Tenshi 3
~0~
Tenshi ripped through the street on her E-bike, careful not to kill any NP-… Pedestrians, remembering what her therapist told her.
'Tenshi, this world is not a single-player game. It's the greatest MMO called Real Life, and everyone is a player, even those you can't see. Even the shop owners, the healers, and the birds. And the name of the game is to not hurt or inconvenience them… much.'
Yeah, she loved her therapist, Miss Vrinda had a way to put things into perspective, and Tenshi was well aware that it was due to her and her rehab team that she was there, on her bike, going to work like any other person. And not in a padded room.
She was not the MC anymore; she became an NPC…
And NPC life wasn't that bad… on Trash Island, anyway. From what she heard, Japan was not dealing well with All Might's retirement and Endeavor's Family secret being shouted for all to hear…
And no, it wasn't Dabi who blew the whole thing open for all to see, but Bakugou.
No idea how it happened, but it did. And now the press was ripping Endeavor apart, and the Commission was completely useless in protecting him. Since apparently Mister Compress had made good on his promise and, unlike the rest of the League, had decided to keep his family tradition alive and steal something that would make his mum proud.
And thus, he stole files, documents, and data bad enough to make the main pillar of this sick society crumble.
And crumble it did… and the master thief had also made sure the underworld would not just go balls to the wall with their destruction.
He knew Giran, and Giran and he were two parts of a whole. The broker owed Plenty to the magician. And thus his lost arm got replaced, not by a bulky prosthetic, but by Overhaul's own.
He would let the vengeful artist go down in history, Tomu… Tenshi had enough actions to last her five rogue lives, thank you very much.
Anyway, let those living off of Trash Island have their dangerous life. Tenshi found her path to be the boring one, the one of working and living her life… even if her life didn't feel like much.
Well, she had Izuku now… this… this was a good reason to live, even if she really should give him back to the heroes.
Or not, they had fucked him over enough, and it was Tenshi and Magne's turn to unfuck him.
And all the resources she had gained after…
Tenshi crushed her bike's brake as she felt that time was threatening to overwhelm her.
She could almost smell his overly expensive cologne and-
She quickly got off her bike as she stumbled on the side of the bike path, curling on herself with her face buried in her knees as her heart skyrocketed.
She hated this… He'd done her dirty… He broke her out of Sensei's grasp but he took many things Tenshi would never be able to regain.
She could…
No…
No…
Breath In… breath out… In four, out eight… keep breathing, but put it in a box then have your breakdown later when in a safe place and with a safe person…
Shit… she had to go to work; she had already shirked two days off because of finding her Hero brat; she couldn't afford to lose more!
Of course, this made her panic get worse, since she had not yet hit the one-year mark on her rehab, and if she lost her job because she didn't show up, then they would look into it, then they would find Izuku and they would think Tenshi's a kidnapper and won't believe her or Magne and-
"Shi… en… C… come on… Tenshi, you… Need to come back, there you go, that's my girl…." The smiling, sharkish grin of her boss met her.
~0~
"I see." Mister Samehada said as he handed Tenshi another water bottle and some of his breakfast, an opulent Obento prepared by his wife. "When I sent you home for a few mental days off, I didn't expect you to… well, gain a boyfriend." The shark-like man spoke drolly.
Tenshi rolled her eyes. "I just called him my boyfriend to the other guys so they would leave him alone. Not that Zuku would even want to have anything romantic to do with me." She groused, still feeling filthy and gross.
She had been used by so many men, Izuku deserved better yet…
And yet her Green dream boat was here, in her home, unable to run…
Maybe it was toxic, but at the same time, in her mind, she made the excuse that, since her life had been the world's greatest shitshow, she deserved something nice and sweet.
Besides, if things didn't work out, she could still have Dabi give Izuku to Eraserhead.
No matter how much Tenshi wanted to be Izuku's one and only, she also had no desire to keep him locked up, unable to escape.
She didn't want to manipulate him… she didn't want to guilt trip him either.
… but she may sometimes guilt trip Izuku for some… practical reasons.
But she won't force him into a relationship; this was her hard limit.
"But… that's what you want, don't you?" Samehada asked meaningfully.
"Yeah… and I also wanted to kill All Might, and I wanted to please my Master… and I wanted to topple the Hero culture and now look where I am. Working a nine-to-five job at the biggest Eco Plant in the whole country… dusting Garbage." Tenshi sighed.
