"Oh, Nori-ya," Law said. "Stand up, I've made up my mind. I know exactly what to do with you!"

"What?" I asked, standing up slowly.

He put an arm around my waist and said uncharacteristically happy, "Welcome to the crew, Nori-ya."

"No," I refused. "I'm not joining your crew! What're you, crazy?!"

I slid out of his forced embrace and backed away.

"Well, I really don't care if you don't want to," he said, frowning. "I've made my decision."

"I'm not going to be a part of your crew," I said firmly. "And you can't make me."

"We'll see," he said creepily. He reached out for my hand and snatched it in his firm grasp. "Come on. Let's introduce you to your new crew mates."

"I'm not part of your crew!" I yelled, yanking my wrist out of his hand. "Just let me go to my crew already!"

"No," he said. "That's no way to talk to your captain."

"I am captain of the Spike Pirates," I said. "I'm not a member of your crew and I never will be!"

He slapped me across the face. "Shut your mouth," he ordered.

"Go fuck yourself," I said, walking out of the room. "I'm leaving this stupid ship whether you like it or not."

"If you go outside now you'll be crushed to death from the water pressure," he said. "You can't leave this ship."

"It'll be better than being one of your crewmen!" I yelled from down the hallway.

He followed me out of the room and down the hallway, stomping furiously.

"Stop following me," I said.

"You don't order me around, Nori-ya," he said.

"Now I do," I said, turning around. "You're going to surface this goddamn submarine and bring me back to my ship right now."

He shook his head and said, "No, I really don't think I am."

"Do it now, or I'll... I'll-"

"You'll what?" he asked condescendingly. "Are you going to poke me with your pokey picket fence powers?"

That made me very, very angry. I wound up my fist in rage and tried to punch him in the face, making the barbs on my knuckles for extra hurt. But Law caught my fist in his and squeezed tightly with an apathetic expression on his face.

Even with all the pain he inflicted upon me before, he still felt the need to break my hand.

I feel to the floor, clutching my hand in agony.

"What the fuck?!" I shrieked. "Why did you do that?!"

"Oh, sorry," he said. "Did that hurt?"

"No shit!" I shrieked. "You broke my fucking hand!"

"Here, let me see it," he said, taking my hand without my permission. "Nope," he said, flipping it over. "Not broken."

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" I said.

"I'm well aware," he said, smirking. "Now stand up, let's introduce you properly to the crew."

"I told you already! I'm not joining your fucking crew!" I yelled.

"Yes, you are," he said. "Stand up."

I stood up, but not on his order. I only stood up to lean on the wall. I was not going anywhere until he agreed to let me go.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing my arm.

I yanked it out of his grasp and said, "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Law looked livid. He suddenly sprung at me and grabbed both of my arms, shoving me forward towards the staircase.

"Let... me... go!" I said, struggling out of his grip.

"Obey your captain!" he spat in my ear, still pushing me forward.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I said.

"What?" he asked.

"Why do you want me to join your crew so badly anyway?" I asked.

He stopped pushing me for a split second, but didn't reply. In fact he let go of me and completely froze.

But after a couple seconds, he regained his composure and grabbed my hand to drag me up the steps.

I was in a daze. I followed him up the steps somewhat willingly because of his expression when he froze. He looked like he regretted something. He looked sorry. He looked guilty.

What... did I do? I thought.

We were in the middle of the staircase. Penguin came running down screaming of my escape, but stopped when he spotted me.

"Penguin-ya, gather up everyone in the rec room, I have an announcement to make," Law said to his subordinate.

Penguin looked extremely confused as his eyes turned to me and said, "A-Aye..."

He ran back up the staircase. Law stopped and looked to me and said, "Penguin-ya, a perfect example of obedience. He doesn't ask questions, he just does as he's told. You should learn from him."

I didn't say anything because I was still wondering about why Law didn't answer my question. Why did he want me to join so badly anyway?

He continued to yank my body up the steps. When we reached the top, he took a left and opened a door. He pushed me out the door and said, "Stay."

When he closed the door, I started bee-lining back down the steps to get my heart. But I heard Law yell after me to come back up… or else.

"Or else? Puh-lease." I yelled up the stairs, still descending. "You'll dissect me alive with your stupid doctor powers? Yeah, well, newsflash: you can't take away my loyalty or pride with a scalpel!"

"Get back up here, right now," he said angrily. "Or else…"

"Or else what?" I jeered. "Empty threats don't work on my, Sir Spotted-Pants."

