"What?" Inko stepped forward, her voice quivering with concern and confusion.
At the same time, Tenko perked up on the couch and asked, "Really?"
Kurogiri's piercing eyes shifted back to Inko from where they'd been locked onto her son. "I don't know much, and what I do know can't be discussed here. But—"
"Why does he need Tenko's help?" Inko interrupted, her voice rising with each word. "What for? Will it be dangerous? Will he get involved in the fight?"
"I don't know, Mrs. Midoriya," Kurogiri said. His voice grew louder and more stern, cutting through Inko's growing worry. He then softened his tone again, "I was simply sent here to retrieve the boy."
A portal opened then, a swirling oval of purple light seeming to spread from a tear in the air next to Kurogiri. "All the man asks for now is to be heard out. Tenko will have the freedom to deny the offer and come back. But we do not have time to waste."
He turned back to Tenko again, his featureless face unreadable except for the glowing yellow eyes. Inko got the feeling he was waiting for Tenko's answer.
Inko looked to her son, knowing her face was etched with worry as her mind raced. Why would this man be asking for Tenko's help? Did Hisashi know about this? She thought they'd agreed he wouldn't be involved?
But Tenko wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the portal, sitting straight up on the couch, mesmerized by the twisting purple light.
Finally, he stood up, turning to look at Kurogiri with a determined expression that sparked both pride and fear in Inko. He wasn't even blood-related to Hisashi, but he reminded her so much of the man.
"Okay, let's go," he nodded.
Kurogiri nodded back and gestured to the open warp gate.
Tenko glanced at Inko, took a deep breath, and stepped towards it.
Her stomach twisted with anxiety, but she rounded up what bravery she had. The least she could do was hear this man out.
She clenched her fists and moved to follow him, but Kurogiri's hand stopped her. His yellow eyes settled on hers. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you can't come."
"What?" Her voice cracked, more a whimper than a shout. She winced. "Why?"
"We can't take more risks than necessary. I was ordered to bring only Tenko."
Tenko had stopped at the gate and was looking back at her. He seemed more hesitant now, but the bravery was still there. And hope.
She knew what he was thinking. He had to go. He had to help. He had to try.
Because Hisashi would have done the same for him. For all of them.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to process this turn of events. She closed her eyes, feeling the familiar burn of tears, but pushed them back and looked at Kurogiri, fierceness in her eyes.
"How do I know I can trust this doctor to let Tenko come back if he says no?" She'd never met the man. Heck, this was one of fewer than five times she'd seen Kurogiri. Hisashi liked to keep his family and work life as separate as possible.
Kurogiri's eyes didn't change. "I have never seen more respect than what the doctor has for Master. And he knows how important the three of you are to him. Dr. Garaki wouldn't let anything he could prevent happen to your son."
Inko stared at him, long and hard, doing her best to search those eyes for any hints that he was lying. But she found nothing, she finally let out a breath of defeat and looked at Tenko again, pain filling her chest.
He still hadn't moved, but now he gave her a small smile. "I'll be okay," he whispered, firm but quiet. "And I'll come back. I promise."
She couldn't hold the tears back anymore. As the first one trickled down her cheek, she barreled past Kurogiri's arm despite his protests and wrapped Tenko in a tight hug. He hugged her back.
She soaked up every bit of the warm embrace she could, feeling his heartbeat against her chest, the rhythmic beat both calming and terrifying her. His warm breath brushed her ear.
"Be careful," she whispered in his ear, squeezing him tightly.
She felt him nod against her shoulder.
"I hate to interrupt, but we really have to hurry," Kurogiri said, though he sounded truly remorseful.
Tenko was the first to pull away, and Inko met his eyes with her tear-streaked face. His, though, were perfectly dry, brave, and ready. Any hesitation was gone.
She felt a surge of pride fill her chest as she smiled. "Go help your father."
He nodded, then turned to the portal. With a last deep breath to steel himself, and without a glance back, he walked forward and through the swirling gate.
