Warnings: Angst, child abuse, starvation

Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece. I own my ideas, plot, words, etc.


4: Blond


The young, eleven year old boy darted across the street in the middle of the snow. It was all becoming slush now, mixing with the rain that had fallen only hours before. He wore a jacket, dark jeans and boots too big for his feet as he ran around in the cold.

He walked along the sidewalk of the street, gazing in at the stores and restaurants that were cramped together. Every time he passed a restaurant, he gazed in at it longingly. He had to ignore the growling of his stomach, even though it got harder with every step. He hadn't had a good meal in a long time and he hadn't eaten in a few days. He was surprised with himself that he could still move as much as he did.

He thought about the twenty dollars he had and wondered if it would be okay to buy something to eat now. He felt if he didn't eat, he might not make it. So, determined to find cheap food, he walked down the streets looking for any fast food restaurant. He may not like it, but food is food.

He came upon a McDonalds and, with shaking legs, walked into the store and up to the counter. He couldn't see the sign very well, everything was blurring together, so he just ordered a burger, fries and a small drink. The lady at the counter gave him a concerned look and turned around, checking to see if people were watching. She pulled her own money out of her pocket and pushed the money back to the young child, smiling at his look of awe. She patted him on the head and he gave her a huge smile before slowly making his way to a table to eat.

When he got to the table, what seemed like hours later, he shoved the food down his throat. It felt so good to be able to eat something, even if it was fast food. It was still food. And that kind lady paid for him too! This is why he likes women more than men. He hates men, and with good reason.

The blond haired child glared up at three older men, seeming to be in their twenties. They all looked alike and one could easily tell they were siblings, but the youngest was their half sibling and over ten years younger, so they didn't care much for him.

They ate their pizza while talking amongst themselves and drinking beer, cheering and jeering at the teams playing (American) football on the TV. The youngest child tried to grab a piece of pizza but his hand was smacked away by the elder boys every time.

After a half hour of this, the youngest older brother snapped.

"Dammit, Sanji, just stop already! Go get something else to eat from the fridge, you fucking waste of space! We paid for this together, so we can eat it! Did you pay for it? No, so you can't have any!"

Sanji glared at his brother and stomped away to the fridge. He opened it, but all he was greeted with was beer, condiments, and food that was too high for him to reach or spoiled. When he checked the freezer side, the only thing he could reach was ice cream.

Too hungry to care, the child grabbed the small container and a spoon and went to his room, trying not to make noise to anger his brothers.

Once in his room, he opened the container and immediately frowned – there was maybe one spoonful in it. Sighing, he ate the small amount before throwing the container into the trashcan in his room. He turned around to look at his bed and snuck over, kneeling down and pulling a backpack out from underneath.

Sanji opened the bag and looked at everything inside of it, checking for everything. He put in pants, shirts, underwear, socks, three hundred dollars from odd jobs he had done or stolen from his brothers wallets, some granola bars, three water bottles, and a flash light.

He had packed this bag a week ago, after getting beaten by one of his brothers. He couldn't take it anymore – he wanted out. He quickly shoved on boots too big for his feet and pulled on a jacket that was a little too snug around his form. He closed his bag and pulled it onto his shoulders and walked to his pillow, taking a bus ticket out from underneath it.

Sanji walked into the hallway and, before he left, glanced into the kitchen. His older brothers were yelling loudly at the TV in their drunken state and none of them noticed him. He put his hand over what he thought was a bruised rib, opened the door, and walked out of the house.

Since then, it had been three weeks and three days. He knew that the police were looking for him and he just hoped they wouldn't catch him – he didn't want to get punished for doing something like this. His brothers could be cruel.

That was why he liked women better, like his mom. She was always kind to him and never hurt him and his brothers would act tame around him with her there.

But she was gone, somewhere his brothers wouldn't say, out of reach of her youngest, hurting child.

He finished his meal, gave the woman a smile and a wave, and then walked onto the street with more energy, heading towards the heart of the new city.


AN:â€ĶI'm back. I'm sorry for being gone for so long, some unexpected things happened. I'm replying to comments by PM for this chapter.

I'm gonna be giving little updates on story progress at skrisas . tumblr . com (remove the spaces). It's also more likely I'll reply to messages there.

Thank you very much for reading! :)