"Sensei! You can't fight them alone!"

Izuku had let go of Katsumi's hand as he shouted after their teacher. Aizawa walked purposely to the edge of the platform, his bandage scarf flowing around his neck. Izuku tried to reason with him, the impossibility of his victory hung heavy on all of their heads as the kids watched with wide eyes the army of grunts that approached them.

"Your fighting style isn't suited to head-on battle!" Izuku pleaded with him, "A frontal battle is-"

"No good hero is a one-trick pony."

Katsumi watched in awe as Aizawa jumped down the side, barreling down into the army of villains as he shouted out to Thirteen to protect the students. Lunging forward she tried to watch him as he began to fight back the encroaching hoard.

"Wow! He can hold his own even when outnumbered!" Izuku's voice came from beside her. As Katsumi turned to glance at her she felt a sudden hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you two!" It was Ashido, her black eyes wide and shoulders tense as she glanced around skittishly, "C'mon! Let's go!"

"But-" She began to protest, but the rest of the class was already approaching the door.

"This is no time for analaysis!" Iida called to them as he ushered the others away, "Hurry up and evacuate!"

The three of them quickly caught up to the group as they hurried to the exit. Katsumi glanced behind her, the army of villains still approaching, she could still see him, a large purple monster by his side. Something felt missing though.

"I'm afraid you will not be leaving."

Kurogiri. The group froze as the 'man' who had been tailing her all those months blocked their path with dark, swirling purple mist. His bright yellow eyes stared down at them, and despite their more flame-than-eye nature, Katsumi could feel his gaze momentarily land on her.

"Greetings." His voice was deep and distorted, it reminded her of that man's voice through that stupid laptop, "Nice to meet you, we are the League of Villains. It may be presumptuous of us but we have invited ourselves into the home of the heroes, UA High School in order to have All Might, the Symbol of Peace, take his last breath."

Well, here it was, she couldn't say she was shocked. Izuku looked at her, eyes wide, fear clearly written on his face. Katsumi didn't have to fake a reaction of fear, it had been bubbling up inside her all day, if not for the last few weeks, and now, it was happening. The problem was rearing its ugly face in front of her.

"I believe he was supposed to be here today, and yet I see no sign of him. There must've been some sort of change in plans we could not have foreseen. Ah, well, in the end, I suppose it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play."

Boom!

Kirishima and Bakugou had lept forwards, the latter releasing a loud explosion as they made contact with the mist.

"Did ya think we were just gonna stand around and let you tear this place to shreds?"

Morons! Katsumi gritted her teeth. They had no idea!

"You live up to your school's reputation." Kurogiri was unfazed by the attack, of course. "But you should be more careful, children. Otherwise, someone might get hurt."

Die, die, die! She wanted that stupid old purple fart to drop dead. Just another of that man's pawns, following his orders gleefully and for what? Her knuckles were white with how hard her fists were clenched.

"You two, get out of the way, right now!" Thirteen called to the two boys.

"I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades… and your deaths!"

It happened in a moment, Katsumi heard a yelp beside her, Ashido being engulfed in the mist. She didn't even get the chance to second guess herself before she was yanking her away, in the same motion throwing herself into the dark mist.

The heat was the first thing to hit Katsumi. The smoke second. She had landed hard on concrete, disorientated and gasping. She pushed herself up, gasps turning to coughs from the smoke. As she rose from the rough concrete, she felt the blistering hot air singe the little hairs on her skin.

"Yagi-san!"

A boy's voice she didn't really recognise called out to her, but before she could respond a firm kick collided with her skull, knocking her back down.

"Haha! Well, what do we ha- ack!"

Katsumi managed to get up and turn her head in time to see the sneering villain be thrown to the side with a loud thud. She spun around, still sitting on the debris-ridden floor, to see his body slam against a wall of one of the tall buildings surrounding them.

"Yagi-san! Are you okay?"

Blinking, she turned back around to where the voice was coming from. A boy with slicked-back blonde hair, dressed in a karate gi with a wide, muscly tail offered her a hand, eyes filled with barely disguised panic. She didn't get a chance to respond as her eye caught a flash of movement behind him.

