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Hisashi was always excited to experiment with a new quirk, which was something Yoichi had found quite unfortunate. Mostly because Yoichi was the only person Hisashi had reliable access to.
And throughout all the experimentation, Hisashi’s main goal remained the same: making Yoichi stronger (whether he wanted it or not). Yoichi was pretty sure Hisashi would have turned into a proper drill sergeant, forcing him to work out day in and day out, if it wasn’t for his naturally sickly disposition.
He’s already been gifted--if you could call it that--some kind of a stockpile quirk that did absolutely nothing, and now, just a few short weeks later, Hisashi seemed ready to try again.
“It made its original owner stronger,” he was saying, his palm pressed against Yoichi’s forehead as he rummaged through the quirk space. “I think it brings the future versions of the user back in time- I’m quite glad I got to find it, I’m sure it’ll-”
Yoichi wasn’t exactly listening. And, besides, he’s always been sick - who’s to say bringing back the future version of himself wouldn’t make him even sicker ?
He didn’t feel any difference when the quirk settled inside him, beyond finally getting Hisashi’s clammy hand off of his forehead.
“Let’s give it a couple days,” Hisashi said when ten minutes passed and nothing happened.
Yoichi was sure they both knew nothing would happen, no matter how much time they gave it.
***
A few days later, he’d have to eat his words.
***
It started out with a headache.
Now, a headache wasn’t exactly something Yoichi was unfamiliar with. In fact, he used to get them all the time, the light- and sound-sensitivity driving him up the wall and leaving him with regular headaches that had him trapped in a blacked-out room for hours at a time.
To Hisashi’s credit--and as much as Yoichi hated to admit it--being trapped inside the vault decreased the amount of headaches he got down to basically zero.
Which is exactly how he was so certain that the current one was caused by the newest quirk Hisashi had forced on him.
When a guy with weirdly spiky hair suddenly materialized into existence with a soft pop, Yoichi felt far too vindicated to worry about it.
“Yoichi!” The stranger exclaimed, as if Yoichi was his long-lost childhood friend or something. Yoichi was about to make an absolutely scathing comment until the stranger surged forwards, launching himself at Yoichi and trapping him in a hug almost as tight as Hisashi’s got whenever Yoichi survived getting slightly too close to expiring.
“Uh…” Yoichi hesitated. “I’m sorry-” Do I know you? he was intending to say, but another person materialized into existence.
This guy’ only distinguishing feature was that he was wearing a headband, and he took even less time to spot them.
“Did we lose?” the Headband stranger asked, confused as he took in their surroundings. “Did we end up in hell ? I refuse to believe heaven would rock a bleeding bank vault design.”
“As much as my brother might claim I look it, I’m not actually dead yet,” Yoichi said dryly, gently trying to extricate himself from the first stranger’s grip. “Now, if you’d be so kind as to tell me who you are-”
The two strangers exchanged a look. Yoichi was pretty sure the two were familiar with each other just by their mannerism.
“What’s today’s date?” The Headband guy asked.
Yoichi stared at him for a long moment. “I’m locked in a bank vault,” he deadpanned. “Do you see a calendar anywhere? I barely even know what season it is, do you really think I’m keeping track of the date here?”
The headband guy rolled his eyes before moving to drag the spiky stranger away into a corner, whispering urgently. Yoichi let them be, moving towards the other end of the vault, where his kitchenette--if you could call a fridge, microwave and cabinet that--rested.
It was about time to grab a snack, and this new flavour of crisps Hisashi got him at the last restock would work great as a distraction.
The only reason Yoichi missed the next pop was because of the noise the pack of crisps made.
“Oooh, can I have some,” another unfamiliar voice piped in from right behind Yoichi, nearly giving him a heart attack. He swirled around, mouth still full of crisps, staring at a guy with a grisly scar running through half of his face. “I’ve only been hiding in the forest for like a week now, but lemme tell you, I really regret not stoking up on more snacks.”
Yoichi tried his best, but he physically couldn’t chew fast enough to answer before the other strangers did.
“So it’s been a week since you got it, too?” The bandana guy asked.
“I know you!” The scar guy’s face lit up. “You’re the one who gave me the quirk! I don’t know who the other guy is, though.”
“I’ve no idea who you are, either.” Spiky Hair grumbled.
