Hey Guys! So I forgot to mention, in case you haven't already Googled it, the song Luffy's Ringtone is set to is Heart of Fire by Black Veil Brides, a song he specifically chose for Ace.
Anyway! on to the part people actually care about. [Place Disclaimer here, because I own nothing] Enjoy!~
Back at the Spice Bean, one of Ace's 'Secret Detectives' stood with his back was to the crowd that was gathering at the doors of the esteemed restaurant. The man was doing his best to tune out the commotion caused by the forming crowd as he focused his attention on the phone call he had to make. Knowing that no matter how persistent the crowd was, they would continue to be pushed back by a couple of law enforcing officers that had only arrived to the scene a few moments ago.
"Ace, what am I doing here again?" the dark haired man asked as he held the phone gingerly to his ear as he had grown accustomed to doing when speaking to the freckled man.
"Because I can't be there Izo. I promised Zoro, Sanji, Sabo and Marco that I would stay put and follow the plan." Ace grumbled the sound of his pout obvious in his voice.
"C'mon Ace, even I know that's not enough to stop you, maybe make you think about it for what? A split millisecond?" the well groomed dark haired man countered.
On his end, Ace growled. "Zoro took my car keys, Sabo took my wallet and froze my bank account for the day. How he did it, don't ask me, but I'll never tell him my security questions again trust me. And to top it all off I can't find my fucking shorts or shoes! No one shares my shoe size, and no ones done laundry in months Izo! Months! It's like I'm under house arrest but worse! Marco say's he wont give my shorts back until I calm down!" the raven raged on the other end of the line.
Izo chuckled clearly impressed with the precautions that had been taken to keep the freckled man in the house or at least away from Luffy for the day. "I see... though I still think you're over-"
He was cut off by the exasperated male on the other end. "I am not overreacting Izo! Luffy just told me he wasn't at the Spice Bean! How did he get past you anyway! I told you to keep an eye on him. LUFFY IS MISSING! Do you realize what that means? He could have gotten kidnapped! What if all this was just one big ploy to get Lu! I knew it was too good to be true! That letter! The band! The laugh! What sort of trusting man 'Fufufu's!? None! NONE I TELL YOU!" The freckled man yelled on the other end of the phone. And somehow Izo just knew that Ace was shaking the phone violently as he yelled at it.
"Ace." Izo said calmly as he peeked again at the events outside of the restaurant returning the phone to his ear, "I'm as confused by his sudden disappearance too, but think about it. If Luffy was truly in trouble he wouldn't have picked up his phone, nor would he have assured you he's fine. It's not the first time he has ditched us you know."
"IZO!" The man whined, "Luffy wouldn't know if he was kidnapped! He's too... trusting. That's why he hasn't caught onto you or Thatch yet. Luffy is too naive and none of you want to see that! Do you see any sign of them now? Do you see that bastard of a band member. I bet this is how he gets off that sicko, stealing unsuspecting teens off the street... I swear next time I see him, I'm going to punch him so hard for even looking at Lu."
Izo hid a growing smile and sighed in defeat. There was no appeasing Ace when it came to his younger brother, and no way to calm him down until he was showed undeniable proof that Luffy was actually okay. "Fine! Fine, I'll stick around a while longer." he assured the younger man his dark eyes catching sight of the man exiting the building after a brief word with the man that seemed to be the commander of the men in suits.
'Well he looks out of place. The suit easily helps him blend in, but there's something... off about him.' Izo thought to himself as he studied the stoic man, his posture was tense under that suit. And it was that tense stance, that undeniable aura of annoyance and a dark resolve that made Izo single him out from all the others mulling around the now crowded restaurant entrance.
No sooner had the man taken care of his business when the valet service brought his car over, graciously opening the drivers door for him. Izo made sure to keep a pointed eye on the man that climbed into the vehicle. Dismissing the current rant Ace was on, Izo interrupted him. "Ace, you did say they were riding a silver gray Caddy right? One with a flamingo figure head?"
"YES! DO YOU SEE IT? DO YOU SEE LUFFY?" Again Izo had to pull the phone away from his ear. He really needed to stop doing favors for the other man, but he could never find it in his heart to deny him the help, no matter how silly or strange the request was.
"I see it, but there is no Luffy in sight, no Surgeon either, the crowd seems confused by this too. But the man climbing into the car looks upset." Izo was a great judge of character if he did say so himself. And the man he had caught a glimpse of continued to radiate that sense of pent up rage.
