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Law and Kidd's friendship had bloomed over the past six months since Law and his father had moved to this town this year. Not only did they go to the same school, but they also lived practically in the same neighborhood.
Initially, Law didn't mind not having friends in school. Really, he was occupied with school and reading comics most of his day. Besides, almost every kid in school was terrified of him. He was known to be snippy and a shit who doesn't share his notes with anyone.
But there was this one redhead in one of his classes who constantly locked eyes with him as if he was peering into his very soul. It freaked Law out, and he was one of those troublemaker squads that everybody in school talked about.
One day, out of the blue, the same redhead asked him if he wanted to eat with him and his friends. Law, being his paranoid self, thought it was some kind of trap to humiliate him in front of everyone. So, he refused very dramatically that they, too, would be scared of him and leave him alone. The redhead wasn't fazed, and over the entire semester, he kept invading Law's personal space and continuously asking if he wanted to play catch or hang out after school. Law thought he could outplay the redhead and ignore him altogether. At some point, he would give up.
Then, came the day of the parent-teacher conference. Law was looking for it for months now. He did enjoy watching the sheer joy and pride on his father's face when hearing about his performance. The best part was, it only lasted for two hours which meant there were no classes afterward. So, it was an opportunity for them to spend extra time together since his dad rarely gets days off, and he was especially excited knowing he would get spoiled that day, he did well after all.
His stream of happy thoughts came crashing down when the same annoying redhead let out an ear-piercing scream from across the classroom, "Look! Mom! Look, that's him!".
It caught his father's attention certainly, and before he knew it, both parents were getting to know each other. Apparently, the redhead had been telling his mother about this really cool new kid at school. His father was over the moon; finally, his son was mingling with kids his age. The mother insisted they should come over today since the children were already friends, and before Law could remind his father about their plans, he agreed.
Law recited every prayer he remembers under his breath, cursing the redhead.
When they arrived at the redhead's house, Kidd was practically hovering over Law with glee and excitement, dragging him to show him his room. Law wasn't impressed; the redhead's room was cluttered with junk and scattered tools. But then, tucked away in the corner, there was a shelf twice his height filled with different types of comics, including the very, "Sora the Sea Warrior."
And damn, there were even some rare ones that, he, himself desperately wanted. But that wasn't all, there was a massive sculpture of Sora, one he had never seen before, and he considered himself a hardcore collector. Kidd then explained that he had built the whole thing from scratch.
Law was hooked
The next day at school, Law brought Kidd a copy of his Biology class notes and handed them over. Kidd simply thanked him and asked if he wants to come over later that day. Law agreed and the class fell silent over this exchange.
Their relationship went on like this for a couple of weeks. Law thought of it as an exchange of goods: comics for notes, notes for comics.
But slowly, the more time he spent at Kidd's place, the more he got to know how cool Kidd actually was. He liked almost everything Law liked, and he always had an endless supply of crazy stupid ideas for them to do. Every day felt like a little adventure with him.
He even started teaching Law how to build his own robot. Sure, at first, Law sometimes wondered if Kidd was touched in the head, but when he saw those scripts Kidd had drawn, he felt a rush of awe.
After a month or so, Law officially announced to his father over dinner, that he indeed made a friend and asked for permission to have him over. Cora, the loving father he was, played along and rewarded him for this accomplishment.
Their daily visits became an important routine for him. The downside of those visits really was- Kidd’s mom's cooking. whenever he sat at their dinner table he was greeted with a plate of overcooked pasta and a piece of bread on top, he really didn't see the appeal of serving two types of carbs for dinner.
And there was this ungodly amount of cheese she used. Law thought up and explained to her that eating this amount gonna make her fat—his father had taught him that communicating your thoughts helps you with people-And he treated it as a giving rule.
That evening, she made him eat the whole pot and see if he got fat or not.
Law would usually stay at school a bit longer than Kidd, taking extra classes and helping out with Mrs. Hiriluk's lab. And since his father was still at work until five like most of the days, he headed straight to Kidd's place.
As soon as Law spotted Kidd waiting for him in the front yard, fooling around with some junk, he lit up. All the energy that school had sucked out of him came rushing right back up. The redhead saw him and hollered, "Hey! Come quick! Got a new project wanna show you!".
With sheer energy beaming from him, he grabbed Law's arm and dragged him inside the house. They quickly made their way into Kidd's mother's room, tiptoeing careful not to wake her up.
Once inside, Kidd started rummaging through her room. He knew exactly where she usually hid her laptop, eyes scanning her wardrobe and he finally spotted it tucked away between her bras.
''kidd, she said if we ever used it again she gonna kill us!'' Law whined, clinging to the other boy's arm.
''Don’t be a chicken, she won’t even know,'' reassuring and grinning like an idiot.
They snatched the laptop and ran to the living room, kidd quickly played this video, dated back to 14 years ago, of "How To Brew Your Own Beer At Home". As the video played, they both went silent, and kidd couldn’t help but look up every two seconds to check Law's reaction.
