Notes: Apologies for not updating. No excuse. I just kind of forgot FFN was a thing, and I hate the updating system on here.

Bakugou was losing, and he knew it. Without the gauntlets of his hero costume to accumulate more sweat, he was at a severe disadvantage. He could create incredibly powerful ones still, but not to the level he would have been with them, which meant he was forced to use his quirk creatively. He couldn't go all out like he normally did right off the bat. If he wasted too much energy and strength now, he'd strain the limit of his quirk, and Deku would be able to take him out with a flick of his fingers like the old days.

All of which meant one terrible, humiliating thing: Bakugou had to run.

He hated it – he loathed every second of it – but until Aizawa took care of the mucks that jumped him after Deku's first hit, there was no way he could take Deku out without being quicker and smarter than him. Bakugou knew he was smart and he'd always tried to stay at least one step ahead of Deku in class, but that little shit had always been so clever and fast. He made connections that few people saw and came up with excellent plans.

This didn't feel like one. Despite the staggering amount of villains that they'd pulled out of the shadows to join their cause, Bakugou couldn't understand a reason. It was too chaotic and risky. Yes, destroying UA would be a shot heard around the world. It was the symbol of hero beginnings and one of the greatest. Many of the top ten heroes were created here. Maybe it was more personal than that, but if Deku was really committed to the League, he shouldn't let his personal grudges clout his vision. It wasn't like him.

Maybe he didn't care. Maybe Kyōmu didn't either. He'd set Todoroki free to cause as much chaos despite knowing his quirk's hold on him wasn't strong enough to keep him on their side. Perhaps he had finally decided to set Deku free too. There was a chance that he would never come back after this. If Deku managed to kill him or even All Might, maybe he'd be fully on their side for good.

Of course, it was kind of hard to consider the possibilities when he was busy launching himself into the air and jumping off the side of buildings to avoid being kicked or pummeled into oblivion by Deku.

"C'mon, Kacchan!" Deku taunted from somewhere behind him. "You're not really gonna spend the entire time running away, are you?"

Bakugou grit his teeth and refrained from responding as he grasped onto the ledge of a building and pulled himself onto the roof before he dropped down. He ran across the roof, giving his hands a brief moment of respite before he jumped off the other side and launched himself around the corner.

He wasn't running away; he was buying time. At least he kept telling himself that.

He couldn't take Deku on alone. Strong as he was, he had to admit that Deku was stronger. One for All was the culmination of years worth of power beyond their imagination. All Bakugou could hope was that the previous users were somehow resisting him and keeping him from using it at one hundred percent or more. He'd seen what Deku was capable of even before he could fully control his quirk. And he'd seen what that amount of power was capable of doing in the hands of a villain.

He had seen both All Might and Deku face down All for One. Bakugou couldn't do what they had done, no matter how much it hurt to admit it. He couldn't defeat someone with that much power on his own.

"Shit!" Bakugou threw his hand out to let off an explosion that would change his course, but he caught sight of green lightning a second too late. Deku managed to clip him in the shoulder and send him careening through the window of the main campus building. He hit the floor and rolled down the hallway before coming to a stop by crashing into a door. He groaned, his head lolling and his entire body aching, but dragged himself to his feet. Fuck, even getting partially hit by Deku was like being hit by a truck.

When he heard the door open behind him, Bakugou spun around, ready to fight, but found himself staring at a few kids instead. He glanced up at the sign above the door. 1-J. Shit, these were just Business course students. They wouldn't even know where to begin to use their quirk for combat. At least Gen Studies had an inkling if they wanted to get into the Heroics course and Support had gear to work with.

"Ground Zero?" a girl asked in a trembling voice.

"Do you have a teacher with you?" Bakugou asked.

The girl shook her head. "No, Ectoplasm left once the alarm went off. He told us to lock the door and stay back, but…" But they wanted to know if they should be out there fighting.

Had he been in high school, he would've said hell yeah. He would've said they were wasting their time acting like chicken shit and hiding under their desks. What was the point in them being at the top school in Japan for heroics if they weren't going to fight? Even if they were in the Business course, they should know their quirks well enough to defend themselves. Every chance he was given, he had jumped into the fray. Damn the consequences.

Back then, he had been a fucking idiot despite his intelligence, too blinded by his own strength to know the smart moves when he saw them. Ectoplasm had told them to stay back because it was the smartest and safest thing for them to do. It was much harder to protect people when they were in the middle of the fight. The heroes wouldn't be able to fight to their fullest if they also had to defend and protect a boatload of students too. These kids were their responsibility.

Aizawa had told them to stay back at the USJ attack, but had Bakugou listened? No, he hadn't – time and time again – and neither had Deku. It had nearly gotten both Aizawa and All Might killed in the process because they thought they were smart or strong enough to help – to do a hero's job.

Bakugou waved them down. "Short of this building falling down or a villain coming in here, do not leave this room. We don't need you getting in our way."

