Disclaimer: Me own nada thing
Shiina Yuki: Yessss! I hate myself for torturing Law like that, but it was necessary. Don't worry, I can assure you that there will be no more scenes like that again, I just needed it to deepen the story. You'll find out later in the story why. :) No spoilers! I loved the fact that Bonney was Kidd's fiance, too! I really enjoyed the unveiling! Things will only get more interesting from here, so be prepared to be mind blown! Bwhahahahahaha! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
DemonFoxGirl1000: I'm so glad once again that we came to terms and that we are friends! I'm SUPER happy that you agreed to be my beta, and I hope that each chapter will continue to meet your expectations! I thank you for your sage advice and awesome insight! I hope you like this chapter! :D
Call Me
Chapter 4
Law spent the next two days writing his heart out. His head was so full of song material he could use, that he didn't even know if he could write it all down. He barely slept at all those whole two days, shutting himself away in the school's library, and the sound booth, every second he could.
Trafalgar didn't waste anytime on school work, doing the whole weeks worth of his class' homework assignments in advance. Every thing he had, he poured into his music, and refused to let anyone help him.
Ace found him in the sound room at the school midnight, the night after Law's... meeting with Doflamingo.
"Dude, what are you doing?" The older raven asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Working," Traf replied curtly, clicking rapidly on the sound boards computer. He had to get this sound here, and the drum beat there would sound better in this part...
"Have you been here all night? Panda, you need to sleep. I thought that the scout from Impel Down was coming to your next gig. You don't have the time to be making new arrangements," Ace ran his fingers through Law's hair in a comforting gesture, but the contact made Law jump.
"Don't fucking touch me, Ace!" He yelled, yanking off the sound proof head phones, and turning to snarl rudely at Ace."Why are you even bugging me? Go fuck your boyfriend or someone else that will put up with you and your annoying mouth when it's not wrapped around a dick!"
He saw the hurt in his friends eyes, but he chose not to care. He turned and sat back down at the sound board, jamming the head phones back over his ears.
"Christ, Law," Ace exclaimed through the noise canceling head set on his friend, "you don't need to be such a fucking prick about it! If you want me to leave, then just fucking say so!"
Law barley registered that the teen left, slamming the door loudly behind him. 'Che.' He thought, fixing another part of his arrangement, 'he's acting like such a child.'
He squinted as he leaned forward, and took a big gulp of his extremely caffeinated coffee. The words were just building up inside him, and waiting to be sung...
KLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKL
"...aw...Law...LAW!"
The loud yelling of his name forced the said teen to stop scribbling notes on the pad of paper in front of him.
"What?" Trafalgar asked, annoyed, and looked up into the amber eyes of his teacher.
Eustass Kidd glared at him, clearly still angry at Law for the other day.
"Would you kindly answer the question?" the red head asked in forced civility, then cocked his head to the side, "Or were you too busy scribbling down nonsense to actually pay attention?"
There was a dangerous aura surrounding the teacher, his scars looking scary, and his size towering over the sitting teen, trying to intimidate him. Law looked up at him with dark circled eyes, and gave a tired smirk, totally indifferent. The room full of teens were stiff, the air thick with tension as they waited for the proverbial shoe to drop.
"You got me, Teacher-ya," he admitted with a cheeky grin.
He looked away from Kidd, letting the other man think that he won, but he was stopped as a hand slammed onto his desk. It was scarred, and calloused; pale, and manly. The long fingers and large palm spread over Law's paper easily.
"Why don't you share with the class what you were working so diligently on?" the hand's owner demanded gruffly.
Law felt his heart constrict, and himself stiffen at the close contact of the other man. He suppressed a shudder by looking back up at the teacher under the brim of his hat, and smiled coolly.
"If that is what you wish, Teacher-ya," was all he said.
"It is," the man replied, uncomfortable, but certain.
