Notes: I'm sorry about this size of this chapter. Of course, at 6.5k, which was closer to the length of the chapters at the beginning of the fic, it's perfectly reasonable. I just worry about disappointing. I reached a spot where I could end this chapter and the next scene is going to be massive and take a lot of time, thinking, and coordination, so I decided to make that a chapter on its own. It makes sense, but I still feel guilty for this being..."short". I want to thank everyone on the sarcasm and sobbing discord for being such an inspiration and encouraging me as I write this hot mess.

"Name one hero who was happy."
I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back.
"You can't." He was sitting up now, leaning forward.
"I can't."
- Madeline Miller, "The Song of Achilles"

Old feelings crept over Uraraka again: the shame of not doing anything, the fear that she was wrong, the regret over not doing more. It was just like when Bakugou had been kidnapped. While Kirishima had made up his mind to save Bakugou no matter what, she had chosen not to do anything, believing that he would feel ashamed if they tried to save him. She hadn't thought it would be wrong so much as it would hurt him too.

Looking back on that now, her reasoning felt more like an excuse than anything else.

When Deku and this new League had taken her and Todoroki, Bakugou had done everything in his power to bring them back home. He had intentionally provoked Deku on national television to drag him out of hiding. Bakugou had faced him head-on. She could tell herself that the circumstances were different (they were adults, they had their pro hero licenses, it was Deku ), but sitting here now in a new safehouse made her feel like she was waiting to find out whether her friends would make it out alive again.

She could remember sitting alone on her couch in her tiny apartment, flipping through multiple news channels and continuously checking her phone for any updates. Left in the dark, she had no way of knowing if Deku and the others were even alive, much less safe. The League could've taken them out before the authorities found and saved Bakugou. She sat there for hours, knees pulled against her chest, questioning her decision to stay out of it, wondering if she made the choice. Had she been right to consider his feelings before his well-being? After all, it wasn't like Bakugou could feel humiliated or ashamed if he was dead.

That was what she felt like now. She wasn't doing anything. Once again, she was sitting back and letting others do the saving. They had told her to stay out of it and she had listened. It didn't make her feel good. She was a hero, for heaven's sake, not some damsel in distress. She should be out there, feet on the ground, clenched fists at her side, fierce determination in her heart. She should be looking for them. She shouldn't be hiding behind orders, letting others put themselves at risk for her.

Logically, of course, Uraraka knew that she was better off here. Deku would be able to spot her a mile away. Later, when the confrontation happened, she would be necessary. If she could act as some sort of stop gate, she would do it, even though she knew Bakugou would have a conniption. Deku would as well. If both of them had their way, she would stay as far away from this as possible, even if it meant leaving the area like Todoroki's family. Deku was afraid of her getting hurt; Bakugou knew she would throw herself headfirst into the fight.

Not that she wanted to get hurt, but maybe - just maybe - if she did due to Deku's actions, it would help him snap out of it a little. According to Bakugou, he'd lost control when he had found out that he'd bruised her wrists. If something worse were to happen, maybe he would suffer a greater break from the quirk. They could not leave any stone unturned. If they could get through to him even a little, it might help. If they could crack the illusion, maybe he would be able to find his way back home on his own.

After all, he wasn't alone anymore. Uraraka was there for him, along with Bakugou, and so many others. If he could fall back on them instead of Kyomu and the villains, maybe he could break free and the Deku she had known and loved would resurface.

It was hard to hope for such things right now. Once again neglected to a couch, Uraraka was reduced to listening through the comms as the surveillance team checked out the area. It was made up of Tooru, a hero she wasn't familiar with, and a few officers under Naomasa had borrowed from another department for their job. Dressed like average citizens, they were checking out the area where Kota's phone had pinged.

The location had ended up being a residential area on the outskirts of town with construction surrounding it. Completely inconspicuous, she could've sworn she'd driven through there a handful of times without ever knowing what it was. Had he been there the whole time? Had he been living right under her nose? He'd seen her around at a distance, keeping an eye on her without her ever knowing he was there, so it was possible. It made her skin crawl, thinking of all the times Deku had been around her without her realizing it. Maybe a few times she'd had the feeling that someone was watching her, but she'd never once thought it could be him. He was dead .

