A/N: Two years. Two years of watching Kurai grow, struggle, and learning to pick himself up, time after time. Two years of seeing his bonds with the other members of class 1-A deepen and develop into something delightful. Two years of reading and writing so that Kurai can truly become Kai, the Guardian Hero. It has been two years of riding this ride with you guys, and I'm excited to say that we could well go on for another two!

Let's kick of year number three with a bang, shall we?

P.S. This week's artwork was one of the first sketches I did for Your Hero Academia, and one of the first digital pieces I did after getting my tablet. I've posted both versions on my Instagram, if you're interested to see the differences between the initial and final products.

Holding Out

"I swear it, Eri! I am going to be your hero!"

These were the words that greeted the young hero Kai as he peered around the corner to find an ominous standoff between Lemillion and a masked figure that he recognized as Chisaki. The blonde hero had a little girl- Eri, he assumed- bundled up in his arms while she shook like a leaf in terror of the gang leader. The man himself was using his forearm to rub his cheek, as if afraid to get his hands contaminated with whatever he was scrubbing at.

"Come back, Eri," Chisaki said warningly. "You know how this goes. I always have to get my hands dirty because of your selfishness."

I don't think he's noticed me, yet, Kai thought as he retreated back around the corner, keeping an eye on his scouter to make sure that there was nobody around who was going to try to get the jump on him again. His shoulders were aching and burning from Cinder's surprise attack, but he was still full of enough adrenaline to largely ignore it for the time being. He conjured a ball of energon in his left hand and peered back around the corner to watch the scene unfold, deciding to merely spectate for the moment.

One wrong move on our part, and that poor kid is dead, Kai thought while dread clutched at his gut. This would need to be handled very carefully, and since Lemillion had more experience in these matters, he would just observe things for now. There were three men on the floor, and at least one of them was completely unconscious, though the other two may have just been winded. I'll attack them first if they're playing possum, he decided.

Now he could hear Eri speak to Lemillion as she begged him to leave while he still could. She feared for his safety, imploring him to retreat before her father could kill him. Her voice was so small and frail that it made Kai's blood boil to think that a man could harm a little girl like he had. It was only a fear for her safety that held him back in that moment, but the second he had a clear shot, he was going to send Chisaki to the closest hospital's intensive care unit.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Eri?" the yakuza leader asked in an ominous tone. "It's your fault- you break people. That's how you were born."

"Don't listen to him," Lemillion told the child firmly, his strong voice quieting the trembling child, even as Chisaki glowered at him from behind his arm and mask.

"Don't bother, 'hero'," he told the boy. "Eri knows that every action she takes results in somebody's death. Isn't that right? You're a cursed child." The last part of his speech was addressed to the little girl in Lemillion's arms, who now began to bridle with outrage.

"How could you say that to your own daughter?!" he demanded, horrified by the man's callousness.

"What…?" Chisaki mumbled as he crouched lower to the floor. "Oh yeah; that's the story I fed you." There was slight pause before he added, "I don't have any children."

Kai's scouter alerted him to the activation of a very powerful quirk, so he spun around the corner and let loose with his energy blast, even as the ground in front of Chisaki exploded, shards of concrete flying at Lemillion and Eri while spikes began to form out of the rocks and aimed to stab the muscular hero. The man's quirk allowed him to reshape anything that he touched with his hands, which was what was enabling him to use the hall itself as a weapon against his new enemy.

While Lemillion was able to easily phase through the spikes himself, he was only just able to keep Eri from getting hurt, which further angered him. Before he could shout at their enemy again, however, Kai's energy bolt slammed into the villain's chest and sent him rolling in the dirt with an angry grunt of pain and surprise.

Lemillion was surprised to see his schoolmate leap into view over some of the conjured spikes to land next to him, looking a little winded, but otherwise okay. "Kai!" he said with relief. "Are you all right?"

"Got a little cooked back there, but I'm still in this fight," the younger hero said as he conjured two more energy blasts in his hands while Chisaki staggered to his feet, looking furious. Addressing the masked man, he added, "Too bad we can't say the same for your rent-a-thug from the League of Villains."

"You people… are filthy," Chisaki growled, sounding almost animalistic from within his beak-shaped mouth cover. "This hero sickness is infecting everyone these days… even schoolboys like you two."

"Whatever you're preaching, I'm not hearing," Kai deadpanned. "Hands where I can see 'em, Chisaki. I know you can't transmute anything if you aren't touching it."

"Don't use that name lightly, schoolboy," the thug snarled as he staggered forward. "And don't think for one second that you can get off on telling me what to do!"

"First off, my name is Kai, learn it," the young hero shot back as he aimed one of his palms directly at his opponent's head. "Really, it should be easy for you to remember, seeing as it's also yours', even if you don't deserve it. Second, the only guy that's sick around here is you. Third, you take one more step towards us or Eri, and I'm gonna drop you like a bad apple."

"Kai, you should take Eri and run," Lemillion told his peer, but Kai was already shaking his head.

"He sealed us in this room," the younger hero explained. Lemillion hadn't been able to see the current state of the exit because of the spikes, but Kai had just narrowly avoided getting swallowed up in the moving concrete. "I have no idea how thick he made the walls behind us, and I don't want to turn my back long enough to find out how big of a blast I'd need to make to get through it."

"So you're saying that we need to beat him if we're gonna make it out of here safely?" Lemillion asked with a wince. "Ouch. Tough break for us, am I right?"

"If he's as good with his quirk as I think he is, then yeah, this is gonna be an interesting morning," Kai muttered. Seeing that Overhaul was going to take a step, he preempted him by moving forward two paces and shouting, "I'm not playing, Chisaki! One more move, and I'm going to cut the head off of this worthless snake you call a gang!"

The deranged man's eyes widened as his fingers made some kind of strangling motion before he growled out, "Who do you think you are, schoolboy? The yakuza were in power long before you even understood the meaning of the word!"

"I told you, I am Kai!" the boy shouted back. "Now stand down before I give you a reason to fear that name!"

Chisaki let out an enraged howl before he dropped to the ground, right below Kai's energy blasts, slapping his palm on the concrete and sending new spikes shooting out of the ground to stab at the latest challenger to his plans. Kai retaliated by unleashing a large burst of energy from his hands that disintegrated the oncoming rocks, and obscured his side's movements for a moment.

