Chapter Text
Chapter One: Off to a Great Start
The stage lights were blinding, but Ace didn’t care as he sang his solo to the ASL Brothers’ newest song: Jungle Children. The large stadium was packed with droves of screaming fans, all waving around light sticks and posters of their favorite band member. Ace grabbed the mic stand as he rasped out the song's chorus; Sabo slammed his hands onto his keyboard to hold out the note to emphasize Ace’s vocals. Luffy, on the other hand, was playing a continuous beat on the drums while excessively spinning his drumsticks. The atmosphere was intoxicating as the crowd sang along to the passionate singing. Ace dragged the mic stand with him as he walked to the left. He suddenly swung his right arm off of the stand and smacked his wrist against another stand left for Sabo’s mic. His breath hitched for a moment before continuing to sing, a little more high-pitched than before.
…
“You hurt yourself,” Sabo said. The brothers finished packing up their gear and thanked the venue’s staff before loading into Sabo’s inconspicuous Hatchback. Ace was sitting in the passenger’s seat, refusing to look at him.
“No, it’s fine. It just hurt for a second,” he mumbled.
“Then why were you using your left hand to shake hands when we thanked people?” Sabo asked, always the observant one.
“Yeah, you’re acting weird,” Luffy said from the back seat, munching on a bag of chips the catering had set out.
“Stop worrying, I said it’s fine,” Ace exclaimed.
“Okay, fine, you wouldn’t mind carrying the equipment into the apartment then, right? I had a long day and everything just seems twice as heavy after a concert.” Sabo knew his brother was wincing at the thought of having to hoist heavy objects on an obviously injured wrist. “Or, you could let me take you to Urgent Care and we take everything in together. It’s up to you.”
“I sometimes hate you, Bo.”
“Love you too.” Sabo grinned, happy he had won the argument; he made Ace reset the directions to the closest Urgent Care.
Luffy was the first inside. He had a baseball cap and sunglasses on despite it being dark outside. He dashed up to the desk and asked for the paperwork. The brothers weren’t strangers to various injuries, so this wasn’t their first visit. He jumped up and down with the clipboard of papers to catch his older brothers’ attention when they walked in. Ace and Sabo were also wearing various hats and accessories to cover their faces; Ace had a face mask on to hide his freckles. He took the clipboard from Luffy and struggled to write his information down with his wrist throbbing from the pain.
“Told you,” Sabo said smugly. Ace rolled his eyes and handed the papers to the receptionist. The waiting room was packed full of people with all sorts of ailments ranging from a kid coughing up his lungs to a man wrapped up in too many bandages for him to have standard mobility. “Hey, Luke, you did great out there tonight.” Sabo turned to Luffy. When in public, they try to use fake names to not draw attention. Try is the key word because Luffy sometimes forgets which at one point led to Ace being chased down by fangirls at three in the morning outside a small bar.
“Thanks, it was super fun! Did you see how much they loved the new song? I wanted to get up and dance, but I guess that would have been bad if I stopped playing.” Luffy laughed loudly, causing others to look in their direction.
Many names were called to see a doctor. In the meanwhile, Sabo is writing in a journal he takes everywhere, Luffy is texting the group chat he has with his friends, and Ace is scrolling on Twitter, reading the comments about tonight’s concert.
ASCE was super hot tonight! Did you see all that sweat? I wish I had been closer to the stage!
Strawhat was cute as always!! I bet he was thinking about food. He had that look in his eyes during “Brotherhood.”
Outlook is always so polished! How does he manage to look like he’s performing Beethoven even when it’s rock music??
Ace laughed to himself while reading some of the comments. Although he loved their fans, he thought they could be pretty weird at times. Mostly when they got a bit too explicit in what they wanted the idols to do to them.
“Andrew Fire,” a nurse called as she walked out from the back. Ace stood up and motioned his brothers to follow him.
“Fire? I thought you went with Spade before.” Sabo whispered, eyebrow raised. “I don’t like this one as much.”
“I’m trying something new. Also, I don’t want to hear this coming from Sabastian Blue.”
