Chapter 1
Law huffed as he got out of his warm car, glaring at the entrance to the hall, his breath curling around him in the snow filled cold air. He breathed briefly into his hands, barely covered by a pair of tatty fingerless gloves before shoving them in his hoody pocket.
He couldn't believe he was actually here.
Pulling out his phone, Law glanced at the screen.
8.42am.
He had three minutes until he was late.
Only the knowledge that he had begged for this chance pushed him forward through the double doors.
He grumpily stamped the snow off of his Vaans as soon as he got inside and, glowering, made his way to the reception desk where a girl not much older than him with lime green hair and fashionably large glasses was texting rapidly on her phone.
"Hey" he called to the receptionist. She held up one finger to silence him before carrying on with her text. She was chewing gum with her mouth open all the while.
Disgusting.
He looked around the room to see if there was anyone else that could help him. No such luck, there were four chairs with a potted plant against one wall with some stairs leading off of it and a set of double doors that looked like they needed a key fob of some kind to the side. That was probably the main access to the school.
He looked at his phone, 8.44am. "Hey" he said again, louder this time. Rolling her eyes in annoyed she finally looked up at him, giving him a dirty look like he was interrupting something important.
Her attitude changed when she got a good look at him. She smiled and played with her hair a little all the while loudly chewing on her gum, oh god was she trying to flirt with him? "Hey, how can I help you"
"Lawrence Corazon, I'm starting here today, think you can sign me in?" His tone remained neutral but inwardly he was cringing at the sight of the little ball of gum rolling around her mouth.
"Oh, you must be the tutor, yeah we have been waiting for you." A high pitched giggle emerged from her throat and Law sighed.
It was too early for this shit.
Law knew he was considered good looking by some people and had used it to his advantage on occasion, he was tall and lean and his rugged looks and uncaring attitude gave him a 'bad boy' vibe that girls seemed to like. Grey eyes stared out of a handsome if somewhat tired looking face topped by short black messy hair currently dusted with slowly defrosting snow.
"You're a little late though, you were meant to be here before 8.45am." she giggled again.
Law glanced at his phone 8.48am. He refrained from stating the obvious reason for his lateness and settled for glaring at her instead as she busied herself on the computer before picking up the phone. "Hello, It's Monet at reception, no, yes, Lawrence Corazon is here, you wanted to know when he arrived. Erm, no, I'll do that now." Law zoned out of the conversation and looked around the walls in the reception. There were drawings and essays dotted around kept in shiny plastic cases on the wall. He wondered how often the display was changed, this lot was probably done by kids that had graduated from university by now, judging by how faded the handwriting was.
"Erm, Mr Corazon" he looked back over at the receptionist who was blushing furiously. "Do you have any photo ID to confirm who you are." He smirked as he handed over driving licence, stupid bitch had completely forgotten hadn't she? He could have been anyone and she would have just let him in.
The thought left Law cold and the smirk dropped from his face.
She handed him back his ID and a lanyard containing a card stating 'EastBlue High School. Lawrence Corazon. Private Teaching Assistant' with a picture of his face on it. When had she taken that? He was amused to see his trademark smirk reflected back at himself. "Deputy Headmaster Chaser is coming down to meet you, he will be here in a minute." He nodded to acknowledge her words then turned his back on her to continue looking at the work on the walls in an attempt to stop her talking to him. "I see here that you are 24, you look so young for your age, how come you are doing voluntary work here?" She didn't get the hint. He kept his back to her as he responded.
"Work experience."
"Oh cool, I've heard working in a school is really important when applying for a teaching qualification. Do you want to be a teacher then?"
"No."
"Oh, so why come to here then?"
A white haired, heavy set man in a grey suit with a mint green tie chose that moment to come down the stairs opposite the reception desk, saving Law from having to answer her questions. He could smell menthol wafting from the man from where he stood and wrinkled his nose slightly.
"Lawrence?" the man had a gravelly voice of a heavy smoker, the man walked up to Law and Law was surprised to see that despite the white hair the man probably wasn't far into his thirties and looked like he was solid muscle.
"Err, Yes." Law was caught off guard by this man, despite knowing he was just a deputy head of a secondary school he found that he really didn't want to get on this man's bad side.
The man nodded once. "Want to come up to my office for a chat before we show you where you will be working?"
Law nodded once and followed the man upstairs into a small corridor with three doors coming off of it. The man lead him into the one on the left and gestured for Law to enter before shutting the door behind him. Law eased his thin frame into one of the hard plastic chairs in front of the desk and adopted a relaxed pose, he wondered how many kids had sat here and quailed under the glare of the surprisingly well built teacher. There was a little sign at the front of the tidy desk engraved with 'Mr G Chaser, Deputy Headmaster'.
