Respecting The Dead

After the raid, the news was covering the dead pro heroes. We see pictures of Team Jaku, Mirko, Crust, X-Less, Native, and Funkman, as well as several others from Team Gunga Mountain Villa. My heart is heavy watching the news, but I am not particularly devastated as I eat my sushi snack. We keep watching the news when Ryukyu’s face pops up. Seeing her face among the dead broke my heart. I drop my plate of snacks on the ground, breaking the plate, my heart seemingly stopping as I stare at Ryukyu’s face on the TV. She continues to call out names, and her name hurts me the most.  All because she and the rest of the heroes were outmatched and didn’t know Haki like the high-ends.

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It is all my fault.

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Ryukyu is dead because of me.

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If I hadn’t brought Haki into this world, she would still be here.

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Sir Floof comes out, sensing both Aya-chan’s and my distress, and immediately gets to work, while Squash comes out and snacks on the sushi I dropped, nuzzling against my leg. The nerd asks, “Were you close to any of them, Sekai? You seem extremely pale.” Tears fall from my eyes, and I snap, “Shut up, nerd!” Even if I wanted to tell him, I can’t disclose our alternate personas like that. That is the only way to describe our relationship with Ryuko. Aya-chan starts crying too, and she pats my head, unable to bring herself to bop me. Sir Floof’s ribbons ease my despair, but I still can't stop crying as I feel the weight of my actions.

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We retreat to our soundproofed dorm and keep crying. I hold Aya-chan and say, “It is all my fault.” She clutches me tightly. “No, it isn’t, Sekai. She died being a hero.” I clutch her harder. “If I didn’t bring haki to this world, then she would have lived.” She softens her grip and pulls back to look at me as we look at each other’s tear-covered faces. “Then, we both share the blame in that case.” We keep holding each other in silence, mourning Ryukyu and losing track of time. Aya-chan’s phone breaks the silence with a call from the Principal.

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Principal Nezu called to tell us to go to his office. Aya-chan and I had extremely puffy eyes from crying a lot. He had us sit down and poured us some tea, which we accepted. Sir Floof comes out yet again and comforts us with his ribbons. He has been working overtime on us since we learned the terrible news. Principal Nezu waits for us to start sipping on our tea while Jewel rubs against us, trying to cheer us up. He says after he takes a sip of his own cup of tea, “I am sure that you would like to pay your respects to Ryukyu, and I am giving you both permission to attend the service as your personas since you were her neighbors. You would be able to see your chef more easily in your personas as well.”

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We nod while sniffling as we drink the tea. Aya-chan pets Jewel with one hand while I pet Sir Floof with the other. I feel bad for worrying him, but I can’t help feeling responsible for losing Ryukyu. He whines as I pet him, feeling my emotions, and I shed a tear, comforted by his ribbons. I know how close Deonte was to Ryukyu, especially after the bomb scare, and I know that he must be devastated.

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I say as I try to avoid thinking about feelings of guilt for everything that has occurred, “Can we just bring them back? They are active again.” I show the tattoo to Aya-chan and the principal, and he sighs pensively, “As much as it pains me to say this, I would rather you not do that right now. That would require you students to take time off your schooling, and I would prefer you didn’t, for your own futures, which mean more to me. We could do like you children did last time and use your summer break. Assuming that they would still work then.” Aya-chan stops petting Jewel and clutches her chest as she sheds a few tears herself. “I would like to try. I owe it to Deonte. He not only saved our home, but he saved my life.”

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Principal Nezu sets his teacup down and says in a comforting tone, “Then I will make tentative plans with Gang Orca again for the summer.” I think he knows how I feel because we've worked together for so long, and he adorably hops down, grabs my pant leg with a worried look, and says, “Please don’t feel guilty about this.” I stop petting Sir Floof and clutch my chest, which is feeling extremely tight. “But I brought the haki that killed them into this world.” Aya-chan clears her throat, and I correct myself, “We brought haki into this world.”

