Requiem of the Broken

Epilogue

They stayed that way for a while, and he idly played with her hair, just trying to ensure she knew she wasn't alone. 

"You know, I was in love with you for a long time. When we finally got together during the war, it fulfilled a fantasy of mine. When the war was over, I dreamt of more with you. I dreamt of us sleeping together, living together, and being a normal couple. I dreamt of us being heroes together, side by side, just like in the war. Then we did, we got an apartment together, and I couldn't be happier. Then before I could even fantasize about it, you proposed to me. We both knew deep down its what we both wanted. A lot of people thought we'd rushed into it, we'd only been dating for a few years and were in the middle of a war. But we'd known each other for so long before then, it didn't feel like only a few years. You told me it would be the greatest regret of your life if you didn't at least ask. I knew the real reason though, what if one of us died before you asked." She said suddenly curling up a little.

"I dreamed of what the future would bring after that. So many wonderful dreams... but now that's impossible," she said then she turned around to face him, her face a wash of agony and despair.

"I won't ever be able to have children, I'm not even a hero anymore, and all those students... it's all my fault... why... how can you stand to be around me?  I'm not even a woman anymore... So why are you staying?" she asked desperately, tears in her eyes.

Kirishima felt tears form in his own eyes and he wrapped himself tighter around her and pulled her into him. He put a hand on her head and put his face in her hair.

"Please... don't say that... please don't... I love you, I love you so much. I know it hurts, but no matter how much it hurts, I won't leave you alone. I will never leave you, I love you even if we can't have children. This isn't your fault, it's mine. I couldn't protect you, I wasn't there to be your shield. It's all my quirk is good for and it didn't even matter. I'm the failure..." He said, now crying into her hair.

Mina clutched him desperately and started shaking while she cried into him as well. They turned into a shaking, sobbing mess, neither able to speak for a long while. After what felt like an eternity, they eventually exhausted themselves unable to cry anymore.

"We'll get through this, we'll get through this, we'll get through this..." He started mumbling over and over again.

He had to keep saying it, otherwise, he feared it might not be true.

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Bakugo rubbed his eyes and tried to focus. Yet, no matter how he tried to look at it, he just couldn't read whatever the hell the document was saying. He tossed it on the table in annoyance and then plopped down on his couch, rubbing his eyes again.

He made a mental note to call someone about the print they were using for these documents. They were almost impossible to read, he'd only been able to work out a few of the characters before giving up entirely. It had been like this for a few days, he'd been having to squint quite a bit recently. He checked his phone for the time and realized he needed to leave.

He hurriedly got up from the couch and put on some proper clothes then left his apartment. He went out to the front and waited, and before long, a car rolled up. He opened a door and clambered inside.

"Thanks for the ride," he said.

"No problem, ribbit," Tsu said.

"How are things at the school?" Bakugo asked.

"Not bad, Nezu is getting around to hiring more teachers now that we've cleaned up most of the campus. Once he has the teachers filled in, he plans on opening the school in another month." Tsu said happily.