Author's Note: Apparently it's Shouto's birthday today. You guys know what that means, don't you? It's obligatory minor-whump/teammate-bonding time.

First time writing with these dorky kids, so apologies for any awkwardness.

Izuku likes to sort the world into orderly categories. Heroes and villains are no exception. It first started with the professionals, so distant and easy to fit into labeled boxes like technique and fighting style. When his idols became tangible beings instead of out-of-reach ideals, the information he gathered grew to be richer, more detailed.

He absorbs facts about his classmates with such a ferocity he wonders if this might have been his quirk all along. The observations—all their strengths and weaknesses and quirky surprises—buzz around in his brain, relentless until he scribbles all the details down in the privacy of his bedroom.

It's a habit he can't quite shake and it becomes more apparent with each day he spends at UA. He knows he should stop, out of respect for his classmates and their privacy. It would be disastrous if his notes ever fell into the wrong hands. He's increasingly aware of this each time villains target the UA.

He tries locking the notebooks away or tucking them behind his All Might paraphernalia. He even buries them in his laundry hamper as the ultimate deterrent. However, nothing works for more than a week.

Izuku decides that he'll keep his observations private, only to be pulled out of storage whenever Aizawa-sensei creates impossible match-ups, something Izuku suspects he does on purpose to test their flexibility. Pleased with his compromise, he keeps on categorizing his classmates.

He doesn't attempt to rank them. He would feel guilty assigning levels of usefulness to his friends.

(Though, Izuku won't deny that he prefers having certain people on his team to others. He just won't say who, because he hates to be judgmental—even in the privacy of his own mind.)

Instead, Izuku sorts them by their strengths, grouping those with similar techniques together. After a year of teamwork and impromptu battles, he finds it's easier than he thought.

Kirishima and Ojiro, Izuku decides, are better at close combat fighting than long distance assaults, but they both have defensive moves. Tsu and Hagakure specialize in stealth, just as Jiro and Shoji excel in reconnaissance.

He sorts through most of the class easily, finding a special place for each quirk. A few make him pause, usually because they could fit in multiple categories and Izuku isn't sure where to put them.

They're in the middle of an English lesson when Izuku reconsiders those without a definitive category. He mashes his lips together, tapping his pencil lightly against his notebook as he stares at the back of the blond head in front of him.

Kacchan's getting better at long range attacks and his close combat skills are amazing. Is it possible to put people on multiple lists?

Izuku's not sure, even when he argues that it's his list and he can do whatever he wants with it.

He turns his head to catch a glimpse of the other classmate without a category. Todoroki shifts when he senses Izuku's gaze, blinking once with a slight tilt of the head.

He's also not sure why it's taking him so long to sort Todoroki. The answer seems obvious: Todoroki's abilities as a long-distance specialist are unparalleled in the class, always providing infallible backup support with his flames and ice. The calculating freezing of the building during their first hero class, the cautious distance maintained during the sports festival. The battle with Stain, the provisional license exam. Each time, Todoroki had been a formidable force with his deliberateness and careful distance.

Izuku tears his gaze away from Todoroki and refocuses on the back of Kacchan's head. It seems obvious now, especially when he considers all the evidence seriously. He scribbles Todoroki's name next to the other distance fighters and closes his notebook with a satisfied nod. Sorting Kacchan can wait.

His class is noisier than usual, whispering amongst themselves with furtive glances. It makes explaining their latest assignment more difficult and his looming headache comes much quicker. He clears his throat and hoists an eyebrow.

Immediately, his students fall silent and all forty-one eyes snap to him.

(At least, he assumes. Hagakure seems to be oriented towards him, judging by the position of her gloves and boots.)

"Today's exercise will be a simple hero-villain conflict. Villains, find all three pieces of the bomb and assemble it before time runs out. You may also capture the heroes. Heroes, stop them."

Several members of the class tilt their heads or furrow their brows. He can tell they're going over his brief directions again, searching for the underlying trick. After all, they know it's rare for the villain team to be given the more arduous task.

