Slipping into the orphanage cafeteria your rubbed sleep from your face. Being late was not an uncharacteristic thing for you so nobody batted an eye at your arrival five minutes after the breakfast began.
However, as soon as you walked into the room you could feel an unusual kind of tension. The kids were quieter, hushed whispers more than excited laughs bubbling between them.
With knitted eyebrows, you walked over to your usual table and sat down on your chair next to Daiki.
"Did something...happen?" You asked, picking up your chopsticks and uncovering your meal.
Megumi looked around in discomfort. "Yeah..." He simply said. "You know there was a kid that got adopted like a year ago."
You nodded your head and pushed some rice into your mouth.
"He got...returned."
You choked on your food, looking up at the boy with a shocked expression. "How? What happened-?"
Toothly scratched the back of her head. Her hair has grown out after years of not cutting and was now tangled into two messy braids. "Apparently the parents knew that he had a severe case of OCD but still decided to take him in." She paused to let out a short whistle and a loll of her head in a tic before continuing "From what we know it was 'too much for them'"
Daiki next to you stirred, his expression morphing into a deep scowl. "Ugh, I hate these kinds of people the most. Using others like some kind of dolls to flaunt and then throw away."
You gently grasped the boy's hand, giving him a reassuring look as he sighed, the expression of anger present on his face morphing into that of tiredness.
"From what I've heard he has been crying since the morning," Toothly whispered.
"Well, he shouldn't have gotten so attached to them." Yuki huffed. Their dark straight hair grew out through the years although the cut was relatively the same. Only the dark rings bounding their joints becoming more pronounced.
"Yuki!" Megumi gasped offended. "That's an awful thing to say!"
They shrugged. "It's true though. Everyone in this room should know by now that adoptive parents are going to pick and choose who they decide to take in." Your whole table stilled in discomfort. "Whether they pick based on looks, ability, quirk, or whatever."
"That's not true," Toothly muttered, looking at Yuki with a helpless face.
"Oh, it is." They stated, turning to the brunette. "We are like products Toothly, they take us and once they spot a defect, it gets too challenging or they get bored they throw us away."
Silence fell amongst your group until Megumi tried to once again resail the conversation.
"You know, on the good side two other kids got adopted today." He smiled awkwardly.
"Great, can't wait till they get returned," Yuki muttered.
Megumi's angry fist slammed against the table effectively hushing the entire cafeteria. You've never seen him like this, his usual upbeat and calm expression now molded in pure anger as he stared daggers at the kid sitting directly across. Yuki mimicked that rage perfectly, starting right back into his optics with their arms crossed.
The staring contest continued for a solid ten seconds before Yuki huffed angrily and pushed the half-eaten tray of food away from them. "I'm not hungry anymore." The ravenette muttered and hopped down from their chair.
They stormed out of the room, leaving the other kids to whisper amongst each other and glance at you guys with confused looks.
Megumi turned to Toothly and placed his hand on her head in comfort, she looked up at him with weary eyes.
"Don't listen to them Toothly." He whispered and send them a smile.
The girl took a second, lolling her head slightly to the side in a tic she averted her eyes from the boy and muttered: "I know..."
The day went on without much interaction with eighter Yuki or Megumi, you mostly hang out with Daiki. Per usual. It was Saturday so you spend it outside in the courtyard, kicking a ball around. It wasn't your favorite activity but the mint-haired boy seemed to enjoy it and you weren't going to rob him of quality time.
By the end of the day, you sat in your usual spot in the bathroom, it was a very wide room with multiple shower cabins and an overall space with large buckets for the smaller kids, close to the ground plastic chairs, and sinks.
You sat down on one of those makeshift stools, Daiki sitting in front of you on the floor.
The boy's hair grew out over time, he didn't do much to style it but from what he has been telling you he was kind of interested in getting dreds.
You just finished detangling his hair and combing it, the two of you just sat there, waiting for the coconut oil you put in his locks to set in.
"Daiki." You called out to him while mindlessly staring at the wide-toothed comb in your hand.
"Yeah?" The boy answered.
"The thing that Yuki said at breakfast, do you believe it?"
Daiki stayed silent for a couple of seconds before answering. "Yes and no." He stated as you once again brushed out some of the hair near the back of his neck.
"How so?" You asked.
"I do think that there are going to be bad people who will want to take advantage of us, who don't actually care and just want the praise of taking in a child." The boy stated matter of factly. "But I also think...that there are great people out there, who care and love even if their kid is not bound to them by blood."
You hummed before asking: "Should we start shampooing? I'm getting a little cold." The two of you just finished showering, only half damp towels were protecting you against the wet cold of the bathroom.
"Yeah." He sighed. "Should be okay by now."
