon an old friend who I haven’t seen in a while to chase you.’

‘Aw, I’m not a priority anymore?’

‘Trust me Fire Fist, as soon as this little vacation is over you’re number one on my list. Right now my priorities are slightly different.’

‘Kinda sucks not being on your mind all the time.’

‘It’s kinda hard to forget you when you spent the whole day following me,’ she grumbled.

‘My bad, you know what, you have my word I won’t bother you the rest of your trip.’

‘I’m not sure the word of a pirate means much to me, but okay, no bothering each other.’

‘Deal,’ he smiled, sticking his hand out to her. She took it up begrudgingly, and he took the opportunity to pull her closer, ‘that blue dress was the best, you should totally get it. Also have fun with your little boyfriend Isuka.’

He pulled back and smiled at her, and before she could deny it, he jumped back to where Deuce was, ‘see you later, Ensign!’ He tipped his hat towards her and began to walk away, ‘just so you know, you’re always a priority to me!’

She blushed at the statement, though she didn’t know why, ‘he’s not my boyfriend you moron!’ She didn’t know if he could hear her but felt the need to clarify.

Deuce glanced over at Ace, who was grinning widely as she shouted at him. He rolled his eyes; what an odd pair.

~ ♡ ~

Her Smile

lowkey dont remember writing this or why its sad

Ace stared at the horizon, leaning on the railing of the Spadille, the sunset a beautiful glow. He should be in a good mood, they had escaped the Marines yet again and were sailing peacefully, but a small part of him felt empty.

The beautiful red and orange painted all around him didn’t help with the memories of her, of her hair and her smile. Her genuine smile as tears streamed down her face as he got further and further away from her. He knew that she would’ve enjoyed watching the skies of the New World, he knew very little about her, but he knew she would have appreciated it. Just as she would have appreciated the stars on a clear night or the gentle breeze on a sunny day. He wished they had more time to enjoy those more minor things with each other. 

He liked to remember her smiling, though he had only seen it rarely, without all the tears and the heaviness of the situation. Like that one time Kotatsu had pounced on her, and his fur had tickled her as he licked her face, the sound of her laugh was something he hoped never to forget. He couldn’t escape it sometimes, the sadness she brought, but he knew she’d hate it if he weren’t happy when he thought of her. So he focused on the times she had smiled without a care in the world, laughed at his misfortunes or desperately tried to stifle her giggles in a serious moment, the times when they were more than just two teenagers on different sides of the law.

But most of all, when he thought of her, on the much safer seas of paradise, he wished she’d forget him and the pain he had brought. There was no need for her to waste time on someone like him; she deserved much more than he could give her.

He, however, could never forget her. Her arrival into his life had been unexpected, but he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

~ ♡ ~

Must be a dream

just a cute little piece

Isuka smiled at him from where she was preparing breakfast, he was sitting by the table in their small kitchen, staring at her.

Ace never wanted to wake up from these sorts of dreams, where she’d gently kiss his forehead before opening the fridge to ask what he wanted to eat. Or where he’d wake up with her in his arms, breathing gently against his chest. Sometimes it would be the both of them in front of the TV, watching a movie together and sharing a bowl of popcorn. Or she’d be beating him at the video games he introduced her to. The ones when they cooked together were his personal favourites, the number of times Isuka had to extinguish mini-fires was slightly concerning, he was no longer allowed in the kitchen without supervision (Luffy doesn't count). She’d always bat his hands away from trying the batter, but she’d always let him lick the spoon at the end.

'What are you thinking about?'

He looked up to see her, head tilted and hands on her hips. Her apron with birds on it never failed to make him smile (he had one with flames on), 'about how this must be a dream.'

She walked over to place a kiss on his lips, and he placed his hands on her waist, 'dumbass, you know it's real.'

He smiled, trying to steal another kiss from her, 'I know, I just can’t believe it. How did I ever land the most perfect girl in the world.'

She pulled away before he could get what he wanted, blushing, 'well, what do you want on your pancakes?'

He pouted at being denied before answering, 'the usual.'

Four years ago, he wouldn’t have thought this would be possible, not with how much he thought she hated him, and here they were, living together and very much in love. If it was possible, he fell harder for her every day, the way her hair was messy in the mornings or the way she still blushed every time he complimented her.

If this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up.

~ ♡ ~

quiet night in

my first i didnt know where else to go fic

Isuka was enjoying a quiet night in, with no roommates, no fuss and no noise. She was all alone, and she could not be happier as she turned on the TV. She could finally watch what she wanted, with no judgement and no interruptions. Or at least that's what she thought. As she took a spoon of her ice cream, someone knocked on the door. She prayed internally it was a delivery of some sort and not one of her roommates back way too early and most likely crying.

She placed the ice cream on the coffee table and padded towards the door, 'I'm coming!'

She, however, did not expect to throw open the door and find one Portgas D. Ace leaning against the wall, injured. It was a well-known fact that the both of them did not get along in school, with Isuka being a stickler for the rules and her trust in authority meant she wasn't too fond of Ace's carefree nature. They'd argued about plenty of things in school, like Ace's uniform not being up to standard, about his poor attendance and his tendency to get into fights. She barely saw him now that they no longer went to school or lived anywhere near each other.

'Oh, thank goodness you're home. I didn't know where else to go,' Isuka gasped as she took in his appearance. He had bruises and cuts on his face, fresh ones as if he'd been in a fight. Scrapes on his arms and legs, almost like he'd fallen out of a tree and some bigger ones which definitely needed to be dressed. There were bruises on his stomach, like he'd been kicked, visible because, as usual, his shirt was open.

'What on earth happened to you?' She draped his arm around her shoulder to drag him in. She sat him down on the sofa before frantically trying to search for the first aid kit; no, maybe he needed to be taken to the hospital.

'If you're worried about me, you should see the other guys,' he smirked at her despite the fact he was clearly in pain, wincing when he tried to move. He kicked off his shoes and placed them to a side, his bag was on the floor, and he emptied his pockets onto the table. He also took off his shirt to make it easier for her to access all the cuts and grazes.

Isuka had managed to find the first aid kit fully stocked because of a certain someone's clumsiness. 'Why are you here?' She waited for him to sit up before opening the kit and pulling out what she needed; most of his injuries were minor cuts and grazes, but the bruises made it seem a lot worse. 'Are your brothers terrible at treating wounds? That would be horrible considering the fights I've seen the younger one get into.'

'That would be Luffy,' he laughed, coughing as pain shot up his side, 'and yes he's a terrible doctor, you're better off not going to him for this sort of stuff. He's also with his friends so I can't really bother him.'

'Noted,' she smiled at him before opening a packet of sterile wipes to clean the wounds, starting with his legs. She could feel him tense as she held his ankle to tug his leg onto her lap.

'Sabo, you can trust, he's pretty good at this stuff,' he caught her eyes again as she focused on his other leg, 'but he's out with his girlfriend right now, he might murder me for ruining his date and then murder me again for getting into a fight and getting injured.'

Isuka chuckled, 'he sounds like a reasonable person,' before adding, 'well anyone would seem more reasonable compared to the both of you.'

Ace held out her arms for her to clean next, 'yeah he's always been the smart one. I figured they would murder me if I didn't do anything at all about these wounds and I don't know anyone else around here.'

Isuka continued to clean his wounds. After getting through about five wipes, she made sure everything was good enough to move to the next step, cleaning the skin around the bigger wounds. She dabbed the cotton ball with antiseptic before signalling for him to come closer.

She heard him suck in, 'sorry I'm trying to be gentle. What are you doing here? You're pretty far away from home.'

'This is home,' he had an indecipherable look on his face, 'I had some time off so I came back to visit. It's been a while since I've seen everyone.'

'Yeah, it has,' she thought about the last time she'd seen him, younger and more carefree, as school ended. Then he moved away, and in all this time, Isuka's career hadn't gotten any further; she heard about his achievements, and some part of her was happy for him even if they had their differences.

'It's been even longer since I've seen you, I see my brothers way too often,' he looked up at her, but she didn't address the statement.

'Sorry I couldn't help more. This is all we have,' she apologised as she tugged his arm closer.

'Oh don't worry about it, you've already done more than I expected,' he smiled gratefully.

'What did you think I was going to do?' She continued her work, focusing on the cuts on his lip and nose.

'Honestly? Wrap me in bandages and send me home.'

'We may not like each other Ace, but I'm no heathen.'

'We don't?'

'Huh?'

'No, nevermind,' he waved it away. He watched her work, her concentration as she tried to only dab the skin around the wounds. Whenever he winced, she apologised before carefully going back to what she was doing.

For a while, Ace sat there watching her work. Isuka had always been kind, almost too kind for her own good. He knew she didn't like him that much, but she had been nice enough not to say it to his face, so hearing those words from her mouth was somehow different. 

She pulled out small plasters for his nose and lip and pieces of gauze for the bigger cuts on his arms and legs. She placed the plasters on, 'so why did you fight them?'

'Huh?'

She began placing the gauze on the wound on his arm and took out something to wrap it with, 'I mean you didn't just fight them for no reason right?'

'Oh that, of course not what do you take me for?'

'Didn't you get into fights a lot for no reason when we were back in school?'

'What?' he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head after Isuka was done wrapping his arm. 'It's been a while, I was young and stupid, I've changed since then.'

'Oh so you admit you were stupid?' she teased as she focused on a cut on his leg.

'Hey, I have changed, give me some credit,' Isuka knew that to be true, but his flustered expression was way too funny to ignore, 'I really did have a reason.'

She shook her head affectionately as she finished up the last bandage, 'let me put this away, then I'll get you some ice for those bruises,' she gestured to his stomach. She packed everything back into the first aid kit and got up. When she got back, she walked over to the kitchen. 

'You don't have to worry about an ice pack, I'm pretty sure these will just fade,' he called out to her.

'No, that's really not how it works, in my opinion you should get checked in case of internal bleeding but since you insist things will be okay the least you could do is ice it,' she replied as she bent down to open the freezer. She pulled out the first ice pack she saw, wrapped it in a towel and made her way back to the sofa Ace was now lying on. 

He let her place it on his wounds before sitting down on the floor next to him, 'why do you even have an ice pack?'

'Sports injuries are very common in this household, you've got to be prepared,' she shrugged as she gently iced his injury.

'I can do this at the very least,' he placed a hand on hers to get her to stop.

'If you'd like,' she sighed and got up, settling herself on the armchair next to the sofa.

Ace continued icing the area before speaking, 'they were trying to attack this girl.'

'Who?'

'The guys I attacked.'

'Oh right.'

'After I went to Sabo's and he gave me the leave and if you accept any offer to third wheel our date I'll murder you look,' Isuka chuckled, picturing Ace's teasing look and Sabo's murderous one. 'I took that as a signal to leave the lovebirds alone and was making my way to Makino's bar,' Isuka was familiar with Makino, the kind woman who ran the only bar she enjoyed going to, 'I was cutting through this alley when I heard a voice shouting for help. So I went over to where I heard the voice and I saw four guys cornering this girl. She looked terrified so I stepped in, she ran away as soon as she had the opportunity and I fought them to make sure they didn't try to chase after her.'

'You got beat up pretty badly, you sure there were only four of them?'

'They had weapons, this bruise is probably from the bat they hit me with,' he pointed at the bruise he was currently icing.

'A bat? You sure you didn't break a rib or something,' it didn't feel broken when she touched it, but there was no harm in double-checking.

He ignored her concern at first, 'I couldn't bother Makino with my injuries. She's busy,' but he quickly added, 'stop worrying so much. I've broken ribs before; this is nothing compared to that.'

'None of that statement makes me any less worried,' she shook her head disappointedly. 

'You worry too much. You should know by now nothing hurts me that much,' he glanced over at where she was, but she didn't look convinced; like usual, she thought too much. 'Have I ever told you you think too much?'

'Yes,' she sighed, multiple memories coming to the front of her thoughts, 'multiple times.'

'Oh, well you do, maybe you should think less Isuka, you look stressed.'

'I'm stressed because of you! You can't come to my home, for the first time, injured and expect me not to worry.'

Ace was quiet before he spoke again, 'I tried visiting you before, but you were never home, always holed up at work,' Isuka opened her mouth to try and deny the statement, but he continued, 'your roommates told me.'

'Well, I can't say they were wrong but I do take breaks; matter of fact, I was taking one before you came,' she leaned over to grab the half-melted ice cream; she might as well put it back in the freezer.

'Oh that's right, it's quiet, where are your friends?'

Isuka grabbed two cups of water before making her way back, 'Tash is on a date,' she placed one in front of him and sank back into her seat, 'Koby and Helmeppo are doing something or the other. I didn't question it.'

'Oh so you're home alone? Must be fun,' when he was younger, being home alone was a luxury he rarely had, but when he did, the peace and quiet was something he appreciated.

'Well I planned on bingeing some show until I passed out on the sofa and was woken up by my roommates,' she signalled to the stack of blankets and pillows she'd moved to make space for Ace, 'but as usual I can never catch a break.'

At first, Ace didn't quite clock what she was talking about before realising he was very much the problem, 'ah, sorry about that.'

'Nothing you can do about it now,' she waved off his apology, 'have you eaten? You mentioned being on the way to Makino's.'

'Now that you mention it,' he hadn't eaten; he was planning on clearing Makino's stock, lovingly as her sort of younger brother.

'Let me see what we have,' Isuka got up yet again, she had eaten a big lunch and decided eating a whole tub of ice cream was good enough, so she hadn't had dinner yet. She opened the fridge, which was startlingly empty; not even the basic things like eggs or milk were present; she really needed to go grocery shopping. She and her roommates were always busy, meaning lots of takeout and tons of leftovers in the fridge, but apparently not today.

'It doesn't have to be fancy!' He shouted, supposedly helpful, but not when the fridge had a single energy drink and a strawberry, the one Koby picked from their strawberry plant the other day.

She returned to Ace, 'yeah turns out we have absolutely nothing,' she pulled out her phone to see what places would deliver.

'What were you planning to eat?'

'Ice cream.'

'For dinner? And you say I make terrible decisions,' he teased.

'I don't make them on a daily basis, just sometimes, plus I'm not on the clock. Let me relax,' his annoying, bother Isuka voice was making a comeback, 'do you want pizza?'

'Yeah sure.'

She placed her usual order and let him pick what he wanted before paying, not without a small argument about who should pay. Isuka won, her main reason being he was in pain to simply fish his card out of his bag. With food on the way, they sat in silence.

Ace broke the silence first, 'so what have you been up to,' he hadn't heard much about her in the past 3 years. He got updates about basically everyone else through his brothers, but Isuka wasn't friends with them, so he didn't have a real reason to ask them about her. He was not about to call his grandfather to try and get information about his subordinate. Skull was able to get snippets of information about her from time to time, but it was not much.

Isuka thought for a moment before replying, 'well work I guess, there hasn't been much time for anything else.'

'Is that why you're home alone on a nice night like this.'

'Like you're any better, you ended up at my place, injured on a nice night.'

'Like I said I would've bothered someone else, but unlike you they are with other people.'

'There's nothing wrong with enjoying some alone time.'

'Sure,' he really had a way of making her annoyed. Damn his stupid face and addictive smile. 'Are you still fencing?'

'Huh? Oh yeah, but it's just for fun, I help out with a kids class too,' she smiled, remembering the little kids who watched in awe as she demonstrated different moves.

'I see, that must be a lot of work,' Isuka had almost become a professional, representing nationally and even had an offer to take part in an international competition. That was until she gave it up because of personal circumstances.

'Yeah but it's a lot of fun seeing the younger generation interested in it.'

She smiled sadly, he hadn't known her for long, having transferred into her school a little late, but her friends had told him enough. She was once one of those kids eagerly attending every session. Even in the time he knew her, her passion for the sport was astounding.

He wanted to say something of comfort, but she broke the silence first, 'so what about you? What's it like living away from your family?'

'Of course I miss my brothers and home, but I've found a family there too. They're good people.'

'That's good,' she'd been worried about his reckless nature, but he'd found people who'd helped him settle down.

Silence took over again. Ace fiddled with one of his bracelets, 'so, um, what show were you gonna watch?'

Isuka looked puzzled, 'oh, my show. It's nothing really, a friend recommended it to me. It's one of those murder mystery shows.'

'I see,' Ace wasn't someone who spent a lot of time keeping us with tv shows. If it was on, he'd watch it, but he spent most of his time outside with others. Deuce would always be rambling on about some show or book; in all honesty, he'd learned to tune him out.

'Do you want to watch something? While we wait?'

'Oh sure, we can watch your show if you want,' he felt bad that she was missing out on her form of relaxation.

'You sure? I don't mind watching something else if you'd prefer,' she offered.

'Nah, murder is interesting enough.'

'Okay then, murder it is,' she turned on the TV and pulled up the show. She hadn't started watching it and planned on not sleeping (or trying not to) until she finished it.

~ ♡ ~

The both of them watched quietly as the show began, setting up the murder, introducing the victim and then the main character. Ace winced as the murderer stabbed the victim, and Isuka laughed, which then prompted him to call her psycho for enjoying this sort of stuff. They watched as the murderer hunted for the main character, and the doorbell rang, causing the both of them to jump, before Isuka realised it was the pizza, paused the show, and went to collect it. 

'There you go,' she placed the boxes on the coffee table.

'Almost thought we were going to be murdered.'

Isuka laughed and said, 'don't worry there are enough weapons in this house to protect ourselves with.'

'Oh right, you guys have a bunch of swords and stuff,' Ace sat up slowly and opened up the boxes as Isuka went to grab some glasses for the drinks.

'That would be all of us but Koby, he's more of a martial arts type person,' they each had their own interest, with made for an odd assortment of weapons in the house.

'Right, remind me never to try to surprise you. I might end up riddled with holes,' he watched as she sank back into her seat, 'can you even see the TV from there?' Isuka nodded, and Ace added to the question, 'I mean properly? Isn't the angle kinda weird?'

'It's not too bad, I'm used to it, all four of us can't fit on one sofa,' the four of them tried to eat dinner together as often as they could, which was very rare and always caused arguments about what to watch.

'Join me,' he smiled, patting the seat next to him. The sofa was quite spacious, and at first, Isuka denied the offer, stating she was quite comfortable where she was. Ace, however, was insistent, and she caved, getting up to join him.

He clicked play when she picked up a slice of pizza and leaned back into the seat. They were mostly quiet, their attention focused on eating and the show.

'Who do you think did it?' Ace asked when they paused to clear up the mess.

Isuka pondered the question before answering, 'I think it's too early to know, but the uncle is suspicious.'

'Right? He gives me the creeps.'

They sat back down on the sofa, Isuka grabbing the blankets and pillows so they could get more comfortable. Isuka wrapped herself in the blanket and sat with her legs up on the seat. Ace accepted a pillow and placed it behind his head.   When the show started again, the both of them talked a bit more, Ace making a comment about the dumb ideas the police had and Isuka complaining about how reckless the main character was.

At some point, Ace made a noise of discomfort, and Isuka made him lie down on the sofa, putting the pillow below his head and draping a blanket over him.

'You don't have to baby me, you know.'

'My house, my rules, you are injured, you don't get a say.'

'Yes ma'am,' he saluted as she sat back down, lifting his legs to sit down before placing them on her lap.

~ ♡ ~

It wasn't very long until Ace fell asleep, he tried to fight it, but the nice hot meal and being tucked in made it really difficult. He woke up, the room was dark, and the only light was the TV; Isuka was still awake. 

He watched her as her expression changed, her hair tucked behind her ear, making it all the more easy. Her eyes seemed tired, but she stared intently, barely moving.

'What's happening?' She seemed a little startled as she turned to face him.

'Oh, how was the nap? If you want you can take my bed.'

'Nah, I'm good,' he wasn't going to admit that he likes being on the sofa with her, 'did they find out who did it?'

'Yeah, it was the uncle, but they haven't caught him yet.'

'So we were right? Wow I'd make a great detective, maybe I should join you Birdie.'

'I don't think you should quit your day job too soon, Fire Fist,' he smiled at the use of nicknames, well more like Birdie was what he called her to annoy her, and Fire Fist was what most people knew him as, but it was still cute she remembered.

He smiled to himself before turning his attention back to the TV, the show was clearly coming to an end, and he wondered what time it was. Isuka grabbed them the ice cream she planned on eating later, and they finished the whole thing, laughing at each other when they got a brain freeze. 

When the show ended, Isuka got up, stretching her limbs. He wanted to do the same, but the pain made him stop.

