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Chapter Text

Vines grow around the street lamps and signposts, covering every surface they could reach. The villain stands at the epicenter of the overgrowth, monologuing about…something or other. Tenko doesn't really care about what his motivations are, his attention focused on the little girl wrapped in his vines as a hostage.

But just as he was about to reach out, to use his quirk on the villain's vines, a blast of blue fire eats through the base of the growth. The villain yelps, startled, and the girl shrieks as she falls. Tenko darts forward, but a hooded figure gets there first, catching the girl before she can become a splatter on the pavement.

Momentarily stunned, Tenko shakes out of his stupor, taking the villain's distraction as an opportunity.

“Wh-” the villain turns, his shout cut off by Tenko's fist to his face. He quickly restrains the man, cuffing him with quirk suppressors, and leaves him under a lamppost for retrieval once he can call this in. Tenko scans the street quickly, noting with relief that the little girl has reunited with her mother, and the two are leaving the area. He hopes they go to a clinic to get checked over, but he can't focus on that right now. He straightens, turning towards the strange interloper.

The hooded figure stands before him, face obscured by an ominous, grinning mask. White hair pokes out in unruly tufts beneath the hood. The only visible skin is the person's hands, everything else is wrapped in dark blue or purple fabric. The two stare at each other for a moment before the masked figure tilts their head.

“You’re welcome for the assist,” A deep, rough voice says with a mocking tone. Tenko huffs angrily, subconsciously puffing up.

“That was reckless and dangerous,” Tenko says, crossing his arms, a pinky raised on each hand. “That girl could have been burned by your flames, or if you were slower, could have hit the pavement. Are you even licensed for public quirk use?” he lectures, staring down the empty, black eye holes. The masked head tilts the other way. Tenko feels a little like he's being judged.

“Does it matter? The girl is okay and you stopped the villain and saved the day, like a good little hero,” the voice rasps, somewhat mockingly. Tenko narrows his eyes. “Gonna arrest me now? For my unforgivable crime of saving a little girl?” The figure spreads their arms out, challenging Tenko. He scrunches his nose beneath his mask.

“For the crime of unauthorized quirk use, could maybe technically get you for obstruction of hero work,” he says, uncrossing his arms, preparing himself.

“Shame. I thought you might be one of the good ones, being the kid of the number one hero and all.” Tenko's blood runs cold, eyes widening. How…

“How do you…” he starts, but the figure turns to dart down a dark alleyway.

“Well, see you around, Duster,” they call, Tenko shouting after them as he gives chase.

“Hey, wait! Just who are you?” Tenko sprints after them. The vigilante may have longer legs, but they're slow, and Tenko has always been fast. But just when Tenko is almost in reach, the vigilante takes a sudden turn down another alley.

He turns the corner and stops short when he realizes it's a dead end, a brick wall behind his target. He tenses, glancing around to make sure he didn't just get lured into a trap.

“Relax, dollface,” the figure teases, and Tenko glares. They chuckle, tilting their head again. “I’m a vigilante, not a villain.”

“Vigilantism is illegal, actually,” he says pointedly, though the vigilante in question just shrugs.

“Didn't say I wasn't technically a criminal, just not a villain,” they say, before giving a little salute. “See you ‘round, princess.” 

And then the vigilante is launching themself straight up to the roof with their fire. They lean over the edge and shout, “name’s Blue Dragon, by the way. Nice to meet you!” And then they're gone.

Tenko groans, which turns into a shout of frustration, annoyed at the entire situation. He stares at the empty roof’s edge for a minute, before deciding to just get on with the rest of his patrol.

Though even as he patrols, and apprehends criminals, and even when he's done and he's filled out his paperwork, and when he's leaving the agency, and returning to his empty apartment, he can't seem to stop thinking about what the vigilante had said.

“Shame. I thought you might be one of the good ones, being the kid of the number one hero and all.”

How did he know that Tenko was All Might's son, when that information has been under lock and key since he was adopted? He had never even appeared publicly with his dad until the injury that left him unable to hold his muscle form, and it's not like anyone knows that the skeletal man Toshinori is actually All Might. It's not even well known among heroes.

He decides he'll need to keep an eye on this vigilante, Blue Dragon. So he supposes he'll be paying a visit to the most nosy people he's ever known, soon.

Unfortunately, it's about a week before he manages to stop by the Rooftop Agency, his patrol schedule leaving him without enough free time.

“Eraser,” Tenko greets, walking into the agency office break room. He stands for a moment, waiting.

Sure enough, a head of dark hair slowly raises to peek over the back of one of the couches.

“Tenko,” he replies, voice rough with sleep. “Something wrong?”

“No, not really,” he answers, rounding the couch to sit on the one across from the other man. He's wrapped up in his bright yellow sleeping bag. “But I wanted to ask if you know or know of a particular vigilante.”

The man raises an eyebrow, flopping back down onto the cushions, waiting for a response.

Tenko sighs and leans back. “He called himself Blue Dragon.”

Eraser repeats the name quietly to himself, thinking. “Doesn't ring any bells for me off hand, but I can ask Mic or Cloud if they know anything.”

“Ask if I know what?” Loud Cloud asks, walking into the room and plopping himself unceremoniously on top of where Eraser is lying.

“Ow.” The man says pointedly. He's ignored.

“A vigilante named Blue Dragon. Do you know anything?” Tenko asks the elder hero, leaning forward.

He hums, cupping his chin with one hand. He snaps his fingers suddenly, gasping.

“Actually, I think I remember Mic saying something about a new vigilante being spotted around here, hold on,” he rushes out of the room, shouting over his shoulder as he goes. Eraser grunts as he sits up properly, likely hoping he won't get sat on again if he moves.

“So are you ready for school this year? How many do you think you'll expel?” Tenko asks, leaning on the armrest, a cheek resting on his fist.

Eraser huffs. “Mostly. And if they're good, I won't expel anybody,” he says, wiggling out of his sleeping bag and letting it crumple at his feet. Tenko snorts.

“How are the cats?”

“They're just as fine as they were when you saw them in person last week. You're shit at small talk, kid.”

“Bite me, sensei.”

“Okay, kids, stop fighting,” Present Mic says as he enters the break room, Cloud on his heels, giggling. Like he's not a grown ass man. “You're in luck, my dear Tenko, because I have, in fact, heard of one Blue Dragon.”

Mic sits on Eraser's left, close enough that their thighs are touching, and Cloud to his right with an arm slung across the back of the couch behind Eraser's shoulders, just slightly leaning into him.

For a moment, Tenko feels the hot pang of envy shoot through him - (he wants that easy intimacy, the affection that comes naturally, like second nature) - before it passes as quickly as it came. He sits up straight, attentive.

“Word on the street is that Blue Dragon is a new vigilante on the scene. Only been spotted a handful of times, but all eyewitnesses agree on one thing: he has crazy form and precision. The kind that you can only really get from being taught and trained, not from learning on your own,” Mic explains, letting that interesting tidbit sink in.

“The name Blue Dragon comes from his quirk, which is blue fire. There's no results when you search the quirk registries for that, so his identity is a total mystery. The closest result is Endeavor’s Hellflame, but it's obviously not him, nevermind being the wrong color fire.”

“Why do you ask, Tenko?” Eraser cuts in, probably seeing how the rookie hero has begun to fidget.

“He crashed my patrol the other night,” he says, scratching absently at his neck. He makes himself stop when he sees Eraser's eyes zero in on the action. “He…he knew who I was. He knows I'm All Might's son.”

A sharp inhale of breath echoes between the three men on the couch.

“That's not even common knowledge among heroes, let alone anyone else,” he mumbles, staring down at his hands. The three older pros know this, of course, but Tenko's at such a loss for what to do that he's babbling. “I think I can count the number of civilians that know on one hand, and the pro heroes on the other.”

Mic drums his fingers on the arm of the couch, humming thoughtfully.

“With almost no information to go by, there's not really anything we can do,” Eraser says, but he's obviously unhappy with his own conclusion. Tenko hums. It's kind of what he figured.

“Keep us posted if anything happens with him, okay, kid?” Mic says softly, leaning forward. “You can call us anytime if you need help, you know that. Hell, even just anytime. We love to hear from you!”

“Yeah,” he responds quietly, biting his thumbnail, because he needs to do something with the nervous energy he has building up. “Thanks, anyway. At least he's a vigilante and not a villain. So I'm probably okay. Maybe,” he says drily.

Eraser huffs, cracking a smile. Cloud and Mic chuckle quietly.

“I should get going,” Tenko says after a few moments of the four of them just sitting in comfortable silence.

“Can I have a hug?” Cloud asks, holding the arm he hasn't wrapped around Eraser out in invitation. Mic whines about wanting one, too.

Tenko laughs quietly, already standing and moving towards the three men on the other couch. “Yeah.”

He wraps his arms around Cloud's neck and lets himself get squeezed by the muscular arm around his shoulders. He moves to Mic next, getting another squeeze. He looks at Eraser, who didn't ask for one, but rolls his eyes and holds his arms out anyway. Tenko bends down to squeeze his favorite former mentor close. “See you three later,” he says, giving a little salute with a gloved hand.

A chorus of goodbyes in varying volumes follow him out of the agency break room.

When Tenko returns to his apartment, he leans against the door and just takes a moment to breathe.

He's still not used to the silence, if he's being honest. Even when he was a kid and his dad would be away for long periods of time, there would always be someone with him. It's a little unsettling, to be surrounded by so much quiet.

And it's so lonely. While he enjoys the freedom and privacy of having his own apartment, it's so empty and lifeless. Maybe he should get a cat. Or a dog, but he probably wouldn't have enough free time to take it for walks or anything, and the idea of him losing even a bit of his carefully honed control on something helpless makes him nauseous, anyway.

He heaves a sigh, pushing himself off of the door and trudging to his room. He promptly flops face first onto his bed.

He can't wallow or attempt to suffocate himself for long, as his phone begins buzzing away in his pocket to the rhythm of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme.

He doesn't particularly bother to lift his face from his covers, setting the phone on speaker beside him.

“Hey,” he mumbles into the bed.

“Are you being buried alive? Why do you sound like that, man,” Shuichi laughs instead of giving a proper greeting.

“Sad. Trying to suffocate in my blankets,” Tenko replies through several layers of cotton.

“Don't be sad! Open your door, my hands are full,” he says cheekily, and Tenko lifts his head to squint at his phone.

“Dude,” he sputters, and Shuichi laughs. Sure enough, when he drags himself to the front door and opens it, Shuichi is standing there grinning at him.

Tenko rolls his eyes, but he can't help the fond smile that curls across his lips.

He steps aside so Shuichi can come in, his arms laden with video games and junk food.

“What's the occasion?” Tenko asks, eyeing the heavy bags.

“I just aced an exam I was worried about, and we haven't hung out in a while, yeah? I don't have work or class this weekend and you don't have any patrols, right?” He says as they lay the bags out on Tenko's kitchen counter. He hums absently to confirm Shuichi’s question. The heteromorph continues, “so I thought: weekend spent playing video games and eating like teenagers.”

Tenko laughs. Shuichi looks so proud of himself. “We're both still teenagers, though?”

Shuichi just shrugs, rolling his eyes. “High schoolers, then, if you wanna be nitpicky about it,” he gripes, and elbows Tenko just to be an ass. Tenko elbows him back twice as hard, which does nothing because of the man's built in scale armor.

“So whatcha wanna play first? I brought my switch, too,” Shuichi asks, heading into the bedroom to set up his games while Tenko goes through the bags of snacks and sugary drinks.

He puts the drinks in his fridge and grabs some already cold ones, picks out a few bags of cookies and chips, and returns to his room where Shuichi has already made himself comfortable on his bed.

“I don't care, really. Whatever you want to play is fine,” he says, setting his snack bounty on his nightstand. He flops back down onto the bed, getting pulled into the heteromorph’s thigh by the power of gravity. Shuichi looks down at him.

“Why sad, man?” He asks, poking Tenko's cheek with a clipped claw. Tenko swats him away.

“Just got lonely, I guess,” he says, because that's really it, at the core. He can't exactly tell Shuichi that he craves intimacy and affection from someone that isn't family or a friend. Shuichi pets his hair absently, consoling, and Tenko leans into it. Because despite wanting a romantic connection with someone, he's still hungry for any affection he can get.

“Well, I'm here now, so at least you won't be lonely for the weekend, yeah?” Shuichi says quietly, and Tenko just hums in response. They lapse into silence while Shuichi fiddles with the gaming systems, before he speaks up again. “So really, what have you been up to?”

“I got my patrol crashed by a vigilante last week,” Tenko says, picking absently at his nails. “He knew who I was. That I'm All Might's son.”

He can feel Shuichi tense next to him. He sits up so he can face the heteromorph properly.

“Dude,” he says, jaw slack. “That's like. Dude! Are you in danger?”

Tenko shakes his head. “I don't think so. Nothing else has come up, yet.” He pulls his legs up to cross them on the bed. “Right before you called, I had just got back from Rooftop to ask Eraser, Mic, and Cloud if they knew anything, but the vigilante is a mystery.”

“Should I try to keep an eye out? Listen around?” Shuichi asks, looking back at his game.

“His name is Blue Dragon. If you hear about a vigilante with a blue fire quirk, I guess let me know?” Tenko suggests, absently scratching at his cheek a little, but he figures the chances of Shuichi hearing anything are low. The other man almost never leaves his apartment when he doesn't have to. He generally only has two destinations: his university or Tenko's apartment. “Scoot over so I can get comfortable,” he says, shoving Shuichi out of his way and making him game over.

“Hey, asshole!” The heteromorph barks, but he's laughing anyway.

Tenko picks up his controller, a smile tugging at his scarred lips.

Chapter Text

The next time he sees Blue Dragon, it's during one of his worst moments yet.

That is, he's dangling upside down from a lamppost, encased in some kind of goop, while his criminal gets away. At least there's no one else to witness his embarrassment.

A hoarse laugh alerts him to his company. Nevermind.

“You again,” Tenko grumbles, eyebrows furrowing in annoyance.

“Aw, you do remember me,” the vigilante says, placing a hand over his chest. “I'm touched.” Then he laughs some more.

Tenko scoffs, rolling his eyes.

“What happened here?” The vigilante asks, still chuckling as he circles Tenko's captive form.

“I don't wanna talk about it,” he grouses, avoiding looking at the other man.

The vigilante just laughs again, inspecting the weird goop holding Tenko hostage.

It's not slime because it's not wet, but it's sticky and Tenko hasn't been able to wiggle his way out of it. Although, if he did manage it he'd probably just land on his head and crack his skull or break his neck.

“Think this stuff is flammable?” The vigilante asks suddenly, and Tenko starts yelling.

“Don't you dare! I am inside it!” He snaps, and the man just laughs once again.

“I don't know, I think the tattered costume look would be good on ya,” he says, and Tenko just blinks, staring at him in mildly outraged confusion.

“I- what?”

The vigilante is behind him now, fingers feeling around the goop to figure out how to release Tenko from it.

“Wow, this stuff feels real weird,” Blue Dragon says absently, before answering Tenko. “I'm sayin’ you'd look good with a ripped up costume. But you look good in that one, too.”

Is he…flirting with me?

“You're full of shit,” Tenko snaps bluntly, and suddenly he drops a few centimeters. “Uh-”

The vigilante's arm hooks awkwardly under Tenko's shoulders, while his other keeps trying to fiddle with the Goop where it's attached to the post.

Tenko feels gravity pull at him a little more, and Blue Dragon swears.

“Yer heavier than you look, damn,” he says, and Tenko scowls.

“Maybe you're just weak,” Tenko retorts, like his life isn't literally hanging in the balance supported by a stranger's one skinny arm.

“I'm not that strong, physically, no,” the vigilante admits, and then there's a snapping sound as the Goop detaches from the pole.

Tenko will never admit to the shriek that leaves his mouth when he suddenly drops entirely. The vigilante manages to hook his other arm under Tenko's legs in time so he at least doesn't smack into the pavement.

They stand frozen for a moment, the vigilante holding Tenko, staring at the Goop. The Goop falls off of Tenko entirely once it isn't adhering him to something, and it shrivels up on the sidewalk. Weird. And gross.

This close, Tenko can hear the faint whirring of some kind of device, and he notes that the vigilante smells like campfire smoke and fresh snow and something distinctly medicinal. Then Tenko realizes he's still being cradled. He starts wiggling.

“Put me down,” he growls, and the vigilante sets him back on his feet, chuckling.

The two men stand in silence, Tenko refusing to look at the man and glaring at what remains of the Goop.

“Yer ears are red,” Blue Dragon points out unhelpfully. Tenko's shoulders hunch, and he growls.

“I will arrest you,” he threatens, voice low.

“After I just saved ya? Harsh, princess.” He resists the urge to swear at the man. Or punch him. Tenko hears the shuffling of fabric as the vigilante moves to stand beside him, looking down at the Goop.

Tenko kicks it, just because he needs to get his frustration out somehow. Blue Dragon snorts at the display.

The rookie hero still has about half of his patrol left. He puts his hands on his hips, pinkies raised, and sighs. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Blue Dragon mirror the pose. Shooting him a glare, Tenko eventually resumes his patrol.

The vigilante tags along, because of course he does.

And the worst part is that Tenko isn't as bothered as he wants to be, even considering his concern.

The vigilante definitely likes to hear himself talk, chattering almost constantly. He rolls with Tenko's sarcastic quips effortlessly, bantering back and forth with him.

And when they come across something a little more than a petty criminal, the vigilante watches Tenko's back while he gets his work done.

It feels like the end of his patrol comes much sooner than usual, and he's looping back around to the agency.

He needs to ask.

He suddenly stops just a street away. The vigilante stops with him, making a curious noise.

“How did you know who I was?” He asks, leaning against a wall. Blue Dragon settles next to him.

“I make a habit of knowing the pros in the area,” he says, and Tenko shakes his head.

“Not that. I mean about…my dad,” he clarifies, but keeping vague. The street appears empty, but just in case. “That's not common knowledge.”

Blue Dragon hesitates, interestingly, tilting his head back and blowing a plume of smoke through the mouth of the mask. Tenko watches him in his periphery, curious.

“Told ya,” he says eventually, his tone deliberately casual. “I keep tabs on all the pros. Some of those tabs are a lil’ more involved in the scene.”

So he has insider knowledge. He knows a pro that knows. But who?

Tenko narrows his eyes, and even without seeing his face, he gets the impression that Blue Dragon is watching him.

“Don't worry about it,” the vigilante says eventually, like Tenko can do anything but worry about it. “Your secret's safe with me. I wouldn't gain anythin’ from tellin’ anyone.”

“You would,” Tenko says quietly, looking away at the empty street. “You could gain everything.”

“It wouldn't be worth it,” Blue Dragon hums after a pause. Tenko doesn't really have a reply for that, so he says nothing. They lapse into silence for a brief moment, before Tenko pushes himself off of the wall.

“My patrol is over,” he announces, looking at the vigilante. The masked head tilts.

“Then I guess I'll see ya ‘round, Duster,” the man says, straightening up. The hero just nods, and the vigilante disappears into an alleyway.

“See ya,” comes his belated reply, a weird feeling stirring inside him. He shakes it off, turning and heading back towards the Nighteye Agency.

If nothing else, he does feel a little more at ease now that he's asked, even if he didn't get any real answers.

The vigilante starts appearing on more of his patrols, and he steadily becomes less bothered by the additional presence.

March turns into April, and with it, Tenko's twentieth birthday arrives.

He grins wide, skin tugging around the scar on his lip, when his dad opens the door to his apartment.

“My boy,” Toshinori greets warmly, wrapping Tenko up in a hug. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks, dad,” Tenko replies, voice muffled by his dad's shirt.

This is his final celebration today - dinner and a bad movie marathon with his dad. He already got ambushed by the men at the Rooftop Agency, with Nemuri and her wife in tow, and got calls from his assortment of “uncles”, and Shuichi made a promise to get together on their next day off to give him his present and celebrate. But this is the part he's been most excited for.

It feels like he hasn't really talked to his dad in ages. The man is suddenly busy all the time, Tenko guesses it's because of his upcoming teaching job at UA, but he doesn't know because they haven't talked.

“How are you, my son?” The older man asks, gently ushering Tenko inside.

“I'm okay,” he answers, and it's mostly honest. “Aizawa, Hizashi, and Oboro ambushed me at my apartment with Nemuri and Emi, and I got calls from Uncle David, Uncle Naomasa, and Uncle Mirai - even though I'll see him tomorrow.”

He babbles on, his dad smiling and nodding along as they unpack the takeout Toshinori ordered.

“I also got a call from the old man, but I let him go to voicemail,” he says as an afterthought, and his dad huffs a brief laugh. For all that Gran Torino may as well be his grandfather, Tenko doesn't like him very much. But he often gets the feeling it may be mutual.

They settle in on the couch with their food, Tenko already reaching for the remote to put something on.

“What about you, dad?” He asks, scrolling through Netflix.

“Ah, not much. Getting ready for the school year, mostly,” the blonde man replies, then chuckles. “I'm a little out of my element, if I'm being honest.”

“I'll bet,” Tenko says, smiling. “But you could deal with me, so I'm sure you'll be fine.”

“You make it sound like you were a chore,” Toshinori says, sounding a little concerned.

“I mean,” Tenko begins, but when he turns to his dad, the man has an unusually serious face.

“I wouldn't change my decision to adopt you for anything, Tenko,” he says, deadly serious and sincere.

Tenko's throat constricts, and he has to hastily turn away, blinking rapidly before pressing his sleeve to his eyes.

“You can't make me cry on my birthday, Dad,” he whines, and his dad laughs lightly, looping a spindly arm around Tenko's shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

“I love you, my boy,” he whispers, cradling Tenko's head and petting his hair.

“Love you, too, Dad,” he mumbles wetly, burying his face into his dad's shoulder, undoubtedly soaking it with tears.

Toshinori pats his head, gently prying Tenko off of him.

“Our food is getting cold, and we still have many bad movies to watch,” his dad reminds him, and Tenko wipes at his eyes with his sleeves again.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, sitting up and reaching for the remote again, clicking on the first movie he chose.

“Thanks for the food,” they say in unison, and Tenko settles in for a long overdue night spent with his dad.

On Tenko's next patrol he's…a little hungover.

The day before, Shuichi showed up at Tenko's apartment with cake and cocktails, insisting that since Tenko is legally old enough to drink, that's how they should celebrate. (Even though Shuichi is still nineteen for four more months.)

He really should have told Shuichi no.

He winces when his hero name is called a little too loud, looking over his shoulder to squint at his recurring patrol-crasher.

Blue Dragon laughs when he spots Tenko's probably fairly impressive eyebags. “Damn, Dusty, ya good?”

“I'm a little hungover,” he admits, and Dragon whistles. Tenko winces.

“Really? Ya didn't strike me as the type,” he comments, falling into step as Tenko resumes his patrol.

“I'm not,” he definitely doesn't whine. “But my friend insisted we celebrate my birthday by drinking. I'm never agreeing to it again. He can get bent when his birthday rolls around.”

The vigilante laughs, though it's notably quieter in respect of Tenko's hangover.

“Well, happy birthday. What's the big number?”

“Twenty. Legally able to drink and never will again,” Tenko groans, rubbing at his eyes.

“Ha- twenty!?” The shock in Blue Dragon's voice startles a laugh out of Tenko. He looks at the vigilante, an eyebrow raised.

“How old did you think I was?”

“I dunno!” The other man flails a bit. “A couple years older, maybe?” Tenko snorts, thoroughly amused by the generally nonchalant vigilante being flustered.

“That's funny. Most people think I'm even younger than I am.”

“Most think I'm older, so I guess I can relate,” Blue Dragon says, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. “I’m twenty-three, by the way, since ya told me your age.”

“Well, you're not that much older than me,” Tenko points out, and Dragon huffs, muttering about how Tenko ‘wouldn’t understand’.

Besides the age-related revelations, Tenko's patrol is blessedly uneventful. He's not sure he has it in him to fight villains at the moment, even though his hangover has eased somewhat throughout the night.

He normally has no issue pulling long nights, long since used to it from his gaming habits, but he finds himself yawning as the end of his patrol approaches.

Blue Dragon snorts when he yawns for the third time in about five minutes.

“Get some rest when ya get home, yeah?” the vigilante says, amusement clear in his tone. Tenko just grumbles incoherently at him, rubbing his eyes.

He's not totally sure, but Tenko swears he hears Blue Dragon whisper “cute” under his breath. His mask, of course, looks no different from usual when Tenko squints suspiciously at him.

“See you, Dragon,” he says flatly, and the vigilante just laughs, waving at him before he vanishes into an alleyway as he usually does.

Tenko finishes up at the agency, and returns to his apartment alone. Like he usually does.

And a couple days later, the school year begins, and Tenko sees less and less of his dad and his old mentors. And he feels more lonely than ever.

He's definitely not sulking as he takes a break during his patrol, shoving a granola bar into his mouth.

“Sup, Duster,” a hoarse voice calls, and Tenko rolls his eyes.

“Dragon,” he greets, tugging his mask back into place before turning to face the vigilante.

He won't admit to it, but he's actually kind of happy to see the persistent thorn in his side that is Blue Dragon. He feels like he hasn't seen anyone lately.

“Gotcha somethin’,” the vigilante says, and Tenko tilts his head in confusion. “Hold out yer hand.”

Tenko raises an eyebrow in suspicion, but holds his right hand out anyway, one finger folded against his palm. Blue Dragon drops something small into his hand.

It's…a pin. A little gold pin shaped like the English letter D. Tenko stares at it.

“D. For Duster. For, uh, the cape,” Dragon explains, gesturing on himself to where Tenko's cape is pinned. He seems weirdly bashful.

“Oh,” Tenko says, inspecting the pin more closely. It's very basic in design, quite literally just the letter, with no engravings or frills. It's beautiful in its simplicity. Tenko loves it. He smiles, though his mask hides everything but the crinkle of his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Happy birthday,” Dragon says quietly. Then he makes a startled noise. “Are you cryin’?”

Tenko's eyes are a little wet, for sure. He shakes his head. “I'm fine,” he says, and he isn't lying for once. He holds the pin up to his cape. “Help me repin it?”

Dragon makes another weird noise in his throat, but steps closer so he can help.

Tenko unpins his old one - just a safety pin, it was all he had at the time and never bothered to change it - and holds his cape in place so Dragon can pin the D to it instead.

He adjusts it a little once it's secure, before he smiles up at the vigilante. “I really love it, thank you.”

Dragon is quiet for a moment, before he coughs a little and clears his throat, smoke leaking from his mask. “Yeah, of course.”

Chapter Text

Tenko huffs in feigned annoyance when he realizes he's not alone.

“Can't I patrol in peace for once?” He calls over his shoulder at the approaching figure.

“Nah,” the vigilante replies, utilizing his longer legs to close the distance between them.

“I could arrest you, you know,” he threatens, but they both know there's no real intent behind it. Not anymore, at least.

“But’ya won't,” Blue Dragon chuckles, shoulder-checking the shorter man. Tenko grunts in irritation that he doesn't actually feel.

Because he's right. Tenko won't. Because this has become a routine of some kind. Tenko does his patrols, Blue Dragon shows up to harass him, he's pretty sure he gets flirted with, then he bickers with the vigilante for a while until his patrol shift is over. If there are any crimes, he handles them, and if there are actual villains, Blue Dragon acts as his player two and watches his back.

And for all that he acts annoyed, and would never admit it out loud, Tenko enjoys the company.

Because he didn't expect being a Pro Hero would be so…lonely.

A loneliness that isn't helped by his only other actual, non-hero friend usually being busy with university and work nowadays. And his dad has been absent more often than not, lately, even before his new job as a teacher started. He guesses he shouldn't be so surprised - his dad was away a lot when he was younger. The only reason he’s even been around more in recent years is because he's slowly, physically losing the ability to do hero work.

That doesn't make his renewed absence any better with Tenko, though.

A finger pokes his cheek, and he swats it away.

“What’re you doin’ in that pretty lil’ head of yers?” Blue Dragon asks, and Tenko turns his head away to hide the light blush that dusts his cheeks at being called pretty.

“It's called thinking, you should try it sometime,” he snarks, and the vigilante laughs.

“Oh, but I do! I think ‘bout you a lot, for instance,” he says, and Tenko's pretty sure his ears are starting to turn red.

“You're full of it,” he grumbles, before getting distracted by movement in his periphery. He stops short, staring down the alleyway across the street.

Blue Dragon, thankfully, catches on quickly and says nothing. Tenko can feel the heat of him at his back as he cautiously takes a step forward, red eyes scanning the darkness of the alley.

“Please…” He just barely picks out the tiny voice, followed by a muffled cry. He doesn't hesitate any longer, darting forward across the street as quietly as he can. He can hear Blue Dragon swear under his breath, trying to follow just as silently. Tenko sidles up to the corner, listening.

“Come quietly, and I won't have to hit you anymore,” a deep voice grunts. “The boss’ll be mad enough at the bruises I already had to give you. Damaged goods are bad for business.” 

Tenko sucks in a breath, entire body tensing. He remembers Eraser mentioning something about a human trafficking operation in the area when the Nighteye Agency got added to the case.

“They're dangerous.” Eraser said, staring intently into Tenko's eyes in a rare moment, for both of them, of direct eye contact. “If you run into any of them, call for backup. They've made attempts on heroes before. And a young novice like you is an attractive target for them.”

Tenko had admittedly puffed up in offense, but he knows Eraser is only looking out for him. And Eraser said to call for backup.

Tenko's eyes slide over to where Blue Dragon stands beside him, ready for whatever decision he makes.

He has backup.

He jerks his head, signaling Blue Dragon to follow. The masked man nods.

When he looks back down the alleyway, he catches the eye of the unfortunate woman, now bound and being held upright by the huge man beside her. He motions for her to stay quiet, hoping she'll act like she never saw them. Her terrified eyes dart back to her kidnapper, who appears to be on the phone, arranging for a pickup.

Tenko mentally notes the street names he overhears as he creeps up on the man, preparing himself to try and perform a takedown on a man three times his size. It's not like it's impossible. He's watched Eraserhead do it, and he interned with Eraserhead while he was at UA. He knows what to do. He's plenty capable.

Except what he really is, is distracted, too in his own head. Foolish, rookie mistake. Eraser’s gonna tear him apart, if he even survives this. That really sucks.

“Duster!” He hears Blue Dragon's quiet shout too late, as a massive hand suddenly picks him up like a featherweight and tosses him. He hits the brick wall of the building and collapses to the filthy ground.

“Aw, little baby hero to the rescue?” The man mocks, approaching where Tenko's body lay limp in a pile of trash.

Ew. There's something wet under me.

He gets yanked back up, blinking a trickle of blood out of his eye. Instinctively, he goes to lay all five fingers on the man's wrist for just a moment, but his arm stays hanging at his side. I can't move. Why can't I move? Over the man's shoulder, he catches sight of Blue Dragon helping the woman escape.

Oh, good. At least she'll be safe.

His mask is yanked down roughly, and he coughs as dusty, putrid air floods his lungs.

The villain hums thoughtfully. “You got some nice features, but you're kinda ugly, huh?” He laughs, and Tenko fights the urge, not that he really can, to recoil and gag. His breath stinks almost worse than the trash, all rotted teeth and nicotine.

The man's gaze trails downward, and Tenko's stomach turns at the look in his eyes.

“But I think you'd still fetch a nice price. The body makes up for the face,” he decides, and Tenko shudders with disgust. He can't get his limbs to move, probably something to do with the man's quirk, so he's just a ragdoll in the giant hand holding him up. He can't see Blue Dragon over the man's shoulder anymore. Really, he can't see much of anything. There's still blood dripping into his eye.

“Hey, jackass!” A hoarse shout catches the villain’s attention as the masked man comes at him from his other side, and Tenko can't warn Blue Dragon fast enough before the man has a hold of him, too.

But the vigilante isn't to be deterred, it seems, as blue fire erupts from the mouth of the mask, directly into the villain’s face. The man drops the both of them, screaming in agony, desperately trying to put himself out.

Blue Dragon stumbles, but rights himself quickly, charging forward with both arms ablaze and smoke billowing from the mask. And before Tenko can try and get him to stop, he's grabbed onto the man, and the hero is unable to look away as the vigilante burns the man to ash right there in the alleyway.

“Dragon,” he manages to call when his vocal cords work again. The man seems to do a full body jolt from where he's watching the dying flames, like he had forgotten Tenko was there. Tenko tries again, but his voice fails him this time, barely a croak coming out. He struggles to sit up.

Too-warm hands carefully support him until he's upright. He takes a minute to breathe, but regrets it when he can smell the garbage. And the burnt corpse. He gags.

“We needed him alive, he would have had valuable information,” he wheezes, and the hand rubbing at his back stops moving.

“I- you- really?” The man yells in shock. Tenko shifts away at the volume, wincing. “Duster. Please. He was gonna kidnap you. He was gonna sell you into sex slavery, from the sound of it. And you're worried about what information he mighta had?”

“Oh,” Tenko says dumbly, as his brain catches up. Really, in the moment, that was a possibility he was only distantly aware of. He was more focused on his inability to move, at the time.

“Yeah, ‘oh’,” Blue Dragon mocks without any real malice, but he pulls Tenko closer to him, which is a little uncomfortable from just how hot he is. Like the man was still on fire. Tenko leans away a little to try and look at him, and the vigilante flinches suddenly, moving to stand.

Tenko grabs his coat - remembering to keep his pinky raised, thankfully - to prevent him from pulling away, and looks at him. Smoke is still slowly streaming from the mask, and the man seems unsteady in a way he usually isn't.

“Are you okay?” He asks, staring up at the other man.

The vigilante is silent for a moment, before he huffs a laugh.

“Got thrown at a wall, almost kidnapped, and yer askin’ if I'm okay,” he says in disbelief, shaking his head. His voice then becomes strangely soft. “Yeah, I'm okay. Or I will be after I cool off. Now c'mon, ya have a head injury I'm concerned about.”

He helps Tenko to his feet, supporting him when he tilts off balance. He guides Tenko slowly out of the alleyway.

“Where's the nearest hospital?” He hears Blue Dragon mumble to himself as they stand on the sidewalk. Tenko subconsciously leans into him, despite the heat he's putting off. It's making him sleepy, actually. Or maybe that's the possible concussion - Tenko does have a head injury, after all.

“Hey, stay with me.” Blue Dragon taps his shoulder, and he blinks his eyes back open. When did they close?

“Just call Eraser,” he mumbles, struggling to keep his eyes open and stay upright. The street is tilted and he's not very happy about it.

“Who?” Dragon asks, wrapping an arm more securely around Tenko's shoulders when he starts to list sideways again.

“Hero…Eraserhead,” he answers slowly, words slurring. “Interned with him…during highschool.” He reaches clumsily into one of the bags strapped to his thighs, digging for his phone. He breathes a small sigh of relief that it doesn't seem damaged, unlocks it and pulls up Eraserhead’s contact before he hands it off to Blue Dragon.

“His picture is a cat?” The man asks, though he hits the call button regardless, turning the speakerphone on.

“That's Bean,” he mumbles, listening to the ringing. What's taking so long? He hears Dragon mutter “Bean?” before the call is picked up.

“You better have a damn good excuse, kid, it's two in the morning on my one day off,” Eraserhead's gruff, irritated voice finally answers, and Blue Dragon strangely stumbles over his words.

“Uh, Eraserhead?”

The change in the man's tone is immediate.

“Who is this?” The staticky voice asks, a hard tone clear even through the phone. There's the faintest sound of shuffling and other voices in the background.

“Uh,” Blue Dragon seems to flounder for a good enough answer. Tenko does his best to save him, half delirious as he is.

“Eraser,” he slurs, trying to reach for the phone in the other man's hand. He mostly succeeds in hooking a couple fingers around his wrist. He notices the man's compression sleeves are singed, revealing a little bit of the pink, scarred skin of his wrist. His eyes fixate on that, for some reason. “I'm here.”

“Kid,” he sounds slightly relieved, though still on edge. “What's going on?”

“One of…those traffickers,” he manages to get out. Reluctantly, he admits, “got the best of me.”

He hears Eraserhead swear under his breath. More muffled sounds of movement and faint voices.

“Where are you? I'm coming.”

Blue Dragon whips his head around, looking for a street sign, before he reads it out to the hero on the other side of the phone.

“I also want to know who the hell that is.” It's not phrased as a question.

“Uh,” Blue Dragon eloquently responds. Tenko rolls his eyes.

“I'll try to explain…when you get here,” he mumbles, which seems to be an acceptable answer, judging from the exasperated huff.

“I'll be there soon,” Eraser says, and the call ends.

Blue Dragon gingerly hands the phone back to Tenko, who manages to fumble it back into the pouch.

“How screwed am I?” He asks, and Tenko makes a noise of confusion. “Like on a scale from ‘go to jail for vigilante activities’ to ‘get my body tossed into the ocean for associatin’ with you’.”

“Why would…huh?”

“He seems protective of ya. And you are All Might's son. Also he's a hero and vigilantism is illegal. So they're both pretty valid concerns, I think.”

Tenko shakes his head - and immediately regrets it, he's dizzy - and looks up at the masked man, vaguely annoyed.

“I'm an adult that can…make my own decisions…on who I associate with, first of all. And second, Eraserhead would be a…hypocrite if he did, because I distinctly remember him…working with vigilantes during my internship,” he grumbles, having to pause frequently to recollect his fuzzy thoughts, which makes him even more annoyed.

Before he can say anything else, however, Eraserhead drops to the street in front of them. Wow, he really meant it when he said “soon.” Or it's been even longer than it feels like. While he can feel how Blue Dragon tenses, the man otherwise doesn't react. Tenko currently doesn't quite have the mental capacity to react.

The senior hero straightens up from his crouch, eyeing Blue Dragon with suspicion. Tenko blearily hums in greeting.

“Blue Dragon, Eraserhead,” he half asses an introduction, leaning more heavily on the vigilante beside him. Eraser doesn't miss that detail, eyebrow raising.

“So what happened?” The man asks, crossing his arms.

Tenko lets Blue Dragon take over retelling their ordeal, watching with a detached dread as Eraser's face gets steadily more agitated.

As expected, the moment the other man stops talking, Eraserhead whirls on Tenko.

“I told you to call for backup,” Eraser scolds, looking furious and pointing an accusatory finger at him. “I told you. You would be targeted if you tried to intervene with them.” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Where's the guy?” He asks, and Blue Dragon and Tenko both pointedly look away. Eraserhead just stares at them, before his eyes slide over and seem to realize what the plume of smoke (and awful smell) behind them is coming from. He looks back at them, expression simultaneously shocked and angered.

“You incinerated him?”

“I got…carried away,” Blue Dragon sheepishly admits, the arm not supporting Tenko reaching up to rub the back of his neck through his hood.

“Who are you, exactly?”

“A vigilante…sir,” he tacks on the formality as an afterthought, as though it would save him from Eraserhead's wrath.

“And what the hell were you thinking? An excessive use of force like this is already a legal disaster in waiting for a hero. For you? This is an outright murder.”

Tenko can feel the body next to him getting hotter with every word out of Eraser’s mouth. “Dragon,” he mumbles, but he goes unheard.

“I was thinkin’ that Duster was about to get fuckin’ kidnapped and maybe sold into sex slavery, an’ I wasn't about to let that fuckin’ happen!” he snaps, smoke billowing out of his mask. The arm around Tenko's shoulders has tightened considerably, squeezing him against the man's side. He makes a noise of protest, but the arm doesn't ease up at all. He's not sure the taller man even heard him. “Now if you don't mind, Duster got thrown at a wall an’ has a possible concussion that needs to be taken care of.”

Blue Dragon and Eraserhead stare each other down for longer than Tenko feels is really necessary. He huffs in annoyance. He is, again, ignored.

“Too hot,” he finally complains, and then almost falls with how quickly Blue Dragon jerks away from him. Eraserhead is quick to take over being his support, glaring at the vigilante.

“Sorry,” Dragon says, voice pinched. With the mask, it's impossible to truly tell, but Tenko gets the distinct feeling of being watched, so he must be staring at him.

“Alright,” Eraser says before Tenko can speak. “I will take Duster to the hospital. You will go wherever it is you go.”

“What about…” Tenko mumbles, glancing sideways at the remains of the man that are mostly done smoking.

“I'll think of something. Don't worry about it,” the older pro says. He turns to Blue Dragon again, eyes glowing as his quirk activates in his anger.

“Don't do something like this again. I'll look the other way, this time, but you are on thin fucking ice,” he warns, or maybe threatens, the vigilante, his hair falling as he deactivates his quirk. He waves a hand dismissively. “Now scram.”

“Yessir,” Dragon mumbles, begrudgingly. Tenko can see his hands curl into fists before the vigilante shoves them in his pockets. The mask tilts back in Tenko's direction.

