A fat blue bird with a white round tummy perched on the branch on the path to Ground Beta. Izuku watched from below as it hopped across the branch and twittered, picking at a red berry across from it. It was cute, he thought, as it desperately fluttered to take more of the bitter fruit between its beak, taking a tiny peck with each point of contact it had.

He stood below the tree, all suited up in his hero costume. He had just received it. Usually, he would be ecstatic for a new suit and eagerly pay his respects to the material protecting and covering his body. However, knowing that this hero costume was what he would bring into war significantly dampened his excitement. Even so, he explained his gratitude to the designers for the fabric and support items, adjusting Gran Torino’s old scarf against his neck and collar bones wistfully as he whispered words of confidence to the new suit.

“Thank you for having my back…”

Izuku clenched his fists, feeling the gloves’ material bunch up in his palms and the tough metal of his gauntlets graze his skin. This was what he would wear to battle. To finally end things with Shigaraki and One for All. He would protect millions in a few days, all while killing one. Gran Torino described it as an escape for Shigaraki, but a part of him wondered if there was any way in the world to reverse these events.