𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬? (𝐁𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐠𝐨𝐮 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

65

Death... it seemed to be a constant presence, one that you should have been used to by now. But no matter how many times you experienced it, that sharp pain in your chest never seemed to ease.

Maybe the reaper had taken a liking to you, attached itself to your spirit, and began to take from your life whomever it pleased. Because you'd lost too many people, many of whom had so many years ahead of them, too young to meet the fate that ended their lives.

As Kura continued to explain to you the villain attack that had been the cause of Hawks' death, you found that your body had begun to tremble. Whether it was from sadness or rage, you didn't know. What you did know was that someone else in your life had been lost, another mark had been placed on your soul.

You wished that people could see those marks, that it would serve as a warning to anyone wanting to get close to you. They would be able to see the deaths that followed those who chose to be a part of your life and spare themselves from meeting the same ends as the ones who'd come before them.

"I'm really sorry that you had to find out this way," Kura said after a long stretch of silence.

"Yeah," you took a shaky breath. "I just- I thought that he'd be ok. He was the number two hero, he wasn't supposed to be taken out so easily. If I'd known then I could've-"

"There's nothing you could've done. You know how strong those villains are, and Hawks is arrogant, he let his guard down thinking that he could still manage to survive if something like this happened. From what I heard, you did everything that you could to try and make him see reason, but you know how he is." She paused, "or... how he was."

Kuras voice shook when referring to Hawks in the past tense. You knew that the two of them had been close, you'd constantly made jokes about trying to set them up together but they'd always laugh and dismiss the thought. Hawks would say that she was simply a close friend of his and that he would never do anything to mess it up.

She'd been hired by him when his agency had first started and she'd stuck with him the entire time. They were both close in age and liked much of the same stuff. Of course, Kura would joke about how tedious it was to make sure he got to his hair appointments on time and constantly have to remind him to take his hero costume to the dry cleaners, but you could see how much she cared for him. How much they both cared for each other.

"It isn't fair," you whispered.

"I know, none of it is." Kura took a breath, and when she spoke again her tone was laced with worry. "Your voice doesn't sound good, did something else happen?"

"Yeah, the villains got to us too, the same ones that killed him."

She gasped, "are you ok? Are they-"

"They're dead, and I'll be fine." You said the words casually, as if you weren't speaking of the fact that you'd killed someone.

Kura didn't respond, and you had to check to make sure that the phone hadn't died before she spoke again. "I'm so sorry, honey. You don't deserve this, any of this."

"Yeah, it sucks, but you don't need to apologize. It isn't like any of this is your fault."

"You know," she continued. "From the moment I met you I could see those shadows that haunted you, but I also saw that light in your eyes, there was just a little bit left but it was there. I saw your determination and your strength, even as people rejected you, as you were thrown into battle after battle, you kept pushing. And I wish that you didn't have to, no kid should need to be as strong as you are."

Her words struck something inside of you, the feeling almost causing you to tear up. The only other person to say something like that to you had been Aizawa.