"Eri, this is Kai," Lemillion said with a gentle smile as he tore off his cape and wrapped it around the little girl before he set her down. "He's gonna look after you, okay? I'm gonna be right back."

"Wait, what're you doing without your cape?!" Kai asked as he kept up his powerful countermeasures. "Isn't it supposed to-?!"

"This is what it's for," the older boy said cheerily. "Capes are supposed to be used to comfort someone who needs it. Now, keep her safe, no matter what, got it?" Lemillion then disappeared into the floor, leaving Eri with a makeshift blanket, even as Kai ceased his energy barrage and allowed himself and the yakuza members a clear line of sight between them.

"Got it?" he answered as he tried to keep an eye out for wherever the senior had gotten to. Before he could properly look, however, he noticed one of Chisaki's men had a Glock pointed at him, so he reacted as fast as he could, firing off a blast of condensed energon from his right hand, even as the man in a white hood pulled the trigger.

He missed the bullet, but he hit the henchman. Fortunately for Kai, the metal projectile skated off his prosthetic palm and to the side, shooting past the side opposite of where Lemillion had deposited Eri. Unfortunately for Chisaki's crony, Kai's attack landed dead center, striking him in the chest and exploding to send him flying several meters back behind a pile of rubble.

At the same time, Lemillion popped out of the ground to deal a devastating punch to Chisaki's abdomen, forcing the man to turn his attention away from Eri and giving Kai a brief respite to check on the child. Settling into a crouch next to the small girl as she shivered in Lemillion's cape, he slowly reached out with his left hand to pat her on the back in a soothing motion that his mother had used on him when he was little. "Hey there," he said as gently as he could while Lemillion continued to beat on Chisaki in the background. "Are you Eri?"

It was the first time he'd actually gotten a proper look at the girl that they were all risking so much to rescue. Eri was painfully thin and wrapped in bandages, and her only piece of clothing was an oversized, dirty white gown. Her hair was long and matted, as if it hadn't been washed in some time, but it seemed to be colored an off-white with a blue tinge. Her eyes glimmered like twin rubies, and she had a little horn sticking out of the right side of her brow. With just one look at her terrified face, he could see just how much she had been suffering, and it angered him enough that he wanted to cut Chisaki open with his sword, see how he liked being treated as a lab rat.

"You and your friend…" Eri whimpered. "You have to go back. He'll kill you. I don't want that."

A particularly loud shout of pain from Chisaki suddenly brought to Kai's attention that it would probably be best if Eri didn't witness any violence that she didn't have to, so he moved to put himself in between her and the fight, keeping his touch gentle on her frail back and shoulders. In response to her declaration, he told her, "No, we won't die down here. We're going to save you, Eri, he and I." Putting a warm smile on his face, he forced himself to- at least temporarily- repress all of his unbridled hatred for the yakuza for the sake of this frightened little child in front of him as he asked, "Do you know why my friend calls himself 'Lemillion'?" When Eri could only shake her head in the negative manner, he told her, "Because he's the man that's going to save a million lives, yours' included. We're gonna get you out of here, I promise. We'll show you what it means to have a hero that you can look up to."

His scouter alerted him to an active quirk, so he turned around to see the man who he had blasted was back on his feet, though his gun seemed to be missing. Kai's device quickly scanned the man's appearance and found a match that made the boy nervous. That's Kurono, he realized as he watched Lemillion narrowly dodge an iron spear that Chisaki had torn out of the ground and reshaped using the support in the floor. If he hits Togata with his quirk-!

"Hang on a sec, Eri," he said as he took his hand off of her.

Lunging to his feet, he hurled his sword at the space in front of the man as he activated it, even as something silver flew out of the man's hood to strike at Lemillion. The elongated projectile dropped to the ground just shy of the hero's back, robbed of its direction and power, having been cut off at the source by Kai's spinning sword, which was now sticking into the far wall that Chisaki had erected to keep his enemies trapped. Said hero held out his hand and engaged his quirk in his arm to activate the magnetic function that Akarui had implemented and summoned his sword back toward him, even as Kurono glared at him from behind his own mask.

Kai caught his sword and bared a wolf's smile back at the man, as if daring him to try using his quirk again. Kurono's power was manifested in two distinguishable locks of his hair, one of which resembled the long hand of clock, and the other, the short. Both had their own time period of effect, but if someone was struck with either hand, they were slowed down to the point of almost total paralysis. In a fight against someone as powerful as Chisaki, such a hindrance would undoubtedly prove lethal- if Kurono could hit them.

The problem facing the Hassaikai members was that while they could decimate anyone who got too close to them, the only long-range fighter that they had on their side was Chisaki, and he was busy trying to stave off an untouchable opponent. He had no time to engage in a shoot-out with Kai, and Kurono's quirk wasn't going to catch the wary boy off-guard anytime soon. The yakuza gang was losing momentum, and they knew it.

Chisaki's temper finally exploded as he slammed both of his hands into the ground, tearing it open to the foundations of the complex and sending spikes out in every direction, no longer caring who or what got damaged. His own men managed to escape injury by sheer luck, while Lemillion continued to phase through the attacks, though he seemed to be getting a little worn out, because he backed off a bit this time. Kai had the roughest time of it, being forced to drop his sword and unleash a barrage of energy blasts to prevent Eri or himself from getting injured. Years of discipline instilled by his family and the training of his quirk at UA were the only things that kept them alive in that moment, but even so, he couldn't completely shield the both of them forever, and after a few seconds of intense fighting on Kai's part, he slipped up.

Blood spilled into his left eye and covered half his face as his head was struck with a jagged piece of rock, laying his skin open to the bone, destroying his scouter, and causing him to keel over in front of Eri as he clutched at the torn flesh with a groan of pain. He felt sick and cold, but he refused to lose consciousness. I have to keep her safe… he thought sluggishly. Togata is still fighting Chisaki… I need to keep Eri safe for him… So he can fight without… worrying about us.

Disoriented and unable to focus his uninjured eye, he blindly reached out and asked, "Eri…? Are you there?" He was trying to blink the blood out of his left eye, but both remained darkened in spite of his efforts. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you?"

