Two years it had taken them.
Two years it took for the heroes to find one of their own, one who had been captured by the infamous villain know to everyone as All for One. The man who lurked in the shadows and let his League of Villains cause chaos, yet he kidnapped the recently graduated hero Tenko Shimura by himself, while the hero was on a minor mission, one that wouldn't have required another hero to have been around.
It hadn't been noticed until someone in the agency that he worked for noticed that Shimura hadn't called in after half an hour, the case wasn't regarded to take that long, and when a hero that was near the area came to where Shimura was last seen, they found decayed sections of walls, almost like Tenko had been panicking to get away, and yet if he had he didn't seem to have made a call for back up. Until they found a clue as to who took him, which scared everyone who knew of All for One and had faced off against him in the past.
All Might had been desperate to start looking, as was the retired hero Gran Torino, both had the boy's best interests to heart, yet the retired hero already knew that they had little to go on, so he took on the Number 1 Hero out of the police building, he needed to calm down because he wasn't helping with anything.
Instead they left it up to the detectives and the 2nd Ranked Hero Endeavor, the flame hero, although there was animosity between the two heroes, although it was mainly on Endeavor's side of things, given how envious he was of All Might and regardless of how hard he tried he could never seem to reach the same heights as he did. Of course, just because there was tension between the two heroes didn't mean that he wouldn't be completely focused on this task at hand. Besides this wasn't just about All Might, this was also about Inko Midoriya and her son Izuku who had been distraught about Tenko's kidnapping, although from what Endeavor and a few of the other heroes who had interactions with the Midoriya's, Izuku kept the hope alive that Tenko was okay, and his faith in the heroes working on the case renewed their own efforts to work that bit harder.
Inko had blamed herself, although Endeavor had no idea how to comfort her, instead he let his sidekick Dabi deal with instead.
Though the young hero could barely manage, internally at least, on the outside he seemed calm and spoke to Mrs Midoriya about what the heroes were going to do, that they would keep her up to-date, as well as a few heroes keeping an eye on them just in case the villains tried to target them as well.
Dabi was enraged as they left the apartment, so much so that Endeavor had to talk to him being able to feel the heat from him.
"Calm down, it wouldn't look good on anyone if you burn down the street."
It was gruff, blunt and something that the red haired sidekick should have expected. "How can I?" He shot the man a sharp glare, this wasn't something he could distance himself from, this was one of their own, this was his friend. "He's you sidekick too, why are you not more..." He trailed off when he felt that heat come over him, although he was fully aware that his flames were hotter, he still had to learn how to control them without burning his skin off.
"Don't assume that I am not angry about this, but that isn't going to help the situation, that won't help Shimura. Take your anger, let it out during training, but when you are working you have to have a clear head. Understand?" He didn't wait for him to reply, just walked on, with Dabi following from behind.
Many things had happened during those two years that they were looking for Tenko. Dabi had become strong with his quirk use, although it had damaged his skin, causing him to have deep scars on his face and chest, but he could now use his quirk efficiently as he figured out how to have the heat burn villains instead of himself.
What no one had expected was when they finally found the captured hero, was for him to be the one to come to them.
He staggered into the police station, falling to his knees in front of the desk, with a few heroes looking at him, assuming that he was drunk until Dabi came out from the back, noticing the movement going around and spotted that familiar periwinkle hair. It was longer and unkempt, but it was so familiar, then when the man looked up at him caused his heart to stop beating.
"Shimura..." He let out the name that wasn't far from his thoughts for the past two years, even though there had been times when he wished it was, when it hurt to think of what he would be going through, or if he was even still alive.
"Dabi..." His voice sounded rough, scratchy, those red eyes looked crazed, his skin was dry, a hell of a lot drier than it had been before and he looked like the villains had fed him enough to keep him alive, but not enough to make him comfortable.
"Shit. Get Endeavor, let him know that Tenko Shimura has been found." Dabi looked at the man before him, crouching down. "Welcome back, we're gonna get you help, all right?"
"Yea..." He slumped forward, resting the top of his head on Dabi's chest, who pulled him forward and then picked him up to take him away from the front, so that he could have some privacy and just in case the media would turn up and make a spectacle of it all.
