True to Kid's word, Law noticed a distinct change in the way the other kids treated him. The girls were much more openly affectionate with him while the guys seemed to lose some sort of tension he hadn't noticed. They were much more at ease around him and more willing to be friendly.

Seriously, they'd all considered him a threat? He'd never once gave a sign of interest in the girls! It was nice, really, not having to worry about any drama. And now that he was 'neutral', he was let in on conversations as boys talked about girls they liked and vice versa. He was roped into sending along messages for the couples that wanted to keep their budding relationships quiet and though he steadfastly maintained that he wasn't a delivery boy, he didn't really mind.

It made his afterschool life interesting and now that they knew he didn't have anything to add on those fronts, they didn't try to force him to participate in 'guy' or 'girl' talks. Killer didn't have it so easy, but sometimes Law deigned to rescue him and drag him along to document the wildlife. They would work in silence and recharge after a day of being social.

After a few talks about fashion and pop culture that went over his head, the girls gave him magazines to keep him informed. They didn't make much sense to him fashion-wise—yeah, some colors looked better with other colors, but why couldn't someone wear two shades of the same color if there was a stark enough contrast? He gave that up as a lost cause, but some of the articles were interesting.

They had far more information about relationships and sex than he'd managed to pick up and he realized there was more to such acts than he'd thought. The knowledge irritated him because he'd been twenty seven or so when he'd died. He could've known so much more if he hadn't avoided such publications.

So he made a point of subscribing to his own magazines and though he did give the fashion and celebrity pages a passing glance, he was more in it for the tips. And when he began talking to the girls about what he'd learned, they offered more information from previous issues. It sucked him in like a black hole, his curiosity piqued, and he became 'one of the girls' so gradually he didn't realize until a few weeks later Kid caught him with a magazine and laughed for nearly ten minutes.

Law hated being laughed at almost as much as he hated the World Government. Too many years he'd spent alone after Corazon, wandering city to city with people pointing and laughing at his 'spots'. Kid's hospitalization was barely avoided thanks to Sengoku's timely intervention.

"Boys! What in heaven's name has gotten into you?!" He demanded as he held them apart.

"No one laughs at me! I am not a joke!" Law shouted furiously as he struggled to get free to continue hitting the wide-eyed redhead.

"Buddy, you need to calm down." Sengoku warned. "He was only teasing."

To Law's mortification, he could feel tears welling up before they spilled over.

"Oh god, he's PMSing." Kid said in horror.

"Kid!" Sengoku exclaimed as Law slipped out of his shirt, out of the room before Sengoku could even make a grab at him.

"I'm sorry! I panicked!" Kid defended weakly.

Sighing, the Admiral set him on his feet. "Go find him and apologize."

Kid tried. He checked everywhere for the boy, even in the dark city, but Law was nowhere to be found. He asked the others for help, but they all came up empty. They went to bed without him as the adults kept looking, but none of them slept well.

"Zunisha-sama isn't THAT big! Where could he be?" Corazon asked wearily as they met back up.

"You looking for Law-chan?"

They turned to see Wanda approaching and nodded.

She hummed. "Don't worry so much. We'd warn you if he left the village. He's got his little hidey-holes all over."

"He's very upset." Sengoku said tiredly. "We want to make sure he's okay."

"Don't worry, Law-chan is strong. When he's ready to face you, he will." She put a hand on both of their arms. "I doubt he'll stay gone longer than a day."

Reluctantly, they nodded and while Corazon headed for work, Sengoku went back to the house. On his way to check on the boys, he heard voices and softened his steps to avoid detection.

"—m sorry, I totally overreacted." Law was saying in such an exhausted voice that Sengoku winced in sympathy.

"I shouldn'ta laughed at you. Gene's right, I put way too much stock into gender stereotypes." Kid sighed. "You're still a bitch tho."

Law snorted. "Yeah, and you're still a bastard."

"Not to be rude," Killer began in annoyance, voice muffled by something—probably his pillow. "But can you kiss and make up before shutting the hell up?"

"How about you kiss my ass?" Both huffed before there was a moment of silence. He knew they were glaring at each other.

"That's not nice." He was surprised to hear Penguin speak but wasn't sure why. Of course the boy would know when his captain returned.

"I'm not nice." Again they spoke in synch and he had to stifle a chuckle as this silence lasted longer.

"Aw, will you be finishing each other's sentences next?" Killer taunted.

"Come on, guys, you were having a moment." Penguin groaned.

"Since it's over, can we SLEEP now?" Killer demanded.

"Why are you so cranky?" Kid huffed.

"I'm. Tired." He grit out.

There was a moment of silence.

"Guess he's aggression too." Law said and Kid laughed causing Killer to let out a frustrated growl. "Okay, okay. C'mon, Penguin."

"But I'm comfy." The boy protested.

This silence was the longest yet.

"Oi! Why you all gotta hog MY bed?!" Kid demanded.

"I'm only here for Penguin, I'm not sleeping alone."

Kid huffed. "…whatever, bitch."

"Oh my god shut the hell up!" Killer exclaimed.

"Don't be cranky." Kid scoffed. "Cuddle your little bird."

Law chuckled and lowered his voice to a murmur. "Don't antagonize your big brother."

Kid also lowered his voice as he said, "I'm going to punch you in the morning."

After the silence had stretched on for twenty minutes, Sengoku risked peeking inside and found all four in Kid's bed, the Mangrove duo back to back with the other two curled up against their chests. Smiling, he took out his photo Den Den Mushi and took a picture. He could justify one image.

That one was definitely going on his desk.