Chapter Text
The mayor gurled, blood spilling from his mouth. Sitting in an office chair with his chin resting on his fist, Hisashi counted how long it took before drops started to leak from the mayor’s eyes and ears. This was a newly acquired metapower, and he was still testing its efficiency.
“P…Please…” the man gasped, then vomited up a bloody lump. From the sudden slackness of his body, he was dead. Hisashi frowned. He’d been trying to keep the pressure low and nonfatal. It appeared this metapower would not be useful for torture, but it also didn’t work fast enough to be effective at killing. There had been a good eight minutes when the mayor had been running around trying to escape. The door had scratch marks all over it.
So far, Hisashi had been deeply unimpressed with the new ability he’d specially imported over from Taiwan. Perhaps he’d give it a minion.
With a flip of his hand, Hisashi activated a power to lift the corpse in the air. It floated behind the desk, out of sight. A smile returned to Hisashi’s lips. He hummed. He had far more important concerns than one measly metapower. Soon, he would finally see his dear little brother again.
It had been far too long since Hisashi had last hugged his only family member. There would be tears and recriminations and probably biting, but when everything was done, Yoichi would finally understand that he had no one in the world besides his older brother. Or he’d be broken. Same difference.
“Machia, come in and bring the camera,” Hisashi called.
The stage had been perfectly set for his little brother to be betrayed again.
The entire house had turned pitch-black and cold. Yoichi huddled at the kitchen table under two layers of blankets. The cup of tea in his hand was cold, because the microwave didn’t work. He hated being in darkness. It reminded him too much of the vault. Kaiji put an arm around Yoichi’s shoulders. It helped. The warmth of another’s hand reminded him that he wasn’t alone.
Sanzou carried in a battery-powered lantern. “This will last us a day at least. Hikage slept through the outage, and he’s still in bed. Probably for the best. The child doesn’t need to see what I’m about to show you.”
“Wait, you said All for One caused the power outage.” Yoichi frowned. “Should we be doing something? Manning the guns?” He looked around as if expecting his brother his brother to be hiding in the closet with his lookalike mop.
Sanzou said, “This isn’t an attack on our base in particular. The power outage has spread across the entire city.”
Yoichi swallowed. “If all the hospitals in the city have lost power, then people are dying right now.” His hand trembled on his tea cup. “Because of me.”
“Whoa, we don’t know this is because of you,” Kaiji said. “All for One has been plotting his conquest since long before you escaped. This would be happening regardless.”
“Actually…” Sanzou swallowed. “All for One’s people took over the local news stations. He made an announcement right before the power outage. I still have the video saved on my phone.” He held it up and pressed play.
The video showed Hisashi sitting behind the mayor’s desk. He wore a stupid-looking black skull mask, but Yoichi still recognized his older brother even before he spoke. “Good evening. My name is All for One. People of any importance already know the name. If you don’t, here’s the primer. I’m looking for a particular person. He knows who he is. If he is not delivered to the mayoral office by this time tomorrow, then I’ll kill someone. I have plenty to pick from among the mayoral staff. After I run out of hostages, I’ll randomly select an inhabitant of this city.” Hisashi kicked, and a something fell from behind the desk—the mayor’s body, bleeding from his eyes, ears, and mouth. “This is your first punishment.” The screen went blank.
The tea cup dropped to the table, liquid sloshing over the rim. Yoichi buried his face in his hands. “This is all my fault.”
“It most certainly is not,” Kaiji said. “That bastard is the only one responsible for his own actions. Before you run to turn yourself in—which I know you’re thinking about doing—remember that he didn’t promise to release the city in exchange for you. Hell, he didn’t even promise to let the mayoral staff go. He may kill them even if you return.”
“That’s a good point,” Sanzou muttered. “I didn’t notice that.”
Kaiji said, “You have no guarantee that All for One will keep his word anyway. I’d wager the mayor was a lost cause, a symbolic death to start his new regime, for all he tried to pin that one on you. You don’t know if you’ll save any lives if you surrender.”
