The next morning, he confidently strode into the busy mall. Katakuri didn't think Luffy would run off anymore, but he said he felt safer this way. He was technically kidnapped when he wasn't connected to him, after all. Coerced away from his father and then bitten by a vampire. He saw Luffy's face grow tense, and he swallowed, but he didn't attack, didn't show any inkling that he thought people smelled yummy and their blood would be tasty. He more looked like he was constipated or his stomach hurt.
While that woman frustrated him, she helped Luffy by distracting him in a way he didn't see himself being able to do. She helped both of them out, which Katakuri thought was the complete opposite of her disrespectful episode. He felt pity for that baby and hoped for his sake that she grew up.
Provoking people with unknown quirks was stupid, and Katakuri never understood people who risked themselves when it wasn't worth the effort in the first place. Who knows whose quirks weren't in control, or reacted to anger? It just was safer and smarter to try and be civil with everyone you could be.
Luffy got a small cup of pretzel bits, and ate them there. But Katakuri saw mid bite that his fangs grew longer when a young woman walked by. He shut his eyes and mouth tightly, and Katakuri picked him up and removed him from the situation. Once she was out of scent range, Luffy let out a sigh.
"You okay?"
"She smelled good, and eating made it feel worse."
"Then why don't we not eat around crowds? Just to be extra careful." Luffy nodded, and finished his pretzel bits. He was sitting on Katakuri's shoulders, using his head as a resting spot for his little paper cup.
The boy was much higher than everyone else on Katakuri's shoulders, so he could easily see everyone around. He suddenly pat Katakuri's head, and quietly said, "There's a bad man over there." It wasn't the best to point in that direction, but he lowered his arm quickly after Katakuri looked in that direction.
"What do you hear?"
"He says about a bomb," Luffy hissed in panic. Katakuri didn't hesitate to call the authorities, and an alarm started going off for everyone to evacuate the building. Luffy was good to be on his shoulders so he wasn't squished in the crowd of panicked humans. Luffy pressed his hand to his nose to try and plug the smell.
They got out quickly, and ran to the parking lot. Cop cars and heroes arrived at the scene. But Katakuri didn't need to direct them as there was an explosion inside the mall that was so strong half of the other side of the building collapsed. People were getting in their cars and booking it. Luffy was crying, and he took him off his shoulders to hold close.
Luffy could have just saved hundreds of lives. They stayed on the side walk outside of the parking lot, which was empty of normal vehicles. They had to give their story and couldn't just run off. Once they saw a big person wrangled into a armored vehicle, Katakuri asked if it was safe. If the bad guy was gone. "Mmhmm. Now they are wondering what happened," Luffy said, standing next to Katakuri, who was sitting on the curb so Luffy could hug him but also stand.
They walked back to the mall, which was void of customers or employees. "Excuse us, I'm the person that called about the bomb." Officers walked over, and Luffy was hugging his father's leg. They all smelled like sweat and gun powder, which made them not smell tasty at all.
"What happened? How did you know about the bomb?" he was asked.
"My son has exceptional hearing and heard the man speaking about it." The officers looked down at Luffy, and they obviously could tell he had vampirism.
"What's your name?"
"...Luffy," he said quietly.
"Well, Luffy, you could have just saved hundreds of lives. That's quite the useful quirk," they praised. Luffy said it wasn't a quirk, it just came when he was a vampire. He was blunt and honest. "I see. Well, it sure was helpful regardless! Great job, kid." The officer went to the nearest cop car and got a sticker with a badge on it. "Your badge of honor for the day. Thank you, Luffy."
He took the sticker and beamed brightly. "Mmhmm!" he said happily, and admired the sticker. Katakuri asked if they needed to be questioned further, but they were told they didn't. So, it was time to go home. He could tell Luffy was holding back a melt down. It had been scary. So they walked to the car, and when Luffy was clipped in, he did start crying.
