A/N: Hey, guys. First, I just wanted to apologize at how fickle I am. The last chapter was going in some direction that was a little harder to work off of, and it would've taken longer if I had kept it to get to the main story. I changed it so Kid gets introduced earlier. I wanted to explain everyone's dynamic, so this is Kid's circle dynamic of the people he's close to. Also, I think Tashigi's perspective in all of this is important because it is her marriage that's in hot water. It's short so I uploaded the third chapter along with this.

I know everyone's busy with school coming to an end, but I wanted to post this up. I could have waited for break, but I didn't want to.

Thanks for all your patience.

~The Other Man~

Chapter 2 - After a Year and Two

"Tashigi. Hey. Tashigi!"

"Hn?"

Zoro had to call her name twice before she snapped out of her daze. She blinked slightly fazed and turned to face the green haired man, his jaws locked in a frown.

"If you're not feeling well, then maybe you should go home," he placed the back of his hand against her forehead checking if she had a fever, but she softly swatted it away.

"No, I'm fine nii-san. I just… woke up a little bad this morning. I can stay."

"Are you sure?" Zoro gave her a stern look. Like the overprotective brother he was, he was concerned about the slightest turn in her health and didn't want her to stay for the day as they were police officers after all. A small mistake during their time of duty could lead to some injuries if something happened in the streets.

But it's not like she wanted to be distracted. Tashigi couldn't help but think about the man she saw yesterday that showed at her front door.

"I'm looking for Smoker Lovec."

She bit at her bottom lip as she remembered his voice. The way it sounded so confident, and the way he was dressed - don't get her started on that altered uniform - she was sure that the man didn't make a mistake. He was looking for her husband. She was sure of it. But that wasn't what bothered her the most. It was the surprise that filled the stranger's face when she said she was his wife. Now, why would he be shocked?

"I'm sure," Tashigi drew her face away as she forced the impending thoughts of what it could have meant.

She didn't want to think about what Smoker did in his off times when he went off in the weekends, though some part of her knew. Deep down, she knew the truth, and there was finally evidence to support her suspicions. What person wouldn't have been disturbed through night knowing this?

As if fate was reading her emotions, the man that was destroying her thoughts and her sleep walked in through the office door. She opened her eyes towards the entrance watching the white haired police officer coming towards them, and Zoro offered a gruntfull greeting to his partner.

"Hey," Smoker returned the informal hello as he stopped a few inches away from Tashigi's desk that they were leaning on, the thick smoke from his cigar wafting in the air. He gave a glance at Tashigi, his pale eyes looking at her the same way he had been looking at her for months - indifferent. She couldn't bring herself to look back or even see his face as she cast her glance down towards the pile of paper work at the table, her expression turning as placid as she was able to force it to pretend that nothing was wrong. "We'll be getting out at twelve," he continued as if to miss her facade. "The brat's plane arrives at one, and we have to go back to pick up Killer so we can bring him with us to the airport."

Her older brother let out a little smirk at the mention of the said 'brat.'

"Let's go then," Zoro adjusted his jacket and made way to leave. "I'll get the car."

He passed the older officer by to exit the building, and Tashigi assumed that Smoker was going to quickly turn around to follow, but her husband didn't move. His feet stayed on the ground as he looked at her, his gaze lingering on her face.

"What?" she asked accidentally bringing her eyes up making contact.

Those pale greys… It sent her stomach squelching with unease. A puff of smoke blew into the double cigars as he stared blankly noticing the paleness of her skin.

"Go home," he ordered. "We don't need you here while you're sick."

"I can stay -" she tried to argue, but Smoker turned around before she could complete a sentence.

"Go and get some rest. Someone needs to take care of Killer before he sees him anyway, or he'll complain we haven't been taking good care of his dog."

The heavy smell of tobacco slowly turned fainter as Tashigi watched him leave without her getting a say. Her shoulders drooped defeated, Smoker leaving the vicinity with a direct order and she couldn't believe it. A frustrated breath left her lips as she curled her hand into a fist.

Now, she couldn't even work.

It's been a year and two months since he'd been home. A part of him almost forgot how it felt like to return to the city, to his own country, as he'd been assigned overseas on duty in the New World. The Western terrain, the hilly forests, all of it had drawn him out of what his years had been before he joined the military. And with simply that short span of time out there in war, it took decades of his life as he lived under the constant range of fire. Surviving and spending the secluded nights with comrades, some that he watched die, aged him. His perspective wasn't the same as it was when he first foolishly signed up for enlistment. All that his younger self wanted was anger, violence against the people of the foreign country due to his head brainwashed by patriotism to serve his own country. It'd be a lie to say that he still didn't want to continue being in action, to act under the military and to serve, but it was for his comrades that had wasted in battle that wanted to make him stay. It was a different patriotism that coursed in his veins in this present, his duty bound by blood.

