The name Shimura had a complicated past.
It started as the name of a well known and well loved hero, a powerful one at that, but one who abandoned her children when they were young.
Then it became the name of two lost children, who for years went from home to home, but always stuck together.
Then it was the name of an abusive father, a man who hated his son almost as much as he'd hated his mother.
And now it was once again owned solely by a small child, one who no longer wanted anything to do with that name or what it tied him to.
Hisashi and Inko knew this. They saw how Tenko would flinch or cringe when people called him by his last name. They noticed his insistence on being called Tenko, and how he hesitated before adding in his last name during introductions.
They knew what it reminded him of, and they wanted to free him from that past as best they could.
And if the process of that also happened to make him apart of their family officially, well, they weren't about to complain.
It was about a month before Tenko's sixth birthday when they received the small stack of paperwork that they'd need to sign in order to legalize the adoption. Because they were adopting a blood relative, it was referred to as a Relative Adoption and handled a little differently.
Legally, they didn't need Tenko's approval for adoption. He was too young, only teenagers had to be ok with being adopted before it was accepted.
That, however, did not mean that Inko and Hisashi were about to force him into this without considering what he wanted.
They were both fine with this. No, scratch that, they both wanted this. They would always consider Tenko their son, no matter what, but they wanted something to show for it. They wanted to make it real.
But did he?
They thought he probably did. They hoped he did.
But the more they thought, the more doubt crept in.
It reminded Hisashi of the weeks before he proposed. The excitement and fear, the doubt of what the answer might be, the anxiety of whether or not they'd mess something up, and plenty of other thoughts and emotions.
Inko, on the other hand, kept going back and forth over whether or not this was a good idea in the first place. Shimura had been her name, the name of her childhood, the name of her first family. It had been the name of a mother she still believed in, and a brother she couldn't help but think of as the protective boy she'd grown up with. And now it was the only thing truly left of her previous life. She wasn't sure if she wanted it gone.
But she just kept reminding herself of the fact that Shimura wasn't her name anymore. It wasn't the name of her family anymore, her family was Midoriya now. She was Midoriya. Shimura was Tenko's name now, Tenko's family name. And at the end of the day, it would be his decision whether or not that name lived on.
Then, finally, Tenko turned six, and the two of them figured that evening, after the day had settled down, that it was now or never.
Tenko stared up at his parents mix of expressions from the couch. There were two many emotions flashing through their eyes to keep track, but he could see enough to know that this was probably a pretty heavy conversation.
He supposed the fact that they'd sat him down on the couch the night of his birthday and told him they had some news should've made that pretty obvious anyways though.
He couldn't tell whether this was going to be good or bad, but he couldn't help but feel nervous. As far as he knew, conversations like this didn't go super well.
Izuku had already been put to bed, and so far hadn't woken up crying yet. The absence of his constant tiny noises or screams made the house feel quieter then it had been in the ten months since he was born. The three of them sat in the living room, Inko and Tenko on the couch, and Hisashi on the armchair.
Tenko glanced nervously between Hisashi and Inko, who kept glancing between each other, the floor, and Tenko.
Finally, Tenko couldn't take it anymore and broke the silence. "So, what did you guys want to tell me?"
They glanced at each other once more before Hisashi cleared his throat. "What would you think of us adopting you? Officially, and all."
When it came to serious topics or hard truths, Hisashi wasn't one to beat around the bush. He could be serious and stern when the situation called for it, even if he was pretty laid back most of the time. Tenko knew this, he'd been on the receiving end of a less then happy Hisashi more then once.
But that did not change how hard the blunt question hit him.
"What?" The word slipped quietly from a slack jawed mouth.
Inko was quick to jump in, waving her hands in the air with a nervous smile, and speaking so fast Tenko could hardly keep up. "You don't have to, of course. It's completely your choice. And even if you don't we won't get rid of you or anything, you'll live with us no matter what, I swear. The only thing it would really change would be your name. You wouldn't be Shimura anymore, you'd be Midoriya, legally too. We completely understand either way, we just figured we'd give you the option and-."
