Chapter 12: Ace and the Dadan Family
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Come out, Dadan!"
Kapu knocked forcefully on the wooden door of the Dadan household. Three figures emerged immediately, the foremost being the pillar of the family, "Fist Saint" Dadan herself. Beside her stood two others: a tall man with a rooster-like hairstyle named Magura and a small, wiry man with fish-like eyes named Dogura. There were other members of the Dadan family inside, but they were irrelevant; let's just call them Passersby A, B, C, and D…
"M-Mr. Kapu, please spare me! Ace is already ten years old, and we can't control him anymore. Just take him away!" Dadan complained without letting Kapu speak. She hoped Kapu would take Ace away, not realizing that he was not only keeping Ace but also bringing two more kids along. Before Kapu could respond, Dadan spotted Luffy and Kaito. Seeing kids made her uneasy.
"Eh? Who are these two brats?!""Hello, I'm Kaito, and this is Luffy.""Luffy is Mr. Kapu's grandson, and I'm just a freeloader. If all goes well, the two of us will be living here for a while."
Kaito bowed slightly, causing Dadan to pause. The kid was surprisingly polite, but her calm was short-lived upon hearing the rest. She immediately looked at Kapu, who nodded, confirming Kaito's words.
"A-And Mr. Kapu's grandson too?! And now another… quite polite little brat! Mr. Kapu, please spare us!" Dadan began to plead. One Ace was already a handful; now there were two more. How was she supposed to handle that? Kapu, on the other hand, was enjoying the situation, playfully threatening Dadan about whether they were going to jail or raising kids.
Dadan grumbled. Though she didn't want to be arrested, sometimes she thought being in jail might be more comfortable. One Ace was already too much; now she had to deal with two more! It was overwhelming; she didn't even know how wild Ace was as a child, enough to drive Dadan and the others to this point.
While Kapu and Dadan exchanged words, Luffy noticed Ace returning and dragged Kaito over.
Ace sat on his spoils: a dead wild buffalo, clutching a bloody pipe and glaring darkly at Luffy and Kaito.
Without hesitation, he greeted them with a splash of spit. Luffy stood there, dumbfounded, with spit dripping down his face."Ugh! Saliva! So gross!""Who the hell are you?!"
Kaito wasn't a germaphobe, but he didn't appreciate getting spat on either, so he sidestepped to avoid it. Ace saw him dodge and thought, I can't let that slide! He spat again, and Kaito dodged once more."Oh, Ace.""Oh, Ace, you're back."
Seeing the adults notice, Ace stopped his spitting assault, shooting Kaito a glare before giving up. Kapu approached to introduce Luffy and Kaito."This is Ace, three years older than you.""From now on, you all will be living together for a while. Make sure to get along."
Kapu said it lightly, but Luffy shot a furious look at Ace because of the spit. Dadan exclaimed in disbelief."Is that it? Just decided like that?!""Do you have a problem with that?" Kapu's tone turned serious."Then we'll take care of it ourselves!" Dadan responded, claiming they weren't being cowardly but rather acting sensibly.
"I hate mountain bandits the most!" Luffy blurted out, associating the mountain bandits only with Sigma and his crew, speaking freely in the Dadan household."Who cares about you, you little brat!""If you don't want to stay here, just get out and go to the wilderness!" Dadan yelled harshly at Luffy, her minions hurriedly advising her to calm down.
Luffy ignored her, instead watching Ace tear into his meat. "I don't have enough food; I want to eat meat too." Kaito chuckled helplessly and handed Luffy a piece of meat from his bowl. This was a special privilege since he had been the chef.
Ace had a slight change of heart about Kaito's cooking but still disliked him. Luffy's face lit up with joy. Meanwhile, Dadan explained the survival rules of her household."Ace gets to eat meat because that's the buffalo he hunted. He has to give a portion of his catch to me before I allow him at the table!""As for the white kid, he gets to eat because he's good at cooking and landed the chef job!""Now that mountain bandits are struggling…""Starting tomorrow, you all better get to work: sweeping, laundry, shoe shining, weapon cleaning, plus stealing, looting, cheating, and killing!"
It was quite intimidating. I can't believe Kapu thinks the atmosphere here is better than Windmill Village. Pointing at Luffy, Dadan shouted while chewing meat, her words somehow sounding weak."Listen carefully… you cannot tell that guy Kapu about what you do here."
A true face of reality: pleasant in front, ruthless behind."You'll only get one bowl of rice a day and one cup of water; you'll have to fend for yourselves."
Honestly, if Kaito were treated like this at the orphanage back in his world, he might cry for days and possibly starve on the streets. But who was Luffy? He never got down."Got it." Luffy replied calmly, and Kaito nodded indifferently.
Dadan fell flat, realizing she hadn't established any authority."What do you mean 'got it'? You should be crying and begging right now!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone