All Might hit the ground the moment his feet touched the shattered plaza, dust exploding around him as he sprinted for the collapsed figure in the center of the wreckage. The USJ dome groaned as the tornado dissipated in the middle.
"Takeru-shōnen!" All Might roared, his heart twisting painfully at the sight.
Takeru lay in a pool of his own blood, chest rising in shallow, uneven breaths. His right hand was gone from the elbow down, sliced clean. His abdomen was torn open in a ragged wound, his insides threatening to spill out, and his right eye was a ruined mess. Regret coiled in All Might's stomach like a serpent.
He saw the villain with hands wrapped around him, and the villain who looked like living mist made of purple gas. All Might had to neutralize the villains before they could harm his students. His ever-present smile was gone. The villain meant to open his mouth, but All Might was already on him, punching him in the stomach and incapacitating him. Aizawa, still barely conscious, managed to deactivate the warp villain's quirk. Before the purple mist villain could react, All Might landed a chop on the metal brace he guessed was his weakness, knocking him out.
"Eraser Head, how badly are you hurt?""I'll live. Save Kurogane," Aizawa said.
Midoriya's arm was battered, his face contorted in guilt, but his successor was alive.
"I am sorry." He looked at Takeru's broken form.
He lifted Takeru with a gentleness completely at odds with his giant frame and shot through the air toward the central building. The walls blurred past him. Every second was precious. Recovery Girl was already prepping medical supplies when All Might barreled through the door, still clutching the bleeding student.
"Put him down, Toshinori!" she snapped, moving quicker than her age implied.
All Might laid Takeru on the bed, his breath shaking. "Heal him, please."
Recovery Girl didn't answer at first. She examined the torn flesh, the exposed muscle, the missing limb. Her frown deepened with every passing moment.
"…Anyone else," she finally said, voice grave, "would already be dead."
All Might's stomach dropped.
"But look here." She touched the edges of the abdominal wound. "The blood has already begun clotting on its own. The tissue is trying to stabilize. His body entered a self-induced coma to prevent further shock."
"Can you heal him?" All Might asked, almost pleading.
"Not while he's unconscious." She shook her head. "My quirk speeds up natural healing. I can't force a body to heal if it hasn't started the process consciously. He has to wake first."
All Might stared at Takeru's form, such a promising young hero. Despite his origins, the boy had the heart of a true hero and protected his classmates. Rage at the injustice coursed through his veins—rage at his own weakness. Had I been there…
Recovery Girl sighed. "Toshinori, the students need you now. This is not the time for regret. I'll need to call his emergency contacts. It says here… Hawks and Hado Neijire." She clicked her tongue. "That girl will break down the moment she hears this."
She grabbed her cane and headed toward the door. "I'm going to check on Aizawa now. He should have been brought in by now."
All Might nodded silently, feeling the seconds ticking away inside his chest. Once she was gone, he gently brushed a hand over Takeru's remaining shoulder.
"I'm sorry, young man… You fought alone, and you shouldn't have."
His muscles shrank suddenly, painfully. His time was up. In a flash of steam, he reverted to his gaunt, skeletal form, clutching his ribs as he staggered out of the room. There were still students who needed him—one in particular.
Toshinori went to find his successor.
Midoriya sat in one of the side beds, cradling his mangled arm against his chest. His face was pale, streaked with dried tears and dirt, but his eyes were alive with torment.
"All… All Might…" he whispered when the hero entered.
Toshinori forced a tired smile. "I saw you were injured too, Young Midoriya."
Midoriya nodded, then immediately shook his head, misery building in his expression. "It's my fault," he croaked. "Takeru-kun's injuries—I caused them."
Toshinori stiffened. "Midoriya. Speak clearly. Why would you think that?"
Midoriya squeezed his eyes shut as fresh tears spilled down his cheeks. "I tried to help—I tried to smash the warp villain to protect Sensei and Tsui-chan—but Kurogiri redirected the attack. The Smash—I hit Takeru instead. It knocked him off balance, and that's when—when—" His voice cracked. "That's when Nomu bit into him and—and tore him open…"
He shook violently.
"I hurt him. My mistake opened him up to that monster."
All Might's hands trembled. "Young Midoriya… listen to me. This was not your fault."
Midoriya shook his head harder. "If I could control my quirk—if I wasn't so useless—Takeru wouldn't be—he wouldn't—"
"Enough." All Might's voice was soft but unyielding. "You were fighting to save lives. You acted with courage, not recklessness. Villains manipulate situations—Kurogiri used your power against your friend. None of that blame belongs to you."
Midoriya wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, but the pain remained.
Toshinori lowered himself onto a chair beside him, wincing from his own internal injuries. "Tell me, Midoriya… what did you observe about the Nomu?"
