Authors note: Sorry for making such a long hiatus, I've been really busy and still am. So chapter 9 probably won't be posted for a while. I'll try writing some more after my exams are done, so hopefully I'll be able to post more during the summer vacation.

I'm really grateful for all the feedback I've gotten, it means a lot to me. And even though I don't usually reply to you guy's I read every review you leave me. Makes me want to work even harder to make my stories better, and keep writing on them. Thank you so much!

Notes in the story:

[1] IDC = Impel Down Correctional

[2] Mr. Umi = Johnny, because of the tattoo on his left cheek saying "Umi/Sea"


# 8

Zoro was angry. No, that's an understatement, he was fucking livid. It was just so fucking typical, and it wasn't even his fault, well technically it had been his fault for giving that kid a good beating, but the kid had fucking asked for it. What he didn't understand was why it had been poor little Chopper who had been picked on. The boy was literally too cute for his own good, so why anyone would pick on him was unfathomable for him. Of course the guards had come and dragged him to the principal's office and told him all the way how much of a low-life he was, and that he was a good-for-nothing thug who shouldn't be allowed into society. That there probably was a nice cell for him over at IDC* and that they hoped Lucci would get some order to this place soon. The prattle had gone on, but Zoro had closed his ears to it, he had heard it before and it was getting redundant.

So here he was, sitting outside of Lucci's office, twiddling his thumbs and wanting to bash someone's head in. Chopper was the youngest in their group of nakama, and if Zoro had known about how families were supposed to act, he might have been aware that Chopper was like a little brother to him. All he knew was that his rage had boiled over when some little freshman-prick had messed with his friend.

He was also sleep deprived from the long night yesterday, and the late night the day before that, and even though it had done him good then, he knew he was paying for it now. He was aware that his emotions got messed up when he got too little sleep, but there wasn't much helping it when he was having problems with reoccurring memories from his childhood, and also the problems he was having with Sanji and the situation surrounding that.

The door to his left opened and Igaram stepped out, "hrmh, mah, maah, maaah, Mr. Lucci is ready to see you Roronoa, I don't need to tell you where is door is, do I?" Igaram looked down at him and shook his head disapprovingly, which he always did, but this time Zoro didn't have the strength to look the man in the eye, he had promised Igaram to stay out of trouble, hadn't he? And here he was, just the next day, beating up a freshman seemingly without a cause. There was no way he would get off with just a detention this time.

As he was on his way through the door into the office, he heard the door to the waiting room open, "Ah, hmrh maah maah, you must be Mr. Black, Mr. Lucci will see you in a little while, please take a seat in the mean while." Igaram gestured. Zoro had just enough time to whip his head around in time to see Sanji coming through the door, but was ushered inside by Igaram before he was able to do anything else. What was Sanji doing here? By Zoro's memory he never got in trouble at school, not that he knew about anyways. What could he have done to have him being sent to Lucci's office of all places? Usually it was Igaram's responsibility to take care of misdemeanours, and hand out detentions and such.

He was suddenly dragged out of his thoughts as he, by habit, had knocked on Lucci's door, and the man's voice bombarded his senses. "It is open Roronoa", Zoro opened the door and walked inside with all the confidence he could. "Hey Lucci" he scratched the back of his head.

"Take a seat Roronoa" Lucci barely looked up from what he was reading, but gestured with a wave of his hand that Zoro should take the chair on the opposite side of his desk, most likely so that Lucci could have direct eye contact with him when he spoke.

"Why is it that whenever there is a disturbance in the school yard..." He looked up from his notes and directed his cat-like eyes at Zoro "...you, Portgas, or the both of you, is involved with it, or are the ones that started it?" Zoro felt a sweat drop travel down between his shoulder blades, he wasn't sure if he should answer the question or not, he just knew that if he spoke his voice would probably betray him, and that would definitely not be a good idea. He knew Lucci was hot, but the man was also scary as fuck, more so than anything else really, and he was sure that if he was found out he would be dead within seconds. Getting aroused by a teacher was one thing, not that he usually did that, but by your scary as shit principal was on a totally different level.

"I have been informed of your misdemeanours this week, as I can be sure you are already well aware of..." He put his notes on his desk, and stood up, "...So you are also aware that we have no other choice but to take action now, and give you a proper punishment for you behaviour." He strode over to the window looking out over the empty school yard. "Do you have anything to say in defence for your actions Mr. Roronoa?" He turned his head and looked at Zoro.

Zoro swallowed, "Yeah, I do, but I know it won't change shit anyway." He had tried to argue his case so many times before, and it hadn't helped then, so it probably wouldn't help this time either. But as Lucci was probably expecting him to at least explain himself before he said anything else, he just had to go through with it. "A freshman, Stelly I believe he's called, was making fun of a friend of mine, picking on him and shit, I just kinda snapped. I hate stuck up brats like that, that think they're better than anyone else." He slumped lower in the chair crossing his arms in defiance. He had said what he wanted, not really caring if it was a horrible defence or not. Lucci had to be used to his seemingly bad English at this point, or at least learned what to expect from him when it came to explanations.

Lucci stroked his chin, "Stelly is indeed his name, and he is from a highly respected Noble-family, as you should be well aware of Roronoa." He cocked an eyebrow at Zoro, and proceeded to move calmly from the window over to a file cabinet on the other side of the room. Zoro followed him with his eyes, pretending not to be bothered by the way his principal oozed power and confidence, but actually being quite vary of every move the man made. Lucci was not a man you would want on your bad side, everyone knew that.

"Well I don't give a shit about who's a noble or royalty or whatever, I don't care where they're from when they decide on picking on my friends, they get what they deserve, that's all." He didn't discriminate, or at least tried not to; he gave everyone a good beating if they deserved it, it didn't matter where they were from or who their family was in his mind.

Lucci had taken up a folder and had started to go through it while walking over to his desk again. It was probably his file for this semester, which Zoro was amused to find, was already quite full. "Well Mr. Roronoa, as it is not the first time you have assaulted a Noble family member, you have two accounts already this autumn, we have no choice but to suspend you this time." Lucci had placed the file on his desk and sat down leaning back into his chair. "You will be suspended for three school days, in which I hope you come to some sense about your behaviour here at school, the suspension will take action today, where you are to leave the school grounds, and you will not be allowed onto the school premises until next Wednesday where you will meet her for a hearing, am I clear?"

"Clear as water, now can I go?" It was a substantially milder punishment than he had expected, and three days without school wouldn't be that bad really, he might actually get some real training done for once. He was on his way to stand up and get out of there, when Lucci held up his hand for him to wait. "Just, one moment Roronoa. A word on behalf of Kaku and I, do not come by in all of November month, you will understand I presume." Zoro looked quizzically at him, "I am not sure I understand why, but if it's an order, I won't." He finally stood up and walked over to the door, before opening it he turned his head around toward the other man, "Should I tell Ace and the rest, or will one of the others do that?" Lucci had already gone back to his notes, but looked up at the question, "That won't be necessary, I will have Kalifa inform the rest. You may leave now, and tell Igaram to send in Mr. Black on your way out." Zoro turned back to the door and opened it, "Sure."

On the mention of Sanji, Zoro was once again reminded that he was currently sitting in waiting area, and he wanted to know what the blond had done. He walked over to Igaram, "Lucci is waiting for the next poor bastard, he told me to tell you to send him in, what did the guy do?" It was a long shot asking Igaram what Sanji had done, but it didn't hurt to try. "That's, hrmh, mah maah maaah... that's fine Roronoa, I believe we will be seeing you back here next Wednesday then, with an improved behaviour, I have informed Koshiro of your suspension. And what Mr. Black has done is of no concern of yours." Igaram got up from his chair and walked with Zoro over to the door, "Now stay out of trouble will you?" He levelled him with a concerned look. Zoro looked back and shrugged, "Can't promise anything of that sort, sorry." At least he had been honest this time. "I'll see you next Wednesday then." Igaram opened the door and let him out.


Sanji was and had been sitting on a chair outside the office for what felt like an hour. He had been sitting next to the exit so that he could, if something happened, make a quick escape. Not that he thought it would be necessary; it was just that he had made a habit of it over the years. He was sure he had seen Zoro when he had come in, but Igaram had pushed the guy past him and inside before he had gotten a quick glance at the other guy. If it had been Zoro, it would make a lot of sense, especially if he had been around when that Noble-kid got a bit roughed up. Maybe he was the one that had beaten the kid as well, he had a reputation for beating up kids randomly at times, him and Ace Portgas that is.

Suddenly he heard muffled voices from inside the office, but couldn't make out what they said. So he just reckoned it was nearly his time now. The reason he had been sent to Lucci and not any other school official, he wasn't so sure of. But he had a hunch it had something to do with his father, and that his behaviour at school was to be kept under wraps for some reason. He also suspected Kureha to have a hand in on it, though he wasn't sure why he did that.

The door opened and he heard Igaram tell Zoro he would see him on Wednesday. Now, what was that all about?

Zoro then turned around towards him and both raised an eyebrow in question towards each other, silently asking what the other had done, but before either could say a word Igaram called out for Sanji that Lucci was waiting for him. Sanji rose from where he had been sitting, there was no going back now, and as he went past Zoro he didn't look at him. He wasn't sure if they could be civil to each other in this setting or not, but he decided that it was better to play it safe, which was to ignore the other. He just hoped that Zoro would catch on and do the same, and wouldn't get offended by Sanjis act.

He was still wandering about what Zoro had done, and what was meant by words Igaram had said to him. They echoed inside Sanjis brain like a mantra, and it only confused him more. Did this mean Zoro had been suspended? Or was he thinking too much into this, like he always did?

The musings about the marimo head was short lived however, as he approached Lucci's door and knocked on it.

"It's open" he heard the man call from the inside, suddenly he didn't feel very confident. It wasn't that he and Lucci were on bad terms or anything; it was just that the man was scary as fuck, that's all.

"Ah, Mr. Black, thank you for stopping by." Lucci looked at him, smirking slightly. Sanji inwardly shuddered; a smirking Lucci was never a good sign. "Well it was Beckman who sent me here in the first place, not much I can do but comply." He shrugged and made his way over to the chair Zoro had occupied only some short moments ago, and sat down folding one leg over the other. He knew it would be painful sitting like that. But image was too important now to care about a little pain.

"Well, I suppose you know why you are here then?" Lucci raised an eyebrow quizzically at him.

"I suppose it has something to do with me being late to class a lot, or is there more?" He was aware of the fact he had been late almost every day for two weeks now, and he was honestly surprised he hadn't been sent to Lucci's office sooner.

Lucci smirked again "Well, it is the main reason, yes, but also I wanted a word with you about your old man, if you don't mind."

Sanji viably paled, he had totally forgotten that Lucci regularly sought him out in order to attain information on his father and his associates. He wasn't completely sure why his headmaster would need such information, but he didn't dare to dwell on it. This was Grand Line and for all he knew, Lucci could be anything from an undercover cop, to a gang leader, he preferred not to know.

"To be honest Lucci, I don't know what he's up to these days" That wasn't entirely true, he had an idea of something going down, and that there were to be some sort of shit happening closer to Christmas or just after the New Year. The info he had gathered was inconclusive.

"I don't believe that, and neither do you Blackleg, now tell me what you know" Lucci leaned back into his chair. It had been a command, and Sanji knew better than to disobey a direct order from the man. He also knew better than to lie to him.

"Well, I don't know much, just the basics of things; the intel hasn't been clear on anything. But from what I've gathered, there's going to be a trade-off closer to Christmas, or maybe after New Year, I also don't know what gangs are involved or what the trade is about. The only conclusive data I've got at this point is that Donflamingo has teamed up with my father." He tried sorting his thoughts, going through what information he knew and what was important to the case. The information he had gathered was mostly stuff he'd heard the clients bitch about when he had been working for his father the other night. He had never been one for small talk, but some of his clients just wouldn't shut up. There was especially one who had been bitching about his father and DF teaming up for something, and planning on offing the poor fuckers instead. "Oh, and I believe they plan on killing someone from the others gangs before or during the trade, not sure on that one, as I said the intel is scarce and inconclusive"

Sanji desperately tried to filter through his mind looking for important bits and pieces from his clients the other night, trying to keep his emotions at bay and school his expression at the same time. Not an easy task when you're trying to concentrate on what words were spoken, between getting fucked by various clients all night. He suddenly felt exhaustion creep over him as he relieved his night all over again in fast forward mode.

"Well it is a start; I want you to come by with weekly report on this matter Blackleg if you could be so kind?" Lucci's voice was like a piercing knife cutting through his mind and wrenching him away from his silent torture of reliving last night. "Uh, I'll try, but I'm not sure what more I'll be able to tell you really." His father usually didn't confide in him, and he liked it that way. He didn't want to be dragged into the mess his father did.

