Stay or go!

When Joey checked his protégé one more time in the evening, he was still soundly asleep. The blonde slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, looked at the child. He smiled warmly as he straightened the slipped blanket and wiped a few strands of brown hair from the boy's forehead.
"Good night, Sato. Sleep well, little one."
As if to confirm the words, the sleeper began to mumble something to himself and turned around in bed with flowing, graceful movements.
Grinning, Joey closed the door behind him, but left it ajar, so that the little one would not wake up in complete darkness, should he still be awake that night. To be on the safe side, he had already locked the front door and put the key aside in a safe place. You never knew with street children whether they would just run away from one moment to the next.
With a smile, Joey turned off the light.~ * ~ the next morning ~ * ~

"Hello! It's half past seven, the sun is rising, the birds are chirping, the sky is bright blue, the temperatures are already reaching heights of ..."
In disbelief, Sato pulled the covers over his face. That could not be true! The alarm went off so early in the morning, it was downright physical harm! But to turn around and turn off the alarm clock, he was still too tired and too tired. He just wanted to go back to sleep and continue dreaming the crazy dream he had just dreamed. He had dreamed that Marik had turned him into a little boy and that he was now at Joey's house after he had rescued him from an employee who had beaten him up.
"Hmm ... stupid dream ...", the brunette mumbled sleepily to himself, slowly he opened his eyes, blinking, but could only keep them open for about a second because the brightness blinded him so much and he was still much too tired was to keep it open longer.When he finally managed to keep his eyes open a little, he yawned tiredly.
He looked around out of somewhat sticky, cloudy eyes.
//Hn ... in dark red wallpaper, dark window curtains, cupboard made of beech ... since when have I had such a facility? //, thought the blue-eyed man lazily, stretching himself to sit up.
"Weird ... somehow I feel so compressed! As if I've shrunk ..." the brunette muttered to himself, wondering why he felt so strange. When he looked down at himself, he was surprised at first that his legs were so short, but the realization only hit him after a minute.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! That can't be true!"

Startled, a few birds fluttered up from their little nests, and at the same time an eighteen-year-old blond boy fell out of bed.
"Uhmpf! ... Ouch, what was that?", Joey mumbled drowsy and sat up. He remembered that something had woken him, he had been so shocked by it that he promptly rolled out of bed.But why, what had woken him up?
He listened attentively to the noises in the house, he heard soft, tapping noises from the kitchen, as if little feet were running over the tiles.
"Huh? Who ... ah, Sato! The little one is probably already awake ...", thought Joey confused, then he smiled happily to himself. For a moment he had forgotten his little new roommate. When he looked at the watch, his eyebrows rose in surprise. Not until half past seven?
Joey quickly got dressed, combed her hair quickly and went into the kitchen. And as expected there was a little brunette boy crouching on the chair, a bowl of cornflakes on the table in front of him, which he was slowly eating.
Sato looked up when he heard steps behind him and immediately looked into the face of a blond, still somewhat sleepy-looking, smiling Köters.
"Tomorrow, Sato. How are you today?", Joey asked friendly, and sat down across from the boy. He just mumbled to himself, tirelessly stuffing the cornflakes into himself."Well ... if you're already sitting here and feeding, you seem to be feeling better. Have you been in the shower?"
Now Sato looked up, surprised he raised an eyebrow.
// Why, please, does the mutt treat me like I've belonged here forever? He seems to have a lot of confidence in me ... or else, he's just as stupid and loyal as it should be for a mutt! I think I'll just take the latter ... //
And already Sato's dear conscience reported again.
|| Seto, oh, sorry, I mean Sato-chan, don't be like that now! As soon as someone does something good for you, you're looking for the hook again! ||
//It is true! Shut up, you stupid conscience! //
|| Hey, someone has to do the work and stand by you a little! Consider why! Without my help you would never have decided to steal the company from Gozaburo, so at least admit that you need me, okay ?! ||
// Pah! It is all thanks to my common sense that I have become what I am today, and not you!//
|| So it is your own fault that you are now stuck in the body of a child! ||
//I did not say that! //
|| But thought! ||
//...//
"... to? Sato? Hey, Sato?"
"Hm?", The little one made confused and looked at Joey. He just ignored the hand that waved in front of his nose.
"Don't fall asleep while eating! If you're still tired, go back to bed, okay?"
"Who says I'm trouble, mutt?"
The next thing Sato got was a decent headbutt.
"Ouch, hey! What's that supposed to be?" The brunette whined, holding the big bump on his head. From watering eyes he looked up at the - unfortunately in this situation - older man, who just grinned angrily.
"If I remember correctly, I was the one who saved you from that bad thug, and I'm also offering you a place in my house so you don't have to live on the street. So I wish you a little more respect, too, understand ? "
"Uh ... forget it!"
"Sato!"
"I am under no obligation to you, Wheeler!""Oh no, and I'm the Sheikh of Egypt! Sure! Be a little more polite, otherwise you'll be kicked out!"
"Thanks, I've been waiting for it all the time!"
"... why do you just have to be so stubborn? Why are you not able to trust other people?"
Sato was puzzled by this simple question, asked so quietly and sadly. His harsh answer, which he actually wanted to spit out, got stuck in his throat, his eyebrows went up again and he looked into two worried, chocolate-brown eyes.
He was silent, he really couldn't think of anything.
|| Good question, Satolein, explain to me why you can't trust anyone? ||
//snout! You don't belong here! //
|| Oh yes, Sato! I am your conscience after all! And this is the best place to be able to act as a conscience! ||
//... you are annoying! Go die! //
|| Consciences cannot die! Just ignored ... ||
// Ah, good tip, thanks! From now on I ignore you!//
|| Uh, hey! ||
//...//
Sato went back to his cereal in silence, meticulously avoiding looking at Joey. The blonde seemed to notice Sato's displeasure, he sighed softly and got up. When he turned around, the little one watched as Joey went to the front door, and unlocked it again, opened the door.
"If you really want to go, do that! I won't stop you, after all, I can't make you stay here. Come on, go on!"
The blonde could literally see how it was working behind Sato's forehead. Again and again these blue eyes looked at the door, stayed for a moment on Joey's eyes, then wandered back to the door.
// Please, please, let him stay here, dear God! The little one is totally helpless out there! //, pleaded Joey inwardly, with a pounding heart he was literally waiting for his little roommate to hop off the chair and pass him wordlessly, perhaps slamming an insult on the head as he parted.Even if the idea clearly hurt.
Instead, nothing happened. Sato lowered his eyes again, picked up the spoon again, and continued to eat in silence.
"Do you mean you want to stay here?" He finally asked, even receiving a slight nod. Beaming with joy, Joey closed the door again and sat back at the table.