Blade

Characters: Law, Zoro. Rating: K. Warnings: None

Law didn't like the Straw Hats. He could see their use to him, with their easily distracted captain a perfect tool to draw Doflamingo's attention or to blow up the factory, whichever plan Law eventually settled on, and the rest of the crew so loyal to their captain that they wouldn't disobey despite their vocal misgivings about everything – him. Law didn't begrudge them their suspicion; after all, he was taking advantage of their strong but naïve captain exactly as some of them suspected.

(It was only much later that he realised he was oh so wrong about who was naïve and who was using who).

Having to watch his back constantly was tiring, but with Mugiwara-ya firmly convinced that Law would do no wrong, it was at least less stressful than Punk Hazard had been. The pay off was having to deal with his fellow captain's innate stupidity, but at least he could enter something of a doze in their presence when Caesar was being a loud nuisance and drawing all their attention.

However, there was a single eye that never left him. Law could feel it boring into his back, prickling his skin, and when he looked around, it didn't disappear like most watchers would do. No, the single dark eye of the Pirate Hunter met his gaze evenly. Law wouldn't say he was afraid of the man, but he was certainly wary of him. He'd always considered the epithet to be rather odd, despite the man's bounty hunting past – the Marines could easily have used "Santoryu" or "Demon Swordsman" instead – but now the sole subject of that unrelenting eye, Law did feel rather like prey.

Not that he thought the swordsman would be able to hunt him easily. It wasn't like Zoro was actively hunting him down, anyway. No, it was more of a passive observation with the underlying knowledge that their tentative truce could end at any time, at which point the man would pounce.

Law had heard of the phrase "keep your friends close but your enemies closer". It wasn't one he used often, preferring to survey his targets from a distance while his nakama surrounded him, and it certainly wasn't applicable in his current situation. The other end of the deck, seemingly sleeping except that pricking feeling was still there, was quite close enough for Law.

So when Zoro-ya broke their silent stalemate and stalked over to Law – still that lazy 'you're not my target but we both know that can change any moment' aura – the Hearts captain found himself awkwardly wrong-footed.

"Zoro-ya," he said, to cover up any slips. If any made it through, the younger man didn't react.

"Name?" the man grunted, sitting next to him. For the first time, that eye left Law and instead focused on Caesar, who immediately squawked. He went ignored as Law pondered the question. He didn't get the chance to decipher the one word inquiry, only just determining that it was indeed a question and not a demand, before Zoro-ya spoke again. "Wado Ichimonji," he said, shifting the white sword in his grip lovingly.

Law's eyes strayed to his own sword, perched against his shoulder as the permanent fixture she had become since he'd left his sanctuary months before. It figured that the swordsman of the Straw Hats would be interested in his own weapon, especially as there was a similar presence emanating from his own collection of blades.

"Her name is Kikoku," he acquiesced, one hand coming up to hold her sheath protectively. He doubted that, despite being a pirate, Zoro-ya would do something as sacrilegious as steal another man's sword, especially as she was a nodaichi while he clearly favoured katana like Shachi (not that Law would be encouraging a meeting between the two any time soon; either Shachi would talk too much or they'd end up in a spar and, yes, Shachi was skilled, but he knew enough of Zoro-ya's abilities to know which way the outcome would fall). "Yours?" he asked out of courtesy, gesturing subtly towards the blade with the darkest aura in the bunch.

"Sandai Kitetsu." Zoro-ya's face morphed into a fond smirk as he isolated the blade in question from its fellows, holding it out in front of him. "He's a bit of a problem child."

Well, that was one way of referring to a cursed blade. To the casual eavesdropper, the sentence sounded like an admittance of weakness. To Law, with his own cursed blade, it was a warning. Cursed blades did not obey like a normal weapon. They had their own opinions, their own agenda, and if the aims of blade and wielder clashed then a cursed blade was nigh unusable, except for a master swordsman.

Zoro-ya had just casually mentioned that he was capable of using a cursed blade that disagreed with at least some of his ideals, simultaneously with two other blades. If Kikoku hadn't been satisfied with Law's own opinions, he could not honestly say he'd still be capable of wielding her. He didn't know what sort of 'problem child' Sandai Kisetsu manifested as, but he'd seen what Kikoku did to people she didn't agree with.

Penguin would still only hold her for very short lengths of time, and even then it was emergency only.

Zoro-ya didn't say anything more, and Law didn't bother to break the silence again. The man had sated his curiosity – like Law, he'd probably gleaned far more than the simple conversation (if it could even be called that) had offered.

To Law's annoyance, the younger man didn't bother to leave his spot just verging on the edge of Law's personal space, and Law himself refused to move lest it be mistaken for him submitting to the other man's dominance. It didn't matter if he was the clear first mate of the ship, and that Law was back-footed from that fact alone.

Law backed down to no-one, so he clutched Kikoku tightly and forced his muscles not to tense into a flight or fight mode as Zoro-ya started snoring away beside him.

Law really, really, hated this crew.

Request for Law and Zoro bonding over their cursed swords.

A small note: I do honestly think that as a swordsman, Zoro is superior to Law. However, that in no way makes him stronger than Law, as Law of course uses Kikoku in conjunction with the Ope Ope no Mi. I wouldn't dare suggest which one would win in a fight until we see Zoro finally go all out post-timeskip, because right now we just don't know how strong he is. He steamrollered Pica (once he finally caught him), after all, and we can hardly say we saw Law at his peak against Doflamingo (honestly, for a 440mil bounty head that was a pretty poor showing, until you consider that he was exhausted before he even started that final fight - I don't believe for a single moment that he was able to fully regain his strength while Luffy was carrying him around because kairoseki. In fact, the first time I watched that arc I fully expected him to collapse the moment the cuffs came off and Luffy put him down), so I think he has more to give yet, too.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari