Discord server, if you're chill with Professor Hidgens and myself yeeting Starkid references at each other and trying to help everyone reach their apotheosis: https://discord.gg/DSBF4dP
also i feel like i lied to you guys because you were expecting an endeavour vs izuku fight but. that's not happening any time soon,,, our boy may be petty but he's also busy!!
~
"Izuku-kun," Tenya called, a familiar hum filling the air as he dashed towards his friend, no qualms with running while they were still outside. "I've been meaning to ask you something..."
Izuku blinked. His friend's tone was tense and cautious and his expression was a little awkward and uncertain. Even his gait looked a little stiffer than usual as he settled into place, comfortably walking with the other student towards the main building for homeroom.
"Ask away," he said eventually, frowning a little in concern.
"Well," Tenya hesitated before shaking his head and clenching a hand into a fist by his side, steeling his features. "Ever since I was little, I've always admired my brother. In my eyes, no hero could surpass him. At some point, I suppose I presumed he was invincible, because he never got badly hurt and he always returned to hero work with a smile. But... Then, Stain attacked him, and I was reminded that... everyone is human. Seeing All Might's true form has reinforced that for me, and it's just..."
"Earth-shaking?" Izuku suggested with a sympathetic smile.
"Exactly," he breathed a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing now that he knew the sentiment was shared. "Part of me still doesn't believe that these horrible things have happened, even though I'm reminded of it every time I visit Tensei-niisan in hospital, and we often see All Might around school. Even though I know I couldn't have done anything to help, I still feel... guilty, I suppose is the best word for it. Like I should've been there to try and help them. That's a little of what motivated me to foolishly seek out Stain, and although I should've learnt from my mistakes, sometimes I get too restless to sleep at night because I feel like I shouldn't waste time sleeping when people are out there, right now, in danger, and I want to help them." He took a breath, staring down at his feet as his pace slowed before he came to a stop, navy blue eyes vulnerable and desperation lining his features. "You've got a lot more experience than me, Izuku-kun - do you feel the same as I do? How do you deal with it?"
Izuku closed his eyes for a second with a nod of understanding, then blinked up at his friend with the most comforting smile he could muster. "I think every hero – no, every good person shares that feeling, Tenya-kun. To care about strangers and loved ones alike is a wonderful trait to have." He hummed in consideration for a moment, trying to string his thoughts together into a reassuring speech. "I often feel like I should be out saving people while I'm doing other things. It's a little difficult to adjust from being a Pro Hero to being a student again, knowing I technically have everything I need to be out there right now and instead being stuck in lessons, but... I'm doing as much as I can feasibly manage, as Oni. There are plenty of other Pro Heroes to handle the situations I can't, and I have to have faith in them to succeed. The way I handle it is by focusing on the things I have accomplished rather than the things I feel I should be doing."
"I see," Tenya muttered, crossing his arms a little tensely.
"It's a little scary to see your idol's weakness," Izuku admitted, thinking back to when he freaked out on the roof after All Might first transformed into Toshinori in front of him. "But once you're reminded that they're just as human as you, with friends and flaws and fears, you need to support them even more. If they're nervous about something, listen and see if you can do something to help. It's only natural to want to be able to help more, but..." He took a breath, reaching out to clasp at his friend's hands and earnestly gazing up at him. "Right now, you're a student, Tenya-kun, and that's your priority. Train and study, but don't overwork yourself. It may not feel like enough, but choosing to become a hero is incredibly difficult and immensely noble, and to be the best you can be you need to focus on learning everything from our teachers so you can be an amazing hero when you graduate. One day, when Tensei-san's better, you can fight alongside him, and you can keep each other safe. Won't that be cool?"
Tenya gave a little laugh, dipping his head a bit as he broke into a hopeful smile, squeezing their interlocked fingers. "It will be," he agreed in a soft, wistful tone. "Thank you, Izuku-kun. You're right. I'm working hard in class and you're kindly helping me improve with my fighting so I can be a better hero. I'll be Ingenium until my brother is well again, and I'll make him proud by being a wonderful hero for the people."
"Plus Ultra!" Izuku cheered happily, bouncing on his feet and raising their hands in a joined fist of triumph.
"Plus Ultra!" Tenya exclaimed, enthusiastically reaching up to his full height and almost tugging his shorter friend off his feet, much to their amusement.
The two of them laughed a little together before continuing to walk at a brisk pace at the class rep's request, since it was good for a hero to be at least ten minutes early. Izuku kept their arms linked together, chattering mindlessly along with his friend to fill the silence as they approached the classroom.
Tenya suddenly paused, glancing sideways at his friend with a contemplative look. "Izuku-kun... Since it's thanks to you that my brother will be able to return to hero work eventually, would you like to come and visit him with me?"
Izuku's eyes went wide and he beamed brighter than the sun. "I'd love to!"