Looking down he saw that the man had appear to have fall asleep as he made his way to a small unused office that would do for the moment, until they got Recovery Girl around, along with Endeavor, just to make sure this was legit. Though Dabi felt it was.
"Dabi." The flame hero came into the room, his eyes went from the other hero to the man in his arms. "You are sure it's him?"
"Yea... unless this is some kind of sick trick, but he seems to have passed out..." Dabi started and then the skinny man in his arms flinched, fell out of his hold and onto the floor.
However he didn't land in a heap, instead he jumped to his feet, tense and clearly ready to fight. Dabi just looked stunned, while Endeavor tensed up, ready for an attack to happen.
"Hey, Tenko, it's us." Dabi said softly, clearly seeing how tense his friend was and trying to figure out to to calm him down without the use of violence, he was fully aware that Tenko wouldn't have a chance against Endeavor, no matter how fast he was, the hero before them both was ranked 2nd for a reason.
Those eyes were blood shot, looking manic and when they finally came to him, Dabi felt a cold chill go up his back, but he didn't move, keeping his eyes on his friend and trying to reassure him that he was safe.
"Dabi..." Tenko whispered, looking him over slowly before looking into his eyes as if that would give him the answer, and then looked over to the other man and his brow furrowed. "Endeavor?" He tilted his head, like he didn't expect to see him. "This a new training idea..."
"Tenko there's no training..." He began but the flame hero came further into the room, followed by a small, old woman who also had paramedics behind her.
"Careful, it's possible that his mind isn't in the present just yet." Endeavor warned him. "Shimura, where are you?"
"I... I was in a training cabin... no..." he trailed off and scratched his neck. "No, no, no... there was a clone, a clone of me... and... there was a fight... but." He looked up at Endeavor, before glancing at Recovery Girl who was cautiously walking towards him. "He's never had you two in these visions."
"Dear, you should sleep. You're safe now." The old woman touched his arm gently, yet he clearly didn't feel like she was a threat in comparison to Endeavor.
"But..." Without another word, he slumped over once more, but this time it was due to the old woman, who put the needle away and gestured for the paramedics to come in and place him onto the stretcher.
"The hospital?" Dabi asked her, as they began to follow the paramedics out of the room and out the back to keep this incident quiet.
"It's not a public hospital if you are worried about that." Endeavor finally spoke up and the red head looked over at him.
"So a private one, when will you let the Midoriya's know?"
"Perhaps you should tell them, then bring them over." He told him, the look he gave him told him that it was because of his connection with the Midoriya's that he was the best one to bring them over.
"What about All Might and Gran Torino?" Dabi asked quietly, knowing where this hospital was, but he wanted to go with him, just in case Tenko woke up alone.
"I will tell them, but the Midoriya's are his family, they should know first."
Dabi was surprised by that, but he couldn't hear anything that was malicious about it, which clearly meant that the man really did want the Midoriya's to know first, as they had essentially raised Tenko from when he was a young child, he was part of their family even if his last name wasn't changed.
He left the police station, bringing his phone out to call Inko to let her know the news. He could only imagine how she would react to the news, but he would have to warn her before she saw Tenko about how different he appeared, how he didn't seem the same as what he used to be.
Izuku would still be in school, and Inko met up with him, calling one of her friends to see if she would be able to take Izuku for a while due to personal reasons. She didn't want to tell them the real reason just yet, she had to see Tenko first and see how he was before she would bring Izuku to see him.
When they arrived at the private hospital, Dabi had to call Endeavor to get them to let the pair of them in.
As the flame hero came down personally Inko looked at him, intimidated by him but she had questions.
"How is he?" She asked tearfully.
"Right now he's sleeping, when he woke up however... he's unsure about everything around him, whatever happened to him, clearly the villain has gotten into his head."
"He hasn't attacked anyone, he just seems to be paranoid." Dabi added, sending a sharp look at the hero, who ignored it.
"I see... I know I should have expected that, that he won't be the same as he was, Dabi warned he as well..." Inko trailed off, thinking about her boy Tenko, about how it took so long to find him and in the end he found them. "What must he have gone through?"
"When he's more up to it, he'll obviously be seeing a therapist about what happened to him." Endeavor spoke confidently, leading them to the room that had the young man in it.
