TENKO SHIMURA: ORIGINS PART 1

It was a deafening silence that followed the deafening boom.

And then that silence was followed by a chorus of cheering students. Happy that their savior, their Symbol Of Peace, had defeated the evil big bad Nomu. And now, All Might would make quick work of the remaining villains within the USJ.

The USJ, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Quite the applicable name in regards to the term Unforeseen. These Yuuei Highschool brats hadn't foreseen an incoming villain invasion. Just as Tomura Shigaraki hadn't foreseen All Might giving Nomu a signature Team Rocket send off.

This was it… Game Over except no do overs. No reloading previous saves, All Might wasn't weak like Master had said. All Might was as strong as ever, standing tall, posing in a way that made Tomura shake in more ways than one.

This man standing before him, not twenty five feet away was the symbol all villains feared. This was the symbol that all the NPC's regarded as their divine savior. The same stupid symbol also enabled society. Creating lazy, dissociated, and distanced people. Leading to cracks in this hero society. And people fell through those cracks, cracks All Might had left.

Tomura had been one of them a long time ago… It was a distant memory. Maybe Tomura and his sister were playing with some friends…

"Don't worry, I can play the role. After all, I am here!"

His head hurt. Not in the usual way that was hot under the skin and required Tomura's excessive scratching. No this wasn't a part of his quirk, at least he didn't think so. This was just a normal headache like all the other ones he would receive whenever he tried to remember his childhood.

It hurt too much to remember. The most Tomura had been able to piece together was a young raven haired girl, Hana. Probably his sister. His mother's open arms. A gardening tool. And his father looking down on him. Father…

Tomura subconsciously reached up to feel the hand attached to his face.

"Fear not students! No one will hurt you so long as I am here!" The giant blonde brute declared. All Might turned a pair of glaring blue eyes that seemed to shine on Tomura's shaking figure. "It's over, Tomura Shigaraki. Surrender peacefully now, or else!"

"All Might," Tomura growled. The words mixed with absolute hatred sounding guttural. "This was supposed to be my level up, not yours!"

The students cheering on the side began crowing words of encouragement to show the villain who was the real boss. He would surely prove to the students it didn't pay to attack a class of students.

All except for one green haired boy who was looking wide eyed and fearful. Glancing between Tomura and All Might.

"This isn't a game, Shigaraki." All Might said taking one step forward. His face scrunching up into an uncomfortable grimace. "You lead an attack on these young heroes today. Now you'll learn your lesson!"

Those words…

They were so familiar and so distant…

They were making his headache even worse. The scratching got worse. Tomura couldn't even feel the blood pooling under his fingertips as he scraped against dry skin. Pulling and tearing. Anything to make the wretched sensation disappear.

The student's cheering had finally stopped, replaced with horror and discomfort at the villains actions. One of them, the small boy with purple balls in his hair looked a little green in the cheeks. The one Tomura had tried and failed to disintegrate only a couple minutes ago. Eraser Head really was a cool hero with an equally cool quirk. The ability to just take away someone's quirk, so similar to Master's own quirk.

Tomura turned away back to All Might. The man was taking long confident strides over to the convulsing villain. He couldn't take his eyes off of the number one hero. This was the man that had ruined his plans. Beaten his Nomu. Beaten his Master as some point in time. It was All Might's fault for being a symbol! It was all his fault for ruining everything!

Everything felt hotter beneath the skin and Tomura's eyes strained to keep focus on the hulking mass of hero coming to cancel his sequel.

"No one's come to save you have they?" The man acknowledged Tenko. The first person in days who tried to actively talk to the little homeless child. "You've had a hard life, Tenko Shimura."

"There was a hero in the family?"

"Don't tell father, it'll be our little secret."

"Maybe one day, when we finally become heroes we can be on the same hero team!"

"Tenko I told you not to run off!"

"I promise, Tenko!"

"Tenko-"

"Tenko!"

"I'm sorry, Tenko…"

"Now you'll learn your lesson, Tenko!"

Tomura Shigaraki's eyes were wide with pain and fear before everything went dark.

