"Can we not?" Tomura hisses, narrowing his eyes at Zia.
She just grins back at him. "We must!" She says, pumping a fist in the air. Momo and Mina came back into the room shortly.
The screen fades in to show baby Tenko sobbing as his father drags him across the floor by the back of his shirt, with his mother walking behind them, hands reached for her son.
Everyone went silent for a moment.
"Dude, your dad sucks," Kaminari says, crossing his arms.
"Playing hero again?" His father says. "Causing trouble?!
Aizawa frowns. "You liked to play hero back then?" He asked, turning his head to look at Tomura. The latter just turned his head and looked away.
"Stop, Kotaro!" The mother says. "Don't be so hard on him!" Tenko continued wailing, trying to struggle out of his father's grip.
The father wasn't bothered. "If you don't like it, then learn your lesson this time," The father says.
"This is horrible," Ochako says, averting his eyes.
Tenko continues wailing, and a voice over of present day Tomura starts speaking. "There was one role in our house," He says. "My father's one, absolute rule," The mother continued pleading, but the father locked Tenko outside.
"He locked you outside?" Izuku questions, frowning. "This is literally abuse, why didn't anyone call the authorities?"
It showed Tenko curled up, crying and scratching at his skin.
"No talk about heroes," Present day Tomura says.
Izuku's frown deepens. "Does he have a hatred for heroes?" He questions.
"You better not go apologize to him for me," The father tells the mother as he closes the blinds.
The mother looked concerned. "But what about dinner? And his allergies are only getting worse!" She exclaims nervously. The father sat down at the table.
"Are your allergies why you always itch?" Himiko asks.
Tomura shakes his head. "No, I don't have allergies," He says, sounding disinterested. But his eyes glued to the screen tell a different story.
"Rules are rules," The father says.
An old lady on the other side of the table stares in annoyance at the father. "Don't you think you've been a little too strict lately?" She questions.
"Five years old and still no quirk.." The father says. "If I can't make Tenko understand, it'll only lead to more misery for him," He sighs. "Wanting to be a hero will cause him nothing but trouble."
"Your real name is Tenko?" Himiko questions. She pouts. "Why does everyone have secret names?"
Izuku starts muttering. "Five years old and no quirk, why?" He mutters. "He could just be a late bloomer, or something else could be in play. Maybe-" Zia waves her hands and Izuku's mouth shuts.
"None of that right now, please," She says, smiling politely.
"As my in-laws, I need you to understand too," The father says. The grandparents looked hesitant, but didn't speak further. The camera turned to a little girl petting a dog, looking at her father in concern.
The camera switched to show the mother and Tenko in the living room. "Come on, no more scratching, okay?" The mom says.
"But I'm so itchy," Tenko says, scratching his face.
"Okay but seriously," Mina says. "Why is everyone so FUCKING ADORABLE AS CHILDREN!?"
Everyone stares at her in confusion.
"It's too bad we don't know what's causing these allergies," The mother says.
Tenko pouts as he looks at his mom. "It's the house," He says, continuing to itch his face. "I get itchy in here."
The mother pauses, giving Tenko a hesitant smile. "Tenko.." She starts. "Do you.. still want to be a hero?"
"Yup," Tenko says. "Because, like, nobody wanted to play with Mikkun and Tomo. So I said, 'let's play together.' And we played heroes, and it was super fun," He looks down. "And then Mikkun said 'you should be All Might, Ten,"
All Might bows his head in shame. If only I found him faster.
"I was nice and played with them, even though they don't have any friends," Tenko says. He looks back up at his mom. "Mommy, why does Father say no all the time? Does he hate me?! Will he like he if I get my quirk?"
Izuku winces slightly.
Katsuki sides eyes him silently, frowning.
"Your father doesn't hate you," The mom says, hugging Tenko. "He just.. He knows.. He knows how hard it is for heroes."
The voice over came back. "Little kids are sneakier than you'd expect," He says. "And simpler," The camera started showing small shots of Tenko with his grandparents. "When you're little, a grown-up's words are absolute."
"True that," Mina and Ochako say in unison, saluting the screen.
"And that's why I needed to hear it from you all," Tomura says. "Just one thing.."
Izuku frowns in sadness, relating to what Tomura was saying.
Tomura's voice took an annoyed tone. "But my family my father created," The camera switched to show an outside view of his house. "Rejected me with kindness."