She… sorta hoped she could somehow get a better job as a YouTuber or a Twitch streamer, but with how… popular she got after Gold-bomb's kidnapping…
Yeah, no. She was gonna stick to the anonymous work as a blue-collar until things would blow over and then some. Besides, Mister Samehada had the power to pardon villains as long as they stop being assholes and accept the help given.
She once again looked at her boss. To be honest, she probably didn't need to work, since the guy was filthy (he-he) rich. The Samehada Family actually owned the artificial island they were on, it was like I-Island (Idea island, what a stupid name.) but instead of being unable to leave, they could, as long as they didn't have a criminal past… an unpardoned one had to remain on the island.
Not that it was a bad thing, mind you. Since everything was provided.
They had electricity, they could communicate with the outside world (restricted and watched, but since most were retired villains, it was still more than what they deserved.), and they had fresh water, like the freshest water out there. And they had more than decent housing. Ranging from simple studios to bachelors up to condos. Not any houses, though, since the place wasn't unlimited.
They also had parks, a pool, a small mall, and a farmers market. The Mall was just a way there for the brands they could not get here—and new clothing. But the rest was made and produced on the island.
There was also a pretty murdery way to deal with those poor assholes thinking they could turn this… pretty alright prison into their kingdom of Evil.
She'd met them… their mere presence was enough to have Tenshi reevaluate her plan.
Best decision ever.
So yeah, the place was all right. And Tenshi felt safe here.
And she knew Izuku would be safe here, too, since he fit the criteria for those who deserved to be there… other than a criminal past and the desire to get away from it.
He had been discarded… quite literally.
There was a reason why it was called Trash Island… for one mans' trash was Samehada's treasure.
Samehada patted her shoulder. "Welcome to the world of adults, where dreams die, and bills must be paid… on the main island."
Tenshi smirked as she finished her breakfast. Yeah… she got really lucky there, and not in tartarus, or worst, oh no.
This was a real windfall. And one that would not blow up in her face…
"So, I suppose I'll have to file for Izuku's residency. I hope he'll be able to make some friends here also." The shark-like man spoke lightly, but the warning was as loud and clear as a curved fin in the waves.
"Oh, no problem about that." Tenshi said lightly. "I may want to keep him all by myself, but I know he's a lonely kid by nature, grew up quirkless and all that." This made Samehada-san hissed in pain.
"I'll hasten his naturalization; Japan doesn't deserve him." the shark man spoke darkly.
"Sweet, and he's with Magne right now. She's gonna take care of him until I'm back from work." Tenshi explained as she finished the last of her breakfast.
She would usually take it at the cantina, a Normy run cantina.
She may not have been there to support Izuku when it mattered, but she now had a way to give back, one homemade bagel at a time.
…
'Actually, I need to eat more. Like, I have another party to take care of. Can't low-key let myself starve now… Yikes, guess I'll have to bleed this particular part of my heart to my shrink then, joy.
Anyway, it was neither here nor there.
"She told me she wants to ask some of her Reiki friends to send good juju to Zuzu. And she want to make him take a physical evaluation."
The Shark quirk man hummed. "Yes… but wouldn't you rather have a professional's opinion?"
"Only if Magne feels it out of her league," Tenshi spoke as she wiped her mouth. "Will still bring Izu to the doc, though. Can't take any chances…" then she realized that this should've been the first thing she should've done…
"Actually… I think Magne already had him checked over by Kalamari-san."
"I see." Samehada nodded, his face softening.
Kalamari was a Quirked squid with human intelligence and a diagnostic quirk.. Or something like that.
Apparently, whatever had caused humans to gain quirks had also messed up the marine ecosystem. From what she understood from the illegal doctor (couldn't be one if you were not human at the start, apparently.) Izuku was Almost starving and had almost drowned but hadn't.
In his own words, he had been damn lucky to be alive. And beyond some old scars and wounds that would eventually have to be addressed, Izuku was healthy…
If you didn't count the major muscle degeneration and his aforementioned lack of limbs.
"What I'm fucking worried about, though is his mind," she revealed it to her boss. "I mean, his mental stats were clearly his dump stats… wait not. He got stupidly bullied at School, and shit, he's not at fault." She caught herself before she used the impersonal game Lingo.