It made her feel ignorant and foolish. Incompetent. Weak. All the things she felt now as she listened to the chatter over the comms and did nothing.

Bakugou sat across from her, eyes burning with intensity as he stared the communication device down, like he could jump in it and be on the scene with them. He knew how she felt. A part of her felt like she should apologize to him now for not joining Deku and the rest in order to save him at Kamino, but she also knew he would only dismiss her. She'd done the right thing, in his mind. Jumping the gun to do their own thing had nearly cost Deku, Kirishima, Todoroki, Momo, and Iida their chance at becoming heroes and, even if he had appreciated it on some level, it had humiliated him, just as she'd suspected it would.

"So far, nothing suspicious," Tooru's voice came over the comms. "Everything looks normal from my end."

"Same here," an officer responded. "I asked someone about the area - if it was a good place to move to - and they said it was quiet. It certainly feels like that."

"You sure this is where the phone's location pinged?" another undercover officer asked.

"Yes," Naomasa confirmed. "Invisible Girl is about thirty meters from its exact spot the phone's signal was triangulated. Are you certain there's nothing?"

"It's just a construction site," Tooru answered. "Looks like for an apartment complex. It's only half done."

Uraraka shook her head. "The place I was in was fully constructed. I think it was large and had multiple levels. It's hard to say. It felt like I was in the basement."

They couldn't hear her, of course. With multiple sides and different people involved in the operation, she knew they weren't the only ones listening. It might have been more of a courtesy that Naomasa had given them the ability to listen in considering how little information Uraraka had about where she'd been held captive, but she could call him if something stood out. The key thing right now was communication. So far there had been nothing, which made her more anxious than if there had been a gang of villains waiting to spring an attack.

A thought crossed her mind and she sent a text to Naomasa immediately. Bakugou tore his eyes away from the radio to look at her, but said nothing.

Within thirty seconds, Naomasa's voice came over the comms: "Don't get any closer to the location, Invisible Girl. One of the villains has a quirk related to smell, so there's a chance she might be able to catch your presence even if she can't see you."

"Yes, sir," Tooru responded. "That's annoying."

Uraraka sank back in her seat. "She has no idea." Bakugou gave her a questioning look. She wrapped her arms around herself and continued, "The villain - Mizumi was the name she went by - could sense what a person was feeling, what they desired, maybe even what they were thinking just by smell. Deku used her to find out if I still cared about him. I passed the test, but..." She blushed and looked away before admitting, "She said I smelled like nitroglycerin too."

"That's creepy as fuck," Bakugou pointed out.

She laughed a little, humorless and tired. "It was. I thought it was a joke. She teased me about it at first, but after Deku had that freak out, she covered for me the second time. She was afraid of him and she was terrified of his reaction if she told him the full truth."

Bakugou snorted derisively, but again, there was no humor in it. "They can't control him. That bastard created the world's most powerful landmine."

Deku had managed to keep some semblance of control, but who knew what had become of Todoroki. What would he be like under Kyomu's quirk? She thought of his steady tone on the phone when he'd greeted them as Deku had instructed and then the way he'd described how the quirk made him feel. He was so deeply enraged and hurt. It hadn't been a fiery rage though. He'd been so cold. That had been scary. He was capable of anything.

Bakugou's gaze went back to the radio as more chatter declared the area safe. Something was wrong, but neither one of them could put a finger on it. Again, she thought of when Bakugou had been kidnapped. The group that went to save him had followed Momo's tracker, but instead of leading them to Bakugou and the League, it had taken them to the Nomu storage warehouse.

"Something feels off," Uraraka said.

"It's some sort of trap," Bakugou replied. "I know it is."

Uraraka frowned. "Maybe it's not the kind of trap we were thinking of."

Bakugou focused on her. She thought to talk through it, but she could already see the gears in his mind turning, so she waited. If anyone knew Deku better than her, it was him. "A distraction. Some sort of sleight of hand trick."

"It feels like it, doesn't it?" Uraraka said anxiously. She chewed on her bottom lip. "We thought for sure he was trying to lead us to somewhere. We were certain he wanted to dictate the field, so we'd have to come to him again like we've been doing this entire time."