That's when the concern within the lovely male rose. It was one thing to emerge by himself from the restaurant, one could chalk it up to the man checking out the surroundings as a good escort should, but when he left without his charge and guest. That's when questions rose.
Ignoring Ace's string of questions and cries, Izo hummed and said his goodbyes. "I'll call you in a bit, till then go apologize to Marco, get your missing shorts and try to stick to that plan, Luffy's counting on you."
Izo stepped away from the spot he had been inhabiting next to the restaurant, hearing murmurs about how a serving lady had been tackled to the ground and tazed. Or how a man pulled out a gun and tried to take a lady hostage. There was poison in the food. No they were date rape drugs in the food and drinks. Plenty of wild tales were sprouting from every mouth on the block, and no one seemed to have an actual clue to what happened.
Yet the paparazzi was still outside... that was odd. What was keeping them from forcing their way inside to find out what actually happened? Usually they did anything they could to get the latest scoop, especially when it involved a famous person like the famed Trafalgar Law.
Whatever happened in there was apparently not going to be revealed any time soon, he noticed that the moment the first couple had slipped out, dismissing the worried yet eager looks of the reporters as they swarmed around them, assuring them that it was only a misunderstanding. The officers had appeared due to a prank call.
'But where is Trafalgar Law?' a reporter asked, and Izo perked his ear, his memory committing the license plate number of the silver Caddy to mind.
'Oh the young man and his guest were escorted to a private room within the restaurant, I hear the boy is getting an exclusive dinner and show!' The lady gushed, her tone politely jealous as someone who wanted to be in the famed five seconds of stardom could be.
The reporters pushed for more details, though it soon became obvious the couple had no satisfying answers, not for the paparazzi and certainly not for Izo.
Izo couldn't say that the thought of Luffy disappearing by way of whatever mess happened in there didn't bother him. It did. But unlike Ace, Izo could keep his cool, he knew Luffy wasn't the helpless child Ace liked to think he was, the kid was actually quite smart when he wanted to be. Izo just wanted to make sure Luffy was fine, but this entire situation also nagged at his curious nature. How did Luffy pull off this escape?
"Thanks for the ride Ossan! Woah you got us here in like five minutes!" Luffy exclaimed as he leaned over the seats chatting away with the cab driver that looked like he wanted to be anywhere but with the hyperactive boy lounging across the cab.
"The ride took thirty minutes." Law deadpanned from his spot in the back of the seat, unsure if he wanted to direct the teen's attention towards him or allow him to bug the cab driver instead.
"Shishishi. I dunno Torao, we got here pretty quick!" Luffy insisted and turned back to the driver, "But seriously Ossan, you are amazing at this!"
"Look kid, the meter is still running even though we're at your stop, ya sure you want to keep talking?"
Law had to smirk a bit at the effort the cab driver was putting into making the kid leave his vehicle. Yet the teen wouldn't budge, much to the surprise of Law, and the dismay of the driver, who was no doubt missing out on more prospective clients. "Hey don't worry about it Ossan, that thing can hold... um, actually I don't know how much it can go to, but we can easily find out!"
Law thought the cab driver paled slightly, and he sympathized. The bouncing ball of sunshine that was supposed to be his guest for the day hadn't stopped talking during the entire ride. He always had something to say about the passing streets and some Law never heard of, the attractions that were around East Blue, and even about potential things they could do. Hell, Law wouldn't be surprised if the cab driver knew their entire day schedule by heart now.
"TO-RA-OOOO!"
Law snapped out of his musings to glare at the kid. "What?"
"Shishishi, just making sure you're alive." the teen chuckled and turned back to the driver, mouth opening before the man apparently had had enough and decided it was time for them to leave his service.
"Look kid. Here's your card back, do me a favor and get out of my car, what I'm charging you isn't worth it, I have other people that need to get places."
Luffy took the card, and when Law thought the kid would be just the slightest bit upset, Luffy actually laughed.
Law thought this was the strangest most bizarre thing he had ever seen, the man had just told Luffy to fuck off, though admittedly in a professional-ish fashion, in all honesty that sentence could have been much worse. But here the teen was, laughing merrily as if he wasn't just told to get his ass out of the car and the drivers life.
'Maybe there's something wrong with him, and he didn't hear him right?' the surgeon thought to himself, though a different part of him was annoyed by the statement. Agitated with the scene, and furthermore annoyed that he was even bothered in the first place.
