Chapter Text
Akito slowly walked through the rubble, another aftermath of war and fault refusing to be claimed by its owner.
Akito and his men had just finished chasing off some dark knights that had tried fighting for more border land. Having brought along a new knight, Minori- who silently pressed her foot against some rotting wood before jumping back when it actually fell apart.
“Stop messing around. Get back to work.” Akito bent down to lift a wall that had fallen, grunting before it broke apart just as the rest of the house did and collapsed in the opposite direction. His cloak being blown by the wind making his hood fall off.
Snow fell slowly from up above, casting a thin sheet of white over everything.
“Check for any survivors, bring them to the camp- and stop jumping at every little thing. You’re a knight. Not a child.”
“Y-yes! I’ll get to it right now and pass on your orders!”
“Why are you still here? Go now.”
“Ack- I’M SORRY!” Minori ran off quickly, holding onto her sword’s sheath as it wouldn’t be lost in the rubble just in case. A mistake on her own end- because her hands were occupied and they couldn’t stop her from falling face first. Her own puffy cloak now dirty.
“I SAID STOP MESSING AROUND.” Akito screamed, his voice booming in the silence of the destroyed and desolate village. Making Minori jump up in fear.
“I’M SORRY!-” Minori was up and running in an instant, her thin legs wobbling as she ran. Making Akito already mentally set up more training for her in the near future. Her mouth opened to release white puffs of breath from the chill.
Akito didn’t turn around, continuing to move around heavy bookshelves and destroyed furniture.
It had only been a few hours of fighting, but the dark knights were sneaky and decided if they couldn’t have the land they’d destroy it. And since it was nearing winter, the light kingdom had assumed there would be no assaults.
“Tch- how salty of them. What are they 5?” Akito helped a woman and her child out of a small pit from a bomb, seeing reinforcements come along to help the commoners Akito screamed to show where he was.
“You’re safe now, is there anyone you might know survived?” Akito asked, smiling as he was handed a coat to cover up the freezing woman and child that clung to her.
“The- The houses- we all hid inside- but-” The woman’s voice cracked, crying as she held her daughter.
“Please- please find my husband!” She cried, her eyes full of tears as snot ran down her face. Akito could only stare down, the wind from all around drowning out her cries and pleas for help. In a way it felt as though Akito was underwater, staring down at the person below who wailed.
Akito had once been a child clinging to someone. Watching the little girl hold onto her mother- Akito recalled a memory he wouldn’t forget. No matter how many people he had saved.
The way his older sister had shielded him from an attack at the borders, the way she cried while begging a knight to find their parents while Akito clung to her- his own eyes dark as though he struggled to process everything.
“I’ll see what I can do- please follow the knights to safety.” Akito said, his face stiff. Akito couldn’t promise anything. Akito had watched knights promise so many things to him and only return with false hope.
Akito watched the woman and child be led away from the wreckage, leaving Akito and few other knights to continue digging through.
“Sir Shinonome, this woman seems to have broken her leg. She can’t walk by herself.”
“Take her to camp, but bring a wagon when you return for other injured people- hey! Unless your leg is broken and your sight is gone, get back up and lift those ruins for survivors!" Akito barked orders at the knights who had just sat down. Frowning as he continued to rummage before wearing wails nearby.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Akito held his breath, feeling the cold air hit his face as the wind blew by. Stepping around a door that had no wall, hearing the cries grow louder, Akito took careful steps. Before ducking down and lifting a shelf that had fallen.
Akito found a woman with her arm blown off. Her face as pale as a sheet.
“Help…” She whispered, her only working arm wrapped around the child she held close. Trying to keep the baby warm even while her body grew close to being colder than the wind and snow that blew all around.
“Don’t move.” Akito instructed, though he didn’t offer much help to her either. They only had so many people they could fit in the camp. Akito watched the woman’s life slowly fade away into nothingness. Either way no one would hire a disabled woman, she would only struggle to feed her child and live.
But just before she died she cried one last time and whispered.
“Please take good care of my baby-” Her voice was cut off by a loud gust of wind. Leaving Akito staring down at her mouth moving around her final words. The snow only worked to capture the picture of hopelessness in her eyes.
Akito watched the baby sneeze then cry louder, reaching for the only other human available.
Akito slowly crouched down, gently closing the crying woman's eyes before holding the baby stiff in his arms.
“What am I doing…” Akito held the baby, about to hand it off to another knight that led the wagon. But in the end Akito himself couldn’t do it. Watching the wagon full of people to the brim pass by.
Back when he and his older sister ###, had lost their parents. Akito and ### were both sent to orphanage years back when his own village was destroyed. The place would definitely be cramped. After all this small village wasn’t the only one attacked in the past month.
Akito sighed, knowing that everyone would definitely look to adopt a baby. No doubt about it. Everyone wanted the younger kids rather than the older ones. So what did Akito have to worry about?
But Akito knew that the orphanage wasn’t the best place either. They were low on staff at the moment because of how many people kept coming. They were struggling to keep up- even with the king supplying them with an amount of money weekly.
“How could I send the kid to an orphanage knowing the situation right now…?” Akito wrapped a part of his cloak around the baby, pacing around with hopes to quiet the child down and lull them to sleep.
Akito glanced over at the rubble where the now cold woman was. Tears staining her face eternally until decomposition would come to reduce her to nothing. Akito had seen things like this before. Pity was something Akito had no time for. He was a knight after all- how could he have time to feel bad when he didn’t have time for himself?
Akito couldn’t take care of a baby either. But he couldn’t bring himself to shove the poor child into a knight's arms. Not when he knew the sickness that could spread with so many people shoved into one place like the orphanages.
Akito searched for the first woman's husband. Kicking around rubble and finding even more cold and pale faces.
“We got some- unfortunate losses here.” Akito called out as quietly as he could. But it turned out the child he held was a deep sleeper- because even when Akito almost tripped not even that jolt could wake the kid.
Akito panicked- seeing the child not respond even when Akito almost dropped them. Akito shook the baby awake, seeing the child start to cry again Akito breathed a sigh of relief before laughing.
“What the hell… You sleep better than I do kid…” Akito pressed his warm hand against the child's cold cheek, lulling them to sleep once more with less struggle than before. Then Akito continued to move around and bark orders without restraint.
…
“I curse myself for being raised right…” Akito couldn’t bring himself to let the kid go and possibly die from disease or infection. In the end Akito brought the kid to his chambers and had a maid check and clean him while Akito bandaged himself up.
The maid had set down the blanket that was wrapped around the baby boy- letting Akito notice that the boy was definitely smaller than most. Probably from the poor family he came from. All the blankets wrapped around the child before made him look meatier. The blanket had a name hand stitched into it that read- Kagamine Len
“So your name is Len. How unique.” Akito's voice held only sarcasm, he was pretty sure it meant left side or left.
Still Akito was no better at naming. Plus he didn’t have the heart to change the kids name either.
“Alright bud, you're stuck with me now then.” Akito laid back against the headboard of his large bed. Watching the bald baby Len sleep while sucking on his entire hand. Most likely from hunger.
“Wow, you're rather skinny too.” Akito mumbled, his brow furrowed. Akito’s hand gently patted the baby on his bony stomach before Akito accidentally fell asleep as well. Having fallen over, his body curled lightly around the baby Len that snored almost louder than Akito himself.