The emptiness gnawed at his stomach, an incessant reminder of loss. It wasn't painful, just deeply unsettling, like a wrongness he couldn't shake. He despised it. So he did his best to focus on anything and everything else.

The stone-hard ground was cold beneath Tenko, chilling him even through his dirt-smudged clothes. The room around him was deathly quiet, filled only with the sound of his ragged breathing and the occasional bubble.

He sat curled around himself, knees against his chest, staring numbly at the dark tiled floor. His fists gripped a blanket around his shoulders—Kurogiri had given it to him—and he held it tight for warmth.

He was back in that large room where he'd first seen the Nomu, referred to as the Testing Room. Now, it was empty except for the lifeless pods lining the walls and the one pulled out in the center that contained something he dreaded.

Tenko sat there, back leaning against the standalone pod, his grip tightening until his knuckles turned white. He didn't dare look back at it. He already knew what was inside.

In the end, the plan had pretty much worked. Hisashi had managed to get close enough to All Might to touch him on the side with all five fingers. It was just for a second, but it was enough to cause severe damage. Tenko knew this all too well.

As soon as All Might was down from the blow, Hisashi tried to take the quirk. But something went terribly wrong.

Hisashi's expression twisted in shock, and it looked like he was battling an unseen force. All Might, too, seemed to struggle intensely. Tenko had no idea what was happening, but it was far worse than anything he had imagined.

Before he knew it, All Might was back on his feet, punching Hisashi away, sending him flying back. The hero clutched his side, clearly in pain, and the punch was weaker than before. Yet, he continued to fight, refusing to give up. And now he knew to avoid Hisashi's touch.

The rest of the fight went by in a blur for Tenko as he watched from a screen, unable to do anything but stand there. His fear and panic grew with each failed attempt by his father to gain the upper hand. All Might seemed to land punch after punch, while Tenko was frozen, useless without his quirk.

In a blink, All Might was standing over Hisashi, beaten and nearly unconscious. All Might was in rough shape too, but all Tenko could see was his father.

A hundred different images of the man flashed through Tenko's mind as All Might raised his fist. Hisashi smiling, crying, laughing, frowning. Hisashi disappointed, or proud, Hisashi being reassuring, or grumpy. The feeling of his hugs, and when he ruffled Tenko's hair. The sound of his voice when he called Tenko's name back in the alleyway, and when he apologized before they parted ways on the battlefield. All of it.

All Might opened his mouth, and though there was no audio, Tenko could still hear that booming yell, supposedly reassuring, echo in his skull. The fist slammed down right on Hisashi's head, and Tenko snapped.

He remembered screaming, moving. He remembered arms grabbing him and flailing. He remembered a blinding light from the screen. Then nothing.

Now he was here.

He'd been so certain Hisashi hadn't survived. Over and over again, he told himself that his father was dead. They had failed.

But then, somehow, Dr. Garaki had performed some miracle. They'd recovered the body and somehow brought him back. When Tenko asked, the only explanation the doctor had given was that it was a miracle thanks to the perfect combination of the quirks Hisashi had stored and the quirks the doctor kept for the Nomu. Regeneration mainly.

Now they had to wait for Hisashi's body to finish repairing itself inside the pod.

Tenko hated looking at it; it made him sick every time. His father's head was nearly gone, what remained was in pieces, exposing the inside. But he couldn't leave his father's side.

So he sat there, facing away and staring at the ground, but there. Waiting. Ready for when his father woke up. Whenever that would be.

He heard the two large doors in the corner of the room open and close with a bang that echoed around the room. He didn't look up as heavy footsteps approached until they stood next to him, facing the pod.

Dr. Garaki didn't say anything at first, just stared into the purple glow in silence. So long, in fact, that Tenko looked up at him questioningly.

Finally, he spoke. "It runs in the family, I suppose."

Tenko furrowed his eyebrows. "What does?"

"Bravery. Determination. A relentless drive to get what you desire."

