10

After school, Sanji charged over to the table Ichiji sat, seeing that his brother was without his book, sitting rigidly at the edge while he waited for them. Without saying anything, Sanji threw his bag at him, Ichiji catching it easily and tossing it to the ground.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Sanji demanded of him. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Little jerk, what the fuck is yours?" Ichiji demanded back, removing his glasses and calmly putting them to the side. "You dare walk up to me with that attitude when you're the one who got those two in trouble? Dad's going to be furious if he hasn't already received a phone call from the school about them fighting with you. It'll be all your fault, too."

"This was already a sensitive situation! I'm already to blame for ninety percent of the shit that happened, and you three are making it worse!" Sanji shouted at him.

"Stop shouting, stop yelling, talk in a normal tone!" Ichiji hissed at him impatiently, gesturing at the parking lot, where other students were looking over with interest expressions. "Why do you always have to be so loud, all the time? It's like you want the attention so badly - !"

"Whatever you did to that kid will reflect back on me, and you know it!" Sanji hissed back, standing just out of Ichiji's reach. "You did something to have him approach you like that, and whatever it was, it's not fucking fair to me! I'm already on the shitlist of his fucking fan club! They'd definitely blame me for all of this! I got my ass kicked the other day, so I went crying to my brothers for help! That's how they're going to see it, and that's fucking bullshit!"

"Why would you think it's about you?" Ichiji asked curiously, tilting his head. "You fucked up all on your own, without our help. But because our name is being tarnished, I find it fitting that I step in to interfere. I made my point to that kid and his friends, and I drove it in."

"Like you said that one time, I made the impression, I followed through, I ended up with the worst of it!" Sanji snarled, kicking his dangling leg, Ichiji scowling at him. "And this just makes it even worse! This looks like you were defending me!"

"Which is totally untrue. Like I'd ever step in for you," Ichiji muttered, dropping from the table to stand in front of him. "Lower your fucking voice. You're drawing attention to us throwing a little tantrum, and it's embarrassing."

"I don't give a fuck what people think of me! You're the only one that cares!"

"Someone should!" Ichiji snapped. "Get in the fucking car. Those two were told they couldn't practice, today, because of that scene, so we're going home. Dad needs to have a few words with you."

"SANJI! YOU JERK!" Yonji bellowed from one of the side doors, kids startling out of his path as he strode over. "If I get kicked off the team because of you, you're gonna be dead!"

"I'm going to shave your fucking head, you asshole!" Niji shouted, but his voice came from somewhere that made them look around with puzzled action, unsure of his location.

"Let's go," Ichiji said, holding the car keys in one hand and gesturing at the Buick.

"Fuck that, I'm walking home," Sanji muttered, going to retrieve his bag as Yonji reached them.

Ichiji gestured at Sanji, Yonji throwing off his backpack with a dramatic flair. Most of those in the area looked over as Yonji picked up his smaller brother, Sanji kicking and yelling furiously, Ichiji retrieving his bag himself. Not even moments later, Niji was racing over, all of their combined shouts and actions only stopping as they all piled into the car.

Judge came home an hour later to shouts and general rampage. The living room was in clutters, with the throw rug strewn into the hall, end tables knocked over, lamps broken. A headache made itself known as he stood in the foyer, trying to calm himself. He had been absolutely proud of having four boys with over exuberant levels of testosterone, but sometimes, it was too much. After hearing what he had, today, he supposed it couldn't be helped, but he wished they would just keep it outside like they used to.

He walked into the den to see that Yonji was sitting atop of Sanji, red-faced and grunting, while Niji took pictures, Ichiji standing off to the side, yelling down at the pair on the floor. The air was rancid with gas, and it made Judge's eyes tear up. He understood that boys would be boys, but he didn't understand why this often resulted in fart games and general unpleasant displays of bodily functions. Ichiji caught sight of him and looked startled, Niji reacting with a whirl, putting his phone away, Sanji ceasing his raging screams and Yonji looking guilty as he stood up hastily.

Judge eyed all of them with frowns, lingering on the youngest three.

"Explain," he demanded.

"Sanji started a fight with us in the main hall - !"