Inko could only nod, after all Endeavor was the one who took Tenko into his own agency, he knew how hard the young man had worked to become a hero, who tried his best regardless of what was thrown his way, even though there was a link of some sort between Tenko and All Might, but he saw something in the decay quirk user that he felt had potential, and that he might be able to bring about. He never thought this would happen though.
She went into the room, he breath caught in her throat as she looked at her thin boy in the bed, his skin was flaking and overly dry, his neck was scratched to bits and as he opened his eyes to look at her, she saw how blood shot his eyes were and she quickly walked over to his bedside.
"Mum?" he watched her come over to him and he carefully reached out to her, keeping his middle finger out of the way so his quirk wouldn't activate.
She smiled at him, feeling her eyes water when she saw how lost he looked, it was the same expression he had when she first met him so many years ago. "Tenko." She moved to sit on the bed, letting him wrap his arms around him as she reached up and stroked his hair, feeling him begin to cry into her chest. "You're such a brave boy..." She whispered softly, so that only he could hear her.
Tenko whimpered, pressing his head into her as he started to tremble and cry louder than before.
Endeavor looked on, uncomfortable at the sight, so he glanced over at Dabi, leaving the mother and son alone together, while he went back to the police station to make some calls and to inform All Might and Gran Torino of the news about Shimura.
"I thought..." Tenko whispered, tears falling still as he moved to rest his head on her shoulder, but she never stopped stroking his hair, noticing that it was matted and in need of a good wash. However it didn't matter, her boy was back now.
"Shhh, it's all right."
"I didn't think I would see you again."
Inko's green eyes widened, as did Dabi's and the pair looked at each other, with those blue eyes softening in understanding, gently closing the door and left them have private time alone, though he opted to stay outside just in case, although he didn't like to think like that, he knew his father, Endeavor wouldn't want him to leave Inko completely alone, not until they fully understood the trauma that Tenko had gone through.
"It's all right, you're seeing me again, you'll be seeing me a lot more now too." She said with a small laugh and kiss his head. "You're safe."
"Yea, yea, Dabi and Endeavor brought you to me... we're safe." He repeated those words until he passed out, while Inko remained where she was, not wanting to disturb him and not wanting to let go of him, she didn't want this to be a dream and to wake up to find that he was still lost to her.
She knew the conversation she would need to have with Izuku wouldn't be comfortable, but she wondered if the hero Dabi would be able to help her with that, the young hero and friend of Tenko seemed to have a good manner towards children, and he had been helpful to her in regards to Izuku when Tenko had disappeared.
As the door opened, she expected to see those bright blue eyes, but instead she saw pale blue one's of the Number One Hero All Might, though she just could make out Dabi in the background.
"He fell asleep." She told him gently, looking down at him in her arms with a small smile.
"I..." The guilt was easy to see, for all of his valour, for his loud nature and ability to turn things around, this was foreign to the Symbol of Peace. This almost broke him, until he had met Izuku through Dabi, the young boy had given him a pep talk of sorts in regards to his older brother, and had spoken about how he knew the heroes would save him.
"He's alive, he's here. Right now, that's all that matters." She told him.
A part of her was still bitter about how he and Gran Torino never insisted that Tenko's last name be changed. Had she done so, perhaps this would have been avoided, had she known that Tenko's own grandmother had faced off against the villain All for One, and that the boy could be taken from her, then maybe she would have changed his name completely. But she hadn't known that, and neither the hero before her or the retired one could have predicted that the villain would have come after Tenko in such a way.
"Still, we should have..." He started but she shook her head.
"It's the past now, I don't want to talk about it." It was firm, she wanted him to stop, she had spent two years worrying about her boy who had been kidnapped, and worrying about the one who was trying to investigate it in his own childish way – it helped that Dabi was more than happy to keep a close eye on him from time to time when he wasn't doing hero work. "If you are coming in? I know Dabi wants to be in here too."
All Might sheepishly came into the room, sending the young hero behind him an apologetic look, though the red head shrugged it off.
"He's back." Was all that was said.
"Yes... yes he is." Inko felt the tears roll down her cheeks, gently moving her hand to caress Tenko's dry skin and wondered about his mental well-being.
How scared he must have been, it had been a weight on her mind, but she had support, who did Tenko have when he was trapped with that villain for so long? She had worried about him when he decided to become a hero, but she never considered that this would happen to him, she never thought that her family would be ripped apart in such a way.
