A/N: Arghh! I feel that as I get older, my writing gets more stiff. It sucks. Horribly. Despite this, I do hope you enjoy this first chapter! It's connected to my other oneshot Just Days, but there's no need to read that one. Enjoy the KidLaw!
Chapter 1 - Rooms
"Corazon!"
His name was being called over and over again, but his eyes couldn't even open to respond. He gritted his teeth biting down the pain and he clamped his shoulder where the bullet had pushed through. The sounds of continuing gunfire drowned out in the background as he slid against a car and down to the concrete floor.
"Corazon, you okay?" His partner was panting as he crouched next to him.
He felt a hand gently peel away his own over his shoulder to assess the damage then roughly lead it back to readmit the pressure.
"You're fine, don't worry, you're fine."
"My… leg," he managed to groan out.
Coby shifted his eyes to where the blonde's other hand was gripping his pant leg. A deep red had seeped into the fabric highlighting a deep cut gashed across the length of Corazon's upper thigh.
"Shit!"
Without thinking, Coby took out a handkerchief he always carried around in his pocket and wrapped it around the leg to the stop the bleeding. He ignored the older man's whines and tightened the wrap with a knot.
"I called for back-up. Just stay here," he promised Corazon. "They'll be here soon."
He clasped the blonde on the shoulder looking him in the eyes before he got up and returned into the field of street fire. Corazon gritted his teeth feeling helpless. He should be out there with the other officers, not sitting here bleeding and useless! Coby was younger than him too! It wasn't right to be sending the man alone during this scuffle. Someone should be there with him!
Another shot of pain jolted up his leg as he tried to move, and he immediately sat back down.
"Agh…." He breathed stifling the scream he wanted to let out.
A soft thump sounded as he leaned his head back against the car. Fingers crinkling deep into the fabric of his pants, damp sweat trickled down Corazon's temple and moistened his upper lip. He was done. He couldn't go back out there anymore. Corazon closed his eyes to focus on his breathing, ears seeking out to listen to the screams of ammunition and threats from his fellow officers – Tashigi's in particular was the most discernable among the crowd of men.
For a few more minutes, he stayed slumped in his position when the crush of marble under footsteps made him look up. Corazon narrowed his eyes as he reached for his gun, his body tensing. He should've been a decent way off from the main concentration of conflict, or at least have been hidden from plain sight from where he was hiding, but one of the gang members might have strayed off on their own. The possibility of one of them finding him wasn't that unlikely.
Quietly, he turned off the safety with a soft click. He listened to the footsteps coming closer until they stopped. His hand tightened at his holster. As quickly as the footsteps had stopped, a loud bang sounding at the hood of the car he was leaning on made him lift his gun, but he was too slow. A barrel was already pointing at his head.
Clang!
The sound of objects being dropped woke him up. Law stirred against the bed, and his eyes opened to find that he wasn't the only one in the nurse's office. He sat up seeing a figure through the curtains which separated the beds, and they were savagely digging through the cabinets. Boxes and small packages fell to the floor ignored as the intruder stepped on them.
"Hey!" he yelled irritated as he drew the curtains aside.
The figure turned, and Law was able to see clearly now that it was another student. He was about to tell them off at how they were creating a mess when the other boy snapped his head at the door. Someone was coming, and the boy reacted quickly running towards the bed.
"What are you doing?!" Law screamed as he was tackled on the bed.
He struggled to get the other student off, but the boy pinned him down straddling him. The curtains were effectively closed to hide them, and Law tried even harder to kick.
"Get off of me!" he screamed. "You a- mhm!" His mouth was muffled with a heavy palm and both of his wrists were held above his head with another hand.
"Shut up," the other boy growled.
His red hair dipped down to Law's face making him unable to see the boy's face clearly. All he was able to get a glimpse of was his scowling lips which were cut and bleeding. Law continued to struggle only to receive a tighter grip around his wrists. The sound of the door opening made the hand over his mouth press harder to make him quiet, while the redhead stopped his breathing.
"…!"
