Hello everyone! Here is the tenth chapter, which mostly focuses on Tomura and Momo. Their relationship is the core of this fiction, although the Shigadabi will arrive… eventually. It is planned, but it will take time^^

Fencer29: Hi! ^W^ Yes, the family reunion is such a happy one lmao. He does not have his quirk for now, and then well, he is used to be careful so this will not really be an issue ^^

Guest: Hi! Thank you so much! ^O^ Momo-centric fics are too rare TwT Yes, she has been hurt pretty bad last chapter… She had lost everything, basically, and she just had Tenko left. This chapter is like 99% Momo, I hope I have been able to correctly write her psyche Thank you again for your great reviews 3

Chapter 10.

Momo's head was spinning, and she felt horribly hollow. Her own parents were part of this cult. The people she had trusted the most, the ones who had sworn to protect her and help her find Tenko. She could remember the day they had promised her that a day would come when she would have Tenko in her arms again, and they would be siblings again. How they must have laughed at her futile attempts to track him! How they must have mocked her behind her back! How they must have relished in her blind trust! She was so stupid. How could someone like her, whose quirk relied on her intelligence, be so utterly naïve and dim-witted?

Her stomach was upset, and she was afraid she would puke. She bit the inside of her cheeks, refusing to allow herself to be even weaker. She had to be strong, gather her wits, and find a solution to escape this place. They needed to rescue Dabi and get out of this wretched place. Dread suddenly dawned on her like a wave of cold; where would she go once outside? The people who were supposed to take care of her had betrayed her. Yūei? Could she truly face her classmates again? Could she keep on becoming a heroine when her brother, whom she loved so dearly, was the most wanted criminal in the country? She had become a heroine for him, to find and protect him. Now that she had found him and knew who he was, what would be the point of pursuing this career?

Were her friends even true friends? She had never told them the truth about herself, about her family and her true identity. How could she? They would not understand. How could they? None of them could imagine the way she had felt upon discovering the truth about her brother. Moreover, it was too private, it belonged to no one but them. Telling the others about him felt like betraying him, and her dearest memories. In addition, she had heard Midoriya-san's reflections about villains. He did not want to understand them; their reasons were of no interest to him. All he cared for was All Might's approval. And no one had disagreed with him. She dared not doing it; she was too afraid of their reactions.

Momo bit her lip. Why? Why could she not be adopted by truly loving people? Ones who would have genuinely helped her find Tenko. Maybe she would have been able to find him, to save him for All For One's influence and offer him a happy life filled with love and laughter. She wanted to weep for their lost innocence, their lost childhood, but the tears would not come. It seemed she had no more to shed.

"Didja really hired PI to find me?"

Tenko's raspy voice made her jump in surprise, and she noticed he was now crouching before her. He somehow reminded her of a cat. His eyes were piercing and his posture falsely lazy, like the feline. She wanted to stroke his cheek, soothe the storm raging beneath his skin and shower him with the love he so desperately needed. She could only hope that the League provided him with it.

"Yes…", she breathed, and he gestured at her to continue. "At first there was an open case, with detectives interrogating me about what had happened. I had trauma-related amnesia for a while, and the only thing I could remember was your name. Maybe because I was so angry at myself for lying to father about our grandmother's picture. Despite my memories coming back, however, they closed the case, and you were legally declared dead. I was ten at the time, and I remember being so angry at the police for abandoning the case. I felt like I was abandoning you to the adults you all over again. So, I begged my – the Yaoyorozus to do something, to help me find you. They hired private investigators, and I would often use all my pocket money to try and find information about the Shimuras."

He nodded slowly, processing what she had just told him.

"Well, ya found me", he said after a few seconds, and Momo shook her head.

"Not in time."

"What, heartbroken that yer little brother's a big bad villain?" he snickered, smiling cruelly.

But Momo did not mind; she knew he had every reason to hate her. She had participated in the arrest of the man who had raised him. She loathed All For One with every fibre of her being for twisting the gentle little boy he had been into a ruthless killer, but part of her could not help but be thankful for her brother's survival. She did not know how All For One had found him, but it was clear Tenko had been with the villain ever since the accident. Without the villain, Tenko would probably be dead today.