"I'll… I'll tear out your vocal chords!" he yelled angrily.

"Try me," I yelled back up.

"I will," he said.

"I don't believe you," I said.

Well shit… I thought. I didn't think he'd actually rip out my vocal chords…

Yes, it was true. He wasn't joking. He ran down the steps after I provoked him and, with his Devil Fruit powers, he ripped my vocal chords out. With my tail between my legs, I walked back upstairs with him and waited silently outside the door until he let me in.

He yanked my torn shirt back into the room and I nearly fainted from the overwhelming smell of foul-smelling men. There were at least forty of them in the rec room, and I think one of them was wearing a very-convincing bear costume. A couple men were playing pool, another few were playing cards. The rest were standing up and waiting to hear what Law had to say.

"This is our new recruit," he said, gesturing to me.

I didn't see one female in the whole room.

"Her name is Nori Kamiko-ya," he explained. "And she will be the newest crew member."

I shook my head since I couldn't verbally convey my refusal. As I looked to the floor after rolling my eyes, I realized that I'd been wearing the same torn shirt since the first day I came. My bra was showing in front of a bunch of men. I'm pretty sure I turned the color of the ends of my hair, tomato red. I immediately crossed my arms to hide most of what they already saw.

How could Law not mention this?! I asked myself. You don't just display a girl like this in front of a bunch of guys!

Then I realized that Law was a doctor and (partial) nudity probably didn't faze him like other people. So I looked to him with the nastiest face I could make and flipped him off.

"Your fingers are next," he whispered. "If you keep disobeying me, one by one, they'll all go away."

How am I disobeying him by flipping him off?!

"But Captain…" I heard someone say. "Where's she gonna stay? There no more bunks available."

"I'm sure we'll find something," he said smirking at me.

I flipped him off again.

"Ladies as beautiful as you shouldn't do such vulgar things, you know," he said, still smirking.

I beheld him with a deadpan look and continued to flip him off.

He looked at me with an angry expression and whispered, "If you wish to talk ever again, I suggest you stop being rude."

He got me. He had me on a tight collar. He could dangle anything in front of me and I'd have to go willingly if I had any chance at getting my voice, heart, and freedom back.

I bit my lip and tried to swallow my pride. I put my finger down and flashed a quick fake smile.

He smiled at me and whispered, "Much better, Nori-ya."

"Well, let's have a nice, warm welcome to the first girl ever to join the Heart Pirates!" someone yelled.

Queue the loud cheers of many men.

And then, Law proposed a welcoming party.

Just what I needed.

Drunk men and barley any shirt on.

I could tell where this might go pretty fast and pulled Law aside with a spare pen and stolen note pad from a table.

"What?" he asked. "You're ruining the party."

I rolled my eyes and started writing furiously.

'I don't have a shirt.'

"How is that my problem?" he asked, reading the note.

I looked at him like he was stupid and continued scribbling down my thoughts.

'Ok, well, it is fair to mention you're the one that cut open my shirt in the first place, but whatever. A bunch of drunk men might get some… vulgar ideas… if you know what I mean.'

Law laughed out loud and said, "You'll be fine. My men are better than that. Well… most of them."

'You better hope so because I don't have fucking vocal chords to scream.'

"And a good thing, too," he said, walking away.

I was so incredibly pissed, I didn't know what to do. Escaping was far from an option at this point. I couldn't escape without my voice, let alone my heart! No, I'd have to win them back somehow. And I had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy.

I continued punching the wall as Penguin approached me.

"Hello," he said.

I looked at him with a nasty glare.

"I… I just wanted to apologize for being rude earlier…" he said. "The whole not talking thing? Yeah, sorry. It was an order directly from the captain. You know how he is…"

I blinked a couple times because I couldn't reply.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" he asked. "Am I being awkward? I'm sorry… I'm not a good conversationalist-"

I put up my hand for him to stop and he did. I held up my pointer finger, signaling him to give me a second. He stared at me nervously, with a million questions probably swimming around in his mind.

I was never good at charades, but I'd have to get good in about three seconds.

I pointed over to Law.

"The captain…?" he asked. "What about him?"

What could mean take…? Um…

I started pulling my finger.

"He farted?"

I shook my head.

Um…

I pointed to my throat and then made a clasping motion, like he was taking my vocal chords out.

Penguin understood it with that. "Ah, he did that to you, didn't he?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, he does that to people who annoy him sometimes," Penguin explained. "You must really get on his nerves. That's, like, a last resort."