"Shishishi,” Luffy laughed. “Mine sounds the coolest.” The other two shook their heads in disappointment as Luffy continued to laugh. Luke Dragon was the best Luffy could come up with. His dad’s first name was always cool to the hyperactive 20-year-old.
Ace sat up on the exam table while his brothers took the two plastic chairs next to the door. He answered the various questions the nurse asked about his injury; he said he slammed his arm into a metal pole. Neglecting to mention it was a microphone stand at a concert he was the star of.
“Now, Mr. Fire, I just have to do a quick exam for the books. If you would please take off your mask.” The nurse said while taking her stethoscope off her neck.
“Do I have to? I’m pretty shy about my appearance.” He laughed awkwardly.
“I’m sorry, it has to be done before we can give you any medication. Would you like the doctor to do it instead?” Ace didn’t want to be rude, but going from the Straw Hat Jolly Roger sticker on the nurse’s name badge, he could predict taking his mask off in front of her wasn’t the best idea. Luffy might be her bias, but this could end badly either way. He decided he’d take the chance the doctor might not be the same.
“Yeah, if possible. It’s not personal. You’re just too pretty; I’m embarrassed for you to see me.” The nurse blushed at his words as she nodded and took his file with her to go find the doctor assigned to him.
“Was that last bit necessary?” Sabo sighed.
“What can I say, charm comes naturally to me.” Ace winked at his younger brother. Sabo rolled his eyes as the door opened again. A tall blonde man with a distinctive haircut walked in.
“Hello, my name is Doctor Newgate-yoi. You’re Mr. Fire?” He looked at Ace with piercing blue droopy eyes. For once in his life, Ace was speechless.
“Yup! That’s Andrew Fire.” Luffy answered for him.
“Alright, Mr. Fire, if you wouldn’t mind taking your mask off. I have to perform the routine check-up tasks on you.” Marco said while placing Ace’s file on the counter. Ace slowly nodded, his eyes refusing to leave Marco’s form. Sabo snickered as he watched his helpless older brother. Once the face mask was off Ace watched for any kind of recognition in Marco’s eyes and was pleasantly surprised to find none. Marco didn’t look too much older than himself, so there was a decent chance he would know who he was despite a large amount of their fans being women. The check-up went by without incident except for a small comment about his heart rate being slightly higher than normal.
“Okay, let’s finally take a look at your arm-yoi.” Marco said and held Ace’s forearm gently while feeling up and down his entire limb. Once he reached the wrist Ace flinched at the small amount of pressure applied. “It appears that the wrist is the only problem spot. I’ll send you to get some X-rays done and I’ll report back with your results. The nurse will be back in a moment to escort you.” He watched Ace reach for the face mask. “It’s an honor you trust me with seeing your appearance-yoi, but I don’t understand why you’re embarrassed by it. You’re perfectly handsome to me.” Marco gave a sincere smile as he exited the room. Ace practically combusted from the heat coming from his face.
“What happened to that charm from before?” Sabo asked.
"Please, shut up.” was all Ace could manage to say before burying his face in his hands.
“Looks like it’s just sprained-yoi.” Marco showed him the X-rays and pointed out where his wrist was injured. “I’ll just throw on a light splint and give you some anti-inflammatory pills and you should be good to go. Try to rest it for at least a week and you’ll see results.” He grabbed the medical tape.
“Will I have to come back for a check-up?” Ace asked, quietly.
“If you just rest it you shouldn’t need to come back. If it gets worse, please do.”
“Will you be working if I do?”
“Most likely not-yoi. I normally work in the ER, but they were understaffed today.” Marco replied, amused by the question. He finished wrapping Ace’s wrist, filled in the paperwork, and handed it to Ace. “Please take this up to the front desk. They’ll get the payment sorted out.” Marco gave him one more reassuring smile and left the room once again; Ace let his head fall forward as he let out a large breath. The room was quiet with both other sets of eyes on the eldest. Luffy broke the silence
“Shishishi, Ace has a crush.”