“See you, Duster,” he says, though he seems reluctant to actually leave. Eraserhead has no such issue, hauling Tenko up over his shoulder in a carry that is only slightly more flattering than what a bag of potatoes would get. Tenko makes several noises of complaint, but is, once again, ignored.

“Bye, Dragon,” Tenko mutters, watching out of his periphery over Eraser's shoulder as the vigilante leaves. The older hero begins walking in the direction of the nearest hospital.

“Stupid,” the black haired man grumbles, and Tenko protests. “It was. I can't believe you.” He pauses, thinking. “Actually, I can easily believe you, but that doesn't make me any less mad about it.”

“Rude,” Tenko huffs, but ultimately stays quiet. After a few minutes, he speaks up. “What are you gonna tell them?”

“About the man?” Tenko hums an assent. “Don't know. It's hard to cover for someone being burned alive,” he says, and Tenko winces a little. Yeah, he's probably right.

Another few minutes pass in silence, but this time it's Eraserhead who breaks it.

“So now you're working with the vigilante that you came to us about because you were concerned about him knowing your identity.” He doesn't phrase it as a question.

Tenko groans, not entirely from the head injury pain, but definitely, entirely from embarrassment. Because yeah, it does look like he did a complete 180° from the last time they heard him mention the vigilante maybe a month ago.

“I don't know,” he grumbles because he truly doesn't have an explanation. Eraser stops and sets him on his feet. They're outside the hospital, searingly bright florescent lights casting their shadows in stark relief against the pavement.

Eraser looks down at him knowingly.

“You got attached,” he says, quite matter-of-factly.

“I guess. A little,” he admits. Maybe a lot. “He's been helping me out during patrols.” And keeps me from feeling too lonely.

Eraser sighs, but thankfully doesn't press for more information. “Just…be careful.” There's a look in the older hero's eyes that Tenko can't identify, but he sighs, shakes his head, and it disappears. “Now, we'll officially report that he got away, and we will let someone else find his remains. You were alone, but called me for backup, at which point he escaped before I could arrive. Clear?”

“Yeah,” Tenko says quietly, feeling unsettled that his former mentor is lying like this for him.

Eraser nods, and guides Tenko into the hospital to get his head looked at.

“Oh, he really took after you,” Mic says quietly, earning an elbow in the ribs from Eraser that leaves him whining in pain.

Mic is referring to how Tenko has been taken off of active hero duty because of the injury he gained during his disastrous last patrol. Currently, Tenko has been made a temporary teacher's assistant at UA while he recovers. But he is, naturally, complaining about not being able to actually do anything.

“It's just for nine days, Tenko. Barely more than a week,” his father says placatingly. It doesn't work, and Tenko continues sulking on the teacher's lounge couch.

“Come on, Ten, working with us isn't so bad, is it?” Midnight says sweetly, leaning over the back of the couch to affectionately pet his hair.

He huffs. “I mean, no, but I'm bored. You guys don't do enough here,” he grumbles, leaning into her touch despite his sour mood.

Eraser sighs, leaning back in his chair.

“My class is going to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint for a class with myself, All Might, and Thirteen on the Monday after next. Would you like to join us? You were always good at the rescue exercises in school, right?” he offers, looking at Tenko with what he's pretty sure is sympathy, but it's hard to say with Eraser.

He considers it, making a show of pursing his lips and humming thoughtfully. Mic chuckles under his breath. Midnight has begun braiding part of his hair.

“That's almost the end of my recovery period,” he pouts. “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

“I'm doing a battle training class this coming Wednesday?” All Might offers weakly.

That gives Tenko pause. He hasn't been able to spend a lot of time with his dad lately, so this might be one of the only times he gets to. And he'll get to watch a bunch of teenagers beat each other up and criticize them, so that's a plus.

He sighs. “Yeah, okay,” he agrees, ignoring how sappy he feels at the warm smiles everyone in the room seems to be giving him, except for maybe Eraser, whose mouth he can't see. It makes him want to cry just a little, but he won't. He won't.

He turns his face into the couch cushions to hide how wet his eyes have become. Judging from Midnight's coo, he's not very successful.

Chapter Text

Tenko feels it before he sees it.

The hair on the back of his neck stands up, his entire body tensing of its own volition.

He turns to look at Aizawa, “Eraser-”

From his periphery, he catches sight of the strange goop accumulating by the fountain at the same time Aizawa seems to.

For a moment, they just stare, watching as it builds up and slowly drips off of people that definitely weren't there before.

Instantly, Aizawa is jumping into action.

“Huddle up and don't move!” He shouts, causing his class to all startle. “Thirteen, Duster, protect the students!”

Thirteen moves closer to the group of kids as they exclaim in confusion. The students begin shuffling around, trying to see the increasing crowd at the bottom of the stairs.

“Don't move. Those are villains!” Eraser shouts, already preparing to jump into action.

The kids are chattering anxiously among themselves, trying to figure out the situation.

Midoriya steps forward, trying to convince Eraserhead to stay with them.

“No good hero is a one-trick pony. Thirteen, Duster, take care of them,” is all the teacher says, before he leaps down the stairs, capture weapon at the ready.

Tenko fights the urge to follow him, knowing he needs to stay behind and guard the class.

Midoriya babbles in awe at Eraserhead's ability, and Tenko resists the urge to roll his eyes. (Really, he'd be a hypocrite for judging the kid on that - even now, he still gets a little starstruck by the older pro.) Another student, the tall one with the glasses, manages to get the green haired kid back on track.

But evacuating doesn't seem to be an option, as more of the goop bubbles up in front of them to reveal another villain.

Tenko moves in front of the group, taking on a battle-ready stance. His brow furrows as he takes in the sight of the villain before him.

The plant villain he fought so long ago stands before him, but he's…different. He looks like his quirk is overgrowing on him, forming a raised collar of thorny leaves, with his limbs and half of his face covered in vines.

“Time for a rematch, but this time you ain't got a fancy fire quirk to back you up,” he drawls, taking a step forward.

“Don't need it,” Tenko says confidently, bringing his hands up before him.

“Our intel said All Might was supposed to be here,” the plant villain muses, “instead we have an underground and two nobody heroes.”

“This ‘nobody hero’ arrested you before,” Tenko huffs, narrowing his eyes.

“Only ‘cause that vigilante got involved,” the villain dismisses. “Regardless, we are here to end the Symbol of Peace. But since he isn't available, I suppose you will have to suffice.”

Tenko's blood runs cold.

End…All Might?

“I won't let that happen,” he growls, darting forward as a vine whips in his direction. He faintly registers the sound of an explosion behind him, and the villain swears, more vines swarming the area.

Tenko refuses to look back at the students, trusting Thirteen to keep them safe.

He drops as a vine comes for his head, sliding on his knees until he's at the villain's feet.

Up close, he can see how the man's quirk is very literally coming out of him, skin of his face being pulled and distorted by the vines growing out of it. The eye on the side overgrown with vines is…wrong. Bulging, all white sclera and black pupil, no color left from the iris.

What the hell? He thinks, but he can't afford to be distracted right now.

The villain jumps back as he reaches out, more vines moving in on Tenko. He rolls out of the way, pushing himself back to his feet to rush the villain again.

The dance of Tenko dodging whipping vines trying to get close continues on before the villain roars in frustration.

“Enough!” That black sludge bubbles up out of Tenko's throat beneath his mask, gagging him and overtaking his vision as it overflows.

When he can see again, he's laying on the ground in another section of the USJ. He yanks his mask off, turning onto his side and retching to expel any leftover slime from his throat.

He wipes the tears from his eyes and sits up, taking in his new surroundings. He must be in one of the office buildings, judging by all the cubicles and computers. His legs are shaky when he stands again, leaning on a nearby desk.

Noise nearby catches his attention, and he automatically reaches a hand up before he realizes it's clearly a student before him. She doesn't even have a costume, she's just wearing the gym uniform.

He can't recall her name, but she blinks golden eyes at him in about as much confusion as he's feeling.

“Come here,” he says gently, dropping his hand back to his side. “Are you okay?”

She shuffles closer, quiet for a moment before finally answering. “I think so. Just nauseous.” She looks around at the dark room they're in. “What happened?”

“That teleporting quirk,” he gripes, rubbing a hand over his face before fixing his mask back into place.

“It's gross,” she complains, and he hums in agreement.

“We need to find our way back to the others,” he says, pushing off the desk when he feels stable again. “What's your quirk again?”

She blinks at him with catlike pupils. “Transform,” she answers, then opens her mouth wide to show off her sharp canines. “I can transform into anyone who's blood I drink.”

“Okay. Have you had anyone's blood?” He asks, and she seems surprised by his question, for some reason.

“Ka- I mean, Bakugo let me have some earlier,” she says, and he thinks for a moment. The angry one that blows everything up? Yeah, he can't see that happening without a fight, but whatever she says. “My name's Himiko, by the way!”

He nods to acknowledge her, creeping along the office building hallways until he hears voices.

“I wish that guy would get a better handle on that teleporting quirk, he sent everyone to who knows where,” a villain grumbles from around the corner.

“Well, it can't be easy suddenly gaining another quirk and having to learn it in, like, a day,” another says, followed by a third voice Tenko can't quite make out. Gaining another quirk?

The building shakes suddenly, a rumbling sound echoing throughout. Among the noise, Tenko hears a wet, dripping sound behind him, and he turns to see Bakugo where the Himiko girl had been standing before. A shiny slime drips off of the blonde's face before it contorts into a wicked grin.

“Ta-da!” Himiko whispers in Bakugo’s voice, which is thoroughly unsettling in a way Tenko can't articulate. Tenko holds a finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture, to which Himiko mimes pulling a zipper across Bakugo's mouth.

Tenko leans forward, peeking around the wall.

The villains don't look anything special - one with a doglike heteromorph quirk, one with knives for fingernails, and the last one has a tail. They haven't noticed Tenko yet, absorbed in their conversation.

He holds three fingers up to Himiko. She nods, dropping into a stance, ready to move.

It'll be interesting to see what she can do with Bakugo's body.

He gestures with his hand for them to move.

Quickly, he incapacitates knife-hands with a quick jab to the back of the neck. Dogman leaps at him, but is blown back, quite literally, by an explosion from Himiko.

She can use his quirk?

The tail guy nearly manages to get her with a swing of his bonus limb, but Tenko puts him in a chokehold, making him go limp.

He looks at the two villains he knocked out, then at the faintly singed dogman.

“He's not dead, right?” He asks, a little warily. Himiko looks at the villain on the floor, then shakes her head cheerfully.

Tenko sighs, still not used to Bakugo's face making such happy expressions, for as little as he knows these kids. He manages to find some extension cords in an office, using them to tie the villains together, before they make their way further down into the building.

The rest of their journey through the building is remarkably uneventful, with only distant sounds of battle echoing through the halls.

Himiko pipes up once Bakugo's face begins to melt off. Which is, frankly, a horrifying visual.

“So,” she chirps, skipping along next to him. “Tell me about the person you like.”

He nearly stumbles with how off guard the question catches him.

“What? What the hell are you talking about?” He asks, incredulous.

She grins at him, giggling. “I can smell it! You like someone. I love love, so tell me about them!” She grabs onto his arm, making him tense.

“I don't like anybody,” he grumbles, trying to shake her off.

“You boys are all the same,” she sighs, but doesn't elaborate when he asks what that's supposed to mean.

Eventually, they reach the ground floor, where they find the real Bakugo, and that spiky red one.

“Katsuki!” Himiko exclaims, running towards the other blonde and enveloping him in a hug, despite his (very loud) protests.

“Ah, good, more of you,” Tenko says, approaching the three kids. The red one looks a little relieved at having a pro around, even if Tenko is still a rookie himself.

“Mister Duster, you ended up here!” he shouts, far too loud. Tenko can't suppress his wince. No wonder he gets along with Bakugo.

“Ah, just Duster is fine,” Tenko says gently, waving him off. “Are you the only two here?”

“Yeah, dunno where the hell the rest are,” Bakugo answers gruffly, Himiko still hanging off of him like a leech.

“Alright,” Tenko sighs, gesturing to the entrance. “Let's just try to get back to the plaza, hopefully we'll find some of the others on the way.”

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that would greet him upon arriving at the plaza.

A huge villain with, disturbingly, an exposed brain has Aizawa pinned, broken and bloodied.

The vine villain is back in the plaza, speaking into an earpiece.

“Thirteen is incapacitated, but one of the students managed to escape. The pros will be here any minute now.”

Thirteen is incapacitated? Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Tenko doesn't catch what the villain says next, distracted by another one as they turn towards the students hiding in the lake from the shipwreck zone.

“Fun’s over. Might as well leave some dead kids behind!” One of the villains says, and Tenko instantly takes off running.

Before he can get to that villain, but thankfully before the villain can get to the students, Eraser manages to activate his quirk from where the hulking villain has him pinned.

“How annoying,” the vine villain mutters as he observes, turning towards the older hero. Tenko barely suppresses exclaiming in awe.

You really are so cool, Eraserhead.

Tenko wants to scream when the giant villain crushes his mentor's head into the concrete. But he has to focus. He can't let them down. He swallows back his nausea, turning and sprinting towards the villain by the lake. He catches them in a chokehold before they even realize he's behind them, squeezing until they're unconscious. Then he turns to the boss.

“Hey!” He shouts, getting the vine villain's attention just as he swings a leg up to roundhouse him.

The villain's head snaps to the side, stumbling back. The angry snarl the villain lets out is not quite human, something else reverberating through it. Vines come up around Tenko, ready to strangle, but Tenko is done playing games.

He lays all five fingers of each hand on the villain's vines, digs in and doesn't let go. The villain screams as his vines begin to rot away, drying out and crumbling. A manic grin stretches across his face, something inside of him humming with satisfaction.

A bang echoes distantly through the building, and Tenko's attention is drawn to the top of the stairs.

All Might stands tall, usual smile replaced by a grimace. He shouts his entrance, the space behind him quickly filling in with the other pros.

There's still a childish part of him that thinks, All Might is here, everything will be fine. But the realistic part of him is incredibly, nauseatingly anxious.

“We're here to end the Symbol of Peace,” the villain's earlier statement echoes in his mind.

“Time's up,” the vine villain wheezes, ripping away from Tenko's hands. He turns towards the giant villain, barking one single order before he gets swallowed up by sludge.

“Kill All Might.”

The other villain roars, the sound piercing as it echoes through the building.

The rest of the villains still scattered around the plaza begin muttering nervously at the appearance of the number one hero. But one foolhardy one shouts encouragement to them and attempts to taunt All Might. “That guy has shock absorption, anything you do will mean nothing!”

But All Might is still faster than any of them. He takes out the remaining villains in hardly a blink, before grabbing the students and getting them out of harm's way.

All Might grabs Eraserhead next, bringing the teacher's broken body to Tenko and the students.

“Everyone, to the entrance. Take Aizawa. He's unconscious, so hurry!” All Might instructs, preparing to jump into battle with the brain villain.

Once again, the green kid is trying to dissuade him from going. Tenko fights the urge to snap at the boy, getting annoyed. He does end up grabbing the kid by the back of his uniform, pinky raised, and dragging him back.

“Come on,” he tries to say calmly, but he probably sounds as stressed as he feels. The two students haul Aizawa’s limp body while Tenko tries to keep half an eye on his dad as he and the villain begin exchanging rapid-fire punches.

It's excruciating, watching his dad fight a villain that seems to be equally matched. Every hit All Might lands seems to be entirely ineffective, and the villain returns each one easily.

It feels like it only takes the second Tenko blinks for All Might and the villain to have each other in some kind of weird double suplex. With rising horror, he can see where the villain’s claws are digging in - right into his dad's old wound.

“No,” he gasps out, voice hoarse. The students turn to look at him as he takes off running, back towards the fight. “No!”

”Tenko,” his dad grits out. “Don't-!”

A green blur rushes past Tenko, that kid trying to join the fight, too.

But before any of them get there, ice grows up the villain's body, and there's an explosion near the back of its head, by its exposed brain.

It screams, letting go of All Might and twisting around to take a swipe at Bakugo. Despite his rapidly weakening state, All Might is still faster, displacing the kid and taking that hit himself.

“You have some kind of shock absorption quirk, but it's not negation,” All Might coughs, wiping blood from his chin. “That means there's a limit to how much you can take!”

Tenko would be lying if he says he isn't also a little awed at what All Might does next. His dad rains punches faster than their eyes can keep up, before finally ending with a devastating uppercut.

The brain villain is effectively launched through the roof, shattering the skylight and disappearing into the atmosphere.

The resulting dust is so thick All Might is obscured, but Tenko knows his time is up. He's already rushing forward before Cementoss has a chance to make a barrier to keep the other students away. Distantly, he registers the hero giving the students instructions on the other side.

He collapses to his knees next to where his dad is kneeling, immediately wrapping his arms around bony shoulders.

“Dad! Dad, are you okay?” He babbles frantically, trying to look over the man for the extent of his injuries.

“All Might-! Huh?” A voice calls from behind him, and Tenko turns to see that green haired kid staring at them. Tenko goes on the defensive, glaring at the boy.

“It's alright, Tenko,” his dad coughs, patting his arms. “Young Midoriya can be trusted.”

“Huh?” Tenko whispers in clear confusion, slowly letting go of his dad and sitting back.

Midoriya snaps out of whatever stupor he was in, rushing forward again. Tenko doesn't miss the questioning look the kid gives him. “All Might!”

“Young Midoriya. Tenko, or Pro Hero Duster as you know him, is my son,” All Might explains, to which the green kid gapes. “Tenko, Midoriya is my…protege, so to speak.”

Oh. So that's why dad has been gone so much lately.

“Protege,” he repeats dully, already feeling a cold numbness overtaking him. His dad clasps a hand onto his shoulder.

“I’ll explain later,” he promises, but Tenko isn't listening anymore, staring blankly over his dad's shoulder.

The stress of the day has begun to catch up with him. He goes through the motions like a puppet - regrouping with the pros, briefing with the police, and once they've loaded Aizawa's unconscious body into an ambulance, he can't take anymore.

He ignores anyone trying to get his attention, and walks.

He's far from UA’s campus when he finally catches sight of his reflection in a rundown store's window.

It's a wonder he hasn't scared someone, really. There's dirt and blood in his hair, a few tears in his costume from scratches he doesn't even remember getting. His eyes are red rimmed from the crying he definitely didn't do while he wandered aimlessly.

He stands there, staring at his reflection while the light of day dies out. The street lamps flicker on, the sound buzzing on the otherwise quiet street.

“Duster?” He hears a voice call behind him. He barely reacts, but he does turn slightly.

Blue Dragon stands further down the street, head tilted curiously.

“I thought you were on medical leave?” He asks in confusion, coming closer. “I- what happened to you?”

Tenko isn't sure what does it. If it's just the culmination of everything finally overflowing or the relief he feels deep down at seeing Blue Dragon suddenly. But he bursts into tears.

The vigilante panics, hands hovering in uncertainty around him. Tenko collapses into the other man's space, feeling warm arms come up to support his weight.

“Duster?” Dragon questions again, voice barely a whisper. Despite his obvious confusion, the vigilante continues to hold Tenko close, running his skinny fingers through Tenko's dirty hair.

Dimly, he's aware of getting coaxed into moving somewhere, but his brain is such a tangled mess of emotions he can't be bothered to pay closer attention.

When he finally begins to calm down, he realizes he's sitting, and his mask has been tugged off of his face.

“Ya with me?” Dragon asks softly, brushing his fingers along Tenko's cheekbone.

With increasing embarrassment, Tenko notes that he's seated on Dragon's lap, and that he snotted all over the vigilante’s coat.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, not wanting to pull away because then he'd have to face his shame. As he comes back into himself, he notices that Dragon's other arm is wrapped around his waist, thumb rubbing soothingly against his hip.

Oh. Himiko was right, he realizes distantly, subconsciously sinking further into the warmth of Dragon's embrace.

“For what? You can't help it,” he says gently, prying Tenko's face away from his shoulder. He uses one of his sleeves to dry the remnants of Tenko's tears, cupping his chin in one hand. He can't see the man's face, but he gets the impression that Blue Dragon is trying to make eye contact. “Sometimes everythin’ is just too much.”

Tenko just hums, eyes slipping closed. He's so tired. The day and the emotions and the crying have drained everything he has.

“Wanna tell me ‘bout it?” Dragon asks quietly. The thumb of the hand holding his chin traces lightly along Tenko's scar.

“It's just. A lot of things,” he answers quietly, leaning into the hand despite himself.

“UA was attacked today,” he whispers. “They wanted to kill All Might. They might've killed Eraser.”

“Shit,” Dragon gasps quietly. “Shit.”

“I’m so useless,” Tenko laughs wetly, self deprecating. “Eraserhead might be dead, I don't even know what condition Thirteen is in, and they almost succeeded on All Might.” The tears are picking back up, his words becoming more gasps than anything.

“Hey, hey, none o’ that,” Dragon scolds gently, moving to hold Tenko's face in both of his hands. “I'm sure you did what you could. But there's no point in guiltin’ yourself about ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’s.”

Tenko sniffles, sure he looks an ugly, snotty mess, but he leans into Dragon's hands anyway. “And then I find out my dad has been gone so much because he's taken on a protege,” he, admittedly, whines. It's such a small blip in the mess of the day, and maybe it's not a big deal to most people, but it's a big deal to him. They don't have secrets. “Why didn't he tell me?” He asks no one, his voice uncharacteristically small as he slumps against Dragon again.

“Wish I could answer that for ya, doll,” Dragon says quietly, rubbing Tenko's back again.

They stay like that awhile, until Tenko begins drifting off, but a phone pinging catches his attention.

Dragon digs out his phone, reading his message. Tenko remembers his phone has been on silent since before school started, and digs it out of its pouch, scooting off of Dragon's lap to scroll through it.

There's so many missed calls and messages that he immediately swears, drawing Dragon's attention.

Before he can try to return any of them, his phone lights up with Shuichi's contact, a picture of his favorite ninja turtle staring back at Tenko.

“Shu-” he tries to answer, but gets cut off by Shuichi's slightly frantic yelling.

“Dude! Where are you? I've been freaking out and my phone's been blowing up because your family is freaking out and no one's been able to get to you!”

Tenko's quiet for a moment, before he sighs. “Sorry, Shuichi. I just…needed to be away from it all.”

“You couldn't be away from it all after getting checked out at the hospital?” Another voice butts in, and Tenko realizes, with no shortage of confusion, that it's Loud Cloud. A scuffle as Shuichi's phone is relinquished from his possession. “We've been worried sick, kid.”

“Sorry,” is all he can bring himself to say, voice shrinking. He curls in on himself on the bench. He wants to be small. He wants to disappear. He hears a sigh.

“We're not mad, sweetheart, just worried,” yet another voice - Midnight's. Why is everyone on Shuichi's phone?

“We're at your apartment,” Cloud says. Tenko's unsure if he guessed what Tenko was thinking or if Tenko said it out loud. “We've been looking for you.”

“Oh,” Tenko says dumbly.

“Where are you, baby? We'll come pick you up,” Midnight cuts in again.

“Um,” Tenko suddenly realizes he doesn't actually know. He looks around, eventually spotting the sign for the park.

“That far? Oh, kid,” Cloud sighs. “Hizashi will be there soon, okay? Stay safe in the meantime.”

“Okay,” Tenko says quietly, and the line goes dead. He lets the hand holding his phone fall into his lap, staring at the ground.

A warm arm comes around his shoulders, Dragon leaning down to see his face. “Y’alright?”

He doesn't answer right away, but after a minute he nods.

“I worried everyone,” he mumbles, leaning back, letting Dragon pull him into his side. The vigilante puts off so much heat that Tenko can't even begin to feel the bite of the April evening. “Someone's coming to pick me up.”

Dragon hums, thumb rubbing soothingly against his arm. “Want me to stay until they get here?” He offers.

Tenko shakes his head. “You don't have to.”

“Maybe I want to.”

Well. Tenko can't really deny him that.

“Besides,” Dragon continues, “I think without me here you'd freeze to death.”

“Shut up. I'd be fine,” Tenko protests, rolling his eyes.

“Sure, sure,” Dragon laughs, and Tenko can't quite suppress his own chuckle.

They sit in silence after that, Tenko siphoning Dragon's body heat until he hears an engine in the distance. Turning to look over his shoulder at the road, the car has barely come to a stop before Midnight is bursting from the passenger seat.

She's in her civvies, and Tenko figures he's probably the last one still in his costume.

“My sweet boy!” Nemuri shouts, rushing towards him.

“That's my cue,” Dragon mutters, standing and already walking away.

“Dragon,” Tenko calls, and despite his urgency to leave, the vigilante stops and turns anyway. Tenko takes a deep breath, looking straight into the eyes of the mask. “Thank you,” he says, breath clouding the air before him like Dragon's smoke. “For everything.”

Dragon's head tilts slightly, though he doesn't say anything. But he does raise his hand in goodbye, before he turns away again.

Nemuri’s arms are around him then, squeezing the air from his lungs.

“Who was that?” She whispers, pressing her cheek against his.

“I'll explain later,” Tenko says, and she hums quietly. “I just wanna go home right now.”

He lets her lead him back to Hizashi’s car, fussing over him the whole way, and then gets fussed over by Hizashi, before he falls asleep in the backseat to the sound of their quiet conversation and the smell of Nemuri's perfume.

Chapter Text

The hospital kept his dad for observation overnight. The kid was allowed to go home, but ordered to rest since classes were cancelled for the day.

It's eerily quiet when Tenko steps into the room his dad is in.

The older man immediately looks over, his face half relieved and half pensive. Neither of them say anything for several minutes.

“Tenko, Midoriya is my…protege, so to speak.” His father's words from the previous day poke at him like a rock in his shoe. He closes the door behind him.

Tenko gingerly sits in the chair by his adoptive father's bed. He doesn't look at him.

“Tenko,” he starts to say, voice rough and thick.

“Why didn't you tell me,” Tenko cuts him off. He doesn't say it as a question, exactly.

His dad heaves a deep sigh, coughing at the end.

“It's a long story,” the blonde says instead of answering. Tenko's face screws up in irritation.

“You adopted me when I was six. How long could the story be if you couldn't tell me in fourteen years?” he asks, failing to keep the anger from seeping into his voice. Not that he was trying all that hard, anyway.

“It's a story that's been going longer than even I have been alive, my boy,” Toshinori says quietly.

“Give me the abbreviated version, then,” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest. The older man sighs again, acquiescing.

“A long time ago, when quirks were still new, a man emerged that called himself All For One. His quirk was that he could take quirks from others, permanently if he wanted, and also bestow them. He used this ability to build an army of supporters. Crime ran rampant, and he fueled the villainy.

“But he had a brother, who he thought was quirkless, so he bestowed a power stockpiling quirk upon him. But the brother actually had a quirk that allowed him to pass his quirk to others. So the two quirks combined and formed what became known as One For All.”

Toshinori pauses to cough into a handkerchief, Tenko eyeing the spots of blood worriedly.

“One For All has been passed between users for generations now, and almost every one of them have met their end to All For One. My mentor, the previous user, was your grandmother, Tenko. She died fighting All For One. I was only eighteen.”

He pauses again, taking a deep, shuddering breath to collect himself.

“She had given up her son to keep him safe from All For One, and made Gran Torino and I swear we wouldn't look for him. But I couldn't do it. I kept tabs for a long time, until the accident.”

Tenko feels that familiar pain in his skull that he gets when he tries to remember what happened back then. Toshinori continues.

“Even though Nana had commanded me to stay away, I couldn't. I figured the safest place you could be was with me. But when I fought All For One again, years ago…” He heaves another sigh, fist clenching in his lap.

“It became clear my time as the current wielder of One For All was running out. I needed to find a successor. I needed to keep you safe. So we moved closer to UA, where there was a higher concentration of heroes, where hopefully you could stay safe, and where I could begin searching for a protege.”

His dad laughs wistfully, shaking his head. “Of course, you wanted to become a hero yourself, and who was I to try and stop you. I could only try and guide you along and hope for the best.” And then another sigh.

“Admittedly, my becoming a teacher at UA was so I could find a protege since I was running out of time. And then before I could even start, I found someone that I thought would be worthy. Midoriya Izuku was quirkless, but he has a heroic instinct and good heart.” He pauses again, briefly, and sighs.

“I'm sorry for not telling you, my boy. Please know I only wanted to keep you safe.”

“Is there a reason you didn't ask me? Was I not worthy?” Tenko finally asks quietly, eyes downcast and fingers picking at his sleeves, voice pinched in his throat.

“No! No, my boy, of course not. I only wanted to keep you as safe as I could. I didn't want you to have to worry about carrying such a legacy,” his dad says, reaching over to gently pull one of Tenko's hands into his massive ones. “And even with All For One himself gone, he had many allies and supporters. It likely would have painted a massive target on your back. One even bigger than the one you get from…” he pauses, clearing his throat before he finishes his sentence, “being a hero, and my son.”

Tenko hums. He still can't bring himself to look at his father, but he does curl gloved fingers around Toshinori's bony ones.

It's not okay, but maybe it will be. Eventually.

he's crying

he's scared

“Tenko!”

something wet

on his hands on his face

“Please!”

it itches it itches it itches

he wants his mom

“Tenko, it's al-”

it ITCHES IT ITCHES

screaming.

He shoots upright, gasping and crying and reaching out for someone he can't quite remember the name or face of. He roughly wipes his eyes and stares blankly at the darkness of his room for a moment, before throwing his blankets off and getting up, though he briefly winces at the cold of the floor seeping through his rug. He grabs his phone from the charger before leaving his bedroom, walking down the hallway to the door. He shoves his feet into some shoes, grabs a jacket and his keys, and leaves the apartment.

He doesn't know where he's going. But he needs some air and to burn off the residual adrenaline from his bad dreams.

It's been a long time since he's had nightmares like this, but the past few nights he's been plagued with them. He can't remember most of them once he wakes, only the lingering feeling of terror remaining. He scratches at his neck.

He shudders when the wind blows across him, wishing he'd thought to put on some actual pants. His jacket, tee, and sleep shorts aren't doing much for him right now.

He stops on a corner, standing under a street lamp, shoulders hunched and gloved hands stuffed in his pockets. He looks up, watching the moths fluttering around the yellow light, one hand idly scratching his neck.

He gets a sense of deja vu for that night of the USJ attack when he hears a confused call of, “Duster?”

Tenko realizes distantly he had been subconsciously following his usual patrol route. He turns slightly, looking at Blue Dragon from the corner of his scarred eye.

“It is you,” Dragon says, masked face tilted to the side. “What’re you doin’ out here?”

Tenko just shrugs, turning back to watch the moths. He hears Dragon approaching, the scuff of his heavy boots on the sidewalk loudly echoing in the empty street.

The man leans around Tenko to look at his face.

“What happened to you?” He asks quietly, and Tenko just blinks, looking at the vigilante dully. “Ya look like ya lost a fight with a feral cat.”

Tenko knew he'd begun relapsing, the nightmares were the most obvious sign of that, but now he wonders how bad his scratching has gotten if the vigilante is commenting on it.

“Not a cat. Just with myself,” he says numbly, hand automatically coming back up to scratch at the raw skin of his neck again.

A larger hand comes up to grab his own, pulling it away from his neck.

“You did this to yerself?” Dragon asks quietly. Tenko shrugs again. “Duster.”

“I'm off-duty,” he mumbles dully, his other hand leaving its pocket to scratch instead. The vigilante grabs that one, too, and Tenko's face scrunches up in annoyance.

“I only know one name for ya, hon,” the other man says, probably lying since he knows Tenko's relation to All Might, “why'd you scratch yerself up like this?”

“Old habits,” Tenko answers, trying to tug his hands out of the man's grasp. He grunts angrily when the masked man doesn't let go.

“Duster,” the vigilante says again, slightly crouched so he can be level with Tenko's face.

“What?” He snaps, glaring sourly at the other man.

“What's goin’ on?” Dragon asks quietly, his voice unusually somber. And just like that, all of Tenko's will to fight drains out of him.

Tenko sighs, dropping his angry expression and staring listlessly at where his hands are being held hostage.

“I've just…” he trails off, and sighs again. It's a heavy, weary sigh from deep in his bones. Blue Dragon slowly lets go of his hands.

“I've been having nightmares,” he admits, beginning to walk again. Dragon falls into step with him like usual. “It's…been a long time since they've been this bad.”

Dragon hums in acknowledgement, but doesn't say anything in response, so Tenko continues.

He takes another deep breath. “Since I was…thirteen, maybe? I'm not sure.”

He stops walking at another corner, getting lost in thought. Dragon stops alongside him.

“The attack on UA won't leave me alone. Who has the guts to go after All Might like that? And how strong are they that they almost succeeded?” He whispers. A hand moves towards his face, but hovers just above his skin instead of scratching. Eventually, he tangles it in his hair, tugging slightly to ground himself.

“So yer havin’ nightmares about the attack?” Dragon asks, and Tenko shakes his head, hair falling over his eyes. “Then what?”

“The attack triggered them, sure, but my nightmares are and have always been about…before,” Tenko says, walking again because his legs were going numb from the cold.

“Before?” Dragon prompts, following him, moving close enough that Tenko can feel his body heat radiating.

“Before I was adopted,” he says quietly. His head throbs slightly. “I don't remember what happened, just that it was really, really bad. I think Dad knows the gist, but I can't bring myself to ask him about it. From what little I can remember from the nightmares, I probably don't want to know.”

He stops again, groaning and digging the heel of his hand into his eye socket as the pain intensifies.

“Duster?” Dragon prods gently, a hand hovering over his back.

“It hurts,” is all Tenko says. “When I think about it at all, it hurts.”

“Then don't think about it,” the other man says, like it's that simple.

“If only,” Tenko mumbles, finally giving in to scratch at his neck for just a moment before the vigilante tries to grab his hand again. The wind blows, making Tenko shiver as the cold air passes over his bare legs.

Dragon huffs a laugh, diverting Tenko's attention away from his brooding, and starts to say, “not that I don't appreciate the view…”

“But what're ya doin’ out here with no pants?” Dragon asks, and Tenko flushes in embarrassment when he's reminded of his current state of dress.

“I just threw on a jacket and shoes and started walking,” he grumbles, tugging the hem of his shorts down in a vain attempt to cover more of his thighs. “I wasn't really thinking.”

Dragon laughs quietly again, wordlessly looping his arm around Tenko's shoulders and pulling him in close. It feels like standing next to a fireplace. Or maybe like wrapping up in a big, heated blanket. It's comfortable.

“C'mon, Dusty,” the vigilante says, steering them around. “Let's get ya back home.”

“I sincerely hope you don't already know where I live,” Tenko remarks dryly.

“Course not. I'm just yer personal space heater for the trip. Lead the way, boss.”

Tenko huffs in amusement, reaching up to grip the sleeve of the arm around his shoulder and leading the way back to his apartment.

Chapter Text

Tenko keeps a tight grip on Oboro’s sleeve so they don't get separated in the huge crowds flooding UA’s campus for the sports festival.

This is the first time Tenko's attended the sports festival as a spectator. He kind of didn't expect the amount of people. It wasn't something he paid attention to when he was just another student participating.

“C'mon, Ten,” Oboro says, pulling him closer until the taller man can loop his arm around Tenko's shoulders.

They finally manage to weave their way through the crowd to their seats, front row, facing the announcer's booth so Oboro can attempt to make faces at his husbands all the way across the stadium.

They're next to a group of people that look vaguely familiar to Tenko, but he can't place them.

“Shouta’s pissed that Hizashi is making him help with the announcing this year,” Oboro comments, laughing. “But neither of us want to leave him alone because we don't trust him to actually rest. Kinda like you!”

“Hey!” Tenko snaps, but he's smiling. He takes a swipe at the older man anyway.

“So, of the kids you know, who do you think is coming out on top?” Oboro asks.

“Probably the, uh, explosion one. Bakugo,” he answers absently. “He’s…tenacious, if nothing else.”

“Shouta calls him one of the ‘problem children’ of the class,” the other man says, laughing. “But then he also says most of them are problem children in the making.”

“I believe it. They're something else,” he quips as they sit down.

It's finally getting warmer, thankfully, so Tenko can get away with a short sleeve turtleneck and light pants. He crosses his ankles in front of him, relaxing in his seat.

Soon, the charismatic voice of Present Mic floods the stadium.

“Welcome to UA’s Sports Festival! The one time each year when our fledgling heroes compete in a ruthless grand battle!”

He goes on to introduce the classes, and Tenko has to suppress a flinch when he mentions the villain attack on the USJ that has only just happened. He's mostly back to normal, but he tries not to think about it. Oboro loops an arm around his shoulders, thumb rubbing soothingly over his arm.

Midnight steps up to the podium on the stadium floor, calling for Bakugo to give the athlete's oath. Tenko has a bad feeling.

“I'm gonna win.”

“Oh my god,” Tenko mutters, putting his face in his hands. Oboro bursts into raucous laughter. The people around them express varying levels of distaste, but the man directly on Tenko's other side also barks a laugh.

He glances over just because his attention is drawn by the noise, but finds himself getting caught by the man's appearance.

Messy white hair overhangs a face that's both heavily scarred and heavily pierced. The man glances back and Tenko's pinned by the most intense blue eyes he's ever seen.

Before he can turn away, the man speaks.

“Hey there,” the man says, his voice rough, a lopsided grin spreading across his pierced lips.

Tenko just blinks before his brain catches up and he mutters a hello. Then he hastily turns back to the festival, feeling heat creep up his neck from embarrassment for being caught staring at a stranger.

He thinks he hears the man chuckle, but his attention gets drawn again by Oboro saying something about whatever just happened in the obstacle course.

One of Class A is speeding ahead, leaving a path of ice in his wake, though several others from the class are close behind.

“The brat seems to be in a mood,” Tenko hears the man next to him mutter. The woman on the man's other side scolds him.

“Touya! Don't be like that. You know how Dad is with him, he's probably stressed.”

And that's when Tenko realizes why they seemed familiar.

The Todoroki family. The youngest being a member of Aizawa's class, leading the charge in the obstacle course. The oldest, infamous for a quirk related accident in his youth that left him covered in scars, being the man sitting right next to Tenko.

Who scoffs, but doesn't say anything else in response to who Tenko assumes is his sister. She doesn't seem old enough to be the mother.

A commotion brings him back to watching the festival again. A student just got sent flying by the same robots they like to use in the entrance exam.

“Oh, those things,” Tenko says absently, and Oboro laughs.

“UA loves its giant robots. We fought them during our entrance exam, too!”

“They had that kind of technology back in the bronze age?” He grins, and the other man gasps in offense.

“1-A’s Todoroki busting through and sabotaging the others in one move! This guy's cold!” Mic’s voice echoes through the stadium. Tenko scrunches up his nose.

“Was that a pun?”

“It was absolutely a pun.”

Mic babbles over the loudspeaker about the setup of the obstacle course, and Tenko is pretty sure he can hear Aizawa’s deep voice muttering behind him.

Two Hero course students burst through the metal plating of a fallen robot.

“1-A’s Kirishima was crushed! Class B’s Tetsutetsu was also flattened! Ouch!”

“Tetsutetsu?” Tenko mutters to himself.

“Hizashi told me his full name is Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu,” Oboro says, and Tenko makes a face.

“What?” he asks incredulously. Oboro just laughs. Tenko shakes his head, questioning the kid's parent's decisions, and looks back at the screens.

It's kind of incredible what these kids can do with their quirks. Tenko watches as first Bakugo flies through the air using his explosions with practiced ease, followed closely by the bird-headed kid and the tape guy.

Meanwhile, Tenko doesn't miss his dad's little protege picking up a sheet of metal and carrying it with him, for some reason.

A robot suddenly crashes to the ground, its head blown clean off.

A CANNON? Tenko thinks, flabbergasted, as the creation girl did in fact just create a cannon to blow up a robot.

“This is The Fall!” Mic's voice rings out, introducing the second section of the obstacle course as the students begin to reach it.

Immediately, the frog girl is crawling effortlessly along a tightrope. She's soon followed by a support course student grappling through, cackling wildly all the way.

“Why'd those idiots stop moving…”

Tenko snorts and Oboro laughs, fairly sure Aizawa did not intend to be heard.

The engine boy propels himself along the ropes, both arms straight out at his sides. He's t-posing…

“Boy, does he look foolish!”

Midoriya is…upside down, crawling along a wire with that stupid plate strapped to his back.

Todoroki and Bakugo have reached the minefield section, Mic explaining that to the audience now.

“Can they hold onto their lead!?”

An explosion far bigger than what the mines should be capable of fills the screens, and a student comes rocketing out of the cloud of smoke and dust.

“Is he insane?” Tenko shouts, shooting to his feet, jaw hanging slack.

