Here's first of the two fics I wrote for the amazing @zorofanzine!! Leftover sales open on May 10th so check it out! You don't want to miss out on all the top-notch Zoro content <3
[ Read on AO3 ]
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Big news! Big news!
The street killer and ronin named Zorojuro has disappeared! After he was apprehended and sentenced to seppuku, he has murdered the Flower Capital’s Magistrate and with him, every single policeman at the station at the time!
A most dangerous criminal! More dangerous than Kamazo the Manslayer! More wicked than Ushimitsu Kozo! And he has disappeared without a trace!
Everyone! Please be wary walking the streets—if you see him, do not engage and alert the authorities!
Watch out for a man with only one eye and three katanas at his waist! He is responsible for the deaths of more than thirty people!
You heard it here first, folks!
Everyone!
Read all about Zorojuro’s crimes right here! Right on this broadsheet, read in detail about the destruction he had caused! The list of victims! His description!
Esteemed people of the Capital!
Come and get your own; you can’t miss this news! So hear! Zorojuro the Magistrate Killer has disappeared! Refer to the wanted signs—aaaaand! This flyer! You can grab yours right here!
—————
In the streets of the Flower Capital, a crowd has gathered. Listening eagerly to the news announcement, asking for the flyers and broadsheets and wanted posters. Talking all over each other, hoping for the newsboy to notice them and hand them the papers with information carefully written on them.
And among these people, stood a lonesome travelling monk with a tengai covering his head. A komuso was a rare sight in the capital but not rare enough to garner any attention—and that seemed to be exactly what the monk clad in a black and white yukata and brown haori with a flower pattern wanted. He stood amidst the crowd silently, a black nodachi with a white cross pattern resting against his shoulder, listening. His tattooed hand shook slightly as he clutched at the flyer with Zorojuro’s likeness on it.
His head turned slightly when the newsboy started shouting again.
—————
Aaaand! Another big news! Big news!
A ghost of a samurai has been appearing all across the Land of Wano! Flower Capital, Ringo, Kibi, Kuri, Udon, and Hakumai—all regions of the country report sightings of this mysterious spectre!
Is he a samurai who was murdered in a war hundreds of years ago? Or a victim of the vile Zorojuro? Is he in cahoots with the gashadokuro who’s been reported to haunt a remote graveyard in the snowy Ringo?
Only one thing is for sure; no one is safe!
We have asked the citizens who’ve met him and they all say the same thing: he is intimidating with a scary face, has green hair, and a scar across one of his eyes. He seems solid, like a real, living human… Except! This samurai’s ghost appears out of nowhere without warning and disappears the exact same way! There one moment, gone the next—only to appear at the other side of the country later the very same day!
We have also approached a few inhabitants of the Flower Capital for opinions and one of their answers stood out among the rest! This man, a toad oil vendor by the name of Usohachi, did not seem scared of the monster in the least! Instead, he had offered us a wild theory: maybe, the ghost is simply hopelessly lost! Wandering out of his grave in search of sake and losing his way so quickly and thoroughly that he is now doomed to wander the regions of our beautiful country with no means to return!
A daring theory that makes you almost pity this wile ghost!
But!
Where lies the truth? And where will this samurai appear next?!
Find the list of all his appearances right here! We have it all, including all the statements we’ve taken!
You don’t want to miss a word of it! So come and take your broadsheet and read all about it!
Now, who wants one?! We have enough to go around!
—————
The monk took a step forward, wordlessly taking one of the flyers before he slowly walked away from the crowds. He followed the main road for a while but then he stepped to the side, disappearing in the shadows of one of the countless narrow, dark alleys.
It was only a long while later, after taking several turns and finding himself in the most secluded place in the entire Flower Capital, that the monk finally stopped—and took off his tengai, revealing the face of a man who had no place in the isolated Land of Wano. A pirate from overseas, a member of the Worst Generation who was dreaded across the entire world.
