Izuku stepped through the jagged opening in the wall, loose bricks crunching beneath his boots as fine dust still drifted lazily in the air.
The alley beyond was dimmer, narrower illuminated only by the faint orange glow spilling in from a distant streetlight. Stain lay half-buried under fractured masonry, blood tracing thin lines down his cheek and neck, chest rising in slow but stubborn breaths.
Izuku stopped a few steps away and looked down at him.
"Who gives you the right to judge who's a hero and who's not?" His voice was calm, almost conversational, yet it carried a quiet gravity that seemed to press against the silence of the alley.
Even the faint hum of distant sirens felt muted beneath it. "A hero's intention isn't what defines them. It's whether or not they can save someone at the end of the day."
For a moment, Stain didn't respond. His fingers twitched against the rubble.
Then he stilled. The words lingered in the air, heavier than the debris around him.
His chest rose once. His expression shifted , confusion flickering briefly beneath the fanatic certainty, then disbelief, then something raw and violent.
Fury.
The tremor started in his shoulders and spread outward. Veins bulged across his forehead and neck, skin tightening as his jaw clenched hard enough to creak. His eyes sharpened, pupils narrowing into predatory slits.
Then the killing aura erupted.
It wasn't visible in any ordinary sense, yet it felt tangible thick, oppressive, suffocating. The air seemed to grow heavier, pressure pushing outward in invisible waves that rattled loose debris.
The ground beneath Stain's boots cracked further as if responding to the surge of intent radiating from him.
The alley felt smaller.
Darker.
Iida, several meters behind, felt it instantly.
His already weakened body seized as if gripped by invisible claws. His knees slammed against the pavement, hands trembling violently as his breath hitched in his throat.
His vision blurred, ears ringing. The sheer density of Stain's bloodlust crushed against his mind like a physical force.
It felt like standing before a beast that had shed all restraint.
"You know nothing, kid!" Stain roared, saliva spraying from his mouth as his voice echoed violently between brick walls. "A true hero is All Might and him alone! Everyone else every fraud wearing that title they're parasites feeding off the system's rot!"
His words grew harsher, more manic, each sentence building in volume and intensity.
"Only I can fix this society of fakes! When I'm done, the world will be cleansed stained in blood! That's the only way the weak will remember what true heroism looks like!"
His eyes burned a violent crimson beneath the flickering light. The killing intent thickened further, the air around him warping faintly from the psychological pressure alone.
Yet Izuku didn't move. If anything, a faint disappointment softened his features.
He slowly descended the last few inches until his boots touched the cracked pavement, hands still relaxed at his sides.
"You really don't understand what it means to save someone," Izuku said quietly. "That's the saddest part."
Before Stain could surge forward again, Izuku moved.
His hand lifted casually.
And in one smooth motion almost too fast to track he flicked his finger against Stain's forehead.
Pakh.
The sound was small. Deceptively light.
But the force behind it traveled instantly through Stain's skull. His eyes rolled back mid-scream, body losing all tension as if a switch had been flipped. The suffocating aura vanished in an instant.
He crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, dust rising gently around him.
Silence returned.
Izuku let out a quiet sigh, scratching the back of his head. "Could've just stayed down the first time…"
He bent and grabbed Stain by the collar, hoisting him upright effortlessly with one hand before leaning him against the intact section of brick wall.
The Hero Killer's head lolled to the side, unconscious but breathing steadily.
That's when Izuku noticed Iida.
The boy remained kneeling several meters away, completely still. His face had gone pale, sweat dripping down his temples and chin. His glasses sat crooked across his nose.
Izuku floated over, lowering himself beside him and checking his pulse quickly.
"Damn, poor guy…"
He lifted Iida gently in his arms, careful not to aggravate his injuries.
'The intent thingy didn't even work on me…' he thought, glancing once at the spot where Stain lay unconscious. 'Probably 'cause I'm not afraid of anything…'
A faint sigh escaped him as distant sirens grew louder, finally closing in on the scene.
The wail of emergency vehicles grew sharper, echoing off the tight brick walls before washing the alley in flashing red and blue light.
Tires screeched as patrol cars skidded to a stop at both ends of the street, officers spilling out with weapons raised before quickly lowering them at the sight of the aftermath.
Izuku stepped out from the broken wall, Iida carefully cradled in one arm while Stain hung limp in the other, his collar gripped firmly in Izuku's hand.
The surrounding officers hesitated for half a second — recognition dawning.
"It's him—!"
"We've got them both secured!" one of the officers shouted, rushing forward with restraints.
Izuku lowered Iida first, handing him over gently. "Make sure he gets medical attention first," he said calmly, nodding toward the unconscious boy. "He lost blood and was hit with paralysis."
Paramedics rushed in immediately, placing Iida on a stretcher and beginning treatment.
Another team moved in to cuff Stain, securing his arms and legs with reinforced restraints designed for high-risk villains.
"Hey One—!" an officer began, likely about to request a statement.
But Izuku was already moving. The pavement beneath his feet cracked as he bent his knees and launched upward, a powerful gust blasting loose debris outward.
Within a second he was above the alley, the sirens fading beneath him as he cut through the night air.
He landed soundlessly atop a nearby building, boots barely making a whisper against the concrete. The city stretched endlessly around him, glowing windows, distant traffic lights blinking like a sea of embers.
He leaned against the steel railing and exhaled slowly.
'That went well… surprisingly,' he thought, watching emergency lights flicker in the distance. 'I mean, I knew Stain wasn't that strong. Just didn't know he was that weak. Then again… it's my fault I have this power.'
He flexed his fingers slightly, faint green energy flickering across his knuckles before fading.
'Right now I don't even know my limit. Maybe I have No Limit. Who knows.'
『A/N: TITLE DROP!』
The idea didn't excite him the way it probably should have. It just sat there.
He pushed off the railing and walked to the opposite edge of the rooftop. The steel barrier was cold beneath his palms as he leaned forward slightly, holding it loosely while looking down at the city below.
People were already returning to their routines. Cars moving again. Street vendors reopening shutters. Life continuing. Izuku let his gaze linger for a few seconds longer.
'Time to go back,' he decided.
He stepped over the railing without hesitation and dropped.
The wind rushed past him as he fell between buildings, lights streaking upward in his vision. Mid-descent, he took off his suit.
Revealing his thin pair of clothes beneath. By the time he neared the ground, he looked like any other teenager out late in the city.
He landed lightly in a dim side street, barely bending his knees.
No one noticed.
Blending effortlessly into the nearby pedestrian flow, Izuku slipped his hands into his pockets and walked with the crowd, the earlier destruction now just another distant headline forming somewhere behind him.
Step by step, he made his way back toward Rumi's place, the night air cool against his face as the adrenaline of battle slowly drained away.
TO BE CONTINUED