Chapter Text
Rain hammered down outside the window, relentless attacks of inch wide drips rolling down with a thunder as it’s marching tune. Backed by the siege weapon of gale force wind battered against the side of the Quirk-Proof window, trying to break free or at least push off the succulent that sat on the window sill.
On the inside though, silence. Pristine white sterilized silence. The soft glow from monitors and their signals is all that broke up the endless black cables and white curtains. Disturbed only by encroaching footsteps, a pint sized doctor had rolled his fingers across his head and scratched the back folds. Even at this range he could tell that his duty was still currently awake. At this point it had been almost two days and while the vitals were strong, it was already hard enough keeping the top end screwed on.
Until the repair work and laboratory was finished, being stuck in this emptied out ward, closed to the public was all he could really do to monitor the current progress of All for One’s... gentle tampering, as well as preparing more Quirks that he still wished to continue to analyse. With the absence of life and empty beds though had given the entire section a echo and a stillness. If a light had flickered, Ujiko would’ve matched All for One's screams.
“Levels of tolerance aside, I do not think I can continue in this state.”
Even though All for One had not even ushered a hello or welcome, the sudden movement and sitting up of him was a gesture in itself for Ujiko. An exhaustive sigh as he did his rounds with the machine, double checking on that plant pot to see if it was still clinging to life. In the stillness of this part of the ward, that was the only sign of life here. He knew why of course, there were already rumblings from lower down staff members and nurses about haunting screams and ghosts or bad vibes in general coming from the closed off “For refurbishments” ward. It kept even the most curious or love struck staff members from approaching the doors however, but such a feeling does not reflect well on the people on the other side. All for One watched Ujiko read like a machine through updates and notes, unflinching and even sleep deprived, still attentive and acknowledging the details as if an attentive student. It didn’t really matter how much had sunk in but it was recognition . And recognition goes a lot further than a mere nurse asking if one was okay. Closing Up his folder, looking up from beside the desk, the doctor proposed something far out of the blue.
“May I suggest something far away from Quirks and needles. A game of Go or cards.”
While he could not allow the patient to move, and no radio or television would make him anything but more stressed, an old style of entertainment, that formed a recognition of the other person mutually would perhaps be a better therapy than anything else. He couldn’t imply this, let alone say it. Trying to analyse the mental state of All for One that wasn’t on a Quirk-level was a void that would drag Ujiko’s entire life expectancy down with it.
“A game of Go feels quaint.”
The doctor nodded, this used to be a public part of the hospital. They kept board games and small toys to keep children amused with during visiting hours, and with a flutter of his moustache joked that perhaps a bead-maze would be more appropriate. Curious, but still strained on his movements, All For One managed to rotate himself up and dangle over the side of the bed. Piloting an office chair, Ujiko joined him on the other side and unfurled the folded up creased board. Palms flat with a slap just for emphasis, bowls spun to assert some sort of control over the man 3 times his height.
"Ah, you shall make this night entertaining in the least then, Ujiko. I suppose I shall take black and the first turn.”
Passing over the separated black stones over, the doctor shuffled on his chair and whipped thumb across his lips.
“Do you suppose or do you want to go first?”
A tease. A bit of banter. A psyche up. Ujiko wanted first blood even though he could not have it. There was curiosity that needed to be satiated and he imagined his opponent had a different kind of unger that needed to be fed.
“Well, I suppose I should take pity on some weaker Quirks.”
And with that, the first stone was cast. Complete with the name of his Quirk, All for Once started on the star point in the middle of the board, everything centering onto him. Ujiko did not bite right away but began to capture territory just outside of All for One’s reach around the corner star point. This back and forth of the early turns and build up was back by the violent storms, chaotic and messy. Rain spluttered in thicker droplets against the window. The plant pot and strese having their stems tugged and pulled in two different directions. The taste of the game was getting into Ujiko, he had admired and thought about the grand strategy in every move All for One Did - as if there even was one. He concocted his overall goes for star-point quarters of the board. This did not go unnoticed by the opponent, whose counter placing was more sporadic, aggressive, hunting down a loose stone to force Ujiko to play in his realm.