Good. Let them worry. It'll make them overly cautious.

He considers his students before breaking them into four groups.

"Group A, you'll be the villains. Group C—heroes." The ten students nod, but Aizawa notes that they still seem more apprehensive than usual. "Any questions?"

Four hands shoot up.

"Aizawa-sensei!" Iida speaks first, keeping his hand suspended even after Aizawa nods for him to continue. "Is there a reason we are practicing outside of the UA campus?"

"Class 1-B has requested the USJ and the support courses are using the main campus arenas."

"What about the escaped villain?" Ashido's hand wriggles in the air, her elbow nearly level with her horns. The other hands drop and Aizawa realizes that it isn't his assignment that has made his students seem so jumpy. "Shouldn't we be closer to the pro heroes with that guy on the loose?"

They've been like this since the broadcast first aired. He mulls over his next words before speaking again. He isn't particularly enthusiastic about their situation either, but with their next set of exams looming, he doesn't have the option to push back training until some overzealous villain is caught.

"Midnight and Present Mic will join myself and those of you who aren't participating on the observation deck." He waves towards the rocky cliff face behind them. "The other pro heroes are already working with the authorities to apprehend Radial Point. Furthermore, there hasn't been any indication that the UA is his primary target."

The students nod uncertainly and he can't blame them. If Radial Point were to attack the school, it wouldn't be the first time students would get caught in the crosshairs of professional vendettas.

Radial Point, huh?

Aizawa doesn't know much about the villain and that's what worries him. Apart from a furrow-browed recollection from Toshinori and a fairly mild arrest record, not much is known about the villain, who escaped several weeks ago from a low-security prison. He had even been deemed too low of a priority to make the evening news.

At least, not until he released a blustery threat to the local news channels a few days ago, claiming to destroy the legacy of the pro hero who imprisoned him. It's the villain's emphatic promise that unnerves Aizawa.

And now that uneasiness has spread to his students.

He sighs and glances back at the prepared practice field. Training with limited supervision is a pain they have to work around, but the sooner the exercises finish, the sooner they can return to the main campus.

"If there aren't any more questions, then Groups A and C should get into position. The exercise starts in three minutes, no warning."

While the five villains race off for the nearby forest—rather, Bakugou surging forward and his poor teammates scrambling after him—the heroes take a more relaxed approach to their assignment. After all, their job is easier.

Kirishima turns back to the group as soon as the last straggling villain disappears through the tree cover. "D'think we'll even have to do anything?"

Ashido laughs, dark eyes crinkling. "Who knows, but Bakugou isn't going to make it easy on them. Besides—who's gonna come up with a plan? Kaminari's gonna fry his brain just trying."

Izuku pinches his chin as he considers their opponents. "If the devices emit some sort of electrical energy, Kaminari might be able to find them. Plus, they have Jiro, which means they'll know where we're at."

That's right. We shouldn't underestimate them just because they have more work to do. Izuku reconsiders his observation list. I said stealth was Tsu-chan's biggest strength, but she's smart too. She and Iida could come up with a dangerous plan even if they can't get Kacchan to go along with it.

"What if we focus on finding one of the bomb parts?" Kirishima crosses his arms and tilts his head. "Aizawa-sensei said we just have to stop them from putting it together, right? It'll be easier if they have to come to us."

Yaoyorozu nods approvingly. "Once we find it, we won't have to move. That'll make Jiro less of a problem."

"No movement? Sounds good to me! This'll be like a vacation."

"Great, so should we split up or…?"

"Maybe small groups if we run into problems," Kirishima says after a moment of thought. "Remember—their other objective was to stop us. If Tsu and the others try to assemble the bomb, they might leave the capturing part to Bakugou."

Ashido shudders and makes a face. "Yeah, definitely don't want to run into that guy alone."

Izuku frowns as he considers this latest thought. Now that they've had time to evaluate their opponents properly, it doesn't seem as randomly assigned as he first assumed. They're better suited for this exercise than I thought. All of us—well, apart from Todoroki—are better for close range attacks, but we can't do that until we find the bomb and secure the area first. Charging in and getting caught without the advantage would be disastrous.

