Robin's head moved swiftly, dodging the strike. Luffy's fist impacted the side wall of the Baratie, shattering it.
Luffy felt his chest get crushed, almost as if he had been punched by his grandfather. He saw the kick that crashed against his chest. Robin's foot was imbued with Armoured Haki.
!!!
*BOOOMMM!!*
His body shot out of the restaurant like a rocket, leaving Sabo, Zoro and everyone in the restaurant beyond shocked at the display. The cook, Sanji, who had been staring at Robin with heart-shaped eyes, now had a nosebleed.
"So strong!"
Robin flickered out of the restaurant like a dark haze through the hole that was just made.
"Show me what you got, little brother~".
Luffy managed to hook his arm to the restaurant's mast just in time for him to not be sent into the ocean.
"Oi, don't be running my restaurant you damn kid!" The main cook, Zeff, came out of the kitchen amidst the uproar. He nearly wanted to cry when he saw the two new windows his ship had.
Zoro and Sabo ran out as well to help Luffy.
"Be careful, she could be a logia devil fruit user, you won't be able to do anything to her unless you know Haki, Zoro-kun".
Without listening, Zoro chased forth in front of Robin, who had been standing on the ship's bannister.
He sliced her cleanly, but his sword passed through her like she didn't exist, making the girl giggle.
Resembling a dancer, she sent Zoro flying to the sea with a kick to the ribs, doing a pirouette and falling back on the same spot where she had just been. She then looked at Sabo, who came with his fist imbued in armoured Haki.
*BAANGG!*
This time, Robin frowned at the resistance; her Haki and Sabo's were somewhat evenly matched, "You're not that bad~".
"Don't underestimate the straw hat pirates~" Sabo smirked, he used soru while Robin flicked.
*BAANG!*
In a second, they had already clashed a dozen times. The pirates stationed around looked at them in shock, and those who had been eating stood up to watch the spectacle.
"Devil Child, Nico Robin!" Some of them recognised her; most of those who came from the Grand Line.
'It is a bit awkward to fight here', Robin frowned, landing one of the ships belonging to the pirates watching the show. Sabo nearly teleported in front of her, his hand now in the shape of a claw.
*BOOOMMMMM!!!*
Robin blocked the strike, a gust of darkness manifested and sucked the momentum and force of Sabo's strike, making it so that he had merely just touched her. The boy gasped when he felt as if time around him was slowing down. She then kicked him as well, and Sabo was also sent to the sea.
"Give me back that straw hat!"
"Come and get it, little bro~".
With a swing of her hand, the darkness transformed into a whirlpool that stormed the sea. She put her arms in a cross position, and dozens of dark hands manifested on her back, creating hideous wings she used to fly.
Luffy thought she was trying to escape and chased.
Even if she saw it with her observation Haki, it was still a very fast strike.
*BAANGG!*
Robin blocked it, but she was still sent crashing into one of the ships.
"Fuck! That's my pirate ship, dammit!" Somebody cursed in the crowd.
As if that wasn't enough, Luffy's fist expanded dramatically, coated in armament Haki, ready to shatter the ship. This was no longer a fight between East Blue Pirates.
*BAAAANGGG!*
From where Robin had been, a gigantic hand of darkness nearly as massive as Luffy's fist poked out; both clashed together in a shockwave that nearly split the sea, cracking all the glasses in the vicinity and sending people to the ground.
In the fight of momentum, Luffy felt weak when the darkness corroded his punch; he felt weaker as Robin advanced, and soon, her gigantic hand slapped his face.
*BAAAANGGG!*
The hand blasted Luffy into the Baratie, creating a cloud of dust; the darkness manifested into the restaurant, taking the shape of a human. She sat down next to the shattered Luffy and crossed her legs.
"Looks like you're staying in the East Blue, sweetheart~".
"..."
She span the hat teasingly, but no movements... Nico Robin started to worry.
*SNOOOOOREEEE!*
"..."
"He fell asleep!?" The spectators all screamed in unison.
Robin rubbed her temples, stood up and put the straw hat back on his head.
