Chapter One: Opposite Poles

The night was deep but the night was young. The moon was bright but just not quite right. It was always busy but quiet and dull and empty but still so full. Such was the life of beings that prowl in the darkness. Or at least that's what he thought.

He was perched on the roof, hidden under the shadow of the chimney next to him. He thought he looked like a grasshopper or a very confused spider maybe, with his knees folded up, caging his small and slender body that was curved as he held onto the ridge with his hands between his feet. For some reason, he could feel some uncomfortable twitching from the scar under his left eye. It did that sometimes. He chose to ignore it today. The streets of Dressrosa had better things to offer Monkey D. Luffy than his mediocre scar.

He'd just finished hunting. He'd had… three men, three women. Or was that four men, three women? Whatever. He had rushed his feeding because he was too eager to get back to his newfound hobby.

Stalking.

Well, his target wasn't here yet, but he'd be here soon enough. Luffy had his evening routine memorized by now. This man was a creature of habit.

This… Trafalgar Law.

Raven hair, an almost permanent scowl, dark rings under his eyes, and two gold rings on either ear. If he had tattoos, he'd be labelled a delinquent at first sight. But he wasn't. In fact, Trafalgar Law was a student assistant at the university where he's attending medical school. Kind of.

"If Mrs. Giolla yells my full name in the hallway again, I might maim her with a typewriter." Law sighed, hands in his coat pockets as he walked with two friends with horrible choice of headwear. To his left, Shachi wore what looked like an oversized newsboy cap while Penguin, oh, where should Law even begin with Penguin's billed hat with side flaps?

"Dude," Penguin laughed from the right, looking at his phone for a bit, and sliding it back in his pocket, "You should be glad your name is Trafalgar Law. Would be worse if your name's Dick Sexman or something."

"More like where are you even going to get a typewriter?" Shachi muttered, his head turning to follow a girl wearing a short dress as he continued walking.

"It's a figure of speech, dickhead." Penguin looked at what Shachi was gaping at. Law leaned back a bit to make way for Penguin's arm as he reached so he could yank on Shachi's hair. "Law meant he wanted to maim Mrs. Giolla but since he mentioned an obsolete typewriter in his sentence, it meant "he can't do it". Get it?"

Penguin gestured double quotes with his fingers in the air as Shachi rubbed the back of his head, muttering something too low for any of them to hear.

"The library has one." Law shrugged just to point out that there was a typewriter and that he indeed was just this fucking close to using it as a weapon. For self-defense, of course. Against… noise pollution. But then the mention of the library reminded Law of more work and he's just had enough of it for now.

It was times like those that Law understood how college students turned to smoking. Stress and stupidity. But the idea of lung cancer was more frightful so Law preferred manning up, if one could call it that. He was just thankful he hadn't been enrolling his full load of units for the past few years because if he had to deal with medical school while working, he'd end up being a serial killer. The last thing he needed during these times was a legitimate reason to carry around a scalpel.

"So why can't we come with you to the cafe again?" Shachi fixed his hat and pulled on the strap of his bag.

"Because I'm going there today to quietly get coffee and you're going to ruin it by ogling Nami." Law replied, pulling on Penguin so he doesn't walk into a fire hydrant because he was digging for something in his cross sling bag. Sometimes, he thought these two would die without him.

"We're just trying to be friends." Shachi pouted.

"Yeah, it's not like we're catcalling her or being disrespectful." Penguin was now opening a small box of pretzels, "We're just honestly appreciating that she's a real beauty."

"I don't care." Law shook his head as Penguin offered him the open box, "I don't feel like dealing with your appreciation today."

"Oh, it looks like it's Trafalgar Law leave-me-alone day." Shachi said casually, sticking his hand in the box before Penguin even offered, "Sometimes, it feels like you have a period or something, you know what I mean?"

"I don't know what you mean because I'm not an idiot like you." Law slapped the back of Shachi's head, causing him to drop a pretzel to which Penguin laughed as they stopped at a pedestrian crossing.

"Are you sure we can't come with you?" Shachi was chewing as he spoke.

"Leave me alone."

"Aww, don't we get a hug before we go?" Penguin titled his head, extending his arms at Law in invitation to which his friend responded by flipping a middle finger. Both Penguin and Shachi laughed and waved.

