ʏᴀɴɴɪ | ᴏ.ꜱʜᴏᴛᴀʀᴏ

-Surrogate-

Both you and Shotaro froze upon hearing the sudden question, and while Shotaro blinked at his mother, you slowly shook your head. "N-Nah. This our first time meetin', ma'am, I promise you."

"What brought this on all of a sudden, Mama?" Shotaro softly asked his mother, tilting his head.

"I can't help it...! I just get this strange sense of...familiarity...when I look at her..." Suzuka explained. "If we've never met, then how come...how come this feeling I have keeps growing...?"

"I couldn't tell you..." Shotaro shrugged a shoulder, his hand still holding yours. "You two have never met before, like she said..."

"Maybe..." You trailed off for a moment, drawing a certain conclusion in your head. "Maybe I remind you of somebody you know...?"

Suzuka paused, her eyes steadily growing wider every other second. "Yes...Yes, that's exactly it!" She exclaimed, dropping her fork on the table with a soft clink. "I know how abrupt it is to ask this, Shotaro, but...do you, by any chance...remember Kiko...?"

"Of course, I do..." Shotaro slowly nodded. "How could I not remember her? She was one of the few good things I had in my childhood..."

"What do you remember most about her?" Suzuka went on to ask, watching her son's gaze go out of focus as an image of Kiko grinning at him flashed through his mind.

"I...remember her eyes the most..." Shotaro started. "Every time I looked at them, I remember feeling at peace; they were just...always full of energy and life, and they radiated..."

"I remember the way she used to carry herself..." Suzuka softly reflected. "A quiet, yet strong storm of emotions; passionate about those she cared about...I cared for that little girl like she was my own daughter. Had the softest voice you could find in Kanagawa, you would think she was a mute, but that laugh..."

You heard the woman chuckle bitterly and watched her eyes fall shut. "Oh, that laugh...it had enough energy to light up an entire ballroom. I hadn't seen you as happy and lively as you were with her...well...until now, that is."

When Suzuka's eyes reopened, they immediately landed on you, and though you couldn't tell right then and there, she was struck with a powerful emotion the more she looked at you. She couldn't quite pinpoint what it was she was feeling, but the longer she stared, the more she began to see Kiko in you.

Your calm nature, soft voice, delicate features, and the way your eyes gaze endearingly at her son just confirmed it all for her.

"That's who you remind me so much of..." Her voice trembled, and a few tears came trickling down her cheeks, but they weren't tears of anguish; rather, nostalgic grief. "I'm sorry, just...give me a moment..." Suzuka held a shaky hand over her mouth, expelling an equally shaky sigh.

"Mama..." Shotaro's eyes softened exponentially at his mother, resting his free hand gently on her shoulder in a consoling manner.

Now, you weren't always the best people reader, but it didn't take a brain chemist to understand how badly the two of them missed that girl. From the stories Shotaro shared with you, to his mother literally breaking down in tears in front of you, Kiko sounded real impactful for them both.

Had the circumstances been different, you would've loved to meet her. Perhaps – just perhaps – you and Dee could've gotten along with her and Shotaro and formed your own little clique.

But, as the saying goes, life has a strange way of fucking with you.

You flipped your free hand over with the palm facing up and towards Suzuka, silently implying she place her hand in yours. "I may not have known Kiko, but I heard the way he would talk about her." You motioned with your head to Shotaro. "And hearin' you speak on her the way you did, somethin's tellin' me she held y'all close to her heart too."

Suzuka hesitated for a split second, but once her hand was in yours, you continued talking. "Now, there wasn't a lot of people in my life who showed me they cared. Hell, I ain't even all that good at expressin' myself with words. But to the ones that did, I've tried my damndest to show my appreciation to 'em..."

"Ya son here's a prime example of that." You used the hand that Shotaro was holding to point at him. "He took me in when he knew he ain't have to; gave me my own space; always makin' sure I'm fed and at ease...Anybody else would see me and assume I didn't need support or...proper attention 'cause I was always on my own, day in and day out...He saw right through all that, though."

Shotaro now had his eyes on you, his mouth slightly agape as he listened to you. He seemed in shock; this was probably the most he'd ever heard you speak, but he could tell you were legit, speaking straight from the soul.

You had this certain glint in your irises – whether it was determination, gratitude, or even a mix of both, he wasn't able to properly decipher it. His mother appeared to take note of it as well, a flash of recognition in her respective eyes.

"You raised a damn good son." You squeezed Suzuka's hand slightly, shaking your head. "I don't even think he realizes how many lives he been savin' just from bein' who he is..."

You soon trailed off, floating your gaze back to Shotaro as your voice softened noticeably. "...Includin' mine..." The last part of your sentence came out as a mutter, barely missing both Shotaro and Suzuka's ears. He offered you a warm, reassuring smile as a form of response to your speech.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Suzuka stood from her seat to approach you, stretching out her arms a little. "Stand up, darling." She implored you, and it didn't sound like she had any bad intentions, so you obliged her, rising out of your chair to meet her height.

Then, she wrapped her arms around you in a loose, yet motherly embrace, settling her hands on the middle of your back and behind your head. The suddenness of the action shocked you into a statue-esque stance, the only part of your body physically able to move being your eyes, since they cut down to Shotaro, as if silently asking him what you should do.

'Cause like...fuck, man – your own mother hadn't hugged you since you were like, four or five, and – aside from earlier with Shotaro – the last time you had a meaningful embrace with someone was New Year's Eve. Even that felt like a lifetime ago...

It wasn't like your face was masking your surprise either; you gave off the impression of a caveman discovering what a MacBook looks like for the first time – eyes wide and rapidly blinking, mouth hanging open a bit, and letting out a soft, startled noise once Suzuka's arms fully encased you.

Shotaro found your reaction sort of funny and giggled, mouthing the words, "Go on" in English to you, knowing his mother doesn't go around hugging just anyone.

"You are more than welcome in our family, Yanni. If there's anything you ever need, you can count on me, not just as a woman," Suzuka assured you, lightly tightening her hold. "But a surrogate mother as well."

You let out a nearly inaudible gasp at her words and the sincerity in her voice, a gentleness your mother never really showed you. Your vision began to blur with unshed tears while her declaration rang through your head, your arms soon moving to wrap around Suzuka's midsection in the manner of a small child.

"I...I appreciate that..." You muttered against her shoulder, finally relaxing into the hug. "Means more to me than you know..."

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