"Anything you find out will be fine, now for the main reason you are here. I usually leave this stuff for Igaram, but seeing as you are a special case, I will be the one to deal with it." Lucci rose from his seat and walked over to a file cabinet. "I won't punish you for this, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

Sanji nodded "Yeah, I figured as much, so what will you write in my file this time?"

Lucci opened the file cabinet and dug out a relatively thin file, "Oh not much, I will put it down as lateness due to extra work for me, or something, don't worry about it." He took the file with him over to the desk and put it beside another one, which to Sanji's surprise was substantially larger than his own. "I need you to continue being in school to minimize any suspicion." Sanji raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't question Lucci about it any further. Really he didn't dare to question anything Lucci did or said.

"So whose file is that beside mine?" That, however was something he wanted answered. He figured it was Zoro's, but he had to be sure.

"Oh, this?" Lucci pointed at the other file lying on the desk. "This is Mr. Roronoa's" Lucci took it up. "He has been a good student this semester." Lucci nodded.

Sanji was confused, "Good student?"

"Oh yes, Roronoa's file this semester is quite smaller than last semester's by this time." Lucci nodded.

Sanji was intrigued, and slightly horrified. How anyone could do so much shit and still be in school, was just short of a miracle. But then again this school was run by Lucci, and no one had been expelled as long as Sanji had been there. Suspended yes, but never expelled.

"Do you mind?" Sanji held out a hand. "Not at all, but remember this is confidential papers, and what you read in there stays in this room." Lucci handed him the file and Sanji laid it in his lap. "Of course, I know the rules." Sanji replied with a snort. He hoped Lucci wouldn't mind his rudeness.

He skimmed through the papers; small misdemeanours here and there were the most common ones. But once in a while he found notes such as: Mr. Roronoa and Mr. Portgas was found in possession of 2grams of Marijuana, an unlit joint and a pack with 4 tablets of Ecstasy – drugs were taken into possession of the Grand Line Police, the students have both received 4 weeks of after school mandatory activities, which they are to attend. Failing to attend, for whatever reason, will result in expulsion from school for 1 year. Sign Lucci. Sanji wanted to laugh; the thought of Zoro attending after school activities in order to stay in school was a bit shocking. Mostly because he would have though Zoro wouldn't care and probably wouldn't mind quitting school a bit early. But since he was still here, meant that he definitely had done it. It intrigued Sanji to find out why Zoro hadn't just quit.

Reading a bit further Sanji found another note; this was only a couple of weeks old: "Mr. Roronoa was caught having sexual intercourse with Mr. Umi* on school grounds. Punishment was not enforced as the act of getting caught is punishment in itself. Signed: Kaku. Now Sanji definitely started laughing. The fact that Zoro had been having sex with another man didn't go unnoticed, but that he had been stupid enough to actually have sex with someone in the middle of the day, and in a spot where they could get caught just cracked him up. He knew the marimo head was stupid, but something like that just shot his stupidity to another level.

Lucci had leaned over to see what he was laughing about and nodded "That was the time Kaku caught Roronoa in the gym's equipment room, Kaku said that Roronoa hadn't been bothered about getting caught, but poor Mr. Umi had been beside himself with embarrassment, so Kaku hadn't punished them other than told them to hit the showers." Lucci clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Not the first time Roronoa has been caught having sex on school grounds, and probably won't be the last."

Sanji was struck between envying Zoro for his freedom to have sex with people like that, and horrified by the fact that Zoro actually did have that much sex with people without it having serious consequences. Zoro could have caught some nasty STD's that way; Sanji knew those dangers almost too well. He himself was having regular check-ups at Kureha's clinic, because of the work he did for his father at times. He silently hoped Zoro did the same.

"Now , I do believe you have lectures to attend, Igaram will write you a late-slip for this, and remember not a word about any of this to anyone." Lucci held out his hand for Zoro's file and Sanji handed it to him. "Of course sir, thank you. I will try to come by once a week if I get more news of my father's future plans." Sanji stood up and moved toward the door, holding his hand on the handle he turned his head towards Lucci. "Oh, may I ask why you allowed me to read Zoro's file?"

Lucci smirked and looked at Sanji, "Because I'm easily bored Mr. Black, nothing more." Sanji nodded his head and exited the room.