Chapter 8
Nami decides not to return the bike to her neighbors.
And as much as she would like to feel sorry about it, she can't, especially after witnessing them drive into their garage a brand new, unnecessarily showy truck. If anything, she has done them a favor by sparing them the trouble of finding a new place to put their their now useless bicycle.
She contemplates whether to pack sandwiches or rice balls; not having gotten the chance to ask which they prefer, but she decides not to over think it. When they meet up with the rest of her own friends, Sanji will undoubtedly supply them with enough food over her own small contribution. Once reaching the decision to prepare a few of each -and pack a couple thermoses of black tea- it doesn't take her long to collect herself and head off, on her bike, to his apartment.
She curses under her breath, silently wondering whether she got the time wrong as she stands in front of his apartment door, vigorously rubbing her hands against her arms and waiting for someone to let her in. After lingering there for another couple of minutes, and after trying to get through to one of the roommates by phone, she lets loose an aggravated groan, shoves her phone into her pocket and twists the doorknob open, in hope of finding it unlocked. To her surprise, she does find it unlocked, and doesn't hesitate to push it open and invite herself in - she didn't want the food to get too cold, nor did she want to catch a cold herself. Besides, she considers herself comfortable enough with him not to think too much into it.
But once she gets her shoes off, enters the living room, and takes a moment to scan the apartment; she finds it unusually quiet, even for the surgeon.
"Law?" she calls out, tightening her grasp around her bags, "Kid...?"
When she doesn't receive any response, she instantly assumes the rowdy one of the two isn't in the apartment, but suspects the presence of her doctor when she notices the gentle light coming in through a crack in his bedroom door. After setting down the food in the kitchen and taking off her coat, Nami grasps the doorknob of his door and gently pushes it open. She pokes her head in, but just before she declares her presence, her eyebrows knit in confusion at what she sees. Across the surgeon's bed lie endless numbers of pictures-of what she can't tell from where she stands, but from the solemn look on Law's face as he stands above them, Bepo brushing against his legs and receiving no response from his master, she guesses they aren't particularly pleasant.
"You can come in, Nami-ya," the surgeon's voice catches her off-guard, and after a moment of standing uncertainly near the door, she finally steps in, putting on an uncomfortable smile.
"I brought some lunch," she attempts to lighten the anxiousness lingering between them. He merely nods, his eyes not moving away from the pictures. She remains standing with her back against the door, her eyes settled on his body as he shifts his hand from his face down to rest at his side.
"These are pictures of Corazon," he finally says. She doesn't fail to note the lowness of his voice as he speaks, "I've been receiving them from Doflamingo for years."
Nami's lips part, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. This is the first time he has spoken of Corazon, and for him to be so openly telling her about it sends an incredible feeling of satisfaction at discovering his genuine trust in her. She takes a minute to gather herself before pushing away from the door and walking towards him. Her eyes soften in pain as she takes in the numerous pictures of the imprisoned man. From the beginning of the row, she sees the progression of his state as he hopelessly lies hanging from shackles against the wall; his vibrant blonde hair growing dull, his face gradually turning more and more exhausted, his body becoming thinner and painfully fragile. She bites her lower lip in attempt to suppress any sounds from escaping her as she realizes the pain her doctor must be feeling so much of the time, and how tough it must be to constantly hide it. To constantly be on edge. Upon reaching the last row, she notices an out of context photo; one of Corazon, looking ever so radiant with a blindingly wide grin etched across his face, his fingers pulling playfully on the cheeks of an eleven year old, grouchy Law. Her tense shoulders sink, her heart filling with sincere empathy as she watches his eyes gaze in silent longing at the same photo, not failing to engulf her mind with memories of Bellemere.
"He was an officer," the surgeon suddenly says, succeeding in pulling Nami out of her wistful train of thoughts. He releases a cynical breath, his voice dropping, almost as if talking to himself, "until this day, I can never understand why he was so determined to take care of a kid as unpleasant as me."
She can't tell whether her nod is to show her attentiveness, or because she can so deeply relate to his inquiry, but it has been long since she felt such a strong desire to be of comfort to someone. For a second, she considers sharing part of her own background, make it known just how much she understands his pain. Curses begin to flock her flustered mind; she trusts him, she has never been so sure of that fact, but her voice refuses to come out.
"I need to find him, Nami-ya," he finally whispers, his voice calm- but she has known him long enough to detect the sense of urgency etched into his tone, despite its subtleness.
