STRINGS // KATSUKI BAKUGO [2]

Chapter 70 // Forgive

You stood, One For All's aura causing you to stand out within the darkness surrounding your body.

The cowering Tenko held his own aura, a blood red glow enveloping his crouched form like a spreading disease.

You approached the yet to be villain slowly, knowing you had to be careful with your plan of action and choice of words if you wanted your idea to work.

You found yourself back on your knees once you were only a few inches behind the boy, and you carefully reached out, pressing two fingers to one of his trembling shoulders.

Tenko's shaking form stilled before he unraveled himself from his own limbs and whipped around to face you, simultaneously scooting back a few feet.

"W-who are you?" the young boy stuttered, confirming your assumption that he didn't hold the memories of currently Tomura Shigaraki.

"I'm a hero," you replied, sitting fully before crossing your legs to make yourself seem less intimidating, "and you're Tenko, right?"

He slowly nodded, eyes showing less fear and more curiosity with each second that passed.

"How do you know my name?" he questioned.

You hummed, smiling faintly as you patted the darkness below you, signaling for the boy to come closer.

He did so, scooting back over to you before crossing his legs in a similar fashion to your own form. He rested his small hands in lap, staring up at you intriguingly.

"Your grandmother loved you," you eventually spoke again.

"You knew my grandma?" his eyes glowed with hope, and you nodded.

You hummed, saying, "I've visited her recently in a realm similar to this, and I think she'd want me to let you know that she still loves you very, very much."

Tenko's bottom lip began to quiver as tears pooled in his bottom lids. He lifted his hand to scratch at his neck, a habit he'd carry with him throughout his adult life. However, before he could tear away at his skin, you cupped his small hands in yours and lowered them back to his lap.

"I want you to listen, Tenko. That's all you have to do, okay?" you said, and the child merely nodded.

You lifted one of your hands to clear his shaggy, untamed, blue-ish gray locks from his face, cupping his chubby cheek afterward.

"This world is filled with good and bad," you began to explain. "There are going to be people who support you, but there are also going to be people who try to bring you down, who don't feel like you're good enough, who don't support your dreams. Sometimes, there might be this little voice in your head telling you to agree with them, but there's always a light in the darkness, a sliver of hope, and I can see that hope in your eyes. It's faint, but it's there. You are a child with potential. You just need to learn how to use it."

Tenko looked down at the hand of yours that still held his, his small fingers wrapping around your own for comfort.

"How can I be a hero with my power?" he asked quietly. "Even if I go after bad people, I'll still be killing them. Killing isn't right, is it?"

"No, it's not," you agreed. "At least, there's never a logical motive to kill. If you do, even if it's for revenge or justice, you're succumbing to the method of your own enemy, which makes you just as bad as them. However, your quirk is your power. It makes you who you are, and you can manipulate it however you want. You can change its ways, modify its use. You can make it anything you want it to be as long as you have hope."

Then, a small smile appeared on the boy's face as he lifted his head to look into your eyes once more.

The gesture wasn't...creepy . It didn't make you uncomfortable like when Shigaraki smiled. Whether that was because Tenko was a child or because he hadn't been corrupted yet, you didn't know.