This story contains Dressrosa arc spoilers.
Seriously, catch up on the manga first.
Part One
Chapter 1: Spirits vs. the Spirited
Tuesday—19 August, 2014
"Hey, you! Are you awake?"
Law was actually unsure at first since the young boy was lying face first into the ground. Nevertheless, the boy obviously heard him since he visibly flinched. A large straw hat laid over the boy's head covering his face touching the dirt below. He was definitely an outdoorsy type considering his shaggy black hair and lack of shoes. Other than that, the boy looked like a normal kid no older than seven or eight.
"Oh, good. Have you seen a small, annoyingly energetic girl? She has blonde hair in pigtails-"
The boy sat up wiping his face from snot and tears. He adjusted the straw hat away from his eyes to scan the secluded park. The park was on the smaller side, but even so, they were surrounded by a surprising amount of greenery despite being in a pretty suburban area. Well, mostly suburban. The forest in the back was dense, but what really stood out was a rather massive oak tree just within the park boundaries. Of course, there was normal playground equipment such as a couple of swings, a small jungle gym with a slide, and even a see-saw. Law watched the boy scan the park thoroughly. After a brief pause, the straw hat boy snapped back to the speaker and simply blinked.
Law is not going to lie. Today was hot. Miserably hot. It was his fault. He knew, but he is still in denial over his current school uniform situation. Normally the air condition is on the colder side, so he dresses accordingly. The summer uniform doesn't include long enough sleeves in his opinion, so he just wears the one with the thick, blue-collared jacket and black pants. Yes, he is wearing a uniform made for winter in the middle of fucking August. His trademark fluffy, white spotted hat isn't helping much either. Honestly, all of this wouldn't even matter if he were inside studying like usual, but no, today he gets to experience seasons other than room temperature.
The student sighed continuing once more, "She was probably singing to some dumb pop song, and her directions suck. She's not picking up her phone and- hey, are you even listening to me?"
The boy bit his lip taking a second glance around the still empty playground before staring back at the student like he grew a second head.
He dragged a hand down his face. Is yes or no too hard?
"You. Kid. Brat-with-the-straw-hat. Have you seen the girl or not? This is important," Law said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed at the thought for yet another search for another goddamn park in some other neighborhood he might have missed along the way. How many parks has he visited today? Doesn't matter. Law stopped counting after the seventh. He was completely exhausted. "Okay, okay. I get it. You don't know. Bye, I'm leaving."
"W-wait," the young boy said, finally speaking up before the white hatted student got the chance to leave. "You are talking to me, right?"
The student, about to cross the street, stopped to turn around back to the boy. "Of course I'm talking to you," he said. "It is already 7pm and almost curfew. Who else is here? Squirrels?"
The boy with the straw hat started to cry in full force. Great. Law couldn't leave now without feeling like an asshole.
"Fine, okay. What is your number?" Law asked, taking out his phone. "I'll call your parents to tell them that their annoying-ass brat somehow managed to get lost in this park." The student groaned checking his phone's clock. 7:02pm. He sighed. Curfew is in less than an hour now, and this kid is obviously upset over something.
"Parents?" he said, sniffling and tilting his head to the side in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything? But wait listen! Please! There is something I have to do. No, something I NEED to do!" The boy launched himself forward from his spot. His crying face from earlier was now completely replaced with a large ear-to-ear grin.
Law moved his fingers up to the top of his temples in attempt to soothe or at least delay the upcoming headache. The student could already feel the regret in his upcoming question.
"What is oh-so very important that must be done right fucking now, Straw Hat-ya?" he said bitterly. Law wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. It was getting pretty damn late and he still had to find his 10-year-old sister. She is a strong girl and can honestly handle herself, but Law still was worried. He didn't want anything to happen to her, nor did he want to burden his hard-working parents with a phone call from the marines complaining that their kids can't follow the rules.
"Oh, ahh! Uh- I forgot."
x_x_x
Trafalgar D. Water Law lives a pretty solid life according to himself. His family is great. He has two successful doctors as parents—his mom is an oncologist while his dad is a cardiologist. And then of course, he has Lamie—his baby sister. Despite being a pain in the ass at times, Law undeniably adores her.
Before Lamie was born, they lived in the White City of Flevance, Italy. Though, Law was too young to remember much about it. East Blue is fine too. Honestly, everywhere is almost the same with the World Government in charge. East Blue is primarily known for the city of Lougetown and the Goa Kingdom, but in between is a long peninsula cost filled with a series of small suburban towns. Everything is mostly connected by the central train line and then buses for the outskirts. Which is awesome for younger people without cars. They generally have a lot more freedom here than, for instance, the interstate heavy South Blue.
