Ari POV:

The fact that I'd just gotten shot caused my vision to begin blurring white, and my ears to ring loudly.

And the fact that, through my hazy eyes, I vaguely saw my little brother, Sammy, be the one to come out of nowhere and forcefully redirect Diane's lethal gunshot, from my forehead, into a less severe one, into my shoulder, had me feel as if I'd officially gone crazy with unrealistic hallucinations.

He's alive. He must have made it to the staircase, before the top floor collapsed.

I felt my eyes wide with shock as my body remained frozen in place for a moment, attempting to go fully catatonic on me at this sudden, unexpected turn of events.

Diane Himura just shot me? She just tried to kill me? And she would have succeeded, had Sammy not interfered at the last moment?

Why?

The room began spinning furiously in my vision as I attempted to shuffle around on the floor, trying to find movement within my limbs once again so I could stand up.

But, from Keigo's perspective-wherever he was in this destroyed, smoking room, I hadn't moved since Diane shot me. I was currently lying limp on the ground with blood from my shoulder slowly seeping out onto the concrete floor.

"ARI!!! O-OH MY GOD-NO!!! P-Please-No, no, no-ARI, LOOK AT ME!! OVER HERE, ARI! EYES ON ME!!! Y-YOU'RE OKAY!! COME ON, GET UP!!" I heard Keigo screaming in utter desperation from wherever he was, the sound of aggressively shifting rubble making me realize he was trying to break himself free from his place in the caved-in room.

I forced my limbs to move, so he'd know I'm alive for now, gasping in panic as I saw Sammy tackle Diane off me and to the floor-his fourteen year old self committing to the action of trying to pry the loaded gun out of her hands.

Well, that will end poorly.

"S-S-Sammy, no. Get out of here. G-Go find....c-cover..." I shivered out in shock, feeling my body suddenly freezing in the sweltering room as I attempted to crawl towards him.

But, Sammy was determined to protect his big sister, not giving up on his vigor in doing so.

"D-D-Don't touch her, Diane!! I won't let you!!!-Ari, this is what I was trying to tell you!!!" Sammy yelled out in utter panicked fear, too inexperienced to hold his own against Diane as he naively took his eyes off her to check on my well-being-

"Ugh. Get off me, you little, quirkless piece of shit! You should have died in this mansion hours ago!" Diane spat out in pure frustration, pistol-whipping the hilt of her gun across Sammy's cheek as hard as she could.

He groaned in pain, as Diane slammed her knee into his stomach, sending him off her body and flying across the room.

The sight caused my eyes to widen and my adrenaline to quickly spike my consciousness back to fight or flight mode, as I forced myself to try and get to my unstable feet with all my leftover strength.

The ground was still rumbling, the room was shaking. And even though the top floor was the only floor in this building to collapse so far, it's obvious to see that the rest of the place isn't far off from doing the same thing.

"S-S-Sam...." I wheezed out inaudibly, voice thick with smoke inhalation and heavy breathing, before Diane's voice over spoke my own.

"Fine. Let's kill two birds with one stone now, shall we? After all, that's what I was hoping to achieve today, anyways." She huffed out with a shrug, not having the time to get to her feet as she pointed her gun at Sammy from the floor.

I didn't even have the time to lift my hand to activate my quirk, as Diane shot her gun much quicker this time, obviously not wanting to make the same, slow mistake she just made with me a few seconds ago.

The sound of the gun rang in my ear drums and practically shattered my heart, as I thought about the inevitable. My blood ran cold. All of this chaos was taking place in a matter of precious seconds, that I only now had the time to barely open my mouth for a choked whimper.

Sammy's eyes closed in fear at the sound of the gun, causing him to cringe in anticipation and curl up into a ball from his spot on the floor, as he waited for his own lethal hit.

But, the hit never landed as a red feather, consumed in blue flames, appeared in front of his body, quicker than the bullet, hardening itself to the best of its abilities and blocking the shot effectively.

"I got you, Sammy! Don't worry, kiddo." Keigo coughed out from the opposite side of the room, before more flaming feathers came shooting forward.

He never gives up. Even when he's literally on fire, he never gives up. And I love him so much for that.

Diane rolled her eyes, in what looked to be amusement, as a few of Keigo's tiniest downy feathers restrained her to the ground and ripped the gun from her hands. She seemed unbothered, knowing these baby feathers were the weakest links of his quirk that wouldn't be able to hold her for very long.

She turned her head to the side with a chilling smile, seemingly taking in Keigo's appearance.

"You're not looking too good over there, little Keigo. You're even more expired than how I left you-and to think I was considering taking you back, after all of this! You've completed your last mission for me already. Twice is dead, exactly how I wanted it. Feel free to end it for yourself at any time now. You're worthless without those feathers, after all." She chuckled, not bothering to fight against the feather restraints as she waited for her opportunity to strike.

Sammy's tightly closed eyes flew open as he saw the flaming downy feathers protecting his body, mouth gaping like a fanboy as he whipped his head to the side.