"But what if he was leading us away?" Bakugou finished, a scowl on his face as he came to the same conclusion as her. "If that's the case, then we played right into his fucking hand." He clenched his hands into fists and slammed one down on the table, rattling the radio as they heard Naomasa call the team back. "He's not there. He might have only been there to make that call. Even if we didn't go on the offensive to launch an attack, we're looking for him there. We're distracted."

"It does feel like a ruse," Uraraka admitted, a wave of defeat coming over her again. "We didn't even consider it, but now it's so obvious." Like the Nomu warehouse. Todoroki would've remembered that - unless Kyomu had messed with his memory of that night. His thoughts on his father were clear from what Uraraka had heard and seen, but everyone else was up in the air. She didn't know what Kyomu had changed with him. "I feel so stupid."

"It's likely Naomasa felt the same way since he called off the surveillance early," Bakugou pointed out. He had fallen for it too and she could tell it aggravated the hell out of him. She could hear him mentally berating himself even if he was silent: he should've known better; he should've anticipated this move; he should've called Deku's plan out right from the start.

She reached out to touch his hand to end his spiralling, making him freeze up and look her in the eyes. Ever since last night, he'd made sure to keep his hands to himself and almost always out of her reach. The difference now was that she knew he wasn't avoiding her. He was trying to protect both of them. It was easier to deal with Deku as long as he shut out whatever feelings that lingered between them. It was unhealthy and she didn't like it, but he was right. Her mind was already distracted by her fears for Todoroki and concern about Deku and the rage that encapsulated it all. She didn't need something else clouding her judgement.

The defeated feeling was swept away by an uneasy one as that opened the door for another thought to trickle in. If Deku wasn't there - if the League had never been there to begin with - then where was he? If he'd led them on a wild goose chase, it had to be for a reason. He wouldn't do something like that for fun. Maybe in the beginning, back when he had been in a more playful mood, but not now after everything that had happened. It wouldn't be as easy for him, Todoroki, or the others to walk around in public. He wanted their eyes there so they could slip out undetected.

"If they're planning another attack, what's their goal?" Uraraka asked. "Where would they go?"

Bakugou rubbed his mouth with his hand as he thought. She knew most people still believed he was only capable of flying off the handle and not thinking straight, but he was a lot smarter and more strategic than people gave him credit for. She could still remember being shocked when she found out he was third in the class after their written exams, one place above Deku, who she'd thought was one of the brightest kids she'd met. No, ranked just below their class reps was Bakugou, who turned out studied and strategized a lot. She had laughed when she realized he was secretly a huge nerd like Deku.

It had taken him time to learn that all the strategy, natural born abilities and intelligence, and power amounted to very little if he couldn't work with a team, but once he had, he managed to surpass Todoroki, who struggled with it longer than him.

She watched him think now. It wasn't a matter of being smart; it was a matter of outhinking Deku, who so far had been running circles around them. He knew how they thought and worked though; under the effects of Kyomu's quirk, it was difficult to tell what he planned on doing. Just when Uraraka thought she had an understanding of where his mind was, he did a complete one-eighty. It was a constant battle. Bakugou had to think like Deku and then jump to the left and ahead.

"It depends on what lead they're following," Bakugou surmised. "It could be UA if it's Deku or maybe the hero agency I work at. You said you weren't sure about his feelings for All Might, but they weren't good. I still think he's a target. We haven't been paying as close attention to him since he's been so focused on me and you and he could want that. Taking All Might out would hurt a lot of people and break Deku further away from the heroes. Even if he snapped out of the quirk's hold, he might feel too guilty to come back to our side."

He might truly believe he belonged with the villains even without the quirk if All Might was killed.

It would also devastate Bakugou, who still very much admired the retired hero above anyone else. All Might was the connection that would always tie the two of them together. He was their hero and shining example. He was the reason for the heroes they had become. All Might's guilt and shame over Deku's supposed death had made his health decline even further, but Deku didn't care about that. In fact, it only seemed to make him angry. She hadn't had the time to find out how his memories of his idol had changed, but she knew they hurt him.

