#Luffy actually got hit kinda hard. But it’s fine it’s cool

[shima-draws]

I’m really really liking how they’re handling the fights in this arc. Like obviously we WANT to see how much the Strawhats have improved and having them go up against enemies equally matched would feel kinda disappointing and anticlimactic, especially for Luffy. It would have been such a huge letdown if they all trained for two years and then struggled against any new enemies. But nope! Luffy literally beat Hody’s ass in two solid punches and that was IT. The overarching antagonist of the arc, who has been pulling strings behind the scenes at Fish Man Island for YEARS now, was absolutely obliterated and Luffy didn’t even have to break a sweat doing it. But it was drawn out long enough that is was satisfying. The pacing is PERFECT, Oda you absolute madlad

[portgasdwrld]

Strawhat reactions to a chiropractor or massage therapist joining their crew? (Sfw) I know they get injured and could use it.

I love those random ideas lately 😭helps me out if my writer block💕

📂Strawhat + chiropractor/massage therapist reader joining their crew

Mostly them reacting to you proposing them a session

Luffy

He’s so fucking excited. He’s jumping everywhere, begging to be your first client. He’s already laying down in your office to have his body cracked, but then you realize as you do it that his body is literally made of rubber and it’s impossible for you to work on him. When you tell him the news, he’s whining and tells you to try again😭 He’s all pouty so you decide to massage him and that put him out to sleep real quick. He went from sulking to sleeping. When he woke up, he commented about how good this was and truly he never felt this alive in a while.

Zoro

He would totally refuse at first and complain about how he doesn’t need it and how he only needs to rest a little (a good nap), and he will be fine. But then you actually try to convince him to do it, as you saw how much his body had to go through with his training, the battles, his poor sleep position… He finally agrees only after Chopper tells him how it can better his performance and make him feel more relaxed. He barely admits that it did in fact made him feel better, but now he jumps to the occasion whenever you propose it 🚶🏻‍♀️

Nami & Robin

The girls are so freaking happy especially Nami. She pretty much asks you for a session whenever she feels sore after working hard on maps or when she had to fight. She chats to you about life and tell you some gossips. She loves to make conversation and treat it a bit like a spa day.

Robin was down to try it, but she usually use her devil fruit if she feels sore somewhere and need to release some built up tension, because of stress or battles. Basically, she never needed someone for that, but after Nami told her how amazing you were, she gave it a try. She’s mostly silent and take this time to relax her body and empty her thoughts.

Usopp

He’s a bit scared at first because he heard some people talk about horror stories at the chiropractor. He heard some people got their bones cracked with no going back to normal or how some doctor were secretly psychopath 💀💀💀 To say the least, he really didn’t see the appeal to risk his life like this 😔 If you poke fun at his ego, he might do it just to prove it to you that he isn’t scared (his legs are shaking the moment he enters your office). He has difficulty relaxing which put you off , You have to wait for couple minutes, make him sips some relaxing tea. When it finally happens, he’s bragging about how cool it is and how everyone should do it🙄 there is legit nothing to be scared off pfff???

Sanji

I don’t know why, but I get the feel Sanji would somewhat be shy 😭 When you ask him if he wanna have a session to help with his stress, he would just look at you like 😳?? He would try to make analogy to food, like it’s a bit like how he hit(?) the meat before cooking it so it’s tender, but in that case it’s gonna make him relaxed. You kinda just stare and nod because whut 😭 He honestly could use it with all the cooking he does and the fights. He loved it but he got flustered a lot. He was red-shy when he left 🚶🏻‍♀️

Brook

He’s a skeleton.

Franky

Finally FRANKYYY, this man was BORN for this. He is so excited and is so talkative. He asks you when you started and why did it became your profession. He pretty much tell you to only focus on the back of his body because it’s less solid than the rest of his cyborg body. So you went in for a massage and he’s really vocal through it. As it ends, he tells you he’s happy you joined and he will be a regular which makes you laugh because you two are literally on the same boat lol 😭

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 142: HHAH!! *GRUNT* *PUNCHING NOISES*

Previously on BnHA: Tamaki faced off against three villains on his own. At first he managed to keep them at bay by generating a bunch of giant kraken arms, which was badass. But then it turned out one of the villains had an eating quirk and just kept eating the damn arms like fucking Gluttony or Monkey D. Luffy or something. The other two villains worked together to beat Tamaki up, but then Tamaki neutralized one of their quirks and fucking absorbed the other one’s quirk and used it against him. Needless to say, he beat them, and it was pretty cool, although I’m not quite sure it was cool enough to warrant an entire chapter being devoted to it, but what are you gonna do. We’re moving on now anyway, so that’s that.

