Chapter 15: Skeletons in My Closet

Warnings: Language, Fluffi-ness (Sabo and Doflamingo) and Law major OOC-ness.

A/N: since there isn't much activity at the office right now, so I'm using every precious second to try and update all my projects. So enjoy.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

OK. CALM DOWN, LAW. There was no reason for him to get panicked, really now. He was just going to have breakfast—big breakfast hopefully— with Eustass and Luffy and that's that.

But still… Here he is, having an intense, one sided staring contest with the mirror as he tried to figure out where it had gone all wrong. The shirt was alright, he supposed—plain black cotton, no logos, not even an annoying silk screening. But from there, everything looked so bloody wrong. Somehow his jeans seemed tighter than usual, his hair didn't fall in a right way and his shirt—God, he didn't even want to start with his shirt.

"I looked like someone who's dressed by their grandmother…" Law grumbled and quickly pulled the shirt off over his head.

A sudden slammed of his bedroom door made him turned and the school nurse took in the image of a very irritated Penguin and responded with an overly dramatic shrill. With a plain green tank top and sweatpants, the other chose not to explore further into Law's disastrous den—clothes littered all over the floor, the unmade bed, the soda cans under his bed and dear heavens… There was a small puddle of black entity on the floor and Penguin didn't even want to ponder over the possible cause of that horrifying sight. Not when he was having an inner battle on whether to continue talking to Law or sprint quickly as fast as he could towards the medicine cabinet for a bottle or two of Peptol Bismol.

"Peggy! Don't just barge into someone's room like that! Have some decency!" To add his melodramatic play, Law used the shirt to cover his exposed chest.

Penguin rolled his eyes, leaning his side against the doorframe and huffed at his friend's act. "You're being too noisy when it's only eight." The shorter male mumbled irritatingly and gave another one or two sets of eye rolling action at Law's ridiculous pretence.

"And stop looking like a harassed high school girl. You walk around the house three quarter naked almost all the time and now you're screaming decency."

"Hmmp," The tanned male snorted, throwing the shirt randomly onto the floor only to dove back into his closet for something to wear. "Well, today the word 'decency' is certainly in my dictionary."

"And today is my day off." Again, the shorter male countered. "Although I know your degree of consideration is next to zero, I'm still going to try my luck and beg you to tone down the racket you're making."

Luck was definitely not Penguin's companion at that moment since Law had decided to become a complete bastard of the day and ignored his plead. Asshole even threw shirts purposely at him, but the male nurse was quicker to dodge the flying clothes. Days like this are when he would much rather opting for a root canal job than dealing with Law's childish tantrum.

"You have a day off?" Law's voice was slightly muffled as he dove further into his closet. Through the corner of his eyes, the doctor caught the sight of Penguin collecting the clothes next to his feet and began folding them. Hmm, typical Peggy and his clean freak attitude.

"Well," Penguin smoothed out the clothes in his hands and frowned at the persistent wrinkles. Damn Law and his sloppiness. Damn these clothes and its wrinkles. "I haven't had any good long rest for ages, so I thought today is a perfect day to have one."

That is, until Law decided that today would be the perfect day to have a one sided war with his own closet. Penguin really didn't want to put it in a dramatic way, but given how Law was clutching the clothes hanger as though he was going to use it to slay a dragon, he digressed.

"Good mor—wooahh!" Shachi, who allegedly shared the title 'housemate', had only one of his legs inside Law's den before he retracted it back and stood next to Penguin. "Is it safe to go in? Do I need to fetch the GPS so I can navigate inside this room?"

"Ha, ha, ha." Law's sarcastic laugh echoed inside the small closet. "Very funny, Shachi."

"But really, Law." Grinning, the auburn haired man dug his toes into the carpet while next to him, Penguin has just finished folding the bloody, wrinkly shirts. Well, there were still wrinkled, but at least it was toned down to a much, acceptable level. "You need to clean this garbage can that you call bedroom."

Law poked his head out from the closet. "Nobody dares move a shit." He warned. "Because the last time you guys cleaned my room without my consent, Bepo is missing. And I still couldn't find him until today."

Almost simultaneously, guilt reflected in both in their eyes. Bepo... Right. Law's precious, snugly, cuddly, and unbelievably cute teddy bear. If that wasn't enough to make people screams 'awww', the spotted teddy bear is snuggled in a red, hoodie snuggle suit featuring tiny leopards print.

But then again, after being under the doctor's care for years, the fluffy and cuddly teddy bear had transformed into a disgusting, ball of mess. Bepo's once fluffy fur was no longer fluffy, but clumpy and sticky with unimaginable amount of dirt together with Law's saliva. They just knew, since Law had this very peculiar habit of nibbling on Bepo's ears and hoodie when he sleeps. If there's anything worse, it's the fact that Bepo smells. A lot. Full stop.

So when they had sneaked into Law's room about a month ago and cleaned whatever shits stacked inside the garbage hole, just visualized in the mind their horror when they discovered Bepo in such soul-destroying condition. That time, aside from Shachi who had released a loud shriek—in a manly way of course-, Penguin was a hair closer from passing out in a dead faint. On instinct, they dumped the teddy bear into the washing machine along with a gallon of detergent, softener, perfume and another gallon of detergent.

Of course, one or two accidents are prone to happen when the job was done in a most, unorganized way while bearing in mind that the owner may comes home at any moment and chew them alive in one way or another.

Shachi had poured bleach into the concoction.

The result was a disaster. Everything about Bepo had been turned stark white. His fur, his hoodie, snuggle suit and even the back of his round ears. At that moment, Bepo was officially a snowball.

But Law didn't need to know about that. Indeed, he shouldn't. All they need to do was act naturally like they have no bloody idea where Bepo whereabouts is while make it a mission to buy another teddy bear that looks exactly like that.

Again, not everything can go exactly according to plan. When it was later revealed that the Teddy Bear was a limited edition and Law had received it when he was five as a birthday present, the duo felt like a royal assholes. And the sight of the distressed Law looking for his missing M.I.A Bepo that prolonged for weeks only intensified the asshol-ish feeling. Tenfold.

"Shachi!"

Startled, the auburn haired male couldn't help but to display the typical dear in the headlight look. "Wha-what?"

Law eyed his roommate, and narrowed them further after noting Shachi scratched the back of his ear—a very palpable habit when he was nervous. Hmm… Very suspicious indeed. But the doctor decided he would deal with their peculiar behaviours later with lots and lots of questions.

"Help me with my clothes." Law continued further and waited for at least ten seconds before Shachi finally able to gather his thoughts together and responded.

"Yeah, sure…" The auburn haired male side stepped Penguin and entered Law's closet. Once inside the tiny room and he paused again, before making a relieve sound. "Pheww… No slug monster attacking me so far."

The doctor huffed at the sarcasm. "Shachi, enough. I'm going to be late."

"Alright, alright—wait, where are you going?" Shachi asked and later frowned when a giddy type of grin splitting Law's face.

"A date." A short reply followed soon after. "Well, not actually a real REAL date since I'm actually going to help my student—"

"You're dating an elementary school kid?!" All of sudden, Penguin's voice boomed from behind and Law hissed when his elbowed hit something sharp and solid. He didn't bother to think what had caused that since the doctor was more focused on Penguin harassed look. That, and he was actually half impressed to see the male nurse inside his room without fainting, although he did look a tad pale at the moment.

"Are you out of your mind, Peggy?! I'm not a paedophile!" Law's voice pierced through the small room and Sachi just had to cover his ears at the doctor's equally loud voice. Of all places, just why-oh-why did they have to conduct a shouting competition inside the closet. Now with all of them inside—three grown men in fact—, it was hard to move around without stepping on someone's foot or elbowing the stomach.

"I'm helping this boy to overcome his…" He wanted to say 'emotional ordeal', but Law digressed. No more drama please. "… trauma. And he has an older brother who's anything else but hot and hot and scorching hot—" The tanned male drawled the last line with a smirk.

"Are you really going to help this kid or you're just aiming for the brother?" Shachi cut him while he raked through the line of clothing stacked inside the closet.

Another unhealthy thing about Law is, he's a typical clothe hoarders. He bought clothes, stuffed them inside his closet and later forgot about them in the first place. And the cycle continues and right now, half of his clothes still had price tags on them.

The school doctor frowned at what he considered as a humiliating accusation. "Of course I'm intending to help the boy. I'm a jerk, but I'm not an asshole." Law crossed his arms in defiant and leaned against the wall to make room for Penguin to squeeze in. "But there's nothing wrong with wooing his brother at the same time, right? It's like killing two birds with one spoon."

