Back in U.A., the students of Class 1-A and 1-B were busy training for the upcoming exam, the grounds filled with shouts, impacts, and the constant rhythm of Quirks being pushed to their limits.
Above all of it, the sky was heavy with dark clouds.
Under the relentless rainfall, Tsutsumi sat on the edge of the dorm rooftop, legs hanging over the side as he stared up into the bleak, colorless sky. Rain soaked through his clothes, plastering his hair to his face, dripping steadily from his fingertips and down onto the concrete below.
He exhales slowly, the breath fogging faintly in the cold air as rainwater runs down his cheeks. What Doppelganger Ryoko had told him wasn't new. None of it was. He had known the truth for a long time now.
Still… hearing it said out loud had a way of making it feel heavier.
It forced him to finally acknowledge his true place in every world he passed through.
As the Destroyer of Worlds, the one destined to bring destruction to everything, there was no real point in forming bonds. No point in getting close to anyone. No matter how strong the connection, no matter how sincere the feelings, it would all end the same way.
He would be the one standing at the center of it. The one who destroyed it all.
Tsutsumi lowers his gaze, his tired eyes settling on the card resting loosely in his hand.
Kamen Ride: 2099.
A Kamen Rider born one hundred and fifty years after Ichigo. A future Rider whose design mirrored the original, blended with sharp, futuristic edges, proof that even far into the future, the legend of the first Kamen Rider still endured.
The moment Tsutsumi stepped into that world, 2099 had recognized him. Not as a traveler nor as a passerby.
But as Decade.
A Rider from that far ahead, using a system derived from Ichigo himself, would naturally know the name of the Destroyer of Worlds. So the moment 2099 heard it, there had been no hesitation. No conversation.
He transformed and attacked immediately. Trying to end it before it could begin. Trying to kill Decade before the destruction of all worlds could ever start.
Tsutsumi had responded without emotion. To avoid having his journey cut short, he activated Final Attack Ride: Decade and ended the fight in a single kick. Then he left that world behind as if nothing had happened.
Even though he hadn't fully become Decade yet… As long as he lived, Decade would one day exist.
That was the truth he could no longer deny.
Only after that did he truly begin to accept it, no matter how many relationships he built, no matter how hard he tried to live like a normal person, the day would come when he would stand opposite everyone else.
An enemy to all worlds.
The rain continued to fall.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Tsutsumi blinks, momentarily surprised, before slipping the card away and pulling out his phone. The screen lit up with Jiro Kyoka's name.
He answers. "Hello."
"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!? DISAPPEARING FROM SCHOOL FOR ALMOST A WEEK WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE!!"
Jiro's furious, and unmistakably worried, voice blasts through the speaker. Tsutsumi winces slightly and pulls the phone away from his ear. His eyes flick down to the date on the screen.
…Ah. So that's what happened.
He has slipped into the wrong timeframe. Instead of being gone for a few hours, he had vanished from this world for an entire week.
"Sorry," he says calmly. "My phone was dead."
"Bullshit!" She doesn't miss a beat.
There's a brief silence on the line. Then Jiro lets out a long, exhausted sigh, the anger giving way to something far heavier.
"Where are you now?" she asks, her voice lower, edged with worry. "I'll come pick you up."
"I'm at the dorm right now," Tsutsumi replies. "You don't need to wor-"
"I'm on my way." The call ends before he can say anything else.
Tsutsumi stares at the phone for a few seconds before closing it. He slips it back into his pocket and turns his gaze back toward the horizon, rain still pouring down as he sits there, unmoving.
It doesn't take long.
From the rooftop, he spots a small group running toward the dorm through the rain. Several umbrellas stand out immediately, Kyoka, Hagakure, and Yaoyorozu clustered together.
Shoto runs alongside them. The only one without an umbrella.
Instead, he uses his Quirk instinctively, turning the raindrops that fall near him into snowflakes and steam, clearing a path as he runs.
Tsutsumi doesn't wait.
He stands and jumps from the rooftop, landing in front of them with one knee and one foot against the wet ground. The impact makes them all stop short. He straightens up, rain dripping from his hair and clothes as he looks at them.
Concern. Relief. Frustration. All aimed at him.
