•Im back with another chapter after a month XD I've been dying to write more angst for forever. I hope you enjoy!•
—Saddened seed, poor life, shivering, scared, alone. The rain above pounds upon the fighting life, pleading, begging, to be let out. The water above doesn't budge, and if anything, falls harder. It will not be shown, not given an iota of space, refusing to acknowledge its existence.—
7. Arrival
Law sits quietly in his classroom, glaring at the alarm clock on his organized desk. 8:43. School begins in seventeen minutes, and not a soul has arrived yet. Sighing, he leans back in his desk, sweating under his hot dress shirt. With weariness slowing his every movement, he eyes the bare room, fit with only twenty or so neglected desks, with chairs in the same condition. His nervousness had ebbed away into plain irritation in no less than ten minutes, and the fact that he was so worked up over such careless students annoyed him further.
Law leaned forward and reached for his lesson plans for the week, going over the few hurriedly scribbled notes before his first student enters his classroom. His gray eyes flicker to the woman standing in the door, a confident air around her, and Law doesn't bat an eye when she spots him and frowns. Rolling his eyes, he turn a page in his plans, listening to the soft sounds the woman makes as she finds a seat in the back and sits, immediately pulling out a phone and typing away.
Damned teenagers.
Keeping his snide remark to himself, which he's sure will become increasingly harder to do as the day drags on, the man ignores the next footsteps that arrive. And those after that, and the pairs that follow. Law looks up occasionally, casting lazy glances at the mere children before him. Some look bored, busying themselves with a strand of hair or their phones. Others look pissed, and rather than occupy themselves, glared at the wall, the floor, and a few even dared to glare at him. Oh, the many ways Law could reorganize their organs a into an unrecognizable heap of flesh if he had the energy or authority to retaliate. A small, yet sick, twisted smile stretched across his features, and some of the glares dissolved into slight fear.
"Have you always been so damned creepy?" a voice says from above him, and Law looks up in shock.
"Luffy-ya," he says plainly, eyes wide as the teen narrows his eyes at the surgeon, now teacher. "You're here?" And it's a question.
The black haired faces him, bending his knees to look him in the eyes directly. "Tell me everything you know about my brother," Luffy demands, the threat behind the soft words menacing and cold.
The man behind the desk narrows his eyes at the inquiry before a bell rings obnoxiously throughout the school, and a second later, an all too familiar voice clears his throat. "Mornin' seniors," the blonde sneers over the intercom, and Law shudders slightly.
"Hope you're having a wonderful first day! I would also like to introduce a new member of our Grand Line Staff— Law." The introduced frowns deeply at the usage of his first name, as if they were very familiar. Doflamingo drawls out the syllables, an eerie satisfaction residing behind the name, and lightening bolts bury themselves in his spine.
"Well! I am glad you all have decided to attend this month long course. Get those credits! Wether you say the Pledge or not is up to your teachers. Bye bye~" A click sounds, and the class is silent. Law stands and looks at the entirety of the class for the first time since he had arrived. He would guess he had anywhere between twenty and twenty-five students. These many students needed more credits? If he had this much, he could only guess how much the other teachers had.
"Answer me," Luffy says harshly, his voice sharp and defiant.
Law looks at the teen, frown deep. He had had enough of him, especially when all the other students were watching their strange encounter.
"Sit down," Law orders, his voice cold, eyes unwavering. Luffy tilts his head up, attempting to look down on the man. "You don't tell me what to do, Law," Luffy spits, and the teacher's eyes twitch.
The students in the class quiet at the dispute between the two, obviously entranced. Luffy looks up at Law with hardened resolve in those dark eyes of his, and suddenly there's Ace, whispering for Law to take care of his younger brother, and his disappears into the wind, along with Law's anger.
He had a right.
"Sit down, please," Law repeats in a much softer tone, and the teen in front of him raises an eyebrow.
"Not until you answer my question," Luffy states. Laws glaze flickers to the waiting class, confused expressions adorning their young, mischievous faces. "You all can talk amongst yourselves for a few minutes."
