Tenko sat on the living room couch, curled up, his knees pressed against his chest and his head buried between them. One hand wrapped around himself tightly while the other softly stroked the green curls of the little boy who had fallen asleep on his shoulder.
The green bean looked so peaceful despite having been crying on Tenko a mere few minutes ago, contentedly unaware of the hushed commotion Tenko was listening to from the kitchen.
"Yes, yes, I'm really very sorry, Mrs. Kaimatsuo," came Inko's attempts at an apology, but even from a room away Tenko could hear the yelling from the other end of the phone call she was on. "Yes, I know. I know, I promise this won't happen again. Yes, we payed the fine- Oh, um, yes, Tenko will still be going to the school but- no, no! Please don't sue the school! We- wait, hold on please-!"
The beeping of the line cutting off rang in Tenko's ears, followed by Inko's longs tired sigh.
"What'd she say?" Came Hisashi's voice from somewhere else in the kitchen.
Inko hesitated before saying quietly, "We might be getting sued on top of the fine."
The sound of papers falling against the table and a groan. "The fine's already taking a huge chunk of our money, I don't know what we're gonna do, Inko."
"We could take from the emergency savings." The emergency savings was their sort of code name for the plethora of illegal money Hisashi had gathered as All For a one that they kept hidden.
Hisashi sighed. "The HPSC will hear about this due to the fact that such a powerful and unheard of quirk was involved, which means they'll have eyes on us already. Using illegal money that Hisashi is not supposed to have will cause problems, but I don't know if we have any other choice."
Inko hummed. "We could try an excuse. Your uncle died suddenly and just in time for you to be able to use the money you earned from the will to pay all of this off."
"They'll want legal proof."
Both voices went suddenly quiet, and Tenko feat he'd his vision blur with tears.
He'd ruined everything.
He'd hurt someone, again, and ruined everything.
Everyone at school was going to hate him, he'd probably lost all his friends. Maybe even Izuku too once Izuku realized what had happened. He wasn't being expelled it had a week of suspension, and his parents were having so much trouble with the legal consequences of this.
Not to mention the fact that he could've killed his classmate. It was a miracle he didn't lose his arm from what he'd heard.
He'd promised himself he'd never hurt someone with his quirk again, but…
But here he was. He'd willingly attacked someone with his quirk, again. Maybe they hadn't died this time, but they very well could've. He almsot killed someone, again.
Freak. Villain. Monster. Murderer.
He couldn't hold it back any more, a quiet sob escaped from his mouth. Apparently not quite enough, though, because he almost immediately heard a chair, or maybe two, slide back against the floor.
Izuku shifted next to him, but Tenko's vision was too blurred to see him lift his head. "Tenko?! He whispered.
Once he started, he couldn't stop as son after son tore from his mouth despite his desperate attempts to clamp it shut. Tears pooled in his eyes and ran down his cheeks, and he felt them dripping on his legs.
Two small arms wrapped around him, and a moment later the couch shifted. One large hand ran through his hair comfortingly, while softer fringe ears slid between his, holding his hand.
In any other situation he would've been embarrassed, but right now, all he could do was focus on the three points of contact, the comforting feeling of each of their hands.
The small, light grip of the child that lit up his world from day one, who he'd sworn to protect and who, for whatever reason, love Tenko with all his incredibly large heart.
The strong but steady hands of the person who had seen him at his worse, who had felt the effects of his lethal quirk and knew what he did, but still didn't hesitate to bring him home as his own.
And the soft, firm hands of the woman who had been there as long as he could remember, and had kept being there in any way she could even after what he did to the people she loved.
He let himself fall into the comfort of knowing each of them were still there. They were his family, and they were still with him. They knew, and they hadn't left.
They made it obvious through each of their tight hoods on him in that moment, that no matter what, they were family.
And family didn't leave.
He fell over into Hisashi's side, who was sitting next to him. Izuku let out a small huff as he fell over with Tenko, but didn't let go. If anything the small arms squeezed tighter. It only made him cry harder.
"I'm sorry," he choked out between hiccups and sobs. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for, this wasn't your fault," Hisashi murmured.
He let out another broken sob, and didn't miss how multiple grips tightened slightly. "I ruined everything."