Just now, Yoichi had been wondering if he should sell himself at a higher price, perhaps freedom for the city. This threw a bucket of icy water over his delusions. It would be just like big brother to pretend to agree, then go back on his word. Yoichi had no way to force his older brother to keep his promise. How would he even know what was going on from inside the vault? “But I can’t let him kill people because of me,” Yoichi whispered. Tears stung his eyes. “If I have a chance to save even one person, then it’s worth it.” Or so a hero would say. Yoichi remembered the vault, and shivered. Every muscle in his body screamed to run.
Very gently, Kaiji took Yoichi’s trembling hand. In contrast to his soft eyes, his tone was emotionless. “This will sound harsh, but a lot more than one person a day is already dying. All for One’s initial invasion struck down police and civilians who got caught in the crossfire. People on life support or in the middle of surgery died in the power outage. Even before All for One invaded the city, his criminal enterprises caused countless deaths. If you offer up your life, you’ll only be another drop in the bucket. We need to stop this at its source. Why don’t we kill All for One instead?”
“But…” Yoichi whispered. In spite of everything, his first reaction was total revulsion at the notion of killing his older brother. Then reality set in. It was impossible. “Big brother is too strong.”
“Worth a try.” Kaiji’s eyes narrowed. “He underestimates you. I bet you could get close enough to slide a knife through his ribs.”
Yoichi’s hand shook in Kaiji’s grip. He remembered the day he’d betrayed his older brother. They’d gone hiking together, Hisashi not knowing that a government helicopter waited at the top of the mountain to take Yoichi away. Hisashi had slipped over a waterfall. Yoichi had grabbed his older brother’s hand. For a brief moment, Yoichi had contemplated ending All for One’s villainy by letting big brother fall, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. Yoichi knew that if he was placed in the same position again, he’d make the same choice. Even after the vault and everything else, Yoichi still loved his older brother.
“I can’t do it,” Yoichi whispered. “I’m sorry. I know it makes me a horrible person and a failure as a hero. But I’ll never be able to kill my own brother.”
“Hey. Stop that.” Kaiji tilted up Yoichi’s chin and looked him in the eye. Warm sympathy filled his gaze. “You’re not a horrible person because you can’t bring yourself to kill a family member. I should never have asked it of you. New plan. If we can get you close enough to taser All for One, then we’ll hand his unconscious carcass over to the government.”
Tears threatened to spill from Yoichi’s eyes. “I’m making it harder. I’m increasing the risk that you die.”
Kaiji shook his head. “No, knocking All for One out might be an even better idea, because we can take him hostage to get past his followers. The government may also be able to use him to defuse the situation and take back the city. You gave me a good idea.” He squeezed Yoichi’s hand.
Truthfully, Yoichi didn’t love the idea of turning his brother over to the government. He did not trust them to treat any metahuman in a humane fashion, much less a self-proclaimed villain. But Yoichi knew the vigilantes didn’t have the resources to imprison All for One. Big brother would easily break out of a normal cell. There had to be a limit to Yoichi’s idealism if he wanted to save the city. He remembered the vault and decided that he could bring himself to let his brother suffer imprisonment.
Sanzou cleared his throat. “I’m in. I don’t see any other options.” His face was grim, but composed.
The lights turned on.
Yoichi leapt to his feet and screamed. Mad thoughts raced through his mind: Big brother is here, he found me, he’s come to take me back.
Sanzou said, “Whoa, it’s okay.” He looked down at his phone. “There’s a new live news broadcast. All for One must have turned the power back on to display his message.”
“We won’t let the bastard take you,” Kaiji said, soothingly patting Yoichi’s back.
Yoichi sat down, embarrassed.
Sanzou propped up his phone on the table. A video played, showing a spikey-haired giant of a man. Pressing his jagged face close to the camera, he bellowed, “I am Machia, Lord’s bodyguard. Be honored, insects! Lord has allowed you to witness a demonstration of his power.”
