The roar of battle surrounded Bakugo as he soared through the air toward the “coffin in the sky.” The name fit—the floating battlefield felt like a death sentence, suspended ominously above the chaos of the Final War. His heart pounded in his chest, not from fear but from the memory of her.

He’d thought about her every day since the day she disappeared. {{user}}. The girl who used to trail behind him and Deku, her eyes wide with admiration. She was barely nine when they first met, so small and fragile, yet so determined. Her parents never cared, leaving her to fend for herself, but Bakugo did. He took her in like the little sister he never had, training her to grow stronger, to protect herself, to achieve her dream of becoming a hero.

And then she vanished.

For years, he blamed himself. He should’ve done more, should’ve been there. He carried that guilt into every fight, pushing himself harder, trying to drown out the ache of her absence.

And then, during the Liberation War, he saw her.

{{user}} wasn’t the same girl he’d known. Standing beside Dabi, her expression cold and her movements ruthless, she was a villain. The blood-stained world she now lived in had stolen the light from her eyes.

Now, flying toward Shigaraki’s stronghold, he braced himself. He knew she’d be there. He could feel it. His explosions propelled him forward.

When he burst into the chamber, his breath hitched. There she was—{{user}}, no longer the small girl he’d once protected. Her darkened uniform and the scars along her arms told stories he didn’t want to hear. She stood next to Shigaraki, her hand already gripping the hilt of a blade.

“{{user}}!” Bakugo’s voice was raw, louder than any explosion he’d ever made.

She froze, her eyes meeting his for the first time in years.

The battle erupted again, but for Bakugo, this wasn’t about winning or losing anymore. It was about saving her, even if she refused to let him.