"No." Moved by an exterior force some called love, others reckless courage, she took the hand missing fingers in hers. "Not in time to prevent these wounds from happening. All those scars… I wish I had been here to prevent them."

"Why?", he asked, his voice strangely hoarse.

"Because I love you", she said, looking right in his eyes. "No matter what you do, I will always love you. I just wish things had gone differently."

The silence following her words was deafening, but Momo did not move. She enjoyed the warmth of Tenko's mutilated hand in hers, trying to communicate her undying love for him through small, light caresses on his skin.

"Why didja lie that day?"

"I was afraid father would punish me…"

"Father never punished ya. You were his bloody golden kid."

She almost laughed, but she did not have the energy. Moreover, she was glad Tenko did not know.

"He did. It was a different kind of punishment. That day… that day I knew his punishment would be worse than usual. And I got… I got terrified, so I lied. It was selfish, and I'm so sorry, I wish I could go back to that day and stand between you and him –"

Her rant was interrupted. "How did he punish ya? I don't remember ya havin' any wounds."

Momo's breath quickened as she remembered mere flashes of the punishments. Her father dragging her to some isolated place, where no one would hear the cries, whence she could not escape no matter how much she ran. The crawling sensation on her skin and the urge to scrub herself clean because of his insults were still present. Mineta Minoru did not make things easier, and she would sometimes hyperventilate because of the boy's hungry looks. She despised him for making her feel this way; she should be over all of this. Yet, she could not help but hear the man's voice in her head when she would see her reflection in a mirror.

"Men don't need to hit girls to hurt them", she whispered.

"What are ya talkin' about?"

She did not want to tell him more, but he deserved to know. He deserved to know why she had betrayed him like some common thief. Her voice was terrifyingly empty when she finally found in herself the strength to talk, but she did not allow it to deter her.

"One day, father disliked my dress. So, he described to me how sex worked and told me men would force me to have sex with them if I didn't dress properly. He would whisper in my ear how I would deserve it, how he wouldn't help me if that happened, how it would hurt. He hated that I'm not comfortable with outfits covering my entire body. So, he would insult my looks, tell me how fat and ugly I was. It would last for hours sometimes."

"Ya were pretty. Still are," he added after a short pause.

"Thank you", she smiled.

"Don't thank me. It's true," he shrugged. "Our father was an asshole, can't exactly blame for bein' scared of him." He sat on the ground, probably uncomfortable after crouching for so long. "When didja know I was, well, your brother?"

"I started having doubts when you appeared for the first time. The blueish hair discouraged me, though. You had black hair, after all, and I was used to seeing you in everyone, everywhere. Yet, when Midoriya-san described your quirk to us… I couldn't help but hope. I had no name to look at, just a vague description, and I knew you wouldn't be on social media, but I begged the Yaoyorozus to hire another private investigator. I assume he was a cultist too; I don't know."

She breathed deeply, doing her best to remain calm.

"Then, your team kidnapped Bakugō-san. I was part of the rescue team who sneaked up and rescued Bakugō-san since I was the only one able to create the device connected to the trackers. You and your team were rescued by All For One, and I heard hear him give your name to All Might as Todoroki-san and I left. I don't think anyone else heard it, and it was confirmed later by a conversation between Grand Torino and All Might I sneaked on. I hated doing it, but I needed to be sure."

"What a rebel", he mocked. "I'm… not sure what to do with you", he confessed after a brief pause.

"You don't have to do anything. I understand your hatred –"

"That's the problem!" he snapped. "I don't… I don't hate you. It'd be much easier if I did. I'd just have to snap yer bloody neck, and the fuckin' problem would be solved! But I'm stuck with fuckin' mixed feelings, you're a bloody dilemma! One half of me wants to kill ya for what you did to Sensei, the other cares for ya, and I hate it! I can't get that out of my head, because I thought you were dead, and hell, I enjoyed killin' everyone that day! It felt so good to decay ya, even if I didn't understand it at the moment! You let father abuse me, but you came and tried to apologise, and you were just a kid! I don't fuckin' understand anything, and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about any of this! It was easier when you were all dead! But now that ye're back I don't want ya to die again!", he roared.

