#<- for the egghead stuff here

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

What! Are your top five reveals in One Piece! Which ones made you go “holy shit” or “hell yeah” the most!

i'm taking reveal here to mean 'points at which previously-hidden information is revealed to the audience,' not just where we're told something new. so:

THE FREEST MAN ON THE SEA: maybe not as dramatic or seismic as some other things on this list, but to me luffy telling rayleigh that to him being the pirate king just means being the freest in the world is the single most important thing we ever learn about luffy's character, and it defines the themes of the whole series. it recontextualizes everything about luffy and the way he interacts with the world and the way he pursues his goal because now we finally know what that goal actually is, and what it means to him. and for the whole first half of the story we don't know this! it's easy to forget because we're, what, six hundred chapters past it now, but we get all the way to sabaody without really knowing what drives luffy, and then we get it and it slides into place perfectly.

WORLD SANK: a recent one, but so satisfying and well-placed. the sunken world reveal is the best kind of big lore reveal, to me, because it's something that makes so much sense it was completely possible to predict it years ago (and people did), and now that it has been confirmed, it's opened up a massive world of implications and questions that are incredibly fun to think about. i'm really excited to see where the story goes with it.

NIKA: i'm sort of rolling everything we learn about gear 5/nika/joyboy in the 1040 chapters of wano together here; i've written at length before on this blog about why i like the nika reveal so much, so i'll just say now that it takes one piece's most fundamental and powerful themes and symbolism (liberation and joy and the sun) which have been built up across the story and reveals to you that those things are a real literal force in the narrative strong enough to turn a draconic tyrant into a garden snake. and having established what he has now about nika, the way oda has continued to explore the implications of that figure existing in the world has been absolutely fabulous to read.

RAIZOU IS SAFE: a smaller and more arc-specific one compared to some of the others on this list, but i just really like the way this reveal is done. the interval between the dressrosa team's arrival on zou and the reveal that raizou was there the whole time isn't even particularly long, but it's the execution which makes it; the devastation of the city, the solemnity of the whole moment, inuarashi and nekomamushi bowing their heads, luffy and the strawhats' reactions. i like the minks a lot, and this is the moment that defines them as a group, as well as establishing the themes of loyalty and sacrifice that will go on to become very prominent in wano.

ROGER WAS DYING: i've talked before about how i really like the handling of roger as a figure and how our knowledge of him evolves and becomes more personal and human over the course of the story. the turning point in that evolution is the introduction of rayleigh; his reveal that roger was not caught, that he turned himself in because he was dying, and that they found the truth of the world there at the end of the grand line. it shifts the whole presentation of the story; we've been told about roger from the very start of the very first chapter, and it's here that we learn the information we thought we had about him has been woefully incomplete. there's a bigger mystery here, one greater than just 'what treasure did roger leave.' and i really like we get this context about roger in the very same scene we learn what it means to luffy to be the pirate king.

[zoros-debt]

celebrating egghead arc with their yin/yang egghead outfits

[mugiwara-lucy]

CAN SATURDAY GET HERE SOONER!!

And I HOPE they make the WHOLE episode Law vs Blackbeard! Save the Egghead stuff for the following episode!!

[microwavepopcorn]

[puddingapologist]

wonder how many horny fan artists are deleting stuff right now lmfao

[theyellowgreninja]

One Piece Mini-Theories that i think are Just True

Blackbeard is 3 souls in the same body (either b/c of a devil fruit or b/c he's just kinda like that)

Law and Kidd are gonna form the Supernova Pirates after their defeats and gather the rest of the Supernovae to join them (as part of the Grand Fleet)

Usopp is going to change/redefine his goal in Elbaf (since his current goal is vague and bullshit) -- it'll either be to be able to tell the truth to Kaya when he returns (without losing his grandeur), or to impress/surpass his dad. maybe both. I will also accept "make all his lies into truths." It will not be "stop lying" or "stop being scared"

Crocomom is false BUT Croc did transition (with help from Ivankov)

Rocks' kid is someone big and important (could be BB, could be someone else -- saw a theory saying it was Dragon and ngl I could see where they were coming from, and another one said it was Croc, which I didn't buy as much)

Burn Scar man is someone we haven't actually met in the main story yet (Roger's crew maybe) -- It's NOT Saul, or Sabo, and probably not Masked Deuce either

Big Mom and Kaido aren't actually dead, they're just suffering near-eternal excruciating torture being tossed around in the mantle of the planet. They might pop out, but it won't be on Wano. If they pop out, they're joining Cross Guild.

Luffy ain't goin to the moon

Doffy is gonna get broken out of jail and join Cross Guild.

In fact, Cross Guild is gonna become the League of People who Luffy Already Beat the Shit Out Of™ (+ Mihawk), and will nab a few more past villains before they eventually get the shit beat out of them again (I'm thinking Arlong, Moria, and Lucci at least, but I would also like to see Kuro show up).

The Fight against Blackbeard won't be the standard shonen "break off into your respective 1v1s," and will instead be a whole team-vs-team very-complicated affair.

Uranus is NOT the thing Imu used to explode Lulusia, but that thing IS what caused the whole in Enie's Lobby. The "Sun Never Setting" thing is also related. What used to be there might be related to Void Century/Joy Boy, but I actually think it's some past attempt at revolution that occurred after the Void Century.

Uranus is a GPS, and is the One Piece.

Pluton has no sails; it only works if it's being pulled by Neptunians.

The 3 Ancient Weapons will end up in Luffy's hands, AND they only work well when they're all used together.

Luffy's gonna bust down the Red Line and destroy Maryjois (and Fishman Island in the process, but only after using the Ark to evacuate it).

Everyone is gonna get powerups in Elbaf, including many team-up special moves (for use in the aforementioned team-vs-team battle with BB). Haki-less members get a little Haki at least, but everyone gets substantially powered-up in preparation to taking on the entire WG.

[mingot-studios]

i cannot take watching characters i grew up with and consider my friends being put in horrible situations.

Not the fun angsty kind, the kind that makes me terrified for their well-being.

I feel like I have some loved one with very bad health issues that you are worried might die and you can't get anything done because of all the stress and anxiety and praying that they'll live but knowing it's not going to happen and you just find yourself terrified of the moment things take a turn for the worst...

That's how One Piece is making me feel

[faeriesruined]

I will say that the clenched fist WAS in the og draik circle pose but that does not excuse the Everything Else 😭

wtf did they do to him……. WHY DID THE GIVE THE UC STYLE THE CONVERSION FIST……

[areolni]

lancelot finds out about sonic's top surgery scars (i am a trans masc sonic believer)

-

"You have survived through many treacherous quests, have you not?"

"Ah, yeah! Wouldn't really call it quests, but more of adventures. Y'know, stopping that silly egghead from taking over the world, and… other stuff."

"This… 'egghead', as you name him. Did he inflict these wounds on you?"

"Wounds? I mean they're mostly healed so you can't really see them. Like here, here and here–"

"How about these? On your chest. They are quite unique and they have certainly caught my attention, might I add."

"Oh, these? They're, uhh… They weren't from battles."

"They were not? Were they self-inflicted? Did you harm yourself? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, chill out! Got them a long time ago. And, well… In your era, it's kinda hard to explain these things. But uh, just know that they've made me more confident and I feel more like myself."

"I see… I shall not pry further. Although, I am glad they have positively impacted you. Scars are either frowned upon or admired. I have always adored yours, these in particular. I, too, wish to be proud of my own."

"Everyone fights their own battles. And whatever it is, you'll always look perfect in my eyes."

"Ah… You flatter me, sire."

"Anything to see that cute lil' blush of yours, Lance."

[hollaforlyla]

"YE MAY BE IN LOVE..." ── prime!sonic x reader

posting this here because why not :p

NOTE: wrote this back in 2022, and i really like it, so im reposting it here. originally from my wattpad. <3

enjoy, if have not already read!

You kicked the tree that was on the one single island you and your crew members were able to invade and a single coconut fell from the leaves, landing near your foot. " ARGH ! I told yall we'd find some food on this pity island ! " You grinned as you lift the food and threw it in the air, catching it in the air with a toothy grin decorating your lips.

Suddenly a loud splash of water caused you and your three members to jump in fright and look towards the shore of the land to see some sort of blue figure emerge from the blue waters and on the land. 

You all hid behind the large rocks to overhear him talking to himself, " Okay, stay calm. One minute, I was looking for Nine, then I saw that gnarly ship, and then, somehow... " he pauses as he looks around and questions, " Wait, where am i? " 

He suddenly sat on the green grass and huffed, " How did i get... "

" Ah! wonder what these guys do. " He spoke looking at his shoes and gloves at the same time before Batten spoke aloud, " Ahoy there, stranger! What brings ye to the No Place? " She asked while you, and you, Black Rose, and Sails sat behind her while she hung from the single tree. 

"Seriously? " the creature suddenly laughs causing you to raise an eyebrow. " Pirates? That's--that's super! Just great ! Of course your pirates ! " He laughs as he extends his arms out. 

" I bet he's one of the old crew ! " Sails spoke and that's when you made yourself known. 

" Do you have some sort of hate for us pirates, mate ? " You spoke, getting close up to the blue hedgehog causing him to bend back as you tower over him with the tip of your sword close to his throat. 

The blue hedgehog gulped as he chuckles, " No-no ! Of course not ! Pi-pirates ar thy best ! " He spoke in the worst accent as he backed away from your sword far as possible and uses his finger to move the tip of your sword. 

" What should we do ? " Rose spoke as you stood in between her and Sails.  " I say, we pirate ! " Batten suddenly jumped beside Black Rose, causing her to jump as Batten raises her sword in the air and grins. " But the captain's not here ! " You spoke up, causing Batten's grin to disappear as she looked back at you three.  " Yar be right ! " Rose added, " I don't think he'd approve of us, you know, 'pirating' ". 

" What kind of pirates don't pirate ? " Sonic asked and you suddenly grinned after hearing that sentence escape from his lips. " Landlubber is right ! Yarr know how the saying goes ' Dead men tall no tales ! ' ". And once again, you along with your crew raised your swords to the unknown hedgehog, causing him to back away and try to talk with you in his once again pirate voice.

" Argh, Argh ! I don't mean to harm ye ! I'm just a wayward hedgehog looking for a way home ! "

None of you listened to the creature and when you all threw your swords down he was able to jump over you all and run around the island. He looked back to see Batten fly after him and when he looked forward he skidded to a stop before he could hit the water. 

No matter where the hedgehog went, you and your crew were always one step ahead of him because this island was so small he didn't have much space to run around. " Boy, it sure feels good to a pirate, don't it ? " Black Rose asked and grinned, squatting beside her as you were somehow able to pin the hedgehog to the edge of the large rock.  " Aye ! Brings me back to the good ol' days, Black Rose ! "

You and the blue hedgehog were able to make eye contact for a longer period of time and this time he had a blush on his face. Back in your old world, Sonic had some sort of crush on you, so to speak. But being the Hero of Mobius he didn't have much time to worry about all the lovey-dovey stuff because of a so-called Egghead. 

Whenever you got close to the Blue Blur he would panic and hide it with his heroic charm and runoff. He had no clue if you liked him back, but he knew for sure this version of you didn't, 100%. 

Black Rose was able to trip the creature as he ran past her, and let out a scream as he was about to collide with the water, but suddenly he felt Sail's robotic arm catch him and lift him into the air and keep him there as he stared at Batten, Black Rose, and ..... Y/N. 

" Well, wouldn't you know. I'm caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. " He spoke and Batten and Black Rose shared a puzzled glance with each other before Sails spoke up, " You know, he's too fast to be part of the old crew. "

" Listen, I am not a part of any crew you're looking for. In fact, I've lost my crew. It's a bit of a sore spot actually. " He admitted and Batten only smirked as she raised the tip of her sword to his throat once again. " I'll give you a sore spot, all right ! " Before she could do anything else, you step in front of her and pushed her back. " All right, all right. Enough of that Batten. Not everything needs to be beaten to a pulp....even if they are among our seas... "

The blue hedgehog and you made eye contact, but this time you glared at him as you placed your sword back around your waist in your belt whilst Sonic blushed...trying to keep his composure. " Gather the coconuts. The captain would want us to get back to the ship with something other than a filthy landlubber. "

" Arr, Y/N. " Black Rose agreed, " Leave this scalawag for the bazzards. " Batten only sighed as she watched you and Black Rose collect the coconuts, " Well, it was fun while it lasted. " And with that, Sails tossed the hedgehog back on the land as he faceplanted and followed his crew to collect coconuts. 

" Wait, you're leaving ? " He questioned as he watched your four work, " Uh, you can't leave me here ! " He cried. " And why is that ? " You asked, leaning against the tree trunk and kicking it once more to gather the coconut from its leaves. " There's literally water everywhere ! "

You rolled your eyes and followed your crew to a small boat as you tossed the coconuts in there. " Uh, where're you going ? " He asked, " Somewhere with a lot of land, hopefully. "

" Back to our ship, and we don't take scalawags. " Batten responded, tired of the blue hedgehog's whining. " You know, with all that speed, this landlubber could be useful. " Sails explained as he circled around the creature using his tails to hover around. " Swabbing the deck, raising this mizzen mast, rowing the boat. "

Batten sighs, " I hate rowing the boat. " " Gives me bad cramps for days, " You added and Black Rose nods. " I'll row ! I'm a great rower ! Heh, I'll bet you 20 coconuts I'm the best rower you've ever seen ! " the creature grins as he nudges Sail's side before jumping down to the three others. 

" FIne, I, too, hate rowing. But, there is one condition when we get back to the ship. It's captain's orders or else ! " Black Rose spoke as she turned, but suddenly Sonic zoomed in front of her and chuckled, " Or else? The plank ? I can assure you that this hedgehog has no interest in planks. " The creature spoke and you suddenly spoke up, 

" Then prove to us you can take orders from a captain, or the plank is what you'll get ! Savvy ? " You placed a hand on your hip as he winked at you. " Captain's orders got it !...I love captains... " You roll your eyes as you pushed him to the side by placing a hand to his face and got into the small boat.

Once everyone was seated in the boat, Sonic grinned as he sat in his said spot. " Everybody got seat belts on? " You all blinked in silence and you stared at the hedgehog. " Seatbelts ?-- "

All of a sudden you felt yourself grab Batten's arm as the boat zoomed through the water faster than you've ever seen a bird soar above the ship's sails. You all let out a scream before you made it back to the ship, and your grip on Batten fell loose and you felt yourself fall a top of the blue hedgehog. Your arms were extended outwards and pinned on the sides of his stomach and your face was buried in his chest. 

