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Natsuo is well aware that the clinic he is shadowing at is both underfunded and not in the best of neighborhoods, which is why he’s not much surprised when he’s checking out for the day, and he notices the door to the medical supply closet hanging open with the light on inside.
“Hello?” he calls out, swinging the door open wider.
A white-haired guy wearing a ratty black hoodie jerks up, glaring at him with red eyes. He’s around the same age as Natsuo and—doesn’t look particularly healthy, with cracked lips, scars on his face and across his mouth, and he has one hand frantically scratching at his bleeding neck while the other is reaching out towards him.
Natsuo neatly steps back a bit, holding up his hands (he should probably call security, but—this guy didn’t even try to go for the meds, so he probably isn’t a junkie; he must be in a bad state to be trying to raid a clinic medical supply cabinet in the first place). “Hey, you looking for a doctor?” he asks in the friendliest tone he can muster.
The guy stops, peering at him with narrowed eyes. “…yes?” he says slowly, his voice hoarse.
“Well, all the doctors have left now—but I’m a pre-med student, I can try to help?” Natsuo suggests.
The guy looks fairly dubious at the idea, crossing his arms in front of him.
Natsuo steps forward regardless. “Your neck is going to get infected. Let’s go somewhere with more light, and I can disinfect it and wrap it up for you.”
The guy sneers at him, “So you can call the cops?”
“I’m not going to call the cops,” Natsuo says, taking out his cellphone to pointedly show it to him before placing it on the windowsill. “Besides—you think if I call the cops here, they’re going to arrive any time soon?”
“Pro-heroes then,” the guy says, grudgingly sitting down.
Natsuo snorts, walking over. “They don’t show up for stuff like this,” he says contemptuously. “Not enough glory to hoard.”
The guy’s head tilts as he carefully watches Natsuo rummage through the medical supplies to pick out the right disinfectants, medicinal salves, and bandages. “…You don’t like pro-heroes?” he asks carefully.
Natsuo shrugs, turning around with the supplies he needs. “Some of them are alright. A lot of them aren’t there for the right reasons though. Just there for the fame and glory, and they don’t care about who they trample on along the way.”
(He’s pretty sure his father wouldn’t even blink before sacrificing his entire family for the chance to definitively beat All Might just once.
After all, hadn’t Touya and their mother already been sacrificed on the pyre of his ambition?
And hadn’t no one cared?)
“That’s not an opinion you hear a lot,” the guy says, leaning back and letting Natsuo apply disinfectant to his neck.
Natsuo sneers, “Because it’s not a popular one, I know. Doesn’t make me wrong though.”
“…No,” the guy says, his tone suddenly much warmer as Natsuo finishes putting the salve on his neck and bandaging him up. “It doesn’t. Pro-heroes… sometimes they ignore problems that are right in front of them.”
Natsuo pauses, looking more closely at the guy.
(He’s just been whining away when this guy looks like he doesn’t even have a place to stay—and really, wouldn’t a homeless person know better than him how pro-heroes and society can just look away from things they don’t want to see?)
“I’m Natsuo,” he introduces himself, sticking his hand out.
“…Tenko,” the guy says, briefly touching his hand with his fingers before drawing away.
“You need anything, just hit me up for it,” Natsuo decides, packing some bandages and salves into a bag for him. “It’ll be faster that way.”
(And will also make it less likely that this poor guy could get arrested.)
“You have that much money to throw around?” Tenko sneers.
“Yeah,” Natsuo says plainly. “I have an asshole dad who’s really rich. Help me spend some of his money?”
Tenko looks taken aback, a chuckle forcing its way through his cracked lips. “…Alright.”
--
Tenko doesn’t have a set schedule for when he’ll swing by, but he does tend to appear every two weeks or so, and even if the other boy doesn’t talk much, Natsuo is patient and tries to draw him out. As time goes by, he seems to relax with the realization that Natsuo really isn’t going to send the police after him—he listens and adds caustic remarks, and Natsuo finds himself confiding in him all the ugly things he can’t talk about with anyone else.
