A Killing Love
Summary: Was it fate or destiny that he met the alluring and clumsy blond? Or was it the work of something – or someone – else? CoraLaw
Warnings: AU, mild swearing, some ooc, blood.
Disclaimer: Corazon is so lovable. So is Law. Add them as a pairing and it's MIND BLOWINGLY ADORABLE. In other words, I don't own One Piece. Don't ask how that related. Because I don't know either. Oi, don't make that face at your computer screen! It didn't do anything to you!
Law often wondered how he came into his current situation. Was it just pure chance that he met the person before him? Was it just plain bad luck? Or had it been something else? Had it been fate? Had it been…planned?
He stared down the barrel of the gun, unflinching, and looked into the blond's eyes that hid behind dark sunglasses. He wondered what would happen next, and if he would leave this situation alive or not. He wouldn't be surprised if he didn't, and the thought of dying in the next few moments didn't bother him in the slightest. He had nothing to live for anyway, so what was the point of being afraid to die? Death was something that happened to everyone and thing eventually, there was no stopping it. Sure, you could do things to prolong it – like eating healthy, not doing any drugs, and getting the right amount of exercise. But death would come and claim you in the end, despite trying to fight it off for so long.
Nothing outlasted death. Even the mountains and Earth would one day succumb to its cold, waiting grasp.
The smoke from the man's cigarette seemed to take on a life of its own; creating various images and creatures within it before whisping into nothing. Law thought he saw the Grim Reaper appear in the smoke but, then again, that may have his eyes playing tricks on him.
He blamed his overactive morbid imagination.
The blond's trigger finger twitched ever so lightly, and still Law refused to move. He had a sudden urge to smirk but held it back, now was not the appropriate time for such an action. "So…I guess this is it," he said instead, his voice void of all emotion.
"I guess so," the blond replied, voice quieter, yet harder, than what the surgeon was used to.
"No matter what happens next, I want you to know one thing."
"…And that would be?"
"I'm glad…that I met you. Cora-san."
Corazon's finger twitched once more; this time only stronger than before, making the trigger move beneath his soft skin.
Two months earlier
It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue, the grass was green, the clouds were white, the sun was yellow, the dead body was red, the gun's smoke was gray, and Law was dressed in black. He looked at the unmoving corpse dispassionately, giving a tired sigh as he put away his gun and wiped his bloodied knife onto the grass carefully before sheathing it. Another mission was finished. All that was left was to report back to Headquarters and, maybe, pick up one more job if he felt like it when he got there. It was a never ending cycle for him: get up in the morning, eat, go to Headquarters, get a mission, finish mission, get another job (optional), go to hospital to perform surgery if they call, then head home to eat, shower, sleep (if he can), and repeat. He looked up to the blue sky above with his brow slightly furrowed.
Oh how he'd begun to tire of his routine life.
People thought being an assassin/spy would be exciting and, for the most part, it was. But after a while, the jobs seemed repetitive, and it began to bore Law. He wanted a change, something to happen that was out of the ordinary for once. He continued to stare up at the sky, almost waiting for a piano to fall out of the sky like in the cartoons.
But nothing happened.
And he continued on with his routine life.
"Law! Oi, Torao!" Law restrained the urge to sigh and stab the boy who was currently ready to tackle him in a hug. As the teen flew at him, Law expertly side stepped, causing the other male to fly past him and land almost face-first onto the concrete below. But at the last possible moment, the teen's body twisted into an almost unbelievable position and instead landed safely on his feet. If Law didn't know any better, he would have thought the teen was made of rubber. "Haha, you're getting better at that!"
'That's because I don't want to be touched by your weird, tentacle like hands that stick to everything that comes into contact with them due to the simple fact that you can't keep your hands to yourself and–'
"What do you want, Mugiwara-ya?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to go on a mission with me and Ace," the male smiled brightly, making him look far younger than he actually was. Many times, the surgeon was tempted to call him a 'kid' rather than a 'teen' because, for one, he looked young enough, and his personality was of that of a five-year-old. No, really. That wasn't a joke. He had the shortest attention span, he simply had to touch everything and everyone, he had a tendency to pout, and he had quite the temper when angered. Oh, and most of all, he was a complete idiot.
How he was considered as one of the top twenty assassins, Law would never know.
"Sorry, but I'm done for the day," he answered. For once, he actually felt like sleeping, which was rare considering how much insomnia acted up. The dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than ever these days.
