True Hero Chapter 2

My Hero parody: Patreon Reward

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2 Big Bro?

Tenko was still shaken up about everything, his family was gone, but he had been saved. He had a quirk, but it was very dangerous. All the tests and talks he had to do, Inko was there for him through it all. The Quirk Therapist, helped him a lot by answering his biggest question. “How can I be a hero with a quirk like this?”

“I think that’ll be up to you Tenko-kun, quirks are a part of us. Your quirk happened to cause a terrible accident to occur, I think that’s all the more reason for you to use that quirk for good, use it save lives.”

“But how...all I can do is destroy!” He cried.

“Maybe, but its new, a part of you wanted to protect yourself and not fully knowing how. You’ve learned about your quirk, that’s the first step, now you just need to find something to protect.”

“Something to protect?”

“Oh yes, its different for everyone, but once a person has figured out what they wish to protect they can channel their inner power for something.” Still unsure about himself, he spoke to Inko as they left the facility.

“You want to become a hero?” He nodded. “And you don’t think you can?” He nodded again. “With your power I think you can become a great hero.”

“How?”

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but I don’t know.” She got down on his level. “I have a quirk and it’s not really hero material. After what happened I bet you think your power is scary, but you have a strong wish to be a hero in your heart. I believe…” She touched his hands. “With these hands you’ll find a way to save people.”

He began to tear up. “Now let’s get home, I bet Izuku is waiting for us.”

Tenko got nervous again. Inko had spoken of her son and how he loved heroes. She also spoke of her husband Hisashi, he was working over seas. He also had a quirk that didn’t really work as hero material, but he got a nice job that helped support the family. Shigaraki didn’t want to think ill of the man, but his dad left him with some baggage.

Inko had brought him into their family, and he was scared. His sister didn’t set the best example and left him with some trust issues. They arrived at their apartment complex. “Here we are Tenko, home sweet home!”

The door opened and a little Izuku Midoriya came rushing over. “Momma momma!” He bounced around like an excited bunny. It was hard for Tenko to even look at him because he was so cute and bright.

“We’re back Zuku!” She cooed. “Sweetie, this is Tenko, he’s gonna be living with us from now on!”

“Hello…” He whispered.

Izuku beamed. “Hi, so you’re Tenko, how old are you? Do you like heroes? What’s your quirk? Do you wanna be friends?” Midoriya bombarded him with questions.

Tenko suddenly got hit with panic. Fear that he’d be thrown out if he hurt Midoriya tore through him. He quickly hid behind Inko.

“Tenko-kun it’s okay. Zuku, he’s been through a lot, let’s take things slow okay.”

“Okay!” He bowed his head. “Sorry!”

“Okay…” This was gonna be an adjustment.

Over time he learned that Tenko did like heroes, his favorite was Eraser Head. He didn’t want to talk about his quirk. Tenko kept his distance from Izuku, mostly out of fear. He didn’t want to hurt, or worse, the boy and thus get kicked out.

Midoriya just continued to be really nice to him. He shared his favorite Hero, which was All Might, but he liked lots of heroes, he liked katsudon, and well he liked Tenko.

Inko hoped the boys would get along especially since they’d be sharing a room. Their apartment didn’t have a lot of room. Izuku showed Tenko around in his own childish way. “Why do you wear those gloves?”

“My quirk is...dangerous…”

“Ohh.” He didn’t ask further than that. What shocked Tenko more was that even admitting that didn’t seem to bother Izuku  or put any distance between them.

As days became weeks, the three got into a rhythm with each other. Izuku would go to school, Tenko would go to his quirk therapy sessions, the two getting to see each other in the mornings and evenings. Something Tenko noticed about Izuku was that he didn’t seem to have a quirk at all.

The boy would try to “practice” using a quirk but always failed. ‘Is he a late bloomer like me?’ From what he was learning in his quirk therapy sessions was that Izuku could have a mutating quirk like him. A quirk mutation happens rarely in an instance where the user has a totally unique/different quirk from his parents or family line. It’s very rare, and research into the phenomenon was limited. His family had no such powers, and yet he had this scary one.

