About 30 minutes later, she had managed to navigate her way back into the city and to All Might park. She walked through the gates into the park proper, where she saw a large number of people milling about, all in formal attire similar to her own. Some were sitting on the ground chatting; others were off alone just standing around or sitting. All of them however were either congregated roughly around the statue of All Might or around the massive highly polished granite and obsidian memorial.
She walked over towards the statue first and simply stared at the statue. She recalled the day she had first seen All Might on tv as a small child. He had inspired her and many others to be a hero when she grew up. Later, she would come to admire Thirteen immensely, his quirk, similar to her own (sort of) had made her realize there was more to heroes than battling villains. He had used his admittedly powerful quirk to instead primarily save people and to stabilize the unstable areas. He was her inspiration to use her quirk to save people as a hero. Then she got into U.A. and she had actually gotten All Might as a teacher. It had been a surreal moment to actually see him in the same room as her class and to be their teacher as well. He had continued to inspire and awe her, even as he died before her and the world at large, he had continued to inspire her. He died not only a hero's death but a martyr's death as well, in his death he had become a figure of legend. Someone who would go down in history as quite possibly the greatest hero of all time. Oh, how she wished he had lived, his presence, his power, could have possibly ended the war before it began. So many lives might have been saved, so much death and destruction prevented. But he had died, and so it had fallen on the shoulders of others to try and live up to his example. Needless to say, no one truly had managed it. Endeavor had come close, his death had been just as heroic and awe-inspiring as All Might's had been, but he hadn't lived long enough to accrue the same level of legend All Might had built up over time as Symbol of Peace. With a final, sad sigh, Ochako turned and walked towards the memorial.
As she got closer, she could see her friends close-by. They were standing around together and just chatting. It was a testament to the solemnness of everything that even Bakugo wasn't being very loud. Instead, he was relatively quiet from what she could see. She walked towards them, weaving in out of the groups of people. As she got closer, she could see Momo was talking to Tsuyu who stood nearby.
"It was pretty calm after that; we actually had a couple of days where we could-" Momo broke off when she spotted Ochako approaching. "Ochako! We were wondering where you were." Said Momo.
"Sorry everyone, I got held up on the way here." Said Ochako with a sheepish expression.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with." Said Bakugo gruffly, turning away and walking towards the monument.
As the group started down the path towards the monument, Ochako fell into step beside Tsuyu who was trailing behind everyone else. Tsuyu hadn't changed much in recent years, her biggest change was in her choice of hairstyle. Being in close combat often in the past, she had taken to having short hair to prevent villains from grabbing her hair. Her long hair proved a hindrance, especially since she used to keep her hair in a bow-like shape which made for convenient handholds. Ochako missed the hairstyle sometimes, but she had gotten used to the shorter hairstyle. She had to admit that Tsuyu looked very cute with the shorter hair in civilian clothes.
The biggest change Ochako noticed from when she had last seen her was the fact she was walking. Last, she had seen, Tsuyu had been forced to move around with the help of crutches. Today though she was walking unassisted, even if it was relatively slow and a tad unsteady. Tsuyu had adapted well to the prosthetic, it had been difficult to make one that fit her amphibious physiology correctly, but Nezu had made sure all of his students were well taken care of. When he had learned that Tsuyu would be unable to afford a prosthetic after getting a prosthetic right hand as well, he had come forward and paid for it himself. Now Tsuyu could walk around and interact as normal, even if she couldn't do hero work anymore. Not that Tsuyu had let that weigh her down, ever practical, Tsuyu had started looking for work.