'That was a good show.'

'Yeah, Deuce was right,' Isuka chuckled, and Ace did too until he clocked her words.

'Deuce?!'

'Yeah, he watched it a while back and told me it was good and I should check it out.'

Ace hadn't wrapped his head around the fact she'd just said Deuce. Deuce, who was absolutely terrified of her and used every excuse to avoid being in her path, that Deuce was now exchanging TV show recommendations with her? He vaguely remembered Deuce mentioning a murder mystery show, but then again, he hadn't been paying attention, so he wouldn't know.

'You talk to Deuce?'

'Occasionally, he usually texts me. Skull too, he tells the funniest stories.'

'They have your number, but I don't?' He was even more shocked that Skull had also kept in contact; he always mentioned admiring her from afar, not exchanging stories weekly.

'Well you never asked, Deuce asked before we finished school. Skull asked a little later.'

He muttered under his breath, 'those traitors,' he'd mentioned Isuka multiple times in the past couple of years, and apparently, they never thought to mention that they were in contact.

'You can have it now, if you'd like,' she held out her hand, and he scrambled to find his phone for her to enter her number.

'So it's just me you don't like?'

'Huh?'

'Earlier, you mentioned not liking each other, you really don't like me?'

Isuka stared blankly at him before bursting out laughing, 'Ace you really crack me up, sure I didn't like you when we first met. I thought you were annoying as hell.'

'And?'

'I still think that,' Ace's hopeful look immediately fell, and Isuka started laughing again. 'However, I never really hated you. I mean, we were just similar people with different views; we could have been good friends.'

'Could have? Can't we? Like now, we can be friends right?'

Isuka saw the look in his eyes and realised he was being serious about getting closer, 'sure.' His face immediately lit up; Isuka always thought he looked adorable when he smiled. 'I do think, however, since it is four in the morning, we should get some proper sleep.'

'Yeah that's a good idea Birdie.'

'You're not letting that nickname go are you?'

'Oh, absolutely not,' he smirked, and Isuka questioned what she was getting herself into.

~ ♡ ~

Come morning, Isuka woke up with a crick in her neck and her arm numb. She'd fallen asleep on the armchair, Ace sprawled out on the sofa. She got up and stretched, making her way to her bedroom to freshen up. When she got to the kitchen, she was met with a slightly bemused Tashigi.

'Looks like you had a fun night,' referring to the sleeping figure of Ace on their sofa.

'I could say the same about you, when did you get home?'

'About 10 minutes ago,' she took a sip from her cup, 'should I be happy or worried for you?'

'Happy, I think,' she opened their cabinets to make herself a coffee.

'Well, I guess our guest is staying for breakfast.'

'Let me check,' she abandoned her quest to make coffee and instead turned her attention to waking up Ace.

He woke up, a lost expression on his face, 'where? Who? Birdie?'

'Yeah, it's me. I was wondering whether you were going to stay for breakfast.'

He sat up, Isuka helping him. He rubbed at his face before looking back up. Tashigi had made her way to the living area, so he waved at her, and she nodded back. 

'Well, considering I told Makino I was going to see her yesterday then disappeared, it would be a good idea to drop by and let her know I'm not dead. Plus I have invaded your space enough for one visit.'

'Okay, if you want you can use the bathroom over there and I'll pack your stuff,' he nodded, getting up.

When he came back, he looked a lot more awake, and Isuka handed his bag over, 'thanks, Birdie.'

'No problem, Fire Fist. Make sure to take care of those injuries.'

She opened the door to let him out, 'I look forward to seeing you again, now that I have you I'm never letting you go Isuka.'

She could feel her cheeks burn as he turned around, waving as he disappeared down the stairs, 'I look forward to it.'

~ ♡ ~

Mutual Destruction

lokwey mustve been going through something

When Ace had held out his hand to her, she'd almost laughed at his absurd request, but despite that, she found herself running through back alleys towards his ship.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka rarely ever cried; it was something that held true throughout her childhood. She had vivid memories of her mother praising her for not crying when the other kids teased her or when they pushed her. Instead, she always stood back up and walked back to her home, ignoring the shouts. Her mum would be in the kitchen preparing dinner. She'd hug her, and her mum would turn around and bend down to wrap her arms around her, and despite feeling like she wanted to, Isuka never cried, and she never fought back.

She had told her mum, after one of those incidents, that she was going to become strong so that their pushes didn't hurt anymore, and when she was old enough, she was going to sail away and make lots of money so they could move to a bigger house, with a big garden for any plants her mum wanted. That should have been what happened. 

She began spending the afternoons after school in the mountains, training to become stronger, or was trying to. She was there that fateful day too. She had accidentally stayed too long in the mountains, and it had become dark as she ran back towards her village, hoping her mum wouldn't be too mad or that her dad wouldn't ground her. What she should've returned to was a peaceful village, with the sound of light chatter as the families settled down for dinner. Instead, she returned to an inferno.

She was out of breath as she stood at the edge of the village, the houses were burning, and there were screams and cries filling her senses. She couldn't let herself be overwhelmed. She thought of her parents and began to run. This time she couldn't stop the tears from falling, overcome with a sense of dread.

She pushed past the fatigue in her legs, running out of necessity. Her lungs burned as the smoke seemed to thicken. She lived on the other edge of town; it would take too long to run around the edge, so she sprinted through the roads she once knew, now unrecognisable. The fire had touched everything. Everywhere she looked, homes were burning up in flames.

When she reached her home, or what was left of it, she could no longer hold herself up. Something had taken out the middle of the house, leaving the rest to collapse in on itself. It looked like something massive had been thrown at the row of houses since all of them were similarly damaged. The fire in this section of the village was dying down, there were still flames, but it wasn't the inferno the other sections of the village were.

On her knees, she crawled closer to the rubble, barely feeling the rough ground scratch at her skin. She couldn't see anything under the debris, but her tears were clouding her vision, and she didn't want to give up hope. She cried for her parents as she tried to claw at the rubble, picking up smaller pieces of wood or stone. Her hands brushed against something soft, and she frantically tried to pull it out; she fell back when the object finally came loose. It was a toy bunny that her mum had found earlier that day, she had asked Isuka whether she still wanted it, and Isuka had said no, that she was too old for toys like that. She looked at it now. The purple colour of its fur had faded, and one of its ears had burnt off in the fire, but she hugged it close, thankful to have something familiar.

She wiped some of her tears and placed the bunny to the side, and tried to go back to searching. The material was still hot, and she had to pull her hands back often. Just as she was able to stop the tears from flowing down her face, a piece of wood collapsed and fell on her hand. Crying even harder now, she pulled it out and cradled it close. 

She sat there for a while, trying to ignore the pain, but it burned the more she tried to focus on something else. She hadn't given up hope, but everything was starting to catch up to her; her legs hurt to move, the scratches on her knees were bleeding, and her hand was burnt. She couldn't do anything but cry. She felt useless.

'Lieutenant Commander!' She looked up, picking the stuffed bunny up again; there were people nearby.

'Lieutenant Commander Draw, sir, we need to leave, we have the pirates in custody. We've rescued everyone we can, the village is going to collapse!'

'I can hear crying,' the small group of people rounded the corner, and Isuka could see that they were Marines. Marines had once landed on the island, and although they'd stayed on their ships, the kids had all snuck around trying to get a glimpse of them. She recognised their uniform, white and blue, the man in the middle had a large coat on, but she couldn't see the back.

'You were right sir, there is a child,' Isuka was standing up now, trying to stifle her sobs. 

'My parents,' she tried to say, pointing at the rubble; the soldiers looked at her with pity.

The man walked up to her and bent down to his knees to level with her before wrapping his arms around her. 'You can let it all out,' he whispered before picking her up. One hand clung to his shirt, and the other kept a hold of her bunny as she cried. 

'She's injured sir,' one of the men pointed out.

'The poor child, it's moments like this that show how much suffering pirates have caused; she's lost her village and parents,' the men seemed to agree with the statement, 'let's treat her on the ship along with the others, hopefully, she can find a new home.'

Isuka stayed silent until they reached the ship; the man put her down and let another crew member led her to the medics. A kind woman patched her up, cleaning her wounds and dressing them, she tried to ask questions, but Isuka continued to stay quiet, and the woman didn't prod further.

'There's a family willing to take you,' the man had returned, 'I'll take you there, they're setting up camp.'

'Can I stay?' she mumbled; she clutched her toy a bit harder.

'What?' he struggled to hear her murmuring.

'I'm really strong, I promise, I train everyday!' she shouted a bit louder, 'so please, let me fight as well, that's what you do right? You fight pirates,' she fiddled with the ear of the toy, 'so let me fight them as well.'

The medic put a hand on her shoulder, 'sweetheart calm down, it's okay, I know what you feel like, but sweetie, you're just too young.' Isuka didn't listen; she kept her eyes locked on the Lieutenant's, hoping she looked strong enough; the medic tried to usher her back into the chair.

'Wait,' he said to the medic and bent down again, 'are you sure?'

'I want to fight,' Isuka said back; she'd never been so sure of anything in her life. She was done taking things lying down. She wanted to fight, for her parents, for her village. 

'Well then, I think it's settled; she'll join us,' he grinned at her, and Isuka sighed, relieved; the medic, on the other hand, seemed apprehensive.

Looking back at that now, she realised that she was too young, no child should have to go through what she went through, but no child should be joining the Marines either. She wondered if she was just another part of his extremist views, no one would question the man who'd gone back just to save a child he'd faintly heard crying. To him, her village was just in the way of his path to power, and he'd gotten what he wanted. He was promoted as the 'hero' he was seen as. 

~ ♡ ~

After the incident, she'd vowed to herself that she would never cry again, that she'd get stronger and fight back, and that she'd destroy all pirates. So, for the next seven years, that's what she did, first as a chore girl on Draw's ship, training in her spare time with the crew. It was actually the medic who introduced her to the rapier as a weapon; she said there was an elegance the weapon held that suited her. 

She was then left at a base; the seas were not for her, not yet. The officer of the base let her work there as a chore girl, allowing her to train in her spare time. She moved up the ranks fast, becoming one of the youngest ensigns. She was soon on a ship of her own, with a crew of her own, on the Grand Line. That's where she met Ace.

In a word, Ace was unpredictable. He was a wild card that was making the higher-ups nervous, being one the fastest-growing rookies at the young age of seventeen. So who else would be better suited to bring him down than the equally young Isuka? Having been on the Grand Line for a year now, Isuka had an impressive record, that was until she met Fire Fist Ace.

~ ♡ ~

If anyone had told her that when she'd first met Ace, she'd end up joining him; she would've stabbed them. Yet here she was, breaking the promises she'd made and on the deck of the Spadille as it sped away from the archipelago and made its way to the New World.

She'd promised she'd never cry again, but the weight of the years had crushed her all at once. The truth she believed, her one motivation in those difficult years of training was false. A blatant lie. So she let herself cry, feeling the tears stream down her face as she tried not to be too loud. She had also promised to always fight back, but her legs didn't let her move. The ache she felt that day made its way back to her muscles, the fear and betrayal she'd felt in the moment was something she had hoped never to feel again, but once again, she found herself on the floor. This time, she had nothing to clutch onto for hope.

So when Ace offered her a hand and made the most absurd request, she found herself accepting it. She let him drag her through the alleys, shouting directions at Deuce. 

She found herself feeling thankful for the pair of them, they'd fought hard, and despite being on opposing sides, they'd offered her a hand instead of leaving her. So without thinking it through, when Ace had told her to jump, she'd followed. 

Landing on the decking of Spadille felt different this time; she'd been on the ship plenty of times before. She could even make out all the marks she'd left trying to fight Ace. Ace still held onto her hand, she suddenly felt eyes on her. Of course, she thought, to them, she was still the enemy. 

Before she could say anything, Deuce was leading her away, 'you have a crew to lead Ace, and Isuka needs rest,' Ace nodded, giving Isuka's hand a comforting squeeze before turning to address the rest of the Spades.

'I'm sure you all have questions, but first we need to get out of here, so full speed ahead!'

~ ♡ ~

Isuka found herself in the captain's quarters; Deuce had said it was the most private. No one would bother her, except for Kotatsu, who came and went when he pleased.

She looked around the cabin; it was bigger than hers and much more personal. The only thing she had from her childhood was the bunny, which she'd probably never see again, and the scar on her hand. Ace had photos and all sorts of knick-knacks from his travels strewn across the room. She saw one of him as a young child with two other kids. She recognised Luffy from Ace's stories, and she smiled, remembering the way his face lit up talking about his kid brother. There was another child that Isuka couldn't quite place, she didn't recognise him from any of his stories, even he had stories he kept private.

She saw pictures of the Spades in various different places; she could recollect having fought Ace in most of the places. Looking around, she felt like she was intruding. The Spades were a tight-knit family, one she felt she didn't belong in. She envied Ace as a leader; he had a relationship with his crew she could never have; her crew didn't joke around with her. They simply respected the hierarchy. Maybe she had made a mistake following Ace. She'd never feel like she belonged.

She found herself wanting to crawl up into a ball, so she sat down in the corner of his room and pulled her knees closer. She didn't know how long she'd stayed in the position, unmoving, her head resting on her knees.

'Isuka?' It was Ace, he was standing at the door, 'you there?'

She wiped her face with the back of her hand and looked up, 'yeah?' She winced at how hoarse and tired her voice sounded.

He stepped into the room to inspect where her voice came from, 'what are you doing over there? Was the bed not comfortable?' He chuckled at the little ball she'd curled up into.

'No, I, no it's just nice in the corner,' he offered a hand, and she took it, stumbling as she got up. Her legs ached a little from being in the same position for way too long. 

He sat back down on his bed, patting the spot next to him so she could join him, 'so how do you like it?'

'About that,' she began, fiddling with her fingers. It would seem that Ace had noticed her hesitancy, and instead of allowing her to stand around awkwardly, he pulled her down next to him.

'You don't have to say anything; it's not easy getting used to different environments,' he looked over at her, she had her head turned down. 'Tonight you can sleep here, I'll be taking the night watch, so don't feel like you're intruding.'

'But I do, Ace, I really don't think I belong here,' she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes; he'd been so kind, and she wasn't used to it.

'Why do you think that, this crew's full of people who aren't strictly pirates, they can be whoever they want to be.'

'I don't want to be selfish Ace, I couldn't do that to you,' she could feel the tears pricking the back of her eyes.

'You and your selfless heart,' he tilted her chin up to get a better look at her face, 'be selfish Isuka, let me be selfish for you.' He pulled his hand back, a little startled when she began to cry.

In between sobs, she spoke, 'you've always been like this. Aren't you worried?'

'About what?' 

'I'm scared I'll destroy you Ace,' what good would come of her joining the crew? She could think of a million things that could go wrong, and she wished none of that on him, 'I don't want to hurt you.'

'You're worried you'll hurt me?' he asked almost incredulously, running a hand through his hair, 'Isuka I'm so scared I'll hurt you.' She looked up, confused, 'leave it to me to fall for a girl who'd been hurt by flames and pirates, and who am I, a pirate who can turn into flames.' He chuckled at how cruel fate had been.

She tried her best to wipe her tears yet again and took a hold of one of his hands, 'I'm strong Ace, you could never hurt me, I know you won't.'

'I know but I can still worry,' he smiled at her trust in him, 'if you want to leave I'm not stopping you, I would never force anything on crew members. You can just tell the Marines you were taken hostage, I'm sure they'll take you back.'

'But then they'll think worse of you, for crimes you've never committed,' her eyes were full of worry.

'They think enough of me already, you don't have to worry about that,' he brought his other hand to her face, brushing away a strand of hair.

They sat there quietly; Ace had removed his hand, suddenly aware of what he was doing. Isuka quietly contemplated what had been said, 'so it'll be mutual destruction?'

Ace burst out laughing; she was taken aback by it, 'yeah, you could put it like that.' He considered it for a second, 'mutual destruction.' He pulled back and stuck out his hand, 'so you'll stay?'

She wiped away all her tears and took a deep breath in before taking his hand, 'for as long as you'll have me.'

~ ♡ ~

Eyes as deep as the ocean

totally wasnt based on a tiktok trend ahahah

Ever since she met him, there was something she couldn't deny, how beautiful his eyes were. They were so bright and expressive; she never had trouble figuring out how he felt because his eyes talked for themselves. No matter how hard he tried to hide what he truly felt like, she saw the subtle changes in his gaze, like the subtle changes of the ocean. His eyes even had the same depth, full of mysteries waiting to be solved.

When she'd first met him on his ship, promising his downfall, his eyes had an amused expression as he flickered into a flame. When she lunged to attack, there was a glint of fear as he dodged, but it was soon full of admiration of her power; he knew she'd be a powerful adversary. When she struggled to stay afloat in the choppy waters, she saw something new, something like recognition, but as he turned away, she didn't catch his words.

From then onwards, every time they bumped into each other, she'd see a new side to him, all visible through his eyes. It was sometimes happiness, pure excitement in seeing her; other times, it was annoyance that she was interrupting his meal. It had soon become a small game where she'd track his expressions, guessing how he was feeling. Of course, she had no way of knowing whether she was correct, but it was fun nonetheless.

There were times she'd catch him staring at her, an unreadable look on his face, and it annoyed her that she didn't know what he was thinking. He always looked away when she caught him, and it made her all the more curious about him. She'd asked a friend what it meant if a man kept staring at her and then looked away and if it meant he wanted to fight her. Her friend simply laughed and said sometimes it was hard to forget that she was barely an adult and never really had the time to experience much about being a child. In the end, she was none the wiser of Fire Fist's strange tendencies.

Obviously, that wasn't the reason why she chased him; that was because he was a pirate that deserved to be arrested. Absolutely no other reason. So why was she up at night thinking about him? When she saw a twinge of darkness in his eyes, why was she worried? She found herself constantly thinking about him, that stupid pirate and his stupid hat.

She remembered the time his gaze towards her had suddenly changed. It was after she'd jumped into a lake to save him. When she'd pumped the water out his lungs, and he coughed up the rest, he had stared at her with a whole new expression.

'Why,' his voice was croaky, surely his chest was burning, 'why did you save me?'

'I want to arrest you, I can't do that if you're dead,' she'd answered, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. He watched her hands as they fell back onto her lap before looking back at her. He couldn't quite comprehend why she put herself in danger trying to save him, he who had done nothing to earn her respect.

They parted ways after that; Ace confused about his new feelings for her. The next few times they fought, she found him staring at her more often. 

~ ♡ ~

Ace then stopped staring at her after she'd taken her shirt off, and they made eye contact. His head had turned so fast she was worried he'd break his neck. 

They were trapped in a cave together whilst the rain poured torrentially outside. Isuka had gotten soaked in their attempt to find shelter and desperately wanted to be warm and dry. So she rid herself of her coat and shirt, trying to dry them by the fire.

He held his hand out toward her, and she looked up at him. He still wasn't looking at her, so she looked at what he was holding in his hand. It was his shirt.

'Wear it so you don't get cold,' she was startled by his voice; this was the first he had spoken since they entered the cave. He'd silently gathered wood and started the fire, his hat low over his eyes so she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

She accepted the shirt, suddenly aware of how exposed she was in just her bra and shorts, 'thank you.' She put it on; it was warmer than she thought it would be. She did the buttons up, leaving the top two undone. It smelt almost familiar; maybe they fought way too often. 

They continued to sit in silence; they had never had a conversation apart from the insults and comments they made as they fought each other. She stared into the fire: it had been a long time since she'd been this close to an open flame as big as this. It made her sort of nervous, so she sat a small distance away, still grateful for the warmth.

Ace kept stealing glances at her, her small frame in his shirt. The yellow suited her well, the way it hung loosely off her shoulders. Seeing her like that made his feelings clear; he wanted to see her like that more often. This was a feeling she'd never seen in his eyes before; the warmth in his gaze confused her even more. Why was he so at ease with her? So Isuka pretended not to notice the way Ace was glancing at her; he would just stare and smile to himself. 

She hadn't really seen him without his shirt before; he always had it on. It was weird to see him without it, but for some reason, she simply couldn't take her eyes off of him, having to force herself to look away so he wouldn't notice.

There was nothing they could really do, so Ace decided to make himself comfortable and sleep through the storm; hopefully, the skies would clear by the morning. Isuka, on the other hand, was still uneasy around the fire and decided to stay awake. When Ace woke up, the skies had cleared, and he could hear the birds chirping outside. Isuka was gone, his shirt was folded up neatly next to him, and her stuff was gone. The fire must have eventually died as he wasn't keeping it going. 

