ᴀs sᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ, ɪ ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟʟʏ ᴘᴏsᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜɪs sᴛᴏʀʏ ᴏɴ ᴍʏ ᴀᴏ𝟹 ᴀᴄᴄ (@ ᴘᴀsᴛᴇʟɴᴇᴛᴡᴏʀᴋ). ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ғɪɴᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʀ sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ɪғ ᴀɴʏ ᴏғ ʏᴀʟʟ ᴀʀᴇ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇsᴛᴇᴅ!

⃠𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ⃠
-𝘎𝘙𝘈𝘗𝘏𝘐𝘊 𝘋𝘌𝘗𝘐𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘚 𝘖𝘍 𝘝𝘐𝘖𝘓𝘌𝘕𝘊𝘌-
-𝘚𝘌𝘕𝘚𝘐𝘛𝘐𝘝𝘌 𝘓𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘜𝘈𝘎𝘌-
-𝘔𝘐𝘕𝘖𝘙 𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘛𝘏-
-𝘙𝘌𝘍𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘕𝘊𝘌𝘋 𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕 𝘗𝘙𝘌𝘎𝘕𝘈𝘕𝘊𝘠-
-𝘙𝘌𝘍𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘕𝘊𝘌𝘋 𝘕𝘖𝘕-𝘊𝘖𝘕/ 𝘙𝘈𝘗𝘌-
-𝘙𝘌𝘍𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘕𝘊𝘌𝘋 𝘜𝘕𝘋𝘌𝘙𝘈𝘎𝘌 𝘚𝘌𝘟-
-𝘗𝘙𝘖𝘚𝘛𝘐𝘛𝘜𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕-
-𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘖𝘕𝘐𝘊𝘈𝘓 𝘊𝘏𝘐𝘓𝘋 𝘈𝘉𝘜𝘚𝘌-
-𝘊𝘏𝘐𝘓𝘋 𝘕𝘌𝘎𝘓𝘌𝘊𝘛-
-𝘚𝘓𝘖𝘞𝘉𝘜𝘙𝘕-
-𝘗𝘖𝘓𝘠𝘈𝘔𝘖𝘙𝘠-
-𝘓𝘐𝘎𝘏𝘛 𝘏𝘖𝘔𝘖𝘗𝘏𝘖𝘉𝘐𝘊 𝘓𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘜𝘈𝘎𝘌-

ᴀsɪᴅᴇ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs, ᴛʜɪs sᴛᴏʀʏ ɪs ᴍᴏsᴛʟʏ ғʟᴜғғ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴇs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ-ᴏғ-ᴀɢᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ!
𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺! 💕

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𝟏 || 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 ||
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1998 - Shibuya, Japan.

Keisuke's always been a little too violent for his age.

At first, his mother found it worrying when her child gravitated more towards action-filled movies instead of the traditional cartoons she grew up with. It never became a huge problem, not when she got to witness her son's excitement over the action-packed fight scenes. It wasn't necessarily worrying—intriguing's a better word to describe what she felt about Keisuke's newfound interest.

She didn't think it would negatively affect Keisuke in any way— after all—they're just action movies; he was free to watch them as long as they weren't anything dark and gory. The young lady didn't want to put unnecessary restrictions on shows like her parents did; she wanted her son to feel free to explore his interests and preferences on his own—that's what she always wanted when she was a young girl. (Of course, she knew she had to set some limitations to what Keisuke could and couldn't watch. He was still a kid, and— as such— his mind was still very impressionable.)

So no, she didn't see a problem with Keisuke's choice in movies.

However, she did have a problem with the increasing amount of scrapes and bruises that littered her son's skin.

Again, she didn't think much of it in the beginning. Stereotypically, kids were known to be rowdy and filled with energy—boys even more so and her son was no exception. She knew Keisuke frequently visited the playground with his Sano friend, running around and doing whatever the hell boy's do nowadays and, without fail, Keisuke would normally arrive home, before dark, covered in dirt with maybe one or two scraped knees(nothing a handy band-aid couldn't fix), and that was that.

Then, over short periods of time, he eventually started walking through the door with dark purple bruises tainting his skin—every now and then with a small, barely noticeable, limp. The weirdest part about it all is the bright smile on his face every time he walked into the apartment with his subtle injuries. The grin on his face was always so out of place in the midst of bruises and scrapes; it was a bit unnerving, to say the least.

