Title: morning glories
Prompt: apocalyptic future
Character/Pairing: Midoriya, Uraraka
A/N: Originally written for an IzuOcha zine (historical twist!) but unfortunately the zine was abandoned.
Summary: She wonders why those flowers keep climbing
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"So, how does it look?" Midoriya asked as he crouched next to the old truck. The morning sun shone threateningly on them, promising them the deadly heat of noon. They had at most an hour before they had to consider shelter. "Fixed it?"
Poking his head out from under the car, Sero gave a troubled grimace. Black grease stained his face, his fingers smudging it as he ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe? It's guess work, honestly. There just aren't enough records to tell me what to do."
As was the case with everything else. Midoriya slipped off his backpack, rifling through it for the few rare books he had managed to save. A quick scan of their titles informed him of what he already knew—none of them would be useful here. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful."
Sero blinked with surprise before relaxing into an easy grin. "Don't worry about, man. Besides, you were the one who read the manual for us—if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even known what was wrong."
"Should I read it again? Maybe I'll find something new." Perking up at this prospect, he was already slinging his pack back on. Their base camp wasn't all that far and he could run there and back within ten minutes. Five, if he really pushed it.
"Nah, it's fine. We don't have much time anyways." A soft roll and he was back under the car. His voice was muffled as he spoke, the cramped quarters swallowing every last bit of him. "It's mostly on Kaminari—he's pretty good at finding gas but…"
"But?" They hadn't been travelling together long enough for Midoriya to finish that sentence.
"Sometimes, he gets a bit high off the fumes." A clang, the sound of a wrench turning. Even fainter still, Midoriya could hear the soft roll of Sero's creeper as he slid around under the car. He swallowed. The air was dry, the setup for yet another day of heat. Even the sky promised no rain and they were still at least a day's ride from the drop off point. At least there were plenty of buildings around them to hide in during the day, cracked and ruined as they were.
"Oi!"
Whipping his head, Midoriya scanned his surroundings. In the distance, he could spot a figure moving toward them. As it grew bigger and bigger, it solidified into Kaminari's shape. In his hands, a red can weighed him down.
"He's back!" Midoriya bounced on his toes, waving at his friend.
"And?" Sero asked as he started to slide back out.
"And…" Squinting, Midoriya could make out a faint sway in Kaminari's steps, a blank grin on his face. "I think he's high."
-x-
"See anything?" Jiro called up from the ground.
"One moment," Uraraka yelled back, tightening her grip on the wooden pole. As she clung, she observed their location. To her east, the crater sat empty, untouched by all but time. North and west were identical, with rows upon rows of houses. Craning her head, she glanced behind her for her last check. A wide space sat in the south, and it seemed Midoriya hadn't returned yet. "All clear!"
"Alright, you can come back now."
Broken wires wrapped the pole and she had to be careful to avoid touching them. Telephone poles, Midoriya had called them. A long distance communication. The wires used to be deadly instead of the frayed pain they provided now. When she had cut down some for him to study, he had practically glowed.
Sliding down the last two meters, she landed on the ground with a heavy thump. "We're done?"
"Yeah. They should be back any moment and we should get ready to disarm the traps. I—" A finger to her lips, Jiro quickly crouched, ducking behind a ruined wall. "Someone's coming."
Uraraka immediately followed suit, straining to hear as she moved. Unlike Jiro, she couldn't hear much beyond her own thundering heart. Still, she had her fists and her speed and she could wait for the other girl's signal before pouncing.
Which was now. Jiro gave her a thumbs up and pointed over the wall. The second she leaped out, she was greeted with a very surprised Hagakure, her mouth forming a soft "oh" before Uraraka tackled her. They landed on the ground with a hard whomp, knocking the air out of both of them.
"Why?" Hagakure managed to wheeze out.
Uraraka quickly got up, rolling off her friend. "Sorry!"
-x-
Midoriya had read of the desert once, of a hot and arid land where little grew and even fewer lived. For weeks after, dusty dunes haunted his dreams, an eternal sand he could only imagine. The heat he was sure was something like this, a scorching ray that burned and burned until nothing was left. The only difference was here he had entire neighbourhoods to hide in, dilapidated houses that still stood despite missing walls or nature's revenge.
