Chapter Text
It was there once again. Kiki stared at the dirt encrusting her usually pristine white carpet in front of her bed. It was a nauseating sight for something so small. As silly and perhaps a self centered thought Kiki had was that someone was possibly breaking in or worse, watching her. The average person would find such a concept delusional. Kiki? Kiki of all people was someone worth watching?
Nobody in the normal sense wanted her. Although a bold assumption to think that they were stalking her for pure intentions.
‘A bold assumption to think it was happening, period.’ Kiki mused, a sinking feeling in her stomach continuing to rapidly sink lower. She bounced her knee, the cool morning breeze from her slightly drifting across her cold sweated skin.
The scent of powdery floral air freshener felt suffocating as Kiki kept looking back and forth at the dirt. Maybe she forgot to clean her school shoes? No, those were clean. As if Kiki would forget to clean when knowing how uptight Mrs. Suki was. Coral eyes hesitantly drifted toward the top of Kiki’s nightstand. A little sticky note on top of her Alice In Wonderland book alongside a half eaten pack of Strawberry Hichews.
‘Maybe Mr. or Mrs. Suki left me a note?’ It wasn’t uncommon for them to be up early for their work so Kiki could possibly be left alone. The alarm clock read “6:08” PM, a fairly reasonable time.
‘Just pick it up and read, it’s not gonna bite.’ Kiki internally coaxed, eyes watching it flicker in the morning breeze. Kiki grabbed and another sickeningly lukewarm shock vibrated through her body.
‘Alice In Wonderland? I must say you have exquisite taste, my Dear Child!’ It wasn’t Mr or Mrs Suki’s handwriting that much Kiki could recognize. Not to mention how overly enthusiastic it was! Kiki chewed her lip nervously, immediately stopping when feeling it sting and a coppery tang seeping in her mouth. How does she go about this?! What the heck does she do? Telling her foster parents would be a logical choice but would they believe her?
They’d probably laugh or something. Safest neighborhood in the country! Impossible for someone to be sneaking in regularly and stalking her.
Kiki tried to return to sleep but it was all in vain. She ended up staring at her ceiling for a few hours until she was interrupted by Mrs. Suki. The older woman dressed in more casual clothing and smelt of cleaning products.
“Oh you’re awake!” She observed, Kiki merely blinked and waited for the woman to observe the dirt enmeshed in the carpet. Mrs. Suki was about to say something only to notice the dirt. Her wrinkled face squinched in disgust as she let out a loud scoff. “Ugh! You know we didn’t have to open up our doors to you! It wouldn’t hurt to not leave a mess wherever you go.” Mrs. Suki scolded. “My Hijiri would’ve never disrespected his home like this.” Kiki sat up, deciding to make her thoughts known.
“I… I didn’t leave that though, ma’am.” Kiki stated softly. “Someone must’ve been in here because I always clean up my shoes.” She explained. Mrs. Suki looked at Kiki like the girl had three heads, Kiki immediately averted her gaze.
‘Gosh darn it, I should’ve just owned up to it.’ Kiki thought as Mrs. Suki scoffed again, throwing her hands to her side. “Then who did? The boogeyman? For goodness sake, you’re too damn old to be saying such nonsense.” Mrs. Suki snapped, shaking her head.
“Whatever, just get this cleaned up and freshen up for the day. Your social worker is coming for a visit.” She announced. Kiki nodded, her knee bouncing rapidly. “And stop doing that! You’re acting like I hit you.” Kiki ceased her bouncing, looking up at the older woman. Mrs. Suki cringed at seeing the scabbing on Kiki’s lips, pursing her lips.
“Put some chapstick on while you’re at it, you look like one of those addicts. It’s always something with you.” She ordered, Kiki nodded. It was taking everything in Kiki to not pick further, that would definitely get her into trouble.
Mrs. Suki paused before exiting the room, looking up and down at Kiki’s sitting form. The preteen was homely, a plain face with an even plainer personality that Mrs. Suki knew. Her darling Hijiri was always bursting with pride and enthusiasm.
Kiki was a sad little creature, always standing there like stone. Even though she had nothing to be melancholy about! Why she probably lived better than the kids with mutations or those sad groups of homeless kids in the city. ‘Oh well, you can’t fix anything that came broken.’ She mused before shutting the door.
