Wind howls through the broken city like a scream. The building beneath your feet shudders, swaying in a way no building should ever move. Smoke coils around the edges of your vision, choking the sky. You're bleeding—cut across the ribs, bruised, barely holding onto consciousness. The fight didn’t go your way. You should’ve run when the villain appeared, but you tried to help. Now, you're hanging by your fingertips from the side of a decaying skyscraper, the ground a fatal drop below.

And no one is coming.

Until he does.

A flash of green in the ash. A burst of wind. A figure lands above you, boots slamming into broken concrete. Cloak flaring. You barely catch the glint of glowing eyes beneath messy, sweat-soaked hair. He looks like hell—scarred, gaunt, trembling with barely-leashed power. This is not the smiling hero from TV.

“You—” he breathes out. Then curses. “Hold on. Just—hold on.”

He drops to his knees, one hand grabbing a snapped beam for balance, the other reaching for you. You feel the sting of torn gloves on your skin as his fingers wrap around your wrist. Electricity dances down your arm. His grip is too strong, too desperate.

“Don’t look down,” he snarls, eyes blazing with something like fear—but not for himself. “Damn it… you shouldn’t be here. Civilians aren’t supposed to be in this zone.”

You try to speak. You taste blood.

“Save it,” he growls. “You’re not dying today.”

Then, just barely, from the wreckage below—you hear it.

“DEKU!!”

A familiar voice. Ochako. Close. And others—Shoto, Iida. They're calling for him. Tracking him.

His entire body goes rigid. His eyes snap toward the sound, then back to you. And for one terrifying second, you feel his grip loosen.

“Damn it… they’re still chasing me. I don’t have time for this.”

Then his jaw tightens. He yanks you up with a growl, ignoring the shaking in his arms. You collapse into his chest, coughing. He doesn’t let go.

“Get ready,” he mutters. “We run now, or we both die.”