“Class A’s Midoriya rides the wave in hot pursuit…or something! He passed them!” Mic's genuine excitement is audible, and even Tenko feels like he's vibrating from the rush of adrenaline.

Midoriya is flying upside down as he’s neck and neck with Todoroki and Bakugo, and Tenko thinks he's probably going to break his stupid neck. But then he flips, still holding onto that fucking plate, and slams it on top of another mine, shooting him ahead.

Mic commentates enthusiastically, and Tenko can just visualize the man in his head, gesticulating wildly.

“The one who made it back first is none other than Midoriya Izuku!”

“He's insane. He's actually insane,” Tenko mutters, sitting and leaning back in his chair, scratching his neck lightly just to get some of the energy out.

“No scratching,” Oboro mutters absently, but he's equally fixated on the scene. The green haired kid bursts into tears on screen, frantically rubbing at his face.

And he's crying, Tenko thinks. He wishes that wasn't relatable, actually.

Once the passing students fill the stadium, Midnight begins explaining the next round.

Tenko watches with great amusement as every students’ head turns in unison to stare at Midoriya, who looks horrified, when his ten million point worth is announced.

On the field, Midoriya pitifully attempts to find a team when everyone is too scared of his high point value to join up with him. Tenko almost feels bad. Almost.

Eventually, he does group up with a brown haired girl from his class, the bird kid, and that support course girl that Tenko noticed before.

With the teams formed, Midnight calls for the cavalry battle to begin.

“I'm glad we didn't do this one when I was a student,” Tenko mutters absently. Oboro pats his shoulder sympathetically.

The Todoroki on his right leans over nosily. “What’cha got against the cavalry battle?”

Tenko glances at him from his periphery, tensing up at the sudden invasion of his space.

“Nothing, but people wouldn't have wanted to be so close to me, with my quirk,” he answers truthfully, turning back to the event.

Mic interrupts anything the man might have said in response, shouting over the loudspeaker.

“Class A’s not looking so hot… What happened to Bakugo!?”

Tenko watches, fascinated, as a blonde boy from another class effortlessly swipes Bakugo’s headband. Whatever he says to the explosion boy seems to really set him off, because Tenko's pretty sure he can feel the murderous intent from the stands.

There's a scramble as several teams close in on Midoriya, but they're all taken out in one sweep by a blast of electricity.

“What's this now? Todoroki’s taken out a herd of cavalry teams with one fierce attack!”

Tenko can just barely hear Aizawa giving a rundown of what Todoroki planned, followed by Mic's enthusiastic praise.

That blonde from before seems to be going one-to-one with Bakugo's team, and Tenko is impressed with how well he picks up on the functionality of others’ quirks when he copies them.

“He's good,” Tenko mumbles thoughtfully. “But too cocky.”

Sure enough, the air wall made by one of his team is smashed through by Bakugo’s sheer determination, who steals two headbands, then rounds back for more.

“Absolutely merciless!”

Meanwhile, Midoriya fakes out Todoroki, who looks startled.

“He used his fire…?” The Todoroki next to him murmurs.

“Only for a second, though,” his sister says.

Mic starts to enthusiastically count down the timer, as the teams all rush for each other in a final mad dash.

“Time’s up!” He yells over the loudspeakers, just before Bakugo crashes face first into the ground. Tenko can't help but snort.

“In first place, Team Todoroki! In second, Team Bakugo!”

Tenko watches in amusement as Bakugo seethes.

“In third, Team Tetsu- huh? Team Shinsou!?”

He leans forward in interest as he realizes a general studies kid managed to worm his way into the finals. He sees him down there, the odd one out, his purple hair distinct.

“In fourth, Team Midoriya!”

Midoriya, predictably, bursts into tears. Tenko rubs a hand over his face. This is Dad's protege? His successor?

He listens absently as Mic announces the break, and as his voice fades out, speaking to Aizawa about food.

“Are you going to see them?” He asks Oboro, who's standing and stretching his arms above his head.

“Yeah, you coming? You're always welcome to join us,” the older man offers, but Tenko shakes his head.

“I'll just stay here, I think,” he says, and Oboro just looks at him for a moment. “Go,” Tenko insists, rolling his eyes and digging his phone out of his pocket. “I'll be fine.”

Oboro still hesitates, just a little, but then grins brightly. “Alright, see you after lunch, Ten!”

Tenko just hums, scrolling through his phone.

Beside him, two of the Todorokis get up and leave, but the eldest stays in his seat next to Tenko. It's not long before someone comes to fill Oboro's empty seat, however.

“Heyyy, Tenkooo,” a loud voice calls cheerily, and Tenko rolls his eyes.

“Yuu,” he greets drily as the other hero plops herself down into Oboro's empty seat. “Are you supposed to be working?” He asks when he looks up and notices her costume, brows furrowing. She just shrugs, munching on her food.

“Want one? I got them for free,” she offers the takoyaki to him, and he blinks.

“For free,” he repeats, staring at the box in her hand.

“Yeah, he was really sweet. I forgot my wallet and he let me have it on the house,” she sing-songs with a grin, but Tenko knows how she is.

“So you pouted and batted your eyelashes at him,” he huffs, but he does take one from her.

She rolls her eyes. “You should try it sometime. You're a lot cuter than you think you are,” she quips, and Tenko feels his ears get hot.

“You're full of shit,” he bites, chewing angrily on the takoyaki.

“She's right,” the Todoroki on his right says, and Tenko's face gets a little warmer.

He turns to say something in response, but Yuu gasps quietly, suddenly hooking an arm around Tenko's neck and yanking him towards her. He yelps and snaps at her. 

“Hey!”

“Is that fucking Todoroki Touya?” She whispers harshly into his ear. He elbows her in the boob to make her let go of his neck. “Ow!”

“Yeah, Mt Lady, right?” The Todoroki in question answers instead, because Yuu’s whispering ability leaves much to be desired.

“Y-yeah!” she exclaims, looking far too excited. Tenko gives her a weird look.

“Why are you acting like that?” he asks in concern. She hisses at him to shut up.

Todoroki just laughs easily.

“Todoroki-” Yuu starts to say something, but cuts herself off with a glance to the side. She sighs, and whines, “I have to go back to my team. Tenko, you can have the rest of my takoyaki. Nice to meet you, Todoroki!”

“And she's gone,” Tenko mutters after Yuu makes her hasty exit, her box of takoyaki abandoned on Tenko's lap.

“She seems nice. Ya been friends long?” Todoroki asks, still leaning into Tenko's space, heat radiating off of him.

“It's an illusion,” Tenko quips dryly, and decides to finish off Yuu’s takoyaki. “I've known her since high school. She didn't go to UA, though.”

“Earlier, ya said you were glad they didn't do cavalry battle when you were a student, cuz yer quirk, why'sat?” The man asks, nosy as hell.

Tenko side-eyes him, but relents. He pulls his glove off of one hand and closes all five fingers around the now-empty takoyaki box. It crumbles away into nothing but crumbs and dust that he then brushes off of his lap.

“People don't want to be that close with someone that can destroy anything they touch,” he says simply, flatly, tugging the glove back on. It's a fact of his life, and he's always known it.

He figures the man will stop talking to him now, but he just hums thoughtfully.

“Doesn't seem any more dangerous than, say, fire,” he says, and he's technically right.

“It's different when it's a quirk that you can't turn off,” he quietly replies. The man opens his mouth, but before Todoroki can say anything else, his siblings return, and his attention turns to them instead.

On Tenko's other side, Oboro approaches him.

“It's already been an hour?” He asks, looking at his phone for confirmation anyway.

“Just about, the tournament will start after the games,” the man says, flopping back into his seat.

“Class A? Why!?”

Mic's confused call over the loudspeaker makes Tenko look back down at the field and cringe when he sees the poor girls of Class A in cheerleader uniforms. Oboro poorly stifles his laughter.

The way they're yelling at two boys from their class makes it obvious this was some kind of scheme. Tenko feels bad for them.

Mic does them a favor and breezes past their humiliation, instead describing what the final round will be.

Midnight climbs back onto her little podium, a box in hand. Before they can begin drawing the lots, however, a hand raises from the throng of students.

Tenko can't hear what's being said, obviously, but there's a commotion among the students.

“Oh? Ojiro Mashirao of Class A and Shoda Nirengeki of Class B have dropped out of the running! Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki Ibara will be taking their place in the finals!”

Tenko hums thoughtfully. Why would they drop out, though?

The confused chatter of the crowd dies down, and the matchups are posted on the billboard.

After the festival games, the tournament will begin.

Chapter Text

“You've been through hell to get here! But now it's time for the one-on-one tournament! You've only got yourself to rely on!”

Mic prattles on with some words of encouragement before announcing the first match.

Shinsou Hitoshi versus Midoriya Izuku. I wonder how Dad's little protege will hold up on his own, Tenko thinks, watching as the general studies student and Midoriya walk onto each side of the arena.

As soon as the match starts, he can tell that Shinsou is speaking, though he can't really make anything out, and Midoriya is silent. Something sets Midoriya off, though, and he marches forward angrily, only to suddenly stop again.

“Mere seconds into the match, Midoriya’s frozen in place!?”

Tenko leans forward in his seat, squinting curiously at Midoriya's still form in the arena. The boy's face is completely blank, eyes glazed over.

“Could this be Shinsou's quirk!?”

He watches, fascinated and a little unnerved, as Midoriya turns around and starts walking towards the bounds of the ring with a vacant expression. Are you really going to lose that easily? Tenko thinks, annoyed and a little anxious despite his feelings about the kid. And then just as suddenly as he froze before, with a sudden, inexplicable burst of wind he stopped again.

He's bent over gasping, and even from a distance, Tenko can see the purple bruise forming on his hand.

Did he break a bone? Was that what caused that huge gust? How did he even…?

Once Midoriya catches his breath, he marches steadily towards his opponent, no longer responding to Shinsou's taunts. They grapple just briefly before Midoriya is flipping Shinsou over his shoulder, his heels just barely out of bounds. But it's enough.

“Shinsou is out of the ring!” Midnight calls, cracking her whip for emphasis. “Midoriya Izuku moves on to the second round!”

Tenko feels a little bad for the General Studies student, who looks plainly frustrated. But the boy’s classmates cheer loudly for him, making Tenko's lips curve into a faint smile at the sound.

The next competitors walk out onto the field, and Tenko winces when Mic calls the tape boy plain. What the hell, Mic? That's so mean. The Todoroki next to him scoffs when his brother is then described as “the strongest of the strong.”

The match is over instantly. The boy has barely flung any tape out before Todoroki's covered half of the stadium in ice. Tenko is immediately shivering, staring at the sudden ice wall in front of him. He's grateful for the amount of heat the Todoroki next to him is putting off.

Midnight (also half covered in ice) flatly asks if Sero can move (he obviously cannot).

The crowd calls out a pitiful chorus of “good try” as Todoroki at least has the mercy to thaw out his ice. The older Todoroki on Tenko's right mutters something he doesn't catch. When he glances over, the man's face is screwed up in irritation, but there's something sad in his eyes.

The next match is over about as quickly, once the girl is finished calling out Mic's description of her as an assassin. The blonde boy with the electricity quirk is tied up in vines, immobilized, and also mentally fried. The girl is unscathed behind her shield.

The following match is a spectacle that gives Tenko awful secondhand embarrassment, half covering his face and sinking into his seat. Oboro laughs, whether it's at the nonsense happening in the arena or Tenko, he's not sure. Iida Tenya is used as an unwilling model for that support course girl to advertise her inventions, only for her to walk herself out of the arena after thoroughly humiliating the boy. Tenko groans sympathetically, scooting back up to sit properly.

Tenko's surprised when he sees Himiko and the pink girl from her class walk out onto the field.

“Whose team was she on in the cavalry battle? I don't remember ever seeing her,” Tenko wonders aloud.

“I think maybe that Shinsou kid’s?” Oboro says, scratching his chin.

“She seems…off,” Tenko mumbles, eyebrows furrowing.

Even from this distance, Tenko can see the lines of tension in the blonde girl's posture. Conversely, the pink heteromorph is stretching loosely, almost bouncing in place.

Pink girl has a wide grin as she charges forward, but it changes to something startled when Himiko suddenly lunges at her. Pink flips and twirls and dances away from every swipe of Himiko's clawed fingers. They're speaking as they fight, but the cameras don't pick anything up.

And then, Himiko shrieks loud enough to be heard from the stands and manages to grab Pink’s gym uniform. But she doesn't have the muscle mass she needs, and Pink easily overpowers her and flings her out of bounds.

Midnight calls the match. Himiko doesn't move for a minute, then slowly pushes herself up. Pink approaches her slowly, but Himiko doesn't turn to face her.

“What happened down there?” Tenko wonders. “When I was basically Eraser’s TA Himiko was really…bubbly.”

“Maybe she has an issue with that other girl? But that girl seems like the type of person everyone likes,” Oboro says quietly.

Maybe that in itself is the issue, Tenko thinks, but he only hums in response.

Himiko's head is down as she leaves the arena, her hair covering most of her expression except for the tight line of her mouth. Pink is following close behind, visibly worried. They disappear into the stadium halls, and the next match is called.

The girl with the creation quirk and the bird-headed boy walk out next, another two from Class A. The camera shows closeups of each of them as they're introduced, like with all the previous competitors, and Tenko wishes he knew why his stomach churns uncomfortably whenever he sees that girl's face. He doesn't really watch this match, unable to look at that girl for too long.

The penultimate match of the first round goes on for an unreasonable amount of time. Rock boy versus steel boy, evenly matched in every way, shape, and form. Oboro starts to fall asleep, and Tenko is getting bored watching them beat the shit out of each other. Eventually, they manage to knock each other out, resulting in a draw.

“Finally,” Tenko mutters. He hears a snort to his right. On his left, Oboro makes a weird gurgling noise as he wakes back up.

“It's Bakugo Katsuki of the hero course! Versus, my personal pick! Uraraka Ochako, also of the hero course!”

Stop picking favorites, Mic, you're a teacher! Tenko grumbles internally, then sighs, refocusing on the arena, where the last two competitors of the first round are walking out.

“Who are you rooting for? Hizashi obviously has his pick,” Oboro asks, and Tenko rolls his eyes.

“He shouldn't. But I guess the girl - Uraraka. I've always liked an underdog,” he replies, eyes fixed on the arena.

He's the most curious to see how this one plays out, honestly. He's familiar enough with Bakugo at this point, and knows he won't hold anything back. He doesn't know much about the girl, except that she's generally cheerful and her quirk isn't a combative one. Her face on the screen is determined, if a little nervous.

She obviously has a plan of some kind - she charges straight for her opponent, though she's unable to dodge in time for a blast. But when Bakugo goes in for another, all he has is her jacket.

“She threw her jacket and sent it floating, all on the fly! Uraraka wastes no time, she's charging again!”

And sure enough, Uraraka continues charging for Bakugo and retreating when he lets out an explosion.

He hears Mic mutter something, but he's too distracted by people in the crowd getting rowdy. He can't even properly watch the match anymore, too agitated by the other spectators.

“Stop toying with the poor girl!” A man's voice rings out, loud and clear, followed by others.

He can't stop himself, scratching harshly at his neck. “She's a hero student, for fuck’s sake. She's not some little civilian girl,” he hisses, nails digging into old scars.

“Stop scratching,” Oboro says, and Tenko angrily shakes him off when the man tries to grab his hand. “Hey! I know you're mad, but you can't do anything about it.”

“A group in the crowd has started booing!” Mic narrates, then adding on, “though, I kind of agree- OW, ELBOW!”

Aizawa's voice suddenly cuts through the commotion. “Whoever said that, are you a hero? How many active years? If that's your takeaway, go home and start job hunting.”

Even Tenko has stopped scratching, shocked by the angry tone in the normally impassive teacher's voice.

“He knows her strength. His caution shows he recognizes her as a worthy opponent. It's because he wants to win so badly, there's no room to hold back.”

Properly chastised, the crowd settles down. Tenko calms down, himself, hands drifting slowly away from his neck.

Uraraka has stopped moving, saying something to her opponent, before she charges again, hands together.

The bits and pieces of the concrete arena that Bakugo scattered with every explosion, that Uraraka activated her quirk on, come crashing down.

“A meteor storm!” Mic's voice takes over again.

But it's for naught. Bakugo releases a massive explosion that obliterates the debris entirely. Uraraka still doesn't want to give up, but she collapses, unable to continue.

Midnight somberly approaches her limp form, checking on her.

“Uraraka is unable to continue. Bakugo moves on to the second round!”

The cameras dutifully show the victor’s face, where Bakugo has an unreadable expression.

Mic says something annoying that almost sends Tenko back to scratching, but Aizawa grumbles something at him and he goes back to announcing, like he's supposed to be doing.

“We'll move on to the second round after a quick break!”

“You okay?” Oboro asks, eyeing Tenko warily.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, slumping into his seat.

The two boys’ who's match ended in a draw earlier are brought back out to settle it via arm wrestling. Ultimately, the spiky red one from Class A ends up winning.

“We now have our full lineup for the second round! With that said, let's get right to it!”

Tenko sits up straight again when he realizes who's going up next. The youngest Todoroki walks onto the field, opposite of the green-haired thorn in Tenko's side.

“Todoroki versus Midoriya! Start!”

Immediately, Todoroki sends a wave of ice towards Midoriya, who blows it away, sending freezing air gusting over the stands.

Tenko, disgruntled, wraps his arms tight around himself.

Every wave of ice is smashed, but Midoriya looks rougher with each one. Tenko leans forward, squinting down at the arena.

“Is he breaking his fingers?” he wonders aloud.

Todoroki rushes with his wave of ice, this time, smashing down on Midoriya. Another shattering sound. When the dust clears, Midoriya looks…bad.

“His arm,” Tenko breathes. One of his arms in its entirety is purple, as are all of his fingers on his other hand.

In the crowd around them, Tenko can hear muttering about Todoroki's ability. The older one sitting next to him makes an annoyed sound, arms crossed and brows furrowed.

On the field, they're speaking to each other, though the cameras don't pick any of it up.

“Todoroki continues his relentless assault! Could this next ice attack win it all?”

Tenko almost startles when Mic suddenly speaks, having been silent, likely watching in awe with everyone else.

Another shockwave - one of Midoriya's fingers is mangled, almost blackened with the darkness of the bruising.

Looking closely, Tenko can see that Todoroki is beginning to shake, just barely noticeable.

His quirk is like magic in a video game. He's using too much ice and he's starting to feel it.

“Gimme everything you've got! Come at me!” Midoriya's reedy little voice rings out, echoing in the stadium.

Todoroki charges him, but Midoriya is ready and punches him square in the gut with a hand of broken fingers. The other boy is sent flying, the crowd clamoring in excitement.

“What a hit! Things are really heating up!”

“He got a good punch in, but Midoriya already looks like he's going to fall apart,” Tenko comments, Oboro humming in acknowledgement.

Midoriya continues on the offensive, hooking his thumb into his cheek and breaking it.

“What the hell is this kid's deal?” Tenko winces, watching how mangled his body is becoming. He's genuinely insane.

“Your power…is your own!” Midoriya screams out, sounding strangely desperate. Something seems to snap in Todoroki, and his left side lights up in flames.

The crowd gasps in awe, even the older Todoroki to Tenko's right seems mesmerized.

“Shouto!” Endeavor's voice booms. All three of the Todorokis sitting next to Tenko flinch. The rest of the stadium is shocked into silence. “You will fulfill my ambitions!”

Tenko grimaces.

“A sudden pep talk from Endeavor, huh… What a doting parent,” Mic comments, though his voice is flat in that way it gets when he's annoyed about something.

On the field, Todoroki is smiling, though he quickly wipes it away as he speaks. Both boys drop into a ready stance, the air almost buzzing with the energy.

“They'll kill each other,” Tenko whispers, mildly horrified.

Cementoss throws up a barrier between the two students before they can meet in what could have very well been a fatal collision. The resulting cloud of dust obscures everything, and the shockwave is strong enough that Tenko thinks he'd be blown away if he weren't sitting down.

Mic says something Tenko doesn't catch, though he does hear him say, “has the match been decided?”

Slowly, the smoke clears, revealing Midoriya's hopefully-just-unconscious body leaned against the far wall, out of bounds. Todoroki still stands, though his gym uniform is significantly tattered. Midnight hauls herself back to her feet.

“Midoriya is out of bounds…” she calls out. And hopefully not dead, Tenko thinks. “Todoroki moves on to the third round!”

The crowd shakes off their shock and cheers, though Tenko feels a little beside himself.

Just who did you pick for your ‘protege,’ Dad?

He had forgotten how confusing some of these hallways get. Finally, he turns a corner to find who he's looking for, but he's not alone.

“I, too, was born quirkless,” his dad's voice says. Tenko freezes, before backing around the corner again, out of sight.

“You were quirkless, too?” Midoriya asks, sounding as shocked as Tenko is.

Just how many secrets have you kept from me? He wonders, fingers curling into his palms.

“Yeah!” His dad cheerfully says. “At first, you just reminded me of myself, but…you've already far surpassed my expectations.”

“There's something special in you and you alone,” his dad tells Midoriya. He then says something about going back to watch the tournament, but Tenko's already walking away by that point.

Tenko doesn't make it back to the stands until the tournament is down to the final four. Oboro gives him a questioning look that turns to concern when Tenko doesn't acknowledge him and silently retakes his seat.

“Iida Tenya versus Todoroki Shouto!”

Todoroki immediately sends a wave of ice as he did in his previous matches, which Iida cleanly jumps over. He swings a powerful kick around onto Todoroki, knocking him down and grabbing him by the back of his shirt and sprinting towards the bounds.

But then he stumbles, ice frozen over the exhaust pipes in his legs. Todoroki grabs his arm, quickly expanding his ice until Iida is encased almost entirely.

“Iida is unable to continue! Todoroki moves on without using his fire!”

The next match is Bakugo versus Tokoyami, and despite the bird-headed boy's impressive quirk, it's a bad match.

He stays on the defensive the entire time as Bakugo releases a relentless chain of explosions. He tries to grab Bakugo with his quirk, but the blond flips over and behind him, releasing a blinding explosion.

“Always with these dust clouds!” Mic complains.

When it clears, Bakugo has Tokoyami pinned by his beak, tiny explosions going off in his other hand. Dark Shadow cowers away from the barrage of light.

“Tokoyami has surrendered! Bakugo wins!” Midnight announces, cracking her whip.

“Our final match is set! Todoroki versus Bakugo!” Mic announces to raucous cheering. The short break is filled with the excited chatter of the crowd and the distant rumble of Cementoss repairing the arena.

“At last, we've arrived! The best of the best among UA’s first years will be decided! Todoroki versus Bakugo, start!”

Almost immediately, Todoroki makes a giant wave of ice like he did in his first match, covering half the field. Bakugo soon blasts out of the ice, lunging for Todoroki, who attempts to counter with another ice wave.

Bakugo flips and grabs Todoroki by his shirt and hair, flinging him across the arena. Todoroki just barely manages to avoid sliding out of bounds with an ice wall. Bakugo launches himself into the air, using his explosions to make a giant twister of pure firepower. The resulting explosion is huge, more smoke filling the stadium.

When it clears, Todoroki is laying in his ice, out of bounds and unconscious. Bakugo rushes forward, grabbing the limp boy by the shirt and speaking, face desperate on the screens. Midnight uses her quirk to put him to sleep, before announcing him the winner.

This feels almost…sad, Tenko thinks, looking at the now two unconscious students on the field.

“The first year winner of UA’s sports festival is Bakugo Katsuki of Class A!” Mic announces, to the excited screams of the crowd. Tenko covers his ears as fireworks are set off while they prepare for the awards ceremony.

Once the podiums are set up, the winners take their places, although Bakugo looks unhappy.

“In third place, we actually have both Tokoyami and Iida, but Iida had to leave due to a family emergency. We hope you understand!” Midnight announces to the crowd. Oboro suddenly sits forward, brows furrowed.

“A family emergency?” Tenko questions aloud, sharing a look with the older man.

“Now for the medals! Presenting them this year is…You Know Who!”

That familiar call of “I am here!” rings out as All Might does some sort of flashy nonsense for his entrance. “...with the medals!”

“Everyone's favorite hero, All Might!” Midnight shouts gleefully over his dad's entrance. Tenko snorts, despite himself.

All Might goes through congratulating the contestants and hugging them, except for Bakugo, who refuses his medal until All Might gives up. He addresses the crowd with what Tenko figures is supposed to be an inspiring speech, but he's still bitter so it doesn't do much for him. He does still snort again when All Might somehow messes up and doesn't say the UA catchphrase in time with the crowd.

With the festival finally over and the people clearing out, Tenko feels a little more at ease. Oboro splits off to see his husbands again before they leave, so Tenko waits by the gate.

“Hey,” a rough voice calls. Tenko almost doesn't turn, but when he does he's greeted by the sight of the eldest Todoroki.

For a second, he thinks he's calling for someone else, but those blue eyes are staring right at him.

“... Hey,” he answers cautiously, hunching inwards slightly. Todoroki grins, strangely charming despite his scars. Or maybe it's charming because of them.

“Can I get yer number?” The taller man asks, and Tenko's mind blue screens.

“What.”

“Yer number, can I get it?” Todoroki asks again, still smiling down at Tenko.

“Why do you want my number?” Tenko asks, but his voice is so flat it barely sounds like a question.

“Cuz yer cute?” Todoroki says it easily, like it's somehow obvious. Tenko just blinks, then squints at the man.

“You should get your eyes checked,” he responds in almost a growl, turning away.

“I mean, I ain't wearin’ my glasses, sure, but I don't need ‘em to see yer cute,” Todoroki rolls on smoothly. Tenko, for his part, is bitterly refusing to look at the man now.

“I don't know what kick you get from this, but I'm not gonna play your game,” Tenko replies sourly, hunching his shoulders more as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“‘M not playin’ any game,” Todoroki says, moving to stand in front of him. His face is serious now. “I think yer cute an’ I'd like to get yer number, but I'll back off if ya still don't wanna. But I'm not doin’ this as a joke or anythin’.”

Tenko isn't sure what possesses him when he relents. “Okay,” he breathes out, and that scarred face splits into a wide grin again. “I still don't get why, though, Todoroki.”

The man laughs breezily. “Call me Touya.”

Chapter Text

“Pardon?” Tenko asks dumbly, staring slack jawed at his former mentor.

“I want you to take Bakugo Himiko as an intern,” Aizawa repeats flatly, like what he's saying makes any more sense the second time.

“But. Why?” He insists, because he really doesn't understand. Aizawa sighs, looking irritated.

“She's taken a liking to you. For some reason,” he says, giving him a Look, and Tenko huffs at him. “She hasn't gotten any internship offers, yet, but I think it would be good for her to do one. So I want you to submit an offer.”

“That's… I really don't think that's a good idea, Aizawa,” he admits hesitantly. Aizawa raises a brow at him. “I don't think I'd be a good teacher or - or role model,” he lies, feeling guilt curl in his stomach. He looks down at Bean, curled in his lap and purring away, so he doesn't have to face the man next to him.

But he can't tell Aizawa the real reason it's not a good idea - that after he heard the news about Ingenium getting attacked by the Hero Killer, he applied for a temporary transfer to run patrols in Hosu to help fill the absence. He wasn't exactly planning to have a student intern with him when he did it.

Blue Dragon wasn't happy when Tenko told him about the patrol change, either.

“Yer gonna patrol where the Hero Killer’s been spotted? Are you insane?” the vigilante had exclaimed, head whipping around to look at him.

“I'm not afraid of him,” Tenko said, truthfully.

“Maybe you should be,” Dragon had grumbled and hunched his shoulders, clearly agitated. They had argued, because Tenko is nothing if not stubborn, and Blue Dragon is just the same.

That night had ended on such a sour note, and Tenko hasn’t seen Dragon in the days since. He figures he's finally fucked it up and run the man off for good.

He tries not to feel too upset about it. It's not like they were that close.

“It amazes me how you can be overconfident and yet have no faith in yourself,” Aizawa sighs softly. “You're a good hero, Tenko. I believe you can be a good mentor for her - I know you're not on the official list for internships, but I can pull some strings.”

It's rare for Aizawa to be so sentimental, and the novelty of it almost brings Tenko to tears.

“Don't cry,” he says bluntly and Tenko snorts, rubbing his eyes roughly.

“Don't be sappy,” he snaps back, making Aizawa crack just a hint of a smile. Then Tenko sighs, carding his fingers through Bean’s black fur. He can hear Hizashi and Oboro's good-natured bickering in the kitchen as they cook dinner, and Egg’s persistent meowing, begging for treats. He looks up to where Soy Sauce is asleep on top of the cat tree, thinking about Aizawa's words.

He sighs again.

“Okay,” he acquiesces. “I'll submit an offer.”

Aizawa gives one of his seldom seen, gentle smiles, though it's gone again just as quickly as it came.

“So, how are things with your vigilante?” The man asks, and while he says it in a lighthearted, teasing way, it makes Tenko sigh.

“Dunno. We argued and I haven't seen him. Guess I finally ran him off,” he mumbles, sinking into the plush couch.

“I doubt that. But I guess that explains why I haven't gotten any witching hour calls to come save your sorry ass,” the dark haired man says wryly, and Tenko throws one of the couch pillows at him.

“One time! That happened once!” He snaps, but he's smiling again, at least for the moment.

“Really, though,” Aizawa continues, more seriously. “He seemed very protective of you. I doubt he would just disappear on you because you had a tiff. What could you two have even argued about?”

Tenko looks down at Bean again. “Nothing, really,” he lies again. He's thankfully saved from having to speak and come up with excuses anymore when Hizashi cheerfully calls for dinner.

“Well, c'mon kid. Let's get harassed,” Aizawa sighs dryly, and Tenko raises a brow as he sets a complaining Bean onto the couch.

“You married them?” he asks, amused, following after the man.

“Doesn't mean they don't harass me.”

He’s kind of surprised it took four entire days before he got a message.

Unknown Number: hey. it's touya 

Tenko just stares at the message on his screen.

Unknown Number: this is Tenko right?

You: Yeah

He saves the number, debating for a moment what he should put it under, before ultimately deciding that “Todoroki (Weirdo)” is probably most accurate.

Todoroki (Weirdo): wanna get a drink?

You: I'm not a big fan of alcohol.

Todoroki (Weirdo): doesn't have to be alcohol. We can get coffee or smth

Todoroki (Weirdo): you pick the place

Tenko considers it. He doesn't generally like going out all that much, but after everything that's happened - his fight with Blue Dragon, what he overheard his dad saying at the sports festival, Aizawa asking him to take an intern - he really wants a distraction.

You: I didn't actually say yes

You: but

You: do you like cats?

Todoroki (Weirdo): ?

So thirty minutes later Tenko finds himself waiting outside of Wildcat - a cat cafe owned by the Wild Wild Pussycats. Between Aizawa taking him there as an intern and his work study with the Pussycats, the place has become a comfort of his.

He's looking at his phone when a voice catches his attention.

“Ah, so that's why ya asked if I liked cats,” Todoroki - Touya, he asked to be called by his given name, Tenko reminds himself - says as he approaches, looking at the little sign hanging on the door.

It's a bit of a hole-in-the-wall for being owned by pro heroes, but that's part of why Tenko likes it.

Touya is dressed in much more fashionable clothing than Tenko - a loose, white T-shirt and stylishly ripped, black skinny jeans, buckle-adorned boots and rings decorating his fingers. It's a stark contrast against Tenko's lightweight Pokemon hoodie and slightly-too-big pants that he has rolled up above his usual red converse. He feels underdressed now, but also wonders when he started caring about his appearance so much.

Yuu must be a bad influence on me, he thinks, since she's the only person he can think of who's always worried about appearances.

Touya grins in that disarming way again, and Tenko has to look away.

“You look nice,” Touya says, and Tenko thinks, not really. But he mumbles “you, too,” instead.

He leads the way into the small cafe, the bell above the door jingling cheerfully.

An excited gasp makes Tenko look up, smiling shyly when he sees Shiretoko behind the counter.

“Yagi! It's been so long since you've come to visit, meow!” She exclaims, clambering over the counter to rush him for a hug.

He laughs quietly, always looking forward to getting to see any of the Pussycats, returning Shiretoko’s hug.

“I've been busy. It's good to see you,” he says sincerely as she releases him.

“I get that, meow!” She suddenly gasps again. “Oh! Yawara is here, too! I'll go tell him you're here!”

Before Tenko can stop her, she disappears into the back.

“Know them well, huh?” Touya asks, and Tenko almost jumps. I forgot he was there.

He turns to the taller man, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I did a work study with them when I was in highschool,” he explains, chuckling shyly.

A deep voice booming “Yagi!” is the only warning Tenko has before he gets scooped into huge, muscular arms.

“Ah, hello Chatora,” he wheezes out as he gets crushed by the man's vice grip. “Please put me down.”

“Sorry,” the large man says as he sets Tenko down, though he doesn't sound sorry at all.

This is when Shiretoko seems to notice Tenko isn't here alone.

“Oh!” Then she gasps excitedly. “Are you on a date?” she whispers to him, if it can be called that, because he's pretty sure he could've heard it from outside.

“No! No, nothing like that,” he hurriedly says, waving his hands.

“No? Ouch. And here I thought we had somethin,” Touya says unhelpfully. Tenko glares at him.

Shiretoko giggles, bouncing back behind the counter, Chatora following dutifully.

“So your usual, Yagi?” She asks chipperly, and he nods. She turns to his not-date. “What for you, meow?”

“Just a black coffee is fine,” he says, and Tenko scrunches up his nose.

“That's so boring,” he mutters, and Shiretoko laughs. “And gross.”

“Hey, I'm a simple man,” Touya says easily, and Tenko looks at the extensive amount of jewelry he wears, mostly in his face.

“Uh huh.”

“You can go ahead back if you'd like, Yagi. We'll bring your order to you,” Chatora offers, gesturing to the door to the cat room. Tenko nods, and gestures for Touya to follow.

Touya is a cat magnet, as it turns out. Within minutes of them sitting down, they're swarmed with cats seeking his body heat. Even the most skittish ones are skulking out of their hidey-holes.

“That's just unfair,” Tenko gripes, arms crossed as he watched all the cats pile onto Touya.

“Perks of havin’ a fire quirk, I guess,” the white haired man says, though he seems unsure of what to do with his lap full of cats.

Shiretoko comes in with a serving tray. “Here you go, meow!” She chirps as she hands Touya his boring and gross black coffee and Tenko his usual. Touya eyes the cup in Tenko's hand in muted horror once she leaves.

“What the hell issat,” he asks, brows pinched in concern.

“It's my favorite,” Tenko says sweetly, making a maybe inappropriate noise when he takes the first sip of his extra-extra sweet mocha frappe. With sprinkles.

Touya huffs a laugh, “well, I guess that's where ya get yer sweetness from.”

Tenko chokes a little on his drink, face rapidly tinting pink. “I'm not that sweet. More like sour candy.”

“Sour candy still has sweetness to it,” the other man says without missing a beat. Tenko isn't really sure how to respond, so he keeps sipping his coffee.

Touya doesn't seem bothered by his lack of response, taking a long drink from his own cup. “I'm more of a spice man, myself.”

“I can't handle spicy food very well,” Tenko admits, tapping his cup with half-gloved fingers. One of the cats finally breaks away from Touya, and Tenko happily scratches its ears when it curls up in his lap instead.

“Need t’ build yer tolerance up,” Touya says easily. He looks at Tenko with a lazy smile. “I know a place, if yer interested.”

Tenko blinks, then looks away, cheeks pink. “Maybe. Sometime,” he says avoidantly. Touya takes no offense to his awkward response, petting one of the cats piled on him with the hand not holding his coffee.

“So those’re some eccentric characters out there,” Touya comments idly. Tenko huffs a quiet laugh.

“Yeah. The Pussycats are certainly committed to the bit, if nothing else,” he says, draining the last of his coffee. “And if you work in the group for any length of time, you have to wear the costume.”

“That mean you were in one o’ those when you did yer work study?” Touya asks, a sleazy grin on his face as he looks over at Tenko.

He swears quietly. “Forgot I mentioned that,” he mutters, and Touya chuckles. “Maybe,” he answers, deliberately turning away to show he will not elaborate further. Touya's chuckling only increases.

It's mostly dark out by the time they leave, Shiretoko insisting it be on the house and rebuking any attempts Tenko makes to pay the bill.

He sighs, though really only half-annoyed, standing outside of the building. I'll just make a bigger donation than usual to the charity instead, he decides.

“I had a good time,” Touya states next to him.

“Me, too,” Tenko hums. And he's not lying at all. It was nice to be around someone…else. Someone separate from all his problems.

“Next time we can go to that place I know,” Touya suggests, and Tenko hums again. The man's scarred face stretches into a grin. “See ya ‘round, Tenko,” he says, throwing a hand up as he turns to leave.

“See ya,” he replies, watching the other man leave, before he turns to make his way home himself.

Chapter Text

So Tenko's patrol tonight has a new addition.

Bakugo Himiko has taken a liking to him, for whatever reason, and Aizawa managed to get permission for her to become his intern.

Tenko feels like he didn't really have a say in the matter. With Aizawa's unwavering faith in him as a hero, he couldn't exactly say no.

The girl has finally gotten herself a proper hero costume, though Tenko does question her decision to basically wear a sailor-style school uniform. With knives.

She adjusts her mask before looking up at him, golden eyes glittering.

“So, what are we doing first?” She asks, bouncing on her heels.

Tenko glances at her from his periphery. “We're patrolling. Aizawa gave me strict instructions to not let you get into combat, so if we run into anything you need to stay back and let me handle it, okay?”

Months of dealing with Blue Dragon has given Tenko an edge in reading expressions through masks. He can tell Himiko is pouting.

They've barely begun walking before Himiko's head whips around, startling Tenko.

“What-” he begins to say, but relaxes when he sees it's just Blue Dragon approaching. “Oh. It's okay, Himiko.”

The vigilante slows his steps when he realizes Tenko isn't alone.

“Duster,” he greets - though far less friendly than usual. “You got a duckling there.”

“This is Himiko. She's a UA student interning with me,” Tenko explains. The girl in question is looking between him and Blue Dragon with an expression he can't parse.

“Sup,” Dragon says, and Himiko squints at him.

“Hi,” she says slowly, still staring at the vigilante.

“Blue Dragon is a vigilante,” Tenko explains to her. “He helps me out on patrols and keeps me informed on anything important. With underground heroes in particular, sometimes we look the other way on certain small crimes - like vigilantism - in exchange for being an informant. Nothing major, of course.”

Tenko really hopes he's being an okay teacher. Not something he ever thought he'd need to worry about, though.

Himiko nods slowly, though she hasn't stopped side eyeing Blue Dragon.

“Yer not really underground, though,” Dragon says, but Tenko waves him off.

“I'm hardly a limelight hero either,” he replies, resuming his patrol with the addition of Blue Dragon.

“Ya could be, yer cute enough,” the taller man teases, and Tenko, despite the tension still lingering between them, shoves him. The vigilante only laughs as he corrects his balance.

He hadn't realized how much he missed the sound of the other man's laugh.

Tenko clears his throat pointedly when he realizes Himiko is still staring at him with that expression he can't parse. “What are you doing here, Dragon? This isn't my normal route so it surely isn't yours, either.”

“Figured since yer bein’ foolish I'd come keep an eye on ya,” he says, a judgmental edge to his voice. Tenko glares at him.

“I'm not being foolish,” he snaps.

Except he is, just a bit, but it's really not like it's that much different. Occupational hazards and all that - though Dragon was mad anyway that Tenko chose to patrol the Hero Killer's turf.

So he's admittedly a little relieved the vigilante is crashing his patrol again, even if he won't show it in front of his intern or the man himself. Even if there's an uncomfortable energy running between the two of them, still.

The patrol is uneventful for the majority, until they near the end and all hell breaks loose.

More of those strange brain villains like the one from the USJ are wreaking havoc across the city. Dragon jumps in front of Himiko and slings fire at one as it flies towards them.

And because Tenko's life can never go to plan, when he yanks Himiko into an alley and out of the path of the flying creature, a knife passes through the air and just barely grazes his cheek. It embeds itself in the ground by his feet, and his gaze whips up to the rooftops where an ominous figure lurks.

“False hero,” the figure rasps, and Tenko's blood runs cold. “I will purge you all!”

The Hero Killer.

Another knife comes flying, and Tenko is at least expecting this one, evading it and telling Himiko to run.

“I'll go find Blue Dragon!” She yells as she leaves the alley, and Tenko internally curses her naivety, but he's too focused on not getting cut to ribbons by the Hero Killer.

He's not sure what happens. One moment he's dancing with knives, the next he can't move. Not this again, he thinks as the Hero Killer slams him into the wall.

“Bringing children into your mess, how pathetic,” the Killer hisses. Tenko scrunches up his nose.

