The observation room had fallen into an uneasy silence.
No one spoke.
Not because the battle lacked spectacle—quite the opposite—but because every second seemed to reveal another flaw neither student wanted to admit they possessed.
The monitors showed nothing but dust and fractured concrete.
The city block had already been reduced to ruins.
Jagged cracks spiderwebbed across the roads. Storefronts had collapsed inward. Lamp posts leaned at impossible angles, bent by nothing more than the wake of All Might's movements.
Standing at opposite ends of a shattered intersection were two boys.
Neither looked at the other.
Katsuki Bakugo wiped blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his glove.
"...Tch."
Across from him, Izuku Midoriya's breathing remained uneven. His costume was already torn in several places from earlier impacts, green lightning crawling over his body in nervous bursts before fading again.
Neither spoke.
Then—
"You planning to stand there forever?" Bakugo growled.
Izuku inhaled.
"...Kacchan..."
"No."
Bakugo's answer came before the sentence could even begin.
"I know exactly what you're gonna say."
His palms crackled.
"We run."
"We escape."
"We 'play smart.'"
Each word dripped with contempt.
Izuku frowned.
"I'm saying we should pass."
"The objective isn't defeating All Might."
"It's escaping him."
Bakugo laughed.
A single, ugly bark.
"...You really said it."
His eyes slowly lifted toward Izuku.
"The idea of me..."
"...running from All Might."
His shoulders trembled.
"...is pathetic."
Izuku stepped forward.
"Kacchan, listen—"
"I am listening!"
The explosion beneath Bakugo's feet erupted without warning.
BOOM!!
He vanished.
Izuku barely had time to react before Bakugo appeared directly in front of him.
WHAM!!
A gauntleted hand slammed into Izuku's chest, knocking him backward across broken asphalt.
His body bounced once before rolling to a stop.
Bakugo pointed straight at him.
"You shut your damn mouth."
"I don't need your advice."
"I don't need your help."
"I'll beat him myself."
Izuku pushed himself up.
His expression hardened.
"...You can't."
Silence.
"...What?"
"You can't beat All Might."
Bakugo's eye twitched.
Izuku kept going.
"Nobody here can."
"You know that."
"This isn't about pride anymore."
"It's about passing."
Bakugo slowly lowered his hand.
"You giving up?"
"I'm being realistic."
"...Realistic?"
Bakugo smiled.
It wasn't pleasant.
"No."
"You're scared."
Izuku's fists clenched.
"I'm trying to make sure we both pass!"
"And I'm trying to WIN!"
"You don't understand anything!"
The shouting echoed through the empty streets.
In the observation room...
Kirishima scratched the back of his head.
"...This feels less like an exam..."
"...and more like years of unresolved problems."
Nobody argued.
Back outside—
Izuku took another step.
"Kacchan..."
"If you fight him alone..."
"You'll lose."
Bakugo answered instantly.
"Then I'll lose fighting."
"Not running."
Izuku's frustration finally surfaced.
"Why are you like this?!"
Bakugo barked back just as loudly.
"Why are YOU always trying to quit before the fight even starts?!"
"I'M TRYING TO SAVE US!"
"I DON'T NEED SAVING!"
"...Your temper is exactly why nobody likes you!"
Everything stopped.
Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
Bakugo froze.
Slowly...
very slowly...
his face turned.
"...Say that again."
BOOOOOOM!!
Neither of them saw the shadow descending.
All Might's fist tore through the air.
The resulting shockwave erased the street.
Buildings exploded outward.
Concrete became dust.
Windows shattered across the district.
The very road folded upward like paper.
Izuku and Bakugo were thrown apart before either could react.
Inside the observation room—
Several students instinctively shielded themselves despite the explosion existing only on-screen.
Present Mic whistled.
"He's really not holding back."
Aizawa didn't even blink.
"They wouldn't learn otherwise."
All Might landed between them.
His cape settled behind him.
He looked from one student...
...to the other.
Then sighed.
"...Young Bakugo."
"...Young Midoriya."
"You've disappointed me."
The words hit harder than any punch.
"This is an examination."
"You are partners."
"And yet..."
He looked between them.
"...you've spent more effort fighting each other than solving the problem before you."
His posture lowered.
Muscles flexed.
"I suppose..."
"...it's time I joined the battlefield properly."
The pressure alone made the pavement crack.
Bakugo grinned.
"There you are."
Explosions burst beneath his feet.
He charged.
At the exact same moment—
Izuku turned.
Running.
Not toward All Might.
Away.
Toward the escape gate.
