There were things in his life Sojiro regretted, some he was ashamed of, hell there were times he had to chastise himself for how stupid it was. But if he was asked what was one thing he would never regret in his life, it was adopting Akira. From the moment he got to hold the little curly haired babe in his arms, his heart melted. True, he wasn't too mobile, or even able to lift himself up yet, but the little bugger was nothing but affection, and a very well behaved infant. The latter had probably to do with the fact that he was hardly attended to, even when he was crying, his sister was just the apple of their parents' eye. Honestly, he wasn't even mad or resented the girl, not her fault her parents were just... that way.

Raising Akira, despite how well behaved he was, did prove difficult. For three years the boy, no matter what he tried and how hard he tried, would never utter a word. He was able to make vocal sounds, so it wasn't that he was incapable. Sojiro would admit he was frustrated, and talked to doctors and pediatricians about what he should do. Part of him wondered if the boy just didn't speak out of a general instinct not to make noise when he was an infant. When it was suggested the two learn Sign language, and Akira at least carry around a small dry erase board to communicate, the man was on board.

The Boy picked up on the lessons quick, quicker than his father for sure. He was able to form sentences after a few weeks, and it made Sojiro realize just how chatty Akira was. Sometimes he could barely even keep up with the boy's frantic signing, and would have to ask him to slow down a little. He would apologize and sign at a more readable pace, smiling at his dad as he would hold hand as they took walks together.

Getting him to socialize, was a little more difficult. Because he wouldn't talk, Akira had a hard time socializing with other children. Some children teased and bullied him, if he wasn't working with the Government, Sojiro wouldn't have had the boy at daycare or preschool. Akira ignored them to the best of his ability, but sometimes it just never worked. He wound up becoming secluded due to the bullying. But there was the day Akira remembered meeting an angel. He was sitting alone at a table, drawing on a piece of paper. Sitting next to him was his favorite toy, a Black and white pawed cat plush with blue buttoned eyes. Akira affectionately named it "Ro-Ro". He was drawing "Ro" as though he was anthropomorphic and in a super hero pose, wearing a long yellow cape.

"Maybe we could get papa to get you a yellow scarf! Then you really would be a super hero!" Some of the kids who watched him, pointed and snickered at him.

"The weirdo is talking to his dumb toy again" a boy pointed out to another one who also giggled. The two began to whisper to one another, evil snickers and tittering among them as they seemed to be scheming, Akira was blissfully unaware. He kicked his legs playfully while making a comic about his super hero cat. Before he knew it, the two boys were next to him. Uncomfortable, he wrote down on the paper.

"Hi..."

"Hey Akira, we have this cool toy, and we wanted you to try it out" already the boy found it suspicious. He was given a strange bamboo tube, which made him curious. He looked at the two quizzically.

"You put both your fingers in it! Like this!" The boy said, "helping" Akira put both index fingers into the tube. Akira furrowed his eyebrow, trying to pull his fingers out. The tube seemed to restrain and constrict more. Now he began to struggle more, almost panicking that he couldn't get his fingers out. One of the boys took Ro-Ro, which only served to upset Akira further.

"Now you can't do that stupid hand stuff!" One of the bullies exclaimed, laughing, keeping Ro-Ro out of reach. Akira whimpered, not understanding why they were doing this.

"Why don't you ask for your dumb toy back you baby?" the older one said, shoving him backwards. Falling onto his rear, Akira looked at them, trying to pull his fingers out of the finger trap. His body shook, cheeks burning as his breathing began to hitch.

"Ihn..." Akira hiccuped out, as though he was trying to say something. The bullies grinned, one turning to the others.

"HEY EVERYONE, WEIRDO 'KIRA'S GONNA TALK!" he shouted. That seemed to draw in quite the number of other children, who all watched the fallen boy intently. Akira made upsetting sounds, tears building up in his eyes. He wiped his eyes, starting to sob.

"Come on Weirdo 'Kira! Say something! Or else" The boy holding his plush began to pull hard on it. Akira could only watch in horror, shaking. He covered his eyes with a loud squeal, terrified to see his beloved Ro-Ro get torn up. Akira was terrified to look anymore, but he heard other kids gasp in shock and a loud thud. He heard one of his tormentors start crying. Slowly, he uncovered his eyes, seeing a girl in a Blue and grey dress standing in front of him, holding his toy. He only saw her back, and her short brown hair.

"You need to leave him alone" the girl said in a fierce tone, scaring the standing bully, more so with the piercing stare she gave them. Children soon vanished to play and ignore the two, scared of the four year old. She glared at the two boys who ran off crying.

"Jerks" she said, arms crossed, turning to face Akira. His silvery eyes met with ruby red eyes. He stared at the girl in silence, and seemed to forget the scene that happened earlier. Walking over, the girl offered a hand to him.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned about him. He would have taken her hand, but both were still connected by the finger trap. Embarrassed, he began to struggle and pull again. The girl watched, before she knelt down and took his hands.

"Here" gently, she pushed his fingers together, loosening the tube, and helped him remove it. Blinking, Akira looked at the toy, then at his fingers.

"My big Sis showed me how to do that!" She said, helping him up.

"I'm Makoto!" she introduced with a smile, making the boy blush. He tried to sign what his name was, but seeing her confused look, He took a piece of paper and crayon and began writing. He held it up to her.

"I'm Akira, thank you for helping me" Makoto tilted her head, but then smiled.

"Nice to meet you Akira-Kun!" she looked at him, and he could only rub his head before she spoke up again.

"What were you doing with your hands anyway?" she sounded curious, not like most kids who found it weird. The Boy gave a light smile, and began writing to her.

When Sojiro came to pick up Akira, he wasn't too happy hearing about how much his son had been bullied, chewing the staff out for how lax they were. Luckily and to his surprise, Akira didn't look emotionally traumatized, quite the opposite really. He was drawing with a girl and seemed incredibly happy. When he did see his dad standing there, Akira wrote something down for her to read. The girl looked a little disappointed when she read what was written.

"Oh, Okay, see you tomorrow Akira!" Akira hugged her and waved good bye before rushing to Sojiro's Side, Holding his hand, and Ro-Ro in the other. Amused, Sojiro had to ask Akira who she was.

"So, who was that Kiddo?" Akira was practically jumping from excitement.

"Makoto! She was super cool, she stopped two boys from bullying me! I think she is an angel, she was really nice to me and didn't make fun of me!" Watching him rapid sign only made Sojiro laugh lightly.

"Look at my boy! Only Three years old and already interested in ladies, I'm so proud" he said "Wiping a tear in joy" Akira pouted hearing his dad tease him like that. Hearing Akira Huff, Sojiro laughed more.

"I know, I know, Pop's being a meanie" he said with a chortle as they walked home together. As they walked, Akira tugged on Sojiro's hand a little to get his attention. "Something up Kiddo?" Sojiro asked, Akira looked down at the ground, before signing.

"I'm not stupid or weird... am I?" He had to stop at the question, blinking.

"Why would you think that? Is that what those kids are telling you?" Akira bit his lower lip and nodded.

"You're not, they are the ones being stupid for picking on you like that... Don't think of yourself any less because they don't understand you, okay?" He had knelt down to his son's level at this point. He watched Akira fiddle with his fingers before nodding to him. He gave a light smile.

"Good, now why don't we get dinner tonight?"