Tears had started to run down his cheeks, and he was clawing at his neck, drawing blood. The sight of haemoglobin snapped Momo out of the trance she had been put it by her brother's ramblings, and she softly put her hand on his neck, to protect it from the need to itch she knew all too well. He froze, looking at her right in the eyes despite the tears, and Momo forced a soft smile on her face.

"It's normal to be confused. We have been raised on opposite sides, and I'm confused too. I tried to deny the truth because it was easier to believe you were with a nice, loving family who had filled with love and happiness, who had given you the childhood you deserved. But I now realise I don't care about what you do with your life; as long as you're alive and well, then I'm happy."

She put her forehead against his, allowing her thumbs to caress the bottom of his cheeks. He remained still, his erratic breath slowly calming down. They remained like this for what seemed to be a short eternity, as if a timeless bubble had formed around them, shielding them from a world that had done nothing but hurt and betray them. Why was the world so unfair? How could it treat them so? They had been children, little children who had done nothing for the world to despise and curse them like this.

"Why didja become a hero?" he suddenly asked, bizarrely timid, as if he was afraid of her answer.

"To find you", she replied without hesitation, separating their foreheads and looking him straight in the eyes. "It's selfish, and not very heroic by most people's standards, but I wanted to re-open the Shimura case. I wanted to make them investigate. They let you disappear for so long…"

"Heroes are trash", he scoffed. "None of them helped me. Only Sensei did. I was starvin' in the streets when he found me. No one helped me, they all ignored me when I was wanderin' all alone, covered in blood, and not knowin' what to do…"

Momo froze; she had always thought All For One had found Tenko immediately after the incident at their house. But he had wondered the streets alone? And no one had even tried to help him? She felt anger boiling in her veins. How could one ignore a child in need? Sixteen years ago, All Might had been in his prime; how could such a thing happen? Was this truly the world they were living in?

She felt tears of both fury and anguish rolling down her cheeks as she tried to picture the sheer terror and despair her baby brother must have felt. The hunger, the thirst, the loneliness racking his little body. How unfair! How infuriating!

"I'm sorry… It's not fair… It shouldn't have happened… It… Why did they not help you?" she mumbled, but she was not sure if she was talking to herself or Tenko.

"Because this world's fucked. That's why I'm goin' to destroy it, and everythin' in my way."

"I know…", she whispered.

At this point, she was not even sure it was a bad thing. Did a world allowing what had happened to them truly deserve to exist? She thought of little Eri, who had been failed by the world for so long. How many children had not been found? How many children had the heroes failed? Maybe she would worry about having such thoughts when she was a hero student but somehow, she could not bring herself to push the thoughts away. She had repressed them for too long.

"I don't know what I want to do", she confessed. "I'm angry at the world for treating us the way it did. I want the rase this cult to the ground until it is nothing but a memory, but I can't condone violence for the sake of it. So many innocent people might be caught in the crossfire of this war."

"Perhaps. But how many innocents did the heroes sweep under the rug? They allowed the dirt to accumulate, and the oh-so-innocent citizens watched it happen. Do you think the people who let me wander the streets were innocent? Those who made the cultists' lives so bad they had to join this wacko club to feel better about themselves? I'm not plannin' on slaughterin' kids or somethin' like that. But the bystanders, the enablers? They can all rot."

Momo gulped. She understood his point of view, knew where he was coming from. He had been raised by All For One, of course, he would choose violence as a course of action. But it was not just All For One's doing. Her brother was no longer the puppet of the legendary villain and had not been for quite some time now. Those were his thoughts, his beliefs, his desires, and he was utterly honest about them. Honesty. It was so refreshing after years of being nothing but used and lied to! Yet, she did not know what to say to him. Was there anything to say, really?

