[102] Heartbroken (1)
Chapter 102: Heartbroken (1)
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"Aha."
A light bulb went up in Gloriosa's head as she realized why Hancock had become like this.
Sitting on a royal bed, her back faced the old woman; her two sisters and Hashirama also witnessed the scene.
Boa Hancock, who had been self-conscious of her slave mark, proudly presented her back for the four of them to see. She had her hair on one side of her shoulders, revealing her back, as everyone other than Hashirama stared at it in pure awe and surprise.
"This is certainly a big incident… haaah, this is a strange turn of events."
Gloriosa was smiling, unlike usual. She laughed and backed off a little, allowing the two Gorgon sisters to rush to Hancock and hug her. The two sisters began to shed tears, not feeling any jealousy or envy, but purely happy that their eldest sister was now truly free.
"You are quite the man,"
Gloriosa walked up to Hashirama, stood by his side, and said while observing the scene.
"So how did you do it? Some sort of devil fruit ability?"
"Yes."
Hashirama looked at her short stature and nodded. He didn't have any reason to lie to her.
Gloriosa went silent and observed the three sisters. Her eyes locked on the well-covered backs of the two younger sisters, as she looked a little sad.
"I guess Hancock doesn't have the courage to ask you, but…"
The two of them were a bit far from the three sisters, and Gloriosa was talking in a low tone. So they couldn't hear them. The old lady paused for a second before she continued.
"All three of them were captured by the Nobles in the past. All three of them had the mark. Hancock is free of it now, but the other two are still chained by it. They don't feel it now, but they'd feel envy sooner or later, it isn't a good thing. Can you… maybe it's too much to ask after how we treated you, but can you remove their marks as well?"
Hashirama stared at her, and then back at the crying sisters. Staying silent for a bit, he sighed and then grumbled.
"Whatever, sure. Since I helped one of them anyway, it'd feel empty if I don't help the other two."
On that note, damn were they ugly. It was astonishing how they were blood-related to Hancock. Sandersonia did have a bombshell of a body, even if her face was weird, but the other one, Marigold, was no different from a living balloon.
"Yeah,"
Gloriosa smiled.
"Just don't tell them that I requeste-"
"Hancock, granny wants me to remove that mark from your two sisters. If you and they agree, I can move with it right away. In the meantime, can you go and fetch my cuties?"
Gloriosa blinked, her eyelids twitching, as the three sisters paused and turned to them. They looked at Hashirama first, speechless and gratified, and then they shot Gloriosa a look, who looked a little embarrassed and looked away.
For once, Boa Hancock's eyes went gentle as she looked at the retired Snake Empress.
* * *
Hancock trusted Hashirama, as he worked on her own body. So she suggested the two sisters drink the anesthesia he created, which eased their pain greatly.
Hashirama was left alone with the two sisters, lying back naked on the bed, as he did his magic. Hancock and Gloriosa looked inside from a window, with the former feeling a bit regretful seeing the expressions of the two sisters. Perhaps she should have taken the anesthesia too…
'No… It felt good, as if he pulled the mark out from the depth of my soul.'
Besides, she liked feeling his careful touch and movements. It was lovely… huh, what is lovely?
Hancock tilted her head and then the old Lady cleared her throat.
"We should hurry. Let's go free his crew first."
"His crew?"
"He said to fetch his 'cuties', did you miss it?"
"Ah."
Hancock frowned. Cuties… Why did he call them that?
Gloriosa stared at the young girl frowning and sighed. Shaking her head, she walked, leading the path, as Hancock returned to her senses and ran behind her.
'Do I have to… a-apologize to them too?'
Hancock shivered as she thought, confused and nervous at what she'll have to do.
* * *
The incident that happened after Hashirama dipped with Marguerite was out of Robin’s control. Perhaps she should have expected that, given the empty platform, but the sudden appearance of Boa Hancock was beyond her.
Fleeing was the only option, but sadly the Snake Empress had known about their presence on the island from the very beginning. She picked them up from the crowd very easily, clearly using Observation Haki, and then shot beams of love toward them.