"This is so sad," Ochako says, sniffling.
Tomura scoffs. "Just you wait," He says. "It gets worse. Way worse," All For One gives him a look. Confusing, since he had no eyes.
The camera switched once again to show a picture Tenko was holding, a hero hugging a small boy on a playground.
All Might choked back a cough.
"It's a secret," Tenko's sister says. "So.. This is grandma. She was a hero, I guess."
Tenko stares at the image in surprise. "Why'd you wanna show me this, Hana..?" He questions, looking between his sister and the image.
"Your sister's really cute," Mina says. "I wanna hug her."
"Daddy said all the stuff, but.." Hana pauses. "Don't worry, I'm on your side, Tenko," She grins at her brother. "Let's be a brother-sister hero team! But keep it a secret from Daddy."
Tenko looks back at the image in wonder and awe. "Okay."
"I have a bad feeling again," Shoto says.
You should. Tomura thinks.
The camera transitions to show Tenko playing with his dog. So my other grandma was a hero! He thinks. My family had a hero in it!
"Y'know what, Mon?" Tenko says, throwing the ball. "I feel like I could take on the world right now," Then a stabbing sensation went through his palm. "Ouch!" The camera showed the ball, still in the air, a small bit of it disintegrated.
"Oh no.." Midnight says. "Oh god no.."
Tenko looked down at his hand in confusion. Then the house door slammed open and his father stormed outside. "Tenko!" He shouts. "Did you sneak into my study!?"
"It had just rained, and the humidity.." Present day Tomura speaks. "..was stinging my already ragged skin."
His father stared down at Tenko with rage. "Did you see it..!?" He snarls.
Tenko stares up at his father in terror, the camera focusing in on his eyes. They were wide in fear.
"This man deserves to be in prison," Aizawa says.
Tomura smirks, hiding it from view. All For One grins, not caring if anyone sees it.
"It was as if the itchiness welled up from deep in my gut," Present day Tomura says.
The camera showed inside the house, where his mother was hugging Hana as the little girl cried. The grandparents behind them looked scared as well.
"WAHHHH!" Hana wails. "Tenko, he... He said he wanted to go in there!!"
"What!? Why is she lying?" Izuku questions, almost angrily.
Katsuki scowls at the screen. "I knew I was right to hate kids," He grumbles. Eijiro sweat drops and chuckles nervously.
Tenko stares at his sister in complete betrayal. The father raised his arm and slapped Tenko so hard he fell down.
"What the fuck!?" Touya and Himiko say in unison.
"KOTARO, NO!" The mother screams angrily.
The dog starts barking. "That wasn't your grandmother in the picture," The father says. "That was a monster who abandoned her child," He glares down at his child. "Do you really want to know who heroes are?!"
The camera showed Tenko's family, all shouting and looking scared. Help me, Tenko thinks. Don't just watch. C'mon. Help me. Help me!
"This is completely unacceptable," Nezu says.
Tenko was scratching his face harder. "They're people who hurt their own families.." The father says, raising his hand again. "..Only to help complete strangers."
"No! That's not true!" Present Mic shouts.
Touya glares at his father. "Isn't it?" He sneers. Natsuo frowns, as does Fuyumi. Both of them were sitting next to Touya now.
"This is the family.." Present day Tomura says. A large shot of the front of the house was shown as a 'smack' sound was heard. "My father created."
"This is horrible," Ochako says. Jirou and Mina nod in agreement, followed by almost everyone in the theater except All For One.
The camera went dark for a few moments, before opening up again to show Tenko crying as he scratched his face, hugging his dog in the dark.
"Wahh, No.." Tenko cries. "I hate it. Y'hear me, Mon? I can't.. Take it.." His fingers dig into Mon's fur. "I hate..
"Everyone.."
Suddenly, Mon's fur went gray and his eyes went dull. The dog let out one last whimper before bloody cracks appeared and Mon literally fell apart into a bloody mess.
Multiple people in the theater screamed, and some ran to the bathrooms so they could throw up.
Izuku, among many others, stared in horror at the screen.
"Huh?" Tenko mumbles, slowly turning his head to look. His eyes widened in horror, and he started huffing as he began to spiral into hyperventilating. "Mon? Huh?"
"Tenkooo!" Hana says, walking down through the lawn over. "Um.. Soooo.. Sorry 'bout that. I shouldn't have done that."
More people stared at the screen in horror.
