Thanks Vergina-spva and MyLadyDay for beta'ing

Chapter 9

Law gasped for air when something heavy launched itself on his stomach and rudely awakened him. Grumbling, he rubbed his eyes. He should have known better than to fall asleep on the couch. "Get the hell off me," he grouched as he pushed Luffy away.

Luffy pouted. "I was bored. Your new friend texted if it was okay to come over, so I said it was if he brought meat." He laughed at his own cleverness.

"I told you not to touch my phone!"

Luffy shrugged. "It was making a sound, and you were snoring, so I looked."

"I did not snore," Law said indignantly and checked his text messages. It seemed Shachi had texted him. Law wondered why. They had met last night, and it hadn't seemed like Shachi had anything pressing to discuss with Law in private. Well, if he wanted privacy, he should have asked Law to meet him somewhere.

Law groaned. He had really hoped he could keep his new friends as far away from the D-brothers as possible, but both of them were home today with no plans of leaving.

Law eyed the clock. It was too late to change plans now. Besides, Luffy wouldn't leave them alone, not now he thought there might be meat in the equation.

He pushed Luffy off him and went to the kitchen to make a quick lunch, as he seemed to have missed that. The D-brothers were competent enough to make a sandwich – though barely – so they hadn't needed to wake him.

Of course, the sound of the fridge opening lured a drooling Luffy over, and Law ended up making him food too – not a sandwich of course, because if there was something Law disliked, it was bread. They hadn't much in the house, but fortunately there was milk, eggs and flour, so he could make pancakes.

As Law took the last bite, the doorbell rang, and Law had to tackle Luffy to reach the door first.

Shachi seemed a bit surprised when Law and Luffy tried to push each other away from the door, and he held out a plastic bag. "I brought meat like you asked, but I didn't understand–"

Luffy dove onto the bag with a cry of "Meat!" and started to sniff it like a dog. Shachi looked completely flabbergasted.

Law sighed and rubbed his temples. "This is the housemate I told you about."

"I'm Luffy!" Luffy said with a grin and then scurried off to the kitchen, probably to open the package of the meat.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't send that text either, by the way. I would have never suggested you came here," Law said as he let Shachi into the house.

"I thought it was an odd request." Shachi wiped his feet and looked around. "Nice house, though."

Law hummed and led him to the living room. "Don't mind the mess. I only just read your text, and this is the permanent state of the house."

Shachi grinned and sat down on the couch.

"I take it you already had lunch? If not, we can still go somewhere, because I doubt I can wrestle anything away from Mr Strawhat," Law said.

Shachi laughed. "I'm fine, thanks."

"So, what's this about?"Law sat down next to him. "Something happened?"

"Dammit, Luffy, if you use up the shampoo, throw away the empty bottle!" Ace came storming into the living room, wearing nothing but a towel and his hair still damp from the shower. When he saw Shachi, he came to an abrupt halt. "Oh, hi. You must be one of Law's little friends."

Law face-palmed.

Shachi took Ace's hand hesitantly. "Yeah, I'm Shachi."

"Ace. Wait, you're not that cop, are you? Law, you naughty boy!" Ace waggled his eyebrow as he grinned.

"Cop?" Shachi looked at Law.

"Don't ask. You," he turned to Ace, "would you please get dressed?"

"Fine." Ace took a long look at Shachi, cocking his head slightly.

"Don't you dare!" Law chased him away, and he was glad Ace held on to his towel tight enough. When Ace had disappeared up the stairs, Law sighed and sat back down next to Shachi again. "I'm terribly sorry about them."

"It's fine. At least it doesn't look like it gets dull around here."

"That's the problem," Law muttered. "So why were you here again?"

"Right." Shachi sat back on the couch. "Remember I told you I was looking for a place of my own, so I could move out of my parents place?"

Law nodded.

"Well, I found an apartment that's perfect. It's close to the university, closer than this even. The problem is, I can't pay the rent on my own. So, I'm looking for a roommate, and remembering how you were complaining about your current living space, I naturally thought of you."

Law blinked a few times. He hadn't expected an offer like that.

