Warnings! Complete AU, Yaoi, OOC-ness, and sexual situations. Rating may go higher.
Prologue.
Dirt-child (n.) 1. a child who lives in dirt. 2. an orphaned child that builds mud houses for a living. 3. a child who is scorned in society.
If one looked into a dictionary for dirt-child, this is the definition that would present itself. All three of them are correct, but the truth of the matter is, all three of them mean the same thing. The definitions are like synonyms to each other. But how could that be so? It is possible because a dirt-child can fit all three definitions at the same time. What the writer of the dictionary should have done was to combine all three definitions together so society would have a better understanding on what a dirt-child could possibly mean.
So, if someone stumbled upon a dirt-child and is curious about what one is, the first possibility on their mind would to look it up in a dictionary. But then they will see those three definitions and wonder which definition would fit that child, when in fact, the child would fit all three. This causes a lot of confusion in society so rumors spread, rumors that twist fact into a twisted story.
Many say there is more to dirt-children than what meets the eye, and they are so right, but not on a level that they are thinking. When one looks at a dirt-child they would think that a demon had spun monsters from the ground and allowed them to run around on earth disguised as nasty children and do the demons deeds. People saw them as monsters, for how could a decent human being take one look at the children and think them as regular humans? Thus, born definition three.
But if one got to know a dirt-child, they will see that they are just as human as anyone on earth and such knowledge may be quite shocking. Indeed, there is something much more about them than the three definitions given in a dictionary and the horrible rumors born from confusion. Such a shock it would be, but no one has to worry for who would give a dirt-child the time of day?
The mud was a stench unlike any other, a stench that could grow upon someone like dirty mold on a piece of cheese. After working, working, and working in mud, the smell had permanently resided in his skin.
Oh, joy.
But it could have been much worse, of course. Lucky he didn't work with manure. But what did mud smell like anyway? Not many would even touch mud.
All Sora could say was that it smelled like the earth. And that was as close to the truth he could come. How else he describe what mud smell like? Describing smell was not easily down with words. It was in a category all on its own, just like flavor. He couldn't say it smell as wonderful as flowers, or as horrible as manure. It wasn't a pleasant smell or a horrible one. It just smelled like the earth.
He was caked head to toe in mud. He didn't think, oh how disgusting! Not only did it sound something like a girl would say, but such thoughts would never enter a mind of a dirt-child. He rolled in the mud, ate it, slept in it, and worked with it. The mud was he, and he was the mud. It was a part of him as much as the fish was a part of the sea. A fish could not possibly live without the salty water, and he could not live without the mud. The mud was what brought him money, which brought him food. Measly food, but it was enough. He didn't need luxury for such a thing never entered his type of mind. Actually, the word luxury wasn't a vocabulary he knew.
Oh. The money also brought him water.
After a day of work, he would do something no other dirt-child would do; he bought water. A small bucket-full of water from a nearby well. He drank half of it from the bucket; letting the delicious water cleanse his dirty mouth. To him, this was a luxury that no other dirt-child would attempt to do. They wouldn't waste their money to buy water. Instead, if they wanted a drink, they would buy something cheaper like wine. But he needed the water for something more important; he needed it to clean himself.
Now, that was definitely something that no dirt-child would even care to do. What was the point? One would just get dirty again the next day.
But Sora didn't want the mud to dry on him like it did to the other dirt-children, who really did look like they were made out of mud than flesh. He wanted to be recognizable. Therefore, every day he washed the mud from his body with a piece of cloth and water. He didn't have enough water to completely clean himself, but it was enough to get the mud off of his body.
He still looked like a dirt-child instead of some peasant, and he was reminded of it every day he walked into the city.