Rising Stronger [Sequel to When the Strong are Weak]

3

Days passed and somehow you managed to pull yourself together enough each evening to make an appearance, at least for a little while. Though you still had a hard time keeping food down you made a show of clearing your plate at supper. Even if that plate only consisted of a handful or two of fruit.

The morning of the funeral you had been surprised to find not only your class but 1-B and a number of other students crowding the main floor. The bigger shock came shortly thereafter when you realized that every hero course student was wearing their hero outfit, same as you.

Ash would've loved this. The thought had a small smile creeping its way onto your face even as you stood between the caskets. "Most of you here didn't know Asher or Yui," you began. "But I can promise you that they would have welcomed you all with open arms. Ash would be running from one person to another begging you to tell him about your quirk and maybe even convincing you to show it off a little.

"You see, Asher was a young boy obsessed with something he didn't have. He wasn't upset about it by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I think he thrived more because he lacked a quirk. He was incredibly smart and caring beyond words. Ash was lucky enough that to be surrounded by people who didn't care if he had a quirk or not."

Tears spilled down your cheeks as you looked at the small crowd gathered around you. The casket was cold when you laid your hand on it. "I want to be the hero he thought I was. But I need time to heal and find myself. I'm not giving up on my training in the mean time though."

An hour later most everyone had gone save for a handful of your classmates and a pro or two. You were left on your own, standing before the freshly covered graves thinking of nothing and staring past the graves at the headstones in the aisle beyond.

"Do you think the police have any leads yet?" You asked to no one in particular.

"You should focus on yourself not the case," Aizawa answered.

"I'm okay," you responded stubbornly. "Besides, it wouldn't be right to let whoever did this walk away without some sort of punishment."

"We should really leave that kind of stuff to the police, don't you think, Y/N?" Uraraka fidgeted some as she approached you.

"You're nervous, what's wrong?"

"Even in mourning you're as observant as ever," she smiled at you. "Why don't we have a movie night tonight? We could invite 1-B over even."

"Sure," you nodded. "If everyone else is down, so am I."

"How soon until everything is in place?" The ever impatient voice asked.

"In time," the annoyed voice replied. "My contact is still out of town. Once they're here things will start moving faster."

"When?"

"They said it would be in any day now."

"And this will guarantee us the girl?"

Hound Dog

"I heard there was quite the turnout at the funeral," Hound Dog filled the silence easily. Y/N was proving to be a difficult conversationalist yet again.

"There was," Y/N confirmed, seemingly bored with the topic already. Understandable given the funeral was the only thing that got her talking.

"How did that make you feel?"

"Seriously?" Y/N rolled her eyes. Hound Dog remained silent, waiting patiently for her to continue. "Fine. It made me happy that there were so many people inadvertently touched by Yui and Asher's lives."