The boy saw him attempting to scream for help, and a knee shoved at his gut. The air in his chest were forced out as a whimper, and Law could only watch as another smudgy figure enter the room and look around. His eyes followed them walking around searching for something, and he hoped that the person was perceptive enough to notice that some brute was harassing him behind the curtains. The figure stopped to analyze the mess of supplies on the floor, and Law drew his eyes to glare at the asshole who was the cause of it.
As he did so, he caught another injury marking the redhead's bicep. He wasn't wearing his school blazer so the white of his collared shirt was visibly dyed around the cut. Blood was still seeping out, and a good blotch dripped out when the muscle flexed.
Law heard the door slam, and he scanned the room again to see that whoever came in had left. The arms pinning him broke, and a hard body came falling down on top of him.
"Omf!"
The air in his lungs were squeezed out once again. Law squirmed at being trapped between a heavy body and the bed, and he elbowed the redhead on the face. The grip on his wrists loosened so he wasted no time taking advantage of it and he hastily crawled out of the bed. Partly stumbling as he met the floor, Law screamed.
"Who are you?!"
He reached for the redhead's collar, but stopped when he saw the boy moaning on the bed. Law blinked as he finally got a good look at him, and he was surprised to see how beat up the boy was. His clenched hand lowered knowing that the redhead was in no condition to fight him, but it didn't abate the want to punch the brute. If the boy came at him again, he'd pound the guy no hesitation.
Cautiously, he walked closer to the bed to examine the stranger. A soft moan came from the redhead's lips where the cut was still open. The browless forehead furrowed in pain with eyes closed, and Law noticed a light bruise forming at his left cheek where he had struck his elbow. Serves him right. He frowned when his eyes ran over the cut on his shoulder again.
As much as he didn't want to help the redhead, he was in charge of the nurse's office while she was away. Wherever Dr. Kureha was, he was the volunteer assistant that was responsible for handling the students. Judging from what just happened, the redhead was most likely being chased from a fight which got him his injuries.
Grudgingly, Law got himself to look for a disinfectant and bandages which were all on the floor. The redhead had probably been looking for them, but didn't know what they looked like and he bet that the boy didn't even know what he needed. He rolled his eyes cleaning up the mess and went back to the bed with all the basic things. He grabbed a chair to sit and placed all the equipment on top of a nearby desk.
"Take off your shirt," he ordered. He needed to see if there were any other open wounds anywhere.
The boy who was laying on the bed opened his eyes. The sudden flash of gold caught him off guard, but Law dismissed the feeling as he had never seen the color before. The metallic yellow molded into a reddish brown when the light from the window was blocked by a cloud, the shine somewhat disappearing. Too tired to respond, the boy merely did as he was told. With a grunt, he pushed himself to sit up and stripped of his shirt throwing it to the side of the bed. A finely muscled torso was revealed with spots of flowering blue bruises scattered everywhere. It wasn't anything too bad since they would heal according to time, but the sight of them still looked ghastly. The only true area of concern was the wound at his shoulder which started to drip blood down to his forearm.
"Hold still," he told him.
Law dipped a cotton with alcohol and began cleaning the gash. The redhead hissed earning a reprimand to not move and a hand on his shoulder to keep him steady. Law didn't blame him when the boy bit his lip as the cut was really deep, the blade from whatever knife had sunk into his flesh and gotten him good. He hurried to bandage the wound tightly, but the red liquid bled out into the cloth at a faster pace.
A sideways grin irked his lips as there weren't anything in a nurse's office that would stop the bleeding effectively.
"You need stitches for this."
The boy gave him a look. Deeming that Law had finished his job, he took his arm back and reached to put his shirt back on.
"Thanks, but I think I can handle a small cut without having to go through with all that crap."
Law shot his hand to stop the boy from dressing.
"All that crap?" he repeated blinkingly, the redhead having struck a nerve. "Do you know how important it is for that wound to get closed? Unless you want it infected and want to lose a quarter pint of blood, then you can continue being an idiot."
The redhead pulled his hand away, and returned the scowl. Law huffed.
"If you're going to indulge in idiotic fights, at least win."
"What was that?" the boy stopped what he was doing and flicked his eyes sharply.
