Tenko went to bed late that night fully aware that he'd likely be getting little to no sleep. His mind was whirring way to much for anything of the sort.
So he settled for just finally giving into his parents telling him to go to sleep, and laying in his bed next to a peacefully sleeping Izuku, trying to organize the chaos of his thoughts.
He started by going through all the basic stuff he knew.
His dad was a villain. He could steal quirks. He'd fought and killed heroes. And for some impossible reason Tenko had decided that he wanted to help.
Ok, now that he was thinking about it, how much bigger of an idiot could he be?
There had been a reason why Hisashi had spent so long refusing, and trying to convince Tenko not to. It was stupid. And he was ten, he would realize sooner or later how dumb it was. Eventually they'd settled on the fact that, when he was older, they'd come back to this and see what happened.
Tenko didn't even truly understand why he was so set on it. Why did he want to help his father do bad things? He wasn't going to hate his father for it, he knew his father was good. Heck, this would probably strongly change the way he looked at villainy for the rest of his life.
But becoming one himself? What was he thinking? He's always wanted to be a hero, not fight against them.
At least he hadn't, until today.
He and Hisashi had spent who knows how long sitting in silence before Tenko had said he wanted to help. He could've been thinking a lot of things during that quiet. Anything could've been going through his head. Anything was going through his head.
But what his main focus had been on was actually that day.
That day, years ago, when Hisashi had found him in that alley.
He thought back to the way everyone who saw him had turned him away, had ran off in horror or disgust at the dirty, bloody, terrified child walking the streets. He'd thought about how many times he'd asked for help only to be practically kicked in the face every time, before just giving up and walking until he was too tired to do even that anymore.
Everyone had said "a hero will come to help, surely," or, "a hero will find you soon enough."
No one had been willing to help him. The world had learned to rely so much on heroes, that people didn't know how to be people anymore and help, like they should. Heroes had become the only ones capable of doing anything good.
And in the end, the heroes hadn't even done their job. In the end, Tenko had had to face to harsh truth, the harsh reality that heroes aren't perfect. Heroes don't save everyone. Heroes had never come to save him.
No, the word heroes in itself had become something so far from what they were in the old stories. Before quirks had arrived, heroes had been people willing to help, to risk their lives, without any reward.
Now? Now heroes described people who only did their job. People who, a lot of the time, aren't even in it for helping others. Heroes get money, fame, fortune. They get to be the best, they're praised and adored by everyone. That's all they are. Idols, people for the world to put everything onto and look up to.
Heroes were supposed to save people from the villains.
But at the end of the day, a villain had saved him.
At the end of the day, he'd had to learn the hard way that heroes weren't what everyone thought they were. And neither were villains.
In a way, he'd known this since that day. But he'd never been brave enough to face it. He'd never had the guts to dare think that the people the world- no, he put everything on, weren't what they were supposed to be.
There would always be people who fell through to cracks of this ruined society. His father had been one of them.
And he might not have realized it, but so was he.
But now he knew. He didn't want to be under a name that had turned into nothing but a career, a figure, an advertisement for money and fame. He didn't want to be stuck under the worlds hope and weight, and yet always know that there would be kids like him out there that he just couldn't save.
He didn't want to be a hero.
What he wanted was to repay the favor. What he wanted was to do for his dad what his dad had done for him. What he wanted was to be a hero where it mattered.
What he wanted was to fix this world, make it the way it's meant to be. Where people won't rely on heroes. Where people rely on themselves and the ones around them. Where people will be willing to help a lost kid on a street no matter how dirty they are.
But in order for that to happen, there couldn't be heroes.
But what he wanted even more then that was to help his dad.
His dad had done everything for him, had meant the world to him. His dad was his hero. The only real hero in his life. His dad, the villain, had been a better hero then All Might to him.
He wanted to be that for his dad too.
If there was any tiny way he could help his father to win this battle, to not die, then forget about heroes. Forget about this worlds standards of good and evil.
He was going to be there for his dad.
And if that meant destroying heroes? If that meant switching to what the world called villainy?
So freaking be it.