Today on BnHA: Tamaki passes out after winning his fight. We cut back to the rest of the heroes as they make their way down the neverending corridor. Mimic starts messing with the walls again and tries to crush Aizawa, but Fat Gum knocks him out of the way and takes the hit for him. At this point things become very jumbled, but basically FG and Kirishima end up separated from the rest of the group, and find themselves in a pit somewhere with two new villains. One of the villains is a big guy who likes punching shit, and the other is a Buddhist monk who likes to stand around and do absolutely nothing at all. The punching guy punches FG and Kiri a bunch, and Kiri has trouble withstanding it even with his quirk. FG yells at him to not give up and to maintain his will to fight no matter what. He and Kiri face the bad guys in determination and are all “we’re gonna punch ‘em some more, goddammit.”

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 175 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

all right kids. it’s been two weeks since I last read a chapter. I just did a quick refresher of the past dozen chapters or so, partly to remind myself of everything that was going on, and partly to remind myself of all the cool things that have happened in this arc. it kinda helped. somewhat

Tamaki’s fight didn’t really drag on that much. it was just two chapters. it felt like an eternity -- despite the fact that I actually like Tamaki a lot -- but it really wasn’t that long

and yeah, it’s been like four chapters since they started this raid, and all they’ve basically done so far is run down a few hallways. but I feel like things have to pick up soon, so we’re going to press on

BnHA got the Jump cover again! hopefully that means things are about to get exciting

ooh and there’s a color page too

basically, now that he’s finished beating these three assholes, he’s dosed them with a bit of poison to keep them in check, and now he is passing out. shit

also, “that was far more trouble than it should have been” is one of the more accurate summaries I’ve read in some time

so now we’re finally getting back to our badass 1-A boys! yesssss. I missed you lunkheads

I kinda just want the rest of the arc to be them busting through wall after wall of the labyrinth until they finally catch up to where Mirio is. then Aizawa neutralizes Overhaul’s quirk and they knock him out and rescue Eri and everything is happy and good again. and Nighteye announces that All Might is not going to die after all, and it turns out this whole time he was just misremembering an old cliffhanger episode of the canon All Might anime. and they all live happily ever after etc. etc.

(ETA: you know that anon ask about what I’d change about this arc? scratch everything I wrote in response to that. pencil this in. done and done)

but SOMETHING TELLS ME this is not going to happen

all right, so we’re back in the ol’ villain labyrinth

I’m having so much trouble spelling the word ‘labyrinth.’ I keep mixing up where the y and the i are supposed to go. stupid English language

what the fuck is this title

lol wtf

(ETA: now that I know the meaning of this title, I simultaneously have new respect for the title itself, and new exasperation towards Horikoshi for somehow still failing to see the problem with this extremely dull matchup. listen dude. no one fucking cares if “defense wins championships.” I’m just a poor soul trying to stay awake during panel after panel of blurry punching action. please never do this to us again)

Kirishima’s all “is senpai gonna be okay”, and no one fucking knows, Kiri

but no. he’s not. why on earth did you all leave him. whatever

FG is annoyed that they’re doubting Tamaki

um, no, this is the kind of stupid policy that this series has so far done its best to avoid. in fact, FG, I’ll see your point and raise you one “a true hero offers help even when it’s not asked for”, which is almost the exact opposite of what you’re saying. so WHAT IS THE TRUTH

oh my god Kirishima is immediately doing a 180 from being worried about Tamaki to being all “HE’LL BE FINE”

so am I to understand that you can get Kirishima to say or do anything just by implying that it is or isn’t manly

...actually, yeah, that checks out

so Kiri is fiercely saying that he’s still worried, but he has no choice but to believe in him

meanwhile Rock Lock, whose name was actually mentioned back in like chapter 138 but I missed it but I picked up on it when I went back to refresh my memory, is being annoyed by their enthusiasm. yet again

I feel like Rock Lock actually loves these kids now. right? they’re so fucking lovable. how can you not

(ETA: everyone gives in to class A’s charms eventually)

so now they’ve found some stairs and they’re all “let’s take these stairs”

but then they’re like “maybe we shouldn’t take these stairs”

this kind of indecisive bullshit is exactly why this arc has taken 500 chapters so far you guys. come the fuck on already

Aizawa is suspicious because wth happened to that guy who was manipulating the corridors before

well wasn’t he high af though? so maybe the quirk enhancing drug just wore off and he passed out?

