A few days later..
Zerk had familiarized himself with the world he found himself in, especially after the perilous battles in the forest. The encounters with danger had made him realize the necessity of strengthening his own abilities to ensure his survival. He no longer wished to find himself in such treacherous situations, especially now that he had the responsibility of looking after the three young brothers.
Inspired by the wise and caring older brothers he had read about in light novels, Zerk aspired to become a role model for his newfound companions. He wanted to be a reliable and wise older brother who could guide and protect them through their journey. With this goal in mind, he resolved to train diligently and harness his skills to their fullest potential.
'The skill that I used back then is quite dangerous, huh.' He couldn't forget the extreme pain that he felt after using that dangerous skill
Furthermore, he could only utilize the skill sparingly, aware of the potential repercussions that followed its usage.
Slowing down his movement, Zerk landed gracefully in front of the opened door. Dropping off the dead boar outside, he then walked inside.
"You're finally back?"
Zerk turned to his side, and saw a huge masculine woman with orange hair sitting on the floor as she smoked a cigarette. Despite her rough and vulgar way of speaking, she was actually a nice person. She also happened to be a leader of a group of mountain bandits.
Curly Dadan.
Zerk had quite good opinions of her.
"Yeah, I caught a boar earlier. It would be nice if we could have some roasted meat tonight." He suggested. When he noticed the lack of noise in the house, he knew that his three brothers were not here. "Where are the brats?"
"The usual." Dadan shrugged her shoulders as she looked at the young boy that she was forced to take care of alongside another three troublesome brats. "I'm surprised you brats didn't return together. Usually, those three brats would be following you anywhere you go."
"Not today. I need some alone times for myself too, ya know? Plus, with them being around me, there's no way I can finish my training smoothly."
"Training, training, training. All you ever do is train your ass off. I hope you didn't destroy another part of the forest or else I would get another complaint from the town's mayor because of you, ya damn brat!" Dadan scolded him with a scowl.
"That was just one time." Zerk said at her, before he paused for a moment and grinned at the older woman. "Plus, If I want to destroy the forest...Imma do it with a loud 'Bang'!"
"Tch," she muttered in annoyance, not letting anything interrupt her current task.
Snickering to himself, he left the house before Dadan could nag at him even more.
Using his skill to locate his three brothers, a chuckle escaped his mouth as he leapt off the ground and started to jump on the tree by tree, heading towards a certain direction.
Soon, he arrived at a riverside, which was the spot where the three of them always spent their time fishing. His three troublemakers were nowhere to be seen though.
But that didn't mean that they were not somewhere around here.
In fact, he could sense Ace and Sabo's presence behind that one tree a few feet away from his left, while Luffy didn't even bother to hide his laughter as he hid himself poorly in a bush on his right. Hearing a quiet '1,2,3', he was then 'ambushed' by the three of them as they let out such a loud battle cry. Zerk just stood there like a wood before he simply moved a couple of steps backwards.
His sudden movement caused the three to bump their heads against each other with a loud 'Thud'.
"Owwww."
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"That hurts!"
"You should hide better next time." he grinned teasingly at them.
Ace, who was rubbing his head, then pointed a finger at Luffy. "It's because Luffy didn't hide properly!"
"But Ace, you could've been quieter." Sabo responded back with such an innocent look that it made the boy speechless and Zerk to laugh even harder.
"Alright, that's enough. Don't tell me you guys were just playing around and didn't get any fish at all?"
"That's not true. I got four!" Luffy said proudly before he went to collect the fishes that he managed to catch.
"Aha!" Ace exclaimed with a look of pride as he showed off a big fish that was twice his size. "Look at what I got, Bro Zerk!"
"Me too! Me too!" Yelled Sabo when he came back while hugging a total of 3 fishes that were thrice as big as his arm each. With a bright smile, he asked him "Wha' did you get, Bro?"
"I got a huge boar." He said while patting his head, "Tonight, we're going to eat some roasted meat!"
The boys cheered, filled with excitement. Luffy, unable to contain his enthusiasm, turned to their friend and asked, "Where were you, Bro? You missed witnessing the incredible moment when Sabo and I skillfully caught fish using only our bare hands!"
Ace, feeling a pang of annoyance, quickly interjected, "Hey, don't forget about me!" He snapped at Luffy, a hint of playful rivalry in his tone, as he tried to downplay the significance of his own remarkable achievement.
"Were you training again?" Ace asked.
"Uh huh." He nodded to Ace before turning to look at Luffy and Sabo.
The response that he got was a look that said 'That's what I said' from him.
"Eee... Why didn't you bring us with you?" Luffy pouted.
Grinning, he said "Don't worry. Soon, I'll guarantee that you three will be able to get some training too."
Confused, Luffy asked what he meant by that while Ace was starting to have a bad feeling.
"Oh, you don't know? Gramps is coming home soon. Dadan has confirmed it this morning." He stated with a look of innocence, as if he didn't know these three were most afraid of their own grandfather.
