Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy!

I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Eiichiro Oda, Toei, and whomever else owns it.

The night had been long. Both of them had been unable to sleep, though Robin had hid that fact. Luffy, as inconspicuous as ever, had stared at the ceiling. Whatever illness he had been inflicted with, it kept his eyes from drying out, but everything felt off.

His own senses lagged behind reality and even his sense of touch had diminished. Even now, he could barely feel the blankets covering his cold body. Luckily, his sense of hunger had disappeared after a while, but the numbness had remained.

After the sun peaked over the buildings on the horizon, they both grudgingly prepared for the day ahead of them. He noticed the worried looks from Robin, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

Everything still felt so numb, it was starting to drive him mad. It was frightening.

His body felt almost nothing. It troubled him greatly, but he couldn't say anything.

How could he tell her that he was scared that he would stop feeling? Would he still feel happy with her? Would his friends be important to him?

Luffy had been in tough situations before, but he truly felt trapped in this terrifying body.

The thoughts had troubled him all the way to the Going Merry. Yesterday, they had removed most of the bad element from the streets, so Shanks told them they could have a free day.

The lack of adventure continued to torment him more. By the time he opened the door to the usual room to only see Zoro drinking on the couch, he had become desperate.

"Hey, Zoro." He tried to mutter, but it came out as a shout.

"Jeez, Luffy. No need to be so loud-" His friend's disturbed reaction and voice had been misaligned.

"Fight me."

The two panted as they lay exhausted on the grass. The Going Merry had a courtyard where many of them used it as a sparring area. Nami and Usopp were always a little upset when things got out of hand, but they didn't understand that they were going easy on each other.

It wasn't a real fight after all. If it had been, only one of them would have walked away.

"Hey...what's the idea...Luffy...?" Zoro said, gasping for air. Usually, only he and that shit cook fought, but Luffy was always against fighting, "You were...a lot slower than usual..."

"Yeah..." Luffy muttered, but he was a little happier. It wasn't that he didn't feel things at all, it was that it was dulled to a point where he couldn't feel it. Sparring against Zoro had been a good idea. While fighting, his senses had returned and he wasn't lagging behind.

The swordsman didn't understand, but one thing had been made clear to him. Luffy had gotten stronger. In fact, his level of strength was unreal now.

"What kind of training have you been doing?" Zoro sat up, looking over at the one he followed. Shanks was the leader, but he didn't care about that. Luffy was the one who had won him over.

"I don't train." Luffy stated, staring up into the sky. A great burden had been taken off his shoulders, and he could smile.

"You're one lucky bastard, you know that? I gotta constantly train or else I lose my edge."

"Shishishi! That's bad luck! Still, even I'm surprised at how strong I am now." Clenching a fist, his knuckles popped loudly.

"Hey, when we were fighting, what was the deal with your limbs? They kept...stretching." Thinking about it, he was kinda freaked out that the man's limbs had stretched out to hit him, but they were uncontrollable and had hit Luffy a couple times.

"I don't know...I was scared when it started happening! I guess I'm that strong?"

"That's more than just strength, Luffy..." Sweat dropped down his face at the obviously stupid answer, "A person could be the strongest in the world, but I doubt that their limbs would be able to do that..."

"How do you know I'm not the strongest in the world?" The swordsman heard him joke, laughing as he got up.

"Cause I know that you think Shanks is beyond your league still." He accepted the hand that Luffy had offered, being pulled up.

"The hell did you do to your hands? It's rougher than my katana grips."

"Remember when I said I ate a purple fruit?"

"Yeah."

"I think it has something to do with this."

"Really? Alright." Zoro had heard of weirder things before.

"Are you two done?!" Hearing a familiar voice, they turned to see and enraged Nami.

"Oh shi-"

The hits that she gave them had been the most devastating blow they had felt that day.

"Dahahahaha! She really showed you two!" Shanks laughed as he stood near the door. Benn wasn't with him and neither was Lucky.

Luffy and Zoro sat on the couch with two huge, painful welts on their faces.

"I'm so sorry..." Luffy muttered repeatedly, not wanting to get hit again.

"Damn it...I wish you weren't so picky about when we spar-"

"Who do you think pays for the damage you two do?! Ah...Shanks-sama...please don't make me responsible for their idiocy..." She pleaded, only to see that Shanks was now laughing at her.

