"Ma'am, here are the files you requested. All of the up-and-coming heroes recognized by the Hero Public Safety Commission and some subpar ones that could still be useful."
"Thank you, just leave them on my desk."
The employee laid the thick manilla folder on her desk, there were definitely more heroes in it than the years prior. These semi-annual lists had predicted some outstanding heroes, like Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady, but not everyone shone to their full potential.
"Let's see what we're dealing with today."
Madam President read through the report, though nothing shocked her too much. She'd worked in the hero industry for long enough that quirks started to look the same.
"Low level telekinesis, protective bubbles, and . . . cactus?"
She quickly looked over the hero's file again. She had learned to trust her employees not to send her useless quirks. Hell, she'd practically laughed someone out of her office when they showed her a washing machine superhero. Yet, there he was, one of Japan's Top Ten heroes. The President let out a wry chuckle, an uncommon occurrence for her.
"He might actually be pretty damn useful: enhanced strength, regeneration, and size manipulation?" We can't just rely on Mt. Lady and Ryukyu to deal with our larger threats. "Heh, kid's got a future ahead of him."
She kept reading. More sidekick material, some more local superstars. She kept flipping till she got to the cream of the crop. While it wasn't a prerequisite to being a strong hero, attending UA Highschool practically gave any hero a gold seal of approval. She had any graduates filtered out of the rest, sort of a refresher to any disappointment she may have read prior.
"Ah, this is what I've been expecting. Rubber body, Plastic Manipulation, and legs with triple their usual muscle definition?" These were all excellent heroes with lots of potential, all scoring above average marks on their tests and passing their Hero License Exams on the first try. If she had to give that little rat at UA any credit, it'd be how he ran his school. She continued reading and stumbled upon a less combat aware quirk.
Hero Name: Clairvoyant | Given Name: Tobume Urasano | DOB: 20XX / 11 / 11 | Quirk: Psychic -Tobume can read the thoughts and memories of anyone within a certain radius of himself. The farther a target is from him, the less clear the readings are, and physical contact is required for him to read memories. The only sign Tobume is using his quirk are his eyes illuminating.
It wasn't common for people to get into UA without some sort of power or movement quirk. One would have trouble destroying the robots they used in their practice exams without some way to disable enemies. So, whenever someone with an entirely support based quirk made it through, there was always a degree of excellence that followed them. Either that or a series of failures that would follow them far after high school. But, mind reading? That was a diamond in the rough gift. Espionage, interrogation, hell—even assassination. The last quirk she saw with this degree of specialty was that of Nighteye, and even that was a considerable time ago.
Madam President was not like her predecessor, his legacy was positive to the public but looked back on with discontent within her organization. But he did know one thing for sure, every quirk had its use towards the greater good. Even if it didn't seem like they could.
Although, she came to keep the dangerous ones in check. Heroes just like him.
Hero Name: Shigaraki | Given Name: Tenko Shimura | DOB: 20XX / 4 / 4 | Quirk: Decay -Tenko can disintegrate things when he lays all five fingers on it. Tenko can control the rate of decay to a certain extent, slowing it or causing the decay to spread to very close nearby objects.
Sorahiko's golden child. She had skipped past multiple other prospects to read Tenko's file, but she would get back to them. The only hero that needed a criminal record before they hit middle school: Shigaraki. There was no way in hell she wanted to associate with Shigaraki this early in his hero career. Even if all of his measurable statistics were positive, something inside of the President wouldn't let her feel good about the boy. He was too unstable, too volatile, too much like a villain. His file had the regards of three state-sanctioned quirk therapists. Each of which had very descriptive things to say about the eight year old they were interviewing.
"I haven't seen sociopathic tendencies this bad since I was tasked with a psychological profile on a serial killer. Quirks that have very noticeable influences on personality—especially those that are repressed since an early age—don't expose themselves until adolescence. Even then, I've never seen such a negative and violent outburst from someone so young. He needs serious help. I recommend years of intense therapy and even pharmaceutical influences."
"His paranoia is frightening. He wouldn't come near me even with specialized gloves on his hands. He's plagued by constant hallucinations and might even be schizophrenic. But that's the strange part, I know what happened to his family, but he doesn't. He's terribly terrified of destroying everything, but can't tell me what happened. I know it's against protocol, but I used my quirk on him and his body refused to cooperate, causing his documented vomiting during our session. His mind is broken, I'm afraid beyond repair."
