Empathy; it is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position.
~
'In the spring of my third year of elementary school, something happened.'
The wails and grieving cries of little children was all that echoed from the classroom. Some of the small clattered desks and chairs were flipped over as an after-effect of the rushed sprints of the third graders as they huddled abruptly towards the end of their classroom.
"Sensei! She's dead!" One of the eight year old girls sobbed, her choking, trembling voice punctuating her words.
The elementary school teacher huffed sympathetically as she comfortingly patted on the children's shaking forms. They were all gathered around the covered dead body of Usa-chan, the rabbit. "Yes, but Usa-chan had a happy life since she had so many friends like you around her." The older woman's voice was loving and kind as she gave the children a benevolent grin, but it quickly faded once she saw another kid separated from the pack.
"What's wrong, Akano?" She asked with worry, seeing that the young redhead was neatly packing her bag before she put the straps on her shoulders, intending to leave.
The teacher's question drew the attention of the other kids to the red haired girl, and they all turned to inspect her rigid form with curious eyes.
''Unlike the rest of them, I was no stranger to the concept of death. So naturally, I wasn't as fazed like them by the perishing of a class pet.'
The eight year old Yumi inhaled sharply. She was fully aware of the confused glances her teacher and classmates sent her. However, all she cared about at that moment was the need to get out. She needed to leave that classroom because it was getting all too stuffy for her. She felt as though the air was turning and forming into chips of broken glass as it traveled down to her lungs. Clutching the straps of her bag in a vice-like grip, she gritted her teeth.
"I have homework to do, can I go home now?" She managed to ask with a steady voice, and a stoic expression to mask her raging discomfort.
"Y-yeah.."
Yumi then quickly retreated, her small feet taking surprisingly long strides as she ignored the gasps of surprise from her teacher and fellow classmates.
'Ever since then, I was ostracized by the rest of my classmates for the rest of my elementary school days.'
Over the next few weeks, the young Akano couldn't walk two steps inside of her school without hearing the whispers of people around her.
"Isn't Akano Yumi in class 2 really weird?"
As she walked past a few girls and boys of the neighboring classroom, she pretended as if she didn't hear them. Her green eyes were half-lidded in disinterest, books she had intended to return to the library were tightly pressed against her chest.
"You think so, too? I heard her classmates call her Ice Queen."
'You're wrong..'
Yumi's lips pressed together tightly as she remembered the sudden shift inside her classroom once they found out their class pet died. The turbulent storm of emotions that belonged to those kids was untamed as it oozed outof them and found their way to the unwilling recipient that was...her.
"I haven't seen her cry or react to anything, not even once. I don't think she feels anything at all."
'You're all wrong..'
*
*
"Hey,"
A surprised yelp forced out of Ochako's mouth as she spun around in her chair to see Yumi standing right behind her, bracing a hand on her chest to quell her startled pulse.
"You startled me, Yu-chan!" Uraraka squeaked, releasing an exaggerated sigh as she saw Akano sitting right next to her.
"Sorry." Yumi sent her an apologetic look as she suppressed a giggle at her childish reaction.
Her curiosity took the better of her once she saw that the brunette was sitting by her self in the cafeteria table. "Where are your friends?" She asked, fiddling with wrapping on her bento box. She had mindlessly grabbed it -along with her smartphone- from the locker room on her way here after she met with Shinso earlier, but she wasn't particularly hungry at the moment.
"Oh, Deku-kun disappeared right after the cavalry battle so Iida-kun went out to look for him." Uraraka said before sipping on her juicebox. She had already eaten lunch with her four-eyed friend who had left in a rush to remind Midoriya how important it was to rejuvenate with a delicious meal before resuming with the festival. The brunette's short yet thick brows perked slightly. "Where were you?"
"I was with a friend." Ochako let out a noise of acknowledge.
"By the way, you were really amazing in the cavalry battle, Yu-chan!" The shorter girl added, boisterously bobbing her short brown hair. "I still can't get over how you nabbed Todoroki-kun's headband!"
Smiling, Yumi bemusedly watched her friend as she flailed her arms around. 'Being with Ochako.. She's the type of person who makes others feel at ease. She's always smiling cheerfully..'
