Devil Child

[Pajaro Island; Paradise]

{An hour ago}

Nico Robin pov

My stomach growled as I stood in front of a bakery shop in the with a statue of a parrot on the roof . The sweet smell of dough cooking in the oven permeated through the air as I salivated.

Through the window of the shop I could see several pastries on the shelves, each coated with a generous amount of frosting.

*clank*

My thoughts were broken when I felt a cold touch at my foot. Staring down I saw a unopened can of tomato soup.

"Huh?", My confusion was stopped when I heard a voice call out from behind me.

"Ah! Sorry it must have slipped off of the bag", I heard a soft and high pitched voice say.

Turning around I was met with a tall blond lady in a frill blue dress with several large plastic bags in her hand. The bags seem to be full of groceries and food supplies, but I could also see some other non edible materials.

I picked up the can and held it in my hand as I contemplated whether to give it back to her or just run away with it.

I couldn't decide as the lady came in front of me. She placed her groceries down and bent down to my level.

"I'm sorry for troubling you but can I have it back?", she smiled as she looked at me kindly.

"Huh? Why are your knees scratched up? Did you fall?", she must have seen my rugged look and made her guesses.

I actually had taken a fall while arriving in this bird island as I jumped from a merchant ship without paying the transport fee.

"Yes, I fell", I said as my grip on the can loosened.

"Here you go", she rummaged through the plastic bags as she took out a box of tissue and wipes.

She then started rubbing my knees with the said wipes as I flinched due to the slight burning sensation.

"Don't worry it'll not be infected now", she tried to sooth me but I had already been through much worse situations beforehand.

'She's too caring ', I thought.

After she was done with the wiping I pushed the can of tomato towards the nice lady.

"Huh? Oh yeah the can", she giggled as she took it in her hands.

Sadly my fingers still grabbed onto it tightly due to my instincts, I had not eaten in two days now.

"Oh you don't want to let go? Are you hungry?", she asked with curiosity.

I was a bit embarrassed because of my instincts for survival making it hard to let go but just then a plan formulated in my mind, 'I can use her!'.

I thought that since this lady mustn't have recognized me from the papers I could live with her for a while till she finally tries to hand me over for my bounty like all the rest before her.

I instantly put on my innocent and sweet girl façade as I nodded timidly.

"Do you have parents? Any place to stay?", she asked with worry hinted at her tone.

I shook my head with a bit of shiver running through my body and prayed that my act was believable enough.

*gasp*

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't go hungry anymore. Come with me I'll take care of you, I'm Stella ", she stood up as she offered me her hand to hold.

I had to think quickly as I muttered, "I'm Rossy". I cursed at myself in my head for thinking of name that was close original name.

"Rossy…that's a nice name", she giggled, "I hope I can come up with such good names in the future", she muttered the last sentence to herself but I managed to take notice due to my heightened hearing.

I noticed that she he hand a ring on her finger, 'Married or either engaged', I concluded.

I gave her a fake smile as I held her hand, 'That's what they all say, once you see my bounty you'll either throw me away out of fear or turn me in for money', I thought in my head.

She used her other hand to grab the groceries as she led us down the road to the rich side of the city.

'Jackpot!', I exclaimed in my head. It seemed that I had made the right decision in not running away with the can of tomato.

After a while we came before a large building with several stories. The building had a large statue of peacock on the top most floor. The entrance had several guards and it frightened me if they would recognize me. So I hid begin the dress of the lady.

"Oh! No need to be scared. Those guards aren't going to harm you", the lady tried to reason but I still acted like a scared child and grabbed her dress tightly.

"Ok ok you just stay behind me alright", she giggled as she headed for the entrance.

"Show your credentials!", the guard with an eagle on his shoulder shouted as he blocked the entrance door.

"Umm, credentials?", the lady seemed clueless as she just smiled and scratched her cheek.

The man seemed to frown and was getting ready to shout but was hit in the head by a guy beside him who had a pigeon on his shoulder .

"You idiot! Don't you know she's the wife of that huge rich dude", he whispered into his friend's ear.

"Umm,…. S-so…. sorry! You can pass through!", the guard stammered as he moved out of the way and bowed to us.

"I'm hope you can forgive my friend over here he's really forget full", the man who hit the guard chuckled nervously.

