---

Everyone had a breaking point. Some people reached it sooner than others.

In Tenko’s case, the Sports Festival getting close had her stressed and her -perceived only by herself- poor work at the USJ only exacerbated that.

Izuku and Tensei’s words of encouragement had helped her, but the pressure of everyone’s expectations was still there.

So she trained and trained until the day of the Sports Festival finally arrived.

She walked to Tensei’s car feeling about to explode in anxiety.

“Tenko,” her brother said gently, “I already told you. You’ll do it great.” He patted her head, which looked weird considering they were almost the same height.  ”Now go and kick everyone’s butts for me, okay?”

She nodded in slight embarrassment. “I’ll d-do my best to make you proud.”

He grinned. “Silly sister of mine, you always do.”

(…)

In the Sports Festival, competitiveness was a must, so it wasn’t weird for some rivalries to rise. However, the last thing Izuku expected was for Todoroki, one of the strongest people in his class, to challenge him.

It just made the pressure over him feel even more real.

“That was unexpected,” he muttered.

“Not really,” said Tenko, standing maybe a bit too close. It wasn’t something she did on purpose. She simply gravitated closer to him when while distracted. “Though Todoroki-kun was a bit rough in his approach, it’s an undeniable fact that, like him, you are one of the strongest people in our class. Besides possessing a lot of untapped potential. Enough to make you a fierce opponent.”

“Is t-that so?” He scratched the back of his head, trying not to grin like an idiot.

“It is.” She fixed her glasses in place. “A-actually, while less impactful now, I also need to make a declaration.”

“Finally!” said Ochako for Izuku’s embarrassment.

“Once the Sports Festival begins, we will be opponents. So I promise to make my best effort to defeat you, Midoriya-kun!”

“Aw,” Ochako deflated.

“And you too, Ochako-kun!” Tenko bowed. “I hope you reciprocate this challenge and may the best win!” 

Izuku couldn’t but smile. While Tenko’s intent was the same as Todoroki’s, the different delivery made her words somewhat encouraging. “Yes, let’s give our best!”

(…)

The first even should have been hers. It was a race and Tenko’s Quirk was speed-based. However, it was Todoroki and Bakugo who took the lead, constantly fighting for dominance, leaving her in third place.

She could have taken victory using her trump card, but it felt cheap to use it so early. Besides, once at the minefield, going at full speed stopped being a good idea.

She noticed Izuku messing around with a robot part.  She didn’t question him, though. Knowing Izuku, he surely had a reason. What are you planning, Midoriya-kun?

Despite her reluctance, she had to slow down after a mine almost blown her away. Two students from 1-A, a girl with green hair and a boy with no lips, took that opportunity to pass her. It was unfortunate, but they had better-suited Quirks for that obstacle.

It’s fine, even if I don’t get first place now, I’ll still pass and have the chance to shine on the next events! she told herself, but not being on the top three of a supposed race made her blood boil. Was such a result acceptable for a member of the Iida family?

All of the sudden, she heard a big explosion. As if reminiscing his performance on the Practical Exam, Izuku went flying past her and everyone else, reclaiming first place.

No need to say, she was awestruck at such an unexpected outcome. It wasn’t only that Izuku won, he did it without even using his Quirk once.

The implications for her were also grim: The first event was a race and she wasn’t even on the top five.

Her stomach churn. Despite her best intentions, maybe she hadn’t taken her challenge to Izuku seriously enough.

She was going to correct that.

(…)

Izuku won the first event. That was good.

However, it put a huge target on his back for the Cavalry Battle, which was bad.

But it also meant, as long as his team kept the band worth ten million points, they would automatically win. Something good.

However, no one wanted to be on his team because of the danger it represented. Something very bad

As he was panicking, Ochako approached. “Let’s team up, Deku-kun!” She smiled brightly. ”I’d rather team up with someone I’m friends with!”

He smiled in appreciation.

Now he only needed someone with good synergy with them. It wasn’t difficult to know who. “Iida-san!” he called the girl. “Would you like to join our team?” Tenko’s expression went rigid, so he explained, “your speed combined with Uraraka-san’s Quirk would make us mobile enough to be almost impossible to catch! We would pass to the final event without any problems!”

“I understand, Midoriya-kun. It’s a simple enough plan but I can see the appeal. Excellent thinking, just as I expected of you.”

He smiled, looking away with his face red.

“However, I won’t join your team.”

His smile died.

“W-what?” he spurted, not comprehending.

“I told you before, we are opponents. Just as Todoroki-kun, Bakugo-kun and you consider each other as rivals. I do the same with you.”

“Oh.”

Tenko looked away, flustered. ”So d-don’t dare to try to c-convince me, Midoriya-kun! Let’s meet on the battlefield!!” She marched away.

Izuku looked at Ochako. “H-hey, it’s me or she kinda wanted to join despite what she said?”

Ochako sighed in fond exasperation.

Surprisingly, there was someone else interested in joining his team. “Let’s team up, 1st Place-kun!” shouted the weird pink-haired girl from the Support Department.

Was it that good? Bad…? He had no idea.

(…)

For Tenko, the Cavalry Battle was a change for the better. Thanks to her team’s great coordination and her use of Recipro-Burst, they stole Izuku’s band and got first place.

The victory would have been sweeter, though, if Izuku’s team hadn’t stolen two of their bands.

After debating with herself, she decided it was okay. Her best friends had passed to the last event and now she had the chance to confront them directly on the last event.

Tenko started clapping enthusiastically as Izuku won his match after freeing himself out from Shinso’s Brainwashing.

However, Tenko wasn’t too excited about her first opponent.

Mei Hatsume. That shameful girl with pink dreadlocks who dared to move into Izuku’s personal space as if it didn’t matter. Tenko didn’t like her, not even one bit…

Because she didn’t like rude people. It was totally just that.

“Hey, you, Glasses-chan!” The girl in question approached.

“G-glasses-chan?! My name is Tenko Iida, thank you very much!” She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Whatever! I’m Mei Hatsume. You are Ingenium’s sister, aren’t cha? Your Quirk sure is showy! Really cool like his but it could be better!!”

The girl had caught her with her guard down. “Y-you think so?”

“Yeah, yeah! Just let me show you one of my babies! They will make you even faster!”

“O-okay!”

Maybe the girl wasn’t that bad.

(…)

Things got worse than Izuku expected.

He could only wince at the mess that turned out to be Tenko’s first match. Mei had tricked her into using her gear and show them off.

In a bizarre twist, Tenko still won at the end. But only thanks to Mei being completely uninterested in continuing on the tournament after having shown the usefulness of her invents to the public.

Tenko looked understandably frustrated and insulted about the whole thing, just by the way she stood in the shadows, a frown on her face, and her shoulders slumped.

“A-are you okay, Iida-san?”

“I am,” she said, doing the closest to a pout without actually being so. It was as if she wanted him to leave her alone immediately and ask about her problem, both at the same time.

He chose the latter.

“Really…?”

“Yes, I am!” she shouted, indignation on her face. ”Who said anything about me feeling miserable after looking like a buffoon for the entire world to see?!”

Izuku was dumbstruck. “E-eh, you just did…”

Tenko deflated, any pretense of being unaffected disappearing.

“Is it that how you really feel, Iida-san?”

After a moment, she nodded weakly.

“I guess I can’t blame you, it wasn’t a nice thing what Mei did,” he said in his kindest tone possible. ”I feel kind of g-guilty about it, considering she was my teammate before...”

“You shouldn’t.” She shook her head, still not looking at him. “I was the one who let her convince me of using her gear. It’s my fault for being so gullible. I should have known better, it’s not even the first time someone ridicules me in such a way.” Tenko seemed even more depressed than before.

Izuku had to fix the situation.

“Well, t-those people are awful!” Tenko looked at him in surprise. “I get it, sometimes it feels like you are the p-problem, especially if you respected those people’s opinions, but that’s doesn’t make it fine for them to disregard your feelings!” He tried to ignore the fact he was kinda talking about his own experience with Katsuki.

”No one should be mocked by the way they are, especially not someone k-kind like you. There’s nothing wrong with being trusting, polite, and having a strong moral c-compass. Even if some people can’t get along with you, t-they should at least respect that.”

“T-that’s a nice thing to say,” she muttered.

“I mean it,” he said seriously. “You are my friend. Someone I respect. And I think− no, I know, you’ll be a great hero.”

“I s-see, t-thank you. Y-you are a-also...” The girl was having problems answering. “We s-should go w-watch Uraraka-san’s fight!” She left at a fast pace, embarrassed but in a considerably happier mood.

She was also damn cute, but he couldn’t admit that yet.

 (…)

After his battle with Todoroki, Izuku woke up in the infirmary. He vaguely reminded conversing with All Might and his friends visiting, before Recovery Girl brought him to the operating room to fix the mess he made of himself.

That done, he walked back to the stand, halting as he saw Tenko. “Iida-san.”

