Chapter Text
Breathe.
The facts were these and these alone: One, Tomura Shigaraki was under his care, his entire purpose, his entire goal in life was to protect him. Two, All For One was a danger to that.
The boy, Tomura, was small, young, and barely older than 7. Kurogiri knew nothing in his life other than being his caretaker. That was his one and only task, his only goal in life, but he also knew it wasn’t going to be. Sooner or later, he would also be loyal to All For One and Tomura couldn’t be safe, not truly. His quirk, something that brought him so much pain, that already put the boy in danger, was given to him. That discussion, the one he overheard was the thing that was going to change everything.
The doctor and All For One were talking about a plan, a plan to use Tomura and him as pawns in a game of chess that spanned the world.
He felt the smoke that made up his body twist in agitation but forced himself to focus on the situation at hand. Tomura was a pawn to him, pawns weren’t safe, they were used and manipulated, and Kurogiri couldn’t let that happen, not to the boy that took up his whole worldview. He didn’t care about himself, that he was used as a pawn, but he couldn’t let Tomura get hurt in this. He only had a limited amount of time to save him, to get him out of there, so he had to use it. These were the facts, and the facts would lead him to where he needed to be.
He would get Tomura out of here, make sure he was safe and then he could raise him, take care of him because that was what he was meant to do. That was what he was made to do so he was going to do it right.
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Tenko- no, Tomura now, he was supposed to be Tomura, knew a few things. One, Sensei was scary, but he saved him when no one else had, so he had to be good. Two, Kurogiri was his dad, he wasn’t father, he was different than father and that was what made Tomura love him all the more. Between the two he would always trust Kurogiri so when he rushed into his room and told him to pack his stuff he did.
Giri seemed so worried so as they walked Tomura butted his head against him. He was scared of his hands; they were so dangerous and cruel, but he loved his dad, so he had another system of affection. Giri never seemed to care, and it felt ok to be around him. He didn’t want to hurt Giri, he didn’t want to hug Giri because then he could hurt Giri, but his head was fair enough game.
He didn’t have much, Sensei only provided him clothes, but there was an object Kurogiri gave him that he loved a lot. It was a Nintendo DS, his first game console, and he had a game where he could have dogs! He missed Mon a lot, his quirk hurt his whole family but she was the one he was the most sad about. Every time he thought of her tears came to his eyes, but then he saw Pip run around and knew he couldn’t hurt her, so he was happy again. Giri gave him everything and always took care of him so he loved him, he was always safe around him and so he trusted him.
He packed his console up, being careful to only use a few fingers, before he went to go with Kurogiri. He didn’t know where they were going, he didn’t know what they were supposed to do but he trusted him, so he let the only real father he knew lead him where they needed to go.
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He was safe, they were safe, and it was all Kurogiri could do not to scream in joy. He was terrified of what All For One could do to them, what power he could bring upon their heads but as long as Tomura was safe, he couldn’t care. The streets were empty this late at night and Tomura had already fallen asleep in his arms since it was such a long day. He couldn’t complain though, he just carried the boy and thought to figure out what he could do. A part of him knew he was only barely 18 just as Tenko was only barely 7, he knew that they were both so young and that he didn’t know what to do. Another part dismissed that throwing it with all the things about himself that felt right, only Tomura mattered.
He had about 2000 yen and knew the first thing he needed were some gloves for Tomura and some food, he already knew the boy was scared, if he showed him how he could touch things without disintegrating them maybe he would be less so. A memory burst up and he felt himself longing for a person he only barely remembered.
He had memories, or at least he thought he did, of two people he knew he loved from the bottom of his heart.
Cold sweatered days snugged up in autumn sun, coffee and the smell of expresso drifting through the air. Tired yet caring eyes that stared deep into his soul, red like fire yet so calming and gentle. The wrap of a scarf keeping him close, like a hug without arms. Cat was the mental nickname he had for this person. He didn’t know them anymore but when times got tough, he could feel them comforting him
Bright Summer smiles, energy bursting off the walls, cinnamon and citrus taking him through a spinning Tango. Bright green eyes that sparkled like gems and got you lost in them, more beautiful than anything else he could remember. Radios and songs sung together on karaoke night, comfort that came in boosting him up rather than calming him down. He didn’t know them either, but he could almost hear them cheering to keep going, to never stop because he still had fight left in him. This one was his Loud.