The deputy head sat opposite him, his desk chair creaked under his weight.
"Let's get things straight." he began and Law fidgeted before controlling himself, he hadn't felt this nervous for a long time he felt like a naughty school kid being called up to the office, he was too old for this dammit. "I know why you are here." Mr Chaser's voice broke him out of his reverie and his blood went cold one he processed what had been said. "I have allowed you to enter this school as a favour to Commissioner Sengoku and I will not come save you if you manage to make a mess of this. Is that understood."
"I understand Mr Chaser." Law responded politely, his mind whirling. How much had Sengoku told him? Was Law safe here?
"Call me Smoker, everyone here does, well everyone except that dumb cow at the reception desk anyway." Law snorted softly in amusement at the man's assessment of the girl.
"You will be assisting a year 11 class for the next six or so months, that should be suitable to your needs."
Law nodded in dubious gratitude. Smoker wasn't done yet, however.
"There is a condition to this and Commissioner Sengoku has agreed to these terms. The leader of the Revolutionary Army has his son studying here, you will be helping in all of his classes." Law opened his mouth to protest but Smoker cut him off. "It will be a good reason for you to be here, also you will be included in his sphere of protection. His father has no problems with this and even welcomed your presence." Law's eyes went wide but he remained silent. If Dragon had sanctioned this then he knew who he was. Who else knew, had Sengoku been indiscreet or had he contacted Dragon as part of Law's protection. That would have no sense.
Law's mind ran in circles as Smoker carried on his explanation. "As far as anybody is concerned you are the brat's personal tutor and bodyguard whilst on the school premises, by shadowing him you should be able to get what you need." That broke Law out of his darkening thoughts.
"What?" Law spat, "I came here to get what I needed without attracting any attention and now you are putting me next to the son of a political figure? What's a kid like that doing in a public school anyway?" This wasn't how this was meant to be going.
"The headmaster, Mr Fujitora, doesn't know why you are here, this has come through me as I happen to owe Commissioner Sengoku one and it was the best I could do with the time frame I was given. The kid is never in the public eye and no one will look for you to be here precisely because of the political connections. As to why he is in a public school instead of a private one?" Smoker shrugged. "Something to do with his father wanting him to experience the real world instead of the life of a pampered prince. Load of bollocks really, the kid is a D. He's never gonna have a normal life. How does the expression go again? Something about storms and D's?"
"Not every D causes a storm but every storm is caused by a D ." Law supplied dully.
Smoker grunted in agreement, "Yea, that's the one."
Law sighed and rubbed at the budding headache behind his temple. "Do I even have a choice in all this?"
"None, your guardian is away for work for the next few months, this is to keep you busy during that period rather than sitting around that place and sponging off of his wages. Besides, it's not like you can get another job at the minute is it? You will be given a decent wage for this role as you are also acting as an extra body between the kid and any attacker so you can feed yourself while he is away. Can't have you spending all of his money." Law glowered at that but remained silent. He had wanted his own income anyway, he felt uncomfortable living off of Rosinante's somewhat meagre earnings.
The issue was that Law didn't have any qualifications having never finished secondary school. He had studied plenty on his own and wasn't exactly dumb but without any GCSE's he couldn't go to college or get a job.
Law had been asking for qualifications for the past three years but Sengoku had refused to forge the papers for him, said he needed to earn them himself. But as much as Law wanted to just do the exam papers himself, he couldn't because the school curriculum didn't cover things you needed to know outside of school.
As smart as Law was he hadn't quite mastered deconstructing meaning from poetry, simultaneous equations or the osmosis of a potato, he was much more interested in things he might actually use. So as soon as it been decided that Rosinante was going to be working undercover for a few months Sengoku had found a way to get Law into a school. To avoid attracting the attention of an older student studying amongst a bunch of sixteen-year-olds, this was the solution that had been found. And now it had been complicated further by Law playing bodyguard/babysitter.
Fantastic.
Smoker was talking again and Law forced himself to pay attention. "...to know a few things. And I need honest answers for this." Law nodded to show he was paying attention. "How old are you really?"
"Twenty"
"Is your driving licence real?"
"No, but Sengoku passed me himself and I have also been trained in high speed pursuit."
"Do you have a passport."
"No, Sengoku won't let me have one, thinks I'll do a runner."
"Would you?"
Law paused before answering. "No, not any more." He wouldn't leave Rosinante, He owed him too much.
"Do you have any allergies or medical conditions I need to be aware of?"
Law looked away feeling uncomfortable."I have Coeliac disease and mild anaemia."
Smoker snorted,"No wonder you're as skinny as a rake. Are both of these managed?"
