Wishfull-star: Zoro is bad with his own feelings but good when it comes to Luffy, and Luffy is the best friend he could ask for. Awww. (⌒‿⌒)


"Papa, this way! Let's go that way!" Luffy cried while they were walking out of the super market. Luffy had his dinosaur backpack on full of apples, which would be heavy for any other five year old child. He bounced up and down, pointing down the street.

"What's that way?" Katakuri asked, but didn't discourage this. They had nowhere to be, so he started walking with him. It was nice he didn't wander off, even when extremely interested in something.

"A vampire!" Luffy said brightly. "Hurry, hurry!" he insisted. Katakuri did quicken his face a bit, and had Luffy stand a few inches behind him, just in case. But it couldn't be a pureblood because it was day time. Afternoon, so the sun wasn't out to harm Luffy, who was slathered in sunscreen. When they came around the corner, they saw a police officer, smoking two cigars, and looking grumpy. "There! It's him!"

He was still bouncing up and down. "Do you want to say hello?" Katakuri asked. The man was an officer, he wasn't going to harm Luffy. And he'd never met another vampire. This guy was pale and had red eyes, but he was also extremely buff and "manly". Luffy nodded vehemently.

But of course the officer heard and/or smelled them. He made eye contact with Luffy and raised his brows, pulling his sunglasses down a bit. He handed what seemed to be a sandwich to another officer nearby, and approached the small child. Luffy was absolutely buzzing, eyes bright and wide.

"Hello, kid. My name is Smoker."

"I'm Luffy! You're like me, right?!" he asked loudly.

"If you mean a vampire, then yes."

"Eeee! I knew it!" Lufy squealed. Katakuri was smiling lightly. Smoker opened his jacket, and pulled out a sticker. Luffy gasped at seeing "the sticker". He still had his original one framed and on the wall in the hallway. It had been salvaged from the flood, much to his happiness. "A sticker!" He was so excited and happy.

Smoker handed him the sticker. "You sure are a little vampire. How old are you?"

"I'm five! I'm going to school soon because I'm more safe around people now!" Luffy exclaimed proudly.

"That sure sounds exciting. To be your age and go through training already? Quite the feat."

"My best friend is a werewolf and so we'll be a team at school!" Luffy said with conviction.

"Quite the pair. Is this your family?"

"Yeah! This is papa!" Katakuri gave his name with a greeting. "He's a good papa, too!" Katakuri smiled. "Smokey, are you an officer?"

"That's right."

"Cool!"

"Do you want to be an officer?"

"No way! I'm gonna be a zoo keeper for dinosaurs cause science can bring them back one day. So when that happens, I'll be one of the workers!" Ever since Zoro told Luffy about Jurassic Park, the kid had been peddling the conspiracy theory hard. But he was a kid and it was a kid thing to think about. He'd grow out of it.

"That sure sounds scary."

"But you're an officer vampire! You can't be scared!" Luffy said in confusion. Smoker ruffled his hair, and said fear was not your enemy, but your friend. After all, fear could keep you out of trouble and save your life.

"You should keep a lid on your fears, though. Don't be scared to live life, but live life acknowledging those fears." Then he got a message on his walkie talkie. "It was nice meeting you, Luffy-"

"Can I have a picture?!" So Katakuri took a photo of the two vampires, and they waved goodbye as Smoker got on his motorcycle and drove away, the alarm blaring now. "Did you see?!" Katakuri nodded, and showed Luffy the photo. Smoker looked grumpy but had his thumbs up. "He's a vampire grumpy grump!"

"That indeed. Let's go home before the groceries get any warmer." Luffy was ecstatic all day, and had a new topic to speak about besides school that he would finally go to the following Monday. Only two months left of the school year, but better late than never.

-x-

Luffy was nervous but excited. Papa wasn't showing any worry, just happy for his son as they drove to the school. It wasn't the one closest to them, but it was the school Zoro attended. He was waiting for them outside of the school, holding his pumpkin backpack's straps tightly. He looked nervous, but also very relieved he would no longer be alone.

Jumping off the seat, he face planted, but stood up just fine and laughed it off. Katakuri crouched in front of him. "Remember, leave the room if it gets overwhelming. You have three pouches in your backpack. Your teacher and the helpers know everything, so don't worry about leaving the room." Luffy nodded sharply, face determined.

