The impact sent them both tumbling across the street.
Izuku caught Bakugo before he hit the ground.
"...Come on!"
Bakugo blinked.
"...What..."
"No arguments!"
Izuku hauled him onto his shoulder.
Green lightning surged once more.
"We're leaving!"
Full Cowling exploded into motion.
The two disappeared into a maze of narrow alleyways just as All Might's punch obliterated the street they'd occupied a heartbeat earlier.
The chase...
was far from over.
...
The alley shook with every thunderous footstep behind them.
All Might was not chasing them at full strength—not because he couldn't, but because he was measuring them. Testing them. Every step he took deliberately crushed asphalt beneath his boots, every breath carrying the weight of absolute confidence. There was nowhere to hide from someone who represented victory itself.
Izuku's breathing came in ragged gasps.
His body had already reached its limit. Bruises layered over bruises. One arm trembled uncontrollably from forcing One For All through muscles that had barely recovered from I-Island. Yet he continued running, because stopping meant failure.
Behind him came silence.
Not angry shouting.
Not insults.
Silence.
Bakugo suddenly slipped from Izuku's shoulder, boots skidding across broken pavement before planting themselves firmly.
"...Kacchan?"
Bakugo didn't answer immediately.
His crimson eyes stared downward.
For the first time in what felt like forever, they weren't burning with rage.
They were tired.
Everything replayed inside Katsuki's mind.
Every explosion.
Every loss.
Sludge Villain.
The Sports Festival.
Final Exams.
I-Island.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Even after all of that...
Even after training until his palms bled...
Even after refusing to stop...
He was still behind.
Was it power?
Was it instinct?
Was it talent?
Or was there simply something about Izuku Midoriya that he could never catch?
That distance.
It had always existed.
As children, he stood ahead while Deku chased after him.
Now...
It felt reversed.
"...Tch."
His fist clenched.
"...Stop looking at me like that."
Izuku blinked.
"Kacchan?"
"You keep looking like I'm about to lose."
Izuku opened his mouth.
"Kacchan, I just—"
"I KNOW WHAT YOU JUST!"
The explosion of anger came...
...only to vanish halfway through the sentence.
Bakugo exhaled.
"...Shut up."
Silence returned.
Then, in perhaps the rarest sentence anyone present had ever heard...
"...I'll work with you."
Izuku froze.
His eyes widened.
"...Deku."
The name carried no venom.
No mockery.
No challenge.
Just reluctant acceptance.
Not surrender.
Recognition.
They weren't becoming friends.
Bakugo simply acknowledged reality.
"...We'll beat him together."
For a brief second...
Izuku smiled.
"...Yeah."
CRASH!!
A wall behind them exploded apart.
All Might emerged through concrete dust like a charging locomotive.
"There you are!"
His voice boomed through the streets.
"I was beginning to worry you two had gotten yourselves cornered!"
He wasn't smiling.
This was still an exam.
And they still had thirty seconds before he caught them.
"Kacchan!"
"I know!"
The two split in opposite directions without another word.
All Might's eyes followed Izuku first.
Exactly as Bakugo expected.
"NOW!"
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion erupted directly behind All Might.
Bakugo shot forward like artillery, both palms igniting simultaneously.
His gauntlets screamed under the pressure.
All Might twisted just in time.
"Katsuki!"
The explosion detonated against All Might's crossed forearms, blasting apart nearby windows and sending dust spiraling through the street.
It wasn't enough to hurt him.
It wasn't meant to.
It only had to make him turn around.
There.
Izuku moved.
Using every ounce of Full Cowling still available, he sprinted directly behind All Might.
His eyes widened.
"...A grenade bracer?"
Strapped around his right arm...
...was Bakugo's missing Grenadier Bracer.
Bakugo had discarded it intentionally during their retreat.
Not because he'd lost it.
Because he'd left it for Izuku.
Bakugo never looked back.
He simply shouted—
"DEKU!!"
Izuku caught the cue immediately.
Bakugo's palm slammed against the activation mechanism on his remaining gauntlet.
The second gauntlet—
—the one on Izuku's arm—
synchronized.
Years of watching Bakugo fight...
Years of analyzing every movement...
Izuku knew exactly what came next.
He pulled the release pin.
Click.
Compressed nitroglycerin sweat, stored throughout the exam inside the massive support item, instantly armed itself.
All Might's eyes widened.
"...Young Midoriya!"
Bakugo grinned.
"There it is."
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The resulting explosion engulfed the intersection.
A sphere of fire erupted skyward.
Windows shattered for blocks.
The shockwave blasted apart abandoned vehicles and sent chunks of concrete tumbling through the air.
Even from the observation room—
Everyone instinctively shielded their faces.
Smoke consumed everything.
Present Mic whistled.
"THAT'S QUITE THE ATTACK!!"
Midnight stared.
"...Those support items are terrifying."
Power Loader sighed.
"...Mei Hatsume insisted we over-engineered them."
Nezu's tiny paws folded together.
"...An excellent example of trust."
Aizawa watched silently.
Neither boy had spoken.
Neither needed to.
Inside the smoke...
All Might emerged.
His costume had actually taken visible damage.
The sleeve of one arm had been blown apart.
"...Excellent."
He smiled.
"They finally attacked together."
The smile disappeared.
Because Izuku was already moving.
The explosion had never been intended to defeat All Might.
It had only hidden them.
Bakugo appeared overhead.
Using the recoil from his explosions, he launched himself downward like a missile.
"HOW'S THIS?!"
BOOM!
A downward blast forced All Might to block high.
Exactly where Izuku wanted him looking.
Izuku burst from beneath the smoke cloud, Full Cowling surging through every aching muscle.
His battered legs screamed in protest.
He ignored them.
"Kacchan!"
"I SEE IT!"
Bakugo didn't even look.
He simply trusted.
The instant All Might shifted his weight toward Izuku—
Bakugo altered his trajectory midair.
A second explosion.
A third.
He rocketed behind All Might.
Izuku came from the front.
For perhaps the first time since this exam had begun...
All Might found himself caught between two attacks that complemented each other perfectly.
One boy forced him to react.
The other punished the reaction.
Not because either alone could surpass him.
But because they had finally begun fighting as partners, because teamwork makes the dream work...yuck.
_______________________________________________________________
[Auther: Wasting away as I wait for time to pass...at least Spider-Man is out.]