Wishfull-star: Zoro is best boy, Coby is coward.


Katakuri sat Luffy down at the table, and the boy looked curious. "Luffy, I know what happened with you and Zoro. About the times you're hungry and he knows it. It's happened a few times since then, but you stopped, right?"

"Yeah! I didn't drink anymore, I was a good boy."

"That's good." But it was too late by now. "But when you drank from him, a link was formed between the two of you. Given the fact that werewolves and vampires aren't usually pairs or friendly with one another, this only happened twice, recorded. If you two are in the same immediate area, he will know when you are thirsty, and will have the urge to give you some of his blood. It is still his choice to say no, but there is that link, now.

"On his side of things, midnight has become hard for you to sleep through, right? You wake up at midnight every night, and have lately been having a tummy ache at the time. That's you sympathizing with his condition. Since midnight is very painful for werewolves, and Zoro wakes up then, you feel that, too. Both of you have a link to the other." Luffy just stared at him in confusion.

"I don't understand."

"By Zoro giving you his blood, you have a new bond, like the friendship."

"But he's my friend!"

"He is. But things have changed a bit." Luffy panicked and told Katakuri to call Zoro. "I've planned a sit down talk with him and his father about this. They both should know, too." Luffy nodded, and looked troubled. While he was pouty, the phone rang, and Katakuri saw it was from Zoro's dad. He immediately got nervous, but answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Um, Katakuri-san? Is Luffy okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, I felt worried all of the sudden…"

"Luffy is just fine, and will see you tomorrow. Don't worry," Katakuri said kindly. Zoro was relieved, and easily got off the phone. The father was not angry at the boy, because he had no idea this would happen. He was just trying to help his friend out. But now they had to deal with this as best as they could.

The five year old was quiet all day, looking distracted and distant until he wanted to go to the park. So they did, they went to the nearest park with a playground. When they arrived to the play structure, Luffy started playing on the bars, going as fast as he could from one end to the other, beaming happily. He was glad Luffy didn't truly hate himself for his condition. The way Zoro didn't seem to hate himself. Well, that may just have not been seen by Luffy before. At school, Zoro was having a hard time making friends. The kid was awkward at best and abrasive at worst. He spoke his mind, mostly unashamedly.

When Luffy was supposed to talk to Coby, he cancelled, not in the mood to see someone who disliked him for such thing, and would never want to hear about what he and Zoro did, and what came from it. So he was nervous and quiet, but Katakuri made sure to show him he wasn't angry with him.

So he just played with him, and even had Oven come over for a barbeque to try and cheer him up, which distracted Luffy very easily. Food and fun was the cure for much of his bouts of sadness and extreme pouts. When he went to bed, he drank some tea before, even if he could have an accident during the night.

He chose sleeping over wetting the pull ups. Zoro didn't think he was bad for it all, and didn't shame him one bit. Neither did Coby, though. So that was good. Katakuri stayed up later and had a list of things to say and how to say them. He felt that Zoro's father would be understanding, but there was still a specific way he wanted to present the information he'd researched the hell out of for hours the night before.

It had really only happened a few times. It didn't work this way for regular people or all people who were fed off of by vampires - willingly or not - would have this connection. This would probably not happen to anyone else Luffy encountered or ended up drinking from. Zoro was special. Katakuri hoped he'd take the news okay.

-x-

Luffy sat at the table next to Zoro, and he could feel extra nervous, and saw Zoro looked the same way. His father didn't shame Luffy about it, even though he regret drinking from Zoro, and was just glad it didn't feel like his fault for asking. Zoro just offered. So they sat there, Luffy knowing the topic and Zoro not.

Zoro's dad was curious but didn't seem too nervous. Maybe because Katakuri looked relaxed. So, the man carefully explained the fruits of his deep research. Koushiro looked at Zoro sharply when he heard the boy offered a vampire his blood like it was no big deal. Maybe he though Zoro should be wary of bites. Not that Luffy's left a scar like the nasty one he got from the werewolf that bit him on a trip to the bathroom at a camp site.