A blush formed on Sonic's face as you sat up as the boat was lifted onto the actual ship and you looked back up to see the hedgehog was gone and by the other side of the boat, covering his face to hide the blush. 

You on the other hand felt your stomach twist in different directions until Batten tossed an arm around your shoulder, " Aye ! Looks like little Y/N caught herself a lucky one ! " You only nudged her arm and pushed her off of you, crossing your arms as you spoke. " Blimey ! 'Il crush ye barnacles if you think I would have some sort of feelings towards a stinkin' landlubber ! " 

As Batten rose her arms in the air with a snarky smile, you looked back at the hedgehog and blushed before splashing some water on your face from one of the barrels and entered inside the ship and towards your room where you sat for a while until the captain was introduced to the blue hedgehog. 

🏴‍☠💙🏴‍☠

The sound of the seagulls cawing awoke you from your slumber and as you entered the deck of the ship you saw your captain and other crew members sound asleep. You looked around for the blue hedgehog but you couldn't find him anywhere on the ship until you suddenly felt two hands grab onto your shoulders, " BOO-AH ! " You turned around and were able to tackle the intruder to the ground by the poop deck, but as the tip of your sword hits the neck of the person you let out a puff of air when you noticed the intruder was no one but that Sonic fellow. 

" Sneak attacking a pirate can be a bad idea mate, especially if you're trying to befriend said pirate... " Your feet were planted to the floor as your back was leaned forward as the hedgehog's back was pinned to the ground, his quills squishing between his face as he lets out a half-heart chuckle. " I never knew pirates could be sneak-attacked? You're not like all of them, are you ? :"

" Your one to talk, hedgehog. Your fake pirate accent couldn't threaten a baby sea horse ! " 

Sonic's belly laughter soon escaped from his lips and you cocked an eye up. " Yhou make uhup the strangest pahrases i've ehever hehard ! " You growled softly under your breath and moved your sword away from his neck and stepped off him so he could stand. You placed your sword back around your waist and walked towards the portside and stared at the water. Sonic slowly walked beside you and placed one elbow on the ledge and the other arm was placed on his hip. 

" So you have no idea who I am ? " Sonic suddenly asked and you looked over to him playing with the small locket on your neck, " Well, I know you are very easy to tackle, you are very fast, and you have a very strange laugh... " You explained and Sonic chuckled, 

" You somehow still remind me of my Y/N .. "

" Your Y/N ... ? "

" Oh, N-nevermind .... Have you, uh, got any sleep? You look overworked and tired. " He asked and you smiled, " I could be asking you the same thing, you look like you haven't slept in weeks. " You flicked his nose causing him to grab it and laugh, " I got my fair share...your the one who looks like they need some shut-eye... " Your smile died down and you had to admit you were tired. " A pirate's work is never done...stayed up all night cleaning the poop deck and made sure the captain's cabin was cleaned from sea bugs and other sea creatures. Got 'round 3-maybe 5 hours of shut-eye? " You guessed and Sonic looked to the water and thought for a moment.

Looking at the sun he could tell it was around maybe, 7 AM, and the rest of the crew was still asleep, so Sonic grabbed the sword from your waist and stabbed it to the pole of the sails. " Hey ! What do you think your-- " Before you could say anything, the blue hedgehog swung his legs into your ankles causing you to fall back but he caught you and placed you to the wooden floor of the deck and he laid beside you, his hands wrapped behind his head. 

He sighs as he closed his eyes but you were still confused. " I- what are you doin- " He hushed you but slammed his hand over yours gently and you glared at him, about to bite his hand until he removed it and spoke, " It's still early in the morning...thank me later when you get at least 7 hours of sleep. " 

And with that, he closed his eyes once more and you turned your body to face him and stayed like that waiting to see if he'll do anything...but he didn't. He just laid there with eyes shut, his chest moving up and down lightly. You looked around to see the rest of your crew sound asleep and you huffed quietly. 

Eventually, you shut your eyes and around 10 minutes later you found yourself asleep, the waves hitting the bottom of the ship rocked it, giving the atmosphere a more calmer sound. 

When morning hit, Sonic was the first to wake up and he found you sound asleep beside him, your mouth gaped open to create a small circle and he smiled fondly at the sight until he stood up......

[seat-safety-switch]

Glues! You might not be aware of it, but adhesives rule the world around you. No matter what two objects you want to stick together, some egghead in a chemistry lab has worked out an elaborate concoction that will do so. Now you just need to figure out which one it is, and also read some instructions for the first time in your life.

I've never liked glues, probably because of the aforementioned "read the instructions" thing. They either set too fast or not at all, and they make a sticky mess when you knock them over onto your precariously-balanced workbench full of other failed projects. For me, the correct fastener was a bolt, or a rivet, or if you put a gun to my head some kind of stupid finger-pinching clippy thing that would work twice and then break forever.

Nowadays, things are going in a different direction. Fasteners vibrate and come loose. Bolts would rather not stay bolted, if it's all the same to you, pip pip cheerio, sorry about your axle there chap. They also cost money, which bosses don't like. So, automakers and engineers use more glues. Glob goes here, then job goes here. This means that, whenever something else they make breaks, you're going to be spending all afternoon slowly heating up and forcing apart some sticky mess. As a cool bonus, it will also fill your work area with deadly fumes.

What finally turned me in favour of glue? The local autobody shop had to throw out a whole bunch of autobody epoxy. This stuff is hyper-sticky, meant to glue whole cars together. All I had to do was pour it into their dumpster, and then back my rusty shitbox of a daily driver in there. Sealed up all the rust holes, and probably permanently entombed some of the trunk mice in there as well. No more wet feet! No more poop in the glovebox!

Sure, when it comes time to change the rear tires, it's going to kinda suck to get them off the wheel. Hey, wait, when they pop a hole in them I can probably just fill them up with glue too! What idiot ever thought to put air in tires in the first place? Get with the modern era of industrial adhesives, suckers.

[xviiperr]

can I please request yandere romantic headcannons of scourge and sonic with incredibly smart reader? like, really really cunning and observant. thank you in advance!

Of course! Man oh man am I excited! Thank you for the requests you guys! I looked at both of the requests and an idea popped in my head— the most clever one I have ever had (joking)— what if I combined them together?

A smart reader with two smitten hedgehogs fawning over them is a brilliant mix of unknown chaos and adventure! (And of course, danger). I sure do like the concept of a competition between hero and villain, a trope used since the dawn of time. I wasn't able to elaborate much on freedom fighter stuff because, no matter what I wrote, I just didn't like it lol.

Also, I made art for this! Looks a little cringe but, I couldn't help but try something new! Y'all can use them as pfps or whatever if you like them a lot but, please credit me! (Sonic's came out a little....interesting lol. I keeping on thinking of those Snapcube dubs omg).

Reader is gender neutral and uses you/your pronouns!

TW: cursing, physical harm (not to you but, definitely to Sonic and Scourge) blood, yandere shenanigans: stalking, possessiveness, obsessiveness, murder, sabotage. Another note! Sonic thinks about putting you, the reader, in danger.

Is it proof read? Sorta, not as much as I like to! School's getting busy and fanfiction is helping me survive! Figured if I was able to post this, then I am able to do anything that school has me involved in!

For Sonic and Scourge, it would be incredibly difficult, basically impossible for you to be shared with either one of them. You wouldn't get much down time with these guys around, constantly following and pestering you about: "Who's the better hedgehog?" Your life, Anons, will be a living Hell. Prepare for a game of tug-of-war between two idiots!

Let's start with talking about Scourge.

Scourge would be very adamant on trying to get you to join his team. You're smart and he knows this, much more clever than his compatriots and his now ex-girlfriend, Fiona. He's so desperate for your attention, picking fights with anyone who gets in the way of talking or being by you. And here's where the first problem comes from: you're on Sonic's team. You. You are a part of the Freedom Fighters. And that pisses him off.

Why are you wasting your talents on a bunch of babies? Scourge doesn't care if he has to travel across the zones to find you and take you with him. But, he doesn't count on you being much more smarter than he thought. In the midst of a battle with Egghead's badnicks, Scourge appears out of a portal to try and snag you away. He launches across the greenery, grinning madly. He's finally going to get you and—

Scourge could've sworn that his jaw was dislocated and then broken. It throbbed furiously and he struggled to gather his bearings. His head spun violently. You saw him coming from a mile away, despite his quills supposedly blending him in with the environment. That damn jacket of his gave him away. His prized possession! (Aside from his crown and you, of course). You sent a hunk of Dr. Robotnick's heavy machinery straight at him, letting the robot do the work for you and send him flying away. He was way too dizzy, blood dripping from his nose and a possible concussion. Hell.

You spared him a moment's glance and then took off to help Amy clobber some more tin heads. By now, Sonic had noticed Scourge and was already working his way over in record time, something even Scourge wasn't expecting. The expression on Sonic's face warned of a promised beating and perhaps, even worse, death. Scourge staggered to his feet, turned heel and bolted as fast as he could before he got a generous pummelling from the Blue Blur. He soared into the portal just in time, avoiding a nasty fate. Scourge hit the ground with a bone rattling thud, cursing when he bit on his lip too hard.

He's angry, oh yes he is but, he had to admit, he kinda liked that. Scourge hates to say that he did. You have the same quality that drew him into Fiona— your mind. It's really unfair that you're on Sonic's team though. Now he has to figure out how he's gonna come back, not get his ass beat and take you home with him. You're much smarter than he was anticipating. Scourge that night decides to spare no time for sleep, mind hooked on how you looked at him. How you outwitted him, not even using your own fists to take him down.

Scourge stares at a cabinet in his castle, pondering. Gutting Sonic doesn't sound like half of a bad idea. With that idiot out the way, Scourge gets to have all of your attention on him. The Freedom Fighters though...those mutts are still going to be in the way. Scourge has been itching to become the one and only Sonic, even if he liked the attention he was getting from the rest of the crew, Scourge needed to be in charge of things here. He's gonna figure out how to worm his way into your life and force you to work with him.

Now, what about Sonic?

Sonic loves your intellectual prowess, constantly checking back with you. He wants to hear more about your ingenious creations, (maybe he can even use them to his advantage!) and in general, have you speak to him about everything you come up with. Sonic does not want to share you with your friends though, as much as he likes how they positivity impact your mind, he feels that he should have sole possession of your heart. (He might just go and take it anyway, don't worry, you'll have a mechanical heart to keep you alive!) Instead, Sonic encourages you to hang out with his friends. With you being around his friends, Sonic doesn't have to worry as much.

Whatever your brain delves into, Sonic wants to hear all about it, as said before but, reiterated. (Y'see, this is a really important point). Now, Sonic knows that another hedgehog, specifically the embodiment of a snotball, is also after your affections. He's not going to let that bully get any of your time, always being the first to rush towards Scourge and hit him with the old sucker (his fist). Sonic will do anything to get that vermin off your tail, even convincing Shadow and Knuckles to help him out. Now depending on whether Shadow and Knuckles are yandere will also determine on how much they're willing to help Sonic out. Either way, thanks to Sonic's undeniable charm, he is able to enlist assistance to fend off Scourge. Sonic is even proud of beating Scourge up.

And to make matters worse, Sonic will boast about beating up Scourge at every chance he gets. Now, that being said, it's not out of character for Sonic to gloat over his victories, especially bullies but, he goes further into detail. Sonic is happy that he gave Scourge a well worth punch to the snout to think about. And if Sonic hit Scourge hard enough to the point that Scourge was bleeding—he's ecstatic. From then on, Sonic will constantly bring up the subject of hitting someone so hard that they started bleeding. Sonic uses this as bragging rights and also, a not so well hidden reminder of how strong he is. You belong to him.

Sonic cannot help but replay that day over and over again in his head. Scourge slips through the portal, laughing out loud and being an overall idiot. Scourge's first move is to find and capture you, even stating it out loud. That was his first mistake, giving him right away to Sonic, who started hitting heavier on badnicks. Sonic remembered that he felt panicked, that he wouldn't get to you in time to save you. But, as it turned out, you didn't need any saving. You were just fine on your own. In fact, you had the time to set up a little surprise, just for Scourge.

Shock was an understatement to describing Sonic's face after your clever trick. Instead of fighting tooth and nail to get away from Scourge, (you didn't even have to worry about stepping close at all, due to your ingenuity) you had sent the biggest badnick catapulting at Scourge, hitting him smack dab in the face. Sonic was sorry that he wasn't able to catch up to Scourge, to give him a nice little beat down. That factor made him rather pouty for the rest of the evening, however, that didn't stop Sonic from singing praises about your smarts. He acted like he couldn't believe that you were able to do that. It almost felt like Sonic was being condescending. That you should have been captured, only for Sonic to save the day.

That day, Sonic sat out on the beach, daydreaming about the many different ways that he could save you. From that fight, he learned that you wouldn't actually need him and that fact hurt Sonic more than he liked to admit. Yes, putting you in a dangerous situation might be the trick to get you to fall even more in love with him. But, that could also mean that Scourge would be there to save the day instead. And knowing Scourge, he would definitely out Sonic for his actions, just to win your favor. Sonic had to think carefully on how he was going to handle this.

[crystalic-ender]

Random Sonadow boom fanfic

On this episode, Team Sonic is seen eating at Meh burger. 

“Well, this is nice!”

Amy cheered. And she was Right, it has been nice.

Eggman hadn’t attacked for a few days, and it was overall a nice, sunny day, so it's been relaxing, although, in Sonic’s opinion, a bit boring.

Tails hummed and nodded; “Yeah! It’s been great! I’ve made so many improvements on different inventions and on the tornado!”

”I don’t trust it! He’s waiting for us to be off guard, and then when we’re least expecting it, WOOSH! Turns out, hes been working with aliens to take over the planet, and the alien invasion would start!-“

”I seriously doubt Eggman holds enough likable energy to even talk to one on good terms, let alone convince them to join him.”

Sonic interrupted Sticks' chant. Sticks immediately stood up.

”THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO THINK!”

Everyone sighed at Stick’s shenanigans. Before another word could be spoken—

“Ha! Look at the idiotic rodents, cheerfully eating lunch! Not for long~!”

