Chapter Text
“I don’t understand. What are we doing here?” Tensei looks down as he feels his little brother tug at his hand. He crouches down next to Tenya’s side, giving him his trademark Older Brother smile.
“We’re attending an important party for all the up and coming heroes in Japan, okay?” He says. “This is my first time attending on behalf of Idaten, so it’s a big day for me.”
“So there’s going to be other heroes here?” The five-year old asks excitedly.
Tensei nods. “Yes, but it’s very important that you’re on your best behaviour, and don’t leave my side without asking me first, okay?”
Tenya nods, practically vibrating with excitement. Of course it’s the prospect of meeting other heroes that’s got his brother excited, but if it will get them through this charity gala, then Tensei isn’t complaining. Tenya wouldn’t even be here with him, except that his parents got called out on an emergency mission at the last minute, leaving Tensei on babysitting duty yet again.
Tensei straightens up, turning to face the doors to the hall. “You ready to go in, kiddo?”
“Mhm!” Tenya hums in agreement, reaching out and taking Tensei’s hand. And with that, they enter the hall.
The room beyond is filled with heroes, as well as the representatives of some of the most high-end support companies out there. His almost three years of being a hero have taught Tensei the importance of networking, and he’s fairly confident that he knows enough names here to get by. This is his first charity gala, a huge step towards making a name for himself as Ingenium, and he’s spent the past week preparing himself for it.
The one thing he hasn’t prepared himself for, however, is the unpredictableness that is a five-year-old child.
“Tensei, look!” Tenya squeals, tugging on his arm and pointing wildly. “It’s Gang Orca! And Edgeshot! Can we go say hi?”
“Tenya, calm down!” Tensei hisses, but his little brother seems intent on his goal. Namely, of dragging Tensei over to the two pro heroes currently standing in conversation by the food table.
“Hi, Mr. Gang Orca, Mr. Edgeshot!” Tenya exclaims loudly. “I think you’re both super cool heroes!”
“Um… hi,” Tensei says, bowing awkwardly to the two confused heroes. “I’m, uh, Tensei Iida. Pro hero Ingenium. This is… my little brother, Tenya…”
“Ingenium. It’s a pleasure,” Gang Orca says, returning the gesture.
“Can I have your autograph?” Tenya asks.
While Tenya is busy getting autographs from the two heroes, Tensei scans the rest of the hall. He’s just considering how to strike up a conversation with the CEO of HeroCorp, a support company Idaten has been looking to make a connection with for a while now, when he hears a familiar voice calling his name.
“Tensei!” Ryuko Tsuchikawa yells, throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here. The others all went off and left me, and I feel like such an idiot. I don’t know anyone else here!”
“Ryuko! It’s so good to see you!” Tensei cries, returning the hug. He’s been good friends with all four members of the Wild Wild Pussycats since he and Ryuko met during their third-year work studies, although with how busy life as a pro hero is, they barely ever get to hang out.
“And- oh my gosh, is that baby Tenya? Wow, you’ve grown up so much!”
“Tenya, you probably won’t remember her, but this is my friend Ryuko. She-”
“Pixie-Bob!” Tenya cries, his face breaking into a huge smile. “She’s one of the Wild Pussycats!”
Of course. My brother is a huge hero nerd, Tensei reminds himself. “Actually, Tenya, it’s the Wild Wi-”
“Tensei!” Ryuko gasps, clinging to his arm. “Tensei, look! It’s her!”
“Who?” Tensei turns to look, and sees Ryuko pointing towards a tall dark-haired woman in an expensive, floor-length red gown, standing next to a man with sandy blond hair.
“Itsuka Yaoyorozu, CEO of Yaoyorozu Industries! Their items are the best out there! She’s so elegant…”
“Oh.”
“We have to go talk to her!” Ryuko declares.
“Wait, Ryuko- I’m sure she’s busy-”
“Oh, come on!” Ryuko says, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him across the hall.
~~~
Tenya hurries through the crowd, trying to keep up with his brother and Pixie-Bob. He doesn’t know what’s so exciting about this Itsuka Yaoyorozu woman, but he promised he wouldn’t leave his brother’s side, and he’s not going to disobey Tensei’s instructions.