"Then again, Deku might not entirely be in charge since he's also the one being manipulated," Bakugou pointed out, dropping his hand from his mouth. She could tell he wanted to explode, but he was holding himself back as he thought this through. "If they're following another member of the League, maybe even that Kyomu guy, it could be something that would severely cripple hero society, but I don't know what exactly. We don't even know their goals. For all we know, the truth is they just want to watch the world burn and he tricked Deku into thinking they have a cause. It could be anything."

Uraraka was frustrated beyond belief. She should know more than this. After being with the villains for around a week, she should have been able to tell Bakugou and the authorities more. She'd spent vital time with them, but when it came down to it, Deku had kept her away when the important conversations were being held. How was she supposed to help them come up with a plan of attack when they didn't even know the goals of this new League beyond destruction? Yes, she knew about Kyomu's quirk, but she was unsure about how to break its hold. She had done what she could to remind Deku of all the good in their life, but it hadn't helped.

Maybe she should've brought up the bad. The late nights where she was left to eat dinner alone after he promised he would be there, the petty arguments that all couples got into, the forgotten important dates, the guilt, all the little things that cropped up in relationships between two heroes. After all, he'd snapped out of it a little when Bakugou had told him he'd bruised her wrists. It was hard to say. With Todoroki, she didn't know. Would the good hurt him too or would the bad break him further down?

What was going on in his head now? How was he going to justify his actions like Deku was doing? Would Todoroki even bother with justifications? He didn't like to make excuses.

Uraraka worried at her bottom lip. Anymore and it would bleed. "If it's Shouto… Well, I guess we know his main target."

"Do you really think they'll just go after Endeavor like that?" Bakugou asked, a deep and suspicious frown etched onto his face. "It's obvious."

"I don't think he'll care at this point, but maybe that's why they'll do it too," Uraraka pointed out. "We keep trying to figure out their plans - we keep assuming everything is a trap because it's Deku - but they could just go with the obvious route." She thought about what Deku had told her that first day in his room and then at the park, Todoroki talking about his father and past, and then her conversation with Endeavor. It unsettled her all over again. "His dad is the number one hero right now and Deku's grudge isn't just against you. It's also against hero society itself. I think he would gladly help Shouto take Endeavor out. It would work with whatever goals they put in his head."

Bakugou huffed, pulled himself to his feet, and began to stomp back and forth, unable to sit down any longer. This place was smaller than the cabin they'd been in before. He hated it. Before, he could leave whenever someone new came in to replace him, but now he was one of the occupants here. There had been talk of keeping them in separate places, but both Bakugou and Uraraka had been adamantly against it. Maybe being together would anger Deku more - maybe it would make things worse - but she was tired of allowing someone else dictate how she lived her life.

She couldn't go home. She couldn't do her job. She was sick of it.

"We have people watching Endeavor's house and Todoroki's apartment, so we should be alerted if he makes an appearance," Bakugou said. He snorted derisively. "It's not like he can easily hide like Deku. Todoroki is pretty fucking easy to spot."

"What about Endeavor's hero agency?" Uraraka suggested.

Bakugou paused his aggressive pacing to think it over. "It's filled with a shit ton of heroes and sidekicks and civilians are everywhere. You think they'd be that bold? I mean, they haven't been so far. Every attack has been in either a non-populated or evacuated area." He furrowed his brow, suddenly troubled over something that should've been a relief. No doubt he'd been thinking about this beforehand, but the kidnapping and direct attacks had distracted him from fully considering the depth of Deku's behavior and actions.. "Has that been on purpose? Deku gave us time to empty out Kaminari's apartment and the surrounding area, but it was also so we would rush right over. He attacked you all the way to U.A. near warehouse, but it was strategically the best spot to stage an attack. At the park, he waited until it was dusk and empty, but maybe it was so no one spotted him and alerted the authorities."