Aizawa is speculating that his range might be limited and he can’t sense them all the way over here. or maybe he’s distracted by the other guys who were still fighting him earlier

I’m tired of trying to sum this all up so I’m just gonna post it

this is the room where Tamaki just finished kicking these guys’ asses. oh shit

now Irinaka’s eye is peeking out, and he’s all mad that the three of them lost to just one guy

and now for some reason we’re cutting back to where Bubble Girl and Captain Cockroach (I forget his name. but it was basically something like that) are restraining the villains who they previously stayed behind to battle

they’re questioning why the villains who were in hiding came out of the woodworks to attack them when they could have potentially gotten away if they’d just stayed put

but one of the villains says that if they’d done that, “Overhaul would have our heads”

this is why I don’t really understand villains like that last bunch who are so fucking loyal to a guy who clearly could not give less of a shit about them

and it seems like most of the current Eights are more loyal to the previous boss than to Overhaul

clearly the previous boss should have picked a 13-year-old peace-loving suburban Japanese kid to be his next heir rather than Chisaki. this is what happens when you don’t have Reborn around

anyway, even though these guys are all complaining about Overhaul, they’re all certain that the heroes aren’t going to succeed in capturing him

-- WHAT IN THE

DID A GIANT BATTERING RAM THING JUST EXPLODE OUT OF THE WALL AND SLAM INTO AIZAWA BECAUSE HOLY SHIT?!

AND NOW IT’S MAKING A HOLE IN THE WALL AND SHOVING AIZAWA INTO IT SHIIIIIT

LEAVE AIZAWA ALONE FOR ONCE, HE NEVER GETS TO DO ANYTHING IN THESE ARCS. LET HIM KICK SOME ASS

Fat Gum is tackling the giant wall hand and knocking Aizawa away from it!

so now Fat Gum has been punted through the hole in the wall instead

I’m relieved Aizawa is still with the kids, but we’re staying with FG, and I s2g if we have to spend another two chapters away from the protagonist watching characters who -- as lovable as they are -- we’d never even met before the start of this arc, I’m not gonna be super happy

-- OH MY GOD

KIRI YOU BLOCKHEAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE

motherfucker, he jumped in to take the hit for Aizawa too and then Fat Gum obliviously jumped in behind him and Kiri got sucked in and FG didn’t even realize

well this is just fucking great

so now some guy is emerging from the shadows ready to have fisticuffs!

and Kiri is going into Unbreakable mode again!

should you really be using your trump card right away like that. the trump card which you can only hold for a very short amount of time

um what in the

I’m not really enjoying how blurry and indistinct and difficult-to-follow these action panels have been getting as of late. it’s starting to feel like this series is finally entering a sophomore slump. get it together BnHA, c’mon

anyway, this guy looks to be punching Fat Gum really hard and possibly repeatedly. kind of like when All Might fought the Noumu at USJ

hmm

honestly it sounds like this guy was born to fight Kirishima in an epic showdown

“people oughta kill each other using just the power they got in their bodies” oh, you wacky Honorable Villains. you guys are always all over the place

FG’s turning to Kirishima, but OH SHIT

relax, I’m sure he’s fine though

ah, yes, good

this is probably gonna look really cool in the anime which will make up for this panel being something of a blurry mess right now

(ETA: just to clarify, when I originally read this chapter, I wound up with FA’s original scanlation which was significantly lower in quality. I’ve since found their version 2.0 which used cleaned-up scans which are very much improved.