Luffy pouted, just like a five year old would, and Law registered the urge to roll his eyes when the teen began to ask him again to come on the mission. "Lu, he said he's finished for the day. Leave him alone already," another voice intercepted. Turning, Law's gray and gold-flecked eyes landed on a familiar freckled face. Portgas D Ace, a man who was in the top five best assassins in the company and listed as #1 on Blackbeard and Akainu's list to kill. Law couldn't imagine being on those monsters' hit list, but the freckled male looked as if he didn't really care much.
How he was still alive with those two after him was quite amazing, really.
But, then again, the male worked for Whitebeard. And that man did not hire anyone but the absolute best. He ranked second under the famous male, just below Marco the Phoenix who was, by far, one of the best assassins Law had ever had the pleasure of meeting. "Sorry about that, you know he can be."
"It's fine," Law said, turning his attention away from the brothers. "I heard you were almost cornered by Teach-ya the other day."
"Yeah, it was a close call. Luckily Marco was my backup. It all turned out in the end, and that's what matters." Ace turned to his brother, throwing his arm over the younger's shoulders. "Come on, Robin said she'd join us today."
"Oh, Robin? Awesome! I love working with her!"
"Me too." Nico Robin, one of the top female assassins in the world. She was another person who Law had the pleasure of meeting. "Anyway, nice seeing you, Law. Take care."
"You too."
"Bye Torao!"
"Bye Mugiwara-ya." Glad to be by himself once more, Law exited the building and began to walk down the city's streets as if he hadn't taken a person's life mere hours ago. He looked at the people who passed by, taking a look at their current expressions. Some had fake, pathetic smiles on their faces, while others were grinning happily. Some smiled softly as they held the hand of their lover, and others had an unhappy scowl as they hurried off to their boring jobs.
Humans disgusted Law, yet intrigued him at the same time.
Well, not humans themselves, but their bodies. The way the human body worked, how it functioned and what ran through their veins and every beat a heart gave was just fascinating. It was one of the main reasons he became a surgeon; it was a legal way of cutting someone open to witness the inner workings of their body. The other reason was because his parents had been doctors and they began to teach him about the medical business at an early age.
Something bumped into his shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts. He mentally berated himself, knowing better than to space out while out in public. Had the person who just bumped into him been a rival assassin, he could've been stabbed or drugged. Staying alert the rest of the way, he headed to the convenient store he stopped at every time he finished work at either Headquarters or the hospital. It wasn't a secret they had the best coffee around.
Entering, he wasted no time in heading over to the coffee machine. Once he poured his favorite steaming drink into the largest cup the store offered, he began to walk for the counter to pay. Unfortunately, a rather tall man decided that Law's shirt needed a little bit of redecorating and walked right into the surgeon; causing the freshly poured coffee to spill and stain the spotted shirt Law wore.
"Goddammit," Law hissed, not only at the fact that his shirt just got ruined, but also because his skin was not a big fan of being burned by hot liquids.
"Shit, I'm sorry," the man said, running over to the counter to grab a wad of napkins. He retuned a moment later, dabbing and soaking up the coffee on the shirt. "I'm sorry, I tripped and ran right into you," the man mumbled.
The surgeon sighed. "It's fine. I'll just buy a new one. It was getting old, anyway." It wasn't a lie. He looked up to see just who it was that ran into him. He was met with blond hair and a rather handsome looking face. The man was tall, probably peaking around seven feet, and looked thin but built. Multiple scars were visible along his arms and Law wondered how anyone could mar someone who looked so beautiful.
He must have stared at the man's scars a bit too long, because the male gave an amused chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "They're all from me," he started. "I'm really clumsy and always end up hurting myself."
"Clumsy, huh?"
"I can trip over absolutely nothing."
Law gave an amused smirk. "Sounds like quite the talent you were be born with."
"My brother says the same thing." The blond held out his hand. "The name's Rocinante."
"Law," the surgeon answered, shaking the man's hand. "Anyway, I do believe you owe me a coffee."
"I believe you are correct. How about I get you some real coffee."
The surgeon raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a deal. After you, Rocinante-ya."
They decided to meet up every Saturday at Sachi's Coffee Corner. Law found the name odd for the one fact that the shop wasn't even on a corner. The coffee shop came into view and Law couldn't help but quicken his pace, wanting nothing more than to meet up with his new friend.
Friend.
What an odd word. Never before had he had a friend. It was nice, to say the least, and he found himself eagerly waiting for the weekend to come. Meeting Rocinante always brightened up his day. The blond was everything Law liked; he was intelligent yet comical, strong yet clumsy, and always stood for what he believed in. It also helped that he was rather handsome.
…
…Okay, so maybe Law saw Rocinante as more than just a 'friend'.
He may or may not have fallen in love in the past month.
