I.
There's a boy with duct tape on his mouth.
That's not the first thing Tensei notices, no, the first thing that he notices is the boys crowded around duct taped boy, laughing and jeering as the boy scrambles back.
Tensei is all of eight years old but he has already decided that he'll be a hero (a cool hero that always saves others!) so he doesn't think twice before jumping in and demanding, "Hey, why are you acting like villains?"
The boys stare at him for a moment, before one puffs up his chest and says, "We're not the villains! He is! His quirk destroyed all the windows in our classroom and our teacher got a piece of glass in her arm!"
Tensei turns to look at the other boy, who looks around the same age as Tensei, though he's a bit shorter and he looks small. "Did you do it on purpose?" He asks, giving consideration to the crowd's story.
The boy quickly shakes his head, blond hair flying around his chin. It's long, almost to his shoulders, and Tensei is curious about that because all the boys that he's seen have short hair.
"Then it's fine," he turns back to the other boys, "It's a misunderstanding! He just lost control of his quirk."
"That doesn't change anything!" The one who spoke earlier seems to retain his courage, "He can still become a dangerous villain! He hurt our teacher!"
Tensei narrows his eyes, "He had an accident with his quirk! If you won't leave him alone, then I'll fight you!"
The boys laugh at him, loud and arrogant and childish in a way that eight year olds always seem to be, and they rush forward brimming with confidence in their ability to overwhelm him as a group.
But Tensei has taken martial arts since he was six years old and he is ready, stance prepared, arms loose and feet firm but flexible, and he takes them all down easily, occasionally using his quirk to add extra power in one move when he throws one boy into the crowd and knocks down two others.
When he's done the fight, the blond boy has already ripped off the duct tape and is rubbing his lips. The right corner is bleeding a bit and Tensei is angry.
"They were all dumb," he declares, uppity and filled with such rage that he's willing to say the d-word.
The boy smiles a bit at him, but stays silent.
"I'm Iida Tensei," Tensei points at himself, jabbing a thumb in his chest, "And I'm going to be a hero! Who are you?"
The boy whistles a little, as though testing out his quirk, and when he seems satisfied, he holds out a hand for Tensei to shake and answers, "Yamada Hizashi. I'm going to be a super star-hero-radio show host-teacher!"
"That's so cool!" Tensei laughs, "I just moved here. What grade are you in?"
"Three."
Tensei gasps, "Me too! Maybe we'll be in the same class!"
"That would be cool!" Hizashi bounces a bit, seeming more at ease with himself, "Thanks for the save."
"No problem," Tensei puffs up his chest a bit, "I'm going to be a hero, after all!"
They talk a bit more before reaching Tensei's house, where they part ways with promises to see each other again despite not exchanging numbers or anything of the sort. (They do see each other, and they're inseparable until they go to U.A. and Hizashi falls in love with a certain dark haired boy.)
II.
"Man, robots," Tensei shakes his head as he dances between two and uses a punch to knock their heads together, "That is so cool."
He's a bit tired, but Tensei is confident in his abilities to pass this exam. His quirk is physical, after all, perfectly suited for something like this. For a moment, he feels sad that people with cool non-physical quirks won't do that well, but this is U.A.! He's sure that they have some way to get around that problem.
He dances around a bit, tiring with time, but determined to pass, until he comes across a pile of rubble and meets a girl underneath.
There's a robot right on the left, easy picking...
But the girl wants to get into U.A., too.
And despite the voice in Tensei's head that goes one less competitor for a place, he moves forward and lifts the rubble, using his engines to help.
"Thanks," the girl chirps as she rolls out of the rubble, just in time to reach out a leg and smash it into the weak point of a robot. It's arm falls off and she finishes it off viciously with a piece of rubble.
Okay.
Wow.
Tensei did not expect that.
"No problem," he says, amazed, "That was really cool! You defeated the robot without using your quirk!"
"It's not enough," she sighs, "My quirk's not suited for this." A determined expression crosses her face, "But I'm definitely going to pass! I'm Nemuri Kayama," she dodges a robot's blast.
"Iida Tensei," Tensei grins at her, "I'll see you in the hero course?"
She grins at him, sharp and wide, "See you there!"
Then Tensei goes to beat up more robots.
III.
"SNEAK ATTACK!"
Three year old Tenya lands on Tensei will all the threat of a blade of grass.
"Oh no!" Tensei cries dramatically, clutching at the side of his stomach (never mind that Tenya landed on his back, shh, he's allowed to improvise), "I've been... fatally... wounded..." he gasps, one hand reaching for the sky.
Alarm crosses Tenya's expression (gosh golly, his little brother is just so freaking cute) and he quickly moves to prod at Tensei's side, "Are you okay?" He asks, "You falled down really hard! Are you inj- hurt?" (Substituting words that he doesn't know with synonyms, ugh, such a clever little kid.)