"Recovery Girl is going to have him mentally assessed in a few days, from what I heard." Dabi told them both quietly, they both looked at him as he shrugged. "To see what kind of medication he might need for the trauma, therapy, if he should be let out..."
Inko was about to say that Tenko wouldn't harm anyone, but it had been two years, two years he had been trapped with the villains and they would need to learn what happened to him in that time. Everything that he would have gone through would have messed with his head, which was already messy to begin with given how he became an orphan.
She heard him whimper and the two heroes before her were on guard, she continued to stroke his hair and whisper to him and his eyes blinked from the quick nap he had.
"Hey... mum..." He moved out of her hold, spotting Dabi and then he paled when he saw All Might.
"Shimura my boy..."
"Get away from me! He screeched, huddling in Inko instead of attacking, to everyone's surprise, and as Dabi looked from his friend to All Might he saw, plain as day the hurt on the older heroes face. "Get out, get out! This is because of you!" The yells were muffled but they all heard him.
All Might left though, as a few doctors came into the room once they heard the yelling.
"It's fine." Inko told them, as Tenko started to calm down once more, having see the man leave. "He's gone, it's okay..."
Dabi frowned at that outburst, yet they would get no clues as to what caused it until later most likely. Both he and Inko were ushered out, although Tenko was reluctant to let go of his mother, but he didn't threaten away by way of his quirk, he just clung to her.
"I'll be back soon, all right Tenko? I need to see your other brother though, he'll be needing his dinner soon." She told him softly and he loosened his hold on her as she kissed his forehead. "I'll come back with Dabi though, tomorrow all right?"
He nodded slowly, though it was clear he wasn't pleased with it, he still let her go, to everyone's relief, as they had one more hug before she left the room with Dabi.
Inko let out a shaky breath as they headed out of the hospital.
"I would ask if you are okay, but I know you're not."
She laughed slightly and looked at him. "You would be right about that. I don't want him to be alone in here, I don't... he was never able to deal well with being alone as a child, I know he got over it but now I wonder if they used that past trauma against him. How can I leave him alone in here, even though it's for a best..."
"Because you need to look after Izuku, having Tenko in this state wouldn't be fair on him either."
She knew that, she knew it, but at the same time she wished that she was able to deal with both her boys. "I need to ask a favour of you, I know I have asked a lot from you in past..."
He smiled at her, stretching the stitches that were near his mouth. "You're an extended family to me Mrs Midoriya, you know I don't mind helping you with Izuku."
She wiped her eyes, feeling the tears wanting to flow. "I... thank you. I need your help with Izuku... I don't know what to tell him about Tenko,"
"You going to pick him up?"
"I think I should... he's young, but he'll figure it out and I would rather he have the truth now than later." She told him and Dabi nodded.
"Let's go. I'm happy to tell him certain things that have happened... don't worry it will be kid friendly to him." He assured her.
The next day, after Izuku learned that while Tenko had been found, he wasn't in the best shape to see a lot of people yet. Dabi describe him in a delicate way, stating that Tenko was in a fragile state and the fewer people around him, the better it was, otherwise he would get overwhelmed and become rather upset.
Inko wouldn't have thought of such a thing. She smiled as she waved him off to school, heading to the private hospital to see Tenko once more.
This time there was no hassle for her getting inside, she was let in without question and she walked towards the door that Tenko was in, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself. It wouldn't do anyone any good if she began to cry at the sight of him again. She knocked on the door, hoping that he would be awake.
"Come in."
She felt a lump in her throat, the voice was similar to Tenko's, yet it sounded so scratchy, like it hadn't been used often, or that he had screamed himself hoarse. She shivered at the thought, banishing it from her mind as she walked into the room with a smile, finding Tenko was sitting up on the bed, looking pale, fragile and a shadow of his former-self. Though she did notice that his hair was damp, his skin didn't look as dry as it had the day before, she came up to his bedside and he shifted to the side, letting her sit next to him. The moment she got comfortable he moved to rest his head on her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her in a loose hug, she spotted the gloves that he was now wearing but she never asked about it, noticing that now he was keeping his pinky up even though he was wearing something to protect other's from his quirk.
"I'm sorry." He whispered as she returned his hug.
"You have nothing to be sorry for Tenko." She told him as he looked at her, tears started to fall from his eyes.
