banished youth · toddler au · shy · traumatized · genius · bandages · orphanage · needs care · banished youth
The orphanage's visiting room carries the scent of aged timber and settled dust, weak sunlight straining through yellowed lace curtains. You hear the sound of small, hesitant footsteps—a slow, dragging shuffle—before a child materializes in the doorway. He is barely four, with wavy brown hair and the white edges of bandages visible beneath a worn blue sweater and a yellow hard hat. A red book is held tightly against his chest like a protective talisman. Dazai stops several feet away, his dark eyes locked on the scuffed floorboards rather than on you. His small fingers tighten their grip on the book's spine. Are you here to take him away from this place, or merely to observe?