(His mother is fragile, Fuyumi only wants a reconciliation, Shouto is practically a stranger, his friends wouldn’t understand, and Touya—
Touya is gone.)
“Your dad had the nerve to just walk in and demand you guys all forgive him?” Tenko sneers. “You didn’t tell him where he could go shove himself?”
“Wanted to, but my sister was there,” Natsuo shrugs, applying the salve to Tenko’s neck. “And she’s—well, you know, she really wants us all to get along.”
Tenko is silent for a while before softly saying, “…yeah, I guess that’s sisters.”
“Oh, you have one too?” Natsuo asks in surprise.
(Prying out private information from Tenko is like removing teeth, but he supposes he can’t say much since he still hasn’t told Tenko his last name or the fact that his dad is Endeavor.
It’s—nice, him not knowing that part of his life that tends to overshadow all the rest.)
“Had one,” Tenko says quietly.
“Oh. I’m so sorry,” Natsuo says, biting his lip as he grabs the bandages.
“Why? You weren’t the one that killed her,” Tenko says harshly, staring at his own hands.
“Still. I know—how much it sucks to lose a sibling,” Natsuo says softly as he places the bandages on Tenko’s neck.
Tenko cranes his neck to look at him, “…You too?”
Natsuo nods. “I had an older brother once. He was such an edgelord, but—I miss him.”
“…My sister promised me we would be heroes together. Lame, right?” Tenko asks, his scarred mouth twisting.
(Tenko, for all his bitterness and schemes, still has a firm sense of justice that shines out when he rants against the way pro-hero society ignores the fringes of society in favor of fame and glory.
Natsuo wishes more people thought like he did.)
“You still could,” Natsuo says.
Tenko lets out a harsh bark of laughter, “Oh—that’s definitely not possible for me anymore. Speaking of which—I’m going to be away for the next month or so for some… training.”
“Like for a job?”
“You could say that,” Tenko says, shrugging back on his ragged hoodie.
“Well—be safe until I see you again!” Natsuo says earnestly.
Tenko nods, picking at the edges of his hoodie, “I have some—friends now. They’ll be with me, and—I think it’ll be good.”
Tenko has mentioned these friends before, and even if they sound like an odd bunch, they are apparently very loyal, so it’s reassuring that he’ll have them with him.
“That’s good! I’ll miss you, and remember those breathing exercises I taught you—and here, take these,” Natsuo says, grabbing salves, bandages, disinfectant, ibuprofen, antibiotics, and homemade riceballs, dumping them all into a bag to hand to Tenko.
Tenko looks startled, limply taking the bag, “…You’ll miss me?” he asks hoarsely.
“Well—it’s easy to talk to you,” Natsuo says honestly. “You won’t miss me?”
“…Maybe,” Tenko mumbles, looking away.
Natsuo grins and claps him on the back, “Well, good luck with your training! Hopefully you’ll drop by again soon!”
Tenko stares at him before nodding and walking away.
It’s not until a month later that Natsuo is closing up the clinic when someone in a suit walks up.
“Can I help you?” Natsuo asks politely, locking the doors and not bothering to turn around.
“I’m back,” Tenko’s voice says softly.
Natsuo whirls around to see Tenko, white hair smoothed and actually combed, black suit clinging tastefully to his body, and his skin a slightly more healthy color than he’s ever seen it—
(Holy shit, Tenko actually looked kind of hot like this?
It was—really a total glow-up.)
“Natsuo,” Tenko prompts, staring at him.
Natsuo snaps out of his daze and laughs, walking forward to give him a quick hug. “You’re back! Wow, look at you! You look—really good! I’m really glad you’re back!”
Tenko stiffens at his touch but doesn’t pull away. “Really?” he asks softly.
“Yeah!” Natsuo affirms, pulling back (wow, and he even smelled like some kind of cologne now). “You won’t believe all the shit’s that’s been happening.”
