STRINGS // KATSUKI BAKUGO [2]

Chapter 30 // Legacy

You spent the night at the dining table, slowly picking away at your soba dinner as you contemplated what to do when the day came when you'd leave.

Should you write a letter? If so, one to each classmates and family member or simply one addressed to everyone. Should you record a voice message, leave a video for someone to find on your phone?

You didn't know how you were supposed to do this. You never thought that you'd be aware of the relative time of your death, so you've never rehearsed a goodbye bit.

You eventually settled on one letter addressed to everyone. A handwritten goodbye was more sentimental, and it was easier for your mind to comprehend and function if you only wrote a singular letter.

After finishing your meal, you cleaned up before grabbing a piece of printer paper and a sharpened pencil and sitting back down at the dining table.

There were some people you addressed in the letter, and some people you didn't mention. Some people didn't need to be mentioned. You gave props where deserved and apologized for anything you regretted, which wasn't much. You said your "I love you"s when you felt it was necessary but refrained from being too sappy in certain cases since this letter was going to eventually be read by everyone.

You soon finished the letter, which ended up being several pages long due to your inability to limit yourself and habit of spewing out your true feelings.

As you folded up the pages brochure style and tucked them into an envelope, you had a revelation.

This letter, along with your final fight with Shigaraki and all of your efforts leading up to this point, would be your legacy. This was the footprint you'd leave on the world.

It may seem sad to most, a sixteen year-old being forced to write a goodbye due to her inevitable death, but, as you sealed the enveloped, you smiled.

You got to live your dream. You got to be in the hero course, save people. You got to make a name for yourself and prove your worth. You found a second family, made more friends than you ever could've hoped for.

You've gone through the typical teenage stages and broke someone's heart. You've had yours broken, in other ways, of course.

You got your hero license and had the opportunity to explore the world by interning in America. You got to be trained by some of Japan's best heroes and make friends with them along the way.

You've been taken care of, loved. That's more than most people can say these days, and you were proud to say you're someone who was loved and protected until the very end, even it was through the form of sympathy from a broken villain.

You loved. You, despite your hardships and unfortunate burdens, can say you lived.

You, [Y/N] [L/N], have lived. It may have only been for sixteen years, but you lived, and you enjoyed every moment of it, even the pain, because it meant you were human, you were capable of feeling, and you never wanted to stop.

Even when you forgot, even when your brain stopped functioning, even when you stopped breathing, you never wanted to stop feeling. You never wanted to stop living, and you wouldn't, not even in death.

Whatever world you spent your days in after your heart stopped, whatever void you became trapped in after you died, it wouldn't stop you from living, feeling.

They say the brain stays active seven minutes after one dies. Most theorize that, in these seven minutes, one relives their entire life.

You were going to hold onto these seven minutes, and you were going to turn them into seven hours, seven days, seven years, seven decades.

You, [Y/N] [L/N], were never going to die, not really, because you had people who remembered you, cherished. You had a legacy.

Your phone vibrated against the surface of the dining table momentarily before falling silent, a text.

'The plan has been approved. The teams will set out in the morning two days from now. Edge Shot's Team will storm the Gunga Mountain Villa to lure out as many villains as they can, and they'll give you a signal once it's clear for you to infiltrate.'

You smiled at the text, sending a simple thumbs up in response before setting your phone aside.

You prepared a cold glass of water before making yourself comfortable on the couch, which was positioned across from the living room bay window.

You spent the night reliving your legacy, which ended with a silent claim, a promise, to bring back your mother and Bakugo.

After that, you could rest, and let your legacy allow you to keep on living.

[EDITED]