Chapter Text
“Hey, aniki?” Dororo’s unusually quiet voice broke the silence they’d been having, and Hyakkimaru turned to look at him. It’d only been recently that Hyakkimaru had gotten his sight back, and it was still weird to look upon the little child that had been accompanying him on his journey, even if it wasn’t the first time.
“Hm?”
“I… have something kinda important to tell you.”
Hyakkimaru sat up once he noticed the odd tone in Dororo’s voice. It had only been a year or so since he got his hearing back, so he was still learning to decipher tones in people’s voices, but Dororo’s voice seemed especially unlike him at that moment. Somber, maybe?
“I’m… a girl, but I’m also a guy?”
His voice sounded hesitant, and it was then Hyakkimaru noticed he was looking down at his bowl instead of at him. If he weren’t so confused, he’d probably have frowned at what he was hearing and seeing.
“What’s a girl? Guy?”
“Huh?” Dororo nearly dropped his bowl in surprise and quickly whipped his head up to look at Hyakkimaru properly.
Almost a minute passed without any movement on either part, and for a couple of seconds, Hyakkimaru debated on asking Dororo if he’d heard him properly. Instead, he opted to remain quiet and let Dororo reply when he felt like it.
Suddenly, though, Dororo broke out in laughter. “Nevermind, then,” he said as he clutched his stomach with one arm, his rice bowl having spilled onto the floor from how hard his other arm was shaking. Thankfully, it’d been mostly empty by then, so no mess was actually made. “Forget it!”
“Hm.”
“If anyone asks, though, I’m a guy, ok?” Although he’d stopped laughing out loud, his voice still rang with amusement. He’d picked his bowl back up by then, though he’d set it down again after picking up the fallen rice kernels.
And as Dororo wiped away a stray tear, Hyakkimaru replied, “Hm.”