One Piece: Eustass Kid (One Shots)

Growing Up | | Child! Kid x Adult! Reader Modern AU

Kid is a ghost in this story that died as a child.

***

For as long as I can remember I was always able to see aspirations and because I talked to them, I looked insane to the people around me, causing me to be ostracized from my peers. The neighborhood in my rural area knew of me well and would ignore my presence, but I was fine with it, because to them I was alone, but through my eyes, I was never alone. These spirits have kept me company and made me feel loved than any human could. However, there was a specific ghost I had met when I was a little girl. The boy had the most reddish hair I have ever seen! It automatically drew me to him and I remember our first couple of interactions weren't the best. He was surprised that I could see him, but everyday he would tell me to scram and to leave him alone.

His empty threats never scared me and over time he had accepted me to a certain extent. I know he felt lonely since an older spirit told me that ghosts that hadn't pass on were bound to the place they had died. They had to stay there forever unless they choose to step out of their area and disappear forever or until they accepted their deaths or finish whatever unfinished business they still had here. When I had heard about it, I stayed by the redheaded boy's side to try and help him move on, but he had refused my help. I thought he was being stubborn, but he just didn't want it, and I couldn't force it on him. So I continued to visit the boy to keep him company and it was funny when I would catch a glimpse of his face light up whenever he saw me. I would bring it up to him, but he would instantly deny it, calling me an idiot for thinking he was happy whenever I showed up.

The amount of time I spent with him was truly unreal. The moment I was finished with school, I would quickly make my way to the front yard of the school and play with him until dusk. The two of us were pretty inseparable, but by the time I became a high school student, I had focused more on my studies and for my future that I had neglected my long time friend. I had left him sitting alone at the elementary as he continued to wait for me since I was the only person in this place that could see him. He relied on me to fill his void and I'm not even sure he was aware of that. He still had a mind of a child... that's all he knew. He only wanted to play and have someone keep him company, but I was his only friend and I can no longer provide that. I was growing up and he clearly didn't like that...

He ignored me for weeks because I couldn't make time for him, yet he'd throw a fit when I give up and have to head back home. It was hard to keep up with him with life striking at me fast... so in order to get myself to be set in stone for my future, I had to cut my ties with my long time friend. The moment I told him I had to leave him, he grew angry at both me and himself, asking if it was because he was being mean to me, wondering if he was making me not like him anymore. I tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, but this decision had to come sooner or later in order for me to focus on myself. That answer didn't work for him as he stated I was being unfair as he sobbed loudly calling me any childish insult he knew and hurled it at me. I never argued back at him, letting him relieve himself from my own betrayal. When his sobs turned into soft whimpers, I thought it was the best time to go and I said my final goodbyes to him, telling him to accept his death and to move on to the afterlife so he no longer has to suffer.

I never looked back that day, but I knew he ignored my advice for him and I can still hear his pleas as he tried to keep up with me, but stopped when I was getting further and further away from the school. He wanted me to still be his friend even if he had to wait a long time for me to find time to visit him, but that just wasn't possible at the time. I had a lot of preparations to make once I made it out of high school and into a university. Not only that, I would have to work in order to live and who knows how long my hours will be... there was just no way. I felt bad for leaving him there by himself, but I hoped he had chose to listen to me in the end.