He couldn’t remember either of them, but he had those wisps that mixed in among his smoke, they were important, and he wasn’t going to let them go. He had the feeling that cat could have helped, and it made him sad but cat obviously wasn’t here right now so he would have to make do with himself. That was alright, as Tomura’s father, as the one who took care of him, he would just have to do it by himself right now.
He stopped by a corner store and put his hood up before staring at the boy in his hands, he couldn’t take Tomura in, it wouldn’t be safe for either of them if someone saw him and he was holding a child in his hands, so he went to wake him up. He was sleepy and needed the rest, but he needed to be safe more than anything.
“Hey, Tomura, I need you to wake up buddy,” He said, shaking him slightly, once he saw he was awake he set him down and saw him wait, looking up at him with confused eyes.
“Huh? What is it Giri?” The sleepiness showed in his eyes as he rubbed the sleep out of them, but he seemed more aware after he did. That was a good thing since him being tired and not fully there would make things more complicated. He wasn’t going to leave him alone, but he needed him to stand by his side and try to be hidden so they could pass better as father and son.
“I’m going to grab some food for us and those gloves I talked to you about earlier,” He said, and Tomura seemed to brighten though he didn’t say anything else.
Taking that as confirmation he waked into the store with him, pinky in hand. Hopefully he would warm up to holding hands more in the future, less scared of his quirk but Kurogiri knew it was going to be a process. After everything with his family on top of All For One convincing him his quirk was nothing but destructive there was a lot of negative thought processes they were going to have to work through. He could only be grateful they had the chance to work through them rather than being stuck under All For One’s thumb. It was a blessing and a miracle, and he couldn’t dwell on what could have happened had All For One not been involved, he wouldn’t have been able to help Tomura in the first place to maybe he should just be grateful.
With both their hoods firmly up, he searched around the store, he didn’t know if there were any cameras but if there were he could never be too careful. He bought the gloves first and then started to look for some cheep food he could buy with the rest of the money. 2000 wasn’t much but it was enough for the first night fortunately. Instant ramen wasn’t the best in nutrition value, but it was some of the cheapest food he could get so hopefully it would work.
Walking out he thought on what they should do next. Perhaps he should go to the cops, he knew they would help, or at least they should but he couldn’t help the twinge of paranoia. If they took Tomura away from him, if they blamed the child for an incident he had no control over, he wasn’t sure what he could do about that. He knew they were supposed to help, but he wasn’t sure he trusted them to.
He would just find an abandoned apartment or something, he could get in trouble for squatting but at least there would be no paper trail to connect him to it. Once he found a place they wouldn’t even have to walk in, he could just teleport the both of them in to be safer. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was one he trusted the most.
He just wanted Tomura to be safe and he knew how much danger he would be in if All For One found them, how much danger they would both be in, so he would hide. At least he had enough for a few days, after that though he really didn’t know. He could get a job, or steal if he really had to, he just had to make sure they were ok. No matter what happened to him, Tenko was his priority, he wasn’t going to let anyone harm the boy he already saw as his son. That was his lot in life, his goal in life and he was going to follow it to a T. He didn’t know much about himself, any memories he had were long gone or fuzzy, but he did know that Tomura was his responsibility. He loved him and he knew the boy loved him back so no matter what they were going to be ok.
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It wasn’t hard to find an apartment, there were so many abandoned places he could choose from, and he found a place that was fairly clean. It only had one room and the entire place wasn’t perfect, there was probably black mold growing in the walls as well but at least pests could be taken care of with warp gates. It wasn’t perfect but over time it ended up becoming a home.
As time progressed, he was able to find himself in the foggy landscape that was his mind. His memories slipped though his hands like smoke or clouds, but his personality was starting to shine through. He couldn’t find a style with the limited money they had but he had his favorites among his clothes, soft hoodies that made a good disguise for a man that was all smoke. That was what both of their wardrobes consisted of mostly, but it worked well as a way to hide them.