"Tenko... yea, Tenko Shimura..." He repeated the name, which unnerved her, and for a moment she wondered if perhaps this wasn't her son, but a copy, a clone of him. There was a pause and he rested his head back onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get out."
"Oh, shhh, am sorry. But soon you'll be home with myself and Izuku." She gently brushed the tears away and kissed the top of his head. "You are back with us, that's the important part."
He was about to talk, but spotted someone in the door way and instead just shut his mouth and leaned against Inko once more.
"I'm sorry where you wanting to..." She felt Tenko's hold lessen, like he knew she would leave the room for this old hero.
"Don't get up on my account Mrs Midoriya." The retired hero, Gran Torino told her easily. "I just came to see how Tenko Shimura was doing."
She frowned at that, not sure why Gran Torino was using Tenko's full name when everyone just called him by either his last or first name. She felt a weight on her shoulder and the old hero smiled.
"He's fallen asleep." He walked to a free chair, which wasn't too clsoe to the bed, Inko realised that he must have known about the incident the other day involving All Might. "You know, I think the staff might just ask you to stay, it saves them from constantly pumping him full of drugs."
"Am afraid I wouldn't..."
He nodded his head, looking at the young man on the bed with fondness. "I know, Dabi had suggested that he could stay but Tenko couldn't relax around him like he does with you. But you have another child, it wouldn't be fair on him."
"He's apologising... for not getting free sooner." She told him, looking from the periwinkle haired man in her arms to the old hero near the bed. "Given Tenko's reaction to All Might yesterday, I am wondering if he could come home, but given Izuku's love for All Might, it might upset him even more."
"Right now there is no way he is getting out. The doctors aren't sure exactly how stable he is, but he doesn't seem to be able to sleep for long periods of time, even with the drugs they are giving him. If he is let out... well maybe we should see how he reacts with Izuku first. But that will need to wait a while."
"I know, I just..." She smiled bitterly. "I just want things to be as they were. Which is foolish to think, but..."
"Trust me, I get it. Right now we need to talk to him about the villains who kidnapped him, but he needs to be in the right frame of mind, so we could be waiting a while."
She nodded slowly, noticing how Tenko shifted in his sleep and then woke up and look up at her.
"Mum?"
"Tenko."
"You're here..." He closed his eyes again and fell asleep once more.
The pair looked at each other in confusion, unsure exactly what to make of that, but the old man smiled, chuckling.
"Looks like a mother really does soothe their children just by being near."
"Has he really not been sleeping..."
The old hero slipped off the seat, preparing to leave. "Yea, but am guessing it's due to living with a villain, you can't trust any of them, so you need to be hyper aware of yourself and your surroundings. With you being so familiar to him, being a comfort to him, I guess he feels more at ease."
Hearing that she wonders if perhaps she should stay with him and let Dabi look after Izuku. After a moment she knows it wouldn't be fair on her youngest, he needed his mother just as much as Tenko did, yet how could she support them both?
"You shouldn't worry about his sleeping schedule." Recovery Girl came into the room. "He'll need to get into a more natural sleeping habit on his own, but right now you are a comfort to him more than anything."
"I guess so." She stopped as Tenko moved and breathed in deeply, mumbling about something that none of them could make out.
"I know physically he's... not exactly fine, but it will be an easier fix, but mentally... it might take some time."
"My poor boy." Inko looked at him, knowing that the horrors Tenko had gone through probably hadn't even begun to surface.
"Therapy should help him, but we'll just need to see."
Gran Torino nodded, bidding them goodbye as he left, while Recovery Girl checked over a few things and Tenko woke up, freezing as he felt a hand on his wrist..
"Sleepyhead." Inko felt him tense up, and at those words he relaxed, letting the old woman prod at him a bit more, making her notes and leaving the room
She stayed for a little bit longer, finding herself falling asleep for a while and was surprised to find when she woke up that a blanket had been draped over her, she noticed that Tenko wasn't in bed but instead he was in the bedside chair, eating some food.
"Lunch time?"
He shook his head. "Recovery Girl told me that they are giving me small meals throughout the day, so I don't technically have lunch. It's to help me build up more weight..." He frowned at his arms. "They won't let me do any training though."
"Because you should be resting. I've heard that you don't seem to sleep for long." She moved off the bed, certain that the staff would berate her for being on it, at least without Tenko sleeping on her.