You wet the boy's hair, taking a small bucket you poured it over his scalp, making sure that the water was nice and warm. Taking out a clarifying shampoo you apply it to the roots and start massaging it in. Daiki hummed, getting his head scratched turned the boy into a cat, he gladly invited your skilled fingers to thread through his hair. You did this every couple of weeks since you were four and a half years old, you were used to it by now.
As you guys sat there the mint-haired boy suddenly spoke up. "Hey, have you noticed anything...off about the new supervisors?"
You quirked one of your eyebrows as you poured more water over his head. "I mean they are weird in themselves, usually people this young and...athletic-looking don't become caretakers at the orphanage."
"True but..." He hesitated for a second. "I'm pretty sure that I saw one looking at me when I was practicing with my sword."
Your hands halted their movement in his hair before you put some moisturizing shampoo onto your palms and started massaging. "I mean...they are caretakers, I guess they are supposed to watch over you."
A groan left Takehisas mouth. "I know but it was weird, he was like looking out of a window down on me with this- like- look on his face!" He exclaimed as you poured another bucket over his hair.
"Yeah, I guess that is weird." You muttered, threading your fingers through the boy's locks to make sure no oil or dust was present.
You rinsed his hair once again before taking out a bottle of conditioner and putting it on your fingers, gently you rubbed it onto the ends of his hair, careful to avoid the roots.
The boy by now was getting fidgety, he hummed to himself as he splashed around in the puddle of water that was running down the tiles and into the sewage. Turning slightly around he lightly caught the amber necklace you were wearing and observed it with a keen eye.
He didn't say anything, just fidgeted with it for a couple of minutes while you conditioned his locks.
The green in his eyes reflecting the amber beautifully as if his iris's were themselves a piece of emerald.
[...]
Carefully you wrapped Daikis head with a silk cloth, making sure to keep it sturdy you tugged at the edges.
"Mhm...no need to be so harsh." The boy groaned his eyes droopy, it was clear he was half asleep by now.
"Okay, I think it's fine now." You stated and lightly slapped the side of his head making the boy whine as he plopped down onto his bed dramatically.
Taking a rubber ball from underneath your pillow you threw it across the room, hitting the light switch perfectly. Darkness enveloped the small room, behind the window a storm was stepping down onto the earth and banging against the glass. It was raining quite a lot lately.
You snuggled underneath the covers, Daikis hand quickly finding yours as he connected your palms.
Sleep enveloped you for a fleeting second
and soon a scratching sound from the corner of your ear woke you up from your shallow slumber.
Groaning lightly you sat up in your bead and cracked open your tired eyes.
Yuki's long boney form with their sunken dark eyes and rows of dysshaped teeth sneaked into the dark room, closing the door as quietly as possible.
As they turned around it seemed that they didn't expect you to be up, they flinched and gasped a little seeing your form very much awake looking directly at them.
"Y-You scared me-" they whispered.
"Hm. Ironic isn't it?" You quirked one of your eyebrows looking at their long dysshaped from.
With weird frankly noises Yuki walked over to their bed, their eyes cast onto the ground.
"They kicked you out didn't they?" You suddenly asked making the other kid flinch.
"Yeah..." Their monster form moved under the covers. "I tried sleeping in a closet for supplies downstairs...they found me."
"You know, you don't have to do that. Me and Daiki told you many times that we don't mind you being here. I mean this is also your room. We are not scared."
"You're lying." Yuki groaned from underneath the layers of sheets. "I see how you flinch when you wake up next to me." Their form shifted with an uncomfortable crack of bones. "Nobody likes my second form. Me quirk...is hideous."
You stayed silent, only looking at the lump in the bed with a sad expression. The rain outside, banging against the double glazed glass of your wood-framed window.
Suddenly a portion of the covers lifted allowing one of Yuki's sunken eyes to peak from underneath, black tears with a consistency closer to oil running down from their optics and onto the sheets.
"H-How...how could anybody want me like this..." They hiccuped. "How could I ever have a family...?"
You leaned in and whispered with creased eyebrows. "Yuki, is that why you fought with Megumi this morning?"
No answer came from the child the weeping swallowing up any words they wished to speak.
Slowly you laid back down onto the bed before bringing your arms out and hooking one of them around their form.
"N-No-" they panicked.
"It's alright." You muttered.
Their chocked cries did not stop up until half an hour later when they got way too tired to keep going. Around that time when you began to fall asleep yourself, Daikis lazy arms found your form. Unconsciously the boy hooked them around your middle and pressed his forehead into your back. Classic Daiki, he yearns for any warmth he can have. Which made it that more tragic when you realize he has been deprived of it for the first years of his life.
Most of the people in the orphanage have got their warmth and comfort stolen way too early to even realize how much it affected them. All the kids were eighter distant and cold or clung desperately onto any ounce of love they got.
For you...you didn't know which one you were. Laying in-between Daikis warm body and having your arm hooked around Yuki's boney form you didn't have enough energy to care, to ponder over those ideas or truths.
Maybe it did not really matter.
You fell asleep.