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The smell of bacon woke Hitoshi up. He dressed quickly and padded downstairs. In the kitchen, his mother hummed as she stood over a frying pan. She turned around, revealing her bright pink apron. “Happy birthday!”
“Thanks, Mom.” Hitoshi peered at the scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon in the frying pan. “It smells great.”
His mother cooed, “You need to be healthy and strong for the U.A. exam. If you make it into the hero course, you’ll be even more useful for the family business. Isn’t that exciting? Your father insists that you stay out of combat until you turn eighteen—you know how overprotective he is, I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn’t budge—but you can at least spy for him. If you do well, then he’ll finally acknowledge your abilities.”
Hitoshi’s smile turned strained. A paper burned a hole in his pocket. Casually, Hitoshi said, “I have a form for you to sign for my enrollment at U.A.” Sweat soaked his collar. He placed the paper on the counter. “I highlighted where it needs your signature.” He barely resisted adding, You don’t need to read it. His father had taught him how to lie better than that.
His mother skimmed the first page, then flipped it over. She was reading it, unfortunately. Not every word, but enough to notice. Hitoshi deliberately tipped over the breakfast pan. “Mom, look out!”
“Huh?” She turned around.
That sound alone was enough to grab her. Hitoshi activated his quirk and ordered, “Grab the pan.”
Under his control, his mother caught the frying pan before it fell off the stove. Then Hitoshi ordered, “Sign the form.”
Her eyes still blank and empty, his mother signed. Then Hitoshi released his power. He said, “I’m sorry, Mom, I reacted by instinct. I didn’t want the hot oil to spill.”
His mother looked down at the frying pan in her hand. “Hmm? Oh, did you use your quirk? Thank you for catching that. It would be a shame to waste your lovely birthday breakfast.”
“Especially after you worked so hard on it,” Hitoshi said. “I’ll set the table.” He swept the form off the counter and safely into his pocket. Then he went to drawer to take out silverware. His pulse galloped a mile a minute. He hoped his tone sounded normal despite his dry throat.
Hitoshi had been practicing for months on how to give someone an order without them noticing. Fortunately, his father happily provided his minions as material. Hitoshi’s ability put the target in a hazy stage. He’d found that if he layered on two orders fast enough, the target didn’t always notice the second one.
The first stage of his plan had been cleared. Unfortunately, U.A. required signatures from both parents for what he needed.
All for One sat in the dining room, sipping coffee. Hitoshi put a plate in front of his father, then a fork and knife. “Good morning. How are you?”
Waggling his eyebrows, All for One smirked. Hitoshi knew that meant Nice try. There was no way his father would let him take control so easily. This was the game they’d been playing since shortly after Hitoshi’s quirk had developed.
As Hitoshi sat down, his mother came in. “Breakfast is served,” she chirped, dividing up the eggs and bacon between the three plates.
The older Hitoshi got, the more his mother’s fixed smile reminded him of The Stepford Wives. She was the only child of the infamous villain Dictator, but her own quirk was a weak ability allowing her to change her hair color. Before her father’s capture, she’d been his devoted secretary. She’d seduced the leader of the Underworld All for One with the intent of getting pregnant, an accomplishment she bragged about to her friends so frequently that Hitoshi hadn’t been able to help overhearing. After Dictator’s imprisonment, she’d thrown her full support behind her husband’s ambitions instead. Hitoshi didn’t understand his mother. She bent over backward to give All for One anything he asked for and flatter the villain. Even after living with her for his entire life, Hitoshi couldn’t tell if she was a sincere devotee or if she clung to All for One for survival. She’d always been a loving and devoted mother to him, but he’d realized early on that she only praised him when he pleased his father and she’d raised him to be useful. Hitoshi loved his mother, but he didn’t trust her.
“An extra piece of bacon for the birthday boy,” his mother said.
“You know I love maple bacon. Thank you,” Hitoshi said. He stared at his father. “Don’t you have anything to say to me today?”
All for One flicked his fingers, and glowing words arose in the air reading: Happy Birthday.
His mother sighed. “You two are playing that game again?” There was a fond note to her complaint.
Nervously, Hitoshi tapped his feet on the ground. His father loved the sound of his own voice. The villain was physically incapable of shutting up for longer than a few minutes. Hitoshi knew he could win this, as he had many times before. But never before had the stakes been so high. Hitoshi asked, “What did you get me for my birthday?” All for One especially loved bragging.
But the villain only held out empty hands.
“Oh, don’t pretend.” Hitoshi mock-glared. His father loved spoiling him on his birthday.
All for One half-shrugged. Even without speaking, he’d clearly said, Work for it.
For Hitoshi’s entire life, he’d been doted on and cosseted by his father. When Hitoshi had gotten a weaker version of his grandfather’s quirk, his mother had been disappointed. But his father had only smiled and showered him with gifts. As Hitoshi reached his teens, he’d started to see a patronizing aspect to his father’s protectiveness. All for One divided people by his side into two categories: useful people and family members to be protected. Those who were neither did not survive long. Hitoshi had burned under his father’s dismissal, so he’d set out to prove that his quirk was useful.
