Summary: Ougai Mori—Yokohama's most infamous underground doctor—is a formidable genius with a reputation on the same level as the Port Mafia's. His clientele and contacts range from the aforementioned Port Mafia to the Japanese government's Special Abilities Department. Ougai Mori's least known trait is his proclivity to somewhat accidentally adopt children with special abilities. Dad!Mori.

White Hair Boy

-Q, Yumeno Kyusaku

Yokohama, Japan

Yosano had turned eighteen two weeks ago. She took the time to set everything up. When she had confirmed things fully, she made her announcement. "I'm joining the Armed Detective Agency. I already applied and Fukuzawa-san accepted me. I'm going to quit my job at the restaurant tomorrow."

Mori was not surprised in the slightest, as Yosano had discussed joining the ADA with him a month ago. It was more of a thoughtful and advice oriented talk, as Mori had made it clear that the children were allowed to join any organization they wanted once they were an adult; he would not complain about whether it was the Port Mafia, the Armed Detective Agency, or even the government as long as they knew the risks and what would be required of them.

Mori continued to eat, watching the reactions of the younger children as attentive as Yosano was. Dazai looked interested. Akutagawa was sullen, as per usual. Chuuya had a thoughtful expression on his face, choosing to not say anything. Gin was the only one appearing openly sad.

"I'll still be around. I'm not disappearing. Don't worry," Yosano assured, gaze directed towards her little sister. She gave a small smile and was gratified to see Gin return it.

XXX

"Aughhh," Dazai complained. His throat was itchy and dry. He half-rolled himself off of his bed and stood up. He slowly walked out of the boy's bedroom and into the kitchen. The other boys—Chuuya and Akutagawa—were there, looking just as miserable.

Mori sighed. "You too?"

Dazai gave a plastic smile, all he could manage with such a strong urge to go back to sleep.

"I think it was that Taishi guy at school who got us sick," Chuuya hoarsely said.

Dazai muttered an affirmative.

"Here. Drink this." Mori slid a mug across the top of the kitchen island to Dazai.

Dazai peered into the fragrant cup of tea. The smell was pungent-even just inhaling it soothed his throat. It was Mori's sick tea, made for the special occasion of his wards getting a cold, a cough, or the flu. Dazai sipped carefully out of his mug, as the tea was still very hot, enough to make the outside of the mug uncomfortable to touch. He couldn't help but smile at the familiar taste.

XXX

One Year Later

Mori caved to the many pleading faces around him. "You can play. But stay in the yard. Chuuya-kun, keep an eye on them."

Dazai pouted at not being named as in charge, but followed the other children outside regardless.

XXX

The sun drifted across the sky, leading the day into evening. The trees blocked the sunset from view. The rays were filtered through the leaves on the trees. If one was sprawled out under one of these trees at this time—as Dazai was—one could catch the sight of the leaves almost seeming to glow from the sunlight.

"Dazai."

Dazai looked over to who had called him-it was Chuuya.

"Street," Chuuya said, still keeping his voice low.

Dazai glanced both ways.

Two adults were walking down the street. Something was in the man's arms.

"Do you know them?" Chuuya asked. He sat down on the grass beside Dazai.

"No." Dazai tilted his head at Chuuya. "And they're definitely not the common type of client Mori-san takes."

Chuuya and Dazai were mutually suspicious at first sight of the three. Maybe their instincts were wrong, but maybe they were right.

Gin and Ryuunosuke noticed something was off by how Dazai and Chuuya were talking quietly. Usually the two brothers would be at each other's throat or slinging insults.

The three figures got bigger and bigger, growing from the size of a water bottle to the size of a chair. The thing in the man's arm didn't move, but it had clothes on. Considering the size, it was likely a child.

Dazai and Chuuya got up.

Dazai brushed grass off of his pants. He yawned.

"Gin-chan, Ryuunosuke-kun, go get Mori-san," Chuuya ordered. His voice was unreadable, except that his tone was stern.

