From Distant Lands - Juro's Return

Chapter Thirty-Six

Forty-eight hours after Rihito's death, word finally got out about Juro's escape and disappearance from the maximum security prison that held him. The hero world almost immediately went into a panic and though I was present enough for questioning, I find myself now sitting numbly at the edge of my bed, draped in black and holding onto a small wooden box that holds the last of Rihito's possessions.

"You ready to go?" Katsuki asks quietly, leaning against the door frame to our bedroom in his black suit. I look up at him, swallowing hard.

"Yeah" I say a little shortly, my voice a notch below his. Katsuki nods, holding out his hand for me as I stand and when I reach him, I grab onto it tightly. I haven't been able to open up about Rihito's death since it happened or shed another tear, but almost as if Katsuki shares the same heart, he's been silently supporting me in all the ways I need and I hold onto him now as if he's my only lifeline.

Outside, it's gloomy, just on the verge of rain and mirroring the way I feel under the surface. As Katsuki and I make our way to the funeral parlor, I find my nerves steadily increasing with every passing second and once we finally arrive, my hand aches from squeezing his so tightly.

"Kaida" Katsuki says outside, tearing me out of my own head. The look I give him must be pretty intense because a certain heaviness grows on his face as he looks back at me.

"You can do this" he tells me and I look away from him immediately, all of the pent up rage and heart ache making my eyes prick with tears. Fuck... I don't say anything back, but Katsuki leads the way inside and we're met with a painful sight. Rihito's body is lying in a simple wooden coffin, a small window above his face so we can see him, and surrounded by lights, flowers, and small sculptures that make it almost look like he's finally at peace. I struggle to keep my composure when I see a photo of him amidst the floral arrangement and incense burning near the box he's lying in... it didn't take long for us to find Rihito's family after he died and the sight of their love for him on display is enough to make my chest hurt.

At first, Katsuki and I keep our distance from Rihito's immediate family, choosing instead to let them grieve privately while the priest kneels and begins to chant. One by one, I watch as they go up to the coffin and pay their respects, praying and holding up granular incense to their foreheads before dropping it into the burner and bowing at Rihito's portrait. When Rihito's mother stops at his photo, tears tumbling over her cheeks and hands shaking with her despair, it tears through me like nothing else, leaving me struggling to breathe. Her son... her child was lost to her for how long before he died? And I... I was the last one to see him. Knowing me... took him away from her. I tighten my grip on the wooden box in my hand, praying that somehow it comforts her to have it... then it's our turn. Walking in line after the other guests, Katsuki gives me a somber look that asks me to follow his lead and I just nod. He walks up to the bowl and takes up granular incense just like those before him. He holds it up to his forehead and drops it into the burner, praying softly and bowing respectfully to Rihito's photo before allowing me to go next. I follow his steps almost identically, sucking in a breath when I face the picture of him and struggling to hold back tears. Rihito looks so young here... even younger than he was when we met, and he's smiling. Something he rarely did in the time that I knew him. Tears roll down my cheeks as I bow, chest aching as I return my gaze to his familiar green eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Rihito..." I whisper, clutching the wooden box to my chest and shutting my eyes for a moment before turning to his family. His mother... his sisters... grandparents... my lip quivers, eyes meeting his mother's and heart breaking all over again when I see the pain in her eyes. I bow to them, my entire body shaking as I straighten back up and follow Katsuki to wait for the rest of the ceremony to wrap up. As the priest finishes his chanting and the rest of the guests finish paying their respects, I find my stomach tying itself in knots. Rihito's mom... I'll have to face her with this tiny box soon... have to look her in the eyes and give her whatever's left of her son. It hurts. Hurts to be here and hurts to know that it could've been avoided. That Rihito could have lived.