It was now Friday. The public service was set up for the four people who had lost their lives.
Their coffins were next to each other. Hitoshi Shinso was on the far left, his purple hair still and face seemingly tranquil--it was as if he had finally found peace in his sleep. Purple, light blue, green and yellow flowers cascaded down around the lips of his casket, flowing to the ground. His pale body stood out in contrast to all the colors.
Next to him laid Shigaraki, whose corpse was left unaltered in respect to him. UA had been in charge of getting the bodies prepped, which included someone with the quirk that allowed them to take the scars off of beings who have died or take off the scratches littering abiotic objects. She had found a use for her quirk which included helping the morgue. In some scenarios, families couldn't have an open casket-funeral to say goodbye due to their passed relative's corpse being mutilated or severely scarred. Her quirk helped them heal to the point of allowing their families to see them peaceful one last time.
The scars on all four people were prominent and instead of using her quirk to erase them, UA along with the children's avalible parents decided that all the scars would remain.
Shigaraki had scars littering his whole body, but most noticeably was his neck and face. Those scars had signified his life, past to present. The heroes felt they had no right to make these people who had once been living, breathing humans, seem one hundred percent perfect in death. That would mean their death and their dream would be wasted.
No hero didn't have battle scars.
And even though Shigaraki had been a villain, he was also a kid who once needed a hero. And he had been there for two children who were scared, and alone in a building that had slowly been killing them. He had helped them heal mentally, which was more than what the heroes could have done. Not all scars were mental too.
Shiagraki's body, although it had been one of a villain, held the inner remains of a broken, lonely child too. The same loneliness that had enveloped Hitoshi and Izuku.
His face seemed relaxed, almost kind, which was a big difference from his previously stressed and pain-filled expression that he gave during USJ.
He looked pale and fragile laying on the cot. His guard was down and his body lay unprotected if not for the casket's partial-glass lid.
Next was Izuku Midooriya, who, even though he had died asleep, looked in slight pain.
When they had found his corpse, his eyes were open, and a slightly tormented face had greeted them. It was as if the calm, quiet exterior of Izuku Midoriya had melted as the air got thicker. Pure sadness had overtaken Midoriya.
Pure grief.
From what had been seen in the tape, he had truly meant that he wished they all were not enemies. That he wished no one had been forced to fight each other. That society wasn't rubbish and could have saved their inner child when they got the chance.
His dying face had the grief of someone who had been forced into growing up too fast.
Of someone who had learned to suppress their inner child and become stronger.
They had managed to make Midoriya's face relax slightly, but it remained tense. No one would ever be able to completely free his body from the physical and mental torment he had endured as a child.
He, along with everyone else, were put in a regular white shirt and dress pants.
Mrs. Midoriya and Mr. Shinso had agreed that suits were not something their sons would ever willingly wear, so they decided a more casual…a more free approach would work.
But this casual shirt showed off some of their scars. Midoriya especially had deep and thin scars running up and down the length of his arms. He even had some on his legs. It was painful for Inko to see the carved out flesh of her son.
The flesh her son had carved out of himself.
She felt as if she had failed her son. Her quiet little son who had decided to keep his inner turmoil away from her. It hurt, but deep down she knew her son would never have intended to hurt her. Yet the fact that he had remained suffering silently…that hurt her worse than any bullet could.
Finally, next to Izuku Midoriya laid Magne. She hadn't been directly involved with the attack. But she was also killed in cold blood by another villain. She had previously not been unable to have a proper funeral. And since she was dead longer than the others, no quirk was fully able to restore her enough to have an open casket.
Even though her casket was closed, Magne still deserved a funeral.
Toga had shown Vlad and Midnight where she had been makeshift buried, and then they contacted Nezu to add one more casket. He agreed.
Flowers flowed from every casket, and surrounded the path towards each as well. The flowers' colors framed the dead.
And in front of them sat chairs upon chairs for family members, UA staff, close friends, and overall anyone who knew the four. Both Mrs. Midoriya and Mr. Shinso sat next to each other. Previously they hadn't meet face to face but they knew of each other's sons. So they chose to converse about how good their sons were for each other.
They attempted to hold off their emotions until the private service, where they would say their final goodbyes. Until then, it was nice to remember the joys of their lives. Though the pains of their children's lives remain ever present and meant to be discussed at a later date.