Instead of arguing with him, the girl nodded and shut the door. No one else fought her decision. He stared at the door and then took a deep breath. First things first, he had to get away from here. Bringing the fight here would only make it more dangerous. If he could lure Deku away from the main fight…

"Oh, wow!" Deku's voiced echoed in the building. "These hallways sure do bring back memories, huh?" They did. They brought back a lot of good memories, and Bakugou wasn't keen on ruining them. "You got the shock of your life here. Finding out you weren't the strongest person anymore must have shaken you tremendously. You couldn't even handle the idea that anyone was more powerful than you, especially not pathetic, little me. Did you have to be so despicable about it – so hurtful and cruel? I know your ego is fragile, but did taking it out on me really make you feel better?"

Bakugou couldn't respond. Kyōmu must have changed them somewhat for Deku, but he wasn't entirely wrong either. Bakugou hadn't been kind to him. However, Deku's time at UA had been nothing short of amazing and utter transformation, especially compared to the depressed hell that Bakugou had made middle school for him. It pissed him off. Bakugou had done enough as it was. Why had Kyōmu taken away some of the best times of Deku's life? It wasn't fair that they both did that to him.

Fuck this.

Turning on his heels, Bakugou ran away from the classroom. He used an explosion to break another window and leaped out back into the fray. Where the hell was Uraraka? He wasn't foolish enough to believe that she'd stay away. No doubt the second she heard the news, she headed this way. There were too many people and fights going around to find her, especially when he had to keep an eye out for Deku, and Dabi's flames had caused enough smoke to muddy the view even more.

Bakugou jerked around when a crack resounded in the air and saw Deku's foot swinging towards his gut. There was no time to dodge – no time to attack. All he could do was explode at the greatest of his abilities and blow them both out of the sky.

Running made her feel utterly useless and pathetic, but Uraraka had to escape. Her entire mind screamed against leaving people behind, especially any students that might be trapped by the building collapse, but it would do her no good to die with them either. She had to hope that anyone in the danger zone could use their quirks to get out. That building was coming down whether they liked it or not, and it would crush heroes and villains alike.

After activating her quirk on herself, Uraraka used the rockets to propel herself forward and even managed to snag a panicking student and hero in the process. However, because she hadn't had time to properly gauge the usage of her own quirk, they flew through the air at breakneck speed. When she finally passed the reach of the building, she let go of them and deactivated her quirk, sending them crashing hard to the ground and throwing them across the lawn.

She didn't even know what hero she grabbed until Present Mic was pulling her to her feet. Her vision spun as she tried to regain her sense of balance, and she staggered forward with the intent of going back in. She could save one more person. She could do it. She had to–

"Stop!" Present Mic grabbed her arm and held her back.

Uraraka tried to pull her arm out of his grip, but he didn't let go. People screamed and cried out in terror as they frantically tried to outrun building's shadow collapsing on them. All she could do was watch. No, she couldn't do that. If she had five seconds to spare, she could save one life. It was what Deku had done when he saved her. She could do the same. She had to do the same.

"They're going to die–"

A gust of cold wind whipped around them, so powerful that her hair whipped around underneath her helmet, and a familiar shiver traveled down her spine. She and Present Mic both gawked in confusion and understanding as a massive block of ice encased the entire building in one powerful burst. The aftershock of the iceberg's creation was so strong that it knocked everyone under it to the ground. When the ice finally came to a stop, it was holding the building up only a few meters in the air. She couldn't believe it. She knew what had happened, but she didn't understand.

And then there, in the fog created by the ice on a hot summer evening, Todoroki lifted his right palm from the ground and stood up straight. A patch of ice ran up his arm, which he shook off. Uraraka stared at him, tears in her eyes, as he wiped the sweat off his brow and slowly turned to face her. He was wearing half his hero costume, most likely for the temperature regulation, and a pair of inhibitor cuffs instead of his old braces, but it was him.

It was Todoroki. He was here, and he had saved them.

He was a hero, if only for one more day.

Present Mic let go of her arm and inclined his head, giving her permission to go to Todoroki while he took care of the shocked student at their feet. Uraraka ran to him as fast as she could. It wasn't the time, but she didn't give a damn. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a fierce hug so she could bury her wet face in his shoulder, and he returned the gesture.

"Sorry I was late," Todoroki murmured. "We had to settle a few things."

Uraraka pulled away and glanced down at the inhibitor braces. "Reassurance?"

Todoroki nodded. "A kill switch of sorts in case something goes wrong. Remind me to never trust Hawks with flying again."

He said it so bluntly, but she understood that it was necessary. They had no idea what sort of lingering effects of Kyōmu's quirk that there might be in his mind. While his memories had mostly returned to normal and he could sort through which ones were real and what was fake, there was a possibility that it could take hold of him again. Deku seemed to fade in and out and, judging by her brief interaction with Dabi, he was too.

