AT DEATH'S DOOR ── bsd

ii.

── › chapter two.

ii. odasaku

The first time you discovered you were immortal, was the first time you believed you had died.

It was during winter, where it descended from the heavens with no mercy. If your memory proved to be fruitful, it was raining that day. Piercing and cold. It was simply a nuisance when you had first seen it, but that should've been the least of your worries.

Blood covered your hands, the red tint sticking to the creases in your clothes and the snow beneath you, diluting it to a dark and thick colour. Once purity ruined by your own doing.

It was a stupid and rash decision, killing your poor parents in cold blood. Yet, your father had come at you, which left you with no choice but to swiftly grab the knife off the wooden table and drag it downwards in the air; right between his eyes.

You remember your mother's gutted scream that tore through her throat, and with you still paralyzed by fear, you didn't have enough time to move away. Ironic that you were going to die by the same weapon that you used to kill your father with.

After being imbedded by the knife in your stomach, you ripped it out only to plunge it deep into the remaining flesh and bone of your mother.

You ended up running away but unfortunately didn't get far. The snow greeted your face as the pain had become unbearable, coiling around your body like a snake. It was weird to think at first, that this is how you die. Not long after, death made his appearance by draping darkness over your visage and sinking you into his eternal slumber only for you to wake up to the stabbing light of the sun.

You died yet were reborn again, how annoying.

—

Never in your sixteen— no, scratch that, 100 years— of living, would you expect a mafiaso to harbour genuine intentions towards kids. Maybe you didn't know Sakunosuke Oda well as you thought you had. But here you stand, albeit a bit reluctantly, in the two story curry restaurant the man had mentioned to you last night on one of his regular visits.

"You off tomorrow?" The question momentarily caught you off guard, pausing in once again cleaning glasses that have already been cleaned. You meet his nonchalant gaze and the confusion must have been prominent on your face for Sakunosuke let out a airy chuckle.

"Yeah, why?"

You watch as he silently takes the last sip of his whisky, the glass being set down by gentle hands.

"Have you heard of the Dragon's Head Conflict?"

You had to bite back a 'of course i do,' but decided to hold your tongue and hesitantly nod. Everyone knows of the bloodbath that reigned for 88 days in Yokohama, so how did this concern you being off tomorrow?

"I would like you to meet these kids that were orphaned by it. I visit them when I can, and the old man makes good curry there."

Oh.

You ended up agreeing.

Sakunosuke led you up the stairs after a short greeting with the restaurant owner, a weight of silence between you two. One you were used to, in fact. Smaller than average shoes were messily placed at the top, a sign that yes, there were indeed children living here. Following in Sakunosuke, you slid off your own shoes (ones that have seen better days mind you), and trailed behind the man who neared the very last door.

Dying daylight peppered the bedroom when opened and you were fairly shocked to see not one, not two, but five children turn their heads to the sound of creaking.

"It's Odasaku!" A girl, who you quickly assumed was around four, sprung up rather excitedly at the presence of Sakunosuke. The rest of them quickly followed suit.

"Let's grab him!"

Eh?

Not wanting to be involved, you took a rather awkward step back. The oldest boy flung himself off the bed— quite dangerously, you mused— and toward Sakunosuke, who, without trouble, caught him and prevented any unfortunate downfalls.

"Do you kids really think I wasn't prepared? You wound me."

You watched the interaction with softness lingering in your eyes. It was strange, to see a member of the port mafia taking care of children. At first it didn't sit well in your stomach, as the two don't mix well together. But you realized once again that you doubted Sakunosuke's character.

"-And this is [last name]." You must've zoned out, for now all the kids eyes were pinned to your figure and you could only catch the last sentence uttered by the man beside you.

To be honest, you weren't great with children. There was a sort of awkwardness that lines your tongue and body language, hesitant in the way to approach them. What do you say? What do you do? But these kids seemed to not care as they quickly greeted you with the kind of warmth that melted away the guilt that aches your heart. Their smiles were rather contagious and for a moment, you thought living wasn't so bad if you get to see them bare their teeth in childish glee.

For once, the curry tasted good that night. Perhaps because you finally ate with a friend.

o2; AUTHORS NOTE —
idk if i like this chapter or not but let me just throw it at u with the force of god.