A week in the house turned into three weeks. The end of the third week was also the end of your first week of work. You got your foot in the door at a firm not too far from where Sabo worked, and your job was just some basic data analytics. The pay was decent, and the hours were stable, so you managed to get yourself set up as the de facto cook for the house.

You were the only one with a set start and end time, so it was easiest for you to plan meals and prep for everyone else. You'd bought a lot of bento boxes and thermoses so you could start organizing things, and even out some nutrition for the others. Sabo did the laundry, and Ace and Luffy kept the house clean.

So far it was working out well, and you all managed to get time off Friday evening and were currently celebrating.

All Blue was a jazzy bar and restaurant that was run by another of Luffy's friends. You were fairly certain the young man was simply friends with the entire city at this point, and Ace and Sabo couldn't disagree. Sanji was a phenomenal cook according to all three boys, and had decent taste in music as far as you were concerned. The vibe of the venue was also on point, as there were well organized and maintained aquariums built into the bar, walls, and ceiling in a few places.

Sanji came to the table to bring your meals.

"Ah, the mysterious sister!" He says, setting down plates with grace and skill. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Welcome to the All Blue!"

"It's a pleasure to be here," you say, just loud enough to be heard over the live jazz band. They weren't playing too loud – it would probably harm the fish – but it was loud enough to make you raise your voice a little. "Your restaurant is beautiful, Mr. Sanji!"

"Not nearly as beautiful as some of my customers." He replies with an easy smile. You feel the heat rise in your cheeks, but Sanji shifts his attention to the rest of the table. "Luffy said you were celebrating?"

"(Y/N) has survived a week at her job," Luffy says, putting his hands up in victory.

"She's also survived three weeks with us." Ace adds before taking a drink.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful customer." Sanji says with a wide smile. He bows with a little flourish. "May you enjoy your celebration, Miss. Please enjoy the food."

"I'm sure I will, thank you." You reply as he walks away. You turn toward Sabo. "The way you talked about him I expected him to be a lot more cringey and a lot less smooth."

"Three years ago, he was awful." Sabo assures you. "Then he finally settled down, and I guess he settled down in other ways too."

"Oh, did he find his soul mate or something?" You ask.

Ace grabs your shoulder and guides your gaze toward the bar. "See the bartender?"

Your eyes go a little wide. "Yeah." A young woman was behind the bar with long dark brown hair and a feisty countenance. She was maybe a little shorter than Luffy and had an easy smile. She was laughing with some patrons, when Sanji walked by and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the kitchen.

"That's the fiancé." Ace explains. "The one person in the New World who managed to settle Sanji."

"Well." You lean back and begin to dig into your main course. The appetizers had been delicious and had been brought out by someone who wasn't the bartender or Sanji. "Did Sanji have this place before or after they got together?"

"After. It was part of their agreement." Luffy answers.

"Agreement?"

"She made him woo her for a year, and in that time, they got everything for this place sorted." Ace explains.

"Made him?" You quirk an eyebrow.

"Sanji wanted to get married the day they confessed to one another." Sabo clarified, and you nearly choke on your food.

After a drink of water, you turn toward Sabo in disbelief. "That's a tad fast, yes?"

"They'd known each other for a few years by that point." He offers. You can tell from his smile that he agrees with you though. "I think he said something about being a fool for taking so long to notice. Lyn's lovely, when they're a little less busy we'll introduce you."

"He didn't want to waste any more time." Luffy says, and you notice he's already cleared his plate. You're not sure what to say about any of it, but before you can speak, Sanji's already come over with another plate of what Luffy ordered. He sets it down in front of the young man with little more than a "here you go", and then was back off toward the kitchen.

"... How many times is he going to do that?" You ask.

"At least two more times." Ace answers. "Sanji's the only person who can feed Luffy to full."

"Luffy can be full?" You ask the question without thinking and the table breaks out into laughter – Luffy included.

The four of you continue to eat, and sure enough Sanji brings three more plates for Luffy by the end of it. He doesn't hang around to talk, but the All Blue is packed to the gills, so you're sure he's very busy. It was probably more time than he had to spare to bring the dishes to your table in the first place.