Her therapist told her it was fine to use, but not in all situations.
Fair point, life wasn't a game. And if it was a game, it was not meant to be won since all it had was a Game Over.
…
'Come on, Tenshi, think of something Positive. Izuku looking at you with love… o-or just Izuku being Izuku, Corgis… Izuku being zerg rushed by a herd of Welsh corgis… yes… Happy thoughts, just good vibes.' She thought before another issue reared it's ugly head.
"So… am I fired? I'm late again." She asked, bracing for the impact.
"No." Samehada san spoke plainly. "You, out of everyone working for me, do not need to come in every day." He explained. " I asked you to, since I knew about your background, and I wanted to see whether or not you could be rehabilitated to function in society… My society."He clarified, that there was no hiding that he hated what Japan had become, the Trash Island had no Hero, there was a police force made of disgruntled Vigilantes, but no true heroes looking for fancy suit and fame.
Only those who were there to get the job done and keep people safe… some were in it for the money too, but also to save people…
'Heroes are humans; they can't be posted at every street corner and be expected to appear to save our collective asses magically.' Tenshi reminded herself, that she may not like All Might, and this was very valid. Not everyone liked the blond-haired, overly-inflated Hero. And this was fine; she was entitled to her opinion, and others had the right not to like nor accept her opinion. But the man was still plenty Heroic… as long as you don't count his interpersonal skills, that is.
and his teaching skills... and his fluctuating level of intelligence.
But… he was still human, and, unlike Superman, had normal hearing range, and this being real life, the ever-smiling hero (Creepy shit, right here.) … He wasn't God… He wasn't those Heros from those old Comic books that would always appear at the nick of time to save the day; he wasn't a Powerpuff Girl.
No…
He was a man… a normal human who had good and bad days. A human who would fail, a human who would have looked at the mess a villain had left post-arrest and take it all in… all the yellow tarps covering the dead bodies, and the numerous ambulances coming back and forth from the overburdened hospital and think…
Why? Where did I go wrong?
He was human, under the gaudy outfit and the creepy smile. And as a human, he would let things slip through his grasp.
Just like Tenko back then. And Izuku.
And it was… it was fine.
Tenshi hadn't known he was human; she hadn't known back then… Shigaraki had picked him off the street with less than pure intentions. She didn't know back then that he would use her love of heroes and her broken hope to turn her into a hate machine, a hate zombie.
But now she knew, and with this knowledge came the power to make her own decisions with her better knowledge base.
All Might was, at the end of the day, a fallible human society elevated to false Godhood, and with his retirement, the world now realized this truth and vilified the man for having lied to them…
Not that All Might had been the one lying. He'd always admitted in his interviews - the true, candid ones that; at the end of the day, he was but a mere man doing the job of a thousand.
She should've known this was a cry for help; only Twice could pull a pro-gamer move like that.
'Speaking of pro gamer move.' Tenshi thought as she sent her lorekeeper the green flag, texting Magne to bring Izuku to them.
'I know your lore… and you did everything to unlock mine…' Tenshi let out a sigh.
She wished she was a stronger woman, unfortunately…
Her past was not something she could face ever again.
~0~
For Izuku, this was like a drug. The act of being in another location, in another place other than the hospital or his mom's flat.
And boy howdy, Magne's flat was… pure serotonin.
Everything was peach and pink and filled with shelves and curios and other bits and bobbles to feed his starving eyes with.
Sure, he was a fan (number one fan, tragically.) of All Might, but…
After the endless days of looking at his prized possession; he grew unlimitedly sick of it. So, to see a bunch of porcelain pierrots in different poses and other knick-knacks from other places in the world was a true breath of fresh air…
But maybe that was because Kanna (Magne's civilian name) had cracked open a window to let some fresh air in. and despite this place being called Trash Island, the wind was fresh and smelled of iodine.
It was so refreshing.
Nevertheless, Izuku was drinking through his eyes all the sight he could, even going as far as to wriggle a bit to see things closer to Kanna's great pleasure.
Unlike his ever-fretting mother, Miss Kanna wanted Izuku to move, wriggle and crawl around. To regain whatever little movement he could despite his horrible injuries.
And to Izuku… it meant the world.