"I think you're right, Kirishima-kun. Small groups will probably work best. Are you three good to go together?" Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, and Ashido nod, the latter two giving Izuku wide grins and thumbs up.

Izuku turns to his new partner. "You okay with that, Todoroki-kun?"

Todoroki blinks and then grunts in affirmation. Izuku's too focused on their plans to notice how little their fifth teammate has contributed to the conversation.

They lose Bakugou once they enter the forest, though no one's really surprised. Jiro presses one of her earjacks against the ground and listens for a moment before shaking her head. "His moments of impact are too far apart for running. He must be using his quirk to move faster." Her brow furrows. "There's also someone moving quickly that way," she gives a little offhanded wave in the opposite direction, "farther from us. Can't tell who it is, but it sounds like one person."

Iida purses his lips as he considers their opponents. "They may be trying to find the bomb pieces before we do. It could be trouble if they get there first." He turns towards Kaminari. "Any luck?"

Kaminari scrunches his brow in concentration, rapidly flicking the dial on the side of his earpiece as he searches for any sort of strange interference. "No, nothing." His scowl deepens as he tries to make sense of the nonsensical buzzes and glitches. "The interference is too heavy. I can't find anything in all this static."

Jiro crosses her arms. "That's probably Momo. I wouldn't put it past her to create some sort of jamming signal." She swallows and brushes reflexively against an earjack. "I should be careful too."

Iida sighs before nodding. He doesn't expect anything less from his opponents, but having reconnaissance advantages would have been nice.

Tsuyu scuttles down from a nearby tree and drops the last two meters to the ground. "I can't see Bakugou anymore, but it looks like the others have entered the forest. I saw Todoroki and Midoriya enter the same place we did."

"We should get moving then before they find us. If we get frozen, the game's over. Any ideas on where to start looking for the bomb parts?"

"Follow me," Tsuyu says, hopping towards a break in the trees. "I think I saw something over there in the clearing."

"What is it? Do you think that's what Sensei meant by the bomb? It doesn't look like the photo."

"It's huge! And there are supposed to be three of them?"

"This would be so much easier with Uraraka here."

"Kero…"

Iida is the first to approach the strange object, cautiously rapping his knuckles against the steel exterior. He would like to believe that their teacher wouldn't plant the pieces to assemble a genuine bomb, but after Cementoss buried them alive for maximum realism during their latest survival exercise, he isn't about to discount the possibility.

"It might be a decoy. It's not labeled like the one Sensei showed us."

Jiro presses an earjack against the slick surface. "I don't hear anything on the inside. I'm betting Iida's right. Probably just a decoy to distract the heroes."

Tsuyu glances towards the overlook where she knows the other students are waiting. She can barely see the fuzzy outlines of her classmates.

We must be further than I thought.

"We're pretty far from where we started. I think we've gone too far. Aizawa-sensei probably placed the bombs closer to the overhang where he could observe us better."

Iida nods rapidly. "Good point. We shouldn't forget that this is still a training assignment."

"Let's get going then." Kaminari rubs his arms and glances over his shoulder. "Sticking around in the open like this is giving me the chills. I can't tell if I'm getting goosebumps or if Todoroki's getting closer."

Tsuyu moves to follow after them, but stops after a few steps. She narrows her eyes at the darkened trees across the clearing and waits, but nothing happens. When Jiro or the others don't react, she shrugs it off as being overly cautious. She rejoins the group and tries to calm her heightened nerves.

"We should find Bakugou soon. Maybe he's made some progress."

Jiro scoffs. "Already with the delusions of grandeur? You've got this villain thing down, Class Prez."

"Please?" Hagakure's boots hop from side to side. "You only have to go part of the way."

Ojiro rubs the back of his neck and glances away. "I don't think it would be proper. You should have gone before we got here."

