Authors' Note: Hello wonderful readers, hope you are all doing well (Jui are you okay? We love you) Here's the next chapter, enjoy :)
Review Responses:
Jordansdevil: The fire is really mentioned for development purposes...unless we suddenly have a crazy idea and it somehow becomes a major thing in the plot...for now though, it's there as a bit of an explanation for how Luffy acts and the PTSD issues he's displayed...also his scar. Thanks for the review!
Yukino76: Thank you for the review! :)
Final Syai Lunar Generation: Ah yes, let the tears continue (good tears of course) it's always a goal for writers to get their readers to feel real emotions for what they've written so thank you!
Shellina123: Your reviews are always so touching, thank you so much for your kind words and your feedback! Yes, Brulee is the only one who can handle Kuri...and there will be more to come ;) Luffy has a way of breaking down walls around people's hearts...especially Kuri's. Thank you so much for the review!
Warnings:
- misunderstandings (...we should honestly just call this story "All the Misunderstandings")
- hurt and comfort
- emotionally vulnerable Luffy
- threats to one's spleen...
- classic brown leather wingback chair (v important and majestic...please feel free to look up a picture)
BRULEE'S POV
When Brulee went to check on Luffy, as she did most mornings, and found that he wasn't there...well...to say that she freaked out was an understatement. She went room to room, searching for him, and found nothing even after she'd checked most rooms twice and forced many of her younger siblings to search as well. After the second sweep turned up empty, she hurried to Katakuri's room, the only place that hadn't been searched, and threw open the door, not even bothering to knock as she usually did.
"Brother! Have you seen -" Brulee stopped abruptly, trying to make sense of what exactly she was seeing.
The good news was that she found Luffy, sleeping safely in her brother's arms.
The bad news was that...he appeared to be...naked...and in her brother's arms.
She wasn't quite sure what to make of this so she did the first thing that came to mind. She yelled.
"CHARLOTTE KATAKURI! WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!" she took great pride in watching her brother startle awake, blinking uncharacteristically in confusion instead of instantly going on the attack. Brulee took a deep breath and pursed her lips, glaring disdainfully at the man as she attempted to calm herself before continuing in a much quieter voice, "When I told you to make up with him, this is not what I meant…"
Katakuri stared at her for a moment, not quite comprehending what she was saying, then looked down as Luffy snuggled into his bare chest, eyes widening as he realized why his sister was upset.
"This...this is not what it looks like, I swear!"
"Indeed…" came the disbelieving response, "He just...happened to end up in your bed in a state of undress then?"
"Well…" Katakuri began but was cut off by the flash of a camera from over Brulee's shoulder as Cracker appeared, grinning mischievously.
"Wow, Brother! This is really unexpected! I thought you'd be single forever but I guess congratulations are in order...I should post the news on the family Facebook page! Though...isn't he a bit...young?"
Katakuri glared at his younger brother as he slowly attempted to shift Luffy without waking him and get out of bed...not that Luffy allowed that, his grip tightening every time the man moved.
"You post that picture and I will remove your spleen!" Katakuri hissed, giving up on going after Cracker as Luffy groaned in protest, waking up enough to say,
"Nooooo…Kuri staaayyy…..you're waaaarm…"
"Awww, so cute…...NO! Your brother has stolen something from him and this must..no, WILL be addressed! Don't get drawn in!" Brulee mentally scolded herself, trying desperately to remember that Luffy was the victim here, just a child in her eyes, and this should never, under any circumstances, be cute.
"Brother, I expect you dressed and in the dining room in five minutes," Brulee said, voice deceptively calm before she spun on her heel and stalked away, dragging a snickering Cracker behind her.
KATAKURI'S POV
Five minutes later, after managing to escape Luffy's iron grip, Katakuri sat awkwardly in the chair Brulee had directed him to when he entered, right across from her in the center of the dining table where he could best be surrounded by glares from all of his siblings.
"Most of them probably have no idea why they're angry with me...Brulee likely just told them to glare...Cracker's is unconvincing, to say the least."
Cracker, for his part, was obviously trying not to laugh and failing spectacularly as he let out quiet coughs in an attempt to disguise anything that escaped.
"If you would just allow me to explain…" Katakuri tried, but was once again cut off,
"And just what is there to explain?!" Brulee demanded dryly, "I walked in on you...with him!"
