Six days.
Exactly six days I lay bedridden, inhaling that awful disinfectant smell and staring blankly at the white ceiling like a soulless being.
But finally, the day I could leave this silent hellish place had arrived.
“Onodera Ryuga-kun, here are your discharge papers.” Recovery Girl placed the papers on the table, her eyes a mixture of seriousness and a hint of worry.
I had managed to sit up and get dressed early this morning, but the weakness still lingered in every muscle.
She had used her Quirk to speed up my recovery, so without her, I probably would have stayed here much longer.
“You’re still not completely stable, but you should rest at home for a few more days,” Recovery Girl said, pushing her glasses up her nose.
“But I must make it clear, your health has deteriorated drastically due to prolonged exhaustion.
Before entering U.S.J., it seems you hadn’t been getting enough sleep for weeks.
That wasn’t just foolish, it could have been dangerous for you.”
I bowed my head, not responding.
She was right.
The weeks of hunting Toga, the sleepless nights tracking down crime hotspots to hunt her down, then the U.S.J.
case and the battle with Nomu… My body had been pushed to its limits for too long.
Now it felt like every muscle fiber was protesting.
“But aside from the physical injuries,” Recovery Girl continued, her voice lowering slightly, “are you alright?”
The question made me freeze.
She had been with me all these days.
Despite rushing back and forth between U.A.
and the hospital, she had enough time to see me alone in my hospital bed with almost no visitors.
The only time my classmates came to visit me actually turned into a disaster when rumors of me “burning criminals alive” spread so widely that Principal Nezu had to issue a correction.
Perhaps she knew more than she said.
“I’m fine, ma’am,” I said, trying to smile.
“It’s just…
I need time to process things myself.”
Recovery Girl looked at me for a long time, her eyes narrowed in scrutiny, but in the end she just sighed.
“I’m not a psychologist, but I’ve seen many students go through crises throughout my career.
Some overcome it, others don’t.” She placed her hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.
“You’ve experienced a major event that almost no one has ever experienced, Onodera-kun.
Allow yourself time to recover, not just physically, but mentally.
Don’t let those wounds accumulate into malice.”
Her words pierced my chest like an arrow.
“Don’t let that hurt build up into malice.”
But it was too late.
Once the mind was made up, it was almost impossible to turn back…
…
The feeling of stepping out of the hospital gates was strange.
No one was there to greet me.
No parents, no friends, just me and my long, drawn-out shadow on the road.
Toga was probably somewhere, carrying out the “crime-hunting mission” I’d assigned her.
Thinking about her grinning while stabbing some robber, I could only sigh.
The monster I loved was truly terrifying.
But…
I wasn’t much better than her.
On the way back to my old apartment, I stopped at a convenience store, bought a cheap bento box and a can of black coffee.
My body still ached from my wounds, but at least I could walk again.
Recovery Girl’s Quirk was so miraculous that it almost made me forget I’d once been lying motionless like a mummy.
The apartment was empty.
Of course.
I sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall, and savored each bite of rice.
In my mind, the image of Midoriya Izuku flashed again – that pained look in his eyes, the way he turned his back and walked away, as if I had just stabbed him in the heart.
“You think you can kill anyone and call it ‘justice’?”
Bakugo’s words echoed in my ears, but they didn’t bother me as much as Izuku’s silence.
He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t cry.
He didn’t scream.
Just silence.
And that silence was more terrifying than any accusation.
I crushed the coffee can in my hand.
“This is so frustrating.”
Recovery Girl was right.
If it was too late, I would lose my only friend here.
So I picked up my phone.
My finger scrolled through my contacts, stopping at “Midoriya Izuku.” It took me a few minutes to muster the courage to dial.
The beeping…
beep…
dragged on like an eternity.
“Moshi moshi…?” Izuku’s voice was soft, somewhat hesitant.
“Midoriya.” I swallowed.
“It’s Onodera.”
Silence.
I could hear his heavy breathing through the phone.
Phone call.
“I…
I know you probably don’t want to see me.
But I want to talk to you.
Just once.
At Takoba Beach, in about 20 minutes.
Can you come?”
Another silence.
So long I thought he’d hung up.
“…Okay.” His voice was so soft I had to turn up the volume.
