Sixth Time Is The Charm?
"Trafalgar. We're here." Law looked up from his phone to glare at the man in the driver's seat. He hated today. "Don't give me that look. You know that you have to go to school." The man got an eye-roll from the other. "This one might not be all that bad. I would stop having to change your schools if you could just cooperate with me on this."
"I know, Smoker-ya." Law looked out the car window. The school was large and reminded him of his last school. Sighing, Law stepped out of the car. The air was cool and Law disliked it. Smoker exited the car with him.
"Let's go." Law nodded and followed the man inside. They got to the front office without incident. "Excuse me, ma'am." The lady at the front desk looked up at him.
"May I help you, sir?" She looked bored and even sounded that way to Law.
"Yes. I am here to bring my kid to school. He's new." Law stood near Smoker with a bored expression that matched the woman's.
"Right. You would be Mr. Smoker, right?" He nodded. "And this is Corazon Lawler, correct?" Smoker nodded again. She turned to Law with a smile. The woman seemed more interested in him, now. "Welcome to Grandline High, Mr. Corazon." She gave him a list of his classes. "Homeroom has started already. You can head there now."
Before Law was able to get away from Smoker, the man pulled him to the side. "Remember, no taking the gloves off, no beating up others, and especially, no telling people who you really are." Law agreed. "The last one shouldn't be hard for you. This is for your own good. If people find out who you are, this whole thing could be ruined."
"I know. I'm in hiding because of what I have done. The only way to keep me safe is for me to be someone else." He had had this talk a thousand times it seems. It wasn't fun at all. "And I'm an eighteen year old kid, not twenty three." Nodding, Smoker said his goodbyes and left Law alone.
Before going to class, Law stopped by the bathroom. He looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess, he still had the bags under his eyes, his earrings were removed, and his goatee was trimmed. He could pass as a senior in high school.
Getting to the classroom, Law knocked on the door. He shifted the backpack on his shoulder. The door opened and he was met with a young woman. She looked to be in her early twenties. "Hello. Who might you be?"
"I'm Corazon Lawler." The woman perked up when he said his name. He was tempted to say his real name to see her reaction. She motioned for him to come inside.
"Class, this is the new student that will be joining us. Can you tell us a little about yourself?" Law glanced around the room. A few kids stood out but the rest were pretty normal looking.
"My name is Corazon Lawler. I don't like to tell people about me because I usually don't stay in one school for very long." He went quiet for a moment. "Nice to meet you all." He bowed.
The teacher seemed a little taken back at his words. "T-Thank you. You may sit next to Luffy in the back." Law nodded and headed to the empty desk. "Since I don't want to do anything, you can all do whatever until the bell rings." Miss Nami sat down behind her desk and went to reading something.
Law took out his phone and began to go through it. He looked at pictures of his real guardian and of the others responsible for him. He realized that he was being watched after a bit. Looking over, Law noticed the kid next to him was staring at him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Luffy, Let's be friends." The kid seemed to be very energetic. Law was astonished that the other would say that to someone he just met and knew nothing about.
"I'm sorry, but I have to decline." Luffy looked confused. "I might not be here long, so I don't want to get your hopes up."
"Nonsense. We can still be friends. Come on. Please." Law had to hand it to him, he was persistent. Sighing, Law agreed. It couldn't hurt to have at least one friend, right? "Great! I'll see you at lunch!"
The bell ran about forty minutes later. Law said goodbye to his new friend and went to his next class. He felt like he could get somewhere at this school. If no one figured out who he was, this place was good so far. He went to his next class. The teacher was another female.
"Welcome. May I ask you your name?" Law looked at her with a smile.
"My name is Corazon Lawler, Miss Nico." Law bowed to her as he entered the room. "You are my history teacher, right?"
"Yes. Please, take the empty seat." She smiled at him. "You don't have to tell us anything about yourself." Law nodded and took the empty seat. Law got looks from everyone in the room. Some were curious, some were fearful, and others were cruel.
Sitting down, Law looked at his phone as more people entered the room. He started to text Smoker when a person's shadow loomed over him. He finished the text and turned his phone off. He looked up at the person in front of him. "May I help you?" He didn't like this kid.
"You're the new kid, aren't you?" Law examined the kid. He had crimson hair, pale skin. and yellow eyes. The kid also dressed like he was a punk. Law made a mental note that this one could be an issue.
"Yes. And who might you be?" The other seemed to be offended at his question. Law just waited for him to say something.
"Eustass Kid." Law wanted to laugh at his name. It was strange for a parent to name their child Kid.