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He gently continued to tug on my pant leg like a child would, and he said in a comforting tone, “I was the figurehead of haki and didn’t do better at teaching the heroes. So, if there is fault to be had, it falls directly on my shoulders. Because of your quirk, the students prevented the worst possible outcome at both Jaku Hospital and the Gunga Villa. Many more heroes would have died if not for the students’ more advanced haki. I want you to feel proud, not guilty. Leave the guilt where it belongs, on my shoulders.”

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I grit my teeth as Sir Floof whines and Principal Nezu sighs. He sees his words aren't helping me feel better, and he asks, “How would you feel if I started a course devoted to current pros to teach them Haki?” I perk up, and Aya-chan chimes in, “That would be amazing, actually.” I nod as I wipe my tears with my free hand, the one not holding my teacup. That would ease my worries about future casualties. I may not like the heroes for ignoring me as a child, but I don’t want them to die either. I am not heartless or anything.

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He sighs again, but more in relief, seeing our reactions, and he goes back to his desk and adorably crawls back into his desk chair and picks up his cell phone and says, “Then let me start networking to get that taken care of. I can’t have my students feeling responsible for my shortcomings. Even a little bit. That is all I needed from you, children. Please rest easy.” We set our half-drunk teacups on his coffee table in his office and pet Jewel one last time before waving goodbye to the principal and heading back to the dorms.

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We don’t have our formal suits for our personas in our dorm, so we will have to go back to the apartment to get them. We put on casual, non-flashy clothes for our personas to stay under the radar, and we put on shades. We could wear medical masks, but it might seem suspicious that we are purposely trying to hide our identities. So we go for a more relaxed ‘disguise’.

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We combine our quirks like we used to, go to the apartment, and repeat the routine. Hidemi works the front desk and immediately sees through our relaxed disguise, judging by her worried expression. We approach the front desk, and she whispers, “Is there anything I can do for you?” Fu-chan responds in a breaking voice, “We came to get suits for Ryuko’s service.” Hidemi clutches her chest, barely able to handle hearing Fu-chan’s emotional voice, and nods as we head to the elevator to our apartment.

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On the top floor, we linger a bit and find ourselves crying more, seeing her door across from ours. We hurry into our apartment, and Fu-chan says, sniffing, “I wonder if they will try to sell her apartment again…” I ask her, “Should we ask Hidemi to hold off on selling it? Or maybe buy it ourselves to make sure she can return home?” Fu-chan nods, blowing her nose on a tissue she pulled from her not-visible tattoo. She says, tossing the used tissue into the wastebasket in our bedroom, “It might be a weird conversation since Hidemi doesn’t know about the Dragon Balls, and she will probably put two and two together when Ryukyu comes back… if we can bring her back…”

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I say while opening our closet, “She has kept our secrets and helped us a lot, so I am sure that she would keep it confidential. Even if she did deduce our abilities, if she asks, we could always say it is a powerful quirk that has a really long cooldown period.” Fu-chan chuckles as she wipes her tears. “I mean, you technically aren’t wrong. They do have a pretty long cooldown. She would probably believe it, too, since we have been dodging the questions about our quirks. It would make sense to hide a powerful ‘quirk’ like granting wishes on that large of scale.”

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I sigh and grab my designer suit, looking at our apartment with longing. Fu-chan responds to my sigh, “Yeah, I miss it too.” Our friends in our pokeballs start wiggling in their balls in the tattoos on us to tell us they do, too. It is a weird feeling to feel the balls roll back and forth in a tattoo, but we have gotten used to it by now. I know Garlic definitely does, since he can stretch because he is so large. He really misses his sunbathing spot in the indoor garden, but he can still sunbathe outside our dorms. Squash definitely misses the pool, but she gets to swim at the school pool sometimes, and she likes to soak in the dorm bath, so she isn’t deprived too much, and Sir Floof misses his comfy loft space. I wish we could return here so they could be in their favorite spots again, but we will have to wait until we get permission from Principal Nezu.

