PAPER FLOWERS ( k. bakugou )

chapter 28

' a throne and a crown '

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Groaning in pain, Kaede clumsily applies the ointment into her burns with her fingertips, gritting her teeth to receive another wave of pain. When the ointment is spread over the burn, making it the final damage in her body, she releases a sigh and falls to the soft expanse of the hotel bed.

She's showered, bought clothes online using a phone she got before meeting with Shouto, wore said clothes (a five inches above the knee, sleeveless white shirt and typical grey sweatpants folded unto her knee), made sure they didn't hit any wound or burn and ordered some room service.

Kaede may be half buried in a crevasse of pain, but she still made sure to cover her damages when the hotel employee delivered the lemon meringue, the bowl of peanuts, fried chicken, bowls of rice and a tub of ice cream.

And it's one of those rare times in her life when the physical pain hurts more than the thought of being defeated. Nothing could compare to being attacked by the person she thought would understand her most. Nothing.

That was why the world sucks, it made flowers of hope burgeon in the dirt of your hair, but in the end, it was still the storm that ripped the flower from roots to petals.

Swallowing another spoonful of ice cream, Kaede leaned against the wooden headboard, glossy eyes watching the television in front of her. She doesn't even blame Honoka for planting that seedling of hope in her head. In the end, she was the one who tended to it and made it blossom. She was the idiot who thought she could fix everything just by smiling and waving her hands.

The news displays more horrific events and it seems as if the crime rate has increased in comparison to the time when All Might was still active as the Symbol of Peace. That wall they seeked to shatter, that fragile tether to faux peace, that was their goal, to cause chaos. But now, that it was succeeding bit by bit, Kaede only feels hollow and the slightest tinge of mortification and regret.

It was her own weakness that led to this. If only she braved her fears and had a little hope- that was the appropriate time for having hope, she thought grimly- maybe she could have been a little better than she was today.

She clenches her fists, fingernails burying to the expanse of her palm and rivulets of blood trickle from the cut. This is no time for if onlys, she has to move forward.

She has to correct her mistakes, she needs to, she wants to. All these might be the epitome of confusion, but Kaede will not drown herself in consternation over her failed expectations. She's endured so much.

The news flashes to a commercial with Momo and the girl from Class B- Itsuki Kendo, was it? Kaede saw her briefly during the training camp. They seemed to be presenting something in regards to a hair product and she laughs a little. It's amusing to think that if her life was a little murky, if she cleared the confusion in her life, she could be a hero just like them, advertising products and smiling.

When she was a child, she would think that heroes doing such acts was vapid and not allowed to live. Growing up, if only just a little bit, she knows that it's not entirely the case. The world is not all being saved, destroying and saving. It's living and what may seem shallow moments for others, are actually really important. Bringing smiles to people at the other side of the world.