"Yes, sleeping," Katakuri confirmed,
"Oh re-"
"No, stop interrupting and let me explain, Brulee." the man continued, "Last night during the thunderstorm, Luffy had an...intense...nightmare that subsequently led to a panic attack. He was hyperventilating and on the verge of passing out when he entered my room. Once I managed to calm him down, I allowed him to stay with me for the night, just as I did for most, if not all of you when you were young."
"How do you explain his lack of clothing then?" Brulee shot back, not quite ready to allow her anger to fade,
"First of all, he was wearing shorts. I checked before I fell asleep. Second, I believe it was you Brulee, that told me that, as his changes have been rather unpredictable, he sometimes doesn't even bother with clothing, knowing that he will be a cat the next morning anyway. In short, nothing happened." Katakuri assured them, "I was simply taking care of him as I promised I would."
Brulee studied her brother for a moment, features gradually softening though her suspicion never fully left as she said, "I will be speaking to Luffy himself about this later but, for now, I will take your word for it." Katakuri sighed in relief and noticed that the rest of the family relaxed as well, most of them reverting to the half-asleep state they were usually in in the morning before Cracker spoke up.
"Am I the only one that's disappointed?" he sighed dramatically, "I think it would have been nice for our big brother to have finally found someone."
Their other siblings were instantly stifling laughter of their own before Katakuri's fork flew across the table and pinned Cracker to the wall by the hair, the force of the projectile knocking him out of his chair. No one laughed after that as Katakuri said,
"Alright, let's eat."
Two hours later, after one of the most awkward family breakfasts to date, Katakuri sat in his brown leather wingback chair reading a book, having finished most of his pressing paperwork an hour ago. He was about halfway through a chapter when he saw Luffy moving out of the corner of his eye He removed his reading glasses and set his book aside, watching the boy's cat ears twitch as he yawned and stretched.
"You're finally awake, are you?" Katakuri commented calmly, "You certainly slept a long time, though I don't blame you after the night you had." Luffy's confused gaze sought the man out,
"Kuri?" he asked quietly, not completely awake yet, "Why are you...why am I…" he blinked, eyes quickly scanning the room, "where are my pants?" Amused, Katakuri stood and walked over the bed,
"You weren't wearing them when you barged in last night." With those words, Luffy's eyes widened as memories of the night before came flooding in. The boy was instantly trying to get out of the large bed, stammering apologies as he went,
"S-sorry, I know you didn't want to see me….I'll be going now...er...sorry…" Luffy managed as he went to stand, ears pressed back against his head with his uncertainty. In his rush, he somehow got his legs tangled in the sheets and began to plummet towards the floor. Katakuri dove to catch him, just barely stopping him from landing on his head.
"Are you alright?" he asked, pulling the boy back to a sitting position on the bed. To his horror, tears welled up in the large, brown eyes and Luffy sniffled, curling in on himself as he mumbled,
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" not stopping until Katakuri picked him up and carried him over to his chair, sitting himself down and holding the teen close. Once he had calmed down enough for Katakuri to be sure his words would be heard and understood, he said,
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Luffy, I am the one who owes you an apology. I have been pushing you away when I should have been helping you through your unpredictable and painful changes." Katakuri reached up and fingered the scarf he wore low around his neck, "I let my own insecurities take precedence and blind me to how you were feeling, for that, I am truly sorry." He moved his hand away from the scarf, gently petting the boy's cat ears instead. Luffy's tail rose and swayed about behind him as he smiled happily and leaned into the touch.
"Do you really mean it, Kuri?" he asked hopefully and Katakuri gave him his own small smile,
"Of course, Luffy," he said calmly, "I wouldn't lie to you."
"So you do want me?" came the next, innocent question and Katakuri could have sworn that he felt Brulee's glare from across the house...he also couldn't stop the bright blush that spread across his face though, thankfully, Luffy wasn't looking at him and didn't notice.
"Um...I...well...I promised your brothers that I would take care of you and I intend to honor that promise." That earned him a massive grin from Luffy,
"So...I can hang out with you again?"
"Yes, you can."
"I can spend more time with you like I used to?" Luffy asked though Katakuri wondered if this question was any different from the previous.
"Yes."
"...can...can I...sleep in your bed again?" he asked hopefully, his eyes gleaming. Once again, Katakuri could feel Brulee's glare burning into his soul even though he wasn't really certain of her location at the moment…
"We'll...we'll talk about it…" he managed to force out. He was not prepared for Luffy throwing himself at his face in his excitement, knocking the breath out of his lungs and nearly toppling the chair.
"Love you, Kuri!" Luffy chirped and Katakuri's heart stopped.