Author's note: Hi, sorry for the delay, but work has really exhausted me.
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After helping Iida escape from the U.S.J., I ordered the drones to return to the center of the field and take position. My eyes locked on Aizawa — his face was being crushed against the ground by the Nomu, and yet, despite the wounds and exhaustion, there was still a spark of defiance in his gaze.
I had no idea how long it would take for reinforcements to arrive, but Aizawa didn't look like he could hold out much longer. In the anime, he had survived this exact scene… but I couldn't rely on that chance. If Aizawa died here, we'd lose the one person who could give us that small edge we'd need to defeat Shigaraki later on. And if Shigaraki ever gained All For One's power, we would need every possible advantage. No — he couldn't die here.
I adjusted the tablet and programmed the drones to activate their holograms simultaneously. A countdown appeared on my visor. I took a deep breath and started running to my position.
"Hey! Where are you going?!"
Jirou's voice reached me from behind, filled with worry.
I didn't answer. I just raised a hand — a silent gesture that said "trust me" — and kept moving, slipping quietly through the debris until I was close enough to the center of the battlefield, where Shigaraki was watching Aizawa-sensei being tortured with twisted satisfaction. From my position, I could see the drones taking their places, hidden among the shadows and dust.
I pulled several smoke bombs — still inactive — and threw them toward different points around the area. Each one landed exactly where I needed it, ready to cover the field at the perfect moment.
Before the countdown hit zero, my finger hovered over the activation button, trembling. Fear began to crawl up my spine; sweat ran down my back beneath the suit. Every part of me screamed that I wasn't ready for this.
I drew in a deep breath.
"Everything…" I muttered under my breath, clenching my teeth. "Everything so I can live in a world without worries."
I pressed the button on my visor.
The smoke began to spread.
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Kurogiri appeared beside Shigaraki as if nothing had happened, his mist-like body gliding silently until he stopped at the villain's side.
"Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?" Shigaraki asked without looking, his voice cold.
"Thirteen is out of commission," Kurogiri replied calmly. "I couldn't scatter all the students. One managed to escape."
There was a brief silence. Shigaraki ran his fingers along his neck with that nervous habit of his, scratching until his skin turned red.
"Kurogiri, you're an idiot," he said sharply. "If you weren't a portal, I'd have disintegrated you already. I guess the game's over. We'll have to leave… but, of course, before we go, we'll crush their pride a little."
He turned his head toward the nearest group of students: Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta. His hands twitched with impatience; he was about to move when a series of small explosions began echoing a few meters away.First a pop, then another, followed by an uneven rhythm like poorly timed fireworks.
Shigaraki turned his head, annoyed. The smoke shifted, revealing a silhouette slowly emerging through the gray haze.
The villain narrowed his eyes.Someone was walking toward them, each step echoing over the cracked ground.
The smoke cleared just enough to reveal Tachibana, calmly walking toward the center of the chaos.
Aizawa, still pinned to the ground, barely managed to turn his face. Blood blurred his vision, but when he recognized the figure, a rough whisper escaped his throat."Tachibana..."
Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta saw him too from the water's edge, their jaws dropping.
"What… what is he doing?" Mineta muttered, his face pale.
There he was — walking steadily, the smoke swirling around him like a living curtain, showing neither fear nor hesitation. He said nothing; he simply stopped a few meters from Shigaraki and the Nomu.
"Even Aizawa-sensei was defeated…" Deku murmured under his breath, a knot forming in his stomach. "He can't fight that!"
"What are you doing, Tachibana?! Run…!" Aizawa managed to shout, his voice barely more than a rasp between pain and exhaustion.
Everyone knew the truth. Tachibana was brilliant, clever — yes — but just a student with no Quirk. Even though he'd created impressive equipment — something some already compared to having a Quirk of his own — it wasn't enough to face villains like these.And yet, there he was, walking through the smoke, without trembling, without a word.
Shigaraki watched him with growing amusement.His twisted smile spread slowly.
"A student?" he said in a mocking tone. "What does he think he's doing, coming here? Doesn't he see that even a pro hero was taken down?"
Shigaraki lowered his hand, letting it hang loosely in front of him, his fingers twitching with anticipation."How pathetic…" he said with a childish sneer. "No matter. If he wants to play hero… he'll be the first to die."
In an instant, the villain lunged forward. His figure blurred into the smoke, his outstretched hand — the one that could disintegrate anything it touched — reaching straight for Tachibana's face.
Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta froze as the villain charged. Time seemed to slow: the crunch of debris underfoot, the echo of Shigaraki's steps, Aizawa's ragged breathing.
Then, it happened.
Shigaraki's hand closed around Tachibana's face. His pale, scarred fingers tightened, ready to disintegrate flesh and bone. But something didn't feel right.
