𝐇𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐢 『Bakugo Katsuki』

Prologue

Cold.

It was so cold.

But of course it was. Death's embrace was not warm, was it? For a young girl like Miyuki to even fathom such a concept, sitting like discarded trash in a despondent alley, shows how close she was to her limit.

For so long-she can't remember how long-she'd been surviving on the meagre scraps strangers tossed her way, and it was in those ignorant mercies she found the strength to migrate from street to street searching for a warm heart, an outstretched hand, a kind smile that told her she was not alone and they were here to help and finally her salvation would come.

But it never did.

She huddled into her thin blanket. It was the last kindness anyone had shown her and it came from the hands of an elderly woman. She had such a kind smile. At least here, in her final moments, she would remember it. She would fade remembering not the bitter stares and spiteful glares thrown at her, but the simple kindness of a blind woman.

When she looked up, her green eyes glimpsed the first snows of the winter falling over Japan.

Pretty...

She raised her hand to catch one, hoping to catch a glimpse of it, but when she brought it to her face it had melted away. How was that possible? She was as warm as the brick wall she leaned against.

It didn't matter. She didn't have long, anyway. She could hear the clock chiming, slowing steadily like her heart. Her time was almost up.

So she closed her eyes and accepted it. Miyuki was tired of fighting it. What was she even fighting for? There was no one who would miss her.

She was just another burden for the people that actually mattered.

As she fell asleep for what was possibly the last time, the streets became silent as the good citizens of Japan retreated into the safety and comfort of their homes. No one took the shortcuts, though, for who knew what manner of dangers lurked in the dark?

One man didn't think so. Either he was very brave or very ignorant, for he stepped into an alleyway shrouded in darkness. Not even the light of the streetlamps could reach it. He seemed to be in such a hurry, too.

"Oh!"

He stopped short when his eyes fell upon a strange mound covered in a thin blanket. At first he thought it was just a pile of trash, but when he saw the tendrils of hair peeking out he realized it was a person. And that wasn't all-

Their legs were covered in blood.

"Hey!"

Alarmed, Tsukauchi checked on the person and to his horror, found a little girl. She was so pale and skinny.

"Hey." He tried gently waking her. Nothing. He listened for a heartbeat. There was one, but it was faint. He picked her up, his previous mission forgotten, and rushed the dying child to the nearest hospital.

Tsukauchi waited outside the child's room, waiting for the doctors and nurses to finish tending to her. He made a few phone calls to HQ as well as a close friend of his while he waited.

"Tsukauchi-san."

The doctor stepped out of the room, the nurses filing out behind him.

"Will she be alright?" The detective asked.

"Yes, but she's lost a lot of blood. There are numerous bruises across her body and she is heavily malnourished and dehydrated. At the moment, she is asleep but should wake up within the hour."

He exhaled in relief, not even realising he'd been holding his breath.

"May I go in?"

With the doctor's permission, Tsukauchi stepped inside the girl's room. She was hooked up to machines with two tubes sticking out of each arm and there was an oxygen mask on her face. He could barely make out her frail figure from beneath the heavy heated blankets. Still, he was at ease seeing the steady rise and fall of her chest.