"No," the tiny voice said, sounding like the owner was crying. "Please, leave me! I don't want anyone else to die because of me!"

"No one… has died because of you," Kai insisted as he forced himself to crawl on his hands and knees toward the sound of Eri's voice. "I'm not dead… and I won't die for a long time, either… I have people waiting for me to get back to them… And I have to protect you." He forced a smile onto his face as he just managed to make out a white blob trembling in front of him, and he moved closer to it. "If I die, how can I be sure that you're safe?" As he managed to sit in front of the little girl, he closed his eyes and put both of his arms around her, wrapping her up snugly in his arms all while telling her, "That's why I'm here today, Eri. Just like Lemillion, I am going to stand up… stand firm… and be your hero."

He felt like he was babbling a little bit by this point, which was entirely possible given the injuries he had sustained and the blood loss he had suffered. That didn't matter to him, though. In that moment, he didn't even care about his hatred for the yakuza clans, or beating Chisaki within an inch of his life, like he deserved. All that mattered was protecting a child that had known no love for God-only-knew how long, and showing her that she was worth protecting.

Eri was worth the burns, the bleeding, and the pain, and so much more. She was someone who needed a hero, and Kai was determined to give her one, no matter what it cost him. No one deserves the hell that she must have been living through, he thought tiredly as her tear-stained face finally started to come into focus. If I was born for no other reason than to rescue her from Chisaki's clutches, then I'd say my life has a good meaning to it, after all.

A new, peaceful smile had made its way onto his face when he heard Lemillion yell, "Kai, look out!"

Bang!

One minute ago…

Lemillion had seen Kai get struck down, and the blood that had sprayed on the ground in front of him. He knew that the other boy was still alive, but that didn't change the fact that he was very hurt- and only now did he notice the hideous burns on his comrade's back. He's been fighting with that kind of injury?! he thought as he turned his attention back to the Hassaikai boss. I'm sorry, Hikari! I shouldn't have asked you to fight as you are, but don't worry! I'll protect the both of you!

Phasing part way into the ground so that he could shoot back up toward Chisaki, he shouted, "You could have hurt Eri, but you didn't care, did you?!"

"Of course not," the villain growled as he slapped the wall next to him, sending spikes out to intercept Lemillion. "If she got injured, hell, even killed, it doesn't matter. I can put her back together again, no problem."

Lemillion let out a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a shout before he screamed, "It does matter, monster!" He slammed Chisaki with a double-kick that flung him against the wall. "You act like the suffering of one person means nothing, just because you think she's weaker than you! Well, make no mistake- even if you're strong…!" He phased his arm through his enemy's outstretched hand and punched him in the eye as he roared, "I'm STRONGER!"

The Hassaikai boss reeled, his brain trying to keep up with what was happening. After months of meticulous planning and research, just as he was about to take the first step to bringing the Yakuza back into power as the true rulers of Japan, two punks who weren't even real pro heroes were making piece meals out of his top operatives and beating him to a pulp! It shouldn't have been possible!

"You won't lay another finger on her!" Lemillion vowed as he slammed a heavy boot into Chisaki's shoulder, cracking and forcing the bones out of joint. "I'll take on anyone I have to!"

Just as Chisaki was about to be knocked to the ground again, they both heard a weak voice call out, "Master…?!"

"Nemoto!" Chisaki shouted desperately as he flung something from his pocket at another masked underling who was now crawling out of some of the rubble. "Shoot him!" A small box that held five red bullets clattered on the ground next to the prone villain, who immediately snatched up one of the projectiles that fell out and landed near him. He then loaded it into a revolver and aimed at Lemillion, who was instantly on his guard.

Is that one of those bullets that hit Tamaki? he wondered as he registered the unusual shape and coloring of the projectiles. If they had that kind of weapon, why didn't they use it earlier? They had enough to give out to their third party guys, so why be so stingy with something they clearly have plenty of? Unless…

A chill went through him as he realized that there could only be one reason that Chisaki would be reluctant to use such a weapon. Sir theorized that Chisaki was working toward a finalized product- something worse than a weapon that keeps us from using quirks for a little while! If he's been holding out on fighting with this, then that means he probably finished it; a weapon that'll totally destroy a person's power!

The chill in his body intensified as the yakuza member suddenly swung his aim to point at Eri and Kai. The young hero was hunched over the little girl, apparently trying to shield her with his body since he clearly wasn't capable of actually fighting right now. If he gets shot-!

There was no telling what the bullet would actually do to the young man if he was hit. Amajiki had a hard time healing from the bullet wound when he was shot in the street, but that had been the only aftereffect once his quirk came back. However, he had also been completely uninjured at the time, and furthermore, he was hit with an imperfect version of the quirk-destroyer. Kai was in serious need of a hospital, and it looked like he was about to get shot with something a lot worse than what had disabled Amajiki's powers. Something that troubled UA's top hero course student just as much was the potential of the bullet hitting poor little Eri, and adding to her already-long list of horrific abuses at the hands of the yakuza.

No more, he thought as he shot out of the ground at top speed to put himself on a path between Nemoto and the kids. I won't let them suffer anymore!

Kai flinched at the sound of a gunshot, followed by a bullet piercing flesh. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't his body that had been struck, though, and when he did, he looked at Eri again as he asked, "Did he… hit you?"

"No…" the girl answered, though she raised a hand and pointed at something behind the boy, causing him to slowly turn and focus his attention on what she was pointing out.

Then it was his turn to have his insides turn to ice as he saw Lemillion on all fours, his face twisted in pain with a bullet lodged in the back of his left shoulder. "What did you do?" he whispered, trying not to pass out as his head and back wounds throbbed painfully in tandem with his heartbeat.

"I couldn't… let him hurt you two," Lemillion laughed painfully. "But… my quirk is a small price to pay for Eri's safety… don't you think, Kai?"

"Your quirk?" the younger boy repeated, feeling dread clutch at his stomach, adding to the horrible sensations plaguing his mind. "He-?" Kai's head snapped over to where he could just make out their enemy, who was slowly getting to his feet, in spite of his injuries. "What did you do, Chisaki?!"