"H-Hawks!!? You saved me!!!-The number two hero just saved my life?? M-Man, thanks-that's s-so fricking c-cool-Ah, but d-do you know that you're on fire, dude?!! Is there like....a-a-a fire extinguisher, somewhere, so I can help you, or s-something-" Sammy babbled in a trembling mess, the fear and adrenaline consuming his body quicker than he could process.

He's never had this much fear about anything in his life. He's unable to work through the fight or flight feeling, like a hero has to prepare for. The reactions in his body, right now, are eating him alive. He's shivering so hard, he can't even get up from the floor.

The sound of heavier moving debris caused me to finally take my eyes off Sammy and turn around to see Keigo.

He'd finally come up from the rubble, kicking away the last of the concrete shards in his area, before stumbling to his feet fully.

He had a slightly dazed look on his completely ashen face, making me think he might've hit his head during the room collapse. His face, shirt, and hands were still covered in Twice's blood, giving me the grim reminder of what just happened a few seconds ago. His back was still on fire, but his senses were still there. He's not doing well, but he's still able to stand and have his bearings.

"Keigo." I rasped out in concern, trying to find a break in the rumbling, uneven movement of the floor so I could try to stand and help him.

His hazy, golden eyes immediately whipped back to me, upon seeing that Sammy was okay now; face melting into relief as he saw me conscious and functioning, somewhat properly.

He sighed softly at the sight, managing to shoot me a dazed, blood-crusted, tired smile-even with the outrageous chaos that was going on, before stumbling his way over to Sammy and I.

"Ah, Chicky. Thank goodness, it's just your shoulder. Y-You're okay. I-I was so worried. Sammy, take Ari and get outta here, buddy. My feathers won't be able to hold Diane for very long-I dunno why she's here-I dunno what's going on, anymore, but it's gonna be okay. Alright? I'll hold off Diane and-" Keigo started explaining weakly, unable to finish his words as an explosion of blue flames body-slammed into him from his side.

Sammy let out a yell of panic as he watched Hawks' body quickly become consumed by blue flames, before his very eyes. My jaw dropped in horror as Keigo was shot out of the room and into the open hallway.

"NO!!!" I screamed, watching his charring body slam into the metal railing of the balcony, noticing the way he didn't have the energy to even try and get up this time.

He let out a small groan of weak pain, lying limp on the floor, before barely bringing his arm up to try and uselessly pat and extinguish the new, additional flames on his back.

"Keigo!! Hold on! I'm coming!" I cried, crawling across the shaky floor as quickly as I could, yelling to Sammy over my shoulder.

"Sammy!! Go find cover. The entire place is gonna collapse soon! I'll come and-" I started out, quickly flying backwards as another blue explosion lit up the room like a broody Christmas tree.

"Fuck!!!" I shrieked in frustration, skidding across the floor and further away from Keigo.

The sound of crashing cement blocks caused me to turn my attention to the other side of the room, seeing a bleeding, smoking, dust covered Dabi pop out of his own debris pile now.

I was completely thrown off at the sound of his immediate giggle as he stumbled around on his feet from the uneven floor. It made him look completely maniacal, giving him the appearance as if he'd finally lost his mind.

Maybe, he did.

It was easy to see how angry Dabi was, as blue flames licked up his own arms. Clearly, he was losing a handle on his own quirk now.

I braced myself to fight, flexing my broken hand as I waited for Dabi to come my way...

But, he didn't even notice me, Diane, or Sammy, as his completely insane gaze locked on Keigo's burning body with pure and utter delight. As if he'd been waiting to see this moment, not just for months.....but for years.

"You little son of a bitch!!! You worthless piece of shit! Now, you've done it!! Oh-hooo, now you've really done it!! Seriously!! You have no idea what you've just done!!!" Dabi cackled gleefully, as he made his way towards Keigo.

Keigo's bloodshot eyes widened in legitimate panic at the sound of Dabi's voice of psychopathic insanity. For the first time, he didn't even bother to hide his true emotions from the stitched man, writhing around on the ground like a beaten animal as he tried to gather the strength to get up.

I shakily lifted my hand to activate my quirk on Dabi, feeling a spike of panic run through me as I wasn't able to immobilize him for more than a second this time.

I've exhausted my quirk use. Trying to hold up the top floor is what sent me over the edge. It will be a few minutes now, before I'm able to gain any quirk access again.

Not that Dabi even noticed. I know he felt my effects for that small moment, but he was too far gone to even care. He was too far gone to care about anything.

He was laughing, looking as if he's just won the lottery, even though his, supposed, friend was just slaughtered right in front of him.

"Shit..." I whimpered out, gripping onto a piece of debris to help me get my balance and get back on my feet.

I felt a steady stream of blood running from my injured shoulder, yet I couldn't even focus on myself as I watched the man I love inching closer towards death's door.

My watery eyes remained locked on Keigo's vulnerable figure, wishing I had every ounce of strength in the entire world, so I could protect him.

If his back wasn't completely charred before, it was now. His ashen face morphed into heartbreaking realization, as he continued to desperately writhe around on the floor, trying to reach his hands as far as he could behind him to get rid of the flames on his back.

But, Dabi was quicker this time....standing over his helpless body in a flash, before quickly slamming his boot down onto his back.

"No!! Don't hurt him!!!" Sammy cried out, opting to throw giant bricks of debris towards Dabi's head, so that he wouldn't hurt his beloved hero, Hawks.