"I didn't have to go then! Kyoka-chan's the one I usually ask, but she's fighting right now. Come on—I don't want to walk through the woods by myself! What if there are bears or something?"

"Bears? You should ask Koda to take you then."

The gloves fold over on themselves as Hagakure crosses her arms with a huff.

"Will you go with me, Uraraka-chan?"

Uraraka jumps at the sound of her name. "Huh?"

"I have to, you know, go" Hagakure says, wringing her gloves.

Uraraka blinks before realization hits. "Oh! Uh, sure. Of course!" She spares a glance back at the practice field before trailing after Hagakure's boots. She has lost sight of Deku, Iida, and the others anyway and she's tired of squinting at trees, waiting for something to happen.

They babble about silly topics while they walk through the forest. A few minutes into their trip, Hagakure splits off with a cheery wave while Uraraka waits patiently behind. She turns around to give Hagakure maximum privacy and notices a hulking mass through the trees. Uraraka's brow furrows and she purses her lips as she moves closer towards it.

What is that?

It's huge. Taller than she is, even when she extends her arms as far as possible. Uraraka circles it at a cautious distance, her eyes jumping from the riveted steel plating to the explosion of wires dangling out of the back.

Is this supposed to be the bomb? It looks like it's already been assembled. Is it part of Sensei's lesson? Her frown grows. Why is it making that sound? It's…ticking?

A hand settles on Uraraka's shoulder and she jumps with a shrill eep!

"Ahh, sorry, sorry, Uraraka-chan!" Hagakure hastily apologizes. "I didn't mean to scare you, but I—what's that?"

Uraraka shakes her head. "I—I don't know? It doesn't look like the bomb Sensei showed us though, does it?"

"Nuhuh. It looks like something out of a movie. An American action movie." Hagakure pauses. "Do you think we should tell Sensei about it?"

Uraraka eyes the metal object for a few more seconds before nodding. "Yeah, let's go!"

Todoroki and Izuku walk in silence.

Sort of.

It's Todoroki who stays silent as he weaves around trees. Izuku trails a few meters behind, muttering under his breath as he considers different possibilities of how their opponents might team up to defeat them.

"It depends if Kacchan actually works with them. If he tries to win this himself…" Izuku trails off, rubbing the base of his chin again.

"But things will change if we find a bomb part first. Todoroki-kun's long-distance ran—" Izuku breaks off when Todoroki stops, glancing back at Izuku over his shoulder.

"Did you say my name?"

Izuku blinks, just as confused until he realizes his muttering hadn't been as quiet as he had hoped.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I did. I was thinking about what will happen once we find one of the bomb pieces. The rest of our quirks are best suited for short-range fights—or, at least until Yaoyorozu-san can create something to trap them—so we might have to rely on you to keep them at a distance until we're ready."

Todoroki considers this before nodding. "It makes sense."

They resume walking and Izuku falls into step beside Todoroki. He peeks periodically in his partner's direction, but Todoroki stares blankly ahead, fixated on something far in the distance. Izuku taps his gloved fingers against his side, replaying their earlier conversations.

Todoroki seems…distant today. I wonder if anything's wrong. He didn't talk much during our morning classes. And he didn't say anything when we were planning our strategy.

He clears his throat and Todoroki glances in his direction with a tilt of the head.

"Uh, Todoroki-kun… Are you—uh, are you feeling okay?"

Todoroki seems a little thrown by the question, but he nods nonetheless. "I feel fine. Why do you ask?"

Izuku feels the tension ease from his chest. "It's nothing. You were just a little quiet earlier today. I wasn't sure if something was wrong or—"

Todoroki shakes his head. "I was just thinking—" he pauses, the corners of his eyes tightening ever so slightly. Izuku mashes his lips together because he's familiar with Todoroki's pained grimace, how it usually has something to do with Endeavor. "—about something I overheard my father say."