The other option was Izuku had no quirk at all. ‘Maybe it’s better if he was quirkless.’ Tenko thought, looking at his hands.

-x-

Tenko was having a nightmare, more of a memory turned nightmare as he dreamed he lost control of his quirk and accidentally decayed Inko and Izuku. He woke up and checked to see if he was still wearing his gloves, he was.

Then he felt rustling in his bed. Izuku had crawled in and Tenko’s blood ran cold, immediately checking the gloves again. “What are you doing here?”

“You were having a nightmare.” Midoriya cuddled up to him. “But it’s okay, I’m here!” He yawned. This scene was even cuter given his All Might pajamas. “No more...bad dreams…zzz…”

‘That’s not even fair…’ He hugged Izuku and fell back asleep. Having Izuku there helped him sleep peacefully.

-x-

They both got an allowance, Izuku spent his on All Might and hero merch, while Tenko got video games. He was very good at them. It was something the two got to bond over.

As weeks became months, Tenko was slowly opening up more and more. There was still a part of him that feared that this happiness would suddenly end. Izuku would often go play with the neighborhood kids, but Tenko wouldn’t join him.

Playing and rushing around he could lose a glove and accidentally touch someone and it’d be all over. It was a concern that was even keeping him out of school. Midoriya would go play, but come back and tell Tenko about everything.

They went “Villain Hunting” which was just a childish version of bug catching. He talked to him about school, and his friend Kacchan.

Tenko got new gloves as a way of having some comfort and control over his quirk. Each glove covered at least two of his fingers, he kept his original ones for bed, but used gloves that covered his ring and pinky for games, and a glove that covered his middle and ring finger for eating. It was a small thing but it gave the boy something.

He could at least answer Izuku and claim they were friends.

-x-

Izuku...was quirkless…

They had a doctor visit and after some tests, the doctor claimed there was no hope. Midoriya had an extra joint in his foot, which other quirkless people had, but people with quirks didn’t. So it was seen as a matter of fact Izuku was quirkless, and his chances of becoming a hero were zero…

“Izuku…” Tenko was shocked to see the green haired boy so shaken, hee was like a zombie.

“Tenko-kun, Izuku is quirkless, the doctors confirmed it today he’s taking it pretty hard.” Tenko felt bad, as he thought it’d have been better if he was quirkless. Now that he was, it felt wrong.

Izuku wanted to be a hero so badly. Inko gave him some extra computer time, and he kept watching an old All Might video. Tenko could hear him sniffling and sobbing.

“Mom...Tenko...even if I don’t have a quirk...do you think...I can still be a hero?” Inko apologized, while Shigaraki stayed silent. He didn’t know what to say or do, seeing Midoriya cry hurt him, hurt him more than he thought it would.

The next day…

“I’ll show you my quirk.” It lifted Izuku’s spirits.

“Really?!” Tenko nodded and Midoriya got a notebook.

He removed his glove and touched a box of take out. In seconds it was decayed and reduced to nothing. “Whoa?”

“See, scary right. I can’t be a hero even with a quirk, not with a dangerous quirk like this.” Shigaraki said but Izuku began to nerd out.

“That’s so cool!” Izuku began writing down notes.

“What?!” Tenko gasped.

“That’s a super awesome quirk, you can do so much with it!” He began to mutter as his fanboy brain went into overdrive. “You can decay weapons and armor crippling villains who rely on support gear. If you needed to infiltrate a villain’s lair you can decay walls and create surprise entrances and even escape routes if the villain laid a trap. If there was a collapsed building you could use your decay to clear away debris to help rescue people. For fire rescue you could clear a path in and out of the building so fast!”

“Izuku you don’t understand...I could...badly hurt someone...my quirk is dangerous I can’t be…” Izuku touched his hand.

“A lot of quirks can hurt people, it’s scary, but they can also do a lot of good with it to. You don’t wanna hurt people, so I don’t think you will, you’ll be a great hero Tenko!” He blushed, as the words hit him right in the heart.

Izuku believed in him, believed in his dream. “If you think I can do it, then I’ll try my best!” The greenette worked on his first hero notebook.

“I should study heroes, maybe I can figure out a way to become one even without a quirk...maybe…” He began to tear up.