"Sorry for making ya worry," he says lightly, offering them a small smile. "I lost track of time."
It's a lie.
And as they stand there in the rain, Tsutsumi wonders, quietly, to himself, how much longer he can keep telling it.
...
Jiro gave him an earful the moment they got back, not even giving him time to properly sit down.
"Honestly, what would we do if you got sick, huh?" she snapped, grabbing a towel and roughly rubbing it over his head. "Walking around in this heavy rain without an umbrella, not even using your power to keep yourself dry. The exam is just around the corner, pay more attention to your own health!"
The towel moved through his hair with far more force than necessary, almost violent, like she was venting all her pent-up worry through it. Water splashed onto the floor as she worked, muttering under her breath the whole time.
Tsutsumi didn't argue back.
He didn't try to dodge her hands either. He just sat there and let her do it, shoulders relaxed, eyes half-lidded. There was no point in pushing back when he knew she was right, and more importantly, when he knew she was worried.
After a moment, he tilts his head back slightly, glancing up at her where she sat on the edge of his bed.
"Say," he says casually, "how's the new support gear going?"
The sudden change in topic makes Jiro pause. Then her expression softens.
"I love it," she replies, a small smile appearing on her face. "Shoto and Katsuki love their new support gear too. I'm pretty sure I saw them go to sleep still wearing them."
She shakes her head lightly. Tsutsumi lets out a quiet hum in response.
Just then, his phone rings.
He turns his head toward the sound and glances at the screen. An unknown number. Without hesitation, he reaches over and blocks it.
Jiro notices immediately.
"…That was fast," she says, eyes narrowing slightly.
Tsutsumi shrugs. "Don't answer unknown numbers."
Jiro exhales through her nose. "That's probably Hatsume Mei."
He looks back at her, clearly not recognizing the name.
"One of Melissa's friends from the support course," Jiro explains. "Pink hair. Loud. Way too enthusiastic."
After seeing the support gear Melissa had made, Mei had practically gone feral. She'd begged Melissa to team up with her, even suggesting they crash together in the workshop to mass-produce gear.
Melissa, of course, refused.
Even if the blueprint had been handed to her, it still belonged to Tsutsumi. She wasn't about to hand it out like free candy.
Apparently, that hadn't stopped Mei.
"So she dug around," Jiro continues, "and somehow found your number."
Almost on cue, Tsutsumi's phone rings again. A different number this time.
"Azu, locate the caller for me."
The red-and-black Bangboo tilts her head, then nods.
"Right away, Master." A few seconds pass. "The caller is Hatsume Mei," Azu reports. "U.A. first-year student from the support course."
Tsutsumi asks. "Do I even know her?"
Jiro stares at him. "We met her during the sports festival," she says flatly. "She asked to join our team. And you told her to get lost."
That… actually sounds about right.
He's been through too much for small, forgettable moments to stick. Stuff like that tends to blur together. Still, if Jiro says it happened, then it probably did.
"…Yeah," he says after a second. "Sounds like something I'd do."
He looks at Azu again.
"Block her."
"Understood."
Azu blocks the number without hesitation. Jiro folds the towel and tosses it aside.
Not long after, Aizawa shows up and promptly drags Tsutsumi back to work.
...
In the training grounds, Jiro threw a spinning disk like a shuriken.
The sharp, circular disk cut cleanly through the air, humming as it spun forward. In the next instant, it released a compressed sonic wave. The shockwave slammed into a nearby stone structure, the sound hitting before the impact was even fully registered.
The building shook violently.
Cracks raced across the surface before the entire structure collapsed inward, stone and debris crashing down in a cloud of dust.
Jiro was already moving.
She rushed forward, boots pounding against the ground, and leapt off an artificial stone cliff. As she fell, the amplifiers embedded beneath her boots and palms activated simultaneously. A sharp sonic burst erupted, creating a small but concentrated sonic boom that propelled her upward.
Like a second jump midair, she cleared the cliff effortlessly and landed on the other side, knees bending slightly to absorb the impact.
Without hesitation, she pressed her hands together, palms out.
