[15] Miss All Sunday (1)

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Chapter 15: Miss All Sunday (1)

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Nico Robin stood beside a window of a two-story building located in Nanohana, that belonged to Baroque Works. A mug of hot coffee was in her hands, vapour rising from it and blurring the glass of the window even as Robin stared at it in a daze.

Robin felt… more than a bit guilty after killing a child, indirectly or otherwise.

Mr Five and Miss Valentine had reportedly killed a Royal Knight who was escorting Princess Vivi. They had reportedly killed the teenage boy named Hashirama Senju as well, the culprit behind Crocodile's frustration in the last decade.

Robin couldn't help but clench her jaws when she heard Miss Valentine report that a few hours ago. Since the age of eight, Robin had been on a run from marines, pirates and bounty hunters alike– which sometimes resulted in her killing the said people.

Sometimes, she had to kill dozens of people. Maybe not directly with her own hands, but by burning down buildings/ships and such. However, there was an exception to her rule. She didn't hurt children. Even if the said children were a part of a group who she needed to eradicate, Nico Robin always let the children live. Because in the end, she would be comfortable taking innocent lives.

This boy, Hashirama Senju, was such an innocent kid. Reportedly, it was he who had made this dying country into what it was now– a dominant and important Kingdom in this world. It was him who had indirectly saved thousands, if not millions of lives that inhabited this country. Yet, Robin had killed him– maybe not by her own hands, but it was undeniable that she was one of the main reasons he was killed.

After all, it was her who helped Crocodile come up with the plan to strike Hashirama right after Tsunade left for the Marines. In fact, because of her, Sir Crocodile actually recommended Tsunade Senju to the marines, just so they would let her in– though Tsunade would never learn about that.

Staring at the blurry window, Nico Robin recalled the incident that happened in Nanohana before Hashirama had accidentally bumped into her. The scene where these two siblings so cheerfully said goodbye to each other, how they kept waving at each other even after reaching far from each other's sight.

Such an innocent and lovely relationship.

Now, it didn't exist because Robin was so weak and pathetic that she needed to stand behind Crocodile for protection.

Despite herself, Nico Robin clenched her cup of coffee so hard that it shattered, cutting her hand and at the same time pouring boiling hot coffee on her. Yet, she only kept gritting her teeth in frustration.

Was this the life she was leading after Saul sacrificed himself for her?

"..."

Robin's gaze became dazed and distant once more, even as blood trailed down her hand and painted the white carpet on the floor with a red hue.

* * *

Around half an hour later, after Nico Robin had applied medicine to her wound and bandaged her hand, she was once again staring out of the intro. Except this time her eyes were actively searching, waiting, for someone.

Sometime later, Robin noticed the shadow of two people, one male and one female. The male figure seemed to be carrying an unconscious kid on his shoulder, as well. The two figures slowly approached Nanohana through the clear, open road located within the dense forest that surrounded this city in a triangle.

'They're finally here, huh.' Robin thought as she sat behind her desk, preparing her mental state to welcome the two of them.

A part of her wished not to do this– to not harm another innocent child who was Princess Vivi– however, she didn't have any choice unless she wanted the Marines to capture Crocodile, and therefore herself along with it. Besides, Princess Vivi wouldn't die– according to the plans she and Crocodile made.

The plan was to succumb to this country by bringing extreme drought here– something that wouldn't get fixed without (the now deceased) Hashirama. Then Baroque Works would use a faulty chemical powder to bring rain to the capital city, in exchange for more drought across the other places of the country.

That's when Crocodile would blame King Cobra for everything, that he was trying to make his own life prosper with faulty ways to bring the rain, now that Hashirama was gone, which made him unworthy of a King.

That'd start a rebellion across the country to throw the King off his throne, and Crocodile will take that opportunity to strike by marrying Vivi– who would have been missing for a few years by then– and declaring himself as the King.

It wasn't because Crocodile was attracted to Vivi– quite the opposite actually, he didn't seem to be attracted to girls at all, enough that Robin theorised he was asexual– but because that'd allow Crocodile to reign supreme since the people would be more prone to accept him as the new King if he was married to the Princess.

All in all, it was a foolproof plan that had a very low chance of failure. The plan would start from today after Robin receives Vivi and leaves for a nearby island to keep her imprisoned there.

– Knock Knock!

It was then when knocks fell on the door and Robin quickly fixed her expression, putting a strand of hair behind her ear and then clearing her throat.

"Come in,"

Robin allowed calmly, as the door opened with a 'creak!' and Miss Valentine walked in with Mr Five who had a blue-haired girl over his shoulder. She couldn't see the girl's face because she was facing downwards, but that seemed to be Princess Vivi.

"...Welcome to Nanohana, Mister Five, Miss Valentine. I see you have indeed brought the Princess here without any difficulty. Good job, you two." Robin greeted them with a nod, nudging her chin forward and gesturing to them to take a seat in front of her.

Miss Valentine nodded and was about to take a seat but she tripped and almost fell, though Mr Five caught her in time.

"U-uh… t-thanks…" Miss Valentine thanked him, her voice shaking, as she carefully took a seat.

Robin frowned a little. 'Was almost tripping scary enough to make her voice shake so nervously?'

Robin also noticed how Mr Five looked at her for a long time when he first entered the room, she had missed it at first because he was wearing a shade.

'...Am I thinking too much?' Robin asked herself.

However, as she watched Mr Five place the unconscious blue-haired girl on one of the chairs, finally allowing Robin to get a glimpse of the girl's face– she froze for a moment before immediately crossing her arms to activate her Devil Fruit.

This was a trap, she was in the middle of a trap-!

"Dos Fleur: Clutch!"

Robin yelled out her attack name for better visualisation as two arms appeared on each of Mr Five's shoulders and grabbed his neck, twisting it 180º as it snapped.

– Creak!

However, it didn't sound like bones cracking, but more like how a wooden door creaked when opened.

A wooden door…

'Wood…'

Robin's eyes briefly flashed down to look at the blue-haired girl– no, the blue-haired 'doll' sitting on the chair.

'Wood.'

Robin cursed in her mind as Mr Five's body trembled, splitting up from the middle as it opened up– like a wooden coffin– after which a young man walked out of it.

Mr Five's body lost all its features as it came to look like a simple wooden imitation of the real deal, falling to the ground and rolling around. The same happened with the doll version of Princess Vivi, who lost all her colour and looked like a wooden sculpture.

Miss Valentine gulped as her eyes drifted from back and forth, from Robin to… Hashirama Senju.

"Please no more murder attempts," the teenage boy spoke for the first time. "I am here to talk."

The air in the room grew extremely tense, as Robin looked at him with mixed emotions, her arms still crossed– threatening to activate her powers at any moment.

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