Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece nor its characters.

My mothertongue is not English, however I hope everyone could enjoy my story.

The lifeless body of Sandos, aka "Pirate Sultan", fell on the ground, producing a loud thud that announced an unwelcome presence to Admiral Shiro, captain of the Flint Island Navy division.

"I would have preferred to bring him to you alive, now his bounty is halved… But really, how the hell do you decide on a bounty? This asshole here was surely not worthy all that money!" The marine stared anxiously at the girl who had brought the pirate's body to the base. Her long blood-red curls reflected the light that came through the window, creating a warm and bright halo around her. "125 million. You can either give the money directly to me, or send it to Magno. If I were you, though, I'd choose the latter. You never know what may happen to a vulnerable girl like me! You never know, I could run into a scoundrel!"

Shiro glanced at the lifeless body on the ground. "As if you should be afraid of scoundrels…" he then looked up at the girl standing in front of him, staring with disgust at the mocking smile on her face.
He sighed deeply. "I'll send the money to Magno; actually, I still haven't paid him for the pirates you brought here the other day..."
"You seem quite annoyed, seaman! And to think that I've just given a hand to you and to your shitty men!"
Upon hearing those words, Shiro snorted. "I'm not used to dealing with criminals… least of all that arrogant boss of yours!"
"Criminals… what a big word! Do you think that every single person who does not share your ideals is a criminal, don't you? As if you were in the right… pathetic!"
"The Navy takes decisions on the basis of what is right; we are the good boys. On the contrary, you and your boss would do anything just to make money, as criminals do."
The redhead burst out laughing. "You're free to think what you want, but then, why does the Navy call us to do the dirty work? Where is justice in all that?" Suddenly, in a fit of rage, she grabbed the collar of his uniform, forcing him to look her in the eye; for an instant, the admiral noticed a flow of undefined emotions spinning in her eyes.
"Let me tell you something: Justice does not exist. Good, bad, those are only empty meaningless words. Who determines what is fair and what is not? Let me tell you: the strongest."
Shiro stared at her in disgust, but she continued talking, an evil smirk on her face: "It's all about power. In the end good guys always die, don't you know? The most important thing is to survive. And if you want to survive, you have to come to an agreement with whoever is stronger than you. Magno is so powerful that he's free to do whatever he likes, no restrictions imposed by the Navy! And you're just a sissy captain in a faraway island, probably your bosses are so ashamed of you... you can't do anything to Magno, nor to me." That said, she pushed him against the table and turned to leave.

"You sicken me… you're just that turd's whore!" Shiro growled. The girl turned to his direction but didn't seem offended. Her mischievous grin grew even wider while she walked, slowly and sensually, towards the man. He couldn't help but gazing at her long feminine legs, enhanced by the miniskirt she was wearing. She forced him to sit down on his leather armchair, straddling him, whispering in his ear "You wish I were your whore, don't you?" The captain had always had a soft spot for beautiful women, which was why Magno always sent his only female subordinate to deal with him. Moreover, he lacked brute force; she wasn't even struggling to block his arms and legs from moving. "Shame on you, seaman… you're married!" The man's face was covered in the girl's curls, her scent intoxicated him, her breath on his ear tickled him; his heart was pounding in his chest, his will to resist was weakening as her warm and sensual voice was filling his ears. If only he'd been able to move, he would have reacted violently. As if all those provocations were not enough, the girl was now rubbing herself against him, causing the man's arousal. He deeply hated her. She had that fascinating yet dangerous power with which she enslaved anyone she wanted. She was impudent, bossy, cocky and excessively self-confident, yet he had desired her from the moment they met. He could not possess her, he knew she was Magno's property; that was why he hated her so much.

The torture he was subjected to ended quickly. The girl suddenly moved away from him and headed to the door. On her face, a disgusted grimace.
"So much for me sickening you…" she said, pointing at the man's arousal. She sighed. "See you, Captain. Sayonara!"

She left, closing the door behind her. She leaned wearily against the wall, bringing a hand to her forehead and toying with a red lock of hair. She sighed again, and headed to the exit.

The Straw Hat crew had arrived at Flint Island two hours earlier, and the pirates were now strolling in the main city of the isle. Luffy and Zoro were looking for a place in which they could eat (and drink), Robin had set off for the archaeological museum of the town, whose owner was an old acquaintance of hers. Usopp, Chopper and Franky had headed to the market where, after an accurate selection, they had bought lots of weird objects, which the sniper would soon use in one if his odd inventions. There they had met their navigator, accompanied by a walking mass of bags, who answered to the name of Sanji.

