PAPER FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 31

' tempus fugit '

━━━━━

Kaede is finally taking steps to a better version of her, and so far she's doing wonderfully.

Months passed. Two months, twenty seven days, twelve hours, two minutes and seven seconds. Her counting prowess seemed to be amplified by mundane prison days. Honoka must have been pretty busy with school. Her visits have been less frequent, so Kaede doesn't have new books, or photographs to look at, and if Kaede counted properly, one week and six days have passed.

She couldn't blame the girl. She wished the best for her education. Honoka was a smart kid- she was destined for greatness. She can remember the first days in prison where Honoka's uncle came with that grim look on her face and told her he was a police officer. Also, her niece had been informed of her true identity since the capture of Mizuki Kaede, a prodigy villain was one of the trending news in the country along with the upcoming U.A. Cultural Festival.

Kaede remembered feeling like absolute shit, almost as if the grief from Tomoe's loss was coming back to her and it was horrible. Like soggy clothes sticking to your skin and what she would give to get rid of it.

Then Honoka's uncle came back in the third day, gave her some photographs and at first, her mind drew a blank, because if she'd look at it, Honoka's uncle disliked her- a theory that was soon proven with the words coming out of his mouth. You, I don't like you. Kaede resisted the urge to roll her eyes at this point. It was as plain as day that he didn't like her. In fact, who in their right mind would like her- she can't even like herself and she's trying very hard, mind you.

He stood across her with the same gruff expression, his crab pincer making some rythmic sound as he sized her up. But Honoka does. She took these pictures, so you don't miss the beautiful places outside that's what she said. Frankly, you're a bad influence, but you make my niece better. You give her more passion.

Kaede murmured an awkward thanks after that, but all she got was a glare. Honoka's uncle- of course she knows his name, Honoka mentioned it in passing, but she just doesn't feel like saying it- continued on with informing her that Honoka had been crying non-stop for two days. If she was one of those super sensitive grown ups, she would have been crying for days.

Kaede took a sharp inhale this time, remembering how she grieved for Tomoe for weeks. She's okay now, he told her which made a knot untie inside her stomach. Kids move on easily. They come to terms with things easily.

You're not a good person, but you're good for Honoka, so once you're out of prison, emphasized, through legal means, you can still visit us and tutor Honoka in month. He even agreed to pay compensation and Kaede thanked him profusely, but the thought that she would be free soon was... well, weird.

That was that and it was followed by visits with Honoka and her cheerful smiles and she'd get beautiful photographs of clouds, flowers, even the sea and some local alleyways that gave her nostalgia. Of course the photos were taken clumsily, but they had a closer connection to reality that way and when Honoka started borrowing books from the library to lend to her, Kaede was eternally grateful.

The girl couldn't be that young. She was like an angel who had roamed the earth for eons.

"You're smiling," Recovery Girl points out as Kaede twirls a spaghetti with her fork. It was lunchtime and Recovery Girl's usual visits were at four in the afternoon, but today was an exception since she'd be working in preparation for the cultural festival in U.A. "I suppose something good happened?"