~~~

"Why the sudden change of mind?"

"What do you mean?! She can see whoever she wants. It is not my business." The redhead murmured, while his non-existent eyebrows lowered down to the map. He didn't pay any real attention to his surrounding, only flicking the papers and rapidly going through the document procedures that Killer had left him to check.

"Your opinion was shockingly different just 2 hours ago."

Wire folded his arms thus shaking his head at Bonney, who nonchalantly began a conversation while examining her manicure. She had been stuck in her own world for too much these past days, so it was unmistakably amusing for her to ridicule Kid at the most inappropriate time. The pinkette must have forgotten who the co-speaker opposite her was and what misfortune was soon to be resulted in a brewing storm.

"Just shut up and make yourself look less slutty." Kid said, not tearing his gaze off the sheets. Despite his bored expression, the edges crumpled in his hand.

"I guess I hit a nerve there, huh red?" She picked up her phone and lazily grinned, her locks falling right on the flushed face.

"I don't think this is an appropriate place to-"

Kid stopped Heat in mid-sentence. Short, brief yet strong steps from the black boots replaced the rhythmic tictacking of the mahogany wall-clock. Before exiting the room, the redhead turned to his subordinate and mimicked to his phone where a brief message occupied the screen.

"Tell Y/n she can see those two. And inform other, cause Law's security spotted a new vehicle. The people in the area are already investigating the passenger ID's." His voice was strangely calm, so calm that the uncomfortable atmosphere still lingered even after the lack of the male's absence.

Bonney, surprised by his coldness, slumped on the couch and stared wide-eyed. 

"What did-?

What did just happen? No vulgar comments? Cursing? Nothing?"

"..."

~~~

Talk to your friends, Y/n. Trust will be the most important thing from now on. Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be left with important matters.

Killer's words were like a morning call for me. It was hard to understand and process everything without feeling overwhelmed by everything. While curiosity and excitement dwelled in my mind, I couldn't help but to feel unsure whether to find a way how to explain everything that had happened. What was even worse, my heart couldn't stop slamming in my ribcage every time Kid appeared in my mind. First, it were his fiery locks, then his pale complexion and last but not least, his entire grinning façade. I had never liked someone to the point of having strange fluttering emotions mixing my strings and that lack of experience was like a mindless step on a minefield.

He doesn't act cold and mean around me anymore...

What I had said to him that night was the entire truth. And I still stood behind my words. There was no way I would take them back.

Nonetheless, the blonde's serious warning did bring me to the edge and the anxiety kicked in.

I didn't know where I was standing with Kid.

 Are we official? Does he even believe in such relationship? What if he gets tired of it?

A light knock woke me up from my reverie, my propped head immediately jerking up and facing the door. Heat leniently leaned on the frame and with a timid, yet deep voice said: "Hey, Kid said you can now see your friends. Their conversation with the Newgate lawyer ended."

I chimed in excitement, almost throwing myself from the chair and tackling down the bluenette, however I managed to restrain my happiness and only send a wide smile.

"Thanks, Heat!"

"No problem." 

I saw a glimpse of effort on his face, as he actually tried to give back a cheerful expression, however, his lips tugged up only for a millimeter. Though, he did ruffle my hair when I left the room, so complaining for lack of friendliness would have been totally unnecessary.

Quickly managing around the corridors, I stumbled upon the room where the boys stayed and with a loud kick of the entrance, I shouted: "Ok, now that all that serious dust and shock laid down for a bit, I want to announce the official assembly of the Idiot-trio and Y/n L/n. "

Ace's and Sabo's gloomy faces slowly brightened, while Luffy's still had the genuine and spot-on idiotic grin.

"Y/n! Shishishi~ Let's play!"

I took his hand into mine and dragged him behind me. "Rather than that, let's just chat! There is a lot of catching up to do."

~~~

It was odd watching them, all piled up as if nothing had happened. A gentle smile graced my lips. The pleasant warmth was like a rollercoaster of old memories of us...

Before I knew it, we had been talking for an hour, exchanging every small detail that had occurred during my absence. Senior excursion, graduation day, Nami's birthday ... These were only the larger things I had missed out. Then there was my summer job, interview for a pre-college application, driver's license exam...

And there was a memorial between me and dad. 

For my mother's death anniversary.

"Y/n, a-are you crying?"

"No..." I sobbed and quickly wiped my tears. I unfortunately forgot that I had applied a heavy amount of mascara-an absent-minded action from this morning, as traces of black colored my hands. "It's just been a while since I last saw you. I guess the realization hit me a bit later than I thought. And with Vivi, Robin, Nami, Franky- "

"Zoro and Usopp, too-"

I nodded. "With all of them here, I think..." I gulped and looked through the window.

"You think everything would go back to normal?" Sabo said.

Normal. What did that mean? Forgetting everything about Bonney? Bartolomeo? Never coming across a dangerous criminal ever?

Never seeing Kid?

"...I don't know."

A sudden yelped made me shriek. I grabbed the nearest object that I could find and automatically squeezed the life from it. All of our gazes met the pinkette's as she heavily breathed and with hand-gesturing tried to bring some logic to her words.

"Here...Down... six...Hot greenette... Long nose...Ufff, I...should eat....Huh...less." Bonney crunched down to her knees, clearly lacking oxygen, but my outburst enabled her to catch her breath.

"What did you say?! Who came? Is it them?"

Her brief nod made me squeal in happiness. My rationality went numb and my limbs, without a second thought, began moving on their own. I slid besides her, not minding the voices that called out for me, and sprinted down to the ground floor.

...

unknowingly passing the expressionless male.

~~~

To be continued ...