HANAKO'S HAND HURTS.

Momoka is clutching it so tightly it might break. She's drawing blood Hanako thinks and Momoka is such a despicable girl Hanako (too many victims) wonders if they can trace her death back to Hanako if she decides to make the viper a part of her garden ( welcome to my garden of beautiful flowers, they do not grow on sunshine, but death! ). Todoroki spots them easily. Between Momoka bouncing up and down in excitement and Momoka's radiant smile that can rival plane mirrors in deflecting sunlight, Hanako can't tell what gave them out.

Todoroki nods at them and Hanako would usually respond, but Momoka's hands are on her shoulders now and she doesn't want to break a bone there so Hanako doesn't respond.

"You must be Todoroki, right?" Momoka asks and she handles the unimpressed teenager role so well Hanako wonders if she should just ride Momoka's acting coattails, apply as her manager and be filthy rich. "Todoroki... I'm sorry what was your first name?" Momoka's acting is so natural it looks like she was born for this ( born for the spotlight; lights, camera, action! ).

"Todoroki Shouto," Todoroki completes for Momoka, his face amiable, sociable even and why doesn't he have that face when it's just the two of us? Hanako is grateful that her dark skin easily hides the blood Momoka drew earlier. "You guys are Katsuragi and Matsushima, right?"

"Ye—" "I didn't know Matsushima was your last name."

Hanako tilts her head to the side, blurring out the curses Momoka is spewing from her lip glossed mouth (Katsuragi Momoka, it girl, queen bee, cut off and ignored? This must be an alternate reality. ) "You didn't?"

"You didn't mention it," Todoroki finishes for Hanako and Hanako does not even have time to laugh at Momoka who has been forgotten. Hanako wants to ask her what it feels like to be like Hanako, to be insignificant to the eyes of people around you, to not be the center of attention when you know you have the power to bend even the proudest monarchs to your will.

"Ahem!" Momoka says, back to her toothy fruity smile, precious girl, you can mistake her for a charming fairytale main heroine if her fingernails weren't digging maroon crescents into Hanako's palms. "I'll call you, Shouto, is that alright?" Momoka bats her eyelashes and if only Hanako can act this way and do the plan the way the plan is done so everything can all be wrapped up with a nice pastel colored ribbon. "You can call me Momo."

Todoroki doesn't say anything.

The exercise begins. They start by identifying each other's quirk and with Momoka being able to create waves of energy with her fingernails at a 500m radius, they use Todoroki's ice ( what a magnificent quirk, very fitting for a cold cold boy ) to move Momoka closer to the dummies, use waves to propel the drowning victims upward, and waves to force them back to shore. Todoroki manages to perform the necessary actions such as checking pulse and the likes and tending to wounds when they're safely onshore and Hanako wants to impress him because she can do those things too, but her hands hurt so much from all the crescents planted by Momoka whose vanilla scent is wafting closer to Todoroki ( she smells really nice, but flowers are more fragrant; yellow roses blooming ). Hanako wonders if she really is needed for this exercise.

Blood begins to litter the sand where Hanako stands as they finish treating the victims and Todoroki is the first one to notice, because he always does ( why? why? why? such a good, good hero ).

He makes his way toward her, turns his back on Momoka ( now you see me ) and then— "Phase 2 begins now!"

"In the event one of the civilians you worked with are drowning, what do you do?"

Momoka flutters her long eyelashes one second ( now you don't ) and the next she's a drowning victim. A strong force propels her to the water and she can take care of herself because Momoka is not Hanako who is—"Damn it!" Todoroki hisses and heads to Momoka, because he's a hero first of all and he needs to help Momoka more. "Take care of yourself!"— weak and fragile. Papa, Papa, I'm not meant for saving people.

I'm meant to destroy them.

( A yellow rose petal falls to the sand. )

The water turns into a whirlpool and Momoka cannot save herself now, because what is a mere human to a disaster? What is a human to a queen? What is a Hanako to a Katsuragi Momoka?

Hanako cannot do anything and she's overriden with fear? This intensity, this is the life of a hero. These are the people she wanted to defy. God save her now.

Everything is so fast, so complex, so twisting that Hanako is trying to nurse her hand and then the next minute, she's falling to the sand from too much blood. She doesn't fall this time and Todoroki catches her again. Again. Over and over again.

"I thought you told me that I should take care of myself!" she hisses. He makes me so angry and upset Papa, I want to— urgh! Stupid, stupid boy. Minutes have passed since they turned the water into a whirlpool. They're going to fail.  "You should have saved Momoka and let me be."

"I did," he says, his voice flat, the calm in her storm, still waters and pacifiers. "I just don't like seeing you getting hurt."

Dugdugdugdugdug—

° ° °

p o l y a n t h u s ;
the heart's mystery