Tenko hit the wall hard, the force of the push knocking him dizzy for a few seconds as he toppled to his knees.

"Get up and fight me, villain," sneered Kaimatsuo's voice from above him. "Or are you a coward, too?"

Tenko ground his teeth, but didn't move to get up. A foot landed on his shoulder and shoved him back again.

"Come on, your quirk nearly took out my arm! I know you can defend yourself, so stop being weak and get up! Fight me!"

Tenko didn't move, he didn't even look up at the boy.

"I said, fight me!" He yelled louder, almost right in his ear now. Tenko suppressed a flinch, but still didn't move as the empty classroom fell into silence again, aside from Kaimatsuo breathing angrily.

The other boy growled and Tenko heard the familiar zip noise before a spot on his forearm started to burn. He hissed and covered it with his palm, grimacing as he looked up at the boy's smoking finger.

Darn those laser fingers.

"Fine then, be like that," Kaimatsuo spun around and started to march towards the exit. "But don't you dare think your refusal to use your quirk will ever make you any more than a filthy villain. And I'll make sure you never forget it."

Tenko silently glared at the door as it slammed shut behind his classmate.

Most kids avoided him now a days, resorting to just whispering behind his back and as he passed by the halls, throwing insults every once in a while. But Kaimatsuo was the only one brave enough to go at him physically, becoming his main bully during the last three years. Maybe his long for revenge was greater then his fear of Tenko's quirk.

He wanted Tenko to use his quirk again, to make another mistake. Maybe so he could get him in trouble, maybe so he could prove that he really was a villain. He wasn't sure why, the whole school already believed that.

But Tenko wouldn't. He wouldn't let Kaimatsuo win, even if it meant taking the bullying. Besides, the last three years had yet to silence the voices of in the back of his head constantly whispering that he deserved it. He had almost killed the boy, after all.

He climbed to his feet, still holding the burned spot on his arm. At this point the sensation of Kaimatsuo's lasers was familiar, but still annoying painful.

He slowly lifted his palm to see the burned hole in his uniform sleeve, revealing the raw, red skin underneath. It hurt but it wasn't near as bad as he'd had before.

But if he didn't find another uniform or some excuse for the burn hole, he was gonna have trouble hiding this from mom and dad.

Of course the one time his friends had to go to the bathroom and he volunteered to stay behind and collect their stuff was when Kaimatsuo happened to pop in.

That was the moment that the door decided to burst back open, letting the chatter flood in from the crowded hallway, including the loud familiar bickering of Touya and Rumi as his three friends stepped inside.

Because the fire user and bunny were arguing, Keigo was the first to notice the obvious burn patch on his arm that he didn't bother covering for them. He'd learned long ago that he could hide nothing from them.

The bird brain looked between him and his arm and back again a few times before letting out a long, frustrated and annoyed sounding sigh. "Again?"

Tenko cocked and eyebrow and gestured at his arm sarcastically. "Yes, again."

Some part of that finally caught the arguing teens's attention as they both finally noticed the burn.

"I knew that jerk looked suspicious when we passed him in the hall," Touya grumbled, scowling as if the burn personally offended him. Maybe it did.

"It's fine, it's not that bad," he insisted, walking over to his desk and grabbing his bag. "I've got the stuff, I'll just run to the bathroom real quick and bandage it. I don't have another uniform with me though."

Keigo and Rumi traded glances that Tenko didn't try to decipher, and Touya hummed. "Let's switch shirts. We're about the same size and I have way better excuses for burns than you do if anyone at home asks."

Tenko looked at him, then smiled gratefully and nodded. "Thanks."

Touya nodded back and started back towards the door. "We'll meet you both out front when we're done."

"Alright, see ya guys!" Keigo waved as Tenko followed Touya out and they started down the hall.

As they walked, Tenko crossed his arms to keep the spot hidden from the other kids. He kept his eyes forward, but didn't miss the glances Touya sent him every once in a while.

