Work Text:
The sunset was oddly beautiful. Hitokawa stared at the golden waves below as she stood upon a pale green iron bridge. The sun’s rays warmed her skin as a gentle breeze played with her hair. Everything now felt strangely freeing, as her feet teetered on the railing of the bridge.
Maybe I just never really took the time to appreciate it, she thought haphazardly. Now that she thought it, her life ever since she moved to the city had just been filled with trying to meet expectations. Get good grades so her mother would be happy. Enroll in the power curriculum to chase dreams of her own. Be a modest girl to fit in with her classmates. A real pity she became a nobody in the process.
Hitokawa had faded into the background. Who would want to be friends with a girl like her? Below-average looks and no ability to make up for it. She wasn’t talented at math, or good with words. It seemed her intellect was capped permanently below everyone else's. She envied her peers who could grasp those stupid equations within minutes of seeing them. It seemed as if her own biology had screwed her over. No looks, no brains, no bubbling charisma. She was a painfully blank slate.
Maybe…she would have been fine if she’d found some kind of purpose in her life. A thing she was really good at. Her spark — but it was a little too late for that. She was in her last year of high school and with her grades, university was waaay out of the question. It seemed she was destined to work in some shitty minimum wage job rather than get a degree.
That would be fine and all, but her mum wanted more. Every time they spoke she was so certain that her Hitokawa was destined to do great things, become a CEO of some big name company. It was unrealistic to think her daughter would amount to anything in her life; Hitokawa had concluded that after her latest report card. I never wanted to tell her about my grades. She worked so hard to get me into this city and here I am throwing it all away.
To Hitokawa, it seemed logical for her mother to disown her the moment she left high school. The more she thought about it, the more she realised she would amount to nothing in her life. She couldn’t make out the path forward. Her future was a miserable mess. Everyone said life got better after high school, but it seemed hers would end the moment it did. No one cared about her. No one talked to her. She’d never had one of those sickeningly sweet relationships all her classmates seemed to have.
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it really make a sound?
If she disappeared, she doubted the world would care. If anything, she was doing society a favour. Her mother would no longer have anyone to crush her hopes and dreams.
There’d be one less person struggling in class.
One less mouth to feed.
A burden would be lifted.
There was no one else around; the bridge was deserted. Even in her final moments, she was alone.
A sense of peace slowly enveloped her. For once in her life, there was certainty. No longer were there any crushing expectations. She didn’t have to live for anyone but herself. In death, she would finally be able to rest. She lifted her foot off the railing and leant forward.
For a blissful moment, she was in free-fall. Then she collided with the water. Hitokawa’s death was far from instant. Everything stung. It was like belly flopping onto cold, hard pavement. A series of bubbles escaped her mouth as she cried out in silent agony.
I messed this up too? How pathetic can I be…maybe…doing this was a mistake. A fleeting thought, quickly suffocated by the cold water.
There was an explosion of bubbles as something else dived into the river. One moment she was submerged, the next she was being hauled upwards. What?
Her consciousness faded. For a moment, she swam in the darkness of some terrible dream.
Hitokawa’s eyes flung open as she coughed up what felt like gallons of water onto the grassy bank of the river. Her sides cried out in agony with every breath, especially when she coughed.
I should be dead…
Someone had plucked her from the water.
But who would go to all the trouble?
Slowly she turned her head. Sat next to her was a slender boy. His white hair and pale skin reminded her of a ghost. His red eyes watched as she slowly recovered, his index finger resting on her neck. Her clothes were drenched in cold river water. She shivered in the icy breeze. Her rescuer however, seemed perfectly dry.
“...Why…?” she croaked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Could ask you the same thing,” the boy responded.
“I’m pathetic,” she breathed out, her blue lips creeping into a smile.
“So?” the boy muttered, staring. Hitokawa sensed the great sense of apathy the boy’s words carried.
She was vaguely aware of just how humiliating this whole situation was, but for better or worse, the dull aching pain drowned out her embarrassment.
“I can’t even kill myself right.” Her voice cracked, as tears pooled in her eyes.
“There’s an ambulance coming for you,” the boy switched topics.
“Why…did you save me?”
The boy grew quiet as he considered his next answer. “I’m paying back a debt I owe someone.”
“Debt?” she asked.
“Forget it.” The boy sighed. “It’s complicated.”
The wail of sirens drew near.
“I’ve checked your vitals; all you have is a couple of broken ribs and some bruising. You got lucky.”
“Did I?” Hitokawa questioned.
“...Listen. I don’t really fuck around with giving emotional advice, but I know that your life isn’t worth ending.”
The ambulance pulled up to the sidewalk.
“Do yourself a favour, and get the help you need while you're there — save me the trouble of fishing for bodies later.”
“Your…name?” She felt she should at least know that much.
“Accelerator.”
What an odd name.
“So….I owe my life to you,” Hitokawa pondered those words. What now? Everything still felt like it was falling apart. Robbed of her ending, Hitokawa was left with little choice but to endure.
Someone she never met before had bothered to save her from herself. Accelerator saw value in her continued existence and that….was something. It was something she needed to reflect on during her recovery. Maybe, someday she too would see the worth Accelerator saw.
Accelerator’s eyes narrowed. It looked like he took her words as an insult.
“You don’t owe me shit,” he replied, leaving her to the paramedics.