Unable to find the strength to speak, she slowly moves her hand away from her side, slips it into his own and gives him a gentle squeeze; having absolutely nothing else to offer as means of support. The stiffening of his hand in response to her touch isn't lost on her, but no sooner than later does she feel his fingers finally tighten, though lightly, around hers in silent gratitude. Her eyes proceed to look over the pictures, now in dire hope to find something out about his location; despite feeling certain that he has already looked into them more thoroughly than she ever could. But with the help of her friends, now, she is sure that their progress will only improve. Especially with the inevitably contagious determination of Luffy.
"Oi, Trafalgar!"
Their hands part just in time for Kid to show up at the doorway with his ever-vexing scowl, yelling, "would'ya hurry up? Let's eat. I just got the beer!"
There goes the idea of relaxing tea, Nami notes with a roll of her eyes, a little more than just irked at his sudden intrusion.
"I would rather have something warm," the surgeon interjects, as if reading her thoughts.
She cracks a smile towards him, "Tea sound good?"
…
"Gee, sideburns," Kid chuckles, pushing Bepo off the couch with his foot -gently enough not to hurt him, but gruffly enough not to seem soft, "tea when there's beer? I knew the squirt was a pussy, but I didn't know you were, too. What a disappointment."
"Oi," she snaps, suppressing the urge to try and pick another fight with him over booze; after thinking through her last attempt to take him on for a challenge of drinking, she felt relieved that the surgeon stopped her from going through with it. Though she is unusually good at taking in a large amount of alcohol without getting drunk, she doesn't always manage to act decently. In fact, never does she act decently when a mug of sake is in her hand.
"I'm sure the bar misses you, Eustass-ya," Law reproaches irritably, uncrossing his legs to welcome Bepo onto his lap whilst sipping his tea despite his roommates unneeded commentary.
"You're not getting rid of me until I meet the squirt's friends you two've been talking about," he bites out, chugging down another bottle of sake, "when are they coming anyway, eh? Aren't they late?"
Nami sighs impatiently. Zoro.
"For the love of God, Eustass-san, we can hear your voice all the way from the parking lot!" Shachi's voice blares in complaint as he and Penguin all too familiarly walk into the apartment. Law's eyebrows cross in hushed aggravation.
"Has either of you heard of the term knocking?" he asks, soon getting interrupted by yet another set of enthusiastic voices chiming in from the stairwell. Though his usual response to Luffy's presence tends to be a tad resentful and unwelcoming, this time his expression reveals a tint of relief; and despite it being because they can now proceed with planning their next step, Nami still finds herself smiling at seeing him warm up to her friends. The first to barge into the apartment, not shockingly, is the source of all the noise himself.
"So this is Dr. Torao's place!" exclaims Luffy in utter eagerness as he pushes his straw hat off his head so that it hangs comfortably from his neck. Soon after his entrance, the rest of her friends walk in; a couple of them in an aggravated fight, a couple more following Luffy in with just as much enthusiasm, and the last, satisfyingly collected one of the bunch finally steps in and closes the door after them. Nami releases an internal sigh of relief at seeing Robin; not that she minds spending time with the guys, she enjoys their presence, a lot, but she still deeply misses picking out her daily outfits, and going out shopping with her friend and sister, Nojiko. She has collected a good deal of money so far; but not enough. She needs to go a little further until this is all over, and she can go back to feeling like a female again.
"Oi, squirt!" Kid rawrs at the top of his lungs, cutting through her line of thoughts, "get your damn friend out of my fucking hair!"
"But look, it's so red and fuzzy," insists Luffy, a little pouty as he looks at Nami.
"Sorry, Kid," she replies with a mild smirk, brushing off the glares he sends towards her, "you're not a pussy, are you? You don't need my help."
Needless to say, it takes the group a long while to finally settle down; presenting food to the rowdiest of the bunch did the trick, as it always does, thanks to Sanji's blissful cooking. Much to her relief, both he and Zoro are being surprisingly considerate enough not to pick another fruitless fight, despite the spark so clearly crackling between the two as they settle across from each other, saving themselves from another one of Nami's punch sessions. She releases a worn sigh, finally plunking down next to Robin after deciding to allow Luffy to eagerly bounce up and down on the couch. If that's as quiet as he can bring himself to be, she won't risk ruining it for everyone. Law begins to speak, though she can tell the uneasiness hidden in his voice as he attempts to thank them as subtly as he possible can.
"I appreciate your cooperation-" he begins to say, receiving an unnecessarily loud clear of Nami's throat, then sending towards her a rather ticked glance in response.
