Chapter 49: The Gravity That Won’t Let Go
Door two.
Cold.
Old wood.
Etched with a symbol:⚖️
A weight. A pull.
She touched it.
It opened itself.
Like it wanted her to come in.
Uraraka stood inside.
Back turned.
Hair longer.Uniform faded.
Floating debris spun lazily around her like moons.
A broken helmet.Scraps of a hero suit.A cracked phone.
All caught in orbit.
She turned slowly.
Eyes heavy.Smile hollow.
"…You came back."
The girl didn't speak.
Her breath caught.
This wasn't the Uraraka she remembered.
This one…
Had been waiting.
"You died," the older Ochaco said.
Matter-of-fact.
"I saw your body. I buried it."
She reached out.
And the debris shivered.
Not from her Quirk.
From grief.
"I tried to move on," she whispered.
"I dated others. Saved people. Smiled."
A pause.
"I even forgot your laugh."
She laughed now.
Dry. Empty.
"But I never forgot your eyes."
The girl stepped forward.
This wasn't a fight.
Not like Bakugo.
No power crackling.
No hate.
Just two people.
Standing in a memory neither of them wanted.
"…How long have you been here?" the girl asked.
Uraraka didn't answer.
Just pointed to the floating phone.
Its screen flashed one number:
17,854 days.
The girl's knees almost buckled.
"…Forty-eight years?"
Uraraka smiled again.
"Time doesn't flow right in grief."
A moment passed.
Then two.
Then Uraraka said—
"Stay with me."
"Just for a while."
And the gravity surged.
Not pulling her body.
Her heart.
Her mind.
All the warmth.All the comfort.
The rooftop nights.The stolen lunches.The late-night talks in dorm corridors.
They all pulled.
The girl blinked—And the room had changed.
A dorm room again.
Intact.Alive.
Sunlight through curtains.
Uraraka laughing beside her.
Eri drawing on the floor.
It was perfect.
Too perfect.
"Eri…" the girl whispered.
The child looked up.
But her eyes were wrong.
Empty.
Replayed.
Like a puppet in a loop.
The illusion cracked.
She stood.
Broke the silence.
"This isn't real."
Uraraka's smile faltered.
"…But it can be."
"Eri's not here," she said.
"She's outside. Waiting. Trusting me to return."
She looked into Ochaco's eyes.
"I can't stay. Not even for you."
The gravity twisted.
Stronger now.
The floor cracked.
Walls trembled.
Uraraka floated into the air, hair rising.
"You left me."
"You promised we'd grow up together."
"You died."
The girl didn't run.
Didn't shield herself.
She reached out—
And hugged her.
In the eye of the storm.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"I never meant to break that promise."
"But I'm here now."
"Not to stay…"
She pulled back.
"…To set you free."
Uraraka's hands trembled.
"…You remember the tree on the east wall?"
The girl nodded.
"The one we carved our names into."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"It's still there."
Then the room shattered.
Like a pane of glass dropped from the stars.
Gravity fell silent.
Silence rang out.
Uraraka stood still.
No longer floating.
No longer smiling.
Just… calm.
"…Thank you."
The mirror behind her opened.
Light spilled in.
Uraraka stepped back.
Vanished into it.
Not a prison.
A rest.
The girl stood alone again.
The older her appeared beside her.
"…You really forgave her?"
The girl nodded.
"She never did anything wrong."
The older self tilted her head.
"No. But in another world, she did."
From the darkness, another silhouette stirred.
This one—
Laughing.
Sharp teeth.
Messy hair.
Blood on her shoes.
Himiko Toga.
And behind her—
A door covered in smiles.
Hundreds.
None of them real.
To be continued.