PAPER FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 8

' one last time '

━━━━━

It's still raining.

Big, fat raindrops are still plummeting to their doom and leaving a different scent on the earth. Casting grey upon the town, but Kaede didn't see grey, she saw red.

"Is this the girl?" she asked, turned to Tomoe for confirmation, but it was Dabi who answered.

"She's obviously the girl in the picture, dipshit," Dabi told her and she saw how Tomoe almost fainted at the sight of her shrugging the insult off. Perks of being in Akihisa Yuko's body: managing to be calm once a week.

"Toga's got her blood right?" Tomoe asked, looking like one of those delinquent like kids as he leaned against the wall, blended in with the shadows, but Kaede knew enough to note that he was using the wall for support because he was too weak to stand on his own.

"Yes," Dabi answered and an itch mark popped at Kaede's forehead at the realization that he was actually being respectful towards Tomoe and still treating her like crap. "We just have to inject the drugs to keep her unconscious."

Five healthy fingers started playing with pearl buttons plastered on wooden walls and the owner turned to two boys with an inquisitive gaze. "What are you waiting for?" she asked, playing with the pearl using her pointer and tallest fingers. "Go inject her with the drug. Who has it?
Dabi?"

Aforementioned personage looked at her with that same indifferent expression sending her to a pit of petulance. "I thought you had the drugs."

A chuckle tore itself from her throat and when they were still looking at her as if she was holding the needed object, her two eyebrows furrowed and created one valley in the middle of her forehead. "Wait, you really think I have it?"

"You don't?" that was Tomoe. "I thought Kurogiri gave it to you before we warped. I've developed astigmatism, but it's not that bad."

One hand groped her pocket and she fished the object in question displaying it like a tarpaulin using two fingers from each hand. "It's the picture of the target and the map for the location. No one seriously has it? Even a syringe?"

"I thought the crazy lady would use it," Dabi admitted. "She has all those vials and blades."

It was Tomoe who answered him since Kaede can't be bothered for she had moved on counting the pearls and instead begun counting the number of ugly pens the Shinketsu student had. They were the kinds of pens who had animals pasted at the edge with the overall body casting different pastel colors. There were spotted for leopards, striped for tigers and zebras and even scaly for a snake. It was a monstrosity to behold.

"We have nothing that can't help that," Tomoe had said calmly and Kaede knew that if he wasn't here, terrible things would have happened and from the two people sent to fulfill the mission, only one would return. Maybe the other one would be found at the bottom of a chasm, bitten by insects with their diaphanous wings and sweet venom. "Someone should go back and ask for the needed materials."

Kaede was quick to answer, only taking two seconds after the end of his statement. "Dabi will go."

"The hell I will-!"

Arms looped over an ample chest, red eyes hiding a threatening aura. "We don't have time to argue. Take one for the team, dipshit."

"You selfish shit," he said and Tomoe would have fainted again because Kaede, Kaede who cut off tongues and hearts at the single mistake an enemy would have made in her presence, Kaede who killed people at the most violent way possible because she wanted to, Kaede who thought herself better than the gods. That Kaede who was beautiful and terrible merely smiled at the insult as if it was a trifling thing that didn't even affect her.