My worlds end.

the graveyard

Even during the day, the graveyard next to my new home always had some sort of eerie feel to the place. It was never really a place I'd go to, before the death of my older brother. But now, in the darkness of his death, i couldn't help but just... be there. After the funeral for my brother, who was one of the most well-known Pro Heroes across Japan, the public just wouldn't leave me alone, pitying me. Except for when i was in the graveyard. Sure, it creeped me out beyond belief, but it kept the reporters and press away as well. Plus, i got to see my brother's grave. It had been about a week since my brother had passed. Even then, I couldn't escape the media's questions about his murder. On the way to his tomb, i was even told that it was my fault... They weren't wrong, it was my fault, but hearing it out of someone else's mouth hurt more than I thought it would. I walked on the almost fully yellow grass of the ground in the graveyard, passing through a few other rows of tombstones. And there it was. A gravestone labeled 'Ayato Hanahaki, Brother, Caretaker, Savior. Beloved by those he saved.' The gravestone was covered in flowers and offerings to the dead hero, none of which i put there. I sigh, my purple fur covered tail wrapped around my lower thigh. I had just come there from school, so i was wearing the UA first year's girl's uniform. My back carried my red school bag, while my hand carried a beautiful bouquet of Oxi-daisies and forget me nots. They were his favorite flowers. I hummed a small tune, putting the flowers on the ground in front of the stone, crouching down onto my knees. I bowed my head and for the first time in my life... i prayed. It took a lot for me to do that. But i just wanted it all to go away. I wanted Ayato back. I wanted Hiro, my twin brother back. I wanted a normal family, not parents who were in prison. They were villains. The silence was rather peaceful. Even if the silence was unsettling to me usually, there was something about it that brought me some kind of comfort that day. It just felt like i was finally alone with no one to bother me. That silence brought me comfort beyond belief. "Ahem." I heard a familiar voice clear their throat, to the right of me. My dog-like ear flicked when i heard the noise, causing me to open my eyes and look over. I was a little shocked when two stones down, i saw a tall man from my class, and the head of the friend group i was in. Katsuki Bakugo. He was taller than I was, his crimson eyes staring down into mine. His golden spiked hair looked as if the sun itself cried to create his weirdly spiked hair. I was slightly shocked to see him there, at the graveyard. "uhhh..." I audibly said before getting up, dusting off my skirt. "What are you doing here?" I asked the golden-haired boy softly. He rolled his eyes slightly, a bouquet of sunflowers in his hands. He didn't say much, just put it down on a grave. It read 'Amara Reina, loving daughter, friend, and child. Died too young.' Beside that gravestone were the stones of three other reina's, presumably her family. I sighed slightly. He had said something to me during one of my panic attacks about how he lost someone close to him too. "Just visiting an old companion." Katsuki's deep and raspy voice answered my question, before returning another in its place. "And what are you doing here, Mutt? Looked like you were praying. You don't seem like the religious type." He asked me, surprisingly gently, compared to the usual loud and yelling man he was in class. "uhm... Well... I don't know what i was doing really. I kind of just came to see Ayato's grave." I answered gently. I started to fidget with my fingers, picking at the skin on my nails. Katsuki looked at me, before his eyes trailed down to my restless fingers. He then looked down at the girl's grave that was in front of him. "I did it once too... prayed that she'd be alive and... she'd find me again." Katsuki explained to me softly. It was rare to ever see him that vulnerable to me. "I see..." I muttered gently, putting my hand onto his shoulder. I felt him slightly tense up, but he didn't make me stop touching him: He relaxed. "I think she'd be proud of you... i don't know much about her, clearly, but if she was that close to you, then i think she would love the man you became just as much as she loved the man you were." I say honestly. I couldn't say that for sure, but from his reaction, i could tell he took some sort of comfort from my words. "Tell me about her... you seem like you need to tell someone about A-Amara? The engravings are fading." I giggle slightly, earning a slight chuckle from Katsuki. The sun glimmered against his golden blonde hair. "Yeah. Her name was Amara. My bunny." He whispered. We both sat down in silence, just looking at the grave, until he finally broke the silence. "She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen..." He said as he broke the silence. My ear flicked at his voice, but i listened to his words. "She uh.... i've known her since kindergarten... She died in a fire along with her parents and uncle about 3 ish years ago..." He explained, continuing to tell me about her. To me, that explained why he kept pushing people away. I just listened, noting that he just needed to know someone, albeit someone he disliked, was there for him. we had both lost a lot. But I admired him. Katsuki had such a drive when it came to our hero training, a