"I got you. I'm not letting go."

Gripping Eri's hand tightly, her tiny fist engulfed protectively within his own, Izuku wrapped his arms around the white-haired girl as their bodies hovered weightlessly in the air, destruction and debris floating around them in a halo of chaos. The air surrounding them was steeped in a calming silence, the combined breaths of Izuku and Eri the only thing to be heard as they clung to each other, green and white melded in a protective embrace, their bodies slowly falling back to the ground below.

"I'll keep you safe. I'm going to protect you."

Whispering softly into her ear, Eri's breath hitching as she tried to suppress the tears of relief and joy pooling at the corners of her crimson eyes, the green-haired boy swore at that moment to do everything he could to make sure the little girl in his arms got out of here safe. That she will be free from Overhauls clutches once and for all. Free to live within the light, after being shrouded in darkness for so long.

"Give her back!"

Snapping his head up in alarm at the enraged cry coming from above, teeth gritting angrily as fierce emerald eyes glared at the man flying toward them at immense speed, hand outstretched in desperation toward the white-haired girl. Overhauls golden eyes were wide and wild, pure hatred for the boy in green burning within their depths, a feral snarl rolling from between his clenched teeth.

She was his! He was not going to let these children infected by quirks take her from him!

Firing up One For All, a small squeak of fear jumping out of Eri's chest as lightning began arcing around her, Izuku reared his leg back, prepared to intercept the Yakuza leader before he could grab a hold of the girl, his teeth gritting with worry as several spears made of rock burst forth from the towering pillar, flying directly toward him. Izuku knew he had to be quick, his overuse of One For All from earlier having greatly exhausted him. If it weren't for Toga healing the wounds Overhaul had inflicted upon him, he was sure he would be in an even tighter spot, the damage the redheaded villain took earlier seemingly having disappeared without a trace.

Launching his leg toward the advancing villain with all his power, Chisaki's hand inches from grabbing the girl in his arms, spikes ominously surrounding his body as they honed in on the young hero, Izuku put everything he had into the strike, needing to end this as quickly as possible. If he spent even a second longer thinking, spent fighting Overhaul, only increased the chances of Eri being taken again. And Izuku had made a promise to her and to Toga.

And a hero keeps his word.

Just as his foot was about to make contact with the villain, Izuku felt the air whip violently around him, his vision obscured by an indistinct blur, his whole body feeling like it was being compressed by some unseen force as a deafening crash echoed in his ears. It all disappeared as quickly as it came, his body once again surrounded by an eerie calm. Feeling a gentle warmth wash over him, a light shining brightly from above caused the green-haired boy to squint, his green eyes assaulted by the sun's burning rays.

'What?!' Whipping his head up in surprise, green eyes widening with disbelief, Izuku stared in awe as the small neighborhood, one he had been in mere hours earlier, spread out before him, lit up brilliantly by the morning sun. He was outside, hovering several hundred feet in the air, the light morning breeze gently caressing his freckled cheeks.

'One For All…it launched me out of the hole. But..how?' Looking about in mild terror, his mind unable to fully grasp what had just happened, a flash of worry shot through him, a terrible memory of a similar event happening during his entrance exam for U.A. playing in his head. Lowering his gaze downward, the concrete far below him stretching out like a long, gray strip, the massive hole created by Ryukyu situated directly underneath, Izuku checked his leg for the tell-tale sign of a bruised and shattered limb.

'My body, it's not broken.' Patting his body in disbelief, one arm still firmly latched onto the crimson eyed girl, Izuku was stupefied to find not a single sign of damage or injury on his body. He knew he used One For All, the lightning still coursing around him making that plainly obvious, and judging from how high in the air they were he must have used 100% when he went to attack Overhaul.

Then why was he unhurt? Even just going over his new upper limit of 15% made a painful sting radiate throughout his body, all of his muscles straining to control the immense power flowing within. But he was completely fine, not a scratch or crushed bone to be found.