Trafalgar slid easily out of his chair, taking his note book with him, and up to the front of the class. As the sea of eyes took him in, Law felt a familiar feeling spread through his body. His hands shook slightly as he took out his phone, and plugged in the cord to portable speakers. Then he turned on his phone and hit play, letting the slow cords of the electric guitar play through the air. Periodic drum beats joined in after 20 seconds, then shortly after he added his voice. He started off with a quiet sigh, looking at the nervous teens in front of him.
**"Two nights ago, you got that look in you're eyes.
Kaleidoscope, but that's only half the time.
Three days before you told me that I don't even try;
Your're crazy, through, I guess there's something wrong inside."
The beat quickened, urging Law so sing louder as the song swung into the chorus.
"Maybe you're right, maybe this is all that I can be,
But what if it's you, and it wasn't me?
What do you want from me?
What do you want from me?"
Hisheart screamed out the question silently, remembering the words that had been spoken to him all his life. "You'll never be anything, squirt," and "You are trash, water in the gutter. Give up trying to be something you're not." Those mocking voices ran through his head all the time, making his heart pound in anger as he voiced the lyrics, almost as a declaration to say "I AM something! I'm not garbage!"
"Four weeks ahead, I thought that I should think some more.
I'm fucked in the head, and my mind is turning into a whore.
Five months go by, and I thought about letting you go,
You're crazy, though, and I guess ya took control!
(Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no)
Maybe you're right, maybe this is all that I can be,
But what if it's you, and it wasn't me?
What do you want from me?!
What do you want from me?!"
Law cried out to his audience, his voice ringing with unanswered questions, hurt, and sadness. This was the only time he could ever let down his guard, the only time he could drop the carefully constructed mask that he had created to hid behind. His songs were the only way Trafalgar D. Water Law could freely express his emotions with no danger of ridicule, anger, or rejection.
What did that bastard, Doflamingo, really want from Law? Was that really all he was good for? Fucking and singing? Trafalgar wanted more to life then just the claustrophobic bubble he was trapped in. Did any one else feel this way?
The song suddenly slowed down again, lulling Traf's voice to a soft, but sad tone, then raising quickly in beat and volume again as he repeated the chorus.
"Maybe you're right, maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe we'll fight 'til it moves us along.
I can't deny writing a song,
Hoping I'll find I'm not alone!
"Maybe you're right, maybe this is all that I can be,
But what if it's you, and it wasn't me?
What do you want from me?
What do you want, what do you want
What do you want from me?
What do you want, what do you want from me now?"
The room was still quiet as the last chord of music faded, and Law looked tiredly, yet somehow smugly, at the gawking and clearly impressed red head.
"Was that satisfactory for you, Mr. Eustass-ya?" If the teacher had thought to publicly humiliate Law, then he was sorely mistaken. Trafalgar smirked as he grabbed his phone and sat down without waiting for his teacher to reply.
Law then turned back to his paper, deciding what he wanted to tweak. This could be put here, the drums could go a little faster here, then slower here...
KLKLKLKLKLKLKL
Eustass watched Law with disbelieving fascination from behind the heavy desk at the head of the room. The teen looked awful. Dark shadows hung under his grey eyes, and it looked like he hadn't slept in half a week. Kidd's eyes followed the scratching of Law's pencil as it flew across a piece of paper. And that song...
Kidd knew that something had happened to Trafalgar. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was something bad.
"Ace," he called to the sleeping raven.
The teen jerked awake, startled. "Yeah, Teach?" He asked with a yawn as he stretched in his seat.
The red head motioned Ace to the front of the room, and teen obliged him silently.
Kidd pulled a chair up next to him and pointed to it. Ace sat and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
"Are you going to ask about Traf?" The freckled faced student asked bluntly.
Kidd nodded, a little annoyed with the teens breach of personal space, and perceptive mind.
