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As Momo pushed through the debris around her, scrambling toward what she hoped was an exit, all she could think about was high school. It was strange. It had been almost ten years since she’d stepped foot on the campus, wanting nothing more than to simply forget the things they’d gone through in their first year. She’d even taken a break from hero work a couple of years after they graduated. Yet, there she was under a collapsed wall with barely enough room to crawl around and all she could think about was all the senseless violence they’d seen and endured.
She was beginning to understand how deep she’d really buried her teenage years and it wasn’t nearly as deep as she had hoped it was.
A sliver of light suddenly shined directly onto her face from the left. Momo pushed herself toward it, breath fast and uneven. This was her chance. She had to get out of there. Concrete scraped at her arms and legs, leaving a burning feeling in its wake. When she reached the opening she pushed her hand through the crack. It wasn’t big enough for her to get through safely but maybe someone would notice her.
No sound came and no one touched her hand on the other side. She briefly considered using her quirk to push the rubble off of her but then remembered that she had no clue how much debris was on top of the lowest level of debris. She couldn’t tell how whatever she created would affect everything around her.
The tears started before she could stop them and abruptly she couldn’t breathe. It was hopeless. She was going to die and all of the trauma she’d endured as a teenager was for nothing because she couldn’t rescue herself from a collapsed building.
“Creati!”
Great, now she was hearing voices too.
“Creati! Where are you?”
Something touched her hand.
“She’s over here!”
There was no way that she wasn’t hallucinating everything. Creating a happy ending for herself.
But then, the rubble on top of her moved, and the piercing eyes of Kendou Itsuka met hers through the haze in her vision. “Are you alright?” she asked, extending a hand toward Momo’s face.
She only flinched away, the hand moving too fast to come across as anything other than a threat. Momo ducked her head, shielding her head with her arms. Gentle fingers grazed the back of her hands. “Creati,” it was only a whisper, “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to rescue you.”
Realistically, she knew that, deep down, somewhere in the part of her brain that was still rational, but she couldn’t stop the shaking or the cold chill running down her spine. She tried to take a deep breath, and allow Kendou to help her. Kendou stepped over a small portion of the broken wall and wedged herself into the crevice with Momo. “It’s alright,” she cooed, “You’ll be okay now. I’ll make sure you’re okay now.”
Her hands were warm, putting comfortable pressure on Momo’s back, rubbing away the cold chills. Kendou made hushing sounds like she was attempting to soothe a crying baby. It was strange. Momo had never liked when people underestimated her or treated her like she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself. Still, her body relaxed into the other woman.
Maybe it was because they both went to UA or because they both endured trauma from the same sources. They weren’t exactly the same but they were similar. They had always been similar.
Kendou’s hands slowly moved toward her face, cupping both cheeks and pulling Momo’s face up so she could look into her eyes. Kendou’s beautiful green eyes were shining with concern and understanding. Their noses were touching, barely grazing, and leaving a tickling sensation behind.
Kendou smiled, soft and without judgment. “Feeling better? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Momo shook her head, unable to talk just yet.
“Good,” Kendou sighed, “Are you hurt anywhere?”
Her eyes scanned Momo’s body for injuries, assessing where she needed the most help and attention. Momo raised her arms and showed her the scrapes up and down the skin. “My legs too,” she said, hoping that was enough explanation.
Nodding, Kendou stood up and offered her hand, pulling her to her feet the second she took the offer. Momo stumbled, footing unstable like someone after one too many shots. Kendou caught her, hands reassuring on her arms. “Thank you.”
A strand of hair fell out of Momo’s ponytail and into her face prompting the redhead to gently tuck it behind her ear. “You’re beautiful,” she said, her voice wobbling like it was the most incredible epiphany she’d ever had, “but now isn’t the time to tell you that is it?”
Momo couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. “Your eyes are perfect,” she responded.
Kendou snorted and took a step backward, leading Momo out of the rubble around her. “Alright, well focus on my eyes then and I’ll get you out of here.”
Each step was slow and careful, their hands locked as a way of guidance. It was like everything else was fading away. Nothing else existed but Kendou and her perfect, stunning, shining green eyes. Everything that led her there was gone and all the trauma was temporarily forgotten.
There was nothing negative left. Only their hands weaved together and a sea of green that she could get lost in. Kendou led her to the triage area and dropped her off with the doctors talking to one of them just out of earshot. Momo worried for a moment that she wouldn’t return but then she came back, bouncing on her feet.
Finally, Kendou leaned in, just a couple of inches away from Momo’s ear. “How about next time we see each other, it’s somewhere happier?”
She nodded because that was all she could do. “Yes, I’d like that.”
Things from her past weren't so bad, after all.