Today was an exciting day. The mood drifting through the house was comparable to the scent of the few mornings where Inko made pancakes. Everyone was in a good mood, even the usually tired, cranky Tenko couldn't help but smile as he ate his cereal at the table.
Why was there so much cheer in the air, you might ask?
Well, honestly, who couldn't be happy when the tiny, freckled broccoli baby was so obviously overwhelmed with excitement?
Izuku was so excited, he seemed to have enough energy to run five marathons. He was darting around the house, in and out of every room, over furniture, in and right back out of laps, jumping up and down all the way.
Izuku was an energetic child. He was always smiling, always happy. He'd talk at a hundred miles per hour and seemed to always need to move. He was in the stage of life where sitting still for more then five minutes was a foreign concept.
But today he was especially so, because today was the day when Izuku would be going to the quirk doctor. He was five, and in a few more months he'd be six and his time for developing a quirk would be closed. They were a little bit concerned, but Tenko's quirk had come in late too, so it could just mean it was powerful like his.
But because of that concern, and because they were all pretty nervous about what kind of quirk the son of All For One would get, they decided their best bet was to get his quirk checked so they knew what it was before it developed. They were doubtful anything like Tenko's incident would happen again, but none of them were willing to take the chance.
They'd be going to a normal office and everything, but because Izuku's quirk had a chance of turning out as something similar or related to Hisashi's, which had to stay a secret, they'd be seeing a "friend" of Hisashi's who worked as a doctor but knew about AFO and could help keep Izuku's quirk hidden.
Of course, Izuku knew none of this. All he knew was that today he'd finally be able to know what his super awesome quirk would be that he'd use to become a hero.
Izuku was hero obsessed, there was no denying that. He was even more so then Tenko had been. He adored every hero out there, and wanted to be just like them. Especially All Might, who he already had dozens of pieces of merchandise and action figures of that he'd convinced his parents to buy him. He wanted nothing more then to be a hero like All Might, with a super cool quirk. He wanted to help people. And he wanted to know everything about every quirk, so he'd taken to doing research in heroes and their quirks even more recently.
Everyone in the room prayed it was just a faze, and that Izuku would get better about it sooner or later. Especially his obsession with All Might.
Tenko was almost certain that Izuku could be what heroes were supposed to be. That he wouldn't become one for the fame or money, but because he truly wanted to do something good with his life and help people.
But he didn't want Izuku stuck under that title either. He wanted Izuku, when he got older, to realize what he had, that hero was just a title. That there were other ways for him to help, including ways where he wouldn't get hurt.
Ways where Tenko or Hisashi won't have the chance of facing Izuku on the opposite side.
But right now, though those emotions stirred in everyone's hearts, they couldn't help but smile and laugh at Izuku's pure joy.
One reason Tenko was certain that if Izuku tried and wanted to be, he could be just like All Might, if not better, was because of Izuku's smile.
It was possible it was just because Izuku was still so little and cute, but his joy was infectious. His grin was like the sun. Anyone caught in the rays would be blinded if they looked right at it, but they couldn't help but be comforted by the warmth radiating from it.
Izuku's pure, hyper energy was exhausting to watch, his loud and quick talking was overwhelming, and they all had plenty of concerns with what the future for this tiny, innocent bean might hold. But no one could truly bring themselves to care past just seeing Izuku happy.
Because when Izuku was happy, so were the Midoriyas. And all they wanted was for it too stay that way.
"Sorry, kid, it's just not gonna happen."
The only sound in the suddenly silent patient room was the sound of clatter as Izuku's favorite All Might figuring fell from his hand and onto the tiled ground.
They had let Tenko come with Izuku and Inko to the quirk doctors, and he sat in a third chair on the other side of Inko from Izuku.
It took all his effort not to tackle the doctor for what he was implying. Instead, he swallowed hard and willed his eyes to go back to their normal size as he leaned to get a look at Izuku's face.
Tenko tuned out what Inko and the doctor were saying in favor of observing Izuku's expression. His eyes were down on the All Might figure. He was still smiling, but it looked more like his face had just frozen in that position. His eyes were wide, but somehow dilated. Shocked, distant, disbelieving. Every ounce of the excitement from before gone.