Not because he was becoming irritated with Luffy, he was actually getting used to his presence, though he would never admit to it privately or otherwise. He was upset with the cab driver, for whatever reason, his face scowled and he reached out to take the outstretched card from the driver's hand.
"C'mon Luffy, aren't you still hungry?" Law murmured and instantly got the reaction he had anticipated.
The kid was easy to read when it came to food it seemed. "OH THAT'S RIGHT! Thanks Torao! YOU'RE THE BEST!" the teen cheered, and no sooner had he exclaimed that when he scrambled out of the cab, forgetting about the old man.
Law stared after him and started to climb out as well before the driver said something that made him pause.
"Good luck with that one, seems like a handful. But... You guys look good together."
Law hadn't known how to respond to that, so he just fled the vehicle as fast as he could, grunting a thanks.
"SAAAAAAAAAANJIIIIIIII FOOOOOOOOOOD~"
That voice! That yell. That demand!
It was unmistakeable. The blonde haired man didn't know whether to panic and hide or to yell at the teen that had just burst through the door exclaiming his need of food. Naturally, he did the latter, rushing out of the kitchen after a rushed order of 'Hide everything or I'll be serving you next!'
Bursting through the double doors Sanji pulled his leg back and was ready to kick the living daylights out of the dark haired teen.
"You Idiot!" Sanji roared as he flashed before the grinning teen, his leg ricocheting forward to deliver the blow to his side. Sanji could see the scene play out perfectly, he would kick Luffy aside effectively while telling him to be quiet and wait his turn in line with everyone else. Then the optimistic ray of sunshine would just laugh it off because that's what Sanji did when Luffy grew too loud and disturbed the guests. This scene would have played out just like that, if Sanji wasn't suddenly... blocked.
His single visible crystal blue eye widened to stare at the hand that held his foot captive, this hand he was not personally familiar with. Sanji would have thought the blocking move was from Zoro, or Enel forbid from Ace himself, but Ace was back at their place getting things ready and trying to find a way to get to Luffy who was suddenly before him. The thought of this hand belonging to either of those meatheads soon left his mind as he stared, actually glared, at the tattoo'd knuckles.
From his angle Sanji could see three distinct capital letters E A T. The slow part of his mind thought this was funny, the word 'eat' or possibly 'tea' could be spelled on those hands, but what sort of moron would do such a thing. Another part of his brain, the more dominant mind you, took offensive action and tried to retrieve his leg, which was still suspended in the air from the attempted kick.
However, a low voice froze him in place. "Oi. Mind telling me what you're doing?"
Sanji did not recognize that voice, the cool baritone that held the lightest bit of a challenge to it. Lifting his palm to pull the burning cigarette from his mouth. Sanji blew out a puff of smoke and finally lifted his head only to choke on the cloud of nicotine escaping his windpipe. Realization settled into him like a massive kick to the gut, leaving him spluttering and dazed as he tried to wrap his head around the situation.
The man that had stopped his leg from hitting Luffy was none other than Trafalgar Law! The band member Luffy had won a day with. Sanji was acutely aware of how those steel gray eyes were boring into him with a barely contained menace rising in their depths, and could distinctly hear the laugh of his supposed friend Luffy nearby as he held his sides clearly enjoying the scene.
Sanji's face soon composed itself, however, as he returned the icy glare and wrenched his leg back, refusing to be even the tiniest bit star struck, this man no matter how attractive he was, could never compare to this Pop Goddess Jewelry Bonney. Now there was someone he wouldn't mind clutching at his leg.
"Ah my sweet queen~." Sanji purred momentarily whisked away into his head about the pink haired starlette. Though he quickly composed himself once more, glaring at the man before him and then to the laughing raven haired teen.
"I was only teaching this idiot some manners." Sanji said cooly placing his cigarette back where it belonged and sizing up the Surgeon.
However, before the Surgeon had the chance to question Sanji further, Luffy finally decided to intervene.
"Shishishi, Torao, don't worry Sanji is cool. He's the guy I was telling you about back at the place. Oh man he had the best food in the world! Right Sanji! I was telling Torao that you make the best bread, but he says he hates bread. Like HATES it." Luffy informed him as he flailed his arms for emphasis as if the word yelled wasn't enough.
The lead singer did not looked pleased with Sanji's answer nor with the introduction he was getting from Luffy. The mention of bread only caused him to narrow his gaze further, his eyes dangerously zeroing in on Sanji, almost as if daring him to try and make a comment on his dislike of the food. Sanji remained undeterred though as he continued to smoke lazily in the others presence, trying to ignore or at least diffuse the tension crackling between him and the Surgeon.
