Sako's POV
"..did that cactus lookin-ass bitch just fall from the sky??"
"Did his legs just decay??"
"Did Shigaraki do that?" The two girls I was with, Hagakure and Mina, questioned as there was a commotion on the mall's second floor and directly across from us. Security guards were already rushing towards the scene, and I think I saw a glimpse of Shigaraki's face.
"It's best not to get involved." I smile back at the two while I had two large bags of clothes hanging over the both of my arms. They just nod quickly and skip quickly to tail behind me.
"Soooo... where do you want to go next, Dad?" Mina somehow speeds ahead of me while holding Hagakure's hand. They're both very hyperactive. It actually reminds me of someone, but who that may be.. I do not know.
"You can choose for me, as I have no preference."
"You talk so fancy..."
"..thank you?" They giggle ahead of me and I begin to join along, that is, until I get a quick buzz in my pocket. I take it out and see it's a message from.. Aizawa?
...
Private messages between MummyI'mAZombie and MagicMike
MummyI'mAZombie: How long have you dated Kurogiri for?
MagicMike: uhhh... only just when I joined the league, so only a few months.
MummyI'mAZombie: During that time, has he ever told you anything no one else knows? Like his reltionship with All For One?
MagicMike: Well, he's told me that All For One brought him back to life after being crushed by building debris, so he feels indebted to him, but that doesn't mean he agrees with what All For One's goals were. He worked under him and took care of Shigaraki as a show of gratitude for his revival.. but, otherwise, he actually despises and fears him. He knows he's only expendable to the man, but he thinks he'll live longer working under him rather than living on the run. Either way, he knows he'll die soon...
MagicMike: In other words,
MagicMike: He lives in perpetual fear for his life.
MummyI'mAZombie: ..wow.
MummyI'mAZombie: Thank you for your cooperation.
MagicMike: Sure thing but what exactly was this for???
MummyI'mAZombie: Surprise, surprise, you just helped your boyfriend out of custody.
MummyI'mAZombie: We used you for an alibi, we couldn't tell you because then you could've said anything to prove his innocence. But now he's free, and he's coming home now.
MagicMike:
MagicMike: thabsk youagja
MummyI'mAZombie: ?
MagicMike: I'm sorry my tears hit the keyboard
MagicMike: Thank you... so much for this, Aizawa. I owe you my life.
MummyI'mAZombie: You owe me nothing, now go have fun.
MagicMike: Ok, I will
...
The tears came flowing out uncontrollably, I didn't dare make a sound, but I couldn't help the overflowing happiness that escaped me. Kurogiri's back... my dear Kurogiri's back...
Eventually, though, I let out a whimper.
Within an instant, Hagakure and Mina's heads snapped to look back at me, and they absolutely panicked when they saw the amount of tears that glazed over my face and continued to fall.
"Dad!! Sako!! Are you okay?!"
"Atsuhiro!! What happened??!" They practically shook me to get answers. I just stared blankly at their faces with teary eyes. Their concern.. their fear... it's reminding me of...
"DAD!!!"
...what was that?
I blinked.. and the two of them were gone.. replaced by a little girl. Her hair was black at the roots, but slowly faded into a bright red at her tips... her eyes were silver, and full of pain.
When I blinked again, she disappeared, and Mina and Hagakure were back.
My eyes were wide and stinging, Mina and Hagakure looking as concerned as ever. To ease their stress, I handed them my phone and smiled. They took it, confused, but the looks on their faces got brighter and brighter as they continued to read.
"Kurogiri is coming back!!!!"
"I bet you're excited, Sako!" They yelled in excitement, bright smiled now dawning their face. I smiled back as best as I could, but that traumatizing of the pure horror on that little girl's face... it stuck with me.
"Most definitely! But, could you excuse me? I need to use the bathroom." I think of an excuse to be alone for a little while.
"Sure thing!"
With an internal sogh of relief, I turn on my heel and head towards the restrooms.
Who was that girl? Why was she so scared? And... why did she seem so familiar?
I enter the bathroom and slam the door behind me, rushing over and hunching over the sink. Surely I was just delusional? And once I splash the water in my face, I'll stop seeing things, right? Right??
I almost drown myself in the amount of water I splash on myself. The neck of my turtleneck is soaked, and I'm left gasping for air.
"Surely... she won't... come b-"
A huge fire erupts around me.
The room has immediately turned infernal, it was so hot I couldn't even tell if I was breathing properly. In the center of the roaring flames... was the little girl.
Before I could yell any sort of questioned I conjured up in my mind, she let out a blood-curdling screech.
"FATHER!!!! FATHER WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME!?! PAPA IT BURNS- IT BURNS!!!!!"
She screamed and screamed, going on about the pain she endured as her flesh boiled, the screaming mever stopped, the smell of burning skin and blood cocooned the small room we were trapped in. I saw her body... I saw her body melt before my very eyes... skin was turned to soup as it flowed off of her like a hot wax, her fat and muscles, her veins, they all ruptured and exploded, splattering the room around us and myself included... seeing her body be stripped of, well, her body, and hearing her screams get simultaneously more intense yet quiet as she was too exhausted to comtinue screaming.... the fact that you could practically see death loom over her, and her fearful acceptance of the fact being shown in her melting eyes...
It stopped for a split second
And I fainted.
But not before hearing her whisper out her final words...
"Do you still love me, papa...?"
