Black Rose


A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews you guys left! Really, it makes me wanna cry. :'D I'll try to respond to all your reviews later, okay? :3

Disclaimer: Oh One Piece, oh One Piece, I really wish I owned you~


'I'll be judge, I'll be jury,' Said cunning old Fury:
'I'll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.'


Protective walls may impede you, but the walls most difficult to penetrate are those that surround our hearts.


Chapter warning: none. I think. Oh, maybe a small, tiny rape scene. I think. Just in case.


Kidd couldn't concentrate on anything except the phone call he had received six hours ago. He wore a troubled expression as the call repeated itself in his mind. It sounded like the person calling was in trouble. His mind focused on that one phrase, though. "Get off me!" That one phrase wouldn't leave his mind, and he tried hard not to think about what it could have meant. 'He could have been in a fight and wanted the other guy off him,' he tried to think. But his mind knew that wasn't correct, that he was yelling out the phrase for an entirely different reason. "Get off me!" It sounded like he was about– 'No. No, Kidd, don't go there.'

It sounded like the guy was about to get raped.

'What the FUCK did I just say?!' He gave a growl at himself, finishing the last dirty dish in his sink and tossing it into the dishstrainer. 'Don't. fucking. think about it. Just go to bed and go to sleep and everything will be just fine.' But things wouldn't be just fine. Some guy was probably about to get raped and Kidd hadn't done a damn thing about it. He dragged himself up to his bedroom and fell heavily on the bed, ungracefully removing his pants before tossing them to the floor. He crawled beneath the crimson silk blankets and killed the lights, the darkness enveloping his room. 'Just go to bed,' he thought, closing his heavy eyes. 'Go to bed and you'll forget all about it in the morning.'

He fell asleep soon after, but his mind refused to let him forget.


"Stay in here and hide," the brunette woman before him said. Her brown hair fell softly against her shoulders and her brown eyes stared into his auburn ones. "Close your eyes and cover your ears and don't come out for anything. Do you understand?" Nine-year-old Kidd nodded numbly and almost fearfully at his mother's words. "Okay, good." She cupped his face and leaned in, kissing his forehead and the top of his head. "I love you, Kidd. Always remember that, okay? I love you."

"I love you, too, mom," Kidd whispered back. She gave a faint smile before she pulled away and closed the closet door. Kidd did as told, closing his eyes and covering his ears as he continued to sit the darkest corner of the small closet. He heard the sound of the bedroom door slam open, and his mother was screaming something at the intruder. He could feel them moving through the vibrations of the floorboards, informing him there was a struggle. Something heavy hit the ground. Peeking through the closet slits, he found it was his mother. Blood ran down her chin from a cut lip and some more tickled from a shallow head wound. The intruder grabbed her by the hair and threw her onto the bed roughly. The intruder was facing her, but he was doing something, something Kidd couldn't see. It almost looked as if he was undoing his belt.

That was when he noticed the fear appear in his mother's eyes.

Everything seemed like a blur after that. One minute his mother was silent, and the next she was screaming. "Get off me! G-Get off!" The man was on top of her, grunting, and no matter how hard Kidd pressed his hands over his ears, he could still hear her screams. "Get off me!" She seemed to scream for hours – and the man seemed to enjoy her shrieks too much – until a silver knife crossed her neck; silencing her pleading screams and silencing her life. Kidd couldn't bear to look away as he watched with wide eyes as her life drained from her; her eyes seemingly locked onto his through the closet's slits. He could have done something, he could have helped, could have saved her if he had only done something! The intruder left the room, and Kidd couldn't help himself; he exited the closet a minute later and ran to his mother's side.

"I-I'm sorry," he whispered. "M-Mom, please, wake up… I'm sorry." Tears began to pool in his eyes when his mother said nothing. "Be strong," she always told him. He grabbed her hand tightly, trying hard to suppress his tears. "M-Mom…" The floorboard creaked, and he looked up. The intruder stood in the doorway, a sickening grin on his face.

"There you are, little pretty."