"It's stone, Law. You can't kill anything with a spoon." Penguin corrected.

"Whatever."

"Haah! I've got them!" Shachi gasped and cheered after finally able to pick up a full set of clothing for Law—top to bottom—, minus the underwear obviously. "Alright! Everybody out of this hell hole! I need some fresh air here, people!"

However, Shachi didn't wait for his housemates to make the first move as he relentlessly began to shove them out from the tiny closet. Straight away, he threw the clothes towards Law, dashed to the closest window and slammed it open. As soon as the first gush of fresh air hit his lungs, the man sighed in relief and the white spots behind his eyelids too, began to disappear. While the auburn haired man was busy recuperating, Law slid on his jeans and rolled his slim hips a couple of time before zipping up.

"Shachi, this is boot cut." Disproval was heavy in his voice as Law stared his reflection on the mirror. The tumbled rigid jeans had this slimmer fit throughout his thighs, lower rise and flare out slightly from the knees to the hem. "I hate boot cut."

After taking the last gulp of air, Shachi turned and stared at Law with overly bored impression. "You bought them and there's more inside your closet. And take my words; you look better in boot cut. Those skinny jeans of yours always make you look like a walking stick."

Law pouted and took in his reflection for the second time. He had this lanky frame and the jeans did make him look less… Well, lanky. Of course, he's not going to say that he agreed with Sachi. Shrugging, Law put on a simple black, long-sleeved T-shirt and top it with polo black vest that gives off this military, relax mood—all hand-picked by Sachi. The tall male tugged the stand collar before making a complete twirl in front of the mirror.

Both Shachi and Penguin groaned. They were certain that if the mirror could speak and move, it would be slapping Law across the face three times by now and kick the doctor out from the room.

Satisfied with his look, the tanned doctor snatched his keys, wallet and cellphone before dashing to the front hallway, tagged by his roommates.

"Wish me luck, my mates." Law grinned as he wriggled his toes inside his low heels boots. "Prey that he would drool over me."

"For the last time, Law," Penguin looked over to Shachi and back to Law. "You REALLY do want to help this boy… right?"

At once, the doctor's face fall and he again, huffed in annoyance. "Of course I want to help him! What wrong wi—you know what?! Fuck you both!"

A slam of the front door was the outcome of Law's frustration and they winced at the doctor's muffled, oh-not-so colourful language behind the door. They stared at the door, unmoved. Well, almost unmoved aside from Penguin constant hair twirling and Shachi's rapid blinking eyes. Ten seconds later, Shachi was the first to lose it.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Was his first three words. "What are we going to do with Bepo?! We can't forever hide him inside my luggage!"

"I thought you're taking care of it!" Similar to Shachi, Penguin too, had his composure flushed down the toilet.

"I tried, alright." They headed to the living room and the auburn haired male leaned his back against the back of the couch. "Do you know how many toy stores I've went? None of them have the same look. Hoodie aside, they don't even have spotted fur!"

Another defeated sigh echoed throughout the living room. "I swear… Whoever gave him that teddy bear is either amazing or simply retarded."

"It's his mom."

Shachi blinked. "Amazing then."

Penguin sat on the couch and picked one candy from the bowl sitting on the coffee table. "I've searched the internet but it was a limited edition from more than ten years. Worse, the company went bankrupt a couple years ago."

The news just made Shachi groaned further. They sat there in silence before the auburn haired male straightened his pose, grabbed Penguin by the arm and dragged the nurse with him and away from the couch.

"Come on," Shachi ignored the other's protest at being mishandled and all. "We're going to take Bepo out from his hiding place, stare at him for half an hour and figure out a plan."

"But—"

"No but, Peggy." Penguin was inches closer from kissing the carpeted floor but still, Shachi's hold was like iron. "We're going to solve this shit because sooner or later, Law is going to find out and he's going to chew us alive. Then he's going to bring us back to life and kill us again, only more painfully."

"But it's my day off!"

No shit.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

'I must be crazy to be doing this.'

That was probably Kidd's favourite phrase of the day given that he has been muttering the same phrase to himself for the last one and a half hour. Including this one, it would be the fifteenth time. He was nervous, a tad terrified even. A rare occurrence actually. There he was, inside a warm, familiar café, surrounded by familiar people and sitting next to Luffy but nevertheless, the feelings still clung on him like his second skin. After all, he was going to introduce Luffy with the shady guy who, statically speaking, almost sent his brother to a state of seizure. In this type of circumstances, Kidd was pretty sure he had the privilege to be overly anxious on what he considered as an ordeal.

"Kidd." Luffy suddenly spoke as his finger made an invisible pattern on the table.

"Hmm…?"

"Who are we waiting for?" The eight year old looked up, puzzlement was reflected in his eyes. They arrived at the café for almost fifteen minutes and yet Kidd still didn't make any indication to make an order.

A creep for a doctor, Kidd wanted to say. But the redhead figured it wouldn't be best for Luffy to learn that word for now. "A friend." He said instead and gave a reassuring smile.

"He'll be here soon." Kidd added. Because if he doesn't make himself appear any minutes from now—

As if on cue, the doorbell chimed softly and there was Law, making a frog leap into the cafe with an expression almost similar to a deer tossed into the middle of the highway. His entrance was further damaged after the tanned male bumped into a small girl, probably about Luffy's age and as a result, the child fall down on her butt. Kidd was half expected for the shady doctor to stutter and babble obscenity. But what he didn't expect was for the man to swiftly lift the girl up and help her to stand. Even more surprisingly, Law adjusted the girl's purple bow headband that had fallen sideway during the collision and apologized profusely to the girl and her mother. Luckily, no harm was done and therefore, the doctor escaped from the tiger's claw.

"Am I late?" Law asked once he arrived at the brothers' table.

Kidd didn't answer. In return, the amber eyes stared at the spot where the accident had taken place.

"I swear," The doctor quickly said before the mechanic had any chance to accuse him for anything. Of course, not that Kidd was going to. "That was purely an accident. I didn't run into the kid on purpose."

It wasn't appropriate by any means but still, the school doctor still couldn't stop his eyes from ogling the redhead before him. Looking gruff as always, the mechanic was spotted in a denim-look indigo shirt with both of the sleeves rolled up, revealing his strong arms. Better, the first two top buttons were undone, so it was only natural for Law, or anyone on that matter, to witness the pale expand of skin covering his muscular chest—those well-built chest that rose and fall with every inhale and exhale.

Law blinked. Not good. Better stop before Mr. Hot and Se—cough—Mr. Eustass caught me red handed—Fuck, too late! He knew he was officially caught when Kidd narrowed his eyes, looked down to his chest and narrowed his eyes even more before the redhead grabbed the chair next to him and hurled it towards his direction.

Or at least, that was he thought Kidd was going to do just now.

But none of that came around. The mechanic however, did scowl and nodded at the seat in front of him. Law had come up with a conclusion that Kidd's decision not to inflict any injury on him was probably because his brother was around. If that was the case, then he could at least reassure himself that his life was within a safe zone.

At seeing how the shady doctor didn't budge, Kidd was a hair close from barking before Law suddenly took a seat, not in front of him, but Luffy's. He was surprised. And so was Luffy. It wasn't even fifteen minutes since Law's first arrival, and yet, the ebony haired man has been throwing surprises one after another.

"Hey Luffy," Law began as he made himself comfortable. The child before him was startled, that much he could tell and Luffy had every right to feel so. "How's your ankle? Does it still hurt?"

Simple questions and choices, and yet Luffy still found it hard to answer the doctor. One, the doctor's sudden arrival surprised him. Two, Law hasn't been registered inside his 'safe list'. Three, something about the man made his heart lurched forward. Was it the dark circle underlining his eyes? Or the way his eyes fixated on him, silently studying? Perhaps, the way he dressed, talked or even smiled?

Long to short, Trafalgar Law frightened him, even by the tiniest that was more than enough for chill to set in deep to the bone. Gradual doubts began to fog the child's mind, poking at him in pinprick motion.

So Luffy quickly averted his eyes away stared blankly at the window instead, almost dismissing Law. Because that way, the boy felt he could compress the pitter patter in his chest together with the agonizing chokehold around his neck.

"Luffy," Kidd tapped his brother's shoulder to bring the boy's reality back to him, and away from any thoughts that might be encompassed by wildest fear. "He asked you a question."