Once again though, Nezu had stepped in. After all the fighting, U.A. had been depleted of most of its staff for one reason or another. He had apparently been watching Tsuyu's school life and career with interest, and so he had offered her a position within faculty as a teacher in training. It was more akin to an extended internship most civilians experienced in college, but she got paid well and was apparently a great help to the overworked staff. She didn't interact with the majority of students, but her experience in aquatic environments and operations meant she was an invaluable asset in helping to train students whose quirks were suited for aquatics. To top it all off, Tsuyu loved her work at U.A., not that Ochako had been surprised. Tsuyu's personality and experience in dealing with those younger than she had led to rapid emotional and practical maturity. Tsuyu was practically perfect teacher material, and Ochako agreed with Nezu's assessment.
"I see you managing without crutches now, how's the leg holding up?" Asked Ochako
"I have to get it checked every once and a while to make sure there aren't any problems but I've adapted well to it so far, ribbit," replied Tsuyu doing a little hop to emphasize the point.
"What about swimming with it?"
"I've been practicing with it whenever I can, so now I can swim better than walking, ribbit. How have you been doing though?" asked Tsuyu, putting a signature finger to her mouth.
"Well, I've been going out on some patrols every now and again during the day. Nothing's happened lately though so it's been pretty relaxed. From what I hear, most of the criminal elements are active during the night nowadays. What with most of them being in groups an all." Replied Ochako in a bored voice.
"And what about today?" asked Tsuyu in a more serious quieter tone.
Ochako didn't respond immediately, but eventually, she replied "I had another nightmare last night. Same as usual, nothing different. But I did run into someone at the cemetery."
"That's unusual, ribbit. Did you end up talking at all?" Asked Tsuyu, now quite curious.
"Well, I met him as I was leaving actually. He was sitting alone at a grave and was crying. I know it wasn't any of my business but the sight just reminded me of myself. So, I tried to console him. Then that turned into me just talking with him for half an hour. Which is why I was running a tad late." explained Ochako.
"Was he cute, ribbit?" asked Tsuyu in her characteristic way of just speaking her mind.
Ochako went bright red and started spluttering. "I- WHAT!? WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT!? HE WASN'T CUTE AT ALL! JUST BECAUSE IZUKU HAS THE MOST ADORABLE FRECKLES AND AMAZINGLY GREEN EYES THAT PAIRED WITH HIS GREEN HAIR PERFECTLY DOESNT MEAN I THINK HE'S CUTE AT ALL!" She was all but now shrieking she knew, but she managed to keep the volume under control enough to not disturb the other people around them.
"So Izuku was cute, did you get his number?" continued Tsuyu emphasizing Izuku's name and not letting Ochako avoid the topic.
Ochako was still red but she knew to deny things with Tsuyu wouldn't do any good. So, she swallowed her nerves about the topic, and with a sigh resigned herself. She knew Tsuyu was more so interested in learning if she'd been socializing outside of her immediate friend circle rather than her love life. "No... Yeah, he was cute and adorable but you don't just ask for someone's number at the grave of their mother. Besides, it's not like I'm ever going to meet him again anyways."
"I suppose so, ribbit. Outside of today, however, have you done any dating or socializing at all?" asked Tsuyu, who continued to press the point.
"No... I'm just not interested in that sort of thing right now. Maybe in a year or two, but not right now." Ochako responded in a matter of fact tone of voice.
Tsuyu merely gave a small "mmm" of acknowledgment.
"What about you? How's your dating life going?" Ochako asked. She was annoyed at Tsuyu for pressing the topic so much, so she decided to throw it back at her.
"I've been dating one person for the past month or so, ribbit." She replied without missing a beat.
Ochako nearly tripped, she hadn't ever heard of Tsuyu being romantically interested even once, let alone dating someone. Though it did explain why Tsuyu had been so interested in her love life and not just her social life.
"Oh? How's that been going? and who is the lucky individual?" asked Ochako now interested.
"It's been going pretty smoothly, he's part animal like me so we can see eye-to-eye on some topics. It's unrelated to his quirk though," replied Tsuyu.
"Who is he though?" pressed Ochako not willing to let Tsuyu evade the topic.
Tsuyu didn't say anything, but Ochako saw her cheeks flush just a tad.
