Suzumi noticed the boy hovering about her peripherals long before he himself noticed. He was sitting in the plastic chairs in the corner, quietly sneaking glances at him. The Todoroki boy, if she remembered correctly, was one of Akemi's classmates, her friend, and he was one of the whitenesses to... to her daughter's kidnapping.
It pains her to think that her daughter is now gone. Not by her side or anywhere that she can trust, and instead somewhere unknown and dangerous, with dangerous people in a dangerous situation. It sends a phantom ache through her and it physically hurts. But there isn't much she can do right now, but trust that her daughter can get out of this alive. Trust that her teachers will get this right, trust that the authorities will find her alright.
But there are things she can do as well, matters she can take into her own hands. Kimura Suzumi has always been a kind person, or so she's been told. And where she sees a child hurting, she can never ignore.
She doesn't approach him right away. From what Akemi's told her she knows that Todoroki Shouto is a teen who likes his space and privacy, he shared something with Akemi which made them great friends. Akemi's keeping it from her but who doesn't have secrets? Everyone has their own secrets, and Suzumi trusts Akemi to tell her by her own accords.
She waited a good long while before finally walking to the boy's side. Finishing up the paperworks and documents, debriefing sections and meetings with police, it was tiring, but knowing about what's going to be done comforts her, a little. However when she walked out of the office, expecting the dual-colored -haired boy to be gone, picked up by a parent or left himself, the assumption was proving wrong instantly. As the boy was sitting there, in a different seat but still the general area, fists gripped in his lap and eyes shadowed, face a little too blank and shoulders too tense.
She gave him a little more time. Suzumi is a passive person, she liked to let people approach and ask for help by their own accord, instead of butting head-first into the problem. Akemi's like her in a way, pretty much silent, but she's more cunning, making you ask the questions she wanted you to, so she can give you the speech you needed. The push you needed to really ask her for help.
If she was Akemi, she can just walk over and offer whatever that would comfort him. A drink, some company, and maybe a hug. They're close enough that Akemi can stroll over and smack him over the head to snap him out of whatever it is, and the boy probably won't feel offended. Suzumi can't be sure, however, being away most of the time, she is never sure.
But Suzumi isn't Akemi, so she simply sat several rows away from Todoroki Shouto.
She didn't speak, not at all. She just sat there, sipping her canned coffee and silently waited for the boy to speak up. The sun's almost risen by now, and the boy looks tired. Very, very tired. His eyes are droopy and though his face was stoic, the look in his eyes betrayed him. Too dull, too faded, too unfocused.
She waited a while. And really she was about to strike up a conversation herself if the boy didn't speak. But in the end, there was footsteps as Suzumi stared down at her can of coffee, and she looked up to see Todoroki-kun, looking at her, a conflicted look in his eyes.
"I..." He spoke up, uncertain, "Kimura-san, I..."
"I heard." She said lightly. It was clear that speaking about the incident hurled him, "You were there, right?" He nodded, "I'm sorry you have to see that... Forgive me for being selfish, but in the same time, I'm glad Akemi wasn't alone."
"No- No, I..." His voice sounded dry, hoarse, "I could've caught her. I didn't. I'm sorry."
"Maybe you could have." Suzumi agreed, voice soft, "Maybe you couldn't. No one will know. It's all over now, and I won't blame you." She looks into the boy's hetrochrometic eyes, and offered him a soft smile, "Sit down, will you? You look tired."
Tired would be an understatement. The boy looks exhausted. Perhaps he is a hero course student, perhaps he is the son of a renowned hero, but that doesn't mean a lot in this situation, he is still, just a child. (And how painful it is, to see a child like this, so down, so lost, so broken.) His movements were vaguely robotic as he slowly sat down, slumping over in the pale-colored plastic chair. The smell of sterilization and alcohol was neither unpleasant nor was it not, but instead held a consistent, calming presence.
At times like these, times where everything goes to hell and nothing is familiar anymore, something with consistency was in a way, calming. Even if it's usually unpleasant. Humans dislike inconsistency, they dislike the unpredictable and the unknown, so the opposite is, naturally, comforting. Suzumi gently gazed towards the boy, he's tall, taller than her. But Suzumi is pretty short so that wasn't much of a surprise.
"I..." Todoroki-kun's voice trembles as it left him, but otherwise it sounded calm. But that just made Suzumi even more worried. She knows that some children grow more aloof, to hide their emotions, but for someone, a child, to not break under this pressure, all of this... What kind of childhood did he have? With such a powerful father, he must really feel the pressure to do well.
Did he even have a childhood afterall?
Suzumi blinked at the unexpected thought, but shook it off. What it implied was big. Really big. And though to possible, another whole can of worms that shouldn't be dealt with now. It's just suspicion, after all, and there are more urgent matters at hand.