here’s the original for comparison:

so yeah, the improved scans alone help to make this fight a significantly better read this time around. it’s still dull, but at least it’s readable now lol)

now FG is... trying to punch the other guy, but like. well, take a look

FG is very confused

and now another villain is there! were you there this whole time omg

okay so it must be his barrier then, right?

must... resist... urge to call him Chance the Rappa. no one else thinks it is funny. just you

but you know what. it’s my recap though. so

(ETA: honestly, this association is the only reason why he’s one of the few Eight Expendables whose names I actually recall)

so now Chance is punching FG again and it looks like it hurt him. damn

you know what I didn’t sign up for here. another fight with a tier 3 character where there is no plot advancement and where the villain’s quirk appears to just be “I punch stuff real hard.” wtf. goddammit BnHA, I’m rooting for you so get your shit in order already

so now the barrier villain is referring back to the title and clearing all of that up

actually, Kiri is spear and shield all in one. just saying. boy knows how to throw a damn good punch. who do you think was smashing through all your labyrinth walls earlier

so now Kiri is climbing back to his feet and thinking that the dude’s punches hurt him even in his Unbreakable mode

now there’s a single flashback panel of Bakugou, and my god. I’ll take it. where are you, son. how’ve you been. how’s my other son. I’ve been stuck in a villain labyrinth with side characters for the past half dozen chapters. I hope you’re off having a nice time somewhere

Kirishima is looking like he’s about to get all When The Going Gets Tough THE TOUGH GET GOING

oh! what’s this??

is this... flashback Kiri???

are you telling me he’s not a natural bright flaming redhead. what the hell. next you’re gonna tell me Mina’s not a natural pink and that Deku’s been dying his hair green since childhood

although in Kirishima’s case, he did look up to that Crimson Riot guy seemingly in the same way Deku, Shouto, and Kacchan admired All Might, didn’t he? so maybe it’s got something to do with that

FG is shouting at him not to let up his Unbreakable mode, and that if his spirit breaks that’s when he’ll really lose

and the last page is just Kiri and FG looking gritty and determined. but Kiri’s in his Ben Grimm mode so it looks weird lol

look, I’m hella down for some Kiri flashbacks. I just don’t want this fight to take longer than one and a half chapters. that’s it. that’s my limit. starting a timer... now

BONUS:

I think maybe this bonus page is supposed to go with chapter 143, but eh. it works here too

so Rappa’s quirk is explained in another omake, and basically it’s something that allows him to rotate his shoulders really fast so he can punch a lot. to think, he could have been the next Michael Phelps, but instead he wound up being a third-rate villain in the most boring arc. such a waste

Tengai’s whole character just makes no sense to me whatsoever. why are you a villain. you’re so boring. nothing in your personality or backstory offers up any type of explanation for why you would be working for a murderous crime syndicate. it’s a complete mystery, but not in a cool way, more of a “none of this adds up in the slightest” type of way. just because you never open your eyes when you talk doesn’t make you cool you asshole

[purghhappenings]

Hey! Sorry, this is sort of a serious question, but a lot people say that one piece should have ended at the timeskip, and that it’s been ruined now. What’s your opinion on the timeskip, and the quality of the series after it? (Also if possible, some hcs about poly!strawhats and the timeskip?) Thanks! -Rainy day Anon ⛈☔️

Serious questions are totally fine!

My opinion, which is purely an opinion is I strongly disagree with what they’re saying I mean. The premise of the show is Luffy saying “I’m going to be Pirate King” and a little bit right before the Time Skip all of the enemies luffy has defeated, some with relative ease and some have taken him time and strategy but he’s defeated them but there are only few people he couldn’t beat. He hasn’t beaten Garp, he hasn’t beaten the big heads of the navy and he hasn’t beaten Black Beard or any of the Emperors. Another premise that they promise is that he is to return Shanks hat to him, right up until the time skip he hasn’t met Shanks again.

So in order we’ve got in the list of what he has done(mainly)

1. Got into the grand line2. Got to the red line3. Beat everyone up until the 2Y TS

What he hasn’t done:

1. Beat his grandpa(they’re gonna fight for real)2. Found the one piece3. Become Pirate King4. Defeat all four yonkos(you kinda either have to befriend or beat them

Also, they had eluded to Haki but hadn’t really introduced it yet. It would be idiotic to not showcase how amazing haki and haki users truly are

So if they had ended it we’d have like a million things that weren’t answered and then the entire show would be ruined. (in my opinion)

Now, in my personal opinion I wish we would have got more of the actual training taking place inside the 2 year time skip. I would have loved to see Zoro’s training, and Luffy’s and Nami’s. Robins time in the revolutionary army and Franky’s self rebuild like, all that shit would be so cool to see and not when they come back they’re just like “my training has paid off” I just think it would have been dope.