"I think Deku was doing it on purpose," Uraraka said. She couldn't be sure, of course, but she got the sense that some part of him was still avoiding the death of innocents. She had to believe it - that there was still good in him. What was it that Compress had said about Deku - that he had a good heart? He should have killed Kaminari, but he hadn't. So far, he had only directly been involved in the deaths of villains. Outside of injuries that Recovery Girl and doctors easily patched up, none of them had died. "Besides destruction, it feels like he's subconsciously trying to avoid collateral. His grudge is against hero society and maybe quirks - I don't know - but it sounded like he considered civilians to be affected by it too. That's what I got from what he said to Kota."

There was something different though - something in the equation that hadn't been there before.

The red in Bakugou's eyes was like a dark fire. "You don't think Todoroki will be so thoughtful."

"I'm afraid," Uraraka said carefully, "they turned him into a loose cannon and they're just going to set him free."

That was what the quirk made them feel, right? It made them feel free, unchained by society and expectations, free to break and burn all the things that held them down. How welcoming and warm that must've felt after resisting that quirk for so long - how wonderful it must have been to give in and wonder why they were fighting in the first place when it was only trying to help them, save them.

It wasn't real though. It wasn't freedom. It was only more chains. She had to show them that.

A loud alert from the television behind them made Uraraka jump. They'd had the news playing in the background just in case. Bakugou had already snatched the remote and was turning the volume up when she turned around to see what was going on. Immediately, her hands flew up to her mouth and her eyes widened. All she could do was stare in horror at the scene being shown on the television. Her heart dropped into her stomach, making her sick, and the urge to puke crawled up her throat, which painfully constricted. Tears pricked at her eyes and she managed to choke out, "Oh my god, no, no- "

Standing stock still next to her, Bakugou gripped the remote so tightly it was a shock the thing didn't shatter into pieces, his glare burning holes into the screen. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the remote and his hand begin to shake. It was only when she saw smoke did she peel one of her hands from her mouth and reach out to grab his hand, snapping him out of the implosion. It didn't take him out of it completely, but it was enough to keep him from blowing the remote up in his hand.

Before she could say anything, both of their phones began to ring. They didn't have to answer it to know what the calls were about.

They didn't even need to say anything out loud to know what they would do: if this was really happening, there was no sense in hiding. Everyone had to fight this fight. They were needed out there. They were heroes, for fuck's sake. People needed them. Their friends needed them. Deku and Todoroki needed them. They needed each other.

And both of them would rather die than sit back and do nothing, especially after witnessing that.

The building was somehow both larger and smaller than he remembered. Todoroki stared up at it idly, like some sort of tourist, and examined it with a distant eye. Seeing as how he worked in a different city and spent time doing jobs in rougher climates both in and out of the country, it had been a while since he had come here. Endeavor had wanted him to take over the agency when he retired, but he had admittedly been waffling on the decision. He wasn't working under the man so he could make his own choices. Why should he do anything Endeavor wanted? He'd controlled his entire life; he would not control his future too. He didn't want to continue the bastard's legacy. That had been the whole problem.

This...place was more than just a building. It was a monster he could never defeat and a mountain he couldn't climb. It represented so many things to him. His father, his past, every burn and bruise he'd suffered, every puddle of tears and puke he'd slipped in. It was disappointment, shame, anger, pain, and failure. It was dreams, success, wanting, and more. His father had begun to build his agency before Todoroki was even born, only a distant goal. Endeavor had worked a lot during his childhood, a blessing in disguise. While he'd known he would never be able to surpass All Might to become the number one hero, he still worked relentlessly to keep his position. It was all about rank and power for him. Even the wealth didn't matter on some level, although he indulged in it too.

It was strange. Endeavor cared so little for appearances, considering he had always been known to be much rougher around the edges than the endearing All Might, but he had been very careful in making sure no one knew what went on at the Todoroki household. Not even any of his sidekicks or the other heroes at the agency were aware of any...neglect at home. Until their mother was institutionalized for burning him with scalding water, most people believed they were the picture perfect family.

Before his quirk manifested, Todoroki could almost believe such a thing. It wasn't until Kyomu had brought back old memories to the forefront that he realized things had been wrong even back then. He was able to remember so many things he'd not paid attention to because of his age.

