Hey Guys. Hope you're all having a good weekend as always. To be honest, after a great Saturday I'm having the shittiest Sunday, but whatever. Anyway, welcome back to the story. I reckon I'll be able to get another two chapters done after this one before I'll have to take a break for exams, so heads up on that.

As always, big thanks for the reviews. We got quite a few for the last chapter, which is always nice. Just keep it up guys, that's really all I can say.

Thankfully, things cooled down after the first day, and the first full week of the school year passed without much further incident.

Whenever Luffy wasn't in school, he was with Ace and Sabo, the three brothers clearly making up for lost time. Whether that was going out for dinner, the cinema, or even just wandering around, the activity didn't matter. Luffy, Ace and Sabo wanted to spend every moment they could together.

This, however, wasn't exactly agreeable for Zoro and the others, with Nami in particular not happy with the fact that she was being somewhat neglected by Luffy. Even during breaks at school, Luffy was with Sabo! Robin tried to comfort her, saying she was sure that this was only temporary, and eventually there would be more balance in time Luffy allocated to his brothers and then his friends, but honestly she wasn't completely sure of this. Ever since she had first come to the school, the nine of them had been inseparable, this was the first time Luffy, or any of the group, had drifted away, aside from the incident in the summer of course.

Speaking of Nami, she was still unable to quite remember why the name Vergo seemed familiar. In reality, she had heard the name once during the summer, when Law beat up Mr 3, mistaking him for then one known as Vergo, but Nami couldn't recall this incident, so who Vergo was remained a mystery to her. She had asked Zoro, Robin and the others but they had no idea what she was talking about. Unfortunately, asking Law never occurred to her.

The school's new additions, both pupils and students, were also beginning to settle in. Bartolomeo wasn't really able to worship Luffy since he was always with Sabo, but he was for the most part content with worshipping Luffy's friends. Pretty much everyone bar Robin found him annoying as hell, but Robin always pleaded with them to be nice to him, and everyone always listened when Robin asked for something since she barely ever asked for anything. Cavendish was still sitting alone at lunch, hell bent on getting 'revenge' against Luffy, although he also spent a lot of time bickering with Bartolomeo.

Then there was Rebecca, who got on well with everyone really. She found herself spending quite a bit of time with Nami and Robin actually, the two treating her a lot like a little sister. In terms of new students, that left Bellamy as the only notable one not mentioned. And honestly, that's because there was nothing worth mentioning. He had only been seen maybe briefly in the corridor since that first day and hadn't caused any more trouble. Which was actually a little unsettling, since Bellamy practically screamed trouble.

In terms of teachers, the almost silent Mr Corazon had pretty seamlessly filled in for Mr Doflamingo. Law didn't trust him though. There was something eerily similar between him and Doflamingo.

Which leaves Violet, who was feeling a lot more secure after that first day. It would be impossible to stumble upon the SMILE factory by accident, and the only people who knew it's location were Joker, Caesar and herself. All she had to do was keep an eye on Law and she'd be fine. Honestly, she spent more time worrying about Rebecca than she did about SMILE though. She wanted so much to get to know her niece properly, and to spend genuine quality time with her, but she just couldn't do that from the position of a teacher. It was so frustrating, but Violet was determined to find a way.

######

"Go Luffy!" Nami cheered from the sidelines.

Luffy grinned, flashing her a thumbs up. It was Friday lunchtime, Soccer training. But since it was the first training session of the year, the regular session also doubled up as a trial. Luffy was in the team of course, the team's star player and captain, but the new students, including Bartolomeo who was already an accomplished player himself, needed to earn their place.

Robin smiled at her best friend. "You seem in a good mood…"

Nami grinned. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm finally able to be with Luffy without Sa-"

"Go Luffy!"