But, his aim was pretty horrible. And I don't even think a flying brick to the head could have stopped Dabi from completing whatever goal he expected himself to do today. He seemed very determined, with a clear motivation in his mind.

"Good work, hero!! You just killed Twice-you actually killed Twice!!!-My god, this is just rich!!! How you've managed to surprise me!! I didn't think you had that in you!!!" Dabi giggled out completely demented, pupils blown wide open, stitched face dripping with his own blood.

Keigo coughed loudly as new waves of smoke seared his lungs, looking back at the stitched man with wide eyes of shock.

"Is...Is that the face of a man who's friend has just been killed?!" Keigo piped back with surprising accusation, only making the situation worse on himself.

Dabi's grin only got wider at the words, seeming to like the sass that Keigo was bringing at a time like this.

"What?-Wow!!! You've got some nerve, running your mouth right now! And that hurts my feelings! My tear glands are burnt, so I can't cry!" Dabi smiled much too widely, ignoring the smoke that began to steam out of his face.

He's overheating.

Another shake to the foundation of the building caused Sammy and I to slip back onto the floor.

The shake also caused Keigo to fall down face first onto the ground again, clawing his charred fingers into the tiles as Dabi shot his blue flames directly onto his back this time, keeping his boot pressed down on Keigo's shoulders so he'd be unable to get away.

Keigo's eyes squeezed shut at the sound of Dabi's fire, opting to shield his face with his shaky hands, since he could do literally nothing else to protect himself.

"Yeah, that's right. Take it all in. So long-so long I've been waiting to do this to you, Keigo. Right on those wings of yours. Being patient isn't always easy, but it's damn worth it now." The stitched man called out over the aggressive swelter of his flames, keeping his cerulean orbs locked on Keigo's burning back with concentration and contentment.

And even as Dabi seared more flames on Keigo, the only noise that came from the bird boy's mouth was a chilling, suffocating gasp for air-smoky air, unfortunately.

The smoke inhalation is starting to set into his lungs now. The fact that he didn't even scream as Dabi burned him must mean he doesn't even feel the pain, anymore. That can only mean that he's probably suffering permanent nerve damage now.

Attempting to try again, I shot up to my feet, before quickly stumbling back to my knees, crawling across the floor and over the debris to get to Keigo.

"Dabi!! Yoo-hoo!!! Over here!! Look at me, you piece of shit!! Come attack me!!! Cause I'm coming over there to fucking kill you, right now!!!" I shouted as loud as I could, yet the stitched man didn't even look behind him-

"No, Ari!!! Behind you!!" Sammy suddenly yelled out to me, but it was too late.

My eyes widened as I felt my hair being yanked backwards, practically out of my skull....before two hands wrapped tightly around my neck from behind, starting to strangle me as hard as possible.

Fuck. Diane. That little batch of Keigo's feathers must have lost their focus restraining her, once he was surprise blasted out of the room by Dabi. I wonder where they are now-

"Looks like I'll have to do things the old fashioned way. Sorry about that, Ari. A strangled death is much more painful than a quick gunshot to the head. You can thank your precious bird boyfriend, over there, for taking my gun away. He's the reason you're about to feel it all." Diane huffed casually, grunting in exertion as she squeezed my neck as hard as she possibly could.

"STOP!!! DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER, YOU DAMN MONSTER!!!" Sammy screamed in full blown anger, before I heard him crawling across the floor to help me again.

I grit down on my teeth, as I clawed at Diane's hands, trying to tell Sammy to stay back, but only able to let out a horrifying, unsuccessful gasp for air.

The commotion caught Keigo's attention from the floor, causing his closed eyes to quickly widen and find me in fear.

"N-No. Ari. S-Stop..." Keigo breathed out anxiously.

Instinctively, he attempted to lift his torso off the floor, but Dabi immediately slammed him back to the ground, grabbing him roughly by the hair and forcing him to look in my direction.

"Awww, what's wrong, hero? Afraid to watch someone else die?" Dabi asked condescendingly, not looking at me, but gesturing to my direction of the room, as I'm sure he heard me being strangled.

Which means, he must have seen Diane, even if it looked like he didn't-

"You've already taken one life today!! What's another piece of blood-shed on your record?!" Dabi laughed in his face, tilting his head to the side in full blown amusement to the struggles Keigo and I were currently going through.

Diane let out a small scoff of annoyance at Dabi's words, yanking my body backwards against hers to pin me and keep me from struggling so much.

She spoke again, voice still relatively unbothered as she strangled me.

"If there's one good thing to all of this, it's that I don't have to work with that stitched drama queen, anymore. He was just starting to dwindle away at the last of my patience." Diane explained purposely, the small smirk evident in her voice as she knew she shocked me with her words.

Diane and Dabi were working together?-

Hearing Sammy coming too close, Diane switched her grip on my neck, choke holding me with the inside of her elbow now as she harshly kicked Sammy backwards.

His body skidded back across the floor, before he slammed into the wall. The hard bang to the unstable foundation of the place caused a heavy block of cement to come crashing down on his foot, no doubt, breaking the bones.

