The aftermath settled in with the strange heaviness that followed victory - not celebration, not yet. Just exhaustion.
The students gathered in small clusters, some seated on scorched rubble, others pacing anxiously, too wired to sit still. Kirishima had collapsed next to Shoji with a long sigh, both nursing bruises and minor fractures. Midoriya was still scribbling notes furiously, occasionally pausing to glance at Ojiro as if needing visual proof he was truly okay.
Souta sat slightly apart from the rest, cloak wrapped tight around him. His hair was still damp from sweat and steam, sticking to his forehead. His body ached in ways he couldn't yet describe, his head buzzing with the burn of power that still hadn't fully left his limbs. But he wasn't thinking about the fight. Not anymore. Just… stillness. Finally.
Minutes passed.
Then Iida and Kaminari returned, panting, "Hey, we're back! Wai- what is with all of you?" Kaminari questioned immediately.
"Everything has been resolved… all while you were gone," Mina said dryly.
"Did you really have to say the last part?"
Iida, to his credit, was far more composed. He immediately saluted Aizawa. "Sir! What are our next orders?"
Aizawa, his scarf loose around his shoulders and his entire demeanor screaming "done with today," gestured vaguely. "Wait for the police. We've got unconscious villains to hand off."
And right on cue, sirens began to echo in the distance, growing louder with each moment. Soon enough, a fleet of police vans pulled up just beyond the main gates of the ruined training dome. Officers streamed out with stretcher teams, support gear, and containment devices.
Within minutes, they had subdued and loaded all the villains. Shigaraki and Kurogiri were each given reinforced restraint cuffs - sleek black and silver devices that suppressed neural quirk impulses. Not even a twitch came from either of them. They were both unconscious, Shigaraki's face completely smeared with blood and soot. Kurogiri… seemed okay? Just that his equipment looked broken.
"Immediate transfer to Tartarus," one officer confirmed to another. "These two are priority-level detainment."
A convoy of reinforced vans rolled out swiftly with both high-priority villains in tow, disappearing down the highway long before the students themselves began heading back.
Aizawa gave one final look over the battlefield, his eyes lingering briefly on the scorched crater where the Nomu had fallen, before pulling out his phone.
As the previously ordered cab arrived, he slid into the backseat and hit a familiar number.
"Nezu," he said tiredly as the line connected. "They're safe. We're all on our way back."
There was a pause.
"I'll hear the full story when you arrive," Nezu replied evenly, though a note of relief came through. "We'll prepare to debrief the students later. For now, rest."
Aizawa hung up with a small grunt of acknowledgment and leaned his head against the window. Just for a minute. Just one minute of quiet.
---
Back at U.A., the students stumbled off the bus one by one - limping, bruised, bandaged, but upright. The quiet was strange. No explosions. No yelling. Even Bakugo seemed too tired to scream at anyone.
Recovery Girl was already waiting in the nurse's office for the worst cases, assisted by a few medbots brought in by Support Course staff. Momo was ushered towards the cafeteria first, to replenish lipids as fast as possible. Shoji, Kirishima, and Ojiro - who was now fully conscious but very groggy - were all brought in into the infirmary immediately after.
The others filtered into the common area. No one said much. Mina brought out bottles of water. Jiro put on some soft music. Midoriya finally closed his notebook.
And Souta? He sat on the couch, wrapped in the same cloak, still not quite ready to deal with anything resembling normalcy.
"Hey," Kaminari said, flopping beside him. "You good?"
Souta blinked at him. "Define good."
"You're not still naked under that cloak, right?"
"Go away."
Kaminari grinned but didn't move. "You were awesome today, man."
Souta exhaled a tired breath. "Yeah," he muttered, finally allowing a tiny, tired smile. "We all were."
---
Later that evening, in the faculty office, Aizawa arrived and found Nezu waiting with hot tea and a datapad already loaded with early reports and news.
"They're safe," Aizawa repeated, as if he still needed to say it aloud.
Nezu nodded, his small paws folded. "I saw the feeds. Not just safe… they were extraordinary."
There was silence for a moment.
Then Aizawa set the scarf down across the back of the chair and finally, finally allowed himself to sit.
"They're going to be great heroes," he said.
Nezu smiled softly. "They already are."
"But," Aizawa began, looking slightly uncomfortable, "we still need to talk about the Elephant in the room."
Nezu nodded slightly, opening a file on his datapad, "Souta Todoroki…"
---
Meanwhile
The school day had ended and everyone headed home. Everything that happened today was just too exhausting for anyone to do something else right now. As for Kirishima, Shoji and Ojiro? They had been discharged relatively quickly after getting healed by Recovery Girl.
She had also used her quirk on Ojiro, but noticed at that point, that he was indeed completely healthy, leaving her a bit puzzled, but also intrigued about what had happened with him.
Shoto and Souta were home by now, and after a quick meal, each went to their own room.
Shoto lay on his bed and continued to look at his left hand, with a deep frown. His mind in utter turmoil.
He didn't regret using it, especially because if he hadn't, then he probably couldn't have so he easily contained the warp guy, even with the help of Midoriya. It helped him in not suffering any frostbites that normally came from overusing his right side, still that didn't mean he liked using this side.
He vowed to only use them in the case of another emergency like today.
In Souta's room
He could also be seen lying on his bed right now, appearing to look at the ceiling. He had already changed into his normal school uniform back in school.
In front of him was the screen of his [Copy and Paste] System.
[Quest: U.S.J. Incident]
Objective: Survive
Objective Cleared
Reward: 1 Quirk Slot
Bonus Objective 1: Be the Major Repellent
Bonus Objective Cleared
Reward: [Lending]
Bonus Objective 2: Don't let anyone die
Bonus Objective Cleared
Reward: Full Access to 'Cremation'
[Current quirks copied: 4/5]
- 'Cremation' (renaming is recommended)
- 'OFA'
- 'Super Regeneration'
- 'Warpgate'
He looked at the two different tabs. First the quests, then at his current quirks. Souta had managed to also copy 'Warpgate', before the police took them away.
It was the best decision for that moment. In his mind, and also thanks to the memories he received, there was no way that these two villains would actually arrive at Tartarus, the ultimate prison for the worst criminals.
These two were not just normal villains, they were part of the main antagonist group, both belonging to Japan's Boogeymen, All For One.
Though, Souta had to admit, he had no real idea on what Full Access to 'Cremation' meant, and why he could rename it now. He would leave this be for the moment and test it out tomorrow morning.
At that time, the worst thing that could happen was him seeing his father, so… yeah. He would survive, though be pissed for a while.