Parenting the Right Way

Unwelcome

Katakuri got out of the car, tired. They'd been at the hospital all day as they floundered at the sheer amount of weird things that had happened to Luffy. First was the floating, and then the fish. After that, Katakuri had been keeping track of every strange thing that happened. The wall paper color changed in the whole room, Luffy's fingernails turned a shimmery blue, his left earlobe elongated a bit before going back.

After that, a massive bubble enveloped the bed and caused a mess. It was just one thing after another, but it turned very problematic when Luffy attempted to attack the doctor when he found there was no blood in the room for him. The strange incidents were caused by Luffy, but doing too many caused him to get painfully thirsty and desperate for blood.

He was no longer welcome at that quirk hospital, even if he'd not intended to cause harm. But he was sleeping now, and Katakuri was emotionally exhausted by the day and previous night. All they found out was that Luffy could do a lot of random things, but that there was a price to pay. Too much, and he was depleted of his blood source. It turned dangerous.

Hopefully he didn't remember that bit. When they got inside, Luffy under a blanket since they had forgotten sunscreen the night before, he put the boy on the couch and went to get a couple bottles of blood. Luffy woke when the lid was popped off, and he smelled the liquid. "Hmm... thirsty," he said in a sleepy voice. Katakuri handed him the bottle, and he drank it greedily.

"How do you feel?"

"I don't wanna do that again," Luffy mumbled. Damn, he remembered. "I'm sorryyyyy!"

"I was thinking you could draw them a picture with an apology letter. I'll help, too," Katakuri replied kindly, sounding understanding. "And Zoro has been calling since 4:30." Luffy said he wanted to talk to Zoro, and so Katakuri gave him the phone. He wished he had two phones so he could have his while Luffy could speak to Zoro.

But Luffy was only five, Katakuri wasn't going to buy him his own phone like some parents did. Katakuri came from nothing, there was no way he'd let his kid grow up that way, too, but he'd not let Luffy be spoiled with anything but affection.

Katakuri took their dirty clothes to the hamper and started the load of laundry he'd planned the day before but hadn't been able to do once Luffy started to float. There was no game plan on what to do right now, but he knew Luffy wasn't going to go wild with all of these new, various and unpredictable powers. He never wanted to lose control, and would rather be quirkless than have what happened happen again.

The only reason nobody had been hurt was because Katakuri had been there. Well... another problem to deal with. He wouldn't be going to school the rest of the week. So he had three weeks of school left before the year was over. Barely any time to get to be a kindergartener. Katakuri was just thankful that the teacher thought he'd done well with his home schooling to prepare him eductionwise.

After awhile of speaking with Zoro, Luffy brought back the phone. He was teary. "How's Zoro?"

"...He's still my friend."

"Oh, were you worried he wouldn't be?" Katakuri asked sadly, crouching to be level with the poor boy. Luffy nodded, tears down his cheeks.

"I h-hate being a vampire!" he cried, for the first time saying that. At least, the first time he'd said it to Katakuri. He hugged him, rubbing his back. "I w-wanna be better!"

"You'll have vampirism the rest of your life. But that doesn't mean it will be terrible. Smoker - remember him? He must have had a tough time, too, right? But now he's a police officer, putting others above himself and being safe and reliable enough to be trusted by everyone. Being a vampire doesn't make you a monster," he said in a kind, slightly firm voice.