Neutrality Order (TomBoo)

P. R. - Chapter 2: Sins of the Father

Crow Father never thought he'd have the opportunity to ever be a father.

The idea might have crossed his mind a few times in his youth, albeit with some roadblocks. Being quirkless even in his day wasn't exactly desirable, and even after that, the mantle he had accepted from Auclair only complicated things.

Sure, in his school days he'd gone on dates with fellow heroes and civilians alike, but he never really had anything SERIOUS. Anything that made him give a real partnership and potential parenthood an honest shot. It was bad enough watching the light dim in Auclair's eyes when she came home to a dead husband and made the consequential decision to give Kotaro up to foster care, and the idea of something like that happening to him was enough to put him off the idea of a family all together, if not just a little for his sake.

And then his mother figure died and it left him with a wound that hurt him more than the one Dream would give him later in life, and the idea of any potential children of his going through that very experience solidified his resolve. He would not marry. He would not father any children. He would not put anyone through the pain and danger of being the family of the number-one target for Dream.

Although to be honest, one came pretty close; though, anyone he shared the knowledge of his lineage and purpose with was close to him. But while Gran Torino was the hardass father and Tsukauchi was his levelheaded best friend, Mirai had been...different.

The man was an absolute fan, but he was enthusiastic in a different way. His passion came from wanting to help Crow Father as the Symbol of Peace, not the object of one's fanboy worship. Crow Father had never taken a sidekick before, but...Nighteye had been persistent and finally won him over by using Foresight to give Crow Father a lead on one of Dream's bigger supporters.

It had been difficult still, opening up to someone past his hero persona, but it was surprisingly easy to just be Philza and Mirai on their days off rather than Crow Father and Sir Nighteye. They shared similar tastes in movies, humor, and ideals of what keeps the hope and peace of society.

It was enough of some semblance of a relationship that Gran Torino made some wisecrack regarding a hero-con meet-and-greet if his 'boyfriend' was fine with the other adoring fans fawning over him.

He'd never seen Mirai so flustered or unable to properly form words. HE'D never been so flustered or unable to properly form words. Gran seemed satisfied enough with embarrassing his student and left it at that, but now that it was actually SAID...there wasn't anything he or Mirai could do to unsee it.

So...they had a relationship. What kind it was, was up in the air and didn't really HAVE a defined title. It was more than hero-sidekick. More than friends. But he wouldn't exactly pigeonhole it as 'romantic'...not that he could say the same for Mirai and HIS wishes on the matter. He knew the man had harbored the biggest crush on him for years, which grew into genuine feelings during their time as partners.

It's what made the end of their partnership even worse.

Just as he'd feared from the start, his fight with Dream nearly killed him. Mirai had been by his side through flatlining twice and surgeries he stopped bothering to keep track of. Begged him to retire. Had such PAIN in his voice when he told Crow Father he couldn't stand watching him suffer, and the terror of having seen a future of Crow Father's gruesome death, the agonizing resolve of not being strong enough to support Crow Father through the torture the hero was willing to fight through.

Crow Father never regretted continuing his hero work during and after his many surgeries to get to stabilization. But he always regretted the loss of the most important relationship he'd had since Auclair. And it furthered his resolve to not have an attachment that close again, not even to the successor he knew he would need to find soon.

All of that was thrown out the window the very DAY he met Tommy.

A fellow quirkless-born, with a shine in his eye that desired the strength to protect others. Who had run into danger to save a friend when no one else would. Who had been so nearly broken in life after being called useless, worthless, helpless, that he fell to his knees when told he COULD be a hero, all without knowing the offer that was going to be made to him.

He had never seen anyone like Tommy in his life. Never met someone who worked harder, hit the daily grind for his mind and his body, was so eager to live for others before himself. Who broke his body into pieces during a sports festival, just to reach out to a hurting classmate.

This was a person who was a true hero. A true servant to the people.

It's what made what came next so much worse. What scared him so badly.

Between getting back in touch with Mirai -if even for simply the sake of chewing him out for such blatant shortsightedness- and discovering Tommy's biggest secret, he knew he was beginning to lose his grip on what he thought he knew about his protege. Tommy began getting into trouble, doing the 'wrong' things for the 'right' reasons. Enough so that his mother called the school for help.

And he found out that the protege that he'd grown to view as his own child was masking as an alternate hero persona, in order to be a hero to those who apparently didn't have one.

Discovering such a huge secret made Croe Father feel that he failed somewhere that Tommy couldn't have come to him about this. And he let that vile Dream plant a poisoned idea into his head that Tommy was hiding something far more heinous than a simple double-hero life.

And then came the revelation that Tommy wasn't just trying to be two heroes at once. He was trying to be a hero to Ranboo.

Dream's own successor. Who had sworn to destroy Crow Father.

Whom Tommy had formed a relationship with and wished to see it plausibly blossom.

Crow Father felt he would have succumbed to the stress alone, had Mirai not been his rock through all of it, being the one to tell him that he shouldn't make the mistake of distancing himself again. Still, he found it difficult. How could he ask for the full trust of someone who hadn't even trusted him enough to tell him the bare minimum before?

He just thanked his lucky stars that Tommy HAD confided in Connor, at least. And even then the upperclassman didn't have the entire full story...just enough for even it to feel like too much.

Enough that it exacerbated his feelings of failing as a mentor. A father figure. Because that was his go-to, wasn't it? Things get emotionally hard, distance himself from the other. First with Gran Torino, then the small handful of friends in his life, then Mirai. And his ingrained faults caused him his relationship with someone he couldn't bear to lose...and did.

This time, despite his immediate instinct to withdraw, everyone banded together and refused to let him, citing they'd smack some sense into him.

In this case for everyone, literally. Aizawa with student files, Gran with the flying kicks, Nezu with pens that would have skewered anyone with slower reflexes, Recovery Girl with her cane, and Mirai with a softer but no less firm hand upside the head. All with the clear message: his work wasn't done.

He was still a predecessor to One For All. He was still a teacher to the kids.

And mistakes be damned, he was still a parent to his kid.

So for once in his life, Crow Father stuffed his feelings of solitude and secrecy in a bag, shoved it into the closet, and allowed his support system to actually support him. He took care of himself to take care of the kids.

Building himself to be stronger, emotionally and even physically, should HIS kid need him again.

So that he could tell Tommy he was there.