Chapter 27: Big Brother Law
When the 2 of them made it to the galley, one of the cooks greeted them with a 'hello.' And then she was given a fresh steamy bowl of stew. Everyone was confused when she only stared at the stew with a doll-like expression plastered on her face.
"Is there something wrong?" Jerry asked.
"Did you poison this?"She asked quietly.
Jerry began to chuckle at her question, not offended in the slightest. He then took out his wooden spoon and took a little sip at her bowl of stew. "Don't worry, it's safe." Jerry said with a warm smile.
Rinka's face brightened up a little bit right before grabbing her spoon and trying the delicious stew herself.
"Soooo cute, she is like the adorable granddaughter I never had."Jerry said with an 'awww.'
After she was done eating, Logan had come back from clothes shopping. She had on a yellow shirt, a light gray pleated skirt, black leggings , brown boots and finally she buttoned on a red single breasted trench coat. The coat was very obviously a size too big and made her look even smaller than she actually was.
As Law gave a tour around the sub to his de-age crewmate, he decided to make small talk to pass some time. "So… you mention you want to be a doctor."
She nodded slightly in response. "Yeah, my older brother wanted to become a great doctor but he couldn't fulfil his dream since he died . So I made a promise."
Law raised an eyebrow curiously. "What kind of promise?"
"That I will become one of the best doctors in the world in honor of him. " She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"What else do you like to do?" Law asked .
Rinka thought about the question for a second. "Reading about different types of plants, exploring new places, and you might think the last part is weird but dissecting frogs."
"No way, I like dissecting stuff too, since I am a doctor after all."Law stated with a proud smirk.
Law then noticed just how much her eyes were sparkling in amazement, which was probably one of the most adorable things he had ever seen before in his entire life.
"So cool!" Rinka exclaimed with stars in her eyes as she caught sight of the ocean. Then she saw the black and red pirate flag that swayed proudly in the wind.
"What a unique jolly roger." She said while still looking at it.
She then turned back to the pirate captain. "I love looking at the sea, it's a sign of freedom and that's all I wanted in my life. And is it true that pirates are the most free people in the world, I mean that's what Phyllis told me anyway." Law began to chuckle a little bit at her statement.
With only in a blink of an eye the little girl had suddenly disappeared. "Rinka, Rinka! Where did you go?" Law blinked in horror when she was now climbing onto one of the masts. "How in the hell did she climb that fast." Law muttered to himself before rushing into action.
When Rinka reached the top, she just gazed at the pretty sight. Ever since she can remember she just loves heights, she loves the feeling of briny winds sweeping through her hair, but mostly she loves to watch the sun rise and fall from grace; it's a beautiful thing, and a good substitute since flying isn't an option. "Wow...what a view."
"Yoi, get down from there!" A voice from below called out in worry.
"You're going to get hurt." Another voice shouted as well.
When Rinka looked down from where she was sitting, she could see a lot of men on deck and all of their attention was on her.
"Do a flip!" Thorn shouted jokingly but his expression soon changed when she jumped and actually did a flip.
"Oh my god she is going to die!" Bepo shouted while running around on the deck like a mad man.
"Quick! Someone catch her!" Law order while rushing to the falling girl as well.
She was now free-falling through the air all to land safely on her feet like a cat, leaving the mad, panicked scramble of hardened sailors trying to catch her in vain efforts.
Watching Jean Bart toss the short medic into the sea almost makes up for it.
"What's wrong with you? Are you trying to give everyone in this crew a freakin heart attack."Penguin said while still clenching his heart.
"Yeah, don't ever do that again." Shachi added while still clenching his heart as well.
Then she brought out the adorable puppy eyes that could probably kill someone with all of their sheer cuteness. "I'm sorry."
"Awww...So cute!"
Law couldn't help the protective feeling that surged through him, after she just did a stupid stunt like that, but to be fair it was mostly Thorn's fault since he did tell her to do a flip.
Rinka giggled a bit right before walking over to the group of Heart Pirates.
"So who are you people?"She asked while tilting her head.
"We're the Heart Pirates and I am the captain of this crew, my name is Trafalgar Law. And just trust me on this, you are actually a part of my crew." Law explained since all of her memories at the past of 8 years old have been lost.
Rinka stared at the man, trying to gauge out if he was lying to her or not.
"Hey, if you say that I am actually a part of your crew, does that mean that I am supposed to be older?" Rinka asked curiously.
"Well technically yeah." Law said, not seeing where this line of conversation was going.
