Here we are at the final chapter of the main story! Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you enjoy the ending.

Just a quick side note: I implied this a few times throughout, but I should clarify that the Sludge Villain Incident didn't happen in this universe. Izuku walked home that day with no interruptions.

I'd also like to thank Jauneforever for helping me iron out some details.

With that out of the way, enjoy the inevitable confrontation between adversaries.

To say that Bakugou Katsuki hadn't matured since his enrollment at UA would be inaccurate. Sure, he was still volatile, and he still had his trademark pride if his hero name, King Nitro, was any indication (even if his original hero name had been turned down). He had begrudgingly taken the hint that, at UA, he wasn't top dog anymore.

Then Kamino happened.

Bakugou could practically hear the whispers wherever he went. He knew he was being called the boy All Might died to save, but he knew what they really meant:

He was the boy who killed All Might.

He had become obsessed with regaining his position at the top despite those extras holding him back. In fact, Sh***y Hair had somehow gotten crazy powerful after the fact. He wouldn't have it. He had to be the strongest.

When the Provisional License Exam started, Bakugou thought he was a shoo-in. He had pushed himself to the very limit, and he was going to come out on top. He had to. He needed to convince the world- convince himself- that All Might didn't die in vain.

But then he caught a glimpse of unruly green hair at the exam and all his focus went right down the drain.

The sudden burst of anger must have clouded his judgement and distracted him. How else could he have failed the test? He kicked himself for it later. How could that Quirkless Deku have made it into a hero school, let alone into the Provisional License Exam on the first year? It was memory playing tricks on him, his subconscious reminding him that he was being looked down on. It couldn't be anything else.

And for some reason he couldn't fathom, those extras in his class, Sh***y Hair in particular, just wouldn't leave him be. Thankfully they didn't drag him down either, so he humored them. They were less obnoxious than those hangers-on from junior high. Still obnoxious, but not useless.

With his license finally officially making him a hero, he set about his work with an impressive arrest record for his first year, making even Endeavor's impressive record turn its head.

But it wasn't enough, if his placement at #38 was any indication.

He was in his apartment stewing, preparing to hit the hay early, when his phone vibrated. One of the extras must have texted him. Bakugou checked out his phone and saw that Sh***y Hair had texted him a link. What the f*** is he-

He paused.

His eyes were drawn to those of the green-haired hero sitting across from that interviewer.

The green-haired hero who didn't have a Quirk.

The green-haired hero who was ranked above him by seven spots.

All at once, every ounce of anger that had laid dormant since the Provisional Exam, every memory of Deku's insufferable condescension, every voice telling him he had no excuse not to be the strongest, all of it came flooding back to him. At the very least, Bakugou had the foresight to grab the ear protection from his hero costume before he exploded.

As Bakugou stomped down the beach to meet them, the few beachgoers who were nearby wisely opted to get the heck out of the blast radius. They all recognized King Nitro and knew better than to be nearby when he was in one of his moods.

Izuku and the other four stepped away from that rusted washing machine to meet him.

"I thought I was finally rid of you, Deku," Bakugou growled. "I thought I could finally move on with my life, that you'd finally taken the hint and given up. But after all these years, I find out you're still looking down on me."

Uraraka gulped. He sounded absolutely livid. After what she had learned about their history, she cringed on Izuku's behalf.

That was when Yaoyorozu noticed something.

"Uraraka… why is he in his hero costume?"

The brunette blinked. Yaoyorozu was right. Bakugou was completely decked out in his intimidating hero costume, complete with those distinctive grenade-shaped gauntlets. But why would he-

Oh.

Oh no.

Izuku looked like he was going to open his mouth to reply but Bakugou pointed at him, silencing him.

"How long have you been looking down on me?! How many strings did you pull to place above me?!"

"Bakugou-"

"And how the hell did you even get a Hero License?! You were expelled!"

"In case you haven't realized," Izuku shouted, cutting off Bakugou's rant, "UA isn't the only hero school out there."