"You did great Luffy. You were very brave."
"Too many people in one place!" he cried. "It smelled too strong! And then it ex-exploded!"
"But nobody got hurt. You didn't hurt anyone, and nobody died from the bomb. And you got a fancy sticker. That shows they saw you as very helpful and were very grateful. You did a wonderful thing. You acted like a hero." Luffy said heroes were bad. "Why would you think that?" the man asked, startled, having no idea why he'd think such a thing.
"C-Cause you aren't a hero, you changed your mind. And Dragon was a bad man and he was a hero!"
Katakuri smiled at him. "Just because I changed my mind about being a hero doesn't mean they're bad. I left because I found something I'd like to do more, not because I thought heroes were bad. And not everyone is like Dragon is. He's a good hero, but not a necessarily good man. Heroes are definitely not evil. They help a lot of people every day," he explained patiently.
Luffy stomach rumbled, and he said he was hungry and thirsty, not replying to his father's words, distracted again. Katakuri gave him a granola bar and then one of the smaller pouches of blood. He ate and drank, and then sighed deeply. "That was scary, papa. The boom was so loud it hurt my head."
"Then its a good thing we were far away, isn't it? And it is scary, but thank you for trusting your ears and telling me about it." Luffy nodded, and said he was sleepy. "Take a nap, I'll bring us home. We can watch some movies, how about that?" But Luffy was already asleep, snoozing in his car seat quietly.
God, what a day.
-x-
"Whoa, that's awesome!" Zoro said brightly when Luffy was at his house on a play date. Zoro had the most awesome puzzles, so they were working on one of the big ones. "Man, I probably could have heard, too. I wonder what they thought of a vampire savin' the day?"
"It was scary! But the police were nice. Nicer than that mean lady with the baby."
"But, hey, you can go in public now, right? Could you start school?" Zoro asked, switching subjects. Luffy said he didn't know. People very close to him all smelled very strong. And he even had his body react to the smell of a passerby. She had smelled so yummy. He hadn't thought about attacking or anything, but was very startled when his teeth changed. He was just glad papa had saved the day and got him away.
He poked his upper left fang, and said, "You're not allowed to get bigger again!" to it angrily. Zoro snickered, and Luffy asked how his transformations were coming along. He said he'd been practicing his goal to use his werewolf side to his advantage.
Zoro looked away and then down. "It didn't go good. The full moon was last week, and afterwards, I tried to stay as a wolf for as long as I could. I suddenly went blind and deaf. But then everything was back, but I was a human again." Luffy gasped. How scary! But at least he was better now. "Yeah. It was pretty scary. I still have that goal, but I'm gonna not work on it for awhile. It was too scary. But I'll figure it out someday," he finished with conviction and confidence. "How'd it feel getting called a hero?"
"Em... well, I thought heroes were bad before. So being called that didn't feel very good. But then papa explained about heroes and that they aren't all bad. I liked the little sticker they gave me, though," he said happily. He'd had the badge laminated so he had one on every outfit. It was fun, and papa took a lot of pictures with him wearing it.
He and Zoro finished the puzzle after two hours. It was a really big one. They were both listening to music, on the deck in the backyard. Zoro's old pet dog had come over to watch and sleep next to them. "Do you scare him when you turn into a wolf?"
"He stays inside during the night. But get this, the cops were called on us! It was a full moon, and you know how damn noisy I am. Well they called the police on my screaming and a whole SWAT team came! It was scary, but I wasn't bothered, and dad talked to them about the noises. They left, but dad said they felt really sorry for disturbing us. So, pity points, I guess."
Luffy felt bad for him, but they both knew what it felt like to be infected by someone else and to suffer the affects of that selfish act for the remainder of their lives. They lives had barely started before they were unfortunately targeted. But neither had ever been approached by the ones who turned them into a vampire and werewolf. Which was a relief, they were scary!
