Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
I'll explain a few things at the end, just to make sure that some things are clarified. I dun want to spoil anything here.
I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Eiichiro Oda, Toei, and whomever else owns it.
Stretching back in her chair, she flexed her back and was satisfied hearing the small pops.
A bad habit, but something that wouldn't kill her. At this rate, she could die if one wrong step was taken.
Robin pushed her chair back and turned the computers off. They were fine pieces of hardware, but something she wasn't attached to. She and Luffy never really used technology, preferring to be together over most other activities.
Thinking about what she should do later gave her pause. Normally, she would let thoughts of tempting Luffy into something very lewd overwhelm her so much that she would be lost in her own little world, but he was incapable of doing any such thing for a long while, so she instead focused on her task at hand.
If she was correct, the intruder was definitely one of the Red Haired Gang's members, and a high ranking one at that too. The skill the intruder had displayed had been amazing, but thankfully, it had only been one person.
Against her, they would have needed an army of hackers to even give her second thoughts. After all, what was the point of fighting a battle where victory wasn't assured?
Although, a certain man she felt strongly for might disagree. The first time they met, she had thought that he would die with her, but he fought against all odds and saved not only himself, but her as well.
He might not know it, but he had saved her in more than one way.
Leaving the room, she saw that she still had some time to kill before going home. Unlike most government officials, she was unlisted and had no specific duty to preform. She would receive her orders and carry them out with the utmost discretion.
Going to the cafeteria, she saw a few familiar faces.
Officer Smoker was a well known and well respected policeman who carried out his own form of justice. He had been reprimanded a few times, even being demoted from Agent status, but he was very popular and brought results. Tashigi, his rookie partner, was also with him. She had spoken with Robin in the past and had no prejudice, saying that she didn't think the woman was "that bad".
The two were discussing something about a recent disturbance in the South-Eastern District, but other than that, they didn't notice her.
Kalifa was also there with Blueno. The two looked as if they were low ranked office workers, but they were actually assassins. Quite sociable, they had become something akin to friends with Robin. The other assassins they worked with never showed themselves, aside from Kaku.
It seems they had a mark. Judging by the outdated code they were speaking, it was someone of rising importance in the South-Eastern District. They acknowledged her presence, giving her a small glance, but they no longer worked with her so they didn't want to give her anything to worry about. She was sure her juniors could handle whatever they were assigned.
Agent Momonga was sitting at a table, sipping coffee. He was one of the few that distrusted her, but didn't hold any hate. The man held a lot of influence in the center, being a very capable politician, solider, and enforcement officer. In his hands was a newspaper detailing a few problems that the South-Eastern District was going through.
He gave her a wary glance, but didn't do anything else, to her relief.
The only person she was worried about was-
"Robin! There you are! Come, come! Have a seat!" She complied, "Want a doughnut?"
"And so, that bastard just wouldn't calm down! I had to hit him so hard, his head became flat! Bwahahaha! We called him, "Hammer-Head Chinjao" after that!" He started laughing hard again, causing spittle and doughnut debris flying through the air. Thankfully, he had taken Robin's presence in mind and directed it away from her.
"Isn't it the other way around? Surely you didn't smash his head so flat that you couldn't see it at a certain angle?"
"That's the thing! His head was already pretty weird! As thin as a pin it was, and he could even split continents in half! Scary stuff, that was!"
"Continents? That's quite the exaggeration."
"Bwahahaha! As cautious as ever I see!" The man calmed himself to see that she seemed impatient, "Eh? What's wrong? Boring you with my old tales of valor?"
Robin shook her head, "It's not that. A few hours have passed since we've started talking."
"What?!" He stood up from the table, holding his head in shock, "I missed the meeting! Sengoku's going to be pissed!"
After thinking about his words, he sat back down.
"Whatever! I'll deal with it later. You got plans, Kid?"
"...I wanted to meet my boyfriend..."
The man stood up again, doughnut particles flying from his mouth, "You have a boyfriend!?"
She took it in stride, "Yes. I fear that he may be worrying about me..."
"Then go home! Why are you here talking to an old geezer like me?!"
"Ufufufu...to be honest, I'm not quite sure myself. You seem...familiar." She stood from her seat and started to leave, "Take care, Garp-san."
"Hey, Kid!" She saw that he was giving her a serious look.
"Don't let anyone boss you around. If you're having any troubles-"
"Thanks for the concern, Garp-san, but I can take care of myself." Now was not the time to ask for his help.
"Your boyfriend better be an upright gentleman, you hear me! I don't want you falling for some punk!"
Her laughter was a bit louder, "Oh, don't worry, Garp-san. He's the best thing that's happened to me!"
Hearing the sincerity in her words, he smiled, "That's good! Bwahahaha! Remember, Robin, I think of you as family! If you're in trouble, don't hesitate to ask!"
"I appreciate it, Garp-san. Good night." She left, knowing that he might not be able to fulfill that promise.
He thought of her as a outstanding young lady who had never experienced great misfortune before. She wondered what he would think if he knew what she had to go through, but she didn't want to hurt the man.
Garp was one of the few that had befriended her quite easily. Aside from Luffy, he was possibly the closest friend she had. In fact, she considered him as a "father figure".
Speaking of father figures...
Agent Aokoji stood near the entrance. The last person she wanted to see.
"Hello, Robin."
"Aokoji." Replying coldly, she tried to walk past him, but he held an arm out to stop her.
"I wanted to talk to you for a bit."
"I apologize, but I have an appointment that I'm late for."
"To your boyfriend, Luffy?" If her blood could freeze, it would now be at sub-zero temperatures.
"...What do you wish to talk about?" She stayed as calm as she could. If she showed the slightest hint of weakness or distress, it would all be over.