Law takes pride in his almost completely self-sustained studies in human anatomy and biology. That plus his parent's influence, his path to a successful doctor is easily in reach. Law's parents recognized his educational self-discipline and determination early on and allowed him to independently study over the years. Before, he often spent his free time around his parents' workplace at the East Blue Hospital. The hospital had tons of reference books after all. He was never distracting to his parents nor to the other doctors around. That didn't really mean much though. It didn't take much for him to be out of the way. The boy was small and quiet—honestly a little bit too much of both for his age.
However because of all the time alone or on the sidelines, Law never really cared to socialize with people outside his family or even attempt to keep an active, healthy lifestyle. He's not one to go outside unless there is a purpose.
Thanks to Dr. Kureha's meddling, he found himself stuck going to a middle school in Orange Town for the semester. Apparently he should learn how to socialize and what not a better way than to hang out with brats his own size. Fortunately, Law is still allowed to continue his independent studies for the most part, except this time around, he will be watched to make sure he eats and move his feet in gym class. And of course, Dr. Kureha of the children's department will make sure of it. She can easily force her influence on the school system so her beloved patient doesn't get sick. Again.
It's been a little over a week since Law transferred, and generally, kids left him the hell alone. Something about dissecting random frogs and this one rabbit he found behind the school ball shed scares them away. In his defense, the rabbit was already dead. It would have been a waste to just let it rot.
"Trafalgar! Hey, Trafalgar! It's really you!"
Well, they mostly left him alone—especially when he was in the library with a pile of books covering the entire table made for six people. Law looked up from his reference book to spot a brown-haired, blue eyed boy in a similar but short-sleeved version of his uniform and a very familiar pink beanie with a doctor's cross like 'X' on the front.
It took a second, but Law recognized him. The kid was old man Hiluluk's pupil. It's been over two years since Hiluluk's sudden passing. He hasn't really seen the student since; a death of a loved one is a lot to handle for a small kid.
"It's been awhile, Tony-ya."
"So it's true that you are a student here now!" Tony Tony Chopper said with a huge grin, "Look, look! I'm a student as well! Sixth grade! Doctorine helped me skip a grade again, so I can hurry up and become a full-fledged doctor!"
"Hmmm. Not bad at all, Tony-ya. Looks like you got on Kureha's good side in the end." Law gave him a thumbs up. He is not one to discourage a future doctor.
"I'm not going to be happy if you compliment me like that, bastard~" Chopper blushed, waving his arms back and forth in a dance. Despite his words, he is obviously enjoying Law's rare praise.
Bzzzz…
Both boys look at a slight glow under a pile of notes in front of Law. "Ah! One sec, Tony-ya," Law said as he moved the stack of papers off his phone.
_From: Lamie_
(8/19/2014 2:31pm) 'Law! Can u meet me at the park after school? I forgot my train pass :( '
_To: Lamie_
(8/19/2014 2:31pm) 'Don't text in class, stupid.'
(8/19/2014 2:32pm) 'But sure, where is this park? I'm not that familiar with the commute yet.'
"Oh, is that Lamie!" the small student asked excitedly, plopping down in the chair to Law's right. Law nodded with a slight grin. Of course, Chopper hasn't forgotten how much Law enjoys chitchatting about his beloved sister. "I haven't seen her since I transferred here. Didn't you hear? Last year, we were in fourth grade together! Does she still want to be a veterinarian?"
"She is doing well. But no, she's moved on to wanting to be an artist. Then of course last month, she wanted to be a singer, but at least she is having more success with paint." He shook his head. God, she is completely tone death. "Also, it looks like I'll be picking her up from class today."
As the students small talked about school and such, Chopper casually helped Law sort and stack the biology reference books and the textbooks from various classes kind of like old times at the hospital. In the past, Law declined—no, refused his help. He didn't want some random brat getting snot and germs all over his notes. What if Lamie got sick? However, after Chopper received his pink hat, he quickly realized that the small boy was around for another reason—he was receiving supplementary lessons from the famous Dr. Hiluluk. Law stopped declining his help and occasionally even joined their tutoring sessions. He had to admit—it was cute to see such a young child interested in medicine and actually retaining at least a third of the basic information given.
After Hiluluk's death, Chopper became distant. The doctor passed away overnight, so the small student wasn't around at the time. Chopper pretty much stopped hanging around the hospital after hearing Hiluluk's last words straight from Law's mouth. The white hatted student didn't put it against him though. At the hospital, people come and go all the time.