The girl’s expression twitched between a frown and a smile while looming around him as if she wanted to hug him but didn’t want to hurt him. Finally, she set for a frown. “Midoriya-kun! What you did was irresponsible, reckless, and completely and utterly unnecessary!!” she yelled. “I know you always give your everything, but you just went too far!! That was seriously difficult to watch!”

Tenko was close to biting his head off and yet, instead of the shame he normally felt when Recovery Girl scolded him, Izuku was almost giddy. While embarrassing too, it was nice to see how much she worried for him.

“I’m s-sorry for making you worry, Iida-san.” He bowed. ”It just seemed the right thing at the moment… Because I can’t fully control my Quirk yet, winning against Todoroki was almost impossible. So the way he was handicapping himself, even if it gave me a chance, didn’t feel right.”

Her expression softened. “Fine. I understand. In your place, I would feel the same way, but please try not to hurt yourself like that again.”

He nodded. “What h-happened with your second match?”

“Hmm, Shiozaki-san? She was strong, but with my greater maneuverability, it was no p-problem to deal with her,” she said while shyly playing with one of her braids.

He smiled. “I wonder if Tensei-san watched you winning.”

“Hmm.” She nodded and smiled back. “He called me earlier. He must be busy with his job, though. Next time we speak, will be once I win the tournament!”

And at that moment, it didn’t seem as anything could go wrong.

(…)

Far away from there, Tensei was having a hectic day.

His dear sister was participating in the Sports Festival, and yet, instead of being in the stadium to support her, he was stuck on Hosu because of the Hero Killer.

It was unfortunate but heroics were like that. More often than not, you had to put others’ wishes before yours. But if in that way, he could make the streets safer for her sister and everyone else, then he would do it gladly.

Which brought him to the current situation, answering the call for help of the pro-hero Native.

All he had to do was to keep Stain busy for a couple of minutes while his side-kicks closed any possible escape routes and then backed him up.

It should have been easy.

The moment he saw the villain, standing by the fallen Native and yelling some random stuff about fakes, Tensei threw a flying kick at him. “I would leave now if I were you, Stain!” Despite his great speed, the Hero Killer managed to maneuver around Tensei’s attack and draw his katana in a slashing move.

Apparently, Tensei wasn’t the only fast one there.

He landed, wincing as part of his kneepads fell apart. Fortunately, the strike didn’t hurt him seriously, but he didn’t like how close it was. “Cool move. Did you learn it watching anime?” he said, forcing a carefree tone.

“Tsk.” The Hero Killer scowled, clearly disappointed he hadn’t maimed Tensei. “Do you have the time to spout nonsense while that trash bleeds out?” The villain gestured to Native with his sword.

Tensei didn’t need the villain to tell him that, he wasn’t a fool. Giving the Hero Killer his back to try to rescue Native would get him killed. Tensei could only fight him and leave the rescuing part to his team. Besides, making the Hero Killer mad enough to ignore Native and focus on him was a sound plan.  “Nop. I’m totally fine.”

The Hero Killer brought his sword to his mouth. “Bad answer.”

Suddenly, Tensei fell to the ground as all his strength abandoned him. “W-what?!” He tried to stand up but his body wasn’t answering.

“You are as weak as all the others…” The villains’ words dripped with hostility. His crazed eyes fixed on Tensei. “Another fake hero that needs to be gone.” The villain’s murderous aura thickened, so much Tensei wasn’t sure if it was just a hallucination or actually part of his Quirk.

He heard the frantic words of his team through his headset but couldn’t answer, overwhelmed by a feeling he had only experimented a couple of times before.

Cold and hollow.

The fear of death.

(…)

Tenko lost.

Surprisingly, she wasn’t sad or depressed about it.

It left an emptiness in her stomach, though, as if losing was the expected result. Now watching Todoroki and Bakugo fighting, was another reminder some people were just at a completely different level.

Izuku and Ochako looked at her with worry, and she couldn’t find it in herself to try to appease them

Tenko did her best to try to triumph and it wasn’t enough. There was nothing she could do to change it. She would like to think third place -shared with Tokoyami- would be enough to make her family proud… Except for the fact Tensei and her parents got first place in the Sports Festival when they assisted at UA. So currently, she was the only loser in the family.

Loser? Then, are Izuku and Ochako losers too? And the rest of your classmates too…?

No, that’s different!!

Different…? How? Please, explain me.

Her internal debate was interrupted by her cellphone chiming.

“What’s that?!” said both her friends. Tenko didn’t know why they were surprised, she was using a perfectly normal and classic polyphonic tone. Nothing wrong with it.

“It’s my phone. Give me a moment.” After walking a distance away, she answered, “Hello, Mom. I lost my match. Got too careless and my opponent was really strong so-”

“Tenko, it’s not about that. It’s your brother.” Her usually calm mother sounded distraught which couldn’t be anything good. “He crossed with villain and…”

The rest felt muted. Tenko heard it but refused to believe it as the emptiness in her stomach grew.

It was just absurd. Her brother was the strongest and fastest of the family, practically invincible. Even most than her parents, he was her hero. Her prime example of what a hero and a human being had to be.

It can’t be true, and she repeated it in her mind, over and over, hoping to be right.

 (…)

After the tense fight between Todoroki and Bakugo reached its end, it was time for the award ceremony. Tenko didn’t assist, not having returned since she left to answer her call, which was worrying Izuku.

“She had a family situation,” said Aizawa, without truly explaining.

The Festival ended uneventfully and he returned home, to be almost hugged to death by his mother who looked about having a heart attack because of the anxiety she had felt all the evening.

He tried to call Tenko after that, but she didn’t take his call.

Against his best attempts at being positive, he couldn’t stop the feeling something awful had occurred.

His fears were confirmed the next day as he ate breakfast with her mom. “Yesterday on the district of Hosu, the Pro-Hero Ingenium was attacked. Rumors say that by Hero Killer, who has made himself known by his chain of killings the last months. Ingenium’s current state of health is unknown. We’re still waiting for an official declaration from the Iida family…” said the news.

“Eh? Izuku, are you alright…?” asked his mom, but he was too flabbergasted to answer.

Immediately, he tried to call Tenko again and when that didn’t work, sent her some emails. She didn’t answer, though.

Being Saturday and with no classes or homework to keep him busy, Izuku stewed in his concern for the rest of the day, reminding his previous meeting with the Pro-hero.

Tensei had been exactly what Izuku expected, a charismatic and kind guy who made you want to support him. It was understandable why Tenko respected him so much.

And yet, such a dreadful thing had occurred to a great guy like him, the same day which was supposed to be a huge event for his sister.

It was as if fate were mocking them.

Sunday morning, Izuku woke up to his cellphone chiming, a new mail in his inbox.

‘This is probably going to freak you out, Midoriya, but it’s me, Tensei. Could you visit me at the hospital I’m in? I need to talk with you about something important. Don’t worry about the people at the reception, Mom already informed them about you. If you can, of course, this is the direction…’

Izuku stared at the message, sure it had to be some kind of sick joke. What in the hell could Ingenium want to talk with him about? Especially after what happened to him.

However, it seemed unlikely, considering the message came from Tenko’s email address.

He just uselessly hoped things wouldn’t get weirder.

(…)

It took Izuku a while but he convinced her mother about letting him go. Her only condition was to accompany him.

She had been quite silent during the entire train ride to the hospital.

Finally speaking after they passed by the reception and entered the elevator, “Izuku, it’s very kind of you to comfort your girlfriend in a moment like this.” Inko looked at him with a gentle smile.

“M-mom…”

“Alright, your friend. It’s a nice gesture, anyway.”

“T-thanks.” He resisted the blush. “I just hope Tensei-san it’s not as bad as the news people thought.”

As it stopped, they left the elevator and advanced through the hallway. A tall woman with glasses and short black hair stood in front of Tensei’s room.

“Are you Midoriya-san?” she asked and they nodded. “A pleasure to meet you, I’m Miyuki Iida, Tensei and Tenko’s mother.”

Then Mother and son exchanged greetings with Miyuki. Izuku felt especially nervous as Miyuki’s gaze lingered on him as if wondering what Tensei wanted of him.

“Excuse me, Miyuki-san, it’s, eh, T-Tenko-san inside?” he asked.

“Oh. Tenko-chan it’s back to our home.” Izuku blinked in surprise. “Um, she stuck to Tensei’s side for the past two days and almost didn’t sleep or eat the whole time. My husband practically had to drag her away so she could go to rest for a bit.” She smiled sadly. “If I’m not wrong, my son had something to speak with you.” She moved aside. “Go in, he should be awake.”

He nodded, and after looking at his mom, entered the room.

It was as uncomfortable as Izuku expected.

As a regular hospital room, it was cold and smelled at antiseptic. Tensei was the only patient inside. Izuku didn’t know exactly how bad his wounds were, but with the machines Tensei was connected to, it was difficult not to assume the worst. With even more apprehension, Izuku realized he probably looked just as bad after his fight against Todoroki.

