After he had his meeting with Nezu Izuku went around telling his friends about his final choice and was on the receiving end of a lot of hugs and congratulations, he got a bit of ribbing by some of his students but deep down Izuku was glad no one seemed to be upset over his choice.
That being said there was one person Izuku was worried about telling, well two but only one of them would have a very outspoken reaction to it.
Tenko and he had become very close after he tested Tenko's quirk, Tenko had taken to playing with his hair in earnest and would sometimes get lost in feeling Izuku's face with both hands confident he wouldn't fall apart under Tenko's touch.
And admittedly Tenko wasn't just any student to him at this point, no spending time with the man felt more like two friends hanging out than the tutoring sessions it started out as, and Tenko was incredibly determined to complete all of the goals Izuku for him, puffing up in pride with each accomplishment.
His attempts to slowly de-brainwash Tenko had been working too and he had made some progress in getting Tenko to empathize with a lower ranked hero being unfairly bashed in the media for not being everywhere at once, something that would've been considered a pipe dream before.
However that did not mean Izuku expected Tenko to take the news of him working at U.A. well, he wouldn't try to kill Izuku outright but if Izuku didn't find the right way to put it Tenko would take it as a betrayal at best and 'ban' him at worst.
So Izuku had done his best to research different character focused games with the characters on different sides hoping to find some way to appeal to Tenko's better judgement and keep from destroying all of his work to gain the man's trust.
By the time his next session with Tenko came around Izuku still felt woefully unprepared for it, the bar was quite welcoming in its shotty and downtrodden charm after all the times Izuku had come to visit.
Tenko, as Izuku had come to expect was eagerly awaiting him, his hand-held game set aside and there were even some papers in hand, likely the homework that he had assigned Tenko during their previous session.
"Well someone's eager." Izuku joked and Tenko smirked back.
"I finished my map of the Island, Deku." Tenko declared offering the pages to Izuku and upon looking at it Izuku saw it was a well drawn and very detailed one at that.
Since Tenko had been able to wear gloves to stop his quirk he had taken a greater interest in things he couldn't do before, and drawing was something he had picked up quickly and Tenko had a talent for it, something that made Izuku's heart twinged knowing that a part of Tenko's life could've been fully stolen from him if Izuku hadn't come along.
"This is amazing Tenko, and you even put in the work to write out the details of each area and their benefits." Izuku praised causing Tenko to straighten up clearly pleased with himself.
Izuku gave a glance at Kurogiri and the man made a tiny portal above Izuku's hands and a small box landed in them a second later "And for completing the first in depth map from another world, you'll receive this bobble." Izuku told him.
Tenko blinked "Oh, right... the bobble." Tenko muttered as he took the box, apparently looking forward to Izuku's reaction more than the prize he was promised.
Inside the box was a small black figurine of a satellite, Izuku had written C.O.M.E.T. on it in yellow glow paint and he'd had a student help him make it float to places on command "Comet to orbit." Izuku said and the little toy floated out of Tenko's hand and started bobbing in the air around him, much to Tenko's delight.
Tenko got up and moved around the room to see how far the little satellite would follow him only smiling even wider when it puttered after him with a soft beep-beep-beep, his amazement with the little toy was almost childlike.
"I left a list of orders it'll follow in the box Tomura." Izuku commented and Tenko almost jumped back over and took out the little paper then turned to the satellite.
"Comet move to next celestial body." Tenko ordered and the toy moved to circle Izuku instead and Tenko repeated the command so the toy instead bobbed around Kurogiri and admittedly it looked much more natural given Kurogiri's body looked more space-y. And Tenko immediately took a picture of it sniggering to himself over it.
Izuku smiled at the man "I'm glad you like it." he said and Tenko scoffed.
"It's your loot, I'd like it if it couldn't do any of this stuff either, you always find the coolest loot." Tenko replied playfully elbowing Izuku.
Izuku ducked his head and clenched his hands.
Later when Tenko was high-lighting grammar errors in a lore book for a game Izuku managed to scrap up the courage to try his plan "Tomura, there's something I've be meaning to ask you." Izuku mentioned and Tenko turned back to him with an absentminded hum.
