You lean back in your chair and stretch. Your hair's pulled back enough to be out of the way, and you're comfortable in a t-shirt and some sweats. It's the fourth day of filling out applications, and you're cursing your desire to go at your job hunting quite so hard. You'd taken a week off to get your room organized and get into a little bit of a groove with the boys.

You got added to the chores chart, and the cooking rotation – something you offered to do entirely, but Sabo insisted it was an equal opportunity house. Everyone did their fair share of chores and cooking. You had tried to argue that you weren't doing your fair share of bill paying, but apparently the three of them had agreed on a three-month grace period. If you couldn't find work by the end of your first ninety days, then you could start doing more chores and more cooking.

You were certain you'd find work before then, but since you weren't working, you did your best to dedicate a full shift to filling out applications and sifting through job postings. In truth, you'd rather be doing a few extra chores than fill out another application.

Which seemed reason enough to throw in the proverbial towel for the day and at least relax. There were a few gaming consoles in the living room, and plenty of things to watch, you were sure you could find something to help you unwind.

Going downstairs to the common areas of the house, you heard the television already on. You hadn't expected anyone to be home, but Ace and Luffy had variable schedules, so they came and went at odd hours sometimes.

You see Ace on the couch as you come into the living room, but his hat's over his face and he's already asleep. Soft snores come out from under the orange brim of his favorite hat. He wasn't dressed too differently from you – t-shirt and jeans instead of sweats.

He was cute whether he was asleep or awake.

You smile a little at the thought, and look over to see what's on the TV. Looks like an old western spaghetti kind of movie, and there's an empty bento box nearby. He must've eaten lunch and fallen asleep. You take the bento box to the kitchen, and turn the TV down a couple ticks. Grabbing a small blanket from the den you lay it carefully over his chest, and then turn your attention to the selection of DVDs the boys had.

It was well-organized – by genre and then by title. You imagine that was Sabo's work more than anyone else's. Luffy didn't strike you as someone who organized anything, and you imagine Ace could, but you couldn't imagine he'd put forth the energy over something like DVDs.

Skimming over the titles you recognize quite a few and are surprised to see some more obscure ones. It's not all blockbuster hits and action flicks. There's some romance, comedy, dramas, cartoons and even a few foreign films. Most of those are from Wano and Momoiro. Documentaries from Ohara, and some educational films too.

This was the first time you'd had enough time to really look over all the titles, and since you were a bit overwhelmed, you decided to go with an older comedy who-dunnit movie with multiple endings. Clue never disappointed – it was a favorite of yours and Sabo's.

Sitting down in the recliner you focus on the movie as it begins. You nearly had it memorized, and maybe that's why your eyes kept wandering over to the sleeping firefighter on the couch. You hadn't been able to get the time at the station out of your mind since it happened. It wasn't all the people you met, or how comfortable the whole thing had felt, it was, well, him.

You feel a pang in your heart and pull your gaze away. You can't fall for your roommate. You specifically, cannot fall for your older brother's brother-in-life best friend who is also your roommate.

There was too much drama in that equation. Too much that could go wrong. If things didn't work out, you'd strain the relationship Ace and Sabo had. Even if things worked out well enough, Sabo would be effectively caught in the middle. Even the best of relationships had bumps in them.

It was enough to be friends.

"Nakama." You murmur softly. You liked the word. The weight and feel of it. Something more than friends. Not quite family, but not not family.

No. You needed to find a job. After that you needed to find your own place. Somewhere in there maybe you needed to find your own date. Marco was a bit older than you, but he was certainly worth looking at. Dating someone else from the station felt a little too... close, though.

Well, the internet was for finding people, and there were a lot of people in the New World. Statistically you would be able to find someone.

Job first though. No matter when or where you started looking for a date, you needed to make sure that your date didn't work wherever you ended up. The best advice you ever got was to never get your honey where you make your money.

Too much drama.

You yawned. The movie was good, but without commentary from Sabo it wasn't keeping you awake. Plus, the lazy afternoon sun was managing to get to you, even though you were inside the house. Another yawn got you, and you nuzzled into the recliner a little bit more.

You dozed off at some point. You weren't sure when you had succumbed to sleep, but you weren't out for too long. The movie wasn't over yet, but you were plenty warm.

The blanket you had put over Ace was now draped over you. You felt your face heat up in embarrassment and looked around to see you were alone in the living room. You settled down a little, turning your focus back to the movie.

A voice from behind you a few minutes later nearly causes you to leap from the recliner entirely.

"Oh, you're awake?" Ace questions, coming into the room. He's carrying a tray table under one arm, and a bento in his free hand.

