Ari POV:

I simply stared up at my little brother in blank shock for what he'd just done, still not quite processing the way he'd plunged Keigo's feather blade through the stomach of this heartless woman.

The fourteen year old boy's look matched my own, gaping in pure horror at the bleeding woman on the floor-who still very much refused to die, might I add.

Sure, Diane was obviously surprised. Obviously incredibly hurt. She was hunched over on her knees, trembling and clutching her stomach in pain, and her breathing was labored.

But, just judging from Sammy's stab mark, he'd unintentionally managed to miss any major internal organs that would cause her to become debilitated right away and die quickly.

Well...he always did have horrible aim...

Regardless, the point is that he stabbed Diane in her stomach. And now, similar to most people in this room, she is officially starting to bleed her life away, too.

"Damn. Well. That was unexpected, I'll be honest." Touya chimed in casually from the corner, having taken these moments of Keigo and I's distraction to patch himself up and rejuvenate a bit of his health quite nicely.

Asshole. He basically just sat back and watched everyone about to die. Not that I expect anything less from him. It's like I said before, the Touya I knew already died a long time ago.

Ignoring his comment, I kept my attention on my little brother, slowly swiping my eyes up his frame to check his well being.

"S...Sammy...." I finally managed to breathe out a few moments later, only now noticing the way he was coated in a dusty ash of rubble.

He must have been buried underneath it a second ago. That's why he'd been missing for these few minutes...

The revelation of Sammy's whereabouts caused me to immediately tear my gaze away from my brother, and look past him to see Keigo.

He was lying face down on top of the rubble now, too hurt to stand up straight. But, next to him was a small hole of dug up debris, making me assume that he had stuck to my wishes and searched the rubble until he-

"F...Found Sammy. He...he saw what was happenin' over there, from where he was in the rubble. He was too quick in grabbing one of my burning feathers and running over there. His hands are probably burned now. B-But....I'm glad he acted quickly..." The bird boy suddenly croaked out weakly, still lying face down a few feet away from Sammy and I.

Just hearing his voice made me incredibly worried.

It was hoarse. More hoarse than I've ever heard it. It was so weak and soft, the tone of it was practically unrecognizable as the strong man I know.

But, more importantly than that, the fact that he's unable to even lift his head, anymore to look up at Sammy and I? It means his health is starting to reach that dangerous point of no return.

And I need to get him out of here, as fast as possible now.

"K-Keigo, I'm coming." I choked out softly, ignoring a bleeding, wheezing Diane as I extended my hands out to Sammy.

Quickly getting with the program, Sammy held onto Keigo's burning feather blade in one hand, using his other, bloodied hand to hoist me up to standing.

He looks incredibly pale.

"Hey, are you okay? You just saved my life, Sam. Thank you." I whispered to him softly, leaning forward on him a bit as I got to my feet.

Thinking I was trying to hug him, Sammy wasted no time in throwing his arms around my frail body, squeezing me much too tightly in his trembling hold.

"Y-Y-Yeah, I totally did, r-right?-eh, I-I-I.....I'm not gonna lie.....I kinda feel like I'm gonna hurl now. And pass out. I-I'm really hot-but also really cold. I-I think I'm ready to go home." Sammy uttered out breathlessly, not moving for a moment as he waited for me to lead us forward.

But, quite honestly, I'm not in much of a state to be a leader, anymore. Sammy's stronger than me at this point.

"That's...that's okay if you hurl. Just....try not to freak out, and think about what happened, yet. We can talk about it later, when we get out of here, alright? Right now, you gotta...put it aside...so we can get out of here safely." I coaxed him softly, giving his back a small pat with my hands as I did my best to comfort his shaking figure.

I felt bad for basically pushing what he just did under the rug. Especially, because I knew how hard this entire situation was on him. I feel as if I haven't had the time to be the comforting big sister that Sammy always saw me as. I've been so busy trying to ensure that we simply continue to live, that it's resulted in me doing the absolute bare minimum-which is checking up on him every few moments just to make sure he's alive, and then returning my attention back to the fight, or a dying Keigo.

I'm sorry, Sammy. I'm sorry you got dragged into this. I'm sorry I'm doing a bad job of being there for you. I'm doing my best, but I know I owe you more.

You really did just save my life. And that's something I will never forget.

Regardless, Sammy continued being the good sport he's always been as he took a deep breath, trying to follow my advice and forget about all the damage that's been done; all the horrible things he's seen, since upon arriving here.

"Y-Yeah-okay, I gotcha. W-Where should we go now?" Sammy asked me softly, still supporting me in his arms as he saw how weak I'd become.

He's still looking to me for guidance. Even in this state of practical death, he's still treating me as if I'm the one who's gonna save us all.