"You've said you wanted me to be a part of your party for a while and I've told you, you haven't earned enough relationship points between us yet." Izuku said and almost instantly Tenko's head shot up and his full attention was on Izuku.
"Well, you gained enough points to recruit me, but as a chaotic good there is something about your faction that has me weary of joining your group officially." Izuku told Tenko, whose eyes only got wider with every word.
"What is it?" Tenko asked after a second clearly trying to pick his words carefully so that he wouldn't 'fail' the recruitment interaction.
"You've told me about your factions goals and I agree that they are very sound, modern professional heroics has turned into a political minefield and overly cut-throat competition that glorifies the worst parts of the industry, and that the quirkist rederick it pushes hurts everyone." Izuku confessed.
"But from what you've told me your Sensei only seems to have plans to destroy the system which is where I start to grow concerned, because I don't know what your end goal is. Most games have an end, one where your choices affect the ending you get, and in the really good ones the story doesn't end when you kill the big bad but with an epilogue about how your choices affected everyone for better or worse." Izuku explained, knowing Tenko was listening intently.
"So Tomura, what happens next? After you and Sensei get rid of all the corrupt heroes and leave society as we know it in shambles? What is the plan after that?" Izuku questioned.
Tenko blinked then guiltily avoided Izuku's eyes "I, I don't know." Tenko admitted "I was going to ask Sensei when he called last month but he was... busy." Tenko further explained his hand absently playing with the cuff of his hoodie.
"And you were afraid he'd tell you, you still weren't at a level high enough for him to reveal information like that to you?" Izuku guessed easily figuring out where his anxiety of the matter was coming from and recalling the phrase All For One used to shut Tenko's questions down almost always without fail.
It might have been subconscious but Tenko was afraid of asking All For One too many questions, where this fear stemmed from wasn't as easy to pin down but had been growing more clear as Tenko was slowly moving away from his dependence on All For One.
And Izuku was sure the lack of information from All For One was starting to weigh uncomfortably on Tenko's mind from how shuffled in his seat "Yeah... " Tenko muttered.
Izuku gave a small understanding hum so Tenko didn't think he was disappointed with the man or that he'd made the 'wrong' choice in being honest with him.
"I wouldn't mind being a part of your party Tenko, but until you find out your factions end goal I'm barred from becoming an available party member." Izuku apologetically told Tenko.
And as a testament of his rapidly improving temperament Tenko merely slumped in his seat and numbly nodded to show his understanding, he would've lost his mind and threatened Izuku to just join his party months ago.
"I'm sure you saw the broadcast, I can no longer remain in the shadows Tomura." Izuku commented and Tenko winced pointedly avoiding Izuku's eyes.
Izuku swallowed as he prepared himself for what he had to say next "Under normal circumstances such a thing would be a death sentence for me, as it would reveal my true identity to He who takes." Izuku mentioned and Tenko ducked his head looking even more guilty about that, likely knowing that Izuku meant his 'Sensei'.
"However using my skills and a good chunk of my resources I've found a safe zone of sorts where he'll not be able to get to me easily." Izuku informed him, Tenko raised his head confused an a touch concerned.
"How?" Tenko asked a hint of dread coloring his voice and Izuku wasn't surprised given that there would be very few options Tenko probably capable of thinking about.
"Nezu of U.A. is keenly interested in me teaching the next generation of heroes, and he is willing to offer me the protection that will keep He who takes from making any bold or open moves against me without calling attention to himself." Izuku explained.
Tenko's head snapped at that "You'd work for the heroes?" Tenko hissed out almost instinctively, more surprised than angry which was what Izuku was hoping for.
Izuku frowned and turned away from Tenko to face the rows of alcohol bottles behind the bar "I'd be working amongst them, not 'with' Tomura. I do not approve of many things in modern heroics but hero schools are, regrettably, one of the steps in the right direction they've taken." Izuku corrected.
"They are little more than bootcamps currently speaking, but that is far better than merely throwing untrained children at their problems. And personally I think I can use this to our advantage in the long run." Izuku commented.
Tenko was still frowning but hadn't shut down the conversation or gotten more angry with him yet, after a few moments Tenko took a deep breath and though strained asked "How would this help us?"