"Sorry, but it's not my problem! I can't tell them they can't be who they are! You don't have to pay for the damage though." He said, but instantly regretted it when he saw the blazing anger in Nami's eyes.

"Not pay for the damage?! I don't want the government to shut us down! Plus, after making it look so nice, they have to go and ruin it!"

"H-Hey now...I'll cover it this time. Just calm down..." Fear shot through Shanks, and the other two snickered.

"You lost, Shanks."

"The witch is possibly the strongest person here..."

"Dahahaha...yeah, you might be right. I got beaten instantly! But, enough fooling around. I only came here to explain your condition, Luffy."

"Eh?" Seeing that he caught everyone's attention, Shanks cleared his throat.

"Now, you guys have managed to come this far without seeing it before, but it's time you learn about something the government usually keeps under wraps."

Making sure that Luffy was paying attention, he continued.

"You've been "cursed", Luffy."

"Cursed?"

"Yes. Those fruits we sent to Crocus were cursed fruits. He was good to us in the past, so I wanted to thank him. Cursed fruits can be researched or sold for an enormous amount of mo-"

"How much money?!" Nami interrupted, money signs in her eyes.

"Um..." Losing track of his train of thought, Shanks started to sweat, "About...two hundred million each?"

"How do we get it out of this idiot?!" She grabbed Luffy and shoved him in Shanks direction.

"Hey, wait now. You can't remove a "curse"."

At that, the three looked more serious.

"Wait, so I'm going to be like this...from now on?" Luffy, with fear in his eyes, asked the one he considered a father.

"...Sorry, Luffy. That's correct."

Nami let Luffy stand, worry in her eyes and she noticed that Zoro was the same.

Their friend stared at his hands and remembered how they had hurt Robin.

"...You're joking..."

"No, Luffy, I-"

"It has to be a joke!" He started to yell in disbelief.

"Luffy..." Nami tried to comfort him by placing a hand on his shoulder, but he moved away.

"Don't touch me! I...I'm dangerous...!" He tried to run out the door, but Shanks held up an arm to block him.

The man saw the desperation and pain in in younger man's eyes and sighed.

"...I know it's hard to take in. I want you to know that we're your friends, and we'll help you through this...troubling period. It will get better though, so don't be so sad."

He lowered his arm, and Luffy left, slower than he would have.

"Hey! Why are you letting him go?!" Nami rushed to the door, but Shanks held up a hand to stop her while he took a cellphone out.

"Hey, Yasopp." A name that was unfamiliar with the other two, but sounded a lot like Usopp, "Keep an eye on Luffy, alright?"

He nodded head, "Thanks, buddy." Shanks hung up and looked back to the other two.

"Luffy will be alright. You two should know that he needs to accept what has happened. Give him some space."

"He can come to accept it faster if we're with him!"

Shanks sighed, but still remained in front of the door.

"This...isn't something that we can really help him with. The "curse" he has...is special."

"Special?" Something then dawned on Nami, "Wait, you know what's happened to him?!"

"Yeah, it's...well, it's not good, but it's not bad."

"He was stronger." Zoro said aloud, surprising Nami, "And he didn't notice pain that easily. He was slower than normal though."

"Being made of rubber would probably do that to someone."

"He's made of rubber?"

"Yeah." He then looked to Zoro, "He didn't directly touch you, did he?"

"...No. He didn't. Kicked me a few times with his shoes, but he didn't want to punch me." He chuckled, "He did punch my katana though. Thought he was crazy, but I used the back of the blade, so he didn't get cut up."

"You two animals..."

"That does explain why he was stretching all over the place."

"Stretching? Wait, why didn't you mention this sooner?!"

"Didn't think much of it."

"You stupid ape-!"

Shanks started to laugh.

"Taking things in stride, eh, Zoro?"

Zoro snorted.

"It doesn't matter if he ate something weird, he's still Luffy to me. If he doesn't understand that, then I'll have to beat him up."

"That's a good way of looking at things. For now, it'd be best to act as if he's Luffy. Worrying about him so much might bring more harm than help."

"Wait..that's it?! Why are you turning into the bad guy here!"

"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down!" Shanks cowered as Nami was about to hit him, "You're not wrong, Nami! I mean, I'm worried about him too! But right now, Luffy thinks he's changing! If we show him he's the same as always, things will get better!"

Delaying the beating to listen to his explanation, Nami reconsidered.