This time around, Luffy's control hasn't slipped away and he looked up, locked his eyes with Kidd's as if to ensure that his brother was within his reach before turning back to catch Law's open stare.

"My ankle's okay." The boy finally answered with much difficulty as though there were bricks suppressing his ability to speak and for every word pulled out of his mouth, it did nothing but tightening the knot in his throat.

"Doesn't hurt anymore..?" Again, Law prodded for more reaction from his student. From time to time, he noticed how the child would avoid eye contact and rubbed his arms as if his questions and stares are spikes brushing across his fragile skin.

Luffy shook his head and before him, Law too, let out a gush of air he has been holding. He knew the child's past trauma along with social deprivation was the trigger of his inner pain. One wrong move and he'll end up in Luffy's dangerous list. Worse, every tiny confidence the boy has been building so far would be shattered to million pieces and Law would have every reason to feel like a royal shit.

"That's good then." As the doctor laced his fingers together, he felt a wave of relieve washing over him, more so when a waitress who looked about mid-twenties sauntered her way towards them. To be honest, he was quite famished at the moment.

"Kidd and Luffy…" She began. Dark and silky, her waist length hair swayed slightly when she halted her sauntering right in front of the table. "The usual?"

"Yeah." The redhead answered shortly and leaned his back against the aluminium arm chair.

She jotted down their order before turning to the raven haired boy. "Today we have new syrup—buttermilk caramel. Paula's new recipe. Do you want to try it with your waffles?"

Luffy nodded his answer and the waitress made a remark in her notepad.

"By the way Laki," Kidd curled his finger, motioning for the waitress to come closer, in which she did by bending her body slightly. "What's up with these new paintings? Is this Goldenweek's way to show her rebellious side?"

They both took a quick peek at the newly set of paintings scattered across the wall and Laki chuckled when the mechanic frowned at every passing pieces. He had a valid reason to do so. For instant, the nearest painting depicts a vein-like thing with vibrant multicoloured ornament against a colour shifting background. Based on the title displayed underneath the painting—'Life Tree V'—the canvas art was supposed to be an illustration of a tree or some sort, but no matter how Kidd stared at it from hundreds of different angles, the image of a tree still hasn't popped out.

More like, something had died on the canvas and left there long enough to fossilized.

"She's into modern art lately." The waitress whispered as if the subject of their discreet discussion might crawl from underneath the table at any time. "So if Goldenweek asks you about them, just nod intelligently and say they're beautiful pieces."

Kidd's eyes were filled with pure incredulity by now. "There is nothing beautiful about them. The painting itself is confusing and—and, I mean come on! Look at that!" He nodded at the second painting titled 'Colourful Flower'. "Do you see any flowers? Or better, what exactly can you make out from that painting?"

"Nothing. It's like someone had just spilled seven types of syrups all over the canvas."

"Exactly my point."

"Hush! Golden will cry if she hears you." Laki elbowed the man side and cleared her throat, eyes now shifted to Law. "Your order?"

"Oh," Law blinked when he realized the waitress was addressing him. "I'll have the brick skillet set but do hold the toast."

"You don't want the toast?" One eyebrow rose, the waitress stared at Law with a mild surprised.

"I hate bread." He deadpanned.

Shrugging, Laki made another remark in her notepad. Years of working as a waitress, she's encountered all type of customers and to have one that has personal vendetta with bread was nothing to be surprised about. Really now.

"And add black tea to the list please." The doctor continued before Laki walked off with their orders.

"Tea?" Kidd spoke as soon as the waitress was outside an earshot. "What happens to that 'cup of coffee'?"

Law visibly twitched under the redhead's scrutinizing stare. Drat. Basically, right now he had three options.

A) Confess the truth: 'Actually I can't stand coffee. It smells horrible and the dark, murky colour makes me think about horror movie." Or…

B) Lie, lie and lie some more. Or…

C) Distract Kidd by saying 'Look! A naked fireman!'

Option B that is.

"I just feel like having tea this morning." While he said those, Law's eyes were everywhere but on Kidd. He just didn't dare to look at the man. Although the doctor tried to offer a natural smile, it has somehow became too fixed and hurting his cheeks instead.

"Really?"

"Of course." Law darted a quick glance at the readhead, who's staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Was it just him or the eyebrow kept getting higher and higher?

Three cups of hot beverages were placed on their table and the doctor immediately seized his drink—vanilla black tea. Law took a tentative sip and fought the urge to purr at the soothing, sweet and 'beany' vanilla fragrance. Another sip and the doctor could almost imagine himself eating warm sugary cookies while lying on the grass, bathed under a tempered sunlight…

"You don't even like coffee, do you?"

At once, Law chocked on his drink. His 'tea moment' was ruined and he blamed entirely at his lack of talent in lying. That, and also at Kidd's perceptiveness. Perhaps, it was best to stick with option A after all.

"Fine. I admit. I'm not a coffee drinker." Law put down his cup and snatched the tissue to wipe his mouth. "I find the taste somewhat disturbing and… disgusting."

Kidd could only roll his eyes and reminded himself that it was useless to think Law as anything else but a total oddity.

Back to Law, the doctor had long noticed on how quite Luffy had been ever since his arrival. He did, however, aware of the boy's once a while fleeting gaze, clearly accessing him. Sometimes, his dark eyes lingered on the steam rises from his tea cup like it was some sort of ghost. Other time, he stared at the gold loops dangling helplessly on his earlobes. This time, Luffy was staring at his hands. Too long in fact that Law decided it was best to steal his student's focus to avoid any dire notion from seizing control over Luffy's nervous system. He did it by flexing his wrists so that his tattoos wouldn't be a focal point.

"How about we play a game while we wait for the food?" There was an invisible light bulb flickered on top his head as Law spoke. He leaned slightly forward and saw how the small frame before him turned rigid like a statue. Still, Luffy didn't recoil although Law just knew every fibre of the boy wanted to.

"It's a simple game, really." His voice was lowered by two notes but loud enough for Luffy to pick up every single syllable. "Let's tell each other a secret and promise never to tell anyone about it. Doesn't have to be an earth shattering secret like I-secretly-punctured-my-father's-car's tires-so-he-would-be-late-for-his-big-corporate-meeting type of secret. Just a normal, everyday secret."

Next to Luffy, Kidd stared at the Law as though he was the mentally-ill patient, not Luffy.

"What do you say? Interesting isn't it?" Law persuaded his student. This was merely a simple test—a test that would take Luffy to the edge. Simple, yet stimulating. Luffy would be forced to intake the detection of safety between two opposite directions. One direction represented trust and the other one would be his past, his own fear, his personal cocoon. If the child decided to reach for him, a total stranger as safety, then all goes well…

But if it's the other way around, the doctor feared that returning from that path would be challenging.

Luffy hesitantly nodded and Law heaved a barely there sigh. First step clear. He then purposely rolled his sleeved further up so he could at the same time; slowly introduce the thing that triggered the reminiscence of Luffy's past. If he noticed anything that might suggest the boy's anxiety level has reached a dangerous zone, Law would do or say something that would disturb Luffy's mind from humbling itself at fear's feat.

In short, timing was essential.

It had only been not more than twenty second since Law first revealed his tattoos, but the effects had already began to take control. Luffy could feel the heartbeat in his ears pounding madly through every vein in his body, causing his fingers to twitch. His breathings shuddered as he tried hard not to shed tears. Not from sadness, but purely from fear. Those apparent warning signs didn't go unnoticed by Law. Evidence that right then Luffy's heart was palpated with fear that caused strong physical reactions.

Luffy must had registered the situation as a threat and by then, the doctor knew he needed to do something.

"Luffy," Law raised his voice slightly so he could cut the threads connecting the nervous system with the resurfacing memory. It worked somehow, much to the man's relieve and Luffy snapped his head up with his half of his focus back on Law. "I'll start first, alright?"

"Let's see…" While Law dug into the deepest part of his brain for any dirty little secrets—plenty actually—he gave his wrists a slight twist to avoid the child from staring his tattoos too much. His aim to severe the connecting line between 'tattoo', 'fucked-up, evil mother' and 'nervous system' was harder than he thought. Added to the undesirable finding was the fact that Luffy still considered him as potential danger.