"I believe that he doesn't regret one of the murders he committed. He was muttering the entire time we were together, even if it was very brief. I don't think he knew he was doing it, and I don't think he could've stopped if he knew. He muttered four names continuously, I couldn't hear them specifically but I knew each was unique. Only once he muttered a fifth name and then smiled the biggest and happiest I've seen on any boy. Abandon him at all costs. This boy is a ticking time bomb."
"In order to even attend UA, he needed a therapist's approval and somehow Sorahiko got the kid's act together in seven years, because here he is. Property damage incarnate." He was definitely one of the most . . . niche heroes the President had ever seen. "God, how does a kid get this much of a reputation one year out of secondary school?"
Tenko Shimura's childhood wasn't much better after his personal point of no return. The State had initially declared he was "too dangerous to be in the common family home". But was convinced to reconsider when one of All Might's personal assistants financed the nation's best lawyers. The poor boy bounced from foster home to foster home, each keeping him for less time than the last. Tenko always requested one family to stay with, which might've made his year better if they listened. But alas, the Urasano's weren't financially stable enough to open their doors to one more mouth to feed.
Seven homes he moved through each starting the same way and ending in a similar way.
"Hi, I'm Tenko Shimura!"
He was returned for being too much to "manage".
"Hi, I'm Tenko Shimura!"
He was brought back once they realized what'd happened to his biological family.
"Hi, I'm Tenko!"
He was given back after a mental breakdown, egged on by his new mother.
"H-Hi. My name is Tenko.
"He just always looked dead, y-know? Like he's tired of us already."
"I'm Shimura."
His new father was a foreign spy and his mother an assassin, it was a long story . . .
"Hello."
"I just wanted to see his hands, and, and he freaked out on me!"
". . ."
His seventh home looked to be a better situation for his, specific needs.
The old man wasn't much taller than Tenko himself and his hair was much brighter than his own. Even the old man shed a few tears when he laid his scenile eyes on the boy. They were a strange mix of pity, happiness, grief, and a conviction beyond anything the orphan had seen before. "Hey kiddo, I'm Sorahiko Torino, and I'll be taking care of you for the foreseeable future. How does that sound?
To Tenko the lines didn't sound any different than anything else he'd heard in the past year. This stout old man wouldn't offer anything to him and he'd end up back in the system again. He'd moved from his late father's physical prison to an endlessly repeating cycle of mental ones. He didn't bother to respond to Sorahiko's question. He didn't have the energy.
Sorahiko didn't seem phased by his non-answer, his lighthearted demeanor didn't portray any lack of intelligence. Just simply a positive demeanor, despite any shortcomings. "Well, do you have all of your belongings?"
The two drove home in the old man's car and they had an interesting conversation. Though it wasn't so much a conversation as Sorahiko regaling Tenko with a story of his heroic relative. "Your grandmother was a wonderful woman. Strong, beautiful, kind." Tenko was forced to age up mentally in the past year and his once curious and excited personality became anti-social and distant. Even with these known facets of his personality, Tenko listened attentively about his grandmother, the woman his father despised so much.
"Do you know how she died, Tenko?" Sorahiko was looking at him through the car's rear view mirrors. Tenko slowly shook his head no. The mention of his grandmother had spurred some sort of rash on his neck. It itched slightly, shaking up all of his thoughts and beckoning for him to scratch at it. He wished he could use his quirk on himself, decay his own feelings.
"She died fighting an extremely evil man. His name was All for One, and he wanted to make sure everything was broken." Sorahiko said. "He took things from people….. He gave those things to his allies, and they killed thousands with those things."
"He took their quirks, right?" Tenko said.
"Yes."
"I wish he would take my quirk."
"Don't say that, kid."
"Why not?" Tenko said, his temper rising. He stared at the rear view mirror like a man on his deathbed, filled with the rage of what could've been.
Sorahiko stopped at a red light and this time took the time to turn around and look Tenko in the eyes, that same righteous conviction burning within them.
". . ."
"Because he would've killed so many more people with your quirk than you will ever be able to."
Tenko flinched aggressively. He started hyperventilating, but he didn't know why. The car's walls were folding in on themselves. Sorahiko's car wasn't big enough for seven people and a dog. Tenko looked to his left, horrified at what he saw. His grandfather and other grandmother were looking back at him, sitting in the seats adjacent to his. His sister Hana was sitting in his grandmother's lap, staring somewhere beyond him. Their faces were stone gray like statues, cracks splintering all throughout them. Somejhow, their stone faces were rotting and dust and ash were bellowing out of their mouths.
