phoenix ✦ k.takami (hawks)

Sixty

"Lift with your knees, atlas, the heavens are a burden but in the starlit ink of constellations you have written: endure."
~ a.j.

Track 61; Lola by Lilith Czar
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The world seemed to come to a standstill.

No rain. No wind.

The war was over.

Shigaraki is dead, along with many other people.

Crust sacrificed himself so Aizawa could escape Shigaraki's decay.

Midnight died after instructing her students to run or fight.

The wounded outweighed the healthy.

Mirko was missing an arm and a leg.

Aizawa cut off his own leg in order to prevent his quirk from being deleted, and his right eye was gone.

Bakugo Katsuki almost died in order to protect Midoriya.

Your husband.

Many heroes were forced to retire due to their injuries. It was a fight that changed all of Japan forever. Due to All For One rehoming his quirk within Shigaraki, both passed upon his death. It was almost a sickeningly beautiful harmony that they went out together, though that didn't phase you in the slightest. Your mind felt blank, every part of your body strangely numb.

Your home nation was oddly quiet now. The news of the hero's success caused a few more criminals to think twice about their actions. Some still declared their undying loyalty to Stain and the League of Villains. Some were inspired by the ways of the Paranormal Liberation Front, so occasionally rioters would form. Thanks to temporary backup from outlying countries during the recovery process, the riots didn't climb much more beyond angry mobs.

A majority of the population sang a tune favoring those who fought, and mourning those who died for the cause. Large memorials were held for the fallen, citizens gathering in parks and outside of hero agencies. Flowers, offerings, signs, cards, speeches, pictures, and more set up as tribute to them as well.

Your injuries were pretty severe; multiple burns—primarily across your hips and stomach, some broken ribs, a major concussion, and a few scars to prove your time on the battlefield. Even if it was short.

Even if you'd killed another one of your family members.

Though you weren't sure how to feel about it.

You had nothing but time on your hands with the fact that you were forced to lay in the hospital bed for a while and recover. It was reassuring to know that not only were you in the same hospital as Keigo, Aizawa, Mirko, and the others were here as well. It had been pre stocked and equipped with extra supplies in order to prepare for the incoming wounded after the war. Even Medicine Girl was on site.

That didn't stop your ever racing mind.

You'd officially murdered not only your father, but your brother as well.

Dabi—no, Touya.

How do you go about something like that?

You had a sickening feeling of joy at knowing that you weren't an only child like you thought you had been. But it was overpowered by a paralysizing sensation of dread at knowing that not only had your brother murdered your mother, he'd raped you too. How do you process something like that?

That dream that you had when you were hanging from the ceiling of that underground laboratory. Had that been a mere fluke or was there some sort of deeper meaning to it? Was it your intuition or possibly your deceased father reaching out to you from the afterlife? If it was the latter, was that the reason you had been overpowered when you and Tokoyami rescued Keigo from Touya? Or was it simply you fully digesting reality? Maybe some people would call it an 'awakening'. You didn't know what to call it.