[33] The Year 1522
Chapter 33: The Year 1522
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"Mmhm…."
Hashirama groaned and sharply opened his eyes. He took deep breaths while his eyes roamed around the unfamiliar ceiling; his wet back against the bed.
"Ah, fuck, that dream again…"
Sitting up quickly, he shook his head to forget it. A while later, he yawned and got up with a stretch of his arms.
The room he was in was unfamiliar, it was inside the Rain Base. He didn't go back to the hotel last night, there was no opening to leave because of a dinner party. So he slept here. It was a better experience anyway, as this hotel was much better.
"I just hope those two girls didn't get into a fight." Hashirama yawned again and got off the bed.
After freshening up, he wore a green t-shirt and black capris pants. He went to greet the King and Queen, but it turned out they were still sleeping.
"Uhm…"
Only Vivi Nefertari wasn't sleeping, and she got up just when Hashirama went to check on her, even though he wasn't planning to wake her up.
"Ah… Hashirama!" Vivi's eyes were blurry for a moment before they lit up. She jumped off her bed and ran to the door that was just opened by Hashirama. "What's up? Do you need me for anything?"
"Ah no, go back to sleep." Hashirama raised a finger and flickered at her forehead. "Just here to check if you were safe or not."
"Huh?" Vivi asked with a tilt of her head as she rubbed her forehead. "Also, stop doing that to my forehead! You'll leave a mark at this rate."
"I'll think about it in my sleep. Bye." With a wave of his hand, Hashirama didn't give her any further heed and ran off.
Hashirama got out of the golden pyramid building, said hi to the guard, and made a run for the hotel.
On his way, he slipped into an alleyway and used Transformation Jutsu to turn himself a little different from his current appearance. Then, he continued on his route to the hotel.
Hashirama got in front of the receptionist and went up after registering, and soon he was standing in front of the door.
– Knock Knock
Hashirama knocked. However, there was no answer.
"Are they still sleeping?"
Such luxury for two wanted criminals? How stupid.
– Knock Knock
Hashirama knocked again, but there was no answer then either.
"Ugh. Hey, Mikita! Open the door." with a grunt, he yelled through the door.
Yet, there was no answer.
Something was wrong. Did something bad happen?
With his chakra, Hashirama manipulated the wooden door; it snapped its lock before creaking open.
"Hey, Mikita, Robin." Hashirama walked in with a frown while calling. "Where are you two-"
His words caught in his mouth as the sight inside registered in his head.
Empty. It was all empty. Well, there wasn't much in the hotel room that didn't belong to the hotel itself, and those things were still there, but the two large briefcases that were full of gambling money were gone.
The closet and the wardrobe were open, and all the clothes that Mikita had bought earlier were gone. Vanished.
More importantly, Mikita herself was gone. So was Nico Robin. They both were… nowhere to be seen.
However…
"This doesn't look like a thief and kill. No thief here is strong enough to take on those two. No, it couldn't be that someone stole all the money and took Mikita and Robin's bodies away…"
No, nobody could do that.
So what happened, really?
As unfortunate as it was, there was only one plausible scenario that applied here.
"Nico Robin… and Mikita… escaped with my money in their pockets."
He tried to control himself, but he couldn't stop grumbling in irritation; irritation that he hadn't felt in a long time. He slammed his fist on the nearby wall and it cracked.
"Fucking hell. Why?"
Here he was helping them, yet they pulled a fucking joker card on him.
No, why the hell did Robin escape, even though she was yet to see the Poneglyph? Did Mikita attack her when she wasn't expecting it? But there was no sign of battle and Robin wasn't that dumb to get caught off guard.
"...Fuck."
Curling his fist up, he was about to slam on the wall again. However, Hashirama sighed and stopped himself.
Taking a deep breath, he just walked out of the room. He could still find them, no way he was losing them. He could travel faster than them, and they must be on their way to Nanohana so he could find them with all his clones.
At the very least, he will try, and he will beat the shit out of them for betraying him even after reaching the finish line.
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His vision was ripply, as if underwater. But he didn't mind it, he continued playing.