"I stopped a fight because I thought they were going to get kicked off their teams - !"

"He called me a fag because - !"

"None of it good excuses," Judge interrupted their chaotic yelling. He looked at Ichiji, who colored briefly.

"Some kid was mad at me, and those two interfered," Ichiji said sullenly. "But Sanji stepped in and started a fight with them because it was his boyfriend – "

"NOT!"

"'Boyfriend'?" Judge repeated as Niji yelled, "We weren't even going to fight that kid! We were giving him a chance to talk!"

"LIES!" Yonji shouted, Judge touching a hand to his forehead before sweeping his hand down to indicate for all of them to fall silent.

"Why?" he asked of Ichiji.

"I don't know. He was going to blame us for something," Ichiji said with a shrug. "I had approached him earlier about bullying Sanji – "

"LIES!" Sanji shouted.

" – And that kid didn't like it, so he intended on fighting with me over it."

"You're still being bullied?" Judge asked Sanji skeptically. "And you're cross with your brothers for defending you?"

"That's all we were doing, dad!" Yonji exclaimed. "Like, we were trying to stop something before it happened because Sanji got his ass kicked!"

"That's not even true!" Sanji yelled. "They did something to that kid to make him do that, and I know I'd get all the blame, so I stepped in to stop it!"

"Is this kid your friend?" Judge asked, confused by everything being yelled upon him at once.

"NO, but - !"

"Just a random kid?"

"It's English, dad! Sanji's fag for English!"

"I AM NOT!"

"ALL OF YOU, BE QUIET!" Judge shouted, all of them shutting up quickly. He looked to Ichiji once more. "What did you do to this kid?"

"I approached him to tell him to stop picking on my brother, especially after his friends had beaten him up, the other day. But he must have taken offense to it, because he came charging into the office to give me a piece of his mind and those two heard wind of it, so they came in to help me, knowing that he has a large following of friends that would interfere. Sanji came in, and picked a fight with Yonji and Niji, and told that kid to run away," Ichiji explained with a bewildered look.

Sanji's hand shot up, waving furiously to be allowed to speak. When Judge allowed him to do so, he said quickly, "I interfered because those two were going to gang up on this kid right in front of the main office, and I knew it would get them in trouble because they couldn't even take it out of sight! I stopped them because I knew they were the main aggressors! Then they turned on me!"

"We knew that kid had a bunch of friends with him, so we tried to save Ichiji, but Sanji is part of that crowd, now, and he started a fight with us because he knew we'd beat down his boyfriend!" Yonji explained, once it was his turn.

"Now, he got us kicked off the team!" Niji complained dramatically.

Judge stared at all of them, taking in their individual expressions until he looked back at Ichiji. "All you did was talk to him?"

"That's all I did."

"Then get out of here."

Ichiji strolled off without a look back, his brothers looking after him with frowns. Judge looked at the other three. "You aren't kicked off your sports teams because I did a little talking. But this is unacceptable behavior. In the end, you three made fools of yourselves right in view of the front office. What were you thinking?"

"DAD - !"

"And, you," Judge finished, scowling at Sanji, "the others had made a thoughtless decision, thinking that Ichiji cannot handle himself. Thank you for stepping in. But maintaining a friendship with riff raff is inadvisable. You'll cease that foolishness."

"He doesn't get into trouble?" Niji cried. "But he started it - !"

"Both of you did a very stupid thing, today. Get into that living room and clean it up. Then sit at the table until I say otherwise."

As Judge turned to walk away, Yonji and Niji punched Sanji, so Sanji quickly scurried away, whirling around to flip them both off with a shit-eating grin. They whispered threats and returned the gesture as he then hurried upstairs to his room. He shut the door and locked it, then jumped onto his bed with a sound of relief. Now that there was silence, he exhaled heavily, trying to sort through his thoughts.

He had no idea what had really happened – Ichiji was capable of lying through his ass to make a believable story, and it was how he got away with most crimes. But seeing the text Ichiji had sent to mock Law's approach had caused them to show up in automatic solidarity. Ichiji had done something terrible to have caused Law to approach him in that way – Sanji knew Law wouldn't have done that, otherwise, considering how he avoided most situations. So it made him wonder what had happened; he'd never get the full story from those three, so he figured he'd ask Law about it.