"I've abandoned that name, you fool!" the boss thug snarled. "I am Overhaul- and I will rip apart the foundations of the world you so-called heroes stand on! You're all sick in the head, thinking that your quirks allow you to become something greater than you actually are! I'm offering a permanent dose of reality! With Eri's power, I can cure you all of this hero sickness, and restore the era before quirks ruled society!"

"Lemillion, tell me he's bluffing," Kai begged the upperclassman, who was gathering his legs underneath him without a word. "Tell me you still have Permeation!" Silently, he added, I can't be the reason that he lost his quirk! I can't have robbed someone else of their birthright! I can't!

"Ironic, isn't it?!" Chisaki laughed at them as he stood up straight, looking like he'd been used by a gorilla as a punching bag. "You came here to save this girl, but it's her abilities that will undo everything you've worked to accomplish! You're powerless, both of you!"

Wham!

Kurono slammed into his boss, having been knocked unconscious by Chisaki's earlier rampage, and making him into a limp ragdoll for a certain hero to use as a distraction against his opponent. As the yakuza leader shoved his underling away from himself, he found that he was caught off-guard yet again. Lemillion's fist then smashed into Chisaki's forearm before he could react, his speed startling everyone, especially given how he should have been rendered totally helpless by the quirk-destroying bullet. "You're wrong!" he shouted at the criminal. "We are not powerless!" He sidestepped a grab from Chisaki and kneed him in the sternum, followed by another strike from his fist as he cried, "Kai hasn't let you hurt Eri yet, and I… I am still… LEMILLION!"

Kai's mind was utterly boggled by what he was seeing. Lemillion, having completely lost his powers, was still keeping Chisaki at bay, fighting like a man possessed to keep him and Eri safe. The villain kept getting close to grabbing ahold of the boy, but it was as though Lemillion still couldn't be touched by his foe, no matter how hard he tried. Fists, spikes, rock shards; nothing was keeping the third-year student down, not even when blood began to spill from his body for the first time in years.

Kai and Eri both watched him fighting, both of them dumbstruck at his sheer determination and undeniable skill. No quirk, no weapons, and no backup worth a damn, but he's still going, Kai thought as he felt tears leaking from his eyes, blurring his already-unstable vision. Togata… You should have let that bullet hit me, not you! I was never supposed to have a quirk in the first place!

It wasn't right, Kai thought in frustration. Why was it that the most heroic people were the ones that had to suffer the most? Why did All Might have to be humiliated and subjected to what had to be a slow and painful death by the injuries given to him by All For One? Why did Lemillion have to give up his power to keep him and Eri safe, when he should have been able to defend himself? Why did his uncle have to die so that Endeavor, of all people, could live?

Why did Mom have to go to jail, and why did Dad have to be killed because of me? he wondered as he put one foot flat on the ground and slowly started to rise, in spite of his aching body and his heavy heart. It's not fair… None of this is. However, as he clenched his teeth and breathed through them in a sharp hiss, he remembered what Aizawa had told their class on the first day at school.

Life isn't fair. It's a hero's job to combat that unfairness.

The 'why' of it all didn't matter- Kai knew that. He hated the fact, because he wanted to believe that just maybe there was a good reason for everything that he had suffered, but the truth was that nothing he had done could have changed any of the tragedies in his life. All that mattered was that he was standing there, in that moment, between little Eri and her tormentors. And if Lemillion could find it in him to continue battling and bleeding on behalf of the girl, then he could certainly muster up the strength to keep up the fight, too.

I can't move around too much, or I'll probably pass out from blood loss, and my eyes can't keep focus just yet, he thought as he closed his blood-encrusted lids, leaving him in total darkness. But I still have plenty of energy to spare… and I don't need my eyes to see or to fight!

He felt the third eye take shape on his forehead, allowing him to see clearly with his Energon in spite of his impaired optic nerves. He could see everything in the room and a fair distance beyond it, but all he cared about were the villains in front of him. He could see the one called 'Nemoto' crawling toward a little bullet case with what looked like needle-type projectiles. Without needing to be told, he knew what the four remaining bullets could do, and what could happen if Chisaki's man could get his hands on another one.

"Eri, stay behind me," Kai told the little girl as he settled into a wider, more stable stance. He was doing his best to ignore the fact that his Divine Eye was already starting to worsen his headache, but it was clear that he wasn't going to be able to sustain the power for long before he would black out from the pain.

But I don't need long, he thought as he gathered his power into his hands. Miming two quick punches, he fired twin bursts of condensed Energon across the room in a straight path that exploded on impact. The first one hit Nemoto's side, knocking him senseless and cracking several ribs where he was hit. The second blast hit the little box, incinerating the bullets from the initial impact as well as the resulting mini-explosion.

This caused Chisaki and Lemillion to both pause and retreat a couple of paces away from one another for a moment. "What was that?" the older man snarled, his breathing labored. "Were you trying to back up your friend because you realized that it's your fault that he has no chance of winning anymore?!" He hadn't yet realized what the energy blasts had done yet, Kai realized, and that could give Lemillion the opening that he needed.

"I wasn't… backing him up," Kai panted, his head swimming like a drowning fish. "I was making sure that everything you've worked for… has come to nothing."

"What are you talking about?"

"Even if we don't stop you here and now…" Kai said with a weak smile. "Even if you somehow managed to escape… you won't lay another finger on Eri. Other heroes will be here soon to take her to safety. And you won't even have anything… to show for all of your efforts." He kept up the grin and pointed at the spot where the bullets had been, waiting for the inevitable storm that was about to break. I hope you stop him before he throws another tantrum, pal, he thought as he waited for Lemillion and Chisaki to make their moves.

Chisaki, predictably, let out a furious howl as he realized that his years of ambition and months of tireless experimenting had just been turned into dust by a high school student. "Nemoto, you fool!" he raged at his unconscious subordinate. "How could you let this happen?! Why didn't you stop him?!"

Lemillion surged forward, clubbing Chisaki on the head with another mighty blow while his attention was diverted, sending the villain to the floor in pain- only to realize that he had just made a serious error in his desperation to see the fight over with. He had hit Chisaki in a way that sent him falling forward, which meant that his hands would hit the ground first- and at close range, he was very unlikely to miss his target.