"No no it's ok I didn't know about the entrance routine for this hotel", the lady smiled as she waved over the incident.

'The husband must be really rich',I thought as I hid behind the dress.

The guards seemed to be too distracted by the lady to pay me any attention.

Inside the build looked more luxurious than the exterior as the lobby was as big as a house.

The receptionist who had a sparrow on her shoulder gave us a warm welcome as she guided us to the elevator and took us to the floor which the lady directed her to.

Each floor that we passed showed a luxurious hallway with red carpets and antique lamps to light the way. There were also some bird statues here and there since this is a bird island after all.

Finally we stopped on a floor that looked way different the rest. The walls and the carpets were colored white with the lamps being replaced with bright tube of lights. There were even window panes that showed the whole city below.

We got off the elevator as I marveled at the sight before me.

The lady giggled as she showed me the way, "Come on its over here".

After taking some turns we reached a black door. The lady seemed to struggle to open the door with all the groceries on her hand.

I walked towards her to lend a hand but was denied with a smile.

"It's ok I can do it", she smiled before managing to open the door as we both entered.

The entrance looked very modern from any room I had seen before.

There were paintings on the wall which seemed like abstract paintings as it didn't make any sense.

There was a large aquarium with fishes and a large shelve for shoes. The walls were painted white with black designs. There were a few plant pots in the corner which seemed to be belonging to an exotic species.

But before I could observe the wonderful things any further I heard some footsteps approaching us.

"Ahem! Ahem!", I heard a deep voice call out as the footsteps came closer.

I immediately went into my act of being a shy and innocent orphan as I lowered my head.

"Let's see what surprise you have for me", the voice now came from right in front of us. It sounded jovial at first but now that he seemed to have noticed me he went quiet.

The lady placed her groceries on the ground carefully as she exclaimed, "Ah! Sorry Tes- I mean John you must be a bit shocked at the moment but let me explain".

'Tes? Is John not his usual name?', I thought.

The lady bent down beside me as she placed her palms on my shoulder, "This is Rossy, she will be staying with us from today", her voice sounded firm and resilient.

I knew this was my cue as I had to work my charm as well. I turned my face to look up at a blond man.

The man was rather tall and if I were to compare then I would reach till his knees even though I'm pretty tall for my age. He had a slick back blond hair with some loose strands covering his forehead. His eyes were sharp and had a certain cunningness to them, he had a sharp jawline and a long bridged nose.

He worse a loose white shirt with some buttons from the top being opened, his beige pants were not a tight fit and he wore white socks on his feet.

His muscular physique was very apparent from the way the shirt hugged his body.

His appearance made me loose focus for a millisecond as I thought he looked familiar but I controlled myself and tried to use my best cute eyes to charm him.

"I'll be at your care", I tried to express with the cutest voice that I thought would belong to an innocent child before bowing my head as the proper etiquette was still not know by me.

The entrance went silent for a moment as there was a certain chill in the air.

I looked up nervously as I wondered if he recognized me. I was ready to use my powers and escape if I needed to.

"Umm John are you ok ?", asked the lady as she went towards the man and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Huh?", he shook his head as he snapped himself out of a trance.

"Yeah sorry, umm… Rossy was it can you give us a moment", he then led the lady into a room and closed the door.

'Does he know?', I got worried as I crossed my arms and sprouted an ear into the other room to listen in on their conversation.

"I'm not budging on this decision. The girl has no one to turn to and is hungry. I'll be responsible for her so you don't have to worry", argued a high-pitched voice.

"It's not that, I just want to know where you found her and did anyone else saw you. ?", the man sighed.

"I found her near the bakery, she seemed hungry so I questioned her and it turns out she doesn't have anyone to care for her. She's an orphan Tesoro and I know how it feels to be alone in the world with no one to turn to", she sobbed, "I fear that if she stays in the streets she will meet a grim fate or perhaps be captured and sold into slavery".

"Hey, hey no need to cry I didn't say that I'll kick her out don't worry we will take care of her and give her a good life"", the man said softly.

"You promise?"

"Yeah I promise"

I released my powers as I bit my lower lip.

'She really sounds sincere and kind, I'm sorry for using you', I felt my eyes a bit watery as my lips quivered.

'Don't worry I'll leave in a few days so that you won't be in trouble', I made my decision.