Kidd's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright; his body covered in a cold sweat. He looked around the room. He was in his house, not his old home, and there was no one else in the room with him. He calmed his breathing down, taking in slower, deeper breaths as he stared at the blanket in his lap. He wiped his face with his hand and gave a curse, stripping off the white, sweat-drenched tank top he had been wearing. "It was just a dream," he said roughly. "Just a dream."

But in the back of his mind, he knew it was much more than just a 'dream'.


Before he even realized it, he was in school; more specifically, his history class: the last class for the day. The teacher, Ms. Nico Robin, was going on about an ancient civilization called the Mayans or Aztecs or Shandorians or whatever. Kidd didn't really care, he wasn't much of a history person. No, what he really cared about, though, was how much that damn phone call was getting to him. Honestly, he didn't think it would bother him so much. But it was, and he hated that.

In the back of his mind, he knew he blew it by not calling back and asking the person if they were okay. He couldn't help his mother when he was younger, but he could have helped the person on the phone yesterday. That could have been his chance to be the hero, to finally do something. But no, he didn't do anything. Again.

"People often say that history repeats itself; and most of the time, they are correct."

"G-Get off!" his mother pleaded.
"Get off me!" the man on the voice ordered.

'Thanks, Robin. I feel horrible enough as it is for not helping. Keep talking so you can make me feel even worse.' He gave a huff, his hand buried in his fiery red hair in frustration. He glanced at the clock. Three minutes left till class ended. The classroom door opened and, naturally, everyone's attention landed on who opened it. Kidd heard some of the girls start to whisper excitedly and he rolled his eyes. Trafalgar Law entered the room with his arms full of textbooks.

"Sorry for interrupting your class," he quietly apologized, setting the books down on an empty chair.

"It's fine, Law-san," the teacher smiled gently. Law and Robin were good friends, mostly because they shared a common love for books and knowledge. Some of the boys whispered to themselves, jealous of how close the loner was to their teacher. It wasn't a secret a lot of the boys in the school were in love with Robin, she was a beautiful and voluptuous woman. There were times where she even managed to make Kidd blush, and that was saying something, seeing as he swung for the other team. Not that he would ever admit those things out loud. "Stop by tomorrow after school if you'd like to borrow some more books, okay?"

Law nodded before giving a small smile. "I will. Oh, and congratulations." Robin's smile grew.

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow." Law gave one more nod and left just as the bell rang. A few of the boys headed down to talk to their teacher, one even going as far as asking her if she'd like to get some coffee later. She laughed quietly behind her hand. "Sorry boys, but I'm a married woman now."

There was a silence.

Then, "Eh?!" She lowered her hand to show them the new ring on her finger.

"He proposed last night. We're getting married in June next year."

"Congrats, Ms– We mean, Mrs. Robin!" The boys began asking her questions about how he proposed. Just by looking, Kidd knew they were all happy, but sad at the same time. If she had a fiance, that meant their chances of hopefully getting together with her were crushed. The boys eventually said their goodbyes and left, and Kidd finally got up from his desk, heading over to this teacher. "Hello, Kidd-san."

"So, Franky finally asked, huh?" He grabbed and held her hand, inspecting the ring closely. It was a small ring, nothing gaudy, and seemed to match Robin perfectly. It had three stones: two small amethyst stones with a slightly larger clear stone in the middle. The band, of course, was gold, and if he had to guess, he'd say there was an inscription on the inside. He raised an eyebrow. "Is that an real diamond cut in the shape of a heart?"

"Yes, it is."

"And the amethysts… They're cut like stars?"

"Correct. He said the stars resembled history because they've been around so long, and we're actually seeing what they looked like millions of years ago."

"That's very wise," he said, releasing her hand and giving a grin. "I guess he cut them himself?" She nodded. "And what's the inscription say?"

"'To the archeologist who stole my heart, may our love last for an eternity.'"

"Wow, that doesn't exactly sound like something he'd write," Kidd snorted. She laughed.

"He didn't know what to put, so he asked his old friend for an idea. They came up with something similar and he changed a few things." She looked down at the ring and smiled. "I like it though. It's nice." Robin looked back up at Kidd. "Now, what's wrong with you?" He blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"You can't hide very many things from me. You know that," she said, her eyes focused on his. "Something's bothering you."

