New A/N:

Since this story won't be updated in a while, I'm lowering the rating back to T. There is some borderline material in chapter 3, but that's about it, so consider this a warning.

Cheers,

~Rhe. (2014-09-03)

Hi guys!

I think I've been dormant long enough, so here's the story I decided to come back with. Probably because it's the only one I'm somewhat sure of finishing.

By the way, its a shounen-ai fanfic, just in case.

Disclaimer: all the characters are owned by Eichiro Oda, I'm just using them for my own entertainment. And the plot belongs to Rihito Takarai, whose cutest manga 7 DAYS inspired the whole thing.

Ace was bored. They had a self-study period, but he just couldn't concentrate on the math in front of him. Especially on a day as nice as this one. He stared out the window, chewing on his pencil absent-mindedly. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze, judging by the movement of leaves on the trees in the school yard. It was end of September, so it was still warm outside, but the leaves were already touched by the colours of autumn, gold mixing with green.

Ace looked down and noticed a couple of girls outside, looking up at him, as he was on the second floor. He waved at them, giving one of his trade-mark smiles. The girls giggled and waved back at him, disappearing, as they went into the building. Ace sighed and wished he was hit by one of his sleep attacks. At least, that would be a reason legitimate enough to skip class. He yawned, in hope that he'll fall asleep because of that. Yeah, he was that naïve. Suddenly, somebody hit him on the back of his head.

"Ouch! That hurt, you bastard!" Ace turned around, ready to fight, as he saw his friend Nami. She was in the same class as him, a fiery red-head, who was extremely popular with boys. There even was a theory about her being a model, but Ace was sure that they were just misguided by her long red hair and her voluptuous bosom. After all, he knew better, even if modelling was easy money, Nami didn't have time for that, if she wanted to enter the prestige Red Line University. "What was that for, Nami?"

"Ace, you idiot… You should stop smiling like that."

"Why? What's wrong with my smile?" Ace fished his mobile out of his pocket and stared at the black screen, He flashed a smile at himself and looked at it sceptically.

"Haa…" Nami sighed. "Are you pretending to be the idiot we both know you aren't?"

"What?" Ace asked, completely confused.

"I can't believe how oblivious you are… You really have no clue?"

"About what?"

"That's why you can't keep a girlfriend. Because of your oblivious attitude and your 'killer smile'."

"Whaddya mean by that?" Ace frowned.

"Vivi said you two broke up."

"Yeah, why?"

"That's my question, what did she say to you?"

"That I was a nice person, but I'm nice to everyone. I don't see how that's a problem, though…"

"Ace, you idiot…" Nami sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Whaddya mean by that?" Ace repeated, confused.

"Can you at least act a little sad?"

"Why should I do that?"

"You are hopeless." Nami shook her head. "You need help with that?" she pointed towards Ace's math book.

"Nah, it's not difficult, it's just boring. Thanks anyway." Ace flashed one of his smiles.

"Didn't I tell you to stop smiling?" Nami hit Ace on the head again.

"I can't help it, I'll smile if I feel like smiling!"

"Anyways, do you have club activities after school?" Nami asked, moving Ace's math book and planting her bottom on his desk, earning Ace quite a few jealous glances from his male classmates. Ace leaned back in his chair, so he would be able to see Nami's face. Sure, her figure was nice, but Ace found her personality more interesting than her curves.

"Yeah, why? Going on a date with Luffy and want my permission?"

"Why would I want your permission?" Nami asked, blushing a little. Luffy was Ace's younger brother, who was in a grade below him and somehow convinced Nami to be his girlfriend. To say that the fact that a goofy kid, who always wore his old straw hat, got Nami as his girlfriend left three quarters of male population of their school in tears was an understatement. Nami's personal fan-club was in mourning for a month, to say the least. "I was just wondering. What were you taking again, judo?"

"Yeah," Ace nodded.

"Ace, you wanna get some food?" asked Law, one of Ace's classmates, as well as one of Ace's closer friends.

"Sure," Ace was always hungry and everybody knew that.

"Good, Usopp is supposed to be here soon, you can go to the gate. Here's our money," Law gave Ace some bills. "Don't forget your own money."

"Did you order one for me?" Ace looked up at Law with puppy eyes.

"More like two, get going and don't forget your wallet," Law rolled his eyes at Ace's excited face.

