Ch.18: A fateful night

After that markable night with the Ashido's, months passed and a lot happened within Yuei High.

One of the tensest moments was when Katsuki and Izuku fought each other, both expressing their hidden remorse about their journey until now, since their young age.

This led to a series of punishments for both and a lot of scolding from Aizawa and All Might. Katsuki had to deal too with a very distressed Sisipho who turned out to be even more scared than Mandla.

However, even angry, the black girl gave him all the emotional support he needed at the time, helping him to voice out his feelings and thoughts about the situation. Just then, for the first time, Sisipho understood what happened between Bakugou and Midoriya, also the true feelings of the blond about it.

Katsuki finally opened up to her completely.

Also, that was the first time she saw Katsuki so vulnerably crying. Surely this subject was something ingrained deep inside his heart and was the biggest thing disturbing his focus on the goal of being a hero.

With all these events, plus the Big Three being revealed to the Class, training with them, and the Hero Work-Studies bringing the comeback of the internships, it felt like a whole year passed within a few months.

But nothing surpasses the day Katsuki took Sisipho to meet his parents.

Even before that Mitsuki was a nervous wreck. Firstly the boy chooses a weekend to be with them alone and just dropped the bomb on the couple without a warning.

"I have a girlfriend." the blunt phrase almost gave his mother a heart attack and after a lot of yells and cursing, they defined a day to meet the girl.

"How do you manage to deal with this shit son I have?!" was the first thing Mitsuki said to Sisipho, obviously after fangirling a bit for her first daughter-in-law to be the strong girl she has been admiring since the Festival.

This was a remarkable day for Sisipho, now knowing well who her boyfriend took after; joking with him that he's just a male copy of Mitsuki.

That day was so happy and full of funny moments that the couple forgot all of their past worries, only enjoying the time with her parents-in-law and already preparing a big meeting between the two families together.

Katsuki was super embarrassed all the time but also felt proud of himself for making his parents this happy with his choice of girlfriend.

Sisipho and Katsuki could be going around the details of that remarkable day over and over again, because of how happy both are and how this made life seems easier to deal with.

Until a fateful night.

Mina woke up in the middle of the night due to the distant sound of crying. Confused, she thought it was her imagination and tried to go back to sleep. However, the sound got louder and clear, making the pinky girl immediately recognize who is the voice.

"Bonbon!!" she exclaimed, running out of her dorm room and going straight to the other, at the opposite end of the hallway. The commotion also woke up the other girl on that floor, that poked her head out to see Mina.

"Mina, what is happening?!" Ochaco asked nervously, her sleepy state long gone due to the adrenaline.

"I don't know!!" she answered tensely, opening Sisipho's door to find the girl sobbing hard on the floor while gripping tight the fabric over her chest, tapping where her heart is nonstop, as an attempt to stop the immeasurable pain.

Mina sat beside her immediately, hugging the girl and trying to comfort her. She can already feel herself crying too, hating seeing her cousin like this. No matter how many times she asked, Sisi didn't say anything, voicing out only painful and distressing sobs.

Then the possible reason hits Mina, it's like the same nightmare from years ago all over again.

"Ochaco..." she called the girl, that still close and willing to help. "I need you to go for Kiri and Katsuki right now. Only the two, please. It's urgent!"

"Got it! What should I say to them tho?"

"Say... Tell them that something happened in her mother's country. It'll be enough!"

Nodding in understatement, the brunette ran to take the lift to the boy's dormitories. Luckily both reside on the same floor and she quietly tried to get only their attention.

Optioning for Eijirou first, she woke him up by knocking on his door and said the same thing Mina ordered. Immediately his sleepy scowl turned to a sad one and he got to wake Bakugou, not even caring about knocking.

The blonde boy cursed Kirishima till his next generation, but his blood ran cold when he heard the reason for the fuss. Instantly walking out of his room, in a minute Katsuki was on Sisi's floor, where her loud sobs can be listened from far away.

Seeing her small trembling body in Mina's lap broke his heart immensely. He approached the girl and signalized to the other with his eyes to Ochaco; Mina needs to deal with her since the brunette knows nothing about Wakanda and must be kept like that.

Silently agreeing with him, she put Sisi on his arm. Recognizing that's her boyfriend, she clung to his embrace, being carried to his lap, where she could be consoled by the blonde one.

Katsuki did not even care to see how the others two were dealing with the brunette, only focusing on the crying girl in his arms. She still gripped the gown over her heart, trying her best to deal with the immeasurable pain of losing her King.