''What the fuck I'm watching?''
Kidd's grin widened, ''Cool, right? We could make some and sell it!!!'', he added, ''even drink it too.''
''Pretty sure that's illegal.''
''Says who,'' Kidd shot back.
''My dad is a Cop, you know,'' Law replied, ''Besides who would buy from us anyway ?''
kidd groaned,’’ Cmooon Law! we could totally buy that 3D printer!’’
They were desperate, that is true. Both of them had been working on this one project for a while now, A Killer-Robot, that can cut through things and spew fire but couldn't finish it because there were some missing pieces that simply couldn't be molded or shaped by hand.
He sighed in frustration, ''I told you already!! my dad promised to get it for us, and very soon he will!''
''Yeah, but he said after you make three friends!!''
''I so did!''
''Really? Name them.''
''You, Bepo, and Mrs. Hiriluk!''
''Dude, that’s pathetic.''
''What? he likes more than anyone in class.''
''No, I meant your dog.''
''You're such an ass kidd!! I’m leaving!''
Kidd spent the last two hours trying to convince this thick-headed idiot, just when he thought they were making a breakthrough and Law was about to give in, he would go on and on, nagging Kidd with a million "what if" scenarios.
Finally, Law caved, but with one condition – if they pulled this off, he would get seventy percent of the gross profit, Kidd had no idea what "gross" even meant, but he agreed, happy to shut Law up.
After that, they made a list and took a trip to the store, they bought everything they needed, cans of apple juice, an empty gallon, a couple of balloons, a funnel, and most importantly -yeast.
They did as the video instructed, Law took incharge of sterilizing the equipment, then they poured the apple juice into the container till it was half full and added the whole bag of yeast, stirring it for a while, then pierced a couple of holes in the lid before sealing it tightly, last step was to rap the balloon around the lid.
They agreed to hide the beer at Kidd's place, for a full brew, it needs to set for at least fourteen days unopened, and to be kept in a dark place and at room temperature. So, his house was perfect for this, Kidd's mom wouldn’t have a clue. They kept it in the small corner under the stairs and laid a bundle of blankets over it.
After the fourteen days had passed, they had a new problem.
''How we know it tastes right, though?''
The beer was done and ready, it looked cloudy and bubbly, and the balloon expanded with carbon dioxide.
''We could drink it?'
'We still wont know if it's the right taste, dumbass.''
''Get mom to do it?''
''How?'' Law asked, skeptical.
kidd then, got one of the empty beer bottles his mom usually scattered around the kitchen - their house was always a mess, Law had complained a couple of times in one of his early visits. ''Pick a broom if it bothers you so much'', Kidd's mom said to him, not even bothering to look up from her phone.
They refilled the bottle with their so-called homemade beer and put it back in the fridge, and they kept an eye on her to see her reaction when she drinks it. they didn’t wait for long, she gobble it up and seemed content enough.
And that was a success in their book, they got so worked up and decided to make another batch before they actually start selling the beer.
Later, when Law visited kidd the next day, the house was full of half-pucking and half-rampaging cries, Law, then asked kidd what was up with his mom.
"Dunno," he shrugged, making air quotes,’' It is her monthly appointment with the devil I guess''.
''What’s that?'' Law asked, frowning deeply.
''No clue, she tells that sometimes.''
Law made a mental note to ask his father about this concept later.
For their next batch, the gallon exploded only after six days and the liquor smeared the walls making a huge mess, the balloons couldn’t handle the air pressure, and the smell reeked the whole house, even Kidd's mom asked if they were cooking a rat or something.
''We need to move it somewhere with more air,'' Law explained.
''Your place?''
''Fuck no!! Dad would definitely notice!!''
''Oh! Ohh! I know just the place!'', Kidd exclaimed, bouncing up and down.
''Yeah, where?''
''It’s the perfect spot!''
The perfect spot, as it turned out, was the backyard of Law's next-door neighbor. It looked abandoned and dim enough, with a couple of bushes for them to dig around and bury the beer. Besides, Law had never seen anyone around here, so it was most likely safe.
They moved their product and settled it safely, then went back to grab a couple of shovels.
Waking up groggy and annoyed by the unusual noises, dragging himself to check the windows, he then saw a bizarre scene of two small creatures fuzzing back and forth, then he recognized a tulip-shaped head that was digging up his yard, and he lost it.
It took some time, more than they expected, and a huge effort to dig up that hole. They couldn’t just simply leave it there in plain sight for anyone to find.
When Law looked up, he thought he was imagining things, the heat took a swing on him making him buzzy, his clothes stuck to his skin and his hair dampened with sweat. He saw a man rampaging towards them, screaming like a maniac not making any sense.
Blinking a couple of times, Law asked,’’ Who is that?''
kidd stopped digging and looked up,’' Ahh! shit! That’s Dadan!!''
''Who?''
''That dude hates my guts'', Kidd explained ''he was ready to go all out on me and Killer just for borrowing his crappy old Buzzsaw.''
