"You still alive there, Penguin?" Kyo mutters to her friend and ally as they enter the sub, she's growing tired and her powers are starting to weaken, she's trying to draw the blood back into Penguin's face whilst Shachi helps him walk.
The boy was unfortunate tonight - the trio had gone to a local bar on the island but there were other pirates present, they didn't seem to mind the boys however, not until Penguin 'nudged' past them.
Though, in his defence, it was one of them that nudged him so perhaps they were just looking for a fight.
And a fight they got, the Heart Pirates came out victorious but Kyo had to deal with the girl on the opposing crew since Shachi and Penguin couldn't bring themselves to attack 'such beauty' - perverts.
And everything after the fight involved her using her devil fruit to cease a nosebleed and that gave her a bit of a headache.
"What happened to you guys?!" Uni blurts at the trio as they enter the lounge, his eyes taking in the state of the three as he scampers up to his feet and rushes over to Shachi to check him over.
"There were pirates at the bar but don't worry, we dealt with them~!" The redheaded boy chimes with a bright smile, earning himself an eyeroll from Kyo in the process.
Way to make it sound like we were the ones causing trouble, Shachi...
"Oh, Kyo, your back is bleeding." Ikkaku's voice emerges from behind, her hand only barely managing to brush against the blood-stain on Kyo's teal jumper before the girl shrugs the touch away, the distraction causes her powers to cease which leads to blood gushing from Penguin's nose.
"It'll heal. Deal with this one, his nose is bleeding. Though, I think that's due to the opposing crew having a pretty female amongst their members rather than any actual assault." Upon essentially throwing Penguin at the concerned girl, Kyo then tries to swiftly take her leave but instead she finds herself being dragged out of the lounge entirely, an iron-like grip on her bicep.
Out of instinct, she glances down at the hold on her arm to find a tattooed hand.
Oh, hell.
"Trafalgar--"
"That wound needs to be cleansed, otherwise it'll get infected." The raven voices as he pulls her into the med bay before releasing her arm. His tone is a clear indication that his ideals are firm and honestly, Kyo's not too surprised, he is a doctor after all.
But this still troubles her.
"I can deal with it myself." Despite her voice sounding calm, she still comes off as a bratty child, Law staring down at her with a subtle smirk decorating his lips.
"Really? A wound on your back? Go ahead, patch it up yourself." All he gains in response is a pout, he knows damn well that she couldn't possibly reach it back there and even if she could, she wouldn't be able to see how effectively she's treating it. "Just turn around and remove your sweater, I won't ask twice."
And just like that, her heels have dug themselves just a little deeper into the ground. Her brows knitting together as a scoff escapes her throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Trafalgar. I forgot you were my fath--"
"Room."
And it's in this same second, her face falls completely, the girl immediately turning around as asked and gripping onto the hem of her jumper. "Fine, I'll comply! Just don't pull that surgery shit on me!" It's certainly no secret that she hates being on the receiving end to Law's abilities - some might consider that her karma though, since when he's using it on other people, she'll watch on in amusement.
Despite agreeing to do as she was asked, she still can't bring herself to lift the clothing. She was told not to show her scarred back to anybody, Mihawk was very clear and the way he had glared at the markings when he first saw them - she doesn't want anyone to look at her that way again.
It was like he was disgusted by her, probably by her lack of strength.
But I'm not weak anymore.
A sigh sounds from Law as he grabs the hem of the girl's shirt, clearly growing impatient as he pushes the material up to her shoulders, she barely has a chance to react before her back is fully exposed to the surgeon.
She can't even bring herself to speak, it's like she has been frozen solid on the spot. She notices Law's breathing halt for a moment, his eyes staring at her deepest flaws before he finally presses a cold material to her open wound, an anti-bacterial wipe judging by the slight sting that comes with it's touch.
Law couldn't quite work out exactly what he was looking at; there's many slashes permanently branding her skin, from her shoulders to her lower back. It looks like she was attacked by a wild animal but no, he quickly realizes that they don't have the correct shape or pattern to be claw markings. No, these are thin and singular scars, like a whip was the cause.
Was she a slave? No, she doesn't have the tattoo. And he highly doubts Mihawk would allow such a fate for his child...unless he did this, but why would he use a whip? He's a swordsman.
"What happened?" The question seemingly falls from Law's lips in the form of a murmur, it probably wouldn't have even been audible if the room wasn't so silent. He can see the muscles in her back tensing as she nervously shifts her weight from one foot to the other, she can't seem to bring herself to look at him.