Quickly shaking her head at the over exaggerated compliments, the red haired telepath interrupted her humbly. "Not at all. And if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have had the same mobility as we did. Your control was impeccable." She spoke with an assertive tone of voice that left no room for Uraraka to shyly reject it. "Th-thank you.." Eyes crinkled with happiness, Uraraka's permanently blushing cheeks turned a few shades darker. She seemed almost awfully too bashful for Akano's liking. She didn't know just how much Uraraka highly regarded her, and to hear such words from someone she admired from ever since they met, meant a great deal to the brunette.
Stuck at a comfortable silence, Akano scratched her a perfectly trimmed nail against the fabric of her lunchbox's covering. She felt the occasional glances Uraraka sent her before she awaited for her to talk. "Ne, Yu-chan can I ask you something?"
Giving her an affirmative nod, Yumi replied. "Sure."
Uraraka shifted nervously in her seat, hoping that her question would in no way offend Akano. "Why didn't you apply for the hero course? I was surprised when I found out we weren't taking the same exam." She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as if she was wincing, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Once she opened her eyes, she turned to the silent Yumi and saw how solemn her expression had turned.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be nosy-!"
Yumi quickly interjected Ochako's unnecessary apology with a nonchalant shrug. "It's fine. Nowadays everyone wants to be a hero, so I understand your curiosity."
"That's not it." Ochako abruptly shook her head, drawing the redhead's intrigued eyes to her. The former clenched her hands into fists, an earnest look shone across her face. "When we first met.. On that train, I was really scared, and you saved me. You were my hero back then!"
At Uraraka's bold declaration, Yumi's eyes peeled wide open, a short breath hitching in her throat.
'That took me by surprise...'
As she met with Ochako's expectant gaze, she found her heart slightly racing with the possibility of her dream already coming into fruition.
"Well actually.." She began, her voice slightly breaking up with an unidentifiable feeling. "Even though it's a bit late, but I requested a transfer into the heroics department."
"Really?!" Face blooming happily, Ochako clapped her hands together, and she almost jumped up from her chair at the news.
With a meek smile, Yumi nodded her head. "Mm."
Ochako broke out into a large grin. "Yu-chan, that's amazing! I hope we can end up in the same class, we would have so much fun!"
Raising a hand to briskly brush back a strand of hair away from her cheek, Yumi gestured for her to calm down. As great as it would be if what Ochako was saying came true, Yumi just didn't want to get her hopes up only to be let down. "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, Ochako. I still don't know if they'll even consider my application."
"They will! I'm sure of it!" Uraraka reassured.
"Thank you."
"Ne, Ochako." She started once again but this time hesitant. "I don't know if it's okay to ask, but can I ask you a question?"
"Of course!"
After giving her lower lip a quick bite, Yumi gathered the courage to ask her. "What inspired you into becoming a hero?"
After the satisfaction that started bubbling within Yumi from knowing that helping Uraraka with that groper meant so much to the brunette, she started to question herself once more. Whether or not she was aiming to be a hero with the right reason behind it. And whether or not she was just plainly being selfish.
"Uhh.. Actually..." Ochako was dumbfounded for a while there, and afterwards she started giggling nervously. "It's for the high salary."
"Oh."
Her words hit Akano like lightening at the moment. It wasn't that she was judging her. But it wasn't the kind of answer you would expect from someone like Uraraka Ochako. It was something she expected from someone like her class rep, Aoba or another materialistic person, not sweet innocent Ochako. But with those prejudiced thoughts set aside, it was a completely understandable reason; being a hero was like any other career nowadays, so of course a person would like to entrust their financial future to it.
Uraraka shakenly nodded, fiddling with her fingers in shame. She didn't have an awesome heroic reason that she'd like to brag about to her friend and that sort of embarrassed her. But somehow, she found that Akano wasn't as visibly surprised as Deku or Iida were when she told them. "I just wanna be able make money and provide for my parents. Let them take it easy."
What she'd just added had swiftly helped add things in perspective for Akano.
"Oh."
Yumi immediately felt bad for making assumptions as she found herself understanding Ochako a bit better as she observed her fidgety form. She was brazenly honest about her priorities and didn't attempt to hide her pursuit of heroism being in large part due to money, despite her embarrassment over admitting so. Yumi really liked that about her. Ochaco's parents seemed to be her main drive to becoming a hero, and she desired above all else to earn money in order to give them a comfortable life. And before she knew it, the red haired beauty mindlessly uttered her next words.
