Family (Or Something)

Doubt is a Disease

"Shuuji Nii-chan!" A young voice cried, high pitched and effeminate.

Stood at Oda's side was Shuuji, swaddled in the black coat Mori-sensei had recently gifted him in secret, sealing their plan that would play out in the next few weeks.

They had just strode into the restaurant, greeted by a little Sakura who was previously sat in one of the stools, drawing on coloured paper with crayons, chatting away with the restaurant's owner.

After hearing the chime that followed their entrance, meeting their eyes once the entered, face brightening even more, even if that seemed impossible, she shuffled off the tall stool and made a mad dash towards them.

Sakura was merely two but her speech had improved vastly in a very short time, she was able to speak in near full sentences, though not grammatically correct usually, it was certainly nothing to fuss over too much at her current age.

As she was was fast approaching, waddling in a way he frequently likened to a duck's waddle, digging through the pockets of her dress.

When she reached them, one hand grasped a handful of Odasaku's pant leg whilethe other continued to root around her pockets before eventually retracting with a fist full of hello kitty bandaids.

Waddling back towards the stools, she emphatically patted one of with both hands before climbing carefully onto the one opposite of it.

Ah, doing this again.

Shuuji knew what she meant. With a slight sigh, he padded towards the sto, sliding on and moving to face her, watching her peel the first of many bandaids to come.

Thunder cracked and rang outside, lighting the room up from the close proximity of the strike, the rain a mindless drum outside, beating upon the pavement and nearby docks.

Gesturing for him to lean nearer to her, she applied the first bandaid to his jaw, tutting about him and his monster fighting habits and always getting so hurt while indulging it.

He'd explained when he'd first met her that he wore the bandages because he was always fighting monsters. He'd relay scandalous tales of ghosts and ghouls, epic battles to explain his constant sorry state.

It always worked, her and the other orphans would fill with childish wonder as the practically sat on the edges of their seats, hanging onto his every word.

Afterwards, Sakura would always fawn over his 'monster fighting' injuries, applying copious amounts of bandaids to his face and arms, chattering on about her day as she she did.

Odasaku and the shop keeper would quietly prepare food together for the children, talking in hushed tones as not to interrupt their conversation in the next room.

Shuuji mused that they seemed to be skipping past the story time today right to the patching him up. He wasn't upset by this development.

He could hear the boys thudding around upstairs, rough housing likely.

Sometimes they tried to goad him into joining their antics, however it always gained a solid no from both him and Odasaku on the subject.

It wasn't the idea that Shuuji would be playing that bothered Oda, in fact it was the other way around. The boys were rough, very rough actually, and while they were a couple years younger then Shuuji, his health was obviously pretty precarious.