And this very same man glared at the two flyers in his hands—at Zorojuro the Magistrate Killer and the ghost of the green-haired samurai—and his face twisted in anger. A vein pulsing on his forehead, Trafalgar Law gently leaned his nodachi against the wall next to him before he took a deep breath and gingerly, carefully placed the papers on top of each other, aligning them perfectly—
And ripped them both in half in one smooth movement.
He repeated the process again and again and again until the flyers were barely more than specks of dust.
Second piece for the @yamabrozine! This time full of Ace, fluff and ~pain~ 👹🔥
Shout out to my beta again, both for the help and for leaving wonderful live commentary of "don't make me ship them", "who would WANT to go there?!" and "oh fuck you". Love you <3
[ Read on AO3 | Yamato zine fics ]
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When he had woken up that morning, Yamato hadn't expected to make a friend. But then evening came and with it, pirates.
Angry pirates, too young and hot headed—literally—for their own good. It was lucky Kaido wasn’t there, if only because that made it possible for Yamato to fight their captain himself; to test his power, to see him free the captive children, to break the large dragon statue at the entrance to Onigashima, and with it, the chains Kaido had around his soul.
The moment he swung his kanabo at the statue which represented Kaido’s power, it was like something snapped. Something that had restrained him, kept him from spreading his wings and even dreaming of flying.
Now, he felt light, like the sky boats that the people of Wano set free during the Fire Festival; the ones that Yamato could only watch float into the sky from his confines of Onigashima. He knew they were sent as messages to the dead… but every time he saw them, he couldn’t help but think how much freedom those messages—and the dead who received them—had.
But now, with the statue destroyed, its broken off head lying at Yamato’s feet…
He knew he, too, would fly one day. Not today, maybe not even once the dawn finally came to Wano.
But one day… he was going to leave.
“Why are you suddenly looking so serious?”
Yamato jumped at Ace’s words. He stared at the man for a moment, trying to gather his lost thoughts. “You came here from the East Blue, right?” he asked, leaning forward.
“Yeah?” Ace blinked at Yamato in confusion.
“Have you seen the island in the sky?!” Yamato questioned eagerly.
“Which one?” Ace shot back, a smirk on his lips.
Yamato gasped; he could swear his heart skipped a beat too. “There’s more than one?!”
At that, Ace laughed, loud and full of amusement. It took him a while to calm down enough to reply, “Yes. Though I haven’t actually been yet. They’re a real bitch to get to.”
“That’s amazing!” Yamato cried, a giggle on his lips as he let himself fall back; he laid on the ground, arms spread out while he grinned at the stars above.
It was real.
“And the island where lightning falls like rain?” Yamato mumbled, breathless.
“Deuce nearly murdered me when we arrived on that one! It was fun though.” Ace burst out in laughter all over again, no doubt at the memory of his serious first mate and navigator absolutely losing his shit over his captain’s reckless decisions.
And Yamato…
Laughed.
Twice tonight, a weight was lifted off his shoulders. First, his chains.
And now, his doubts about the crazy places that Oden had described—dismissed so easily. It wasn’t made up. It wasn’t exaggerated. Those places really existed, just waiting for Yamato to make his way there and experience them for himself.
Waiting for him to create his own adventures.
—————
A small smile played on Yamato’s lips as he thought back to that night almost two years ago. It felt like yesterday that he had interrogated Ace about every little thing in Oden’s journal, listened to his stories, sighed at Ace’s endless boasting about his brother.
Now, Yamato was alone again… but he wasn’t lonely anymore.
Letting go of the sky boat in his hands, Yamato watched as it rose up to the sky, floating up and up and up, away from Onigashima.
Free.
Yamato’s smile didn’t falter when a single tear slid down his cheek.
@lawluevents 10 Days of Lawlu 2022 Day 4: Injured/Dress up
Alternate summary: “Good thing we have cameras visual transponder snails."
[ READ ON AO3 | FULL SERIES | KO-FI ]
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There weren’t many things Luffy would refuse to wear. There were outfits that he wouldn’t pick out himself but as long as it didn’t have any frills, anything was fine with him—which was apparently the problem, according to Nami and Sanji.