But he was confused over his own actions. Did he really stop it to save his brothers, or Law?

: :

At school the next day, with Yonji and Niji still snarling at him for getting off scot-free – why they couldn't seem to be angry at Ichiji for the same thing was beyond Sanji's understanding – Sanji marched into first period with a huff, holding onto his Starbucks cup while Yonji tried tripping him. Sanji's reaction was to step to the side, and land a hard heel into his taller brother's gut, effectively kicking him straight back out into the hallway, where other kids had to dive to get out of the way.

"Not today, boys," Mr Hansen said tiredly, reaching for his waterbottle. He could already tell that it would be one of those mornings, with how loud and physical they were starting off. But it was only against each other this time. That was something he could be grateful, for.

"I ate all those eggs for you, today," Yonji warned Sanji as they all took their seats, the kids around Yonji looking uncomfortable. The bell rang, the rest of the class taking their seats hastily. "As soon as the stew starts brewing, I'm coming after you."

"Yeah, that'll happen, you fart vault," Sanji muttered, sinking into his chair with a hard flounce. "Mr Hansen! I need a few minutes of your time to discuss the grade you gave me over this packet from last time!"

"Grades are final!" Mr Hansen replied tiredly. "It's only an information packet – it's just to see where you are with the class, and doesn't count as – "

"Then why grade it in the first place?" Sanji complained loudly, seeing Law take to his seat in his black hoodie and jeans. "Hey, are you transferring out of here? Lucky you. This is harassment, Mr Hansen! If this work is unnecessary, then why add it to the load I have now?"

"Oh my god, can you stop your bitching? I have a headache!" Niji snapped, kicking Koala's chair. "All fucking morning you were bitching about something - !"

"If I don't have something to bitch about, then that would mean that this school had achieved it's actual posted potential and made me feel as if I accomplished something, but because I don't feel successful, I have problems!"

"You do have problems! Mr Hansen! I need a seat change! Koala's distracting me with her short sleeves, and as a meninist, I feel offended that I have to look at her bare arms, knowing she's only leading me on! This is a femtrap, and I feel unsafe!" Niji hollered, causing his classmate to cringe and redden as she hastily pulled on her jacket.

Law suspected it wasn't water Mr Hansen was gulping down from his colored waterbottle.

"As a feminist myself, Koala, I don't think you should listen to that jerk," Yonji said, whirling around in his chair to look at her. "I feel that it is all right for you to display as much flesh as possible because it is your right as a woman! What men display, women can! Free those nipples!"

"Oh my god," Sanji muttered. "When Sabo hears that, he's going to kick your ass. In fact, I'll tell him myself!"

"As long as he brings along his little brother to kick yours again!"

"Class is starting, shut up, all of you, and let's get started with the lesson plan - !"

"Sanji got his ass kicked by a sophomore! Ha ha!" Niji laughed.

Seething, Sanji glared at him, Niji flipping him off. Yonji sat correctly in his chair, leaning over his desk to laugh grandly. "Mr Hansen! Did you see that fight?"

"One more word that isn't school related, and I'll send you to the front office. Today's not the day for this."

"About these packets, then!" Sanji spoke up, waving it in the air. "If it doesn't count to our grade, then why add it? I don't want to waste my time on unnecessary things! I don't have the time to waste on this!"

"We'll talk after class, Sanji."

"God, you're so wound up, all the time," Niji muttered, slumping back in his chair to stare up at the ceiling. "Why is it taking you so long to have a heart attack, already?"

"Out of pure spite," Sanji muttered, looking at the completed packet with disgust. "Mr Hansen, when you asked for an essay on what we think about the separation of pay between men and women, what were you looking for?"

"We'll talk after class, Sanji! Now – "

"I think it's bollocks!" Yonji said, sitting up straight. "Why should a nice girl like Koala be paid for something less than Roronoa, here? If you're doing the same job, why is it less? Who decided that it should be less?"

"You really wanna know why? Because it's been scientifically proven that women have smaller brains!" Niji snickered. "They can't think like us, therefore, they can't think to accomplish the same task in the same form as a man! For example – "

"We're not doing this, guy, not today," Mr Hansen said, rubbing his eyes.