"So...if Luffy thinks he's getting better...he'll get better?"

"Yeah, that's part of the "adjusment" phase."

"Adjustment?"

"There's a process behind these cursed fruits. The body has to "adjust" to it first, then the person can control it."

"Are there any other phases?" Zoro asked, not knowing if he would like the answer.

"Well...if a person is unable to "adjust" to the fruit..."

Shanks shook his head.

"No. It's not important. Don't worry about it because Luffy won't have to go through it."

"Wait! Why aren't you telling us about the other phases!" Nami, now interested, threatened Shanks with her fists, but the serious look in his eyes made her unsure she could move the man.

"It's not important. Telling you wouldn't help Luffy, but I have a special order for you two."

They could tell that Shanks no longer wanted to talk about the curse phases, and they chose to drop it.

"Has Luffy ever mentioned a "Robin" before?"

"His secret girlfriend? Why would he tell us?"

"Wait, he actually called me about her. He wanted to know where she was."

"Why would he call you?" Zoro looked at Nami more suspiciously.

"Don't look at me like that!" She kicked him, "That was the first time I heard of her as well! I thought I told Luffy that the phone only connects to mine!"

"Gah! You bitch! Stop hitting me!"

"I don't think it's surprising that he forgot. He's as bad as I am when it comes to technology." Shanks said, nodding his head, "It's alright if you don't know about her. I'm sure he only called due to his "curse". It worries me that he doesn't know where she goes..."

"His curse makes him forget things?"

"No, it weakens the signals that his brain sends out and receives. When he was calling, it probably didn't occur to him that calling you wouldn't help."

"...He did tell me to forget it, but I still think he might just be bad with tech."

"That's also a very understandable answer. But, I wanted to let you guys know that you should be careful about her..."

"Huh? Why?"

Shanks sighed, looking more weary than he had been in a long while.

"Just be careful, okay? If you ever see her or know where she is, let me know."

"Is...is she dangerous?"

Looking around, Shanks sighed again, but in defeat this time.

"I wasn't going to tell you two, but that cursed fruit? It wasn't one of the ones we sent to Crocus."

"...Wait?! You mean he didn't eat one of ours?!"

"No. He must have gotten a hold of it some other way. That particular fruit belonged to some high ranking government official. Who just so happened to have disappeared within the last week."

"Do you think that this, "Robin", fed it to him?"

"...It's possible. Let me know if anything happens, alright? You got my number, Nami?"

"Yeah...yeah I do." The woman looked trouble, which caused Shanks to laugh and pat her head.

"Hey, cheer up! I'm sure it's nothing, alright? Everything will be fine!"

He walked out the door, but his expression turned serious.

If it came to it, he would fix all of this if he needed to.

Nobody hurt his friends, and only dead people would mess with Luffy like this.

Luffy walked back to his apartment, Shanks' words still ringing in his head.

He was "cursed" for the rest of his life. Not that he minded the increase in power, but he didn't pay much attention to that anyway. He was left in despair that it caused him to feel less and that it wouldn't allow him to touch anyone unless he wanted to hurt them.

The rubberman wouldn't forget how he hurt Robin with only a touch, and he would never forgive himself for it.

He knew his friends wanted to help him, but he didn't wish to burden them with this. To put a damper on their spirits because something had happened to him would make him feel worse.

Which is why he was headed home to see if Robin had anymore insight on what he should do. She was really smart, possibly as smart as Benn, and she might be able to know more about his situation. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that she could understand him a bit better than most.

As he walked, he had more than a few pair of eyes on him.

Kalifa and Blueno didn't know what had hit them first. The bullets or the fact that someone they never expected to show up had helped them.

It was only a small target, but one that was suspected of being a member of that "Red-Haired"'s gang. Red-Haired was a notorious criminal in the eyes of the law, but a respected public figure in the South-Eastern District. He wasn't a politician, and everyone knew that he was a criminal, but he was someone who wanted peace above everything else.

Unfortunately, the man they had been tailing was far more important than they originally thought.

A bullet almost hit both of them, which would have ended their lives, but they were pushed aside by their savior.

The porcelain mask with a baroque pattern was unmistakeable. Why she was helping them was unknown, but without it, they would have been dead.

"Get out of here." The colder than normal, feminine voice commanded and it was obeyed to the best of their ability.