"This is... unexpected".
"My lady!" The blonde cook who had been pissed off before approached her with the menu, right in the middle of the chaos, as the restaurant burst open.
"What do you wish to order, beautiful miss?"
"All the meat I can get, don't worry about money~".
"Rich lady, I see~"
Deeply infatuated, Sanji went back to the kitchen, pulling Zeff along.
"Get enough for all of us to eat. I want to apologise for the commotion, so... everyone, your meals are on me!"
"Yeah!"
And just like that, everyone went back to their seat. The pirates whose ships had been wrecked approached Robin and received compensation for the damages in the form of a few million bellies that she took out of the darkness and casually tossed to them.
...
When Luffy finally woke up, everyone was eating next to him as if nothing had happened.
"You're finally awake, Luffy".
The boy panicked, checked his head, and sure enough, his straw hat was there. At the opposite end of the table, the girl was sitting, eating her meat with a fork and knife. Zoro was eating and drinking like a madman, still soaking wet, and overall, there was a cheerful atmosphere in the place despite a huge hole having been burst open and some tables being trashed.
"You got beat up bad, Luffy!~" Sabo joked.
"And so did you, Sabo-kun~" Robin teased him.
"Hmph! It is too disadvantageous to fight surrounded by water, let's fight again on land if you have the balls!"
"I don't have balls, but, okay~".
The blonde with weird brows was in the middle of trying to fix the hole. Luffy sat up and didn't say anything to her; he just took his meat and started eating.
"Oi, Luffy, you never said you had a sister", Sabo inquired.
"I don't! I don't know what she's talking about!" Luffy stared at Robin for a moment, "Hey, you're not my sister, but... wanna become my nakama?"
The invitation was very sudden, Robin felt something mysterious gush inside her, like a dejavu. Nevertheless, she shruged it aside.
"Don't worry, you can just call me Robin, it is okay even if you don't call me sister, Luffy. As for joining you as your nakama. I already have a crew, so I can't join you~"
"Really? That's sad... so? Why do you say you are my sister?" Luffy asked.
"Your father is Dragon the Revolutionary" It wasn't a question from Robin, it was a statement.
!!!!
The whole restaurant went still when that was said.
"Hey, don't say that out loud!" Sabo whispered but Robin paid no heed.
"I am his daughter too... we are children from different mothers, Luffy" she clarified.
"R-Really?" Luffy thought about it and it made a lot of sense, for one, not everyone knew who his father was. And two, he didn't know what his father's whereabouts were, so it made sense for him to have another sibling.
"Yeah, in fact... we may go way back. In a way, you could say my name is Nico D. Robin".
"D..."
Luffy ate two more pieces of steak while looking at Robin. He then pointed the bone at her, "You say you are my sister and you're very strong too... very well! I acknowledge you as my sister, Robin!"
"Thanks, I guess~, but you're still not going into the Grand Line. Not when you fall asleep in the middle of a fight like this".
"That's just because I was tired, dammit!"
But look at you, falling asleep like that in the middle of a fight. And you plan to head into the Grand Line?"
"I will be the pirate king!"
"The slumbering king, you mean".
"Buahahahahaha!"
"Oi!".
"Or the meat king, which is it?~"
The whole restaurant laughed at Luffy and were it not for his mouth being stuffed with meat, he may have given a bit of mind to everyone present. Zoro put something on the table at that moment, it was a wanted poster.
Robin's wanted poster was a cluster of shadows and sexy lips.
"Devil Child Nico Robin, a billion two hundred thousand million bellies".
"B-B-Billion!?" Luffy stared at the bounty aghast, "That's the bounty Yonko commanders have! Grandpa said after a billion, they're better off captured dead than alive!"
"Amazing! Robin, huh... hey, Robin! Do you know Shanks?!"
Robin was momentarily stumbled by the question, "Shanks... Akagami, huh... I have met him several times, but I don't have a close relationship with him at all. However, the same can't be said about Veyron".
Upon hearing the name, Luffy and Sabo perked up... once more, the restaurant went still. How could they not know who she was talking about?