drive to win fairly and treat everyone equally, even if it was with explosions and yelling. Katsuki took one of the sunflowers and played with the the yellow flower, picking at the fibers. "She was so kind... she was so determined to make her shitty parents proud... i so wanted to save her... I was too late though. We lived a few blocks away so i didn't see the fire." Katsuki explained gently. "Do you blame yourself?" I asked softly. Katsuki was shocked at my sudden words. "What...?" He asked me. "I mean-... uhm... you said you couldn't save her. That kind of reads to me that you blame yourself for not getting there before the fire." I clarify, rubbing the back of my neck gently. "Oh-... i guess i kind of do..." He sighed and spoke honestly to me. I related to that. I felt the same way about Ayato's death. I played with some of the blades of dead grass, humming slightly. "it isn't your fault." I say, breaking the silence. "Yes, it is." Katsuki rebutted. I shut it down quickly. "No, it isn't. You couldn't have known about the fire. You couldn't have saved her." I sighed gently, my tail lifting before hitting the grass. His eyes widened slightly, his crimson eyes staring into mine, which were a deeper shade of the same color. "It couldn't have been your fault." I say to reassure him. I shift my position to start sitting on my legs, bowing my head to him. Katsuki froze at this. "...you're a lot like her, but so different at the same time..." He muttered. I looked up at him and tilted my head, shooting him a rather confused look.  "You know... i've noticed something about you..." Katsuki said, switching the topic from him. I took a deep breath and smiled softly at him. "Shoot it at me, dude." I chuckled slightly. He looked back at Amara's gravestone, reaching over and pushing some of the moss off the letters, before looking at me again. I wait for him to say what's on his mind, humming a small tune. "You push people away." Katsuki explained. That caught me off guard, my ears going slightly back. He took a deep breath before elaborating. "Kyo, you tend to push people away who remind you of your family... I got a little curious and researched some of your family... they're villains, right?" He asked me. i gulped, my breath getting caught in my throat. "Uhm..." I muttered. I didn't really want anyone who i didn't trust to know that. "It was when you first came to UA... I didn't want to pry but I knew i recognized you." He clarified once more. "I just decided to look up your brother, since you said he was a hero... and the parent things came up, I'm sorry-" He apologized. i took a deep breath before nervously smiling. "it's... fine, don't worry..." I smiled softly, trying to reassure him that i didn't mind. It felt as if i trusted him more than before we had coincidentally met each other at the cemetery. "Ayato isn't my only brother..." I saw honestly. He looked at me with a slightly shocked expression.  "You opened up to me so now I'm opening up to you..." I clarified. He sighed and nodded before letting me speak again. "I have a twin brother... his name is Hiro... we went into the foster system together... we were separated before i was... well... never mind about where i was... but when i found Ayato again... i found out that he was missing for about as long as i was." I explain. It hurt, the memories of Hiro, of me being somewhere i couldn't even reach the outside world... but i needed to get it out. Katsuki pulled me into a hug. It... shocked me to say the least, but i melted into it. I hugged him tightly, holding him close. "This is new..." I jokingly muttered. He scoffed and tightened his grip slightly. "Keep talking mutt. I know you have more bottled up in there..." He muttered. I broke down slightly. "...Ayato is dead because he saved me..." i answered him. He pulled away and took my shoulders in his rather large hands. "it's not your fault." He said gently. I shake my head at his words. It was true, it was my fault. If he hadn't taken me in he wouldn't be dead. "No, it really is... it really is.... I had someone even tell me that on the way here..." i whispered, burying my head into Katsuki's shoulder. "Well, they're fucking assholes if they think that something as absurd as that was your fault." Katsuki scoffed, pulling away. He ruffled my hair for a moment. I couldn't help but just give him a confused look... it was my fault. "it was though... it really was... I... I was what those people wanted when they came to find Ayato... i was out with Denki that night so I wasn't there and... they killed him..." I whispered. He took my shoulders again. "Woah woah woah. What do you mean 'they' wanted you?" He asked me. I took a deep breath. "My life isn't as simple as a lot of people think... i uh... was sold into a drug ring by my foster mother when i was a kid... and i escaped about a year ago..." I explained softly. "I found Ayato actually... while the sludge incident was going on... Ayato was trying to put out some of the fires and... i found him so i went to go see him again..." I continued.Katsuki took a deep breath. "Why wasn't it in the news...?" He asked me. "Because of the sludge incident. You and that villain were prevalent for months... it allowed me to get things done privately..." I explained his question once more.After that day... me and Katsuki grew close. As friends of course. He was still so in love with that Amara... and my eyes were stuck on someone else.