"No! Run away, please!" Midnight exclaims, gripping the armrests tightly in horror. "Run away!"
Hana kept her eyes to the ground, fidgeting with her fingers. "I was the one who said it had to be a secret.." She says. "Sorry."
Tenko was wheezing and huffing, terrified and traumatized. Hana! Mon, he's.. He grabs at his chin. I can't talk.
Hana looked at him, running forward. "What's wrong...?!" She says, before pausing.
The camera zoomed into her eyes, where you could see the reflection of the dog's blood and body parts. Hana lets out a bloodcurdling scream, before turning around and trying to run.
Wait! Don't go! Tenko thinks, reaching forward. Can't talk! So itchy. Hana! Itchy. I thought you came to apologize. Didn't you!? The camera showed Tenko reaching forward more. So this time.. you gotta protect me!!
"Oh my god," Izuku says. He couldn't take his eyes off the screen. "Oh my god."
Tenko grabbed onto the back of Hana's dress. Help me! Tenko thinks. Hana! Cracks crawl up and down Hana's body. "Urk!" She chokes out.
"I was convinced some nasty villain must've targeted the family.." Present day Tomura says. "..And made Mon crumble to pieces."
Hana crumbles, blood and parts of her splattering against the ground.
"This.." All Might says. "This is too much.. The poor boy.."
Ochako got out of her seat, running to the bathroom. She lasted longer than she would've normally.
"Then, the same thing happened to Hana," Present day Tomura says. Tenko let out a scream and scratched even more at his face, causing it to split open. "At that moment, I still thought....It was a villain's doing."
Tenko threw up on the ground, where Hana's body was. His hand touched the ground.
"He touched the ground," Izuku whispers. "He touched the ground."
"No." Tomura says. The ground started cracking. "Maybe that's wrong."
Tenko wailed. The camera showed his mother and grandparents, all looking in horror at the mess in front of them. The camera focused in on his mother.
"Thinking back.." Tomura says softly. "Maybe I already understood what was really going on."
The ground split and cracked, racing forward to the family. Dirt and blood and grass were thrown into the air.
"Tomura-kun.." Himiko says, glancing at him.
Cracks raced to his mother's feet, and spread up her legs. She stared down at them. She looked up at her son. "Tenko?" She says, a crack splitting through her eye. She ran forward, arm outstretched.
She raced for her son, and almost embraced him before she split into parts, blood spilling everywhere.
"She tried to help you," Shoto says softly.
Tomura looked away from the screen.
His grandparents crumpled without moving. Tenko's eyes were wide in fear.
The camera turns around and shows the father, standing in the doorway. He trembles in terror as he stares, open mouthed, at the blood and dirt that once was his backyard.
Tenko was wailing and sobbing in the middle of it all, blood and tears covering his skin.
"He better help him," Aizawa murmurs, knowing it was unlikely.
Tenko continued wailing. "F.. Father..." He cries, trying to crawl forward. "I-I'm sorry!"
The ground rumbled and broke apart even more as Tenko tried to move toward his father, reaching out. But Kotaro saw a weed wacker and grabbed it, swinging it at Tenko.
"Excuse me!?!" Present Mic screams. Izuku's vision almost turns red in fury.
Tenko's lips split open, blood barely adding to the huge mess. Kotaro watched in terror as Tenko turned to look at him.
"Tenko!" He shouts in desperation. "Stop!"
Through the sound of rumbling, present day Tomura spoke again. "Yes, in that moment," He whispers. "While brimming with unmistakable bloodlust," Tenko lunged forward, grabbing his father by the mouth. "..I touched my father."
"YOU DIE!!" Tenko screams.
The camera showed the house finally crumbling down into pieces, before showing Tenko hunched over in the smoke, blood dripping off his soaked hand.
"Oh god-" Midnight says, finally running to the bathroom after staying for way longer than her mind told her too.
"Somewhere deep in my heart.." Present day Tomura says. "..I must've been yearning for that. All along."
"And just like that, the itch was gone."
The screen shut off.
Izuku let out a long breath he didn't realize he was holding. "So your 'allergies' was really your quirk slowly manifesting," He says.
"I guess," Tomura says, not looking at the screen after it showed his mother's death.
Zia sighed. "After we take a break, we'll go back to the Star Wars universe," She says softly, clapping her hands.
<^> To Be Continued
(2.2k words)
long chapter.
no one will ever be able to describe my love for Tenko