Then lunchtime finally comes.

As promised, despite the fuss her friends put up about letting her go anywhere alone, Uraraka covers for Midoriya and sends her off. She waits, unsure of whether or not Taka Nobita will even come. If Rose was right, and he really can't resist trying to crush a powerless freshman once and for all, he'll definitely come. But if she's wrong and he's smart enough not to walk into an obvious trap, the plan will fall apart before it even starts.

Meanwhile, Taka Nobita is able to deduce that they weren't hiding some kind of recording device on Rose. If they were and Present Mic was in on the plan, he never would've interrupted them. That means they really are trying to lure him into a direct confrontation.

And like a rat, he takes the bait. It's too good to pass up. One of his previous victims, someone already thoroughly afraid of him coming to meet him alone? Thinking she can get him to confess? What could she possibly be planning? Is she going to ask nicely? Try to guilt-trip him? His mind spins in ecstasy at the possibilities… and at the number of ways he could put her in her place.

Sure enough, he arrives to find the cameras disabled. He searches around a bit just to make sure there isn't evidence of someone hiding in the vicinity. And sure enough they're completely alone, but he can't let his guard down just yet. In fact, he wants to see just how far he can go without giving away a single shred of evidence.

"Midoriya-chan!" He calls out to her. She stands there with an amusingly determined look. "You're all better! Heard about what happened to you… Did they catch the culprit yet?"

"…Quit joking around."

"Ah. Sorry. You're right. You're right. First, I should apologize."

Midoriya blinks in surprise.

"I left you here to guard the furnace all by yourself, and that's why you got attacked. You must be really mad at me."

She clenches her fists. "I said, knock it off. There's no one else here. It's just us."

"…I know. That's what you said in your letter. But that serious face." He chuckles. "It's just too good. I can't help it."

There it is. Midoriya remembers his sadistic streak that he played off as someone who just loves innocent jokes.

Taka Nobita is a few feet a way but starts to come closer, making Midoriya instinctively inch back. But she can't run. She knows that. Even as he stands right in front of her and gently places a hand on her shoulder, even as she flinches, she knows that. She can't run now. Not from the final battle.

"I'm really glad you're okay," he says gently. Since she's significantly shorter than him, he has to lean down to whisper into her ear. The more she trembles and flinches, the more the excitement builds up inside of him. "No one wants to see a cute girl get hurt… 'Cuz we're heroes…" The dread of that day, the day she submitted to overwhelming fear, it's all creeping back up on her. "We wanna protect you."

"Make them yours." His words from that day echo in her memory. That's what "protect" means to him.

As her feet inch back, her knees finally give way and make her fall, down to the ground, where he can look at her as if she's an insect.

"Whoa, you okay there?"

Without bending down, he extends his fingers towards her.

She shrieks and put up her arms, guarding herself, hiding behind them. "What's wrong?" he mocks in the sweetest tone, "I'm just helping you up."

The tears are already building up again. Not again. She couldn't go through it again. She doesn't know if she can take it again. As his fingers wrap around her arms and torso, her tears start to spill out. She can't control them anymore.

"Is my quirk really that 'gross' to you?"

She almost gives up again. Almost.

But just when she thinks she wants to give in, to quit, to lose…

She remembers Rose Omoda.

Rose Omoda is still there waiting. She's waiting to be saved. Rose Omoda had never stopped fighting in her own way. Rose Omoda is still standing.

And if she couldn't give up, then neither can Midoriya.

Nobita, who had been enjoying the absolute delight of seeing Midoriya's cute face distort with terror, notices that she suddenly stopped shaking. She lowers her arms and seems to regain her composure. Curious, he slowly lifts her back up to her feet and retracts his fingers.

Midoriya finds her voice. "Nobita-senpai, I know why you do these things." Still too afraid to make eye contact, she stares at the ground.

"…Hm?" He tries to play along.

"It's because of Samantha Gardener." His eye twitches. "Because you loved her. She was the reason you wanted to be a hero. Then when she died because of you, you knew you couldn't be a hero anymore."

You… What do you understand? He thinks. Indeed, Midoriya had touched a nerve.

"I… understand how it feels to have a hero growing up, someone you look up to. You feel like that person is… this bright, shining light in the darkness." She remembers what All Might had always been to her. "If someone like that suddenly turned to you and told you you weren't meant to be a hero, that there was no hope for you…"

She imagines how it would've felt if All Might had told her she was "gross", that she didn't even deserve to dream of heroes let alone become one. All Might had suggested that she become a police officer, because he really did respect them. But if All Might had told her that even that was too good for her…

"…I understand how bitter you must've felt when she acted like you weren't even worth her time."

His peaceful mask falls off, face visibly contorting with anger.