Despite the absence of life, there was still a rhythm to his existence. Travelling, resting, gathering—the cycle never changed, flowing from one state to the next. At some point, survival became life.
Maybe those desert people were like that too. There were so few things Midoriya had that connected him to his ancestors, to the old world. He liked to think this pattern was one of them. When he had told Uraraka of this, she had merely laughed and held his hand.
I think this is also something you can share with them.
-x-
"You're really good at climbing," Kaminari commented, his face looking less goofy now. She had heard from Sero this was a thing that happened often but it was one thing to hear and another to experience it. "It's almost like you're floating."
Pleased, she ducked her head slightly. "It's not that hard to find the right places to grab." They were hiding inside a house, waiting for the noon heat to pass. "Besides, Hagakure is almost invisible when she scouts."
"Almost being the keyword." Hagakure pouted, rubbing her head. "Jiro can still hear me. Which always leads to me getting hurt."
"I said I was sorry." Jiro rolled her eyes as she set up her blankets for a nap.
Her pout deepened. Before she could argue, Sero cut in with a grin. "The truck should be ready soon!"
"Soon?" Hagakure brightened up, bouncing on her feet. As usual, she recovered quickly. "It's fixed?"
"Almost." Sero rubbed his neck nervously. "We just have to see if it starts later."
Just one more day, then. Uraraka gazed fondly at Midoriya, quietly rereading the manual. His brow was furrowed as he intently memorized it. They could only carry so many books, after all. She studied her companions' faces, memorizing them. She didn't quite have Midoriya's memory but at least this much she could do.
"Who's going to start it?" she asked and then broke out into laughter as everyone pointed at Kaminari.
-x-
A moment of truth: Kaminari pouring gas into the truck. Jiro sat in the front, ready to turn on the engine, and everyone else stood a safe distance away.
He had, after all, once burned down a gas station.
Hagakure clasped her hands, praying silently. Her fingers trembled, each tremor a small earthquake. Siphon in place, he poured in the gas, tilting his red can so not even a drop was missed. Sero covered his eyes, peeking through the cracks. Uraraka could feel her heart race as she watched, their nervous energy getting to her.
With a heavy thud, the can landed on the ground, empty. A thumbs up, a wonky smile. Kaminari was high again but the deed was done. Jiro turned the key.
Wheeze. Splutter. The truck coughed and shuddered before the engine finally gave a steady hum. A minute passed, then another, and still the engine ran.
"We did it," Midoriya whispered, the first words of the day.
"We did it!" Sero repeated, jumping up and down. Hagakure high-fived Uraraka.
Then they all waited another five minutes before heading to the truck. Kaminari had, after all, burned down several gas stations.
-x-
"What do you think you'll find in the south?" Uraraka asked, holding onto the edge of the truck as they hit yet another bump. It was unsettling, sitting on the flat back of the vehicle—no shelter, no safety. How did people ride in this before? The only good part was the amount of room and even that was slowly becoming more and more negative as each swerve around abandoned cars caused things to collide into her.
"Heat," Kaminari said immediately.
"You're from up north, right? Is it cold there?" Midoriya asked, his pencil hovering over a scrap of paper. His writing was so tiny, she was amazed he could read any of it.
"Really, really cold," Hagakure complained, shivering from the memory. Uraraka had almost forgotten the girl was there, somehow she almost blended in with the shadows and metal. "It snowed sometimes."
"Snow," Uraraka repeated the word, tasting it. They had seen it once, when she had been a child and her caravan had followed the coast up north. She remembered a stinging sensation, a sharp bite of cold. "How did you live in that?"
"We didn't—"
Jiro rolled her eyes, cutting Kaminari off. "It was manageable, the houses there aren't as damaged as the ones here. We just had to wear a lot more layers."
"Oh." Midoriya nodded, thinking it over. "What about food?"
"Well, it isn't cold all the time, so we could find things outside but…" Jiro tugged her ear as she recalled it. "It's been getting colder and colder each year."
"Unlike here, where it seems to get hotter and hotter." Uraraka sighed, watching the scenery sped by. It was amazing how much faster the truck was, taking them past mountains and villages like it was nothing.
