Chapter 26: The Impolite Brother

Time passed, and people continued their lives as before. The inspection period by the World Government had ended, and garbage was once again being dumped from the back of the kingdom. The mountain of trash resumed its former state, and soon the homeless would reappear on top of it.

...

In front of the Dadan family home, Luffy and Ace were sparring as usual. Luffy charged up to unleash a rubber punch, his range much longer than before, but he struggled to control it. When the punch snapped back, the force sent Luffy spinning in place like a top. Ace laughed mockingly at him, and the two of them started arguing again.

"Alright, alright, Luffy just needs more practice."

"It's time for us to settle this, Ace!"

Typically, at this moment, Sabo would come out to mediate. But when Luffy and Ace turned around, they only saw Kaito Sakamoto standing there.

"I know you both miss Sabo, but it hurts me to see you making that face," Kaito said with a bittersweet smile.

"That's not it, Kaito! I just suddenly feel that Sabo is such a gentle big brother," Ace blurted out, getting a bit riled up.

"What do you mean? You think I'm scary?!"

"What do you think?!"

They began arguing again, and Kaito shook his head. "Alright, it's lunchtime."

"How about we have a hunting competition? Let's meet back here in half an hour."

"Sure! I'm definitely going to win!" Luffy and Ace shouted in unison, a rare moment of teamwork.

"I'll head right, you two decide whether to stick together or split up."

With that, Kaito walked toward the right. Ace and Luffy exchanged glances.

"Let's go together; I can't trust you alone if you're that weak."

Ace still cared for Luffy; he just had a tough exterior.

"Who's weak?!!"

"Fine, when we come across the first beast, I'll handle it myself! Don't help me!"

At such a young age, Luffy would get fired up easily. Not much had changed as he grew up.

...

Meanwhile, Kaito was leisurely wandering along the path. After a while, he spotted four wild rabbits grazing under a tree: one big one accompanied by three little ones. He shook his head; rabbits were so cute... Should he braise them or steam them?

Suddenly, he raised his hand, his flintlock gun ready. Without aiming, he fired two shots instantly.

Bang! Bang!

Both shots struck the larger rabbit and one of the smaller ones. Kaito knew his physique wasn't strong; while Ace and Luffy were working hard to build their strength, he had chosen to focus on honing his skills, especially with firearms that didn't require much physical power.

After hitting two rabbits, the other two little ones got startled and hopped around in panic. Time to aim.

But just as Kaito lifted his gun, the two frightened rabbits ran headfirst into the tree trunk and died.

Kaito blinked in surprise, lowered his gun, which transformed back into a bracelet.

"Not bad."

He walked over and picked up the four rabbits. "A family should be together; I'll cook you all in one pot later."

...

Humming a tune, Kaito returned to the meeting spot. Just as he was about to sit down and rest, he heard a loud shout.

"Luffy!!"

It was Ace's voice, filled with panic.

"What the hell happened now?!"

Kaito immediately ran toward the sound, but halfway there, he ran into Ace, who was carrying Luffy on his back.

Blood streamed from Luffy's chest onto Ace's back, dripping to the ground.

Kaito was startled!

Seeing Kaito, Ace calmed down a bit, but he still struggled to speak.

"Kaito... I... Luffy... bear!!"

Kaito rushed over and helped Luffy down. "Alright, calm down, Ace, it's going to be fine!"

...

Back at the Dadan family home, Kaito had already treated Luffy's wound with medicine and bandaged it up, but it was serious. Luffy would probably need to stay in bed for a few days.

Ace squatted by the door, burying his head between his legs, tears streaming down his face as he muttered, "I'm sorry, Luffy..."

Kaito stood up, wanting to comfort him and tell him not to blame himself. But Ace suddenly shot up and ran out of the house.

"Ace, where are you going?!"

"Magura, please take care of Luffy!"

Seeing Ace ignore him, Kaito asked Magura for help before getting up to chase after Ace.

...

Following Ace, Kaito trailed him over the Korbo Mountain to Windmill Village. He watched as Ace was about to barge into Makino's tavern but suddenly stopped and knocked on the door.

Makino stepped out from inside.

"Ace?"

"What do you want with me?"

...

"A way to greet someone?"

"Because I'm Luffy and Kaito's big brother, I have to visit that red-haired captain who took care of them. It's only right."

Ace replied.

Makino crouched down, a proud smile appearing on her face. She knew Ace was learning how to be a good brother and take on the responsibilities of one.

"Hahaha, so that's why you came, Ace," Kaito said with a chuckle as he approached from behind.

"Then can you please teach this impolite brat a lesson, Makino?"

"What do you mean, Kaito?! I'm older than you; I'm the big brother!"

Ace shot back, flustered.

"Yes, yes, yes! So how about this: teach me and Luffy how to be polite to our big brother."

"Is that alright, Brother Ace?"

Ace's face flushed red. "Do whatever you want!!"

Makino looked at the two of them and couldn't help but laugh. Ace and Kaito turned to her.

"Ahaha, sorry about that..."

"Now, first..."

...