Kiki flinched slightly before getting up. Maybe she did end up leaving dirt behind, she just forgot. After scrubbing out the stain, it was time to get properly ready. Thankfully Kiki brought clothes before the Sukis could go shopping for her. ‘Definitely don’t need to hear their sighs or judgments.’ She mused as she pulled out a Cinnamoroll T-shirt and some jeans.
It was a nice pink color with strawberries, Kiki had found it in a donation bin. A sign of hope if you will. Kiki finished off her look with some strawberry cake themed earrings, a gift from her social worker. The elderly couple were often a nightmare to shop with, with Mr. Suki looking disapprovingly at Kiki’s choices while Mrs. Suki had a skewed idea of what girls should be wearing.
Kiki hated to move around but she wouldn’t mind getting out of here. Perhaps back to the countryside. Kiki shoved her hands in her pockets and immediately pulled them out to reveal something. A few dollars stained with an ashy residue. Kiki held it up and felt it up. Yep! Definitely an actual dollar. But where did it come from? She looked back at the now clean spot. ‘Maybe a random act of surprise kindness.’ Kiki’s mind tried to soothe but the anxious, gnawing sensation in her belly refused to cease. But when has it ever?
Kiki reached for her strawberry milkshake body spray (courtesy of her past foster sister) and spritzed a few times. Kiki liked smelling sweet, it made her feel pretty. Of course she couldn’t use makeup just yet but it was still a massive milestone to put on body spray. It cut through the suffocating florals yet barely made a dent in the gnawing sensation of her stomach.
‘I’m probably just imagining things! Safest neighborhood and what’s so special about me anyway?’ Kiki brushed out her shoulder length hair and put it in a modest ponytail. Or at least tried to. A few frustrated grunts and murmured curses left Kiki’s lips at the failed attempt to get the hair through the hair tie. ‘Eh, close enough!’ Kiki stared satisfied at the failed attempt turned messy bun.
She couldn’t do full ponytails just yet, an embarrassing thing. Not like she had a permanent teacher to show her. Kiki tried looking it up on the house computer only to get frustrated and lose computer privileges period. She could still taste the Dove vanilla shea soap in her mouth on certain days. Mr. Suki was in the garden alongside his wife, both hunched over and fretting over something.
Kiki inched close to the cracked open door, overhearing the man’s fretting.
“It’s not that too bad dear, just some flowers got crushed.” Mrs. Suki’s soft voice tried to soothe.
“They were perfectly fine yesterday! Before I left for work, pristine condition!” Mr. Suki was aghast, hand ruffling his peppered hair. He did a wide hand gesture at the trampled roses. Mrs. Suki sniffed the air and minorly recoiled.
“Augh, smells like ash and copper too!” Mr. Suki grumbled before sighing. Kiki left them alone to ponder her own new thoughts. ‘Random money in my pockets? That note? Now trampled flowers?’ Kiki thought as she put the two slices of bread in the toaster. She nervously drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter, her left thumb in her mouth resting in front of her teeth.
‘Could’ve been just an animal.’ Her mind attempted to rationalize. ‘Oh sure wise guy, the cleanest neighborhood with not so much as a regular bird sighting.’ She rebuffed. The toast popped up with little fanfare aside from a few crumbs. She plated her toast on a floral porcelain plate before grabbing the strawberry jam from the fridge.
‘Man, why do you care so much? You’re just overthinking and now you sound stupid!’ Kiki ate her toast in silence. ‘Yeah right, someone just woke up someday and decided to stalk you. You! With no quirk or any wrongs. Pah!’ Kiki swallowed her food while staring ahead.
“Is that the best you could’ve done?” Kiki jolted slightly before turning to see Mr. Suki. His hands were on his hips and his brown eyes gawked at Kiki like she was a silly bird. Crumbs dotted the side of her face with jam holding them together. Her black hair stuck out in odd ways in her ‘bun.’ Silly earrings not even a young child would be wearing. In his “perfect” world anyway. Hijiri was always clean and pristine, polite.
Kiki was definitely from the system, in Mr. Suki’s opinion. “Sorry.” Kiki meekly apologized, swallowing the remainder of her breakfast.
“Don’t you wanna at least TRY to look proper? What would your social worker say?” Kiki winced at the emphasis on “try.” It’s not like she had any proper dresses or formal attire. Wasn’t the goal to look well adjusted? Kiki at least looked that part.
“Whatever, it’s your life, not mine. At least try to act normal when she comes. Heaven knows you people are strange.” He walked away as Kiki narrowed her eyes slightly. She stuck out her tongue before quickly retracting it.