As far as the quality of the series after the time skip, is the quality before the time skip. We’ve still got villains luffy beats, we’ve got the same motives everyone always has been going for, same type of plot it’s a shonen anime I don’t know what some people expected but it was the same before as it was after. We’ve still got the fan service, the wild card trio, girl crazy sanji, luffy making friends left and right, people pledging themselves in debt of the strawhats.The two year time skip was as necessary as the Chimera Ant Arc in Hunter X Hunter(if anyones seen it) some people didn’t like it but it made the characters realize faults and move forward and you need that for a good seriesOne piece isn’t the absolute best series I’ve ever seen. Like I said it’s classic shonen. However I like it because it isn’t afraid to split the crew up(as much as i hate them apart) and it isn’t afraid to be repetitive and just all around what you sign up for.The faults are also relatable they all revolve around personal issues and family toxicity, there are class issues, race issues(fishman and minks) and morality issues, while still keeping them somehow relatable despite the insane strength we see sometimes(a lot ok)

The quality has stayed the same, so as for the people who are saying it went down then they’re disappointed in something personal they didn’t see but wanted too(which is fine! I was a little miffed Sanji didn’t change but it’s just his major hindrance and can’t change :) )

In my personal opinion I love One Piece is always going to have a top place in my heart for all of it’s predictability and un-predictability and all the characters and if it helps in any way I am not a guru and if you love the show, then love it man 

Also the quality from a fans opinion(mine) is fantastic and I love it, but from like a professional(not me but from me) it’s subpar but being a fan isn’t about technicalities it’s about love so just enjoy it, I will :)

HERE’S SOME POLY!HATS about the 2 year time skip: :D

It was hard

like really hard

Most of them won’t admit it but there was a lot of crying the first night because they went from being able to constantly ground themselves by another voice or touching to nothing.

There was no contact for two years, hell most of em didn’t know where each other were(Robin and Nami had an idea, and Zoro went with recounts from brief Shanks visits and what Mihawk was willing to tell him) 

So they all completely immersed themselves into their training, it was the only thing they could do to not go insane

I’ve mentioned it before in snuggle piles hcs, but there was an intense hugging session and yeah rayleigh had to cover for longer than he wanted(with the brigade) but it was nice to see those kids so happy

Zoro: you didn’t write you stupid love cook!Sanji: at LEAST I KNOW HOW TO WRITEUsopp: JUST SHUT UP AND KISS YOU TWO

They did.

Lots of crying, lots of hugging

Nami refused to let go of Robin and Chopper was in the middle it was great

There was a reckoning, it was luffy. He took em all down to the grass of sunny and they all just laid there

Usopp: is it weird to miss someones horrible personality?Usopp: cause i missed everyone.

Luffy even let a few onto Sunny’s figurehead. It was pretty serious

This is when BBD protocol was first installed because readjusting to the same but different people took a hard hit on a few of them and it was dire after they relaxed from fishman

Luffy did Conquerors Haki and his partners swooned (Jimbei did too) There was never a gayer moment

ok there were but hot damn it was hot

I really want nami and zoro to get tatted and put their lovers flags on them like… that’d be dope

Franky made the sofa into a bed that can fit all of them

Vivi calls every night if she can to talk and they all cry because they miss her so much and they tell her all about Law and Jimbei and Marco and Carrot and she’s like “I NEED TO BE THERE”’

and they’re all like “yah we know”

Okay! I really hope my opinion made sense? I didn’t try to be too defensive so if it came off defensive sorry! 👏🏼 Also I hope you like the hc’s!!! Sorry this took so long I really wanted to give a good opinion and not a half assed one and my phone sucks to write long things on so

[luffylaws]

A Million Ways To Feel

10 Days of Lawlu Day 6: H is for… Heart

Summary: Luffy gets injured and in an attempt at getting him to rest, Law explains to him all the ways in which he could have died.