It was only four hours and then he'd be picked up at lunch time, where Luffy would be safely inside, away from the noon sun. "I love you, have fun, okay? And remember what we talked about."

"Yeah!" He'd given Luffy all sorts of compliments to remember if he was treated badly. Katakuri got up, and walked the boys to the classroom. Luffy was holding Zoro's hand tightly, slightly swinging their arms. Relief wafted off of the werewolf, not being all alone anymore. When Luffy entered the bright room, it was filled by the smell of kids. He never smelled this many in one place.

But he didn't feel any urge to drink them, all of them with the scent of sweet blood. He beamed, happy to be at school. The teacher was a woman with a strange pink hair style. Some of her head was shaved and other parts weren't. She lead Luffy to a cubby with his name, and he put his backpack in there.

"You have coolers in there for your juice, right?" she asked, Miss Belmere. Luffy nodded. "Then we'll just leave that there. Welcome to kindergarten, Luffy."

"Thanks!" Luffy replied brightly. He hurried back to Zoro and then tried to meet with everyone, telling them his name. But many weren't having it, and avoided him. Papa said some people didn't like vampires, and that was okay. He had no emotional attachment like he had with Coby, so it didn't break his heart. It warned him who would be friend material and who wouldn't.

When it was time to sit on the carpet, Zoro seemed to keep wanting to isolate himself by sitting in the corner. Luffy wasn't having that, and made them sit in the middle in the front. He kept holding his hand, and Zoro hated being in the middle of everyone. They were making side looks at Luffy, who was just happy to be at school.

He liked being happy, and would try to make sure that he stayed that way. Even if some people were not nice, he still wanted to enjoy school, regardless of him starting super late. They worked on their ABCs, which Katakuri had taught Luffy how to say. He was able to get to S before he forgot. Many couldn't get that far, so Luffy felt smart.

Zoro could get all the way to the end, though, and he was so cool! When play time came, Luffy tried making more friends. "But… you drink blood, right?" a girl with green hair and looking bothered said, holding her stuffed bear tightly to her chest in fear.

"Yeah! But it's from a juice box and we buy it!" Luffy replied honestly. He did not mention his relationship with Zoro when it came to blood. They thought it was gross, but Luffy was unbothered, and said it was hard to explain what it tasted like.

"Do you attack people? Like - like the werewolf?" the green haired girl said again. This finally made Luffy upset, and he sternly said Zoro's name was Zoro. "But he's a werewolf."

"Then I'll call you human," Luffy replied. "There's lots of you here, so the peoples that call Zoro 'werewolf' will be humans with numbers then," he explained. Zoro came up and told him to stop getting upset over him. "But you're my best friend! I gotta defend you!" Luffy insisted.

Zoro said, "Don't you want friends, too? I don't wanna ruin that for you."

"I don't wanna be friends with people who are mean to you," Luffy said with a frown on. Zoro's face crumpled, and he started to cry. Luffy was surprised, and hugged him, patting his back. But through the feeling bond, the reaction wasn't sadness, but overwhelming relief. Miss Belmere came over and asked if everything was alright. "Zoro's just happy," Luffy said with a smile to their teacher. It did cause a scene, the whole argument, and people were looking at Luffy in a different way than before. "Let's go play with dinosaur toys, Zoro."

Zoro nodded, wiping his eyes, and the two bustled to the play area with all the little figures. While they were playing, a boy came over, looking shy and embarrassed. Luffy looked up, and Zoro looked kind of tired and blank. He had been sobbing, but happy, so Luffy was not too worried. He just cried and it made him tired.

"I'm Kappa. I've been mean to Zoro sometimes. I'm sorry," Kappa said. He had a white turban on his head with orange beads around it. Didn't look like a very nice boy, but Luffy wouldn't judge by appearance or he'd be just as bad as those who disliked him without knowing him. Luffy asked him why he was mean to Zoro. "I don't know…" he mumbled, looking away.

"Oh. Well, don't be mean anymore, then," Luffy said bluntly. "Being mean isn't good and you're a mean person if you're not nice to others." Kappa sniffled and nodded, and then hurried away. Luffy heard him outside and crying. He didn't really feel bad because he was mean to Zoro for no reason.

Gradually, a few other kids came over to apologize to Zoro, who was shocked at the developments. And Luffy was upset with how many people had been mean to Zoro, and how shocked he was at receiving kindness from them. Luffy would never let anyone bully Zoro again! Not while he was there to help!

