BNHA: I am Reiji Toga

"Who's the boy?!" "Is he a new hero or a vigilante?!" "Is he enrolled in some hero academy?!"

The screams multiplied.

Shinso maintained eye contact with Reiji, never letting go of the mental thread that held him from the inside. The connection exhausted him, but he knew if he broke it, even for a second… something would explode.

Reiji breathed through his mouth. The veins in his neck were prominent. The urge was still there. Demanding. Growling like a chained dog.

"You!" An unknown heroine approached, pointing, "We need to know your name. Are you with an agency?"

Reiji didn't respond. He couldn't. He just turned his head slightly, his eyes bloodshot. The line was dangerously close.

And then… something cut through the air.

A gust of wind and feathers.

"Hey, hey! What an undiplomatic way to greet a savior, don't you think?"

Hawks landed gracefully among them.

The reporters erupted.

"Hawks?! What are you doing here?!" "Do you know the boy?!" "He trained him?!"

Shinso took a step back, instinctively. Reiji barely moved his eyes. But something in him relaxed.

Hawks had arrived.

"Let me handle this, please," the hero said to the group of professionals. "I know him. And yes, he acted on his own, but thanks to him, that kid." He pointed at Bakugo. "He's still alive."

"But he's authorized?" A veteran hero insisted.

"You were authorized when the kid was dying?" Hawks replied with a sharp smile. "Because if we keep this up, they'll make unfavorable headlines tomorrow."

That was enough for an awkward silence.

Hawks turned to Shinso. He gave him a sizing-up look. Then, in a lower tone, he said,

"Thanks for keeping him on his feet. I'll take it."

Shinso nodded, exhausted. He didn't know what was really going on, but he knew it was serious.

"He's at his limit. I don't know what he has, but... it's serious."

"I know," Hawks replied, his eyes sharp. "That's why I'm here."

Shinso cut the connection.

Reiji staggered.

Hawks held his shoulder firmly.

"You're with me. Look ahead. Breathe with me."

"I can't..." Reiji whispered. "He's screaming. In my chest. In my teeth."

"Then scream louder." His expression was serious. He knew that if Reiji were to give in to the impulse, even he would have a hard time stopping it. The blood would act more instinctively, violently, and powerfully. "But inside. Just a few more minutes."

Reiji clenched his jaw.

"Good... Though I don't know how long it will last," he murmured.

"You already do. Now smile a little. Or at least don't bite anyone."

Reiji made it. Barely. But he made it.

And then Hawks turned to the media.

"I appreciate the concern, but no comment for now. Right now, the authorities have their work to do, and the scene still needs to be shut down. I ask you to leave."

Flashes. Screams. Murmurs.

But the scene stabilized.

And Reiji... was still standing.

Thanks to Hawks. Thanks to Shinso.

And thanks to himself.

But definitely not thanks to Izuku Midoriya.

***

The area was cordoned off.

The crowd of civilians had vanished; after all, they had lives to attend to. Some heroes were assisting in the rubble. Others were holding back the media behind a line marked by temporary barriers. The street smelled of smoke, cement, and blood.

Reiji was sitting on the edge of a portable stretcher, his hands clasped together, his eyes fixed on the ground. The shaking had already stopped, thanks to the "juice" Hawks had surreptitiously passed him minutes before.

A few steps away, Katsuki Bakugo was receiving medical attention. He had a blanket over his shoulders and a bandage on his side. He said nothing. He just watched.

Reiji heard the footsteps before he heard them speak.

"Name," a firm voice said.

He raised his head.

Tsukauchi, the police chief, looked at him with the methodical calm of someone accustomed to talking with dangerous people... or about to become so.

Reiji didn't move.

"Reiji Toga."

"You're not registered," Tsukauchi continued, his tone not aggressive but clear. "You don't have a license. You don't belong to any agency. And you used an offensive Quirk in public. Against a villain. Surrounded by civilians."

Reiji looked at him straight.

"I know."

Tsukauchi took a step closer.

"Did you have authorization?"

"No."

"Then why did you do it?"

Silence.

Katsuki raised his eyes slightly.

Reiji inhaled.

"Because if I didn't, that kid would die."

Tsukauchi didn't blink.

"And that gives you the right to break the law?"

"No," Reiji replied firmly. He knew perfectly well what the police officer in front of him wanted to hear. "But I'm not going to ask permission to prevent a death."

