18
That evening after practice, Ichiji let himself into Sanji's room. The boy had holed himself up in there after they returned home from school, and seemed to have stayed there ever since. He frowned at the lump on the bed, looking over at the desk that was unexpectedly clean, messenger bag sitting on the floor. It was unusual to see this when Sanji was usually so viligent on his school work throughout the evening.
"Get up," he ordered. "We're going to dinner."
"I'm not hungry."
"Dad says you have to come eat with us. It'll make the pain pills easier to accept if you have food in you."
"I said, I'm not hungry. I'm not going."
"Why are you acting like such a child?" Ichiji asked, walking up to the bed. "It was an accident. We were too rough. These things happen, sometimes."
"This was not an accident!" Sanji snapped, sitting up and indicating the section of hair missing.
Ichiji sniffed. "If you'd just listened to us instead of continuously defying us, Niji wouldn't have had to cut it to make you pay attention."
"That's bullshit. And unless we're stopping somewhere so I can have it fixed, then I'm not going."
"Dad said it's up to you what you want to do with your hair – "
"He won't let me go anywhere!"
Ichiji shrugged. "Then it's a bad haircut, it'll grow out."
"Unbelievable!"
Ichiji studied his younger brother, noting the expression he wore. For a few moments, he was angry at Sanji for making them do this. This was Sanji's own fault. If he would just stop trying to be different from them, deviate from natural order, Ichiji might've felt a shred of sympathy for him. But his younger brother was intensely stubborn and didn't want to change, and Ichiji just wanted him to understand his position. It felt like things were escalating to new points within them because of Sanji's actions.
When this happened, all of them knew when it did. The crack of bone had been loud despite all their shouts and movement, and Ichiji had felt it give underneath his grip. For a moment, all of them had gone still. All of them knew it had gone too far. But when Judge had dismissed it, it felt fine to think of it as an accident.
'Boys will be boys,' he had said with annoyance. And when Sanji started to get sick later that night, Judge had been put out to take him to the hospital, knowing how long of a wait it'd be. But because their father didn't think of it as something big, that 'boys will be boys', Ichiji did not feel bad for his actions.
So, in turn, Ichiji didn't want Sanji to think of himself as a 'victim' in this situation because he brought it upon himself. Ichiji hoped it taught him a lesson.
"No more letters to boys," he added, just in case Sanji didn't get it the first time.
Sanji just rolled his eyes, avoiding his expression. Ichiji had the startling thought that his usually agreeable younger brother was changing, growing away from them. And for what reason? Over another boy? Ichiji didn't understand. They were all born together, brought up together, and it didn't make sense that one would want to leave the structure of the group just because they suddenly wanted to be 'different'.
"Why are you so rebellious?" he asked with frustration, crossing his arms.
Sanji fiddled with the section of cut hair, then snapped, "I am someone who refuses any allegiance with my family because I never had the support I need to feel as if I'm truly part of it. Why should I follow control and tradition because of this? For years I've tried to get some sort of understanding, and struggled to fit in, and it wasn't happening! So when something calls for me, I'm going to go to it, looking for a better fit! So don't act surprised when I do!"
Staring at him incredulously, Ichiji did have to admit he was right on that part. Sanji did try. He griped, whined, complained, fought, and now that he'd had a taste of the outside, he wanted to be outside. So it made sense for Ichiji to understand that reasoning. But to go to another boy for it? That was a part Ichiji did not understand, and he wouldn't try to at this point.
Both of them heard Judge calling for them both. Ichiji looked at Sanji, waiting for him to move, but Sanji refused.
"Dad, he doesn't want to!" Ichiji called downstairs. He heard Judge's exasperated comments, then his call for Ichiji to join them. Ichiji looked back at Sanji. "At least we finally got through to you. I don't know why you continuously push us to make these kinds of decisions."
"I didn't make you break my arm!" Sanji exclaimed with immense frustration.
"Should've tapped out. It's your own fault that you're so stubborn," Ichiji said with a shrug, turning away to walk downstairs.
Once they were gone, Sanji left his bed, and walked out to the bathroom he shared with his brothers. Looking into the mirror, he examined his miserable expression before looking at his 'haircut'. He returned to his room, turned on his laptop, and opened up the Youtube icon. He researched a few videos before going in search of scissors. Nearly an hour later, he convinced himself that he looked like some medieval dork. He'd trimmed it as best as he could to make it look manageable as a fringe, not wanting to cut the rest because eventually, this part would grow out to join the rest.
