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It’d been weeks since Kid had gotten a decent night’s sleep, and now that he had the chance, he would’ve rather continued sleeping all through the day.
However, Law had other plans, dragging him out of bed before noon. And now he was forced to withstand listening to the Strawhats argue about whether their meal counted as breakfast or brunch.
“The first meal of the day is breakfast,” Luffy said, morsels of food flying out of his mouth.
Nami let out a long-suffering sigh. “No, no. If it’s after ten it counts as brunch.”
“Oi, but lots of restaurants start lunch service at eleven! Brunch takes longer than an hour,” Usopp jumped in to argue and Kid growled.
Regardless of the time of the day, it’d always be too early for this.
“Who the fuck cares?” Kid exploded.
Nami frowned at her spoon, now bent at a ninety-degree angle. “I suppose it doesn’t matter, as long as we have food.”
She aimed a soft look at Tama who was too busy shoving food in her mouth to notice.
“Exactly,” Kid said and reached for another cup of miso.
They didn’t resume the argument but that didn’t mean things quieted down. Kid did his best to tune out the noise and focus on his breakfast and the feel of Law’s knee pressed tightly against his. That was until Chopper’s high-pitched squeal pierced through his ears.
“Kiku! You should be in bed!
Kid lifted his gaze to see her smile warmly back at Chopper. “I feel much better today, Chopperemon. Thank you.”
“Don’t push yourself,” Nami said, offering her a bowl of her own.
“Yeah,” Zoro grunted. “You did good.”
Kiku turned to fill her bowl with food, but not before Kid caught a glimpse of the blush on her face. He narrowed his eyes and turned to Zoro, whose gaze was glued to Kiku’s back so intensely he didn’t notice the sausage threatening to fall off his chopsticks till it hit the ground.
Kid nudged Law in the side. “Did you see that?”
“Yes, fascinating,” he replied without lifting his eyes from the book he’d brought along.
Kid expected Kiku to head straight to Zoro but instead, she sat in the empty spot next to him.
“Good morning, I’m Kikunojo.”
Kid nodded at her. “Kid. I’ve seen you around.”
“I’m sorry for what Kaido did to you,” she said.
The sincerity in her voice didn’t lessen the sting of having to think about his defeat at Kaido’s hands, the time spent in prison, and everything that had happened to Killer because of Kid’s weakness.
“I’m sorry for what he did to you too,” he replied, glancing at what was left of her arm, now covered in bandages.
He’d meant it as a jab but he couldn’t deny being sorry, regardless. If somebody knew what she was going through it was him.
“Such losses are expected when one picks up a sword,” she said breezily.
She was acting unfazed by the loss, but he knew better; nobody could be. For a while, they ate in blessed silence before she turned back to him.
“Torao thinks I should speak to you.”
“Does he now? I thought he was the doctor.”
Kid turned to Law who finally closed his book with a sigh. “You know what it’s like, learning to live with the loss of a limb. Don’t you wish you’d had someone to talk to?”
Kid noted that Law was smart enough to pick his words carefully, instead of using disability or some other loaded word that would've given Kid an excuse to start an argument and stomp off in anger.
“I had you. And Killer.”
“You know what I mean. Someone with personal experience.”
Kid grit his teeth together. What was Law’s obsession with helping some stranger, especially when he knew how Kid felt about sharing personal stuff? Sure, he’d grown more used to his situation, even learned to accept it to a degree—at least thinking about being like this for the rest of his life no longer made him want to bawl. It still didn’t mean he wanted to lead a support group for people in the same situation.
Kiku was following their exchange keenly. “I apologize, I assumed you’d discussed this beforehand. I’ll be fine on my own.”
Although she did her best to appear brave, Kid noticed her smile wavering a bit and was reminded that she’d just lost her brother, not just her arm, and he couldn’t find it in himself to say anything cruel. She couldn’t be blamed for the situation, not when it was Law who had orchestrated it.
“It’s fine, Law’s just a bastard.”
“Says the man whose parents never married,” Law pointed out.
Kid leveled a warning glare at him—if there was a topic he was even less willing to talk about than his arm then it was his parentage and Law knew it. Law only blinked at him innocently and inclined his head towards Kiku.