“Your dad being an asshole as always, and your volleyball team probably winning?”
“Right on both counts!” Natsuo says, opening up the storage closet again. “Is there anything you need? More ointment? Actual food? Sorry about the riceballs, I made them for lunch, and they were the only ones I had—”
“I liked them. And we’ve—I’ve got medicine and supplies now. I really—should pay you back for everything you’ve already given us,” Shigaraki says, scratching at his neck.
Natsuo laughs and locks up the storage closet again. “No need, we’re trying to use up my dad’s money, remember?”
“Yeah, but—do you want to—get coffee sometime?” Tenko says, his words rushing out.
Natsuo blinks.
(He—
He has to admit, this was the last thing he was expecting from Tenko.
He had never thought about him that way exactly—even if Tenko was surprisingly easy to talk to about hard things and actually liked his cooking, Tenko had enough on his plate without adding feelings into the mix.
But—it seemed like Tenko was now in a better state.)
“Sure,” he says easily, a big grin appearing on his face. “Next Saturday okay? I have a tournament this weekend.”
A small smile appears on Tenko’s face as well as he nods. “Yeah. From Afar coffee shop okay? I heard it’s nice.”
“Yeah!” Natsuo confirms, flattered that it sounded like Tenko had actually consulted someone about date locations. “That sounds great!”
“Good. I—” the cellphone in Tenko’s pocket goes off, and Tenko frowns as he pinches it between two fingers and answers it.
“What?” he snaps.
After listening for a bit, he pinches the bridge of his nose, “Okay, I’ll be right there.”
“Do you have to go already?” Natsuo asks as Tenko snaps his cellphone shut and tucks it away.
“Sorry, yeah—workplace issue. But I’ll—see you next week?” Tenko asks, biting his lip.
“Definitely,” Natsuo promises, with a nod and what he is pretty sure is a stupid grin on his face.
Tenko also smiles and says his farewells, and Natsuo is left with his whirl of thoughts.
(He has a date.
Oh god, he has a date with Tenko.
Who is a guy.
Endeavor is going to explode if he finds out.)
He covers his smile and warm cheeks with his hands, and there’s a shuffling sound behind him.
“Hi~~” a girl’s voice rings out.
Natsuo blinks and turns around to see a short blonde teenage girl smiling widely at him.
“Hello,” he says. “Can I help you?”
“Oh definitely,” she giggles, her hand coming up and—
Darkness.
--
“—and so I found out who he was, and he’ll make a fantastic ransom!” a girl’s voice said as Natsuo groggily comes to.
“What the fuck Toga,” snapped a voice that sounded like—Tenko’s?
“Awww come on, Shigaraki-chan!” the girl whines. “We can get so much money from Endeavor—”
“Why would Endeavor care about some random medical student?”
“Um, because he’s his son?”
There was silence for a bit, and Natsuo manages to open his eyes to see—
There’s the blonde girl who had appeared before him and who was now twirling around a knife, Tenko who bizarrely had what looked like hands on him and staring at him with a stricken expression (why is he here?), some guy wearing a mask and a top hat, a lizard guy with a big sword glaring at him, a guy in a grey and black bodysuit, and a dark-haired man with burn scars across his face and the edgiest coat he had ever seen—
Wait, wasn’t that Dabi ?
The guy who had tried to kill his dad?
(Sometimes he wonders if it would be better if he had succeeded.)
Then, aren’t these people the League of Villains ?
Had Tenko gotten kidnapped too???
He struggles in his bonds and tries to ice them, but they hold tight.
“Tenko!” he yells, trying to stand up, “Hey, don’t worry—”
“Why is he calling you by your real name, Shigaraki-chan?” the blonde girl asks, tilting her head to the side.
(What.
What.
Shigaraki?
As in Shigaraki Tomura, leader of the League of Villains? The one who had repeatedly attacked Shouto’s class and unleashed terrifying monsters on cities?