Ugh. Eggman. Everyone looked over as he released Some more crab bots. Sonic rolled his eyes as he stood up and destroyed one.

”Really, Egghead? Just haaaad to show up now? We were enjoying a meal without you.”

Sonic rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah! We were doing just fine with our cardboard made edibles without you here!”

Knuckles yelled out. Eggman laughed.

”Well, your cardboard is about to be recycled! Robots, attack!!!”

Eggman yelled as his minions went out to attack. Sonic scoffed as they all went into position. However, before they could even start fighting, a yellow streak went past, destroying 5 badniks that were in a line.

Sonic and his friends blinked and looked over to see Shadow, holding up wires of some of the badniks. Eggman gasped.

”S-Shadow!? I had no idea you’d be here-“

”Leave. Now.”

Shadow glared at Eggman.

”I was planning to buy some things today and dealing with the ruckus you were about to make is not on my list, so leave.”

Eggman gulped.

”Y-Yeah! Of course-uh-Shadow! Oh! By the way, we’re having a dinner this Friday at 8, was hoping you’d come around-“

”I will not attend.”

“Right, of course—well, bye!”

With that, Eggman went off, his robots retreating. Shadow sighed in annoyance while Team Sonic stared at Shadow in confusion.

Sticks growled and got into a fighting position. Sonic sighed.

”Soooo you're here, edgelord? What are you doing here this time? A fight again? Dude, I’m not in the mood to—“

”Silence, fool! I’m not here for you or any of your insignificant friends! I had already stated I am here to buy a few things.”

Shadow scoffed and crossed His arms in the Normal stance they nearly always saw him in. Sonic sighed. Seriously, what was with this guy? They rarely see him around. And since when did Shadow ever shop in hedgehog village? Would have thought he would buy stuff somewhere with more high quality things.

”If that’s the case, why did you ’help’ us?”

Amy asked, tilting her head a little bit.

Shadow growled and rolled his eyes, his ears lowering in a bit of annoyance.

”Don’t mistake that for ‘helping’ you! I merely only did so because I don’t want to shop while hearing noise from the ruckus you and Robotnik was about to cause. If I’m going to shop in this pathetic town, I at least want silence and to be unbothered.”

Shadow said strictly as he then began turning around. Sonic ran over to him. Normally, he wouldn’t even bother with shadow, heck, he would go back to eating. However, he ran over to Shadow (wasn’t that hard considering he wasn’t that far away), and stood in front of him, examining him.

’Wait, wait wait wait wait wait!”

Shadow groaned, his eyes rolling up in irritation before he looked back at Sonic, his ears twitching in annoyance.

”What is it now, hedgehog!?”

“I’ve NEVER seen you shop here before,”

Sonic said, poking Shadow’s side. Shadow stepped back, immediately looked even more irritated and Opened his mouth to yell-

“Yeah! How do we know you’re not going to implant some kind of mind control device when none of us are watching!? HOW DO WE KNOW YOUR NOT WORKING FOR ALIENS OR FOR THE GOVERNMENT!?!?”

Sticks shouted. Shadow growled.

”I work for no one! I am merely here just to shop, but if you so want to annoy me by your ridiculous claims, then I will gladly bring you all down to your place—“

”Hey now, we don't want a fight—Sticks stop that, we don’t want to cause anything.”

Tails said, chuckling nervously as Sticks looked to be ready to throw her boomerang. Tails quickly added on,

“Besides, if Shadow did want to do that, he would have done it by now! We barely see him!”

”Yeah, but that’s because he doesn’t get screen time.”

Sticks rebutted. Everyone muttered in agreement. Shadow rolled his eyes, growling, his ears going down in irritation. How dare they mention his near non-existent screen time!

”Enough of this, I’m leaving.”

”Hold on, we just want to know why you helped us.”

Knuckles said.

”Normally you just come and beat us up. And we want an answer!….woah, did I just remember what we were asking him previously?! Maybe my memory is getting better!”

Knuckles said in excitement before Shadow immediately glared at him.

“No, it's clearly getting worse since I already said I didn’t help you. I wanted to shop in peace, so I tore up Eggman’s robots and told him to leave and he went. That's it.” 

“Oh.”

Knuckles said in a deadpan voice. Shadow then went to get around Sonic. However, Sonic thought before quickly asking

“Why did Eggman listen to you anyways?”

”…Huh?”

”Why did Eggman listen to ya? I mean, sure, he finds you cool or whatever, but I doubt that’s the whole reason.”

Sonic clarified, placing his hands on his hips. Shadow glared at Sonic.

“I have no need to explain myself to you, hedgehog.”

”Come onnnn~, just say why and we’ll get out of your hair.”

Sonic snickered, determined to get his answer. Knuckles nodded and stepped forward.

”yeah, else we’ll decide that there’s something going on—“

”Like you two teaming up to give our locations to government agents!”

Sticks yelled, pointing at Shadow.

”THAT’S RIGHT, WE’RE ONTO YOU!”

Shadow scoffed, eyes narrowing in annoyance

”Ugh! Fine! If it gets you all to leave me alone without a fight…not that I couldn’t take you down. Just not in the mood too.”

Shadow scoffed. Sonic perked up and blinked.

”Wow, really? I thought you were always in the mood to fight.”

”It’s for plot convenience, Sonic. They took away my desire to fight for now. Not that it’ll last for long, but it's annoying.”

”Well, thank goodness for the author. I wasn’t in the mood to Fight. Now tell us!”

Sonic said with a smirk, placing his hands on his hips with a stuff-eating grin. Shadow rolled his eyes.

”Ugh. Fine. Me and Eggman are…related—“

“WHAT!?”

Team Sonic yelled out together. Sticks immediately threw down her boomerang and pointed at Eggman.

”I TOLD YOU EGGMAN WAS AN ALIEN! AND NOW WE KNOW HE’S RELATED TO AN ALIEN!”

”We all know Eggman’s human, and I doubt Shadow’s an alien, so let's not think of that.”

”THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS YOU THINK, AMY! THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO THINK!”

They then decided to ignore Sticks.

Knuckles paused, looking confused

”…so…Eggman’s a hedgehog?”

“No, you ignorant buffoon!”

Shadow scoffed, growling in annoyance.

”I was admitted into his family, hence I’m…a part of his family. My last name is still Robotnik, so…”

”Wow…you're adopted?”

Sonic snickered. Shadow growled, his ears pinning down in frustration, maybe even a bit of embarrassment.

”Shut it, hedgehog!”

”Never!”

“So, what ‘family’ role do you play for Eggman?”

Tails curiously asked, stepping forward. Shadow took a Deep breath.

”…it could be ‘cousin’, however a more accurate one would be his uncle.”

Team Sonic paused. His uncle? Isn’t Shadow, like, Sonic’s age?

Sonic hummed.

”Uncle? Aren’t you, like, the same age as me?“

”I am.”

”…Then how are you Eggman’s uncle?”

Sonic asked, staring at Shadow with squinting eyes. Tails sighed

”Sonic, younger kids can be adopted by old people. If he was adopted by Eggman’s grandfather, then it would make him Eggman’s uncle.”

Tails explained. Shadow hummed…it wasn’t what happened, but it was more complicated if he said the truth, not like they ever need to know the truth. Knuckles looked to the sky

”Oh yeah! That makes way more sense than time travel!”

Knuckles said aloud. Amy looked at him with confusion on her face

”Where did you get time travel from?”

”I thought he was from the past and came here.”

Shadow hummed at Knuckles statement. Not entirely wrong, but…

”Wait! So, you’re Eggman’s uncle? Is that why he listens to you?”

Tails asked. Shadow raised a brow

”Yes, I just said that.”

”Just wanted to clarify it. So…is that the only reason he listens and wants you to join him? Because your family?”

Tails asked. Shadow groaned. This was taking WAY longer than he wanted, however plot convince made him want to explain, so he talked

”Although I’m sure it's part of it, it's also because he finds me cool and amazing, as he should. He believes I am very strong and can help him. He also referred to me as the….’cool uncle’ at some point, whatever that means.”

”You? The ‘cool uncle’? Puh-lease! I doubt you could ever be that cool!”

Sonic rolled his eyes. Shadow growled, crossing his arms with a glare.

”Way cooler than you, I can assure. Unfortunately, that ‘coolness’ is what motivates him to always bother me when I want to be left alone!”

Shadow huffed. Sonic hummed and seemed to think for a bit before he smirked

”Sooooo~, if you're Egghead’s uncle, does that mean whoever you date would be his step uncle?”

Shadow blinked, unsure of where this was going.

”…I suppose.”

”Annnnnnd by definition, It would mean he would have to Listen to them? For family’s sake?”

”I guess? Where are you going with—“

”Date me.”

….

Silence was all that was heard. The rest of team Sonic stared at Sonic with shocked (Tails had a mix of disgust in there) faces. Sonic just held his smirk.

When Shadow finally processed it, he blushed before punching Sonic. FINALLY! He has escaped plot convenience!

“Ack-!”, Sonic yelped as he tumbled and fell to the ground. Shadow growled, his ears down in embarrassment as he glared at Sonic, his arms in a position as if he was about to send another punch to Sonic.

”What!? What the hell!?”

Shadow yelled.

”Are we allowed to say that?” called Knuckles in the distance.

Sonic, stubborn as ever, just stood up with a smirk.

”Hey! Hear me out—“

Sonic managed to block an oncoming punch from Shadow

”Ack-C’mon! Just for a week!”

”Why would I—“

”To mess with Egghead! If I became your ‘boyfriend’, then he would have to listen to me! And that would be HILARIOUS!”

”Why would I ever—“

”Who knows, maybe he’ll be soooo angry with you afterwards, he’ll leave you alone for a while!”

“…”

Shadow paused. Annoy….Eggman? Admittedly, he never thought of doing something Eggman hated to get him to leave Shadow alone, and dating Eggman’s arch-nemesis, someone who Shadow ALSO hated, seemed a bit far-fetched…however, it might give him the peace and quiet he had been hoping for for so long….

Shadow hummed, pausing, stepping his foot up and down, his hand on his chin. 

Sonic blinked. Wait, was he actually thinking about—

“Deal.”

There was a silence that followed afterwards. Sonic blinked slowly, processing the fact that Shadow had ACTUALLY agreed. He kinda just expected to get thrown into the store across the street.

Amy looked shocked, yet a bit of hurt and jealousy was on her face. Knuckles looked confused (per usual), Tails was staring back and forth between Sonic and Shadow, as if both surprised that Shadow actually accepted and disgusted with Sonic for even suggesting it. 

Sticks broke the silence a moment later.

”That is an imposter! Shadow would NEVER agree to date someone like Sonic!”

She shouted. Sonic scoffed and crossed his arms, slightly insulted.

”Rude…”

”How DARE you even try to Insinuate that I am a fake. I am the Shadow, the ultimate life form, not some imposter impersonating myself, when there is no need since I am ALL of me! And for your information, I’m not dating him because I like him. Who could like this fool who can’t even make a simple shelf!”

Sonic’s ears went down in irritation at Shadow’s insult.

“Double rude.”

”The only reason I am agreeing is simply because I want a break from Ivo pestering me. Perhaps if I…’date’ his worst enemy for a short time, he’ll try to avoid me. That is all.”

Shadow stated, crossing his arms. Sonic lightly rolled his eyes. Shadow hummed, satisfied with the silence, so he turned around and began walking away

”Now, I will go back to shopping, as you fools have wasted enough of my time.”

Shadow walked towards a building. Sonic rolled his eyes, grumbling

”See ya Tomorrow, ‘babe’.”

”You are not calling me that.”

…….

The next day, while team sonic was returning to meh burger (again, because where else are they supposed to eat?), Sonic noticed a certain hedgehog who happened to be standing there. 

Shadow was standing in front of the mini stairs to meh burger, crossing his arms and standing still. Sonic blinked, running over, stopping in front of him with a curious blank expression, looking Shadow up and down.

”…You actually came?”

”What makes you think I would stand out here for you?”

”Because I doubt you’d eat at Meh burger.”

”….Tch.”

Shadow looked away, annoyed.

”If you want to know, I’m here to wait for Eggman.”

”Huh-Why?”

”He attacks everyday and I was going to tell him that we’re dating…it’s good you showed up. Makes it more believable.”

“…So in other words, you WERE waiting for me.”

”No.”

Before Sonic could respond, Eggman flew in.

”Ha! Prepare yourself, rodents, for my brand new—shadow? Uhhhh….what are you doing here? This is like, the second day you’ve appeared. You normally only get one day.”

Eggman said, looking confused. Shadow looked up at Eggman with his normal scowl.

“About time you showed up, Eggman. I have important news to Share With you.“

”Oh! Important news? From you!? Of course! What is it?”

Eggman asked. Obviously, he thought it was something around the aspect of Shadow thinking about joining him. Shadow took a deep breath.

”Now…It may be hard for you to hear this but—“

”Wait—Are you joining Sonic’s team!?“

”Wha—No! I would never join that pathetic group of unbearable peasants!”

Shadow growled at Eggman’s immediate assumption. Team Sonic looked at Shadow with a glare.

‘Good job at acting like we’re dating.’, Sonic thought as he rolled his eyes. Eggman seemed to sigh of relief.

“Oh thank God! I Was about to have a panic attack! Well then, what is it?”

Shadow took a deep breath.

”I…Sonic and I….well…”

Shadow began but couldn’t seem to finish it. As if even saying it was too much. Shadow took a deep breath, preparing himself to tell Eggman the news when he felt a hand wrap around his waist. Shadow ears lowered and he turned to see Sonic, who had put his hand on Shadow in a nonchalant manner. Shadow was about to punch him but—

“Me and Shads are in a relationship.”

Sonic said in a smug voice. Shadow blinked as he reminded himself he had to pretend to date this hedgehog. Shadow looked down at Sonic’s hand before looking back up to Eggman, who’s face was shocked. 

“WHAT!? You mean to tell me that you two are-“

”living the good life? Yeah~, we are~”

Sonic snickered. Eggman glared at Sonic before paying his attention towards Shadow.

”Shadow, is this true!?”

“….yes—“

”Wha-but I thought you hated Sonic too!”

Eggman yelled with an accusatory voice. Shadow shrugged.

”fifty-fifty.”

”Fifty-fift—I Can’t believe this!”

Eggman shouted. Sonic snickered.

”Well, you better start, Eggman! Since I’m your new step-uncle!”