"Why sweetie? Why'd you do it? Did we upset you? Why did you throw us away? Why did you break us?" His grandparents chanted in unison, their mouths opening and closing like they were speaking different words. Shigaraki felt fur graze his hands and he looked away and screamed. He felt his dear dog decay in his grasp, and he couldn't bare to look at it as it did again. The window didn't provide any solace from this nightmare. His mother was reaching for him from outside the glass, suspended in the air by nothing more than pure willpower. She was decaying from the feet up, crying ugly tears and looking at Tenko.
"Come home, Tenko. Why don't you visit anymore? Come with us. Stay with us. You deserve everything in the world.. Every single thing."
She couldn't choke out one more awful word before she vanished completely, her ashes scattering outside of the car. Tenko was having a mental breakdown. He screamed, he tried, he really tried. But no sound came out, he was scratching his neck so hard his fingers were turning white. Snot dribbled out of his nose and his eyes were bloodshot red. Then, he arrived.
A strong, but familiar, hand grabbed at his neck and threw him. Tenko's hands braced himself for the ground, but he only ended up decaying the car, landing and skinning both his knees on the asphalt. His father stood over him, standing easily seven feet tall. Four pairs of hands latched onto him, pulling him into the road.
"You're just like her, you know."
Tenko trembled.
"You both would abandon your family."
It was his fathers final set of hands that dug him into the ground, into Hell, where he belonged.
"Did you hear that, Tenko? You look like you zoned out there for a second."
The car was moving, but Tenko didn't notice. He needed to get out, they were here. They were back. He threw his glove off and grabbed the seatbelt with his right hand, decaying it just enough for it to break into two pieces.
"Hey, kid, what're you doing-"
But it was too late. Tenko scrambled to the door, ripping up the seat wherever his right hand touched it. Before Sorahiko could reach him, Tenko had thrown open the door and flung himself directly onto the road.
The hands, nonononono, they're in the road!
There wasn't time, he picked a direction and ran. This had never happened before. Sure he heard whispers from people he couldn't make out, but never something like this. He'd blocked out his family's faces to make the pain easier, but seeing them again. Seeing them die again, vividly seeing them turn to ash before him. He could never block that out.
He tripped over himself, becoming airborne and suspended in his thoughts. He was able to make out to bright lights moving approaching him at breakneck speed.
Join us. You're just like her. Why'd you do it? Do you really hate your dear sister that much?
It would be peace, a crude amalgamation of the concept but, it would be some sort of peace. The two ton death machine barreled towards him and Tenko Shimura accepted his fate.
Sorahiko hit the brakes as hard as he could, shooting a strong current of air out of his feet to force the brake pedal down harder. Before his car screeched to a stop he clicked his seatbelt off and shot out of the car window in one swift motion. His first queue that Tenko was acting strange should've been the gleam in his eye when he told him about Nana. At first, Sorahiko thought it was the glint of hope, but it was a look he'd seen only twice before. Once, when Nana told him she'd have to leave her family to protect them, she had such a grim look of defeat in her eyes, betraying her usual personality. The last time, when young Toshinori was in the hospital, still trying to save people while his body betrayed him. It was heartbreaking watching the realization dawn on him that the Symbol of Peace was burdened with a time limit.
Tenko's grim look wasn't as strong as theirs, but it was much more than any boy his age had any right to bare. But once he leaped out of the car, Sorahiko couldn't move fast enough. Tenko lay airborne, seconds away from getting demolished by an oncoming car. He made the mistake of not wearing his specialized shoes, with holes in the soles. I didn't think I'd do any hero work today, but now it might cost Tenko everything! Dammit! I'm sorry, Nana, I couldn't even keep the kid safe for one damn day! "Hold on, Tenko!" His shoes blew off his feet, with a blast of air so strong it nearly blew out his knees. Sorahiko practically blew holes in his socks.
Yes! Sorahiko grabbed Tenko out of the air, blasting off into the sidewalk next to the road. He was moving so fast, and with the new additional weight, he didn't have time to readjust for the landing. "Hold on, Tenko!" They tumbled onto the concrete. Sorahiko took the brunt of the impact, which didn't help his old physique. The old man celebrated silently and watched as in the street cars began to slow when they saw him discarded and damaged. The pedestrians that were walking where the duo landed either crowded around them or continued on with their days. Sorahiko acted fast, after all. Diffusing any potential public unrest was part of the heroing job.
