Souta stumbled, ducked, rolled - a blur of heat and instinct as the Nomu's fists tore the air just inches from his skull.
"Someone—!" he shouted mid-dodge, barely keeping upright. "Distract it! Just give me one second!"
It was all he needed.
"ON IT!" came a voice like a crash of metal.
Kirishima, hardening mid-run, barreled forward without hesitation, body already gleaming in jagged crimson. Right behind him, Shoji sprinted at full tilt, his arms morphing into a shield wall of interlocked muscle.
From the edge of the fight, Aizawa turned - eyes already bloodshot but burning with purpose. He saw what was happening.
He blinked once.
The next moment, the Nomu's quirks flickered out.
So did Shigaraki's.
Bakugo caught that instantly. A grin curled on his lips, wild and merciless.
"Good," he growled, slamming both hands together and blasting himself higher into the air. "NOW DIE, YOU CREEPY HAND BASTARD!"
Back with Souta—
Kirishima roared, crossing in front of the Nomu, taking the full brunt of its fist, his body skidding back like a chunk of living iron.
"GAH—!"
Shoji caught him, six arms weaving into a makeshift net. "We've got you!"
The Nomu raised its arm again.
Souta's eyes locked on the beast's chest. His flames surged.
Shoji grunted, teeth clenched. "Do it now! We've only got seconds!"
"I KNOW!"
And then—
Boom.
A wave of heat exploded outward.
Souta's entire body ignited in roaring blue fire, brighter and hotter than before. The air rippled. The ground beneath his feet blackened and cracked instantly. Regeneration surged through his limbs in tandem with power - muscles straining under the dual forces inside him.
He shot forward like a comet.
"YOU WERE BUILT TO FIGHT POWER TYPES!" he bellowed, fist cocked back, heat spiraling around him like a storm.
"BUT YOU WEREN'T MADE FOR ME."
He collided with the Nomu's chest, fire bursting like a nuclear bloom across its body.
The Nomu staggered, screamed - its regeneration fighting to keep up, but already losing. Muscles charred, its tissue bubbled. Limbs warped under the force of heat they weren't designed to withstand.
Because Souta wasn't like All Might.
He didn't hit like a freight train.
He burned everything down to the bones.
Behind him, Kirishima and Shoji fell back, panting, limbs barely moving - but smiling.
"That all you needed?" Kirishima muttered through grit teeth.
"Hell yeah," Souta breathed, flames still flickering around his shoulders.
---
Across the field—
Kurogiri trembled.
Ice had crept to his waist. Shoto advanced steadily, breathing shallow, one hand dripping frost, the other sparking faint fire. He kept the flames low - just enough to counterbalance the building frostbite.
Kurogiri tried to twist out, fog forming an unstable ring - until a gust of compressed wind slammed into his side.
Midoriya had struck from the blind spot, using OFA on only one of his fingers, breaking it in the process.
"Get DOWN!" he shouted, teeth clenched.
Kurogiri didn't fall - but he staggered.
And that was all Shoto needed.
With a snap of both hands, the ice surged upward - encasing Kurogiri from the ground to shoulder. His form fixated, leaving only the head part free. It's eyes still glowing in the midst of the dark mist.
Shoto stepped in close, raising one hand, fire crackling faintly.
"I swore, that I would never use this side," he said quietly, "but right now… I don't have a choice."
The flames kissed the mist.
Shoto continued using both of his sides to keep the villain detained. Switching from cold to hot, and hot to cold.
Completely pinning down Kurogiri.
---
Back near the Nomu—
Souta landed again, knees buckling slightly. He stumbled - but stood firm.
The Nomu was still burning, completely surrounded and enveloped by the blue flames.
Still twitching.
But not regenerating fast enough anymore.
It reached forward, a final, sluggish attempt—
And Souta grabbed its arm.
"Just one more thing," he said through clenched teeth. "Even though I know you're already dead... go to hell bastard."
Flames spiked, racing up the Nomu's limb in a fiery spiral.
Then, the flames reached the inner parts of the body.
The Nomu convulsed, as it slowly began to completely disintegrate into the flames.
---
Silence fell for half a second before someone shouted:
"HE DID IT!"
It was Kaminari.
Then others echoed, relief spilling out like a dam bursting.
Aizawa didn't smile. He simply let his scarf fall, his body swaying as he finally stopped erasing quirks.
Bakugo hadn't stopped punching Shigaraki yet, but Shigaraki was already unconscious.
Midoriya let out a long, shaky breath.
Shoto turned away from Kurogiri, satisfied the warper wasn't going anywhere for now.
And Souta?
He stood there with his body still exuding terrible amounts of steam, shoulders heaving.
Then he looked up - and laughed.
Just once.
Tired.
But… ultimately victorious.
Then—
"EVERYTHING IS GOOD. WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!"
This loud voice could be heard, just as a glass panel of the dome broke, and revealed the form of the number one Hero, All Might.
The teacher who should have been present from the very start…
When he landed, All Might began to look around, but all he could see greatly surprised him.
There were many villains laying on the ground unconscious and captured through either tape or handcuffs. Next to them a person could be seen lying on the floor, obviously unconscious, with Bakugo sitting on top of him, still beating the everlasting shit out of him.