Nami and Robin turned in the sound of the new cheering voice. Sabo was standing about ten metres away from them, waving at Luffy. The dark haired teen's eyes lit up, and he abandoned his position in goal to scurry over to his older brother. Zoro, who like Luffy was already in the team, jogged over to Nami and Robin. "You know, Luffy didn't run up to you when you cheered for him…" he teased.

Nami, her pleasant mood gone, whacked Zoro over the head. Said boy looked up at Robin, appealing to his girlfriend for sympathy. She merely shrugged. "I think you asked for that one…"

At this point, Luffy had returned to his goal, with Sabo now walking towards the two girls. "Hey Robin! Nami! Pretty exciting, huh? I've never seen Luffy play, but he must be really good. I mean, he's got a trial with Dressrosa after all!"

Luffy's trial with Dressrosa had originally been scheduled for the end of the summer, but after being badly injured by Crocodile, he hadn't been able to play on the date arranged. Luckily, Dressrosa were very understanding and had postponed his trial for another month, which meant that the trial was two weeks away now.

Robin smiled. "Luffy is very talented. I'm sure that team will be begging him to join."

"Damn straight…" Nami muttered, her eyes fixed on Luffy. Sabo smiled slightly, impressed by how supportive Nami seemed to be.

The trials passed as you would expect. Bartolomeo and Cavendish both made the squad, although Bartolomeo would be back-up keeper to Luffy, which wasn't a role that promised much playtime. He didn't care though, the prospect of training with Luffy week in week out too much for him, him passing out in delight when Luffy told him he made the squad. Most of the guys had been hesitant about Cavendish, thinking he was a bit of a jerk, but Luffy, the captain, had the final say, and he thought Cavendish was a good enough player. He played in Lucci's now vacant position as well, so that was a big bonus.

######

Luffy blinked. "Huh?"

Nami crossed her arms. "You heard me. I want the nine of us to hang out tonight."

For the first time that year, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky and Brook were eating lunch together with no one else. The soccer trials had taken up most of the hour, but they still had about twenty minutes. Thus, Nami had taken the opportunity to suggest that the nine spent the evening together.

Luffy shook his head. "Sorry Nami, I can't. Sabo's taking me to an all you can eat buffet, and then we're gonna go see a movie together!"

"But Luffy!" Nami frowned, trying to give Luffy her best pleading look. "You've spent all week with Sabo! Can't you spare us any time?"

Robin winced slightly. "Nami… maybe you should let Luffy spend time with Sabo. They haven't seen each other in so long…"

"Don't tell me you're on his side!"

"I'm not on anyone's side, I just don't see the harm. We can hang out any time…"

'The same applies to him and that brother of his!"

"Nami…"

Nami sighed loudly, seeing that she wasn't going to get any support from Robin. "Fine. Go do what you want."

Luffy grinned, before noticing someone enter the cafeteria. "Hey! Sabo!"

With that, the dark haired teen jumped up from his seat and ran to join his big brother, reducing nine to eight. Sanji eyed Nami nervously, the orange haired girl glaring at Sabo and Luffy across the cafeteria. "Well even if Luffy won't be around, maybe we eight should do something tonight."

Nami puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. "No thanks."

Robin frowned. "Nami…"

Zoro rolled his eyes, not prepared to indulge Nami's sulking. "Fine. The seven of us can do something tonight then. Any good movies on?"

Usopp shook his head. "Not really. I can't think what Luffy and Sabo are going to see…"

Zoro nodded. "Fair enough. That doesn't matter though, we can just watch a regular movie at my place or something."

Sanji smiled. "Right, so it's settled. Moss-head's place tonight then!"

"Just the seven of us," Zoro added,eyeing Nami. Said girl sighed, raising her hand.

"Room for one more?"

Robin giggled. "Of course."

######

"Hey Robin, you ready?"

Robin nodded, shutting her locker door. She was ready for this weekend, the first week of school always exhausting. Nami was waiting for her, the two girls planning to walk home together.

