The moment Izuku opened the front door to the apartment, his nose was assaulted with an abundance of smells that on their own would have been fine, good even. But together, it was overwhelming. What was she cooking?
It was mainly spices, so many he couldn't begin to name. Some spicy, some tangy. There was even some sweet somewhere in there, like cookies had sounded like they'd go well with everything else. There was also a distinct burning smell mixing with everything else.
He closed the door behind him and began to pull his shoes off, hearing noises coming from the kitchen. "Mom? Tenko?"
There was a lull in the noise, and then a slight clatter. "Izuku!" Mom's voice called back. "Welcome home! You're just in time, I just finished dinner!"
She sounded cheery. Too cheery.
He made his way through the apartment, which he noticed was a bit cloudy, smoke or steam filled, and entered the kitchen.
What he saw before him nearly made him lose his balance.
On one hand, the table was covered in lots of delicious-looking food. Several large dishes to choose from, as well as sides, and desserts waited on the counters. On the other hand, the kitchen was a disaster. Food and dishes covered the counters, pots and pans were still on the stove, and it looked like after she made real food, Mom had started just throwing stuff together randomly and hoping something edible would magically appear.
He looked around at the scene before him in exasperation, then up at his mom, who was as covered in food as the room and was mixing something in a pot on the stove. She picked up the pot by the handles and started walking over to the table.
"Come on, sit down before it gets cold," she said with that same too-cheery voice. After setting the pot down on the last tiny space left on the table, she turned to him with a smile too wide, too forced.
He snapped out of his shocked stupor then as it occurred to him what was happening. His mom was stress-cooking. He'd seen her do it several times before, tending to fall back on it as a distraction. But never to this extent.
It had his stomach twisting with worry, and Tenko's absence became suddenly very apparent.
He started to gather some dirty dishes to put in the sink as he nervously spoke. "Mom, where's Tenko?"
"He... he went to stay with Hisashi, help him with something. He might be gone for a bit, so don't expect him home soon."
Izuku froze and nearly dropped a plate, his jaw dropping open, his heart skipping a beat. "W-What? But- I thought Dad was in America. And, isn't he only supposed to be there for a week? How could Tenko...?" He trailed off, staring at her in disbelief as he set everything in the sink.
She pulled out plates and then looked questioningly between a fork and a spoon, avoiding his eyes. "It was a last-minute thing, Izuku. It's complicated."
No way, no way. She'd answered him too fast. The words had sounded rehearsed, too, like she'd been preparing an answer to that exact question, that she knew was coming, for hours. No, not an answer. An excuse.
Because Tenko couldn't have gone to America without saying anything. He couldn't have. He wouldn't have. Not like…
He set a hand on her shoulder. "Mom—"
"All right, who's ready to eat?" She pulled away from him and hurried over to the table with two plates and two forks, handing one of each to Izuku, then sat down at one of the chairs, gesturing for Izuku to do the same. She had that same forced grin on. "I know I sure am, I'm hungry."
He stared at her. He'd been hungry, but now anxiety had warded off any appetite. Still, he walked over with a wary sigh, pulled his chair back and sat down.
They sat in silence for a minute as Mom began putting everything she wanted on her plate, only breaking it to ask him what he wanted. He just pointed and she put it on his plate too.
She took a bite, but he didn't move to do the same. He just watched her, watched the stiffness in her movements, the lack of light in her eyes. Eventually, she noticed him staring and cleared her throat.
"So, how was Hitoshi's?"
He didn't answer for a long minute, but looked down and began to move his food around with his fork. His mind was racing with so many questions. What was going on? Why was she acting so weird? What had happened this time? Where was Tenko really? Why was she so upset? Why was she brushing it off? Did this actually have anything to do with what happened with dad?
He had to ask. He couldn't just ignore this. He needed answers, he was tired of the lies. At the very least, something was seriously wrong with Mom. She wasn't okay.
He opened his mouth, was just about to ask what was really going on when her expression changed. It was just the slightest shift, barely noticeable. But he saw it. It was like she was trying to send him a subtle message behind that grin.
Suddenly her eyes revealed so much more, so much more of the state she was in. She was fragile right now, barely keeping it together. And if he asked, she would break.
She was silently begging him not to ask, her eyes pleading. She couldn't handle it. Not right now.
It hurt his heart so much more than he could have prepared for, nearly broke something in him.