Tenko was likely looking for something to use to talk Izuku out of working at U.A. but he'd take it for now.
"Well for one, I've 'cleared' my name of criminal charges, which was quite a feat since they had a lie detector in the room with me, but ultimately worth it since it makes all the previous investigations against me disappear." Izuku said with a hand wave.
Tenko scoffed "And what charges could they actually get you for?" Tenko snidely asked and Izuku threw him a look.
"Aiding and abetting criminals/villains, withholding critical information about said criminals/villains to start with, and willingly associated with crminals/villains just from being associated with you Tomura. Would you like to hear the other crimes I've done?" Izuku casually asked laying his head in one hand with his elbow on the table.
Tenko pursed his lips grumbling about something about how it wasn't fair under his breath as he scratched his neck, his gaze pointedly looking through the wall at something that wasn't there.
"Personal protection aside it will also be an important strategic advantage to be working there, because despite our negative view of heroics and the people around it, there are some good kids out there that want to make a genuine difference that are naive enough to be indoctrinated by those with ulterior motives before they hit the circuit." Izuku brought up.
"And I can help those kids become true heroes Tomura while weeding out those who'd abuse their power." Izuku finished accepting the cup from Kruogiri as he passed by.
Tenko's face scrunched up with a mix of emotions "But why would you want to make heroes at all?" Tenko questioned.
Izuku sighed focusing his eyes on the liquid in the cup. "Because the idea of heroes isn't inherently wrong, it's merely the twisted image that we've turned them into that is the problem... a problem that won't go away just by getting rid of the system they profit from Tomura, because even if you were to kill off every hero the people who abused that power will find other ways to get back that power in some other way." Izuku explained to Tomura.
"Cutting the head off of a snake won't get rid of the venom in the person it bit." Izuku said hoping the metaphor would help a bit more in what he was trying to explain.
"If we really want things to change Tomura we can't just trash everything and tell people to figure it out on their own. They are like sheep Tomura, when it comes time to cross a river they will do nothing but stand around waiting for someone to jump in first." Izuku told him.
"But why does it have to be you to jump first, Deku?" Tenko huffily asked and Izuku really wanted to hug Tenko from how miserable he looked when he asked.
Izuku forced out a laugh "Because no one else gives enough of a damn to Tomura. We all have our parts to pay, yours is to dismantle the system, and mine will be to help guide the next generations to the right choices for a true happy ending, just as I've been helping you." Izuku replied.
Tenko stared at Izuku, his eyes searching Izuku's face for something before he quietly hung his head, his hair covering most of his face, his hands tightly clenched.
Izuku ducked his head, contemplating whether or not he should say anything else, perhaps something to comfort Tenko or maybe a white-lie about how he'd always be on Tenko's side.
"You'll be safe, right?" Tenko softly muttered surprising Izuku.
"Of course Tomura, I'd never attempt a mission like this without properly preparing for it beforehand." Izuku assured.
Tenko bit his lip "And you'll bail at the first sign of those low-level grunts turning on you?" he questioned still having not raised his head.
"In a heartbeat, I keep an emergency escape key on me at all times." Izuku promised.
Tenko remained silent for a while then after what felt like forever said "Fine, just... don't die out there." before Tenko stood up and left the bar for the apartment section of the building.
It took Izuku a minute to understand, mainly because he couldn't believe he had somehow got Tenko's reluctant permission to work at U.A.
Once it did however Izuku stood and attempted to follow Tenko to wherever he went after he glanced at Kurogiri, the man merely gave a soft nod before Izuku went off deeper into the building where he had never been before.
Izuku found Tenko's room easily, it wasn't hard to find really and he quietly peeked his head inside finding Tenko curled up on his bed, the room itself not far off from what Izuku expected.
Toys, both broken and intact were scattered around and a lot of gaming merch all over it, the things Izuku had brought him were shown the most care in their placement.
Izuku carefully moved inside after Tenko noticed him and chose to curl up next to Tenko, not saying anything and just laid together with Tenko.
He thought it was the right choice given Tenko wrapped an arm around him after a few seconds and pulled him uncomfortably close, Izuku didn't comment on it understanding that Tenko just needed some physical reassurance.