"Wait," Tenko interjected, his voice quiet and small, but enough to silence Inko. "Your- your serious?"
"Of course, dear," Inko's voice was quieter now, kind, and her smile genuine. "No matter what happens, your ours at heart. Whether we sign a paper or not changes nothing. But we do want you, in every way possible."
"We know you don't like the name Shimura anymore," Hisashi spoke up again, eyes soft. "And it's perfectly understandable why. This will mean no more correcting people. You'd be a Midoriya in and out.
"But it will also make you officially our son."
Tenko couldn't help the breath he sucked in at that. But Hisashi either didn't notice or ignored it.
"At least to everyone else, we won't be your aunt and uncle anymore. We'd be your real parents. Whether or not you want that is up to you."
Tenko swallowed hard. This really was a heavy conversation. But whether it was good or bad was up to him.
Hisashi and Inko. His parents.
Even a year and a half later, Tenko couldn't wrap his brain around the idea.
Theoretically, it made sense. He lived with them, and he already considered Izuku, their son, as his younger brother. And they were right about him not feeling comfortable with his last name anymore. It would make a lot of things easier if he went by Midoriya instead.
But the idea of having new parents. His aunt and uncle as his parents. Inko and Hisashi as his parents.
It was both amazing and terrifying and he didn't know why.
But looking at the two adults in front of him now, the toiling emotions spilling away to reveal the hopeful sparks in their eyes, he could tell they wanted this. They wanted this more then anything. They wanted him.
And there was no way he'd ever sleep again knowing he'd denied them that.
Besides, he couldn't deny that plenty of him wanted this too. He really had no reason to say no, except...
"But the name," his voice was still small and weak, but his eyes traced to Inko. "Your name, Shimura, it'll be gone."
She smiled at him. "Sweetie, it's not my name anymore. Midoriya is my name. And although it's sad that Shimura might fade, all names die eventually. And the name doesn't mean near as much as the person it belongs to."
He felt the tears creep up into his eyes, blurring his vision slightly as he looked down.
He wanted this. They wanted this. It was logical, and it was wonderful. Why would he say no? Why was he hesitating? Why was he scared?
"Well?" Hisashi whispered. He didn't look up to see their expressions, but he could practically feel the nerves radiating off of the, both.
He realized, then, why he was scared.
He didn't want to hurt them.
He'd been living with them for approaching two years now, and he'd never hurt them before. He was gaining control over his quirk, gradually, and he had two-fingered gloves made with his DNA so that he didn't disintegrate them.
But the idea of becoming their kid, of them being his new family, his real family, made it all so much more real.
Because he'd hurt his last family. He'd done more then hurt them, he'd killed them.
How could he be certain he wouldn't make the same mistake again?
What if he hurt them too?
He sat up straighter, unconsciously clenching his hands into fists and ducking them behind his back.
What he didn't know, was that Hisashi noticed the action, and he recognized it as the same thing he had done when Hisashi first found him in the alley. A second later, he felt a hand on his back and looked up again to see Hisashi now seated next to him and smiling the same, reassuring way he had in the alley all those months ago.
"It's ok," came a soft but strong, certain voice. "Your quirk is not your enemy. It's not a curse, it's a tool that you just have to learn to use to your aid. You've learned from the mistakes you've made, and your working to fix them. And your doing amazing. No matter what, you'll do fine."
And that's it. Holding back the tears at this point was lost hope.
So instead of trying, he just let them fall and smiled at them both.
These were the people who had been like his parents his whole life. These were the people who'd loved and cared for him. Who'd accepted him both before and after he'd killed their only family. These were the people who had helped him when no one else dared to.
He hadn't realized it, but these people were already his family. They'd always been his family.
"Yes," he choked out behind hot tears, still grinning. "Yes! Yes, yes, I want you guys!"
It took about three seconds for him to be buried into the chest of a sobbing Inko, with Hisashi gently rubbing his head. Everyone was smiling.
Yes, the name Shimura had a complicated story attached to it.
But Midoriya did not. The only thing attached to Midoriya was love and happiness.
And now Tenko could be apart of that.