red cherry blossoms // ochamina

|4| garden

ashido, 6:08

it was a school break, so she got up extra early so she could take the bus back to her mother's apartment and get the medication without detection from any nosey classmates. she sent a text to her mother, as she had promised herself she would.

from: me:

hey mom, i'll be at your place by 7:00 for the doctor appointment.

i love you, mina.

she wore something she normally wouldn't, it wasn't "fashionable enough'' for ashido's standards, an orchid hoodie with the word 'acid' in graffiti bubble letters, along with bright blue ripped jeans and a mint green beanie with numerous pins. she wore maroon combat boots along with the rest of the horribly colored outfit.

mina began her walk to the train station, being deathly careful of having a classmate see her, despite the fact it was too early to be up on a weekend.

she shuffled her way through the odd amount of people walking down the street for such an hour, it was pouring rain which made it even more nonsensical. the bus arrived at 6:30 sharp and took right back off again at 6:35. she gave the driver 600¥ before taking a seat in the back, her stomach tight and rolling as her lungs struggled for air.

'just a lil longer'

she thought, knowing the medication most likely wouldn't cure her entirely, she would have to do that herself. but she did know that medication would make her pain so much lesser, so she had some faith.

to her surprise, when she got off the bus exactly thirty minutes later, kowareta was nervously waiting under a grey umbrella. to say kowareta and mina were different was an understatement, kowareta was quirkless,  gloomy and sensible, she was intelligent and headstrong, but lacked physical might. mina was quite the opposite, with vibrancy and strength kowareta could only ever hope to match. despite their differences, they were close as they could be.

and that's why as soon as the teenage ashido saw her mother, she sprinted to her, tears threatening to fall. mina ran into her mother's supportive arms with tears. kowareta smiled at her daughter, wrapping her free arm around.

"it's okay, it's okay little rabbit, i'm here.." kowareta assured, her own tears threatening to fall.

"i know, i know." mina smiled through it, though her mother couldn't see.

"let's get out of this rain, okay sweetie?" mina pulled back and wiped her tears before nodding, kowareta extending her the umbrella for mina to grab, which she did.

"you're appointments at ten, thought i'd tell you. it's dr. ishi, remember her." kowareta asked, mina nodded and smiled at the memories.

"yeah, she would sneak me an extra lollipop, it was nice..." mina looked at the rain falling all around, she almost forgot why she had a doctor's appointment. kowareta sensed mina's sadness and sighed.

"i'm sorry sweetie, i can't even imagine..." the two ashido women looked down.

 "i'll be okay, it'll pass, it has to..."

"i know sweetie, but it's my job as a mother to worry about you. i can't lose my husband and my daughter in the same decade," the older of the two's fists balled as more tears formed at her eyes.

"you know why i named you mina, right?"

"yes, but tell me again."

"alright, sheesh kiddo, well, mina means all, and i named you it because i knew you would bring joy to all." kowareta explained, mina chuckled a bit.

"well i'd like to think." the mother and daughter walked the rest of the way in a sad yet comfortable silence until they reached the apartment. when they did, the pink-haired mina stumbled straight to her old room, left empty as her stuff was all at ua. it saddened her a bit, the school became her life, would it result in her death too? she stepped out of the doorframe and into the main room.

"try to get some sleep, you obviously need it, i'll wake ya up when you need to be up," kowareta assured with a firm voice and a cup of tea in her hands. mina nodded and meandered to the small guest room with only a twin sized bed where she flopped down and drifted asleep.

ashido, 9:43 am

kowareta barged in, literally banging pots and pans to wake up her sleeping daughter, who was quite the heavy sleeper.

"UP UP KID!" kowareta loudly exclaimed, getting mina to bolt up.

"i'm awake!" she responded frantically, falling out of the small bed only to be helped up by kowareta.

"i'll put on the old playlist and we can do some car karaoke, okay?" mina nodded vigorously as she stood up.

"ah man! it's been such a long time since we've done karaoke!"

"well it's been a long time since you've been back home." kowareta clapped back, making mina begrudgingly quiet.

"aight, let's go!" kowareta cheered, making mina follow her to where the blue car the pink-haired teen hadn't seen in too long of a time.

"alright, hand me your phone so you don't forget it in your purse," mina asked, making kowareta roll her eyes yet oblige, handing her phone in it's black case to mina who raced to the passenger seat where she pulled up the playlist the two always listened to and put it on shuffle, pausing before a song could play. she was filled with so much nostalgia and childhood excitement, she forgot why she was even there. uraraka ochaco, the thought of the cheery brunette made mina start to cough and hack, clinging to her chest. 

kowareta heard and rushed to her hurting daughter, holding the raccoon-eyed teen to her chest. in a panic, she sang the song she always sang to mina when she was a little girl, but her voice was shaky and panicked.

"you belong to the gang and you say you can't break away."

kowareta began with tears forming, mina soon calming down enough to force the lyrics out with a shaky breath.

"but i'm here, with my hands on my heart."

the two sung in a hurt unison, scared to lose the other. it was a bond unbreakable between mother and child.

"oh! valencia! with your blood still warm on the ground, valencia! and i'll burn this whole city down! valencia, with your blood getting cold on the ground! valenica, and i swear to the stars, i'll burn this whole city down-oh woah oh."

the song finished, and mina felt better, slowly getting into the car with a sad smile, the car ride would be quiet if not for the music that filled the car.

-

1092 words! the song is oh, valencia! by my favorite band, the decemberists. go listen to it! i based kowareta off my own mother as well. i'm sorry this took so long and as always i love you all so so so so so much!