"Nice to meet you. Could you please move away from me?" The look of anger came across Kid's face. "Your overly large ego is blocking my view of the board." The look got more intense as he glared at him.
"Mr. Eustass, could you please take your seat?" Kid grunted and moved across the room to his seat. Robin stated to write on the board. "I would like to start this class by talking about politics." Law looked out the window. He really didn't need to go back to school, but he was undercover.
"Lawler, could you tell us what you know about politics?" Law looked back at her. He tensed up at the question.
"It depends on what you want me to tell you about them?" He was nervous as to what the teacher wanted to know.
"Can you tell us about the war that is going on at this moment?" Law tensed up even more. This was something he didn't expect or foresee.
"Right now, there is a revolution going on between the government and the opposing force." He glanced around the room. Everyone was watching him with interest except Kid. "The government is trying to settle the dispute as soon as possible."
Robin seemed astonished by his answer. "T-That's correct. Do you know why the revolution has started?" Law shook his head. He knew why but it would give him away if he told. "Alright. The revolution started because the revolutionary army doesn't agree with the government's decisions." Law wanted to correct her but said nothing.
The class was pretty boring and most of what Robin talked about Law already knew. The class passed by quite slowly and Law felt people staring at him from everywhere. Once the bell rang, Law was one of the first people out of the door.
On his way to his second class, Law was stopped by a blond kid. You could only see one of his eyes. "May I help you?" He didn't know if he should've been worried or not.
"Are you the guy that Luffy talked to this morning?" The name made him remember homeroom. The kid was too energetic to forget.
"If you are talking about homeroom, then yes." Law felt a little better now that they knew his alleged friend.
"I was in history with you. How do you know so much about politics?" This made him tense up.
"I like to be caught up in the world around me. I watch the news a lot." This seemed to satisfy the man. "Sorry, but I have to get to class."
"Alright. See you at lunch, Lawler." The kid walked away with a wave of his hand. Law thought he was an okay kid and entered the class. It was English. The teacher wasn't in the room.
Taking a seat next to a sleeping kid, Law placed his bag on the desk. He relaxed as more students entered the room. The bell rang and everyone settled down.
Suddenly, a man came into the room. He was tall, had purple hair, and an arrow chin. Law's jaw dropped as he stared at the man. He couldn't believe who his English teacher was. The man smiled at the class as he scanned the room. Law looked down.
"Good morning, my wonderful students! I see that you all are ready to get back to learning after a long spring break!" He picked up a piece of paper. "I see we have a new student. Corazon Lawler, could you please stand and introduce yourself?"
Cautiously, Law stood up. He kept his head down as he spoke. "My name is Corazon Lawler. I don't have a lot to say about myself." He still kept his head down. "Nice to meet you all." Law quickly sat back down before the teacher could say anything else to him.
"Thank you. We hope to get to know you better." The teacher turned to the board. "As you all know, I'm Mr./Miss Ivankov. I like spontaneous, new, and strange writings. Try your best to put effort into your work."
The rest of class was pretty okay. Law wasn't pointed out like in first block. He could do the work without a problem and he only took notes because he didn't want to seem suspicious. The kid next to him slept through the entire class period. He worried that the kid would get in trouble so he copied his notes on a different piece of paper for the kid. When it was almost time to leave, the guy woke up and looked down at the notes that Law had slipped him after he was done.
"I don't remember writing these." Law didn't say a word as he sent another text to Smoker. 'You never told me that some of the army was going to be here! Why is the army here?! What did you do?!' Turning off his phone, he waited for the bell to ring.
His phone vibrated a few minutes later. Turning it back on, Law read the text. 'I forgot to mention that the army knows about your problem. Dragon had offered to get you into a school that fit your personality. Some of the officers of the army offered to watch you in case something went wrong. Don't worry. They won't say anything to anyone.'
The bell rang and Law packed up. "Lawler, I would like to see you before you leave." He mentally groaned as he walked up to the desk of the man/woman. He stood there, waiting for the man to speak.
"I see that you have changed a little since the last time I saw you." Law shrugged. "I heard from some of the other kids talk about your dispute with a student named Kid."
"Yeah. He is the bullying type." Ivankov raised an eyebrow. "The way he acts, dresses, and his short temper gave it away." The man looked shocked. "I was already told by Smoker-ya that I am to stay away from people like him."
"Yes. I bet he didn't tell you that if you that if you do get into a fight that Dragon will keep it under control?" Law was confused. "If you are to get into a fight, Dragon will deal with it so that you can stay in the school. It is a sort of thank you for all you have done for the army."
"I see. It was nice to talk to you but I have to get to lunch." Ivan nodded and waved goodbye to him as he left the room.
