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'Hey, Luffy, ' Law asked the youngest of the four, 'How do you always seem to know where we are? '

'I was curious about that too, ' Sabo muttered as he cut into the cooked boar over the fire.

'Yeah, you were never able to do that before a few months ago. ' Ace commented, narrowing his eyes.

'It 's called Haki. ' Luffy said, drooling over the cooking meat, 'I can teach you guys if you want, Shishishishi! '

'What 's Haki? ' Sabo leaned forward.

'Well, there 's three forms! I can teach you and Law two of them. ' He said.

Law frowned, 'Why can 't you teach us all three? '

'Why can Ace learn them all? ' Sabo asked, pouting while Ace smirked.

'Well, you have to be born with this type of Haki! ' Luffy said cheerfully, 'I know you don 't have it, Sabo, but Law could. Right now, Ace is the only one who can use it, though. '

'Ha! ' Ace smirked, pride in his gaze.

'Well, what does it even do? ' Sabo stuck his tongue at his older brother.

'Observational Haki is one that can be learned, it lets you sense incoming attacks and stuff like that! Armament Haki is kind of like armor? I can teach you guys that. ' he frowned thoughtfully, before biting into a chunk of boar, 'Conquers Haki lets you use your will to knock people unconscious. ' He summarized.

'What? ' Sabo gasped, 'That 's so cool! '

Ace frowned, 'I can use that Haki? '

'How would that even work? ' Law asked, always the analytical one of the group, 'It seems too good to be true. '

Luffy grinned, 'Follow me! '

'Oi, you ate all the boar! '

'Just follow me! '

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Luffy stood in front of the Tiger Lord. His brothers nervously grabbed their weapons, but it wasn 't necessary as this was a demonstration.

'Just watch! ' Luffy told them, grinning as he placed his hat atop his head.

He walked forward without listening to their worries and pulled his arm back. A regular punch with no real strength behind it sent the tiger into a rage, and Luffy grinned cheerfully as he turned his back to the animal.

'Luffy! Watch out! ' Ace yelled as Law 's fingers instantly moved to create a Room.

Luffy dodged the paw rushing down onto him, closing his eyes. 'This is Observation Haki! ' He called to his brothers, dodging another swipe.

He remembered the awe he had felt when Rayleigh showed him this, he hoped his brothers were just as excited! When he opened his eyes, his brother 's mouths were open and their eyes wide.

Luffy grinned. Coating his arm with Armament Haki, he showed how his skin didn 't falter under the claws of the giant tiger. He explained the Haki he was using, before jumping back a few feet.

'And this, ' he said, a pulse of Conquers Haki leaving him in a controlled burst, 'Is Conquers Haki. '

The tiger fell with a loud crash, and Luffy turned to his brothers.

'Are you ready to learn!? '

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'What 's this supposed to be? ' Law asked, staring at the sword his little brother woke him up with by, quite literally, pushing it into his face.

Cora-san was worriedly hovering over Luffy 's shoulder, biting at his nails while wearing that ridiculous pink apron that Sabo cheerfully handed him a week after Law and Cora-san joined the family. Law rarely saw Cora-san without it on since he was always trying to cook them something new ' even if most of the time he needed to have someone watching over him, either the bandits or one of the brothers, so he didn 't burn the house down.

'This is Kikoku. Your sword. ' Luffy said, that knowing glint in his eye back.

Law wondered what his little brother always seemed to know.

'I 've never seen it before. ' He said plainly.

'Well, it 's yours. ' Luffy insisted. 'It 's a cursed sword, but don 't worry, its dormant. I can 't hear it at all! '

Law grabbed the sword and startled at how right it felt. 'What do you mean you can 't hear it? '

'Well, Kikoku is sleeping, so it doesn 't talk. ' Luffy said, like that explained anything.

Ace snorted tiredly, 'Luffy logic. '

'Luffy logic. ' Sabo agreed.

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Zoro was busy in the middle of a match when Koushirou was called to the door of the dojo. Zoro continued to fight; he needed all the experience as he could so he could finally beat Kuina!

'Zoro, ' Koushirou called once Zoro won the fight, sending a sharp grin to his rival. The owner of the Dojo walked into the room with a kid wearing a Straw Hat trailing behind him, 'Your friend is here to see you. He said it was an emergency. '

Zoro didn 't really have any friends. He certainly didn 't know who that guy was, either way.

'Hiya Zoro! ' the kid chirped, beaming at him.

Zoro blinked at him, frowning. The kid simply grinned, practically bouncing in place with energy.

'Hm, ' Kuina sent him a smug grin, probably making fun of him because this scrawny kid called himself Zoro 's friend.

'Oi, Luffy, ' another kid trailed into the room, a long sword draped over his shoulder and eyes flashing around the room. 'You sure that 's the kid? '

'Yep! That 's Zoro! ' Luffy, apparently, said with a grin. 'He 's strong. He 'll be the Greatest Swordsman one day. ' He informed, and Zoro felt his breath hold.