"I-I understand your thoughts… And… And some dark part of me I always quieted agrees with you. I am furious at the world too, for they've done, for they have not done. I want to make them pay for ignoring you, for allowing our childhood to be destroyed like that but… But I guess I'm a coward", she confessed. "I'm a weak little girl who can't do anything; I haven't changed much."

He studied her face, his tears and erratic breathing long gone. He looked as if the storm raging within him had calmed and ended its furious trashing. He looked… peaceful. He had reached something within himself, came up with some sort of decision regarding himself, her, or the world, she did not know. When he spoke, his voice was calm, his tone reassuring.

"If ye're a coward, I can be brave for the two of us. If ye're weak, I can be strong for the both of us. Soon I'll be stronger than anyone in this godforsaken world. You can't go back to Yūei, can ya? After everythin' that happened, you can't just go back to bein' a nice little heroine, a nice little student who never questions the government and does whatever the commission wants ya to. The world shames you for the way you dress, don't it? Like father did. I bet you couldn't even look at the other students. They'd feel so bad for ya to be trapped with me in here because I'm the bogeyman to them. But to you, I'm not. I don't want to hurt ya again, you don't want to fight me. Come with me when all this shitshow's over. You quirk relies on you bein' smart, you can help me limit civilian casualties. I don't ask from my people more than what they can do. I ain't forcin' you to fight on the frontline or killin' people, nothin' like that. So, will you come with me, sis?"

She remained silent, his words slowly weighing on her. Her head was spinning, her entire body so heavy she was not sure she could move a finger. She did not know what to say, what to think. For once in her life, her mind was not buzzing with voices that would never quiet down. The constant almost static sound they formed in her head was gone, and nothing was left but instinct. She had missed him every day. He was the only person she had left in this world, no matter what he had done, what he would do. What they would do.

"I will."

000

Mirko had not been sure of herself when she had decided to go to Endeavour for help in tracking the Ashuva cult, but she quieted her doubts as she explained to him the situation. The deal between the Commission and Shigaraki, their subsequent alliance, everything that had happened, all she had discovered, her distrust of Tsukaushi. As she finished her tale, the number one hero remained silent for a few seconds, processing all she had told him. Mirko bit the inside of her cheek; she was not absolutely certain she could trust him – if Momo's parents were part of the cult, who was not? –, but she did not have a choice. As a result of her anxiety, her leg was bouncing, and she was ready to book it should something happen. Should she have gone to Hawks instead? His quirk was a mutation after all.

"It's… quite the story", Endeavour finally said. "And an absolute shitshow. Are you sure Tsukaushi is part of this?"

"No. But my instinct keeps telling me that there's something wrong with him. He wanted to take our only legit lead to the PLF instead of a police station on the basis that there's most likely a traitor in the police force. It could make sense if we could be sure there's no cultist in the PLF. Plus, he would make for a great spy, wouldn't he? He detects lie, and thus everyone tends to believe him."

"I've learnt that your instincts are to be trusted, and every possibility has to be explored. You say it's the third day of Creati's capture?"

"Yes. And no one can predict how Shigaraki will react to his sister still being alive when he thought her dead. He might go even more bonkers and try to kill her. I have faith in Momo, but this guy is a basket case."

"Let's just hope the cult will stop Shigaraki from harming her in the meantime. It's far from ideal, but we can't panic, otherwise, we're doomed to fail. We need to speed things up. I'm going to get another detective on the case; one with a mutation to make sure we don't get a second possible cultist. Then, we'll build a team and track Tsukaushi's movements."

Mirko nodded; Endeavour was not the number one for nothing. Together, they made a list of the heroes they would contact; a cult would take a lot of firepower to take down. Especially if they somehow found a way to use their captive's quirks. Dabi was probably not very interesting in their deluded mind but his quirk was difficult to fight, to say the least. The blue flames were rumoured to burn hotter than Endeavour's Hellfire, and Mirko had no intention to find out first-hand. The worse would be the cult getting their hands on Shigaraki's quirk; the destructive power of Decay was almost unparalleled and needed to be controlled soon.