After noticing him, Tensei smiled weakly. “Hi, Midoriya. This sure wasn’t how I expected to meet you again.” He sounded languid, possibly because of whatever medicaments he was currently receiving.

“Tensei-san…” Seeing the normally lively man in such a condition was shocking.

“Sit down. Better get comfortable.” He did as Tensei said, weirded out by how unaffected the pro-hero acted.

“I heard Tenko-chan got third place at the Sports Festival, but what about you?”

Izuku tilted his head in confusion. “I lost at the Quarter Finals, against Todoroki-kun.”

“Endeavor’s kid, right? Tenko told me he was really strong. But, hey, you still got to the Top 10, that’s good, isn’t it?”

Izuku scowled. “Sorry, Tensei-san, b-but that can’t be what you want to talk about...”

“Well, you are right about that. I just wanted you to relax before I followed with the serious stuff, but I guess I should go to the point. I wanted to ask you for a favor, Midoiriya. To begin with, that message you received this morning, Tenko doesn’t know I send it. She shouldn’t know about this conversation either, okay?”

Izuku nodded hesitantly, not quite liking the idea of keeping secrets from his friend.

”You see, right now, I can’t walk,” he commented as if it was nothing. His expression and tone neutral. “With time, I´ll probably recover but it won’t ever be the same. My body is not suited for heroics anymore.”

Izuku paled, taking a moment to register what Tensei had said.  “That can’t be true, I know it! I have damaged myself a lot before because of my Quirk and I still recovered almost perfectly! If Recovery Girl treats your wounds…”

“She already did,” Tensei interrupted him. “It’s only thanks to her, I still have the possibility of walking once I get better… But I won’t be back to hero duty. Stain wounded me so I wouldn’t fully recover enough to do so.”

Medicated or not, Izuku couldn’t understand Tensei’s nonchalant behavior. Any other person would be angry or devastated. Tensei just acted as if he didn’t care.

It was so infuriating, Izuku made him the question that was in his mind, “how can you be so calm about this…?”

Tensei’s mouth thinned into a line. “Midoriya. I don’t feel calm at all.”

“S-sorry…” He looked away, regretting what he said-.

After a moment of silence, Tensei sighed. “No. I’m sorry. This situation is awkward in itself and I can’t blame you for not knowing how to react. But believe me, despite everything, I’m fine.”

“You are right, t-that’s really hard to believe.”

Tensei chuckled. “Yeah, I wouldn’t believe myself either if I was in your place… But can I make you a question, Midoriya?” He nodded. “If I told you, you can be a great hero, the best of all, loved and respected by everyone, and save the lives of countless people, but in exchange for getting killed or wounded badly one day, would you still want to be a hero?”

Izuku was caught by surprise because of the severity of the question. However, he already knew his answer. “I would. Every time.”

“Well said,” Tensei smiled. “Because that’s not completely a hypothetical question. When you are a pro-hero, dying or getting wounded are always present possibilities. There’s no hero out there who hadn’t experienced a close call before. Heck, maybe even All Might,” he said jokingly, not noticing the way Izuku flinched.

“So beyond any sadness and regret I feel for not being able to be a hero anymore, I’m happy for being alive and back with my family… Besides, I can’t let myself fall apart, not when I know it’ll affect my family too. It wouldn’t be fair for them.”

Izuku frowned. He could understand and even sympathize with Tensei not wanting to burden his family, but the whole situation wasn’t fair for him either. Was Tensei supposed to swallow all his pain and sorrow to act as if nothing had occurred?

“Don’t make that face, Midoriya. I told you, I’ll be fine. Now, what worries me is Tenko.”

Izuku lifted an eyebrow. He could imagine how distressed Tenko was, but was it really so bad to be a cause of worry? “What happened…?”

“For now, nothing, Midoriya. But these last two days, I noticed something wrong about her, this darkness and hate growing inside her. I could see it in her eyes… The last person I saw with that same look didn’t end up well… I know I’m being selfish, but please, please, try to take care of my sister. Don’t let her commit a mistake she will regret.”

Izuku swallowed his nerves, conviction growing inside him.

“I will.”

(…)

Izuku wasn’t sure what he expected when he crossed with Tenko in front of the campus. A sad or depressed Tenko, probably.

“G-good morning, Iida-san.”

“Good morning too, Midoriya-kun,” she said, her expression neutral, reminding him of Tensei’s.

“Are you okay? I h-heard about Tensei-san.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Sorry if my brother and I inconvenienced you.” She smiled, but there wasn’t sincerity on it. It was empty, and Izuku didn’t like at all what hid behind her gaze.

Now, he could understand what Tensei had referred to before. Even if Tenko wasn’t voicing it and even if she would deny it, she looked as if she needed help.

(…)

Tenko’s day was dull. The classes that would normally excite her now felt grey and unimportant.  

Everything did. Even her classmates and Izuku. She shrugged them off in the subtlest way she could. Apparently, making a bad job, because Izuku seemed suspicious about her behavior.

Even then, she didn’t truly care.

Only something was worth her attention, the offers she received for her internship.

There were a hundred of them, including the one from her family agency, Idaten. Sadly, any happiness she would normally felt about it wasn’t there. Assisting felt useless if her brother wasn’t there.

Just like she couldn’t take the ‘Ingenium’ hero-name yet, she wouldn’t put a foot in Idaten either, until she did what she must. And for that, she needed to find a smaller agency on Hosu or its proximities. It took a while but she did; Manual’s was a perfect choice.

She filled the form and when her teacher was alone, put it over his desk.

Aizawa stared at the document, expressionless, before pushing it towards Tenko.

“Bring it later… Once you get the chance to think calmly about it.”

Her surprise died down and was replaced with anger. Without a word, she pushed the form toward Aizawa again, maybe a bit more brusquely than she should.

Aizawa glared at her but she didn’t back up. After a moment, he sighed. “Listen. As much as I would like to rip this document apart and choose a better-suited place for your internship. I’m obligated by the school rules to accept your choice, even if it’s a completely stupid one.”

If she didn’t felt so dead inside, she would have said something about that.

“Fortunately.” Aizawa put his hand over the form and slowly pushed it away. “I’m not obligated to receive it now either.” He stood from his desk, ignoring Tenko’s glare. “Bring it again after Saturday’s homeroom,” he added before leaving the classroom.

Tenko stood there, wanting to scream and kick the desk until it was reduced to scrap… So many things she wanted to do but couldn’t.

She didn’t even allow herself to cry. She already did it after seeing her brother resting on his hospital bed. She needed to put aside her weaknesses to have a chance against the Hero Killer.

Tensei couldn’t and you are weaker than him. What makes you think you even have a chance?

It was simple.

She was weaker and less experienced than her brother, that’s true. But there was a fundamental difference between them.

Their intent.

Tensei had wanted to capture the Hero Killer.

But Tenko…? She would exterminate Stain like the plague he was.

(…)

After homeroom, Izuku felt himself melting into a depressed puddle.

He received no offers for internships at all. Not even one.

He could understand why, but it still felt as if all his determination and pain had been deemed worthless. He could only blame himself, though. He needed to get a better grasp over OFA.

To his relief, All Might informed him about a last-minute offer from his old teacher. It seemed too good to be the truth, though. So he was both expectant and fearful about it.

However, there was a more worrisome subject he had to deal with.

Tenko.

She had been unusually quiet, deflecting any attempts of conversation, especially if it was about Tensei. She also acted unusually lax and uncaring about her vice-rep duties and surroundings in general, which was bizarre in itself.

Their classmates noticed the change too. Some of them simply thought Tenko was learning not to stress herself so much over everything. While the more sensitive ones, like Ochako and Momo, assumed she needed a bit of time for herself after what happened to her brother.

Izuku would’ve liked to believe it was just that, but the days passed and Tenko was still behaving weirdly. And at least for him, a Tenko who wasn’t all proper and obsessively trying to enforce rules wasn’t a mentally healthy one.

Eventually, he decided to intervene.

“Iida-san, could we talk?” he told her after classes ended.

“Sorry, Midoriya-kun, but−”

“Please,” he interrupted her. ”It’s important. I mean it.”

Tenko nodded. “Okay. Go on.”

“I would prefer to speak in private.”

Meanwhile, Ochako observed them, covering her mouth and her eyes shining like stars. She was completely misunderstanding, wasn’t she?

(…)

Tenko and Izuku entered an empty classroom. He looked at her, thinking about how to start what would undoubtedly be an awkward conversation.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well? What was it, Midoriya-kun? I’m going to be late if you don’t get to the point.”

“Ah. I’m g-going to do my internship with Gran Torino,” he jabbered. “He is an acquaintance of All Might, apparently, and because of how similar our Quirks are, he should know how to help me with mine...” He prayed Tenko didn’t find that suspicious. Instead, her expression was as off as before. If she even paid attention to what he said, she probably didn’t care much.

“Ah. That’s nice, Midoriya-kun,” was all she had to say.

“W-what about you? Where are you going?” He had a bad feeling about it but needed to ask her.

“Oh. I’m going to Manual’s agency.”

