Summary: (featuring fem!Shinsou) A wonderful dream. A terrible reality. We can't help what our heart longs for.
Prompts: (Alternate Prompt) Losing track of time/ Long term coma/ "Was I...dreaming?" for the @whumperless-whump-event
Warnings: Child abuse
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“Oh! Look who’s home!”
“Dad!”
Hitomi set her coloring aside, scurrying as fast as her little legs could carry her to the front door. There Dad stood, still in his costume, unwinding his capture scarf from around his neck. She practically slammed into him, wrapping her arms around his knees.
Dad let out a soft huff of laughter, his hand settling on the top of her head. “Hey kid, I take it you missed me?”
She nodded. Of course she missed him, he was gone all day! She let go of his legs, reaching her arms up to him. Dad obliged, stooping down and lifting her up into his arms. Once she was level with him, Hitomi wrapped her arms around his neck. Dad held her close, one hand settled against her back. He turned his face to lightly rub his chin against her cheek, his stubble making her giggle.
“I guess we know who the favorite is,” a teasing voice sang out.
Hitomi lifted her head to see Papa walking over to them, his green eyes dancing with mirth from behind his glasses. She pouted.
“You’re my favorite, too, Papa,” she insisted. She liked them both so much. She couldn’t choose just one favorite!
“You want us to share the #1 spot, huh?” Papa mused, leaning against Dad’s side, “I guess I don’t mind topping the charts as a winning duo!”
Dad tilted his head, a teasing smirk on his face, “with how much you’d hog the spotlight, I think it’d still look like a solo act.”
“Hey!”
Dad and Papa continued to tease each other for a few moments while Hitomi listened, her head resting on Dad’s shoulder. They looked so happy, so fond as they looked at each other. And when they turned their eyes back to her, that fondness didn’t dissipate.
“By the way, our little kitty cat has something exciting to tell you,” Papa told Dad with one of his big, big smiles.
Dad looked at Hitomi, his dark eyes full of interest and curiosity. “What is it, kid?”
Hitomi curled in on herself, suddenly feeling shy. “Um…”
Papa’s hand rested atop her head, soothingly brushing his fingers through her long, purple locks. “C’mon little listener, I know your dad’s gonna be so stoked when he hears your big announcement!”
She smiled softly, feeling encouraged. She perked up and told her dad the news, “I got my quirk today!”
Dad wasn’t a very expressive man, but she could see how his eyes lit up and filled with so much warmth at what she told him. His arms around her tightened as he held her close, “that’s great news, Hitomi,” he told her, giving her one of his rare toothy smiles.
“And it’s one rockin’ quirk, too!” Papa enthused, the happiness and pride on his face so bright it was nearly blinding. “Tell ‘im, Hitomi!”
Again, Hitomi felt shy and unsure. She ducked her head, playing with the fabric of Dad’s shirt, “um, it’s…it’s called…Brainwashing…” she informed him, a seed of anxiety forming in her stomach. What if Dad got upset? What if he thought she was bad now?
But he dispelled all her fears, for all he said was, “impressive,” then he pressed a kiss into the top of her head, “I’m sure you’ll do great things with it.”
Her heart swelled up with hope and she chanced a peek up at him, “you think so? You don’t think it’s…bad?”
Dad’s gaze softened, and he smiled gently, “I told you, kid, quirks can’t be good or bad, it’s how a person uses it that matters. You’re a good kid, and I have no doubt that you’ll use your quirk wisely.”
“And if anyone tries to tell you otherwise, you can send them my way and I’ll take care of ‘em,” Papa added with a little wink, but she could tell he really meant it.
Hitomi beamed. She couldn’t help but feel so unbelievably lucky, looking at her parents who obviously believed in her. Who adored her and each other, who were loving and shared their warmth and comfort. She felt warm, safe, and happy.
Papa snapped his fingers, “I think this calls for a celebration!” he announced, stepping back and striking a dramatic pose. “It’s not every day your kiddo gets their quirk, ya know!”
Dad hummed in agreement, nodding his head. He looked back down at Hitomi. “Sounds good. We could go to that cat cafe you like once you wake up.”
Hitomi smiled and went to answer, but paused. Something about what he said caught her attention. “Once I…wake up?”
Dad nodded, but something was wrong. His expression was off, a concerned, tired frown on his face. “Don’t you think it’s about time you woke up, kid?” his voice sounded muffled, the world started to tilt.
Hitomi couldn’t speak, confused and scared. The light and colors around her seemed strange, the sounds and sensations were wrong.
“Wake up, Shinsou!” suddenly, Papa was closer than he had been before. His expression was pained. “C’mon, kid. Don’t go quittin’ on us now.”
“Please, Shinsou.”
Dad hovered over her. He was desperately grasping her hand. “We’re all waiting for you, kid. Just open your eyes. Come on, Shinsou. Wake-”
Up.