Speaking of which… "Your brother–"

"I know." Todoroki's face hardened. "I swear to god I'm going to kill him."

Uraraka's heart skipped a beat, her mind racing to his mother pleading in the hospital, and she gripped his arm tightly. "Shouto–"

"Not like that." Todoroki's body relaxed under her hold. "He's so stupid, thinking he can make up for what he didn't do, but he can't, not like this." His eyes surveyed the area, taking in the remnants of Dabi's flames and signs of Deku's destruction. "If he thinks he's going to die here as some sort of punishment, he's got another thing coming – Izuku too."

"You don't think…" Uraraka bit her lip.

"I don't know," Todoroki admitted, "but I know what I felt like when I came to after you broke me from the quirk's hold. I wanted to die – I thought I deserved it – but I was scared." He swallowed and looked down at his right hand as the last of the ice melted from it. "Deku is a better person than me, and it will break him to know what he's done. I have to make sure he doesn't fall into what I almost did."

A massive explosion in the air rattled the area, shattering windows and catching a few trees on fire, the heat from the aftershock reaching even them. It was larger than anything she'd ever seen, like multiple fireworks going off at once, but there was no time to stare at it in awe when she saw a body falling through the smoke.

She activated her quirk on herself and went to use the rockets in her boost when her right boot coughed and stalled, leaving her to float uselessly in the air. Her heart shot into her throat. "Shit! Not now!"

Todoroki didn't hesitate, crouching down and creating a block of ice that reached her feet. "You ready?" She nodded, unsure of what else to do, and braced herself. He activated his quirk quickly, creating a pillar of ice that shot her through the air like a springboard. It was utterly chaotic, leaving her little in the way of guiding herself, but she used her left booster to correct herself in the air toward the falling figure.

This time, when she swiped her hand through the air, Uraraka caught hold of Bakugou's wrist and activated her quirk on him. His falling momentum combined with hers caused them to spin wildly out of control. She tried to use her remaining booster to slow them down, but they still crashed into the side of a building. His body slammed against hers and knocked the wind out of her, forcing her to let go of him.

He grabbed hold of her belt to keep from floating away and grumbled against her neck, "Took you long enough."

"I was kind of dealing with some villains and Heights Alliance collapsing," Uraraka huffed, struggling to regain her breath. It was slowly returning to her, abetted by the use of her quirk on herself. Her back ached from striking the building and her body protested when she tried to move, but she grit her teeth and let go of the window ledge. "Can you get us closer to the ground or are you at your limit?"

Bakugou grunted and raised his free hand. "We're fucking dead if I'm at my limit already."

Letting off a tiny explosion by comparison, he propelled them down the side of the building until they were safely close enough for her to release them from her quirk. As soon as her feet hit the ground, her legs buckled, and they both fell to their knees. Bakugou groaned as he fell down further and rolled over, holding onto his side. She panted as she looked over him. Bruised, bloody, and covered in ash from his own explosion, his hair plastered on his face with sweat, he looked like hell.

"I got something on my face?" Bakugou asked in a raspy tone.

A slightly hysterical laugh slipped from Uraraka despite how much it hurt her chest. "We're gonna die here, aren't we?"

"Nah." Bakugou rolled back onto his knees and then, even as he wavered, he pulled himself up onto his feet. His red eyes glowed brightly like fire. "No one is gonna die." He ran his fingers through his hair, dragging it out of his face. "Now, where is that damn nerd? I'm not getting caught by surprise–" He cut himself off and gawked as a powerful tornado of flames shot into the air. "Are you kidding me?"

Uraraka stood upright and took a deep breath, one hand massaging her back. "So much for not getting caught by surprise."

Bakugou sneered, but it wasn't angry like one might've first assumed. Honestly, his expression looked rather pleased. "That's more fucking like it, Half and Half! No more lying down with your belly up like a dog ready to be kicked. That's what I'm talking about!"

Despite being surrounded by fire, Deku was able to get out of it, but that didn't kill the spirit in either one of them. Uraraka watched as Todoroki's flames grew only large on the left half of his body as he faced down Deku. Instead of fighting, however, they argued, a strange array of emotions flickering on both of their faces. There were some things that only the two of them would be able to understand. Whatever he said had at least made Deku hesitate to fight. Todoroki must have been trying to reason with Deku as she had done him.

Or he was giving them an opening to attack. If they couldn't win in a frontal assault, attacking him from behind would be their best bet.

Bakugou glanced back at Uraraka, his hands at the ready and a reinvigorated glimmer in his eyes. "We can't let him take all the credit for saving Deku's ass, can we?"

It was wrong on every level, but Uraraka smiled even as she choked on a half-sob/half-laugh. It was just so like Bakugou to get energized over Todoroki's appearance and turn it into some sort of competition to mask his excitement and relief. "No, we can't."