"Don't worry folks, this little ruffian got past my child lock on the door." He lightly patted Tenko on his head. "Must've been broken or something. Oh ho ho~" Darn, I hate when I have to rely on old people's excuses. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Something was wrong, Tenko was unresponsive, he didn't even flinch when Sorahiko tapped at his head. Once the crowd began to accept Sorahiko's lies, he checked up on Tenko. "You okay, kid? What the- what happened back there? Why'd you jump out into oncoming traffic? You trying to kill yourself, kid?'
Tenko looked up at him, dazed. Then, he started crying. He buried his head into Sorahiko's chest. He swiftly wrapped his arms around the old man, clasping his hands together so as to not potentially hurt him. Needless to say this caught Sorahiko off guard.
"Are you a hero, Mr. Torino?"
"Um-", Sorahiko said, coughing to clear his throat. "Yes, I am. How'd you figure that out?"
"You- you saved me, without even thinking about it." Tenko said, less enthusiastic about his answer. He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't like heroes." His hands shifted, growing restless and itchy. The opinion had stuck in his mind since that boy had found him
"Well, that's an interesting opinion. Does that mean you don't like me?"
Tenko thought of that horrible night when he was abandoned and alone. Well, abandoned yes, but alone for only a few hours. Before he was whisked away to the hospital and was fussed over by a whole legion of nurses and doctors. It was a strange feeling, but he was saved.
"You're different."
"Do you hate your grandmother?"
"I don't know."
"Who don't you like then?"
Tenko thought hard about that. He felt something deep inside himself, that much he could acknowledge. The graphic imagery of his deceased family would haunt him for a long while, but where was his anger truly directed? There was no outlet yet and if he didn't find one soon it would eat him alive.
"Tell you what, kid. I've got someone you might want to meet and who really wants to meet with you. After that, then you can decide if you hate heroes or not."
"Deal."
"Now, can we get out of the middle of the sidewalk? I don't want you or my car to get run over."
That spurred a wry chuckle out of Tenko, which in turn got Sorahiko to smile.
Sorahiko's apartment wasn't much to gawk at. It was actually much worse looking on its exterior than its interior. After their very public debacle earlier that day, it was magic another superhero or a police officer hadn't found and questioned them about the incident. Tenko's nerves had softened, but were still on high alert from the vivid daydream he had.
"You've got your own room, Tenko, which isn't that surprising seeing as you're the only other person in this house but me. I know it's not much, kid, but I hope you'll see it as yours.
His bed was bigger than any he'd had in a home before, which wasn't saying much seeing as how he'd once slept on a bunch of pillows on the floor. He had an old white dresser, with some of the paint flaking off of it and a wooden nightstand. Everything felt somewhat worn and used, but its quality showed nonetheless. Only one thing was out of place, and it stuck out like a sore thumb. A small box wrapped in some Endeavor wrapping paper with a small yellow bow on it.
Tenko glanced behind him. It looked like Sorahiko disappeared somewhere further into the house, leaving Tenko alone. I haven't really gotten a gift in a long time. I wonder what it is. He was cautiously optimistic about the box's contents. He picked at the wrapping paper carefully until a small tear appeared in it, from which he decimated the poor paper. In one fell swoop, all of it came off, revealing an All Might action figure signed in the box.
"Do you like it?"
Tenko whirled around in excitement to look Sorahiko in the eyes. "I love i-"
In a plain white t-shirt, barely able to contain his bulk, stood Japan's number 1 hero. "I hear you hate heroes now? Well, that's no good, because I heard that once upon a time you wanted to be a hero, now didn't you?"
Tenko didn't bother with pretending he wasn't excited, or asking how All Might knew what he wanted before the incident. "Yeah, uh-huh."
"Well, when do you want to start on that dream?"
Destruction be damned. Seeing the embodiment of peace and justice standing before him inspired Tenko Shimura beyond any other thing in his life. His eyes sparkled with childlike joy and it warmed All Might's heart. He clutched the action figure's box in hand and belted out his answer with a conviction he hadn't felt in a long while. Two heroes in one day? Of course, his answer would be what it was, sending him down the spiraling path of justice he would fall down for a long time. This was the defining moment. All Might looked down on him, not with pity or disappointment like he'd seen for such a long time. But with hope, and seeing a dying flame in Tenko that could—and most definitely would—spark into an uproaring flame of peace.
"Right now!"
Somewhere, someplace, while the Number 1 Hero was inspiring the flame of a young destructive child. Another child of the sort had his flame burn so bright and blue that it all but consumed him. So is the equivalent exchange of the world.
Author's Note: Always knew I wanted a Touya cameo in the story and figured in some of Shigaraki's backstory would be fitting. Thanks to my editor for helping with my god awful grammar. Couldn't have done it without your help.