This chapter is the epitome of 'ideas that sounded better in my head than they did written down.' It's been fighting me since March. I've accepted it's as good as it's getting, and I'd rather push on to the rest of the fic than keep picking at this. Especially since my interest in BNHA is waning and I'd like to get this fic finished before it vanishes completely.

Iida Tenya has spent most of the week in something of a haze. It felt like his world was irreversibly shattered the second he'd set foot on that tournament stage. From that moment on, everything had just gone downhill. It was a true testament to the phrase 'it can't get any worse' when he walked off to take that call – to find his embarrassing fight was trivial, because his brother was fighting for his life thanks to a crazed monster.

He swears he'll never forget what he saw in that hospital room for the rest of his life. His brother, the strong, charismatic, honest and amazing hero, lying pale on a bed with wires everywhere, with a fate nobody wants to hear.

Crippled. Paralysed from the waist down. His hero career – his entire way of life, snuffed out at the hands of a monster.

He shouldn't even be here. This knowledge isn't something he should have had access to, but his family had been speaking to Recovery Girl, and while Tenya was had been kept out of the meetings due to his age, he'd eavesdropped whenever possible. He'd heard them discussing a possible treatment, but Recovery Girl had insisted it was a dead end.

But while his parents might think that's an acceptable outcome, Tenya doesn't. If it's a possibility, surely they should at least investigate it?

It might not have been the right thing ethically, but last night, he slipped into his father's office, and looked up the correspondence. While names and medical files were either redacted or missing, there is one word that stands out. Takesushi. The restaurant a stone's throw away from the school. Someone there has recovered from a similar injury. He doesn't know who, or how long ago, and both his parents and Recovery Girl went to a lot of effort to make sure it wouldn't be easily pieced together if anyone got access to the emails, but Tenya knows how the Iida Hero Agency encodes their electric data, and filled in the blanks himself.

That's what brought him here, just before opening. A restaurant in a busy part of town. He vaguely remembers hearing that it had been the victim of a villain attack recently, and the building does look like it's required some repairs recently. He walks to the door, and heads straight towards a pair of girls setting up tables.

"We're not open yet," says the one with lighter hair, looking up as he walks over.

"I'm not a customer," Tenya replies. "I'm looking for information."

That causes the other girl – who wears an eyepatch – to stop working and take Tenya in. She looks rather resigned.

"What kind of information?"

Tenya clenches his fists. "I want to know about the person who recovered from a spinal injury."

The two girls pause for a moment, and then glance at each other, looking very awkward.

"I know somebody in this building survived something impossible," Tenya repeats. "And I'm not leaving until I hear from them."

"At least it's not me this time," the eyepatch girl mutters under her breath, and she brushes past him, heading for the kitchen. The other girl stays, eyes piercing into Tenya's.

"You shouldn't know about that," she says. "Medical history is private."

Tenya can't maintain the eye contact, glancing away as he chokes down the guilt. He knows his actions have not been honourable, but the circumstances demand it.

"Head upstairs Kyoko, I'll deal with this."

He jerks his head to the side, as a man in chef wides strides out, looking none too pleased. The girl gives him a glance, and then complies. The chef watches her go, before pinning Tenya to the spot with a glare.

"I'm getting very tired of people showing up uninvited outside of opening hours," he warns. "And Kyoko was right, that's not something you should know."

"I did research myself," Tenya defends, bending the truth just to the side. "I spend a lot of time in the hospital, and I heard nurses gossiping. It took a while, but it wasn't impossible to trace."

The chef sighs, running a hand over his face. "That nail just refuses to be hammered down, doesn't it."

"Tell me, how did you recover?" Tenya asks. "I don't know if you're aware, but my brother is-"

"It wasn't me, it was my son," the man interrupts. "And we've been informed of the unfortunate incident regarding the Hero in question, but there's nothing we can offer that can help."

Tenya scowls. "That cannot be true. There must at least be a Doctor you can introduce?"

"The fact of the matter, is that my son was unconscious for the procedure, and the only other person in the room was the one who performed it," the man snaps. "We neither signed off on it, or were informed about it until the procedure was already done. My son's own doctors asked the very questions you are, and we couldn't answer them any more than we can you."

Tenya feels himself bite his tongue, reeling from the new information. He's been so focused on the revolutionary side of this miracle, it had never occurred to him the silence is because it was involuntary. That suggests a quirk was involved – possibly one with a price they wanted to keep from the patient.

"Then...do the police have any leads on who performed an unsanctioned-"

"Kid, for the last time, this is a dead end," the chef snaps. "And unless you want me calling the police for gross privacy violations you'd be-"

"I just want to help my brother," Tenya begs. "This is the only lead that has any value at all. Can't you-"

His voice dies in his throat when the door the restaurant slams open, and both of them look over to see a silver haired teen storming in, cursing at a pace that would give even Bakugo pause. The anger might be somewhat justified, because there's quite an impressive set of scratch marks on the teen's cheek that look fairly fresh.