As soon as they stepped outside however, they were greeted by an unpleasant sight. A short, pink haired boy with glasses was backed up against the wall, his nose bloody. Nami and Robin didn't recognise him, meaning he probably didn't go to their school. However they did recognise the one who was responsible for the bloody nose. Standing with his back to them was a cackling Bellamy.

Nami glared at him. "Hey! Leave him alone!"

Bellamy turned around. "Oh? And just what are you two girlies gonna do if I don't!"

"If you even lay a finger on me, Luffy'll kick your ass!"

Bellamy laughed. "I've heard about this Monkey D Luffy! Apparently he's this school's big shot! I can't wait to take him down a peg or two! If you're his girl, then I guess roughing you up a bit would definitely attract his attention, right?"

Nami gulped. She definitely didn't think this through. Bellamy was about to move towards her, when the door opened behind them.

"Don't you dare touch Miss Nami or Miss Robin!"

Robin and Nami turned around to see a pissed off looking Bartolomeo standing there. Bellamy smirked. "Or what?"

"Why don't you come and see?"

Bellamy wasn't one to back down from a challenge, charging at Bartolomeo, who put himself between Bellamy and the girls. Bellamy swung at him, but Bartolomeo easily caught it. Bellamy tried to withdraw his fist, but much to his horror, he couldn't. Bartolomeo had him in a vice grip!

Suddenly, Bartolomeo pulled his foot back and kicked Bellamy hard in the stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. His back bent over as he clutched his stomach, allowing Bartolomeo to whack him once more over the head, knocking him down for the count. The green haired boy immediately turned to a shocked Nami and Robin.

"Miss Nami! Miss Robin! Are you OK?"

Nami just stared at the unconscious Bellamy. "You just kicked his ass!"

Robin smiled at Bartolomeo. "That was incredibly Mr Birdy!"

Bartolomeo felt himself getting weak at the knees from the praise. He saluted the two girls. "I… It was nothing! I'll protect you both with my life!"

"Th… thank you…"

Bartolomeo turned around to see the pink haired boy from before standing there. The green haired teen had had literally no idea that he had been there. "Oh. No problem."

Nami rolled her eyes, Bartolomeo hadn't intended to help him. Robin, however, looked worriedly at the pink haired boy. "Are you OK?"

He nodded weakly. "Yeah, I'm fine. You know, this reminds me a lot of something that happened when I was a kid actually… "

Nami blinked. "What do you mean?"

The pink haired boy smiled. "That's why I'm here actually. When I was younger, there were these two bullies that always used to pick on me. That all changed when these two guys finally stood up for me. I've come here to look for them, I think this is where they go to school. Actually, you guys may know them…"

"I don't suppose any of you know where I could find Luffy and Zoro, do you?"

######

"Wow!" Bartolomeo gushed, his eyes lighting up. "That's my Luffy!"

The pink haired boy, Coby, had just finished telling Nami, Robin and Bartolomeo the story of how he met Luffy and Zoro, and was still smiling fondly at the memory. The four teenagers were currently sitting on the grass in Nami's front garden. After Bartolomeo had been sent (by Nami of course) to search the school for Luffy and Zoro, they found out that the two boys had already gone home. So, Nami had taken Robin and Coby to her house, with Bartolomeo pleading to be allowed to come too, since he wanted to hear 'the incredible tale of Luffy's bravery'. And to be fair, neither he, nor Nami and Robin had been disappointed.

Sabo looked between Nami and Robin. "Wow. I can't believe of all the people in the school, I just happened to run into their girlfriends. What are the odds, huh?"

Robin smiled. "That's a really nice story."

Nami looked up at the sky. "So that's how those two met…"

Coby smirked. "I lost touch with them when they both left the school, but I always looked up to them. I'm glad to hear they're still amazing people, not that that surprises me of course. To be honest…"

Robin smiled kindly at him. "What is it?"

"I'm kind of nervous to meet them again."