~ ♡ ~

The next time he saw her was Sabaody, her dedicated self chasing him even while she was on holiday. When they ended up locked together in the Ferris wheel, he could feel her gaze burn into the side of his head, but he kept looking outside. Hearing her story, he cursed fate; how could he fall for her as a pirate who could turn into fire?

When Isuka proposed that he leave the pirate life and join him as a marine, she noticed the change in his eyes. There was a small darkness she'd seen before, and she already knew his answer, so when he jumped out of the capsule, she simply closed the door and sat back down, now facing a terrified Deuce.

Once they reached the bottom, she let him go too. Those on the side of justice shouldn't take hostages.

Two days later, she found out the truth about her life, about the morals she'd lived on for the past decade. She wanted to cry, to let it all out, but she stayed silent, tears streaming down her face as she had a hand on her mouth. She could dimly hear the ongoing battle. She didn't remember when her silent cries had become sobs, but Deuce had mentioned clearly hearing her as he faced Draw. Both Ace and Deuce had fought for their lives as she sat there uselessly, unable to think, let alone stand up.

When she no longer heard the sound of punches being exchanged, she looked up; Ace was offering her a hand. Just when she thought she couldn't laugh again, this man says the most outrageous things. During the fight, there was darkness in his eyes, especially when Draw blamed him for the children being put in danger, but now they were lighter, hopeful she'd take his hand. So she did.

She held on tight as they ran through the back alleys towards the shore, where a fleet of marine ships was making their way towards them. She caught sight of the Spadille as they neared the coast. His crew were shouting at him, asking him to get on, and it suddenly hit her; she couldn't join them; she couldn't do that to them. Ace was kind enough to look past their differences, but she felt bad for his crew. To them, she'd always be a marine, and she knew she wouldn't be able to look past it either. So when he leapt, she didn't; her shaky legs stayed planted on the ground. She almost didn't have the heart to explain when he shouted for her. He deserved all the love in the world.

'Don't die out there, Ace. Thank you,' she smiled as best she could, but she could tell her eyes didn't carry the message. The tears in her eyes clouded her sight, and she couldn't tell what Ace looked like as he disappeared on the horizon. She hoped his eyes were still bright as he looked to the future.

Only Deuce saw the longing in his eyes and the darkness that clouded them. He was always scared he didn't deserve to be loved, Deuce knew this not to be true, but Ace had a pain that couldn't be healed by medicine.

~ ♡ ~

It had been two years since she'd last seen him, he was now a commander in Whitebeard's crew, and she was now a captain. She hoped she'd bump into him in better conditions than this, but escorting him from his cell was not how she imagined their reunion would look like. She'd seen his pictures, how he'd grown, the man he'd become, but now as she held his arm to lead him, he was barely himself.

He refused to make eye contact, but she could see the lifelessness in his eyes; he'd accepted his death, and to her, it seemed almost impossible. The boy she met wouldn't accept his fate so easily.

She walked with him to the ship, letting the other marines take him from there, unable to chain him to his temporary prison. As she went downstairs, he caught her eyes, and she turned away, praying something would happen and he'd be safe.

The war itself was a horrible memory she never wished to go through again; the inhumane killing sanctioned by the higher-ups made her sick. She was forced to choose sides halfway through the battle, unable to hover between the two sides, and she wanted to rescue Ace. She used the distractions caused by Straw Hat Luffy to her advantage; Ace's eyes were full of fear as he watched his family fight for him. Isuka finally understood why he was ready to die; he was willing to die for those he loved, the stupid fool.

In the end, she could barely remember how they'd actually saved him, he was badly injured, like his brother, but they were safe. She was on the Heart Pirates' submarine, sitting by his bedside, watching him breathe. His eyes were shut, but if they were open, she thought they'd be empty. His captain and father had fought to the death to ensure his safety, and she knew Ace would blame himself.

~ ♡ ~

The next two years were hard. Maintaining his health, both physically and mentally, proved to be a task. When he wasn't being restrained because of his reckless tendencies, he trained with his brother, wanting to get stronger to go after Blackbeard again. She constantly had to tell him not to overwork himself when he was still recovering, but Isuka knew she couldn't stop him. There was a fire in his eyes no one could distinguish.

The one thing she could count on was that Ace returned to her side every night. Now that she was no longer a marine, considering she'd betrayed them to save him, she stayed with him. She planned to continue to stay by his side for as long as she could. The remaining Whitebeard pirates had all journeyed to see him at least once, the Spades had come to stay, and Marco had stayed for extended periods of time to help medically.

She looked up from her book as he entered her room; it was basically his as well, with how much time he spent in it. He smiled at her, and she made space for him next to her on the bed. He took it as an invitation and laid down next to her. They stayed in a comfortable silence until Ace moved her arm to allow him to crawl onto her, and she simply adjusted her position to make it more comfortable for the both of them. He was heavy as his weight pressed her down, but she found herself not minding; it meant that she knew he was there.

'Thank you,' he whispered as he buried his face into her neck; she carefully stroked his hair. He thanked her a lot recently, she wanted to tell him he didn't need to, but he won't stop.

'It's okay,' she whispered back as he fell asleep in her embrace. 

Ace also enjoyed watching her work; whenever she had her books open to conduct research on various things, he sat next to her. She ignored his presence most of the time, especially since he usually fell asleep, but sometimes he stared at her.

'Stop looking at me with those eyes,' she pleaded, his gaze clinging to her. It was hard to concentrate when he looked at her like that.

'What eyes,' he asked innocently as she turned to face him. He looked at her with such pure adoration she didn't need to search his eyes to see what he was feeling. He'd made it clear that he loved her when he'd woken up and seen her passed out by his side, but in no way did he pressure her to return his feelings, just another thing she loved about him.

She leant over and placed a kiss on his lips, and he sighed contently; what an attention-seeking cat. He was resembling Kotatsu and his clingy behaviour more and more every day. But she still loved him more and more. 

Now that she could clearly see his eyes, she didn't need to play guessing games; she didn't have to think about it; all she had to do was love him like he loved her for as long as time allowed her to.

~ ♡ ~

Closer

my longest and fluffiest fic so far <3

It hadn't been long since he last saw Isuka; it was just last week they had fought at a summer island, the heat deadly in more than one way. This time they had stopped at what was supposed to be a rainy island, but there had only been clear skies and a cool breeze so far. Which was good because something told him he was going to be running a lot and very soon.

'Fire fist!'

'Oh Isuka,' he waved in her direction, 'fancy seeing you here,' the comment earned him glares from some of his crew; Isuka wasn't there for pleasantries, which was obvious by the fact she was sprinting towards Ace. 

'We'll meet you back here Cap!' Skull shouted after him as he began to run away from her. Ace simply nodded before focusing on trying to get away from the very hotheaded marine currently chasing him.

He managed to run past the small village he had seen before they encountered Isuka and into the surrounding forest. He reached a small clearing before stopping and turning around to face her. Here they could fight with no distractions, no obstacles, just the two of them.

'Fire Fist!' as he'd predicted, she was still right behind him. Her stamina was no joke; by now, Deuce would have collapsed. She was breathing hard, and his eyes dropped to her legs; those shorts were made to kill him.

'Hey, let's get this over with, no hard feelings,' he grinned at her annoyance, 'right?'

'Sure, the faster this is over the faster I can get you in handcuffs,' she drew her rapier, ready to attack.

Ace stepped back into a defensive stance, 'ooh, slow down there, Ensign; I didn't figure you were such a freak.'

The annoyed look on her face briefly turned into a flustered one before she quickly masked it by lunging forward to attack him, 'you will regret that Fire Fist!'

And so their usual tango began, Isuka pressing forward with her attacks and Ace dodging and countering with one of his own. They were unusually matched, Isuka's attacks would be deadly to someone without Logia powers, and no average person would be able to dodge Ace's attacks so easily. So all their fights ended the same way, with Ace managing to get away. Isuka knew she was strong, she wouldn't Ensign otherwise, but it was infuriating that she wasn't strong enough to be a proper opponent for Ace; he seemed to fight her for the sake of it. Even if his flirty comments always said otherwise.

~ ♡ ~

She had no idea how long it had been since they'd begun fighting, her arms were burning from attacking, and she could've sworn she felt rain at some point. They had moved from where they started the fight, leaving evidence of their encounter on the surrounding trees. She said a small apology in her head for all the burn marks and slashes; the trees did not deserve that.

Over the time she'd spent fighting Ace, she'd slowly begun paying less attention to her surroundings when she was with him; he kept the fight between them and only them. Which was probably why neither of them realised they were heading for a cliff. Isuka had taken a step back to avoid one of Ace's attacks when the ground below her gave out. Usually, she could've easily avoided this, but a combination of fatigue and a  very slippery floor meant she was going to fall.

But before she could react or even shout, Ace grabbed her hand, yanking her towards him. They fell back together on sturdier ground. Ace had reacted fast, way faster than she could've, and a small part of her wondered why he bothered saving her, but that didn't matter right now. She took a deep breath in; she could've died; she could've fallen and died a painful death. She scrunched his shirt in her hands, trying to calm herself down, and he let her, quietly stroking her back as she tried not to cry. They stayed like that for a while before Ace spoke up.

'Hey, you good?' Isuka looked up at him. He had propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her with concern. She sat up in his lap, glancing away, head in her hands, suddenly aware of the position they'd ended up in. He began to sit up, 'hey? You sure you're okay?'

'I'm perfectly fine, Fire Fist,' she mumbled from behind her hands, attempting to wiggle away from him, but an arm kept her pressed against him. She knew his body was toned, but she really did not need to be up against it or have an arm gripping her waist.

'No, let me see you first. You could've gotten hurt,' she shook her head. If her face were as red as it felt hot, it would be plain embarrassing, and she wasn't in the mood for his teasing. The blush wasn't going to be disappearing anytime soon, not with the way she could feel his muscles shift when he moved.

'Fire Fist, I am perfectly fine,' she repeated, determined not to let him see her face, 'I would appreciate it if you let me go.'

'Hey, come on,' he was struggling to grab her arms and keep her close, 'if I let you go, you're just going to run away. Do you even know where we are?'

'Huh?' the question confused her enough to lower her hands, 'I'm not directionally challenged Fire Fist.'

'Finally,' he grabbed her hands with one of his, pulling them away from her face, 'see, it wasn't that hard.' He scrutinised her face, there were a few scratches, as usual, but nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. 

'See, I'm perfectly fine,' finally satisfied with what he'd seen, he loosened his grip on her waist to allow her to climb off him.

'You're really red though, you sure you aren't sick?'

If it was possible, her cheeks burnt a bit brighter or at least that is what it felt like, 'no, perfectly fine.'

'You've been saying that a lot,' he chuckled, dusting himself off as he got up. 'Let's call it a draw, I don't feel like fighting anymore,' he looked over at Isuka, who simply nodded in return.

She was relieved; her heart rate hadn't gone back to normal just yet after that near-death experience or the very sudden exposure to his body, 'yeah, we should head back.'

'Well, miss not-directionally-challenged, where are we headed?' He smirked at her, ''cause I sure as hell don't know.'

'Well, if I remember correctly, the woods are to the north of the village I was planning on staying in tonight with the rest of my crew,' she pulled out a necklace with a small compass as a pendant. 'So, I'm heading this way. Are you joining me Fire Fist? Do you even know where the rest of your crew are?'

'Not exactly, they're probably where I left them, but I'll stick with you for now,' he threw an arm around her, earning a small squeak of annoyance, 'wouldn't want to get hopelessly lost now, would I?'

She shook off his arm before bending to pick up her rapier, 'suit yourself.'

~ ♡ ~

They spent some time walking in silence. Usually, Ace would've tried to make conversation, but she seemed shaken up and frustrated. He wouldn't be able to make it back by himself; well, not quickly, he'd make it back eventually, but his stomach would not be pleased with him. Just as things were looking up, the rain Isuka had hoped wouldn't bother them began pouring. She cursed as she picked up the pace, finding a tree large enough to give them both shelter.

'I was hoping the rain wouldn't be a problem,' she tugged at her shirt, which had been soaked through her jacket; it was sticking to her uncomfortably.

'This is a rainy island,' he offered, trying not to look further down than her collar bones, which were quite defined, 'eyes up Ace, this is no time to be staring at her body', he reprimanded himself. He knew she was well-built; well, how could he not? Her uniform wasn't the most covering, and with the way she constantly pounced on him, it was hard not to notice.

'I guess,' she sighed, 'this is going to make it a lot harder to return back to the village.'

'We should probably find someplace to stay for the night, it's getting darker,' he had an arm on the tree, leaning over her to try and cover her from the rain.

'Yeah that would be best,' she stopped tugging at her shirt, 'I think there was an inn to the north of the village, we should stumble upon it soon enough.'

'Yeah, or we might be stuck out here all night,' he knocked off his hat and ran a hand through his hair which was falling over his eyes, 'not that I'd mind sleeping next to you.' 

Isuka choked on nothing in particular, 'now why would I sleep next to you?'

'Body heat,' he grinned like he had cleared it all up.

Isuka shook her head; she didn't have the energy to even bother coming up with a witty response. 'In your dreams Fire Fist, let's just try finding that inn.' After rechecking her compass, she set off towards what was hopefully the inn. 

'Why wouldn't I dream of you,' and Isuka tripped in shock. When she turned to face him, a scandalised expression on her face, he simply smiled that flirty smile at her. Now she was really mad; there was no reason for him to tease her as he did.

And so their usual bickering began, a flirty comment from Ace and a shocked response from Isuka. He loved teasing her; her reactions always made it worth it, the way her ears became red, and her expression turned from flustered to angry. He loved riling her up, especially if it meant she tried storming off. She was way too nice to actually leave him, so she'd stop a couple of metres away and tell him to hurry up. To which he'd laugh and jog to catch up with her.

'I'm starting to think we are hopelessly lost Fire Fist,' Isuka complained. They'd been walking for what felt like hours, and yet there was no inn in sight.

'Don't give up too soon,' he decided against placing a hand on her back, 'we'll stumble across it soon enough.'

'I sure hope so,' she shivered, the cold wind worsening the conditions. Isuka wasn't unfamiliar with horrible situations; as a marine, she'd come across many of them, and her training made sure she knew how to survive. However, for some reason, she wanted to throw a tantrum; she shouldn't be lost right now; she should be tucked in bed, pissed off at Fire Fist for escaping.

Ace watched as she shivered, desperately wanting to wrap his arms around her; the cold didn't mean much to him, and the rain barely affected him, but he kept that distance between them. He may be comfortable stepping over lines; that's what he did, break the rules, but Isuka wasn't that type of person; she stayed within the boxes, to a certain degree.

'Let's keep moving,' he gently nudged her shoulder; he lit a small fire in his palm, visibility had reduced, and it was no use trying to walk around the dark, 'sooner we get there the sooner you can dry off.'

'Yeah, I guess,' she started walking again, her arms wrapped around herself, rubbing her arms in an effort to warm up.

It had been about 30 minutes of walking before Ace spotted the inn. They had stopped by another tree, Isuka, wanting to double-check if they were headed in the right direction. Ace smiled fondly at her deeply focused expression, but as he looked up, he spotted a roof, which could only mean one thing: they had made it.

'Hey, we made it!' Ace pointed in the direction of the building.

'We did?' Isuka turned around so fast she nearly fell, arms coming around her to steady her, 'we did!' 

She threw her arms around him, on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. Her body was cold against his, 'wow, you're so warm,' she chuckled as she pulled back from the hug, not quite realising what she'd done.

Ace grinned nervously at her. She still had her arms on his shoulders and was making it very hard not to look at her and her very soaked shirt, 'why don't we head inside,' he gently turned her around and pushed her towards the building before she could notice the rising blush on his face.

~ ♡ ~

They headed to the inn; it looked empty, and there were no lights on, which was not a good sign. As they knocked on the door, no one answered. Instead, the door swung open eerily. 

'That doesn't look good,' Ace stated, leaning on the doorway as Isuka stepped in.

'No, it does not,' she sighed, 'but at least it's shelter, let's see what we can find.'

'Sounds good,' they split up, Isuka taking the downstairs and Ace the upstairs. There weren't many rooms in the inn. It seemed pretty small; Ace walked from room to room, a small fire in his palm. It didn't look abandoned, just empty for the night, the beds were made, and nothing seemed out of place. They could easily stay for the night; if there was running water and food, they had nothing to worry about. 

As he made his way back down to share the good news, he heard laughter, laughter that probably should not exist, considering the fact that it was just him and Isuka in this place.

'Hey, Isuka?' He called tentatively from the stairs. He carefully stepped down, unsure what he'd find, 'hey is everything good?' He could fight a person, but ghosts were a very different story; his fire would just go through them.

He turned a corner only to bump into Isuka and let out an embarrassing scream, Isuka, who had been just as startled, jumped back, clutching her chest.

'Fire Fist? Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again,' she glared at him, her heart racing, 'I was just coming to get you.'

Just as he managed to calm down, a lady walked into view, a very pale lady, an almost ghost-like lady.

'It's a ghost!' he shoved Isuka behind him, holding an arm out, 'stay away from us!'

'No Fire Fist,' she stepped out, pushing his arm down, 'this is Miss Lisa. She owns the inn.'

Ace looked at her confused, then at the ghost-like woman, and back to Isuka, 'she's the owner?'

The said Miss Lisa stepped closer and into the light of Ace's fire, no longer looking like an apparition. She wasn't very old, maybe early thirties, about his height; she had a kind face now that he could see her features.

'Yes, and, luckily for you, I came back to get some wood,' she smiled warmly, 'you kids must be freezing.'

'Why is no one here?'

'As I was telling your little girlfriend here,' Isuka was violently shaking her head, no, and Ace rubbed the back of his neck. Still, she paid no notice to them, 'when the rain gets too heavy the roads become flooded, meaning you end up stranded; we were running low on supplies here, so we moved everyone into town this afternoon.'

'How did you get here then? Isn't a long walk from the town?'

'The both of you are really quite similar, your girlfriend asked the same questions.'

Isuka interrupted before she could carry on, 'Miss Lisa, like I said we're not together in any sense of the word.'

'People don't often get lost in the woods with people they don't know,' she asked, a bit confused.

'Well we know each other,' she began, 'but we're not exactly close,' the owner still looked lost, 'occupational complications,' she added. In the light, it was probably difficult to make out the insignia of the Marines on Isuka's jacket and the colours of his very telling hat.

'I see,' she seemed unconvinced, 'as I was saying, I live nearby with my husband, and I came back to get some more wood. And as I asked your friend over here, would the both of you like to stay at our house? Just for the night.'

'That's why I was coming to get you, this seems like our best option,' Isuka turned towards him.

Ace took in her appearance. Isuka seemed way more exhausted and cold than him. It might do her good to have help, 'if you want to.'

'Perfect, we'll come with you Miss Lisa, thank you.'

'It's no problem at all, you can help me get more wood too,' Isuka smiled gratefully before following the lady to the back entrance. The wood was stacked by the door, Isuka made a move to grab some, but Ace stopped her. He grabbed a big chunk of them, telling her to relax.

~ ♡ ~

As they made their way down the small road to the house, Isuka made small chat with the lady, who was telling her about the area, about how the inhabitants were quite used to the rain and that no one accesses the inn without going through the town first, if they had they would have known it was closed.

'Well, we're here,' she inserted her key and pushed the door open, 'you can place the wood in that corner,' she gestured to a corner with wood already stacked. The three of them removed their shoes, and Lisa placed slippers in front of them, which they happily slipped their feet into.

'Follow me. We only have one other room apart from mine and my husbands,' she led them upstairs and to a sizeable guest room, 'I hope that's okay with the both of you.' Ace nodded, and so did Isuka. There was an en suite and a large bed. She turned to Isuka, 'if you hop in the bath, I can wash and dry your clothes. I'll try and find you something warmer for the night too.'

'Oh, thank you, that would be nice,' she followed her into the bathroom. Lisa turned the water on, she grabbed a bottle from the self and added it, creating bubbles. It had been ages since Isuka had had a luxury such as this. Isuka took off her jacket, shirt and shorts and folded them neatly but left her gloves on; she took off her sunglasses and placed them on the cabinet.