Class 1A remained close to the front, yet unsure on proceeding. They felt as if they hadn't known Izuku that much, and they felt they knew even less after hearing about his past. They had been shown the video after Inko and the school approved it. And they had been allowed to leave at any time during it.
Todoroki, after watching the video, felt an internal click. Everything slowly made sense. Midoriya had said he didn't fully understand the abuse Endeavor had put his son through, but wanted to help the teen. The fact that he didn't run away or treat the teen as glass stood out to the heterochromatic boy. The fact that he and Midoriya had felt insanely similar emotions within their lifetimes, albeit through different circumstances, had bridged their pasts and future.
Tsu, Shoji, and Mina stood off the the side, comforting each other. Ojiro, Kirishima, Sato, Sero, and Iida were all talking about some memories that they had as a class.
Bakugo was antsy, shifting his weight between his feet. His hands were itching and his face showed a pained emotion.
Because not only had he been a major bully in Midoriya's life but he had also been wrong.
They had made up and were trying to rekindle their close bond not even three weeks ago. Midoriya and him often battled insomnia together and this allowed for them to train in the middle of the night together to expel stress and bring forth fatigue.
Those late nights and early mornings allowed for them to bond. In fact, they had planned a full blown All Might movie marathon.
It had been scheduled for this Friday and through Saturday. But now the funeral held the slot instead.
Bakugo felt like he was about to combust with sadness.
The raid had been a failure but he had thought Midoriya would be persistent enough to survive. For as long as he knew the greenette, he had never given up or lost his perseverance. But after seeing the video…
The years of society's biases and hatred had crushed his spirit.
And Bakugo should have known Midoriya could never have fully recovered as soon as he hit UA. Scars don't just appear just as scars don't simply disappear.
Bakugo felt he should have done more to help his childhood friend, especially after they rekindled. Although Midoriya was a very introverted person, he also never told anyone about what was fully happening.
Bits and pieces were all he ever told anyone. Truly, no one could fully understand his pain since he never told anyone everything fully. No one could have done anything until he showed them his pain. And if Izuku Midoriya was anything, he was obstinate.
Finally, Bakugo spotted Inko speaking with someone who looked like an older version of Eyebags.
He looked back to his class before shuffling off to hug Inko.
Smiling, Inko hugged back and neither let go, even as she continued her previous conversation.
Jiro, Hagakure, Kaminari, Monoma and Hiryu all stood off to the side. Class 1A and 1B attempted to help them cope with the loss, yet it was hard for them to even wrap their head around.
They had been pulled to the side and told that they were excused from classes and any time they might need space, all they had to do was simply ask a teacher. Their mental health was taken into top priority as soon as they arrived back on campus.
Still, they couldn't believe two of their own friends were lying in a casket merely nine feet away.
It felt like mere hours ago they were back in Shinso's dorm bonding before the mission.
Jiro was silent, letting Hagakure hug her arm like a teddy bear. Kaminari and Monoma were silently leaning on one another. They would never speak of it again, and deny it ever happened. But in the moment, both knew they needed reassurance.
Hiryu stood between the two groups for a bit, but eventually was pulled into a side hug by Kaminari.
"I want to–" Hagakure's voice broke so she cleared her throat. "I want to see them…one more time."
Jiro nodded, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears.
The two girls began walking to their classmate's casket. Passing by, they saw Aizawa next to Shinso's and Shigaraki's.
The boys followed behind, glancing at Toga who had finally arrived. She bounced over towards Magne's casket and began sobbing. She mumbled about how she was so happy to have Magne get a proper funeral, yet saddened about her close sister-like friend and ex-leader dying.
Her wounds were still fresh.
They stood besides Midoriya's coffin in silence, not knowing what to say. But seeing the scars and slightly scared facial expression of their friend's corpse made them feel a sense of despair.
Izuku couldn't even be peaceful in death.
After saying their silent goodbyes, Kaminari finally broke away from the group and made his way over to Toga. She was on the ground next to Magne's closed casket and sobbing uncontrollably. Her hair was messy and her face was red. She looked tired and exhausted.
Silently, Kaminari sat down on the hard ground next to her and put an arm over her shaking shoulders, slipping her into a side hug.
They had all lost people they knew--people they loved. And in Kaminari's view, mourning was something better done with someone.
Toga apparently felt the same, as she leaned into the hug ever so slightly.