Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or anything related to it except for my OC and unrelated plots in this. I also do not own any pictures.

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Wounds healing up nicely, Shiki sat against the wall in the training room, staring at the apple in her left hand, her mind elsewhere while a blindfolded Law was meditating in the middle of the room, his face relaxed.

Watching as the apple rolled down from the palm of her hand and onto her lap, Shiki turned to the pile of rolled up socks that she had retrieved from the laundry room. It seemed nobody on board was bothered to ever visit the laundry room to pick up their clean clothes that she washed. 

She wondered if they ever change clothes.

Picking one up with her right hand, she turned back to Law, and threw the rolled up sock at the pirate captain, watching as Law tilted his head to avoid the projectile. 

She continued doing this as Law continued to successfully dodge.

It has been like this for the past few days during their training session. Since Shiki was well enough to walk, she was back to supervising Law's training, but only on the sidelines.

Instead of engaging with him in combat, she opt to throw things at him while he continued to enhance his haki.

As Law dodged another rolled up sock by leaning to his right, Shiki quickly grabbed two and swipe it at him.

Dodging one, Law didn't manage to dodge the other as it smacked him on the face.

A scowl appeared on his face as he pulled down his blindfold.

Whenever he was hit, the session would be over.

"Must you use socks to throw at me?" Law questioned, getting up from his spot.

Shiki looked up at him, "Next time, I'll be sure to use the guy's under-"

"Stop." Law deadpanned with a sweatdrop.

Shiki blinked. She didn't think Law wanted her to use his books to throw at him so she thought that socks were better. Plus, she was using clean socks so he wouldn't complain about it.

Heaving a sigh as she took a bite from her apple that she retrieved with her right, Shiki couldn't help but think that he was such a picky person.

Getting up, Shiki went to gather up all the socks she threw and left them by the door, every time she did, it always manage to disappear by the next training session. 

She guessed someone noticed and picked them up.

Finally.

"It should be time for lunch now." Shiki muttered as she left without looking at Law, but before she could, Law called out to her, making her pause in her step.

"Turn around." he ordered.

She did, her eyes staring at the ground but looked up when a pair of shoes entered her vision.

Law leaned closer, his face unreadable as he moved into her personal space. He couldn't help but smirk when she stepped back. Done with his teasing, he leaned back and walked pass her, "Let's head to lunch now."

Biting into her apple, Shiki frowned and followed after. Ever since Law kissed her, he's been crossing into her personal space much more than usual and only leaving an inch between before she leaned back.

What an insufferable game he found.

The crunch of an apple and two pairs of footsteps echoed against the metal walls of the submarine.

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Near the end of lunch almost everyone left with only Kyle who was watching Shiki staying behind to gather the dishes while Leo and Ren wash up.

If someone were to look at Kyle, anybody could tell that he was conflicted with something.

Kyle watched as Shiki piled plates and utensils on her right and decided to leave at that point.

But just as he was about to leave, he gave one last glance to the woman and stopped, his hazel eyes slightly widening when Shiki picked up with her left, only for it to slip from her fingers.

Crash!

"What happened?!" Ren ran out, suds littering his hands and dripping to the ground.

"Shiki, you okay?!" Leo asked, also running out.

Shiki stared at her left hand before looking at the shattered plate on the ground, "... My hand slipped." was all she said as Ren took the plates from her right hand while Leo checked if she had any injuries. 

Once he found no cuts or scrapes, he sighed out of relief before frowning, "You should be more careful." 

"Well at least she's fine." Ren called out from the kitchen,  "Hey, Kyle, can you clean up the mess?" he yelled out.

Shiki slowly looked up as Kyle retrieved a dust pan and broom from the kitchen corner to sweep up the mess, not once uttering a word.

This was noticeable to everyone and even Shiki. Ever since she woke up from the last island, Kyle was quiet around the woman, not once yelling at her, grumbling or even scowl at her.

The guys didn't know if this was a good thing or not while Shiki didn't mind.

"Shiki, are you tired? Maybe you should go rest." Leo suggested.

Nodding her head, she quietly headed out the gallery.

She wasn't tired at all.

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A quick detour to the Control Room, Shiki popped her head inside to see that Bepo was looking over some maps while Jambarl was at the wheel.

Just a couple of days ago, she received a call from Reika, telling her which island she was on. During the call, Shiki could tell that her friend was tired and wondered if she was getting any rest at all. Reika had quickly hung up before Shiki could get a word in.

