He fired.

I threw myself to the side, sharingan whirling, as the sound of the gunshot exploded like thunder across the room.

My chair toppled over as the bullet tore a hole in its back exactly where my torso had been a second earlier.

With an expert hand, the policeman aimed his gun at me and fired again.

I ran for the tinted window, a volley of bullets twisting the floor in my wake.

Chakra coursing through my veins, I jumped onto the glass, took two steps on it and found myself running backwards across the ceiling.

Three bullets exploded on it, shattering the glass without passing through.

I jumped, legs bent, and the policeman stepped back, caught off guard, raising his gun a second too late.

My hand wrapped around the barrel, crushing it in a split second.

The officer, eyes squinting, dropped his gun and pulled out two knives, his skin melting like wax.

She raised her right hand to stab me, then her left to disembowel me.

My foot exploded her stomach and she spat saliva, her eyes bulging.

Her back slammed violently into the wall, the knives slipping from her hands and she collapsed like a rag doll.

Sharingan whirling, I spun in one smooth motion, chakra concentrating in my fists.

My fist slammed into the stained glass.

It exploded in a shower of shards, the pieces suspended in time as my Sharingan took in everything that happened around me.

To the right, near the door, lay an officer with a knife to his throat.

In the center of the room, on his knees, was a man with cracked skin, holding his throat with one hand, his eyes bulging as the cracks spread to his face.

To the left, near the wall, was my father, eyebrows furrowed, one leg bent behind him and the other stretched out in front of him as if he'd taken a sudden step backward, the shadow of a flame hovering over his cheekbone, his right arm fully extended, covered in flames. 

And only a dozen centimeters from his face was Shigaraki's hand, drops of blood rolling down his fingers.

I blinked, and the next thing I knew, the whole building was shaking, threatening to collapse in on itself, while Shigaraki, his eyes rolled back in their sockets, fell like a lump to the ground, the imprint of his body trapped in the wall for fifteen centimeters.

Behind me, the glass fell like crystal.

I straightened up, chakra still pulsing beneath my skin, then met my father's surprised and intense gaze.

My Sharingan deactivated as the stricken officer crumbled to dust behind me.

Dad studied me from head to toe for a second before straightening up, suddenly alarmed.

- Where's your brother?

I opened my mouth as he passed me and turned to follow him as his shoulder brushed against mine.

He walked through the huge hole where the glass used to be, his thigh brushing a particularly sharp piece of glass.

I raised my hand and took a step toward him, the breath of a sentence leaving my mouth, but he passed the rubble without a problem.

My hand fell back along my body.

I looked at him as if in a second state as he crouched next to Touya, his worried eyes surveying him in the same way he had surveyed me as a child.

From the other side of the door, I heard a commotion and shouts, then a cavalcade of furious footsteps. 

With haggard eyes, Touya looked around as if he saw the world for the first time. There was blood in his hair.

The door on their side opened and suddenly Rei, Natsuo and Fuyumi entered.

Rei stiffened, cutting off her own momentum, and widened her eyes. 

Then tears began to roll down her cheeks and she ran to her son.

Fuyumi, her mouth hanging open, hesitated.

Natsuo looked up at her with big eyes, just like I remembered him doing when we were children.

She ran and he followed, a little late, worry and hope shared on his flushed face.

They fell to their knees around Touya, feeling his shoulders and clothes to see if he was all right, whispering softly to him as tears glistened in their eyes. 

Natsuo began to sniffle. 

Rei cried openly, clutching her son to her heart and refusing to let go.

Touya, surprised, his arms flailing, let go and looked at everyone around him in surprise.

My eyes went back to dad.

He looked at Natsuo, Fuyumi, Rei - every member of his family - with an indecipherable expression.

Then his eyes fell on Touya, and the joy and relief in his eyes twisted my stomach.

Turning my back on them, I faced the stunned officers who had stood in the doorway, staring in horror at the bodies - or what was left of them - of their colleagues before their eyes were drawn to the sight of the family finally reunited, oblivious to the outside world.

I stayed until they had loaded Shigaraki and Himiko into a police van, until I had told three different officers what had happened, even though they had the video recordings.

One of them lifted his cap with his thumb to scratch his forehead.

- We still need Endeavor's official report card for our superiors. No offense, son, but without even a provisional license...

Behind me I could still feel dad and the others gathered in a circle, drunk with joy, wrapped in a bubble of happiness that the outside world couldn't penetrate, not yet.

- Just give him a little more time. Besides, I think you've got better things to do than wait for his testimony.

I pointed to the special team of men in gray fatigues who were busy observing the structure of the building, yellow hard hats screwed to their skulls.

One of them, notepad in hand, tapped on the wall next to a particularly large crack.

Cement dust rained down, but the building remained stable.

He scribbled on his pad.

The officer I spoke with scowled.

- It's true (he turned to me) I saw the video, by the way. Excellent reactions and initiative. But if you could avoid all that, next time.

He pointed to the cracks that had spread like cobwebs from the surveillance room where I'd sent Shigaraki into the wall.

‘Next time’...

I shrugged.

A fine film of dust fell from my black T-shirt.

Absent-mindedly, I dusted it off.

The officer smiled.

- Well, I won't keep you any longer.

I went to the front door.

- You're not going to...?

His eyes darted back and forth between me and where he was lavishing in joy.

- I've got class.

- Class. Of course.

He said nothing more, but I knew he didn't believe my flimsy excuse.

I left the room, leaving behind a swarm of cops whose eyes pierced my back, just waiting for the moment when I was out of earshot.

I was never the talkative type, but I had never regretted opening my mouth as much as I did at that stupid press conference.

Now everyone knew why I was really leaving.

Outside, the sun was high in the sky, frozen at its zenith as when I'd entered, as if time had been suspended while I was locked within these four walls.

There was the sound of sirens in the distance, and the bustle of Tokyo drowned my senses as if my head had been submerged under water.

I stopped beside my motorcycle, helmet in hand, ready to go.

Touya may have won this battle, but he was far from winning this war.

*

Author's note :

If you want to support me/read ahead of schedule, you can do so on my P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

See you in the next update everyone !