A week passed. Everything calmed down.
No more alarms. No alerts. No explosions outside the window. Just the occasional squeak of Eri's shoes as she walked across the room like she owned the place. Most days, Ryuu just sat there. Surrounded.
Eventually, Ryuu left the bed. Not because the doctors cleared it. Because he got sick of sitting. Mirko had dropped a note saying she would be back soon, and he figured if he didn't get up now, the next round might kill him by friction.
Soon, the full aftermath fell into place.
Despite still being first years, only provisional license holders at best, some in Class 1-A and 1-B stepped up beyond what most Pro Heroes could ever manage. They were on the frontlines during the worst of it. Not as sidekicks. Not as students. As soldiers. Fighters. Survivors. Some were recognized. Others kept their heads down.
Time passed.
Two years later...
Ryuu stood with the rest of the school to take his graduation diploma. Not that he needed it. He could've bought the damn building and turned it into a giant middle finger if he wanted. But his mom was watching and Eri was waving a stupid little flag.
So he stood.
Rest followed in line with him.
Thousands were there to watch. Cameras. Reporters. Families. Fans. It was not just about Ryuu, even if half the crowd probably thought it was.
This was the graduation of some of the strongest heroes alive. Names that had been plastered across headlines for years now. The kids who fought wars before they were old enough to drink. Who had scars older than some Pro Heroes' careers.
Hell, even the Number 1 Hero was graduating today.
Izuku walked up with Bakugo, both in uniform, both looking like they somehow survived a hurricane and came out with cleaner shoes.
"Finally graduating, Ryuu!" Izuku said, grinning like a damn golden retriever on sugar.
Ryuu sighed, hand twitching like it wanted to backhand the dork just for being so happy. But he held it in. Barely. Graduation day or not, Izuku deserved at least one slap a day, but Ryuu figured he had earned a few hours of peace. Spoiled brat.
Bakugo rolled his eyes. "You better not cry, Izuku. I swear, if I see one tear, I am throwing you into the crowd."
"I am not crying!"
"You are always crying."
Toru nudged Ryuu's arm. "Stop frowning. It is graduation, not a funeral."
"I am not frowning."
"You are absolutely frowning," Jiro muttered, stepping up beside them, hands in her pockets.
Mina beamed, throwing glitter into the air. Where the hell she even kept glitter in that uniform, no one knew.
Momo sighed, brushing invisible dust from his shoulder. "Try to smile. A little. Pretend you like people."
Tsuyu blinked slowly. "He does not."
"I like some people," Ryuu said, checking around. His eyes caught Toga, who winked and blew him a kiss like they were not standing on school property with a thousand people watching.
Yes. Toga.
The girl standing in the perfect line-up like she belonged there. Because now, she did. Legally, officially, and with enough blood on her resume to make the school board flinch.
Nezu had personally signed off on her enrollment. Something about "rehabilitation through structure" and "prodigious potential." Mostly, Ryuu suspected, it was just because Nezu liked chaos wrapped in a smile. And because Toga had made herself very hard to ignore.
She was in uniform, the little fang still poking from her grin like a reminder she could absolutely bite if bored.
Just ahead of her, Toru walked back straight, hands folded.
The crowd pointed at floating clothes.
"That is her, right? The one who stabbed Shigaraki?"
"The Invisible Girl."
"Number 20 now. Such a jump."
"She is Wildcard's Blade. That is what they are calling her."
A few gasped when she passed by.
Many knew her now.
The ghost in the crater. The one who ended it.
The field was packed.
Every hero worth their title sat in the stands. Hawks in a tailored suit. Mirko lounging with one leg over the other like she had not broken six villains last week. Ryukyu, calm and watching. Endeavor, arms crossed. Aizawa, somehow managing to look half-asleep and emotionally invested at the same time. Present Mic actually silent for once.
Best Jeanist's collar was starched so hard it could stop bullets.
Fat Gum waved from the second row, snacks tucked under his arm like this was a sports game. Even Gran Torino showed up, leaning on a cane he probably did not need.