All Wakandan people are bleeding from the heart now, no matter where they are.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here, babe..." he started to whisper sweet words to her while rocking her and kissing her forehead nonstop. "Cry, my love, let it all out... We're here, you're not alone."

Soon the others came back, closing the door behind them, without the brunette at their side anymore. They sat around the couple and stayed like this for a while until Sisi's phone rang.

Orion's call only confirmed what they suspected. T'Chala passed out while sleeping, losing his first battle in life: the one against his cancer.

Now Mina and Eijirou are sobbing too. They didn't know the man so well, but the times he came to Japan, the King was always cool and rumble with the kids. Even not sharing the same blood, he treated both like his family.

T'Chala will be immensely missed by the world, being the best King to walk on this earth.

Orion asked to talk with Katsuki and the boy felt in his voice how much he was dealing with right now. Not only because he lost a great friend, but due to the pain of seeing the woman he loves suffering so much.

Katsuki can also hear Mandla's cries from the other side of the call.

"Please, stay with my baby at all times, Katsuki." the man pleaded.

"Trust me, I will." he answered seriously.

"Early in the morning, I'll have a meeting with the director to explain things to him. Since he knew the King, it'll be easy for him to understand this moment of mourning."

"What happens now?"

"We'll be leaving for Wakanda immediately. Mandla and Sisipho need to be there to express their feelings and pay respects. Both only need to be close to their people now, Katsuki."

"How long this will take...?"

"I don't know... As long as they need it to be there. Don't worry, I'll be there in the morning and we can talk more."

Bakugou got worried about that. Sisi has her duties here too, with a lot of things to study since their first year at Yuei is almost ending.

But their internship is with Mandla and she also will be absent from the country... Katsuki is concerned about how this will work out, or if he'll just be away from her for months and with another hero as his mentor.

However, if this is necessary to calm down her mourning heart, so be it. He'll gladly wait for her return from Wakanda.

Slowly Sisipho's sobs quiet down, turning to little cries and soon snoring. She's definitely out of energy.

In the early morning, the four teenagers finally slept, all around Sisi. The black girl is all cuddled up in herself, holding firmly Katsuki's arms, which are hugging her from behind, with Kirishima doing the same to Mina, both in front of the couple.

When the sun started to rise, Mr. Aizawa came to her dorm to check on the girl, after a call Nezu and Orion did to him.

"Can one of you help her to pack up and get ready? Mr. Ashido will take her in a few minutes." the tired man asked, heartbroken by seeing his student so devastated.

"I can, Mr. Aizawa." Mina told and got to help Sisi to at least have a shower to get better.

"Good. Bakugou and Kirishima, you two must go see Mr. Ashido. He's waiting in the garden outside." the boys found it odd, but agreed, taking the lift to meet the man.

The weather outside is cold and cloudy, it seems like the skies are also mourning the big loss. Orion is using an all-black suit under his big topcoat. Clearly, he didn't sleep at all too.

"Hi boys, how is my baby? And you two?" he asked trying to keep a smile on his lips.

"We're sad, uncle... Bonbon cried all night but now Mina is helping her out."

"How is Mandla?" Katsuki asked.

"The same way, or maybe worst... But that's not why I'm here. I want you two, and Mina, to come with us."

"WHAT?!" now both are wide awake and shocked now. "Uncle, h-how? Why? We never got there before, not even when the other King died!"

"I know, but T'Chala is different, he's our family and he was the one to say that, remembers? We need to be there for him, and pay our respects to the man who always was so good for all of us, a true King. Also... We need to give all support to our wakandan girls." Orion said with teary eyes. "T'Chala would've loved to have known you, Katsuki, because you respect and cares for a Wakanda's daughter."

"What do I need to do with you?" Katsuki asked determined, not giving a damn about consequences or what he's leaving behind now, like his school duties. Sisi needs him, so that's the only matter.

"Do you think your parents will mind? I can talk with them if you want. That's all you need, we're going to Wakanda on my private jet, so don't worry about a passport or anything else."

"I'll call them now. I'm definitely going, I want to be with Sisi." Orion smiled at his concern, happy to see how he truly cares about his daughter.

"I'll do the same, uncle! I'm calling my parents, they'll understand!" Kirishima said and ran inside to do it.

"No need to pack up a lot!" Orion voiced out to him. "Same to you, Katsuki. Now go, I still have some things to deal with Nezu, and warn him about you guys coming too."

Doing as he said, Katsuki got up to his dorm room and, meanwhile organizing his suitcase, he called his mother.