"S...Sa...." I barely made out as I watched him yell in pain from the collision, realizing his foot was now trapped in place from the heavy debris.

But, one good thing that came out of that little distraction, was that Diane had been forced to switch her position into one that was more favorable for me.

It allowed me to slam my elbow back into her stomach, quickly back-pedaling my feet towards the nearest wall, so I'd be able to crush her against it.

I knew I was successful when I heard Diane let out a small grunt as the air left her lungs, allowing me to finally break free from her choke hold and gasp for air.

"God damn it." Diane huffed from her spot against the wall, instinctively moving her body to the side as she knew I'd try and go for a punch.

And I did. And of course she knew. She's the one who trained me. She knows every move I make, before I even make it.

Realizing I ended up punching the wall, instead of Diane's face, I quickly backed up from her position, mostly just needing to give myself a second to get my breath back.

She didn't chase me. Didn't lunge forward at me, to try to attack again.

She simply bore her eyes into mine with a casual smile that chilled me to the bone, keeping her gaze level with me as she spoke.

"My, my. This situation has gotten much too messy for my taste. Alright, to start.....stop, Dabi. You don't want to kill Keigo, yet." Diane commanded firmly, causing Dabi's flames to take a very surprising halt in response.

Did he just listen to her?!! He doesn't listen to anybody-

"But, for future lesson, this is why I asked you to get the job done early, you stitched delinquent. Your hesitations and failures led to this, and look where we are now? You've forced me to be here today, and expose myself to my two brightest pupils and this, good-for-nothing quirkless boy. I hope you're happy." Diane stated emotionlessly, still acting as if we were just having a casual conversation at the HPSC headquarters.

Keigo and I both shared a matched look of shocked confusion upon hearing Diane's words, neither of us able to say anything as Dabi spoke up.

"Watch your mouth, you twisted bitch. I ain't like these two doormats, to where I'll let you walk all over me. Don't forget the rules to our deal. I don't owe you jack shit." Dabi stated firmly, coming down from his maniacal, blood thirsty high for a moment, as he barely turned his attention towards me.

He looked as if he wanted to use his flames and continue burning Keigo, but chose to listen to Diane's orders and stay put for now.

I looked at Diane blankly, seeing her leaning back against the wall as she waited for me to say something.

"Go on, Ari. Get it all out. We were never supposed to reach this point together. You should already be dead. But, I suppose since you've survived this long, I'll let you have this privilege of speaking one more time." She commanded, causing me to immediately start speaking, instead of fight her the way I'd been planning to.

"You're....you're....part of the league of villains...?" I uttered in disbelief, letting out a small cough at the soreness my throat was feeling from having been strangled.

I thought I had it all figured out early this time, until Diane's face immediately contorted into disgust at my words, shaking her head like I was crazy.

"Who? Those guys?-Oh, please. Is that how low you think of me? Absolutely not, Ari. As if I'd ever give those maniacs more than a minute of my time. No, don't get it twisted." She started off with a small chuckle, causing my brows to furrow in confusion.

Keigo let out a small gasp for air from his spot on the floor, being forced back down into the ground further by Dabi's boot, but still not being burned with new flames.

But, that didn't stop him from turning his burned, only visible scarred eye at Diane with hatred, deciding he'd make it a point to get his own sense in, no matter what.

After all, disregarding the current events, Diane's already tossed him aside like yesterday's leftovers. His anger for her has already been building up to a massive degree, over these past few days.

"Y-You act as if you're so much better than them." He choked out, face being kicked back into the dirt as Dabi told him to shut up.

Diane's face turned into genuine confusion at Keigo's words, not even missing a beat before responding.

"That's cause I am better than them, Keigo. Despite how this may look to both of you, I am not the villain here." She pointed out matter of factly, holding her hands up to both of us almost like a surrender.

Dabi let out a small, condescending laugh from his spot in the hallway, keeping his foot on Keigo's back as he whipped his eyes at Diane with a hateful, murderous smirk.

His stitched hands twitched like he wanted to use his flames again, but still, he remained obedient.

"You fuckers have a pretty fucked up definition of what it means to be one of these villains. As if you didn't just try to strangle her a second ago." Dabi explained maliciously, not necessarily seeming bothered about the fact that Diane almost killed me, but certainly feeling the need to bring attention to it.

Diane didn't bother to look at Dabi, keeping her eyes locked on me to ensure that I wouldn't make any sudden movements.

"In my defense, killing Ari was not my job, Dabi. It was yours. It was a job I gave you twelve months ago. A job that you failed to deliver on, which forced me to intervene. That's simply a case of unfortunate events." Diane started off, never breaking my eye contact as she spoke to let me know that she was, in no way, ashamed of what she just said.

I stumbled on my feet as the ground beneath us shook again, quickly gripping onto the wall to keep my balance.

Diane matched my look of hurt betrayal with a bored one, impatiently gesturing for me to say whatever it was that I wanted to say.

But, it all felt pretty meaningless, either way.

"Twelve months? Y...You've been trying to have me...killed for twelve months? W-Why....?" I breathed out sadly, letting my guard down for a moment too long as Diane quickly charged at me again.