He was taking a break from investigating his new environment while Magne prepared his breakfast. And Izuku wondered what food he would eat…
Hopeful no more Kaju, he wasn't sick, and he was starved for flavour.
M… Inko never liked flavours, telling Izuku it was how they rewrote brain matter…
…
He… wanted to talk to someone; he felt his heart too… full.
He could never talk to Kacchan about it since he didn't care enough. But Aunt Mitsuki would listen and would help Izuku navigate his mom's… eccentricity.
Aunty was nice… except when she was in her red days. Those days, she was more likely to hit, but she would always apologize and talk about it.
Then Izuku's mom… got in a fight with Mitsuki. At first, Izuku thought it was because Kacchan had burned him again… instead she accused her now ex-best friend that she was brainwashing her baby boy to join the quirkless Illuminatis in Brazil.
The reason Izuku still hung around Kacchan was in the hope he could see his Aunty again…
At least he had All Might… well, Tenshi through All Might.
He didn't know if he could trust Magne, though; she was an unknown, and his first impression of her had been… well.
Yeah…
So yeah, Izuku preferred talking to inanimate objects because inanimate objects were less likely to spill all of your secrets online, and they would not talk back to you unless you gave them a voice.
Looking around the numerous figurines, and statues, Izuku found one that screamed mercy and understanding. And he didn't look too old either.
He was… around Izuku's current height. His whole body was round, with no muscle definition or scars. He looked delightfully plump and well-fed.
The figure playfully stood on his lotus-covered stand, his left leg straight and his right bent over it in the cheekiest way imaginable. His thin yet plush waist was also elegantly bent, his deep navel begging to be poked and… perhaps have a raspberry blown in its fold?
He wore no shirt, but an ornate shawl fluttered about from the perch of his broad shoulder.
His chest was broad and inviting, and his long arms were delicate yet strong, looking perfect for giving hugs.
He had a smirk on his round face… he looked to be right around Izuku's age. His cheeks were delightfully full, like his lips, curly long hair, smile, wide, petal-like eyes and…
"You're beautiful," Izuku whispered at the handsome boy blazing on his flute without any care. It was clearly from an era long gone by when a teen could still be that, a teen. Free from the sorrow of this world, living his life carefree under his parent's careful glance yet given the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted.
Free reign to live his best age!
Not to learn how to hurt, how to hunt…
How to be a… Hero…
Just enjoying his life.
Hell, he even had a peacock feather stuck in his crown-piece thingy.
Izuku could easily fool himself into thinking that this flutist was looking right at him with a kind smile, perhaps?
Oh… no, it was pity… it had to be pity.
"What's more pitiful than a limbless, quirkless Deku?" He asked the boy. "Like. ..I can't go to the bathroom alone, I can't feed myself… it would've been better if Eri-chan would've rewound me out of existence," he admitted.
He had lived in pain for so long… he could not remember a time when his skin had been freed of burns and cuts.
"But… I guess… I guess the universe still wants me to live, huh? Even if I'm just… this, you know."
"..."
"I… I thought mom loved me." Izuku choked out. "She… she threw me off a bridge… she tried to kill me… she tried to kill me again." He snivelled as he managed to turn himself over, rubbing his snot-filled nose on the blanket Kanna had provided him, claiming the ground to be too hard for the precious boi.
Whatever.
"Mom… She wasn't that bad at first… not when I was growing up. Sure, she would mumble and spend hours writing in her notebook but… She never did anything against me, and Auntie Mitsuki …" Izuku's voice falters. "She's the one who raised me… she's the one who would call Mom to remind her to feed me…" He sniffled. "She was… so kind to me… I think it made Kacchan jealous. I'm quirkless useless, and Auntie doted on me despite me being weak and useless. And Kacchan … Kacchan, he has this super strong quirk. Super loud and 'perfect for heroics.'" Izuku mocked the sound of all his teachers. "I don't know what Aldera wanted to do with him, with all that empty praise and all. Kacchan's quirk should be seen as villainous hell. He used it like a Villain!" he vented, long-forgotten bitterness rising up again. "His quirk is all about destruction and pain… he even acted like a villain, but he was always praised as if he was already on his way to take over All Might's title!" Izuku sobbed. "I… I tried seeing it, I tried seeing the good in him… He… He didn't get better, He didn't… I'm so tired, you know, of trying to make him look good, to try to help him…"
"Ha… I… I'm such an ass… Kacchan… Kacchan let me… he protected me, made sure nobody else but him could hurt me… he never broke a bone, you know? He held back…"
Izuku bit back a sob.