Closing my eyes softly to try and fight through the dizzy haze that clouded my vision, I barely had the energy to lift my hand, gesturing towards...

"Kei." I barely uttered out, forcing my feet to walk forward so that Sammy would follow.

Luckily, Keigo had been lying in front of the entrance to the room, meaning that our chances of escaping have become a bit easier.

Sammy slowly propped my arm around his shoulder, starting to limp the two of us over to Keigo on his own broken foot.

Upon hearing the rocks crunching closer to him, Keigo barely got the energy to turn his head to the side, immediately meeting his half lidded, dazed gaze with my own.

"A-Ah. Thank god...you two are okay. I was so fuckin' worried." Keigo sighed out tiredly, fighting his eyes to stay open as ashy, bloody drops of sweat dripped down from his forehead.

Sammy groaned softly at the pain of putting so much pressure on his broken foot, quickly directing us in front of Keigo a few moments later.

"Thanks for digging me out of that mess, Keigo. Now, it's time to get you out of here, too." Sammy stated with a weak smile, sweeping his eyes down Keigo's beaten figure.

"Ah, it's....it..." Keigo tried replying, unable to finish his groggy statement as all he could muster was a weak thumbs up.

Dropping to my knees, I slowly let go of Sammy to inspect my bird, gently placing my hand on his shoulder as I trailed my eyes down his back.

It's completely charred open now. Burnt skin is oozing off it, leaving the third degree burns completely raw.

I felt my heart twist up at the sight, gently stroking Keigo's shoulder as I turned to Sammy.

"Touya's still patching up his wounds in the corner, and Diane's too busy coughing up blood. This means....there's gonna be a small break in these constant attacks. First, we'll use this time to find something to put out the flames on Keigo's back. Then, we'll carry him out of the building and over to the medic tent in the forest. That's the only hope he'll have of surviving." I uttered to Sammy quietly, not wanting to speak too loudly so Diane and Touya wouldn't hear.

Sammy nodded in agreement, quickly looking around the premise with slight desperation.

"I'll follow your lead, Ari. What can we use to put out the flames? All that's here is concrete and more fire." He said in disappointment, returning his attention down to Keigo's gory back with a small grimace of pity.

I pursed my lips in thought to his point, too desperate for Keigo's well being to let that information stop me.

"You're right. There's nothing here, and we can't risk allowing these flames to continue burning him any longer, or he will go into shock. I can't use my boot, because his skin is too raw. That will hurt him. I'll just use my own hands." I shrugged, unable to take the sight of a burning Keigo any longer as I began directing my hands towards his back.

"No!" Keigo and Sammy yelled at me simultaneously, before my arm was stopped mid air by Sammy.

"Are you crazy?! Or just plain dumb?! Well, guess what, you're both!" Sammy nagged at me, giving me a deadpan look of stupidity.

I scoffed slightly at his words, yanking my arm out of his grasp with annoyance.

"Keigo is literally dying! And he will die if we don't put out those flames on his back! His health is the worst out of all of us, so yes, I'm willing to use my own hands, since we don't have anything else-" I started saying, before Sammy interrupted me with a sudden realization.

"Oh, hang on! We can just use my shirt! We'll have to do it quickly cause I don't think it will hold for very long against these blue flames. But, at least it's something-and not your stupid hands." He reasoned slightly sassy, already starting to lift up his All Might's Biggest Fan shirt now.

I sighed softly in immediate agreement, turning my attention back to Keigo in concern, as Sammy removed his shirt.

"Keigo? Babe, are you doing okay?" I coaxed out gently, hoisting him up from under his shoulders so he'd be more comfortable.

Not wanting to hurt his back, I carefully pulled him forward into my arms, letting his chest fall against mine. He rested his head against my shoulder as I sat back against the jagged rocks.

Keigo's half open mouth slowly curled into a dazed smile at my actions, forcing his beautiful golden eyes to stay open so he could look up at me.

"Mm. You're alive. You just called me babe, which is something you never do. And now, you're holdin' me. Yeah, chicky. I'd say....I'd say I'm doing pretty good, right about now." Keigo drawled out tiredly, snuggling his sweaty face into the crook of my neck.

I let out a small sigh of relief at his attitude, happy to see that he still had some of his usual cheekiness left. That's a good sign.

I wrapped my arms tighter around Keigo, placing a chaste kiss to his dirty forehead while Sammy began using his shirt to try and hit the flames off his back.

"Sorry, Keigo. I know I'm smacking it against your raw skin. But, I don't have any other choice." Sammy apologized, gritting down on his teeth as blue flames licked his own fingertips when he patted out the flames.

Keigo hummed softly, slowly letting his eyes fall closed as he pressed his cracked lips against the skin of my neck for comfort.

