….
====
[SUPER SOLDIER] - 100/100% ✓
[ARACHNID GENOME] - UNLOCKED
[WARNING: User's body sustained Grade-4 thermal and kinetic trauma. Beginning emergency repairs. Estimated recovery time: 72 hours]
| LIFE SPAN REMAINING: ??? DAYS
====
The [Super Soldier] serum was finally complete and the next stage of evolution was unlocked.
Yet something strange had changed, his lifespan was in question - as though some deeper biological process was struggling to compensate for the damage.
Dabi knew none of this.
His consciousness had slipped too far into darkness.
….
The USJ incident was over.
Class 1-A had survived their first true villain attack.
But they had also witnessed something none of them would ever forget.
What it meant to be a Hero.
The refusal to fall when every instinct demanded it, the willingness to burn everything left to protect those behind you.
Even if you collapsed the moment the battle ended.
….
[U.A. High School - Medical Ward]
Recovery Girl had witnessed half a century of hero work, heroes crushed beneath buildings and villains reduced to ash.
But the young man she had seen growing from his teenage years now laying on the high-intensity medical bed had always been a medical impossibility.
"Hold on." she muttered, her lips glowing as she channeled her quirk. "Just hold on, you stubborn, reckless fool."
Dabi's body wasn't merely damaged, it was actively tearing itself apart from within.
Unknown to her, the [Super Soldier] serum, now fully integrated, had turned his immune system into a hyper-aggressive legion.
And every time she attempted to accelerate his cellular division, his white blood cells reacted with violent efficiency, treating the healing energy as a foreign invader.
Worse still, the cancerous, necrotic tissues are once again fighting back.
And there was something else that she couldn't identify. The mutated cells were multiplying at an exponential rate, fueled by the very serum meant to save him.
His cells were undergoing rapid changes, mutations that didn't follow any medical pattern she recognized.
Some kind of transformation was happening at a cellular level, and she had no idea if it was helping or killing him.
….
[The Hallway - Surgical Waiting Area]
Outside, the air was heavy with the scent of ozone and unwashed grief.
The entirety of Class 1-A had effectively occupied the wing, refusing the orders of the faculty to return to their class.
Nobody spoke much, the shock of what they had witnessed was still too fresh.
….
The silence was finally broken by the sharp, rhythmic clack of boots on tile.
A short, spry elderly man rounded the corner, his yellow cape fluttering, a detail that tugged at the edges of Midoriya's encyclopedic hero knowledge, though the name wouldn't surface.
Gran Torino stopped at the head of the hallway, taking in the scene at a glance, the shaken students, the suffocating tension, and the sealed, pressurized doors of the medical ward.
He exhaled a long, weary breath that seemed to carry decades of frustration.
"…What the hell did that brat do to himself this time?"
All Might noticed him first, the Symbol of Peace visibly shrinking under the old man's gaze.
"Master!" He rushed over, his massive form nearly vibrating with guilt. "I am so sorry. I should have been faster. If I had arrived sooner, I could have prev—"
"Stop." Gran Torino said, the word cutting through All Might's spiraling apology like a blade. "What's done is done. Where is he?"
"Inside. Recovery Girl is leading the team, along with three of U.A.'s top specialists."
Aizawa approached, his expression weary but respectful. "Sorahiko."
Most of the students stared in confusion, unable to reconcile this tiny, elderly man with the respect the top heroes were showing him.
But the silence was shattered by a small, white-haired blur racing through the crowd.
"Grandpa!"
Eri threw herself at Gran Torino, her small frame racking with sobs. He caught her automatically, the hardened warrior's expression softening into something pained and paternal.
"Little Eri. What are you doing here? You should be in the faculty dorms–"
"Papa!" Her small hands clutched his cape desperately. "Papa was screaming! Inside! I heard him screaming!"
And it was true.
Even through the reinforced door of the medical ward, it carried, muffled, guttural, unmistakable, agony so raw it made the students of Class 1-A flinch as if they had been struck.
"Don't cry, Little Eri." Gran Torino held her close, his voice gentle despite the storm of emotions on his face. "He is going to be fine. Your Papa has an irritating talent for surviving the impossible."
The screaming from inside intensified - a jagged, high-frequency sound that vibrated the glass in the hallway - then cut off into a sudden, terrifying silence.
Everyone tensed.
Midoriya's breath hitched; Bakugo's hands tightened into white-knuckled fists.
Then, the sound of rhythmic, thundering footsteps echoed from the far end of the hall.
Rumi Usagiyama - the No. 5 Hero, Mirko - burst through the entrance.
She was still in her hero costume, her red eyes wild and her long ears pinned flat against her skull in a predatory snarl.
"Where is he?!" She scanned the room, her presence so explosive it pushed the air out of the hallway. "I got a call saying there was an 'incident' and then every damn person I asked went silent!"
She spotted Eri in Gran Torino's arms, saw the tears, and her expression went from panicked to murderous.
"What. Happened?"
All Might stepped forward, hands raised placatingly. "Miss Mirko, we need to remain calm–"
"CALM?! My daughter is crying and nobody will tell me where Dabi is! Someone better start talking in the next three seconds or I am kicking down every door in this building!"
"There was a Villain Alliance breach at the USJ." All Might said, speaking fast. "Dabi moved to protect the students. He... he sustained some injuries."
"Injured?" Rumi's voice dropped to something dangerous. "How badly?"