"Yeah, yes, ah... thank you." You say, lifting the blanket up a little as you move to sit up a bit.

"Thank you." He says in return, giving you a smile as he sets up the tray by the recliner. "I wasn't sure if you were going to be hungry when you woke up, but Sabo forgot his lunch, so it's yours now."

"Oh no, did he -?"

"Someone brought him something. Has he talked to you about Koala?" Ace asks, lounging against the couch so he was facing you easily.

"Mm, I think so." You begin to open the bento. "He insists it's purely professional between him and a paralegal in the firm." You take a bite and savor it. You didn't realize how hungry you were until you started eating. "I don't buy it."

Ace laughs. "Yeah, me and Lu don't buy it either."

"I'd be happy for him." You say, digging in a little bit more. "Father's less likely to try and decide for him, if he finds someone on his own."

"Sabo's been moved out for like a decade, would your dad really do that?" Ace looks upset and flabbergasted at the same time.

You nod. "After I get a job, I need to start trying to date too. I'm at a higher risk than Sabo. He has Stuffy accidentally shielding him, I don't have a buffer."

"... Neither of you are heirs, though, right? You and Sabo, right?"

You swallow what you're eating, shaking your head. "We're not, but we're blood. Sterry's not. They're marrying him off to the princess back home, but Sabo and I could still be leveraged for political gain. To some supporting duke or marquis."

"You're... okay with that?"

"Hah?" You nearly drop the food in your mouth. "No way. I'd be fighting it tooth and nail if it came up." Your face twists in indignation. "I might be weak physically but I'm not-."

"You're not weak." Ace interjects and he almost looks irritated.

"I'm..." You stop, scrunching up your face. "I don't know. It's uncomfortable to think about."

"... Sorry." Ace's eyes are on the movie, and despite the frown on his face you can see his cheeks are pink.

"It's okay." You sigh and set the bento box down. "It's half a mess, but I'm doing the best I can. I think. I hope." You give him a smile and see him relax. "I imagine if I get in a really tight spot you can pretend to be my fiancé or something." You tease.

Ace smiles, but it fades a little. "I can't imagine your dad would approve."

"His approval isn't what I need." You nearly flinch as the words leave your mouth. You're starting to talk about the letter of the law, and you don't want to hide behind that. "Ah, but I should... get back to job hunting. Will you and Luffy be around for dinner tonight?" You ask as you start to get out of recliner.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Unless there's an emergency or something, we're both scheduled off tonight."

"Alright, I'll make sure that yours is spicy and I'll sneak some extra meat into Luffy's dish." You promise with a smile, grabbing up the bento to return it to the kitchen, nearly running out of the living room.

You're going to have to manage to stuff your attraction down into your feet if you're going to be able to handle living here. Your crush is going to have to come and go if you want to keep your sanity. You had almost sat down next to him on the couch earlier, because you wanted to snuggle with him.

He was a dangerous man, and it had nothing to do with his curse.

Your brows furrowed, you wished there was a word for it that you could use that wasn't curse. It seemed like a self-fulfilling prophecy to call it something so charged like that. You wanted to call it a gift, but that seemed like a slap in the face for the people who dealt with how society reacted to them.

"Some gift." You grumble to yourself as you settle into your desk and return your focus to your job search.

You get a few more job applications completed before you head into the kitchen to begin making dinner. Ace is asleep on the couch again, but from the looks of things he's cleaned up the kitchen and tidied up around the common areas a little before dozing back off.

Cooking was something you didn't have to think about too much. You'd been cooking for yourself for some years, and you'd taken a few classes specifically to be good at it. The estate had servants, and you had barely even learned how to hold a knife properly before you moved out. Manual labor was below nobility, per your father and mother, so you had to catch up on a lot of skills when you moved out.

Fortunately, you and Sabo were quick learners, and he had spent a couple weeks helping you out when you first started college.

The downside to being a fast learner was the fact that your mind wandered while you worked on cooking dinner. Having to cook for several people instead of just yourself wasn't enough of a challenge to keep your thoughts from wandering around.

Every time your thoughts turned toward that smile, you reminded yourself you needed to start dating.

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"You guys hardly let me do anything." You say it with a smile despite the admonishing tone. "Luffy set the table, Ace brought the food out, and Sabo got everyone's drinks."

"You went from cooking for yourself, to cooking for three of the biggest appetites in the New World." Sabo says with a smile. "Of course, we'd help you adjust."

