After having witnessed for himself how completely ineffective it was to accost a client outside their villa, (or, rather, miserably fail at it), Thomas didn't dare stand outside Luffy's villa Thursday morning to inform him about the hotel tour today.

To be frank, it was only something his supervisor, Jasmine, had recommended. After all, two people from the first batch of visitors had missed their scheduled tour yesterday, and the second batch of visitors would be having their tour this morning. A second round of brunch was already being prepared, and fortunately, no one on the latest flight climbed up to the hotel roof and asked to visit an active volcano on a boat.

As such, it wouldn't be a stretch to accommodate the two extra visitors who had so little in common, but surprisingly so much at the same time. For one, they were both enigmatic—one spoke too little, if not at all, while the other was simply…insane. For another, one was totally unreachable—and the other—well, unreachable too, it seemed. Thomas tactfully called the phone of villa 1306, and no answer. Both unreachable…but, not for the same reason, right?

Well, to the fly on the wall in Law's villa, it very clearly was.

At 8 in the morning, sprawled on the living room floor, drool frozen in place to the side of his mouth, Monkey D Luffy was passed out on the floor. Obnoxious snoring filled the room, which quieted as the minutes ticked away. He was nearing the last hour of his sleep, where he would once again become aware of his surroundings, but again, 5 minutes before his body naturally woke him up, the smell of coffee did.

Sniff, Sniff

Luffy's eyes flashed open like a reanimated corpse, and he immediately sat up. His head hurt—he couldn't tell why—and his arm had gone numb from his sleeping position. On the coffee table was an open plastic bag with half open containers of italian food in themm no doubt the proof that Law had begrudgingly attempted to clean up Luffy's mess.

Sunlight peeked into the open-floor living and dining, a few beams casting a soft, orange glow on the kitchen. There was a deep, discontented grumble from behind one of the counters.

"Straw Hat-ya." When Luffy looked up, he was shocked to see the complete and utter damage on the older man's face.

The dark circles under his eyes were akin to a black hole—they absorbed every single photon of light, dragging any semblance of sleep so far into its depths the word nearly ceased to exist. At this point it might as well have. It was clear Law didn't catch a wink of sleep last night.

"Hey, Torao…" Luffy said groggily.

Pure instinct told him maybe he should leave. But, not before getting something to drink or eat. The smell of that coffee was reminding him of worldly desires—namely eating, eating, and drinking. And eating. "Hey….were there any leftovers from last—"

"—No." The expression on Law's face is one of pure annoyance, and morbid shock. As if to say, 'you've been awake for 2 seconds and you're already asking for food?'

Luffy's mouth shut instantly. Then his eyes darted to the box of leftovers. There…was clearly some in the bag. Law saw where his gaze was directed towards.

"You want those?" He asked calmly. His voice still had a scowl to it as he took a sip of his coffee.

Luffy's ears perked up, and he finally seemed to be waking up. "Yeah! I'll leave once I get somethin to e—"

" —No."

Luffy paused and looked up. This time he openly frowned as he made a sound of discontentment and walked over towards Law. His left arm was by his side, as he stood there stiffly, the drip coffee machine emanating a tantalizing aroma as he continued to sip from the mug. Luffy's stomach growled.

"...No?"

"You break into someone's villa, force them to order room service with you, vomit all over them, then ask for leftovers afterwards." A grim scowl. "Should I be thankful that at least you paid? No nevermind—this was a terrible idea."

Luffy was confused. What did he mean he vomited? He automatically skipped over whatever confused him, and focused on something completely superfluous instead.

"You keep saying I broke in but didn't you open the window for me?" He tilted his head to the side and squinted. He had the audacity to look genuinely mystified.

Law inhaled and tempered himself.

"Are you trying to blame me right now!" He couldn't help the way he slightly shouted. He… couldn't believe what he was hearing. Just how shameless was this kid?

Luffy chuckled. "What are you sayin Torao? Since you let me in, it's fine right? Can I get some coffee?"

Law stood there speechless as Luffy walked behind the counter, to peek his head around Law's arm at the coffee maker. "This looks really fancy; I thought you'd be making the instant one…"

Law didn't respond as Luffy took another mug from the cupboard and then stared at Law expectantly.