The chef doesn't seem even slightly perturbed at the interruption, only tilting his head slightly as the teen gets close. "Gokudera, any lu-"

"No!" the teen snaps. "That stupid cat ran off again! Where the hell does she keep going?"

The chef sighs. "I've warned you before, Uri can't be allowed to just run wild. You need to train her better."

"It's not like I'm not trying," Gokudera grumbles. "I roped in a hero who likes cats on the way back too."

"Eraser Head?"

"Nah, a woman. Said her quirk would be useful for tracking her."

He then looks at Tenya and freezes, as if only just realising he's there.

"Who are you?"

Tenya opens his mouth, only for the chef to push past him.

"Someone who was just leaving."

Tenya grits his teeth as the man heads back towards the kitchen. He's getting frustrated at how much he gets cut off in this restaurant. Once he's managed to calm down, he sees Gokudera watching him with a sharp glare.

"Well built, educated, pissed of Tsuyoshi within a matter of minutes...what sports school are you from?"

"What? I'm not-no, I'm a hero student," Tenya says, rather confused. This lightens the glare, but not the suspicion aimed his way.

"Okay, then why the hell are you bickering with a chef?" Gokudera asks. "Finally get sick of Present Mic bringing in take out to class?"

Tenya frowns, and looks away. "I wanted-"

He sighs. "I heard someone recovered from a spinal injury, and my brother suffered a similar condition. He's a Hero, and I was hoping for a way to help him."

He'll admit it, he'd been expecting sympathy, not the growl and rolling of eyes.

"God, again? What does it take to get you lot to back off?" Gokudera mutters. "I swear, someone needs to kick the collective hero industry in the balls. You have no respect for anything."

And that's more than Tenya, proud and sleep deprived, can handle.

"How dare you!" he yells, watching as Gokudera's eyebrows raise. "Heroics is composed of the greatest members of each generation! People who give their lives to protecting our society and way of life! You should be grateful for any chance to aid them, not scoffing at their sacrifices! It's the duty of all civilians to-"

Gokudera slams a hand on the table at his side, the sound echoing around the room and cutting Tenya right off. He flinches as the other teen looms forward, an evil look on his face, and Tenya feels something shiver up his spine.

"Duty, huh?" Gokudera asks. "I don't want to hear that from a glorified celebrity wannabe."

Tenya's jaw drops. Celebrity what?

"Greatest members of each generation?" Gokudera continues. "That's the biggest crock I've ever heard. Anyone with eyes can tell Heroes are the most unnecessary distraction this world has."

"Heroes exist to help people!" Tenya defends. "To protect them from dangers others cannot."

"Oh, you want to help people?" Gokudera asks. "Then why not be a policeman? Or a fireman, or a doctor, or literally any profession that exists to serve society. Haven't these people devoted themselves to helping society? Why aren't they elevated?"

"I, that's...of course those people are valued. It's not-"

"But not to the extent that Heroes are, right?" Gokudera presses. "Because there's one fundamental difference between a hero and all those other jobs."

"Well yes," Tenya admits. "Heroes can use their quirks. It's why those with strong quirks are encouraged into the profession."

And everyone wants to use their quirk, so why wouldn't you admire those who achieved that. It's hardly an unnatural reaction.

Gokudera however, shakes his head. "Wrong."

Tenya frowns. "Wrong?"

"All those professions allow people to use their quirks, provided they can justify it," Gokudera explains. "Granted, they often get written up for their use unless they're in the medical profession, but plenty of people with quirks that would be useful in a specific profession get pushed towards it. Hell, we got interrogated by a cop with a truth telling quirk not that long ago – Heroes don't have the monopoly they think they have."

His eyes narrow, and his smirk sharpens. "The only real difference, is that a hero expects to be rewarded for helping people."

Tenya lunges forward, slamming his hand on the same table Gokudera had. "That is not true!"

"Isn't it?" Gokudera counters, still with that vicious smile on his face. "Policeman are forbidden from taking any kind of gift for their service. Nobody offers sponsorship for fireman, or does popularity contests for soldiers, and there's certainly no photo shoots or merchandise for doctors. But Heroes? Heroes are celebrities – you're considered a success by how much your face is plastered all over a bedroom wall rather than how much crime you stop."

Tenya blushes bright red.

"That's a gross misunderstanding of what a Hero is," he defends. "Yes, Heroes are celebrated for their work, but it's part of being in the public eye."

"Really?" Gokudera parries. "Cause I've been checking my history, and this whole, literal hero-worship shtick only started about 50 years ago. Heroes have been around a long time, but the celebrity part is new, and now by far the more important requirement."