His brothers were doing their best to break him down, however they wanted to word it, but they would not succeed. They wanted him to be obedient to their 'ideals', but why should he fit their ideals when he'd struggled to do so on his own all this time? He hadn't been noticed, then!
He had to hold his head high. He couldn't go to school with his head down, anymore. After all, despite this situation, Law had told him he'd kept those notes. He'd gone out of his way to approach him. He was angry for him. This was enough to give Sanji strength to hold onto his resolve.
What mattered most was that he'd gotten Law's attention. Not because of this, but because of his persistence. Besides, he had to show the older kid that standing up to things that constantly tried to keep him down was the only way to live life. Not allow it to beat one down until they couldn't stand, anymore. He hoped to be the one to support him through whatever it was he was going through, because he wasn't alone.
Damn, Sanji wished that Law would write him back. If Sanji had enough mind to speak at that time, he would've pressed for verbal answers, but he'd felt so dazed that he couldn't even focus very well. Speaking of this situation aloud had been terrifying. But Law knew. He understood., and Sanji felt he had the support he needed in someone else, even if Law didn't directly know what Sanji was going through.
He said he understood – that was enough for Sanji.
But Sanji wasn't going to let this break him. He cleaned up the mess he made, showered, took a pain pill, and went to bed early. The next morning, his brothers mocked and teased him for his new haircut, but Sanji stubbornly refused to drop his head. After all, he had someone to be strong, for.
: :
Sitting on the bleachers, Law watched his classmates climb over each other in a rambunctious game of dodgeball. He was allowed to sit out because he'd complained of kidney pain – Garp lecturing him noisily on the benefits of a better diet – so when he felt the bench shift, he wasn't surprised. Sanji sat next to him in silence, watching all the kids on the courts shout, flail, throw and run amuck as Garp napped underneath one of the basketball goals. Law studied his haircut, noting the work put into it. Instead of the defeated kid he was yesterday, Sanji looked his usual haughty self, and Law felt amazed.
"Don't stare. I look stupid and I know it. But if I keep my head up, then they can't feel too proud of themselves," Sanji muttered, combing through his hair with anxious fingers.
Law furrowed his brow with doubt. "That'll only encourage them to try harder."
"What are they going to do, break my other arm? A leg? It'll look suspicious after awhile, right?"
Law stared at him for a few moments, then looked away. "You're a fucking weird kid."
"The only thing I'm truly angry about is that dad won't let me smoke. So, I'm here to bum a few off you."
Law looked at him for several more moments. Was that safe to do? If he did this small thing, there was either the possibility of Sanji taking more and more from him, but at this point in his timeline, he couldn't imagine what else. When he couldn't picture anything bad of it, he then looked to the gym teacher. "Garp's asleep. We can go right now."
Sanji saw that it was true, and wondered how someone could just let themselves fall asleep standing up like that. He'd heard the rumors but never paid attention to it. He looked back at the floor and really looked at the kids laughing, shouting, struggling to hit their opponents' faces instead of bodies like they were instructed to. It suddenly occurred to him that he never really looked at his classmates, before. He'd always been so focused straight ahead of him, at his phone, on his notes, on what he needed to do to complete an assignment, and never really just…stopped and looked. It almost felt like he was looking at them for the first time.
He followed Law through the locker room, and they went outside. Once they reached the concession stand, Sanji pushed himself through the window to look in, scanning for Ace. Certain that he wasn't there, he was grateful for the lit cigarette Law gave him. In the end, neither of them said anything, and it was okay. There wasn't any pressure to do so, and there was nothing that needed yet to be said. It was an odd feeling for Sanji to experience, because he always felt as if he needed to say something to fill a void. And it was odd for Law because he was always on guard, pressured to do so, and yet he felt nothing of that, now. Whether it was a new understanding or just some strange sudden comfort, both of them almost felt at peace at that moment.
After class, when Law stopped at his locker to retrieve his texts for his next class, he found another note. He tucked that into his notebook, then started walking, wondering if Sanji felt uncomfortable or scared knowing that this type of thing would happen again. Was he really that brave, or just that unaware of how things could change for the worst?