Kid closed the airplane window as the speakers announced that they'd be landing soon. To be back in Sabaody…. It seemed so odd think that he was so far from the violence still going on at the other side of the world. Peace, calmness - all in a place that was unaffected by the troubles of the rest of the world. That was Sabaody.

When the plane safely settled, he got up to take his duffel and followed the line of the rest of the soldiers exciting out of the plane. The sunlight hit him for the first time in hours, and the whole group of military men was greeted by a crowd of people who were waiting for them, their voices crying when loved ones pinpointed their young soldier.

"Daddy!" a little girl parted from the crowd running up to the man in front of the redhead.

The man bent down upon seeing her and crouched low to hold her in an embrace. He trapped her in his arms kissing her cheeks and ruffling her bow-clipped, auburn hair. The rest of the soldiers followed lead, individuals walking off to the sidelines to find their family. Kid kept walking, his bag slung against his right shoulder as he found no one.

"Don't pout, you brat. What are you looking for?"

Kid turned around recognizing that gruff voice anywhere, and his eyes widened when he found Smoker, Tashigi, and Zoro right behind him. A smirk ran up both men's lips as Tashigi gave a warm smile. All of them were in normal attire and looking at him with greeting. A bark pulled his eyes away from the nostalgic faces, and his expression pulled in even greater surprise.

"Killer!" His smile grew bright as he saw his Labrador.

Before he left, he had given his dog to Smoker's care to look after while he was gone, and it seemed like it was a good decision to as his dog had gotten so big since he last saw him. Albeit he was just a few months when Kid found him abandoned on the streets and decided to adopt it. It was unfortunate that he had to leave not long after, but Killer still turned out more than great and looked healthier than the skin and bones he started out as.

Kid let out a little chuckle when his dog ran up to him and pawed to get him down. He obliged in a half kneel and scratched behind Killer's ear, his fingers digging into the yellow fur causing his tail to wag happily upon affection of his owner. Killer panted heavily with excitement recognizing who he was, and he buried his face into the Labrador's short fluff. Kid gave a sniff inhaling his dog's scent, but was instead hit by a strong, smoky scent. He inhaled twice to make sure he was smelling right, and he gave a frown.

"He stinks," he looked up at three police officers.

Smoker let out a low growl when Kid singled him out with his stare. "What did you expect? Flowers and sunshine? He lived with me for over year."

Although he was thankful, Kid personally didn't like the smell, but he shrugged it off.

"It's a good thing Tashigi doesn't smell like you," he commented offhandedly making the man's wife laugh. He gave a grin and pushed on his bent knee to stand. "But thanks. Thanks for taking care of him."

And he meant that genuinely. Of course, Smoker didn't flinch and played it cool.

"Don't mention it."

The rest of the day continued like a smooth breeze after their reunion. Kid left the military airport with a quick glance at their country's flag standing near the plane and waving in the air. It was his time of calm now. At least, for the time being until he was called again. They got into Smoker's car as they drove him from Mariejois back to Marineford where his friends lived. Kid originally grew up in Marineford like the rest of them and even went to the same high school as Zoro, the two of them causing havoc and some misdemeanors resulting to how they met and got close to Smoker. But somewhere along the line, Kid moved to a different city to get away from some issues with his family.

His family wasn't there to welcome him with open arms once they arrived - not his mother, not his father nor his sister, though he understood with her as he knew she felt the same way as he did about what it meant to be a "family." It's been perhaps five years since he last saw any of them so it was no surprise they weren't there now. Instead, it was these three officers whom he was currently with that celebrated his arrival and treated him out to dinner and talked, and Kid quickly felt relaxed. It was a grateful yet painful happiness. The warmth in his gut that churned gently inside was the closest feeling he got to "home."

At dinner, they asked about the New World. He answered it was rough. They asked about the what he discovered in the foreign lands, he replied with a smirk. Simple answers responded through his lips as he wanted to separate home and what was out there a little longer. He just got back, and he wanted the the idea of "being back" to sink in for a little longer. Since the police officers were government soldiers themselves, Kid didn't totally feel too drastic a switch between spending time with his fellow brothers out in the foreign country and with his friends back home. The way they simply acted - confined yet slightly rugged, focused, though trying their best to retain their original personalities of base emotions - it was similar. Both their lines of work required them to numb the effects of violence on their psyche in order to keep going and maintain a barely normal life like the rest of the millions of people they labored to preserve. Yet, past the distant emotional barriers that each soldier puts up, the army soldiers and the three officers treated him with the same closeness and familiarity. The main difference of here compared to over there was that he wasn't eating canned food for his meal, and was instead enjoying it at a decent Moroccan restaurant.

A while after the early dinner, they just talked. That's what Kid really wanted. After spending so long moving, always moving, always staying up to keep watch in the dead silent nights, he just wanted to sit down and rest with a beer in his hand. As it got to the evening, they somehow ended up at Smoker's place in the living room just talking about what the redhead had missed while he was gone. With a few rounds of alcohol, of course. They could tell he was aching for a good one. Zoro gave him an ice cold bottle from the cooler after he chugged his first one.

