#touten

“Sheesh. I was wondering when you’d get here.”

The voice is soft and welcoming, the sarcasm masking relief. 

Touya Todoroki stands in the middle of a grassy expanse. It’s so tall that it tickles his knees and is interspersed with a rainbow of flowers for as far as he can see. His eyes flash open, and he gasps as if he’s breathing oxygen for the first time. In truth, he’s not breathing at all. At least, not in the same way he used to. 

Tomura Shigaraki sits on a bench a few feet away from him; it overlooks a valley full of even more flowers. Jin and Himiko’s laughter can be heard echoing from down below. 

“Shigaraki?” Touya speaks, and he clasps his hands over his mouth at the sound of his voice. 

Wait. 

He rubs his hands over his entire face, and it feels smooth. His fingernails aren’t snagging against staples or pulling at any grafts. He looks down at his arms to see that his scars have disappeared, along with the surgical staples. 

Wait. 

Arms?

As in both?

Touya keeps looking down to see that he’s wearing gray sweatpants and a dark hoodie, not unlike something he would have in his closet when he was younger. 

“You can call me Tenko,” Shigaraki smiles warmly, waving him over. Touya blinks, looking around. Everything around him seems to have a faint glow to it; the colors are vivid, and his vision is better than he remembers it ever being in the first place. He walks over to the bench before hesitantly sitting beside Shigaraki. 

“Touya,” He introduces himself awkwardly, leaning forward to look down into the lush ravine. Twice and Toga appear to be playing tag, chasing each other around and oblivious to his presence. Remarkably, Jin isn’t wearing his mask, and he seems completely at ease. 

“Yeah, Himiko told me your real name already. It was about time I finally learned it,” Tenko snickers. 

“I’m dead.”

There’s a beat of uncomfortable silence, but it doesn’t last very long. 

“You could say that,” Tenko sighs, shrugging his shoulders, “I think this life is much better than whatever we had before.” 

Touya looks up into the overwhelming blue sky that seems to extend into infinity. The clouds are dreamy, fluffy shapes that move in unnatural ways, yet it fills Touya with a sense of peace. 

“This is gonna get boring, fast,” Touya grumbles, tapping his foot. Tenko stares at Touya, as if deep in thought, before his face lights up. 

“Hey. Watch this,” Tenko smiles before touching Touya’s shoulder with all five fingers. For a beat, Touya flinches, gasping and expecting to crumble into dust, but nothing happens. 

Nothing except a gentle squeeze. 

“I can touch you now,” Tenko grins, eyes shimmering before taking note of Touya’s horrified expression. He promptly pulls his hand away. “Unless you don’t want me to.” 

Touya’s mouth suddenly feels dry. 

“No, it’s okay. You can,” He stammers, wondering if it’s still possible for him to blush. Touya’s heart skips a beat when his thoughts are answered by the red in Tenko’s cheeks. Touya stares at the ground again, knuckles whitening as he grips the edge of the seat. 

“It’s good to see you,” Tenko murmurs, trying to change the subject. “I think you’ll like it here. No Quirks. No false heroes. No scavenging. I’m not sure what we did to end up here, but everything worked out. It’s like we’re in our own realm. We have a mansion. It’s not far. Magne’s there, now, actually, with Kurogiri. Probably making dinner for everyone.”

“You get hungry?” Touya raises an eyebrow. 

“Nah, but we still have all our senses. You can still feel and taste and smell just like you can see and hear. It’s hard to explain.”

Touya looks at his arms again, still taking in the fact that his scars have healed. It’s as if he never had scars to begin with. 

“I wanted to be a hero, too. I don’t think I ever told you that.”

Touya lifts his head, sitting up straighter to look at Tenko. 

“What all did Crazy tell you about me?”

“Enough,” Tenko chuckles. “You should be glad she hasn’t seen you yet. She’s going to ask you about everything she missed.” 

“She didn’t miss much,” Touya grumbles, a shiver rolling down his spine. “I…I didn’t even know she was…”

“It’s okay. We’re all here,” Tenko reassures him, “It’s rather nice. I don’t think you’ll get bored.” Tenko stands up and whistles, making Touya peer around him as the tall grass rustles. 

Arf! Arf!

A corgi jumps out of the foliage, bounding up to Tenko and putting its paws up on his knees. 

“This is Mon,” Tenko beams, kneeling down to hug the dog as it licks all over his face. 

“You…have a dog?” Touya stares. He’s never seen Shigaraki so…happy. He doesn’t understand why his smile and laughter are making his chest feel embarrassingly warm. 

“You wanna pet him?” Tenko looks over his shoulder as Mon tackles him to the ground, making him fall back as it continues assaulting his face with puppy kisses. Touya’s eyes widen as Tenko’s light blue hair suddenly starts to turn black. Tenko follows Touya’s gaze and points to his head. 

“Oh. It does that sometimes,” Tenko shrugs, turning around to look at Touya with…gray irises. “My soul got a little confused and parts of it merged together. But I’m still me.”

For a brief moment, Touya wonders if his own hair will start turning crimson. Normally, that thought would make him wretch, but he can’t even seem to remember why. 

Tenko takes note of his facial expression. 

“You can’t feel any of the old bad here. Just the new good.” Tenko leaps to his feet, hoisting Mon up and holding him out to Touya. 