'Geez, its like he think's that's all I'm going to feed him.' Sanji mused before he was face to face with the smiling teen. And once again startled out of his thoughts.
"SAAAAAAAANJJJJIIII!~ HUNGRY!"
Law sat in the booth he and Luffy were assigned, and made sure to drill it into the kid's head that he was going to drink mineral water... again. If it fizzes then it's fine, that's the way its supposed to be. It took a while, but Law thinks Luffy got it through. At least he hoped so, he got a lid for his cup just in case.
"Ooooh Torao, you have to try the veal its so amazing. Or the steak! OR! Or the ribs!" Luffy said as he glanced at the menu before him gushing about all the different meat courses they had.
"So gentlemen." the deep voice called out, causing Law to turn his attention to the man that approached their table. Law was not for the first time mesmerized by the curled brow that sat over his eye, in fact Law mentally swore that if he stared too long at the curled eyebrow he might get hypnotized by it. And with that thought Law he ducked his head back to his menu, looking over his choices once more. "What will it be?" the man, Sanji, asked politely, oblivious of Law's thoughts.
Law was still unsure of just what he thought of this Sanji character, Luffy talked so highly of him, yet the first thing the blonde did to greet the hyperactive teen was to to knock him into the ground. Now Law was no expert in social interactions, but he highly suspected that such was not a proper greeting. If Sachi ever came at him with such a move, Law would pummel his ass into the floor. And then there was the way that the blonde looked to Luffy, it was clear he cared about Luffy, but that didn't excuse him from nearly kicking the teen upon their entry. Yes, Law was uncertain about what to think of this man just yet.
But as he had noted before, this Sanji was not the person who held most of Luffy's affections, for Luffy wasn't sparing either of them a second glance as he tried to pick out the best meal for him to have.
"I'll have everything!" Luffy proclaimed settling the menu down and looking rather pleased with himself.
Law stared at the teen, looking from the menu then to the lanky kid sitting in front of him. "He can stomach it actually." the same voice answered Law's thoughts causing him to look at the blonde who looked calmer now than he had at the beginning of their meeting.
Furrowing his brow, Law was left no choice but to nod, "I'll just have a grilled fish, and some steamed rice..." Law paused before adding "please." Law was an idol of some sorts but that never meant he was the impolite kind, and if this man truly was Luffy's friend, then he wouldn't want to seem rude would he?
Wait! What was he thinking? Who gave a shit about what this curly browed man thought about him? He was never going to see these people again, the restaurant was nice and all, but soon they'd be back on tour and that would be the end of that. Yet here he was trying to be somewhat nice to Luffy's friends when he barely even spoke to his own friends and band members. Fuck, what was wrong with him?
Law found himself frowning slightly as he thought back to the words the stupid cab driver had said. His words were messing with his thoughts, Law decided.
"So what happened to you guys anyway? To end up all the way back here, I thought you guys were going to spend the day in Seabody." Sanji asked casually bringing Law out of his thoughts and back to reality. Law handed back his menu while Sanji looked to either of them for answers, mainly an accusatory one at Law as if saying 'Why is he here when you're supposed to be taking care of him for the day?'.
Law was unsure just what that look was supposed to imply, yes he was technically supposed to keep Luffy on schedule, but was it not good that he was with his friends too? If this man was Luffy's friend, didn't he want Luffy around? All this friend business was seriously not making any sense to Law.
However, Luffy answered before he could and gave Sanji the widest grin possible and replied as if it was the easiest thing in the world to explain. "Oh yeah, that! We ditched. Shishishi."
Much to the surgeon's amounting surprise and slight confusion, the answer didn't faze the blonde. He only offered a radiant smile and ruffled Luffy's hair, with too much affection if you asked Law. "I see, well the food will be ready soon."
With that he turned to leave before pausing and giving Luffy an odd stare of what soft of looked to be the dawning of apprehension, and maybe even the slightest bit of fear? Maybe both feelings mixed into one? Law wasn't sure what this look was for, all he knew was that it was definitely unsettling.
"Luffy, did you by any chance let Ace know where you were going? Or what you just did?"
The teen in question looked away, chuckling sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Shishishi... Actually..."
The curly browed teen's single visible eye widened as he almost lost his cigarette, but managed to catch it between his teeth. A moment later though, he composed himself and nodded. "Of course you didn't. Well he isn't going to hear it from me. I'll be out with your food soon. And no snooping in the kitchen. Got it!"
