I awoke to a pressing silence, the kind of quiet that can only be found in a hospital room in the middle of the night. For a moment, I was disoriented. The sharp antiseptic smell and the deep, throbbing pain throughout my body quickly brought my memory back. The forest. Blue flames. Nomu. And failure. The taste of failure was more painful than any physical wound. We had failed to protect Bakugo.
I tried to sit up, and every muscle in my body screamed in protest. My regeneration had clearly been working overtime, as I knew I should have been in far more pain. But it was still agonizing. I looked at my arm in the dim light. The burns that should have been there were gone, replaced by smooth new skin with a faint, silvery spiderweb pattern, a signature of my dragon's power.
A doctor came in to check on me in the morning, his expression a mixture of professional confusion and unconcealed awe. "Medically, you should still be in critical condition," he said, reading the data on his tablet. "Your tissue recovery rate is off the charts. Your muscle tissue... it's like it rebuilt itself from scratch overnight. What an incredible and terrifying Quirk you have, young man."
I said nothing. If only he knew this Quirk wasn't even a Quirk.
My first visitors were not doctors or nurses. They were my friends. Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Nejire entered my room cautiously, as if I were made of glass. Their faces showed sincere relief at seeing me conscious, but also a deep sadness.
"Tatsumi-kun!" Uraraka whispered, her eyes slightly swollen. "We were so worried."
"They told us what happened," Nejire said, her usual energy dimmed to a quiet concern. "You... you took all that fire alone to protect Midoriya-kun and the others. That... that was so..."
"Reckless," Tsuyu interjected bluntly, though there was a note of respect in her voice. "But also very heroic, kero."
They told me what happened after I passed out. About how the teachers and police secured the area. About how all the injured students were taken to the hospital. And the heaviest news: the official confirmation that Katsuki Bakugo had been kidnapped by the League of Villains.
Every word felt like a blow. I, with all my knowledge of the future, with all my power, still couldn't prevent it. I felt a cold wave of guilt. I remembered my dreams, the echo of the original Tatsumi's soul feeling regret for failing to protect his friends. Now, I felt that exact same feeling.
After they left, my next visitor was Ryukyu. She came alone. She was no longer in her hero costume, just regular casual clothes, but her aura as a top hero was still strong. She didn't look angry as I had expected. She just looked very, very tired.
She pulled up a chair and sat beside me. "I've spoken with Nezu and Tsukauchi," she said quietly. "The official story for the public is that you and Midoriya were severely injured while protecting other students from an unexpected Nomu attack. Your involvement in the fight against Stain and the specific details of Bakugo's kidnapping are being kept from the media for now, to avoid mass panic."
She looked at me, her golden eyes filled with a complex emotion. "I have also given my report on you. I said that you acted against orders but that your actions directly saved the lives of at least three students and one pro hero. I emphasized your courage, not your insubordination."
"Why?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"Because it's the truth," she answered simply. "And because..." she paused, as if searching for the right word. "...because I am your mentor. Your failure is also my failure. I was the one who approved your plan to go to Hosu. I should have kept a closer watch on you." She sighed. "Now is not the time for blame. Now is the time for action."
She leaned forward. "You know where they are, don't you? From your 'story.' Where is their base? Where did they take Bakugo-kun?"
I nodded slowly. "Kamino, Yokohama." I told her about the grimy bar run by Kurogiri and the nearby warehouse that served as a Nomu factory. I told her about the coming battle between All Might and All For One, the fight that would end the era of the Symbol of Peace.
Ryukyu listened in silence, her face hardening into a steel mask with every horrific detail I revealed. She, a hero who had dedicated her life to order and law, was now forced to believe a prophecy from another world coming from the mouth of a boy. She shouldered this burden of knowledge with me now, and I could see how heavy it was. "I will pass this on to All Might personally and secretly," she said finally. "The heroes will move. But you... you will stay here and recover. You've done your part."
In another part of the hospital, the atmosphere was completely different. Midoriya's room was filled with most of our classmates. They were all trying to comfort him, but the atmosphere of sadness and helplessness was palpable.
Kirishima paced the room like a caged tiger, his hands clenched. "I can't take it anymore!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with anger and frustration. "We're just sitting here while Bakugo is out there with those bastards! He was kidnapped on our watch! That's not manly at all!"
"Calm down, Kirishima-kun," Iida said in a quiet voice, trying to soothe him. "We have to leave this to the pro heroes. Acting rashly will only..."
"Will only what, Iida?!" Kirishima retorted. "Make us end up like you in Hosu? At least we'd be doing something! I can't just sit still!" He turned to Todoroki. "Todoroki, you're with me, right? We can save him."
Todoroki, who had been silent all this time, looked out the window. "Yes," he said curtly. "We have to."
In a corner of the room, Momo listened to the debate, her heart in turmoil. She knew Iida was right. Rash actions were a path to disaster. But she also remembered her feeling of helplessness in the forest, when she could only make gas masks while her friends fought for their lives. She remembered Tatsumi's words at the festival: "In the final round, there will be no one to give you orders. You'll have to rely on your own judgment."
As Kirishima and Todoroki were about to leave, Momo spoke up, her voice clear and steady. "Wait."
Everyone turned to her.
"If you're going," she said, standing up, "you can't just go unprepared. That would be foolish." She looked at them with a new resolve shining in her eyes. "During the attack, I managed to attach a small tracking device to one of the fleeing Nomu. I can create a duplicate of its signal for you. I can give you the exact location."
This was her moment. She was no longer just following. She was taking the initiative. She was making a difficult choice, choosing to help her friends even if it broke the rules, because she believed it was the right thing to do.
That night, after most of the visitors had gone home, Kirishima and Todoroki slipped into my room.
"Tatsumi," Kirishima said in a low, serious voice. "We're going to Kamino to save Bakugo. We're not going to fight. Just observe, grab him if there's an opening, and run. Yaoyorozu gave us a tracker and some support gear."
Todoroki looked at me. "We need you. You're the calmest and most strategic among us. We don't need your power. We need your brain to keep us from doing something stupid."
I looked at their determined faces. This was an impossible choice. Ryukyu had just ordered me to stay put. If I went, I would completely destroy her trust. But if I didn't go, my friends would be walking into the lion's den without a guide. I thought of Iida in Hosu. I thought of the broken Midoriya. I thought of my own vow to protect them.
I couldn't let them go alone.
Slowly, with every muscle protesting, I swung my legs out of the hospital bed. The pain was still there, but it was overshadowed by a cold wave of resolve. I didn't say yes. I didn't have to.
I looked at them, then nodded once, a short gesture heavy with consequences.