Chapter 13
Once the party had 'officially' began Shachi had decided to remain dutifully by the buffet table, to protect it from too many wandering mouths beside his own, currently however he couldn't help but watch the assassin angrily stab the food on his plate, seething as he glared over at Doflamingo who was grinning more than usual.
Shachi didn't like that Law was still beside the blonde but he did spot the blonde's hand still firmly latched on to his so understood why, otherwise he would probably be in a dark corner somewhere, sulking until they got Bepo to drag him out.
"Oi, I might not care about you stabbing your own food usually but right now you're scaring away the ladies!"
Shachi glanced over, grinning when he spotted a familiar blonde flanked by a certain green haired swordsman who was yawning into his hand. What did shock him though was that Zoro was actually wearing a suit!
"Wow, you can pull off a suit!" Shachi whistled, ignoring the assassin's grumble at the blonde.
Zoro merely raised an eyebrow though. "Who said I couldn't?"
"I've never seen you in one so just assumed you couldn't." Shachi shrugged innocently.
"Shitty-cook said everyone had to." Zoro pointedly glared at the blonde who pointedly continued sitting more plates of food down, waiting to be devoured.
"You said you were planning to win this contest, playing the 'smart contestant' might give you a few head start points." Sanji retorted. "Though if a beautiful lady gives your ugly mug a look over I will be surprised."
Shachi turned his attention back on to Kid who was still glaring at the King making Shachi groan, ignoring the hissing fight going on beside him. "You can't just keep glaring at them all night... Okay, maybe you can but you really shouldn't."
"He's hogging Trafalgar." Kid growled lowly.
Shachi knew that the assassin had some kind of feelings for Law for some time now and had even warned Penguin about it but man was he so jealous. Shachi at least thought the assassin would have tried to disguise it.
"Seriously? C'mon Captain's gonna be stuck with him all night-"
"Why are you still calling him 'Captain'? The acts over now." The assassin all but growled, making Shachi snort.
So much for this guy listening.
"My Captain never lied to you, he just didn't tell you everything, wasn't allowed." Shachi reluctantly informed him, earning a startled look. "He's the head of the 'Heart Seat', one of the Elite's chairs. There are three others who should be around here somewhere, our group is under his division while the other Executives are split up individually."
"Executives? Elites?"
"The 'Royal Family' is divided into three 'subdivisions' lets say." Shachi paused, trying to think how to completely explain Doflamingo's 'family'. "Doflamingo is at the very top obviously."
"And there are two others?"
"His Majesty's most powerful and trusted members of his 'family' are seated on the chairs: 'Heart', firstly is Law's as you know, 'Club' is Lord Trebol's, 'Diamond' is Lord Diamante's and 'Spade' belongs to Lord Pica. They control everyone apart from Doflamingo, however Law is the most limited considering the current situation."
"Current situation?"
Shachi's eyes darted wildly around the ballroom, Zoro and Sanji were oddly quiet so he remained quiet too, even though Sanji pretty much knew everything. "Which will have to be re-explained to your simple mind."
"Bastard-"
Shaci shot him a warning look. "Remember what His Majesty said, this ballroom is a test remember? 'Blend' into the environment, that's what he's testing."
"Whys that?"
"If anyone becomes his 'Champion' and is sent on a job where they have to blend into a area he wants to know who can do so."
"Alright, I can give him that. Now the third subdivision?"
"Most of the Executives are divided into the Elites service. Penguin, Bepo, Jean Bart and I are apart of Law's group."
"Whose 'Jean Bart'?"
"Ah, you never met him. He was left here to watch over Lami, unfortunately Doflamingo sent him away on a mission and Lami was..."
"What happened to her?" The assassin frowned, looking concerned.
"Nothing that you need to know. Anyway they are all in control of over two thousand soldiers, Doflamingo, the Elites and Executives. Oh and also Vergo-san, who was the former 'Corazon' before leaving for some reason and then returning as Doflamingo's 'Head Guard'."