"Can you make the coffee for me?"

Law scowled and said, "There's instant coffee next to the microwave."

Better yet, shouldn't I be saying there's a front door right across from the couch? Law's reaction time is too slow as Luffy blatantly frowns, as if disgusted, and sulks. "That's so cheap."

Law couldn't help the way his eyelid twitched. He was like a stuck record. "You puked on me last night then woke up asking me to make you coffee! Just who is cheap here?"

Luffy seemed completely uninterested. "Fine, well do you have any croissants? Like the ones from the dining hall?"

"I hate bread!"

Luffy chuckled. "Torao, a croissant isn't bread. It's mostly butter. Didn't your Lancer tell you that?"

Law was going to strangle someone. Preferably someone who was roughly 2 heads shorter than him, with a stupid fucking straw hat on his head.

"Get out," Law ground out, and he grabbed Luffy's arm and began to drag him towards the door. This time, the young man firmly resisted. Law's steps were halted immediately as Straw Hat whined, "Wait, wait! My slippers!"

Feeling indignant, Luffy seemed genuinely troubled as he yanked his arm away from Law's with surprising force, and for the second time, Law was reminded that it wasn't just his body that was dense. It must have been his muscles too. They must have been the weight of a neutron star. With a moment of clarity, Law faintly noticed for the first time, that there was a scar under the young man's left eye. Before he could dwell on it, Luffy was running barefoot up the stairs by twos as if he owned the place.

Then, he chided himself. Why was he running in and out of his bedroom as if they were long time friends? He didn't even let Corazon inside the place. Granted, this wasn't his house—but it was nearly the same! As Law rested the mug on the table and rushed towards the steps to set clear boundaries, the young man bounded back down the stairs grinning. "Hehe, Torao, do you wanna have breakfast together?"

"My name's Law!" Wait, that's not what I was going to say!

Luffy laughed. "I'll pay! As a treat for puking on you."

Law had war flashbacks to roughly 5 hours ago, when after eating that much and running up and down in excitement, Luffy had barely managed not to vomit the entire contents of his "copious amounts of room service." Now the word carried with it an evil premonition, like the chilling, haunted air of an abandoned country mansion.

"You don't need to," Law settled for. He squeezed the space between his brows and let out a deep sigh he hadn't known he was holding. Last night he had wanted a distraction. I suppose this is what I get.

"Ok, listen. You can tell Robin you treated me to dinner, and that she can stop worrying. Please leave now."

Luffy couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice. He didn't even really try. He never did. Should I apologize again? More and more it seemed like Law kept being pushed past his boundaries, but apparently Luffy had done something upsetting again without even knowing it. He rarely ever puked. Only when he drank alcohol…Wait a minute.

"Torao…what did I order last night?"

Law raised a tired brow. "Fettuccine Alfredo, Bruschetta, Parmesan Risotto, Penne Alla Vodka, Fries, Pretzels, Cinnamon sticks, Cereal—" Law could have kept going. The contents were burned into his memory. Half of it had been barfed onto his lap.

Luffy looked like he was solving a complex trigonometric function. Sine…cos…tan…you could see the smoke rising from his head. "Does pen vodka….have vodka in it?"

Law blinked at him. He kept blinking, in pure shock. "You…didn't know?"

He couldn't even bother correcting him that it was penne and not pen. What was the point? Law thought exasperatedly.

Luffy grinned. "Aha! That explains things." Hearty laughter once again. "You see, I always vomit whenever I have alcohol."

YOU SEE? That didn't explain shit!

"The alcohol content isn't enough for you to get drunk and blow chunks all over me!" Law felt aggrieved. Was this a motif with Luffy? Every single time the guy opened his mouth it drove him mad.

"I had to throw my shirt and pants in the laundry. I don't even wanna see the cleaning lady when she gets here!" How could he not feel like shit to hand a total stranger that to wash? Even if she was tossing it in a washing machine.

Luffy looked at him like he was dumb as he chuckled with a wide grin on his face. "Well, sorry for vomiting on you Torao! Wanna have breakfast? Oh, you said no, right?"

