Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia characters and plot events belongs to Horikoshi Kohei.
To Be a Hero
shigaraki tomura: resurfacing
.
.
.
Shimura Tenko was not really liked by his father because of his fascination with heroes. Ever since he could talk, his father would punish him whenever he said or did anything hero-related. But those early years in his childhood wasn't too bad because he had a mother who loved and doted on him and allowed him to talk about heroes to his heart's content. Whenever his father threw him outside to cry alone, his mother would come out and give him an encouraging hug to make it all better.
Then his mother got pregnant again.
When the family learned that the unborn baby was going to be a girl, he saw his father smile for the first time. It was so weird to see that; he's never seen that for as long as he could remember.
He was almost five then, and that was around the time that most kids already manifested their Quirks. He didn't seem to possess any though, and he could feel that his body was going through weird changes and it was making him frail. Still, he stayed optimistic. His mother would encourage him and pat his head despite not being able to move as much due to her enlarging stomach.
Another baby...
Will he like his little sister?
He thought that maybe if his sister comes to like heroes too, then his father wouldn't be so mad when he talked about them. The day she was born, Tenko was able to come to the hospital with his father to see his tired mother. She looked pale and sick, but she was happy.
"Look Tenko, isn't your little sister cute?"
His ruby eyes stayed on the infant for a moment as he observed carefully. She was small, with chubby hands and a peaceful sleeping face. The tuft of hair on top of her head was a lot lighter than his; she couldn't open her eyes yet, so he wondered what color they were. When he heard his mother chuckle softly, he suddenly remembered that he had something for her and the new baby.
He stretched out his small hands to show her a white chrysanthum, "F-For you…"
"A shiragiku..." the tired woman smiled brightly as she took the flower. "What a great name you've picked out for your little sister, Tenko."
Shira... Shiragiku... He barely had time to say the name over in his head before the machine that was attached to his mother suddenly started to beep in alarm. Her pulse was flat-lining. Frightened, Tenko tried to reach for his mother but was harshly shoved aside by his father.
"Move out of the way! DOCTOR!"
As the doctor and nurses rushed into the room, he was further pushed out into the hallway. He didn't know what was happening and his head pounded loudly. He could hear the shouts and the continued flat-lining beep from the machine.
It was too long.
"M-Mother…"
Way too long.
—Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep—
Alone, in the hallway, Tenko clutched his chest. He couldn't see what was happening, but he knew now. His chest heaved and he felt a jolt of pain throughout his body; he wasn't sure if it was from the pain of loss or the pain that he's been experiencing the past month that's been making his body frail. He only knew that it hurt.
When his father finally walked out with the bundle in his arms and a grim look on his face, Tenko ran over with teary eyes. But the man didn't even give him a glance as he walked past the traumatized young boy.
"We're leaving." No explanation, no consolation.
It was like he was just…
[]
"...an afterthought," Shigaraki gritted his teeth and crumpled the newspaper he was reading. On the majority of the pages, it was reports of the Hero Killer being captured and recounts of his mission to purge fake heroes. There were hardly any mention of the Nomus that wreaked havoc in the cities. "Are the Nomus just secondary?!"
He had thought that once the night was over, the world would have forgotten about Stain. How wrong he was. Ruby eyes glazed with hatred at the familiar feeling boiling up his chest.
"Not only have they not forgotten, but we ended up being the damn side story."
Shiro scrolled down the article with ruby eyes furrowed. Every news outlet had written or broadcasted that the Hero Killer: Stain was defeated last night in Hosu City. The hero behind his arrest was Endeavor, the country's No. 2 hero. Finally reaching the end, she found a mention of three Nomus that were apprehended in Hosu, all taken down by Endeavor as well. The news in Hosu paled in comparison to her city's attack, but she was just glad that it was over...
But what about the SOS from Midoriya? she wondered. There was no mention in any of the news articles about U.A. students but she was sure that something had happened with the curly haired boy. He wasn't the type to send out random things to the groupchat. Suddenly, the buzz of a notification made her scramble and click open the message.
