Izuocha's Love Stories

37 - BUTTERFLIES IN THE DARK

By SevenRenny

It felt like his body had been pelted by stones. It was hard to breathe; one inhale filled his nostrils with the dust and sawdust and that strange odor that reminded him of construction sites. He shifted and felt the heavy debris on his backside off. He was flat on his stomach, and, after blinking a few times, found himself blind. His brain was still half-functional at this point. It hurt. His head, his arms, and legs, his back – everything hurt. He braced himself and tried to list his head up. The back of his neck ached and the right side of his temple burned. He still couldn't see.

Something that felt like tiny ants crawling down his face alerted him. His gloved hand instinctively came up to touch the side of his face, until he heard the sound of dripping beneath him. Water? But it sounded too thick.

He heard the sound of sand dropping down from the ceiling like a waterfall. Sand... building... Where was he again?

Memories and pictures suddenly assaulted his mind. Training. Ruined building. Surprise villain attack. Then... then what? Come on, Deku, think! A building collapsing... Oh! He was in one of the broken down buildings when it had collapsed! What else... what else...

Ochaco Uraraka

His heart clenched. She had been with him when the building came down. He remembered. He remembered reaching out to each other, hands-only inches away when the rubble came down on them. His mind swirled with panic.

"Uraraka!"

Where was she?

"Uraraka! Can you hear me?"

Please hear me.

"Uraraka!"

He pushed through the pain and agony just to sit up. He still couldn't see. It was hard to breathe. He couldn't balance himself right; it was like standing on a tilted ship. He strained his muscles and struggled to stand up – oh god it hurt – and almost toppled forward. His gloved hands touched something solid, a wall, perhaps. He didn't know. He couldn't see.

The tickling sensation on his face traveled over his eye, down his cheek and chin, and after hearing the drip-drip-drip of liquid hitting the ground, he realized he was bleeding from his head. His eye felt sticky and hot and his eyelid felt heavy. The blood was getting into his eye. His eye automatically snapped shut. His right arm and right leg stung and he couldn't feel his fingers.

"Uraraka!"

He reminded himself to keep calling. She had to be okay.

He tried to remove one of his arm bracers, but that was hard to do using his hurting hand. He wedged his hand between his other arm and his ribs and pulled his hand out from the arm bracer. Carelessly dropping the item, he started feeling around with his naked hand. He couldn't see, the ringing in his ears obscured his hearing, his whole side hurt, and all he could smell was sawdust and dirt. He limped through the darkness, calling out for his dear friend, not knowing where he was going.

"Urara – Gah!" His foot hit something and he stumbled forward, face-planting into rubble. He hissed as pressure was added to his injuries. Something briefly brushed over his knuckles. He gasped and his head snapped up.

Something soft touched his hand. He turned his hand over and felt the other person's palm, then felt the little paw pads at the fingertips.

"De... Deku...?"

It was a whisper, and even though the buzzing in his ears, he heard her.

"Uraraka," he answered back, letting her know he'd heard her. He dragged himself closer using his elbow and gripped her hand tighter. "It's me, Uraraka. I'm here..."