The whole crown of teenagers immediately burst into conversation, and it's crazy how they were able to keep so quiet before. The older uses the noise to pull Luffy by the forearm out of the classroom, his feet barely touching the ground due to Law's speed. Soon, they were outside the room, the door closed, and Law sighs before looking Luffy straight in the eye.
"What the hell?" Was all Law managed, because what the fuck was he doing here?
Luffy crosses his arms and glowers, throwing daggers into Law's skull. "I could ask you the same damned question. How in the hell do you know my brother?"
An irritated smile stretches across Law's lips. "I have a class to fucking run, ok, Luffy-ya? If you want a favor from someone, you don't get in their face and demand it. Don't be a damned child and go and sit like a good boy."
Lucy's face turns several shades of a fiery, angry red, and he opens his lips to say something, lips that were firmly cut off my Laws hand. "Is this something you want to be discussed in front of other people?" Law hisses impatiently, glancing back towards the wide window embedded in the door.
Luffy narrows his eyes and follows Laws gaze to the door, binds divvying the sunlight into narrow strips of black and white on the wall behind them. Gulping, the teens eyes soften, admitting defeat, and Law removes his hand from the teen's mouth. He absentmindedly rubs the moisture that resided on his pants, and turns back to Luffy.
"See me after class if you want to know things," Law says, "but absolutely no interruptions or inquires during the school day."
Luffy frowns and asks, "Why?" But Law has ignored the question, walking past him and back into the rowdy classroom, the noise increasing with each passing second. The man narrows his eyes at the class. "Hey, you all. Be quiet," he calls out loudly, and was completely ignored. And he wasn't a man who liked to repeat himself.
He had saw a predicament like this coming, and had discussed it with Shachi beforehand. It was then when his assistant had thought of a perfect plan to procure silence from the teens again, and Law had agreed wholeheartedly. He opened up his laptop, logged on, and pulled up the video Shachi send to him...of an open heart surgery he preformed, accompanied by a detailed synopsis of the procedure. After fiddling with the correct digits and gadgets, it was on the wide screen provided for him in class. Satisfied, he sits back and watches the video with feigned interest.
It took no less than a minute for the noise to die down before cutting off completely, and the smirk Law wore on his face grew into an all out grin. The murmurs of disgust and cringing, stupefied students were more than enough gratification to satisfy his sadistic streak. He had been running low since his encounter with Luffy.
After a few minutes of the gut wrenching commentary and blood, Law switched off the video and turned to his horrified students. He hadn't even noticed the black haired teen entering from their talk outside, but he was watching Law with pursed lips, but amused eyes. How was he supposed to react to that? Law looks at them all with a smirk. "Now then. Let's start with attendance."
—•—
Marco rolled his eyes and drew his lips into a straight line, even though the person open the opposite end of the phone couldn't possibly see it. But, it seemed that she could hear it.
"Enough with the attitude already," sighs the investigator over the phone, "why is getting information out of you always such a task?"
"Hmm," Marco hums for a second, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "maybe because you've used Ace's name at least ten times without a hint of respect."
"Honey, to me, people need to earn respect before they get it. And I'm sorry, but seeing as I don't know Ace, I really can't revere his mere existence," Koala sighs tiredly.
"Look here..." Marco begins with a growl, and Koala cuts him off with vicious hushing. "Just listen, ok?" she pleads, and it's harder than it has to be for him to seal his lips.
Her relieved, smile shines over the phone. "Good."
Marco settles back down against the couch in his rented apartment, as his house needed to be avoided for a few months, because everything about it screamed Ace. And that just couldn't do. But now, as he looks around the compact space, he realized that taping a hundred plus copies of the man's will around the room was not helping, either.
He was hellbent on tearing himself down, and Marco just let himself do it.
"Alright, so about Ace's murderer," Koala begins, and a sound of paper shuffling sounds from over the receiver. Marcos grip tightens. "do you know anything about why he why he bailed Trafalgar Law from prison a few months back?"
