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The moon glowed high above the window. Its full glory shone blue light upon the living room floor. Any other person would think of it as peaceful, but the Kunikidazai family wasn’t a group of “normal” people.
Atsushi cowered in the corner, curled up in a ball.
“Don’t let it touch me,” he whimpered. “I’ll hurt you.”
Dazai’s heart ached. He and his husband, Kunikida, had adopted Atsushi quite recently. They’d only been together for about six months, and the abuse Atsushi had suffered at the orphanage still haunted him. Ever since he learned about his ability, he’d been swarmed with fear and worry. Such things shouldn’t trouble a six-year-old. That was horrible, even to an ex-mafia executive.
Dazai had to do all he could to quell his son’s fears.
“You won’t,” he assured. “My ability will stop that from ever happening.”
Atsushi shook his head and buried it in his knees. “I’ll get punished if I hurt you. I can’t… And your ability won’t make Daddy safe.”
His words tore at Dazai’s heart. He looked at Kunikida for guidance.
“See, I’m a problem,” Atsushi mumbled.
“No, you’re not. You’ll never be a problem, okay, Atsu?” Kunikida inched towards Atsushi as to not frighten him more. ‘In fact, I think—“
“Go away.”
Kunikida backed off.
An idea sprung into Dazai’s mind. “You know, if the moonlight doesn’t tough you, you won’t turn into a tiger. So, why don’t we build a pillow fort to block it?”
“A pillow fort?” repeated Kunikida and Atsushi in unison.
“Yes,” said Dazai, motioning for Kunikida to make his way to the couch. “We’ll get lots and lots of pillows, and then the moon will never get you. But I’m going to need your help.”
Atsushi raised his head. “Will you hold my hand?”
“Of course. Pappy’s got you.” Dazai bent down to Atsushi’s level and extended his hand. “I promise to hold onto you as long as you need.”
Atsushi reached forth his tiny hand and clenched his fist around Dazai’s hand.
“Toss me a pillow, darling,” said Dazai. Kunikida obliged. “Would you like to go first, Atsu?”
“O-okay.” Tentatively, he took it and pushed it towards the light, making sure not to touch the places the moon shone upon.
“That’s not too hard, is it?”
“How many do I have to do until you don’t hit me?”
Reality slammed into Dazai like a truck. He nearly choked on a breath. How dare that orphanage director be so cruel? “I’m never going to hit you.”
“Never?”
“I promise. Never, not ever.”
“And me too,” added Kunikida. “We adopted you because we wanted to. We’d never do anything mean to you.”
Finally, Dazai’s heart warmed. Kunikida had originally been very against adopting a child. But now, he cared about Atsushi possibly more than anyone. His words only made that love more apparent.
Atsushi sniffled. “Why are you being nice? No one was ever nice to me before.”
“Because we love you.”
Atsushi processed this. “You… love me?”
Dazai and Kunikida both nodded. “So, we’re going to all build the biggest pillow fort and keep you and us safe. Here.” Dazai grabbed a pillow with his free hand. “I’ll go first. If you just want to watch, that’s okay too.”
He stacked pillows one by one, and after about five of them, Kunikida joined in.
“That’s a pretty big wall,” said Atsushi, gaping at the fort.
Next, Kunikida dragged in two chairs from the dining room and placed them in opposite directions on each side of the fort.
“What are those for?” Atsushi asked.
“Once I put a blanket over those chairs, it’ll be like a new roof. Then, the moonlight won’t stand a chance.”
He draped a blanket over the chairs as described. “Now, all that’s left to do is go inside. If you’d like to.”
Atsushi pursed his lips. “Will you and Pappy be in there too?”
“Of course, if you want us too.”
“Okay.”
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Atsushi lay on the bed of pillows, snoring gently.
Dazai hugged Kunikida’s shoulder against his own, smiling at their son. He didn’t need to say anything. All he had to do was just watch his dear little boy sleep.
“Are you sure he’s not going to transform?” Kunikida asked. “I really do want to keep my promise.”
“No, I think we’ll be fine,” replied Dazai, shifting his view to Kunikida. “And if he does, all I need to do is touch him. It’s impossible for me to get hurt by his claws. But, perhaps it’d be better to sleep in here tonight.”
“I’m fine with that,” said Kunikida. “Anything to let him be happy.”