Once Shinobi, Now Hero

Chapter 22: Continued Steps

It was a sad sight. It was hard for him to hold back tears. His glasses kept catching tears and he had to keep wiping it off. Maybe he should take them off. He probably should. But he wouldn't. It would make his vision blurry, and this was a sight he needed to see.

Manual's dead body, all dressed up appropriately. Face still, and lifeless. Slightly discolored. Gray. All his fault. Guilt washed over him so quickly seeing the body and hearing his family cry. They would never see him smile, move, or save anyone ever again. His ears rung loud, blocking out the voice of the paster that spoke for all to hear.

An open casket funeral. He was lucky enough to get one. Most didn't because of the fires. Others had bodies that could not be put back together. Manual was lucky and he supposed it felt a little better that his family would at least get to see him one last time.

But this should've been him. It was a dangerous thought for anyone to have, he knew, and yet he couldn't shake it away. He would've died ten times over without his friends coming to his aid. He knew that he had to be better. Because this feeling was the worst. It hurt. It absolutely hurt.

A hand squeezes his shoulder. Todoroki's. He squeezes his eyes shut to keep the majority of tears back. It's so sad. Everything's so sad. He's glad Todoroki doesn't try and cheer him up. He doesn't want encouragement. He needs to mourn to move on and learn.

He couldn't hear anything. Even though so many were around, crying and whispering prayers, he couldn't hear a thing. It was like the world around him had collapsed, leaving only him and Manual's corpse. Alone.

Todoroki kept glancing to the side to look at Iida. He couldn't stop himself even if he tried. He was worried. He didn't know if Iida could take seeing this even though outwardly he seemed to be doing well. He had constantly blamed himself for those deaths, and telling him that it wasn't his fault would only do so much in helping. He had to find that out for himself. Todoroki knew that. Midoriya's lesson to him taught him as much.

XxX

Katsuki rolls his shoulder around in a quick stretch, walking away from the grounds where the funeral had been held. Most would think that he'd been disrespectful, running his mouth or the like. He'd gotten strange looks from both Kirishima and Mina so he knew what they were thinking.

He wasn't that awful.

He knew when to be respectful and a funeral was something to respect. In silence. Still, while he knew the tradition he'd never actually attended a funeral before in his life. Something he was glad for in all honesty. He felt tired despite not shedding a single tear. The atmosphere in of itself was exhausting. Part of him wished he stayed home.

"Well, that was depressing." Ashido says, pointing out what was o so obvious. Stretching, she says, "Well, that's the main thing taken care of. What's left?"

Kirishima pulls out the small foldable booklet that we're passed out upon their entry. He might've lost his somewhere, he didn't keep up with it well.

"There's not much for anything that's required." He says after a bit of reading. "We can stop by some of the stands to grab a bite. There's time before the big celebration."

The big celebration was an event that all would attend after the big ceremonial funeral. He supposed the government didn't want people to go home with a sour taste in their mouth and low spirits. This was their way to remedy that. Of course he thought it was stupid. What was the point of having a celebration after a funeral other than to look good? They came here to mourn those who'd lost their lives in Hosu. Not party and pop fireworks.

"We should!" Mina claps excitedly. "I haven't had the chance to eat all day!"

"Then it's settled." He tucks the booklet back into his pocket after quickly folding it up but his smile drops as he notices Bakugo's strange body language. He also hadn't said anything in quite sometime.