The group was going back to the inn where they had booked rooms for the night, when they overheard the conversation between three boys standing in front of a newsstand.
"Have you seen the redhead yet? She's just arrived…" Nami, hearing those words, blushed lightly, grumbling about the stupidity of the three.
"I have… I think I'm in love! That body is stuck in my mind!"
"You're right… man, she's hot! I'd jump on her if only I had the occasion… yet, they say she's not friendly, quite off-putting, to tell the truth… but I really have a soft spot for grumpy chicks!"
Sanji could not contain himself. He kicked violently one of the three, yelling. "Nami is mine, how could you say such bullshit about her, you perverts! She's an angel, a goddess, and your filthy hands are not worthy of touching her!"

The man was terrified. He tried to justify himself, even if the cook's kicks were giving him a very hard time. "Na… Nami? I don't know anyone by that name, sir… I…"
"You don't? Then, who were you talking about two minutes ago, you bastard? I heard you, don't play games with me!" He was almost going berserk, he couldn't stand people playing dumb.
"I…we were talking about a redhead, a very beautiful girl, who often comes to this town… she usually seizes criminals, plays at the inn, but we had no idea her name was Nami, nor that she was her girlfriend, sir… she's always alone! Please, we're very sorry! Please don't hurt us!" The men were curled up in the ground, shaking, covering their heads with their arms.

"Something' not right…" Sanji pondered, stroking his goatee. Then he said, pointing at Nami "were you talking about this great beauty?"
The three were surprised. "Not…not really, sir." They stopped for a moment. "We were talking about that great beauty." They pointed at somewhere behind the pirate's backs. They turned around and were speechless. Sanji thought he was dead, because he was sure to be in Heaven.

What immediately stood out was the fiery red mane of the angel (according to the chef) who was walking towards the group. Her soft locks bounced with her steps. She was wearing a very short miniskirt and a short-sleeved low-necked blouse. Despite her high-heeled boots, she strode the road quickly and self-confidently. Passing the group, she glanced at them for an instant, then walked away. 'Those faces are somewhat familiar…' she thought. They were probably pirates, but they were not on her list. 'Such weird people, though…' she reflected, after taking a good look of the group. 'A raccon as a pet and a robot… criminals these days don't know what to do anymore to draw attention!'

"You've seen her, haven't you?" The cook asked his companions. "It wasn't just my imagination, right?" Usopp nodded; the way that girl had looked at him had made him freeze. He still had shivers down his spine.

Two days later, everyone in the crew was dining at the "Flint Flower Inn". The table they were sitting at, though, was not enough to contain the piles of plates, which were once full of delicious food, wolfed down by a single rubber person.

All the customers were staring at the captain with disgust and surprise, as he ate another grilled chicken. The desperate innkeeper was afraid of running out of food supplies but then, the black-haired boy seemed to calm down.

'I knew I had already seen them somewhere!' the redhead whispered to herself- she was sitting at a table in the corner, where nobody would her. She was looking at the sheet of paper with Monkey 's photo on it. Under his smiling face, the bounty: 300 million. Rather high, considering he was just a 17-year-old brat. The strange people she had seen the other day were with him, too. 'And also Nico Robin, and that former bounty hunter swordsman…' she looked at the woman and swordsman bounties. The other members were not famous, but they too had bounties on their heads. 'Such a young crew, and such high bounties…'

At that moment, Luffy's screams reached her ears. 'Look at that… I could use their company for a while…' she thought, smiling, as she stood up from the table.

"Listen old man, why don't you become a pirate and leave with us? You'll be our musician, you know, you'll sing and play pirate songs all the time! Come on, come oooon!" Luffy was trying to convince the pianist of the inn, a filthy man in his early 40s, to join his crew. In response, the man kept on playing and singing hard, his breath stinking of alcohol.

"Hey Luffy, you cannot ask anyone we meet to join our crew! Are you an idiot, or what?"
"And then, have you seen this guy? He wouldn't bear up two days at sea!"
Along with insults, punches didn't take long to arrive. The miserable captain started whining pathetically, deafening everyone at the inn.
"But I want a musician, I ache for a musician, I HUNGER FOR A MUSICIAN!"
"Hey!" Luffy felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned around, meeting a blood-red mane and golden irises. "I 'accidentally' heard you want a musician in your crew. I happen to need a passage to one of next islands… I think we could meet each other halfway."

