𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠, 𝗌. 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝗈𝗋𝗈𝗄𝗂

𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝗉 （𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗋）

"but... how did he get this way?" miyuki's voice trembled with concern as she stared at the scene before her.

"keep it down," shoji whispered urgently, his voice low and steady. he didn't want dark shadow to catch wind of their conversation.

shoji took a deep breath, trying to steady himself before recounting what had happened. "after mandalay warned us about the situation and told us not to engage, we were both on high alert. but still, one of the villains managed to catch us off guard." he paused, the memory of the ambush flashing in his mind. "i hid in the bushes and tried to shield tokoyami, even after one of my arms was cut off."

miyuki's eyes widened in shock, her breath catching in her throat. the weight of shoji's words pressed down on her, but he continued, trying to keep his voice even.

"it looks bad," he admitted, "but it's not like it's lost forever. my dupli-arms can make duplicates upon duplicates. one of those got cut off. the thing is, tokoyami couldn't handle seeing me hurt like that. the quirk he's been suppressing... it started to rage and take over." as he finished, dark shadow let out a roar that sent chills down miyuki's spine, making her heart race with fear.

"the darker it is, the less control tokoyami has," miyuki murmured, the realization dawning on her.

izuku, eyes wide with surprise, nodded. "i had no idea his quirk could explode like this."

shoji kept his voice steady, though the gravity of the situation was undeniable. "it's probably fueled by his righteous indignation and regret. he's tried to hold it back, but they made it wilder. it started lunging at any sound or movement, a beast lashing out with indiscriminate attacks."

as tokoyami struggled to regain control, his voice broke through the chaos. "forget about me. go! find our classmates. help them instead," he grunted, his body trembling as he fought against the monstrous shadow. "stop this. calm down, dark shadow!"

shoji's eyes flickered with determination. "his quirk has a weakness to light. if we can lead them to a fire or back to camp, we can contain it." he turned to miyuki and izuku. "midoriya, satomi, i know these are strange circumstances, but i can't just leave a suffering friend behind. midoriya, you forced your broken body to get here because you were worried about bakugo. if you two still want to save him, i'll distract dark shadow for you. you can run."

miyuki's mind raced. shoji's words were logical, but leaving tokoyami like this felt wrong. she knew she could stop him with her lightning, but the risk of starting a fire among the trees was too great, and she was already drained from the day's intense training. how much more power did she have left?

"hold on. the fire and camp are both pretty far away. you'll be in danger if he—" izuku began, but his words were cut off as dark shadow swung a massive fist toward them. shoji acted instantly, throwing miyuki and izuku onto his back and leaping out of harm's way.

"i know that," shoji replied, his voice firm. "but to save people, you have to take risks. that's what makes a hero, a hero. will you two stay with me and help tokoyami? or will you rush to bakugo's side? you have to make a choice. right now."

miyuki and izuku exchanged a glance, their resolve hardening. "we already have," they said in unison, nodding firmly.

taking a deep breath, miyuki laid out her plan. "if dark shadow reacts to sound, then make duplicate arms to bait him. lead him away without risking your actual bodies. i'll fly around and position myself behind him. once you've led dark shadow to kacchan, i'll strike from above with my lightning. kacchan can use his explosions from the front to weaken him. i'm not sure how much power i have left, but i'll do my best. we can save them both!"