Midoriya sniffed but answered. "Multiple quirks. At least super strength, shock absorption, and regeneration. But the shock absorption wasn't perfect—Takeru started bypassing it near the end."
Toshinori nodded grimly. "A bio-engineered creature… designed to counter All Might. That's what the hand villain wanted." The situation was far more serious than he could have imagined. Multiple quirks… It couldn't be him, could it…
Midoriya looked up at him, trembling. "But All Might—the hand villain and Kurogiri… they were captured, right?"
All Might's jaw tightened. "Yes. But before any interrogation could begin, they vanished."
"Vanished?" Midoriya repeated.
"A black sludge engulfed them. Someone retrieved them remotely. We have no idea where they were taken."
The boy paled further.
Toshinori placed a gentle hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "What matters now is that your classmates survived. And so will Takeru."
Midoriya swallowed. "…Do you really think so?"
All Might nodded slowly, remembering Recovery Girl's words.
"He is not like normal people, Midoriya. His quirk is… extraordinary—and so is his heart. As long as he fights, he will return. I believe in him. So should you."
Midoriya wiped his face again and nodded, still trembling but comforted.
All Might rose, exhaustion weighing heavily on his fragile frame.
"Rest for now, Young Midoriya. Tomorrow… the world will keep moving forward."
Toshinori stepped out, staring down the long, sterile hallway toward where Takeru lay in his coma.
"Hold on, shōnen," he whispered. "Live. The world needs heroes like you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The U.A. medical wing lights were harsh, sterile, and far too bright for the mood that hung in the room. Takeru lay unconscious beneath layers of medical cloth and monitoring cables. His chest rose faintly, rhythm steady but shallow—like a machine struggling to restart itself. The air was thick with the smell of antiseptic.
Neijire Hado sat at the edge of his bed, fingers clasped tightly around his remaining hand. Her eyes were red, cheeks streaked from crying. She had been pulled out of class the moment Recovery Girl called her in as Takeru's emergency contact. She barely remembered how she arrived—only the cold shock when she saw him, mutilated and still.
Principal Nezu stood beside Recovery Girl, offering a sympathetic nod. "Your concern is understandable, Hado-san. What your friend did today was… extraordinary. If he had not arrived when he did, I shudder to think what would have happened to his classmates."
Neijire sniffed hard, refusing to look away from Takeru's face. "He shouldn't have been alone. It shouldn't have gotten that far. He was always so strong. I didn't think anyone or anything could hurt him. I wish I was there with him."
Recovery Girl gently interrupted. "There is nothing you or anyone else could have done. The weight of that responsibility does not fall on you."
"But he—he lost an arm, his eye—his stomach—" Neijire's voice cracked painfully. "He looks like he should be dead. I don't understand why he's still breathing."
Before Recovery Girl could answer, the medical wing doors slid open with a sharp hiss.
A group of men in dark suits entered first—HSPC insignias on their badges—followed by Hawks and Shun Sakamoto. Behind them came two white-coated Commission scientists pushing specialized medical equipment.
Hawks strode forward quickly, his expression stripped of its usual playfulness. Even his wings were tucked tight against his back.
"Hey, Sunshine," he said softly, crouching down to Neijire's level. "Got here as fast as I could."
Neijire swallowed hard. "Hawks-senpai… Takeru—he—"
"I know." His golden eyes softened. "But you need to breathe. He isn't dying."
Her voice trembled. "How can you possibly know that?"
Hawks lowered his voice so only she could hear.
"Takeru's quirk isn't just strength. It's Smart Atoms. His body reconstructs itself from the cellular level if he gets enough food and rest. The scientists think he'll regenerate everything—arm, eye… even the internal damage."
Neijire froze.
"He'll heal?" she whispered.
"Yeah." Hawks ruffled her hair lightly, in a big-brotherly way. "It would take more than this to kill this brute. This isn't the first time he's come back from something like this."
That wasn't technically true—Takeru had never taken injuries this catastrophic before—but she didn't need that detail.
The relief hit her like a tidal wave. Her shoulders sagged as a sob escaped her—not from fear now, but release. The pressure of the last hour melted as she leaned forward, resting her forehead gently against Takeru's arm.
"Idiot…" she whispered shakily. "Don't scare me like that again."
Akane Kuroda, the lead HSPC scientist, approached with a datapad. "We'll take over now. Recovery Girl's quirk is not useful in this situation. Smart Atoms quirks, from our research, show that they activate autonomously in response to catastrophic damage."
Nezu folded his paws neatly. "Then U.A. will cooperate with your team fully."
Kuroda nodded. "We estimate at least one week for full regeneration."
Neijire lifted her head. "One week? That fast?"
"His quirk is quite fascinating. You can see the wounds have already clotted and the mending has begun. It's like his quirk is working to restore him to his perfect state," Kuroda said. "So he'll need an enormous caloric intake. The moment his metabolism restarts the repair cycle, we'll see rapid growth of new tissue."
