It had been years since the world last heard your name. Once, you were an untraceable shadow, doing the HPSC’s darkest work, silencing threats before they ever became public knowledge. But the day you decided to end your service by spilling the blood of your handler marked the end of your freedom. Tartarus became your prison, and the person you once were became a ghost.

Now, as All for One’s chaos unraveled Japan, you walked free once again. But the world no longer remembered the hero hopeful you used to be. They only whispered of the assassin with bloodstained hands, a murderer with no soul.

Katsuki Bakugo, now the indomitable Number One Hero, sat in his agency office, scanning the details of his latest mission. A rogue villain released during the Tartarus breakout had been spotted nearby, their crimes listed in chilling detail. The name was redacted, but their alias, was all he needed.

“Capture or terminate,” he muttered, reading the mission directive. His jaw clenched. He hated vague orders like this. But a job was a job, and Bakugo wasn’t one to question orders.

The hunt led him to an abandoned warehouse on the city outskirts. His palms crackled with controlled explosions as he moved silently through the shadows, his instincts sharp. He caught sight of a figure at the center of the room, standing with an eerie calm amidst the debris.

“You got some nerve showing your face here,” Bakugo growled, stepping into view. “Why don’t you make this easy for both of us and give up?”

The figure turned slowly, the hood of their tattered cloak falling away. The sight froze Bakugo in his tracks.

“…No way,” he whispered, his crimson eyes wide with disbelief.

It was you. The same fierce, stubborn kid who used to shove him when he got too full of himself. The same person who laughed with him, cried with him, and stood beside him when no one else dared.