By the end of your meal, Luffy was full, you and Ace were a little toasted after a small drinking contest, and Sabo was sober, but smiling. He wasn't smiling that tight, concerned smile he gets when he's irritated either, so you knew he was having fun.

"This was quite the celebration, thank you." You say, leaning your head against Sabo's shoulder for a moment. "I wish we could've done something more exciting."

"What's a proper lady like you consider exciting?" Ace teases. He'd been calling you a proper lady since before the drinking contest, and the wide smile on his face assured you he meant it kindly.

You right yourself, sitting up before you wiggle a little to the jazz music. "It would've been fun to go dancing, or camping maybe. Something new would've been nice."

"You've... never been camping?" Ace and Luffy ask at the same time.

You shake your head. "Too risky, and I was taught how to dance, but I don't do it often." You can feel yourself sobering up, but you manage to keep your tone light. "I slept for 14 hours a day for three days after the move, if we went dancing tonight, I'd sleep my Saturday away, and unfortunately I have an obligation tomorrow."

The word obligation dripped from your mouth like it was covered in poison and oil. You couldn't help but nearly spit the frustrating phrase from your lips.

Sabo sighs and rolls his eyes. "Did she do it already?"

You sigh. "Yeah, mother set me up on a coffee date tomorrow."

"You haven't been graduated a month!" Sabo seems even angrier than you feel.

"She said I should be grateful she waited until I had graduated." You say, mimicking your mother's affect. "I wanted to tell you before the celebration, but we all kind of showed up here and I didn't want to ruin the mood."

"You don't have to worry about that with us." Ace says, giving you an easy smile, and yanking Luffy over with him. "We'll always cheer you back up!"

Luffy smiles at you, that wide smile he has. "Yeah! You can say what you need to!" He asserts, putting his arms up as Sabo nudges you a little.

"Ah, you're all too much." You tighten your lips and do your best to smile. "I hadn't imagined the best part of moving in with my brother would be support from his brothers."

All three of them smile for a moment before Sabo's face drops. "Hey – wait a minute!"

Your laugh rings out at your brother's displeasure, and you're trying to console him, but you keep breaking into giggles instead. You don't see the expression on Ace's face, but Sabo does.

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Saturday morning you woke up and went through your routine. Showered and dressed, you made your way downstairs and started making breakfast. The boys wouldn't be up for another hour and that gave you plenty of time to prep all the ingredients and make some snack boxes in case anyone had to go into work today. It was easier to just assume they would have to, than to assume they'd be staying at home.

Sabo came down first. He was already dressed for work, so you knew he was going in.

"Mornin' sister dear." He greeted you with a lazy smile, brushing his still damp hair from his face. "I shouldn't be in for too long today, I can pick you up from the café if you want?" He offers.

You shake your head. "I don't want to risk offending mother just yet." You say, plating him up some food as he sat at the breakfast bar. "If whoever this is complains about my dear brother interrupting us, she'll be a headache and a half."

"Mm, fair. Still, please do call if he's out of line." Sabo says, turning his small breakfast into a sandwich by piling it all between two slices of toast. "I'll even leave the office to help."

"Of course." You say with a smile.

Sabo finishes his breakfast and heads out, giving you a small hug before he leaves. A few minutes later Ace and Luffy wander into the kitchen. Luffy is dressed, barely, but well enough, and Ace is in shorts. You've adjusted a bit to seeing the two barely clothed, but a topless Ace is a small treat first thing in the morning.

"Work for Luffy, but not for you?" You question, setting plates in front of both of them.

"Meeennng-hurgh." Luffy makes a weird noise as he begins to eat his breakfast. "Long EMT shift today." He says. He doesn't seem to be whining about the shift, more that he's up so early.

Ace begins to eat too. "On-call." He says between bites, reaching over the bar and putting a few extra bits of food onto Luffy's plate automatically. "When's your second job start today?"

You tilt your head for a second before the light dawns. Keeping your mother happy was enough of an energy drain, calling it a second job was valid. "Coffee's at 11am. I was going to have a light breakfast and grab a taxi around 10:30."

"If you need someone to come get you-." Ace starts, but you're already smiling.