Soon they come to a stop in front of two other adults who Tenya doesn't recognise, and start making introductions. But Tenya doesn't pay any attention to them. Because standing behind the woman, clutching her hand, slightly hidden behind her long skirt, is a girl his age.
She has short black hair that comes down to just below her chin, and she's wearing a green dress with a poofy skirt and sleeves. And she's looking shyly back at Tenya, one hand balled into a fist in front of her face.
"How old are you?" Tenya asks the girl, thrilled to have found another kid. All these heroes are super cool, but all they seem to want to do is stand around and talk, which Tenya finds so boring.
"I'm five and a half!" The girl says back, holding up five fingers on the hand that's not holding the woman's.
"I'm five and a half too!" Tenya says proudly. They're the exact same age! "I'm Tenya Iida, what's your name?"
"Momo Yao- Yaoyor- rozu-" The girl says.
"Do you like heroes?"
Momo nods. "My favourite is All Might, because he's super strong and cool."
"My big brother is a hero!" Tenya puffs out his chest and points up at Tensei, who's still busy in conversation with Momo's parents. "He's Ingenium, and I think he's the coolest!"
"Do you want to go play together?" Momo asks. "I don't like this party."
Tenya's face lights up in a grin, and he tugs at his brother's hand. Tensei only said he couldn't go anywhere without asking, right, so maybe it'll be okay for him to go and play with Momo. "Tensei! Tensei!" He yells. "Can me and my new friend go and play?"
Tensei looks thoughtful for a second, then turns back to the Yaoyorozu woman. "I don't mind, if it's okay with you."
"Hmm... alright then," the woman says. "But don't leave this hall, and don't cause any trouble."
"Yayyy!" Tenya cheers. He grabs Momo by the hand- their hands are the same size! This is so cool! - and the two of them run off together, into the crowd.
Tenya and Momo end up spending most of the evening hiding together behind the long red curtains covering the floor-length windows, playing noughts and crosses in the dust on the floor. From there, they move on to talking about their favourite heroes, which in turn leads to them admiring each other's quirks. Momo's is so cool! She can make anything she wants out of her body! And she must be super smart as well, because Tenya has no idea what a chemical formula is, and apparently Momo has to memorise hundreds of them for her quirk.
She's asking him questions about his engines when the curtain is suddenly swept aside, revealing Tensei standing there with his hands on his hips. "Come on, Tenya," he says. "It's late, we need to get home."
"But I want to keep playing with Momo!" Tenya whines. "She's so cool and she likes heroes too! Can she come to our house this weekend?" He gasps as an idea strikes him. "We could play heroes in the garden! Our garden's really big!"
"Can we? Please?" Momo asks, clasping her hands in front of her.
Tensei crouches down. "Okay, here's an idea. If you come home now and go to bed without any fuss, I'll see about arranging a playdate with Momo's parents. Deal?"
Tenya considers the offer for a moment, before nodding.
"Come on then, kiddo. Let's get Momo back to her parents now, okay?"
The three of them walk back over to where the Yaoyorozus are waiting, and while the adults talk, Tenya turns to Momo and hugs her goodbye.
"See you soon!" Momo says with a grin on her face, before heading over to her mother and taking her hand again. As they're leaving the hall, Tenya waves to her, and she waves back. He's practically bouncing with joy all the way back to the car.
~~~
Tensei keeps in contact with Yaoyorozu, and exactly a week after the party, he manages to arrange a playdate for Tenya and Momo. As he watches his little brother running around the house waiting for the Yaoyorozus to arrive, Tensei can’t help but feel apprehensive. Tenya’s always been different to other kids his age- his obsession with rules, the way he struggles to understand social cues- and it’s meant he’s struggled to make any real friends. He desperately hopes Momo will be different- that she’ll see Tenya for the great kid he really is. More than anything, he wants his little brother to be happy.
When the doorbell finally rings, Tenya practically leaps in the air in his eagerness. Mother goes to answer the door, and from the downstairs study where he's doing paperwork, Tensei can hear introductions being made. Then he hears the sound of running feet, and two excited voices.
"Come and look at my hero figures! I have this Ingenium one that Tensei got me, he says it's not even for sale yet!"
"That's so cool! I brought my limited edition Fat Gum plushy that mama got me for my birthday!"