“You can be a hero too, even if you don’t have a quirk you’ll find a way, we’ll find a way!” He put his glove back on and hugged Midoriya.

So began Izuku’s line of hero notebooks. Tenko began opening up in Therapy, and working on trying to figure out how to control his quirk. This resulted in him needed to think about the accident which hurt. He had some really bad days, but Midoriya and Inko were there to help lift him out of the darkness.

-x-

A few months after this bonding moment, Izuku was invited to the park by Katsuki and his friends. “Do you wanna come Tenko?”

“I...sure…” He smiled.

“Yay!” Midoriya hugged him and they went to the park together.

“Oi Deku who’s he?” Katsuki and the others eyes Tenko.

“This is my Big Brother Tenko!” Izuku proudly declared. “He’s the one I’ve been telling you guys about!”

‘Big brother…’ Tenko blushed, feeling his heart flutter at the title.

“Wow he’s real? I thought Midoriya was making him up.”

“Or had some imaginary friend!” Two of the boys laughed.

Bakugou eyed him. ‘So he’s the boy Auntie Inko adopted.’ He heard about it from his mom.

They began to play. “Izuku, do you really see me as a big brother?”

“Of course, you are family, you are my big brother!” He smiled brightly and it deeply touched Tenko, he cried tears of joy. “Is that bad?”

“No...not at all…” He was really happy.

Things were going really well, until another kid stepped into the ring as Katsuki. The guys were using an area to play and this other kid wanted them to move. When they refused, the kid used his quirk Slip Track, which made the ground slippery. The guys slipped and fell and the kid laughed. He had no idea who he was messing with as Katsuki didn’t know a lot about restraint. “You are so dead!”

Katsuki fought him.

The kid started to cry which got the attention of Izuku. He ran over to see what happened. “That’s enough Kacchan he’s crying!”

“It’s his fault, he was trying to force us out of our spot.”

“Well you proved your point you can stop now!”

“Not yet, he needs to learn not to mess with us again.”

“Don’t be so mean, he’s already crying!”

“You sticking up for this loser!”

“If I have to, I’ll stop you!”

“And what are you gonna do, you don’t even have a quirk!” The boy with long fingers said.

“Yeah, you are lucky Katsuki even lets you hang out with us!” The boy with wings said.

“You really gonna do this Deku, I won’t show mercy, not even to you!” Izuku took a fighting stance. He was clearly scared but wasn’t backing down.

Tenko was getting a drink from the fountain when he heard the ruckus. When he looked to see what was happening something inside him snapped. He saw three boys ganging up on his little brother. They were even using their quirks. ‘They wanna play that game fine then!’

He removed his glove. “Hey knock it off!” He yelled.

Then tragedy struck as the boy with long fingers pushed Izuku, the ground was slicked because of the quirk and Midoriya went zooming back towards Tenko. ‘No…’ His eyes widened.

They were gonna collide, even if he caught Izuku, the chances of touching him with all five fingers was high...nearly impossible to stop. ‘No…’ The image of Izuku decaying broke Tenko’s heart. ‘Not again...please quirk...don’t activate I don’t wanna lose my family again…’

He had something/someone he wished to protect. That powerful emotion allowed his quirk to mature and…

Crash…

“Big bro?” His eyes had been screwed shut. “Tenko?”

He opened his eyes and he was touching Izuku, he was fine. ‘My quirk?’ He was in shock. Shigaraki closed his eyes and touched the ground and Decay activated causing the ground to wither.

That scared the little shits and made them back off. He took a deep breath and touched something else and it didn’t decay. “Izuku…”

“You did it! You controlled it!” He did, he really did! It was fleeting but it was a step in the right direction and prevented the worst possible outcome. Fear and Rage made his quirk manifest and go out of control. It was through the loving environment Inko and Izuku provided Tenko was able to grow.

His feelings for Izuku, his desire to protect him helped him grasp a level of control he hadn’t found in therapy. He’d still need to work on it but thinking of Izuku helped. “This is quite the breakthrough, what do you think triggered it.”

“I’m a big brother now, and my little brother was in danger and I needed to protect him.” He said proudly.

To be continued