The blonde growled. "So… that was you at the Provisional License Exam. You made me fail, you motherf***er!"

"Made you f- I went out of my way to avoid you!"

"Don't pin this on me," Bakugou continued. "You sabotaged me at the exam! Now answer the damn question, how did you get above me?! You owe me an explanation!"

"With all due respect, Bakugou, " Kirishima cut in, stepping in front of Izuku, "He doesn't owe you a thing."

Izuku peeked around Kirishima's shoulder, raising a finger. "Um… you don't-"

"The hell he doesn't," Bakugou continued, not realizing that this was the first time Kirishima had used his name without inserting "bro" into it, "He's been a thorn in my side since we were kids!"

"What did he ever do to you?" Uraraka asked, joining Kirishima in front of their new friend. "You're the one who bullied him!"

"R-really guys, you don't-"

"That f***er thought he was better than me! He was always looking down on me, even though he didn't have a Quirk! He needed to be put back in his place!"

"So you admit it," Ashido added, joining into the human wall that was beginning to form in front of Midoriya. "You nearly broke him, you know. If he didn't get into Hamada-"

"Of course I didn't break him!" Bakugou interrupted. "That's what's so infuriating! No matter how many times I burned him, he always kept on going like nothing happened, following me around, dragging me down, he just wouldn't break!"

Yaoyorozu stepped into the line with those four. "And you wanted to see him break?"

"Of f***ing course I did!" Bakugou shouted. "Because if he didn't break, if I'm weaker than Deku, then what does that make me?! Ever since Kamino, people have been looking down on me, pitying me, blaming me … I have to be the strongest! And after all I've been through, Deku still came out on top!"

" Izuku is ten times the hero you'll ever be," Uraraka glared.

"ENOUGH!"

All four of the classmates, standing side-by-side, jumped as Izuku parted through them. "Look, I appreciate you standing up for me. It feels nice, having so many people in my corner." He looked each of them dead in the eye.

"But this is my battle to fight."

Hesitantly, the other four nodded, backing off.

Izuku turned back to Bakugou. "You still became a hero, didn't you?" he asked. "I didn't crush your dream, unlike what you tried to do to mine."

"It doesn't matter! Now whenever people look at me, they'll only see a pathetic weakling who ranked below someone who doesn't even have a f***ing Quirk!"

"And you're the only one?!" Izuku asked incredulously. "Have you ever stopped to think about how rare it is for a hero to make the top 50 right after graduating? Your entire class had a head start due to all the villains, admittedly, but it's still something very few heroes can say."

"So you're saying you're better than us? That you managed your spot without being attacked in school?"

"No, I just-"

"You're nothing but a weakling who got lucky and cheated his way to the top," Bakugou continued, pointing at Izuku. "And we'd all be better off if you'd just taken my advice and thrown yourself off the roof!"

There was a pause. A horrible, deafening moment of silence where time seemed to grind to a screeching halt.

Yaoyorozu gasped. Uraraka glared daggers. Kirishima's jaw dropped. Ashido looked like she was about to throw up.

"You don't mean to tell me you actually meant it?" Izuku asked, shocked, his face going pale.

"Maybe not when I said it," Bakugou growled, "But now? Even if you didn't get a Quirk in your next life, at least then you'd have left that spot on the rankings to someone who actually deserved it!"

"Like you?" Ashido questioned. "The only thing you deserve is for your license to get set on fire and then for the ashes to get set on fire!"

Bakugou looked like he was about to fire back when Kirishima threw in his own two cents.

"Bakugou… When Shigaraki said you were more like a villain than a hero… He was right all along."

Now it was Bakugou's turn to go pale. He turned to look at the redhead, who wouldn't meet his eyes. That Sh***y Haired extra who had always hung unto him despite Bakugou's many protests, who still saw Bakugou as above him despite his own strength… Bakugou didn't know why it stung, to have him finally turn his back on him.

It wasn't long before Bakugou turned his ire back to the one whose fault this was. Whose fault everything was.