"You wouldn't have come looking like that if you've won," he sneered. Honestly, he had no patience for rudeness and idiocy. The few minutes he had been with the redhead were nothing but troublesome and annoying. "You come here wounded and almost pass out on the bed; it looked like you were the one that got your ass kicked. The person that came here earlier was probably chasing after you when you fled to save yourself. If you really don't want to worry about stitches, then don't get yourself hurt in the first place or at least win your battles."
"Look here, nurse," the boy stood up. "You better bet that I kicked those idiots' ass that came after me. One of them had a knife and caught me off guard when I wasn't looking because there were six of them. Go look at the dumpsters at the back of the school, and you'll find the little bitch with the knife stuffed in one of them. And I only ran because the police came."
"Right," the look he got was unimpressed. "Maybe I should turn you in then."
Law walked away to get the sign in sheet, and the redhead called after him.
"Hey!" he yelled irritated that the dark haired teen didn't believe him. "It's true!"
"The matter isn't whether I believe you or not, I simply don't care. Here," Law threw the clipboard at him. "Sign this so I can fill out a form for why you came."
The redhead caught it in his hands and frowned. He looked down at the papers then back at Law again. Taking the pen attached to the clipboard, he muttered a curse and quickly scribbled his name.
"Here," he shoved it back to the raven's hands.
Just as Law was about to take it, the boy's eyes widened again. His golden red eyes dilated as they saw a figure coming by the door, and the redhead swiftly grabbed Law's wrists in a bruising hold. Law stumbled dropping the sign-in sheet as he was pulled into the bed, and the redhead reached to close the curtains again.
"What are you doing?!" he yelled.
"Someone's here!"
"I thought a minute ago, you were saying how you kicked people's asses!"
"Shut up!"
Law flinched when he was roughly thrown on the mattress and held under the redhead's body again.
"Stop trying to pin me down!" he pushed the boy's chest.
The redhead may have put his shirt back on, but he still hadn't done any of the buttons leaving his torso mostly bare. A pair of hands struggled to get Law's wrists bound above his head like they were before, but the dark haired teen wouldn't let himself be placed in the same position twice. As the boy bent forward to overpower him with his weight, Law wrapped his legs around the redhead's waist in hope to get a good grip in order to roll the both off them off the bed. If they could fall so Law could be on top, he would have the advantage.
The other boy kept telling him to be quiet, but their bickering struggle would have failed to hide them if the person at the door really were the boy's attackers. The door opened, and in a fleeting swish, the curtain flew open.
"What do you punks think you're doing on my bed?!"
The grainy voice of an old woman made the two stop. Realizing that he was wrong on his assumption, the redhead stopped trying to shove his hand over his mouth and turned his head. His confused face was met with a peeved angry woman, her hands on her hips, and her mouth curved to a foul scowl.
Law didn't even want to see what her expression really looked like as he knew full well who the woman was. His hands were still in the air holding onto the other boy's arms to prevent them from pushing against his neck. He swallowed before he forced himself to look at her.
"Dr. Kureha," he said slowly.
He knew that what she was seeing didn't look very appropriate. Law gave a quick glance at himself. His body was curled slightly as his legs were still wrapped around the redhead's waist, and the redhead having his shirt open and torn certainly didn't help matters. Law was about to open his mouth to explain that he was being attacked, but the other teen beat him to it.
"Old hag-"
The boy didn't realize his mistake as he his head was soon grabbed by the hair and flung out the bed. Law quickly sat up watching in slight fear as the boy crashed against the wall and bounced to the floor.
"What did you say?" she narrowed her eyes.
It was rhetorical as there was no way the boy could've responded. The redhead groaned most likely unconscious. A trickle of blood fell from his forehead, the color matching his untamed hair, as he laid on the floor like he was dead. Dr. Kureha clicked her tongue and turned to the other teen.
"Law,"
Said boy stiffened when he met the woman's gaze.
"I said I'd be back at the end of the period. I didn't permit you to take advantage of my absence to do the nasty. This is an infirmary for god's sake. Keep it sanitary!"
"What? No! He attacked me!"
Before Law could say anymore, the bell rang cutting him off. The school nurse didn't let him continue as she didn't care for his excuse nor did she want to hear it. She was fine as long as they didn't get her bed sheets dirty, and in her head, she caught them just in time. Her heels clacked as she walked over to pick up the fallen clipboard, and she looked at the names that had been filled while she was gone.