He couldn’t find a job, not with paranoia buzzing around his head like a fly he couldn’t get rid of, but he stole what they needed for food, and a little extra for DS games and a generator so they could charge things. It wasn’t exactly moral but that kind of took a backburner when you were hiding for your life. He wanted to give Tenko something and if that meant taking a few more risks, then big chain stores wouldn’t miss a few games here and there. Mostly he just tried to be the dad Tenko needed first and then took care of himself later. There was danger in living like this but there was danger everywhere, at least they were safe from All For One here.
He didn’t really know what a home was for him, but right by Tenko was where he belonged. If his son was safe then he was happy, no matter how little he knew about himself.
They didn’t have much, but he did what he could, Tenko seemed happier, and he took back the name he was born with. He was given a name by All For One and when Kurogiri explained the Kanji, how it meant to grieve, how he was All For One’s successor in everything including name, they both realized they needed to distance themselves from that. At least for now, he also knew that Tenko was young and while changing his name back did much to hide him, Kurogiri didn’t care what he would choose when he was old enough to understand.
They had a generator now for lights and charging things as well. It was one of the things he stole and while he didn’t want to teach Tenko that it was right, he also knew that giving him things that would make life easier would only work to give him the childhood he needed. He also wished he could enroll him in school but that seemed like something too dangerous when they were already in hiding like this. He would give him what he could even with that restriction, get books on homeschooling and do his damn best, even if that wasn’t really much.
He found time to think about Cat and Loud as well, the two were missing in his life and his memories but he knew that they existed. He knew that he knew them once, he knew that he loved them once and even without knowing who they really were, he still missed them dearly.
He had a memory that felt more grounded than the others, one of a prom night where they confessed feelings back and forth. He knew they were happy once, that they were together once and that one day he would find them. It made him sad, made him miss what he could barely remember but it also gave him hope. Hope that he would see them again and when he did see them, he would remember them. They would bring back all those memories that were like smoke and help him mold them into something solid and real. They were real and he was real among them, he remembered dancing and longed to be able to dance with them once more.
Tenko was asleep and as he did sometimes when he was alone, he let himself dance to an imaginary song and imagine that they were right here with them once again. He twirled as he remembered the weight of them in his arms again, as he felt their colors and breathed that memory in again. It may slip through his hands like smoke, but he could breathe it in and allow it to become one with him. It was a dangerous game as it hurt his lungs like smoke would, but the feeling of that distant memory was like a cool cloud enveloping him in water. He was drowning and floating simultaneously because he missed them, but he knew he would get them back, he had to, because otherwise he really would drown and it all would turn to hot scorching smoke with no cloud in sight. His Cat, his Loud, they were his to know, to hold even as he knew how distant they really were.
The music though, it allowed him to feel that they were there, to really feel those memories even if he couldn’t have them back. He was a lover lost at sea as the waves crashed against his boat, he would hope for them but in the sea of his own mind he couldn’t get them back. He wanted them back and in that music, they were there, he could see them reach out and hold his hands, he could see who he was and who he was meant to be. He could see himself for once in his smokey visage.
Then the music would stop, and he would feel empty again.
He wanted to see them, he wanted to stare into red and green eyes, but he didn’t have that anymore, it was gone, and he didn’t know how he was going to get it back.
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Even in hiding, Kurogiri took time to allow Tenko to be a normal kid. He took him to the park occasionally and while he worried, seeing the smile on his face was worth it. More and more he chipped away at the fear of his quirk, showed him that he could touch and feel things with the gloves, that he would be ok even with a quirk that could dissolve things. He knew Tenko had wanted to be a hero once and while he also knew why he had resentment towards some heroes they both saw that they weren’t all bad.
Sure, there were heroes that misused their quirk, used violence over all and didn’t care a single lick for the villains they were pursuing. It scared them both knowing Kurogiri might run into one that could hurt him even as he was only trying to provide for their small family. Still, there were others that saved people and they smiled thinking about how if Tenko wanted to be a hero his quirk would be amazing in recue work. With a healthy home and being free from All For One’s influence Kurogiri saw how happy he was rekindling his old dreams.