"Hey, Trafalgar?" Chopper asked sheepishly. Law slowly glanced over to the small boy, noticing that his enthusiastic smile from the last half of class had faded. "Thank you for being around. You know, on that day and stuff," Chopper said, looking down at the now neatly stacked binders.
"Yeah." Law winced looking straight ahead. Back then, Dr. Kureha was there too, but yeah, only Law was able to hear. He's always the only one who could hear.
When do you think people die?
When they are caught up in a devastating accident?
WRONG!
When they are struck with a terminal illness?
WRONG!
People die when they are forgotten!
The boys parted ways a little before class ended. Law checked his phone only to find zero new messages. Perhaps her class let out late or something. He decided to text Lamie once more anyway before opening up the Google Maps app.
_To: Lamie_
(8/19/2014 3:04pm) 'Hey Lamie, where do I go?'
(8/19/2014 3:56pm) 'I really don't want to spend the entire afternoon looking for you.'
He spent the entire afternoon looking for her.
x_x_x
Law just stood there—blank expression, mouth slightly open like he was trying to respond. But, he couldn't. There were no words.
Before the straw hat boy got any closer, the student made a mad dash to the crosswalk to only be met with a red, glowing hand on the adjacent street. Law sighed and glanced back hoping the child wasn't tagging along.
Well, he wasn't. However that feeling of triumph didn't last when he found the boy kneeling over on the ground looking completely panicked and gasping for air, "I don't want...No, I-I'm so tired of being alone…!"
"Shit, kid. This better not be a joke," the student said, tossing his plain, yellow backpack onto the ground.
He quickly rushed over to stabilize the boy before calling '911'. Law offered his hand only for it to be ignored. In frustration, he tried forcibly grabbing the boy's hands to roll him on his back in case of any needed CPR only to pass right through him and topple over.
Ah. Law sighed still on the ground. He rolled onto his back and simply stared up into the sky. Noticing it was changing into a warmer hue from the previous cold grey.
But, at least there was no immediate danger. This kid was already beyond saving with a '911' call, CPR, or anything of the like. He's seen these scenes at the hospital more often than he would have liked.
"Hey, Straw Hat-ya. Try your best to make it back inside the park," Law said, remembering that he was fine earlier, "I think you are outside your limits."
"...You aren't leaving?" the boy whimpered while slowly crawling back to the wood chip terrain around the large park equipment, "Aren't you busy?"
Law sat up to say something, anything, to get this kid to pass on quickly. It was getting late, and as much as he felt bad for the boy, he didn't want to be around when the marines found the body. If there even was a body around. Running into a ghost here or there at the hospital didn't make Law an expert on the subject.
"Straw Ha-"
Bzzzz…
Law interrupted himself for the long-anticipated update on the whole Lamie situation.
_From: Lamie_
(8/19/2014 7:16pm) 'I'm sooo sorry! D: Law, are u okay? Im home btw'
(8/19/2014 7:16pm) 'My phone died, so I rode home with Momo'
(8/19/2014 7:17pm) 'But it was a lot of fun. His dad is funny XD Oh and we got our HW done!'
"Oh. I'm back to normal." The boy hopped around happily and threw punches into the air to show off. "See?"
"Hmmm. So what happened?" the student hummed now in a better mood. Law already put away his phone securely into a jacket pocket and grabbed his neglected bag off the ground. He walked deeper into the park's perimeters and sat on one of the four swings. "I'll listen to your story," he said. "Let's start with something easy… How about your name, Straw Hat-ya."
The boy thought about the question hard before digging into his nose with his pinky. "Don't have one."
"Great…" Law shook his head. "Do you have any memories at all?"
"Oh earlier today, there was this kid who found a huge centipede under a rock near the benches! Oh! And these other kids were talking about wanting to go to some pool. Can you teach me? I want to learn how to swim too-" Law promptly cut him off when he realized the boy didn't understand the question.
"Okay, then what about that scar under your eye? Recall anything about that? Actually better yet, are there any people you know? Ones that have talked to you directly?" Law questioned.
"Nope!" The boy grinned obviously not understanding the situation.
"Then why the fuck are you still lingering around in this world?"
Around the hospital, ghosts generally have a predictable pattern. Usually they just want someone to hear their life story and then leave—actually, more like disappear into the void without a trace. Law doesn't know what happens to them when they leave, but he never sees them around again. He assumes it's the norm, but it's not like he can compare it to anything. There aren't any studies on ghosts; Law checked. He has only found useless fiction and horror stories. Despite common belief, ghosts are not actually transparent, nor do they float or fly. Typically they are just whinier than normal brats at the hospital. Then again Law only discovers their existence when he tells them to shut the fuck up and stop bothering the other patients.
