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Izuku runs into Shigaraki at the police station. He knew Shigaraki and the rest of LoV had gotten out of the whole situation with AFO, he knew they were helping to make things better.
Izuku had gotten out of yet another relationship, this time with Tetsu. The relationship was good, but Izuku just couldn’t keep trying anymore. He knew he wasn’t Tetsu's soulmate, and he wasn’t going to be able to give himself to someone that wasn’t Tenko.
He found out after USJ that he and Tenko were soulmates, he’d seen the mark, one split second had changed everything. His soulmate didn’t want him, he was a villain, and Izuku’s first love had actually rejected him, not just ending things because he was ‘moving’ and wanted to ‘explore his options’.
So, seeing him outside of the Police Department left him shocked as though Denki hit him with his quirk on accident, he had done that just a few weeks ago, so he knows how it feels, trust him. But he looks at Tenko, uncertain as they stand there almost sizing each other up…?
“Izuku, you look good.” says Tenko softly.
“I-uh- thanks I guess.” murmurs Izuku as he moves to walk past him.
“I- I heard you were seeing Tetsu... How uh, how’s that going?” asks Tenko quietly as Izuku goes to pass him, grasping at something to keep him there just one more moment.
“What’s it matter to you?” asks Izuku harshly.
“I just want to make sure you’re being treated right.” says Tenko, a bit shocked at the venom.
“If you wanted that, then you shouldn’t have broken my heart.” spits Izuku, unable to stop himself.
“Izuku, I- I didn’t want to hurt you, I just couldn’t…” starts Tenko trying to explain but the words won’t come.
“You just what, Tenko? You just didn’t want to deal with the fact that we’re soulmates? Cause newsflash, I’m dealing with it too.” snaps Izuku.
“You can’t have me as your-"
Izuku cuts him off, “I wanted you before I knew we were soulmates asshole. I wanted you before that ever even crossed my mind. I just wanted you.”
“You shouldn’t though, Izuku. You shouldn’t. I hurt you, I became a villain, I am not good enough. Why would you love me?” asks Tenko a bit brokenly.
“Tenko, how could I not? Do you know what hurts the most out of all of this? It isn’t that you broke my heart, nor is it that I still love you. It’s that you don’t even seem to care, while I’m so disgusted with myself.” explains Izuku tiredly, the conversation cracking his skin open, peeling it back until he’s bare.
“Izuku, I do care. Of course I care, I just can’t be with you. I’m sure Tetsu treats you well, the way you deserve. I’m sorry for saying anything.” says Tenko softly, apologies on his tongues, pleas to be together written on his chest, he wants, but he doesn’t deserve it.
“I broke up with him two days ago, Tenko.” sighs Izuku as his head leans forward until it’s pressing against the glass of the door.
“What? Why would you do that?” asks Tenko, feeling anger at the thought of that idiot treating Izuku wrong.
“Because I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending they’re you. Even when I know them, it doesn’t fucking work!” Snarls Izuku and before the words can break into Tenko’s whirling mind, he’s gone, green lightning caressing his body as he leaves.
The words process, and Tenko is staring in the direction Izuku took off in.
“You gonna go get his dumbass before he hurts himself?” asks a harsh voice.
Tenko turns around and winces at the sight of Katsuki in uniform.
“Dynamight.. I didn’t know you were here.” mutters Tenko as his head turns back to that direction.
“Look, I’d like to kick your ass. I really would, but I pulled the same shit with Ei after graduation. So, here’s what Imma do. He’s at his apartment. You know where that is, and I know you do because you dropped off Himiko there more than once for our game night. I’ll make sure you shitheads aren’t bothered, but you need to go there right now and fix this train wreck.” Explains Katsuki seriously, red eyes narrowed in a way Tenko knows would usually lead to an explosion to his face, he felt that one too many times since Katsuki found out about how things ended.
“Alright, fine. But I don’t know what to say.” says Tenko frustratedly, grimacing at the thought of going to see Izuku all empty-headed.
“The fucking truth dusthead.” snaps Katsuki as he huffs at him. “Tell Deku to shut the fuck up and listen, and then tell him the goddamn truth. He deserves that much, and I know him. He’ll fucking take you back, little shit wants you, even if he wants to say he’s done altogether.”
“Thank you.” says Tenko openly as he turns around, ready to go to his car and do this.