Urbot and Cubot gasped while Eggman looked offended.

”Wait-who told you that!?”

”Who else?”

Sonic smirked and motioned to Shadow. Shadow let out a sigh. Eggman growled.

”Shadowwww! Why would you tell him!?”

”Hmph.”

”…Well, it doesn't matter! Afterall, you only become related to me at marriage, which I doubt you two are at that stage, so HA!”

Eggman laughed as he pointed at Sonic. Sonic hummed, putting his free hand on his chin as if thinking, before looking to Shadow with a smug smirk.

“How about we let your dear ‘uncle’ decide that~”

Shadow rolled his eyes, his arms still crossed over his chest. He looked to Sonic’s smug face, then to Eggman’s pleading one. Shadow looked to Sonic and then back to Eggman. Then back to Sonic. Then to Eggman.

”….Yes, he’s your step-uncle.”

”WHAT!?”

”HA! In your face, Eggman!”

Sonic snickered and pointed to Eggman. Eggman growled.

”I-you—“

”That means I’m in charge!”

”What-no it doesn’t!? I’ll destroy—“

”Listen to your uncle, Ivo.”

Shadow interrupted. Amy, Knuckles, Tails and Sticks collectively gasped at Shadow’s words. Sonic paused, then looked to Shadow. He was joining in with this!? And here Sonic thought he’d have to do it all.

Eggman looked shocked and somewhat betrayed.

”What—but he isn’t—“

”Ivo.”

Shadow glared at Eggman, giving him a typical ‘do I look like I’m kidding’ face. Eggman gulped before he sulked into his chair.

”Yes Shadow…”

”Good. By the way, we’re coming to that family dinner on Friday.”

Shadow stated with a factual voice. Sonic blinked. Wow, he was really going in full on this.

Eggman stared before standing up again

”WHAT DO YOU MEAN ’WE’RE’!?”

”I said what I mean, Ivo. Sonic is invited since he is also your uncle.”

”Wha-but he—“

”Ivo.”

Shadow glared once more. Eggman growled before sighing and sitting back to sulk in his flying seat.

”Yes Shadow…”

”Good. Don’t make me regret deciding to come. Now get out of my—…I mean, OUR sights.”

Shadow demanded. Eggman sighed.

”…Minions, retreat…”

And with that, Eggman disappeared. As soon as Eggman left, Sonic burst out laughing, falling onto the floor.

”Hahaha! Oh my—oh my gosh! Ahahahaha!!! He totally fell for it!”

Sonic then got up and looked to Shadow

”I’m surprised you joined in with it! I thought I would have had to do all the talking!”

”Be fortunate I joined in, hedgehog. Otherwise, you could not have convinced him.”

Shadow stated, looking away with an annoyed expression. Sonic just snickered. Tails ran over and looked to Sonic, joining the conversation

”It seems like it worked! Though, now you have to attend a family Dinner on Friday.”

Sonic slowly looked to Tails, as if realizing he was supposed to go to a dinner event with Eggman.

”….”

Sonic then looked to Shadow

”REALLY!? Did you HAVE to accept the invite!”

Shadow raised an eye at Sonic’s shouting, looking confused.

”…I thought it would elevate that we were dating, as going to a family dinner and introducing you as ‘my boyfriend’, is a relatively important thing to do, so I thought it would have convinced Ivo that we were dating.”

Shadow explained. Sonic groaned, his ears and tail drooping in annoyance

”Yeah but—but now I actually have to go to an event—an event with EGGMAN!”

”It's not like it's too important. It’s just a family dinner.”

”Yeah, but have you ever BEEN to one of those!?”

”….Yes…?”

”….Right, but STILL!!!”

Sonic complained as he yelled. Shadow rolled his eyes.

”You are such an over dramatic child. It’s not that bad.”

”Is it!? IS IT REALLY!?”

Sonic yelled. Shadow narrowed his eyes, about to escalate things when Amy stormed over

“Sonic, it was YOUR idea to do this to prank Eggman! The least you can do is follow through! And besides, Shadow is putting aside his hatred of attending Eggman’s events for you! You HAVE to do this!”

Amy commended, which just earned more groaning from Sonic.

”Ughhh! Fiiiineeeee!”

Sonic huffed. Amy smiled.

”Good! Now why don’t we find some suitable clothes for this?”

“Wha—its just a family dinner! It’s not like its anything fancy.”

Sonic crossed his arms and looked away. It earned a scoff from Shadow, who walked over.

”It may not be anything fancy, but I swear if you don’t wear at least a jacket, I’ll kill you.”

”Wha-really? You actually care about this stuff?”

”yes. Be fortunate I’m not forcing you to wear pants.”

Sonic sighed. This was horrible….he was thankful that he didn’t have to wear pants though.

Shadow glared at Sonic.

“You better meet me here when it’s time.”

“Yeah yeah…”

Sonic sighed as Shadow teleported away.

…………

Yeah, it was supposed to be longer but I lacked motivation to continue it so here it is.

[posiescosycorner]

you, me and the guy from work

pairing: katsuki bakugo x reader/ shouto todoroki x reader

summary: You control the elements, live with your best friend and might be falling for your co-worker. It's fine. You're totally fine.

prologue

Bakugo was not not happy that Kirishima finally pulled his head out of his ass and asked Mina out. He had suffered enough the past four years, watching the moony eyed idiot pine and pine away for a person so clearly interested in him but did the idiot really have to move in with her. More specifically, leave him significantly roommate-less. 

He was a pro hero now. A damn good one at that, slowly creeping towards the top, just as he planned. Money wasn’t exactly hard to come by but he was used to Ei being in his space, used to not coming back to an empty home. It was a comfort. It was something to rely on after the hell he went through. 

Here he was in Ei and Mina’s new apartment surrounded by the idiots he called friends, absolutely shit faced in the name of a house warming. He grunted as Denki leaned on him, singing some god awful song in a god awful voice, smelling every bit as the bottle of whiskey he downed. 

The idiots. 

He places the blonde against the sofa, as he continues waxing poetic about true love as he goes to get some water in the kitchen. He sees Eijirou with his arms around Mina, pressing a kiss onto her forehead as they sway in the kitchen to the beats of Denki’s offensive singing. 

“I can’t decide whats worse,” he starts, “watching you two eggheads pine after each other or this.” Eijirou and Mina, burst out of their bubble, turn to him looking absolutely flushed. 

“Whatever blasty,” Mina says pulling his cheeks, “You’re just jealous you have to share your boyfriend.” 

A crash sounds from the hall. Mina sighs and goes to check on the damage. Not before pressing a final kiss to Eijirou’s lips as he watches her go with the most lovesick expression Bakugo has the misfortune of experiencing. 

He gags. 

“You’re so disgustingly in love.” he states, before going to the fridge to grab some water. 

It just makes Kirishima smile brighter, knowing the blonde well enough to understand he was happy for him. 

“Man, you just know. You know,” he breathes out, head still in the clouds, “ With someone you love so much, the big decisions don’t seem so big. You’re just impatient for the next step.” 

“God you’re such a sap,” Bakugo says, punching the red-head’s shoulders. 

“Hey man, I’m really sorry for skipping out on you so quickly.” Kirishima says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He knew Bakugo did not cope well with change.But, he’d recently found a solution to Bakugo’s problem. 

“If anything, I’m glad I don’t get a front row seat to whatever I walked into” he quips back with no real malice. Kirishima could see the fondness in his eyes. He wishes more people could see what him and his friends could see in Bakugo. 

He wasn’t just gruff Pro Hero Dynamight (having dropped Great Explosion Murder God after the war), he was Katsuki Bakugo. Gruff, grumpy and soft in his own ways. 

Kirishima knew Katsuki would get lonely, and do absolutely nothing about it. He knew he wasn’t good at friend stuff. He knew he needed someone who could see past his rough edges and gruff demeanor. 

“(Y/N)’s moving back to Musutafu,” Kirishima says,”She’s looking for a roommate. Call her.” 

And just like that, Bakugo feels like he’s back in UA. Where for the first time, he felt weak, blasts useless against the water you wielded against him while vines crawled up his legs and paralyzed him. Where you sparkled like a goddamn star in the pretty pink dress you called your hero costume. Where you never backed down from his temper and shovelled your way into his heart with the flowers that grew on you when you were happy. 

He’d call you his best friend. But then the war happened, where he saw you float into the sky, glowing gold as the elements submitted to you as you tore through the enemy lines after you saw him collapse. You, beautiful, strong and ablaze with power he had never thought possible. 

He still considered you a good friend, occasionally talking to you on call. You wished each other on your birthdays. You had the occasional video call.

Why in the fuck would you not tell him you’re back?

authors note: this oc has been swirling in my mind for so long. I just wanted to write about flora, basically the lovechild of aang from avatar and flora from the Winx club. thank you for reading <3 I hope you are as excited for this story as I am. chapter 1 coming tomorrow ps: I'm still figuring Tumblr out lol but happy to be creating instead of consuming with love, posie

[fireheartwraith]

I have a theory that is half formed in my head, but hear me out

Vegapunk, Judge, Queen, and Ceasar were all together in MADS. Some of the things they were researching were devil fruits (what they are, their different kinds, if they can be artificially replicated, etc), cloning, and body modification like cyborgs.

One of the main characteristics of the devil fruits is the swirly pattern they all have. Sanji and his siblings, who were experimented on my judge while still in the womb, all have that swirly pattern in their eyebrows. But neither Sora nor Judge have that, so where did it come from? Let's put a pin on that.

Now, when he first meet the other Vinsmoke siblings, both the audience and the characters go "wow those people look just like sanji!". You know who else made the audience go "wow that person looks like sanji!"? Vegapunk Lilith.

Though all the Vegapunks share a brain, none of them look even remotely related to each other and, as we learned when Atlas was injured, they're all some form of cyborg. You wanna know what else we learn in egghead? That Vegapunk has created the Seraphims, clone hybrids with Lunarian blood — an ancient race connected to the void century, skypeia and all of that — and green blood, which gives them the abilities of a devil fruit. And the Pacifistas were created using a Buccaneer as a base. So Vegapunk can definitely create android cyborgs robots or whatever using the bloodline elements of these ancient races. So who's to say he hasn't that one more time?

Lilith is first Vegapunk that we meet and the one we are still with right now. She was literally in Oda's newest color spread so she's definitely Important and she didn't do all that much in Egghead to justify her importance. Another thing about her is that she is supposed to be the Evil Vegapunk. York was definitely Greedy, Atlas was Violent, etc, but Lilith has never been Evil, and this has even been commented by other characters! And why would a genius create an evil version of himself when he knows the damage that his inventions can cause? So no, I don't think Lilith is Evil, but she’s definitely Something. And we know Vegapunk had an interest in the Void Century and all that stuff, and you know who all of them, both the Vinsmoke kids and Lilith, look like? Sora, Sanji's mom.

I don't think we're quite done with MADS yet, so here's my crazy theory: the scientists managed to track down a member of one of the ancient races that the government wants to exterminate really badly. The Lunarians are connected with Skypeia and the Moon, the Buccaneers are connected with Sun God Nika, so maybe there's a third mysterious race that is connected to our third one piece mystery: the devil fruits.

So let's say Sora is this person. When MADS finds her, they give her an option: they could rat her out to the government and leave them at their mercy or they could offer her protection and a place to hide in, but only as long as she agreed to share her blood with them. And so, she joined MADS. Judge, who has never heard of the word ethics in his entire life, goes a bit too far with his experiments and decides to impregnate her and pump the baby with some weird chemicals to try and create the perfect soldier. Reiju is born, but she still has emotions so he decides to try again. That's a bit much for Vegapunk so the group disbands and Judge takes Sora with him back to Germa. But Vegapunk still has some of her bloodline elements, and years later decides to use them to create his own weapon, but one that he can monitor very closely due to the sharing the same brain and one who was not created by experimenting on children (due to how he acts with Bonney, I think that is the one line he won’t cross). And so, he decides to hide this new weapon among five others so no one will look too closely at her face.

And we know that the Vegapunks can hide things from each other, so maybe Lilith herself doesn't know about this but the others do. We see Atlas sacrificing herself to make sure Lilith can escape Egghead, and why would she try to guarantee that the Evil One will be okay unless there's something in Lilith they can't lose or replace, unlike with the rest of them?

So yeah, that's my theory. Sora something something devil fruits something something ancient races something something Lilith

[nehswritesstuffs]

the geisha's komuso

You ever have a fic fucking possess you until it's done? Yeah, this fic was like that for me.

12,435 words; this wasn’t supposed to be so long but it got away from me; I mostly got this idea while writing flashback sequences for ghost speak in whispers and lies, so make of that what you will; mostly takes place during Wano but also contains spoilers/extrapolation for Egghead and minor Elbaf spoilers; absolutely love it when a man gets swept off his feet by a capable woman it’s such a great dynamic

Also: this is my 300th fic. I’m posting this today on the 21st anniversary of my joining FFN, which means that my (online) fic career is absolutely insane. FFN only has 239 of these fics, but AO3 has them all. Buck fucking wild, if you ask me, especially considering how far I’ve come since I was a teenager when I started (and you can fucking tell), with stuff ranging from short poems to multiple +200k longfics. Here’s to what the future may bring!

Law was merely supposed to meet up with Robin to exchange information as they scouted Wano ahead of the Sanji Retrieval Team. A slip of the tongue starts something--will it last? [LawBin; mostly Wano set, Egghead/Elbaf spoilers]

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“We’ll meet in two weeks to exchange intel. Don’t worry about a rendezvous point; I’ll find you.”

“Will you be able to, dressed like that?”

“Of course he will! Our captain’s the best!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bepo, but I think I can handle it.” A pause. “Are you sure this is the sort of position you want? We can find you something else.”

“It works towards my already-established skillset. No worries.”

“…and what skillset is that…?”

“Mm… you’ll find out… if necessary.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Robin plucked at the shamisen carefully, getting used to how the large bachi pick felt in her hand. She looked at the sheet music in her lap and slowly hit the notes; she was familiar enough with stringed instruments thanks to her many attempts at making a place for herself before the Straw Hats that it would be almost too simple to pick this one up as well. It felt light and natural as she idly played a few notes of a different song, one she learned a long time ago now, while lifting her head to watch the other inhabitants of the okiya shuffle about their morning. The one thing she had to give the specific okiya she was undercover in was that at least it was peaceful—strict and hardworking, certainly, but the tranquility she found there was above and beyond nearly anywhere else she’d less-than-honestly infiltrated.