"What is wrong with lingering?" The young boy grumbled with a frown, "Can't really do much else when everyone is ignoring me all day."
"Straw Hat-ya," Law said continuing to his point with slight hesitation. "You know, you wouldn't be alone if you just crossed over."
"Cross over?"
"Because you are dead?"
After a long pause, he fell over on the ground laughing, "Ahh, I see~ A joke! Good one!"
Did he really think people were ignoring him on purpose or something? Even Law couldn't ignore someone for that long. "Straw Hat-ya, you are dead."
The straw hat boy tilted his head to the side and blinked.
Law stood up to step once through the kid before crouching temporarily next to him, "See? You are a ghost."
"WHAT?" He shouted with his face in shock. Looks like Law's words were beginning to sink in. "I can't be dead! I'm still here aren't I? Don't lie! Like I said, there is something I gotta do!"
"What can you even do in this state?" Law cringed. He really didn't like being the bearer of bad news. "My foot literally went straight through your stomach."
"No, it didn't!" the straw hat kid said with a pout. He jumped up to send his fist flying directly at the student only to trip and fall right through him.
"Happy now?" Law sighed. He went to plop next to the boy who is now lying on the ground again.
"Oh, I see," the young boy said. He rolled to his back only to sit right up. "You're the ghost!" he declared scratching his chin like it was the only possible solution.
"The hell I am!"
"Hey ghost, what is your name?" the boy asked with curiosity.
"Trafalgar L- Wait… I'm not dead!"
"Toh-Rahf-guh-gal… Torao! Got it," he paused to giggle before continuing, "I like you. Let's be friends!" The boy sported an ear-to-ear smile, "I always wanted a ghost for a friend."
"It's Trafalgar! Trafalgar Law!" The student barked. He never had anyone mispronounce his name so poorly before. "And stop trying to kill me off!"
Law took out his phone to check the time. It was now 7:37pm. Shit. The sky was turning into a deeper shade of orange.
"Hey Straw Hat-ya, I got to go. We'll finish this tomorrow."
"Eh? You're leaving? I won't allow it!" he whined.
"I have a life. It can't be helped," Law said, lifting himself off the ground.
The young boy frowned.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Can't have this stray haunting this poor, innocent park all week." He smirked.
"You better," the boy said. "We are friends after all!"
The student continued walking forward.
"How are you able to leave this park anyway? Is this some sort of ghost town?" Apparently the kid was still following. Well, somewhat at least—he was running back and forth without actually leaving the edge of the park.
Before crossing the street, Law almost forgot something important. "We're not friends!"
_To: Lamie_
(8/19/2014 7:43pm) 'Don't worry about it. I was only finishing up some homework. I'll be home before 8pm for sure.'
(8/19/2014 7:43pm) 'And besides, Mom and Dad don't get off for another hour anyway.'
x_x_x
Wednesday—20 August, 2014
"What's the deal with curfew anyway?" Law said, sitting on the step across from his sister. The morning rush-hour trains often have a lack of seats, so they currently perched on the opposite steps of the two adjacent mini staircases leading to the upper seating level. It was only a 10 minutes away from their house in Goat Town to her stop in Gosa Village anyway.
"Eh?" Lamie looked up from the screen of her 3DS. Apparently she is looking for a certain 'StreetPass'—something about an "Eon Ticket" for her new Pokémon game or whatever.
"I mean, there wasn't one when I was around your age, right?"
"Ahh, no. Yeah, it is definitely not that old," Lamie said. "I think it's been there for a year." She bit the end of her stylus trying to remember more about the subject.
"You think?" Law said, raising an eyebrow.
"I know!" She pouted back.
-Gosa Village! Gosa Village! Now arriving at Gosa Village!-
"Oh! We are getting close now!" Lamie happily hummed, closing her 3DS to secure it away. They would be arriving at her stop any minute now.
"But seriously, what is the point of that curfew? Seems like a pain." He said frowning, "Weren't you upset about missing the Fourth of July fireworks this year?"
"Yeah, but I don't mind anymore. Bell-mère said 'It's to keep kids out of trouble'— Like yourself!" she said, pointing at her brother, "You almost didn't make home in time it last night!"
Ah, that's right. Law remembered she had an ex-marine for a homeroom teacher this semester.
"But, I made it right?" Law said, while sticking out his tongue playfully, ignoring the fact that yesterday was pretty much her fault. Well, mostly her fault. He wondered if that ghost would still even be there after school.
"Yup!" She grinned.
x_x_x
Law chose the library again for the latter half of the day to work on his independent studies. He honestly enjoyed seventh period the most. It is quiet and comfortably empty. Then again it's not even really the last class of the day. Most opt to leave during sixth period because why not? Students have the option to sign up for zero period or seventh. Law just choses seventh because of the commute with Lamie. But honestly, none of this matters to Law anyway because of his custom schedule. He is not even technically in a grade. He is only here for gym class, which he has been avoiding since day one, and lunch.
Right now, he was not taking up an entire table like normal since Chopper wanted help with a fractions question. The eight-year-old might have talent for grasping science concepts, but his math skills needed a little touchup to match.
Law sighed and looked towards the back corner of the room filled with colorful posters and bean bag chairs. Probably the children's section. Nevertheless every day around now, he can hear the sound of a piano in the distance. "Hey Tony-ya, where is the music room?"
The small student looked at him confused. "Well, it's not too far from here— just outside the front door," he said, pointing at the opposite side of the library from the piano sounds, "And then around the corner near the indoor gym."
"Why do you—Oh! Do you play an instrument?" Chopper beamed. "I don't recall you caring much about music."
"Yeah, never bothered," Law said. "Don't see the point if audio books are an option. They are a better use of time." Law stared back at the wall shortly before continuing with the mini tutor session.
10 minutes passed and Chopper easily finished the rest of the practice problems.
"Now, all there is left is history!"
"Do you need help with that as well?" Law said. There wasn't really much time of the day left to continue his review of genes and DNA.
"No..." he said looking away from the student with shifty eyes.
Law frowned.
"Oh! Robin? Is that you Robin?" the pink hatted student called out desperately for the assistant teacher. It's no secret that Law was awful at anything history. The boy barely kept up with local news. The other day, he questioned who the hell Whitebeard was.
"Ah! Chopper!" The tall young woman known as Nico Robin calmly approached the table. She had noticeably long black hair, brown eyes, and wore a simple purple blouse with a black pencil skirt. Law has talked to Robin a handful of times within this past week. Law doesn't know quite what to think of her yet, but she is pretty much the only person with authority who hasn't scolded him for bringing sharp, surgical tools to school. She is currently studying anthropology for her bachelor's degree.
"How is sixth grade?"
"Good," Chopper said with slight hesitation.
She softly smiled. "You are in Nami's class, right?"
"And Ussop's…" he forced a smile back.
"I see. That's great."
Law could cut the tension with a knife. He snuck a peak at his phone for the time—2:27pm, zero new messages, 85 degrees, and sunny. Swell, 33 minutes of this terribly long period left.
"Nico-ya, how long are you going to be an assistant teacher?" Law said trying to notify them of his presence, hoping it would change the topic in the process.
"Just for this semester," Robin said. "I'll be graduating from UEB (University of East Blue) Lougetown in spring." She glanced back down to Chopper, who was now looking at the ground. "Even if not now… one day, I'll be sure to carry out my dream. He would want that."
"Robin! Me too! I'll become a great doctor! I won't let anything like this happen again!" the young boy cried out.
She sat down in the chair next to Chopper and softly said, "I'm sure you will."
Law sighed. He eavesdrops on enough grim conversations at the hospital to know where this was going. The student was starting to be thankful for that hint of that piano in the background. It was something to focus on.
"But… but Usopp still blames himself," Chopper cried. "…And Nami—I caught her pickpocketing from third years the other day! I don't want her to get hurt, but she won't listen!" Chopper clenched the pink hat on his head with enough force to take it right off. "And Zoro! I haven't even seen him since the semester started!"
"He is registered for classes. I checked, but…" Robin bit her lip. "Zoro is going to be held back at this rate."
"What is happening to us, Robin?" Chopper questioned, putting his head on the table, holding tightly on the hat in his lap. "I hate this! It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this at all!"
"Oh, Law," Robin said calmly. Looks like he was finally noticed. She leaned into the palm of her hand and grinned. "You're still here?"
The student got the not-so-subtle hint. Couldn't she do this earlier? He groaned and pushed out his chair preparing to leave.
"But Chopper," she said continuing, "We'll get through this eventually—all of us."
Chopper wept as silently as he could, trying not to make a scene.
"Besides if the afterworld does exist, then we'll have plenty of time to sort out everything then," she chuckled.
"Robin, you are scaring me!" the pink hatted student yelped, swiftly lifting up his head.
"Okay, so where do you need help?—"
x_x_x
Once again Law found himself on the outskirts of Foosha Village, the furthest down stop on the line. He might have gotten off at the wrong stop. Twice. Well, to be fair, he wasn't exactly paying too much attention to location details yesterday, but at the same time, giant fucking windmills are hard to miss. At least now he has an excuse to refuse Lamie's last minute planning—for the rest of the week at least.
"Straw Hat-ya!"