None of them had the needs required to dodge the beams, causing them to get engulfed by them. Karoo the duck did bravely jump before them to take the beam all for herself, but sadly it’s not as if Hancock could only shoot it once. She shot it one more time, and all the girls were caught in it, petrified.
As stone, none of them maintained their consciousness of course. Yet Robin could suddenly think. Her five senses returned, and the chill of the night air hit her skin.
Her ears picked up movement, and her eyes fluttered open. Robin’s eyes opened and she flinched, due to the sight right before her. Her body fell back but luckily there was a bed right behind her, where her ass slumped down.
“The Pirate Empress,”
Robin composed herself and addressed the woman right above her, head tilted and looking down at her. Due to the nature of her bangs, one of her eyes was covered due to her head being tilted. She barely had something covering her torso, a cloth that didn’t cover the middle of her glorious chest.
“Mhm, yes, she is the most beautiful of the four…”
The Pirate Empress seemed to mutter something that Hancock missed, and before she could ask what it was, the woman stepped back. That’s when Robin noticed the other person in the room, a short old woman, who approached her.
Robin also noticed the others in the room. Looking left and right, and finally back, she found everyone present on the bed, including Karoo. They were all safe and looked unharmed.
Robin looked back at the old lady, and then at the Pirate Empress. How long has it been? A few hours? It was still night after all. Where was Hashirama, then?
“It has been a bit more than 24 hours since you girls were petrified,”
The old lady right in front of Robin spoke. She bowed her head slightly, causing the Pirate Empress behind her to blink. She hesitated for a moment, to do what Robin couldn’t guess – probably to stop the old lady, if she had to guess – but she remained unmoving in the end.
“I must apologize. Even though in hindsight, it is your fault to enter a country where men are banned from entering. We shouldn’t have treated you so harshly. Especially when you have the Princess of Alabasta with you.”
Finishing those words, the old lady straightened her head. The Pirate Empress’ eyes focused on Vivi, as Robin and the others also turned to look at her.
It was fun to be royalty, huh?
“Um, it’s all right, I suppose, but… where is Shira? I mean Hashirama. Is he all right?”
Vivi asked, and Robin grew a little confused seeing a dark frown form on the Pirate Empress’ face upon hearing the word ‘Shira’. What was going on?
“Hashirama Senju is all right.” The Pirate Empress spoke for the first time, and Robin had to admit even her voice sounded pleasing to the ears. Though she also noted the passive-arrogant tone in her voice. “He is a strong captain; as a Warlord I can reassure you that you have nothing to worry about him as long as he is that strong.”
She added, “I must let you know that I am… friends with Tsunade Senju, your captain’s older sister. So naturally, he is unharmed. Not that I could defeat him when I tried myself.”
There was still a great deal of nervousness present in everyone before, even though they were freed from being stones. However, after hearing that she was friends with Hashirama’s older sister, they felt at ease. Only Vivi here had met Tsunade in person, yet everyone in general felt at peace.
“You know Tsunade?”
Vivi smiled and sighed.
“That’s good then. I was a little worried, to be honest. But where is Shira right now?”
Everyone ignored the part where the Snake Empress had admitted to having been defeated by Hashirama. It was a little surprising that he didn’t turn into stone, but other than that it wasn’t that surprising. He was a little weird, but he was indeed strong. So there was no need to make a big deal out of the incident, at least not in front of the loser of the battle.
Robin noticed that Hancock once more looked a little weird at the word ‘Shira’, giving Vivi a strange look. This time, Mikita and Nami noticed it too, exchanging glances. Only Karoo and Vivi stayed oblivious.
A second later, Hancock spoke. “My sisters required medical help, and Hashirama Senju didn’t mind helping with the help of his powers. He should be done by now. Follow me.”
….
The hallway through the palace they were in was beautiful. It was honestly out of this world. Even for a royal like Vivi, it was a pleasant sight, and for a peasant like Nami, it looked like heaven incarnate.
Robin and Mikita kept an eye out as they moved, noting escape routes just in case. The blonde head spoke in a low voice while walking beside Robin.
