It took him a while, but Tensei could feel the small headache recede as he cleared up the misunderstanding her sister had. That boy -Midoriya- was lucky he did, or Tenko would probably have demanded the poor guy to marry her first thing in the next morning.
"So I don't need to marry Midoriya-kun?" She sounded confused, as if the fact she didn't have to was illogical.
"No, you don't," he answered. "It was just an accident and your friend didn't mean to see you like that. So, despite being a bit embarrassing, it's not a problem." Seeing that Tenko looked unconvinced, he decided to add, "sis, you don't need to marry anyone unless you truly like them."
"I-I see." She blushed.
´She has it bad for that boy, uh?´ Tensei tilted his head, wondering if he should leave things like that. ´I didn't think I would have the chance to do this so soon, but it seems the moment has arrived!´ He smirked. "Unless you do," he repeated, "liking Midoriya, I mean."
"W-WHAT?! I-ITS NOT LIKE T-THAT! M-MIDORIYA-KUN IS JUST A TALENTED, KIND, STRONG AND VERY BRAVE C-CLASSMATE BUT THAT DOESN´T MEAN I−" His sister exploded in a panic of gibbering and furious karate-chopping, trying to explain herself with little to none success.
Tensei´s smile widened. ´Really BAD...´
(…)
Things with Tenko had been awkward since the previous day´s incident, and Izuku didn't know what to do.
She wasn't angry with him, thank god, but she was acting weird. More often than not he would catch her staring at him, only to blush and look away when she noticed him looking back. Izuku had no idea what she was thinking. And before noticing, he started staring at her just as often.
Fortunately, a nice distraction appeared with Aizawa making them choose their class representatives.
They voted, and for nobody´s surprise, Tenko won with five votes, followed by Momo with only one vote less.
"Thank you all of you for your support!" She bowed, her usually serious expression exhilarated for being chosen for such a responsibility. "I will make my best effort to meet your expectations!"
"Continue kicking dumb blondes and you'll keep my vote," said Kyoka, smirking at her two blond classmates. In response, Denki hit his head against his desk and sighed, while Katsuki looked about to explode everything and everyone in sight.
"Such a statement is highly inappropriate!" Roared Tenko, entering fully into class-rep-mode.
Izuku grinned. ´She´ll do a good job.´
(…)
Tenko was having serious doubts about how to proceed in relation to Izuku.
As someone who wanted to prioritize her studies and career, she had pushed away the prospect of romance to the back of her head and had never thought much about it. But that seemed impossible now considering how irritatingly distracting she found Izuku. And he was a friend too, so just ignoring him wasn't an option.
Tensei had told her not to worry, that she wasn't forced to act upon those feelings if she didn't feel comfortable with them yet. And that in any case, being in a romantic relationship was not going to stop someone as determinate as her to accomplish her goals.
That had reassured her a bit, but she was still trying to be careful about how she acted around Izuku as she planned a course of action.
While they were eating, a certain topic inevitably came up.
"So y-you were related to Ingenium after all!" said Izuku.
"You already knew, Midoriya-kun?" Tenko had to admit she was surprised by the boy´s perceptiveness.
"I wasn't fully sure, Iida-san. B-but I suspected you were his sister since the practical-exam, when I saw, um, t-the engines protruding from your c-calves." He blushed, and as if it was contagious, she did too, though not really sure why that made her so embarrassed. Only Ochako remained composed, looking quite content to be around them.
Before they could say anything else, an alarm resounded through the building. "What's that?!"
"Someone invaded the campus!" answered one of the second-years. It only put fuel to the chaos and fear as the other students ran wildly towards the exit, pushing her, Izuku and Ochako along them.
"It's not a v-villain attack, but the reporters from this morning!" Yelled Izuku, but the students were too scared and noisy to notice.
They needed someone to make light of the situation and assuage their worries, and that one had to be her. It was her duty as class representative.
Tenko sent an urgent look at Ochako. "Uraraka-kun!" As if understanding what she wanted, Ochako reached for her arm, but before she could touch it, Izuku got in the middle. "Ah?"
With his gravity negated, he floated to the roof and shouted, "P-PLEASE CALM DOWN, EVERYBODY! I-IT'S ONLY THE PRESS!" That did the trick, everyone finally calming down.
Tenko should have been glad. But instead, she felt inadequate.
She stewed on that feeling for the next couple of hours, unable to pay classes the attention they deserved, and when she couldn't resist it anymore she approached Izuku.
"Midoriya-kun. I think you should be the class representative instead of me."
"What?! But w-why?" Izuku was understandably perplexed. "I thought y-you wanted the position."
"I do! But not only you noticed first there was no real threat, you also read the situation in an instant and solved it faster than me. You are obviously more capacitated!"