"Oh cmon you tell me, I promise I won't tell Mina." Said Ochako. There was no way she was going to be in the dark regarding Tsu's first boyfriend.
Tsuyu had a blush creep up on her face, as she said "Tokoyami, ribbit."
Ochako blinked, she... hadn't expected that. So far as she knew, the two had never been together often in the field. Tokoyami was often out on clandestine missions and few knew of his precise whereabouts at all times. Ochako did, she was part of the meetings that often authorized his missions after-all and while she did give everyone rough updates as to his location she wasn't allowed to give details. Though granted, they had all been working closely together during the war. Enough for some groundwork to be laid she supposed. The two of them dating was out of left-field, but not entirely ridiculous. She could see how the two of them could wind up together. Their personalities mixed well together and both tended to be proactive in many regards. The more she thought about the more the idea of the two of them dating appealed to her.
Then something clicked and she frowned, this didn't sound right... "Wait, how did that end up happening? I thought Tokoyami was stationed down south? He's supposed to be on a long-term mission for the past 3 months too." Asked Ochako suddenly very confused.
Tsuyu suddenly went very quiet and didn't meet her eyes. It was quite unnatural coming from Tsuyu. "I can't say, sorry." she eventually replied.
Now that piqued her interest. She was positioned very high up in Hero Association, and she was privy to some of the most well-kept secrets, not just in the H.A., but even some of Japan itself. For Tsuyu to be unable to tell her why Tokoyami might have been in Musutafu (right under her nose no less) meant that something was happening she didn't know about. That was quite telling in and of itself, but she knew there was no point in pursuing the matter further. She doubted that Tsuyu even knew enough details to answer anyway.
It was at that point though, that they caught up to the others who had stopped by the massively wide granite and obsidian monument wall. Ochako couldn't help but be impressed by the sight every time she saw it. It was a true work of art, crafted over a period of one month by two siblings, one with the ability to create blocks of minerals, and the other able to inlay etchings into said minerals. They had been contracted by the Hero Association and Government to create a massive memorial. It was also supposedly equal in length to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in America. It had the names of everyone who had died at the hands of the League of Villains war on heroes and heroic society. One side was devoted to the names of civilians, while the other side bore the names of heroes who had died.
The five of them got into a loose group and approaching the memorial on the civilian side, they all prayed for the spirits of the innocents who died in the crossfire. They had all been heroes during the fighting, and they had all failed to save someone. It was one unifying factor the entire class shared, they all knew the pain of watching as those you either failed to or could not protect die in front of you. They each took their own separate amount of time praying, but when they were done, they circled around to the other side. On the other side, they did the same, when they were done, however, Bakugo immediately turned around and walked off a short distance.
They all knew not to bother him at this time, they all knew he blamed himself for the losses they had experienced and no amount of talking would ever change his thoughts on it. While Bakugo walked off, the other four merely stared at a small section of the memorial where a small collection of names had been inlaid separately. The names of heroes were often grouped by association. If members of, or a whole team had died, then the name of the team and its members would be grouped together. They all stared at the names, lost in the depths of remembrance. Momo had her head lying against Todoroki's shoulder while he had an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. Tsuyu and Ochako merely held hands as all four of them struggled to control the emotions they felt.
"Though not yet Heroes, they died a hero's death as great as All Might."
"Let us never forget the names of those youths who sacrificed everything for the lives of others."
"Class 1-A of U. A. High"
Tenya Iida
Mashiro Ojiro
Koji Koda
Rikido Sato
Mezo Shoji
Hanta Sero
Toru Hagakure
Yuuga Aoyama
Over the course of the fighting with the League of Villains, they had lost a lot. Homes had been destroyed, cities ravaged, and so many people killed. Yet it never felt more real than whenever they came here every year and paid their respects. They had lost close friends, and some of them blamed themselves for their deaths. They had all been to the individual funerals, and that had at least offered some closure, it had helped them move on. At least until it had come to Toru Hagakure's funeral, they had never found her body.
