A Taste of Forever (Katakuri x Reader)

Chapter 13 - Smile for me

A/N:

Wordcount: 3889

TW: death of parents and mentions of slavery

Loud screams from the outside echoed in your home, some desperate and others manically excited, as you sat there, cowering in the closet with your legs pulled tightly against your chest. With your hands pressed against your mouth, you muffled any cries and sobs that escaped your body.

Tears of panic rolled down your youthful cheeks as you watched the bright light of the fire illuminate your small home. Your dinner still sat there, half eaten, when your mother had pushed you into the closet the moment the sirens blared over the island.

You had practiced this so many times. Your mother would push you into a closet and showed you how to best hide yourself from any intruders to keep you safe when the inevitable happened.

Unlucky for you, the island you were born on belonged to no one. Too poor for the celestial tribute to be protected by the World Government, too insignificant for yonkos to even care about what happened to the people there, and lastly too weak to protect yourselves. Whoever was unlucky enough to be born on that island learnt at a far too young age what slavery and death was. Either murdered by pirates or sold to Celestial Dragons or other sick rich, life on the island was equal to a young death sentence.

Life was shit and still no one had the means to escape. The people couldn't fight, as they were too few on the island to really oppose any threat to a larger pirate crew, and you couldn't gain any economic significance to pay the celestial tribute as there simply wasn't anything of use on the island, and so everyone eventually gave up and embraced their depressing fate.

Your frantic eyes scanned the room through a crack in the door, desperately searching for your mother and father whom you hadn't seen since you were pushed inside the closet.

"Get the children, the Celestial Dragons pay a pretty coin for those!" a man laughed madly as he rushed past your house, his shadow quickly travelling through your home. As it passed you, your small body flinched, so scared that he, even if it was only his shadow, would find you in your hideout and drag you out.

The closet door suddenly flung open, and your panicked body flinched at the sudden gust of air that swirled around you. A silent shout escaped your lips, your body too weak to even cry out for help properly.

"(Y/N), let's go." Your mother pressed a finger to her lips as she smiled down at you, but you saw the sadness in her eyes. Despite the attempted smile on her lips, you saw the corners of her lips bent down ever so slightly, her cheeks stained with tears and her bright eyes had fallen dull.

"Mom, where is daddy?" you asked as you grabbed your mother's hand, shuffling to your feet.

Her face grimaced at your question, and it was then that you noticed the blood on her dress. She didn't have to say anything. You knew.

Life on the island was shit and you knew that. A shitty life and a shitty death.

Your small hand tightened around your mother's as she dragged you out of the backdoor, her hand slippery from the cold sweat that had been running down her body since she heard the sirens.

"Where are we going?" you cried as your feet stumbled behind her, too small to keep up with her steps.

"I'm going to get you out of here!"

"Mama, what happens to you?"

She halted and you felt her grip around your hand tighten even further, her long fingers engulfing your hand and almost crushing it before she turned around to look at you, her eyes full of tears but she smiled down on you, nonetheless.