His face was sweaty, and he looked confused. "Is there bad stuff from it?" Zoro asked before his father could.

"Nothing very bad. But if you two ever aren't friends anymore, you'll still have this bond, probably. There's no guarantee given how little examples I found, but I felt it was information we should all be aware of."

"What were you thinking, Zoro? You could have caused problems for both yourself and Luffy," Koushiro said in frustration, and Zoro slumped his shoulders. He just wanted to help Luffy, and had no idea this would happen. "You won't have your blood drunk by Luffy again." Katakuri agreed. Luffy was a bit sad inside for losing a very nice experience. Drinking from Zoro, no matter how little, had made him feel warm and fuzzy and safe.

He didn't know how Zoro felt about it, but should ask, even if it didn't matter if they weren't allowed to. "I'm still friends with him, right?" the green haired one asked sharply, voice defensive and challenging.

"Of course. You can still be friends with him. I just want both of you to think before you act when it comes to your conditions especially. Think of the consequences, like when Luffy goes into the sunlight without enough sunscreen, or your worry when the gate is loose when you transform," Koushiro said in a serious, stern voice.

Both boys nodded, saying they would be more careful. Koushiro was still annoyed, but Luffy was very happy he still let Zoro be his friend. The two ended up going shopping for groceries with Katakuri. Just to get them distracted by doing something to take up attention after the important and loaded conversation. More like a briefing.

There was a second carseat that was especially for Zoro, and previously Coby. In the car, Luffy spoke. "I shouldn't tell Coby. He'll get scared and be even more not trying," he said in a small voice, wringing his hands and looking at his feet that didn't touch the floor of the car. Luffy felt a twinge of irritation, and looked up to see Zoro with a sour face on. But the feeling wasn't an actual emotion he felt. More like an alert that his friend was irritated.

"He's not a good friend. It's been weeks, Luffy," Zoro said in a firm voice. The other looked down, and he knew deep down that he was right. Luffy was doing his best, going out in public more, telling Coby about his progress. But he never seemed very interest or engaged in their calls. It didn't make Luffy happy, and every time he got off the phone, he felt disappointed and hurt.

He was thinking of telling these feelings to his first friend, but was afraid of the reaction. Papa stayed quiet in the front seat, and Luffy couldn't see his face from where he sat. "I wanted to talk about it, but I don't wanna make it all more bad," Luffy said quietly.

"I understand that feeling, but sometimes you have to do what's best for you, even if it can be upsetting. We'll talk more when we get home. But I'll buy you both a popsicle after we go shopping." This distracted both children, who were happy to have one. Luffy especially. He hadn't had a real popsicle in a long time! He mostly had ice cubes made of juice.

When they entered the store, as always, Luffy felt the smell of all the living bodies around him. He had a mochi rope around his wrist, no longer needing the harness to keep him from running off or getting separated. He stuck by Katakuri's side, always in his field of vision.

He tried to not plug his nose, and saw Zoro looking bothered, too. "Sorry. Do you smell it?"

"No… more like a feeling of knowing you're not feeling nice all the sudden. It sucks."

"Don't say bad words," Luffy replied. Zoro didn't reply to that, and held his hand to stay together. They had a cart, and went shopping for everything. Katakuri and Luffy were better off than Zoro and his dad, but it never caused problems because Zoro was happy with his life and wasn't old enough to stress about money. Neither was Luffy.

Luffy's nose was uncomfortable like usual, but not as bad. Not as bad as it almost always was. But if he was getting better, then he could go to school soon! He couldn't wait! He loved his papa and spending lots of time with him, but he did want to go to school. While they shopped, they came across two little boys, and Zoro hurried to hide behind a display of flowers.

Katakuri and Luffy both noticed, and stopped. "Is there a problem?" the man wondered. Zoro was looking uncomfortable at the two boys.