“One more thing moron. If you fuck this up, I’m ending you. Hurt him again, and you’re fucking done.” hisses Katsuki harshly as he turns Tenko around by his collar, getting in his face.
“Hm... now I understand why Himiko says you’re an angry Pomeranian…” says Tenko before he can think better of it because it hits him square in the face. “Wait! Don’t explode me! Look, I’ll come directly to you if I fuck up. Okay? Just let me go try to fix this.”
“Himiko’s getting exploded. Pain in the ass.” grumbles Katsuki as he lets Tenko go, turning and going back into the police department.
Tenko makes his way to his car, and instantly he gets himself onto the road and takes off. He’s not following the speed limits, but he doesn’t really care at this very moment because Izuku deserves the truth. Even if he’s going to hate him afterwards.
Getting to the apartment takes the usual time considering the LoV lived by the department purposefully. It’s so the officers can check in on them and make it easier for them to get help if needed. He parks outside the building, haphazardly on and off the curb, and he has to take a calming breath as he shuts the car off.
He’s about to get Detroit smashed outta the universe for this, which will be more than deserved, but hopefully he can give Izuku that closure he deserves. Tenko shoves his nervousness down his throat and gets out, meandering up to the building, slipping inside easily because it’s relatively unprotected. He makes his way up to Izuku’s apartment and knocks on the door before he can talk himself out of it.
“I don’t want to do this right now, Kacchan. I just want to get some rest, okay? I know I was supposed to-" says Izuku into his phone, instantly cutting off as he opens the door, and those green eyes fall onto Tenko. “You did not.”
Tenko can hear the laugh and the click, and he knows he’s not the only one who’s going to be destroyed by a pissed Izuku.
“I don’t want to talk to you.” says Izuku clearly, crossing his arms over his chest, anger threading around him in green lightning, the same green lightning on their wrists.
“I know. But I want to talk to you, and I’d really appreciate it if you’d let me speak. You don’t have to talk to me afterwards, and I’ll leave the minute I’m done. I just want to explain.” says Tenko quickly, hands shoved into his pockets, clenching in the quirk weakening gloves.
Izuku looks at him, eyes roving over his face, probably trying to figure out if this is some prank or something stupid.
“Fine. But you’ll stay afterwards. I’m sure I’ll have a rebuttal, and I’m not going to chase you down. If I have to do that, I’m smashing you through the floor of your apartment and destroying the damn building.” says Izuku evenly before he moves out of the way and waves him in, shutting the door behind Tenko once he’s out of the way.
“It’ll be deserved either way, so I might take my chances.” mumbles Tenko seriously.
“You want to sit for this, or are you standing? Cause I’m sitting.” says Izuku as he moves around him to sit on his couch, crossing one leg under him, thigh pressing into his ankle.
“I’ll- uh- I’ll stand... and I wanna preface this with, I am sorry because I know how much this whole situation has hurt you, I know how you felt when you saw the mark and realized what that meant. Me doing that was not because we were soulmates, not directly.” explains Tenko as he steps forward, slipping his shoes off on the tile by the front door before he gets closer to the coffee table, leaving a wide berth of space between them.
“I don’t think I like that insinuation, and please don’t try to pretend you understand how I feel. I don’t need it. But do continue.” says Izuku lowly, as he leans back into the cushion, those arms crossing again.
“Right... Uh- We-Well-" stutters Tenko before he cuts himself off, visibly struggling to find his words, he takes a moment to breathe, thankful for the silence. “I loved you more than anything, and that scared the shit out of me because my own parents didn’t care about me the way I cared about you. That’s why choosing to be a villain was so easy in the end, but that choice had nothing to do with you. When I woke up on my birthday to find the mark, I knew we were going to be soulmates. Green lightning is what you used to doodle, and color in, on our notes, I wasn’t for sure, but having that mark... I knew you, you’d have told me that we needed to think about breaking up for the sake of our potential soulmates. You’d talked about it before I shut the conversation down, and I know what I told you. Soulmates don’t matter because I want to be with you no matter what.”
Tenko stops, pulling in a breath as he chances looking at Izuku, seeing him struggle to keep his composure hurts, but he understands.