The next unusual sight was a…pillar? Something created of ice and fire, half burning and half freezing.
And then, there was Souta, standing in the middle of a huge, completely burned and destroyed part of the plaza. Steam radiating from his body, even more than from the ice and fire pillar. But the most unusual thing… he was fully naked.
Souta blinked, eyes slowly registering the wind on his skin and the weird hush that had fallen over the plaza.
Then he looked down.
"…Oh, c'mon."
The flames had completely dissipated, the steam fading, and there he was - standing in the middle of scorched stone and smoking ruin, fully, undeniably, dramatically naked.
His hands immediately shot down to cover himself. "DID THIS REALLY NEED TO HAPPEN RIGHT NOW?! WASN'T THIS SUIT SUPPOSED TO BE FIREPROOF?!" he shouted, somewhere between a furious whisper and a mortified scream.
Half the class had already turned around, faces red as apples. Kaminari was doubled over laughing, Mina had one hand over her mouth and the other covering her eyes, though, if one looked a bit more carefully, then they would see a small crack between her fingers, and even Jiro had let out a muffled, shocked squeak before looking away.
"I… I didn't even know that was possible," Uraraka muttered, face burning as she looked anywhere but at him.
Shoto was staring straight ahead, expression neutral, as he looked at his brother's embarrassed form, already planning his revenge for the battle trials. Midoriya had his notebook open in a trembling hand, trying to jot something down through the fog of social confusion.
Bakugo - still straddling Shigaraki's unconscious form - glanced up with a scowl. "Put some damn clothes on, Moron."
Momo's face was bright red, but she still managed to produce a thick, dark cloak from her arm with the last bit of lipid reserves she had left. "Here!" she yelped, shoving it into Jiro's hands and gesturing desperately. "Give it to him, please - quickly!"
Jiro, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "I hate today," walked it over with her head down and one hand extended, holding the cloak out like it was on fire.
"Thanks," Souta muttered, dragging the fabric over himself and wrapping it tight, still crouched like he was expecting someone to snap a picture at any second.
Then—
A low, wheezing cough cut through the embarrassment like a knife.
Everyone froze.
It came again - deep, raspy, and wet.
"Ojiro!" Momo snapped, already rushing back over. The color drained from her face as she knelt beside him. "His pulse is dropping. He's losing blood faster than I expected. We need to move him - now."
Shoji and Sato were already at her side, carefully shifting Ojiro's body without jostling his wounds.
"He can't be moved far like this," Momo said, biting her lip. "He needs a proper med team. Someone get Iida - tell him to meet recovery personnel halfway!"
"On it!" Kaminari said, bolting off toward the direction Iida had vanished earlier.
All Might finally stepped forward then, his brows furrowed with real concern as he surveyed the scene - not the battlefield, but his students.
"Listen up," he said, voice lower now but still carrying weight. "You've all fought hard. You've held together in impossible odds. But now we need to finish this. Secure the wounded, gather the remaining villains, and get yourselves to safety. I'll handle the rest."
He paused, eyes falling on Souta - now wrapped in Momo's cloak, still trying to shrink into himself.
"And young man… excellent work. But next time, maybe extra fireproof underwear?"
Souta groaned. "Yeah, yeah… I'll add it to the list, when I hand in the next design for a costume."
Mina raised a hand timidly. "Can we not talk about that part of the fight ever again?"
Jiro nodded furiously. "Seconded."
The group shared a breathless, tired chuckle - tension easing, if only a little.
Then Momo's voice cut back in - sharper this time. "He's fading again! Hurry!"
Any humor disappeared. The urgency snapped back into place.
Then, Souta came over and crouched down to Ojiro. "Let me try something," he began, but hesitated slightly, "Everyone close your eyes and ears for a moment!"
"Wha-"
"Just do it for fuck sake!" Souta bellowed out again.
Deciding to put their trust into him once more, everyone closed their eyes and ears, even the two teachers present.
As he saw that, Souta put a hand on Ojiro's head and whispered as silently as he could, "Lend Regeneration."
What followed was something that would have shocked everyone present, if they had seen it. A light green hue covered Ojiro's whole body, as the wounds he had suffered began to close and his lost blood was slowly being restored inside his body.
Even Ojiro had no idea of what was happening to him, he had passed out shortly his coughs turned the attention to him.
It barely took a minute before Ojiro was as good as new, the others also got more stressed the longer they had to wait. In the end it was Aizawa who broke the silence, "If that is supposed to be a joke, Todoroki, then it is not the time nor the place for it."
"Oh, right. You guys can open your eyes again. Ojiro is fine, he should still be admitted to a hospital, just to be sure, but there shouldn't be any problem left," Souta snapped out of his daze.
He had already kind of forgotten about what he told them, the toll of the prior fight still weighing on him.
Upon hearing his words, everyone opened their eyes and turned to look at Ojiro. Aizawa cam closer and further examined his body, until he finally sighed a breath of relief and let a little smile show on his face.
"He is okay."
Those words were enough for everyone else to also snap out of it and begin cheering again.
All Might came over to Souta and patted his shoulder, "You have done a splendid job today, Young Todoroki. Forgive me for not being here on time."
Souta heard his words, but didn't fully register them, and just nodded.