"Wait, did she leave me? Is it because she doesn't like me anymore, and realized that I am nothing more than a curse child who only brings bad luck. If so then please discard me , I am nothing more than trash so please get rid of me before I become too much of a burden."
Law bit his lip as he stared at the little girl's eyes that showed she has experienced too much in her short life. Along with some other emotion he can relate to too much as well. But what really made Law and everyone else in the crew worried was how serious the little girl said she wanted to be discarded, and even as an adult Rinka still hadn't been a good liar.
"Rinka, we're not going to get rid of you. You're a part of our family and family always has each other's backs."Law said in a gentle voice while bending down to her height.
Her facial expression brightened up just a bit but the sweet moment didn't last too long when they heard Shachi's voice.
"Captain ! There is a pirate ship coming at 12 o'clock!" Shachi shouted while pointing at the incoming ship.
"Oi!" Someone from the other ship called, voice smug and laden with alcohol. "You gonna fight at all?" Where the hell is your only female crewmember 'Trafalgar ', you know the one with one hell of a sexy body. I want to fuck that fine piece of meat right before I sold her off into slavery."
As the pirate chugged another large gulp of alcohol he then turned his attention to the extremely cute little girl that stood in front of the Heart Pirates deck. " Hey! How about I just fuck the little kid instead...hahahaha!"
All of the Heart Pirates choke on their own spit after hearing what the forty year old perv just declared to their sweet, cute, adorable and innocent de-age crewmate.
Rinka then noticed that everyone suddenly had a dark and sinister aura around them, but she didn't get why they were so angry all of the sudden. "What does Fuck mean?"She asked with the most clueless expression ever.
"Oh god! The kid is too innocent!" Everyone shouted in unison while covering their mouths in shock.
"Bepo." Law called out for his first mate.
"Yes."
"Take Miss Rinka back to your room, it's going to get pretty messy." Law ordered in a dark but also soft tone so he won't scare off the girl too much.
Bepo then picked up the tiny girl off her feet and ran back into the sub.
'Yep, the the man who just said he was going to rape a 8 year old little girl infront of the 'Surgeon of Death' not to mention his whole entire crew as well has just sign his own death waiver. Law then teleported himself on the opposing pirate ship, last thing that the drunk pirate saw before his death was the murderous stare that Law gave him.
"You scum, Go burn in HELL! " Law shouted while making the other pirate captain cry in pure agony.
Let's just say after the Heart Pirates finish off the rest of the pirate crew, there wasn't a single remnant of their huge ship that was twice the size as the polar tang. Not even one single member of the opposing pirate crew had survived the wrath of the Heart Pirates.
Dinner came and went without any trouble. But Law was still pissed , he wished that he didn't kill the pirate captain so quickly. That bastard deserved a lot worse than a quick death.
After that little incident, Law feels even more protective towards his de-age crewmate. He feels like an older brother all over again ever since his baby sister died a long time ago.
Yes this was going to be one troublesome month for the Heart Pirates indeed.
It was a couple hours after dinner, and Rinka was having trouble reaching the shower handle because of her current height. She doesn't like to ask for help, but she had no other choice.
While filling out some medical reports, Law heard soft knocking coming from his door. "Come in." He then looked down from his desk only to see bright red eyes staring into his soul.
"Mister Captain, I can't reach the shower handle."
"I'll draw a bath for you in my private bathroom," He said while getting out of his chair.
Law just can't wait to tease the de-age girl once she returns back to her original age, sure she was pretty cute but a pirate life is too dangerous for a child.
*Mister Captain,' what a cute name.* Law thought to himself with an amused smirk.
After the young swordswoman was done with her bath, she got dressed into her pajamas then headed straight to bed.
-x-
Rinka wasn't kidding when she said her narcolepsy was bad as a kid. Just in the first 3 days of being a kid , she already had 5 narcoleptic attacks.
When the Heart Pirates docked onto a nice peaceful looking town, Law decided to show Rinka around the small island. The 2 of them brought their bentos that the cooks prepared for them to a field full of flowers and had a nice picnic together. This really brings Law back, when he used to have a picnic with his little sister, Lami. "Mister Law, can I have one of your egg rolls?"
His lips curled into a grin. "Sure, say awww." He said while lifting his chopsticks to her mouth.
She bit down onto the creamy eggy goodness. "Mmmmm, yummy."
Law started blushing on just how adorable she was. *Soooo cute.*
"Mister Law, look what I made for you." Rinka said proudly while holding up a crown made out of flowers.