Inko let out a breath as she watched her son disappear. Then she looked to Kurogiri, who was just turning to follow the boy through.
"Kurogiri?"
The man paused and looked back at her.
She didn't smile as she spoke. "Take care of him for me."
Kurogiri stared at her for a second before nodding. Then he stepped through the portal, and the gate closed, disappearing as suddenly as it had appeared.
—-
When Tenko stepped into that warp portal, he was immediately overcome with the strangest feeling, nearly impossible to describe.
He felt weightless, yet like he was falling at the same time. His senses were overwhelmed by everything and nothing. He couldn't think, see, feel, anything. It was all just a strange buzz and blur and dizzy mess.
Then it was over as fast as it had begun. It couldn't have been more than a second or two before he was stepping back out, stumbling forward on solid ground again as his senses came back to him.
Once he got his feet back under him, he rubbed his eyes and groaned. He felt a bit disoriented, and his eyes were struggling to adjust to the dimly lit room.
Then a hand was on his shoulder. "The first trips are always the hardest," came Kurogiri's voice. "It'll get easier."
It took a few seconds, but eventually Tenko didn't feel so dizzy and mixed up anymore. He managed to pull his head up and look around the room he found himself in.
It looked like a lab of sorts, tables covered in bottles and tubes filled with liquids, some sitting empty on the table, others connected in systems flowing in and out of each other. The smell of chemicals stung his nose, a hum of machinery coming from somewhere. Notes and papers scattered about, shelves lined two of the four walls.
The room was also surprisingly dark, lit solely by the glowing liquids, a few fluorescent light fixtures in the corners, and a large monitor screen on the farthest wall. All of them cast the room in an eerie purple light. In front of the screen was a desk chair, and he could hear the clicking of a keyboard and incoherent muttering from behind it.
"Dr. Garaki." Tenko jumped slightly as Kurogiri called the name loudly from beside him.
The man over by the screens stilled, then straightened and turned to them, his face cast in shadow with the screen light behind him. But Tenko could make out large glasses (goggles?) that covered his eyes entirely, a bushy mustache, and a lab coat.
The man clapped his hands together. "Ah, you're here! Wonderful. Kurogiri, you can go now."
With a nod of his head, Kurogiri began to walk off towards a door on his right. With a jolt, Tenko felt a sudden urge to ask him to stay, not wanting to be left alone with the short doctor hopping out of his chair. He'd never met the man, and for whatever reason he was giving Tenko a bit of the creeps. This whole place kinda did.
But not wanting to come across as childish or scared, worried the doctor might change his mind about letting him help, he held his tongue until Kurogiri had disappeared with the slam of the door, and the doctor approached him.
"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Tenko." Dr Garaki started off. With Tenko finally able to see the man close up, he felt a spark of familiarity he couldn't quite place. "As you probably have heard, my name is Dr. Garaki. As much as I'd love to chat, time is short. Come, come."
The man gestured for Tenko to follow, and before Tenko had a chance to react, spun back around and headed back toward the monitor. Tenko, a bit reluctantly, followed.
The man immediately resumed typing. "I'll get straight to the point. As you well know, your father is currently off fighting the country's greatest hero, and to most people, the greatest man. He, or more specifically One For All, is the only thing that has a chance against All For One."
Tenko clenched his fists, wanted to snap that he already knew that, but the man continued before he could even consider.
"That's why for the last few decades, one of the best things your father has been able to do in preparation for this battle while in hiding as Hisashi Midoriya, has been to gather as many helpful quirks as he possibly can. With how rare regenerative and healing quirks are, his main focus has been on powerful combative quirks. He builds the rarer ones up over decades."
Tenko blinked. That made sense, he wasn't sure why he'd never come the conclusion before himself. His father had probably been working to secretly gather quirks Tenko's whole life, probably while off doing his legal job.
But he was a bit more surprised by how little that notion shocked or disturbed him. Who knew how Hisashi had gotten those quirks?