"I..." He started to argue, then he paled, his red eyes wide and he returned to his food.
"Tenko?"
He shook his head and she let it go, how could she try to pull information out of him when he was in this state?
"Does Izuku know?" He asked softly and she nodded, seeing the worry, fear and sadness in his eyes.
"Yes, he doesn't know everything. I asked Dabi to talk to him about it though, he's better with this than I am." She said with a smile and he laughed a little bit.
"He's a hero."
"Tenko?" She heard bitterness in his voice, particularly on the word 'hero'.
"Hm? Oh, am glad Dabi could help, with all his siblings he would be good with kids." the bitterness that had been in his voice was suddenly gone.
"That's what he said too. He wanted to stay with you too, when am not here... would you be all right with that?" She had the red haired hero ask her that last night, though she wondered if he would actually be able to, given who he was working for now in regards to hero work, but she didn't think there would be a problem. After all he had been the one to suggest it.
Red eyes narrowed, looking at the small bowl of soup before him as he considered what she was asking him. "I'll be fine by myself."
"Tenko..."
"It's To..." He shot her a look, before he trailed off and looked away.
"Tenko, it's okay." She moved towards him slowly, wondering what she had done to upset him.
"No it's not." he dropped his spoon and gripped his head. "It's not, it's not..."
"Shh... Tenko, please, calm down..."
"You haven't been there!" He yelled at her and she jumped back, seeing the manic, unhinged look in his eyes and heard the door open.
"You two all right?" A smooth voice drawled out and Tenko's attention went from her to the new comer.
"Fine." The manic episode was over, he had calmed down and began to eat his small meal again, leaving Inko in shock over what had happened.
"Mrs Midoriya?" Bright blue eyes looked at her, concerned and she smiled.
"Everything is fine, but as Tenko is eating, I feel that I need to get some food too." She said with a small laugh.
"There is a small canteen in here, it's on the ground floor." Dabi told her and she nodded, leaving the room, closing the door behind her and let out a breath not seeing that Recovery Girl was walking alone and spotted her.
"He had a moment with you then?"
She jumped at looked over at her. "I... That has happened before?"
"We've noticed that he has moments when he reacts badly to his name, telling us to not call him that, or to call him Tomura instead. If anyone uses his last name, he tells them to call him Shigaraki. Of course it's only happened a few times, but it's clear that he was being made to push away his original name."
"The look in his eyes..." She closed her own and rubbed her hands together. "He can't come home like this, I thought we could handle it but... I don't want Izuku to see his brother like that."
"No, it wouldn't be fair on either of them. Given his behaviour right now, he is better staying here than going home."
"Dabi suggested that he could stay with him for a bit as well..."
"Given how Tenko is, you know Dabi isn't exactly the most mentally stable either?"
"I know, but he screams at All Might, he's not overly fond of Gran Torino..."
"That is something we can look into, whatever All for One has done to him, it's worked, in part at least."
"It's going to be a slow process won't it?" She knew it would be, in her heart she was fully aware it wasn't going to be easy and yet she never realised how hard it was going to be. She felt like giving up, letting Tenko go and being alone, but she couldn't, she took him in, even though she was pregnant with Izuku, even though he had his own issues, she was determined to help him in anyway possible. So how could she even think to abandon him now?
"Yes, and it will be a process, but so long as Tenko had people supporting him, he'll get through this." Inko wasn't sure if Recovery Girl was aware of her own inner turmoil, but her words helped her.
"You're right, for the moment he just needs the get the support he needs, and to be aware that we are here for him."
"Exactly."
In the hospital room the two men were just looking at each other.
"You look like hell. Endeavor training you roughly again?" It almost sounded like Tenko that Dabi knew, but he heard the disdain when he said the flame heroes name, which wasn't something the other man would say.
"Nah, turns out I've got stronger flames than he does." Dabi smiled lazily, leaning against the wall. "I just had to figure out how to work with them... the scars are proof of my training."
"Determination... or stupidity."
"Well, stupidly determined." He corrected him easily enough. "The old man was trying to trace you, retired heroes were actually coming to help."
"Connections of Gran Torino." Tenko muttered, taking another spoonful of soup.