Kidd shook his head and sat down on the chair next to her desk, dropping his bag to the floor. "It's what you said earlier during class. 'People often say that history repeats itself; and most of the time, they are correct'. Well, I think history just repeated itself for me yesterday, but instead of doing something different, I ended up doing the same thing," he summed up, not willing to give anything personal away. It was weird, sitting there and asking his teacher for advice. It almost felt like he was sitting and discussing a problem with his mother. 'I guess Robin has that motherly personality in someways,' he thought. Hell, she was the closest thing to a 'mother' in his life at the moment. Of course, if he said that to her, she'd probably laugh at him. He wanted to snort at just the thought of it.

"There's still time to change it," she said, causing him to look up with furrowed brows. "If it only happened yesterday, you should still be able to change what happened. But if you wait any longer, things will remain the same, and you may never get another chance to fix it." Kidd sat there for a second, taking in what his teacher just told him. His mother had something similar long ago. "There's still time to fix anything as long as you don't dillydally."

He gave a determined nod and stood up, grabbing his bag. "I guess I have no choice then," he mumbled. "Thanks, Robin."

"Anytime," she said. He started to head for the door before he stopped, turning back to her once more.

"Oh, and Robin?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you passing me with a C in this class? I haven't turned in any of the homework at all, and I barely even turn in some of the classwork. You should be giving me an F."

She turned her attention to the book in her hand, a smile gracing her features. "Because I know you're smart, and if you actually wanted to do the work, you'd most likely be getting A's or B's. I'm not like the other teachers, you're not a lost cause like a few of them think." She looked at him with honest eyes. "I'm giving you a C because I believe in you." Turning back to her book, she added, "But I expect you turn in at least a few more papers. Wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you?" Her tone held a certain playfulness to it that made Kidd smirk.

Shouldering his bag, Kidd replied, "No, I guess I wouldn't." A moment's pause. His smirk melted in to a small, genuine smile that graced his lips as he stared at the floor. Someone actually believed in him. Someone actually believed in him. He continued to head for the door, but not before he said one last thing. "Thank you."


Kidd stared at the phone on the table. It's black screen stared right back at him. Robin was right, he still had the chance to make things right. But how could he fix rape? He couldn't. So how the fuck was he supposed to make this right? What the hell was he supposed to say? 'Hey, you called me yesterday by accident. It sounded like you were gonna be raped. You alright? Is there anything I can do? I can bake you cookies if you want.' Yeah, that'd go over real well. They'd probably scream at him, 'Oh, so you knew I was gonna get raped. Okay then. Can I ask you a question? Alright, so WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU CALL THE POLICE OR SOME SHIT? HUH? FUCK YOU. GO CHOKE ON YOUR GODDAMN COOKIES YOU BASTARD.'

Yeah, Kidd knew this was gonna end badly.

But he had to do something. If he didn't…he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

Taking in a deep breath, he called the number back.


Trafalgar Law raised an eyebrow when his house phone rang. No one really called the number; if anything, they called his cellphone. Picking up the phone, he hit the talk button. "Hello?" He waited for an answer, standing there in the middle of his living room. He looked at the broken table and gave a sigh. He had really liked that table. Now he had to gather up all the broken pieces and throw it out. He could always buy one, but they weren't exactly that cheap and he didn't exactly have the money. He turned his attention back to the phone call. "Hello?"

"Hello." The voice on the other end sounded a tad familiar, but more than anything it sounded nervous, especially with the way it hesitated.

"Can I help you?" Law asked. He didn't know this person, so it was most likely a wrong number. There was a cough on the other line and when they talked again their voice was stronger, as if they had gotten their courage back.

"Yeah. Uh, I was wondering, who is this?"

"This is Trafalgar Law. Why, who's thi–"

Click.

Law blinked before looking at the phone. "Did they just hang up?" Shrugging, he hung the phone back on the wall before putting his attention back to the broken glass table. His shoulder's slightly fell.

He really wasn't looking forward to picking up all those glass pieces.