In a way, it made him think of living with his parents, again. This past weekend's meeting had been just as intense, but he still couldn't bring himself to talk. He still stood at Smoker's side, refusing to participate in conversation because he still couldn't trust himself to speak clearly, he was still afraid of being rejected – knowing that it could still happen – and his anger was still present as they expressed themselves with stumbling voices and struggled attempts to engage him into conversation. Even as Lorenzo shared bits of himself at Smoker's prompting, as Lainy described their new home and their pets, Law wasn't interested in responding. Their personalities and struggle forced him to remember small memories of them in the same state before Lamie's passing. He noticed that they didn't mention her, but he couldn't bring himself to talk about her, either.
Tashigi and Hina prompted him from time to time, but gave up only to continue detailing the process of releasing him from foster care into their care.
While he still felt anger and resentment towards them, still upset at the efforts being made to force him to face them, he was quite aware that Smoker was making the effort to speed up the process of pulling him from Doflamingo's 'care'. That part made him angry, worried about who would replace him once he left.
'I'm pulling his file,' Smoker had told him afterward. 'I don't care what sort of influence he has with the boss, it's not fair for that guy to rely on a kid to take care of his brother. If he can't do it himself, he shouldn't have to rely on our kids to do so. There are other services available in this city he could utilize for assistance.'
'Rosinante likes kids,' Law had muttered petulantly. But he had to admit, it had taken Rosinante awhile to get used to him. Because of his state, Rosinante wanted no one near him, to get close to him, but once Law had been forced into his boundaries, Rosinante had turned caring and clingy, and Law had needed that.
To be needed, that's what everyone was looking for. He couldn't quite express this to Smoker, who would not see it that way. As far as that man was concerned, Rosinante should be in the care of adults that could properly see to him, not a gangly teen with trust issues. Smoker didn't quite understand that, for kids like Law, having the need to feel wanted after being rejected, preyed upon, and/or given up for a lost cause meant searching for that fulfillment in places like these, accepting only what 'felt right' at that moment, or for some time. Rosinante had given him that; no matter how tough or hard it was, Rosinante was what Law needed.
So Law was given a new form of anger, a helpless one, because even if his birthday was coming up, his future was still unclear. He could go home to his parents, but that was whole new world of stress and uncertainty. Because what if it they couldn't bond to this new form of him? Things weren't going to magically fit themselves together, and they were stupid to be hopeful about it. He was a human being, not a pet from the local animal shelter.
But he also felt stupid for the bit of hope he himself felt in return. He didn't want to allow himself to think about that because it was dangerous.
He wasn't paying attention because when he walked into the wall, he was shoved so hard that it nearly caused him to lose his footing, slamming up against the lockers with a startled noise. Once he recovered, he realized he didn't walk into a wall; it was Yonji.
"Now I smell like a trash can!" Yonji complained, wiping at himself and gagging.
Right behind him was Niji, and he said with a sneer, "What a prissy piece of shit. Touch him, and he flails like a little baby. Sanji's tougher than that."
Both of them cackled as they walked on. Law looked after them, holding onto his notebook tightly. Then he looked inside of it, making sure he hadn't lost anything. Normally, he would've just slunk away, but he couldn't do that. It was a deliberate act, and they both wanted him to know that it was. They had no business in this end of the hall, so it was conclusive that they were only making sure their brother was still following their rules. He looked after them again, seeing that they were comfortable leaving their backs exposed. That group was afraid of nobody in the school, and it was because of their reputation and strength that did this.
"It wouldn't be wise to do anything about it, now," Sabo said nearby, Koala standing next to him. "They want you to react so they can in return."
It annoyed Law that there were these characters everywhere he went. Why couldn't these kids pay attention to their own lives, instead of inserting themselves into others' affairs?
"Why are they pestering you so badly?" he heard Sabo ask as he turned to walk away.
Law already knew why, but he couldn't say what because it wasn't any of Sabo's business. So he walked on.
Koala told Sabo, "Why would they target him? He doesn't talk or do anything in class that would draw their attention. It's Sanji that bothers him."
"Because the other three feel threatened by Sanji getting close to him," Sabo explained patiently. "They're worried their brother is gay, so they're acting out."
"What? How do you get all that?" Koala exclaimed, puzzled. "Sanji is a jerk in class just like they are!"
"Er…well…rumor is, uh, those two are sneaking around just to, uh, see each other," Sabo stuttered. "And those guys know."
Koala stared at him with surprise. "…What?"
Nervously, Sabo played with his hair. "I didn't tell you? Sorry about that…"
"NO, you didn't tell me! How long has this been going on?"