Unnerving and worrisome, because who had the audacity to abuse her son?!

It didn't take long for Keisuke to confess where and how he got his injuries; his mother's concerned gaze was all that was needed to crack Keisuke open.

...And once she got answers to both of her questions, she reprimanded her son for his violent actions and banished him to his room, taking away all of Keisuke's favorite movies for a week as punishment.

Where had Keisuke been? The playground, like usual. How did he get those injuries? From fighting kids who hogged the swing set and— in a moment of pure desperation to not get in trouble—threw his friend under the bus as well, admitting that Sano was in on it too.

Apparently, the two boys had gotten themselves involved in a week-long fight with a group of kids over something pathetic like playground equipment.

Although Keisuke tried to deny it, she could tell her son enjoyed every second of the territorial dispute. Keisuke's bronze-colored eyes lit up like the midnight stars as he recalled the past events that transpired during the week. The flash of pride and accomplishment that crossed Keisuke's face when he declared that he and Manjiro single-handedly curb-stomped the other kids was enough to light up an entire room.

And, against ALL her parental instincts, she felt a swell of pride blossom within her stomach. It was wrong—oh so wrong—considering the situation Keisuke had been in, but she couldn't help it. Her precious baby could kick ass—er—defend himself if the situation ever arises.

...God, what was wrong with her?

Ms.Baji has never felt this conflicted in such a long time. She should have seen this coming, granted that the young lady would sometimes overhear Keisuke making gruesome but harmless threats towards his friends, but she never thought...was she to blame for this? Is she unknowingly raising her child to be someone who bullies and abuses others for his own—

No. No one was to blame in this situation. Plus, the kids were just roughhousing a bit too much. Nothing unusual should come from this little incident as long as Keisuke understands the consequences of his actions and swears to never raise a hand towards another kid again.

In the end, her attempts were futile if the frequent calls from Keisuke's school were anything to go by.

The tired mother lost count of how many times she was called to Keisuke's elementary school to discuss her son's behavior. It was beyond exhausting and time-consuming for the poor woman; she had a job to get back to and money to earn. Sitting in an office with Keisuke and his victim's parents to apologize for her boy's behavior always drained the life out of her.

She was tired of making promises that were bound to be broken by Keisuke, annoyed by the principal's scrutinizing gaze, and was absolutely done with other parents criticizing her ability to be a mother.

But each visit never failed to add more guilt and insecurities onto the woman's back. Is Keisuke's ruthless behavior her fault? Did she unknowingly encourage Keisuke's act of violence with movies? Should she have been more stern with Keisuke? Was there something she should have done to prevent her son from mindlessly throwing a punch at any kid who annoys him?

...Was she a bad mom?

She left the thought untouched, scared of the answer she might receive if she explored further into the mess that was known as her brain. The mother shied away from the question in favor of focusing on how to deal with her son's feral behavior.

In an attempt to put her little spitfire on a leash, Ms.Baji started getting more strict with her son when she finally realized that his hunger for fighting was never gonna let up. She began setting earlier curfews than the one's she had before, grounding her son every time he arrived home with bruised knuckles and a million-watt smile(after patching him up, of course. She wasn't a monster), only allowing Keisuke to visit the Sano's two days every week, and cutting Keisuke off from his favorite desserts and movies every time she was called to the school.

At first, it seemed to do the trick. After enforcing these rules onto Keisuke, his behavior started to slowly improve. He'd arrive home with little to no bruises, his performance at school increased, and his mother hadn't been called to the school in under three weeks. Things were finally starting to turn up for the Baji family.

...or so she thought.

Almost a whole month had gone by when Keisuke's mom came to pick her kid up from school—planning to reward him for his good behavior. On her way to Keisuke's classroom, she passed by many parents, most of whom she already met in the small office to apologize for her child's behavior. She wasn't blind to the glares that were sent her way as she walked through the halls. The young lady didn't allow the dirty looks to deter her good mood as she approached Keisuke's classroom with a proud look on her face. She tried to ignore the other parent's judgemental stares and comments thrown her way upon entering the room; she wasn't there to be scrutinized and judged, she was there for her adorable feral child.

Sadly, she has a pair of ears that could hear just about anything, so Baji's mother still ended up overhearing the insults and snide remarks made about herself and her son.