“Your breath stinks,” he says drily.

“Choose your last words more wisely,” The Hero Killer growls, preparing to gut Tenko like a fish.

Only for him to suddenly stop, before swinging his sword in an arc behind him.

The helmet of the new addition goes flying, and Tenko's heart hammers.

Iida!

“Another child in a costume,” the villain grumbles. “Get out of here. This is no place for you.”

“Hero Killer Stain!” Iida proclaims, “I've been pursuing you.”

Ah, Stain. That was his name.

The Hero Killer releases his hold on Tenko to turn and face Iida. Tenko slowly slumps onto the ground.

“You're out for revenge, aren't you?” Stain asks, holding his blade a scant few centimeters from Iida’s nose. “Watch your mouth, or your age won't be enough to save you.”

Iida hauls himself to his feet, giving a monologue Tenko really can't be bothered to listen to in its entirety. Some things never change. Even when he was just learning to speak, he talked too much, Tenko thinks.

“I'm Ingenium, the hero who's going to take you down!” Iida proclaims.

“That so? Time to die!” Stain shouts.

Iida charges and swings a kick, but Stain leaps into the air, dodging it and giving him the perfect opportunity to sink his spiked boot into Iida's arm. With his other foot, he stomps down on the back of Iida's head, before taking one of his swords and stabbing it through Iida's other arm.

“Both you, and your brother, are weak. It's because you're posers!” Stain hisses.

Iida yells for him to shut up, describing his brother's heroism. He tearfully shouts, “he's my hero! A great hero who inspired my dreams! I'll kill you for what you did!”

“Save him first,” Stain says flatly. And for the first time since he leapt into the alleyway, Iida looks and sees Tenko slumped against the wall, his eyes widening in shock. “Forget about yourself and try saving others. Because getting trapped by your own hate and acting out of selfishness makes you the furthest thing from a hero. That's why you have to die.”

Stain pulls the sword from Iida's arm, licking the blood off of the blade. Tenko can tell by Iida's gasp that the Hero Killer's quirk has taken hold.

“Consider yourself a humble offering for the betterment of society,” Stain says.

“Shut up, shut up!” Iida shouts, and Tenko doesn't catch the rest of what he says, too busy watching a bright green spark rapidly approach.

The spark turns out to be Midoriya, who suddenly seems to have a grasp over his power, punching Stain square in the face.

“Iida! I'm here to save you!” Midoriya proclaims.

“Midoriya? But why?” Iida groans, still frozen on the ground.

Midoriya falls into a long winded explanation of how he found the other boy. Two peas in a pod, they are, Tenko thinks blandly. Always talking.

“Can you move? Get to the main road and find some pros!”

“I can't move…he cut me, that's likely his quirk!”

“He needs to cut you to get it to work?” Midoriya mumbles, and then freezes when he notices Tenko. He seems like he's about to say something else, but Iida interrupts.

“Midoriya…don't interfere. This has nothing to do with you!” Iida grits out, and Midoriya looks vaguely horrified.

“A friend shows up and says ‘I'm here to save you.’ A good line, for sure. But it's my duty to kill these two, so if we're forced to fight…the weaker of us will be culled. So what now?”

Midoriya looks terrified at the Hero Killer's words, but the fear slowly morphs into grim determination as he sinks into a fighting stance.

“No! I told you to run! This is none of your business!” Iida yells desperately.

“What's a hero supposed to do when you say crap like that?” Midoriya grumbles. “I-I’ve got a lot to say to you, but that'll have to come later. Because it's like All Might said…giving help that's not asked for is what makes a true hero!”

Something lights up in the Hero Killer's expression. “Good,” he says, as he and Midoriya charge each other. Midoriya ducks beneath Stain’s blade, and then shoots between his legs to get in his blind spot. But the Hero Killer is fast, and swings his blade around behind him. But Midoriya is somehow even faster now, he leaps above the Killer before bringing down a charged punch.

Midoriya lands off to the side, crouched like a frog. “It worked!” he gasps quietly.

What do you mean IT WORKED? Tenko screams internally, a little manic.

Stain licks the blade of his knife, and Midoriya is frozen. Stain says something admiring about Midoriya as he walks past his frozen body towards Iida's. “So many fools out there are nothing but talk… But you are worth keeping alive. Unlike these others.”

The fuck did I do? Tenko thinks sourly.

A jet of flame shoots down the alley just as Stain reaches Iida, forcing him to dodge.

“So many interruptions,” Stain complains quietly.

“You need to learn to give more specific directions, Midoriya. I was almost too late,” the even-toned voice of Todoroki Shouto says as he appears, wielding his flames in his left hand.

“Todoroki, you too?” Iida wonders.

“But- how?” Midoriya asks.

“I should be asking that,” Todoroki says flatly. “That group text you sent with only your location…took me a bit to figure out. But I realized it meant you were in trouble.”

Todoroki sends forth a wave of ice, followed by flames, keeping the Hero Killer on the move as the melt from the ice drags everyone back towards him. Eugh. I'm all wet.

“Don't worry, the pros’ll be here soon. You're not killing these guys today, Hero Killer,” he reassures his classmates and Tenko. 

“Todoroki! Don't let him draw blood!” Midoriya warns. “He paralyzes opponents by ingesting their blood. That's how he got us!”

“Explains all the knives,” Todoroki says dryly. “So I just gotta keep my distance-”

As he's saying the words, a knife flies by and just barely grazes his cheek. As Todoroki stands in shock, Stain rushes forward to lick the blood from his skin, though Todoroki manages to get away from him with a burst of flame.

“Close one,” Todoroki mumbles, wiping the knick on his cheek.

“Why? Both of you…just stop,” Iida grits out. “I inherited my brother's name. I have to do it! He's mine to-”

“‘Inherited his name’?” Todoroki wonders. “That's weird.” Tenko has to hold back his snort at the youngest Todoroki's bluntness.

Todoroki sends another wave of ice to force Stain back again, but the Hero Killer cuts through the ice with his blades. From above, two knives sink into Todoroki's arm. In the air, the Hero Killer prepares to cut down with his blade, but a green light ping-pongs off the walls and drags him back down.

“Somehow I can move again just fine!” Midoriya shouts, though he's cut off by Stain swiping at him.

He lets out a pathetic squeal when Todoroki tells him to move and sends more ice forward.

“So he tasted our blood and paralyzed us, but I was the first to break free somehow!” Midoriya exclaims as he catches his breath, then falls into theorizing about the villain's quirk. “Or its effectiveness depends on blood type…”

“I'm A,” Iida says from the ground.

“I'm also A,” Tenko says, thoroughly tired of being stuck and unable to move while people fight on top of him.

Todoroki and Midoriya begin rapid fire strategizing as the Hero Killer watches them.

“Two on one…at least you're not naive,” Stain breathes out, before leaping towards them. The two boys work well in tandem, but Midoriya gets caught by one of Stain's blades and is paralyzed again, while the Hero Killer bears down on Todoroki. Iida begs for them to stop. Tenko's fingers twitch.

“If you wanna stop this, then stand up! Never forget who you want to become!” Todoroki shouts.

“Hasn't anyone ever told you?” Stain asks as he closes in on Todoroki, blade poised to amputate the boy's left arm. “Relying too heavily on your quirk makes you sloppy.”

Tenko barely feels the blade cutting into his palm as he reaches to close all five fingers around it. Stain makes an annoyed noise as one of his swords crumbles into useless pieces.

“Duster!” Midoriya gasps, though it's drowned out by a shout.

“Reciproburst!” Iida's charged kick sends Stain careening backwards into a wall. The remaining hilt of his sword lands somewhere behind them.

“This has nothing to do with either of you…so I'm sorry,” Iida says solemnly.

“Not that again,” Midoriya grimaces from where he's paralyzed.

“I won't let you two lose any more blood here,” Iida continues.

“You're a fake who prioritized his own selfish desires!” Stain accuses. “Someone needs to correct the system.”

“So you're a fundamentalist? Get with the times,” Todoroki says flatly, before telling Iida to ignore what the Hero Killer is saying.

“No…he's right. But I won't let him break me. Because if I break, then Ingenium’s really dead,” Iida proclaims.

“You're hopeless,” the Killer sighs before Todoroki's flames force him to leap back.

“Freeze my leg for me, without blocking the exhaust pipes!” Iida requests of Todoroki.

“Stop interfering!” Stain hisses, throwing a knife at Todoroki that Iida blocks with his arm. “You stay down, too,” he says, another knife launched with laser precision to pin Iida's arm to the ground as Todoroki shouts his name.

“Just do it, quickly!” Iida demands, and Todoroki reaches down to freeze the pipes on the back of Iida's leg.

“Here,” Tenko wheezes as he crawls over, reaching over to pull out and decay the blades in Iida's arms so he's no longer pinned by them.

Iida just nods, his face grimly determined, before he launches himself in the air.

“Go,” Todoroki says breathlessly as Tenko groans out, “Get his ass.”

From Stain's other side, Midoriya closes in, and he and Iida meet in the center, twisting the villain's body with their attacks.

Todoroki makes a ramp of ice to ease their fall. Stain makes a final gurgle of pain, but stays limp on the shelf of ice.

“He's out cold…right?” Midoriya hesitantly asks.

“Let's tie him up and get him to the main road,” Todoroki says. “See any sort of rope we can use?”

“Let's take his weapons, too, just in case!” Midoriya suggests.

Tenko hauls himself a little unsteadily to his feet as they search the alleyway for rope. Midoriya is looking worse off than even he is, though, so he turns to him while Todoroki ties up the Hero Killer.

“Here,” he says, gesturing to his back. “I'll carry you.”

Midoriya looks surprised. “But you're pretty bad off, Duster,” he mumbles, and Tenko grunts in irritation.

“Just get on my back, brat,” he snaps, and the green haired boy almost jumps on him in his haste to obey. Tenko nearly stumbles under the unexpected weight of him.

As they head to the main road, Tenko apologizes for being useless when he's supposed to be the pro.

Midoriya prattles off too many words of encouragement that Tenko tries to ignore even though they're right in his ear.

“Even in a three-on-one, we just barely won because he screwed up,” Todoroki says, but Tenko's too distracted by the person that just came out of an alleyway across the street.

“Gran Torino!” Midoriya yells as the old hero shouts, “why’re you here!?”

That stupid yellow boot smacks Midoriya in the face right next to Tenko's as Gran Torino scolds him.

“Glad to see you're still alive,” the man mumbles to Midoriya, and Tenko is unable to bite his tongue in time.

“Can't say I feel the same,” he grumbles dryly, and Gran Torino finally notices he's the one carrying Midoriya on his back.

“Tenko! What the hell’re you doing here?” The old man asks as Tenko lets Todoroki take Midoriya off his shoulders.

“It's Duster when I'm on duty, you old bag,” he snaps, and Torino puffs up in offense.

“Still so damn disrespectful! Didn't Toshinori teach you any manners?”

“I have manners, I just don't respect you.”

While he bickers with Gran Torino, the heroes called for backup finally show. So does his intern.

“Duster!” Himiko shrieks, distressed tears building in her eyes as she almost tackles Tenko in a hug. Lingering in the shadows, he can just make out Blue Dragon's mask, keeping out of sight of the heroes. The vigilante tilts his head in query, to which Tenko nods as subtly as he can.

Torino shuts up, finally, watching as Tenko endures being squeezed to death by Himiko.

“That hurts,” he complains flatly, and she lets him go with a gasp.

“Sorry! I was so worried!”

“Get down!” Torino suddenly shouts as one of those brain villains - the same flying one that tried to grab Himiko earlier - swoops down, snaring Midoriya in its talons.

“Izuku!” Himiko cries, everyone instinctively moving, but no one able to reach.

One of the heroes gasps, and the creature suddenly freezes, falling to the ground where the Hero Killer rushes to kill it.

The heroes clamor over what to do, when a voice echoes through the street.

“Is that…? Hero Killer!”

Endeavor moves to attack, and Gran Torino desperately yells at him to wait.

“You fake…” Stain hisses, his mask falling away to reveal his strange, skull-like face. “If I don't fix it…if someone isn't stained with blood…if I don't reclaim my hero status…”

Even Endeavor is unable to move, it seems, staring in horrified awe.

“Come! Just try me, you fakes!” The Hero Killer challenges. “The only one allowed to kill me…is All Might!”

His voice echoes through the street, but he doesn't move, unconscious even as he still stands. Everyone is left frozen in the wake of the Hero Killer's maniacal conviction.

Tenko looks to the alleyway for Dragon, but empty shadows are all he finds.

Chapter Text

“How are you doing?” His dad asks in lieu of a proper greeting after letting himself in. Tenko looks at him from his spot sprawled on his couch.

“I mean I got stabbed, like a lot. So I've been better,” he says dryly, gesturing vaguely with his bandaged hand. His dad gives a surprised huff of a laugh, shaking his head.

“It could've been much worse,” he says solemnly, shadowed eyes looking at his own hands as he sits in the armchair. “You could have been the Hero Killer's next victim.”

Despite himself, Tenko thinks about Midoriya, and what he overheard at the sports festival. “You'd be fine without me,” he says, a touch more bitterly than he really intends. His dad looks a little stricken.

“I would be devastated without you, Tenko,” his dad quietly admits. Tenko turns his gaze back to the ceiling, his eyes feeling hot.

“Sorry,” he apologizes, but only half means it. “I'm just not feeling great, y’know.” He's not being honest with his dad, but it's not like his dad has been all that honest with him, either.

Toshinori sighs heavily, wringing his hands. “I know I haven't been around much lately. I'm sorry,” he apologizes. Tenko closes his eyes.

“You haven't been honest, either,” he points out, being petulant, but it's been eating at him. His dad sighs again.

“I know. It was for your own safety, though.”

Something inside him twinges with anger. Tenko opens his eyes again and looks at him now, brows pinched and lips curved down. “How does not telling me you were quirkless keep me safe? Or about any of your history, for that matter,” he snaps, and a look of surprise appears on his dad's face.

“How did you…”

“I overheard you at the sports festival,” Tenko says bitterly. “You used to be quirkless. And Midoriya is special. Unlike me, apparently.” It's a low blow, but he's so tired of it all.

Toshinori stares at him in shock. Tenko hauls himself to his feet, eyes burning with unshed tears.

“I'm leaving. Lock up when you go,” he says flatly, making for the hallway.

“Wait, Tenko!” His dad calls as Tenko slams the door shut behind him.

“Tenko?” Yuu asks in confusion when she opens the door to her apartment. Tenko stands before her, arms crossed uncomfortably over his chest.

“Can I stay with you for a bit?” he asks quietly, staring at the floor.

“Yeah,” she answers, a little absently as she steps aside. “Come on in.”

Yuu's apartment is the cleanest he's ever seen from his handful of visits. As he's looking around in detached surprise, she says, “I got an intern from U.A to clean for me.”

The absurdity of it makes him snort, despite his mood. “Really? That's your hero training?”

“Doing menial tasks you don't like is a part of being a hero. Or something,” she says flippantly, dismissively waving a hand.

“Sure.”

“So what happened?” She asks softly as they sit on her couch. He sighs.

“You know I got attacked by the Hero Killer on my first night with my intern?”

“What!” He winces as she shrieks, covering the ear closest to her. “Sorry. What? And what were you even doing in Hosu?”

“I applied for a temporary transfer to run patrols there since Ingenium is out of commission. I did that before Aizawa cornered me into taking one of his students as an intern,” he explains, fiddling with the edge of his glove.

“But of course, I was apparently his next target. Or maybe I just happened to be there at the wrong time. I survived, obviously, but I have to take a couple days to recover before I can go back to patrolling,” he says, holding up his bandaged hand, the last of his major injuries.

“So my dad came to visit me today,” he sighs, eyes roaming the room, looking at her deliberately stylish decor, but with the walls almost barren of anything personal. “Which is why I'm here.”

“I thought you had a good relationship with your dad?” Yuu asks quietly. Tenko sighs, sinking further into the couch cushions.

“Turns out there's a lot of secrets he's been keeping,” is all he says, and Yuu knows that she can't ask for more, that he can't provide her the details. She lays a hand on his shoulder.

“I'm sorry, Ten,” she says. “You can stay as long as you need, okay?”

“Thanks, Yuu.” She offers him a blanket that he gratefully wraps up in, pulling his feet onto the couch so he's completely enveloped in a fleece-lined cocoon.

He mostly spends the evening on his phone, ignoring his dad's calls and texts and just talking to Shuichi, and exchanging a few messages with Touya. Yuu gives him space, only occasionally offering him something to eat, or drink, but he's not hungry.

His thoughts wander as he plays mindless mobile games with Shuichi, going over what happened in Hosu.

If I could have moved a little faster, or had more range of motion, maybe I wouldn't have been caught, he thinks, then he gets an idea.

He bids Shuichi a goodnight, swapping over to his messenger app.

You: Do you have office hours tomorrow?

Touya (Weirdo): uh. yeah. what for?

You: I want to talk about my hero costume

Touya (Weirdo): come in at 10

“I want an update to my gear,” Tenko says instead of a proper greeting, sitting across from Touya at his desk.

The scarred man blinks, picking his glasses up and putting them on as he pulls out a sketchbook.

“What’cha got in mind?”

“During Hosu, when I was attacked, I didn't have the mobility I needed to evade the Hero Killer,” he explains. “I want a support item I can use to increase my mobility - maybe like a hookshot, or like Eraserhead's capture weapon.”

Touya taps his pencil against the paper, thinking. “I don't know what a hookshot is,” he says finally, after a full minute of silence. Tenko scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“Like a grappling hook launcher.”

Touya hums, nodding his head, but Tenko can tell he's not really processing it.

“I don't think a capture weapon would work, just since ya got the cape an’ all,” he says eventually, but he's started sketching something out. “But I think I can work with the, ah, what’d’ya call it? Hookshot.”

Touya turns the sketchbook around so he can see it. Tenko feels a grin tugging at his lips.

“Perfect.”

“Gimme a week to make a prototype.”

In the meantime, Tenko gets back to doing his patrols once he's fully healed, and couch surfing between Yuu's apartment and the three-baka household so he can avoid seeing his dad. Shuichi offers his couch, too, but he lives in a dorm with someone Tenko doesn't know, so he declines his friend's offer.

His internship is thankfully much less eventful for the remainder - he even feels like he managed to teach the girl something. Though he doesn't see Blue Dragon during a single patrol, strangely enough.

Himiko did manage to get a hold of his phone and get her number into it at some point, so now he has her spamming him with absurd memes and cat videos, and babbling about people she thinks are cute. He feels like if he blocks her number it'll come back to bite him in the ass somehow, so he just deals with it.

He's bumming on Yuu's couch again when he finally gets a message from Touya.

Touya (Weirdo): prototypes ready for testing

You: When can I test it?

Touya (Weirdo): we can do now if u want

You: sick

The testing building isn't as extravagantly large as Tenko would have expected from a company owned by a Todoroki, but he supposes it is more in line with what little he knows about Touya.

He's almost vibrating with excitement as he rushes into the locker room to change into his gear, Touya chuckling at his uncharacteristic exuberance.

When he comes back out, dressed in his costume, Touya is unpacking the prototype from the case.

“Alright, so,” Touya starts, holding out what looks like a pair of gloves with braces on the wrists. “After testing, if ya like 'em, I can rebuild yer gloves, but for now, just put these on over ‘em.”

As Tenko slides them on and adjusts to the slight weight of them, Touya explains how they work.

“So, with yer quirk, ya always keep one finger raised, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So with that in mind, I designed them so that if ya curl yer pinky like this, it'll launch, an’ if ya curl yer pointer finger, it'll retract ya to where the hook is anchored. Do yer middle an’ ring finger at the same time an’ it releases the hook and retracts. Simple enough?”

Tenko nods, turning to look up at the support beams. He takes a deep breath, bouncing on his toes to hype himself up a bit. He stretches an arm out, and curls his pinky into his palm.

Just as Touya described, the grappling hook launches, attaching to one of the beams crossing the airspace above them. He gasps a little, excited, and takes another deep breath. He curls his index finger instead.

His body is jerked off of the ground, and as much as it should feel like he's rocketing uncontrollably, in the moment it just feels…right.

He catches himself a little roughly on the beam, knocking the wind out of him, but mostly he's just enraptured with the feeling of flying through the air.

“Ya good up there?” Touya calls from below him. Tenko hauls himself the rest of the way onto the beam.

“I'm great!” He shouts, honestly. Once he catches his breath, he aims at another beam and shoots.

This time, he jumps, using the grappling hook as a pivot point to swing himself to another beam. He releases that hook as he launches the other, swinging himself around the metal supports like Spider-Man, giggling in delight.

“Ya got the hang of that real fast,” Touya comments from the ground after several minutes of Tenko zipping through the air. Tenko flies back towards him with the hooks, face stretched into a wide grin.

“It feels right,” he says, breathless but exhilarated. “It feels like I belong up there, in the air. I can't explain it.”

“Well, glad I could be of service,” the taller man says with a small smile, as Tenko hands him the prototypes back. “Shouldn't take me but another coupla days to finish ‘em.”

“I can't wait,” Tenko says, still grinning ear to ear. He can't seem to stop it.

Touya gives him a lopsided grin in return.

Tenko spends the days Touya is working on his new gloves at the three-baka house.

“Talk to your dad,” Aizawa says without preamble as he enters the room.

“Don't wanna,” Tenko grouses, laying on the floor with the cats. Which is partially a lie - he misses his dad, but he's still sore about everything.

“Talk to him,” the man says again, sitting across from him. Soy Sauce immediately abandons Tenko in favor of Aizawa’s lap. “He keeps making these sad faces at me in the teachers lounge. I'm tired of it.”

Tenko heaves a sigh, sitting up and dislodging Egg from her spot on his chest, though she doesn't even so much as twitch as she slides bonelessly onto his thighs.

“What would I even say?” He mumbles, staring at his hands. “It’s all so messed up.”

Aizawa takes a deep breath, scratching Soy Sauce behind his ears. “I don't know what's going on with you and your dad, but I know you can't keep going like this. We love having you, but you can't camp in our spare room forever, kid.”

“I know,” Tenko sighs again. “I'll try to talk to him, but I can't promise anything. The sad faces might just get worse.”

Aizawa groans.

He's barely been home for a couple hours before there's a knock on his door. He peeks through the peephole, unsurprised to see his dad waiting on the other side of the door.

“Were you staking out my apartment waiting for me to come home?” He asks blandly as he opens the door.

“No!” His dad answers, a little too quickly. “I just came by every few hours when I could.”

That's almost worse, Tenko thinks flatly, but doesn't say anything as he lets his dad step inside.

“Tenko…” his dad starts, but then trails off into silence.

Tenko stares at him for a moment before wordlessly walking to his living room. His dad follows behind him.

Tenko sits in the armchair, arms crossed. His dad gingerly takes a seat on the couch.

“So,” Tenko bites out. He doesn't say anything else, waiting for his dad to start talking.

Toshinori sighs again, suddenly seeming even older than he is. “I don't know. I thought I was doing what was best.”

Tenko uncrosses his arms, picking at the skin around his nails. “I get why you wouldn't tell me when I was a kid, but when I was a teenager, or now that I'm an adult?” he asks quietly, eyes drifting over the shelf in the corner, the little All Might figures he's collected that sit on it.

“I wasn't ever able to find the right time, I suppose. Or I didn't know how to explain it. I still don't, really,” his dad says, wringing his bony hands. Then, he takes a deep breath, and says,

“We think All For One is back. And he knew about you, Tenko.”

Tenko freezes, staring blankly at the picture of him and his dad when they were celebrating Tenko getting into UA, before he slowly turns to his dad.

“What do you mean?”

“That's why we moved to Musutafu, after my fight. Because he knew about you. I wanted to go somewhere with many pro heroes, so you would be guarded. And I didn't ask you about becoming my successor, because that would have made you even more of a target for his allies. Or him, now.”

“The monsters that have been showing up recently - they have All For One written all over them. The ability to take and bestow quirks…the creatures all had multiple quirks, traced to several different origins. I think Hosu may have been an attempt by All For One to get to you, Tenko.”

Toshinori sighs again, looking weary as he runs a hand through his messy hair. “Of course this is just conjecture, but I feel it's a safe assumption. All For One was - or is - a very proud man. He isn't satisfied knowing that Nana still has a surviving relative, I'm sure. And you being my son, now, only makes it a bigger hit to his pride if you remain out of his reach.”

Tenko just stares at his dad's face, lined with years of stress and struggle. “That still doesn't really explain why you kept everything from me, but…thank you for telling me now. It also doesn't explain why Midoriya is so special to you.”

“Midoriya…I see myself in the boy,” Toshinori says after a moment. “Quirkless, but with such a strong heroic instinct - the willingness to jump in to help, even though you have no superpower.” He pauses for a moment, thinking. “Initially, I brushed him off, until I saw him desperately try to save his friend. Then I knew I had to take a chance on him, like Nana did with me.”

Tenko hums, and the two of them lapse into silence for a spell. Then, he asks quietly, hesitantly, “what was she like? My grandmother?”

Toshinori gives a rueful chuckle. “She was incredible. Always positive, always smiling. Even when…” he paused, collecting himself with a deep breath. “Even when she was about to die to All For One, she made sure to smile as Gran Torino dragged me away from the fight.”

“What was her quirk? Besides One For All,” Tenko asks quietly, pulling his legs into the chair and hugging his knees.

“Float. On its own, it didn't do much, but when combined with One For All, Nana was able to fly at high speeds and keep up with Gran Torino.”

So that's why it felt right to be in the air, Tenko thinks. Before he can say anything else, his dad speaks again.

“You look just like her,” Toshinori says softly, making Tenko look at him. “She had a mole on her chin in the exact same spot. When you smile, your eyes and nose crinkle in the same way.”

His tone is bittersweet, his expression somber even as he wears a small smile. Tenko's eyes start welling with tears. His dad wordlessly holds his arms open, and Tenko stumbles out of his chair to crawl into them like when he was a kid.

“I love you, my boy,” Toshinori whispers, voice suspiciously thick.

“Love you too, Dad,” Tenko mumbles wetly into his shoulder. Those spindly arms tighten around him, and Tenko feels the most at peace he has in quite some time.

Chapter Text

“New gear?” Dragon's voice asks instead of a greeting. Tenko looks away from where he was fiddling with the gloves to face the vigilante.

“Yeah,” he answers, arms dropping to his sides only to then prop them on his hips. “Where have you been?”

“Busy,” is all the man says in response, making Tenko huff. Then Dragon tilts his head, teasing, “why? D’ya miss me?”

Tenko scoffs and turns away, ears tinting pink. “Of course not. I was enjoying the peace and quiet, for once.”

“Uh huh,” Dragon hums. He sounds unconvinced by Tenko's obvious lie. “So what's it for?”

Tenko grins wickedly behind his mask as he turns and aims an arm high at a fire escape. “This!”

He shoots up, catching himself much more easily than the first time he tried it. He turns to look at Dragon on the ground. “I can fly! Kind of.”

“Impressive,” Dragon comments from below. Tenko latches his hook to the fire escape to lower himself down slowly, retracting it once his feet hit the ground. “This is prob’ly the happiest I've seen ya.”

Tenko blinks at the statement. “Maybe. I guess.”

“I'm serious. Ya always have a kinda…weight. Like a cloud over yer head,” the vigilante explains, and Tenko shrugs. “It's like it's lessened, just a bit.”

“I don't think that'll ever go away,” Tenko says honestly. “But yeah, it's like…I feel like that's where I'm supposed to be. In the air. Flying. I don't know how to explain it.”

“I get ya,” Dragon says. Then, after a moment, quietly, “you were prob’ly s’posed to have a different quirk. I was, too.”

Tenko looks at him questioningly. “What do you mean?”

Dragon sighs heavily, uncharacteristically somber. “My body isn't suited to my quirk. I still have a higher tolerance than most, but my own fire burns me if I use it too long, or too much.”

He turns to Tenko, who gets the feeling he's making eye contact without even seeing his eyes. “I was made more for an ice quirk, but I lost the genetic lottery.”

“Oh,” is all Tenko can manage to say, looking away. Then, after a moment, “my grandmother had a flying quirk. So you're probably right.” And since Dragon shared a weakness with him, Tenko admits, “Decay takes its toll on me, too. It makes my skin really dry, and gets worse the more I use it, to the point I start bleeding because my skin cracks.”

“Well, yer skin looks great, for what it's worth,” Dragon says, making Tenko scoff.

“I know what my skin looks like, be serious,” he gripes, subconsciously reaching up to scratch at his eye.

Warm fingers hook around his wrist, pulling his hand away from his face.

“I'm serious. Sure, ya got scars, but they don't change that yer beautiful, ya know that?” Dragon says it so sincerely, without that usual teasing lilt, that Tenko doesn't know how to react, just staring at him.

Red eyes widen in shock when those fingers move to tuck a curl behind his ear, sliding down under his jaw to tilt his head up.

“Yer gorgeous,” Dragon whispers, and Tenko feels pinned under the weight of the other man's hidden gaze.

Tenko has been called many things in his life. Gross, creepy, weird, ugly - if he's lucky he might get called cute - but never beautiful and certainly not gorgeous. And he's never thought any of those descriptors were necessarily wrong - but in that moment, he almost believes what the other man said.

He rips his gaze away suddenly, looking off in the direction of a rather loud crashing noise. He's thankful for the distraction from whatever that was, immediately jumping into work mode.

“Let's go,” he commands, grappling to a streetlight and swinging towards the commotion, Dragon following wordlessly below.

He's still thinking about it, later when his patrol is done and he's laying in his bed. Dragon never brought it up again, so neither did he, but it won't leave him alone. He's staring at the ceiling, decorated with glow in the dark stickers because he didn't like the shadows looming over him.

He grunts, rolling over and hugging his dakimakura, kicking his legs in frustration.

He rolls back the other way, grabbing his phone from the charging pad and opening his messaging app.

You: what the hell do I do when someone flirts with me

Mt Asspain: dude it's 4am. Why r u up

You: I patrol at night. why are YOU up

You: and answer the question

Mt Asspain: don't worry abt why I'm up

Tenko rolls his eyes, watching the typing bubble.

Mt Asspain: flirt back? That's what I'd do, if they're cute. But idk what u would do, ur a nerd

Mt Asspain: but WHO was flirting with you? 👀 

This is when Tenko realizes he never told Yuu about Blue Dragon. He grimaces.

You: no one. Nevermind

Mt Asspain: liar. tell me rn

His screen fills with Yuu’s face as he receives a call. He declines it.

Mt Asspain: YAGI TENKO

You: I may or may not have been working with a vigilante for a while

Mt Asspain: WHAT

Mt Asspain: how long is a while

You: since March

She calls again. He answers, though he immediately regrets it.

“IT'S JUNE?” She shouts into his ear. “You've been working with a vigilante for three months? And you didn't tell me?”

“It never came up?” He murmurs weakly, knowing it's a pathetic excuse.

She makes a noise of disgust. “So the vigilante was flirting with you?”

Tenko hums. “Had to have been. I mean - I guess he was always flirting, but he usually did it in a teasing or joking way so I didn't take it seriously. But now…”

“But noooow?” Yuu prompts, sounding far too invested.

“He…he called me beautiful, and gorgeous, and he, like…” he struggles to describe the man's actions, despite the simplicity of them. “Tucked my hair behind my ear and tilted my chin up.”

“Sounds like he was going to kiss you,” Yuu says, and Tenko's face flushes immediately at the thought.

“He wears a mask - like a full one. He can't kiss me,” he clarifies. “And I also wear a mask.”

“He was thinking about it!” she sing-songs, then squeals. “Baby Tenko's first romance! How exciting!”

He scowls, even though she can't see it. “I'm going to punch you when I see you again.”

“You hate me because I'm right.”

“You're not helping. I'm hanging up.”

“Okay, okay!” She groans dramatically. “I don't know what to tell you though.”

Tenko sighs. “Yeah.”

She hums. “What's he like?”

“He's,” he starts, then huffs a laugh. “He's a pain. He just showed up one night during one of my patrols and hasn't left me alone since.”

“But he's…good. He's my player two.”

“God, you're such a dweeb,” Yuu says immediately, and he makes a noise of protest even though she's not technically wrong. “I know you said he wears a mask, but what does he look like besides that?”

“He's fully covered except for his hands, really. He has white hair, but besides that I can't tell you much. He's a little taller than me, and broader. He has a blue fire quirk.”

“A blue fire quirk?” Yuu asks in surprise. “I've never heard of a blue fire quirk.”

“Yeah,” Tenko mumbles. “There's no records of anyone with a blue fire quirk, either, so his identity is truly a mystery.”

She hums, like she's thinking. Then, she says, “you could get a piece of his hair and have it run through a lab for his DNA.”

Tenko doesn't even know how to respond for a minute.

“Yuu, what the fuck.”

“It's an option! I'm just saying.”

“You're insane. I'm not doing that.”

“Fine, live in ignorance,” she huffs, then yawns. “Can I go to bed now? It's almost five.”

“Yeah, sorry to keep you up,” Tenko apologizes, suddenly feeling bad for calling her so late. She makes a dismissive noise.

“It's fine. I love my sleep but I love being nosy more. I will be checking in with you for updates later,” she states, and Tenko rolls his eyes.

“Sleep well,” he says, hanging up and staring at the ceiling again.

He huffs and rolls over onto his side, closing his eyes and trying to force himself to sleep.

“So what do you think of your father's successor?” Uncle Mirai asks out of nowhere while they're eating, an admittedly late, lunch.

Tenko blinks at him from across the desk, chopsticks paused halfway to his mouth.

“He's annoying,” he says finally, resuming eating. “How do you know about that, anyway?”

“I had my opinions on who his successor should have been, if not you,” the older man says. “He was adamant about not bringing you into the line of succession, so I tried to push for Mirio, but of course he didn't listen to me.”

Tenko snorts at the flat irritation in his uncle's voice. He manages one more bite of his lunch before his body decides he's not eating any more, pushing the takeout box away from himself.

“He…” Tenko huffs. “I dunno. He talks a lot and apparently he's special.” He isn't quite able to keep the mocking tone from his voice, but Mirai only laughs softly. “I got really mad at Dad because of that. I thought we didn't have secrets, you know? And then I'm suddenly finding out about all this stuff I never knew.”

Mirai hums. “Your father has never been the best at that sort of thing. He gets into his head what he thinks is the best decision, and won't listen to anyone else. That's why we fell out.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Tenko mumbles. “But Midoriya is… Ugh. I don't want to say it, but he will be a good hero. I just also think he's insane.”

That seems to surprise a laugh out of his stoic uncle. “Insane? How so?”

“He broke all of his fingers during the sports festival. On purpose. Some of them twice,” Tenko mutters flatly. “He's very much a ‘by any means possible’ kind of person, from what I've seen.”

“I see,” Mirai says thoughtfully as he sets his empty takeout box to the side.

“He also cries. Like a lot,” Tenko tacks on, only to be met with a deliberate silence. He looks at Mirai, whose mouth is pressed into a thin line. “What?”

“I don't think you have any room to judge on others crying a lot, Tenko.”

He scowls and sticks his tongue out at Mirai. “Okay. Rude. But he's worse than me.”

“Of course,” Mirai says dismissively, teasingly, as he gathers their takeout boxes, throwing his own in the trash and taking Tenko's away to pack in the break room fridge, probably to give to Mirio later.

“Why is everyone so mean to me,” Tenko whines childishly, sinking down into his chair.

“Whatever do you mean?” Mirai asks as he returns and sits back down.

“You calling me a crybaby. Yuu called me a nerd. Aizawa calls me a brat. The only one who's nice to me is Dragon.”

“Dragon?”

Tenko freezes at the suspicion in Mirai’s voice. Oh, you've fucked it now, Tenko.

“Uh,” Tenko coughs. “Just a guy I know.”

His uncle's face is a particular kind of expression that usually isn't turned onto Tenko, reserved more for his sidekicks. The one that says “don't even attempt lying, I can see through you.” Tenko starts sweating.

“This ‘guy’ you call ‘Dragon’ wouldn't be at all related to a vigilante by the name of Blue Dragon, would he?” Mirai asks, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Tenko looks away, which is all the answer the other man needs.

Mirai sighs. “Tenko…”

“Uncle,” Tenko whines in return.

“Tenko.”

“Uncle.”

“Blue Dragon has been a target for investigation for connections to the criminal underground. Were you aware of this?” Mirai asks suddenly, and from the way Tenko's eyes widen, it's obvious he wasn't.

“No,” he mumbles, looking at the floor.

Mirai sighs again, threading his fingers together in front of him. “You’re a grown man, Tenko, and I trust you know what you're doing. Just…please be careful.”

“He's good,” Tenko says quietly. “I trust him.”

“Maybe my intel is wrong,” Mirai says, and Tenko sighs.

“Your intel is never wrong,” Tenko points out, downtrodden.

“Yes. But for your sake, I truly hope so.”

Chapter Text

It's not often that Tenko has to deal with more than petty criminals during his patrols, but it does happen on occasion. Some upstart with a strength or size enhancing quirk, emboldened in the wake of the Hero Killer's arrest, wreaking havoc near a nightclub downtown.

Despite the size of the villain, it should have been an easy takedown and arrest. The guy was half drunk and throwing a tantrum (and also a car that Tenko had to dust so he didn't get crushed by it). But neither his nor Dragon's quirks are suited for this type of situation, both made for pure offense, and things rarely go how they should for Tenko.

When the man realizes Tenko can easily counter his makeshift missiles, he sets his sights on the vigilante instead. He hefts a dumpster over his head to sling at the masked man.

“Shit,” Tenko hisses, pivoting towards his partner. “Dragon!” He's not going to be fast enough to get away. I'm not going to be fast enough to get there in time.

His visual of Dragon is consumed by an explosion of blue flames. The dumpster disappears into the inferno, and Tenko stops short. He swallows down his anxious nausea and shifts priorities, redirecting his attention back to the villain, who seems shocked at what he witnessed.

Tenko grapples to one of the buildings and swings himself towards the culprit, aiming a momentum-powered kick right to his temple before he can react. As he collapses, unconscious, his quirk deactivates and he shrinks back down to a normal size.

Tenko watches the man for a moment to make sure he's truly out, then turns back to where the fire is still burning. He somehow missed the sirens for emergency services showing up, firefighters and a couple pros already working to quell the remaining flames.

The blaze has died a bit on its own, reverting from blue to ordinary orange. But Tenko can't see Blue Dragon anywhere, just the molten remains of the dumpster, the fire, and the people trying to extinguish it.

Something inside of Tenko swells restlessly, threatening to bubble over and swallow him whole. He tries to keep his breathing calm as he staggers closer to the scene. He can't see a body either, but he's undecided on whether or not that's a good thing.

Could his flames have consumed him so completely that there would be nothing left? he thinks to himself, fighting the urge to vomit. No, there's still pieces of the dumpster, surely he has at least that much resistance.

A hissing sound manages to catch his attention through the fog in his head. He turns, and almost drops to his knees in relief when he sees Dragon in the shadows of the alleyway.

He stumbles over his own feet in his urgency, moving before he can think better of his actions. Dragon grunts in pain as Tenko crashes into him, wrapping his arms tight around the man's waist, uncaring of the intense heat still radiating from him.

“I-I thought,” Tenko hiccups as his composure fails him. Dragon leans his weight into the wall, sluggishly wrapping his arms around Tenko's shoulders.

“'m still here,” Dragon slurs, his breathing heavy and labored. Tenko pulls away when sweat begins to bead at his hairline.

“We need to get you to a hospital,” he says, trying to get his brain back in line.

“No,” Dragon replies immediately. “No hosp’al. ‘m fine.”

“You are not fine,” Tenko protests, leaning back to look up at Dragon's mask, where smoke is billowing out like a chimney. Then he steps away to really take stock of the vigilante’s condition. The man can barely hold himself upright, leaning his entire weight into the wall. The skin of his hands is pinkened from his flames. His sleeves are singed, revealing faded burn scars on his arms. It's a miracle the rest of his costume is still intact - Tenko supposes it must be extremely flame-resistant.

“‘s fine. Really. Have a guy,” Dragon weakly claims. The vigilante then leans his head back and blows a particularly large plume of smoke from the mask, and the stream of it is significantly smaller afterwards. “Jus’ gotta cool off.”

Tenko can hear police sirens approaching now, after what feels like an eternity of him just staring at Dragon in unconcealed worry. One of the other man's hands shakily reaches up to tap on Tenko's nose. He's so baffled he doesn't even know how to respond.

“‘ll be okay. Go do yer job, hero. See ya,” Dragon says softly, gently pushing Tenko back towards the mouth of the alleyway. He just watches, stunned, as the vigilante turns and staggers away, to wherever his “guy” must be.

