I Will

⇨ Chapter 34: In the Time of Mourning

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"You're back!" Yaoyorozu cheered, wrapping her arms around you as soon as you set foot in the classroom. You closed your eyes, relaxing in her embrace. "It feels like it's been forever."

"It does." You spoke. You both pulled away and began walking to your seats. You noticed a few seats were empty in the classroom, Todoroki's in particular. However, given that class had ten minutes until it started, you thought nothing of it. "Gosh, I've missed so much. There's no way I'm going to catch up."

"Exactly why I thought we could have a study session together." Your ravenette friend's eyes scrunched at the smile she gave you, her pink cheeks making her look more animated than usual. You took your seats next to each other, "I was thinking we could go shopping after. We haven't been to the mall in forever. We never even really got to shop together anyway because of that whole villain incident."

"Oh, yeah." You said, feeling slightly guilty by the interruption of Shigaraki. You couldn't help but blame yourself for any situation that involved the villains because it was mostly you they were after.

"Hey, (Y/N)!" Uraraka greeted, waving at you. Behind her stood Asui and Hagakure, who each looked just as happy to see you. They all stood at the front of your desk, blocking your view of the chalkboard. Uraraka spoke, "How are you doing? You know—after the whole thing."

"Just a little guilty," You admitted, leaning more into the conversation, "but I feel better."

"Well, that's good." Asui affirmed. "You shouldn't let it eat at you because it wasn't your fault."

You felt sudden deja vu from this conversation. The same one you had yesterday with Hawks. You weren't sure how many people were going to tell you the same thing over and over again. It just reminded you of the poorly played out events.

"I'm sure she knows that." Hagakure told Asui, her hands on her hips as she continued talking, "They said they were going to mention it at Eri's funeral today."

Hagakure immediately slapped her invisible hand over her mouth while your eyes widened at the statement. You looked around the classroom, pretty much everyone stopped their own conversations to listen for your response, gasping at Hagakure's spill. One thing you hated about class 1-A was how nosy they were. Everyone was in everyone's business. You didn't realize they were having a funeral for her, whoever "they" were. You looked to the side, even seeing Yaoyorozu in shock.

"Her funeral is today?" You asked, your voice cracking at the thought. Your gaze switched between the three girls and Yaoyorozu, "Was no one going to tell me?"

"The school was planning on releasing the work study students today before lunch to get ready, but—" Yaoyorozu looked around the classroom, then back at you, "we didn't think you'd be back today. I mean, you were hurting and we didn't want to add fuel to the fire by letting you know."

You sunk back into your seat, the reality of everything settling in. Nobody planned on saying anything to you, they were going to let you miss her funeral. Of course, you weren't mad at them—they were only trying to look out for you and your sanity. You couldn't believe you'd let guilt consume you so horribly that it affected how everyone else acted around you. You didn't want them to think they were walking on eggshells. That's when you decided you were attending the funeral, regardless of anything.

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Everyone's black dresses and shirts looked like a frenzy of curling smoke, huddling inside the creme walls of the building. The silence was louder than you had ever heard, causing tinnitus to buzz in your ears. The fuzzy sound reminded you of the day you sat and did nothing; locked in a freezer with no will or way to get out.

Most attendees were Pro Heroes—some who didn't even partake in the mission. Meanwhile, every work study student was accounted for, sitting in their own row away from everyone else. You were sat between Nejire and Kirishima, who couldn't stop looking at you to see if you were okay.

You were looking at the Pros—nobody was crying. They only sat in pews looking solemn, not talking or making eye contact with one another except the small casket at the front. It was an odd thing to see at a funeral. Pros didn't cry because that's what they were taught; crying meant there was a weakness. But that's not true. They were used to people dying all around them, maybe they had no more tears to shed for her.

Aizawa was at the front, speaking from behind the casket. He spoke only great things about her. He explained the mission and what went down, but you didn't listen to most of the everything, only tuning back in when everyone rose from their seats and began walking down the center aisle. Some walked to the parking lot while others went to the casket to see the little girl one last time. Kirishima followed you through the crowd as you guided him into a line for the viewing.

Your breath was shaky each step you took closer to the coffin. Your footfalls were heavy against the red carpeted floor, sending dread through your body. A chill rushed the building from the opened exit. You couldn't help but play with your own hands to keep yourself mellow in this situation.

You watched as one person after the other ahead of you only glanced at her then walked away. You couldn't blame them, it was hard looking at a child in that state.

You reached the casket, looking down at her lifeless body. Her light blue hair faded to almost gray, while her fair skin had sunk into a pale state. Her horn was deteriorating; it was easier to see now that her hair was combed out. You hadn't realized your grip on the casket was hard—so firm that your knuckles started turning white. You were lifted out of your haze when you felt a hand on your back and someone beside you.

You turned your head, only to find Kirishima looking at her, only lifting to nod his head to usher you from the coffin. You looked back before she was completely out of sight. Kirishima's hand remained on your back until you reached the outside where the gray clouds covered the sky.

You looked away from Kirishima, "Thank you."

"Of course." He opened his mouth, debating if he should continue speaking or not, ultimately deciding to. "It's hard doing stuff like this on your own. And I know I'm not your number one choice when it comes to these things, but I'm here for you if you ever need to talk."

"You're so nice." Your sight became blurry, you tried holding in the tears, wiping away any excess on your sleeves. You didn't know why you were so emotional whenever people were nice to—let alone offer the bare minimum. "Thank you. I just wish I could've done things differently."

You and Kirishima began walking out to the car, "The best piece of advice I can give you is to let it go. You can't dwell on the past and it's not like you can go back in time."

That's when possibilities started flooding your mind. You technically could go back in time. If she had a Quirk that could turn individuals back into their previous state, then there had to be a Quirk user with some variation of time travel. 80% of people on Earth have a Quirk—if there isn't someone in Japan with time travel then someone is lying about those statistics.

After leaving the funeral, you were determined to get Eri back no matter what it took.

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