When school was over, and Katakuri picked his son up after they waited with Zoro for his dad to pick him up, Luffy began to rant in the car, surprising the man. Luffy started crying over how sad he was for Zoro, to be all alone all this time. "You're a good friend, Luffy. Zoro is a very lucky boy."

"I'll protect him! He's my best friend forever!" Katakuri smiled proudly at his child. They went home, and Luffy was finally speaking about the fun times he had with all the toys, and the playground, and how he didn't want to drink anybody's blood at all! "But I had some in the bathroom from Zoro. Does that count?"

"Luffy, I told you you can't drink his blood, especially in public," Katakuri said, trying to sound patient.

"Oh, okay," Luffy replied lightly. When they got inside, Luffy hurried to his room to dress in his pajamas, but still keep his beloved flip flops on. He was happy he was allowed to wear them to school. He ran back out and wanted to talk to Zoro, so Katakuri lended Luffy his phone to speak to his friend.

-x-

"Something smells icky, papa," Luffy said, plugging his nose. They were at the park after his nap after school. Luffy wanted some fresh air, but the backyard was apparently unacceptable today. So they went to the park, and Luffy was drawing in a coloring book on the picnic blanket while Katakuri was reading a book.

The father smelled deeply, but didn't smell anything. "What's it smell like?"

"Too much candy and perfume!" He looked grossed out, and pointed towards the parking lot. Katakuri looked over, and saw someone there, and his eyes widened in shock and anger. What was she doing here?! How did she know where Katakuri even lived?! She was supposed to have life in prison!

Luffy saw Katakuri's expression, and started to worry and wonder if something really bad was there. "Let's clean up our things," he said ightly. "That person will just keep being smelly. But I don't want you to go towards that smell ever."

"It's stinky, I won't!" Katakuri helped him put his various toys back in his backpack and folded up the blanket, got his own things, and they walked in the opposite direction. Their car was where Mama was, so they couldn't go that way. A thousand thoughts were racing through the man's mind, but were all encompassed by the general feeling of hate and confusion. Why was he not told? Did his siblings know?

He hadn't seen the abusive mother - if you could even call her that - in over 20 years. He looked down at Luffy, who was slapping his his feet into his bottom with every bouncy step, clueless to the worry going on in Katakuri's head. He was not going to entertain the thought of forgiving her. She did a great deal of mental damage to his younger siblings. To all of them, but Pudding and Cracker especially. She would have zero contact with Katakuri and Luffy. But he didn't even know how to speak with her. He just wanted to get a restraining order and be done with it.

That was what he would do.

The two walked in a big loop and back around to their car. Mama was gone by then, and Katakuri buckled Luffy in, and drove them away, glad the park wasn't too close to their home. But how did she know they'd be there? He needed to et on top of this immediately. He had no idea the reason to approach them, or not. She just watched them like a creep. But he wouldn't listen to any excuses.

Mama was not to be part of their lives. Never. Luffy seemed fine with no grandparents, only uncles and aunts, and Katakuri would never try to get him to want them. Zoro had one grandparent, but they weren't close, so Luffy was never really around the concept of loving grandparents.

When they got home, Luffy went to his playroom to watch cartoons, and Kakuri called up Perospero, the eldest sibling. He was forty three. "Brother Pero, did you know Mama is out of jail?" he asked, not sparing a second and getting right to it.

"WHAT?!"

"So you didn't know… She showed up at the park where Luffy and I were. He smelled her. She didn't approach, just watched."

"Why weren't we told?!" He sounded pissed and upset, too. None of them had a good relationship or fond memories of her. She was abusive and manipulative to all of them, treated them like trash. Katakuri said he was getting started on a restraining order that night. "How did she know where you were?"

"I don't know but I'm calling the police for tonight in case she comes here somehow."

"At least she can't use her quirk on any of us." Her quirk nerves had been fried by a curling iron when she was high. It burnt deep into her neck in just the wrong spot to render her quirk useless. Which she then took out on them by beating Daifuku with a pipe until they called for help.

After she was taken in, her record of all the people she'd killed was found and she was sentenced to life in prison. It happened so fast, and the kids were out of her care almost instantly. They had no other family, so the kids were spread out in foster homes. They managed to keep in touch, but had never been living in the same place again.

Since all of them had had pretty big behavioral issues from her treatment, most were never adopted and had to set out on their own once they became adults. But all of them had been forced to mature early, and each were fairly comfortable now, living-wise. And since all their parents were different, luckily nobody had Mama's quirk, which she used to steal souls from people and put them in everyday objects.

Forty two murders using her quirk. Even 20 years wasn't enough for her to be forgiven and let out. They contacted all of the other siblings, but none knew about her getting out, either. Luffy wasn't listening in because he showed not an ounce of stress or worry the rest of the day. It was a school night, so after Katakuri read him his story book for Wednesday nights, he went to bed, perfectly fine.

Katakuri would never expose his family's toxicity to his son. His mother was poison and ruined everything she touched. Quirkless now or not, she was dangerous and he didn't want her anywhere near Luffy.

In the morning, Katakuri called for a police escort to school, just to make sure. When the guy asked what it was for, Katakuri honestly said his homicidal mother got out of jail and approached him and his son the day before. This was taken very seriously, and Luffy was escorted to school, the cop car driving a bit behind them. Luffy didn't notice, didn't pick up on anything. He was a vampire, so was perceptive automatically, but he was also only five, a young child.

When he dropped Luffy off, the officer offered to stick around for a bit after he left. Katakuri was grateful for this, and nodded. He then left to meet with his siblings at Smoothie's home to try and figure out what to do, what was going on. Once they were all in one place, which hadn't happened but for a few Christmas's ago, they were all stressed and bothered. Worried and anxious. Oven had a friend who was a lawyer and so he was present too. Most of them were all very tall considering size had nothing to do with their various quirks.

"So, none of you received any notice that your biological mother was released from prison?" They shook their heads. Bogard, the lawyer friend, sighed. "Do you know where she was being held?"

"She was in a maximum security prison in South Korea," Daifuku said. Nobody touched the lemonade or apple chips on the table in front of them all. "We haven't talked to her in over 20 years."

While they were all together, they called the prison, and had a translator to speak to them. But when they heard the truth, they all went pale. Mama managed to break out of prison. At hearing Katakuri saw her, immediately, the police were called, and all of the siblings would be guarded as the search was organized. They had a huge lead over where she was now.

The break out had been months ago. And Bogard said that the prison she broke out of should have alerted them all and they could sue them for not doing so and possibly putting them in danger from the cover up. Katakuri was very upset and worried over his son's safety. She broke out of prison, and then saw Katakuri had a child and she had a grandchild. Not that he saw her as a mother figure personally.

So, the search was on, and Katakuri hurried to Luffy's school to pick him up. The officer was gone, and he felt paranoid until a cop car pulled into the lot. The car that would be guarding them both. Luffy came out under his umbrella since it was a very clear day and the sun was high above.

Zoro was smiling, which was a relief. Luffy's presence really changed him about school. Katakuri was proud of him for being such a good friend. Even if he still did disapprove about the blood bond. Though he didn't hold it against either of them since they had no idea it was possible. Katakuri waited with Zoro, Luffy in the backseat.

"Katakuri, is everything okay?" Zoro asked. Much less clueless than Luffy was. He looked up curiously, wondering that now, too.

"Things are alright, but I just want you to be extra careful about something. If you see this woman, call the police and get away," he said, and showed Zoro an old photo of Mama. Zoro asked who she was. "A bad woman that I don't want either of you being around."

Luffy saw the photo, but didn't recognize her, as he'd only smelled her and seen her from a distance. "Is she bad?"

"Yes, and we don't want to be around her," Katakuri replied. When Zoro's dad showed up, Katakuri calmly explained about the situation, and he knew what to do if she came. But he and Zoro shared the same quirk. He'd be able to defend them with his weapon power. When Katakuri got back in the car, the two of them headed home.

When they got there, they saw a window was broken. Luffy was confused, and asked if the neighbor threw a baseball at them. The officer in the car who pulled up behind them called for back up, just in case. But Luffy said nobody was inside. Katakuri did trust his senses, but wanted to be overly careful if necessary. Besides, she could have left something dangerous there.

Katakuri looked worried and frantic, and Luffy clearly saw this. He unclipped himself from the backseat and climbed through the gap in the drivers and passenger seat and hugged Katakuri. "Don't worry! It'll be okay!" he said brightly. He hugged him close, too. He'd never put this child in danger. Luffy was his baby, and Katakuri would do everything possible to preserve his innocence as best as he could.