She took the hand, pulling herself up and pushing past him to swing a wide kick at the figure that was about to hit a spiked punch at the boy's head. She made contact with his jaw, hard. Steel-shelled foot struck him with a crack as his jaw was knocked off its hinges. The man wailed as he doubled over in pain, clutching his hanging jaw. Wasting no moment she brought a fist down fiercely onto his head, knocking him out cold.

Taking in deep breaths she surveyed the area. This was bad, maybe? Yeah, she may not be dead but from what she could tell Kurogiri had used whatever warping quirk he had to split everyone up. She did not know what they were planning, but this divide-and-conquer strategy should have been obvious. Was it just her and this other boy in this area? Where was everyone- where was Izuku dammint? She was supposed to be watching out for Izuku! Had everyone been thrown somewhere random? Or based on their quirks? Where was Izuku then? She should have asked more questions about their plans, but honestly, she didn't want to be around that man for any longer than needed. What she needed to do was obvious, get out.

There were more coming, the fire that surrounded them was slowing them down but the villains had seen them now. They were in some sort of dark, enclosed dome, clusters of raging fire peppered around the only source of light. She could vaguely remember a dome before, must be the fire simulation area. It was so hot, a stark contrast from the cold fear she was feeling only moments ago. Her skin was already growing sticky with sweat, hair sticking on the back of her neck. She took a hairband she had on her wrist and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail while her eyes surveyed the area. She had no clue where the exit was.

"Ojiro right?" She asked, turning around.

"Yeah, thank you-" His eyes were wide, obviously still in shock, "you saved me."

"Save it." She walked past him to the wall of the tall building he had been thrown next to, "We gotta get out of here first."

"What are we going to do? They're coming closer," Ojiro eye's were glued to the approaching gaggle of grunts, "and we have no idea what their quirks are!"

"These are all third-rate losers," Katsumi glared up at the building, the sides were flat, but most of the windows were broken and not that far apart. "All they have on us is numbers. We're going to climb up one of these buildings and look for the exit." She turned to Ojiro who was understandably still disorientated. Only a minute ago they had been in the bright, cool main area of the facility, now they had been thrown into what was practically an oven with how damn hot it was.

Katsumi looked at him, eyes steady, her expression confident, hoping it would relax him. "We'll make a run for it and meet up with whoever we find first."

She had to get back to Izuku, she was too focused on getting Ashido out of the way she hadn't even seen where he had ended up, she should have stayed focused.

"How are we going to get up there? All the buildings have fire inside, what if we're blocked off? Surely it's best to fend them off here, I'm sure a teacher will-"

"We don't have time to wait around!" She snapped back, "Everyone is fending for themselves, even the teachers. No one is coming. If you want to stay here, do that, the only person who can save you is yourself after all. But if you come with me, we can work together and get out."

He looked at her, then at the approaching hoard. Gritting his teeth he turned back to her, "How are we getting up?"

"Not easily." She huffed, "Your quirk's that tail right? I'm sure you can lift your body weight with it?"

"Yeah…" His tone did not inspire confidence, but there was no time for pep talks.

"You're going to use your tail to pull yourself up using the window ledges."

"Huh?" Ojiro's brows shot up as his gaze flickered to the windows, "But most of the windows have glass and even the broken ones have shards and that'll-"

"That's why I'm going first," Katsumi stopped him, "I'll clear off the glass so you won't get cut."

"But what about you?"

"We don't have time for this-" Katsumi growled, the jeering of the grunts only getting louder and louder, "don't argue and make sure to keep up."

The building was about fifteen stories high and most of the floors were just as Ojiro said, completely engulfed in flames. It made climbing difficult, the heat singeing and burning Katsumi's legs as she passed the openings. It was methodological, Katsumi stretched an arm up to break the glass and get a good grip on the ledge before she pulled herself up to the next window. Her hands and forearms were bloody, constantly getting sliced and caught by the sharp edges of the glass. It was nothing she couldn't handle though, and the wounds would disappear soon enough.