He was spending the night there, a double sleep over! Katakuri had to take care of some financial things at the bank which would take awhile, so it was a good day for Luffy to go to his friend's house.
They watched movies with popcorn, unbuttered since Luffy wasn't allowed to eat unhealthy foods and snacks. Not only because he wanted him to be healthy, but sometimes he got an upset stomach when something that shouldn't go into his body interacted with some blood types. So he was fine with better food.
Zoro's dad was inspired by Katakuri's diligence to keep Luffy healthy with a good diet and did the same for Zoro and Kuina. Though she moved out and escaped it just barely. Zoro already got plenty of exercise, so he was very healthy, like Luffy.
"Let's watch a scary movie," Zoro said.
"No! I don't wanna watch a scary movie. And papa would be mad."
"Well... we could try. And you wouldn't need to tell Katakuri."
"I'm not a good liar, though." Zoro knew that was fact, and so they watched an action movie instead, and then went to bed on Zoro's bunk bed in the room he shared with his sister when he was a toddler. It was a fun time, and Luffy didn't even think to tell his dad about Zoro's sneaky plan. He was just happy that there was a treat in the car for him.
"AB negative!" he cheered, able to smell it easily through the container.
"I managed to get a whole carton for you." Luffy cheered, and clipped himself into the carseat, and hummed happily as he sucked down the yummy blood. It was warmed, too! It had been left on the dashboard for the long drive back to Zoro's house, which was in the middle of nowhere, and so it warmed by that.
"I love you, papa," Luffy said, satisfied and belly full.
"I love you too, Luffy," Katakuri said with a smile. "Are you tired?"
"No! I'm not tired." He was soaked in sunscreen right now, but he was completely used to that smell being present any time he went outside. In the bounce house, it smelled of fresh sunscreen at all times since he always went in right after lathering in the helpful substance.
"Good! There's a surprise visit today." Luffy was excited, not knowing who it was, but knowing his papa wouldn't bring anyone over that Luffy didn't want to see. So they got home, and there were a few cars in front of the house. Luffy was a social butterfly, so he was fine going from a sleepover straight to visitors at home. He loved people! Nice people, of course. Who didn't smell too yummy.
He smelled it was Smoothie, Cracker and Brulee! He didn't see them much because they lived a ways away from Katakuri's home. Luffy ran inside and hugged the first one he saw, who was Brulee. "It's been too long, Luffy!" she said brightly.
"Yeah! I missed everyone!" He'd seen them all a handful times, with Oven being the one to visit the most since he lived fairly near and was very close with Katakuri. "But what're ya doing here?"
"We heard about your saving the day at the mall and wanted to hear all about it from you." Luffy liked what he did being praised, and told them the events, starting from going into the mall and being okay around the people, to his yummy pretzel bits and then the bad man talking and the evacuation.
He accidentally mentioned that he didn't think everyone were yummy smelling, but none of them looked overly surprised and just smiled at the obviously good news. Smoothie did her special treat for him. She could squeeze juice out of anything she twisted. It was impractical to use most times, but sometimes her juice tasted good. So for Luffy, she wrung out a blood pouch, and blood juice came out, which tasted really good. Even if too much made him feel sick. It wasn't unhealthy, and was like an expensive dessert.
He happily drank the juice through his favorite cup that had a straw built in against the side. They had dinner, which was homemade pizza. It was one of Luffy's favorites so he could have blood soaked pepperoni, which he could, of course, not order from the pizza places. It made a stinky smell to the others in the oven, but to Luffy, it smelled like heaven. He was getting a lot of yummy things today!
Katakuri was used to the smell, and worked on Luffy's pizza last so no blood risked getting in the others' food. They talked around the dinner table, and Luffy enjoyed being around his family. All of them were nice but for one. Cracker didn't like him much. Luffy didn't know why. So far, he was the only kid out of all of the siblings. But he was just always worse than a grumpy grump.