Law then snapped his fingers. "Oh yes… I think I've got it. Come closer, Luffy." He beckoned for the boy to mimic him—that is by leaning forward. "We can't let anyone listen to our secrets." Not surprisingly, Luffy didn't budge and fortunately for everyone today, Law's level of patience was off chart. He was willing to give Luffy all the time the boy needed and didn't mind if another five cups of tea is required for him to make a move. Well, hypothetically speaking. And Law knew his effort bore fruits when his student slowly, and gradually reduced the distance between them. Hesitant, yes, but at very least, the doctor appreciated the fact that Luffy was willing to take a chance.

"I'm scared of spiders." Law confessed.

Kidd blinked.

Luffy blinked.

Four more rapid blinking and the pulsating frequencies rubbing off within the walls of his head slowed down as the brain began digesting bits and pieces of the newly found information. The looming presence creating unwanted feeling within him has smoothened down to certain degree where Luffy could breathe, minus the choking sensation. Distant hunting voice ringing in his ears before had now been replaced with one and sole word.

'Spiders?'

"Yeah, spiders." Law confirmed the boy's inner voice. "When I was a kid, everytime I saw a spider inside my room, I'd scream my head off, ran to my father and asked him to whack it with a newspaper. Even now, spiders still give me a creep."

The telltale of incoming panic attack has begun to tone down and Law sensed calm just by looking at the whites of the boy's eyes—a proof in which Luffy was no longer drenched in intense fear. Although his palms were still a bit sweaty, but his small, tight fist were finally released. Law waited for a little longer for the fury blizzard inside his mind to calm, to sit and to warm, to—

"Spiders?" Kidd's voice was akin to a thunder slashing through an eerie silence of the night.

Law closed his eyes momentarily. Indeed, he was torn between resenting the man and his lack of sensitivity and chewing his own arm. Hot and sexy as he was, apparently, Luffy's big brother had the knack to spoil beautiful moments, such as this.

"Hush Eustass!" Law frowned at the man's sudden intervention. "This is only between me and Luffy! You are not allowed to eavesdrop."

The redhead gave Law a look—a crossover between disbelief and amusement. But then again, there was indeed something in Luffy's steady gaze as well. It took several seconds for Law to determine the thing that nestled in the depth of the child's brown eyes. Then it hit him—bafflement. Yes, indeed. Bafflement was blowing the boy's emotion back and forth.

Odd… Did he say something weird...?

"What's wrong being creped out by spiders?" The doctor frowned, suddenly feeling offended by the odd looks he received.

"They're spiders, Trafalgar. An insect that you easily crush with a stomp."

"I don't want to step on them!" His voice was a note higher than usual but Law couldn't care less. "They have eight legs, hairy and they're icky wicky. And they crawl…"

By now, Kidd's eyebrow had reached his hairline. "…Icky wicky?"

"Yes, Eustass. Icky wicky." Law sipped on his tea and saw Luffy mimicking him. Only that, the eight year old was tending his apple and lime juice instead of having hot drink to accompany his breakfast. His teeth nibbled the end of his straw as he sipped but halted and hid half of his face behind the tall glass when Law stared at him a little too long.

"So Luffy~~" The name was drawled in such playful manner for Law to coax more reactions from the said boy. In respond, Luffy twitched and he was a hair close from choking on the straw. Unnoticed by the brothers, the doctor actually had a hard time stifling a laugh and he somewhat managed to pull it off by biting the corner of his lips. Though sounded odd, the child's antics were cute in Law's opinion.

"… Is there something you want to tell? Only to me?" Law put his cup down with a soft clack. "Perhaps the color of Eutass's underwear?" He disregard Kidd's heated glare and paid his attention more on the raven haired boy.

Even now, aside from his brother and perhaps very few people, Law knew that Luffy still believed whatever his fear was telling him. The doctor didn't blame him. After all, that particular feeling has been his guidepost, whispering frightening things in his ears over and over and over. For years, it shielded him from danger by providing him strategies on how to survive his days. That is to say, by avoiding people and everything the boy deemed unsafe to him including the world itself.

Therefore, the doctor had came down with a decision—to assist Luffy to say 'hell no' to fear, to guide him to learn that fear is just a feeling and not necessarily the truth, to aid him to drag fear's lies out onto the ground, slay the son of a bitch called 'fear' and—

… Fine. He was exaggerating a bit. Still, point was made.

So when he Law saw another waitress—a middle school girl—juggling her way to their table with a tray of food, the doctor made further move to continue with their session. The stage was still pretty much early, so the ebony haired man reckoned it would be unwisely for him to push Luffy too far at one time.

"Foods coming!" He cheered slightly since his hungry stomach has begun to protest, if the grumble was any indication. His order, which consist of fried potatoes, mushroom, unions, ham and two eggs topped with cheese, was enough to make his mouth watered and it took every ounce of his will not to attack his meal like an uncivilized madman. Vegetables didn't exactly sit on top of his favourite food list, but nevertheless, spinach was one of very few greens that he could munch on without gagging.

"Eustass, Eustass." The waitress called for the mechanic as she placed more plates in front of him and Luffy's. Kidd has always known the girl's constantly pink tinted cheeks were indeed natural and not caused by a heavy makeup. Today however, the hue was at least two tones darker in which such phenomenon only happened when the girl was extremely angry, extremely happy, or extremely excited—

Oh crap… Goldenweek was probably going to bombard him with questions regarding the new paintings. Quick! Maybe he could ignore her excited glance, poke the challah French toast sandwich a couple of time, ask her if Paula underwent boobs enlargement surgery or—

"Have you seen my new paintings?"

'Dear God. Do you really need to punish me today?'

"I've noticed them." The mechanic tried hard not to grimace at the painting she was currently gazing at. One look and it appeared as though something small and fury—presumably a squirrel—was dipped inside a motor oil and whacked onto the canvas repeatedly. Even if the painting did create a three dimensional visual effect, the fact that the work of art seemed to move when light reflected on it only made it creepier.

And he still didn't know what the painting was all about. Take it from him, they're frightening. A lot.

"They are…" Alright. Don't Panic Eustass. Surely you can say the word beautiful with a fake, convincing smile—

"Unique." Kidd heard himself said.

Goddamit.

It seemed that Goldenweek had taken it as a compliment and beamed. On Kidd's side though, the mechanic was praying frantically inside his heart for the girl to drop the subject and move on to the next topic that's less… creepy. Luck has yet to forsake him however because before long, Goldenweek shifted her attention towards Kidd's unfamiliar companion.

"Who's he?" Goldenweek nodded at Law. Years of knowing Kidd, she was familiar with the man's social circle including those from the workshop. But this dark skinned man… was definitely not among them.

"He's a nurse." The redhead mumbled while he sprinkled some salt onto the rosemary seasoned fried potatoes. "Or to be exact, a doctor working in Luffy's school."

As if sensing he was the subject of their conversation, Law turned to them. "Look Eustass! A bear shape ketchup!"

Both of them took in the proclaimed bear drawing on the doctor's plate made by ketchup. Another four seconds of soundless staring and yet, no apparent expression was carved either on Kidd's face or Goldenweek. That is to say, they both wore a typical empty impassive façade.

Goldenweek was the first to break the silence. "Are you sure he's a doctor, Eustass?" The girl enquired as they watched Law hummed childishly with every mouthful of the scrambled eggs. The tanned male then plainly ogled the steaming waffles on Luffy's plate, all looking hot and sweet and doused in thick, sugary syrup. "He doesn't look very smart."

"To be honest," Kidd took a sip of his coffee, enjoying the powerful rustic aroma with a bittersweet finish. "I'm not even sure if he's mentally normal."

As much as Goldenweek wanted to observe the bizarre creature Kidd had brought with him, she had to save the idea since another customer were ready to make their order. She padded her way towards them, but only after giving one final odd gaze to the trio.

"Even a middle-school kid can tell this guy is a total nutjob." The mechanic mumbled and took a large bite out of his sandwich. It was soft and gooey—thanks to the cheese—in his mouth and Kidd definitely enjoyed the combination of the salty and crunchy bacon along with the perfectly cooked egg. The bread on the other hand, did a really perfect job in covering the bacon, egg and cheese with a mild sweetness. Everything seemed to blend perfectly together—the sandwich, the coffee, the cosiness of the cafe and even the workers that worked relentlessly around the café.

One thing, however, that was out of place was the eccentric doctor, Trafalgar Law.

"How can you eat that?"

'Speak of the devil.'

Kidd didn't answer the other right away. He chewed a couple of time, swallowed, took a sip of his coffee before answering, "You take a bite, chew and swallow."

Law frowned at the redhead sarcastic answer.

"You have issue with bread, doctor?" Pushing around the seasoned potatoes, the mechanic raised eyebrow at the restless doctor.