'Allow me to take your undergarments as well, I'll make sure they're dry before giving them back,' she adjusted the temperature of the water. Isuka blushed, 'sweetheart if you want I can wait outside and you can simply slide them into the rest of your clothes and hand them over, but I can't let you wear wet clothing. Now come here and check the temperature.'

Isuka nodded before taking off one of her gloves to test the water, 'that seems fine, thank you Miss Lisa, if it's possible could I have a small plaster.' her hand traced the one currently on her cheek.

'Now you can just call me Lisa, of course I can. I'll wait outside the door,' she stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. Ace was sitting on the chair in the corner. He was fiddling with the hem of his shirt. 'Would you like anything washed or dried?'

'Nope, I'm basically dry,' the upside to having devil fruit powers.

'Yes quite convenient powers you have there, but you'd benefit from taking a shower, there's one in our room.'

Before he could answer, Isuka cracked the door open slightly to place her clothes on the floor, folded neatly with her gloves placed on top, 'Mi-, Lisa, if it's okay, could you bring back my gloves with the clothing?'

'Of course darling,' she bent down to pick up the clothes, 'now you,' she pointed at Ace, 'come on, I'm sure you got plenty dirty in the woods.' She wasn't wrong. His legs were quite muddy, and so were his shorts. He doubted Isuka would let him sleep like that. He got up to follow her.

Isuka sighed happily; the water was so lovely. Lisa had suggested she add lavender-scented salts to the bath, which released a relaxing smell. She dipped her head below the water, letting the warmth engulf her. She lay in the tub until Lisa returned. She opened the door and placed some clothes and a towel on the cabinet.

'You can drain the water and quickly rinse off the soap before getting out. I've placed everything I could find here,' Isuka nodded, and she left the room.

Isuka did as she was told, almost reluctant to leave the tub, but her skin was turning prune-like. She dried herself with the towel, which was warm and soft; she was being spoilt. She slipped her undergarments back on, now warm and dry, and put on the clothes she was given: a pair of black shorts that were slightly longer than the ones she usually wore and a faded yellow jumper long enough to reach below the shorts. It slipped off one of her shoulders no matter how many times she adjusted it. She replaced the plaster on her cheek and put her gloves back on. She stepped out of the bathroom, holding her sunglasses in one hand and drying her hair with the other.

Lisa was waiting outside, 'oh sweetheart, it's too big for you.'

'It's perfectly fine, M-, Lisa,' but she was a bit distracted by Ace standing behind her; he'd been wrangled into a different pair of shorts and an orange jumper. His hair was messy like Lisa had aggressively dried it. He looked surprisingly good when they weren't fighting, huggable and warm.

'I'll make a start on dinner, make yourselves comfortable,' she smiled before closing the door behind her.

'Never thought I'd see the day when you'd look so small Ensign,' he teased, the massive jumper making her look more petite. Not that she usually seemed small, her massive personality and strength normally made up for it.

'Oh and you love the jumper you're in right now,' she playfully poked his chest.

'She wouldn't take 'I'm made of fire' as an excuse,' he frowned halfheartedly, 'she did give me some wood to start a fire, you know, if you're cold.'

'That would be nice,' the fireplace was a reasonable distance away from the bed, which she sat on. She didn't have to go too close to it.

Ace placed some wood in the fireplace and eventually got a fire going. He leaned back to appreciate his handiwork. He turned to see Isuka, whose expression had become nervous, 'hey you good?'

Isuka had thought she would be okay with the fire, but it was making her uncomfortable, the scar on her hand itching as she watched it burn. She was shaken out of her thoughts by Ace, 'oh, I'm fine,' she smiled, but it was unconvincing.

'It doesn't look that way, is it because of the fire?' her slight flinch gave it away. 'If it helps I can always control it, see,' he held out his hand and absorbed some of the fire. It died down a little, reducing the intensity of the flames.

'Thank you Fire Fist, but really, I'm okay,' her smile was slightly pained, and she was rubbing the back of her hand.

Ace remained unconvinced but decided to let it go. He got up and walked over to the chair before sitting down. 'I can sleep on the floor tonight, you can take the bed.'

'Huh,' she locked eyes with him, 'oh no I can't let you do that, I can take the floor, I'll ask Lisa for some extra bedding.'

'Nah, you deserve the bed,' he chuckled, 'plus I'm used to sleeping on the floor, so don't worry about me.'

She hesitated before speaking again, 'how about we share?' Isuka suggested, unsure what she was saying, 'I mean, the bed's quite big and we're both tired, and it's not like I mind. I mean it's okay, if you're okay with it of course, I'm not saying you have to sleep with me, wait I don't mean it like that,' she buried her face in her hands again.

Ace got up; her rambling was adorable, 'hey,' he moved her hands from her face, 'we can share if you want to.'

'I do,' she replied, before adding, 'I mean I don't mind if we do, don't take it the wrong way.'

'Whatever you say, birdie,' he sat down and lay back.

'Birdie?' 

'Yeah, your name is a bird name, right?'

'And?'

'It's a nickname, like how you always call me Fire Fist,. It's getting kinda boring calling you Ensign.'

'What's wrong with my name?'

'Nothing, it's cute,' Isuka turned bright red, but thankfully Ace had his eyes closed. Was this man clueless? One does not call his enemy cute. Well, technically, he had said her name was cute, but still, it simply wasn't done. Before she could say anything to retaliate, she heard a snore. He had fallen asleep, she carefully got off the bed, not wanting to disturb him. She knew Lisa hadn't wanted her to help, but she wanted to contribute to dinner in some way; after all, she was letting them stay there for free.

~ ♡ ~

It was less than an hour later, and Isuka was shaking Ace awake. He was a heavy sleeper, and it took all of Iuska's shaking power to wake him up.

'Hm,' his sleepy expression made her giggle, 'is something wrong?'

'No, dinner's ready,' she tugged at his arm, 'let's eat.' Ace put out the fire before following her out the door and down the stairs.

Lisa had prepared what she had bought earlier, but it was not enough for all the inn's guests. It was, however, enough for four people or six, considering Ace could probably eat enough to feed a small army. They met her husband; he, too, seemed like a good-natured person. He was taller than Lisa and was in no way bad looking; he introduced himself as Walker.

'So, my wife tells me you're a pirate,' he laughed heartily.

'She would be correct,' he bowed, 'Portgas D. Ace, it's nice to meet you.'

'Oh ho ho,' he patted Ace on the back, 'you seem like a good man.' Ace rubbed the back of his neck, a little bashful because of the praise.

'I'm Ensign 'Nailing' Isuka of the marines,' she held out her hand to shake his, but he pulled her into a hug instead. She patted his back awkwardly as she stood there, not used to displays of affection.

'A marine and a pirate, what an odd pair you've found, darling,' he called out to his wife.

'Aren't they? I was sure they were dating. You know kids these days always breaking the rules,' she laughed with her husband, but Isuka could only chuckle nervously. 

'They aren't?'

'They were pretty insistent that they weren't,' his wife shrugged.

'Shame, they look adorable together,' it was Ace's turn to chuckle nervously as a blush crept up his neck; Isuka was less lucky, her whole face felt hot.

'We really aren't. I'm just the officer that chases after him. We've taken a short break because of the weather.' 

'A break, eh,' he gave them a knowing smile. There was, however, nothing to know, 'well I won't keep us longer, let's eat.'

Dinner was a peaceful affair, well as peaceful as it could be around Ace; they all told stories and laughed until all the food had been cleared. 

When Lisa made a move to clear the dishes, Isuka stopped her, 'you've done a lot for us. Let us clean up,' she nudged Ace, who then nodded along with what she was saying.

'Oh I couldn't let you, you're guests.'

'Please, I feel bad that you've done enough for us already,' she must've been convincing because Lisa eventually gave up and let them clean up.

'We'll be upstairs, if there are any problems let us know,' she wrapped an arm around her husband before disappearing up the stairs.

Isuka and Ace began clearing up, and washing the dishes came first. She tied her hair back in a small ponytail, which Ace had flicked and burst out laughing like a child. She also rolled up her sleeves and replaced her usual leather gloves with rubber ones she found under the sink.  

'You're pretty good at that,' Ace pointed out. He had been assigned to dry the dishes just in case he broke some washing them. He'd been told off by his crew before and didn't want an earful from Isuka too.

'Fire Fist, this is a very basic life skill, plus I was chore girl at a marine base pretty young.'

'Oh, you grew up in the marines?'

'Sort of,' she didn't give anything else, so Ace didn't press her.

'Makes sense; you're pretty young for an Ensign, right?' He figured they were about the same age.

'I guess you don't usually get promoted to a ranked officer without earning it. It's easier when being a marine is all you know.'

'Would you ever give it up?'

'Huh?' Isuka nearly dropped the plate she was holding.

'Forget I asked,' he shook his hands in front of him, embarrassed he'd even considered the thought. Fighting by her side was just a dream.

Isuka stayed silent in contemplation. She'd never considered leaving the marines, and she'd given so much to them. They were her home, in a way, and she wouldn't abandon them.

'What about you? Would you ever consider stopping being a pirate?'

'Nope, wouldn't be anything else. I've got something to achieve.'

'Well, you have my answer as well. We're all doing what we do because we want to,' she turned to face him, but he was already looking at her. 

'Yeah,' he was smiling, and Isuka had to admit he was gorgeous when he beamed like that, carefree and happy. 'You've got a little something there,' he pointed at his own cheek, and Isuka tried wiping the soap off her face, failing miserably because her gloves were all soapy. He laughed at her before leaning down to wipe the suds from her face. 

'Thanks…' her voice became smaller as Ace didn't remove his hand; instead, he stepped closer, thumb resting on the corner of her mouth. Her voice cracked, 'Fire Fist I-'

He was pressing a small kiss on her lips, pulling away before she could even register it. She stood there starstruck, but Ace was stepping away faster, 'I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that,' he groaned into his hands. He ran his hands through his hair before looking at her again, but she stayed glued to the spot, unsure of what happened.

'Can we please forget that ever happened?' He looked at her, almost ashamed that he'd let himself act on his thoughts. Her lips looked soft and so inviting, and before he knew it, he was leaning down to kiss them.

She finally found her voice again, 'I don't think that's possible, Fire Fist,' she took off the gloves, abandoning the dishes. She turned to face him, leaning against the cabinet, trying to maintain an unbothered expression when in reality, she was screaming internally. At least he had the decency to look mildly terrified.

'I really don't know what came over me. I really am sorry,' he sounded sincere, and she found herself sighing in defeat. She couldn't stay mad at him, at least not when they weren't fighting and especially not when he looked like a sad puppy.

She walked over to him, 'don't look at me like that! And it's fine I guess I didn't really stop you either.'

'Really? You liked it?' He teased, apparently feeling much more confident.

And there he went, hearing only what he wanted to hear, 'huh? I never said that,' she felt the blush staining her cheeks again. She stumbled back as he leant towards her again, cursing his ability to suddenly flip the situation. She felt her back hit the cabinet, cursing the small kitchen too. He leant in, a hand cupping her cheek, and she shut her eyes, waiting, but he pressed a kiss on her forehead. So she opened her eyes; he had pulled back, rubbing small lines on her cheek. She felt disappointed; wait, disappointed? Since when was she disappointed when a pirate didn't kiss her? She should be relieved, but some part of her enjoyed the kiss, enjoyed the warmth he bought her when he was around. 

So she took matters into her own hands, cupping his face with both her hands and dragging his face down to her height, 'wait-' but she was kissing him. She felt him tense, then place his arms around her waist and pull her closer to him, and then melt against her. She felt him smile against her lips, and she knew he was thinking something dumb. She let her hands fall to his chest. The sharp intake of breath made her happy; she still had some power over him. 

She pulled back after what felt like the longest minute of her life, 'you really shouldn't tease a girl like that Fire Fist.'

He was gaping at her, 'I wasn't trying to tease you, but if it made you do that, maybe I should tease you more often.' He was hugging her now, gently squeezing her. Usually, Isuka would've pushed the person away, but it was relaxing being in his arms. It was something she could get used to.

'We should really get back to cleaning,' he shook his head and buried it in her hair, lips ghosting her neck. 'Come on Fire Fist we really have to, I kind of insisted.'

He stood up, a resolute look on his face, and suddenly, she regretted trusting him at all, 'call me Ace, and maybe I will.'

'What?'

'You heard me, call me Ace, you never call me by name, it's always Fire Fist.'

'I don't think so. Fire Fist,' she stuck her tongue out.

He laughed exasperatedly, 'come one Birdie, it's not like I'm asking for much.'

Instead, she gently pushed him back to put the gloves back on; she had almost forgotten about the burn on her hand, surprised Ace hadn’t brought it up. He watched as she continued to wash the dishes, 'do you plan on helping,' she paused, 'Ace?'

'What?' He hugged her from the back; she knew he heard the first time.

'I said do you plan on helping, Fire Fist Ace?' 

He hugged her tighter, 'I could get used to hearing that everyday.'

'Don't get too used to it, and pick up that cloth and dry some dishes.'

'Yes ma'am,' he saluted her before going back to his spot.

The rest of the cleanup was a lot more peaceful; they worked fast, putting away the leftovers and tidying up the room. When it was over, Ace put out the fire in the room and followed Isuka up the stairs. She said something about asking for toothbrushes, but when he entered the bathroom, they had been placed in a cup already. He laughed at Isuka's little speech about the importance of brushing and ended up cleaning a bit of toothpaste off her face, not without stealing a kiss. 

'What side do you sleep on?' He asked, pulling the duvet off the bed.

'Why do you have a side you prefer?'

'Not really, I was just wondering if you do,' he smiled as she threw herself on the bed.

'I don't, I could honestly sleep anywhere.'

'That's something we have in common,' he got in next to her, pulling the covers over the both of them.

'I don't doubt that,' she settled closer to him, closing her eyes, 'I've seen you fall asleep mid-battle before.'

He let her lay her head on his chest, her leg thrown on top of his, a hand clutching his shirt. She was adorable, he thought to himself as he watched her chest rising and falling evenly. She must've been exhausted to have fallen asleep almost immediately. He pressed a small kiss to her forehead and shut his eyes.

~ ♡ ~

The Spades weren't worried about their captain, they rarely were, but Kotatsu was a whole different story. The loyal lynx was pacing back and forth worriedly as his master had not returned all night. The others had assured him that Ace was probably staying somewhere for the night since the rain was heavy. He may be reckless, but he is not an idiot. Furthermore, he was with Isuka, who was level-headed and reasonable.

As soon as Deuce had woken up, Kotatsu had been bothering him, concerned for Ace. Deuce and Skull had barely had breakfast when the lynx was dragging them out.

'Calm down boy,' Deuce rubbed his head, 'Ace isn't that easy to get rid of.'

'Master Ace is strong, he'll be fine boy.'

They spent the morning walking inn to inn to see whether a cowboy hat-wearing pirate had stayed the night. They bumped into Isuka's crew at one of the inns, but they seemed too worried about the disappearance of their Ensign to notice Deuce, Skull and Kotatsu. Which just solidified the theory that the both of them were together and, therefore, most likely safe.

Just as they planned to give up and wait it out on the ship, a woman approached them, 'by any chance are the names of the people you are looking for Ace and Isuka?'

'Yes, Ace is our captain, he must've stayed with Isuka.'

'The both of them are currently at my house, they were stuck outside in the rain so I let them stay the night,' she pointed in the direction of her house. 'I hope you haven't been too worried about them.'

'Oh no, they're both strong, we had no worries.'

'Well, they seemed exhausted, so they are probably still asleep. I slipped out to buy some groceries. If you'd follow me, I could take you there.'

They accepted her offer and followed her back to the house. She gave them slippers and led them into the living room, 'they're upstairs. I can see if they are awake.'

Kotatsu had heard they were upstairs and immediately pounced up the stairs, following his nose to find his master, 'no need, Kotatsu will probably wake up Ace,' Deuce thanked her and followed the lynx up the stairs.

Kotatsu had correctly identified the room Ace was in, but what was throwing him off was the proximity of Isuka's smell, not that he didn't like the marine. It was just odd that they were that close together.

'What's wrong boy?' Deuce asked, pushing the door open for him. He, like Kotatsu and Skull, stood in shock for a second as they entered the room, the image of Isuka and Ace cuddling forever in their minds.

Deuce was the first to burst out laughing, nearly keeling over in laughter, 'oh my god, he's never going to live this down.'

Skull gently shook Ace awake. He woke up, his voice groggy, 'what time is it?'

'Almost ten Master Ace,' Skull replied helpfully.

Ace's sleepiness disappeared almost instantly; he was very aware of the situation. Sometime in the night, he'd kicked off the duvet and wrapped his arms around Isuka under the warmth of her jumper; her slender waist fit perfectly in the crook of his arm. This was definitely not a position he wanted to get caught in; his favourite marine asleep on his shoulder. He could almost feel the teasing energy radiating off Deuce and Kotatsu, who were ready to ridicule him for the rest of his life.

'Fire Fist is something wrong?' Isuka muttered, still half asleep; she could barely register the characters in the room. However, when she did, she sprung away from Ace and dived under the covers hoping it would hide her shame. Deuce was cackling out loud now, not just in his head. Kotatsu was also wheezing; at least, that's what it looked like.

'We'll let you get ready,' Skull said sympathetically, pushing the other two out of the room.

Ace sat up, rubbing his face, 'they're gone now.'

'Doesn't make it any less humiliating,' Isuka complained as she sat up.

'I don't think we can hide this, not from my crew at least.'

'Yeah, mine on the other hand never have to know,' the both of them got up. Lisa had left their clothes on the table, so they got changed and went downstairs, ready to face the obvious questions. Ace squeezed her hand reassuringly before leading her into the room.

They ate breakfast, joined by Deuce and Skull with a bowl of milk for Kotatsu. Surprisingly Deuce kept quiet about the situation, most likely for Isuka's sake.

When they got ready to leave, they thanked Lisa and Walker again; the couple simply waved them off, wishing them the best on their journeys. Lisa winked at Isuka and told her that Ace was quite the catch and to not let him go.   They walked together to the edge of the town, where Isuka stopped them, 'well, we should probably separate here. I should really get back to my crew.'

Ace nodded, saddened to see her go, but he understood she had responsibilities to return to. She stunned him by placing a kiss on his cheek before running away. The move earned more teasing from his crew mates. Which was made worse when they returned to the ship and Deuce announced to the whole crew what they'd seen. It was never ending; every time he did something, it was suddenly related to Isuka. He couldn't sleep - it was cause he missed sleeping next to her - they weren't wrong, but they didn't have to put it like that. In the end, he did miss her and her soft lips and the way she muttered in her sleep.

There was more to their relationship now, and Ace knew things couldn't go back to the way they were, but that was a risk he was willing to take. By her side, he felt like anything was possible. First, he had to get her closer to him, which could throw up problems considering she was a dedicated marine, but it didn't worry him. She would always be his, and he hers.

~ ♡ ~

A Fight Without You

the height of my esuka obsession T-T

Yet another island Isuka hadn't been at; it was getting worrisome. Isuka, without fail, had been there at every single island since they had first met, always there, determined to bring him in. Ace loved the attention; Deuce speculated that it was because she was a gorgeous young woman who could take him down if she wanted to. However, this was the second island they'd been to, and Isuka hadn't been there. Ace felt uneasy leaving the previous island without seeing her, but she was a marine who had other things to do apart from chasing him, or so he tried to convince himself. He was finding it harder to believe now that she hadn't turned up this time.

Ace sighed, 'you don't think something bad happened to her do you?'

'To who? Isuka? No way I've never seen anyone like her,' Deuce chuckled, 'she fights like she's got devil fruit powers.'

'That woman is fearless,' Ace seemed to accept it for a while but looked back at the horizon, 'but nothing could've happened to her, right?'

'Ace, cap, no offence but you're awfully worried about a woman who has done nothing but try to catch you. Maybe it's a good thing she isn't here, one less thing to worry about if she's finally lost our trail.'

'She hasn't only tried to catch me, she's,' Deuce raised an eyebrow, 'I just think it's weird okay, she's just always there.'

'You know she has other duties right? She's an ensign, that's pretty important, she's probably got meetings to attend, boring marine stuff.'

'Yeah I guess,' Ace didn't seem at all satisfied with the answer but didn't try to argue back.

'Boss!' Skull shouted from the sand, 'bad news, the locals just said that we can't leave tonight!'

'Why's that?'

'Apparently there's a bad current that appears from time to time. It's wiped out massive fleets before, we shouldn't risk it.'

