The air in the USJ didn't just get hot; it turned into something physical. It felt like the atmosphere was being compressed into a diamond. I stood there, right between Aizawa-sensei's mangled body and that thing—that Nomu.
"Sync... Level 3."
The whisper barely left my lips, but the reaction was instantaneous. My "adult" brain, usually the voice of reason that kept my powers in check, was suddenly submerged in a sea of white-hot instinct.It wasn't a spark anymore; I was the center of a solar flare. The concrete beneath my boots didn't just crack—it hummed, turned cherry-red, and then simply gave up, dissolving into a pool of glowing slag.
Shigaraki stood back, his dry fingers digging into his neck, red eyes wide and twitching. "Nomu," he rasped, his voice cracking with irritation. "Kill the brat. He's making it hard to breathe."
The Nomu didn't run. It just... happened. One second it was ten feet away, the next, it was a blur of black muscle and exposed brain screaming toward my face. In any other state, I'd be dead. But in Level 3, the world slowed down into a thick, golden syrup. I didn't dodge. I didn't even raise my hands to block. I just braced my core and became an immovable wall of heat.
BOOM.
The impact was sickening. The shockwave rolled out from us, shattering every pane of glass in the dome and vaporizing the top layer of the central fountain in a hiss of steam. But I didn't move an inch. My boots were fused into the molten floor. The Nomu's fist was buried in my chest, but the creature was the one suffering. Its flesh sizzled against my skin, the smell of burning ozone and scorched hair thick enough to choke on.
"Is that all you've got?" I asked. My voice sounded wrong—like three people talking at once over the roar of a furnace.
"What is this?!" Shigaraki screamed, stumbling back as the heat singed his own hair. "It has Shock Absorption! Why aren't you broken?!"
"Your pet absorbs force," I said, steping forward, the air wavering like a desert mirage around me. "But it can't absorb a star. I'm not hitting it. I'm melting it from the inside out."
The Nomu let out a sound like grinding metal and tried to yank its arm back, but I grabbed its wrists. I pumped pure, radioactive plasma directly into its nervous system.
"Kurogiri! Get it out of there!" Shigaraki yelled.
The purple mist surged beneath me, trying to swallow my legs, but the second the warp-gate touched my "Blaze" field, the mist simply shredded. It couldn't hold its form in that temperature.
"I cannot!" Kurogiri's voice was panicked. "The heat is destabilizing my coordinates!"
Shigaraki lost it. He charged me, fingers outstretched, looking like a manic skeleton. "I'll decay you myself!"
I didn't even look at him. I just let out a sharp, focused Solar Flare—a backdraft of pure thermal pressure. It slammed into Shigaraki, setting his shirt ablaze and throwing him fifteen feet back into the fountain with a massive splash.
While I was playing god in the plaza, my other halves were paying the price.
Over in the Landslide Zone, Earth-Kenji was in the middle of a fight when he suddenly choked, falling to his knees. His stone skin began to glow a dull, dangerous orange. Fissures opened on his shoulders, leaking white steam.
"Arisawa-san!" Momo cried, rushing toward him. She tried to grab his arm but flinched back—he was radiating enough heat to boil a kettle.
"I'm... fine," Earth-Me wheezed, his eyes turning a terrifying, solid white. "The Original... he's overdrawing. I'm just the exhaust pipe."
In the Shipwreck Zone, Wind-Kenji was barely keeping the boat afloat. Suddenly, he sneezed. Because the Sync was so tight, the Original at the plaza accidentally released a massive, explosive fire-burp.
The resulting backdraft at the ship sent Midoriya and Tsuyu tumbling into the cabin walls.
"Ribbit! Kenji-chan, you're literally smoking!" Tsuyu yelled, terrified.
"Trying... not to... blow up!" Wind-Kenji squeaked, his blue fins glowing a frantic, jagged violet.
Back at the Plaza, I was still holding the Nomu. It was screeching, its limbs melting into black goo that regenerated and melted again in a horrific loop. Shigaraki was crawling out of the water, his "hand-mask" hanging off his face, looking utterly humiliated.
"Kill him! Nomu! Just kill him!" he shrieked.
I knew I was done. My energy was bottoming out, and if I didn't merge soon, the Wind and Earth versions of me would just... cease to exist. I was ready to let go and take the hit, praying Aizawa was still alive behind me.
Then, the front doors of the USJ didn't just open. They were deleted.
"HAVE NO FEAR... FOR I AM HERE!"
All Might wasn't smiling. He looked like a god of war. He blurred across the plaza, taking in the blood and the fire. He saw Aizawa. Then he saw me—a glowing, trembling kid holding back a nightmare.
"You've done enough, Young Arisawa," All Might said. His hand landed on my shoulder, and for the first time in ten minutes, I felt like a human again. "Rest. I'll take it from here."
The Sync snapped.
