That sa icy chill he had learned to recognize since childhood slowly ran down his spine as black smoke continued to rise above the buildings of Musutafu like a sign impossible to ignore.
His breathing grew shorter and his pulse began to pound hard against his temples, as if his entire body had just grasped sothing before his own mind could.
'What's happening to ...?
The thought ca accompanied by an unbearable pressure in his chest.
Reiji quickened his pace almost imdiately. It took Shinso barely a second to follow him, clearly confused by the sudden change in attitude, but the blond's expression was enough to prevent unnecessary questions.
The streets grew more chaotic as they moved forward.
The normality of just a few minutes ago was rapidly unraveling before them. People walking in the opposite direction, agitated voices mingling together, shopkeepers coming out of their stores to look toward the smoke, and several patrol cars speeding across avenues.
The distant sound of explosions began to be heard amid the sirens.
Finally, the smoke ceased to be a distant presence and beca a suffocating cloud completely enveloping the area. The air slled of fire, burnt oil, and shattered concrete.
By the ti they reached the main intersection, the chaos was absolute.
Makeshift police tape partially blocked the street while dozens of civilians gathered behind it, trying to see what was happening. So were recording with their phones, others were shouting useless instructions, and several professional heroes were trying to maintain the periter as the fire continued to spread all around.
But no one was moving toward the center.
No one.
Reiji pushed his way through the crowd without even noticing the shoves. His body moved on its own, driven by a growing anxiety that made it harder to breathe with every passing second.
Until he finally reached the front.
And he saw him.
Katsuki Bakugo.
Hanging in the middle of the street like a trapped animal.
The gigantic muddy mass completely enveloped his body, writhing over him like a living creature as it slowly suffocated him in front of everyone. The villain laughed with a grotesque voice every ti Bakugo tried to free himself using explosions. But each detonation was partially absorbed by that viscous substance, making the monster seem to grow even larger.
Bakugo kept fighting.
Of course he kept fighting.
His arms were still exploding violently inside the mud, and his screams were still filled with rage, but even from a distance, you could tell he was slowly losing strength.
The viscous mass was entering his mouth, slowly suffocating him, and the boy was fighting for his life with desperation.
And yet… No one ca to help.
Reiji stopped hearing the rest of the world for a mont, his mind focusing on the mory of what was happening now.
It was exactly that scene.
The sa victim.
The sa villain.
The sa streets.
Everything was happening exactly the sa way.
Everything except one thing.
Beside him, Shinso watched in complete disbelief.
"What the hell...?" he muttered as he watched the heroes stay around the periter. "Why aren't they helping him?"
Reiji glanced down at the professionals gathered around.
Death Arms was injured, watching from a safe distance since he couldn't get close.
Kamui Woods had parts of his branches burned from the fire caused by Katsuki's explosions.
Backdraft kept trying to contain the fire; he wasn't a combat hero and was limited to what he could do.
The rest of the heroes arriving on the scene ran into the sa obstacle. Katsuki's Quirk, driven by the viscous mass, was enough to keep the heroes at bay, creating an atmosphere of palpable frustration and helplessness.
"That boy…?" Shinso's voice sounded much more tense now. "Are they letting him die?"
"We can't go in like this."
"The villain is using his explosions to power himself up!"
"If anyone misses the target, they could severely injure the boy."
"We need a more suitable Quirk."
"Keep the civilians back!"
Excuses. Logical and even valid excuses, but excuses...
Bakugo was still dying right in front of everyone.
Reiji understood perfectly. It wasn't cowardice. Not really.
It was uncertainty.
It was the real fear of making a mistake and directly killing the boy.
But that didn't change the outco.
Because while they hesitated…
Bakugo was slowly suffocating.
Shinso took a half-step forward, visibly tense.
"So what are you waiting for?!"
And Reiji did know the answer.
They were waiting for soone who didn't fit into anyone's plans, soone capable of breaking the deadlock.
They were waiting for the boy who had to defy all logic and throw himself straight at the monster without any power at all.
They were waiting for Izuku Midoriya.
Reiji began searching for him imdiately.
His eyes scanned the crowd with growing desperation. School backpacks. Uniforms. Students. Civilians.
Nothing.
He looked at the side streets.
The rooftops.
The avenues behind him.
Nothing.
'Co on…'
His heart began to pound even harder, thinking of his encounter with the green-haired boy.
The heir to One For All.
The hero of this story.
