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Japan often experienced snowfall. More so in one place than another, but it mostly shared throughout the land. For a country associated with vibrant, flashy displays of colours, whether individual beauty like the bloodstained red of their flag or in combination for am array of emotions for an even greater spectacle, they were forced into a black canvas for a change. Not that it had any effect on the innocents, heroes, or villains, or the morally grey within those lines, but the change often came with contradicting thoughts. Some adored their yearly coat of paint, mostly the energetic young folk dancing under beautiful snowfall, whilst others wanted nothing more than a return to normality.
Though, through both was a shared sentiment: Secluded beneath a covered heel, no sound was quite a pleasant as its delightfully chaotic crunch.
“I should bring Deku up here one day! This snow just really puts me at ease.”
A voice, though subtle amidst birdsong or the occasion howl of something less than cute hidden the wilderness surrounding, rang from a place not accustomed to human presence. Rare for a country like Japan where overpopulation ravaged and space grew more and more limited each year, yet a pleasant limitation. It made for a welcome change of pace from all the hustle and bustle of city life. Especially so for a renowned heroine of modern times, one clawing through tooth and nail up the rankings each year.
Ochaco Uraraka, high school graduate of the famous UA high and a pro rescue hero. Most in the south east of the globe knew her name, almost entirely for the right reasons. How heroic she was in the face of danger, never one to leave something dangerous for another, or how perfectly pretty her entire being was. Pure both inside and out. Yet, despite those qualities, one small detail from years prior, before even her pro debut, continued to haunt her reputation year after year.
She had been the one to successfully give Himiko Toga, a known monster, the bloodthirsty killer responsible for damaging thousands of lives through unwarranted stabs, a peaceful burial and grave.
It had all been decided long the moment the great war ceased. Toga, a lady despised by the entire globe, wouldn’t even get a cremation. Let alone an entire burial. Those are reserved for upstanding, normal people, something all agreed with. All except one girl and her class of soon-to-be heroes. Together, with the help of the school itself, they were able to give someone to hated an undeserved send-off. Of course, that raised some serious allegations about Ochaco. Is she a partner in crime? Maybe some sort of conformant? Did she even deserve to graduate? After all, who on earth would wish good upon devil spawn?
At least, that’s what the public cried.
Thinking back on the scrutiny brought pain, serious stabs to her beating heart, so she tried to prevent it whenever possible. However, especially on a day like today, the jar spilt wide open, splashing her soul with hurt.
“They just don’t get it... I’m sure they wouldn’t say such things if they knew her like I do. Oh well, it’s so long ago now that it’s not even worth thinking about. Still, I just can’t help it! Himiko...” Lost in thought, until the sudden snap of a twig beneath her feet tethered her back to reality. “O-Oops! He he!”
The fight for a burial hadn’t been completely successful in some ways. For one, every court in the country refused in any capacity to bury a demon with common folk, so a church or anything with company was out of the question. However, in return, Ochaco was granted permission to chose anywhere in bounds instead. From the moment that knowledge came to the heroine’s head, only one place came to kind.
Gunga Villa, or where a Villa once stood. Eight years had past since one actually stood there, replaced by nothing but greenery these days, but the area proved too heavy on the mental for those brave participants of war to forgive and forget the atrocities that unfolded here. None like Ochaco, though. Her trauma only compared to her former classmate Shoto Todoroki, his father and family, and Hawks. Leagues above what any sixteen year old should’ve had burden their soul. Even now, as a proud twenty-four year old adult lady, these hills weren’t what they were portrayed as in the moment. No sign of glistening snow, nor peaceful lullabies from nesting birds.
On the hill she stood on, looking beyond over the wilderness presented the truth behind the veil. Violence, bloodshed, desperation. Those bright blue bursts of heat from Dabi, All For One’s hideously frightening reversal in age, duplicates of the deceased Twice ravaging far past the view from just one hill. Each one a permanent stain on her wounded heart, even more so than the ever so slightly noticeable stitches in her middle.
