#this fanart and this fanfiction are part of the BNHA AU RESOLVE

[zarathelonewolf]

Tenko took a seat on a bench close to the green area.

It was his break, and he decided where to spend it. He was tired of the chaos of the dining room, big and noisy, full of other former criminals that just wouldn't stop picking fights over the most fickle things.

He himself was convinced that, if he'd let them get to his head, all the progress made in the Program to control his urges to use Decay maliciously would be lost.

He often found it hard to concentrate and suppress his anger when someone argued with him because he was occupying their seat, since it was an incredibly usual argument that just didn't make sense. No one in that room held any authority over which seat anyone should occupy; the only people that could theoretically be considered the owners of the seats were the government and the Heroes responsible for the Villain's reintroduction in society.

He was also tired of the "you looked at me funny" argument, that had sparked a fight between him and other ex-Villains on more than two times. So what, he looked at everybody "funny"; no one was ever spared from the ever-tired and sick-of-that-crap face and stare that he wore. No one. Did those guys really consider themselves so special?

(Now that he thought of it, he did make an exception for his acquaintances, though he rarely could cover his tiredness)

He didn't really like how he felt when they made him angry, especially if he started reacting violently. He hadn't been keen on those feelings from... quite some time.

Three years before joining the Reintegration Program, he'd told himself that he'd have tried this "getting better" thing; so he used one of the three calls he had been given authorization for back at the Rehab, to see if it really helped him... If it really got him somewhere worth it.

If he could really be a hero, still.

He'd called and he'd made that choice.

So why was it still hard now, three years later?

Many of those responsible of his Reintegration had told him he'd made good progress, much more than what they thought he would have carried. And yet, there were sometimes when he just... snapped.

Whisper Punch, who was his Supervisor, had always told him that while he could have certainly got better in time and through effort, many things would have been extremely hard to heal and change.

-Being hard on yourself again?

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. Although, to be honest, Tenko didn't really like to think of her as a devil.

Whisper Punch sat close to him on the bench, but she didn't touch him in any way: he was grateful for that; the only one that had ever followed him in the green area (or anywhere, really) had been Whiptail, and she was very touchy, always clinging at his arm (he looked like the brother she had lost, same red eyes, same disheveled hair...).

Whisper Punch, or Whispy as he'd grown used to call her, looked very tired. The scar she had on her left eye looked more prominent because of the pallor of her skin, while the one she had under her ear was covered by her (unfortunately untidy, this time... she must have stopped a dogfight in the dining room) short black hair.

Her eyes stayed locked onto the giant tree at the center of the circular space, surrounded by a small green field just as round.

It was a tree with a Quirk: gigantic, so much that it could almost be seen from outside the gargantuan walls of The Building, it had also been gifted by Nature with glowy purple leaves and flowers. No one had actually thought it would have become so big, or shiny; it had appearantly got in that state in just a year, making the locals and the ones charged with the Program very worried, although in the end everyone had grown affectionate to it.

Tenko saw it differently: he wasn't emotionally attached to it, but hypnotised, instead. He almost felt like a voice could come out of it anytime, and tell him eery but wise words. He got that hunch everytime he looked at the being. Sometimes he stared at his thick, extremely black wood and felt like it could have swallowed the light of the day, just like a black hole in space.

It weirded him out, but it also made him think and feel... something, many thoughts he couldn't describe.

So he never stared at it long. It would have made those sentiments of curiosity and dread much worse.

(Little did Tenko know, the tree truly could talk...)

-Something's troubling you. - said Whispy, still staring at the tree.

Isn't it always, he wanted to tell her, but he nodded and hummed affirmatively instead.

-What is it? Do you want to tell me? Also, break is almost over, did you eat something?

Yes, he had eaten something... Not much, but he could worry about that during dinner break.

He muffled yes, again.

-So yes, you've eaten, and yes, you want to share the issue?

-Y... yeah.