Seeing the concrete advance toward him, the patch of gray approaching at an alarming speed, Izuku let the thought go for now as he quickly righted himself, Full Cowling still flashing across his body, and landed with a solid thud back on the ground. The young hero was quite surprised that he felt no pain, the vibration going through his body the only evidence he had landed at all, the loud thud of his feet hitting the ground reverberating in his ears.

Placing Eri gently onto the ground, using the utmost care possible while handling the young child, Izuku's green eyes widened in surprise at what he was seeing. Eri, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes as she bit her lip tightly, her fists bunched up in the fabric of her tattered dress, was glowing. Specifically her horn, a strange energy emanating from it, flowing up into the air, the strange appendage seemingly longer than he last remembered seeing it.

"Eri…is that…your power?" Reaching his hand out tentatively toward her, his mind running a mile a minute, Izuku tried to comfort the distraught girl, the reason why he was able to use One For All at 100% without getting hurt finally making sense. It was Eri's quirk. Eri's quirk allowed him to use 100% of his power without any of the drawbacks. But how?

As Izuku prepared to ask Eri what her quirk was, a horrible pain started shooting through him, his whole body feeling like it was being torn up from the inside out. Falling to his knees, every nerve in his body screaming in agony, Izuku gripped his shirt tightly, wanting nothing more than to rip his skin, his muscles, off. Anything to make the pain stop.

'No! Not again! Not him!' Clutching her hands over her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks, Eri watched as the green-haired boy, the one who held her so kindly, who had saved her, writhing in pain in front of her. Because of her. Because of her curse.

She didn't want him to die!

"He can't have her. I won't let him." Pulling himself out of the wreckage, golden eyes shining with unbridled hate, Overhaul stalked through the ruins of his hideout, the building crumbling to dust before his very eyes. Just like his plan. His glorious plan for a world without quirks, without the disease known as heroes and villains. Like a house of cards, so delicately but expertly stacked, it was all tumbling down, the bodies of his faithful followers caught beneath its fallen remains.

But like everything, he can rebuild it. Make it stronger. Including himself.

Keeping a low profile, his golden gaze constantly falling on the group of heroes standing at the other end of the vast room, their fretful gazes falling upon their injured comrades, Chisaki made sure to avoid one specific person, her back turned to him as she stared up through the gaping hole above. He had to do this before she noticed him, the leader of the Eight Precepts of Death not wanting to stare into those cold eyes again, to feel that terror paralyze his heart once more.

He didn't want to stare death in face.

'Urgh, he's so sloooooow!' Toga groaned inwardly as she tapped her foot impatiently, a low snarl of annoyance rumbling through her chest. Despite her facing the complete opposite way of where the Yakuza leader was currently skulking about, the godlike girl was fully aware of his presence, his every thought and movement painted perfectly in her mind's eye. Rolling her eyes in exasperation at his self-indulgent, and frankly embarrassing, mental thoughts, Toga had to fight the urge to turn around and shut him up once and for all.

Despite the rage building within her chest, Toga kept her gaze focused firmly ahead, her golden eyes locked onto the gaping hole above, trying to appear as innocent as possible to the people gathered around her. She could easily just turn around, rip his arms and legs off with her bare hands, and have him pay for everything he has done to Eri, ending his horrible reign once and for all.

But she was no hero, and that was what the world needed right now. What Eri needed. Eri's life mirrored her own in ways the golden-haired girl was all too aware of. There was darkness latched onto the white-haired child, shrouding her glowing heart away from the world, weighing her down into a pit of despair and sorrow. Toga could not reach that heart, to pull the shadows away and uncover the light within. Her hands were stained with too much blood, her soul blackened by the darkness that tore at the girl, threatening to break her. Darkness cannot wash away darkness.

Eri needed Izuku.

Eri needed a hero, as much as Izuku needed to save her. The godly schoolgirl had seen the pain in her beloved's emerald eyes, how heavy his failures, his setbacks, weighed upon his heart. Despite her best efforts, the ceaseless showers of praise and adoration she would pour over him, Izuku did not believe he was worthy of being called a hero, let alone the best. The mop-headed boy needed this as much as Eri did, his pure soul able to scare away the darkness, her freedom able to soothe his tortured mind. They needed each other and so Toga would let Izuku deal with Overhaul on his own, free from her interference, as the hero he was meant to be. That Eri needed.

