PAPER FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 37

' the thing about paper flowers '

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Kaede awakes with a groan.

Her body hurts. That much she can tell. And she doesn't know how many minutes she spent in that perpetual state of muscle stiffness, but she feels as if she can't move an inch of her body now. Swallowing bile that threatens to climb up the walls of her throat, she looks left and sees the vase spilling with stargazer lilies.

Maybe she can still move an inch and ignoring that urge to move, Kaede wants to eat. Her stomach has a black hole and she feels as if it's managed to vaporize everything in it and now she wants to fill it all up with the sweet/sour/bitter/salty taste of sustenance.

The hyperbole I could eat a cow has never been so underrated until now. If only she can move these legs and rip off these things attached to her nose. Heck, it's choking the living daylights out of her. But that could compromise the speed of the healing process, so she just lies on the bed, looks at the ceiling, count the cracks on it over and over again.

Zero. Zero. Zero.

Over and over again until her eyelids get heavier, dropping over her red eyes and she's drifted off to the mind numbing action of sleep.

Counting had never been so necessary until then 'cause the windows on her right are closed, the shutters tightly shut and aquamarine curtains still as a rock over it. She has no idea of knowing if it's day or night since the fluorescent light has always been closed, shadows filling in the room. The creak in the doorway is the only thing that makes her senses go a little sharper, as she casts her gaze to the doorway and for a minute there- a very long, flummoxed minute- Kaede holds her breathe.

Because none other than Tenko Shimura strides in the doorway, his appearance a reminiscent of the grim reaper save for his light blue hair that fringes over cold crimson eyes.

"Kaede," he calls her, his voice chilling with frost, but Kaede was an ice queen too once upon a time and it's not like she can move any longer, so she just lies there, stares at him and his look softens a little as the hood uncovers his face.

He stands on her left, his form looming over her and when the light from outside the door spills into the room, it casts a shadow on the blankets hoisted up to her chest. "You betrayed us."

The words are short, straight to the point, but not accusing. Just cold and she chills for a second or two, because it's so alike the voice All For One has.

"More and more," she says, her voice breaking and there's a visible trail of ice from where her breath comes, "you're becoming like him."

Tenko knows what she's talking about, so he doesn't question who him is. It's obviously All For One who taught them everything they thought they needed to. "I appreciate that comment," he says and a sad smile captures his face. She knows that it's not too late for him, she thought that for herself too and she was wrong. Just more difficult, but definitely not too late.

"Why are you here?" she asks, fears that the answer to her question is something in regards to death, but her breath calms imperceptibly when he answers, "Nothing in regards to you."

Her heart sinks a little, but Kaede reminds herself that her importance regarding dangerous organizations does not measure her worth. She's more than that. She's more than hasty decisions and a wound somewhere in her thigh. "We had something nearby and I thought I would pay you a little visit," he says, and his fingertips are dancing on her palms, four of them and she holds her breath again when the remaining finger grows dangerously near. "Kurogiri and Dabi helped with the policemen guarding your door. I didn't expect you to betray us too."