Just as Bege’s men had instructed him, he had taken a bath, had Chopper treat his injuries, and got dressed up in some nice clothes that their host had provided. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with the pink shirt, green pants, and orange blazer but judging by the force with which Nami had dragged him back inside the men’s dressing room by the ear… something had to be off about it.
Not like he cared.
Still, he waited dutifully on the couch with Chopper while Nami rummaged through the large walk-in closet, Sanji happily supplying a clothes rack for her and sharing his own input as for what to pick out for Luffy. And Luffy only watched them, munching on the snacks he had found in the fridge in one of the rooms across the hallway—there were some people who had tried to stop him from taking it but he wasn't sure why when it was right there.
That meant it was ready for them to take if they wanted to, right? Right.
Too bad there wasn’t any meat though. How was he supposed to get his energy back after yesterday if there was no meat? He hadn’t eaten anything since his fight with the biscuit guy, up until Sanji came back with his picnic basket full of yummy food, cooked just the way everyone liked.
It had tasted heavenly, just like Sanji’s food always did, but it wasn’t nearly enough after going that long without a bite to eat.
“Sanji, food,” Luffy whined, leaning back into the couch and throwing his head back—far enough to be able to watch Brook teaching Carrot how to hold a violin. Even though Carrot looked more like she was inclined to try and chew on it than play it.
Luffy couldn’t blame her.
“Yeah, yeah,” Sanji hummed absent mindedly. “I’ll whip up something quick for you before I have to leave.”
“Yay!!” Luffy, Chopper, Brook and Carrot all cheered at the same time.
Sanji frowned, looking at them all one by one with a perplexed expression. “What the hell happened? Why do you all sound like you haven’t eaten in two weeks?”
Dead silence settled over the dressing room as everyone simultaneously turned to glare at Luffy… who only snickered in responde. “Hey, it all turned out alright in the end didn’t it?”
“Shut up!” Nami snapped from inside the closet before letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Don’t ask Sanji. I’m counting on you with the food from now on at all times.”
“Yes, Nami-san! Always!” Sanji sang, twirling in place before bowing deeply.
Luffy felt a grin pull on his lips. He really missed this. And he missed Sanji’s food.
“Luffy, stop moving already,” Chopper scolded from next to him.
Luffy’s grin widened a little as he apologised half-heartedly. “Sorry, sorry. But you can leave it, Sanji’s food will fix me right up!”
“Human bodies don’t work like that!” Chopper hissed, baring his teeth at Luffy while he aggressively wrapped a bandage around his forearm. “Your injuries are still going to be—”
“Hey, it’s fine! I’ve had worse!” Luffy said with a laugh.
“That’s not—” the reindeer stopped himself, instead letting out a sound of frustration. “Forget it. Just stay still.”
Chopper quietly grumbled to himself, something about reckless captains and idiot cooks but Luffy stopped paying attention—he simply let Chopper jump all around him, dabbing disinfectant here and there and patching him up. Luffy still didn’t think it was necessary but he wasn’t about to tell his doctor to stop. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do anyway.
And so, he leaned against the back of the couch and closed his eyes, letting himself relax.
He wondered, did the other team make it to Wano yet? He couldn’t wait to see them again. They still had business here and it had only been two weeks but it felt like forever since they had said their goodbyes on Zou.
Since he had last hugged Law—since he had draped himself over his shoulders to stare at whatever it was that Law was reading. It had looked like a rough map of some island, probably Wano, but Luffy hadn't particularly cared. He just wanted to see what Law was doing.
And Law had let him; had raised his hand to absent-mindedly hold onto Luffy’s forearm, not even pausing in his conversation with Kin’emon and Inuarashi. Luffy could only assume he didn’t even really notice he was doing it and that made Luffy feel so stupidly happy. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Law would do everything in his power to keep Luffy off him—out of embarrassment and, Luffy was sure, also because he was scared.
Scared of letting Luffy too close.