And just as he thought, when the boys heard the word 'Gramps', their faces went pale.
"Gramps is really coming home?!" the three was feeling shocked and their body trembled slightly.
Realizing the urgency of the situation, a sense of panic took over the little boys. "This is bad! We need to find a place to hide!" they exclaimed, frantically searching their surroundings for a suitable hiding spot.
Looking at the three children panicking as if it was the end of the world, Zerk couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter.
"Why are you guys even that afraid of Gramps? He isn't even that bad."
"I don't want to get another 'Fist of Love'! It hurts!" Luffy complained as he placed both of his hands over his head, as if Garp would appear out of nowhere with his fist ready to punch him into the ground.
"Even you, Ace?" He took a glance at Ace then Sabo. He noticed the unwillingness reflected in their eyes that told him exactly how they felt about the thought of their grandfather coming home.
Well, he couldn't blame them for that at all.
......
That night, while patiently waiting for their meal to be prepared, the four siblings came up with an idea. They decided to climb up onto the rooftop and admire the starry night sky as they waited for their dinner to be cooked.
"Meat's smell!" Luffy's eyes flashed with a brilliant light amidst of whatever they were doing. The same hungry expression could also be seen in both Ace and Sabo' eyes.
Just as they were captivated by the enchanting scent wafting through the air, their attention was drawn towards the kitchen.
They beheld Magra and Dogra, the two burly men, carefully transporting an array of bowls brimming with delectable meats and a variety of sumptuous dishes, making their way towards the dinner table. With anticipation building, they watched as the bowls were placed in front of Dadan, who was already seated in one of the chairs, leisurely puffing on a cigarette.
They hurriedly made their way to the table, their footsteps echoing with excitement, creating a lively commotion as they playfully argued and jostled over who would claim which delectable piece of meat.
"Hey! Don't be so rough! Slow down, will you?" Dadan screamed at them, clearly irritated by the boys' unruly behavior.
"This one's mine! You can have that small piece over there..." Luffy declared, pulling out the biggest chunk of meat, depriving his two brothers of their share.
"You! It's mine! I was the first to arrive, and I've already claimed it." Both Sabo and Ace refused to give up their claim on the meat.
Dinner happened as hectic like usual. Zerk, and the grumpy Dadan were eating their food peacefully as they stared at the chaotic sight presented before them.
The other boys and those grown men were acting like they hadn't eaten for days as they fought each other for the food that was placed in the middle. Zerk wasn't even surprised to see some of them got pushed away roughly to the other side of the room.
Honestly, this was such a familiar sight to him that he couldn't even be bothered to say anything. He had been exposed to this sight ever since the first day staying here, so it would be impossible for him not get used to it. At first, he was quite skeptical over their grandfather's decision in leaving the boys under their care.
Well I didn't quite following the original story I guess, or rather, I'm keep forgetting things. But, it's good probably, they deepen their bonds faster this way..
But days passed by, and as he grew more familiar with each one of them, he became quite fond of this kind of chaos. Honestly, he preferred this kind of loud and lively dinner over a quiet and lonely dinner like when he was on earth. After all, family meant eating and enjoying a warm dinner together.
Even though Dadan and the others were bandits, Zerk considered them to be his own family. Dadan was a rough woman who didn't know how to express her true feelings, but she was the closest mother figure for the three siblings. She cared about them just as much as they cared about her. As for the other guys, they were like scary looking uncles that seemed harsh, but actually just a bunch of softies.
He was honestly quite grateful to have them in this life.
At least now I have a place I can call home. It's better this way, I think.
Zerk was amused when he saw the pitiful appearance of his youngest brother whose food kept on getting stolen from him, unlike Ace who easily grabbed one food after another like a pro. Clearly all of the running and dodging that he did during Garp's training actually paid off.
"Bro Zerk..." Luffy, who couldn't keep up with that rambunctious group of people, appeared in front of him. He looked extra pitiful with that bump on his head as he pouted at him. "I'm so hungry!"
As funny as it was to see him like this, he also pitied him. So he gave his food to him, much to his delight. Smiling at the sight of Luffy eating happily, he then saw Ace heading towards them with a piece of meat in one hand.
"Che! How come you were not even able to get at least one meat for yourself?" He scoffed at him, before throwing the piece of meat that he got to Luffy who immediately gave him his brightest smile.
"Wahh thanks Ace!" He thanked the older boy, before grabbing the meat and returned his attention back to his other food.
Even Dadan's food wasn't spared, much to her annoyance. "The food is not going anywhere you damn brat. Do you want to choke to death?"
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Suddenly there was the sound of someone knocking the door.
Hearing the presence of an unexpected guest, the three brothers recalled their previous conversation about a certain old man mentioned by Zerk. Their body involuntarily shuddered at the thought of that certain scary old man.
Surprise mothafaka