Blue Dragon has been a target for investigation for connections to the criminal underground, his uncle's voice echoes in his head. Tenko presses his lips into a tight line before he turns to go give his statement to the police, body stiff with stress.

He really, really hopes Dragon isn't too deep into anything he can't climb back out of.

The three-baka household is significantly quieter than usual, with Hizashi and Aizawa both staying late at UA every day to prepare for final exams. Tenko sits on the couch with Oboro, tucked into the older man's side as they watch some mediocre American movie.

As much as he loves watching bad movies, his thoughts are still preoccupied with Dragon, and his condition the last Tenko saw him. You better be okay, asshole, he thinks sourly.

“What's on your mind, dewdrop?” Oboro asks suddenly, pulling Tenko out of his head.

“Ah, nothing,” he says immediately, and Oboro snorts.

“You're a terrible liar.”

Tenko sighs. “I can't really talk about it.”

Oboro hums, and then floors Tenko with, “is it your dad or the vigilante?”

He sits in stunned silence for a minute, before pulling away so he can turn to face the other man. “How do you know about the vigilante?”

“Shouta is my husband? Did you think he wouldn't tell me about it?” Oboro laughs, petting Tenko's head roughly.

“Okay, okay,” he grumbles, swatting the hand away. “I figured he'd keep quiet about it.”

“Not with me or Hizashi, but we can keep secrets!” Oboro cheerfully exclaims, leaning his cheek against his fist, arm resting over the back of the couch. “Now tell me what's on your mind?”

Tenko sighs heavily, staring at his hands.

“He overdid it on our last patrol. I'm just worried about him,” Tenko tells the man. “His quirk…it hurts him, if he uses it too much. And he made a huge burst of fire, enough to melt a dumpster.”

Tenko groans, scrubbing his hands over his face. “And he refused to go to a hospital, which I guess I get it. But he said he ‘had a guy' and I'm just worried about what sort of guy he could have for that.”

“Why would that worry you?” Oboro asks curiously. Tenko debates on telling him or not, but figures he's likely to find out one way or another.

“He…is suspected to have connections to the criminal underground,” Tenko admits quietly.

“Who has connections to the criminal underground?” Aizawa asks as he enters the room, Hizashi trudging along behind him. They both look exhausted - although Tenko supposes that's not that unusual for Aizawa.

“Um,” Tenko hesitates to answer, while Oboro blurts out, “his vigilante.” He whips around and glares at the cloud haired man, who at least has the decency to look apologetic.

“Your what?” Hizashi asks as Aizawa snaps, “he what?”

Hizashi's expression is betrayed, looking between Aizawa and Oboro in dismay. “Why am I out of this loop? Who are we talking about? What vigilante?”

“Um,” Tenko stutters. “The one I asked about. Back in March.”

“Blue Dragon?” Hizashi gasps, then furrows his brows. “What does Oboro mean by your vigilante?”

“We've been…working together,” Tenko admits, scratching at his eye.

“Tenko has a crush on him,” Aizawa adds, entirely unnecessarily, voice deadpan. “Now what's that about the criminal underground?”

“You have a crush?” Hizashi practically squeals, suddenly looking excited.

“No!” Tenko protests - lying, like a liar - but thankfully no one calls him out this time. Then, he sighs. “Nighteye said he's a target for investigation. But I don't know any more than that.”

“How long have you known this?” Aizawa asks suspiciously as he and Hizashi sit down on the loveseat together.

“I found out literally just a few days ago! I swear!” Tenko pleads his case. Luckily, he's not lying, so no one argues with him about it.

Aizawa heaves a sigh anyway. “What did you get yourself into, kid?” He mumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tenko sticks his tongue out at the man.

“He overdid it with his quirk, on our last patrol. I'm just worried,” he admits, pulling his feet up onto the couch and hugging his knees. “He said he ‘had a guy’ and I just don't like the implications of that, with what little I know.”

“Overdid it?” Aizawa prods. Tenko hums.

“His quirk…hurts him. His body was made for an ice quirk, but he ‘lost the genetic lottery,’ he said,” Tenko explains, staring at the floor.

Hizashi mumbles, “an ice quirk?” to himself, but otherwise doesn't speak up, seemingly lost in thought.

Aizawa sighs again, then looks at Tenko seriously, and asks, “if he really is deep in something bad, will you be able to handle it?”

Tenko looks at his mentor, eyes wide and worried. “I don't know,” he answers honestly, voice quiet.

The dark haired man hums, but no one says anything else.

There isn't much else to say, Tenko supposes.

He doesn't see Dragon on his next few patrols. He tries not to let it preoccupy him too much, but it's hard without anything to distract him. Three-baka is all busy either with UA finals or hero work. Shuichi is too busy with his own finals to game much. Yuu took a modelling job in another prefecture, so she isn't around. Uncle Mirai is busy with a case. Uncle David and Melissa are on the other side of the planet, so they're obviously not an option. And his dad…

Well, his dad is technically working on finals, too, but even if he weren't, Tenko still feels a little weird around him sometimes.

He also hasn't heard from Touya in a while, which is unusual given the frequency of the messages Tenko usually gets. He tries sending a message to the other man, but he receives no answer.

He sighs, slumped on his couch, staring at the ceiling. He moves embarrassingly fast to grab his phone when it pings, though he deflates when it's not any of his friends.

Himiko: can we meet up

You: why?

Himiko: I want to ask u something

Tenko stares at the message, debating. Ultimately, his curiosity at what she wants to ask him combined with his desire for anything outweighs any apprehension he has about meeting with a teenager he barely knows.

He heads to the location she sends him. It's not like he has anything better to do.

He finds the blonde haired girl leaning against the wall of the inner strip of stores of Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, hair done up in her usual messy buns. He notes that she's wearing a long sleeved dress, unusual in June. Even Tenko doesn't wear long sleeves in summer.

She looks up before he can even speak.

“Hi, Tenko,” she greets, smiling, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes, and her fangs aren't showing like they had the few other times he's seen her.

“Hey,” he returns, tilting his head as he studies her. “What did you want to ask me about?”

She gestures for him to follow her, so they enter the strip. Eventually, she settles on a bench, and he sits beside her.

She stares at the crowds of people milling around for several more minutes, completely silent, her face blank.

“Why did you become a hero?” She asks suddenly, her voice deliberately neutral.

“Ah.” Tenko thinks about it.

“I just…always wanted to be, I guess. I don't remember my childhood well - at least not before being adopted - but I always wanted to help people. Especially the people others didn't want to help,” he explains, tugging idly at a strand of his hair. “I've always liked the underdogs, the outcasts. So I wanted to help them.”

“The outcasts,” Himiko murmurs thoughtfully. “I think I get it. Maybe.” Then, after a moment, “I don't know if I want to be a hero. I only applied to UA because of Katsuki. And Izuku.”

“Everyone else has actual motivations for coming to UA, and I…don't. They all want to save people, or inspire them, or help better society in some way. And then I'm just there because some people I love are there. I don't have any noble aspirations of heroics.”

Tenko listens without interrupting, eyes drifting over all the people around them. Himiko looks down at her hands, lips pulled into a frown.

“I don't think I'd be a good hero,” she whispers. “I'm…rotten.”

The way she says it makes it sound like she's reciting someone else's words. Tenko's brows furrow, mouth twisting into a grimace.

“That's not true,” he says, pulling her attention to him. “You're not rotten, first of all. Who even told you that?”

“My parents,” she answers quietly. He must look visibly confused, so she clarifies, “my birth parents. Not the Bakugos.”

Oh, Tenko thinks. Suddenly some things make sense.

Himiko continues, “when my quirk manifested, my parents were scared of me. Everyone was scared of me. So I tried to be good, and be normal. But I couldn't-”

To Tenko's horror, her eyes start welling with tears, and her voice shakes as she says, “I couldn't do it. I wanted blood, and they called me a monster, and said I was rotten, and inhuman-”

She hiccups, curling into herself as she sobs. Tenko frantically looks around, but no one seems to be paying much attention to them. He tentatively reaches out to place a gloved hand on her back.

“When I couldn't control it anymore, I ended up hurting a boy that I liked,” she confesses, “I drank his blood, and that was the last straw for them.”

She takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

“So, the Bakugos,” Tenko hesitantly prompts, not wanting to set her off, but wanting to know the full story.

“Katsuki is actually my cousin, Mitsuki is my auntie through my birth mom. When…when it happened, my parents were going to throw me out, but Mitsuki found out about it and took them to court to adopt me officially,” she explains, sitting up. Her eyes are red and puffy, but no longer flooding with tears. “I'm so grateful to the Bakugos - I don't know what would have happened to me if not for Auntie. I don't have to pretend around them, and Katsuki lets me have his blood whenever I want. But…”

“But no matter how accepting they are, how supportive they are, that doesn't change that I'm weird, and scary, and messed up,” she whimpers, lip wobbling dangerously.

“I don't think that's true,” Tenko says bluntly. Himiko makes a questioning noise. “You might be weird, but so am I. So is the rest of that class, from what I've seen. But you're not scary - messed up, maybe, but that's trauma.”

He takes a deep breath, bouncing his leg to channel his excess nervous energy. “That doesn't define you, though. I think you'd make a good hero, for what it's worth, and Aizawa would have expelled you right away if he didn't think you had potential. But ultimately, you have to decide what you want.”

“But I don't know what I want,” Himiko whines, rubbing her eyes with her sleeves.

“You have time to figure it out. You're only, what, fifteen?”

“Sixteen. I had to do school online because of the…incident, and it held me back,” she mumbles, staring at her hands.

Tenko hums. “You still have time. And you have your friends to support you.”

“Does that include you?” She asks quietly, peeking at him from under her bangs.

Tenko's surprised by the question, but finds a smile tugging at his lips anyway.

“Yeah. That includes me.”

Chapter Text

The rest of June passes by uneventfully. Tenko still doesn't see Blue Dragon for any of his patrols. He tries to remind himself that the vigilante is a grown man (older than Tenko, even!) and that he can take care of himself. He's not very successful.

He does finally hear from Touya, who apologizes for his absence, explaining that he'd come down with something and had been mildly delirious. Tenko sarcastically thinks that that's not at all a concerning thing to say.

He actively talks to Himiko, now, instead of just mostly ignoring her spam. She confesses to him that she probably failed her practical exam, but defends herself, saying ‘how was I supposed to counter CEMENT.’ She feels the rest of her finals went well, however.

She also tells him that his dad beat the snot out of his protege and Bakugo, which…he can't quite imagine, but also really wishes he could have seen it.

“I can't believe you didn't invite me to watch. Or at least record it for me,” Tenko laments when he's at three-baka’s for their weekly dinner. Aizawa gives him a flat look.

“Brat,” is all he says in response, offering no further explanation.

“It's for the best - Hizashi apparently fainted,” Oboro sighs wistfully. “I wish I could have seen that.”

The blonde man in question scrunches up his nose in offense. “Listen. They assaulted me. With BUGS.”

Tenko snorts.

“It was embarrassing to watch,” Aizawa says dryly, and Hizashi gasps dramatically.

“And you? Supposed ‘hardass’ teacher letting your students win? Please,” the blonde accuses, and this time it's Tenko who gasps, but in delight.

“You let them win?” He cackles gleefully, clapping his hands.

“I didn't let them win. I gave them a fair shot,” the man defends himself, and the three others around the table just stare at him. He frowns and repeats, “I didn't let them win.”

“Yeah sure,” Oboro and Tenko say in sync. Aizawa's frown deepens before the two older men start bickering. Hizashi snickers as he takes a sip of his drink, satisfied with the discord he'd wrought. Tenko rolls his eyes at their antics.

“Himiko told me she failed the practical,” Tenko mentions eventually, once everyone has settled again. Aizawa sighs.

“Yeah, I was hoping she could work with Kirishima and use his blood, but…” the man trails off, lost in thought. “Her teamwork skills need developing. She doesn't seem to work well with anyone outside of Bakugo or Midoriya.”

Tenko hums, pushing his plate away when he's finished eating. Oboro wordlessly pulls it over and adds it to his own.

“All the students that failed will still go to the training camp, though, so she doesn't need to worry about that,” Aizawa says, and Tenko stares at him.

“You lied and told them they wouldn't get to go, didn't you,” he asks flatly. Aizawa shrugs, mouth stretching into his usual Cheshire cat grin. Tenko rolls his eyes.

“When is that, anyway?” Oboro asks curiously.

“Next week,” Hizashi answers. “Our sleepy prince will be gone away from us.”

Aizawa rolls his eyes at his husband's melodramatics. “You'll live. And stop calling me that.”

“It's at the Pussycats’ mountain reserve, right?” Tenko asks, and Aizawa nods.

“They'll be assisting with the hero students' training and overall helping supervise.” He pauses, head tilting in thought. “Though I wonder how it'll go with Mandalay’s nephew being there.”

“Why would he be there?” Tenko asks curiously. Aizawa sighs heavily.

“His parents were recently killed by a villain. So she has custody of him now,” he explains solemnly, and Tenko nods in understanding. “From what she's told me, he resents heroes now, because of it.”

“Ah,” Tenko hums, though he doesn't say anything else.

Oboro clears his throat. “Aren't you going on a trip, too, Tenko?”

He hums in acknowledgement. “Yeah, the I-Expo. Your class is going, too, aren't they?” he asks Aizawa, who nods. “But not you?”

“I'll be finishing up plans for the training camp,” the man explains. “I'd rather not go, anyhow.”

Tenko rolls his eyes. They talk about the expo, and what they think might be there. For his part, Tenko is mostly just going so he can see Uncle David and Melissa again.

He's back at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, waiting for Shuichi so they can try and find some formal wear for Tenko for the expo, when he gets caught by someone he'd rather not see.

Midoriya Izuku stands before him, staring at him with determination in his green eyes. The minute tremble of his lip gives away his nerves, however.

“Can we talk?” He asks, and Tenko blinks. The boy's face hardens slightly, and he says instead, “we need to talk.”

“Okay,” Tenko assents blandly. The kid looks surprised, before he steels his expression again, and leads the way to a bench to sit down. He doesn't say anything for a bit, just nervously glances around and fidgets in place, before Tenko starts getting annoyed and snaps, “what?”

He jolts like he'd forgotten he'd even dragged Tenko over here, before he clears his throat, and asks,

“What did I do?”

Tenko just blinks, face scrunching in confusion. “What?”

“I know you hate me. I just…want to know what I did, and how I can fix it?”

“I don't hate you,” he clarifies.

“You don't like me,” Midoriya counters. Tenko supposes his lack of response to that is confirmation enough.

Tenko sighs, leaning back against the bench.

“It's not…anything you actually did,” Tenko says slowly, struggling to find a way to describe his admittedly juvenile dislike of the kid. “I just…you showed up and everything got weird with my dad. That's all.”

“Weird how?” Midoriya asks, and Tenko grunts in annoyance.

“We didn't have secrets. Then I find out he has a protege and a whole load of secrets he never told me about.” Then, he adds on, “and I'm sure you can imagine how it felt finding out your dad chose some random teenager instead of his own son as his successor.”

“Oh,” Midoriya says, looking at his gaudy red shoes. “Yeah, I guess that must have sucked.”

Tenko sighs, shrugging his shoulders. “But it's whatever. I'm mostly over it now.” Kind of.

He looks up, spotting Shuichi, who has his head tilted in curiosity as he spots Tenko and the kid sitting together. He stands from the bench, bidding goodbye to the nuisance.

“My friend is here. Bye, Midoriya.”

He doesn't wait to hear if the kid has anything else to say.

“Who was that?” Shuichi asks when Tenko joins up with him. He sighs, irritated.

“It's a long story. C'mon, I'll tell you later.”

Like so much of his life these days, the expo nearly ended in total disaster. He isn't sure what to think about Uncle David siding with fake-but-real villains, even temporarily, even if his intentions were mostly good. But Tenko is grateful for his dad - and Midoriya, though he won't admit it - for saving the day.

After the disaster of the beginning, Tenko gets to spend the remainder with Melissa, catching up and discussing quirks like they did when they were younger. At least, when she's not doing so with Midoriya. He tries not to let it get to him.

On the upside, when Melissa is busy with Midoriya, Himiko attaches herself to Tenko to keep him company. He's admittedly grown fond of the girl, so it's not all bad.

His first patrol post-vacation, he sees Blue Dragon again, waiting at their usual meetup spot. It takes every ounce of self control he has to not tackle the man to the ground.

“You're okay,” he breathes out in relief instead of greeting him.

“Told ya I would be,” Dragon says easily, waving a hand. “But where'd you go?”

Tenko huffs, rolling his eyes as he fiddles with his leg pouches for something to do with his hands. “Yeah, your ‘guy.’ And I went on a little vacation.”

“A vacation? And ya didn't invite me?” The vigilante teases. Tenko gives him a flat look, to which the man just laughs. “Did’ya have fun?”

Tenko smiles softly behind his mask. “Yeah. I did.” He straightens back up, stretches his arms above his head, and says, “let's get to work!”

“Aye aye, boss.”

Just a few nights later, he's on patrol with Dragon like usual, when he gets the call from Oboro. He almost ignores it, but it's so odd for him to be calling at such a late hour that it immediately puts an uneasy feeling in Tenko's stomach.

“Oboro?” he answers cautiously.

“Tenko,” Oboro breathes on the other side, sounding strained. “Kid…shit.”

“What's wrong?” He asks, stopping so suddenly that Dragon almost runs into his back.

“The training camp was attacked by villains. Bakugo was kidnapped, and Ragdoll is missing.”

A pit opens up inside of Tenko. “What?” He whispers. Dragon leans over his shoulder, presumably trying to see his face.

“We don't know much. Hizashi just got off the phone with Aizawa and is heading up there. I figured I should tell you, though.”

“How are the other students? Do you know?” Tenko asks shakily, thinking of Himiko, of Touya's little brother, and even of his dad's protege.

“I don't, dewdrop, I'm sorry.” Tenko hates how tired Oboro sounds, worn and stressed.

“Don't apologize,” he weakly protests. His hands are starting to shake. Dragon moves to stand in front of him. Oboro promises to keep him updated if he learns anything else, and the call ends.

Tenko startles when warm fingers brush over his cheeks. He makes a noise of confusion as his vision clears and focuses on the vigilante before him.

“Yer cryin’,” the masked man says simply. “What's happened?”

“The…” he hesitates, not knowing how much he can actually tell the man.

“Somethin’ with UA? Ya said ‘students.’”

Tenko gulps, and nods. Then he looks around, at the people milling around them, some giving curious glances at the crying pro hero and his masked cohort. He slips his phone back into its pouch.

“Let's go up,” he says suddenly, leading Dragon into an alley before grappling himself to the roof of one of the buildings. With a couple small bursts of blue fire, Dragon lands beside him. Tenko gingerly sits on the edge, leaning his back against the chain fence. The vigilante sits close enough that their knees and shoulders touch.

He takes a deep breath - hesitates, then takes another - and says, “UA’s training camp was attacked. A student was kidnapped and one of the Pussycats is missing.”

Blue Dragon's entire body seems to go rigid. He doesn't respond at all for a minute, but eventually just says, “shit.”

“I need to go - I have to see someone. Sorry, Dragon,” Tenko manages to get out through his rising distress, standing up again.

“No, no, yer fine,” Dragon dismisses his apology. He reaches a hand out, brushing his knuckles against Tenko's shoulder. “Be safe, Duster.”

He nods, turning away from the vigilante and grappling himself up to a taller building, swinging out of sight.

“Dad,” he calls when his knocking goes unanswered. “Dad!”

And it doesn't make sense, his dad wasn't even at the training camp, but the lack of response makes him even more anxious. When his dad finally opens the door, clad in a bathrobe, Tenko almost collapses into him.

“Tenko?” his dad asks, startled. He drags Tenko inside so he can close the door. “My boy, what's wrong?”

“The camp was attacked,” Tenko sobs, the tears finally overflowing. The man goes stiff against him, before wrapping him in scrawny arms.

“Oh,” is all the man manages to say. He readjusts so he's gently gripping Tenko's shoulders. “Come, sit down.”

Tenko remembers to kick off the boots to his costume before Toshinori guides him to the couch, sitting him down before he rushes off. Tenko curls into himself, hugging himself tightly to try and self-soothe.

When his dad comes back, dressed haphazardly in a plain tee and jeans, he's looking at his phone.

“Oh, shit,” the man mutters, and if he weren't actively breaking apart Tenko might laugh at the novelty of his dad swearing. “They called me. And I was just sitting in the bath while they were fighting for their lives.”

His voice is remorseful, and quieter like he's trying to keep Tenko from hearing. He's never been good at whispering, though. He watches his dad bring the phone up to his ear, listening to the voicemail. “Shit. Shit!” The blonde man hisses to himself.

“Why does this keep happening?” Tenko asks quietly, hugging his knees like a child.

“I don't know,” his dad answers, sounding older than he ever has.

Chapter Text

For two days, he goes to visit the students in the hospital. He knows the majority of them had only light injuries, except for a few - including his dad's protege, who has been unconscious the entire time. He still goes to check on him, anyway.

A short, plump woman is sitting by the kid's bedside, sniffling quietly.

“Oh. Um,” he stutters, bowing apologetically. “Sorry, I'll go.”

“No! No, you're fine, I'm sorry,” she apologizes as well, even though she didn't do anything. “You can stay, don't mind this old lady crying.”

“You're not old,” he says immediately, then flushes in embarrassment. “I mean-”

She smiles warmly, and it puts Tenko at ease in a way he can't explain. She gestures to another chair.

“Have a seat, please. No need to stand there.”

And even though Tenko feels awkward, visiting a kid he barely tolerates and finding someone else already there, he does. He sinks down into the seat next to her, and the corners of her eyes crinkle when she smiles.

“I'm Midoriya Inko, Izuku’s mom. How do you know my son?”

Tenko's thoughts hit the brakes. Oh god, his MOM. He can't believe he didn't notice the resemblance at first, but he definitely sees it now. Dark green hair, big round eyes. The crying. He flounders for a brief moment, unsure of how much she knows and how much he can say. He decides to play it safe.

“Ah, Aizawa was my mentor. I helped as a TA when I had to go on medical leave after a patrol.”

Her expression gets a little sad. “Another hero, huh?”

He chews his lip, looking at the floor. “I was at the USJ when it was attacked, but I wasn't at the camp. I'm sorry.”

“Oh, don't apologize, it wasn't your fault,” she says wetly, voice trembling.

“And please don't hold it against Aizawa. I haven't been able to talk to him since it happened, but I know how he is. Probably no one feels worse about it than he does,” Tenko babbles nervously. “He seems like a jerk, but he's definitely one of the most caring people I know.”

“That's good to know,” she says quietly. “You said Mister Aizawa was your mentor?”

He hums. She looks at him. “Were you a student of his?”

He shakes his head. “No, I interned with him during my first year at UA. He became a teacher my second year, but I never had him for any classes.”

He takes a deep breath. “But…he helped me a lot. He's good at dealing with difficult kids.”

“I doubt you were that bad.”

He gives a wry, sad smile. “I was…definitely a chore. Aizawa calls me a brat, and a pain, a lot. But that's how he shows his affection.”

She laughs quietly, and he's relieved he managed to cheer her up a bit.

They talk for longer than Tenko even realizes, both of them startled when a nurse arrives to tell them visiting hours are over.

Outside, Tenko bows again, bidding her goodbye. She smiles in that gentle way again, and he crookedly smiles back.

When he arrives at the waiting area outside Midoriya's room the next time, he finds fourteen pairs of eyes staring back at him.

“Um,” he says, very eloquently. He realizes then, in his faded graphic tee, scuffed jeans, and his usual old converse, that he definitely doesn't look like a pro hero. “It's me. Duster.”

All the students begin clamoring at once, making him reel back a little. They immediately quiet when the door to Midoriya's room opens.

Himiko stands in the doorway, watching them all with a carefully blank expression.

“He's awake, if you want to visit,” she says quietly. She steps back to allow her classmates to flood the room, all chattering loudly.

“You seen the TV? The media's all over the school.”

“We brought you a melon!”

When he walks up beside her, she tilts her head curiously. “Why are you here? You don't like Midoriya.”

“I don't like him, but that doesn't mean I want him seriously injured,” he retorts, then quietly adds, “but really, I came to check on you, more so than anyone else.” And also, after meeting his mom, I'd rather die than see her upset. So I have to look out for him, he thinks drily.

The corner of her mouth lifts up, one fang peeking out. “You're sweet, Tenko.”

When he scrunches up his nose, she giggles quietly. They fall into an amiable silence, watching the rest of the class crowd Midoriya's bed, giving him updates on which students are still out.

Tenko feels a hand clench around the hem of his shirt when Bakugo - or rather, his absence - is brought up. He glances at Himiko, but she's hiding under her bangs. He realizes now that her hair isn't in its usual buns.

Iida yelling gets Tenko's attention again.

“It's not our place to interfere!”

“You think I don't know that?” The red one snaps back, tears in his eyes. As they argue, Tenko begins piecing together what it's about, from what he can catch.

“...to go save Bakugo by yourselves?” The pink heteromorph girl asks, looking worried.

“You…have got to be joking!” Iida exclaims angrily. A few other students chime in with their own worries.

“If we break the law, then we're no better than the villains,” the frog girl says, and Tenko bites his lip.

There's a lot of gray area, kid! He thinks. He hopes she figures that out, one day.

Still, all of the students look cowed by her statement, and the room falls into a tense silence. Himiko still has her hand twisted in Tenko's shirt.

A knock on the doorframe startles everyone in the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” a strangely familiar looking doctor says. “It's time for Midoriya's examination."

The students begin filing out, intending to check on the other two still unconscious. Before exiting, Tenko overhears the red one talking to Midoriya.

“I talked to Yaoyorozu yesterday. If we're going, it has to be soon. Tonight.”

Tenko doesn't catch the rest of what the boy says as he leaves, but when he makes eye contact with Himiko, he knows she heard him, too.

“Make sure they don't do anything too stupid,” he whispers, knowing he won't be able to stop any of them if they decide to go through with their foolhardy rescue mission. Her eyes widen, but she only nods.

Tenko stands next to Mt Lady, arms crossed. Around the room, several of the top heroes stand, ready for the mission briefing.

“Why do I have to clean up UA’s mess? I have places to be,” the number two hero complains, Hellfire blazing around his shoulders. Tenko fights the urge to say something he'll regret.

“You're an alum, aren't you?” Best Jeanist retorts. Tsukauchi frowns at Endeavor.

“This isn't just for UA. Try to see the big picture here. The preservation of our society is riding on this operation,” the detective says seriously.

“I had hoped to reform Bakugo’s behavior when I invited him to my agency, but never have I come across such a headstrong individual,” Jeanist comments. “We must hurry if we are to stop him from doing something drastic.”

“So you couldn't do squat to change him, huh?” Gang Orca says, chuckling.

“The very roots of his hair were filled with that unshakeable pride.”

That sounds right, Tenko thinks.

“They also took my partner Ragdoll away from us. So I have a personal stake in this game,” Tiger says seriously, before turning to Tenko. More softly, he says, “thank you for joining us in this, Bombay- sorry, Duster.”

He nods, pulling his mask into place to hide the hint of a smile at being called by his old Pussycat name. “Of course.”

Tsukauchi clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention so he can go over the plan one last time.

Tenko makes eye contact with Mt Lady, and they knock wrists together, looking determined.

They will win this. They have to.

Mt Lady uses her gigantic form to smash the side of the warehouse, creating an opening for the rest of the team. Jeanist immediately restrains several Nomu, and Lady grabs one, though she looks queasy.

Tenko takes off through the hangar, searching for Ragdoll, and any others they might be holding. His blood freezes when he finds her, naked, unconscious, and suspended in some kind of tank.

“Tiger,” he calls cautiously. The large man sprints over and scoops her out of the tank and into his arms.

“Ragdoll! Talk to me!” He pleads desperately. Gang Orca joins them.

“She's still breathing,” he points out, though it's hardly any consolation.

“What did they do to you?” Tiger whispers brokenly. Tenko has to bite his tongue, forcing himself not to cry.

“Sorry, Tiger, but I've had my eye on her quirk for a while now. It was just too good to pass up. I had to take it.”

The new voice makes everyone freeze, not even a breath escaping them. Take it…?

Gang Orca moves first. “Stop. Not another step.”

The voice only draws closer. “Ever since I was reduced to this, I haven't been able to stock up as many as before.”

The moment one shiny dress shoe comes into the light, Jeanist activates his quirk to immobilize the newcomer.

“Jeanist! What if that's a civilian!” Lady hisses, but Tenko feels dread clawing at his insides.

“Use your head. A moment's hesitation could allow the villains to get the upper hand. We mustn't fall for any tricks!” Jeanist scolds her, and then suddenly Tenko can't see, and all he can hear is a deafening explosion.

When the dust and the ringing in his ears subsides, the warehouse is practically gone. Jeanist lays in the epicenter, the rest of them strewn through the rubble. He looks around for the others.

Tiger has himself curled around Ragdoll’s limp body, cushioning her from the blast. Orca and Lady are hopefully only unconscious, but neither of them are moving, slumped against the concrete. Tenko heaves himself halfway to his feet.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“That's the number four pro hero! I was planning to blast them all straight to hell, but you reacted so quickly! Throwing them all to the side by their clothes. Very impressive use of your quirk. But…I don't need it.”

Tenko isn't sure what the man does to Jeanist, only that a portion of his torso isn't there anymore after. He heaves, but nothing comes up. He was too nervous to eat before the mission.

He hears dry heaving, but it's not coming from him, now.

“God, that stuff stinks!” Bakugo's voice rings clearly in the empty space. The kid isn't alone, though - a handful of other villains, including the plant villain Tenko has tangled with twice now. The man turns to Bakugo. Tenko's heart hammers against his ribs.

“Apologies, Bakugo.”

The man pauses, turns slightly another way.

“I knew you'd come,” he says calmly, moments before he meets All Might fist to fist, holding him back seemingly effortlessly. “What took you so long?”

“It's about five kilometers from the bar to here, and it took you a whole thirty seconds to arrive after I sent the nomu. You're losing it, All Might.”

“So are you,” All Might retorts. “What's with that fancy mask? Are you sure you should be up and about?”

His dad hops from foot to foot, preparing himself. “I won't make the same mistake I did five years ago, All For One.”

That's All For One? Tenko thinks, a little panicked.

“I'm taking Bakugo, and smashing you and your cohorts into a prison cell!” All Might proclaims. The man's arm raises and swells grotesquely.

“Sounds like we both have a lot on our to-do lists.”

The blast he releases is enough to send All Might flying, crashing through several buildings.

Despite himself, Tenko screams in unison with Bakugo. “All Might!”

“Don't fret,” All For One addresses Bakugo. “That won't be enough to kill him.”

And then he turns to Tenko, and the hero is pinned by his oppressive aura. “Tenko.”

And the way All For One says his name - gentle and familiar, like he's known Tenko for his whole life - makes every fiber of his being seize with fear.

“It's not too late, you know,” the villain says, “you can still come home.”

“What the hell are you talking about,” Tenko grits out, entire body trembling.

“I was good friends with your father. Your real father,” All For One says, and Tenko's head starts to hurt. “He wanted me to take care of you, if anything had happened to him. But you were stolen from me before I could retrieve you.”

“That's bullshit,” he spits, sweat dripping down his temple, which is throbbing now.

“It's true! But you're not convinced, that's alright. We'll catch up later,” he says, a threat disguised as a promise. “For now, let's see if you really are a hero-” He spits the word like it's something foul in his mouth. “And see if you can rescue young Bakugo.”

All Might returns then, but every attempt he makes to attack All For One or to rescue Bakugo is countered.

“I'm coming for you!” He declares, before All For One impedes him again.

“Not so fast. That's why I. Am. Here,” the villain says calmly, making a cruel mockery of All Might's catchphrase as he sends the hero skidding back.

Meanwhile, Tenko can't get his goddamn body to move, AGAIN. Bakugo is evading the other villains for all he's worth, but he's not going to be able to keep it up forever.

But Tenko supposes he won't have to.

Rocketing across the sky is Iida, Midoriya, and Kirishima, who reaches out his hand and calls out to Bakugo.

“Come on!”

Bakugo launches himself through the air with his explosions, clasping the red haired boy's hand. Tenko lets out a breathless, awed laugh as he watches them streak across the night sky.

One of the villains takes off into the air after them, but Mt Lady suddenly activates her quirk and quite literally collides head on with the villain.

“‘Prioritize the rescue,’” she quotes their earlier briefing dazedly. “Go on, you dumb kids.”

The villains make another attempt at rushing to capture Bakugo, but Gran Torino makes his appearance to knock them unconscious. Never thought I'd be glad to see you, old man.

“You're late!” All Might scolds as Torino regroups with him.

“You're just too quick!”

Tenko stumbles as Mt Lady’s giant form hits the ground, but finally he can get himself to move again. He rushes to where she fell, hefting her over his shoulder when her quirk deactivates and she shrinks again.

He's relieved to see that Gang Orca and Tiger are up on their own, and instead focuses on finding Jeanist. Or…what's left of him.

He swallows down the bile rising in his throat as he tries to pick the hero's limp body up, as carefully as he can with Mt Lady's weight on his shoulders. Gang Orca comes to help, thankfully, easily picking up Jeanist’s body so they can carry them to safety.

With no one in the vicinity to worry about, All Might can focus on All For One.

But Tenko doesn't miss the blood at the corner of his dad's mouth, the sight filling him with cold dread.

Please. Please don't let this be it.

Chapter Text

Please. Please. Tenko prays to any god that will listen, sick to his stomach with worry and fear. Please don't let this be it. Please.

While Tenko and Orca are trying to get the two unconscious (or in Jeanist's case, he really, really hopes he's just unconscious) heroes to safety, the rest of the heroes from the other raid team arrive. Endeavor spouts some disparaging nonsense about his dad that makes Tenko's blood boil, but his attention is drawn by Kamui Woods dropping next to him.

“Here, I'll take her,” the hero says gently. Tenko passes her over. Almost too quiet to catch, he hears Kamui whisper, “you did good, Mt Lady.”

He takes Jeanist from Gang Orca, too, carefully wrapping the heroes up in his branches. Tenko lets out a breath of relief he didn't realize he was holding.

After he's sure Mt Lady and Best Jeanist are safe with medical personnel, Tenko goes to find Aizawa's idiot students and make sure they're the hell out of this place. Himiko makes that a little easier, giving him an approximation of their location. But he needs to see them for himself.

“Duster!” A familiar voice stops Tenko in his tracks as he's wading through the throngs of people.

“Dragon?” He calls, confused, turning to see the vigilante in question approaching. “What are you doing here?”

“Came to help with evacuations. It's chaotic ‘nough that no one really questions me,” the vigilante explains, falling into step with him. “What're you doin’ here?”

“Trying to find Aizawa's dumb students. They staged a rescue.”

Before either of them can say more, a reporter's voice draws Tenko's attention.

“Um…what's…huh? Are you seeing this, viewers? All Might…he's all shrivelled up…”

Tenko's head whips around to find the nearest screen broadcasting the live footage. Luckily, he finds Aizawa's AWOL students in the process, but he's a little distracted now. He stumbles closer, hovering just behind Midoriya and Bakugo, watching in horror as his dad's true form is exposed to the entire world.

“No…his secret…” He hears Midoriya mutter quietly, his entire body shaking. For once, Tenko feels about the same. Warmth at his back signals that Dragon has caught up, probably just as stunned as the rest of them.

The crowd that gathered to watch the brutal scene begins to ramp up in volume, but for once, Tenko doesn't care at all.

“He might look different, but he's still our All Might, right?” Someone says, and others start piping up themselves.

“Come on!”

“You can do it!”

“Don't you dare lose!”

Even Tenko can't hold himself back. He's never been one to raise his voice, but now he can't keep it inside.

“YOU CAN WIN, ALL MIGHT!”

His scream echoes in tandem with the desperate shouts of the two students before him, the entire crowd in a similar uproar.

On the screen, All Might puts everything he has into one final, devastating blow that creates a shockwave that sends the news helicopter careening, breaking the visual. The silence is so sudden it's deafening, the entire world holding its breath, tense with anticipation.

Eventually, the camera refocuses on where All Might stands over a crater, the villain unmoving within it. Slowly, he reaches one arm up, bulking into his muscle form for just a brief few moments, posing as the Symbol of Peace for one last time.

The crowd roars, and even the reporter can't tamp down her excitement.

“The villain is out cold! He won! All Might won! He's still standing!”

Tenko's knees almost give out on him, but Dragon's steady presence at his back keeps him upright.

Then, his dad shakily points at the camera once it's made it to the ground.

“Now…it's your turn.”

He recognizes it for what it is - a farewell. He's officially passing his torch to his protege, leaving that legacy resting on a teenager’s shoulders. Tenko decides that, despite his feelings, he'll do what he can to support the kid. But in the meantime, there's work to do.

He blinks once, twice. Then he takes a deep breath, steeling himself and straightening back up. He turns to the vigilante.

“I'm going back out there to help with rescue efforts. Be safe, okay?” He doesn't leave much time for a response, on the move as soon as he gets a nod from the other man.

He grapples his way back to what used to be Kamino Ward, joining up with the other heroes that arrived to search for survivors. He sees Present Mic and Loud Cloud some ways away - he figures if he hadn't had to do that press conference, Aizawa would be here, too.

The Snake Hero Uwabami is directing other heroes to wherever her snakes can sense survivors, so Tenko gets to work on dusting chunks of concrete to clear the way.

It takes a long time to even feel like they've made any progress at all. For every survivor he rescues, Tenko probably finds at least three, or more, casualties. His emotions go on lockdown entirely when he finds a child in the rubble. From that point, he just goes through the motions, not letting himself feel anything at all.

They're still working when the sun comes up. Tenko is disgusting and filthy - covered in sweat and dirt and dust and blood. Mic and Cloud keep trying to get him to take a break and get some water, and let his quirk rest. Eraser joined the rescue effort at some point, but even he couldn't convince Tenko to stop. If he stops he knows he'll fall apart entirely. So he keeps going.

The skin on his hands is cracking from the overuse of his quirk, starting to sluggishly bleed. His face is unbearably itchy at this point. His hair is matted to his face by sweat. There's dust from the concrete sticking to him because of the sweat. His entire body hurts and it feels like there's bugs under his skin. But he keeps going. He has to. He can't stop.

If he stops, he'll break.

Eventually, Eraser must get tired of him, because he finds himself getting wound up in the older pro’s capture weapon.

“Let me go,” he slurs, exhausted and half delirious, but still unwilling to stop.

“No. Take a goddamn break, kid,” he snaps, but his voice carries that particular strain in it that Tenko recognizes as worry. “You'll collapse if you keep this up. And then what good will you be?”

And Tenko knows he means well, and that he's not even trying to be mean, but the harsh tone compounds on top of everything, and without work to distract him anymore, Tenko shatters.

The black haired man sighs heavily, reeling his capture weapon in. “Oh, kid,” he breathes as he wraps Tenko in a rare embrace, supporting him as his body is wracked with sobs. “Sometimes I forget just how young you are.”

His voice is sad, and so quiet that Tenko probably wouldn't have heard him at all if he weren't so close. And while he would normally protest, he can't say he doesn't feel incredibly small at this moment.

His mask is pulled down and a soft, sweet scent hits his nose, and Tenko knows nothing else after that point.

When he wakes again, he's groggy and confused, and it takes him a few minutes to even figure out he's in his own bed. He lies there for a long time, thinking over what he can remember. Kamino Ward is mostly gone, but Bakugo is safe. And Dad… Well, at least he's still alive. I hope, anyway.

He sits up slowly, which is in itself a struggle since his entire body feels like it's been weighted and thrown underwater. He rubs at his eyes blearily, grimacing in disgust at the dried flakes of skin that come off on his gloves. His hands aren't much better, it seems - the skin peeling in several places.

He sardonically thinks that it's almost impressive how he undid several years of an intensive skincare routine in a single day.

He sighs, figuring there's no point in dwelling on it, he'll just have to put in extra work to get his skin back to where it was.

He hauls himself out of his bed, shakily putting his weight onto his feet. His entire body feels like one big bruise, but he guesses that shouldn't surprise him.

Whoever brought him home evidently cleaned him up and redressed him in comfier clothes. He's unsure how he feels about that, and who would be the least mortifying person to have done it. He ultimately decides he would rather not know, to save himself the embarrassment.

He stumbles his way out of his bedroom, about to head to the bathroom, but stopping short when he hears noise in his kitchen.

He warily peeks his head around the doorframe, settling only when he realizes it's just Shuichi digging around in his fridge.

“Shu?” He calls quietly, making the heteromorph jump.

“Jeez,” he hisses, and Tenko almost laughs, but he doesn't quite have it in him right now. “Hey, Ten, how you feeling?”

“Like I rolled in dirt and then got hit by a train,” Tenko answers blandly, and the other man rolls his eyes. Tenko tilts his head curiously as he looks at his friend. “Have you been staying here?”