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"Father!! Papa!!"
"Yes, Tojiko?"
"What is it, sweetie?"
"Look what I made today!!!" Toji raises her hands to show me and Kejishi a drawing she made in preschool today, it was two smiling stick fogures, one grey and one red, holding the hands of a third, smaller one. It was orange.
"It's us!!!" She beamed and, Kejishi being the soft-hearted dumbass he is, pulled her in for a huge hug with tears pricking at his eyes.
"It's gorgeous, Tojiko!!" He kisses the top of her head with the brightest smile on his pale face. Toji giggled.
"Thank you, father!! Do you like it too, papa?"
"Of course!! It's absolutely gorgeous! Just like my little girl!" I smile at her and join the hug pile. Toji giggles once more.
"Thank you, papa!!"
"Of course, sweetie..."
...
The air of today was... off. Something just didn't feel right.
Despite that, I continued my joyful walk home from the store. I bought a new art kit and a stuffed rat for Toji, and I got Kejishi a silver necklace, decorated with blue pearls that looked just like the ones I make. He's going to love it...
As I'm walking however, I hear the blaring sirens of a firetruck zoom past me. In my curiosity, I watch it ride off... and turn to the street I live on.
It was only then I saw the cloud of smoke hanging in the air above my neighborhood.
Without a second thought, I encased the two shopping bags I had into my pearls and stashed them into my pocket, sprinting down my street.
"Please... don't be my house... don't be my house...." I raced and raced until I finally saw it...
My house.
Engulfed in fire.
I had no strength left in me, my knees were weak, yet I pushed on. I ran on numb limbs and an empty mind, my heartbeat loud in my ears and my breathing heavy in my lungs. It felt like I had swallowed glass.... everything... everything was burning....
My life flashed before my eyes...
When I first met Keji
When we got married
When we got Tojiko
Her first day of school
So many thoughts... so little time left.
I reached the front, and I saw the No. 2 hero, Endeavor. He was dragging away a gang of villains. Now that I got a good look, it seemed that all of these houses were previously on fire... burn marks and charred debris littered lawns, Endeavors indifferent face throwing the villains into a police truck and leaving the scene.
Was..
Was this collateral damage? All caused by Endeavor??
As I reached the front of my house, I was held back.
"Sir, don't go in there!!! Don't even get close!!!"
"MY HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER WERE IN THAT BUILDING!! WHERE ARE THEY?!" I screamed and the police officer looked at me in shock.
"Sir... your husband was nowhere to be found.. and.. your daughter..."
Before he could finish, something sputtered and emerged from the flame.
"Pa..pa..."
Tojiko stood. Half melted and burned, the other half slowly being covered in flames...
"TOJIKO!!! BABY, STAY RIGHT THERE!! PAPA'S COMING, BABY GIRL!! I'M GOING TO SAVE YOU!!!!" I completely pushed past the officer and raced towards my house... but the entire building collapsed, Tojiko still inside.
I fell to my knees, and let out a scream that would haunt me forever.
"TOJIKOOOOOO!!!!!!"
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When I awoke, I had hot tears in my eyes. The bathroom was the same as always, nothing had changed while I was asleep. And suddenly... I remembered.
Tojiko, my daughter... died.
She died because of Endeavor.
The police, not believing that the No. 2 hero could've done such damage, blamed the fire on my husband, as he was 1, nowhere to be found, and 2, was the only person in out neighborhood with a fire-related quirk, aside from our daughter... but she only ever made sparks of tiny fire pearls.
I know for sure that was not my husband. He would never... he loved us, I know he did. Besides... his fires are scarlet red, and that fire... that fire that took everything away from me that day... was as disgustingly orange as the flames worn by the No. 2 hero himself.
Endeavor...
Fury enflamed within me, conflagrating every last shred of sense I had in my body. I had no energy to scream... my own dreams weakened me, wore me down... all I could do was cry.
So I did, I cried, and I cried, andIcriedandIcriedandIcriedandIcriedaNDICRIED
Until I couldn't.
And Mina and Hagakure bursted into the bathroom.
"SAKO!!! WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"WE HEARD CRYING!!" They yelled in unison... they sounded too much like Tojiko... too much like her on that fateful day... that unforgettable day....
I could only stare at them, and cry. I had no breathe to speak with, I wasn't able to even THINK of a word to speak. My mind was foggy, and my emotions were a mess.
The glaring understanding in Mina's eyes (and the same energy radiating from Hagakure) led them to plop down next to me.
They hugged me. They hugged me like no one else has... it felt like my daughter was back again... the warmth and softness... the understanding and happiness... I had no choice but to hug them back. I hugged and cried into their shoulders, almost squeezing them into suffocation. But, they never reacted. They let me be, they let me let out everything that was trapped inside of me for so, so long.... I miss Keji... I miss Tojiko...
But, most of all...
I fucking hate Endeavor.
"Sako.... you don't have to tell us... we can just.. leave, get some ice cream, let you deal with it if you really need to... we understand if you need time and... we can just relax at home and-"
"The only home I've ever known is ashes, now."
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(A/N: I... kinda of took a break without telling anyone. I didn't even know I took a break until today... I just couldn't stop spiralling and spiralling deeper in my depressive state.. I'm so sorry for not telling you guys ahead of time and depriving you of these chapters. I really shouldn't have and I hope you can forgive me.)