"Yeah, fuck the both of you." Law nodded as he took one step to join the wave of people crossing the street, "Try not to die so I can see you tomorrow!"

"Okay! Bye, Dick Sexman!"

What was taking him so long?

Luffy leaned forward eagerly yet impatiently, eyes turning into a bright shade of grey, which was ridiculous because grey was dull, never brilliant. And grey didn't like light, but it looked good in the dimness of shadows where he watched humans walk and stand and go about their business. They couldn't see him. Or at least most of them can't. It was thanks to the buildings and rooftops and activity down there. It was also thanks to humans' common lack of sixth sense.

Tonight, the wind was cold but somewhat dry, not that he cared because if he did, maybe he'd wear a shirt. But, well, short blue trousers and a yellow sash to keep it in place was enough. Besides, who needed shirts if he had cool tattoos? He had swirls and spikes and flame-like symbols all over his torso and down towards his arms, his hands, and fingers. His brothers thought his tattoos looked like hearts that made him look like a sissy but fuck them. He had the letters of DEATH on each of his fingers just so they knew he wasn't shitting around. Ace and Sabo could go fuck themselves.

So who cared about shirts? Who cared about footwear even?

Oh, maybe he did. He's here.

Luffy's grey eyes grew wide eagerly. There were several people on that side-walk but there was no way he was going to miss that raven-haired man in a coat walking towards a coffee shop. Luffy wouldn't miss his presence even with his eyes closed.

Trafalgar Law smelled so nice.

"Oh, heeeeeey, Law!"

The singing of the door chimes had not died down and the noise from the busy streets were still seeping into the coffee shop when a cheerful female voice greeted him from across the room. It was late in the evening already and today, there weren't as many people compared to mornings and afternoons. The Spirale was one of the rare ones that were open up to the wee hours in the morning during weekends and selected weekdays.

"Hello, Nami." Law tried smiling for the sake of being polite.

"You're not with your friends?" She blinked, looking behind him to check if he was with anyone else as she walked around a table, "Shachi and Penguin?"

"No, they have things to do."

Law was not about to explain that he drove them off because he wanted "alone time". Not everyone understood what "alone time" meant and Law was definitely not in the mood to get into a discussion about it.

"Ah, well, college boys sure are busy!" She waved, dismissing the topic, "It isn't for me. College, I mean. I don't know, the stress might make me want to claw people's eyes out." She made a scratching gesture with her hand.

Law laughed a little because he totally understood what that meant. Yes, he allowed himself a little socialization from time-to-time and topics about removing people's body parts wasn't an unwelcome topic.

"Nami." a male voice reprimanded and Law looked up to see a green-haired man walking with a tray under his arm, "Keep it down. You know Law doesn't like being bombarded with such loud greetings."

"Zoro." Law nodded and Zoro just nodded back, his one good eye squinting a bit before turning back to Nami.

"And this is a coffee shop." Zoro was a bit scarier. Maybe the long scar on his left eye was helping to make him a bit more intimidating, "You're not supposed to be chirpy."

"Oh, boo-hoo." Nami put her hands on her waist, the short fluffy skirt of her maid-waitress uniform (Law didn't know what it was) bouncing with her bosoms with every step towards Law, "I was just showing him I'm happy he's here." She leaned towards him, her breasts almost popping out of her ruffled blouse, "And that he's always welcome." Nami looked up and smiled, "Right, Law?"

"Yeah, I guess." Law shrugged. Of course, he was welcome. He was a paying customer.

"You mean his generous tips are welcome, you money-grubbing—!"

And just like that, Nami proceeded to kick Zoro in the shin without losing an inch of glee across her face. The man managed to cover his mouth in time before he groaned too loudly, glaring at Nami.

"Sanji, Zoro's giving me a mouthful again!" Nami pouted, pushing herself off Law and moving her head so her high ponytail swished gracefully.

"Zoro, I told you to be nice to Nami-swan. She's a lady." A man with blonde hair covering half of his face came out from a door behind the counter, "Oh. Hi, Law!"

The green-haired man grumbled something Law decided not to pay attention to. Something about witches and gold-diggers and curly eyebrows on this motherfucking barista.