"If Sanji decided he was going to suck a guy's dick, he's a guy, he knows how it goes! Koala doesn't have the same type of knowledge of a dick, and has to try harder!"

"This is fairly inappropriate – "

"Oh man, Niji! We can't talk about other people's girlfriends like that! no name dropping! Those D kids will hear you, and come get you!" Yonji added in a whisper, snickering. "Just like they did to Sanji! Ha ha!"

Koala covered her face, other kids looking at her and at the brothers with caution, Sanji playing with his phone before he lowered it to his desk. Law heard Sanji chuckling to himself, and found himself glancing from the corner of his eye towards the pair in the row next to theirs. Koala was red-faced and obviously near tears, head bowed.

"Oh, pish posh, like I'm scared of that bunch," Niji said on a scoff. "Besides, I was only making a point. The point is, men get better pay because we're better at our jobs. We don't duck our heads and cry when there's too much pressure. This is a clear example of it. That's to answer your question, little bro."

"Thank you, big bro," Sanji said, snickering again. "You've been very helpful. Mr Hansen! I don't need to stay after class for this. I got it."

Law furrowed his brow, picking up his pen to fiddle with it. While the Vinsmoke brothers were always a little extra in class, this seemed quite overboard in terms of meanness. He found it a little odd that they weren't giving him the attention he'd expected, today, after yesterday's stunt. While he wasn't about to relax, he had been certain that something would have been said or done, especially since he wasn't in uniform. His suspicion had skyrocketed, but the way Sanji carried on about various topics throughout the rest of the class kept his two brothers engaged with useless information and constant comments on those around them. Mr Hansen looked quite ready to bow out for the rest of the day when the bell rang, and practically everyone had their things gathered and were out the door in moments.

Sanji nearly tripped over his outstretched foot as he marched to the front of the class with his packet, Mr Hansen finishing his drink hastily as he did so. Koala got up from her chair, wiping her eyes as Niji and Yonji made their way out. Absolutely nothing was said in Law's direction, and he couldn't help but exhale a breath of relief.

He gathered his notebook and pen, to make his way out when the hall erupted with a loud commotion. Kids scrambled for distance, Mr Hansen leaving his seat hastily to go out and check to see what was happening. Just as Law made it out to the doorway, he saw Sabo pushing Niji into a row of lockers, yelling at him to apologize to Koala. Koala was trying to make him drop it, but Niji kept running his mouth, and so the taller boy began punching him. it took two teachers to pull Sabo off of Niji, the blue-haired boy left bloodied and stunned as Yonji stood nearby, trying not to laugh at his own sibling. Law looked back to see if Sanji was even aware of this, and saw the blond back at his desk, snickering to himself. When Yonji popped in to tell Sanji what happened, Sanji gave a forced expression of shock, complete with hand to his cheek, taking the situation easily as he made his way out the other door.

After being threatened with blackmail and the like from the other student since he'd arrived, Law had no doubt that Sanji had set his own brother up for that situation. It, again, caused him immense confusion. More than likely, it had been to his own satisfaction after being teased and threatened with a 'fart-hold' of some type, but he found himself wondering if it were truly that.

At lunch, he caught sight of Sanji sneaking off away from the parking lot, and Law followed. Sanji had taken cover behind the dumpsters, already smoking by the time Law caught up to him.

Sanji glanced at him, then turned off the ringer to his phone when it sounded off. "What?"

Law didn't know what to say now that he was facing him, all his questions piling over each other, making it difficult to leave his mouth. He swallowed hard, then said, "Yesterday…"

"I wasn't sticking up for you!" Sanji said on a huff, looking away. "It was to keep them out of trouble. But it backfired on me, and since they want to get all stupid about it, all ungrateful, I'm taking it back."

"They ruined my uniform on your behalf."

"They wouldn't stick up for me like that," Sanji scoffed at him. "Ichiji only did that because you pissed him off, somehow. I don't know what you guys were talking about, but, trust me, they would not say anything to you on my behalf."