'I guess we're spending another night here,' he seemed to consider his options before jumping down to the sand, 'Deuce let's walk, I'm bored.'

~ ♡ ~

Deuce often got dragged into things because Ace was bored or hungry. Since he'd left Sixis with Ace, life had not been dull, maybe even a little too interesting. Thankfully this time, Ace didn't get into much trouble, although his usual narcoleptic attack did frighten a few villagers. 

Or so he thought. Things had been going well until Ace caught sight of a marine, just an ordinary officer slipping past the crowds and into a back street.

He immediately broke into a run, 'Ace!'

The officer was fast, keeping to the back streets as he made it to the other side of the island, where he met with another officer. Ace recognised them; they worked under Isuka on her ship.

'Did you find any others?'

'No there's only one doctor on this island.'

'That's not good, hopefully the antidote works, we've contacted headquarters, but no one will be able to reach here for a while.'

'The Ensign is strong, she'll pull through.' At the mention of Isuka, Deuce felt Ace tense. He was never subtle when it came to her.

'Hopefully.'

Deuce felt Ace move, grabbing one of the marines before he could stop him, 'what did you say?'

'Fire Fist!' The other one spluttered, 'what are you doing here?'

He tightened his grip on the man, 'answer the question, what happened to Isuka?' Deuce sighed. Ace had an especially short fuse when things were about her. After all, he'd beaten up a guy who'd made some unsavoury passes at her when she confronted them at a bar. Ace was not someone you wanted to anger.

'We don't need to tell you anything, pirate.'

Ace looked like he would punch the guy but was stopped by a loud rustling sound getting closer to them from more than one side. He dropped the guy before preparing for a possible ambush. The marine gasped for air before crawling over to his colleague.

'Boss!' One of the voices shouted. Skull had come looking for them.

The other person, unfortunately, was a marine who, at the sight of Ace, drew her gun. 'Fire Fist Ace, the ensign is in no state to fight you. Leave.'

'Take me to her.'

'Boss, that's-' Skull began; that was too much to ask of them to lead a notorious pirate to their leader, who was in no state to fight.

'I want to see her.'

The marine sighed; she looked over at his two colleagues; they weren't enough to deter the pirate, 'can you help her?'

'Deuce is a doctor, he can take a look at her, if she needs something and we have it, you can have it.'

'How do we trust you, pirate? Getting rid of the Ensign Isuka would be advantageous to you,' the marine he had grabbed spat out.

'I wouldn't hurt her, not intentionally.'

She nodded to the dismay of her colleagues, in a way she understood that their relationship was quite complicated, 'follow me.'

The five of them trailed behind her as she led them to a small cove. The ship was tucked in. The sails containing Isuka's epithet were taken in; the usually busy ship had an uneasy quietness.

'Many of us are scattered around the island, looking for supplies, some have remained for security.'

As they stepped up onto the boat, Ace's appearance caused a couple of marines to turn to him in alarm, guns raised. The marine leading them waved them down, 'he's trying to help!'

They didn't seem all that convinced but turned back around, keeping up their posts.

Deuce seemed slightly impressed at the ship's sheer size, 'how'd she get hurt?'

'We we're called as support along with another ship, they needed some help bringing in some other pirates,' she opened a door leading them downstairs, 'with the ensign it would be easy work, she may struggle to bring you in, but she's very strong.'

'I don't doubt it,' despite having the powers of a logia-type devil fruit, he still dodged her attacks out of reflex.

'We replied to the call, they were nearby and Isuka would never say no to helping someone, and everything did go to plan apart from one thing.'

She opened another door; this time, it was the door to the infirmary. The ship's doctor and the village doctor were sitting by her bedside, monitoring her condition and discussing other medical things.

The marine nodded at them, signalling them to step outside, and they complied. Ace stood by the door for a while before deciding to sit by her; she looked awful. Deuce checked the wound on her arm, the blue bruise-like colour spreading from the injury and up her arm.

'One of the pirates had hidden and held Isuka with a knife to her throat, he didn't realise she was the ensign. So she did what she did best, fight, she brought him down, but he managed to nick her arm. Things were okay for a day or two, but she suddenly collapsed two days ago, so we stopped at the nearest island.'

Deuce checked her temperature, gently checking the neckline of her uniform to see how far the colour had spread. 'I think the antidote is working, the poison hasn't spread far enough to be of extreme danger to her life, but things can still go wrong. Tonight will be very important, it may determine whether she'll be able to use her arm or not.'

'Yes, that's what the other doctors have said, it was lucky we carried many types of antidote,' the marine sighed, 'Isuka made sure of that.' 

With that, she left the room, nodding at Deuce. Ace, on the other hand, had barely registered what had happened, his thoughts consumed by the girl before him. 

Isuka was usually full of life, her strong voice yelling at him from her ship. That was not who he saw now; the girl lying on the infirmary bed was soulless. Her skin was pale, and her breathing laboured; she was not the picture of health she'd always been. Ace leant forward, inspecting her poisoned arm, it may be on her non-dominant arm, but she fought with both. She used her athletic abilities to leap over things, usually using her arm for stability. He knew her fighting style was aggressive and powerful; he was scared that if she lost her arm, she'd give up on being a marine or, at the very least, stop chasing him. Either way, he wouldn't see her again; he would have no reason to tease her and watch her turn red when he threw a flirty comment her way. Losing her and her presence would leave an ugly mark on his heart. 

As she began coughing, she rolled onto her side, bringing her knees closer to her chest. Deuce poured her a glass of water before handing it to Ace, who waited for her to calm down. As the violent coughing fit came to an end, she opened her eyes slowly, her good arm coming up to wipe the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes. She made a grabbing motion in the direction of the side table.

'Here,' Ace gently moved the cup to her hand, allowing her to grab it, she tried getting up, but without being able to put any pressure on her other arm, she struggled. Ace got up from the chair to help her; when she sat up, she took a long drink from the glass, and Ace settled back into his chair.

'Fire fist, what are you doing here?' Her voice was groggy and weak; her vision had finally cleared up, and she'd finally noticed who he was. He thought she'd be more shocked, but perhaps she was too tired for that.

'Couldn't leave without seeing my favourite ensign, now could I?' He chuckled when Isuka made what he could only guess was a flustered expression. Deuce looked at Skull; there was an unspoken agreement between the both of them that they should leave them alone. He tapped Ace's shoulder reassuringly before exiting the infirmary.

'You know, Isuka. I missed you at our previous island; it isn't the same without you shouting at me,' she smiled at that, lying back down, 'it's not the same when I'm not fighting you.'

'I've got other battles to fight, Fire Fist; I can't chase you all the time,' she whispered as she dragged the sheets back over her.

'I wish you could, wouldn't it be fun seeing each other everyday?'

'I think we have very different ideas of fun.'

'You wouldn't have to get hurt fighting some other prick,' she stayed silent for a while, unable to bring herself to look him in the eyes, 'you worried me when I walked in here I thought I was going to lose you.'

She lifted her arm, hesitating before placing her hand on his cheek, 'it's part of the job, you know that.'

At first, it took him by surprise; they weren't close like that. At most, there were accidental brushes of skin that left her flustered. He placed his hand on hers; she felt comfortable with him, and for now, that was enough. For once, she wasn't wearing her leather gloves; her hand was warm as he stroked it gently, 'I know,' but he couldn't help hating the thought. He moved her hand to his mouth, placing a small kiss on the palm of her hand before releasing it.

She smiled at him, grabbing hold of his hand again, 'I know it isn't much, but I'm here now. You know that I'm safe,' she gently squeezed his hand before closing her eyes. She didn't know who he had lost in the past to react like that, but she understood loss and the pain it brought.

~ ♡ ~

He had completely lost track of time, sitting there holding her hand, stroking the back of it, tracing the lines on her palm. It was completely dark when Deuce returned to the room carrying two plates of food and a bowl of soup for Isuka.

'Skull went back to the rest of the crew to explain,' he placed the soup down first before handing Ace his plate, 'I'm guessing you don't want to leave.'

'I don't know. I don't want to leave her like this.'

'Don't worry about it, the crew will understand.'

Ace gently shook Isuka awake, so she could try to eat something. He helped her sit up again, handing her the bowl of soup before picking up his plate and starting to eat. Deuce had begun to explain their adventures at their previous island, what had happened when she wasn't there. She laughed when he explained how Ace had fallen into the lake trying to chase Kotatsu, who had been chasing a butterfly. At some point during the conversation, Ace had finished his plate and noticed Isuka had been struggling to eat. He took the bowl from her and began feeding her as she listened to Deuce's rambling. At first, she'd been a little embarrassed, but soon she came to enjoy it a little, the power she had over him always amused Deuce. He knew of Ace's tendencies when caring for people, but feeding them was not one of them. Isuka, however, was an exception; they shared something special, even if they didn't quite notice it yet.

After dinner, Isuka had laid back down, drowsiness taking over; Ace remained by her side as Deuce got some pillows and blankets. Ace was still in the same spot when he returned, watching over her. Deuce set up the little sofa in the room for him to sleep on, leaving the other bed in the infirmary to Ace if he wanted to sleep.

'Deuce, take the bed, I don't need it.'

'You should try to get some sleep too.'

'If need be I can sleep on the sofa, you can take the bed.'

Deuce didn't bother arguing back; Ace was stubborn when it came to certain things, so there was no point trying to get his way.

The night was cold; Ace watched as Isuka shivered under her blanket. He got up and grabbed the blanket Deuce left on the table to cover her with. Taking the pillow, he placed it on the bed; he leant forward to rest his head. He must have eventually nodded off because sunlight was filtering through the blinds on the window when he woke up. Sometime in her sleep, Isuka must have found his head as he could feel her soothingly running her hand through his hair. It felt weird; the last time someone had done that was probably 6 or 7 years ago. When he'd fall asleep around Makino, she'd take care of him, gently patting his back or running her hand through his hair. It was comforting; if his mother was alive, he imagined she would do the same.

It was a while longer before either of the others stirred; Isuka was up first, woken up again by a coughing fit. Ace did the same thing as before, handing her a glass of water and helping her sit up. Being a light sleeper, Deuce had also woken up; he checked up on Isuka first. Her temperature had decreased slightly, and the marks on her arm had begun to fade - which was very promising. He left to share the information with the rest of her crew.

'Thank you, Fire Fist, I think your presence really helped.'

'I didn't do much,' he smiled, slightly shy at the compliment.

'I know, but still, you make me stronger.'

Ace didn't know what to say; Isuka kept him on his toes, kept him guessing what her next move would be. She'd made her way into his life, and in a way, she pushed him to be stronger too. Before he could try to formulate a reply, Deuce returned.

'We should probably get back to the ship, the currents are getting better and we can leave soon,' Ace made an expression. Before he could ask, Deuce replied, 'I imagine Isuka will be leaving soon too, she's getting better and it would be beneficial to be heading to a more accessible island.'

'He's right, if things go well we'll probably be leaving by the end of the day,' she smiled reassuringly at Ace, 'back on your trail of course.'

'Wouldn't expect anything different.'

~ ♡ ~

A Constant

super short and written at like 3 am

Working as he had for these couple of years meant he was always on his toes waiting for something to go wrong. Waiting for his secrets to be discovered.

Of his three faces he didn’t know which life he liked best, Rei Furuya was an agent waiting for orders and protecting the country he loved most. Bourbon was a dangerous criminal who annoyed even the likes of Gin and was often forced to work with Vermouth.

Amuro Tooru on the other hand was tame in comparison to his other lives. He worked at a small but busy cafe in Beika, with a steady stream of regulars and a cute colleague.

They were constants in his forever changing life.

A peaceful alternative to his normal.

A way to relax.

He was also a detective trainee of sorts, though he’d surpassed that stage ages ago.

To the idiot I Loved

still one of my favourites <3

Chapter 1

He picked up the piece of paper on her desk, the handwriting clearly hers. He could see the parts she had struggled, or had pressed a little too hard. These were the words she'd wanted to reach him, the tears that she'd cried for him. He took a deep breath, reading her last words to him.

To the idiot I loved,

I never thought I'd be writing this, not in a million years, but someone once told me I needed to take more risks. So this is my risk, I'll pour my heart out for you, whether you reply or not.

Read it once or twice or more, just don't throw it away immediately. Think of it as one last request, I won't bother you again.

I still miss you, even after you said goodbye, after you said your apologies, after I told you I hated you. 

And sometimes I hug that pillow you loved just to cry some more. 

You told me you loved me, is it too much too ask whether you still do? Or if you even think about me. 

How could I physically hate you after these past months.

I still think about you, you know?

About the times we laughed.

About the times we cried.

The times we argued.

I can't watch my favourite movies now, they all remind me of you.

I can't drink that stupid wine you love, I get drunk too easily.

Sometimes when I lie on the sofa, I wish your arms were around me, like those days we were too tired to move.

Or sometimes I bake a cake and realise you're not there to help me.

You came into my life like a bouquet of flowers, only to wilt, but there was me trying to revive dead flowers.

It took me too long to realise that I was in love with you.

I hope you don't miss me the way I miss you.

I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you like that.

From,

that girl you once knew.

He would never throw it away, never.

After all she said the one thing he'd always wanted her to.

He still loved her too.

~ ♡ ~

Aoko leant back against her sofa, she was finally finished. The novel she had spent the past 2 years working on was coming to a close. What had started as a way to cope had suddenly become a way for her to say the things she couldn't in real life.

It was meant to be lighthearted, not the type that would make you cry ugly tears. But here she was writing a letter she knew would break hearts. 

Looking back at the last 2 years, it was definitely the fight she had with Kaito that spun a dark side to her book. She hadn't seen him for a while, not since the day they fought, over Kaitou Kid of all things. No matter what it was that thief had taken things from her, things she cherished, so when she found out about his secret she couldn't help but feel betrayed. She said things she didn't mean, but that idiot had told her the one thing she wished he'd never did.

This letter was for him, for the character she'd based off of him, for the things she'd never be able to say in real life. She could only hope it reached him.

Chapter 2: Aoko

In the days up to the release of her 4th book and even the days after were hectic to say the least, her previous books were all about mystery and crime and this was her first romance based book. Albeit with a small hint of mystery. That's why Aoko was very shocked to see the popularity of the book, she'd been to book signings, interview panels and was even on the morning news. She even got to meet some old friends at her book release party. 

Apart from dodging questions about the inspiration for her character, especially the new fictional heart throb she'd created, she couldn't have been happier. Well apart from one other thing, Kaito hadn't turned up to any of them. She was pretty sure he wasn't dead, after all he'd hosted a heist the night before her book was released. She thought she saw him at the party, but the only person fitting the description at the party was Kudo Shinichi and as good as he is at disguises, she didn't think he'd be able to fool Ran for that long. If he'd come in disguise he didn't make himself known. Which in truth disappointed her, she was over the moon with the popularity of this book, but the person who'd inspired it wasn't there.

After the initial heat of popularity had cooled down, she suddenly had a lot of free time to spend with her friends and family. She'd been invited to the Shinichi and Ran's anniversary party, which was just so glamorous and elegant, she knew Kaito would have fit right in. He'd been invited apparently, she had arrived late due to a meeting, which meant they just missed each other, but the apologetic look on Kazuha's face said he had left because of her. However that couldn't stop her from having fun, especially since all her friends were there.

She caught up with her high school friends, Keiko was getting married so she was invited to their engagement party. Another was pregnant so she was invited to their baby shower. And another had found someone they wanted to spend the rest of their life with. Aoko felt like she should have been happier for them, their lives were all progressing, whilst she couldn't bring herself to get over Kaito. 

~ ♡ ~

She met up with Chikage when she got back to Japan and was showered with all sorts of gifts from America, they spent the day catching up and chatting. They were currently sitting in her living room, after dinner, sharing a bottle of wine Chikage had bought.

'Say Aoko-chan, what happened between you and my idiot of a son? The last time I asked about you, he wouldn't say, he had that look, you know the cute sulky one. And you know what? The last time he made that face was that time you two fought about that date you had with that guy from the cafe. Except he looked more exhausted this time.'

'Ah, we had a fight, and I haven't really seen him since.'

'A fight? You fight all the time right? What was so different that you're ignoring each other. It's clearly making the both of you sad.'   'It was about,' she took a sip of her wine, 'it was about Kaitou Kid.' Chikage shot her a confused look, from when they were in high school they had small fights about Kaito's alter ego, but most ended fine. Aoko glanced up and down a few time, opening her mouth to speak, but stopping each time. 'Oh that idiot,' Chikage sighed, it had finally clicked, her idiot son had divulged his deepest secret to someone he loved and it hadn't gone well. 'Well what did he tell you? Did he at least tell you why?'   'You knew?'

'Oh please give me some credit Aoko-chan, I'm his mother, he can't keep something like that from me. Well he did, I'm just smarter than he thinks.'

'I didn't figure it out though, all these years, every time I doubted him. Every time Hakuba or my father or even Akako said something about it, I shut them up. Every time. I made sure he was with me when the heists happened, I tried to keep myself away from the truth,' she took  a deep breath in, she'd been avoiding talking to herself about this, or to anyone about this. 'When he told me, I was more upset at myself, you know? Upset that I basically tricked myself into this.'

Chikage slowly nodded in understanding, 'and Aoko-chan? It sounds like you're not angry at him?'

'No I am, just more at myself. But even an idiot like Kaito would have a reason to do something as dangerous as that. And that annoyed me, he didn't even want to tell me the reason. Put me in danger, yeah right, I wouldn't care about that if it was for him.'

Chikage chuckled lightly, 'so if he didn't tell you the reason, what did he even say?'

'He didn't say much really, but that's more my fault, after he refused to tell me the reason, I sort of didn't let him talk,' she took a long sip of her wine, nearly draining her glass. She looked back at the woman sat opposite her, 'I said so much I didn't mean, and he, that absolute idiot. He told me he loved me. Loved me enough to protect me from the truth.'

Chikage stared at her in disbelief for some time, her son had confessed he was in love with the girl. The one he had often said he could never express his feelings to yet. 'That was unexpected,' she watched as Aoko poured herself another glass and nodded to statement. 'And you haven't seen him since?'

She shrugged, 'well he's clearly alive, but he's steering clear away from me. I mean he left Ran and Shinichi's party early and he didn't even bother to make an appearance at my book release party. Even Hakuba-kun was there, Hakuba! He flew over from London for some business, but he came to congratulate me. Hell I never even got along with Akako-chan, but she was there.'

'At all? Not even for a few minutes?'

'None at all.'

Chikage sighed, she knew her son, he was definitely there at Aoko's party. No matter what she said would keep him from being there to see her proud and happy look as she announced her new book. Well he sure seemed excited for it's release whenever they'd talk, apparently the love interest was supposed to be as good looking as he was.

'But it's fine, I'm fine. I can't keep thinking about him,' she was definitely drinking too much wine, though not much could be done to stop her now. Heartbreak was best cured with alcohol, well not really, but since Aoko was clearly not going to tell the truth sober, Chikage decided she would see what a drunk Aoko would tell her.

And as expected drunk Aoko had so much to tell, she talked about all the things they did when they lived together. How he would buy flowers for her, just for fun or because they reminded him of her. Chikage couldn't help but smile, they really were in love, no matter how they denied it, just friends do not spend rainy days curled up together on the sofa. 

Drunk Aoko also admitted to missing him, hoping he would turn up at parties or even to say congratulations. She had half wanted to go to his heist, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, of that smug smirk she'd secretly loved. Or maybe just leave flowers or a card that said something or the other, she missed him so much.

Chikage let her drift off to sleep, carefully moving her to a more comfortable position and placing a blanket over her. She then looked through Aoko's fridge to cook something she could heat up in the morning. She cleaned up a little before leaving, unlike the girl who was currently fast asleep, she'd only had about 2 glasses of wine, both of which were an hour ago. She tried to be as quiet as possible when leaving, but she doubted anyone could wake her up now.

She sighed to herself as she walked out of the building, she'd already called for a taxi which was already here, so as she headed back home she considered whether to call her son and tell the idiot to at least call. She eventually decided against it, she was seeing him tomorrow and she could always (very easily) make the conversation about Aoko.

Chapter 3: Kaito

Kaito was avoiding her.

He hated it.

It took actively trying to stay away from her for him to realise just how much he gravitated to her. She was just always there, a comforting presence, someone to come back to. He missed lying in her arms on a lazy Sunday morning, or snuggling together on the sofa as the rain poured down outside.

He missed her.