"Let's lend him a hand then." Bakugou held out his hand, and she took it, instinctively knowing what he was asking of her. None of them could take Deku down alone. The only way this would work was if they defeated him as a team. They had started this trying to do things their own way – Bakugou with his fiery rage, Uraraka with her determined love, Todoroki with his cold understanding – but they would end it together.

It was a good thing Hawks and the hero commission had made the decision to use Todoroki as quickly as they had. If they had waited for the situation to get worse before showing up at his cell, there might've been much less to save. Luckily for everyone, the hero commission was not above using heroes until there was nothing left of them if it served their purpose.

In Todoroki's case, it was exactly what he wanted. If he could give every last bit of himself to protect people, save Midoriya, and finish this battle, he would do it without question. No wonder Hawks looked at him so blankly. That was how he had become a hero, hadn't it? Todoroki had heard him talk about it vaguely with his father, but he'd learned to read between the lines at an early age. He had been raised to become a hero too, after all.

And he would be one. He would be a hero. He would save the day. He would bring Midoriya back. He would– He would–

The moment they had arrived, Hawks had swooped down to drop Todoroki off next to the collapsing building and joined the fray. Todoroki had barely had time to skid to a halt and gain his balance before he fell to a knee and slammed his palm against the ground to create an explosion of ice that would hold up the building. He wasn't sure how long it would last, but at least it gave people the opportunity to escape. Even villains managed to slip out, but a few of them kept running, shooting him fearful looks.

Ah, so his reputation preceded him. Wonderful.

Reuniting with Uraraka outside of that holding building had felt good. He hadn't thought it would happen again. Not even the braces on his wrists could dampen his spirits. He hadn't been lying about it being a killswitch. They had decided that mere quirk inhibitors might not be enough. If he went out of control or the quirk took over him again and he tried to turn, it would shock him with a high enough voltage to possibly kill him.

That was fine. He hadn't been lying about how he felt after Uraraka broke him from Kyōmu's hold. He simply hadn't let on that those thoughts still lingered in his mind.

As soon as he saw Uraraka snatch Bakugou's wrist, he took off. As much as his heart screamed at him to find Dabi, he ran in the direction where he saw Midoriya last. Hopefully, his mother could forgive him for this too. He couldn't make his brother the priority. Until Midoriya was taken care of, Dabi would have to survive on his own. He better – just so he could punch him in his face. They had a lot to talk about and the middle of a fight that would decide everything was not the time for their family bullshit.

Midoriya landed on the ground nimbly in a crouch. He was panting as green lightning crackled around his body, but he probably didn't look as bad as Bakugou. With his left hand pressed against the ground, he held his right arm against his chest, half of his glove missing and singed black. As fireproof as his villain costume might've been, it still couldn't withstand one of Bakugou's explosions at such a point-blank range. For once, he looked a little rough, but if he wasn't taking as much care about himself anymore, it stood that he'd get more injured.

He was a loose cannon, a feeling Todoroki understood all too well. Midoriya might've felt free to do whatever, but the shackles couldn't be more obvious.

Instead of bolting after Bakugou and Uraraka on the ground, Midoriya hung back for a moment to breathe. Was he wary of fighting now that she was in the mix? Was he angry? It was hard to say after their last conversation. From what Todoroki could tell, it had very much sounded like a goodbye. He had wanted to say something similar to his mother, Fuyumi, and Natsuo, but there hadn't been time, and he had figured they wouldn't understand the responsibility he had to take out the monster that had ruined their lives.

Was Midoriya not trying to do the same in a way?

It really was wild how that quirk so easily played with a person's mind. It pissed him off. Midoriya was ten times the person that Todoroki had ever been. Honestly, had they not become friends in their first year at UA, it was very likely he would've snapped like Touya and attacked his father years ago.

The moment Midoriya assumed a position to charge forward, Todoroki let out a powerful tornado of flames that wrapped themselves around his best friend. In a moment of weakness, he hadn't tightened them in a way that would burn him severely but just enough to keep him from moving. Flames rolled from the left side of his body, soothing away the cold from his right side. He always forgot how kind those flames could be. Kyōmu had made sure to take that feeling away too, but Todoroki clung to it now, reveling in it.

A powerful kick from inside cut a hole in the flames large enough for Midoriya to escape. It really was a good thing his costume was flame retardant. Todoroki had to wonder if he had been part of that reason too. He'd been on the original kill list too, after all. It made sense that Midoriya would need a guard against both him and Bakugou.

Ripping off the bottom half of his mask and dropping it around his neck, Midoriya sucked in a gasp of air and then laughed tiredly. "They let you out of the cage?"

"The same as you," Todoroki replied evenly.

