Chapter Text
Keigo firmly grasped Touya’s wrists, trying to dislodge his fingers from pulling at his hair. “Please stop hurting yourself. I’m sorry, Touya, but I can’t tell you. It’s better that I don’t. I never wanted this to happen.”
“Don’t touch me!” Touya snarled out, blue flames flaring out from his palms. Keigo yelped, pulling his hands back. “Don’t ever touch me again! I loved you so much, and you went and betrayed me like this! Was I not worth the trouble anymore? Number two can’t handle my baggage anymore? Is the great Hawks so far out of everyone’s league that he can’t be bothered with trash like me?”
Hurt filled Hawks’ eyes. He tried reaching back out to Touya. “No, no, my love. I swear that’s not it. You mean so much to me.”
Touya slapped his hand away. “I don’t need to listen to anything else from you. We’re done, Hawks. There’s nothing left to talk about.” He spun around and walked over to the front door.
—
“Look at what Yagi got me!” A young Tenko holds up a light brown guitar, showing it off to an equally young Touya. His smile was wide, teeth crooked behind silver bands.
“Are you gonna become a country singer with that thing?” Touya sneered from his designated spot on the bean bag chair in the corner of the room.
Tenko throws a toy plush at Touya’s head. “Shut up, dude! It was a birthday gift. At least my dad likes me enough to get me a gift.”
“You don’t even call him dad. Besides, Enji threw me an envelope of money. I got my own gift.” Touya rolls his eyes, grabbing the plush Mario Mushroom and hugging it to his chest.
13 years later, Touya can still remember him and Tenko sitting in Tenko’s room, trying to teach themselves how to play guitar. They had met in middle school, bonding over being ostracized by their peers.
Tenko was struggling to adjust to having an adoptive father and living with a new family after over a decade of abuse. Social services took him and his sister away from their biological dad, who also admitted to having relations with the infamous All for One, which led to his imprisonment. Hana went to live with a distant aunt from their mom’s side, but Tenko required more support with his quirk, so he was housed with a friend of their grandmother's, who happened to be Japan’s #1 hero and one of the many heroes involved in ridding the world of AFO. Yagi introduced Tenko to his wife, Inko, and stepson, Izuku. They gave Tenko the support and care he needed while still giving him space to process his new living arrangement. Yagi also ensured that Tenko and his sister could still see each other.
Touya finally accepted that he wasn’t fit for hero work. His father’s dream had fizzled out with Touya’s contradicting genetics. Touya fell into a deep manic episode, attempting to take his aggressions out on baby Shouto. He had spent a year in a youth psych ward, his mania slowly turning into a depressive episode. It had gotten so bad that Touya had attempted to take his own life, feeling remorseful for how he treated his siblings and not being good enough for his father. His near-death experience had been a turning point for the whole family. Enji had taken a step back and reflected on his treatment of his wife and children. He put in the effort to be a better husband and father. The Todorokis went to individual and family therapy, working through their problems in order to support all four siblings to the fullest. Touya’s relationship with Enji is still incredibly strained, Enji’s relationship with all of his kids is, but without the intervention, it could’ve been a lot worse.
Touya and Tenko had bonded through their shared love of music, exchanging songs and playlists with each other often. This transformed into them trying to start their own band in high school. Tenko had been gifted an acoustic guitar from Yagi as a 14th birthday gift. He had watched online tutorials on how to play, sharing his knowledge with Touya. A year later, the boys had gotten into a non-hero high school where they met Iguchi, who had learned how to play the drums as an outlet for his anger. The three of them spent every weekend in Tenko’s basement practicing covers of their favorite rock songs. Eventually, they worked on making their own songs and uploading them to the internet. They gained traction from family and a few locals. Iguchi and Tenko had a shared interest in video games, naming their band the League of Villains as an homage to League of Legends, much to Touya’s chagrin.
Now, the LOV (abbreviated bc they finally realized how silly and cringeworthy the old name was), is a local Musutafu band steadily growing in popularity and known for their alternative sound. Over the years, the band had picked up Jin and Himiko as core members. Touya had met Jin in the waiting room of his therapist's office, and Himiko is being sponsored by Shirakumo for UA’s rehabilitation program, which puts her on a less deranged path while still uplifting her quirk. Shirakumo, who had previously been one of the heroes to take Tenko away from his father, had offered to become a sort of manager for the band with help from his partner, Present Mic.