Marco's caught off caught by the question, and he temporarily has a blank. "Trafalgar...Law? He's on Ace's will, assuming his last name is Trafalgar. But what does that have to do with his murder? Wait...are you trying to say—"
"Don't go jumping to conclusions without evidence, Marco," Koala hisses coldly, and another shuffling of papers is heard, accompanied with a loud thump. A string of curses sound from the other end, and Marco listens with a slight smirk.
"You okay there?"
"Don't fuck with me, okay? Just...just hold on," she grunts, and annoyance is laced into that once powerful voice of hers. A few moments later, she gathers herself together, coughing lightly. "Ok. So anyway, I've found out a bit about the history between the two, care to lend an ear?"
"Spit it out," Marco says, and the woman is left unsaid, an improvement, he'd guess. Koala notices the change, and Marco could feel the smile on the opposite end of phone.
"So this Law I've found, yeah? He was apparently a part of this crazy family that wreaked havoc over a decade ago. They go by the name Donquixote, have you heard of them?"
Marco frowns slightly, thinking. "It doesn't sound familiar," he finally responds, and Koala hums in agreement. "But what does that have to do with Ace?" Marco pushes, and the orange haired sighs.
"This Donquixote family, they were absolutely insane. They broke, please spare me the sarcastic laugh, so many laws it's ridiculous. But apparently, Law, still a little kid, about ten at the time, ran away from them. Around then the Family were near a place called the Gray Terminal. Ace grew up around there, too."
When Marco stays silent, hoping for more of the story that doesn't come, he begins to explode. "Well? What happened?"
Koala says, "Well, I'm not exactly sure what personally happened, as even I can't delve into such small details thirteen years ago, but what I can do is infer. Law ran away while the Family was at the Gray Terminal, were Ace grew up. If they were to meet, it must've been there."
"Hey, there a fire, right?" Marco suddenly pipes up, and silence greets him for a few seconds. "H- How do you know that?" the investigator asks, and Marco manages a weak smile.
"Luffy used to tell me things," he says quietly, and Koala responds with an equally quiet, "Oh." The words addressed a problem much bigger, much more personal, the both of them knew, and Marco mentally kicked himself because this was not what he needed now, but.
"So, um," Koala begins again, "the night there was a fire Trafalgar Law, and I'm going strictly on assumptions here, met Portgas D. Ace. Words must've been exchanged, and the two became friends. Otherwise, why else would Law bail him out of jail over a decade later?"
"So, assuming they are friends," Marco begins levelly, "why was Ace, as you put it, killed? Does it have anything to do with this Law bastard? Because if it does, I'm gonna—"
"Now that," Koala cuts, shuffling papers yet again, "I doubt. They must've been friends, right? Trafalgar Law wouldn't kill him right after breaking him out of jail."
Marco's heart steels at the mere thought, and cold murder flickers through his mind. Law was the first person, high on his suspect list, and he didn't even know he had one. Fuck, he didn't even know he was going along with the idea that Ace was killed until a mere second ago. And it burns in his chest, a low, hard static sound, and it echoes in his ears and drowns out the world outside. And he almost laughs when it suddenly becomes night.
...
"...-co? Marco?"
The inquired stirs slightly, blinking away the darkness from his eyes. The forgotten phone lay limply in his arm, the woman on the other end too loud, too noisy, too much, so he turns it off.
This Law person really pissed him off. Despite the fact that he didn't know anything about him, Ace told him absolutely nothing. Marco takes a deep breath. Marco thought he got over talking about Ace, and he was. But. Thinking about him was a completely different ball game, especially when such an important fact was just brought to his attention. Ace told him nothing, and he was the man who was his supposed best friend for years on end. They knew everything about each other.
Except for Law.
A wave of jealously washed over him, leaving him dry and bare and his emotions naked, and he blinks rapidly to keep frustrated tears at bay. He was getting all worked up over a damned stranger who was, for all he knew, millions of miles away from him. With a heavy heart embedded deep within his being, it's pretty damned hard to peel himself off of the couch and force himself to walk. He needed air, fresh, free, flowing air, not the stale air inside of his apartment. Marco walks towards the door and opens it, breathing deeply. A gust of wind greets him and gently caresses his face. He scrunches up his features at the surplus of air. Huh. Still not enough.
