Chapter Text
Shimura Tenko wanders the streets aimlessly. He has nowhere else to go; he has destroyed everything - the only place in the world that he belonged and the only people in the world who loved him.
The streets are full of strangers. Passersby glance at him pityingly but recoil in disgust upon a closer glance. Each and every one of them makes excuses before leaving.
"A hero or a police officer will help you soon!"
"I'm in a rush, sorry."
"Don't worry. Someone will come for you."
But nobody came.
Tenko is beginning to lose hope. The guilt swells up in his throat so that he can't even speak. This is his punishment for killing his family. In a society overflowing with heroes, not one person is willing to extend a helping hand to Tenko.
If only someone, anybody, would come save him -
"Hey kid, are you alright? That's one intense look you got there."
Jerking his head up from his knees, Tenko is confronted by the sight of an angel.
An avenging angel has come to punish him for his sins and take him to hell. At least, that's what he momentarily believes when all he can see is a backlit winged figure in front of him.
Then, his vision clears, and he realizes that the angel is actually a light-haired boy with large red wings.
"Here, can you get up?" The boy offers his hand, and all Tenko picture is how Hana-chan and Mon-chan broke into little pieces with the touch of his hand.
He hasn't been able to utter a sound since he ran away, but the scream rips out of him. "No! Don't touch me!"
The boy withdraws, raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! Got it - no touching. My name's Takemi Keigo. What about you?"
Tenko has to clear his throat a few times but manages to croak out, "T-Tenko."
"Tenko - that's a cool name! Are you lost? Do you need help finding your family?"
The mention of family fills his eyes with tears. "My Quirk appeared, and I-I hurt them. I can't go back."
"Hurt," he says. "Killed" is what Tenko really means, but he worries that if he confesses the full truth, Keigo's golden eyes will darken in disgust.
Nevertheless, Keigo is shocked at the admission. "But you didn't hurt them on purpose, right?"
"It was an accident!" At first, Tenko thought a villain had attacked Hana-chan and Mon-chan. But he had an inkling of the truth by the time his grandparents and mother entered the backyard, didn't he?
Tenko thinks back to how angry he was that no one in the household had ever stopped his father. How the hatred had accumulated and spilled over when his father reached for the pole to try and stop him. In the end, Tenko had put his hand over his father's face with purposeful intent.
He repeats less confidently, "...it was an accident."
Keigo just gazes him silently, until Tenko bursts. "Dad hated me. He hit me! And they just watched. They didn't do anything. I hate everyone!"
Finally, Keigo lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Tenko. Your dad shouldn't have hit you. And I wish your family stopped him."
Hearing someone say the words he has been waiting for so long stops Tenko in his tracks. However, he doesn't have a chance to dwell on the vindication for long.
"But Tenko - if you hurt people just because they hurt you, nothing gets fixed. You just keep passing the pain on from one person to the next."
"That's not-"
"Fair?" Keigo finishes ruthlessly. "It isn't. You might be thinking - why should you be the one to suffer? Why isn't someone else?"
Tenko grits his teeth. It's true! Why is he the only one who is so unhappy when everyone gets to go on with their lives as normal?
The itchy feeling inside him becomes unbearable, and he starts scratching his cheeks so viciously that his nails leave bloody marks.
"Stop that! You're hurting yourself," Keigo scolds lightly.
Telegraphing his movements as if dealing with a injured wild animal, he lightly clasps his fingers around Tenko's wrists. A stunned Tenko lets his hands fall back down to his lap. Satisfied, Keigo releases his grasp as well.
Instead, Keigo cups Tenko's face in his palms, as if hoping to heal the scratches with their warmth. "To me, that's the purpose of a hero. Heroes take on that burden, so that others can smile."
The philosophical answer goes right over Tenko's head. (Even years later, he never truly will understand Keigo's motivations.)
When Tenko played heroes with Mikkun, they pretended to fight villains and save civilians. It was really fun. What Keigo is describing sounds like the opposite of fun.
"That sounds awful," he says.
His bluntness startles a laugh out of Keigo. "Ha! Yeah, it's difficult to be a hero. I don't think I would have become a hero-in-training if I were given the choice."
"You're training to be a hero? But you're just a kid!"
"A few years ago, I rescued a family from a car accident. The Hero Public Safety Commission found me; they said I had the perfect Quirk for heroics. Mama gave me away to their training program," Keigo says with a bitter twist of the lips.
Tenko isn't the most observant child, but even he can understand what Keigo is trying to imply. He lets the childishly cruel words slip out. "Maybe you shouldn't have helped."
"But I don't regret saving them," Keigo says simply. For a moment, he has the eyes of someone much older.
The effect is ruined when he wrinkles his nose cutely.