"And All Might." The moment he said that name, the man before him shuddered. "So, did All for One condition you to be scared of your saviour?"
If it were in his quirk, Tenko's eyes would be glowing in anger. But they weren't, they were just full of rage. "I saved myself. No hero rescued me this time Touya."
"All right, low blow. Sorry." He held his hands up in surrender, but he noted the intense rage in his friends voice, something that had never been there before in relation to heroes.
"Whatever." Just as quickly as it came about Tenko was calm once more, to Dabi's confusion.
"You know, Izuku missed you." He pulled the conversation away from such a sensitive subject and chuckled as he remembered what Izuku had been like the other night that he had come over. He spotted the look Tenko was giving him, a sign that he should continue. "For those two years he was asking us all for updates whenever he saw us. That was all he did, and you know normally he'd ask about our training, the villains we faced, but instead he kept asking about you and what clues we had found."
"The kid never knows when to stop."
"Of course not. That's not the Izuku way." Dabi grinned broadly, stretching out the staples on his face and Tenko laughed, it wasn't his usual laugh, but at least it was something.
"You're right, it's not. The kid never knows when to stop. He's still wanting to be a hero?"
"Tch, you think anything is going to stop him? But, I don't know, even if he doesn't know when to give up..."
They both became silent, the conversation having thankfully moved away from themselves to more common ground.
"There is no way UA would take him on, he wouldn't even be able to get past the entrance exam. The written one, sure, but nothing else." Tenko thought about it, pondering and then realised something. "All Might."
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Dabi frowned and shook his head. "You know, you scared your mum there for a second, you know that right?"
"Huh?"
"You tried to correct her on your name." The red head reminded him, looking him over carefully, wondering how much the man before him had actually changed because of that damn villain, and would the Tenko he knew and fought alongside ever return? Or would he become someone completely new and Dabi would need to learn how to handle this new Tenko instead?
He had a feeling it would be the latter, no one could go through what he did unscathed, but he had hoped his best friend would have returned to him without so much damage done to him.
Tenko looked down at his now empty soup bowl and sighed. "Yea, I know. I don't know what..."
"Yea you do." He hit back, he should have been more tactful and yet around Tenko if felt more natural to just get a raise out of him, to just make him blurt out what was going on in his head.
"Of course I do. I don't want to talk about it." It was blunt, and Dabi felt the wall go up for him.
"Fine, but it's been noticed, they are going to ask you about it when you start therapy." It was a friendly warning, to make sure that he would open up, instead of making it hard on everyone around him.
"I know that." The periwinkle haired boy sounded so defeated and tired.
"Yea, I know you do, but you need to get everything out, no one can help you if you don't talk about it." He spotted the look, the angered look that he had hit a nerve, but he wasn't going to back down this time. "If you don't when will you can to see Izuku again? Or be let out of here?"
There was terror in those eyes when Dabi said that. "I'll be stuck... in here?" His face became pale and he trembled. "No... no... I'll do what they want... don't... don't make me stay in... in here...."
"Hey, you can walk around and shit, but wouldn't it be better to go home?" Dabi tried to calm him down as a knock came to the door.
"Tenko? Dabi?" Inko called and opened the door, to find Tenko looked terrified and Dabi confused. "Did something happen?"
"Can I go?" Tenko asked her quietly.
"Go where?"
"Sorry I... I told him that he might be stuck here for a while if he wasn't open to the therapist." The red head admitted, looking down, feeling the disappointment from Inko. It felt almost as bad as letting down his own mother, and he hardly saw the woman any more.
"You never think before you speak boy." Recovery Girl berated him as she walked into the room and looked over at Tenko, who was still trembling. "You can leave your room, no one is wanting to trap you in here. All we ask is that you have a companion with you, all right?"
Tenko nodded slowly, the colour coming back to his cheeks and Inko came over to him slowly and pulled him into a hug while the old woman gestured for Dabi to leave the room with her.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." Dabi began and then he stopped, seeing the serious look she was giving him, a look that meant he wasn't just in troubled but that he had seriously done something stupid.
"Don't do that again. Tenko has only been back for two days, he's scarred and he's scared. Doing things like that will only push him back when we find someone suitable to be his therapist."
"Wait... find someone? Isn't there a lot of therapists..."
"After what Tenko has gone through, it was felt that he needed someone with a bit more history in relation to powerful villains, which means most therapists that help heroes are off the list."