Eventually, however, that lazy morning was disrupted by whispers and murmurings by the back gate. Robin kept at her practice, looking graceful as possible as she pretended to ignore the minor commotion and remain on the courtyard porch while her Devil Fruit allowed her to observe the disruption safely. It seemed as though her contact hit a snag and panicked. She allowed her extra parts to dissolve into petals—circumstances had made her work with worse.

“O-Robi.” Robin paused her playing and glanced to her right; the madam of the okiya was standing there, a stern look upon her face and the only one in the okiya already dressed in dayclothes instead of the plain yukata for lounging. “A word.”

Robin placed her shamisen and its bachi down and turned to face the old woman, who merely turned around and began to walk away. She gathered her things and followed her, the pair slipping inside of a waiting room where they sat seiza across from one another.

“Your husband is here,” the madam scowled. “You never told me you are married.”

“My apologies, obaa-san,” Robin replied. She bowed lowly, faking her shame well. “I feared that if you knew I had a husband, you would not let me work. All I want is to work. It was not meant to unjustly deceive you.”

Which, in a roundabout way, was the truth.

“He would not leave and insisted on seeing you. He almost didn’t tell us why and instead nearly started a fight. Do you realize how much of a scene it can cause us taking in a monk? A komuso? What did he do to make him wander around playing the flute for alms while leaving you to find work on your own?”

“Defended me, if you must know,” Robin lied. “One of Kaidou’s men made a pass at me and he objected. Strongly. The penalty was either the factory… or…” She sat up straight, letting well-practiced tears fall down her cheeks. “They thought it… amusing to separate us and take everything we had. That is why I wish to work: so that I can support a man whose only fault is loving me.”

The madam made a noise in affirmation. “I see.” She thought for a moment before exhaling heavily. “He may… visit you, but he must be more discreet in the future. I do not want the yakuza investigating us for harboring a man who should be on a celibate spiritual journey.”

“He might have been banished to wander, but he is still a man, and a faithful one at that.”

“Then go meet him at the back gate.” The madam waved her hand in dismissal. “Do not let this get in the way of your studies or your work. The moment it does, not only is he done but we are as well.”

“Thank you,” Robin said, bowing deeply again before standing. “I understand this is a big risk and you will not regret this kindness.” She grabbed the shamisen and bachi and exited the room, heading towards the back of the okiya. Sure enough, there was Law, the straw basket he was wearing over his head towering before the ones who were keeping him there. She hugged him abruptly, almost causing him to shove her away before he realized who she was. “My darling.”

“O-Robi,” he whispered, holding her close. The other okiya members began to relax as they saw what they assumed was a tender embrace. “They almost didn’t let me in.”

“You need to be more careful,” she chided, “or the yakuza will ruin this place.”

“They have taken you in; I’d never even dream of it.” He allowed her to take his hand and lead him through the building, her blushing and smiling demurely as she brought him to a room that was small, but out of the way, only taking off the basket and his hat when the door was slid shut. There was something handsome about him as he gathered cushions to sit on… something that made her consider her options for this ruse. “How is this place treating you?”

“Well,” she replied. She sat down close to him and whispered in his ear, “this place has more eyes and ears than I do. Watch yourself. Now kiss me.” He grunted in response and played his part, nuzzling just behind her ear before pressing a lingering kiss to her neck.

“You play the shamisen now?”

“A little.”

“Can you play for me?”

“Of course.” Robin picked up the shamisen and bachi before procuring the sheet music from her sleeve pocket. “Tsugaru-obaa-san has noted I am quick to pick things up. She’s pleased with my progress.”

“I don’t like this,” Law admitted. He nearly broke character, catching himself instead. “I should be able to take you from this place and give you a home again.”

“When you are free, I will be the one to give you a home,” she replied. A few notes on the shamisen to test the tuning. “Our children will have a doting father and know that their mother is strong and capable. They will be free from what haunted us.”

“…a thought that eases me to sleep every night.” Law leaned onto his side as Robin began to play a song, waiting for a chance to reveal his true motives for seeing her. An ear eventually sprouted on the wrist that he was propping himself up on, while a pair of lips appeared on his palm—this was their chance.

“I already spread word that you are my devoted husband, who defended my honor from one of Kaidou’s thugs and are now banished to wander as a penitent, celibate monk,” Robin whispered through the spare mouth. Law nodded in understanding. “Did you establish the base camp for the potential recruits?”

“Still looking for a place both big enough and discreet,” he whispered back. “We’ve located the shogun’s private farm and weapon caches throughout the country. Most of them seem easy enough to strike; the ones that don’t shouldn’t take much more planning than the others.”

“Good; I have not gained access to the shogun yet, but that should be soon. He is currently on Onigashima for business. I have been entertaining merchants and yakuza in the meantime—their lips are loose when saké is involved.”

“Anything we can use?”

“Potentially; I need more time to corroborate and pick apart the bragging from truth. Any sign of our reinforcements?”

“Luckily, no. I want us to be more established before Luffy comes around and ruins everything.” He could feel the lips smirk against his skin. “Am I wrong?”

“No.” Robin hit a couple loud notes and Law allowed the corner of his mouth to twitch upwards. “Now, come over here and kiss me.”

“…but Nico-ya…”

“Would you rather me be more passionate with my clients than my husband…?” He blushed at that, knowing he was cornered.

“They wouldn’t let me in; I had to try something.”

“And now that something should be followed-through on, considering they know you are not here to listen to the shamisen.” Both the ear and mouth dissipated into sakura petals, effectively ending the conversation. She gave him a coy smile as she continued with her song, challenging him boldly.

Law thought about it for a moment, tongue darting over his lips idly as he considered what had been laid out before him. Had he imagined something like this happening? Sure, but only in the cold loneliness of his cabin and those tired nights he spent in the woods trying to not let the Beast Pirates find their plans. Those were thoughts he was fine with remaining out-of-reach, that he’d get over it in-time like everyone else who’d caught his eye over the years. Now it was almost as though he was given an invitation to act out his most recent guilt-riddled fantasy, and he did not want to waste it.

Without waiting for the end of the song, Law sat up and shifted towards Robin, gently taking hold of the shamisen mid-note and putting it aside. He reached up and touched her face—first with one hand, then the other—gathering his courage before easing them both side-by-side on the tatami mat and kissing her. Any spy would easily mistake his actions for delicate, yearning, and adoring, yet she knew what he really was: timid. Hesitant. Awe-struck.

“I have missed… the sight of you,” he admitted, not entirely in-character. His face was still close to hers, the tips of their noses touching while their lips were barely apart. He touched her hair before angling himself so that their foreheads found one another. “Is this okay…?”

“Of course it is,” she smirked, playing with his earrings. “I take to my room whomever I want, and I choose the man who has been faithful to me.”

“I have stared from afar for so long… I don’t deserve it.”

“…and yet I know there’s no other aside from me.” She met his eyes boldly as she hooked her leg over his, opening herself up. “Touch me.”

Law swallowed hard and did as he was told, reaching inside the fabric of her yukata and realizing she was wearing nothing underneath. He found her folds and was surprised to learn she was already in the beginning stages of being worked up—was this his doing or was it merely wishful thinking? Rubbing at her gently, he eventually dipped two fingers inside her, wetting his hand on her before going back to her clit. Robin broke eye contact and buried her face in his neck, panting hotly.

“More,” she demanded.

“I shouldn’t.”

“Take what is yours.”

“I don’t own you… we’re in the okiya that took you in.”

“My husband has finally found me; don’t deny a woman her husband.”

After only a moment’s thought, Law rolled them both over so that Robin was on her back, gazing up at him with lust-darkened eyes. He made sure she was in possession of enough cushions as she tugged at his obi, opening his kimono and revealing how aroused he was already. They ground their hips together as they both got lost in a kiss that grew increasingly passionate with each passing moment. Hands wandered, hungrily exploring one another, finding sensitive spots that made their breath hitch and bodies twitch at contact.

Eventually, it was too much to bear, and Law hiked up the front of Robin’s yukata and guided himself inside, drawing breathless moans from the both of them as their sexes met. Thrusting into her with purpose, it took all he had to not come immediately, knowing he had to give some sort of performance for the spies in the corridor. A contently married man did not pop off easily like a sex-starved loner whose only true experience with women was being punched by his sisterly ship’s engineer. He hid his face in the crook of her neck as they made lewd, slapping noises whenever their hips met, the only thing on-par with their gasps that otherwise filled the room. Her legs held his hips in place as a low grunt escaped him and he buried himself deep once, twice, then groaned as he came inside her. Sweat dripped off his face and mixed with hers on her now-exposed chest, the yukata having come loose in their lovemaking. He tried to support himself on his elbows afterward, knowing instinctively that things were not going to last long.

“It truly has been a while, hasn’t it?” she crooned, reaching up and wiping the sweat from his forehead into his hair and slicking it back. His expression quickly changed from blissed-out to horror as he realized what they had done.

“It… truly has.” He pulled out of her and collapsed at her side, trying to ignore the trickle of fluid that leaked out and soiled the inside of her yukata. “I… I meant to pull out… I’m sorry…”

“We have tonics for that,” she assured. “Our children will not be born in an okiya unless their father wishes it.”

“I… prefer not.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “May I see you again…? Like this…?”

“I’ll do you one better,” she claimed. “Pay attention to which room this is; I will hang a signal out the window when I am not working for the night. We can meet then, sleep in a real bed, be together properly.”

“…but…”

“You trusted me before, so trust me now.” She leaned in and kissed him gently. “It won’t be for a few days yet, so do not fear. Okay?”

Law nodded and kissed Robin once more before cleaning himself up and putting the basket back on his head. He slid opened the door to the corridor and surprised the other geisha who were there wondering why it had gone so quiet. It was a good thing his face was hidden, or else it would have been much more difficult to hide his flustered, flushed face and shocked expression. He wandered almost aimlessly to the edge of the Flower Capitol, his specific disguise allowing him passage out without fuss despite his sword.

What the actual fuck just happened…?!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

That night, Penguin and Shachi noticed that their captain seemed a bit off. He had been cagey since he’d come back from acquiring intel at the okiya that Miss Robin was working at. Had someone in the Flower Capital pissed him off? Was he withholding information from what Miss Robin had given him? Something was preoccupying his thoughts and they decided to give him a wide berth until he sorted it all out. Even Bepo could tell something was up and allowed Captain his space. They all guessed they’d been a bit clingy since meeting with him again on Zou, but could anyone blame them? It was why when he left that night to wander the woods by himself, no one followed, taking the hint that he wanted them to stay behind. He always came back; it was nearly a guarantee.

Law was grateful to be left alone with his thoughts that night as he allowed his feet to take him far from the base camp. He couldn’t stop thinking about his encounter with Robin, how the entire thing went from unfortunate accident to a wet dream come to life. The word husband had slipped out unconsciously, not even realizing it was said until he saw the looks on the okiya residents change from annoyance to confusion.

Sure, he had gained access to his informant, but at what cost? It opened doors, yeah, yet now he kept thinking about it, thinking about her, about them, and what it in the fuck it could mean beyond Wano’s borders. She didn’t strike him as someone who would engage in casual sex and it was difficult to consider that as a possibility. Sure, she was in character, but some of the things she was insinuating were hitting him just right, turning over and over in his brain like the Polar Tang’s rotisserie. He leaned his arm against a tree as he used his free hand to reach under his kimono and begin stroking himself as he let his thoughts consume him. It had been so long since he’d had any positive musings about the future that he was going absolutely mad and he wasn’t even sure it would last beyond the mission.

He thought about romantic vows unlike anything he had expected to hear again; about unzipping a gown or peeling back the folds of a formal kimono; about the domesticity of going to bed together every night and waking up together in the morning. Imagining her hands on him in so many ways made sweat bead on his forehead and his own hand work faster, glad his precome was now leaking in earnest. He wanted to carve her up, carve himself up, make their bodies intermingle as they truly became two parts of one flesh fused by oaths and convictions and devotion declared before all forces visible and invisible…

Choking down his own moans, Law shivered as he came in his own hand, aiming his spunk for the base of the tree to save the inside of his kimono. It was embarrassing, rubbing himself out in the middle of the woods for something likely no more than a fantasy, but he had something now that was worth aiming for despite it all.

He could become Robin’s one day, and the very idea that he could escape death multiple times, survive on trash, almost kill himself in the pursuit of revenge and closure… and yet still somehow become Robin’s husband…? It was a thought that threatened to devour him completely if he could not get it under control, embarrassment beginning to slowly consume the frayed edges of his dignity. He needed to know… he needed answers about what this meant underneath this consummate lie told elegantly for their cause…

…he needed to see her again, because if he didn’t, he was very likely to go insane.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was a few days later when Robin and the rest of her geisha sisters were coming back from an off-site performance. The hour was relatively early and the sound of their geta on the street echoed off the surrounding buildings. A relaxing night was ahead of them, a rare one in the scheme of things.

“What do you plan on doing with your evening?” Robin asked one of the other geisha. The younger woman giggled in reply.

“I have a new novel I want to start,” she replied cheerily. “What about you, O-Robi? Is your husband coming tonight?”

“If he sees the signal I leave for him,” Robin smirked. Her coworker snorted in laughter. “What?”

“I’d show him off more if I were you,” the younger geisha said. “I’m short enough to have caught a peek under his basket—he is very handsome.”

“Why thank you.” Robin gave the younger woman a smile. “He is easy on the eyes, isn’t he?”

“Very. It’s a good thing he has to wear that basket in public, or else he’d have a more difficult time staying faithful, I suspect.” The geisha thought for a moment. “How did you keep other women away from him before?”

“When a man is satisfied with his marriage, his wife does not worry about what his eyes might find,” Robin said. The younger woman giggled again; the prospect was not something that seemed possible to her, and that was fine. It was not what Robin needed her to believe the most, after all.

Soon the group arrived back at the okiya and dispersed to their respective places. Some went to the kitchens, or the halls where other guests were still being entertained, yet Robin went upstairs to her room, where the futon had already been laid out for her. All the guests in the building were regulars and known to be poor fonts of information; anything worth her interest would be still passed around in the morning. Taking her time, she pulled the spotted white hat from a drawer and placed it on a hook outside of her door to the balcony. Once she did that, she lit the lamps and knelt down at the vanity, beginning the process of removing her makeup.