[read on AO3]

Luffy was bleeding profusely. Good that he knew not only one, but two doctors – or so he said when Nami dragged him into the operating room on the Polar Tang.

Law was neither impressed with nor happy about the situation.

The cut was on Luffy’s chest – not low or deep enough to have hit his heart or aorta, but bleeding badly enough to have completely stained his blue shirt and Nami’s hands on the way.

“One day,” he said while he gently pushed Luffy – who was by now feeling light headed and “very funny”, according to him – onto the operating table, “one of you is going to need a new heart and then what am I going to do? Just steal one.”

“You could,” Luffy slurred. “You’re good at that.”

Zoro – who had come in to supervise in Nami’s place, who wanted to get all the blood off her hands –  snorted behind them and Law shot him a dirty look. “Help or get out!”

Zoro stepped closer, obviously both ready to help and deliver more comments. “Didn’t you give a bunch of hearts to the government to become a Warlord?”

“That’s a rumor,” Law scoffed, his hand raised to create a room.

“’S the truth,” Luffy said.

“Jeez, do you think I’m that ruthless?” Law assessed the damage. The cut was deep, but clean, and hadn’t hit the subclavian artery either, and if he sutured it properly it would heal quickly – given that Luffy didn’t move too much and rip it open again. “I didn’t give them a hundred hearts, I just collected some from a couple pirates I came across who were particularly rude, and the rest was from cows – which they never found out about. And they were all alive. When I sent them, Sengoku still had enough pull to ensure that none of them got killed, and I didn’t tell them who they belonged to anyway.”

“Still, that’s hardcore.”

“I’m not above ripping the hearts out of chests of people who deserve it,” Law said, cleaning the wound with practiced motions, “but I’m definitely not sending them to the government. Fuck them.”

“I’d totally have thought you would do that, if I’m honest,” Zoro said and Law was about to roll his eyes again, when Luffy said: “Not me.”

“You overestimate my moral compass,” he said gently. He knew the sedative had to be kicking in by now so he wasn’t going to take anything Luffy said for granted.

There had been a time in his life when he would have ripped the hearts from everyone who stood in his way. He wasn’t as angry anymore, but he had no qualms to tamper with organs either. He chose his subjects carefully, sure, but it wasn’t ethical – his parents would have hated it.

Maybe they even would have hated him, he mused, as he carefully stitched Luffy’s skin back together.

   Luffy recovered slowly. Keeping him in bed was a struggle, so of course he tore his stitches open on the very first day. Which in turn led to Law putting him on bed rest until the wound started mending.

There was a lot of whining.

 “I’m so bored,” Luffy complained, loudly.

Law sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had half a mind to just let Luffy run around again and let Chopper deal with it, but he knew it wasn’t right – it was just his annoyance. So he sighed and sat down on the bed next to Luffy, making the mattress dip a little. Luffy scooted sideward to make room for him almost automatically and that was incentive enough for Law to kick off his boots and pull his legs up onto the bed, too.

“I know,” he said. “But you really have to take better care of yourself.”

He ran a hand up Luffy’s arm, marred with scars – he didn’t even want to look at the old one on his torso, its upper edge disappearing under the bandages for the new wound. Getting hurt was part of the life of a pirate, Law was all-too aware, and he had fought time and time again to make his crew take enough time off to let their wounds heal. He wasn’t going to stop with Luffy now.

“I always either sleep for a few days after a big fight, or the wounds aren’t bad enough to need much recovery time,” Luffy said.

“You’re an idiot,” Law said but he smiled. “And I’m surprised you’re still alive.”

“Pure luck,” Luffy said, very seriously and now Law had to laugh.

“See, you’re even self-aware.”

Luffy shrugged half-heartedly. “It’s worked out so far. I’m tough.”

“And you heal quickly,” Law said. “But that doesn’t guarantee it’s going to work forever.”

The unspoken I don’t want to lose you hung heavy in the air. Law had lost too many people to be able to say it out loud, though. Because he felt like that would jinx it, like he would doom Luffy to the same fate that had befallen his parents, and his sister, and Cora-san.

“Hmm,” Luffy made and then fell quiet. Uncharacteristically quiet.