" You… "

"This is nobody's fault but your own, Bakugou," Izuku said simply, his voice low. "I know you came here looking for a fight. And if you want one so bad, I'm going to give you one. Right here, right now."

Bakugou didn't need to be told twice. His hands held out, he began to heat up, small explosions dancing on his palms with that horrible popping sound.

" I'm gonna f***ing kill you! "

"Midoriya, let us help you!" Kirishima said, red lightning beginning to crackle around his arms.

"You're a great fighter, but without your gear," Uraraka added, "You'll get seriously hurt!"

"I appreciate your willingness to help," Izuku shouted, raising his voice to be heard over the explosions, "But this is between us two! This fight has been a long time coming and I have to do this alone!"

He turned back to the other four, his hands in his pockets. "Also, bold of you to assume I don't have my gear."

Bakugou screamed, launching himself towards Izuku, propelled through the air by his explosions, raising his fist to deliver a powerful hook once his momentum had built up sufficiently.

Izuku whirled back around to face Bakugou, pulling his hands out of his pockets to reveal they were now wearing gloves with some metallic panelling. Said panelling immediately began to unfold outward, and almost instantly, Uraraka recognized the same gauntlets that had served Izuku so well when they fought the Lizard Gang.

"Courtesy of Hatsume Industries," Izuku quipped before bring his armored hand up to catch Bakugou's punch, which delivered an electric shock in the process.

Bakugou screamed as jolts of electricity pulsed from the gloves before he overpowered the current, bringing his other arm up and igniting an explosion in Izuku's face.

Fortunately, his movements were slowed by the electricity, meaning Izuku had ample time to bring his other arm to block the explosion. This protected him from serious harm, but the force knocked Izuku back a few meters. The green haired hero quickly did a backflip and regained his footing, stabilizing his landing with one hand while his other reached into his pocket to pull out a remarkably pocket-sized grappling gun.

Bakugou launched forward once again, explosions crackling in his hands, but before he could strike, Izuku fired the grappling gun directly at Bakugou's gauntlet mid-flight. The cable wrapped around it as Izuku dodged out of the way, holding on tight as Bakugou's momentum caused him to blow right past him.

Izuku pressed a button on the grappling gun and the cable went taut. He planted his feet firmly and yanked on the cable, causing Bakugou to spin around him before the greenette let the cable relax, uncoiling from the grenade gauntlet and letting Bakugou fly directly into the rusted washing machine, crashing into it with a solid CRACK as the old, broken appliance broke into pieces.

Bakugou got back up to his feet, wiping his mouth with his left arm. "Fighting defensively and keeping your distance, eh?" he taunted. "Of course you'd rely on those cowardly tactics!"

"It's called fighting intelligently. Of course, you wouldn't know about that now, would you?" Izuku shot back.

"Oh ho!" Bakugou grinned before bringing up his other arm, aiming the cannon on his gauntlet towards Izuku. "Then by all means, get as far as you can, 'cause there's no way you can dodge this!"

He pulled the pin from his right gauntlet and aimed it squarely at Izuku, who was out of melee range, but not nearly far enough to dodge the blast in time.

As the nitroglycerin in the gauntlet began to ignite, Kirishima began to fire up the red lightning once again. "Their fight or not, I'm not letting him do this alone!" Hardening himself to the point of indestructibility, the defensive power of his natural Quirk enhanced by the power of One for All, he flung himself in between the two, ignoring Yaoyorozu's protests.

"Get close to me!" Yaoyorozu shouted to Uraraka and Ashido, pulling her shirt up a bit so as to create a blast shield for the three.

KABOOM!

The shield was created just in time as the deafening explosion caused a massive flash of light that was blinding to anyone who saw it. Bakugou chuckled triumphantly, but frowned when the dust cleared and there stood a somewhat singed Kirishima, the red lightning still crackling around his rigid, stonelike body as he glared daggers at his former best friend as he stood in the center of what looked like a crater of broken glass.

"That... was… so… unmanly ."