Law rolled his eyes at borrowing and said, ''Well, keep your mouth shut and let me handle it.''
Catching his breath, Dadan demanded, "What the fuck you doin' on my damn property again? Huh??''
''Nothing.'', Law replied.
''Yeah right! you shitheads wreckin' my yard!'', Dadan accused.
''No, we’re not. It's Earth Day, we’re helping Earth.''
''Earth my ass! do it somewhere fuckin' else.'', Dadan snapped, pointing a finger at Kidd, '"And you, you lil punk..."
Before things get accelerated, Law put on his best polite-kid act,'' With all due respect sir we-''
Kidd, hiding behind Law, yelled, ''Which is non!!"
''kidd, shut up-''
Before he could finish, Dadan exploded, ''What did you just call me?!!!'', echoing through the air, causing both Law and Kidd to instinctively step back, almost tripping over the hole they just dug.
''IT'S FUCKING MA'AM'' exploded again, emphasizing each word.
''um, y-you sure?''
''that's IT, I had it with you, you punk! I’m callin' the cops!"
Just as they thought they could make a run-they apparently ran out of luck for that day-Law’s dad was just pulling up, clearly noticing what was going on and he approached them waving his hand.
''Someone said Cops ?", he asked.
All she could see was red and then barked at him,’’ Who the fuck are you?''
''I don’t think we have officially met, I'm Rosinante, Law's father", he offered his hand with a warm smile.
Dadan just glared at him, up and down, "I ain't never seen you 'round here before.''
''Um, I live next door?'', he smiled while his hand hung awkwardly in the air.
"Ohh! So you're that snazzy blondie everyone's been talking about!"
"Haha, yeah, I guess."
"Got a wife?" she bluntly asked, cutting through his laughter.
''Um, no?'' he responded, trailing off, unsure of where is this going. She leaned in closer then, a playful glimmer in her eyes, her voice dropped soft, and she added, ''Poor thing, must be tough for you, being cute and shit.''
Both kids couldn't help but cringe out loud at that, both of disgust and embarrassment.
Which got her attention back to them, firmly grabbing Law by the arm,’’This one yours you say? They’re fuckin' up my damn yard!!''.
''Law? What's going on?", he asked softly, lowering his knees to his son's level.
While kidd got himself busy trying to rip off Dadan's hand from Law, the older boy had to quickly come up with a lie, but he got so anxious. He wasn't good at lying to his dad, and more importantly, disappointing him in any way.
"We're just playing Dad," he responded, feeling his heartbeat pounding so loudly covering his own voice in his head.
''Bullshit! Smells like liquor in there!!'' Dadan yelled, still fighting off the tulip- head, pulling him by his shirt.
''Law? tell the truth, son'', he asked again, more firmly this time but still soft.
Feeling his lips twitch, Law was really not good at this, especially when his dad look at him with those gentle, warm eyes,'' kidd forced me to!'', he blurted out when everything failed.
''What??"kidd exclaimed,
As soon as both adults learned about their little project, all hell broke loose. Rosinante's eyes turned sharp, face flushed red, and his voice cracked of how much he went on and on, mostly at Law, ranting about how dangerous this could’ve been for both of them and how Law was the older one and he should’ve known better. On top of that, he was the son of a police officer for goodness sake, so imagine how this would look to others.
kidd was really pissed at Law for throwing him under the bus like that, but that afternoon, he almost witnessed Law burst into tears while he kept mumbling non-stop apologies to his dad's lecturing.
Both kids got grounded till the end of the semester, which was roughly a month. It was good for them anyway, finals were coming soon and they should focus on studying instead of spending time together.
On the last day of finals, Biology final exam, while the teacher was helping the students get ready before handing out papers. kidd spotted Law, finally getting a hold of him. He had been trying to talk to him a couple of times at school, but Law avoided him entirely. Kidd couldn't figure out what got into his head to act like that, It was frustrating, both of them ended up fucking grounded, and it wasn't like Kidd had forced him to do anything. If anything, Law basically directed the whole thing.
Eying his target, Kidd decided to sit beside Law, hoping to get his attention. But the other boy kept his face flat and pulled his arms tightly to his chest.
When that didn’t work, he felt even more frustrated and his anger took over,'' You know, we both got grounded, no need to act like a fuckin' dick.''
Finally turning to face Kidd, Law fired back, ''Fuck you kidd, I know you’ve been selling my notes behind my back all this time.''
Kidd's face flushed red, matching his fiery hair. His throat felt like it dropped to his stomach,''H-How you know??''.
Kidd had asked Law to sell them once, but he refused without even giving an explanation, and he thought what's the harm of selling one or two every now and then, no one hates extra cash. Plus, he figured he could treat Law to some mint chocolate chip ice cream that he liked so much.
Law's lips curved into a smirk. ''And you know what? I made two copies. Yours is all fucked up with.'', sneering.
Kidd already knew that boy was a mean one.
But damn,
''Make sure you write your name before you start.''
Kidd was fucked.