*
Tenya approached the front desk to speak with the receptionist. Really, he probably could've just waved at her and walked to his brother's room since he'd been visiting for months already and there was no doubt that the nurses knew him, but he was always a stickler for rules. Izuku cracked a fond grin, taking a moment to close his eyes and sink himself into the pleasant atmosphere.
"You know, you didn't have to come all the way to Tensei-san's room with us, Aizawa-sensei," he commented slyly, squinting open one eye to peer at his teacher who was awkwardly lurking nearby.
"I don't trust you on your own," Aizawa responded drily.
"Oh, come on," he drawled in a teasing tone. "What's the worst that could happen? I get kidnapped again?"
"Don't tempt fate, Problem Child," the man muttered, eyebrows drawing into a frown as he shifted closer to the boy.
Izuku lightly bumped his shoulder against his teacher's arm, turning his bright gaze back onto his friend who was conversing with the nurse. "Hey, didn't you go to school with Tensei-san?"
"Unfortunately," he huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets.
His grin widened and his eyes squinted with mischief. "...have any embarrassing stories about him?"
"Are you suggesting I humiliate him on his hospital bed?" Aizawa raised his eyebrows, staring blankly at the boy for a few moments before he broke into a scary smile. "It seems you have some good ideas, occasionally."
"Thanks, I pride myself on sometimes being smart," Izuku said cheekily.
"Smart? I wouldn't go that far, Midoriya," the man deadpanned, letting out a muffled bark of laughter as he was lightly shoved.
"You're so mean to me," he muttered with a pout, perking up when his friend approached. "Ah, Tenya-kun!"
"Let's go, Izuku-kun, Aizawa-sensei. Tensei-niisan is excited to see both of you," Tenya informed them, smiling fondly as he took the lead, navigating down the corridor and sliding open a door.
"Tenya," Tensei greeted happily, his navy eyes squinted with joy, pressing a button to raise his bed into a sitting position. "Ah, Shouta-kun! It's been a while. And you must be Izuku-kun, right? Tenya talks about you a lot!"
Izuku's cheeks warmed a little as he giggled bashfully, raising a hand to sheepishly ruffle through his curls as he averted his gaze. The window was ajar, letting in a pleasant breeze that shifted the pale blue curtains. Tensei grinned, tilting his head bemusedly and motioning at the chairs around his bed. He looked so similar to his younger brother, with the same hair, face shape, and eyes, but while his brother was stiff and proper, Tensei lounged casually under the blankets, looking entirely at ease. Izuku couldn't help his gaze flitting down towards the hero's legs, trying to fight back the images of future-Tensei being wheelchair bound for the rest of his life.
"According to the doctors and nurses, I'll recover just fine and be able to get back to work in a couple of years. Isn't that great?" Tensei exclaimed, hands spreading over the blankets as he spoke. "I could get back to it right now, but there's the risk of me overdoing it and causing irreversible damage, so they want me to take some time off – which means I'll get to see my little bro become a cool hero!"
"I'm glad," Izuku murmured softly before shaking himself a little and sitting up straighter, donning a devious grin as he leaned forwards. "What was Aizawa-sensei like in school?"
The hero's eyes lit up and he glanced over to the man, who narrowed his gaze into a glare. "You'd never guess, but we got up to some mischief when we were your age. He was often the mastermind behind our pranks, because no-one would ever suspect him."
Tenya looked almost scandalised. "Nii-san!"
"Really?! What pranks did you pull?" Izuku pressed his palms onto the edge of the mattress. "I could do with some ideas-" Aizawa flicked the back of the boy's head, but he didn't even flinch; he paused and blinked after a moment of thoughtful silence. "Ideas of what to avoid doing, of course, because I'd never dream of pranking my favourite teacher of all time."
"You're starting to sound like Hizashi," Aizawa muttered with a faint frown, appearing slightly disturbed at the comparison. "Tensei, don't encourage him."
"Izuku-kun, you can't prank Aizawa-sensei!" Tenya was glancing between the two troublemakers in alarm, looking like he was starting to regret introducing them to one another.
"Ah, of course you'd never cause any trouble for Shouta-kun," Tensei commented with a conspiratorial wink, gaining a disbelieving snort from Aizawa. "Let's see... there was this one time in our second year... A couple of third-years were getting too cocky and insulting our class, and we weren't going to stand for such injustices, so the four of us started plotting. Nem and Zashi were tasked with shadowing the brats to learn their routine, while me and Sho took care of the planning."
"You mean you dragged me into it and I slept while you planned," Aizawa responded flatly, crossing his arms.
"Well – yeah, alright, you weren't really participating then, but did you forget your glorious part in the execution of our plot?" Tensei grinned as the underground hero stiffened and froze. "The third-years always liked to jeer at us while we were on our way to gym, so we set things up a little beforehand. Sho was glaring at them like an angry cat as they approached, and since he was away from the rest of the group, they thought he was an easy target."