“Wanna hold him?”

Is that why he’s finally looking at Tenko for the first time? His obsession and anger aren’t there anymore in his heart…so there’s room for so much more. 

Arf! Arf!

Touya’s train of thought is interrupted by Mon’s playful barking, and Touya hesitantly takes him from Tenko, awkward and with shaking hands until his muscle memory kicks in, and he holds the dog like a human infant. Touya cringes as the dog writhes in his arms, craning its neck to lick his face. 

“Shit, he’s gonna fall,” Touya mutters as he tries to hold on to the wiggly puppy. 

“Alright, Mon-chan. Calm down. Why don’t you go play with Auntie Himiko and Uncle Jin?” Tenko whispers to the dog as he takes him from Touya’s arms and places him back into the grass. 

The corgi promptly dashes back off into the undergrowth, and the two watch as the grasses shake in a line all the way down the ravine before a pair of ears pops up between Toga and Twice. 

“Mon-chan!” Toga giggles before booping his nose, “You’re it!” 

Touya can’t help but stare at Tenko as he holds his head high. He looks ethereal as the non-existent wind blows through his hair. He’s pretty. Is Touya finally able to notice just how adorable his smile is now that he’s not tunnel-visioned on revenge? 

He must admit, Touya can’t explain it, but he feels so much better. It’s easier to breathe. It’s easier to exist. It’s like the heaviest burden in the world has been lifted off his shoulders and completely incinerated. 

There’s nothing to hold Touya back from enjoying his life, which is ironic considering that he’s dead. 

Something flutters in his chest, making his head feel dizzy and the pit of his stomach feel warm. 

It only happens when he looks at Tenko. 

It started happening when he touched him. 

Is it what he thinks it is?

“Hey, Tenko?” Touya blurts as his body starts to move on its own. Before he can process what he’s doing, he laces his fingers in Tenko’s and squeezes his hand. 

Tenko’s eyes widen, and he looks down at Touya’s hand clutching his before turning his gaze back to Touya. 

“You said something about a mansion, right?”

“Yeah,” Tenko gulps as a dull shade of pink spreads over his cheeks. 

Touya doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he's dead, so is there any real risk? 

“You wanna go there and make out?”

…

…

“Hi, Magne. Bye, Magne,” Touya calls out as Tenko drags him through the kitchen, down the hall, and up the stairs. 

“Holy shit! Was that Dabi?!” Magne’s revelation is muffled from far away as Tenko leads Touya to his room. 

“I always had a secret crush on you,” Tenko murmurs as they half-walk-half-run, “You were so insufferable, but I was kinda into it.”

“I hated your guts for a bit. That’s all gone now,” Touya replies, “I feel like we were supposed to be together.”

“In another life?” Tenko beams as he opens a door. 

“This life,” Touya answers. 

“You mean afterlife,” Tenko teases. 

“Shut up, nerd,” Touya chuckles before Tenko pulls him inside the bedroom. 

Touya stumbles forward as Tenko spins them around, blissfully laughing at each other as Tenko kicks the door shut. 

The kiss is gentle. It feels…fragile. Sacred. Beautiful. 

It’s equally awkward, equally soft, and equally pure. 

Tenko cups Touya’s cheek, and Touya’s hands delicately rest on Tenko’s waist. 

There’s a second kiss. This one is deeper. There’s more passion. More risk. 

It makes them breathe harder, and their theoretical pulses quicken. 

Touya’s teeth nip at Tenko’s bottom lip, prompting Tenko to prod Touya’s lip with his tongue. 

Touya softly gasps, relaxing his jaw to let his tongue meet Tenko’s. The sensation makes him groan, and his knees threaten to buckle beneath him. 

What a blessing it is to finally feel after all this time. 

It’s cathartic to indulge in gentle touches that make him feel euphoric. 

Touya pulls Tenko closer, his hand turning into a fist to grab a handful of Tenko’s shirt. Tenko’s hands fall to Touya’s neck, tenderly embracing. 

They move to the bed. 

…

…

Touya and Tenko stare at the ceiling, chests heaving as they lie next to one another, hands tightly intertwined in the space between them. 

“I see what you mean about bodily functions not working,” Touya pants.

“Jin seems to think that everything is just made of light, including us. He might be right,” Tenko explains, running his thumb over Touya’s knuckles. 

“If that means I never get carsick ever again, that’s fine,” Touya sighs. 

“I’m not sure if there’s any cars here anyway.”

“Shut up,” Touya laughs, turning to look at Tenko. “It’s…nice though that…whatever you said…we feel good.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s kinda funny that I didn’t have my first time until the afterlife,” Touya chuckles. 

Tenko smiles. 

“Me too.”

“I guess I’m glad we still get to live after it all. Though…there’s things I’ll miss,” Touya chews his bottom lip. 

“You’ll get used to it. We all had to. Magne will probably give you a better rundown. She’s had the most experience with this world. It’s a lot like a video game with an infinite health bar.”

“There’s no game over?”

“This is the game over. Best game over we could ask for.”

Touya closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He squeezes Tenko’s hand, pulling it up to press a kiss to the back of his palm. It feels real enough, whether they’re made of light or not. 

“You think we could convince Jin and Himiko to play heroes with us?”