He had dreamed of the day he could finally tell her about everything, all the lies he had to tell, the secrets he kept. He hoped she'd reciprocate his feelings, that he could finally be with her, with no obstacles. But what happened that night was nothing like the fantasy he'd conjured up, it was everything he'd feared.

~ ♡ ~

Aoko was grumbling about Kaitou Kid yet again, how she hated his guts and his cockiness. It was a Friday night and neither of them had work so they were cuddled up on the sofa drinking hot chocolates and watching movies. However, earlier that day it was announced that Kaitou Kid had left another heist notice - his target his time a beautiful sapphire named the 'Daughter of the Sea'.

Kaito chuckled, she really never changed, he remembered the times she would complain about the phantom thief in high school, which would lead them to running around the classroom yelling petty insults at each other. But mostly he remembered how a small part of him died every time she claimed she hated the thief, he felt sort a sort of freedom as Kaitou Kid, minus the being chased by an organisation, he could show off his tricks to an audience who loved him. He could fly over rooftops and get a view no-one else could. Heists came with a thrill, a sense of danger and excitement, that everyday life just doesn't have.

However to him, she came first, if she hated his alter ego, he could take it. If she hated him, he couldn't.

It was a stupid idea, honestly, and to top it all off he came up with it.

After being able to brush off her suspicions for the past couple of years, he couldn't blow it now. So he suggested they go watch the heist, she already knew he had nothing to do that Sunday and sneaking out for the few hours that coincide with the heist was risky.

She gave him the usual 'are you crazy?' look, because honestly it was crazy, but not impossible. At Kid heists there is always a massive crowd, one could easily get separated from friends in it. If he could convince Aoko to come to the heist, that was the hard part over, he could 'lose' her in the crowd and carry out his plan.

It took a little while to convince her, after all she wasn't the type to support the thief, but she conceded (only because it seemed important to Kaito).

And that's how the both of them ended up in the crowd outside a museum, being pushed together, a bit too close for comfort. He almost didn't want to leave, she was clinging onto him adorably, but he'd already announced his heist. So when another wave of people pushed against them he used the chaos to disappear, he could faintly hear Aoko shout his name as he walked further into the crowd. It didn't take her long to call him, he picked up and stalled for time, convincing her he'll find her, all whilst making his way through the crowd and to the museum. This way he could put the heist in motion.

Apart from the extra running, it went well. Surprisingly Hakuba had been there, but over the years wildcards like detectives and the organisation had become easy to overcome. Especially since he had an understanding with Kudou, Hattori and the rest. So when he decided to go straight home, he thought everything would be okay.

Aoko, however, was the one wildcard he could never predict. It hadn't gotten easier over the years, and it was easy to forget she's smarter than she looks. She'd come close to catching him once or twice while he was distracted, and was it easy to get distracted by her. He was too tired to really think about it any further as he made his way back, he texted Aoko to say he wasn't feeling good and was heading back. It should've gone fine, he would go back to their apartment, stash his costume and greet Aoko when she got back.

But it didn't.

Because Aoko had already gone home, finding the whole situation and crowd unbearable.

So he climbed through the window to his bedroom, letting the window close with a soft thud. Aoko who had been in her own bedroom had heard and carefully peered through his door, 'Kaito? Is that you, I didn't hear the door open?' only to be met with the phantom thief, who was just as stunned as her. Unfortunately he'd taken off his hat and monocle, it was hard to deny who he really was.

'Kaito?'

He didn't know how long they stood there, stunned, too confused to talk. He knew he should've said something first, but nothing came to mind, he couldn't make up some flimsy excuse in the hope she'll believe him. He was well and truly screwed.

She moved first, turning around and simply walking away, needing some space.

'Aoko? What are you- Why are you already home? Wait I can explain!' He tried to shrug off the cape and blazer before running after her.

'Why am I home, is that really what you have to say?' She had made her way to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water, finding it hard to believe what she was seeing.

'No- I- It's just I-'

'I what Kaito? You left me in that crowd, it was awful and here I was thinking you were looking for me,' she walked back up to him, 'did you even think of me once whilst you were out there?'

'Aoko I- Look it wasn't like that,' for once in his life, he truly didn't know what to do. When he thought about telling her, he thought it would be better than this, maybe even romantic. This was a reality check, things like that only happens on TV, he had really hurt her and that wasn't just going to go away.

'Wasn't like what Kaito? 'cuz it sure seems that way to me. How long have you even been doing this? Since we were in high school at the earliest right?'

Worst thing is she was correct, he couldn't lie to her now, not add to the pain.

'Why? Why Kaito? It doesn't look fun, you don't even keep the jewels!'

'Look Aoko, I need you to trust me, but I can't tell you that.'

'Trust you? Trust? I think we're past that now, how long have you been lying to me? Seven, no eight years? And all this time, I refused to believe anyone but you.' She was crying now, sobbing her heart out, but every time he stepped forward to put an arm around her or to offer some comfort she took a step back.

'Aoko, please, I just need you to-'

'Believe more of your lies. You know multiple people told me to be suspicious of you, Hakuba, Akako, Kudou, my father. And guess what Kaito? I chose to believe in you, my best friend.'

'Aoko,' he tried to get closer to her, as much as he hurt her and deserved this, watching her cry was killing him. Usually when she cried he could offer some comfort, but now there was a wall between them and he couldn't get past it.

'NO! You stay away from me!'

He stayed this time.

'I really did trust you, you know.'

'I know.'

'Just leave me alone.'

'Aoko, I-'

'Do you want me to say it out loud?'

'No really Aoko-'

'I hate you Kaito. I hate you. I don't ever want to see you again,' she had her back turned to him, but she was still shaking, he reached out to her. After a moment's thought he pulled his arm back, 'so, please, leave.'

'You know Aoko, the reason I don't want to tell you, it's because I don't want to lose someone dear to me. If you know the truth, you'll be targeted too.'

She still didn't turn back to face him.

'I love you enough to do that. Protect you, so you can hate me all you want. Just stay safe.'

She stayed facing away from him, she stayed that way until she heard the door lock, the words 'I love you too' stuck in her throat.

~ ♡ ~

He was doing what she wanted, staying away from her.

At least he was making sure she didn't notice him.

How could he miss her book release party, he felt proud that she was finally able to finish it. So he attended, even if it was very briefly, to see her smiling on stage with her book. To see her greet her friends even some of her idols. He felt happy for her, even if he wasn't supposed to be there. He left as soon as she caught his eyes, afraid she'd see through his disguise.

At the Kudou's anniversary party he had left early, that was true, in a setting with old friends and alcohol he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't say something he'd regret. He watched her for a bit afterwards, as she laughed with Ran and Kazuha, looking just like her normal self. He didn't catch the sad look she cast around the room, confirming his absence. He was staying away for her own safety, she didn't have to be involved.

He saw her on TV, on ads in stores, even on social media. She was honestly everywhere, he couldn't avoid buying her book, but after seeing the first few pages, he couldn't read on, because in her dedications she'd left a message. It made him feel guilty, for avoiding her, but he didn't want to hurt her more.

To my best friend, I couldn't have done this without you. Hope you enjoy the book. ~ A ♡

His heart hurt a little looking at the hand drawn heart at the end of the message, she really never changes.

He made up his mind he was going to give her flowers, and maybe leave a note. He settled for a bouquet of purple irises with ivory roses and a pink flower he couldn't remember the name of. The cashier had said something about it meaning congratulations, which was probably the better option. His usual roses would send the wrong message and he didn't want her to feel worse.

'Will that be all? Or would you like a note as well?'

'I'll take the note as well,' if he couldn't think of a message he just wouldn't include it.

'Okay, do you have a message in mind, we can print the message for you.'

'Um no, it's okay, I'll write something myself,' the cashier chuckled, most likely having gotten the wrong impression.

'Ooh a romantic note for Aoko-chan, or do you have someone else in mind?'

Kaito jumped at the voice next to him, until he realised just who would annoy him like this, 'Kaa-san?'

'Oh Kaito, you've gotten quite bold, are you finally dating?'

'No! Please stop embarrassing me.'

'Oh no that would be completely against my principles.'

'Okay then why are you here?'

'To buy a something for Aoko-chan, I'm guessing you're doing the same.'

'Thank you for visiting, will that be all?' The cashier smiled at the mother and son duo currently arguing.

'No, please add this to the bill,' Chikage placed a potted on the till.

'Pay for your own flowers.'

'Don't be stingy Kaito, I know you're not busy, Aoko-chan told me all about your little fight.'

'She did?'

'Well the expensive bottle of wine I bought for the both of you did,' she chuckled as the cashier rung up her purchase.

'You made her drink? You know she's a complete lightweight.'

'Uhuh, I didn't force her, but she did tell me some interesting things last night,' she thanked the cashier before turning to leave.

'Wait,' he quickly paid for everything before grabbing everything and running after his mum. 'What do you mean everything?'

'You really didn't attend her party?' His flustered look proved her point, the idiot couldn't stay away from her.

'She doesn't want to see me.'

'You keep telling yourself that.'

'What?'

'Nothing.'

His mum then revealed the plant was for Jii-san and not Aoko because she'd already given her her presents. So she waved goodbye to him to walk in the direction of Jii's bar. Leaving Kaito to wonder why she couldn't pay for her own stuff and whether she was properly going to visit him, or if she was going to bother someone else.

So as he walked to the apartment he once shared with Aoko, he thought about what he could say on the note, 'I miss you too', 'Your book was good', 'Do you still hate me?'.

He shook his head, it just sounded sappy and ridiculous, she'd probably throw them away if she found out who they're from. Maybe it was best leaving out the note, but for some reason he couldn't, so he settled for a small 'K' in the corner, if she noticed, she noticed. If she didn't then she didn't.

As he walked up the stairs to the apartment he suddenly felt nervous, what if she was there, or happens to open the door as he placed the flowers down. No, she couldn't be home, he made sure, she's currently out with her editor, most likely discussing her book or next work. Filled with slightly more confidence he walked to the front door, he carefully placed the bouquet down, making sure not the damage the flowers or crumple the note.

~ ♡ ~

Later that night he received a call from Jii-san, who had news on a new jewel. It was being displayed in a museum in an exclusive event, only for one weekend. And such is the duty of Kaitou Kid, he had to hold a heist.

~ ♡ ~

'A heist, huh?'

'Maybe I should go.'

Chapter 4: A Happy Ending

'So you are here, Kuroba-kun.'

He looked up from the work station, he'd been engrossed in tinkering with a new gadget he'd been designing and hadn't heard her enter.

'Ran-san?'

'Shinichi got held up solving a case, but he said I could find you here,' she made her way to one of the stools in the room.

'Uh, yes but what are you doing here?'

'To talk,' she smiled as she dusted off the stool and sat down, 'obviously.'

'I'm not sure I'm the first person you go to for gossip, so I'm going to assume everyone else is busy.'

'Uh well not really, I know for a fact that Aoko-chan is not busy at all,' she watched him slightly flinch at the mention of her name - he may be a professional at hiding his emotions, but she had found that people like him always had a weakness.

'Well she seems like a better candidate to spend the evening with,' Kaito had continued to face away from her fiddle aimlessly with the gadget.

'Do you believe her?'

He was slightly taken aback by the question, 'believe what?' When he turned to face her, she looked quite serious, a contrast to her usual cheeriness. He could sense a little bit sadness behind her voice.

'That she doesn't want to see you again?'

'She made it quite clea-'

'And you believed that?'

'I've hurt her enough, she asked me so I-'

'Listened?'

'Precisely.'

'Kuroba-kun, I'm sure you know all about the year Shinichi went missing,' he nodded, although he'd found out later the detective had somehow become a child and was forced to be undercover for a year. 'And do you know what happened when he came back?'

He shook his head, he had played somewhat of a role in the take down of the black organisation, as Kudo had so rightly named it, he knew what happened leading up to it, he knew what happened during it. However, he realised, he wasn't sure what happened after, Kudo had made a reappearance back into society and everyone just accepted it.

'I didn't want to see him again, ever,' she smiled, this time her sadness made for a heartbreaking picture.

'But you, you loved him right?'

'I do Kuroba-kun, I love him so much, but that year was so hard - seeing someone you're so close to disappear and then every time he's back he's distant and disappears as quickly as he appeared. It takes a toll on your heart,' she chuckled quietly, 'I thought I'd be ecstatic to see him again, to hear he was going to stay, but when he explained the truth I didn't know what to feel.'

'But you, you're still with him, you forgave him?'

'Of course I did, at first it felt like the last year had been some sort of lie - it took some time, but I came to accept it, after all I'd waited all this time. Plus he told me the truth, he could just as easily have kept it from me, pretended that Conan had finally moved back with his parents. He told me the truth, that in a way showed how much he loved me too and it made me trust him more afterwards.'

'I'm glad that it worked out for you two,' he smiled, he meant it, they were truly made for each other, but something in his heart told him it would never work for him and Aoko.

'So why didn't you tell her the truth?'

'Huh?'

'You have your own reasons right? For being Kid?'

Kaito wasn't sure what kind of face he pulled at her accusation, 'I- I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Don't play dumb with me Kuroba-kun, my question is why didn't you tell her the truth, you're real reason.'

'I don't want her to get hurt.'

'So you'd rather lose her in another way?'

'Ran-san, I-'

'Just give it another think, and try once more. And this time maybe be more honest,' he opened his mouth to say something, 'to yourself.'

~ ♡ ~

'Aoko-chan!'

'Ran-chan!'

She pulled the other girl into a tight hug, 'Oh, it's so nice to see you again, how are you?'

'Oh you know - the same. Things haven't been the same without Kaito.'

'It's never easy,' as she made her way to one of the sofas in the room she glanced around the room, 'those are very pretty, where did you get them,' she motioned to the flowers in the vase.

'They were a gift,' she picked up the little card next to the vase, 'guess who they're from?' She flipped it over revealing the 'K' in the corner.

'He talked to you?'

'No I found them at the front door, but the handwriting is unmistakable,' she placed it down and sat down next to Ran.

'Are you going to talk to him?'

'Maybe.'

'But Aoko-chan-'

'Ran-chan I promise, I will.'

'Okay, okay, let's change the subject,' she smiled, not really believing her, 'do you know who I bumped into the other day?'

~ ♡ ~

It had come to the night of his heist. This time the trick was simple, one he could do in his sleep, a timeless classic. His target this time was a gorgeous diamond know simply as 'The Queen', a famous art collector had struck a deal with the museum's owner to display the jewel along with others from his collection. There was only one large jewel on display making his job a lot easier.

He smiled he had already managed to sneak in as a police officer, it was genuinely disappointing that police never managers to pick up on it. He reported to the inspector, before heading towards the door, he had conveniently been positioned near the display cabinet. However before he could reach his post, he was in for one hell of a surprise.

Aoko had finally managed to push through the crowds downstairs to where her father was. Inspector Nakamori had been surprised to hear his daughter’s request to be a part of the heist, but it had been a while since she’d shown an interest so he was happy to oblige. She was wearing a stunning gown, the event wasn’t a regular one, but rather a black tie event only those with an invitation could get in, she had been invited as an up and coming author, she had nearly declined, but other than that she wanted to be a part of the squad. She had managed to find a dress of her mother’s, a beautiful a-line formal dress. The colour was a deep blue with a sparkle to it, in the light she seemed like a star. The neckline was slightly revealing, as the sleeves were off the shoulder the tops of her breasts were showing, even Kaito couldn’t deny that she had grown into a gorgeous woman.

'You look just like your mother, I'm proud of you.' She hugged her dad, he was a man of few words when it came to her mother. 

When Kaito finally noticed her she was laughing with another man, tucking her hair behind her ear, the curls carefully done in a bun. He didn’t like the expression the man had on his face, not when he kept making obvious glances down her body. For a second he considered it, Aoko or his cover.

He nodded Aoko it is.

He appeared next to them and clearing his throat he said, ‘sorry to interrupt, but the inspector would like to talk to the young woman,’ he put an arm around her, ‘so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be escorting her there.’ 

The man made a noise of protest as Kaito half-dragged her out of the room.

Once the had gotten out of the crowded room and were standing near the staff stairs she pulled her arm away from him, ‘what do you think you’re doing, Kaito! You can’t just drag me out the room like that!’

‘I heard no complaints on the way here,’ he was facing and was finally able to take a good look at her.

‘He was creeping me out, so I left with you,’ she turned away from his gaze that was now scrutinising her appearance. She suddenly felt self conscious, especially when the neckline was so revealing.

He shook his head like he’d been in a trance, ‘why are you even here?’

‘I was invited genius, number one best seller, ring a bell?’

‘Well you need to leave, it’s going to get dangerous soon.’

‘Luckily for me I know how to take care of myself. So if the phantom thief doesn’t mind, I’ll be enjoying the party,’ she curtsied sarcastically before pushing past him to leave.

‘Why haven’t you told your dad?’

She stopped and answered without turning to face him, ‘I believe what I do has nothing to do with you.’

~ ♡ ~

The clock struck midnight and the lights went out, the inspector was shouting orders to turn the back up generator on, to shine a light on the display cabinet. There were flashes of Kid’s white cape, but before they could do anything the jewel was gone, no largely elaborate scheme, just a good steal. He made his way up to the roof, he had a glider prepared to fly away, but he, unfortunately, met with two problems.

One of them being the loud shouts behind him, voices he recognises, the organisation out to get him. He kept running, on the roof he had an advantage, but life had other plans because there was none other than Aoko Nakamori waiting for him.

He groaned, ‘Aoko you need to go, you really need to leave.’

‘Kaito? What’s happening?’ She seemed genuinely confused, having only come up for some air.

‘No time to explain, is there another way, apart from that door to get off the roof?’

‘I don’t think so.’

He swore under his breath, this was bad, so bad. They were coming and Aoko’s here.

‘Hey Kaito, will you tell me what’s really going on?’

‘I-‘

Just as he began to speak the door burst open and out stepped Snake.

‘Kaito kid! What a pleasant surprise!’ He noticed Aoko shuffle closer to Kaito, ‘Oh and you bought company how wonderful, you’re girlfriend? I thought you were married to the cape.’

Kaito put his arm out in front of her, ‘Snake, she has nothing to do with this so let her go.’

‘Nah I’m feeling extra annoyed today, men grab her.’

They moved closer in an attempt to grab her, but Kaito was quicker, using his card gun he was able to knock a few out. Aoko wasn’t doing so badly herself, she’d successfully knocked out two guys using a piece of pipe.

In a false sense of security she let her guard down and with all the snails she didn’t notice them man behind her until he grabbed her, ‘Kid!’

He nearly shouted her name back, but stopped himself, they shouldn’t sound so close. As the smoke cleared his surroundings were slowly revealed. Near the edge of the roof stood the man holding Aoko, Snake himself hadn’t moved and there were men lying on the floor.

‘I said she had nothing to do with this, so let her go,’ breathe he told himself, maintain that poker face.

‘Not until you hand over the jewel.'

‘I don’t have it, it’s actually already being delivered back to the inspector right now,’ he confirmed it’s authenticity before making his escape. ‘Since I don’t have it, it’s quite obvious it’s not the jewel you’re looking for.’

Snake snarled at him, ‘how convenient, drop the girl.’

‘What no-‘

‘Have fun,’ Snake smiled before he turned to leave.

Kaito wasted no time jumping after her, his heart was pounding like crazy, this was Aoko falling. He kept trying to reach her, stretching his arms to try and wrap around her. They were falling so fast, the ground was so close. She was reaching for him too, he could see tears in the corners of her eyes.

So he pushed harder to reach her.

With some miracle he was able to grab her and open his glider. However they managed to hit a tree and come crashing down. He let go of the glider so they wouldn’t get as hurt, but when they finally stopped moving he unwrapped his arms that were around Aoko.

’Aoko! Wake up!’

She mumbled before opening her eyes, ‘Kaito?’

‘Are you okay, are you hurt, show me your arm, he didn’t hurt you right?’

She smiled as she watched him fawn over her, making sure she was okay, ‘how about you Kaito, are you okay?’

’Hm, yeah I’m fine.’

’Liar, take off that stupid blazer,’ she tugged it off.

’Its not stupid.’

As she carefully inspected his shirt for tears or signs of blood, she began to speak, ‘why would you jump after me you idiot? You could’ve died.’

’And let you die, I was scared I was going to lose you for a second,' he gave her a small smile as she looked up at him, 'I didn't know how I was going to live in a world without you.'

She looked taken aback, 'Kaito, I'm sorry.'