"I… I hate him… I hate him so, so much." He admitted, tired of lying to himself.
He knew what Katsuki was doing was wrong; he knew attacking him was stupidly illegal since there was a Quirkless protection act going on.
Also, quirkless individuals were good at hiding, and it wasn't like their feet were that much different from others so no, none of them were wearing a star of David, walking the streets of their Ghettos.
But… Izuku also knew the consequences of taking a stance against Katsuki, he knew that pain all too well.
There was this one kid…
Past tense.
"I… Don't know why he's even at school… no, wait. I know! This happened when we were still kids and-and he could not be held accountable." Izuku spat bitterly.
Then… he calmed himself down, knowing that to get mad over this would only make his current situation worse. Besides, there was nothing Izuku could do for Kacchan anymore.
He didn't know who would be the next target for Katsuki's uncontrollable anger, he only knew it would not be him.
Not physically, at least.
"He's… young. And I'm sure once… once an actual… Once someone snitches on him, Auntie won't let him go easy… I'm just… I'm just so sorry I ruined his life; Kacchan deserves so much better.
Like mum… she had to take care of me, you know? A Useless Deku… now limbless, friendless… a dead weight."
He had no limbs at all; whatever autonomy he once had was now well and truly gone.
"I know… I know mom's mental… like… She wasn't that bad when I was younger…and… a bit too much into conspiracy theories of her facebook mom group but, I mean, she still loved me, still packed my lunch and… she always made sure I knew there was at least one person in the world that loved me." Izuku choked at the end of his sentence.
"She's the only one that could love me because I was her son, and mothers act like that… that's what she told me…" his tears started again. "And that's what she told me… she told me when she threw me over the edge, she told me she… she figured out I wasn't her Son, I wasn't Izuku because Izuku's quirkless and everyone knows you can't develop a quirk… a quirk as a teen, and that her Izuku… Her Izuku would always listen to her and never want to stay away from her, ever… It was so creepy, friend. It was like… it was like this person took away Mama and replaced her, like a body snatcher." He sobbed.
"And now… now I'm alive… I'm still alive." He sniffled. "I don't know why? I don't have any limbs yet, I can't move… and I'm still… and I can't even hate this!"
"There's someone else who… who cares about me… someone who listens to me and… who really listens to me, not just to shove her viewpoints but because she is interested in what I was saying." Izuku let out a bit of hysterical laughter. "It's Tomura… Tomura Shigaraki …. Ah, you know. He… She's apparently a girl and yah, she sure does look and smell like one."
Yes, girls have a certain smell. Izuku had no idea how to explain it, he just knew that women smelled like women and guys smelled like guys and that both had a different type of stink when sweaty and out of deodorant.
Izku preferred the girl stink, it truly was a good stink… especially when.
'Yesh, no, Izuku don't go there, you have no way of readjusting.' the quadraplegic chided himself.
Still, he had just met him… her three times and those three times had been the most terrifying time in his life.
"I mean… If I were to die, then One For All would be lost forever a-and…" He trailed off, then began to mumble.
"Right… I don't have it anymore, just some embers left. I wonder who All Might will choose, God, I hope it won't be Bakugou. Sure, he's an ass and made my life miserable but… death by singularity's the one thing he doesn't deserve. Hell, I'm sure he would blow up half of the Archipelago." Izuku shuddered. "Ok, bad thought … I don't know who he'd give it to. I mean, a quirkless person with all the muscles needed to survive that Quirk's not really running the streets, you know?" he gave a sardonic smile. "Ha… I honestly thought I would be the very last wielder… at least I know where I'll end up when I die." He gave a watery chuckle.
"Do you think… Do you think I will have my legs back when I get there?"
It would be… a bit harder than expected, but… Izuku could always learn how to crawl and chew through wires.
It would be a quick death, and everything would stop…
And, perhaps…
Perhaps in his next life, he would not only have his limbs back, but he would have a quirk also.
"Kacchan… Kacchan was right… I can't really take a swan dive off a roof anymore, I just stumble down but… 'm sure I could find a way…"
Kacchan would win…
Izuku gritted his teeth, his brows knitted like that of a fierce deity.
