Mameko's departure date arrived. The boys helped take her luggage downstairs and outside the dorms. She bade goodbye to all of the teachers and the students, who had come out to see her off.

"Goodbye, girls! I'll miss all of you!"

She hugged all the girls one by one, since it was, according to her, the Georgian form of bidding goodbye to one's friends. Then, she bowed down to the teachers according to the Japanese custom, and finally, bowed down to the boys:

"Thank you for everything, dudes! Goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Mameko-san!" Kirishima, Denki, Todoroki, and the other boys smiled at her.

"Goodbye, Mameko-san! It was fun knowing you!" Izuku waved a hand at her. "Have a safe trip!"

"Thank you, Midoriya-san! You've helped me out a lot, I'll never forget it!" Mameko grinned at him.

"Here's your book."

Bakugō held the book out to her. Momo flinched, but then, a kind beam covered her face. She grabbed the book, scribbled something on its front cover, and returned it to him.

"Here you go!"

"Huh?"

Bakugō took the book and looked into it, while Kirishima and Denki peeped into it over his shoulders. They burst into laughter while Bakugō's cheeks flushed and his frown deepened.

"To Ka-Boom, my great friend and reader. From Momo Mameko. Thank you for everything, Ka-Boom! I'll cherish our friendship forever."

Below this message, there were signatures in many different languages. Mameko often used to sign her playful notes with signatures in all the languages she spoke, which included Georgian with its alphabet, Russian, English, French, and of course, Japanese, in Katakana. Bakugō only snorted and closed the book, making Mameko giggle.

"Well, should we bid Georgian goodbye too, Ka-Boom, or?"

"Hn!"

Bakugō looked away. Mameko laughed and scratched her head with timidity.

"That's a 'no', huh? Okay, dude, I won't insist. Thank you for everything!"

"Thank you too, midget."

Mameko giggled again at Bakugō's half-pouting attitude. She bade goodbye to all of her friends and left for the airport.

***

Mameko had the luggage checked at the airport. She retained a single rucksack she'd take on the plane. Her boarding hadn't started yet, so she took a seat and began writing a message to the Unknown when the familiar voice reached her ears:

"Guess I'm on time, huh, midget?"

She brightened up. She sprang up and ran to Dabi. He had arrived in the hoodie again. 

"Sōen!" She smiled. "You came!"

"Well, I promised." Dabi shrugged. "Leaving soon, huh?"

"Yeah. The plane for Tobirishi has arrived, but the boarding hasn't started yet. I've already had the luggage checked, too."

"Your big squishy cat is apparently in there?" Dabi chuckled.

"Haha, yeah!" Mameko scratched the back of her head with shyness. "It's there. I've named him Shōen."

"Huh? You mean, Rose Flame?" 

"Yup! After both of us!"

Dabi smiled with timidity and awkwardness at the girl's remark. Mameko, however, boldly went on:

"I've got a surprise for you as I promised!" 

She took a giant notebook out of her rucksack and handed it to him. Dabi glanced at its cover - "Bombarder: Villains' Justice". Under it, was the author's name: "Momo Mameko".

"It is my manuscript," Mameko explained before he'd ask, "the very first one. I've been editing it after my editor's and your notes. I decided to give it to you now when I've finished the whole thing so that you could read the book before anyone else and have the primal copy. After all, you've helped me a lot with its creation, and I should thank you it's come out that awesome!"

"Oh, thank you... very much."

Dabi smiled as he ran through the lines. There were notes marked in red, saying "Sōen's said this sucks", or "Sōen thinks I should crop this", or even "Sōen said this was trash". The noted paragraphs were crossed out in red and rewritten, or edited, with remarks like "Sōen says when a guy has a pistol placed to his head he'd talk this way", or "Blue Flame needs to sound ruder, so perhaps", etc. It made his smile deepen, for he reminisced upon all those talks they had over the phone when he'd give her those harsh remarks and she'd morph the story into something greater after each note. 

"So, what's the ending like?" He asked. He unfolded the last pages of the book.

"Well, you remember Bombarder's sister from the first book?"

"Anya? Yeah. Wasn't she the one you had based on yourself?"

"Huh? How did you figure it out?"

"Way too easy! The only difference is that her hair is blond and yours is pink." Dabi sneered.

"Hehe!" Mameko chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, I paired up Anya with Kazuto at the end of this book. In the third - the final - volume, they are going to beat Electra and Saikō together."

Dabi widened his eyes. He unfolded the page Mameko was talking about and ran through the lines:

"Kazuto..." Anya looked into his turquoise eyes glimmering with sadness and anguish. She placed her little hand on his arm, causing him to flinch and give her a questioning gaze, filled with deeper feelings. "Kazuto... You've saved my brother. I'm forever grateful!"