Spikes shot up all over the room, stabbing into Lemillion midair, and impaling Kai's left leg, sending him to his knees as he recoiled and causing him to lose focus so that he stopped channeling energon through his Ajna chakra. Lemillion let out a groan of pain as he managed to extricate himself from the stones that were piercing his abdomen, arm and legs. Even so, he remained standing, determined to give Chisaki nothing in the way of a victory, not even the satisfaction of knocking him down.

Kai could hear Eri crying, so he opened his weakened eyes and looked at her while putting a smile back on his face. "Don't worry," he said tiredly. "We're okay… Help will be here soon." His vision was still a little blurry, but he was able to focus better now.

"No…" Eri said as her shoulders quaked while she stood up. "I can't watch this anymore… I have to go back to him… I can't let him keep hurting you for me."

"Eri, don't-" Kai started to protest, right before the wall exploded several-dozen yards behind him, stopping the both of them where they were. Deku arrived in a cloud of dust and lightning, followed quickly by Eraserhead and Sir Nighteye, all of them looking stunned by what they saw. "Deku…!" Kai called out in relief, drawing the heroes' attention to him. "Eri's over here!"

"I'll get them, you two need to finish Chisaki!" Nighteye said as he ran over to protect Kai and Eri. Eraserhead immediately engaged his quirk and nullified Chisaki's powers, much to the man's very vocal frustration. Meanwhile, Deku was speeding across the room, preparing to deliver a Detroit Smash to his face that would end the fight before it could really resume.

"Sir Nighteye…" Kai grunted as he tried to get up, only to find himself being assisted into a sitting position by the tall man, even as he pulled Eri close to him.

"Rest now," Nighteye told him. "You've done your part, Kai. Leave the rest to us."

"I'm sorry," Kai said as he fought to remain conscious through the pain in his head. "Lemillion… he lost his powers… because of me." As he spoke, Nighteye pulled out a long strip of cloth from one of his deep jacket pockets and quickly wound it around Kai's head to staunch the bleeding.

"That's not true," the blond boy grunted as he limped toward them, having apparently decided that he could now back off and leave things to Deku and Eraserhead. "I just made sure that you and Eri were safe from him… Now we can get her away from here."

"Your quirk is gone?" Nighteye asked, sounding stunned. "Chisaki has a complete product?"

"Not anymore, thanks to Kai here," Lemillion grinned in spite of the pain. "He made sure to destroy the other bullets… And judging from Chisaki's reaction, he doesn't have any more. Kai protected other heroes from having to guard against a terrible new weapon, and he kept Eri safe while I fought the others…"

"Eraserhead!" Deku's shout got them all to turn just in time to see the UA teacher get stabbed by a familiar strand of silver hair, instantly slowing his movements to the speed of a snail.

No… Kai thought blearily. "I thought I cut Kurono's…?"

"He has two parts that can channel his power, remember?" Lemillion reminded him as they watched Chisaki's right-hand man move to snatch up Eraserhead before he could hit the ground. "You only cut the one, and I thought I knocked him out. Looks like he's tougher than we thought."

"Enough speculation," Nighteye said as he stood up and readjusted his glasses. "Kai, Mirio, you need to get Eri out of here. I'm going to deal with Overhaul."

"Yes sir," Kai grunted as Lemillion helped him to his feet. He gently gripped Eri's hand with his flesh limb and moved along behind the older student, who was limping slowly. Good, he thought as his head swam. Slow is the only speed I can do right about now.

Before they could make it very far, they heard an inhuman scream coming from where Chisaki had been, along with an ominous rumbling in the ground that set them all on edge. They all turned involuntarily to see that Chisaki had undergone a horrific transformation, in which he had somehow completely undone all of the wounds that Lemillion had given him, and granted himself four monstrous arms twice as long and thick as the ones he'd been born with. His mask had also fused to his face, adding to the visual that he had given up his humanity for something far darker and more sinister.

"Ah…" Overhaul mused from behind his mask. "That's so much better. I've never been tainted with so much filth before. I lost my head there for a second- but now I can finally put all of you nuisances in the ground, where you belong."

"Aw, you gotta be kidding me," Kai groaned as he realized that they weren't just back at square one; they were much worse off than when the fight had started. "How'd he even do that?!"

"We can wonder about it later," Lemillion insisted as he continued to head for the hole in the wall that the others had made for them. Normally, the both of them could have cleared the space in less than a second, but with their injuries and a reluctant Eri in tow, it was going to take them a couple of very painful minutes.

And once we get out of the room, who knows how far we'll have to go before we can find one of the others to help us? Kai wondered.

He was relieved when Deku sped into view, landing right in front of the trio and looking none the worse for the things they'd endured that day. "Sir Nighteye told me to get you guys to safety," he informed them before he punched a new hole in the wall, one that would be easier for them to get through.

"Thanks, pal," Kai said as Deku grabbed him up from under his shoulder. An idea occurred to him, then, and he asked, "Hey… do you want me… to lend you my power?"

"Huh?" Lemillion grunted as he looked at the two of them in confusion. "What are you talking about, Kai?"

"He has the ability to share some of his strength with another person, but it always knocks him out," Deku explained as he shook his head in the negative. "I can't let him do that right now." Shifting his voice so that he would address his classmate, he said, "If you pass out, that'll just make it harder for Lemillion to get you both to safety, since I would have to use the power to fight Chisaki. Besides, that would go against Nighteye's orders for me to get you all somewhere safe."

Kai nodded, exhaustion written in the blood all over him. "I understand," he sighed. "We can always save it… for an emergency…" They were just inside the hole now, which led into a hallway that Kai was unfamiliar with, but he guessed that Deku and the others must have passed through at some point.

"Wait…" Eri sobbed, trying to pull away, but Kai held firm, in spite of his waning grip on consciousness. "I'm so sorry… I can't."

"Yes, you… can," the boy with the robotic limb groaned. "Just keep… putting one foot in front of… the other. It's how we move forward… from these things, Eri…" His mechanical arm trembled as it lifted off of Deku and moved to grip the frightened child's bandaged one. "I don't know what you've gone through…" he continued as he tugged on her frail limbs, encouraging her to take a step toward him, and away from the battlefield. "But I do know what it is to suffer… and to want to give in to our despair…" Clenching his teeth as his head screamed in agony, he managed to get out, "But there's always a new sunrise… no matter how dark the night is. You just have to keep walking to see it."