Yes, I take iron tablets for the anaemia and I manage my diet carefully to avoid any complications with the Coeliac."
"Do you have any experience in martial arms or the use of weapons"
"Yes," Smoker waited for elaboration but none was forthcoming so he moved on.
"Is your appearance modified in any way that requires regular maintenance?"
Law didn't answer and instead fiddled with a loose thread on one of his fingerless gloves.
Smoker sighed "Look, kid..."
"Lawrence."
Smoker ignored the interruption. "...Your guardian isn't going to be around for a while, if there is something you need then I will be providing it. We need to trust each other a little here."
Law stayed silent but as Smoker went to open his mouth again Law answered, staring resolutely at the carpet. "I'm slightly long sighted so I have contacts." Law fiddled with his glove again. "They are coloured grey to hide my eyes." He took a deep breath before continuing ."I have tattoos on my hands and arms so I need to wear gloves and long sleeves."
"You are in hiding and you got your hands tattooed? What craziness decided that was a good idea?" Smoker asked incredulous.
Law slid further down his seat and seemed to shrink in on himself and he folded his arms, hiding his gloved hands against his chest. "Wasn't by choice." He muttered. He saw understanding flash across Smokers face before the man buried his face in his hands for half a second before looking back up at Law.
"One last question. Who is after you and why?"
"If Sengoku didn't tell you then I see no reason why I should." Was Law's quick response.
Smoker grunted in reply. "I need a fag, come on I'll show you around the school and introduce you to the kid you'll be with."
XXX xxx XXX
Smoker lit his cigarette with a sigh of pleasure, it always relaxed him, his lungs were probably black but he found it worth the risk as he took a deep breath of nicotine inwards. He had swapped to menthol cigarettes when Fujitora had started complaining about the smell and insisted that it was setting a bad example for students. Now that menthols were getting banned he supposed he would end up vaping. 'Vapour' just didn't have the same ring as 'Smoker'.
He looked at the kid next to him as he walked him across the empty playground while providing a commentary about how the school day was split, where the lunch hall was and details of who was in Luffy's entourage. Lessons has started fifteen minutes ago and the place was deserted aside from the odd snowflake drifting down.
It wouldn't settle, it was too wet for that from the previous night rain.
The black jeans and black hoodie only emphasised how pale the kid was and made his shadowed eyes more obvious. He was tall, if he stood up straight instead of slouching he would be 6ft2 at least, maybe even 6ft3. His had short messy black hair that stood up in all directions, he would almost say it looked like hat hair but there was no hat to be seen, Smoker found that strange considering how cold it was. Poorly trimmed, black sideburns and goatee curled around his face. There were small studs in his ears, two in each. Enough to keep the hole from closing but only noticeable if you were looking. Smoker wondered if these were other examples of small changes in the kids appearance to help keep him hidden. He didn't know who Lawrence was hiding from, didn't even know the kids real name. All he knew was that the kid and his guardian were in Witness Protection and it had been organised by Commissioner Sengoku himself. He wondered who they were that the head of the World Police had taken them under his wing and hidden them, even to the extent of calling in his favour to Smoker.
Smoker stamped out his cigarette picked up the butt and putt it in a bin next to the door before opening it and letting Lawrence walk through. They cut through a small area with a wooden staircase reaching upwards before going through another set of double doors and walking through a short corridor and up some stairs before continuing through another set of doors. Smoker knew that Luffy and his entourage would be in library at this time of day and was debating whether or not to warn Lawrence about him. He glanced at the the lanky kid out of the corner of his eyes and saw again black shadows under his eyes, he looked older than his twenty years, certainly he looked tired enough to pass as the twenty four year old he was claiming to be. Maybe being around someone like Luffy would make him act his age again, if nothing else it would provide Smoker with some amusement to see him get dragged into Luffy's pace.
The brat was unique that way.
They stopped outside of the library door.
"One last thing kid, I know I probably don't have to worry since you are so prickly anyway, but don't tell Luffy who you are, the family want to keep it quiet." Lawrence gave him a dark look before nodding in agreement.
Smoker opened the door and gestured for Lawrence to go ahead of him before he followed him in. Luffy was in the one lesson he didn't have with any other students, politics. His father had insisted on it and had provided his own teacher so Luffy got to sit and learn once a week instead of taking P.E, the brat hated it. He would have most likely caused more of a fuss but Robin Nico was an amazing teacher and somehow managed to keep Luffy interested.
Luffy's bodyguard had been sleeping while leaning against one one the bookcases but Smoker saw him crack open one eye as the two entered the room and shift his stance slightly. Miss Nico broke off from what she had explaining and looked toward the door for the source of the interruption. Lawrence looked uncomfortable as he sidled into the room but Smoker didn't care.