Izuku grimaced. "I'm totally not, Iida-san. I just did w-what I thought you would do, and that's the only reason it worked. It's j-just, um, I was c-closer to Uraraka-san so I had it easier." He looked away. "But between the two of us, you a-are definitely the one who should be our class-rep. I mean, j-just to begin with, you are the one that has the conviction and desire to be it. You are r-really smart and responsible, and unlike me, people would actually take you seriously when you try to keep order." Looking at her again, he smiled softly. "You are practically m-made for the job, Iida-san."
Her mind went blank as she blushed as a boiled octopus. Without uttering a word, she marched robotically into the classroom, took a seat and struck her forehead against the desk.
She felt so happy it hurt.
(…)
Meanwhile, Izuku felt glad he had convinced Tenko about keeping her position.
There was no way to tell her the full truth. That he had forced himself to act in her place because apparently she had forgotten the fact that floating over everyone´s heads while using a skirt wasn't a good idea.
(…)
Soon enough, Class 1-A were having their first outing. Specifically, to the USJ -Unforeseen Simulation Joint. As the class-reps, Tenko along with Momo coordinated the boarding of their classmates into the bus.
"…Midoriya-kun, Ochako-kun, please take the right and left seat in the back row…!" They nodded and did as Tenko said.
Once everyone else was sitting, and despite the numerous empty spaces, Tenko walked to the end of the bus and sat just between Ochako and him.
They were a bit tight, but not enough for it to be uncomfortable. Actually, one could say it was cozy.
Ochako looked chill and happy as always, while Tenko looked stiff as a board but strangely pleased. In Izuku´s case, he was having a serious internal conflict.
The logical part of his mind was telling him his current situation was no issue. He was sitting beside his friend, who was a girl that he found attractive, but a friend nevertheless.
But his emotional-side was in full blown panic and hyper-aware of the fact if he just moved slightly in the wrong way his arm would graze Tenko´s… Or other more softer parts of her body.
No finding other option, he just shut down his brain and hoped for the best.
(…)
The moment the bus stopped, Izuku was one of the firsts to get out. Bending forwards with his hands on his knees, he sighed in relief.
Tenko got close and put a hand on his back. "Are you okay, Midoriya-kun?!"
He turned to her rigidly, his face contorted in a weird expression, as if his brain were battling with itself to find an answer, settling for simply a ´yeah´.
After that, things happened very quick.
They entered the USJ building and met with No.13, the pro-heroine gave them a short talk about the dangers of using their Quirks irresponsibly, and before they had the chance to start their rescue-training exercise, Villains appeared and everything went to hell.
Aizawa went to fight the nearby villains, but couldn't stop the misty-one from approaching them. Eijiro and Katsuki´s attacks proved useless and then, with an unnerving ease, the villain made half of her classmates -including Izuku- disappear. "MIDORIYA!"
Tenko felt paralyzed by the fear. Even knowing the boy probably had just been warped away, she couldn't avoid getting this cold feeling in her gut at the possibility she wouldn't see Izuku ever again.
And then suddenly No.13 turned to her. "Please dash to the school as fast as you can and relay our situation…!" That was her plead. "Use your Quirk to save others!"
"…You are our best Hope!" And even Ochako agreed.
But she couldn't.
´Just leaving them behind to look for help…´ She tightened her fists. ´Even if it is the logical choice… Even when I know they probably can take care of everything here… Doing such a thing… What kind of hero would that make me?!´
But maybe she had the wrong mindset. If running away was the only useful thing she could do at the moment to help her peers, wasn't she obligated to do it?
The instant No.13 was hurt, Tenko knew she had no more time to waste. The lives of her teachers and classmates were in danger.
She dashed towards exited the USJ. ´Everybody, please wait for me!´
(…)
In Izuku´s side a lot of stuff happened too.
First, he and Mineta were rescued by Tsuyu after falling to the sea-zone, then they returned to the shore only to get almost killed by Shigaraki and the Nomu too many times for his comfort. Fortunately All Might arrived and defeated the hulking monstrosity. However, the man was left so weakened afterwards that Shigaraki almost killed him anyway.
Thank god, back-up arrived. Considering his lame attempt of saving All Might ended up with him breaking his legs uselessly.
Anyway, a while of resting in the infirmary and a scolding later, Izuku was ready to go.
As he exited the room, he saw Tenko sitting on the ground, hugging her knees. She looked completely miserable for someone that had saved the day.
"Iida-san?"
The girl finally noticed him and stood up, her expression lighten up a bit. "Are you okay, Midoriya-kun?!"
He smiled. "A b-bit sore, but okay… I think this is t-the second time you make me that question today."