“Oh! I’m Hikage Shinmori.”
Seems like Yoichi now had one name to put to a face. Didn’t seem like either of the other strangers were going to volunteer theirs, though.
Shinomori provided him with some much needed context, though: it seemed like it all had something to do with a quirk they received. But… As far as Yoichi knew, Hisashi was the only one capable of giving and taking quirks. The chances that the Bandana guy had the same power was… Miniscule at best.
“So… Can you guys leave now?”
The three turned to look at Yoichi as if they had forgotten that he was even there. In his own vault!
Bandana turned towards Spiky Hair again - seemed like he didn’t have the same kind of a rapport with the Scar guy.
“Should we… Save him sooner?”
Spiky Hair shrugged, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Now that Yoichi thought about it, he’s been doing that a lot. “If you can figure out how to get the vault open from the inside? I don’t exactly have my gear with me.”
“Hm,” Bandana walked over towards the massive vault doors, pressing his hand against the metal in an effort to- Yoichi had no idea what he was actually trying to do.
To everyone’s shock, the doors actually groaned, the metal slowly shifting open.
Bandana jumped away - far higher and further away than Yoichi would have expected him to be able to - and braced himself, eyes never leaving the doors.
Bandana and Spiky Hair both took up fighting stances, while Shinmori- Stood right next to Yoichi, his cheeks full of snacks. When did he get into Yoichi’s food??
“I think I have something else that might work-” Hisashi was saying as he entered the vault, the doors instantly snapping behind him. He was too busy looking at a piece of paper in his hand to notice the other people, yet. “There’s this user-”
“Hey, he kinda looks like that guy you told me to avoid,” Shinmori said, directing his words at Bandana.
Hisashi’s head snapped up, his spine instantly straightening as he took in the room.
“Yoichi-”
The first two strangers were in front of Yoichi in an instant. Shinmori didn’t seem to care, opening Yoichi’s pack of peach mochi.
“Can you stop eating my food-” Yoichi asked, exasperated. Shinomori, still resembling a hamster, wordlessly offered him a mochi.
With a sigh, Yoichi accepted it.
“No, don’t eat it!” Hisashi yelled, taking a step before the impromptu bodyguard service made him think twice. “It could be poisoned!”
“It’s literally the food you got me,” Yoichi rolled his eyes. “Are you telling me you poisoned it?”
“Of course not-”
“Sounds like something he’d do,” Spiky hair growled at the same time.
Hisashi straightened, offended, focusing his attention on Spiky Hair. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Murderer.”
“I would never hurt my brother!”
The laughter sounded like it was ripped straight from Spiky Hair’s throat, far too bitter to be anything but the rawest, most honest emotion.
It was a bit weird, considering that Yoichi was standing right there , perfectly alright beyond his usual ailments, but whatever.
“And that’s why he’s trapped in a vault,” Bandana said dryly. “If you care about your brother, prove it! Let him go, right now.”
“Have you seen what the outside looks like??” Hisashi sounded so incredulous Yoichi couldn’t help but snort. “It’s far too dangerous - the world is pretty much on fire! Everyone is fighting!”
Bandana faltered slightly. “I’m… Sure it’s not that bad?”
“What year is it?” Shinmori asked, curious, words barely distinguishable from all the food--Yoichi’s food!--inside his mouth.
Hisashi’s answer had them all swearing.
“Okay, so it would actually be worse to be outside of the vault when the Decade War is only just starting,” Bandana admitted, rubbing his face tiredly.
“The WHAT War?” Hisashi faltered. “There’s no way- But it’s only been- I thought it was going to blow over in months!”
“Well, it didn’t,” Spiky Hair shrugged.
In the ensuing moment of silence, they could hear the next pop very loudly.
“Wow, looks like a party, huh?” A shirtless guy with a bandolier slung over his shoulder took them all in curiously. He paused at Shinomori and Hisashi, his expression turning much sourer at the sight of Yoichi’s brother. “I know you two, but who the hell are the rest-?”
“We’re the Second and Third holders,” Bandana said, which. Was a very dumb way to avoid saying their actual names, but it was at least a less stupid nickname. “And that’s First-”
“My name is actually Yoichi,” Yoichi bit into another mochi angrily.