"Those are mean people from my class," he admitted. Luffy glared in their direction. "Let's just go away from them. They'll be mean to Luffy, too." So they did as Zoro wished, and avoided the family while they shopped, and did not come face to face with them. They were gone by the time it was time to check out.

Luffy and Zoro helped bag the food, and got in an argument of whether eggs should go on top of the milk or not. The cashier seemed to be annoyed by how long they were taking, so Katakuri helped move things along, and everything was sorted out. Luffy carried the big pouch of apples to show he was helpful and strong.

When they got home, food was started, and he and Zoro went to play outside in the evening sun, the vampire reapplying more sunscreen. Katakuri kept watch, but nobody was bitten and nothing abnormal happened.

-x-

Katakuri held and rocked Luffy as he screamed and wailed at the pain he was feeling from Zoro's full moon night. The pain wasn't as bad, and Luffy's body wasn't reforming, but he felt a lot of pain through the bond. Katakuri thought this would happen, so he'd had him sleep in his room so he could be with Luffy if it happened.

Luffy was inconsolable, and so all they could do was wait for the sun to come up. He wished this bond had never been formed and complicated things. But poor Zoro must be in agony if Luffy was this bad. He didn't exaggerate pain levels, and didn't complain over little pains like stubbing his toe. So this pain was very bad.

He tried giving Luffy some sedatives, some sleeping pills, but the pain persisted and he remained awake until the sun rose, and was exhausted by the time Zoro should be back in human form, and immediately fell asleep. It was so hard to watch and listen to and be unable to help at all.

When he woke up, Luffy didn't actually remember anything of the night. He didn't remember the pain he was in. It was a strange relief. But he did call Zoro immediately, even before breakfast, to see if he was okay. Zoro, to his credit, sounded just fine. "I'm okay. It was like every other full moon. Why?"

"Cause I felt it all night, too! I don't remember, but papa said I was screaming and crying until the moon went down!" Luffy explained. Zoro was upset he had to feel that. "I'm your friend, and now you're not alone!" Luffy replied, finding something positive in the unfortunate situation. Katakuri smiled as he cooked orange juice pancakes.

-x-

"I decided," Luffy said suddenly while playing on the wii, swinging his arm while playing tennis. With him unable to go outside all the time to play hard, Katakuri managed to find someone selling a wii and a collection of games. So here he was, playing tennis against the game. Katakuri looked up from his work, and asked what he decided.

"I'm gonna not be friends with Coby anymore," he said bluntly. Katakuri put his laptop next to him, his face grim. "When it is with Zoro and Coby, Zoro's a lot better! I don't think Coby wants to be friends anymore, too." That was clear to both of them. No matter how hard Luffy tried to fix things, to act normal over the phone, every time he was turned down or got non-committal reposes, it hurt him. He didn't want to hurt anymore.

And he wouldn't be alone with cutting Coby out. He had his own friends, too, so it should be fine. Katakuri asked if he was absolutely sure. "Yeah. He's not bein' a good friend to me at all. Makes me feel bad and wrong," Luffy replied in firm, determined voice. He'd made up his mind fully. "I wanna tell him today," he added.

Katakuri still talked to Makino, even when Coby and Luffy weren't close anymore. Luffy hadn't attacked anybody, but still, Coby didn't really care. Luffy was done with putting in the effort only to be hurt by the pink haired boy's lack of interest and insincerity. It would hurt to end it, but the hurt wouldn't continued on with every phone call.

He had Zoro to get over the true loss of his first friend. But he hadn't been his friend in months. It was time to let go, even if the five year old was holding back tears of sadness by hitting the ball even harder. But he swung too hard, and the wiimote flung out of his hand and shattered the TV. Luffy cried about it, feeling guilty and sorry he broke it.

