a/n: Izumo is one salty mf and I love her. XD Thank you for commenting/reading!
Prompt: "It wouldn't hurt to try." / babysitting
"I can't believe this is happening," Izumo deadpanned, fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. "This is so stupid."
And she was right—this was absolutely ridiculous, standing here, with her arms full of stuffed plushies—one a bear, and the other a cat. What was she, five? Not to mention, it was all that damned Suguro's fault for roping them into this. He'd gone and scared off that stupid kid with his shouting, and now they were stuck desperately trying to get her to come out of hiding.
Honestly. She could be home right now, eating a hot meal and preparing a nice bath. But no, she couldn't leave until they returned this girl to her guardians.
What a pain.
"Are you even sure this will work, Rin?" Moriyama asked timidly, looking around uncertainly as if expecting the child to pop up out of nowhere.
"Even if it doesn't, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try," Rin answered casually.
Pfft. That was easy for him to say. He wasn't the one walking around with humiliating kid toys (ok, so maybe the cat one was cute, but that was beside the point). Nor was he the one who spent money on a baked good from the café across the street in an attempt to coax the girl out of hiding. God, this was so annoying.
"What kind of kid would resist stuffed animals and a treat?" Shima said, shaking the tiny paper bag gently as he spoke.
"I'll give you a hint," Suguro said. "She's standing in front of you, holding said stuffed animals with a pissed-off look on her face."
Izumo's brow twitched. "I heard that."
"Yeah, and you were meant to."
An agitated sound left her lips and she shot Suguro a cold look. "I wouldn't be so sassy if I were you. This is your damn fault. You had to go and raise your voice."
"How was I supposed to know she was already separated from her mom? And I wasn't yelling at her, either," Suguro said. "I was talking to Okumura—"
"Now, guys," Miwa said hesitantly, hands coming up in a peaceful gesture. "Let's not argue. If she's nearby, we don't want to scare her off anymore."
"I hope she's still nearby," Moriyama murmured, with a hint of concern. "This area is pretty full of people. What if she got hurt, or taken by someone who wasn't one of her parents?"
"Don't worry, Shiemi," Rin continued with a relaxed nod. "I know where she went."
"If you know where she went, then what are we doing, still standing here?" Izumo snapped, frowning.
Rin was not deterred by the ice in her voice. He shot them a lazy, carefree grin. "Because if we all go over there at once, it might scare her. We have to do this carefully."
Izumo bit back a frosty retort. It wasn't like he had much experience with young children, but then, neither did she. Izumo couldn't even call him out without looking a little silly herself.
"Whatever," she decided to say, tightening her grip on the two stuffed animals she was still carrying.
Rin continued to wait patiently, slowly taking the paper bag from Shima. Izumo tapped her foot with noticeably less patience but remained silent despite her irritation. She supposed she should be used to getting into situations like this by now. It happened all the damn time. If her classmates were together in a place that wasn't their cram school classroom, then she should have known they were going to get into some kind of trouble.
"Maybe you should stay back here, Suguro," Rin said finally, with a determined nod. "Since you're the one who scared her."
"I told you that I—"
"Yeah, I know." Rin waved his hand distractedly. Flippantly. "But still. I'm going to go try to talk to her on my own—wait. Actually, Shiemi, maybe you could come with me. You're friendly enough."
"Are you calling the rest of us unfriendly?" Shima accused, pretending to look hurt. "Okumura-kun. How rude."
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Rin said with a good-natured eye roll. "Shiemi? Are you ok with that?"
"Um, sure," she answered. "Kamiki-san? Can I have the toys?"
Izumo dropped them into her open hands like they were filthy. "They're all yours."
She watched as the two of them slowly crossed the street. Watched as Rin knelt down in front of some sort of street stand, but they were now far enough away that she couldn't hear a word he was saying. Nor did she hear what Moriyama was saying to the street vendor, who was nodding, his expression slightly grim.
Izumo half-expected to be waiting here for a while. It had already taken the better part of twenty minutes to get the toys and food as bait, but they didn't know if the girl would just come right out and—
Izumo's eyes widened ever-so-slightly when a tiny child came crawling out from the table that she was hiding under, regarding Rin with just a breath of hesitation before flinging herself into his arms.
Well. Izumo stood corrected.
Moriyama bowed quickly to the street vendor before gently handing the girl the plush cat. Rin drew himself up to his full height, securing the child on his hip as she happily took her first bite of a lukewarm cookie, before turning to head back towards them.
Wait a minute. She knew that look on his face. He was about to ask them for a favor or some shit.
"Hey, guys," Rin said cheekily. "So, ready for the next step?"
"Next step?" Shima echoed. "What does that mean?"
"Well, we have to find her parents."
Izumo had to suppress a groan. Right. She already knew this, but it was still annoying. Why couldn't Rin and Moriyama do it by themselves, since the girl seemed to like them so much? Izumo was not a babysitter.
"Alright." Miwa was walking diligently toward Rin, a kind smile on his face. "Can you tell us where your mother could have gone? Were you on an errand? What's your name?"
The girl's fingers fisted into Rin's shirt, and she buried her face into Rin's shoulder in a way that was totally not cute. Not at all. Rin murmured, "Her name is Nao."
"Ok, Nao," Miwa tried again. He continued speaking in that same voice, asking questions very gently until Nao was whispering things near Rin's ear that Izumo couldn't quite catch.
Oh, brother. This was going to take a while.