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A cool breeze blew through her short layers, lifting the tresses as it passed through the air around her; her eyes glanced from left to right, forward until her lips parted.
“Hello?” Uraraka called out, chocolate eyes scanning her surroundings. Everything looked empty, the city she lived in residing of no people today as she walked through the lonely street. No cars inhabited the roads, no crowds of people wandering aimlessly, nor were there any people rushing to get to their jobs or to a class. It was quiet — something that very solemnly happened around this area. It was almost too quiet, too comforting as she sighed, another call sounding through thin lips. “Hello?! Is anyone out there?”
She could hear her voice echoing throughout the buildings that loomed over her, and an unsettling feeling began to churn in her stomach as she started her walk. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure how she had ended up in this remote location, but she didn’t question it. She followed the street, aimlessly wandering in the void, looking for someone that might be around.
The farther she walked, the colder the temperature grew. She also began to notice that the saturation in all of her surroundings began to fade, leaving the world in shades of grays and blacks; everything around her was unfolding into a world of dreams, and she could only shake her head. It made sense now as to why the streets had been empty, and now with her body in a colorless world, she continued to wander at a cautious pace.
The sounds of fast footsteps caught her attention, causing her head to whip in the direction of an incoming person. She felt panic begin to pool her chest the moment she caught the person in her arms, her own body falling backwards and colliding with the cement walkway as the person struggled in her embrace.
“You have to help me!” the shrill voice sounded through her ears, sending shivers down her spine as Uraraka tried to wiggle her way free of grabbing hands and kicking feet. “You have to!” The voice called again, except this time it sounded almost distant and an unfamiliar, numb sensation exploded in her mind. She could hardly breathe as the air from her lungs felt like it had been stolen, and all she could do was fall back to elbows and watch as this person stood up from her own body.
Ochako began to really feel the panic swell in her chest as a scream ripped out from the base of her throat. The skin of this person was the color of an off white — almost gray, while the eyes were hollow, sunken into a sea of black and staring down at her. Their face was absolutely expressionless now, staring down at her as Uraraka pushed herself away, her hands scraping against the concrete. This had to be a dream, she definitely wouldn’t see anyone looking at her with eyes like that, but the amount of pain that coursed through her body from a single scrape told her otherwise.
“You have to help me,” the voice muttered again, yet the person’s body remained still in front of her. The longer Uraraka stared at the person in horror, the deeper their eyes sunk into their head, while their hair became stringy, chunks falling from its scalp. She found herself inhaling deeply, her breaths coming out fast as she tried to push herself up from the ground. She couldn’t stand to look at this person anymore, and the way its voice road out on the wind, whispering up against her ear, sent another wave of numbing pain through her body.
Once she finally began to push her body up from the walkway, she felt pain start at her wrists, extending down her arms until she could feel her shoulders give out and her back came crashing into the pavement once more. “Please stop!” Uraraka screamed out, yet her voice was but a mere squeak in this silent, colorless world.
The being in front of her took a short step, its mouth opening to say something, but a raspy moan fell from the hollow hole while their eyes started to melt into a deeper black. She was losing herself, her mind, her being — Uraraka could hardly get a complete breath of air the moment this person fell to its knees, a large hole appearing in its chest as it finally tumbled to the ground. Uraraka’s breaths came out short and fast now, blood rushing to her head as she stared at the being with wide eyes. Her entire body continued to shake, her heart beating fast as she waited to see what would happen next.
The face of the person continued to look up at her, and it took all she had to tear her eyes away from the sight of a crumpled corpse in front of her. A scream finally broke out from above her, shattering her eardrums and throwing her body into another trance of fear.
“It’s all your fault!”
The words sounded around her, pulling her mind into a world darker than the one she was already in, and she could feel her body trying to pull her hands to her face, but everything hurt too much. Pain continued to emanate from her wrists, making her hands feel weak as she tried to move her body. Scalding tears began to well up behind her chocolate irises, another scream forming in her throat as another person began to walk up on her.
“I don’t know what’s going on!” She screamed, hot trails of tears finally rolling down her cheeks while her nose began to run. She was in complete hysterics now as her body continued shaking while her words caught in the tangles of knots in her throat. “I want to go home!”
She felt lost, her chest heaving with each breath that she took, and the moment the body in front of her crouched down on a knee, she could see the way it took the other corpse in its hand, holding it up as if it were looking at it; the hollow eyes remained the same, but the teeth that were revealed were jagged, lines and rows running down down into its throat. A nasty, haunting smile pulled at the being’s lips as it stood before dragging the body away from Uraraka. The world around her began to grow darker, and Ochako was now caught alone again, beings wandering the streets around her — they all had dark, hollow eyes and gray skin, but their facial features varied.
It took everything she had to push herself up from the ground, allowing her knees to hold her weight as she looked around herself. Just like the city, the people walked the streets, aimlessly wandering yet they never stopped when they bumped into each other. Along with that, she could hear screams and shouts of agony, terror riding up her spine as she willed herself to walk; everything in her body completely hurt, and she had no energy to try and escape this dreamland that began to plague her mind.
She finally felt her hands shoot up, covering her eyes as she broke down into a fit of tears and sobs. She tried to speak, tried to tell them all that she wanted to go home; she wanted to feel warmth, and she wanted to see all the pretty colors that her eyes welcomed each and every day. One color being the soft petals of a rose — deep red, alluring, strong. Tears began to soak into her skin the harder she cried, and like a switch, she was slowly losing all of her memories.
The temperature around her began to drop drastically, her body aching and throbbing with even more pain and it felt like she was dropping — like zero gravity, she felt like she was floating freely, her soul slowly descending into a total abyss of darkness.
“You didn’t have to do it.”
A voice, so broken and shaking finally pulled through her mind. She could almost hear the tears and sobs that could’ve gone with it, but she couldn’t uncover her eyes now. She didn’t want to see what would be in front of her — another one those people with eyes the color of spilled oil, mocking her, whispering in a raspy, scratchy voice in a tone that completely ripped her apart on the inside. She felt a whimper start in the base of her throat now, because all she could see were eyes lost in a sea of black, and skin the color of a decaying corpse.
“I just want to go home.” She muttered, her voice coming out soft and echoing around her. Uraraka continued to cover her eyes, while she pulled her knees to her chest, allowing the cool temperature to calm her body and relax her soul. “I just want to go home.” she repeated softly.
“So why’d you do it?!”
Warmth. She could feel something warm crawling up from the base of her spine, pulling at her ripped and tattered insides as she listened to the lingering voice. It was the same as before, except a hard tone encased those words. It continued to ring out around her, in this world of sheer black and she could only listen and let the warmth spread throughout her body. She felt the warmth finally touch her wrists, and through the aching and throbbing pain that continued to emanate from there, the comforting touch of warmth soothed it.
“This wasn’t suppose to happen, Uraraka!”
Hearing her name sent her mind spinning, her hands finally starting to pull away from her eyes as she leaned into the voice. She could feel something pushing against her back now as she slowly started to open her eyes. The surrounding world was no longer pitch black, but she could make out the structures that she thought she had forgotten about. Cries and yells began to sound out from around her, but the haziness in her eyes and ears, and every other sense she could remember touched her body.
She closed her eyes once more, trying to dive back into a world of peace and quiet, but that same voice continued to speak in words that she couldn’t understand. Soft sobs and grunts of frustration kept her mind at bay, and the warmth that surrounded her body finally pulled her back. She opened her eyes, letting the light of the room finally touch her caramel irises, but she could hardly control her body. Uraraka could feel her head rolling back, resting on something broad and hard as it shook with violent sobs.
“Please come back—”
She wanted to go home. Was she home? It took all the energy in her body to open her eyes again, to truly open them and wake up from this groggy, hazy world that she had descended to. She felt her head roll to the side, colliding with something hard, yet she felt something light and thick brushing against her nose, sending electrifying tickles throughout her face. A low groan started in the base of her throat before she inhaled a scent that was all too familiar, all too comforting. Was she home?
“Fuck! Say something, Uraraka!”
The voice was louder now, and it hit her right in the heart. Her ears throbbed, a headache swarming just behind her eyes as she focused on her surroundings. The burning in her wrists never ceased — she could compare it to a deep cut on top of a sunburn, or even to fire burning flesh. It made her body tremble, her stomach churn with nausea as she finally began to take in her surroundings.
She was on the floor, her back propped up against someone she knew and she could see all of her furniture, adorned and decorated with stuff that the two of them had picked out together. She felt another wave of sickening pain wash over her body, sending her back into a world of black as she tried to blink it away.
“They’re almost here, Angel Face.”
She felt her throat instantly dry out, her mind diving back to the people with hollow eyes and skin that mocked the dead; she didn’t want to see them, she didn’t want them to come back. She wanted to bathe in the warmth provided from this person, and the way his voice kept cracking and breaking made her heart clench in her chest.
“No,” she muttered, trying to roll her head away from the tickling sensation. She felt too weak to do anything, her body completely numbing at her toes, and that feeling was already crawling up her legs. “Don’t send me back.” she whimpered. Uraraka began to open her eyes again, and this time, she could finally see the colors that painted the world. She could see the cream walls that they had painted together, and the dark trim that bordered those walls. She could see pink clothes, and green scarves; she could see black tank tops, and gray coats — she could see red, but it wasn’t the red she was familiar and comfortable with.
She felt tears welling behind her eyes again, memories of what she did flooding throughout her body. A red so deep, so crimson, it was haunting and the nightmares that came with it pulled at her mind.
“It’s all your fault!”
The words echoed throughout her mind, and she knew what those words meant now.
“You didn’t have to do it.”
His voice screaming those words to her sent a wave of pain crashing against her chest, drowning her heart as she choked on air. Uraraka felt the tears rolling down her cheeks now, her entire face scrunching up with pain as she began to sob against his neck. “I’m so sorry, Bakugou—” she choked out.
He had his back against the wall as he held her motionless, near death body in his embrace. She was sitting in between his legs, her opened wrists in his hands, as he cradled her with his broad arms. She could feel his lips pressing against her head, his own soft sobs sounding out as she cried against his throat. His warmth surrounded her, kept her body and her mind in a world of comfort, while the fire continued to burn throughout her arms.
She wanted the pain to stop, she wanted to go back in time and make herself choose a different option; she had gone too far, tried committing something that she couldn’t go back on, and now she laid there, questioning whether or not this would actually be the end.
“I want to go home,” she whispered against the skin of his neck, her lids closing over coffee orbs, thick, damp lashing dusting her cheeks with tears. “I don’t want to leave.”
“I won’t let you,” Katsuki promised, his lips pressing one more kiss to her head. She could hear something that sounded far away, almost too far away, but the way his body jolted with energy almost sent her over the edge. “They’re here, Angel Face. Just hang on.”
Who’s here? Why are they here? All she could see were faces so hollow, so skinny and filled with death, that she didn’t want to see them. She had lived through her nightmare, experienced just how cold, and how unwelcoming of a world it was, and she never wanted to go back; it wasn’t an escape, she was living through her nightmares. She wanted to stay home, accept her troubles and learn to grow and move past them. She wanted to stay with Katsuki; she felt guilt claw at her chest, knowing that she wasn’t the only one that had lived through a nightmare. Uraraka knew that death still had a grip on her body, and that was the nightmare that Bakugou was still living through.
They’re here. Can they really save me?