Aizawa didn't sugarcoat it. "He has been under the knife for two hours. We're waiting on the stabilize-signal."
Rumi went deathly still. It was the kind of stillness that preceded a natural disaster.
Eri wiggled out of Gran Torino's arms and ran to Rumi, grabbing her hand. "Momma, it's okay." she said quickly. "The doctors are helping Papa… and Grandpa said he is going to be alright."
But Eri's red eyes were filled with tears.
She was trying to be brave, trying to comfort the adults, but she was just a four-year-old girl who was terrified.
"Momma." Eri said quietly. "I… I can help. Maybe?"
Every Hero in the hall froze.
"What do you mean, sweetie?" Rumi knelt, her powerful hands gently gripping Eri's shoulders, forcing her own rage to subside for her daughter's sake.
"My quirk. I can reverse things to their past state." Eri's small hands gestured uncertainly. "This morning, Papa was okay. He was eating breakfast and smiling. If I reverse him this morning, he will be okay again. Right?"
The adults exchanged glances.
However if Dabi were conscious, he would have been terrified, despite being overloaded with cuteness.
Eri's 'Rewind' wouldn't just fix his wounds - it would delete the 100% [Super Soldier] evolution, the unlock of [Arachnid Genome], and the [Sun Breathing] mastery he had nearly died to achieve.
It would undo the very progress keeping him alive against cancer.
"Eri, your quirk is very powerful." Gran Torino spoke, his voice heavy with caution. "But it's also volatile. If you lose control–"
"But Uncle Eraser is here!" Eri pointed at Aizawa with childish logic. "He can stop me if I go too far! Like we practiced!"
The logic was flawless in its simplicity. Aizawa looked at the medical door, then at the desperate hope in the little girl's eyes.
"We can't–" All Might started.
The medical ward door opened.
Recovery Girl emerged, looking more hollowed out than any of them had ever seen her. Her gloves were stained with a dark, viscous fluid that didn't look entirely like human blood.
Every eye in the hallway locked onto her like a lifeline.
"Granny… Papa is okay, right?" Eri's voice was small, hopeful.
Recovery Girl's expression softened into something painful. She walked over and knelt in front of the little girl, taking her small, cold hands in her own.
"Sweetheart, he is stable for now. But I need to talk to your mama about something very important. Why don't you go sit with your big brothers and sisters over there for a bit? Okay?"
Midoriya, sensing the gravity of the shift, stood up immediately. "Eri, come sit with us. We were just about to talk about the training today. It was... it was incredible."
Eri looked uncertain, her gaze lingering on the closed door, but she nodded with a formal bow that made several hearts clench in the hallway.
"Please save Papa." she said, her voice small but absolute.
"I am trying, dear. I promise I am trying."
As Midoriya led Eri away - Uraraka immediately fumbling for a distraction and Asui offering a piece of candy - the atmosphere shifted more seriously.
Once the children were out of earshot, Recovery Girl's face turned grim. Only the inner circle remained: Aizawa, Gran Torino, Rumi, and All Might.
"His cancer cells are overtaking every healthy system in his body." Recovery Girl said, skipping the medical pleasantries. "The more I try to accelerate his healing, the more aggressive the malignancy becomes. It's a biological feedback loop - my quirk is fueling the fire as much as the water."
Rumi's face went porcelain-white. "The necrosis... it's back?"
"It's worse." Recovery Girl continued, her voice dropping. "He has lost an immense amount of blood, and we need an AB+ transfusion immediately. Normally, the blood bank would suffice, but..."
She paused, her eyes flickering with a rare medical fear. "Something is happening to him. A cellular transformation is rewriting his genetic code in real-time. His body is rejecting all synthetic or non-matched biological material. It's as if his immune system has become a fortress that won't let anyone in."
"Is it killing him?" All Might asked.
"I don't know. It might be. Or it might be the only thing keeping him alive. I can't tell….
"What I do know is that standard blood transfusion won't work. His body is rejecting outside blood. We need a genetic match - blood from a direct biological relative."
"Family?" Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "I thought Dabi was an orphan with no records."
The silence that followed was heavy with a decade of secrets.
Rumi's ears were twitching rapidly - she understood what they needed to do now.
"We don't have time for the long version." Gran Torino snapped. He turned his sharp, hawk-like gaze toward the students.
His eyes zeroed in on the boy sitting in solitary shadow–
"Hey! You! Fire and ice kid! Get over here!"
Shoto Todoroki stood slowly, his heterochromatic eyes narrowed in confusion. He walked toward the group, his posture defensive.
"What's your blood type?" Gran Torino demanded.
"O-negative." Shoto replied, his voice flat.
O-negative? It's the universal red-cell donor.
Relief immediately washed over the room.
"Alright… Squeeze as much as you safely can from this boy." Gran Torino said. "Though I am certain it won't be enough."
He paused, then added. "You have siblings, right? Call them. Tell them to get here immediately."
"Why?" Shoto's voice was controlled, but a spike of ice began to frost the floor near his feet. "My family has nothing to do with this."
"Stop asking stupid questions and call them if you want to save your eldest brother!" Gran Torino roared, his composure finally shattering.
The words echoed in the hallway.
Several students gasped, and many heads whipped around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash.
"Eldest... brother?" Shoto's expression didn't change, but his pupils dilated until the colors of his eyes were almost swallowed by black. "I don't understand–"
.
….
[To be continued…]
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