"What did you say?".
"I said I don't know him well but-"
"No, big sis, you just mentioned Veyron!" Sabo stood up.
"Hmn, he's my partner~" Robin said proudly, "my husband..."
"You're related to Veyron!? Where is he now? I will beat his ass!" Luffy screamed, right in the middle of his steak.
Robin giggled and didn't take offence, it was not abnormal for people to want to take her man down, Veyron's bounty was five billion after all.
"Is that what you want to do?"
"Yes! Grandpa said Veyron was the most likely person to become the Pirate King, the Pirate King will be me!" Luffy spoke seriously.
"Grandpa... you mean Garp-san, why would he say that...?" Robin frowned, "Veyron is not a pirate".
"He may not be, but he's very strong, isn't he?!"
"I can't deny that".
"Oi, Nico Robin, are you coming from the New World? Have you been there?".
Robin shook her head at Zoro's words.
"We don't live in the new world, we live in the calm belt, but yes... I have been to the new world~".
"H-How can we get there!"
"Call me big sis, and I will tell you", Robin winked to Luffy cutely, he wasn't having any of it, though.
"Like hell I will do that! Even if I acknowledged you as my sister, you're still very weak; you have to beat Ace first!"
*SNORT*
The shadows in the restaurant grew prominent and darker.
"You little... how about I beat YOU first~".
"Don't upset her, Luffy!"
**
**
The Country of Wano.
In the office of the Shogun, at the capital.
"E-EH?! Yamato is going!?" Kozuki Hiyori stood up in a heartbeat, "Where is she going, Kiku?!"
"Uhm, about that, she's just sailing with a pirate, Hiyori-sama".
Following her retainers, Hiyori rushed to the coast, where they could see the waving silhouette of Yamato alongside someone else on a boat, going away.
"Hiyori! I leave everything in your hands! I will go and chase Veyron!" Yamato screamed very loudly, but her shouts could barely reach her. Hiyori looked at Kong, who was next to them, and collapsed on the sand. He looked sad, having just made a new friend, she had chosen to go on her own journey.
'At least Kong-sama is still here; if he went as well, how could I explain it to Veyron-sama, but even then... she says she's going to chase him? That doesn't make sense!'
"W-Wait, Yamato! V-Veyron-sama... he said he's coming soon! You don't need to go anywhere!"
"She can't hear you anymore, Hiyori-sama", Kiku sighed in exasperation.
"..." Hiyori looked at the ongoing silhouette of Hiyori, and a part of her felt envious... travelling the world, leaving this hole filled with sad memories, that was something she wished she could do as well.
"She's the daughter of that criminal, Kaido... is it okay to just let her go like this, Hiyori-sama?" Denjiro frowned.
"Regardless of what you may think of her, the truth is, if she hadn't been here, for several reasons, Wano would have been decimated. All we can do now is wish her the best, her father was a pirate... maybe that is the path she intends to follow as well" Hiyori thought about her father, Oden who had also gone through the same.
"But Pirates are evil–"
"Remember that the Kuja Fleet is also a Pirate group, Denjiro".
"H-Hai".
Their gratitude towards the Kuja Pirates and Dracule Veyron was immense; in a way, it was also selfish. Hiyori couldn't help but think, if Kaido had not captured them, then Veyron wouldn't have bothered to face Kaido and their tyrannical dominance over Wano would have continued for who knows how many decades.
But Kaido made a mistake and messed with the wrong people.
"Why did this happen? Who did she go with?" Hiyori asked, Yamato was not alone in that boat.
"There was a pirate who arrived on the island a few days ago. They fought each other, and apparently, he won! His name was Portgas D. Ace!"
"He beat Yamato-sama?".
"And he beat Kong too".
Kong huffed a breath of annoyance, then started walking away back into the forest at the outskirts of the city.
"Portgas D. Ace... I will remember that name," Hiyori mumbled, then looked back at the city that was in the process of a major revolution.
"He will come back soon... I wonder... what should I give him as a gift of our gratitude?"