It's funny how often he wasn't getting enough oxygen.
—•—
Luffy doesn't know how he got through the whole entirety of the school day without losing his mind. Every single class was filled with condensed anger for Law, for not telling him about Ace when he asked. Luffy wasn't supposed to spend seven hours of his life dying when he was already dead, and it's all Law's damned fault for not giving him other fucking options. All because he's so dedicated to teaching of all professions.
It was the last class of the day and Luffy is sitting on the edge of a dangerous, rocky cliff that spirals downwards into dark, violent, angry depths. His eye twitches as his infamous teacher—lucky him, he got Smoker again—explains worthless shit to him in such a dull, lifeless voice that it's a wonder half the students in his class can even attempt to listen.
He looks around, and some of the people from the school year are there. The tall afro guy, he's still there, his dirty magazine replaced with pure porn. Rolling his eyes, Luffy's gaze switches to the black haired woman, who now sits behind him, and has immersed herself in some book. If Luffy tilted his head a certain way, the word Ruins could be seen. The other students were either too irrelevant or too boring to take notice of or eye, so Luffy ignored them, and vice versa.
Sighing loudly, which earned a dirty look from the white haired older, Luffy stares at the clock intently, urging it silently to go as fast as possible. But of course, the little circular object continues to tick on impassively, unwilling to defy any laws of space and time for him. The teen frowns at it.
"Luffy, can you answer my question?" Smoker asks with narrowed, cold eyes. The student stands and gives him the finger. "Fuck your question, and fuck this school," he hisses, and storms off with the eyes of his peers on him.
"Wait, Luffy!" is the last thing the man says to him before the black haired slams the door, abruptly cutting off the sentence. Luffy's angry, more than before, and he realizes his mood has been all,over the place today. Especially since his conversation with Law. But it was like everything had Ace's name written on it, and likewise with Law's, and the names to Luffy are like oil and water, but in reality, it's water and salt. They almost, in a sense, belong to one another, that connection between them, because no one else knew of it. It was sacred, something Luffy couldn't touch, but it was just within his reach, all he had to do was grab it, and he wanted to know. But Law had postponed that opportunity, and hell if he was gonna let it get away.
"Law!" Luffy calls out roughly upon barging into Law's classroom. Blinking a few times, Luffy tsks in annoyance. No one resides within the room anymore, and it seemed to be cleaned up, ready for locking and the next day. Where the hell did Law go? He knew that he told Luffy to wait until after school, so where the hell is he five minutes before then?
Realization strikes Luffy, and a string of curses are let loose from his young lips. Law didn't seem like the type of person who lies, but he's human after all, and don't we all? He runs from the class, leaving the door ajar, and high tails it to the next place he could think of, to the only person who Luffy was almost certain knew where Law was.
"I'll be okay, I'll be alright," Luffy chants, words falling from his lips before he can catch them, "We'll be okay, we'll be alright." The words force themselves into the air, where they're dissolved and forgotten, a mere memory of the past, a memory of his Calendar.
...
"So," drawls the blonde before him, and if Luffy wasn't in such a rush, he'd probably twitch under the intent gaze the principal gave him. The situation was very uncomfortable and Luffy was very conscious. "You want to know where Law went, hmm?"
"Yeah," says Luffy with stone hard eyes. "Where the hell is he?"
Tilting his head to the side, the principal feigned infuriation. "That's no way to treat one of your teachers, you know? And why are you out earlier than the others?"
It was just then when the bell signaling the end of hell sounded, and the instantaneous noise that followed almost deafens the dark haired. Luffy purses his lips, and he speaks a bit loudly than usual. "I...I need some tutoring in his class. And he told me to see him right after school. I was allowed out early."
Doflamingo regards him carefully, and Luffy shrugs. He just needed to know what occurred between Law and Ace, and he need to know now. This man was holding him back, and this was his last day here anyway, so why Luffy bothered to show him respect, he had no idea. But he needed to improve himself, and oh well, this is a good step. Just. He needs this information. And each passing second was like a punch to the gut.
