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Serizawa sat on the steps outside of the penthouse office, listening to his boss fight Shou. His hands felt clammy; he started to think.
His first thoughts were of comfort; he opened his umbrella and surrounded himself in a soothing aura, reminding himself of how kind and sincere Suzuki had been to him. Suzuki had saved him; brought him into the light and back into society. Since leaving his room, he’s talked to more people than he has in the last ten years. His coworkers could be hot and cold; Shibata was friendly, Shimazaki was coy, but Minegishi and Hatori tended to stay to themselves, just like Serizawa. Nevertheless, he regarded them not only as coworkers but as friends. Right? They were all friends, even while taking over the world. Suzuki was a genius. He had been around the entire world, while Serizawa spent most of his time in his own bedroom. Suzuki knew what was right. Right?
Serizawa’s hands tightened around the handle of his umbrella as he heard a particularly loud boom from upstairs. “Suzuki really is being rough on Shou,” Serizawa thought. Shou was going through his rebellious teen phase, something Suzuki knew everything about and Serizawa never experienced. But something felt wrong about this. It was a little itch in the back of his mind. He tried to scratch through the mess of curls growing out of his head, but the itch remained. It soon turned into an ache as Serizawa filled with doubt. He wondered if espers were always this hard on each other, and if he should be rough too.
He didn’t want to be rough. If another kid Shou’s age showed up, he wouldn’t want to hurt him. Not the way Suzuki was hurting his son. If he had a child as smart and talented as Shou, he’d never even think of laying a finger on them, even if they misbehaved. “I don’t have experience with having kids, though… Maybe I just don’t understand?” Serizawa reasoned, but shook his head. He felt a little sick.
He hated seeing Shou get hurt. When he first was hired by Suzuki, Shou hung out all the time, asking Serizawa question after question; some silly, some calculating and invasive. Shou was a smart kid; why didn’t he understand that Suzuki was doing what was right?
Serizawa’s palms were sweaty, and he grimaced as he heard Shou cry out in pain. He felt something wet on his cheeks and found himself crying. Why was he crying? He agreed with what Suzuki was doing. “This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. This isn’t right.”
“This isn’t right.”
Thoughts flooded Serizawa, from his mind to his heart to his soul. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. He stood up, and shakily climbed the stairs back to the top floor, moving faster and faster until he burst into the room, right as Suzuki flung Shou against the wall the door was on. He watched Shou hit the wall with extreme force, cracking the drywall. Shou landed on the floor with a thud, grunting and rolling onto his forearms. He coughed up blood, wiping his mouth and looking up at Serizawa, then to Suzuki as the man stepped forward.
Serizawa kept his gaze on Suzuki, and moved in front of Shou, standing between the two of them. This wasn’t right. He needed to do something. He needed to stop this.
“Leave him alone,” Serizawa said through gritted teeth.
“What are you doing, Serizawa?” Suzuki asked, voice tense. “Shou is just being a rebellious kid; you know how it can be.”
“This isn’t right, sir. He doesn’t deserve this.”
“Serizawa,” Suzuki stepped forward, “move out of the way.”
“You will not lay another finger on Shou,” Serizawa found himself saying, words dripping with venom. “It doesn’t matter if he’s doing something wrong. He’s never deserved this and you know it.”
Serizawa couldn’t see Shou looking up at him with wide eyes, never expecting Serizawa to be the one to step in. He… was glad it was Serizawa, though. The other bozos working for his father were always cold to Shou, even when he was on their side and didn’t know better. Serizawa was always kind, always considerate, and always honest. Shou found he trusted Serizawa, more than anything.
“I’m surprised you’re the first to go against me, Serizawa. After all I’ve done for you…” Suzuki tsk'ed, hands beginning to glow with his aura. “I knew you couldn’t handle this.”
As quick as the fire was aimed, Serizawa put up his umbrella in defense. The blast was ground-shaking, powerful, and overwhelming. His umbrella disintegrated, leaving the metal frame in Serizawa’s hands. He gasped, falling to his knees, feeling utterly drained.
Then, a young boy walked in, black hair in a bowl cut. Serizawa had never seen him before, but Shou recognized him.
“Ritsu’s brother…” Shou coughed, spitting blood, “glad to see you in one piece.” The boy nodded, acknowledging Shou and Serizawa.
“Were you the one who burnt down my house?” His voice was quiet, nearly emotionless.
“Sorry… I thought it’d bring you to action.”
“It’s alright,” Mob said, turning to face Suzuki, face turning from neutral to cold. “You had a lot going on.”