She tackled me to the ground, her fresh body taking down my battered, bleeding one with ease as she pinned me to the floor.

I heard Keigo and Sammy yelling words into my ears that never registered, as I focused my energy on trying to save my life.

Luckily, I had enough time to block my face, as Diane's fist tried to punch me, using a grappling move she taught me to quickly throw her body off my own.

My quirk still doesn't work. I'm bleeding out, unable to tie a tourniquet around my shoulder at the moment.

Dabi's interestingly halted the use of his flames for now, and I don't know why. He hasn't landed the final blow on Keigo, yet, but if I make the sudden move to fully attack Diane, he might attack Keigo and hurt him even further. Not to mention, Sammy is still trapped under the debris, unable to move.

I need to play my cards very carefully here. And most of all, I need more time to build up my quirk, so I can protect the people I love.

Rather than going with my typical fight tactics of hand to hand combat, I decided to stay on the defensive this time, carefully shuffling around the space to keep my distance from Diane.

She laughed at my lack of confrontation, sighing contently as she crossed her arms and stood in place.

"Twelve months? You think I've only just started to plan your death twelve months ago? It's not just something I decided on a whim, Ari. It's not as if I randomly decided one day that I just wanted to throw your life away. Now, that would be cruel." She stated honestly, seriously believing the outrageous words she was saying.

The questions were written all over my face, yet I didn't say a word as I continued slowly pacing the room, to ensure she didn't catch me off-guard again.

Diane was quiet in thought for how to explain this, shaking her head in soft disappointment as she turned her attention from me, to Dabi, to Keigo once more.

"My goodness. In all my time of doing this job, I have never actually had to....explain this. I've never had to tell anyone why I do what I do, because it's never been this messy. It never gets to this point with the others..." She huffed out a bit quietly, seeming more upset with herself now.

Did she just say....the others?-

"But, I'll make it fair. I'll punish myself for letting it get this far, by explaining it all to you. So, you three-and you, Sammy, will be the first to know. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out, yet. I'm surprised that no one's figured it out, yet. The hints have always been placed in front of you, all along. It's not as if I ever tried to hide it that much." Diane started out, almost as if she was trying to justify her unknown reasonings to herself.

And that made me angry. Because whatever the reason she's doing this, I don't want her to have that comfort of her own justifications to fall back on. I don't want her to feel any peace of mind towards this situation.

"Well, if that's how you really feel, then it shouldn't be that hard to explain." I countered lowly, taking Diane's lost in thought distraction to tend to my own wounds.

Diane nodded neutrally to my point, slowly lifting her eyes back up to me as she began to speak.

"I gave you purpose, Ari. I give all of you kids purpose, the moment you step through the Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters for the very first time. The moment you agree to take on the task of becoming a special hero..." She started off, trailing her eyes towards Keigo's charred, burning flight jacket in the corner.

"You say that I'm the bad guy, but my whole goal from the very beginning was always to build you up into greatness. I wanted all the kids I trained to be better than everybody. I wanted them to move mountains without lifting a finger. I wanted them to have millions of adoring fans at their feet. I wanted them to succeed in everything they do. I wanted you to succeed, Ari. I always wanted you to succeed..." Diane explained, lost in the thought of her own dreams as she smiled softly.

Continuing to listen silently, I tore open the material of my suit that covered my stomach, using the ripped shreds of it as a makeshift tourniquet for my bleeding shoulder.

"A poster child for the Hero Public Safety Commission. Those are the types of hero children I create. And I've never failed at that. Even now, I never failed in making two more stars that the world loves, through both of you, Hawks and Hourglass." She stated, slowly alternating her eyes between Keigo and I, before continuing.

"But, if you've learned anything from your experiences. If you've learned anything from the experiences of others, then you know that all greatness has an expiration date. You know that nothing can be the strongest forever, and the last thing I'd ever want to do is give the public a front row seat in watching your power dwindle away; watching them slowly lose interest in you over time, until you're eventually discarded into nothing...." Diane stated, eyes gradually going dark as I saw her true colors coming to life for the first time since I've known her.

"No. That would be....failure. Failure for you. Failure for me. Failure for the hero commission. I can't accept that. I can't let the public see the weaknesses that, us heroes, are never supposed to have-" She continued on, starting to become too lost within her explanation, before Keigo cut her off.

"Weakness? It's called retirement, you sick bitch. It's called growing up and moving on. Living life. Things I never realized until I met-" He started off.

Diane immediately shook her head in denial for Keigo's words, not even allowing herself the time to process them, before she tried to justify her reasonings once again.

"And how memorable is that, Keigo? How remembered are the heroes who did their duties for a few decades, before they eventually decided they were too weak to handle the pressure, any longer?" She asked rhetorically, yet Keigo was more than willing to give her an answer.

"Uhhh, Very!! Retired heroes are very remembered!!!" He yelled through a burnt throat, vaguely trying to get the energy to stand up from Dabi's boot, before the stitched man slammed him back down with a curse under his breath.

Diane shrugged in affirmation to Keigo's point, not totally in denial with his words.

"Fine. True, I'll give you that. Sure, retired heroes are remembered. But, they are not as impactful and symbolic.....as the dead ones." She stated firmly, dull eyes slowly glimmering to life again as she spoke her own reasonings.