No response from the few kids here except for a stare from a small girl in a floral dress. The student already felt his face heating up in embarrassment. People are going to think he is mentally ill again.
"Yo, Straw Hat-ya!"
At least the few people who know Law wouldn't find him nor doubt his sanity around here. It's the last stop in East Blue. Well, kind of. Goa Kingdom isn't exactly what Law would find a fun walk—or drive. Too many mountains. The train no longer runs through there either.
Law calmly walked past the kids with their judgmental eyes to stroll across the park. He even crouched to look under the slides and behind a small drinking fountain. He stopped under the shaded oak tree to rest. Law had to walk half a mile from the station to get here. And it's still stupidly hot.
"Straw Hat-ya…" he groaned, leaning back against the bark of the tree.
Fuck. Even if these kids didn't know him, this was super awkward. He flustered at his various ghost related experiences at the hospital, remembering the looks and stares from the visitors and nurses around.
'Hey mom,' a young child asked. 'Who is he talking to?'
'This is a hospital, sweetie. He is here to be treated—like your sick uncle.'
Dr. Kureha says she understands, but Law can probably guess she thinks he is more on the schizophrenic side. She's tried to get him into counseling to no avail.
But maybe Law actually has schizophrenia? Who knows? Apparently no one else can see or write an accurate description of ghosts. Maybe he is crazy—insane even. It certainly wouldn't be the first time something was wrong with him.
"Torao—!" The student wasn't expecting for the straw hat boy to literally drop down from above. "You're late!"
In the back of his mind, Law thought it might be fine to be crazy just for one more afternoon.
"It's a fucking Wednesday." He pointed at his backpack and then uniform. "I had class."
"Torao!" the boy shouted, crying out happily.
Law flinched at the loud outburst only to remember. "It's Trafalgar!"
The student dug through his bag to grab a notepad and pen; it's finally time to figure out this kid's problem.
Click
He adjusted the notepad on his lap. "So Straw Hat-ya—"
"I'm hungry!" The boy fell on the ground sideways. The nonabsorbent tears formed a puddle on the dry ground.
Law dragged a hand down his face. "Can you even eat, Straw Hat-ya?"
"Of course!" The boy said. "Why couldn't I?" He furrowed his eyebrows, sitting right back up. "Do you have any food? I want a ham sandwich… No! A big, fat hamburger! ...Actually I want both. Can I have both? Toraoo!" He begged then nibbled on his fingers as if they were the food he craved.
Law scrunched up his nose for more reasons than one, but the boy continued to look at him with those big brown eyes. Well, if he is going to continue finding ghosts, then might as well take this opportunity to study one up close. It's a doctor's job to help people after all, and if he can fully learn how to help ghosts as well, then so be it. They are technically human, too.
Law finally spoke up probably seconds before the boy bit his fingers right off, "Will it make you remember something?"
The boy beamed. "Yup!"
He sighed, putting away the note pad and pen. "I'll buy a drink."
The straw hat boy frowned. "Ehh? That's not meat at all," he cried. "That's not even food!"
"Beggars can't be choosers." He shrugged, lifting off the ground. "I'll buy myself a drink then. Be back in like 15 minutes, Straw Hat-ya."
"Apple juice! No…wait- Chocolate milk!"
Law turned around and calmly stared at the kid. "Water."
"Toraooo!"
"That's not my fucking name!"
x_x_x
"Welco— Hey, kid! This is Partys Bar—a bar. We don't serve underage brats here." The blue haired girl slammed a fist on the bar counter. She wore bright red headband and had on a white apron over a slightly worn-out, yellow polo shirt.
She was right, though. He probably shouldn't be here, but it didn't matter. Law wasn't going to spend $3.50 on a train ride to buy a fucking water bottle. It was surprising, but more so annoying, that there was not a single café around here—not even a corner store.
The place is nice; it has a homey feel to it despite being pretty empty. Behind the long counter against the back shelf, there were several cocktail glasses along with bottles of various kinds of liquor. An empty sink with a bowl of uncut limes could also been seen past the register. Looks like business was slow today, then again, it's barely even 4'oclock. There were seats near the counter and then normal tables on the main floor, but Law didn't bother getting comfortable because he was planning on leaving soon anyway.
He smirked. "Aren't you a kid as well?" The girl might have tried to hide her age with makeup, but she is no older than fourteen.
The girl rolled her eyes. Before she said anything else a second, more mature voice called out from the doorway behind the counter, "Nojiko, it's fine. We still have nonalcoholic options." The second voice belonged to an older woman with a scarf over her dark green hair. She wore a blouse over a long pastel skirt. She smiled warmly at Law in kind of a familiar way—like she's experienced these types of scenes before.
