Mission Midoriya || A RuthTheNerd MHA fanfiction||

Chapter 20: Hourglass, you say?

Madame slammed the door open with so much force that the wall Ochako was floating against vibrated violently. Fury was written all across her face when she stomped out, but it dissipated into mere annoyance when she saw the empty alleyway.

"You," she snapped, turning to one of her guards. "Search those trash cans."

Clanging. Rattling sounds. A sigh.

"They aren't in here, Madame," a male guard reported solemnly. Ochako saw his shoulders hunch up, as though he were preparing himself for an attack. Or rather, bracing himself for Madame's complaints. Instead, she turned around and closed her eyes. A moment passed. 

"They're here," she insisted. "I can sense brainwaves coming from them."

Brainwaves? Did she have a mind-reading related quirk? And if so, that meant they wouldn't be safe here for long. All it would take was one quick look above and their hiding spot would be revealed. 

Meiying seemed to realize this too and began pointing at the building rooftops. If they could just get onto one of them, it would be smooth sailing from there. 

Ochako placed a hand onto the wall and pushed herself forwards, gliding clumsily to the other building wall. Taking great pains not to let her boots touch the walls, she kept going back and forth between them until she was just inches away from the rooftop ledge. She grabbed it and with the rest of her remaining energy leapt onto the roof. 

High on her success, she brushed her fingers on her suit and looked up. The sky above was a deep shade of purple, and light blue clouds floated lazily across it. Tiny twinkling stars made their way through the hazy air, yet the light they emitted was dim. It was as though the entire atmosphere was wrapped up snugly in a silk scarf embroidered with rhinestones.

"Wow," Ochako breathed, the wind ruffling her hair. Even though it was a bizarre sight, she found it somewhat nostalgic. A source of peace in the madness she was going through.

Biting her lip, she forced herself to jerk away from the sky and instead down at the grimy alley. Meiying was making her way up, following the same path Ochako took and clutching her black cloak so that it wouldn't create any large shadows as she floated about. Her nimble hands latched onto the ledge and she flipped herself over with relative ease. Soon after, Deku joined them on the roof. 

Now it was all up to Satashi. Unlike the rest of them, he wasn't nearly as agile or experienced with parkour of any type, so his retreat the the roof was rather clumsy. He kept bumping into walls and doing cartwheels in the air on accident. Ochako winced as his brown shoes made a light tap sound when they came in contact with the wall. 

Madame turned around, sneering. "What was that?"

The tension in the air thickened. Meiying's face froze and her grip tightening on the ledge. Satashi was close, but not close enough.

Madame looked up.

Her face morphed into satisfaction. "There! Capture them! Nobody leaves with my merchandise, not even you, Hourglass!"

The name 'Hourglass' rung around in Ochako's head, but now wasn't the time to question Meiying. Instead, she held out her hand, hoping Satashi would grab it. Instead, he floated helplessly as he tried to dodge the bullets that were being shot at him from every direction. 

"Don't worry, Ochako," Meiying placed a hand on her shoulder, and Ochako realized she'd been trembling. "They're just tranquilizers. They won't hurt him..."

"But if he's shot several times, he could endure overdose. We may never wake him up, if that happens." Deku warned them. "Should I go and-"

"No." Ochako replied firmly. First her children, now her husband? She was tired and worried and stressed. It was time to take things into her own hands; time to speed up the clock. They needed to do everything at breakneck speed.

So before Deku or Meiying could stop her, she leaped off of the roof and began to wall jump her way to Satashi, who looked grateful to see her. She was just inches away from his waggling body, when she felt a pounding in her head and let out a strangled cry. 

 It was so painful, more painful than any headache she'd ever gotten. What was going on?

A voice echoed out to her. She wasn't sure what it was saying, it was like listening to someone talk through a mask. The muffled sound then became clear.

"Ochako....Ochako..."

Someone was calling her...someone was calling her, over and over. 

"Ochako...Ochako..."

That voice. She couldn't pinpoint it. It sounded like every voice she'd ever heard. Her mother. Her father. Deku. Tsu. 

Toshi. Ryo.

Saliva dried up in her throat. She couldn't call back to them. They were gone, astray. They were like the stars in the sky. Beautiful, precious. But from her spot on Earth, she would never be able to reach them unless she had the determination of a rocket-

"OCHAKO!" yelled a voice. It cut through the echoes in her head like a knife into butter. She whipped her gaze up the roof. Right, what was she doing again?

"FOCUS!" Meiying hollered. "SHE'S JUST TRYING TO GET TO YOU!"

She?

Ochako looked down to see Madame smiling smugly. Had she been the source of the voice? 

There was no time to ponder the question, because Madame was now taking a magenta gun and aiming at her. Ochako tried to move, but she couldn't. What was wrong with her?

"Ochako...Ochako..."

"No," she whispered. "Stop!"

"Time stops for no one," Madame's rictus smile widened as she pulled the trigger. Ochako saw the bullet whiz towards her, but couldn't even move her legs. The small dart came closer. She had to save Satashi, but who would save her? Who saves the hero?

A prick jolted her out of her senses, but the wide shock turned into drowsiness as she settled with her answer. Nobody.