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Hitoka shivers.
She can't let this happen. What would Shinso think of her right now? And Takahashi?
She can't. She won't.
"Hitoka," Dabi says as they both crouch outside of the castle walls. "You remember the plan, right?"
She scoffs. "Of course. All of our lives have been leading to this moment."
Dabi turns to her, looking her in her eyes. "Get in, get out. If you're not out in the next ten minutes, we're not waiting for you."
Hitoka nods. "I'm not stupid."
"We'll see about that," the scarred man replies. "Now go. In then out. Shigaraki has little patience."
Hitoka does as she's told, knowing full well that it's not Shigaraki that is going to start the plan. Dabi's indirectly telling her that he won't wait, either.
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She's inside, only thanks to Kurogiri's quirk.
The walls are as she's remembered them, clean, but the Kurisumasu decorations are gone.
She runs through the halls, surprised to find them empty. Where is everyone? She doesn't even see any guards.
She has to warn someone.
She can't stop the League's attack, but she can choose to not be a part of it.
Screw Shigaraki's plan. She just has to find someone to warn the royals. Maybe they'll escape, at least.
Maybe Takahashi will get out if she warns someone in time.
Her bare feet are sore from running, but she has to keep going. If only she knew were everyone was gathered, then she would have more time to help them. All she knows is that there's some party going on.
That's why the League wanted to initiate the plan so quickly.
"Like killing five royals with one stone," she remembers Shigaraki saying.
Hitoka's eyes scan the halls, and in desperation she tries to call out for someone. Someone. Anyone.
At last, a guard appears from around the corner, tilting her head in confusion. Her hair is in a tight bun, and a sword is at her hip. When she sees Hitoka, her eyes light up in recognition and her mouth forms a scowl.
"Hey! You're the trai--"
Hitoka runs to the guard, hugging her tight and covering her mouth. She tries to be as gentle as she can.
She doesn't want to hurt anymore people.
The guard must see the desperation in Hitoka's eyes, because she doesn't fight her, instead she's quiet, her eyes scanning the traitor clinging to her.
"Listen to me," Hitoka growls, "Something very, very bad is about to happen. You have to get everyone out. There's not much time."
The guard nods, and Hitoka lets go of her.
"But why are y--"
Hitoka interrupts her. "Tell the princess," she pauses, thinking of what to say, of how she could possibly sum up all of her emotions in such a rush. "Tell the princess I'm sorry."
Then the guard runs off, shouting for others to help her evacuate the castle.
For once in a really, really long time, Hitoka smiles.
This one good deed could never outweigh all the wrong she's done, but maybe, just maybe, she would no longer be called a traitor.
Maybe someday, she can redeem herself.
Hitoka feels relieved. Her mind relaxes, despite the danger she knows everyone is about to be in.
But her relief melts away when she smells the smoke.
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She thought she had ten minutes. It's been five, at most. Did Dabi lie? Surely he wouldn't. Maybe he wouldn't.
She knows he would.
He must've seen the way she hesitated to help the Duke. The way the princess still isn't dead.
He must've decided she's better off dead.
She won't die. She won't burn with the castle that took everything away from her. She won't lose her life in the place that has taken everything else.
She won't die because she won't let Dabi live with this. She won't let the League take more from her.
She'll end them herself.
Her heart pulses with rage, even as she inhales more and more smoke. She covers her mouth with her shirt, hoping desperately that the guard had enough time to warn everyone.
Even now she imagines Dabi's grin as he sets fire to the castle, and Toga's laugh as she slaughters those who try to escape the blue flames.
She has to find the princess. She promised herself she wouldn't let her die.
A part of her is hoping she'll find Takahashi along the way.
She runs through the halls, watching as guards, maids, and other palace staff pile out of every room, rushing to the exit.
That means the guard warned some of them.
But still, there's no sign of any of the royals.
Hitoka stops when she hears crying.
A lady. From the room down the hall. Would someone leave their family in such a hurry?
No, they wouldn't. Not on accident.
Her veins boil with anger hotter than the growing heat around her, and Hitoka rushes to the room where the crying comes from.
When the door doesn't open, she slams her body against it, over, and over, and over, until it falls to the ground.
A girl sits in the middle of the room, and she looks no younger than Hitoka herself.
"Get up!" Hitoka shouts, her voice hoarse from inhaling the smoke, "We have to get out of here!"
The girl sobs harder, clutching her arm. Hitoka runs to her and scoops her up, glad she's not that heavy.
She tries to console the sobbing girl, but her voice catches when she sees the girl's arm. It's twisted and bruised, and it must be horribly painful. What in the world happened?
Hitoka doesn't have enough time to think.
Her mind is growing fuzzy from being in the smoke too long. The girl is getting heavier by the second.
She sets her down, pushing her along.
"Hurry," she tells her, "run as fast as you can. I think I heard a person in another room. Leave me. I'll be right there."
The girl, who's probably only a year or two younger than Hitoka, nods. Then she runs off, filled with the hope that she'll see her savior again.
Hitoka was lying.
It's what she's best at, after all.
She didn't hear anyone. She could just tell the girl wouldn't leave her alone, despite her broken arm and the blue flames settling around them.
So she lied to get her to run.
She has to find the princess. She has to do something. She has to help someone.
From the way the girl's running, she probably won't make it out alive. Hitoka can't bear seeing her die, so she runs down the other corridor, the floor growing hot under her feet.
A window.
She has to find a window.
At the end of the hall, a window leads to the courtyard, and she runs as fast as she's ever run.
It won't open.
It won't open.
She pounds on the glass, now sobbing herself.
And in that moment, it's like she can see her future fade away, as the sound of the roof above her caving in overcomes the sound of her sobs.
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Dabi grins, brushing his hand against the outside of the castle and watching as the blue flames lick across the walls.
Shigaraki smiles. Everything is going according to plan. Soon, the Todoroki palace will be nothing but ash.
He laughs as the palace's walls start to crumble and it caves in on itself. The sounds of screaming fill the air.
The irony. That's his favorite part.
The Kingdom of Fire will go down in flames.
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