"But even you must've known that attacking her wasn't the answer. Knowing you, it's not a question of morals. It's just logic. It was a terrible idea to attack Samantha Gardener, knowing that you'd probably get caught, or that she might tell someone afterwards. You knew that, so why did you do it?"

She's getting closer, to the line he never wanted anyone to cross.

"I think I know the answer." She slowly lifts her head and looks him in the eye. "It's because you were never a hero to begin with."

He can see it. A visage of Samantha behind her, staring at him, judging him… And for the first time, he's the one who shivers.

Is he hallucinating? Or… is she finally coming to visit him? Is she coming to see him judged? To tell him this is the end?

"No matter how much you tried to tell yourself that you wanted to be a hero, it didn't mean enough to you by itself. You had to have Samantha Gardener, or being a hero meant nothing to you. Someone like that wasn't a hero from the beginning."

Nobita takes a step back. Encouraged by the horror on his face, she continues.

"You painted your story as if you lost control of yourself and did something you normally wouldn't… but what you really don't want to admit… That was your true self, and you know it!"

His wide, crazed eyes stare into her firm, resolute orbs. "Shut up! You can't prove anything! I loved Samantha! You don't understand a damn thing!"

"I know that you attacked a lot of innocent people! And that you're still fooling yourself, thinking you have a good reason! Don't you… Don't you dare use someone who died because of you as a reason to hurt more people!" All Might had told Midoriya over and over to fix his habit of crying, but she can't stop it.

"What you've done to Omoda-senpai… You think you had a good reason for that? And your little sister… have you done awful things to her too?!"

Nobita pauses. His eyes widen.

He spurts out a laugh. Then a chuckle. Then a lot of chuckling. Then a full out laugh that leaves Midoriya standing there dumbfounded. He laughs hysterically, nearly collapsing onto the ground. But eventually he catches his breath.

"You…" he snickers and gasps for air. "You even believed that?"

Then Midoriya remembers. No one, not the police, not the teachers, not Rose, not a single one of them mentioned Nobita's younger sister… Because he didn't have one.

And just like that, the tables turn again.

This time, he doesn't use his quirk. He simply lunges at her, and his fingers go around her throat with ease.

"You little shit. Acting like you know everything… But you didn't even realize this did you? That I could kill you without even using my quirk if I wanted."

Midoriya's hands grip his as she tries to kick him. He doesn't budge an inch.

"Ah, but you're probably thinking that wouldn't be logical, right? That killing you here would only work against me? Well, I guess you made a mistake thinking I cared."

Nails scratching at his skin, trying to peel his fingers off. He eases her to the ground.

"It's bitches like you I really hate the most, y'know? Acting all high and mighty when you can't do a fucking thing… I actually believed Samantha was different… But she barely even used her quirk against me. Why? Why, huh? Was I not even a good enough villain to fight?"

Midoriya can't answer him.

"Oh, whoops." He lets her go on the ground, and she chokes and gasps for air. "Wouldn't want you to pass out too soon!" He kicks her hard in the stomach, and she just barely manages not to throw up. Then he stomps on her head. She does her best to cover it as he kicks her. "See?" Another small laughing fit as he speaks, "I'm not even using my quirk! It's really this easy!" Occasionally, he hears cracking sounds from his kicks. "You wanna scream? Call for help? Go ahead! But we're all alone, right? So a hero won't come! They're not gods, stupid! You think they can save everyone just 'cuz they say they can?!"

He kicks her hard enough for her to roll to the side. "If they think they think they can do the impossible…" he pants, "they can start by bringing my Samantha back!"

"…No one…"

He pauses. "What? You got somethin' else to say?!"

"…No one… ever said heroes could save everyone… idiot."

…What?

She pants, "But we… wouldn't be heroes if we didn't try. You wouldn't understand that… 'cuz you're not a hero."

He grimaces. "You little…" then kneels down and lifts her by her hair. He draws back a hand to punch her… but freezes.

She's smiling… chuckling even.

"You… You're pathetic," she states matter-of-factly, "…compared to Omoda-senpai. She… could never acknowledge her own strength… But even so… even in that beyond hopeless situation… even though you tried so hard to crush her… she still thought, 'I have to save people.' That's why… she's always been a hero… way more than you!"

Rose? That weak little-

"Sorry… I can't help laughing when I think about it… That she's always been stronger than you. And when I remember that…"

Gripping his arm as she sits up on her own, her bruised face smiling confidently, her eyes gleaming into his. "I know I can never lose to someone like you."

She remembers what All Might had tried to teach her so many times, that exactly when you were most afraid, when all hope seemed lost, that's when you smile. So she does. Even as Taka Nobita loses any shred of patience he has left and extends his fingers and toes at her, declaring he'll kill her, she braces herself.

And smiles.

Psst. You're probably sick of me saying it by now, but if you don't want to wait for the next chapter, you know where to go... ;)