He sobbed and screamed for help, for his papa or Makino or Coby. While he was screaming bloody murder, Coby popped into view, and then was gone, returning with Katakuri. Luffy was hungry suddenly, with his throat burning. They must have something to eat for him! He stood up, swaying a bit and still holding his bleeding and burning wound.
"Call 911 now, Coby. Tell them a child was infected with vampirism."
"What?!" Coby asked in shock. Before he could call, and before Luffy made it to them, Katakuri trapped Luffy in mochi, his head the only thing not covered. He started screaming again, his teeth stabbing into his bottom lip. He was so hungry and thirsty! His dad came over beside him, and looked at him reassuringly even as Luffy attempted to bite him and get out of the mochi.
Coby was crying on the phone for an ambulance. It came quickly, and nobody but Luffy knew how this happened. How he ended up in this situation, and he couldn't speak, only scream and make angry grunting noises, but could not escape the mochi at all. When the sirens were heard, Katakuri carefully carried Luffy, making sure his face was nowhere near any skin. But he couldn't spread it by being a second generation carrier.
When he got to the ambulance, immediately, some sort of juice box was put in Luffy's mouth. Makino was there now, comforting the sobbing and traumatized Coby. Katakuri held Luffy up to drink the blood, since all freshly turned infected vampires were painfully thirsty. Luffy slurped it down, and once it was all gone, he was quieter, but seemed confused.
He was released of most of the mochi but his hands were latched together. He was unable to process what was happening, and Katakuri kept the tears in as best as he could. They headed to the hospital, where they went into a quarantine ward away from many people. He was laying on the gurney, still dazed.
When he got to the right place, he was strapped to the bed and had the bite mark stitched up and disinfected. It stung the boy, and he finally started to cry. Katakuri held his hand, strapped in the small binds. He knew this was terrible. More so than for anyone else. Children were extremely susceptible to intense symptoms, and quirkless victims were also damaged more. He was both. This wasn't good at all!
Luffy was asleep soon after, some sedative in an IV in his inner elbow. His eyes had turned red and his canines a bit sharper. Katakuri held his hand as he texted with his family about it, who were all horrified and very worried. He also texted Dragon, who was also very bothered. Coby was terrified when he got home. Not of Luffy, but with what happened in general.
They had no story while Luffy was unable to answer. While he was asleep, a specialists spoke to Katakuri about Luffy's immediate and long term consequences over this. If he'd been treated right away, it could have been treated more thoroughly, but he'd gone at least twenty minutes with the venom spreading and getting ahold of all of his cells.
Katakuri had a straight face on even though he was lamenting inside. He lost him. He lost Luffy and now look at what happened. Less than a year of being a father and he fucked up this bad already. He was ashamed and hurt. He would never pawn Luffy off for this or anything, but hte guilt was thick in his heart and mind.
"Being his age and quirkless, he will get thirstier much more often than older vampires. He'll need to be in rehab and won't be able to go home in the immediate future." Katakuri wasn't happy about this, but didn't blow up at the doctor. She was doing her job, whether he liked the information she was giving him or not.
"How long?"
"At least four months. A year at most. He'll need to be trained to work with humans again and not just be thirsty every time he sees one." Katakuri was devastated. He asked what rehab would be like. "He'll be trained and learn tactics to deal with the smell of blood everywhere. He's young, but impressionable. I'm sure we can get him used to his new life, now. Since being around humans would be hard, the workers are people with quirks that don't look 'normal human'."
He asked if it would be a comfortable place. If he'd be all alone. "No, there will be other children there. It will be a comfortable environment, not a hospital setting."
"Will I get to visit?" he asked in worry.
"You can see him, but he can't see you. You look like a normal human, which he can't be around."
"What about he other children he'll be being with?"
"They're either also vampires or werewolves. Only a small group, but he won't be alone in this. Im sorry, this is very hard for family to go through. It's both lucky and unlucky this happened while he is young," she sighed, looking at the little one, who had lost his tan skin and now looked pale, but not unhealthily so.
Katakuri asked about the sun. She said he would easily get sunburns, but sunblock would help. "Noon will be an uncomfortable time for him, but it's not unbearable," she explained further. Luffy started to whine a bit in his sleep, the corners of his mouth turned down sharply. Katakuri hated seeing that frown on his face. He should always be cheerful.