"I still want to fight him." Shachi twitched at Zoro's voice, glaring over his shoulder at him, earning a confused look.
"Couldn't you even pretend not to be listening?!"
"The Marimo? Pretend?" Sanji scoffed. "He's too big of an idiot to do that."
"What did you say?!"
"Sanji!" Shachi blinked as a familiar brown haired boy stormed over, scowling at the green and blonde haired males. "Stop picking a fight! You're the assistant cook! Be responsible!"
"Yo Chopper!" Zoro greeted idly earning a snarl.
"Don't think you're getting off lightly either! I'll tell Perona you're not behaving!" Chopper threatened, earning a flinch.
"Don't tell that bitch a thing! She'll never let it drop!"
"Don't call Perona-chan a bitch! She's a beautiful lady!"
Shachi nearly groaned at the three-way argument when the assassin's voice caught his attention.
"Oi, whys the assistant chef out here serving the food anyway?" The redhead asked, he didn't look partially interested but it instantly died down the growing argument.
Sanji grumbled before speaking up. "The chefs are a bit too threatening to put it lightly and keep scaring off all the staff, the only other ones I can count on is beautiful Lami-chan and that's because she's both beautiful and smart-"
"Not to mention she's so used to them by now, she's been here since she was a child, just like you Sanji." Chopper offered with a smile. "And of course Law."
"Ah Lami-chan!" Shachi glanced over, seeing Lami smiling strained as she tried to keep the plates balanced while approaching their table. "Don't over-do it!"
"I'm fine Sa- Sir-" Shachi hated the flinch the blonde made and faintly saw Zoro's eyes carefully watching the chef. "Just need to sit them down."
"...Yeah..." The blonde looked disappointed but shook his head, grabbing some of the plates off her and helping her sit them down. "You're doing wonderful Lami-chan, thank you for your hard work."
"Thank you for your compliment, I'm afraid you're giving me too much praise Master-"
"I want to see Trafalgar."
Shachi tensed as he turned around, finding Kid once again glaring over at Doflamingo, his body tensing as he crossed his arms. Sanji stiffened as well as Lami while Zoro merely raised an eyebrow, looking disinterested as ever.
"You can't Master!" Lami protested softly.
"Why not?"
"Because if I recognised that look I'd bet you're wanting to do more than 'talk'." Sanji pointed out, making Shachi tense further.
WHY WAS IT SO OBVIOUS?!
Sanji got it straight off the bat! Doflamingo must obviously know and was deliberately keeping a grasp on Law!
Shachi wanted to go into a corner and cry, these two men were acting like jealous little kids.
However he was quickly distracted by the new situation that was occurring.
Lami was horrified, Eustass looked like he was just going to ignore everyone they had all just said and march off. If Doflamingo figured out that her brother actually liked the redhead he would be punished again, she remembered seeing his expression before she had blacked out from the pain of Vergo-san thrusting that poker against her back, he had looked so frightened and sickly.
She refused to see that again.
Her attention though was unfortunately yanked away from the redhead as he arm was grabbed and she stumbled, she felt a harsh grip tighten around her as she slammed into a firm chest, her eyes looking up to see another man, Lord Breed, his breath stank of alcohol and he had that disgusting lecherous sneer on his face she recognised all too well.
"Come here filthy slave bitch, you're going to be a good pet and-"
She managed to ignore the hissing in her ear, her eyes had spotted Law who was struggling to free his hand from Doflamingo's own while his free arm was restrained by Vergo's hand, gripping tightly around his upper arm. She hoped they would keep him quietly subdued between them, if they kept him there easily enough he wouldn't be punished and-
She couldn't help a whimper when Breed's clammy hands tried to slip under her dress but suddenly his grip on her was gone and a loud crack was heard. Lami glanced up, seeing Sanji's enraged expression, his foot raised while Kid's and Chopper's expressions both showed their mixture of surprise and horror while Zoro merely snorted.
