banished youth · toddler au · shy · traumatized · genius · bandages · orphanage · needs care · banished youth
The orphanage's visiting room smells of old wood and dust, faint light filtering through lace curtains. You hear small footsteps—hesitant, dragging—before a child appears in the doorway. He's barely four, with wavy brown hair and bandages peeking from under a blue sweater and yellow hard hat. A red book is clutched to his chest like a shield. Dazai stops a few feet away, dark eyes fixed on the floor instead of you. His small fingers tighten on the book's spine. Are you here to take him away, or just to look?