"Ahhh," Izuku says, lengthening his hs like a drawn-out sigh. He isn't going to push the conversation any further if Todoroki isn't up to it. Instead, they resume their normal walking pace.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

Izuku sometimes forgets how awkward he can be when he's alone with Todoroki. He's gotten over the worst of it, which was when he was first so flustered by Todoroki's status and skill that he couldn't even speak in coherent sentences. Still, there's a blunt vagueness to Todoroki and Izuku always feels the need to over-clarify to make up for it.

"What about you?" Todoroki repeats. "You've been…" he pauses again, searching for the right word, "muttering more than usual this week." Todoroki lifts a white eyebrow. "And you slammed your phone through your desk when All Might came for a surprise guest lecture."

Izuku groans at the memory. His actions had earned him an irritated lecture from Aizawa-sensei and a few exaggerated threats from Kacchan, who believed Izuku had intentionally startled him as some part of a convoluted plan to humiliate him. He couldn't tell either of them the truth, that he was scouring the web for more information about Radial Point because he feared All Might would be the escaped villain's target.

Izuku scratches at his cheek with a weak chuckle. He supposes it's not too embarrassing that he can't confide in Todoroki. "I've been worried about the escaped villain. Radial Point."

"Worried?"

"Yeah, in the threat he sent to the police he said he wanted revenge on the pro hero who locked him up. I tried asking All Might about it, because I don't remember hearing about Radial Point from any of his old interviews, but he kept telling me not to worry about it. That has to mean something, right? He's definitely the one who fought Radial Point, because he wouldn't tell me not to worry about it if there wasn't something to not worry about. I mean, he probably doesn't want me to get nervous because he's not strong enough to fight Radial Point himself, but that only makes me more—"

Todoroki blinks as he struggles to follow Izuku's tangled logic. "Or he doesn't think it's something you should worry about," he interrupts before steam could spurt from Izuku's ears.

"Huh? Why shouldn't I worry about it then?"

Todoroki gives Izuku a strange little side look. "Because All Might wasn't the hero who stopped Radial Point the first time."

Izuku opens his mouth and then closes it. He knows All Might isn't the only professional hero in Japan—his stack of notebooks with crinkled cutouts of news articles sandwiched between the pages proves otherwise—but he's gotten in the habit of assuming every villain seeking vengeance aims to target All Might. Especially now that his secret identity has been revealed.

"Wait, he's not? Then which pro hero stopped him?"

Todoroki's gaze shifts back to the path in front of them. "Endeavor," he says, his voice devoid of his previous amusement.

Aizawa's scowl deepens when Ashido's pink hair finally disappears out of his line of sight. He shifts his head ever so slightly, eyes drifting to where he had last seen the bulky white costume worn by Iida. However, he can't find the villain team again, not from this distance nor through the thick tree cover.

Gaudy, flashy costumes, which make for easy spotting for instructors, seem to be irresistible to teenagers—one of the few benefits of letting them design their own atrocious suits—and Aizawa can't even use that to his advantage. He had tried picking out a few students, those with brighter colors, but now he's lost them as well.

(Looking for Asui or Midoriya in this forest is hopeless. With all that green, he doesn't even bother.)

"Can you see any of them?" he asks his coworkers, not tearing his gaze from where he had last seen the vibrant yellow of Kaminari's hair. It hadn't been far from where he had last seen Iida's costume.

It looks like the villains are working together.

"Uh, yeah, of course," Present Mic says after a squinting pause. "Bakugou's over by all those trees. Just saw him burst through a minute ago."

For the most part, Aizawa amends. He isn't surprised. In fact, it's part of the reason he assigned Bakugou to that team. To make things interesting.

Aizawa scans over the exercise field again, rubbing his eyes when his second sweep comes up just as empty. He knows he's being paranoid—the hell? is this because of how nervous all the students were about that escaped villain?—but a part of him is tempted to get Present Mic to call the teams back for a briefing before they wander even further from supervision.

Especially now. None of us, he glances from Present Mic to Midnight, have a speed advantage if we need to get down there quickly.

(Whatever complaints he might have had about Toshinori's simple teaching style, he couldn't argue against his response time in a crisis.)

