Chapter 14: A power in the shadows last job

...

"Sid?! You mean you're that weak looking kid that almost died from exhaustion after doing some normal swing practice?!"

Hmm... Indeed, that time I did went a bit overboard with my training to the point that after training I became unable to move for a few minutes...

"Yeah, though that was just one of my identities" I pressed my hand against my face to add a bit of dramatic effect to my powers, and it soon changed to the mob like appearance that I used to train under Koushirou.

"Amazing..."

"So? What do you say, want to join my crew?"

"Before that, what did you mean with that my father won't know that I'm alive for a few years from now on?!"

"That's because, as I said before, you're supposed to be dead, and I mean it literally. Think about it like the destiny, yours was to die at that moment when you fell from the stairs"

"What bullshit are you spitting up now? Don't you know any better lies?" Kuina glanced at me with a suspicious gaze that also showed some contempt in it.

Hahaha... talk about trying to convince someone about that you know the future... This is harder of what I thought.

"Hmm, Well, there's one way I can prove it to you..."

"?"

"There's this village on an island a few kilometers away from here called Cocoyashi village. There's someone there that also has the destiny of death as well as you. Though this time I'm not completely sure about when will it happen, or if it has already happened. That's why I want to go there to save that person before she dies and make her join my crew. Though saving her will be a lot harder than in your case..."

After all, if I want to save Bell-mere then I will have to fight Arlong, which, as you may know it, will make me a non-mob character.

And that's unacceptable!

Of course, I can also change my appearance to that of another person and save her... However, this situation is a lot more complex of what you think it may be.

If I fight Arlong, and I obviously beat the shit out of him, then I will have two options... Kill him (or capture and hand him to the marine) or spare his life.

If I kill him, then future may change a lot and nami may not end up joining the Strawhats. Though there's still the possibility of she joining them anyways, I don't want to bet on luck. Otherwise, Luffy and his crew may end up getting lost while navigating because Nami wasn't there to help them. And I can't just dispose of such a great protagonist material just for killing that stupid fish Arlong.

And then there's the option of sparing his life. However, this is completely dangerous as well as the first option, because if I spare his life and then decide to leave the island, he may end up sacrificing the life of many people from Cocoyashi village just to know who am I related to or where do I live... Which creates the possibility of making Nami edgy and dark in the future due to the death of the villagers. After all, even in the original work, Nami was very at the edge of breaking down, and thankfully no one besides Bell-mere died at that time, or else who knows what might happen.

Just thinking about that possibility makes me shiver...

In the end, the result is always that the future is too uncertain. I don't want to take many risks either, so I guess I will have to go to that place and decide what to do when I reach it.

Good luck future me~

"If the person that I told you doesn't suffer from an almost certain death, then I will allow you to go back to your village and do whatever you want"

"And what if I go back on my own?"

...

"Oh, I couldn't do that if I were you Kuina"

"...?"

"You see, if you were to die here, then it couldn't make that much of a difference from dying on those stairs right? After all, no one knows that you're actually alive" my expression turned completely cold and my eyes started gaining an evil red glow in them, courtesy of my appearance changing ability of course. No

Eyes don't actually glow in real life, duh...

Obviously, I wasn't going to kill her, I wasn't a psychopath that could kill anyone as long as they stood in my way to reach my goal...

... I think 

Cough.

Anyways, I couldn't just kill her because she didn't want to play along with me at the power in the shadows' thingy... That could be just horrible.

But of course, she didn't know that. For her, I was a complete stranger with an incredible power that could kill her any second. She didn't know my goals, she didn't know my personality, and most importantly, she didn't know what I was capable of.

Who knows what kind of butterfly effect could the fact that she was alive create? And as I said, I don't want to take any risks, or at least not until I acquire the strength of a worthy eminence in the shadows.

So all I could hope for, was that she wasn't the idiotic type of main character that fights stronger enemies recklessly with blind confidence.

Come on Kuina, I trust you, be smart!

"You... Why are you so adamant on that I don't go back to my village?!" Kuina yelled in frustration while backing off after seeing my "Terrifying gaze"

"As I have repeated many times, you're not supposed to be alive, so I don't know what changes will your presence and revival bring to the important people that live in that village and their destinies. I don't know if your existence will change their aspirations, or if it will affect somehow their determination, or if they will be even the same person they are supposed to be"

"You're saying... you can see the future...?"

"Something like that... However, as I said before, if the person in that village doesn't really suffer from a near death experience before I save her, then that will mean that I was wrong, and that you will be free to go back to that village. Besides, I'm not telling you to join my crew to help me destroy that evil being, I just don't want you to go back to that village for the time being. In exchange for keeping you away from your family I will teach you swordsmanship so that you don't get left behind in that promise you made with Zoro. So, you're free to chose whether to join my crew or not. It won't really affect anything besides that you will become my subordinate"

"..." 

This time Kuina didn't say anything more, and just stayed silent while seemingly being in deep thinking.

"If you're going to keep thinking like that, at least go back to bed or else the wound on your head might open"

Kuina didn't say anything and just went to bed, probably to continue sleeping or maybe to think about the offer.

"You can tell me your answer tomorrow, as I still have to organize everything for our trip. A ship doesn't move on its own, you know? hahaha..."

Though mine will do, in the future...

Otherwise, it couldn't be worthy to be called a shadow eminence's ship.

...

°

°

°

*Yawn...*

Damn, that was some good sleep...

I was currently inside my room lying on my bed with a sleepy and more grumpy than usual face. Though unlike my face, I was actually feeling a little bit excited.

Alright, time to leave this island!

Once I stood up and wore my clothes, I started activating every machinery inside my ship so that it could start working one I needed it.

But first let's see whether this girl has already decided or not about my offer...

As I arrived in front of the door of Kuina's room, I called at the door to see if she was awake already.

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

Of course, I couldn't enter just like that to her room, what if she was changing or doing girl things? Those kinds of situations are only reserved for lucky protagonists, the pervert ones to be precise, and I, as a shadow eminence candidate couldn't allow my self to enter such an embarrassing and inappropriate situation.

Besides, she was only 11 years old. 

"You can enter...!"

See? It is not so hard to be a gentleman. 

*Click*

"Good morning... so, did you think about what will you do?" I asked while taking a seat on a nearby chair.

"Yes, but first can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"Where is... my katana?"

Huh?

Oh fuck, now that I remember she actually owned the 'wado ichimonji'...

Welp, I guess Zoro still ended up getting that sword even without my help.

Sorry Kuina.

...

---