The Akutagawa siblings left immediately, Gin not even taking the time to check the page she was on before closing her book. Ryuunosuke opened the door for his sister and the two slipped inside.

"Elise?" Gin asked.

There was no reply.

They checked the other rooms on the first floor.

No sign of Elise.

Ryuunosuke sighed and took confident steps towards the room where they were sure to find Mori. His strides soon grew shorter and shorter, matching the timidity of his sister.

The hallway to the infirmary seemed long and cold. The light coming from the door at the end and the lamp on the table half-way through did nothing.

Ryuunosuke and Gin looked at each other. Gin grasped onto her older brother's sleeve. They walked down the hallway, dreading every creak of the floor.

They had been told to never disturb Mori while the man was working. The warnings hadn't only come from Mori himself, but also their new siblings. There were also the screams that occasionally came from that room. They hadn't missed that Mori—when not covering up the musk with cologne—smelled of blood and some sickly sweet cleaning solution. Mori was a doctor who was constantly treating criminals with what would be considered mortal injuries.

The floor creaked.

The Akutagawa siblings paused.

The sounds inside the room never stopped.

They waited a few seconds.

They vaguely heard Mori say something.

Ryuunosuke remembered the task they had been given by Chuuya and clenched his jaw. He made three knocks on the door, with the back of his hand as he had been told it was more polite.

The door opened, casting a golden light into the hallway.

Mori stood before Gin and Ryuunosuke. His white coat had been taken off for the sake of practicality. A surgery mask covered his mouth and nose. A latex glove was on his right hand, while the left—used to open the door—did not. His body was blocking the view of what was going on in the room. What could be seen of him was cast in dark shadows.

The two children froze in terror. 'We should have gotten Dazai-kun or Chuuya,' they thought. They dreaded what Mori's response would be. They had never broken any of the major rules before and were terrified of the punishment.

"What is it?" Mori asked.

"We're sorry for interrupting, Mori-san. Chuuya told us to get you," Ryuunosuke hurriedly said.

"Why?" Mori's reply was curt, but not unkind. He pulled his mask down. His lips were in a neutral line.

Air rushed into the lungs of the children. They were hopeful, but not relieved. Not yet. They had seen Mori's acting skills.

"There's two adults and a child. They look like a family," Gin reported.

Mori's eyes narrowed at the information—his violet irises grew darker. Just like Chuuya and Dazai, he knew something was off. Criminals came to him to be treated, not regular civilians. "Give me five minutes. I'll send Elise with you. Seat our guests in the kitchen and offer them tea." He gave a small smile. Even though he didn't really have the time. . .it didn't matter; he didn't like the looks on their faces. "Thank you for coming to tell me."

Gin offered a timid smile in return.

Ryuunosuke blinked in confusion. He glanced from Mori to Gin, trying to comprehend what happened.

Elise appeared in the hallway. Her hair was still in a bun from the last time Gin played with it.

Mori made a shooing motion. "Leave me to my work and take care of what I said."

Ryuunosuke's shoulders relaxed.

XXX

Mori entered the kitchen with his back straight and a lazy smile. "Hello," he chirped in the nauseatingly cheerful tone that Dazai loved to copy. "I'm Ougai Mori." He nodded at them in greeting.

"We are the Sugiyamas." The man's smile was strained. He nodded back.

Mori noted that they didn't give their first names, only their last. What were they trying to hide? Or were they just wary of his reputation?

"Your children are so well-behaved, Mori-sensei," Mrs. Sugiyama commented. She had a bundle in her arms, likely her child.

"Why thank you," Mori humbly replied. Truly, he wanted to laugh—this woman had no idea.

At least that was one thing confirmed, they were here because he was a doctor. But why would a normal family hire an underground doctor? That was the core part of this puzzle Mori did not have yet.

"We came here because of Taido," Mrs. Sugiyama said. She looked pained.

Mori chuckled reassuringly. "What happened? Did your son have an accident? It shouldn't be too hard to deal with if it's minor, you needn't worry."

