TENKO SHIMURA: ORIGINS PART 2
It was a deathly silence that hung in the air after the Symbol of Peace collapsed into a pile of dust before everyone's eyes. A silence that carried a grieving, shocked, painful, and disbelieving weight that showed in everyone's eyes. That silence was broken by the writhing, restrained figure of Tomura Shigaraki on the ground. An awful, wretched giggle couldn't be contained as his body shakes with uncontrollable glee.
Finally. After so long that insurmountable burden that Tomura had been shackled to was gone. All Might had always been a constant in his life. One of the few things that still remained from the before along with the hands. It was like closing a chapter on his life, ascending past the prologue. He was ready for the next level.
No longer would the trash in this garbage hero society feel safe under that unyielding smile. When the inevitable news eventually reaches them, fear would grip their hearts and turn their hopeful smiles, their happy go lucky lifes, into ash. And Tomura couldn't wait to read tomorrow's headlines.
Master… Master would be pleased! Oh yes, after long last Tomura would have undoubtedly proved himself to his Master now more than ever. That there was no one in the world more deserving of being his successor. Not his and the Doctor's little side projects. Tomura Shigaraki had done what Master himself had been unable to do all those years ago.
There was a familiar feeling gathering beneath him, dark and coated in whisps.
The heroes were in an uproar now.
And the students were all defeated, crushed under the death of their doomed savior.
All except one…
"You BASTARD!" The green haired boy screamed in rage.
"Midoriya!" Several shouted.
Tomura peered up. Not even the sight of the enraged greenette coming at Tomura with enough power in his quirk to obliterate him could erase the sincerely happy smile on Tomura's cracked face.
Before the boy could land a fatal blow against Tomura's side, he fell into Kurogiri's warp gate beneath him. The last thing the foolish avenger would hear was Tomura's sickening laughter.
"Come back here you coward!" Izuku Midoriya shouted at the villain who had just vanished into the warp gate.
It was only his first year of schooling when Tenko Shimura came home with a black eye and a bruised lip.
There had been a pair of second years with quirks picking on one of his classmates. He was a rounder sort, soft and plushy. Easy to knock over and easier to mock.
Tenko watched from further down the sidewalk as a girl, with a foot long nose that curled into a spiral shape was kicking the second year. A second year male, was standing right behind the girl holding his gut and doubling over in fits of laughter.
Tenko didn't hesitate. It was as if his body had moved on its own accord.
He shoved the girl off of his classmate. "Stop hurting him!" Tenko had shouted.
The second years were visibly shocked at Tenko's sudden intervention. The girl was the first to react, her fists balled up tight and her eyes narrowed.
Two things happened next. Tenko felt her fist connect with his cheek. And then he felt his head connect with the ground.
The world went quiet save for a buzzing noise. His dry eyes burned with tears. The sudden wetness irritated him. Someone was saying something. Someone was laughing. Someone else besides Tenko was crying.
Not ten feet away a small group of students just watched. Doing nothing. They noticed the bout of violence. They noticed the injustice. They knew it was wrong. Yet they did nothing.
It felt like Tenko was the only one who actually tried to do anything. Maybe he was…
Slowly the buzzing was faltering and he could her her voice calling down to him. "-don't understand. Little idiot, siding with a quirkless loser. Try that again and I'll give you a black eye."
It wasn't because he wanted to fight her. It really wasn't. Tenko hated violence. He wanted to be a hero. He wanted to save people with a great big smile on his face. He wanted to make people feel safe to be happy and free. Free from stupid stuff like this, prejudice.
Tenko had tried again. And the second year had made good on her promise, Tenko had gone home that day with a black eye.
The Shimura house was quiet. His mother wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Which was a good thing. If the house was quiet, he'd have an easier time sneaking into his room.
Tenko crept silently on the tips of his toes after placing his shoes next to a much larger grey set. His Grandfather's.
Tenko ran into said Grandfather at the base of the stairs. He was an older, tired man. He had lived a life of hard labor and his back was now paying the price for it. He was chubby before Tenko's father had invited his mother's parents to stay at the Shimura home. But after years of living in this house in retirement he had gotten bigger.
"Tenko, lad!" Grandfather exclaimed. "How was school today?"
"It was fine." Tenko lied.
That was when his Grandfather noticed the darkening bruise around his eye. He frowned before bracing himself to stand.
Tenko couldn't meet his gaze. He felt a large hand grab his shoulder.
"Tenko, who did this?"
Tenko shrugged.
"Tenko?" His Grandfather pressed further.
"A couple of second years."
There was a sigh. "No matter how many years pass us by the weak will always be targeted."
"I wasn't the one being picked on," Tenko was quick to say. He met his Grandfather's eyes now. Looking up into a pair of sad brown orbs. "There was this other kid. He was quirkless."
If it was possible. His Grandfather's eyes softened further.
Tenko continued, "nobody was doing anything. Everyone was just watching him and I couldn't… I couldn't just stand there and do nothing like the rest of them!"
"You saved him," his Grandfather nodded. Then he narrowed his eyes. "But you got hurt."
"I had too, he needed help. He needed a hero!" Tenko cried. Tears were forming in his eyes.
