Work Text:
Vinsmoke Reiju is a special child. Everyone says that from the servents to her own mother, they all never stop telling her about how much of a 'grown up' child she is, and why wouldn't they? From what she knows all the other children are not strong enough to carry twice their weight, they are not smart enough to know and understand things the first time they are taught, they don't have that good control over their emotions, expressions and body and they definitely cry at almost every inconvenience.
Reiju, on the other hand had no memories of ever crying and displeasing an Adult. Children are a different thing, they find her too abnormal and tend to stay away from her, she doesn't care tho, even if her lack of 'friends' make her mother feel uneasy.
Speaking of her mother, Sora Vinsmoke had finally been discharged a few weeks back. Reiju still remembers when Sora came home with 3 little bundles in tow, how she had felt displeasure at their arrival. Sora had always been pale and sickly, but now she looked more sicker then possible! With her boney hands she patted her head and with her dull and sunken eyes she looked at her, the final nail in the coffin was when she spoke with her once sweet voice, now turned horse and dry, "๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ซ๐ถ, ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด!"
Reiju had ran as fast as she could towards her room and cried because it was the white little bundles fault that her mother looked so much worse then before, she hated them.
Reiju visited her mother daily. She stayed by her mother's side as Sora sewed something. Sora looked healthier than the first day she arrived, but she was still bedridden and couldn't move much.
As much as Reiju prided herself on being the smartest and 'way above her peers' she wished at moments like these that she was a normal child who knew what to exactly say to get their mother's attention, so she went with a topic that their maids have been gossiping about for months.
"Mother, is Grandfather going to die soon?Will father get his money?" Spoke the almost 4 year old child as she stared out the window (she was not looking at the crib that just fell in her line of sight). Sora paused as she took a different thread to insert into the needle, she turned to Reiju but instead of answering merely smiled. When she did speak after days of silence, it was to ask her a question.
"Do you know when your father's going to return?" Reiju didn't understand why she wanted to know when he'll come back because her mother never inquired about her father's whereabouts or well-being. The child, who was sitting on the small chair by her mother's bedside, shaked her head in a 'no' and the silence between mother and daughter continued.
.
.
.
.
It had been almost 3 months now, since her grandfather died and father told all the media what a corrupt and dishonest person the old man was. The police arrested every one of Grandfather's 'men' and locked them up, father was unharmed because he wasn't involved in any of them, tho he did had to pay a large fine.
Her mother had gotten a lot better, she could now take small walks and spend more time with Reiju outside in the gardens. Her father had also been home a lot in the past few days and even tho Reiju feels tense in his presence, she feels happy.
The only problem is the 3 bundles of cloth with colourful hair peaking within them. The '๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด' her mother had said were her brothers, were not at all like any other babies. They could stand up, they could crawl, they could eat mashed foods and they were starting to form words, any other 3 month old baby was unable to do it! (She definitely didn't red books about babies and child growth willingly, they just happened to be in the mansion library).The point was, the rapidly growing things were making her mother sad and uncomfortable, which in turn, made Reiju sad and uncomfortable.
Reiju hadn't even properly visited them. She had bumped into various nannies and maids carrying them, even been in close proximity with them because they happened to be with her mother at the time she usually visits, but what she knows is that she doesn't like them.
The oldest among the bundles, the one with bright red hair was too quiet, not the good kind of 'oh he sleeps quietly at night' but the 'he can sneak up and kill you in the future' kind of quite.
The second oldest, the one with dark blue hair was too fussy. The thing would start making dissatisfied noises as soon as he felt like the one touching him wasn't his mother or his favourite nanny. He scrunched his nose so much that Reiju didn't even know the colour of his eyes.
The youngest, was a stupid and dumb baby. The thing only did three things, he slept, he ate and he craped. Atleast with the other two they were curious, but this one was so goddamn happy and content with his baby life, Reiju wondered if he was even born with the emotion of curiosity.
Reiju later realised that all three were born with specific emotions, They never laughed or giggled or cried. They didn't seem to have any positive emotions compared to even Reiju because even if she never cried, she still laughed whenever one of the maids got into a funny situation. (It would take years until she realised that falling down the stairs and braking your leg wasn't considered funny accident)
The there was the other problem, the other sick one who was still at the hospital and had only come back today. The new thing looked smaller, almost smaller the size of when she saw the other bundles for the first time 3 months ago. It squirmed from time to time and made silly noises, the fact that is was carried by her father was the scariest thing. Her giant and scary father motioned for her to come closer and Reiju complied with a brave face.
Reiju had little to no memories of her father smiling or laughing, and the one she did have made her face flush red with embarrassment so she liked to not think about it. To her, the large man named Vinsmoke Judge was a person with high authority and power over people. He never bullied or tormented anyone physically but just a few words in his impossibility cold and domineering voice made people tremble in their places.
She couldn't help but admire and feel proud that this man was her father, the word father ment someone who should be given upmost respect and who's command should never be disobeyed. That same father had been acting extremely strange these past couple of months, the man came home more often, he criticized the servents on their work less and most of all he ๐๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ whenever he talked to Reiju and played with the babies. Judge was sat on a medium sized chair and waited until Reiju also sat down beside him to finally start talking.
"I heard that you have some issues with your brothers, can I ask what's all this about?" His voice was definitely calm but Reiju felt more nervous as the seconds ticked by and she came up with the answer inside her head. She wanted to open her mouth to speak but the sleeping baby in her father's arms made her throat tighten up, in the end her lips closed together in a straight line and she looked at her hands in her lap. She didn't want to see the disappointment in her father's eyes.
"I don't have any siblings, so forgive me because I do not understand what you are feeling right now, but I do know that despite you pretending to hate them, you have secretly been looking after them." Reiju still didn't raise her head but a clear answer of 'I don't know what you are talking about' fell from her lips.
"I saw how you played Hide and seek with Ichiji, Calmed down a very fussy Niji and looked after a sleeping Yonji." Reiju jerked a little, Has her father been watching her all this time and she didn't even know it? She was still, a firm believer in fake it till you make it, so she will fake not knowing what he was talking about.
"I also know you have red upto almost 35 books on childcare, child development and child growth, that along with you using your own private money to buy stuffed toys and baby clothes just proves that you love and care for them Reiju, why are you so sure in pretending that that you don't?" Well she didn't expect that her father's hidden camaras could capture all that too, finally when she realised that there was no point in hiding this from her father, with a slight pout on her face she decided to come clean.
"They made Mama more sick and she had to go to the scary white building because of them, they also make her sad by their non-baby like behaviours" that and it made her jealous that they got to spend everyday with her mama and got to play with her pap- father too.