Ojiro followed her, using his tail to push himself up and grab hold of the cleared ledges. A couple of the villains shot out what seemed to be some sort of arrows at them, their aim was abysmal, and the problem was solved after Ojiro threw a table from one of the floors into the crowd beneath them. Still, they had to work fast, who knew when one of the grunts would start to try to climb after them?

"Fucking finally." Katsumi huffed, her thighs still hot from the fire. Her arms were completely smeared with blood, her costume and thighs smudged with it from her arms brushing against them. She sighed, wiping her hands off onto her leotard before she began to pick off the shards of glass that had lodged themselves into her flesh.

"Oh god!" Ojiro gasped, panting slightly. He stared with horror at her as she turned around, arms held out in front of her.

"I'm fine, see?" She wiped the blood away, revealing undisturbed skin. His expression was more shocked than before. Grimacing, she thought of a way to move on from the conversation.

"Part of my quirk," she explained, it wasn't a complete lie. "Anyways," she waved him off dismissively, "we gotta start looking for an exit."

Ojiro found it before her, calling her over to the far side of the building and pointing to what looked like a door about half a kilometre away.

"Okay," Katsumi stood back from the edge, taking in a deep breath. "You think you can jump across the buildings or do you wanna go back down and run through the streets with all the villains?"

"Jump across the buildings?" He blinked, "Can you do that?"

"Didn't you see me before," Katsumi snorted, holding a still-bloody arm out and stretching it forward. "Can't you propel yourself with your tail?"

"Well I-" Lips pursed, he looked away, "I don't know, I've never tried and-"

"Can you try?"

"If I fall I'm a goner Yagi!" He exclaimed, "I'm sorry but do you really expect me to be able to jump that far?"

Katsumi took in a deep breath, she could have been halfway to the exit right now if he wasn't with her. She had to get to Izuku, but she didn't really want to leave this kid alone.

"You're Dad," he said suddenly, "they said they're after him right?"

"Doesn't matter," Katsumi laughed bitterly, "he's not here."

"Don't you think they might go after you though?"

Katsumi looked up at him, fear striking through her for a second. He surely saw it, the widening of her eyes and twitch of her mouth, he didn't know the true reason though. They had already gone after her, they'd got her, she wasn't worried about that, there was no point. It was just him saying that which shocked her for a moment.

With a deep breath, Katsumi stepped closer to Ojiro. "Look man," she rubbed her brow, "I gotta get back, I can't sit by when I don't know if everyone else is safe. I don't want to leave you alone either…"

Ojiro didn't reply for a moment, staring at the floor. The crackle of the fire and shouting of the villains beneath them, surely trying to figure a way to get up to them filled the thick air.

"That's what a hero does I guess," he said finally, making Katsumi blink in surprise, "only stop when everyone's safe, I mean."

"Yeah," Katsumi blinked, the idea of her being any sort of heroic not fully computing in her head. "I guess so."

"Okay," he nodded, clenching his fist in front of him, "let's get out of here Yagi-san."

"Call me Katsumi."

"Oh, uh, maybe…"

"Normally I wouldn't want blood and viscera flooding the insides of my warp gates, but I'll make an exception for a hero as great as you."

Unlikely to succeed he had said, designed to fail. So why, why was she seeing her father stuck holding the large body of one of the villains, the bird-like creature's claws clenched into the exact spot where his wound that had weakened him all those years ago was?

She had just about seen it go down, Ojirio and she had burst through the door of the dome, managing to lose the hoard of villains that had attempted to follow them. As their bodies, sweaty and panting, hit the cool air of the main area they were met with the sounds of heavy fighting.

She didn't know when her father had arrived but now she wished he hadn't. He had slammed the bird-like man, somehow even more massive in stature than her father, to the ground only for one of Kurogiri's portals to open up for the purple man, the villain's upper body appearing below her dad and grabbing onto his sides.

Just like before with Ashido, she didn't have a moment to properly think before she sprinted forward. Ojiro's calls for her to slow down fell on deaf ears as she pumped her legs faster than she had ever before.

If he died right now, if that thing killed him, it was her fault.

