[34] Just a Sorry?

Chapter 34: Just a Sorry?

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"Ah-!"

Nico Robin winced and took a step back after the door slammed on her nose. It hurt a little. However, she couldn't let such a small thing stop her.

"Hey, listen!" Robin knocked hard on the door. "Hey, come on, hear me out at least!"

No answer came, but she wasn’t giving up yet. Robin ran to the nearby window and knocked on it.

“Hey, Hashirama, listen to me- I wouldn’t have come if the situation wasn't as bad as it is!” Robin shouted in desperation, while she watched Hashirama wordlessly walk to the kitchen and start brewing coffee. “...Oh, come on.”

Deciding there was no point in calling him for now, Robin sighed and walked back to the door. Crossing her arms under her chest she stood in front of the door and waited for him to come out.

*  *  *

Hashirama slowly finished his coffee while enjoying a show on the TV.

One down point of this world was that TV entertainment is very limited. People don’t watch TV. They have other more important things to do. So the shows that air are boring. Which in turn meant the coffee session was also boring.

Sighing softly, Hashirama turned off the TV and stood up from the couch; he walked over to the door and opened it.

Nico Robin was crossing her arms under her chest, a worrying frown on her face as she was staring dazedly at the wall, while one of her fingers was aimlessly playing with her hair.

“Nico Robin,” Hashirama called as she flinched back to reality, her face regaining color and she smiled in relief.

“Oh thank god,” Robin released a relieved sigh. “I knew you’d-”

“You have 60 seconds to leave my house, 10 minutes to leave the city, and five hours to leave the country’s borders.” Hashirama interrupted her with a blank expression, watching her own expression go bleak. “You fail to do either of the things I said, and you force me to call my sister. She is a Marine Vice Admiral.”

Robin shut her mouth and licked her lips. She looked into his eyes that weren’t so cold and indifferent before.

“Hey come on,” Sighing again, she said in a convincing tone. “Hashirama, hear me out at least?”

“I don’t feel comfortable listening to a criminal,” Hashirama scoffed at her. “Especially not someone who betrays her good-doer.”

Robin visibly flinched at his sharp tone and sharper words. She had no excuse, did she? Yet, here she was, on his door, asking for his help.

Seeing her silence, Hashirama chuckled dryly. “You escaping was, well, fine. I wasn’t really expecting a goodbye. But holy shit, you took the millions of berries I made. That’s not cute, girl. That shit’s disgusting; made me wanna do things I don’t like doing.”

Hashirama took a step forward and put his hands on her shoulders. “You know I am not really a hot-headed guy, right?”

Robin’s eyes flickered from one shoulder to another, as she gulped, and slowly nodded after looking back into his eyes.

“Yet,” Hashirama sighed. “You’d be lying in a pool of your own blood at the moment if you came to meet me like this two years ago.” Robin suddenly wiggled in his grasp but he didn’t let her go. “It’s not that you stole my money that bothered me. I am sure you stole it because you know I have enough money, and I will have more as the Hero of this country, and you’d be right to think that. No, it’s not because of that.”

“What bothers me is that we worked together,” Hashirama brought his face closer to hers, staring deep into her blue eyes. “I saved you. I sacrificed my safety, along with the safety of this entire country, the Royals whom I so adore, only so that you can be safe. Yet, what did you do to repay me? You betrayed me. It’s not the money, it’s the feeling you gave me. I don’t like that feeling, it’s frustrating.”

“I… I’m sorry. I-”

“You could have left me a note, if you are sorry. You could have just written that. ‘Sorry’. But did you?” Hashirama groaned. “You did not. You could have called me later; you have my number. You could have apologized. But did you? You did not. You are only saying sorry now, when you need me.”

“….”

Hashirama couldn’t help another chuckle. He gently released her shoulder, watching her wince in pain. “I am done venting. Get out of here. I wasn’t joking when I talked about my sister being a Marine Vice-Admiral.”

Hashirama turned around to go back inside the house; however, Robin pulled him back by his arm.

“It’s Mikita…” Robin said. “She is going to die if you don’t help.”

“Wait, let me get this straight—you are serious?” Hashirama turned to look at her in shock. “I can’t believe this. You are here, begging me to save Mikita? The same girl who fled with you? Holy… did you become dumb in the last few years?"

"...." Robin once again didn't have anything to say. A minute later, with quivering lips, she finally opened her mouth. "I didn't want to endanger your life."

Hashirama was once again about to leave, but hearing her he stopped; interested in her excuse.

"Cipher Pol. That's a branch of the World Government agents who specialize in secret missions and assassinations. Back then, I was sure that they'd come to Alabasta, to make sure I didn't leave any forbidden knowledge here before my death." Robin said. "The problem was, if they came here, they would have found me. So I had to flee the country, no matter what. At the same time, even if I manage to flee, what if they find signs that I was alive? They'll target the person closest to me in this country… That would have been you."

"...."

"In case they found out that I was alive and had fled the country I wanted them to think you and I are not on nice terms. So I stole your money, threatened Mikita to come with me, and left." Robin said. "So that they think you and I are enemies. So that they don't target you. The same goes for… leaving a note or giving you a call, they might have tracked those."

Robin's eyes were teary by then. Her voice was shaky as she explained why she did what she did. To her defense, Hashirama did notice some government people recently after she fled. Though he assumed they were simply here for other matters, such as Crocodile’s defeat.

"I just... didn't want you to suffer. I had no intention of making your life harder. Because you are my savior, you are the hero that I never deserved." Robin's hand raised up to his cheek, but she didn't touch it. Her hand shook and she lowered it, grabbing his shirt instead. "I- I am sorry… if all that hurt you. I just… I knew that'd be a possibility, but I had no choice. I chose your safety over you hating me."

With tears trailing down her cheeks, Robin pushed her face against his chest.

'Paranoid bitch.'

Then again, it did make sense a little. For her to be paranoid about the person she was most grateful to.

Her sobs slowly grew louder, until her voice broke into a soul shattering cry when his arms gently wrapped around her.

``Hm? Ah, the answer to your question is actually simple. Sometimes, things are not as they seem, brat. Our perception of reality isn't necessarily the correct one.``` Hashirama recalled one wise thing that his master had once said. ``Sometimes, misunderstandings are obligatory. Though it is entirely up to you if you'd forgive that misunderstanding or not.``

This was a misunderstanding, it turned out. She did the right thing. This woman merely wished for his safety. She wasn't lying, those tears couldn’t be faked.

Yet for some reason, it felt rather satisfying with her sobbing on his chest. She should cry a bit more.

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