The cafeteria was large enough that the whole school was able to fit inside with enough space left over for people to sit at a table alone. He didn't have money for lunch and he was rushed that morning so he couldn't make it.
Once he stepped into the cafeteria, Law scanned the room. In the corner of the room, he saw a kid waving at him. It was Luffy. Slowly moving to the kid, Law kept his head down as he walked. He lifted his head when he got to the table.
"Hey! I'm glad you came!" Law gave a small smile to him. "I have some friends that will join us soon." Law nodded and waited as Luffy went to get food. The blond guy from before joined him at the table.
"Hey, again." Law nodded to him. "I'm sorry that I didn't introduce myself earlier. The name's Sanji."
"Nice to meet you, Sanji." He forced himself not to speak as he would normally. The -ya at the end of the name would probably give him away. Another kid sat down at the table. He had a long nose and curly hair.
The new kid looked at him and did a double-take. "W-Who's the c-creepy guy?" The name didn't bother Law. He had been called worse. He was used to being called names.
Sanji reached over and smacked Usopp on the head. "That was really rude. You don't call people names just because they look different." Law was shocked that the other would say something in his defense. It was different.
Usopp rubbed his head. "Sorry. What is your name?" Law smiled as he gave the kid his attention.
"My name is Corazon Lawler." Usopp brightened up at his name.
"You're the kid that Luffy was talking about earlier." Law shrugged. "He's always trying to make friends with the new kids."
Another person sat down at the table. Law realized that it was the kid from English. He had already gotten his plate of food. "Hey, Zoro. How has your day been?" Usopp greeted the guy.
The name sounded familiar. Zoro looked at Law for a moment. "You're the kid from English. Do you know who gave me the notes?" Law shook his head. He didn't want to start something as of right now if the kid didn't like what he had done. "That's okay. I just wanted to thank them."
Sanji started to laugh. "You never thank anyone!" Law started to chuckle.
"I do thank people. I never thank you." He took a drink of his water. His gaze was set back on Law. "So, what's your name?"
"I'm back!" Luffy showed up with his plate piled high with meat. Law was astonished with it. "Cora, have you met everyone now?" Law nodded.
"You are all nice." Law started to thank them when he was doused in water. He lowered his head as the liquid ran down his face. The whole room went silent. Don't do anything. I'm doing this for Cora-san and myself.
"Hey, smartass. It seems that you have a problem, huh?" The voice was none other than Kid. He remembered it after the conversation they had that morning. Law just stayed quiet. "What? No smartass remarks?"
Luffy stood up from his seat. "Kid, leave him alone or I'll kick your ass!" Law's eyes widened. Someone was standing up for him. This was new. "He hasn't done anything to you!" The room stayed quiet.
"Shut up, Luffy. This has nothing to do with you." Law could hear the anger in the other's voice. There was something between the two that was clearly known throughout the school.
"It's okay, Luffy. I'm fine." He raised his head with a smile. He turned to Kid. "May I help you with something, Mr. Eustass?" This got him a more angry look from him. Kid looked ready to burst with fury.
"Why you!" He went to punch but Law caught his fist. There was an uneasy silence in the crowd now. Kid went to punch with the other but it was also caught.
"I'm sorry but I do not wish to fight you. I promised my guardian that I would try to stay out of fights." He pushed Kid away by his fists. The room was shocked at the exchange. No one could believe what had just happened. Kid was kept from hitting another kid.
Red-faced and pissed off, Kid straightened up. He glared daggers at Law. "You'll regret this." With that, he left. The room was still shocked as Law turned back around. After a few minutes, everyone went back to what they were doing.
"Wow! That was cool! Can you teach me to do that?!" Luffy seemed to have like the outcome of the exchange. His eyes were glistening with admiration.
"What did you mean that you would try to stay out of fights?" Sanji asked. He was curious as to what the kid was about.
"At the last school that I went to, I got into a fight. I was suspended so my guardian transferred me to this school." Law didn't want to tell them that he had actually had gone through five different schools before. There was a look of appreciation from all four of them. "What?"
"We have never found someone that could stand up to Kid except for Luffy and us." Zoro took a bite of his food. "It's new." Zoro narrowed his eyes at Law. "You look familiar." Law tensed up at that. "I can't put my finger on it but you do." The whole table was watching Law.
Breaking the tension, Luffy asked Sanji a question. "Have you heard anything new about him yet?" Law listened to the conversation.
"No. He is still missing. No one knows where he is and there is no trace of where he has gone to." Law realized that they were either talking about him or Corazon. There was something that Luffy wanted to know about one of them.