In the east edge of the board, where Ujiko’s whites had followed and encircled a small small layer of black from the edge, All for One had called him however, and began to edge the out corner of his wall, the Doctor had expected nothing less. The taunt was warranted, for any person who looked at the board, but, this was part of the further plan. Fingertips touching, the doctor paused, and arched his thumbs up and down a bit before speaking.
"A good strategist can take stated objectives and form comprehensive plans towards achieving those goals. A good tactician knows what techniques and methods one can use at each step towards that objective."
One liberty, on the edge to create a “u” shape around All for One’s branch was safe. A saki move, two parties mutually allowing each other to live in order not to lose major ground or the game. He would gain no pieces, no territories from the move to protect his wall, but in doing so, completely cut off those territories from play. ANy spare liberties that All for One could place, would be instantly taken by the walled off section. His entire branch and own ladder trap, cut off. No gains for Ujiko, but sitting back in the office chair with a hard enough force that it squeaked, swayed left and right. Fingertips touching again hiding the grin.
“What do you appear to be implying, Doctor ”
All for One made his move without even hesitating. Not even a single flinch of muscle movement. Behind him, the rain had chained direction and began pelting at an angle, scraping the window instead of directly at it. The wind still whipped but the rain had calmed down on it’s direct assault. The war had shifted inside and All for One took an aggressive set up to take a hanging over piece. Placing his cannula-strapped hands together, hurled a bone curdling knuckle crack that silenced Ujiko’s chair.
“Let us leave the implications to the book writers and panicked journalists.”
Tweaking the tip of his moustache, hoovered over an open corner of the board, looking for an open liberty, wondering if baiting his partner into a ladder would be too obvious, safer than risking the two vertical strings in the center of the board...but there was one thing Ujiko could always count on. The insatiable hunger of All For One.
“You seem lost in thought, for such a friendly game.”
Smiling with a confident grin, renewed with confidence, placed the white counter in between All for One’s vertical and horizontal strings. Curious at this move, All For One placed a counter underneath it linking his string, hoping to sway Ujiko into his trap. The scent of blood now in the air, Ujiko,buried a finger under his moustache and smug grin. Blocking this new horizontal string, All for One perked up from the edge of the bed and strained one of the wires. Wide smile putting down the black counter to take the one bait piece.
“Your hunger is insatiable, even for such a friendly game”
Placing a counter in the last remaining liberty, Ujiko sized all of the black pieces in the middle. Trickling them through his fingers into the bowl, each one hitting an echo in the hospital, not once did the smirk and eyes break from his opponent. All for One cocked his slightly to the side and rustled through his hair.
The storm eased off out of the window, a crack of thunder rocked outside, but never made its way inside. The drizzle continued; but the snap of thunder did not go unnoticed by Ujiko, who had used the lights of buildings across as a distraction technique to keep his poker-face. All for One however, had no such issue bury any expression, simply responding with a counter down, ready to recuperate the losses without a second thought. Ujiko was astounded that what leverage he had gained, only seemed to bounce off of his opponent. For he had pictured himself as a strategist, being able to see the entire board. Through this entire match that was his working theory, the whole reason why he had offered Go instead of a western game like Chess that rewarded the tactician way of thinking. Another counter on the board, creating a new string to pull away, leaving the ladder-trap in place.
“There is a hesitancy in your movements. I take it the cannula is irritating you?”
All For One captured one of the white pieces and with deliberate slow movement, raised the tube hand and flicked out his hand into a point out where the corner moves had created. Shuffling in the wheelchaired office chair, shuffling it left and right in an unconscious gesture. Ujiko's eyes awaited to see the master plan that the partner would ultimately come up with, focusing on the slap of wind and that danced the three into the window.
