Unaware

Characters: Law, Shachi, Penguin. Rating: K+. Warnings: none

His new companions – and Law still was not over the fact that they refused to leave him alone despite his best efforts – had their quirks. None of them smoked (and subsequently set themselves on fire), nor did they manage to make air tangible enough to trip over it. They weren't needy and overly clingy, nor were they easily bribable with something simple like food. Honestly, Law was glad they showed none of those traits, otherwise they'd be too painful to be around.

Bepo had no willpower. If Law was feeling particularly kind, he would amend the statement to 'Bepo had no willpower when faced with himself, Penguin or Shachi'. He wondered if it had something to do with the way Penguin and Shachi had been beating him up when he first met them, but while Bepo apologised every time they complained about anything, he wasn't afraid of them, so the whole thing made no sense.

Penguin clung to his hat in much the same way that Law clung to his own. He hadn't asked why, yet, but he wouldn't have been surprised if it was given to him by someone special, too. He also seemed down-right addicted to swimming, and while Law could and would admit he occasionally missed the ability, there was a line between recreational and ridiculous.

And then there was Shachi. Loud, cheerful, always grinning Shachi, who never took those ridiculous shades off. Ever. In the sunlight, Law got it. The sun could glint off the waves quite sharply, and it was never a good idea to look into the sun. When they were deep underwater in the safety of the Polar Tang, where the only lighting was the artificial strips, there was no such excuse.

The nonsensicalness of the whole thing finally got to Law one gloomy morning, when the Tang was sailing rather than submerged but dark clouds had gathered to blot out the sun. It made him uneasy, but they'd needed to surface because Bepo had begun to dangerously overheat (the mink was laying out on the deck, panting like a dying man and making frequent moans that could be agony or bliss), and his latest intel had put Doflamingo as being several islands away. To distract himself from the thoughts of paranoia he could do nothing about, Law turned his attention to Shachi's quirk.

The ginger was lounging around on deck, seemingly doing nothing. Law spared a moment to think about how Penguin was being far more useful as he set up a fishing line to make the most of their brief moment on the surface as he approached him.

"What's with those things?" he asked, squatting down next to Shachi and watching as he tensed up. A hand swatted his away as he reached out to prod at the shades, and Law scowled. "The sun's not coming out from behind these clouds any time soon," he said confidently, and Shachi shrugged.

"So what?" he asked, and Law got the distinct impression that something was being hidden from him. The last time someone had hidden something from him, they'd died.

"Take them off," Law ordered, and heard the sound of something hitting the deck from where Penguin had been standing.

"No," Shachi said, his entire body taut as a wire. It was the first time he'd challenged him, and Law was having none of it, reaching out and swiping the shades from the ginger's face too fast for him to stop him.

Instantly, he knew something was wrong. Even as he took in the unnaturally large pupils, blown so wide the coloured iris was all but invisible, there was a cry of pain and Shachi screwed his eyes shut, his hands flying up to cover them. Before Law could comprehend what any of that meant, there was pain in his jaw and he crashed into the exterior of the main cabin.

Picking himself up, he looked back at Shachi to find Penguin crouching beside him, one hand still in a tight fist and what little of his face was visible like thunder. His other hand was pulling Shachi close to him protectively, the ginger burying his face in his chest.

"Did no-one ever teach you that no means no?" the oldest of the group demanded furiously. Law attempted to match his glare, only to be distracted by how Shachi was shaking. Like that horrific day not so long ago, when he'd forced them to become murderers, he suddenly felt like he'd been doused in cold water. Shachi was in pain, because of him. His mind flashed back to Doflamingo, and how willing he'd been to hurt his own brother at the end. No. He couldn't let himself fall down that path.

He swore, pulling himself to his feet then locating the shades from where they'd fallen. In the commotion, they'd fallen to the deck and one of the lenses had cracked. Law stared at it numbly for a moment before discarding them again. Broken shades were no good. He approached the pair uncertainly, watching Penguin pull Shachi closer to him.

"Shachi," he said nervously, reaching out a trembling hand to touch the ginger's shoulder. Something about the situation made him feel like a helpless child again, and Penguin's glare wasn't helping.

"What?" Shachi snapped, his voice muffled against Penguin's top but still full of pain and tears. Law's hand stopped, just short of his shoulder, before falling back to his side. It felt like he was back on Swallow Island, facing down two older, taller teens again – enemies – and this time he was the aggressor.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he knew that wasn't enough even before Penguin bared his teeth in a snarl, so he drew his knife and slashed off the bottom of his top. "I didn't realise." He reached up again, cloth strip in his hands, and while Penguin snarled at him again he didn't stop him from touching Shachi's face, wrapping the cloth around his eyes gently.

"Maybe you should learn to listen," Shachi snapped, but he let Law blindfold him and take hold of his hand.

"Let's go inside," Law suggested, and Shachi didn't fight him as he led him into the Tang's dark corridors. He headed straight for the infirmary, noticing the way Shachi first returned the grip on his hand, then increased it until he was all but clinging by the time they reached the large room. "What happened to your eyes?" he asked, guiding Shachi to sit down before walking around the room to dim the lights until he could barely see. Penguin stood protectively by the ginger, and Law noticed that Bepo had dragged himself back inside to curl up by Shachi's knee.

"'m snow blind," Shachi said sulkily as Law headed back towards him in the now-darkened infirmary. Law had seen cases of snow blindness before, but they'd only been temporary. He hadn't known it was possible to get it permanently. He didn't ask how.

"I'm sorry," he said instead, because he was. It was the second time he'd really hurt Shachi and Law really hadn't planned on getting so attached to his limpets, but at some point he had and now he was facing the consequences. "I turned the lights down," he added, because he didn't know how well Shachi could make out his surroundings through the remains of Law's top. "Can I..?" He let his hands rest on the blindfold, waiting for one of them to give permission. Snow blindness in particular hadn't been common in Flevance, but its close relation photokeratitis hadn't been unheard of, thanks to the way everything had been white. If he could help Shachi even just a bit…

Penguin squeezed Shachi's shoulder lightly, and the ginger opened his mouth.

"Sure," he nodded, and Law gently undid the knot keeping it in place, letting the material flutter down to the ground. Shachi kept his eyes closed for several long seconds before he let them open, blinking away moisture in the dark.

Law could barely see anything more than movement. He explored with his fingers, gentle but firm, and wiped away the tears.

"Regular treatments stopped working a long time ago," Penguin said, his voice still clipped but less hostile than it had been originally. "You can't do anything to heal it." Law thought of his abilities, the supposed medical miracles, and wondered about that. But he couldn't do anything yet, he didn't know enough about the eye. One day. One day he'd learn enough and be able to heal Shachi.

"Your shades broke," he admitted out loud.

"I have spares," Shachi told him, and Law felt him turn his head beneath his fingertips. "Hey, Penguin, could you?"

"I'll be back in a minute," the older boy said, and Law heard him head for the door. As he opened it, light from the corridor spilled in and Law positioned himself between Shachi and the light. In what light there was, he saw Shachi's mouth pull itself into a grin.

"Don't mind him," the ginger said once the door was shut again. "He worries way too much. I should have told you before you got this curious." Law got pulled into a hug. "Don't do that again, yeah?"

"I won't," Law promised, astounded at how quickly Shachi had calmed down. It was the same way he'd once forgiven Lami for drawing all over his homework when she'd been bored and too young to know better.

It felt like family, and that was the first time Law realised that maybe his tagalongs were there to stay.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari