Wishfull-star: Hopefully Luffy stays happy from now on. hmmmm.
I'm a day late posting, sorry! Enjoy
Luffy was with Zoro at the comic book shop, both of them interested in Superman merchandise. Koushirou was with them, papa at work at home, having taken on another client. Luffy could mostly supervise himself in the play room, and Katakuri had a baby monitor just to be extra cautious but Luffy never caused him to have to interrupt his sessions.
This child had a quirk that caused a genetic deformity. He was heartbroken about his own quirk harming him. Katakuri was his therapist. He never wanted to leave his home out of embarrassment about the deformity, despite many quirks causing people to look more inhuman. Not the traditional human form, that is.
So Luffy had chosen a little pin and a stuffed Superman and was at the counter to pay with his crumpled wad of bills. Zoro had a Superman cape and a figurine. They were both excited for the new things. Their parents monitored what superhero movies they watched. While there were many people with super strength, there was something about movie heroes that made them cooler than regular, every day heroes.
Luffy and Zoro both heard the crying in the back room, where the bathroom was. They shared a look, and Luffy paid for his things, beaming at feeling like a real grown up, and then headed to the back to see what was going on. He came across a boy with green hair in a point on his head and a nasty look beating up a blonde boy.
"Hey! Stop it!" Luffy shouted, running in front of the crying blonde. His face was red and he looked ashamed and hurt. He winced at his foot, which looked injured. Zoro came over, too, and was glaring at the mean boy.
"Go away, this has nothing to do with you," the green haired boy said. Not green like Zoro, but his was overly styled and smelled rancid with hair spray or gel. Zoro asked what the reason he was doing to beat up someone.
"G-Go away," the blonde said, looking humiliated. Luffy asked why he didn't defend himself against the meanie. "It's not your business."
"You'd rather keep getting beaten up, then?" Zoro scoffed. "Why don't you tell your parents?" The blonde didn't reply, but the bully did, and said his daddy didn't care about Sanji at all. He was a waste of space and energy. "Then why are you wasting your time beating up a person who's a waste of energy?" Zoro asked flippantly. "Lame."
"You- shut up!" the bully said, growing annoyed.
"You should be embarrassed about beating up someone your own size that's down on the ground. Pathetic." Zoro was very frustrated with this boy. The boy made to punch Zoro, who easily stoped him with his enhanced strength, even if it wasn't as strong as a vampire since he wasn't in wolf form and the full moon was last week.
Zoro grabbed his wrist and yanked before shoving him away to fall on his butt. Luffy helped Sanji up, glaring at the other boy with a red face. "You better hope you never run into me again!" he shouted, and ran off. Luffy asked if Sanji was okay, who was embarrassed but finally seemed grateful others stood up for him.
Zoro's dad came in, having been letting them be big boys and pay for themselves while he waited right outside the front door. "Zoro, Luffy, are you finished?" They nodded. Luffy gave Sanji his number to call, memorizing it for an emergency. He couldn't write down the numbers right, but he knew what they were and could say them.
"Don't let that meanie hit you around!" Luffy said firmly. Sanji didn't nod, but thanked them for being nice. They left him, Luffy feeling a bit reluctant. He hated bullies, but had never been physically attacked but by the ghost boy only papa could see. The two boys held hands as they hurried to their supervisor with their little baggies of new objects.
Luffy felt good he'd helped someone who needed it without having to do anything related to being a vampire.
Later that night, Katakuri got a phone call from an unknown number, but Luffy had told him about the situation and the boy he gave his number to. So he didn't hang up from the unknown number, and answered it. He called Luffy over, who had just had a chocolate milk. A small glass, but tasty nonetheless! A treat.
He hurried to the phone, and was glad to hear from the boy he already considered his friend. "Sanji!"
"Um… yeah. What's your name?"
"I"m Luffy!"
"Yonji said you are a vampire. Is that true?"
"Yup! And Zoro's a werewolf," Luffy replied. It was on speaker phone, and so Katakuri could hear. "Are you okay? That boy was so mean!" Sanji said it was his brother, so he couldn't do much about it. Luffy frowned for him. How horrible. To have a mean sibling. No sibling was better than that! "Doesn't your papa help you?"
"Father doesn't like me either." Luffy frowned, and by now Katakuri was paying close attention to the call. Luffy asked about his mom. "Mommy is sick, so she can't help me very much. Will you be my friend? You… seem nice. And that other boy made Yonji mad, too."
"I'll be your friend!" Luffy said brightly.
Sanji sniffled, and then the father and son heard a deep voice, demanding to know why the "fuck" Sanji was on the phone without his permission. "I- I was just talking to someone about the broken pipes!"
"What a stupid lie. Get off the phone before I get your brothers," the man with a deep voice sad in a cruel but also lazy voice. Sanji sputtered out an apology for being on the phone, and said goodbye to Luffy. The phone was hung up and hearing Sanji crying. Luffy looked at the phone angrily.
"Papa, save him like you saved Coby and Makino!" he said furiously.
"Unfortunately, I don't know the name or address of that man. If I did, he'd be reported immediately," Katakuri said, looking furious at the clear abuse in that household. Luffy rarely saw him this angry, but it was so obvious poor Sanji was treated like garbage. Luffy hoped he was able to call again safely.
-x-
Katakuri did a lot of digging for that boy. His voice was full of terror. It was horrible, even worse than Coby and how he acted around Dragon. He needed to do something about it. And while he searched the names for anyone similar in the country, he found a rich family, a booming company owner named Vinsmoke Judge. His company was one that sold weapons and raked in billions from clients all over the world.
He saw mentions of the children, and Yonji's name was mentioned. Sanji's wasn't. He looked for any videos of the head man, and quickly found a video of him making a 5 billion dollar deal with an American company. His voice matched that of the phone call. Katakuri immediately called his boss for advice about what he should do.
"Call child protective services. You got no recording of the conversation? Well, then your track record should lend you credibility. You've helped dozens of children get out of unsafe homes. Call about it. Regardless of the wealth and success of that family, cps will still work to get him out of there."
So Katakuri called cps on that household. Luffy didn't know about any this.
It was only a day later that Luffy got another call from Sanji, who sounded much happier. He talked brightly about cooking at the home with a bunch of other kids. Luffy was confused by the change, but happy for his new friend. He sounded so much happier, and said his father was taken away from him.
But his mother was unable to care for him, so he was put in foster care for now. He rarely saw her and she lived in the hospital anyways. Katakuri wondered if she'd been aware of the abuse. If they pulled Sanji from that home as fast as they did, he was heavily abused or neglected. The therapist would bet on abused and not neglected. "I think you're lucky! You were my friend and then all of the sudden I won't see my brothers or father anymore! They said I get to go to another home some day!" Sanji cheered.
"I was adopted, too! Papa adopted me and takes care of me, even after I was a vampire!" Sanji was happy to hear that, and asked what kind of guy his papa was. "He saves kids a lot! I bet he saved you, too!" The man kept his face straight, but there was no proof from Luffy to give. But he was happy that his son saw him in such a light. Like a hero in his own way.
But it was all thanks to Luffy for showing kindness to that poor boy. He helped save a child from a terrible home life. There was a voice on the other end saying dinner was ready, and Sanji was happy to eat, and said goodbye to his friend. Luffy was beaming at the end of the call. He jumped to hug his father, and thanked him for being nice.
"Don't tell anyone else, okay?"
"Why not? It was a good thing!"
"Well, calling to help a child is confidential. Someone could get angry and retaliate if they knew who the one to call was. So you can't tell others, not even our family. It's a secret between us." Luffy held out his pinkie and looped it with papas.
An hour later, Luffy bragged to Zoro about Kakakuri saving Sanji. Zoro was impressed, but after the call, Luffy realized what he'd said, and insisted he couldn't help it, but would not tell anybody else. Telling Zoro was no big deal. He had nobody else to tell the information to. Well, at least Sanji's story ended well so far. Now he just needed to find someone to give him a loving home.
He would be going into work the next day to collect some paperwork from his files hat he hadn't moved yet as they were shared by many of the workers. He knew one of his kind coworkers who was wishing to adopt a child. Katakuri would tell him about Sanji's situation. If Katakuri had not found Luffy so soon in his search for a kiddo, he would have looked for a troubled kid. Not that Luffy didn't end up that way once the vampire infected him.
So, the next day, while Luffy was with Daifuku with his day off, the child therapist went into work and made a beeline for Zeff's office. He worked with older children, not all ages like Katakuri did, and was firm, but great at his job. He was used mostly for stubborn boys, sounding firm but also doing his job. Many troubled teen boys came out of his office feeling lighter, while also humbled.
Zeff was very well respected, and liked by much of the office and coworkers because he was also a spectacular cook. He used to run a restaurant full time and was the head chef before he witnessed a group of children punched by their parents in the restaurant. While the police came, he had served them chocolate cakes, and they cried and confessed to him all of the horrible things that happened.
After they left, they ended up speaking to him often afterwards to give him updates, and he'd make food to bring to them. He felt so satisfied helping kids that he passed the restaurant to his adult nephew and went back to college so he could now work his new dream job.
"Katakuri, it's been awhile," Zeff said, seeming glad to see Katakuri, who was still working at home to take care of Luffy's problems. If things improved at school for first grade, he was planning on going back to his office during the day while Luffy was at school for the full day.
"It has. I've missed your cooking. Are you still looking to adopt?" he asked, sitting on the chair across from him, no client here at the moment. Zeff nodded. He'd not clicked with anyone so far. He was adamant to find the perfect fit, and wasn't as lucky as Katakuri had been. Sanji was nearly two years older than Luffy had been when he was adopted, but he was still young and impressionable.
So Katakuri gave him a brief story of the Sanji case, and told him that he was in foster right now, but was friendly with Luffy. Meaning he didn't judge easily. He still was wanting to be friends despite both Luffy and Zoro not being human. At least not completely human. "Do you know what his quirk is?" This wasn't overly important to him, Zeff was just curious. But Katakuri shook his head.
He knew the father's quirk was enhanced strength, even though he didn't use it much and had no reason to with his business. So Sanji could have that or his mother's quirk, which Katakuri wasn't aware of. "Poor brat. You know where he's being held?"
"The name I heard in the background was Mr. Tom. I know his address if you'd like to know." He wrote it down when his friend and coworker nodded. Mr. Tom was a kind man who already had adult children but he fostered. His daughter worked at the foster home as well, helping the kids be happy and find good homes.
Katakuri admired foster parents who shard their care for many children and worked to heal them and give them suitable homes. Prepare them for a new life. Miss Olivia wasn't talked about much by Luffy, but it wasn't because he didn't like her. He'd cried a bit when leaving her, but he moved on quickly when he got to his new home. Well, his former house, but new life.
"I'll look into it," Zeff said. He looked at his watch, and said he had a client now. "I'll speak to you later. Thanks for the information."
"You could repay me with some home made donuts." Zeff rolled his eyes, and Katakuri had a nice time interacting with his coworkers. He did look forward to going back to work after over a year of working from home for the sake of his troubled, unique boy.
When he got home, he cleaned up a bit, organizing Luffy's toys and tossing out some empty orange juice boxes that had been forgotten on a table or two. He cleaned the kitchen and then trimmed some of the shrubs in the backyard. Then he went inside to relax and read a book on the couch. He preferred another person in the house now that he was used to it, but some alone time for awhile was nice.
When Luffy came home, he'd played hard with Daifuku in his large yard, playing with the dog, and so he was tired and took a long nap before dinner. Karina jumped onto the kitchen counter, which was odd, and Katakuri took her down. She looked a bit offronted, and zoomed away from him. For an older cat, she was very in shape.
When dinner was ready, Katakuri awoke Luffy on the large beanbag chair, and he rubbed his eyes sleepily, but when he smelled dinner, he hurried to the kitchen, all traces of tiredness gone. He gushed about Bosco, the pet dog, and how he chased Luffy around and he had a ton of fun. It was afternoon and overcast that day, so Luffy had no risk of being burnt, even if he didn't have sunblock on.
-x-
Sanji came over to play, and Luffy was excited to see him. Only for the second time, but they'd had some video calls to talk. Zoro was over, too. Luffy said he would only have a friend if they treated Zoro nice, too. And since Sanji already knew both of them were not normal, he didn't seem to care if he wanted to come over.
When he was accepted easily by a new person, it made Luffy wonder why Coby couldn't move on. But he didn't think too long about that. Zoro was cranky while they waited for Sanji. "Zoro doesn't need to be jealous, he's very special."
"I'm not jealous."
"Then did Zoro turn into a grumpy grump?"
"No!" Zoro said defensively. Luffy said finding more friends would be nice. But that nobody could replace Zoro, who always accepted him, even in the worst times. Zoro lost his cranky look, and slumped his shoulders. The shorter boy asked why he was sad. "I just don't want to see another Coby situation. He was your friend and he ditched you and left you so upset. I don't want that to happen again."
"If Sanji's mean to us, then he won't be a friend. And I know I'll still have you! So it's okay," Luffy said with a firm nod. Katakuri was in the kitchen baking muffins, and smiled as he watched his son and his best friend talk, Luffy reassuring him to feel cared for and special. It was Mr. Tom's daughter that brought Sanji to their home.
When he knocked on the door, Luffy hurried over and tried to reach the doorknob, but couldn't reach the lock. The father did that, and opened it to show Sanji with a little backpack on. He was smiling, but looked a bit nervous. Katakuri welcomed him, opening the door wider. They saw he was wearing thick leather gloves.
When he hurried inside, he looked at he house in interest. It was cozy, though the roof was tall and doors tall as well. The walls were a warm beige color, since Luffy didn't like super white or it reminded him of doctor places. "This is a nice house!" he said brightly.
"Yeah! Our old one got killed by a flood so we made a new one," Luffy said. "Come to my play room!" he added, and Sanji trotted after him, seeming so happy. Zoro was sitting on the beanbag chair, looking at Sanji in a judgemental way. Luffy raised his brows at him and he lost the look, following them to the play room.
Sanji put his backpack down, and looked around the play space, all the toys and fun things on the walls. The big window that was tinted black a bit so the sun didn't hurt him but he could still see outside in the backyard. "You have a trampoline?!" Sanji asked in shock.
"Yeah! And Zoro has a pool."
"Cool!" Zoro asked him what his quirk was. And why he was wearing leather gloves. He sounded grumpy, but Sanji seemed to not mind, which was nice. Though Luffy wondered if it would annoy Zoro. Hopefully not. Luffy wanted more than one friend, even if Zoro was special - and not because of the blood bond thing.
Sanji looked at his gloves, and said, "My hands can burn things on accident. My quirk is bad." His voice was sad and honest. "I got my neither of my parent's quirks. My father had super strength that passed to my siblings, but I didn't get anyone's. They bullied and hated me for it." Luffy frowned.
"I'm quirkless," Luffy stated. "Even though I think my my vampire things as a quirk instead." Sanji was surprised, and asked if Zoro had a quirk. "Zoro can turn his arms into weapons, but has no use for it. But he has good senses, too!"
"Does it hurt? Your quirk?" Zoro nodded.
"It hurts really bad," Luffy agreed, and Zoro had a look of shame. "Don't worry, it's not your fault, right?"
"I guess." Sanji looked curious. "Me and Luffy can feel each others pain and strong emotions. For a reason you don't need to know." He sounded snappy at the end. Luffy agreed, confirming his words. Sanji was surprised, but to his credit, didn't ask to be in on the secret.
"Wanna play a game?" Luffy asked. Sanji nodded, and Luffy brought over various board games. The wii was in the living room since Katakuri didn't trust him to play it on his own. The wrist strap was always very tight on his wrist so the wiimote woudnt destroy a TV screen again. They chose to play Candy Land. It was a old and weathered box and board since Katakuri got it at a yard sale.
He eventually came in with some juices and banana muffins. Sanji thought the smell was delicious, mouth watering. They all ate the muffins like little beasts, with Zoro and Luffy high on the scent. So delicious! The whole house smelled wonderful now. "I want to be a cook when I grow up," Sanji stated. "But my hands have to get better first."
"That sucks. Having a useless and bothersome quirk," Zoro said bluntly. Sanji nodded in sad agreement.
Luffy said, "You could pop popcorn in your hands someday!"
"It might burn the bag," Sanji replied. "But I want to try heating food up with my hands without starting a fire."
"You start fires?" Luffy asked in slight worry. Sanji opened his backpack and saw a small fire extinguisher. He was prepared everywhere he went. Though Luffy noted he hadn't had one when his brother was beating him up at the comic shop. The blonde just said his backpack was taken from him by his other brothers.
"You're brothers are jerks. You're lucky you got out of that mess," Zoro said bluntly.
"They were always like that. And now I don't need to ever see them again if I don't want to! Everyone at the foster home is so nice to me. I even got planned to put in school. I wasn't allowed to leave the mansion even for school before. But now I'm going to a special school so they can be careful for my quirk."
Zoro and Luffy shared a look with raised brows, and then turned back to Sanji to ask what school it was. "Sabaody elementary."
"No way! We're going there, too!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise. But Sanji looked ecstatic his new and first friend was going to the same school. Sanji asked if they had been treated badly at their kindergarten. He knew what it felt like to be bullied over something ou can't control, and expressed worry he'd be bullied, too. "Well, I won't let you be bullied," Luffy said, arms crossed with a definitive nod.
Sanji smiled a small smile. Zoro looked a bit cranky, but Sanji seemed unbothered, which Luffy was glad about.
After they played board games and a few puzzles, Sanji asked if hey could watch a movie, and they picked out an animated movie, and put it on downstairs in the living room. Sanji brought his fire extinguisher backpack down with him. They sat on the couch or floor against the couch, and had popcorn.
Salted popcorn, so no butter, but still yummy. Sanji seemed so happy, and Luffy felt bad for the way he was raised so far. Being abused by his family and hated for his quirk. He couldn't help it, and yet his brothers and father hurt him over it. Luffy was so lucky to have the papa he did, and Zoro, too. His dad was super understanding over everything and accepted him fully. Even accepted his and Luffy's bond without too much anger. They couldn't turn back time, and didn't know if it was possible to undo.
Hopefully Sanji was adopted soon.