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After we get our suits, we go back out through the lobby, and Fu-chan approaches Hidemi. She asks her in a whisper, “Hidemi, are there any payments needed for Ryuko’s apartment? We want to keep paying for it for a while.” Hidemi looks confused and asks, “Why?” Fu-chan’s eyes glisten with tears not yet fallen, and she says with a breaking voice, “We aren’t ready to have new neighbors yet, and I want to keep everything as Ryuko left it… Also, our chef was very close to her, and he would be devastated.”

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Hidemi clutches her chest and starts to get watery-eyed as well, and she nods. She types for a bit, then turns her computer screen to show Fu-chan that Ryuko is currently renting the apartment instead of owning it. Fu-chan nods and discreetly reaches into her money tattoo, pulling out a huge wad of yen to give to Hidemi. Fu-chan asks her, still in a whisper, “This is just temporary for now, but is there a way we could buy it in her name?” Hidemi starts crying and nods. Fu-chan starts crying herself and whispers as she writes her Fu-chan phone number down, her voice breaking, “Good. Text me with the details.”

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I find myself crying, too, seeing both of them shed tears. I know we will try our best to bring her and the others back, but a few thoughts dance at the back of my mind: “But what if I can’t bring her back?” “What if I am too late when I make the wish?” “What if Shenron isn’t able to fulfill the wish because of an issue I haven’t thought of?” Just thinking about those hypotheticals devastates me.

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Hidemi holds Fu-chan’s hand platonically as she passes her the note with her alias’s phone number, crying and nodding. Fu-chan doesn’t tell her not to give out her number because she knows she has nothing to worry about. If Hidemi wanted to take advantage of knowing us, she would have done so already, and Fu-chan understands this.

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After a touching moment, Hidemi releases Fu-chan and apologizes in a whisper, “I am sorry for holding your hand without your consent, Fumiaki.” Fu-chan wipes her tears with her now-free hand and whispers back, “It is because of your worry about that that I don’t mind something like this at all, Hidemi.” Hidemi starts crying more and asks a follow-up question: “So, when will you boys return?” Fu-chan sighs, “To be honest, we don’t know. It could be months or years, but taking time out of the spotlight is helping with my mental health.”

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I mutter, “Those damned vultures don’t care about your health and well-being, and it makes me want to punch them.” Hidemi chuckles through her tears and nods and responds in a whisper, “Take as much time as you need. I will keep taking care of your plants for you.” Having Hidemi in our corner really reassures me and eases my worries. Fu-chan then briefly grabs Hidemi’s hand platonically and whispers back, “Thank you, Hidemi.”

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With that, we head outside and discreetly slip into the neighboring alleyway like we used to, then combine our quirks with our suits in tow and head back to UA. We change and head to the location where they are holding Ryuko’s service. Since she was the number 10 hero, they are holding a semi-public memorial so citizens can pay their respects in an area Principal Nezu added to UA outside the campus. He made it secure since there are many villains out and about now (because of the recent prison break), and a lot of security is present, with tablets scanning everyone's face as they enter to cross-check against the list of escaped prisoners. There are so many people, and it's hard to see where Deonte is. We are looking for him first.

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I close my eyes, use my Environmental Observation Haki, and try to pinpoint where I hear his cries. Once I lock onto his cries, I pull Fu-chan in the right direction. As we are walking through the sea of people, I am surprised that people aren’t seeing through our simple ‘wearing shades’ disguise… Or maybe they are giving us space as we desired in the press interview. Either way, we are thankful no one is making a big deal of us right now.