Tenko bit his lip. He could only imagine what was going through Izuku's mind.
Tenko stood up and walked over to Izuku's chair as Inko used her quirk to pull the figurine towards her, still talking with the doctor. He carefully leaned down and wrapped his arms around Izuku's small shoulders, whispering in his ear.
"It'll be ok," he hated how his voice cracked, his eyes burning with likely waiting tears. He knew how excited Izuku had been, how badly he'd wanted a power to call his own. A power that he could do incredible things with, something to make him special.
Now? Now Izuku would never get any of that.
But other then that, Tenko felt the tears weighing his eyes down because he couldn't help but remember the quirkless statistics he'd looked up when his old family had started worrying that he wouldn't get one.
The he hadn't understood all the numbers and graphs when he was little, or what the words meant even though he could read them. But thinking back, those numbers had been high. And he knew what they meant now.
Quirk discrimination. Bullying. Targets for villains. Suicide baiting. Suicide attempts.
Death rate.
Now a days, due to how small the quirkless population was and how rare it was for young people to be quirkless, people hated them. And because people hated them, it was rare for them to survive past 18, and if they did, they almost never were able to find a job. And things were only getting worse every generation.
This would change everything for Izuku.
Izuku was completely still in Tenko's arms, the only thing that had really changed was that his plastered smile had fallen. Now he just looked . . . Empty.
It hurt every bone in Tenko's body.
Tenko tried to block all the statistic thoughts from his mind as he squeezed Izuku tighter, tuning back into the ongoing conversation for a distraction.
"One of the most easily seen mutations is the pinky toe joint," the doctor was saying, pointing to the X-Ray of Izuku's foot on the screen. "People with quirks are born with 1 joint in there pinky toe. Izuku here, has two. And that is a tell tale sign. Your son here, Inko, is completely quirkless."
Izuku tensed, but otherwise didn't move. Tenko tried his hardest to push every ounce of comfort he had into the hug.
After they exited the building, the ride home was a short one. But it was silent, and felt like it lasted hours.
Izuku was like his mother in the fact that, when he was upset, his first resort was tears. Waterworks came easy, fast, and in large amounts. He might've been happy most of the time, but when he wasn't, he was crying. And he'd continue crying until he wore himself out or the problem was fixed. It's the only way he'd known how to communicate his emotions.
But Izuku wasn't crying right now. No, right now Izuku was dead silent, stock still, grimly serious. He stared out the window with blank eyes, emotions lost in his own thoughts.
This was new, and it felt so much worse then when Izuku cried.
Tenko could only hope this wouldn't break the energetic bean he loved so much.
The last half hour had felt like the longest in Tenko's life.
He'd woken up in the middle of the night to Izuku sobbing in bed next to him. He wasn't sure what had woken Izuku, or if Izuku had ever been asleep in the first place. But he was almost positive he knew what it had to do with.
By the time Tenko had gotten Izuku to calm down, they were both exhausted, but Tenko was positive neither of them would be able to fall asleep again any time soon.
So Tenko had an idea.
And now here they sat, alone in their dark bedroom, in the middle of the night. Izuku was curled up in Tenko's lap as the both sat in the desk chair, staring at the computer screen in front of them. Tenko wasn't paing attention, but he could still recall every little detail of the video Izuku loved to watch on repeat all day. All Might's debut.
"He's already saved a hundred people, but he's still going!" Tenko distantly registered the sounds of the people on the video yelling as All Might appeared, holding at least five more people in his arms.
"And he's still smiling!" Someone else called.
"See that?" Izuku whispered. "He's always smiling, no matter how hard things get."
Tenko felt his heart crack with Izuku's voice. But it was nothing compared to the look in Izuku's eyes as he turned around to face him, tears welled up and flooding his green pupils, which seemed more dim then ever. He raised a shaky hand and pointed at the screen, attempting a smile but failing as it wobbled.
"Do you think . . . I can be a hero too?"
Tenko distantly wondered how a single sentence could be so painful as his own vison blurred with unshed tears. He blinked and his face was wet.
