Luffy practically cried out those words, but they made Ace freeze...
"Hey, hey, Luffy, what do you mean you have no one to rely on except Ace?"
Jig walked over, rested his not-so-large hand on Luffy's head, and ruffled his hair with a smile.
"Oh! Jig! Will you be my friend?"
"Yep, we've been friends since we met. Hehe."
"Yeah! Hahaha!"
Jig's words brought a smile to Luffy's tear-streaked face, and he turned his gaze back to Ace.
"Hey, Ace, Jig's already my friend. What about you?"
Ace rubbed his nose, looking full of himself, and said,
"You say I'm the only one you can rely on, but you don't know what that feels like!"
Ace shouted, his mind filled with the things those people had said before.
"If Roger had a kid... Gahahaha! If he really did, that would be trouble!"
"Someone like that doesn't deserve to come into this world and live! He's a demon!"
Ace's face was as cold and livid as a slab of iron. Yes, when it came to loneliness, who understood it better than he did?
"I can't go back to Foosha Village, and I hate mountain bandits. Aside from Jig, if I don't follow you, I'll be all alone."
"...Being all alone hurts more than getting hurt!"
"What about your parents?"
Ace's expression didn't soften. He simply turned away in silence, putting his back to Luffy.
"I only have my grandpa."
"If I'm around... you won't feel sad anymore?"
"Yeah!"
"If I'm not around... will you be sad?"
"Yeah!"
Ace silently turned back around, though his head was still lowered...
He spoke in an even quieter voice, unconsciously tightening his hold on the iron pipe in his arms.
"Do you... want me... to live...?"
"Huh?"
"Of course!"
At Luffy's answer, a bead of