I could see the woman slowly unraveling before our very eyes as she talked about the demons that she hid deep within her heart. We've all got a true self. We've all got triggers.

And whatever Diane's plan is...whatever she's been hiding from the rest of the world for so long....it's obviously a trigger for her to finally open up to someone-even if it's not the people she wants to open up to.

It's finally a look at the true self that she never allows anyone to see. A look at her real nature.

And for the first time, a genuine smile slowly began to curl up onto Diane's lips, as she thought about her beloved system....looking at the ground in lost, motivated thought as she continued.

"It started with the minor things-career ending injuries, mostly. Once I noticed that certain heroes started to fall behind, as they aged on....I'd plan little things to ensure they would get involved in a public accident, that would damage them enough to discontinue their hero work. I never had any intention of killing them, but simply gave them an honorable excuse for absolutely needing to leave the hero world. It kept the public wanting more of them, that way. More of us. It made these heroes remembered better. It worked decently well. Better than I thought it would...." She explained, before a small, unhinged grin slowly began twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"But, then, one day....one of the accidents....went too far, and instead of getting injured....the hero died. I was mortified, at first. I never meant for it to go there. That is, until I looked at the news the next morning, seeing memorials, and statues, and tributes, and everything else you could possibly think of....remembering this hero. Remembering how honorably they died. How beautifully tragic their end was. Remembering how powerful they were. Remembering that they belong....to the hero commission." She smiled softly, slowly bringing her eyes up to meet mine.

I could see in her eyes she was hoping I'd start to understand her logic and reasoning. But, I simply looked at her as if she had two heads, feeling my face turning up in disgust.

But, she didn't care, continuing, anyways.

"The death of that hero was so impactful, that the hero commission saw a thirty percent influx of volunteers who wanted their kids to join our training program, the very next day. We saw an influx of donations and publicity for the hero commission. We gained national attention-looked at as an icon, for being one of the most powerful and honorable organizations in the world. People....seem to have a fascination with death. It's almost like they romanticize it in situations, such as those. That's not something I just made up, Ari. That's something I saw in everyone else. Something I simply used to my advantage. So, a few years later, I did it again." She said calmly, nodding her head in acceptance for her actions.

I felt my mouth turning sour with vomit as I listened to her talk, not even recognizing the woman in front of my face, anymore.

"Y-You killed another hero..." I whispered out in disbelief, feeling my eyes widen in horror.

I always knew she was awful. But, I never knew how much so.

"Yes, I did. Plenty of times, in fact. And again, more children volunteered to sign up and become special heroes, just like their favorite forever symbol. These heroes became martyrs for the public. More money. More publicity. More recognition. So successful-I'd start sabotaging missions, to get the iconic hero symbolic deaths I needed. When that became too difficult, I'd start killing them as they slept, and stage them in a situation that makes it look as if they saved people. Martyrs and icons, Ari and Keigo. A system that never ran out, because every time I did it, more and more people kept giving me their children to make them into these special heroes, over and over again; to make them into these martyrs and icons. So, I did. I made them all into special heroes....and they all served their times. They all carried out their last duty." Diane chuckled softly, making a small realization go off in my head at a previous statement I said to Endeavor....

"Well, that's just exactly the plan, Endeavor. All heroes have an expiration date, you know. I'm not meant to last long. Have you ever seen a commission-trained hero, who's alive, past the age of thirty? Alive to see their retirement? Alive to....live their dreams?"

No. No, I haven't seen that.

I didn't realize how true my statement was. The heroes aren't alive, because Diane kills them when she feels they exhaust their potential.

My jaw slowly fell open in full shock to the evil woman in front of me, watching her slowly turn her darkened eyes up to Keigo and I as she said her next words.

"I know what you're thinking. And yes. You two were my next projects. That's how it's been from the moment I met you. That's why we're here today-so, that you can become the martyrs and icons the world wants you to be." She stated matter of factly, sounding as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"From the very beginning, your purpose was always to end. I spent years, training you to be the very best out there. Shoving you in the light of the public at any chance I got, making everyone love you, and ensuring that you lived a life of isolation, never letting anyone get too close to the real, vulnerable you, as not to taint the untouchable image-but, as you both know....that last part is where I went wrong, this time..." She chuckled dryly, looking at Keigo and I knowingly as she wagged a condescending finger of discipline.

"Ahhh, yes, you two were a truly funny bunch. Thinking you could hide an entire relationship from me. Thinking I didn't figure out you were dating, days after it originally started. I could see the change in both of you. You were happier. Not so starved for my validation and attention, the way you used to be. You didn't rely on me, anymore. You were more confident in yourselves..." Diane said in, almost disgust, shaking her head in disapproval.

She turned her attention on me with a wave of anger present on her face now, teeth grinding together in pure hatred.

"I saw the change in Keigo, more than I did with you, Ari. Your mind had already been poisoned by your family, when I met you. But, Keigo, came to me with nothing and no one. He was a lost little bird, already having been abused by his serial killer father and neglected by his mother. I turned him into my prized possession for so long. But, then, I saw him becoming his own person. Slowly straying away from my ideals, and falling further into your arms. Agh, it made me so angry, that I decided to change your expiration date." She explained, letting out a small tsk of disapproval.