Kidd hung up the phone and practically threw it across the room where, luckily, it landed on the sofa.

Holy shit.

Holy. fucking. shit.

That was Trafalgar fucking Law on the phone. The medical genius, the prodigy, the loner, the one who called yesterday.

Holy shit.

The thought of it being someone who he actually knew and went to school with never even crossed his mind. He thought it'd be a stranger who lived across town, someone he'd never met before. Someone he didn't know and see almost every fucking day. He ran his hands through his fiery red hair. He was not not expecting that. He didn't know what to do. What could he do? He couldn't fix this, he couldn't. 'No, you have to fix it. You have to. Just…you gotta fix it slowly. Become his friend, hang with him a while, then bring up the phone call. Maybe you can help him find the bastard who attacked him. Have Killer search for the guy. Yeah. That would fix it, right? Then the asshole can rot in prison and Law could be somewhat at ease knowing his attacker was behind bars. Yeah, yeah that'd totally fix it.'

"Okay. Okay, I can do this," Kidd said, trying to convince himself. "I can do this. It'll be simple. Become his friend, bring it up, have Killer find the guy, everyone goes home happy. Yeah. I can do this." But for the life of him, Kidd couldn't believe the words that passed through his lips.


"Hey." Law stared at the male before him. He knew who he was, he was known as the Crimson Demon in the school. And he knew just how dangerous and violent the male could be. He also knew how attractive the male looked, though he tried to keep that part out of his mind as much as he could. He couldn't afford to have crushes in his life. "Trafalgar Law, right?"

"Eustass Kidd," Law replied, a tad wary of the male before him. "Can I help you?"

"Just wondering if you wanted to be friends," Kidd answered replied honestly. "I've been wanting to ask you, but it's surprisingly hard to find you." That was an understatement. Kidd had already spent the entire day yesterday at school looking for the male and was surprised he couldn't find him anywhere. He thought he'd find the male in the library, but he was wrong. He wasn't in any of the classrooms or the cafeteria either. No, instead he found the male sitting on a bench away from all the buildings by the line of trees that surrounded the back of the school. It was a place where no one went. Well, no one except Trafalgar Law, obviously.

"I'm sorry, but I don't need any friends. Thanks for the offer though." And with that, Law walked past Kidd. The redhead blinked, not exactly expecting that answer. He turned to yell at the male, but part of his mind screamed at him, 'Easy! The guy's been through a lot in the past few days! Give him a break!'

'Fuck that,' the other part of his brain said.

"Oi! What do you mean you don't need any friends?" Kidd angrily replied. Well, so much for being nice to the guy. Thankfully it was after school and there was no one around to hear him yell. "Well too damn bad, 'cause I'm gonna be your friend whether you like it or not!" A flicker of panic ran through Law at those words and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"You wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt now…would you? It's amazing how accidents can happen to anyone in this town. Don't you agree, Law?"

"No," Law calmly replied, sending a mild glare at the male standing behind him. "You are not going to be my friend. I don't need friends, so leave me the hell alone." He quickened his pace, wanting to put as much space as he could between him and the redhead. No, it wasn't that he didn't need friends, he just didn't want want any friends. Because anyone who was deemed his 'friend' was just another target for Doflamingo. And while he would have to agree that being friends with the crazy redhead would be quite interesting, he couldn't afford to put the male in danger's way. No, he had to be alone.

"Too late, I've made up my mind," Kidd answered, his arms crossed. And Law actually gave a small growl. Kidd had to admit, hearing the male growl like that was a bit intimidating. The male had gotten a nickname for himself from the last school he was at. Surgeon of Death was what they called him. Apparently when one male tried to attack him, Law pulled out a scalpel and partially dissected the teen's arm in the blink of an eye. Miraculously the teen wasn't seriously hurt, but he didn't have to live with a rather large scar on his arm for the rest of his life. And, of course, no charges were pressed. Probably because the teen was scared to death the surgeon would come after him.

No, Law was someone not to be messed with apparently. But ever since he had come to New World High, he hadn't shown a single drop of anger or malice. He was passive and quiet. But that growl was certainly not a friendly one.