"No wonder her child is so misbehaved, look how young she is!"

"I swear, it's always the women that get knocked up before their twenties that have the worst mannered children."

"Poor Baji-San must have gotten his ruthlessness from his mother..."

"Why on earth is Ms.Baji even a mother? She and her Tasmanian devil have caused nothing but trouble for this classroom and it's all because of her inability to act like a proper parent."

Ms.Baji's composure slipped for just a second, startled by the bold accusation.

She heard the last comment as clear as day and she wouldn't be surprised if everyone else in the classroom did too.

The woman gritted her teeth, even more determined to find her son and get them both the hell out of this infuriating classroom. She's never felt this angry before in her life and it took everything in her to not walk up to the cranky bastard and clock them across the jaw.

But honestly, just how pathetic do you have to be to openly talk shit about a child in the same room as their mother?! That person had no right questioning her parenting skills when they couldn't even act like an adult; going as far as to call her son names; A parent with a kid of their own nonetheless.

Alas, she held back. She had more important people to worry about than some random old adult who has no problem insulting children.

Now where the hell is Kei-

—THUNK—CLICK—

A pained cry, coming from the same direction as whoever insulted her child, startled the young mother. Quickly spinning around, she spotted an older lady covering her forehead—her female companions were quick to gather around and fret over the older woman.

Blood started seeping past the lady's fingers, some of it began dripping down her face to everyone's horror. The children, who had the misfortune to witness such a scene, screamed their heads off—a few even started balling their eyes out.

What just happened?!

As if to answer her question, Ms.Baji's gaze finally landed on the open stapler laying at the victim's feet. Bloodstained the metal part of the stapler used to insert staplers to pin papers togethe-

Oh god.

The mother fought to keep herself from throwing up. Half the classroom was already crying their eyes out, they didn't need to be traumatized any more than they already were.

Letting her eyes scan the classroom, she spotted a familiar child walking away from the teacher's desk with long strides. The boy's black shoulder-length hair swayed with every step he took, his bronze-colored eyes were void of tears and were replaced with endless amounts of rage— a frown clearly evident on the boy's face.

Horror filled Ms.Baji's body when her mind finally processed the situation.

The young boy—her son—Baji Keisuke—walked right up to his mother and quickly grabbed onto her hand, trying to lead his mom out the door of the classroom while everyone was distracted.

Was Keisuke the one who threw the stapler at that parent? And—And from across the room?!

"Don't listen to her Mom, she's lying," Keisuke had said when they entered the hallway. She was confused as to what her son was referring to, but was quickly answered by the young boy.

"That woman's a liar. You're a good mom, she just doesn't know what she's talking about!" Keisuke exclaimed with a toothy smile.

Ms.Baji was left speechless; after witnessing a random lady crumble to the floor with a staple in her head, to seeing her son proudly defend his mother with a smile bright enough to clear a cloudy day, it's safe to say the poor woman was still suffering from her initial shock.

'You're a good mom' he had said, and Ms.Baji knew better than to revel in her son's words—to feel reassured after weeks of doubting her parenting techniques...

But she couldn't help it. She couldn't help but stare down at her own child in amazement (and horror) after witnessing the lengths Keisuke would go to to defend his mother.

The young lady gulped anxiously as she guided her son down the hall and away from the classrooms.

Maybe the other parents were right about her being a bad mom, but who cares? She has a badass kid who's willing to throw a fucking stapler at someone for the person he loves—which she still doesn't approve of!!!

Ms.Baji knew then that her son's behavior was never gonna change and, while it was frustrating to deal with, she can never bring herself to hate him for it.

Beneath the anger and rage that often clouded her son's judgment, there was a heart made of gold filled with love and affection for the people he cares about.

But even so—

"Keisuke, you're grounded for a month."

"WHAT?!"

—Keisuke's violent behavior was still a problem. Ms.Baji's aware that she'll never be able to get rid of the twinkle in his eyes every time he comes home with bruised knuckles and scraped knees. The best she could do to reign in that behavior of his is to ground and discipline him, but other than that, there isn't much else she could do.

So yeah, Baji Keisuke is pretty violent for his age. He loved fighting more than anything and nothing was gonna change that fact.