"But no hero is a one-trick pony, right, sensei?" Izuku quipped, lightly jabbing his elbow into his teacher's ribs and eliciting the tiniest of smiles before it was hidden behind reels of capture gear – his green eyes glittered proudly, while Tensei looked mildly surprised.
"Um." The hero blinked before shaking his head, his expression morphing into sly amusement. "So, these third-years are all puffed up and sneering about how good they are, stomping over to Sho – but then, suddenly, they trigger our trap. Strips of capture gear snap up from the ground they stepped on, wrapping all of them tightly up and shooting towards the ceiling. They hung there for ages like flies caught in a web before the teacher arrived and got them down." Tensei grinned at the memory. "No-one but us four knew about the prank, and no-one would believe the third-years when they said Sho was the one who did it. But you know what the best part was?"
"What?" Izuku leaned forwards eagerly.
"At some point, Sho-"
"You have no proof it was me," Aizawa interjected, slightly muffled.
Tensei tilted his head in a conceding manner. "Okay, at some point, someone had covered the strips in catnip, and wherever the third-years went, stray cats were attracted towards them. There were great swarms of them flooding across campus – I've never seen so many cats, which is saying something, because this one always dragged us to cat cafés. You'd think the scent would wear off by the next day, but somehow there were still hordes of cats stampeding after them, and the teachers were struggling to barricade the doors and windows in the school. A cat climbed in through an open window in search of catnip, and conveniently," Tensei raised his eyebrows at his friend, "Sho had some catnip toys in his bag and spent the rest of the lesson with cats worshipping him. It made him quite a hit with the girls, actually."
"The attention was terrible," Aizawa muttered, although there was a fond edge to his tone as he reminisced over the cats.
"I think the effect lasted for the rest of the week, and even after that some cats would still lurk around campus for treats and affection. The prank was so much better than we could've ever hoped, and it went down in UA history. So, if you ever hear a legacy student mention The Catnip Incident..." Tensei threw Izuku a wink. "You know the masterminds behind it. And, hey... maybe one day, for some unknown reason, there will be a mysterious resurgence of cats following around certain people."
"The apo-cat-lypse," Izuku breathed in an awestruck tone, holding the starry-eyed expression for a moment longer before bursting into hysterics with Tensei over the terrible pun.
Both of them wheezed and snorted for a little while longer before gradually cooling down, wiping tears from their eyes and grinning uncontrollably. Izuku glanced over at his friend, suddenly realising why Tenya had been so quiet throughout the story – his expression was a brilliant cross between horrified and entertained, as if he couldn't decide between enjoying the story or being shaken by the knowledge that their strict teacher and Tensei had acted like delinquents.
"But anyway, Izuku-kun, you're the famed friend who tamed Sho, right? Teasing him and adopting him as your brother? I'm impressed," Tensei commented with a sly smile.
"I'm stuck with him," Aizawa drawled at exactly the same time as Izuku chirped, "he's stuck with me!"
They shared a surprised glance while Tensei snickered.
"Oh no," the teacher muttered exasperatedly. "Don't cry, Problem Child."
"But we just shared a moment, nii-chan!" Izuku sniffled.
Aizawa curved his fingers into his palm and lightly batted the boy's head, turning his death-glare onto Tensei when the injured hero practically howled with laughter. Izuku pouted, leaning against Tenya and crossing his arms. The student blinked down, his expression something fond, and he raised an arm to let the smaller boy shift into a more comfortable position.
"I'll have him as my little brother if you don't want him, Sho," Tensei said with a soft smile that didn't quite match his teasing tone, gaze gentling as he observed the two boys. "Tenya, you want another sibling? What d'you say, Izuku-kun?"
"Sounds good, nii-chan!" Izuku beamed, wrapping his arms around his friend and gaining a chuckle from the student.
"Adorable," Tensei cooed, raising his hands. "Come give your favourite big brother a hug!"
The boy sat up straight and scooted off his chair, standing with a stretch and making as if to approach the bed, only to suddenly turn and engulf his teacher in a surprise hug. Aizawa froze, bloodshot eyes a little wider than usual as he stared at the kid, getting an innocent blink in response. He hesitated for a moment longer before relaxing and casting an ominous grin over at Tensei, who opened his mouth with a cheeky retort ready.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow almost tauntingly, letting his palms rest against his student's back when Izuku made no indication he was going to move. "Remember The Bento Box Incident, Tensei?"
Tensei's cheeks flared red.
~
next chapter is the end of what i'm vaguely calling "part 2" of ticked off (really there's not any distinct separation, i'm mostly going by the chunks i write in before taking a break) so um, i hope you're ready for a long-as-hell hiatus, babey!!