“That’s a Ko ”
Smile under white hair fired back, an ego’s grin under a white moustache responded, sliding a counter to the spare ladder trap, breaking the Ko . Taking the short term gain of taking the ladder bait and placing a counter down, hoping to take the entire group of white, Ujiko took the further out black. Even though the pair had become silence in their deliberation, behind their backs, behind each of them they were betrayed; Ujiko could see the already struggling observations of All For One increase and pulse harder, and vice versa, All for One could see the back of the chair nudge the curtain behind, could see the slight movement. Slowly. bit by bit All for One had gained some traction, not enough to compensate for the one fault, but enough that Ujiko was beginning to become more settled.
“Doctor, I believe I am becoming a little dry.”
Ujiko pushed up his glasses and watched as the storm eased just a little but a tree fighting to stay upright and grip onto its leaves showed the window was still violent. Denying his request, the opponent gave a coarse laugh just deep enough that Ujiko's swaying was swapped with a grip. Pinching the edge of the table, watching the black counter hover over the board, looking for liberty.
A tease, a playful tease but ultimately merely a tactic.
All For One on his side, Ujiko images, probably saw him as a frightened prey to be dragged across the plains. Yet there was a barrier between them: confidence. Responding with a counter down firmly, prepared to pull another snapback, this time hesitating after the tip touched the black lines, allowing a sharp snap thud. A strategy set, another implication planted.
Not taken this time, All for One in the middle of this tango that Ujiko had planned in his head, had dropped his partner flat on his back. No eloquent matches or envisioned bold moves. Nada. All for One’s black counters took the empty liberties on the side to cover up space, avoiding both the latter and the second snapback. An insane commitment to being always aggressive and territory hugging without a single recourse for what the other player had handled. If this were mahjong, such an occult-style tactic would decimate your point total. Here however, in Go, there was some pay off, even though Ujiko had far more counters, All for One was swarming the board.
"Like a true Commander you send your stones into the trench to end up captured."
A hoarse chuckle in response gave the small corner of the ward an uneasy tension. No words or distractions could pull Ujiko from his lower state in the battle outside of the board. As with everything the Doctor did, he would have to carve his victory into All For One directly with his hands. Ujiko was told fireside stories of how every fight for a Quirk was a battle on two levels, and now, removing the Quirk power imbalance, he had to steel himself.
"I have taken my turn."
There were liberties still open, those not in the cut off dead zone or the second trap. He could pass now but there is no way such an aggressive opponent would give up. The handicap was in his favour, but there wasn't enough time to calculate the point difference. An empty throwaway stone, away from lines, the best he could simply do was clear up as many side spaces as possible to try to coax All for One into making either a mistake or agreeing to pass his turn.
All for One placed another disconnected stone, destroying one of the last few open spaces to create a pair of eyes. Ujiko returned the favour, even down to mimicking the slack way his opponent dangled the stone above a slot. This was his home stretch as white overtook the spaces, his modus operandi working. Feeding off from the tactic of his opponent and partner, analysing it, then duplicating it back into action. With only stuck Ko formations or illegal suicidal moves left, for a rare game, the board was densely and diversity filled. Extending a hand to pass his turn, All For one went to reach for it, slowly. Other hand still hovering over the board whether there really was another space. Prompting the end, Ujiko broke the deliberation, checking on the window. Noticing both the tree and the plant pot had survived the storm, rained
"All of this rain and wind, yet that small tiny plant pot has stood its ground."
Agreeing to pass his turn, the game to a conclusion. Both men sat back waiting for another to start the counting process. It appeared though that neither man wished too. A single stone tipping the scale in the wrong direction, would be a deafening blow to either man’s ego, or well, at least for the Doctor who was mentally counting the spaces as quickly as possible. Reaching over for the stack of Ujiko’s notes from the tip of the bed, All for One flipped a page over and asked Ujiko for a pen. If neither could be trusteed, then they would count together.
“Much like the city outside these walls, your influence across the board is immense.”
An off comment by Ujiko undermined the implication that it would be the Doctor who was power hungry for victory. In the first round of area and territory counting, Ujiko’s prophecy was true, All for One had a higher number, even with Ujiko’s handicap, it was not a wife margin but enough that All for One had broken his oster just a little. A tiny inch rest of his shoulder muscles, noticeable completely by the Ujiko who had repaired and tended to those shoulders weekly.