Law bowed from where he was sitting so she could reach his head. "How do I look?" He asked.
"Great." She responded with tears coming down her face.
"Is there something wrong, you're crying?"He asked worriedly.
Rinka then touched her face and realized tears had escaped from her eyes. "I'm sorry, this really brings me back, when my brother was still alive and me and him used to have picnics together."
Law bent closer to the girl and gave her a hug. "You're not the only one, I used to have a little sister and we used to have a lot of picnics together as well." While Rinka was napping on his lap, Law gently stroked her long dark purple hair.
"Aaron."Rinka mumbled in her sleep, with the smallest tear running down her face.
Law wiped the tear with his thumb and brought the girl closer to his body as he rocked her body back and forth gently.
As the 2 walked around the many food stands, they stopped at one vendor that was selling soft serve ice cream.
"What a cute little girl, is she your daughter?"The lady who was working at the ice cream stand asked with a warm smile. Rinka then answered her question with a cheeky smile . "He's not my dad, he is my cool captain."
He blushed the smallest tint of pink. "2 soft serve cones please."
After they were done eating their ice cream cones, Law carried Rinka back to the submarine while she was sleeping on his shoulders.
While the Heart Pirates were currently eating breakfast, Law noticed Rinka was only playing with her food and looked a little bit down in the dumps. "Is there a problem?" Law asked in a soft tone.
She nodded in response. " I had a scary nightmare."
"What kind of nightmare." Bepo asked, not meaning to ease drop.
"The submarine got stranded onto a dark creepy island. Then a weird doctor had strange abilities where he switched bodies with me and his freaky wife. Then he captured the whole crew and made some of the members into his puppets and I had to fight and hurt them. The same woman who stole my body, stabbed my own stomach which looked pretty scary as well. After the crew left the spooky mansion, a tall man with black curly hair that wore a white suit, was trying to kill us with his ice powers. He froze me, Mister Penguin and Mister Bart, which also looked pretty painful. When he tried to attack Mister Captain from behind I jumped in and became a human ice sculpture."
Law and everyone else were silent just by how detailed Rinka described their encounter with Admiral Aokiji.
"Law-san? Is there something wrong?"Rinka asked.
He shook his head and smiled down at her. "Nothing," He lied. "How about you go play with Bepo after you're done eating.
-x-
"It makes sense," Penguin declared as he had a private meeting with his captain.
"If she is supposed to go back to normal after the next full moon, the memories can't have disappeared, right? They've just been locked away, or something, and they're filtering out in her dreams."
It did make sense, but it made things more complicated, even if at the moment Rinka just took them as nightmares. That, plus the fact that the little girl doesn't remember getting on the Polar Tang...Sooner or later she was going to start asking more questions.
"Oh shit, what if she remembers how we bought her at the slave house." Penguin stated.
"Or what if she remembers how her big sister is no longer alive. I mean we did see it ourselves just how bad her dreams can get. " Shachi stated as well, remembering that devil fruit user who showcases their dreams, showed them Rinka's nightmares.
"But the big question is, who is going to tell her?" Logan chimed in.
"I'll do it."Law declared.
-x-
"I'm the what?"Rinka asks with widened sparkling eyes.
"You're the ship's herbalist." Law said.
"Hmmm...I've been wondering why there is a greenhouse in the sub and some of the plants can only be found in my country." She responded.
"What was I like when I was older? " She asked again while jumping up and down.
"Well..For one thing, you're one of the strongest members in the crew. One time you threw a rock that was 10 times your size and then flatten a mountain by accident. But you are also a great swordsman as well."
"Noway!" She shouted in pure shock.
"Not only were you strong but you were also intelligent, brave , dependable, strong-willed and one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen before in my entire life. But you can be bossy, rude, a little mischievous , reckless and mostly stubborn but I like your good and bad traits all together."
*And a little too dense with love.*Law mumbled the last part to himself.
"I can't wait to become an adult again." Rinka cheered out.
"Alright, it's getting late, we should probably get ready for bed."Law stated while getting up from where he was sitting.
Later that night Rinka was stirring in her bed as her breathing had become a lot harder.
-x-
"Boom!"
There was a big explosion and both Rinka and Phyllis were now laying on a small piece of driftwood together.
-x-
She yanks her head up from her pillow and begins to shake aggressively.
"Where are you Phyllis." She mumbled quietly under her breath.
Rinka jumped down from her bed and tiptoed down the hallway so she wouldn't wake up anyone.