Midoriya shook his head, a rather sad look on his face. "We tried to set you free. Maybe… Maybe it wasn't the right way to go about it, but I wanted to help you, Shouto. I really did." The thing was, Todoroki knew that. He knew that Midoriya hadn't wanted to kill him or even hurt him. He still cared, which stung more than anything. "You made your choice – and I...I think I understand why – but they locked you up again. They aren't any better."

"Maybe, but some people hold back for good reason," Todoroki admitted. He should've confronted his father sooner. He should have asked about Touya. He should have...done so much. It was so easy to blame himself when he knew even his father wouldn't accept him taking the blame. But he had held back, and in the end, it had allowed Kyōmu to twist him in a way where no one could help him. "Besides, did you forget the time I spent locked up with the villain? Because I certainly didn't."

"A necessary precaution," Midoriya insisted. "It was to protect you–"

Todoroki waved the braces around his wrist. "That's what they all say. You really aren't much different."

"Don't you see?" Midoriya demanded, frantically gesturing to the campus around them. "That's exactly why we have to tear it down! Hero Commission, League of Villains – they're all corrupt. They make the rules and we're left to follow them, but for what? To get chewed up and spit out? To dominate those without a silly name or fancy outfit because we're simply stronger than them? Why? I thought you would understand that's wrong by now."

"And I thought you'd understand that killing innocent people wouldn't make what you're doing right," Todoroki shot back, his flames growing stronger on his body. "Or is that a necessary sacrifice? A necessary evil in order to do good? You gonna tell me you're sacrificing yourself to prove that hero society and all that it entails is corrupt? And what about Bakugou? Try and tell me your grudge against him isn't personal – isn't selfish ."

Midoriya flushed. "It's heroes like him that show how deeply flawed the system is! You know that as well as I do! You lived it! You saw it! He has to be taken out in order to prove–"

"Bullshit, Izuku!" Todoroki snapped. "He has to be taken out in order to pave a path to Uraraka, but if you think for a second she will take you back if you do this, you're dead wrong."

His body trembling ever so slightly as if suffering under the weight of constantly using his quirk, Midoriya muttered through gritted teeth, "It's a chance I'll have to take – and a sacrifice I'm willing to make if need be."

"Kyōmu really has you wrapped around his finger, doesn't he?" Todoroki shook his head, his right palm chilling with ice. "And you're just letting him use you for your power. It can't feel good. Trust me; I know what it's like to be wanted only for your strength." He slid his left foot back to position himself in a stronger stance. "You're more than that to us, Izuku. You've always been more – the best of us, the one that inspired us to be better. You still are, which is...fucked up on every level, I suppose."

"And now what?" Midoriya retorted. "I've backed you all into a corner to kill me?"

"No, Izuku, we're going to save you," Todoroki told him. Midoriya blinked in surprise. "But first we're going to kick your ass for giving us so much shit. It's what you would want, trust me."

An uneasy grin twitched onto Midoriya's face. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, you stubborn idiot!" Bakugou shouted from behind before connecting a powerful explosion-laced punch to Midoriya's back. With his entire focus locked on Todoroki, he hadn't seen Bakugou coming at him from behind and took the full brunt of the hit. Midoriya was knocked right off his feet, and Todoroki created a thick wall of ice for him to crash not to catch himself but to crash into. It cracked but didn't entirely shatter when Midoriya struck it.

Now that was a goddamn hit.

At the speed Bakugou had been flying, Uraraka must've canceled his gravity. She quickly returned it so that he could use his quirk to correct himself in the air and stop from flying away. He dropped down in between Todoroki and Uraraka, his chest heaving and smoke rising from his palms. His right hand twitched, and he pulled it against himself in a mimicry that reminded Todoroki of Midoriya just moments ago before slowly standing upright.

It wasn't enough. Todoroki shot off more ice to encase him, but Midoriya rolled onto his stomach and pushed off the ground with his quirk to land on top of the first wall of ice. He wobbled for a moment, clearly out of it from the two subsequent hits, and almost fell off. Bakugou jumped to attack even though his hand wasn't recovered, using his left to explode the ice underneath Midoriya's feet. He jumped, but not nearly as strong as he had been before, and landed not far from them.

"I'm...kinda glad...you're all here," Midoriya said through his heavy breaths. He stood back up, swaying slightly and running his fingers through his wild green hair. Uraraka tensed strangely as she stared at him, a horrified expression lighting up her face. "Makes me feel not so alone. It was hard – and it was even harder after I had to let Ochako go and Shouto turned on me, but–" He turned around and smiled brightly through the pain. "We're all here together now!"

Todoroki clenched his hands into a fist. Seriously, fuck that guy. If there was anything that was more of a deterrent to Kyōmu's quirk, it was seeing its terrible effect on Midoriya.

He was going to be a hero if it was the last thing he did.

Todoroki's distraction gave them an in and allowed Bakugou to land one of the strongest attacks on Deku so far. At this point, Uraraka was willing to hope that a few hard hits to the head could knock some sense into him. Deku was even swaying. Powerful as he was, being hit like that and then colliding into a thick wall of ice would injure anyone. It had to jar something in him. He had to see that they were all here for him, and it meant something.