"Well, Traf gets like this once in a while, but this time it's really bad. He's been super moody and distant, and I know that he hasn't been the same since the other day in class," the raven raised an eye brow, "Well, he actually started acting different after lunch the day before. When I found him in the hallway, he was as pale as a ghost."
The teacher nodded, appreciative that the raven was helping. "Do you know if he's had any..." he was reluctant to be discussing this kind of thing with a student. He gazed over the diligently working students as they discussed their homework assignment within their groups, then continued quietly, "Any sort of problems at home or with other students?"
Ace laughed loudly, drawing the gazes of several curious students. "Not to my knowledge. But, then again, he's always been super secretive. The only reason we are friends, I feel, is because I help him at his gigs when he needs me."
Kidd wanted to punch the shit out of Ace and his loud mouth, but he restrained himself. "Gigs?" He repeated. "Like concert gigs?"
"Yep." The teen nodded. "Law is the singer of Heart."
Kidd felt his red eyes widen. "Heart the band? Law sings for that Heart?" This was just getting more complicated by the sentence. Frustrating, too.
"Yeah, yeah. I help him at his shows sometimes. There's one in November actually. He'll be in the Macy's parade too, then there is a concert the weekend after," Ace informed him, scratching at the skin of his arm absentmindedly.
Kidd looked over at Law again briefly before shaking his head. Running his fingers through his shaggy hair, the teacher sighed. He never would have guessed, though the kids amazing signing should have been an indicator.
"Well, just keep an eye on him, Ace," was all he said before shoving an ear bud into an ear, signalling an end to the conversation.
The raven snatched a pen off of Kidd's desk, then grabbed the teachers arm, and before he could protest, scribbled down an address.
"That's where the next concert is," Ace winked. "Its the Saturday night after the parade. 10 o'clock, sharp," then he sauntered back to his desk, and slid into his seat, smiling suggestively, then promptly fell asleep.
Eustass resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and self consciously fingered the scar across his left eye brow. He felt eyes on him as he looked at Ace, and with a slight shift of his gaze, red orbs locked with grey before the red moved on, indifferent on the outside, but concerned on the inside.
Bonney's face flashed in his mind, and he found himself grinning like a loon, thinking about what he had planned for the next day. Another face came to mind, and his smile grew wider still. It amazed him sometimes how much he had changed over the last few years. Everything was the different, yet the same.
He had been nervous about his old habits catching up with him when he had moved back here because somethings never changed no matter hard you try, but he was doing his best to keep those demons at bay. He was facing one of those demons tonight, and hopefully it wouldn't consume him entirely...
KLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKL
Law was in his apartment, drying his hair after a long shower, when he heard the thundering knocks on his door. He tried to ignore it, but eventually his annoyance won the battle with his patience when Bepo, Trafalgar's white Samoyed, wouldn't shut the fuck up.
He ripped open the door, jeans unbuttoned, shirt plastered to his body with shower water.
"What the- Oh," he dead panned. "What are you guys doing here?"
And by 'you guys', he meant his band. Bepo wagged his tail eagerly, excited at the opportunity to see people.
Jean Bart , Shachi, and Penguin stood outside his apartment, looking at him.
"Boss," Penguin said softly, "We've been worried about you."
Trafalgar was just starting to feel bad about the harsh words he spoke to Ace the few days before. His friend had been passionately avoiding him, and wouldn't even respond to texts of what had been up with Kidd-ya earlier that day, so he actually thought about his words before he spoke them to his crew.
"Fuck off, Guin! I don't need your guys' fucking sympathy!"
Penguin, Law's faithful drummer and backup vocalist, looked at him with more concern under his shadowed gaze. Jean Bart, the main guitarist when Ace wasn't playing with them, spoke up next.
"Traf, please, let's just go out and have some fun! Amazon Lily close by and if you want to leave, then you can, but come with us at least for a few hours?"
Shachi nodded along with the others, the synthesizer player's eyes reflecting the same concern. "Please, Boss?"