"He's my colleague. It was only natural for me to do so."

"No." Anya shook her head. "For villains, a colleague is not a thing at all. They only use their allies for their selfish purposes. You, Kazuto, put yourself in danger, only to save him. You could've let him die and still achieved your goals. Yet, you didn't."

"Vlad has saved me many times too. I couldn't have let him die after all that. And then..." Kazuto hesitated, watching those big blue eyes scintillating with kindness, gratitude, and much more. His burnt hand touched the girl's cheek with the deepest affection. "I couldn't abandon the brother of the person I've grown to love."

Anya widened her eyes in a stupor. Her heart began to throb with happiness. She gave him a smile and cuddled with him, to receive his warmth and give him her own."

Dabi felt his cheeks burn as he read through the passage. He shut the book and glanced at Mameko, to behold her blue eyes very much resembled the ones of Anya in the book. They too scintillated with kindness, gratitude, and much more. He too, felt his heart flutter with some unusual feeling, some... deepest affection, that he felt for her.

"I too, have a surprise for you as I promised," he said.

"Really?" Mameko grew excited.

"Yeah. But you'll need to close your eyes!"

"Okay!"

Mameko, quite intrigued, closed her eyes. She felt burnt lips touch her forehead. She flinched and reopened her eyes in a stupor, to behold that Dabi had landed a kiss there. He gave her a kind smile and said:

"You've truly stolen my heart, midget, but... I am not the type of man who can make you happy. If I were not a villain but a normal civilian with a good life, I'd have already asked you to marry me after you finished school. But now... I'd advise you, Momo-chan, to follow the path you've chosen, for your convictions can change the world. Then, when you grow, if you still think I am your type, I'll gladly be waiting!"

Momo had frozen in a daze, watching that kind smile he had never shown before and that made him handsome and dazzling. Tears began to pour from her eyes - those of joy. 

"I... I know you don't love it and all, but... can I hug you?"

Dabi chuckled at her waterworks and held his arms out:

"Come, midget! I'll make an exception for you."

Momo sniffed and cuddled with him, squeezing him in her embrace.

"Thank you, Sōen! I've grown to love you so much!"

"Tōya."

"Huh?" She looked up at him in wonder.

"Todoroki Tōya."

"Todo_"

Dabi placed his burnt hand on the astounded Momo's mouth.

"I've only entrusted this secret to you, Momo-chan. Don't tell anyone!"

Momo nodded, so Dabi put his hand away.

"So, Shōto's brother?"

"Yes."

"Goodness!" Mameko was astounded. "So, all those things you came up with, about Kazuto and Saikō, it was not fiction but, for real?"

"Mostly."

"And when I deepened the plot, it was actually..." Momo froze. "Sōen, I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, don't stress out!" Dabi smiled. "To be honest, I decided to support you, after you deepened the plot that way. You hit the bulls-eye, and... when I got to help you with the second volume, I thought I'd actually been changing my own life, altering it for the better, and... in those moments, Momo-chan, I felt sincerely happy. I thank you for that!"

Momo stared at him wonderstruck. She sniffed and hugged him even tighter.

"So, we were the total opposites, from the very start! Yet, you understood me so well!"

"You did too. I guess opposites do attract."

"I'll miss you so much!"

"I'll miss you too, midget."

Dabi embraced her and pressed her to his chest. They were hugging each other for some moments. Then, the announcement sounded:

"Good afternoon, passengers! This is the boarding announcement for flight 10B to Tobirishi. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready! Thank you!"

Dabi let Mameko go. She wiped her tears away and waved her hand at him for the last time:

"Goodbye, Tōya-kun! I'll miss you! I'll come back after I graduate, I promise!"

"Goodbye, Momo-chan! Have a safe trip!"

Soon, the silhouette of the tiny girl vanished beyond Dabi's eyesight. He kept standing there for a while, watching the place where she disappeared. 

"You really are handsome when you smile."

Those words rang like a soft echo in his ears, while the image of her shimmering eyes still pierced his soul. A bitter smile ran through his lips. He turned around and went outside, to behold the giant plane leaving for the west - the plane that was taking away the girl dear to his heart.

When the plane too, was out of sight, Dabi walked off the airport and took a train back to the city. His eyes grew as merciless and cold as before, for he decided to resume working on his plans, now that she was gone. On that very train, however, to overcome his carsickness as well as kill time, he took her notebook out of his breast pocket and continued reading from where he had left off - Anya's and Kazuto's romance.