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It's quiet in the Iida household when it happens.
Tenya is sitting — by himself — on one of the many sofas in the main room. The ceiling lights are turned off and the curtains are drawn closed.
With only the glow from the lamp beside him and the glaring television screen to keep him company, Tenya watches as a news program starts up.
Blankets shuffle as Tenya makes himself comfortable, gripping the remote in his weaker hand and relaxing back into the plush cushions that cover every piece of furniture across their estate.
He's been tired recently, his mind feeling dulled and his senses less than their best. Hound Dog has told him that it's a sign of his stress, a sign that he's suppressing his negative emotions so much that he's leaving no energy for forming positive ones.
It feels like ignoring his friends' messages. It feels like stepping away from Manual when his back turns in the other direction. It feels like selfishness and the sour twang of revenge.
Tenya has completely missed the reporter's introductory sequence.
A video is playing. It's grainy and filmed with shaky hands. Tenya feels the remote creak within his grasp. It's backtracked by the frantic muttering of a civilian's panic. Tenya recognises himself past the motion blur.
Stain steps into view. Tenya's heart stutters in his chest as he feels the bloodlust all over again. The phantom pain of metal scraping bone and stubborn, heroic, friends coming to his rescue.
The remote snaps in two against his palm. Tenya barely even feels it happen.
The darkness around him feels too dark. The silence behind him feels too silent. He feels too alone in his isolation.
The screen goes blurry, and Tenya isn't sure if it's because of the amateur camera work or because he hasn't breathed since that alleyway came into view.
A message pings on his phone, and Tenya looks over with the intention of answering it swiftly. Midoriya's contact greets him. He turns the device so its screen is facing the wood of the table. Todoroki sends a message shortly after.
Tenya turns his phone onto Do Not Disturb mode. Tenya ignores his friends' messages.
It feels like a fresh wind of betrayal.
He should turn off the television. Stand up and find his brother, or one of his parents. He should find someone he can stand near to assure himself that he is not alone, that his isolation is his own doing. That he will not be his own undoing.
Tenya regrets going after Stain that night. He watches the screen as the him of his past barrels on, stupidly risking it all in a battle not his own.
He lets himself cheer along with the person filming when his backup arrives, feeling slightly to the left of himself as he urges his saviours onward.
The house phone rings from the kitchen. No one answers it. The muted voices of his friends come through the message that gets left behind.