Ace jumped up and checked his pockets. When he didn't find his wallet there, he snatched his bag and rummaged through it until he found his wallet. Leaving a mess behind him, he ran to the gate, skipping several steps at once on the stairs. If there was anything in the world that could get Ace's undivided attention, it would be food. Ace was also blessed with a gift of eating as much as he wanted and not gaining weight, which made Nami mad for obvious reasons. The same went for Ace's brother Luffy, who was even worse than Ace – it was like Luffy was made of rubber, judging by the amount of food he could eat in one meal.

Ace almost rolled down the last flight of stairs and tumbled out to the school yard. He smiled, apologetically, at the couple of girls, who he almost squashed into the wall when he almost fell down the stairs and sped away to the school gate. Ace's classmates had already learned one very important rule – 'don't stand between Ace and the food', but, apparently, not everyone at school knew that yet. That could explain why he collided with some guy fifty metres from the gate.

The force of the collision threw them to the ground, but Ace quickly rolled over, getting back to his feet. He didn't even look at the unfortunate guy, as he said 'sorry', because he spotted the pizza delivery man by the gate. Ace had to run into the wall to not to collide with the delivery man as well.

"Hi, Usopp!" Ace breathed out, smiling widely. Usopp was one of Luffy's friends, who happened to work part-time at a pizzeria. He had a lot of black curly hair and one very long nose and, what's more important, let Ace eat pizza and pay for it later.

"That looked painful, is that poor guy okay?" Usopp asked, as he looked behind Ace.

"More importantly, give me food," Ace was hopping in place in excitement.

"Fine," Usopp shoved around ten pizza cartons in Ace's hands.

"Money's in my back pocket," Ace turned his back to Usopp, trusting him to get the money. He felt Usopp check his pockets, all four of them for some reason, both back and front.

"There's no money," Usopp frowned.

"No way! Law gave me money, plus I had my wallet with me!" Ace exclaimed, clutching pizza cartons.

"I believe this is yours?" said somebody over Ace's left shoulder, placing his wallet and money from his classmates on the cartons.

"Wow, thanks, man!" Ace smiled widely at his saviour, his attention turning back to Usopp in an instant. "There, didn't I say I had money with me?"

Usopp looked at the guy behind Ace with pity.

"That looked really painful, are you alright?"

"Could have been worse," the guy chuckled. "Do you need a hand with those?"

Ace clutched the cartons even harder, not willing to let them go. He had enough experience to not to trust strangers with his food. Meanwhile, Usopp took the money needed and put Ace's wallet in Ace's back pocket.

"See you around, Ace," Usopp waved his hand, as he went back to his bicycle.

"Yeah, see ya!" Ace nodded and turned around, only to walk into the guy standing behind him.

"Are you sure you don't need help with those?" the guy asked again.

Ace shot an annoyed glare at him and stared. Oh, no he didn't! Ace's face fell a little, when he saw, who that was – steaming hot blond with a bored expression and piercing blue eyes… He was dead, for sure.

"Marco-sempai, I'm so sorry!" Ace made an attempt to bow, but it was either that or pizza, so Ace made the obvious choice – the food.

Marco was the captain of their judo team and was on top of the 'Most Wanted' list. It was a list, which included most popular people at school, boys and girls alike. It was updated every month and Ace was surprised to find himself there too, in top ten, which baffled him. It's needless to say, who was number one – Phoenix Marco.

Marco was an odd one, in Ace's opinion. He would date the person, who'd ask him first on Monday, only to dump them on Sunday. Given, that today was a Monday, Ace was pretty sure that Marco already had a girlfriend or a boyfriend for the week, Marco didn't hide that he swung both ways.

"Please don't tell me it was you I ran over, on my way here…" Ace stared at Marco, scared stiff – Marco could easily turn him into a pretzel.

"It's fine, it was my own fault for spacing out like that," Marco gave Ace a little smile and Ace could exhale. "But you sure are fast, why aren't you on the track and field team?"

"Because nobody could promise me they would wait with food on the finish line," Ace smiled widely.

"Right, food," Marco chuckled, as he turned to go to school, followed by Ace, who felt as if a thunderstorm passed him by.

"Who are you dating this week?" Ace asked, just to disturb the awkward silence between them.

"Nobody yet, I was at the dentist's all morning," Marco shrugged casually. "I have to say, dentists are sadists, at least mine is."

"Is that so?" Ace chuckled, grateful to the fact that he didn't have to go to the dentist anytime soon. Obeying his sudden impulse, Ace asked: "Would you go out with me, sempai?"

"I can't see why not," Marco smiled at Ace. "I'll see you at the dojo."

Marco waved his hand as he went in another direction. Ace stood there, completely baffled. Did he just ask Marco-sempai out? Why did he do that? They were both men and, even if it wasn't a problem for sempai, Ace sure as hell didn't swing that way, or did he? If he didn't, then why did he ask sempai out? Everything was so confusing, he needed to eat.