-x-

"Papa!" Luffy screamed on the trampoline, his father under the eave of the back patio, looking focused on the paperwork he was working on about the scary grama. He'd told him about the bad lady they had to watch out for. And Luffy already had her scent, so she couldn't sneak up on him. He wasn't scared and trusted the police to do their job.

He wasn't interrupting his stressed out papa while he worked besides going over every half hour or so to give a big hug. That was how he helped him through the stressed time. Luffy hated seeing him sad or not happy, and wanted to do what he could to make him happy. But this would probably worry him.

Katakuri looked up and shouted in shock, running to the trampoline and grabbing Luffy's hand before he floated out of reach. He'd jumped a big jump, and then had suddenly been airborne. He was floating away! But a mochi rope was wrapped around his waist and connected to his father's wrist.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?" the father asked in worry, confused as he got his phone to call someone. Luffy nodded, but was confused as to why he had started to float. He was quirkless! He wasn't four anymore! Did it have to do with being a vampire?

"I'm okay… my tummy hurts a little bit, though," Luffy admitted, just noticing a bubbly feeling in his belly. He was sat on the couch and Katakuri went outside and fetched all the snacks he'd had, along with the bottle of blood he'd drunk that was washed out and in the biohazard bin. Luffy was no longer floating.

So, in front of them was a small bowl of raisins, some nuts and and the blood bottle. Luffy had eaten a handful of both snacks. "My tummy is bubbly, but it isn't bad, I think. And I'm not farty." Katakuri was going to call someone about it regardless. Especially when he started to drift up towards the ceiling again.

He screamed and laughed about flying, unbothered by the current developments. Katakuri had zero idea on what the hell caused this. Quirks didn't manifest after four years old. And he was already declared quirkless by a doctor. On the phone, he heard that Luffy should be brought to the quirk hospital for monitoring.

So they packed some things for the night in Luffy's suitcase, a little baggy of his toys, and his favorite pillow. He stayed on the ground, thankfully, and was clipped to his seat easily. The drive to the nearest quirk hospital was fairly long, and he fell asleep on the way. Katakuri could see he was floating in his seat. His bum was just barely off of the seat, still clipped securiely in.

He already was stressed about Mama and wherever the hell she was, not bothering any of them but still not caught, so he didn't want medical problems to come up with Luffy, too. He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel, and when he got to the large hospital, he took Luffy's belongings and then the boy himself.

Mochi was wrapped around Luffy and Katakuri to make sure he was secured to his chest while he walked them and the belongings inside. It was night time by now, and the waiting room wasn't very busy. There was one person there, a boy with fluffy red hair down the middle of his head, and a bright red, large furry arm that didn't match the rest of his body. He was maybe Luffy's age, an angry looking boy, but was alone.

More focused on his own kid, Katakuri assumed he wasn't alone because there was someone at the front desk and watching him. "Luffy, we're here." The little boy mumbled and looked up, eyes droopy. Sleepy. "I called in about an hour ago, about my quirkless son starting floating. I was told he should be kept under observation here," Katakuri explained to the front desk woman.

With him being a young child and nobody in the waiting room, it wasn't surprising that they were seen quickly. His things were taken by another worker so Katakuri wasn't lugging around a bunch of objects and a suitcase. Luffy was fine to be carried to the room. It was clearly the children's area now with all the colored polka dots on the ceiling and drinking fountain in the shape of a cat in the wall.

Luffy was fascinated by that, but didn't say anything. Only watching it leave his sight with a open mouth and wide eyes. When they were in the right room, Luffy was put on a very luxurious looking bed. Katakuri saw why it was so nice. There were bars on all sides on the floor. They would probably be raised up to confine someone to the bed. It would most likely be that way for Luffy, to keep him from floating too high.

"Well, hello, there. My name is Potsun. Who might you be?"

"I'm Luffy!" he said brightly, even if he looked sleepy. His tummy grumbled. They hadn't had dinner, and had been driving through that time of the day. Dr Potsun said Luffy could have some dinner in a bit. "I'm a big boy, so I can wait a little bit."

"Very nice. Many boys your age aren't so flexible. Now, why don't you tell me what adventure brought you here today?" the doctor questioned. Then Luffy began to float, but Katakuri sat on the bed and plopped him down to his lap, holding his shoulders so he wouldn't raise off the bed again.