"S'okay, pal. I don't even feel nothin' on there, no more. So, you can jus' pat, pat away, all dayyy." The bird boy slurred out slightly delirious, slowly coming in and out of reality as the flames, wounds, and smoke inhalation started to become too much for him to bear.

The movement of his mouth tickled against my skin when he spoke the incredibly eery words, before I felt him press a chaste kiss to my neck.

Sammy faltered in patting the flames for a quick second, before continuing, shooting me a silent look of concern at what Keigo just said.

I know. He said he can't feel anything on his back, anymore. This means nerve damage. The beginnings of possible burn shock. Blood loss. Water loss. And every other horrible thing you can think of.

In other words, he's dying. Slowly dying.

Swallowing thickly, I snaked one of my hands into Keigo's ashen hair, caressing it softly as I pressed my cheek to his forehead.

"Hey. Remember what we talked about, Kei. You gotta hang on, alright? You can't die on me." I reminded him, feeling my head becoming woozy from my own injuries.

On top of the burns I have littered across my body, my shoulder is still bleeding out from getting shot. Sure, there's a tourniquet on it to slow the blood flow, but it won't hold forever. I can already tell that I've lost a lot of blood.

My nose is definitely broken. I think a few of my ribs are, too. And possibly some other stuff as well. Smoke inhalation is starting to make simple breaths a laborious task, and my own legs feel too weak to move, anymore.

Quite honestly, if I didn't have Sammy and Keigo here in this mansion with me, I'd probably be dead by now.

But, fighting spirit and determination are some powerful things. I made myself a promise that I wouldn't die, until I knew that both of my loved ones were safely out of this mansion. And I intend to keep that promise until the very end.

Keigo nodded softly at my words, weakly lifting his burnt arm to wrap it around my shoulder for a half hug.

"Yeah, I remember. Don't worry, I'm still here. I'm still here for you....babe." Keigo smirked slightly, gently rubbing my shoulder with his hand.

Upon watching him do so, I noticed that he was actually gripping something tightly in his hand, causing me to furrow my brows in confusion.

"What are you holding?" I asked.

Keigo slowly forced his eyes open a little more at my words, sliding his arm off my shoulder to rest between our intertwined bodies instead.

I followed his gaze down as he carefully opened his hand, displaying a perfect, beautiful, healthy vermillion feather in his palm.

It was small. Much smaller than his others, making me assume it was one of his downy, baby feathers. But, the point is...it wasn't burned at all. He could still control it telekinetically.

"My last feather. Somehow, this poor little fella's made it through all of this. Even when he held up the chandelier above our heads. I thought for sure he'd be a goner then, just like the rest. But...he's still here, kickin' strong. Been through a lot, this one. It's the same feather I used to write that message to you in the sandbox, actually." Keigo smiled with reminisce, making the two of us mentally reflect on that situation that seemed so far gone at this very moment.

That's right. That was the very first time that Keigo told me there was gonna be a war. The very first moment that ended up leading us to this point today.

I looked down at the perfect feather with him, carefully tracing my finger down its delicate bristles.

It flickered to life at my touch, hovering in the palm of Keigo's hand, before he controlled it to swirl around my burnt, bloody finger.

He let out a small sigh of innocent content upon feeling me give the feather plumes another caress, smiling softly at my touch, before letting his eyes slowly start to fall closed.

"Mm. I can still feel that, y'know. I can still feel you. Your warmth. Your gentleness. Every single ridge of your finger..." He uttered quietly, snuggling deeper into my hold, not even aware of Sammy's shirt constantly whipping against his raw skin.

I gently caressed his hair as I continued touching the last feather, feeling Keigo's lips weakly press against my neck once more as I did so.

"Good, Keigo. I'm glad you can still feel me. I need you to focus on that, alright? I need you to focus on the touch. Focus on staying awake-" I started saying, before he unintentionally cut me off to continue speaking.

It's almost as if he didn't even hear me. Or that he was starting to become too out of it to realize I hadn't finished speaking, yet.

"Your pulse. I can sense your pulse. And even though I'm startin' to go numb.....I can still feel you, chicky. Ah, my chicky. My love. I love you-anyways, it feels just like that very first time you ever touched my wings. You remember the first time? Heh, I do. It was back when we were staking out the rooftop. You didn' know I was doing dirty work for Diane, 'nd Dabi showed up, later that day. But, when y'asked to touch my wings. The touch of your fingers. Ohhh, when you touched my wings for the first time, I never wanted you to stop ever again. It felt so nice, so gentle, sooo relaxing. And it still does. Because it's you who's the one doing it." He babbled tiredly, telekinetically controlling the feather to hover up the length of my beat up wrist now.