Izuku made his best effort not to react. That was on Hosu and it couldn’t be a coincidence, not with the way Tenko’s eyes shined when she mentioned it.

Under normal circumstances, he would just accept it. He had no right to question Tenko’s decision, it wasn’t his place.

But then, Todoroki’s situation wasn’t either and Izuku still intervened. He could do nothing about Endeavor, but he still managed to change the way Todoroki saw his Quirk and himself.

In the same way, he could do nothing about Tensei’s wound or the Hero Killer’s rampage, but he could stop Tenko from ruining her future because of bad decisions fueled by her anger.

“Why?” he asked with finality.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s nothing wrong with Manual, he is a great hero but there’s no reason for you to choose his agency,” he explained. “After getting third place on the Sports Festival, I’m sure you got some offers from higher-ranking heroes… But, no. That’s not even the real problem… Knowing you, Tenko-san, even if you got an offer from All Might himself, I’m sure you would reject it for your brother’s agency. You admire him that much.”

Tenko was shocked, but it only took her a second to recompose herself. “You are right, but if Tensei isn’t there, I see no reason to go to Idaten.”

“And there is a reason to go to Manual’s agency?” Tenko flinched. “Or is it just because it’s located at Hosu?”

Her expression wavered. “I don’t understand what you mean, Midoriya. Sorry but I have to go.” She turned around to leave the classroom, but he rushed and got in her way.

“Please, don’t do this, Iida-san… Tenko-san.”

“Midoriya, please move,” she tried to look unaffected but he could feel her true feelings burning close to the surface.

“You know this is wrong. That you could end up gravely wounded or worse.”

“Midoriya,” she gritted her teeth, her body trembling.

“Please. You can’t go after the Hero Killer−!”

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW!” she finally exploded.

“T-Tenko…”

He backed up as Tenko advanced towards him, cornering him with his back to the wall. 

“Yes, I know I’m the younger sibling! The weak and awkward one! I’m aware I don’t have a chance, but that villain almost killed my brother! Because of that bastard, Tensei is now a cripple! And there’s no way I’m going to leave him to continue with his bad deeds! SOMEONE HAS TO PUT HIM DOWN AND IT WILL BE ME!”

“Tenko-san, are you even listening to yourself…?! This is not about being weak or strong. I know what you are feeling but−”

“No, you don’t! You were never so close to losing someone, were you?”

Izuku halted. “No. Y-you are right, but I still have a family. I know what it is to feel worried about them or be the cause of worry. So believe me, I understand how furious you must be because if someone hurt my mom, I don’t know what I would d-do to them…”

“Then, why…?! If you understand what I’m feeling, then, why are you trying to interfere?!”

“Because I know you would do the same for me!!”

Tenko’s eyes widened. “W-what?”

“You are better than this, Tenko-san. You aren’t the kind of person that would ever do such a thing as breaking the law and let anger control you like this, but you are angry and with reason. What happened to Tensei was awful and too sudden, but you have to realize you don’t need to do this.”

“B-but I do,” she repeated, unsure of herself.

“No. That’s not true… Someone will stop Stain, sooner than later, but it doesn’t have to be you. If you let vengeance consume you and go after him, then no matter what happens in the end, victory or defeat, he’ll win.”

“B-but if I don’t… Then, h-how can I be worthy of the Ingenium name…?” With that blinding anger gone, Tenko was just a confused and pained girl who didn’t know how to confront the unfairness of what occurred to her brother.

“You already are,” he put his hands on her shoulder. “There were never doubts about that.”

With those words, the dam broke and tears flowed down Tenko’s face as she hugged him awkwardly. “I-I’m sorry for shouting at you... It’s just, i-it isn’t fair…”

“I know,” he returned the hug, for once not embarrassed about it, fully focused on comforting Tenko.

“If I was g-going to inherit the Ingenium name like this, I would have preferred for my b-brother to just keep it forever...” She tightened her embrace.

“It’s okay. Both Tensei and I know you will be a great Ingenium.”

“D-do you really believe that?”

“Yes. You just need to start believing it yourself.”

As they finally separated, Tenko averted her gaze, cheeks red. “I g-guess now I have to find an actual place for my internship.”

He smiled. “Yes, and I can help you if you want.”

And they passed the next hour going through all the offers Tenko received. None was as well-suited as the one from Idaten, but sadly, Tenko still felt self-conscious about accepting it. It would bring back bad feelings and the agency was too close to Hosu.

As they discarded offer after offer, he got an idea. It was a bit drastic and could make things inconvenient for himself, but it would be for the better. Maybe he was being a bit overprotective, but he didn’t like the idea of just leaving Tenko by herself, not until she had fully overcome her current dilemma.

If he was going to help her, he would go all the way. The least he could do was to try.

“Tenko-san, sorry but I need to make a call.”

“No problem! Go on, I’ll keep looking!”

He smiled and exited the classroom, taking out his cellphone and looking for All Might’s contact.

“Hello! Is it everything all right, young Midoriya?”

“Yeah. It’s just, um, I was curious about Gran Torino. I never really asked you what kind of hero he was, but I wondered, would he be of help with speed-related training?”

“Oh, trying to diversify your style? That’s nice! And if it’s about speed, you have nothing to worry about. I’m sure he can give you some nice tips.”

Izuku smiled. Well, it’s now or never. “All Might, about that, could I ask you a favor?”

(…)

It took a while, but he managed to convince All Might about his plan. Though, by the end of the call, the Symbol of Peace sounded like a soldier going to the battlefield knowing they wouldn’t return.

Really, what kind of person was Gran Torino?

In any case, by the next morning, he received a positive answer.

“Gran Torino s-said he could receive you as an intern too, Tenko-san,” he said excitedly.

“W-wait, really?!” She looked happy until worry reached her face. ”But is it really okay? It was supposed to be your internship only, isn’t it?”

“It’s fine. It looks like Gran Torino was also a speed-based hero of a kind, so he could help you too… Of course, you don’t have to accept if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to!” She fixed her glasses nervously. “If you d-don’t mind.”

He grinned. “I don’t.”

She cleaned her throat. “Also, you have been calling me by my first name for a while.” Izuku froze. ”Can I call you Izuku-kun then?” she asked, playing with her fingers.

He gulped. “P-please feel free to do so!”

Finally, after so much stress, it looked like things were going to be okay again.

(…)

With Tenko back to her normal self, the day of the internships arrived.

Reuniting in their classroom, Aizawa started giving them their costumes, along with his typical warnings.

“You make sure your classmate doesn’t do anything stupid,” said Aizawa, leveling them with a glare.

“I will!” they said at the same time, for Aizawa’s chagrin.

Then, they boarded the train to Gran Torino’s home.

“I’m so excited about this!” he said. “Wonder what kind of place it will be.” All Might hadn’t explained at all, which should have been a red flag.

“He is a retired hero, isn’t it? I would expect a dignified place,” she said, completely jinxing it.

After getting down the train and following the address, they arrived at a rundown building. They looked at each other with apprehension and walked to the door, noticing quickly that it wasn’t locked.

As Izuku opened the door, the first thing they saw was an old man over a puddle of blood just in the middle of the living room. He immediately closed the door again.

The first one to get out of the shock was Tenko. “I-Izuku-kun! Do you know how to detect vital signs?!”

“E-eh?! I think so…?”

“G-good! I’ll call an ambulance, please check if he is still breathing!” She immediately took her phone out and started typing.

He gulped but nodded. “O-okay!”

But the moment he opened the door again, the old man was on his feet, giving them a ridiculous disappointed look.

“These kids of today… not nearly as funny as Toshinori…” grumbled the old man.

“Ah?” they uttered at the same time.

“911, what is your emergen-…?” Tenko hanged out.

“A-are you okay, sir?” asked Izuku. “You are Gran Torino, right?”

His expression became neutral, if somewhat feeble. “I just slipped and fell over my ketchup. And of course, I’m me! So young and you are already forgetting stuff, Toshinori?”

He was so confused. “T-Toshinori…? I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

“And I’m Tenko Iida, sir. We came to do our internships with you, sir.”

The old man just stared at them. If he wasn’t Gran Torino, then Izuku didn’t know what to think about the caped costume the old man was using.

“What a surprise, Toshinori. You got a girlfriend! Not sure if I should congratulate you or give her my most sincere apologies.”

Izuku almost choked. The old man had gone senile or something, there was no other explanation. This was a mistake.

“S-sorry, I’m going to call All Might-sensei,” he told Tenko, who was both confused and flustered at Gran Torino’s words.

Taking out his phone, he turned around to exit the place when the retired hero spoke, “hey, kid, the miss here doesn’t know about that, right?” Izuku slowly turned back to Gran Torino, who looked a lot more focused than before.

“That?” Tenko looked between them. “What do you mean, Gran Torino, sir?”