The doctor opened the fridge and pulled out a blood bag that she reheated, and put in in a sippy cup. She propped the bed up and put the straw in his mouth. He automatically drank, like a baby nursing from his mother. His face relaxed more after that, and he was back to looking to just be asleep.
"Will he be violent now?"
"Once he's treated at rehab, he should be fine. It's unlikely this will warp his personality, but it is hard for all people like this, but even more so for children. The rumors and lies regarding them frighten other children. Making friends should be a bit difficult," she said, her voice tinged with sadness and pity.
When he was told they should get to work on him as soon as possible, Katakuri gave him a kiss on the forehead, and it was so hard to leave the room, leave his son in the hands of others. He wouldn't be able to see or speak with him for months. He was all alone, again. But he would get Luffy back and help him live as nice a life as he could.
This changed everything, but also nothing at all. He still loved him and would take care of him with kindness. A lot of things just needed to change. He looked at the slip of paper that was a place he would go to to learn how to raise a vampire. He'd do as best as he could to prepare perfectly for his return, and be a wonderful dad. No matter what.
-x-
Coby was crying about not being able to see Luffy anymore. Dragon wasn't home right now, so Coby felt it was safe to cry. Katakuri didn't make eye contact, and Makino asked if they could do anything to contact him. "Letters can be sent, but nothing else. No phone calls or in person visits," he answered.
"I'm so sorry, Katakuri," the mother said in such a sad and understanding voice. Coby felt responsible for not finding him in time, and taking too long to call for help. "It had already been a few minutes. It was already too bad. It isn't your fault at all. The leash ripped, it was nobodies fault," she assured her son, and Katakuri.
He eventually left before Dragon arrived, not in the mood to be glowered at. When he got home, he took the car seat out of the car and put it in the garage closet. Then he replaced the lock he'd bought on his way to the Fusha's, and installed it to Luffy's room. He put it in backwards, so he could lock it from the outside.
Taking the key, he buried in the backyard. That way he wouldn't go into Luffy's room and be depressed all the time. He had put all the toys and drawings in his room, too. He wasn't trying to forget about him, but he didn't want to be miserable for four months or longer, depending on his progress.
Poor Luffy. He had to be in a worse position than Katakuri was right now.
-x-
Luffy sucked on a blood juice box, sitting on a couch and watching a cartoon. He felt odd, like he'd forgotten something important. He couldn't remember much before he woke up in this huge house. The south wall was completely made of windows. He liked it. But the sun made him hot unless he was lathered in the sunblock.
It smelled gross. Everything smelled too strong. Like when the other kids took a poop, it smelled bad all the way from downstairs. He could also hear everything. The air conditioner was loud, and he heard birds from outside. The other kids playing, everything. It was kind of overwhelming, but at least didn't hurt.
He finished his blood juice box, which made him feel less sick, and a boy came over, and sat on the couch next to him, giving him a critical eye. He was young, like Luffy's age, only a few inches taller. He wasn't as skinny either. Luffy knew he ate a lot of food and hadn't been hungry before, but he was still small.
"So, you're a vampire?" the boy asked. "I'm Zoro."
"'M Luffy. They said I was a vampire. I don't get it, though!" Luffy said loudly. Zoro said it sucked to drink blood. "It's yummy, and smells good. You smell yummy too, but also gross," Luffy said honestly. Zoro rose his brows and then laughed about it.
He commented, "You're too honest for your own good! You shouldn't go around telling people they smell yummy." Luffy realized it was silly to say, and laughed at himself, too. "I'm here cause I got bitten by a werewolf." Luffy's brows shot up.
"You're a puppy now?" Zoro angrily said he was a wolf, not a puppy. Luffy giggled. "I'm the only one here. The others are vampires, but they're a bit older and boring." Luffy felt different from them, and said so. "You're the youngest, maybe that's why," Zoro mused.
"Does being a werewolf hurt?" Luffy wondered. Zoro nodded. On full moons, it hurt bad. And the few nights before and after the full moon sucked, too. Luffy felt bad for him. He felt he hadn't been a vampire for a long time, and didn't remember being turned into one at all.
Zoro then asked him if he hurt, too. Luffy hummed. "My throat hurts a lot unless I have the juice boxes. They don't taste like juice though. And everything is loud and smelly," he replied. Zoro said it sucked he was in the worst situation. The smaller cocked his head.
"Well, you're young and quirkless."