I shakily opened my mouth to speak, feeling words refusing to come out as the tips of his perfect feather carefully traced the features of my face, swiping away the small tear that had crowded the corner of my bruised eye.

"Aww, baby, don't you cry on me. It's gonna be okay. Right? M'sorry I can't wrap my wings around you, anymore. I guess I can't protect you, anymore. So sorry." Keigo whispered dazedly in my ear, resting his sweaty forehead against the side of my face.

His breaths gradually started to become more labored now, as I could tell he was making a big effort just to continue breathing at this point.

I hugged him tighter into my arms, feeling his body starting to shiver as if he was cold-even though the room was sweltering.

"You don't need to be sorry for anything, Keigo. You've protected me, more than anyone ever could. You're....you're m-my angel of the sky. And I love you. I've always loved you. I loved you as my unknown angel, and I love you as you. You've given me everything I could have ever wanted, which was you, and only you." I coaxed him gently, grabbing his wrist between my hands to try and check his pulse.

Still steady. He's still fighting an eternal sleep for me as best he can.

Keigo hummed weakly in content at my words, feeling a new motivation to open them with a bit of new life.

I directed my gaze down at him, caressing those honey orbs with my own as his feather tucked a dirty strand of hair behind my ear.

"Man, I love you, too, Ari. I'll never leave you. Angels never leave." He uttered through cracked lips, gently gliding the feather along my face since his hands were too weak to do so.

Nodding softly to his point, I carefully grabbed his face with my broken hand, trying to keep his gaze on me as best I could.

"No, Keigo. You're right. They don't leave. But, they also don't stop fighting. So, you can't stop fighting, okay? You need to live. I know you're tired, but I need you to live." I practically pleaded, pressing my lips together to stop myself from crying as I could physically see more life fading from his eyes by each passing second.

My words seemed to bring Keigo out of his delirium a bit as he blinked his hazy eyes a few quick times to bring himself back.

He took a big, painful inhale for air-yet, the sound came out more as a suffocating gasp, before nodding softly in agreement to my point.

"You're....you're right. Fuck, you're right. I....w-what did I say?-no, forget it. Doesn't matter, cause I'll live, chicky. P-Promise. I'm living...for you. For us. For our future." He reassured weakly. The words seemed to be more of a reminder for himself, but I was fine with that, if that's what he needed to keep himself alive-

"Got it! Alright, that's the last flame." Sammy breathed out with temporary happiness, gesturing for me to take a look at the battlefield that was now Keigo's skin.

Letting out a small sigh of, only half relief at his statement, I finally turned my attention back to Sammy, seeing that he had, indeed, effectively managed to finally put out the flames that had destroyed Keigo's back.

Sammy's hands were covered in new burn marks and blisters from trying to pat away the blue fire, as well as flakes of ash that I could only assume were the remnants of Keigo's charred skin and wing pieces.

But, regardless, the fourteen year old boy handled it like a champ, letting out a silent hiss for his own burnt skin, before finally wiping the sweat from his face a few moments later as he assessed his work.

The shirt he'd used to rid the flames had been completely destroyed, causing him to toss it carelessly to the ground.

"Okay, Keigo. The flames on your back are gone now.....but........y...your wings.....t-they..." Sammy trailed off, biting down on his lip in devastation as he saw that the fierce, majestic wings of one of his favorite heroes were no longer in existence.

Unable to even get the energy to turn his head towards him, Keigo simply floated his last feather over to Sammy's face, giving the tip of his nose a few short taps of gratitude, as he ignored the last words that surely devastated him.

"H-Hey, thanks for helping me, Sammy. You really are one hell of a kid. I mean that." The bird boy uttered kindly, clinging to me tighter in silent grief as he only had this temporary moment to mourn for his wings.

I held him comfortingly, gently stroking his shoulders as I watched my brother's tear filled eyes locked on Keigo's back in sorrow.

"A-Anytime, Keigo. You're...you're gonna be okay." Sammy tried to comfort, furrowing his brows in confusion when he noticed that Keigo was shivering, considering the room was well over one hundred degrees right now-

"Mm. S'cold in here." The bird boy said on cue a few seconds later, keeping his eyes closed and blindly trailing his hand up towards my face as if to make sure I hadn't suddenly disappeared into thin air.

I cursed under my breath at his dangerous words, ignoring his burnt fingers dazedly touching my face as I turned to Sammy once more.

Stay calm, Ari. Stay calm. They need you.

"A-Alright, so.....this isn't a good sign. Sammy, he's....I think he's starting to go into burn shock now. There's no more time to waste in this shithole. The floor's still shaking, meaning the entire place is still on the road to collapsing soon, anyways. Our main objective is going to be carrying Keigo out of the mansion safely." I explained, adjusting my angel of the sky in my arms slightly as I prepared to stand up.