Toga knew he could do it because he was her hero too.

"You'll lend me your power one last time, won't you, Rikiya?" Falling to his knees before the defeated hulking behemoth, Chisaki slowly slid his tattered glove off before placing his palm against the skin of his loyal henchman, rage filling his golden eyes. He would get her back, even if he had to crush everything before him.

A deafening crash rung in Izuku's ears as the earth rumbled ominously beneath him, his instincts kicking in immediately as he pulled Eri into his arms, his whole body screaming in pain as jumped out of the way just as a multitude of spires shot out beneath him. Holding the crimson eyed girl close, Izuku shot his gaze toward the hole he had escaped from earlier, his teeth gritting in anger as a familiar, albeit altered, figure appeared from the depths below. Like a monster born from hell, Overhaul appeared to reclaim what was his.

"You don't know how to stop it, do you, Eri!?" An enraged roar tore through Overhaul's throat as he pulled his newly formed body out of the ground, his body fused grotesquely with Rikiya's hulking form, transformed into an amalgamated monstrosity from some twisted nightmare. Pulling his oversized body out of the ground, the street crumbling like paper beneath his clawed grip, Chisaki glared fiercely at the boy who had thought he could take what was rightfully his, his only means of fixing this world.

But soon, whether by his own hands or hers, he was going to be reverted to nothing.

"Eri's quirk can rewind someone back to their origin." Izuku's eyes widened a fraction in surprise at Chisaki's statement, Eri flinching slightly in his arms as tears continued to soak into his shirt, the green-haired boy simply holding her closer, quietly defying the leader of the Eight Precepts of Death. "If you continue to hold onto her, you will disappear. She can revert anything she touches back to nothing"

Holding his hands out in a grand gesture, his golden eyes frosted over with cold anger, Chisaki's words shot like daggers through Eri's heart, the white-haired child feeling a painful stab in her chest. She knew it was true. Every word he was saying was coming true, her quirk once again causing harm toward someone she cared about, someone who had been trying to help her. And he was paying for it.

"That quirk of hers is cursed."

Anger bristled down Izuku's back, his grip on Eri tightening as he turned to glare furiously at the villain leader, Chisaki simply holding his hand out expectantly to the young hero. Chisaki's lumbering form towered over the wielder of One For All, his body fused within the gaping mouth of what used to be Rikiya's head, cruelly observing his property. His tool for a better future.

"Give her back to me! There is no way to stop her, except for reassembly!"

Feeling Eri shiver in his arms, the glow from her horn pulsating with the stabs of pain shooting through his body, Izuku carefully picked the crimson eyed girl up into his arms, his fist gripping Mirio's cape tightly. There was no way he was going to let Eri go. Never again. Even if it meant giving up his life, he would not let her fall into Overhauls' hands again.

"I won't hand her to you." Izuku growled as he tightened the cape over his chest, securely strapping the white-haired girl to his back, his emerald eyes glaring back at Overhaul with fierce resolve."No matter what!"

Small crackles of energy started flowing from his body once again, lightning arcing past his vision as he glared defiantly at the Yakuza leader, a strange sense of calmness washing over him. Izuku could do this, he could, will, save Eri. All he needed was a little help.

"I understand now." Izuku stated calmly, energy welling up within him as he tapped into the power passed down to him by his predecessors, his emerald eyes aflame with determination. "When I should have broken my leg, before I could even feel pain, Eri reverted it for me. She healed me."

The wielder of One For All understood now why he wasn't injured after using 100% of One For All, why his limb was not torn to shreds from overtaxing his body. It was Eri. Her power, her quirk, saved him. Overhaul was wrong. Eri's wasn't cursed. She was a gift.

"It is a kind and gentle quirk."