“I’ll come.”
And he hung up.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but an unnamed worry still lingered.
How deeply had I hurt him?
Could an apology really mend everything?
Twenty minutes later.
The sun was setting behind the tall buildings, bathing the beach in a warm orange hue.
Gentle waves lapped against the shore, washing away the last remnants of the cleanup Izuku had painstakingly undertaken for ten months.
The scene was peaceful, a stark contrast to the chaos and pain at U.S.J.
I stood there, hands in my pockets, gazing out at the sea.
The wind grew stronger as the sun set, carrying the salty scent of the ocean and a hint of the coming evening’s chill.
The sand rustled beneath my feet.
My footsteps made me turn around.
Izuku stood there.
He was wearing a simple green t-shirt and jeans, looking noticeably thinner since the last time I saw him.
His moss-green hair fluttered in the wind, and those big, round eyes, always full of hope, now looked at me with an indescribable skepticism.
“Onodera-kun.”
“Midoriya.” I nodded, trying to keep my voice calm.
“Thank you for coming.”
He stepped closer, stopping about two meters away from me.
That distance seemed to say it all: he no longer trusted me as he used to.
“I don’t know what you want to say,” Izuku began, his voice slightly shaky.
“But if you’re going to talk about Kacchan…”
“No.” I shook my head.
“I don’t want to talk about that bastard.”
Izuku fell silent, waiting.
I took a deep breath.
The apology now choked in my throat, heavy and difficult to utter.
More than any fight I’ve ever been in.
“I’m sorry.”
A simple phrase.
But it echoed in the silent space of the beach like a clap of thunder.
Izuku froze.
His eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
“I’m sorry for what I said that day,” I continued, my voice lower.
“I had no right to talk about your past and Bakugo’s like that.
I was angry and said unforgivable things.
Especially…” I bit my lip, “I hurt you.”
Izuku didn’t answer.
He just stood there, his hands clasped at his sides, his head bowed.
I continued, not daring to stop for fear of losing my courage.
“I don’t know if you still consider me a friend.
But I want you to know that I never intended to hurt you.
I know you saw what I did at U.S.J.
You saw me…burn it.
And you probably felt scared too.”
Izuku’s head remained bowed, but his shoulders began to tremble.
“I don’t blame you for being scared,” I said, my voice softer.
“I was even scared of myself.
It’s true I wanted to live and save everyone, but everything…was too cruel.”
I paused.
The wind blew strongly, carrying grains of sand into the air.
“And I’ve realized something since then…” I chuckled softly, a bitter laugh.
“I don’t deserve to be a hero.
I’m too weak, too scared, and too…
crazy.
But I still want to protect the people I love.
That’s why I’m here, sending you my apology, because… you’re one of the few people I truly consider a friend.”
A long silence.
Then Izuku looked up.
His eyes were red, and tears were streaming down his cheeks.
It wasn’t anger or contempt, but a jumbled mix of emotions I couldn’t name.
But what surprised me most was that he smiled.
“Onodera-kun…”
Izuku’s voice choked.
“I…
I’m sorry too.”
I froze.
“You’re sorry for what?”
Izuku quickly wiped away his tears, but they just wouldn’t stop flowing.
He sobbed, but still managed to speak:
“I…
that day, I didn’t stand up to protect you.
When Kacchan said those words, I just stood there watching.
I was scared.
I was afraid to face the truth that you burned that person…
even though it was a monster.
And I…
I abandoned you.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Izuku didn’t stop.
“You, my mom and All Might were the only one who helped me during the hardest times.
You helped me clean the beach, encouraged me during the exams, and saved many people at U.S.J.
But I didn’t stand up to protect you when you were criticized.
I…
I’m such a coward…”
Izuku burst into tears.
Unable to hold back any longer, he cried like a child, his tears falling onto the sand, soaking into every grain of earth.
And in that moment, I did something I never thought I would do.
I stepped forward and hugged him.
“You’re not a coward,” I whispered.
“You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.
At least you know how to get up after you fall.”
Izuku cried even louder, and I held him, standing there on the deserted beach.
The sun had set completely, and the stars began to twinkle in the sky.
The waves lapped steadily, like a gentle lullaby for two people who had just released their burdens.