If I decided to stay with them any longer I had no doubt that the government would find out eventually and they will get into trouble.

I felt them coming back so I wiped my eyes and pretended to not hear anything.

The man open the door as he came in front of me as Stella stood behind him with sniffling nose.

He had to crouch a little as he was too tall, "I'm sorry for making you wait, don't worry you're safe now and you don't have to stay hungry anymore. No need to be on the run", he gave me a kind smile as he placed his palm on my head.

'On the run?', my mind was telling me that this man knew more than he let on but my gut was telling me that I could trust him.

I finally decided to trust my gut as I was already too tired and hungry, I just want to relax for a while even if I had to leave again.

I just nodded with a smile but for some reason this smile felt more real than any expression I had in the past few years.

The moment was suddenly broken when my stomach grumbled loudly as I held it with a blush while looking down.

The man laughed as he lifted his palm, "Come on you must be hungry, I'll cook you something because I don't want Stella to poison you with her cooking", he beckoned me to follow him alone the hallway.

"HEY! I'm improving!", Stella shouted angrily as she followed the man.

'What did she say was his name, she called him Tesoro inside the room. That name sounds a bit familiar like I've heard it before.', my thoughts couldn't progress further as my stomach grumbled more.

"OK ok I got it don't embarrass me any further", I scolded my stomach as I followed after them.

****************************

{After a filling meal}

Main pov

I sat there at the dining table with Stella and Robin or Rossy as that's what she's calling herself. We were eating a chicken sandwich that I had made as perfectly as possible from a recipe in my past memories.

"Mmmnn, this is really good!", Stella exclaimed as she took another bite of the sandwich, "Maybe I should give up on cooking and just eat whatever you make".

I chuckled, "Cooking is a skill that should be learned by everyone, it comes in handy in most situations".

Stella pouted, "I was just joking you know".

Robin seems to be lost in the sandwich flavors as she kept on eating more and more, 'wasn't her favorite food sandwiches?', I thought to myself with a smile.

I smiled as I still recalled how a few moments ago Stella was crying as she wanted to adopt Robin or sorts. I, of course had no problem with it but if the government catches a hint of her it could spell trouble for my plans.

I had no intention of announcing my survival to the world just yet, I had covered all of my tracks properly and even got fake credentials printed that identified me as a traveling jeweler.

But if the government knew that Nico Robin was with me then I'll have to go into hiding no matter if I'm Tesoro or John a rich jeweler.

I'm still not strong enough to take on any of the government's top dogs. Any competent haki user will be very difficult to defeat and if they sent an admiral again then I'm surely gonna die.

I need more strength and for that I need to master haki. Right now if I were to compare my strength then it would be a bit stronger than Shiki from the movie strong world.

Although I think the Canon Shiki would be a monster in comparison because in the movie he got defeated by gear three Luffy.

I sighed as I took another bite of the sandwich. All this thinking was making my mind hurt but thanks to the new power I got I seem to be able to process more thoughts than usual.

I had been upgrading my knowledge by touching anything related to tech and machines.

If I wanted I could created them anywhere at will. My control over metal has also improved a bit as I can make it do more sophisticated actions such as calligraphy and generating any sounds or music through vibrations.

"Are you listening? Tes….. John I'm going to show Rossy her room that she'll be staying in", Stella's voice broke my thoughts.

"Oh, yeah yeah ok", I nodded as I saw that they both had finished their meal.

Before Robin headed away with Stella she stopped before me and bowed, "Thanks for the food".

I smiled at the little girl's gratitude, "It's ok really, I just didn't want you to get poisoned on your first day with us", I joked.

"Hmp! Come Rossy I'll show you to your room no need to talk further with this man", Stella exclaimed angrily as she stomped away.

I laughed warily, 'She's really angry I'll have to make it up to her later on'.

Robin nodded as she followed Stella into one of the spare rooms.

I smiled as I saw little Robin's figure leaving, she's still young and acts just like a kid but deep down I know how much pain she's hiding and all the trauma she has. I had promised Stella that we'll take care of her and I intended to keep that promise.

I didn't know how to help her as I can only provide her a little protection with the power I have right now.

'I must leave for my training as soon as possible. I promise to get stronger ', I swore in my heart as I started gathering the plates to do the dishes.