"How are you so calm?" Todoroki-kun's question snapped her out of her thoughts, His eyes are locked at her face, lost and confusion clear in his eyes. "How are you so... composed? Akemi was just kidnapped."
Suzumi blinks slightly, now this' unexpected.
"She might be dead." He said, voice hallow.
Suzumi doesn't speak for a long time. She stared silent for a long, long time, but it was quite deafening. "I'm not," She replies, softly, "And she might be." The possibility had always been hovering around the back of her mind, she's conscious of it, and it scared her, but... "But what can I do?" She turned again to gaze into the boy's eyes, which stared right back without flinching.
"You just..." He sounded like his throat is dry. So dry and hoarse and hallow. "You looked like you gave up."
Suzumi stared at the boy. For several long moments, she didn't look away. She didn't know what to say, really, her mindset is hard to explain, people find it hard to understand how Suzumi thinks, but ironically Suzumi finds it incredibly easy to see things objectively, in another person's shoes.
It's something she thought Akemi early on, in life.
"It's different, you know," she finally spoke, after much thought and consideration, "To give up, and to accept."
He flinches, it was subtle, barely a twitch of his lids, but still, a flinch. He broke the gaze and looked away, hands wringing together and trembling in his lap.
"You sounded like Akemi just now." Todoroki-kun mumbled.
"Pretty sure it's the opposite." Suzumi smiles fondly, staring at the wall without much of a care.
"You looked like her, too." Todoroki-kun said under his breath, voice low and muffled as he dug his palms into his eyes, "the look on your face, it was just like Akemi's when she was..." He paused, gulping, "When she was taken."
Ah.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Suzumi said softly. "What kind of person do you think Akemi's like?"
Todoroki-kun blinks, startled. He stared at her for a moment, before his eyes drifted off in thought.
"She's cheerful." He stated. "Energetic. Not afraid to challenge. Creative?" He looked up at her for confirmation, and Suzumi nodded encouragingly, "she's... a little lazy."
Suzumi laughed a little, "Selectively lazy, you mean?"
"Selectively lazy." The small smile of Todoroki-kun's face comforts her as well, it's always nice to see a smile. "She's dramatic, but easy going and sensitive, and... " He paused, "She is very stubborn."
Suzumi nods.
"My daughter is different from most of you." Suzumi said softly, "She isn't like most student in the hero course. She doesn't want a legacy, she doesn't really want to save people— not in this way, at least." She added hastily as the boy shot her a look of disbelief, "She's in her own way, a little selfish, a little over-the-top, a little crazy and quite proud of it." Suzumi leaned back, "But one thing you need to understand about Akemi, is that she don't take things personally."
Todoroki's eyes clouded over like he was thinking, and Suzumi watches the exact moment he realizes what she's talking about.
"You mean..." the boy paused, an incredulous look taking over, "But she was kidnapped-"
"Akemi have always prioritized a person's mentality over their actions." Suzumi said gently, "It's just how she is- she accepted the outcome for her that moment, she's just trying to do damage control."
"She looked like she's given up." Todoroki whispered. She can see that he's pressing his palms even harder into his sockets now, holding back something. A crack, a sob, maybe tears. "It just..."
"It scared you." Suzumi gently stood, then knelt down in front of the boy, which all a sudden looked a lot smaller than herself. She didn't reach out to pull away his hands, she didn't touch him at all. She just knelt there, gazing at him until he diceded to look up.
"You just have to do what you can here," Suzumi smiled, "Do whatever you can, wherever you are, and trust the others to do the same."
"Trust Akemi to do the same."
A while later, as her driver came to pick her up, as Suzumi rounded the corner to leave the boy in the empty hospital lobby, muffled, wheezing sobs reach her ears.
Suzumi feels heart break just a little more.
Current Poll Results~ (from both the poll and the reviews)
Akemi's paring:
Todoroki Shouto: 23
Midoriya Izuku: 7
Ueno Hibiki: 7
Bakugou Katsuki: 4
Iida Tenya: 3
Iida Tensei: 1
Kaminari Denki: 1
Seiba Hiroi: 0
Others (Please state in review!)
Hibiki's pairing:
Shinsou Hitoshi: 8
Kimura Akemi: 7
Iida Tenya: 4
Midoriya Izuku: 0
Seiba Hiroi: 0
Todoroki Shouto: 0
Others (Please state in review!)
I'M SO SORRY.
My phone and iPad was confiscated and I couldn't work on anything for a long time, so this is a double update. AHHH Angsty Shouto is just so heart breaking to write!!!
Onto the comment(s)!
To darkpaladin89: Imma have Hibiki be comforted by Marmy, would you mind if he's Shinsou's cat? :D
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https/discord.gg/2S7Cy4R
