Konnichiwa~!

Presenting another wonderful KidLaw AU epic by author ぱるるぅた~~

This one's gonna be loooooooooooooonggggggg~~~ But please stick with this beautiful story till the end! m(_ _)m

Enjoy!

Betaed by the lovely beposbutt.

Original fic (pixiv,net/series,php?id=277975) Replace all commas with full stops~

FORTUNE: CHAPTER 1

~A chance acquaintance is a divine ordinance.~

XxXxXxX

Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kid were "acquaintances". Nothing more, nothing less.

They attended the same high school, but it was only during their final year that they were assigned to the same class. Thus, they weren't particularly close. Though they exchanged greetings every day, they spent their time with separate groups of friends. Throughout the year, they sat in adjacent seats in class; but that was the limit of their relationship.

They would then progress down their own paths; attending separate universities, pursuing different disciplines, and then finally moving onto their respective careers. It wouldn't have been surprising if this had continued on forever with the two men never again crossing paths; their brief relationship ending at an anticlimactic manner leading to nothing more an insignificant memory of a minor acquaintance.

However, life is often filled with unexpected twists and turns.

It happened that day, when Law returned home late from working overtime. The only trains running at such a late hour were all local trains, and he had no choice but to board one on his way home. Sometimes, he would meet old friends taking the same train, and they would chat and reminisce about the good old days until one of them reached their destination. These conversations always made nostalgia bloom in Law's heart, and it was on one such day that the topic turned towards a possible reunion of old high school friends.

Law agreed readily to attend, assuming that it would be a small, intimate affair, since it would probably be difficult to contact and gather many people after so much time had passed since their school years. However, he'd grossly underestimated his friend's influence; the gathering came to fruition, with an unexpectedly large number of attendees.

He knew he was bad with crowds, but since he'd already agreed to go, it would be impolite not to. And it was during this gathering at a local pub when he met Kid again.

At first, Kid was just another face in the crowd, as everyone stuck with their old cliques. However, as the night wore on, with alcohol in abundance, everyone soon loosened up and the entire group gathered together, eager to share their latest stories and exploits. Thus far, Law had escaped by sharing the barest and most minimal trivialities about himself, taking care not to overconsume too much and divulge too much in drunken revelry. He had skeletons he'd prefer to remain hidden, afterall. But now, as they went round in a circle, each person taking a turn to share in detail, he soon found himself caught.

No, there was much he couldn't share, especially certain recent incidents from the past year. Yet it would be suspicious if he kept silent now. That would have been acceptable earlier on in the night, but now, with everyone's attention upon him, it was impossible to hide away any longer.

It was doubly unfortunate that, despite his precautions, he had had a bit too much to drink. Law knew that it was risky to come up with a complete fabrication to appease his friends; he just couldn't trust his slightly foggy mind to form a believable, coherent story right now.

So, left without a choice, conceded his struggles with a recent situation, taking care to leave out and change certain details. In short, due to a job transfer, he was currently in the midst of relocating. Unable to find suitable accommodations, he had been spending the past few nights in a cheap hotel.

Concern for his well-being came immediately; some expressed sympathy about his circumstances, while others were worried about the high cost of staying long-term at a hotel. Law accepted it all with a strained smile.

But instead of letting the issue go, as he had hoped, his friends took it upon themselves to come up with ways to ease his burden. Law cursed inwardly, it must have been the alcohol that made these people so meddlesome.

Much to his displeasure, a serious discussion ensued, with everyone coming up with suggestions on finding Law a place to stay for the night, then moving on to helping him locate a good place to rent.

Soon, someone recommended Kid's apartment. Apparently the redhead had been living together with his girlfriend, but since they'd broke up recently, Kid had been living alone ever since. Because it was a hassle to shift to a new, smaller apartment, he had stayed, leaving the woman's old bedroom vacant.

"I've shifted some things inside for storage, but if you don't mind..."

Kid left the rest of the invitation unspoken as he gave Law an uninterested glance, a cigarette resting between his lips.

Of course, Law did his very best to politely reject the offer. It was unthinkable, living together with a man he barely knew. He couldn't, he just couldn't.

However, the rest of the group insisted, and in his efforts to get them off his back, Law agreed to stay, at least for that night. With the matter settled, everyone was satisfied that they'd done well and the conversation proceeded on to the next topic of interest. Some time later, the pub took their last orders, and the party soon got ready to leave.

Outside the pub, the group divided into two; one that would continue their pub crawl till morning, the other consisting of those who had work tomorrow, and had to head on home. Kid and Law bade farewell to their friends, then set off together.

As the pub was located close to Kid's apartment, the two decided to walk home. Along the way, they didn't exchange a single word, and a dreary mood settled around them.

Law's mind was reeling. He kept a secret, one that he had omitted when telling his story during the gathering earlier; it was a secret that he couldn't let Kid find out. And he was terrified, because if Kid really insisted that Law stay on for more than one night, he would definitely be exposed.