"I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, and it may make you less than fond of me," Garaki continued, still not turning away from the monitor screen. "But I have to say that I've been suggesting to your father from the beginning that your quirk would be invaluable when the time came. Being able to destroy anything with a single touch? It would change the battle entirely."
Tenko merely blinked again. He found himself once again surprised that he had not come to the same idea himself. Or at least thought of Hisashi thinking of it. His quirk would truly give the advantage against All Might.
But at the same time, had Hisashi really considered that? Had Hisashi ever thought about taking his quirk?
Why hadn't he?
"But he refused," the Doctor stopped typing then and focused up on the screen. "He couldn't do that to you. Especially after your younger brother was diagnosed."
Tenko refused to react, refused to let his expression reveal his emotions, just shifted his weight and continued to stare as the Doctor turned to look at him.
"So I turned to trying to convince him to train you so you would be prepared to help if it came to that, especially after learning you had volunteered yourself. But he refused that as well, claiming you were too young. He didn't want you involved in this in any way."
Tenko couldn't see the doctor's eyes through those large glasses reflecting the purple glow of the room, but he knew they were staring right at his. "Which is why I'm sure he won't be happy about this. But I'm afraid we've run out of options."
The man spun back towards the screen, clicked a few more buttons, and the screen that had been filled with a glow and words he couldn't decipher before suddenly shifted to a video.
An overhead view of an open expanse, rolling plains of grass, with a few trees scattered about, appeared. Tenko didn't recognize the location, it was nowhere near where he lived obviously. In the center was a large crater and smaller craters around it, trees knocked down, other areas of hills and ground blasted and damaged. It looked like a battle ground that's for sure.
He began to fidget with his gloves. In the middle of it all he could see two figures, flying around, zooming at each other. They'd get knocked back and jump back up, rush right back at each other. Red tentacle-like hooks flew at the other figure as they dodged, blasts flew back and forth. He found himself getting dizzy trying to keep up with the fast movements.
"As much as it may not look like it, the odds aren't in your father's favor here," the doctor spoke solemnly. Tenko's stomach dropped. "All Might is overwhelming him and what regeneration he has can't keep up. Everything he throws All Might can throw back, and he's just faster and bigger physically for close combat."
There was a lull in the battle then, both opponents landed on each side of the crater. The camera zoomed in on Hisashi. He was breathing heavily, crouched down and ready to pounce, or dodge, at the first sign of movement. His eyes were locked on All Might, and after a minute, he grinned, a terrifying thing. He spoke, but there was no audio. He was bloody and bruised, but didn't seem seriously injured. Yet, at least.
Whatever he'd said must've set All Might off, because the hero rammed forward first, and Hisashi didn't have time to move before he was slammed by a powerful punch and sent flying backwards into a large hill. Tenko flinched, leaned forward anxiously, but before the dust had even cleared, those red strips shot back out. All Might dodged. Hisashi flew forward. The fighting continued.
"He needs something powerful. Something finishing. Something that will catch All Might off guard and cause irreparable damage, giving your father the advantage even if it isn't the finishing blow."
Tenko's eyebrows rose as he finally caught on to where the doctor was leading this. He looked at the man, whose eyes had trailed back to him.
"He needs the thing I've been suggesting he use for years."
Tenko's mouth was dry. "So you're saying…"
Dr. Garaki looked back at the screen, straightening up instead of crouched over the keyboard. "I'm merely giving you the facts and making a suggestion. I respect my master enough to respect you and give you full freedom on this decision."
The man paused, and Tenko saw his shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath. When he spoke again, his voice held a heavier weight to it. "But we both know what's at stake here. We both know what happens if All For One loses here.
"What I'm asking of you is risky, dangerous, and if it doesn't work, will have life long consequences for you and have been for nothing. It is by all means the last thing your father would want."
The man turned to face him again. "But everything I have relies on this man, and on his surviving this. I think you can understand that."
Dr. Garaki then started walking forward, past Tenko, leaving him speechless, his heavy footsteps echoing. "I strongly urge you to think this through, but hurry. Time is running out as we speak."
Then the sound of the door closing behind him echoed throughout the room.