Ace got back to the classroom and was instantly swarmed by his classmates, who waited for their pizzas impatiently. Ace got two pepperoni pizzas, he really didn't care which one he would get. He went to his desk and pushed Nami off of it, as she was still sitting there. She didn't mind that and took the seat in front of Ace.

"Who was that poor guy, who was run over by you?" she asked, not even looking at pizza – it had way too many calories.

"Ah, that was Marco-sempai," Ace said with his mouth full.

"Hahaha!" Nami laughed. "Really?"

"Mff…" Ace nodded.

"That must have hurt…" Nami shook her head. "Still, it's his own fault, he should have known better."

"Mff…" Ace shrugged, his thoughts going back to the fact that he was the one Marco will be dating this week. Why the hell did he ask Marco out? It didn't make any sense at all… Of course, Marco was a cool guy, good looking too, but wtf? Ace was dead sure that he wasn't into guys. He swallowed his pizza angrily and opened the second box.

"What's wrong with you?" Nami asked, frowning.

"Mff?" Ace glared at her.

"You know I won't take your food, so why are you in such foul mood? You were all sunshine and kittens when you left, now it's like dark and twisty."

"I'm going to get my ass kicked, that's what," Ace growled, inhaling the second pizza in a matter of seconds.

"Ah, right, you did ran your judo captain over..." Nami smiled a little. "I hope you'll live to tell the tale, because Luffy will be sad, if you die."

"You and I both," Ace took the paper napkin Nami offered and wiped his face clean.

Ace was sure that he would get his ass handed to him later today. Marc couldn't have taken him seriously, could he? Ace sighed, as he went to throw away the cartons. Why the hell did he do that?! He knew he wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch, but this was a new level of stupidity even for him.

(^_^)

Marco walked into the school territory after spending the whole morning at the dentist's. That old hag was a monster sadist, he had no idea whatsoever, why the hell Pops listed her as their family dentist. He silently promised that this would be the last time that he went to her, he was old enough to choose his own dentist.

The weather was really nice, so Marco was taking his time, walking slowly to his wing of school. He stopped and lifted his face to feel the sun and the light breeze. Marco closed his eyes and took a slow breath. He smiled, opened his eyes and took a step forward, only to be thrown to the ground, as something collided with him. Scratch that, someone. That someone didn't even react to collision, just rolled over and kept on running as if his life depended on it. Marco heard the hastily muttered 'sorry', as the boy sped away, only to collide with the wall, close to the school gate in a couple of seconds.

Marco got to his feet and dusted himself off; years of training paid off, since he didn't hurt himself. As he leaned down to get his bag, he noticed a wallet, which was, most definitely, not his. Marco looked at the boy who ran him over, to see like ten pizza boxes in his hands. Marco walked over to him, as he watched the pizza delivery guy check the pockets. He came over in time to hear the boy exclaim:

"No way! Law gave me money, plus I had my wallet with me!"

"I believe this is yours?" Marco said, placing the wallet on top of the pizza boxes.

"Wow, thanks, man!" the boy, who ran Marco over, smiled widely at the blond, making the latter wish for a pair of sunglasses – that smile positively blinded him.

"That looked really painful, are you alright?" the pizza guy asked, looking concerned. Well, if it was anybody but Marco, they would have needed an ambulance.

"Could have been worse," Marco chuckled, as he eyed the pizza boxes. It sure looked uncomfortable, so he asked: "Do you need a hand with those?"

The boy clutched the pizza boxes as if Marco was trying to steal them from him. It looked really funny, the boy looked like a cat, protecting its food. As the pizza guy said goodbye and left, Marco decided to try again:

"Are you sure you don't need help with those?" that earned him a glare from the boy. As the boy turned around, Marco could finally see his face. It looked oddly familiar, but, on the other hand, the whole school looked oddly familiar to Marco – he was really bad at remembering people, faces and names alike. The boy had black hair, parted in the middle, so that long bangs wouldn't get in the eyes. The eyes were silvery grey, which was a first for Marco – he had never seen that kind of eye colour before. To top everything, there were freckles, scattered all over the cheeks and nose, making him look younger than he was.

The boy paled, as he saw, who he was glaring at. His silver eyes widened a lot, as colour drained from his face. Judging by such a reaction, Marco placed the boy in his judo club. Otherwise, the reaction would have been a red face, not a scared look, as if Marco was going to dismember him.