"Not really." Similar to Kidd, Law pushed his potatoes around before popping two into his mouth. "I used to love it when I was a child."

"And..?" Kidd prompted.

"Well…" Eyes down on his plate, the doctor contemplated on answering the redhead.

"Because when Law was ten, he choked on a piece of bread and almost died from suffocating."

"That's right." The doctor agreed. "And then, the 'asshole' had to perform CPR on me since I wasn't breathing and—and—and…"

Law paused and blinked. And blinked and blinked some more. He finally stopped blinking when he realized something was amiss with that statement. For one, it wasn't Kidd who spoke and he confirmed it by staring at the mechanic dropping jaw. And two, the mechanic himself had his eyes fixated at the spot right behind him with an overly scandalized expression marring his handsome face. And three, Law recognized the voice from anywhere.

A LOT.

By the time he reached his third conclusion, the doctor already felt the hair on the back of his neck stood and his skin puckered into tiny bumps. To the very back of his mind, the voice rang again and again like a damn broken record, causing Law's heart to flatten.

In a deliberate slowness, Law swivelled his head only to be met with a large, joyful grin which could only be made by one and only…

"Doflamingo!"

"Doflamingo!"

Together Kidd and Law paused momentarily. It appeared that for once, they were finally on the same page.

"Fufuffufufufufufu!" Doflamingo, in the flesh, cackled and cackled some more at the duo's performance. Their reaction was too precious that the tall blond wished he had a video camera to capture the moment. Especially when the main subject of the hilarity almost had his eyes popped out from their sockets.

"It REALLY is Law! My eyes weren't playing shitty tricks on me after all!" The tall male had abandoned the need to breathe and wasted his strength on laughing instead. Even when the laughter finally began to cease down by a fraction, Doflamingo still failed to stop his shoulders from shaking.

"How many years have it been since the last time I saw you? 7 years? 8 years?" Two steps was all it took for the blond to close the distance. Once within his reach, Doflamingo's hand went to ruffle Law's already unruly hair. "You have grown, Law."

"Stop that!" Law hissed and snarled at the treatment before swatting the man's away. "What the hell are you doing here, you big bird?!"

Not slightly perturb by the doctor's not-so-warm respond, Doflamingo ignored him momentarily and shifted his focus to the others. "Oh lucky me. Even little Fluffy and his big brother is here!"

Kidd didn't make an effort to hide his dismay and groaned. Law alone was an oddball and the redhead had long forsaken the idea to deny that fact. But this man… This man who was standing next to their table, taller and larger than life, was without doubt, a pure, 24 karat trouble.

"And to answer your question," Doflamingo grinned even wider than before that the corner of his mouth disappeared behind his purple tinted shades. "Since it's weekend and there was nothing much in the house, we've decided to have breakfast outside."

Law's left eyebrow joined his right. 'We?'

From nowhere, another blonde head appeared from the man's back. "Besides, dad can't make anything other than coffee and toast!"

As Doflamingo rolled his eyes behind his shades, he ushered the boy to take the empty seat right in front of Kidd. He, on the other hand, snatched a chair from the neighbouring, set it at the end of the table and sat down with his legs crossed over. From the arrangement, Doflamingo looked more like a chairman of a meeting, especially when the said man laced his fingers together and let them rest on top of his knee.

"Hey, Kidd! Hey Luffy!" Sabo ignored the awkward, not to mention tense atmosphere between the adults and immediately reached for the menu. All the while, Law who sat next to him ran his eyes all over the boy—up and down, left and right. Blond hair… Blue eyes… Surely—no, that can't be. Not in this world.

"Who are you?"

Sabo acknowledged the doctor's question by looking up from the menu and locked his baby blue eyes with Law's smokey grey ones. "I'm Sabo." But the blonde boy wasn't finished. Like Law, Sabo let his eyes to roam with every intention to study the man before him.

That is, until realization hit him.

"I know you." Sabo began. "You're Dr. Creepy-Guy. Ace told me about you." Without remorse, the blond finished his sentenced before his eyes fall back onto the menu.

Law ignored the nickname for the time being and made a mental note to give a good, hard spank if he ever sees the freckled boy around. As for now, there's a better question he needed to attend to.

"What's your connection with," Law pointed at the grinning Cheshire cat. "… 'that thing'?"

Even with his eyes glued on the menu, Sabo just knew the unnamed subject Law was referring to. "I'm his offspring."

Immediately, Kidd chocked on his coffee and received a rather confused gaze from Luffy. The word 'offspring' after all, wasn't supposed to be registered into an eight-year old vocabulary.

"Wha—" The aftershock was too much and enough to make Law lost his ability to shuffle through his terminology. "He—you're his son?"

A simple nod was all the answer he received.

As Law shuffled through his vocabulary for another set of words, Doflamingo took off his shades, placed them safely into his front shirt's pocket and extended his hand only to remove the deep navy cap from Sabo's head. The boy didn't as much as complain when his father's long fingers went to tousle his hair, adding more kinks to his already unruly head.

"You don't believe me?" Now that his eyes were no longer obscured by the shades, everyone could see how the blond man raised his eyebrow in amusement while he twirled the cap in his hand a couple of time. "Sabo, tell him what a great dad I am."

"Well," Eyes still raking up and down the menu, Sabo then flipped to the next page. "You laugh at your own joke which is not that funny." Another flip. "You don't know how to cook except for instant coffee and toast." Another flip. "You always forget to separate the coloured clothes from the white ones when you do laundry." Another flip. "And you don't wash your own dishes."

One last flip and Sabo finally closed the menu while his eyes took in the depressed expression of Doflamingo. "So you're right. You're the BEST dad in the world." The boy stressed his last sentence in a most sarcastic tone before waving frantically for the waitress.

No intelligent retaliation was given, except for Doflamingo's grumbling noises.

"I want pancakes and maple syrup, biscuits and gravy double order, two poached eggs and banana chocolate milkshake." Sabo grinned excitedly as he watched the waitress jotted down his order.

Doflamingo on the other hand, only murmured the word 'coffee'.

"So Law," The blond fought the urge to snort when he noticed Law twitching madly in his seat as though he couldn't bear to be inside his own skin. "Since you're back in this town, I assume that you have finally reconciled with your old man."

A long, silence was his answer.

"Ooh..?" Baby blue eyes twinkled madly as though the man had just caught Law's hand in the cookie jar. "So he doesn't know you're back, does he?"

The doctor refused to return Doflamingo's calculative stare and took a bite out of his bacon, tearing it with his canine teeth. "Whether I'm here or not, it wouldn't matter much. And after the moment I stepped out of the house, my whereabouts is no longer his concern."

Just for a few quick seconds, the blonde didn't grin and a neutral expression took place instead. But the corner of his mouth slowly curled upward into a knowing smile once he detected the slight pout—even by the tiniest—lingering in Law's voice. No matter how many years have passed, to him, Law was still the same boy he used to know.

"So the two of you already knew each other long before this?" Kidd piped in, stabbing a piece of the seasoned potatoes and popping it into Sabo's awaiting mouth. The blond boy was practically eyeballing the side dish and the redhead couldn't help but to think how the cheeky boy resembled a baby bird squawking for food.

Doflamingo took a small sip of his newly arrived coffee and winced after the hot drink managed to scald his tongue. "I've known him since he was still in his diaper and his father was my senior back in the college days."

He noticed the crease on Law's forehead deepened but the blond proceeded nevertheless. "His old man is your typical serious, slicked hair, by-the-book type of guy. Just imagine his horror when this little nightmare," Long finger pointed at Law in which the doctor responded by bristling viciously at Doflamingo. "…came into his life when he barely reached his twenty."

"Twenty?!" Slightly startled, the mechanic was somewhat still able to arrange his plate to make room for Sabo's incoming foods. "That explains the huge difference in age between your kid and this doctor." After all, considering both Doflamingo and Law's father were about the same age, it would make anyone to wonder about the huge gap between their children.

Whilst Sabo began to gulp down his pancakes, the blond man stole one mini sausage from his child's plate using the extra fork. "Do you still remember, Law? Everytime your father had a big test or exam; he'd ask me to take care of you for few days so he could concentrate on his study."

Doflamingo then leaned forward by propping his elbows on the table and nibbled on the sausage. "But it wasn't until a couple of hours before you started wailing and screaming and screeching like a hellion. Your old man then had to take you back and read difficult book just to make you shut up."