"Uh…for awhile, now."
Koala stared at him incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding me? I'm in the same class they are, and all I see is Sanji bothering him, being a jerk!"
"Uh…no. Look, the reason why I didn't tell you is because it's not…anyone's business, really. And, quite honestly, I trust my sources."
Koala put a hand on her hip and stared up at him for several tense seconds, Sabo looking uncomfortable. "Ace once convinced you that The Rock and Dwayne Johnson were two separate people."
Sabo looked terribly mortified. "Oh my god, that was in sixth grade! Sixth!"
"So, if he's telling you these two boys are 'seeing each other', what does that mean directly?"
"That they talk amicably! They're very friendly with each other!"
She reached out and grabbed an ear, shaking him fiercely. "That does NOT mean they're gay, you idiot! Those two constantly harass Sanji for being gay, but he returns the gesture just the same! They throw around slurs like it's nothing, but that doesn't mean those two are! You're just as bad as they are for harassing someone that doesn't even talk to anybody here!"
"No, no, no! Hear me out!" Sabo protested as the bell rang, and they hurried towards class. "Once Ace told me that, I started watching, too! They pass notes to each other! Law talks to him just fine. They seek each other out in class – Roronoa himself said that Law purposefully checked upon Sanji yesterday. Literally sneaked into their classroom and had a conversation with Sanji until Ms Kalifa finally noticed! They are friends!"
"But that doesn't mean they're gay, Sabo!" Koala snapped at him incredulously. "Friends are fine, but just because they are, does that mean you and Ace have a thing together, too?"
"AHH! That's my brother!" Sabo protested, looking horrified.
"Not by blood! Stop spreading those rumors!" she snapped, walking into her class while he hurried up to the second floor towards his, utterly embarrassed.
: :
"What? How dare you question me?" Ace asked lazily, Luffy chewing on his nachos as he frowned up at Sabo. "Of course I'm not lying about this! The places I've been, man, allowed me to see and hear everything!"
"What does that mean, exactly?" Luffy asked, crunching noisily. "What are you guys talking about?"
Sabo frowned at Luffy. They were lounging in the middle of the quad, which was full of kids enjoying their lunch break, and while Koala and Nami visited noisily over social media posts and the current fashion trends, the boys were just trying to take a nap.
"Look, just to clarify some things. I mean, Ace, are you sure you heard the things you did? Because now I'm really starting to doubt myself."
"Yeah. Those two are a lot closer than people think. And I think that's why those brothers were throwing such a fit, Friday," Ace said, yawning noisily. "Something happened in last period because those guys were facing off in the parking lot, and they were bawling Sanji out for something, because he was ready to take them all on. Roronoa also said it looked like he and Ichiji were fighting over a piece of paper. So I'm thinking it's something to do with Trafalgar, because Sanji tries to ignore him in public, now. But yet they're still talking when they think they're free to do so. It's sooooo romantic."
"Why would you pick on someone you like?" Luffy asked incredulously.
"Why would you defend someone that picks on you?" Ace returned.
While Luffy thought about that one, Sabo said, "But it doesn't mean anything if it's not confirmed, and if this truly is so, then why are we getting involved?"
"you're the one still walking around, observing!"
"I'm only conveniently there to stop whatever it is that's transpiring right in front of me! Plus," Sabo added, "I don't like how those guys think they could just continue being dicks to everyone in school, and I find it easier to step in, now, knowing that they can be dropped. Maybe I'm just waiting for a chance, myself. Rotten kids."
"But you'd gotten your revenge on Niji, so there's really no need for you to be involved."
"I did…but…it wasn't until I'd received that message that I knew just how bad it was because she refused to tell me all of it."
"And Sanji was the one to send that to you? Don't you think it was because he was only getting back at his own brother than to do it for a good cause?"
"Still, even if it was for his own selfish reasons, now that I'm aware of these things, I feel like I can't quite step away from it, yet."
"You're so snoopy!"
"Sabo," Luffy interrupted before Sabo could yell at Ace for that complaint, "what's in it for you if you keep stepping in? Like, I just don't like bullies. And while I don't care for that Sanji kid because he keeps fucking with me, I don't understand why you're stepping in for both of them."
