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The first time All for One had left the settlement, bringing along his warriors and weapons and strength, All for One had left Izuku chained to the central pole in the house All for One called theirs. It was large and had one central pole keeping the house up, with several smaller ones along the side which kept the lower roofed bit of the house up.
The man had done his hair like it had been on the day he and his men had raided Izuku’s village. The white hair was clean, and the plaits were straight and smooth. Not dirty, not bloody. His mothers bloody hand print was all but carved in his face for all Izuku could care. He knew a murderer when he saw one.
Izuku knew he had to leave before he was turned to one too.
It had been rather simple to slip his hand out of the tight, but not tight enough chain, and make a break for where he knew Shouto and Katsuki were. Luckily for Izuku they were held together, there had been several plans to give them to certain members of the tribe to raise to become loyal soldiers to Izuku. Izuku had only heard these plans accidentally, but they had not been properly written out and cleared yet, so they were held in where Tomura lived.
They too had already slipped out of their chains and they had met, ignoring the people left behind as they dashed away.
They were caught when the warriors came back a week and a half later, as they were attempting to slip further away into the forest.
The second time, they did the same thing – only they left a couple of guards in front of their houses.
Now that wouldn’t have been an issue if it was the Izuku before he had come to this icy patch of jack-shit, not anymore was he the small weak bastard son. He was ruthlessly trained, everyday. His father wanted him to be his successor, thought that two were better than one.
Izuku downed the guards, wrapped them in chains and had ran to the place Shouto and Katsuki were kept. This time they were separate. This wouldn’t have been an issue if Izuku knew that the guards rotated every hour. Izuku and Katsuki were swarmed as they just reached where Shouto was staying – the house of the burned man who had since been revealed to be his oldest brother. The three of them were taken back to the main house, tied to the pole with coarse rope around their necks and hard iron around their wrists.
All for One, had also given the order that if an escape was attempted that they were to be given the smallest amount of food needed to survive. Considering he was gone for nearly a month this time, the three of them had grown weak, barely able to lift their heads.
That, and not the first time it happened, broke All for One’s patience. He flogged all three of them in front of the settlement until their skin was in shreds. Then ordered them to be healed immediately, with certain tinctures to hold them still until they could move without hurting themselves. They healed in the same room, but they were also unable to move completely. The drugs the healers used numbed all contact with their limbs and forced stillness on them. It was a greater torture than the whipping.
The third time All for One left on a raid he ordered a feast of his closest allies and their families. Dabi (or Touya as Shouto called him to piss him off) brought Shouto, and as All for One considered Izuku his heir, Katsuki was there too. The three of them did not notice the little thing dropped into their drink and as they slumped over unable to move, the warriors moved to their raids in peace.
They were given this drug every time, now that All for One realised it’s effectiveness in keeping him docile. He hadn’t even had to threaten Shouto and Katsuki again to make him comply, just forced the small flower into his mouth or snuck it into his drink and then Izuku had no way to go against it. Especially when the three boys were kept separate.
“You know he wouldn’t have to drug you if you waited, I know you’re smart Izuku but for this you seem to be remarkable stupid.” His trainer, Shouta Aizawa, told him one day at training. “Lower his guard and you would have a better chance.”
This was all said as he was placed into a headlock and he had to get out of it, after a few minutes of struggle his vision was tunnelling. “Thanks, I’ll keep it in consideration. How the fuck do I get out of this.”
“Work it out, your father’s watching. I can’t go easy on you again, he doesn’t like it. Work it out.”
Izuku didn’t work it out, Izuku passed out due to lack of Oxygen and blood. But the words stuck in his head for longer then their training session.
Make him wait, make him think he had broken him.
It would be strange for it to come from nowhere, but he wanted to get it started as soon as possible, perhaps even create a scenario that would be viable for him to change. He would have to do it without Shouto and Katsuki, they had been kept separate and had their own things to deal with. All for One had promised him that they would be safe, they would be his closest guard.
Izuku just hoped they would be safe. He would have to work it out that they were.
“I can guarantee Shouto didn’t know, he’s been with me for the week on the ships there was no way for him to know – especially as sloppy and quick it seemed to have been brought together.” The burnt man said from before Izuku and All for One. His hand as tight on Shouto’s shoulder as All for One’s was on his. Shouto was cradling his left arm, hunched over his ribs like they were tender. Even still he looked a lot better than Izuku and Katsuki did.
Katsuki was laying to the side of the long-house, he wasn’t conscious and wouldn’t be for a while. With how hard he had been smacked around when his fathers soldiers had come for Izuku, Izuku always admired how much like a rabid dog Kacchan was to those he was loyal too. Izuku just hoped he wouldn’t be punished for it, even when Izuku had ensured his alibi and made sure he was totally innocent.
The hand on his shoulder tightened, and Izuku’s heavy gaze shook from Kacchan’s body to face forward.