All Might noticed immediately.
"...Young Midoriya."
One leap.
The Symbol of Peace appeared directly before him.
Izuku's eyes widened.
"...!"
"Running?"
All Might asked.
"...Is that truly your decision?"
Time seemed to slow.
The question echoed strangely.
Running.
Escape.
Victory.
Defeat.
His thoughts blurred.
Then—
A memory.
A blood-covered alley.
A man whose tongue decided life and death.
Hero Killer Stain.
His cold eyes.
His impossible resolve.
Why...
Why did I suddenly remember—
No.
There wasn't time.
Green lightning exploded across his body.
"Full Cowling!"
CRACK!!
Izuku launched himself skyward.
If he couldn't outrun All Might—
Then he'd go over him.
But another explosion erupted from below.
Bakugo.
He'd jumped at exactly the same moment.
Neither had looked.
WHAM!!
Forehead met forehead.
Both boys recoiled violently through the air.
"...Ow!"
"Tch!"
They crashed onto opposite rooftops before regaining their footing.
Izuku immediately stood.
"Kacchan!"
"We have to go!"
"We can still make the gate!"
Bakugo slowly rose.
Blood dripped from his forehead.
"...No."
Izuku stared.
"We don't have a chance fighting him."
"We do escaping."
"No."
"Kacchan—"
"I said NO!"
His voice echoed through the district.
"A Hero..."
"...wins."
Always.
No matter what.
That image.
That single impossible figure smiling despite impossible odds.
The man who never lost.
The man standing behind them.
All Might.
Bakugo's fists trembled.
"If..."
"If I have to run..."
"If I have to abandon winning..."
"...then what was I chasing all these years?"
Izuku froze.
Then...
he understood.
Not agreed.
Understood.
Bakugo wasn't rejecting the strategy.
He was rejecting what it meant.
If escaping became victory...
Then everything he'd admired about All Might...
everything he'd built himself upon...
would crack.
"Kacchan..."
"I get it."
"I really do."
"But—"
"I DON'T CARE!"
A shadow swallowed both of them.
Neither had sensed him.
All Might descended from above.
In both hands...
a massive steel guardrail torn clean from the road.
"Forgive me."
CRAAAAASH!!
The guardrail slammed downward.
Izuku barely managed to look up before it crushed him into the pavement.
Concrete exploded.
Dust engulfed everything.
His arms strained immediately.
Too heavy.
Too sudden.
"...Ggh!"
Pinned.
Completely.
All Might didn't even look down.
Instead—
he walked toward Bakugo.
Bakugo forced himself upright.
Explosions sparked weakly from his palms.
"...Come on."
"Again."
All Might stopped in front of him.
"...Young Bakugo."
"I'm aware."
Bakugo frowned.
"Your frustration."
"Your jealousy."
"The feeling that someone you once stood above..."
"...is now catching you."
Bakugo's breathing stopped.
"I understand."
"But what you're doing now..."
"...is wasting your talent."
Bakugo swung.
All Might caught the punch effortlessly.
"A Hero..."
"...must sometimes rely upon others."
"They must trust."
"They must cooperate."
"They must borrow strength when their own is insufficient."
Bakugo ripped his arm free.
"I don't need anybody."
All Might's eyes softened.
"...That."
"...is precisely your weakness."
His fist moved.
Not fast.
Simply inevitable.
THOOM!!
The punch buried itself into Bakugo's stomach.
Air exploded from his lungs.
His body rocketed backward through three buildings before finally skidding to a halt across broken pavement.
He coughed violently.
Blood stained the concrete.
Still...
he tried to stand.
His legs shook.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Nothing.
All Might approached slowly.
"...If relying upon another means defeat to you..."
"...then I'm afraid you've misunderstood what being strong truly means."
Bakugo glared upward.
"If..."
"...if I need someone else..."
"I'd rather..."
"...lose."
Silence.
All Might closed his eyes.
"...I'm disappointed."
He raised his fist.
"...This exam ends here."
Bakugo couldn't move.
His body refused.
His palms sparked uselessly.
Then—
CRACK!!
Green lightning erupted behind All Might.
The steel guardrail bent outward.
Then snapped apart.
With a roar—
Izuku tore free.
Chunks of twisted steel scattered across the street.
His muscles screamed.
His arms bled.
But he kept running.
"KACCHAN!!"
All Might turned.
Too late.
SMASH!!
Izuku's fist collided with Bakugo's shoulder—not to hurt him, but to knock him sideways out of the path of the descending punch.
_________________________________________________________________________________