Inko's other hand wrapped around his hand as well. "It's ok, Tenko. We'll figure it out, it'll all be fine."
He was practically shaking now, from what, he wasn't sure. There were way too many emotions swirling in his gut, but the most prominent was guilt. "But-"
Hisashi shushed him. "You can whine about what you did later. Just let it all out, bud."
And he did. Oh boy, he did. He wasn't sure he'd even cried this hard on that day five years ago.
He'd thought he was fine, he'd felt fine for the past few years. His bad days came less often, he didn't have nightmares near as much, he had been doing so much better.
But maybe he wasn't as fine as he'd thought, because this kinda felt like he was unearthing all the emotions from the last few years he'd never realized he'd buried.
He vaguely registered the sound of tinier crying next to him, and the almost deathly grip on his hand now, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there in their little cuddle huddle of warmth and comfort, him breaking down in the middle, too overwhelmed by everything.
He'd later find out that Inko and Hisashi had missed at least five phone calls from different people during this time, but neither one had been willing to get up, to leave their son like this, or dare disturb the sensitive moment.
He'd never find out, though, about how they'd both had the underlying thought that they would sound horrible if they tried to talk on the phone right now, no matter how many times they cleared their throat.
He also wouldn't find out until he woke up the next he'd ended up passing out for the second time that day.
And it never did come up that Izuku hadn't slept a wink that night, but had also refused to leave his big brothers side. Thought Tenko wouldn't mind how much more sleepy and clingy the little bean was the entire next day.
Hit also never got brought up how Inko and Hisashi had hardly gotten a wink either, kept up by stress and trying to figure out the best way to deal with the situation. But once again, it was a bit hard to miss their exhausted demeanor the next day.
Tenko would pick up on the underlying tension in the home, on the stress in his parents shoulders, on the sadness in Izuku's eyes. On the fact that everyone in the house, including himself, despite having spent most of his time unconscious, looked on the verge of passing out any minute.
He didn't think he could miss, or ignore the problems he undoubtedly caused for everyone. He might never not feel guilty for what that day, and the next few ones were like for his family.
But it would be ok. They would be ok. Because they still had each other. They'd figure it out.
And they did. They did figure it out.
Maybe afterwards Hisashi had to do more with his legal job for money, and maybe Inko had to start working part time while the boys were at school. But that was ok, they always made time for Tenko and Izuku, no matter how exhausted they both were.
Maybe Tenko's mental health was decreasing just a bit, maybe the nightmares were coming back and the panic attacks were more frequent, maybe he was slowly thinking more and more thoughts that he didn't want to think. But that was ok, he could ignore that, and was learning how to hide it too. He didn't need to worry his family more.
Maybe the entire school turned against Tenko and Izuku after Kaimatsuo and Katsuki spread news of what happened, of Tenko's quirk and of Izuku being quirkless. Maybe the teasing and ignorance of the most other kids turned into fear and hatred and disgust from every student and staff member in the school. Maybe bullying and injuries became a daily thing for them both.
But their parents didn't need to know that. Their parents had enough to deal with. And they got plenty of fussing with each other. They took care of each other, and that was enough.
Not to mention the fact that, for who knows why, they still had their friends. Izuku still had Hitoshi, and eventually Shoto, who didn't go to their school, but didn't care that he was quirkless and had heard lots of stories about the the boy from Touya. And Tenko still had Touya, Keigo, and Rumi.
If their friends were around, they'd undoubtedly stick up for them and even get into fights for them. In turn, they often got picked on and insulted, if not as bad, for hanging out with the villain and the quirkless freak, along with other reasons like Hitoshi's quirk. But Tenko and Izuku were happy to stand up for them too.
Eventually, Touya and Tenko even came out to each other about their experiences with abuse. Tenko finally found himself trusting his best friend enough to open himself first, and it helped Touya to come out about it soon after. They were the only ones they told, though.
Except for Hisashi, because he needed to help Tenko get Touya out of that home. If only they could figure out how.
Either way, things were going ok. Maybe not great, but ok.
Tenko and Izuku could deal as long as they had each other, their parents and their friends. That's all they needed.
And that's how it stayed.
Until three years later, when Tenko turned thirteen and Izuku eight.
Why couldn't things ever just go right for Tenko? Why did the universe hate him?
He may never know.