“I’ll take that as a no. I saw you brutalizing yourself on TV, kid, but couldn’t fully judge how much power you could currently control… If I can even call that control. Looks like Toshinori hasn’t done much to teach you,” muttered Gran Torino, making Izuku flinch. Then the pro-hero turned to Tenko. “And, you, miss, lost your fight for having neglected learning how to move with more precision. Just rushing all the time won’t do.”

They were aghast at how the man’s presence had changed all of the sudden. Was he just pulling a prank on us all the time?

“Well, no sense in wasting more time speaking. Go put your costumes, I want to see at what level you two are.”

(…)

After an awkward moment trying to decide who would change first, they were ready.

“You took a while. Now, try to hit me.” Gran Torino ordered them confidently, which made them look at each other hesitantly.

“Not to disrespect you, sir, but are you sure?”

He agreed with Tenko. “Yeah, I m-mean, my Quirk packs quite a punch, and using it inside could be a bit messy...”

“Eh? You shouldn’t worry about hitting me too hard.” Suddenly the man jumped from wall to wall at high speed, kicking Izuku’s back and hitting Tenko’s legs to make her lose her balance, before sticking to the ceiling. A smirk on his face. “I’m not gonna make it easy for you to do that.”

They gulped, finally comprehending the kind of situation they were in.

The next moment was absolute chaos. Gran Torino bounced around the room, too fast for them to strike at him. “You underestimated me.” Each failed attempt was punished with a hit from the retired hero. He was trying his best but Gran Torino was too fast to even follow him with his gaze. “Huh, these hero students of today are quite flimsy.” Unlike him, Tenko at least could attack without hurting herself but all she managed to do was to break a chair. “Hey, I loved that chair!”

“I’m sorry! I’ll pay for it!”

“If you have the time to apologize, you should invest it on attacking!” And that they did, but it seemed useless. Despite his strength and Tenko’s speed, none of them were getting even close to landing a hit. Actually, they came closer to almost hitting each other.

But Izuku wasn’t going to give up. Following the hero’s movement, he guessed when Gran Torino would try to hit him next, so he turned around, a charged punch ready. However, as if his intentions were as transparent as water, Gran Torino moved out of the way and latched at his arm.

Before he could realize it, the minuscule man twisted him around and threw him at Tenko, who was quite unbalanced after a failed kick a moment before.

They fell on the ground on a mess of limbs. Their faces only an inch apart from each other. Realizing the situation, they scurried away from each other in a hurry.

“Well, that was sad.” Gran Torino sighed and scowled at Izuku. “Kid, you are copying All Might a bit too much. Instead of helping, the respect you feel for him it’s hindering you. Making you too stiff to be an effective fighter.”

“I-is that so?” he asked, not fully understanding yet what the old man meant.

“Yeah. That Quirk of yours isn’t as unique as you think. Just think about it. If you are as smart as Toshinori said, you should get an answer for yourself.” He directed a strict but softer look at Tenko. ”And you, miss, have exactly the same problem. Besides, it seems your mind and reflex hadn’t fully caught with your speed yet.”

“I know, sir.” She looked down, probably reminding how Todoroki had frozen her during their match.

“That’s good… Now, could you clean around a bit?” said the man, nonchalantly walking up the stairs before halting. “Ah, right. You, Midoriya, I need you to buy some things for dinner. Come up so I can give you the list and the money.”

He followed the old man upstairs.

The moment they were out of ear-reach, Gran Torino turned to him. “You are really like Toshinori when he was  your age, boy.”

Izuku blinked. That name again. “Sorry, sir, but who is Toshinori?”

The man deadpanned. “Really? He never mentioned it… I’m talking about All Might, boy. That’s his name, Toshinori Yagi.”

“T-Toshinori Yagi…” It sounded so common. Just about the last name he expected to belong to someone like All Might. “W-wait, you said I’m like him?!” He grinned.

“I didn’t mean it positively.” His grin froze. “I meant, you are as foolish as him.” Gran Torino glared at him. “You really brought to our training someone who knows nothing about OFA.”

“Y-yeah, sorry about that. It’s just I had to do it.” He bowed in apology.

Gran Torino sighed. “Too late to cry about the spoiled milk. The girl has the potential to be a good hero, so even if she discovers the truth, I guess you could do worse while looking for a confidant.”

“Wait, is it really fine?”

Gran Torino shrugged. “It’s your Quirk and secret now, isn’t it?” He pointed at Izuku. ”It’s your choice whoever you want to tell about it... As secretive as Toshinori is, even he needed to reveal the truth to some people, even if for convenience or accident. No man can be an island, not even the strongest of the world.”

Izuku looked at his wrecked hand. Gran Torino had a point. Carrying a secret so huge by himself would be extremely difficult. Having someone to confide in could be a good idea... Especially, considering the only person his age that knew about OFA was Katsuki, and technically, the blonde probably didn’t believe a word of what Izuku said.

Not now, but maybe one day I could tell her... If there was someone he would trust his secret, that person was Tenko.

Before he could keep thinking about it, though, Gran Torino put some bills and a piece of paper in his hand.

“Eh?”

“That’s the list and the money, boy.”

“Wait, you weren’t joking about that?!”

“Of course I wasn’t… Anyway, take your time, I’m going to take a nap.”

That reminded him of something. “W-wait, now you mentioned it, sir, where are we going to sleep?”

“Hmm. I only expected one student to stay and prepared the couch for it. Guess now you two will have to discuss who is going to sleep on the floor.”

“EH?!”

(…)

They passed the rest of the afternoon disappointingly. Just doing chores.

Izuku returned to the living room after checking on Gran Torino, who was still sleeping, and found Tenko checking her phone with a worried expression.

“What’s the problem, Tenko?”

“According to my search, the more common ways of developing better reflexes involve playing ball, videogames or doing meditation. But I have no time to waste playing around or sitting doing nothing!” she said in frustration.

“I w-wouldn’t see meditation as doing nothing. It could actually help.”

She stopped scowling. “Do you think so?”

“Yeah. But in any case, your precision and reflexes should increase for themselves as you get more experienced at fighting, so you don’t need to worry for now.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“Well, Gran Torino retired for today, but maybe w-we could still do a bit of training for ourselves.”

“Training without supervision?” She frowned.

“Well, uh… He t-told me to think on a way to control my Quirk by myself, so I don’t think he will mind.”

Tenko seemed skeptical for a moment, before nodding. “Alright! I see what you mean, he is leaving us to our own devices as a way to force us to think by ourselves and get better at solving problems. Impressively thoughtful, just as expected from someone related to All Might-sensei!“ While she wasn’t entirely wrong, Izuku had the impression the man was partly just being lazy. ”But let’s carry this expedition carefully. We don’t want to affect negatively Gran Torino’s reputation.”

Yeah, the reputation of the man that welcomed them by joking about being dead. That seemed difficult.

In any case, they didn’t go too far, choosing an alley beside Gran Torino’s apartment.

“Hmm, we could try to do like Mega-Man here,” he muttered by Tenko’s utter confusion.

“Mega-who? Sorry, Midoriya, but I don’t know that hero.”

He chuckled. “I m-mean, jumping between walls... We just need to jump at the wall with enough impulse, kick at the right instant to gain attitude and send us toward the other, and repeat if necessary, until we are high enough to go over that fence.” He didn’t mention the part about trying not to fall over their faces, he supposed that part was obvious. “Look, like this.” He showed her a parkour video on his cellphone.

“Impressive, indeed.”

He nodded. “Right! I’ll m-make a try then.” He focused on thinking about what he needed to do. Once he felt ready, he ran to the wall and jumped.

And crashed against it as an idiot, luckily (?) falling over a trash-bag instead of the ground.

“A-are you okay, Izuku-kun?!” She rushed to help him up.

“I a-am fine!” He stood immediately to show his point. “I just didn’t kick the wall in time.”

“Ah.” She nodded and looked around, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I think I’ll try it now, then.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Yes, here.” She gave Izuku his phone back and also her glasses. “I think I got it.” She took a moment to concentrate, then rushed at the wall and jumped at it, unlike Izuku, she kicked it with enough force to send herself over the fence in her first attempt.

The problem? She used too much force. Instead of simply landing on the other side of the fence, she sailed through the air like a missile, causing a huge ruckus at her landing. The crashing noises made Izuku wince and close his eyes.

“I-I’M OKAY!” she shouted after a moment.

It looked like he would need to re-evaluate their method of training.

(…)

They kept their training for a couple of hours more, until they were exhausted and it was already dark outside.

However, the end of the day brought back a certain problem.

Once in the living room, they looked at each other, having difficulty looking away. He had a t-shirt and shorts on, while she wore flannel pajamas.

 “Y-you take the couch,” they said at the same time. ”No, you!” They frowned.

“Tenko-san, it’s only proper if you do.”

“It’s not! I should remind you, at first this was supposed to be your internship, Izuku-kun! I just tagged along, so you should take the couch.” They tried to glare at each other, knowing it wouldn’t change anything. “In any case, I’ll sleep on the floor!”

“I w-will too!”

They lay down on the floor, only a small table between them. Unsurprisingly, the floor was quite uncomfortable, but they tried to ignore it and remained silent. There was no doubt they would wake up with cramps if they kept being so obstinate.