He was going to cut him in two. She wouldn't let that happen. Her mind briefly flashed to what punishment might await her for intervening, but her father's life was worth a million of her own. He was the symbol of peace, millions, billions of people looked up to him if he died, there would be no hope. That man would be able to get his fingers in every corner of the country and turn it into chaos. Katsumi hated how the world worked, how it threw away the 'undesirable' and platformed the selfish, but the world that man promised was not anything better. Her dad was actually someone who did good, who represented good, and not just that, but he was her dad.

Tears were spilling from her eyes as she ran, her eyebrows flying up as her eyes spotted a head of messy green hair, also running.

"All Might!"

"Izuku! Don't-" she shouted.

"Get the hell out of my way Deku!"

Katsumi skidded to a halt only five feet or so from the fight, as Bakugou flew forward, propelled by the force of an explosion, grabbing straight for the metal collar around Kurogiri's neck he detonated a large blast against it, slamming it into the ground.

"One of your poorly trained thugs told me you're here because you think you can kill All Might."

Katsumi's mind felt fuzzy as she watched ice encase one side of the purple creature, stopping right before it reached her father. She flinched as a flash of red hair past her, swiping and missing at a person in front of her she hadn't noticed.

"Dammnit I almost had him!" Kirishima grunted as he joined the other boys as All Might got up, freeing himself from the claws of the creature.

"Yagi-san!" Ojiro's breathless call came from behind her, finally catching up. Katsumi could only hold her arm out to stop him.

She had found herself on the wrong side, for as the group of her classmates and her father stood opposite her, in between them was the young man dressed head-to-toe in black.

"Katsumi Yagi…" He muttered it, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, Katsumi didn't see the terrified look on Izuku's face or her father's call to get back, too focused on the glimpse of red behind the grey hand that gripped his face. His eyes looked her over, piercing deep into her, she felt as if he was reading every little line of DNA in her body, her whole existence exposed.

What was he going to say? Was he about to ignore that man's plan and out her involvement in front of everyone? What was she saying, of course he wouldn't… right? But the way he looked at her, that cold, piercing stare, half-hidden by the grey hand that grasped onto his face, he seemed just as cold as any other of the villains there. That thought made her stomach drop.

"Ka- Yagi!" Her father shouted, "Both of you, get back!"

"Katsumi!" Izuku called out.

Tomura turned away from her, not saying another word. As he turned Katsumi felt her heart sink, it had been such a long time, of course, he would have changed, she was stupid to think this would be easy.

"Kurogiri." His voice was strange, was it like that back then? Raspy, the annoyance in his voice palpable, "How could you let this brat get the best of you? You've gotten us into a real jam here."

"Heh," Bakugou grinned, still pinning the man down. "You got careless, you dumb villain. It wasn't hard to figure you out. Only certain parts of you turn into that smoking warp gate. You used that mist to hide your actual body, as a kind of distraction. Thinking that made you safe!"

The annoying idea that maybe her friend's childhood bully wasn't as stupid as she would have liked to believe crept into her mind only to be swiftly swatted away due to the absolute unimportance of it, seeing the current situation.

"Yagi-san!" Ojiro whispered from beside her, "We should move!" Katsumi didn't respond, watching as Bakugou threatened Kurogiri, keeping him pinned to the floor.

"They escaped uninjured and captured my two strongest men," Tomura muttered to himself. "Kids these days really are amazing. They make the League of Villains look like amateurs… Can't have that. Nomu."

The loud screech of the creature as it exited the portal felt like an audible manifestation of the feeling that hit Katsumi at the sound of that name. Her eyes snapped to the purple 'man' if it could be called that anymore. Brain exposed, eyes bulging, a bird-like head on a large, overly muscular purple body. It ripped itself free, its leg, arm and part of its chest crumbling off as shards of ice. Her gaze flicked back to Tomura, she was sure she saw a flash of red behind the hand, as if he had been looking at her.

"Stay back, everybody!" Her father commanded, holding an arm out. He looked to Katsumi, eyes begging her to snap out of whatever fear-fuelled paralysis had captured her and run away, but she stayed frozen, eyes wide as she watched Nomu's limps regrow themselves.