Izuku wavered slightly at Tenko's tears, his arm and smile falling. But he still stared at Tenko with those big, green eyes. Those desperate, hopeful, pleading eyes. Those eyes that had touched Tenko the day they came into the world. Those eyes that Tenko had wanted to see happy forever. Those eyes that had the whole house in a joyous atmosphere just that morning.
Those eyes that were slowly breaking Tenko peice by peice the longer he stared, until he finally had to look away, scrubbing at his wet cheeks with the heel of his palms.
"Izuku, I . . . " he started, but he didnt know how to finish. He didn't know how to answer. He was at a complete loss for words.
So he just looked back up into those heart-wrenchingly broken green eyes.
There was a big difference between can and should.
Whether or not Izuku could be a hero was a story Tenko didnt want to face. But he knew, wihout a doubt in his mind, that if Izuku wanted to, he could be a hero.
But what came to him in that moment, like a bucket of ice water, colder and harsher then ever, was that Izuku wouldn't always want to be a hero.
"I'm sorry, Izuku," Tenko choked out behind his bit back sobs, wrapping his arms around Izuku and hugging him as tight as he could. "I'm so sorry."
Tenko knew what was going through Izuku's head. What would be going through anyone's head if they heard those words. Tenko was apologizing because he didn't think Izuku could be a hero.
But that's not what was going through Tenko's head.
No, he was apologizing because he knew Izuku could be a hero. He was apologizing because he knew Izuku was incredibly smart, and talented, and kind, and would be able to bring smiles to people in any situation. He knew how badly Izuku wanted this.
But he was apologizing because he knew Izuku wouldn't be a hero.
He was apologizing because he'd realized that no matter how broken Izuku was feeling right now, in the long run, he wouldn't be able to convince Izuku not to try and be a hero. Nothing would be able to do that, except for heroes themselves. And Tenko knew they would.
He was apologizing because Izuku was stubborn, so he was going to have to learn the truth about the world the hardest way there was. By being pushed into the deep end, where all the hidden pirrahnas and sharks lived. Where he would be bit, shoved, torn, and eaten up by them until he gave up on the entire ocean.
He was apologizing because he'd seen the statistics. He'd seen how bad the world treated him for just looking weird on the streets. How much worse would the world treat Izuku for the way he was born? For a single extra pinkie toe joint?
Tenko wanted Izuku to stay the innocent, happy little bean he was. He didnt want Izuku on either side of this deadly war, he wanted Izuku to sta as safe as he could. But the world would push Izuku so far away from the heroes, that Izuku would only sink farther and farther into the dark until he was far beneath the sharks and pirrahnas. Most likely, by the end of this, Izuku would be farther in then he was. Maybe to Hisashi's level. Worse, even.
Izuku would be so hurt by the world that he would go running to the only people who did care. And those people would just so happen to be a family of villains. He would look to them as the real heroes, as the ones he really wanted to be like.
He'd see the world for what it was. He'd realize what Tenko had. But it would be so much worse.
And Tenko was apologizing, because he couldn't protect Izuku from any of it.
The video ended, and with neither boy willing to press the replay button, the room fell into silence, aside from Izuku's brekenhearted sobs. Tenko bit back his own as he felt his shirt slowly begin to soak up tears, from who exactly, he wasnt sure.
Any chance of a normal life for him had disapeared five years ago. He'd known his life would enver be normal. But now Izuku's would be even worse. Izuku would end up just like him, hurt and desperate. And that idea hurt.
But beneath it all, beneath all of Tenko's knotted emotions, between the flood of tears and whirring thoughts, there was a tiny part of him that told him that was wrong. That told him the fact that he was doing everthing to burry, that he refused to acknowledge.
And that fact was that he knew his little brother. He knew how brave, and determined, and stubborn he could be. All it would take was the right person, and Izuku would latch on to that tiny ounce of hope and follow that person to the end of the world if he had to.
Under the right circumstances, no matter how unlikely they were, there was a chance. There was a chance that Izuku would end up a hero. Not only on the side of the fight where Tenko couldn't protect him, but on the side that Tenko might find himself against him. Where he might have no choice but to hurt, or be hurt by his own brother.
And that tiny fact was more horrifying than anything Tenko's quirk could ever do.