Chapter Text
{Tenya’s POV}
It was finally the end of my last class, usually, I would stay behind just a bit to speak to my friends. But today I had plans to visit my big brother Tensei, he had just gotten out of yet another surgery and I wanted to be by his bedside to cheer him up. Things haven't quite been the same since what the hero killer did to him, but I was still so grateful he was still here and his chance of walking again was growing so that was great.
My parents already knew that I was planning on visiting Tensei, they had sent a car to pick me up from school and drive me to the hospital. They would have joined me in seeing him but they had important work to get done.
“Ready to visit Master Tensei, Master Tenya?” Mr. Nishikawa came into view, holding the car door open for me.
Mr. Nishikawa was an assistant to my father, though he’s been with us so long he was practically family. He started working for my father during his earlier hero years, he always knew exactly when and what was needed of him. We’ve tried to get him to retire and enjoy his senior years but he refused no matter what and continued to work for us, there was nothing we could say to deter him.
The man was always prepared and ready to do his job, barely had I ever seen him not in his signature black suit and bowtie. His mid-length silver hair was neatly parted, his mustache and beard groomed and maintained. Chestnut brown eyes almost always held a comforting wise gaze.
“I’m always ready to see my brother, Mr. Nishikawa,” I replied stepping into the classic vintage black Bentley.
“Ah yes, I believe he woke up from surgery about two hours ago, so I’m sure he’s hungry for a good meal. I made his favorite.” Mr. Nishikawa said going around the car and hopping into the driver's seat.
“How are Mom and Dad doing?” I asked, looking out the window as Nishikawa began to drive away from the school.
The last time I had seen my parents was last weekend, we’ve all been seeing less of our families lately. After recent villain attacks and incidents Principal Nezu decided to start a dorms program, we would live on campus and visit our families on the weekends.
“They do miss you very much and wish they could be here as well, but unfortunately work has been taking a toll on their scheduling.”.
“Anyway, how was school, Master Tenya?” He asked, his eyes never leaving the road.
“It is going as well as it can be, now that we have dorms we are trying to get used to everyone's daily routines and habits. Gossiping is rude and unbecoming, but I will say it is a bit frustrating.” I was not wrong about this, classmates were getting at each other's throats for certain things. Like leaving dishes out or people playing loud music in the dead of night.
“I see, but you are the class representative. Maybe it would be best to bring them together, work out differences and come to a compromise.” Mr. Nishikawa said, turning into the road that led to the hospital.
“You’re right, that’s great advice, Mr. Nishikawa, thank you. I will have to bring this up with Yaoyorozu when I’m back at the dorms.”.
“Of course, Master Tenya. Take Master Tensei’s food with you, I shall park the car.” He said reaching into the back seat and grabbing the container holding Tensei’s meal, handing it to me.
“I’ll see you inside, Mr. Nishikawa!” I called out waving as I stepped out of the car, heading inside to speak to the receptionist.
The receptionist Miss Fujimura, greeted me as usual as a frequent visitor. She gave me a name tag and sent me to Tensei’s room. I had to have a specific name tag to get there, he was in the hero ward, so only known family or friends could enter.
Knocking on the door I couldn’t stop the smile from gracing my lips when I heard my brother’s optimistic voice. “Come in.”
“Hello Tensei, how are you feeling?” I say as I open the door.
“Little brother, oh I’m so glad to see you. I’m feeling bored as always in this stuffy place, wait do I smell-.” He gave a quick sniff before groaning in delight.
“Is that curry rice I smell?” Tensei’s eyes brightened as he saw the container I was holding.
“Yep, Mr. Nishikawa made your favorite,” I said placing the container on his bedside table.
“Thank Kami, all I’ve had to eat was this dry flavorless hospital food.” He huffed, picking up a spoon from his meal tray.
“You feeling any better now, after your surgery?” Sitting down beside him, I watched as he took the curry rice and began eating.
“Can’t exactly say, if you can’t tell I’m on like three different painkillers.” He chuckles in a loopy-like fashion, digging into his food.
“You are an absolute nut.” I laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows at me while he ate.
We continued to talk for a bit, and Mr. Nishikawa returned bringing in a few other items for Tensei. A couple of books, a family picture, bags of snacks, and a bear plushie wearing a cape said, " Get well soon”. Everything was peaceful, I was telling him about school and my friends when another knock was heard at the door.
Quietly a nurse poked her head inside, whispering. “Mr. Iida, a man is in the waiting room requesting to see you. He says he’s a friend of the family.”.
“Did you get his name?” Tensei looked puzzled, who had wanted to see him? Maybe it was some guy pretending to know us personally, you’d be surprised how often stuff like this happens.
“He said it was Hason Junichiro, do you know anyone of that name?” She asked her hand ready to reach for her walkie to possibly call security.