'Why are you apologising, it should be me that should say sorry.'

'I don't hate you, its not the fact that your Kid that upset me the most, I-'

He cut her off with a small kiss, smiling at her cute shocked face, 'let's talk about this later.'

She burst out laughing, 'I'm sorry, we really should, the police are still looking for you and we're just sitting here.'

'Come on, let's go before your father catches us and accuses me of stealing his daughter.'

'Our place?'

'Our place.'

He put out his hand for her, to help her get up, 'and I never told you how beautiful you look, I'm sorry your dress is ruined.'

'It's fine, I don't really have a reason to wear it out again.'

'And where were you hiding these curves, I for one have never seen them before,' he pulled her closer, holding her waist.

'Well you can't really claim I look like a boy anymore.'

'Aoko you've always looked stunning,' his eyes didn't have a mischievous sparkle as he talked.

'But you-'

'I get nervous around you.'

'The famous Kaitou Kid, nervous around a girl,' she chuckled.

'It's not that funny,' he pouted at the statement.

While he was turned away, she tiptoed to give him a small kiss on the corner of his mouth, 'come on Bakaito, lets go home.'

~ ♡ ~

Fin

I don't like her!

my only kazuhei fic (a tragedy)

full fic here :)

Chapter 1: A letter?!

'Oi Kazuha! Where d'ya run off this morning!' It was clearly too early to be shouting, but this was basically every morning when it came to Heiji Hattori and his 'not' girlfriend Kazuha Toyama.

'Heiji! Didn't I say I was going to school early today,' she turned to face the boy who just entered the classroom.

'So, my mum still gave me an earful,' He walked over to his seat and put his bag down.

'I don't think that has anything to do with me.'

'It does when she was shouting at me for not walking to school with you.' 

'Well I can't help that can I? One of my friends said something weird was sticking out of my locker, so I came early to check it out.'

'So?'

'So what?' She looked away from him, waving at one of friends in a different class as they walked by.

'Did you find the weird thing?'

'Oh yeah, it was a letter,' she quickly turned back to him, taking the letter out. 'Someone must've slipped it in after school,' the small envelope she took out of her bag seemed nice, it was that pastel orange colour Kazuha thought was cute.

'A letter? About what?'

'I haven't checked yet, I promised I'd open it with my friends,' Heiji seemed slightly confused at how the two things were related. 'They think it's a love letter, so they want to see too.'

'A love letter? For you?'

'And what's the problem with that?' Kazuha was definitely glaring at him now, but somehow he couldn't help it, teasing her was fun.

'Just saying there are nicer girls than you, you know one's with quieter voices.' Oh, he was so going to die.

'Well there's clearly someone who thinks otherwise!' She had somehow opened the letter in the few seconds he looked away to greet a classmate. 'See!' She was holding the letter and a movie ticket, a movie date?

'Maybe they're blind,' he shrugged before taking the letter from her. It was clear whoever had written the letter did care about her, in some way, their handwriting was very neat and they had clearly thought it through. However the obvious part was the movie ticket, a clear invitation to a date, maybe he was wrong. He wasn't going to admit it though. However, before he could say anything, he was pushed out of the way.

'Kazuha-chan! Is that a ticket for that new movie?' Kazuha's friends were crowding round her one by one.

'I heard that they're so hard to get!' Another one.

'Woah, who do you think it's from?' And another.

'Someone obviously hot!' How many friends does she have anyway?

'Well if he's going to settle for you,' he chuckled, 'you might as well marry him.'

'Heiji!' She looked like she might throw a chair at him but was saved by their teacher telling them to get to their own seats.

~ ♡ ~

When it got to their morning break, Kazuha had left the classroom as fast as humanly possible, with her friends rushing out behind her. He thought that was a good thing, after all that meant she wasn't going to murder him. Yet. The one thing he had forgotten about, was the rest of his class. His friends were practically attacking him with questions.

'Does that mean you don't like Toyama?' As a sister.

'She's definitely single?' Probably.

'Do you know who it is? You're a detective right?' That's a waste of my time.

'Do you think it's one of our seniors?' A waste of my time.

'It might be, after all Toyama is pretty popular with the boys.' She is?

'Yeah I heard one of the third years was interested in her.' Really?

'Well she's pretty and has a great body, who wouldn't like her?' It would seem he underestimated her popularity.

Well he couldn't keep quiet while they discussed *his* childhood friend, 'yeah right, that's an immature reason to like someone.'

'Oh Hattori do you think she'll accept?'

'If she does, good for them,' this was really starting to annoy him.

'So you are jealous,' one of his friends chuckled, and the others seemed to agree.

'I am not.'

'You so are, you like Toyama.' He felt like he was back in elementary school when everyone thought they liked each other. Honestly so annoying.

'I do not like her!' And as per his luck, Kazuha just happened to walk in. She glanced towards him, catching his eyes momentarily, before resuming her conversation with her friend. Ah the silent treatment, guess he made a mistake.

~ ♡ ~

The rest of the day seemed to move as slowly possible, with lunch seeming like an eternity away. Except when it came, it wasn't peaceful at all, somehow everyone seems to have gotten wind of the situation. 'Second year hottie Toyama got asked out' (not his words). It would seem everyone had something to gain out of this situation but him, apparently he was now very single and lonely. (Kazuha was not his only friend, he had others), and he wasn't sad at all and definitely did not need one of the third year girls comforting him. Though he was sure that's not what she really meant.

~ ♡ ~

So when the day was finally over, he was relieved that he was finally alone, but now he had to deal with Kazuha. Plus he had something to confirm with her. Obviously having avoided him, she was halfway home before he found her.

'Kazuha!' He started to jog to catch up to her, she was still ignoring her. He grabbed her arm forcing her to look at him, 'look Kazuha, I'm sorry okay?'

'It doesn't matter Heiji.'

'Okay but that's not what I wanted to say,' she shot him an annoyed look, 'isn't the day of the movie one of the days that kid and nee-chan are coming to visit?'

He let go of her arm so she could check, waiting for her to confirm she couldn't go.

'Yup, it is. Wait,' Heiji celebrated secretly to himself, now she can't go, 'that's perfect!' 

Perfect?

'Now Ran-chan can help me,' before Heiji could ask any further she had pulled out her phone to talk to Ran about their visit. She really was excited about this date. The question was why did that bother him so much?

Since it was a Tuesday, he had until Sunday to convince her otherwise about this date. That should be easy.

Chapter 2: Saturday? Already?!

(This bit happened on Tuesday (break))

Kazuha knew practically sprinting out of the classroom wasn't her best idea, but she really didn't want to face Heiji, after all she didn't really care if no one else liked her. She just wanted him to. She could barely hear her friends calling her name until one of them had physically stopped her.

'Kazuha-chan are you okay?'

'Kazuha you shouldn't have run away,' she bent over trying to catch her breath, 'man I forgot you did Aikido.'

'Yeah, really Kazuha-chan you should have let us catch up.'

She smiled, she might be sad, but it felt better to have someone around her. She let them catch their breath, before walking with them.

'Say are you going to go, I mean don't you like Hattori-kun.'

'Yeah, you've always liked him right?'

She looked down, it was true, she had liked Heiji for a long time. However it was getting more obvious that he didn't share the same sentiment, so she was going to forget about him and date someone else. 'Well that idiot clearly doesn't like me back so I am moving on,' she declared. 'I mean whoever sent this letter might be way better than Heiji, right?'

'Kazuha-chan,' her friend put her hand on her shoulder, momentarily she regretted everything she just said, 'we're rooting for you!' She blinked in confusion before hugging her friends, okay she was going to do it, she was going to forget Heiji!

Well maybe not forget, they have been friends forever and their parents were close and she knows his house inside out. BUT! That wasn't going to stop her from moving on either. So when he heard Heiji shout as she walked in, she ignored him, after all she was meant to be forgetting him.

~ ♡ ~

(After School)

She nearly gave up when he grabbed her arm to apologise, he practically never apologised, but gave that up when he immediately changed his tone. However, he did bring up a good point that Ran and Conan were visiting that weekend. 

She really needed to talk to Ran, she really needed her help now.

~ ♡ ~

(Saturday Morning)

Heiji's unsure how it was already a Saturday, he had no time at all to convince Kazuha otherwise about that date of hers. After all he barely saw her all week, at breaks she was surrounded by her friends, at lunch she left the classroom before he could stop her and she did something after school to avoid walking home with him. So here he was standing near the entrance of the train station, waiting for both Kazuha, Kudo and nee-chan to arrive. 

'Hattori-kun!'

'Heiji nii-chan!'

'Oh the both of you are here,' he sighed before turning to look around the station quickly. 'What is that girl even doing, the both of you are already here.'

'Kazuha-chan didn't come with you Hattori-kun?'

'We, uh, had a disagreement of sorts,' he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, 'I think she's avoiding me.'

'Heiji nii-chan did you say something mean to Kazuha nee-chan?' He could hear the teasing tone of the brat's voice.

'That's not it!' However, he couldn't finish defending himself because Kazuha had practically materialised out of nowhere next to him.

'Sorry, I'm late I was trying to pick out an outfit,' she smiled at Conan and Ran, but even to them it was obvious she was avoiding looking at Heiji. 'Ran-chan, come on lets go!'

'Ran nee-chan, where are you going?' Conan hadn't heard anything about being left with Heiji, not that it bothered him. He was just curious.

'Oh Conan-kun, we're just going shopping, I thought it might bore you, plus if we took you, Hattori-kun would have to come too. I didn't think either of you wanted to spend all day shopping with us. That's all,' she smiled kindly at him and he had to agree, he didn't want to spend all day shopping.

'Then we're off, Heiji we're having dinner at your place tonight. Don't forget 'kay?' Kazuha gave them a small smile and with that the both of them walked away.

'You want to follow them, right Hattori?'

'You think they're hiding something too?'

'Ran doesn't usually give such long excuses unless she really wants someone to leave her alone. I'm guessing it's for Toyama's sake though.'

'Kazuha, why?'

'You said you fought, right?'

'I told you it wasn't a fight, just a small disagreement.'

'Uhuh. I heard them talking on Tuesday, I mostly heard them talking about shops to visit, but I did hear the words 'going on a date',' Heiji slightly flinching gave it away that Conan had heard those words correctly. 'If it was Ran who had the date, Sonoko wouldn't have let me hear the end of it and I'm pretty sure she would have told me. So that means it's Toyama who has a date, at first I thought it might have been with you, but that couldn't be possible.' He saw Heiji slightly glare at him, 'firstly, you knew we were coming, as stupid as you may be you wouldn't schedule a date then and I heard Ran ask Kazuha why she wasn't talking to you, so I guessed you were fighting again and she had a date with someone else.'

'Kudo, you're completely correct,' the detective looked slightly defeated, 'she got some letter from someone at school and I've never seen her so excited for something before. But the problem is I don't know why it's bothering me so much.'

'That's because you're immature,' he moved out-of-the-way before Heiji could attack him, he continued 'but you want to follow them right? Ran probably wanted to spend time with Toyama alone to cheer her up though.'

'Cheer her up?'

'She sounded kind of upset over the phone, plus Sonoko and Ran always go shopping to cheer either one of them up.' He watched Heiji furrow his brows in confusion, 'but I think they're most likely shopping for her date tomorrow, she was kinda dressed up today.'

'You noticed that, she doesn't usually dress like that,' it looked like he was thinking really hard, but failing to understand.

'You know we're going to lose them if we continue to stand here.'

'Oh right.'

~ ♡ ~

'Kazuha-chan you look really pretty today!' She beamed at her friend.

'Really? I tried putting on make-up today, I haven't really dressed up like this, not since my birthday anyway.'

'Kazuha-chan did you really mean what you said about giving up on Hattori-kun?' 

Kazuha was slightly taken aback by her straightforward question, but she had expected it. Unlike her, Ran was much stronger, despite not seeing Kudo Shinichi for months, she wasn't going to ever give up on him. 'I'm not like you Ran-chan, Heiji doesn't like me in that way. It's not like you and Kudo-kun, he clearly loves you,' she chuckled, her smile sort of sad, slightly at the girl blushing. 'Don't worry about me Ran-chan, this is my choice, I'll be okay.' The other girl nodded, not entirely convinced, but instead she smiled and let her lead them to another shop.

Kazuha-chan I'm not strong at all, I do miss him and I'm sure Hattori-kun cares for you in his own way. One day he'll realise it, so I hope you hold on a little longer.

~ ♡ ~

Heiji and Conan were sitting on bench, completely exhausted. 

'We've been absolutely everywhere they would've gone! How could we not have found them, Kudo where could they have disappeared too?'

'Lunch probably, I'll ask Ran if we can join them, hopefully she'll tell us. That is of course if Toyama doesn't mind.' He cast an accusatory glance at Heiji, she was technically avoiding him and him only.

Ran had picked up on the third ring 'Conan-kun?'

'Ran nee-chan, we were wondering if you lunch yet? We could have lunch together.'

'Ah Conan-kun, I'm sorry we just got lunch,' she sighed before continuing, 'don't tell Hattori-kun, but Kazuha-chan doesn't really want to see him, okay Conan-kun? Could you keep him busy for me? Please? Kazuha-chan looks happier now.'

'I'll try Ran nee-chan,' with that she cut the phone, leaving Conan to deal with boy standing next to him.

'What did she say?'

'Are you sure it was just a small disagreement?'

'Um,' the Osakan looked away.

'She told us to stay away for now, maybe you should work out how to apologise to her.'

'She said she didn't care when I did that, man, women are confusing.'

'I've got to agree with you there.'

He sighed before getting up 'come on let's at least get lunch, you can tell me about your cases this month.'

~ ♡ ~

Fortunately they didn't come across any cases that day and made it back to the Hattori residence on time. Ran and Kazuha had already come back and were helping Heiji's mum with dinner.

'Heiji-kun! Come across any cases today?' Kazuha's parents were also here, hopefully they hadn't heard about their fight, he didn't particularly want her dad to press him about it. He could definitely be very scary.

'Not today, any interesting cases pop up recently?'

'Not that we need your help with and Conan-kun, we haven't seen each other since that once case right?'

'Yes, have you seen Ran nee-chan?'

'Ah Kazuha and her friend were helping out in the kitchen, but I think they went to get changed.'

'Changed?'

'Kazuha wanted to show Shizuka-san and her mum the dress she bought for tomorrow.'

Heiji's dad interrupted, 'is tomorrow important?'

'I think she said something about a date? You wouldn't know anything about that would you Heiji-kun?' The question was polite enough, but Heiji still felt slightly threatened.

'Ah yes, she'd going on a date with someone from school tomorrow.'

'Not you?' Heiji felt his face heat up at the question, but before he could answer he could hear Kazuha and Ran's voices from down the corridor. 

He only caught a glimpse of Kazuha's outfit as they passed by the door. He now knew one thing: he was very much screwed for tomorrow.

Chapter 3: Best Friends

'Heiji-kun? Are you okay?' Heiji's brain had stopped being able to function properly. What was he even supposed to say? He could only hope his face wasn't as red as it felt.

'I think Heiji nii-chan is tired, we walked a lot today. I'll take him to his room.'

'Ah okay, don't push yourself too hard.'

After finally getting to his room, Heiji fell into his bed. He sighed and turned towards the boy sitting on the chair, 'Kudo what on earth is wrong with me?'

'Hattori, how many times are you going to ask that? You kinda need to figure that out for yourself.'

'Say Kudo, how long have you liked that nee-chan of yours?'

The other boy blushed, looking at something outside the window, 'how is that important? That doesn't really matter now.'

'Oh so it was practically love at first sight, huh?'

'Oi Hattori, don't you have other issues to deal with right now?'

Heiji started to say something, only for Kazuha to burst into his room, 'ah, the both of you are here. Dinner's ready, we're going to eat.'

'We'll be there Kazuha nee-chan,' he smiled at the girl as she closed the door, 'come on Hattori, we can deal with your problem tomorrow, let's eat.'

'Fine.'

After dinner Ran had decided to stay the night at Kazuha's house, leaving Conan with Heiji. His mum made them go to sleep as soon as possible, on the count of Heiji looked drained. Which was true in some part, he looked exhausted despite not having done much that day but going to bed early didn't help whatsoever. Instead he spent most of the night tossing and turning, for some reason he didn't want tomorrow to come.

He was woken up by Conan, who had been struggling to wake him up for a while. It was about 10 in the morning, Kazuha's movie date was at 4, giving him very little time to stop her. 

After they'd got changed and had some breakfast, the girls had come over to pick them up. The both of them were quite dressed up, well more so than usual.

'Ran nee-chan? Are you going somewhere special?' He looked up at her, trying and failing not to blush.

'Oh Conan-kun, not really, Kazuha-chan was embarrassed to dress up by herself so I offered to do so as well.' Ran had chosen a pink summer dress, it was off the shoulder and a mix of baggy and fitting that definitely flattered her.

Kazuha on the other hand had chosen a light orange halter neck dress, it was backless, and had a belt that gave it some shape. The dress itself fell mid-thigh, paired with a cute pair of deep green block heels. Luckily for him, Heiji had chosen that precise moment to go look for his hat. She had hair up in its usual ponytail, with a matching green ribbon. She was wearing little makeup, scared she'd overdo it, either way she looked beautiful, which was precisely what Heiji was scared of.

'What's taking Hattori-kun so long? Conan-kun could you check on him?'

'Sure Ran nee-chan.' However, he couldn't find the Osakan detective anywhere, that was until he walked into one of the back rooms. Heiji was sitting there talking or arguing with his mum, it took him a while to realise that Conan was standing in the doorway.

'Ah Kudo, I can explain. But could you tell the girls to go on without me, just make something up.'

He didn't bother questioning it, when he made it back to the girls he told them that he couldn't find Heiji nii-chan and that they should go ahead. He then had to promise Ran that they would join them for lunch at least. 

Heiji on the other hand was facing some sort of crisis, he couldn't possibly face Kazuha now, when he caught a glimpse of her this morning his heart definitely did a flip, which was not good. His mum hadn't helped either, he fished out a bunch of pictures of the both of them when they were younger and it didn't help that they looked very close. Whatever feeling he was feeling, it was making him very uncomfortable, he couldn't possibly be in love with her, they were best friends. That's it, anyone would be annoyed to see their best friend be close to someone else. That's all, he didn't want to lose a good friend like Kazuha.

'Hey Kudo!'

'You owe me one Hattori.'

'Ah thanks Kudo, what did they say?'

'They want us to at least join them for lunch, some cafe, 12:30.'

'We have an hour and a half Kudo, what d'ya want to do til then?'

'I still haven't seen the Osaka Police HQ'

He grinned at the request, 'you've come to the right person.'

~ ♡ ~

After a tour that could only interest police officers and keen detectives, they had made it just in time for lunch with the girls. When they got there, Kazuha and Ran were deep in conversation, but had stopped by the time the boys had gotten to the table.

'Glad you were able to make it Hattori-kun.'

'Ah yeah, no problem.' Kazuha shot him a small glare, suggesting that, that was not the best possible reply. However, in a way it showed that things were becoming normal between them.

'Say Ran-chan, what time are you guys leaving today?'

'Our train is at 7:30, you don't have to worry about seeing us off, just enjoy your date.'

'Say Kazuha, how are you getting back home?'

'I haven't really thought about that, he'll probably walk me back, right?'

'He?' Heiji blinked at her, slightly confused, before realising who she was on about. 'Oh, you're boyfriend~' he chuckled, just a little teasingly.

'Heiji!'

'Kidding, kidding,' but he was still laughing, ignoring the slight twist in his stomach.

~ ♡ ~

Heiji, Ran, and Conan hid behind a random pillar as they watched Kazuha meet up with her date. It turned out to be one of the third years, he was good-looking and probably popular. Ran slightly gasped as they linked arms and walked into the cinema.

'Hattori-kun, let's go.'

'Go where?'

'Don't you want to spy on them too?'

'Uh, I don't think that's a good idea Ran nee-chan,' he tried tugging on the hem of her dress gently, but she wouldn't be swayed.

'The both of you can go somewhere else if you want, but I'm staying.'

'Do you even know what movie they're watching? Or what seat they're in?'

'Well, I wouldn't be suggesting this if I didn't, they're watching the new Okino Yoko movie and their seats are in the middle. If we get seats at the back, they won't know.'

'You know that sounds like a very risky plan Ran nee-chan, I think it would be better if we didn't.'

'Yeah, we have time 'til your train, how about we do something else.'