Sammy nodded quickly to my orders, immediately getting with the program as he prepared to stand, as well.

"Sure thing. There's two of us to help, which makes the carrying a lot easier. You carry his upper half, and I'll carry his legs?" Sammy suggested, already grabbing Keigo by the ankles as he prepared to stand.

I cringed in pity as I realized I'd need to press Keigo's burnt back against my chest in order to carry him properly.

But, there's no time to find another way. He's dying, and the building is unstable.

Biting down on my lip, I turned my head down to look at Keigo's face, which was still resting on my shoulder.

He wasn't speaking anymore, but I could tell he was still conscious and listening as he slowly opened a single eye to meet my gaze.

"You hear that? I gotta adjust you a bit. Sammy and I are gonna carry you out of here, okay?" I explained to him, gently brushing his messy hair away from his face.

Keigo opened his mouth halfway to speak, opting to make a simple hum of agreement as forming sentences was just becoming too much work.

Ignoring the searing pain of my own body, I placed my hold underneath Keigo's arms, preparing to hoist him up to standing with Sammy.

At this moment, I am not strong enough to even carry half of him. But, that doesn't matter, because I've gotta try. I've gotta succeed at this, or he will die.

"Alright, Sam. We lift him on three-" I started saying, before an obnoxious click of someone's tongue interrupted me.

"Aw, why wait till three? As if you can even count that high, Starry Ari. Plus, it's not as if a countdown will matter all that much." That familiar voice spoke a few feet away, nonchalantly crunching his boots over the broken concrete as he began making his way towards our trio.

I felt my veins spike with new adrenaline. Waves of panic began to wash over my brain so quickly, that I didn't have the wits to even think of an immediate plan.

Gritting down on my teeth, I turned my attention to Touya, absolutely hating how replenished and refreshed he looked now, compared to when Keigo and I beat the shit out of him a few minutes ago.

He spent all this time letting his quirk settle down and allowing his body to recover. Clearly, he's gearing up for another fight, and from the way he's been talking, I doubt it's a fight that concerns me or Keigo, anymore.

But, it's not as if that will stop him from killing us on his way out. He knows we're too weak to stop him now. He's got the advantage.

"I...I thought you were giving me a free pass, as you called it." I stated calmly, solely speaking with the intent of giving myself a stalling moment to think of how I'm gonna get Keigo and Sammy out of here safely.

My brother and I have the full weight of Keigo's limp body in our hands. He's too injured to be able to withstand another fight, and no medical treatment. Not to mention, that with this situation and my current strength level, there's no way I can fight Touya again, unless I'm looking for a sure death.

And he is more than aware of that.

"Hm? Maybe you should read the room better, considering I did give you a free pass, Starry Ari. Did I not waste my time, flaming Diane for you back there, so you could have your fair, little fight with her? If anything, I'm all hurt that you're not on your knees, thanking me for that. I saved you. Guess that makes me your angel, too, right." He explained casually, barely pointing behind him at the demon woman who was still coughing up blood, but also trying to find the strength to stand.

I felt my face contort up into pure irritation at the sight of Diane's movements, whipping my eyes back around at Touya.

"And, yet, she's still alive. So, it looks like you didn't flame her hard enough to brutally murder the bitch, like she deserves." I retorted resentfully, silently trying to suggest that instead of trying to burn me and my loved ones to a crisp right now, he should be more focused on doing so to her.

But, as usual, Touya has a motive for everything. And these motives always revolve around his own well being.

His stitched lips curled up into an excited smirk at my words, tilting his head to the side in amusement as he spoke again, loud and clear.

"What's that? Oh, you hear that everyone? This hero, over here, is begging me to kill? And brutally? That's interesting! And anyways, Hourglass, the fact that she's still alive is on you. Diane Himura is not important enough to waste all my fire power on. I've got bigger fish to fry now. You want her gone so bad? Well, then, you can dirty those adorable hands of yours, and do it yourself. Cause that's something I'd like to hear about-oh, and I'd get to killing her quickly, if I were you, too. Doesn't look like the old bitch is planning to stay down for very long." The stitched man cackled out mockingly, before trailing his eyes down to Keigo's limp body in my arms.

My heart jumped at the blood thirsty glint in his eyes upon seeing my love's dying state, causing me to simply tighten my grip on my angel of the sky in a bit of desperation.

I've been holding off on using my quirk again, in order to give it time to reset a bit more. I don't know if it's strong enough to hold off Touya at this moment, but that won't stop me from trying.

"And as for the bigger fish to fry...one of them is right here." Touya uttered with malicious anticipation, letting a tiny flame flicker around his finger as he bore his eyes into the bird boy.