She certainly had… enjoyed the result of the mix-up the other night, though she wondered if it had been entirely a good idea. It had not been the first time she had engaged in sexual activity while undercover—and it likely wouldn’t be the last—it was, however, very clearly the first time for her informant in a long time by any circumstance, if at all. She had thought of bringing him to bed since the moment he had been brought onto the Thousand Sunny; he seemed like a man who could keep her interest for longer than most and she detected a sense of vulnerability that could make such an encounter all the more so. It seemed fortuitous that he committed the exact slip necessary to bring them closer—it must have been something on his mind as well. The only question was if this was going to stay in the okiya, or if they would let it become something more… long-standing.

Eventually, she heard the sound of a pebble clack against the lacquered wood outside. A moment later and her door slid open and shut—he was there.

“I was wondering where this went,” Law said as he took off his basket and tossed the hat and his sandals in it. Robin could see him staring at her via the mirror, a quality to his gaze that had not been there when they last met… one that she was pleased to recognize. “Thank you for keeping it.”

“It is not a problem,” she said. She then turned slightly, allowing their eyes to meet directly. “Can you help me out of this headgear?”

Without a word, Law knelt down next to Robin and helped slide the pins and combs from her hair. She took a brush to the strands as he lingered, leaning in close to her ear.

“We have a candidate for a base camp we can move into soon,” he whispered. “Any more news on your end?”

“None of use,” she replied softly. “I hear too much useless gossip, but we’re almost there regardless. We are scheduled to attend to the shogun within the week.”

“Excellent.” She watched his face in the mirror; it was clearly everything he could do to hold himself back. She put down the brush and one of his hands found the back of her obi, gently pulling it loose. “Did you mean it?”

“Did I mean what?” He leaned in closer, lips barely grazing the shell of her ear.

“That we can be together…? Properly…?” He sucked in a shaky breath. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it since then.”

“Are you mistaking this for something else entirely, perhaps?” She felt the tension of her obi go slack as he slowly untied it. “Love and lust are not the same.”

“I am aware.” He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on her shoulder as he cupped her breasts from behind. Her kimono was still in place, so all he touched was fabric, but neither could be called a fool. “I don’t do casual. Please don’t hint at something more than this if you’re only going to make it casual banter. I can suck it up and compartmentalize these meetings for the plan, but if you keep teasing me about what could possibly come after…��

“You’re not a hit, so I think you’re safe,” she purred. Robin leaned back into Law’s grasp, feeling the soft scratch of his facial hair against the curve of her neck. “Does that bother you?”

“Does what bother me?”

“I have tricked people into trusting me by using sex to my advantage,” she explained, though still keeping her confession vague and voice quiet. “That would make most normal people think twice about considering me as something more than… casual.”

“So you developed a certain skillset before teaming up with… your friends—I’d be more surprised if you didn’t, considering everything.” He flexed his fingers deliberately, massaging her breasts as he did so. “That is different. This is now. What does this mean going forward?”

“I guess we’re going to have to find out.”

Robin carefully disengaged herself from Law’s grasp and stood, making sure to keep the fold of her kimono in place as the obi dropped to the floor. She held out her hand towards him and he took it, allowing her to help him to his feet. He pulled her close into his arms as they stared silently into one another’s eyes. They were nearly the same height like this, the three centimeters between them melting away as he barely had to dip down to join their lips in a kiss.

Oh! It felt wonderful as they slowly kissed away any reservations either of them had, hands wandering as they slowly made their way across the small room to where the futon laid. Robin eased Law’s kimono off his shoulders, baring his arms and chest as the obi held the rest of the garment in place. The cold air hitting his skin sent a shiver down his spine, making the fine hairs on his body stand on-end as he sucked in a breath against her neck.

“Is this part of your disguise?” she whispered, tugging at the obi. He shook his head.

“We made real ones,” he replied breathily. “Mine will be fine, but yours feels a bit more like we need to take special care of it. Allow me.”

“No,” she chuckled. “This needs a little more care than yours. Just watch.”

Not wanting to disobey so soon, Law took off his kimono and tossed it to the side as he did not take his eyes off Robin. He slid into the bedding as he watched her bare herself to him, naked as she carefully folded the garment into one slender block of fabric. She then shuffled her way over to the bed, crawling in as she settled herself above him, grinding her already-wet core against his hardening cock. A moment and said cock twitched as he felt arms form underneath the blanket and hold his legs in place, completely out of sight from where anyone could see if they barged in (or spied) on them.

“No fair,” he growled, in an effort to keep his voice from cracking. “That’s cheating.”

“All’s fair,” she smirked. She then used well-hidden fingers to guide him into her as she held his wrists down against the futon with her real hands. Rocking her hips against his, she pulled a moan out of him that was so high-pitched he would never admit to it.

“Waging war, are we?” he choked out. She leaned down and pressed their lips together in a kiss before forcing another gasp from him, swallowing it down with pleasure.

Oh, she was going to have fun with this.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Morning broke and Robin woke to the feeling of Law’s lips against her neck and his erection against her ass and thigh as he curled around her. After such a vigorous night together, it was impressive he was ready to go again so quickly. She reveled in the sensation of being full-bodied caressed until it hit her exactly what time it was.

“Oh… you need to leave…” she realized.

“They folded my kimono and left us both breakfast, so I think it’s fine,” he replied. Sure enough, she bent to look towards the door and saw two trays sitting there, both filled with food. “Your coworkers like me.”

“My coworkers think you’re handsome,” she corrected. Robin sat up and used her Devil Fruit to pass along a couple of plain yukata from where they sat folded against the wall. They pulled them on and began to eat, the food clearly better than what Law had been getting thanks to his pleased reaction. “Not a lot of gourmet restaurants outside of the Flower Capitol?”

“Ha, ha; it’s all I can do most days to keep my friends from eating river fish.” He ate another mouthful of rice and shook his head. “Eating here will at least mean more to go around later.”

“It shall,” she agreed. Robin leaned over and plucked the umeboshi out of Law’s pickle bowl, knowing she would not get any resistance. “I am glad that you at least have your friends on the outside; I will see some of my friends from time to time and I don’t know what I’d do without that support.”

“Yeah…” Law stopped eating and contemplatively looked down at his food. “I know the rest of your friends are coming… but what if they… don’t…? What if… what if my time to wander comes to an end and the plan we had built falls apart?”

“This okiya could always use menfolk around who won’t take advantage of their position,” she said plainly. “Depending on how much I’ve made in the meantime, we could strike out on our own.” A pause. “With our friends, of course.”

“You say that so easily,” he frowned. Sure, he wanted to sail away with her in the Polar Tang, bring her with him as he attempted to find out the meaning of his name and the history behind it, but it was nothing more than a pipe dream. “If your friends do show up… then where do we go from here?”

“We’ll figure that out in time,” she assured. “Now hurry up—if we get moving, I can sneak you out into the alleyway and we can have the whole day to ourselves.”

“A date…? In the middle of our… situation…?”

“It is my day off, and we can make use of that.”

A grin tugged on his lips as he knew what she meant—they could take their activities elsewhere, whether it be mission-based or not. They finished their breakfast and quickly dressed, glad that the corridor seemed rather deserted when Robin conjured some eyes to peek at who else was around. Their pathway towards the rear exit looked like it was going to be an easy escape route for them, as it had both the least amount of people to dodge and the shortest amount of distance to travel.

They were almost out the door when a woman’s scream caught their attention—one of the other geisha was being assaulted at the gate opposite the one they were sneaking out from. Robin discreetly conjured some eyes and saw that not only did the attacker have a knife, other members of the okiya were rushing to her aid.

“Looks like a new delivery courier isn’t in it for the tips,” she said, allowing her extra eyes to vanish before being noticed. “I’d snap his neck, but there’s too many witnesses.”

“Then we might need to do this the old-fashioned way.” Law took the basket off his head and fished a handkerchief from his pocket, tying it around his face to conceal his identity. He and Robin then went to the other door and found that a few people were bleeding as they tried to contain the attacker. Law did not break stride as he walked up to the attacker and slammed Kikoku’s hilt dead in his face, breaking his nose and fracturing a cheekbone. The attacker stumbled backwards as he held his face, looking livid as he glared down Law.

“What the fuck is up with the mask? Too scared to show your face?”

“As though you’re worth showing my face to,” Law said. He drew Kikoku and held the tip directly under the attacker’s nose. “I still have a jaw to break—how about it?”

The attacker looked at the sword and decided that it was no longer worth the effort and left, running through the back alley to what he thought was freedom, but was instead a snapped neck and back courtesy of Robin’s Devil Fruit once he was out of sight. Law, however, simply sheathed his sword and immediately began to look at the wounded.

“We should run for the doctor,” someone said. Most of the injuries were superficial, but the initial geisha who had been attacked was stabbed in the side, blood still pouring from her wound.

“There’s no time,” Law said. “Where does the doctor usually put people they’re operating on in here?”

“In the sick room, but I…”

“Get her in there, now, and I need your medical kit, along with a sturdy needle and thread—catgut if you have it.” He was met with further confusion, to which Robin had to step in before anyone began to ask questions.

“My husband was a surgeon and doctor before our current situation,” she explained. “Please, do what he says.”

After a moment of hesitation, the okiya residents began to follow Law’s orders, bringing him and the injured geisha to the sickroom. They were able to get him fresh, hot water and soap, as well as the medical kit he requested. Once he was clean and his sleeves tied back, he went to work on staunching the bleeding and stitching up the wound. He had just finished when the doctor arrived, having still been sent for by the okiya’s manager. The old man stared at the pale, unconscious woman as Law was finishing cleaning her up.

“You should have waited for me,” the doctor said sternly. Law didn’t even glance up from his patient.

“She would have died,” he stated. “She has fifteen internal stitches, not including the sutures you see on the outside. Timing is everything with gut wounds and she did not have the luxury of waiting.”

“That is very tidy needlework,” the doctor noted, seeing the wound before Law covered it with gauze. “Where did you learn?”

“That part’s self-taught,” Law smirked, knowing the older man could hear it on his voice. He finished covering the woman’s wound and made room for their actual physician to step in and examine her.

“Her pulse is weak, but it doesn’t seem like she’s in danger,” the doctor said after a quick check of the woman. “You did the right thing, lad. She’ll live.”

“She’ll more than live—she should make a full recovery,” Law replied. “It’s on my pride as a doctor.”

“A little unconventional for a doctor, aren’t you?” the doctor said. He looked at the tattoos on Law’s hands and forearms, as well as poking out from under his kimono on his chest, and frowned. “You look more yakuza than anything. Where did you train?”

“Here and there; my training was… less than formal.” Law didn’t like the way the man was sizing him up, the tension in the room broken by one of the geisha’s friends bursting in through the door and breaking into sobs at the sight of her.

“O-Nana!” she cried. The young woman sank to her knees next to her friend and grabbed hold of her hand. “She’s so cold…!”

“She just lost a lot of blood,” Law explained. “That will change after she gets some rest.”

“Thank you!” the young woman replied. She gave Law a brief hug before remembering who he was, backing away in embarrassment. “Please, I don’t even know your name—all anyone knows is you’re O-Robi’s husband…”

“…Tora-o,” he said, remembering the nickname Luffy had given him. He was hesitant to use it, but at the same time, it made the most sense out of any. “We are Tora-o and O-Robi of the Nico Clan, a small family that used to be along the coast. Don’t ask me for any more details—I was young when everything happened.”

“We all were pretty young then, yeah,” the young woman agreed, clearly thinking he meant the Boil of Oden. The usual doctor seemed to be rather perturbed by her acceptance of Law, as though he didn’t even exist anymore. “I’m so glad you’re here, Tora-o-san—Mizuki-senpai lives a bit far, so I bet he’s glad too that you were here, aren’t you Mizuki-senpai?”

“Hmm, I guess,” the older doctor shrugged. Law did his best to not smirk gleefully as the patient’s friend continued to sing his praises, only letting himself crack as Robin finally came into the room to see what was going on.

They might not have made it out on their date, but they had something better: the trust of those around them. They both knew it was better than gold to a spy, and they were going to use it for everything it was worth.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Your captain’s in town.”

The words were whispered into Robin’s ear as she and Law laid together in her bed. Since he had saved one of her coworkers from a near-fatal knife wound, he had become a staple fixture around the okiya, able to come and go as he pleased without any resistance or suspicion from the others who lived and worked there. He was seen as one of them, in fact, as they would warn him when they heard of crackdowns and even covered for him when yakuza wanted to start poking around for “inspection purposes”. The couple took advantage of their newfound fortune as much as possible; that night had been only kissing and groping, but his words had been the first ones of actual importance to their true mission spoken all evening.

“I take it you had a run-in with him, then?” she chuckled. He grumbled in reply, because of course he did. “What did he do that was so Luffy he couldn’t help it?”

“Gave an entire cart of food headed for the castle to a bunch of randos in Okobore Town,” he claimed. “You can’t be a pirate and pull shit like that—makes me sick.”

“…and you becoming the okiya’s favorite new doctor isn’t anything like that, is it?” she teased.

“I’m a medical professional first and you know that; he’s just…”

“Luffy…?”

“Yeah.” He kissed her bare shoulder and held onto her waist a bit tighter. “This might be the last time I can see you like this if my suspicions are correct. Your captain is going to take up all of my attention and it’s going to be annoying.”

“You knew what you were getting into,” she smirked. “Do you think that Dressrosa was a fluke?”

“…no…”

“Then we’ll be fine,” she assured, scratching his scalp. “Luffy always finds a way to come out on top; that’s part of why we follow him.”

“He’ll make me go gray before that,” Law whined. He shifted so that he could hide his face in her chest, not wanting her to see the frustrated blush that was darkening his skin. “I don’t want to go gray yet.”

“If you go gray, then I’d really have to protect your honor,” she noted. He mumbled something between her breasts and she pinched his shoulder for his attention.

“My father never went gray,” he repeated, looking her in the face this time. “He never got the opportunity.”

“I don’t know if my mother’s hair was an early gray or white-blonde, and there’s the chance she was the younger one,” she replied consolingly. Robin offered Law a smile, feeling rather privileged to see the infamous Surgeon of Death—Supernova and former Warlord—embarrassed and frustrated over the process of ageing. “You will look distinguished with gray—sexy, even.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“Maybe I am, but that doesn’t make it not true… nor does it mean I will be afraid of looking more and more like my mother in order to watch you grow old.” She stroked his hair as he buried his face between her breasts once more in resignation. “I would imagine it could be nice, slowly walking towards a death of old age, outliving those who tried to make it otherwise.”