The man before him sighs, relenting. "He doesn't have an last hour, so he gets off early. Better catch him before he leaves."
Luffy grunts, acknowledging the words before turning and speeding off once again, and his feet begins to ache because he's running so fast, so hard, but it's nothing compared to the ache in his soul, so he's okay.
Doflamingo watches him go with interest alive in his eyes. "None of the students have that much attitude," he mutters, shuffling papers on his desk until he comes across a familiar looking profile. "Monkey D. Luffy," he whispers, and he wets his dry lips.
"What a fascinating boy."
—•—
Nervousness ate at him again as Law chewed on Ritz crackers from within his parked car, clutching the box hard enough for the cardboard to wrinkle. Now that the question of his and Ace's relationship was in the air, he's not exactly sure how to respond, hell, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to respond. What happened between them is secret, and he wanted it to stay that way. But his little brother was suffering because of the his death, even more than Law was inside, if even possible. They were siblings, and that's a strong ass bond, one that Law couldn't and wouldn't break, and of course Luffy had a right to be mad at him, he has every right in the book. If your brother was dead, and someone knew him, something about him even the sibling didn't, then of course they'd want answers.
Regardless, it's pain in the ass.
He swallows and reaches for more salted goodness. Thinking. His mind travels back, to when he first heard of Ace in jail, when he bailed him out, and Ace looked at him as one to a stranger. The man didn't remember him for some reason, yet he remembered Ace. Something happened, an outside force, that messed with the both of them, and ended up with Ace's death. It was just that outside influence that Law questioned, and he was just as clueless about that as Luffy is about the two of them.
Law sets down his secret food and closes his eyes, pressing the lids onto his orbs as tightly as possible, until it almost hurt, and that's when his eyes snapped open and flew to the left. Luffy stood outside the open window, watching him with a strange expression on his face. Annoyance stood out mostly, and that was to be expected. Anxiety and depression lay under that, like layers of a cake, maybe sadness, if Law really took a swing at it. But. Something else, too. Interest? Amusement?
Entrancement?
"Mugiwara-ya," Law says, and the nickname just slips out so easily, into the open between them, and a ghost of a smile graces Luffy's lips. But it's gone in a split second, and Law wonders if he had imagined it. He clears his throat. "Luffy-ya."
"Let me in?" Luffy asks softly, the intonation higher towards the end of the inquiry, and Law nods stiffly and reaches over to the right and unlocks the door. Luffy walks around the car and pauses slightly before opening the door and settling himself in.
Law leans back into his seat tiredly and doesn't look at Luffy, just focused straight ahead because, well. The teen would probably give him a glare and maybe even a sneer, and he was so mentally worn out that he wouldn't be able to answer with one of his own. After over a hundred rowdy, moody teenagers in under seven hours would be enough to exhaust anyone. Law's walls were up though, and up high. "Luffy-ya," he begins warningly, and the teen in question turns to him, and it's two hands up. "Shut up, please? Ok? And let's just talk over some, hell I don't know, some Baratie? I'm really hungry."
Luffy doesn't say anything further, and turns to the window.
Ok, what the hell?
Law opens his mouth, then closes it. He decides to be compliant, partly to dissolve any remaining tension in the air, and partly because, while the boy pissed him off into next week, he was an interesting one. He puts his key in its ignition, and steals a final glance at the teen beside him. It was because of him that his bank account was dealt blow after blow almost daily, because of him that Law practically babysat the black haired during his time in the hospital, and because of him that he was even doing this, and willingly. Was it for Ace? Was it for Ace's little brother?
Or was it for Luffy?
"Annoying little shit," Law mutters, his lips twitching ever so slightly upwards as he pulls out of the parking space. "Fine."
•*exhales deeply* I really feel iffy on this chapter but! It has been written! I had the most serious case of writers block, like I had no idea what the hell to do, just stared at a blank screen forever XD Hope you like, drop me a review (: hope you enjoyed & see you in the next chapter!•