Though it didn't stop with the dead, one look at Tsuyu reminded them all of that fact. Factor in the crippled and the class had lost more than half of its students. None of them forgot that fact, and it had served as a basis for many of them moving forward. The fight with the League had offered the outlet they all needed to release all their rage and sadness, a convenient avenue for catharsis. Yet, despite it all, they had all come out of it all better and stronger. Ochako had no doubt that their departed friends would be proud of them, or most of them anyway. She didn't doubt that they were all disappointed in herself though.
No one said anything until Bakugo strode back towards them.
"I'm heading back, I'll see you tomorrow." Said Bakugo, and just as suddenly as he had come back, he left towards the exit to All Might park.
They looked back after him for a time, he had his own method of mourning and a lot of baseless guilt. Yet he had channeled all of that into improving himself, his quirk had even had an awakening because of it.
Eventually, with a sigh, Todoroki checked his phone and nodded. "We should head back too Momo, we still got some paperwork to fill out."
"All right, what about you two?" asked Momo.
"I have to get back to the school, the principal wanted to see me before I retired for the day, ribbit." Said Tsuyu.
"I'm probably going to go over the dossiers we received earlier today. I haven't had time to really go through them yet." Said Ochako.
"All right, well if you get any good ideas, let us know." Replied Todoroki.
Ochako nodded and after saying goodbye to everyone she started to head home.
Eventually, she arrived back at her apartment and after changing into shorts and a t-shirt she sat down and started to go through the dossiers she'd been given earlier. She sighed; it was going to be a long night. She didn't have work tomorrow either so she could stay up later than usual and make notes.
The sooner this mess was solved, the safer the country would be as a whole. The sooner they took care of this problem, the sooner she and her friends could have a semblance of a normal life again. They had sacrificed so much already, just how much more would it cost them to finally attain a peace akin to what they had at the height of All Might? Sometimes she wondered if it would even happen in her lifetime, or if she would be retired and greying when it finally did happen.
She started to go through the dossier on Zeus, but as she started to go through the accounts and reports on him the more, she felt herself getting sleepy. It was no use; she was just going to have to sleep and take care of this during the day tomorrow.
With a sigh, Ochako got up from her kitchen table and went into her bedroom. She changed out of her clothes and after getting out some pajamas that were pink/purple and had some planets on them she went into the bathroom to draw a bath. She just wanted to relax her body and mind. A clear mind would be better for going over reports and information and formulating a plan around them.
As she waited for the bathtub to fill, her thoughts drifted back towards her chance encounter with Izuku. It had been interesting and depressing. Seeing him in his moment of weakness had struck a chord with her. She had felt a connection to him that she just couldn't have with her friends. Even if she would never see him again, it had been nice talking to someone who had felt the same kind of pain she had. She wondered idly what kind of quirk he had; she had forgotten to ask. It was probably something that complimented his adorable yet handsome features.
She suddenly snapped back to reality as she noticed the water level was getting a bit high, and hurriedly shut off the tap. She made sure she wouldn't scald herself on the water, then she stripped out of her underwear and slid into the hot water. The sensation was amazing and she immediately felt herself relax. She forced herself to stop thinking and just enjoy the feeling of the water on her skin and scar tissue. The scars on her back got the most out of the soak, the dozens of lines and circular scars on her back loosened up and she felt her back becoming less tense. Her back was a constant source of building tension, she had more scars there than anywhere else and she made sure to take periodic soaks every now and then to help relax her body and ease tension. She had also been meaning to take up yoga, but she just never seemed to find the time to look into it.
She sighed one last time and just relaxed into the water, she'd do all the hard thinking and work tomorrow. For now, she just wanted to feel this moment extended. For this one moment, she didn't want to worry about anything. Even if it would only last for a short time.