"Oh, yeah! I'm quirkless. But you know what?! I can hear really good, now! That can be my quirk! I can be a spy. Shishishi!" Luffy exclaimed happily. Zoro called him weirdly cheerful. "Should I be sad?" he asked in confusion. But Zoro grinned, and said he shouldn't be too sad. After all, he had a quirk now. "What's your quirk?" Luffy wondered.
"I'm not allowed to use it, but I can change my body into weapons. Like guns and swords and hammers!" Luffy's eyes widened, and he said that was scary. "I guess. It's dangerous, but I can't really do anything about it to make it safe or useful. I dunno if it'll ever be helpful."
"You won't get hurt by other people much, though, right? Cause you can cut them and stuff." Zoro nodded, but grumbled he wished it had worked on the stupid wolf that got him.
Then he said, angrily, "People tell me I'll be a good villain and it pisses me off!" Luffy thought that was a mean thing to say. "I mean, I'm not wanting to be a hero, but not a villain, too." He was sour about it, really bothering him. Luffy said he should ignore them, and be cool. "You make it sound so easy."
"It's not?"
"...Well, not right now, I guess." Luffy suggested he turn his fingers into needles and then he can make clothes by sewing. "No way, that's a girl's job." Luffy hummed. He heard his voice called by the purple man behind him. He had a square head and twelve fingers. He was interesting looking. Zoro said goodbye and good luck. The smaller child didn't now why he needed a good luck.
He felt he'd made a friend! Zoro was funny and different. And a werewolf, too. Cool! Only it wasn't nice that it hurt him. And it wasn't nice that Luffy hurt a lot in his throat unless he was drinking. Drinking blood sounded perfectly normal but also wrong in a way. He couldn't remember anything before he woke up in a van and then came to this pretty house.
"Go ahead and sit here," the guy said, and Luffy sat on the recliner. The man sat on a chair across from him, but not too far. The room was small and cozy. There was even a fireplace! With a real fire, cool! "Do you remember what happened to you?" Luffy shook his head. He only remembered being here. "Well, your memories should come back. Your life before now. It was a nice one," the man said kindly. His name was Benn.
Luffy was happy to hear he'd remember a nice life! He had a life before now, which was a relief. He worried that he just popped into the world like this, but that theory was now disproven. Benn asked him how he felt. "My throat hurts sometimes. And things are smelly and loud."
"What can you smell and hear?"
"Stuff. Lots of stuff," was his answer. Benn didn't push, and offered ear muffs to dull sounds. "No! Cause I'm quirkless, but maybe that can be my quirk!" he said brightly, throwing his arms wide cheerfully. Benn looked surprised by his attitude, but also smiled at it.
"It's good to be happy in such situations. You'll have lots of classes here. To teach you how to live as a vampire. Some things are different for you now than other people," Benn explained honestly, though his voice was soft and kind. Luffy wondered what the classes would be. "We'll teach you how to be around people again. It will be hard for you right now, but once you're done being helped, then you should be around people again, even if it might be difficult sometimes."
Luffy said he was fine with Zoro. "Zoro isn't fully human. You have problems with normal humans. What did Zoro smell like to you?"
"He smelled yummy! But also gross. Like dirty socks!" Luffy answered honestly. Benn said he would get thirsty around full humans. If Zoro smelled good as a half-human, then full humans could be harder for him. "But... why?"
"You need human blood to live comfortably now. Maybe you'll get very thirsty around normal humans." Luffy frowned, and asked if he would eat them... or something. "Well, that's why you're here. So there's zero chance of that happening. We'll help you out, don't worry. Then you can go back to your home, happy."
Luffy didn't like the prospect of him attacking and eating people! He'd never do that! So he was happy he'd get treated here! He'd do his best to do good and go home. He was told it was a nice life, so he wanted to return as soon as possible! He'd do his best and go home happy, no matter what!
-x-
Luffy was stuck in a bubble, looking with wild eyes at Zoro, who had a bite mark on his arm he was trying to hide but couldn't. Luffy didn't know what happened. He was drinking some lemon water when he smelled Zoro bleed. It was just him picking at a scab, and then Luffy was drinking his blood.
It tasted good, but also sour. He wouldn't drink it again. Zoro walked to the bubble, looking sad and holding his arm, which had a bandage over it, since the bite wasn't deep at all. "Don't worry, you'll get better about it. I forgive you," Zoro said. Luffy didn't know why was crying, but the bubble was taken away and he was put in a room with a bunch of pillows. No window, though.