And then he stood up, swaying like a blade of grass in the wind, and ran his fingers through his hair, and all she could see was Kyōmu in him. He'd truly sunk his claws into Deku's head.

Uraraka wiped the horrified look from her face, replacing it with a determined glare. "We are here together. You're right."

Deku's eyes flickered to her, the smile on his face slowly fading. "You don't look too happy about it. No smile to placate me, Ochako?"

"I'm done with that, Deku," Ochako told him. "I'm tired ."

"Me too." Deku swallowed thickly. The smile was completely gone, replaced by a blank expression, as if there was nothing in him. Kyōmu had drained him dry. Whatever they were seeing now were the last vestiges of whatever that villain had put in him instead. He must've been tired with so much weight resting on his shoulders. "But I have to finish this – for everyone, for us."

Bakugou gestured at the chaos around them. "Look at this shit, Deku! Is this really what you want?"

Deku's eyes bounced over to him, but instead of zeroing in, he actually looked around. It surprised Uraraka. She had thought he might zone back in on his goal to kill Bakugou. He watched as students ran and defended themselves, as teachers and pro heroes fought to protect their students and school, as villains sought to tear everything down – and he didn't say a word.

When Bakugou stepped forward and softly said, "Deku," his gaze darted back to him, and he froze, the empty look still in his eyes.

His voice was softer than she'd ever heard him speak to Deku before. The only other time she'd heard Bakugou talk like this was when she had stumbled across him visiting Deku's grave. She hadn't interrupted him, listening for only a few seconds before she turned and left without alerting him to her presence. Just as there were some things meant for only her and Deku, there were things that could only be shared between Bakugou and him. She didn't begrudge him for that.

"I'm… I'm sorry, okay? What I did to you was wrong – what I continued to do when we should've been equals – and I… I can't take it back, but I can be better. I can be the hero you thought I should be." The pain in Bakugou's voice would've hurt Uraraka alone, but it was the raw honesty that caught her off guard. Even Todoroki hesitated and looked at Bakugou strangely. Deku, on the other hand, didn't move a muscle or change his expression. "Let's just stop this, okay? Together – like you always wanted. I've got your back."

"Shut up!" Deku exclaimed, his tone more frantic than angry. His quirk lit up around him, but instead of making a move to attack Uraraka and Todoroki prepared for, he took a step back. "Stop talking like that!"

"You say I'm not truly a hero, then fine," Bakugou continued as he took another step forward. He pressed a hand against his heart over his chest and gripped his shirt. "I'll step down. I'll throw my license. I'll give up being a pro. Would that make you happy? Is that what you want? For me to lose everything? I'll do it. I'll give it all up and leave if you just stop."

Deku furrowed his brow. "I don't want–" He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "You're just saying that to weaken my resolve. It's a trick. You don't do that. You'll change my mind at the last second and laugh at me. It's a lie ."

"Look at me, Deku," Bakugou said fiercely. Not angrily though – that wasn't anger in his voice but sheer determination. "You know me. You know I'm a bastard on my good days, but I'm not a liar. I don't play games or tricks with people. I hate that shit. You know that."

At his side, Deku's scarred right hand began to twitch, his fingers tapping against his thighs, as he stared at Bakugou with wide eyes. "I… I don't…"

"I'm sorry – for not saving you before. I thought about you falling in that ocean every damn day. It should've been me. It should have been fucking me that died and you lived." Bakugou held out his right hand palm up, the gesture so innocent and unthreatening. "Just let me save you this time, Deku. Stop fighting us."

Deku lifted both of his shaky hands to his head and dug his fingers in his hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced as tears began to spill down his cheeks. Uraraka's heart leaped out to him, but when she jumped forward to rush to him, Bakugou held out a hand to stop her without even looking back. It hurt, but she hung back. He was right. Her going to him right now could send the wrong message. She had to let him do this. She had to leave Deku on his own.

"I can't!" Deku cried out. "I can't do that! I can't stop! If I stop – if I give up – then everything I did was for nothing! Everything I did was wrong!"

His entire body trembled, and he shook his head wildly. Tears dripped from his chin to splash on his shoes and the ground. When he staggered backward, the strength of his activated quirk dented the concrete, but he didn't seem to notice. Todoroki and Uraraka glanced at each other. When he had broken from Kyōmu's hold, his quirk had gone berserk. If Deku did that…

"I didn't mean to hurt Iida. I didn't want to hurt him." Deku dragged his hands down to cover his face and doubled over to hide from them further. More tears slipped through the cracks of his fingers. "If I stop, then his death means nothing. It just means I killed him, and I can't– I can't handle that, Kacchan. I have to prove that what I'm doing is right. I can't believe you. I have to make it up to him somehow. I have to–to help create a hero society that isn't corrupt – that doesn't churn out heroes constantly to be used up – that protects people. I can't– I can't give up on that or I'm–I'm–"

"Just a villain?" Bakugou finished for him.