Machia’s massive hands grabbed the camera and turned it.
Hisashi stood in front of the mayoral office, with his hands tucked in his trench coat pockets. Even with the mask in place, Yoichi could almost see the smile lurking on his face.
Two dozen heroes in brightly colored costumes faced down All for One. Yoichi recognized most of them from his internship. In the distance, sounds of fighting could be heard.
Gnawing on his lip, Sanzou muttered, “He must have let the heroes through deliberately. Clearly his followers are successfully holding off the military troops. But why?”
“This is a demonstration,” Yoichi said, his heart cold. He recognized his older brother’s theatrical flair. Hisashi was acting the part of the final boss showing off his strength—except this was no manga. Real lives were at stake. “He wants to break the entire city’s hope.”
Akira Shogo, the leader of Japan’s first team of professional heroes, stood with his hands on his hips and his red cape flying behind him. He bellowed, “For the sake of all of Japan, I will defeat you, villain—”
Hisashi pointed, and Akira’s head exploded. The blood sprayed across the nearest heroes. Someone started screaming. Hisashi laughed. “Yes, I like this power. I’m keeping it.”
The office windows exploded. Window frames twisted as they crumpled. The shards of glass flew in a controlled manner, swirling around Hisashi and aiming at the team of heroes. Cries of pain rose up from the cloud of dust and debris.
Hisashi leapt into the air and landed behind a blonde woman in a skintight blue suit. As he touched the back of her neck, the frost vanished from her skin. Her metapower gone, she fell to the ground with her head half-sliced off.
“We should help,” Yoichi said numbly.
Sanzou said, “We’re an hour away from downtown, and we’d never get past the rest of the clash.”
Yoichi had already known that. His foolish words had come from a place of desperation. He knew his older brother’s capabilities all too well. This fight would not last an hour.
A muscular man leapt from the dust cloud, blue waves of energy shooting from his mouth. At the same time, a woman with blades protruding from her arms leapt at Hisashi’s back. A distant marksman fired.
Hisashi grabbed the woman and spun her as if dancing together, directly into the path of her comrade’s energy attack. She wailed, her back exploding in blood as the blue waves struck. Before she fell, Hisashi touched her forehead, and her blades vanished from her skin.
The bullet curved to strike Hisashi’s forehead—and bounced off.
Hisashi leapt forward, slicing the throat of the energy-using man with his new blade. Glancing down at his elbow, he said, “This one isn’t bad. I might keep it.”
Backflipping, Hisashi landed on the roof of the building. The camera zoomed in, following him. He grabbed the sniper and threw him over the edge. The distorted shriek faded into the distance. Dusting his hands, Hisashi said, “Not worth the bother. I already have a better marksman metapower.”
Below, the heroes were trying to regroup. Someone used a weather ability to summon wind and push away the dust. They looked around, not seeing All for One.
Hisashi dropped down from the sky with his black coat flying around him like wings. He moved with lethal precision, grabbing heroes to steal their powers, then cutting them down. He tossed out different methods of murder like a game, leaving one hero with blistered skin ripped open to reveal cooked lungs, and another impaled on an ice spike. Blood soaked the trail of his coat and sprayed across his mask. The lower half of the skull mask had partly slipped off to reveal a wicked grin.
The first hero broke and ran. More followed.
Hisashi raised his hand, and a shimmering dome appeared, trapping the combatants. “I can’t let you leave with such lovely powers,” he said scoldingly. “I heard someone on your team has a healing power. That one will be mine.” As Hisashi spoke, he reached down and yanked up nothingness. With a startled squawk, a woman appeared dangling in his grip.
“True invisibility!” Hisashi cried. “What a rare power. You’re blessed.” He smiled, as pleased as a child with a new toy.
Slowly, the woman smiled back, an obsequious expression desperately mimicking her captor’s mood.
“I’m definitely taking that one.” Hisashi snapped the woman’s neck.