Chopper, Nami, Sanji, Franky and Usopp recognized the girl from two days before in the one who had just spoken. Zoro and Robin, who had never seen her, looked at her surprised, yet mistrustful. Sanji flung himself on her, but she didn't even consider him, since she was still paying attention to the captain, to whom Usopp was pointlessly whispering "don't let her come with us, she's dangerous, I can feel it… please, Rufy, she scares me to death!"
"Are you a musician?" he asked her, totally ignoring the long-nosed boy. The girl nodded, smiling. Luffy stared at her without speaking, which began to annoy her.

Suddenly, the black-haired boy reached his hand out to her, touching her hair.
"What are you doing?!" She exclaimed.
Luffy looked disappointed. "Not burning…" he mumbled to himself.
She was speechless. "What?"
"Your hair. So red, so wavy, it seemed like a fire. But it's not burning. What a pity." His companions yelled at him for his stupidity.
'And you would be worth 300 millions?' He was such an airhead… but he was also fickle: in an instant, he turned to her, smiling widely.
"I like you! So, you're going to be part of the crew! What's your name? "
"Let's say I'll be your musician for some time, until we reach my island. However, my name's Akuma."

The pirates looked at her suspiciously and timorously. "Akuma", devil. A name, which boded no good. She didn't flinch, didn't lower her eyes, though. She was used to that kind of reaction, common to whoever knew her name. The captain's reaction surprised her, though.
"That's the perfect name for you! You really look like a devil, with that red hair of yours! That's just too funny!" He covered his mouth with his hands, uselessly trying not to burst out laughing. It was years since someone last caught her off guard. She didn't know how to reply. Was he making a fool of her? No, she knew he wasn't. The kid was so genuine, so innocent; he could not have hidden purposes: she was expert at telling who was lying.

In the meanwhile, the rest of the crew seemed to have awoken.

A blonde man, introducing himself as "the defender of women-will you marry me", was all over her, endlessly repeating how beautiful she was and declaring he would fulfil all of her wishes.

A madman who wore nothing but briefs was singing and playing a ukulele.

A long-nosed kid was telling her of when he had knocked a giant out.

A little blue-nosed reindeer stared in awe at his bigmouth companion, while the captain laughed to tears. She was wrong. The pet was not a raccoon. And it was not even a pet.

A girl with red hair, of a lighter shade than hers, though, handed her a jug of beer, specifying she wasn't treating her.

Where the hell was she?

Nico Robin was looking at her, an enigmatic smile on her face. Did she know about Magno? Akuma knew who that woman was, of course. Actually, she was quite notorious. Well, in her mind, whoever had been able to destroy a marine fleet at the age of eight was a celebrity.

The swordsman was drinking his beer, apparently not caring about the newcomer in the group. He was probably suspicious.

Yet, the girl didn't have any hidden agenda. All she needed was a passage to her island; she had nothing against those pirates. She had never fought nor killed anyone on a whim. She did only if ordered, or if forced to choose between her or someone else's life. And then, even if she had been ordered to kill the Straw Hat crew, she wasn't sure she would have easily won against all of them.

"So, you're a musician… what instruments do you play?" Nami asked her while sipping at her beer.

"Mainly violin and guitar. I'm really good, no false modesty. Also, I've been playing piano for a few years."

"Why don't you brighten us with your music, my nymph? I bet you can soften the hearts of all these boors, who haven't even deigned to introduce themselves…" this said, Sanji shot an evil glare at Zoro, who snorted and turned to the opposite direction, always keeping an eye on Akuma, though. The girl, in the meanwhile, headed to the piano. She 'gently' kicked the musician aside. He was so drunk that he didn't even noticed what had happened. She sat down and started playing. The tune that filled the air was playful and extremely pleasant; everyone was speechlessly listening to it.

As soon as she finished, Akuma found herself surrounded by five excited madmen who were jumping all over her.

"Bravo, you're so good!"

"The goddess of music!"

"We're lucky to have you in our crew!"

"We could perform fabulous duets!"

'Oh God… Why, why did I do that? I should have stayed alone, as usual! These guys are going to drive me crazy!' The girl mentally scolded herself, terrified of all those demonstration of affection.

They had partied until late at night. Sanji, Franky, Usopp and Chopper, after disgusting everyone at the inn singing (well, shouting) a series of pirates songs while standing on the table hugging each other, had dropped unconscious on the ground. Because of the alcohol in their veins, for sure, but also because of Zoro's beating. Rufy had eaten so much that he had fallen asleep, head in the empty plate. Nami and Robin had decided to go to sleep as long as they were still conscious.