Midoriya Izuku: Apologies! Everything is okay now. As you've heard, last night Hosu City was under attack and me, along with Todoroki-kun and Iida-kun were caught in the middle of it. In the situation I was only able to send the address of my location to call for help. Fortunately, Endeavor was able to relieve the situation and the Hero Killer has been caught! Iida-kun, Todoroki-kun, and I are safe! Sorry for worrying you guys!
A breath of relief washed over Shiro and she set down her phone. It was good news to hear that all of her friends made it out alive. Though she didn't know the severity of the situation because Midoriya didnt reveal it in his text, she could go about her day now without the lingering worry hanging over her head.
Furthermore, it was about time that she met up with Gang Orca for basic training again.
Unaware, of course, that all around the country, underground villains that have also heard the news about the fall of the Hero Killer were gathering...
Aisaka Shiragiku: We had a bit of a Nomu situation in Urayasu City as well, but the pro heroes took care of it. Bakugou and I helped evacuate.
Aisaka Shiragiku: But I'm glad you are okay. Rest well, and please tell Todoroki-san and Iida-san to do the same.
Midoriya was both glad and concerned about the texts he recieved, but at the end he let himself relax because the situation was over. It just came as a surprise, especially with Bakugou in the mix...
Midoriya Izuku: Thank you, Shiro-san! I'm glad to hear you and Kacchan are safe too!
Since this morning, he's been getting a flood of messages from his classmates since from the news had let out and questions about his SOS. Uraraka even called; her voice was so close...! But he was able to reassure everyone without revealing too much.
To save their futures as heroes, the truth about what really happened in the alley with the Hero Killer could not be let out. Endeavor was given the credit so that he, Todoroki, and Iida wouldn't receive severe punishments from the government about using their Quirks and acting as heroes to fight villains without a license or even the explicit direction of a Pro. But to him, the credit didn't matter as much as his future as a hero anyway. He was glad that the Chief of Police, Tsuragamae Kenji, was able to let this ordeal go silently.
That didn't mean that they got away with completely, though. Even the Pro Heroes they were under had to receive some form of punishment for not looking after their charges. And for the three of them... He and Iida weren't able to return to their internships because of the severity of their injuries. The exception was Todoroki, who was free to go due to recieving relatively light injuries. Letting out a small sigh, Midoriya hopped back to the room he shared with Todoroki and Iida.
"I've talked to our classmates and told them we're fine!" he reassured the two. "Ah, I got a text from Shiro-san to wish us well... Apparently, the Nomus hit her city too...!"
"Is she alright?" Todoroki asked in alarm.
"Y-Yes, she's fine! I'm sure we are the only ones who got injured like this," he rubbed the side of his head sheepishly. "But we'll recover, right?"
The room grew quiet for a moment before Todoroki spoke again.
"...Iida just finished getting examined."
The seriousness of the situation dawn on him and Midoriya paused and hopped over closer to the two. The bespectacled male was staring at the ground with a firm look in his eyes.
"My left hand might have long-term damage..." he revealed somberly.
"Long-term... Damage?!"
"Both of my arms were pretty beat up, but it looks like the damage to my left arm was especially severe," he rubbed the area on top of his cast. "There was damage to my brachial plexus... But it just means that I'll have trouble moving my hand and fingers and experience some numbness. When I found the Hero Killer, I stopped being able to think. The first thing I should've done was to tell Manual-san, but I forgot myself in my anger."
Iida distinctly remembered what Stain had said to him when he brazenly declared that he was going to kill him in the name of his brother...
"Being taken in by the hatred before you and trying to fulfill your own desires... That's the furthest from what a hero should be."
"I hate him, but he spoke the truth. That's why," he looked at his left arm. "Until I become a true hero, I think I want to leave my left hand as it is."
Seeing as the male himself had accepted it, there was nothing more for Midoriya to say. Instead, he gave Iida an encouraging look as he lifted his own scarred right hand. "I feel the same way, Iida-kun." I will let this hand guide me. "Let's become stronger... Together."
They nodded at each other with determination. Meanwhile, Todoroki looked away with a sense of guilt as he realized something. "I feel... Kind of bad..." he said.
"Huh? About what?"
Cold sweat washed over Todoroki's body as he stared at his own hands, "I feel like if I get involved... Other people mess up their hands..." he stared at it even more intently. "Is it a curse?"