They could hear the muffled gunshots from afar, and they had to be pushed out of the way again. This time, they were able to retreat far enough that they would be able to prevent their deaths.

The masked figure stared at a position on a tower that most would have not expected the gunshots to originate from, but she knew better. Without a sound, she disappeared.

The sniper had expected her and had already fired a round at her head. It was a well aimed shot, and technically it didn't miss, but the mask deflected the bullet away from her.

"Do you wish to fight here and now? If you don't mind, I have to be somewhere."

The man glared at her, gun never moving from her.

"That kid down there is like son to me. You wouldn't really think I would leave you to assassinate him?!"

She turned to gaze upon the distant figure of Luffy walking to the train station.

A gunshot rang out, but his aim had been directed away from her, surprising the man.

"You're...!"

"It might not mean much to you, but the boy also means a lot to me. I can't have him dying now."

Luffy had gotten on the train, and it left. It would almost be impossible to follow him now.

Unless one knew where he was already headed.

The man seemed to know that as well as he growled in a mix of frustration and worry.

"You probably won't believe me, but he will be safe. I promise you that."

"You expect me to believe you, one of the most feared killers in the underground, to protect one of my family?! Why should I trust you?"

"Because you don't have much of a choice at this point, I'm afraid. Don't worry. He will be safe."

He thought about following the woman as she left, but decided against it. It wasn't that he wasn't sure he would be able to, it was that he doubted that she would allow him to.

She wasn't feared by many without a reason. Even he felt a tinge of fear when she had shown up.

He took out his phone and started to dial Shanks.

The situation might have been worse than originally thought.

"Robin! Are you here?!" Luffy shouted, a little louder than usual. He had some control over how much he exerted himself, but not a lot.

"Yes! I'm in the kitchen!"

He walked in to see that the table had already been set, and what looked like a feast was laid out for the two.

"I thought that our fridge held a paltry amount to how much you wanted to eat, so I hope that this is sufficient."

"Woah! That's a lot!" He grinned at her, "How did you manage all of this?!"

"Ufufufu...I have many talents." She said with a sultry tone, hoping that she could get a reaction out of the younger man.

"You sure do! Thanks for the food!" He sat down and started to eat, managing to control himself enough to not let food fly across the table.

It was a reaction that she had not hoped for, but appreciated nonetheless.

"I've got something I want to talk with you about." Luffy, with food filling his mouth, told the woman. She looked interested, but understood that Luffy wouldn't want to talk like this.

"Enjoy the food, Luffy. Ah, don't mind me. You can eat all of it."

"Eh?! Are you sure!?" It really was a lot. Only two people lived in this apartment, but the table was huge and covered with plates of food.

"I already ate. So please, go ahead."

"If you insist!"

She watched him eat, a small smile on her face. The past two days had been a little rough on her, and seeing him smile made her day better.

"Do I have some food on my face?" He asked, noticing the stare.

She snapped out of her trance and smiled wider.

"No, it's nothing. I'm glad you look a bit better."

It took some time, but Luffy finished eating. His belly was bloated like a balloon, which had unsettled the man, but he didn't feel bad about it.

"Thanks again, Robin! I needed that."

"Believe me, it was my pleasure. What was it that you wanted to speak about?"

"Oh yeah, I'm cursed."

At that, Robin's eyes widened.

"Cursed?"

"Yeah. I don't really understand, but I was hoping you would."

Her expression turned thoughtful, putting a fist under her chin.

"I've heard about it before. I'm unaware of how one becomes "cursed", but it supposedly gives one great powers."

"Ah, I was told by Shanks to deliver fruit to some old guy named Crocus, and I accidentally ate one."

He clasped a hand on his mouth, but Robin appeared to have not noticed.

"Fruit? It's possible...I have heard accounts of that individuals becoming "cursed" after consuming fruit."

"J-Just forget what I said about Shanks! That's supposed to be a secret!" He panicked, causing the woman to laugh.

She thought it was cute as he squirmed in his seat. She stored the thought away, planning on remembering to make him squirm from a different cause later.

"Who's Shanks?" She asked, her tone questioning.

"Eh? You don't know?" Luffy, dumbstruck, couldn't believe that she didn't know who he was.

"Is he important to you?"

"Yeah! Shanks is one of my best friends!" His grin grew so wide that it was unnatural, "He's so cool! His hair is really red too!"