"I thought you said his power was shock absorption." All Might glared at the villain the warp-quirk user had called Shigaraki. He was too close to his daughter, why he hadn't attempted to catch her for a hostage was beyond him, he had certainly seen her, the moment when he had turned to her, and said her name, striking a fear through him he had not felt for a long time. But he had simply turned back around.

Whatever the reason, it couldn't matter now, the issue of the large monstrous man in front of him, the injuries he had sustained disappearing as if they had never happened as he roared, ready for another round. All Might, however, was at his limit and he clutched at his bleeding wound.

"I didn't say that was his only Quirk." Shigaraki smirked, "He also has super‐regeneration. Nomu has been modified to take you on even at one hundred percent of your power. He's basically a highly efficient punching bag that hits back."

"Yagi-san." Ojiro had his hand on Katsumi's shoulder now, trying to pull her back.

"First, we need to free our method of escape."

Katsumi heard Ojiro gasp behind her as Nomu shot forward with an unnatural speed, heading right for Bakugou. In one instance Katsumi saw her father spring into action, Bakugou thrown to the side as he took the force of the attack, a huge whirling dirt cloud flying back, the dust settling to reveal All Might, blood spurting from his clenched teeth.

"Dad!" Her hoarse cry rang out.

"All Might!"

Kurogiri appeared beside Tomura who hummed thoughtfully. "So, he protected the child, huh? Surprising-" he huffed, glancing behind him again to where the horrified girl still stood, the moment he did his shoulders stiffened, eyes landing on where Ojiro held onto her shoulder.

"These are kids," his head snapped back around when All Might's angry shout rang out, "and you didn't hold back?"

"I didn't have much choice. He was threatening my companion. Besides, these kids are no angels. The plain‐looking one? He tried to kill me with a maxed‐out punch. What kind of 'hero' does something like that? You think you can get away with being as violent as you want if you say it's for the sake of others."

"Well, you know what, All Might? That pisses me off. Why do people get to decide that some violent acts are heroic and others are villainous? Casting judgment as to what's 'good' and what's 'evil'. You think you're the Symbol of Peace? Ha. You're just another government‐sponsored instrument of violence. And violence always breeds more violence. I'll make sure the world understands that once you're dead."

Is that what he thought..? Katsumi grimaced as she listened to the conversation, eyes constantly darting to the Nomu, unmoving. That man, and that doctor… they had actually done it… Of course, he neglected to tell her about it. 'Designed to fail'… She'd been tricked.

"You're nothing but a lunatic." Her father shot back, unimpressed by the young man's ramblings, "Criminals like you always try and make your actions sound noble. But admit it; you're only doing this because you like it. Isn't that right?"

"He's got me figured out…" He mumbled looking down to the ground before he laughed, "Well, maybe your daughter would agree more with me, seems she's only here because you didn't want her beating people half-to-death without a permit. A violent delinquent gets to go to the most prestigious hero school instead of a cell, all because her daddy's a famous pro… That's righteous isn't it?"

He knew about that? She felt her heart drop, she couldn't respond to that, only looking to her father who shook his head, teeth grit tightly together.

"Katsumi! Ojiro!" Izuku called out to her, his eyes wide. The other boys looked at her, confusion about the villain's words clear in their faces. Why did Tomura have to say that?

"We've got them outnumbered and surrounded. And Kacchan found the mist guy's weakness!"

"These dudes may act really tough," Kirishima nodded, brows furrowed as he focused back on the task at hand, "but we can take 'em down now with All Might's help."

"Don't attack." All Might appeared, getting in front of them, "Get out of here. You two also!" He said, looking past the Villains to Katsumi and Ojiro.

"You would've been in trouble earlier if it weren't for me, remember? You need our help." Todoroki reminded him, cooly, already preparing to attack again.

"Yagi, what are we doing?" Ojiro whispered, Katsumi took in a deep breath, she had been standing frozen too long, but if she moved at all, she might risk Tomura saying something. The way he had spoken about her arrest… something in her shifted. Right now that was not Tomura, this was a villain she needed to deal with. Any empathy needed to be pushed to the side, she could try to reason with him later, now she knew what she was dealing with, right now, she had to make sure her classmates were safe.