"Sanji." Law nodded the same way he did with Zoro as he walked over to his usual spot at the corner of the coffee shop. Nami trotted a few paces in front of him so she could remove the reservation sign on Law's coffee table. It was nothing more but a piece of folded card with the word "RESERVED!" scribbled in thick black ink. The cafe didn't really cater to people reserving seats and Law didn't really ask for this, but somehow, Nami made sure he had a good seat whenever he came over. It might have been how he tips, sure, but that only meant he's getting value for his money, right?

"So." Nami watched him remove his coat on his own and place it on the back of the chair. He'd frequented this place long enough for the staff to know he didn't like getting touched and that he didn't like having his belongings more than a meter away from him, "You want anything new or just the usual?"

"The usual." Law leaned back on the red chair, "Thanks, Nami."

"Always welcome, hun." She smiled and turned at her heels, trotting towards the counter to get Law his order. Law absolutely loved Sanji's cafe mainly because they were attentive to the kind of service their customers wanted. With Law, they were nice, but not touchy. As upbeat as Nami was, she was careful of Law's personal space and didn't interact more than what he was comfortable with. Also, Sanji knew exactly how Law wanted his coffee. And that he hated bread. If men had mortal enemies in the form of food, bread would be Law's. Hands down. And coffee would be his best friend. Maybe.

What do you taste like, Law? What would you taste like?

A voice in his head. A breath against his ear.

"What the fuck?" Law pushed himself from the chair, fidgeting but not getting up as he looked around. His hand had flown to his ear immediately because he definitely, definitely felt a cold whisper against his skin. Law looked outside almost out of instinct, but found no one there. Zoro shot him a glance from the other table as if quietly asking if everything was alright. And it was, wasn't it? Law started feeling his pockets for his phone as if to make it appear that he had suddenly remembered something before people started to think he was going crazy.

He was imagining things. He had been imagining things the past two weeks because maybe it's been so stressful. Maybe his work as a student assistant in the university was taking it's toll on him. Mrs. Giolla was being an absolute bitch in the art department recently. Her moody attitude was something that came and went but it just coincided with the shit he had to about cataloging the library's book collection. And the paperwork, oh god. The reports he had to write—yes, student assistant—haunted his dreams. Maybe he needed a break. Yeah. There was no voice in his head. There was no cold breath in his ear. There were no shadows from the corner of his eye. There were no eyes following him.

It was just stress and imagination working together.

Maybe.

Law's phone started vibrating thanks to a call. Yeah, just what he needed to get his mind off things.

"Hello, Cora-san?"

Luffy couldn't see his human from this distance because he didn't like sitting near the windows, but Luffy could still feel him there. He's talking. On the phone. Cora-san? Who was that again? Ah, he'd forgotten. He could faintly hear Law's voice despite being across the street where he tuned out all the other noises around him. He liked how the man's voice sounded. Low and smooth and manly and nice. And husky? And sexy. Ah, the things he'd like that voice to whisper and pant and oh, oh, moan.

Luffy licked his lips.

"Luffy." An approaching male voice made the boy twitch, snapping out from his daydream of images of a naked Law lying on the floor. Behind him, two men—one with blonde hair, another with black—landed with ease. His brothers chose the wrong time to find him, but no matter. He could always go back to his musings later when he was alone.

"Oh, wow, Ace." Luffy looked at one of his older brothers who was wearing black pair of shorts with large pockets, "You're not naked. Congratulations!"

"He made me wear these." Ace nodded, his pointy tail swishing back and forth at Sabo who was wearing a goddamn black suit of all things complete with leather shoes. Well, Sabo being a mischievous jinn probably contributed to his constant desire to look proper and different all the time.

"Good job, Sabo!" Luffy lifted his hand and his blonde older brother gave him a loud high-five.

"Haha, very funny, you two." Ace frowned and Luffy thought his freckles looked like constellations when he did that, "I don't understand the need for clothes. Like who the fuck cares if a demon like me wears clothes? Who the fuck sees me?"

"The rest of us other creatures, asshole." Sabo slapped the back of Ace's head, "I'm not inclined to enjoy seeing your balls dangling between your legs."

"Oh, but you and your little human girl Koala—"

"You're following him again?" Sabo cut off his older brother as he looked at Luffy who was still squatting on the ridge, feeling a bit sorry that Ace was the only one who had a tail among the three of them, "Still? You've been at this for... two weeks now."