Kidd was an inch closer from snickering but quickly held back the noise when Law threw a rather intense glare towards the redhead. Even though the doctor possessed a fairly dark skin, Kidd still noticed the red hue dusting from his cheeks all the way to the tip of the ears. So Law did have the capability to feel embarrassed after all.

"Of course I don't remember." Law felt the damn prickling heat attacking the area just below his eyes. "I was still a baby that time. And I probably screamed like a hellion because of your ugly mug and shitty babysitting skill."

Not only his insult didn't as much affect the blonde giant, he was answered with yet another ear-to-ear grin. The type of gleeful grin that only came into sight when the blond was in possession of something priceless and—Oh God. Please, no more…

"Fufufuffufufufufu," The low chuckle did nothing but making Law cringed. Here it comes again. That surely didn't take long. "But seeing you now really take me back. Little Law running around the house with his tiny stethoscope and scalpel while screaming 'Dr. Law is in the house!' And during your doctor play, you'd always force you father to open his mouth and shove the popsicle stick down his throat."

At that moment, Law felt the floor just dropped underneath him while he fought for the damn blush from resurfacing. If it wasn't for the fact that Doflamingo was a goddamn father, the doctor would have maimed the fucker without an ounce of mercy. Miserable death! Toss him into the blazing fire like a stupid flamingo he is!

While Law was busy with his inner monolog, Doflamingo tried to steal a bite out of the boy's plate. This time around, Luffy's waffle was soon-to-be victim. His attempt nonetheless, was dampened when Sabo smacked his hand and gave a disproving frown. Cheeky brat. The blonde man then leaned back and took another sip of his coffee. Now that it had cooled down to desirable warmth, he could finally enjoy the mellow and smooth aftertaste of his blend.

"But come to think of it, the scalpel was real wasn't it? I remember you stabbing me in the thigh with it. "

Law really had enough with this asshole's revelations of his childhood. "And I don't regret stabbing you. In fact, I've starting to regret for not stabbing you in a place more…" The doctor's eye fell down to Doflamingo's crotch. "…Painful."

"Ouch. Such a cruel boy isn't he, Eustass?" Doflamingo faked a hurt expression and Kidd on the other hand, flashed out a funny look. A large part of him somewhat approved Law's stabbing method but at the same time, he disagreed with the cruel modus operandi. Well, almost.

"What—don't give me that look, Eustass!" Stabbing the mushroom with a little too much force, Law scowled. "It's not my fault. He kept on doing that annoying stuffs, so I had to do something to stop him."

"Oh I know! I know!" Hand still busy dipping the sausages into the ketchup, Sabo suddenly interfered. "He'd try to pick you up, do the 'Upsy-Daisy', pinch your cheeks and do the baby talk stuff, right? He used to do that to me all the time and even to Ace."

Appalled, the doctor narrowed his eyes at Doflamingo. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"He's my boy!"

"Don't worry." The blonde boy scooped up the rest of egg yolk as the corner of his mouth curled up into what could have been deciphered as mischievous grin. "Everytime he did it, I'd kick him in the chin. So he stopped."

"I receive no love around here." Genuinely dejected, Doflamingo wanted nothing more but to pinch Sabo's cheeks until they turned puffy red. But he didn't. Last time attempted, he received a harsh head butt and needless to say, he was out cold for the next two hours.

Once he finished his last piece of biscuit, Sabo took a large slurp of his milkshake, turned around and began eyeballing the luscious selection of pies at the counter.

"Dad! Dad!" The small blonde tugged his father's sleeve to get the man's full attention. "There are pies! Can I get one?"

"Hnn." Was Doflamingo's only reply. But in Sabo dictionary, it was equivalent to 'yes'.

Sabo stood up from his chair but his adventure was halted when Kidd suddenly shot his hand across the table, poking and prodding the boy's stomach with his fingers.

"I don't get it. He ate three full meals and now he's getting another. Where did it all go?" More prodding and Sabo laughed at the ticklish feeling.

Tapping the lip of his cup with the small spoon, Doflamingo shrugged slightly. "Hell if I know. He's still growing, so it should be normal, yeah?"

As fucking if.

"Come one, Luffy." Sabo reared away from the mechanic's curious fingers and beckoned for the said boy to follow suit. "Let's get some pies."

Said boy blinked once before polishing the rest of his waffle, stood up and quickly tottering after his blonde friend. He was uncertain about the issue going on between Law and Sabo's father, but he sure did feel the tension among the adults. Naturally, he was more than happy to make himself scarce. That, and he could finally avoid the doctor's scrutinizing gaze that gave off the sweltering sensation.

"Hey," Before Sabo could get too far, Doflamingo quickly pulled the hem of his son's T-Shirt, causing the boy to tumble slightly backward. "Get me the cream coconut one."

"'Kay." The boy confirmed his father request and tugged his shirt back from the man's hold.

Three adults fall silence as their eyes trailed over the retreating back of the boys. But cruel and nasty as he was, Doflamingo sure didn't make waste of his opportunity to torment Law further.

Law was quick to comprehend the blonde intention. "Don't you dare." The doctor hissed through clenched teeth. "I'm not one to beg, but right now, I'm REALLY begging you to stop sprouting shitty stuffs about my babyhood."

Doflamingo looked as if he was considering Law's plea. But he wasn't. "Nah, I'm still haven't finish with your scalpel story." The blond smirked as he rolled the sleeve of his crisp, white shirt few times.

"Keep it coming." Law groaned, fighting the desire to shove the spinach down Doflamingo's throat.

"You may want to be careful with him, Eustass." Doflamingo scooted closer to the mechanic and Kidd just had to recoil from the close proximity. "His scalpel had left many scars on people. Including his old man."

Frowning, Law stopped pushing his spinach around. "What scar?"

"The one on his face, my dear boy. Where else can you find scar on him?"

For quite a moment, Law didn't make any comeback as his mind whirled in motion. Of course he knew about the scar the bird-man was referring to—the notable, long stitched scar above his father's nose that stretches across his face. But he received the scar from a car accident. At least, that was he was told.

"But that was from a car crash." Law wanted a confirmation, or in his case, a reassurance.

Doflamingo barked a short laughter, startling the neighbouring customer. "Think logic, boy. Your father is the type of man, who has never speeds more than 50-miles per hour, do seatbelt checking, put you into your special seat, check his all his car mirrors at least twice before going anywhere, never forgets his indicators, check both left and right sides at least three times before crossing and do his bloody car maintenance once every three months."

"So tell me," The blonde man pinned Law under his knowing gaze. "Do you really think your father will get involved in a car accident?" He took another sip of his coffee and beckoned for the waitress to refill the cup.

Doflamingo's words hit the doctor hard like bricks, falling down on top of him one after another. Something was pricking deep inside him, then reaching the pit of his stomach, tightly tied in knots. Instead of guilt, bitterness and anger crawled the hall way of his soul. Yes, it angered him to know that man has been lying through his teeth all this time. Yes, it angered him a lot when the truth was given away by his least favourite person who probably knows more shits about his father than him.

More than anything, Law was infuriated with himself, his ignorance and stupidity. Somehow, he felt like a fool.

"What happened?" Bitterness was weighing his voice down as Law stared at his almost empty plate, save for the small portion of spinach.

Doflamingo didn't answer the young doctor straight away, clearly stalling. "Nothing extravagant, really. Your father was trying to put you into bed but you still wanted to play and you threw a fit here and there and it just happened."

After a moment or two, the blonde continued. "You slashed him across the face. And that's that. Half of it was my fault though since I was the one who gave you the authentic doctor kit."

Nothing came back to bite Doflamingo. No smartass answer. No retort. Not even a single hiss. Even Kidd fell into deep silence as the mechanic felt he was in no position to allow any opinion to slip off his mind.

Law's father probably going to gut him alive if he's to learn about him spilling the bean. But to the right of his mind, the blond was always not in favour of his old friend's way of handling things—by keeping Law inside a glass house, away from any ugly truths out there. It simply wasn't his fashion. With Sabo, he had never kept anything from the boy. Be it nasty, pleasing, humorous even. One might say he's an insensitive bastard, but that way, Doflamingo felt like he could thoroughly connect with him and his son in return, seemed to appreciate such approach.

Even though at the moment, the said son was probably in the middle of swimming through dozens of pies.

"Daaaddd!"

The man arched one eyebrow. Good timing.

"They don't have the coconut cream today." Sabo's voice rang throughout the café and Doflamingo craned his neck to the side slightly with a small frown.