Mina snapped a selfie with the group and posted it without asking. "We are trending," she announced one second later.
Momo didn't flinch. "Of course we are."
Principal Nezu stepped onto the platform, a microphone already set. He looked like a kid's toy and a war general all in one, eyes shining. Words about growth, legacy, the future. About how this year had rewritten what it meant to be a hero. About how some graduates today were already legends.
A few rows back, someone coughed. Someone else cheered.
Then he said it.
"The Number One Hero is among you."
The crowd held their breath.
They looked straight at Ryuu.
Ryuu smiled wide and bright. He stepped up onto the stage like he owned it, because at this point, he kinda did. The moment his boots hit the center, the crowd lost their shit. Thousands of voices screaming his name. The air shook. The damn ground was vibrating.
He reached the mic, tapped it once. The echo cut through the roar.
"Seriously, people," he said. "I told you before, you are all making a mistake."
The crowd burst into a laughter.
Ryuu chuckled too, flashing that smug, tired grin that said he had seen too much and still liked being a pain in the ass.
"All-natural charisma," he said, shrugging. "What can I do?"
The cheers picked up again, like the crowd was daring him to keep going.
He did.
"I am not gonna stand here and give you some perfect little monologue about justice and heroism and blah blah peace. You got plenty of that from everyone else. Deku already cried twice today. That quota is full."
Bakugo snorted offstage. Izuku buried his face in his hands.
Ryuu kept going.
"Let me make this simple. We started this as dumb kids with big dreams and half a clue. We got thrown into the worst war this country has seen since All For One first farted in public. We fought monsters. We bled. We buried people we loved."
The energy shifted. Quieter now.
"But we also built something. Together. Not because some agency told us to. Not because a damn Commission gave us gold stars. We built it because nobody else would. And if we haven't done it, who would?"
He paused. Looked out across the sea of faces. Every student. Every pro. Every civvy that came to see if the rumors were true.
He grinned at Nezu, a lopsided, shit-eating smirk that made even the little genius rodent stiffen in his tiny loafers. "I told this before. I am telling again. Do not believe anyone blindly enough to hand over all your trust. Power corrupts. And corruption does not grow a conscience just because it wears a cape."
The crowd quieted. The ones who had been cheering froze mid-clap.
"The Hero Commission? Started out as regulators. Keep things fair, balanced. Then what? Started pushing policies. Then orders. Then black bags, silencers, quirk suppressors. Not because villains forced their hand. But because they could. Because they were trusted."
Eyes across the stadium shifted. More than a few Pros glanced away.
He didn't stop.
"One day, I, yes, me, and every other asshole in the Quirk Regulation Agency, we will be in the same boat. Don't clap too fast. We are all future fuck-ups waiting for the right chance to rot. The moment we stop being scared of public pushback, we start lying to you with a smile."
He jabbed a finger toward the crowd. "Don't let us. Ever. Throw chairs. Burn our PR offices. Drag us on livestream. Tear it down before it turns into what you just survived."
Dead silence. Not even the birds chirped. Someone coughed in the third row and immediately wished he hadn't.
Ryuu sighed through his nose, calmer now. "Every King was born naked. Remember that. Every one of em cried, shit their beds, sucked a thumb, then got wrapped in silk robes before anyone saw the rot growing under it."
He spread his arms. "Power corrupts. I ain't above it. Neither is Deku, or Boom-Boom Bitch, or the cuddly mouse running this school. That is just truth. Your job is to keep us scared enough to do the right thing anyway."
He grinned again.
"I will do my best to earn this spot. But do not make me your religion. I ain't a god. I am just a freak with a bat and cheat."
Everyone froze.
Then, Toru clapped.
Then the others followed, Mina whooping, Bakugo grunting like he was forced at gunpoint, Izuku clapping like his life depended on it. The crowd joined in, wave after wave of applause until the whole stadium felt like it might shake apart.
Ryuu stepped back, let it all hit.