"Two weeks is playing with your food too long." Ace stretched and sat beside Luffy and Sabo did the same beside Ace as all three of them looked at the coffee shop below.

"I've fed already." Luffy murmured, trying to focus his attention on Law. He wasn't lying. He had fed quickly earlier so he could resume his stalking, which seemed to have evolved to be the most important and interesting activity of his waking hours.

"So? Consume him tomorrow." Ace said, picking his nose.

Luffy shrugged.

"What, you're never going to feed on him?" Sabo asked, turning to Luffy who just shrugged again, "Luffy?"

"No. I just… He's... I don't know… Not ripe yet."

"Not what yet?" Ace raised an eyebrow, a finger still up in his nose as he looked at Luffy then at Sabo who shrugged before looking back at the youngest, "Humans don't ripen, Luffy. Did you fucking hit your head wrong or something?"

"I'm fi—Hey, fuck, Ace, no!" Luffy was quick to scamper back from Ace's hand that was reaching out for him because he picked his damn nose with it and eww, gross. "I don't want to feed on him yet! I just like watching him for now!"

"Get a front seat then." Ace leaned back on his palms, legs outstretched on the roof, "Why are you watching all the way from here?" Ace then looked at his finger and wiped it on the ridge. Luffy made a mental note not to touch that spot.

"Yeah, why not sit next to him and practically smell him." Sabo wiggled his eyebrows as he looked at the coffee shop. And, yeah, Luffy would actually love to smell Law up close. He did that once. He pressed his nose against Law's cheek and breathed in for so long, he almost just sank his teeth into Law's neck had the man not gotten up in a surprised hurry. At first, Luffy thought Law saw him or knew he was there judging by how he just recoiled in the opposite direction, but then he hurried out of the library and straight to the washroom so… maybe he just needed to pee so badly. Still, Luffy didn't want to take chances.

"You could also set the ends of his hair on fire." Ace snickered. Luffy glared at him. His brother held his hands up in defense and silent sarcastic apology.

"Can he see you?" Sabo turned to Luffy and then back at the coffee shop, "Is he that kind of human?"

"He kind of feels me, I guess." Luffy replied thoughtfully, recalling how he'd followed this man around for two weeks. He knew where he lived, the places he frequented, and he knew the basics of Law's schedule. Except during days and times with glaring sunlight, of course, because Luffy hated sunlight. Well, not really hated. Sunlight was actually nice if only he didn't fucking scorch his demon skin. It hurt. Not enough to kill him instantly, but god damn, it hurt. He knew because had tried enduring it to stalk Law a bit more and the sunlight caught him and fricken-crickety-crickets, the pain. Vampires had it worse, though. They practically ignited with enough exposure to sunlight. Poor little fuckers.

"He feels you." That was Sabo again, "But can't see you."

"Yeah, fuck it." Ace was gesturing something, "Fly down there and cling onto him. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I might not be able to hold myself back if I move closer."

Honestly, Luffy wasn't sure if Law could feel him or see him. He had become too keen about anything that had something to do with Law that Luffy thought he might be a tad bit paranoid about the man's sense or lackthereof. But still, he'd rather play it safe.

"You care too much for a parasitic creature, you know that?" Ace snorted, but the boy just licked his lips again.

"He's not ripe yet."

"Okay, what in the fucking hell does a ripe human even look like, Luffy?" Ace shouldered Luffy and the younger brother pushed him away, "What does a ripe human look like!?"

"I don't know!" Luffy pushed Ace further so that he was pressed against Sabo who was trying to get his balance back while pushing against Ace, "I just know he isn't ripe yet!"

"No one knows when he'll be ripe yet, you fart!" Ace leaned back against Sabo who elbowed him in the side. The freckled demon groaned loudly, jerking in surprise as he kicked his blonde brother in the leg as retribution.

The sound of the chimes from the coffee shop made Luffy snap back to attention, getting up as he tried to pick up on whether or not Law had come out already. And then there he was, earphones on and coffee in one hand as he waved to the cafe's staff. Nami was seeing him out happily, too.

"I have to go." Luffy waved at his brothers who were still trying to push each other off the roof, "You go on home without me!"