"What else do they have?" The blonde's voice was equally loud and he sure didn't give a shit or two if his booming voice interrupted the customers.

"Uh," Sabo bent down in front of the pie counter and fixed his gaze on the deliciously arranged pies. "Caramel pecan, rhubarb, banana cream, blueberry, triple chocolate pumpkin, frozen lime, buttermilk, apple berry—why don't you just come here and see them for yourself?"

Unfortunately for the boy, his father was far too lazy to budge. "Anything with liqueur in it?"

All heads turned to Doflamingo with eyes only a fraction smaller than dinner plate.

"What?" Insensitive as ever, Doflamingo gave a questioning frown.

"There's Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie."

Multiple startled coughs were heard, mainly from parents who brought young children with them. Out of the corner of his eyes, Kidd could have sworn an old lady just choked on her soup. He knew he had mentioned this before, but the redhead still thought it was cruel from the father-and-son to team up and do something that may trigger cardiac attack on a certain people.

Then again, why the hell did Paula put that pie on the display?

"Atta boy." Oblivious with his surrounding, the blonde smirked. "Get me that one."

Less than a minute later, the boys finally returned to the table with the sweet desserts in their hands. And Kidd personally thought the timing was brilliant since the redhead himself began to feel the pricking itch coming from the gloomy low-spirited air. Their presence at very least, would be able to ease the atmosphere in one way or another.

"Hmm~~" Unaware with the change of atmosphere between the adults, Sabo hummed around a mouthful of his triple chocolate pumpkin pie. Another bite and the blonde kid could clearly taste the bittersweet chocolate coating the crumb crust and the silken smoothness of the homemade custard. He then dipped his spoon into the drizzle of milk chocolate on the top and gave kitty lick to collect the sweet treat.

"God, you look like you're having a food-gasm." Commented Doflamingo as the man took a bite his own pie.

Sabo paused and scowled at his father's remark. He might not be familiar with the term, but was damn sure it referred to something perverted.

At the same time his friend threw a displeasure scowl, Luffy took a small delicate nibble on the soft custard filling of his pie—classic buttermilk—relishing the tangy, sweet flavour. Not long, his eyes then made a fleeting gaze towards the doctor. Then at Kidd. Back and forth. Back and forth. By the third cycle, the child's curiosity has grown to a size of a basket ball. Law's eyes, even though they were looking down, Luffy could tell the smokey grey orbs were casting an eerie glow. Eyes glanced in wonder, he looked at Kidd who in returned flashed a rather awkward smile.

What exactly happened during their leave?

"Well, we'll be leaving then." Doflamingo suddenly announced not long after his and Sabo's last meal were polished from their plate. The mechanic didn't make any comment when the man funded the whole bill, but it did managed to surprise Kidd a little when he threw a generous tip to the waitress—Laki in this case. Damn, the woman is lucky today, just like her name.

"Do we really need to go to that car show?" There was distress in Sabo's voice as the boy pushed the chair further back to the original position.

"Yes, we MUST." Doflamingo stressed the last part and stood up, adjusting the cap on the boy's head so it wouldn't fall to the side. "Later, Eustass, Law and…" His long limb easily reached for the smallest of the group and ruffled the boy's dark strands before playfully murmured, "Luffy~"

Still, Law remained quite even after the duo blond left the café with Sabo clearly whining at his father about his weekend ruined by the stupid sport car exhibition. Once they were outside, standing by the roadside, the doctor silently fixed his gaze on the father-and-son silhouettes. He almost snorted to himself when Doflamingo made the decision to cross the road without any preliminary checking like a hopeless bird he was. But Sabo was two seconds quicker to pull his father by his shirt back behind the line and flashed yet another disapproving scowl.

It was as if he was watching a motion picture. Only this time, echoes of sullenness resonated in his eyes. Something felt a little too tight in his chest and Law didn't even realize the fork in his hand was quivering a bit due to the clenching and unclenching motion.

Unnoticed by the ebony haired man, his floating thought in reality carried a scent—a very distinguish scent recognized by Kidd. It entered the redhead's mind in a form of tendril and brought forward the unpleasant feeling and that very scent was broadcasted through the doctor's eyes, causing the orbs to mist slightly.

Law's eyes were of those sad eyed bitterness.

"I didn't know you were from this town."

Kidd's voice penetrated the young doctor's thought like a polished needle and Law quickly blinked away the flashing images before his eyes.

"You didn't ask." Was Law only reply.

The mechanic scoffed and put his empty plate to the side. Typical answer.

Aware that his plain answer irritated the redhead, Law smiled lightly as he stirred the tea in his cup with the spoon, watching the dark liquid sloshed around due to the impact. "I spent my childhood in an apartment near my father's university campus until I was six before I moved here. Then I left the house on the very same day I turned eighteen and the rest is history."

"Do you have a life and death brawl with your old man or something?" Kidd asked. Next to him, Luffy seemed like was still tending his pie as delicate as he could although the man knew that the child was listening to their conversation intently. For that reason, the mechanic had to be extra careful with his choice of words.

Law stopped the stirring movement and mulled over his next sentence. Indeed, when in a presence of a child, they needed to establish when the phrase 'too-much-information' is necessary. But as for now, the doctor deemed the topic was still in a safe zone.

"I don't particularly hate him. And I do hope he doesn't particularly dislike me." Taking a sip of his cold tea, the doctor then heaved a sigh. "But for some unknown reason, we just couldn't agree with each other. It's like we couldn't stand in each other presence."

In front of him, Kidd didn't make any apparent noise, clearly allowing Law to finish his sentence.

"He hates the way I dress, disagrees with my social circle, my way of spending and even my choice of profession. And I hate his cynical words, his non-stop rules, his company and everything. Everything I do appears wrong in his eyes and everything he says seems wrong in my ears."

"Do they?" Kidd challenged.

"Well, no…" Law was pouting and hell, he knew he looked extremely ridiculous at the moment. "He did have points in some matters. But it still annoys me. And before we realized it, we fought almost every day with none of us had the nerve to back down. So I thought it was best for me to leave the house before we tried to claw each other throats."

"The bird-guy mentioned a lot about your father. What of your mother?" Kidd said carefully, eyeing for any sign of discomfort to make itself visible. To his relief, none came around.

"She's still around." His smile widened. "I mean, not here but she's still alive and healthy if that what you were asking." Law's suspicion was backed up when the mechanic shrugged. "She's in Erumalu as we speak, doing what she loves best."

"And that is?" The redhead couldn't help but to ask. Erumaru, by any means, is a city located in a dessert country known as Alabasta where sand, sand and more sand stretched across the nation. So naturally, Kidd couldn't think of any pursuit that was enjoyable to be carried out there.

"Research on ancient artifact."

Kidd blinked. Of course. They have that too, don't they?

"She's an archaeologist and a gifted woman who managed to enter the university at the age of sixteen." There was fondness in the doctor's voice and he sure didn't bother to conceal it. "I was born when she was only seventeen."

'What?'

"Your parents were both, freakin' young and university students when you came around?" Really, you sure don't here that story every day. It's not rare, but it's not common either.

To answer Kidd's inner monolog, Law chuckled. It wasn't only the redhead. Even Luffy's curiosity has peaked to a whole new level and the child did a fairly poor job in hiding it by sucking the tip of his fork. "I was…" The ebony haired man paused, searching for best word to describe his situation.

"… an 'oopps' baby, Eustass."

The pale male's hand paused from smoothing down the flyaway kinks on Luffy's head. "An 'oopps' baby?"

"Mm-mhh." By the look of it, it was obvious that Kidd wasn't familiar with that term and Law wasn't surprised. "To put it in a simple way, I'm an unplanned child. Few drinks, one mistake and here I am."

Kidd really didn't know how to respond to that. But he didn't have to because the doctor gave no room for him to react.

"They were both in a same club back in their uni years." Even without the redhead's respond, Law continued regardless. "And there was an annual gathering. They have few drinks and one thing led to another." Another short stretch of silence, save for the chattering noise behind them. "My mother decided to keep me and my father didn't exactly against it."

"Did they get together after that?"

Shaking his head, a small laugh escaped the doctor's mouth. "Absolutely not. They don't even like each other to begin with." Law gingerly licked his lips and continued. "So they worked out an arrangement, taking turns in raising me. Two weeks at my mother's place and another two weeks at my father's. Back and forth. Here and there. That's how I spent my childhood."

"You parent sure had an oddest way to settle thing without gauging each other eyes out." Kidd murmured absent-mindedly.