“I broke your heart that day. I couldn’t even think about anyone else as my soulmate. I knew it would be you. I knew it, and I couldn’t handle it. You look at me, and you know that nobody could ever feel that for me, that emotion doesn’t match with who I am, what I look like, nor what I’ve been through/put myself through. Izuku, I couldn’t do it. I had to end things before you realized the universe had made a mistake.” explains Tenko, practically pleading for him to understand as tears dripped down his own cheeks. “I have regretted it every single moment since. And when I saw you at USJ, when I saw you being the hero you always dreamed of being… I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. So, I left being a villain. I couldn’t hurt you that way, you’d have to fight against me, and I knew you could do it, you would do it. But I also knew it would break me, and I was sure you’d still hurt from it. I couldn’t do that to you, and it’s not like I wanted to do it in the first place. It didn’t break me to leave, it definitely hurt, but I chose the right side because I chose you.”
Tenko stops as his breath shudders harshly, heart pounding as he wipes his face to clear the stupid tears. He doesn’t deserve to cry about this.
“I said at the beginning that I loved you. I said it was past tense. I am a liar.” starts Tenko through a shuddery breath as he moves a step forward, looking into green eyes. “I love you. I am in love with you, and I have never stopped. I still don’t believe in soulmates, but I do believe in us. I believe in you. I- I’m not telling you this because I want to push you into taking me back. I’m telling you this because you deserve to know, you deserve to know that I still love you, and it broke me every time Himiko told me you were seeing someone, even as I said that I hope it works out, that you deserve the good those people could give you. I don’t want you to forgive me, hell I don’t want you to want me. I’m not good for you, Izuku, but god do I want you, I love you. And I am so sorry that I screwed everything up back then, I am so sorry that I hurt you, that I made you think I didn’t want you. I’m so sorry.”
The silence hits him in the chest, but Tenko doesn’t move. He looks away from those watery green eyes, but he doesn’t leave. He wants to… He really, really wants to run and hide. But Izuku told him not to, so Tenko stands there and waits.
“You are a complete and utter idiot. Like- I don’t even know- seriously?!” says Izuku, looking gobsmacked as he stares at the man looking at the ground. “Okay, I won’t say your thoughts or perceptions are wrong, they are valid because you feel that way and you’re allowed to feel however you want, even if I don’t agree with you. My issue is that you chose to make the decisions for me. Hello…. I’m a human too, I’m allowed to make decisions for myself. So why would you take that from me? I- okay Kacchan did the same in a way by being a dick, but still. What is it with people deciding they need to do shit for me without asking me if I want them to?”
“I didn’t mean to-" objects Tenko as he lifts his head to look at Izuku.
“You did. You chose for me. You decided yourself that I couldn’t love you, that I couldn’t want you as my soulmate. You chose that for me.” Interrupts Izuku seriously as he stands up and walks the few steps towards Tenko to leave maybe five steps between them. “But that’s the thing. When I woke up with your mark, I knew it was ours, it was us. And I knew it before it ever showed up because you ended things and disappeared off the face of the planet with bullshit lies. Tenko, were you ever with anyone after me? Did you get to explore your options like you told me you wanted to?”
“I- No. I flirted sure, but no. I couldn’t. I knew I wasn’t going to, but I said it anyways. I thought it’d be easier for you that way, easier for you to move on. Clearly, I was wrong about that too. I’m a fucking idiot.” grumbles Tenko as he drops his head forward again, pissed at himself.
“Of course, you didn’t. I feel bad that I did try to move on, but you clearly thought I should… Look, I don’t like what you did. I hate it, actually, but I still love you. And we’re fated to be together by the universe, sure. But to me, we were soulmates before soulmates was even something for us to talk about. I can’t move on from you, Tenko, and I’m certain I don’t want to.” says Izuku as he steps into Tenko’s space, lifting his face so they can look at each other, the honesty shines between them.
“Izuku, you shouldn’t… After everything I put you through, you shouldn’t...” whispers Tenko in disbelief as he looks into those green eyes shining with a love he hasn’t seen in a while.
“Well too fucking bad. I do, and you can’t change that. So, what’re you going to do about it?” asks Izuku daringly as he purses his lips.
“We have to take this slow, we have to. I hurt you, and I know I need to gain that trust and confidence again. So, please agree that we take things slow.” replies Tenko quietly as he leans forward, nudging Izuku’s nose with his own.
“Fine, we can take it slow. Long as you know the endgame is forever with you asshole.” whines Izuku as he tries to close the distance, but he’s missing that last inch.
“It was always going to end up that way.” whispers Tenko before he leans in and presses their lips together.
It’s a soft collision, but it feels like coming home.