The amplifiers embedded in her gauntlets flared to life, releasing a focused soundwave that tore straight through a large section of the stone wall ahead. The blast reduced it to rubble in seconds, leaving behind a jagged opening where solid rock had been.
Using the stolen technology and accumulated knowledge gathered throughout his travels, Tsutsumi had Azu run several thousand simulations to help design this new support gear specifically for her.
The result was effectively an exoskeleton-style combat system.
Black, knee-length combat boots reinforced with sonic amplifiers and absorbers. Matching gauntlets that extended nearly to her shoulders. A specialized headset connected directly to her earphone jacks, allowing her Quirk's soundwaves to be transferred, filtered, amplified, and redistributed throughout the equipment in real time.
A metal face mask covered the lower half of her face, capable of splitting open and retracting when needed, revealing her mouth without obstructing her voice.
The disk secured at her waist could be thrown remotely, releasing a sonic wave through the built-in amplifier and triggered purely through mental command. The same applied to the boots and gauntlets, each amplifier capable of independent activation without requiring physical input.
The entire system responded as naturally as an extension of her body. It wasn't surprising that the gear attracted attention.
Plenty of students, the girls, and even the boys cast jealous glances her way. Not only did the equipment look intimidating and cool, it drastically increased her overall combat output, far surpassing what her old support gear could manage.
More than that, the part of the suit could absorb sound, store it, and release it later as needed. Even if her Quirk were canceled or stolen, she could still fight, still operate as a hero, by relying on the stored power within the suit.
Tsutsumi watched from the sidelines, a small smile forming as he nodded to himself. Jiro's control over the gear was already solid, better than expected. Well, she did have a few days to practice with it.
"How did you even come up with something like that?" Aizawa asked, arms crossed, equal parts curious and impressed.
Tsutsumi, currently tied up completely by Aizawa's capture scarf, shifted his gaze toward his teacher.
"I had my assistant run countless simulations," he replied calmly. "After that, she developed a blueprint. I handed it to Melissa and had her build it."
Aizawa: "..."
The tired-eyed teacher looked like he desperately wanted to ask where Tsutsumi found such a reliable assistant, before remembering that his teaching assistant's assistant can also be his assistant.
"How good is this assistant of yours?" Aizawa asked.
"She's an advanced, highly sophisticated artificial intelligence," Tsutsumi replied as they began walking toward the next group. "Extremely reliable."
"I see," Aizawa said thoughtfully. "Then you'll be teaching my next class. Along with your assistant."
Tsutsumi: "..."
"Azu," Tsutsumi said without hesitation, "gather information on the study material and prepare for Aizawa's next class."
"Sure, Master."
Azu's voice echoed from within his coat as it split apart, the fabric unraveling and reshaping into a long scarf. Across its surface, glowing text scrolled repeatedly:
LOADING…
They stopped at a safe distance, eyes shifting toward the next part of the training area.
Todoroki and Bakugo stood facing each other.
Both still wore their old hero gear, the only noticeable difference being the belts now secured at their waists.
They stared each other down in silence.
Then, simultaneously, they struck a pose.
"Henshin!"
Todoroki pressed his belt. Ice instantly surged up his body, encasing him completely, only for flames to erupt moments later, shattering the ice outward in a burst of steam and frost.
At the same time, Bakugo activated his belt. Thick black smoke engulfed him as sharp, crackling explosions echoed from within.
As the smoke and frost cleared, the two stood revealed.
Todoroki now wore near full-body armor: a dark blue, skin-tight undersuit layered with navy armor plating, black boots, and white gloves. Flames and frost rolled off his armor simultaneously, heat and cold clashing in the air around him. The white fur around his neck radiated a freezing aura as he exhaled a breath of visible mist.
Bakugo waved his hand, dispersing the last of the smoke. He wore a black skin-tight suit beneath dark green and orange armor plating, green gloves, and orange boots. From his back armor, a large spike-like structure extended outward.
They stared at each other for a brief moment, their mouth guards opened and revealing their faces.
Bakugo pulled his right hand close to his heart, fist slowly clenching. "I'll let my passion burn and crush you!"
Todoroki calmly spread his arms, frost spreading across the ground at his feet. "You're going to be a sacrifice for the greater good."