"Tsk. Wait," the girl paused. "That an Orange Town Middle School uniform! I almost didn't recognize it because—I don't know—it's summer?" She laughed.
Law applied pressure to his temples. He hates explaining his choice in attire.
"Hey, that's not nice." The woman said frowning, only to smile back to Law. "Hello! My name is Makino. It is true that this is a bar, but I'm not one to refuse a guest. What would you like?"
If he is going to consume something, it might as well be healthy.
"Tea."
Nojiko, who is now slouching on the counter, laughed harder. "It's 93° Fahrenheit out there and you want tea."
"Iced tea." Law sighed.
"Of course! Let me run upstairs to boil some water," said the woman known as Makino, "What kind would you like?"
"Green," the boy replied. The woman gave him an 'okay' gesture with her hand before heading upstairs. "Thanks."
"What grade are you in, kid?" the blue haired girl asked regaining the boy's attention.
Law sighed. "I guess, seventh?"
"You guess?" she said with amusement.
"You could say I'm a bit of a special case," he said breaking eye contact.
"Yeah, I can see that clearly." Nojiko chuckled pointing at his winter uniform and then hat. "I think I would have heard about you from my sister if you were in her grade."
Law rolled his eyes. Great. Just what he needs—people recognizing him around here.
With nothing else to say, the girl grabbed a broom from the back closet and swept the floor near the entrance
The student, now slightly bored, gazed at the dead skin on his palms while he quietly mumbled the names of the bones in the human hand. Tuberosity, distal phalanx, middle phalanx, proximal phalanx, sesamoid bone, hook of hamate…
"Back!" The dark haired woman returned happily with a pot of tea with a glass of ice.
Law looked up and nodded to let her know she was acknowledged.
"Would this be all?"
"Oh, uh...Makino-ya?" the student said trying to hide his embarrassment. "Can I also order a glass of chocolate milk…to go?"
She smiled, "Certainly! Nojiko can you ring him up for me?"
The Nojiko signaled him over to the register while Makino went to find two plastic cups.
"That will be $4.25 in total."
Law grabbed the debit card from the wallet and handed it to her.
"Uh, that's not going to fly," she groaned. "I'm familiar with these scenes, kid." She looked down to read the name of the cardholder and sighed. "Guess I'll have to find out who this 'Trafalgar D. Water Law' is and give him back his card…"
"It's mine." Law said sighing. He already took out his ID to hand to the girl.
She rolled her eyes and grabbed the second card to compare. The blue haired girl went pale. Law shrugged; she could indeed confirm that he is rightful owner of both cards.
"What the…?" she bit her lip. She looked down at his ID again and laughed. "Law… I'm sorry, I blame my sister. But still, I thought you were 11—maybe 12 at the oldest."
"Yeah." He scratched his head. "I did say I was a bit of a special case."
"Though, it doesn't change the fact that you are still too young to be a real customer."
"But, aren't you also a little young to be working here, Nojiko-ya?" He smirked.
"Touché." She reached down to grab something from underneath the counter—a half-shriveled tangerine— only to look back up and force a chuckle. "Life's a bitch, ain't it?"
x_x_x
Okay, so it hasn't been 15 minutes; it was more like twenty—no, 45 minutes. Whoops.
But it didn't matter, the kid was asleep right where Law left him, under the giant oak tree in the back of the park. The other kids from earlier, including that one floral dressed girl, were still playing with the equipment, but they looked tired and ready to leave. Law slumped down against the rough bark of the tree. It really was a peaceful day. He took out a precalc textbook, the highest math level the damn middle school library contains, to use as a makeshift table for the drinks.
"Straw Hat-ya."
No response. Figures. He took a sip from his own drink. The ice has already melted, diluting the tea. It wasn't bad though, seems like Makino purposely oversteeped it in case this happened.
Law honestly didn't know ghosts could sleep, but wasn't surprised in the slightest. Now that he thinks about it, the boy's black hair actually blows with the breeze. He reached down to shove him a little—to wake him up before the milk spoiled in the heat—only to pass through him, tapping the dirt underneath the kid. Law frowned. It's a little unnerving how real ghosts seem to be at times.
"Hey, I'm back," he said again. "I'm glad I didn't bother ordering you a hamburger. It would have—"
"FOOD?"
The straw hat kid shot up, beaming. Law flinched while immediately throwing his hands downwards to hold both plastic cups in place—only to remember that it didn't matter. The cups wouldn't have fallen over. He felt like an idiot.
Law shook his head. "Seriously? That's what woke you up."
The boy ran around Law and the tree, trying to find his lunch only to stop back near the student. "Torao?"