"Is that so?" After musing for a moment, she shook her head. "Anyway, my brother is waiting for me. I think I should be going−"
"Wait." He uttered without thinking, stopping her. It just didn't feel right to let her go when she was feeling so under the weather. "A-are you okay?"
It was a dumb question, but a necessary one. He felt as if the girl could snap at him if he did didn't thread carefully.
"I'm okay." She mumbled, avoiding his eyes. "Of course I am. Everyone is fine so I am too. There's totally nothing wrong about me and this outcome…" Izuku just stared, incredulity plain in his eyes. After a silent moment, she sighed, hunching in defeat. "Except that's not the case." He noticed that very familiar feeling of self-deprecation in her eyes as she finally looked at him again. "I'm very sorry!" she yelled while bowing deeply.
"Why a-are you apologizing?"
"Because it was MY fault!" She still hadn't straightened up, nor seemed about to do it any time soon. "My lack of initiative almost got you, No.13 and Aizawa-sensei killed! If I had acted sooner you wouldn't have been hurt...! Running away was the only useful thing I could have done, and yet, I let my stupid sense of pride make me waver and that almost caused your death! For that I can only plead for your forgiveness from the deepest of my soul!"
He was speechless. ´So this was the reason she was so distressed...´
"That's dumb," he said, and immediately regretted as Tenko seemed to deflate even more. "What I m-meant is that you are mistaken!" He took her shoulders gently and she looked up at him. "You did nothing wrong, Iida-san. We survived because of you."
"NO!" She retreated from his hold, but remained at arm-reach distance. "You and sensei got hurt because I wasn't quick enough! I should have been more prepared! I should have acted faster! I−"
"You are a first-year student!" he yelled, making her flinch. "Just l-like me and the rest of our classmates…! Even if you did something wrong -that you didn't-, there's no point in blaming yourself because of it. None of us were prepared for such a thing, nor were we supposed to, either. Being attacked by villains while on the campus was something unimaginable. The fact no one died and everyone injured will recover is a miracle in itself, and it happened b-because of you!"
She had no idea of how true that was. Without her intervention, not only All Might wouldn't have arrived to save them from the Nomu, if the rest of the backup had arrived a moment later Izuku and his mentor would be dead right now.
That finally seemed to get through Tenko, but she wasn't giving up yet. "I d-didn't fight or anything important. I just ran. Does that really deserve any praise?"
"Yes, it does. You literally went to the campus and returned with backup in only some minutes. No one b-but you would have accomplished that. You need to give yourself more credit."
Tenko´s final remnants of stubbornness melted away. "I s-suppose you may have a point."
Then someone else spoke, "of course he does, Tenko."
They looked at the voice´s direction to find a man with dark blue hair and a kind smile, wearing armor similar to Tenko´s.
"I-INGENIUM?!" "Brother?!" They backed away from each other.
"I came immediately when I heard about the villain´s attack, but it seems everything is all right." The man´s eyes fixed on him. "You are Tenko´s friend, right, Izuku Midoriya, was it?"
One of his favorite heroes knew who he was. Better yet, Tenko had told her brother -who just happened to be one of his favorite heroes- about him. Izuku was so flustered and excited by the whole thing he could only nod in answer.
"I see, he he." Ingenium looked at his embarrassed sister. "Thank you for giving my little sister a pep talk when she needed it. She can be surprisingly pig-headed sometimes."
"N-no problem…?"
Before he could make any other teasing comment, Tenko advanced to her brother and started pushing him away. "Stop b-bothering Midoriya-kun and let´s go already!"
That only amused Ingenium even more. "Why so eager to leave, Tenko? I only want to know more about your friend."
"N-NO TIME FOR THAT!" She lifted her brother as if he weight nothing and then dashed using her quirk, for once indifferent about running through the hallways.
"See ya!" Ingenium waved at him as Tenko carried him way.
Izuku waved back, seriously wondering why the heck his life was so weird.
At least he wouldn't need to worry for anything unnecessarily stressing happening soon… Until literally his next class, the mummy -Aizawa- announced the Sport Festival was coming.
(…)
Later that week, Tensei was running some business at Musutafu, when he recognized a green-haired boy coming out from a comics shop.
´It's him.´ The same boy that had his dear sister completely smitten.
Deciding it wouldn't hurt to say hi, he approached. "Hey, Midoriya!"
The boy turned around with a curious expression and then his eyes opened wide in surprise. "I-Ingenium?!"
"I'm only Tensei right now, Midoriya." He winked. "Didn't expect to see you around."
"Um, I live here i-in Musutafu. I was just, um," Midoriya hide the comic he had just bought out from Tensei´s view and gave him his bigger -forced- smile possible "b-buying some groceries."
