Neutrality Order (TomBoo)

N.E. - Chapter 8

For once, Crow Father was at a loss of what to say to his protege.

The two of them were out in the more rural part of the city for fresh air, Tommy’s day pass in his pocket and a warning from Aizawa to stay with Crow Father no matter what. The two left earlier in the morning but didn't seem to have more than fifty words between them to say.

Crow Father bought them both some breakfast to eat while they walked, but other than asking Tommy what he wanted, he couldn't find much else to talk about. Today was not about training or One For All or even Dream. It was supposed to be a mental health day, of getting Tommy to relax and possibly vent out what he'd obviously been keeping buried down.

Almost shamefully, Crow Father didn't have much else to speak of that didn't involve hero work, the AFO/OFA destiny, or school.

The guilt was kicked down by his stubborn resolve; like hell he would ever live in a world where Dream was a better mentor than him, HELL with that.

He watched Tommy finish his breakfast and bin the trash, stretching out as he walked, and wracked his brain for something -anything- about the boy to talk about. Something that could keep the conversation going instead of it being akin to a Q&A.

He recalled back when he first met the boy, seeing the Hero Analysis and flipping through it, finding himself impressed with the steadily-improved drawings to accompany the analysis.

Hm.

"Do you draw much?"

Tommy’s head snapped up at the sudden question. "...uhm...do I...sometimes, I guess...?" he asked. "...why do you ask?"

Go for broke, Crow Father, you want him to open up, YOU open up.

"I realized that we never really talk about much outside of school and hero work," he admitted. "And...it's been on my mind recently." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling a slight tension migraine build up. "Since I've retired, I promised you and your mother that I would devote myself to raising you...but raising you isn't simply about being a hero. I want to raise you as a PERSON, Tommy. For ALL of you to be healthy and strong, not just...where heroics are concerned."

Tommy was still looking at him in confusion; it sort of stung, to be honest...that Tommy would feel so out of place from being asked about something OTHER than school or hero life. Still, he pressed on. "I remember your drawings from your Analysis book," he said. "They were quite good. I was asking if you draw much to get that good."

The boy rubbed his arm. "I guess so," he replied. "Perfection through repetition, and all that, you know...it's still hard for my hands to draw what my brain sees unless I have a lot of time to just sit and concentrate if it's from memory." He chewed his lip. "Mom would get me some special sketching pencils and no-smudge erasers, but I kept using them all up and I'd get too embarrassed to ask for more, so...I just stopped asking. I worked with what I had....especially if what I drew kept getting lost or stolen or ruined."

Crow Father frowned. "How do you mean?" He saw Tommy visibly clam up. "Tommy."

"I don't know what kind of childhood you had, Crow Father, but I was less than human growing up," Tommy finally said, a thick bitterness that Crow Father hadn't heard from him before permeating his voice. "It was fun to pick on the quirkless kid, knowing he couldn't fight back, sometimes worse than picking on someone with a quirk that made you actually LOOK inhuman. Because at least they had a quirk." He scowled, a hardness gleaming in his eyes. "When I told Connor what kind of hero I wanted to be, I wasn't lying. I don't want ANYONE, inhuman-quirk or quirkless, to feel helpless or powerless, because I want to have people know that doing that is WRONG. And I want those who let it happen to be made accountable."