"I was jumping on the trampoline and then started to float! But I don't have a quirk!" Luffy said loudly, like it was the craziest thing ever, though he didn't sound too bothered. "Papa made sure I didn't float away, though. That would be scary!"

"When were you declared quirkless?"

"He was four and four months. That was before he contracted vampirism." Of course the doctor had noticed that, so was unsurprised. "Since then, he's shown the usual vampire traits. Enhanced senses, speed and strength. Other than that, he's been quirkless up until now."

"Then, why don't we take another look at your toe, just in case." The machine was brought in, and Luffy's foot was x-rayed. Not long later, the image came up, but his pinky toe still had two joints. So the original diagnosis hadn't been wrong, and Luffy's feet hadn't changed shape. So this left little evidence that a quirk had suddenly manifested.

"Well, since it still isn't a quirk he developed, is there a way this is someone else's quirk that has been used on him? Do you go to school Luffy?" He nodded, but Katakuri gave the list of known quirks in their class. Preschool and kindergarten had the children in the class's quirks given to every parent in case something like that happened. Perhaps a child accidentally activated their quirk and it was used on another student.

But nobody in Luffy's class had a known quirk to make others float. "Then it's possible it has to do with your vampire dna. There have been cases of vampires growing more secondary abilities. But they're very rare and usually only seen in first generation vampires - purebloods. That's not to say new things aren't being learned about vampires every year. Is there anything else special about Luffy's vampire situation?"

"He has a bond with a werewolf, but his quirk isn't to float, either," Katakuri answered honestly.

"Hmm. Well, we should do a few tests. But how about after some food? Even I can hear that hungry tummy rumbling," Dr. Potsun said. Luffy was indeed hungry, and so they were let off to the cafeteria. Katakuri walked with Luffy, who wasn't floating at the moment, and wanted to explore. But he was good and didn't run off.

When they got food, it was mostly unhealthy options until they went to the specifically healthy food. Luffy got a "fancy" sandwich and an apple and some peanut butter. Katakuri got the same, only the sandwich was a bigger size. Looking around, there were some quite interesting looking people.

At one table there was someone who had various flowers all over their body. Some sprouted and some not. Some were dead, too. It looked like Luffy did not like that one, and looked much happier after that patient left. Katakuri's attention was brought to the child with the furry red arm he'd seen in the lobby.

He ran over, and glared at Luffy and Katakuri. Surprisingly, Luffy didn't acknowledged the boy, and liked the peanut butter out of the small bowl. "Where are your parents?" It was night time and this kid was wandering around. He gasped.

"You can see me!" he exclaimed. Luffy looked confused, wondering what Katakuri was talking about. So, Katakuri was either hallucinating or this child had turned invisible and intangible. "Tell them to help me!"

"How about you give me your number and I can call someone for you?" Katakuri offered. Luffy started to float out of his chair. The father didn't want to deal with another kid's issues, but he had to help this boy. So he stuck Luffy to the bench he was sitting on with mochi, and then called the number that the boy helpfully remembered.

"Hello?"

"Your missing child, Grount, is at the Nagakisa quirk hospital. He'd like you to come get him." There was some screaming on the other end, and the sounds of car doors slamming shut. Sobs as they were cleary booking it to get there. Grount was crying and happy, thanking Katakuri, who was glad he wasn't hallucinating. But he wondered why it was only him who could sense him in any way.

"Papa, I'm bored," Luffy said, picking his nose. "Do you have an imaginary friend?"

"It's a boy you can't see. Well, it's time to go back. Are you done with the apple?"

"I don't like that spot. It's purple. Purple isn't a good color today." So Katakuri took their trash to the can and put the tray and silverware down. He turned around to see Grount smack the small boy across the face, which hit, and made Luffy start crying. Katakuri demanded to know why he hit Luffy, no longer patient and understanding. Grount just glared at him and ran from the room.

"A ghost hit me!" Luffy screamed. Katakuri picked him up.

"Don't worry, I won't let any ghost hurt you. Let's go back to the room, now." Well, now he wasn't in the mood to help that ungrateful child anymore. He knew he should be subjective, as he didn't know anything about the other kid or why he would do that, but Luffy was his son and he was hit, so he was allowed to be sour or irate with Grount. Katakuri went back to the room with Luffy, who moved on quickly, believing his papa wouldn't ever let a ghost hurt him. How dare he hit his child!?