- OK then. Shoot.

-...

After a while, Tenko started explaining, trying to relax his posture and let it all go as he spoke.

-Why are they always so noisy? Don't they want to get out of the Program as soon as possible? Do they actually not care that much?

Understanding who he was talking about, and seemingly thinking about the other former Villains involved in the Reintegration, Whisper Punch answered.

-Some of them don't care, although if you're referring to the former brawlers like Rappa, I'll have to disagree. It's not that they wouldn't want out of these walls: they live to fight and spite people, and even if it really does stop them from getting back in society, they won't renounce dogfighting.

-Then why enroll in the Program at all?!

-Well... Maybe they want to see familiar faces that came here, or some of them actually have positive motivations but keep falling into bad habits.

-Just like I do, sometimes...

-What do you mean, Tenko?

-I... I sometimes feel like I'm acting as Shigaraki. When I react to the provocations, I mean, and threaten to Decay them. Am I not falling into bad habits as well?

-Maybe, but it is also true that you, and some others, try to be better than your past as Villains. The fact you're recognizing that you still make mistakes, is another testament to your progress.

-Huh...

-Anything else?

After that question, she finally turned to him. She made eye contact with her grey eyes: they had a very bright glint of blue in them, and had vertical pupils; the pupil of the left eye, cut by the scar, was white instead of black.

She wasn't giving him the calculating and fierce stare she gave Villains while she fought them in the streets, from behind her visor and mask, or the cold stare she gave to ex-Villains of the building when they jumped at each other.

Her stare had always been somewhat quiet and patient when she spoke to him.

She had made a promise to Midoriya, after all.

-I scratch myself again, at times...-he told Whisper Punch, with a small sigh.

- You do? Have you told the specialists?

He quickly nodded to make the worried lightnings in her eyes calmed down, and kept talking.

-They said to keep the gloves on, so that I don't Decay anyone; I also still need to sleep with the lighter ones, last time I tried not doing it I decayed one of the trinkets Shuichi had attached to the bunk bed and he got mad...

Shuichi and Dabi (the Todoroki elder brother preferred being called his villain name most of the time) had entered the program earlier than him, almost as soon as it had been started. They had hugged him as soon as they'd seen him being assigned to their room, alongside another Villain, Panthera.

She had many feline features, was way older than any of them, and didn't like being talked to. Even though she slept in one of the bunk beds of the same room, above Dabi's, she had never socialized much with them.

Whiptail, who had been member of her same gang AND her girlfriend, had been sent to another room, on another corridor, so Panthera was pissed.

The two had opposite opinions on him: Panthera couldn't stand him, for some unknown reason, but she had explained immediately that Whiptail had lost her brother when she was young and that she was now adoring him because he looked similar.

Also, Rappa slept in the room on the opposite wall, and he snored so loudly that the ones he shared the room with had tremendous insomnia, and Tenko's group did too. Whenever he thought about poor Atsuhiko sharing his room with that erculean brawler, he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry.

Compress had been the last former member of the LOV to be captured. After the true defeat of All For One, he'd gone gallivanting around for half a year until he had let himself get captured. He had been sent to the same Rehab structure as Tenko and the others.

Atsuhiko had seen Shuichi choose to leave the Rehab to try the Program, while Dabi had been sent in it as a precaution because The Building could fair a lot better with his continuous attempts to burn his way out to freedom. Dabi had begrudgingly decided to enroll the Program too.

Atsuhiko, as Tenko remembered clearly, had been conflicted: he wanted to follow the other two, but he also wished to stay with Tenko. In the beginning, Tenko had been so angry the former Mr Compress had been considering the Program; he knew about the new laws, and that society was really changing for the better, but receiving help from Midoriya and defeating his former Sensei hadn't really been enough to get him out of the feelings of denial, so that he could finally start to hope.

