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Before he hits the ground, Sanji thinks to himself. Niji's a jerk. He knows that he should have jumped sooner, but he was just… so scared. Now he couldn't move at all and he was fighting to hold his tears in despite his father yelling at him.
"Why are you such a disgrace?" He asked that a lot, and Sanji whimpered as he tried to stand back up, but his arms gave out when he put his weight on them. "There's no honor having you as a son."
Sanji can't count how many times he's heard that. It makes the tears fall hot from his eyes as the doctors carefully place him on a stretcher. He doesn't want to be a failure, he's trying his best! Why can't his father understand that?
Why can't Niji and his other siblings understand it?
It's only his mom that seems to get it. After having his bones shoved back into place, Sanji was left laying in a bed, alone in a dark room. He couldn't even wipe the tears off his face because his arms were broken. Couldn't leave to visit his mother either.
"Stupid Niji," He muttered.
Even crying hurt his ribs. Everything felt like it was being stabbed, which only made Sanji cry harder, and that made his ribs worse and it was an endless cycle of pain. Even when he got out of here, he'd have to go back to training and work twice as hard as he already was in order to catch up to his siblings.
The door opened slowly and Sanji looked up through his messy hair to see someone, but his eyes were too blurry to tell who it was.
"Sanji?"
"Mama?" He tried to sit up, but his arms wouldn't bend, and they hurt so much he wanted to cry louder.
"Hey there, sweetie," She said softly and sat getnly at his side, brushing his hair out of his face. "I heard you got hurt. What happened? Was it during training?"
He nodded and leaned into her touch. "Niji pushed me."
She sighed and shifted until her back was against the headboard, and she delicately started lifting Sanji. He winced at the stabs of pain but laying in her arms was better than being alone in the dark.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" He blinked up at her. "You're gonna get sick again!"
"I'd rather stay here with you, until you're all better."
"Father's not gonna be happy."
"I don't care. Plus, if I'm here with you, Niji won't push you around anymore."
Sanji sniffled and tried to bury his face in his mom's shoulder, but she pulled him away and swiped her thumbs under his eyes. She still smiled, but Sanji got the feeling she wasn't really happy. He always got that feeling when he talked about training and his father around his mom.
Had he messed up? His mom never said she wanted him to be as good as the others, but why else would she be so sad?
"Want to have a sleepover?" She asked.
Sanji nodded and leaned into her side as she eased him back onto the bed. He still wanted to cry, because everything still burned and ached, and he couldn't hug his mom, but she was right here. She could hug him for now. And Niji wouldn't ruin this because he never came to visit.