His papa didn't have him over anymore when he upset Luffy once. The family members played a board game before Luffy got sleepy, and they left for the night. What a good day he had!
-x-
"I don't wanna leave!" Luffy cried in the car seat. Karina was in her carrier beside him, clipped into the seat with the seat belt.
"I don't want to either, but we have to put our safety above the house," Katakuri said in understanding. It was downpouring, and their house was in the flood danger zone. They had to leave it and make it to higher ground and Zoro's house was open. So they offered for Luffy and Katakuri to go over.
Coby's home was in danger, too, but their grandparents had opened theirs to give them a safe space. Katakuri really didn't want to lose his home, but it could always be rebuilt. A house wasn't nearly as important as their health and safety. He disliked the rain pounding on the car because it was making Luffy scared. For him, each slam of a rain drop sounded like a gun shot.
He was crying, but it was expected. They had to leave their home that might get damaged. Of course he was upset, and Katakuri wouldn't get irritated at all with it. They had packed some clothes, Luffy's favorite toys, photo albums, and the computer, along with any medications they might need if the house did go down.
Lots of blood in a big cooler, as well. The boy did eventually fall asleep despite the noise. When they got inland more, there was danger of mudslides, but it wasn't as dangerous on the back road their took to Zoro's home.
When they got there, it was still raining, and they went inside, Zoro and Koushiro helped them bring their things inside. Katakuri thanked them for letting them stay. He had to hunch a bit because the ceiling wasn't high enough for him to stand comfortably. But he was fine, and had had to do this in many places over his lifetime.
Luffy was still crying, and Zoro was trying to comfort him, and brought him to his room to watch some funny videos. Katakuri had his phone in his hand for any updates. He truly hoped their home wouldn't be destroyed. Sure, he could afford to repair damages, even if there was a lot, but having the house rebuilt would take a long time.
The news alert came up a few hours later, and Katakuri's face fell and heart plummeted. Their neighborhood was underwater. He didn't know how to tell Luffy. He hunched over and put his head in his hands.
"I'm so sorry, Katakuri-san," Koushiro said sincerely. The taller man sighed, and said the home could be rebuilt. He'd paid off the mortgage and had home owners insurance. He didn't tell Luffy that night, and he slept on the couch, which was long enough to fit him. Luffy slept in the bunk with Zoro until he wandered out in the middle of the night and climbed onto Katakuri's chest, moving the blanket to cover both of them.
The father didn't make a move or show he woke up from the boy climbing on top of him when he went back to sleep.
In the morning, when Luffy asked if the house was okay, Katakuri had to tell him eventually, and said the truth. Their home had been flooded up to the roof. Luffy immediately started to sob and wail at the table. His papa walked over and knelt to hug the poor kid. Katakuri was keeping composed, even though he was very upset, too.
But both of them were alright, and that's what mattered most. "At least we can get new furniture, and better kitchen appliances," Katakuri said, trying anything to cheer him up, or at least stop the heartbreaking sobs. The Foosha home had survived, and not been flooded. He was glad for that.
Luffy cried himself sleepy again, and took a long nap. This was a devastating loss. But it could be rebuilt, and their belongings replaced. Karina was locked in the spare bedroom to keep her away from the dog, and so they had her safe. It was good she wasn't an outdoor cat so they were able to get her when they needed to leave.
Their little family unit was whole. That was what mattered most. Luffy would be upset for awhile, but hopefully it would be better once they started rebuilding. And they'd keep the exact same floorplan. Same everything they could.
When Luffy woke up, he wanted to go outside, and the deck was not wet like the rest of the large property. Muddy in some places. He put on all his sunscreen, and it was evening. But when he went out, he cried and ran back in, his skin burnt red. Even though it was late, and he had sunscreen on, he got bad sunburns! In just a few seconds! His friend and father were very worried, and Katakuri suspected it was the stress he was feeling, the sadness overwhelming him.