"Don't worry, that TV wasn't too expensive," Katakuri soothed. But Luffy sobbed more, his feelings over Coby coming out in the tears that started being about the broken TV. His papa rubbed his back up and down and didn't try to make him stop crying, just letting him get it all out. He didn't end up calling Coby that night, bummed over the TV and how he couldn't watch his favorite cartoons on the big screen.

So he used the tablet in his lap to watch before bed time. They'd order a new TV that would be delivered the next day. The sound sure had scared Karina, and she hid for the rest of the night.

-x-

Luffy needs to speak with Coby. Is he available for a long call today? Katakuri texted Makino. He was sad their friendship would end, as both of their parents had been through a lot together. With her leaving Dragon to the time Luffy was in rehab. He knew their friendship would likely not last long if both of their sons cut contact completely.

Is it to end the friendship? Katakuri told the truth, and affirmed this. Alright. Call at 3:00. Makino was unsurprised. She'd obviously noticed Coby's lack of interest or drive to keep the friendship. Katakuri looked down the hall to Luffy's bathroom. He was putting a soak on tattoo on his arm that he got from his cereal box.

Katakuri was sitting on the couch, and leaned back, looking at the tall ceiling. Today would probably be unpleasant. When Luffy was done with the soak on tattoo, Katakuri sighed at seeing he'd stuck it on his forehead. The boy now had a red bird on his left temple. Luckily, it didn't get into his hairline. "Look!"

"I see. You said you were going to put it on your arm," Katakuri replied lightly.

"But then I thought I would see my face more!"

"You can only see your face in the mirror. If it was on your arm, you could look at it anytime you wanted," the father explained with an amused smile as Luffy gasped. "Well, hopefully you'll get a second one and can put that one on your arm."

"Papa is very smart."

"Thank you, I did work hard to get my master's degree," Katakuri replied with a smile. Luffy beamed and giggled, and for the next hour or so, would run to the bathroom often to see his tattoo until Katakuri got a small mirror out so he didn't need to go to the bathroom every time to look. When he tried to draw the bird, it turned out just like a five year old's drawing would. The only thing that resembled the inspiration was the color.

Luffy proudly showed Katakuri his work, and the father praised it highly, and then stuck it on the fridge, the ultimate complement. Only Luffy's best work went there. Which was at the moment a worm made of glued raw pasta pieces, a snail made of rainbow pipe cleaners, and a drawing of a wolf and bat. It was of course false that vampires turn into bats, and was borderline offensive, but it was what it was. Luffy was not easily offended about his condition.

Though he'd never been around people who challenged him on it. He would have to learn how to deal with that later in his life.

When 3:00 came near, Katakuri reminded him of the call with Coby. He was unsurprised to see Luffy's decision had not wavered. He slept on it, played on it, talked about it, but still had the same goal. To protect himself from the harm of the feelings Coby's behavior caused. "You're sure about this?"

"Is it the right thing? Is it wrong to do?" Luffy asked, looking at his pale, soft hands.

"It is for your own well being. Sometimes doing the hard thing is definitely the right one. The decision is yours, but I don't think you're in the wrong. You did you absolute best to keep your friendship going. Sadly, it seems Coby just isn't in the same mindset. People often grow apart, and sometimes it's very sad," Katakuri explained, and Luffy was crying quietly. But he wasn't backing down, and his father was very proud of him.

Luffy didn't want to see Coby's reaction, he wanted it to be over a phone call. When they called, Katakuri had one big hand brushing up and down against Luffy's back, something that soothed him and he called "the goo-bums". He liked the goosebumps from them, and this would hopefully help him out.

"Hello, Katakuri, Luffy. Coby, Luffy is calling," Makino said, and Coby came over. Katakuri didn't know the expression on the woman, but he could hear a sad smile in her voice.

"Hi, Luffy," Coby said.

"I gotta to say something." Then he came out right with it. "I don't wanna be your friend anymore. Cause you don't look to want to be my friend when I try so hard to be better." His face was tight, but his voice didn't waver. Part of Katakuri did wish he could see what was on the other screen, but the silence that came was just awkward and confusing.