"Oh, wait! I think I just saw a flash of red coming towards us!" Midnight almost sounds excited, like she's playing a game rather than supervising a mission. "It's either Yaoyorozu or Kirishima!"

Aizawa's gaze follows where her whip points. A flash of light reflects off Iida's headpiece.

"That's the villain team. They're coming back this way. It looks like they might have found one of the bomb pieces."

Good. The closer they are, the less I have to worry.

"It looks like there's someone over in that clearing." Present Mic squints, dropping his shades further down on his nose to get a better look. "It's just one of them, but their costume's way dark. I can't make it out, but maybe it's Todoroki?"

"Can't be—I saw him with Midoriya a few minutes ago."

"Then maybe Kaminari?"

"Doubt it. There's no mistaking that hair."

Aizawa listens to their debate for a few seconds before deciding that it'll be easier if he just looks himself. He spots the clearing at the very edge of the exercise field and sees a dark figure moving along the tree line. He leans forward, trying to spot any defining characteristic that could help him identify the student.

Wait—what's that in the center—

"Sensei! Sensei!"

Uraraka's waving arm in his periphery steals his attention. A pair of floating gloves trails close behind her.

"We found something!"

"It was huge—as big as Shoji! And made of metal! And there were wires attached to it!" Hagakure's gloves flail wildly as she tries to approximate the size and shape. "We thought it was part of the exercise—"

"But it didn't look anything like the pictures you showed us. Plus, I could hear ticking when I got close!"

Aizawa frowns and strides towards them. "Show me where it is."

"I see something up ahead," Todoroki says, curling the fingers of his left hand into a loose fist as he speeds up his gait.

"Wait, Todoroki-kun! It could be a trap set up by the others!" Izuku calls out, stopping short of the tree cover. He frowns at the large metal object in the center of the clearing and glances down.

Huh? Footsteps? He squats down and sees a set of handprints with thick, offset fingers.

Those must belong to Tsu-chan. He counts the footprints, noting four distinct patterns in the dust.

No—wait, five. There's a fifth set of footprints several meters away from the others. Izuku straightens up and wanders closer to them.

I wonder who else has been here. The soles aren't ridged like Kacchan's boots. They might be from Aizawa-sensei's shoes or maybe they belong to the pro hero who put this decoy here.

Izuku nods, feeling more confident that whatever Todoroki's circling, it's just another part of the exercise.

"It looks like the villains have been through here already. We should get going," he calls to Todoroki. Todoroki nods, tearing his narrowed gaze from the metal device before moving back towards Izuku.

"Maybe not all of them," a voice says.

A sharp giggle erupts from across the clearing. Todoroki halts mid-step, bending at the knees as his body tenses. Izuku looks around for any sign of the speaker.

That voice… It's familiar. Where have I— Izuku sees a flash of movement in the trees across from them.

"Todoroki-kun! It's him!" Izuku shouts, his red boots already moving in his friend's direction. If they work together, then they'll be able to stop Radial Point.

What did they say his quirk was again? Something to do with—

A shimmering gold barrier erupts in front of him. Izuku digs his heels into the dirt in a desperate attempt to stop, but his momentum carries him forward and he smashes against the translucent wall. He stumbles backwards and lands hard on his backside, wincing as he touches his aching forehead.

"Midoriya!" Todoroki shouts, his concerned expression hazy through the barrier. Izuku struggles to his feet and pounds on the barrier with a balled fist.

It's solid. I can't get through.

His gut churns when he glances around the clearing and takes stock of the situation. It's more than a simple wall. It's an impossibly high, circular barrier that separates him from Todoroki and the metal device.

Izuku rears back a fist, feeling the buzzing energy of One for All flow across his skin. Maybe he can punch through it—

"Ah ah, I wouldn't, if I were you," Radial Point says, his tone teasing. "You'll just end up breaking your hand."

Izuku doesn't consider that much of a deterrent. He turns back towards the barrier.

"But if you break my barrier, then the bomb inside will hurt a lot more people than little Todoroki. Right now, that barrier is the only thing keeping you and your other classmates alive."