"Fatally," Tensei sobs, pressing the back of a hand to his forehead and pretending to swoon.
"No! Tensei!" Tenya starts to shake him by the shoulders, sounding really alarmed, "Don't die!"
"Well... I..." Tensei begins to whisper, voice softening, and then... Tenya is close enough.
His arms dart out to wrap around Tenya's torso and he pulls Tenya down with him, fingers reaching for his stomach and armpits to tickle him.
"No! No!" Tenya shrieks, wiggling in his arms in a futile attempt to escape, "You tricked me!"
"Hohoho!" Tensei laughs, "A logical ruse!"
(God, he sounds like Aizawa. It's kind of hilarious.)
"Say uncle!" Tensei goads.
"Why would I say uncle?" Tenya gasps out between shrieks of laughter. (Ah, right, he's too young to understand. Ugh, Tenya is just too cute, he wants to hug him forever and rub his cheek against Tenya's chubby little cheeks, except the last time he did that, Tenya drooled all over his shoulder so maybe not... then again, that was two years ago. He had been too afraid of being drooled upon to attempt it since.)
Tensei thinks about it for a moment, "You're right," he decides, giving Tenya a brief break from being tickled, "It doesn't make sense."
"Exactly," Tenya pouts, trying to mimic their father's expression when he's being logical, but just. He's too cute for it. Tensei holds back the urge to take a million photos of Tenya being adorable.
"Hm..." Because Tensei is mean, he tickles Tenya a little more, until Tenya decides to belly flop on his face and Tensei has to stop in order to lift his brother up. He puts him down on the couch and blows a raspberry into his stomach, causing Tenya to laugh again. "I win this fight," Tensei smiles.
"That's because you're more old," Tenya pouts at him.
"True," Tensei inclines his head. And, because he's childish, "But a win is a win!"
Tenya huffs at him and Tensei laughs at his adorable little brother.
IV.
"Don't suppose you'll go easy on me?" Nemuri sighs.
The roar of the crowd rings in Tensei's ears and he grins as he bounces from foot to foot, "Don't underestimate yourself like that, Nemuri," He scolds her, "You might beat me."
Nemuri shrugs and holds up her whip, "You might be right, then..."
He draws in his breath, taking a gulp before moving forward fast. Nemuri is a mid ranged fighter, meaning it's best to get in close, even if that means that the chances of getting hit by her quirk are more likely.
Sure enough, the air fogs up purple and pink, Nemuri's quirk already at play.
He can't spare time to admire it, instead slamming into her and releasing his quirk as he lands his punch, and she flies out of the arena.
It's quick, fast, and the commentators praise him but Tensei only hears for a moment before he gasps for breath and falls asleep.
(He looses to Aizawa, later on, but he's proud of himself for having made it so far anyway.)
V.
There is a villain and Tensei is a hero.
There is a girl in the villain's hands, and he laughs as he runs away, feet turned to wheels, and Tensei narrows his eyes I can catch him.
"Don't try to follow me," the villain sneers at Hizashi as Tensei moves into the shadows and scales the building. He makes more typical villain type threats, threatening the hostage, he'll hurt if they follow, etc.
But Tensei knows and Hizashi knows and the girl knows, as soon as he's out of sight, he'll dispose of her, and neither of them want to know how the girl will come out for it.
So Tensei scales the building, makes the calculations (his teacher's voice ringing in his head, come on, Tensei, you've got a brain, use it).
And... there.
He drops, engines bursting, and he slams into the villain, the hostage dislodged from the villain's arms from the sheer force that Tensei hits him with.
The villain flies back and the hostage is recovered and the fight is over before it's even began.
Tensei is proud.
"That was so cool, man!" Hizashi laughs, hi-fiving Tensei, "Although it's still weird to see you in that knight's armor."
"It looks cool," Tensei pouts, though it's wasted since Hizashi can't see it.
"Sure, sure," Hizashi laughs, and Tensei, despite the teasing, can't help the swell of pride as he sees the villain led away in handcuffs.
+1.
There's blood on the floor and Tensei's breath is stuck in his chest and he's...
He's terrified.
He's read the stories, sure, but he had thought...
What had he thought?
That he'd win?
Was he so arrogant?
No...
He'd just thought...
He had to.
(What kind of hero would I be if I hadn't...)
At least he'd have still been a hero.
(What kind of brother...)
A living one.
(Would it have been better...)
No.
This is his pride, as a hero, that he does not run away.
(He can't run now, though.
Stain's paralyzed him, somehow, and he can't feel his legs and...)
Tensei is terrified, because he has lost this fight, and he's unsure if he can ever fight again.
A/N: It's Tensei's birthday today, so I decided to write a fic about him.