Hand

Characters: Law, Shachi. Rating: T. Warnings: injury

While he was no stranger to hand to hand combat (with Lao G as a childhood teacher he'd hardly had a choice), Law vastly preferred using a sword in battle. A cursed blade like Kikoku was strong enough to deal with even the most stubborn of armament haki, especially when he combined it with the Ope Ope no Mi's abilities and his own haki, and while she was large and at times unwieldy to use (at least, until he'd grown tall enough that she didn't drag on the ground behind him) there was something comforting about her bladed edge that fists just couldn't compete with.

Wincing as he looked down at his poor hands, Law was reminded once again why hand to hand was a last resort. He'd been caught short, attempting an undercover supply run without bringing the marines down on the heads of himself and his crew. Kikoku was unmistakeable, so like his beloved hat she'd been left safely on the ship, Law confident that if a situation did arise, he'd be able to get out of it with his martial arts. His devil fruit abilities too, if it came to it, although that would ruin his attempt at anonymity.

While the subterfuge had worked enough to keep him unrecognised (it was amazing how many people overlooked him when he did something as simple as take off the hat and pass Kikoku to Bepo), it hadn't kept him out of a fight. Ruefully, he considered that maybe the drunk pirates would have left him alone if they'd known who they were messing with.

He had won, naturally. A group of no-name drunk pirates never stood a chance against him, even with his self-imposed handicaps. However, it hadn't been as simple as it should have been. He tried to flex his fingers and hissed in pain.

It looked bad, in the way anything looked bad the moment blood got involved. The pirates hadn't been impressive, but some of them had been physically large, and strong. For all his capabilities, Law still couldn't hide from the fact that his slender figure worked against him in a brawl, and he was relatively easily out-muscled by the majority of pirates. Another reason he preferred using weapons. Kikoku didn't care how muscular her victim was, they all bled red, and to a cursed blade that was all she needed.

The other problem was that if Law's hands were out of commission, the Ope Ope no Mi's abilities became that much harder to control. A lot of it was mental power, but the deft flicks of his fingers were the focus required to channel it without even more strain. Having his knuckles bruised and battered to the point that he could barely move his fingers boded ill for his ability to use his powers until his hands healed. Sadly, he couldn't accelerate their healing, because his hands were out of commission. A catch twenty two, and not one Law was fond of.

Next time, he groused as he lugged the fruits of his supply run back to the Tang awkwardly, I'm bringing a knife.

"What the hell happened?"

He looked up at the deck, distracted from working out how he was supposed to board with injured hands full of supplies and no access to his powers, at Shachi's indignant demand. The ginger gave him no chance to respond before jumping down onto the dock, hollering for the Heart Pirates closest to him to follow and extend the gangplank.

Most of them gathered up the supplies, slipping them from Law's protesting fingers with ease, while Shachi and Clione pulled Law's arms over their shoulders to help him up the tightrope-esque gangplank. Why they thought his injured hands meant he could no longer walk unaided, Law wasn't sure, but suspended above the water with only a misstep between him and an unwelcome dunking he let them do as they wished.

"What happened?" the ginger repeated once they were back on the safety of the Polar Tang's aft deck, tugging him none too gently through the door. Law followed because it wasn't worth the hassle to break free, not when he knew Shachi was leading him to the infirmary. Dragged or not, the destination would have been the same.

"Drunk pirates," he supplied, seeing no need to delve into the full story. His bloodied knuckles told the rest, and Shachi sighed as he directed Law to take a seat while hunting down the necessary antiseptics and bandages.

"Let me guess," he sighed, dabbing gently at Law's left hand to clear the blood and see the actual injuries. "You decided it wasn't worth blowing your cover by using a Room, so you went hand to hand. But one of the guys was tough enough to break your hands, and because you hadn't already activated a Room that left you a sitting duck."

Law saw no reason to dignify it with a response, especially as it was largely correct, as Shachi already knew full well. He watched Shachi work in silence, remembering the days, now long past, when he could barely tie a bandage properly. Now he and Penguin were the two best medics on board, excluding Law himself. Law's critical eye saw nothing wrong with the treatment his hands received, and he waited patiently for Shachi to finish.

"No Rooms for a few days," Shachi informed him as he clipped the last bandage in place. "It'll be enough of a challenge eating for now; there's no point straining yourself." Law nodded, knowing he could hardly scold Shachi for telling him what to do when the medical training he'd imposed upon the older had included telling patients what to do, even if said patient was a doctor himself.

He stood and made his way towards the control room, only for Shachi to intercept him and direct him to the recreation room instead.

"I'll take things from here," he said, and while Law wasn't entirely sure what he was planning, Penguin and Shachi were his seconds for a reason. Relaxing sounded like a welcoming idea, anyway, so he changed course silently, watching Shachi stride off towards the control room purposefully out of the corner of his eye.

His crew didn't bombard him with questions when he settled in his favourite seat – in the corner, by the window but with a perfect view of the room as a whole so he could watch his crew relax – only double checking that there was no-one they needed to educate.

Such offers were quickly stifled by the Polar Tang's sirens, indicating that the exterior doors were entering lockdown. Beneath them, the engines roared into life and the submarine glided away from the dock before entering a gentle dive.

Apparently Shachi's idea of 'taking things from here' was reading Law's mind and rounding up the crew so they could leave the island. Despite his bandaged hands, residual pain reminding him of his vulnerability for the next few days, Law managed a smile as he watched the waves lap against the window.

It was nice to have a crew he could rely on.

Aside from the one filler arc (Breed), I have no recollection of Law fighting hand-to-hand. Kikoku and Amputate appear to be his weapons of choice, although Doflamingo does say that Lao G taught him martial arts so he must have some ability. On that note, Law seems to control his powers using his fingers, so in the grand scheme of things his hands are probably as important to him as Sanji's are to Sanji, although he doesn't go to the extremes Sanji does to protect them.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari