EFFLORESCING EDELWEISS ( s. todoroki )

23; plum tree

HANAKO USED TO LIKE WEDNESDAYS.

Now, she can't decide. Wednesdays used to be sweet like puddin' partnered with honey and milk, then raven tresses pulled into a ponytail sway with the wind and the vibrant flowers resting on the grave scatter along the ones with that red Hanako loathes so so much. It's dark and the candle that's supposed to guide Papa's soul unto her with its orange glow like fireflies back in summertime where there was Papa who cheered and smiled as Hanako cupped fireflies with her palms and pouted with rubicund cheeks when the glowing creature escaped continued to sway in different directions like a sensual dancer.

Hanako really loved Wednesdays and talking animatedly to Papa about the happenings and the yellow daisies, purple peonies and the orange hollyhocks and sometimes she'd laugh too and then there were the rare showcases of crystalline tears damping the soil where she stood; now she digs the heel of her worn out baby blue tennis shoes into the soil and twists back and forth, staring seriously at the grave. The wind whooshes like the sound of ghosts in cheap rented DVDs Eli-san used to watch downstairs.

Hanako's movements cease for a couple of seconds as golden eyes stare deeply into the soil and her hands fall to her side limply like branches hit by a strike of jagged lightning. "Papa..." Hanako's voice break break break so much that the shards cut at her throat and it hurts her to speak, "I don't know what to do anymore."

"I love you so much, I do, believe me," Hanako croaks and her voice does not stop breaking and there is only more squelches escaping her throat and the pain continues to burn, to dry like desert sandstorms. The horrendous red tinges her vision as the tears fall with no impending cessation. "But I can't do it, Papa. I still want to hurt Kaede, I still do, because she ruined everything Papa, she made you break my heart and your promises and this is the only chance I'm going to get, but Papa... I can't do it, I don't want to hurt Todoroki."

Hanako's knees come in contact with the muddy soil and she buries her face into her palms tainted with crescent marks from fingernails digging too hard and drawing crimson blood. The poplar tree next to the twisting path watches and a lone figure creeps forward with dry skin chafing off his hunched form. "I'm so sorry, Papa."

"You won't?" There is that voice again, cracked and deep like the ocean overflowing with secrets both dangerous and marvellous. The figure is no longer alone and his hands are buried in his pockets not scratching at his throat with the pinkish tone and twisting red linings.

Eyes widen in shock and Hanako stands up, spins on her heel and Shigaraki Tomura looms at her like an executioner (the very same one she promised to be and consequently failed to be or is she?) with his sharp blade ready to descend on her neck (just one quick swing and snap! Off with your head like those peasants that went against the queen of hearts and decapitated heads in the bedtime tale Papa used to tell of Wonderland and Cheshire Cat smiles).

"What are you doing here?!"

Tomura smiles, all cruel intentions, and malevolent schemes, beware beware beware. "Look at you," he says and drawls the last words, his words piercing Hanako bit by bit like needles slowly digging into her flowery flesh. "Pathetic. Undone by a single boy."

Laughter emanates from his chapped lips as he watches the girl undone by a single boy with his menacing crimson eyes. "I've been following you for weeks now, watching how you fall, it's a disappointment. I thought you had a resistance to trifling events, but that was just a hoax," he fiddles with his fingers. "Just an overhyped product, I was a fool for putting so much faith."

"Shut up," Hanako bites back, icy and venomous.

"Well," Tomura grins widely. "It's true, isn't it? I thought you could replace Kaede, become everything she gave up in the League of Villains, but you trekked the same paths. Unraveled by stupid boys, foolish hopes and insubstantial promises."

Hanako's eyes glint in fury, golden and seething and if her hands weren't trembling, she'd make the most hurtful and most venomous flower bloom in his flesh.

"Out of words, Hanako?" he asks, tilts his head to the side. "I mean your father was killed by Kaede, slaughtered like a pig. I've known Kaede ever since she was a kid, that girl probably doesn't even remember making you fatherless, ruining your life and yet you choose not to do anything about it even when your condition—"

Hanako steps forward, overhead the stars watch in fear. "Not a single word."

"You won't destroy Todoroki Shouto? A damn shame," Tomura continues as he takes a step closer to Hanako, unafraid of the anger bursting from her like scorching lava from the cylindrical uppermost portions of volcanoes. He smiles before he speaks. "You won't do it? For your father, for your life? For what you could have been?"

Golden eyes chill in an unfathomable rage. Midnight sky fists clench tightly as Matsushima Hanako looks up and meets the challenge of crimson irises framed by light blue hair. "I'll do it," Hanako says with conviction. "I'll kill Todoroki Shouto."

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p l u m t r e e ;
keep your promise