"Yes. Our son, " Mr. Sugiyama looked as if he had to force the word out, "Is very clumsy. He fell off a cliff the other day while we weren't looking."

Mrs. Sugiyama glanced at her husband. "Taido hit his head the worst," she further explained. "He might also have some other problems, a few bruises and scrapes from the rocks and underbrush."

Mori shook his head with a sympathetic look. "Is it alright if I check him over?"

Mrs. Sugiyama handed over the boy without hesitation, almost carelessly. "Be careful of him," she said. Her eyes got dark for a moment, expression briefly filled with venom directed towards her son.

'Keep an eye on them,' the message in Mori's eyes said.

Chuuya and Dazai blinked slowly back, showing that they understood.

Dazai started to engage Mr. Sugiyama in a rambling conversation.

XXX

"Be careful of him."

Mori took note of the odd remark. Either the child was practically the bringer of Armageddon-unlikely, considering the dull, glassy eyed look of Taido-or he had an ability.

Mori set the boy down on an infirmary bed and drew the curtain. The two patients he had at the time were sedated, but he felt it better for the boy not to see them-it would make Taido feel safer. "Take off your shirt and pants."

Taido obeyed. His movements were stiff and he kept flinching. He looked rather odd: he had a star-shaped pupil in one eye. His hair was black and white, seemingly natural.

Mori pulled a pair of latex gloves on. He gave a cursory glance at the other injuries decorating the boy's body. Nothing really serious from what he could see, mostly bruises and small scrapes.

He took care of the head wound. He wiped away the blood trickling down and the already dried blood that had accumulated there. He sanitized the area and put a patch over where the skin had broken.

Mori took a closer look at the other wounds. His hands were gentle, trying to lessen the boy's pain as much as possible.

The Sugiyama had made many mistakes, but they certainly made a wrong one in thinking he wouldn't figure it out. Mori had dealt with many more torture victims than he could remember the names of, but he remembered the different types of wounds they suffered. Once, he had an escapee from arrest who had been beaten by Japanese police to get a confession. It was concerning that he saw the similarity in methods—the wounds were meant to leave no long lasting scars and therefore no evidence. All of Taido's injuries were like this, except for the head wound.

"Taido, how did you get injured?" Mori asked.

The child wrinkled his nose. "Call me Q."

Mori nodded, dropping the line of information for now. 'He's avoiding the question.' He fished a penlight out of his pocket. "I'm going to check for a concussion now, alright Q?"

XXX

Q was being watched by the children.

The office held three chairs and one desk. Mori had the chair behind the desk, as it was his office.

Mori pasted his cheerful smile on.

It was time for Mori to face the reason behind his clients's choice of medical professional. The Sugiyamas had come to Mori for them to patch up their son after things got too far for them to safely deny abuse.

Mori wanted to grab his gun out of his desk and shoot them. He couldn't kill the Sugiyamas. He wanted to and couldn't. Well, Mori could, but he wouldn't despite the immense temptation. His pragmatic side reared its head when his hand twitched towards the scalpel in his sleeve. Killing them would complicate things.

"You're both practical people. It is of no use for you. Instead of paying me for my services, I'll take it off your hands entirely," he proposed. Referring to the child as an object left a foul taste in Mori's mouth, as did everything in this situation, but it was necessary. He steepled his hands together. "So, what do you say?" He leaned forward. His smile curled into something dark.

The Sugiyamas's could not refuse.

"It is a monster. We'll be glad to be rid of it," Mrs. Sugiyama replied. Her expression was full of vitriol, directed at her child.

'The monster I see here isn't him' Mori thought, his eyes crinkling. "Of course."

XXX

Mori and the other children looked at Q. The newest addition was practically swimming in Ryuunosuke's old clothes, but it was the closest size they had. Q was about five, and even smaller than usual for his age.

"We're going shopping tomorrow," Mori decided.

There were no objections.

XXX

The children were in bed.

Mori closed his door. He sagged slightly, putting a hand against the door.

The emotions of the past few hours overwhelmed him.