Law had to stop looking at him after the silence had stretched on for more than a dozen seconds and fiddled with a loose thread on his shirt instead.

As much as he was in favor of Luffy thinking about things for more than a second for once, he wasn’t a fan of uncomfortable silences. He liked knowing what was going on in Luffy’s mind – at least vaguely, because sometimes Luffy made no sense even to those closest to him – and it was proving hard right now.

Finally, Luffy broke the silence: “But could it have been my heart?” He was still speaking softer than he usually did, obviously aware of Law’s discomfort.

“So you do remember what we said,” Law said.

Luffy shrugged. “I’m used to pain. I was probably more aware of what was being said than you thought.”

Law grimaced. “It could have been,” he said, answering Luffy’s original question, “but only if you had been stabbed right here.” He put his finger on the spot between Luffy’s fifth and sixth ribs. “And only from the side, otherwise they would’ve had to go through your left lung.”

“Huh,” Luffy made, sounding a little breathless.

“Or,” Law continued, “they would have had to shatter your ribs, which a lot of people are strong enough to do around here, but that would have been harder than with other humans because of your rubber body. Or of course if their blade had been sharp enough to just cut through your ribs…”

“Okay, okay, stop!”

Law pulled his hand away and looked at Luffy apologetically. “Did I freak you out?” To him it was cathartic to talk about all the ways Luffy could have died – and didn’t – but he realized that he had gotten lost in the feeling.

“A little? It’s kinda cool too, I guess, but you really know a lot of ways to kill someone.”

Now it was Law’s turn to shrug. “I’m a doctor. It’s my job to know all the ways to kill someone – and how to treat them.”

“Okay, what’s the easiest way to kill me then?” Luffy asked.

Law laughed a little. “Probably if they’d cut your jugular vein here,” he put his finger on the juncture of Luffy’s neck, feeling his pulse speed up. “Or the external carotid artery – it’s close to there, too. You’d bleed out so quickly not even I could help you if I wasn’t with you.”

Luffy reached up and pulled Law’s hand away from his neck. “I just won’t get cut here,” he said decisively. Law wished it was that easy.

“Do you understand now why you need to be more careful?” he asked instead.

Luffy nodded. He was tracing the tattoos on the back of Law’s hand that was now resting on his leg.

“I can’t promise to stay out of trouble, but I can at least try to heal up properly.”

Law sighed. “Guess that’s the most I can ask for.”

They lapsed back into silence, both looking down at Law’s hand where Luffy had now taken to running his fingers over the letters on Law’s fingers. D E A T H.

The quiet didn’t last as long this time, barely a few seconds, before Luffy spoke again.

“Can you show me the heart thing?” he asked.

Law frowned and his hand twitched with the impulse to pull it away. “Why?”

“Because it always looked so cool,” Luffy said. Law sighed.

“It’s an extremely delicate thing,” he said. “It’s not something I do for amusement. I’ve always only used it for two things: tactics, and actual treatments.”

Luffy scoffed. “You’re telling me switching out our hearts and personalities was a hundred percent tactics?”

“…yes,” Law said and squinted. Maybe not a hundred percent, but a very solid ninety.

Luffy, seeing right through him, grinned. “Are you sure?”

“It was mostly tactics, anyway.” Law rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t just do it to you guys here on the ship now, just for fun. I think that’s what counts here.”

“If you say so,” Luffy said and laughed, but he sobered quickly. “But I really wanna see you do it. I’m curious. I’ve never seen a human heart.”

Law hesitated. If it was for educational purposes – at least kind of – it was alright, too. (And Luffy did seem genuinely curious, not just because he was bored, but because he was interested.) And if it served to keep Luffy in bed and resting a little longer, even better.

“Fine,” he said finally. “But I’m not showing you your own heart. I don’t think your wound is stable enough.” And without much more preamble he pulled his hand out from under Luffy’s, summoned a room and removed his own heart, cased in a protective bubble.

He had done this countless times before, to test and practice the technique, because he didn’t want to subject too many animals to it and certainly not his crew, but it was still a weird feeling to have his own beating heart in his hand.

“Wow,” Luffy made. “That’s awesome.”

Law slowly offered the heart to Luffy, who had sat up straighter to look at it.

“Can I touch it?” he asked.

