Boy With a Scar

Chapter 32: Not Who They Seem

Robin took pride in her ability to read people. It was a skill born out of necessity, but it was a valuable asset.

She knew how to gather someone's personality simply by watching how they moved in a conversation or a fight. She knew how to pick apart what people said, discerning truth from lies and taking note of little things that they didn't intend to reveal. And from there, she knew how to approach them, how to manipulate them, where to push and when to ease up. She never stopped watching, and so she could see the telltale signs of incoming betrayal days, sometimes weeks before it would happen.

Of course, she was under no illusion of Crocodile's true intentions for her.

But this was neither the time nor place to ponder about that. Her only orders now were to get an update on the whereabouts of the Alabasta's princess, working as a failsafe in case Mr. Five and Miss Valentine failed their mission. And it seemed Crocodile's paranoia wasn't for naught this time.

Mr. Five and Miss Valentine did, indeed, fail their mission. The princess ended up in the hands of the small pirate crew, fresh from the East Blue and led by a young boy with the middle name of D.

Robin had a personal interest in people who carried the name of D, and thus she paid extra attention to any tidbit of information related to it. A wanted poster of Portgas D. Ace caught her eye three years ago. His name quickly rose to infamy even before he joined the Whitebeard's crew, and at present, his head was worth a frightening 700 million.

And now, Monkey D. Luffy.

She could hardly believe the fact that both Ds came from East Blue. Was it merely a coincidence? Regardless, if this young pirate was anything like Fire-Fist Ace...

Her hand rose to hide her smile, despite no one being there to see it.

A 37 million beli bounty was too low for a person of such potential. The ease with which he defeated Mr. Five only strengthened that notion.

The boy noticing her presence wasn't in Robin's plans, but it still fell in range of her expectations. She had no desire to fight him or his crew, but if it came to that, she had confidence in her abilities. Strength and speed meant nothing against her, after all.

Besides, she had Monkey D. Luffy all figured out.

A carefree boy who most likely grew up on grand stories about pirates and their bold, daring feats, and thus decided to take off into the sea to pursue fame and money like those heroes from his childhood. A bit naïve, perhaps, letting his raw strength and power of the Devil Fruit go to his head, believing that the sky was the limit, and not realizing that, at the same time, bigger and more dangerous fish swam in the same barrel and were ready to swallow him whole.

Yet, Robin didn't peg the boy as foolish. In the end, who didn't want to chase after some lofty dream when they were young and blind to the horrors lurking in the shadows? She had been this innocent and ignorant in the past as well. If fate so willed, Monkey D. Luffy would survive and carve his name in the records of this world.

And so, Robin showed herself, toyed with the princess a bit, and teased the pirate boy, albeit not very successfully. Maybe that was why she decided to do what she did. She bloomed an arm on the boy's shoulder. Just for a brief moment, long enough only to throw his straw hat to herself.

Robin always kept an eye on everyone in her close proximity—such was the life of a hunted criminal—so she noticed the rest of the crew going rigid with eyes bulging out and jaws dropping.

Why such a strong reaction, she wondered. What could possibly bring it upon them?

At that moment, her fingers closed on the brim of the straw hat.