Shocked from the male's revelation, Midoriya and Iida took a minute before they burst out laughing. The halls of Hosu General Hospital filled with their loud chatters.
"T-Todoroki-kun, I didn't know you could make jokes!"
"No, I'm not joking. I'm like 'The Hand Crusher' or something."
"Hahahahaha!"
"The H-Hand Crusher! Hahaha!"
"A phone call... Is here!"
"A phone call... Is here!"
"A phone call..."
The emanciated Symbol of Peace grabbed his phone. "Hello? S-Sensei!" Blood spurted out of his mouth in shock and he scrambled out of the room to continue the call because Gran Torino started to chew him out about Midoriya on the other end. Seated inside the room still, the other teachers watched.
"That ringtone is annoying as usual," Eraserhead grunted with bloodshot eyes. Present Mic grinned exasperately. Everyone was on edge after hearing the news from this morning, but they all still had to continue their staff duties even without the students.
"Eraser, you're more irritated than usual, aren't ya?"
Of course he was in this state; with the approved permission from Nezu, he had started training Shinso Hitoshi after his regular General Course classes and was constantly tired. However, today he was more scruffed up than usual because of the news that Nomus had attacked Hosu and Urayasu. While everything had turned out okay (according to the media which he hated), it wasn't wrong of him to worry about Shiro and his other students, was it?
It was annoying but he cared.
"Has the kiddo said anything?" Present Mic asked, but the silence gave him an answer. "Well, she's interning under Gang Orca! He's got it under control. If I didn't know better, I'd say you have Empty Nest Syndrome."
Eraserhead glared back before shuffling some papers. How completely absurd. "Get back to work."
"Yeah, yeah~"
"So, explain to me about your Quirk."
Shiro stared at the orca hero before her and blinked. Most internships of this level only focused on enforcing the values of a hero, exemplify it by doing non-risk activities such as going on patrol, and basic training sessions to increase strength and endurance. Little emphasis was put on special trainings targeting individual Quirks because of the short time period and it was generally UA's job during hero training, but it wasn't to say that some heroes don't pick out students specifically for the potential of their Quirks.
"Well, my eyes can control the probability of things around me. I'd like to think of it as my left eye deals mischief and my right eye deals luck... Basically as long as the actual probability of something is above 0%, I can change it," she revealed. "If I activate both of them and touch what I'm targeting, then I have the power to rewrite reality. Kind of like changing the fate pathway of something completely."
Gang Orca hummed as he took in the girl's words. "Interesting... Does it enhance your physical abilities?" he asked. He could see how it would be hard to work with a Quirk like that without also having a physically strong body to make up for the physical component that it lacks, but he's seen her agility and speed. Though not the fastest, she can really use that to her advantage.
"The only thing I'm able to achieve so far is allowing my attacks to hit at a higher percentage, like if I was throwing something and it only has a 50% chance of making the mark, I can change it to 100%. But my power stays the same," she replied with pursed lips. "That's why I want to get stronger physically even if my Quirk isn't a physical ability unless I use my rewrite... But I don't have enough energy to use it significantly unless I want to risk permanent damage to my body."
Reality Rewrite. He's heard about it and seen it during the sports festival. While he acknowledged it as a powerful ability to possess, he can tell that the girl can only perform the most basic level of it. He wonders if he can push that further, not necessarily make her exert more power because he knows the drawbacks for a still young and inexperienced body, but rather to allow it to work in tandem with her other attributes. There's only a short amount of time to try this, but it'll at least lay a foundation.
Shiro watched the hero curiously. He wasn't saying anything but the look on his face was too serious to be good, and she wondered if he thought that she was at her limit already. Before she can voice her concerns, though, Gang Orca spoke.
"I think there's more wiggle room to your Quirk," he drawled, surprising her. "We'll test out that potential."
"Y-You really think so?"
"That depends. Do you believe in yourself?"
"I know I can give it my best shot," she said honestly.
There was no question about it; he knew the potential the girl had. It's why he chose her to come to his agency for the internship in the first place, and she continues to imprShess him by her sheer will. Gang Orca nodded with approval.
"Then you will have to be prepared to train harder than before. For the remainder of your time here, you will start with morning breathing exercises to allow your lungs to take in more air, followed by water training in the afternoon, and ending with an infinite obstacle course."