Rolling his coal gaze, Luffy nodded, "Sure, sure."
And before Law could react, Sanji actually drove a clenched fist to the top of Luffy's head, causing the younger teen to clutch at the rising bump and whine. "What was that for?"
"To get the point across moron! I see you in my kitchen and there will be no meat in the house for the next three weeks." he threatened and walked away as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.
"Agh! Stupid Sanji. That huuuurt~" Luffy continued to pout as he clutched his head and rubbed out the pain.
If Law had thought himself confused before, he certainly was beyond just confused. He was bewildered! What the fuck just happened? One minute the guy was ruffling Luffy's hair like an affectionate older brother, the next he was whacking him upside the head like a deranged lunatic. And after a minute of whining Luffy was all sunshines and smiles once more.
"That... was unexpected." Law found himself commenting as the lightest bit of anger rolled in his tone, not appreciating this or the previous attacks on Luffy.
"Ah, don't worry about it Torao." Luffy waved it off, adding. "I have a thick skull, but I wonder what he has in the kitchen... it must be reeeeeaaaally good if he's threatening no meat for three weeks."
While Law was beginning to see the kid loved (or maybe a feeling much stronger than love) his meat. He failed to see the threat. "Can't you just eat somewhere else if he doesn't give you any meat for the next few weeks?"
"Shishishi, I guess, but Sanji's the cook at home... and eating out is expensive, I'd never make it past a day!" Luffy confided and shrugged his shoulder, Law guessed giving up the idea of heading into the kitchen.
"At home?" Law knew he was prying, but he couldn't stop himself from asking. From needing to know, yet a part of him dreaded the answer. "You live with that guy?"
"Huh? Oh yeah! Sanji, Zoro, Ace. We all live together. Isn't it neat!"
Law found himself discouraged by this information. It irked him that he was bothered by what Luffy had just told him. So not only did Luffy live with the deranged aggressive cook, but also a man named Zoro, and his boyfriend Ace?
What had Doflamingo gotten Law into again? All of this mental stress was going to be the death of him if his feelings didn't off him out first.
The deep frown set in the man's usually stoic features, his shaded gaze narrowing on the GPS screen before him. Vergo could only assume that Law was still with the kid they had set him with up for the day.
No, there was no assuming! It was definitely that stupid brat's fault! How could have Vergo been so fucking careless that he let the stupid squirt trick him into thinking that Law was in danger and thus making him attack the waitress.
Luckily a back stage pass to their next concert and a promise of a couple thousand belli had kept her mouth shut. But now Vergo had no lead of where to go, the kid and Law could be anywhere in this damn city. They could either be on foot, in public transportation or even private ones. Vergo was raking his brain for a possible solution on how to retrieve the annoying brats.
At this point he was glaring at every corner he came across, hoping to come across some clue of the missing lead guitarist. Though that idea soon left his mind, there were too many people to be able to distinguish one brat from another. If Vergo wanted some answers as to where their lead singer had gone, then he would need to go to the source of his problem.
Pulling up the GPS screen once more, Vergo spoke in his deep rumbling voice. "Find me the address of Monkey D. Luffy."
"Marcooooo~ C'mon!" Ace called out as he ran through the halls clad in only his boxer shorts and socks. "Where are my fucking shorts!"
In the kitchen the blonde smiled as he prepared his and Ace's breakfast. "I told you Ace, they're at the dry cleaners, yoi."
"Who in their right mind dry cleans shorts!" Ace cried out from the entrance to the kitchen, his face flushed pink from either the exercise of running through the entire house or from standing before his boyfriend in just his underwear.
Chuckling, low lidded blue eyes looked over to Ace, slowly running over him with undisguised amusement and interest. Normally Ace would have loved and craved more of those looks that gave him a wonderful chill up his spine and brought heat to every part of him, but right now he was too busy freaking out over Luffy's disappearance.
"Marco!" Ace warned, just as he saw the blonde had turned off the oven, and the stove. Setting down the wooden spoon Marco turned and giving Ace a charming smile took a step forward. "C'mere, yoi."
And on that lovely note, I think its safe to end it there XD I'm sorry for the late update. I was supposed to have this done last weekend, but as some of you saw I opted to update S&W because Summer is here and well yea
Please let me know what you think? I have stuff! XD
Special thanks to those of you who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed, you guys are so SUPER AWESOME I swear. Thanks again and have a wonderful day!