Can We Be Heroes?

Chapter 52• Revelation III

Vixen couldn’t breathe. They hadn’t inhaled much smoke, but the suffocating haze clawed at his throat all the same. His chest burned like it was packed with broken glass, lungs refusing to expand no matter how hard he tried.

Without thinking, his hands fumbled at the straps of his mask.

“Wait—!” Hex started, already reaching out but it was too late. The fox mask slipped free and clattered against the concrete, spinning once before coming to rest.

Neito Monoma gasped, dragging air into his lungs like he’d been drowning.

For a split second, the world froze. Hex didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. He couldn’t even blink. That was because he knew that face. A face that held those all too familiar sharp blue eyes now dulled by panic. The unmistakable scowl stripped bare of arrogance. The boy who sat beside him in class. The one who argued too much, laughed too loud, and cared too deeply.

“…Monoma,” Hex whispered before he could stop himself.

The name slipped out like a reopened wound. And this time Neito was the one who stiffened, then slowly looked up.

Blue met green.

And in that moment, every late night absence, every unexplained bruise, every half-truth snapped into place with brutal clarity.

“…Midoriya?” Neito breathed.

Behind them, Shadow exhaled quietly. He wished he could be surprised—but he’d known. The pieces had never quite fit any other way. His suspicions were now confirmed.

“So I was right,” Shinso said, somberly. “You really are them.”

Neither answered. Izuku stared at Neito like the ground had vanished beneath his feet. Neito stared back, trying to process emotions that refused to stay in any single shape.

“I—” Izuku swallowed. “I didn’t— You weren’t supposed to—”

Neito let out a broken laugh that cracked halfway through. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He dragged a hand down his face. “All this time. I was hunting Hex thinking it would protect my best friend.”

His voice dropped. “Turns out my best friend was the one I was hunting.”

Izuku stepped forward instinctively. “Neito, listen—”

“No,” Neito snapped, backing away a step. “No explanations yet.”

His hands were shaking. “You’re Hex. The info broker. The ghost arrow. The one they’re trying to erase. They tracked you all the way to our school for christ sake. You almost died!”

Izuku nodded once, helpless. “I know.”

Then quietly, defensively he added. “And you’re Vixen. You run around disgracing heroes just for fun.”

Silence snapped tight and if looks could kill, Monoma would have probably become a murderer then and there.

Shadow shifted, uneasy. “Okay. You both need to breathe.”

Neito whirled on him. “And who are you to step in?”

The sharpness made Shinso flinch—but he held his ground. “I’m your friend too Monoma,” he said evenly as he removed his voice changer mask. “And because Hit Ringer is still downstairs. We don't have time for this.”

The building crackled with failing wires. Flickering lights washed over three boys standing amid rubble and shattered secrets. Hex,Vixen and Shadow were maskless.