"I -"
"Did he sign in?" she asked stopping him.
"Yeah, he did," Law pursed his lips. "Doctor," he wanted to try again. "It's -"
"Enough," Dr. Kureha said sharply. The look she gave him said there was to be no argument. When the teen's face said that he had receded on trying, she nodded and set her eyes back on the paper. "You should get to class before you're late."
Law was still adamant on explaining himself that she misunderstood the whole thing, but he knew that the woman wouldn't listen. Quietly, he slid out of the bed and fixed himself. His uniform was slightly crumpled, but it thankfully didn't get any blood on it. His eyes darted to the unconscious redhead wondering what was going to happen to him, and the school nurse noticed.
"He'll be fine," she waved for him to leave. "Just go."
With a slight hesitance, Law nodded and made for the door, his gaze still lingering on the other boy.
"I'll see you tomorrow then, Doctorine."
"Hey, Law!" Penguin and Shachi smiled as they took their seats beside him in history class. The bell had already rung, but the teacher still wasn't there to mark them late. "Did a bunch of guys come to the nurse's office when you were there?"
"Why do you ask?" Law was just taking out his notebook from his bag.
"Because we saw a huge fight outside," Penguin answered. "Not really huge, but some guys were chasing two other guys in the parking lot. We could see them from up in the P.E. field, and it got really messy."
"Yeah. Two guys were really beating people up. I think one guy threw someone in a dumpster," Shachi pitched in sounding amazed.
"Was one of them a red headed brute?" Law was still not in the best of moods.
Not only was he dismissed from being able to clarify his innocence, he was attacked twice in less than half an hour by the same guy. He hated that the redhead could overpower him so easily, and what did Dr. Kureha think of him? He didn't really care for her opinion that much, but he didn't want her to think that he did things to dirty the infirmary while she wasn't watching! Her trust that he had built from the start of the semester must've dissipated in those few minutes she had seen them.
His two friends noticed his sour attitude but didn't dare comment on it.
"Um, I'm not sure," the two looked at each other questioningly. "We couldn't really see that close. The police came to break the fight up, but by the time they came, the two who were being chased already disappeared."
The dark haired teen let out a low grumble. It didn't matter if the boy had been telling the truth; his pride was gone.
"Gang fights, I bet," Penguin hummed. "There were a lot of incidents in the West district recently, and I think it's coming to downtown towards our area."
"Ugh, I hope not," Shachi groaned. "I really don't get why those groups even exist still. They just cause trouble for everyone, and all they do is hurt people. I'd hate to think that we have some in our school."
The dark haired teen with the Eskimo hat nodded.
"You know, there was an incident in Addison…"
Penguin trailed. Law noticed the small silence that had followed, and felt two pairs of eyes staring at him. After shoving his pencil case back into his bag, he looked up to find his friends staring at him.
"What?"
Penguin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You're dad," he said. "He's in the hospital, right."
Because of the Addison incident. Law knew that he omitted the last part for him.
"Are you going to visit him after school?"
Law stiffened. "Yeah…" he found himself looking down.
"We were wondering if we could come. I mean, if you want."
Law felt a small smile tug at the edge of his mouth.
"SORRY I'M LATE!" The door suddenly flew open making everyone jump. All conversation ceased as the students in the classroom straightened in their seats including the trio.
A huffing man that was their history teacher entered the room hopping on crutches. His missing leg had left him crippled from an accident, but he had refused to be in a wheelchair and insisted on walking everywhere. Because of this, his arms and remaining leg were very buff; his ripping muscles could be seen bulging from his suit attire. It was known that the man was often late for his afternoon class, but this time, sweat was dripping down his chin as if he'd been in a hurry.
"I had to take an emergency call from the office and it took a little longer than I wanted to," Mr. Kyros explained. "While I was coming back, the elevator had broken down so I had to take the stairs."
The long haired teacher made his way over to his desk and sat down. He took a moment to catch his breath and leaned his crutches against the chalkboard.