When he finally cooled down, his heartbeat no longer pounding in his ears, he realized fully what he'd done, and started to sob and wail until Benn came in, and hugged him, rubbing his back. "Don't worry. By the end, you'll be okay, Luffy."
"I hurt him!" he cried, big fat tears coming from his scrunched up eyes.
"He's okay, you didn't hurt him that bad. It just stung a bit. He'll be okay, and he isn't mad. You didn't lose your friend," Benn assured him kindly. He took both shoulders of the small boy, and told him, "You'll have hard times, but must push through them and do your absolute best to not hurt others again."
Luffy nodded, but felt ashamed. He didn't leave that room, but got to talk to Zoro on the phone, who wasn't angry at all. He even said a bite mark scar would be cool. Having a werewolf bite and a vampire bite would make him cooler. Luffy didn't agree, and thought he'd done something very bad, but his friend's words made him feel a bit better. He wasn't hated by him. Of course he'd never bite him again.
"You tasted sour and gross."
"Well, that's a good thing, I guess," Zoro replied. Then he laughed about it, truly unbothered. Not mad even a tiny bit. It was such a flood of relief. He didn't lose his friend even after attacking him. It had been easy for Zoro to shove him away, though, so that was good. He could be stopped like that. And the bubble kept him and others safe, so that was lucky, too!
Now he knew what could happen to him. Something terrible could happen - he could do something bad. So he now knew the worst that could happen, and knew he could do what he could to avoid doing it again. He was only four, but he knew he'd remember that lesson for the rest of his life.
-x-
Katakuri got updates on Luffy daily. Hearing he forgot everything was like a lance to the heart. But he was told that as Luffy got his vampirism under control, the memories would return. This was common in newly infected children. And Luffy would already forget much of this part of his life through infantile amnesia.
He heard how well he was doing, and he made a friend, until the day he learned that Luffy had ended up attacking said friend. He rushed, bit him and barely drank any blood. This friend, Zoro, forgave him easily, never mad. He was a good person for Luffy to be friends with. A werewolf, too. Poor kid. Werewolf transformations were incredibly painful, and he was four years old, too. It was a miracle he wasn't dead from it. A blessing, though he'd need to live with the unfortunate side effects.
Katakuri couldn't write letters to Luffy since he didn't remember him, so all he sent were gifts. He'd drop off some treats or small toys. Apparently Luffy looked forward to that all the time, no matter how small the gift. It was the only real way Katakuri knew how he could help. Unable to make contact in any way, this was all he could do.
Things weren't well at home. He lost a friend, but it had ended up being mutual. He and Dragon had been friends since high school, but things were ruined now. Not that Katakuri regretted reporting abuse to child protective services. Not only because his job required that, but he wanted to help Coby and the other kids.
When Makino and Coby came to see Katakuri, get an update about Luffy, it was easy to see the bruises both of them sported, no matter if they tried to hide them under clothes. So he'd reported it anonymously. He hoped he was wrong, and that this didn't ruin their relationship. Because he could not be friends with someone who abused his family, and young child.
He was on Coby and Makino's side more than his years-long friend. He learned that Dragon had been abusive throughout his whole marriage with Makino, and the same with his children. Coby especially. There was a mountain of evidence from all the children and the family who lived there. Makino and their grandparents also testified.
So, Makino got full custody of the kids, and moved away from Dragon, filing for divorce the day she left. It wasn't made public, so Dragon's career didn't die from this internal scandal. Makino and the kids were all happy, now in the second house of the family. Dragon was denied visitation for now. It was a mess, and of course he knew it had been Katakuri.
They were no longer friends for different reasons, but the feeling that their relationship was no longer positive was mutual. It was sad. He was saddened by Dragon's actions, and hoped the kids would be alright. He was glad they were doing well. He went to visit them often, making sure they were doing alright.
They knew that it had been Katakuri to get them out of the mess when Makino was afraid to leave or even think about the prospect of leaving. So all the kids were always glad to see him. He had dinner over there a lot, hating being alone. He spent most off days with his siblings. He hated the quiet house.
It was only a few months, but he'd gotten completely used to living with another noisy person. He missed Luffy, and hoped he was doing well everyday. The wish to help in any way was so strong, but he was unable to really do anything. But at least Luffy had a friend in there. Coby had seemed sad at hearing that, but when Makino pointed out he'd feel very lonely without him, the boy had cheered up a bit.
Katakuri learned that Luffy had decided his vampire traits would replace any quirk, and the man was so proud of how Luffy found happiness even in something so terrible. It didn't seem terrible to Luffy, which was the best they could hope for. And he had developed most traits, which the majority of second generation vampires did not have.