The heteromorph is dressed in sweatpants and a tank, purple hair tied messily out of his face. He looks especially dishevelled. And embarrassed at Tenko observing him.

“Y-yeah. I…saw the news. I tried calling, but you didn't answer, and then the last time someone else did. You've been unconscious for a couple days,” he explains, scaled brows furrowed in concern.

“Oh,” Tenko says intelligently.

“My school's closed because of…that, so I don't have to worry about assignments or anything. Most of your other friends and stuff are heroes, so I figured they'd be busy with all that, or at least I would hope so, so I offered to stay here to keep an eye on you.” Shuichi turns back to the fridge as he speaks, getting too shy to be face to face anymore.

Tenko is stunned, admittedly. “Thank you,” he says quietly, and Shuichi just shrugs. If he still had a tail, Tenko figures it'd be thumping against the floor. “I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back.”

He cleans himself up a little more, and goes through his usual skincare routine but with the extra step of the prescription cream he has specifically for when his skin is really bad. He avoids looking at his reflection more than strictly necessary, not wanting to face the heavy bags or new scarring around his eyes. Hopefully that will clear up.

He goes back to his bedroom to retrieve his phone. Sure enough, several missed calls from Shuichi, the night of the raids. Of course, he had no idea I was even there. And then one answered, the next morning.

But he's also received several calls and messages from others. Yuu, Himiko, his dad - he thanks the heavens - Uncle Mirai, his Uncle David and Melissa, even. His former mentors, Nemuri, and the Pussycats didn't call, but they sent him messages wishing him a quick recovery and thanking him for his hard work.

But what really catches his attention is several missed but one answered call from Touya. From earlier this morning, before Tenko woke up.

He checks the news online on his way to the main room.

Breaking: All Might Retires, Unable To Fight Any More

Wild, Wild Pussycats On Hiatus Following Member Ragdoll's Quirk Being Stolen

Number Four Hero Best Jeanist In Recovery

He sighs in relief, knowing that all the heroes involved were okay, at least. His stomach churns uncomfortably when he scrolls further, however, and sees a much darker headline.

Villain Ringleader Arrested, Others Still At Large

“So they got away,” he murmurs, then heaves another sigh.

He walks into the main room and flops on the couch next to Shuichi and closes his eyes.

“So did you answer the call from Touya?” He asks, apropos of nothing. Shuichi freezes.

“Um. Yeah. Sorry. He wouldn't stop calling,” the heteromorph stutters, before he turns to Tenko. “Why didn't you tell me you know Todoroki Touya?”

He cracks an eye open, looking at Shuichi with a raised brow. “Do you know him?”

“I know of him. Almost everyone does,” he grumbles, scratching his snout. “But you know him personally.”

“Technically, I've known him since I originally became a sidekick. He made my suit,” Tenko points out, closing his eyes again. “But I met him properly at the sports festival. He asked for my number. It was weird.”

Shuichi hums. “So he's coming over.”

Tenko's eyes snap back open and he sits bolt upright. “He's what.”

Shuichi looks at him in bafflement. “What, you're on a first name basis with him but he can't come to your apartment?”

“He specifically asked to be called Touya, and almost everyone calls me by my first name anyway!”

“I really don't get why you're freaking out.”

“Because! I look like I've been mauled by a rabid animal!” He flails his arms in emphasis, before settling them to pull on his hair in frustration.

Shuichi stares at him blankly for a moment, before a knowing look crosses his features. “Oh, you have a crush on him, don't you?”

Tenko freezes, hands still in his hair. “No!” He says, too quickly to be believable. Shuichi just Looks at him. “I don't! I like someone else!”

The heteromorph’s jaw drops open in shock. Tenko slaps his hands over his mouth so maybe he'll shut up.

“Who do you like!” Shuichi yells, grabbing Tenko by his shirt and jerking him back down onto the couch.

“No one! I lied!” He cries, struggling to get away, but Shuichi has always been bulkier.

“You're lying now! Who is it!” his friend shouts, pinning his weight on top of Tenko to prevent him from escaping. “Tell me!”

“It's-” Tenko falls limp, lacking the strength in his tired limbs to keep fighting. “It's…Blue Dragon.”

He mumbles it into the couch cushions, but Shuichi understands him anyway. “The vigilante?”

“We've been…working together.”

Shuichi sits up, freeing Tenko. “Is that all?” He sounds unconvinced.

“Yes! Really. Except he flirts. Like a lot.” And despite himself, Tenko starts blushing, which is humiliating. Then, he admits quietly, “he…called me gorgeous. No one's ever done that.”

Shuichi opens his mouth to say something, but Tenko's doorbell rings, interrupting him. He stands, going to get the door while Tenko tries to calm himself back down.

He can hear two deep voices approaching steadily, and he's mostly back to normal by the time the lizard heteromorph and Touya enter the room.

Touya's expression softens when his sight lands on Tenko, and he holds out a large paper bag to him.

“Brought ya some stuff,” he says, Tenko gingerly taking it from him and looking through it. “How ya feelin’?”

“I’m okay,” he mumbles, a little shyly, as he digs through the bag. Assorted snacks, mostly, all tooth-rottingly sweet, like he likes.

“I thought you said you felt like you'd been hit by a train after rolling in dirt?” Shuichi recalls unhelpfully. Tenko gives him a flat look.

“I'm still okay. I could be worse. I could still be unconscious,” he points out petulantly. Shuichi gives him a flat look of his own.

Touya sits down in the chair, leaning against the armrest easily, like he belongs there. “Glad t’ hear it.”

The man has such a specific expression on his face, one Tenko can't quite pinpoint, but it makes him think of Aizawa and his husbands. He finds he can't face that expression head on, so he digs out a bag of candy and rips into it.

Of course, putting anything in his stomach reminds him that he's been unconscious for days, and therefore hasn't eaten. He groans as his stomach loudly complains. Shuichi and Touya both laugh at him.

“Thanks, guys,” he mumbles flatly, shoving another piece of candy in his mouth.

“What d’ya wanna eat?” Touya asks, a wide grin on his scarred face. “If ya don't mind me usin’ yer kitchen, I can make ya somethin’.”

He stares at the scarred man in adoration. “You would do that?” Shuichi snorts at him.

Touya laughs, lifting his pierced eyebrow. “‘Course. Just tell me what ya like.”

“Can you make ramen?”

It's simple, but honestly Tenko just really wants something comforting and familiar. Though he usually eats instant or takeout - he's not sure he's ever had homemade ramen.

A wider smile stretches across Touya's scarred and pierced lips. “Of course.”

Tenko doesn't have everything Touya deems necessary to make ramen, so the man excuses himself to make a brief trip to the nearest grocery.

Tenko decides he needs to shower while the man is gone. It's bad enough he sat around looking (and feeling) gross for as long as he has.

He rushes through his shower, not spending his usual fifteen to twenty minutes just standing under the hot water (he still spends at least ten just standing there, though). Once he's out and dry and in fresh, clean clothes, he feels infinitely better. Still incredibly sore, but better.

He flops on the couch next to Shuichi, who's engrossed in a game on Tenko's tv. He busies himself by responding to everyone that messaged him, promising some - like his dad, uncles, and Oboro - that he would call later, after his company leaves. By the time he's done, the doorbell rings, signaling Touya's return.

When he opens the door for the man, Touya huffs through his nose in a facsimile of a laugh.

“What?” Tenko asks, stepping aside so he can come in.

“Ya didn't hav’ta shower an’ change,” he comments, amused, and Tenko rolls his eyes.

“I felt gross,” he grumbles as he closes the door, picking at the hem of his way-too-big tee that he's pretty sure is actually Shuichi's. Touya just laughs openly, this time. Tenko eyes the numerous bags in his hands.

“That's…a lot, for ramen,” he points out, raising a brow in confusion.

“Yer cabinets were so empty they made me sad,” Touya drawls, glancing at Tenko over his shoulder as he sets the bags on the counter.

“Sue me, I don't know how to cook,” Tenko gripes, coming to help unload them. An offended squawk from down the hallway tells Tenko that Shuichi just died in whatever game he's playing. Moments later, the heteromorph enters the kitchen, a sour look on his face.

“How many times have you died?” Tenko asks, just to be annoying. Shuichi glares at him without answering, before his attention drifts to the counter.

“That's a lot,” Shuichi echoes Tenko's earlier statement, staring at all of Tenko's new groceries.

“My empty cabinets made him sad,” Tenko mocks, only to get lightly shoved by the taller man he's referring to.

“Ya can't live offa junk food an’ energy drinks. Ain't’ya a hero?” Touya quips. “Ya need a better diet than that.”

“My diet is fine,” Tenko pouts. Touya scoffs.

“I got a cavity jus’ lookin’ at that sugary abomination ya called a coffee durin’ our date.”

“You went on a date?” Shuichi gasps, just as Tenko snaps in embarrassment, “it wasn't a date!”

Tenko clears his throat, embarrassed. “Anyway, my diet really isn't that bad. It's been worse.”

“Like when you just didn't eat at all in high school?” Shuichi mumbles grouchily. Touya doesn't seem to hear him, too busy setting up to make the ramen, but Tenko glares at his friend, anyway.

“How d’y’all like yer ramen?” Touya asks.

“Noodles not too soft. No egg,” Tenko requests.

“You're making enough for me?” Shuichi blurts out, sounding surprised.

Touya looks back over his shoulder at them, confusion plain on his face.

“Yeah? My ma raised me right, nobody's gettin’ left out,” is all he says, turning back to his work.

Shuichi just stands in stunned silence for a few moments, before he quietly requests, “any way is fine. I'll take Tenko's eggs, though.”

“Extra eggs, then?”

“Y-yeah.” Tenko can tell that Shuichi is flustered, unused to such casual treatment. Touya tells them they can wait in the other room and he'll call when it's ready, so Tenko herds Shuichi out of the kitchen.

“Who has a crush now?” He teases, making the heteromorph hiss at him in embarrassment.

“Shut up.”

Chapter Text

He's a little surprised to find out that UA decided to implement dormitories, but he supposes that it ultimately makes sense.

His dad hums as they unpack his dad's stuff in his new dorm apartment. “Aizawa and I had to go to the students’ homes to get permission from their parents. It was actually really easy, for the most part.”

He pauses, then adds, “I see why young Bakugo is the way that he is.”

Tenko snorts, choosing not to comment, and his dad continues.

“The most difficult one was actually young Midoriya's. Though, I guess it's not surprising. I've already put him through so much without even meaning to,” his dad says solemnly, looking down at his hand. “His mother…”

He trails off, so Tenko pipes up.

“She's really sweet. You can tell she worries a lot,” he muses, and his dad looks at him in surprise.

“You know her?”

“I met her while visiting the students in the hospital. We talked for a while,” Tenko admits, then takes a deep breath. “I'm still…I'm still a little sore about the whole thing, but I'll do what I can to support Midoriya as your protege.”

His dad looks…pained, almost, which isn't what Tenko would have expected.

“... What?” He asks tentatively. His dad takes a deep breath.

“When I fought All For One at Kamino, he…said some worrying things,” his dad admits, and Tenko nods.

“He said he knew my…my dad,” he mumbles, wincing when that pain pierces through his skull. “That he was supposed to take me.”

His dad's face gets darkly serious. “He lies, Tenko. But there's probably some truth - he likely was involved with your family, in some way. But-”

“It doesn't matter,” Tenko states, crossing his arms. “You're my family. What he says doesn't matter.”

There's a look of surprise on the older man's face, and he looks like he's about to say something, but they're interrupted by his phone ringing.

A phone call is here! A phone call is here!

Tenko makes a face as his dad goes to retrieve his phone. “That's still your ringtone? I told you it's obnoxious.”

“It gets my attention!” His dad tries to defend himself, before he leaves the room to answer it. Rolling his eyes, Tenko pulls out his own phone, idly checking it while he puts books on the shelf.

Touya (Weirdo): lets go out again. an actual date this time, yeah?

He stares at the message on his screen, received maybe an hour ago. His stomach does a cartwheel. He opens a different message thread.

You: YUU I NEED HELP

Mt Asspain: you're actually asking for help? What a momentous occasion

Tenko's eyes roll back so hard they hurt.

You: I'm surprised you know a word as big as momentous

Mt Asspain: ok asshole. What's up

You: Touya just asked me on a date

Mt Asspain: WHAT

Her face fills his screen. He grunts in annoyance, but answers anyway, shooting a glance at the door his dad disappeared behind.

“Yuu, I'm at my dad's right now,” he hisses quietly, but he's drowned out by her yelling on the other end.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN TODOROKI TOUYA ASKED YOU ON A DATE?”

He winces and says pointedly, “ow.”

“I won't apologize. Give me all the details now,” she demands, and Tenko heaves a massive sigh.

“After we met him at the sports festival, he asked for my number,” he explains, and she makes a noise that he can't help but liken to a tea kettle, or maybe some kind of bird. He glances at the door again.

“Todoroki Touya asked you on a date,” Yuu repeats in disbelief.

“Are you surprised because it's Touya or because I was asked out at all?” Tenko asks flatly, picking at a loose thread on his pants.

“Because it's Todoroki Touya!” she exclaims, and he makes a face.

“Why are you so fixated on that?”

“Because they come from money. They are RICH rich,” she says, and Tenko just blinks. “Anyway, you said yes right? Why do you need my help?”

“Well, I haven't answered him yet,” he says, only for her to shriek in his ear again. “If you keep doing that I'm hanging up and blocking your number,” he snaps.

“Sorry! What do you mean you haven't answered him? Do you not like him? Are you crazy?” She hisses the last part like he wasn't supposed to hear it.

“I-” he starts, but the words get stuck in his throat. “I…”

“Oh,” Yuu suddenly hums in understanding. “It's because of Blue Dragon, isn't it?”

Tenko's inability to respond is all the answer she needs, and she sighs.

“Tenko,” she begins, before cutting herself off and sighing again. “I think you should go for it. Blue Dragon is still a stranger, even if you work with him. Don't deprive yourself because you have a crush on someone you don't really know.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “Thanks, Yuu.”

“Anytime. I get to come dress you for it, right?”

“Goodbye.” He hangs up on her cackling, yelping when he realizes his dad has re-entered the room.

“How long have you been there?” he asks, and his dad at least had the decency to look sheepish.

“A bit,” he admits. “Is that Touya as in Todoroki? Endeavor's eldest?”

Tenko's cheeks pink just slightly. “Yeah.”

His dad just hums, though, and doesn't comment further. He does, however, proceed to embarrass Tenko.

“My boy is going on a date! How exciting!”

“Shut up!” But his dad continues teasing and heckling him, at least until Tenko pulls a particular book from the box he's unpacking and asks,

“Teaching For Dummies?”

“Okay- Listen-”

You: what do you have in mind?

Touya (Weirdo): ever been to an aquarium?

On the day of the date, in a strange clash of Tenko's work and personal life, Yuu and Shuichi are both standing in his bedroom, going through his clothes.

He has to give his friend credit, though, for not running when he realized he wasn't the only one “helping” Tenko. In fact, despite the heteromorph's initial anxiety, he seems to be getting along with Yuu rather well. Which is bad for Tenko, because now there's two of them insulting his wardrobe.

“You wear like the exact same stuff I do,” Tenko gripes, and Shuichi just rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, but I'm not going on dates,” he retorts, and Tenko huffs, crossing his arms.

“This is just…” Yuu starts, then trails off, hands on her hips as she stares into Tenko's closet.

“Just what?” Tenko pushes, glaring at the back of her head.

“You dress like a nine year old boy, Tenko,” she says flatly. Tenko debates throwing something at her stupid, fat head. “The only even remotely fashionable things you own are mostly turtlenecks.”

“What's wrong with turtlenecks?”

“Nothing, except it's August. It's too hot for turtlenecks. Even sleeveless ones,” she quips, before heaving a sigh that Tenko feels is much more dramatic than it needs to be. She turns back to his closet and immediately begins tearing through it with new aggression, flinging clothes everywhere.

“Hey!” He snaps, but she isn't deterred.

“Oh?” She makes a curious noise, pulling out a pair of pants that Tenko hasn't worn since high school. She tosses them at Tenko. “Try these.”

“You're joking, right?” He asks, and she raises an eyebrow. “These are from when I was at UA. I was way skinnier then.”

“Yeah, you were absolutely scrawny. Trust me, though. Try them on.”

He huffs as she turns back to his closet, dismissing him entirely. Shuichi politely turns away as Tenko shimmies out of his sweats and wiggles his way into the pants.

As expected, they don't fit like they did in high school when they were oversized and baggy. Now, they hug his thighs down to his knees, where they flare out and bunch around his ankles. Yuu turns back around and gasps.

“Turn around,” she commands. He raises an eyebrow, but does what she says. “Yes! Those are the ones!”

“What?” He asks, genuinely confused.

“They make your ass look great,” she says plainly. Tenko's face gets hot as he glares at her.

“Be serious!” he scolds.

“I am!” she insists.

“She's right,” Shuichi adds, unhelpfully. Tenko's blush worsens as he glares at his longtime best friend. “What? One of us needs to get laid and it's obviously not gonna be me.”

“Oh my god,” Tenko groans, exasperated. “Both of you get out of my apartment.”

“No,” they both immediately say in eerie unison. Tenko throws his hands in the air, giving up.

“Now for a shirt,” Yuu mumbles to herself, resuming her closet excavation. Tenko internally laments the developing state of his room.

He collapses on the bed next to Shuichi. Moments later, his face is covered in fabric.

“Try that.”

He glares at Yuu after pulling the shirt off of his face, before obeying her anyway. Shuichi politely turns away again. Yuu does not, and continues staring at him expectantly.

He swaps shirts, standing and letting the one she threw at him fall. It's a cutesy pokemon tee that he had bought with the intention of using it for sleeping, but had forgotten about it in his closet. It almost reaches the tops of his thighs and he gives her a confused look.

“What's the point of pants that make my ass look good if you're just gonna put an oversized shirt on me,” he states flatly.

She scoffs, rolling her eyes. “Well, if we tuck it in and add a belt, it'll look great,” she says, taking it upon herself to fix it. Tenko wiggles away from her insistent fingers.

“Don't you have a little pokeball purse that someone got you?” Shuichi asks, observing Tenko being harassed.

“Oh, do you? That'd be cute,” Yuu comments, cinching his waist with a belt. He grunts when she pulls it unnecessarily tight. “What shoes do you have?”

“My converse.”

She's quiet for an entire minute, before staring at him blankly. “Is that all?”

“And one pair of dress shoes.”

“... How do you live like this?” she asks in disbelief. He frowns.

“Why would I need more shoes?”

He's not sure what kind of emotion is on her face. Disappointment, maybe. She doesn't answer his question, just sighs and turns away to find the bag Shuichi mentioned. “I guess your dinky red converse will tie the pokeball bag in.”

“Why do you hate my converse?” He asks, offended.

“I don't, I just hate that's your only pair of shoes. Next chance we get, I'm taking you shopping,” she declares, and he groans.

His phone buzzes on the nightstand. He swears when he reads the message, making Yuu and Shuichi both look at him.

“He's on his way,” he announces.

“He's picking you up? That's so sweet,” Yuu sighs dreamily.

“I thought we were gonna meet there!” He hisses, tugging at his hair nervously.

“Stop that. C'mon, to the bathroom,” Yuu drags him along. She turns and yells back to Shu, “find that bag!”

“Got it!”

Yuu sits him down on the lid to his toilet, before quickly running out of the room and coming back with the bag she arrived with. She starts unpacking a collection of beauty products. She throws a towel around his shoulders and clips it in place.

His brows furrow worriedly. “What are you about to do to me?”

“Chill, I just don't want to ruin your outfit,” she dismisses him, before coming at him with a brush that she brandishes like a weapon.

Despite how she approached him with it, she's surprisingly gentle when she brushes out his hair. The feeling of her fingers through his hair as she applies some kind of product to it nearly puts him to sleep.

“Cute,” she mumbles, and he scrunches his nose in distaste, making her laugh.

She steps back to look at him, and he smiles a little nervously.

“You're not gonna put makeup on me, are you?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Please don't.”

She rolls her eyes but smiles.

“I think you're ready.”

As she says it, his phone buzzes again.

Touya (Weirdo): here

When he looks back up at Yuu as she unclips the towel, he must have some kind of expression on his face because she reels back a bit.

“Don't worry,” she says soothingly. “Just be yourself.”

“That has historically not worked out for me.”

She rolls her eyes hard this time.

“You'll be fine, he liked you enough to ask you out, right?”

“Plus, you've already been on one date,” Shuichi adds, sticking his head in the door.

“WHAT-” Yuu's shriek is cut off by Tenko yelling, “it wasn't a date!”

“It was a date,” Shuichi mutters to Yuu like the traitor he is.

Tenko's phone buzzes again, reminding him that Touya is waiting outside. He suddenly screams through clenched teeth just to get some of the nervous energy out.

“Okay, go, go! Kiss a boy, get laid!” Yuu yells as she shoves him out of the bathroom. Shuichi hands him the pokeball bag as he's forced by the heteromorph.

“I already put your wallet in there,” he says. “Have fun! Practice safe sex!”

“Shut up!” He shrieks, ears burning as he rushes through his apartment. He all but yanks the door open, a little breathless as he looks up at Touya.

“Um. Hi.”

“Hey.”

Chapter Text

Touya looks as fashionable as he has every other time Tenko has seen him, with his surprisingly not-ripped jeans and black muscle shirt. Though Tenko notes, a little amused, that despite his jeans not being ripped the shirt's collar has been cut out. His scarred arms are decorated with assorted bracelets, his fingers covered in rings. A few chain necklaces hang around his neck, and one pair of the hoops in his ears has been replaced by red studs. He grins lazily when he sees Tenko.

“Cute,” the man says simply, and Tenko's cheeks tint pink, but he doesn't rebuff the compliment like he normally would. “Yer skin's healin’ up well.”

“Um, thanks,” he replies awkwardly, clearing his throat. “You look good.”

It comes out stilted, like he's speaking a foreign language he doesn't fully understand. But Touya's eyes just soften ever so slightly.

“C'mon,” Touya leads, a warm hand coming up to hover behind Tenko's shoulder. His nails are painted black, Tenko notices. On the elevator down to the lobby, the other man speaks again. “I wanted to take ya to the observatory, but it's too cloudy.”

Tenko hums. “Maybe next time.”

Touya raises one white eyebrow. “Already thinkin’ ‘bout the next time?”

He blushes, turning his face away to hide behind his hair. “Maybe,” he reluctantly admits. Touya just laughs.

The doors open, and Tenko follows Touya through the lobby and outside. He pauses when Touya opens the door to a sleek, black car.

“You drive?” Tenko asks dumbly.

“Sometimes,” he replies easily. “I ‘borrowed’ my old man's car for tonight.”

“Borrowed,” he repeats flatly, staring in disbelief.

“He'll be okay for a night,” Touya flippantly says like he didn't just admit to basically stealing his dad's car for a date. He gestures a little more insistently for Tenko to get in.

He sits in the plush seat. He doesn't know anything about cars, but he figures something this nice probably costs a lot.

They're RICH rich, Yuu's words echo in his head. Tenko feels a little more out of his element.

As Touya drives, Tenko asks, “so you have a license, but do you not have a car? Since this is Endeavor’s.”

Touya's nose scrunches just the slightest bit at the mention of his father, before his face smooths out like it was never there.

“Nah. Got a bike, though.”

“A bike?”

“Motorcycle.”

“Oh.” He feels a little silly, because what else would he have meant? But Touya, thankfully, doesn't comment.

It feels like they arrive at the aquarium in only moments. When they exit the car, Tenko notices a sign that says “member-only parking” that he ponders curiously. Does he have a membership to the aquarium? Touya guides Tenko into the main building, dodging the regular guest queue for the member’s entrance.

Once they're inside the building, walking down a steadily darkening hallway, Tenko can't contain his curiosity.

“You have an aquarium membership?”

Touya hums. “Yeah. Used to bring Shouto here, ‘fore…” he trails off, clearing his throat harshly. “‘S been a while, though.”

Tenko wonders what was left unsaid, but he decides not to push it and ruin the date before it starts. They walk through a set of propped open double doors, and Tenko is immediately enraptured by the sight of a tank of jellyfish lit up in an array of colors. He thinks he hears Touya huff in amusement, but he can't bring himself to care that he's being laughed at as he stares in awe.

“If ya think that's impressive, wait til ya see the rest,” Touya says, resting a warm hand on Tenko's upper back.

He lets himself be pulled away, not wanting to spend the entire time looking at one tank. Though he's immediately a little intimidated by the sheer scale of the building proper when they enter, as well as the amount of people inside it. He shifts slightly closer to Touya's side.

“Anywhere ya wanna go first?” Touya asks him, and he shakes his head.

“You lead, you know where everything is,” he says, and Touya nods, guiding him towards a big sign displaying sharks.

The hallway they walk into is drastically darker than the main area, with only the lights embedded into the floor and above the informational signs to guide their way. Tenko can see the blue glow of the tank ahead, bathing everything in an ethereal light.

He lets out an awed breath when the tank comes into view, admiring the sleek profiles of the sharks swimming inside it.

“These’re silvertip sharks,” Touya announces, leaning into Tenko's space so he can speak quietly, gesturing with one hand to the animals in the tank. “An’ these’re sand tiger sharks.”

Tenko listens as Touya describes the sharks in detail, showing just how often he visits the place. Eventually, they move on to another section, Tenko watching the different fish in the habitats with mesmerized awe. He coos over the otters, and then the seals, and Touya tells him about every animal they come across. He's particularly taken with the various jellyfish, finding the untouchable creatures to be relatable.

But by far, the most magnificent animal is in the final habitat they visit. A huge tank, the largest in the aquarium, full of a multitude of different species living in harmony. In a moment of unbridled excitement, Tenko rushes to the acrylic when the whale shark inside slowly swims past with its entourage of pilot fish.

He turns to look at Touya, though he's momentarily startled by the man's phone clicking with the shutter sound of the camera. His face flushes red in embarrassment, and the man apologizes immediately.

“Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Ya just looked so happy,” Touya admits softly, and Tenko can't even find it in himself to be upset, because the man's face is so earnest.

“It's fine,” he mumbles, turning away to hide his burning face, tugging on his hair. “Don't make a habit of it, though.”

“Course, ‘course,” Touya says easily, joining Tenko in front of the tank. They admire the animals in silence for a moment, before Touya starts to speak again. “Y'know, the whale shark is the largest fish in th’ ocean, but it's a filter feeder. It has symbiotic relationships with a lotta smaller fish species, too.”

“A gentle giant,” Tenko murmurs, smiling softly. Touya hums, before they lapse into a comfortable silence once more.

The peaceful moment is shattered by unruly kids running amok, one of them bumping into Tenko and making his entire body violently jolt in place. And suddenly, it's like his brain becomes hyper aware of just how noisy it is. Touya snaps at the kid that ran into them, but Tenko isn't paying attention - too busy trying to get his breathing back under control.

A warm hand cups the side of his head, pulling him into Touya's chest so that all he can hear is the man's heartbeat as he's gently guided somewhere quieter.

“Y’alright?” Touya asks softly, crouching down in front of where he's sat Tenko on a bench. The noise of the crowds is more of a dull roar here, less people milling about and even less children screaming.

“Y-yeah. Sorry,” he apologizes automatically, taking deep breaths to steady himself.

“Don't be. Not yer fault some kids’re raised like animals,” Touya says wryly, and Tenko snorts, despite himself.

He notes, a little delayed, that Touya is holding his hands, stroking his thumbs soothingly over Tenko's knuckles. The gesture so achingly reminds him of Blue Dragon that Tenko almost startles and jerks his hands away. He does pull away more slowly and deliberately, rubbing his hands over his face to wipe away his conflicting emotions.

“Y’alright?” Touya asks again, staring up at Tenko.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” he replies, trying to muster up a smile. He's not sure he's successful.

Nonetheless, Touya smiles gently, grasping Tenko's hands again and tugging him to his feet. He says something about hitting the gift shop and leaving, but Tenko's too distracted by the way Touya so easily grabs his hands, even gloved. He doesn't let go as he pulls Tenko along with him.

The gift shop is brightly lit compared to the rest of the aquarium, making sure all the products are easy to see. Tenko mostly just follows Touya around, his left hand still clasped in the other man's right.

“Tenko?”

He blinks, suddenly aware that Touya has been trying to ask him something.

“Ya sure yer good?” Touya asks softly, looking at him in concern.

“Yeah, sorry. Just spaced out,” he says, and Touya huffs some semblance of a laugh through his nose. “What were you saying?”

“I was askin’ if there was anythin’ ya wanted,” he repeats himself, and Tenko blinks again. “I wanna buy somethin’ for ya.”

He immediately protests, waving his free hand. “Oh no, you don't have to do that-”

He's cut off by Touya tugging him closer by their connected hands and leaning to whisper directly to him, “I want to.”

Tenko's face flushes horribly at that deep, raspy voice right in his ear. Judging by Touya's face, that's the exact reaction he wanted.

“Um. I dunno, let me look around,” he mumbles, turning and pulling away. His always-cold fingers immediately miss the warmth of Touya's wrapped around them. Touya leaves him to it, browsing idly through the shirt racks while Tenko peruses the knickknacks and plushies.

He's admittedly drawn to many things, but he doesn't want to waste money (his own or Touya's) on something frivolous. But if he's being truthful, his eyes keep drifting to a massive whale shark plush that costs an obscene amount of money. He's holding a much smaller - and much cheaper - jellyfish plush when Touya rejoins him.

“Made a decision?” Touya asks, leaning over Tenko's shoulder. He tenses momentarily, but relaxes again just as swiftly, looking up at Touya.

“Um, maybe this?” He suggests, and Touya raises a pierced brow skeptically.

“Not the big whale shark?”

“It's too expensive! I can't ask for that,” he protests, but Touya is already walking over to the giant plushies and grabbing one. “Touya, no! That's too much!”

“Pocket change,” is all the man says, carrying it to the checkout. Tenko follows, still trying to convince him not to buy it. When they reach the register, Touya plucks the jellyfish out of his hands and sets it on the counter. “I'll get that, too.”

“No!”

The clerk rings it up, ignoring Tenko's protests and smiling cheekily at Touya's antics. The chipper “have a good night” just grates Tenko further. (He still returns the sentiment - he was raised right.)

The taller man hands the jellyfish back to Tenko, hoisting the whale shark over his shoulder and walking away without another word.

“I can't believe you,” Tenko gripes, even though he can't help but be secretly pleased. He doesn't get spoiled quite like this often. It feels…nice. He's still going to complain, though.

“After everythin’ that's happened, I thought ya deserved a little spoiling,” Touya says earnestly when they reach the car. Tenko stops short, unable to find a response for that. The other man pulls his phone from his pocket, his expression instantly becoming annoyed.

“What's wrong?” Tenko probes hesitantly.

“Nothin’ important,” Touya answers, shoving his phone back in his pocket and unlocking the car doors. “Old man's just mad I took his car. He'll get over it.”

“‘Nothing important,’ he says,” Tenko mutters, watching Touya load the giant shark plush in the back of the car before opening the door for Tenko.

“Didja have fun?” Touya asks as he gets into the driver's seat.

“Yeah,” Tenko replies honestly, smiling. “Thank you.”

“Ya gonna let me have a next time?” He echoes their conversation from the start of the date, and Tenko turns to look out the window, cheeks pinking.

“... Yeah. You can have a next time,” he answers shyly. When he glances over, Touya is smiling, though he doesn't say anything.

When they get back to Tenko's building, Touya walks him to his apartment door, carrying the whale shark plush for him. After Tenko unlocks the door, he turns to face Touya, only to be startled by how close he is, looming over him.

“Um,” Tenko mutters nervously, and Touya huffs a laugh through his nose, before leaning in to kiss Tenko's cheek.

“Have a good night,” the taller man says quietly, leaving the whale shark in Tenko's arms and making his way back to the elevator.

“... You, too,” Tenko replies, a little delayed, his face probably resembling a tomato. He just stands outside his door for a few more minutes, before finally going inside. He leans his back against the door and sighs.

“DID YOU KISS HIM?” Yuu and Shuichi's voices suddenly shout in tandem, and Tenko shrieks.

Chapter Text

“What the hell are you two still doing here?” Tenko asks once his soul has come back down to earth, glaring at his friends.

“We wanted to make sure you got back safe,” Shuichi says, though the kind intention is ruined by Yuu blurting, “we wanted to know if you got some.”

Shuichi gives Yuu a flat look, but notably doesn't correct her.

“Well, even if the date had gone that way, we wouldn't have been able to do much with you both still in my apartment,” he hisses, face red with embarrassment. He picks the whale shark and jellyfish back up, and Yuu gasps.

“Did he buy you those?” She asks, unreasonably excited.

“Yeah,” he answers, and she coos. He glares at her again.

“So how'd it go? Tell us, tell us!” She insists, grabbing onto his sleeve and tugging insistently.

“It was an aquarium,” he replies, deliberately bland as he brushes by them to go to his bedroom. “There were fish.”

Yuu rolls her eyes so hard Tenko worries they'll get stuck.

“It was really cool,” he admits, dropping the plushies on his bed. The whale shark takes up almost the entire space. “He has a membership, so he knows a lot about all the habitats already.”

“A membership? He doesn't seem the type,” Shuichi comments, sitting in Tenko's desk chair.

“He said he originally wanted to go to the observatory instead,” Tenko says, trying to organize the plushies on his bed in a way that will still leave him space to sleep. He's not very successful. “Where the hell am I going to put this thing?”

“Are you gonna go out with him again?” Yuu asks, sitting on his nightstand that really doesn't have space for her big butt on it.

Tenko gives up on arranging the whale shark, instead just sitting cross legged and hugging it to his chest. The tail hangs off his bed onto the floor.

“... Yeah,” he confesses after a pause, cheeks pinking. “I will.”

Yuu squeals, and Tenko glares at her. He looks over at Shuichi, who hasn't said anything.

“Shu?”

The heteromorph just sighs, smiling. “I'm just happy for you, man.”

“Oh.” His face begins to burn, so he hides it in the grey fabric of the plush. He's startled by Yuu suddenly hugging and squeezing him. “What're you doing?”

“I'm happy for you, too,” she says, mercifully letting go of him after a moment. The three of them sit in silence for a brief period, before she announces, “let’s have a sleepover!”

“What?”

“Yeah! I've never had one!” she explains, pink eyes bright.

“Really?” Shuichi blurts, audibly surprised. “You haven't?”

Yuu's expression gets a little sad as she looks away. “... Yeah, I was ‘popular’ but I didn't really have any friends in school. Except Tenko.”

“I was your only friend?” Tenko asks, genuinely surprised by the reveal. Yuu just shrugs and nods, lips pursed.

He and Shuichi exchange a glance, before Shuichi says, “then let's have a sleepover.”

Yuu brightens up immediately, punching the air in excitement. Tenko rolls his eyes fondly, getting up to follow her into the main room.

Shuichi sets himself to moving the furniture around so they can make a bed on the floor, so Tenko starts gathering all his pillows and blankets.

Once they're all settled in the middle of the floor, with Yuu against his back while he hugs the big shark plush, and Shuichi curled tightly in a ball on the other side of it, Tenko feels happiest he has in a while.

He hopes it lasts.

“You'll need to use someone else's blood besides Bakugo's eventually. You can't rely on him forever,” he tells Himiko as they circle each other. Her face scrunches up in annoyance, but she only sighs.

“You're right,” she admits, annoyed, before lunging at him.

It's too easy to counter her and toss her to the floor of the gym. Tenko almost feels bad, but the whole reason he's here is to help her improve.

“For all you keep your emotions on lockdown, you're really easy to read in combat,” he comments, and Himiko growls. “You can't think too much, you have to be ready to move in an instant, and be able to change your actions on the spot.”

If only I could take my own advice, he thinks drily, remembering his own stupid mistakes that he's made.

Himiko sits up, but remains on the floor. Her back is towards him, so he has no idea what expression she's making.

“And you know - you should train with your classmates. You'll have to work together with them in the Provisional License Exam, anyway. And it would just be good for you,” he states as he approaches where she's still sitting on the floor. She's still silent, but when he stops behind her she swings back and manages to sweep his legs out from under him. He hits the floor hard, his brain feeling a little rattled. He groans.

“Dirty trick,” he grumbles. Himiko giggles from where she's perched herself on his stomach.

“I win!” She cheers, her mouth open in a huge grin that shows off her fangs. Tenko's just relieved that she's smiling again.

“Brat. Get off of me.” He sits up, making her tumble to the floor with a squawk. “Let's take a break.”

Himiko goes to their bags and brings back her water bottle and Tenko's Pocari, and they sit together on the floor as they catch their breath.

“Why won't you get involved with your classmates?” Tenko asks suddenly. He hardly has any room to judge, given his own history of being the loner in school, but Himiko seems too social for that.

“How do you know I won't?” She gripes, pouting as she takes a drink from her bottle.

“Well, that alone just confirmed it. Also Aizawa's concerned,” he tells her, and her brows furrow.

“You talk to Aizawa that much?” She mumbles, drawing her legs up and hugging her knees.

“Before the dorms I had dinner with his family like once a week,” he explains. “But regardless, he knows you like me - for some reason - so he tells me his worries in the hopes I can, like, help you. Or something.”

“Uh huh,” she snorts, rolling her eyes. “I dunno. What if they think I'm weird?”

Her voice is small, barely audible where she's pressed her face into her knees. And Tenko understands where she's coming from, and her fears, but…

“The entire class is weird. I think you're fine.”

She snorts again, but says nothing, so he continues, “I'm serious.You don't have to just throw yourself in there. Start small. If someone invites you to do something, say yes. Do they do any class bonding activities?”

“They have a weekly movie night,” she mumbles.

“Join them on movie night. Just little things, until you get comfortable enough to be more actively involved.”

She hums, but doesn't actively respond as she takes one last drink from her water bottle and stands. “Let's train more. I need to be at my best if I'm gonna pass.”

Tenko groans, but hauls himself to his feet. “Okay.”

He should not be here. He really, really hopes the confidentiality applies to no one telling his dad that he's here.

Tartarus is, in a word, uncomfortable. Tenko has to wonder whose decision it was to make the prison something out of a horror game. The inside looks more like a hospital than a prison, all sterile white walls and smelling vaguely of bleach.

The guards flanking him don't speak, except for when they tell him the visitation rules that essentially boil down to: don't speak of the visit to the public.

He takes a deep breath when the door opens and he's faced with the man that ended his father's career.

“Tenko,” All For One greets, voice deceptively gentle. “You came to visit.”

“I just want answers,” he tells the villain, sitting in the chair facing the glass.

“Ask away,” the man invites easily, and it instantly puts Tenko on edge, shuffling nervously in his seat. He finds he suddenly can't form the words, voice caught in his throat. “Hm? What's wrong, Tenko? I thought you wanted answers?”

He takes Tenko's unwilling silence as an invitation to continue speaking. “It's very constricted here, you know. If I had an itch, and moved even slightly, the security turrets would lock onto me, and all the guards would be alerted. It's not a very humane environment.”

And Tenko almost feels bad for the man, but he remembers the bodies in the rubble at Kamino, the monsters in the vats, Ragdoll, his father - all of it entirely the doing of the man across from him.

“It's the least of what you deserve,” he mutters darkly, and All for One just chuckles like Tenko told a silly joke.

“I knew you still had that darkness in you,” the man comments cryptically, and Tenko glares at him.

“What the hell are you talking about,” he hisses through clenched teeth.

“Oh? You don't remember?” All For One hums, but doesn't elaborate further, a grin stretched across his last remaining facial feature. “Well, it's no matter. You'll remember in time.”

Tenko's head begins to throb, the stabbing pain of forgotten memories piercing his skull. He grits his teeth, refusing to back down. I still need answers-

“Time’s up,” the guard announces, making Tenko jump.

“Wha-” his surprise is swept away as he's bustled out of the room, feeling All For One’s strange, eyeless stare following him out.

“This visit will stay our little secret. See you again soon, Tenko.”

His head whips around to look over his shoulder, but they've already wheeled the man away.

Needless to say, he's beyond frustrated. All For One managed to talk just enough to run out the time for the visit so Tenko didn't even get to ask any of his questions.

He angrily kicks an empty can across the street, before doubling back to pick it up and dispose of it properly. Because he's not a scumbag.

“Duster,” that familiar call sounds behind him, and he turns to face Dragon as he approaches. “How're ya holdin’ up?”

He just shrugs, because really, how is he supposed to answer that?

They patrol in silence for several minutes, before Dragon pipes up again, “there's somethin’ on yer mind.”

It's not a question. And it's not really something Tenko can talk about. He sighs, but before he can say as much, Dragon continues.