It was 4 am. Akuma opened her eyes, terrified. She had dreamt that she had fell from some stairs in a desert, causing her sudden awakening. She became aware, shifting her position, that her bottom ached. Massaging her back, she looked around, lost, and she recognized the stained-glass windows, with images of angels and saints looking at her. In front of her stood the altar, surrounded by tall candles. She had gone to the church like she did every night and she had fallen asleep on a pew. She didn't believe in God, not anymore, yet that atmosphere made her relaxed and calm. After a last glance at the crucifix above the altar, she went out.

The sky was cloudless, the moon and the stars lit up the village. Despite the breeze, the girl didn't feel cold. She headed to the inn. She wasn't sleepy anymore, after all she was used to sleeping not more than four hours a night.

She noticed a figure in the distance, sitting on the wooden chair under the porch of the inn, feet on the barrel in front of him. She recognized the shape of the swordsman, and smiled looking at the position he had fallen asleep in. At that moment, though, he raised his arm and brought the bottle he was holding to his lips. Then, he turned his head and saw her. They were close enough for him to recognize her, even though he had not paid much attention to her the whole evening. He gave her a nod, and she waved back.

"Still awoken this late at night?"

"It's a wonderful night." He handed the bottle to the redhead. She grabbed it and drank avidly. She liked alcohol, the burning sensation in her throat and the warmth in her stomach it seemed to leave.

Zoro cast a furtive glance at her. "Where do you come from? I thought you were in your room."

"From the church." He seemed surprised, and somewhat amused. He gave her the once-over. Zoro was a man and, despite what Sanji said, he liked girls; he liked curvy girls. The redheaded girl in front of him was beautiful, indeed. She had been nice and friendly to his companions, yet she had a mean aura around her. He still couldn't classify her. And that name… well chosen, if it was a nickname. But, if it was her real name… then her parents would have had a really creepy sense of humour.

"It's weird, for a girl named "Devil", to enter a church. And you don't seem to be the religious type…"

"If I believed in God, I should give up three quarters of my habits. Too troublesome. I go there at night, when nobody's there. I like the atmosphere, so solemn. And I do like the scent of the incense." She looked at him straight in the eye.

She was strange. Under the moonlight, her hair seemed redder than before. And the colour of her irises made him shiver. They were golden. Like a cat's eyes, they were sharp, yet magnetic. He could not help but staring at those eyes, which seemed to read inside him. He suddenly looked away, at the stars. She made him nervous, that was why he tried to avoid her.

"You're good. At playing the piano, I mean." He was concise, direct. He amused her.

"I know. Thanks, anyway." She looked away, and noticed that the bottle was empty. Not saying a word, she stood up and disappeared inside the inn. She came back a few seconds later, with a bottle full of rum in her hand. She smiled, handing it to the swordsman who, after a silent toast to the girl, drank long gulps. Akuma sat on a bench, gladly accepting the bottle that Zoro was offering too her.

"So, was it a mistake to volunteer as temporary musician?" She asked him, after a few minutes. Zoro took his time to reply. "Well, maybe you've already realized that we have several weirdos in our group. Actually, we only have weirdos. That's better. An idiot captain, a mean navigator, a coward sniper, a maniac cook, an animal doctor, a robot shipwright and a mysterious archaelogist", he listed, snickering. "I think you could just fit well, 'devil' musician." He concluded. Akuma smiled. "I'm just a normal girl with a strange nickname… and what are you doing with this weird crew?" Zoro chuckled. "Well, somebody has to keep them under control, right? And I've never said I wasn't weird… everyone has its own particular traits." He fell silent for a moment, then added: "So, Akuma is just a nickname… Then, what's the real name of our new musician?"

The redhead smiled maliciously, winking at the man. "Confidential information. However, nobody ever calls me by my real name, now… Sometimes I don't even remember it!" That said, she drank a sip of rum and passed the bottle to the swordsman, who accepted it smiling.

They stayed there, under the porch, silent, until sunrise. They drank in turn, from the same bottle. Whenever they drank up all the alcohol, one of them would stand up and take another bottle.

That morning was a real tragedy for the innkeeper. Having gotten up rather early, he found his tavern devastated, because of the party of the night before, and what was worse, he noticed with frustration that the bottles of his most expensive rum –the one to be drunk only on special occasions- had almost disappeared.