Hitoshi had studied his father, finding every weakness that would make All for One speak. Every time that Hitoshi managed to take control of his father, All for One was proud of him. Unfortunately, Hitoshi’s plan had worked a little too well. When All for One had been impressed enough, he’d taken his son to see his Nomu laboratory. Afterward, Hitoshi had vomited in his bathroom. He’d always been aware that his father was involved in some illegitimate business, but he’d never thought too hard about it. Since his mother had been so proud of his father, Hitoshi had followed her lead. But he didn’t want to be involved in this repulsiveness.
He’d kept his doubts secret. Seeing his uncle’s corpse preserved in a place of honor in a bank vault attached to the laboratory had taught him an early lesson about what would happen if he tried to run. By pretending enthusiasm for his father’s cause, Hitoshi had gotten permission to attend U.A. as a spy. Even then, it had taken a lot of begging.
As Hitoshi ate, he watched All for One out of the corner of his eye. As soon as his father was distracted, Hitoshi threw water at him. All for One held up a hand, and the water bounced off a shield. The villain didn’t make a sound.
“You’ll be cleaning that up,” his mother said with a raised eyebrow.
“Sorry, Mom.” Hitoshi was mostly done eating. As soon as he took his last bite, he went to get a cloth to wipe up the water. His mother cleared the dishes off the table.
As Hitoshi mopped up the spill, he said, “I started reading Captain Hero. You told me how much you and your brother loved that comic, so it got me curious.” In fact, Hitoshi had learned many things from listening to his father talk about his uncle during the lab visit. Namely, he’d learned that he needed to get out of this family ASAP.
All for One looked up from his newspaper. His eyes lit up.
Hitoshi said, “The demon king is pretty cool, huh?”
All for One nodded.
Hitoshi said, “But Captain Hero is cooler since he wins in the end.”
“That deus ex machina was bullshit—” All for One shouted.
Gottcha. “Sign here,” Hitoshi ordered, pulling the form out of his pocket.
As soon as his father signed, Hitoshi yanked the paper away and hid it. “Now, show me where to find my birthday presents.”
All for One stood up and walked for the door. Hitoshi saw his father veer slightly, and shouted, “Walk in a straight line—”
But he spoke a little too late. All for One bumped his leg against the wall, then threw off the brainwashing with a shake of his head. “Not bad at all,” he said, patting Hitoshi’s head.
Brainwashing never lasted long on All for One. Either because of his mental clarity quirk or his strong will, he always managed to defy orders just long enough to bump into something. It only took a small impact for All for One to break himself out of it. Hitoshi hadn’t even bothered to try the double order trick because he knew his father would have noticed.
“I’ll get you again later,” Hitoshi muttered, pretending to look disappointed. In reality, he could care less about the presents. He would leave them behind soon.
All for One waved his hand, and more words formed in the air. How did you know to pull that trick? You even used the exact same words as my brother.
Hitoshi tensed. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. Since it was too late to hide his reaction from his extremely perceptive father, instead he confessed to the smaller sin. “I looked through all the books and papers in Uncle Yoichi’s…” He stopped himself before saying tomb. He meant to calm his father down, not agitate him more. “…room.” Hitoshi had desperately searched for every last scrap of information on his uncle’s fate, trying to figure out how much danger he might be in, and he’d liked none of what he’d found. At least there had been some good ammo, with plenty left for later battles. “Are you angry?”
Of course not. All for One shrugged. All is fair in our games. What did you buy for yourself?
For weeks, Hitoshi had been controlling his father into signing order forms to purchase toys and books, all in preparation for today so his father wouldn’t be suspicious. In a saucy tone, Hitoshi said, “You’ll have to find out what you got me for my birthday when the box arrives.” His heart hammered. Please, let his father see this as another game. Don’t let him notice anything wrong.
All for One smiled. The glowing letters rearranged and warped into: It must be something good if you wanted it more than your birthday presents.
Was his father suspicious? Hitoshi couldn’t read tone of voice from writing. His palms felt clammy. He had to keep a clear head. “I’ll order you to take me to those later. I haven’t even pushed the All Might button yet.”
All for One threw back his head and laughed.
Once safely back in his room, Hitoshi smoothed out the form. In addition to the standard safety waiver and enrollment, it also gave him permission to move to the U.A. dorms.
He was close, so very close. When he went to the exam, he wouldn’t be coming back home again. Whether he made it into the hero course or not, Hitoshi would move into U.A. either way. Only there could his father not reach him.
Truthfully, Hitoshi didn’t have any interest in becoming a hero. Because he loved animals, he’d always wanted to be a veterinarian (if he could overcome the nightmares about Dr. Garaki’s laboratory.) But Hitoshi knew that he would have no option to live his life freely until his father was in prison. Hitoshi would work with the heroes to make that happen. Hopefully it would all be over before he graduated high school, although he didn’t count on it.
Hitoshi hid the form under his mattress. He tossed and turned at night, unable to sleep until he was finally out of this house.
OMAKE TIME!
Hitoshi: Midoriya reminds me weirdly of my father. Dad had better not be hiding a second family. I’m going to be hostile toward him for no apparent reason.
Shouto: Did I hear a conspiracy theory? I’m on it like a fly on dung! What I’m hearing is that All Might and Aizawa had a lovechild.