Opening the glass the doors, he quickly made his way over to their usual table where the blond currently sat; two cups of steaming coffee sitting before him. Law wasted no time in taking a seat and grabbing one of the cups, sipping it to taste the best coffee in the city. Rocinante hadn't bee lying, Sachi's coffee really was above all the rest. "Good afternoon," the blond greeted, his smile widening upon seeing the surgeon.
"And a good afternoon to you too," the surgeon responded, giving a small smile himself. It was a smile he only reserved for Rocinante. A special smile. "Are you well on this fine day?"
"A little tired, but otherwise just fine. How was your week?" They told each other how their week had been, just like they did every week. Law would tell Corazon how his time at the hospital was when he was called in for emergency heart surgeries and Corazon told Law about how being a car salesman wasn't exactly the funnest job in the world.
It was the fifth week they met up that Law noticed it. The way Rocinante looked at him was…different than it usually was. It was more relaxed than anything. His eyes looked different as well, and Law tried hard to place the emotion that showed in them. He didn't know, but he thought that those blue eyes looked more beautiful than usual. As he plopped down into the chair and reached for his coffee, Rocinante, who had his hand resting in his palm, gave a soft smile. "I love you, Law."
The surgeon froze, his fingertips burning against the cup's hot surface as he stared at the blond with a look of disbelief and shock. He must have looked quite funny for the blond gave a soft chuckle at the sight. "What?" Had he heard that right? Surely, he couldn't have. People didn't just blurt that out without building up to it.
Law cleared his throat, his hands working once more as he finally brought his numb fingertips away from the scalding cup. "We never discussed our sexual orientation before. For all you know, I could walk away from you forever right now."
"I know."
"You seem awfully calm for knowing that."
"What if I told you I'm actually quite terrified of you walking away?"
"Then I have to say you hide your fear quite well," Law said. And he meant it. The man before him didn't look afraid at all. "I'm almost tempted to walk away now. But, because even I am not that horrible, I won't." Rocinante's smile strengthen a little, but there was still some worry in his eyes. A silence fell between the two as Law brought the coffee up to his lips, taking a long drink. Then after a moment, he added, "Oh yeah, I love you too. Almost forgot to mention that."
A relieved chuckle left the blond and he ran a hand through his blond hair. "You're such a cheeky brat."
Law smirked, lifting his mug to take another drink of the best coffee in the city. "You know you love me."
"Yeah," the blond said. "I do."
Dating, at first, had been…different. Neither had much experience in the love department and found themselves at a loss of what to do or what to talk about. But, eventually, with the help and advice of some coworkers, they began to work their way through the relationship. They held hands when they walked, kissed when they met up and left, and chatted happily whenever they were together. Sometimes, though, they'd just sit in silence. Because silence could mean just as much as words, sometimes even more so.
Still, Law felt bad for having to lie to the blond all the time about his job. But there was no easy way of coming out and saying, "Hey, just to let you know, being a surgeon is a side job of mine. I'm actually a professional assassin. So how was your week? Are you enjoying dinner?" Yeah, that'd go over so well at dinner.
"Law? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, probably a little too quickly. "Just thinking is all."
"I see," the blond smiled, putting his focus back on the spaghetti on his plate. Today marked two weeks of them being a couple, and it was Law's idea to go out to a restaurant. It was nice, the restaurant was cozy and homely and, most importantly, affordable. Rocinante picked the place, which was called Penguin's Cuisine. "So do you have any plans for next week Monday?"
"I don't believe I do. Why?"
"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could go to the festival that's–"
Riiiing. Riiiing.
The blond gave a sheepish smile and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small phone. "Sorry, excuse me." Law nodded in understand. Rocinante answered the phone as he stood, unknowingly putting it on speakerphone.
"Corazon. I need you to come in." The blond gave a quiet curse, pulling the phone away as he turned off the speaker and walked towards the restaurants doors. Law furrowed his brows lightly. 'Corazon? Where have I heard that before? …Doesn't that mean 'heart' in Spanish?' Well Rocinante had once told him he was Spanish. Law's own phone suddenly rang, and he pulled out it and glanced at the screen. He gave a dark scowl.
'How the flipping fuck did that little twit get my phone number?' The message was from Luffy, and it came with the photo of a very drunk (and quite possibly high) Sanji wearing a pink dress, curly blond hair extensions, and thick makeup. The message with it read Shishishi! Sanji's inner woman comes out!
Honestly, Law found the photo more disturbing than funny.
And, unfortunately, it was an image that would forever be burned into his mind.
He'd never be able to look at the blond the same again.
Rocinante sat back at the table and gave a concerned look when he saw the look Law was giving. "Everything alright? What's wrong?"
"You don't want to know," was all Law said, putting his phone away as he desperately tried to get the photo out of his mind.