"Wouldn't the south be even hotter than this?"
Everyone stared at Midoriya, dumbfounded. After a long moment of silence, they could hear a soft "oh shit" from where Sero was driving.
-x-
"Apparently this structure's called a bungalow." In the faint firelight, Midoriya slowly read from the scraps of paper they found in a drawer. The paper crackled as he turned it, age and heat making it brittle.
"Huh. There are a lot of different house types." Uraraka stared up at the roof, through the holes where starlight peeked in. Vines grew along the cracked walls, slowly pushing their way to the sun. Why? For what purpose? If they made it that far, they'd just burn.
"There's a place called a den in this house." Squinting, he pushed the paper closer to his eyes. "The owner liked reading there."
Gesturing at their surroundings, she cracked a grin. "So here, then? That's what we're doing right?"
Opening his mouth to protest, he considered it for a moment before conceding the point. "I guess…but I don't think that's quite right." He gave a wry smile as returned to reading.
In the quiet, she could hear a soft chirping, the faint rustling of leaves. A bird called in the distance. In the flickering light, she could almost believe they were the only two people in the world. Every now and then, Midoriya would read aloud, his voice low and full of wonder. A thousand tales were hidden in those records of his, stories of a time that never would again be. Maybe even a time that never was—his words felt more like fairytales than facts.
Still, this was her favourite time of the day and she hummed as she examined the ruined house.
"You sure you didn't want to keep travelling with them?"
Startled, she snapped her attention to him. "Huh?"
"Uh, those guys." Flustered by her attention, he flipped through the papers faster. His eyes were firmly glued to his hands. "We could have kept travelling with them."
"Oh that." Uraraka considered it, spinning the knob on a cabinet nearby. The bronze handle fell off after her second spin. "It's fine."
"You sure?" Midoriya pressed, more persistent than usual. "You really liked Jiro." She strained to hear his voice as he mumbled. "You laughed a lot."
Had she? In the faint light, she could barely make out her reflection in a mirror shard. This group had been different than others, if she were honest. Maybe they could have stayed. Become a family. Found a home.
However, she still remembered waking up to silence, to an empty field. "It's fine. Besides, they aren't going our way."
"Oh, that's true." Midoriya gave a sheepish smile, rubbing his nose. "I guess we couldn't have then."
The debate resolved, she went back to investigating. She had already found several canned fruits earlier, a much needed resupply. In a drawer, she noticed a dusty photo, yellowed from age. These houses never felt truly abandoned, despite the repair needed. It was more as though people just ran off without a second thought, leaving behind their lives.
Despite all of his readings, Midoriya had never found the answer to why. Picking up broken cup, she asked, "How far are we from Musutafu?"
"Uh…the truck had to go around…but it saved us two days…" Midoriya's brow knitted as he calculated their journey. His fingers scrawled imaginary numbers on the dirt as he mouthed unheard measurements. After a few minutes, he looked up proudly. "About a week."
"A week." However, that was probably while walking as fast as was possible. Uraraka put the cup down. It had been nearly a month since they had started this journey. "Do you think he's still there?"
Midoriya's hands stilled, the only indication of his uncertainty. A radio sat between them, pointedly silent. "That's where All Might's last broadcast was. I'm sure he's still there."
Wisely, she held her tongue.
-x-
"That's a river." Midoriya brow knitted as he stared ahead at the overflowing waterway and then back at his map. He hadn't made a mistake in his directions, had he? Despite the sight spreading in front of him, his instruments said otherwise.
"That is a river," Uraraka agreed shading her eyes as she studied the sight. Bloated, the water surged down the channel. To the east, the sun was still climbing. It sparkled off the water, not revealing its dark depths."A pretty big one too."
No matter how many times he retraced their path, he ended up exactly where they were. They were in the right spot. Only, the right spot now had a river flowing through it. Sometimes, he wished he were a rock. Weathering time and nature, witnessing change. If they could speak, what secrets would they reveal? "It's probably too deep to walk through."
"It's nothing like those streams we've seen." Uraraka adjusted her pack, admiring the view from the top of the hill. The water flowed endlessly. "I didn't know there could be so much water in one place."