Ace yelled something at him that he didn't quite catch and didn't really care about. He was too busy stalking his prey all the way from the rooftops. There was no one like this man in Dressrosa or ever in Luffy's long-lived life. He smelled so, so nice it was almost like a hypnotic spell. Law strode across the sidewalk, talking to whoever-the-hell on the phone, leaning to the right to avoid three chatting girls only to bump into a taller man. Luffy frowned. Law took a step back, recoiling a bit as he held his arm out to keep his coffee from spilling just in case. Luffy glared at the stranger.

Fuck you, watch where you're going. What if you scratch his face? I will butcher you!

Luffy watched his beautiful human apologize discreetly before going on his way. The taller man stood there for a while and watched Law walk away before shooting Luffy a sharp glare all the way from the sidewalk.

Oh? Oh, really?

Arrogant little shit!

It wasn't all surprising to Luffy, honestly, because first of all, this "man" wasn't really a "man". He was a lesser vampire from what Luffy could gather with his senses. He had no heartbeat, was cold, and had no life trace whatsoever. He smelled like undead, too. And that brought up the next issue.

This vampire could also smell Law.

So on a normal night, he wouldn't give a damn about fodder like him. But tonight, this dumbass had decided he didn't love himself as soon as he decided to turn on his heels and follow Law.

Tss. No matter. He wasn't the only fucker Luffy's met that was asking to be murdered.

"No. No, it's fine, Cora-san." Law adjusted the bud in his left ear as he took a sip from his coffee, "It's no big deal if Doffy can't—fine, uncle—It's not a problem if that uncle can't. I don't ca—!"

Law stopped at his tracks. There it was again. He could feel eyes behind him. Several pairs, this time. He's not sure how he could tell but he could basically feel the staring making his skin crawl. Law turned around slowly, seeing other people walking, stopping, crossing the street, talking—minding their own business. If anyone was looking suspicious along this sidewalk, it would be Law. Really, he'd love to tell himself not to mind the creepy vibe he got from time-to-time because it was not logical. But the weight of it was so heavy, harsh, frightful, and constricting. It felt like someone was grabbing his limbs before going for his neck. It was creepy how he could almost see hands and... fangs. Bloody, vicious fangs. What the hell?

"Law?" His uncle's voice sounded a bit worried, "Law, are you still there? Is everything alright?"

"Oh. Oh, yeah, everything's fine." Law said, sipping his coffee again, gripping the cup harder as he went on his way, "Walking home. Didn't bring my car. Can I just call you when I get home? Yeah. Okay, cool."

He felt his fingers tremble as he removed the earbuds and tucked it into his coat pocket.

He really needed a holiday.

He lost him. Luffy lost him. Luffy lost track of a god damned lesser vampire. Not only that, he also lost Law. Well, Luffy could find him but, seriously, he was outpaced by a lesser vampire. Fucking humiliating. Ace would have a field day poking fun at him for this.

Urgh, Luffy's plan was to mince the low-life before he got to Law at all like how he did to the others who wanted to pounce on his human. But the pest probably slithered into the alley cracks or something like some sort of sewer rat. Whatever. Luffy would get him later. What's important right now is that he found Law because if that conceited idiot found his human first—Luffy cracked his knuckles and disappeared into the dark alley.

Law was stupid. Absolutely stupid. He'd made up his mind that everything was just his imagination, right? He was just stressed and needed a break. The lack of sleep was giving him paranoia. He was kind of a medical student so he was supposed to know what sleep did to the body so why the hell did he end up taking winded detours in weird alleys? To lose his pursuer? What pursuer? There was no pursuer! There was—

"Ow!"

Law was walking too briskly that he almost fell on his bottom upon bumping into a person that was sturdy enough to have been a wall. His coffee wasn't so lucky, though, as it flew into the air, contents spilling mid-flight before it bounced on the pavement, the faint echo of cardboard against stone reminding Law of desperation for some reason. He shook his head a bit, trying to reorient himself. He wasn't sure if the collision was that strong or if his head had been going in too many paranoid maze-loops for the past few minutes that he couldn't even figure out what's here and now.

"Ah." Law rubbed his temple, "Sorry about that. I'm—"

"Law, right?"

Law looked up.

It was the man he had bumped into earlier.

"Excuse me?"