****************************

After being done with the dishes I entered the room given to Robin as I heard the sound of giggles coming from inside.

Inside the room I saw that Stella had placed Robin on her lap as she read her stories,

"And then the bad evil old man started to…. explode pregnant ladies….. This doesn't seem like a children's book….. Umm…let's reason something else", Stella's smile twitched as she read a book that just came with the room when I rented it.

"Dereshishishi"

"I like this book, it's funny. ", Robin chuckled before she covered her mouth in embarrassment.

I raised my eyebrow as I expected Robin to hide her true feelings and be a stoic girl. But I guess it's reasonable as she still hasn't gone through enough hardships and betrayal as the Robin from the anime.

"Huh? Oh ok I'll read more of this for you", Stella chuckled at the weird sense of humor that the little girl had.

Robin blushed as she just leaned her head downwards.

After seeing the pleasant sight before me I left without making my presence known and headed towards the gym.

The gym was an area that I had ordered to be constructed a month of two ago when I booked this hotel. It had the top quality equipment that I had hand picked specifically to practice certain techniques.

Entering the gym I saw several huge dumbbells that looked like the ones zoro would use in the future. Lifting it I was able to confirm that it at least weighed a couple of tons.

My arm veins bulged as sweat trailed down my forehead. Lifting the dumbbell way over my head I muttered, "998,…999,….1000", I dropped the dumbbell before me as it made a crashing sound and cracked the floor a bit.

I huffed and puffed before grabbing a towel to wipe my body.

Right now I was shirtless and was wearing only my black boxers as sweat stuck to my muscles giving them a glistening look.

"Now that I'm done with some warm up time to practice the techniques", I muttered to myself.

By techniques I meant the marine six styles. I had a general idea about how to practice them as I already knew their mechanics.

I ran in one place as I increased the number of steps per second. My body lifted off of the ground as I kept kicking before I stopped kicking continuously and instead kicked multiple times for a short instant as I appeared at a further distance as it seemed like I teleported.

I created a thick metal wall and hit it with my fingers trying to pierce it. The metallic wall was now filled with finger shaped holes.

I even created several metal pillars around me as they rained punches on me.

I stiffened my body as I took repeated punches before relaxing my body as I tried to bend around the punches like paper, I did the action in repeated intervals.

I had already been doing this for the past six months and was already showing signs of improvement. The rate of improvement was astounding as the only reason I could think of was Boss's devil fruit.

I trained for several hours and by time I finish the sun had already set and the night sky was brimming with light from the city below.

I took a bath in the gym as I didn't intend on going back to Stella and Robin with the stench of sweat coming from me. Wearing a white bath robe after the bath I walk back to our room.

It was all silent as I opened the door. The entrance light hadn't been lit up and the eerie environment made me think of the worst conclusions.

I hurried to the room that I last saw them in as I took hurried deep breaths.

The room was all dark as I couldn't see anything. My heartbeat fastened as I willed the switch of this room to turn on as it was bathed with bright white light.

My worries were instantly dropped at the sight before me, Stella and Robin could be seen in the bed together fast asleep. With a story book in her hand Stella held Robin close to her chest as they slept soundly.

Their eyes flinched a bit due to the bright light so I immediately turned it off as I smiled.

'I'm always too paranoid', I chuckled to myself as I raised my palm and metallic particles started forming something.

It was a rectangular box that illuminated dim blue light. Placing the light by their bedside I took the book off of the hands of Stella as I put warm blanket over them.

The sight melted my heart as they both seemed very relaxed. Robin seemed to be way cleaner than before and wore a different dress, she was snuggled up close to Stella as she held a lock of her hair in her hand.

I caressed their head before giving them forehead kisses and walking out.

"Guess I'm sleeping alone today", I muttered to myself lowly.

Walking to the kitchen in hopes to make myself something to eat I saw a mess that deemed this place to be unworthy of the name kitchen.

There were pots everywhere and a pink sludge in a cauldron, I worried if they ate this atrocity of creation but then I saw some boxes of food from a nearby restaurant.

I sighed in relief as they seemed to have ordered from the restaurant instead.

*Sigh*

"Time to clean first before eating", I talked to myself as I started putting on rubber gloves.

'It's going to be a long night'.

****************************