Sabo thought about it with a frown. "Well…see, I…at first was stepping in because Trafalgar isn't that much of a fighter. I can't stand to see kids being bullied. But after noticing certain things, I think that it's not just him being bullied. I see another kid trying to pull himself out of that hellish group and being forcibly dragged back. And, so, I don't think that he's all that bad. Sometimes, we grow as a product of our environment, but what if the environment isn't what we want? Don't we go looking for something else?"
"Yeah, but…he's such an asshole!"
"Look at it this way, Luffy. Instead of yelling at him when he bothers you, try turning it around. You say he gets you on your way to PE, so instead of letting him attack first, perhaps give him one of your snacks. See what happens. Maybe it's only attention he's seeking, why he bothers you so much."
Luffy snorted, rolling his eyes. "No way that's happening."
"That's weird," Ace complained. "Let's just stay out of their business."
"You're the one who started this in the first place!" Sabo yelled at him.
"You're the one unnaturally obsessed with it."
"I'll let you know how it goes," Luffy decided. "You're more full of common sense than Ace ever is."
"Hey!"
"I just think, with how much effort Sanji is putting into fighting with his brothers that perhaps he needs a little support, too," Sabo added. "They're angry at him for some reason, so why don't we just wait and see what that reason is? You don't really think his arm was broken purposefully, do you?"
"Accidents happen," Ace and Luffy said together, both of them looking at each other with understanding.
"I don't know…I feel there's something more to it. It makes me uncomfortable, to be honest. So, I guess that's my reasoning."
"Not like you can do anything about it."
"Maybe I can't, but…I can be understanding. I know what it feels like to have to defy family to be whom I want to be, so I think, in a way, I see myself in that kid," Sabo admitted.
Both Ace and Luffy looked at him with uncertainty, but shrugged in unison.
"Whatever. Don't complain when it backfires on you," Ace said, relaxing to go back to sleep when the bell rang, and he released a loud yell of frustration.
: :
The next afternoon in the library, Sanji felt along the ridge of Law's nose, feeling for any inconsistencies that might require more care. But he felt nothing, and Law just stood there with a frown, hoping no one would see them in the back row.
"As long as you don't do anything stupid, this should be fine," Sanji decided, touching his own nose to determine consistency.
Law straightened away from him, hands in the pockets of his sweater as he fought off his nervousness. "Not like I'm looking to do anything stupid, so…"
"Never know with you, because you don't put yourself first when it comes to care. Are you eating right? More?"
"That is an invasive question – "
"It's common sense! I want to make sure you have some!"
"Not that it changed anything. We're still where we were then, too."
"Will you go back to your parents?" Sanji asked, looking at a row of books to his left.
"Smoker's trying to make it happen," Law said reluctantly, looking at the stack to his left.
"That's his name?"
"Not that it matters, but yeah."
"Don't you want to?"
"I don't know."
Exhaling heavily, Sanji then muttered, "in the end it doesn't matter because you won't be going to this school for very long, will you?"
"Probably not."
"Why do you make it so final? You're established here, now, so you should just stay!"
"I have to go wherever I'm placed."
"Whatever. I think if your parents really wanted to kiss ass, they'd move to this area so that you can be close to Rosinante and still attend this school. After all," Sanji added quickly as Law gathered breath to reject that, "it would be harder on you to go to another school and have to speak all over again and, here, everyone's already accepted you and they're supportive of you, and having to find that all over again is just going to stress you the fuck out because all this shit you just went through, you'll have to go through all over again, so, you should really consider staying here. After all, studies have shown that if you're stressed to the max then you can't really regulate yourself as you're comfortable with, and you'll end up making bad decisions that you wouldn't have if you just had one less level of stress to deal with, so thinking on that, staying here would be good for you in the end of things because you're already comfortable here."
"Do you even breathe when you speak?" Law asked him incredulously.
"Who needs air to speak? Listen, you need to tell your parents this so that you can stay here – "
"I don't need to tell them anything."
"You need to stay here!"
"I don't need to do anything! Look, whatever happens, happens. It's not within my control."
"Why not?"
"Who said I even had control in the first place?"
"You do have control! All you need to do is speak up and assert yourself!"
"Stop yelling, you're going to get us kicked out of here," Law mumbled, looking in the direction of the librarian, who lifted her head from her desk.
Sanji lowered his voice. "All you have to do is tell them what you feel. This is your condition. At this point in your life, they'll have to listen to what you say because they have a lot of work to do in making things up to you."
"That's not how things like this work – "
"When is it your turn to take control of your life?"