Law couldn't have Kid find out that he was gay. The job transfer had been a lie. A few days ago, he had been chased out of his home by his now ex-boyfriend, after a fight which ended in an ugly break-up.

It was true that he'd spent the past few nights at a hotel, and that he was facing trouble with accommodations, but he had been determined to look for a good place to rent.

But right now, this unwelcome favour stank of nothing but trouble. Because society was still quite unaccepting of his kind, and Law had lost more than a few friends due to his sexual orientation. The dark-haired man was certain that, should Kid ever find out, the redhead would surely share this delicious gossip with all their high school classmates. He could already see them looking at him differently; ostracizing him and keeping their distance. Law didn't want that.

However, it was too late to change his mind now and escape from Kid's offer. Besides, doing so could end up raising even more questions and rumours. No, he would stay the night. Then, when morning came, he would decline any more of Kid's hospitality and take his leave.

"We're here."

It was a large apartment located at the corner of the second floor. Opening the door, Kid detached a key from his key holder and held it out to Law.

"This one's for you."

'But I'll be leaving tomorrow,' Law wanted to say. But he quietly accepted it for now as he entered the apartment, noting the large number of shoes arranged neatly at the entrance hall. The kitchen was neat and tidy too, and a quick glance into the bathroom revealed the same.

Kid led him past the kitchen, and opened a door on the left to reveal a room. Law spotted a table and sofa, as well as what looked like a stove, covered with tarp, pushed into the corner. There were also numerous boxes, probably holding seasonal clothes like winter coats and such. Without any other large pieces of furniture like a wardrobe or bed, the room seemed quite spacious. Even though he was determined not to stay, Law knew a decent room when he saw one, as he mentally decorated the room with a bed and other essential furnishings.

The question now was, where could he sleep tonight? His eyes landed on the sofa.

"Oh... I don't have any extra futon..."

The same problem seemed to have occured to Kid, as his brow furrowed in thought. An awkwardness immediately filled Law's gut. He shouldn't have agreed to stay, it was really just too sudden.

Thankfully, it was not winter. Spring had just ended, so Law surmised that he would do fine on the sofa, as long as he could borrow a large towel as a make-shift blanket. He was about to voice this suggestion when Kid spoke up.

"My bed's quite big... Shall we sleep together tonight?"

The image of Kid sharing his bed with a women briefly crossed Law's mind, but it was the thought of himself sleeping in the same bed as the redhead that left him most uncomfortable. Technically, they could sleep on opposite ends, but the idea of them in bed together still left the smaller man with a strange taste in his mouth. Law shook his head vehemently.

"No?"

Law shook his head again.

"But you're gay, right?"

Law froze, unable to breathe. His mind reeled with shock as he frantically replayed the evening's gathering in his mind, trying to recall if he'd drunkenly blurted out his secret. He just couldn't remember, and right now, he didn't know if he should deny the fact. His eyes darted about the room, as if searching for an escape route, before realizing that this evasive reaction was all Kid needed to confirm his suspicion.

Law felt his world coming to an end, as a wave of fear swamped his heart.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," Kid added quickly, noting Law's panic.

"B-but... how did you know...?"

Afterward, Law would beat himself up for admitting to it so easily, but right now, he was in too much of a panic to realize what he was saying.

"Well, I usually take a shortcut past this love hotel when on my way home from work... About a month ago... I saw you leave the hotel, with a man."

Law knew exactly which hotel Kid was referring to. It was the only one he'd frequented, with many men, and recently with his ex-boyfriend.

The thought that anyone would recognize him had never even crossed his mind.

"When I saw you, I knew I remembered you from somewhere, but I just couldn't recall. It only came back to me when I saw you at the reunion today."

Law wanted to dig a hole and bury himself deep inside.

"Anyway, I know it's none of my business, but I think it'll be better if you stopped seeing that man. I've seen him visit the hotel many times, with different men and women too. It's just stupid, going to the same place. He could have picked somewhere else if he wanted to cheat. It's almost as if he wants to get caught."

Yes, Law had had his suspicions that his ex-lover was unfaithful, but to have it confirmed, to learn that the reality was so much worse than what he'd imagined... Law almost wished he had never found out. He knew he shouldn't be so concerned; they'd already broken up, afterall. But it still stung bitterly, like rubbing salt into an open wound, and Law feared that the trauma he'd kept locked away would now burst forth and consume him again.

"It's ok... We've already broken up," he managed to whisper.

Kid seemed satisfied as he shrugged nonchalantly. Grunting a reply, he guided Law towards the master bedroom. Leaving him at the doorway, the redhead moved to his closet and pulled out a shirt and pants. Looking back, he saw the smaller man still standing awkwardly in the corridor.

"What are you standing there for? Come in and sleep. You have work tomorrow, right?"

It seemed that, despite everything, Kid was still determined to share his bed. The redhead quickly changed out of his street clothes, then moved to dim the lighting in the room. That done, he flopped onto the bed and burrowed under the covers.

"Good night."

With that, he turned his back on Law.

"...You can't be serious..."

Law's incredulous whisper were the last words they exchanged that night.

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