Lungs... Water... Infinite obstacle course...? Those things swirled around Shiro's head as she tried to grapple with all the information. An apprehensive look shifted across her expression, "But what about the bell test?" she asked.
"It goes without saying that it's still in motion. That is, if you still have energy by the end of training to continue."
"B-But..."
"There's four days left of this internship. That should be plenty of time," the hero grinned with a scary expression. There was just no way the orca can smile without looking downright evil. "If you're going to talk big about wanting to being a hero to protect others, then you must be willing to bear the hardships of becoming one that can actually have the ability to do so. Unless you don't want to? In that case, we will go back to normal training."
Shiro realized this now—the previous days were simply warm up compared to the real hell she was about to face. She was given an option, but that option was not viable, not when she had the Pro Hero's recognition. Backing out now will be cowardly of her and not many people get this kind of chance. Breathing in, she nodded, "I'm ready to start."
"Good. This is the easy part. Sit down," Gang Orca instructed. As soon as the girl did, one of his sidekicks came in with something small in his hands. She furrowed her brows when she noticed that it was a balloon. The hero picked up the flimsy rubber, "First, you will concentrate on your breathing by taking long and slow breaths. Keep doing it until you can hold in more air each time. Once you think you've achieve that, you will blow into this."
Shiro watched as Gang Orca took in a deep breath before putting the opening of the balloon near his mouth. Then, in one continuous release of air, the balloon expanded bigger and bigger until...
POP!
The loud noise echoed throughout the room and left a small ringing in her ears.
"The balloon is only an indicator. If you're able to pop it in one breath, then you will have succeeded in gaining the optimal lung capacity."
Upon completion of the demostration, the sidekick laid out another balloon, this time a little smaller, next to her before disappearing. Shiro glanced at the rubber thing and gulped. This is at least smaller but... I have to try and pop it in one breath? Is he joking?
For such a serious hero, he sure does come up with the weirdest challenges.
"I will come fetch you in the afternoon for water training," Gang Orca said before leaving the baffled girl by herself. "Until then, do your best."
...He is dead serious
Drawing in a large breath, she blew into it as hard as she could. The balloon expanded and got to a decent size, but it was nowhere near popping. Not being able to draw out anymore air, she had to release and the balloon deflated once again. "'This is the easy part', huh?" she mumbled with a red face, huffing tiredly. "Yeah, right."
"You can never rush progress. Be level-headed and steady."
As the hero's words echoed in her head, she closed her eyes. Take it slow... She went into meditation mode. To really focus on her breathing, she had to concentrate completely. I'll work my way up. Breathe...
"Breathe, Tenko-kun, breathe."
"...H-Hic… Sniff… Sniff…"
Two-and-a-half year old Shiragiku watched with sadness as the boy before her was crouched on the ground outside and choking out cries. An old woman in a kimono was sitting on the wooden platform besides the boy and patting his back. There was a broken hero figurine on the ground.
"I'm sorry, Tenko-kun," the old woman sighed. "I didn't think he would react so badly to this... I'll get you a new one, okay? We'll hide it from him next time."
"...Hic... B-But..."
Shiragiku came up to the boy clumsily, tugging at his shirt with a big pout, "No cry."
"See, even Shiragiku-chan is here to encourage you," old woman smiled kindly. "Here, you two stay. I'll go in and bring out your favorite snack, okay?"
As the woman left, Shiragiku went to pick up the figurine. Its arm was crushed and both legs were snapped off. Still, she held it carefully and held it out to the crying boy, "Play?"
The boy was using his sleeves to wipe away the tears and didn't look at her.
"Hero! Play?" she asked again.
Angry ruby eyes glared at her, "C-Can't you see it's broken?!" he muttered and hit the broken figurine out of the girl's hands. "Go a-away!"
Upset that the boy yelled at her and slapped the toy that she tried to return to him away, tears welled up in her own eyes. She just wanted to help; it was saddening whenever the boy cried and she wanted to help! She sniffed as she looked at the dejected toy. It was really broken...
Maybe if she found one that wasn't broken, then the boy wouldn't slap it away anymore. Determined, she decided that it was just what she was going to do.
"I-I be back!" she promised before running back into the house. Her small footsteps pattered across the wooden floor and trailed off.
