Chapter 199: His voice rang silent

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Mr. Sōzōshī Yamada was in the middle of English class trying to quiet his rowdy students without bursting their eardrums when he got a phone call from Nobuyuki Yuriemoto.

He answered the phone-call with a smile on his face only to freeze in horror by what he just heard. His thumb hit the end button. He was silent, staring into nothingness, he felt nothing. His ears were ringing. All he saw was his wife's eyes, her beautiful smile that shined like the stars, her gorgeous sunflower golden hair. The way her laugh caused a smile to always appear upon his lips. The way she dances to the songs few people know about and sings like her canary namesake as she sung her heart out for him at the radio station.

He'd never hear her voice saying that she loved him again. Tears fell down his face one after the other as the thoughts hit him like a battering ram.

*Shes gone...dead...I...I'll never see her again...Hizashi...oh how am I ever going to tell him?" His eyes then widened in horror. "Oh God Shota!!!*

One rude boy spoke up. "Hey Mister Yamada You Gone Deaf Or Something?"

Sōzōshī Yamada dropped the phone and the students along with that rude loudmouth suddenly realized that something was very wrong. The man opened his mouth but nothing came out no words escaped his lips except for a ragged anguished cry.

He crumpled to his knees and sobbed violently into his hands. Akemi was in the classroom with Nemuri (who was technically a third year due to her birthday, but spent her time helping out with English because she wanted some teaching experience and some extra credit).

They instantly surrounded the grieving man trying to console him enough so he could speak.

Akemi spoke. "Mister Yamada what...?"

Sōzōshī spoke through his gasping cries.
"She's gone...My darling Karania's GONEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

His quirk amplified his agonized wailing and shattered the glass. Everyone covered their ears and were shaking in horror over the realization.

"M-mom..."

Everyone in the room instantly froze in shock and turned towards the now crying blonde in the back of the classroom. Akemi was silent and hugged the grieving man before gently pulling Hizashi into the hug by her hair.

 Akemi was silent and hugged the grieving man before gently pulling Hizashi into the hug by her hair

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Meanwhile all Shota heard was the ringing of his ears he felt numb. His eyes stared at the charred body of the woman he had considered his mother now being placed into a black body-bag. Tears fell from his eyes as Nobuyuki turned his gaze away and into a shaking hug. The older man was crying. He considered the Yamada's close friends and knew the boy was reliving his traumatic past all over again.

"I'm not leaving you alone boy. I'm here..."

He then lead the grieving, emotionally numb, Shota Aizawa away from the scene and his iron glare towards the reporters said it all.

This was not a front page scoop and to get the Hell Out Of Here Before He Gets Violent!

He sat Shota down on the curb and assessed for any injuries only to place a hand upon the boy's face to see into his eyes. They held no emotion until the boy spoke. Shota's voice was hollow. "It's my fault..."

"Shota no..."

"JUST SHUT UP OLD MAN!"

Nobuyuki gasped in shock. Shota was shaking. "It's my fault. I told her to take me home this way if we hadn't then...then... she..." he cried into the man's hero costume. "I saw the Serial Anarchist, but I didn't say anything! I was scared! I didn't stop her! I should've stopped her!"

"Shota she is a pro hero trained in assessing any situation and likely saw the same thing you did. Every bomb has a timer and my guess is that the amount of time before that final detonation she realized that you were too close. She pushed you away to protect you. She died protecting you Shota."

Shota stared at him and broke down crying his eyes out into his mentors arms. Nobuyuki Yuriemoto bowed his head and shed a few tears in sorrow as he tried to console the boy.

This was what Nobuyuki hated about his job. Having to see a boy as traumatized as Shota crying over losing a parent to a villain all over again...
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The funeral was a cremation. Sōzōshī couldn't bear seeing his wife's remains. Shota was staring blankly as the urn was placed into the ground. All he felt was numbness. He couldn't even cry...

Akemi was worried about him he hardly ate during lunch and hardly had any motivation for hero training anymore.

Hizashi was worried. Shota was like a ghost.

"Dad...?"

Sōzōshī looked up from his plate with no longer hollow eyes, it took a month to get over the empty pain and refocus on raising his two boys. He sighed softly as he stood up and took both his boys into a hug.

"Come on we're going out. And no arguments Shota."

Shota was distant until they came across a place he's never seen before a secluded park of Ash trees. Sōzōshī sighed as he sat them down on the bench underneath the largest tree.

He sighed softly and spoke. "I meet her here. Right here... she had songbirds all over her as she laughed. All I could do was stare like some dumb idiot with my mouth open. When she saw me she smiled brightly and I swore at that moment I'd ask her name and phone number. Afterwards I wondered how long I'd wait to marry her and we had only met a few minute ago!"

He sighed lovingly. "And we were together ever since. She always said that she'd die saving someone's life...and she was right."

Shota stared at the man. He didn't see tears or resentment but peaceful acceptance. He felt the man embrace him softly and pulled him and Hizashi closer. "Whenever you have a bad day come here to think. Just come home before dinner okay."

Shota could feel the man's soft smile and heard him sigh softly. "She always loved seeing the sunsets..."

Shota turned to face the setting sun and gasped at the sunset turning the trees a golden brown and the dark green leaves a light yellowish green.

It really was beautiful and he'd come back here more times than Hizashi ever would.

This wasn't something he could easily resolve in a month his heart still felt numb...

Continuation Shota Aizawa x Akemi Yuriemoto (Aizawa)Where stories live. Discover now