Each step brought increasingly painful memories back to her. After the war, all the professionals around her promised these memories would fade with time with the fleeting wind, but they never had. Even eight years later, the past became the present. The hurt on her friends’ faces, the kind that showed through their masks. How she screamed that day...
Only at the peak of the hill did the bubble truly burst on the far past. Holding Himiko in her arms as they descended downwards, crying their eyes out in different kinds of pain. One physical, one on account of mental wounds from a life so unfair. Their unanimous yelling beforehand continued to move mountains on the landscape.
How she’d been forced to watch helplessly as Toga sacrificed her short life for herself...
“A-AH!” If not for the realisation of her thoughts, Ochaco would never have stopped dwelling. “Eight years, but I still can’t... Stupid wet eyes...”
At last, she resided over the scene that hurt her so. So much had changed with the area in the years of healing, with lush shrubs, beautiful flowers, even the presence of wildlife, yet nothing really had at all. It was still the same battleground in the history books. Books written by those not at the scene, allowed to contort and twist the truth in ways unimaginable to those who did fight that day, with only video proof to go up against. Though, not even the cameras caught the whole truth.
Just a few steps more, and there she stood. At the very spot of Toga’s demise, the place most human to her in the whole world. Locating the exact spot was no chore when the time came for burial all those years ago, as the abundance of petals found nowhere else by that point from the blood splatter made good evidence. The hardest part of the ordeal was simply having to keep composure at the funeral, even as one if the only guests. However, that mission ended in failure within thirty minutes. She didn’t
stop crying for the entire day.
One look at the grave, however, knocked her back to the world again. Almost thankful, if not for the cause. “Oh, not again...”
Every few months for every year that passed since the funeral, Ochaco returned to this spot. A spotless location, allowed to flourish without interference in any way. All except for the grave itself. Vandals couldn’t resist the allure of desecration the monster’s tomb, not for more than a few months. It’d gotten so frequent that Uraraka never came without cleaning supplies on hand these days.
MONSTER!
DISGRACE!
SCUM!
All sprayed onto Toga’s resting place by those opposed to having one at all. Red, yellow, the whole colour wheel, unloaded without mercy. Those responsible thought it fair, for the girl six feet under never acted with mercy either, but Ochaco found it nothing but a nuisance.
Every cloud comes with a silver lining. In this case, the
paint wasn’t hard to scrape and scrub clean off, as if it never lived there at all. Seeping into the ground, a concoction of paint fragments and soapy water. Terrible for the grass, and for the devil in distress, but a necessary evil. Before long, cut stone reflected what it ought to as normal.
“All done! Anyway, now that’s over with... How are you today, Toga? It’s been longer than usual since I came here, I know, and I’m really sorry! It’s just been super busy these last few months... But I’m here now!”
Sitting crossed legged like an obedient schoolgirl, commuting with the one present spiritually. At least, that’s what Uraraka hoped.
What started as a simple delusion to cope with loss became tradition over the years. It just didn’t feel right not to anymore.
“I’ve been okay. It’s that time of year again where people need heroes to help with snow related problems, whether that be a villain with an ice quirk or just a stray in a tree, so I’ve barely been able to breathe! It’s funny, isn’t it? I do such trivial things, but I really do love my job.”
Radio silence. That sane chirping from the birds didn’t really count as a response. She waited and waiting for even a whimper, though knowing nothing would come, until the quiet grew awkward.
“A-Anyway! I do actually have some news for you! We can talk about love again for once... But first.”
With a blade uncannily resembling Toga’s back in the day, fresh blood seeped from her wrist.
DRIP
DRIP
Straight from the source, down into the dirt. The pain was excruciating, a throbbing heartbeat in her wrist pulsing uncontrollably, especially for a first time ever doing something like that. However, despite the burning, her head kept cool and composed. Wincing, but not weeping.