Izuku drops his fist and jerks his gaze towards the metal device. It's a bomb?

Todoroki reacts just as quickly, pivoting on a foot and racing towards the bomb with his right arm outstretched. Through the glittering haze of the wall, Izuku sees ice crusting along Todoroki's fingertips.

If he can freeze the mechanisms in the bomb—

"Not so fast."

Before Todoroki can reach the bomb, a second barrier springs up around the device. Todoroki grunts in frustration and uses a quick pulse of ice to slow himself down before he collides with the barrier. He skids to a stop, smacking the barrier with the flat of a palm, just as unsuccessful as Izuku.

Izuku spins back to where he last heard Radial Point's voice. A slender man dressed in black steps out from the tree line, a hand planted on his bony hip.

It's him. He looks older than his arrest picture. More tired. Izuku's gaze shifts from the deep circles under the man's eyes to his hollow cheeks.

Izuku balls his hands into fists and tenses his knees and thighs. He springs towards Radial Point, kicking up a cloud of dirt behind him. Radial Point reacts quickly, throwing up his exposed palms with a startled shout. A third barrier springs up between him and Izuku. Again, he's moving too fast to stop and he crashes into the blurred barrier with another pained groan.

Radial Point gawks down at him and for a moment Izuku wonders if he had come close to breaking through the barrier. He struggles to sit up, wincing at the pain in his shoulder.

"Midoriya! The first barrier!" Todoroki shouts. Izuku winces, his brain momentarily addled by his second collision, before he realizes that he can see Todoroki clearly again. He clambers to his feet, but the barrier returns seconds later. He jerks his attention back to Radial Point, noting that the villain's startled expression is no longer protected by one of his golden walls.

His quirk… Maybe he can only maintain a certain number of barriers at one time. Izuku takes a wobbly step towards Radial Point, but the villain dives towards the safety of his larger barrier, slipping through the gossamer walls as if they were no more solid than air.

He can move through his barriers. It would make things trickier for them, especially now that he and Todoroki were separated. Todoroki tenses, but he remains where he is. There's no point attacking when Radial Point can throw up another barrier.

Izuku spares a quick glance over his shoulders, towards the distant overlook where the others are watching. Surely something this massive would catch their attention. They just need to stall Radial Point until Aizawa-sensei could erase his quirk. Then the others could—

But what if the bomb is real?

Izuku swallows and glances back to the bomb. He can't tell if Radial Point is bluffing, but with Todoroki trapped inside the barrier, he isn't eager to risk it.

However, if we stall for too long, Radial Point might grow bored and detonate it. Izuku mashes his lips and glances to the side, debating over the best course of action.

Todoroki speaks first, arms crossed as he stares coolly at Radial Point.

"If this is your attempt to draw Endeavor here, I assure you it's a waste of time."

Izuku straightens up. That's right—he wants vengeance on the pro hero who locked him up. Maybe that means we're the bait until the pro heroes show up. He presses a hand against the glowing barrier and watches the strange light patterns that dance across his glove.

Still, his quirk seems to be more suited for defense, he muses, remembering the stunned look on Radial Point's face when Izuku nearly managed to hit him. How does he plan on using it against a pro hero?

"Killing pro heroes would be a waste of time," Radial Point snarls with a curl of the lip. "Another one will take their place and then another and then another. It's like an endless cycle," he says, drawing loose circles in the air.

"Killing the hero won't do a damn thing. I thought that's what I really wanted but after watching the news and seeing everyone go on about the Hero Killer and the fall of All Might—well, it inspired me." He gives Todoroki and Izuku a humorless smile, his expression blurred through the haze of his barrier. "To destroy the cycle, I have to destroy their legacy. That's where it really hurts a hero."

Todoroki's eyes narrow. Izuku balls his fists.

"You're going to die, little Todoroki. And if you don't, your classmates will instead."

Thanks for reading! I have the remaining three chapters already planned/partially written, so hopefully this story should be wrapped up within the next couple of weeks.