Peeking out over the green-haired boy's shoulder, her tiny hands holding firmly onto his muscular shoulders, Eri stared at the freckled hero's face in awe, small pinpricks burning in the corner of her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks from his words, joy welling up in her chest. Did she do that? Did she…help him? Could she save him too?

"Eri, will you lend me your power?"

Tapping into the well of power slumbering within himself, Izuku could feel the familiar strain that would tear his body apart melt away, a feeling of warmth and protection flowing through him. With Eri, with her power, Izuku will be able to win. Together, they will fight for Eri's freedom. And they will win.

"One For All: Full Cowling!"

Overhauls eyes widened in surprise as waves of powerful energy rolled off of the green-haired boy's body, his emerald eyes glowing brightly as energy engulfed every inch of him, an almost feral look contorting his features. What was this? What the hell was this?! Where was this power coming from?!

"100%!"

'AAAAAAAAAAA! Izu-kun! You are so amazing!' Bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet, an ecstatic grin spread across her face, Toga's golden eyes gleamed brightly as she witnessed the beauty and awe-inspiring spectacle of seeing her Izuku use 100% of his power. It was beautiful, amazing, and so freaking cool! It made her heart race like mad in her chest, her cheeks flaring up into a raging blush, a small bit of drool dripping out of the corner of her mouth at how majestic and powerful her love was.

Toga was so fucking in love with that boy!

Using her powers to watch the events separate from her body as a means to keep anyone from getting suspicious, the godlike girl watched with barely restrained glee as Izuku sent the overgrown Yakuza leader flying into the air with a single kick, dodging Overhauls neighborhood spanning attack in the blink of an eye. If Toga didn't have her powers, she wouldn't have even seen him move, his speed making him nothing but a blur to the naked eye.

It was like watching a child fight with an adult, Overhaul completely outclassed in every aspect by the green-haired boy, Izuku shattering every single one of his limbs in the blink of an eye, the young hero using the moment Chisaki left himself open while he reassembled himself to strike. It was a truly breathtaking sight and Toga was glad she was there to witness it.

Sensing more people enter the now ruined chamber, Toga let out a snort of annoyance as she felt the familiar dead-eyed stare of her homeroom teacher, his dirty aura, so full of distrust and suspicion, ruining her good mood. Guess it was time to play the good helpful little student again.

Whirling around, her face blank, devoid of any emotion, Toga made her way over to the slowly enlarging group of heroes, even some straggling police officers having made it, all of them huddled around the injured members of the Eight Precepts of Death. And of course, Sir Nighteye.

"Sir!" A soulful wail tore from Mirio's throat as he fell to his knees before his gravely injured mentor, dried blood caking the spear still sticking out of his stomach, Ochaco trying her best to lift the Foresight hero using her quirk without causing any further damage to the man. Tamaki gently gripped his friend's shoulder, the blonde boy placing his trembling hand over the moody teens, his button-eyes never straying from his mentor's wounded form.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Aizawa noted the complete lack of emotion on his student's face, Toga watching the events happening before her with cold disinterest, her golden eyes flat and lifeless. It was like all the destruction, the pain and suffering, happening around her meant nothing to her, her mind occupied with something far away that no one else could see. Her stony indifference toward people who were her classmates, her partners, looking at them as if they were nothing, left a cold feeling in his gut.

A loud crash echoed from above them, small bits of dust raining down from the cracked ceiling, pulling the homeroom teachers' attention away from his student. Small murmurs and questioning glances were shared amongst the assembled group, people wondering what could be happening up there. Aizawa had a good guess of what was happening, the clear lack of his little problem child amongst the crowd indicating that Izuku must be dealing with Overhaul right now. He only hoped it didn't end up with another trip to the ER for the boy.

"Oi! Dragon Wench!" Waving her arms up at the towering Pro Hero, Ryukyu turning to regard the teenage girl with an incredulous look, dumbfounded by her casual, and frankly insulting, tone of voice, Toga opened her mouth wide, her finger pointing expectantly into her gaping maw. "Gimme some of your blood so I can help clean up a bit!"