Luffy snickered to himself. It was a good thing he never took no for an answer when he knew the other person didn’t mean it. He knew Law was happy now he could tell from his soft expressions, subtle body language… could feel it in every kiss they’d shared since that first time on Lomey’s ship.
He couldn’t wait to spend even more time with him.
Suddenly, something soft landed on his face and he yelped, opening his eyes to… darkness.
“What the hell?!” he cried, pawing at whatever was covering his whole face.
“Put that on,” he heard Nami say, her voice strangely pleased.
Luffy blinked, pulling the fabric away from himself to look at the outfit his navigator had picked for him. There was a black button down shirt, red shorts with a matching jacket, and a pink piece of cloth that looked like a small scarf. Luffy had no idea what that was for—he was sure Nami would educate him on that, however.
“Okayy,” he drew out, not too happy about having to change but knowing better than to argue with Nami.
As he started taking off his current clothes, Nami walked past him to peek out into the hallway. “Chiffon? Chiffon, are you here?” she called loudly.
Chiffon’s voice responded only a second later, prompting Nami to continue.
“Do you have a visual transponder snail around here?” she asked.
Luffy tilted his head to the side in confusion but before he could so much as open his mouth to ask, Carrot spoke up instead, “Why a snail?”
When Nami turned around… her eyes looked positively weird and…
And Luffy knew that look.
Everyone on the crew knew that look.
Luffy, right along with everyone else gulped loudly, just waiting in fear until Nami would reveal her next money-making scheme.
They didn’t have to wait long; there was a cold, calculating smile on her lips and Luffy felt a chill run down his spine as she said, “This might as well be the only chance to ever get Luffy to wear nice clothes. I’m sure the outfit won’t survive the day so I need to take some pictures.”
“What do you need pictures for?” Jinbe asked with confusion.
Luffy almost hurriedly told him to not even ask, to just do whatever Nami wanted without question, but it was too late now. Well… he was sure Jinbe would learn in time himself, now that he was on the crew.
Nami slowly turned to the fishman, brushing her hair behind her ear before raising her hand, unashamedly showing off her hand, fingers curled into a money sign. “There is a certain tall, dark, and handsome surgeon who would surely appreciate seeing his boyfriend all nice and cleaned up.” There was an outright evil look in her eyes now. “Also, I hear Luffy got himself a fan club so that’s easy money right there!”
“Nami, you’re scary,” Carrot announced, although she didn’t sound scared at all. Instead, she giggled to himself quietly and chomped on the carrot they stole—took—from the fridge along with Luffy's snacks and Chopper's chocolate milk.
“You have guts, Carrot,” Luffy said, impressed.
Immediately, a hairbrush came flying at his head. He honestly didn’t know what he had expected.
But… Hearing everyone laugh, including Sanji and Jinbe, he felt happy.
Even though everyone wasn’t there, even though half of the crew was likely in Wano right now, even though Torao was too far to cuddle with… it was enough for now.
Placing his straw hat on his head where it belonged, Luffy grinned to himself. This was going to be one hell of a tea party and he couldn’t wait to see it.
They were going to smash it to pieces.
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There weren’t many things Law was willing to wear. Ill fitting clothes, clothes that didn’t suit him, low quality fabric, none of that would ever make it into his wardrobe. Thankfully, he didn’t usually have to worry about any of that; being a pirate, especially a government backed pirate had its perks—namely, having enough money to get all his clothes custom made and fitted.
It got a little complicated when they had first arrived in Wano, however. The country had been isolated for centuries, their usual attire completely different from the rest of the world, and there weren’t even any banks to exchange his berries in.
It was a good thing ‘treasure’ was pretty universal as far as currency went.
Thanks to that, and the temporary yukata made with Kin’emon’s powers, he was able to get a kimonos and yukatas for himself and his crew reasonably quickly.
Throwing his brand new haori over the shoulders of his black and white yukata, Law smiled to himself in satisfaction. Finally, he felt comfortable.