'You have to be here.'
But there was no freckled boy pushing through the crowd.
There was no gasping for breath.
There were no desperate footsteps approaching danger.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
And then… true fear set in.
A brutal pang pierced his chest.
'What if he doesn't co…?'
The thought hit him like a bucket of ice water.
Because suddenly everything started to feel too real.
Too different.
Midoriya had to be there.
That mont was important precisely because no one else was moving forward.
It was the mont that would determine who would be the heir to One For All.
The mont that would change the entire story.
But the spot where Izuku should have been remained empty.
Bakugo unleashed another desperate explosion.
Weaker this ti.
The muddy sludge now covered much of his face, and the villain began to laugh even harder as he felt his movents slowly slowing down; it was slowly taking control.
One of the heroes took a single step forward.
And stopped again.
"We can't improvise..." soone murmured near the periter. "If we attack the wrong way, the boy dies"
"Then do sothing!" a woman shouted from the crowd in genuine desperation. "He's stopping moving!"
And it was true.
Reiji saw it.
For just a second… Bakugo stopped resisting.
His arms hung limply.
There was no explosion.
There were no insults.
Nothing.
Just exhaustion.
Smoke partially obscured the scene as the villain roared again, distorting his body even further around the teenager.
And sothing inside Reiji cracked a little.
Because he understood.
He truly understood.
That was no longer the world he rembered.
He had changed too many things; Izuku wouldn't be the heir to One For All, and Katsuki would die if things continued this way.
From the mont he decided to get involved, he believed he could still steer the future toward the sa fate. He thought he could strengthen the right pieces, lay the groundwork, and keep moving toward that ending where Izuku defeated All For One and Himiko survived.
He thought there were still unbreakable monts within the logic of a world he had read about before.
But there weren't any, or at least, not as he'd hoped.
Katsuki was right where he was, but neither All Might nor Midoriya Izuku was there.
And if they didn't show up now…
then maybe Izuku would never beco the symbol the world needed.
'He's not coming…'
The phrase echoed inside his head over and over.
Shinso looked at him imdiately.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked with genuine concern upon seeing his face. "You're pale."
But Reiji didn't answer.
He kept staring at Bakugo.
At the villain.
At the paralyzed heroes.
At the empty space where a green-haired boy should have been running toward certain death simply because soone needed help.
And then he understood sothing even worse.
If Midoriya didn't show up… then soone else would have to save Katsuki, and All Might's inspiration wouldn't arrive either without Izuku's indifferent act.
His hand slowly clenched.
The hot air from the fire hit his face again.
And as he watched Bakugo finally begin to lose consciousness completely…
the resolve in his eyes changed completely.
'He's not coming anymore.'
A civilian's desperate scream pierced the entire avenue.
"SOONE DO SOTHING! THAT BOY IS GOING TO DIE!"
And that was enough.
Reiji's jaw clenched tightly as he watched Bakugo's body sink back into that muddy mass. The explosions no longer sounded the sa. They had lost their force. Their rhythm. Even their fury.
That was the worst part.
Katsuki Bakugo wasn't the type to stop fighting.
And yet… His body was starting to give out.
Reiji clicked his tongue in restrained frustration.
He couldn't wait any longer.
He couldn't keep betting that Midoriya would show up at the last second to fix everything just as it was supposed to happen.
Because he wasn't there.
And every second that passed made that absence feel more real.
More final.
Besides… he couldn't just stand there watching soone die right in front of him either.
His body moved before he'd even finished thinking it.
One step.
Then another.
And the next mont he was already running.
There was no heroic speech.
No warning.
No drama.
Just a brutal need pushing him forward as the crowd reacted too late to see him break through the security barrier.
"What the hell is that kid doing?!"
"HEY! STOP!"
"Back off right now!"
The heroes finally reacted.
Too late.
A tal hook shot out at him from one of the sides, trying to grab his waist. Reiji twisted his body just enough as he moved, and the cable grazed his jacket before slamming violently into the pavent.
He didn't even look back.
Another hero raised an energy shield directly in his path.
Reiji read the move before it was even fully ford.
He slid across the hot ground, using one hand to propel himself, and slipped under the shield just centiters before it closed completely.
The heat from the fire imdiately hit his face.
The smoke scratched his throat.
And the villain's viscous roar echoed down the entire avenue.
"HAHAHAHAHA! LOOK AT YOU, EXPLOSION BOY! SO NOISY AND SO USELESS!"