“Nothing romantic about slowly using control of one’s faculties.”

“Then is it true what they say? That the bladder goes first? Or is it something less noticeable, like the spleen?”

“My specialty is not palliative care. That’s something you will have to ask Tony-ya about.”

“Hmm… possibly.” Robin closed her own eyes and sprouted some additional ones in discreet locations, monitoring the okiya. The man in her arms began to melt in her touch as they simply laid there in silence, enjoying one another’s company while they still could. Her false eyes dissipated as she opened her real ones, noting how Law was now sleeping peacefully nestled atop her. The tension in his shoulders and neck was slowly fading as he softly snored into her chest, snugged up against her as though it was where he was meant to belong… as though it was the only place in all of Wano and the seas where he could get meaningful rest.

Maybe… if everything went well… then they’d see.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The afternoon sun was hanging low in the sky as Robin wandered through the Flower Capitol, trying to find a way out that would not bring attention to herself. She had gone back to the okiya to discreetly grab a few small things that she thought would be useful. Now with her prizes in her sleeve pockets, she carefully moved throughout the long-shadowed streets, making sure to avoid eye contact with anyone who seemed to possibly be in the employ of either the yakuza or shogun. She was glad that the local enforcers only really knew her from images made depicting her as a geisha, making her high ponytail and plain kimono an extra level of protection.

She was nearly out of danger when she ran into a roadblock: yakuza milling about the exit to the Flower Capitol, checking people who were attempting to pass through the gates. Robin attempted to think of a plan while she pretended to busy herself with a pottery vendor, her train of thought crashing when she felt a familiar pair of hands settle on her waist as their owner’s voice tickled the shell of her ear.

“I thought I told you to wait for me,” he said lowly, with a hint of playfulness to his voice. Robin smirked; two could play at that.

“Then maybe we should take this elsewhere,” she suggested. She put the bowl she was inspecting back onto the table and went towards a nearby alleyway. When Robin turned around, she saw that Law had been dutifully following her, the basket he normally wore fully replaced by his usual hat and his sword strapped to his back. “Dropped the formalities now that our secret’s out?”

“That, and no outsiders are in the Capitol today,” he shrugged, tucking his hat into his kimono. “I went to see you at the base and you weren’t there—what did you need that was so important?”

“A little of this and that,” she replied. “My time in information-gathering was not simply to have more opportunities to be alone with you.”

“Ha, ha; you should have asked me to come along. We’d already be out of here if you did.”

“…and what prevents you from getting us out right now?”

“The goons about to stumble onto us.”

At that, Law leaned in and kissed Robin passionately, one hand cradling her jaw while the other squeezed deeply into her ass. She threaded her fingers through his hair as she kissed back, the pair aggressively making out as a trio of yakuza stumbled through the alley, drunker than they should have been for the time of day. As they approached, Law picked Robin up by her thighs and held her against the wall, causing the yakuza to wolf-whistle and congratulate him as they went past. He put her down once the alleyway was clear, snapping up a large Room and replacing them with rocks from outside the city walls.

Robin felt a few more tugs of Law’s Shambles ability in quick succession, the sensation almost making her dizzy, before she felt his body press up against hers, pinning her against a large tree.

“Don’t you trust me?” he asked, voice catching as he breathed in her scent. His hands wandered and Robin realized that he had placed her on a root, elevating her position compared to his.

“Possibly,” she smirked. She slipped one hand under the collar of his kimono, scratching lightly at his upper back and neck. He held her close at that, peppering her throat and jaw with kisses.

“Possibly…?” He nipped at her pulsepoint with betrayal on his voice. “How possibly…?”

“Anyone can break under these conditions,” she reasoned. He held her tighter, fingers digging in against fabric and flesh.

“Then what do you want from me?” he breathed. “Is this… is this all just a game to you? Please tell me it’s not that…”

“Far from it,” she moaned softly. Despite the hesitation in his voice, he was giving her such an intense amount of physical attention that had she been unable to parse a hidden meaning, she would have been a fool. “You’re handsome, you’re intelligent, you’re interesting… I want us to hold each others hearts in our hands and feel it beat against our palms and fingers.” The noise that came out of him was encouraging, sending a jolt through her.

“I will give you my beating heart if that is what you wish,” he murmured against her skin. He rutted against her thigh and she could feel how hard he was already. “I can show you the inner workings of the body; vivisect a particularly irritating individual and show you how their insides move perfectly in sync with each other while they’re splayed out like a pinned butterfly. I can show you your bones and how they compliment your beauty… shower you with affection from the inside-out.”

“Is that all you’re after?” she teased. “My bones?”

“I’ve done a fairly decent job of jumping them, I’d say.” She could feel him grin against her throat, an action that in any other man would have seemed predatory. “I could be after something else.”

“…and what might that be?”

Law opened another Room and muttered under his breath, taking something from both of them. He took half a step backwards and held out his hands, showing that he had removed their hearts, offering one to her. “It could have been only your heart after all.”

“Interesting,” she smirked, taking the offered organ. It was not hers, as she felt a different rhythm in her hands than the one she felt still reverberating in her chest. She held it closer to her face, watching it work despite its separation from the body. “I didn’t think you’d give me what I wanted so quickly.”

“I want to show you that I’m serious,” he replied gravely. He slid her heart into the opening in his chest, it disappearing as his body absorbed it. “I will care for your heart as I leave mine with you—a promise that we’re both going to make it out of here alive.”

“…and if I die…?” she wondered. “I could be strangled by one of Kaidou’s men… done with as they please.”

“Then I would know, and they would regret it; they wouldn’t even get a chance to know they accidentally took out a Warlord at the same time.”

“Hmm… you don’t wear survivor’s guilt well, do you?”

“I’m sick of it,” he claimed. He eased her hands towards her chest, sliding his heart into the unnatural cavity to seal it away. Robin felt his heartbeat pulse inside her once it settled in; their twin hearts did not beat in unison, but in a rhythm that was more complimentary than anything. Hands on her chest, she felt the odd sensation until he took hold of both her hands, kissing her knuckles. “Please don’t make me go through survivor’s guilt again. I don’t know if I can handle it.”

“The Surgeon of Death is so fragile?”

“The Surgeon of Death is only a man and men can only handle so much in a lifetime.” He pulled her down from the tree root and held her close, whispering, “Please.”

“Only because you asked so nicely,” she gently teased. Pressing their lips together in a kiss, she inhaled sharply as she felt the crackle of his Room envelop them once again, stealing the breath from his lungs before he swapped them both again, rapidly changing their location until they were by a secluded wayhouse on a long-abandoned path. They were truly alone, the realization allowing them both a guilty grin.

Kaidou and his army would be there when they were done, anyhow.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sukiyaki closed up the entryway to the staircase and looked at his guests. “It will take me a while to acquire the amount of paper that you requested. I shall make sure I have the rubbings done before you leave tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Robin said, bowing deeply at the waist. Law echoed her with a nod. “We appreciate your generosity.”

“Thank me by going and attending the festival in the meantime,” Sukiyaki replied. “You both should be out there enjoying the fruits of your labor as two of the nation’s rescuers. Go be young.”

“Yes, sir,” Robin smiled. Law simply grunted and pulled down the brim of his hat in a futile attempt to hide the fact he was blushing. She took his arm and they left the kokeshi doll room, heading towards the main of the castle. “This is so exciting—the fact that the Poneglyph was underneath us this entire time… it’s unreal.”

“Watching you read that was honestly worth the hassle of taking down Big Mom,” Law said. They exited the castle and found themselves at the mouth of the main street, where festivities were in full-force. “You are wonderful when you’re in your element.”

“…and what is ‘my element’, I might ask?” she asked cheekily.

“Doing what you love and enjoy without worrying about who’s about to attack from around the corner.”

She hummed in agreement. “It’s a good feeling.” Her grip on his arm tightened slightly and they continued to wander the festival. Varied members of their crews and allies were speckled throughout the crowd, enjoying themselves beyond anything they would have thought possible a week prior. None of them noticed the couple, who were taking in the festival with a quiet, academic air of people who just wanted to watch for a while before they began participating.

“Oh! O-Robi!” The pair’s attention was caught as the diminutive okiya manager came into view. She was with a couple of the geisha from the house—the trio forming a small musical group—all stopping what they were playing to approach Robin and Law. “We were worried about you! When the word spread that you and your husband were foreign spies, we feared the worst!”

“I can assure you that it was far from it,” Robin admitted with a smile. She let go of Law’s arm and bowed lowly at the waist. “Thank you for the position you gave us, even if unknowingly. The information we were able to gather due to my geisha work was invaluable.”

“…and you must be proud of O-Robi,” one of the geisha teased, giving Law a wink. “She put herself in such danger! Your wife is much braver than I am.”

“I am proud of her, but…” Law blushed, trailing off. The geisha all looked at him curiously and he froze, causing Robin to cut in.

“We’re not married,” she admitted. “It was mostly a ruse so he could come see me.”

“You’re… not married…?” the okiya manager marveled. “You mean none of that passion between you was real?”

“It is real,” Robin assured. “We plan on exploring our options later.”

“That will never do,” the okiya manager decided. “You come with me.”

At that, the older woman started down an alleyway, with the other two geisha dragging along Robin and Law as they followed. She went along willingly, though…

“What are you doing?” he scowled, trying to look intimidating. It didn’t work. “Where are you taking us?”

“Don’t worry, Tora-o-san!” the geisha pulling on Law’s wrist grinned. “You’re gonna like this place!”

“You have to keep it secret, though!” the geisha leading Robin added. “We only know because the shrine is run by Tsugaru-obaa-san’s brother!”

“A shrine…?” Robin wondered. She was clearly having much more fun than Law. “What kind of shrine?”

“You’ll find out!”

After turning down a few other streets and alleyways, the group stopped in front of what looked like a small, shabby shrine that was tucked away between apartment buildings. A crest was emblazoned on the cloth divider between the street and the internal worship space that caused the outsiders to pause: a pair of crossed scrolls over the outline of a sun. Out of all the clan crests they had seen while in Wano, this one was foreign to both pirates.

“Come in!” the okiya manager insisted. Law and Robin exchanged a look and nodded at one another before stepping forward of their own accord. The other two geisha remained outside as everyone else took off their shoes and walked inside, with the older woman scowling as she looked around. “Are you even here, you old fart?!”

“Watch who you’re calling an old fart!” An elderly man came hobbling out from behind a large Buddha statue that was sitting on a platform, looking as though he had been in the middle of cleaning. He saw the okiya’s manager and cringed. “What do you want, imouto-chan?”

“I want to introduce two of the foreign pirates from the shogun’s alliance to someone who is familiar with their rites,” she said, motioning towards Robin and Law. The old monk regarded them carefully as his sister whispered in his ear.

“What are you talking about?” Law frowned. “What rites?”

“Rites that were passed down from master to apprentice, from before the time of isolation began,” the monk explained. “What did my sister tell you before bringing you here?”

“Nothing,” Robin said. The monk nodded.

“Then what do you know about the Closing of Wano?”

“It was done when the Walls were built,” she replied. “The leaders of the time deemed it safer for Wano to have little-to-no contact with the outside world. It made crossing the nation’s borders a capital offense.”

“Indeed,” the monk affirmed. “What do you know, then, about before the Closing of Wano?”

Both Robin and Law looked at one another—neither had heard anything in particular about Wano before the Void Century outside of their conversation with Sukiyaki, least of all something they could divulge to a random stranger. The monk chuckled at that.

“The tales that have been passed down to me over the generations may differ slightly from the truth, but what I am confident in is that Wano used to be a cultural and trade powerhouse, with merchants and visitors coming and going as they pleased. When the Walls were built and Wano cut off from the rest of the world, the shogun of the time declared that we abandon any foreign ways we may have learned… that Wano was to remain for Wanolese only.”

“So then the isolationist policy was more than just a safety measure, but a cultural one as well,” Robin noted. The monk raised his eyebrow.

“Yes; a scholar’s question.”

“It is my life’s work,” she smirked. She then allowed her expression to grow serious. “What happened when the cultural purity policy was enacted?”

“Much as you can imagine: lives were lost, traditions that had naturally taken root and grown died out or went underground, and people who loved Wano yet clung to ways deemed too foreign lived in fear. Even when under the auspices of a tolerant ruler, we’ve taken care to hide ourselves, in case his successor does more than simply hold us in mild contempt.”

“‘We’…?” Law noted. “What do you mean by that?”

The monk simply crooked his finger and hobbled behind the statue. When his sister silently urged them to follow, Robin and Law held hands as they did, climbing onto the platform holding the giant statue and finding that it held a secret. On its back sat a cross-shaped recess, the inside of which was intricately decorated while a sun was etched in the stone around it. Suddenly, the crest on the outside of the building made much more sense, drawing a gasp from Law and a curious look from Robin.

“Then you know of Nika?” the monk asked.

“He brought salvation to those cast away and downtrodden,” Law said, still in awe. Robin let his hand slip from hers as he stepped closer to the back of the statue, tracing over the designs with his fingers. “Slaves see him as a liberator, their masters see him as a destroyer; my hometown saw him as a source of strength and spiritual guidance. He is a god—maybe even in relation to the God, if there is one—and his ideals around freedom and social equality helped ground us.”

“Good,” the monk grinned. “What do the priests in your hometown say?”

“They used to say he would save those who are good and keep them from damnation… that he would make everyone free and equal as he laughed in the faces of evil sinners,” Law replied. His voice was low and quiet as he reached back into his memory, to things he had not said aloud in well over a decade. “No more slaves or wars, the poor not going hungry or cold, the faithful becoming heirs to an eternal kingdom free of suffering after we pass on… but they’re all dead. Some good that did them.”

“There were people who thought similarly in my hometown,” Robin offered. “Some found the tales more academic in nature, but others did genuinely believe, even if it was privately.”

“The shoguns of old did not like Nika, as the sort of piety he was associated with paid no homage to their right of rule,” the monk explained. “That is why those who believe in him were forced to go underground and hide our faith while others who allowed reverence to the shogun were kept as part of Wanolese culture. Most think of me as another normal monk, but those who know the temple crest’s true meaning understand that is just a disguise.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Robin wondered. “Tsugaru-obaa-san mentioned that you knew of foreign rites… what sort of rites was she referring to?”

