Chapter Text
Epilogue
Tomura sat watching the tape over again of Deku sitting in front of a courtroom full of stupid people. He could see Katsuki there and he still wished that kid was dead for the horrible shit that he had put Deku through. Tomura never really cared for people that were bullies but something about knowing that Katsuki got to walk around with Inko Midoriya like it was nothing was pretty bothersome.
Everything felt rather bothersome as of late, the whining by his fellow league members, the way the media would not shut up about how horrible Izuku was, the sheer number of people that were causing problems under the guise of rising up against power. Tomura had a lot of weeding to do it seemed when it came to who would be helpful in creating this newly envisioned world. Even His leg injury was pretty bothersome up until the point where Eri attempted to heal it and actually succeeded.
She told them what her quirk was capable of and that Deku had told her that Tomu was her older brother and that he would take care of her. Tomura did not argue it. He did not clarify to her that he did not, not want to save her, but he had not been actively looking for her either. It would break her little heart and Tomura surprisingly enough could not do that. Perhaps the others had expected him to, but he promised Deku that he would keep her safe and that he would save her. Tomura counted saving her as taking care of her because foster homes and orphanages were no place for such a powerful and traumatized little girl.
He might if he was honest with himself say that he saw a little bit of himself in Eri. They both had killed people that they cared for with their quirks, they both had been forced into doing things they never wanted to, and Izuku had been right they looked a lot a like. It might be for those reasons among others that Tomura was desperate not to have her turn out as fucked up as him.
He had no idea how to be a parent or caregiver or even a big brother but he figured that he could at least try. He couldn’t fuck Eri up much worse than she was.
The week after Deku’s arrest had been hard. Kurogiri was taking things the hardest as Deku, and Compress were the people besides Tomura that Kuro seemed to love the most. Deku and Compress certainly talked more than Tomura did. Kuro took to caring for Eri, like an eager mother bird that waited for an egg to hatch. He hardly left her alone. He though could hear Kuro play the voicemail that Compress left him over a couple of times when Eri was asleep. It was obvious that Kuro missed them, and was lonely without them.
Kuro gave Eri a lot of care more so than he ever gave Tomura and Tomura might have been slightly jealous of Eri because of that. Not that he would ever in a million years admit that. But it seemed that Kurogiri needed to show he loved others and Eri was one of the only people left to give all of it to. And Eri called Kurogiri grandpa which made Toga laugh her ass off. So there was that.
Deku’s absence was hard for Hitoshi too. He was busy trying to find out information about where Deku would be sent and he was refreshing articles every few hours trying to find out more. Tomura was not even sure how to comfort him.
Things were pretty somber around the hideout.
Deku’s presence was missed perhaps second-most by Tomura himself that felt very lost without the other. True to his word Izuku did not die on Tomura he had just left in a different way. Unlike when Sensei left, Tomura felt as if a very good part of himself had left and there was a chunk of his heart missing.
Again Tomura would never admit this. He would never say that he missed the other coming into his room and making puns or finding new creative ways to annoy him. No, he could not admit that to anyone but himself. But he did miss their talks. Tomura did not feel that he could trust anyone as much as he had trusted Izuku not even Gotto was that trustworthy. The cat though was a big help in curbing his need to destroy things and snap at people in his makeshift murderous family.
His patience was though hanging on by a thin thread. Tomura knew that anger was the easiest emotion for him to deal with. All the others like hurt and sadness were very hard to deal with, mostly because before Izuku he had not known real ways to express them without feeling vulnerable and like he was at risk. Weakness was not something that someone that was supposed to become like Sensei was supposed to experience. Yet through the months, he had started to accept that he had flaws, he had a weakness, and that was okay. His family would not exploit them. Love was not a weakness that he could not afford but something that made life meaningful. The person that Tomura loved, be it nothing but platonic was Deku and Deku had been taken away from him. Just like most things that Tomura cared for.
He found himself rather depressed again. He did his best to keep up his usual appearances but they did fall flat if he was not distracted by his new adopted sister. He was the ruler of the districts, he had all of Overhauls resources in the palm of his hand and everyone feared what the league was capable of because of Deku. Some even now believed in them, came out of the woodwork to support them, a few voices though rose in opposition. Voices that stirred from deep in the criminal underbelly that even Sensei had failed to crush. Foreigners and other threats were creeping in to take hold of the fire that had been lit in the populace's hearts.
He still took this day off, took it for himself to watch videos that had Deku on them. It was rather pathetic but he liked seeing the other smile. He wasn’t dead, but he was not even close to within reach and Tomura just needed to smile for a little while. To listen to what Deku had to say about the world and try to steady his will to make that happen. Because the world that Deku wanted was the one that Tomura also wanted.
“Tomura.” Kurogiri’s soft-spoken voice called from the hall. Tomura opened the door so that he could let the other in. “I feel that we have waited long enough.”
Long enough for what? He narrowed his eyes confused to hell and back. But he didn’t have to ask because Kuro was able to tell that he needed to explain more.
“I think we should figure out a way to save Izuku.” Kurogiri shifted in the door frame. “He has been sentenced to a mental hospital for the criminally insane.”
“He isn’t even insane though.” Tomura grit his teeth.
“I think they mean to have him treated that way so they can brush his words off as mad ramblings.” Kurogiri entered as Tomura moved aside to let him in. His room was messy he didn’t even bother to try to defend it as Kuro made a look of disgust at the amount of take out boxes and garbage that Tomura had laying about. He would organize it again. He liked this to be organized, he just did not feel like doing it at the moment.
“We are not going to let that happen.” Tomura steadied his voice and made sure that he curled his fingers as not to dust something in the room that he cared about in his anger. “We already have started to make moves so that it will be impossible to disprove Izuku’s words.”
Kurogiri nodded. “They probably wish to force cure him of these delusions… I do not want to leave him there.”
“We won't.” Tomura hissed. “We can’t just waltz up to the asylum though and take him back as much as I want to do that.”
“No.” Kurogiri acknowledged. “It's a very secure place, we would need intel and a few weeks to really plan to break him out, if not longer.”
Tomura nodded. “Our best strategists are in the loony bin or in tartarus a prison break is not going to be easy.” Tomura started to scratch a little at the flesh to his neck, thinking it over. He could use Toga to get them in and Hitoshi could mimic voices. They would need a makeshift technology person though for this mission or a good way to know the facility inside and out.
“You're the leader for a reason.” Kurogiri stated plainly, “help lead us so we can get them back.”
Tomura knew who them referred to because of course, Kuro wanted Compress back too. Tomura himself was the best they had currently, to make plans he supposed. He did, after all, come up with some of their plans without Deku’s help he could do it again.
“We’ll get them back.” Tomura dropped his hand he had been using to scratch with. “Get the others a party meeting to plan our next dungeon raid is in order.”
Tomura knew they were down their bard and rogue. It was not going to be easy to complete the dungeon without key members. But he figured that they had sorta leveled up since the last time the public saw them and he was pretty desperate to get Deku back. He would need Deku if he was going to break into Tartarus. He must have really loved Kuro if he was breaking into that place to save the man’s boyfriend.
He had to be half-mad. But he supposed that being half-mad was what got Deku through most of the encounters that they had. Being half-mad and good luck rolling with the punches seemed to be the only way to get anything accomplished with this team. He was going to save Deku so that he didn’t fuck up the really great future that was possible to achieve and because well you never left family to rot in prison. Except if the were a miniplative bastard like Sensei. You left them to rot while you walked past with a middle finger raised to save the person that actually cared enough to raise you’s boyfriend.
He was probably going to get himself arrested or killed but Tomura felt some things were just worth risking prison sentences for.