"No way!" Ace came rushing back into the room again, only clad in shorts – the word shirt didn't appear to be in his vocabulary. "He lives here."

Luffy stuck his head around the corner of the door curiously. "Is Traf leaving?"

"That'll be my decision," Law snapped.

"What did he mean that you were complaining? Are you saying we're bad housemates?" Ace asked, pouting slightly.

"Are you serious? You constantly fall asleep in your food, which I need to cook because you'll set things on fire if you try. And Mr Strawhat is constantly in need of entertainment and food," Law counted on his fingers.

"You live here rent free," Ace protested.

Law raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to keep me here so badly?"

"'Cause, it's fun with you around. Besides, we know nothing about this friend of yours," Ace continued as if Shachi wasn't even there.

"Are you… worried about me?" Law asked. "You, who encourages me to sleep with every stranger I meet?"

"Aha, I knew you were fucking him!" Ace exclaimed.

"Wait, what?" Shachi asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"We're not. Two people can be friends without such occurrences," Law said with a sigh.

"I know that," Ace muttered.

Law rolled his eyes and turned to Shachi. "I would like to see the apartment before making a decision."

Shachi nodded and rose. "We could go now if you want. I have the keys because I needed to do some measuring."

Ace crossed his arms before his chest. "Well, I'm going with you."

"Why?" Law asked, sighing.

"'Cause, who knows, maybe there are dead bodies in the closet or something."

"I can check for those. Besides," Law grinned unsettling, "that gives me something to dissect."

"You see? This is what you get if you live with Law," Ace said to a slightly disturbed looking Shachi.

"Are we going somewhere? I wanna go too!" Luffy exclaimed as he finally exited the kitchen, licking his fingers clean.

"Of course you do," Law muttered.

"You might as well take him with you. He'll whine until you do anyway," Ace said as he located his keys.

"And what makes you think I want you to come?" Law asked, secretly amused when Ace pouted.

"Please!"

"Hey, it's fine. The more the merrier, right?" Shachi hastily said.

Law rolled his eyes and put on his long coat. "You'll regret that soon enough."

His voice was barely audible over Luffy's loud cheering.

They took the bus to the apartment, as Ace was the only one with a vehicle, and they wouldn't all fit on his motorcycle.

On their way there, Shachi explained that the place was already furnished for the most part. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and living room, the last three of which they would of course share.

When they stepped out of the bus, they had arrived in a nice neighbourhood with some high-rise buildings and a small park. Shachi led the way to one of the flats and opened the door. They had to walk a few flights of stairs, because, apparently, there was no elevator.

Finally, they reached the floor the apartment was on, and Shachi let them in. He hadn't lied, the apartment was nice indeed.

His hands in his pant pockets, Law started to explore the rooms, constantly passed by Luffy who ran from room to room. In the meantime, Shachi measured the rooms with Ace's help, until he had a narcoleptic attack. Law had to reassure Shachi it was fine to let him lie on the floor.

"Is this gonna be your room? You should pick this one! It's way better than the others!" Luffy said as he ran round the living room.

Law sighed. "If I'm gonna live here, I'll pick one of the bedrooms."

"Here's also a copy of the rental agreement." Shachi handed him a paper. "Just read it through and see if you agree."

Ace woke up again and after cursing Law thoroughly for letting him lie on the floor, he read along over his shoulder. At the amount of rent, he whistled. "That's quite a bit."

"Well, it's only half of it," Shachi explained, "since we would share."

"It's fine," Law replied. "Money is no issue."

Ace looked at him confusedly. "Since when?"

"Since I have a rich family." Law didn't look up from the lease.

"Since when?" Ace repeated. "You never told us!"

"You didn't ask."

Ace huffed. "Well, if we'd known that, we'd have charged you some rent."

"You don't even pay your own rent, your grandfather does." Law placed the rental agreement on the coffee table. "Besides, since I live with you, I've spent a small fortune on food, most of it meat."

Ace smiled sheepishly.

"So, are you gonna do it?" Shachi asked.

"The apartment is nice, and, like you said, it's close to the university. Still, I'd like to think about it some more. When do you need an answer?"