A young dark haired boy looked around nervously as he stood with the man in the suit outside the door. The boy's red eyes glanced around the neighborhood to see his friends retreating to their yard with remorseful and sorry looks on their faces. They understood what it meant that he had been caught playing 'heroes'. He had told them what the word 'hero's had meant in the Shimura household.

Tenko had learned that early. When he had brought home a collector's edition All Might action figure. All Might was Tenko's favorite hero. There wasn't anyone he couldn't save. Except for Tenko.

When the man of the Shimura household returned from work that evening and discovered four year old Tenko playing with an 'hero' action figure, Tenko's father had taken off his belt.

Kotaro Shimura, Tenko's father, had taken him outside ignoring the pleading from his mother to not be so harsh.

The bruises on Tenko's arm wouldn't go away for weeks. Only two months after that incident Kotaro had found his son playing pretend heroes and villains with some of the neighborhood kids.

Tenko wasn't allowed outside of the house for a month.

When Tenko's mother finally answered the door the man in the suit stepped aside so she could embrace Tenko. "There you are, my baby. Sweet, Tenko. Where were you? I was so worried!"

Tenko was too afraid to answer his mother. Despite how loving and caring she could be. She also just stood aside and watched her husband dish out Tenko's punishments with little objection anymore. One slip of the tongue, and he knew it would cost him dearly.

Luckily for Tenko, the businessman laughed out loud. "The boy was only playing with his friends, they wandered a bit too far down town. When I noticed how scared they were, I knew I had to do something."

Tenko's mother pulled him closer, resting her chin on Tenko's dark matted hair. "Thank you sir, I-we owe you for his safety. I don't know what I'd do if I learned my baby hadn't come home!"

"It was nothing ma'am, in this day and age. Anyone can be a hero."

When the man had left his mother had immediately sat him down on the sofa and began to lift up his shirt.

Tenko tried to resist her but stopped when gave him a fierce glare.

"Tenko, dear. Is there something you are hiding?"

"No," Tenko blurted. Too fast.

His mother didn't believe him and neither did Tenko believe in his own lie.

He looked away when he heard her gasp. There were tears in her eyes when he finally mustered the courage to look. "My baby," she whispered.

"I'm sorry mom."

"Tenko, you need to stop. It's not healthy."

Underneath Tenko's shirt just below the neckline, were a series of red scratches. Dozens of them.

"I can't help it mom. It's just so dry and itchy sometimes. And if I don't scratch, then it hurts."

"Tomorrow, Tenko I am taking you back to the hospital. This isn't normal. Hell this is worse than the normal scratching."

"I'm sorry, Mama."

"Oh, baby." His mother was crying. "Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for. Just, please don't hide stuff like this from your mother again, please?"

"Yes, Mama. Sorry, Mama."

"Here, Tenko dear. It's rather hot and dry outside. Maybe that's making things worse, if I was a better… I should have thought… Tenko, follow me."

Tenko followed timidly. "Okay, Mama."

"I'm sure we have some ointment leftover somewhere in the medical cabinet from the last time…"

His mother had done her best in tending to Tenko's sensitive, cracked skin. It would be only another hour before father came home. Meaning Tenko still had time to play with the secret All Might toy he had hidden away. Maybe he could head outside and play in the backyard with his dog, Mon.

"Psst. Hey, Tenko."

Tenko rubbed at his dry eyes, his skin feeling irritated again. Standing at the base of the stairs was his sister, Hana. She was smiling.

"What is it, Sis?"

His sister gave him a sly wink. "I found something you might like in dad's study."

"Like what?"

She grinned. And beckoned him to follow her up the stairs, "come on."

When Tenko came across the ajar door to his father's study he grew anxious. If father found out about this he wouldn't be pleased.

Tenko only entered after hearing his sister rummaging around through their father's things. She was running rampant through the drawers of an office desk. Muttering about "where was it?" and "I could of sworn."

"Ah hah!" She proclaimed, turning to Tenko with a beaming smile. She shoved something at him. He grasped it with his fingers tentatively and gazed at the picture in wonder. There was a woman standing there. Not just any woman. A hero. This woman was a hero. And this was in his father's study.

His father who was so anti-hero, had a picture of one in his personal desk.

