It was silent for the most part in her office, it was somewhat late into the night and as far as Cynthia was aware - everyone had gone home. She would be soon as well as she was just putting some details for an upcoming tournament in order. With Akari out for the week following her father's death, she was more than happy to take working these details into her own hands.
She would miss her though.
She was finishing up some paperwork when the light sounds of scratching could be heard at her door. The champion looked up from her desk in mild confusion before standing to her feet and making her way to the door. At the sounds of her approaching steps, the scratches became a little more frantic. Once the door was open, Cynthia was met with the sight of a Glaceon looking back up at her with a desperate expression. Akari’s Glaceon.
“Freya? What are you still doing here?” She questioned, the ice-type simply took a few steps forward and grabbed the bottom of the champion's coat in her mouth, pulling her forward to try and get Cynthia to follow her. That was all the prompting she needed to follow after Freya. The Pokémon let go of the coat and promptly led Cynthia down the hall, she was moving at a brisk pace but made a point to glance back at the champion every few moments to make sure she was still following her. Freya led Cynthia down a floor, stopping a little further down the hall and stopping directly in front of a door leading to a storage room.
Cynthia glanced down at Freya in confusion, but the Glaceon gave Cynthia a pointed look as the muffled sound of sobs could be heard from the other side of the door. Alarm crossed the champion's face and took a step forward to open the door. The closet itself was dark but the hallway provided enough light to see inside the storage closet, specifically *who* it was.
Sitting on the floor, legs pulled up to her chest was the hunched form of Akari. It definitely wasn’t a common sight, the usually completely composed and entirely professional woman was a mess.
“Akari?” Cynthia questioned, prompting her assistant to raise her head in alarm. Eyes puffy and red, mascara smudged and an expression that read that she was entirely exhausted.
“Oh, Arceus, I’m so sorry! I was just leaving-” She tried to cover up, shifting to stand back to her feet only to be stopped by Cynthia who had walked further into the closet to approach the woman and hopefully stop her from moving.
“No, no you’re fine, don’t apologize,” Cynthia spoke up quickly, still standing over Akari who looked incredibly uncomfortable with having her boss standing in front of her considering the state she was in. Cynthia didn’t blame her, but she was concerned. “Is… this about you father?” She tried prompting an explanation.
Akari was silent for a moment, awkwardly shifting her body and turning her eyes anywhere but her boss. “Sort of…” She let out a sigh, rubbing her hands over her eyes. It was enough of a reaction to prompt Cynthia to lower herself to the ground in front of Akari.
Her assistant looked entirely surprised, but Cynthia wasn’t too concerned. Shifting herself to sit beside Akari against the wall and turned her head to look at her. “What’s wrong then?”
Silence.
“Akari you can speak to me, I’m not going to bite.”
There were a few more moments of silence before Akari spoke again, confused. “With all due respect Cynthia, why?” The question left Cynthia surprised, but Akari continued. “I’d expect you to reprimand me for being here after hours crying in a closet.”
Cynthia studied Akari for a few moments, the woman still not making eye contact with her. Considering her words, Cynthia responded honestly. “Akari, over the course of three and a half years of you being here - I’d like to believe we are friends. You’re upset, so I worry about you. Talk to me as a friend, not your boss.”
Silence again, Akari seeming to consider her options for a few moments before letting out a long, drawn-out sigh. Sniffling she finally spoke. “You already know about my father's murder a week ago. I was supposed to head back to Kanto for the funeral at the end of this week but…” Her voice hitched, seeming to hold back another sob. It took her a moment to start talking again and Cynthia was content to wait for her to continue when she was ready. “My mother killed herself, Her body was found today. She’d been dead for at least a full twenty-four fours. She killed herself and to top it all off she gave no consideration to my sisters who were in the house when she did that, my babysisters could have died if they didn’t find her body fast enough.”
Cynthia’s face fell as she took in the gravity of the situation. Voicing everything out loud was enough to break whatever self-control Akari had been holding onto as she broke down into sobs. Cynthia didn’t even think twice before gathering the sobbing woman into her arms, rubbing a hand through her frazzled hair as she simply held her.
What do you even say to comfort someone after learning all that?
Cynthia was a little out of her depth, she knew that. But regardless she sat there as Akari cried. She had no idea how long they were sitting there as her assistant- her friend cried. But she did eventually calm enough to speak again. Akari’s voice hoarse as she spoke again.
“I might need to stay in Kanto, I don’t know if I can come back.” A deep, shaky breath. “I have to take care of my sisters, I don’t know if I can work for you taking care of them. Arceus I’m already pregnant I don’t know if I can handle three kids. I don’t know if I can do this.”
This was the first time Cynthia was hearing this bit of information, her eyes widening in surprise but she didn’t comment. It wasn’t like Akari could see her face right now anyways. It was only a few moments of consideration before Cynthia spoke up. “Bring them to Sinnoh,”
“What?” She pulled herself away from the champion, confused. “Cynthia, I just said-”
“Bring them to Sinnoh, let me help you Akari. Don’t worry about work, don’t worry about uprooting yourself again to go back home. Bring them here.”
Akari was completely confused, staring at Cynthia with questioning eyes as she elaborated.
“You’re not alone Akari, let me help you. I’ll come with you to Kanto for the Funeral and we can bring your sisters back together. We can figure out what to do from there.”
Akari stared in silence, stunned. Trying to process what Cynthis was implying. Her eyes began to tear up again, “Why- Why would you-”
Cynthia carefully took Akari's face into her hands, wiping some of the tears from her cheeks with her thumbs. She made sure Akari was looking her in the eyes when she spoke, voice firm as she left no room for argument. “I want to help you, that should be enough.”
It was enough to devolve Akari into tears again, letting out a sob as moved to rest her face in Cynthia’s neck, the champion wrapping her arms around Akari in a tight embrace as a soft “Thank you,” leaving her mouth between shaky breaths.
From this point forward, Cynthia knew she would do anything for this woman if it meant she never had to see her so broken again.