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Rykiel lead in his crib, chesty coughs wracking his small frame as he snuggled into his blankets. He was cold, so cold again, and no matter how many blankets, or how much medicine his mother would give him, he still felt cold. His mother had left the house to try and get him some more medicine, the heating on full blast for him. Rykiel tries to fall back to sleep, but the shivering within his body stopped him once again, making him want to cry again. There was a sudden noise in the house, broken glass smashing against the wooden floor; That was odd, as he’d never heard the glass break in the first place. He sat up, pulling his cow print blanket tight around his body as he tried to peek through the gap of his open bedroom door; the rest of the house was dark, but he could feel the sudden draft of an open window.
“Mama?” He called out into the empty house, fear starting to overtake the small child as all he heard was silence. His mind began to wonder of who, or what, had broken into his home. He hid back under his blankets once again, shaking in fear this time, as he heard the creaking of the floorboards. He started to hyperventilate, his knees beginning to weaken, and his eyelids drooping, until the creek was right next to his crib. Rykiel froze in place, as the blankets were slowly pulled back from his small body. He felt the collar of his cowboy onesie being pulled down slowly, revealing his left shoulder, before the collar was instantly returned to his neck, and his blankets were pulled back up. He blinked in confusion, wondering if that had really happened, until a deep voice gently spoke to him.
“What is your name child?” Rykiel stood up in his crib, staring up at the man in front of him; he knew his face straight away, from the few pictures his mother had of his father.
“Papa?” He asked carefully, staring up at his father in wonder. His father nodded at him slightly.
“Yes, I am your father. Now, what is your name my son?”
“Rykiel!” She shouted happily, excited over the praise he was receiving from his own missing father. Now that he was here, they could be a happy family, just like he wanted all this time, just him, his mother, and his father.
“Well Rykiel, would you like to meet your siblings?” His father asked in amusement, his amber eyes watching the child carefully. He had siblings? He hadn’t even thought about the idea of having brothers and sisters, but as soon as it was proposed, he knew he wanted it.
“Yeah! I wanna meet them!” He gave his father a toothy grin as he lifted his arms up, asking to be picked up. His father stared down at him, before carefully picking him up with a slight frown. He settled Rykiel against his body, before walking back through the house. Rykiel settled against Dio, his eyes slipping shut, the coldness having faded from his body.
*****
Rykiel slowly awoke, a strange smell filling his nose as he glanced around the dark room around him; the walls were panelled in a dark wood, and he was on a large 4 poster bed, along with two other people. He sat up, staring down at the small strange blanket that had been draped over him. He crawled over to one of the other kids, and poked him gently until he woke up, a pair of big blue eyes staring up at him.
“Hi, what’s your name? I’m Rykiel!” He said, smiling down at the boy who must have been one of his brother. The boy stared at him in confusion, with a little bit of fear laced in, before he started to say something that Rykiel didn’t understand.
“What? I asked you what your name was, can you not speak yet?” He asked again, waiting for the boy ro reply, but he just stared at him in confusion, speaking the seeming nonsense again, until another voice called out to them both.
“He can’t speak English. I think it might be Japanese.” Rykiel look over at the voice, staring at the boy with blond hair and dark black roots, who was frowning directly at him. Rykiel turned his attention to this new boy.
“What’s your name?” He asked him, hoping to get an answer off this one.
“My name is Donatello, and I think his name is Haruno.” He replied, still watching Rykiel carefully.
“Are you one of my brothers? Dad sa-”
“His name is DIO, and I don’t think he is our dad.” Donatello interrupted, drawing his knees up to his chest. Rykiel was confused, how could DIO not be his father, all the pictures his mother had proved that he had to be his father. He felt himself starting to panic once again, his knees giving shaking dangerously, his breathing starking to build into a furious pace, and his eyes starting to droop, blackening his vision. He was weak, and he was wrong, and he was lost. Before he could truly break down into tears, Haruno crawled over too, holding onto a battered and wrinkled photograph as he dragged Rykiel’s collar, yanking it down just like his father had done. He happily babbled in his own language, as he pulled down his own collar, showing them both the all too familiar star mark. Donatello followed suit, and pulled the collar of his own pyjama shirt down. All three of them have the same star shaped birthmark on their shoulder, and that’s when Giorno placed the photo down between them. Their father was looking away from the camera, and on his left shoulder stood a star birthmark, that matched their own. Rykiel smiled up at his two, his confidence growing again.
“Well, I guess we’re all brothers then!” He cheered happily, pulling Haruno and Donatello into a tight hug.