"Uh," she muttered, looking hopelessly at the floor before sucking in a deep breath. "Wait for an opening then try to join up with the others. We're vulnerable here."

"Okay," he nodded, swallowing hard.

"It's gonna be all right kids." Her father clenched his fist as he faced the Nomu and Tomura, "Just sit back and watch a pro at work."

Izuku was saying something to him, most likely that he was absolutely running out of time, for fuck sake! It took every ounce of Katsumi's self-control not to cry out, instead slowly stepping back, signalling to Ojiro to get ready to run.

"Nomu. Kurogiri. Kill him. I'll deal with the children. Let's clear this level and go home." As Tomura spoke he began to lunge towards the group of boys. Katsumi lurched forward instinctively. The Nomu too began to barrel towards her father, making Katsumi freeze as her eyes were torn from Izuku.

"Now?" Ojiro asked quickly, eyes darting to the boys as they readied themselves. Despite her best efforts Katsumi began to shake, this was all her fault. Was she actually going to have to fight him? It was either that or watching her friends be disintegrated before her eyes.

In the end, there wasn't a need for Katsumi to do anything, because her dad was there.

"I am the world's Symbol of Peace and Justice!"

Shockwaves exploded out, sending everyone flying back as All Might's fist met the overgrown one of the Nomu. The creature screeched loudly, her father's battle cry droned out by the high-pitched wail. Katsumi was thrown a good couple of meters back, as she slowly got up, her eyes returning to the monstrous form of the Nomu, one thought crossed her mind-

'That could have been me.'

"Weren't you listening?" Tomura shouted angrily as he regained his composure after being thrown back, "One of his powers is shock absorption."

"Yeah?" her father laughed, his signature grin before he swung another powerful punch at the Nomu, "What about it?"

They traded blow after blow, so fast Katsumi struggled to keep up. Ojiro rushed towards her, helping her stand as the gusts of wind hit them again and again.

"No! I can't get near them!" Katsumi's head spun to where Kurogiri's voice came from, the wind keeping him from interfering.

"Haha," Katsumi laughed, staring wildly at the two villains.

"Yagi-san!" Ojiro strained to be heard over the wind, "I think your dad's gonna win!"

"Obviously!" She laughed, slightly unhinged as she forced herself to believe it.

"He said your Quirk was only shock absorption, not nullification. That means there's a limit to what you can take, right?" All Might grunted as he put all the force he could muster into each punch.

"So, you were made to fight me, big guy. If you can really withstand me firing at one hundred percent of my power…" The image of his daughter's terrified face flashed into his mind, "...then I'll have to go beyond that and force you to surrender!" He yelled. The wound on his stomach ached, his body felt cold and yet his blood raced and sweat dripped down his chin as he forced himself to punch again and again, each punch fueled with all his strength.

"Dad!" He heard Sumi's voice call out over the sound of punches and his own head throbbing, "Beat his ass!"

With that All Might shouted, and an uppercut collided with the chin of the Nomu, sending it flying back, the force of the punch so great the concrete floor broke as the creature crashed across it.

"A real hero…" he declared as he jumped into the air, chasing the villain, fending it off as it pounced onto him, "will always find a way for justice to be served!"

Katsumi watched in awe as her father fought the Nomu in the air, grabbing his arm he swung him around and sent him shooting down to the concrete with a roar. The concrete shattered like glass, large chunks of debris flying up, Katsumi covered her head with an arm, the other held to protect Ojiro.

"Now for a lesson." Her father's words echoed as he landed, standing strong against the towering beast, "You may have heard these words before, but I'll teach you what they really mean. Go beyond!" He pulled back his fist, holding out his other hand in front as he wound up his attack, "Plus Ultra!"

The force of the punch almost looked like it was making the Nomu implode, its torso bloating as bright orange light shone through its leathery purple skin. It was thrown up, shooting above their heads and smashing through the dome, the lights exploding as their circuits were overwhelmed by pure force. The whole dome and everything shook as if there was an earthquake.