“Ah, now I feel like a person from Wano!” Penguin cheered, prompting Shachi to shush him, going so far as to slap a hand over Penguin’s mouth.
Law rolled his eyes. What a way to announce to everyone they were from overseas. Oh well. It wasn’t like it mattered much; they were just going to hang around Bakura Town and gather intel so it shouldn’t matter much if a few people in the slums could tell.
They couldn’t know just who they were anyway.
“Man, wearing different clothes feels weird,” Clione said to the agreement of a few others.
“Are you saying you’d want to wear a tailored suit while manning the engine?” Ikkaku asked doubtfully, eyebrows raised.
“I’m just saying it feels weird!” Clione huffed, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.
Law himself had to admit it was strange even just seeing them in anything other than their jumpsuits. They looked out of place, some of the men even looking uncomfortable in their yukatas, but there was no choice here. They all had to dress up to fit in, to not get their cover blown before they even started.
Exhaling deeply, Law let his head fall back, his eyes raising to look at the cloudless blue sky.
It was still strange; seeing, smelling, feeling, breathing. Being alive would probably still take him some getting used to but he was glad he got the chance to do so in the first place. It wasn’t so long ago that he was certain he would never make it out of Dressrosa but now he got to stand here, risking his life for a reckless plan with low chances of success.
His own plan, to be fair, but reckless nonetheless.
Not to mention that he now knew that throwing the Straw Hats into the mix was just asking to have the already shaky plan fall to pieces in two minutes flat. But… he didn’t regret it.
Probably should have, to be honest.
But he didn’t regret it in the least.
The Straw Hats were incorrigible, their captain a full-out natural disaster all on his own, physically incapable of following a plan… but they had managed the impossible time and time again and Law had no doubt they would do so here as well.
After all, he had witnessed firsthand the way miracles seemed to follow Straw Hat Luffy. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say he was so incredibly stubborn that he somehow went around bending the very laws of the world to his will, creating miracles with his own hands. He felt stupid thinking things like that but he couldn’t help it; he had seen it happen.
He had felt the world changing around him to fit in with Straw Hat’s ideals.
Honestly, it was probably all inevitable. Inevitable for him to stumble back into Law’s life, inevitable for him to turn Law’s whole world upside down.
Inevitable for Law to lace their fingers together on that broken rooftop on Dressrosa.
Inevitable for them to kiss for the first time only days later, standing on the deck of that godawful, absolutely atrocious ship that took them to Zou.
Law closed his eyes briefly, trying to chase the memory of Straw Hat’s hands, his lips, his warm arms away. Straw Hat wasn’t there anyway. He couldn’t jump on his back or drape himself over Law’s shoulders, resting his chin on top of Law’s head as he stared at Kin’emon’s rough map of Wano that he most likely couldn’t even be bothered to read, asking questions that didn’t matter in the least.
Who cared if there were tons of meat in Wano? What did it matter in the light of their plans? Especially considering Straw Hat wasn’t going to get to Wano for a month after leaving Zou at least.
It was stupid. Straw Hat was stupid and Law…
Law was the most stupid one here. Falling for an idiot like this—what was he thinking?
“Captain… You have a really creepy look on your face. Just so you know.”
Law quickly wiped the smile that had somehow made its way onto his face, replacing it with a deep scowl aimed at Penguin. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You hid it! You really just hid it!” Penguin cried, pointing an accusing finger at Law.
“Don’t act like a kid.” Law slapped his hand away, shooting him a glare for a good measure.
Penguin retreated his hand but still asked, “What were you thinking about, smiling like an idiot?”
Law didn’t say anything; he simply stared back at him flatly, letting his eyes convey how very unwilling he was to have this conversation.
Not that that had ever stopped either of his three oldest friends. “Come on, you can tell me. Were you thinking about Straw Hat? Did you want to show off how good you look in a yukata? Because even I have to admit it suits you stupidly well.”
The more Penguin rambled, the further Law’s eyebrows rose. Was he even listening to himself?