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING THIS EARLY?!" the unmistakable Mitsuki's voice yelled in his ear.

"Mom." she shut up immediately, fearing his serious tone, and the fact that he didn't curse or yelled back. "I need to ask something of you and dad."

"W-Why are you being like this? MASARU! WAKE UP DAMMIT! It's on the speaker, just talk!"

"Someone very important to Sisipho died this dawn."

"Oh, dear... I'm so sorry." Mitsuki felt terrible for her daughter-in-law. "Your dad is sending condolences too. How is she?"

"How do you fucking think? She's crying nonstop since then. But don't worry, I'm here with her and that's why I called."

"What do you need, son?" his dad asked now, also worried.

"As you know, Sisipho is from Africa and she needs to go there to pay her respects, do a ceremony, and other traditional things... I need to go with her."

"WHAT? ARE YOU INSANE?!", "Katsuki, a trip to Africa requires a lot of preparation, I know you want to be with her but-"

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN! Her dad came here just to invite me because he knows Sisi needs me. And fuck the preparations, he has a fucking private jet and we'll just get there without a worry."

"Oh?! HE HAS A FUCKING JET?!"

"I TOLD YOU THAT SISIPHO'S FAMILY IS RICH AS FUCK! Now shut up and just let me be, I need to be with her!"

"What about school?!" Masaru insisted.

"Fuck the school, Sisi is my priority!"

"Even more than being a hero?!?"

"YES! NOW LET ME GO ALREADY."

"AWWWW~ MY BABY IS IN LOVE!!! MASARU, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET HIM GO!"

After some more screams, and Katsuki assuring them that Orion is already arranging everything with the director, the Bakugou couple agreed in letting him travel to Africa.

When the quartet got ready and met on the ground floor, the other students were there too, but ready to go to school instead and eyeing them weirdly because of their tense and sad expressions.

Mostly due to Sisi quietly crying while hiding in Katsuki's chest.

Mr. Aizawa stood up for them, suggesting the group wait with Orion outside while he explains to the class what is happening.

The teacher tried to follow Nezu's orientation and told his students the basics about Sisipho's mourning:

"Sisipho lost a great person of her family back in Africa this dawn. Due to this, she needs to go to her mother's country now to follow the tradition and do preparations for a ceremony. It's an immeasurably painful moment and she needs by her side all her family to endure, that's why Bakugou, Kirishima, and Ashido are going with her too because they're her family also."

More explanation wasn't necessary for them to understand. Everyone knows that Eijirou and Mina are with her since birth, the latter being related by blood. Also understand Katsuki, because from day one they're inseparable and now dating.

The quartet truly is a family.

After that, the class was allowed to go see them and said their goodbyes. Sisipho felt her heart warm with their sweet words, mostly from the other two from the squad, that shared their tears with her like the pain was actually from themselves.

However, Aizawa's attempt of keeping details about this "trip" hidden was in vain, since that in a couple of hours the whole world was talking about the death of T'Chala, the King of Wakanda, from Africa. Everyone on the news was devastated and paying respects to this amazing man. Mourning the great loss of a great human.

It wasn't hard for the students to connect the dots after knowing this and the theory Ojiro made months ago, in their first week as Class 1-A, was proved true: Sisipho Mbeki Ashido is a Wakandan and has a connection with the King. The teens got euphoric with this and just kept talking about it all day.

Meanwhile, Sisi, Kiri, Mina, and Katsuki met Mandla at the airport with Orion. Mother and daughter hugged each other right away, sharing some words in isiXhosa, trying to comfort one another.

Already it feels easier to deal with the situation, just by being two wakandans together, the bond they share is truly the strongest, sharing the pain but also comfort and love.

Orion opened the jet and got to prepare everything for the flight; not much was needed though since this jet is a Stark's model one and practically can pilot by itself.

The others walked in too, flabbergasted by the luxurious inside, all in white. The teens choose to seat close to each other and waited. Mina is holding Eijirou's hand tightly, quietly looking out the window. Katsuki in before them, eyeing his girlfriend from afar to make sure she's doing fine.

Sisipho is on Mandla's lap, a bit away from them, both silently crying in the other's embrace, whispering incoherent words, but surely sweet ones. Soon Orion announced that the flight is about to begin and asked to everyone fasten their seat belts.

Despite the sore situation, the teens can't help but feel anxious because they're about to see Wakanda, an honor that little can have. Each one has a different picture in their mind, trying to guess what Wakanda seems like.

However, none of them are ready for what they're about to see.

Wakanda forever 🖤see ya~!