Staring at the girl in perplexed confusion, Ryukyu gave the nighttime hero an inquiring look, Aizawa simply nodding his head, a sigh of exhaustion passing his lips. This day had been much too long for the usually nocturnal homeroom teacher.

Lapping up the dragon lady's blood greedily, the warm liquid sliding delightfully down her throat, Toga licked the last bits from the corner of her mouth before activating her quirk, the familiar feeling of her disguise covering her body washing over her. As her line of vision rose up, her body getting bulkier, limbs elongating, Toga looked down at her taloned hands in revulsion.

"Uuurgh, why do I have to be someone so ugly!?" Wailing in annoyance, Ryukyu shooting her a displeased glare before returning to her task, Toga began picking up the various pieces of rubble littering the ground, unearthing the different members of the Eight Precepts of Death who had been so readily abandoned by their boss and clearing a path for everyone to help get the injured people to safety. Why did she have to don this disgusting disguise and help these worthless losers? All she wanted was to see Izuku kick Overhaul's ass!

Using the momentum from landing the blow upon Chisaki's face, Izuku grabbed a hold of the villain's massive arm, his grip digging deep into the amalgamated flesh, and tossed the hulking body toward the ground, making sure to aim away from the residential buildings. With speed belying its immense size, Overhaul's monstrous body hurtled toward the ground, the villain not trying at all to brace his fall. With a resounding crash that echoed throughout the neighborhood, Chisaki's body hit the concrete at full force, the earth trembling from the vicious impact.

Slowly floating to the ground, emerald eyes searching the massive behemoth for any signs of movement, Izuku spotted the smaller form of Chisaki's original body within the mass of amalgamated limbs and muscle. His body lay unmoving, mouth hanging wide open, eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Overhaul was defeated.

'I…I did it.' Landing on the ground with a soft thump, Full Cowling still crackling across his skin, Izuku stared at the fallen villain, the one he had bested, in shock. He had done it. He defeated Overhaul. On his own, with his own power. Eri was safe.

He had won.

"Izu-kun!"

Pulling his gaze away from the villain's unconscious form, Izuku stared in wonder at where the voice had come from, only finding an empty street and the gaping hole created by Ryukyu. The green-haired boy could swear he had heard Toga call out to him, her jubilant cry practically etched into his brain by this point, the young hero able to recognize it anywhere, but she was nowhere to be found.

With a joyous yip, Toga popped into existence before his very eyes as if out of thin air, the young hero holding back a scream of surprise as the godlike girl landed before him, hands clenched excitedly in front of her chest. Toga's golden eyes sparkled with adoration and devoted admiration as she looked up at him, a tooth-filled smiled spread across her face, fangs flashing brilliantly in the morning sun.

"That was amazing, Izu-kun! You were so cool! You smashed the crap out of him! Pow, Bop! He didn't have the faintest chance of beating you! You and Eri were glorious, a perfect fighting pair! Ooo I wanted to see more, see your victory up close and personal, but those stuuuupid heroes needed my help and Aizawa kept nagging me, staring at me with those dead eyes uuurgh. But I still watched everything you did! It was spectacular!"

A small smile curled on Izuku's lips as Toga continued her animated rant, her arms flailing wildly at her sides as her face ran through a gamut of emotions while she described everything that happened, wildly jumping from one train of thought to the next, never stopping to take a single breath. A small blush covered his cheeks as the blonde schoolgirl continued bouncing around him, never-ending words of encouragement and praise for the boy in front of her falling from her mouth, a joyous warmth burning in his chest, chuckling softly at the godlike girl's antics.

Coming to a stop in front of him, her catlike iris's staring deeply into his emerald eyes, Toga threw her arms out wide, the sun beaming brightly behind her silhouetting her body in a halo of light.

"You're a real hero!"

Tears pricked Izuku's eyes at those words, his mouth hanging open as a brief look of surprise crossed his features, before he broke out in the biggest smile ever, overwhelming joy and happiness welling up within him. He had done it. He had really done it. Those words no longer placed upon him a weight he could not hope bear, an expectation he could never live up to. Her high esteem of him no longer felt misplaced, her praise did not tug painfully at his heart, feeling like they were wholly misplaced.