"You shit-head what did you think you were going to do to Lami-chan?!" Sanji snarled, Lami tried to protest, the cook looked like he was going to go after Lord Breed who was twitching, the table collapsed beneath him and the food scattered everywhere.
She was thankful Zoro was quick enough to wrap his arms around Sanji, restraining him and tugging him back. "Calm down Love-cook, chill out."
"How dare he touch a lady like that?!"
"Chill."
Lami heard Kid hiss so directed her eyes to what he was staring at, Doflamingo's arm was wrapped around Law's shoulders, murmuring something into his ear which Law visibly untensed at. She also noted Zoro's eyes narrowing at the aggressive hiss Kid had made.
"Lami." The brunette turned her attention to Monet as the guards arrived, escorting Breed away.
"Yes Mistress?"
"I need your assistance in the back." Monet stated, smiling as calmly as ever so obediently she followed the green haired woman.
She knew Monet was trying to get her out of Law's view, so he would stop being distracted and even saw Vergo nod calmly to the smiling woman.
She had the feeling she was in for another 'lecture'.
"Fufufu, looks like someone had a bit too much to drink!" Doflamingo teased, the tensed atmosphere between the nobles and servants dissolving instantly, he made sure to keep his arm lightly on Law's shoulder, not wanting to hurt his delicate shoulder at the moment as he spoke to his guests. "Please go back to enjoying yourselfs, that won't happen again after all."
Once the mingling started up again Doflamingo turned his attention to Law who finally seemed to calming down from the murderous rampage he had about to inflict on Breed, the man lucky that he and Vergo had stopped him. He had said none of the guards would stop him when he told Breed he could play with the brown haired slave girl who was helping the assistant cook serve the dishes.
Well, none of the guards did stop him, the chef did though.
He glanced over to check up on the blonde, knowing how bad his temper could be when ignited, the Champion that Mihawk had signed on though seemed to be calming him down though, staying nearby him.
Doflamingo paused when he felt a weak tug on his hand, smirking at Law's attempts to still break his grip on his hand. The blonde wasn't going to let him slip off to some corner this time though, it was the first time they had been in public together in over two months, he was going to make the best of it.
"...Haven't I done enough solicilaising?" Law frowned softly, looking uncomfortable. "I would prefer to sit down..."
Doflamingo merely smiled at that, managing to slip a gentle kiss on his lips, earning a glower. "Don't sulk love, a few more greetings will do then I'll let you chat with Crocy-"
"It's 'Crocodile' you stupid bird."
Doflamingo merely grinned at the glare aimed at him as a familiar dark haired man walked over, scowling while Law greeted him. "Good evening Crocodile."
Crocodile nodded to him at that. "The bird not being too stupid is he?"
Law merely smirked. "I've been keeping an eye on him."
Doflamingo felt a bit ignored as the pair decided to talk about him as if he were both stupid and not here. He wasn't sure which one irritated him more and wondered why he ever allowed those two to become 'friends' in the first place. He did catch the smile on Law's face though and remembered why.
Because it made him happy.
So with that thought he released Law's hand and wrapped his arm around his waist instead, tugging him closer and earning a confused look, Doflamingo remained silent though, spotting Crocodile's knowing look as he picked up his left over conversation with Law again, effectively distracting him.
Kid made a face, not because of the champaign but because of the blonde bastard's arm slipping around Trafalgar's waist. He saw Law's confused expression before the other dark haired man with them spoke up again. His hands began to clench, hearing the glass begin to chip he forced himself to breath.
He wanted to go over and grab Trafalgar by the shoulders and shake him, despite his shoulder wound, he wanted to demand what was going on, why hadn't he told him everything and most of all he wanted to kiss him.
He wanted to show that blonde bastard that Law wasn't his, he wanted to kiss him in front of all these nobles, these snobbish bastards who thought they were better than everyone else.
But he knew he couldn't. No matter how temping it was. Firstly he needed to get through this stupid party and then confront Trafalgar, get the truth from him and find out why he never told him that he was his sponsor in the first place. The man who choose to take him out of the mines and fight for him in this tournament, the man who had some bad history with Doflamingo, the man he was marrying.