"He- he did it." Ojiro's said breathlessly. Katsumi's eyes were glued to the dust cloud left on the ground, her father's silhouette slowly becoming clearer.

"I really have gotten weaker. Back in my heyday, five hits woulda been enough to knock that guy out." He beat his fist to his chest. Katsumi exhaled, relief rushing through her as she saw her father's wide grin. "But today, it took more than three hundred mighty blows."

The relief didn't stay for long, as the longer she looked at him, she slowly saw the full picture. Blood dripped from his mouth, his legs shook slightly and it was hard to see through the dust, but steam was definitely coming from him. He was out of time.

"You've been bested, villains." His voice still was full of confidence, as if he could keep fighting all day, but Katsumi knew that wasn't the case. "Surrender. We all want to get this over with quickly."

"No... He beat me. He's not any weaker at all." Tomura's words were akin to those of a young child, "And look what he did to my Nomu. He cheated!"

Katsumi had been inactive too long, her dad was at his limit and there were still two threats left. She couldn't afford to do nothing, no matter how scared she was.

"Oh, come on." Katsumi's train of thought was broken as she heard Tomura's voice, he scratched at his neck impulsively. "What's going on here? He's just as strong as he's always been. Dammit. Don't tell me I was lied to."

"What's wrong?" Her father asked, making him flinch, "Not attacking me? Didn't you say you were going to clear this level earlier? Well, come and get me, if you dare."

Tomura stepped back, obviously intimidated by the massive man standing before him.

She shouldn't intervene, if she did it would tell them that something was wrong. They needed to retreat, if Tomura had half a brain in his head, he would get Kurogiri to warp themselves out of there.

Her eyes drifted to Izuku, he surely had also figured out he was on the brink too. She shook her head at him to tell him to stand back, but he wasn't looking at her, his eyes fixated on All Might.

"What?" Her father grunted, "Are you scared?"

A raspy growl distracted Katsumi, her face contorted into an expression of disgust as she was met with the sight of Tomura scratching wildly at his neck.

"If only Nomu was here…" he seethed, "...he'd rush you right now. Pound you into the ground without giving it a second thought." His words were as uncontrolled as his scratching, Kurogiri leaned towards him.

"Tomura Shigaraki! Please, do not fret. Look at him. He has definitely weakened. Nomu's attacks were successful. He's on his own. The children appear to be frozen in fear.

And, look, our underlings are recovering."

He was right, the grunts were groaning, slowly regaining their composure.

"We likely still have a few minutes before their reinforcements arrive. If you and I work together, we can do this. We haven't missed our chance to kill All Might."

"Yeah." Tomura's hands stopped scratching. "Yeah, you're right. This is it. We have no choice. We have to do it now. I mean, the big end boss is right here."

"Ojiro," Katsumi spoke clearly and assured, "go join the others."

"What-?"

She darted forward, running straight past the two villains and to her father, she skidded around in front of him, glaring ahead.

"Katsumi! Get back!" She ignored her father's pleas.

"Give it up!" She shouted at him, Tomura had stopped in his tracks, just staring at her. Her blood ran cold but she didn't yield.

"Katsumi Yagi," Kurogiri warned, "you may want to rethink this."

"Maybe you should rethink this!" She hoped they would think she was just bad at coming with comebacks and not what she actually was, scared shitless. "There's re-enforcements coming y'know?" She yelled out, she wasn't even sure there was, if anyone had managed to contact anyone, well they must of if her dad was here after all.

"Ugh…" Tomura groaned, staring at the floor, "Why do you care… How annoying… Whatever, you'll be fine, still, get out of my way."

Katsumi flinched as he suddenly lunged towards them, she sucked in a deep breath and stood her ground, ignoring the mental disconnect she was feeling from the situation. Was this really Tomura? Whatever, it didn't matter. She just needed to grab his wrists and throw him, he was skinny, she could easily overpower him. If she could get him in custody, he may hate her, even expose her, but he would be away from that man.

"Consider this revenge for what you did to Nomu All Might!"