"Ufufufu...maybe I can meet this Shanks one day?"

His eyes shined.

"That would be so cool! I really want to introduce all of my other friends as well! There's Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji!"

"That would be nice, Luffy, but why wouldn't you want to talk about your "curse" with your friends?"

At that, he frowned, causing Robin's good mood to disappear to be replaced by regret.

"I...I don't know if I could do that to them. I don't want to trouble them with this..."

"Ufufu...so you want to trouble me about it?"

"Wait-?! What?! No!"

"I don't mind." The woman felt some excitement build up in her as she watched Luffy's expression turn into one of mortification, "In fact, I'd...love to be troubled by you..."

"I-I didn't want to bother you with this-!"

He was interrupted when Robin laughed louder.

"I love how you get so flustered!" Luffy became a little scared at the unnaturally wild look in her eyes and her deeper breaths, " Perhaps...I should ignore Hiluluk's warning..."

"Eh? Who's Hiluluk?" Scared, Luffy started to shrink in his seat.

"Hm?"

Noticing his new look, Robin giggled a little.

"It's no one. Sorry, but I was a little excited..."

"You get scary when you're excited...really physical too."

"But you don't mind that, do you...?" She tried to put a hand on his, but he flinched.

"...May I?"

"No...you'll hurt yourself..." He wanted to hold her hand, but was very reluctant.

"It's alright. You won't hurt me." She reached for his hand and he didn't move away.

He didn't feel warmth from her hand, but instead felt it in his heart.

Robin saw that he relaxed and knew he wanted to feel more. Her feelings were mutual, and the temptation was great, but she chose to focus on a more important issue.

She sighed, "Your friends are worried about you, but there's really nothing to worry about."

"I feel different, Robin. It's as if I'm not even myself anymore..."

"You're funny, Luffy." He was confused. He didn't make a joke and she wasn't laughing, "Do you think that because something like this happens, you're less than what you were? That you're no longer the same person?"

"But...I...I hurt you. Even now...I don't think I can even hug you..."

"Wounds heal, Luffy. If something like a little scrape were to change my opinion of you, that wouldn't be your fault."

"Wasn't it painful?"

"Not as painful as seeing you so hurt about it."

Luffy hesitated, and when he looked at her calming smile, he felt a little worse. He didn't know that he was still hurting her.

"Sorry. I-"

He was surprised when she put a finger to his lips.

"Shush. There's no need to apologize. To say "sorry" means that you've wronged me somehow. It was an accident...so there's no need."

"But...I still feel bad about it..." His words slipped out even as she tried to quiet him.

Her predatory grin made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"If you feel bad about it, then how about you make it up to me? I have a few things in mind..." She tried to be as seductive as possible, knowing that he was a little more slower than usual.

She really wanted to. It had been a long while since they held each other. The younger man might have been intimidated somewhat, but it would have been good to relieve some of that tension in his expression.

"...Such as you talking about this with your friends."

But she couldn't. To do something like that would undermine their relationship. She didn't want the main attraction between them to be mostly physical.

"...Thanks, Robin." His smile was small, but it caused her heart to skip a beat, "I think I will. It was a great idea to talk about this with you!"

She returned the smile.

"Really...it was my pleasure."

By now, he should have fallen asleep. If he wasn't, then he was truly a fantastic actor.

His snores almost rocked the room, but they didn't bother her. People might have thought she preferred a more quiet environment, but she actually enjoyed how loud Luffy was.

In fact, she really enjoyed how loud she could make him, but that was another matter entirely. She rose out of bed and looked down on his snoring face, noticing that a small amount of drool was making its way onto their bed.

Robin kissed his forehead lightly, muttering an apology before walking to the living room to recline into the couch.

Reaching underneath, she brought out the porcelain mask with the floral, baroque pattern on it.

Today's conversation had confirmed her earlier suspicions. Luffy worked for "Red-Haired" Shanks.

She placed the mask on her face, enjoying the small bite of cold it sent through her.

Her plan was becoming closer to being complete. There had been a few hiccups, but things worked well for the most part.

Now she only had to stay alive long enough for it to actually work.

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!

Now, you might be thinking that Robin is OOC in this. You might be correct on that one. In this fic, she's a little...okay, if it involves Luffy, she's really perverted. I always thought that would be interesting. Hell, I think I might actually put that in a different idea I have.