"You look upset about something Kid."
And that made the redhead flinch, that voice was way too familiar, he recalled the last time he had heard it that it had been filled of a mixture of desperation and fear, that his expression had been hurt. Kid remembered he had bargained with his friend's life on the line that time, that time when he himself had been bloodied and beaten down and where his friend was about to suffer the same fate.
He forced himself to turn around, that familiar blue and white mask staring back at him, long blonde hair peaking out of it. The last time he saw that mask it had been lying, smashed and broken on the ground while the man's face had been staring at him, hurt and desperate. The time when Kid had allowed himself to be taken to the mines in order to allow his friend to go free.
"Killer." He managed to choke out.
He never thought he'd see his friend again.
"You look better than before... Captain..." Killer greeted him, he sounded relieved.
Pigeon's voice interrupted their conversation though. "You know each other?"
"His name's Killer-"
Kid had paused when Killer spoke up though. "Hello Penguin, you're guarding Kid I take it?"
Before he could form a reply though Kid interrupted the pair, confused, why were they two so familiar with each other?
"You know each other?"He took a gulp of his drink after, guessing they must have met travelling or something.
"Killer's a guard here at the castle." Pigeon offered making Kid choke.
He was forced to cough up his drink, startled by that answer.
Killer?! A guard?!
"What?!" Kid choked, thankful as the blonde began to smack his back, helping him clear his throat.
"I joined here a few months after you freed me." Killer sounded mildly irritated after saying that. "You never should have allowed yourself to be sent to the mines in order to free me. You should have went to court, had a chance to defend yourself."
"Wait what?" Pigeon seemed confused so while Kid was busy trying not to hack up a lung his friend spoke up, even if he tried to protest against it.
"Kid and I had been captured during a mission together, Kid was tortured for information before the court hearing and they were going to do the same to me but Kid... offered... them an alternative... He would instead of going to court and perhaps get a lighter sentence would go to the worst place punishable and go to the mines as long as they let me go..."
"...He saved you..." Pigeon sounded relieved, which was odd to hear.
"I... I merely joined the guards to try and work my way inside... I wanted to become the prison's Warden or something like that... Something to try and free Kid..." Killer sounded embarrassed as he spoke and awkward.
Kid growled at that. "You shouldn't have bothered. I'm free now."
Killer merely frowned back at him. "You're a Champion, just like me."
"Oi Killer you didn't enter this tournament for-" Pigeon sounded horrified.
"...I had asked Doflamingo for a deal, if I could find a sponsor and win the tournament, I would like to make a contract with him..." Killer sounded more sheepish now. "If I knew Trafalgar was going to free you for the tournament I wouldn't have made it..."
"Killer what was that deal?" Kid scowled, finally regaining his breath.
"If I won Kid would be allowed to go free, his sentence would be voided."
Before Kid could lecture the blonde though Pigeon spoke back up. "Who would even sponsor you Killer? You don't exactly have any noble friends."
"I have been talking to someone at the tavern for a while now, do you remember him Penguin? The dark haired man with freckles. Anyway he agreed to sponsor me when I told him why." Killer merely replied, sounding quite amused. "He said he had no one to sponsor and that his father was away."
"Wait Lord Ace sponsored you?!" Pigeon cried out. "But I thought he was supporting Marco?!"
"Whitebeard sponsored him before he died, as a 'last wish' Doflamingo allowed it. Ace was going to try and be the Champion for Whitebeard but Marco bet him at 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'."
...What?
"Did you just say 'rock, paper, scissors'?" Kid could only blink helplessly at his friend, stunned by how this 'Marco' guy was selected.
"Ace said he, Marco and their friend 'Thatch' had all wanted to be in the tournament but a sponsor can only selected one person. So they played a friendly game and Ace and Thatch both lost it. Ace wasn't very happy with that." Killer shrugged before Kid felt his eyes rest on him. "Kid, you should know there are a lot of big players in this tournament."