She glanced between the both of them, realising there would be no way to convince them she sighed, 'fine, got anything in mind?'

~ ♡ ~

Heiji was talking to Conan and Ran as they waited for their train, they'd sent the last couple of hours walking around many different shops. Conan had managed to stay away from buying more versions of Sherlock Holmes from a book shop they had found. Ran had bought herself a cute purse. Heiji on the other hand was slightly preoccupied, as much as he did not want to admit it, he cared about Kazuha and her date.

He couldn't tell whether it was a good or bad thing he had turned down Ran's offer to follow them, after all was it so bad to be curious about his best friend?

Just as the train was arriving, they heard a shout, 'Ran-chan!'   'Kazuha-chan? What are you doing here?'

'To see you off,' seeing her friend's slight confusion, she added, 'I'll tell you about it later, kay?'

'Oh okay,' she turned to face them both, 'thanks for having us, come visit us soon.'

'No problem, we'll see each other soon.' 

'Make sure to check your phone later on, 'kay Ran-chan?'

'Sure, we'll see you guys next time.'

The teenagers watched as their friends got on the train, waving at them as they walked to their seats. They waited for a little bit before heading back. 

'Say Kazuha, I thought your boyfriend was taking you home today.'

'As if, he was so annoying,' she glanced at Heiji before continuing, 'he would not shut up at all, worse all he did was talk about himself.'

Heiji chuckled earning a small glare from her, 'sorry, carry on.'

'After the movie, he wanted to take a walk somewhere, and guess what. He tried to give me a necklace with our initials on it.'

'A necklace?'

'Yeah, it was a leaf, or something, but we aren't even dating, isn't initials going a bit too far?' She watched as Heiji nodded albeit a bit confused, 'so I told him I'd think about it.'

'But you're going to say no?'

'Obviously, I don't know how though. He's just not my type.'

'Wow, so what's your type, guys who fall asleep during movies?'

She smiled at his attempt at a joke, 'of course not, ones who talk about the movie at the right points, oh wait a second Heiji.' She stopped and using him for balance took off her heels, 'that feels so much better, I don't know people walk in these all day.'

'Want me to carry you?'

She laughed at his offer, 'as if you could carry me all the way back home, no offence Heiji but I doubt you're that strong.'

'Yeah right, get on I'll prove it to you,' he bent down slightly to let her get on his back.

'Sure, what should we bet on this.'

'Loser pays for okonomiyaki next week.'

'Oh it's on.'

~ ♡ ~

Needless to say Heiji had lost, not because he was weak, more like Kazuha had leaned in front to say something and Heiji who had turned to ask her something was surprised at how close their faces had gotten, and dropped her. 

Kazuha chuckled as she brushed her clothes lightly, 'guess you owe me lunch.'

'That doesn't count, you scared me.'

'Your excuses won't work now Heiji,' she shot him an innocent smile before continuing to walk back.

'It's not an excuse!' He jogged to catch up with her, for now their relationship had gone back to what it normally was. How long that would last was unclear, but for now, walking back together felt perfect.

Just as best friends. For now.

~ ♡ ~

Love Under a Starry Sky

my first fic how nostalgic T-T

full fic underneath :)

Chapter 1: The Letter

Hi guys this ff was meant to be more cheerful but Aoko is a little OOC. I do promise a happy ending tho!

~ ♡ ~

Kaito was no way or form in love with his best friend. Not at all. He didn't love her cute face or messy hair. He didn't love the way she speaks or the clumsy way she walks. And he definitely didn't love her eyes, not the way they sparkled - true to her name the child of blue. Aoko Nakamori. She definitely didn't keep him up at night. Kaito knew Aoko wasn't the prettiest or most elegant girl but to him she was perfect, but his situation prevented him from telling her. Telling her she was the only one for him.

Aoko definitely loved her best friend and it scared her. He was Kaito, her silly childhood friend. The one who always looked up her skirt or was pulling mean pranks on her. However, he was always there, when she was scared or upset. Ready to hug her or to cheer her up. She liked how his arms wrapped around her and his calm voice, she really liked that part of him.

Despite her knowing him most her life, it still scares her, he's definitely hiding something - something big. whatever it is she knows she'll be hurt. That's why when she got the letter, both of them were surprised - Aoko was friendly and cute but she had never received a love letter. Reading it, Kaito felt his heart twist and he didn't like this new feeling.

_Dear Aoko Nakamori,

I think about you all the time - I don't think you hear it often enough, but you're beautiful. I have wanted to tell you this for a really long time, unfortunately I never got the chance, so I am writing to you instead.

I like you. I don't expect you to reply immediately, let's say today 22:30 on the school rooftop. I look forward to seeing you.

Your Secret Admirer.

P.S. I hope you like the gift._

It was simple enough, it was clear whoever wrote this didn't spend too much time on it but the thought was there. The paper itself was of high quality and a pretty baby blue and the gift referred to in the letter was a pair of clip on earrings - the same crystal clear blue of her eyes. The same eyes he loved staring at.

'Aoko,' he began, trying to swallow his jealousy, 'you don't plan on going do you?'

Her reply wasn't what he expected, the usually happy and lively girl he knew just looked fed up. 'Why shouldn't I?' It was barely a whisper but it scared him, Aoko was never this quiet. Something was bothering her. 'At least that way I won't be alone, plus it's not like I had anything to do anyway.'

'Alone? Aoko what do you mean?' Kaito knew that even if she was sad, she usually made an effort to sound cheerful, but she wasn't. 'Kid's heist is today, that bastard that's stealing my dad away from me, strikes again.'

'Bastard? Aoko what do you mean alone,' this was very bad, Aoko hated being alone, but she hasn't brought up the topic in a while, 'you have me, don't you?'

'Do I Kaito? Do I really? Recently you've been so distant.' She looked like she was trying hard to hold back her tears. He hated seeing her like this, but he couldn't do anything. He was that bastard, the one whose stealing her father, the reason he's been distant.

'Aoko-san?' This voice - ugh. Hakuba. Kaito turned to face the boy walking towards them, his face suggested he was worried about Aoko's demeanour, her usual smiling face covered by her hair and eyes glassed over with tears.

'Nakamori-san? What are you holding?' Akako wasn't really one to talk to Aoko without insulting her in some way, but even she sounded concerned.

'Aoko-san, if you're not feeling well you should go back home and rest.'

'That's right Nakamori-san, you should get some rest.'

Aoko mumbled something along the lines of 'okay, I might as well,' but it was hard to tell. As she walked towards the door she bumped into Keiko - one of her good friends, they talked for a little bit before Aoko walked out of the classroom and made her way out of the school.

'Shouldn't you be doing something Kuroba-kun, she is your best friend?'

'I don't think she wants to talk to me,' he began, feeling the eyes of his class land on him as Aoko left.

'Don't be ridiculous Kaito-kun, of course she wants to talk to you.'

'Keiko?'

'She's clearly upset about something and the least you could do as her best friend is try and talk to her.' He sighed, Aoko was upset about something he was a part of, he couldn't postpone today's heist without confirming Hakuba's suspicions and probably Aoko's too. The best he could do was to talk to her after school.

Today was definitely going to be busy.

Chapter 2: Talk

The day was painfully long, Kaito couldn't listen to his teachers anymore and lunchtime was even worse. A number of students had assumed that Aoko had left that morning because of a fight they had. A number of girls from their year asked whether she had been rejected by him, to which he could only blush and deny that anything romantic had happened between them.

However the worst part of all was his own classmates asking if the love letter had been from him - idiots, he'd have done something way better than this, something way more extravagant.

He couldn't wait for this day to be over and when it did he was glad he didn't have cleaning duty. He got back home as fast as he could, ignoring his mum's questions and running to his room. He quickly changed into something more casual before, once again, running out of the room and towards the exit. His mum had other plans though. She caught him by the hood of his jacket and made him explain what happened. 

'I see, Aoko-chan is upset with you in more ways than one,' she chuckled, clearly thinking about the irony that he so happens to be Kid. 'You should kiss her.'

'Kiss!?' he sputtered, his mum was known for her carefree attitude and weird personality, but that was crossing a line. 'WHAT- what do you mean kiss?'

'Ha - you thought I wouldn't notice your little crush on little Aoko-chan, you should tell her and probably kiss her too. After all when your dad kissed me I couldn't help but fall head-over-heels for him...'

Kaito had quickly sneaked away whilst his mum was stuck reminiscing about the past, kiss Aoko - ridiculous he definitely didn't like her, at least not in that way. He sighed before crossing the road to get to Aoko's place, he had been delayed too much.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on her front door hoping she would answer and preferably not kill him. Aoko took a while to answer the door so he waited before knocking again. She was really taking her sweet time getting to the door, but before he could knock a third time she opened the door. She had clearly been crying and had probably cried herself to sleep at one point - her eyes were very puffy, her clothes, and hair was messy as if she'd been lying down.

'Kaito?' Her voice was quiet, he fought the urge to call her cute, her cute clothes and messy hair were making it really hard. However, it would probably make her more annoyed.

'Aoko can I come in?' She nodded silently and motioned him to come in. 

'Why are you here Kaito? Don't you have anything to be doing right now?' 

'I do, but you're more important than that,' he shot her one of his signature smirks, but she rolled her eyes and chuckled. Good - he thought - she's smiling again.

'But really why are you here?' She sunk back into the sofa and he followed.

'You weren't yourself this morning, and I guess I was worried about you,' he inched a little closer to her and nearly jumped when she turned to face him. Her face was suddenly very close to his. He was used to teasing her from a slight distance, however being this physically close made his stomach flip. He also made the mistake of glancing at her lips and his mum's words came back to him. If he leaned further in their lips would meet and they'd be kissing. Kissing Aoko, Aoko his best friend, Aoko the girl he was currently very close to. He could feel his face heat up and was slightly thankful when she buried herself in his arms so she couldn't see his face that was becoming redder. 

'Um Aoko? Is everything okay?' He carefully wrapped his arms around her and tried to calm his heart down.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude to you this morning, I was just annoyed and took it out on you,' when she looked up, her pouting face made his heart beat way too fast. Her lips were also very close, he shook his head and pushed her away slightly. Cursing those thoughts for coming back.

'It's quite hot in here, right?' He fanned himself with his hands. Aoko looked at him with a confused face.

'I did turn up the heating because it was cold, but you're probably feeling hot because you're wearing that massive jacket of yours.' He chuckled nervously at her statement and tried to shrug off his jacket. He placed his jacket in the edge of the sofa and looked back to her, she was slightly further away from him, which was a good thing, but he suddenly missed the feeling of having her in his arms.

'So, um, you know,' he began, anxiously turning to face her.

'Yes?'

'About that..'

'About what?'

'That letter, you know the one you got this morning? Are you going to go?'

'Oh that I nearly forgot,' she got up and walked towards the chest of drawers, picking up the letter and shaking out the earrings put inside. She clipped them on as she walked towards him.

'What do you think? Aren't they pretty? I'm going to wear them when I meet whoever wrote that letter.'

'So you're really going huh?' 

'Ooh are you jealous Kaito?'

'NO! Why would I be? Hah! Jealous - preposterous!' He was really sputtering now. Aoko on the other hand was laughing at the odd face he was making.

'You should see how you look right now. I'm just going to thank whoever it is, but I have someone else I like.' She giggled at his clear relief, only to be confused yet again.

'You do!? Who?'

She chuckled, 'I'm not telling you,' and walked away, leaving a very puzzled Kaito behind.

'Hey! Wait! At least tell me how you're going to get there and back!'

Aoko stopped walking away and looked at him, 'you know I haven't really thought about that.'

'Really,' he wasn't surprised, she was usually this scatterbrained.

'I can't drop you there, but I can pick you up,' he started, but quickly added that he had to do something for Jii-chan when she glared at him. 'You should bring your helmet with you, I'm taking my bike to the parlour.'

'Sure, don't be late okay?'

''Kay.' He smiled at her before leaving, it had gotten surprisingly late. 

He smiled as he got onto his bike, all he had to do was complete this heist and meet her at school.

Easy.

Chapter 3: The Heist and the Confession

10 minutes. Kaito was listening carefully to the bugs placed at the heist location. His target tonight was a sapphire, it was being bought over for an exhibition. Sadly, this was the only big jewel on display.

'Inspector Nakamori, the emergency lights have been prepped and the generator is hidden at the back of the room.'

'Good, we'll be ready for that pesky thief now.'

He breathed out, 'so that's how you want to play it.' He placed the mask of the officer on and placed another mask on top. One could never be too careful. He turned on his walkie-talkie and in Inspector Nakamori's voice told the officers he had spotted Kid in the exhibition room and for everyone to gather there.  Now the officers not in the exhibition room would rush there, allowing him to slip in.

He made his way there, ready to start the next phase of his plan.

As soon as he was there, the room was already in panic allowing him to go to the back of the room. After confirming that the generator was turned off, he tripped the switches. The room was plunged into darkness.

'TURN ON THE GENERATOR, QUICKLY!'

'But, sir...'

'NOW!'

'Sir, the generator, it's broken!'

'WHAT! SOMEONE TURN ON A LIGHT!'

'Sir! The sapphire!'

'WHAT!'

Kaito let the lights turn on, after all, what's a heist without showing off?

'Inspector Nakamori, as you can see I now have the jewel.'

'KID!'

'You really made it too easy, Inspector, that wasn't even a challenge.'

'KID HOW DARE YOU!'

'Oh calm down inspector, there's no need to shout.'

He pulled his hat further down and threw a smoke bomb, allowing him to escape on his hang glider. It was odd that the heist was too easy, there was a tracker on the fake jewel. The real one was inside the generator. He had slid the jewel into the pocket of the exhibition owner. Who was also 'sleeping' in the toilet (he disguised the officer he put to sleep as the owner). That way, they will be tricked into thinking that the Kaito Kid flying away is just a dummy (with the help of a fake propeller and some balloons). He laughed, no-one can trick someone who lies professionally.

Now to Ekoda High School.

Aoko shivered slightly as she stood on the roof of the school. It had been slightly hard work to sneak in, but that didn't really matter. This feeling was definitely liberating. The cold night air and slight wind didn't deter her. She had chosen to wear a white dress with dark blue details, to match the earrings she had been given.

She stared up at the sky, the city lights dimmed the stars but the moon was beautiful. She glanced around the night sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kid, she wasn't sure why she was looking for him. Maybe she just wanted to know whether he'd been caught or not. Sighing, she turned around only to be surprised by a new presence on the rooftop.

'Kid.' The Phantom Thief was standing a few feet away from her. She could see his smug smile from underneath the hat.

'Nakamori-san,' he pulled out the jewel from today's heist, 'just the person I was looking for.'

'What are you doing here?' Her happy mood has disappeared. He held the sapphire to the moonlight.

'This isn't what I'm looking for, so I'll give it to you.' 

She blinked in confusion, 'me?'

'I don't doubt you Nakamori-san,' he began walking toward the end of the roof.

'Why return them? The jewels I mean?' She chuckled at his confusion as he turned around, 'you worked so hard to steal them, why not keep them?'

'It's quite simple actually,' he pulled out his hang glider, 'I don't keep what's not mine, after all I have a better sapphire.'

He stepped off the edge of the roof, flying away.

Or at least that's what it looked like. This time it really was a dummy flying away, the real Kaito had put on his black cloak and was now dangling from the side of the school. He carefully made his way down the side and changed his clothes. Now all he had to do was to appear in front of Aoko, as if nothing had happened.

He made his way to the roof.

'Aoko.' He couldn't stop the blood rushing to his face when he saw her. The faint glow of the moon made her dress light up in a way that made her look angel-like. The wind blowing through her hair only served to make her look like she came out of a fairy tale. He shook his head, now was not the time to be fawning over her.

'Kaito,' her face lit up and she waved at him.

'Aoko did you meet whoever sent the letter.'

'Oh that, no I didn't,' she shrugged and turned to look at the city skyline. 'They must've forgotten, but guess who I did meet?'

'Um, who?' He smiled at her obvious excitement.

'I'm not telling.'

'Hey.' She giggled and looked at him, pulling him into a hug. After some hesitation, he pulled her closer. He felt his heart pounding, why was he feeling this? This entire day Aoko had made him feel a real variety of emotions.

'I'm glad you came Kaito.'

'Aoko, I,' he gently pushed her away from him, so he could see her face. 'Aoko I have something to tell you.' He gulped hard, what was he trying to do, what was he going to tell her? He could always confess. Confess what? His secret life? His love for her?

Love. That was it. This whole day had really proved it. 

'Kaito,' she tiptoed up to feel his forehead, 'are you okay? You're face is really red.'

'I-,' this was really bad, she was really close to him. Her lips were way too close. 'Aoko- I.'

She pushed a strand of his hair away from his face, he had to do this, 'oh spit it out.'

'I think, I want to kiss you,' he cursed at himself inwardly. He had to ask now or he wouldn't ever. The thought had been plaguing him for hours. 

She looked at him with wide eyes, 'kiss?' He glanced at her lips, dammit she was definitely wearing lip gloss. He moved his hands from her shoulders down towards her waist and pulled her closer.

'When you got that letter, I was jealous. When you said you'd meet him, I was jealous. And when you were upset, I was worried. You- You've always been important to me, I guess I didn't realise it was like this. And you look so pretty right now. You've been on my mind all day and, and I-'

She had effectively silenced him. With her own lips. The kiss had only lasted mere seconds, but it was enough to shock him. He already missed the feeling of her lips on his, so he pulled her closer.

Her lips were warm as he kissed her. She tiptoed further to tangled her fingers in his hair, so he steadied her with his arms. He had thought about kissing Aoko, before, but this was new. This feeling was unbeatable. 

He felt one of her hands gently stroke his face, her body rocking against his. He had stopped being able to function properly, thoughts of her consuming his mind entirely. They way she felt in his arms. The way her body fit perfectly against his. The way her lips were so soft. He felt her hands travel down to his chest and crumple his shirt.

He gently pulled away, starting to feel slightly light headed, but he kept her close.

'I love you.'

'Bakaito,' her voice was quiet. He smiled as he pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

'Ahouko.'

'Do you plan on kissing me again?' She gently tugged him down.

He chuckled before capturing her lips in another kiss.

- fin - 

Chapter 4: Epilogue (kinda)

Who exactly sent the letter?

'Hakuba-kun! You said this plan would work!'

'Now Akako-san, considering Kuroba-kun, there was a chance it wouldn't.'

'Well now he has the girl and the jewel!'

'Truly unfortunate,' but he could't help but smile, they were made for each other.

Hakuba and Akako had worked together to reveal his secret and capture him (Aoko was an unfortunate addition to the plan). However, they really were unsuccessful. 

~ ♡ ~

What happened to the jewel?

'Ah Kaito stop here.'

'In front of the police station, why? Did your dad forget something?'

'Ah not really,' she stopped to think a little, but she added, 'its a secret!'

Kaito could only really think one thing - God was she cute. He smiled as she walked into the, that girl was his girlfriend!

However as he was lost in thought about the idea of telling her his secret identity she came back.

'Let's go!'

'Do you want me to drop you off at your place?'

'Aren't you coming as well?'

He had to admit, when she said that he did get the wrong idea at first, but the Aoko he knew was not that bold. So he confirmed, 'for what?'

'Dinner! Obviously, I bet you didn't eat doing whatever you did with Jii-san!'

Kaito had to admit he was very hungry and he would never turn down a free meal. Especially one made by his girlfriend, it felt nice calling her that.

'It better be good!'

~ ♡ ~

What about her dad?

'I wonder what she was doing out so late with Kaito-kun.'

'Nakamori-keibu, the report on tonight.'

'Ah detective, you're dismissed, go home.'

'What about you inspector, wasn't that your daughter?' He stood up and walked to the window in his office. He could see Kaito and Aoko drive off towards their house.

'Nah, I'll give them sometime.'

~ ♡ ~

Clover 🍀

she/her | 20 | OP | DCMK | BSD

All fics under #cloverwrites

Hi! This is my new account (the old one had visibilty issues which should be fixed now (hopefully))

These are all my platforms: Fics: AO3: @Clover1412 Wattpad: @BlackClover1412 Fanfiction.net: @Clover1412

Social Media: Twitter: @Clover1412__ Email: cloverwrites1412@gmail.com

(All links under this)

Wattpad

Clover1412 (@BlackClover1412)

Hi everyone :) Just a very bored fan girl who totally doesn't have school work to do ♡ I can be found on other platform...

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/15045705/Clover1412