Law had suddenly woken up when he heard quiet knocking on his bedroom door." Who the hell is up this early?" Law mumbled questionly while putting his classic yellow and black hoodie over his shirtless body. He was confused when he couldn't see anyone in front of the doorway until he looked down. "I had another nightmare again." She said in a shaky voice.
The pirate captain bent down and picked up the tiny girl, "I'll make you some warm milk and you can talk about your scary nightmare."
1 cup of milk, 1 tsp of honey, 2 drops of vanilla extract and finally 1 pinch of ground cinnamon was the perfect recipe for a nighttime drink.
"So what did you dream about?" Law asked while pouring himself a glass of wine.
The child stared down at her glass of milk. I dreamt about the day when I was on a ship that exploded and me and Phyllis were the only survivors."
"You've had that dream several times," he said. Not really a question. Even as a child, it would take more than just one bad dream to put Rinka in this kind of state.
She nodded, "Yep, but this time the dream was a lot more detailed and scary, especially not knowing if we were going to live or not. That was one of the scariest parts of my life and that is really saying something. A-and I really missed Phyllis, I want to see her face again."
Law sighed. Since there was not much he could do, he couldn't tell the kid that her only maternal figure was dead.
-A warm presence against her and a lullaby whispered in her head as she fell asleep, and the feeling that everything would be alright because you're not alone.
Usually Law doesn't like to sing, especially a lullaby. But right now there was a frightened child who had a traumatizing experience, who was asking for help and comfort.
"You can sleep with me, if you want," he offered.
Rinka turned her head to the side and began to pout. "I'm not a baby, I don't need that."
"Okay but my offer still stands." Law said with a smirk
-x-
The next morning, the weather was gloomy so the sub was submerged.
As Rinka walked through the long hallways, she heard sounds echoing outside of an opened door. "Wow…"
The room was so much bigger than she thought it would be and it was so clean as well.
The floor was covered in an off- white mat and the walls were wooden. Another loud sound distracted her from the room's looks. Shachi had attacked Penguin with a katana but Penguin blocked the upcoming attack with his spear.
"Yo, Rinka! Penguin had stopped to wave.
Rinka then began to jump up and down in excitement. " Are you guys sparring, can I join?"
Both Penguin and Shachi looked a little unease. "Are you sure, it can be dangerous." Penguin asked , not wanting to hurt her.
She nodded, "Don't worry I am pretty tough. Can one of you guys get me a pipe?"
They both looked confused. "Why do you want a pipe?" Shachi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You'll see." She responded with a cheeky grin, which made the 2 pirates say in 'Awww."
After Penguin handed her a pipe, he and Shachi were pretty impressed on how the little girl spun the pipe in a fast but also smooth pace. "Shall we begin." She said.
Penguin took up a fighting stance and nodded. The girl leapt at Penguin and swung a few times, each blocked effortlessly by the pirate.
"Not bad, but too slow." Penguin exclaimed while dodging another swung.
"You're a lot stronger than I thought." She stated with a small smirk.
Penguin tried to sweep her by the leg but even as a kid she still had good reflexes . She jumped, did a front flip 180 and then a backflip.
Everyone who was currently in the training room had stopped what they were doing to watch Penguin and Rinka's sparring match.
In some weird way she looked cute and deadly while she was fighting but mostly cute.
While she wasn't looking, Penguin ran from behind and gently tackled her onto the ground.
"Haha, I got you." Penguin said while giving her a big bear hug.
"That was so much fun, now I want to go up against Mister Shachi now. " She said while giggling.
"So cute!" They exclaimed.
She then stopped giggling. "I am not cute, I'm a warrior."
Of course that only made her even cuter when she said that.
"You're quite a talented fighter for someone your age ." Bepo stated with a proud grin.
"Thank you Bepo, I am mostly self taught but it was Phyllis who really helped me improve."
It was now Shachi's turn.
He took up a fighting stance and Rinka ready her pipe.
Rinka leapt toward Shachi and swung downward his leg. He jumped and did a few backflips in the process. She jumped and aimed her pipe onto Shachi's chest but he easily caught the piece of metal with one hand. Rinka quickly lifted up her feet and kicked Shachi in the face which made him drop the pipe in an instant to gently rub where he had been kicked. For someone her size, she had a pretty good strong body. Rinka placed her pipe into the floor and pushed it from behind her and started to do multiple back handsprings. Shachi and everyone else faces widen in fear when they realize she is about to crash into where they store all of the training equipment.