"I have to concur," Yaoyorozu said, stepping out from behind the blast shield she created along with Ashido. "Those are meant to be used against the strongest villains. You should be ashamed of using them against another hero."

"He's no hero!" Bakugou sneered. "And if he's such a great hero, then where is that coward?"

"Weeeell…" Ashido said, smirking, "...he's above you. Literally this time."

"Wha…?"

Suddenly, the grappling cable reappeared out of nowhere, coming from above and clinging to his gauntlet again.

" Release!"

It was then that Bakugou realized Uraraka didn't step out from behind the blast shield. He looked up at the source of the voice and sure enough, Uraraka was floating above them, her hands pressed together as she usually did as she released her Quirk's effect on something. His eyes widened as he realized that Izuku was also in the air, holding the grappling gun, and as Uraraka released him, Izuku let the cable pull him towards Bakugou at tremendous speed.

The blonde had no time to react before a metal gauntlet, pulled along by the withdrawing cable and going faster than terminal velocity, collided directly with his face with a satisfying THWACK.

Now, Bakugou was no stranger to taking hits, but his nose was bleeding from the impact. As he wiped away the blood, he pointed at Izuku again. "So you think you're so tough when you've got all those weapons on you and all those extras to cover for you! 'Cause you know you can't beat me in a fair fight! Why don't you drop all the gear and prove me wrong, huh?"

"Maybe if you ditch the gauntlets," Izuku retorted. "Then we'll talk."

Bakugou's glare deepened as he grumbled to himself.

Then, to the shock of everyone present, he actually removed his gauntlets , laying them down on the sand.

Izuku sighed. "Well… let it not be said that I'm not a man of my word." Izuku pressed a button on the side of his left gauntlet, collapsing the metal plating down and leaving him with the black glove, then he did the same to his other glove. He took those, along with his grappling gun and a couple other tools, and handed them to Yaoyorozu, who used her Quirk to synthesize a burlap sack to hold them.

That done, Izuku cracked his knuckles and assumed a stance similar to that of a kickboxer. "Your move, Bakugou."

Bakugou once again rocketed towards Izuku, once again raising his arm for the same predictable hook.

Either he's never figured out how to be unpredictable, Izuku thought as he caught Bakugou's arm and flipped him over, throwing him down onto the sand, Or he still isn't taking me seriously.

Bakugou got to his feet quickly and began to strike Izuku with rapid Quirk-enhanced palm strikes. There was no way Izuku could block him, so he had to settle for sweeping Bakugou's arms aside instead, backing away as the explosive blonde gained ground.

The blonde's strikes were fast, making Izuku realize Bakugou was actually quite adept at hand-to-hand combat. Up until now he had been relying on single, powerful attacks, but now that he was in close quarters and using actual fighting moves, it was all Izuku could do to keep himself from getting burned.

Attacking with my hands is out, he'd block easily and he'd punish that attack with his Quirk. Aim for the legs.

Izuku went for Bakugou's legs with a sweeping kick, knocking Bakugou off-balance, but he landed in a handstand, flipped backwards, and rocketed back to Izuku.

Okay, without those big bulky gauntlets of his, he's much more agile. Good to know.

Izuku knew Bakugou wouldn't attempt that hook a third time, so instead of trying to predict what attack to block, Izuku opted to dodge instead, rolling to the side towards the ocean, getting sand in his hair in the process.

Bakugou made more rapid palm strikes, and once again, Izuku brushed them aside rather than try to block them, again losing ground and finding himself backed against the ocean. Suddenly, Bakugou brought his knee up and struck Izuku in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and leaving himself open for Bakugou to hit him with an explosion.

"Urgh!" Izuku cried as he fell back from the force of the explosion, hitting the shallow water. Bakugou smirked now that he'd landed a solid hit. Izuku knew Bakugou wouldn't let up so he rolled out of the way, ignoring the searing pain on his stomach and the sting of salt water in his eyes. As he began to get back to his feet, he looked up just in time to see Bakugou starting to build up some bigger explosions in his hand.