"Sorry to interrupt Miss Nico, this is Lawrence Corazon, he is here to be Luffy's tutor for the rest of the academic year. Unfortunately Lawrence isn't up to date with the current syllabus at this moment it time but will be able to aid Luffy in his writing and maths skills. Lawrence, this is Miss Nico, Luffy's politics teacher." He waved at the attractive brunette with glasses. "Zoro Roronoa, Luffy's head of security" This was directed at the stern looking man dressed in an black suit with an unconventional head of light green hair. "And this is Luffy D. Monkey, son of the head of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon D. Monkey." Smoker saw the black haired, somewhat skinny, normally over-cheerful teen glance over briefly before looking away again and staring at a point on the wall.
Interesting.
Lawrence jerked his head in greeting at each of them as they were introduced, clearly uncomfortable, Luffy didn't bother to look over again. Without another word Smoker turned around and walked out of the library, leaving a stunned Lawrence behind.
Smoker gave a small chuckle as he walked slowly back to his office, cutting across the playground again so he could have another cigarette.
He would enjoy watching the drama unfold on CCTV.
XXX xxx XXX
Lawrence stood there awkwardly before Robin took pity on him. "Lawrence was it? Why don't you come have a seat next to Luffy and make notes. Then you can check Luffy's over later to see if he missed anything." Lawrence huffed to himself, clearly uncomfortable before sitting down one chair away from Luffy on the long table he was sitting at. His long legs sprawled under the table, he pulled out a pen from his pocket and politely requested some paper from Robin. Robin was secretly amused at seeing the sight of the tall man dressed all in black sitting at a school desk next to a much shorter Luffy in his red school blazer, navy jumper and trousers. She passed him an empty workbook from a pile behind the librarians desk and looked back at her notes to remind herself of where she had got up to. She saw Zoro still hadn't relaxed from when Lawrence had come in, his handing was resting idly on one of the three bokken he kept at his waist, clearly he didn't trust the newcomer.
"Right, so we were reviewing what Luffy learned last week which was the system of the Four Kings that currently operate in the capital city, Grandline and their political influence within the rest of the country. We covered the identities of the Kings last week, Luffy, can you name them for me please."
Luffy rolled his eyes in response giving Lawrence a sideways glance in the process, he was surprisingly reticent around the new person in his group, normally Luffy made a point to befriend everyone. Odd. Maybe Luffy disliked the extra protection he was being given.
"Shanks, Blackbeard, Kaido and Big Mum."
"Correct, and do you know what they are the Kings of?"
"Blackbeard is the King of Violence. Almost all murders and assassination requests involve him or his crew in some way. Shanks is the King of Theft, stolen goods go in and out of the port under his watch. Big Mum is King of Drugs, any illegal high you get will have been transported by her 'family' at some point. Kaido is King of..." Luffy twisted his face and tried to remember. "I don't remember Kaido. I don't think we got covered him last week." Robin noticed Lawrence's lips twist in dark amusement.
"Lawrence do you know what Kaido is known as the King of?" she asked in attempt to get him to break the ice and join in. He looked up, startled at being addressed, she saw him fiddle with a string on one of his gloves before answering.
"Kaido is King of Slavery. He steals people in the night then sells them on."
Robin blinked at his blunt answer before responding. "Correct. Did you write that down Luffy?"
"No, don't worry, I'll remember." She saw his face twist in disgust. She knew Luffy liked the idea of gangs, having grown up in such a controlling household she couldn't blame him, but she didn't think he knew about all the darker sides of them. He was only fifteen she supposed, but not knowing about the dangers of the world did not make them any less present.
"Lawrence can you tell us how the Kings are managed?"
"They're not." Lawrence frowned and it made the shadows around his eyes look darker. "The World Police and the Kings would annihilate each other if they had a head on confrontation so they don't try. The Kings aren't stupid enough to leave physical proof of their wrong doing and the World Police refuse to mobilise on hearsay so they are at an impasse. The Kings themselves only respect the other Kings so they don't interfere with each other. I believe the issue of the stalemate between the Kings and the World Police is one of the things Luffy's father is trying to change in his campaign."
That earned him a dirty look from Luffy. Robin was pleasantly surprised, Lawrence seemed to have a good knowledge of the political balance of the World Police and how Luffy's father was fitting into it. She could only hope that Luffy would learn from him a little as currently he was refusing to listen to anything about his fathers campaign in some sort of teenage protest.
"Correct. I'm impressed you know so much Lawrence." She saw his grey eyes flicker around the room then back to her.
