A/N: Thank you to everyone who is still following this. I'm sorry that updates have been slow but I've been struggling with my mental health recently and haven't had the motivation to write. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Kyoka shivered as she stepped through the hospital doors, an icy wind whipping around her. Momos hand was warm against the exposed skin of her wrist. Momo saw this from the corner of her eye as she called for a chauffeur.
She bit the inside of her cheek, fighting back the urge to wrap her arm around the shorter girl. It was a strange feeling, one she wasn't familiar with. The other girl looked so pale and fragile, beautiful. She shook those thoughts from her head, turning her attention back to calling for the chauffeur.
They waited silently, Momos posture stiff and straight-backed while Kyoka stood slouched behind her, one hand in her pocket. The purple-haired girl sighed, watching as her breath rose through the frosty air in a thin, white cloud of water-vapour.
Kyoka's nose was slowly turning pink with the cold and she failed to fight back another shiver, scrawny frame trembling. She jumped as she felt Momos arm around her waist and was pulled to the other girls side. "I don't want you getting sick, your lungs are still weak" she offered a hasty explanation. Kyoka nodded, subconsciously relaxing into Momos touch.
They jumped apart suddenly when a shiny, black limousine pulled up to the hospital entrance, gravel crunching beneath its tyres. Kyoka cleared her throat, picking at a loose thread at the hem of her jacket and refusing to look at Momo who was wiping imaginary dust from the front of her coat. A stiff-backed chauffeur stepped out of the car, his face emotionless as he opened the door for Momo.
Kyoka clambered into the limousine after Momo, both of them sitting at opposite side of the car and turning to stare out of their respective windows. Kyoka watched their surrounding whiz past, transfixed at how fast the car could travel, having never been in one before.
Momo watched her from the corner of her eye, unable to stop the small smile that crept onto her face at the sight of Kyokas excited expression and the way her eyes glinted in amazement at the buildings rushed passed. Momo felt a warm feeling creeping through her at the sight of the purple-haired girl and before she could spare too much thought to what those feelings could mean the car stopped and her door opened.
She felt a slight pang of disappointment as she stepped put of the car, seeing Kyokas face slip back into the cocky smirk that masked her expressions. Quickly, Momo marched around to the other side of the car and grabbed Kyokas wrist, ignoring the fluttering feeling as she walked up the stone steps to her front doors.
The doors swung open as they neared, a well-dressed, stiff-backed butler at each, both with their noses straight in the air. Momo breezed past them, pulling Kyoka along behind her who was struggling to keep pace being much shorter. Eventually she opted for jogging beside Momo. She said nothing as they made their way down the long corridor. At last Momo stopped suddenly, Kyoka almost crashing into her. "Give a person some warning before you do that" she muttered as she straightened up. Momo ignored the comment and stepped into the room, still holding tightly onto Kyokas wrist.
"You can shower here, I'll give you some of my clothes to wear" she told her, pointedly not looking at the shorter girl. "I'll lock the door so that you cant escape, call if you need anything" she said promptly before rushing out of the room and turning the key in its lock.
Momo sighed as soon as the door shut, leaning her head against the cool wood. She didnt know why she was feeling this way. It was probably all that girls fault. As soon as she left the feeling would too. She found an old hoodie and pair of shorts that would just about fit Kyoka and sat outside the bathroom door, listening to the sound of the shower and waited.
Inside, Kyoka had started the shower. She felt nervous as she stood in the open room, not used to being vulnerable or being in such an open space. The second she stepped under the warm spray of water she could feel the tension in her body ebb away as years of grime was stripped from her body. The showers shelf was stocked with dozens of bottles and Kyoka squinted at the labels until she found one labelled 'body wash'.
She lathered the creamy substance on herself, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the sickly-sweet, floral scent, a stark contrast to what she was used to. Next was shampoo. She found a bottle, glad to see something normal amongst the 'Coconut Water', 'Revitalizing' and 'Sort of Coal' labels, not having a clue what any of those meant.
The shampoo also had a strong, floral scent, much to Kyokas disgust. She spent a good ten minutes getting the dirt, blood and knots out of her hair. The water, stained brown eventually ran clear so she stepped out of the shower, unwilling to stay there any longer than she had to. She wrapped herself in the fluffy, white towel provided and moved towards the door.
As she did so she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her hair was clear and shiny and lay flat against her head. Her face was clear of city grime for once. She looked...soft, her mask of city grime washed away. Out there it showed that you were tough, that you had survived. People like her laughed at the clean street kids, the ones that still smelled of shampoo or perfume. Out there if you were still clean then you were inexperienced, you were the first to be picked on. Now she was like them. She was soft and she hated it.
Kyoka tore her gaze away from the mirror and walked over to the door knocking on it. Instantly she heard Momos voice from the other side of the wood. "I'll have the clothes now, thanks" she called out. God, now even her voice was soft, her nose involuntarily wrinkled in disgust.
The door opened slowly and Momos hand appeared in the gap, a bundle of clothes dangling from her grasp. Kyoka grabbed it and the door slammed shut. Staring at the clothes she had been given she couldn't help but groan, they were in a bright, pastel pink. Now this was soft.
On the other side of the door, Momo was a blushing mess. She had tried to open the door as little as possible and to respect Kyokas decency and yet she had still managed to catch a glance at Kyoka in a towel. She had looked so soft, looking much younger beneath all that dirt and the skin on her shoulders was soft and pale and she just wanted to reach over and wrap her arms around her.
A few minutes later the door swung open with an indignant Kyoka standing in the door way. "Did you seriously have nothing better" she grumbled, gesturing towards Momos pink, pyjama shorts which stopped mid-thigh. Momo couldn't respond, only staring at her, mouth hanging open at the sight of her in short-shorts and an oversized, pastel-blue hoodie.
Shaking her head she refocused herself "I have a hairdryer for your...er...hair" she mumbled awkwardly, ignoring the hint of a blush that dusted her cheeks. Momo quickly cleared her throat before grabbing Kyokas wrist again and leading her to her bedroom to get the hairdryer.
As she handed Kyoka the item, Momo silently cursed herself for acting this way. Kyoka stared at the dryer in her hand for a moment, trying to figure out how it worked. Momo noticed after a minute of Kyoka fiddling with switches and gently took it from her hand. "Here, let me" she murmured, sitting behind Kyoka, on the floor and turning on the dryer.
She ran her fingers gently through the thin, purple strands of Kyokas hair as it dried. She felt relaxed and calm for the first time in what felt like ages. For once her mind wasn't consumed with worries about school, study and her parents. For once she could just sit in the moment as dried the girls hair.
Kyoka on the other hand was nervous, picking at the cuticle of her thumb as she tried to look at Momo through her peripheral vision. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and the urge to run made her restless.
She didnt like people being behind her. She couldn't see them and when you cant see someone you're automatically vulnerable to them. She didnt like being vulnerable. She bit down on her lip, worrying it between her teeth as she silently wished for Momo to hurry up.
She knew that she should have nothing to worry about, that she was relatively safe but she still hated it. That was one of the silent rules they had Out There; you don't let yourself be vulnerable. Vulnerable people are the ones that picked off first, you get stolen from and once your belongings are all gone your killed. If you're gone that leaves one less person to fight for food on the streets.
She'd seen it happening countless times, she'd done it herself. She didn't like it but that's what had to be done. Heroes don't help, you just get thrown into prison or a foster home and Out There freedom was valued above all else, that's all they had.