Kid sipped his beer, at times staring at the odd sight of his best friend's sister sitting next to Smoker on the couch. It still weirded him out, no matter how long it'd been to see the pair. Tashigi and Smoker married would always be a freaky flavor to swallow. Kid gulped down a good amount of alcohol to get him to stop thinking about it.

When it got very late, Zoro left for the night and the married couple urged Kid to stay at their place promising that they'd drive him to his house in Sabaody first thing in the morning. He agreed, seeing nothing wrong with that plan and he already felt too tired to handle another hour's worth of driving. They said goodbye to Zoro as he left in his motorcycle, and Tashigi went upstairs to get him some blankets so he could sleep on the couch.

He watched her go as she disappeared to the upper floors, and Kid let out a slow sigh when he thought he was alone in the living room. Fatigue slowly hit him, his body finally feeling the built up effect from the mellowing prospect of returning from war, and his whole being was just wishing to settle. He lazily looked around the whole room catching sight of the clean, tan rug and cleared coffee table that they had cleaned from all the booze, but his eyes were unconsciously looking for pictures of the married couple. The house was already decorated minimally, and he didn't see any photos of them together except for one. It was an old frame sitting at the top of the fireplace, and the picture was of when Zoro's sister first came from Japan to try the taco stands in the East Blue area. Smoker was there standing next to the woman while she held two tacos in her hands and was blushing from the new experience of coming into the country. But that was already a long time ago.

Kid drew his gaze away feeling sleepy and stood up from the couch to take his military jacket off. He didn't really have a spare set of clothes to change into so he hoped that they didn't mind him sleeping in the ones he had on.

"Ah!" A sharp gasp from behind him hitched when he threw the jacket to the couch's armrest, and he turned around.

He spun to see Tashigi holding one of those fluffy blankets and a pillow in her arms at the bottom of the staircase, and she stood there as if she'd seen a ghost. Her lips partly open, her stiff body remained bolted as her eyes fell to Kid's left arm - or at least, what was left of it.

"I-uhm," she tried to compose herself, "You didn't say anything about that," she looked at him scared.

For anyone who hadn't seen the damages sustained from unfortunate mishaps in the course of war, it was a normal reaction.

"I…" Her eyes darted from his face and to his decapitated arm, then to the floor. "Sorry…" Tashigi meekly apologized chastised and realizing her rude outburst. Whether it was a sorry for reacting too strongly to such a sight or for Kid losing his arm, or for both, she was quickly forgiven.

Kid hung his head to look down at his deformed limb, the remaining flesh left was only a stub marred with dark red burns. His shoulder was cratered with folded skin and colored like a black spotted sea with various shades of pink and healed, exposed flesh, but the worst part to see was probably the metal wiring that holed into the bottom of his cut limb.

He bent his artificial limb bringing his hand closer towards his vision so he could see the fluid movement of his prostheses as he twitched his fingers. The luster of his full metal attachment blinked under the ceiling lights, the gleam reminding him of the brightness from the explosion that gave him this alloy arm in the first place.

"There's nothing to say," he clenched his eyes shut cutting off any conversations from starting. He brought his hand down to his side and turned to face his back towards her.

It took all of his self control and the fact that he was indebted to Tashigi to keep himself from shutting down. The history of the metallic limb wasn't something he wanted to talk about, and he hoped she would let this slide. Just this once...

Tashigi kept quiet, and she was only able to move when the redhead walked towards the kitchen to call Killer. She solemnly placed the blankets and pillow on the sofa to set up the bed before Kid came back. His yellow Lab was at his feet obediently when he re-entered the living room.

"I'll do it," he placed a hand on the sheets to take it from her and continued to set up the makeshift sleeping space himself.

"It's fine," she finished setting the blanket over the cushions anyway. "I feel bad you can't use the spare bedroom. Usually, guests could use it but…"

Her voice trailed off and he looked at her curiously.

"You guys using it as a storage room?" he asked.

"Hm?" her eyes perked. "Ah - ah, nothing," she shook her head thinking she spoke too much. She shrugged it off awkwardly and tried to wish him goodnight. Kid stared at her worried expression for a moment. As if he was searing her with his mere stare, she tore her eyes to the floor, her lids downcast. It seemed they both had topics they wished to gloss over, and it was mutual respect that they pushed the hanging subjects aside. "It's nice having you back, Kid. It really is. I mean, today was the most time I got to spend with Smoker, and my brother finally got to see you again." Tashigi smiled. "So thanks."

Kid wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but a shine watered the rims of Tashigi's eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but she was quick to move.

"Don't forget to turn off the lights before you sleep, okay?" she made her way to the stairs. "Good night, Kid."

He watched her as she hustled up the steps and disappeared to the second floor's corridor. The thing was though, Smoker's room was to the right. She turned left.