Ohara,
aboard the Oro Jackson.
Looking at little Robin who kept cowering from him, Aus wore a wicked grin.
He'd probably scar this kid for life.
In the kitchen, little Robin stood there shaking like a leaf.
Aus watched her with amusement, lounging in a chair with his legs crossed, sipping orange juice through a straw.
Mihawk stood ramrod straight beside him, hawk-like eyes coldly studying little Robin.
"So? We kicking her off the ship?"
Mihawk felt nothing special about Robin. To him, she was no different from those people on the island.
The only reason he hesitated instead of immediately tossing her overboard was Aus—
he seemed kinda interested in this brat.
"Kicking her off... yeah, that could work..."
Aus deliberately stretched out his words, like he was seriously mulling it over, scaring the shit out of little Robin.
She remembered Sauro's sacrifice for her.
She remembered her mother's dying wish.
Ohara crumbling to ash.
Plus her own desperate need to survive...
"Thud—"
"Please... please don't throw me off the ship! I'll do anything, just please save my life!"
Little Robin looked up at the towering young man through her tears, mouth wide as she screamed:
"I want to live!"
"Anything?"
Robin's words caught Aus's attention.
If she'd just stood there bawling like an idiot without doing jack shit, Aus might've actually been tempted to ship her back to Ohara.
See if this world really had protagonist plot armor—whether little Robin could survive without Aokiji's help.
But since she'd gone and said something like that, Aus wasn't heartless enough to be a complete bastard.
Plus, he'd just thought of something pretty damn interesting.
With a thought, paper and pen materialized in his hands. Gripping the pen, Aus scribbled rapidly across the page.
Mihawk crossed his arms, shooting a curious glance over.
But when he saw what Aus was writing, shock flashed across his face.
The header read "Agreement," but reading the whole thing carefully, Mihawk finally caught what was between the lines—
A fucking slave contract!
"Didn't you say you'd do anything to stay alive?"
Aus smiled as he handed over the paper, fingers laced over his crossed legs, watching her reaction.
Sure enough,
little Robin took the paper in a daze, but after reading it through, her face went white as a sheet.
The gist was:
Doctor Aus saved Nico Robin's life during Ohara's destruction.
Once she came of age, whenever Aus wanted it, Robin's life belonged to Aus.
Aus was pretty fair about this shit.
No special treatment or discrimination here.
Robin was basically in the same boat as Sami, Doflamingo, Mihawk, and even future Crocodile.
Life-saving grace, mercy, protection...
That kind of debt—
you pay it back with your whole damn life.
Sure, Aus was kicking someone while they were down, but he was fair about it.
Little Robin had already made her mark in archaeology and loved reading—no way she couldn't understand what this agreement meant.
That's exactly why she felt sick with panic, face draining of color.
This was basically selling herself to Aus as a slave!
No fucking doubt about it!
Little Robin clutched the paper, swaying as she sank to the ground.
But she had zero choices left. Could only bite her lip, fighting back tears, and scrawl her name at the bottom.
"I get it... I'll repay your life-saving grace from now on."
Robin respectfully handed the agreement back to Aus.
Aus gave it a lazy glance, chuckled, and stuffed it in his coat.
Seeing Aus stay quiet, Robin hung her head and shuffled to the table, grabbing a rag to start scrubbing the floor.
Just like back at her aunt's place.
"You don't need to do that crap."
Mihawk watched Robin crawling around mopping floors, voice ice-cold: "Aus handles that stuff."
He had no clue why Aus let her aboard, or how long this brat would stick around,
but once she was on the ship, Mihawk's personality wouldn't let him bitch about it. He'd temporarily count her as crew.
"Then... is there anything I can do?"
Little Robin looked nervously at this stone-faced big brother. Having something to do would obviously make her feel safer.
Black sword on his back, Mihawk stared down at her with crossed arms, studying her until little Robin started freaking out.
After a beat, he slowly said:
"Fine... you can wash vegetables."
"Huh?"
Watching little Robin trail after Mihawk around the kitchen, Aus just sat back and observed.
Unlike the pale, gorgeous, long-legged Robin of the future, little Robin was honestly pretty dark and scrawny—hardly what you'd call a cute kid.
And unlike his time on Roger's ship, Aus had no plans to recruit interns right now, so little Robin couldn't stay aboard long.
He'd dump her at some relatively safe town they hit.
Aus sipped his orange juice, using his power to guide the Oro Jackson slowly away from the cliff.
As they pulled out, Aus glanced toward a distant cliff where a massive head that couldn't hide for shit was peeking out.
He grinned, then hollered:
"Yo! Sauro!
I, Aus, will protect Nico Robin! Don't forget to give Uncle Gaban my regards!"
Right then, Robin was washing vegetables in the kitchen when she heard Aus's voice. Tears started flowing.
Sniffling, Robin's hands kept moving, still carefully cleaning the greens.
Suddenly, a big hand holding tissues appeared in front of her.
Robin looked up blankly at the still stone-faced young hawk.
"Mihawk-san..."
"Wipe your snot and tears. Don't want that shit dripping on the food."
Mihawk handed her the tissues with zero intention of comfort, then turned back to chopping vegetables without another glance.
"See? Little hawk looks like a cold bastard, but he's actually pretty gentle."
Before she knew it, Robin turned around—
Aus's tall frame was crouched right beside her, grinning as he spoke.
Little Robin nodded numbly, watching the flustered and pissed-off Mihawk chase the constantly teleporting Aus with his sword. In this crazy atmosphere,
for the first time, she thought—
that slave contract might not be so bad after all.
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