Finally the now entirely white headed boy spoke. "You sure you're ok?"

Tenko nodded stiffly. "M' fine, burns a bit, but I've had worse."

Touya just hummed and they fell into silence again as they walked. Tenko couldn't tell if it was a tense silence or not. He had a feeling Touya felt tense. He just felt tired.

So, so tired.

Finally they reached the bathroom, and no one else was in there, so they just quickly started to pull off their jackets and shirts and swap. They both were careful not to let there gazes meet either torso. Neither wanted to know what was there.

At least, Tenko didn't. Maybe he was wrong to assume that about Touya too, because he eventually heard a small gasp. Tenko didn't look up at his friend, just grimaced slightly and started moving faster to get the shirt on over his head.

He knew the only thing that could have truly surprised Touya would have been the word. The kanji scribbled on his back in laser burned, messy handwriting.

モンスター

Monsutā.

He wasn't a monster. He wasn't evil. He wasn't what he'd been permanently labeled as, no matter how many times they all said it.

Maybe he hadn't given up on wanting to become a villain alongside his father, but villains weren't monsters.

He wanted to do for his father what his father did for him. He wanted to help his father fix the world. He wanted to make a difference, but not as a hero. Never as a hero.

He'd be a villain, maybe he already was a villain. But he wasn't a monster. He wasn't.

Right?

"Are you ok?"

Touya's quiet question snapped him out of his spiral of thoughts, and he looked up quickly to see Touya looking at him, bright teal eyes filled with concern, and hurt.

It took another minute for Tenko to realize Touya's hand was on his arm, the opposite of the one that had been burned. And then another minute after that for him to realize he was shaking, and breathing heavy.

He took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down, breathing slowly and closing his eyes for several minutes. He followed the pattern softly being tapped onto his wrist, until finally he felt stable enough and opened his eyes again.

He crossed his arms subconsciously, almost protectively, realizing that at some point he had finished putting his shirt and jacket on without realizing it. He backed away and pulled out of Touya's grip, keeping his eyes averted. "I'm fine, we should go."

"Tenko," Touya said, a bit firmer this time. "Your not fine, your hurt-"

"I already told you the burn wasn't that bad. I'll put the medicine on when I get home."

"I'm not talking about the burn anymore!"

Tenko went still from where he'd started to move towards the exit, but he still didn't look up at his friend.

Touya didn't move or speak again either, and the bathroom fell into a deathly silence. It made Tenko's ears ring, but he just bit down hard and waited.

Finally Touya sighed, if a bit shakily. "Your not- your not that, you know that, right?"

Tenko didn't speak.

"You're not a monster. You're not evil. You're not a villain."

This time Tenko tensed. "You don't know what you're talking about." His voice broke pathetically.

He didn't regret his choice to be a villain, he never would. But he did regret the fact that Touya hadn't given up yet on wanting to become a hero. Neither had Izuku, for that matter. And Tenko was scared of ending up against either of them. He wasn't sure he could do that, hurt them like that.

He couldn't just tell them, he couldn't make them understand. He didn't know what to do. They didn't understand.

"I do, Tenko! You're a good person, you just make mistakes. What happened wasn't your fault-"

"You don't understand!" Tenko finally looked up to meet Touya's eyes, and he looked surprised and Tenko's outburst. "You'll never understand, you don't know what I've done." What I will do.

Red eyes met blue ones. Two broken gazes, two devastated expressions, to heartbroken minds. But they weren't the same. Tenko was afraid, because they would never be the same.

Eventually arms embraced him, squeezed him tight, held him as he shook.

"You're not a bad person."

Another pause.

"You won't think that forever." Tenko sounded broken even to himself. "You'll realize eventually."

The embrace tightened, and Tenko didn't know if it was because Touya tensed, or if he did that on purpose to be reassuring. "Then so am I."

Tenko hiccuped. "No, no-"

"Yes." Touya sounded firm, and sure. "Whatever happens, we are the same. More than you know."

And Tenko cried.