"I'm really sorry," he said again. He raised his hand and pointed towards the front of the classroom. "You guys can pass up your homework to the front now. The people sitting at the front row can come up and place them at my desk, then we can begin."
Everyone began taking out their homework and passing it up front. As Law took out his assignment, his eyes glanced up to meet Penguin's by chance. The blue orbs smiled at him, and Law smiled back thankfully.
"Damn it," Shachi cursed breaking their small moment. The two turned to the redhead who buried his face into his hands with a long moan. "I forgot to do it agaain."
"Woah-ho," Ace tried to stifle a laugh. "What happened to you?"
Kid narrowed his eyes telling him to shut up. The boy shrugged knowing that he didn't get that bump on his head from being jumped earlier. It was now after school, and hopefully the redhead didn't get ambushed again.
"I know I didn't see this when we split up," he stared at the big bump near his hairline. It was nearly the size of an egg and could pass for a tumor. "Did you run into a wall?"
"Does it matter?!" Kid growled.
He pulled out his goggles from his pockets and slipped it across his forehead to hide the damned bump. He wasn't about to tell the freckled teen that he had his platter handed to him by an old witch with inhuman strength just so he could be made fun of. The two continued walking down the hospital corridor as they searched for the correct room number in silence as Kid refused to talk. When they thought they came by the right one, Ace paused making them stop in front of the door.
"What?" Kid asked.
The wavy haired teen looked at him solemnly. "Thanks," he said, "for helping me today. I really appreciate you helping us get back at the people who attacked Haruta."
"I had my own problems with them too," he grumbled. "They tried to harass some of my guys before so I was already planning on getting back at them."
"No really," Ace insisted. He didn't like that Kid was trying to play it off as nothing when they were messing with a big gang. "Those guys were dangerous. I wouldn't have pressured you to agree if you had said no." His eyes went to Kid's left arm. "How's your shoulder by the way?"
"Hm? It's fine," the redhead looked at his wound. He was wearing his uniform blazer this time so no one could see the cut. He rotated his arm to get a general feel of its condition, and it still hurt a hell of a lot. "The school nurse stitched me up."
"The school nurse? Aren't they only allowed to give ice packs?"
Kid shrugged. "I woke up, and my cut was fixed. I was still in the infirmary, and she was there to yell at me for half an hour before I could go."
The woman refused to let him leave just because he dared call her old. Kid skipped over the fact that he actually had to run out of the office because he accidentally called her an ugly witch, but she wouldn't shut up. It just came out.
"Huh, I didn't know Dr. Kureha could do that."
At the name, the taller teen blanched. Ace let it go with a skeptical look as he didn't have much feelings for her either.
Taking a deep breath, the freckled boy erased his uneasiness and changed his demeanor entirely. He opened the door and popped his head in the room.
"Haruta!" he called out cheerily. "You miss me? I brought you chocolate!"
His face dropped when they didn't see a short brunette boy with a casted leg and broken arm laying down on a bed. Instead, there was a middle aged man who was looking back at them equally confused. The blonde man was sitting up in a hospital gown with a blanket over his legs, a book in tow in his hands. The expression on Ace's face deflated, and he tried to laugh it off.
"Sorry, I think we got the wrong room,"
The man switched his gaze from Ace to Kid.
"Is this room 189?"
"No, this is room 289. You guys are on the wrong floor," he tried to smile weakly.
"Oh, shit. We got off the wrong floor. Sorry."
"It's alright. I get lost here too. Every floor looks the same so I get confused as well."
"Ah… We didn't mean to bother a… rocker?" Ace was referring to the crown like mark under the man's right eye. It wasn't clear if it was make-up or a tattoo, but the man's lips were also a darker shade that could look like it was done with make-up. The color of his lips extended to an elongated smile, and it gave a faint illusion that he was happy even when he had on a neutral face.
"Ah!" the blonde waved his hands when he got it. "I'm not rocker! I don't play the guitar or anything!"
"Oh, haha. I thought I met someone famous for a second. Well, I guess we better go. Sorry again to have bothered you!"
The two teens hurried to leave the room. They walked down the hallway to the elevators so they can go down a floor. Once the doors opened, they walked in not noticing the three bouncing hats that left the elevator next to theirs.