"Marco-sempai, I'm so sorry!" that confirmed Marco's guess, the boy was in his club for sure. He couldn't help but smile, as the boy tried to bow, but almost lost his pizza boxes, so he stopped, shrinking a little. Then the realization hit him: "Please don't tell me it was you I ran over, on my way here…"

"It's fine, it was my own fault for spacing out like that," Marco tried not to laugh at the reaction, but a smile still found its way on his face. The boy relaxed a little, when he saw the smile, so Marco tried to establish some contact. "But you sure are fast, why aren't you on the track and field team?"

The answer did Marco in – he chuckled, trying not to laugh out loud. He looked at pizza boxes in the boy's hands and smiled wider.

"Right, food," Marco was laughing inside, thinking that if the boy had somebody with food, waiting for him on the finish line, he would beat all and every record. He should really think about the possibility of offering food to the boy, to see what he could do in the dojo.

"Who are you dating this week?" the boy asked, bringing Marco back to earth, as he was thinking of what kind of food should he use as a bait.

"Nobody yet, I was at the dentist's all morning," Marco shuddered at the memory, he was not going back there anytime soon, even if his life depended on it. "I have to say, dentists are sadists, at least mine is."

"Is that so?" the boy said thoughtfully. Next question caught Marco somewhat off guard. "Would you go out with me, sempai?"

Marco blinked, but quickly composed himself.

"I can't see why not," he gave the boy a smile and waved his hand, walking in opposite direction. "I'll see you at the dojo."

Marco went to his classroom, thinking. To everyone else, this it looked like a game, but it never was one. A week was not long enough to get to know a person, but it was long enough to fall in love. Marco may have been a hopeless romantic for believing in love, but still, he did. It was never a game for him, he was serious every single week… Marco sighed, as he shook his head – why was he still hopeful at the beginning of each week, he couldn't understand. He stopped, as something on the board of notice caught his attention.

It was the 'Most Wanted' list. He looked at it intently. There was he, in the first place for the nth time in a row. The second place was taken by the kendo captain, Roronoa Zoro. Marco knew the guy pretty well, he was a beast when it came to fighting. The third was some red head called Mikan Nami. She looked familiar, maybe because he dated her for one week last year. The fourth was Nico Robin, his classmate and friend, she was the only one, who didn't consider Marco's daring a game; she was also one of those he dated first. Fifth was Black Sanji, Marco knew him only because he was Zoro's boyfriend. He was one of the few who knew, not even the short info provided on each person mentioned that, to the whole school they were single.

Finally, Marco saw what got his attention. Number six. The small picture met him with a familiar blinding smile and freckles all over the cheeks. Portgas D. Ace, second year, part of the judo team. Just as Marco guessed. However, nothing ever mentioned his obsession with food or how fast the guy was. Apparently, he was brother to Monkey D. Luffy, who was in the first year and, for whatever reason, number ten on the 'Most Wanted' list. Marco looked at that kid, who was smiling broadly at the camera, holding his straw hat in place. According to the information, that goofy kid was dating the girl, who was ranked number three. That was baffling, to say the least.

Marco sighed again, at least he got to know who he was dating this time - otherwise it would have been really embarrassing. He walked slowly to his classroom, not in a need to hurry. Halfway to his classroom he met Robin, who was coming back from the bathroom. She nodded at him and took out her notebook, the one she always had with her, no matter what. She scribbled something quickly and in one swift motion, she stuck, whatever she wrote, to his forehead. Marco raised his eyebrows, as he removed what turned out to be a sticker, not unlike those people use on Christmas presents. On the sticker was written in Robin's nice handwriting 'Taken'.

Marco chuckled, as he stuck the sticker onto his blazer, which was part of the school uniform.

"How do you always know?" he asked with a smile.

"You are easy to read, once people get to know you," Robin smiled one of her mysterious smiles.

"Then it's a good thing that there aren't many people, who know me," Marco bowed his head a little.

"If you say so," Robin bowed her head as well. She never asked, who was Marco dating – she figured it out herself in a matter of two days. She knew that it was hopeless to ask Marco – he never told anyone, it was always the person who he dated that spilled the beans. That was one of the reasons why Marco liked having Robin as a friend – you never needed to say anything to her, she knew it already.

"Yeah…" Marco said, as they walked into the classroom – they had a self-study period, as it seemed. He could not help but feel a little bit hopeful – maybe this time would be different.

That would be chapter one. Please tell me what you thought of it and, just in case, english is not my mother tongue. Next chapter will probably be posted some time next week, but I make no promises.

Cya,

Rhe.

PS. Looking for a beta (thought this is faster then look over all of them). PM if interested.