“Fucking fine,” Kid sighed. “Anything specific you wanna know?”
“Do you feel like it has impacted your prowess in battle?” she asked without having to think about it.
It wasn’t exactly what he’d expected, but she was a warrior after all. He could respect someone whose first concern wasn’t about the aesthetics of the wound.
“Not really but it’s an adjustment. I don’t fight like you do though. Law would probably know better, or Zoro.”
At the mention of Zoro, Kiku’s eyes flickered towards him. “Oh. I’ll talk to Zorojuro later.”
“You could probably get a prosthetic if you wanted to, since your sword’s two-handed.”
“I don’t think I’m strong enough for one like yours,” Kiku admitted.
“Hah, there are other options,” Kid reassured her. "I've got more than the one you saw."
“Could you make one for me?” she asked.
“Me?” He hadn't exactly meant his suggestion as an offer for help, but Kiku seemed to think he'd already volunteered.
“You are surprisingly good at things like that,” Law said.
Kid narrowed his eyes at him. That had sounded suspiciously like a compliment.
“I expect it’ll be an adjustment, regardless. I keep forgetting it’s not there anymore,” Kiku sighed, rolling her shoulder and grimacing.
“Yeah, you better get used to that, it could get worse,” Kid said, earning a sharp look from Law. "What? I'm just being realistic."
Law shook his head and turned to Kiku. “Phantom pain is very common, but there are ways to ease it.”
“Just gotta find something that works for you,” Kid added.
“Something other than alcohol,” Law said, stabbing an apple slice.
“Hey, go tell that to Zoro, he’s the one having booze for breakfast. I’m all about massages and warm baths now."
Kiku tilted her head slightly. “That helps?”
“There are meds and other stuff. Usually gets better with time too,” Kid explained and then, since Law had volunteered him for this conversation, decided to add, “And if you’ve got any issues, you can always call Law. He takes helping people very seriously.”
“Yes, thank you, Eustass. I have researched the topic quite extensively,” Law snapped back.
"I appreciate it. Chopperemon has offered help as well but I think he may have his hands full with his crew," Kiku said as she shot a look towards where Luffy and Usopp were fighting over the last piece of bread.
"You can say that again," Kid huffed, which made Law snort. "What?"
"Nothing. Just remember to take it easy, your body's still healing, nothing good will come out of pushing yourself. I'm sure Eustass agrees."
"Yeah," Kid grunted without offering further elaboration.
This whole conversation was making him think about Shanks and turning the food in his mouth into sawdust. After his loss, he'd been too weak to stand on his own for weeks, too weak to bathe himself without drowning in the tub. And there had been too much time to wallow in self-pity during those endless pain-filled nights.
He placed his chopsticks on the table, fearing if he took one more bite he might throw it all back up.
"I'd love to see your prosthetic arm," Kiku interjected, placing her hand gently on Kid's as if sensing his gloomy mood, "if you don't mind."
It would be a welcome distraction and he couldn't deny he was quite proud of his creations. Plus, Kiku seemed genuinely interested, which was quite rare—he sometimes caught even Killer yawning at his explanations.
"I'd love to show you," he said loud enough for the others to hear and got up to lead the way, pretending he hadn't noticed Zoro snarling at him.
"You really have a death wish," Law commented as he joined them.
“You think?” Kid asked with a grin as he wrapped his arm around Kiku’s waist to steer her into the right direction.
He didn’t have to look over his shoulder to feel the killing intent pouring out from Zoro but the risk of him actually doing anything was small—it was just a bit of harmless fun.
Kiku didn’t seem to mind though, letting herself be escorted toward Kid’s workshop. And once they arrived, she inspected everything with palpable eagerness.
Kid turned to look at Law, leaning against the wall and absentmindedly rubbing at his arm right where one of his newest scars was. He’d tried hiding it till Kid had demanded to hear the details of how Law had come frighteningly close to permanently losing his arm as well.
“We should form a club, huh?”
Law offered him a bitter smile. “Thanks for indulging me.”
“Never could say no to you,” Kid said with a shrug before whipping out a measuring tape. “Better get to work.”