"I lived in Grandline for a while when I was younger." Robin believed him but didn't think that was the whole story behind it. She considered herself quite good at reading people but she couldn't get a handle on the young man sitting before her. She was surprised that Smoker had insisted on a tutor for Luffy, said he owed a friend a favour and that the kid would be a good help to Luffy. She knew there was something else behind it. She saw Luffy give him a dark look out the corner of his eye and decided to carry on with the lesson without pushing further.
"Luffy, Lawrence said that the World Police could match the Kings in strength, what unit would they use if they came down to it."
"The Seven Warlords."
"What are the Seven Warlords?"
"Gang leaders that were given clemency by the government in return for taking down smaller gangs and acting as a deterrent against the Kings taking control."
"Excellent, can you name them?"
Luffy sat back in his seat and uncrossed his arms, holding his hands in front of him so he could count the warlords off on his fingers and frowned in thought. "'Greatest Swordsman in the World' Mihawk, 'Tyrant' Kuma, 'Snake Princess' Hancock, 'The Star Clown' Buggy, 'Knight of the Sea' Jinbe and 'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar. The seventh seat is empty since Donquixote got exposed by Trafalgar as working for Kaido a few years ago and they haven't managed to fill the gap yet. Trafalgar has been missing since the incident and there is talk of removing his title but they won't as being down two members will make the Warlords appear weak."
"Very good Luffy." She was impressed at how hard Luffy was working today, normally he was easily distracted and it was hard to get any answers out of him. Obviously he was trying to make himself look better in front of Lawrence who had been able to answer a question Luffy didn't know the answer to. Robin smiled to herself, maybe introducing Lawrence as a study partner might be beneficial to Luffy in other ways.
"How are the Warlords identified Lawrence?"
"Huh?"
"If you bumped into one on the street then how would you know who they are?"
"If I bumped into one then I would be dead."
Robin paused, he probably wasn't wrong. How could she word this better? "Through his father Luffy has a chance of meeting them in a slightly less deadly scenario. How would Luffy be able to identify the Warlords?"
"The son of the head of the Revolutionary Army meeting the Warlords of the World Police? Pretty sure he would end up dead as well." Luffy glared at Lawrence, anger burning in his gaze. Lawrence to his credit remained unfazed and continued in a mocking tone. "The Army is considered a gathering of rebels by the World Police," he continued, "they probably wouldn't mind squashing it's future leader like a bug. They could probably even make it look like an accident if they wanted. Wouldn't even be a challenge," he finished with a shit-eating grin, Robin could almost see the steam coming off of Luffy and Zoro had taken one step towards Lawrence in warning.
He was being obstinate, she withdrew her previous thought of him working well with Luffy, they would be lucky if Luffy didn't attack him by the end of the lesson. The Monkey family weren't known for having the best of grip on their temper.
"Luffy?" She gave up getting Lawrence to answer the question and instead tried to distract Luffy from his rising anger. The boy snapped his gaze to her and she was concerned to see the flame in them. "What are the key features you can use to tell the Warlords apart from each other?"
He returned to stare at Lawrence with a burning glare as he recited the Warlords. "Mihawk has a huge sword, Hancock has snake decorations all over her, Kuma is huge and has bear ears on his hat, Buggy dresses like a clown, Jinbe has dyed his skin blue and Trafalgar is a dick." Silence reigned as Luffy finished his description, she noticed Lawrence looked a little paler. The shadows under his eyes look stark next to the white of his face.
"Sorry Luffy what was that?" Robin had missed something somewhere obviously.
"'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar is a smug arsehole who doesn't know when to keep his smart mouth to himself." Voice slightly raised, he was still staring at Lawrence, as if daring him to gainsay Luffy's words. Lawrence responded with a glare of his own. Tension was thrumming through the room.
Robin was at a loss. "I'd appreciate if you didn't swear whilst in school Luffy. I haven't met Trafalgar so I don't know if your assessment is true but we are focussing on physical descriptions here."
"Skinny, black hair, stupid goatee, only capable of wearing black. An idiot who thinks he can stay away from Kaido by hiding in my fathers shadow."
By the time Robin had processed what Luffy had said Lawrence had him on the floor, a Stanley knife at Luffy's throat as he straddled him, pinning Luffy's arms with his knees.
"What the fuck would you know? You're just a stupid kid. It's not like its my fucking idea to be babysitting you!" Lawrence hissed.
Robin was shocked, had Luffy really seen it before her and Zoro? Was Lawrence Corazon really Trafalgar? One of the infamous Warlords of Grandline? Now Luffy mentioned it she could see some similarities between the pictures she had seen and the man before her. What the hell was he doing in EastBlue?