"Aw man. I really wish that he would come back." Luffy took a bite of his meat. "He's awesome. I wish I can meet him again." Law's eyes widened at Luffy's statement.
"Luffy, who are you talking about?" Law needed answers.
"Trafal...Tra...Torao Law, the Warlord." A large smile spread across his face. "He's my hero." The occupants of the table looked bored with the conversation. "He's the best one of them."
"Yes, Luffy. We have all heard about him." Usopp paused. "Especially from you." Law wondered how much the teen talked about him. "Even how he saved you from the government." Law thought about that sentence. It wasn't coming to mind at that moment.
"But, Cora hasn't heard my opinion on him." Luffy looked excited about him. Turning back to Law, he had a huge smile on his face. "He saved my life when I got kidnapped by another Warlord. I don't remember what they wanted but he saved me." Luffy started to reminisce. "He wasn't able to get me home immediately. We stayed in a room for a day or so." His expression turned sad. "He was all cut up and hardly there. He also wouldn't talk to me because of his injuries." The expression changed back into happiness. "I've always wanted to thank him for saving me. It was four years ago. I was twelve."
Law sat there, dumbfounded. He remembered that day. The kid wanted to help him but he had denied his help. They were trapped in the room because the building had collapsed and trapped them inside. He had fought Doflamingo and sustained wounds. He also had help when he took him down. There was a blond kid and a green-haired fellow that had helped him out. He couldn't place their names or faces.
"That was nice of him. What happened afterward?" Law's memory was a little fuzzy.
"He passed out from blood loss. We were found about five to ten minutes later and they rushed him to the on-site doctor." He had a sad expression again. "He was out for five days."
The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Luffy stuffed his food into his mouth. "Well. it was nice to meet you all. I hope to see you again." They all nodded at him as he stood up to leave. He was stopped by Luffy.
"You should hang out with us this weekend." Law raised an eyebrow. "We're going to the park. Please join us." Luffy pleaded with his eyes. The group nodded as to say that they wanted him to accept.
"I'll have to think about it. I don't know if my guardian will let me." He shrugged. "I'll get back with you tomorrow about it." Luffy smiled and agreed. Law was shocked that he was already invited out with 'friends.'
He made his way to his next block. He asked for a place in the infirmary because it made him feel better. "Mr. Chopper, are you in here?" he asked as he opened the door. There was a crash in the back. Making his way back there, Law found the young man on the ground with books scattered around him. "Are you okay?"
Raising his head to look at him, Law saw the young man's eyes widen. "Tra-" Law put his finger to his lips. He knew the younger one from his time working with Dragon. "Sorry. It is nice to see you again. I guess you'll be working with me, right?"
"Yes. I hope that will be fine." Chopper nodded. "I'll help you clean up." Bending down, Law started to pick up the books that were on the ground along with Chopper.
The sound of the door opening got both of them to peek around the door. Law told Chopper that he would take care of it. "Hello, sir. How may I help you today?" Law was trying to be polite.
The kid jumped at the sound of his voice. "Y-Yeah. I came h-here for a b-bandage." He held out his arm to show a long cut on his hand. Law nodded and asked him to sit on a bed. He examined the kid. He had light-purple hair, big, blue glasses, and he shook as if scared.
Grabbing bandages and antiseptic, Law started to clean the wound. The boy kept wincing every time he dabbed the wound with the cotton ball. After the cleaning was done, Law began to wrap his hand with the bandages. The sound of the door opening again made the kid jolt.
"Please, stay still. I am almost done." Law finished wrapping the hand and tied off the ends. "There. Don't do whatever it was that got you cut again. It will keep you out of here." The kid looked pale but nodded all the same. "You can go back to class." Quickly, the boy jumped down from the bed and made his way out of the room.
Turning his attention to the new person in the room, Law was surprised to see Luffy standing a little ways away. "Do you need something, Luffy?" The kid seemed to be studying him. "Luffy?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Luffy smiled. "I have some cuts on my arms." He held out his arms to show the cuts and bruises. Sighing, Law pointed to the bed.
"Your cuts are only small. Band-Aids should work just fine." He heard the bed creak as he got out the Band-Aids and two new cotton balls. He took a chair and puled it over to the bed. "Hold out your arms, please."
Doing as he was asked, Law started to clean the cuts with antiseptic. Luffy didn't seem to mind the pain from having the cuts cleaned. The footsteps of Chopper made him aware of his presence. "Luffy, what are you in here for this time?"
"I got scraped up in P.E. Teacher told me to get them fixed up so I don't bleed on the floor again." Law kept working while listening to the conversation. "How is Kureha doing? Is she still pushing you around?" Law almost froze at the woman's name.