He had made her proud.

"Oh, Eri-chan? Are you o-GAAAH!" Pulling himself away from the glorious sight before him, his heart feeling free and unburdened for the first time in ages, Izuku turned to check on Eri when the overwhelming pain from before came roaring back, causing the young hero to fall to his knees with a cry of anguish.

The energy surrounding Eri's horn began flowing in erratic waves into the sky, growing increasingly out of control as it tore painfully at the green-haired boy, unimaginable pain wracking his body. Horrible screams tore from Izuku's throat as he tried to fire up One For All, trying to mitigate the rise in Eri's power levels, but the pain did not subside, only growing more and more in strength, leaving him a writhing mess on the ground, his fingers fruitlessly digging into to concrete for relief that would never come.

"NO! PLEASE! HE'S GOING TO DIE!" Eri cried into the sky, her horn painfully digging out of her skin, growing in size as her powers increased beyond her control, begging, pleading for anything to stop this. To stop her before it was too late. Before she hurt someone else with her curse. She didn't want to lose anyone else. She wanted to be with him, to feel his comforting arms holding her close as the girl with the golden eyes smiled at them so gently.

She didn't want him to die!

"Shhh, it's going to be ok." A soft voice glided to her ears, somehow bypassing the distraught wails of the crimson eyed child and the pained cries of the suffering hero, twin eyes of gold staring at her with gentle warmth, care and comfort glowing in their molten depths. It filled Eri with a strange sense of calm, like everything was going to be ok, that they would both be saved. That she was there for them.

Lifting her hand, her fingers curling gently around the horn protruding from the white-haired girl's forehead, Toga grasped the energy flowing from its point within her palm, wrapping it tightly in her fist. Pulling her hand back, the bright tendrils lapping and writhing around her fingers, fighting desperately from being removed from their owner, the godlike girl extracted the overflowing energy from Eri completely, a brief flash of light burning within her palm before it faded away completely.

With the source of the energy removed, the blonde schoolgirl placed her finger gingerly upon the tip of Eri's horn, gently pressing down on it as she made it shrink down until it returned to its former state, unable to cause any more harm. Falling forward, the over-stimulation from Toga's intervention as well as the great expenditure of energy she used up for the day, causing the young girl to pass out, Eri landing safely in a pair of waiting arms.

"It's ok now." Picking the girl up off of Izuku's back, the red cape draped lightly over her small shoulders, Toga cradled the white-haired child safely in her arms, holding her gently, protectively, to her chest, her fingers softly running across her pale cheek. "You're safe."

As Toga carefully checked on the little girl, Izuku slowly propped himself onto his hands and knees, sweat pouring from his brow, deep heaving breaths tearing at his chest as he tried to suck in as much needed air as possible into his lungs. His whole body pinched and stung as relief and pain rolled over his skin in waves, his limbs feeling like they were on fire, soft trembles shaking him from head to toe as his unfocused gaze stared at the blurry ground beneath him.

Searing pain erupted in his stomach, Izuku's mouth falling open in a silent scream as something pierced his midsection, his whole body going numb as it shot roughly out of his back, a disgusting squelch ringing in his ears. A brief feeling of blinding pain overtook his senses as his organs ruptured, violently torn apart from within, before his vision grew dark, his consciousness completely fading away.

Whipping around, an alarmed expression marring her features, Toga stared in shocked disbelief as a rock spire impaled Izuku's body seemingly in slow motion, violently ripping and tearing through his skin, blood splattering over her face. Lifting her head, Toga's golden eyes constricted as they fell upon the fallen body of Overhaul, Chisaki's uncovered palm resting lightly upon the concrete ground.

Lifting a trembling hand to her face, the godlike girl lightly ran her fingers over the warm liquid dripping down her skin, her golden eyes growing wide in fear as she saw the crimson color staining her palm. Blood. His blood.

Izuku's blood.