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When we get to Deonte, he is in the middle of the sea of people. Nowhere near the stage with Ryuko’s picture, and that is wrong. He should be in the designated seating for those close to Ryuko, not with the civilians. We hug him, and Fu-chan whispers in his ear, “We are so sorry for your loss, Deonte.” He grips us as he continues to cry, missing his beloved girlfriend, and responds after sniffling, “Thank you.” Fu-chan says while we still hug him, “Let’s get you in the close friends and family area where you belong, Deonte.”

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Fu-chan then leads us to the stage area, where a cordoned-off section with seats for friends and family is set up, and we all sit down. Some officers from the Police Force called out to us, “Hey! You aren’t supposed to b-” Both Fu-chan and I remove our shades briefly to show our true identities, and the officer bows and apologizes, “I am so sorry, Fumiaki and Hanzo. You are allowed in this area. Please forgive my rudeness.” We nod, and he goes back to monitoring the crowd.

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Now that we have some distance from the crowd, Fu-chan whispers in Deonte’s ear, “We are going to try and bring her back, but it will be some time, and we don’t know if it will work. Please don’t ask questions, because we can’t go into detail about it in an insecure place like this.” Deonte starts crying more, and he hugs both of us and whispers, “I love you kids so much. You don’t have to worry about the questions. I gave up on asking those a long time ago.” He chuckles through his tears at the last bit.

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As time goes on, the chairs around us start to fill with her friends and fellow pro colleagues paying their respects, along with Tsu, Uraraka, and that blue-haired chick from the Big Three that I can’t stand. Alongside them are faculty escorts Miss Midnight, Ectoplasm, and Present Mic. Tsu makes eye contact with us, and we nod in acknowledgment, since our aliases don’t really know her, to protect her. She nods back, then wipes her tears.

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When everyone arrived, the service began. Different pro heroes gave their eulogies for Ryuko and honored her legacy as a hero, and once the pros were done, they had that annoyingly invasive blue-haired chick make one too. She took the stage, crying into the microphone. “I am sorry for my lack of composure.” She says as she wipes her tears. Fu-chan gets a tissue and hands it to her, and she thanks Fu-chan outside of the microphone’s reach.

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She continues after she wipes her tears and blows her nose, “My name is Nejire Hado, and I am a third-year at UA who has worked with Ryukyu for a long time. Over time, she went from being my mentor to being my friend. I told her things that I never told another soul, and I don’t know if I could ever find another friend like her. I will deeply miss her.” When she was done, she waved for both me and Fu-chan to take the microphone.

We go on stage, and Fu-chan platonically places a comforting hand on Hado’s shoulder. Fu-chan takes the microphone and says, after wiping her own tears, “For those of you who don’t know, I am Fumiaki. Ryuko was our beloved neighbor, and she always worried about our well-being. We will miss her deeply, but we shouldn’t be giving this speech right now. There is a man here who was closer to her than any other person to have spoken today who deserves to honor her more than we do.” Knowing she is talking about Deonte, I walk down to where he is seated, I hold his hand, guide him on stage, and give him a tissue from a packet in my pocket so he can wipe his eyes.

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Deonte hugs Fu-chan and takes the microphone and says, “Nobody probably knows my name since I am not a pro or famous. My name is Deonte Williams. I was dating Ryuko… I actually wasn’t expecting to speak and didn’t have anything prepared.” He takes a shaky breath, as if summoning the courage to speak in front of this huge crowd and the cameras, and wipes his tears. He continues, “We started dating after the bomb scare at our apartment complex, and we kept getting closer and closer. Most everyone here talked about how cool and dependable she was as a pro, but having known her so intimately, she was also very funny as well.”

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He takes a break to wipe his tears again and then continues, “She didn’t want others to see that side of her because she not only felt a little self-conscious about her jokes, but she also didn’t want people to think that she was any less dependable because of her humor. She also didn’t want to be misunderstood because her humor could be dark at times, but having seen the atrocities she had to have seen daily as a hero, it only makes sense that her humor was dark.” He then starts telling some family-friendly stories to show them the sides of herself she hid from the public eye.