“Is it your dad?” He asks quietly, and Tenko glances at him in his periphery.

“Among other things,” he replies vaguely. Dragon only hums, before suddenly scooping Tenko into his arms. “What are you-”

He's cut off, embarrassingly, by his own shriek as Dragon launches himself into the air with his fire. He lands somewhat clumsily on the roof, nearly fumbling Tenko out of his hold. Tenko punches him once he's set back on his feet.

“Ow! Wassat for?” Dragon yelps, offended.

“For whatever the hell that was!”

“Figured ya'd need some privacy to tell me about what's buggin’ ya.”

Tenko groans in exasperation. “I can't really talk about it at all!”

He moves to grapple his way back to the street when Dragon suddenly grabs a hold of him again, but this time just trapping his arms by his sides and holding him in place against his chest.

“Let me go, Dragon.”

“Not til ya tell me,” the vigilante sing-songs annoyingly. Tenko grunts as he thrashes around like a fish. Dragon's grip is surprisingly firm as he denies Tenko. “Nope! Tell me.”

“Fine!” Tenko finally relents after several more minutes of struggling. Dragon doesn't loosen his grip, however, until Tenko starts talking. “It's…that villain. The one at Kamino.”

“What about ‘im?”

“He…knew me. Said he knew my father - not my Dad, but my birth father,” he mumbles, head hanging as that throbbing pain starts up again. Dragon's grip lets up, but he doesn't really let go, still wrapping Tenko up. Tenko, instead of pulling away, presses back into Dragon, seeking comfort without even realizing. He takes a deep breath, before confessing, “I went to see him in Tartarus.”

“You what?” Dragon's voice is, understandably, incredulous. He slowly lowers the both of them until they're sitting on the roof, Tenko between Dragon's knees. His arms are still around Tenko's torso, a soothing warmth.

“I know I shouldn't have,” he admits, staring at Dragon's arms across his chest. “But I wanted answers…not that I got any. I just ended up with more questions.”

“He said I ‘still had that darkness in me,’ and I don't know what he means. It's something I forgot, but what?” Tenko confesses, blinking hard as he feels tears of stress building up. “What am I not remembering?”

He's whispering by the end, curling into himself and clutching at Dragon's arms with careful fingers. Dragon seems to be at a loss for words, silently squeezing him closer, one of his hands coming up to tangle in Tenko's curls.

“I dunno what to say, hon,” Dragon eventually whispers, sounding remorseful.

“I’m scared,” Tenko confesses quietly, sniffling, staring ahead but not seeing. “I don't know…I don't know what to do. Everything changed so suddenly, that I don't know how to prepare anymore. I don't know what to expect of the future. I feel like I've been reset to level one and I don't know how to get back to where I was.”

Dragon doesn't speak for a minute, before he curls himself around Tenko further, masked face pressing against the side of Tenko's head. His arms squeeze even tighter somehow, the hand that was in Tenko's hair falling back down to cross in front of his shoulders.

“I dunno either, doll. But I'll be with ya, ‘kay? You have me,” the vigilante whispers, and Tenko sniffles again, feeling a lump forming in his throat.

I love you, Tenko's heart says traitorously. He doesn't speak - can't for the emotions constricting his throat - but he grips Dragon's arms even tighter still.

Chapter Text

Tenko broods over what happened on that patrol for a minimum of two days afterwards.

How humiliating, he thinks bitterly, laying on top of that stupid, giant whale shark. And because the breakdown itself wasn't enough, he had ended up crying himself to sleep in Dragon's arms. He's never going to be able to face the vigilante again.

I love you, his thought from that night bounces around in his head, tormenting him.

“You can't be in love with someone you barely know,” he states into the empty room, then sighs. He wishes his heart would listen to his brain.

Angrily, he sits up and throws the whale shark into the floor. And then picks it back up and puts it back where it was, before reaching for his phone to call Shuichi and make him play a game so Tenko will stop thinking about everything.

“So how was the licensing exam?” Tenko asks conversationally, sitting across from Himiko at MOS Burger.

“I passed,” she says simply, before snickering. “Katsuki didn't. He was pissed.”

“Oh my god,” Tenko snorts, unable to hide his amusement. “I bet.”

“Shouto also failed,” she adds thoughtfully, and Tenko blinks.

“Todoroki?” He wonders, genuinely a little dumbfounded by the information. Isn't he supposed to be a prodigy or something? Himiko nods, popping a fry in her mouth.

“A guy from Shiketsu kept picking a fight with Shouto. Even Izuku got pissed at them,” she explains. “Everyone else passed, I think.”

Tenko hums, sipping on his soda.

“How are you doing with the class?” Tenko asks, propping his chin on his hand. “Are you making nice?”

Himiko nods, though it's a little hesitant. “I'm trying. They really are a lot nicer than I expected. Most of them are kinda overbearing, though.”

After a moment, she adds, “Shouto in particular is trying to make friends, I think. I guess cuz I'm so close with Katsuki and Izuku, and he considers them his friends. But he's kinda awkward about it.”

“He probably doesn't know how,” Tenko comments quietly, thinking of what little he knows about the Todoroki family, and how Touya's expression became shuttered when he mentioned Shouto during their date. Himiko hums in agreement, nodding.

“Gimme your fries,” Himiko suddenly demands, reaching across the table. He slaps her wandering hand away, making her yelp dramatically.

“No!”

Only a day or so later, it's midnight when there's a sudden knock on Tenko's door, startling him out of his gaming trance. He pauses his game and listens a little closer.

Well, knock isn't quite correct. It sounds more like someone is trying to break his door down. Anxiety prickles along his spine as he approaches his door, but it's replaced with confusion as he looks through the peephole and sees messy, straw blonde hair. He opens the door.

“Himiko? What- OOF!” He's cut off by the girl slamming into him, nearly toppling him over. After a moment, he can feel the way her entire body trembles, and her tears soaking into his shirt. “Himiko?”

“He's so stupid, I hate him,” she mumbles into his chest. He shuts his door.

“Um, who? And does Aizawa know you're here? And actually, how did you find out where I live?”

“Katsuki. No, Aizawa doesn't know,” she answers into his shirt.

She didn't answer the last question, he thinks flatly.

“What did he do?” He asks, herding her to his couch and grabbing his phone to shoot Aizawa a message.

You: hey just so you know Himiko showed up at my door

Aizawa: goddammit. Thanks

He suppresses the urge to roll his eyes at the lackluster response, instead focusing on taking care of Himiko. He moves to walk away, but she clings to his shirt like a lifeline.

“I'm just going to get you some water, okay?” He tries to placate, and she sniffles before letting him go, curling around one of his cushions. He hurries to the kitchen and back, setting the glass on the table and sitting next to her on the couch. “So what did he do?”

“He and Izuku got in a big fight. Which isn't what I'm really mad about, but…” she hiccups, roughly scrubbing at her face with her sleeve. “It's that Katsuki has been bullying Izuku for years and I didn't know about it.”

Her head shoots up from the cushion, her expression manic. “And I feel awful and stupid because I should have! When I would see them when we were little they were inseparable! And then I come to live with the Bakugos and Katsuki won't even mention Izuku! I knew something was up, but I didn't wanna upset Katsuki and make him make his mom get rid of me!”

Tenko is shocked into silence for a moment, before he wordlessly opens his arms for Himiko to collapse into, and says, “do you really think they would have done that?”

A beat of silence, and then a sniffle. “No.”

“I just…when I first started living with them, I felt so out of place, even though they tried really hard to make me feel at home. So I didn't want to bring it up and make everything even more weird,” she explains. “But then I was a terrible friend to Izuku, because I didn't do anything.”

“You didn't even know about it,” Tenko tries to soothe her, hesitantly running a gloved hand through her hair. “How could you have done anything?”

“I feel like I should have,” she sobs quietly, and Tenko sighs.

“There's no point in dwelling on it,” he tells her, maybe somewhat hypocritically, considering his own penchant for dwelling on things. “Has Izuku ever seemed like he was mad at you about it?”

Another sniffle, a few seconds of silence, and then, “no. He's never treated me any differently.”

“And he probably doesn't blame you at all,” he says. “But if it's going to keep eating at you, talk to him about it.”

Now I'm really being a hypocrite, Tenko thinks.

“Okay,” she agrees. Then she asks, “can I stay with you tonight?”

Tenko grimaces. “You should probably go back,” he tells her, but it's hesitant. “But it is pretty late,” he admits. “I guess you can stay.”

“Yay,” she whispers quietly, and Tenko huffs through his nose, amused.

“I'll get some blankets for you,” he says, taking a moment to save and quit his game before he stands up.

“I can't sleep with you?” She asks, innocent and unaware of how weird Tenko feels having a teenage girl in his apartment so late at night, regardless of the circumstances. Tenko stifles a groan, but sighs.

“Yeah, okay,” he acquiesces, because he really can't bring himself to say no to her, and she follows him to his room.

So Tenko ends up going to bed earlier than he intended, with Himiko clinging to him like an octopus for the rest of the night.

He personally escorts her back to UA campus first thing in the morning. She complains the entire way, tired and grumpy.

Aizawa greets them at the door to the dorms.

“Thanks,” is all he says, voice flat as ever.

“Am I in trouble?” Himiko asks timidly, and her teacher sighs.

“You should be,” he answers honestly, but then he sighs. “But I'll let it slide, this time. Now get back inside.”

Himiko darts past him immediately, disappearing into the building.

Aizawa looks tiredly at Tenko. “Thanks for keeping her. And bringing her back.”

“Of course,” Tenko replies. “I don't know how she found out where I live, though.”

Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose. “I'm not going to worry about it right now. I have problem children one and two on house arrest that I need to focus on.”

“She told me they fought. What was it about?”

“Your dad.”

“Oh.”

“If I could put him on house arrest, I would,” Aizawa states flatly. Tenko feels like laughing wouldn't be very appropriate right now. The dark haired man continues, “I don't know the details. You'll have to ask your dad.”

Tenko nods, looking at the tired lines on his former mentor's face, the scar under his eye, the beginnings of stubble just starting to regrow along his jaw. He suddenly feels inexplicably emotional, and before he can stop himself, he's wrapped his arms around Aizawa's torso.

“Kid?” The man questions quietly, a little stiff but ultimately resting a hand on Tenko's head.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, his voice choked with emotion as he pulls away again. “Don't know what that was.”

Dark eyes stare at him for a few moments, contemplating. “Okay,” Aizawa finally breathes. “Be safe going home, kid.”

He figures a visit to his dad is in order, so instead of going home he goes to the teachers’ dorms.

“Tenko? What are you doing here?” His dad asks in surprise when he opens the door.

“I had to bring Himiko back after she showed up at my apartment last night. She told me Bakugo and Midoriya fought. Aizawa said it was about you,” he explains, flopping onto his dad's couch.

“Oh.” He looks almost uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his neck as he joins Tenko on the couch. “Yes. Young Bakugo blamed himself for me losing my power.”

“Ah,” Tenko hums. “That's not his fault.”

“No,” his dad agrees. “But he feels as though if he hadn't been kidnapped, I wouldn't have lost the last dregs of One For All.”

“That's…you would have lost it eventually, anyway, right?”

“Yes, it was only a matter of time. But I suppose he feels like he sped up the process, perhaps.”

“Bakugo and Himiko are a lot more alike than I would have thought,” Tenko muses thoughtfully. When his dad looks at him curiously, he explains, “she was beating herself up last night over not knowing Bakugo was bullying Midoriya.”

Toshinori chuckles, though it's a little sad. “I'm not sure even young Midoriya thinks about the bullying much. He still refers to Bakugo as his childhood friend and calls him ‘Kacchan.’”

“Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I told her that he probably doesn't hold it against her at all, but you know how kids are,” Tenko says, like he doesn't also blame himself for things he had no control over. He's such a hypocrite.

He catches up with his dad for another hour or so, before he gets a message from Touya asking him out again. He nearly throws the damn thing across the room in a sudden fit of nerves.

“What's wrong?” His dad asks when he sees the strange look on Tenko's face.

“Todoroki’s asking me out again,” he mumbles, embarrassed.

“Oh? Will you say yes?” His dad pesters him, looking far too excited.

“Maybe,” he grumbles, hiding his face in his arms. “It's just dinner, don't look so eager.”

“I'm just happy for you,” his dad says brightly, and Tenko groans.

You: sure. What time?

Tenko appreciates Touya not taking him anywhere super fancy - he doesn't know if his nerves would have handled it.

“Hey,” he greets the taller man as they meet in front of the restaurant.

“Hey,” Touya returns, looking Tenko up and down. He resists the urge to squirm. “Ya look good.”

“Um, thanks. You, too,” he responds awkwardly, tugging at his turtleneck. He tilts his head at the other man's clothing. “Do you wear those even in autumn?”

Like the last time, Touya is wearing a muscle shirt, his scarred arms on display. His jeans are ripped, too, this time.

“I run hot,” he replies easily, then gestures for the door. “Shall we?”

They head inside, Touya leading Tenko to a semi-private booth in the back corner of the restaurant.

“So, how've ya been?” The other man asks conversationally as they look over the menus.

Tenko half shrugs. “Okay, I guess. Busy.”

I broke down crying during patrol on a vigilante’s shoulder, so you know. I've been better, he thinks sardonically.

“A hero's work is never done,” Touya quips. After a moment, though, he says, “ya know ya got a lil’ fan base, now?”

Tenko's brain screeches to a halt. He looks up at the other man, thoroughly confused. “Huh?”

“Yeah, they call themselves ‘dustbunnies.’ It's cute,” Touya elaborates, though Tenko requires way more context.

“Since when do I have fans?” Tenko asks, probably looking bewildered, the menu forgotten in his hands.

“Since Kamino, I think,” Touya answers.

“How…”

“The news cameras,” Touya states, like it's obvious. “People saw ya on the news.”

Tenko guesses that it makes sense, but he didn't think he was really in focus of any of the cameras during that time. But then something else Touya said starts poking at his brain.

“They call themselves dustbunnies?”

“Yeah, cuz yer Duster.”

“But. Bunnies?”

“Can't answer that one, hon.” 

Tenko's silent for a moment, before he asks, mildly dismayed,

“... Do I look like a rabbit?”

Touya laughs at him.

Chapter Text

Tenko's lunch with his uncle is cut short by the arrival of the bane of Tenko's existence.

Which is to say, Toogata Mirio has brought Midoriya Izuku into the sanctity of Tenko's workplace.

When the blonde student opens the door and Tenko sees who's with him, he can't stop himself from blurting, “are you fucking kidding me.”

When the other three stare at him and he realizes what he said, he shoves a bunch of noodles in his mouth to shut himself up.

“Wait, you guys are having ramen without me?” Mirio whines, and Nighteye scoffs.

“You'll get Duster’s leftovers, anyway,” his uncle says drily, and Tenko wants to be offended at the assumption he won't finish his food. (Even if he's not wrong.)

“But I'm a growing boy! I need nutrients!” The blonde wails dramatically.

Tenko rolls his eyes and just holds his ramen bowl out to the boy. “Here.”

While Mirio cheers, Midoriya looks concerned. “Are you sure? As a hero, surely you should eat more-”

He cuts himself off when Tenko gives him a vastly unamused stare. Tenko sneers, “I know how much I should eat. I also know how much I can eat.”

“Alright,” Nighteye sighs, drawing everyone's attention to him. He begins to clean up from their lunch. “Excuse us. I'd like to speak with Midoriya alone.”

Tenko wastes no time in making his exit, Mirio following behind with the leftovers of Tenko's ramen.

As they wait out in the hallway, Tenko speaks up.

“If I didn't know you better I'd think you were intentionally trying to sabotage the kid,” Tenko states, standing next to Mirio with his arms crossed.

The blonde looks at him, confusion written on his naive face.

“Why would you think that?”

He gives the blonde a skeptical look. “Because you know Nighteye almost as well as I do. He's gonna tear that kid apart.”

“Aw, I think he has a chance!”

Mirio’s cheerful statement is followed by a loud crash from inside the office.

“Uh huh,” Tenko replies flatly as Mirio winces.

“Your dad was the one who asked me to introduce them. And I thought Sir would like him,” Mirio admits, and Tenko bites back a groan.

Gee, thanks, Dad.

“Should we check on them?” Mirio asks quietly after another particularly loud crash.

“Yeah, probably,” Tenko sighs.

“Excuse us! All finished? We heard a big crash just now!” Mirio cheerfully exclaims as he slams the door open.

“I accept him, Mirio,” Mirai states blandly, looking about as tired and serious as always.

Tenko can't quite contain his groan. The three others all talk amongst themselves, so Tenko decides to start his patrol early.

“Duster?” his uncle calls as he's leaving.

“I'm going to patrol,” he says simply. And then, less enthusiastic than he should at least pretend to be, “congratulations, Midoriya.”

Tenko doesn't typically help with the reconnaissance part of his uncle's agency, but he's joined Nighteye and Bubble Girl for a change of pace. (Rather, he's avoiding Dragon as much as possible, because he's still embarrassed. So he's moved to day shifts for a bit.)

Bubble Girl’s phone suddenly rings, though she looks nervous shortly after she answers it. “I-it’s Million. They ran into Chisaki.”

When they meet with the two students to discuss what happened, Midoriya looks uncharacteristically crestfallen.

Lemillion and Sir Nighteye exchange apologies as the pro hero explains just what makes Chisaki dangerous.

As the pros turn to leave, Lemillion pipes up again. “There's a silver lining! We have new intel to report!”

“Chisaki has a daughter!”

Nighteye stops, looking over his shoulder. “A daughter?”

“Her name is Eri,” Midoriya says, looking pensive. “Her arms and legs were covered in bandages. She was really scared.”

“I wish I could have done something to protect her.”

“Don't be naive,” Nighteye snaps, obviously shocking Midoriya, who begins to protest. “Haste makes waste. If you go after him haphazardly, he'll get away. We're currently working to team up with other agencies for this case.”

Midoriya's face wears a plainly troubled expression, and Tenko does feel for him. He understands the desire to act immediately, but it's best he learns sooner rather than later that sometimes being a hero requires patience.

“The cleverest villains lurk in the shadows,” Nighteye says grimly. Tenko can't help but think about All For One. “There will be times when every precaution must be taken.”

With that, he dismisses the two students back to the agency, gesturing for Bubble Girl and Tenko to rejoin him.

Tossing one last glance back at the two students, Tenko tugs his hood further down over his face and follows his uncle.

The group of students from Class A enter the room with the big three wearing expressions of shock and surprise. Himiko's face is blank until she spots Tenko, at which point she brightens up and waves. He returns it with a little wave of his own.

“So many of us! What's this about?” Midoriya mutters, standing stiffly.

Nejire throws herself at Ryukyu, who dutifully catches her, unphased. “Hey, hey! You said we're having a meeting, but what about?”

“You'll find out soon enough,” the dragon-shifting hero says calmly, bemused by her intern. “Shall we begin, Nighteye?”

“Thanks to the intel provided by everyone here, we've made great strides in this investigation,” Nighteye begins, drawing everyone's attention to him. “The organization known as the Shie Hassaikai is plotting something. I've called you all to this meeting to discuss exactly what we know.”

The students crowd around their teacher or mentors, all whispering questions. Himiko walks to where Tenko is sitting, instead.

“Let's go over everything step-by-step,” Nighteye says, and the gathered heroes and students take their seats. Bubble Girl takes over.

“For the past two weeks, we at the Nighteye Agency have, uh, been conducting an independent investigation of the villain group known as the Shie Hassaikai.”

“What started all this?” One of the heroes, though Tenko can't place who he is, asks.

“An accident involving a band of thieves called The Reservoir Dogs,” Bubble Girl answers. Some of the heroes mutter to themselves about the incident. “The police wrote it off as an accident, but there were some inconsistencies that prompted our investigation.”

Centipeder pipes up then, “under Nighteye's orders, I've been following some of the leads.”

“The organization has been making extensive contact with outsiders and underworld dealers throughout the past year. Their goals seem to be expansion and accumulation of funds. Shortly after we began investigating…they made contact with a member of the villain organization that was behind the attacks on UA. They were wary of being tailed, so we weren't able to pursue them at the time, but we were given anonymous intel by some whistleblowers after a conflict. As far as we have been able to investigate, the information we were given is accurate.”

“Involving them, huh?” Gran Torino grumbles. “So that's why you reached out to me and Tsukauchi.”

That one hero (whose name Tenko really just can't remember) asks about the detective's whereabouts, and then Torino addresses Midoriya, who assures him he has no problem being here.

Bubble Girl and Centipeder go over their notes while the upperclassmen explain the Hero Network to the younger students present.

“UA students or not, what are these kids even doing here?” Rock Lock asks, not unfairly, though he seems annoyed. “The sun's gonna set before we even get to talking about the bad guys’ plan if we have to keep stopping to explain basic stuff.”

“Baloney! These two are super important participants!” Fat Gum exclaims, suddenly standing and sending the comparatively tiny chair he was sitting in flying. His two interns express some skepticism, but Fat Gum just keeps going. “Also, I'm seeing plenty of unfamiliar faces! I'm Fat Gum, nice to meetcha! Have some candy!”

Tenko and Himiko both snag a piece of candy that lands on the table near them, Tenko turning his attention back to the presentation when Nighteye begins to speak again.

“Hassaikai was once suspected of dealing in illegal substances, which is why I've called in a hero familiar with such things.”

“Back in the day, I squashed loads of dealers like that!” Fat says, then crushes some of the candy in his palm for emphasis. “The other day, during Red Riot’s debut battle, the perp shot Tamaki up with a type of drug I've never seen. A drug that destroys quirks.”

Tenko blinks in surprise at this new information that he wasn't privy to. A quirk destroying drug?

“You gonna be okay, Tamaki?” Mirio asks, standing from his seat.

“Yeah, I'm back to normal after a good night's rest…here, look at this fabulous cow hoof.”

“You ate beef for breakfast!?”

“So he recovered? Good thing it's not fatal,” Rock Lock sighs in relief.

“No. On that point, I turn to Eraserhead,” Nighteye gestures for the underground hero to speak.

“It's different from my Erasure,” Tenko's former mentor states. “I don't actually attack a person's quirk itself.”

He explains the specifics of how his quirk works, before Fat Gum speaks up again.

“We got Tamaki checked at the hospital right away, and they said his quirk factors were damaged. Luckily, his body's natural healing was able to fix it.”

“Did they analyze what he got shot with?” Nighteye interjects.

“It didn't do anything else to Tamaki’s body, only attacked his quirk! The gangster wouldn't spill, and the gun was destroyed. We initially thought all we had was the one empty round, however…one bounced right off of Kirishima's body, so we managed to get a vial that was still intact!”

“Me? Seriously?” The red haired kid exclaims in surprise, his classmates commending him.

“Analysis of the substance revealed something pretty disgusting,” Fat Gum continues, his face unusually serious. “They found human cells and blood.”

Everyone in the room reacts with varying levels of shock and disgust, Tenko included. He chances a glance at the two Nighteye interns, who look particularly perturbed.

“So the effect comes from a person's quirk?” Ryukyu asks. “A quirk destroying quirk…”

“I was already kinda lost, but how does any of this connect to Hassaikai?” One of the heroes interjects.

“Drug networks are tricky to figure out,” Fat Gum states. “It's not as big as the old days, but these drugs still pass through multiple levels of groups down the supply chain.”

“There's no proof that Hassaikai is the supplier in question, but they definitely did business with one of those middlemen.”

“That's all you've got?” the hero shouts, agitated.

“The other day, Ryukyu and her people stopped a feud between two villain groups,” Nighteye begins, cutting off the brewing argument. “The boss of one of those groups is the middleman in this situation.”

“One of the giant villains shot himself up with a booster to extend the short activation time of his quirk,” Ryukyu explains.

The gathered heroes begin expressing their doubts of the intel.

Do you think Nighteye does anything by halves? Tenko thinks bitterly, crossing his arms in annoyance. Himiko copies him, just to be a brat. He gives her an unamused look.

“The young leader of the Hassaikai is Chisaki Kai. His quirk…is Overhaul,” Nighteye continues, undaunted by the skeptics around the table. “The ability to both dismantle and restore.”

“Dismantle…a quirk that can destroy and then heal. And then we have bullets that destroy quirks.”

Tenko glances at Mirio and Midoriya, who are both sitting rigidly in their seats, sweating and looking ill.

“Chisaki has a daughter – though with no birth record, the details are unclear.” Nighteye gestures to the two interns. “When these two encountered her, she was covered in excessive bandages.”

“No,” Ryukyu mutters in horror. “It's too repulsive to imagine.”

“Anything you can imagine, someone out there can make it happen,” Gran Torino says grimly.

“What? What're we imagining?” The red haired kid asks, looking nervous.

“Toldja we didn't need kids here,” Rock Lock sighs. He's not wrong, but even Tenko is having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea.

“He's turning his own daughter's body into these bullets and selling them on the black market?” someone shouts, horrified.

“It's uncertain whether or not he's selling them yet, given the drug's current effects are somewhat underwhelming,” Nighteye continues, explaining his suspicions. “But what if this is only the testing phase? What if the final version of these bullets is capable of destroying a person's quirk permanently?”

Fat Gum shouts something about storming them immediately, and Rock Lock expresses disdain that they didn't rescue the girl right away.

“I take responsibility for that, please don't blame them,” Nighteye says. “They didn't know the extent of the circumstances, and they did take measures to try and save her. I'm sure the ones hurting most of all out of us are these two.”

The two boys in question shoot to their feet, both shouting, “the next time, for sure, we'll save her!”

Nighteye looks at them, tired but determined. “That is indeed the plan.”

Rock Lock scoffs. “If she's even still alive.” He expresses the reasoning for his doubt, some of the heroes murmuring similar thoughts. “Any way to be sure where he's keeping her?”

“He raises some good questions, Nighteye,” Ryukyu agrees, nodding.

“Indeed, that is the issue at hand. Beyond the unclear nature and scope of their plan, if we fail to end this in one strike, they won't give us another chance,” Nighteye replies as Bubble Girl pulls up a map on the screen behind them. “Which brings us to the organizations Hassaikai has contacted, as well as Hassaikai’s verified properties. We have compiled an extensive list – in order to narrow it down, I will be asking each of you to investigate certain groups and locations on your own.”

“You're mighty cautious for a former sidekick of All Might!” Fat Gum shouts, aggravated by the cautious plan. “While we're twiddling our thumbs, that little girl is probably out there crying somewhere!”

“We can't do things the way All Might would!” Nighteye refutes adamantly. “We must rely on analysis and precaution to raise the odds of saving her as much as possible!”

“It's no good getting worked up,” Gran Torino interjects to Nighteye's defense. “If we go big and mess up, they'll get away and it'll stoke their fires even higher. Just like how Stain’s arrest emboldened criminals to up their game and become small-time villains. Distributing quirk-destroying bullets to rabble on the streets is probably to a similar end.”

Many of the heroes begin to protest, insisting on a more straightforward plan.

Aizawa raises his hand like a student, interjecting with, “if I may…I'm not sure exactly how your quirk works, Sir Nighteye, but why not use your foresight to see what awaits us? Going forward without that knowledge…seems irrational.”

“I…can't do that,” Nighteye admits, before proceeding to explain his quirk. Aizawa, however, is not satisfied.

“That sounds like more than enough to learn something, so why can't you do it?”

Nighteye rubs the bridge of his nose and adjusts his glasses.

“Well…what if, in the near future, what awaited the person was a cruel and merciless death?” Nighteye offers grimly. “What then?”

Several around the table pipe up with questions, badgering the hero about his quirk, until finally he shouts,

“I CAN'T.”

Nighteye's voice is tight with emotion, his head hanging low over the table to hide his expression. The entire room is uncomfortably tense.

Finally, Ryukyu breaks the silence, sighing, “why don't we get started? There's a child in need out there, that's what matters most.”

Nighteye stands suddenly, slamming his hands on the table. “Confirm the girl's location. Once we're as sure as we can be, let's bring this matter to a swift conclusion. I thank you all for your help.”

Nervously, Bubble Girl steps forward. “Here are the detailed case files, I have copies for each of you.”

After everything has calmed down, and the room has steadily emptied of the visiting heroes, Nighteye pulls Tenko to the side.

“I want you to try and get information from that vigilante of yours,” he requests seriously.

Tenko blinks at him. “Why-”

“I want to believe in what you seem to see in him, but his ties to the criminal underground are undeniable. If he's truly worthy of your trust, he should have no issue with giving you information to help with the investigation,” his uncle explains, placing his hands on Tenko's shoulders to look him in the eye. Thankfully, he doesn't hold it long.

“Nighteye,” Gran Torino interrupts, and Tenko resists the urge to say something disparaging. “Can I talk to you?”

“Of course, Torino. Duster,” his uncle rarely addresses him professionally, but Tenko supposes they're still on duty. “You know what to do. I have faith in you.”

Tenko nods, before he brushes by Gran Torino to go out and find Blue Dragon.

Chapter Text

Despite the vigilante's fickle nature, Tenko rarely has any actual trouble finding him if he wants to. Though it's usually the other way around.

He watches from a rooftop as the masked man crouches in front of a little girl, calming her crying with murmured reassurances. The vigilante slowly stands, offering a hand to the girl and walking with her, presumably to find her family that she seems to have lost.

Tenko follows from the rooftops as Dragon stays with the girl until they find her mother. Once they depart, the little girl waving happily to Dragon until she disappears around a corner, he drops down to the street.

“You're good with kids.”

Dragon jolts so violently he starts spewing smoke, coughing as he yells out a startled, “fuck!”

Tenko can't help it. He breaks down into a fit of giggles. Dragon steadily regains his composure, turning to Tenko.

“Ya can't just drop in on a guy like that,” he complains, a small stream of smoke still leaking from his mask.

“Sorry, sorry,” Tenko manages to get out in-between his cackling.

Dragon sighs before tilting his head curiously at Tenko. “Been a while. Y’alright?”

The question is sobering for Tenko as he remembers why he sought the vigilante out. He half shrugs in answer to the question.

“I actually need to talk to you,” he says seriously, looking down.

Dragon is silent for a beat, before he breathes out, “okay.”

Tenko gestures for the vigilante to follow him, which he does, like always. He grapples back up to the roof, figuring they're less likely to be overheard up high, and Dragon follows with a burst of flame.

Tenko takes a minute to figure out how to broach the subject. Dragon, unsatisfied with prolonged periods of silence, talks to fill the gap.

“Yer hair’s gettin’ long,” he observes as he sits on the ledge, which distracts Tenko enough to look over. He idly grabs a stray curl of his hair.

“Is it?”

The vigilante hums. “Yeah. Guess it ain't that much ‘f a diff’rence, but I ain't seen ya in a bit.”

Tenko looks away when he's reminded of his avoidance. “Yeah.”

Clearing his throat, he turns to the vigilante, brows furrowed. “What do you know about the Shie Hassaikai?”

A bloated pause as the masked man processes the question. “The Yakuza?” he finally asks. Tenko only nods.

“Not a whole lot,” the vigilante shrugs. “Busted some of their drug deals, so they ain't a fan of me.”

Dragon stops, but there's a tenseness to the silence that tells Tenko he has something else to say.

“The boss made me a job offer once,” he admits, tilting his head. “Guess ‘cus I kept causin’ problems, he figured he'd try to get me to join him. Turned it down, obviously.”

Well, at least there's that. “When you busted their deals, what did you do with the drugs?”

“Burned ‘em. I dunno what they're up to, but that shit ain't good for anybody,” he sniffs. “I…might've done some when I was younger. I know what they do to a person.”

That's definitely new information for Tenko. He takes a deep breath. “The drugs the Shie Hassaikai deals are different. They destroy a person's quirk.”

Dragon has no response for that, but he's sitting frozen now, not even idly fidgeting.

“It's only temporary, right now, but we think this is just the testing phase,” Tenko continues. He's not sure how much he's technically allowed to tell Dragon, but he figures if he wants to get information, he needs to give it. “We don't know what their goal is. But we know their leader is using his own daughter to make the drug.”

“He's what?” Dragon is, unsurprisingly, enraged. He stands, marching over to Tenko.

“His quirk is Overhaul. He can take anything apart and put it back together. Including people,” he tells the man, looking up into that impassive mask. “She's young, from our intel. We're trying to figure out where he might be holding her so we can rescue her, so anything you can tell me would help.”

“I don't know anythin’ else,” Dragon says slowly, almost as though he doesn't want to admit it. The heat radiating from him is getting to the point of being uncomfortable. “But…I have some contacts. I'll see what I can find out.”

“Thank you,” Tenko breathes in relief, smiling at the man even though his own mask hides it.

Dragon huffs in irritation, blowing a plume of smoke out of his mask as he turns to leave. “I need to go cool off.”

“Dragon,” Tenko calls, making the vigilante pause, looking over his shoulder. “Any information you can give, call or leave it at the Nighteye Agency if you can't find me.”

The masked man nods, but for once doesn't verbally respond. He raises a hand to Tenko in parting before dropping over the ledge the same way he came up.

Tenko releases a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, an uneasy feeling twisting in his stomach as he makes his way back to the agency.

It's only a scant few days later that everyone receives a message summoning them back to the agency.

Dragon was able to scrounge up information from his contacts on some of the higher members of the Shie Hassaikai, so they're going in a little more well prepared than they otherwise would have.

He stands behind Nighteye's desk as the man tells the gathered heroes what they've found.

“She's at their headquarters? So this whole stinkin’ investigation was for nothing!?” Fat Gum exclaims, predictably outraged.

“No, we gained plenty of new intel,” Nighteye responds passively.

“So how'd you figure it out?” Ryukyu asks in an attempt to move the mission along.

“A Hassaikai member was at a nearby department store the other day, purchasing this toy for young girls,” Nighteye explains, placing the colorful box on the desk.

Oh, so that's why he had that, Tenko thinks. He'd been eyeing the bubblegum pink packaging for the past two days, trying to figure out why it was in his uncle's office.

“Huh!?”

“The heck is that?”

“Maybe the guy's just got a few weird hobbies! Takes all kinds to make a world, Nighteye!” Fat Gum protests, before muttering, “and why did you buy it, too?”

“No, he wouldn't have spoken about it the way he did if he had any personal interest in it,” Nighteye claims, before telling the group exactly what happened.

“You used your foresight!” Rock Lock gasps in disbelief.

“As I said, I'll use it once I'm positive of something, just to be doubly sure.”

“So this means we're finally ready to take the fight to them,” Fat Gum cracks his knuckles as he speaks, looking determined.

Centipeder pipes up, “we'll stake the place out so we can be certain he's home.”

“Just need t’get the warrants, right?” Torino asks.

Mirio can't seem to contain himself anymore, flailing in a burst of energy and shouting, “let's do this, Midoriya! You ready!?”

Midoriya, for his part, seems to be struck speechless by the theatrics.

They meet at eight in the morning for the final briefing before the raid. Everyone is split into teams, with a small army of armed forces for backup. By eight-thirty, they've arrived at the nondescript building that makes up the Shie Hassaikai’s headquarters.

“Once I read off the warrant, things are gonna start moving! Let's try to end this quickly,” the police chief grumbles, moving towards the door.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rock Lock scoffs. “We get it. You don't trust us.”

He gets scolded by the other heroes, but Tenko kind of agrees with him.

But before the chief’s finger can reach the buzzer, a voice calls out from the speaker.

“We Yakuza have always lurked in the shadows, hidden away. But don't expect us to flinch just because the police and some heroes are out to get us!”

The ground shakes as a huge man bursts through the front gate, swinging a fist that sends a handful of cops flying. “What's going on? Kinda early for so many guests.”

It's a scramble for the heroes to try and keep the flung cops from becoming splatters on the pavement.

“Get back!” Ryukyu shouts as she moves to the front of the group and activates her quirk. A huge claw grabs the man's fist, bringing his haphazard swings to a halt. “The Ryukyu Agency will deal with this one, so go and finish the job!”

“Go now!”

“You heard the lady! Get in there! Go, go!” Fat Gum shouts, arms waving like he's directing traffic. Tenko supposes he kind of is.

“Give ‘em hell!” The red haired kid shouts to his friends as they rush into the courtyard.

The Nighteye and Fat Gum Agency groups push through and leave the other heroes to take care of the Yakuza in the courtyard, bursting into the building.

“Excuse us, in a hurry! Sorry for not taking off our shoes!” Fat Gum quips when he kicks down the doors.

It's almost…too easy. Tenko doesn't like it.

“Don't you think this feels suspicious?” He can't help but ask. Rock Lock nods, agreeing.

“This don't feel right at all,” the older hero echoes. “But we just gotta push on.”

“Maybe we had a leak?” Suneater timidly suggests.

The chief disagrees. “If it was a leak, they'd be dealing with us better than this.”

Aizawa adds on, “gangs like this have always emphasized loyalty above all else. The underlings pledge loyalty to the bosses, and considering we haven't seen Chisaki or his officers yet, they're probably using this as a distraction to cut and run.”

“Loyalty!? What a bunch of crap! Leaving the rough stuff to your followers while making a getaway ain't manly at all!” The red one shouts, Fat Gum agreeing with him.

Nighteye suddenly stops, bringing everyone to an abrupt halt with him.

“Here,” he states, moving towards the alcove. “There should be a mechanism that opens the way if you press the planks in the right order.”

Centipeder commends his boss as they watch the walls move.

A group of thugs rush out of the newly revealed hallway, but are quickly subdued between Centipeder’s centicoil and Bubble Girl’s bubbles.

“We’ll make sure these three don't follow! Go on ahead, we won't be far behind!” Bubble Girl shouts, pinning one of the men to the ground as he cries out in pain.

“Not much farther now!” Nighteye breathes, taking the steps three at a time with his long legs.

“A dead end!” The chief exclaims as they round a corner only to be blocked.

“What's the deal, Nighteye?”

“I'll take a look!” Lemillion offers, slipping his helmet off and sticking his head through the wall. And then most of the rest of him. He pops back out a minute later. “It's just this wall! It's a thick one, though.”

Before Tenko can offer his own services, Midoriya and the red one both dart forward to smash through it.

“These kids get the job done, huh,” Rock Lock mutters, sounding a little exasperated.

But they're unable to make any progress when the corridor starts to ripple, morphing around like clay in the hands of a child.

“This must be Irinaka, but the scale of this is way outside his range!” The chief grunts, looking more stressed by the second.

“He must've given himself a boost,” Fat Gum mutters darkly, “he must've taken control of the concrete to turn the basement into a living labyrinth!”

“It's gotta be taking a toll on the guy's stamina…can you cancel it out, Eraser?”

“Not unless I can catch sight of his real body.”

Meanwhile, Suneater begins hyperventilating, his anxiety tripping over into panic.

“Tamaki!” Lemillion shouts, breaking the other boy out of his spiral. “We can make it through this! I can make it!”

“Lemillion!” “Senpai!” Nighteye and Midoriya's shouts ring out as Lemillion charges ahead and disappears through the concrete.

“See you guys on the other side!”

“Mirio…” Suneater mumbles miserably, but seemingly calm again.

And then the ground opens up beneath them.

They don't fall far, thankfully, but now they're in a completely unfamiliar room with no way of knowing how to get back on route.

“State authorized goons, dropping from the sky,” a voice cackles, the dust slowly parting to reveal three Hassaikai officers. “Life's just full of surprises.”

Fat Gum slams his fists together. “So they wanna fight!? Let's show ‘em what pros can do-”

“You pros are essential for the mission,” Suneater says, throwing his arm out in front of his mentor. “I can deal with them myself!”

Lemillion’s headfirst charge has emboldened Suneater, who stands between the rest of the group and the three officers.

“What the heck, man?” The red kid exclaims. “Let's do this together!”

“Yeahhh, work together! More pigs to the slaughter!” The man with the most birdlike mask laughs, brandishing a katana.

Eraser cancels his quirk while Fat Gum blocks the bullets from the gun the other one pulls. The police get cocky, shouting at the Yakuza to surrender.

“Threats like that only work on people who value life!”

A sudden whirl of tentacles wraps up the three officers and devoids them of their weapons. “Larceny, Setsuno. Crystallize, Hojo. Food, Tabe.”

Suneater crushes the weapons he confiscated in a lobster claw.

“I'll take you all on!” He declares. “There's not a moment to spare! Eraser needs to lead the way, you have the power to get through the morphing walls, the police have their guns! I can keep these three occupied by myself!”

Fat Gum nods, though he looks a little reluctant. “Let's go!”

“Hey, hey, now, not so fast!” the apparent ringleader of the three protests, only for Eraser to reactivate his quirk. Mercilessly, he strikes each one in the temple.

“Go! Now! Help out Mirio!” Suneater insists, and they make a break for it.

The red one and Rock Lock both question Fat Gum about his decision, who insists Suneater is capable. “He just lacks spirit.”

After a period of traversing the halls with no obstacles, Eraser voices the thought in Tenko's head.