Kid merely tilted his head. "So? I'll beat them-"
"Don't be cocky this time Kid, they are allowed to kill you in this game." Killer cautioned him. "People are betting on nine certain individuals this time who have the best chance of winning and our names aren't in that list."
"The Captain actually preferred that, saying that was Eustass would be underestimated." Pigeon offered, crossing his arms.
"True." Killer nodded but he told them the names anyway of the nine 'big names'.
Diamante was the top of the list, he was the 'Hero of the Colosseum', an experienced fighter and Killer told him he was also sadistic. Next was Pica, one of the youngest out of Doflamingo's 'Executives' who was strong and easily enraged, thankfully Kid knew how to deal with those types of people, because he was easily pissed off too.
Vergo he was all too familiar with while Trebol was another name he didn't know so well, he wasn't as known but was popular all because he was still one of Doflamingo's Executives.
Zoro and Luffy were two other 'big names', both new rookies who were quickly climbing up in reputation as well as Bellamy, the bastard that had drugged him and Drake, rumoured to be entered into the tournament by Kaido himself.
Teach was the last name on the list, rumoured to have taken down Whitebeard before being captured by a man named Marco. Killer mentioned how he was sponsored by a man named 'Moria' and muttered something about being a 'creepy bastard'.
"So what am I thought of then?" Kid couldn't help but ask, frowning at Killer who sounded slightly exasperated.
"A rumour."
The redhead could only freeze at that, stunned at how ruined his reputation was when another voice spoke up.
"Fufufu, how does it feel to be reduced to a mere rumour in the wind compared to the big assassin terrorising everyone during the war?"
Kid narrowed his eyes over at the blonde bastard who had approached them before glancing over at Law who shot him a look, one that begged him to try and behave so he merely scowled at the blonde instead of telling him to 'fuck off'.
"None of your business is it?" Kid snapped instead, in his mind that was pretty 'behaved' for him.
"You should be careful about how you speak to your superiors Eustass." Vergo's voice held a warning tone to it, making the redhead grin, feeling a strange energy stirring inside him, one he recognised.
"Or what? Would you put me through your 'delicate' treatment again?"
Law unfortunately interrupted them, his attention on Pigeon despite his eyes being on Kid, which made him feel kind of smug to have Law's attention on him rather than on Doflamingo.
"Penguin has Eustass had a suitable meal yet? He should try Sanji's cooking before it's all eaten up by Straw Hat-ya."
Kid couldn't help but tense as the bastard's arm wrapped around Law's shoulder, the blonde nuzzling his face against Law's hair, earning a grumble. "Now Law, I should get to know my fiancé's Champion now shouldn't I?"
Law merely smirked. "And ruin the surprise? Don't spoil it now Doffy."
'Doffy'. That fucker had been given a nickname by Trafalgar?!
Before Kid could sneer Pigeon managed to start pushing him back towards the buffet tables, offering his goodbyes as well as a low nod in respect as he, Killer and Kid left, or in his own case pushed.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the blonde bastard chuckling, lightly kissing Law's cheek who merely frowned at him, speaking up and earning another chuckle. He could feel the blonde's eyes lingering on him though, despite the shades covering his eyes.
That blonde bastard was mocking him.
.:End of Chapter:.
Guest, Doflamingo is just that kinda guy, though I loved his speech in the recent chapter, it was just too epic / I'm glad you liked the reveal, it was driving me nuts to properly write it up at times, I wanted it to be as good as possible even though I bet it was easily guessed who the fiancé was all this time ^^;Shiina Yuki, I know :D Finally official (even if pretty much everyone guessed it already xD) It is going to be a... Interesting event when Kid and Law finally talk about what's happened, as you can see Kid's been getting driven crazy by this reveal and Doflamingo isn't even letting Law out of his sight long enough to even try and chat to Kid ._. So we'll see how the reveal goes :PYuki Artsa, I'm glad you were happy to see the update :3 And definitely happy you like the story xD