Izuku paused, biting his lip as he watched his mom's forced smile. Whatever had happened, he realized, could wait. She needed him right now. He could see it in her eyes—the silent plea for him to let it go, just for tonight. Taking a deep breath, he forced a smile of his own and decided to play along, even though his stomach was in knots.
--
Decay.
The very first time he'd ever gone to the quirk doctor to get his quirk registered, so many years ago, Tenko had refused to speak.
He wouldn't answer any of their questions on how it worked, on what the first time he used it was like, nothing. Luckily his parents took care of a lot of that, and defended him when the doctors tried to push. But he will admit his silence made the whole appointment a lot more complicated, since his parents only had an outside view on a couple accidental uses.
He'd compromised for their tests, but only because his parents were there and assured him over and over again that he wouldn't hurt anybody behind the glass walls and if he only touched the objects given.
But he'd still never said a word the whole time. Not even when, or especially when, it came time to choose a name.
He didn't want to choose a name for something he didn't want to accept as his. But he could see the practicality of having something to call it. So he just listened to the doctor list off suggestions.
He really didn't care what the name was, and that showed as the names were listed. It wasn't until a word was said that he didn't recognize that he reacted at all, and even then, just the cock of a head, out of confusion. The doctor though, noticed this and locked onto it since it was the only sign of interest he'd shown the whole time. He explained what the word meant, and Tenko, after a second, had nodded. It was fitting.
Decay.
Things decayed when they died. Decay meant death.
His parents had caught onto what he was thinking with the name, shown by their shared look of concern, but they didn't object.
It was morbid, but at the time, he hated his quirk. He hated it, and feared it, with every ounce of his being. And he saw the name as a reminder of what the curse of a power would always carry. What he would always carry, because of it.
Since that day he'd seen the name, the quirk in general, as an image of evil. Of destruction. Of death.
It had always existed in a negative sense to him, and what happened with Kaimatsuo only emphasized that. He remembered his old therapist making that point clear.
Even now, after he'd gotten so much better and was trying to learn how to use it, he just wasn't comfortable with it, because he couldn't stop seeing it as something bad. Something to be scared of and suppress. Something that would only cause pain and death.
But now? Now he was being told it could save a life. And not just any life, the life of the man who'd saved his. Countless times.
And all he had to do was give it up. Give up Decay.
Not permanently. At least, if everything went according to plan. If Hisashi won and made it out, Tenko knew he'd be more than willing to give it back.
But if it didn't work, if Decay wasn't enough, if Hisashi still lost…
And that wasn't even considering trying to get it to him, in the middle of a battle against the number one hero.
He staggered over to the desk chair and collapsed into it, feeling dizzy. Dr. Garaki was right, this was risky and dangerous. This was crazy. He was being asked to risk giving up something that was as much a part of people as air and water, possibly forever.
Fingering his gloves, shifting in the chair, he thought about Izuku, thought about how much he'd faced for being born without something so buried into the world's sense of normalcy, sense of self. How much more would he face for having that something and losing it?
He'd never liked his quirk, but could he really live with losing it?
He stilled, straightened.
Then again, could he ever live with saying no?
Could he walk away from this, knowing he'd refused a chance to save his father's life?
He looked up at the camera feed, saw his father's bruised and battered face, the camera focused on him as he lay on the ground breathing heavily. His eyes opened and he struggled to sit up.
Could he let Hisashi die, knowing he could've changed that outcome? Could he ever survive that guilt?
He found himself unable to hear anything but the thunderous pounding of his heart in his ears as Hisashi just barely managed to climb to his feet and jump out of the way as All Might came barreling back at him. It relieved Tenko to see the hero looked just as tired and beaten as Hisashi. But he was still fighting as strong as ever.
The question rang through his head. Did he really have a choice?
No. Not really. He wasn't gonna walk away from this. Nothing on earth could make him.
The day in that alleyway flashed through his mind then. Hisashi hadn't abandoned him in his darkest time, or anytime since. How could he abandon the old man now?
He stared at his father, at the man who had done for him more then Tenko could ever hope to repay him for. Then he turned around and marched to the door in the back of the room.
But as far as payment went, this was probably a good start.
The door opened easily, unlocked. And behind it was another lab. At a table in the center, leaned over blueprints or a map of sorts, was the doctor. He didn't even look up at Tenko when he walked in.
"I'm in. What's the plan?"
Dr. Garaki looked up at him then, and even from under that bushy mustache and those reflecting glasses- goggles- whatever, Tenko could tell he was grinning.
"It's simple, really."