He wanted to scream. He trembled in rage and helplessness.

Elise appeared, unwanted, but there all the same. She hugged him, trying to comfort him. It was a pale imitation despite physically feeling human.

XXX

The papers were forged. Officially, Taido Sugiyama went mysteriously missing with his "distraught parents looking for him desperately". The name Kyusaku Yumeno was created and slipped in the government databases during an update. Ougai Mori, a local Yokohama doctor with a small practice, quietly adopted Kyusaku.

XXX

A storage room was cleared out to be a play area for Q. He got used to being touched and not hurt. He got used to his belly being full.

Elise, Chuuya, or Dazai watched him most of the time. Of course, the others took turns as well.

Yosano was the one who babysat Q on a dreary, fall morning. She played a game of hide and seek with him. She was always able to find him, as Q couldn't stop himself from giggling.

That day was the first time any of them heard Q laugh.

XXX

Mori was cooking dinner. He was cutting up cilantro to add to the rice.

"Does God exist?" Dazai asked, almost out of nowhere. To his annoyance, despite his sneaking, Mori didn't start in the slightest.

Mori chuckled. "The way I see it: when you have an ability, you don't have the luxury of denying there's a possibility that God exists."

Silence invaded the kitchen once more.

Dazai sat on the stool at the island, staring at his guardian's back. "Hey, Mori-san, what do you think? Is God more cruel for giving us life or taking it away?"

Mori shook his head. "That's assuming God to be cruel in the first place," he pointed out.

"Yes, but looking at the world around us. What would you say?" Dazai insisted.

Mori sighed he turned the heat down lower. He added the onions to the skillet. "If God is looking at us as rats in an experiment, things he created to alleviate his boredom, well, both giving and taking life is rather horrible. But suppose we assume that God is gracious, that living at all is a gift. That he loves us. Then the question becomes, if God loves us, is death cruel?"

"That's not really an answer to my question. You didn't choose one." Dazai pouted.

"I rejected the premise to your question—it is an assumption." Mori stirred the rice. "I countered with my own assumption, supposing the opposite and reframing the question." He added the cilantro, smiling. "So, Dazai-kun, how about this, answer my question and I will answer yours."

Dazai sighed. "Death is beautiful." He cocked his head. "But that's not what you're asking. So it depends on why we experience suffering and what happens to us after, right?"

"Correct. We can hypothesize and argue about various religions. But as dinner is ready, let's save that for another day, shall we?"

XXX

Mori had a book in his hands, but he wasn't reading.

He was watching Q and Elise.

The scene was. . . .

Mori couldn't label the emotion he was feeling. But he could describe it. He felt a rusty, metal nail being driven into his chest. He felt his tongue go numb. He felt a pot of scalding oil poured over his heart, seeping into every crevasse it could find. He felt his muscles lock up, frozen for some unknown reason.

He couldn't interrupt, but he could think.

'Should I order her to never act human? She's too much like-'

The thought—even cut off—was acid, eating through the remains of his ability to cope with watching. It was sickeningly sweet, the sort of taste that made one want to wash out their mouth.

He left.

XXX

Chuuya and Dazai had gotten into a fight at school. It was bound to happen with the temperaments of the two boys. Mori was fortunate that this hadn't happened sooner.

Mori walked into the Principal's office. He glanced at his boys out of the corner of his eye. Neither had any real injuries; however, Chuuya's shirt had been soaked. Mori couldn't help but think, 'They definitely won'. A sort of pride accompanied that thought for some reason.

Mori pasted a cardboard smile onto his face. He bowed to the Principal.

The Principal bowed back.

The two men went through various pleasantries.

Mori was informed that Chuuya and Dazai would be temporarily suspended, as would the other involved. He nodded. He waited a second and then said, "Let me be frank. Was the fight started due to the other students trying to bully my wards?"

"I do not know. I will be addressing the cause with their parents in a few minutes."

Mori's smile tightened.

XXX

Chuuya was hunched in on himself, trying to make himself look smaller.