"When I had that chance, this is what happened of it!" Law snapped at him, gesturing at himself. "This is the choice I made, and look how well that ended up!"
"It might've been your choice to leave, but whatever happened to make you leave, that wasn't yours! Someone else made that decision for you!" Sanji snapped back. "Now that you've come this far, it's your turn to make a fucking choice! And I say you stay here!"
"How is that my own fucking choice?" Law asked curiously, almost releasing a deprecating laugh.
"Well, I stated my reasons why you should," Sanji mumbled, picking at a book spine.
"And besides, this is more of your wanting me to stay, and I told you – "
"It's not like that!" Sanji then shook his head, uttering a slight growl. "Okay, so it is! So what? It's not like you are, too, right?"
"…Right. But, in order not to give the wrong idea – "
"So, you would just up and leave anyway, just so you don't 'give me the wrong idea'? Put yourself into another terrible situation because you don't want me confused? Is that it?"
"Ugh, your voice gets so shrill – "
"Forget about what I want, think about what you want! If you go to another school, how long will it take for you to catch up, again? Putting yourself into another classroom full of kids that don't understand that you don't want to talk because you don't want to, and offending everybody - !"
"I don't care about that!"
"You do too care because it was stressing you the fuck out this whole entire time! Stop saying that when it's not even the true story!"
"Why the fuck do you work yourself up into such a rage fit when things don't go your way?" Law asked him incredulously.
"I know, I know, I have to work on that! I just get so frustrated that no one listens to me when I have an opinion I want to express," Sanji said wearily.
"People hear you, it's just up to them if they want to listen."
"Is it always the wrong thing to say, or what? Do my expressions not matter in the end, even if I say them?"
"It depends on who you're talking to."
"The only people I talk to are you and them, and they sure as fuck don't listen to me, either."
"I don't."
Sanji reached up to clutch at his hair before slicing his hand through the air with a heavy gesture. "I know. I know in the end I don't matter to anybody, but goddamn it, that doesn't mean I have to sit in silence and take it. At least I'm saying something, and even if it's not being heard, or even held in some kind of trust, at least I said it! How many times has this opportunity slipped through your own fingers, and you regretted not taking the chance to at least express yourself?"
"Too many," Law mumbled, looking away.
"Then stop letting other people make your decisions for you!"
"Then I should stop listening to you, right?"
"You don't listen to me anyway!"
"God, what the fuck do you want?"
"I want you to stay here at this school!"
"So you can get the wrong idea? You're not getting anything from me!"
"All I want from you is your fucking attention!"
"You have it!"
"All that other stuff you said, I don't know shit about, and you keep thinking I'm – I'm this fucking asshole that only wants you for one thing, but you have to stop thinking that, that people want you for something heinous! Your parents want you, and they're trying very hard to do that – "
"They should've wanted me along time ago, when it mattered, Sanji!"
"I'm sure they did! I'm sure they did but they went the wrong way with it, and they made a mistake, and it's a mistake they'll always pay for from now on, and you're not even giving them a chance, like you aren't giving me a chance, and it's so frustrating - !"
"You don't know anything about that! You don't know anything about my life, so don't fucking come in here and tell me that I should be different towards people who treated me in a way I'll never forget and made the choice to leave for my own safety, so get that through your fucking head!" Law snapped at him, feeling his face and neck redden with rising anger.
"For your own safety? The fuck you saying? What 'safety' did you find all those years after, shithead? Look at you now! You sure as fuck don't look like you found any!"
"Oh, fuck you - !"
"Fuck yourself, fucking asshole!"
"Before any fucking begins on anyone's part," Smoker interrupted, eyebrows lifted and startling them both into wide-eyed expressions of horror, "I'm here to take my charge off school grounds. It seems he'd forgotten he had an appointment with us, today. But, go on. This is an interesting conversation I'm hearing."
Flaming red, Sanji pushed out from the row to head to class, Smoker reaching out and grabbed him by the shirt and forcing him back as Law continued to look mortified, looking towards the librarian, who was frowning in their direction.
"What happened to your arm?" Smoker asked Sanji curiously.
"Uh…nothing. Just…it broke," Sanji stuttered, attempting to stuff that hand into his pocket but failing miserably.
"It just broke? How does that happen?"
"Uh, just…home. My brothers and I…we fight a lot, and so, this happened, and, uh…it's nothing."
"So you broke it over one of your brothers' heads?" Smoker asked skeptically. "That's what happened? What'd your dad say about that?"