I sucked in a sharp inhale as I pulled Keigo's body against mine protectively, feeling my heart starting to rack rapidly against my chest as I glared ferally at Touya.

"If you even try to lay one of those disgusting fucking fingers on him, I'll tear that charred throat of yours out with my bare hands. I will kill you, Touya. I promise." I growled out through grit teeth, feeling my beaten hands starting to twitch with new waves of fight instinct.

The stitched man raised his brows in amusement at my desperation, taking a taunting step closer as he looked into my eyes.

"Oh yeah? Maybe, we should test this promise of yours, Princess. After all, you've never been very good at keeping them before." He chuckled bitterly, swirling the blue flame around on his finger threateningly as he waited for me to make a move.

And while I thought he was unconscious by now, I felt my jaw drop open in shock as I heard Keigo's soft voice find the will to speak a few moments later.

"Wait. Touya...." Keigo rasped out weakly, forcing his hazy eyes open as he looked up at the boy he used to know.

Touya's poker face remained unchanging at Keigo's tone. But, the sudden eye contact with his old friend, and the silence he maintained for the simple words, instead of a snarky remark or immediate death shot, showed that he was still subtly affected by it.

So, Keigo continued, sighing softly as he forced his head off the comfort of my shoulder, and his brain to stay alive and coherent for a little longer.

"Please, Touya. Don't hurt them. I know....I know we ain't the same people we used to be anymore. I know.....things went sour between us. And I know you'll hate me forever. But...if you have any-and I mean...any mercy left in ya....please, give it to these two. I am....I'm begging you to let 'em live. I'm begging." Keigo croaked out with tired desperation, brows furrowed in a telekinetic looking focus.

And that's when I noticed that the last feather Keigo had leftover was no longer in our sight, no doubt hiding somewhere in this crumbling room as a security measure, once it saw Touya.

This bird boy never stops fighting, huh. Even when he's on death's door, he always has something up his sleeve.

Even so, Keigo's last feather is a very tiny one. A weak one. One that can't be sharpened to as much of a lethal extent, compared to his others. A stab with it might not even kill Dabi, just simply injure him.

But, that doesn't mean he won't try, if it means saving his loved ones. He will always exhaust everything down to the very last resort he can think of.

Touya's eyes remained non-changing as he kept his gaze on Keigo.

The two looked at each other with silent exchanges for a moment, before Dabi chuckled softly.

"Wow, you sound so fucking pathetic, it makes me laugh. Truth be told, I don't plan on killing Ari. Whether that was something I decided now, or way earlier, I don't know. I don't care-and I don't care about your shit brother, either, Ari. I've got my own shit brothers to destroy, and I need my fire for that-But, before you go thinking that this is all because I'm some closet self righteous guru, let me explain my reasonings to you." Touya stated, finally taking his eyes off Keigo so he could look at me.

A small, dry smile made its way onto his stitched mouth, looking at me with all the condescending hate you could possible imagine as he spoke his next words.

"I know that you love him." The blue eyed boy started off emptily, harsh, cold tone taking a complete 180 turn as he felt the admittance of the truth finally leave his own lips.

He paused after that part, tightening his jaw and letting those ocean eyes swirl with a whirlwind of somber pain as he tried to look right into my soul.

And, yes. It hurt. It hurt to hear his pain. It hurt to see the isolation and heartbreak on his face, not because he's Dabi, but because he's Touya. Because he was Touya, a part of my past that I loved.

But, the hard truth of the matter is that this man in front of me is no longer someone I really know. He'd become too far gone. Too lost. He's a stranger. He's cold. Someone I've come to really hate and resent now. And most of all...

He is not Keigo Takami.

So, my love for Keigo overpowered my pity for Touya, causing me to hold my bird boy tighter in my arms as I waited for the stitched man in front of me to continue.

He chuckled bitterly at the sight, trailing his eyes down to Keigo so lovingly locked into my hold. He looked angry. Jealous. Hurt. Betrayed. Longing.

It caused him to lash out a bit more this time.

"My god, just the way you look at him, it's disgusting. It's pathetic and it's desperate! It's-you know, you never looked at anyone else that way. You never looked at the ones who really cared about you that way-but, anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself. So, yeah, I know how much he means to you-being your angel of the sky, and your one, true love, and blah, blah, blah...." Touya rambled on resentfully, making a taunting motion with his hand as he rolled his eyes and continued.

"See, the thing is, if I kill both of you, then what does it matter? You're both already gone. That does nothing to benefit me then..." Touya said, finally allowing the blue flames from his finger to extend a little bit further to his hand as he directed his gaze back at Keigo.

