Ethereal ◆ Shoto Todoroki x Reader

54.5 | Together

Hitoka has to find a window.

At the end of the hall, a window leads to the courtyard, and she runs as fast as she's ever run.

It won't open.

It won't open.

She pounds on the glass, now sobbing herself.

And in that moment, it's like she can see her future fade away, as the sound of the roof above her caving in overcomes the sound of her sobs.

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It's suffocating.

The weight of a thousands sins and wrongs, manifested in a pile of rock and wood, crushing her lungs like it's nothing.

Her body cries out, writhing under the rubble, her stomach pressed against the floor. 

Hitoka watches as the blue flames grow closer, larger, burning the frame of the palace. She can feel the heat from where she's laying, and it's seconds away from burning her skin. She can already see her arms growing red from the fire.

She sucks in a breath fruitlessly, her crushed lungs and the smoke in the air not making it any easier. 

help. help me. somebody. anybody.

Even in her head, Hitoka's voice is only a whisper.

Maybe she deserves this. 

She tries to wretch her body around to possibly push off some of the weight, but she screams when something sharp pierces her side.

It's impossible.

She's going to die here.

She doesn't want to waste her breath on crying; maybe if she waits long enough, someone can help her. 

But deep down, she knows that even if someone did find her, her rib cage and legs are probably smashed beyond repair. She can slowly feel the cage surrounding her heart cripple under the weight.

If only she had a different quirk that could get her out of this.

Hitoka doesn't want to die. She doesn't want to die. She can't  die. 

She still has so much to do in her life. She has to take down the League. She has to apologize to Shinso. She has to see Takahashi, one last time.

Hitoka still has to make amends with herself and those she's wronged.

Now more than ever, she feels the irresistible desire to scream, to just let it out. She's waiting for some inhuman power to possess her, like in the books, but nothing comes, and she can't even cry out.

Right when her hope is shriveling away, her last shred of faith in the world around her is about to crumble, she sees the last person she wants to see.

Takahashi. In the flames, running towards her. Thankfully he has his shirt pulled over his nose to limit smoke inhalation. She would do the same if she wasn't trapped.

Her eyes are dry and her throat is sore. She wants to cry. She wants to thank him. She wants him to get out of here and save himself.

As Hitoka is at war with her mind, unmoving, Takahashi's heart crumbles, as if he's the one being crushed.

He takes the smallest piece of rubble and heaves, the wood leaving splinters in his hands. He pulls. And he pulls.

And he pulls.