"Nothing. It happens. Boys will be boys."
Smoker frowned deeply at that. "This haircut, too? Because that doesn't look like something any teenage boy would want to look like, this side of the world."
Sanji reached out automatically to cover that part of his head with his broken arm, bumped his cast against his forehead and quickly switched sides. Then mumbled, "It'll grow back."
"I can see why it happened," Smoker said gruffly. "You're pretty mouthy."
"I didn't ask for it to happen! I didn't tell them to do this! Why the fuck would I do that?"
"No need to get riled up, kid, it was just an observation. Calm down. Look, I think it's great that you have the personality of a honey badger, because it might be useful for ya down the road. We need more divorce attorneys like you out here. Growing up to fill papa's place, right?"
Sanji frowned fitfully, Law furrowing his brow. "I don't want to be a fucking attorney."
"But you already argue like one. Good job, kid. You're showing great signs of being a successful man, much like your daddy."
"Just because we have the last name doesn't mean shit! I don't want to be like him!"
"Why are you talking so much shit right now?" Law asked Smoker. "What business is it of yours to be calling other kids out for something their parents are?"
Smoker shrugged, but he could not hide the tiny smile that made his lips curl. He looked at Sanji. "My apologies. He's right, I shouldn't have pushed the issue. What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Stop talking so condescendingly, no one likes that."
"A…I want to cook," Sanji mumbled, looking at the floor while Law snapped at Smoker. "I don't want to be a lawyer."
"That's…interesting. Your father agree to that?" Smoker asked curiously.
"No."
"He's already got you set on the road he wants, huh? Parents will do that. They got this idea in their heads where they want their kids to go, but hell if the kids themselves decide for themselves what they want to do, and where they want to go on their own. That's what it sounds like, here."
"Parents should at least listen to what their kids want to say before deciding on anything!" Sanji insisted, adjusting his bag.
"Friends should do the same," Smoker pointed out. "Instead of insisting that one should do as they say, they should be more supportive of what one thinks and feels rather than how they themselves feel."
Sanji's lips tightened, and he lowered his head. "That doesn't matter here because I'm not his friend," he muttered. He then turned and stalked out from the library, and Smoker crossed his arms before looking at Law. Law glanced at him from the corner of his eye before turning away, fiddling with his sweater.
"He didn't let me finish. This goes both ways, don't you think?" Smoker asked.
"I don't know," Law mumbled.
"Oh, you lost your voice all of a sudden? You know, it was real interesting listening to that conversation I just heard. In the five years I've been dealing with you, I never heard any of that coming from you."
"I don't know what to say."
"You have some real interesting thoughts, you know. It wouldn't hurt to express them when you can to those close to you. Now, if you could do the same with your parents, they'd know where they stood with you. As it is, they don't know what the fuck to do or think, but they're just like that kid. They want your attention and your opinion, so why not give it to them, if even for a short time?"
Sullen, Law stared at his shoes. Seeing that he wasn't going to get anything more out of him, Smoker then said, "C'mon. it was agreed upon on Saturday that you'd attend counseling for the process. Today was the day, and it looks as if you'd forgotten. Don't leave that kid hanging, through. He embarrassed himself telling you what he felt, so you at least owe him an apology or something, for making me overhear this personal issue between you two."
Mortified, wondering just how much Smoker heard and how he interpreted the conversation, Law reflected on what had happened minutes earlier. While his first instinct was to deny that he owed Sanji anything, he did feel something of a notion to at least say something to Sanji.
"Hold on," Law then mumbled, moving towards the notebook he abandoned on one of the tables nearby. Once he found the note Sanji had left for him earlier, he opened it up. Reading it quickly, he found his pen, then marked a few lines underneath it while Smoker exchanged a thumbs up with the librarian who flashed a similar sign back. He then refolded it and straightened up. "I'll meet you out front."
"I'll be there."
A/N: Last chapter for awhile. I'm super stoked for this other project I'm working on!
RR: Both of them are pretty supportive of each other – it'll just take some time letting them get comfortable with this new groove they're in because of each other's efforts. They'll get there eventually.
Naghi-Tan: Thank you for reading, even as exhausted as you are! Your work is important, and my fics will be here however long I am! : )
Snowflake97: Sanji is slowly learning his own way out of his fam, and it's starting to show, no matter how hard they try to hold him back. Breaking away from it is proving to be costly, though.