In the silence of the room it seemed like hours had passed while Trafalgar sat on top of Luffy, blade drawn and fire in his eyes. In reality it had only been seconds. Enough for Zoro go run forward and slam one of his bokken across the distracted Trafalgar's side, knocking him partway across the room and into a table, the knife skittered out of his hand and disappeared under one of the computer desks in the corner.
Luffy ignored Zoro's hand to help him rise and instead jumped to his feet and stalked over to the downed Trafalgar who rose slowly, grasping his side with a wince. He looked up in time to see one of Luffy's fists come towards him. Faster than Robin could blink Trafalgar had Luffy's wrist and twisted it behind his back, twisting the boy around as he did so, effectively using him a shield against an advancing Zoro.
"I'm not here for a fight Mr Zoro."
"You attacked first didn't you?" Luffy spat, struggling against Trafalgar's grip .
"You pissed me off, and don't be such a baby, it's not like I harmed you. I just need to you keep your mouth shut. As you so kindly pointed out I am in hiding from Kaido. I just want to be left in peace, yet here I am stuck with you for the next six months."
"And what does the Revolutionary Army get out of this?" Robin asked, slowly walking around the desk to stand next to Zoro so she faced the Warlord. She could feel the bodyguard next to her vibrating with tension.
Trafalgar smirked "You get to enjoy the irony of watching a Warlord protecting a key figure of the Army, though I would rather this information didn't leave this room. Exposing me puts other people in danger, people I owe a debt and would do anything to protect." he almost growled the last bit. Robin cocked her head to one side while she considered.
Although Trafalgar had Luffy in a tight hold he didn't seem to be causing the teen any pain. Even when he pulled the knife out he hadn't harmed Luffy in any way and had only used it to threaten silence. It was probably the only reason Zoro hadn't smashed his head in instead of cracking him across the side.
Zoro was strong enough that one hit with the bokken could kill.
She wondered what other weapons Trafalgar was carrying besides the knife. The Surgeon of Death had a reputation of being merciless, hard to predict, and violent. Although she had only been in a room with him for half hour or so she hadn't seen any of those traits. Luffy's description of him as a 'smug arsehole' seemed fairly accurate but the look Trafalgar had now was of a cornered desperate animal. Something must have happened to him when he took down Doflamingo and earned Kaido's ire.
"Let Luffy go and we can discuss this like adults" Robin tried to reason. "We are in a school, this really isn't the place to be doing this. Anyone could walk in."
"Promise to keep Mr Zoro away from me?" He seemed to only be half joking. There was a trace of an accent when he talked, it came out in the odd word and rise in tone as he finished a sentence. It hadn't been present earlier, maybe it only showed when he was stressed.
That spoke volumes in of itself. If Trafalgar was really stressed then he clearly had a lot riding on working with them. She wondered who he had meant when he said he owed a debt to someone.
Zoro let out a low growl but re-sheathed his bokken through his belt.
Trafalgar released Luffy and shoved him forward slightly towards Robin to give himself space to move if necessary. Robin grabbed Luffy's wrist tightly before he could whirl around and try and hit Trafalgar again and gestured for Trafalgar to explain himself.
"My plan was for Kaido to destroy Doflamingo himself, it backfired and it got revealed that I had been involved. Both of them are now trying to hunt me down. I have been in hiding for two years and I am trying to make a new life or myself." He glared at them, daring for them to challenge his words before continuing. "I never received a formal education, instead I taught myself from book and the internet. My, guardian, if you will, knows someone high up in the World Police. He pulled some strings and this was his solution to me getting my own qualifications so I could get a job. I didn't know I was going to be working with you until Smoker told me less than an hour ago. It wasn't like it was my idea."
"You are here due to an agreement World Police? And you expect us to trust you aren't spying on us. As you so correctly pointed out earlier, the Police and the Army aren't exactly friendly." Zoro had finally weighed in on the conversation. Robin was surprised at how calm he sounded. Trafalgar had just attacked Luffy in front of him! He had killed people for less!
"I became a Warlord for the protection and freedom it would give me, I'm not exactly close to them. It's not like they ever did anything for me, and I certainly have no intentions of getting involved with the Army." Robin could believe that from the little she had heard about Trafalgar.
"Very well, Dragon mentioned that someone would be joining us but didn't say who or why. Now I understand. For now we will see this as an alliance of sorts between us, we all have much to lose by this becoming public." Trafalgar shut his mouth and nodded grimly.
Zoro turned to Luffy, still being held by Robin. "Luffy, I need you to keep this to yourself. Accept Trafalgar as another part of your entourage within the school. If anyone asks its added protection since the incident with Arlong last week."
Luffy gave a tight nod, eyes still burning as he looked at Trafalgar.
Smiling she turned to face the Warlord, "Mr Trafalgar..."
"Law is fine," he muttered.