Law gestured towards the chocolate milk while taking a sip of his own tea.
"Tsk, stingy," he said before sitting down against the bark next to the student. "Torao... I can't pick it up."
"No shit."
"But Torao," he whined. "How am I supposed to drink it?"
"Who knows? You said you could drink it just fine." Law smirked. "Figure it out."
The boy frowned, but he didn't give up. First, he tried picking it up again only to go right through the cup. Second attempt, he tried poking at the surface only to either slide right across or go through it like air—not even breaking the milk's surface tension.
Law snickered at his efforts. It was so worth the $1.75.
The boy, now desperate, kneeled down to lap the milk like a cat only for the same results.
He is now laying down face first through the plastic cup of chocolate milk.
"So Ghost-ya, how is your drink?" Law asked mockingly, grinning before taking an audible gulp of his own drink.
The boy rolled to his head to the side to stare at Law. "It's not fair! I can smell it, and it feels a little cold," he cried. "But, that's it! I can't taste it all!" The student laughed in response figuring this would happen. "It's like those dumb vanilla scented candles that smell like ice cream, but then they taste like crap." The boy stuck out his tongue out in disgust.
"Of course, you know what candle wax tastes like," Law stated sarcastically, "Did you eat glue as well?"
"No!—maybe… But…" The boy sighed, turning his face back to the ground. "I'm the ghost between the two of us… Aren't I, Torao?"
"Oh, what gave that away?" Law chuckled.
The boy pointed at the cup of chocolate milk that is literally halfway in his face. He sat up Indian style. "I guess you'll just have to drink it for me."
The student stared at him and blinked. "Fuck that."
"But I'll starve! I've already missed…" He started counting on his fingers. "30 meals! THIRDY!"
"What the hell does that even mean?"
"Today is my…" he said counting on his fingers again to double check, "Sixth day at this park."
Law looked visibly surprised. The kid actually revealed vital information. He's been dead for 6 days already. Wait…
"That's five meals a day, idiot."
"Torao! You have to eat for me! I can't go on like this." He dramatically fell to the ground and lifted his hand shakily towards Law.
"Why should I?" Law barked. "No!"
"But then what about my chocolate milk?" he whined, gesturing both hands at the cup of still full milk.
"There's a fucking trashcan over there," Law said, pointing across the park. "I'll deal with it later."
"That's a waste of sweet, delicious chocolate milk!" The kid rolled over to his back. "How do you expect to grow without milk?"
Law's eye twitched. "That's not how milk works! You need to have a healthy, balanced diet along with a decent amount of exercise. Besides, chocolate milk is gross anyway. Too sweet."
"So. It still helps kids grow?"
"Yes, but—" He saw the boy immediately flash a shit-eating grin. "Goddamn it."
"Hey Torao, I want to show you something!" Law raised an eyebrow. "Look up!"
High up in the branches about two stories above was a medium, cylinder-shaped treehouse. It didn't seem that old from the looks of it, but the treehouse obviously wasn't new either considering it's been patched up here and there. Even so, it looked surprisingly sturdy overall. The only problem was getting up. The lowest branches were about nine or ten feet away, and the rope ladder was completely shredded and tangled within the upper branches.
"What's so great about an abandoned—"
"Come on!" the boy was already halfway up the tree. "I want to show you something awesome!"
"Hey, Straw Hat-ya…I can't."
"What do you mean you can't?" he said looking down.
Law bit down on his lip. "I can't do it."
"Do what?"
"Climb."
"What? Torao is scared of heights?"
"No! I just… I can't physically climb that." He forcefully threw off his jacket, revealing his pale, scrawny arms. "Straw Hat-ya, do you really think this body can handle anything like that?"
The boy jumped off to inspect the student's rather boney arms and then straight up just laughed. "Wow Torao, you are so weak!"
Law furrowed his brows feeling flustered. A ghost—a being that no longer gets a second chance at life nor an opportunity to change—is howling from laughter because of him. Fuck that; challenge accepted. He sat back down only to chug the entire cup of—now lukewarm—milk in one sitting.
"Not for long."
The straw hat boy grinned.
A/N:
Next chapter is actually finished as well and will conclude Part One. Hooray! I'll upload it in the next couple of days.
But yeah, did anyone else notice that Law didn't really seem to grow much in size between ages 10-13? (Then again compared to the height of the Donquixote siblings, that isn't saying much.) Still, I ended up developing this story with that in mind.
New to this whole writing thing, but it's surprisingly enjoyable so far. Though I feel like every time I go and edit one thing, I create like 50 more awkward wording/grammar mistakes in the process. Ahh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