So he got a knockdown on me and now he's getting greedy… this is my chance!

He sprung to his feet and just barely managed to avoid an explosive palm strike, feeling the heat graze his cheek as he spun around. With Bakugou reeling from the miss, in one fluid motion Izuku roundhouse kicked Bakugou square in the jaw, launching him out of the shallows into the deeper water.

Bakugou splashed down, Izuku catching his breath as he waited for Bakugou to surface.

KABOOM!

A giant pillar of water erupted as Bakugou once again exploded, spraying salt water everywhere. Like a monster from one of those kaiju movies, Bakugou stormed back onto the beach, murder in his eyes.

Izuku frowned. I thought submerging him might disable his Quirk. I guess I was wrong.

Once again, Bakugou held out both of his arms, creating sparks in both of them as Izuku once again assumed a defensive stance.

On the bright side, Bakugou's not thinking clearly. He's beyond angry, and while it's making him stronger, it's hampering his fighting abilities. I might be able to-

*fizzle*

Bakugou blinked as the explosions in his hands suddenly died down. He looked down at them n confusion, as did Izuku.

Wait, what? Bakugou's Quirk was working fine before. How did-

"Honestly," a gruff, tired-sounding voice drawled from nearby. "I've been standing here for a good long while and only now you're noticing me? I thought I taught you better than this."

Every head in the area turned to see none other than Aizawa, his eyes glowing red, his hair floating around him as he stared down Bakugou, disabling his Quirk.

"Aizawa?" Yaoyorozu asked, legitimately surprised. "What are you-"

"A little birdie told me there was an impromptu class reunion going on here, and that same little birdie saw King Nitro stomping down there uninvited."

"And…" Izuku began. "That little birdie was…"

Out from behind Aizawa stepped Shinsou, who looked like he desperately needed either a drink or a nap. Maybe both. "Sorry I'm late," he said. "But I saw Blasty McSplode heading your direction and in spite of… recent events… I figured I should let Aizawa know."

Izuku turned to face his teacher of one day. "So you were watching that whole fight? And you didn't think to step in when he used his gauntlets on me? "

"I needed to make an informed decision, and Bakugou's willingness to use maximum force against a fellow hero was the nail in the coffin."

"Nail in the coffin…?" Izuku muttered. "Informed decision…? What…" it was then that he saw what Aizawa was holding.

It was a cell phone, with a red light blinking… indicating it was recording.

Izuku had to admit, all the abuse he'd endured at Bakugou's hands might have been worth it just to see the blood completely drain from Bakugou's face.

"You…" the blonde stammered. "You were recording that?"

"Indeed. The entire fight, along with your little conversation beforehand. I have to say, the Hero Public Safety Commission will be really interested in hearing some of the things you said. Throw himself off the roof, you say…?"

Izuku couldn't believe what was happening. Was Aizawa really going to…?

Even as Aizawa hit the send button, Izuku still wasn't convinced this wasn't an elaborate hallucination brought upon by Bakugou exploding him in the face.

"Bakugou," Aizawa said as he pocketed his phone, "Don't be surprised if someone from the Commission shows up and asks for you to hand over your license."

Shinsou stepped towards an increasingly flabbergasted Bakugou with an impassive expression. "I guess at least one of my first impressions was right on the money."

Bakugou glared at him. "And what's that supposed to-"

He didn't get further than that as he froze in place. Shinsou shook his head. "Are you ever not going to fall for that? Oh well. Go home and rethink your life ."

Bakugou mindlessly walked back off the beach, not even bothering to recover his gauntlets while under Shinsou's control.

Aizawa looked back at Bakugou and sighed. "I honestly thought maybe I'd gotten through to him… I guess I hadn't dissected his issues as well as I thought." He turned back to Izuku, who was looking at him with uncertainty. The Erasure Hero sighed heavily.

"Midoriya… I've done a massive disservice to you. I pride myself on being a rational person, but when I expelled you, I was massively hypocritical and blinded by my own bias."