"Your name." The man said lowly before pointing to something on the floor, "That's your name on the cup, right?"

Law blinked for a while and looked behind him, his eyes following the trail of spilled coffee towards the paper cup that was rolling into the dark. Did it have his name on it? Did it—

"GAAGH!"

The heavy, rough fingers on his neck told Law it didn't matter. His vision swayed like thunder hit his brain as he felt himself crashing into something—garbage, crates, a wall, he wasn't sure. He couldn't even tell if he was standing up or lying down or inclined or knotted like a pretzel. His legs were kicking, but his feet weren't touching the ground. He tried to wriggle free, but his movements were heavily restricted. He thought he heard a cracking sound followed by pain from his right side and oh, dear god, was his shoulder dislocated? Broken? Gone?

"Ggghk!"

Air suddenly gushed out of Law's lungs. He wasn't sure why and maybe that didn't matter either because now there was a large hand clamped over his jaw. Was his skull getting crushed?

"Mmmfff!"

Something heavy slammed against Law's chest and his body tried to yell in pain, but that seemed futile, too. It was only at this point did Law's eyes actually reconnect with his brain so that he could process the image of the older man in front of him, holding him by the jaw with one large hand with pinning him to the wall with his own massive body. He had blonde hair, tanned skin, a square jaw, and a crescent scar on the left side of his face. He was sure those wide eyes with bright, angry red irises that stared right into Law's soul definitely saw fear and panic. Why else would it—"it" because this wasn't a man, obviously—smile widely and hungrily, baring fangs.

Fangs!

Holy fucking—!

"Fuuuuck yooooouuu!" It was a different voice, a younger voice, sounding like a delinquent Tarzan swinging from vines and Law wanted to kick himself for having stupid imaginary shit in the middle of a crisis.

And then suddenly there was a crash and then the man's body was gone, tumbling to one side like a badly made human bowling ball knocking over trash cans and boxes and bottles and whatnot before he was stopped by a dead lamp post. Law fell to one side as the thick fingers tried to hang on to his jaw and drag him along, but something grabbed Law by his torso and quickly drew him away from the horrible monster that wanted to eat him.

"Not in the pretty face, you asshole!"

"What the hell…" Law's head hurt. Actually, Law hurt. Everything about him was either too confused or too pained to function. There were small, slender, but seemingly strong arms holding onto him and then putting him down on the pavement so he could sit awkwardly. And awkward was better than decapitated any day.

The contents of his coat had scattered everywhere. Those were probably his coins and that was definitely his pen. From a distance, he could see his phone's screen lit up. Where was his wallet? Thank goodness he wasn't with Penguin and Shachi or he'd have more shit to worry about aside from himself and his belongings.

A loud bang made Law fidget and his body's immediate reaction was to get up and run, but given the state of his physical and mental condition, all he could do was scamper backwards uselessly. The big man had just roughly emerged from the pile of junk he had crashed into earlier and was now growling at Law's direction, but not at Law. And it was only then that he actually noticed that the new creature—he didn't want to assume this new guy was human—that joined in was a boy that looked no older than twenty. He was shirtless and barefoot, wearing short blue trousers with a bright yellow belt sash. Law was momentarily distracted by the swirl of ink on his back and arms until big guy growled loud enough to make Law yelp.

"It's cool. Stay behind me."

The boy's hand reached for Law to check if he was still there and then fucking hissed like an angry tiger at the big man-monster-creature. "Cool" wasn't exactly the word to describe the situation, but everything had lost it's meaning for Law. The words "normal" and "real" were the first to throw themselves to oblivion. Nothing was real. Nothing was proper. And this had to be fucking Narnia alley or else!

"What does a demon want with my prey?"

The big guy spoke first, his large tongue sticking out distastefully and Law couldn't remember if that was the same voice he had when he spoke to him about his name earlier.

"Don't play dumb." The boy next to him growled back, lowering his stance so he could jump any time, "You know I was stalking him first."

Okay, what? So this kid wasn't on his side either? Great, so Law was in a dark alley with two violent creatures that were fighting over who gets to eat him. "Stay behind me"? Big fat nope!

Law scampered further back, trying to get up so he could run as fast as his wobbly legs could take him. A good plan in theory if only his legs had enough strength to support him. All he managed to do was get up slightly and stumble backwards, causing the smaller monster to look at him, "Law!"