You wanted to argue a little, but considering that you were certain Luffy had not only eaten lunch early, but probably second lunch, two snacks, certainly someone else's lunch, and was likely to have a snack later on top of the pile of food on his plate that he was eating right now, Sabo's statement was probably true.

It certainly wasn't something specific to those who had curses. Sabo's appetite was surprisingly close to Ace and Luffy's. You weren't entirely sure where all that food went, but you had a feeling you were going to slowly start to eat more and more as time went on. You were certain that no one in this house was going to even let you risk under-eating.

"How's the job hunt going?" Sabo asks between bites.

"Well enough so far. I don't expect to hear anything until next week as it is." You answer.

"You could apply at the firm." He prompts.

"Mm, we'll see."

"I know you wouldn't want me to give you an unfair advantage."

"I wouldn't want to get in the way of you and Koala." You say flatly and it takes Sabo a second to realize what you've said. Luffy seemed unaffected as Sabo's cutlery clatters, and he stares at you. Ace is almost biting through his lip to keep from laughing.

"There is nothing-."

"For me to worry about?" You interject, smiling at him as you wiggle your eyebrows. "That's good to know, big brother."

Sabo's face goes an impressive shade of red, and he returns to his food.

"Koala's the one that came over before, right?" Luffy asks. "She brought snacks for movie night."

Your mouth goes wide in delight and you're almost staring at Sabo, who is pointedly interested in his food. "She did, in fact, bring snacks for the evening. Even Ace was there." He says as evenly as he can manage.

"Mm, and when Luffy ate everything, was your only snack ..." you let the sentence hang and give your long-suffering brother a wolfish grin.

"There's nothing I can say, is there?"

"No-ope." You say, exaggerating the word and popping your lips as you return to your meal. "She's a good person from what I've seen. If you don't act I might steal her away." You say it flatly, and notice Ace's face go slack. He doesn't look concerned or offended, just surprised to hear you say such a thing. You give him a wink before looking back at your brother.

Sabo is looking at the ceiling, muttering some sort of personal mantra to himself for a moment before he returns to eating.

"How're you on medication?" He asks.

"I have another month." You say, letting him change the subject. "If I don't have any prospects next week I'll reach out to mom."

Ace tilts his head. "Not to be rude or whatever, but why ya gotta talk to your mom for a refill?"

"It's expensive." You reply. "Mom's always taken care of it. Once I get a job it'll be one less thing to need to reach out back home for."

"She might try to keep control of it for that reason." Sabo grumbles.

"I mean, once I'm making my own money, I can go see my own doctor." You say with a smile. "It won't matter much what she tries to do. Besides, I've tucked away a lot of what they've sent the last few years, I won't have to wait for a first paycheck to start making appointments."

"You should see Chopper!" Luffy adds, leaning back after he's cleared his plate.

"Chopper?" You tilt your head.

"A friend of Luffy's," Sabo clarifies. "He has a family practice. He's young, but he's very skilled."

"Chopper's the best doctor there is." Luffy asserts. "Even Marco agrees."

You smile, you're not sure where the connection's coming from. "Is Marco – I mean, he's a firefighter, right?"

"Yeah, but he's a medic too. He was an army medic, and then got his degree. He does volunteer hours at a clinic and has been called into the ER to help with triage a few times." Ace explains.

"You said you were in a good position in the city," you say, side-eyeing Sabo. "You never said you were surrounded by so many talented people."

"Ask him about Law." Sabo prompts and you can see Luffy's eyes light up before he even starts talking.

"Traffy is the best surgeon! He's cursed, but no one cares cause he's able to save so many lives. He cured his hometown and basically became a hero – oh, but don't call him a hero, he doesn't like that. I don't either. I'm not a hero." Luffy's pouting by the end, and you mentally remind yourself to never call him your hero even if he helps you out with something.

"A side effect of the job, it seems." You say, understanding. "If you're not a hero, and I'm quite sure you're not a villain, then what are you?"

"Free." Luffy, Ace, and Sabo answer at the same time.

None of them said it with much energy. Aside from Luffy, none of them even looked up at you as they said it. It was so matter of fact. So indisputable.

The truth of it sinks into your bones and you barely realize you're crying until the first tear falls.

"Oi, are you okay?" Luffy asks in concern, causing the other two to look up.

You wipe the tears hastily, smiling and putting your hand up. "Y-yeah, I am. Sorry, something about it just hit me. I'm alright." You look to see three concerned faces looking back at you and smile the best smile you can. "I promise, I'm okay. I guess I just never... entertained such an idea."

Sabo's concern softens and he smiles back. "Chin up, little sister. We'll get you there."