Deku's chest shook with either sobs or laughs. Uraraka couldn't tell which one, only that it was the most painful sound she'd ever heard. And then he stopped. He went utterly still and quiet. Even his quirk slowly began to fade from his body. His shoulders dropped and his hands fell away from his body, falling limp at his side. However, he didn't lift his head, his face still hidden in a shadow.

Uraraka, Bakugou, and Todoroki looked at each other. Fighting surrounded them, smoke hung in the air, the ground shook, shouts and screams echoed – but for them, it was total silence until Deku finally asked in a hollow tone, "Is that all I am now?"

When he slowly lifted his head to meet their tense gazes, Uraraka brought her hands to her mouth to hide her trembling lips and keep from crying out. The light was entirely gone from his eyes, replaced by a cold dead feeling that she couldn't shake. There was nothing there.

There was no one there.

Bakugou grit his teeth. "Deku–"

"I told you to shut up, Kacchan, so shut the hell up!"

Deku slammed his fist into the ground with his quirk activated. The concrete rippled underneath them, breaking apart as if from an earthquake. While Bakugou and Todoroki struggled to keep their balance and not get thrown aside, Uraraka activated her quirk on herself and jumped to avoid the mess entirely. Todoroki tried to cover the ground in ice, but most of it broke as well.

"F-Fine, if I have to be the villain in order to see things through – in order to show the world that hero society is corrupt – then so be it." Deku activated his quirk around his body entirely and stood up straight, clenching his hands into fists and sliding his feet into a fighting stance. "I'll be the villain. I never truly expected to come out of this a hero anyway."

Uraraka kicked at her boot to get the booster to work, but Deku was faster and Bakugou was too close. Even as Todoroki tried to throw up a wall of flames in between them and Uraraka threw out a hand to grab him and screamed, "Bakugou!", Deku shot forward. Bakugou flicked his wrist so that his palm was facing outward, but he barely managed a small explosion before he was struck. It wasn't a hit at one hundred percent, but it knocked him clean off his feet.

Todoroki shot off a line of ice to capture him, but Deku simply spun and kicked it, shattering the ice so thoroughly that the aftershock managed to knock Todoroki back as well. He created a wall of ice to stop himself from flying too far, but it was a mistake. Deku had expected it and instead of turning on Bakugou or Uraraka, he darted forward and struck Todoroki hard enough to send him breaking through the ice like it was little more than glass. Before he could deliver a finishing blow, however, a powerful wave of blue flames forced him back.

"You know I can't let you do that, boss."

Midoriya wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his remaining glove. "You too, Dabi?"

The villain in question swaggered through a hole in the flames – or rather he stumbled. Oh, Dabi did not look good at all. The ugly burns were aggravated and more covered what had once been good skin as smoke all but poured from where the staples opened up parts of his flesh like vents. It was like he'd been standing in the center of his own flames, bits of what looked like either his skin or jacket flaking off. They were nearly the same color now.

"Look, I might like this shithole school and hero society less than you do," Dabi said as he swiped his hair out of his eyes, "but I've already helped kill one family member, and I'm not particularly in the mood to add another to the list."

Deku didn't react angrily or anything. "Growing soft now that your old man is done in or do you care about your little brother that much?"

"Eh, not really. It's not like Shouto has ever been a concern of mine, but I guess it just doesn't feel right."

The flames around them didn't die. Uraraka wasn't sure if Dabi was incapable of dousing them or if he simply lacked the energy. They seemed to grow out of control. Even the fire around his hands remained, ready to be used at a second's notice. However, Dabi wasn't known for his speed. If he had to fight against Deku, he would lose.

"So you're turning on us after everything we did to side with heroes?" Deku demanded, sounding more confused than anything else. "After what they did to you?" Dabi shrugged. "That doesn't seem very loyal of you. Weren't you Shigaraki's second-in-command by the time you were arrested?"

Dabi held out his hands. "What can I say? Shigaraki inspired loyalty, but I wouldn't trust Kyōmu as far as I could throw a stick." He smiled coldly. "I'll be a team player as far as my goals are achieved." To be honest, Deku didn't look that surprised. He nodded. "Besides, I'm kind of tired of being used." He tapped his head. "Aren't you?"

The words seemed to trigger something in Deku, who furrowed his brow as a suspicious look crossed his face. Dabi forced his thin body to stand upright. Aside from looking like he was burning himself alive, he also looked ill. He definitely didn't look like he stood much of a chance against Deku. Uraraka thought one flick of Deku's fingers could take Dabi out at this point. She was half in mind to tell him to stand back, but Dabi wouldn't listen. She recalled her conversation with him. It felt like a day ago but couldn't have been more than an hour.

