His entire body twisted.
Like a cannonball.
"SMASH!"
BOOOOOOOM!!
Rather than punching Midoriya—
All Might drove his own body into him.
The collision stole every ounce of momentum.
The sheer weight behind the impact flattened Izuku into the street.
The asphalt shattered.
The air burst outward.
Midoriya coughed violently.
Every rib in his body protested.
His vision blurred.
"...Gh..."
He couldn't breathe.
Couldn't move.
All Might rolled forward and landed perfectly.
He looked down.
"I'm sorry, Young Midoriya."
"But I cannot allow you through."
Bakugo was already moving.
His breathing had become ragged.
His burns worsened.
Both palms bled.
Still—
He walked forward.
One step.
Then another.
Until he stood facing All Might.
The Symbol of Peace looked at him quietly.
"...You've lost."
Bakugo answered immediately.
"...No."
"I finally figured it out."
The observation room had become utterly silent.
Even Aizawa watched carefully.
Bakugo slowly raised his injured hand.
His fingers trembled.
Smoke escaped his palm.
"...Those bracers."
He looked briefly at the shattered metal lying behind All Might.
"...They weren't there because I was weak."
"...They were there because they let me fight harder."
He laughed bitterly.
"I thought relying on equipment..."
"...made me less."
"...Guess I'm an idiot."
All Might smiled slightly.
Recognition.
Growth.
Not in strength.
In mindset.
Bakugo's palm ignited.
Not with countless rapid explosions.
With one.
One enormous concentrated blast.
"I've been saving this."
"My sweat's been building up this whole fight."
His arm shook violently.
"This thing's got one purpose."
He grinned.
A grin born from equal parts pride and recklessness.
"It explodes once."
"...Really damn hard."
He glanced sideways.
"Deku."
Izuku forced his head upward.
"...Run."
"What?"
"I'll keep him busy."
Bakugo never looked at him.
"That's how we win."
Midoriya's eyes widened.
Bakugo...
The boy who refused help.
Who hated sacrificing anything.
Who had declared he'd rather lose than rely on someone else.
Was now...
Buying time.
For him.
Bakugo faced All Might again.
His grin widened.
"Name's kinda stupid..."
"...but whatever."
He raised his burning hand.
"Molotov Cocktail."
The explosion swallowed the entire street.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Not a focused blast.
A sprawling inferno.
Compressed nitroglycerin sweat detonated all at once, creating an expanding sphere of orange fire that consumed buildings, shattered windows blocks away, and hurled chunks of pavement into the sky.
Even from the observation room, students instinctively shielded their eyes.
The shockwave rattled the reinforced glass.
Smoke climbed hundreds of feet into the air.
Inside the flames—
All Might disappeared completely.
Bakugo collapsed to one knee.
His arm trembled violently.
Skin along his forearm had torn open from the recoil.
Blood dripped steadily from his fingertips.
"...Go..."
He muttered without looking back.
"...Quit standing there..."
"...and win."
Behind him—
Midoriya slowly forced himself onto his feet.
His body screamed.
His muscles begged him to stop.
Yet...
He began running.
Toward the gate.
Toward victory.
Toward the future Bakugo had just entrusted to him.
Then—
From within the inferno—
A massive silhouette emerged.
Still walking.
Still smiling.
The flames peeled away from his body as though refusing to cling to him.
His costume had suffered fresh burns.
The weighted restraints were scorched.
But the Symbol of Peace never stopped moving.
Bakugo stared.
"...You've..."
"...got to be kidding me."
Even after everything...
Even after pouring every ounce of himself into that attack...
All Might was still advancing.
And now—
There was nothing left standing between him...
...and the two boys who had finally learned how to fight together.
...
The inferno still burned.
Towering pillars of orange flame reached into the evening sky, swallowing entire intersections beneath waves of unbearable heat. Black smoke rolled across the mock city, reducing visibility to only a few meters.
Within that sea of fire...
One figure emerged.
Untouched.
Not unharmed—the edges of his costume were scorched, soot marked his face, and faint burns covered his exposed arm—but utterly unbroken.
All Might.
Every footstep seemed to shake the ground.
"...A magnificent attack."
His voice carried effortlessly through the roaring flames.
"Young Bakugo..."
"...you've truly given everything you had."
Bakugo answered with another explosion.
Not because he expected it to work.
Because he refused to stop.
Several dozen meters away—
Izuku forced himself upright.
Every muscle screamed in protest.
His vision blurred.
His breathing had become ragged, each inhale feeling as though shards of glass scraped through his lungs.
The gate.
It was still there.
So close.
He only needed one leap.
One.
"...Come on..."
Green lightning flickered weakly around his body.
"Full Cowling..."
The energy crawled across battered muscles, forcing them to obey despite their exhaustion.
His knees bent.
He prepared to launch.
All Might saw him.
"...Young Midoriya."
His stance shifted.
Even from that distance...
He could still intercept him.
BOOM!!
A familiar explosion erupted between them.
Bakugo.
His body practically threw itself forward.
He no longer possessed his support equipment.
His palms bled freely.
Smoke rose from burnt skin.
Yet somehow...
He was still moving.
Still fighting.
Still refusing to fall.
"You..."
He roared through gritted teeth.
"...AREN'T..."
Another explosion propelled him higher.
"...TOUCHING HIM!!"
All Might caught him effortlessly.
"...Young Bakugo."
Their collision shattered the street.
All Might's enormous hand seized Bakugo by the shoulder before driving him downward.
CRAAAAASH!!
Bakugo disappeared beneath a crater of broken asphalt.
Concrete burst outward like an erupting volcano.
The impact echoed throughout the training grounds.
"GO!!"
Bakugo's voice erupted from the crater.
It sounded strained.
Painful.
But unmistakably determined.
"DON'T..."
He coughed.
"...LOOK BACK!!"
"JUST WIN!!"
Midoriya stared.
His feet refused to move.
In the observation room...
Nobody spoke.
Kirishima clenched his fists.
"...Come on..."
Ochaco covered her mouth.
Even Aizawa watched silently.
All Might stepped away from the crater.
Bakugo still struggled beneath the rubble.
He tried to rise.
His body simply wouldn't obey anymore.
The burns.
The broken bones.
The accumulated damage.
He had finally reached his limit.
Still...
He glared upward.
All Might turned toward Midoriya.
"...I'm afraid..."
"...I cannot allow your escape."
He began walking.
Each step was calm.
Measured.
Absolute.
Bakugo forced one final movement.
His fingers dug into shattered concrete.
His body shook violently.
Then—
With every remaining ounce of strength—
He lunged.
Not with explosions.
Not with overwhelming power.
Simply with determination.
His arms wrapped around All Might's waist.
A desperate tackle.
"...GO!!"
All Might barely slowed.
His momentum continued carrying both of them forward.
"...Young Bakugo."
His voice held genuine respect.
"You've fought splendidly."
"But this..."
"...isn't enough."
He continued advancing.
Dragging Bakugo along the ground as though the boy weighed nothing.
Midoriya stood frozen.
The gate.
Bakugo.
Victory.
His mind screamed at him to run.
His body refused.
Then...
A memory surfaced.
____________________________________________________________________________
[Auther: I'm currently listening to amazing music rn.]