Dazai's tongue was full of excuses and explanations. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.

Mori put a hand on both of their shoulders. "You did well," he simply said. The full lecture and interrogation would come later. For now, they need some comfort, no matter how small.

XXX

A Few Weeks Later

"I'd love a noose-" Dazai was tugged away by a firm hand on his shoulder. "What?" He hissed, twisting around in the person's grip, only to come face to face with Mori.

"You are not allowed to mention anything that could be classified as 'dark' around Q. That includes death and suicide attempts in general. Understood?"

Mori's glare had pinned Dazai to the point until the boy grumbled, "Yes, Mori-san." Dazai stood no chance. Being under Mori glare was similar to the experience of being a small butterfly or moth with its wings skewered and trapped in a glass jar.

XXX

One Year Later

Gin and Ryuunosuke had been on an errand.

Q followed Mori around whenever the doctor was in the house and not working. This was why Q was hiding behind Mori when the doctor answered the door.

Gin and Ryuunosuke were injured. Blood stained Gin's white skirt and Ryuunosuke's white shirt.

They had been attacked while delivering medicine in the city.

Q's grip tightened. "Gin-nee-san?"

Mori's eyes went cold. He would be looking into this.

XXX

Chuuya, Dazai, Yosano, Gin, and Ryuunosuke were in an abandoned apartment complex. They filed down the hallways with peeling paint and cracked alabaster. They were not there for ghost hunting, a bet, or something like that. This was something far more serious.

They stood in the aftermath of a bloodbath that spanned several floors and many rooms. Bodies littered the floor. Blood painted the carpet in shades of red. Bullets had embedded themselves in flesh and plaster.

Of course, not everyone was dead yet, despite the perpetrators's efforts. Some dying thugs tried to kill the teenagers sauntering around the place, despite their own trembling hands and grievous wounds. They shot, only to find their bullets stopped by a red haze of something and something black spearing them through the back. They would gasp or pant or cry, until the black thing removed itself from them and they collapsed on the floor, dead.

The teenagers wandered through the halls as they were uncertain as to where the person they were looking for was exactly. Dazai had been tracking the cellphone, which was how they knew to come here; however, it wasn't precise enough to tell them more than the general location of the owner.

Gin was the first to spot the perpetrators; she tapped on the shoulders of her siblings to get their attention.

Elise's arm were covered in a dripping red, along with part of her face. Her eyes were emotionless. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail-some of the strands of her blond hair were noticeably darker than others. She had no smile on her face, only a blank expression.

Chuuya, Dazai, Yosano, Gin, and Ryuunosuke watched as Mori slit the throat of a dying man whose arms had been cut off. Their reactions were not typical for people of their ages at the sight of murder. They did not gasp. They did not throw up. They did not run away.

This changed nothing.

He was family.

They had known what they were walking into. They had known what Mori was capable of, even if he hide it behind misdirecting conversations and a cheerful smile. They did not condemn him for it. They were not paragons of moral virtue—they knew that. It was a truth many wished to never admit they admitted privately to themselves: they were not that different. They were trying, but they were not that good. At the core, people are evil despite their efforts, and what must be done is not always palatable.

They had chosen to stay with Mori. They did not regret it. They understood his position and his logic, even if they did not like the way he went about some things.

Mori turned around. His amethyst eyes were cold and calculating. A scalpel was in his right hand, still bloodied from his most recent killing. His left sleeve had been torn off and wrapped around his forearm. He raked his gaze over them—he received sheepish and guilty smiles in return. He should have expected this.

Dazai moved towards Mori and chirped, "This was the group trying to move in on your territory, the ones who hurt Gin-chan and Ryuunosuke-kun, right?" He had his hands in his pockets. He ignored the scene around him, having already dismissed the sight as uninteresting due several minutes of seeing similarly gruesome things for the past fifteen minutes.

Mori nodded as he used the clothes of the nearest corpse to clean the blood off of his scalpel. He slid his weapon up his surviving sleeve. He did a quick head count and narrowed his eyes at his wards. "Where's Q?" Their answer had better be good.

