#ch. 1044

He knew he and Jaggy would win. Torao was strong, after all; much stronger than stupid Big Mom.

His presence was comforting; hearing his Voice was grounding, keeping Luffy’s mind from getting off-track. He really was the last one to wrap up his fight, huh? That wouldn’t do! He couldn’t keep everyone waiting like this!

Luffy snickered, cracking the knuckles of both his hands before pulling his right arm back. “Here I go, Kaido!” Luffy called to no one in particular, letting his haki flow—

—only to startle at how effortlessly it came to him. Has his Conqueror’s haki always been this powerful? Did it always so free, so light, was it always so easy for him to control?

This form, this Gear Five… It was just so fun!

A grin on his lips, Luffy thrust his hand forward, letting it grow into the arm of a giant to easily bust a hole in the Skull Dome’s ceiling, grabbing for Kaido. He laughed at how tiny the dragon’s body seemed in his hold. Like a simple rope, just ready to be tossed around.

This was where the real battle started.

—————

“Idiot!”

“Huh?” Luffy blinked, pausing with where he was stuffing his mouth with meat to stare at Torao.

He was pacing all over the room in the Shogun’s castle that Momo let Luffy use while he recovered, his hair dishevelled from how he had been running his hands through it in frustration. He wasn’t looking at Luffy, only muttering something to himself about ‘reckless morons who never stop to think’.

“What did I do?!” Luffy asked, instead of doing something stupid like laughing. The sight that Law’s stress made might have been very funny, but Luffy also didn’t have a death wish.

Law clicked his tongue, his head snapping up to glare at Luffy. “Take a fucking guess,” he hissed angrilly.

Tilting his head to the side, Luffy thought hard about what might have caused Law to act like this but he was drawing a blank. “You wanted to eat this meat?” Luffy tried, offering him the half-eaten drumstick in his hand.

“No. Try again.”

Luffy studied Law’s face, taking note of how Law’s eyes flickered away from Luffy’s face to dart all over Luffy’s body—over his injuries—and suddenly, Luffy understood. And he couldn’t keep the warm, happy smile off his face as much as he tried. “Torao~” he sang easily.

That only earned him another glare and he had to bite on his lower lip to stop himself from giggling as he shook his head. Torao could be so cute sometimes.

“Torao, I’m fine,” Luffy said, trying to sound reassuring but he wasn’t sure how good a job he was doing with the way his voice shook. He was just so happy his Torao was so worried; it made him feel all warm and fuzzy in ways he didn’t bother deciphering. He simply basked in the feelings, and in the pissed off, adorable look on Law’s face.

“You died,” Law said flatly.

“Did not!” Luffy cried in his defence.

Clicking his tongue again, Torao sighed deeply. “You’re impossible.”

Unable to keep it in any longer, Luffy snickered—while ignoring the frustrated noise Law let out in response. Discarding his meat on the provided plate, Luffy quickly wiped his hands before he turned back to Law and stretched out one of his arms to grab Law’s elbow, forcing him to come closer to where Luffy was sitting on his futon.

Surprisingly, Law didn’t protest; he let Luffy drag him over to himself, only turning his eyes away so that he wasn’t looking at him. Embarrassed, and unwilling to show it, and Luffy grinned.

So damn cute.

Letting go of Law’s elbow, Luffy let his fingers slide down Law's arm until he found his hand, taking it in his own. Slowly, he brought Law’s hand to his lips, pressing a small kiss to the inside of his wrist—right at the edge of his soulmark—before lacing their fingers together.

“Torao, I love you,” he said in a teasing voice, making Law freeze.

He didn’t say anything for a long while, only standing there completely tense… until he clicked his tongue and finally deflated. Luffy wasn’t surprised when a moment later, Law flicked his forehead—armament haki and all—before he heaved a sigh and replied, “Don’t I-love-you me in this situation.”

“But it’s working!” Luffy said cheekily, sticking out his tongue.

Law narrowed his eyes. “How about I cut your dick off and toss it into the hole with Kaido. It’s not like you’re using it anyway.”

“You wouldn’t!!” Luffy gasped.

“Fucking try me,” Law growled back and Luffy gulped.

Maybe he shouldn’t be pushing Torao much further… Oh well!

“I’ll still love you though,” Luffy said defiantly, squeezing Law’s hand for good measure.