Tenko felt a bit awkward about it, but such a situation just wouldn’t do.

“Izuku-kun, I have an idea,” she said while standing up.

“What is it?”

“Let’s share the couch,” she muttered, her face heating.

“What!?”

“It’s actually big enough for us two as long as we make some compromises!”

“Both that would be….” He gulped.

“Izuku-kun! Having to sleep on the ground would be highly uncomfortable and unfair if only one of us do it! As heroes-in-training, we should do our best to keep ourselves in an optimal state for tomorrow’s activities, am I wrong?”

“No, y-you aren’t.”

“So sharing the couch is the best o-option, right…?” Her voice sounding flustered toward the end. She had no reasons to be nervous, it was just a rational movement.

“R-right… I’ll turn the lights off.”

Very carefully, so as not to touch, they sat beside each other, sighing in relief at the furniture’s softness. The fact they couldn’t see much in the dark of the room helped them not to feel as nervous as they would normally be.

Actually, in Tenko’s case, it made her feel a bit of courage. “Izuku-kun, I don’t think I said it before, but thank you.”

“Eh, why?”

“Why, you say?! For everything! After Tensei’s injury, everything felt as if it didn’t matter and I almost turned into a shadow of myself. I can’t even imagine how shameful it must have been for everyone to see me like that, and yet, you didn’t let it be and confronted me. I needed that; someone to remind me what I really stood for. The kind of hero I wanted to be. And such a person would never fight for vengeance, you were completely right! And it’s for that I feel truly grateful!!”

“You d-don’t have to, it was no problem.”

“No need to be modest! Next time, it’ll be me who’ll be there for you, Izuku-kun, if you try to do something you shouldn’t!” she declared proudly.

“T-thanks. That sounds ominous, though…”

She smiled fondly and suddenly remembered the discussion she had with Tensei about Izuku. If she had learned something the past couple of days, was that bottling her feelings just resulted in distraction and disaster.

“Excuse me, Izuku-kun, but could I make you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Why are you so kind to me?”

“Eh…?” Izuku shifted awkwardly. ”I try to b-be kind with everyone, Tenko-san, especially with m-my friends.”

“I know, that’s one of the things I, um, l-like about you.” Izuku made a choking sound and Tenko had never been happier than she couldn’t see his expression. If she did, she wouldn’t be able to continue. “You are strong and brave but also kind. Traits I can’t but find really a-attractive.” She gulped. “I know I’m being improper by telling you all of this so suddenly and in this situation, but it just doesn’t feel right to hide it anymore!”

“Y-you like me…?” Izuku’s voice sounded weird. Because of her nervousness, she just assumed the worst.

“It’s f-fine if you don’t feel the same way…! I mean, it’s not fine in the strict sense of the word, but I would understand it. I wasn’t expecting you to reciprocate but simply wanted to have these feelings out in the open so as not to inconvenience you later. Though, maybe I’m inconveniencing you even more in this way? Oh, no! That wasn’t my attention−!!”

Suddenly Izuku grabbed her hand. “Your feelings are not an inconvenience, Tenko. They matter a lot to me and I, um, d-do reciprocate them.”

Tenko felt dizzy. “I-I, eh…” Not having expected such an answer from Izuku.

“Talking a-about this in the dark it’s kind of weird, maybe we could continue t-tomorrow?”

She nodded, then realized Izuku couldn’t see her. “Y-yeah. You are right! Totally right…! Have a good night, Izuku.”

“Good night, Tenko.”

On the comforting silence, she managed to calm her beating heart and fell asleep. Izuku’s hand lever left hers.

(…)

Little by little, Tenko’s eyes fluttered open as she heard some rushing noises.

She saw a small blurred silhouette passing by, and curious about who or what was, she attempted to grab her glasses from her night table.

It was immediately apparent, that a) this wasn’t her room, and b) she couldn’t use her dominant hand because someone was grabbing it already.

Slowly she turned around and saw Izuku’s cute freckled face really close to hers, making her heart jump.

She immediately pulled away, falling from the couch and bringing Izuku with her.

“So the lovebirds are finally awake,” said a cranky familiar voice.

She extended her hand to the table in front of her and finally took her glasses, putting them on quickly to notice Gran Torino’s amused look while Izuku blinked in confusion.

 “G-Gran Torino!”

”Please, tell me you didn’t do anything questionable on my poor couch. I love that couch!” They felt like dying after such a comment. “Whatever, I’m going to put this thing in its place.” He went to the kitchen, carrying a new microwave to replace the one accidentally destroyed during their training the previous day.

Izuku and she stood up and looked at each other, their cheeks red, yet they couldn’t but smile.

“What you said−” they said at the same time before halting. “You first!”

Tenko cleared her throat. “What you s-said last night… You meant what I think you m-meant, right?” Her question sounded weird, but Izuku understood it.

“I do…! I l-like you a lot too, Tenko.”

“T-then, how are we supposed to proceed now?” she asked, feeling quite lost. Her only knowledge about romantic relationships came from her parents, which were already an established couple, and some examples from TV and novels, which frankly, made her a bit uncertain.

“I doubt there’s a single a-answer for that question.” He scratched the back of his head. “I mean, I have zero experience with romance, but I think p-people mostly just find their own path. There’s no rulebook about what to do or not.”

“I see, t-that sounds worryingly difficult, though.”

“I know, but I think that’s kinda the point, to learn w-what we want from this and find the way to make it work for us.” He smiled, which immediately made her smile too. “Maybe it won’t be easy, but as long as we communicate and try to understand each other, we should be fine.”

“Okay, I’ll be in your care, then!”

“Same.” His smile widened.

Gran Torino complained out loud about the microwave, “Stupid machine! Why is a part cold?!” Feeling curiosity, Izuku went to take a look.

Meanwhile, Tenko changed into some more presentable clothes, taking the moment to think about what Izuku had said.

From all the life goals she had set for herself, forming a family was one of them, but as she was too young to think too deeply about such a thing, she had left it on the back of her mind and hadn’t thought about the specifics. But now with Izuku, she needed to re-think everything, especially certain topics of vital importance.

How many kids do I want to have?

(…)

Sometimes inspiration came from unlikely places.

After so many hours thinking about how to use OFA optimally, all he needed was to look at food rotating on a microwave to know what he needed to do.

It was quite obvious in hindsight. He started using OFA on just a part of his body because he couldn’t control the input and using it in all his body almost made him explode the first time. But that had changed, now there was no reason not to try to use it on his whole body, making it expand and course through him as a constant current.

He couldn’t but smirk as sparks of green electricity surged from him. It hurt, but he could endure it and his limbs were okay.

It was his own thing. Full Cowling.

Tenko stared at him with wide eyes. “Amazing…”

“Can you even move like that, boy?” said Gran Torino.

“I t-think so.”

“Well, let’s make a repeat of yesterday's exercise then.” Without leaving them even a second to speak, Gran Torino initiated his attack again. Just a light hit was enough to get Izuku out of his new technique.

“Izuku!” She rushed with a flying kick, but the retired hero dodged.

“You can’t even keep up with an old man like me, and you want to be pro-heroes?!” Gran Torino taunted them, before targeting Izuku again.

As the afternoon passed, it became easier for Izuku to keep his Full Cowling up and maneuver with it.

Same with Tenko. She was slowly getting used to keeping track of Gran Torino and her movements got less rushed.

Working together they got pretty close to hit Gran Torino an uncountable number of times…

And they also collided against each other. A lot.

“D-deja vu.”

“I-Izuku, please move your hand!”

“S-SORRY!!”

(…)

The next day, they put their costumes on for their actual internship.

“Listen, brats, Kofu isn’t that populated, so the crime rate here is rather low. For a decent internship, Shibuya is a better option,” explained Gran Torino as they got in the bullet train. “There, you can almost find a crime happening every couple of corners.” His logic was sound, and yet, Izuku was worried.

They would pass by Hosu.

It shouldn’t mean anything but the ominous feeling in his gut persisted.

He would have liked to think himself paranoid, but as they were getting to Hosu station, the train stopped and a random hero crashed through it. Then, a creature with its brain exposed appeared.

“Are you serious?!” he yelled in disbelief.

 “Stay there!!” shouted Gran Torino as he shot himself at the Nomu, blasting it out of the train.

”Gran Torino!!”

As they followed the retiring figure of the hero and the monster, they noticed the general chaos that abounded through the city, explosions, and fire in the distance.

“What is happening?” said Tenko, shocked by the scene.

“The League of Villains.” It was obvious and yet hard to believe.

On the USJ, they had a clear goal, but what do they pretend to do now? It couldn’t be just chaos and destruction for their own sake. Not in Hosu, where the Hero Killer was already roaming around. Shigaraki should have a reason to be doing this.

“What do we do now?” He asked her. If it was only him, he would leave immediately but having Tenko with him made him hesitate.

Again, this was Hosu. Was she going to be fine?