“Wait!” called a giant man wearing a rainbow costume with lightning bolt on the front. With a flick of his fingers, a gust of wind pushed forward a scrawny youth.
“Please, don’t,” the teenager cried, fighting against the wind. He looked a few years younger than Yoichi, with neon purple hair and matching eyes.
“Shit.” Sanzou made an aborted movement toward the door. Then he froze as his expression turned hopeless. His teeth ground so loudly it sounded painful.
Kaiji whispered in Yoichi’s ear, “Purple hair used to be one of our members, the only one of us to get an offer from the hero team. The government wanted his healing ability badly enough to overlook how much they disliked our group.”
The giant hero cried, “He’s the one with the healing power! After you take it, then you said you’ll let the rest of us go.”
Hisashi chuckled. “Excellent.” He put his fist clean through the purple-haired youth’s chest.
Sanzou made a choked sound. He whirled around and punched the wall.
“I told the dumb kid not to join them,” Kaiji muttered in a rough voice like he might cry. His knuckles turned white on the table.
“But I don’t recall promising to let you go.” Hisashi shot forward, placing a light hand on the giant’s head like a pat. The hero’s neck twisted. Hisashi smiled, his face wreathed in red. “Weather control isn’t a bad ability, either.”
Yoichi could no longer look. He buried his face in his hands. Though he still resented the professional heroes for selling him to All for One, he’d never wanted them to die. Certainly not like this. Even with his hands over his ears, he couldn’t block out the sounds. Distant gunfire mingled with the wailing sounds of pain. He pressed his hands harder, trying to block it out.
Kaiji touched Yoichi’s shoulder. “It’s over.”
Yoichi gave a small sob and peeked between his fingers. Hisashi stood before the camera again. Blood covered his coat and mask. “Machia, come over here. Yes, I still want the cream puff, but film this first. Dear citizens of this city: your pathetic heroes have failed you. I have no interest in your city. I’m here for one person and one person only. Everything I’ve done tonight is because of him.”
Brushing Yoichi’s hair, Kaiji whispered, “He’s lying. He always wanted to take the city, and he wanted those heroes’ powers. Don’t listen to him.”
Softly and intimately, Hisashi purred, “Anyone who brings him to me will be guaranteed safety and a billion yen reward. Hurry. You have one day before the next death.”
Looking at the now-blank screen, Sanzou said, “I don’t get it. He didn’t give your name, your appearance, or any information about how to find you. What’s the point in trying to turn people against you without a single clue?”
Kaiji shook his head. “The asshole is playing some fucked-up game.”
Yoichi could only tremble and clutch his hero tighter. He wanted to throw up.
Sanzou stared at his phone. “Shit. The troops are pulling out of the city. Most of the police force is going with them. The government has abandoned this city. Double shit.” Sanzou held up his phone to show an article containing a picture of Yoichi’s face with his name underneath. “A government source leaked that All for One is looking for his younger brother, Yoichi Shigaraki.”
“That’s why he didn’t say my name,” Yoichi whispered, his face pressed into Kaiji’s shoulder. “H-he knew this would happen. The government knows who I am, and he knew they’d reveal it if he defeated them. That’s the government’s new plan—turn me over. Big brother wants to make it absolutely clear that no one will help me.”
“This is nuts,” Sanzou said, his face pale. “I’m not the biggest fan of the government. But they can’t just release a civilian’s name and face, then encourage people to hunt him down. That’s breaking so many laws.”
“They’ll deny all responsibility for the leak.” Yoichi licked his lips. “But it happened so fast, it must have been planned.”
“Bastards,” Kaiji mumbled into Yoichi’s hair.