"Rinka! BEHIND YOU! Shachi shouted while running after her, but it was too late.
"Bang!" She landed hard into the training equipment which the noise echoed loudly through the room.
"RINKA!" Everyone shouted in worry and rushed towards the injured child.
"Ouch...that hurt."Rinka muttered to herself while moving the stuff that had collapsed all on top of her.
"I-I'm okay." She said, still a bit shocked at what happened.
But when she tried to lift herself up with her hands she suddenly felt a surge of pain through her left one.
Rinka gritted her teeth in agony while still trying to act. She wasn't not in a lot of pain.
Penguin and Shachi bend down and look at her with concern written all over their faces.
"Show us your hand." Shachi said in a gentle tone.
She shakes her head in disagreement "Nope, to be honest I don't feel any type of pain."
"Rinka,this is serious, a crash like that doesn't come without any consequences. Now show us which hand you injured."Penguin said in a stern but still gentle voice.
She lifted up her left hand and took off her glove, when Shachi lightly touched the injured hand she pulled away from him and then gave out a loud yelp of pain. She then used her good hand to cover her mouth to block the screaming. "It's nothing." She said in between pants.
Penguin then picked up the little girl and both Shachi, Bepo and anyone else who saw the whole scene started heading to the infirmary as well.
Shachi knocked at the doors of the infirmary and waited until Logan opened the door. "I think Rinka might have broken her hand." Penguin said while walking into the infirmary room and placed the small girl into one of the beds.
"Oh my god how did this happen?"The medic yelped in a serious and surprised tone toward the pirates. "She wanted to spar with us but while she was doing some back handspring she accidentally crashed in the training equipment in the process." Shachi answered, feeling a little guilty about it.
Thorn was in the room too and he looked just as worried as the rest of them. "Thorn, go get the Captain!" Logan ordered.
"Is this really necessary? My hand is only a little sore, I'm sure an ice pack will be perfectly fine…" Rinka exclaimed, trying to calm everyone down. She didn't want to make a fuss about a sore hand.
Just before she could get out of the bed, the doors opened again and Law walked in with a serious but mostly a worried expression on his usual smirking face. As soon as he saw the little girl he then went to her. Thorn was right behind him, handing Law his rubber gloves and his white coat. "Lay down." Law ordered softly, pointing at the pillow.
"So what happened?" He asked in a serious, doctor-like tone. When Thorn walked hurriedly in his quarters and said Rinka was hurt, a lot of possibilities went through his head.
"She wanted to train with us but while she was doing some back handsprings she accidentally smashed into the training equipment. And she might have broken her hand and maybe got a few head injuries as well." Penguin explained.
Both Penguin and Shachi sweat drop by the angry glare that Law gave them.
Rinka sighed, already tired of the fuss. "I'm telling you I'm fine, I have had a lot of worst injuries in the past. I use my pipe to shield most of my face. I only- No what part, forget about the last"
"You only what?" Law asked in a soft tone so he wouldn't scare the girl."
"I only trust Phyllis with these kinds of things," She mumbled quietly, not wanting to offend Law.
Law signs. "Like I said when we first met, you can trust us ."
She bit down on a wince that was threatening to spill as she moved her hand over to him.
"This is a lot more serious than I thought." He murmured more to himself than her.
"Logan, get the X-ray machine ready. Thorn, get the anesthesia ."
"I'm telling you it's nothing, it's just a little sprained." She said with a small smile, not wanting to seem weak in front of anyone.
Law signs, even as a kid she is still stubborn as hell, he then gently touches her hand. She yelped in pure agony, which proves that it was a lot more serious than a little sprained. "Yep, you definitely broke it." He stated calmly.
She lay back on the bed and noticed there were already some bandages, padding, and casting tape. Her gaze stayed calm as Law started putting a cast on her hand. She didn't make a sound and Law was impressed. Most kids her age would probably be crying and screaming from breaking a single toe nail.
"Would you like me to bring anything to you?" Law asked.
She tilted her head. "Why are you asking me that?"
"Well, I want to keep you overnight in the infirmary room." He responded with a sigh.
"But it's only a broken hand." She retorted.
"I want to keep a close eye on you since Penguin also mentioned you might have suffered a head injury as well."
She began to pout. "Okay, then can you bring me a book about medical physiology."
Law raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure, that is quite an advanced topic."
She nodded. "Yes, I need to keep my promise to him."
Thank you for reading.