"He did, but so did you." His Grandfather pulled him into a hug. "But nobody came to save you, did they?"
Tenko sniffled. "No, they just watched."
His Grandfather was rubbing his back with the occasional pat. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."
They stood there for a moment before Tenko nodded and pulled away. Despite having just cried into his Grandfather's shirt, his eyes were already unnaturally dry. He wanted to scratch his eye lids.
"Grandfather," Tenko began. His voice quiet, weak and frail. "Do you think that I'll make a great hero someday?"
It took a moment for his Grandfather to answer. But in that moment, with a sinking feeling, Tenko already knew the answer.
"Why don't you go on up to your room, Tenko."
The topic of heroes was not up for discussion in his father's house. Any talk of heroes would end with a swift and unfair punishment.
Under his father's roof, he didn't need to hear his Grandfather's answer. It was obvious.
No.
He had asked his Grandmother.
He had asked his mother.
He had even been stupid enough to ask his father. Whipping himself would have been kinder.
The answer was always, no. None of them believed in Tenko Shimura. They all cared about him. Even father in his strict ways. But none of them believed in him.
Tenko wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there giggling in his father's remains. Tenko also didn't care. He felt good. After all of those times he had been scared of his father. In that one final moment when his father had been scared of Tenko.
That one moment had been everything.
But now that moment had passed.
And he felt empty. He felt like crying but he was all dried up.
His father was finally gone and out of his life. But so was his grandparents, his sister, his mother…
There were sirens in the distance. Someone had called the police.
Tenko watched as the ashes of his family and the house all swept together in the wind. The backyard was eroded and cracked. Everything was gone. Everything except for Tenko.
"Hey, you there!" Someone was shouting.
Tenko turned around. He felt lethargic. All the energy had left his body with the coming of his quirk. His eyes were distant and hollow of emotion.
There was a man approaching him quickly, urgent concern in his eyes. Tenko watched as dust blew around his flowing cape.
The man picked Tenko up and began running away from the scene. Tenko watched from over the hero's shoulder as the cape continued to dance with the remains of his family in the wind.
Tenko was placed down on the sidewalk. The hero was looking back and forth from Tenko to the devastation. "Did you see which way he went?" The hero asked.
Tenko tried to ask what the hero meant. But his throat was dry. Not a sound came from his lips.
The hero shook his horned head. "Wait right here, I'm sure the police will tend to you. I've got to stop the bad guy that did this before he hurts anyone else."
And with that the hero was off.
And Tenko was sitting on the sidewalk watching as the hero ran off.
It was several minutes before the police arrived. They surrounded the remains of his father's house.
One of the officers had to physically remove him from the sidewalk saying," nothing to see here kid, move along."
Tenko watched from the now gathering crowd around him. There were whispers and murmurs. Talks and theories about what villain could have done such a horrible thing.
A Villain.
Is that what Tenko was now? A villain?
Tenko tugged at the sleeves of a young woman. He tried to speak. To ask her if he was a bad guy. To ask if she could help him. She cringed away after looking at the filthy boy prodding her.
Tenko stared after her as she wiggled her way into the crowd away from him.
Sometime later the police had began to disperse the crowd. When Tenko was the only one who remained he was told to, "move along kid."
It would be posted in the newspaper in the morning. About a villain who targeted the Shimura family and suddenly vanished without a trace. There were no survivors.
Tenko had slept on a slide at the nearby playground he and his sister used to play at with their friends.
One of his friends noticed him and came over but stopped midway. Looking into Tenko's disturbed face before walking away. Tenko watched longingly after.
He spent that entire morning wandering through the downtown area. Trying to ask anyone for help. Nobody helped him.
He even went to the police station but was turned away when they got tired of watching him attempt to speak they told him to, "go home kid." And, "you can't play games here."
It had been two days since he had killed his family when Tenko Shimura collapsed in an alley. It was there he had been approached by a man from the shadows.
"No one's come to save you have they?" he spoke aloud towards the filthy homeless child before him. "You've had a hard life, Tenko Shimura."
Tenko flinched away, glancing nervously up at the man's tall stature. His red eyes were wide, sunken inwards from malnutrition and his cheekbones were tight against dry skin. Light blue hair matted in grime fell forwards as Tenko tried to shove his back further into the cold wall behind him.
"He'll be fine, eventually the heroes will help. I am sure thats what everyone thought as they looked away and ignored you. Worry not, because now. I am here for you."
Tomura dropped onto his side onto the bar's hardwood flooring.
Everything was silent.
Kurogiri quietly moved behind the counter. His ever shifting yellow eyes looking to the television sitting just a bit to his right.
The screen came one with that tell tale digital noise and Tomura looked up with unbridled excitement radiating from his crimson eyes.
"Do not fret, Tomura Shigaraki." Master's voice called from the television on the bar countertop. "I did not expect this attack to be a success. That is why I am here to support you. Try as many times as you need, failure is our greatest tool for fixing our errors-"
Tomura waved his Master off and spoke," I didn't fail."
The silence returned for a moment. "You didn't fail?"
"No, Master. I finished the level and killed the boss," Tomura smiled gleefully. "All Might is dead."
And with those words said. For the first time in Tomura Shigaraki's entire life, he heard All For One laugh.