For a second, something dark flared in her eyes, but it quickly extinguished. “First than anything−!” She turned around. “It’s everyone okay?!!” The people In the compartment stared at her before nodding, scared but otherwise unharmed. “Good!” She turned to Izuku. “Now let’s back up, Gran Torino!”

(…)

Finding Gran Torino was easier said than done.

The situation on Hosu was worse than they expected. There were clearly more than just a couple of Nomu attacking the district, and when they finally arrived at where one was, not only their mentor wasn’t there, the pro-heroes were keeping a perimeter to keep civilians away.

“Back up, kids!” yelled a hero as they got a bit too close.

Tenko frowned and Izuku let out a frustrated sigh. She understood. They were just rookies, not even actual pro-heroes but students. Still, it felt bad to be relegated to observing.

“Let’s go on, Izuku! There must be something we can do to help!”

“Okay!”

They weren’t experienced enough to join the fighting, not with most capacitated people around, but at least they could help evacuate the civilians from the area.

However, as they walked, Tenko noticed someone vaguely familiar hero in the distance.

“Who’s that?” she muttered.

“Who−?” When Izuku looked in the same direction as her, he halted. “Native.”

“The hero my brother rescued?!” As she stared, Native went to an alley.

“We need to follow him!” Not waiting for an answer, Izuku darted to the alley.

“Eh? Why?!” Tenko followed him.

“He was leaving the area in a hurry, so he must be answering to another Nomu’s attack somewhere else! We could find Gran Torino if we follow him!”

She frowned. That made sense but crossing with precisely the same person her brother had saved in the same place was worrying her.

She had investigated Stain when she intended to hunt him. The Hero Killer mostly attacked heroes in dark alleys and similarly abandoned places.

Worst yet, Native was the first and only person that had survived a killing attempt from Stain. Tensei didn’t count, he hadn’t been an actual target until he tried to stop the villain.

But would the villain let Native escape a second time if he crossed him again?

Sadly, she would find the answer as Izuku stopped on his tracks, extending his arm to block her advancement. He was looking at the alley to his right, rigid except for an almost imperceptible shuddering. His other hand holding his cellphone as he hastily sent their coordinates to all his contacts.

She couldn’t see what was happening but could hear it. The hits and the slashes.

She knew Izuku well enough to be sure he would be the first to intervene if someone were in danger. The only reason he hadn’t done it yet, was because she was there. He was trying to protect her by keeping her away from that mess.

She was grateful but couldn’t let him go against his instincts because of her. So she moved past his arm and poked her head just in time to see Stain lifting Native from his face, katana ready to kill the hero.

Native was defenseless. It didn’t seem as if he could move at all.

If they didn’t act this would be a repetition of what happened to her brother.

She couldn’t allow that to happen to someone else. “STOP, YOU VILLAIN!!!”

“T-Tenko!!!”

It was a stupid move, she knew it. Seeing Stain’s glare shifting to them made her understand immediately how much of a danger they were now. But she just couldn’t back up. Not when she could almost see the image of Tensei reflected on the paralyzed Native. “Unhand him in this instant and bring yourself in!!”

“You again?!”

Tenko grimaced. Because of the similar costume, Stain had mistaken her for Tensei. “I’m Tenko Iida. Ingenium’s sister and inheritor of his hero-name!”

She could feel Izuku’s stare. She would send an encouraging look at him if she didn’t fear Stain would take advantage of such carelessness.

Izuku was clearly worried she would try to cross the line again. She couldn’t blame him, the anger she felt for the villain still burned intensely, but that feeling was surpassed by the fear of what could occur to Native or Izuku if she didn’t control those emotions.

“I’m− no, WE are here to save Native!!” She pointed at Stain while trying to convey to Izuku through her voice that it was fine, that he could trust her.

“Uh?” Stain seemed surprised about her declaration. ”So you aren’t here for vengeance. It looks like the whole tree wasn’t rotten after all… But you can’t stop me from carrying my duty! Leave now! You are still just kids, this is not your problem!”

“As if we could do something like that!” Izuku finally spoke, taking a step forward to stand beside Tenko. Just that gesture gave her courage. ”It’s just like All Might said, meddling in it’s in very nature of a hero!”

What Izuku said seemed to connect with Stain because unconsciously the gruff man smiled, or whatever passed as a smile on his wrecked face.

.As if Native were trash, Stain throw him behind him and pointed his sword at them. “Good!”

They ran toward Stain, with Tenko at the front. Before she could enter his reach, she jumped to the side, wall-running over Stain as he slashed at her, landing beside Native.

“What are you doing?! Just leave me here and escape!” the hero hissed.

“Sorry but can’t do!” While Izuku connected a punch to Stain’s face, Tenko took Native in her arms and dashed a safe distance away.

Meanwhile, Stain had shrugged off the attack and was trying to cut Izuku, who dodged using his Full Cowl to jump over the villain and hit him in the head.

For a moment it seemed as if Izuku had won, until Stain took some steps away and brought his katana close, his long tongue licking the bits of blood around the blade.

“Izuku!!” As the boy fell on the ground, she dashed to stain and threw a kick at him, which the villain dodged, though not before slashing at her. It was just thanks to her leaning slightly away that she didn’t get harmed.

As Stain backed up, she stood protectively in front of Izuku, noticing an almost invisible cut on the back of his arm.

“Tensei-san thought it was his blade, but n-no, it’s the blood that activates his Quirk!” said Izuku. “If he consumes even a little it will paralyze you!!”

Stain stared at them. “Heh, your friend is clever and strong for being a kid. Enough for me to leave him alive. And you made your priority to rescue that fake, so even if undeserved, it speaks of the judgment of a true hero… Now let’s see if you can back it up, Ingenium!”

Stain advanced and slashed at her mid-body but Tenko stepped aside.

It was almost ridiculous but as fast and dangerous as Stain’s attacks were; they were still easier to follow than Gran Torino’s, so she kept dodging even if with a little difficulty. However, with such an agile opponent, it was hard to find the right moment to strike back.

She could just continue and keep him busy until Izuku recovered or back-up arrived, but somehow told her she would get tired before that happened, and that could cause their defeat.

The Hero Killer had no openings, so she had to create one.

Just as he was going to attack, she threw a kick at him. Her booted foot connected with the Stain’s katana, throwing off sparks. Both attacks deflected each other, but she recomposed herself first, her other foot rising to the villain’s jaw.

As Stain fell on his back, a pointy short blade poked from his boots and grazed Tenko’s leg. “What?!” Stain rolled backward to end up in a crouched position, contorting to lick the blood.

Tenko’s tried to advance knowing she wouldn’t reach him in time, but when the Hero Killer was about to activate his Quirk, a swift layer of ice expanded through the ground, freezing Stain’s foot to the ground. The Hero Killer escaped it but having to abandon his bloodied boot.

Luckily, the ice also formed a sliding of a sort that displaced Izuku, Tenko, and Native away from the villain.

“Todoroki!” they exclaimed in surprise at their classmate’s sudden arrival.

“Sorry for not getting here sooner, the pro-heroes shouldn’t take much to arrive,” said the dual-Quirked boy, giving them some relief. “So this is the Hero Killer, huh?” Todoroki threw an iceberg toward Stain, who cut in dozen of pieces with absurd ease before backing up from a second ice attack.

“Yeah, don’t let him get your blood or he’ll paralyze you,” said Izuku, twitching slightly.

“Are you okay, Izuku?!” asked Tenko while grabbing him on her arms.

“Y-yeah!! His Quirk’s effect is passing.” With Tenko’s help, he slowly stood up.

The Hero Killer had noticed that change. “Hah, so a type O…” he muttered. ”It doesn’t matter, not when you are blinding yourself with your own attack,” he said to Todoroki as the pieces of his previous attack fell, hiding the villain from view.

Todoroki was prepared to use his Quirk the moment the Hero Killer reared his ugly face, so he was surprised when the Villain tried to attack from above.

Tenko and Izuku noticed immediately, though. They didn’t even need to tell each other what to do. All their training together, learning how the other fought, finally paid out.

“RECIPRO EXTEND!” “SMASH!!” Both ascended toward Stain and hit him with all their might. Even that didn’t completely finish off Stain, who tried to cut Tenko’s shoulder, but a second kick with the last of her power and a fire blast to the face finally made the job.

Todoroki managed to catch them with his ice, but they didn’t move his eyes from the immobile Stain.

“He’s finally out cold, right…?” asked Izuku, having trouble believing they actually had done it.

They stopped the Hero Killer.

(...)

After taking all his weapons, they tied up Stain and Todoroki began to pull him away.

In his case, Izuku felt a bit messed up after using Full Cowl, so Native was carrying him, for Tenko’s displeasure.

“If Stain hadn’t got my shoulder I would carry you,” she said while pouting.

“E-eh?” Being carried by his girlfriend -it still felt funny to think about her like that- would be embarrassing. In a good way, but still…

After a while, he felt good enough to walk for himself. Then, they finally crossed with Gran Torino’s again, and the first thing he did was kick Izuku in the face. “What are you doing here?! I told you to wait!”