"But, if I just kill you, Keigo, and force Ari to live? Now, that's what I call the punishment of suffering. And, Ari, I'd rather have you alive and devastated over someone you know you'll never be able to have, than let you get off easy and die, being together with him." He finished, not even flashing a wince of pain as fresh blood began to pour from his wrist from his fire once more.

Looks like he's not as quirk recovered as he thought.

My heart jumped in fearful dread at the words, realizing that Dabi's plan wasn't to kill me or Sammy, but solely Keigo instead.

And he's absolutely right. That is an excruciating punishment for me. That would absolutely be the thing to ruin me and hit me right where it hurts.

So, I cannot let that happen.

Even as Touya takes another step towards me, right now. I will not let that happen.

"Sam, get out of the way. Go now." I uttered in murderous monotone, keeping my eyes locked on Touya as I felt white hot fury building up inside me, the closer he came to Keigo.

I was too focused on Touya to see if Sam ever got out of the way, but from what I could see in my peripheral vision, he kept a determined grip on Keigo, not daring to leave his spot.

"I would rather see you cry your eyes out for him everyday of your life, wishing yourself dead, than give you the luxury of never knowing what it feels like to have everyone you care about turn on you. That's what I want for you, Ari. And that's what I'm gonna get today." The stitched man smiled grimly, sliding his eyes down from me to Keigo.

Holding Keigo tightly in one arm, I subtly flexed my broken hand as I prepared myself to use it, feeling my muscles starting to tremble as I had a bad feeling about whatever fight was going to break out between Touya and I.

I do not think I will win this fight. But, that's okay. I will do everything I can to protect my angel of the sky and my brother. No matter what.

"And what if your plan fails and you end up killing me, too?" I asked darkly, voice filled with nothing but blood lust as I kept my gaze on Touya.

The stitched man didn't even blink an eye to my statement, simply shrugging his shoulders as he prepared for a blast that would land straight into Keigo's internal organs.

"Well, if you don't get out of the way, or wanna fight me on this, then that's your choice. My conscience will still be clean, cause I gave you the option of living. Regardless, of our past. Regardless of how I felt about both of you, hear me when I say....your life and death mean absolutely nothing to me." Touya seethed out murderously, extending his flaming arm out now as he was seconds away from releasing his shot.

Keigo uttered something into my ear, but I didn't even hear it as I raised my own hand as well, immediately getting ready to activate my quirk and fight.

But, before I even had the chance to do so, the moment between us was interrupted by a newcomer, who swooped in like a dark shadow, knocking Touya off his feet and sending him flying backwards without warning.

The addition of this new weight on the fragile foundation of the top floor, combined with Touya's crash into the wall caused the room to shake harshly, making pieces of concrete slowly start crumbling once more.

My eyes widened in shock at the man-no, the boy in black, who stood like an unbreakable wall in front of me, Sammy, and Keigo, only turning around to face us when he was sure that Touya had landed harshly on his back.

"Hawks! Hourglass!-what? And the new UA student, Sammy?! What are you doing here? Are you guys okay?!" Tokoyami called out in concern, trailing his wide eyes from me, down to a half dead Keigo in my arms.

Bird boy jr. gasped softly in pure horror upon seeing the state of the shivering, charred number two hero, causing Dark Shadow to quickly remove the black cape from the student hero's shoulders and send it over to Keigo and I.

"H-Hawks!!! What in the world happened up here? I...I saw you dangling off the balcony a few minutes ago, Ari, so I came up here as fast as I could-" Tokoyami started explaining in shock, clearly not knowing what questions or conversation to even start with, considering how destroyed and dead me, Keigo, and Sammy looked.

However, a certain stitched man had still been somewhat replenished after his little break to fix himself up, allowing him to get to his feet quickly this time, and slowly start sauntering his way back over to our group.

Upon hearing him coming, I immediately took my eyes off Tokoyami with dread, causing bird boy jr. to quickly turn around to also keep his eyes on the man I was looking at.

"You...." Tokoyami started off, quickly freezing up his words in fear as he looked at the villain known as Dabi, before forcing himself to continue.

"You...you won't be hurting them, anymore. I won't let you." Bird Boy Jr. finished a bit weakly, as Dark Shadow aided me in wrapping the cloak around Keigo's trembling frame.

Touya stopped in his tracks upon hearing the young bird speak, but it wasn't because of fear.

It was because of disbelief.

"Oh man-what? You're kidding. Students? UA students are here? That's pathetic even for you, Diane-alright...look here, kid, cause I'm about to get very real with you, right now. Gonna turn your whole reality upside down in a matter of five fucking seconds." Dabi chuckled out, immediately pointing his stitched finger to the bloody deceased body in the corner.

I swallowed a lump of dread in my throat as I watched Tokoyami follow Dabi's direction, eyes bugging all the way out of his head as he saw a lifeless, bloody Twice brutally staring him straight in the face.