"Bite your tongue!"

"Oh I've been biting my tongue for months," Gokudera laughs. "A guilt free target that can't hit back is exactly what I need."

"Now see he-"

"If heroes were really just about protecting people, they'd be under the same rules as all other government jobs," Gokudera says. "No sponsorship, blanket refusal on gifts, and sure as hell no merchandise. And yet, they're not. Because there's money to be made, so long as Heroes are marketable. And that means big, flashy quirks and popularity contests on par with the Idol factory."

With that, Gokudera's body relaxes, slouching and leaning on the table.

"If you and your brother were really only in it to help people, you would have never become heroes," Gokudera concludes. "You would have rejected the premise and devoted yourself to helping people in obscurity. Or you'd be aiming to be like that teacher of yours, and refuse all merchandise and advertisement contracts."

"The money that comes from those sales goes towards protecting the people!" Iida protests. "It's not as if it goes straight into our pockets."

"Oh, so you're saying that Eraser Head is a bad hero?" Gokudera snaps. "Because he's not also providing the necessary celebrity income?"

"Of course not!" Tenya gasps. "It's not-I'm-"

Gokudera scoffs. "Good. For what it's worth, he's the only Hero I've researched so far that seems to be worth the time. I'd have punched you in the face if you'd answered otherwise."

"So you agree that there is some merit to heroes?" Tenya stumbles, desperate to get at least some ground back. He regrets it the second he sees triumph in Gokudera's eyes.

"Sure. It's obvious the idea started in a good place. But it's clear it's gotten out of hand. Heroes don't just uphold the law, they think they're above it. It would be ironic if it wasn't so damn annoying."

Tenya's heart sinks. He knows it's bait, he knows it's a trap. And yet he just can't help himself.

"Heroes are no more above the law than anyone else," he insists. "Their duty is to uphold and protect, no exceptions."

"And yet, Mt. Lady causes more property damage using her quirk than the villains she catches on a regular basis. The amount of first degree burns Endeavour causes civilians who don't evacuate in time is ridiculous."

"Those are accidental situations!" Tenya protests. "Sometimes, you can't stop powerful villains without some damage control."

"All right, I'll grant you that," Gokudera admits. But before Tenya can feel any relief, Gokudera continues. "But what about you?"

"Me?"

Another sharp, vicious smile.

"You're not even a full fledged Hero yet, but you seem to believe you can take private information that shouldn't even be available to heroes, and come bother civilians who haven't committed any crimes, just because you want it for a Hero."

Gokudera leans forward.

"Tell me, if I'd stolen private medical information to bother your family, how long would it have been before you had me thrown in jail?"

Tenya flinches back, and Gokudera barks a laugh.

"You're might be a Hero-in-training, but you're no 'hero,'" Gokudera says. "You're an idol who wants a pat on the head for being a good person. Now get the fuck out of here!"

Almost as if scheduled, the door to the restaurant opens again, and Tenya takes the distraction to run past Gokudera, fleeing for the exit. He barely hears the gasp from the green haired woman who enters, carrying a cream-coloured cat in her arms, too desperate to get away from the restaurant and the taunting voice behind him. He doesn't stop until he makes it back home, and slams the door of his bedroom shut.

What just happened? Tenya has never had any issues defending heroes and the noble profession before.

Then again, he'd also never had to defend it against someone who acted as if heroes were a nuisance rather than a fact of life. He must have been too tired and stressed, to not even put together a proper argument.

But...he cannot defend against Gokudera's last barb. Even he'd known before he walked into the restaurant than he wasn't fully in the right. If Recovery Girl hadn't been willing to pursue this link, what made Tenya think that he would have better luck? Heroes aren't above the law, but he'd done just that to press the family at Takesushi.

He bites his lip, and heads to his desk. In a locked drawer, he's hidden every shred of evidence he has regarding Stain. He yanks it out, and starts scanning the information.

Come to think of it, a lot of Gokudera's opinions sound similar to Stains. He hadn't come right out and said that heroes were fake, but it's the same line of thinking. Perhaps that's where the boy got the ridiculous notion that heroes aren't the pillars of society. The longer Stain runs free, the more people his ideas can infect.

No. Maybe Gokudera is right. Heroes shouldn't be above the law, but Tenya's not a hero. And if being a hero means letting his brother's mutilator go free, to let him stay alive after his actions, then he'll happily toss that future away.

He certainly won't be the one to prove that delinquent's beliefs to be right.

Please note, Gokudera's very negative opinions come from the fact that he's a former criminal, and someone used to controlling the world and fighting to protect the order from the shadows rather than in the spotlight. Heroes in general irritate him, but he's only aware of Stain through news repo