Robin smiled. "Law, if you would be so kind as to retrieve your knife and leave it in Zoro's care? Bladed weapons are not allowed in the school."
This was met with a dark stare before Law crouched down and looked under the tables for his lost weapon, she saw him wince as he bent the side Zoro had hit but didn't allow herself any sympathy. Instead she grabbed Luffy by the collar so he couldn't kick Law as he reached under the computer desks.
The bell rang to change lessons and she sighed.
Zoro was going to have fun keeping them from killing each other.
XXX
Law was fuming.
Today had been a complete mess.
How the fuck had that kid known who he was so quickly?
Years of moving and hiding and he had been spotted within an hour of spending time with a spoilt brat.
He expected that damn moss-head Zoro to recognise him but as far as he knew he and Luffy had never met. Was his disguise shit? Had Luffy seen him before and Law not realised?
Law debated making a run for it, just disappearing into hiding again.
But where would he go? The only option open to him was to go back to living on the streets and joining a gang.
He refused to even consider that option.
No he wanted a new start, a new life.
He depended on Rosinante for everything at the moment, he had no way to make his own money honestly except by staying with the Monkey brat.
It was probably his own fault for making it worse when he attacked him in the library.
Muttering to himself Law finally arrived at the flat he shared with Rosinante and upon opening the door was knocked over by a very overenthusiastic white Great Pyrenees. His side screamed at him for the treatment.
"Yes, yes I'm home Bepo. Now get off."
Law struggled to lift the large dog off of him so he could get up. The giant dog responded to his efforts by licking his face excitedly.
"Off Bepo! Find your lead." This got more of a response. The giant dog gave one last lick before jumping off Law and running back inside. Law slowly sat up and wiped the slobber off of his face. He tentatively poked his ribs, not broken but very sore. It was probably turning into a lovely bruise. Using the door frame Law pulled himself to his feet just in time to see Bepo bringing him the extendable lead.
Taking it from the dog he attached it to the collar and led him out of the flat, shutting the door behind him.
It was dark outside and it was trying to snow again, Law regretted the absence of his hat. It had been a gift from his parents and was a warm fur cap. Unfortunately it was linked to his time as the Surgeon of Death so he couldn't wear it any more. It was currently in a box under his bed along with Kikoku, his faithful nodachi and his golden earrings. All relics of a life he had left behind but he couldn't part with them. They were all he had left of his parents.
Law shivered as a clump of snow dropped off a tree and went down the back of his neck before he grumpily pulled the hood up. He didn't like having a hood, it obstructed his peripheral vision too much. He trusted Bepo to be enough of a deterrent to anyone approaching him as he walked down the avenue towards the park. The street lights left the world with an eerie orange glow amongst the grey backdrop of snow. It was only five pm, it really shouldn't have been this dark.
The joys of late November.
Finally Law arrived at the park and he followed the familiar tarmac route around the edge of the park, nodding at the odd dog walker who passed by. Amused by the wide berth they gave him and Bepo.
As they came to the large field near the back Law let Bepo off of the lead to do his business, following close behind so he could see what he needed to pick up.
Messy bit done, Law allowed himself to relax as they did a circuit of the park, Bepo gambolling along beside him whilst marking every other tree. He enjoyed the twice daily walk, it gave him time to think and enjoy the fresh air. Grandline didn't have many open spaces and he enjoyed the parks and tree lined streets of EastBlue, it gave him a sense of freedom.
His ribs were aching so Law dusted some snow off a bench and eased himself down, letting Bepo sniff the area, not straying too far from his master. He closed his eyes for a second and felt a wave of weariness hit him. How long had it been since he had slept more than a couple of hours. It had to be hitting a week now, he hadn't slept properly since Rosinante had left on his job for Sengoku.
The sound of a laugh broke him from his reverie, it had sounded close. Bepo barked, his deep voice muted by the snow. Law opened his weary eyes, now fully alert and saw two boys playing with Bepo, they had found a large stick for him and were taking turns throwing it. White glistened as one of the boys moved and he could see the outline of a cast on the kids right arm as he clumsily threw with his left hand. Bepo barked again and wagged his tail as he brought the stick back to the boys. Law watched with amusement, the lamp light was behind the boys and he couldn't see their faces but he trusted Bepo's judgement of people. Besides, Bepo was probably bigger than they were.
"Fancy seeing you here."
The voice behind him had Law on his feet, hand reaching for a blade before his mind registered who the voice belonged to. Zoro Roronoa was standing behind the bench, arms folded and Law could just about make the smug expression on his face.
"Are you in the habit of hanging around park benches in the dark watching kids? You sure you should be working in a school?"