Hawks smirked lightly. "The big brute is going to wake up soon and eat his way through half the cafeteria."
The joke earned a weak laugh from Neijire.
Shun Sakamoto finally spoke, voice low. "His survival is a testament to his training… and his will. He fought something built to kill All Might. That alone speaks volumes," giving Nezu a look of superiority.
For a moment, the room fell silent in respect.
Next Day
Class 1-A
Mina clutched her phone tightly against her chest. "I… I just want to know if Takeru-kun's okay. He looked so—so hurt when they carried him away."
Toru curled into her seat, invisible hands twisted together. "H-he was covered in blood… and his arm… and his eye…" Her voice wavered. "What if—what if he doesn't—"
"He's not dying!" Kirishima cut in sharply, though his voice shook with denial. "He's too manly to go out like that! No way some monster takes down Takeru!"
Sero slumped forward. "Manly or not… that thing was built to kill All Might. You heard what that hand guy said. It bit him. It ripped him open. I don't even know how anyone survives that."
Kaminari looked pale. "He'll be fine… right? Right?"
Mineta squeaked. "You weren't there, Kaminari. That fight—I have never been so scared in my life. Takeru saved Aizawa-sensei and fought that thing. We could barely stand the wind from their punches. One hit alone would have knocked me out. When that monster bit into Takeru and tore out his—"
Jiro punched his shoulder. "That's enough. Takeru will be fine," she insisted, but her voice betrayed her own doubts.
Across the room, Bakugo sat completely still, eyes unfocused. It was the quietest he had ever been. He hadn't yelled or insulted anyone all day, replaying the fight endlessly in his head. It wasn't just the gap in strength—it was the fact that he had completely frozen, watching Takeru and the Nomu fight. Bakugo was meant to be the strongest, yet he could barely move, rooted to his feet, watching those titans clash. It made him feel small.
Todoroki sat stiffly on the other side of the classroom, his face unreadable but jaw tight. The echo of raw force from the USJ still lingered in his ears—the shockwaves, the torn earth, the way the Nomu and Takeru had hit each other with enough power to create hurricanes. Todoroki knew firsthand how fast and strong Takeru was, and even he had almost been killed by that monster. Todoroki was born to surpass All Might and become the number one hero, but he was so far from being even number one in his class.
Kirishima glanced at the two strongest boys in the room. "You guys saw it too, right? When that monster attacked? I couldn't move. I wanted to help, but—I just froze."
Sero nodded. "Same here. My legs wouldn't listen."
Bakugo's fists tightened slightly—not in anger, but something worse.
"…I couldn't move either," he muttered. "Tch. That damn meathead was getting torn apart in front of me and I—" His voice faltered. "I couldn't do anything."
Kirishima tapped Bakugo's shoulder. "You took out that warp guy! If you hadn't, Takeru would have died. You did better than all of us."
The class murmured their assent, but Bakugo merely scoffed.
Midoriya sat silently in the corner, his arm bandaged tightly. His guilt was eating him alive. He had been given the strongest quirk ever by the greatest hero ever, and he was still as useless as he had always been. He replayed the moment again and again—the redirected Smash, Takeru being knocked off balance, the creature seizing that opening…
Ochaco touched his shoulder. "Deku-kun… don't torture yourself. I think Takeru will be fine, and he would never blame you. He is very kind and would probably laugh it off."
He didn't answer, but tears flowed from his eyes.
The classroom door slid open.
Every student jerked upright as Aizawa entered, wrapped in heavy bandages like a disgruntled mummy. His eye was swollen, his movements stiff, but his tone was as dry as ever.
"You all look like someone died," he muttered.
"Aizawa-sensei!" Mina gasped. "Are you okay? You should be in the hospital. And—and Takeru-kun?"
Aizawa raised a hand for silence.
"Kurogane will make a full recovery."
The relief was instant and overwhelming. Toru burst into tears. Mina hugged her. Kirishima pumped his fist.
Midoriya asked, his voice quivering, "Sensei… what about his arm and eye?"
Aizawa continued, "It will take time, but Recovery Girl and other specialists have confirmed that it will regenerate. Kurogane's quirk is quite special."
The class exhaled, the tension melting into hopeful chatter.
Aizawa waited a few seconds before adding, "Since you're all too distracted to learn anything today, I might as well inform you now."
He clicked a button.
A banner unfurled on the projector.
U.A. SPORTS FESTIVAL — 2 WEEKS AWAY
Aizawa smirked as the class erupted with mixed reactions—panic, excitement, dread, and adrenaline.
"We just had a villain attack!"
"Yes, what if they target the festival?"
"The world isn't stopping for any of us," he said. "So you'd better be ready. There will be many pro heroes there; your safety is assured. Spend the next two weeks training."