Nami waved her hands dismissively. "You shouldn't be, they're just regular people! Say, why don't we call them now? Although Luffy will be busy with that brother of his…"

Coby blinked, detecting a little bitterness in that last statement. Robin giggled. "I can at least call Zoro. Just one second…"

Robin pulled out her phone, selecting Zoro's number. She held the phone to her ear, smiling encouragingly at the nervous Coby.

"Hello?" Zoro's voice responded.

"Hey. Listen, I have something exciting to tell you."

"Love cook got hit by a bus?"

"What? No. After school today, I ran into an old friend of yours."

"I don't have any old friends."

Robin was about to say Coby's name, before an idea came to her mind. She handed to phone to Coby, who nervously took it. "H-Hello?"

Silence. Coby gulped. "Zoro?"

"Who is this?"

"It's me… Coby."

Silence. Coby frowned. "You know, from kindergarten?"

There was a short pause, before Zoro spoke again. "I think you have me mistaken for someone else…"

"No, don't you remember? Luffy saved me from Alvida, and then you saved me from Morgan!"

"Oh…" At last realisation dawned on Zoro. "You're that kid from before. That's right, Coby was your name, wasn't it? What's up?"

Coby smiled weakly. "Well nothing really… I just wanted to see you again. You and Luffy."

For a second there was silence again. Coby gulped, his request suddenly starting to seem weird to him. He had never been good friends with Zoro and Luffy. Sure, they knew and liked him, but they never actually were proper friends. Zoro didn't even remember him at first! What hope was there of Luffy recognising him!

Fortunately, Zoro's response pleasantly surprised him. "Sure. Although Luffy's busy tonight. We can meet up tomorrow though."

Coby nodded. "Th-thanks! I'll see you then!"

"Yeah, bye."

With that Zoro hung up. Coby breathed a sigh of relief and handed the phone back to a smiling Robin. Nami, however, eyed the pink haired boy carefully. "You know Coby… I don't think you meeting up with Zoro and Luffy is just to reminisce about old times, is it?"

Coby blinked. "How did you know?"

Nami smiled triumphantly. "Just a feeling. I figured there must be a reason you went through so much trouble of actually finding out which school Zoro and Luffy went to."

Coby looked up at the sky. "It's just like before really. I need their help again."

Robin frowned. "Don't tell me that terrible Morgan came back."

Coby shook his head. "No, it's someone else now. Only he's way tougher than Morgan. And he's not a school child, he's an adult…"

Nami stared expectantly at him. "Who is it?"

"His name's Moriah. Gecko Moriah."

######

Vergo couldn't help but admire the house in front of him. Three storeys tall, with a modern design, it looked like the kind of house where a wealthy, but young, stylish, family would live. Honestly, it was the kind of house Vergo himself would have wanted to live in. "So this is where this 'Trafalgar Law' lives…"

It had happened just today actually, the phone call from Joker, giving him instructions to eliminate Law. To be honest, it was actually a relief for Vergo, who had been wanting to get rid of the troublesome pest for a while now, regardless of how calm about it he seemed when talking to Violet. He didn't like to the idea of some schoolboy thinking he would stand a chance against him. Vergo wasn't going to just kill Law. He was going to show him just how big the difference between them was.

Despite Vergo's neutral expression, he was bubbling with excitement inside. He was definitely going to enjoy this.

Joker's hitman effortlessly climbed the wall into Law's back garden. At the back off the house was a glass door, open, presumably to allow the summer breeze to enter. Vergo chuckled, this was gonna be too easy.

Vergo was about to enter when he heard a gun click behind him. He slowly turned around, his eyes widening at the sight of the man sitting on the wall behind him, pointing a gun straight at him.

"R… Rosinante!"

Sitting there was none other than Law's homeroom teacher, Mr Corazon.

So yeah, a couple of real cliffhangers at the end there. Next chapter should be fun.

As always, thanks for reading and please do leave a review if you can.