Graduation ended thirty minutes later.
Nezu, ever the tactician, smiled like a man who had just watched a nuclear bomb go off and was already planning how to use the fallout.
Ryuu did not linger on stage. He ducked into the back.
Izuku caught him backstage, away from the noise, just for a second.
"You did it," he said, voice too soft for the arena. "You become the Number 1!"
Ryuu blinked at him, then snorted. "Don't make it weird, Waterworks."
"I mean it."
"Yeah," Ryuu muttered, staring at the wall like it held all the shit they didn't say. "But I didn't do it alone."
Izuku smiled, eyes glassy. "I know."
Ryuu clapped his shoulder and walked off. "Don't cry again. They are already calling us soft."
"You are the one who cried during Eri's school play!"
"She was a carrot, Deku! A carrot! It was emotional!"
Izuku laughed, walking away.
Ryuu found the first bench that didn't creak too loud, and flopped down like someone had unplugged him.
Inko and Eri found him. Eri bounced in front of him. "That was awesome, Ryuu!"
He grinned, reached out, and tugged her cheek. "Of course. I am always awesome."
Eri crossed her arms, puffed out her chest like she had a license to sass. "Not always. From here on, I need to ground you. Like last week, you were crying in the bathroom 'cause you ate too much hot sauce."
Ryuu groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "I did not mean you. I want my cute little sister. The one who thinks I am always cool."
Eri giggled, smug as hell. "Nope. Gotta be the role model now. You set the bar."
Inko chuckled from behind them. "Way to go, Eri."
Ryuu flopped back against the bench, arms dangling like his bones gave up halfway. "This is harassment. I survived god-tier villains and trauma with a side of explosions, and this is how I get treated."
Eri climbed onto the bench and plopped into his lap like a gremlin queen. "You also snuck into the kitchen and shivered when you thought no one saw you burn the rice."
"I was experimenting!" he whined.
"You were standing there whispering 'it's alive' to a burnt rice ball, Ryuu. I have video." Eri corrected, proud.
Inko shook her head, laughing softly. "Honestly, I am glad. If this is what peace looks like, sibling roast sessions, I will take it."
Ryuu huffed, flicked Eri's forehead. "Snitch."
Eri stuck her tongue out. "Legend."
Three walked into home, with Toru, Momo, Mina, Uraraka, Tsuyu, Jiro, Nejire, and Toga following behind.
Shoes hit the floor, jackets tossed wherever. Eri darted past them all to claim the couch first like it was her throne. "I call front seat!"
"You always do," Jiro muttered, kicking her boots off.
"I get to," Eri said smugly, hugging a pillow. "I am adorable."
"She is not wrong," Nejire said, ruffling her hair.
Toru plopped down next to Eri and stretched like a cat, soon joined by NekoRyuu. "I missed home."
Momo walked in with her arms full of bags, some groceries, some that were definitely not groceries unless people started eating scented candles and lotion. "You could have helped."
"Nope," Mina said, already halfway to the fridge. "You looked too responsible to interrupt."
Uraraka hovered them. "I brought soda!"
Tsuyu caught it before it exploded. "Ribbit. Do not shake it next time."
Toga walked in last, eyes wide, grin wider, like she still could not believe she belonged. She didn't say much. Just looked around. At the walls. The couch. The pile of shoes. Mirko's dirty clothes on the ground. The dumb scuff mark on the doorframe that Eri blamed on "a ghost" even though it was clearly her drawing practice gone wrong.
Home.
-
Surprise! You thought it was another chapter…
But it was I, Final!
Yep, this was the final chapter of the main story. Thank you so much for reading this far, and for all the support along the way. I know it dropped a bit early, but I wanted to end things where they felt right and this felt right.
Before fully wrapping up, I will also be posting an epilogue and The End chapter tomorrow, just some moments I still want to show, a bit of closure, some extra scenes, future glimpses, and so on.
Thanks again for sticking with me and this story. More soon.
Love you All!
Thank you!
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