In the Shadow of Revenge

Chapter 9

Mei wasn't sure what to expect when she swung the door open, wrench clutched to her side, as she prepared to fend off any villains. How had someone gotten in there? She had been working tirelessly to improve the security of UA and she knew the faculty had been as well, ever since the incident at the summer training camp there had been guards at every part of the school and at every hour. Mei wanted to believe that it was nothing, that Spinner or Toga hadn't found a way into her school. She wanted so desperately to believe that they were safe, that Tenya could finally be safe from the villains that hurt him. But what scared her most during the split-second where she prepared to open the door, was whether she would be safe from her thoughts, the ones that urged Mei to spill the blood of those who had hurt him.

Yet when Mei opened the door, there weren't any villains there. Instead, there was a tall, imposing woman in an impeccable gray business suit. She seemed incredibly angry as she stood stiffly, yelling at Tenya, about how useless and weak he was. That alone made Mei want to intervene, but there was something that made her pause. The woman's perfectly cropped bob was navy blue, and her furious eyes were crimson red behind a pair of small glasses. This woman looked just like Tenya, Tenya who was folded in on himself in the farthest corner of the bed, the faraway look in his eyes, showing the reflection of a young boy, one who had long become used to his mother's cruel words.

His mother, the fact that Tenya's own Mom could be so vicious, shook Mei to her core. He had been kidnapped, tortured for two whole months, and this was how his family welcomed him back? Mei had had enough. Marching towards the unobservant woman, Mei grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face her.

The woman's eyes were wide with shock and fury, as she spat at Mei, "I don't know who you think you are! I never..."

"Get out!" Mei cut her off sternly, careful to not actually yell as she pushed the woman out the door as hard as she could, locking it behind her with a thud. Mei's cheeks burned bright with fury as the woman sputtered in indignation outside the door. She couldn't believe she had reacted that way, had just attacked Tenya's mother without any explanation. For years, Mei had dedicated herself to not letting her impulsiveness get the best of her, to ask questions before jumping to conclusions. But it was like some switch inside of her had flipped, shutting off all logic and reasoning. Instead all that remained in her mind was Tenya's eyes, hollow and distant, like all the light inside them had been sucked out through cruel words and an empty heart.

Mei's hand shook as she clenched it into a fist by her side, struggling to contain her anger and tear her eyes away from the door.

"M-Mei," Tenya gasped, and that one call of her name was enough to stop her in her tracks. His face was flushed pink with fear and overexertion, the tremble of his hands mirroring hers.

"Who was that?" Mei asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew.

"My mother," Tenya replied dryly, voice ringing with defeat, "though, I can't exactly call her that anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that she disowned me, Mei!" Tenya snapped, an uncharacteristic fury in his words, "no matter what I do, or how much I achieve, whether its top marks, or class rep, or saving lives, nothing is good enough for my family! I spent nearly two months in that-that place, and she doesn't even care that I'm alive, because I'm not perfect enough for her! I'm no Iida, and I will never be good enough, I'm just Tenya, pathetic, uptight, weak, reckless Tenya, and the only person who didn't care about that was Tensei, and he's dead. He's dead!, and he died before I could ever truly show him how much I appreciated him. He was the real Ingenium, and I'm just fake. Spinner was right I'm false, and maybe I should have died there, instead of wasting everybody's time. So yeah, that's what I mean! Are you happy?"

Mei took a step backwards in shock at the anger in Tenya's voice. She had never heard him sound like that before, had never known, had always assumed that his goals were his own. While she had found it funny how hard Tenya threw himself into his schoolwork, it made her sick now to realize exactly why that was. Mei didn't know what she was supposed to say in the face of such rage, rage so raw, unfiltered, and broken.

"Mei", Tenya called out softly, crimson eyes heavy with regret " I'm sorry, you don't deserve that. You shouldn't have had to hear any of this, I should be better, I-I need to do better,.."

"Damn right I should have!" Mei cut Tenya off before he could no doubt berate himself farther. "If you think I haven't felt like that before, you're wrong! And I know, you're not going to tell anyone else about this, just keep how you feel bottled up until the pressure makes you explode. I know what that's like and I have had enough with performing for other people, trying to build the best again and again until I'm sweating and shaking from lack of sleep and I feel like I'll never be able to wash the grease from my hands. Can't we just be done with that?" she sighed, "just Tenya and just Mei, would that be enough?"

"Yes" Tenya breathed, and that was when Mei found herself leaning forward to kiss him. Tenya's lips were rough, worn through with cuts and nervous biting but Mei didn't care, it wasn't like her own were any better. The kiss wasn't graceful, it was rough, laced with franticness and sweat. For a moment Mei pulled back, ashamed of herself, but Tenya pulled her back, bandaged hand tangling in her hair, making her gasp. He tasted like freedom, of engine grease and oranges. She felt that she was waking up in his arms, herself in a way that she had never had been before. Breathlessly, Mei leaned in closer, savoring the moment. He was Tenya, she was Mei, and together they were enough, at least for now.