Behind him, Todoroki weakly pushed himself onto his elbows. "Get out of the way."

Dabi tilted his head to the side to peer at him. "Oh, so you are awake. Thought you might be out cold."

"You look like you're dead," Todoroki groaned as he managed to get back on his feet.

"Give it a few minutes, Shouto," Deku shot back coldly. "You can just pretend your big brother is still dead again."

Uraraka was ready for Dabi to make another shady comment, not throw a powerful whirlwind of flames at Deku. He wasn't either and barely managed to dodge them before another wave came at him from the side. He was forced to spin fast in the air to disperse the flames around him. As soon as he landed, he growled and charged at Dabi, but a wall of ice erupted between them right as Todoroki snatched him by the back of his jacket and yanked him out of the way before Deku could burst through it.

"What the hell?" Dabi barked, his flames shooting out wildly in an attempt to keep Deku back.

"Don't you dare think you can get out of this by dying!" Todoroki shouted furiously.

Dabi snarled at him. "I wasn't trying–"

"Duck!" Uraraka yelled as she threw two large chunks of ice at them. With his hand still at his neck, Todoroki pulled on Dabi and they both dropped to the ground like a sack of rice seconds before the ice blocks flew over their heads. Deku managed to break one of them with a kick, but the second one struck him in the side. It knocked him to the ground, sending him rolling. She leaped to slap him on any part of his body that she could reach, but he jerked out of her way and popped back onto his feet.

"That's what I love about you, Ochako," Deku huffed as he felt his side. The chunk of ice had hit him hard. She wouldn't be surprised if he had a broken rib or two. "You've always packed a hard punch, and you never hold back no matter what." Despite his words, there was nothing in his eyes to show that he meant them, just an empty utter sadness, and she took an involuntary step back when he stepped toward her. "I really am sorry."

"Like hell you are!" Bakugou growled right before he collided with Deku. Bakugou's quirk propelled them into the air as they grappled with one another. His fist connected with Deku's face while Deku managed to knee him in the chest. Once Bakugou stopped using his quirk to project them further into the air, they started to drop, but that didn't stop them from fighting.

With Deku struggling against Bakugou and the two of them rapidly making their way down to earth, Uraraka started to run that way. If she could just touch Deku even briefly and rob him of his gravity, he'd be completely out of balance, and they could take him out. Maybe he was used to being under her quirk, but it would still give them an advantage. However, when she prepared herself to jump, a flash of dark purple in the corners of her eyes snagged her attention, and she skidded to a halt.

"Bakugou, let go of him!" Uraraka shouted.

Instead of listening to her, Bakugou landed another hit and then grabbed the bottom half of Deku's mask. He used his quirk to turn them around so that he was on top and then once more to launch them towards the ground at a faster speed. She caught the grin on his face, only for it to vanish when Deku returned the grin and didn't fight back.

Deku stretched out a hand and yelled, "Now!" and a portal opened up underneath them. Bakugou tried to let go of him and use his quirk to launch himself up into the air, but Deku was lightning fast and snatched him by the front of his shirt and pulled him through the portal with him.

"Bakugou!" Uraraka screamed, but the portal snapped closed, taking both Bakugou and Deku with it. She could only gawk in horror at the empty space where they had once been, a strange silence settling over them as they realized there was nothing they could do.

Deku and Bakugou were… They were gone .

Todoroki pulled Dabi to his feet but barely gave him time to get his bearings straight when he shot off a manic burst of flames that distracted Kurogiri. He could swallow the flames up with his portal quirk, but busy with the fire, he missed the ice that caught him by the metal brace around his neck and pinned him to the wall. For the first time since this whole mess started, they finally managed to stop him from escaping, but it was still too late.

"Where are they?" Todoroki demanded viciously as he advanced on Kurogiri. The villain didn't blink, staring back at him almost placidly with his yellow eyes. Had Kyōmu been able to use his quirk on him too? No, it didn't think possible, not with the way his quirk worked with his body. "Where did you send them?"

"Away from here," Kurogiri simply said.

Slamming his left hand against the ice, Todoroki melted through it until his palm was touching the melting and very slowly began to heat it up. "I won't ask again nicely." Kurogiri hissed as the metal grew hotter by the second. "I was willing to seriously injure villains the first time we crossed paths when I wanted to become a hero. What do you think I'm capable of now that I have nothing left to lose?"

"Just tell them," Dabi sighed. "It's not like it'll change anything."

Somehow, the villain's yellow eyes flickered in a way that made Uraraka think he was smirking, and she felt the urge to float him into space all over again. "You know where I took them. You said it yourself."

Todoroki stared at him for a second before turning his head to meet Uraraka's eyes. The first time they crossed paths with Kurogiri.

"The USJ," they said at the same time.

Dabi was right. They wouldn't be able to change anything. Uraraka's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. They'd never make it in time.