With such different personalities, they were able to keep a consistent genre of alternative rock, but they had different preferences for which direction to take the sound. Himiko liked pop punk, but Touya preferred metal. Iguchi wanted more punk inspiration in their lyrics, but Tenko has a soft voice. Jin was always up for whatever, preferring to stay along for the ride and not care too much about specifics. It was too much trouble to stick to one definite genre, so they instead embraced their differences and intricacies. During band practices and writing sessions, each member takes over the main creative liberties for one song. It just works out easier this way.
Touya is interrupted from his daydreaming by a foot colliding with his leg. “What the hell are you doing?”
Tenko’s soft, gravelly voice cuts through his remaining thoughts. Touya opens his eyes, smirking up at his best friend. “I’m reminiscing.”
He sits up, resting against the back of the couch, allowing Tenko to sit down next to him. Tenko lounges back, half against the couch and half against Touya.
“You have all the time in the world to do that now, huh?”
Touya rolls his eyes, “Fuck off. I still have work, not to mention you and the other freaks bothering me nonstop.”
“Yeah, but don’t think we haven’t noticed how red your eyes have been.” Tenko turns his head to look up at Touya. “We all care about you, Touy. It hurts seeing you this pathetic.”
Touya scoffs out a laugh, nudging Tenko. “You’re an asshole. I’d imagine you would be equally pathetic if you and the lizard broke up.”
Tenko glares, “Don’t call him a lizard. Besides, nobody told you to go fuck around with a pro hero.”
“You said you liked him.” Touya sighs, ”.... Yeah, maybe not my brightest moment, but fuck did he make me happy. I guess I just don’t have luck with heroes.” He leans closer to Tenko, a small pout on his lips.
“Have you talked about it with your therapist yet?”
“I have actually. Speaking of which, I have songs I’m working on. She wanted me to write about my feelings. Bleugh, right? But I figured I could maybe monetize these feelings. Who doesn’t love a song about heartbreak…” Touya huffs, leaning over the side of the couch to grab his backpack. He pulls out a sleek black notebook with a small flame engraved on the corner of the cover and starts flipping through the pages.
Tenko rolls his eyes, “You’re still using things he gave you?”
“This book means a lot to me, and there’s really personal shit in here. I can’t just throw it away.” Touya swats at Tenko’s arm before going back to the pages. “Here, I’ve been working on a couple of different things. I don’t know if this stuff is any good to use for songs.”
“You really are whipped for him.” Tenko sighs, pulling the book into his lap and reading through the lyrics and notes scattered on the pages. A few minutes later, Tenko turns back to Touya with a soft expression. “This is really lovely, Touy. Sad, but lovely. It’s really obvious how much this has affected you. I’m really sorry.”
Touya stares at him, tears beginning to prick his eyes. “Okay, you piece of shit,” he lets out a laugh, wiping at his eyes. “Enough of that. So it’s good?”
Tenko laughs, “Yeah, it’s good. There’s enough here to be our next album if you want. I think Himiko would really love it.”
Touya snatches the book back. “Okay. Good. I’ll clean some of it up and show it to the others this weekend. I’m going to bed. Night, Ten.”
“Goodnight, Touya….” Tenko watches Touya scurry out of the living room and down the hall to his room. He sighs, flopping back onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling.
Touya always bottled things up. It was something Tenko learned very quickly about him when they were boys. Tenko had always thought Touya was just so strong and nothing could phase him. Over the years, he learned that Touya actually took everything to heart and cared so very deeply, but never let anyone know when he was struggling. Whether it be his innate sense of being a protector as an older brother or his fear of reaching out and not getting the attention he needs, Tenko wasn’t sure. But for Touya, who presented himself as unaffected as possible, to show this much grief was concerning for Tenko.