Did she just say....expiration date?!?-

"See, you weren't supposed to die until the age of twenty-three, Ari. You were supposed to establish yourself in the hero world a little more first, before you were set to drown, saving a school bus full of children." She started out hauntingly, detailing out the death that she already had planned for me.

It caused a shiver to run down my spine, not wanting her to continue.

"But, seeing your impact on Keigo made me change my mind. It made me up your timeline-first, to get you away from each other. And second, because an eighteen-year-old student hero's death would have been one of the most impactful martyrs I've created, yet. It would be a win-win situation for all of us."

Her lips pursed in thought, seeming as if she was still mulling over her decisions of the past...looking as if she was starting to regret that she didn't stick with that plan.

"But, then I stopped and really studied just how big your impact on Keigo was. It wasn't something I'd seen from him before. I saw how much he actually came to rely on you and open up to you, in such a short period of time. How much power your presence held over him. Keigo's original expiration date wasn't supposed to be until he hit twenty-five, so he still had a few more years left. I had every intention of keeping him around, and I realized that since he was slipping more out of my control, and further into your hands....I'd stop fighting that, and use it as my benefit instead." She explained, nodding in affirmation as she looked from me to Keigo once again.

Diane's darkened gaze landed on the wall ahead of her, as she continued. Her next words were clearly meant for Keigo, yet she didn't even look at him, burning under Dabi's foot.

"So, I allowed your relationship to happen. I let you two get as close as ever. I know she was important to you, Keigo. How could I not, when it was written so clearly all over your face? I could see that she gave you a sense of morals. A purpose. She destroyed your spark. She destroyed Hawks. She gave you a sense of humanity that was destroying my own goals...." She uttered darkly, voice coming out more malicious and resentful now as she spoke to Keigo.

His brows furrowed down in livid anger for her words, waiting for her to continue.

"So, that's when I hired Dabi. Offered him a once in a lifetime opportunity to kill a hero that fully disobeyed Stain's logic, with absolutely no consequences from me, whatsoever-while also getting himself closer to his own goals. It was meant to be a public death. A death that takes place in front of you, Keigo. You were meant to see Ari die by Dabi's hands. You were meant to go absolutely lividly insane from it. You were meant to be left with nothing, but me, with your heart so full of anger and resentment for the villains, that all you'd have left is your bloodlust to do as I say. The public was meant to be outraged over Ari's death, and hate the villains even more. They were meant to see Ari as their martyr, and send me their own children to replace her, and become the next hero. To become the next amazing hero, Hourglass..." She explained, pressing her lips together at what could have been, had everything gone according to her plan.

It's obvious to see she's frustrated that things went south.

She bit down on her lip in anger, rolling her eyes dryly as she whipped her attention at Dabi.

"But, Dabi waited, and waited on the job. Taking months to make any sort of progress-even when I laid the hints out for him, front and center. Like, Keigo, the time you and Ari spent the night staking out that rooftop, and Dabi showed up? It's because I tipped him off. Or, how he knew everything about your family, Ari? It's because I told him where they lived. I gave him everything he needed to do the job effectively, but it seemed that he just couldn't follow through. As usual." She spat out angrily, narrowing her eyes at the stitched man in hatred.

Dabi matched her glare though, with his look of hate managing to exceed hers, as blue flames slowly began to lick at his fingertips once more.

But, Diane continued....burning her eyes into his blue ones, fearlessly.

"I realized that Dabi's unreliability wasn't a huge loss for me. After all, it was so easy to use you two as threats against each other for the things I needed, I almost didn't want Dabi to kill you, so early on..." She shrugged, quickly turning her attention back to me.

"But, the point is, Ari, you needed to die. You still need to die, so that another child can replace you. That's how my agenda works. You're certainly not the first commission kid to die, and you certainly won't be the last. You're just another protocol in my plan, and your expiration date came, so I decided to ditch Dabi's help and take matters into my own hands. Hence, your involvement in the Shigaraki mission. I figured that dying, while fighting the most dangerous villain on our watchlist would give you the death I needed." She explained, before turning her eyes on Sammy with a look of disgust.

"As for you, quirkless boy, your death was supposed to be strictly payback for failing the one thing I ever asked you to do, which was spy on your sister for me. You were supposed to die in this mansion, that's why I brought you to UA. I needed you within my grasp, so I'd be able to drag you here. But, of course, Ari wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be at the hospital, already deceased by now. Just another reason that everything went wrong...." Diane sighed out, rubbing her tired face with her hands in frustration.

Upon removing her hands, however, she was able to gain back that emotionless exterior I've become so accustomed to, burning her own eyes into me with purpose now.

"But, that's all right, Ari. There's thousands of people in this mansion, no one's really gonna know who killed who. I'll make sure you're remembered well. I'll make sure your death sounds like it was the most honorable thing in the entire world. We'll say you fought the baddest villain of them all, and sacrificed yourself to save some student hero." She stated lowly, slowly pulling a knife from her holster as she was about to walk towards me.