Dabi smirked at his reaction, quickly wanting to solidify it.

"Yeah, that's right. Take it all in, cause you know who did that? You know who killed that man, and stabbed him right in the back, when he was only trying to run away and simply help his friends? That guy. That guy right over there. The hero you so desperately wish to be like." Dabi taunted, pointing a wagging finger at Hawks with subtle glee for the friend he had slaughtered.

Tokoyami's face contorted into pure confusion and disgust at Dabi's words, slowly turning around to face Keigo with immediate disbelief.

He looked at Keigo for guidance, silently begging him to deny the allegations that Dabi had just accused.

But, Keigo didn't dare try to hide any more dirt in his life, simply shooting his half lidded eyes on Tokoyami in shame, coughing slightly as he tried to speak.

"T-T...Toko...yami..." Keigo choked out, unable to say anything more as he broke into a small coughing fit.

I winced in hurt for Keigo's dwindling state, wrapping the blanket around him tighter as I held him in my arms.

"And, before you go thinking it's just one bad apple, the Hourglass you love so much was the one who helped him do it. She cornered Twice at the door he was trying to escape through, and wouldn't let him leave. She's also been trying to kill me with her bare hands for the past few minutes. And that innocent quirkless kid just stabbed that woman over there straight through her stomach." Touya accused, wiping a small drop of blood from his face as he slowly began making his way closer towards our group.

Tokoyami's eyes went wide again with panicked disbelief, still seeming as if he couldn't possibly believe the statements that were being made about the innocents and the heroes in the room.

And, I'll be honest, the more Dabi spoke, the more I was starting to become convinced that Tokoyami might re-think this whole 'saving us' approach, and go try to find the ones who are actually worthy of being saved instead.

But, I couldn't have been more wrong as Tokoyami took a shaky, slow breath to calm himself, keeping his feet bolted protectively in front of our injured trio as he kept his eyes on Dabi.

"I'm just....concerned for my mentors. And my fellow classmate." The young bird said, slowly extending his arms out to block the sight of me, Sammy, and Keigo from Dabi's point of view.

His arms were trembling in fear. But, he kept his composure well.

And I can't let him do this alone. He's still learning, and there are too many injured people for him to protect, singlehandedly. He can't carry all of us out of the building, and Keigo is too weak to fight, anymore.

There are more lives at stake now, with Tokoyami's sudden presence. There are too many people, who are at risk of dying.

And while Dabi may be trying to trash my image, and yes he's probably right about some things...

I'm still a hero. For now. I'm still the number eight hero. And I need to protect. Serve and protect.

Placing a chaste kiss to Keigo's sweaty forehead, I slowly began lifting his body out of my arms, turning my attention up to Dark Shadow now.

Keigo protested weakly at my movements, not wanting to leave the comfort of my arms, but too exhausted to follow up on his argument.

"Please, take care of him, pal." I smiled softly at Dark Shadow, watching the creature quickly wrap Keigo up in its arms, before looking at me sadly.

Upon hearing what I said, Keigo's protests started to become a little louder and more aware of what was happening as he forced his eyes to open.

"Ari, what are you doing?" Sammy asked in concern, watching me force my wobbly legs to rise to standing as I began making my way over to Tokoyami.

"I'm....I'm gonna end this for good now. That's what I'm doing." I replied firmly, wiping the puddle of blood from my broken nose, before returning my attention back to Tokoyami.

He looked at me sadly. A bit confused, after everything he'd just heard Dabi accuse me of.

But, even through his doubts, he swallowed determinedly, giving a small nod to me, before solidifying his loyalties with his next words.

"So.....what are your orders, number eight hero?" Bird boy jr. asked quietly, looking up as if I was still someone who should be respected and listened to.

And while I'm not sure if all of that is true, anymore, and I've most definitely let myself down as a hero....now is not the time to let anyone else down.

So, turning my attention back towards the crumbling room...towards Touya, and Diane-who was still trying to scramble to her feet...

I spoke my orders as the number eight hero. My real orders. My first orders. And possibly my last orders.

"Tsukuyomi, here are my orders for you-evacuate Hawks and Sammy from the building at once. I'll stay back and give you the time you need to get everyone out of here safely."

This day has gone on long enough. It's time for the victors to finally be decided in this last push of survival.

The only question is, who will come out on top?

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Feb 2021 Edit: hi, guys! Drizz_The_Alien made this awesome picture for the chapter. It's in my fanart book, but I had to put it here, too, cause it's awesome!

Sammy, Ari, and Keigo surrounded by Touya's flames in the PLF mansion. Beautiful <3

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Next Chapter Title: Bittersweet Goodbyes