Flames scorched the air in my vision, and ice raced across the ground, chilling the surroundings. I watched my friends' silhouettes darting through the sky amidst roars of effort.
In that swirling vortex of heat and frost, the dull gleam of blades danced between them. Those blades threatened my friends' lives without a shred of hesitation, scattering fresh red blood into the air.
"Why...?"
The word escaped my lips. A thought, unbidden and unfiltered. In this moment, I finally understood. The emotion surging within my heart wasn't anger. All that remained was pure, unadulterated regret.
"Why... why are you both fighting...?"
Risking yourselves for my selfishness.
"Stop it... please!"
Getting hurt in my stead. That pain... it belongs to me!
"I inherited my brother's name! I'm the one who has to do this! He's mine to...!"
I couldn't watch anymore. I couldn't stand to see people being broken, just like my brother was.
As I threw my desperate words at them, Todoroki spared me a brief glance.
"...Inherited it? That's strange."
His response was a question. A massive pillar of ice erupted from beneath Todoroki's feet, aimed at the Hero Killer, but it was easily dodged.
"The Ingenium I saw didn't have a face like that. I guess your family has its own share of drama behind the scenes."
As he spoke, Todoroki unleashed a blast of fire to cover Midoriya, who was closing in on the Hero Killer. While it didn't land a direct hit, the flames scorched the villain's side. Seizing the opening, Midoriya's fist swung toward the Hero Killer's jaw.
"Midoriya—she told me something," Todoroki continued, maintaining a steady barrage of ice and fire. "She asked if you'd ever looked in a mirror. She asked what kind of face you thought you could wear while trying to be a hero."
He gritted his teeth as a knife, slicing through the flames, buried itself in his arm. Yet, he didn't stop. He kept the fire pouring out.
"I... I'd forgotten, too. For the longest time. Why I wanted to be a hero. Why I put up with that damn old man's orders and endured that hellish training. I'd forgotten everything! But I remember now!"
He glared at me, his voice raw.
"You already know the answer, don't you, Iida?!"
I did. I knew. But I'd strayed from the path. Just like she said, I was a failure as a hero. I'd taken my brother's name, but all I'd done was seek revenge. I wasn't saving anyone. I was just committing a foolish act that dragged the name of the man who protected smiles through the mud.
How could I ever say his name now?
"—Midoriya!!"
Todoroki's voice, sharp as a scream, jolted me. I looked up to see Midoriya falling limply from the air.
"I'm... okay! But he got me!"
Todoroki and I both knew exactly what that meant. She'd been hit by the Hero Killer's Quirk. With Midoriya—the one keeping the villain's movements in check—out of the fight, the Hero Killer was free to close the distance.
For some reason, the Hero Killer had judged Midoriya as someone "worthy" to live. Even if she couldn't move, he likely wouldn't kill her. But Todoroki was a different story. Stain was a cold-blooded criminal. He wouldn't hesitate to kill a child if they stood in his way—just as he'd directed that murderous intent toward me.
"...Stop! Please! Just run! I don't care about me anymore... I'm already..."
Please, at least let you live. Don't let yourself be sacrificed for someone like me—someone who lost his way.
"If you want us to stop, then stand up!"
Why? Why were you still there? Why did you call out to me with such expectation in your voice?
"Look at what you want to be! Really look at it!!"
Stain's silhouette emerged as he sliced through Todoroki's wall of ice. He was grinning—that hateful, eerie grin.
"Neither I nor Midoriya are going to give up on you! Not ever!! So—stand up!!!"
When I was a child, heroes were a given. Everyone in my family was a hero. My parents, my grandparents... even my brother, who was much older than me. I grew up thinking that becoming a hero was simply the natural order of things.
But as I studied and trained, a question suddenly struck me. It was so obvious that I'd overlooked it: I didn't actually know what a hero was for, or what they were supposed to do.
Unable to leave the question unanswered, I asked my brother if I could watch him work. I thought seeing it with my own eyes would be more helpful than any explanation. My brother just scratched his head and laughed, saying he didn't think he'd be much of a reference.
But that was my beginning. My heart raced as I watched him dive into danger to save people with such grace. I found myself clenching my fists as I watched him stand brave and tall against villains without a hint of fear.
My brother taught me what a hero was. My ideal became my brother.
He once told me something: "If you see a lost child, you take them by the hand and lead them to the lost and found. That's the kind of person who's the coolest."
I didn't understand it then, but I do now.