‘I hope you step on a Lego gramps.’ She thought bitterly for a moment before straightening herself up.
The words stung deeply, sink water did nothing to drown them out. ‘You people? What does that even mean? What was I supposed to wear if this didn’t fit their standards? I’m sorry I didn’t get a stupid dress code!’ Kiki thought as she scrubbed the dish. The moments may have been fleeting but at least those people could set aside their personal biases to be nice to her.
Kiki wished that the nice schoolgirl could hug her again. That nice guy at the mall probably would’ve told Mr. Suki to suck an egg. ‘You don’t even know these people, why are you making up random stuff?’ Self awareness nipped Kiki and she quickly changed her tune.
She stood there briefly before tearing off her hair tie and letting her hair down. So much for trying to feel independent. There wasn’t much to do that Kiki hadn’t done before. A boring April Sunday morning. Kiki rested on the couch, craning her neck to look at the clock. 11:00 AM. She sighed, smelling the flowery air freshener. Her hands were too tired to crochet and Kiki’s books were regrettably starting to bore her.
Mrs. Suki entered the living room, taking a seat on the couch. “So I just got off the phone with one of your classmate’s mothers, you know Mei?” Mrs. Suki began. Kiki nodded, wondering where this conversation was going. What did this have to do with her? Besides, Mei was the last person Kiki wanted to hear about. Kiki felt herself bristle, throat getting unbearably tight.
‘Hey Kiki, is the reason why you don’t have parents is because they didn’t want you?’
‘It’s not like you can exactly do much, aside from cry or cower. It’s honestly so great that you can just… live with yourself, you know? If I were you and I found out you were quirkless,I’d honestly jump off a roof!’
“Y-Yeah, what about her?” Kiki queried, her hands crossing and rubbing over her skin. Mrs. Suki began to speak.
“The poor girl and her friend were attacked a few days ago!” Kiki’s eyes widened, blinking at the revelation. She wasn’t expecting that! She was expecting something silly like her winning an award or some other nonsense Kiki didn’t care about. “Yes! They thankfully got away without anything major aside from a few stab wounds and cuts.” Mrs. Suki confided, placing a hand over her heart. “Those poor dears, I couldn’t imagine how I would behave if my poor Hijiri was attacked like that.”
Kiki nodded slowly at that, directing her attention away.
“But! I’m sure that it would lift their spirits if you wrote them a little card or something.” Mrs. Suki suggested. Kiki must’ve made a face because Mrs. Suki scoffed. “Oh what is it? Those girls have been nothing but kind to you!” She chided. Kiki wasn’t too sure if she should even talk about what Mei and her friend said but she went for it anyway.
“I don’t really know, maybe because she was asking me insensitive questions the last time we talked.” Kiki confided. Mrs. Suki rolled her eyes. Insensitive, oh for fucks sake! Those people just need to find a way to be victims 24/7. Such a shame Kiki would stoop that low.
“L-like asking if my parents even wanted me or saying they would kill themselves if they were going through what I’m going through!” Kiki threw her hands up in the air, her tone louder. Mrs. Suki aggressively shushed Kiki, her face in a sneer.
“Oh hush!” She snapped. “You’re acting as if they assaulted you, what’s your obsession with seeming like a victim?” Kiki quieted down, looking away from the older woman. Maybe she was being overdramatic. A sudden knock at the door alerted the two of them. Mrs. Suki immediately got up, mouthing to Kiki to fix her face and to stay quiet. Kiki did as asked, with very little hesitation this time.
Kiki’s social worker was a middle aged woman with a dog quirk. Unlike other dog quirk mutations, Nana looked like a human with dog attributes. She was friendly enough and Kiki liked her. Probably one of the only people who would take Kiki’s findings seriously. I mean she had to! She was part of the government. “Kiki! It’s so good to see you again!” Nana wasted no time in embracing Kiki who eagerly embraced her back.
She could smell the cinnamony perfume on the formal dress and relished in the hands who hesitated to let her go. The social worker’s tail wagged excitedly before the woman went back to formality. “It’s nice to see you too! How have you been?” Kiki queried, Nana smiled and gave her usual answer. Busy with paperwork.
“What are you up to Dear? Are you doing alright in school?” Nana queried as she stepped fully into the home with her clipboard. If there was one thing Kiki was grateful for, it’d be the Sukis’ tidiness. Never saw so much as a housefly in the place. ‘Right… not even a housefly can enter here undetected.’ Kiki thought, hands going back in her pocket to fiddle with the money.
