Hitoshi had no idea how his plan went so wrong.

No. He did know.

Bakugou.

As soon as he and Ochako broke through one of the windows on the fifth floor, noticing the bomb nearby - he had realised the cold truth: he had vastly underestimated Bakugou.

He had split seconds to pull Ochako safely behind a pillar before hot flames sparked from behind them both, Bakugou attempting to corner them by blocking their escape routes. He hadn't prepared for this...

... for Bakugou to be the one guarding the bomb, instead of Iida.

Hitoshi clenched a fist as his mind went into overdrive.

He had no idea what to do now.

---TimeSkip---

Deku fiddled with his hands worriedly, as he listened to his brother through the earpiece. Bakugou's plan was actually incredibly smart, and he scolded himself for not planning or thinking of it much sooner - basing his decisions on past Kacchan's reckless ability and thought process, instead of present Kacchan - one who would recognise that it'd be easier for him to be guarding the bomb and for Iida to be on scout duty, and not the other way around.

Bakugou was doing splendidly, using his flames to the best of his abilities, to block and redirect where Hitoshi and Uraraka can go. He could see the heroes scrambling to get back on their feet, as the villain team slowly closed in on them both. Bakugou with his fire, and Iida by making sure there's no way they could brute force their way through the explosions and get away, by standing on guard in case one of them tries.

"Hito... how are you going to get out of this...?" He muttered softly to himself, one hand gently touching his earpiece, staring off into space. He thought a little bit longer then realised there were a couple ways out of the situation.

He wondered which Hitoshi was going to take.

---TimeSkip---

Hitoshi flinched, a bit of debris skimming past his cheek. Bakugou was blasting the rubble Uraraka was throwing at them, waiting for her to tire out. In all the chaos, Hitoshi's voice would be so quiet he wouldn't even be heard, let alone responded to.

Uraraka was the only one doing anything, and she was starting to tire herself out. Iida seemed to not be doing anything either, just standing around, but he knew better. Iida was on standby in case either he or Uraraka made a break for it. He could technically try and attack Hitoshi or Uraraka directly, but with her quirk, it would be safer for him to stay out of her range, so he was just waiting for her to give in to her quirk's drawbacks.

C'mon Hitoshi... think!

He glanced around their surroundings. Just pillars, rubble... there was a staircase nearby, but nothing that stood out... He could make Uraraka activate her quirk again and float them both out of the window, but they'd continue to float and would just fly to a higher floor - the villain team would run up to meet them, and they'd be in the exact same situation...

... wait...

"Uraraka, make us float, we can get out the window!"

"But... I'm not sure I can hold us for long, my quirk..."

"That's fine, just a few seconds is all we need!"

With Hitoshi's persistence, Uraraka became convinced, and activated her quirk on them both, letting Hitoshi lead her to the window. Bakugou and Iida tried to stop them, but they quickly jumped out.

Bakugou shivered a little, watching their bodies fall from the window, rubbing his arms.

"Bakugou! Are you cold?!" Iida threw his arms in a chopping motion, his voice loud, with worry seeping through.

"... yeah... just got reminded of something..." He stayed silent for a couple more seconds before angrily shaking his head back and forth. "Whatever! Let's head up to catch them." He stormed ahead, heading up to the floor above the one with the bomb, Iida following behind. He didn't bother going fast because he knew the heroes were already cornered.

... or were they...?

With a groan, Hitoshi climbed back into the window he and Uraraka had just jumped from, using his capture weapon - that looked and worked the exact same as Shouta's - to help hoist him up. He had attached the fabric to the edge of the windowsill, having spotted the blind section earlier and realising he could make the two believe they floated up, while holding onto Uraraka with his extra capture weapon, so she wouldn't have to use her quirk and make herself sick.

Once he was up, he quickly helped up Uraraka. He could hear Bakugou yelling in confusion, and the noise of them hitting the floor - if Bakugou and Iida were unluckily able to hear it - would surely notify them of their plan. They had to hurry.

Uraraka floated herself to the ceiling in case the other two came down and attacked Hitoshi, so she could remain out of sight and perform a sneak attack on the bomb.

Luckily that wasn't needed. Hitoshi ran forwards, the noise making Bakugou from the floor above yell louder, he could hear Iida's engines activating, he stretched out his hand, come on, just a little bit more...

... and then...

"HEROES WIN!"

... he touched it.

Without using his quirk even once...

... he was able to work with Uraraka and defeat Bakugou and Iida.

He smiled, feeling the edges of his vision go dark.

"... be proud of me... Izuku..."

And then he collapsed.

...

......

............

Uhh... hello? *runs away and hides before you can throw your pitchforks-*

I know you guys deserve an explanation. I just... really don't have a reason. I got ill and then I just... never went back to writing. At first I was exploring my interests, then I decided I should finish my other stories so I can dedicate all my time to this fic when I finished (which hasn't happened, I finished my Miraculous fic but never finished the Saiouma one, I'll hopefully try and go back to that too soon), and then I had really big exams, which I PASSED HA- and then I went to University and I was trying to settle in.

I had several big projects planned, but because of... personal and private issues, I had to cancel one of them completely. Hopefully eventually I can try and write it again, but it won't be for a while. And that honestly really disappoints me, I was looking forward to it... oh well.

It's been so long here, huh...? I paused my writing when this fic was at 70K, and now... we're almost at 350K... that's amazing guys, thank you so, so much... I really don't deserve your kindness.

Okay, you're probably wondering what the plan for the schedule is...

... well...

I don't really have one? I'll try to update as often as I can but between Uni work, finally having irl friends that I can spend constant time with (living on Uni campus with other students my age is the best) work, and various other interests of mine - for example I have that YouTube channel, and also I'm going to work next week in cosplay for Halloween/srs - I really don't know when I'll be updating. However I promise I won't leave you guys for THIS long again. Maybe an update a week...? That's not a promise, please don't keep me to that.

But I will promise this:

I WILL finish this story.

I don't know how long it will take, but I will eventually finish it. I won't force or badly rush it, I'll take my time and make it as good as I can possibly make it. I'll update it - maybe not as often as you'd like but certainly more often than I have - and I'll as always be replying to comments. I've still been active on Wattpad even though I haven't been writing, and I've been replying to comments here and there. Even if I don't reply, I read every single one. Yes, I know I made Shoto say he likes both cold and hot soba when in canon he prefers cold (I didn't know that at the time of writing) and thank you to that person who praised me for my speeches I wrote for Izuku early in the story, you're the best. :D

Okay wow I still have more to say, but I'll leave it here for now. I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Sorry for taking so long... I hope it was worth the wait.

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