#maybe there's support groups and dedicated therapists for kids whose quirks cause mayhem like this

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

(This is just an au idea I had a while back for My Hero Academia. Should only contain spoilers if you haven't watched Season 3 yet, but I'll tag anyway just in case)

The child was lost. He hadn't gotten very far, after all. The few adults who noticed him in the out-of-the-way spot either hurried past, or looked at him strangely. They were probably wondering if he'd gotten into a fight and was avoiding people. Somehow, they didn't seem to notice how frightened the little boy was.

But someone else did.

Originally, he'd been planning to wait an entire day before swooping in to the "rescue". But with a storm rolling in and the look of desperation he could see even from the rooftop, he acknowledged that he could also "save" the boy now. Whatever made him more malleable in the end.

And so he had stepped out of the shadows, tsk-tsking.

"Nobody came to save you, did they? How awful, they left you all alone...Tenko Shimura."

But the man had made one miscalculation.

[[MORE]]

The terrified kindergartner looked up at the height and build of the man who'd just snuck up on him, and his mind registered his presence as "Threat! Stranger!"

So when the man moved forward and suddenly reached down towards Tenko's head, he panicked.

"No!" he gasped, flinging his hands out to defend himself on instinct.

The man known as All for One had planned for so many things, had manipulated so many lives. And in one instant, it had been completely undone, because Tenko Shimura was afraid of strangers.

"Whoa!" a new voice shouted suddenly, "Holy crap, you broke him!"

A tall, thin boy in an highschool uniform peered into the mouth of the alley. He looked to be fourteen or fifteen, tired, but also startled. Tangled black hair fell over his face, covering his expression for the most part, but he sounded worried.

"Are you okay? Was that guy trying to kidnap you? We should get the police."

Tenko burst into tears as the older boy edged into the alley. "N- n- n- no, don't touch- my hands, they- my quirk won't- won't turn off!"

"It's okay," the other boy said, as calmly as he could, given that he'd just seen a man disintegrate, "I can fix it."

His eyes suddenly glowed as red as Tenko's, and his hair flew upright. At first, Tenko couldn't feel a difference. But when the older boy took his hand, nothing happened.

"I erased your quirk. It'll only last until I blink, so we better find something to cover your hands quick." He tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace. "I'm Shouta. What's your name, kid?"

"Tenko."

"Okay, Tenko," Shouta fished around in his pockets and frowned. "Uh...okay, I gotta blink. Stand back a second." His hair fell back around his face, only to rise once more in seconds.

They improvised a pair of gloves out of a discarded t-shirt someone had left in the alley. Shouta patted the smaller boy's head and sat him down on the curb.

"We need to stay right here, okay? I'm gonna call the police. They'll probably want to ask you questions about that guy."

"He said nobody would come save me," Tenko sniffled.

Shouta grimaced. "Creepy. Maybe he was a villain?"

He kind of hoped so. The alternative wasn't much fun to think about, and Shouta had a feeling that giving in to his nausea right now would make matters worse.

The police arrived a few minutes later, with a few medics in tow. They questioned the boys separately, which meant that Shouta didn't hear how Tenko had come to be in the alley in the first place.

"He just got his quirk, but it won't turn off," he told the officers as the alley was blocked off for investigation. "My quirk can turn quirks off for a minute, so when that guy grabbed for him and he turned him into dust, I erased his quirk."

The officer taking his statement grimaced. "Poor little guy, that's pretty awful. That was good thinking, kid. Technically, you can't go around using your quirk in public. Judging by your uniform, you already know that. But right now I think you did the right thing. Since you prevented further injury or death, I'm gonna let you off with a warning this time, okay?"

The paramedic who had been tending to Tenko hurried back over suddenly. "There's another location we need to check," she said.

"Another-?"

She nodded. "It's looking like we have a case of Catastrophic Quirk Manifestation Syndrome on our hands."

The officer sighed and massaged her temples. "Oh no. Poor kid. Is it me, or is CQMS happening more frequently these days?"

The paramedic shrugged helplessly. "Quirks are getting stronger every generation. It makes sense, unfortunately. Do you still need to talk to the little boy? I want to go ahead and take him to Endor Children's Hospital."

"We can talk to him once we locate his family," the officer nodded.

Tenko shuffled up with another medic. "Can you come, too?" he whispered to Shouta.

"I can nullify his quirk," Shouta said by way of explanation, which sort of made things easier.

They were silent for most of the ride to the hospital. As they arrived, the second paramedic smiled at them.

"Everything will be okay, boys. You'll see! In the meantime, while we wait for your parents, you know what? All Might is supposed to be visiting this hospital today, to read to the kids! Maybe you'll get to see him!"

Privately, Shouta thought that sounded like chaos. But Tenko actually perked up a little bit, so he didn't say anything about it.