He stayed in his papa's lap, hugging his broad chest, sniffling and in pain. It healed fairly quickly, but that didn't mean it wasn't scary or hadn't happened. Zoro was standing by the window in worry and concern, and then hurried around the house and closed the curtains or blinds for all the windows and doors.
"Are you okay, Luffy?" Zoro asked. Katakuri rubbed a hand down his clothed back, which hadn't burnt him, protecting his skin. Luffy shook his head but didn't speak. The taller child hurried to the cooler on the kitchen table and got a blood pouch out and brought it to him. Luffy smelled the blood, and took the pouch.
He was still very sad and upset as he sniffled and drank at the same time. When the bottle was empty, Katakuri coated it in a thin layer of mochi so it was like in a sealed bag. It was tosed in the trash bin outside. Luffy eventually fell asleep, maybe unable to handle it anymore. Losing his home and then being burnt by the evening sun.
For dinner, they ordered pizza, the only place that delivered to them all the way out there. It was quiet, but Zoro kept trying to cheer Luffy up, who moped at his personal size pizza. He didn't like non-homemade pizza it seemed. He wasn't impressed by the grease all over it, and tried drying it with a napkin. But when the cheese was still coated in oil, he used a fork to separate the toppings from the bread, and just ate the bread with the tomato sauce still on it.
Zoro's food wasn't that regulated, his father didn't make pizza from scratch, so he did seem Luffy's attitude was strange. Usually when he went to their home, he brought the food or a normal meal was made. Never anything bad for them. Katakuri was glad Luffy was a picky eater when it came to food standards.
After growing up with a horrendous diet, full of sugar and carbs, as that's all their mother really fed them, he wanted his kid to eat very healthy but still enjoy good food. So, yummy food that was not bad for you. His whole family respected that and didn't tempt or give Luffy unhealthy foods.
They spent the night there again, and in the morning, Katakuri started to make arrangements to have their home rebuilt as soon as it was safe and possible. But he was also thinking that this could happen again. Maybe they should move somewhere else. So, after breakfast, he took Luffy to the couch, and asked him about it.
"I wanna go home!"
"Home isn't there right now. And it might happen again. We could find another plot of land, and have our same home built, but in a safer area," Katakuri said patiently. Luffy didn't want this to happen again, so he decided he was okay to have their home made the same, but just in a different place.
Katakuri had lived in that home for over ten years, so it did hurt to have it gone for good. But he was thinking of the future by building a home somewhere safer. Didn't want either of them to go through this again.
When evening rolled around, a day full of calls made by Katakuri and a lot of researching on his laptop, Luffy wanted to try and go outside. Katakuri went with him. He'd take Luffy back inside if it went bad. But Luffy didn't want to be stuck inside all the time like a normal vampire who had to be covered from the sun at all times.
He had a stern face, a pout and furrowed brows present as well, and then stepped out into the sunlight. The sky wasn't as bright blue anymore, and started to dim as it got later. Luffy was fine, and the sun didn't hurt. "I guess I hafta be happy now..." he mumbled.
Katakuri pat Luffy's head. "We'll figure it out. You shouldn't force yourself to be happy all the time. If you're sad for now, stay inside. Until things are more stable," he said. He didn't want Luffy to lie to himself and ignore and try to suppress any negative feelings. That just wasn't healthy for anyone, let alone a developing child.
Luffy hugged his legs, and then they went inside. Katakuri offered to make food that night, and cooked for the four of them.
-x-
"PAPA!" Luffy screeched, holding his broken arm. Katakuri hurried over, and looked furious at the construction worker who said nothing of him climbing the scaffolding! He got out his phone to call an ambulance, and picked up his son carefully. They were currently on the new property. There was a little shack on the yard for them to sleep in at night while the house was being built.