Tenko stared at him for a minute, then looked back at the ground. "We're not really even related though."

"By blood," Garaki agreed, nodding. Then he finally looked at Tenko, their eyes meeting. The doctor's expression was carefully blank. "But does that make you not family?"

Tenko's eyes widened slightly. "What- no, that's not what I meant, I just…"

The man smiled beneath his bushy mustache, although it wasn't exactly kind. "I know what you meant."

Then the doctor turned away again, walked over to the side of the pod where a monitor was attached to watch the subject's levels, and started typing away.

Tenko looked back down again and started fiddling with his gloves. Even though he didn't really need them anymore, he didn't feel comfortable not wearing them. He'd worn them constantly for too long. He felt practically exposed without them.

And sometimes, when he saw them, they almost worked. They almost convinced him that everything was still normal. That he still had it. That there wasn't that dreadful feeling-

"You should probably head back home, you know," came the doctor's voice again.

Tenko paused, hesitated before answering. "I can't, yet."

"Why not? Your job here is done, there's nothing more you can do. And I'll let you all know as soon as he wakes up. Don't you want to go back to the rest of your family?"

Tenko clenched his fist, opening and closing it. He did. Of course, he did. He wanted to go home and hug his mom, ruffle Izuku's hair. He wanted to tell his mom everything that had happened. He wanted to fix things with Izuku. He wanted to be there for them and for them to be there for him. He wanted to go home.

"I just can't." He hated the crack in his voice, tried his best to sound firmer. "I can't leave him, not now, not like this. I have to be here."

He couldn't explain why. He knew it wouldn't really make much difference. And his mom and Izuku probably needed him way more than an unconscious Hisashi did. But he just couldn't bring himself to leave.

The doctor was silent for a long time, just typing and clicking away at the monitor, looking between the pod and the screen. Finally, he turned it off and backed away. "You've already been here several days. Your mother has to be worried sick." He didn't sound concerned, just stating the facts.

Tenko wished he hadn't. It made his stomach churn thinking about it. Not that he hadn't thought about it before. He could only imagine how much the anticipation was driving her crazy.

He just swallowed and stayed silent.

"Very well," the man said. "But we will not be telling her anything until your father wakes up."

Tenko sat up straight, his wide eyes darting to the man's. "What?" he said through gritted teeth.

"It's too dangerous to make any unnecessary trips. She'll find out what happened when you go back to tell her. Apparently, when he wakes up."

Anger boiled in Tenko's chest as his voice rose, echoing around the room. "But we have no idea how long that could be! It could be months, or years even!"

The doctor simply shrugged. "I'm sorry Tenko, but we can't take the risk. Perhaps you should have considered that before you made your decision to stay here with your father."

The man spun around and started to walk back towards the doors, his footsteps echoing. Tenko slumped, defeated, but his fists still clenched in frustration.

He decided then and there that he didn't like this doctor. He'd saved Hisashi's life in more than one way, sure. But he'd said it himself, everything he had relied on Hisashi. He needed him. He didn't really care. But there was nothing about that Tenko could do. Obviously, they needed him too.

His chest ached knowing that his mom would have no idea if he or his father were even alive for who knew how much longer because of him. But he couldn't change his mind, not now. So he just glared angrily at the back of the man's head as he walked away.

Then something clicked in his mind.

"Wait."

The doctor paused, just in front of the door, but didn't turn around.

Tenko squinted. "I know you."

Every time he'd seen the man, he'd gotten a strange sense of familiarity, like he knew him from somewhere. Sometime, some important moment. But just a moment. He hadn't been able to place his finger on it until now.

Tenko's glare hardened, went from burning hot to cold as ice. Maybe he shouldn't blame him, but he was already angry. So he did. "You were the doctor who diagnosed Izuku."

The man didn't say anything, didn't move for a long moment, continued to face the door. But Tenko got the strange, eerie impression he was smiling. Then he opened the door and walked through, it shut behind him with an echo.