"Looks like a lot of things happened in the 24 hours we were out for."
"Seems so."
"To seduce the biggest man hater on the planet, he is quite something."
"Let's not make assumptions, we are not sure what happened."
Robin shot Mikita a glance, watching her shrug while grinning.
"I don't know, seems pretty clear to me. We should stay on guard. We might need to run if things go according to my plan. She will be heartbroken soon, and it would be bad if she attacks everyone out of rage."
Robin frowned, confused at what her chef friend meant. She didn't have any time to think though, they had reached their destination.
It was a room with its door closed, but it opened right before the group could stop. From the inside, a sweaty Hashirama walked out while wiping his forehead with a napkin.
"Ah, you guys are back. I am finished, you can go check in. They'll regain all of their senses in around five minutes."
Hashirama told the Pirate Empress. At that, she and the old lady stepped into the room right away, leaving the group behind with Hashirama.
"Hi, are you guys unharmed?"
* * *
Hancock rushed inside the room to find that her sisters were still lying on their stomachs, their naked backs facing the ceiling.
Usually, she would panic. Leaving their backs like that out in the open was very stupid of them, and also dangerous. If any passerby saw them, their life would end.
However, this time Hancock didn't feel panic. A tsunami of relief washed over her as she saw the clear, pristine backs of her two sisters. No sign of any mark, or surgery, remained. Only clear skin remained.
The two sisters began to move, slowly getting up. It seemed Hashirama didn't account for their status as a Zoan fruit user, and so it didn't take 5 minutes for the medicine to wear off. They regained their senses and found Hancock looming over them with slightly teary eyes.
"Take these,"
The old lady hopped over with two hand mirrors. She threw them at the two girls, who caught them and hurriedly looked at them.
Their expectant faces which were filled with nervousness, broke apart as a fountain of tears found their way into their eyes.
Their slave mark was gone. They were free now, for real this time. Their history had been cleaned, and no dirt remained.
Hancock felt happy. She was glad. She was free, and so were her sisters. The three of them could finally leave the ghost of their past behind. That stupid fate came to an end just now.
It was all thanks to him. Not all men were the same; no men were like him.
After spending a minute with her sisters, Hancock headed towards the door with everyone to thank Hashirama once more.
The door was already open, and Hancock just had to step out. But as she did that, she paused. Her ecstatic smile dried a little, as her eyes fell on the scene before her.
"You didn't do anything weird, hmm? We were out for a day, and you were all alone, unsupervised, in this country filled with women. Are you sure you didn't do anything weird?"
"Hashirama, tell us the truth!"
The blonde woman with a snarky face was pinning Hashirama against the wall, and the princess of Alabasta was right by his side, her knee raised between his legs.
In hindsight, it looked like they were attacking him. If not for his hands that were around their waist, squeezing them, and his easy smile as he stayed calm in the situation.
"Am I stupid? I mean, I might act like it, but how could I do anything weird when my two sweethearts were petrified? I was just worried that you all were imprisoned, it's good to have you back."
""Hmm…""
The two girls narrowed their eyes. The princess looked a little annoyed at the wording "two sweethearts" but in the end, she removed her knee and just tiptoed to kiss his cheeks.
The blonde girl went a bit further, and kissed him on the lips, causing the princess to growl and yell, as the scene spiraled into a loud catastrophe.
Boa Hancock just stood there, seeing the group laughing and having fun. Suddenly, she felt disconnected from reality, she felt like a puppet, a stupid scarecrow.
Gloriosa sighed from the side, shaking her head with pity filling her eyes, while the other two Gorgon sisters looked confused.
Half a minute later, Boa Hancock turned around and walked away. She didn't say anything, she just walked away, finally causing Hashirama to notice.
Hashirama called but Hancock didn't listen.
How foolish. To fall so deeply in love and also get her heartbroken just within 24 hours.
Hancock didn't understand love or what heartbreaking was, but she just knew her heart had been betrayed.
Boa Hancock didn't like it one bit.
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