Eri looked into the bloodied eyes of the boy that had fought so hard to reach her, and taken such a harsh beating to protect her. She saw Lemillion's cuts and bruises, and cursed herself for being the cause for them. Yet from how they were standing and how they had spoken to her, she knew that there was no stopping them. If she went back to Chisaki, they would get themselves killed trying to go after her. If they were to have any chance of surviving this battle, she knew what she would have to do. Slowly, trembling and crying, Eri lifted her bare foot off of the torn-up rocks, and stepped into the hallway; her first step toward freedom.

Kai was about to smile at her when something caught his eye in the room beyond, where the fight was still going on. His skin paled even further than what the blood loss had caused, and his expression became one of horror. Lemillion and Deku saw it, too, and they both reacted in despair. Before Eri could turn around and see what had happened, Kai tugged on her and locked eyes with her again. "Lemillion is gonna take care of you now, okay? Do what he says, and you'll be alright."

Deku was already moving, charging toward Overhaul as the villain glared at the broken form of Nighteye with disgust from behind his warped plague mask. The hero's left arm was severed, much like Kai's right one had been, and there was a spike about a foot in diameter lodged in his stomach. He was spitting up blood, but Kai could still hear him screaming something.

"Let me see it!" the pro cried desperately before he suddenly stiffened and then went limp. Kai wasn't sure if he was already dead or not, but it was painfully clear that he wouldn't survive for very long, even if he was taken to a hospital. This sight ignited something inside of Kai in that moment; something that he had felt only once before, when Bakugo's life had been in danger during their summer training camp.

"Kai?" Lemillion asked as his schoolmate started to walk back through the hole in wall, following his friend. "Where are you going?"

"Get her out of here… and don't look back," Kai told him as he gripped his sword tightly, though he did not ignite the blade just yet. Almost to himself, he murmured, "I failed last time… I will not do it again… This time… This time, I'll keep my comrade safe!" Reaching back, he dug his metal fingers into one of his burns and let out a pained scream as his abused flesh protested the harsh treatment. It hurt like mad, but it helped to spur him awake instead of sinking back into the clutches of slumber.

Last time, Bakugo fell into a villain's clutches, he thought as he sent Energon throughout his body, pain and anger acting as his only motivations now. I will not let Izuku fall into a grave because of my ineptitude!

The air shuddered before him, and he saw Deku's body covered in twice the amount of bio-electricity that he usually sported as he stood not ten yards in front of Overhaul, who was menacing him with his four mutated arms. The villain planted all of those hands on the ground and sent a multitude of spikes at his newest quarry, who leaped up high to avoid them, winding up with his back pressed against the ceiling. While this was happening, Overhaul's eyes tracked him- making him oblivious to the threat Kai now posed.

"Yakuza bastard!" Kai roared as he shot forward in a single bound, activating his sword at the same time. Overhaul's masked gaze jerked downward as he realized that there was danger from more than one source once again. Two things then happened before he could react; first, Kai's sword cut off his first right hand and half of the other arm on the same side as he shot past. Second, Deku blasted himself off the ceiling and aimed to bring down a vicious axe kick on their enemy's head.

"Manchester… Smash!" he shouted as he connected with the ground, creating a deep crater where he and Overhaul stood. It was only after the blow had landed that he realized that Overhaul had just managed to back up out of the way, causing Deku's foot to miss him entirely.

"You're strong, kid, but compared to your friends, your moves are painfully obvious to read!" he growled as reached down with his rear left hand to touch the ground and conjure new spikes, two of which stabbed into Deku- one in his right forearm, and one in his left shin, putting him on his knees in front of the villain. "You're done. And as for your friend…" Overhaul snarled as he reached across with his front left arm and used it to reconstruct the right side of his body so that he had one complete monster arm instead of two half-dissected ones. "He's in for a world of pain he didn't even know existed… You should have never come back here, Kai!"

The teenaged boy was on the ground a few meters behind the man, his body utterly exhausted. It didn't matter that he had plenty of Energon left in the tank- his muscles were too battered to properly channel it anymore. Even so, he let out a weak laugh and said, "You're the only one who's finished… Chisaki. My old man put your traditional rivals… the Tono Family, and the Penta-Gram family, and more… out of commission. Isn't it fitting… that the son finishes the work of the father?" Another dry set of laughs came from his throat as he took comfort in the fact that no matter what happened to him, Lemillion would take Eri somewhere safe, and deprive their enemy of his victory. As he struggled to get back on his feet, he added, "You yakuza trash are done… and pain is an old friend. I don't care… what you do to me… But Deku… is gonna kick your ass."

"Is that right?" Overhaul snarled, pure hatred burning in his golden eyes. "Then let the sins of the father fall on the SON!" He slammed his palms into the ground, intent on rending Kai into thousands of bloody scraps, but he was foiled by Deku zipping over to his friend and getting him out of the way just in time. "You stupid kids are all the same, aren't you?" the gang leader growled as the green-themed hero slid to a stop on one of the few pieces of flat ground left in the room. "Though I suppose there's something to be said for persistence…"

He flexed his right hand before a mouth grew from within it and bellowed, "Someone else is about to die because of you! Is that really what you want, Eri?!" Something about the voice coming from his arm seemed much more potent and ominous than his original mouth, though how in the world that was escaped Kai, who was now on his very last legs.

"You should've gotten away with Togata and Eri," Deku scolded his friend as he set him down on unsteady legs. "Mina and Gang Orca would both kill you if they saw that."

"He can only channel his quirk… through his hands," Kai gasped painfully. "I was trying to cripple him… And I almost succeeded."

"Look, I know I'm the last person to lecture anyone about being reckless, but-!"

"Stop!"

The two boys froze at the sound of Eri's voice coming from the exit that Deku had made. Both they and Overhaul turned to see the little girl stumbling over some of the rocks as she begged, "I don't want this… Please stop it."

"Go back!" Kai groaned in desperation as he turned his body painfully to face the child. "You need… to stay with Lemillion!"

"Eri…" Overhaul almost crooned with his creepy hand-voice. "Look at them, broken and alone down here… You don't actually think that they can beat me, do you?"

Slowly, the girl shook her head in the negative as she answered, "No, I don't."