I smiled widely and thought, Maybe some of these guys aren't so bad after all…

Then, I realized that I had stuffed the pen and paper in my pocket. I facepalmed and thought, Wow, I'm so stupid…

'How long does it take (usually) to get it back?'

I shoved it in Penguin's hands bashfully.

"Oh, he usually gives it back within a couple hours," he said, smiling. "So don't worry. He'll come 'round eventually."

I smiled in relief and thanked him. Before Penguin could say anything else, someone pulled my hair and yanked me backwards.

Fuck! I thought. Ow…

I turned around to see Law with a drink in his hand. He shoved it into my stomach and I took it.

"Nori-ya, you have to drink at your own welcome party," he said.

I don't drink alcohol… I thought.

"Go on," he said. "Drink."

I shook my head and handed it back to him nicely.

"Drink it," he implored. I shook my head and refused to pick it back up. "Do you want your voice back or no?"

I bit my lip and nodded.

"Then drink it," he said.

I shook my head.

"Fine then, have fun writing notes to speak from now on," he said.

I flipped him off.

"There goes another chance you had at getting it back."

I stared at him angrily and began to scribble a note down.

'Where am I sleeping? Take me there now. I'm done with this fucking party.'

"Well, Nori-ya," he said, smirking. "Since there's no room for you in the bunks, you'll be sharing with me till we get something worked out."

My eyes widened about ten times their normal size.

"Don't worry," he said, smirking. "I won't touch you." I shook my head and started scribbling down a refusal, but he slapped it out of my hand and said, "There is literally nowhere else for you to sleep. It's either a nice bed or the cold floor, your pick."

I rolled my eyes.

"That's what I thought," he said, smirking.

He grabbed my arm and led me back to his room. He locked the door from the inside, but teleported out using his Devil Fruit powers. I didn't get why he did that when I could unlock it from the inside, but whatever. I was tired, anyway. I had no fight left in me to run away. But then, I realized it was so no one could sneak in…

Thoughtful… I thought.

I still refused to sleep in the same bed as him, so I took off the comforter from the bed and a pillow to sleep on the floor by the closet.

I woke up on the bed, face to face with a sleeping Law.

Creeped out, I backed away into the corner of the room. I looked around to see what time it was, but there wasn't a clock in sight. For all I knew, it could've been four in the morning. But then, I realized that I had a watch on my wrist like I always have. It was two-thirty in the morning. So with nothing else to do except go back to sleep, I stole a pillow from the bed and slumped it onto the floor. It was no used getting the covers back so I shivered on the floor for the rest of the night.

I woke up to a knock on the door. As I opened my eyes, I realized that I was back on the bed.

That bastard… I thought, narrowing my eyes.

"Nori-san?" It was Penguin at the door. "The captain told me to come and wake you up for breakfast."

I rolled out of bed and brushed my greasy hair with my fingers. I zipped up my jacket to cover my torn shirt and opened the door, smiling.

He escorted me upstairs and into the kitchen where a bunch of other guys were eating as well.

Law looked to me as we entered and said, "Sit next to me, I saved you a seat."

I narrowed my eyes and unhappily sat next to him. A plate with eggs and a piece of toast and a glass of water was set in front of me by one of the cooks.

I looked to Law spitefully.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Do you not want breakfast?"

I shook my head.

"Then what?" he asked, annoyed. He looked at me, waiting for me to respond. It finally hit him. "Oh, yeah, you don't have your voice anymore." Everyone started laughing. I rolled my eyes. "You can have it back when I say so."

I resisted the urge to flip him off and ate my breakfast in angry silence.

When Law had finished his breakfast, but I was still eating mine, he made a rather rude outburst.

"You smell like shit," he said, scrunching up his nose.

I dropped my fork and nearly choked on the eggs going down my throat. After taking a life-saving sip of water, I gawked at him, appalled at his insolence.

"Go take a shower or something after you're done," he said, getting up from the table. "Penguin-ya, I leave you in charge of Nori-ya while I'm gone. You seem to like him, don't you?"

My cheeks flushed tomato red as I bit my lip and was truly thinking about trying to punch him again.

"Aye, Captain…" Penguin said. "B-but don't you think it would be better if she had her voice back?"

"No," he said curtly, leaving the kitchen.

Penguin started laughing nervously. "Sorry about him…" he said, coming over to sit by me. "He's not much of a morning person."

I didn't acknowledge his presence until I took my last bite.

"So…" he said. "Shower, huh?"

I nodded.

"Follow me, please," he said, escorting me out the door.