Law flushed at the implication and relaxed his stance. He realised that Zoro still had his knife anyway but it didn't seem like a good time to ask for it back. He would just grab a new one at some point.
"I'm walking my dog, what's your excuse?"
"I'm walking Luffy and his friend." Law raised an eyebrow at this but the effect was probably lost in the dark.
"Have fun with that, I'm off. Bepo, come."
The large dog ignored the stick the boys were waving for his attention and instead ran over to his master. Law palmed him a treat from his pocket and started walking back to the entrance to the park as the snow got heavier and drifted in small flurries around him.
"Excuse me, what breed is that? I've never seen a dog that big before!" Law looked over to see the kid with the cast had fallen into step and was addressing him. Glancing back he could see Luffy and Zoro following behind.
Fantastic.
"He's a Great Pyrenees."
"Oh wow, what's his name?"
Law guessed that Luffy hadn't told this kid who he was or he wouldn't be asking so many questions.
"Bepo."
"I've never heard that name before, seems to fit somehow." The kid rubbed the skin under his nose with the side of his finger. "So how do you know Zoro? I don't think I've ever seen him approach anyone before."
Law sighed and decided to answer with a half truth. "I'm Luffy's new personal tutor at school." Law decided to pre-empt the next round of questions "What happened to your arm?"
"I broke it." the answer was cold, a completely different tone than the previous excited questions. Law glanced back at Zoro and Luffy but their faces were tight as well. Obviously something had happened there. Law cursed at himself for putting his foot in it, the kid seemed nice. Much nicer than Luffy anyway. To cheer the kid up he decided to change the conversation.
"You in Luffy's school?"
The boy perked up immediately.
"Yea, I'm in some of his classes but I've been off for the past week while my arm heals a bit, they should be letting me back on Monday. Hey maybe you could help me too, I'll probably struggle to write for a while."
The kid chattered on as they exited the park, patting Bepo once in a while and commenting on how soft his fur was but Law was very aware of Luffy glowering at his back the whole time and Zoro's amused grin. There was a black limo waiting at the entrance of the car park, its headlights illuminating a tall man, at least a foot taller than Law, with bright blue hair who stepped forward as the small party approached. He was built like a tank.
"Did you have a good walk Usopp? Its SUPER cold out there tonight."
"I did, thank you for bringing us Franky. I needed some air after being stuck inside all day."
"Who is your friend? That is a SUPER big dog he has." Bepo made his way over and cautiously sniffed the man before retreating to Law's side.
Law had a feeling this guy got SUPER annoying very quickly.
"This is Luffy's new tutor at school, his name is, err." Law watched the kid quickly blush as he realised he hadn't asked for Law's name the whole time they had been speaking to each other.
"Lawrence Corazon, Call me Law," he offered. If Luffy and Zoro hadn't said anything then he sure as hell wouldn't.
"It's SUPER nice to meet you Law, I'm Franky." Franky extended his hand, Law took it politely and was surprised to see the man's hand was almost twice the size of his own.
Law looked back at Usopp, in the headlights he could see that in addition to the cast the kid had a bandage around his rather large nose, a plaster across one cheek, one side of his lips was swollen and there was the fading remainder of a black eye. The kid had taken a beating, that was for sure, and based on the reaction the breaking of the arm had happened at the same time. Law wondered what had happened. He remembered them mentioning something about an incident with Arlong and wondered if this was what they meant.
It left a bad taste in his mouth. He hid his disgust by calling Bepo over and crouching down to reattach the lead.
"Zoro! Luffy! Sanji called and said dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. Usopp is SUPER welcome to join."
"It was nice to meet you Franky. Usopp, I will see you again at school next week if I don't see you earlier." Law gave a polite smile at the boy before nodding briefly at Zoro and Law and walking away.
"Law," Law looked back and saw Zoro beckoning to him, With a sigh he stalked over. "Here." He held out his hand for the object, hoping it was his Stanley knife. A smartphone dropped into his hand instead. "It's got our numbers on it. Keep it with you."
So it had GPS tracking on it then.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Can I have my knife back then?"
"Trust is earned Mr Corazon." Zoro mocked before walking away.
Law gave his retreating back the finger and started to make his way home.
A few minutes later he saw the limo drive past him as he made his slow way back through the wet snow. Bepo was going to be soaked when they got back and Law mentally mapped out where the towels were so he could take the worst off before the gigantic dog caused too much damage to the flat.
So, somehow after a long break from One Piece I got back into it and swiftly devoured the Punk Hazard/Dressrosa arc while falling in love with Law's character.
So here I am writing my first One Piece fanfic.
Not sure how long it is gonna be but hope you enjoy it.
Constructive criticism is always welcome :D
*Edited 15/01/2018