Walking in, Bepo snapped his head up with perked ears, "Shiki-chan, do you need something?" he asked politely while Jambarl took a glance from the corner of his eyes before looking forward.

Standing next to the bear, Shiki peered at the map while leaning her head against the polar bear's arm, "We haven't surfaced in a while and I was wondering when the next island is." she admitted, staring at the poorly hand drawn map with some small and big islands.

Bepo pointed a paw towards one of the many small island on the map, "We should be arriving to this Conjoir Island soon, if we keep going at this rate, we'll reach there within three hours." the bear explained.

Taking this in, Shiki nodded and muttered a 'thanks' before quickly leaving the room to look for Law.

She needed to ask him a favor.

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Entering the captain's room after receiving a curt 'Come in', Shiki saw that Law was at his desk, reading a book that was most probably had something to do with the medical field.

"Law, can I borrow my heart back for a while?" Shiki asked, getting straight to the point.

Blinking, Law raised a brow and placed his book down, "What brings this up?" he questioned, turning around.

"Reassurance." Shiki started and continued before Law could ask anymore, "Reika is on the next island we're heading towards."

Letting out a hum, Law stood up from his chair and walked towards her, coming to a stop when he was about a foot away. A sly grin appeared as he leaned his head down towards her, "Of course, but you'll have to pay."

"I have to pay for my own heart?" she raised an incredulous brow at that. She only needed it for a short while, she was going to give it back when she was done with it.

"Yes, it's my property after all since you don't seem that enthusiastic in having a heart in your body." he chuckle, the sound so smooth that Shiki didn't mind listening to it for a while longer.

Snapping herself out of that thought, Shiki reminded herself the main focus.

Yes, she had to pay to get her heart back.

Digging into the pocket on her coat for her money pouch, she took it out and peered into it. Shiki stared at the few coins with a frown. With all that shopping she did with Reika, she didn't realize how much she had used.

Maybe she should look for a job...

A chuckle brought her out of her thinking as a tanned tattooed finger hooked itself on her chin, raising her head up to stare into a pair of steel eyes filled with amusement.

"Not that type of payment." amusement clear in his voice as well.

Furrowing her brows in confusion, Shiki tried to think of what other payments there are before blinking. A marker and paper magically appeared in her hands as she began to write, causing Law to become curious as to what she was writing as he tried to look.

Before he knew it, Shiki handed him the piece of paper. Flipping it around, the letters 'I.O.U' stare right back at him. He stare blankly at it before sweatdropping when he notice at the corner of the paper was '*No sexual acts allowed." written in tiny black letters.

"That's also not what I meant." Law stated, yet he slipped the paper in his back pocket.

Raising a brow at Law's picky nature, Shiki opened her mouth once more but was interrupted before she could.

"A kiss for your heart." the pirate captain smirked, his steel eyes glinting with mirth.

Shiki fell speechless, blinking as she try to form words. Opening and closing her mouth while Law watched amused.

Deciding she was taking too long, he leaned in closer, his fingers coming up to tuck her hair behind her ear as he let his lips brush against the shell of her ear, "What do you say, Shiki-ya?" he asked with a low and deep voice.

Shutting her eyes as Law began leaving chaste kisses on her ear, Shiki shivered and raised a hand to cover her assaulted ear, giving a small glare at Law, "Stop that." she frowned. 

This, Shiki was sure, was sexual harassment, yet if she were to attack the captain, it would mean mutiny, plus, the subordinate was suppose to please the captain and his orders...

The pirate life was a confusing one for Shiki.

Law grinned, "Do you really want me to?" he was enjoying the reaction he was getting out from her.

"Yes. If you want to satisfy your needs, we will be approaching an island within three hours." she stated, taking a step back from him, looking away from him, "I really don't want to be involve in such an act."

His grin was swiped off with a frown, "And what act is that?" he demanded, encircling his arms around her waist and pulling her closer, letting one hand caress her side fringe to reveal her hidden eye.

"Aren't you just feeling lust at the moment." Shiki stated more than asked, "It has been a while since we last seen land." 

Pressing his forehead gently against her, Law let the thought sink in, "Don't you believe in the concept of romance, Shiki-ya?" he questioned with a raised brow. He himself wasn't a fan of romance or was even bothered with it. In fact, he wasn't even sure he was in love or not. What he did know was that he felt bothered if someone else were to take Shiki away from him.

"No." she replied bluntly, "I don't believe in romance but I do think it's a nice fantasy to have." her golden eyes staring at steel ones, "Lust can be mistakenly be seen as romance so I suggest leaving me out of this."