“Big brother didn’t reveal my name in order to demonstrate that the government would do it for him. It’s not enough to merely take me back. He’s destroying my every refuge. He needs me to be broken and left with nowhere else to go.” It was all becoming painfully clear to Yoichi. “He hoped that you two would sell me to him. That’s why he waited so long instead of taking over the city right away. He put on pressure with the bounties on your heads. You still didn’t betray me. So he came up with this threat to murder civilians. He knows that’s a better way to make a vigilante give in.” Yoichi’s jaw clenched. “Big brother wants me to experience being betrayed and handed over to him a second time. How repetitive. Can’t he think up any new tricks?”
“I expected the power would go out again after the video finished.” Sanzou glanced up at the lights.
“It won’t.” Yoichi had become grimly certain. “Big brother wants the news to be active. He wants people to have the resources to look for me.”
“It’s okay.” Kaiji stroked his back. “This place is isolated. No one except us knows about it. You’ll be safe here.”
Yoichi knew he would have to leave this base soon, but he did not yet say that. He let himself be comforted.
As Yoichi had feared, hysteria and riots spread across the city as people realized that the government had abandoned them. No one in power even tried to stop the destruction. Sanzou cursed, then showed an article with his and Kaiji’s faces. “Someone reported us as known associates of Yoichi Shigaraki. People are looking for us now, too.”
Kaiji grabbed the phone. “Look.” He pointed at a picture of himself disguised as a homeless man and Yoichi in his villain coat. They both smiled at the camera. “My friend snapped that when we left the shelter. I asked her to send it to me as a date souvenir. She’s the only one who would have this picture. Besides All for One, she’s the only person who knows the two of us are connected to Yoichi. She must be the leak. I know her, she’s a good person. Why would she do this?”
Sanzou sighed. “The unnamed citizen who posted this said it’s the only way to save the city.”
Kaiji paled. Yoichi felt a pang of sympathy. He wondered if this was the first time Kaiji had been betrayed. But not the last time, if Kaiji stuck with Yoichi. At this rate, Yoichi would drag everyone else down with him. He couldn’t let that happen.
“If all our faces are known, this will make the plan harder,” Kaiji muttered. Hunched over, he dug his fingers into his hair. “But nothing has changed. We still have to get Yoichi close enough to take down All for One. It’s the only way.”
Yoichi said, “I have an idea.”
“You do?” Kaiji glanced at him sideways. Yoichi could tell his lover was afraid he’d turn himself in.
But now more than ever, Yoichi could see that taking down All for One was their only means of survival. If that failed, then he would surrender whether Kaiji liked it or not. Yoichi only hoped that he had enough capital to bargain with his brother and save his friends.
Yoichi said, “We can’t get to the mayoral office without being detected, not with the entire city looking for me. I need to turn myself over to All for One’s people. They’ll take me to my brother. But we need to pick someone high-ranked enough to get me straight to All for One. Someone close to my brother will also be less likely to search me vigorously. They’re afraid of harming me. We need All for One’s bodyguard, Machia.”
“The bodyguards are All for One’s most trusted people,” Kaiji murmured, his face opaque.
“Do you remember what my brother said about cream puffs?”
“Yeah, that was weird,” Sanzou said.
“There’s a particular cream puff shop that my brother likes. He’d prevent it from destruction while the rest of the city is burning. I’m serious. He sent Machia there. Even better, it’s on the outskirts of town very near us. If we can only make that short distance over, then Machia will take me the rest of the way.”
“He’ll take us the rest of the way.” Kaiji glared. “I’m not letting you go alone.”
Yoichi smiled sadly. “You should hang back and come to my aid after I knock out my bro—All for One.”
“That plan made more sense before my obviously scarred face was known across the city.” Kaiji touched the crater on his nose. “Now I’d never be able to get close enough to the mayor’s office.”
Yoichi said, “Even if we’re captured together, there’s no guarantee you’ll be taken to All for One. He’ll want to see me alone. Trust me on this. I’ll carry a tracking device. If you can get even a building away, I know you’ll be able to shoot true, my hero.”
Yoichi was laying on the flattery thick, but this time it didn’t work. Kaiji grunted and crossed his arms.