The sludgy mass churned grotesquely around Bakugo as the teenager remained trapped inside. His arms were still exploding out of reflex, but each detonation ended up being partially absorbed by the monster's body.
As if it were devouring him.
"KHH—GH...!" Bakugo coughed violently, struggling to breathe. "L-LET GO... YOU BASTARD...!"
"NOOOO! YOU'RE PERFECT! YOU'RE STRONG! YOUR QUIRK IS STRONG! LOOK AROUND YOU! NO ONE CAN STOP !"
Reiji closed the distance even further.
The ground vibrated beneath his footsteps as he ran straight toward the center of the disaster.
The heroes were still shouting sothing at him from behind.
But it didn't matter anymore.
Because when the villain finally noticed his presence…
it was already too late.
Reiji's fist struck directly against what appeared to be the creature's main face with such raw force that it sent mud flying to the sides.
"AAAAAAAGH! MY EYES! MY PRECIOUS EEEYES!"
The entire mass shook violently.
And for just a second…
it eased the pressure on Bakugo.
The blond imdiately fell to his knees on the ground, coughing up mud, saliva, and air desperately as he tried to breathe again.
"KOFF—GHK...! SON OF A BITCH...!"
Reiji wasted no ti.
He knelt down next to Katsuki and imdiately placed a hand on his chest, which was partially covered in mud.
Then his blood responded.
The blood surged from his arms as if it had a life of its own, spreading rapidly over Bakugo's body before seeping into the muddy substance trapping him. Every drop moved in precise unison, separating the villain inch by inch from the teenager's skin.
Like living scalpels.
Like external muscles.
Like sothing too unnatural to be normal.
The villain scread imdiately.
"WHAT IS THAT?!"
Reiji's blood kept advancing.
Pushing.
Separating.
"I DON'T WANT THAT SHIT! I DON'T WANT YOUR BLOOD!"
The creature tried to violently wrap itself around Bakugo again, but the blood reacted with even greater force, hardening and expelling every fragnt of the sludge that tried to get close.
Reiji didn't speak.
Not a single word.
All his concentration was focused on maintaining control.
Because this required monstrous precision.
And he was using up blood too quickly.
The villain finally understood sothing important.
Bakugo was no longer accessible.
And then all its attention turned directly toward Reiji.
The sludgy mass lunged at him like a grotesque wave.
But before it reached him…
the blood exploded.
Thousands of reddish filants instantly covered the monster's entire body, enveloping it from every possible angle before beginning to violently compress around it.
The creature began to deform.
To writhe.
To scream.
"NO! NO, NO, NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO !"
The blood kept advancing.
Compacting.
Solidifying.
"I AM THE MAIN VILLAIN! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Reiji clenched his teeth tightly.
Because the effort was starting to tear him apart from the inside.
Every attempt by the villain to escape forced him to use even more blood to seal cracks, reinforce layers, and maintain the pressure. His regeneration was working at full speed, trying to compensate for the massive blood loss while his entire body began to burn.
His vision wavered slightly.
His heart was pounding too hard.
And then that sensation appeared.
Hunger.
Brutal.
Sudden.
His throat went dry imdiately as the sll of blood around him beca unbearably intense to his senses. The instinct struck him directly in the head like an electric shock.
He needed blood.
Not his own.
Soone else's.
He clenched his jaw so hard he felt pain in his teeth.
'Not now…'
The blood finished hardening completely around the villain, forming a compact crimson prison with no visible gaps. The internal movents gradually slowed as the screams grew fainter.
Weaker.
Until they vanished.
Silence fell suddenly over the entire avenue.
All that remained was the sound of the fire burning all around and Bakugo's ragged breathing on the pavent.
Reiji took a deep breath.
And imdiately staggered.
His body protested instantly.
He had overused his Quirk.
Too quickly.
Regeneration was still working frantically inside him, trying to compensate for the massive blood loss, but the strain remained brutal.
His legs trembled slightly.
His vision blurred again for a mont.
And the hunger kept growing.
Even worse.
More savage.
Beside him, Bakugo was still breathing heavily, barely conscious, still trying to catch his breath after having co so close to death.
And in front of them…
the heroes stood completely motionless.
So watched the prison of blood with obvious alarm.
Others looked directly at Reiji.
Because they had all just realized exactly the sa thing.
A civilian had just done what none of them could do.
And that was a problem.
***
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