I looked at the powerhouse in front of me and wiped my face clean of anything that would betray my inner turmoil. Within 5 seconds, my face was a blank slate. His face was even more blank, and no, it wasn't carefully blank like mine, it was blank. As in, there was no strain in that face whatsoever, it was completely natural.

That was scary.

Luffy opened his mouth, but was cut off by a scream up on deck. His face morphed into one of panic, and he ran up to deck, completely forgetting what he actually came down to me for.

Should I go up there too? I weighed the pros and cons mentally before sighing, maybe it'd be worth it to see Nico Robin in the flesh for myself.

I put on the mask of a modest, but slightly innocent person. Time to rock this party.

I walked leisurely up to deck and came just in time when Robin stole Luffy's hat. Okay, I never figured it out when I read the manga, or watched the anime, but how did Luffy refrain from dumping her into the sea the second she touched his hat? Did he read her well enough as a good person?

If he did, then I'd be surprised. Looking at Nico Robin right now, her mask may not be as good as mine, but for someone who doesn't have a borderline split personality, she's pretty good.

I was too lost in my thoughts to realize that the deck had gone silent at my arrival. When I was pulled back into awareness, I became seriously uncomfortable with the distrustful stares I was getting, that one blank stare from Luffy, the pitying stare from Mota, the hateful stare from Nami, and an… interested stare from Robin?

"My, my, I thought you all would be like a close-knit family, yet this one seems to be a little… different?", she phrased that last part on purpose! What is she trying to get at?

"What are you trying to get at, Ms. Nico?" I growled, absently forgetting to censor her name with Allsunday.

Even if it was unintended, she froze. The smile on her face also froze, and her eyes radiated panic. It became painfully obvious to the entire crew that her face was covered in a metaphorical mask.

She hastily got into her moves position. Realizing what she was about to do, I activated my devil fruit and sped up to her in a blur, almost identical to Soru, but then again, if I go any faster, I can't control it. When I first tried my devil fruit out, I went full speed and ran straight into a cliff.

Either way, it was identical to Soru, and she froze again. It was barely coherent, but I caught her whisper, "CP9?".

In a panic, she jumped off the ship and onto her turtle next to her, my face morphed into a look of panic, and I ran to the edge of the railing, and yelled,

"Wait up! I just want to talk!", I felt a tap on my shoulder and my head blanked out, "huh?"

SLAP!

"uuurgh…"

I grabbed the arm on my shoulder blade, and gave it a tight squeeze. I know that my grip strength in this world is nothing much, but back on Earth, well, one squeeze could give heavy bruising. Even if it wasn't on the same scale as on Earth, the squeeze did its job, and I heard a pained cry from Robin erupt on sea.

Crap, I probably look even more heartless right now, I thought blandly, Welp, here we go again…

"Sorry! Whatever this CP9 thing you speak of, I do not know!", I rushed to add before she left.

If the way her back went ramrod straight was anything to go by, I'd say that she heard my words. "Now…", I turned around to deck and saw that Nami was practically seething, "Where to next?".

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, with how Nami marched up to me and snarled, "If you think that you're welcome on this ship after insulting the captain, you are a fool, so don't ask 'wHaT's NeXt' if you've overstayed your welcome, just know that the next island we land on, we're dropping you there whether you like it or not,"

Listening to this, I got a horrible sense of foreboding, so I asked, "And Mota?".

Nami gave a sickly-sweet smile, and I could feel a sick sense of horror and pity rise up in the back of my mind through our connection.

"She's a part of the crew, future knowledge be damned," she said.

My mind blanked out at those words, and it must've shown on my face if the growing sense of pity niggling at the back of my mind had anything to do with it.

Why? I thought, why does she get to have all the good things in life. All she needs to deal with is guilt, all she needs to deal with! It was HER who burned down my home, HER who got me arrested, HER who got off scot-free, IT WAS ALL HER! And then I snapped, and not in the way people lash out.

It was all… her… so why me?

My face was dangerously blank at that point, and I did everything I could to keep the mask on without letting a few tears seep through the cracks. I couldn't blame them. I was a person who yelled at the captain of the same crew that was helping me. I brought this on myself, and if you add on the fact that I'm emotionally volatile with all the masks that I have, it's no wonder they're uneasy around me.

'I'll explain the future knowledge…' a dejected thought rang out through my noggin.

I repressed a scowl and instead opted for a stiff nod before turning on my heel and walking away. Next would be Little Garden, and this time it's a gamble. Would their morals allow me to stay on the ship instead of an island filled to the brim of ancient dinosaurs? Or, would they just dump me there regardless?

I walked to the back deck and watched the sunset, Regardless of what they choose, I closed my eyes, It is their decision and their decision alone.

I watched the sunset and thought back to today's events. I thought about how dangerously close my mask was to shattering, I thought about how they preferred her over me, and oh god, this sounds like a terrible romance movie. Before I could control it, a bitter laugh ripped from my throat. It seems that my mask has finally broken…

Or did I just put another one on?

I don't even know anymore. I've already screwed the timeline. When did things get so… wrong?

I heard footsteps come up from behind me, and I slipped into my tough-girl persona. I subtly tensed my legs, for enough leverage, should I bolt, I almost imperceptibly moved so that my hand had a clear go at my dagger. I did this all incognito, but just visibly enough to look like a threat.

