{{>This is a moment in Wano before the Straw Hats arrived, sorry it's so late and out of place!}}

A frown etches itself into Kyo's features as she stares at her reflection through the broken mirror sat before her, her pale fingers dragging a loose strand of hair up into the large bun on top of her head, her hand trembling as she holds the locks into place and reaches for a clip to cement it there - naturally this action only causes many other strands to fall out of place next and land across her face, further deepening her annoyance.  

She doesn't often wear her hair in a bun, especially not one with added accessories for decoration like the geisha appearance requires - it's a tedious task and she's not sure how the other ladies do it.

Attempting the feat again quickly results in the same dishevelled appearance and with a small twitch of her brow, she gives up.

Her hands finally releasing all the strands at once and allowing them to fall against her back and cheeks. "I don't want to be a geisha! It's hard to peg the look...besides, I don't want to be ogled by filthy worms that call themselves men!" 

Jean Bart being the only person present in the cold, dusty room since the rest of the crew are apparently running errands and therefore - he's the one who's stuck with her venting, not that it seems to bother him too much. 

"Don't worry, Captain doesn't like it either. Apparently he's making a deal to get your role cha--"

"He needn't bother, I'm not doing it regardless - I will dress like a common citizen and lay low, that is all! And if Kinemon doesn't like that, then he can sell himself to a bunch of perverts, I'm not a puppet!"

All the girl's outburst seems to draw from the large man is a deflated sigh followed by the words; "We know you aren't." The poor man knows by now that she's too stubborn to debate with and will end up doing what ever she likes despite what he says and he's unfortunately not authorized to beat her into submission either.

The redhead still harbouring her scowl as she messily pulls her hair up into a ponytail instead, she notices excited voices in the distance before spotting movement in the corner of her eye, the crew seemingly returning from their little tasks for the day but she's much too focused on adjusting her hair to take much notice of them. 

Well, that is until a large chocolate cake is placed down before her anyway, a single lit candle neatly placed in the centre of the desert. 

"Huh?"

"Happy Birthday, Kyo!!"

HUH?!

"Birthday?" She questions as her brown orbs shoot up at the person beside her, landing on Penguin, though the sight of his face quickly fades when Uni swats the boy around the back of the head. 

"You fool! It was Captain's job to give her the cake!"

"What the hell, man?! He told me to do it!"

"Then you should've said no!"

"Birthday?" The redhead repeats once again, stopping the bickering pair in the process as they glance down at her with curious glances. 

"Yeah, happy 22ᶮᵈ birthday! Now make a wish and blow out your candle!"

Naturally she's still too starstruck to respond or to follow Penguin's instructions, her stare instead drifting across to the rest of the crew stood in the background, including Law who's leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest and sporting his typical smirk though his eyes are shielded by his hat.

"Hah! She's confused how you worked it out, Captain!" Shachi finally piping up as he makes his way over to the girl, carelessly placing his hand on her shoulder. "You underestimate our captain, Kyo! You told him you were born on the 11th of 'something', right? Well, from there it wasn't too hard! You really didn't ask why he gave you a medical exam every month on the 11th after that?"

"...No..." She still can't work out what that would have to do with anything, she's studied basic medical knowledge but finding out somebodies age is something she hadn't looked into - could a doctor really do such a thing? 

"Heh, he was studying your bone plates! Duh!" Penguin scoffs before impatiently gesturing to her cake with a wide grin plastered across his features. "Now blow out the candle, it's dripping wax all over the cake!" 

She still has so much more questions but ultimately, she decides to do as asked for once and blow out the candle, causing the crew to cheer in excitement. 

It's quite a bizarre feeling, she knew she was born on the 11th due to seeing it once when she was a child but she couldn't remember the month, she couldn't even read back then so the month might've just looked like gibberish to her. 

But the number 11 was simple to recall, two small lines, it's a miracle she didn't forget those too. It isn't like she ever celebrated the birthday, it was just another question to her; what month was it? What happened the day when she was conceived and why did it lead to such hatred from her mother? 

But at least one of those questions are now answered...

Bone plates, huh.

It takes mere seconds for Penguin to remove the candle before cutting the cake eagerly, removing bits of wax from the icing in the process. "You know how hard it was to steal these ingredients? Now you've made a mess of the icing!" The boy complains, though Kyo isn't too concerned, instead she rises from the small cushion she was using as a seat and makes her way over to the captain of the crew.

The raven's smirk never wavering as she approaches, only releasing a feigned sigh as he peeks down at her. "Kyo-ya, the idea of getting you a birthday cake is so you could call dibs on the first slice." He calmly voices, his golden eyes reading hers very closely as he pushes himself away from the wall. 

Her brain barely comprehending his words as she stops in front of him, only slightly hesitating before she steps forward into his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso whilst burying her face into his chest, a warm smile gracing her lips as his generous deed finally kicks in. 

"You did this for me?"

The doctor doesn't respond immediately to her words, instead releasing a semi-playful huff as his arm drapes around her small frame and holds her close to his embrace. "Well, the crew helped."

He's certainly a shy one when it comes to affectionate gestures so this, getting her a cake and going through the trouble of finding out her exact birthday, is a big deal for him. Even if he doesn't say it aloud. 

When she considers the dates, he would have started trying to find out her birthday when they were mere allies - did he really like her that much back then? Or was he just expecting her to become a permanent member of his crew at the time?

What ever the reason, it doesn't matter. 

This is still the kindest thing anyone has done for her since Mihawk himself saved her life all those years ago.

Pulling away from the hug ever so slightly, she takes a subtle peek over her shoulder to spot the crew all bickering over who should get the biggest slice, a small smile spreading across her lips as she turns her attention back to Law and uses the opportunity to reach up to his face. Her hand lightly caressing his tanned cheek as she murmurs "I...really appreciate this, Trafalgar." before placing a gentle kiss to his lips. 

She would've rather thanked him properly but the man is a bashful one and public displays of affection aren't his thing - even the small gesture of a quick and subtle kiss while his crew aren't looking has resorted to him hiding his face with his hat whilst blushing madly. 

Sometimes he can be so cute...I hate it. It makes it hard to mess with him. 

"Oi, Kyo! Captain! You're gonna lose your slices if you don't grab 'em!" 

"Hm? Yes, yes, I'm coming already..."

This crew is like a little family.

------