“O-Ouch! I-I had to... Like I said to you that day, I’ll g-give you as much blood as you want... if I can keep talking about love with you...!” Rather than patch the wound, letting the red flow favoured her. “I-It was exactly three months ago now... I’d just finished a reunion with my friends, which was really fun, but I couldn’t stop thinking of someone on my walk home... Deku! I wanted to talk to him more, see him more, a-and then... he appeared!”
Months ago felt more like moments. Envisioning Deku, quirkless Deku, run fast as the nighttime wind towards her almost had her faint from shock. Then the rest was history.
“H-He said the same thing, about wanting to see me more! One thing led to another, and our hands were held...! After that, the literal next night, we went out to a super fancy restaurant... a-and ended up kissing over spaghetti! Cheesy, I know, but we’re together now...”
She should’ve felt triumphant at her grand reveal, the kicker. The hook to an audience, the gripping third act. But that was far from the reality. Instead, deep wells of sorrow drowned her heart.
“I-I’m really sorry, Himiko... I know you loved him just as much, if not more, than me. It’s probably pretty depressing to hear me admit to getting with a boy you liked, but... I’m sorry. I just can’t live the way I’d want to staying in the past... N-No, that sounds selfish! I haven’t forgotten about you, I promise! It’s just... I’ve gotta live too, y’know? And, if you really are still alive inside me, maybe you might not hate me over this? Again, I really am sorry for being so selfish... Although, I dunno. Maybe I’m just stupid, but I don’t feel like you’d be mad.”
Scrambling for a reason, the reason, why. Searching every memory frantically as an imaginary clock ticked with increasing pace. Still bleeding, but the water from melted snowflakes landing on her arm did a fine job washing away the mess.
“Oh, right! I was supposed to tell you last time I was here! I’ve been dreaming of you recently... It’s always the same one. It’s us underneath a tall tree in a beautiful flower field, but it always ends before I get to hear you... either that or I just can’t remember it. Either way, as Deku said about talking more, that same dream came back to me! Not sure why, but it was way clearer than usual... Plus, I swear I felt something push me towards him. Who knows, maybe I’m just crazy? Haha, but... Thank you. It’s because of you I’ve come so far, you know? You really saved me, Toga... So, I thought I’d bring you something!”
From a bag separate to the one with cleaning supplies, she pulled some stunning flowers. Not the bouquet sort, but the kind to bury and care for. The real thing, not some cheap knockoff.
Not just any flower, either. Roses.
Continuing to chatter while labouring away, never one to stay silent. “I never got to ask what your favourite kind of flower was, but I’m sure it’s a rose! Take more of my blood if I’m wrong, but they just suit you. I even chose the deepest shade of red they had! See?”
They sat immobilised in the dirt directly in front of the gravestone. Just one of the thousands on the hill, but the only one on the sacred ground itself. For good measure, she held her bloody wrist over them for some more moisture. And to sweeten the gesture.
“I hope you like them! Next time I come, I’ll bring you even more flowers. Even new ones! You deserve it...!” Catching herself tearing up, interested in changing the subject. “O-Oh, something else about next time! Deku's coming with next time, if that’s okay with you! This is a secret part of life, so it feels right to let him in. Plus, I’m sure he has a lot to say to you! You’ll love him, even now-“
BBBZT!
The sound of a phone in her back pocket. Accidentally left on for her trek into these hills but never an issue until now. One glimpse over it told the brunette everything she needed to know.
“Ah, crap... Speak of the devil. It’s Deku! He’s wondering about where I am, and I did lie to him about why I left earlier... Well, looks like this is it, Himiko. Next time, I promise to spend hours with you! Me, you, and Deku!”
Signified by a setting sun, a bittersweet farewell. Wishing to both stay and go, but unable to split into two. Just into two minds, an unfortunate limitation of her body. All she could do instead was, scuffing her knees in the process on dirt not meant for fabric, hold the gravestone tightly between her arms. A little parting gift, a piece of her soul.
“You still have the cutest smile in the whole world, Himimo...! Don’t you ever forget that...”