"...your help," he impatiently corrects himself, holding his temper only because he has to. As much as he hates to admit it, their assistance will be a big step forward towards his goal. That's a fact he can't deny. In attempt to reduce the tense air building up, Penguin grabs a couple of maps from Law's room and spreads them on the table settled in the center of the group with a jolly grin. Nami flashes him a grateful smile, gaining an adorably bashful scratch of his neck as a reply.
"Here's the plan," the surgeon continues, ignoring his friend's demeanor as best as he can and pointing briefly at the maps, "Doflamingo has a number of prisons and foundations stationed across the island. The guys and I have been to more than half of them, but it took us years to locate them and find our way in. There's not enough time for us to keep doing it the way we've been doing it the past few years; so we'll split into four groups to save time."
He then pauses for a moment, his face hardening slightly as he slips his hand into his pocket and pulls out a picture of Corazon. Nami notices that he has chosen the very first one he received from Doflamingo; when Corazon was still in a relatively good state of being. He finally extends his hand to hand it over to a now calm Luffy.
"That's the man we're looking for."
Luffy blinks curiously as he takes in the picture as well as he can before nodding, sending the surgeon a rather happy grin considering the situation they are currently facing, then giving it to the next person to see. Once Robin gets a decent look at it, she hands it over to Nami, who takes a good, long minute to absorb all of Corazon's features, her eyebrows settling in a conflicted frown. A clear of Usopp's throat finally snaps her eyes away from the picture so that she can pass it over to him and finish showing the entire circle.
"And when is this supposed to happen?" Zoro questions coldly once the picture finally reaches him.
"It will be too suspicious to have all the groups head off on the same day," Law explains, giving no heed to the mild unfriendliness etched in the questioning man's tone of voice, "each group will depart on a separate day of this upcoming week."
Shachi then slips out eleven straws from his coat pocket and bunches them neatly in his fist. He smiles, "let's get the grouping over with, shall we?"
With everyone's nod of agreement, he extends his arm so that everyone can pull one out; minus Chopper, who is having a bit of trouble reaching Shachi's hand until Zoro finally takes the initiative to pick him up and set him on top of the table. Shachi sends the group a last confirming nod and everyone pulls out their straw.
A small silence ensues.
"I got the yellow straw!" Luffy declares, excitedly looking around the room for his unfortunate partner.
"You have got to be fucking with me," Kid's voice seethes as he stares daggers into his own yellow straw.
Nami cringes as she catches a glimpse of Robin's straw, it being yellow as well. She regards her with a sympathetic smile, "Good luck with those two."
Her friend merely chuckles, "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Zoro! Dr. Trafalgar!" Chopper squeals as he spots his two horrified partners. They both respond with an uncomfortable, almost resentful eyeing of their own straws. Nevertheless, their furry companion seems unruffled by their silence, his excitement easily overshadowing it.
"Thank God," Usopp heaves, his safety reassured now that he knows Sanji is on his team, along with Penguin, who Nami has told him is one of the two friendly guys of the surgeon's group of friends; so needless to say, he is pleased. That leaves Nami to finally detect her own partner: Shachi. He sends her a friendly wave from across the room, unable to get a decent look of her through the chaotic bunch excitedly, or in Kid's case, in utter frenzy, moving from one side of the living room to the other. No doubt about it; though she doesn't mind Kid as much as she did when she first met him, she is more than relieved with whom she has ended up getting paired with. Besides, it will be a nice change of atmosphere, and everyone will get to bond one way or another. She cracks a smile; things seem to be working out rather well.
Driving at nine thirty in the evening through traffic, heavy rain and barely any gas in his car to his nurse's apartment, with the pitiful excuse of returning her forgotten thermos, is something Law has never seen himself doing. Yet, here he is, standing at the door of her and Usopp's shared apartment, one hand gripping the godforsaken thermos while the other hovers hesitantly over the doorbell. This isn't like him; he is more than aware of the fact. His feet have dragged him to this place, and he himself is yet to understand the reason behind it. Something tells him he shouldn't go through with the visit, but his finger disregards the feeling by dropping down and pressing the bell.
The instant the door opens to reveal Nami, Law knows he'll be regretting his decision.
"Ah, Law!" she greets, startled to see him, and clearly unaware of her demeanor; wearing a white tank-top barely hiding her no longer concealed breasts, with a clasp pinning her bangs away from her face, revealing her big, radiant brown eyes. The sight of her somehow prevents him from replying.
"You didn't have to come all the way for that," she says with a small giggle, staring down at the thermos clasped in his hands, "I've got plenty of those."
Law's face remains placid, though the twitching of his jaw doesn't seem to want to halt, much to his annoyance. He finally replies, "I was taking care of business nearby. It's no trouble."