Law shrugged. “Sure, just don’t squeeze it or anything.” Luffy grinned mischievously as he took the heart from it – much more carefully than his expression would suggest. “I swear, I’ll cut your head off and switch your heart with a turtle’s.”

“You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be cool.”

“I’m pretty sure both of you would die after about a week,” Law said drily.

“Have you tried?”, Luffy asked. He was inspecting Law’s heart closely now and Law wondered if he could also focus on the conversation they were having.

“I’ve tried switching different animals, yes,” Law said. “They usually couldn’t stay alive for very long. Humans and animals are okay, but the human body would need to be monitored because the animal has no idea what to do with it.”

“Hm, okay,” Luffy mumbled. “Makes sense.” He slightly poked Law’s heart and Law flinched.

“Ouch.” He slapped Luffy’s hand. “What did I tell you!”

Law looked up at him with big eyes. “Sorry! I didn’t think you’d feel that.”

“You literally just poked one of my most important organs, of course I’m going to feel it somehow,” Law said.

“Sorry,” Luffy said. Then: “It’s smaller than I expected.”

“You’ve seen me extract hearts before…”

“Yes, but not up close.”

“Fair,” Law said and looked at the heart himself now. “It is pretty small for such an important thing.”

“Is the brain just as small or is it bigger?” Luffy asked.

Law almost had to laugh, but he successfully held back – it was a valid question after all. “It’s bigger,” he said. “But not much. A few centimeters at most. The lungs are much bigger.” He spread his fingers out over the right side of his chest to indicate where his right lung was – he didn’t want to demonstrate on Luffy’s body, since he had just changed the bandages a while ago. “But I’m not taking either of those organs out.”

“Yeah, you need the brain to think,” Luffy said, very seriously. Law almost had to laugh. He needed his heart to survive, too, but it was alright out of his body by virtue of his Devil Fruit. But he didn’t correct Luffy.

Instead he watched him inspect Law’s heart, his eyes bright with wonder.

“It’s so delicate,” he said, holding it in his hand much gentler than before, only letting it rest on his flat palm. He was watching it beat. “Such a small thing, keeping all of you alive. And there’s a lot of you.”

Now Law did have to laugh. “Yours is doing the same job.”

“Yes, but I can’t see it,” Luffy said. “I can see yours now.”

Law took a deep, surprised breath and his heartbeat sped up a little, clearly visible in Luffy’s hand.

“Did you know there’s a legend of a pirate captain who locked his heart away in a chest, because he fell in love and subsequently got his heart broken?” Law asked.

“What?” Luffy gaped at him. “That’s insane.”

“And pretty much impossible, considering I’m the only one who’s ever had this power – as far as I know,” Law said. He did wonder often however if anyone had ever had it before him – Devil Fruits grew again. Was he just one in a long line of successors with the power of the Ope Ope no Mi? “It’s probably just a myth.”

“Why would anyone lock their heart away?” Luffy asked.

“He didn’t want to feel,” Law said and shrugged.

Luffy frowned. “Can you do that? Take someone’s feelings away by taking their heart?”

Law shook his head. “No, that’s not how it works. You are your heart, and your soul, and your feelings, no matter where it is.”

He stared at the heart in Luffy’s palm and thought about how often he had wished he didn’t have to feel, and about the times he hadn’t been able to feel – but not because he had removed his heart, but because his depression had overtaken him so viciously that he had come out the other end of feeling too much with nothing left to feel.

“I’m glad we have feelings,” Luffy said and Law tore his eyes away from his heart to look at Luffy’s face. “It’s hard, sometimes, but it makes us who we are, right? What would you be without your grumpiness, and your enthusiasm about medicine, and your love of soft things?” He handed the heart back to Law.

“Not me, that’s for sure,” Law mumbled. He hesitated, then said what he was thinking anyway: “It can be very hard. But I think… I think it’s worth it.”

Because with all the bad came just as much good. If Law had given in to his yearning not to feel – if he hadn’t been fueled by spite and revenge all these years – he would have never developed his deep friendship with Bepo, or met Luffy, or been able to talk to Sengoku about Corazón, or been able to experience what it felt like to have a beating human heart in your hands.

Law slotted his heart back into his chest, where it belonged.