While he waited for help, he was holding Luffy loosely, rocking him back and forth while he cried. It was when the paramedics came that Luffy said his arm didn't hurt anymore. He pulled away and squirmed to be set down instead of using his words, and stretched out his broken arm. There wasn't a trace that it was hurt. But he was still upset, since it had been painful.
"He should come anyways. Just to be safe," the paramedics said patiently. Luffy slumped his shoulders, hating hospitals and "doctor houses" and Katakuri said he would drive him there. Luffy shuffled, and apologized to the paramedics for taking their time. "It's nice to hear you're better, though. We don't enjoy helping hurt people, we like them being healthy. That's why we do our best to get them the care as fast as we can."
Luffy smiled in relief that they weren't mad at him. He got into the car, and Katakuri already planned to no longer let Luffy be out of his sight while on the site of their new home. It had been a few weeks since the flood, and they sold their previous property for a good sum of money. The new house was nearly the exact same floorplan, but Luffy had wanted it to be two stories.
That was unnecessary, and there were only two of them there. So he compromised and had one play room that would be upstairs. So it technically was a two story home. Luffy was just fine with this, and looked forward to a play room, already having chosen what furniture he wanted from a catalog online.
They were completely mismatched in color and style, but it was a young child's play room - it didn't matter much. He could have a red couch with a gross yellow colored table if he wanted. When they got to the doctor's, which Luffy didn't want to go into, and got cranky and defiant, Katakuri managed to convince him to see if he could amaze he doctor. They probably wouldn't be there long, after all.
Being patient with him and letting him take his time to decide yielded preferable reactions and he agreed to go inside. But since it was a hospital, he had a nose plug. There would be the smells of blood for him, and that smell upset him because it made him hungry. He'd never attacked anyone even when he was very thirsty, so Katakuri trusted him.
They explained to the receptionist that his wound was better but they wanted to make sure he was fine. "And he's a vampire?" she asked dismissively.
"He has vampirism, yes," Katakuri said back. Irate inside but still respectful and calm outwardly. She said they could leave. If he was all healed, there was no point in taking up space and time. Luffy was pouting and looking at his feet, of course hearing all of this. "That's a bit disappointing. To turn a child away from getting checked up over a broken bone after falling from construction scaffolding." Her face turned red, and now everyone in hearing range were looking at her critically.
So, they were seen. She glowered at them the whole time they waited. Some looked at Luffy curiously, clearly trying to be discrete. Katakuri was intimidating in size and his resting bitch face also could put off many strangers. The young vampire didn't notice, and was playing a puzzle game on Katakuri's phone, very focused on that.
When they were called in, Luffy dropped the phone, and it hit the ground with a loud noise, but it didn't crack, and Luffy was extremely relieved it was fine, and happily handed it to Katakuri. He said nothing of it, and they walked further inside. When they got to the room to be checked on, the doctor asked what happened, and where he was hurt.
"I got better, but the ambulance man said to come anyways," Luffy explained in his simple voice.
"I see. Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked politely. Luffy said he'd been playing on the scaffolding but then fell and broke his arm. But it healed maybe ten minutes later. "Well, that's a trait that all people with vampirism have. Healing quickly is a main advantage of it," she explained. "There's no swelling or bruising, and the limb doesn't hurt. I think you're in the all clear. Maybe be more careful, though."
Katakuri took this as meant for him, and he nodded to her, though Luffy also promised to not "play stupid again". Summed it up pretty well. They got a smoothie, and headed back to the house. Luffy repeated his promise, but Katakuri would still be supervising him whenever he knew he should.
But it was a relief hearing that Luffy could heal from broken bones. The burns faded quickly, too, and he hadn't been hurt by the sun again. Katakuri really thought it had to do with his mental state at the time. Stressed and upset people were more likely to suffer illnesses. It just made sense.
Though he had called around about it and got no good answers. Which was annoying, but they were careful and used multiple layers of sunblock, to the boy's extreme distaste from the scent, which he got used to in moderation. Too much put him off from going outside at all.