When Izuku calmed down, he pulled back, his eyes red but bright.
“Thank you, Onodera-kun.”
I nodded.
“Call me Ryuga.
If you want.
And don’t use honorifics, I’m not used to them.”
Izuku smiled, a warm and sincere smile.
“Okay…
Ryuga.”
We sat down on the sand, shoulder to shoulder, looking out at the sea.
There was a long silence, but this time it wasn’t as heavy as before.
“Hey, Ryuga,” Izuku said, his voice less shaky.
“What…are you planning to do next?”
I knew he was referring to the future, to the upcoming battles, to the darkness I was trying so hard to hide.
“A lot, Izuku.
But,” I stood up, brushing the sand off my pants, “Things could get much more chaotic.
But I’ll try harder…”
Izuku also stood up, smiling gently.
“I hope you keep your word.”
We left the beach in an unusually light atmosphere.
But in a few days, I hope you’ll still maintain this attitude towards me…
…
That night, under a moonless sky, me and Toga hit Aldera Junior High.
She’d KO’d the guard with a quick jab to the neck, just enough to drop him, took a little blood and stashed him in a locked storage room, out cold but breathing.
Then Himiko grinned like a kid on a sugar high, undressed and morphed into him, her Quirk twisting her into his lanky frame.
We found the school’s circuit breaker, turned off the CCTV, and simultaneously changed the master hard drive into sand with my Quirk, so that no one could trace it back in a short period of time, then snuck inside.
She practically bouncing with excitement like this was some thrill-date bullshit.
Me?
I was all business, laser-focused on tonight’s goal.
Aldera was where this body I’d jumped into, Izuku, and Bakugo had all gone to school.
The memories tied to this place were fuzzy as hell – fragments of someone else’s life I couldn’t fully grab – but I’d read the manga enough to know the score.
Bakugo and that whole class had fucked Izuku up bad here in junior high, grinding him down until he was a shell.
Some versions of the story spelled it out clear: if Izuku had never met All Might or anyone who good enough to guide him, never gotten that nod of approval, good soul or not, he’d be 100% turned into a top-tier villain, big-brained and dangerous as fuck on a global scale if he’d been pushed too far.
That’s how toxic this dump was, how disgusting the shit that went down here had been.
“Ryuga, what’re we digging for?” Toga asked, twirling her little knife between her fingers like a pro, her voice cutting through the dark.
“Files.
Old student lists, grades, notes, anything I can use,…” I said, scanning the shadowy rooms with my dim flashlight.
“Gotta double-check some shit to keep this smooth…”
“Then we hit somewhere fun, right?
This place is boring as fuck…” Himiko whined, her impatience creeping in as she shifted on her feet.
“Relax, I’ll treat ya after.
But we’ve got work first…” I replied, my eyes hunting for the target room through the faint beam.
We crept through the dark halls, the moldy stench and stale air making Toga grimace, but she stuck to me like glue, her morphed guard form keeping pace.
At the main office, I checked the door – locked, naturally.
I was about to Quirk it to dust, turn the handle to ash with a touch, but Toga grabbed my arm, dead serious for once, her grin sharp.
“Hold up, I’ve got this,” she said, pulling a DIY lockpick kit – some bent wires and a thin metal strip – and went to work like she’d done it a hundred times.
Seconds later, the lock clicked open, crisp and clean, catching me off guard.
She smirked, proud as hell, brushing her hands together.
“Not bad, huh?”
“Not much of a surprise…
But, good job.”
I started ransacking the file cabinets while Toga played lookout, her eyes darting to the hall.
The office was a cluttered mess – papers strewn everywhere, dusty binders stacked haphazardly -but after half an hour of fumbling through the chaos, I struck gold.
“Here we go,” I muttered, yanking out a fat stack of last year’s student records.
“Bakugo Katsuki… Midoriya Izuku… even those other punks.
All here.”
I flipped through the pages, snapping pics with my phone – addresses, psych profiles, grades -piecing together the dirt I needed.
Toga shifted behind me, her impatience bubbling up again.
“Ryuga, you done?
We should bounce before shit hits.”
“Chill, I’ve got limits.
Just need teacher notes, then we’re out,” I said, diving back in.