Sanzou touched Kaiji’s shoulder. “He’s right. We’re better off staying free. We need to be able to come to Yoichi’s rescue if this all goes wrong.”
With great reluctance, Kaiji agreed. His face looked deeply unhappy as he helped Yoichi hide a taser down his pants—the one place he felt confident his brother’s people would not touch.
Kaiji held up a black case. “I have poisoned needles in here. Do you want one? Just in case?” It went without saying that he meant just in case Yoichi decided he was willing to kill his older brother after all.
Yoichi hesitated, then let Kaiji sew a needle into his sleeve. He still would not kill big brother, but he might have other occasions to use it.
They had to wake up Hikage to tell the boy that they were leaving and make him promise to stay inside. They did not bother to hide the situation, since it was all over the news.
Hikage’s eyes became wider with each word. He whispered, “You’re coming back? You promise?”
“I promise.” Kaiji patted Hikage’s head. “I won’t let the idiot here pull any self-sacrificial bullshit.”
Hikage looked Yoichi over. “He would. Pinky promise.” He made Kaiji shake pinkies.
As they headed for the door, Yoichi touched Kaiji on the shoulder. “I love you.”
Kaiji scowled. “Don’t say that like you’re going to your death.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Though the thought had crossed his mind.
“I’m not saying it in return. It’s bad luck.” Kaiji glared straight into Yoichi’s eyes. “If you want to hear it from me, then you have to come back.”
There was no time to dye hair. Who knew how long Machia would remain at the cream puff shop? Fortunately, Sanzou owned two black wigs in addition to his usual hair dye. Sanzou and Kaiji wore the wigs while Yoichi crouched down in the backseat of the truck with a hood over his head and several layers of blankets disguising him as a lumpy bundle. They used paint to black out the side windows of the truck.
The shop was only a short distance away. They’d assumed most rioters and mobs searching for Yoichi would hesitate to stop a large truck. They were right, until they ran into a barricade manned by uniformed Self-Defense Force members.
Yoichi felt a stirring of hope. Maybe the government hadn’t given up on this city. Maybe they had only temporarily withdrawn to regroup their forces. Flashes of colorful costumes could be seen among the uniformed soldiers. Yoichi recognized sidekicks who must have received an abrupt promotion to hero.
A gun rapped on the trunk window. A soldier growled, “We need identification from everyone. We’re searching for Yoichi Shigaraki. It’s in the best interests of everyone to prevent him from fleeing town.”
Yoichi’s hope deflated like a punctured balloon. The government had given up. Their only plan was to turn him over.
Sanzou leaned one arm out the window. “We’re not trying to leave town. I need to pick up my sister from a local cream puff shop. I’ve very afraid for her, with the mobs on the street. Please let us pass.”
“I need your ID.”
“I left my wallet at home. I was in a panic.”
“Step out of the truck.” The guard pressed a button on his walkie-talkie, and heroes in costumes surrounded the truck in an instant.
“I recognize him! It’s the vigilantes—the villains!” A hero shouted. “I’ve fought them before.”
Yoichi lay very still and tried not to panic.
Kaiji growled low in his throat, then leapt out of the truck with his hands up. He locked eyes with the closest hero. “Since when did the government turn civilians over to a villain? Have a goddamn sense of shame!”
“Yoichi Shigaraki is wanted in connection to the death of Colonel Kobayashi.”
Yoichi’s stomach rolled. He felt guilty about the colonel’s death. The man had died because of him no matter how he looked at it.
“That’s bullshit,” Kaiji said. “You’re making up justifications. News flash: All for One won’t give back this city even if you turn Yoichi over. He never even lied that he would. People heard what they wanted to hear. You can’t stop All for One by appeasing him. We have to take the bastard down. We’re going to pretend to turn Yoichi over, then backstab All for One. If we fail, Yoichi will be sacrificed as you want. You shitheads can see what good it does you. If we succeed, then we’ll turn All for One over to you and let you pretend to have captured him. You don’t even have to defy All for One if you’re too cowardly. Just get the hell out of our way.”