"Well, it's freezing out there!" she shudders, stepping away from the doorway and nudging her head in, "come inside."
Once again, his feet seem to do the work for him, as he soon responds with a subtle nod and walks in. He hardly succeeds in preventing the pestering thoughts now growing in his mind from showing through his supposedly calm expression as she closes the door after him and locks it. He sets the thermos down, proceeding to watch Nami intently as she turns around, slips on an amusing pair of furry rabbit slippers and shuffles her way to the kitchen, which conveniently opens to the sitting area, where he finally settles. After snapping the water heater on, she turns her head towards him and smiles, "Usopp's working late today."
He nods to show his attention, disregarding the contentment he finds himself feeling from her news. His eyes follow her as she continues to unwrap two tea bags; he can't help but feel a smile tow at his lips as she pushes herself on her tiptoes, trying to reach the cabinet of mugs. She groans and slams them shut once she manages to grab the cups, "I swear to God Usopp's not much taller than me, why the hell did he build them so high?!"
Law chuckles, crossing his legs as she, pouting, hands him his mug and plunks down on the couch right next to him. She snaps her head up, her previously endearing features now turning into a dark glare, "you and your crazy long legs."
She then proceeds to deepen her irritable scowls and vents about everything else her roommate seems to be doing wrong, the surgeon finding it unusually difficult to focus on her words as his gaze gradually shifts from her eyes down to her lips. Since the beginning, he has been fully aware of her gender. Her features gave her away right from the start, despite her constant and fairly amusing attempts of appearing as a male. Her femininity has always easily come across to him, even with her short hair and ridiculously baggy attire, which he now understands isn't her typical choice of clothing. And as much as she tries, there is no way of hiding it; she's a beautiful woman, in more than just one aspect. He has yet to understand the reasons as to why she needs the money so much to the point where she would decide to do this, but it isn't part of his plans to ask. If she wants him to know; he'll know.
"Is helping with the dishes every now and then such a big task?!" she rambles on, completely oblivious to the fact that he can't hear a word she's saying. Never has he realized how easily distracted he can become by merely looking at her.
"Do you see what I mean?" she finally concludes with a question; a question that catches him slightly off guard, though much to his luck, one that requires a rather easy answer. He sets his mug down and shifts in his place on the couch.
"Nami-ya."
"Mmm?" she mumbles, distractedly running her finger over the rim of her mug.
"You and Shachi are the only two person group," he says, regarding her with a solid gaze, "You need to be very careful."
She finally stops tracing her now luke-warm mug of tea, instead leaning her head on the back of the couch and firmly fixing her eyes on him, the faintest hint of a smile gracing her lips. He observes her silently, the sudden force of her head against the couch causing a lock of hair to slip out of the pin and fall in front of her eyes, "I will."
Giving it no further thought, Law lifts his hand and guides it towards her face, where his fingers come in contact with her stray strand of hair to brush it away from her eyes. The faint shade of pink gradually tinting her face isn't lost on him as he slides his hand down to cup her cheek. Closing her eyes, she eventually relaxes into his touch, much to his surprise, though it only serves as further encouragement to him, and that, he is certain, wouldn't be so warmly welcomed. Her lips curl into a small smirk, "you know, your hands are pretty tender considering the word tattooed on them."
He cracks a smile, "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Nami-ya."
Upon hearing the sound of a turning key, her eyes snap open, and on impulse, she swats his hand away from her face -an action even the surgeon finds himself feeling a tad offended by- just as Usopp opens the door and steps in. Releasing an irritable tch, Law fixes his posture on the couch and sends the long nosed man a frigid glare, not in the least appreciating the polite smile plastered on his face.
"Ah, I didn't know you were coming, Torao!" he says, shoving his boots off his feet and hustling inside.
"How was work?" asks Nami, now completely avoiding Law's gaze, much to his irritation.
"Not bad, we had a lot of customers today! Man, you should've seen how many were…"
At that point, the surgeon blocks off Usopp's reports of the day, finding it difficult to look at him, or even listen without feeling more ticked than he already is. More importantly, he has his answer now. He understands why his feet dragged him all the way over here despite all the inconveniences and clear signs that said he shouldn't. But one thing he knows for sure is, things between them are going to be different, whether it be a good thing or bad. And she knows it too.
…
Not gonna lie, I had trouble writing this chapter 8) I was planning to post it a few days ago, but when I reread it I knew that would be a reaaaally bad idea, so I had to go through it a couple more times. I'm still not super happy with the ending of it, but it IS better than it was a week ago, that's for certain 8D. IN ANY CASE, thank you for your constant support, and hope you had a good weekend ;D!
