Brothers

"Not going to be a pirate anymore?"

Luffy stared at Ace with wide eyes, enunciating every word.

After a moment, as if he could not believe his ears, he stressed each word even more and repeated himself.

"Not! Going! To! Be! A! Pirate! Anymore?"

"That's right."

Facing his little brother's questioning, Ace felt as though his heart were being cut apart, but years of experience allowed him to keep his emotions under control.

Meeting Luffy's gaze, he nodded lightly.

"You bastard!"

Before Ace could finish, Luffy flew into a rage. He grabbed his brother by the collar of his coat, veins bulging across his forehead from his agitation.

"Say that again!"

His eyes seemed ready to spit fire. Straw Hat clenched his teeth as tears welled in his eyes.

He felt deeply uneasy, because something was slipping away bit by bit.

"I don't plan on being a pirate anymore."

Ace smiled, though his eyes had reddened slightly.

Having grown up together, he understood Luffy too well. Some things simply could not be explained.

"You!"

Seeing that Ace still refused to take back his words, Luffy's rage surged. Following his instincts, he raised his fist and smashed it hard into Ace's face.

"Boom!"

There was no Armament Haki behind the blow, but Ace was still blasted more than ten meters away by that straight punch. He crashed through seven or eight secondary masts on the Moby Dick before finally stopping.

"Boss!"

"Luffy!"

One second, they had been excitedly hugging and laughing together. The next, they were fighting.

Luffy's sudden outburst made Roronoa Zoro, Marco, and the others' expressions change.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

"You bastard, do you even know what you're saying?"

Luffy clenched his fists until they cracked. With a dark expression, he walked toward Ace, who was