He flipped the photo over and was surprised at the delicate writing. "I will always love you, Kotaro." Signed by, Nana Shimura.

Kotaro? That was father's name. Shimura? That was his family name. His father's family name. Was this woman? This hero? Could it be?

His sister pointed to the signature. "Nana Shimura. This is our grandmother. Our father's mother was a hero, Tenko!"

Tenko couldn't help but stared eyes wide with astonishment.

"There was a hero in the family?" Tenko asked out loud. Not really directed at his sister. It was just his thoughts becoming verbal. It was all so surprising and confusing. If his grandmother had been a hero… Then why did his father hate heroes so much? "Maybe we should ask father?"

His sister was quick to answer. "Don't tell father, it'll be our secret."

Tenko finally gave the picture back to his sister taking one last longing glance at his heroic grandmother. "Aren't you the least bit curious?"

His sister bit her lip when putting the picture back inside the correct drawer. "I am but, dad would know we went through his stuff. He won't be happy. He'll probably punish us."

Tenko nodded. He didn't think the answers his father had to give would be worth the punishment for breaking into his study and searching through his things.

Hana grabbed him by the hand and smiled, looking oddly similar to their grandmother. "Maybe one day, when we finally become heroes we can both be on the same hero team!"

"You really mean that?" Tenko asked, feeling much better having his hand in his older sister's. Whenever she noticed that he was worried, she would always take his hand. And he would feel better. Always. "Do you promise?"

She laughed. "I promise!"

The two went straight to Tenko's room and began to play with the All Might doll. Imagining the future, the day when their quirks would finally come. And the day they could finally become heroes.

His sister eventually left him to see their mother downstairs. An hour had come and gone. Tenko's father had returned. And later that evening, once the sun had set. Tenko had been playing in his room imagining that he was a hero in a large Cape flying around the world when his father called him downstairs.

He was wary. There were many potential reasons for his father to seek him out. None of them had desirable outcomes. He set a slow marching pace as he walked to his doom.

Once he had taken the final step off of the stairs did he look up. There standing in the hallway was his father. Standing there with his arms crossed. Behind him was Tenko's mother's parents who looked just as cautious at the situation as Tenko. And there over in the corner, his mother was comforting his crying sister.

"Anything you need to tell me, Tenko?" His father asked.

"No, sir."

"Were you in my study this evening?"

"No, sir."

His father turned to his sister with an expectant look on his face. "Hana."

His sister couldn't look at him. Her teary eyes hidden away in their mother's chest. "He did it! Tenko went through your stuff. It was all his idea. He found the hero picture, I knew it was wrong. I knew we weren't supposed to be in there. But he wouldn't listen!"

What? Hana, why?

It was fast. His father had grabbed a hold of his arm and was pulling him outside. There were screaming and yelling from behind them.

"Kotaro!"

"Dad, wait!"

"Kotaro, hunny. Please…"

Kotaro tossed his son out into the backyard. The sun having set minutes ago, the only light was behind them coming from the house. Kotaro coming at Tenko looked like a demon straight from one of his worst nightmares.

Kotaro hit his son with his fist in the jaw. There was a slap on his left cheek. Another on his right. And another. And another…

"A hero is someone who would rather forsake their own family to protect society."

"Kotaro stop it!" The voice was firm, his mother's.

The physical blows came to a stop.

His mother had grabbed his father's arm before he could hit their son again.

"You promised," she cried. "You promised you wouldn't do this anymore."

"I-" his father looked from wife to his son, a strange look crossing his face before he turned his back on both of them. "Tenko, think about your actions out here while the rest of us have dinner."

His father had gone back into the house. His mother hadn't spared Tenko a glance following her husband with hurried footsteps.

Why?

Why did Hana lie?

Tenko wandered nimbly over to where his dog, Mon had been barking at his father. Mon let out a low whimper and a strained whine that pulled at Tenko's broken and battered heart.

Tenko couldn't hold back the tears that had been building up all day and evening. It wasn't fair. Stupid Hana. Why did she rat him out to father? Did she do it on purpose? What was that false promise she had him make in their father's study? We'll be a sibling hero team…

Bullshit. Was it nothing more than a cruel joke?