"Was that a Superman issue?" Izuku paled and before he could panic, Tensei added, "frankly, I prefer the Flash, for obvious reasons. But good ol´ Superman it´s a nice reading too."
"Y-You read comics too, Iida-san?" Izuku looked surprised but hopeful.
"Of course! I'm more surprised that you do, actually. Those comics were old even when I younger than you."
Izuku´s expression brightened like a kid receiving a new toy. "I have liked the character since I knew it existed! I mean, even if he was fictional, Superman was like the All Might of the people from the past. It´s culturally fascinating and−!" Suddenly the boy froze. "S-sorry! I'm probably wasting y-your time rambling like this!"
´He is a nice soft-spoken kid, just like Tenko said… But I really didn't expect him to have self-teem issues.´ Tensei smiled ruefully. "Hmm, not really." He looked at his wrist-watch. "I have a meeting, but that´s in about an hour and half, so it's no problem. What about you, Midoriya?"
"I was just going home."
"Well, let's go then!" He patted the boy´s back.
"E-eh?" Izuku stared at him with incomprehension.
"You live nearby, right?" The boy nodded. "Then I'll make sure you get home safely."
"T-that's not n-necessary! Really!" The boy shook his head fervently while gesturing with his hands. It was just as his sister usually did, but less robotic and more anxious.
"It's not, but I want to do it anyway!"
As Tensei started jogging, Izuku called him back, "w-wait!"
"Yeah?"
"It's this way…" Izuku pointed at the opposite direction he was going to.
"Right!"
(…)
Tensei was accustomed to jog every morning as part of his exercises routine, and it was something he took very seriously. So it was a nice surprise to see Izuku could keep with his regular -non-quirked- pace.
"So, is it everything okay?" he asked, wishing to make conversation, after noticing how distracted the boy seemed.
"Y-yeah…? Well, k-kinda."
"Understandable." He nodded. "With the Sports Festival so close, my dear sister is being more serious than ever. Mom had to scold her and keep watch to make sure Tenko would not overwork herself and finally rest for a little while."
"To say the t-truth, I'm kinda the same." Izuku looked sheepish.
"I know. It's your first Sport Festival and you are nervous, that happens to all first-year participants."
"Including you?" he asked, worried of that being a rude question.
"Especially me! I was so nervous about messing up and ruin everything I could barely sleep the day before the festival." He chuckled.
"But you won first p-place!"
"And I was super worried all the way, but like I said, that's normal, Midoriya. Believe me, everything will be all right in the end."
"I'm not so sure about that…" Izuku murmured, looking gloomy.
"Is this about your Quirk?" They stopped jogging. Izuku looked at him awkwardly. "Sorry, but Tenko told me about it. If I understand correctly, you have problems controlling it."
"Yes." Izuku seemed conflicted. "I got it really late, but now a lot of people is counting on me and I don't want to disappoint them. So I've been training and thinking about how to get better at using it, but I don't know if I'm doing enough… I'm just so far behind everyone else..."
"I think you are doing your best." He smiled gently, and started walking. "Every pro and hero student has a reason for choosing this career, and each one is valid in its own way, but tell me, Midoriya, which is yours?"
"Um, I w-want to be like All Might." Izuku walked beside him. "He has been my favorite hero since always and I wanted to be like him. To save people with a smile like he d-does!"
"That's a good reason. It shows you have your heart in the right place. So I'll tell you, as long as you are true to your beliefs and don't give up, no one -that matters- will ever be disappointed of you. You only need to keep strong and work hard and smart, so you'll be satisfied with yourself no matter the outcome."
Izuku was just one of the millions of people inspired by All Might, so Tensei didn't want the boy to get the wrong idea and obsess about victory or perfection. But with the way Izuku smiled, he knew that wasn't going to happen. "Thanks a lot, Iida-san!"
Now he only needed to do the same with his hardheaded sister.
´Right! I should ask.´ It was his job as an older brother. "Midoriya, is there something happening between you and Tenko?" He failed to sound intimidating, feeling mostly just curious. Was the boy just his sister´s one-sided crush or his future brother-in-law? "Because she speaks really highly of you."
"W-w-what?! S-she d-does…?!" Izuku´s reaction was exactly the same than his sister when he confronted her about it. The boy remained silent for a moment, and his expression changed between so many emotions he couldn't keep the count. "Sorry, but I t-think I can see m-my house already! Thanks for e-everything and see y-you later!" The boy ran away, covering a silly smile with his hand.
"See you later," it would have been really easy to chase the boy, but he had no reason to, "brother-in-law." Tensei grinned and continued his way.
Despite having a speed Quirk, he still arrived late to his meeting.