Hitomi’s eyes snapped open, and for a moment, there was disorientation and confusion at the sudden shift in scenery. She was in a bed, but that was all she really understood about her situation. Her mind couldn’t comprehend the shapes and sounds around her, the sensations of her own body. All she could do was lie there as her mind worked to detangle itself.
For a while, she struggled to make sense of what was real and what wasn’t. Had that all just been a dream? But it felt so real, and so lovely.
A feeling of longing came over her, and it was so powerful it made her chest ache. It was then she realized that everything, in fact, ached.
Her body felt as heavy as lead, and there wasn’t an inch of her that didn’t register pain to some extent. Her mouth was dry and her throat felt shredded. Her head pounded with a persistent, dull ache.
She groaned, confused, in pain, and in an unfamiliar place. She started trying to push herself up, but was stopped by a pair of hands gently guiding her back down. She was too weak, too in pain, to really fight it, and when she settled back down, she looked up to see a familiar face looking down at her.
Dad. No, that wasn’t right-
“Aizawa?” she croaked, blinking sluggishly.
“Kid,” he breathed, and she had never seen him look so raw before. His face was wrought with emotion, a mix of relief and sadness. While he always looked tired, he looked downright haggard now, dark circles under his eyes that rivaled her own, hair unkempt, and his stubble well on its way to an actual beard. He studied her face like he was scared he would forget what it looked like, which only added to her confusion.
“Where-” she paused, licking her lips, “where am I?” she asked him.
Aizawa stared down at her with a grave expression, “you’re in the hospital.”
Her eyes widened, and the fog in her brain cleared up enough that she was able to take in more details of her surroundings. The medical equipment she was attached to, the hospital bed she was resting in. The bandages. The cast.
Reality was setting in, so far from that pleasant dream she had just woken up from.
She opened her mouth, about to ask more questions, when she heard the sound of a door opening, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
“She’s awake?” a familiar voice asked, followed by footsteps and suddenly there was Yamada, also looking worse for wear and almost as though he might cry. “Shinsou! Oh, thank God.” His frantic hands hovered over her, afraid to touch her, before he settled for placing a gentle hand lightly on her wrist. He gave her a wobbly smile and it all just felt so surreal to her.
She’d never seen her teachers look at her the way they were right now. She’d never seen anyone look at her the way they were right now.
“Hey, listener,” Yamada’s voice was so so soft, it made her throat feel strangely tight. “Good to see you’ve come back to us.”
Hitomi swallowed, taking in the somber looks of both men, and brought herself to ask another question, “…what happened?” She knew now that she was in a hospital, and she knew just from how she was feeling that it must be serious, but she was currently drawing up a blank.
Aizawa and Yamada shared a look. She didn’t like that look.
“There was an… incident,” Aizawa said delicately after mulling over his words. There was something fiery and tightly restrained in his expression, “at your foster home.”
Ah.
And just like that, Hitomi remembered, bits and pieces steadily coming together in a terrible puzzle. The months of hell that finally culminated in one devastating breaking point. The yelling, the thrown dishes, the broken furniture. The escalation.
The hand outstretched toward her.
The staircase.
She sucked in a shuddering breath, something heavy in her chest. Aizawa was speaking to her, saying something about wanting to know exactly what happened, but looking up at the two men in the room with her, Hitomi found her mind wandering. Back to that stupid dream she had just woken up from.
That stupid, pathetic, embarrassing dream. Of a life she never had. Of loving, caring parents who held her gently and thought the world of her. It was so far from the reality that she actually lived in that it felt cruel, taunting.
In reality, the people who she lived with hated and feared her. In reality, she was nothing but a waste of space and a drain of resources to those people. In reality, she could have never woken up and they wouldn’t have cared at all.
In reality, Dad and Papa were just Aizawa and Yamada. Her teachers, and nothing more. Never more.
“Hey, hey now,” Yamada soothed. He was brushing his thumb over Hitomi’s cheek and she realized at some point, she’d started crying. “We’re here, kitty cat, you don’t have to worry anymore.”
Aizawa laid a hand over hers, “you’re not going back there. We’re going to make sure of it.”
“He won’t hurt you ever again. We’re gonna keep you safe.”
She closed her eyes, continuing to shed her tears. Maybe they thought she was crying from what happened to her, and yes, that was part of it, but she kept thinking back to that dream and the longing that threatened to tear her heart to pieces. That sweet, perfect dream that was so far away from anything she could ever hope to have.
“Well, if we are talking about ships, I we should really put the Dreadway in A tier just because of Gangplank alone. I guess that leaves the Leviathan in B tier , as it was easily captured so that knocks it down a level”
“Of course, all Piltover ships are S+ tier, that goes without saying, our technology is too far advanced in comparison to other places. Now, if we talk about the Syren...”
The sheriff has yet to understand this is not the type of ships everyone is talking about