"Tell me if something happens!"
"I'm worried about you. Way more than you think—"
"If you want us to stop, then stand up!"
She was that person. They were those people. I'd been by their side the whole time and I never realized. What my brother aimed for wasn't anything "special." It was found in the everyday.
"Think long and hard about what a hero is, you idiot."
She was right. I didn't understand anything. I hadn't changed at all since the entrance ceremony. I was only looking at what was right in front of me... only looking at myself.
The Hero Killer was right. I am different from them. I am a pathetic, immature brat. I'm not even fit to stand in their shadow.
But even so... I can't let it end like this. I may not be worthy. But even if I'm not, I have a duty.
I have a duty, Hero Killer! A duty to live up to the expectations they placed on me!
I won't let my brother's words become a lie. I won't let their wounds be for nothing.
I saw the blade approaching Todoroki—a lethal strike intended to end a life. The kind of blow you die from if you don't dodge. I watched it, and I focused.
I poured strength into my trembling limbs and my heavy body. I lit a fire in my soul, refusing to let it break. With every ounce of my being, I channeled energy into my engines. All for this one moment.
"Ooooooh... RAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
Stand up. Right here, right now.
It doesn't matter if I'm a hero or not. My guilt and my mistaken past don't matter. If I don't answer them now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. If I don't stand up now, I'll never—
"Recipro...!!"
...I'll never be able to catch up to you two. Or to my brother.
"...Burst!!!"
Exhaust ports roared with flames. My body accelerated. The scenery blurred into a streak, and the sound of the wind whistled in my ears. My body and my legs moved in perfect sync with my will.
My leg traced an arc through the air, shattering the Hero Killer's blade head-on. Before he could recover from his shock, I followed up with a roundhouse kick. He blocked it, but I successfully sent him flying back. Looking at him stumble, it was clear he didn't have the luxury of a counter-attack.
For the current me, that result was more than enough.
"Oh no! What a tragedy! Iida is...!"
I looked down at Midoriya's anguished cry, only to see my glasses lying under my own foot—crushed. I wondered why on earth she would say that at a time like this, but then I saw her eyes looking up at me from the ground.
I hadn't realized. Had you been looking at me with those eyes the whole time?
"Midoriya, don't be stup—"
I held up a hand to stop Todoroki from scolding her, and I looked her in the eye. I put my whole heart into my response.
"...Don't start joking now. I am Tenya Iida. What on earth do you think 'Iida' is?"
Midoriya gave me a wide grin in return.
"Ahaha! Boring comeback! 10 points!"
"Out of how many?!"
I watched Todoroki and Midoriya trade words out of the corner of my eye, and I let the feeling sink in. The feeling of being alive. The feeling of standing on my own two feet.
"Hmph... so you were inspired. But it's useless."
The Hero Killer's voice cut through the air. I turned to see him standing there, holding his broken sword.
"No matter how you try to dress it up, a person's essence does not change so easily. You will never be anything more than a fake who prioritizes his own desires! You are the cancer of society, the one who distorts the meaning of 'Hero.' Someone must correct you."
I could listen to him much more calmly now. He was right; I was a sham. I was just a child who admired heroes from afar.
"That's just outdated fundamentalist logic. Iida, don't listen to a murderer's excuses."
Todoroki's protective words made me happy. It was certainly an extreme way of thinking... but the core of what he said wasn't wrong.
"No, he's right. I don't have the right to call myself a hero."
But even so.
"I cannot afford to break."
Because I've already received so much. From my brother, and from them. I have to answer that.
"If I break, then Ingenium dies."
That name, which has carried so many feelings. That name, which has given courage to so many. The name I admired.
"Out of the question."
Fine, let it be out of the question. Neither title is suitable for me anyway. But I'm going to use it regardless. Even if I'm unworthy, even if I'm pathetic. Because it is already my name.
"Listen, Hero Killer!"
The name that was loved by so many...
"I am the younger brother of a magnificent hero!"
...The name that was cherished...
"And I have come to stop you in my brother's place!"
...The name I looked up to... the name entrusted to me by my incredible brother.
"Do not forget my name as long as you live!"
"Ingenium!! The name of the hero who will take you down!!"
I swear it now. To my brother, to Midoriya, and to Todoroki. To everyone who has ever loved this name.
I will become a hero. A magnificent hero like my brother, someone worthy of this name.
And this time, I will stop you. Not as a vengeful victim, but as a hero, just like my brother.
***
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