"Smart girl," Overhaul taunted her smugly, grating on Kai's already-bare nerves. "Now, what do you think is the right thing to do?"

"I'll come back," she sniffled, causing Kai's jaw to drop.

No! he silently raged. We were so close! She was ready to walk away from him on her own, dammit! NO!

"But…" Eri said before Kai could act on his building anger. "If I do come back… I want you to make them all better." As she spoke, she was slowly inching her way closer to the three of them.

"Ah yes, it's so much easier to be hurt yourself than to watch others be hurt for you, isn't it?" Overhaul asked as he lowered his hand and started using his normal voice again. Addressing the heroes now, he added, "You see what you've done? The brief spark of hope that Lemillion and Kai gave her has gone out. You're not heroes to her… She doesn't want you."

"So… what?" Deku panted as he reached down to grab the spike that was still lodged in his leg, yanking it out with a grunt. "Even if what you say is true… Even if she thinks she doesn't need us…" The boy flexed his hand and crushed the bloody concrete into dust as he shouted, "We won't let you down, Eri!"

Kai growled his agreement and held up his robotic hand, conjuring a small bolt of energy in front of his palm. "Like Lemillion told you… you're not laying another finger on her, Chisaki. I don't care what the odds are…"

"We don't care if the future has already been decided, even if it's written in stone!" Deku shouted as he tore the other spike out of his arm and gave it the same treatment as the first. "If destiny says that you beat us here, we'll smash that future!"

Before Overhaul could make a reply or move to counterattack, there was an ominous rumbling above them, right before the entire ceiling caved in, showering them with rubble and admitting a huge man in a mask that was being grappled by a dragon and three girls. Overhaul was swept aside by the winds generated by the dragon's wings, and it was all Deku and Kai could do to stand their ground as the five fighters hit the ground in front of them.

"Ryukyu?!" Kai yelped.

"Everyone else, too!" Deku added as his eyes brightened upon seeing Uravity and Ryukyu's other two sidekicks. "They came to help!"

"Deku!" the gravity heroine called down, looking relieved, and then puzzled. "Wait… If you're down here-?"

"Someone wanna fill me in on why there's two of your boyfriend?" Ruby asked as she zipped over to stand beside the two battered boys. "And why does this one look totally trashed?"

"Uh…?" Both Kai and Deku were incredibly confused now.

"A duplicate?" Ryukyu grunted, her ferocious teeth bared. "The League of Villains! They have a shape-shifter!"

"Whoa, this guy's the real one!" Kai panted as he held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Friendlies!" He wasn't entirely sure of why they were suddenly suspicious of his friend, but he also knew that they didn't have time to deliberate among themselves.

"Oh my-! Nighteye!" Uravity screamed as she saw the tall man, arm missing and his stomach still pierced by a large spike. He was barely breathing, but he was still alive.

"Help him!" Deku begged her, so the girls nodded and rushed to secure the wounded man.

The ground rumbled again, and Eri was suddenly catapulted into the air by a stone pillar. It wasn't hard to guess the source of the disturbance, and the boys quickly located him, planted on the ground with all three of his hands.

"Chisaki!" Kai shouted, reforming the energy in his artificial hand and blasting at the man, who raised another platform beneath himself to simultaneously snatch Eri up and avoid being struck by the blast.

"You filthy heroes screwed everything up!" he screamed back at them. There was something new in his voice this time, though. It was a tone that hadn't been present before now, not even when Lemillion had him cornered.

"He's afraid," Kai said just loud enough for Deku to hear him. "He knows he can't beat all of us, no matter how good he is. That's why he's running instead of trying to fight us." He could feel his limbs and eyelids growing heavy in spite of his desperate desire to save Eri and defeat Chisaki.

"I don't care what his reason is," Deku growled. "She's coming back with us!"

"I couldn't agree more," Kai said as he gritted his teeth and reached back to scratch at his burned skin again, giving vent to an animalistic growl of pain that jerked him back into awareness. "Let's… go… get her!" Both of them, holding on to each other for support, set their jaws and put more power into their damaged legs, sending them rocketing toward the pillar where Eri and Overhaul were waiting for them.

Eri trembled in the grip of her abuser, though her eyes remained unfocused and unblinking as she was carried away from the people that had fought so hard to get her away. It was all so pointless, she thought. Why were these people trying so hard to save her, a worthless girl that only caused death wherever she went? Chisaki was right; she was cursed.

Every caretaker that she'd ever had, Chisaki killed when she tried to escape them. Lemillion and his friends were dying because they had chosen to come after her. No one wanted to touch her. No one had ever cared about her. So why…?

A fluttering red fabric caught her attention, and it wasn't unfamiliar to her.

"That piece of junk is still around?" Chisaki grumbled as he too, noticed it. He would have gladly disintegrated the fabric if he weren't so busy using the rocks beneath them to escape.

Unseen by him, Eri reached out for the torn cape as she remembered Lemillion's words to her when he first caught her up. "I swear it, Eri. I am going to be your hero!"

Then there was Kai, the boy with the broken body that had come to save her in spite of his own suffering. "But there's always a new sunrise… no matter how dark the night is. You just have to keep walking to see it."

Lastly, there was Deku, with his implacable determination to see her safe, no matter what Chisaki threatened to do to him. "If destiny says that you beat us here, we'll smash that future!"

The red cape, tattered and worn, was guided by the wind into her waiting hand as a blinding light filled her vision. She felt Chisaki's grip come off of her back, and she was free to move, even as she clutched at the cape like a lifeline. It doesn't matter why they're doing this, she realized as she stepped toward the edge of the pillar. They aren't going to stop, not ever!

She could see Deku and Kai, still racing toward her, ignoring their hideous injuries, their faces strained with determination as they sought her out. I have to let them save me, she thought as she reached the very edge of the rock slab. I have to go back… and trust them!

She drew in a deep breath and then took the leap of faith out into open space.

"Eri!" Deku called out as he and Kai used a piece of falling rock to propel themselves even faster through the air, desperate to catch up to the little girl that they could see atop the pillar, just out of their reach.

This time, we won't let Chisaki have her, Kai thought as he eyed the distance between them and the girl. It'll be different, now. It has to be.