“You have a wide margin in territory. It appears that the pawn is always sacrificed to protect the commander...”
Ujiko underscored both their scores and then put a minus next to both of them. Counting the big imbalance in Ujiko’s favour of the stones captured off the board, All for one Narrated the doctor’s work, as he did with any such operation.
“I was not aware Chess had a similar scoring system, then.”
Silencing the patient with a finger up, Ujiko began counting with the tip of the pencil the row of mutual-living stones that he had placed into saki , this number was weightier for All for one and writing in the majority number into the formula, placed the pencil below their scores. Not writing them in per se, he wanted All for One to drop the final coin to, feel hik the implication.
“But as with any game, if you underestimate the pawn, you've already lost.”
A hearty clap and hand shuffle for All for One as he stared at his own, now lower final total. Wide grin across his face and clasping his hands tighter against once more as Ujiko gathered the stones and mixed them in the original bag.
"You are implying, again Ujiko."
"You are coaxing, out of me, something you already know."
The storm had completely died down and cracks of blue dawn broke across the sky outside the window. Observations slowed, All For One rested much easier it seemed, even went as far as ignoring a jutting out pillow. Poking one eye up at the Doctor’s preparations for leaving and tidying up, All for One threw out just a tiny little snippet out, perhaps to get the last word in, perhaps to observe Ujiko closer.
"Who becomes the commander between us then?"
It was as if All For One had thrown a stone at him, completely taking him off track with such an innocuous observation. Continuing to pencil in the last readings, the endless readings at this point, from the monitors behind the bed, Ujiko spoke as long and drawn as he could, hoping to bore the sad-but-curious-sack-of-Quirks with throwaway empty statements.
"The mind is sharper than the sword. One good strategy execution tactics can turn an outnumbered battle around. It is better to have a combination of strategy and tactics than to have one who may stir some morale. A decisive, clean victory can inspire far more moral naturally..."
Grinning underneath the blanket as the pint sized doctor skirted around the bed and prepared morning notes, All For One had pushed him slightly further on the notion, almost calling Ujiko on his bluff to overstep. For a few beats, Ujiko brought time by fiddling with some wires too far behind the bed, thinking two strategic outlooks: Perhaps he was finishing for Ujiko to slip up and overstate his leverage in their relationship, or perhaps the man merely needed a voice to keep him going instead of listening to the voices from nightmares. Returning to the side, All for One pressed that it had appeared Ujiko had put more thought than originally known about the art of war, beyond a mere board game. The truth was, Ujiko didn’t exactly; it was just the leftovers of years of living double lives, watching the world tick over and, although he wouldn’t admit it out loud. Watching All for One intensely.
"I imagine, it is easier to command a thousand quirks in a one Commander than to command an army of a thousand Quirks. Well, in theory and in paper in a book. Your body is stressed enough with the current load over a game. of Go that the monitor would fill several books."
Stressing and pulling that last word out, while whipping the paper readings loudly, All For One adjusted the wire in his hand. A quiet chuckle as he demonstrated that same fact by extension doing his right arm over the top of Ujiko's head to pull the curtain around to remove the oncoming daylight.
“Fascinating….Watching you tick.”
Drumming his fingers on the side of the bed, nails making a nice ting noise on the side, the doctor’s head cocked to the and put up the side railings to the bed.
“Fascinating is how you managed to go 48 hours with no sleep and still jabber on.”
Despite being scaled for setting up the machines for Quirk usage, the patient seemed content and taxed across his muscles. Bidding him a good rest, the bed head caught the sunlight and glistened soft morning blues just for a few seconds. Determined to have the last word and silence him Ujiko declared one last thing:
"I was implying beforehand, that we’re--"
Cut off with a hand wave from the bed, All for Once kept a step ahead.
"Your implications are not as straight as your stitches, Partner "
A rudely waved curtain shut, with two smiles hidden behind white cloth. As the sounds of footsteps and monitors vanished into silence, both men declared their own victory in synchronisation. Egos fed, minds challenged, two sides of the same coin that always came up heads. A perfect state of Saki or "Mutual living".