At first, Law was a little nervous to go to the fair Rocinante had mentioned. The town he'd grown up in had a lot of festivals, and he and his family would go to every single one of them. It just…reminded him too much of his family. But when he got there, Rocinante made sure he had nothing but a fun and great time. They played many games and won too many prizes. They ate unhealthy food and probably drank a little too much watered down fruit punch.
They listened to live music that played and watched several performances that took place on the stage. And after all that, they just walked through the fair; holding hands and enjoying the time they spent with each other.
It made Law happy.
His life, he found…was no longer simply routine.
And what happened two days later also wasn't routine.
"You don't take very many missions anymore," Luffy commented as he walked beside Law, annoying the surgeon to no end. What part of, "Get away from me" did this teen not understand? It was like he took that as an invitation to stick around. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's perfect," Law answered, and not a single trace of sarcasm was found in his voice. Probably because everything really was perfect. His life no longer was the same cycle every day, and he had someone he could call a friend and lover. His life really had turned for the better. A small smile slipped onto his face as Rocinante popped into his mind.
"Shishishi! Someone's in love~" he singsonged, grinning ear to ear. And Law's smile turned into a quick scowl. He opened his mouth to tell the teen to fuck off but Luffy opened his mouth first. "I hope they take good care of you. Well, I gotta go. By, Torao! I wish you good luck and happiness!" The teen ran off, leaving the surgeon staring at his retreating back.
Okay, so maybe Luffy wasn't so bad after all.
He shook his head and started walking once more, passing two male coworkers in the process. His expert ears picked up their conversation without meaning to. "Joker is on the move again."
"I heard he and his first hand man managed to take down several of our assassins the other day."
"Shit. It's scary how good they are. Joker and Corazon are a deadly duo."
And Law froze in his tracks, his eyes widening in shock.
He knew that name now.
Corazon: right hand man to Joker. The two of them were considered two of the most deadliest assassins in the world.
He remembered the phone call Rocinante received last week at the restaurant, and how the first thing the man on the phone said was Corazon. Was…was his lover also an assassin? If he was then…
Then was their relationship even real, or was Corazon just getting to know him for information on his boss?
Had their meeting been planned?
Law suddenly felt like his entire friendship was nothing but a lie. It wasn't real, just made-up. He suddenly had the urge to meet up with Rocinante, to ask him if he really was a car salesman or if that, too, was just a lie.
Did he really fall in love with Law?
Too many questions ran through his head.
His phone rang and he answered it without realizing it. "Law, come to my office. I have an important mission."
Law leaned against the alley's brick wall, letting the shadows keep him out of the public's sight. He glanced at his watch, his target should show up any moment. He felt nervous and the palms of his hands were beginning to sweat. He didn't like this at all. But, really, he should have expected something like this to happen. His life was always so fucked up, when did he even think that changed? The day he met Rocinante, his mind answered for him. Because the day he met Rocinante, his entire world seemed to change. Things seemed brighter and the impossible suddenly seemed within reach.
Everything had been so nice.
But not anymore.
Now...
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he pulled his gun out quickly, turning and raising the gun to aim at the person who entered the alley. Before him stood his target, and in his face was the barrel of a gun.
Before him stood not Rocinante, but Corazon. Corazon wore a dark red hat, a white shirt with pink hearts, a black feathered coat, and had makeup on his face in the shape of a smile and spikes under his right eye. He wore sunglasses, and Law decided the man still looked absolutely amazing.
"So…I guess this is it."
"I guess so." And despite the fact that there was a gun in his face, Law knew how the outcome of the battle would end. He could not pull the trigger. He just couldn't.
He couldn't kill the man he'd come to fall in love with.
"Whatever happens next, I want you to know one thing."
"…And that would be?"
"I'm glad…that I met you. Cora-san."
Corazon's finger twitched once more; this time only stronger than before, making the trigger to move beneath his smooth skin. The sound of a silenced gun going off broke the silence of the alley, and something fell to dirty ground below. A drop of blood ran down smooth skin, leaving a red trail in its wake.
Then silence fell in the dark alley once more.
A/N: GUYS. There needs to be more CoraLaw. Seriously. But yeah, I always wanted to write an assassin story. So I finally did. Hope this was okay. (I know, it's kinda like Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Didn't mean to really make it like that but...sorry.) Should there be one more chapter? Or should I just leave it like this; for you to use your imagination for the ending? I have my own idea for what happened, but I won't put it down if you guys eventually want a new chapter. If you want to know my idea, let me know and I'll message it to you.
But what do YOU guys think? I'm curious to know. ;D Leave a review please!
Your shy ice elemental,
~»roo the psycho«