“Hason Junichiro…Oh, yes don’t worry about him, yes he’s an old friend of the family. Goodness, I haven’t heard from him in a while.” Tensei thought about it for a moment, testing the name on his tongue before giving the nurse the OK.
“Would you like me to let him in?” She asked, taking her hand off her walkie.
“Yeah sure, let him come in, it will be nice to see him.” Tensei smiled as the nurse left to go get the man.
“Who is Hason Junichiro? You said he’s a family friend but I don’t believe I heard of him.” I was confused, surely I would know who this man was if he was considered a family friend.
“That’s because you were little when you met him, and he’s a very busy man so he was never really around much. He owns the company that produces our family’s line of toy merchandise, like dolls and action figures.” Tensei explained.
“Your father preferred to be close to those who made things in his image as a hero, you had to be very careful with who you trust with your likeness. That’s why Mr. Junichiro is considered somewhat a family friend.” Mr. Nishikawa chimed in, though he didn’t appear too pleased for some reason.
Just then the door opened once again. In the doorway was a tall pale middle-aged man with pushed-back wine-red hair and a matching curled mustache. His eyes were a bright golden color, they looked very expressive and ecstatic. The man wore a long-sleeved undershirt with a bluish-grey pinstriped vest, a blue bowtie, and a matching handkerchief. Though what was peculiar about the man was the indents that circled each of his fingers and how fluidly he moved.
“Ah, Tensei Iida, I didn’t realize you already had company. If I knew, I would have come at a later time, I wouldn’t dream of stepping on precious family time.” The man said, taking a few steps inside the room. He was carrying a wrapped present box and a bouquet of flowers in his arms.
“Oh no, it’s quite alright Mr. Junichiro. Though I wasn’t expecting you, we haven't spoken in quite a while.” My brother said, giving a bit of an awkward smile.
“Yes, and I’m terribly sorry that we have not been in touch, for goodness sake I didn’t even know until now that you had been injured.” Mr. Junichiro placed a hand on his heart to relay his sympathies.
“Well, it’s good to see you anyway, what have you been doing as of late?” Tensei asked.
“As of this past year, I have been very busy with personal affairs so most of my business has been delegated to the vice president of my company. Speaking of my work, when I heard about what happened I made something very special for you.” He grinned, holding the present box out to him.
Tensei took the box gratefully and began opening it. Inside the colorful box was a small realistic-looking doll, it looked precisely like Tensei in his hero costume. The doll even had its own detachable helmet.
“Oh wow!” I and Tensei were amazed by the craftsmanship, the plastic armor looked just like real metal.
“Isn’t he just wonderful, don’t you love him?” Mr. Junichiro looked so happy to see our reactions.
“It's great, Mr. Junichiro, but you didn’t have to do this. It’s too much.” Tensei looked back at the man, still surprised by the quality of the toy.
“Nonsense, if anything it’s not enough, I owe your family a lot. Your father and grandfather practically kickstarted my business, using their likeness for my first hero brand toys. Now look at me, I have one of the largest toy companies in Japan” The man boasted, placing the flowers down on the table closest to him.
“Ah, don’t you think I forgot about you youngest Iida, you future pro hero you!” He turned to me, holding his hand out for a shake.
Not wanting to be disrespectful I took his hand giving it a firm shake, father always says you can tell a lot about a man from his handshake. Knowing this man was so close to my family's hero career it would be foolish to gain a poor relationship with him.
“My my, I haven't seen you since you were but a little tike, gosh has it been so long? You look just like your brother!” He gave a grin, looking me up and down as if examining me.
“I get that a lot sir, thank you,” I replied, adjusting my glasses.
“Oh, Nishikawa!! I didn’t see you there, you should consider putting a bell around your neck or something, always so quiet!” The eccentric man laughed whipping around so fast his entire waist circulated a full 360 degrees.
“Hello to you too Junichiro…” Mr. Nishikawa did not seem pleased by this man’s appearance, if not that he looked downright annoyed but not all surprised by the way this man just spun his body around on a swivel.
My surprised expression seemed to catch Mr. Junichiro’s gaze and he chuckled. “I see I caught you off guard a bit.”.
“Uh yes, sorry, I just never seen someone capable of doing that,” I said awkwardly, running a hand down the back of my neck. Inside I was hoping I didn’t offend him at all.
“It’s quite alright my boy, this is just part of my quirk you see. I’m able to do much more articulated functions than the average human body, for example!” He explained, bending his arms in an inhuman-like fashion, his hands swiveling around like windmills.
“Oh wow, I can see how that may come in handy.” I focused on trying to maintain eye contact, not just cause I wanted to remain polite, but also because I didn’t want to keep watching him dislocate and reconnect his joints.