"Me neither." He had read about rivers once. The heat made it impossible for large water bodies to exist, or so he thought. Was there something like this up north? He should have asked Sero before they left. "We need to find a way around."
"Maybe if we walk along it we'll find a crossing point. There could be a road." Uraraka bit her lip, her grip tightening on the straps of her backpack. "I might need to repack so our load is lighter and easier to carry."
"You're really good at that." Midoriya folded up his map; it'd be useless until they crossed this obstacle. "Let's try—"
Before he could finish that sentence, they heard a shout. Scanning the shoreline, they spotted a small figure waving at them. They gave each other a quick look before heading down the slope—Midoriya quickly, Uraraka more cautiously behind. As they ran, the ground got muddier and muddier, making it hard to stay upright. He almost slipped a few times before they reached the bottom with a splash.
A splash. Looking down, he cocked his head as he realized was standing in a shallow pool of water. It didn't feel like part of the river. The water here was stagnant, cloudy, with thin long grasses growing out of it. His feet reached its murky depths and he could hear a soft crunch with each step.
"Later," Uraraka admonished, pulling him along.
Right, he had to focus. Midoriya looked ahead and found a short girl a little ahead of them, waving frantically. Her long black hair swayed in the wind and even though she was standing, there was something bent about her. Hunched. Behind her sat a small white house. It had to be waterlogged, considering the surroundings.
"Do you need help?" Urakawa asked as she pushed through the water. It looked effortless as she walked, as though they weren't ploughing through knee-high water. He was having a harder time, the mud reluctantly releasing its grip on him each time he lifted a foot.
"A little," the girl croaked, her face red with embarrassment. She gestured at the house behind her. "The water here's a little shallower than I thought, so we got stuck."
"Stuck?" Perplexed, he gave the house a second look. Now that he was closer, he could see that it was more rectangular in shape than a normal house. Smaller too. It sat on a long, wooden plank. A series of long wooden planks.
"Could you help me push it out?"
"Push it out?" Bemused, Uraraka stared the house. "You can push a house?"
"A house?" The girl stared at them blankly before laughing. "Oh right, I forgot that's what it looks like to most people. This is a boat."
"A boat?" Midoriya tapped his arm, recalling everything he had ever read till now. A boat, a boat—it was unfamiliar, though he vaguely remembered the word. Giving up, he looked at her curiously. "What is a boat?"
"It's a thing that floats on the water." Crouching, she pushed her hand under the edge of the wooden plank. "It's not connected to the ground."
"Ohhhhh…" Midoriya lit up, wanting to take out his paper so he could write this all down. "How does that work?"
"Well—"
"Later." Uraraka firmly shut him down, turning to the girl. "This boat, can you travel on the river with it?"
"Yes, that's how I got here."
"Huh." Uraraka stroked her chin thoughtfully. "If we help you, mind taking us to the other side?"
-x-
They spend the next day collecting food, searching abandoned homes for anything left behind. Or rather, anything that hadn't been scavenged already. Chance encounters like this were rare, so Midoriya mostly knew of other people by the signs left behind. Opened cabinets, footprints in the dust, small piles of ash.
"The only downside of living on the river: it's hard to find food on it." Asui, as she called herself, gave a depreciative sigh as she jumped over a knocked down pole. Whatever grace she lacked on land, she more than made up with mobility. She was pretty good at that, leaping over obstacles like they were nothing. Combine that with Uraraka's climbing and Midoriya was often left behind.
"You live on that?" Uraraka crouched down, searching a small bush for any berries. "Isn't it scary? What if you fall in?"
"I can swim." She shrugged. At their vacant expressions, she clarified, "Even when it's deep, I can float on the water."
"Ohh, swim." Midoriya memorized the word as he reached up and examined a shelf. Lucky—it was too high for a quick scavenge and the goods on it were ignored. "So it's really just a house on water?"
"Yeah, it's my home." Asui grinned. "I used to live on land but it's too hot. It's a lot cooler on the water. I hear that the river will connect with an even bigger river, one that you can't see the other side of."
"There's something that big?" Uraraka gaped, stilling her hands. "There's that much water in the world?"
"Yeah! When I get there, I want to find out if there's another side."
Horrified, she stared at Asui. "If there's no land, how're you going to find food? What if you need something?"