"No…" The young quadraplegic hissed as he shook his head. "No… No, I won't give up. I won't be another number, I won't be another statistic!" he spoke louder, his inner strength shining through.
"I spent the last eleven years of my life surviving the odds, returning to that Goddamn school over and over again because mom gaslighted me into thinking this was how it would normally go! But I didn't fall, I didn't commit, I kept going despite the burns, despite the broken bones, despite mom being a mental case with attachment issues!" He hissed as the truth burnt his tongue.
"I survived Kacchan's gauntlet. And I survived the beating he gave me when we came back home. I survived the USJ, I survived Aizawa and All Might's Shit teaching methods, I survived the USJ, All Might, again. Muscular, Sir Nighteye and I defeated Overhaul and still kept going! I'm not gonna give up, Deku may be useless, but he's not a quitter!"
His pep talk talk was uninterrupted by a muffled sob and a single set of applause.
Twisting his body around, Izuku could not help his consternation as he saw Kanna, her cheeks stained with running mascara, clapping at Izuku. Beaming with pride.
Izuku… was stunned… nobody had looked at him with this much pride.
Well, there was All Might when he'd trained him. And Gran Torino… maybe.
And Present Mic sensei but…
Not at the same level as Kanna…
"I… I'm sorry, sprout… I'm sorry I overheard and… oh my God!" She exclaimed as she fell to her knees and gathered the quadraplegic in her arms, rocking him back and forth and she practically bathed him in her tears.
"I… I…" She sobbed. "I'm so proud of you… so, fucking proud of you." She sobbed in his hair as she firmly embraced him…
Those words… those three blessed words, words he had longed to hear, words he had heard others received for seemingly no reasons while he had to fight to remain relevant and alive…
Those words… All Might had told him once, once he had been worthy of One For All…
And then never again.
Words no Teacher had told him, except for Yamada, but it was mostly as 'Awesome job, listener.'
But the way Magne said it, with tears in her eyes and voice so choked, she could barely speak.
The dam broke, and Izuku finally let all of his pain flood the apartment.
"Tenshi's… Lorekeeper?" Izuku aske from the confine of his pram.
An ancient thing made of wicker and off roader suspension, a smooth ride in style that, wile it had mortified Izuku at first, the Paraplegic bit back his pride and instead chose to appreciate the amount of time miss Kanna had spent in her spacious storage locker for it, and her broken nails (two, poor nails).
She got the old thing for Izuku, then had spent some more time cleaning and decorating the baby stroller into something… classier?
Well, it was still a baby stroller, but it had been prepared with love by an ex-villain who knew close to nothing about him, except that he'd once been on All For One's shit list and that Tenshi had a raging crush on him.
…
Perhaps Kanna knew more about Izuku than even Izuku himself, but somehow, the greenette wasn't freaked out by it.
How could he, when the two women had been nothing but gentle and caring while doing their best not to be overbearing?
And Tenshi… Izuku could not rightfully Hate her for stalking him. Sure, at first, it had been less than wholesome. But in the end…
In the End, it had been the only way for her to experience positive human interaction.
Izuku… could easily relate.
Isolation and loneliness were two of the most potent poisons both had to drink.
Nevertheless, Izuku was not alone now; he had two people behind him. Perhaps he was too quick to trust them, but not trusting was exhausting… and besides, it wasn't like he could run now.
So trust it was.
And so far, Izuku hasn't regretted it. His belly was full of delicious food, dressed as nicely as Kanna could, and was going to get fresh air after a month stuck in a hospital room and his own room.
The trip down the elevator and to the lobby happened more or less in silence. Obviously, Kanna was well known in the community and would sometimes chat with people she met on the way there, most asked about Izuku, but it only took the tall woman to tell them 'he was thrown like garbage over the rainbow bridge.' All the tenants had this moment of clarity and a meaningful nod before Welcoming Izuku into their community.
It was rather sweet, and no one asked questions, nor did anyone look down on Izuku with pity, only sympathy and some respect.
Izuku was a Hero. To them, at least.
Eventually, they reached the bottom floor, the janitor there was a yellow tentacle Alien with a perfectly spherical smiley face head.