But Coby sniffled and said, "Okay… I shoulda sa-said something about it t-to. I don't eith-er." Luffy's lips pressed tightly together, but he didn't ask why. Katakuri was glad he didn't ask. Makino spoke next.

"Sometimes, people change and aren't compatible anymore. I think it's very brave of both of you to face uncomfortable feelings head on and are honest about it. Maybe some day you both can be friends again, who knows?" she said brightly, even if Katakuri could hear the emotion in her voice. Nobody was happy with this outcome, but it had to happen for both boys' wellbeing.

But Luffy impressed Katakuri immensely. "I will always be a vampire. I have to be with people who accept me and want me anyways. If Coby can't, I don't wanna be friends again." Katakuri's jaw dropped, but then he closed it once again, feeling amazed by the maturity in his words. But his situation demanded this kind of thinking about himself. He was right. Luffy would forever have vampirism, and can't be around people who hate him for it. "I just hope Coby had another friend to be with."

Makino said, "Coby will be okay for both of you to move on as different people." She was giving Luffy assurance that he could go forward without feeling he left his friend all alone in the world. The vampire boy said he was glad of that.

"I think Zoro will be good for my best friend cause he's like me. I hope Coby finds other people like him, also." But it didn't seem either boy knew how to end the call, so Katakuri stepped in.

"You'll both have fond memories of one another, so why don't we end it on a more positive note? Both of you will grow into stronger people by letting go of a relationship that is no longer working." Luffy would most likely not have clear memories of his time with Coby, but he had to say something like that. Luffy was silently wracking with sobs. "Good luck in life, Coby. Do what you want in life, not what anyone else wants you to."

Dragon was no longer there to abuse or shape him how he wanted to. Irate and sad though he was with Coby's apathy in the friendship, or his inability to act on his emotions, he never wished harm on him or for anything unfortunate to happen. After all, he threw a friendship away because he felt that way. Coby and Makino should grow up happily with Coby's older siblings.

"Bye bye, Katakuri and Luffy," Coby said.

"Bye…" Luffy replied. The phone call was over, and Luffy shook with sobs. Katakuri hugged him, and then Zoro called. Luffy took the phone. "ZOROOO!" he wailed into the phone, scaring his friend who called in worry. They talked, and Katakuri stayed out of it while Zoro did his best to console Luffy, though the man knew he had to be pleased he was now number 1 as a friend.

He no longer needed to be insecure abut actually being Luffy's "best" friend. Zoro was a great kid. Coby was a great kid, too, but maybe not paired to Luffy. Maybe things would have always gone south. But hanging onto a dead friendship could be toxic, so this was for the best in Luffy's case.

After Luffy was off the phone and went to drink two full bottles of blood and then silently went to his play room to mope or think or just be by himself, Katakuri texted Makino, asking how Coby was doing. He seems he is unable to process what happened. How is Luffy?

He was crying, but called and talked to Zoro to feel better. Now he's sitting in his play room by himself. I think he did very well in expressing his feelings.

I agree. Hopefully Coby will some day be able to be more inclusive. But he's only five, he still has a lot left to rekindle with Luffy if it's meant to be.

I just hope this is what's right for both of them. Does Coby have anyone else?

He has a friend at school. She's very nice and they get along. But it isn't how it has been for him and Luffy. I think it was right for Luffy to break away. Coby wasn't going to be able to commit anymore.

Katakuri was glad Makino was objective about it. Luffy breaking up could hurt Coby, but she cared about both of them, not only Coby. She was a good mother. He wondered what Dragon was like, now? Katakuri didn't pay much attention to the news about him as a hero, so he had no idea what he'd been up to lately.

And, well, he didn't much care. He'd burnt the bridge and had no desire to rekindle with a man who abused their family and young children. Especially now that he has his own kiddo.