Law looked at the small group, their faces making him relent with a heavy sigh, and he leaned against the open door frame.
"Yeah, alright..."
Smiles brightened up the faces of his band members.
"Just...just give me a minute to change." Their faces seriously fucking terrified him when they all smiled like that.
Trafalgar shut the door before they could invite themselves in, or manners demanded it, and got dressed in a form fitting white t-shirt that showed off the black ink of his tatoos, and the most comfortable pair of jeans he owned, which happened to the pair with more rips on it then fabric.
Minutes later he and friends where walking the four blocks to Amazon Lily. They went through the back, their boots echoing on the floor of the empty hallway. The closer they got to the main floor, the louder the voices became. How where there so many people at the bar at this hour? It was only 8:30 at night.
When they opened the door, they saw why. The bar was packed wall to wall, the banner attached to the ceiling said 'Happy reunion Class of '09!'
"God,' Penguin said, "How stupid. It's supposed to be five years, not six." The other two band members laughed, but Law's eyes were on something, or rather SOMEONE, else.
Eustass-ya was laughing, his arm slung over that slut, Jewerly Bonney. Law felt his teeth grinding harshly together as he silently fummed. Law saw the red head was smiling widely, his cheeks pink with drink, and threw back his head and laughed loudly at something someone said.
His attention was brought back to his group as Shachi placed a shot infront of him. The blond followed the direction Law's eyes had been and stiffened.
"Ah, shit," the raven heard him breath. "Fuck, Penguin, the english teacher is here! Damnit, we're so screwed if he sees us. This place is not allowed to serve minors!"
The three looked at Law, asking with their eyes what to do. The raven looked over at the oblivious teacher, decided on the best course of action: he picked up his shot and drank it with a flick of his wrist.
"Law!" Jean Bart exclaimed in a whisper. "What are you-"
The oldest teen interrupted by holding up one of his fingers. "If you all wanna be spineless and run away, then by all means," he gestured toward the neon exit signs and hailed a waitress for a drink, "Be my guest and go ahead. But I, however; am going to drink until I can hardly walk. Thank you," he smiled slyly at the waitress that brought him another few shots and some Fireball whiskey.
"Yo, you're insane! " Shachi whispered, and Law laughed, and tossed down another drink.
"That's all a matter of opinion," Traf argued, grinning like the mad man he knew he was.
Penguin sat down resolutely on the bar stool next to Law.
"You guys can leave. I got the boss." The drummer said, removing his eared cap, and revealing a head of dark brown hair that looked black in the club lighting.
Jean Bart scratched his tatooed face. "If you're sure, Pen..."
"Oh, I'm sure. Go on, get outta here."
With those urgings, the two left without anymore fuss.
"So," Penguin said, turning to Law, "What's the matter, huh?"
Law scowled at the golden whiskey in his glass. "What the hell makes you think anythings the matter? You know how I get whet I'm writing."
"Thats WHY I'm asking," the brunette smirked, his blue eyes twinkling in the cluh lights. "I know you, man. Ever since we were 13 I've known you. Whats worrying me and the others is that you haven't been the same for almost a week now. Is it something I did? That Shaci or Jean Bart did? If it is, let us fix it."
Law would've cracked a gay comment, but he knew that Penguin was serious about his question. He knew that brown haired drummer was truly concerned, and that's what made Law uncomfortable. He sipped his drink, nursing it as he spoke.
"It's nothing special, Pen. It's just some shit that Im going through, so don't worry your pretty like head over me," his words had a calming affect on the younger man.
"I dont believe you, Boss, but I'm not going to force anythig from you. Just be careful, okay? We all really care about-"
Penguin's words were cut off by the obnoxious and peppy ring tone of 'Hustle' by Tunng. He grinned sheepishly at Trafalgar, and stood up to take the call.
Traf wached him walk away from the noise of the party goers, and then turned back toward a certain teacher. He was standing next to a buff blond, no Bonney in sight. Law took the lack of Penguins presence to admire Kidd.