Law considered that, pulling out his cigarettes. He lit one and smoked it in silence, thinking about the rest of the day. Sanji frowned up at him. "You're giving me away. I'm trying to hide."

"Why do you try so hard?" Law asked him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Even with your own family?"

"Because I'm the runt!"

It made sense to Law. He shrugged and turned away, intending on going to the baseball field for someplace quiet.

"Why do you wear two earrings?" he heard Sanji mutter. "You look stupid."

Law considered answering that question, cigarette lowered to his side as he frowned back at Sanji. It was a random question, but it didn't feel like an attack. The posture the kid had wasn't aggressive or offensive.

"They were my sister's," he finally said.

Sanji looked up at him curiously, forehead furrowed "You have a sister?"

"Had."

Sanji looked confused, pulling his cigarette out from the side of his mouth to ask, "Is she still with your parents?"

"She died when she was young."

Sanji looked down quickly. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry."

Law made to walk away again when Sanji said, "I have one. She's older. She lives with my mom."

"Is she like the rest of you?"

"No. Dad's a fucking asshole and didn't think he needed to raise a woman. I rarely get to see her."

"I see that."

"Why aren't you with your parents?" Sanji asked.

"Because they're assholes."

"I'm sure they're way better than mine. Mom doesn't even try hard to get us. She moved out of state just to get away. So, that's something we have in common."

Law realized that they had more things in common than that, and that was an uncomfortable feeling.

"If you don't like it, just leave," he said.

"Like you? Hell no. With my luck, I'd probably be returned."

"Yeah," Law agreed, thinking of how disruptive Sanji could be in the classroom. Sanji scowled up at him, dropping ashes to the pavement. "I mean…considering how well you get along with people."

"Oh, shut up. I have those guys as my brothers and an asshole father, I have some fucking quirks, okay?"

Law pulled on his cigarette, considering the word. 'Quirks' didn't quite fit Sanji, but if he wanted to lie to himself…

"Was Doflamingo mad?" Sanji then asked skeptically. "At the door?"

"Yeah, well…we're poor white trash, so…"

"Well, I don't care. I saved your life."

"Fuck you, I would've come to just fine."

"Right, making Rosinante feel even worse," Sanji snapped, standing up, holding his bag to him as he emerged from around the dumpster. "And you didn't even look for anything to eat while we were sitting here, so you're going to repeat that entire thing over again?"

"Your brothers cut up all my money, I don't have any to spend, today," Law snapped back at him, tossing the butt away from him.

"It's your own fucking fault for looking like a fucking victim. At least I fight back!"

"Yeah, I see that," Law said, gesturing at his own face, Sanji reddening as he touched his bruises with self conscious action. "That kid was like a twenty pound monkey on top of you."

"Fuck you. I'm coming over, today."

"No, you're not. Stay the fuck away from my house. I'll set Sugar on you."

"Real fucking threatening, considering she eats right out of my hands! Ichiji has practice, and I'm dropping him off, so when I do, I'm coming over. That's around seven."

"Stay away from my fucking house."

"Fuck you, don't tell me what to do!" Sanji snapped at him, walking off towards the cafeteria while Law continued on to the baseball field.

Both of them unaware that they were being watched, Ichiji's mouth set with disapproval. He didn't understand everything he heard because of the distance and how quietly Law spoke, but it did confirm some things. The familiarity they had with each other was a troubling one, and he didn't like it one bit, especially after what had happened with Niji, today. It now made sense where Sanji went after dropping them off for the evening, and Ichiji considered the weight of Sanji's actions, wondering what to do with them.

It wasn't right that Sanji was carrying on with some clandestine things, and Ichiji needed to take care of it; for the family.

Guest: Yep! These are pretty short chapters, for me, so I shoot them out pretty quick! Glad to have made your day! :D

Snowflake97: Ah, welcome back! Yes, this is rather different, and I'd been yearning for one of these, but ended up writing one myself. (boo!) The slow development is pretty slow, but it's getting there. Especially with this chapter!

GPEG: I know you guys are out there…XD Ichiji is a little more interested in his little brother's actions than anybody thinks, but what can he do when he's already 'perfect' and has all the approval but interferes where he doesn't understand? Ah, makes some great fiction!