"I'll stock up before I go. As for the rest…" Asui scratched her neck, and shrugged. "I want to do this. I'll find a way."
"Really?" She couldn't wrap her head around it.
"Ocean," Midoriya mumbled as he racked his brains. "I think it's called an ocean."
"Ocean?" Asui turned to him, cocking her head. "What is that?"
The more he thought about it, the more right the word felt. "The endless water, I think it's an ocean."
"Ocean." Asui repeated the word, and smiled at the sound. "I like that."
-x-
Uraraka woke abruptly, the smell of smoke clinging to her even from beyond her dream. Closing her eyes, she could still see the empty field, the thin pillars of smoke against a blue sky. Midoriya had been the only one there with her in the abandoned campground, the only who had stayed.
Bitter. The memory felt bitter. Even the water she drank tasted pungent. She stared at the ceiling for a long moment; it was fortunate Asui had spare beds. Slipping out of the room, she headed to the deck. Maybe the fresh air would clear her senses.
A soft clicking noise greeted her when she opened the door. Facing the river, Midoriya slowly turned the knob on the radio. His ear was pressed against it for even the faintest noise. It was all in vain, though. Not even static escaped it.
She stood there a moment, watching him painstakingly turn the dial from one station to the next. Suddenly, she was reminded of that vine, reaching for the sun only to be burned. It'd be better if they never reached their destination, if they just stayed on this journey.
-x-
"Think she'll make it?" Uraraka asked as they settled in for the night. It had been a whole afternoon since they had left Asui on the river, watching her boat disappear into the distance. It had been a strange experience, riding the boat. She had liked the weightlessness of it all but somehow it made her want to vomit.
"Definitely." Midoriya nodded, sitting down next to her. The perimeter had been cleared, the fire made, and enough burnable items found to keep it going till the morning. Once he made himself comfortable, she promptly rested her head on his lap. The soft squeak of surprise he gave made her giggle—no matter how intimate they got, he was always embarrassed. "I heard all rivers go to the ocean."
"The ocean." She still wasn't sure if she liked the idea or not—even now, on some level, it scared her. "So if we walked along the river we'd see it?"
"It might take a while, but yes." His hand combed through her hair, gently stroking her scalp. A soft touch. She closed her eyes as he spoke. "Do you want to see it?"
"You do, I think." His fingers mapped roads on her head.
"Maybe after we find All Might?"
She didn't reply to that, she couldn't. In her backpack, his radio sat. Heavy. Consuming. Even now, she was aware of its presence. "What's it like there?"
If he noticed her change of topic, he didn't mention it. Immediately, he perked up and started to recite facts. "The ocean's an even bigger thing than the river, with water that's really salty."
"Salty," she mumbled before letting his words wash over her like the tide. Slowly, she drifted away into sleep.
-x-
"This doesn't look natural." Midoriya crouched to the ground, examining the field ahead of them. There was something off about how the plants grew in there, about the clear-cut boundaries dividing the field from everything else.
"Is it on purpose?" Uraraka touched a long stalk of grass, almost as long as she was tall. Her hand followed it up to the head, to the thicker section. "Did someone try to grow these?"
"Maybe." Midoriya noticed a pair of footprints on the ground, yet another unusual thing. The ground didn't look as hard as it did in other areas. It was darker, less cracked. Was the nearby river keeping it soft? "We'll see where it leads."
"Carefully," she added, pulling him closer to the fields so they could slip in. "We can do this but carefully."
"Right, of course." A little sheepish, he followed her suggestion. "Carefully."
Ten minutes later, it turned out they didn't have to worry too much. The field extended far more than they could have expected, the soft grasses somehow surviving the blazing sun. A man emerged from their right, carrying a basket. Spotting them, he almost dropped his charge in surprise. "Hello?"
"Hi?" Midoriya waved tentatively, even as Uraraka's muscles tensed.
With a broad grin, he set the basket down and clasped their hands. "You here to join us?"
Midoriya couldn't stop staring at his glasses. It had been a long time since he had seen a pair. "Join you?"
"So you haven't heard." For a moment, he slumped forward. It lasted all of two seconds before he immediately straightened, adjusting his glasses. "All that means then is that I have to convince you about it."