Instead of the sound of decay… there was silence.
Tachibana's body flickered for a moment and, before everyone's eyes, dissolved into a cloud of gray smoke that quickly dispersed, as if he had never been there.
"Huh?" Shigaraki muttered, staring at his empty hand.
Aizawa, who had activated his Quirk in an attempt to save his student, looked shocked.Izuku swallowed hard."Did… did he just turn into smoke?"
To everyone watching, the scene looked like the use of some mysterious Quirk. The gray mist faded little by little, leaving only silence behind. For a moment, no one dared to speak.
But those who truly knew Tachibana were certain — he didn't have any Quirk.
The silence broke when a voice echoed across the battlefield, distorted by the smoke and distance:
"What's wrong, Shigaraki? Weren't you going to kill me?"
The villain jerked his head sharply, searching for the source of the voice.
Another explosion went off to Shigaraki's left, farther away this time, kicking up a fresh cloud of gray smoke.
Out of that haze stepped another figure of Tachibana. He raised one hand and gave a mocking little wave, an ironic smile hidden beneath his mask.
"Over here!" he called out lightly. "Your aim's pretty bad, huh?"
The students stared, jaws hanging open.
Shigaraki narrowed his eyes, confused.That twitch in his neck returned; his fingers brushed against his skin again and again until it reddened."Can he turn into smoke… and reappear somewhere else?" he thought irritably. "He's like Kurogiri…"
Shigaraki let out an exasperated sigh, as if the entire situation had lost its fun.
"Tch…" he clicked his tongue. "If his Quirk works like that, I won't be fast enough to catch him…"
His gaze drifted toward the left, where the Nomu still had Aizawa pinned to the ground, the hero's face nearly pressed into the cracked concrete."Nomu," he ordered in a flat, almost bored tone. "Kill him."
The monster lifted its head immediately, obeying without hesitation. Its hollow eyes locked onto Tachibana as its massive frame straightened with a sickening crack. Drool and dust dripped from its claws as it released Aizawa, who collapsed to the side with a strangled groan.
Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta felt their hearts stop."Sensei!" Izuku shouted, taking a step forward, but Tsuyu grabbed his arm.
"No, Midoriya! If you go out there, he'll kill you too!" she said, her voice trembling.
Nomu fully turned toward Tachibana. With a deep, guttural roar, it started advancing, each step pounding like a drumbeat that shook the ground.
It reached him in less than a second. Its sheer presence scattered part of the smoke blanketing the field.
Tachibana's body flickered for an instant—then vanished.
Izuku barely caught the movement, but something about it struck him with déjà vu. It reminded him exactly of what he'd seen during the combat test, when Tachibana used a hologram to project a fake bomb.In that instant, he understood.
"A… hologram…" he thought, eyes wide.
Nomu scanned the area, searching frantically for the student. Another burst of smoke erupted a few meters away. There, amid the haze, Tachibana's silhouette appeared once more.
Nomu roared and charged toward him with brute force, moving away from Shigaraki without a second thought.
Meanwhile, Shigaraki turned his attention back to Aizawa, who lay on the ground, barely conscious. From the lake, Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta watched in horror as Shigaraki walked toward their teacher, his hand outstretched, fingers twitching with impatience.
But before he could touch him, another burst of smoke exploded around him — this time centered on Shigaraki himself.The cloud spread violently, blinding everyone nearby. Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta shielded their eyes, coughing as the gas stung their throats and blurred their vision.
Kurogiri remained close to Shigaraki, calmly assessing the situation. The smoke didn't just block their sight — it burned their lungs and forced Shigaraki to step back with a grimace of irritation.The villain quickly realized that the student wasn't trying to fight them head-on. He was using the chaos to separate Nomu from the group — maybe even setting up an ambush.
Kurogiri reacted instantly, opening a portal to absorb the smoke and clear the area. But as the haze began to fade…
Aizawa was gone.
The sight of the empty ground sent Shigaraki into a frenzy.His eyes darted wildly through the fog and rubble. His breathing grew erratic, and his fingers clawed at his neck in frustration.
"Where… is he?" he muttered, his voice trembling with anger.
"Tch… he probably crawled behind some wall," he spat bitterly.
And he was right.
Just a few meters away, behind a half-collapsed block of concrete, the real Tachibana was holding Aizawa's battered body with both arms, trying to keep him conscious.
Shigaraki, increasingly agitated, scratched his neck so hard that his skin split slightly. He was about to order Kurogiri to search for them when a thunderous sound ripped through the entire facility.
A different kind of explosion — sharper, heavier — echoed from the entrance of the U.S.J. The noise rolled across the air like a roar.
Everyone turned.From the dust and flames that covered the main gate, a massive silhouette emerged, bathed in light.
It was All Might.