~

Law couldn't sleep. His brain was replaying the images of Luffy's horror-stricken face when Law had killed that man in the alley. He didn't like killing any more than Luffy did but sometimes that was the only choice. Law tossed and turned but found no relief. He wasn't about to keep simmering in this agony so he got up and pulled on his masks and coat, pocketed a scalpel, put on his slippers and went out for a walk. It was very late at night but Law was still happy to indulge himself.

The streets were empty, the lamps were still lit and the sky was mostly clear. Law didn't want to wander far in case his injuries started aching, getting back to the hotel would be a bitch if that happened. So Law kept around in the nearby blocks, resting against stairs and iron railings when he needed to catch his breath.

"Oh damn he's gotten really tall." Law heard a female voice and nearly jumped in place. The entire area around him was very quiet and he was sure nobody was following him but then this happened, he had every right to be startled. "You were right, Smoker-kun, these are somehow Rosi's genes."

"Who the fuck-" Law turned at the mention of his father, ready to hurl vicious things at the person but stopped when he spotted Smoker and Hina, her hair were pink as always.

"No I take it back, Rosi never used this kind of language."

"What are the two of you doing here, are you following me?" Law asked looking around in case there were more officers hiding.

"I was scouting the block again since you encountered that guy in the alley." Smoker answered around his cigars. "Hina decided to tag along."

"Thanks for the cleanup again." Law sighed and sat down on one of the stairs of the big houses, the two marines followed suit, sitting on either side of the grumpy and injured young adult, shoulders touching. "Sit somewhere else, this is very uncomfortable."

"What, you don't want Hina near? Hina's offended." The woman teased and put her arm around Law to rile him up more.

"Stop talking in third person, it's very annoying."

Smoker only chuckled lightly at the comment when Hina pouted, then all signs of mirth left his face. "What happened back there Law?"

"I was being followed so I confronted the guy." Law avoided wording the entire story. He knew this was coming for him sooner or later.

"Speak clearly." Hina scolded and Law gulped.

"I wanted to know who sent him but he was pissing me off by staying quiet so I..."

"Did you kill him because you were angry or did you kill him because letting him go would have meant looking over your shoulder every second?" Smoker provided so Law could have an easy answer.

"...both."

"And?"

"And... he had seen Mugiwara-ya, he was with me, I couldn't risk letting that information out- fuck I messed it up with him too- he probably hates me for life now- fuck!" Law groaned pulling his hair at the roots and burying his eyes in his palms. The two marines shared a look over's Law's crouched form, then Smoker decided to continue.

"Probably yes. Mugiwara has never killed a person, his fights have left bad injuries but he has never killed anyone. But if I am right about who sent that tail, you were right to have ended that mess there."

"Mugiwara understands difficult situations too Law, quite unexpected looking at his face but he does." Hina added.

"Yes."

"What even is your relationship with Mugiwara anyway?" Hina asked blowing smoke from her cigarette to the side.

"They're boyfriends." Smoker said plainly and turned his face to the other side with the pretense of blowing smoke when Law glared at him, face red.

"Wha-? All the princesses in the world are willing to give him their hearts and Mugiwara chose you?" Hina asked, surprised and Law couldn't have been more embarrassed.

"We are not boyfriends!" Law nearly screamed.

"Then how are you related?" The woman deflated at Law's denial.

"He's my- I don't know... Stop prodding in my private life."

"There's our answer."

"It stopped being prodding and private when Rosinante introduced you to us." Smoker said and recalled when the clumsy, tall marine called all his classmates in the dead of the night because he didn't know what to do about his son's rising fever. They had never even thought Rosinante would be romantically interested in anyone – other than the woman who was very far away, hence out of question –, let alone he would have a child?! They didn't even know he was back from the mission so the news really did a number on them. Smoker could clearly remember how he and Hina frantically got to the marine rest house Sengoku had arranged for Rosinante. There they had met Law for the first time. He was not only small, but ill, and very weak, and he hated nearly everyone on principle.

"Just because you saw me puke my guts out doesn't automatically give you privileges." Law bit back.

"Sure it does kid." Hina ruffled Law's hair and both the adults accidentally blew out their smokes at the same time.

"And stop smoking near me! Honestly what it wrong with all of you, dad smoked, and you three of his friends too, stop smoking in my face or give me one too." Law was pretty sure Hina would hand him a cigarette but he was wrong.

"Sorry about that."

"My bad." Smoker followed and both him and Hina extinguished their death sticks.

"You are already injured, don't add to it." Hina reminded.

"Rosinante's not here at the moment so we have to look after you till he gets back." Smoker added.

"I am fine and I don't need to be looked after like a child." Law retorted, annoyed that he was being treated like a little kid.

"That's what every child says." Hina pushed grinning.

"I'm going back, you're both driving me mad." Law stood up from the stairs and dusted his coat.

"What, only Mugiwara has that right now?" Smoker joined Hina in the teasing.

"OHMYGOD!" If Law was an ostrich, he would have dug a hole and buried his head in it. Smoker and Hina laughed openly. These adults were pros at embarrassing him, just like his father was, no wonder they were all friends. Regardless, Law was grateful for them, they were not only looking out for his well-being but they had also managed to make Law see that he shouldn't be beating himself up about having to kill someone dangerous so he wouldn't risk exposure of someone important to him.