The police chief was silent for a few seconds. Then he lowered his voice slightly.

"I'm not arresting you today. Because you saved a life. Because someone"—he glanced sideways at Hawks, talking to another hero—"already intervened for you. But don't you dare repeat this without coverage. The next time you act outside the system, you'll walk away in handcuffs. Do I make myself clear?"

Reiji nodded, without pride. Without arrogance.

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

Tsukauchi simply turned away.

Katsuki watched him leave.

Then he looked back at Reiji. Their eyes met, barely.

"I could have just..." he said after a moment, his expression annoyed. Reiji didn't say anything; he knew he wouldn't openly thank him or anything like that, and personally, he didn't care anymore.

***

The door closed with a soft creak behind him.

Reiji took barely two steps into the house before a voice hit him head-on:

"What were you thinking?!"

Himiko stood there in the hallway, her eyes red, her hair loose, and her jaw trembling.

"Does it seem normal to you to appear on the news covered in blood?! With a villain on top of you?!"

He said nothing. He lowered his eyes. He knew he was going to be challenged when he got home; he'd prepared for it the whole way.

"You could have died!"

The mother appeared behind him, phone still in her hand, as if she'd spent the last hour refreshing every social media platform and newscast with tears in her eyes.

"You called us, yes! But seeing those images was like a stab! Seeing you there... alone... while everyone was screaming! Reiji, you're our son!"

He slowly looked up.

"And I still am. But if I didn't… that boy would be dead."

Silence.

Not of peace. Of shock.

Himiko clenched her fists. Rage still shone in her eyes, but she swallowed the words that came next. She only muttered:

"You're an idiot…"

Then, the father appeared at the end of the hall.

He didn't shout. He didn't rush. He just approached calmly. Tall. Serious. With an expression that was hard to read.

He stopped in front of Reiji.

And placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"You did what had to be done," he said, without embellishment. "And you did it when no one else dared."

That was his way of saying "I'm proud."

Reiji nodded, not speaking.

The mother wiped her eyes in frustration.

"I'm not saying it was wrong," she said, her voice lower. "It's just that... I want you to warn us before you do something like that again. Or at least... it always comes back whole."

"I'll try," Reiji finally replied.

Himiko sighed. She turned around without looking at him and walked into the kitchen.

"I made you something. I don't know if you'll eat it, but I'm not going to let you sleep without you sitting down like a normal person for five minutes."

Reiji watched her go. Then he looked at his parents. And for the first time all day, he felt something resembling... peace.

"It's okay."

***

The city slept, but Reiji didn't.

From the roof of his house, he watched the distant lights of Musutafu, arms crossed, his blood rush finally under control. The juice Hawks gave him had a barely concealed metallic taste. Efficient. Like everything they did.

But his mind wasn't there. It was on the bridge. On the sludge villain. On the memories of his other life. On the absence.

Izuku Midoriya didn't appear.

He didn't run. He didn't scream. He didn't jump.

And Reiji knew it. He knew why.

'It was because of what I told him that day.'

A quick chat. A piece of rational advice. It was enough to divert an irrational decision.

And with that… the story fragmented.

'Without that scene, All Might doesn't look at him. Without that act, One For All doesn't change hands.' And without a wielder, time runs out.

Because All Might wasn't eternal. And neither was the Quirk.

Reiji closed his eyes for a moment. Not out of tiredness, but to gauge the exact weight of the mistake. He wanted to have a full life, but to do so, he first had to thrive amidst all the problems brought by the plot of the world he found himself in. Without Izuku, the whole equation changed.

'It doesn't matter if he dies sooner or later. What matters is that when he does... someone receives that damned Quirk.'

It wasn't a matter of faith, or destiny. It was mechanics. It was structure. And he had moved the most important piece ahead of time.

He opened his eyes. He looked back at the city.

'I have to make sure there's a witness when the time comes. One with principles. With courage. With instinct. And this time... I won't intervene.'

Midoriya could still be it. Someone else too. That wasn't up to him anymore.

But he would do everything necessary so that, when the symbol faded, the spark wouldn't be lost.

Not by mistake. And not because of him.

For the sake of the world itself, without a counterpart to block the full power of AFO, then the world was destined for darkness. At worst, he himself would take up that mantle... Although his chances were drastically reduced once he joined the commission, All Might wasn't reckless. He wouldn't give it to him, because of his past and his dual Quirk, but in a life-or-death situation... Who knows what might happen?