"Get this through your thick skull right now: I don't need any friends. If you continue to bother me, I will not hesitate to maim you. Believe me, with studying the human anatomy, it will be easy. I know where to hit to cause the most pain and I know where to hit to cause the most damage. So leave. me. alone." Law stared hard at the shocked male for a moment before walking off. Kidd blinked, again. This…this was certainly not going the way he had hoped it would. He thought it would be easy – or at least easier. Now it was Kidd's turn to give a growl, and he didn't miss the way Law slightly tensed at the sound.

"I don't fucking thinks so," Kidd replied. He had to make this right, he had to. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He stormed over to the male and grabbed his shoulder tightly, yanking it so the male would turn to face him. He wasn't expecting a sudden hiss of pain from the male, nor the involuntary flinch Law gave when Kidd grabbed his shoulder. Surprised, Kidd instantly let go of the male's shoulder. "Woah, hey, you okay–?"

Another thing Kidd didn't expect was an attack.

As soon as his hand left the male's shoulder, Law pounced. He threw a quick punch to the redhead's throat, and then a quick but hard chop to his trapezius. Finally, he kneed the redhead in the solar plexus. The redhead fell to the ground and Law shouldered his backpack before walking away. However, even in his winded state, Kidd didn't fail to notice the apologetical look Law sent him before turning away.

He also didn't fail to notice that he just had his ass handed to him by a skinny-ass medical student.

Yeah, he was never going to let himself live this down.


xx - xx - xx - xx - xx

(First off, I want to apologize for being a few days late with the update. My computer's Finder won't work, meaning I'm having a really hard time working the computer. Second, my computer plug won't work unless it's being slightly pushed up. Which leads me to Third. Now, I just spent thirty to forty minutes holding up my computer plug up, putting my arm/shoulder in a painful awkward position. Why did I do this? Because since my Finder won't work, I can't use Jumpdrives. And my computer was being kind of a dick and decided it didn't want to fully cooperate, thus making me wait for over 30 mins. And I really didn't want to make you guys wait any longer for the update. Now, it's been 10 minutes since I shut my computer down, but I think I pulled a muscle or some shit because I can barely move my arm. So it might be two weeks before the next chapter can be put up because my arm really hurts, and I can't even type with it. So I apologize in advance for the lateness of the third chapter. Sorry! Please don't kill me. Q_Q)

Oh yeah, Law just kicked some ass! ...Sorta. Of course, he could have done a shit-ton of more damage (do not anger a surgeon, seriously), but he wasn't exactly aiming for that, as you can tell. Of course I couldn't make it that easy for Kidd and Law to become friends. If you were being blackmailed, would you just randomly take in friends that could be hurt because some psycho threatened to hurt anyone you hold dear to you? I wouldn't. Especially if it was someone I liked.

I noticed a few people make Law weak (like, really weak) in their stories, but I have to disagree with that. Law is actually a very strong character. He has a lot of will, and has a lot of endurance. He got beat up pretty bad in the manga a few times and still had the strength to keep going. *Spoiler* (Also, he did pretty damn good when he was forced to fight Luffy in the anime.) *Spoiler end* So my Law will not be weak. :3 If you don't like that, I apologize.

bubblewrapgirl likes the name we gave her! XD And she wants to say thank you to everyone who thanked her. It made her blush. :D

Well, I guess that's it. Oh! The quotes at the beginning of each chapter: The first one belongs to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, and the second belongs to American McGee's Alice in Wonderland.I thought the first quote could represent Doflamingo's attitude towards Law (at this point, he really is the judge, jury, and executioner in Law's life) and the second quote could describe both Law and Kidd's situation. They both have walls around their hearts. And those walls really are the hardest to penetrate. But that's just me.

Thank you again, dear readers, for all the wonderful reviews! You guys make my heart want to burst with happiness. :'D

Oh! And my poll is up. Sorry, when I published this, I forgot to put the poll up. Ah, I'm such a space-case. X'D

Take care, and have a great morning/afternoon/evening!

Your ice/water elemental,
~»roo the psycho«