He led me back down to the floor where Law's room resided, but instead of going in, we continued down the hall and into a bathroom.

"The towels are in the cabinet over there and there is a lock on the door for your privacy," he said, not making eye contact with me.

I nodded at him as he walked out the door and shut it.

It was a rather cold shower because I couldn't figure out how the faucet worked, but nonetheless, it was a shower. For the first time in a week, I felt clean. When I stepped out of the shower to get dressed again, I noticed that my torn shirt was missing. In its place was a bright yellow shirt with the Heart Pirate's Jolly Roger printed in the middle. It was about three sizes too big, too.

I bit my lip as I stared at it. A courteous thing to do… From Penguin? No… The door is locked… No one could've gotten in. Fuck. It was Law, wasn't it? He has that weird power… I don't even know what the fuck it does, but I bet it was him! I thought.

I put on my clothes and brushed the tangles out of my wet hair to let it air-dry. As I reached for the door handle, there was a knock.

"Oi, Nori-ya," said Law on the other side. "Hurry up in there, we're about to surface."

As I opened the door, Law pushed passed me and shoved me out, locking the door behind him.

Rude bastard… I sneered.

"Oh, Nori-san!" Penguin said, down the hall. "I was just looking for you." He ran up to me. "We're about to surface for a new island. Captain said he wanted you in his room by the time he-"

The sound of flushing interrupted his one-sided conversation.

"Well… You might wanna get going to his room," he said. "You don't know what else he might take."

I started sprinting for his room. I was not going to lose another body part to Trafalgar Law!

About three seconds after I entered his room, he had already joined me.

"I see Penguin found you," he said, smirking. "Good job."

I rolled my eyes.

"You look lovely in your new colors," he said. "Yellow suits you."

I stared at him, waiting for him to get to the point.

"Well, anyway," he said. "We're surfacing soon, as I've already said, and I've decided to give your voice back just in case you need to scream for dear life on this new island."

How touching... I thought sarcastically.

He pulled my vocal chords out of his pocket and shoved it back into my throat.

"It's good to be back, bitches!" I yelled, running out of the room. "Fuck yeah! I can talk now!"

I heard Law's laughter coming from down the hall as he chased after me.

"Come back, Nori-ya, I'm not done with you," he shouted.

I stopped abruptly and said, "What the hell do you want now? Haven't you done enough already?"

"No," he said, smirking. "Nori-ya, so you can't get away…"

He pulled out a pair of handcuffs with a long chain.

"You wouldn't dare…" I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Oh, I would," he said.

"Can't you just cut off my legs or something?" I whined.

"You'd probably claw your way to escape," he said.

"Yeah, you're right…" I said. "Dammit. Ok, then how about I go with you and pinky promise not to escape?"

He cackled. "Like I'd trust you. Come on, Nori-ya. This is just as bad for you as it is for me."

"I seriously doubt that," I said.

"Just give me your wrist," he said, holding out his hand.

"No, Spot-Pants. I'm a free-range pony. You can't contain all this," I said, making big gestures with my hands.

He didn't look amused. "Give me your wrist, Nori-ya."

I crossed my arms and said, "No."

I turned around to walk away, but he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. Law grabbed my wrist forcefully and attached the cuff to my wrist very tightly.

"Wow…" I said. "You really don't know how to play nice, do you?"

"Nice isn't a word in my vocabulary," he said. "I'm a pirate."

"Yeah, well so am I, Trafalgar," I said, pushing him back. "It's called common courtesy, ever heard of it?"

He yanked the chain of the cuffs, throwing me towards him with an enraged expression. Our noses almost touched, we were so close to each other. My heart started pounding in terror, wherever it was.

"Nori-ya," he whispered. "Don't ever push me like that again, or I swear I will torture you in the way you find most painful, and trust me, I will test all my ways to find the right one for you. In fact, don't even argue with me again. I'm sick of your attitude. You are a part of this crew, you better start acting like it or you will be punished severely. Have I made myself clear, Nori Kamiko-ya?"

"C-crystal…" I whimpered.

He shoved me away from him, but my legs weren't working due to the fear paralyzing my body and I fell to the ground.

He attached the other cuff to his wrist and said, "Stand up, we're leaving soon."

I scrambled to my feet and nodded.

I suddenly realized that this man in front of me was completely and utterly terrifying. Despite his normally nonchalant appearance and apathetic attitude towards most things, he was by far the cruelest man I'd ever met, and that I'd need to remember that.

(I don't own One Piece or any of its content. This was made for entertainment purposes only and no copyright is intended.)