"We're kind of similar, you and I."
"We are?" Surprised, Ochako tilted her head to the side. She was a bit relieved that Yumi's opinion of her hadn't changed and even claimed that they were alike with such a benevolent tone.
"Yeah.. I also want to make my parents proud of me. Their joy is what makes me feel alive." She said with a smile that took Uraraka by surprise from how soft and gentle it was. "What about Yu-chan?" She queried reflexively, her brown eyes curiously gazing at her.
"What?"
"Why do you want to become a hero?"
Yumi should've know that the question she'd asked Ochako was a double edged sword, and she'd inevitably be on the receiving end of it. She couldn't lie nor avoid the question after Uraraka had honestly replied to her. With her head hanging low, her hair conveniently covered her eyes which now flashed with the painful memories and remorse of Jean Grey. "..to redeem myself."
"Eh?" Uraraka naturally flinched at both the answer and the grim way it was pronounced. And her dark brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you-" Before she could continue her inquiry, a ringtone blared from inside of Yumi's pocket and she immediately stood up to dig it out. 'Saved by the bell'
Ochako watched as she saw the ginger's darkened eyes coming back to life as she looked to see who was calling her.
"Oh, sorry. I have to take this, my mom's calling." She hurriedly said before Ochako had the chance to say anything. Twirling around, she began to walk away to take her call outside of the crowded cafeteria.
*
"Okay, you guys, for the last time, please calm down. And don't speak at the same time, I can't make out what you're saying." Yumi spoke through the phone to her rowdy parents. After she walked out of Lunch Rush's Eatery, she found herself wandering in the wide expanse of the U.A. grounds, almost unintentionally making her way back to the stadium without paying attention.
It's been minutes since she's been on the phone with both Akito and Chiharu, and they weren't getting anywhere because of their ecstatic, speedy mesh of words. "I'm talking about you, dad." She asserted.
"Teehee, sorry, sorry." On the other line, Akito chuckled as he childishly apologized for continuously interrupting his wife.
With a playful sigh, Yumi shook her head. "Are you a kid?"
"How mean! We're just really proud of you, Mi-chan!"
The corners of her lips raised upon hearing her father's words. "Really?"
"Mm! We're so glad! You really worked hard, Yumi!" Her mother boosted, pride dripping sweetly off of her tongue as she grinned brightly.
"Yumi?"
"I'm not so sure that I did." The youngest of the Akano family managed to say through clenched teeth.
Chiharu and Akito exchanged confused glances in between them at they sat silently in their living room couch, the only sound was from the U. A. broadcast blaring through their TV. After thinking through his daughter's words, he came to a realize what she'd meant.
"Well, that just means you're saving up your energy for the real thing. Right, Mi-chan?" Akito smiled softly, his tone portraying a serious yet delicate nature that managed to slightly lift Yumi's spirits. "I guess.."
They conversed for a bit more before Yumi declared that it was about time for her to get back by now.
"Oh! Make sure you don't get injured!" Added her mother. "I won't. Don't worry." She earnestly replied back, knowing that she would make sure not to do anything that would make her parents worry.
"We love you, Yumi/Mi-chan!" Both Akito and Chiharu chorused in unison, gleefully at that.
Yumi's lower lip trembled, vision starting to get blurry from the happy tears that threatened to spill. She didn't know how she got so lucky as to find people who unconditionally loved and cared for her. "I love you guys, too."
After she hung up the call, Yumi looked around her to realize that she was awfully close to the stadium by now, and since time was almost up, she decided to directly head back.
The soles of Akano's shoes slapped against the pavement as she rounded one of the corners of the giant structure that was the sports stadium.
Her eyes were occasionally drifting back to her phone to check the time on it. On one of those times of distractions, she found herself accidentally running into someone with a grunt. At the impact, her phone fell to the ground with a thud, causing her eyes to drag down to it as she completely disregarded the person she'd just bumped into. 'Please don't be broken.' She silently hoped, about to bend down to check it when a boy's voice reminded her that there was someone else present. His suave yet gravelly voice was oddly familiar to the red haired girl.
"...Sorry." Todoroki apologized with an unmistakably grim tone as he looked down at the electronic device that rested upon the ground. He shouldn't have been surprised when he mindlessly ran into someone.
He was out of it. His vision distorted and all he saw was red. The conversation Todoroki had with Midoriya just minutes prior had triggered all of his blinding consuming rage -heartbreaking grief for years past -desperation.