“Isn't it strange we've seen nothing from the guy twisting the basement around?”

But almost as soon as he's said it and gotten everyone theorizing, a pillar that almost resembles a hand bursts from the wall, aiming to push Eraser through a hole opening on the other side. Fat Gum leaps forward, knocking Eraser out of the way, but he ends up being pushed down the tunnel himself.

“Thanks!” Eraser calls.

“Don't mention it!” replies Fat Gum’s voice, rapidly becoming more distant.

As if enraged over the foiled plan, the entire corridor begins to rapidly shrink.

“Fuck!” Tenko swears.

“Rock Lock, Duster!” Nighteye shouts.

Rock Lock says something rude to Nighteye that, in different circumstances, Tenko would argue with. But the older hero dutifully locks down parts of the walls and Tenko decays the parts coming for them that the other hero can't cover.

It feels endless, and then it isn't.

The entire corridor, barring the parts that got locked down, recedes rapidly, leaving them in an open room. Tenko, rather belatedly, realizes they lost the red one at some point. He hopes the kid is with Fat Gum, wherever he ended up.

The fragile peace is shattered when a huge man wearing a bird mask comes charging at them.

Nighteye is the closest and intercepts him easily, knocking his feet out from under him and using one of his seals to send him flying into the wall.

“What…just happened?” One of the police mumbles.

“That was a special high density personal seal, a support item I have just for battle. It fits with my salary man image, making the whole thing quite humorous,” Nighteye replies, completely deadpan.

But instead of getting up to continue the fight, the man just…melts away.

“What?” Tenko mutters, confused, staring at the goop where the man used to be.

“Woah!” Rock Lock’s sudden shout draws everyone's attention to where the concrete is suddenly aiming for the older pro. Instinctively, Tenko dives forward, a hand out to dust the concrete before it can reach him. On the other side, Midoriya smashes it.

“For someone who could literally crush us, you're having a real hard time with it,” Himiko taunts, startling Tenko. She's been quiet the entire time.

I forgot she was even here, he thinks, looking over at where she's standing, staring upwards.

Her words trigger a response, the entire corridor rumbling before shooting out haphazard pillars.

“A voice!” Aizawa shouts. “Did you hear it?”

“You seem real insecure,” Himiko continues to provoke Irinaka, dancing around the columns effortlessly. “The more insecure the guy, the more he tries to hide himself and his weaknesses…”

“...the more he tries to look strong,” she pauses, standing stock still for a beat before throwing a knife straight towards the ceiling. “All so he can look down on others!”

Midoriya takes the cue for what it is, charging upwards and landing a kick where Himiko's knife had stuck.

Irinaka’s real body falls out of the ceiling, Eraser cancelling his quirk now that he's been revealed. The rumbling stops, the walls and floor left in an uneven mess that puts Tenko in mind of a carnival fun house.

“Now the labyrinth is finished,” Nighteye states, standing straight again now that he's not fighting to keep his balance.

While the police work to restrain Irinaka, Tenko turns his attention to Rock Lock, who got caught by an errant spike Tenko and Midoriya weren't able to intercept.

“How bad is it?” He asks the older pro, coming to inspect the wound in his hand.

“Went straight through, plus one got me in my side,” Rock Lock grunts, cradling it close to his chest. Tenko pulls a roll of gauze from one of his pouches to bandage his injuries until they can get out. “Thanks.”

“It's great that the whole living labyrinth thing is over, but how do we know which way to go?” Someone asks, staring into one of the twisted tunnels.

“Don’t worry, I've been keeping track of the route to Eri's room,” Nighteye states. The police chief turns and commands Irinaka to fix the basement, but he only growls something unintelligible.

“The drug must've worn off,” Aizawa observes. “He's out of juice now.”

“But what about that other one that just…melted?”

“Who cares about that!?” Rock Lock snaps suddenly. “Keep moving! Or didja forget what we came here to do?”

“He's right,” Nighteye says. “Duster, help make a way out for Rock Lock and the police to transport Irinaka. We'll keep going ahead.”

He nods—because though Tenko wants to protest, between Eraser, Nighteye, Midoriya, Himiko, and the chief and his officers, they should be more than capable of handling it. Plus, Mirio went ahead a while ago. He has to trust they can handle it.

Even if there's an uneasy feeling rolling around in his stomach.

He has to trust them.

Chapter Text

The journey back to the surface feels neverending, and Tenko can't tell if his hands feel dry from his quirk or the dust from the cement. The entire way, the whole basement rattles and shakes from what he can only assume is battle, but he's not sure if it's the heroes underground versus Overhaul or the heroes up top versus the Yakuza.

Finally, Tenko decays a wall that seems to bring them back to the building proper–white walls and wooden floors.

He takes just a moment to breathe, tired after so much use of his quirk.

“Thanks, Duster,” Rock Lock says as he hobbles by, supported by one of the police. He offers a shaky thumbs up in lieu of a proper response.

The entire house suddenly shakes, and it sounds like a bomb went off somewhere.

“What the hell?”

It takes far too long to get outside from where they are in the building. Eventually, Tenko decides the rest of them have it under control and rushes ahead, desperately making his way to the exit.

He makes it outside just in time to see Nighteye being wheeled into an ambulance.

“No,” he whispers, tripping over his own feet in his mad dash towards his uncle.

The doors close before he gets there, and Tenko wants to throw up. “No!”

He catches a ride to the hospital with Bubble Girl and Centipeder, feeling like he's about to vibrate out of his skin from nerves.

“There's nothing we can do,” the doctor states morosely. “It's a miracle he's even alive now.”

Tenko stares, unseeing, at the doors leading to where his uncle lay dying.

“Can I see him?” He asks, voice small.

The doctor looks like he's about to deny him, but seemingly decides better of it. He gestures to the doors. “Go ahead.”

He stumbles through, roughly catching himself on the rails of his uncle's bed.

All the tubes and wires he's hooked up to resemble something from a horror movie, Tenko thinks. Like an alien creature climbing out of his gut.

“Uncle,” he sobs, looking at the man's gaunt, unnaturally pale face.

“Tenko,” he wheezes softly, looking over at him. “I'm sorry.”

“No,” he chokes. “No…”

“I used my foresight on you,” his uncle says haltingly. “The other day.”

“Huh?”

“Blue Dragon.” Every word his uncle says seems like it's a struggle to even form, let alone speak. “He’ll stay beside you. Through everything.”

The cryptic words don't exactly bring Tenko any comfort at the moment, but he nods tearfully to show his uncle he's listening.

“I love you,” he mumbles miserably, just before the doors open again.

His uncle smiles weakly, “love you, too.”

He can't take it anymore. He shoves past Midoriya, his dad, and everyone else that just entered the room, ignoring their calls of his name.

He takes off in a dead sprint to get the hell out of that place.

Dragon finds him, like he always does.

“Duster?” He calls, curious.

Tenko turns to face the vigilante, unsure what expression he might be making right now.

The vigilante slows down, approaching cautiously like Tenko might lash out at him. “What's goin’ on?”

And it's a lot, is the thing. A lot is going on. He feels like he can't catch a damn break.

First, the attack on the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, where he almost lost his mentor and could have lost his dad. Then just three months later, the summer camp where one of Aizawa's students got kidnapped and Ragdoll got her quirk stolen. Then Kamino Ward, where his dad lost what power he had left fighting an enemy he had thought long-dead and was exposed for the entire world to see. And the man has been acting cagey towards Tenko ever since, which only pisses him off more, because they aren't supposed to have any more secrets. His own personal turmoil with his feelings for the vigilante before him, coinciding with his budding feelings for Touya. And now, the raid on the Shie Hassaikai, where Tenko’s uncle is dying because he had been separated from them.

He's angry. He's so angry, is what's going on.

“Overhaul,” he finally manages to bite out, looking at the ground. “He…my uncle. He's not gonna make it.”

“Oh,” Dragon responds. “Duster…”

He wishes he could do something. Get revenge, however unjustified, on that jackass Yakuza.

Before he can stop himself, he mutters:

“I want to do something unheroic. Something super illegal.”

The statement obviously catches Dragon off guard, who starts sputtering so bad he coughs up smoke.

“W-what?” the sheer confusion in Dragon's voice, in any other circumstance, might have made Tenko laugh.

“I want to get revenge on Overhaul,” he admits, staring blankly at the vigilante. “I want to make him pay.”

Once he stops smoking, Dragon is silent for long enough that Tenko starts to get worried.

“I…might know some people who can help,” The vigilante offers eventually, and Tenko feels the most hopeful he has in a while.

“He's being transported to the villain's hospital right now, if we want to intercept it,” Tenko tells him.

“Okay,” Dragon agrees. “I'll make some calls.”

They split up and regroup maybe a half hour later, at a warehouse in a rundown part of the city that rarely sees any hero patrols.

Still dressed in his hero costume, he really hopes no one recognizes him.

“I told them to bring an extra set of clothes for you,” Dragon says when they meet up outside. “So you can be anonymous when we do it.”

The people Dragon knows are an assortment of small-time criminals who ended up there mostly by bad circumstances.

First, Tenko is introduced to Bubaigawara Jin, alias Twice, a man with severe mental illness and quite possibly one of the most interesting quirks Tenko has ever heard of. If he ever sees this man again after this, Tenko hopes to get the opportunity to ask him about it.

Then it's the masked magician, Mister Compress, who uses magic tricks to distract people so he can pickpocket them. His quirk works magnificently for that, Tenko's sure. The man, quite theatrically, bows as a greeting.

And finally, a large woman introduced only as Magne. She's mostly been wanted for pickpocketing and a few counts of attempted murder. (“Allegedly,” Magne is sure to clarify.) But regardless of her crimes, something about her feels comforting, welcoming.

Dragon said these three all have a bone to pick with the Shie Hassaikai, and Overhaul in particular. Mister Compress lost an arm to the man while trying to defend Magne from him, one of his sleeves tied at the elbow while he waits for a prosthetic to be made. Magne says that Overhaul regularly misgendered her, so even if he hadn't tried to kill her, she would still want to be involved if only to be petty. Tenko can't help but snort – he gets it, honestly.

Twice is a little hard for Tenko to understand at first, but he picks up that Overhaul had basically tried to use them like all his other pawns, and didn't like that they weren't willing to take his abuse quietly.

“We talked back too much,” he says. “We were perfect!”

“So what's your story?” Magne asks, one eyebrow raised behind her sunglasses, arms crossed over her broad chest.

Tenko, who has stood in the shadows until now, steps out into the light.

All three criminals immediately tense at the sight of a hero in their midst.

“You may or may not recognize me. I'm the Pro Hero Duster,” he begins. “But I'm not here as a hero. I'm here as someone in grief, and as someone angry.”

“Just this morning, the heroes raided the Shie Hassaikai, and Overhaul gravely injured the hero Sir Nighteye. He's my uncle, and he's dying in a hospital right now,” he explains, throat getting tight with emotion. He swallows it down and blinks hard, forcing himself to get through this without crying. “So much shit has been happening lately, to me, and my family, and I'm just so angry. So I'm here as someone who wants to make Overhaul pay for what he took from me, to make him hurt.”

“Oh, he's cute but he a little fucked up,” Magne comments under her breath. She's not a great whisperer, though, and Tenko's face flushes. Dragon chuckles quietly.

“I can vouch for Duster ‘s far ‘s his trustworthiness goes,” Dragon says, thumb rubbing across his shoulder. “We've been workin’ as a team for the last sev’ral months.”

“Overhaul is currently being transported to the villain's hospital, so we have to act fast if we want to catch him,” Tenko states.

“Compress, did ya bring the masks?” Dragon asks, making Tenko look up at him curiously.

“Of course,” the magician says, brandishing a handful of marbles.

The man deactivates his quirk, revealing a collection of different masks not unlike Dragon's and his own, and a set of clothes.

“No shoes, apologies,” Compress says, handing the clothes to Tenko.

“That's fine. I'll just wear my boots, the pants should cover them up enough,” he replies, taking them and ducking behind a pillar to change.

When he rejoins the group, Dragon hands a mask to him. He stares at the pattern on it for a moment.

Is that a fucking rabbit?

“Somethin’ wrong?” The vigilante asks, but there's a weird tone to his voice like he knows something and he's trying not to laugh.

“No,” Tenko denies, maybe a little too quickly. “It's fine.”

“Here,” Compress holds out his hand, “I'll marble your costume. Just smash it later to get it out.”

“Oh, thank you.” Tenko hands it over, watching in fascination as his costume disappears into a blue marble. He sticks it in his pocket.

“I got transportation settled,” Dragon announces, brandishing a set of keys. “And I'm drivin’.”

“Okay! Why do you get to drive?” Twice shouts as they climb into the nondescript van.

“I get motion sick if I ain't drivin',” Dragon answers anyway, starting the engine.

Tenko sits in the back with the three criminals as Dragon pulls out onto the road.

“Whatever it is you plan to do, I want one of Overhaul’s arms,” Compress says, gesturing to his missing one. “My own revenge, you understand.”

Tenko nods. Magne purses her lips slightly, tilting her head.

“You sure about this? It's not too late to back out,” she offers gently.

There's no going back after this. Are you sure? Tenko's mind whispers. But he's already decided.

“Yeah. I'll see it through.”

They hit the highway just before the caravan transporting Overhaul does.

Tenko puts on his mask in tandem with Twice and Magne. Compress wields three marbles in his hand, ready to go.

The police escort is signaling for them to move, but Dragon keeps them right where they are.

Tenko peeks through the tiny windows, trying to pinpoint where Overhaul's vehicle is. When he spots it, he flings open the doors.

Compress releases his marbles, spawning chunks of concrete he pilfered from a construction site to impede the police’s path.

Dragon slows the van to a stop while the police are swerving to avoid the boulders.

Tenko doesn't see him do it, but Twice forms a clone of…the bird masked man from the raid.

That was his?

“Hey, Big Bro Rappa!” He shouts to the clone. “The boss man is in that vehicle right there! Get him out!”

“On it!” The Yakuza clone barks, surprisingly obedient as he charges forward to smash his way into the van.

A wave of sand flows out of one of the police cars, enveloping “Rappa” and flinging him away. Courtesy of the Sand Hero, Snatch.

Tenko uses the distraction of the clone to dart forward, Compress hot on his heels.

Overhaul looks delightfully miserable, restrained on what looks like a stretcher.

“Come to kill me?” He asks, staring impassively at the two masked men standing over him.

“Well, I don't know about my compatriot here, but I'll just be taking this.” Compress marbles one of the man's arms, leaving an abnormally clean break just above the elbow. “Arm for an arm, and all that.”

Tenko watches with a detached countenance, stepping forward slowly as Compress backs away.

“No, I think I'll leave you alive,” he answers the man's initial question. “I want you to live with the knowledge that despite everything you've done, it was all for nothing.”

He crouches over the restrained man, leaning in close to his face as he makes the risky decision to slip off his mask.

“This is for my uncle, and the girl, and everyone else you've hurt.”

The villain's eyes widen slightly as though he recognizes him, but Tenko doesn't think they had ever actually met.

“You wanted to rid the world of quirks, so I'll rid you of yours.”

He grabs a hold of the man's wrist with all five fingers. The cracks spread slowly at first, blood oozing out warm and sticky against Tenko's hand. Something buried inside him sings as he feels the man's flesh and bone break apart and disintegrate in his hand, while another part of him is deeply disturbed and screaming at him to stop. He grins suddenly, unhinged giggling bubbling up in his throat.

“Everything you've worked for! For nothing!” He repeats, cackling maniacally as he lets go of the man's arms, the decay ending just above his elbow to match his other side. Two pools of blood are all that remain.

Tenko stands up again, taking a step back and away from the Yakuza head. A hiccup as his laughter turns to a sob. He shakes his head vigorously, wondering how long he's been crying. He wipes roughly at his eyes before putting his mask back on.

“Let's go,” he addresses Compress, who remained silently keeping watch the entire time.

“I think we're out of time, anyway,” the magician says, watching where the Rappa clone melts away after being knocked back. Tenko nods, and they start their sprint across the highway to the van as Overhaul finally comes back to himself, screaming in agony.

Once they're within her range, Magne activates her quirk to pull them in faster, slamming the van doors the moment they're inside. “Dragon, go!” She commands.

Dragon peels off, tires skidding and smoking as they make their escape.

In the back of the van, as the others celebrate, Tenko pulls the mask back off and stares at his bloodied hand. He broke his self imposed vow to never use his quirk on a living being, for the first time…right?

… So why did the feeling of flesh decaying in his hand feel so familiar?

Chapter Text

Tenko stares at Dragon after they disembark from the van and the vigilante immediately lights it on fire.

“What?” The masked man huffs. “It's a burner van.”

“That's not funny,” Tenko grouses, following behind him and the others.

“Shall we celebrate a mission completed flawlessly?” Compress asks, unveiling a bottle of champagne.

“Oh, yes!” Magne cheers. Twice whoops in excitement.

“I'm not much of a drinker,” Tenko protests weakly, though he knows the alternative is going back and facing reality.

“C'mon, just a lil’ won't hurt ya,” Dragon goads, throwing an arm around Tenko's shoulders.

He really doesn't want to go back so soon. He doesn't want to face his dad and his mentors and his coworkers just yet. So he figures it'll be okay if he remains disappeared for a little longer.

“What the hell,” he concedes. “Why not?”

Twice and Magne both cheer in tandem with Dragon.

They hole up in a designated safehouse to celebrate. Tenko immediately rushes to scrub his hands clean before they start drinking.

Dragon makes sure Tenko takes it slow, pacing himself as he sips the champagne. It's giving him much better results than the last time he drank.

This time, he's feeling pleasantly warm and floaty–he guesses that would be an accurate way to describe it.

Tenko giggles at Jin’s antics as he reenacts a story with unbridled enthusiasm. He's leaning heavily on Dragon, but the vigilante doesn't seem to mind.

As Jin's story comes to an end, the blond man knocks back another swallow of champagne–or does he have beer now? Tenko's not really sure. Compress had a few varieties of spirits marbled, and he's pretty sure there were some already stocked in the safehouse.

The group has quieted down for the moment. Tenko is still plastered–heh, plastered, and he's drinking–to Dragon's side. He snickers at his own joke in his head, drawing the vigilante's attention.

“What's so funny?” The masked man asks, and Tenko stops laughing to squint at him.

“Yer not even drinkin’,” he complains, flopping over into the man's lap. “How're you havin’ any fun?”

“I've had some drinks when ya weren't lookin’,” Dragon tells him, sounding amused.

“Bull-” He hiccups. “Bullshit.”

“No, he's very good at drinking without revealing his face,” Compress comments, before gesturing to himself. “He learned from the master.”

Tenko looks over at the other three, humming.

“How did’ja meet, anyway?” He slurs as he voices the question that's been bouncing around his head.

“Ah, well. I was busking one evening, and right after I finished up and was heading home, dear Magne here tried to rob me,” Compress tells him, gesturing grandly with his hand.

“She put–what I thought at the time–a gun to my neck, and said ‘give me everything you have.’”

“And I thought, ‘how dreadful! Whatever shall I do?’ And then I marbled myself, let myself roll a bit before I popped back out. So now I'm facing her, and I say, ‘what's a lovely lady like you doing robbing people?’”

“But then I was distracted by the realization that it wasn't a gun at all, but a magnet! She held a magnet to my neck!”

“Where am I gonna get a gun?” Magne interrupts. “We're all broke here.”

Tenko, even with the alcohol making him more relaxed, bites his tongue.

“Oh, you made me forget where I was,” Compress scolds her light-heartedly. He puts a hand to the chin of his mask, humming. “I don't quite recall the conversation we had, but we've been friends ever since.”

“We met Jin when we got hired by the Shie Hassaikai. He'd already been there a while and was put in charge of us,” Magne adds. “He endeared himself to me right away, when some thug misgendered me and he yelled, quote, ‘that’s a whole ass female!’”

"It's true!" Jin interjects.

Tenko giggles, only half listening to their stories as he stares up at Dragon. There's of course not much in the way of facial features to memorize, but with his eyes he traces the messy fluff of his hair and the way the light reflects almost red off of his white locks.

The mask turns down to look at him, and Tenko, embarrassed, rolls his face into the man's stomach. It's not very comfortable, since Dragon’s stupid belt buckle is digging into his forehead.

“Tired?” Dragon asks. And for lack of any reasonable excuses, Tenko just nods. The vigilante hums before gently moving Tenko to sitting up again so he can stand. “I think it's time f’r bed.”

“‘m not a kid,” Tenko complains, but he gets up and grabs onto Dragon's sleeve anyway.

“Never said ya were,” the vigilante placates, hands hovering around Tenko in case he loses his balance.

So Dragon escorts Tenko upstairs to one of the bedrooms, making sure he doesn't trip. It's an arduous journey, with Tenko stumbling occasionally and leaning his entire body weight into Dragon.

When Dragon tries to deposit him on the bed, Tenko clings to his coat.

“What're you doin’?” The vigilante asks, sounding amused.

“Noooooo,” is Tenko's reply, which makes no sense at all.

Dragon just laughs softly, working to pry off Tenko's fingers. He's not very successful, because Tenko just grabs somewhere else every time the vigilante manages to get one hand removed.

“Didn't expect ya to be a clingy drinker,” the masked man observes, evidently giving up and just standing there with Tenko hanging off of him. He pauses, seemingly thinking. “Or so giggly.”

“There's a lotta things ‘bout me you wouldn't expect,” Tenko slurs, looking up at him. “Stay w’ me.”

“You must be real drunk if yer sayin’ that,” the other man says dryly, trying to pry off Tenko's fingers again.

“Not even drunk,” Tenko tells him, before throwing his body weight into dragging the vigilante down onto the bed with him. "Jus' tipsy."

Dragon catches himself above Tenko, arms and legs caging him in now.

“Yer playin’ a dangerous game,” the vigilante seems to warn, but Tenko likes games. The harder the better.

“I like games,” he voices the thought, but he finally lets go of Dragon's coat. “But it's no fun if your player two doesn't wanna play.”

“It's not that,” the vigilante says quickly, grabbing Tenko's hand seemingly without thinking. “Believe me, it's not that.”

“Then what?”

Dragon is silent. He doesn't have an answer, apparently.

“I wanna feel good,” Tenko whispers, eyes closing.

Dragon twines their fingers together, uncaring of the younger man's quirk, thumb rubbing across Tenko's palm.

“Ya want me to make ya feel good?” The masked man whispers, voice sounding rougher than usual.

“Mhm.”

“Words, hon.”

He opens his eyes again, looking up into that mask. “Please.”

The vigilante releases a long breath. A warm hand settles on Tenko’s upper thigh.

“Okay. I've got you.”

Tenko wakes in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar house, with a gross taste in his mouth, and then makes one very important observation.

He is completely naked.

After a moment, he remembers why, and sits up in a panic.

I mutilated a guy and then I had sex with Dragon. What the hell is wrong with me?

The vigilante in question isn't in the room, but Tenko sees a glass of water and what appears to be painkillers on the bedside table, and a note.

Duster,

Had to go. Take these for the hangover. See ya.

-Dragon

No mention of what they'd done last night. Tenko wonders if he regrets it. 

…I don't regret it, he decides after a moment, before he gets up and fishes his marbled hero costume out of the hoodie on the floor.

He redresses in it for lack of an alternative. (Dusty, dirty clothes that aren't actually his or his dusty, dirty costume? Not the hardest choice he's ever had to make.) He's pretty sure his boots were left by the door when they came in.

He doesn't really have a hangover, mostly feels okay except for a little soreness and the bad taste in his mouth, but he downs the painkillers anyway.

He doesn't know what to expect when he leaves the bedroom of the safehouse and goes back downstairs, but it's not Magne in the kitchen making breakfast.

He blinks in surprise, just standing on the last step and watching her as she moves around and hums.

“Um,” he finally says, and she jumps as she spins around to face him. She's not wearing her sunglasses, so he can see her green eyes clearly.

“Gracious, you startled me,” she gasps, placing a hand over her heart. She turns back to the stove. “Breakfast is almost ready, hon.”

The way she calls him hon just reminds him of Dragon, and his heart hurts a little.

“Do you know why Dragon had to leave?” He asks after a long silence. Magne pauses, but doesn't turn to face him.

“He said he had something to take care of,” she finally answers. He wonders if the others somehow know that he and Dragon had sex last night. He doesn't exactly want to ask, though.

He doesn't need to, it turns out, because she turns around and asks, “do you remember last night?”

He nods, a little sheepishly, his cheeks tinting pink in embarrassment.

“He's afraid he took advantage of you,” she tells him seriously, turning back around to tend to her cooking.

“He shouldn't be. I,” he coughs, clearing his throat. “I don't regret it.”

“That's good,” she responds. “Make sure he knows that.”

“I will,” he promises, before wandering into the main room where they'd all been drinking the night before.

Jin is passed out on the couch, snoring loudly. Compress isn't there, but his shoes are still by the door, so he hasn't left yet.

He should go home. He only disappeared for a few hours after the USJ and everyone was freaking out–how would they react to him being gone for almost a day? Probably not well. He's not ready to go back.

But he has to.

As tempting as breakfast should be, he's not hungry even though he hasn't eaten since before the raid. So he leans around the doorframe to the kitchen, and tells Magne, “I won't be staying for breakfast. I need to go home. But thank you.”

She looks at him, an unreadable expression in her eyes. She purses her lips like she wants to protest, but she just nods and tells him, “be safe.”

He nods back, before heading to the door to put his boots back on and leaving.

He goes back to his apartment first so he can bathe. He's towelling his hair off when he remembers his phone that's been off since before the mission.

Hesitantly, he turns it back on. It's immediately flooded with notifications, from his dad, his mentor, his coworkers, and a couple from an unknown number.

He's curious, so he clicks that one first.

Unknown: hey, your dad is worried. Please answer him

Unknown: it's Midoriya

He stares at it, feeling bitter and he kind of wants to be petty for the hell of it. But he just sighs.

You: how'd you get my number

Midoriya: toogata gave it to me

Mirio!

Midoriya: I don't know if you already know, or if anyone has told you, but toogata lost his quirk during the raid. He got hit with the finalized version of Overhaul's quirk destroying bullets.

He's quirkless? Tenko stares at his phone in shock, biting the inside of his cheek. His back hits the wall, slowly sliding down to the floor.

You: how is he? And how's the girl?

Midoriya: eri is fine. She got sick from overuse of her quirk, I think, so she's been asleep pretty much the whole time. Aizawa is watching over her, since he can cancel her quirk.

Midoriya: toogata…isn't quite himself, but he's trying to hide it

Sounds right.

You: okay. Thanks for telling me

Midoriya: of course. Talk to all might, please. He's the most worried

You: yeah. Okay

He sighs again, but he knows he needs to face the music. He can't keep running from reality.

So Tenko calls his dad. He picks up before the first ring even ends.

“Tenko! My boy, where have you been? Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he whispers. “Sorry. I just…needed to get away.”

His dad sighs.

“I understand. But let someone know ahead of time, would ya? I thought…”

He trails off into silence, and Tenko feels guilt gnawing at his stomach.

“Yeah.”

An uncomfortable pause stretches between them. Eventually, Toshinori clears his throat.

“Mirai’s funeral is tomorrow,” he tells Tenko, who nods, even though he can't see it.

“You're calling him Mirai again,” he observes quietly. Ever since they fought, his dad had only ever referred to the man with his hero name, or surname.

“We…cleared things up, I suppose you could say. So at least we got closure,” his dad tells him, though his voice is sounding a little rough.

“I wish you had talked sooner,” Tenko says, maybe a little bitterly.

“I know, me too. I'm sorry.”

They talk a little longer, before agreeing to meet before the funeral. After hanging up, Tenko keeps sitting on the floor, replying to his other missed messages with apologies and assurances.

Several of the messages are condolences, because word of his uncle's death hit the news that morning.

Touya: I'm sorry about your uncle.

It's probably the most well written text message he's ever gotten from the man, and the novelty of it makes Tenko laugh. But that laugh turns into a sob as he fails to hold it in anymore. He curls up on the floor, hugging his knees in the shadows of his hallway, and just lets himself cry.

Chapter Text

Tenko dresses in the only formal wear he owns, and hopes his red converse don't stand out too much at the funeral. He meets his dad at the graveyard where his uncle's service is being held.

Mirai’s funeral isn't very big. Only his closest people, his sidekicks, and as a courtesy, the other heroes from the raid are in attendance.

Mirio is, predictably, inconsolable. His two friends hold him between them as he tries to keep his sobs quiet. The red haired kid from UA is also particularly emotional, despite having no real connection to Mirai. Tenko supposes that's just the way he is.

Aizawa is unable to attend since he's watching over the still unconscious Eri. Rock Lock does manage to come, though he looks a little rough, still.

Toshinori stands by Tenko, a large hand weighing heavily on his shoulder. Next to his father stands his protege with an unusually somber face.

Himiko lingers by Tenko’s other side instead of with the others from the agency she's doing her work study with, one of her hands grasping Tenko's. He's not sure to whose benefit it is.

The other two girls from Class A stand by Ryukyu, holding each other's hands with their heads bowed.

It's not a very long event. Mirai's sidekicks and Tenko's dad both speak for a bit, but he's not really paying attention, his thoughts too loud.

He still wants to be mad, if he's honest. And he is, a little. But mostly he's just tired. After the previous day, it was like everything Tenko had left in him just…drained out, leaving a numbed husk of himself.

It starts raining during the funeral–fat, heavy droplets that immediately soak everyone in cold water.

Once the core part of the service concludes, Tenko detaches Himiko from himself to go to the edge of the congregation and stare out over the otherwise empty graveyard. He gets a weird sense of deja vu doing so, though.

His head hurts.

A tap on his shoulder draws him out of the confusing fog he was sinking into, and he looks over to see green eyes looking up at him.

“Are you, um, okay?” Midoriya asks haltingly. “Sir Nighteye was your uncle, right?”

It's your fault, something hateful in Tenko hisses. He doesn't like it–because it's not Midoriya's fault. It's Overhaul's. No one else's. And Tenko got his revenge.

“Yeah,” he replies quietly, looking away again. “He was.”

“I'm…really sorry,” the kid apologizes. “I should've…I don't know.”

“It's not your fault,” Tenko forces out, despite that evil thing screaming in his head. “You saved Eri. That was the point of the whole mission.”

Midoriya doesn't seem to have anything to say to that, quietly staring at him with those big, sad eyes. So he just stands next to Tenko and stares out over the graveyard with him. After a moment, Himiko joins their silent vigil, her hand finding Tenko's and clinging onto it once more.

Tenko wonders how long it'll take for him to feel like himself again.

He tells Bubble Girl and Centipeder of his decision the next day.

“What?” Bubble Girl gasps in dismay. “You're leaving the agency?”

“I've decided to take a break from hero work,” Tenko states solemnly. “Not for long, probably. But I don't think I'll be coming back here, either.”

“Unfortunate, but I understand,” Centipeder comments.

“We'll miss you, Duster,” Bubble Girl adds on sadly, Centipeder humming in agreement.

“I'll miss you guys, too,” Tenko replies, some facsimile of a smile trying to form on his face. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

He then turns and walks out of the Nighteye Agency’s doors for the last time.

That evening, he waits around one of the usual spots he tends to see Blue Dragon. Out of uniform, in just a hoodie and sweatpants.

Like that time Dragon found him after a nightmare, the vigilante is obviously confused to see him out of costume.

“Duster?”

“We need to talk,” Tenko tells him, and the masked man pauses. “It's important.”

“Okay,” Dragon sighs. “Okay. Lead the way.”

They go to a nearby park, practically abandoned this late in the day, and find a bench to occupy.

“I'm taking a break from hero work,” Tenko states bluntly, staring at the trees. “So you won't see me for a while.”

“Oh,” Dragon breathes, seemingly relieved. “I thought- nevermind.”

It takes Tenko a moment to realize what the other man is thinking about.

“Oh, that,” he hums. “I don't…I don't regret that. You didn't take advantage of me, so don't worry.”

Dragon huffs. It almost sounds like he's pouting. “Wasn't worried,” the vigilante mumbles, obviously lying. “Good t'know, though.”

Tenko rolls his eyes. “Sure you weren't.”

“Wasn't,” he insists, and Tenko almost grins. They lapse into silence for a few moments, before Dragon clears his throat, sounding uncharacteristically sheepish when he asks, “so…s’at mean ya’d do it again sober?”

Tenko's face tints pink. “Maybe,” he answers evasively. “Not for right now, though. I'm not…I'm not in a good headspace at the moment.”

He doesn't want to admit it, but it's true. His dad even suggested he start going to therapy again, like when he was little. His head starts to hurt. It's been hurting a lot lately.

“Yeah, of course,” Dragon says quietly. “I understand. Hey, gimme yer phone for a sec.”

“What? Why?” Tenko asks, though he pulls it out of his pocket and hands it over anyway.

Dragon fiddles with it for a second.

Has he always had painted fingernails? Tenko wonders, noticing for the first time the black polish on the other man's hands.

“Here,” the vigilante says, handing his phone back with a new contact in it. “My number. If ya ever need anythin’.”

“Oh,” Tenko mumbles, surprised. He does vaguely remember the vigilante pulling out a phone on occasion, but somehow it never occurred to him to ask for a phone number. “Thanks.”

“‘Course,” the masked man hums, standing up again. “I'm gonna go back to patrollin’. By the way, how's the girl?”

It takes Tenko a second to remember who he's referring to. “Oh, Eri. She's being taken care of. Eraserhead is in charge of her.”

“Good,” the vigilante replies, hesitating as he moves to leave. And then briefly, a hand lands on Tenko's head and Dragon leans down to press his mask to the younger man's forehead in something resembling a kiss, before he turns away with that same hand thrown in the air. “See ya ‘round, Duster.”

Tenko blinks, staring after the vigilante in subdued shock, and whispers, “see you, Dragon.”

Chapter Text

The very next day after the news of Tenko's hiatus hits the Hero Network, Yuu shows up at his apartment.

“You're quitting?” She shouts at him, and he nearly closes the door in her face. She shoves her shoulder against the door to keep him from succeeding.

“Not quitting. Taking a break,” he clarifies, before giving up the fight and letting her fully inside.

“Why?” She follows him to his couch, where he had been playing a game when she started trying to break his door down.

“Because I need it,” he snaps irritably. He sighs when she looks at him with a startled expression, not expecting the aggression from him. “I'm not…in a great space right now. Mentally. Since my uncle…” Since he died.

He lets the silence finish his sentence for him. Understanding dawns on Yuu's face, her mouth forming a little 'o'.

“Oh,” she whispers. “Okay. Yeah, I get it.”

They lapse into silence for a while, the only sound coming from Tenko's game when he resumes playing.

“I know you don't check the Hero Network like, ever, but did you hear about the attack on Overhaul?” Yuu suddenly asks, and Tenko snorts.

“Yeah. Tragic,” he answers dryly. He's not looking at her, but he can sense that she rolls her eyes.

“You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?” She asks–not accusatory, more like a joke. If only she knew.

“Course not,” Tenko lies, for once not immediately giving himself away. “I was-”

He stops when he realizes just what he is about to confess to, mouth shutting with an audible click of his teeth.

Yuu leans around to look at his face, an eyebrow raised. “You were what?”

“Um. Nothing. I wasn't doing anything.”

“Tenko.”

The one sided staring contest starts to wear him down as he considers it.

If he tells her, he will never hear the end of it. But at the same time, who else does he have to talk to about it?

“I slept with Dragon,” he blurts out finally, still avoiding eye contact.

Silence.

“You WHAT!” Yuu shrieks. Tenko flinches and covers his ears.

“Listen-”

“You slept with the vigilante? What about Touya?” She exclaims, and she's right–Tenko hadn't even thought about him.

“Oh, god,” he murmurs as he realizes. “Look, we were drinking, and it wasn't the best decision, I know that.”

“Tenko.”

“I don't regret it,” he makes sure to inform her. “Even if it wasn't a good decision.”

“Well, that's something, I guess," she sighs, looking exasperated. “But seriously, what about Touya? I thought you liked him?”

“I do! I just…I wasn't thinking about that. Or about anything,” he admits, looking down at the controller sitting idle in his hands. “I just wanted to feel good and forget everything for a while.”

“I guess I get that,” Yuu says quietly, leaning back into the couch.

Silence stretches between them, Tenko tentatively resuming his game.

And then Yuu asks, “was it good?”

His face burns in embarrassment as he grudgingly admits, “yes.”

“Would you do it again sober?”

He's struck with a sense of deja vu, grumbling, “you and Dragon would get along like a house on fire. Yes, I would.” I'd do a lot of things if Dragon asked me, I'm realizing.

“As though that's a bad thing,” she quips. “So again–what about Touya?”

He sighs, pausing his game again. He should probably throw the towel in on it at this point.

“I don't know,” he mumbles. “I like Touya, but…” But I love Dragon.

Yuu hums, sounding like she's puzzled him out. He hopes she hasn't.

“You should probably figure that out,” she says blandly, and he knows she's right.

“Yeah, I know.”

Shortly after Eri wakes up, Aizawa requests for Tenko to come meet her. He's not sure how to feel about it.

She's still staying in the hospital, of course, with Aizawa there frequently to watch over her.

Tenko shuffles his feet nervously outside of her room as Aizawa talks to her–prepping her to meet a stranger, he guesses. Considering the environment she came from, he probably has no reason to worry, but he's still concerned she'll be scared by his face. His skin isn't doing too great, these days–a direct reflection of his mental state.

The door opens, and Aizawa beckons him inside.

“Eri,” the man begins, his voice the softest Tenko's ever heard it. “This is Yagi Tenko. He helped on the mission to rescue you.”

“Nice to meet you,” the girl greets quietly, her red eyes huge. It's a little unnerving–the girl is basically a funhouse mirror reflection of himself. The same blueish-white hair and red eyes, and that same not-quite-there expression he had in his oldest childhood photos.

“Nice to meet you,” Tenko echoes with a small bow as he sits down in the chair Aizawa pulls up to her bedside.

“Mister Aizawa said you're a lot like me,” Eri says, and Tenko blinks.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he mumbles. He's not good with kids. Why did Aizawa think this was a good idea?

“Did something bad happen when you were little like me?” Eri asks suddenly–with that sort of bluntness only children possess–and a pain stabs behind Tenko's eye, causing him to wince.

“Um,” he gasps. “Yeah, I don't remember it, though.”

“Oh,” Eri mumbles, looking a little panicked. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean-”

“It's fine,” he tells her, pressing the heel of his hand into his eye. “You didn't do anything wrong.”

“But I asked a question that hurt you,” she insists, fidgeting nervously.

“You didn't know it would,” Tenko presses, voice dropping to a whisper. “It's okay. You're okay.”

He tries his best to smile at her, but he's not sure if his attempt at soothing Eri really lands at all. Either way, she seems to calm down a bit, though her eyes are still a little shiny.

“You both have incredibly powerful quirks,” Aizawa interjects bluntly, looking a little exasperated. “That's why you're alike.”

Tenko and Eri stare at each other for a moment, as if to say, ‘just our quirks?’

The girl's hand moves to the horn on her forehead thoughtfully. “You have a scary quirk?”

“Scarier than yours,” Tenko tells her honestly. “Yours can be used to heal, like you did with Midoriya. Mine only hurts.”

“I can't control it,” she whimpers. “So it's dangerous.”

“You'll learn. Everyone has to learn to control their quirks. The more practice you get, the easier it will be,” Aizawa comments, watching Eri with an impossibly soft expression that looks foreign on his mentor's face.

“What if I don't want to use my quirk?” Eri asks, her face worried.

“You don't have to,” he answers her. “But if you learn to control it, you won't have to worry about it accidentally activating, either.”

The girl looks thoughtful for a moment, then nods. “Okay.”

They talk a little more, about the few things Eri knows she likes, and what Tenko likes. He leaves that afternoon with a promise to teach her how to play video games sometime, with a surprisingly genuine smile on his face.

That evening, Touya messages him asking him to be his date to UA’s school festival. Even though he's already planning on going anyway–because he doesn't have anything better to do and he wants to see his dad–he says yes.

He also wants to see Touya, since they haven't talked much recently.

… Tenko hasn't talked much to anyone lately.

People keep messaging him, but he always gives lackluster replies, rarely more than one or two words at a time. He wonders how long it will take before everyone gives up on him.

Strangely, Touya is the one who has messaged him the least when he's normally the most talkative person Tenko knows. A sporadic good morning or good night or maybe a picture of a cat he saw somewhere, and that's it. No aimless rambling, no attempts at flirting, nothing. It's been off-putting, throwing Tenko out of balance.

So the date invitation is somewhat of a relief–something almost familiar in the mess that is his life at the moment.

He, of course, makes the mistake of mentioning the upcoming date to Yuu and Shuichi. Maybe one day he'll learn to stop telling them about his romantic affairs.