As if remembering their earlier conversation, Luffy shifted with the sandals on his feet. Then a thought occurred to him. He rushed towards Law and looked up at him, smiling broadly.

"Then give me the clothes! How about I wash them?"

Law locked eyes with him, and made sure his serious grey eyes conveyed to the young man that he was a complete fucking idiot. "Why would I trust you with my clothes?"

Luffy frowned. "Then why do you keep complaining?" He chuckled again. "Or maybe you're right. You just clean it yourself then! You'd probably be better at it, with how tall you are."

"What does that mean!"

Luffy laughed, loudly this time. "Aren't you gonna stomp on it? You know, like in a basin? Or the bathtub? You'll probably do it better."

Law had enough. "Please," he said, running his hand through his hair. "Just leave."

For a few seconds, Luffy was so absorbed in the action of Law's tattooed arm running through his black, wavy hair, that he forgot what Law had even said. Wait, where had they been?

He blinked. "So, breakfast?"

Law stared blankly at Luffy. The his eyes drifted past him, to reflect on his life choices that led to this moment. Becoming a doctor? No…something tells him he would've ended up here anyways. Being adopted by Corazon..? Still no…Being born? Ding ding ding!

From Luffy's end, Law had completely checked out.

When Law came to, he was in the dining hall, sitting across from Luffy, and it was minutes to 9.

Again, Luffy's multiple plates were stacked up high with food. At this point Law censored all of it with his eyes like one would get visual fatigue from looking at an overly detailed art piece for too long. It felt like work just directing his gaze across from him. Luffy was rambling on about something.

"So, I take a pic and send it to my friends and Nami says that I really can't go to the volcanoes! That makes no sense, doesn't it Torao?"

Law grunted. Luffy could take it however he wanted. Apparently, he interpreted that as agreement.

"See? And Torao's a pretty smart guy, and you agree with me don't you?"

Law didn't respond.

"See? I knew it!"

Fucker.

"You know, last night I was supposed to work on something, but I got hungry." Luffy stuffed his mouth full of another croissant.

Law stared at his insipid chicken soup. He felt like he was coming down with something. Audio fatigue? A cold? The urge to wither and die? Either way, just drink some chicken soup, right?

"What was it?" Law asked. He didn't really care, but the young man smiled then it disappeared behind a giant slice of watermelon.

"My film! I gotta write an outline. Usopp kept pestering me to do it, since it was due like yesterday. But I got hungry!" Luffy repeated the excuse again, like it had the same weight as but I got into a car accident! Or, But a 9.8 magnitude earthquake hit my house and I got swallowed whole by the ground and only got out of surgery a few minutes ago!

Law was in awe, but he couldn't even dwell on it.

"I'm in university by the way! Grand U! The East campus, though..."

Law dropped the spoon of chicken soup in his hand and it landed in the bowl with a plop.

No way they were from the same university. Granted, Law had attended the North campus, but with his academic performance, during his freshman and sophomore year he had visited the East campus on multiple occasions to speak with the professor there.

The East Campus was known for specializing in liberal arts—mainly those relating to the creative and performative arts, with other facilities in Philosophy, History, Literature. He wasn't required to go there himself, but the campuses weren't far apart, and the East Campus was the oldest and largest one, having been the original location of Grand University before it opened the North and South Campus 40 years later.

The North campus was upstate and specialized in STEM, mainly math, engineering and medicine, with most of the newly built and renovated research labs were. The south campus mainly held all the sports complexes and a few other lecture theatres and extracurricular facilities. It also had a few extra housing facilities, though the main dormitories were on the East Campus.

All 3 campuses were roughly 20-30 miles between each other, and there was often friendly rivalry between the 3 of them, as they all had their own sports and olympiad teams. Of course, the North Campus mostly won the latter. But, to think that this kid was one of his underclassmen.

Law then wondered something else—How the hell did he get into Grand U? We were talking one of the top universities in the state, no—country, and he's in his sophomore year? He managed to survive his 1st year? Did the creative arts track have a lower difficulty level, or was he just smarter than he let on?

While Law did all this mental gymnastics in his head, Luffy was running his mouth at 100 miles per hour.

