Izuocha's Love Stories

61 - SHATTERED MIRRORS (CHAPTERS 1-2)

By Air Quiet Reader

SUMMARY: Ochako Uraraka knew she wanted to save people. She wanted to be a hero that could. But achieving that seemed impossible. She didn't have an incredible quirk, like Deku. She didn't have his reckless zeal and disregard for personal safety. When push came to shove, she didn't know if she could save people like he did.

When she looked in the mirror, she didn't see much of a hero. Just the picture of a little girl, haunted by her nightmares.

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CHAPTER ONE

The mirror's glass reflects both all and none
Of what's a hero's face and what's beyond.
To craft a mask blazing like shining sun,
To fall to shattered shards of falsehoods spawned.

"Ultra!", they cry, as children fall to shreds
Beneath the glass wielded by heroes' might.
Hearts ripped by eyes staring back, filled with dread,
Gazes gouged by shadows at the mere sight

The birthing of nightmares from what she sees
The flaws, so weak, that cannot match his strength.
Chasing him to death's door, she will appease
Her hero's call, going to any length.

To reach the sky she knows she'll meet her end,
Or face that which will never be her friend.

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One hero, drenching her arms with his blood, dying. Another hero, screeching his lungs out toward the heavens, dying.

And she was powerless to save either of them.

She had watched, astonished, as Deku went at Overhaul with incredible speed and power. The shockwaves of his blows rippled through the air, blowing through her with every hit. The fury of their fight tore the land asunder. She could hardly comprehend the power he was channelling and his might looked almost impossible to match.

But the toll it took on him was great. As soon as the battle stopped, his wails started scratching against her eardrums. She rushed to subdue the fallen Overhaul — leaving Nighteye, on the brink of death, on his own for a moment — and to ensure her friend's efforts were not in vain. But as she looked up from the villain's unconscious body, she was horrified to see her best friend looking more pained than she had ever seen before.

Ochako stretched a hand outward in a futile attempt to help the screaming Deku — the rest of her body keeping the villain that had caused all of this chaos pinned down.

But as always, she was a step behind him. She couldn't reach him. Deku had saved the day and saved Eri, as well as countless other lives, and she could not even save him from himself.

She watched on in terror as the energy around Deku exploded, encompassing the area in a blinding light. When her vision returned, Deku's mangled body was still kneeling, but it had been burnt to a crisp. His skin was drenched in the deep red of his blood, his eyes washed out of any trace of life. His corpse slumped against the ground with a dull thud. The little girl on top of him, rolled over by the hero's side, safe by his sacrifice.

"No..." Ochako whispered as she stepped forward, no longer minding of the villain behind her. Her footsteps picked up speed as she desperately sprinted forward, her legs weighing her down like anchors.

But as soon as she got there to grab onto him, he slipped through her fingertips. His body collapsed into nothingness, blowing away in a gust of wind. She was left alone with nothing but his memory to cling onto.