“Marriage rites,” he said plainly. His audience of two looked at him curiously. “My sister said that you two should be married before you leave this island. If you agree, I am willing to perform the ceremony in your ways… or close to them.”

“Excuse us for a moment…” Law said, pulling Robin off the stage. He waited until he was a few paces away before whispering in a panic. “What in the hell is this?!”

“It seems like a genuine offer,” she replied. She glanced around the shrine and saw that her former employer had left—they were alone with the old man. “If we go through with it now, there might be complications.”

“That undersells it,” he scoffed. “We’re supposed to go in different directions once the festival is over. It could be years before we see each other again.” He bit his lower lip in thought. “You’d be tied to someone you were barely with—when we do meet again, we might be on opposing sides. Even if we do meet next as friends, we might realize that’s all we are…”

“Many couples have differences, some even more prominent than ours,” she reminded him. “You seemed very attached to that carving on the back of the statue… does it remind you of better days?”

“It does, but… I don’t know if I can do this,” he admitted. He held her shoulders as he looked into her eyes, wanting little more than to run away from everything with her. “It wasn’t that long ago I thought I was marching to my death; I mean… isn’t this fast…?”

“We didn’t exactly take any of this slow, did we?”

“I guess not,” he admitted. Law felt as though his brain was floating in soup—the overload of everything was impacting his ability to think as quickly as he was used to, something he didn’t like. “What do you want to do…?”

“This might be our only chance to have this done in a way meaningful to either of us,” she said. “It wouldn’t matter to me who does it; it might be nice to have it taken care of so we have something to look forward to when our adventures are done.”

Silently, Law nodded and took Robin’s hand in his, kissing her knuckles. She held his face with her free hand, stroking his cheekbone with her thumb.

“Robin,” he whispered, “will you marry me?”

“Of course,” she smiled. “The minister’s waiting on us, isn’t he?”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Later on that night, while the rest of their crews, the remainder of the alliance, and all the Flower Capitol were partying until they dropped, Law and Robin were in her room back at the okiya, making use of the madam’s promise that they would not be disturbed. They made love into the early hours of the morning—both with and without Devil Fruit assistance—selfishly giving themselves a wedding night to keep in their memories for the long days apart looming ahead of them. Their shouts were drowned out by fireworks and they gasped breathlessly in the moonlight; between was all kisses and touches, mapping out one another’s bodies with their mouths and hands desperate to feel something more substantial than lust to sate their future yearning.

Before they left in the morning, they placed simple golden bands on each other’s hand, promising to meet soon as they were able. She even gave him a clipping from her fingernail with express permission to have it turned into a Vivre Card. Hers would be safe with him, they agreed, but his would no doubt be discovered by Luffy and that was an entire other bag of cats they didn’t want opened quite yet. After returning their hearts to one another, Law and Robin left the okiya separately, finding their respective crews in the middle of departure prepwork. It was easy to settle back into their normal roles, and yet it hurt as they failed to acknowledge their newly-established connection.

In the end, they did a damn good job in Tokage Port pretending they weren’t tearing themselves up inside trying to act as though there was nothing between them, to the point Law snapped at Chopper.

It was nothing—they were just two members of a dissolved alliance continuing on their separate ways. Far as anyone else knew, they were cordial at-best. A couple of their crewmates seemed to notice something was different, but if they did, they said nothing and figured it was their imaginations.

Good.

The more distance that seemed between them, the safer they were going to stay.

…and hell they wanted to keep one another safe.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Robin looked in the mirror at her new haircut, hoping it was going to have the intended effect once they arrived at Elbaf. She caught sight of Bonney peeking over her shoulder, causing her to smile.

“Are you sure you want to stay on Elbaf?” she asked. The young girl nodded.

“I miss being in one place right now,” Bonney replied. “Besides, Lilith says she can help my dad wake up, and I wanna be there when it happens.”

“I can understand that,” Robin nodded. She felt Bonney’s arms wrap around her shoulders as the girl leaned against her. “Saul wasn’t a father figure, but he was still an important adult to me when I was small—being there with him will make us both more than happy.”

“That’s nice.” Bonney then went quiet, hanging off of Robin. She made a noise, alerting her adult that something was on the girl’s mind.

“Thoughts?”

“Well…” Bonney let Robin pull her into her lap and cuddled in close at the contact. “What if Lilith and the rest of Vegapunk can’t help my dad? What do you think will happen then?”

“There are many options, I would imagine,” Robin said. “You could… stay on Elbaf with the giants and Miss Lilith—I’m sure they wouldn’t kick you out. There is also the option of going back to your homeland, if it is still there…”

“It is, but there’s a lot of old people there and I don’t want them to be in any more danger just because of me,” Bonney frowned. She then had an idea. “Oooh, can I stay with you? You know, after you’re done pirating?!”

“You’d have to ask my husband, but something tells me he’d say yes,” Robin smirked. Bonney looked over at the rest of the crew as they were huddled by the opposite side of the ship, talking to their giant benefactors. “No, no—he’s not on the crew, but has his own. We plan to meet again later—he’s wearing the matching pair to this.” She showed the girl the ring looped into a chain around her neck, sitting low enough to hide under her clothes; not many of her crewmates had noticed, and none had mentioned it.

“I didn’t know you were married.”

“Not many people do, so consider it a secret between us girls.” Robin gave Bonney a wink and the girl giggled. “He’s a friend of the crew, so I know no one would be upset when they learn who he is, but right now everyone is running on a need-to-know basis about a lot of things, so I’m sure they won’t mind if we break the news later once we’re done with our adventure.”

“Oh, okay,” Bonney nodded. “What’s he like? Your husband?” She then gasped, horrified. “He won’t try to be my dad, will he?! I already have one of those!”

“Something tells me he won’t be unless you ask,” Robin replied. “He’s a bit prickly at first, and you might not get along, but once you get to know him and he knows you, I imagine you’ll be good friends.”

“Yeah…?”

“Yeah; he’s younger than me, so he’d be more of an older brother to you than a father anyhow. He’s like me and doesn’t have a home to go back to… he’s like us in that the World Government ruined his life as a child too. He’s also best friends with a bear.”

“A bear?! Does it talk?!”

“He’s a Mink, so of course he talks.”

“Wow!” Bonney seemed to have stars in her eyes as she thought about the prospect of meeting a talking bear. “When do you think I can meet them?!”

“In time,” Robin chuckled. “Is that what you want to do, then? Stay with my husband and me if your father can’t be switched back?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Bonney said. “I know you said he’d be more a brother, but if I’m with the two of you, it’d be close enough to having both a mom and dad at once—my mom died when I was very little, so I don’t remember her. It wouldn’t be the same, but that’s what playing pretend is, isn’t it? Oh! Are you going to have kids?! Do you have them already?! Does the bear babysit them?! I wanna babysit! I’ve always wanted to babysit!”

“We’ll see,” Robin replied with a chuckle. “Babies need to happen first before you can babysit.”

“Well, yeah, because otherwise I’d be babysitting your captain and that’s redundant, isn’t it?” Bonney scowled. Robin choked down a laugh—not quite there, but close enough—and knew they’d do well to keep the young girl around. “What…? You know I’m right.”

“I never said you weren’t.” She caught sight of the rest of her crew celebrating something out the corner of her eye; land must have been within their sights. “Why don’t you go see what they’re making a big fuss about, hm?”

“Okay!” Bonney ran off to see what was going on, leaving Robin to smile privately to herself, allowing the wind to rustle her hair as she thought about the future that Bonney envisioned, fueled by her youthful optimism and Devil Fruit of possibilities. She could imagine Law bickering with the tween as an elder brother would snipe with a younger sister, the trio passing even younger children between them in a well-worked routine, while the sweet and darling Bepo arrived and relieved the elder family members so they could go to school and work and… it didn’t seem like such a bad life.

Now it was simply about making it for long enough to see if it could become a reality.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Finally on dry land, Bepo laid on his back in the sand as he attempted to catch his breath. It had taken him all he had, plus another Rumble Ball, to get his captain to safer waters, and now there they were: no ship, no crew, and no way back to either. He wasn’t even certain how long he had been swimming, other than that at least a day had passed. If he had been anything but someone who could swim, they’d both be dead by now.

“How are you doing, Captain?” the Mink asked between deep breaths. He looked over at Law, who was laying on his side, just as he’d taught his crew to place unresponsive patients. “Where do you think we are? I didn’t get a good look at the chart before we left.”

Silence.

“Okay…” Bepo strained to roll over onto his hands and knees, forcing himself to his feet. “Let me see what I can do.” He pulled Law onto his shoulder and began to trudge into the nearby foliage, hoping to find someone who could help.

As it turned out, no one was in sight before Bepo collapsed in a small glen, absolutely exhausted. After a while more of laying still, he repositioned Law again and got to work, building a small fire with some twigs and a spark of Electro. A berry bush was nearby and he picked enough to keep them both going, holding his captain’s portion in a deep leaf he used as a bowl. He then waited, hoping his unconscious best friend would wake up soon.

…and he waited…

…and he waited…

…and waited…

…until suddenly, Law jerked violently as he coughed and choked on seawater, vomiting in the soft grass beneath him. Bepo rubbed his back as his body purged the offending substance, waiting patiently until even his dry heaving ceased before handing him the leaf full of berries.

“Here—you’ll feel better.”

Law took the food and shifted closer to Bepo, away from the pool of bile and seawater. He leaned against the bear’s arm as he ate, carefully eating the berries one by one.

“Where are we?”

“Not sure; it’s likely none of the islands the others went to, I can tell that much.”

“…and the crew…?”

“I don’t know—it was just my job to get you out of there.” He let that settle between them—it was back to the two of them, no matter how much they wanted otherwise. “What do we do?”

“See if there’s any survivors, pick up what’s left, mourn those who didn’t make it,” Law decided. He chewed on a berry in thought. “That island won’t matter to Blackbeard now that he thinks he defeated me—whomever survived is probably still there. I’m sure it’s safe to go back.”

“How can we?” Bepo wondered. “It was pure luck that I found this island, let alone reached it. Without charts and a ship, we can’t get back there… not easily.”

“I didn’t say it’d be easy, but it might be easier than it looks if we take into account every resource at our disposal.” Law opened a Room and used it to pull out a space in his chest, from which he procured a rolled up scrap of paper that was held together by a golden metal band. He slid the paper out and gave it to Bepo, who looked at it curiously. “Vivre Card.”

“Okay, but for who?”

“That should lead us to Nico Robin of the Straw Hat Pirates,” Law explained. “She will help, and her help comes with her crew’s help.”

“What makes you think Miss Robin will help?” Bepo asked. He watched as Law stared at the ring for a moment before slipping it onto his left hand, specifically on the fourth finger.

“…because I married her,” he admitted. He heard Bepo inhale sharply and he felt a pang of guilt. “I know Nico Robin will help us because I am her husband.”

“When… when did this happen…?” Bepo’s voice sounded hurt; he should have been given the news a different way.

“It was… sudden,” Law said. “There was an actual priest in Wano… someone who knew traditions that weren’t that far off from Flevance’s. I would have told you sooner if we had found some time alone, but as you can see…”

“…this is the first time we could talk in private,” Bepo realized. The bear exhaled heavily—nothing he could do now. “I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not upset I wasn’t there, but I am glad it happened. Even before… you know… you left… didn’t really think it was gonna happen. Now it has, and Penguin and Shachi are going to be jealous.”

“If they’re even around anymore.”

“You know they won’t die that easy!” Bepo gave his captain a big grin. “Now let’s see if we can find your wife so she can help us get a hold of our crew again!”

Law cracked the bare semblance of a grin for the first time in a long time; that didn’t sound so bad at all. Yeah… not bad in the slightest.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A/N: I had known from the get-go that Law’s disguise was somewhat modeled after komuso, traveling monks who played the flute for alms and wore baskets on their head for anonymity. These practitioners of a Zen Buddhist sect (Fuke Zen) were eventually one of the few people able to freely pass checkpoints in feudal Japan—an extremely rare privilege—leading to it being a good (possible?) disguise for spies and informants, which can show up in historically-set Japanese works from time to time. Something that I, the ignorant Westerner, found interesting while doing research for this is that one of the individuals who is claimed to be a predecessor of Fuke Zen is a man named Ikkyu, who was a significant (and eccentric) figure in Japanese Zen history. He was a renown flute player, artist, calligrapher… and also was very outspoken against the celibacy placed on monks and priests, considering sex to be part of human nature, therefore pure, and believed that engaging in it in many forms would lead one towards enlightenment. Something tells me that’s not part of the Ikkyu-san children’s anime Toei made in the 1970s and 1980s, ahaha.

I will also always be intrigued by the fact that Oda utilized the concept of fumi-e and the practice’s purpose of rooting out unwanted allegiances in One Piece, because as far as I can tell (and please correct me if I’m wrong), that was only really used to identify Christians from when the shogunate made Christianity illegal (another thing I saw in the manga and immediately went into Leo-pointing-meme mode). This means that one can presumably figure that if there’s Christian/Catholic symbolism and imagery in other parts of the world, Wano could have their own version of the Kakure Kirishitan as the series’s analogue to isolation-era shogunate Japan. It’s been driving me nuts since the Fish-man Island Arc first came out in Japan and it’s only gotten worse over the years. Granted, Oda tends to take from plenty of world religions/cultures/traditions and lots of Japanese manga-ka enjoy the striking visual aesthetics of Christianity/Catholicism, but sometimes things are just too overt concerning my own religion for me to brush off. Crosses and nuns and churches and the foretold Return of the Chosen Savior? Par the course; Japan loves that shit. Noah’s Ark (twice!) and the forbidden fruit granting the consumer a new ability that casts them from favor and the concept of God vs gods and winged, flaming Seraphim and a man living in a whale and naming a pair of characters Sodom and Gomorrah? Those are varied levels of less-to-rarely-found references and I’m staring at this manga and its creator wondering what’s going to happen next. Did someone Joyboy didn’t quite know have a bunch of insane-ass visions and write their own Book of Revelations? Where the fuck is Golgotha? Will the seas be parted? Is Luffy going to ascend to a higher state of being, body and all? Is the reason we don’t know who his mom is because she already did that? You’re killing me, Oda.