"It?" Uraraka was staring at the basket he set down, the strange assortment of plants inside it. There were a few Midoriya could recognize, mainly from the labels of cans. Okra, beans, one that looked like small green balls. "Where did you get them from?"
Excited by the question, he puffed his chest proudly. "Excellent question! I'll show you around the farm." After turning around, he immediately whipped back to the pair. Extending a hand, he sheepishly added, "I did not introduce myself! Forgive me, I'm Iida."
"Uraraka," she replied, shaking his hand. "And this is Midoriya."
He nodded, shaking the stranger's hand as well.
"Excellent, Uraraka. Midoriya." Iida whirled back around and started to walk. "I shall show you around the farm.
A farm. Midoriya couldn't believe his ears. A farm. Iida, along with a woman named Yaoyorozu and another man named Koda, was running a farm. They had spent a few years cultivating the land, carefully bringing water from the river and encouraging specific plants to grow.
"Of course, it's not entirely successful." With rue, Iida gestured to a field further away, blackened with scorch marks. "The sun is our greatest enemy."
"How do you manage to grow things? I noticed the soil was different," Midoriya asked, increasing his pace so he could keep up with the giant.
"Excellent question!" Iida gestured at the river behind them, still visible despite the distance. "Irrigation."
"irrigation?" Midoriya almost flew, only the anchor known as Uraraka keeping him down. "What is that?"
-x-
Midoriya knew a great many words. More so than most of the people they encountered, since he was one of the few that knew how to read. After meeting Iida and his crew, he had learned a few more: irrigation, fertilization, horticulture.
"He even had books," Midoriya gushed as he and Uraraka set up for the night. She was carefully walking around their chosen room, an empty office in the bottom of half-crumbled building. They had learned early on it was best to know every exit. "They were mostly on gardening and how to grow, but there was entire shelf full of them!"
"He gave you one before we left, didn't he?" She wasn't looking at him but he shivered, picturing her glare.
"Well, yes, one…I know we agreed to limit how many I take because of space, but it's a gift." She still didn't face him, but her shoulders relaxed as she sighed. Safe. "It's been so long since I found someone who could read."
"Yeah, it was a nice place." Uraraka headed back to him now, a pile of sticks and loose papers in her hands. Crouching down to the ground, she set a few sheets of paper aside before crumpling the rest into balls. "You can keep those."
"Really?" He sat down next to her, carefully stacking the loose sheets together. This was perfect, now he didn't have to worry about forgetting what Iida had taught him. "Maybe we can go back after we're done."
"So you can talk the night away again?" Uraraka gave him a look, before chuckling. "You really liked it there, huh?"
Suddenly embarrassed, he rubbed his nose. "Well, yeah. But you liked it there too, right?"
"Hmm…yeah, it wasn't too bad." Uraraka nodded her agreement and set fire to the paper. After a few minutes, she tossed in some of the wood. "They were really nice."
"I never knew there could be so many different types of food, or that they could even exist outside of cans." Midoriya rocked back and forth as he remembered it all. "He gave me a book on edible berries, said it might help while we travel. I—"
Uraraka was looking at him now, her face a mixture of shadow and light, and he froze. Before he could question it, she leaned forward and kissed him. Dry, like the desert. Their kisses were always like that, something earthy, something warm. Something ignited in him and he felt his ears go aflame.
"Now?" he squeaked, as her hands curled into his chest. The fire reflected in her eyes, it was in him now. His skin burned.
"Now," she confirmed, unbuttoning his shirt. "You're happy so I'm happy so now is the right time."
Midoriya knew a lot of words. Desire. Lust. Love. Passion. They swirled inside him but failed to describe this moment, this feeling. Her mouth brushed his once more and his mind went blank.
-x-
They were in a new area. The houses had given way to tall buildings, each looking like they could reach the sky. Unlike most of the other places they've been, the buildings here were in relatively decent condition, with a minimal amount of wreckage. If it weren't for the plants crawling up the sides of them, they could have entered the past.
"Why are they all still standing?" Uraraka asked Midoriya, her neck craned back as she looked around. For the first time, she had a sense of the past, that there was a 'before'. It was easy to imagine other people walking down the street, though she wasn't sure what they'd be doing beyond that.