Why the fuck did these abominations know his name!?

"Law, I told you to—!"

Just before Law could hear the rest of that sentence, a buzzing noise caught his attention and in an instant, he was staring back into red ferocious irises of the bigger creature from the heap of trash. What? When did he move? Law opened his mouth to shout but the horrific face was gone like a blur in a fraction of a second.

What happened? What happened? What was happening!?

The younger creature with fangs seemed to have tossed the bigger one. The dead lamp post shook from the impact of the large body that rammed into it, denting it this time. Law wanted to crawl further back but his body wasn't responding anymore. Maybe he deserved an award for not having soiled his pants in the middle of this fiasco. And then the boy turned to him, irises red, fangs prominent, and eyebrows knotted with an exasperated expression and sighed, "Baby, please."

Baby who? Please what?

Pet names and requests obviously had to take a back seat compared to the large trash bin that was now about to crash on them.

"Holy shit!"

"Urgh. Stupid vampire…!" Was what Law thought he heard last from the boy before he held out his fist to effortlessly send the trash bin back to where it came from. It hit the large monster right in the face with a bang loud enough to make Law wince as the huge creature fell back, back hitting the pavement and disturbing more trash that Law couldn't properly see in the dark.

The smaller monster-in-human-visage next to Law turned to his larger bestial enemy and growled, "Look, I don't want to kill in front of him so I'm giving you the chance to leave now."

The larger man was slowly getting up, a generous river of blood flowing from an open gash on his head. He wasn't looking any fazed, but he was obviously less intimidating.

"But if I ever see you again, I swear, I'm going to tear you apart."

The man glared beyond a veil of red.

"Now, go."

There were a few moments of awkward silence and then some more growling.

Was there going to be a round two?

"I said go!" The smaller creature hollered and in an instant, the bigger monster was gone.

Okay. So the smaller one won that brawl rather one-sidedly and Law surmised that if he couldn't do anything against the weaker one, then he sure as hell wasn't going to scratch this guy. So he should run. But his legs felt like jelly trying to cling on thin wire so running wasn't actually doable, but fighting was absolutely not an option because Law wanted to live.

"So, um… I'm…" the small devil monster was rubbing the back of his neck as he turned to Law, "Are you okay?"

What, was the predator checking on his prey? Law didn't really know how to respond to that because his brain was still trying to pick itself up from all over the alley. He was sitting rather awkwardly, his coat falling off one shoulder and the top buttons of his rather tight shirt torn right off to reveal much of his chest, which was borderline "too much" for Luffy. The demon stared at the human's chest hungrily, trailing up his neck, his jaw, his mouth, and then finally his eyes.

Law's eyes were fixed on him.

Actually looking at him.

"I…"

Whatever Luffy was going to say, it was not as important as listening to the sound of Law's breath as his chest heaved up and down. He could hear his heart beating so fast and loud and Luffy knew he was still in fear, but he just wanted to drown in the sound of the drumming in the man's chest. He smelled so enticing, so real, so alive.

Ah, was this the time? If Luffy just wanted to, he could simply… just…

The human tried getting up slowly and he looked really tired and trembling, but his eyes were on fire and refused to give up. He was scared a bit, but not as much as other humans who'd have been crying and begging and pissing during the first few seconds of the ordeal. But Law was staring right back at Luffy as if figuring how to escape and oh, wow. A chase. Wasn't that exciting?

Luffy licked his lips.

Law didn't need anyone to tell him what that meant. That meant dinner. And dinner was Law. He took a deep breath and moved his leg to take one step back.

"Where are you going?"

Holy fucking shit, the voice came from behind him!

Shock was one thing the human body couldn't deal with properly unless properly trained to do so. Law was discovering how true that was right now as he wobbled, keeping himself from taking that step back towards his small predator who was suddenly right behind him, almost breathing down his neck. So, no. Backwards was not the way to go. But although his mind had been pieced together to think better, the rest of his body was still uncoordinated from the surprise of two unknown creatures who just fought over him to eat. Law stumbled forward, trying to regain footing, feeling like a baby giraffe that was trying to learn to walk and failing as he felt himself falling face first. He braced himself for impact and a bloody nose to say the least, but no such thing came.

Because the little monster caught him from the front.

"Hi."

Law looked up before he could stop himself and came face-to-face with a wide grin with very prominent fangs. The boy's large, round, red eyes were expressive of hunger and eagerness as they stared right back into Law's grey ones. It made him feel vulnerable. Law didn't like that one bit. He needed to get his shit together.

"Fuck."

Law pushed himself away from the demon, doing his darnest to keep his limbs coordinated but instead he went careening towards the dark, cursing with each lumbering step until two hands grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the cold, hard wall. Law winced, stabbing shocks of pain jolting from his already injured shoulder as he slid down to sitting position. He could hear the small demon hiss appreciatively above him, sliding back down with him, his small hands pinning his wrists above his head. Law opened his eyes. True enough, it was dark, but maybe not dark enough to conceal those crimson, hungry eyes that were boring a hole through Law's persona.

"No…" He struggled, but the small creature was so much stronger. He tried kicking and sure, those hit, but that didn't even make his attacker budge. Law wasn't sure if his kicks were too weak or this young-looking monster was too strong. He assumed it was both.

"Yes." the word uttered above him was more of a low, guttural noise, "Fuck, yes."

The boy opened his mouth, managing to look so smug with those fangs looking more and more vicious with every passing moment. No. Law refused to go down like this. No, he can't die here. He mustn't die here.

But how could a man fare against a monster?

Everything had a weakness. There had to be something. Hurry. Think. Think. Think!

Law's eyes searched frantically, running down from those red eyes—he had to stop looking at those—to his jaw, his neck, his chest, his tattoos. His tattoos. And it was like a gate was broken open somewhere in the far recesses of Law's mind so that the swirls and lines seemed to be talking to him and saying something. They were like letters forming words forming thoughts with a gush of information like water from a broken dam.

Luffy.

Luffy.

This demon's name was Luffy.

"Luffy!"

The small body above him shuddered. He was right. That was his name. He was a demon. A parasitic demon. Law didn't know how he knew. Didn't care. Didn't matter. No, not right now.

Luffy's expression changed from smug to insulted, growling and then hissing, baring his fangs to intimidate Law with those glowing vermillion orbs that—No, Law wasn't going to drown in those eyes again.

"No!" Law glared as fiercely as he could and Luffy roared harshly at him.

"Get off!" The man struggled the best he could but the strong hands kept him in place, "Get off me, Luffy!"

Apparently, the demon didn't like his name being said the way Law was saying it judging by how it was aggravatedly gripping his wrists. Law didn't really know what he was doing but this Luffy now looked like an animal that's trying to fight back instead of a predator on the hunt. He was less intimidating and Law felt a bit more powerful than he was earlier. He must be doing something right if this thing was slowly considering him a threat, not just a helpless prey.

"Luffy, I said get off!"

"No!" His eyes were wide, irises almost flaming with rage, "I'm not going anywhere! You're mine!"

"I am not!" Law struggled against the tight fingers that held his wrists, "Get off me, I said!"

"No!" Luffy spoke with a tone of finality, raising his head and then opening his mouth widely so he can take a bite at Law's neck to end this once and for all, "I don't have to listen to you!"

"You will fucking listen to me!"

The dead street lamp started flickering.

"And I said get off!"

There wasn't a sound of explosion, not a hint of fire or ash, but it felt like something burst between them. Luffy was sent flying away from Law, hitting the wall ahead before falling and rolling on the pavement. Law, on the other hand, was sitting there, disheveled, tired, and somewhat bleeding, but alive. And that's what's important, right? Right.

And he had to move now if he wanted to stay alive.

Law tried to get up clumsily, trying to fix his clothes haphazardly as he looked at Luffy. He was still lying unmoving on his stomach and face down on the street.

Was he dead? Had he killed him? Well, Luffy tried to kill him, Law thought as he frantically picked up his phone, which was thankfully lying a few paces from him. It wasn't his fault if he had killed this… Luffy. He was just defending himself. No sense feeling guilty or… Never mind.

And Law hurried out of the seemingly long alley, leaving Luffy still lying on the ground next to the street lamp that was now on.

AN: Much thanks to rei-the-rat from Tumblr for listening to me complain and whine about this fic while actually reading its very long draft.