"I know." Law snatched the survey paper from the end of the table and began folding it. "When I was five however, my mother received an invitation to join a research team on 'lost artifacts' but the location site was too far away."

"And she took it?" The redhead asked in which Law simply nodded in confirmation.

"So I have to stay with my father and we moved here a year after." The young doctor presented a bear shaped origami and placed it softly on Luffy's empty plate. "She still came to visit me few times every year and sometimes during school holiday, I'd go to her work place and spent my entire break there. Every week she'd write me a letter with a lot of pictures."

"Let me guess," The mechanic interrupted, watching Law snatching yet another paper. "They're pictures showing a bunch of weird looking relics."

"Worse. Most of the pictures she took are about mouldy, weird looking relics and a bunch of rotten dead guys inside a big ass coffins." Law shuddered as he spoke. "She calls them historical mummies. I call them 'dirty, ugly, skinny bastards and I ended up sticking the pictures all over my father's bedroom door just to piss him off. But he hit me back by pasting sandwich bread on every inch of the wall in my room, hide my brain splatball and crammed small jars of sour plum into my drawers and—"

And that's when Law noticed—the presence of an amused smile on Kidd, with a barely there raised eyebrow. While his elbow was propped by the table, the mechanic used his hand to cradle his cheek. Either that or he was actually practicing a yoga breathing technique and tried not to laugh his ass off.

Just great. He had babbled out too-much-information of his life and Kidd probably began to make a mental note that he was just another deranged doctor raised by an equally deranged parent—a sandy-dry father who loves to terrorize his life and a mother who probably thinks that the rotten, dead guy in some tomb is far more appealing than a naked firefighter. Well, at least Kidd still didn't know about his favourite brain splatball—

… Oh drat. He did mention about that, didn't he?

"Anyway," He coughed and smiled sheepishly. "Enough said. Where were we before that pink bird came?"

"You were telling us story about you chocking on a piece of bread."

"Not that!" Law tried to look fierce. But by looking at how Kidd was laughing and almost toppled over from his chair, the young doctor knew that his attempt was unproductive.

The ebony haired man sighed and muttered under his breath. "Just great. My day is ruined. My dignity is ruined. And my moment to befriend with Luffy is ruined as well."

"But… we have plenty other time for that, don't we Luffy?" But being peculiar person, it took only a split moment for Law to have his mood bounced back like a rubber ball.

Strange as it might seem, the doctor had thought that his decision of having the brothers to have a sneak a peak of his life was reasonable. He trusted the brothers enough for him to disclose his life story and Law wished for them to understand that, especially Luffy. Since the raven haired boy required time and most probably the liberty as well, the doctor deemed it was all right for him to make the first move.

And so he did. Just now, he had practically placed his own 'trust' card on the plate and it was up for the child whether he wanted to accept it or leave it. Also, if Luffy does intend to take it, Law doubted it would be today, or tomorrow or anytime soon. He had done the best he could for now and yet, the young doctor was aware that his target was still far ahead. On the brighter side however, the boy was able to get a nice—very good actually—hold of his own nervous system throughout the time although Law did notice the once-in-while fleeting gaze towards his hand.

To sum up, Luffy wasn't scared shitless of him anymore but he was still suspicious nevertheless. Like Law would strike anytime when his back is turned.

"And about our game…" The young doctor fiddled his third origami—a frog. "It doesn't have to end now. Take all the time you need so you can think carefully about the secret that you want to tell me."

"I will wait no matter how long it takes." He continued.

Law then arranged the folded origami next to each other. He did hope for the worker not to take it to the heart when he had just utilized the survey forms for other use. As he did so, Luffy didn't make any apparent respond. No promises, no confirmation nods and yet, there was no denial to be heard either. Maybe there was a respond, there should be, but the boy was doing a well job in keeping it only in his mind.

"I'm off then, Eustass. Thank you for inviting me for breakfast." Law heard the redhead snorted under his breath. After all, he was the one who went on and on to that 'cup-of-coffee'.

"I guess I'll be seeing you at school, yes?" Of course, the young doctor wasn't anticipating any answer from Luffy. But it did surprise a tad to see the boy nodded slowly, their eyes were locked together for at least three solid seconds before Luffy looked away.

Law's boot made quite an audible, squeaky noise as he walked away, leaving the brothers with their own thoughts. The eight-year old, who had his eyes stuck on the remaining silhouette of the doctor, was in so many different level of lost. Not long ago, the man had disclosed his secret and laid something on the table—naked and bare. Luffy was unsure on what to do with that little unknown.

'Trust.'

The boy swallowed the word like water and buried it into the depth of his mind. From the very beginning, every essence of Law dazed him and there was no logical reason as to why. The answer of course, was within his grasp—free and untouched. But when the high tide of confusion and uncertainty tugged his every thought, the answer seemed as though it was concealed by a white blanket.

"That doctor…" Luffy suddenly mumbled. An awkward silence followed suit and Kidd almost choked on the sudden noiselessness.

Please don't say scary. Please don't say scary. Please don't say scary.

"He's weird guy." The child concluded.

Thank Lord!

-To Be Continued-

OMAKE

"Confess and be forgiven."

Standing tall, Trafalgar Law mumbled the phrase in such calmness in contrast with his hardening eyes that seemed to gleam like crazy. One interrogator and two possible offenders—all huddled in the living room. Seated on the couch, one of the offenders opened his mouth but when he saw the deepening crease on Law's forehead, the words just withered like weeds.

"What happened to Bepo?" Law demanded a solid answer from his housemates. These assholes are hiding shits from him and the doctor was clearly unhappy, especially when involving his precious Bepo.

"Speak Shachi."

The said male winced when his housemate pronounced his name in such venomous tone. Damn you, Penguin. Why is it him that has to face Law's ultimate wrath?

Shachi looked at Penguin; Penguin looked back at Shachi. They returned each other desperate gaze, silently communicating even if there was no word spoken among them. With a self-made mantra, an inhale of air and more mantras, the duo finally looked forward only to be met with an open glare of their interrogator. Palm sweating slightly, Shachi sneaked his hand behind his back and pulled out a twenty-four inch teddy bear.

A VERY stark white teddy bear.

"We swear, Law. It was an accident. We had no ill intention towards Bepo or whatsoever."

An awkward silence then enveloped the trio, filling every nook and every crack of the house with no noise. While Law's prospect now narrowing further until all he could see was the snowball looking bear, trapped in the confinement of Shachi's palms, the males before him were millimetres close from losing their souls or having their heart stopped from hammering in the chest.

Law grabbed the teddy bear from Shachi's shaky hands and stared thoughtfully into its beady eyes. "It looks like Bepo." Well, minus the spots though.

Next, the doctor gave the huggable, fluffy bear a full cuddle. "It feels like Bepo."

Lastly, the tanned male gave a nice, long whiff of the teddy. "It smells like," Law paused and took another sniff. "… sunflower."

"Its lavender actually, Law." Penguin corrected his housemate.

But Law was on cloud nine to actually give a shit of what the male nurse had just said since he was positive that the teddy pressed against his chest was none other than…

"It is MY BEPO!"

If word could describe the dramatic image in front of the duo, it would definitely be flowers. Flowers, well, melodramatically speaking, were blooming all over Law and his long-lost teddy bear until at a certain point; they had to squint at the blinding light. Trust Law to turn the situation less realistic and more dramatic. Idiot even twirled around before going straight to his room, leaving Shachi and Penguin with their disturbed emotions.

In the ensuing stillness, they could hear the clock making a 'tick tick' noise, the cars on the streets below making a 'honk honk' commotion and of-fucking-course, Law's joyful chattering in his enclosed room.

"I'm—I'm," Shachi patted his hand all over his body. "I'm still in one piece." His grabbed his right arm and did the same to the other. "My hands are still here. They haven't been severed. It's a miracle, Peggy!"

"Yeah… Law didn't kill us and dismember our body." Almost motionless, Penguin agreed before the male nurse leaned his back against the soft cushion. This is when he felt the sudden itch to grab a pack of smoke which Law and Shachi had hidden in God-Knows-Where. Five drags, no, two drags should be enough—

"Peggy, don't even think about it."

Damn you, Shachi.

-End Omake-

A/N: I'm pretty sure that many of you have guessed correctly on Law's daddy. And no! It's definitely not Smoker! *Gasp in shock* Although I did mention about the cigar part, but surely Smoker is not the wine type of guy, yes? He's more like a beer and rum guy. So here's another quiz. Who's Law's mommy?