Ch2: Cocoyasi Village, Orphanage

Entering the village, Caden saw many people moving around, starting their day. Some were walking to work, others were finishing household chores.

Everyone looked visibly busy with their daily lives. Walking by, some greeted Genzo. "Hello Sheriff, whose kid is that on your back?"

"From what he told me, he isn't from around here. I'm taking him to eat something, since he supposedly didn't eat anything for a few days." Says Genzo, briefly looking at the group.

"That's terrible! Hurry up, take him to Mummy Mee, she should be making breakfast right now. With how many kids she has, it shouldn't be a problem to make food for one more." Claims somebody in the crowd.

"Good idea, I will take him there." Says Genzo with a smile.

As they are walking, he starts talking to Caden. "You see Caden, Mummy Mee runs the orphanage together with Daddy Dee, her husband. They are a pretty young couple, but they take good care of their kids."

"How many kids?"

"I don't remember, around 10 more or less."

"Oh, that's impressive if they don't need any help for that." Speaks Caden with an astonished face.

"Yes, they take pride in that."

In front of them is an orphanage. It's a two story building made primarily from wood, just like all the houses they went by. It has light green walls with a brown roof. Standing outside one can already hear the shouting of kids.

"Looks like they are already awake. Let's go, I will introduce you and then we will get you something to eat." States Genzo, walking inside.

Opening the door, the ruckus got even louder. On the side, we can see an adult man sporting a mustache with a huge gap in the middle. He seems at peace with the situation. It looks like it's a daily occurrence for him and he doesn't even notice Genzo and Caden walking in. 

"Hello Daddy Dee, how are the kids today?" Loudly asks Genzo, trying to overpower the shouting of the kids running around.

"Oh, hello Genzo! You know how it is. They will quiet down when the breakfast is finished. Also, who is that on your back? He isn't one of mine." Says Daddy Dee, looking curiously at the unexpected small visitor.

"I'm Caden Endar, hello Mr. Daddy Dee. Genzo took me here in hopes of getting me some food." Answers Caden, giving the man a weary smile.

"Is that so, sure. We can't have hungry kids running around here." Says the man, turning to the kitchen. "HONEY, MAKE ONE MORE PORTION OF FOOD, WE HAVE A YOUNG VISITOR WITH GENZO!" He announces.

"OK, NO PROBLEM. THE FOOD WILL BE READY IN 10 MINUTES! SHOW THE CHILD AROUND, INTRODUCE SOME KIDS!" Loudly answers the womanly voice from another room.

"You heard that kid? It was Mummy Mee, my wife. She and I run this orphanage. We take care of all the kids here."

"Oh, then could I maybe join? I don't remember my parents or where I live. My memory is pretty foggy."

"That's terrible! Don't worry child, I will make sure you are taken care of. Maybe after a while your memory will be back and we could give you back to your parents. They are definitely worried sick right now!" Declares Daddy Dee, looking at Caden.

"What do you remember?" Asks Daddy Dee.

"Well, I remember being on the sea in my small boat. I don't remember how I got there or where I was heading. My mast was broken, so I was drifting around. The last few days have been the most blurry, since I ran out of food like 3 days ago. I was trying to sleep to save energy and today I woke up on the beach further back from here. Mr. Genzo found me and took me here, thank you for that." Narrated Caden.

"No problem kid. I'm glad I could help you. I was supposed to ask you some questions, but let's do it later. For now, I will go back to patrol. I will visit back here in the evening. Daddy Dee, could you take care of him for a while?" Asks Genzo, turning to him.

"Of course. Caden here will be in good hands. Come on Caden, let's first go to the dining room, it's almost breakfast."

Caden climbs back down from Genzo's back, who then walks away. "See you later Caden." Says Genzo, waving the back of his hand.

The door closes, leaving Daddy Dee and Caden alone. "Come with me, the dining room is on the right." He says, taking Caden's hand and guiding him to the room on the right.

Entering the room we can see the big table in the center with 14 chairs and space for more. On the side wall we see a slightly opened door from which an aroma of food waves off. Caden's mouth starts to water for the first time in many days. Daddy Dee steps to the side and picks up an additional chair and brings it to the table.

"Mister, what should I call you?" Asks Caden, looking around the room.

"Kids call me Daddy, so you can go with that." Answers Daddy, turning to Caden.

"Also, how old are you? You sound very mature."

"Oh, I'm five this year." Caden answers, going to the table and sitting on the new chair.

"Wow, you are really young! You sound very intelligent compared to the kids here. I hope you will get used to us." Comments Daddy, looking stunned for a moment. After a moment he goes through the side door. Inside Caden sees the kitchen and a pair of women working on some food. Daddy comes back with a plate and some utensils and puts them in front of sitting Caden. 

"You probably know how to use a fork and spoon so I will skip that. I will introduce you to everyone in a moment, for now wait here please, I will go gather the other children."