"So what are the choices?"
She threw him a sharp look and he winced at it. "Two choices, Tenko can decide which he would rather speak to."
"Wait, he is going to pick?"
"Yes, from what I can see, Tenko had little choices when he was stuck with the villains, so now he can make a choice for himself." Dabi wondered who the two would be and the old woman ushered him back into the room. "Just remember to not upset him, Mrs Midoriya is counting on you to be in her place."
He was started at that, but understood it, he would need to speak to his father about it, yet he was certain that the man would be fine with it, they needed answers and there was no guarantee that they would get it from therapy sessions.
"I can pick my own therapist?" Tenko looked at his mother, startled at the prospect. "But before I was just given one."
"Yes, but remember you were a young boy then, now you can make your own choices." Inko told him, brushing his hair, Tenko had sat on the end of the bed, with Inko behind him, de-tangling his hair as the staff had been unable to do so. Mainly because Tenko wouldn't let them near him. Dabi felt himself soften at the scene before him, it was almost perfect, if you ignored the fact that Tenko was in a hospital and deeply disturbed, while Inko had been worrying about him almost non-stop since the day he had vanished.
"You can take your time in picking." Dabi added in, moving to sit on the chair by the bed and leaned back, his friend barely paying attention to him, clearly enjoying the affection he was getting from his loved one.
"So it's between Aizawa and Nedzu..." Inko said softly, giving Dabi a quick glance, who looked stunned.
He understood Nedzu, the creature had gone through a lot of things, but Aizawa? Did the man have any dealings with All for One? Yet he remembered that it was about powerful villains.
"Nedzu will make sure you are well hydrated." Dabi added and Tenko scoffed at the comment, which made the red head feel a bit lighter than he had when he returned to the room.
"Aizawa is more logical in his thinking." Inko added, gently turning his head to face Dabi so she could get the other knots. "But you can just think it over..."
"We all know that I am going to pick Aizawa." Tenko told her easily, smirking slightly at Dabi who had groaned and rolled his eyes. "The Eraser hero, how many people can say they have met him, never mind have therapy by him?"
"Tenko, you can't just pick him because you admire him." Inko scolded him gently.
"Shit, I didn't know that! Holding out on me, I thought you would have gone for a Rescue Hero to admire." Dabi commented, not even bothering to hold back his laughter.
Inko felt Tenko chuckling and she let go of his hair so he could roll forward and back as he laughed alongside Dabi. She felt like this was almost normal, like the two young men were still in UA preparing for an exam of some sort.
"If you really want to choose him..." Inko began as he calmed down and returned to the position he was in to let her finish brushing his hair.
"That's not it... well not exactly. Nedzu asks questions, I don't know if I can keep my train of thought going if he interrupts me. Aizawa won't."
"Well if you are sure."
Tenko smiled at her, unable to nod as she was focusing on getting a tangle out. "I'm sure."
"I need to make a quick call, you want me to send someone over about this?" Dabi asked them, and Tenko gave him a thumbs up as he walked out, pulling his mobile out of his pocket to call Endeavor to let him know what was going on as he walked down the hallway to send a nurse or doctor up to speak to Shimura about his therapy.
Once he was out of the room, closing the door behind himself, Tenko closed his eyes, enjoying how Inko could untangle his hair and have it not feel like she was trying to pull his hair out of his scalp.
"Love you." He mumbled quietly.
"Love you too." She heard it, how could she not with two boy's? "There, all done."
He leaned against her and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her like she had done when he came out of therapy as a boy, when he had needed her comfort and warmth. He needed it now too, more so than before, because he almost lost it.
"Thank you." He murmured, not opening his eyes for her, feeling completely at ease and safe in the moment.
"You know I would do this for you."
"I know..." He didn't want to tell her the thoughts he had, of his 'what if's, because he was scared of them and yet, he would need to tell them to Aizawa. He just hoped there wouldn't be too much judgement from the man, yet his heart began to race as he wondered what could go wrong, but she was here, she was holding him. "Mum... it's okay to be scared, right?"
She pulled him close to her and kissed the side of his head. "Of course, even heroes are allowed to be scared Tenko, it's human nature."
He nodded and just sunk into her embrace, he didn't need to worry about anything, because right now she was here.