Don't Mock Other People's Tears

"This is Luffy, your little brother from now on. Dadan, I'm leaving Luffy in your care too."

"Hi!"

Luffy greeted Ace with a grin, but Ace merely shot him a sidelong glance, looking slightly disdainful.

"I don't need any little brother..."

Bang!

Garp withdrew his Fist of Love from Ace's head and smiled kindly. "Refusal is useless. Luffy is your little brother."

"Damn old man!"

Ace still crouched with his head in his hands, weak and helpless.

Dadan silently closed the mouth she had been about to use to haggle. She glanced at Ace and could only mutter an apology to herself.

Luffy's eyes flickered as he stared at the huge bump on Ace's head, and he instantly felt a sense of kinship.

Anyone Grandpa could beat up like that couldn't be wrong. This had to be his big brother!

Watching the joke-like scene, Zephyr could only marvel at Garp's unquestioning trust in people.

If Dadan had been a bad person and Ace and Luffy had been forcibly entrusted to her, how could that have ended well? Dumbledore's favorite student had already proven that.

The Monkey family's ability to judge people was really maxed out.

Stepping forward, Zephyr dragged Garp aside and asked in a low voice, "You old bastard, did you give Dadan the childcare money?"

"Childcare money?" Garp blinked. "Probably... did?"

"Then you didn't."

Zephyr immediately looked annoyed. Garp really was as predictable as ever.

Rummaging through his clothes, Zephyr pulled out several stacks of Beli and stuffed them into Garp's hands. "Go give these to Dadan."

"Raising children costs a lot of money."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, okay."

Garp gave four quick responses in a row. When he raised children, he had always favored free-range parenting. As long as they didn't die, that was good enough.

Tying them to balloons and sending them into the sky, tossing them into deep mountain valleys—such outrageous acts were countless. Properly growing up had never really been on Garp's mind.

But Garp deeply respected Zephyr's experience in raising children. Most of the Navy's officers across several generations had come from Zephyr's hands. He could be called the father of Navy education.

"Hey, Dadan, take this. It's not like I'm making you look after my grandson for nothing. I'll still pay what I should."

Several stacks of Beli were tossed over. Dadan froze, then rushed forward to snatch them up. After quickly counting them and confirming the amount, a huge smile immediately bloomed across her face.

"Mr. Garp, couldn't you have said that earlier... Wait, why didn't you pay before?!"

Halfway through her praise, Dadan suddenly realized something. He hadn't paid when it was Ace, but he paid as soon as Luffy arrived. Was this old bastard playing favorites?!

"Ah..." Garp bared his teeth, without the slightest hint of shame in his voice. "Because I forgot. Zephyr reminded me, so I remembered."

The moment those words came out, not only did Dadan freeze, but Ace, who had already been latched onto by Luffy, froze as well.

"Damn old man, what did you say?!"

Ace, completely shattered, kicked Luffy away in one motion. His face flushed red with anger as he glared resentfully at Garp, unable to calm the turmoil in his heart.

Forgot? Why? Why had he been forgotten?!

Ace was at that troublesome, hated-by-everyone age of adolescence. Garp's words were like a match struck hard against a firecracker.

Garp blinked, seeming to realize something was wrong with Ace's reaction, and immediately pointed at Zephyr.

"It was—"

"Shut up! Even without all of you, I can live perfectly well on my own!"

Scalding tears spilled from Ace's eyes. Sure enough, he was someone nobody needed. This wasn't his home at all. He was leaving.

Sabo. Right, he would go find Sabo!

Roaring and shouting, Ace straightened his small body and charged forward with all his strength, about to flee into the forest.

But a large hand firmly pressed down on Ace. Then a towering figure, like a mountain, stepped in front of him.

"It was I who suggested that Garp give Dadan some money. For a family living deep in the mountains, raising children isn't easy.

"Your name is Ace, right? Ace, don't you want to make things a little easier for Dadan, who takes care of you?"

Zephyr looked at Ace's twisted expression, like that of a wounded beast, his face complicated. This child's psychological issues were even more serious than he had imagined.

"Dadan?"

Ace froze. The expression on his face faded as he turned back to look at Dadan, who wore a worried expression but immediately pretended not to care upon seeing him looking. He fell silent.

"I..."

"I don't know what's going through that little head of yours, but don't worry."

Garp walked over. He offered no further explanation, merely reaching out to rub Ace's head. The two bumps from before had already gone down.

"You will always be my grandson, my family. That will never change."

"Sniff..."

Ace suddenly felt pathetic and embarrassed. He tried desperately to hold back his tears, but warmth still streamed down from his eyes.

Zephyr sighed inwardly, patted Ace on the shoulder, turned him around, and sent him back into Garp's arms.

Garp naturally wrapped his arms around his grandson. Rarely, a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes. Had telling Ace about his parentage back then really been the right thing to do?

Luffy, who had been kicked away, climbed back up and dusted himself off, about to go find Ace again, only for Uta to grab him angrily.

"Why did that guy suddenly hit someone, then start crying all by himself? How embarrassing."

"Uta." Luffy looked at his friend. "Are you angry? Why?"

"I—" Looking at Luffy's serious, puzzled face, Uta grew even angrier.

Shanks crouched down and patted both children on the head with a smile. "All right. Hitting people is wrong, but you shouldn't mock someone else's tears."

As he looked at Ace, Shanks's gaze deepened.

Captain, you really did leave behind a huge problem. What a deeply sinful man.

After quite a while, Ace calmed down. His face red, he left Garp's embrace and stood blankly to one side without saying a word.

Seeing this, Dadan said nothing. She simply cheerfully prepared to show Garp and the others their rooms.

"It's getting late. Do you want to stay here tonight too? There are plenty of empty rooms."

When no one objected, Dadan led the group to their rooms before quietly withdrawing.

The pile of conflicts between those grandfathers and grandsons could be left for them to sort out themselves.

Ace still said nothing. He simply followed Garp along, head lowered, staring at the ground.

Luffy wanted to play with Ace, but Uta held onto him tightly and refused to let him go.

Garp had a headache. Only now did he realize that he really might not know how to take care of children, so he could only cast a pleading look at Zephyr.

Zephyr said nothing and merely looked at Shanks, signaling that it was his turn.

Shanks smiled, flicked his cape back, and strode toward Ace.

"I heard from Mr. Garp that you already know about your parentage, is that right?"

!

Ace abruptly raised his head. The smiling Shanks entered his sight, and the sight of him was irritating.

Ace turned his head away to ignore him, then secretly glanced at Garp, signaling that he didn't know this stranger.

Garp opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Shanks spoke first.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Shanks. I was once an apprentice aboard the Roger Pirates. I grew up with the Roger Pirates from the time I was a baby. To me, Captain Roger and the others were like fathers, so you can call me big brother."

Shanks continued speaking on his own, his voice seeming to turn into blades that stabbed into Ace's ears.

Shanks filled his vision. Ace stared directly at the red-haired man before him and clenched his fists.

"Bastard pirate!"