Shachi shrugged. "Take a few days." He looked on his phone to check the time. "It's getting close to dinner time. How about we invite the others over too and order pizza or something? I'm sure they'd like to see it too."

"That means I get to see all Law's little friends in one day." Ace pretended to wipe away a tear. "They grow up so fast."

Law rolled his eyes. "No one invited you to stay."

"You know you can't say 'food' and not invite Lu. Besides, why wouldn't you want me here? Am I embarrassing you or something?" Ace asked indignantly.

Law gave him a deadpanned look. "You're not wearing a shirt, your eating habits leave much to be desired and you'll most likely end with your face in your food. Yes, you're embarrassing me."

Ace pouted again, which he did an awful lot for a grown man, but before he could reply, the toilet flushed, and Luffy came skipping out of the bathroom. He looked from Ace to Law, his head slightly cocked. Then he grinned. "I want a meat pizza, with extra meat! No, two!"

Law sighed. It didn't look like he would get either D-brother off his back anytime soon. Shachi seemed to like them for some reason, so that didn't help either.

Eventually, they decided Ace and Luffy would go to the store – Luffy was never one to be able to sit still for a long time – to get beer and snacks for that evening, while Law and Shachi finished measuring and went through the contract. Ace hadn't trusted Law to let them in again, so Shachi had handed them the key, much to Law's dismay. The D-brothers were notorious for losing their keys, but after several colourful threats, Ace had promised to be careful.

Bepo and Penguin came over about two hours later, just in time for some pizza that Luffy or Ace hadn't consumed yet. They got a quick tour around the apartment before sitting down around the coffee table where the drinks and pizza was, except Luffy and Bepo, as soon as they discovered they had the same game on their handheld computer and had started playing together in the corner.

"No boyfriend today?" Law asked Penguin, who flushed.

"He's not my– Anyway," he interrupted himself when he saw the deadpanned look of his friends, "apparently, his best friend found out today that he's bi and didn't take it well, so he needs to work that out first."

Law rolled his eyes. "You don't say."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Penguin snapped.

Law raised his eyebrows. Penguin usually was nice and easy-going, and Law had never heard him snap before. "I didn't mean to imply I have anything against bisexual people," he explained calmly as he took a sip from his beer, watching the tension drain from Penguin's shoulders, "because I don't. I'm just… familiar with the friend in question."

"Really?" Penguin asked. "How?"

"Oooh, is he the cop?" Ace asked a little too eagerly and waggled his eyebrows.

"Will you knock it off?" Law snapped.

Shachi looked confused from one of the other. "Who's this cop you keep mentioning?"

"He's the guy that Law let use handcuffs on him when they–Hmmm!" His words were cut off when Law pushed one of the couch pillows against his face. He struggled, but Law had the advantage of being above him.

Shachi and Penguin look wide-eyed at was going on. "Shouldn't you let him breathe?" the latter asked worriedly.

"He'll be fine," Law said calmly.

"He just stopped struggling!"

"It's too soon for him to be unconscious from lack of oxygen." Law removed the pillow to check up on Ace, and immediately, snoring arose. Law rolled his eyes. "Figures."

"He's okay?" Penguin asked.

"He's the narcoleptic guy I hooked up with a drug trial." Law sighed. Bepo and Luffy hadn't even looked up from their game.

"Anyway, how did you know this friend of Killer?" Shachi inquired.

"I met him on the train a while back. After that, we had several encounters." Law took another sip from his beer, smirking at the memories. "He didn't seem to be the type to be open-minded about many things."

"How do you know he's the one I'm talking about?" Penguin asked.

"I met Mr Killer before, when I picked up his motorcycle at the student garage." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the still sleeping Ace. "His friend, Mr Eustass, happened to work there as well. In any case, I talked with Mr Killer about him when you introduced us. He mentioned Mr Eustass hadn't come out to him yet."

"Well, he did say this Kid guy is his best friend, so I hope they work things out," Penguin said pensively. "I guess I'll meet him sooner or later."

"If you do," Law smirked around his beer bottle, "please give him my regards."