Parenting the Right Way

Completely Unexpected

"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!"