That’s who he has been confiding in this entire time?
But—that didn’t make sense—Tenko had been practically homeless, he hadn’t even had the money for proper food, all he had were some odd good friends and his weird way of picking at things with only two fingers at once—
Like these weird people?
Like you would if you had a decay quirk that activated with all five fingers around something?)
“Ten—Tenko,” he still calls out, looking around, “What—what’s going on? Why are you with these people?”
Tenko’s jaw clenches, “I could ask you the same thing. When were you going to mention you were a Todoroki , Natsuo?”
(Oh fuck.)
“When were you going to tell me your name isn’t even Tenko?” he shoots back, not even sure if he’s more angry or dismayed at this point (of course the only person who he thought really understood him turned out to be a villain). “Before or after going out for coffee?”
“You two were going out for coffee? ” Dabi suddenly speaks up in a raspy voice.
(He sounded—weirdly familiar.)
Tenko—Shigaraki glares at Dabi before turning back to Natsuo. “Natsu—look, I—”
All of their phones beep. The lizard guy glances down at his and says, “Hey boss, looks like Redestro really wants to meet now.”
Shigaraki hisses in annoyance, “ Now ? Ugh—Spinner, take Natsu up to one of the safe rooms—make sure no one sees him, and make sure nothing happens to him—”
“I’ll take him,” Dabi steps forward (and why does that also look strangely familiar?). “You can take Spinner with you so you don’t end up disintegrating Redestro.”
“Since when do you care?” Shigaraki sneers. “Fine, just—if anything happens to him, I’ll hold you responsible, got it?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Dabi mutters, grabbing Natsuo and shoving him forward. “Come on.”
Natsuo obediently follows the villain for a bit, waiting until they get into an empty hallway and then quickly moving so that he can dart up to Dabi, slam into his side with his shoulder, and attempt to freeze him.
Dabi groans at the impact, but the ice—doesn’t seem to touch him at all. It freezes, but doesn’t catch—much in the way ice works against himself or his mother.
“What the fuck , Natsu,” he spits out, glaring at him with his piercing blue eyes.
Natsuo stares at him.
(Ice resistance, a blue fire quirk, the edgiest coat known to mankind, that moniker that means cremation, a familiar voice calling out his name, and blue eyes like their father’s—
Touya. )
“T—Touya?” he asks disbelievingly, not sure if he was going crazy (first Tenko, now this?). “You’re—you’re alive ?”
Touya turns away from him, rubbing his shoulder. “…I wouldn’t say that,” he says quietly. “Let’s go, quickly, Hawks can take you away from the roof.”
“ Hawks? Why is he here—no, the more important thing is, why are you here?” Natsuo asks, walking up to him. “Why didn’t you come back home? And—you tried to kill dad—”
“ He deserves it ,” Touya hisses out, his eyes narrowed into slits, and his fists clenched at his sides. “What, now that he’s gotten everything he wanted, now he gets to turn around and pretend that everything is in the past, and we should move on? We should just accept that he’s a ‘changed man’? Exactly how are we supposed to just forget everything that he did?”
(And even before he had seen the scars his brother now bears, isn’t that exactly what Natsuo himself had argued with Fuyumi?
If she wants to give him a chance, fine, that’s up to her, but he—
He can’t forget, and he doesn’t think he has it in him to forgive Endeavor for all the harm he wreaked and being the monster of all their nightmares.
He’s still not sure he wants him dead, though—and he does know that now that he knows Touya is actually still alive , he wants him to stay that way.)
“Come home,” Natsuo immediately urges, “Come home, Touya.”
“…There’s no place for me there anymore, and the most important thing right now is getting you away from this place,” Touya says, glaring up at him. “And after that, I don’t care what kind of weird relationship you have with him—stay away from Shigaraki.”
Natsuo frowns. “There’s always a place with us—we’ve missed you so much, and—look, come back with me, and then we can figure out what to do about dad, and you can complain all you like about my taste in partners then—”
“ Partners ?” Touya asks in a horrified tone. “No—Fuyumi doesn’t know about this, does she? Even if you somehow convinced her, as your eldest brother, I forbid it.”