"Yeah. She said that I'm doing better than before." Law wanted to laugh. He did chuckle, though. "What's funny?" Chopper asked.
Quickly thinking of something, Law answered him. "Just thinking how many times Luffy has been in here."
"Too many to count."
"Hey! I'm still here!" Law finished cleaning the wounds and set to work on placing the Band-Aids.
"There you are. You can go back to P.E. now." Law picked up the bottle and put it up. "Please do be more careful."
Smiling, Luffy looked over his arms. One arm had five and the other had seven. "Thanks, Cora. I'll see you later." Luffy jumped off the bed and dashed out the door. It left the other two alone.
"How does he know Kureha?" Chopper started to sweat.
"L-Luffy is Dragon's s-son." The room went quiet. Chopper started to sweat even more because Law didn't move for a while.
"Okay. That's fine." Law stood from his chair. "That means I have to watch myself around him." He turned to Chopper. He knew that the doctor-in-training was hiding some information. "What should I know about him?"
"You really need to watch yourself around Luffy."
"Why?" Law knew about Luffy's fascination with him already.
"He...He has been watching you ever since you became a Warlord and joined the Army." The man couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So, he has been stalking me?"
"Sort of. He still doesn't know where you have gone or what you are doing. You'll be safe as long as you don't slip up around him or his friends." Law groaned and washed his hands. "Keep that in mind."
Agreeing, Law went about the rest of the period without troubles. No more students cam in and Law was able to read some of Chopper's books. It relaxed him and made him feel better about his position.
After third block, Law had a free period. He went to the school library to see what books they had. He went to the nonfiction section and started to look through them. A little bit later, he was interrupted by the librarian.
"Are you looking for something in particular, sir?" Law turned his attention to the woman. She was shorter than him with dark blue hair, red glasses, and a strange sense of style.
"Yes, ma'am. I would like to know where the medical books are." The woman smiled at him as she asked him to follow her. She led him to the back where it looked as if no one had been there in years.
"We hardly get people in here that are interested in the medical practice." She stopped at a shelf. "Most of them only come here for certain classes." The librarian gestured to two shelves. "Both are filled with medical books. Please, have fun. If you need anything else, I will be at the front."
"Thank you, Miss..."
"Tashigi." Law nodded and she was gone. Scanning the shelves, Law started to pick out books that dealt with the organs of the body. He found five on the heart, three on the lungs, seven on how the brain worked, and two on the stomach. He brought them over to a clean table and started to read them from cover to cover. He was happy that he could read them.
When the bell rang about an hour and a half later, Law was finishing up his last book. Tashigi came over to him. "I'm sorry but it is time to leave." She glanced at the pile of books. "You can check them out if you like."
Law shook his head. "I don't have a card. I'm new." The woman's face turned a light shade of red.
"I can let you take them home for now. Just take good care of them." Nodding, Law packed up the books and said his farewell to the woman. He was happy that Miss Tashigi was so nice. He had some studying to do.
Outside, Law was almost tackled to the ground by Luffy. "Cora! I waited for you!"
"I can see that." Law glanced around and saw Smoker's car sitting a few yards away. "Sorry, Luffy. I have to go." Luffy's face fell. "I'll see you tomorrow, though." That seemed to make the kid happy and he hugged him before running off somewhere.
Entering the black Lexus LC, Law knew that Smoker had seen the interaction. "So, you made a friend?" Law grunted. "And it's with Dragon's son."
"He doesn't know who I really am. Also, I have made an enemy." Smoker cranked up the car. Law knew he was waiting for him to elaborate. "His name is Eustass Kid." He kept his gaze out the window.
"Really? I have heard bout that kid. Watch yourself." They turned down a road just down from the school. "If something happens, people might start suspecting." Law opened the window to breath. Smoker's smoke was getting to be too much for him.
"I already know." His conversation from lunch came to mind. "Luffy-ya wants me to go out Saturday."
"I don't know. It could be risky." Law sighed.
"You have until tomorrow to give me an answer." Smoker groaned in anger. "I told him I would give him an answer tomorrow."
"Well, you have to act like a normal kid. I'll let you go out. If anything happens, inform me and get out fast." Nodding, Law understood. He was going to have a long rest of the week. And it was only Monday.
I hope you like it. This has been an idea for a while. I like the idea of Law going out of character to change who he is. His normal nonchalant attitude and disinterest in everything has changed to a friendly atmosphere and nice guy. He is only playing along to fit in. Please give you your honest opinion of it. Flames and sweets are welcome all the same. Please, stay safe and have a good day. Your friend, TheWomanWithAMessedUpMind. Tatty-bye!