"You should be a bit more careful. If I was able to find out, imagine who else could if they tried?"
"Are you sure that it was your skill that allowed you to discover him or was it that I wasn't careful enough?"
"I'm not stupid, Robin, and neither are you." His glasses hid his eyes from her sight, "I didn't train you so you could go and get yourself killed. My superiors are looking for a reason to get rid of you."
"I'm shocked, but not surprised. As if they held their contempt for me secret."
"Robin..."
"What is it that you want me to do?" Her voice turned frigid, demonstrating how much she disliked the man.
The man paused, and Robin thought for a brief second that he would tell her something she didn't want to hear.
"If I tell you to remove him from your life, would you listen?"
He didn't think it was possible for a person to display such an amount of hatred without actually expressing it.
"I see you no longer wish to live, is that what you're telling me?"
"Hey, hey, hey! That's not what I want you to do." He sighed, his nerves already on edge. Aokoji didn't want to fight someone that he knew could kill him.
"I don't mind if you want to kill me, but I promised Saul and your mother back then that I would try to protect you. The government wouldn't try to kill someone because you love them- wait, they might, but that's not my point. Try to be more discreet, alright?" He backed away, allowing her access to the exit.
"Why?" He saw the questioning look on her face, "What do you gain from this? A bargaining chip to use against me later?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"What's the catch? Don't lie to me, Aokoji, you know I don't have any power over you. What do you gain from keeping Luffy a secret?"
"Oh my, oh my...I really can't just do something nice?"
"What is your definition of nice? Forcing a young girl to watch her mother get executed?"
"That's enough!" Aokoji shouted, causing Robin to flinch, "I know you hate me, but if I could have avoided that, I would have! Can't I allow you to actually experience life?!"
Seeing the guarded look to cross Robin's expression, he sighed, calming himself down.
"I...I think it's a good idea for you to develop an intimate relationship with someone. I've noticed that you distance yourself from everyone, but if you love this man, I feel that you'll be happier. Alright?"
Still glaring at him, she started to leave.
"Are you going to report this to your superiors?"
"I highly doubt that they are even remotely interested in your love life, Robin. Don't worry about it."
He could tell she didn't believe him as she walked through the door, heading towards the nearest train station. There, she would get off four stops from Galley-La Shipping company up north and then walk through random alleyways for a half hour. Then, she would run home.
It was far too complicated in his opinion, and yet, he didn't think it was enough. She should have built an underground tunnel with the entrance well hidden.
After all, he found her accidentally while walking home. He still had yet to report to his superiors that she wasn't going to her designated living area, but he thought it was unimportant.
"Luffy? Are you here?" Robin called out as she closed the door, locking it. She had taken the train to another part of town today to make sure she wasn't seen, and even went through the trouble of making sure she wasn't followed.
How did Aokoji find out? He must have seen her as she was jumping across rooftops. The city was big, but it scared her to think she would be found so easily.
Robin heard some shuffling in the kitchen and saw that Luffy's shoes were at the door.
Thinking that he was preoccupied, she took her own off and proceeded into the kitchen to see that Luffy was sitting in front of the refrigerator, food splattered all over the place and him pulling something else out to eat it.
"Luffy?!" She called out, surprised. He was disorderly, yes, but this was far beyond anything he usually did.
Rushing over to him, she put a hand on his shoulder and found it to be unnaturally cold.
Undisturbed, as if she wasn't there, Luffy kept eating, taking large bites out of an uncooked roast that they had decided to eat the next day.
Seeing that she had no effect, she grabbed his head and turned it forcefully, experiencing the repercussions of doing so as it scraped her hands.
"Huh? Oh, Robin! What are you-" He saw her hands and the blood that seeped through her skin, "You're hurt! What happened?!"
"It's...it's nothing, but what are you doing?"
"I'm hungry, so I'm eating. You want some?" He held out some of the uncooked roast.
"Luffy...it's not even prepared..."
"Prepared? What do you..." Catching on, he suddenly realized he was eating uncooked meat.
With a start, he tried to lightly toss it back into the fridge, but it smashed against the back of the appliance, causing drops of blood to cover them both.
"Ah! I'm sorry!" He put his hand to her face to wipe the blood away.
She was late to react. His hand brushed against her face and she let out an involuntary gasp.
"Robin! Did it get into your eye?" He moved his hand away to see a deeper scrape on her face, where he had tried to clean it while she tried to hide it with his hand.
"Where did that come from?!" Shouting Luffy started to stand.
"Luffy! Please, relax!"
Not knowing that his legs were numb, he fell to the ground. Seeing that Robin was getting ready to help him up, he saw that she was still holding onto his hand.
Even though he had fallen more than a few feet away from her.
"W-What's going on?!" Robin let go of his hand and they both watched it snap back to his body, "What's happening!?"
"It's alright, Luffy-"
He looked at his stomach and paled. It was well over its normal size as he had devoured most of the food in the fridge.
"Oh my god..." Panicking, Luffy looked up at Robin in shock, "Am...am I sick?"
"No..." She knelt down to help him up, "You're not sick. You'll get better, Luffy."
As she touched his hand, he noticed he didn't even feel her touch.
"What's...going on...?" Even as she started to hug him, he couldn't feel her soft skin.
He couldn't feel her warm embrace.
Everything felt cold, and he was hungry.
"You'll get better..." He heard her whisper in his ear, though she had already pulled him away to give him a compassionate, yet worried look.
He was scared.
Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!
Robin does know Garp is related to Luffy, but she isn't sure if she should mention it.
Aokoji may or may not be her real father here. Don't know if I should or not, which is why it's ambiguous here.
When Robin whispered into Luffy's ear, it took a few seconds for him to hear it.
Kinda don't like explaining things, since I prefer you pretend everything's perfect!, but I hope that clears up a few things.