𝙥𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 - ᴛᴏɢᴀᴄʜᴀᴋᴏ

1 | 𝘽𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙚

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 1

It'd been two years since the travesty of what the people dubbed "The Last War." As always, life found a way to grow even in the crumbled remains of Japan's society. Through it all. The destruction, death, rebellion. Maybe the saying was true that it got worse before it ever got better. Japan had to be torn by limb before it could hope to flourish once again. At a surprising rate, crime had plummeted, and hero numbers skyrocketed. The struggle of the heroes that protected Japan even at its worst gave hope to the new generation of heroes. Inspiration to have even the slightest amount of strength that the people who had risked their lives showed in those months.

The fall of Tomura, no, All for One, could only be described as the greatest change for society as a whole had experienced ever since the first appearance of quirks three hundred years ago.

Himiko Toga did not feel the same.

While the heroes focused their efforts on raising Japan to what it had once been, Toga wallowed in grief every waking moment since that dreaded day.

Miraculously, she had escaped. A deep gash on her lip, a broken leg, and dead eyes. That was what she escaped with. That was what she was left with.

Toga felt herself fall back into that day. Blood rushed in her ears, and her heart beat so hard it made her head feel dizzy. She wanted to throw up, to curl in a ball and forget this all happened. It was a nightmare, something so terrible only her subconscious could conjure up. Because, how else would this happen? How else could a teen seeking a free life from the shackles of the world find herself in this situation? And why did it have to be her in the end, the one who suffers the most from something she believed in as normal? Why.. She glanced downwards, only now remembering where she was, what was happening, why she was on the floor.

Toga hovered over Atsuhiro, the blood from her own wounds dripping down onto his body below her. In that moment, he had smiled at her, a genuine smile, a smile that could have almost deluded herself into believing that everything was like it had been. That this was just another one of his magic tricks, and at the end he would reveal his hand with gleaning eyes and a bow. It was what he had always done after all, a witty plan that left Toga with a grin at the end. Another trick of the eyes, another trump card.

Instead, his brown eyes only gave away to darkness, unlike his magician persona. In the end, Atsuhiro was not able to pull a card from his sleeve and conjure up a clever illusion. And in that moment, he could only give a half-hearted chuckle in an attempt to reassure the girl above him.His breath was labored, growing heavier as he struggled more and more to breathe. Blood seeping from uncovered woods, prosthetic arm long lost in the midst of battle. Yet his smile still held hope, still held the liveliness that he would otherwise have shown.

"Live, Himiko Toga."

Toga only realized she had been crying when a hand brushed up against her cheek, wiping away the tears forming in her eyes.

She shook her head, panic settling in at the implications of his words. "Don't go," she croaked, grabbing his hand with her own. His arm shook, and she realized that it was her who was trembling all over. "W-We can still escape, we still have time, we can–" She interrupted herself with a choked sob. "Don't go, not yet! Please don't leave me, not now..!"

Atsuhiro gave another close-eyed smile, which in turn made Toga's heart feel as if it had been repeatedly stabbed. "I'm afraid this marks the curtain close of this old man's final performance. I must thank you for being the last audience member in my show, Toga.

"Go, live."

She held his hand tighter. "No, no, please stop saying that kind of stuff. Jin sacrificed himself for us, remember?! We have to live for him, he wants us to live a normal life! We have to go so please get up.." Toga shakily gasped, more tears pouring down her face. "D-don't–! Don't close your eyes just yet, I can get us out of here..!