Did the kid just '

Golden eyes flicked over his body, before the pre-teen hummed. 'Whatever you say. '

'He will! ' Luffy said, determination in his gaze, 'I won 't have just anyone as my Nakama, Torao. '

'Zoro, the Greatest Swordsmen? ' Kuina was gaping, looking at the kid with wide eyes.

Zoro wasn 't any better.

No one ever believed him when he said he would be the greatest, they just laughed and told him it wasn 't possible. But this kid declared it for all to hear without any doubt in his words...

'Zoro, ' Torao, apparently, said, 'Care for a spar? '

Zoro grinned, looking over to Koushirou for permission. The man nodded after a moment, and Torao handed his sword over to Luffy, taking a bamboo one from the barrel.

The spar was a close call, and Zoro ended up losing by just a second. The kid was fast, faster than Zoro, but he didn 't seem to have a technique down ' probably new to the art of swordsmanship. But the straw-hatted boy just beamed.

'Zoro, join my crew. '

'Ha? '

Luffy laughed loudly, 'I 'm the Pirate King! I need the best for my crew! '

Torao just leaned his sword against his shoulder, a slight smirk on his lips.

'Why would I want a weakling as my captain? ' Zoro asked bluntly.

Torao 's smirk grew and Luffy just blinked, confusion on his face.

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'Oi, why are you following me? ' Zoro questioned the two boys following him.

Luffy and Law (who apparently didn 't want to be called Torao by anyone other than Luffy) along with two other boys, Ace and Sabo, hadn 't left his side since he left the dojo. The two boys that hadn 't entered the Dojo carried metal pipes, probably their weapons, and didn 't really give him any attention, speaking with Law about whatever came to mind.

But Luffy? Luffy wouldn 't leave Zoro alone. He didn 't talk, per say, but he had a loud presence, walking by Zoro 's side with a wide smile.

'Why the hell are you following me?! ' Zoro repeated when no one answered his question.

The freckled boy spared him a sharp glance, 'Luffy decided you have potential, so he wants you to join us. '

'Shishishi! ' Luffy threw his arms out, 'Zoro is really strong! '

'Why are you the captain? ' Zoro squinted at the small-fry. If he 'd have to guess, he 'd say the lanky teen, Law, would 've been the captain. He just had that air about him.

'He 's not the captain, ' Sabo answered, grinning toothily, 'We 're all going to make our own crews and set sail when we 're seventeen, but Luffy is the strongest of us, so when he wants to train someone, he knows they have potential. '

Zoro looked over to the kid that was trying to grab a butterfly. 'He 's the strongest? ' he repeated dryly, unimpressed.

'Yeah, ' Ace huffed, 'Don 't know how the shit did that, but he 's strong. '

Zoro rolled his eyes, 'I don 't have time for this. I need to train. '

Luffy perked up, sending him a grin. This one was different, much different than the other's. It had a sharp edge, something knowing, and the kid said, 'Ne, Zoro, I can train you a lot. I may not know swords like you do, but I know something that can help with that. '

Zoro squinted, 'And what is that? '

Luffy

beamed

and pointed behind Zoro. There was a group of people who were walking up, swords in hand and dark smirks on their faces. Zoro recognized them as the people who challenged the dojo months ago, and got their asses handed to them big time. Zoro tensed, knowing that they weren 't going to be friendly.

'Oi, boss, it 's the brat that beat Kajuki! ' one of the men yelled. 'And he 's with a few punks. '

'Let 's teach them a lesson. ' another grinned, pulling his sword from the scabbard.

Zoro grit his teeth, he didn 't want these kids to get hurt even if they were really annoying. 'Get the hell out of here, ' he hissed at them.

Law smirked lazily, shrugging, 'I don 't see why we should. '

'Heh, I 've been wanting some action, ' Ace smirked, knocking his pipe against his hand.

'I call dibs on the big guy! ' Sabo said loudly.

'Shishishi! ' Luffy snickered, walked past Zoro, and paused in front of the men. 'Do you want to hurt Zoro? ' he asked, looking innocent and clueless as he tilted his head to the side.

'That 's right, kid. '

Luffy lowered his head, a scowl pulling his lips, and he said coldly, 'No one hurts my Nakama. '

The men dropped like flies under the boy 's gaze and Zoro paused in awe.

'No fair, Luffy, ' Sabo whined.

Luffy just hummed, turning to look at Zoro with a wide, confident grin. 'My crew is a crew who dares to dream! What is your dream, Zoro! '

Zoro 's breath stuttered out of him, 'I 'm going to be the Greatest Swordsman in the world! '

'Join my crew, Zoro! ' Luffy declared, 'And we 'll achieve our dreams! '

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'WE DON 'T RUN A DAYCARE, BRAT! '

'Thanks, Dadan! '