"I hate training though. It makes my head ache and my wings sore and sometimes I throw up afterwards." Keigo rolls up his sleeve to show a forearm mottled with bruises. "See this? I got this from the obstacle course they're making me do. I'm stuck on the second part, and the teacher keeps yelling at me. That's why I ran away."
Tenko perks up. "I ran away too. Maybe we could stick together!"
Keigo shakes his head. "I can't stay. One time, I tried to go home, and Mama wouldn't let me in. The Hero Commission already paid her for me. So wherever I am, they'll just find me and send me back to the compound anyways."
At Tenko's disappointed look, he softens. "It's different for you. You should try going home. Say you're sorry. Learn to control your Quirk so you don't hurt them again."
Tenko knows it is far too late to apologize to his family, so he shakes his head. Instead, he asks, "Control my quirk?"
Golden eyes flit to Tenko's clenched fists. "Your Quirk works through touch?"
Tenko nods in affirmation.
"A Quirk specialist will probably know more, but from what the Hero Committee tutor told me, there are Quirks that work through five-point touch. It means all five of your fingers have to touch an object in order for your Quirk to activate."
Keigo pulls out a feather with a slight wince. "Try holding this with one of your fingers not touching the feather."
Tenko hesitates. He doesn't want Keigo to observe his Quirk and realize what it must have done to his family.
Keigo picks up on his reluctance and turns around obligingly. "Go ahead! I promise I won't look."
Tenko cautiously grabs the feather with his pinky lifted away from its surface. He brightens when it doesn't crumble. "Oh!"
Keigo calls out, "Apparently, it's pretty rare for an emitter Quirk to be always 'on.' Usually, you need to consciously think about using your Quirk to activate it. Why don't you try thinking about not hurting the feather?"
Concentrating hard, Tenko lowers his pinky, but the feather immediately falls apart. "It didn't work."
"Quirks can also be affected by emotions. You're feeling bad, right?" Despair, hatred, guilt swirling in his body - yes, you could say that.
Keigo plucks out another feather. "This time, concentrate on something that makes you happy. Don't try holding the feather with all of your fingers until you really think you've got it."
Tenko tries recalling fond memories: Hana-chan's promise that they would become hero siblings, his mother's embrace, Mon-chan's soft fur underneath his palm, and his grandma's delicious cooking. Unfortunately, every happy memory is tainted by what he did that day.
He's about to tell Keigo that he can't do it after all when he looks up.
The sight of Keigo's back reminds him of Hana-chan running away in horror. He shudders.
Tenko only tugged on the back of her dress to get his sister to stay with him. He was scared and confused, and he wanted her to protect him. But in the end, it was his sister who needed protection from him. Hana-chan never even saw who killed her.
But the sight also reminds him that Keigo is the only one who tried to help Tenko. He has been sacrificing the feathers from his wings to teach Tenko to control his Quirk.
Keigo is so nice, and Tenko really likes him!
Closing his eyes, Tenko thinks hard about Keigo's pretty golden eyes and cheerful smile and ash-colored hair.
He lowers his pinky.
All five fingers are on the feather, but it stays intact.
Tenko drops the feather to the ground in surprise. "I did it!"
Keigo whips around. "Congratulations! I knew you could do it."
So swiftly that Tenko doesn't realize what is happening until too late, Keigo grabs both of Tenko's hands in excitement.
Tenko has a second to think about how soft and warm Keigo's skin feels before he breaks the handhold in panic.
"What are you doing?"
Keigo pouts. "Aw, come on."
"I could have hurt you!"
"You wouldn't have. You didn't want to hurt me, and so you didn't hurt me," Keigo says confidently. "You're not a bad person; you just made a mistake."
"...do you think I can still be a hero?"
It's a silly question. Tenko killed his own family - a mistake that can never be forgiven. His former dreams of becoming a hero like All Might or his grandmother are shattered.
Keigo says thoughtfully, "I don't know what your Quirk is, but I'm guessing it's pretty powerful. I think if your power can be used to hurt people, it can also be used to help them! But it's all about how you choose to use it, Tenko."
He extends his hand once more.
"Come on. You shouldn't hang around here. If you don't want to go home to your family, let's at least get you to a police station or hero agency where they can help you."
Tenko hesitates for a long moment before reaching out to take the hand. Just before he can, he hears a shout.
"Hawks! We've been looking all over for you." In no time, a man in a suit has grabbed Keigo by the wrist and started dragging him away.
"Hold on!" Keigo protests. "I need to help Tenko."
Sneering, the man barely spares Tenko a glance. "This street rat? You're meant for much bigger things."
"Ow! Let go of me, it hurts!" Keigo struggles uselessly against the adult's grip.
Before being thrown into the backseat of an awaiting car, he calls out to Tenko. "I'll find you, Tenko! I promise! I'll come back for you!"
Tenko's hand is still uselessly outstretched when the car door slams shut with finality.