"Go back and try to sleep Law." Hina smiled and lit her cigarette back up.

"Stop smoking dammit!" Law took the nicotine from her hand and snuffed it under his shoes. "I am a doctor and I will not have you ruin your health before my eyes."

"Come say it to us when you're on the right side of the law." Smoker challenged and stood up with his partner. Law didn't think he could say anything to that. The two were still thinking of his benefit.

"When..." Law started. "When that happens, you both better be ready to give up your vices or I will be having you benched from duty for substance abuse." Law finished with an evil grin.

Smoker and Hina were shocked. Law sounded hopeful to them and there had been only one instance before where Law was been hopeful, it was when his clumsy idiot of a father was still with him. When Law had lost Rosinante, he was back to despair. But now, both of Rosi's friends were seeing the same hope in the eyes of the boy before them and they knew who to thank for it, another clumsy idiot.

"We'll leave our health in your good hands then doctor." Hina waved and turned to leave.

"Talk to Mugiwara." Smoker added and left with the woman.

Law returned to his room in much higher spirits than he left with. Meeting Hina with Smoker was a lot to process for the surgeon's tired brain and since there were no guards up, he let himself feel happy at the care both the marines relayed hidden in vague and clear words. They made Law realize that since he was doing criminal things to achieve his goals, it was affecting his relationships with people around him. Law realized if he wasn't involved in anything bad, there would have been no risk of exposing Luffy to it even accidentally. Law realized he might be... happy even. But before those thoughts consumed him, Law shook his head off them and focused on the issue at hand. He needed to talk to Luffy and set the record straight, he came to Goa for that, and he would not leave without having accomplished his task.

~

Luffy slept restless after that awkward parting with Torao and his lack of sleep was visible not only in the form of dark under-eyes but he was also bumping into random things all over Goa, wherever he went. Luffy was at a loss, he didn't know what to do in such a situation. He thought he was mature enough and that things were easy enough that even he could solve problems but clearly that wasn't the case and Luffy knew this now. He knew he needed someone to help him make sense of things and of thoughts going through his brain at such a high speed that it was making him dizzy.

So Luffy sought out Zoro.

The aspiring swordsman was napping on the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny and was probably the only person Luffy knew who wouldn't try to coax out the background and context of the conversation that Luffy was about to drop on him.

"Oi Zoro." Luffy called standing beside his friend's sleeping form. It didn't look like the guy would budge anytime soon so Luffy tried again. "Come on Zoro, I need your help."

That did the trick. The green-haired man opened his eyes and furrowed his brows at the conflict he felt in the air around his captain. "What's up?"

Luffy sat down beside his friend and hugged his knees. He decided he wouldn't stall the conversation and beat about the bush. "Is it ok to kill people?"

Zoro was frankly surprised at the question, he knew Luffy was having some problems but he would never have guessed it was this. He wanted to help his friend and got on it with the same no-bullshit way as Luffy did with his question. "Not when you have a choice Luffy."

"What if that person is sent by someone who wants me dead and if I don't kill him, he would try again or kill someone else, then what?" That was weirdly specific, even to Zoro but he decided to not pry nonetheless.

"Whatever happened to turning them to the police?" Zoro had to ask where Luffy stood in that ground. The younger hid his face in his knees for a groan.

"What if they are able to escape the police?" Luffy countered almost instantly as if he had been thinking about this for a while. Zoro sighed and sat up a little.

"Look I don't know what brought this on and I won't ask either but killing is never justified. But sometimes, you only have two bad choices so you choose the less bad and that's killing someone."

"But... it's still bad... isn't it?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion, every one of his friends could differentiate between good and bad so easily but Luffy himself only ever did what felt right to him, the standards of morals the entire world went by did not apply to him, he just couldn't go by them.

"It is. Like I said, only two bad options." Zoro could see Luffy was now even more conflicted. "I don't know if you're asking for yourself or someone else but their past also makes a difference in this situation. Maybe someone in their past let the person go and turned them over or something but paid the price heavily, that also influences people's choices you know."

"Huh." Luffy breathed, it made sense to him now. He knew Torao wasn't exactly from a healthy past so maybe Torao had lost something or someone to that kind of a situation before, maybe that's why he did what he did. Luffy then looked at his friend with genuine curiosity, eyes promising no bias. "What would you do if you were in such a situation?"

Zoro laughed. "I've killed my fair share of people too, Luffy, so I am probably not the best person to ask about this."

"No, but still." Luffy insisted. Zoro relented.

"If I know I can't trust the police and I know that the culprit would get out, leak information on me, kill someone else or kill someone close to me, I'd probably end that bastard's life too."

"But why..." Luffy turned completely to face Zoro who had now sat up properly to match gazes with the younger.

"I can't be with everyone I care about all the time and while I do trust them to take care of themselves, most of them are just civilians who haven't taken up arms in their entire lives. What kind of a person would I be if I knowingly let a monster loose and one of my people pay the price?" Zoro knew his answer was strict but it was true. He had always admired Luffy's strong conviction in battles and he had never once considered him foolish or naïve for not killing his opponents so he knew Luffy wasn't asking for himself. It was probably a choice that his captain needed to make that involved a certain man.