I turned my head towards the culprit of the sound and I saw…

Luffy.

I saw Luffy. He had that same blank expression on his face that he had every time he looked at me. Did he find what he wanted to see? What did he want to see? What did he want to read?

"What is your dream?"

For the third—fourth? (I lost track) time my head blanked out.

"Well?",

I could see that he was waiting patiently, with that perfectly blank look that people like me could only dream of.

"Why?" was all I could force out in the heat of the moment.

"Mota's dream is to change the course of the world, and to be remembered for the good things she does,", he said, "What's yours?".

"What makes you think I have a dream?" I tested the waters a little.

"What are you talking about? Everybody has a dream." He said that so matter-of-factly, I almost believed him.

"I want to see the world,", I said after a while of searching for a response. What I wasn't expecting him to say though…

"Liar,"

I barely stopped myself from gasping in surprise before looking with confusion at him, "What do you mean, that is my dream!", I insisted.

He shook his head, "You don't sound happy when you say that. You don't want to see the world, you want something else," He stared expectantly at me, "Go on,".

I don't know how he did it, but he made me blurt out something that wouldn't have even spent two seconds in my mind before being discarded as unnecessary.

"I want to be me,", I blurted out.

The straw-hatted-teen in front of me blinked before giving a nod. I took that as a sign to continue, so I did,

"I've always had to wear a mask-"

Why are you telling him this?

"I don't know if who I say I am, is who I say I am,"

Why do you want this?!

"I want… to feel emotions that are mine and not… mine,"

Why… why won't you stop?

"I want to be free,"

…

Then I won't stop you.

All throughout my rambling to him, thoughts plagued me, telling me to stop telling him, stop telling him, just STOP TELLING HIM, yet I continued on, and I just don't know why, but I continued on, and by the end, I was already in tears and desperately holding onto the aloof mask I had adopted, while thought after thought plagued my mind, and suddenly, they all just stopped.

Then I won't stop you.

What's that supposed to mean? Do I actually have a split personality? An evil twin me? Well, whatever I have, I'll have to figure it out later, because right now, there seem to be more pressing matters, like that one matter in which I have an audience, (read: the entire crew), checking me out with bewildered expressions sans Mota who had a pitying look on her face.

I don't need her pity! Does she seriously think me to be so low that I can't deal with my own problems? I'm not a child! I thought rather petulantly, but a smaller, more evil part of my mind whispered, but you are a child. What does it say about you that you're already dealing with things on your own despite the fact that you're not even 18 yet?

I shoved that little voice back into the deepest recesses of my mind in which it came, and stopped crying.

Mota walked up to me and tried to put a comforting hand on my shoulder, key word being tried here, I flinched away from her touch before she could do anything. Seeing my reaction, she herself refrained from touching me in any way.

"So…" she started carefully, "Masks?" she looked pointedly at me, and I sighed,

"How else am I supposed to resist against assault? Verbal assault forces me to show that I'm apathetic to everything," despite the fact that the messages send pins and needles through my soul,

"To keep friends, I need to have a nice persona with a carefully crafted sense of humor," Even though they're fake friends to begin with,

"For physical assault, I need to, in general, be an intimidating person who is slightly condescending, yet respectful, a strong demeanor, with no sense of humor," That took slightly longer to make,

"And for sexual assault… I need to be crazy." I didn't know if I was me at that point…

I let my statements hang in the air, and took sick delight when Katrina paled and then cringed before wobbly standing up and saying, "I… I need some time to think,".

I was even more satisfied when Nami had a horrified look on her face, and her face being a stark white against her orange-hued hair.

"I… I need to go," she forced out before sprinting in the direction of the bathroom.

Sanji's cigarette was on the floor, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly ajar. He took a cigarette from his pocket and with shaky hands, failed to light it before cursing under his breath and saying, "I need to go prepare dinner, come in an hour or so,"

Not wasting the opportunity, I yelled out, "I can't eat meat!", I ignored Luffy's horrified look and instead focused on Usopp, who… was currently vomiting in the sea. Was my story really that horrifying? I didn't even get into the gory details. I looked at Zoro who was clutching the hilt of Wado dangerously tight before stomping away. A distant call of, "I need to go train!," rang out throughout the back deck, and the few people that were still on it.

For a few moments, silence reigned throughout deck, but then we heard a few footsteps nearing us after Usopp had just stopped vomiting.

It was Nami.

"Guys…" she panted, "Land ho!" she cheered at the end.

I, on the other hand, muttered barely loud enough so that Luffy could hear me, but no one else,

"Little Garden,"

AN: Why am I seeing no reviews? I need the reviews if I am to keep motivated for writing this fanfic, I don't want reviews, I need them.

GIVE ME DA REVIEWS!

But, in all seriousness, this is an 8-chapter story, and I literally only have one review. That one review, as amazing as the person that gave me it is, is not going to motivate me to do a 60+ chapter story like I planned. Give me more, give me the motivation I need. Please, it means a lot to me. Tell me how I can get better, too. I'm writing fanfiction so I can gain experience in the writer's field, so I can compare my writing to others' and see how good it truly is, and I can't do that if no one tells me.

Thank you.

~~2,214 words