Irreplaceable

Part 19: What is he up to?

- "Can we meet up?"

Perona didn't know how to feel about Laws request. Something about him still scared her, even though she knew him better now and they had been talking of her late husband, who seemed to have been a very dear friend to Law. Talking seemed to help him as the negative tones in his messages were disappearing. So of course she couldn't just bluntly say no to him in fear of driving him away. Law was a lot of work to befriend.

- "The tests for the schools are coming up so I have to concentrate on those. Maybe after them."
- "Of course. Good luck with your tests."

She sighed. It wasn't straight up lying, but she was deceiving him. It was the start of March and she had sent her forms and was waiting for invitations to hearings, not for tests.
To tell the truth she wasn't interested in hearing from the schools anyway. She simply didn't care that much, just wanted to keep living like this with Mihawk and Zoro. Mihawk on the other hand was very keen on knowing if she gets an invitation, though he was rather good at hiding it. Maybe he could sense that she didn't want to talk about it.

Perona opened the dryer pushing thoughts of her school away as well. She pulled the fresh laundry in her basket and then promptly pushed her face in it taking a deep breath. Nothing beat the warmth of just dried clothes in the middle of cold winter. She finally lifted her face up and turned to go sort them out, but stopped when she noticed Mihawk leaning by the door. He seemed amused and Perona blushed embarrassed to have been caught like that.

- "Do you want to go practice driving?" Mihawk asked out of the blue.
- "Right now?" She looked down at her basket.
- "In the weekend. I was thinking of renting out a car, because Zoros safety seat is a pain to remove. We could spend the whole Saturday and Sunday driving."
- "What about Zoro?"
- "I'll drop him off to Morias on Saturday morning before getting the rental."
- "It's still winter out there."
- "The roads are perfect. I've tested them."

Perona glared at him. He was being too pushy, it was fishy to her.
- "What's going on? Why are you so keen on going now?"
- "No reason."
- "Mihawk." She lowered her voice demanding and could swear he was starting to sweat.
- "Nothing really. You want to go?"
- "What if I say no?"
- "It's actually not an option."

Perona looked at him in disbelief, but he was as stoic as ever.

- "I don't know what you're planning, but fine."

He seemed pleased and walked off.

----

Mihawk was sitting on the sofa watching TV with Zoro on his lap. The small boy was enchanted by the show leaning towards it and Mihawk had to push him back so he wouldn't fall of off his lap. It soon changed into a bit more boring one and Zoro leaned back still not taking his eyes off of the TV. He looked at Mihawk for a second and waved his feet.

- "Massage?" Mihawk asked and Zoro waved his legs a bit more eager.

Mihawk took hold of Zoros feet and started to gently rub them. They didn't really know why Zoro liked to have his feet massaged, maybe he had some growth pains. Perona walked in doing some hand sewing on a ripped seam and sat next to them.

- "Massage time again?" She asked.

Mihawk hummed joyfully while rubbing the boys feet. Perona sewed for a moment while watching TV. She scrunched up her nose in disgust.

- "The kids shows get worse every year. They were much better when I was a child."
- "Have you thought that maybe kids shows haven't gotten worse, you just look at the old shows through golden glasses of nostalgia."
- "Umm, excuse me?" She scoffed offended.
- "I've always felt kids shows were a bit stupid."
- "Oh and they were so much better in your youth?"
- "We didn't have a TV in my childhood. Shanks parents did have one, but I didn't watch it much since there was more interesting things to do with him."
- "I've always thought you were posh even as a child."
- "Just because my lineage is long doesn't mean we were rich."
- "What did your father do for a living?"
- "He was an electrician."
- "Eh? I thought he was a lawyer too."
- "No, just me."
- "So why did you become one?"
- "Because he wanted me to."
- "So it's a case of living your parents dreams?"
- "No, he just wanted me to do well in life. And I like being a lawyer."