It was a problem, but not to Luffy, apparently.
-x-
"I win!"
"You can't use your super speed! That's cheating!" Zoro snapped. Luffy crossed his arms, and said he was using his quirk. Zoro sighed, and said it was still cheating. "Plus, you shouldn't use your strength, too. It's not fair!"
Luffy said, "I don't mean to use the strength! I keep breaking stuff... I don't like doing that, you know!" Zoro saw Luffy's deep frown, and apologized for getting angry. He just felt jealous by now. He openly said that, and Luffy told him he should start trying to change his quirk, but that was shot down.
Quirks weren't allowed to be actively used on the property. But Luffy could use his things, mostly because he couldn't control them, and part of his treatment there was learning how to control it. It was part of everything. Along with the lessons and conditioning. They'd started bringing in normal humans for him to practice not wanting to attack. He'd failed once, but was gently restrained that time. But since then, he'd been a good boy. They smelled so delicious, and he had the desire to bite and drink from them, but he had to remind himself that they were people, not snacks!
It would be scary for them to be bitten, and mean, too. Attacking people was wrong! But he really wanted to. And during the talking sessions, he admitted to it, behind honest with their questions. So he always had a little blood pouch in his pocket, and when he felt hungry at seeing a human, a regular human, he'd drink the pouch.
But he needed to learn by not using that. Being around a ton of humans would be too much for one little juice pouch. It was difficult, though he tried his hardest.
Luffy played out in the yard with Zoro, playing in the sand pit, making sand castles. But Luffy broke the shovel by accident. The handle stabbed into his hand, drawing blood before the wound healed over. Zoro frowned, and Luffy did, too. "Sorry. I don't mean for the stuff," Luffy apologized sadly.
"It's not your fault. Like it's not my fault for destroying the shed every full moon and all." He was put in a room in a shed for transformations, which Luffy heard him screaming all the way in his bedroom. It made him cry that his best friend was hurting so badly all night. He didn't say anything about hearing it because Zoro was embarrassed about it happening.
But he was being tested lately, to try and make him not attack others in that state. Zoro didn't remember his time as a wolf, though he remembered the pain. It scared him that he didn't remember. What if he did something very bad and didn't know it? That was indeed scary. And Luffy knew the feeling.
After attacking the half human, he had blacked out for a bit. Only a couple seconds, but it left him confused. He did remember biting Zoro, though. It was a terrible memory, but he kept it. The two continued to play, the handle being what broke, so it was still usable and they played together before their lessons started.
Luffy was sat in a chair with a blindfold. This wasn't about keeping others safe, but him safe. There were many cups of blood in front of him. Each one was put under his nose to smell, and he had to point out the ones that were spoiled. Meaning they hadn't been well preserved and had gone bad. Then there were ones with animal blood, which was a big no-no.
He picked out all of them. The different types of blood when they were right were all very distinct. He wouldn't mistake their scent. Animal blood was not drunk by vampires or it caused a lot of injuries. A lot of bleeding, and he never wanted that to happen. But the teachers were happy he was able to discern bad blood from good ones and not risk getting ill and needing his stomach pumped immediately.
Then the next lesson was kind of scary and made him nervous. He'd been there three months, and his test was to be able to stop after biting someone. Meaning he had to bite somebody! He was worried he'd mess up, but had no other choice than to do what they said. Benn assured him that they'd help if anything went wrong.
The man he was to bite had a lot of scars on his body. Bite marks. He did this for a living, to try and do his best to help unfortunate kids. Luffy was nervous, but closed his eyes and bit down. It felt so good, drinking from someone. He started to suck, unable to help.
"This is a person, Luffy. With feelings and a family. He must be scared right now. Do you want to keep scaring him?" Luffy sucked harder before he finally pulled away to fall off his chair. He started crying, overwhelmed, and the lessons for that day were over, and he was highly praised. "I'm fine, Luffy. You didn't drink too much," the man, Yasopp, said kindly. Luffy nodded, wiping his eyes and nose.
A napkin was made for his mouth which had some blood in the corners of his lips. It was a success, even if it upset Luffy. He'd need to do it again until he was able to resist it completely. Part of him was excited to drink from a living body again. But he didn't say that at all. It was a secret he kept to himself because he was ashamed of it.
And Zoro has entered the story, a main side character for the rest. See you next week!