The Quirkless hero shrugged. "Honestly… I'm over it by now. I became a hero without UA. I'm not really-"

"Midoriya, there's something I need to confess to you. When you took the Quirk Apprehension Test, you actually came 19th. But I was looking for someone to remove from the class so there'd be a position for Shinsou to fill. But as an underground hero, I placed more value on Hagakure's stealth capabilities than your raw skill. So…"

"So you rigged the scores," Midoriya finished.

Yaoyorozu and Kirishima looked up at Aizawa with looks of sheer betrayal, Ashido and Uraraka looking back and forth between their former teacher in disbelief.

"You… despite what you said, you knew I didn't lack potential, but you- you expelled me anyway?" Izuku pressed. His voice carried the tone of sheer disappointment, rather than outrage.

"I've tried to rationalize it, but believe you me, nothing I can say can possibly excuse what I did to you. Had it not been for Hamada, I may very well have ruined your life. And… I sincerely apologize."

There was a tense, uncomfortable silence between everyone still standing on the beach.

"I… I don't think I can forgive you," Midoriya admitted. "At least right now."

"I don't expect you to. ...You should know I am no longer teaching at UA. And in fact, I suspect my teaching license will be revoked soon, along with my Pro Hero license. A few of my colleagues caught wind of what I did and they weren't pleased about my actions. You ever been on the receiving end of Midnight's whip when she's not playing around?"

"Can't say I have," Izuku said.

"You don't want to." Aizawa looked Izuku in the eyes. "I'm meeting with the Hero Commission tomorrow to discuss both my missteps as well as Bakugou's. Hopefully, bringing him to justice for what he did to you will help repair some of the damage I've done to you."

"Maybe… it's just… the last thing All Might ever did was save him, and if that last act of heroism was ruined-"

"Don't worry about the grisly details going public," Aizawa reassured. "When Bakugou is punished, the Hero Commission will likely just say it was due to unheroic actions and not go into further depth. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to my patrol."

He turned to leave, before looking back to the boy he once dismissed. "You know, you really impressed me with that fight. If I manage to keep my license through all of this, I hope to work alongside you one day." And just as suddenly as he arrived, Aizawa strode away, disappearing down the street past the beach.

Uraraka turned to look at Izuku, who looked as though he'd had the rug pulled out from under him and hadn't realized gravity had taken hold of him yet.

"Izuku…? Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I… I guess. I'll get over it. Eventually." He turned to Shinsou, wanting to change the subject. "So… Shinsou, huh? You're the Persuasive Hero, Blackout?"

"...Yeah, that's me."

"I've actually done some research on you, and I have so many questions about your Quirk!"

Shinsou raised his eyebrow. "Like?"

"Like, I know you need the other person to respond for it to work, but can you respond to nonverbal responses, like a nod?" Shinsou hadn't considered that, but before he could answer, Izuku shot more of them out. "Does the strength of your control depend on the kind of response? If you got multiple people to talk to you at once, could you control them all at once?"

As Izuku shot question after question at Shinsou, who was struggling to keep up with all the inquiries, Uraraka couldn't help but let out a laugh.

He's strong. He'll be even stronger for this experience, and he'll have us to back him up.

Seeing Izuku once again in his natural environment of analyzing Quirks, the tension dissolved almost entirely. The members of the Hell Class knew that they had found a new friend and ally, and in spite of all that had happened, he was going to be alright.

A month later…

"Probation, huh?" Midoriya asked as he calmly stroked a black-and-white cat.

"Yeah. The Commission decided that though my actions towards you were reprehensible, they were actions taken as a teacher and not a Pro Hero, so I was given a warning. That said, I lost my teaching license. Though I never intended on going back to teaching after I resigned," Aizawa replied, petting an orange cat.

Midoriya and Aizawa had met up at a cat cafe near UA and were catching up, much more cordially than at the beach. It had been Midoriya's idea to meet here, actually, though he had a specific reason for asking to meet him now.