"Our professors's this really uptight guy. He's a lot like you Torao, but you're funnier. He doesnt even make an jokes. On the first day he told us that whatever assignment we did, no matter how good it was, we wouldn't get a passing mark on it."

This intrigued Law. It sounded like this professor was the strict type. "What assignment was it?"

Luffy was munching a chicken leg and then stuffed some grapes into his mouth. Just…ignore it.

"It was really simple! We had to make a 60 second film on a banana! No matter what the story was, it just had to be captivating, and the banana had to be the main motif, and take up 60% of the screentime, somewhere in the frame." Luffy was crunching on the bone, and then he pulled it out of his mouth and sucked on it before throwing it onto his plate. Law ignored the lack of decorum.

"He kept stressin us about paying more attention to the story and not the filmmaking, which never makes any sense to me! I just wanna record, but I had to do it cuz the first few months of freshman year are a super big deal, so I came up with my own 60 second story."

Law imagined Luffy with a camera, filming a banana for 60 seconds. The imagery was very dry. Law didn;t need to ask him to describe what he did—luffy had just taken a break to burp before he resumed.

"Some of my classmates did some sexual films, you know, cause its a banana," Luffy grabbed a wing and began working around the bone the same way he did with the leg. "I never really got those, so I didn't really pay attention, but Usopp told me they were pretty funny. Someone else made a banana helicopter and even carved out windows and doors and shot a blockbuster with tons of special effects. Usopp's film was where the banana was a famous sniper ninja, who would chop a slice of his peel so thin he could use it as a needle, then he shot it to assassinate the president of a banana farm or something." Luffy was considerate enough to add, "Oh! Usopp's my friend by the way! You met him at the airport!"

Law faintly recalled the dark brown young man with long, kinky hair, who had a rather long nose, and was roughly the same height as Luffy. At the very least, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Had manners.

Law drank some more soup and flicked his gaze down to regard Luffy. Despite his lack of manners, Law wasn't bothered at all. It was because of that look on Luffy's face. He seemed regaled as he spoke—he had a different air to him. He was always glowing, but this time as his eyes sparkled, he was radiant.

"So, so when its my turn, I just connect my computer and I play my film, right! While others did a voiceover or stop motion animation with a banana, or just filmed and edited it together, mine was completely hand drawn. I animated the banana and then cut back and forth between the banana in real life, and one that was contorting into this giant monster. I didn't really have a story, just the many ways you could make a banana look super scary! You know, like, how a simple every day fruit like a banana could turn into this evil monster if you pried open the skin and turned it into a facehugger!"

Law was genuinely surprised by…the horror element? The reference to the Alien Franchise ? The fact that Luffy knew how to draw? The creativity? Or was it the way his eyes suddenly darkened as he frowned?

"And then the professor—his name's Professor Porter—he tells me I've failed!"

Law thought for a moment and had an inkling as to why. The corner of his lip curled. "Was it because the banana wasn't filmed for more than 60% of the film?"

Luffy's eyes widened. "Yeah! He says that an animated placeholder for the banana still isn;t the original banana. If I wanted to do those kinds of animations, I should have signed up for the Animation track! I was so upset! Even though he said all f us would fail, Usopp got a 50 meanwhile I was given a 2! A 2! He said that I got an extra point because while misplaced, the drawings sure were convincing!" Luffy angrily bit the chicken bone. "Does it matter if I draw well? Obviously I draw well! I'm good at drawing, but I'm also good at filmmaking! I deserved a 50!"

Law didn't miss the irony in how upset luffy was that he didn't get a 50%—which was a fail. Law felt the sudden urge to chuckle, but he held it back.

"Maybe he just wanted you to think more creatively," he offered, but he felt himself wanting to smile so he stuffed his mouth with soup. "Drawing undermines the purpose of filming a banana and having limited resources."

Luffy was disgruntled. He glared at Law, then it disappeared when he spied the garlic bread next to Law's bowl.

"Can I have that?"

Law hadn't even realized he'd completely cleaned all his plates clean. "Sure."

Whizz!

A slim hand snatched the bread and he threw all of it into his mouth. "I know that! But it's not like you can't use animation in filmmaking! Others got to use special effects, so why is it different when I hand draw something?"