He (he was a He, no need for a neo-pronoun.) waved at Izuku with his three-fingered appendage. Kanna whispered to him that Koro-san was also a teacher, a physical therapist, the concierge, janitor, and sport massage therapist of Trash Island, and that his quirk was Mach-10.
This caused Izuku to speculate on how he'd not heard any sonic boom, speculating that Koro-san's quirk was anti-friction, coming up with literally over a thousand different applications for heroics and rescue.
He was so absorbed he almost didn't notice when Magne pushed him out of the lobby and into the sun.
Thankfully, the sun was a tsundere for Izuku and made sure to remind her 'beloved' that she existed.
And by God, Izuku missed its caress. He missed the salty breeze, the sound of gulls in the distance, and of roasted veggies.
For the first time since the whole Overhaul debacle, Izuku felt truly alive!
He didn't have to prove to those around him that he still deserved their love, that he was not useless.
(there was still this nasty voice in the back of his head whispering how Tenshi and Kanna would eventually grow bored of him and throw him away as his mom and family did once he lost his limbs and Quirk.)
'I better enjoy it before that happens… let me feel happy for a bit; let me fool myself again…'
"So,. where are we going?" Izuku asked as he fought against the very real urge to swivel his head all around to catch all the sights he could.
This was Trash Island, the place where the discarded would live a happy life.
It was not perfect, but it was better.
Shame his mother never wanted to let him go.
"We're going to visit Tenshi's Lore Keeper. You remember Dabi, right? Blue flames?"
"Oh yeah, from the summer camp, right?"
"That's the one."
"Huh… it'll be weird to see him up close." Izuku said as he caught sight of people using their quirks freely, helping each other while others had weapons on their hips, ranging from blades to guns, all having a knot of peace on it.
They could break said knots, but, as Kanna and Tenshi had explained, if they didn't have a damn good reason, the drawing of their weapon would be treated the same as using a quirk with intent of harm and would receive the same punishment. Harsh? Yes.
Effective?
Very.
"Oh, you have no idea, bushy."
—-
Eventually, after taking the public transit, (Yes, the island had a public transit, and while Izuku had better, he couldn't really complain either) Izuku and Kana reached a type of food market filled with stalls of many kinds. Some were selling home grown vegetables and beans. Potatoes where aplenty, children were running around the place without any care of the world and quirks were in full display under the eyes of the arbiters, the name given to the nameless group making sure nobody ever went overboard with their gift and harmed someone.
Izuku wished there had been someone like that in Musutafu. But, Musutafu was huge and most people there were civilians without any desire to get their hands mildly dirty over someone like him, let alone risking to be labeled Vigilantes.
"It's so nice here." Izuku commented. "There is no trouble at all… are you sure there are quirkless here?" He asked Kanna.
"Yes, Izu-chan. Plenty of quirkless families have started here, so it's not that rare to see a whole family of them, the oldest has two whole generations, maybe a third but nobody is too sure about that one."
Izuku hummed as he took everything in.
After all of those months locked away in either the hospital or his room, unable to see the outside world, this truly was a breath of fresh air.
Literally.
"So… where's Tenshi's Lore keeper?"
"Right there." Kana said as she pointed to the maid theme Dairy Queen.
There, he could see a white haired beauty gently dancing to whatever track played in the ice cream parlor. She was dressed as a french maid, in black and white.
Immediately, Izuku's mind drifted to how Tenchi would look in one… then had to remind himself that he had no way to Quell The beast, short of a strategically placed pillow.
Still, the Maid was rather pretty with her purple sleeves and short white hair.
Izuku kept staring as Kanna picked him up, remaining curiously silent as she entered the Dairy Queen.
At the sound of the bell, the maid turned around… making Izuku question everything he knew.
These were not purple sleeves, those were scar tissues.
And this was not a mere Maid serving at an ice cream parlor, but Dabi.
*click.*
"Wha-"
Dabi chuckled evilly as he gestured at the conveniently placed camera behind the counter. "Man, out of all the reactions since I started this gig, you're the best, greeny." he rasped (his voice didn't sound as bad as the first time he'd heard him), his lopsided smile was manic but… not quite insane.
It was hard to explain.
"Hello, Dabi-dear. I hope you have time for us?" Kanna asked as she wheeled izuku further in. "I'm sorry about the short notice too."
