Final Goodbye | Todochako

Untitled Part 1

The worst day of Shoto Todoroki's life wasn't the day Touya left. It wasn't the day his father whisked him away and raised him apart from his siblings. It wasn't the day his mother was sent away to the hospital. It wasn't the day Natsuo had lost his leg in a car accident, and it wasn't the day Fuyumi got third-degree burns saving her students from a fire at the school. While all of those days were heartbreaking and would remain in Shoto's life as some of his worst memories for life, none of them were the worst days of his life.

The worst day was when Ochako had been pronounced dead.

She had been caught in a villain accident, and her quirk had been stopped by an unknown as she was fighting 40 feet in the air. She had fallen, too fast for anyone to reach her in time to save her.

She survived the fall, but within 3 hours she was dead.

The pain the heterochromatic male had felt in that moment wasn't like any other pain he had felt in his entire life. It hurt more than when he got burned by his mother. It hurt more than when his bones had all cracked under the pressure of the falling building back in his early days as a hero. Nothing hurt as bad as the news that his wife was dead. And nothing could have prepared him for the pain that came with the one heartbreaking sentence, the two destroying words. The news that had brought him to his knees as choked sobs escaped his body.

She had left him behind. Though she swore to him that she would be careful, they both knew that the day would eventually come where he had to part with her, whether it was because of her death or his own. But that didn't make the pain any more bearable. That didnt' make the heartbreak any less strong.

Now, he stood in front of her casket. The white coffin, decorated with pink embroidery. She lay in her hero costume, as all heroes did.

Her final words ran in his head as he stared at her. The five words that escaped her lips in a breathy whisper. The words that would break anyones heart, even if they didn't know the couople. But to him? They destroyed him.

"Tell Shoto I love him."

He felt the tears fill his eyes once again, but he refused to cry before the ceremony had even started. He looked around the room, swallowing a sob as he saw the pink and teal roses; the same colors she had picked for their wedding. He looked away, wiping the tears from his eyes once again. He could cry after or even during the ceremony. But he had to stay strong for the fans that would be arriving soon to say their goodbyes to the fallen hero.

He greeted the fans that walked through the door, but stayed silent other than that as people said goodbye to their protector. There were words of sorrow uttered, words of condolence. But Shoto didn't hear them, not really. He just nodded, staring at the floor as people shared their sorrow.

It was too soon, yet much too long before the people who were close to Ochako started to fill into the room, and the many that the hero had never known left the room. Seats were taken, and the ceremony began.

Shoto felt tears make their way down his face, taking the well-worn paths that had been carved before. As he stood to give his speech, he wiped them away, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Ochako was the light of my life," he began. "She was my sun, my moon, my stars. The pain of losing her is a pain that I was never prepared for, a pain that I never thoguht I would endure. But here I am, trying not to sob in front of the people closest to me because my wife is gone."

He took a deep breath before he continued. "She was pregnant when she died. We only found out a few weeks ago, and we hadn't told anyone yet. But the pain of losing a child mingles with the pain of losing a wife."

"I was really never one for words, so I will stop talking now. But Ochako, my fallen star, will not be forgotten. She will live through us, and we will live for her. We will carry on her dream, her ideals, her character. We will bring Ochako to the top, even if she is not here to see us do it."

He glanced at the coffin once more, tears making their way down his face. "Goodbye, my dearest Ochako."

Muffled sobs escaped the heterochromatic man as the casket was lowered into the ground. He tried to stay strong but in the end he knew that his attempts were futile. The tears came down like rain, each one falling faster than the previous. Shoto watched as the dirt slowly covered her, closing her into the earth. It didn't fit, not at all; Shoto felt that she should be free, above the earth and free to go wherever the wind took her. But it hadn't been his decision, in the end.

Shoto sat alone in the darkness, the graves around him only lit by the pale light of the moon. The grave he was there for lay in front of him, and fresh tears slid down his cheeks. The bi-colored hair of the hero hid his face from the outside world, but he didn't mind. Maybe it was better this way.

Once the man had no tears left to cry, he looked up at the sky. He watched as a comet soared across the midnight-blue canvas, and imagined it was Ochako, finally free to fly as she pleased. He knew that she had always felt restricted by the laws of aviation that even she had no power against.

He stared at the glittering stars and the pale moon, which cast shadows all around him. The beautiful scene around him did nothing to dull the pain in his heart as he stared at the name on the tombstone in front of him, however. He knew that nothing would but time.

As he stood and brushed the dirt off his suit, he read the name one last time and swallowed a sob. He pressed a kiss to the smooth marble, as it was the only way of expressing his feelings now.

"I love you, my dear Ochako. Goodbye."