He says, leaving the room.

In a bit of time, children start to gather around the table. Some small talk goes around, Caden introduces himself and learns of their names. In total there are 12 children, with him 13. Most of them are older than him, other than 2 who are 4 years old.

After a moment of chatting, the side doors open showing a woman together with a teenage girl. In their hands are trays of food ranging from sandwiches to sausages and eggs. Entering the room they put everything on the table and then turned to their seats. As everyone was sitting, Daddy Dee officially introduced young Caden, saying that he will stay with them for the time being. Caden also told everybody his short story of how he got here and his age to avoid being asked about it again and again.

As they were eating, he also talked with Mummy Mee, learning that this orphanage is backed by the World Government and that is why they are rich enough to feed all their children.

After the meal, Daddy Dee went to wash the dishes with some boys, and Mummy Mee took Caden to look around the house, since Daddy forgot to do that.

Caden learned that the house consists of the central room, from which on the right is the dining room, behind which is the kitchen further in the house. On the left side is the living room, containing some couches and armchairs. Behind the living room is the playroom for the kids containing many toys. Between the kitchen and the playroom is the bathroom, with a toilet right next to it. On the second floor are the individual rooms, where the children and the caretakers sleep. Most rooms are for 3 children, but there is one room that works as a mini storage that they will clean up and give to Caden later today.

Following that Mummy Mee told Caden to call her 'Mummy' in the future and called for an older kid to take Caden to the village doctor Nako for a checkup.

Walking through the village gave Caden another opportunity to learn what even is there, since the anime and manga didn't really focus on that.

He found a general store, an inn, the police station and more. After asking his guide about the population, the older kid said that the village has around 600 residents.

Reaching the small building working as the clinic, the children enter and are greeted by an old man sitting on a chair behind a table.

"What are you kids doing here?" Asks Nako.

"Old man, I brought you someone for a checkup, he was apparently stranded on the sea for quite a while and got to our village this morning." Says the kid, clearly bored with this short trip.

"Come here kid, let me look at you." Says Nako, taking out some medical tools from behind him.

After a moment of looking all over, checking Caden's pulse and looking at his throat, Nako is done and sits back on his chair. "You are a healthy young man, it doesn't seem like you were on the sea for so long. Come back here later this week, let's see if nothing new appears."

"No problem doctor." Answers Caden, looking back for the kid who came here with him, not finding him anywhere. "Hmm, maybe he left to do something." He says quietly, making his way out of the building.

Going out, he wanders around and decides to go inside the inn that he saw along the way. Walking inside, he finds it empty, with tables and chairs on the sides and a single lady sitting in the back behind the counter. Going towards her, he introduces himself and starts chatting with her.

They talk for what seems like a while but turns out to be over an hour. Caden learns many things to know about the village, where most important places are and also that right now is spring.

Caden says that he needs to go back to the orphanage, but says that he might be back to chat with her sometime. The lady is pleased and sends him back with a smile.

Getting back, he is greeted by a little worried Mummy Mee, but everything works out. She tells him what normally they do throughout the day, so that he would know when he can leave to have fun and when to come back for a meal.

After some talking about the household chores, Caden agrees to do some of them in exchange for some less strict control over what he does and where he goes. Mummy seems to accept that only because so far he gives the impression of a mature kid that won't get himself in trouble.

They go and add him to their daily schedule of chores and she leaves him to play by himself. He went to the play room, seeing some kids playing. After asking to join, they eagerly took him in and made him play with them.

Later the dinner was served, everybody ate and shared some laughs. Sometime later Genzo came back to ask Caden some questions. "Caden, I went back to look for your boat, but it seems like the sea took it back, since I couldn't find it anywhere on the coast." He says slightly troubled.

"You don't have to worry, there wasn't anything on it worth something to me." Replies Caden, not really caring about it. At least it will longer stay a secret that he's a devil fruit user.

"Ok kid, I formally need answers to some questions so that I can make a report about you. After that you will become a citizen of this village and officially join the orphanage." States Genzo, after which they go around with him asking questions and Caden answering to the best of his ability.

"Ok, that will be all, young men. I will go fill out the documents and I hope you will find happiness and peace in our village." Says Genzo, leaving for the station. After that Mummy took Caden to show him his room.

Overall it looked pretty nice. There was a single bed to the right and on the left was a small desk with a chair. On the side was a wardrobe and some shelves. Caden was very satisfied.

"Ok boy, it's getting late, so go to bed and I will see you tomorrow at breakfast. Sweet dreams!" She says smiling to Caden.

"Thank you Mummy, good night." Answers Caden, sitting on the bed and getting ready to sleep.

Mummy closes the door and goes to check on the other kids. Caden sits on the bed, takes off his clothes and changes to some shorts found in the wardrobe.

Laying down on the bed, he starts to think. 'So this is my life now. Who would have thought.' And with that, he falls asleep.

~2166 words.