Dabi grunted as he walked out from behind the counter, exposing his ripped fishnet stocking and mile-high platform shoes. "So… who wants to know about our dearest angel? Meals on wheels over here?" he asked as he peered in Izuku's stroller.
He was intimidating during the whole summer camp fiasco.
He was… worse now that Izuku was once again defenseless.
"... Do I know you?" Dabi asked as he peered at Izuku closer.
"Dabi, it's All Might… was All Might's apprentice, and the last Holder of One for All. You know, Midoriya Izuku?"
"..."
"Tenshi's stalker-crush."
"Oh, that guy!" Dabi exclaimed as he pitched himself back into one of the stalls. "Wait… what the fuck happened to… the rest of you?"
"... do you want to… you know, what, I'll give you the long story since I can't condense it as a funny one liner." Izuku deadpanned.
God, he missed Mina, she was such a hoot, and Denki too.
He missed them, his mom…
Of course his mom didn't want them in the same room as he crippled son, too dangerous.
"Ok, whatever you are thinking about… you need to bring it up to your future shrink."
"Don't worry, I will."
"Good!" Dabi said as he clapped his hands together. "Now… Do you know who I am to your girlfriend?"
Izuku blushed at the mention of 'Girlfriend'. A part of him wanted to vehemently deny any sorts of romantic feelings for Tenshi, since they used to be on opposite sides, but at the same time…
At the same time, He had no idea how long he would live in his condition, and thus didn't say anything.
"Um… His… His second in command? I don't know much about the structure of the League of Villains, but I can surmise that, with your firepower and hatred for heroes, She… That You would be put at a high rank… unless Magne is the second, but I don't think sanity was a criterion for Shigaraki."
"Got it in one, not that it was something hard to figure out." Dabi drawled. "But recently… Tenshi went through one hell of a Trauma, Capital T, also. And she's still uncomfortable broaching the subject." Dabi explained with a surprising amount of gravitas. " But since we're still considered criminals for like, 99% of the world, she may have to, you know, sing her sad song of pain."
"So, that's where you come in." Izuku said. "It makes sense, sadly. You worked with All For One. Gleefully, even. And I don't think anyone would take Tenshi seriously otherwise."
"But they would believe you? I mean... wouldn't;t kana be a better alternative?" Izuku asked with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Dabi shrugged. "Never lied once in my life, and I'm legally Tenshi's Lore keeper."
Kana picked up the slack. "Basically, Dabi here is Tenshi's legal representative. He had been sworn under oath to reveal everything Tenshi did from the moment she was warped away, to the moment of her arrest. And since Tenshi's… re-emergence was a traumatic one…"
"Baby sis can't testify what happened to her to a court of law, since the mere memory of it is Fucking traumatizing." the burnt queen said as he crossed his arms. "I got desensitized but… if i can help it, I won't go into those gritty details."
"She was raped… wasn't she." Izuku suddenly said, his voice quiet.
Dabi''s eyes went wide. "How did…?"
"Just how she acted. I know she's… you know, into me. But she shied away from it. And sometimes, she had this… look, you know."
Dabi stared owlishly at the quadraplegic. "Fuck, dude. When Tenshi told me you rolled a nat 20 in perception, I thought she was joking with us."
Izuku blushed. "It… it's… I'm not that good, I'm not that perceptive." And how.
"Whatever. But yeah, she was raped by the president of FeelGood, Inc. He tried breeding her, she has like this crazy powerful quirk, you know."
It was now Izuku's turn to stare at Dabi owlishly. "Wait… FeelGood… isn't that support item company commissioned by all the hospitals for… well, life-changing support items for less than ideal quirks and all prosthetics?"
"The one and only." Dabi confirmed as he threw himself back in a booth, putting his feet on the table.
Fearless.
"Turns out the president, Rikiya Yotsubashi, was the leader of this universally feared terrorist group called the Meta Liberation Army; his dad was somehow the founder."
"But… that's not possible, the whole Meta Liberation War happened at the Dawn of Quirks."
"Don't I know it?" Dabi retorted. " Listen, the guy's dead; Hawks killed him when he saved Tenshi… but I'm getting ahead of myself." Dabi said as he once again climbed up on his platforms and closed his (?) store.
Izuku swallowed, knowing that he would hear of Tomura's death and Tenshi's revival… and worst yet.
—-