The Blaze went out instantly, leaving me covered in soot and shivering as the cold air hit my skin. I fell forward into total darkness. All Might caught me with one arm, his face setting into a look of pure, unadulterated fury as he turned toward the villains.
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I woke up three days later in a room that definitely didn't belong in a hospital. It was the Icarus Wing of Musutafu Private—a place where the floor tiles were probably heated by the tears of the poor.
There were three giant screens, a private chef in the corner, and the air smelled like expensive lilies.
"He's awake!"
My mom, Hana, was over me in a second, her Aura of Bliss making me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket. My dad, Masaru, was on three different phones at once in a leather armchair.
"I don't care about the Minister's schedule!" he barked into one. "My son fought a monster! Clear the floor or I'll buy the building and fire the board!"
"Dad... stop," I croaked.
"Kenji!" Mom sobbed, hugging me. "My brave, stupid, glowing boy! Look at you, you're in silk bandages!"
"I'm okay, Mom," I said, looking at the mountain of flowers by the bed. "Who sent all this?"
"The school," she pointed. "And those red roses are from a 'Yaoyorozu.' She's called every hour to ask about your calories. She's a lovely, very wealthy girl. I approve."
The door burst open, and Mina, Tsuyu, and Jiro tumbled in, followed by a very red-faced Momo.
"Arisawa!" Mina yelled, jumping onto the foot of my bed. "You're alive! We thought you'd turned into a permanent charcoal briquette!"
"Mina! He's still fragile!" Momo scolded, though she was clutching a thermos of specialized tea she'd clearly spent all night brewing.
"Ribbit," Tsuyu said, sitting by the bed. "The news is calling you the 'Human Sun.' You're more famous than All Might right now."
While the girls were busy fussing over the tea and the silk pillows, the door didn't just open—it was shoved aside by Kirishima and Kaminari, who were carrying a box of pizza that looked wildly out of place next to the Wagyu beef Jacques was preparing.
"ARISAWA! MY MAN!" Kirishima yelled, his eyes actually tearing up a little. "I saw that fire-form from the Landslide Zone! It was the manliest thing I've ever seen in my entire life! I thought you were a goner for sure!"
"He's alive, Kirishima, pipe down," Kaminari laughed, though he immediately started eyeing my 80-inch TV. "Whoa, is this the new Playstation 6? Arisawa, being rich is a Quirk all on its own, dude. Can we stay here? I'll be your personal phone charger!"
Iida marched in behind them, his arm-chopping at full speed. "Arisawa-kun! As Class Representative, I must formally commend your bravery! However," he leaned in, his glasses reflecting the hospital lights, "I must also scold you! Putting yourself in such danger without backup is a violation of safety protocols! I've drafted a three-page 'Recovery Schedule' to ensure you don't fall behind in your studies!"
"Thanks, Iida," I croaked, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the noise. "I'll... uh... get right on that."
Midoriya was standing near the back, looking a bit shy. He had a brand-new notebook tucked under his arm. "Arisawa-kun... I'm so glad you're okay. The way you held that Nomu... All Might told me that if it weren't for you holding the line, Aizawa-sensei might not have made it. You really are incredible."
Even Todoroki made an appearance. He didn't say much; he just leaned against the wall near the door, nodding at me. "The heat you produced," he said quietly, his gaze lingering on my bandaged arms. "It was more concentrated than my father's. If you ever want to... compare notes, let me know."
Coming from him, that was basically a declaration of friendship.
The atmosphere took a sharp turn when the door creaked open one last time. The room went silent. Bakugo was standing there, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, looking like he wanted to blow up the entire hospital floor.
He stared at me for a long, uncomfortable minute. The girls all tensed up—Momo actually stepped slightly in front of my bed—but Bakugo just "tsk-ed."
"Don't think this changes anything, Triple-Faced Freak," he spat, though he didn't have his usual venom. "You held out against a pet. Big deal. Next time, I'm the one who's going to be standing when the dust clears. Don't you dare fall behind because you're sitting in this fancy-ass bed."
He turned on his heel and walked out, but I noticed something. On the table by the door, he had left a small, crumpled bag of spicy ginger candies—the kind that are supposed to be great for nerve recovery.
"Well," I said, looking around at the crowded room. My parents were arguing with the chef, the girls were debating the best tea for my stamina, Kirishima and Kaminari were already playing video games on the giant screen, and Iida was trying to organize everyone into a 'Visiting Rotation.'
"It's definitely not quiet," I muttered to myself.
"Did you say something, Kenji-kun?" Momo asked, leaning in close with her thermos.
"Just that I think I preferred the Nomu," I joked. "At least he didn't try to feed me kale tea and make me do my homework."
The whole room erupted in laughter, and for the first time since the mist appeared at the USJ, I finally felt like the 'Sync' was perfect. I wasn't an adult in a kid's body, and I wasn't just a powerful student. I was part of a class.
And judging by the way Mina was currently trying to steal Kaminari's pizza while Jiro recorded the whole thing, it was going to be a very long, very loud recovery.