The hero’s eyes gleamed with an unholy light. “We’re not planning to turn Yoichi Shigaraki over. He’s worth far more than that. We’ll find out how many pieces All for One will watch us chop off his brother before he surrenders. If we run out of body parts, there are plenty of other ways to hurt someone.”
Sanzou inhaled sharply. Yoichi froze. On some level, he’d always hoped his older brother had been exaggerating about what the government would have done to him.
Only Kaiji moved. He leapt on top of the truck and shouted, “Sanzou, go!” Then he spewed a massive fireball from his mouth.
The hero fell back, screaming and burning. Sanzou slammed his foot down on the accelerator, forcing those ahead to leap out of the way of the truck. Guns fired, bouncing off the bullet-proof windows. Kaiji spun in a circle, the fire from his mouth sweeping around a three hundred and sixty degree radius. The massive explosion of flame was easily twice the size of the truck. The burning scent overwhelmed Yoichi’s senses. He clung to the cushion as the vehicle rocked.
Through the smoke, he glimpsed villains in dark suits attacking the government forces. All for One’s people. A metal ball smashed into the side of the truck, sending it rocking.
Kaiji fell off the truck and past the window, his throat smoking. Futilely, Yoichi stretched out a hand.
Yoichi leapt up and lunged for the front of the truck, shouting, “Sanzou, stop—”
Another crash sent Yoichi flying. He didn’t have a seatbelt on. His head smacked into the window, then he knew no more.
Seeing the call came from Machia, Hisashi picked up the phone immediately. “Report. Did my brother show up at the shop?” Hisashi had deliberately baited Yoichi with the mention of cream puffs, offering an easy-to-reach location for when his little brother’s so-called friends inevitably pressured him into turning himself over.
Machia said, “No, Lord. The heroes attacked the brother-stealing vigilantes. I lead our forces to look for Lord’s idiot brother.”
Hisashi frowned. He hadn’t been overly worried about the government barricade because he knew his little brother would never try to flee town, but he’d ordered Machia to keep an eye on it just in case. It would be a disaster if the government got their hands on Yoichi. Hisashi felt the beginnings of a headache. “Was my brother there? Is he safe?”
“I don’t know, Lord. The thieves’ truck escaped while we defeated the government dogs.”
“Then at least the government doesn’t have him,” Hisashi mumbled, his hands unclenching.
“I apologize for my failure! You entrusted me with your most important task!” Machia sobbed into the phone. “We could only retrieve one scarred thief with a burned throat. Do you desire him alive? Ah, I should die myself for failing you!”
Burned throat? It must be the fire-breathing one. Hisashi smiled widely. “Yes, bring him to me and keep him alive. He’ll be most useful.”
OMAKE TIME!
Omake: Looking at Red Flags Through Rosy Glasses
Yoichi: You think I’m an idiot because I won’t kill my brother.
Second: I think you have trauma, and no one should ever be forced to kill a relative.
Yoichi: I know you don’t believe me, but my big brother used to be a good person. We have a lot of happy memories together.
Second: You’re right—I don’t believe you. Every time you tell me a cute story about your childhood it always turns out to be some creepy shit.
Yoichi: Whenever we played hide and seek, big brother would pretend not to be able to find me in order to let me win. He clearly knew I was hiding in the basement but I could hide there for hours and he’d never even check. He even locked the basement door to make sure he didn’t accidentally look down there.
Second: The basement was a prototype vault. Your older brother was trying to vault you even back when he was a little kid. I knew the crazy was bad, but not that bad.
Yoichi: Nonsense, the basement was too large and well-lit to be a vault. Big brother’s toybox reminded me more of a vault.
Second: What the hell?
Yoichi: Most older siblings don’t like to share, but big brother let me play with all his toys. Sometimes he’d even put me inside the toy box because he said I was his favorite toy, ha-ha.
Second: Stop laughing. Nothing about that is remotely funny.