The fury that always simmered underneath Touya, who he'd almost entirely blocked out of his memory, and the painful and sluggish way he dragged himself around the house after training with their father. Fuyumi's fretful and strained smiles and the cries he heard from her in the bathroom, sometimes mixed with Touya's harsh, argumentative voice. How Natsuo taught him how to play games, but would freeze up and hide in his room whenever their dad came home. His mother had started to fade away even then. She wouldn't look at Touya, turning him away when his arms were wrapped up in bandages, and she foisted so many responsibilities on Fuyumi despite her being a kid herself.

"You won't be like them," his mother would whisper as she smoothed down his hair. "I know you won't."

Had she known even then what he would become? Had she seen what he looked like and realized he would be the means to Endeavor's goals? Had she seen his father in him already? Had she hated him even then?

("All Might's my favorite hero," Shouto said one time. He was thinking about the All Might toy dolls he had seen other kids playing with at the park. He wanted one, but Dad wouldn't let him have one. He'd been furious over the innocent question and might have hit him if Touya hadn't jumped in the middle and said he put Shouto up to it as a bad joke.

Touya got hit instead. He'd laughed about it while laying on the ground holding his jaw.

Even now, Shouto could see his big brother running a tongue along his teeth, like he was searching for something. He had spit blood in his hand earlier, careful not to get any on the nice floor. Would he do it again? "Not Dad?"

"No, he's…" Shouto shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Scary. Heroes aren't supposed to be scary."

A laugh was scraped out of Touya, like his throat was raw. "Mm, no, they aren't. Dad can be pretty scary, can't he?"

"I don't want a quirk!" Shouto burst, unable to contain himself any longer. He'd been thinking about it, but the longer he did - the more time that passed before it manifested - he didn't want it. He knew he was weird for thinking it. Lots of other kids probably couldn't wait for their quirks to show up. He had vague memories of Natsuo's appearing and he could still remember the look of utter disgust and contempt on their father's face.

Anything but that. He would take anything but that. And he didn't know what their father did with Touya, the only other one of his siblings to inherit a fire quirk, but it wasn't nice. Their father was his scariest when he dragged Touya away for training. He wasn't allowed to be around Fuyumi and Natsuo for the most part. The only reason he got away with being around Shouto was because his quirk might be good. It might be what their father was looking for instead of what he had with his oldest son.

"Oh, kid," Touya sighed, shaking his head, "pretty sure you don't got a choice."

"I might not have one," Shouto replied stubbornly.

Touya put a hand on his head. "I hope you don't."

But he did. He did have one, resting inside of him, and it appeared a week later. It should've been something he loved and was excited about. He should've been happy. Instead he had cried in his mother's lap, Touya nearly burned the training room down, and Fuyumi and Natsuo looked away from him in shame and fear. He was five. It wasn't fair. He didn't want this power. He didn't want this gift. His father could take it back. He could stop. He could- He could-)

"Shouto?" a voice called, bringing him back to the present.

Todoroki blinked, the vivid memory fading back into the recesses of his mind. Kyomu's quirk had that effect on him. He wasn't sure if it was just him or if Deku felt the same way. A part of him wanted to ask, but another part of him liked remaining in the dark. It was easier that way, less exhausting, less confusing.

When he looked to his right, there was Deku, looking at him carefully. He was wearing a jacket, hiding his more obvious costume. It should've made them stand out - two young men wearing jackets in the middle of summer - but it was an extremely busy day with people rushing to and from work. There were enough civilians in suits to ignore them. Even now people shoulder checked him a few times without so much as an apology. It was rude, but he couldn't care less. They'd stop in time.

"Are you sure about this?" Deku asked.

"I thought you said I was ready yesterday," Todoroki said.

Deku smiled softly at him. "I did, but I want to make sure again. We don't have to do this."

"No, I…" Todoroki turned back to look up at the agency building. "I don't care if he's not here. I'm not going to be able to rest until every last bit of him is brought crashing to the ground."

He didn't want Endeavor to just die. He wanted to erase every last bit of him, take away his legacy, run his face through the mud. Burn him to the ground until there was nothing but ashes left for the wind to carry away. Only then would he be content. Somewhere around here, Dabi was lying in wait. Touya. His big brother had been here all along and he'd never known. He had given Todoroki the time to figure it out on his own and come to his own conclusions about what to do with what they'd both suffered through. It was an easy choice after everything was made so clear to him.