"You resigned as a teacher? I thought you were fired."

"Yes, well… you see, after I expelled you, Shinsou wasn't able to actually be part of the class until after the Sports Festival. So there was a hole in the class when the USJ incident happened. Two of my students died that day. And I can't help but wonder if the outcome would have been different if you were in my class like you were supposed to be."

"So you're worried their blood might be on your hands."

"Exactly. I know dwelling on what-ifs is unhealthy…"

"No, I totally understand, Aizawa," Midoriya admitted. "All throughout my time at Hamada, I've had an unhealthy grudge against your class based on faulty first impressions, and I never bothered to make many friends out of fear of being burned again. So many opportunities, wasted…"

The two continued to interact with the cats in silence before Izuku spoke up a minute later.

"I haven't heard anything about Bakugou though. What happened to him?"

"His license was revoked," Aizawa said bluntly, not holding back. "Simple as that."

"Really?" Izuku gasped, a little shocked. "But all that bullying was before UA…"

"Trust me, if UA had known about the bullying, if your previous teachers had penalized him like they were supposed to, we wouldn't have let him into the entrance exam. But that's besides the point. Even if his actions are far in the past, the incident on the beach proves that despite UA's attempts, his behavior hadn't changed much and his maturity was incredibly fragile."

"...What's he doing now?"

"Last I heard? Anger management, therapy, and community service."

"Oh, I see," Izuku said, rolling his eyes. "The Commission probably required those for him to get his license back."

"Actually no," Aizawa corrected. "The Commission has no intention of restoring his license, and they've made that perfectly clear. Bakugou's doing those things of his own free will."

Izuku looked at him in skepticism. "Really? That's sudden of him."

"If I had to guess, it was Kirishima cutting him out of his life that did it. Guess it's a case of him not knowing what he had until it was gone."

"Wow…"

"The Commission has no intention of restoring his Pro Hero status, but since he's been on good behavior, there's talk of letting him act provisionally. You know, in all-hands-on-deck situations, like those Nomu attacks a while back."

The greenette continued stroking the cat as he remained deep in thought. I didn't think Bakugou had it in him…

"So Midoriya, I know you didn't call me here just to catch up. What do you want?"

Midoriya took a deep breath and smiled. "Well, I finally popped the question to Mei, and of course she said yes."

"Oh? Congratulations."

"And, well, ever since that day a month ago, I've been meeting the other members of the Hell Class, and a few of the other UA graduates. Mirio introduced me to Eri, and we got along swell. She's a sweet girl, and I wanted her to be the flower girl at my wedding. And since you're her legal guardian, I figured I should ask you."

"She'd love that, I think."

"Of course, I guess that means I have no choice but to let you come to the wedding too."

Aizawa looked legitimately surprised. "You're… you're really inviting me to your wedding?"

" Allowing. Make no mistake, this is just because I want Eri to be there," Midoriya said sharply, "Not because I've forgiven you."

"I see…"

Another silence.

"...Although I have forgiven you."

"You have?"

"What can I say?" Izuku said, smiling sadly. "Holding grudges is exhausting. I didn't know how true that was until just recently."

"Well then, I'm glad. And I would be honored to attend."

"Just… while you're there, please try not to look like a hobo?" Izuku asked with a long-suffering voice.

"Don't worry, even I have standards."

"That's good to hear."

Of course, what Izuku didn't tell Aizawa was that he'd also invited Ms. Joke and personally ensured that she and Aizawa would be seated next to each other. Even though he had indeed forgiven Aizawa, Izuku felt he was still allowed to be just a little petty.

You can hardly blame him for that, right?

And that's the end of the main story. I've been planning for it to end this way for a while now, and yes, Eri is just fine in this timeline, don't worry.

Of course, I plan on writing a few other stories in this AU, which for the version I'll just add as new chapters. I won't write these side-stories too often, but I'd like to use them to explore parts of this AU that couldn't really get touched upon in the story itself.

Again, thank you all for coming on this journey with me.