Ms.Baji—who had already come to terms with her troublesome son—was ready to move on and accept the way things were.

But then the Hanagaki family moved in next door, and with them came a small boy with big blue eyes.

It's safe to say that Ms.Baji was completely unprepared for the changes the little boy would later bring to their lives.

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Keisuke eyed the moving van that sat outside his apartment complex with interest. Swaying on the swing set with a popsicle in hand, he lazily watched the workers pull out furniture and scramble into the building only to come back to repeat the process.

Keisuke had nothing better to do that afternoon and, for the first time in a while, found himself bored. Manjiro was picked up from the playground earlier by his older brother, stating they were gonna have Sano bonding time (whatever the hell that meant), the group of kids he normally fought with were nowhere to be seen, Keisuke had no homework to attend to, and he was grounded from watching T.V.

So here he was, eating a popsicle while watching the movers haul boxes of belongings into his apartment complex.

A part of Keisuke was curious about the new residents, wondering if they were gonna take the empty apartment next to Baji's. Keisuke never really cared much for his previous neighbors; they were old and grumpy and always glared at his mother whenever they had the chance. Looking back on it now, it might've been Keisuke's fault for making them move (he kept shoving cockroaches through a small hole in the wall that led to the inside of the old neighbors' apartment, but no one needs to know that).

Keisuke got rid of the memory and focused back on the workers walking around like ants.

Was he getting new neighbors? From the looks of it, yeah. Were they gonna live next to him? Who knows. Is he excited? Not necessarily—it all depends on what the new residents are like. If they ended up being anything like the old couple that left months ago then he'll just have to resupply on cockroaches.

Keisuke finishes what's left of his popsicle and tosses the stick to the ground.

Should he go back to the corner store to buy another popsicle? Continue swinging in silence? Sneak past the movers and into his apartment? Surprise his mom by offering to help cook? Actually—that option was probably a bad idea. The last time Keisuke tried his hand at cooking, he somehow made the food catch on fire. It wasn't his fault the food was so flammable!

Movement from the corner of Keisuke's eye caught his attention. There was a small boy crouching down next to one of the benches that surrounded the playground. He appeared to be around Keisuke's age—maybe—but it was hard to tell from his spot on the swing. What Keisuke was able to determine were the curly locks of black hair that covered the boy's head, his fair skin tone, and the oversized band t-shirt he wore that draped over his knees like a dress.

He almost looked like a girl—ALMOST! Keisuke wasn't that stupid to mistake someone's gender.

(Correction: he was stupid enough to mistake someone's gender, he just doesn't know it yet.)

If Keisuke listened hard enough, he could hear the smaller boy's voice among the buzzling cars and people passing the playground. It was soft and a bit high pitched, but it wasn't enough to annoy Keisuke.

From where Keisuke sat, he was unable to make out the words spilling from the smaller boy. Was he talking to someone? Or something? Or to himself? Or to an imaginary friend? No, scratch the imaginary friend idea, that was too embarrassing to think about.

Leaning his cheek against the chain on the swing set, Keisuke shifted his attention from the workers to the strange boy still crouched down by the park bench. Keisuke's thoughts ran endlessly as he entertained himself by creating unrealistic scenarios that always connected the smaller boy in some way.

Maybe he's asking a toddler for directions to the nearest laundromat after accidentally mixing his shirt up with someone else's.

Or confessing his crimes to a bird about how he stole from a thrift store.

Or reciting a spell that will summon his favorite band.

Or maybe—

Maybe Keisuke should find out on his own.

Completely fed up with his ever growing boredom—and curiosity—Keisuke got off the swing and approached the smaller boy with his hands in his pockets.

The closer Keisuke got, the clearer the kid's voice became. He was talking to something—no—cooing at something Keisuke was unable to see. With the kid's back facing Keisuke, it was impossible to discern what exactly the smaller boy was aweing about.

Maybe it was an animal? That would make the most sense. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Standing behind the smaller boy, Keisuke yelled out."Oi! Weird kid!" The strange boy spun around in a flash, obviously caught off guard by Keisuke's voice (and presence).

Blue. That was the first thing Keisuke was drawn to when he looked at the boy's face. His eyes were big, comically frightened, and the prettiest shade of blue Keisuke's ever seen. It was a mix between the sky and the ocean; unreachable and bound with no limits.

Keisuke