[]
Meanwhile, Tenko's eyes glared at the toy by his feet.
Why did his father hate heroes so much? Why?
He picked it up by the toy's crushed arm and squeezed, watching it slowly crack and turn to dust. In the past two years, after the death of his mother, he finally manifested a Quirk. He found that he could disintegration small items very slowly if he tried hard enough. It was very weak and nothing significant so he kept it to himself, but it wasn't like his father would care if he had told him. After his mother's death, his father was even colder towards him.
He thought about hating his little sister for taking away his mother, but the situation at home was not much different either way. Mostly their grandmother took cared of the two children when his father was away at work, and she was kind like Mother. Besides, even Shiragiku barely got the man's attention... But he was still kinder to the girl because she really resembled their mother.
Tenko was usually the only one on the receiving end of his father's verbal abuse.
There was a small spark of doubt in his heart because of this. What was so wrong with heroes that caused this type of rift between him and his father?
If he can only understand why his father hated them so much...
Shiro opened her eyes with a gasp. Diving deep into the void of concentration had inadvertantly drew up some memories that she thought was gone after losing her memories at age four.
It's that boy again... Who is he? she wondered. From just the physical description of him—lanky, dark hair, and ruby eyes—she couldn't say much about the identity. Many people have the same traits and they can change with age. But one thing was for certain; she was close to the boy. At least somewhat.
This Tenko boy, throughout the snippets of memories, was always frail and scared. She felt incredibly bad for him. But this most recent memory was different from the one before at the orphanage. She was at a house with a nice old woman, and the woman seemed to dote on them both. It almost seemed like they were... Family?
But it couldn't be... She was found in an orphanage!
Yet... Her emotions would stir whenever he appeared in his memories and she could feel a connection with the strange boy...
Shiro grabbed her head and shook vigoriously. "I don't know what any of this means..." she grumbled. Stop thinking about it. Focus on your internship. You've got enough problems as it is!
Ruby eyes glared at the offending balloon before she pursed her lips. The clock on the wall signalled that she's been meditating for an hour and she should test out her progress now. Breathing in deeply, she found that her lungs were opening up more, if only slightly.
"Take two," she put the balloon up to her lips and blew into it with all her might. Concentrate...! The balloon expanded and she held on longer. Though, she wasn't sure if the balloon got any bigger as she reached her limit. Her entire body shook before she was forced to let go and the balloon shot out from her fingers' grip and flew across the room in a figure-eight before splatting on the floor.
Shiro let out a deep sigh but stood to retreive the balloon.
...Again!
"How did it go?"
Gang Orca's question didn't receive a verbal answer, but from the looks of Shiro's frustrated red face and a very intact balloon, he could tell that it hadn't gone so well for the girl. He never expected her to be able to pop the balloon on the first day in just three hours, anyway.
"I think I herniated my diaphram…" Shiro grumbled as the hero laughed.
"That's just warm-up. We will move on to the second portion," he said. "Follow me to the pool room. This is where the real endurance test starts."
They walked down one of the long hallways of the agency and stopped at a different pool room than the private one that Gang Orca uses. This one was even bigger and quipped for hero training. It seemed that the hero had the area set up specifically for her water trainings for the rest of the week.
"Water is 784 times denser than air, so doing anything underwater forces you to exert more energy on your entire body. It's the best way to condition your body for endurance and strength," Gang Orca explained. He pointed to the shallow end of the pool, "On this side you will be putting on 5-pound ankle and arm weights to jog laps around the shallow end."
Jog? Can people even do that underwater? Shiro blinked.
"In the deep end, you will forego diving exercises where you will continuously retrieve a 10-pound bricks that these guys throw down," he said as five people wearing black bodysuits and white shin and shoulder guards came out. "Since this is a conditioning training, you will refrain from using your Quirk."
Shiro peered at the glistening water with a curious gaze. She had expected this; using her reality rewrite to lower the density of the water would make this whole process easier, but that wouldn't be much training in the first place. The hero did say he wanted to draw something from her out of the water training; she just wondered how this was going to come into play with her Quirk.
"If I may ask," Shiro decided to voice her question before she got started. "Will this actually draw out my Quirk's abilities?"
Gang Orca grinned. "Slow and steady. You'll see."