"This is a good place to start," Deku proclaimed, laying a hand on his shoulder. "He's the perfect example of what a hero isn't."

Todoroki gave his best friend a sideways look under the rim of the baseball cap he was wearing to hide his hair. Deku had all these ideas in his head. A lot of them made sense, but some of them didn't. He couldn't put a finger on it, but something wasn't entirely right. He would've thought about it longer if he cared, but he had his own priorities and goals to meet.

And he was relieved. He was happy. Deku was back. He'd fucking missed him more than words could say. It had him hit like a punch in the gut the first time he laid eyes on Deku standing in the road. Behind the wheel of his car, seeing his best friend back from the dead had pulled at every string in his heart. No one had known him quite like Deku did. They shared so much history together that couldn't be matched by anyone, not even Iida. To see him again had hurt. Fighting him had been even worse. He'd been confused then. He hadn't known yet that Deku was in the right. Everyone had tricked him into thinking he was doing what was best for Uraraka and maybe, at the time, it had been best for her.

What would she think if she knew he was here now? She'd probably be worried for him. Opening up to her about her history, even a little, had been painful. He might not have told her as much as he had Deku, but he had told her more than enough. She'd listened to him struggling through talking about things all over again. She had not once mocked him or belittled him for his admittance that he'd stopped giving a shit about ranks. A part of him had struggled with the idea of whether he wanted to be a hero after Deku's death.

Uraraka had told him to do what made him feel best - that she would support him in anything he chose. Well, he certainly wasn't a hero anymore.

"Someone else could take lead," Deku offered.

"No, this is mine." Todoroki took a deep breath and pulled his hands out of the pockets of Dabi's jacket.

Despite looking clumsily stitched, the second his quirk had returned to him, he had realized just how carefully the jacket was made. The man with the quirk suppression serum had been on standby with a syringe made, along with Deku, just in case Todoroki tried to fight them, but he'd been under no such illusions. The temperature regulator helped him balance his quirk, but it was the braces on the sleeves that caught his attention. With a higher resistance to fire, his flames might be able to reach Dabi's levels without him pushing himself to dangerous levels. He could be like Touya. Their father would be proud.

It almost made him want to laugh, but he wasn't sure if he had that in him anymore.

"No more wasting time," Todoroki declared in a hard tone, glaring at the building now.

Deku pulled his hand back. "What should I tell the others?"

"That, until the time is right, I highly suggest staying as far away from the agency," Todoroki told him. "You'll know when."

"Got it." Deku turned on his feet, but then hesitated, glancing back at him. "Hey." The bright look in his green eyes with enough to pull Todoroki's attention away from the building for just a few seconds. He'd missed that light. "I'm really glad you're with me. I think maybe I was afraid and holding myself back, but now that you're here, well… It's just like old times, isn't it? I'm glad you've got my back."

"I'm just glad you're back," Todoroki replied honestly.

Deku grinned. "Let 'em have it, Shouto."

Todoroki nodded his head and watched Deku slip through the crowd of civilians and disappear before turning his back to Endeavor's agency. He let out a breath, the air in front of his mouth fogging like it was cold, and lifted his right foot, slamming it on the ground as he fully activated the ice half of his quirk to its strongest ability.

He didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing that he didn't feel anything when a massive iceberg penetrated the hero agency building, putting a huge hole in it and practically cutting it in half.

Standing there, still as could be, he didn't hear any of the terrified screams or the crashing of rubble and chunks of ice around him. It was just the sound of the ice slicing through the air and his breathing and steady heartbeat. The sight of the iceberg destroying the first part of his father's legacy quieted the memories and thoughts in his mind for the first time. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Somewhere, he could hear the telltale sounds of heroes bursting onto the scene - no doubt those who had survived the initial attack - and he opened his eyes.

Todoroki took the hat off and tossed it to the ground. Holding his hands out at his side, he let both ice and fire flicker to life in his palms. A cold gleam burned in his eyes. The hero agency was only the first step in destroying his father's legacy.

He was the next.