"Izu….kun." Calling out his name, her words coming out at barely above a whisper, her voice trembling with overwhelming fear, Toga gently placed the sleeping Eri on the ground, covering her body with Mirio's cape. She shouldn't have to see such a horrible sight. Not now. Not ever.

Taking tentative steps toward the wounded boy, the godlike girl unable to feel her legs, each footfall, every ragged intake of breath echoing painfully in her ears. Numb with shock, her fingertips aching as they grew icy cold, Toga stood over Izuku's broken and bleeding body, the green-haired boy not moving at all. No twitch of a muscle. No beat of a heart. No intake of breath.

No sign of life.

She thought she wanted this. She had always dreamed of this day. Of Izuku, her sweet Izu-kun, bloody, broken, torn open in a display of glorious crimson. It was everything she ever wanted. She should be happy. It was her dream come true after all.

But…

then why….

why was she so scared?

Memories began flooding Toga's mind as her golden eyes stared blankly at Izuku's dead body, all the times they had shared together, how he had impacted her life so wholly and completely. She remembered how adorable his face was when he was scared, like when she messed with him in the back in the nurse's office shortly after getting her powers, his bugged eyed screams making her laugh so hard.

How incredibly heroic he was when she first gave him a display of her power, the world practically ready to fall on his head, completely outmatched by her. And yet he stood his ground, despite the fear coursing through his veins, ready to face her head on to save everyone else.

Her memories ran through the wonderful times they spent together at the dorm, with their classmates, their friends. He was there, every day, every night. They were always together, whether alone or with their classmates. Going to class together, taking a wonderful trip to the beach with their classmates, fighting side by side during the license exam. It was the first time he asked for her help, the first time anyone relied on her, thought her quirk could be used as something more than just a tool for evil. It was….wonderful.

Pain clenched at her heart as their date played in her head, how utterly perfect it was, how perfect he had been. He was scared, she wasn't ignorant of that fact, the boy still unsure how to act around someone who had been his enemy, now bestowed with a power to rule over everything. But he still did everything he could to make her happy, taking her to the knife store, listening to her with attentive ears as she ranted and raved about the various blades on display. Even the League of Villains, not even Katsuki, could ruin that day. Was there really not going to be a second?

They had fought together for so long, took on the Big Three, Sir Nighteye, the entire Yakuza, side by side. Every day with him was utter bliss, his heart, his beautiful soul, every moment she spent with him only made her fall more and more in love with him. She wanted to spend eternity with him, see him grow into the most amazing hero, to fulfill his most prized dream. She never wanted to leave his side.

As they replayed over and over in her mind, flashing back and forth at high speed, all the memories they had together started getting washed out in blood, obscuring Izuku's smiling face from view. Every happy moment, every cherished memory, stained a sickly crimson that would never wash away, forever a blight upon her soul.

Blood.

His blood.

She used to love blood, lived every day hoping she would get to see its ruby splendor dripping from someone's eviscerated corpse, gleefully watching as their lives came to an end, all life fading from their eyes. She would lap it up with glee, the warmth of its liquid grace pooling in her stomach, its coppery taste lingering on her tongue for days. It was the sweetest thing in the world.

But not Izuku, never Izuku! It wasn't right! It was wrong! He shouldn't be like this! He should be smiling! His adorable, beautiful smile. The one that lifted her spirits, made everything ok, made her believe that this world was not as horrible as she believed. That heroes did exist. That she was something more. More than just a monster.

It was gone. Everything was gone. She was alone. All alone. She had made a promise, a promise to him, that she would never change him. She would leave him untouched from her unholy hands, unstained, pure, perfect.

He was gone.

Forever.

At that moment, with the weight of Izuku's absence fully registering in her mind.

Toga snapped.

A/N: It's all gone.

Nothing good will come from this, least of all for Overhaul.

Next chapter: Disintegration.

Thank you all for your wonderful support. It truly means the world to me. It brings a big smile to my face whenever I hear from you guys and I hope to give you all the best chapters I can. I hope you all have an absolutely amazing day and I love you all!