“Kiki, why don’t you go and write that card for Mei? While you wait for Miss Nana?” Mrs. Suki suggested, her lips smiling but her eyes commanding. Kiki nodded and retreated to her room, sighing agitatedly. Oh well, time to come up with something sappy! Even if Mei didn’t really deserve it, at least from Kiki. Kiki sat at her desk writing as she continued to muse. It does suck that Mei got attacked, obviously nobody deserved that!
Okay maybe Mei deserved a smack to the back of her head but never stabbed! Kiki paused, opening her desk drawer to fetch an eraser. She froze at seeing the new object accompanying failed crochet projects and paper balls. A strawberry cake chapstick with another sticky note.
‘Take care of your lips, sweet girl!- Big Sis.’
Okay what the heck? As far as Kiki knew, she didn’t have an older sister! Was her foster family trying to play tricks on her? Kiki shut her drawer, immediately beginning to panic. She stared down at the half assed attempt at sympathy called Mei’s card. Her knee frantically bounced, resisting the urge to vomit. Maybe there was a slim chance that it was a coincidence?
“Kiki? Can I come in?” Kiki was alerted to Nana’s muffled voice, nearly jumping out of her skin. She swallowed her anxiety, she had a trusted adult now. Surely Nana would listen! Kiki opened the door to reveal her social worker who had a semi grim look on her face.
“Nana! Listen, I have something major to tell you-!” Kiki was cut off by Nana holding up her hand, beckoning her to sit beside her.
“W-what’s the matter?” Kiki asked hesitantly.
“Your foster parents have recently disclosed to me that they don’t feel respected or even appreciated by you, can you tell me why is that?” Nana questioned. Kiki was baffled, what did she do? Aside from rightfully being annoyed by them. She’s always said thank you and please, respected their house rules!
‘Was this about these last few days?’ Kiki thought. She wasn’t doing anything wrong or at least she thinks so? Was it about her coping an attitude with Mr. Suki in the kitchen?
“Kiki, I know people like you have difficulties with making friends and connections in general but in order to be accepted, you gotta open your heart up a little!” Nana said, holding Kiki’s hand.
“I-I wasn’t even being rude! I… I don’t even know.” Kiki admitted. “I don’t mean to be rude, s’just that nobody really knows me.” Kiki confided.
“Well you can’t necessarily have people knowing you without you letting them.” Nana rebuffed. “Just try to be more patient and respectful, okay? They’re navigating a difficult situation just like you are.” Kiki risked the urge to laugh at such a statement.
“So! How are you liking it so far aside from all that?” Nana queried, Kiki shrugged with a lopsided smile. It could be better at school and to be treated like a family member.
“It’s fine, school is going fine and I’m back to working on my crochet again.” Kiki informed. “But I don’t really feel safe here.” Nana perked up, tilting her head. The statement was quite silly when looking at the neighborhood and the foster parents.
“Why is that? Is it a bully? Are Mr. and Mrs. Suki making you feel unsafe?” Kiki shook her head, swallowing nervously to spout her theory.
“I think someone is breaking into my room.” She admitted, rubbing the nape of her neck. Nana was taken aback, blinking.
“Kiki, that's a serious accusation, do you have any proof?” She asked. Kiki nodded and grabbed the sticky notes. “Here, I don’t know anyone with that kind of handwriting. There were also dirty footprints in the front of my bed too!” Nana looked over at the sticky notes while Kiki continued to ramble.
“At first I thought that I was freaking out over nothing until I saw that money magically appeared in my pocket a-and a new thing of chapstick in my drawer!” Nana looked up at Kiki, quietly shushing her. “First of all, Mrs. Suki told me about the dirt stains on the carpet. Saying that it was you. As for these sticky notes and the money, I think someone at your school was trying to be nice.” Nana stated.
“It’s normal for kids to leave stuff like that, especially when you’re shy.” Kiki wanted to deny it but Nana was an adult who probably saw way more severe things that didn’t involve just a few nice notes. “I know you people have the urge to fear everything but you’re safe here! Mr. and Mrs. Suki wouldn’t let anyone hurt you. If you think it’s serious then tell them to file a report.”
Nana advised. Kiki hung her head down in minor defeat, holding the sticky notes tightly before weakly relaxing her grip.
“Okay Miss Nana.”