Sitting on the ground, playing with stones, he was uncaring of his surroundings. People were moving around him, living their daily routine, while ignoring him—who was just another little kid by the road.
People's chattering, buzzing on the back of his head as he filtered them out, was far less annoying than the bright sun in the sky. He was sweating, and being under the sun without any shirt hurt his small back. It burned. But he didn't care, he was used to it.
The boy continued his game, smiling alone and counting stones, while the people of the town continued to ignore him.
Until one day,
"Huh?"
While he was playing the same game that had grown to be his favorite, an unfamiliar voice sounded out in front of him. It was a voice he didn't know, so it must belong to someone out of town.
"This parentless punk. Why are you on the road, kid?"
The voice sounded somewhat annoyed and that made him stop playing with the stones. He hated annoyed people, they hurt him.
Slowly, he looked up to find the man who just spoke. Slowly, his eyes widened.
Like any other day, the sun was high in the sky, shining bright. However, even the bright sun seemed to pale in comparison to this old man.
White hair, with a stupendous white beard to boot, the old man looked to have descended from heaven. The sun seemed to reflect on his hair and beard as if it was a mirror, and his blue eyes far surpassed the intensity of the yellow sun as he gazed down at him.
A foreigner, it seemed.
"Oh," the little boy sighed. "This is where I live, old man. I sleep on the road, and I play on the road. Probably different from where you are from, but that's how it works here."
"Parentless punk," the white old man shook his head dramatically. "Your destiny is far greater than this. To be on the road, playing with stones? That isn't your fate, boy."
The little boy blinked and then scoffed. "Oh fuck off, You one of those kidnappers, ain't you? Fucking hell man. Get lost, or watch me scream. It might not seem like it, but I got a group. They'll beat you up."
The old man stared down at the boy, with his expression blank. After a long while, just as the little boy was about to yell, the old man smirked.
"Say, what do you think of becoming my disciple?" The old man suddenly said. "Trust me, it'll change your life."
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"Mmhm…."
Hashirama groaned and sharply opened his eyes. He took deep breaths while his eyes roamed around the familiar ceiling; his wet back against the bed.
"Fucking hell man." Hashirama sighed as he woke up. "That dream again… Was this the first time in three years?
Though, perhaps calling that a nightmare would be more accurate.
"...I should never have accepted his offer." With a grunt, Hashirama pushed himself up from the bed and sighed. "...Feels weird to see his face after so long, though. It just refreshed some old memories."
His old life's master was a scumbag, bastard even. But it was true, as per his promise, the old man had changed his life. For the better.
He had to do a lot of heinous things… as in, actually disgusting things like necrophilia, but it wasn't that bad. Though then again, his sense of 'bad' and 'good' was too deluded by the time he realized it.
"Oh fuck it, whatever." Hashirama got off the bed and walked to the bathroom.
Pausing in front of the mirror, in his shorts, Hashirama stood for a moment to take a look at himself. It seemed he had grown quite a bit in the last three years, in many areas.
Yes, three years.
It's been that long since the day he was announced the Hero Knight of this country; it had been that long since he lost his money to two betraying thieves and never found them.
More precisely, it had been two years, five months, and 31 days. Hashirama turned 16 on August 2nd, that year. Now, he was 18, and it was January 31st of the year 1522.
Hashirama got refreshed and took a shower. It was winter, but he still used cold water. It was good training. When done, he put a simple white button shirt on himself along with black sweatpants.
Hashirama went to the kitchen downstairs, but then he remembered he wasn't alone in the house. There was someone else in one of the rooms on the second floor.
Deciding to check on that person, he was just about to go back up, but right then the doorbell rang aloud.
"Who's here so early in the morning?" In his curiosity, Hashirama walked to the door and opened it.
He was just about to speak, his lips parted, but no word came out when his eyes locked on the person who was behind the door.
"Hey, it's been a while." Nico Robin spoke with no change in her flat expression. "I am sure it's a surprise, maybe not a pleasant one sadly, but I could only think of you when I thought of who can help me in my current situation."
Slowly Hashirama's brows knitted to form a frown… before he shut the door on her face.
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Master4thWall Note: Hashirama’s Master seems quite interesting. I bet a story about him would be fun.
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