Natsuo grits his teeth. Somehow, he had forgotten how annoying Touya could sometimes be.“You don’t get to just waltz in and decide that Touya—”
“Especially when I’m still technically your boss, Touya ,” Shigaraki says, suddenly appearing in the hallway.
They both whirl around, and Touya immediately moves so that Natsuo is behind him.
“Just let him go, Shigaraki,” Touya snarls, blue fire flickering to life in his hands, “or else I’ll light this entire place on fire.”
“I came here to let him go,” Shigaraki snaps. “I just didn’t expect that you were also trying to do that. And you’re related to him?”
“What’s it to you?” Touya demands, jutting his chin out.
“I knew it. I just knew you were hiding some weird hero background, and my god—”
“Okay, stop,” Natsuo says, stepping out before the two could start brawling and attempting to make a conciliatory gesture with his shoulders since his hands were still tied behind his back.
“First off—you remember that deceased edgelord older brother I mentioned before, Tenko? Not as deceased as I thought,” Natsuo says, nodding at Touya. “And secondly; what the fuck, Tenko. You’re a supervillain? That’s the ‘job’ you went to go train for? What, were you always planning on getting your friends to kidnap me for ransom or something?”
“No!” Shigaraki bursts out, looking genuinely distraught. “I didn’t even know your last name until today! I just—you were nice and—Toga got the completely wrong idea and decided to kidnap you—”
“And now Hawks is going to take him home, and you’re never going to see him again,” Touya interrupts, attempting to pull Natsuo forward.
Natsuo stands his ground and refuses to budge. “And—now what? You’re just going to—try to kill my dad and my little brother and other people, and you expect me to be okay with that?”
“…No. That’s— you also said you didn’t like the pro-hero society we live in!” Shigaraki says, scratching spastically at his neck.
“Yeah no, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I want to kill everyone in it!”
“I don’t—maybe I’ve changed our plans, have you ever thought of that?” Shigaraki demands.
“To what? To just not targeting my family? I wouldn’t be okay with that either!” Natsuo yells, “In fact, that would be worse!”
(How did he get involved with someone that was potentially even worse than his father?
What did it say about him that even knowing all this—even knowing who he is and what he has done—he still wants to reach out and smooth that hurt expression on Tenko—no, Shigaraki’s face?
After all, this is the same guy who will eat the leftover black licorice candy even if he doesn’t like it, who talked about his friends and his sister so fondly, who actually listened to him and had actually appreciated his rage against the pro-hero community—
Well, now he knows why, doesn’t he?)
“No, how dumb do you think I am?” Shigaraki grimaces, running a hand through his hair. “I—we’re planning to overthrow the current world order, that’s true. And, yeah, maybe our means haven’t been so great so far, but this time—this time it’ll be much more targeted. This time I’ll go in personally and bring down the hero commission itself.”
(That’s—
Can he believe him?
He’s already lied about who he was and his name and his job, but—
But he still thinks he knows the core of who Shigaraki is despite all that.
He’s anger and rage against the society that ignored him when he was in need, but at the exact same time, he is fiercely loyal and cares greatly for those that he has decided are his.
He schemes, and he plans, but—but there’s still a certain sense of tarnished honor to him, even then.
There’s a reason Natsuo had thought he would have made a great hero.
He’s not a fan of the hero commission given everything they have helped his father cover up, but—he’s not sure if he wants them to die either.
Still, that would be better than what they were doing before, wouldn’t it?
And—if he sticks around, could he maybe talk him down even further?)
“…are you going to kill all of them?” he asks directly.
Shigaraki shifts in place, “…we can talk about that?” he offers.
“You’re about to upend all your plans so you can date my brother?” Touya asks flatly, his voice suddenly cutting in again.
“Like you aren’t on the verge of selling out so you can get some bird dick,” Shigaraki sneers.