So he immediately bent down after that word left his lips, picking up the phone to find that it was surprisingly intact and he stood back up again to face the person he'd just ran into and return it to them. But once he looked at who it was, Shouto held his breath.
The lightest green pools he had ever seen slowly turned to stare back at his mismatched ones.
"It's alright, I wasn't paying attention." Extending out her hand to receive her phone back, Akano said in reply. She recognized the boy to be Todoroki Shouto; their competition during the cavalry battle. She had only seen him from a distance, his bicolored hair being his most distinct feature -white on the right, and a deep crimson on the left. But as she closely inspected his face, she saw a large burn scar on the left side of his face, though what she found herself oddly drawn to was his heterochromatic, grey and turquoise, eyes.
With his eyes boring into hers, she realized how extremely close the two of them were, their chests nearly touching. Yumi was so close to Shouto that she could see as he took a deep and jagged breath in, but it wasn't the only thing she could see once his arm brushed against hers as he attempted to place the phone on her open palm.
It all came crashing in on her at once. An ache began to set in behind her temple. She could hear her own heart beat loud and clear. Flashes of images filled Yumi's head when Shouto's hand grazed hers, and a sharp pain ran through her head concisely.
She was in his mind.
And when Yumi reached into it, all she found was pain.
There was a flicker of the past which was pushed forwards to her, bringing itself to her own brain so she could relive it. And as she stared at him and his static body, the world began to fade away. It faded into something she'd never seen before- but was so, so real she couldn't deny it.
She saw a room -in a home that Shouto never considered a home- he was on the ground, fingers splayed on the floor and bile rose in his throat dripping beside them, staining the wooden floor.When he looked up, there was a man; he was prevalent in each and every one of his haunting memories that Yumi knew who he was even before she heard Shouto utter, "Dad.""Stand up! If you're downed by something like this, forget beating All Might, you won't even be able to take the small fry villains-" His father's harsh abusive voice was interrupted by the only ray of hope Shouto had possessed."Please stop! He's only five!" His mother pleaded desperately, falling onto her knees to hold her coughing son.Endeavor's cold eyes narrowed dangerously at his wife, striking her away and she fell on the ground with a loud thud. "He's already five! Get out of my way!""Mom!"
Yumi felt the pain rushing through her -if not physical, it was an ache in her heart she couldn't soothe. In a heartbeat, she saw everything.
The groggy and tired Shouto could hear his mother's weak fragile voice echoing from inside of the dark kitchen. "I'm going crazy.. Shouto's... That child's left side looks very unsightly to me! I can't raise him anymore! I feel like I shouldn't!" She shook, her voice trembling from fear and anxiety as she spoke on the phone.The, there was a silence that was only filled by the whistling of the pot of boiling water."M...Mom...?" He stuttered, a shiver running down his spine when his mother snapped her head towards him and she glared at him with a shocking hatred and loathing.Splash!
"Where's Mom?" Shouto asked his father. His voice was as weak as his physical and mental state. The left side of his face was throbbing with pain, begging for him to scratch at it which would only add to his agony.
But that was nothing to the ache he felt in his heart."She injured you so I put her in a hospital.""It's your fault..."Huh?""You're the one who made Mom..!" Shouto yelled at at a loud volume to tune out the sound of his own jagged breathing and raging palpitations.Head in his hands, reluctant tears leaking of both sadness and rage were pouring down his bandaged pale skin that was ripped and bruised.
And when she flinched, the memories were lost.
Yumi wanted to retch. What kind of father. No. What kind of man would do this to his family? What kind of mother would do this to her son?
She felt a weight settle on her chest and a knot bending in her stomach.
The things she'd just witnessed when she touched Todoroki felt as real as if she were seeing them through the boy's eyes, feeling whatever he was feeling. It was like he was purposely showing her what happened to him, projecting all of his traumatic experiences. Those painful moments were constantly flashing before him, as if they were the only memories he possessed.
Without meaning to, without trying, Yumi knew. She knew that Todoroki was begging to be helped, to be pulled out of his constant misery.
"Here." Todoroki's voice wrung her out of his own inner wanders, and she felt the weight of her smartphone as it rested against her hand.