Finally, after more digging, I snagged the last file from the bottom drawer.
Bakugo’s record was a goldmine.
Scribbled notes like “needs attitude adjustment,” “lacks patience,” and “potential violent tendencies” inked in black and white.
Perfect.
Just when everything seemed to be settled, a thin, red-covered file appeared inside that drawer, stamped “INTERNAL – NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.”
I opened it.
And there it was.
A goldmine.
It was Bakugo Katsuki’s disciplinary record.
Not just one, but a series of incidents.
Date…
Month…
Year…: Used Quirk to inflict second-degree burns on a Class B student.
Parents complained.
Resolution: Mediation, monetary compensation, no record in the report card.
Date…
Month…
Year…: Vandalism of public property.
Threatening classmates.
And most importantly, a handwritten comment from the Principal: “Bakugo has an outstanding Quirk, a promising talent for U.A.
in the future.
Violations need to be handled carefully so as not to affect his admissions record.
All complaints must be suppressed.”
I smirked, taking pictures of every single page.
Unquestionable evidence of cover-up and leniency.
“Are you done yet?
I’m bored,” Toga sighed, yawning.
“Yeah Let’s go.”
I shut the drawer, rearranged the mess to look untouched, cleaned the fingerprints, slipped out, locked the door behind us, freed the still-out-cold guard from the storage room, and ghosted into the night.
I grabbed Toga’s arm and all her clothes – including her bra and panties, hauling ass outta there.
Her eyes still sparkled with that wild thrill; I kept my head straight, focused on the next step.
“Where next?” she asked, hyped like a kid at a theme park, practically bouncing beside me.
“Night grub first,” I said.
“Gotta chew on this haul, as this might flip my next moves big time.
I really need a little rest…nah, a lot of rest.”
Everything was smooth – until Toga pulled a stunt that damn near derailed us.
Outside the gates, she stopped dead.
Before I could yank her into the shadows, she canceled her Quirk.
The guard’s uniform melted away into sludge, leaving her bare skin exposed to the night air.
She didn’t care.
She dragged me into a nearby small alley and kabedon’d me against the wall, her hands slamming on either side of me like some cheesy romcom bit.
Under the darkness and the quiet hush of the night, her golden eyes – back in her own form now – bored into mine, unflinching, no wandering, along with her naked body, he moonlight painting her pale skin silver.
This wasn’t her usual playful gleam or that kid-like mischief.
This was more than a weird brew of curiosity, teasing, and something deeper, something I couldn’t quite pin down…
“Ryuga~,” she started, her voice slow and softer than I was used to, almost gentle but pressing in a way that left no room to dodge with a knife near my neck.
“You really care about me, don’t ya?”
It threw me – not ’cause I didn’t know the answer, but her tone, soft yet insistent, caught me off guard, pinning me as much as her hands did.
“Yep,” I said, keeping my voice steady despite the weird flip in my gut.
“If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be in on my insane plans.
But… why the sudden quiz?”
She smiled, tilting her head just enough to let her blonde bangs fall across her face.
“Just wondering, no biggie…”
Still pinning me, she leaned in and kissed me – right there, not in broad daylight but late as fuck on the empty street.
It felt weird, raw, intense in a way I couldn’t shake off.
I didn’t pull away, just simply put my arm around her neck and regained the upper hand, gradually cornering her against the opposite wall and slowly taking her knife back.
If I’m not careful this time, this crazy girl could slit my throat right away, and my current strength is definitely not enough to subdue her quickly.
The kiss lingered, heavy and charged, until she finally pulled back, her breath warm against my face.
I stood there, dazed for a second, my brain scrambling to catch up.
“Some kind of R-rated jokes?” I muttered, half to myself with my usual cocky face, then used the very knife she used to threaten me with to kabedon’d her back.
“Kinda bold.
I’m impress.
But if you want to play something more exciting, wait.”
Toga grinned, that wild spark flaring back up in her eyes.
“God, you’re so annoying.
Fine,” she said, shrugging like it was no big deal, but the way she kept staring at me said otherwise.
“Come on, you promised grub.
I’m starving…”
“Okay, but put some clothes on first.”
“Finnnnneeeee…”