"...M-My...mother." The redhead practically forces the words out but she has no idea what to say, she doesn't have any honest excuses lined up to explain the state her back is in, she hadn't planned to be seen this way, let alone be honest about it but for some reason, she feels guilty when she considers lying to Law. She knows a fair bit about his backstory, small things that he'd tell her if he's feeling talkative.
She knows he was the only survivor from Flevance, she had read about that country when she still lived at the castle with Mihawk, she could only imagine the hell Law went through. He had told her some small bits of information about Doflamingo too, about how he used to be a member of his crew, she knows the shichibukai killed his own brother, a man Law was fond of but he couldn't tell her anything more on that - she assumed it hurt too much.
That's something she can understand but he has tried to tell her things, she owes him some of the same courtesy in return.
"I told you I couldn't remember her when she last came up in discussion but I...was lying to you." Kyo frowns a little at the dampness that's already beginning to fill her eyes, she will not cry in front of this man, she will not cry in front of anybody. She never cries. "She wasn't well, not mentally. And I reminded her too much of my father so she...she couldn't stand the sight of me, she'd--! She...sometimes grew violent..."
Law says nothing whilst she's explaining this, focusing his attention solely on her wound, it's deep but doesn't seem to need any stitches so he just takes his time while bandaging it, allowing her to open up about her past - something tells him that she might need this talk, more than she realizes.
"In the end she...killed herself." Kyo pauses briefly as a tear rolls down her cheek, it seems as though she's considering telling him something else but she hesitates. She just doesn't know how, she doesn't want him to hold any hatred for her. But it's more likely the case that he'll end up hating her more if he found out she wasn't being fully honest with him here - no, she doesn't want that. "Or I killed her, I-I don't know what happened."
"What?" She feels him pause, the movement against her back has ceased and she can feel his eyes burning through the back of her head, she dreads what look could be on his face but she still turns her head to look at him from the corner of her watery eyes.
"Technically, I lead her to her death either way...sh-she pulled a gun on me when I first ate my devil fruit, it turned my hair red so I went to her for help but it only frightened her and...she grabbed the pistol...she was screaming at me to get away from her but I couldn't move, I wanted to but...but..."
"You froze." Law calmly murmurs, he's not too surprised by that though, he knows she was taken in by Mihawk when she was around 7 years old so he can imagine that would be a scary sight for a young child.
"...She ended up turning the gun on herself instead. The thing is, I can control people with my abilities, I try not to but pa wondered if it was possible that my devil fruit acted on survival instinct and...m-made her turn the gun on herself...I don't know. I didn't have any control over it back then, it would attack anybody. I had to learn to control my emotions better, it would lash out when I was scared or angry..."
"So you think you killed her?" The question doesn't harbour any disappointment or anger to it like Kyo had originally feared, Law has even resumed wrapping the bandage around her torso, like she hadn't said anything at all.
"I...don't know. I usually feel the adrenaline when I use my powers but I can't remember feeling anything back then, I was so numb..."
This now makes sense for Law though, he had heard marines imply that she had killed her mother before but he couldn't understand why they'd insinuate such things when she claimed she couldn't even remember the woman.
Admittedly, he had assumed the worst from the lack of knowledge he had gathered, he was waiting for Kyo to admit she had murdered her parent in cold blood but as far as he can tell - there's no proof to say she actually did it and even if she had, it was in self defence so could he really judge her?
Finishing up his work on her wound, he steps back, allowing the redhead to pull her shirt back down. "Keep the bandages on over night, I'll check them for you in the morning."
"Mmh? R-Right...Thank you, Law." She quietly voices as she wipes away the tears from her eyes, silently cursing herself for being so damn weak.
She cannot allow him to see her cry, she's meant to be stronger than that.
"It's 'Law' now, is it?"
His somewhat mocking response actually brings a smile to her face though, a small scoff escaping her lips as she semi-seriously rolls her eyes. "You've got a long name, Trafalgar, it gets tiring calling you by it all the time." She playfully retorts as she fiddles with the ring on her forefinger, it's something Law has also picked up on about her, she often does that when she's nervous or thoughtful. "Listen, about these...scars on my back--"
"It's not my business to spread around, Kyo-ya." The raven calmly voices, he knows damn well she was going to ask for his discretion, she made it perfectly clear that she didn't even want him to see them although he isn't sure why. "...I don't think they look that bad anyway."
"What?" Of course, Law doesn't answer to that, simply choosing to leave the med bay instead and leaving the girl completely stumped in the process.
Did I mishear him?