"No way! Let me see!"
"Your garden is so cool! You have a slide and everything! Mama won't let us get a slide in our garden."
"Do you want to go and play heroes? We could play with our toys or- or if you want, we could play outside?"
"Hmm... Let's play outside! But... but we can use our toys to be the villains!"
"Yeah! That's a good idea!"
Soon after that they go out into the garden with mother supervising them, and their voices become too quiet for Tensei to hear. He turns back to his paperwork with a small grin. It seems to be going well so far, and they're definitely both enjoying themselves. He finds himself praying that it will last.
An hour later, just when Tensei's finally finishing his paperwork, there comes a small knock on the study door, and then the two five year olds tumble into the room.
"Tensei! Mama says we can get ice cream from the shop down the road, but she's busy so you have to take us!"
"What's the magic word?" Tensei says.
"Pleeeaaase?" Tenya and Momo chorus.
"Okay, fine," Tensei says with a chuckle, but secretly he's grateful for anything to do other than pain-in-the-ass paperwork. He fetches his wallet and helps the two kids get their shoes on, and then the three of them leave the house together. They walk down the road, Tenya and Momo skipping excitedly ahead. They never go out of Tensei's sight, though, and every time they start to get too far ahead Tenya puts a hand on Momo's arm and stops her. "Because the roads are dangerous, and we have to stay safe," Tensei hears him say. He tenses for Momo's reaction- for her to call Tenya a loser or a stick-in-the-mud, or push him over and run off like one kid at Tenya's daycare once did. But she just nods and slows her pace until they're walking just in front of Tensei again.
At one point, when they're about half way to the ice cream shop, Tenya turns and runs back to Tensei, dragging Momo by the wrist. "Tensei!" He cries, his face wide with five-year-old outrage. "Momo doesn't have any siblings!"
"It's called being an only child, Tenya-"
"And she doesn't have anyone to do big brother things with her like you do with me! Like piggyback rides and- and when you put me on your shoulders and carry me! So- so I was thinking, what if you were like- her imaginary brother, so she gets to do all those things as well!"
Tensei's heart practically bursts out of his chest with pride. Tenya is going to be an incredible hero someday, and Tensei is totally letting him get as many toppings as he wants on his ice cream.
"Hm..." Tensei says, crouching down in front of Momo. "No one to do big brother things with you, huh?"
Momo shakes her head.
"Well, that simply won't do," he declares. In one smooth motion perfected by years of practice, he grabs Momo underneath the armpits, lifts her up over his head and onto his shoulders. She lets out a noise half way between a scream and a giggle, and grabs onto his hair.
"It's okay, I've got you, you're not going to fall," Tensei reassures her, holding onto her legs. At the same time, he can't help but share some of Tenya's outrage. He knows the Yaoyorozus are busy people, knows they're formal and most likely beyond rich, but seriously? What kind of parent has so little time for their kid?
"Isn't it cool?" Tenya cries, jumping up and down in excitement. "Don't you feel tall?"
Momo hesitates, before letting off a cheer that deafens Tensei. "Onwards!" She shouts, and giggling, Tenya starts running forwards. Securing his grip on Momo's legs, Tensei grins and starts walking after him.
Tenya is already tucked into bed when Tensei enters to say goodnight to him that night. He has a late patrol, and in the morning he’ll be heading back to his own apartment in the Naruhata area, so this will probably be the last time he sees his brother for a few days. (Although Tensei knows he’ll always be welcome here if he gets too homesick, but he is trying to be better at this whole independent adult thing.)
“Did you have fun today, kiddo?” He says, sitting down on the edge of Tenya’s bed.
“Mhm!” Tenya nods sleepily as he takes off his glasses, putting them down on his bedside table. He rubs his eyes. “Can I see Momo again? She’s really cool.”
“We’ll see, okay? I think she had a good time too.” Tensei doesn’t want to promise his brother anything that might not come true, but… but he saw how happy Tenya was today, the way he and Momo just seemed to click. And… he wants this for his brother, more than anything else in the world.
“Get some sleep now, Ten-Ten. I’ll see you soon.”
“Goodnight, brother,” Tenya says. Tensei leans forward and plants a kiss on his brother’s forehead, before standing up.
“Goodnight, Tenya.”