Tenko allowed his dog into a simple embrace. The only one who cared about him in this stupid house. His dog, Mon.

He felt like scratching his neck again. He didn't, he remembered his mother scolding him earlier. After his father's beating, he didn't want another scolding.

Tenko reached out to grab the scruff of Mon's neck to pull him into one more hug. One more act of seeking comfort. Comfort that Tenko desperately craved.

Mon's fur was soft. Mon was better than his real family. His family who treated him like a punching bag. Like trash. Something to be pitied. A living joke. Well, he hated them too…

With that final thought leaving Tenko's mind he felt the sensation leave his neck. The itch was gone. Maybe things would be okay after tonight. Maybe, just maybe things would be better.

Tenko's eyes narrowed in confusion as he started feeling something off about his dog's hair. It felt, older… Rougher…

He heard Mon's whimpering and Tenko's eyes widened in concern. "Mon! Hey Mon what's wrong? It's okay, I am here-"

Before Tenko's eyes, in his embrace… Mon's head seemed to fall off his shoulders. Blood and dust fell away from the descending appendage.

Tenko screamed.

His back was now even further against the Shimura family privacy fence, his breathing hitched. Tears in his fearful eyes.

On the ground where he had just been sitting, layed what remained of his dog in a pool of blood and dust that was quickly soaking up crimson liquid.

Was there a villain? Why did the villain target his dog? Why? What did Mon do?

The itching returned, fervent itching. Tenko couldn't resist.

"Tenko, are you out here?" It was his sister. She was wandering around in the dark backyard. Tenko could only barely make out her figure in the light coming from the house.

"Hana! Don't come any closer! There's a villain! He'll get you too! Go get help! Save me!" He wanted to say. He tried, but all that came out was a mouthful of choking sobs.

"Listen, Tenko. I am really sorry. I didn't mean to break our promise. Dad is really scary and I just couldn't tell him everything. It's my fault he hit you, I'm sorry. I saved some dinner for you, I snuck it into your room."

Tenko tried again to warn her but yet again he couldn't.

His sister kept coming closer, "I know I messed up but I just-" she stopped going silent. She was right in front of him. Standing in the remains of his dog. In the time it took Hana Shimura to walk all the way out to her weeping brother, her eyes had finally adjusted to the dim light. And her eyes went from her scared to death brother huddled against the fence to the bloody remains of Mon.

She screamed. She turned. She began to shout, to cry for help.

Tenko's eyes widened. Her sister was right there. And she was just going to leave him to die along with his dog? He thought she had come out here to apologize, to prove she was better.

Tenko reached out to grab onto his sister's hand. He was scared, he needed to hold his big sister's hand. She would protect him. They would survive this villain attack and one day they would be the sibling hero duo just like they had promised.

It was strange. His sister turned to dust right before his eyes, her screaming suddenly gone. Just like her…

Tenko now stood still, no. Falling into his sister's remains screaming his lungs out. The itch was back. It was running rampant. He couldn't stop scratching his neck. His face. He couldn't stop, it was like the itch had finally taken over.

Alerted by the children's screams. The rest of the family had come outside, turning on the backyard lights to see what was wrong.

Tenko looked through bleary eyes as his mother's parent's gasped in horror at the scene before them. Their little Tenko, sitting in a bloody patch if grass. No Hana in sight. And the bloody remains of the dog not to far behind him.

Tenko's mother was the first to move. He didn't know why. And perhaps he never would. He slammed his hands down on the ground to stop the itch. To stop himself. To stop everything. His mother was coming. She was here.

And Tenko had realized that it wasn't a villain attack. It was his quirk. Tenko's quirk had finally come. And it had taken his dog and sister. He had taken his dog and sister.

Now his mother was running towards him, cracks shooting across the backyard from Tenko's bare hands on torn soil. The cracks flew past his mother and towards the house. The ground around them eroded and shifted. Grass fell away into dust.

His mother was going to tell him how much she hated him. How much she wanted him gone for being a murderer. For killing his sister. For being a monster.