Yoichi: Whenever I had trouble sleeping, big brother gave me special warm milk that put me out right away. He used it to calm me down after we had arguments, too.
Second: He was drugging you, Yoichi.
Yoichi: Oh, he did that too. He used to slip sketchy supplements in my food to stunt my growth so that I wouldn’t grow taller than him. But that’s not a real thing, so big brother was probably joking.
Second: (Narrator voice) All for One was not joking.
Yoichi: My loving and caring older brother never let anyone bully me. Actually, he threatened to beat up any other kid who talked to me at all. He was overprotective.
Second: That’s one word for it. The words controlling and selfish also come to mind. Maybe even sociopathic.
Yoichi: Big brother used to walk me to school every day. He even had one of those child leashes! Though he could only afford a dog collar and leash.
Second: What the literal fuck.
Yoichi: That was a bit embarrassing. But it made big brother happy, and I had to repay him for looking after me somehow. He was a good older brother in a lot of ways.
Second: Like all your “cute” childhood stories, this will feature in my nightmares. No, you don’t owe that bastard jackshit, and no, my opinion of your brother has not improved.
Yoichi: I haven’t gotten to the best part.
Second: Whenever you say the best part you always mean the most fucked up part.
Yoichi: Big brother didn’t always hate my dream to become a hero. He used to be extremely supportive. He knew my body was weak, so he helped me train my strength by secretly sticking rocks in my backpack and my coat pockets. He kept slowly adding more. Every day he would tell me that we didn’t have to go to school if I felt too tired.
Second: He was trying to make you too weak to leave the house.
Yoichi: Except for these minor flaws, he was a great brother.
Second: I need to go scream into my pillow for a bit, then we can continue this conversation.
#
Omake: Third’s Attempt
Third: I understand that it must be hard to fight your own brother when you have so many good childhood memories together.
Yoichi: (Flashing back to being locked in the toybox) Haha, yes, I’ve got at least a few good memories. Maybe they’re more like mediocre memories.
Third: You both liked comic books, right?
Yoichi: We were both Captain Hero fans! For my birthday, big brother wrote me a five hundred thousand word fanfic centered around Captain Hero. He didn’t tell me that Captain Hero died in the end. He laughed his head off while I cried. Wait, why do I want to save my brother again?
Second: Sanzou, why is he listening to you when he didn’t listen to me?
Third: You’ve gotta lead him to the truth more subtly. Also Yoichi cares way more about comic books than crimes against humanity.
Yoichi: My brother’s fanfics were definitely a crime against humanity!
#
Omake: Plausible Deniability
Second: If you don’t want to kill your older brother, then we’ll let the government capture All for One.
Third: Uh, won’t they kill him anyway?
Second: Shhhhhhh.
#Second didn’t know for a fact that the government would kill All for One but he had his suspicious #But the vigilantes have no resources with which to plausibly imprison All for One by themselves #Second is looking out for what he sees as best for Yoichi
#
Omake: Incorrect Quotes, Pirates of the Caribbean
Second: Will you marry me?
Yoichi: (Looking at the heroes and government troops attacking the truck) I don’t think now’s the best time!
Second: Now may be the only time! I love you. I’ve made my choice. What’s yours?
Yoichi: Sanzou!
Second: Him, too? I’m not opposed…
Yoichi: Sanzou, marry us!
Third: I’m a little busy at the moment! Also, I’m not actually a priest despite the name you gave me.
Second: Sanzou, NOW!
Third: Fine then! Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today… (Punches hero) to smash your quirk so hard All for One won’t be able to steal it, you spandexed sellout!
Yoichi: And to marry me and Kaiji.
Third: That, too. Under my nonexistent authority I pronounce you husband and husband.
Second: (Falls off the truck while editing his phone contacts.) Totally…worth it…
Later:
Hisashi: Time to call my foolish little brother and tell him that I have his friend hostage…why is my baby brother’s contact on this spikey-haired fool’s phone listed as husband?