Archive of Our Own ^beta

07.12.2069, 13.42 Uhr, Tokio

Pling.

A message from Marco popped up on Jozu's datapad.

"I'm in a conference with the Minister of Defence. Please don't disturb me. But give me a short message if Law turns up in the meantime." This was the third message from Marco. There were too many chat messages for Jozu's taste today, so he pushed them aside as he already knew the content. In about five minutes, the next Security team was due to be changed, and he kept a close eye on the surroundings while the guard team was busy with the handover.

A good three quarters of an hour later, another message from Marco popped up. "Wapol Industries is sending a representative round today. And before I forget, Trafalgar Law might be coming today."

Jozu was beginning to worry. It wasn't like Marco to be so out of his mind and inform him of the same thing several times. Or to write to him so often in general, especially outside of their normal company communications. He checked to see if Kalifa was free and called her immediately.

"What is it, Jozu?" came out of his hearing implant.

"Has Marco been sleeping since he got home? I'm starting to worry," he got straight to the point. During the conversation, another message arrived from Marco. "I have an appointment with the Defence Minister right after this. Please don't let anybody disturb me during this time."

"No, as far as I know, he's gone straight to his daily business. I'm already trying to persuade him to at least reschedule the late afternoon appointments. No success so far," Kalifa explained.

Jozu rubbed his forehead. "Now he wants to call the Defence Minister for the second time," he informed Marco's assistant with a heavy sigh.

There was a brief silence until she spoke back: "Please what?"

Jozu knew from experience that Kalifa called up Marco's calendar at that very moment. "He has actually double-booked the appointment. I will cancel this appointment immediately! I see that Jinbei is next on Marco's list. I'll check with him to see if his appointment can be rescheduled. I'd better reschedule tonight's security meeting for the new camera systems too... Will tomorrow morning be enough?"

Jozu grunted his agreement and wrote about the new situation on CyberLine in the security team's internal group chat. Not quite according to protocol, but effective. Written by him as a known "chat grinch", it would probably be unusual enough to get the necessary attention from his colleagues.

"As soon as Marco is out of the meeting, I'll... Oh, Jinbei has just replied and given his approval, so the appointment can be rescheduled. Marco now has time to himself after Wapol Industries."

Jozu had rarely been so relieved to hear that. The front door opened, he said goodbye to Kalifa and turned his attention to the visitor.

Marco appeared in the entrance hall around mid-afternoon and dropped exhausted onto one of the chairs in the waiting area. He rarely came down here during working hours because he usually knew that everything ran smoothly without him. The events of the night must have really thrown him off, even if he tried his best to hide it.

 "You look tired, Marco. Has Kalifa already spoken to you about canceling your afternoon appointments? Use the time to take a nap, after all, you've been up all night. You look like the walking dead."

Marco looked up in surprise. "Oh, thanks, nice to hear, you look handsome too," came it back with a grin, but Jozu's expression remained unchanged. Marco looked at him wearily. "Really that bad?"

The brief nod made Marco finally slump down. "I think I'm really going to lie down for a few hours. Thanks for your help. I'll be in touch." With that, Marco stood up, smiled gratefully at Jozu and headed for the lift. However, he paused again as the doors opened. "You wanted to see the Davy Back Fights today, didn't you? If there's not so much to do, you're welcome to watch the sports broadcast on one of the free screens, just... please be discreet," he noted with a final smirk, referring to the last incident where he had caught Jozu watching TV during his shift. With that, he stepped into the lift and the doors closed.

Jozu couldn't suppress his smile this time. He could see Foxy's fights live. He rang Kalifa and let her know that he had sent Marco to bed. But while he was talking to Kalifa, a message popped up on Jozu's screen in the group chat: "Law is easily recognisable by his look. He has black hair, Sideburns, a goat and a pieeping gaze with gray colored eyes…”

Jozu didn't need to read the rest, he knew the content and description inside out by now. But there was one thing that made him wonder. He has what...?

Another message.

'*Piercing as gaze

Pier icing gaze

Piercing gaze’

Fortunately, Marco didn't seem to notice his second spelling mistake. Any more corrections and Jozu would go crazy. He hated writing, he preferred a short phone call, effective, time-saving and correction-free. But he typed back obediently.

"marco, take a break. we have everything under control. besides, we know what law looks like. we picked you up with him this morning, remember?" Jozu typed back, shaking his head. The man desperately needed sleep.

Another private message from Izou flashed up. Sighing, Jozu opened it too. Too many messages in one day for his taste. "I don't know if I can take the man seriously now. A goat on his face with a peeping gaze? xD”

xD? Jozu didn't even know what the meaning of this strange combination was, but he wasn't going to ask anybody. He glanced at the clock, four hours before his shift was officially over. From this point onwards, he also wished that Law would appear soon or that Marco would at least finally get to bed. Otherwise his nerves wouldn't last much longer.

Exhausted, he rubbed his face. Marco's disappearance had affected him more than he had realised. The front door opened and with a cool rush of air Dadan came in to begin her shift. She wordlessly slipped him a packet of doughnuts as she passed him. He looked at her gratefully, which she acknowledged with a grunt. Perhaps the evening wasn't completely ruined after all. Jozu leaned back with relish, picked up a jam-filled pastry and switched on Davy Back Fights on a small, unused screen. As long as this Law didn't come on just before Foxy's team finished their fight, he was happy for now.

It was the last round of the first match of Block C, the Doughnut-Race. Highlights from the previous match were being shown on the screen. Jozu was having a great time when one team's raft collapsed and cost them the victory. But then it was finally time for the long-awaited match between the Foxy Pirates and the Brownbeards. Jozu had been waiting for this. He stared eagerly at the screen and was sure that Foxy had put together his team with wise foresight in order to complete the task of buildung a raft and complete the obstacle course on the water in the best possible way.

Foxy ran triumphantly across the screen and, as Jozu had already guessed, had qualified himself and his team for the next match. Jozu raised his fist in triumph, his favorite team qualified to the next round. But in his small victory celebration he heard a pling and the message "He is here" popped up over CyberLine from Izou. 

Jozu had barely switched off the monitor with the fights when a young man in dark clothes came in. The sight of him alone was enough to make Jozu's hair stand on end.

The silent and calm way he moved, the attentive look in his intelligent eyes, told Jozu a whole series of stories. But then his aura had something intangible, unreal about it that Jozu had never felt in his more than twenty years of experience as a security guard. How could he have missed it when they first met? It felt like the approach of a huge storm that could break out at any time. This man was dangerous, but not in a tangible way.

He waved Law over, ready to give his usual speech and follow the security protocol. But Jozu would keep an eye on this unpredictable component that Marco had so recklessly invited into his home. As he finished his monologue, he watched Law walk to the lift and as soon as the doors were locked, he called Fossa while zooming in on the lift's security camera on his datapad. He would make sure everyone was safe.