“Sorry, Gran Torino, sir, it was my idea,” said Tenko as Izuku touched his face.

“Ah, I see.”  Gran Torino nodded, before kicking Izuku a second time.

“E-eh, why again?!”

Just then, the rest of the back-up -Endeavor’s sidekicks- arrived, extremely surprised of finding they had captured Stain.

They were too distracted to notice the flying Nomu before it was too late.

The creature dived towards Izuku and grabbed him before flying away. Izuku wasn’t in the right condition to defend himself.

The help came from the unlikeliest of sources. As the Hero Killer managed to untie himself and jumped to the Nomu, piercing through its brain with a knife he had hidden and then landing with Izuku under his arm.

Izuku was too shocked to know how to even react.

It was then, that Endeavor arrived at the scene and for a moment it seemed to only worsen everything as Stain noticed him.

“You fake, all of you, try to come for me! Try to get me if you dare to, you’ll just fell under my sword! ONLY ALL MIGHT IT’S ALLOWED TO KILL ME!!” And then he fell unconscious while still standing.

It would be a while until Izuku had the chance to experience something more horrifying.

It was then he realized how lucky they were at having knocked out Stain the first time.

 (…)

The medics took a long while checking them up for injuries. Only Izuku and Tenko were slightly battered. In general, they were more mentally exhausted than anything else.

It was only because of Endeavor and Gran Torino’s perceived collaboration that they didn’t get in trouble because of fighting Stain, though they were still warned not to try something like that again until they had their own licenses.

“That was close,” said Izuku while rubbing his legs. His muscles itching.

“It’s annoying we aren’t getting as much credit as we should,” added Todoroki.

“At least, we’re getting a bit.” Izuku shrugged.

“All right!” exclaimed Tenko, getting out from her bed, which made her flinch slightly.

“Tenko, y-you should rest.”

“I will, but first, I’ll communicate you my resolution and ask for your opinion!”

“Resolution?” Izuku tiled his head.

“About our relationship and future together!” she explained, forgetting completely there was a third person in the room.

“Relationship? What are you two talking about…?” Todoroki was utterly confused, but his classmates ignored him.

“I would like you to meet my parents! If it isn’t inconvenient, this Saturday could be a good day,” continued Tenko.

“T-that would be nice.” Before, such a thing would embarrass Izuku. Now, it was more amusing and cute than anything when Tenko acted so eager and took command of the situation. It looked like that would never change.

“And if you aren’t busy that Sunday, I would like to meet your parents t-too!”

“O-okay!” Though, he had no idea how his mother would react to Tenko. He expected some crying and passing out.

The girl nodded before her cheeks flushed. “Now, while I have to admit it’s unfortunate, for the sake of keeping a comfortable learning environment for our classmates, I would recommend for us to keep the PDA to a minimum. At least inside the classroom.”

“What is PDA…?” muttered Todoroki, his confusion only growing.

The ridiculous part of everything was that knowing her, it would probably be Tenko who would start being overly affectionate in public without even noticing it. However, there was a curious thing about her wording. “You s-said inside the classroom only?”

“I m-mean…” She fixed her glasses to hide her embarrassment. “Out of classes, holding hands would be acceptable, and hugging, and sharing Bentos, and maybe even k-kissing as long as there aren’t any witnesses that could potentially feel uncomfortable about it, and…” She kept going. Suddenly the list of things they couldn’t do turned to be a lot shorter than he expected.

“I s-see…” He chuckled.

Tenko gulped, looked distressed. “O-only thing c-completely forbidden… b-beyond any m-means… is p-p-pre-m-marital…”

“I G-GOT IT! I GOT IT!!” He nodded deeply, red like a tomato.

“HOWEVER…!! I w-wouldn’t mind turning this relationship into something more intimate once w-we graduate and marry.”

“MARRY?!”

”Our union would entail cohabitating and possibly creating a co-agency too if you’re okay with it. Then, once we are appropriately set up with our careers, forming a family! Three children would be okay as a minimum but I wouldn’t be against having more. Nor do I have a specific upper limit.” She sounded unusually serious about it.

“Y-you are seriously asking me to marry you?” For now, he was going to act as if he didn’t hear the part about having children. Lots of children, specifically.

“Technically, I’ll be the one w-waiting for you to make the proposition. But yes!”

The whole situation was so crazy and still, he couldn’t avoid a smile stretching on his face. “All right, m-ma’am!”

 “Hey…” said Todoroki, his expression awkward. ”You realize I’m still here, do you?”

Maybe just for that, he ended up being their best man.

EPILOGUE

Whatever was for necessity and bad circumstances, ruthlessness, or simple idiocy, there would be always people dragged to the world of villainy.

And in the same way, people ready to stop them.

The number one hero, Deku, was one of those people. Just one, though.

In the last decade, the perspective people had about heroes changed. Despite his place in the ranking, Deku wasn’t considered the absolute pillar of society like All Might once did. Instead, all people -heroes and civilians- tried to be a source of strength for their fellows, forming a unified pillar that held the wellbeing of the innocents.

It was a new model of society, and if the lower crime rate spoke about it, an effective one. Of the kind where even the number one hero could take some free time to enjoy with his family.

As Izuku Midoriya entered his house, he felt some noise coming from above but tried to ignore it. He couldn’t avoid smiling, though.

“Oh, look at me, how distracted and defenseless I am,” he said in a fake sad voice. ”I wouldn’t be able to react if someone were to attack me just know.”

As soon as he finished, a blue-haired kid fell on his back and hold onto him. “HAHA! I got you! Now surrender, villain!”

“Good job, Isao.” He chuckled. ”But I told you not to let yourself fall like that.”  

Since the boy had got his Quirk -which ironically was similar to Nana Shimura’s Float- two years ago, he hadn’t stopped doing dangerous maneuvers for his mother’s chagrin and uncle’s amusement.

Izuku grabbed the boy and put him on the ground.

“You aren’t fun, dad!” Isao pouted.

“Really?” Izuku crouched and started messing with the boy’s hair. Despite the different hair color, it was so hard to tame as Izuku’s.

While he was distracted messing with his second son, a little four years old girl with green braids ran to him and hugged him. “Papa is back,” she muttered. His third child and only daughter, Itsumi, was as shy as he was when he was a kid, probably even more. Her Quirk wasn’t apparent yet, but by how physically similar she was to Izuku’s mom when younger, it wouldn’t surprise him if she got a telekinetic Quirk.

“Good to be home,” she ruffled the girl’s hair, and unlike Isao, she actually enjoyed it.

“Papa,” she said by his ear, as it was a secret, but still loud enough so her brother could hear, ”Isao ate all my cookies.”

“Eh?! That’s a lie!” protested the boy.

“No, he did.”

“No, I didn’t!”

Hearing the scandal, Izuku’s older child appeared.

“What are you two doing?! Stop being so scandalous!” said the nine years old boy, not noticing at all his own voice volume. ”Father must be tired after his work and you are making trouble for him!” He was so similar to Tenko in personality and appearance, even sharing her Quirk, that they named him as Tenko’s parents planned to name her if she were born a boy: Tenya.

“Pops, Ten is being a party-pooper again,” complained Isao.

“Noisy,” was Itsumi’s addition.

“EH?!” Tenya definitely was going to have a stressful life as an older brother. Especially, if he intended to take the mantle of Ingenium as he had declared was his wish.

Izuku could only chuckle at the handful his kids were. And there’s still one left. Well, one and a half, kinda…

As if being summoned, Izuku’s wife walked down the stairs, her hair loose and looking as beautiful as always. Their younger child with only two years, Teru, between her arms.

“What’s up with all the noise?”

“Tenya,” said Isao and Itsumi for the boy’s growing shock.

“Just these two messing with their poor older brother,” said Izuku.

As Tenko stared at the two kids, they actually looked down in shame. They couldn’t be blamed, the years hadn’t faded the intense and intimidating aura Tenko projected while trying to keep the order. It was certainly useful for administrating their agency. “I see… Tenya, why don’t you take your siblings to watch that documentary about hero paperwork you were interested in?”

“Can I?!” Tenya asked in excitement while his siblings seemed horrified. This worsened as Tenko nodded. “Come with me, dear siblings!!” Without any mercy,  the boy took his siblings and pulled them away.

Izuku chuckled. “That was mean, you know?”

“Was it?” She tilted her head. For someone so normally strict, she really was a softy when any of their kids was involved.

“Da!” little Teru babbled, trying to reach for Izuku.

“And you little guy?” Izuku grabbed his tiny hand. “Taking care of your mommy? The most beautiful woman in the world.” He put a soft kiss on her wife's lips.

Even after so many times, she still blushed when he did that so suddenly. “T-that’s not going to save you from completing that paperwork at the agency, mister. You and Tensei can’t trick me just being nice!”

“G-guess you got me there.” He chuckled and kissed her again, his hand caressing her belly.

Four kids and the family was still growing.

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