At least Luffy didn't dwell on it. When they got back to the room, Luffy went under the covers. "There are no ghosts around. It had been a boy with a quirk that made it so nobody could see him. And I'm not gonna let him hurt you."

"...Promise?"

"I promise."

"'Kay." The doctor came in soon, and Luffy gave some blood draws, not bothered with seeing blood, obviously. And he healed from the needles almost immediately. For being his age and how he used to be hate going to the doctors, he behaved perfectly and with a smile. But then he started to get sleepy. It was a long day, and he was tired.

When he started to grow a bit grumpy, which only happened when he was sleepy, Katakuri suggested they call it a night. "Sounds like a plan," Dr. Potsun said brightly, responding to the situation well. To press Luffy would only cause more trouble. So it was time for bed. Katakuri hadn't actually thought about the fact that he'd be staying, too. Well, the bed was more than big enough, and he had been wearing leisure clothing, too. Luffy changed into pajamas, and got under the covers.

"Where's papa sleeping?"

"This bed is much too big for only you," Katakuri said lightly.

"Nooooo! I want it all!" Luffy said with a smile.

"Too bad. Sharing is caring, right?"

"Shishishi! No ghosts, okay?" Katakuri promised there would be no ghosts, and had him brush his teeth with the one provided for each of them. Then Luffy went to sleep quickly, and Katakuri hoped things would get better and not worse.

-x-

"Ow!" Luffy shouted when something hard hit his leg. He woke up with a start, and crawled away from that side of the bed, screaming in his papa's ear about another ghost. He was scared and couldn't tell where the bad guy was. Katakuri jerked awake, and Luffy watched as he glared and stood up tall.

"Do not touch my son! Get out of our room, now!" he bellowed. Luffy never saw his papa this angry, and he walked to the door and slammed it shut before locking it. Whatever had done it had left a scratch on Luffy's face. It didn't feel like it was healing, and he cried about it. A nurse hurried in through the other door, looking baffled and surprised by the noise.

"What happened, sir?"

"Someone came in the room and attacked my child. Did no parents come for a kid that can't be seen?" She shook her head, seeming confused. "It's not my problem," he said sourly, and went to clean the cut on Luffy's cheek that wasn't healing, right under his left eye. He went to the attached bathroom and got some disinfectant and put a bandage over the cut. Luffy was inconsolable about something he couldn't see that hurt him. "I'll stay awake. He won't hurt you again."

Luffy was still uneasy and scared, and couldn't fall back asleep. So he only got seven hours of sleep and would need more naps. He eventually gave up on sleeping and Katakuri put on a documentary about birds on his phone to pass time, hoping Luffy would fall back asleep, but he didn't.

But he wasn't floating anymore. And when he did want to float, and jumped up, nothing happened. "I'm not floating, papa."

"That's good. But we still have to stay longer to see what caused it." Luffy nodded. He wanted to go home, where he didn't think any ghosts would get him. But he was nervous in the room, so Katakuri picked him up, and they walked around the ward a bit. Didn't disturb anyone or anything, but it did help Luffy, not feeling trapped in that room.

While they were walking back to the room, Luffy told his papa to stop, because he saw something shimmery in the air. "Where?" Luffy pointed to their side, and was glad Katakuri saw it too. There were two shimmery balls of light, and Luffy was transfixed. It was pretty. His dad looked stunned too.

Then, there was a bright flash and then the glowing balls were glowing fish. In the air, the fish swam around! Katakuri reached out to touch one, and it went through his skin before it approached Luffy, and the fish gave him a kiss! And he felt it, it didn't go through his skin.

"Ahaha! It touched me!" Luffy squealed.

"Shhh, it's late right now. Inside whispers."

"It touched me!" he whispered. Katakuri hid his worried look, and lightly asked Luffy if he could tell them what to do. "Hum?"

"I want to know if they'll listen to you." Luffy asked them to swim around their heads. They did so. Wow! Were they listening to Luffy?

"Papa, do I have a quirk now?" Luffy asked.

"...Well, hopefully we'll find out soon," Katauri said, Luffy missing the worried hitch in his words. The fishies disappeared, and Luffy was unable to bring them back, but was able to fall asleep again, forgetting all about the scary thing that hit him and he couldn't see.


Protective Katakuri is so adorable, best papa ever. And Luffy is now even a bigger handful. Nobody please get irate he doesn't have a rubber power. Who knows, it may come later.