And she tried—later that day when the third portion of the hero's training regime came around.
Shiro stood agape as her ruby eyes tried to take in the sight before her. As tired as she was from the repetitive water training, this woke her right up. The portions of the floor that wasn't covered in waist-deep water was littered with all types of equipment. She really shouldn't be surprised to know that the hero had an entire area dedicated to spinning, hanging, and flying obstacles from hell.
"Now you'll be training with your Quirk," Gang Orca instructed with his arms crossed, looking mighty proud. "Keep it activated the entire time and let it guide you through the obstacles."
It sounded easy enough to Shiro—too easy, in fact, that she wondered how that could possibly help. She was instructed to use her Quirk as she would normally do. It wasn't like she didn't have control of her Quirk like Midoriya and needed that kind of training, but...
"Everything will start moving in a second. I will see you on the other side," the hero prepared to move just as the machines started up. He was going through the obstacles himself, it seemed, and Shiro was excited to see the man in action. "That is, if you make it through."
"What—" Shiro's brows furrowed at the suggestion but she didn't have time to further think about it as the hero dashed off. He was fast and effortlessly completed the first barrier, which was moving pads leading towards swinging logs from all directions. It was intimidating to look at, but she found that it was not that much different from the obstacle course back in the sports festival. She soon lost sight of the hero but she had no doubt that he was probably already on the other side like he said he would. Not wanting to be left behind, she let out a determined grunt and followed suit while activating her Quirk.
She hopped across the pads with relative ease and arrived at the swinging bars. Two of them swung in tandem at each other and the other two did the same but in the opposite way. Her right eye spun as she timed for the perfect opening and jumped through both. Landing on her feet, she took off further into the spinning machines to clear another section without too much of a problem. She couldn't tell how far she was in the obstacle now, but she didn't get her hopes up on thinking that she was anywhere near done.
Why else would the hero call it the "Infinity Obstacle Course"?
Suddenly, a low whir caught her attention and she looked around cautiously; when nothing came at her she realized that it was coming from below and she had to quickly catch her balance as the giant disk beneath her feet started to spin.
Eyes narrowing at the forest-like mass of pillars, she knew the only way was going through it. Jumping off the disk, she landed and rolled over but something was triggered as soon as she reached the pillars. They started to move—not all of them in the same direction or motion. Some retreated into the ground as some bent and swung. Others shot back up and still some had the ability to close into each other.
Taking a deep breath in, her ruby eyes spun wildly and she ducked into it.
Shiro couldn't see anything except the constant assult of obstacles at her as she dodged and moved her body almost rhythmically. I can somehow keep up... she thought before realization hit her. It was still very slight, but because of the breathing exercise and water training that she went through all morning and afternoon, she was able to move her body easier than before. Moving around in a denser enviroment plus added weights had forced her to use more strength to achieve the same level of speed that she had on land, and she could feel how her limbs were slightly lighter than before as she moved them. It was easier to move, if just barely.
Getting all pruney was worth it I guess, she smirked as she leaped over a bar that was coming at her. But just as she was about to move again, she was pelted with a shot of what felt like rapidly drying clay. Staggering back slightly, she glared at the cannons that suddenly appeared on every single pillar.
Zip! Splat!
Zip! Zip!
Splat!
Every step she tried to take, the cannons were fast and hit at absolute precision. She had barely moved five feet and her body was caked with the drying clay. Huffing out large breaths, Shiro scanned around for any openings but found none. She had to get through this warzone without getting hit again; it was hard to stay balanced on the floating terrain while dodging shots.
What did the Gang Orca say? Let her Quirk guide her through?
But how? My eyes can't even keep up with which cannon is shooting, which makes it harder to avoid it because I can't target my probability manipulation at it...!
Zip!
Splat!
She winced as another clay ball shot out and hit her in the leg. The only way can save herself from being hit again is if she retreated. She was stuck. Completely.
How do I get through this obstacle...?!
OTL poor bby even I feel bad for making her suffer this much lol
Now that the Stain battle is out of the picture, I can focus back on Shiro's hardships at her internship... Which is causing some repressed memories to surface! ;O Along with Shigaraki's bits of flashbacks, it's gonna slowly paint the picture of their childhood~