Law couldn't answer that question. He had no clue what were the inner workings of this Professor Porter's mind, and he had never heard of the man either. Law's network only went as far as the History and Philosophy departments of the East Campus. Luffy was completely on his own. If he knew the professor, he'd definitely ask himself. He would also like to know.

"Well, did you ask him why?"

Luffy stared at Law as if he were an idiot. "Of course I did! He refused to answer. He said that my homework was to figure out why. If i got the correct answer before I graduated, he'd give me a gift."

Law didn't hide it this time. He snorted. "I imagine after 4 years when you finally figure out why, the gift is probably a banana."

Luffy's eyes were crescents as he heartily laughed. "HAHA, yeah! Or maybe he'd give me a drawing of one, and tell me to sign up for Animation instead!"

Law stared at Luffy's broad smile. He said somberly, in an impersonation: "I've decided to do you a favour and fail your final project. This isn't a setback, it's a new beginning."

Luffy cackled. "How do you sound just like him? I didn't even tell you how he sounds!"

There was an Ehem! next to the two of them. The moment was interrupted, as Luffy turned his head, breadcrumbs all over his mouth, and Law was again completely stupefied by his sheer lack of…caring? Surely he felt that there were some things stuck to his face? He composed himself as he tried to straighten out his face.

The intruder was Thomas, who was more persistent than he appeared. He regarded the crumbs on Luffy's face with the cold apathy of a man witnessing a hit and run and deciding it was none of his business. "Mr Luffy. Mr Trafalgar."

Law didn't reply. Luffy gulped and said instead, "Ah, you're Tommy, or whatshisface?"

Thomas didn't bat an eye. "You may call me that if you'd like." Law didn't know to feel relieved or annoyed that Luffy did this to everyone. "I couldn't help but notice that you two missed the hotel tour yesterday. If you'd like, my supervisor has offered a special tour for the two of you at 9. You may also attend the brunch afterwards."

Law didn't know if he liked the idea of going anywhere for an hour with Straw Hat. He glanced nervously across from him, but Luffy's eyes had a devilish glint in them. Oh no.

"That'd be great! I totally forgot about that tour thing! Usopp told me you guys have a rainforest here?"

Thomas pursed his lips. "We do have a forest, yes, but you can only go there with authorized personnel. And the forest is a little distance away from the main island—you will be unable to visit it today." When Luffy pouted his lips and was about to indignantly reply—maybe something along the lines of ' why don't we just take a boat over there now! You always say the same thing!' Thomas added.

"Ohter activities can be done. Everyday there are group expeditions scheduled, and you can sign up for thema t the reception, or convey your interest to me and I will manage a schedule for you. Today there's a simple tour scheduled, followed by sightseeing in the town of Lower Alafia, a few miles away from here, and then we'll end it with a spa trip at the Recreational Center."

Law vaguely felt like Lammy would murder him if he missed this opportunity and didn't go to a spa. Luffy seemed to be excited about the sightseeing. "Sign me up!"

As if on cue, Law's phone vibrated for the second time that morning with another text message. The one from earlier had already been blue ticked. 2 hours later, his father still hadn't given up.

[Meddlesome Old Man]: Have you settled in yet? The watch isn't sending any stats. Are you ok? [6:25AM]

[Meddlesome Old Man]: …So something happened. Call me when you see this, or else I'm flying to that island at the earliest available flight.

Law wanted to sigh. He locked the phone and continued to stare at his reflection long after the screen faded to black. Around him, Luffy was still tormenting Thomas, when suddenly, he felt someone's arm brush his.

Before he knew it, Luffy was grabbing his hand and placed a strange wooden item in it. It was a dark brown, thin figure, with a skull for a head, and flames for arms. The center of its chest was carved out, and wings formed behind it in the shape of wines and leaves. Carved at the base of it was a volcano, and inside the crater trapped, were the legs of the strange, skull figure. While there was a hole in the center of its chest, right at its heart, fire still blazed around it, yet none of the leaves or vines seemed scorched.

Faintly, Law finally noticed, that the leaves and even the wings were heart shaped.

Luffy chuckled as he watch Law analyze the figure.

"What is this?"