The knuckles were bloody and bruised, contrasting Izuku’s own face. His nose had stopped from a steady stream of blood to a trickle, his eye was still swelling. And every time he took a breath in and out Izuku was reminded of the pain in his ribs. The hand on his shoulder was the only thing holding him up, holding him up from curling over his ribs and letting unconsciousness take him away.
“I think he would not get his friends involved; he seemed like he would keep them out of it. He knows they’re his weakness and he would use that to keep them safe if it went wrong.” All for One hummed as Tomura got closer, the blood of the people he had managed to sway to his side still soaked his bright hair. Izuku’s head hung before him as his energy bled out, his long spindly fingers wound into his hair and yanked him up.
The ball of bloodied spit Izuku had been holding in his mouth launched and splatted onto Tomura’s face, dripping down as the light of anger brightened his face to a blinding degree.
It dripping to the floor was the last thing he could remember, the movement from Tomura jolting it off his face.
When Izuku woke up his leg was chained together to the bed frame of one of the secure cells underneath the house. The cold, dark, damp cells which were the most secure area in the whole settlement. His father sat in the chair on the other side of the bars.
“What the fuck was that Izuku?” He growled, lowly. He was passed angry now. Izuku had not heard this tone before.
Easing himself to seating Izuku levelled his own glare. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
All for One shot up from his seat, stalked to the open door and barrelled in. Cornering Izuku into the corner of the room. With the limited amount of movement Izuku shot forward, in an attempt to escape and fell over his bedding as the giant man made his way over. Barely unfurling as his ribs reminded him of the beating he got, before a large hand was wrapped around his neck and he was flush against the wall.
His head, which had taken a beating already, pulsed once again. A wet patch opening again where it had met with the wall.
“If you ever try to fuck with me like that again, I will break your friends’ legs and set the dogs on them. I will take what if left of them and feed them to you, and then I will keep you down here until I think you can fucking behave.” Slam, his head met the wall and only then did a small noise escape from his mouth, his fathers face twisted with disgust, and he did it again, a louder shout of pain escaping. “The only reason I didn’t kill you is you are my son. Don’t try this shit again. Your friends are innocent this time, but next time I do not care. Do we understand each other.”
The hand around his throat tightened, cutting off all air to his lungs.
Calm down, relax. Let him work through his anger. The angrier he is the less he will see, let the panic through but not too much. He needs to think you are strong but under his control, he wouldn’t abide a weak son. Izuku did not think it would be too hard to act to be scared.
The man burned like a unholy god.
The staring context between father and son did not let up, Izuku burned his whole anger into All for One and he his fury into his son.
Tightening again, Izuku could feel his pulse in his head. Weakly tapping onto his fathers arm, as the staring help. All for One was rather enthralled by the slowly growing panic in his eyes which had morphed from anger and hatred into something he liked to see.
Fear.
Just let out a little bit more, Izuku could see in his eyes he was enjoying it. Enjoyed watching his small son scrabble at his wrists at he pinned him to the wall. The hand didn’t let up, Izuku’s heart started to beat quicker and quicker and more and more sweat light on his skin. He wasn’t letting go, had he miscalculated.
Izuku could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. This was it, his father was going to kill him there and then. His weak tapping, turning into frantic scrabbling at his hands. Nails digging into immoveable flesh, his eye lashed flashing as Izuku tried to keep the stare up.
He had to keep eye contact, had to keep the man’s attention on him. Izuku was panicking in full now. A serious miscalculation, why wasn’t he letting go, was the fear not enough, it should have been enough. What could Izuku give him that would satisfy him more than his fear? Anger he had done, fear he had done, what other could he use to entice his attention.
Izuku’s eyes were fluttering more closed then open now and it was pure will keeping them open, locked into the red gaze.
He wanted Izuku’s complete submission, wanted a son. Not an heir. He already had Tomura.
Before he could crest the tide of consciousness he nodded, making it obvious enough that he broke eye contact. Breath came flushing back in as the hand loosened, still holding on, but not gripping.
There was still fear in his eyes and in his heart, Izuku could feel his heartbeat through the thin shirt he had on.
The other hand came up to caress his face, ignoring the flinch and following when he moved away, using the hand still around his neck to still his movements against the dark stones. Izuku could now see how much the man was hunched over him.
With the softness of a wolf, he spoke quietly. “Never again. Izuku.”
Izuku nodded again, unsure of the man, and he pulled back.
“You will be staying here for a while, until I completely rip apart the little resistance you got together, and you are still my heir. Heal up, down here. See you soon little one.”
He stood, taking the torch away and melted into the darkness. He missed the fear on Izuku’s face melting into something like excitement. He had done it, tricked All for One shook him up. Rattled his foundation of control. Now all he had to do was wait for a gap for him and his brothers to slip through. Even if it was just them that got through.