Yumi blinked at his heterochromatic eyes, her vision turning blurry from the thickening tear film of her own. While she felt that a long time had passed as she delved into his head, in actuality it'd been less than a fraction of a second. And part of her still envisioned the pain and abuse.
It seemed so real.
"Th-thanks." She stuttered, feeling her own voice choking up in her throat as it tightened further.
The bicolor-haired teenager was taken aback at her sudden change in demeanor. And if that wasn't enough, he felt her other hand grasp his as he began to move away. He flinched, mouth falling open. The touch took him by surprise but after composing himself he realized it hadn't really bothered him. If anything the soft touch had been soothing... to the point of gentleness. It caused an unknown warmth to radiate through his body. Wait...
"...Are you going to let go?" Furrowing his brows at her in question, Todoroki continued to eye her suspiciously.
Yumi remained quiet. It felt like every time she tried to form words, they'd buffer and stutter and they'd be shoved back down her throat, and in a moment of disorientation, she inhaled sharply.
After a few seconds, Todoroki realized that she was frozen in place, with no intention of actually loosening her grip on his hand or even explaining why she'd balantly done so. Determinedly, he squirmed under her touch, trying to untangle himself from her, and he successfully did.
"Well, then." After releasing a deep sigh at this rather confusing and awkward encounter, Todoroki turned around and began to walk away, but not before sparing her one last glance.
As she stood in place, Todoroki Shouto somberly eased his way through the dull stony fixings of the stadium.
Yumi wanted to shrug it off, she wanted to go about her day as though she hadn't seen anything, as though she hadn't felt all these years worth of agony, pain, and anger of his rushing through her all at once like a furious wave. But a part of her, one that was filled with so much pain and odd familiarity with him, held her feet to the ground, eyes glued to the sorrowful outline of the dual-color haired boy as he walked away.
'You're wrong..'
Her hands shook as she stayed planted to the ground, her spine aching at the rigid position she was in. As the sob she'd held back continued to claw its way out, Yumi felt as though she couldn't breath. "What the hell?" Just as she released those words, so did the tears she'd held back. Her cheeks instantly stained with them as they continued to drain out of her eyes, and her lips trembled at her choked breathing.
'You're all wrong..'
Yumi's heart raced within its ribcage, feeling the emotions she'd just received crushing her over with the heaviness of their weight. She'd felt so utterlyalone within this moment, abandoned in deep dark pit from which there was no climbing out.
"Uhh, Akano-san?! A-are you okay?!"
Yumi whipped her head into the direction of the flustered Midoriya Izuku, her eyes snapping wide open at the sudden company. "E-eh?"
Apparently, he had walked past her as grief overflowed her eyes, tears running down her reddened cheeks. Izuku had even made a rather loud startled noise mixed with a wheeze, caught off guard by the sight her crying. But she'd completely missed his presence as it went by unnoticed for the last few moments.
Immediately, her clenched hands raised up to her face in an attempt to wipe away the tears or even hide them from the green haired boy. "Y-yeah." She uncharacteristically stammered, feeling slightly embarrassed to be caught at a vulnerable time such as this. She breathed in and out slowly and deeply before quickly masking her inner turmoil.
'I distanced myself not because I was heartless... Not because I didn't feel anything...'
"I guess I'm just feeling nervous about the next event, that's all." She lied through her teeth. She saw that he was still hesitant to believe her, his eyes flashing with worry for her.
"O-oh, is that so.." He trailed off, lips pressed together tightly. "At any case, g-good luck on the next round!" Midoriya exclaimed, his initial shock of finding his former teammate crying her eyes out still not leaving him as he stuttered.
"Thanks. You, too." As she clenched her fists by her side, an unidentifiably fake smile rose to the corners of Yumi's lips. He returned the gesture, but his only revealed concern.
'But because I felt too much. I felt everything.'
A/N:-
Heey another update Hopefully it was a good one... Your supportive comments are what are encouraging to keep writing ️
So that was the first meeting between Todoroki andn Jean! Opinions? What do you think/hope will happen from then on?
By the way, that scene where she enters Todoroki's head and sees his memories is partially inspired by the very first X-men movie where Jean helps out Logan retrieve his lost memories. Yumi can go through people's memories and even manipulate them so long she's given time and is close enough to said person's memories. Don't worry if, you're confused regarding the telepathic range of Jean's power, I'll publish an individual info chapter soon explaining all of her abilities.