EFFLORESCING EDELWEISS ( s. todoroki )

25; cypress

THE TOWN IS ABUZZ.

Newspapers on stalls perched quietly as passers by amble toward their respective destinations, watching as the flowers were scattered by the wind. It was a usual day, with the commonplace abnormality. Each passing day, the news continued to showcase displays of brutality, thievery, murder; the police urging the population to stay calm and place their trusts in the servants of justice ( but they were always too too late, weren't they? ).

"Yuck," Tooru Hagakure says as she puts an invisible hand on her lips, viewing the newspaper headline with distaste, "that's disgusting."

Thursday was the usual day reserved for classes, but today the teachers were gathered for an emergency meeting and classes were being cancelled back and forth. The Class 1-A girls and boys with nothing better to do decided to stroll around the city and pick up some groceries while they were at it.

"Bakugo, we don't need that much chili peppers," Todoroki says, his voice calm as per usual. Earlier that day, during midnight to be specific, he'd found himself a little troubled by the vulnerability Hanako was showing. He'd always seen the girl as someone who put on a tough front to the world so seeing her like that brought a peculiar tug on his chest. He'd originally planned to ask her what was happening the next morning, but her apartment was locked and classes were cancelled so he resolved to do it later at night.

"Shut up, IcyHot," the blond seethes in rage as he continued putting packets atop packets of chili seeds and powder onto the shopping cart. "I'll hear your complaints when you learn to cook better than me."

"You're impossible."

"Shut up!"

Kirishima chuckles wryly, the back of his head resting on his hands. "Bakugo, dude, chill."

The vociferous blond turns to him next, bares his sharp fangs. "Shut up, Kirishima!"

Shoji peeks from one of the aisles. "Kirishima, do we need more salt?"

The aforementioned redhead turns to the seething Bakugo whose rage has now been turned to Mineta. "I think we have more than enough to last us a lifetime."

Shoji smiles underneath his mask, Mineta grins and Todoroki's lips twitch and reveals a smile.

"What was that?!"

Kirishima ignores him, leaden by his everyday complaints and rapid fire cursing the semblance of a stereotypical Asian Mom telling her kids they need to head home now or I'm going to disown you. You're still not coming home, it's the belt for you, young man! "What did Iida say?"

"Iida said we were running out," Todoroki answers.

"You heard the guy, Shoji," Kirishima says and after a few minutes filled with carrying paper bags and heading to the newly opened coffee shop just two blocks away from the dorm to meet up with the girls with matching giggles from onlookers who recognized them as those boys back at that Sports Festival, the boys finally made it.

"What's wrong, guys?" Kirishima asks as he takes a seat to a weirdly serious Mina who's immersed in a newspaper article together with Uraraka (who's abandoned her glass of banana milk at the edge of the table). Midoriya is scribbling on his bound notes, the iced tea next to him half empty. Kirishima looks over Mina's shoulder and his eyes scan the headline. His eyes widen in palpable amounts that poke at his curiosity.

"That's sick," he comments and Mina nods next to him. Kirishima gestures for the other boys and they huddle behind Mina, with the exception of Bakugo who went and ordered himself a cup of coffee. He has better things to do than gossip, he announced as Tooru jogged to the counter to ask for an iced chamomile tea with mint and strawberry syrup.

"What is it?" Todoroki asks Midoriya. He just came back from the restroom and sat next to the celadon haired aspirant when he saw the boy immersed in whatever it was in the newspaper article.

"Midoriya," he calls again and it is only this time that he receives a proper response from his friend. Midoriya is always one to get lost in his thoughts and blur out the world around him. Todoroki finds that admirable.

"Oh, Todoroki-kun," Midoriya says and hands over his copy of the newspaper, he's as amiable as ever and the positivity spreads unto Todoroki whose lips quirk a modicum amount upwards. "It's this"

"A schoolmate of ours apparently died last night." Dugdugdugdug. "Someone from General Academics."

"How?" Shoji asks, peering over the newspaper in Todoroki's hands. "Woah, isn't she from our year?"

"It was apparently from the backlash of her quirk," Midoriya begins. "Flora, they called it. It was registered as something that enabled her to make flowers bloom in her flesh. Her lungs got filled with petals from flowers that nestled on her insides. They said that the autopsy revealed that those flowers have long been thriving in her body and that day, her body gave up and the flowers took over.

"She also wasn't seeing doctors and taking any medications not that there is medication for her condition, so apparently, she sort of just endured it with willpower and her physical strength and well... that's it."

Shoji nods solemnly. Midoriya turns to Todoroki.

Todoroki whose shaking hands have dropped the newspaper on the tabletop.

Todoroki whose eyes are brimming with tears.

Nonononononono- there's nothing you can do about it now.

° ° °
c y p r e s s ;
despair