Chapter 49

The wind whipped through my white hair, tugging at the stray freckled strands that refused to stay put. Peter stayed close, his familiar presence a grounding force against the storm raging inside me. I was a mess, a goddamn disaster waiting to happen. He knew it. He'd seen it before. This particular brand of stress, this suffocating weight of revelation, always led to the same dark place. Self-destruction. Depressive spirals. The last time I was this close to the edge, I nearly leveled half of Japan. Peter, bless his soul, had talked me down then. But talking… would it be enough this time?

I sighed, the sound lost in the city's hum. "I'm going to talk to Dabi…"

Peter's eyes widened, just a fraction, before he nodded. "Okay. Are you sure?"

"Sure? No. Not even a little." The truth hung in the air, thick and acrid. Dabi. Touya. My best friend, lost to fire and presumed dead. Now a villain, a twisted mockery of the boy I remembered. The information I was supposed to gather, the detached observation, had shattered into a million painful pieces. It wasn't intel. It was betrayal. It was loss, resurrected in the cruellest way possible. Keep your friends close? He was closer than I ever imagined, breathing down my neck while I was oblivious. Enemy, friend… I didn't even know what he was anymore. And that terrified me.

But the Todorokis… that was the real kicker. Their son, their brother, reduced to ash in their memory. Now, he was a monster, a symbol of everything they fought against. What the hell would happen when this got out? Endeavor was going to go down in flames, and it wouldn't be from his own quirk. The thought flickered in my mind, a dark spark of amusement igniting a wicked chuckle. Peter grabbed my shoulder, worry etched on his face. "Anos? What are you thinking?"

I shook my head, trying to banish the venomous thoughts. "Nothing. Just… I'm leaving. I need to see if he's still there."

Peter nodded, his grip tightening for a moment before he released me. "I'm coming with you. Just in case."

I didn't argue. I needed him. Better safe than sorry.