His mother stepped on one of the stretching cracks in the ground and her shoe began to fade and writhe into oblivion. She began to fall she was going to fall on him. Crush him like the monster he was.

Her arms were out. Reaching. Reaching around Tenko. He looked up to see her face nearing his. He took a nervous glance knowing beyond any doubt that she would be looking at him like an evil monster. She hated him.

His red eyes met her… calm, loving, understanding eyes…

Tenko screamed as his mother's arms wrapped tightly around his body in one final embrace. Her chin restin on his head. Before falling away into bloody dust.

Tenko couldn't take it. The blood. The death. The horror. The fear. His power. He couldn't control it. He couldn't stop killing them. His family. The people who loved him. The people he loved. He loved them. He loved his mother. He loved his sister. He loved his dog. He loved them!

A finger was tearing at his lips. Another was pulling his nose. Blood flowed everywhere. Finally a finger scratched at his eye. He wanted to dig it out. He lost color in his right eye. Only seeing through a bloody red lense as it flowed into his eye.

His mother's parents were gone. In their place where they had stood near the back porch was two piles of dust.

He hated himself. He wanted to die. He wanted to stop. He was bad. He was wrong. He was evil. He hated himself. Why couldn't he stop his quirk? What was wrong with him?

"Tenko?"

The voice was fearful having lost its demanding tone. Tenko remembered it though. That voice was in his nightmares. It was his father. Kotaro Shimura. Son of Nana Shimura.

"Father help me!" Tenko cried out. Reaching for his father.

"No!" His father was fearful. Was scared. "Stay back, Tenko!"

Something hit Tenko and hit him hard. The blow was sharp, cutting a scar across his lips. Tenko froze. Something finally boiling over the rest of his emotions. Something that made his frown turn into an eerie smile.

"Tenko, I-"

Tenko lunged. His father fell on his back against the hard destroyed earth. Tenko's right hand landed on his father's face. In his father's tearful expression, he could see himself. Tenko's black hair had turned a light blue nearing white. Eyes red and wild like the blood he had spilled. And a smile that could put All Might to shame.

That smile never left young Tenko as he shouted down at his father. "YOU, DIE!" And Kotaro Shimura, Tenko's father, did just that. Finally listening to his son. Soon Tenko was sitting in ashes. And he couldn't stop laughing. The itch was gone. And with it, so was his family and the house that his father had built. He was free.

Tomura felt funny. Normally whenever he woke up he would feel tired, lethargic, dry, and itchy. Funnily enough. There was no itch not anymore. Not with the memories of the past. It wasn't everything he had forgotten.

But what he did remember. It felt liberating.

He, Tomura Shigaraki felt good.

He opened his eyes to white. Everything was white and dark?

There was talking all around him. A buzz of conversation in the air.

"Can't believe it."

"It's my fault, sir. If I had just made better restraints…"

"It was unfortunate, but the fault is not on your shoulders… it's on ours, we are the Pro Heroes…"

"If that warping son of a bitch ever shows his face around here again, I'll kill him."

"Pretty sure he didn't actually have a face, Bakugo…"

"Shut up, Shitty Hair."

"Young Bakugo! Language!"

"Yes, All Might."

All Might!

Tomura tried to stand but his arms were restrained. Shifting his head to the side, his now white hair fell away from his vision. And Tomura had a good view of All Might's back. There were others, teachers and students. He could even see some police officers escorting his defeated villains.

All Might!

Tomura grumbled something. What came out was an inhuman growl.

"Ah, there you are, Tomura Shigaraki!" All Might sounded chipper. "Now then, if you would please tell us where your warping friend might have gone too?"

All Might!

"What was that?" The big blonde oaf leaned in closer, making a show of putting his hand up to his ear. That never ending smile prominent on his stupid face. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

Tomura shifted onto his side, right hand scraping the ground of the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. All five fingers touched concrete. His touch creating small cracks beneath him. It felt good. Like after holding a piss for far too long and just letting loose.

"All Might! I HATE YOU!"

And before the eyes of everyone under the dome of the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. With wide eyes, shocked, and disbelieving expressions. The teachers watched. The students watched. The villains watched. Tomura watched. As All Might crumbled before his very eyes.