It's Hard to Say Good-Bye
My Hero Academia is owned by Kōhei Horikoshi.
The uncontrollable sobbing of two mothers who have lost the lights of their worlds echoed at the funeral. Standing beside them was the father of the daughter who looks like the epitome of a man who has lost it all, a grieving man with a bitter anger bubbling underneath for those who had bullied the two young souls who had left the world too soon by the force of cruelty from others. It was cruel especially for the Urarakas, because on this day they are to bury their daughter and Inko's son, it was their daughter's birthday.
Three weeks had gone by since Officer Sansa found the two children on the rooftop of the school, dead and frozen. When he announced the search was over, two families were forever broken when the children's corpses were removed from the school's roof. But by some unknown force, their hands would not part. In these three weeks, an official investigation took place. It soon quickly led to the revealing of bullying and discrimination that happened, and the adults who were supposed to stop this having done nothing about it. Incompetence and neglect. Many students who were interviewed, those who on a daily basis had encounter the two children, were found guilty of their bullying and discrimination, and those very students now have to live the rest of their lives knowing that their bullying had led to two innocent kids dying.
They would have to go the rest of their years of schooling at juvenile detention centers. Many of these same kids who have had dreams of wanting to become Pro Heroes will never be able to chase after those dreams with these marks on their records. One such blond-haired boy was incensed he would be barred from being a Hero, of going to UA. It would be many years until he could finally see that the actions he would partake against Izuku was nothing short of villainous. But this particular incident had gained international attraction, and opened up discussions about childhood abuse and bullying in schools. Aldera Junior High ended up shut-down and all of the teachers found guilty of child neglect and discrimination. All schools across Japan ended up going through the very same investigations, with several other middle and high schools ending up closing down temporarily with teachers and adults losing their jobs for allowing abuse, neglect, or discrimination to occur. This also saved countless other children who had gone through their own sufferings of abuse by those in charge or from their own peers, like one Hitoshi Shinso and being muzzled by his teachers because of his Quirk, or Himiko Toga and the abuse she suffered from her school as well as her own family.
This also in these three weeks exposed a couple other schools as hidden indoctrination camps for the Meta Liberation Army, thought long gone since the defeat of their old leader Destro in the past, thus causing conflict when Pro Heroes would further unearth corruption within the very government itself, infiltrated by supporters of the Meta Liberation Army, bringing forth a civil war when members of the exposed still-living terrorist group were getting identified (which included several Pro Heroes) and were escaping capture to run to Deika City, which became locked-down to the outside world.
All of these changes in these three weeks because of the deaths of two innocent children who should have been allowed to live longer happier lives.
But it was on this cold winter day that two families are being forced to say good-bye to their son and daughter while the chaos of the outside world didn't matter to the Midoriya and Uraraka families. Two children, beautiful and innocent, who should have outlived their mothers and father. It was cruel to the adults that they have outlived their children.
It was heartbreaking.
This funeral and burial of their children was closed, a private affair. The only ones there was the Bakugo family sand Katsuki (because Inko blamed Mitsuki and Masaru's son for his bullying being responsible for her child dying on that cold night on the school's roof with Ochako but Mitsuki still wanted to prove how distraught and sorry she was her child caused this to happen), and Officer Sansa (he felt it a duty to attend to see the two young souls off). Izuku and Ochako looked beautiful in the white gowns they are dressed in, surrounded by flowers in the shared casket. Again, their hands remained entwined, the coroner unable to separate them. Being buried together in the same coffin, hands held together, fingers twined tightly. Whatever the phenomenon was, it was believed that they should not be parted in death, so they would remain together in the afterlife.
And when the last words of rite was spoken, Izuku's mother and Ochako's parents wept as they each touched their child's face one last time before the lid would close shut on the coffin and it was lowered into the warmed hole dug by a guy who had a heat-based Quirk. Their tombstone was beautiful, etched from beautiful white marble. Their names were carved onto the stone's surface, followed by their date of births and then the end date of death.
Two beautiful souls who have left this world,
Forever beloved by their families.
Ducklings in life,
Now beautiful swans in the afterlife,
Flying free to the heavens.
These words etched at the bottom was something that the mothers felt best represented their children. In the end, the coffin is buried under the dirt and the funeral had ended. Eventually, the two families are the last to leave. Because it was unbelievably difficult to say good-bye to the child you brought into the world and loved and protected and nurtured. It was hard to say good-bye because now you would never again get to hear their voice, or see their smile. But in the end, they did. They didn't have to like it. And they were allowed to mourn for as long as it takes until the pain eventually numbs, the hurting stops hurting, and slowly they can move on. But both families now had each other to rely on as life continues on.
Izuku and Ochako rest, hands still tethered together, fingers entwined, surrounded by a bed of flowers.
Those same hands grip tighter amid a sea of clouds, of warmth and sunlight. Two children with large beautiful wings flapping as they soar higher and higher, free to fly in the skies as they smile to each other.
Free from pain and misery.
Free from depression.
Free from anxiety.
They miss their parents, but they were together even in death.
This is something that spurred in my head after reading a fic by SennyRenny called Swans in the Snow. I swear, Renny writes beautiful fanfiction that tends to leave me crying when I finish reading 'em. Swans in the Snow just made me ugly cry in the end because of how beautiful and tragic the ending was.
You should give it a read too if you love IzuOcha.