"I still don't like it!" Luffy pouted and flopped like a fish after falling backwards on the grass to lay down.

"Trust me Luffy, anybody with a shred of decency doesn't like taking a life. It's a heavy decision that comes with an even heavier conscience."

~

Luffy decided to take some time to get his thoughts together on how he really felt about Torao after the latest ordeal, he didn't need to think long, his mind kept getting back to the fact that he liked Torao and nothing was going to change that but he still needed some confirmations from the older before completely making his mind. So Luffy was calm when he spotted Law on his way to the Sim's café, it seemed like Torao was doing the same.

.

Law was mentally reeling at the lack of response to the texts he sent to Luffy about meeting at the Sim's café to talk. Luffy texted him six times a day to remind Law to eat his meal of the time but that was it, there was utter silence to anything else that Law managed to text. It had been two days and Law was sure Luffy hated him. Smoker and Hina had somewhat managed to lift his spirits that he did nothing wrong and that Luffy had an open enough mind to understand but Law now thought it was all just pep talk so Law would swallow his pride and talk to the younger.

So here Law was, walking to the Sim's café in the middle of the night to down his loud brain in some good tea that would probably lull him to sleep, like tea sometimes did for him. One minute Law's brain was loud like a truck horn but it went silent as soon as Law's eyes went to Luffy, standing in front of him, also making for the café. Law didn't know it was possible for him to be that worried about perceptions someone might have for him but it was Luffy so Law gave a fuck about it.

Luffy didn't say anything, just nodded in silent recognition and went for the door. Once inside the establishment, Law thought he should sit separately since it didn't look like Luffy would be talking to him so he stopped at the table nearest to the door. He was about to sit down when Luffy pulled his arm and dragged Law to their usual table and sat him down, sitting in front of him.

Law wanted to talk to Luffy about everything that was going on, he wanted to clear the air even if after that Luffy didn't like him anymore. Law knew what he did was bad but the world he lived in had serious consequences and he wasn't willing to let those fall on innocent people.

Luffy unknowingly avoided eye contact, he hadn't looked up ever since the both sat down. The younger could feel the discomfort radiating from Torao and he wanted to make it go away but this was so difficult, he didn't know how to talk about this. He only knew how to shoot straightforward questions and he felt he should have learned about that 'delicacy' Nami always talked to him about.

"If you are upset with me because of the incident, I need you to talk to me." Law said, voice small but firm, trying to give off that he was ok and cool with anything but inside, he was falling apart. There was no answer for a minute and Law felt something break in him, he didn't even know when something had built but it was broken now.

"Do you like killing people?" Luffy asked instead, eyes finally meeting, taking Law by surprise.

"I don't." Law found himself answering almost instantly, without thinking that he probably sounded like a hypocrite, murdering people in alleys and saying he didn't like killing people. But Luffy glimpsed at something else when Law answered, he saw only truth.

Luffy heaved a sigh of relief and grinned. "Ok! Then Torao is a good guy!"

Law could only stare. He had been worrying his brain rotten for two days and Luffy goes and says this and all his worries just suddenly disappeared. Law realized he was down bad. Law also realized that Luffy hadn't been sleeping well and that he probably also had been thinking a lot about this.

"Did...something happen?" Law asked, pulling his sleeve down more towards his wrist.

"I asked my friend about this and he told me about lots of stuff about perspective."

"Very insightful of your friend."

"Yeah Zoro's the best!!" Luffy grinned again and called for the waitress they had dismissed before. Law was too relieved to say anything other than what he wanted to consume at the moment. "Did you get my texts? Did you remember to eat?"

"I tried." Law answered truthfully, putting his rice aside. "Why didn't you answer my texts?"

Luffy looked up from his glass and almost immediately looked away. "Sabo took my phone when I had been sleeping all day and staying up all night. Usopp taught me to time texts so they would get sent on their own. I still don't have my phone."

"Why was your schedule like that?" Law found himself asking instead of getting impressed that Luffy scheduled texts for him so he would remember to eat before his phone got confiscated.

"Really couldn't sleep at nights." Luffy took another drink of his cola. "I've been sorta coming here at random hours, thought I might catch you."

Law took a deep breath after hearing this. Luffy hadn't changed his mind about liking Law so Law himself needed to tell Luffy why he came to Goa in the first place.

"You look like you gotta poop, if you wanna say something, do it Torao." Luffy pushed.

"There are a lot of things that need to be followed up after what I tell you and all of those are important so please don't negate any of those."

"If it's important to Torao, I won't ignore it." Luffy agreed.

"Ok. Ok good." Law breathed. "Since you haven't changed your mind about your affections for me even after having seen me kill a man, I know it's against your way of doing things but you're still here so I guess, I don't have any more excuses to stall-"

"You're stalling." Luffy sniggered but it got caught in his throat when Law rolled his eyes with a beautiful smile and the following words came out of his mouth.

"I like you like not-friends, Luffy."

~