And, even though his back was burning to shreds, and his consciousness was surely starting to fade, Keigo growled out in feral fury, writhing around under Dabi's boot once more.

"Don't you fuckin' dare touch her, Diane. It's as you said, I ain't no hero, anymore. And I ain't no stranger to seeing death. I will kill you, tear you to shreds limb, by fucking limb. I'll make it hurt, I'll do it with my bare hands, and I will watch the life go outta your eyes, gladly. I promise." Keigo seethed out murderously, burning his hate filled eyes into Diane with psychotic purpose.

The sight caused Sammy to gasp softly from the floor, looking at Keigo in slightly terrified shock. He's never seen one of his favorite heroes act so....unheroic. But, he didn't let it shake him up too much, still trying to break his foot free from the debris to do something and help me.

"Yes, yes your psychotic father would be so proud to hear you say such things, Keigo; following in his footsteps, and all. But, regardless, you won't do anything. You already look half dead. You couldn't even take on, quirkless little Sammy Parker at this point. And that's pathetic." She chuckled softly, giving the knife in her hands a small twirl.

However, one person who did have the immediate power to do something slowly started to activate his flames, allowing the blue heat to slowly lick at his fingertips as his face suddenly became blankly unreadable. It looked as if this room contained all the perfect components that were needed to finally trigger him enough and make him crack.

It looked as if he couldn't stay silent any longer, feeling the demons inside of himself bubble over the rim of his soul.

Not even looking over at him, Diane spoke calmly and clearly.

"Nuh-uh. You don't want to use your quirk, yet, Dabi." She suddenly commanded, causing Dabi's flames to immediately extinguish.

Both Keigo and I raised our brows in surprise to Dabi's submission. Mainly, because it was the one time we actually wanted him to go berserk, so he could use his fire on Diane.

And, even Dabi himself looked a bit surprised at this turn of events, as well. Yet, he didn't show that for long, deflecting the topic with a distraction.

"Listen here, I don't work on your timeline, you nasty bitch. I've never worked on your timeline. I work on my own. I didn't wanna kill Ari, yet, because I had my own agenda for her, right from the start. I just wanted you under my thumb, so you'd leave me alone and get me closer. And you did. Guess you could say, I played you. Actually, it seems that I played all of you, like a damn fiddle." Dabi smirked at Diane, before slowly burning his cerulean orbs in my eyes.

Clearly, that statement had a double meaning.

And, the fact that Dabi knew Keigo's real name and true intentions from the very start? I don't doubt his words. I have no idea what this man really knows-or who he really is, for that matter.

He did play us. He played me. He played Keigo. And he played Diane-

"You'd like to think so, wouldn't you." Diane smiled emotionlessly, vacant eyes looking into Dabi as if she had her own agenda for him.

But, Dabi didn't care about her threats, seeming about as used to them as Keigo and I were at this point.

"Oh, shut the fuck up already, with that stupid fucking voice of yours. I've been hearing it in my head for far too long now. You think I didn't have plans for you, too, Diane? You were always meant to get the worst of it, you know. You were always meant to pay for everything you did." Dabi stated matter of factly, boring his eyes into Diane as his palms started to smoke again.

But, Diane wasn't fazed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes away from him. Not deeming his presence as important enough as she kept her attention on me.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." She replied boredly, not seeming shocked by whatever grounding breaking revelation Dabi was finally getting to.

Her lack of reaction only infuriated Dabi more, causing him to press his boot down harder onto Keigo's burning back in anger.

"Yeah. I'm not surprised that you don't, you damn bitch. But, Ari knows what I'm talking about. And so do you, don't you, Keigo?" Dabi asked ruthlessly, voice coming out completely unhinged again as he spoke the last word from his mouth.

And, once again, the name fell from his tongue so naturally. So full of a concoction of emotions that he'd always tried to hide. Even for that small moment when he said Keigo's name, the inflection of his voice had changed back into that true self I'd gotten a glimpse of, a few months ago. Back when he kissed me.

Keigo's bloodshot eyes widened in triggered panic at the mention of his name from Dabi's mouth again, causing a small shiver to run through his burning body.

As for Dabi, that somber shade of blue had returned to his eyes, as he re-directed them at me with familiar purpose, making my blood suddenly run cold as a new realization had been triggered upon me, thanks to Diane's presence.

No. It can't be. It's not possible-

Keigo's weak voice cut through my undeveloped thoughts, doing his best to crane his head up towards Dabi's face as he spoke.

"W-Why do you keep saying my name? How do you know my name? Who the hell are you?!" He asked desperately, almost seeming tormented whenever Dabi said it.

And I couldn't help but keep my eyes on Dabi as he matched my gaze. He smirked softly when he saw my eyes slowly melting into disbelief realization as he spoke his next words...

"It's not who I am, anymore, but who I used to be, Keigo. The person who you used to spill all of your biggest, darkest secrets to, Takami. The person who you, and Ari, and everyone else destroyed, until there was nothing left, but this. So, who did I used to be? I used to be a best friend to both of you, and his name was Touya Todoroki."

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Next Chapter Title: Memories That Turned To Ash (Part 1/3)

A quick reminder that some of these next parts of my AOTS plot might turn out differently than the original manga <3