The red head was wearing a black tank top, showing off his well muscled arms, and those God awful yellow and black lizard print pants! Law almost laughed at the sight, he had to admit that those pants looked good on the teacher, and Law couldn't help but smirk at the thought of how hard those pants must be to get off for sex. Then the thought of Bonney taking off those pants for sex wipped off the smirk right away.
"Well, Well. If Iit isn't the squirt," a voice said behind him.
Law didn't need to turn around to know who the voice belonged to.
"What is it, Buffalo?" He asked before he downed another shot.
"The boss whats ya tonight."
He didn't known if it was the shots, the whiskey, the amount of people, or if he was feed up with it all, but Law turned in the swivel chair to face the buckedtoothed, fat man
"No," he said to Buffalo with a level voice and gaze.
It took a second to compute. "What?"
"You heard me. I said 'no'. Now fuck off." He turned back around to face his drinks.
"'No'?! What the hell do you mean 'no'?! The boss wants you Law, and you are going to come!"
Buffalo's words gained volume with every syllable. Law stared coldly and hard at the fat man in front of him.
"I'm not an animal, Buffalo. And you can tell Doflamingo that he does not own me! I don't want anything to do with him anymore. I'll pay him double if that would acceptable, but I am NOT someones slut or plaything. So FUCK OFF!"
Law's voice gained in volume as well, and as he spoke, the closest party goers looked at them with annoyance and irritation.
Buffalo's face turned pink then red then purple with anger. "You insolent brat! After he has done so much for you!"
Law's anger was reaching a boiling point. "He fucking ruined my life, you ass! Like you know jack shit about anything! "
He saw the shift of Buffalo's body before the actually punch was thrown, but it was still hard to dodge it. Buffalo was apart of the Don Quixote family after all. You had to be talented at something.
Never the less, he bent to the side on his bar stool, then got to his feet and threw a punch of of own, faster the Buffalo's. The knuckles of his fist connected with underside of the man's jaw, sending him flailing back words. Law adjusted his white hat and walked over to the man, and just managed to avoid a powerful kick to the shin.
Trafalgar jumped lithly over the kick, and gracefully landed square on the man's diaphram, knocking the wind from him. As the fat man lay on the ground and gasping for air, Law scoffed and walked back to his seat. As he was walking back, he kept his enses open for a further attack from the downed man. Sure enough there was a sound that alerted the raven he wipped around to intercept the man, but instead of Buffalo he found Kidd clutching the fist of the fat man in his own large hand.
Law just blinked, then shoved Eustass away. "Get the fuck out of here, Buffalo! I gave you my fucking message!"
"You'll regret those words, Traffy. You'll be be sorry. When Doffy gets angry its never pretty." The man lisped and left with a huff.
After he left, the raven glared at Eustass. "Who the fuck gave you the right to but into my fight?" He asked angrily.
Kidd stared at him hard. "Listen, you little shit, don't try pretend like you are all that. 'Cause your not. You're just a little kid, playing grow up-"
The teacher was stopped by Law's fist to his jaw. "Don't fucking act like you know anything. That guy is weak. Always has been, always will be. He was here as grunt work because he's just a stupid pawn, too dumb to realize it. I refuse to be protected from grunts like him." Then he tiok a huge gulp of his whiskey in front of the shocked teacher, and slapped a tip on the counter before storming out the door.
The cool fall air hit his face, refreshing him. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and tried to walk off the shakiness in his legs. Oh, damn, he'd done it now. He had kicked the proverbial horents nest, and it was only a matter of time before he got stung.
**That song was W.D.Y.W.F.M? by the Neighbourhood. I took the liberty of changing some of the pronouns and he/his and she/ her inthe songs to better fit the story. ;) so if you look it up and its different, thats why!
Hehe. I hope you all liked that chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing. I love you all! X3