Sighing, Law closed his eyes as he thought about what Shiki had said.

"Also, I said no in the first place." she reminded with a huff.

Opening his eyes with such intensity, Shiki couldn't look away, "And I also said that I was serious about this."

Ducking her head, Shiki leaned her face against Law's chest, hiding her face, "Stubborn man." she muffled from the fabric.

Chuckling, Law stroke her head, burying his nose in the vanilla scented head, "So what are you going to do? A kiss for your heart." he reminded, the whole point that Shiki came here until they got side tracked.

Enjoying his hand in her hair, Shiki continued to rest her head against his chest while he ran his fingers through her hair. In the mean time, she thought about the condition to get her heart, thinking it through carefully, "... A kiss... for my heart... right?"

He stopped his ministration and narrowed his eyes, however, he knew how to handle this and was not someone to get fooled twice, "On the lips, of course." he clarified, a sly smirk forming when he heard her click her tongue at him cutting off any loopholes she found.

There was a minute of silence before Shiki slowly looked up, her lips pressed tightly together, almost like a pout, "Fine." she relented. 

She really needed her heart.

Grinning Law closed the remaining distance between their lips and marveled at the refreshingly soft cold lips against his warm ones. He tilted his head to deepened the kiss, trying to get her to join in as well.

He pulled back when he noticed that Shiki wasn't breathing but smirked when she was breathing deeply to regain her breath and best of all, the red blush on her cheeks that matched the red on the apples she would snack on.

Cupping her chin, he angled her head and leaned forward, his mouth parting, teeth showing and...

Shiki's eyes widened as Law pulled back, licking his lips with a satisfied smirk.

"I couldn't resist." was all he said.

She took a few steps back as she rubbed at her stinging cheek where Law had bit her, thrusting her hand out, palm open, "Heart." she demanded with a scowl.

Law chuckled and went to retrieve the thudding organ.

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Perch on top of the highest building of Conjoir Island where information, texts and books are their main source of entertainment, Reika stared below where many civilized people walked in Victorian time clothing, going on about with their business with happy smiles on their faces. 

Blinking tiredly, Reika leaned her heavy head against her palm, letting out a yawn every once in a while.

She needed to distract her mind for a while as she scanned the town for any form of distraction

Spotting a pub from a distance near the docks, Reika stood up, the breeze around her providing little comfort. Letting herself fall forward with closed eyes and spread arms, the zoan user let gravity do its job.

Half down in her free fall, her arms morphed into magnificent indigo wings, her legs turning into talons and ruby eyes sharper than ever shot open. With a flap of her wings, she stopped herself in mid fall, stopping her hair that was wildly whipping around. and flew right back up, further above the building and into the clear sky where her shadow reflected down below on the pavement. The people below didn't seem to notice the shadow or just didn't care to look up.

Flapping her wings, she headed towards her destination. She really needed a drink.

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As soon as they landed, Shiki quickly took out Reika's Vivre card and followed it.

She had already gotten permission from Law before they arrived and was quickly heading to where her friend was... With Law, Bepo and Leo following from a few distance...

Avoiding clashing into any civilians, Shiki stopped near rows of tall buildings, snapping her head up when she was able to sense the familiar aura.

 "Is there any reason why you have to come along, Law?" Shiki questioned, singling out from the group once they were near.  

"No particular reason." he shrugged with a smirk, coming to stand beside her while Bepo and Leo behind him gave an unsure glance at each other.

Pocketing the vivre card into her coat pocket, Shiki was about to head towards the pub but paused as a large man was sent flying through the double doors that had windows in them-now shattered.

The civilians outside screamed and quickly scrambled away, not wanting to be involve in a brawl while others stayed to watch in interest.

But it didn't matter as the large man was knocked out cold.

"You keep on pestering me even when I say no. This is why men are so fucking annoying." a familiar feminine voice. The female stepped over the ruins of the door with a pissed off expression on her face as she stepped into the light.

"Reika-san?!" Leo shouted out of surprise. This caused the red head to turn her head towards the Heart Pirates, making her change direction towards her newest victims.

Or more specifically, Shiki.

Shiki subtly gulped, preparing herself as her frowning friend was walking towards them.

And she was fast approaching.

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Hey everybody! I'm back from slow mental torture! Exam month is over, celebrated my birthday yesterday, well rested! Tried writing and feels like almost all my creative juices were sucked out from too much studying, haha ~(;u;)/

Thank you for being patient with me so I decided to write a long chapter, hope you enjoyed it.