Chapter 36: Holding the Line
Ten minutes later, Akio Tatsuma slowly stood up.
His recovery wasn't complete—far from it—but he had regained enough strength to keep moving. Using another full-power attack like before was impossible unless he consumed the last Quirk Supplement, and he didn't want to waste that yet.
"What should we do now?" Shoto Todoroki asked.
For someone like Todoroki, who usually acted alone, asking someone else's opinion was rare. But after everything that had just happened, he wanted to hear Akio's judgment.
Akio looked toward the central plaza.
"It's simple," he said calmly. "First we support Thirteen, then we help Aizawa share the pressure. That black Nomu is much stronger than the ones we fought."
Todoroki nodded slowly.
"…There was still another Nomu earlier."
Akio smiled faintly.
"That one's already dead."
Todoroki's eyes narrowed.
"The storm earlier…"
"You saw it, right?"
Todoroki's expression shifted.
"You made that?"
It didn't make sense.
Akio's Quirk was lightning. Storms didn't just appear from lightning alone.
But Akio didn't explain.
His silence was enough.
Todoroki understood.
The winged Nomu had died there.
And Akio had done it alone.
So even that… wasn't his full strength.
Back in the central plaza, Tomura Shigaraki finally stepped forward.
"Twenty-three seconds…"
He muttered the numbers under his breath as he approached Aizawa.
There had been too many unexpected changes today.
Two Nomu—gone.
And he couldn't even confirm who had done it.
Those Nomu had been brought out early. They weren't as powerful as the black Nomu, but they were still far beyond what ordinary heroes could handle.
Yet they had died here.
Which meant the students had done something.
Shigaraki's eyes sharpened.
If that was true, these children had already become future threats.
Even if All Might didn't show up today—
he would still kill them.
"Twenty seconds…"
He closed the distance.
Aizawa struck first, driving an elbow toward Shigaraki's stomach.
Shigaraki caught it easily.
"Even though you keep moving," he said quietly, "there's always a moment when your hair falls. That's when your Quirk ends."
His eyes widened.
"And that moment is coming faster and faster."
Aizawa's elbow joint twisted under the pressure.
Pain shot through his arm.
"You're pushing too hard, Eraser Head."
Nearby, Midoriya, Mineta, and Tsuyu could only watch.
They were helpless.
If Midoriya used 100% of One For All, he would destroy his own body—and even then, there was no guarantee it would work.
If it failed, he would only become a burden.
Aizawa was already injured.
And now he had to keep fighting dozens of villains with one arm barely functioning.
"Your Quirk isn't suited for long battles against groups, is it?" Shigaraki continued, circling him.
"What you're best at is short, decisive fights from surprise attacks."
"But here you charged straight in."
His grin widened.
"Was it to reassure the students?"
Aizawa didn't answer.
He simply kept moving, clearing away the villains around him while staring at Shigaraki.
He's the leader.
If he could take him down—
But his injured elbow refused to cooperate.
Shigaraki suddenly spread his arms.
"So cool. So heroic."
Then he laughed.
"But heroes…"
Aizawa felt something behind him.
He turned—
And froze.
A massive black figure stood there.
The black Nomu.
Before Aizawa could react, its enormous hand reached for his head.
Was this it?
Was he going to die here?
Then—
A roar cut across the battlefield.
"Thunder Gun!"
A streak of blue lightning tore through the air.
It slammed into the Nomu's arm and blasted it aside, buying Aizawa a crucial second to dodge.
He rolled away instantly.
When he looked up, two figures had landed nearby.
Akio Tatsuma.
Shoto Todoroki.
"Akio! Todoroki!" Midoriya shouted in relief.
The moment he saw them, the tension in his chest eased.
For some reason, just seeing them arrive made him feel safe.
Aizawa leaned against a wall, breathing heavily.
"…Akio. Thank you."
As a teacher, he should have been protecting the students.
Yet today—
the students were protecting him.
The balance of the battlefield had quietly begun to shift.
Shigaraki stared at Akio with clear irritation.
"You again."
His fingers scratched harder against his neck.
"My two Nomu are dead."
He tilted his head.
"Does that have something to do with you?"
"Two Nomu?" Midoriya repeated, stunned.
Everyone instinctively looked toward the black Nomu.
If two were already dead—
Then the only explanation was…
Todoroki remained silent.
Only he knew the truth.
Akio had killed them.
One after the other.
And the way he had done it was something Todoroki still hadn't fully processed.
Akio simply shrugged.
"Who knows?"
He neither confirmed nor denied it.
Shigaraki stared at him for several seconds.
Then he suddenly laughed.
"So that's how it is."
"Even children talk to me like this now."
His voice turned cold.
"It seems the League of Villains has become a joke in your eyes."
He looked at the Nomu.
"Kill that kid."
The black Nomu immediately stepped forward.
Aizawa tried to stand again.
"Akio. Take Midoriya and the others and leave this to me."
Even injured, he forced his Quirk active again.
But Akio stopped him.
He placed a hand on Aizawa's shoulder.
"Sensei."
"That Nomu can't be handled by Quirk erasure."
Aizawa frowned.
"…How do you know that?"
Akio's eyes stayed on the monster.
"Because its strength isn't coming from its Quirks."
"It's pure physical power."
"Even if you erase its Quirks, it won't change much."
He stepped forward.
"We just need to hold it here."
Then he added quietly:
"Iida should already be on his way out of the facility."
"And when he reaches the school…"
"All Might will come."
Midoriya's eyes lit up instantly.
Hope returned.
Aizawa stared at Akio, still unsure how the student could know all of this.
But the situation didn't allow time for questions.
Akio removed his hand from Aizawa's shoulder.
Lightning exploded around his body.
Thor's Return — fully activated.
And the battlefield grew silent.
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