Tenko had bad days too and Kurogiri wished he could help by getting him a therapist but that was too out there, too dangerous for people under the radar so it was another thing Kurogiri was guilty about not being able to provide.
Still, even if Tenko wasn’t able to make any friends out on the playground it was good to see him happy and free with less worries than he had on a usual day. Kurogiri on the other hand didn’t even try to interact with people on their occasional outings. Tenko had the benefit of not being recognizable as well as having hair they could dye; Kurogiri didn’t exactly have that. His body was made of smoke and one glance at him was all it would take to make him recognizable. It was frustrating but it wasn’t like he wanted to interact with other people. Parents or not.
The playground was small, mostly consisting of only a slide and a couple swings but it was out of the way and far enough from their apartment that no one could trace them to it. He found it on one of his supply runs and it just became a place he could take Tenko. Every small thing that could make his childhood a bit more normal was worth it in his eyes.
The current day was a peaceful one, a bit cloudy since it had rained recently but calm with very little wind. It was the kind of day where they could both relax and pretend that everything was normal, that they weren’t hiding from a terrifying supervillain. The air smelled fresh and crisp as it always did after a rainstorm and while everything was a little damp neither of them minded. Kurogiri had a love of clouds and rain while Tenko was just happy to be able to go outside.
Tenko was alone on the playset, though that wasn’t uncommon being that it was a small playground few were aware of. Occasionally there were some others, a green haired lady came there sometimes with her two-year-old, none of them interacted much but she was there. Kurogiri was almost glad for it though, being alone made things more relaxing, allowed him to feel safer when he knew Tenko was going to be ok and that there wasn’t a chance of people seeing them. It had almost been a year in hiding, Tenko’s birthday was coming up but that didn’t lessen the paranoia. He was as careful as he could be but All For One was powerful, one slip up and they could be in a world of danger. So, he kept as careful as possible even as he tried to still make it ok for Tenko.
He would have to get Tenko something for his birthday, maybe a cupcake or a small birthday cake that they could share. There were a few places in mind, even if he had to be careful, he was sure he could manage it and do something to make the day special.
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He should have expected this, he should have been safer, but could anyone blame him for wanting to make the day special for Tenko? He could and would blame himself for being so stupid, but he just wished he had done better, been better at stealing this stuff and didn’t get caught like he did.
The events of the day went like this:
At 6 o’clock he woke up and knowing it was Tenko’s birthday made a plan to go out and get a cake. He knew the perfect one and while it wasn’t a store he robbed before he was still prepared to go get something from there. He was going to make it a perfect birthday for Tenko, and nothing was going to stop him.
At 6:43 he had all the supplies he needed and after making sure Tenko was set up with breakfast if he took longer than expected he made his way out the door.
At 7 exactly he arrived there. It was early enough in the day that it should have been perfect, no one would see him steal the cake and if there were cameras, he could just cover them up with smoke. Obscuring all the cameras in sight was laughably easy but that should have been his first clue that something was wrong. There was one hidden camera he missed and so his entire escapade was recorded perfectly on CTV footage.
He got to the cake at a little under a quarter past 7, he would have got there earlier but he spent some time searching, partly to make himself seem less suspicious, not that it helped, and partly because he wanted to get the right thing. He ended up choosing a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting that was All Might themed. Tenko, like other kids now that he had the freedom to cultivate interests besides violence, had become an All Might fanboy and while it was a bit humorous Kurogiri was more than willing to give in to the boys wants. The choice of cake was ironic considering what happened next.
The cake went through the portal at 7:17 and was seen by a resident superhero who was shopping in the very store, a superhero named All Might who is entirely too righteous for his own good, though it being him was more of a blessing considering any other hero may have been inclined to be more violent.
Kurogiri was arrested at 7:22 and now he was in a police cruiser going to the station and simultaneously cursing his own luck and having a panic attack.
It was when the clock struck 8 that their lives changed irreversibly.