“So Junichiro, how is business?” Mr. Nishikawa asked, bringing the eccentric man’s attention back to him, thank goodness.
“Business is booming, it brings me so much joy to see the happiness my toys bring to children’s faces. Though I have been dealing with some personal unpleasant matters.” He said with his gaze turning low as he ran one of his hands through his hair tiredly.
“Unpleasant matters?” Tensei asked placing the doll in Mr. Nishikawa’s hands, letting him put it somewhere safe.
“Ah yes, it seems I had to fire the entirety of my estate staff.”.
“All of them? Why?” I couldn’t think of a reason why he would need to let go of an entire staff.
“Well, I came to the knowledge that someone had been stealing my ideas from my workshop and selling them away to my competitors. When I did a thorough investigation I still couldn’t weed out the rat, so I decided to let them all go.” He explained, his tone dropping at the mention of his ideas being stolen.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that Mr. Junichiro,” Tensei said giving the man his regards.
“The worst of it is I have a very important business trip one that I cannot miss. So I don’t have time to hire more staff, and I’d hate to leave my home unattended.” He replied, placing his hand on his chin like he was trying to think.
“Wait Tenya, you are a responsible boy, yes? I am always hearing such things about you from your father.” He suddenly asked, turning back to me.
“Oh yes, I’d say I am responsible,” I said, a bit confused by his sudden question.
“Perfect, would you be interested in house-sitting for me? I won’t have time to interview and pick out new staff I can trust. Plus you would be paid for your time.”.
I was surprised, I had just basically met this man a few moments ago and now he was asking me to house-sit for him. Or I guess I have technically met him before, I was just too young to remember.
“Well sir, I don’t think I would be able to. I live in the school dorms now, not to mention I’m hosting the class study session this weekend, so I’m afraid I can’t.” I said, adjusting my glasses.
It probably would have been a good opportunity to get on his good side for when I become a pro. But I had a scheduled meet-up with my class, so I can’t just cancel that.
“Oh, this weekend? That’s perfect, you see my business trip is this weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday but I’ll be coming back by Tuesday morning. What if I allowed you to hold your class study at my estate? Would that be preferable? It won’t even be that hard of work.” Mr. Junichiro went on, I could see he was desperate for this.
“Well, I suppose I could, I’ll have to tell my classmates of the new location of our session. If you do need someone to watch your house I’ll do it, sir!” I smiled, chopping my hand in the air to accentuate my enthusiasm.
His golden eyes gleamed with excitement. “Wonderful! I’ll have everything ready for you, here is my number. Call me if you have any more questions, I’ll be in touch.” He pulled out a business card and pen, writing on the back of it.
Just as he handed me the card his phone began to ring. Pulling it out he gazed at the screen before sighing. “Terribly sorry I can’t stay longer, but I need to get a few other things in order before I leave for my trip. I do hope you feel better Tensei, have a blessed rest of your day.”.
“You as well Mr. Junichiro.” Tensei waved to the man as he left the room.
“Are you sure you want to look after Junichiro’s house, Master Tenya?” Mr. Nishikawa asked as the door closed behind the man.
“I figure it would be best to get on his good side earlier on if he is a prominent business partner for our family. Also watching his home for the weekend won’t be any trouble, I’ll just have to tell my classmates we have to switch locations.” I replied, only to hear the curfew warning on my phone buzzing.
“Oh wow, I didn’t realize how much time flew by. I need to go back to the dorms, I wish I could stay longer Tensei.” I said sadly, looking back to my brother who lay there smiling.
“Aw it’s ok little brother, I’ll see you next visit. Come hug me before you leave.” He held out his arms for me.
Diving into his arms, I wrapped myself around him in a tight hug. I never did like leaving the hospital when I knew Tensei couldn’t. It just felt like I was leaving him behind, even though I know he needed to stay to get better.
“I love you, big brother…” I breathed out, leaning more into his touch.
“I love you too little brother.” He ran his fingers through my hair like he always would when I was feeling upset or anxious.
“Master Tenya.” Mr. Nishikawa chimed, tapping on his watch.
“Oh heh, right. Bye Tensei, I’ll see you later!” I exclaimed, pulling away and grabbing my bag.
“Can’t wait til then!” Tensei called back, waving to me as I left the room with Mr. Nishikawa.
After going back to the UA dorms I stayed up a bit late with my friends to watch a movie, some romance film Uraraka picked out. When we finished that I did my nightly routine, shower, brush my teeth, clean my engines, those sorts of things. Before falling asleep my mind circled back over this strange feeling I had, was I just upset about Tensei’s condition? Or was I still a bit freaked out by Mr. Junichiro’s appearance? I wasn’t sure, but I’ll worry about it in the morning when I have told my classmates about the change.
“Good night.”.