—
嗚呼 帰る術をとうに捨てた君は
夜が帰るのを待つフリで微笑みかける
"Ah, I know what you want from me"
"Close your eyes and kiss me"
命の音までも聞こえる程に
月灯りの下 二人結い交わした
からっぽの言葉
You felt alive, I knew it's a lie
Just stop, stop talking
お前だけ苦しいかのように
弱音吐くだけなら楽だろう
Tick-tack-toe is over
ひと滴の毒で愛を汚して
"I'm with you tonight"
"Woo, I won't lie"
"I'm with you tonight, tonight"
"Woo, I won't lie"
Such a lie
“This is kinda depressing, Touya.”
“Shut up, Iguchi.” Touya grabs a throw pillow from the couch and beams it at Iguchi’s head, who laughs in response.
Himiko giggles, grabbing Touya’s notebook and flopping backwards on the carpet. She holds the book above her head and skims over the lyrics again. “Don’t listen to him! This is so beautiful! Lies and deceit in a loving relationship, waiting for your lover to come home when he’s—”
“That’s enough, Himiko.” Tenko sighs, running a hand over his face. His guitar, an electric upgrade from his childhood guitar, is in his lap as he mindlessly plucks at the strings.
Touya slouches on the couch enough to reach Himiko with his feet, gently kicking at her side. “Yeah, enough, you psycho. I sit here spilling my inner turmoil to you guys, and I get clowned for it.”
Himiko sighs, closing the book and resting it on her chest. “You are so dramatic, Touya. Why didn’t you go into theater again? I think that’s more your calling.”
Touya grabs another couch pillow and slams it against Himiko’s face. She shrieks in response, pushing away the pillow and mumbling something about her hair.
Iguchi laughs from his perch at his drum kit, and Tenko just huffs, turning his head away from the chaos. Suddenly, a large black mist appears in the middle of the recording studio. Shirakumo and Jin step out of the fog, drink carriers in both of their hands. The warp gate closes behind them, light filling the room once more.
“What are you guys up to?” Jin questions, looking at Himiko on the floor as he deposits his drink carrier on the small coffee table next to the couch. Himiko shoots up from the floor, dropping Touya’s book on the floor, wrapping her arms around Jin in a tight embrace.
“Jin!” She cries out, pouting her lips up at him. “Touya is being a meanie!”
“Am not, you brat!”
Jin just laughs, patting down stray strands of her hair. “Well, what were you doing to him?”
“I said he should’ve done theater…” Himiko pouts, crossing her arms. Jin makes a sheepish face, glancing at Touya.
“Oh, not you too!” Touya huffs, flopping back on the couch.
Jin just laughs again, leaning over to grab a styrofoam cup and offering it up to the grouch on the couch.
From the other side of the room, Shirakumo is passing drinks to Tenko and Iguchi. “You know, Himiko, you’re 18 years old. You should know not to antagonize people.”
“Touya is 27!”
“... Yes, you’re right.”
Touya scoffs, sipping on coffee as black as his supposed soul, and sulks on the couch.
“Let’s get back on track, guys.” Tenko stands up from the other couch, reaching down and grabbing Touya’s discarded book. “Touya has enough material in here for our next album. I think if we really focus, we can get it done by February, maybe even January.”
Iguchi makes a face. “A whole album in 5 months?”
“That does sound like a lot, Tenko…” Himiko worries.
“We already have basically all the lyrics we need. Touya just needs to edit some bits and make it less like diary entries.”
(“Again with the strays, dude….”)
“So we need to focus on instrumentals that complement his lyricism. Then Shirakumo and Yamada can mix and fine-tune everything afterwards.”
Shirakumo hums in agreement. “It should only take Hizashi and me a month or so for that, accounting for the fact that we still have hero work.”
“Well, I can do that!” Himiko exclaims, jumping around and brandishing her phone. “I can even get the others at UA to help!”
Tenko nods, “Then it’s settled.” He hands Touya the book back, staringly pointedly at him. “Figure out the bass and how you’ll be singing the songs.”
“I’m gonna be singing?” Touya frowns, looking around the room in hopes of someone disagreeing.
“Well, we can’t sing about your breakup as well as you would.” Jin shrugs, picking up his guitar and beginning to string together chords.
A cold but gentle hand rests on Touya’s shoulder. “This is yours, Touya. We’ll all follow your lead.”