"I don't know." Baffled, Midoriya wore an identical expression to hers. His hand was already at work, scribbling small notes as they studied the place. "Maybe this place wasn't hit as badly as the rest?"
"Maybe?" The wind echoed loudly here, whistling as it ran through the buildings. Despite the sound, she barely felt the breeze. "We don't even know what happened to the rest."
"That's true." Midoriya examined his map again, finally snapping his eyes away from the sight. "I don't think we're far now—as long as we don't get lost, we should get there today."
"That close." Uraraka swallowed, reality crashing down on her. "You sure you want to go find him?"
"Of course." His reply was instantaneous. "All Might helped me all those years, so I have to help him now."
"It's been several months, he might not be," Alive. The word caught in her throat like mud. "Here anymore."
"Then we'll just confirm it." Midoriya rolled up his map, closing any further objections. It was always like that when it came to All Might.
In a way, Uraraka could understand. After all, All Might's voice had been a constant on the radio, using some long lost technology to reach them all. She wasn't sure how the device worked, only that it did and Midoriya would listen to it each evening as this stranger spoke. There was something hopeful about his words, something positive. When he spoke, she could almost see the future.
However, one day the voice stopped. All Might never spoke on the radio again, no matter how much Midoriya tinkered with it.
Maybe he's in danger, Midoriya had suggested before proposing they travel to All Might's home. At the time, it had seemed like a great idea.
More and more, though, it seemed like he had to be dead. Or gone. Or something Midoriya couldn't fix, couldn't undo. And now that they were so close, Uraraka was afraid of what they'd find. Of what it'd do to Midoriya.
-x-
The building was far bigger than she had expected. She could make out two letters on the front of the building—U.A. The rest were beyond her abilities. "So, he's in there."
"Alright." Energized, Midoriya headed in before her. "Let's find him."
Uraraka took a deep breath before following him. Just like the rest of the city, this building was largely intact. It creeped her out, how ghost-like this whole place felt. As though the people living there had just stepped out and would be back any moment. That feeling intensified when she entered this building.
"Do you know what floor he's on?" she whispered. Her voice still felt too loud, bouncing off the walls. Her feet echoed softly in the hallway.
"No," Midoriya replied. It was getting to him too; his voice was hardly any louder than hers. "We'll just have to check rooms till we find a clue."
It was a stupid idea. She opened a door randomly, revealing a neatly organized desk, surrounded by shelves upon shelves of books. Midoriya's eyes grew wide and she raised an eyebrow. "Do you know how many rooms there are in a building this size?"
"Yes," he muttered, still focused on the books. "We just have to open and close doors."
"And what if we don't see him?"
"Then we'll go through the rooms again but more thoroughly."
His words would have been more believable had his eyes not been glued to the books this entire time.
-x-
Each room was neatly organized. A thin layer of dust lay on everything, the only sign of time. Even the plants dared not grow in here. They shouldn't be here. That was the only thing she knew by the end of the first floor. They shouldn't be here.
"Let's stop," she suggested as Midoriya started to climb up to the second floor. Her hair was still standing on end and she shivered.
"We just have two more floors to check," Midoriya replied and it still didn't make sense. It was a stupid plan. All Might was long gone and they would find nothing. A true waste of time. Besides, she had no idea what they were looking for. A person? A small radio?
Annoyed, she wordlessly followed him. The second floor was much like the first one, an endless straight line of doors and dust. The rooms on this floor were a bit more elaborate and expansive than the first floor. Each room led the way to an even larger room with several small rooms connected. There was more glass here, more devices, and she would have loved to spend some time examining it all.
Yet Midoriya was pulling further and further ahead and she had to resist temptation. By the time she had reached her fifth door, she heard a loud thud from Midoriya's direction. Quickly, she ran to his room, fearing the worst.
The sight she was greeted with was beyond what she could have expected. The room was in disarray, with furniture overturned and destroyed. Not an unusual thing in any other building, but a surprise in this one. There had been a struggle here. Long and drawn out. Dried blood stained a chair, a book. A red footprint left the room and she slowly turned to Midoriya.
His skin was white, his fingers trembling. Steadying himself on the wall, he shook his head. "He's alright."