"With Fukuzawa-san," Yosano replied.

"Good." Mori's lips curled into a wry smirk. "I've taken care of my business here, why don't we leave?" Blood dripped down his pant leg.

"No objections here," Dazai replied, speaking for his siblings.

XXX

Mori patched up the long laceration down his arm. He privately bemoaned to himself that he was slowly getting older. He was certain he could have dodged that knife a year or two ago. He walked into the living room, expecting no one.

Instead, all of the children were there. Worry was present in their thoughts, along with violence and death. The carnage was still far too present in their heads.

Yosano had claimed the armchair, while the Akutagawa siblings took the couch. Chuuya and Dazai were sprawled out on the floor. They kept elbowing each other. Q had chosen to cuddle with Yosano, squishing himself against her side.

"Is there a reason you're still up?" 'Waiting for me', Mori didn't add.

Ryuunosuke shrugged. He chose to stay silent, as he didn't want his words to betray him.

Yosano grinned, sensing an opening in the way a shark smells blood in the ocean. "We want a story," she requested.

Q sat up at the idea of Mori telling a story. He only remembered it happening once before. His eyes were practically full of stars.

"Yeah, and sing it," Dazai tacked on, a conniving glint in his eyes.

"Really?" Mori asked, unsure.

They only managed to persuade him to tell stories once in a blue moon. Seeing that Mori was slowly caving, his wards eagerly nodded or smiled.

Mori sighed, sitting down on the couch beside the Akutagawa siblings. "Have I ever told the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame?"

Chuuya had the best memory for things like this. He shook his head. "Don't think so."

Mori leaned back into the couch, relaxing his shoulders. His baritone voice reverberated around the room. "Morning in Paris, the city awakes to the bells of Notre Dame. The fisherman fishes, the bakerman bakes to the bells of Notre Dame, to the big bells as loud as the thunder, to the little bells soft as a psalm. And some say the soul of the city's the toll of the bells, the bells of Notre Dame."

Gin leaned her head against Mori's arm.

"Listen, they're beautiful, no?" Mori whispered, his volume dropping. "So many colors of sound, so many changing moods. Because you know, they don't ring all by themselves. Up there, high, high in the dark bell tower lives the mysterious bell ringer. Who is this creature. How did he come to be there? It is a tale, a tale of a man and a monster."

Yosano put down her book. She covered a yawn with her hand.

Q settled back into the armchair, eyes glued to Mori.

Mori's tone strengthened, growing steely. "Judge Claude Frollo longed to purge the world of vice and sin. And he saw corruption everywhere except within."

Dazai and Chuuya stopped elbowing each other.

"And for one time in his life of power and control Frollo felt a twinge of fear for his immortal soul." Mori's voice changed once again, representing the haughty Judge who asked, "What must I do?"

Ryuunosuke curled up into a loose ball.

"Anywhere. Just so he's kept locked away where no one else can see. The bell tower, perhaps. And who knows, our Lord works in mysterious ways. Even this foul creature may yet prove one day to be of use to me," Mori sang.

The last of his wards fell asleep when the first raindrops hit the roof.

Mori softly continued, "Now here is a riddle to guess if you can, sing the bells of Notre Dame. Who is the monster and who is the man?"

A/N

A bit of a longer chapter this time.

Q's penname is Kyusaku Yumeno. His real name was Taido Sugiyama.

Lyrics from the song, The Bells of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame). If you want to hear an amazing rendition of this, go listen to the medley the Ringmasters did on YouTube. Get rid of the spaces in between when searching. www. youtube watch? v= Qo_N9_ZFBhs

Timeline note: Mori is 33, Yosano is 21, Chuuya/Dazai are 17, Akutagawa is 15, Gin is 14, and Q is 8.

Chapters:

1-Mori

2-Yosano

3-Fukuzawa

4-Dazai

5-Chuuya

6-Akutagawa

7-Q

Next: 8-?

-Silver