Then he'd seen, heard, watched the new generation of Heroes (hell even the older Pros) hold speeches to embed change in society, and they also inspired the government to finally change things. The new HPSC was born, the laws on Quirks became less strict, counseling got better and there was no precise ranking system for the Pro Heroes anymore.

He had finally started to hope, six years after the defeat of his former Sensei; so he had finally forgiven Atsuhiko, and let him go: the LOV... they didn't have to get dragged down by his uncertainty to move on from his time as Shigaraki, they could change for the better if they wanted to.

And in the end, he had followed them: nine years later AFO's death, but STILL... he had seen them again and walked with them on the path towards betterment.

It had been a total of eleven years, and he now found himself sitting on that bench with an underground Pro Hero, Whisper Punch, as Supervisor, working towards a positive change of character.

Eleven years since he'd last seen Toga.

-How is Toga doing?

The question asked by Tenko made Whisper Punch almost jump. It had been somewhat sudden.

She, nevertheless, answered, after a minute of silence and a light sigh.

-She is very better. The counseling she is receiving is helping her, and she will soon be able to hold 80% control of the attraction towards blood given by her Quirk. She is getting better on a psychological standpoint too. She doesn't have heavy bags under her eyes anymore.

Tenko felt good hearing that...

-She's also receiving visits from Midoriya.

... And he almost choked on his own breath at that revelation.

-What?!

-She is, honest!

He thought...

-I thought he'd be squeamish about it?!

-He does feel embarrassed at times, Toga's still a bit touchy, but not as much as before.

Woah, Midoriya really was a goody two shoes wasn't he?

But Tenko just couldn't bring himself to hate him anymore, not for that.

Not when the boy's spirit had got him out of AFO's control.

So he was really starting to feel better.

... The bell suddenly rang. It was time to return inside.

-Well-concluded Whisper Punch, standing up alongside him, - It seems break is over. Today you have no lessons, statements, or psych evaluation seats, do you? Your day is completely free, go rest in your quarters. Oh, and if you meet Whiptail on the way and she's being too insistent, you can signal me. I'll see you soon for the field trip.

At the single thought of the field trip, another bit of his sense of heaviness faded away.

Once every month, the members of the Program would take part in small trips over the mountains or panoramic sights, separated in three main groups. They were all heavily guarded, but the times of Tartarus had passed: the field trips were some of the best parts of the Program, and one of the few instances in which pretty much no one argued over anything.

Before he turned back into the building, Tenko looked at Whisper Punch and asked her about one of his neverending doubts:

-Is it really okay if I keep the coat?

It was draped over his shoulders as he asked, the coat in question: he'd used it as Shigaraki, and it was one of the few things he had insisted to bring with him from the Rehab. Many specialists of the Program had objected, but after being assigned to Whisper Punch, she'd asked them to hold their dread and let him take it and wear it.

The coat had a history, and it was a reminder.

The past never died, so Shigaraki wouldn't have died either: Tenko would change from his Shigaraki persona of course, but he would have still needed to bring it with him, to let it accompany him on his journey.

He didn't want Shigaraki to feel left behind, to not be seen as part of the journey; he was his past self and it was from his past self that he had to heal.

So he'd carry Shigaraki with him, and show him how he changed... and how possible it was to hope in a better future.

Shigaraki needed to see it as much as Tenko needed to feel it.

But reminding himself of why he still carried the coat on his shoulders wasn't enough...

So Tenko waited until Whisper Punch told him that it was a good choice, and only then he said goodbye, only then he returned to his room.

Shuichi still smiled brightly, Dabi was still being a brat and Panthera was still gloomy when he came back, and as they chatted (Panthera kept sulking the whole time), he remembered the question he had actually wanted to ask the whole time, and had forgotten to inquire to his Supervisor:

"Can I go to Toshinori's tomb, when the anniversary comes?"

For his grandma's adoptive son, his adoptive uncle, had died last year.

He reminded himself to ask her, at dinner.