“Wait—are you and Hawks together ?” Natsuo asks excitedly, turning to his brother (okay, this he could get behind; Hawks has been his favorite hero ever since he had publicly told off Endeavor at the Hero Billboard). “Oh my god , how did that happen?”
Touya pauses then shrugs, reaching out to untie Natsuo’s hands. “…Never you mind, it’s time for you to get out of here before some MLA goons start snooping around.”
Shigaraki nods. “You’re making Hawks take him?”
“I’m not leaving until you agree to see us again—you have to at least see Fuyumi,” Natsuo pleads with Touya before looking over his shoulder at Shigaraki, “And you—I’ll talk to you at the café.”
Shigaraki’s eyes brighten. “You’re—you’re still coming?”
“No, he’s not,” Touya insists, glaring at both of them, putting himself between them again.
Natsuo moves Touya aside. “How else can I make sure you’re not about to kill everyone? I’ll be there.”
Shigaraki frowns a bit but still nods, “…Fine.”
“Absolutely not,” Touya declares, grabbing Natsuo’s shoulder, “You are not about to date a villain—”
“But you can run around being one?” Natsuo demands, shrugging Touya’s grasp off. “And—you can’t suddenly start acting like my big brother again, Touya, unless you’re actually willing to come and see us.”
“He’s got a point,” another voice rings out, and— Hawks comes walking out of the doorway in front of them.
“Stay out of this Hawks,” Touya hisses, his expression complicated.
“Can’t since you’re asking me to take him back home,” Hawks points out, casually reaching his hand out. “Hi, I’m Hawks.”
“Todoroki Natsuo, big fan!” Natsuo enthuses, shaking Hawks’ hand. “But I’m not going until Touya promises.”
“Dabi, any minute Spinner’s not going to be able to hold off Redestro anymore, and he’s going to come up here looking for what’s got us all so preoccupied, so hurry up and promise,” Shigaraki orders.
“…Fine. I’ll—come and see you on campus sometime,” Touya finally says, crossing his arms. “Now will you just go?”
“Promise?” Natsuo insists, planting his feet even as Hawks’ feathers tug at him to leave.
“I promise, now go. Hawks, take him back to his dorm,” Touya instructs.
“See you next week, Ten—Shigaraki,” Natsuo calls out over his shoulder as Hawks begins to hustle him out.
“Yeah, and—you can still call me Tenko if you like,” Shigaraki mumbles, looking down at his feet.
The last thing Natsuo hears from them before Hawks takes off is Touya muttering, “Oh my god .”
“Shigaraki, huh?” Hawks comments, holding him steadily around his waist, his wings powerfully bearing them forward. “You Todoroki boys sure know how to pick the guys that will most piss off your dad.”
“You knew?” Natsuo asks, twisting up to look at him. “About Dabi being Touya?”
“Just recently,” Hawks shrugs. “It’s—a lot to take in.”
“So—you’re working with them,” Natsuo says slowly. “And you’re dating my brother.”
“It’s—complicated. Let’s just say—I’ll make sure no harm comes to Touya—and I’m trying to talk him down from his more extreme plans. I think we’ll have a lot to talk about in the future if you’re still committed to going out for coffee with Shigaraki,” Hawks says, his eyes intent on him.
(Talking down a traumatized man from certain destruction with possibly the fate of hero society in his hands—no pressure or anything.
But—he has seen the way Tenko cares about things, about justice and heroism, and looking at it now, he can sort of see how he’s still working towards that, even now.
He could be delusional, but—he thinks he sees something good in him, and he’ll try his best to make sure that part of him prevails.
He may have never counted as anything in Endeavor’s eyes, but if there’s one thing Natsuo knows he’s good at, it’s relating to people and getting them to talk things through.
Plus, now he has Touya back and Hawks on his side.
The cards may still be mostly stacked against him, but he still has to try.)
“We do,” Natsuo agrees. “What do you suggest?”