Luffy grinned and brushed his arm against Law's as he leaned over to turn the totem on its back. Engraved down the side of one of its legs were the words May Poncia Protect Your Passion. Law still didn't understand.

"It's a totem! Robin gave me as a present, but she's gonna give me another one so I want you to have this!"

Law felt uncomfortable. He glanced at Luffy, who was obliviously leaning against him. He had long since turned over the totem, but he didn't move. For the first in minutes, Law realized Thomas had already left. The dining hall was moderately congested, and sounds of tableware clacking and people softly speaking enveloped the room in a low din, but all Law could hear was Luffy's clear, and slightly scratchy voice.

"Robin told me the whole story, but I don't remember. In any case, I think it'll help you, so here you go. As sorry for barfing on you. And breaking into your bedroom, even though you let me in. And for…" he paused, "is there anything else?" He chuckled. "Anyways, if there is, sorry for that too!"

This kid's real shit at apologies.

Luffy finally leaned away, as he reached to pick up his plates that were on the other side of the table. He precariously piled them one on top of the other, and a total of around 8 or 9 plates were faintly shifting around. Then, the young man shuffled back to Law's side, and furtively reached out to grab Law's bowl and take it back for him too. It was in that moment, that reaching down slightly set him off balance, and the top pile of the plates teetered. About to fall.

With reflexes Law hadn't even known he possessed, he stood up and stabilized the plates on top, and mid stumble, Luffy's back met Law's chest.

"You idiot," Law criticized. "Why are you picking up so many plates? You can just leave them here."

Luffy felt Law's chest vibrate as he spoke. The other man didn't seem aware of it, but his voice was deep yet soft at the same time. Despite his gentle voice, that vibration was surprisingly more aggressive than it should have been. It was a faint thump, thump, thump…steady but quick. Luffy hadn't even realized it wasn't Law's chest vibrating, but his. All Luffy could think about was that Law smelt really nice—he smelt like nothing, mixed with a faint touch of coffee, and no cigarette smell in sight.

"I'm helping them," Luffy said, and he turned around, forcing Law to move back. Even though the taller man had left, he still felt that vibration. It didn't puzzle him enough to think about it.

"Are you gonna go on the town tour?" Luffy asked when he came back from carrying the dishes to one of the servers standing behind the counter.

Law was standing by the exit to the dining hall, staring at his phone. Luffy wondered what could have made him have a similar sullen expression—though this one was less defeated, and more pained. When Law heard Luffy's question, he turned the phone off.

"No," Law said stiffly. The totem in his pocket was light, but his feet still felt heavy as he lifted them to turn around. "I have to make a call. Thanks…" Law broke off, not sure if he wanted to thank the young man. For what? You put me through so much distress, then think I'll forget about it if you hand me a souvenir?

He didn't linger on it. "Thanks for the gift, Straw Hat."

Then he turned around and left.

Luffy watched his retreating figure, but didn't miss the dark shadow that followed him as he went outside and through the adjoining exit to the convenience store. Had it been someone following him, or were his spirits that dark? Somehow, the man from last night, and during their brief chat, had completely disappeared.

Now, it was like he had folded in on himself, and Luffy couldn't help but feel a little sullen as he walked to the reception to sign up.

What had all his hard work been for? Next time, when he saw him again, would he pretend they weren't that close?

Luffy didn't really understand it, but he didn't want that to happen.

As he went back to his villa to change and go on the hotel tour, he was both upset that Law probably wouldn't be attending, and sad that he would be by himself.

Maybe it was time to make new friends…?

With just a day of knowing each other, were they even considered friends? It felt like they knew each other for much longer. At the very least, he gave him his totem.

Luffy hoped the next time he saw him, he wouldn't look so grim.

For some reason, seeing his face like that...disturbed him. It didn't at all seem fair. No matter how much longer he walked, the sight wouldn't leave his mind, even when he closed his eyes. It's like his thoughts were constantly drawn to it—the furrowed brows, the lips tight with worry, the pained, restrained expression.

For Luffy, seeing his face like that was painful—like witnessing an injustice happen before his very eyes.

Luffy didn't know why—he couldn't possibly know why.

All he knew was that—it hurt.