"Eri!" Deku shouted, more desperate than ever as blood sheeted out of his leg. Kurai could see the look of desperation on his friend's face, a desire beyond a simple wanting to save Eri. In that moment, he could see just how much letting the girl go had hurt him, and what it would do to him if he were to lose her again. He has to be the one to save her, he realized as a new plan sparked in the back of his head. It's just my job to get him there.

This wasn't just a fight to save Eri, now. He had to save Deku from his own self-doubt and the broken resolve that would come about if Chisaki escaped with the girl. No matter what happened to him, he had to see this through to the end.

No matter what the cost is, Eri goes free today! Kai vowed as he suddenly grabbed Deku's arm, much to the surprise of his friend. Giving the other boy a fierce grin, he said, "Go get her." With that, he planted his feet on the moving rock, yanked on his friend with all of his might, and swung him around himself in order to catapult him skyward, right at Eri in the same instant that she jumped off the pillar.

Like a pair of magnets, the two of them were drawn together until they collided in midair, whereupon Deku wrapped the girl up in his arms, relief flooding his body as she held on to him. She wasn't trying to escape, and she wasn't just staying limp in his grasp. She was holding on to him, of her own free will.

"Got you," he reassured her as she tightened her hold. "I won't let you go." Unseen by the pair, Kai's bloodied face split with a joyous smile, though it was quickly replaced by a look of panic.

There was a cracking sound, followed by Chisaki screaming, "Give her BACK!" Spikes shot out of the pillar, which had ground to a halt. He was trying to kill Deku without regard for what could happen to Eri now.

"She's NOT YOURS'!" Kai roared in response. He leaped away from the pillar and filled the air with energon blasts, heedless of how much energy he burned through, and not even bothering to check how soon it would be before he collided with ground below him. All that mattered was giving Deku enough time to get Eri away from the monster that had trapped her for so long.

He passed Deku and their rescue in the air, and he saw how desperately she was holding onto the other boy, even as a brilliant golden light shone from her horn, bathing all three of them in a warm radiance. She's come back, and that means we can finally save her! Kai thought fiercely. So he conjured bolt after bolt of raw energy to counter the spikes that were trying to kill his friend, even as Deku himself practically blazed with lightning, moving faster and faster until…

Mataras: Happy Birthday to your story, good sir. As promised, an extra-long chapter for our readers to make up for the shortened length for the prior two.

Kai: Thank you for sustaining us for so long.

Mataras: You're welcome.

Kai: Even if that sustenance seems to be fueled almost entirely by your moonlighting as a sadist!

Mataras: There it is. Man, and I was trying to have a nice moment!

Ashid Queen: Then be nice to him!

Mataras: I'm trying!

Kai: Try harder!

Deku: Guys, you said you'd be nice for the anniversary episode, didn't you?!

Mataras: I am being!

Kai: I don't recall.

Ashid Queen: I didn't agree to anything!

Mataras: Then why are you here?!

Ashid Queen: Because I didn't get invited for the last anniversary chapter!

Deku: Um, speaking of the last anniversary chapter, that marked the beginning of a new phase in the story. But here...

Mataras: Oh no, we're not done with this phase.

Ashid Queen: What were the driving factors between the different phases, again? It seems like each of them are completely different in length.

Kai: Phase one was me overcoming the physical limits of my quirk.

Deku: Phase two involved him coming to terms with the abuse that he's had to suffer because of the villains, both mental and physical.

Mataras: The ongoing phase three concerns him embracing and solidifying his hero identity into the image that he wants to present not only to the public, but even to himself.

Ashid Queen: You sure him coming to grips with all the crap he's had to go through ended with phase two? Seems like he's still got some of that going on.

Mataras: Well, of course. Life doesn't stop throwing challenges at you after you think you've learned your lesson well enough. It has a way of throwing sucker punches as soon as you lower your guard.

Kai: Kind of like how you got in a car wreck (probably totaled your vehicle), had plumbing issues, and your washing machine and dryer all broke within a week of each other?

Mataras: ...Don't talk to me.

Deku: Oh no! Are you okay?

Mataras: Eh... No one was hurt in the accident, I was able to fix the plumbing myself, and I should be able to get a replacement set of machines here in a few weeks. Hopefully.

Ashid Queen: Maybe your author decided that things were going too well for you?

Mataras: That's not funny! Stop trying to be funny!

Kai: Making me laugh.

Mataras: Gah!

Ashid Queen: Next time- Who We Are

Deku: Be on the lookout for this next chapter next week!

Kai: That's a lot of releases in three weeks.

Mataras: I'm trying to keep up with both the regular schedule and the anniversary. After this, the releases will go back to being every other week.

Ashid Queen: Get ready to see the future number one hero and the Guardian Go Beyond!

Kai/Deku: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Unveiling...

Ignorant of these things, Overhaul rumbled in a warped voice, "Neither of you realize what Eri is truly capable of. I conducted countless experiments in order to extract her power and distill it into the ultimate form: a power that doesn't just rewind the flesh, but that of the species, taking them back to a time before quirks ever existed! You get it now?! Eri represents change! The ability to annihilate quirks once and for all; cure this hero sickness!" His six massive hands with no skin began to carry him forward, crushing the street beneath and creating new spikes that were surely meant to kill the boy keeping his prized possession away from him. "She. Is. Mine! A little boy like you doesn't know how to use her! It's up to me to cure humanity!"

Tar-and-concrete spikes shot forth at Overhaul's maddened command, but Deku was done waiting to see how his enemy would act. He disappeared without so much as a blur to mark his movements, much to his enemy's fury. Before he could even try to guess at where his targets had gone, Overhaul heard somebody let out a piercing whistle on his right, drawing his attention to a shirtless boy with orange hair and eyes that glowed like wildfire. "You…" Overhaul rumbled as he recognized the other schoolboy that had given him so much trouble. "You and your friend are DEAD!"

Much to his utter shock, however, instead of being even remotely frightened or angry at him, Kai began to laugh right before he said, "Nope! He's Deku, and I'm Kai!" He continued to laugh, grating on his enemy's nerves until Overhaul raised a massive hand, intending to crush the boy and scatter the atoms of what remained.

Kai saw this and ceased his laughter, although a smile that contained traces of madness remained. Just before Overhaul's fist closed in around him, he said in a cheery voice, "Bye-bye!