❝ DYSTOPIA. ❞ ↫ᵇⁿʰᵃ

~○●○|| ꜰɪꜰᴛʏ ɴɪɴᴇ

~○●○|| ꜰɪꜰᴛʏ ɴɪɴᴇ

~IN THE AFTERNOON
NORMAL POV-

_________________________________________

It had been over several hours and LaToya still hasn't come out of her trance-like state.

Funaku stood up and roamed over to his niece. He placed a wing on her shoulder and anguished a long sigh from his beak. This was her. Her mind disconnected from the world around her - and inside that shell was a shattered soul. Anyone can tell that she was grieving. LaToya was the last one. The only thing left of Kokuto. If he remembered, he had quite similar rebellious angst when he was her age. Not to mention the bob cut, and the scar through her eye. If the white eye color weren't present, he'd say LaToya was Kokuto's spitting image.

"LaToya..." The last Kunoichi drifted her sight over to her right arm, the massive dark feathers of Funaku's wing shined a dark blue in the sunlight. She faintly brushed a feather, like they were as fragile as a snowflake. LaToya used to be fascinated by her uncle's wings as a child. Funaku knew that.

"I know it's...painful, your heart is at a vulnerable place right now...covered with scars," said the birdman.

"But there will come a time in your life when you can't bear all the scars and pain by yourself. You'll always have those scars, but you have a life to live. We'll still be here for you, LaToya. Always."

But no response came out of her.

Seeing his half-brother's last daughter so...so shattered, it just crushed him. Fumikage was still preoccupied with calming his mother, who was re-reading the same letter from Kimiko almost 20 times. The trail of eyeliner tears scarred her cheeks down to her chin, the letter became stained with dry tears and dark mascara spots. Everyone turned their heads at the knock on the door.

"Enter," Funaku replied.

Three people entered the room, one of which Fumikage recognized as his Earphone Jack classmate. "Jiro. You're looking well."

"Yeah, Hagakure and her parents already went home after being discharged. How's...Toya doing?" Kyoka looked over to her friend, who continuously stared out the window.

"Well..." Fumikage lowered his head somberly, Yoru and Funaku darted over at the dark violet-haired older female and the wavy dull blonde-haired male, whom they immediately recognized.

"Kyotoku?" The blonde man flinched at the fierce eyes of the birdman he knew very well.

"Funaku? Uh...Long time no see?"

"Hmm. I'd say likewise. What are you doing here?"

"Our...daughter was placed here too after the whole incident at the training camp. We're here to see LaToya, they're both close friends," he explained. Funaku sterned at Kyoka's father.

The intensity was suddenly wavering in the air, even the teens felt the off-edge ambiance. Kyotoku Jiro knew how stubbornly strict Funaku Tokoyami is, after all, he was Kokuto's best friend back in middle school. The duo was devoted to music more than ever, they were inseparable. Kokuto and Kyotoku wanted to journey the world with their passion for music. But Kokuto's parents never wanted to hear the end of it, that being a musician would be a waste of a career.

But becoming a Hero was what Kokuto Tokoyami also wanted.

His mother was one too. But...his love for music was more ravenous. He was in between two sides, but couldn't decide whether to choose his family or his best friend. Funaku always accused Kyotoku of being a bad influence, so much so that the family was easily convinced. Soon after middle school, Kyotoku never saw his best friend again. And after graduating from UA, a few family issues occurred, Kokuto then legally changed to his birth mother's last name, Kunoichi.