Teeth grinding together, she readied for his attack like she was preparing to tackle a wild beast. Her eyes widened, posture cracking as she saw Kurogiri's purple mist follow behind him- how the hell was she going to deal with that? Fuck, why was no one else helping!?

As if it was an answer to her thought a sudden yell broke through the air, "Don't you touch All Might- You stupid villain!"

In an instant, Izuku flew in front of Katsumi, one punch aimed at Kurogiri's metal neck brace.

"I won't fall for that again."

A swirling portal opened up by his neck and a dull, dry hand with long, thin fingers reached out towards Izuku's head. Katsumi's heart stopped as the image of Izuku crumbling to dust filled her mind. No, not Izuku. In a flash memories of the last months flooded her consciousness, their beach training sessions, him tutoring her, her birthday… She couldn't let it all be destroyed.

There wasn't a moment to think, no more time for hesitating, she moved forwards, hands hitting Tomura's chest as she pushed him back with all the force she had, his hand retreating from the portal as he stumbled back.

Bang!

Gunshots.

All Might grunted, "They're here!"

Kurogiri fell back, following Tomura as he clutched his bleeding hand. He'd been shot.

Loud explosions rang out from behind them, Katsumi gasped, there really were people coming! The sounds of shouting and yelling no doubt the teachers dealing with all the recovered grunts.

"Aw, man." Tomura hissed, "The pros are here. It's game over. For real." He began to turn around, "Let's go home and try this when we can-"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Another three shots pierced Tomura knocking him to the ground. Kurogiri quickly moved over them both as bullets continued to reign down.

"Let's go." Kurogiri began to sink Tomura into a portal when his mist suddenly began to be sucked away.

"This is-" he struggled, "Black Hole!"

Kurogiri groaned as he tried to pull away, Tomura glared up from the portal he was slowly sinking into. His eyes met Katsumi's first, the stare was foreign to her, full of hatred. He turned to her father.

"I may have failed to kill you this time," his words were dark and dripping with hatred, "but your days are numbered. All Might. Symbol of Peace. I am going to kill you."

Katsumi glowered at him, "Not when I'm still breathing."

Tomura snorted, glaring at her as the purple mist finally engulfed him.

"Katsumi." Her dad's soft voice startled her as she turned to look at him, he was in an awful state, half in his weakened form, half All Might. Katsumi felt her eyes well with tears as she looked at him.

"I couldn't do it." Izuku mumbled weakly from the floor, "I wasn't able to help you."

"Izuku!" Katsumi gasped, his broken legs lying crooked behind him.

"That's absolutely not true." All Might replied, a smile on his face. "You two bought me a few vital seconds. If not for that, I'd be dead now. Both of you, you've saved me.

Izuku stared up at him, eyes glistening as he too began to cry, "Thank you... All Might. I'm just, so glad that you're okay!"

"...Dad…" Katsumi whispered, turning back to her father.

He practically collapsed on her as he evaporated into his weakened form, as soon as he did she wrapped her arms around him. She clutched onto him tightly, burying her head into the crook of his neck to hide her face from him.

Guilt was eating her alive.

"Midoriya!" A loud boy's voice shouted out, "Katsumi!"

"Yagi-san!"

Katsumi flinched as she heard the sounds of Kirishima and Ojiro approaching, it was good they were okay, but they couldn't see her dad like this! Izuku realised it too gasping halfway through his reply.

"Kirishma wait!"

Suddenly the concrete rose up into a tall wall, obstructing the two boys from them and hiding All Might from view.

"For your safety, please stay back." A man seemingly made of cement spoke, asking the two to join the others at the gate.

"Thanks for that." Her father sighed, pulling away from Katsumi to look to the approaching hero, "You saved my butt, Cementoss."

"My pleasure, I'm actually a big fan of yours." He smiled, holding his hands together in front of him. "We should sneak you out of here and get you three to the nurse's office. Seriously, All Might. That could've been really bad."

"I had to act recklessly," he admitted, wiping away some blood on his cheek, "or else I'd be dead now. Just goes to show how strong those villains were."

Katsumi grimaced, yeah, they were a problem that was going to be harder to deal with than she had thought.