"Sabo offered earlier too." You explain. "I'll be fine. If someone comes to my rescue and he complains to mother it'll be an issue. But if he's truly rude, I'll just make a scene in the café." You say with a smile. "Then I'll call my mom and head off anyone else trying to control the story."

"Sounds like a headache." Ace grumbles.

You stretch before replying. "It is." You admit taking a couple bites of food before continuing. "Nobles, Royals, Celestials – it's all a big pain in the ass. I'm almost glad Sabo and I are nobles, and not any higher up the line."

You take a few more bites and frown. "It'd be best if we weren't even nobles."

"I'm glad you two are!" Luffy says brightly. He's finished eating his first plate and is wide awake. You slide a second plate over, tilting your head a little. "Sabo found Ace and I because he was Sabo, and you're here cause you're you." Luffy takes a few big bites as you start to realize his point. "If you weren't who you were, you might not've ended up me an' Ace's nakama!"

You glance over at Ace with a smile, catching his gaze unintentionally, and look back over to Luffy before continuing. "A small price to pay, I guess. Thank you Luffy."

Luffy nods as he cleans his plate. "If you don't like being a noble so much, why not quit?"

"It's not impossible." You say, gathering three bento boxes and tying them together. "But it's a long process. I have to prove personal independence first, or provide mitigating circumstances. One of the reasons Sabo decided to become a lawyer was to make sure we could both break off clean as soon as possible.

"The short version is that someone has to sign off on my declaration. I can't just declare it."

"... Why?" Luffy asks, tilting his head. "Can't you just decide?"

You let out a sigh. "Luffy, she can't just-."

"Ah, it's okay Ace." You interrupt. You purse your lips together and look back to Luffy. You know what you're going to say will upset him, but you're trying to sort out how to soften the blow. "Noble blood is considered a commodity. There are few Celestials, a few more Royals than Celestials, and a lot more nobles than Celestials and Royals."

You grimace a little and sigh again but continue. "The system is such that inbreeding can be avoided among the Celestials and Royals by utilizing the larger pool of nobles. We're, effectively, acceptable commoners, in the grand scheme of it all. But because of that it's difficult to renounce one's title.

"Sterry, for an example, is the son of a couple of criminals. Not that that would ever become public knowledge, but his parents were nobles. Instead of losing out on the potential, they allowed him and his sister to be adopted. Separately, mind you. I don't even know if Sterry knows."

"Why separate them?" Ace questions.

You crinkle your nose a little, waving your hand a bit. "It... spreads the impact."

"That's gross." Luffy says, his face crinkled in an emotion somewhere between distaste and anger.

"It is." You agree. "So we have to cut ties correctly. Until then, we have to play the game, at least minimally. Which means I accept the dates my mother sets up for me."

Luffy makes a face, and you can see the internal struggle cross his features. It makes you feel better, honestly, having such a kind person like him in your proverbial corner. Somewhere in the back of your mind you can clearly imagine Luffy and Ace setting the noble district ablaze to rescue you.

Perhaps they would do so if you simply asked them to.

Help me be free.

You keep your thoughts to yourself for now, and tense a little as Luffy gives you a hug suddenly. You return the gesture and he steps back, the gaze he levels at you is almost uncomfortable - it's like he's reading your very soul for a moment.

"Okay!" He nods, but you're not sure what's going through his mind. "I gotta go, have a good day!"

He gives you both a wave and dashes out of the house. You tilt your head and look over at Ace who only shrugs.

"He's not going to, um, do anything rash, is he?"

Ace almost chokes on his food before laughing. "He might want to," he admits. "But Luff won't start a revolution unless you ask him, and Sabo lets him."

"... the way you say that makes me nervous." You sit back down across from Ace and continue eating your breakfast.

"How so?"

"Like... you'd join him, not stop him." You say it with a smile, but when you see the look on his face your breath catches. "I-." You stop, unsure of what to say. For some reason you almost want to apologize, or let him. Let him and Luffy just do it. Just level your parents' home, rock the world, rage against it, set it on fire and force it to change.

It's an absolutely insane train of thought, but some part of you is compelled to believe it would be possible.

Ace finishes eating. "Call me if he steps out of line." He says, ruffling your hair a little as he walks back to his room.