PAPER FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 20

' of dreams and dying, i '

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Wilting spruce trees line up the park, flanking the grey, concrete pavements and overhead, she can hear the sloshing of the fountain water against pristine white marble and the distant sound of little feet playing with a ball. A boy with gigantic ears, another with rocks for feet, and a girl with beautiful cerise hair that could glow.

"You shouldn't be playing near the street," she tells them as she hands over the ball that rolled over to her feet. "It's dangerous."

"Why?" the girl with cerise hair asks, blinks golden yellow eyes at her. "Heroes will come."

Kaede puts a hand on her hair, counts the seconds trickling in her life and she counts ten minutes, seventeen seconds. Biting her lip, Kaede looks at her. "Heroes... can't always save you."

"They can't?" the girl asks, tilts her head to the side when Kaede's hands are on her sides. "But they're supposed to save everyone, right?"

Kaede nods, a grim nod. "But there comes a time when heroes don't reach people in time." Just like me. Eight years, seven months and twenty seven days. Too late. "That's why you have to learn to carry on with losses."

"I see," the girl says, naive eyes watching her. "But when I grow up, I'll definitely save everyone."

Kaede really isn't fond of kids. They think they can do anything and they poison themselves with the mentality that there's fairness, justice, and goodness in the world. Kaede hates, no, is envious of how they live freely with no anxiety as to what will happen in the future.

"Yes, you do that," she says, and she wonders if she should tell her to stay away from the street, because there's a sixty percent chance that she'll die in the next nine minutes and thirty-six seconds from being hit with an automobile or something.

Her two friends run towards the girl, smiling. "Great. Honoka, you got the ball," the one with stone legs say, all effervescent.

The one with the gigantic ears, presents his words with a whisper. "Is... she... your... friend, Honoka?"

Honoka nods at the boy, replies with a whisper too and Kaede realizes that it might be the repercussions of his quirk. Total sensitivity to sound that even the simplest and most idle of chatters makes his eardrums ring. She can almost feel pity.

"This nice person caught our ball," she whispers. "Her name is- what's your name, neechan?"

"Moriyama Kai," she answers, the lie smooth on her tongue. "And you?"

"Honoka," the girl says, extends her arms and Kaede feels that her time has extended to more years rather than mere nine minutes when she accepted it and skim Honoka's palms with her finger tips. Because Kaede was still talking to her, her time extended and she won't die from getting hit by an automobile.

"Your last name?" she asks, curious as to what sort of parent would leave their child playing a meter away from a street with a goddammed slope.

Honoka looks at her with those eyes. "I don't have one."

"Wha-?"

The boy with stone legs cut Kaede off and it's great that she's beyond maiming a child for a shallow reason. "I don't have a last name too! My name is Hirohito!"

"Don't... shout... Hiro..." the one with big ears say, and it looks like he's close to ears. "I'm... Maeda... I... don't... have... a... last... name... too..."

"Why?" she asks, but inside Kaede has a vague idea as to why.

"We're orphans!" Hirohito offers enthusiastically and Honoka shushes him.