"Midoriya?" Slowly, she approached him. She remembered those vines reaching for the sun, burning as they did. The taste of smoke lingered in her still. "Are you ok?"
"He's alright." His words were weaker now, his shaking more apparent. "He's fine."
"Yes." Her hand reached out, touching his shoulder. Those flowers had been reaching for hope. And if there were no hope, if there were nothing at all, then what? "Let's go somewhere else."
"He's fine." Midoriya's hand tightened on the radio he gripped as he stared down at the red footprint. It was one sight too many and he broke off into a sprint as he followed it.
"Midoriya!" Worried, she chased after him. The building was in good condition, but that made it scarier than any unstable one. Who knew what was out there? "Midoriya!"
He didn't hear her, following the red footprints as he ran. The radio bumped into his thigh with every stride. She quickened her pace, slinging off her pack. Her breathing came in short pants. Before she could catch up to him, there was a loud cracking noise and the floor crumbled as he ran over it.
"Midoriya!"
-x-
"Midoriya!"
Uraraka's voice rang in his ears, desperate. Scared. Coming to his senses, Midoriya stared up at her worried face. "Uraraka?"
"Hang on there!" She was lying flat on her belly, her hand reaching out to his. Quickly he broke out of his stupor and realized just where he was.
Or where he wasn't. Dangling on the edge of the floor, he immediately regretted everything. The only thing between him and a metal pole skewering him was his right hand. When he fell, his reflexes kicked in quick enough to grab the tiled edge of the floor.
Her hand brushed his. "I'll save you."
Midoriya looked down and swallowed. It was a long drop. In his other hand, the radio weighed him down. Still quiet. The reporting room had been filled with blood, with destruction. Had All Might died then? Did he die after? The questions raced through his head but now wasn't the time. Uraraka had managed to sit up, a rope tied around her waist. Even in an emergency, she was a quick thinker.
"Midoriya, I've got you," she grunted as she grabbed his hand. Pulling on him hard, she groaned. "You'll…you'll make it out."
She'd make sure of it, he knew. She'd make sure of it or risk herself trying. And all of this for what? For a fear Midoriya refused to voice? For a hope Midoriya couldn't let go of? The radio was an iron chain on his hand, pulling him down. Her hand was hot and sweaty as it held his, and he could feel her grip start to slip.
"Yeah." Letting go of the radio, he reached back for her with his other hand. "You've got me."
After several minutes of pulling, they made it out and into a safer section of the hallway. Lying on the ground, they panted. "This building…is more unstable…than I thought. We should…get…out before…it collapses again."
"Yeah…" Uraraka sat up beside him, taking in a deep breath. "You dropped the radio."
"I couldn't make it out otherwise." He stared up at the ceiling, trying to calm his breathing.
"Yeah but…" Uraraka bit her lip. "We should go find it."
"It's fine."
"But—"
He cut her off, gently taking one of her hands. "It's fine. I don't need it."
Stunned, she watched him squeeze her hand. "What do you mean?"
"All Might won't be able to call us with it anyways." Midoriya shrugged casually, showing a level of confidence he did not feel at all. Even now, he wanted to pull out the radio and turn the knobs. "It was just taking up space."
Her expression showed just how little she believed him. "Are you sure?"
He nodded adamantly. He couldn't stay in the past forever. Midoriya moved to get up but Uraraka gripped his hand tightly, locking him in place. He looked at her inquisitively. "Uraraka?"
Her shoulders shook. "You know, sometimes I dream of waking up in that field alone." Uraraka covered her face with a hand, her voice thick with emotion. Tears dripped down her cheek. Maybe he hadn't been the only one chained to the past, unable to let go, unable to forget. "But that's wrong, isn't it? You were there, you were always there. If I hadn't pulled you out today…"
He swallowed, the fear getting to him as he realized just how close he had been to dying. Uraraka leaned against him, still hiding her face. He patted her back gingerly. "I'm fine."
"Yeah." She didn't move. "Yeah."
"You want to try staying at Iida's for a while?" he suggested as he stroked her head, calming her down.
She stared at him for a long moment before breaking out into a smile. "I think you'd rather see the ocean first, right?"
Midoriya grinned. "Just a little, yeah."