“I saw people using some type of visual transponder snails in town,” Shachi piped up, joining Penguin in his mission to annoy Law to the point of him never talking to them again. “We could take some pics before the look gets ruined with the hat to show Straw Hat when he gets here!”
“I know! I’m sure he will fall right into your arms when he sees it, Captain. He can’t resist you forever!”
Law’s eyebrows shot up even more at that. Did these idiots… think he was one-sidedly pining after Straw Hat? And were… trying to set them up together?
Rubbing at his forehead, Law suddenly felt so tired. If this were about anyone else, he would have thought it was absolutely hilarious but no, it was about him and he’d never seriously contemplated maiming two of his best friends before this.
First time for everything, right?
“Uhm.. Well…” Bepo tried, but he obviously couldn’t find the right way to drop this on the two of them.
Law, Penguin and Shachi waited patiently for the bear to form his thoughts into words but before either Bepo or any one of them could do or say anything, someone else snorted from behind them.
Turning around, Law’s eyes met Zoro’s—the swordsman was lounging underneath one of the trees of the Kuri forest, looking back at Law with a wide smirk on his face before his eyes slid to the side to look at Bepo, then Shachi, and finally, Penguin. “Are you guys blind or just stupid?” he asked, his smirk widening. “Did you seriously not notice this guy—” he pointed at Law with his thumb— “and Luffy all over each back on the elephant?”
Closing his eyes, Law prayed for patience. He tried to remind himself that it wouldn’t be very smart to lose one of their strongest fighters before the fight even began but the temptation to cut this man’s head off and toss his body into the sea was real.
“Excuse me?” Shachi let out, looking between Law and Zoro like they grew seconds heads.
“Law, is he saying what I think he’s saying?! Do you have anything to say for yourself?! We’re your best friends, man!” Penguin ranted off, pointing that goddamned accusing finger at Law again.
“Oh shut up. You didn’t ask so why should I tell you?” Law growled, already quite fed up.
As if on cue, both Shachi and Penguin turned to Bepo. “Bepo, you say something too!”
Bepo shook his head then, shooting Law a quick apologetic look before he responded, “I— uh— I knew, I’m sorry. But isn't it enough that they’re happy?”
Dead silence settled over the area as Penguin and Shachi processed what Bepo had just admitted. “He told you but he didn’t tell us?”
“I’m sorry,” Bepo apologised immediately, his ears drooping as he bowed his head meekly.
“I didn’t tell him, he walked in on us talking. Yes, I know you were there Bepo, it’s okay,” Law added when he noticed the shift in Bepo’s body language as he started to panic a little, getting ready to go into his ‘cute’ mode as defence against Law’s presumed anger.
As Penguin and Shachi turned their wrath back towards Law, the surgeon could hear Zoro’s laughter in the background.
Asshole.
But Law didn’t have the time or mind to deal with him right now. Really, he only wanted some peace and quiet.
Letting go of one last, frustrated sigh, Law created a room, grabbing his hat from where he had left it before going to pick up his clothes, then he tossed the two yelling idiots out. Hopefully, finding their way out of the bottom-most space of the ruined Oden Castle would be challenging and time-consuming enough to get them to calm the fuck down.
Seriously, it wasn’t even a big deal. It wasn’t like he was getting married or whatever the hell else they cooked up in their heads. But well, if nothing else, he was glad this conversation was done and over—as far as he was concerned at least—and that it went reasonably well.
Now if only Straw Hat would get here so that their inevitable, extremely intrusive questions would all end up directed at Straw Hat and not himself.
Placing his hat on his head where it belonged, Law felt a small smile tugging on his lips. This was going to be a wild ride still—the alliance had a long way to go and Shachi and Penguin would take a while before they stopped throwing a fit about Law ‘withholding important information’... But, once all was settled, there was going to be a festival in the country. A festival more exciting than any before it, and Law couldn’t want to see it.
What if Kaido and Big Mom fought before Wano? Explore how this epic Yonko clash would have reshaped the One Piece world. Read this alternate story now!