“I’m Banjo- Oooo you have snacks,” Banjo skipped over towards Yoichi, Second and Third not moving a single muscle to even try to stop him and, soon enough, Yoichi had two strangers eating him out of his food.
“WHAT is going on,” Hisashi sounded mildly manic. “Where are all these people coming from??”
“Don’t ask me,” Yoichi shrugged. “You’re the one who stuffed that quirk into me. The way I see it, it’s all your fault.”
Hisashi groaned, leaning back as his hands covered his face.
Two soft pops sounded, one shortly after the other. Hisashi froze.
“I swear to god, if that’s another person-”
“YOU!” A woman wearing a cape exclaimed, and would have launched herself at Hisashi if a man--wearing a jacket with the tallest collar Yoichi had ever seen, covering at least half of his face--didn’t hold her back. “YOU BASTARD-!”
“Peace, Shimura, take in your surroundings first-” the man was saying, his words slightly muffled behind his collar.
“What do you-” The woman--Shimura?--nearly growled before actually following his advice.
Banjo waved at her, but he was the only one who moved.
“Isn’t that-”
“My predecessor? Yes. And I suspect all the others are, as well.”
“You’re correct,” Third nodded.
“What do you mean, your predecessor?” Hisashi yelled, clearly peeved at being left out of the loop. Yoichi should have been mad, too, but he could do that later; It wasn’t often that Hisashi was being entertaining. “And why do you all seem to know what’s going on? Where did you all come from???”
Even if someone had been planning to answer, they didn’t get a chance to. A buff blonde teenager popped into existence shortly after, unsteady enough to fall down to his knees. His eyes looked red, as if he had been crying for the past week straight.
It was just a stroke of bad luck that Hisashi was in his direct line of sight.
The pure murder intent emanating from the teenager once he noticed him was chilling enough to force shivers down Yoichi’s back.
Even the other holders seemed uncomfortable, shifting warily with their eyes flitting between the two.
All that caution meant nothing when the teenager was apparently capable of throwing himself at Hizashi in less time than it took to blink.
If it had been anyone but his quirks-hoarding brother, they would have been dead.
As it was, Hisashi seemed to be holding his own in the fight… But that was the most generous description Yoichi could use for him.
He stole back a pack of his own crisps from Banjo’s hands and leaned against the minifridge, content to watch Hisashi struggle against someone for once.
And struggle he did. The teenager seemed to be brimming with raw power and, even though he didn’t seem to have much of martial arts skills, it didn’t matter much when he also lacked a single thought of consideration for their surroundings.
And with every missed punch, the vault shook more and more, chunks falling apart the way a vault normally doesn’t.
“Right. We should probably… Stop them,” Shinomori was the first one to comment, sounding reluctant.
The rest of the holders seemed to share that reluctance, at least until chunks of the ceiling started falling down and made them stop dragging their feet.
In the end, stopping the blonde took less effort than anyone’s been expecting; He took one look at the cape-wearing woman and stopped dead in his tracks.
He seemed to have forgotten all about Hisashi, instead focusing solely on “squeezing the life out of her”- because calling it simply a “hug” wouldn’t have been accurate in the slightest.
In the sudden silence, interrupted only by the occasional sob, the next pop was impossible to miss.
Yoichi blinked at the latest newcomer, sure his eyes were playing tricks on him. The blonde was at least a young adult - this was an entire child .
The kid seemed to be taking in his surroundings with naked curiosity, eyes flitting from person to person.
“...Temporal displacement quirk?” Were the first words out of his mouth, and Yoichi groaned.
“It was supposed to bring the strength of my brother’s future self to the present,” Hisashi said, most of his attention dedicated to slowly extricating himself from the indent in the wall he was thrown into, not too far from Yoichi. “Not all this menagerie! The guy I took the quirk from never mentioned anything like this-”
“You can take people’s quirks?!” There were stars in the boy’s eyes. “The sheer potential for testing-”
Great; Now there were two of them.
Deciding to stop that unholy collaboration before it could begin, Yoichi grabbed Hisashi’s hand, yanking him out of the hole in the wall.
Within seconds, Hisashi’s quirk activated with the familiar sucking feeling, stealing the latest quirk back.
The crowd within the vault disappeared all at once.
***
For the next decade, Yoichi saw nobody but his brother; At least until his vault was invaded once again by the by-then familiar figures. They didn’t seem to know who he was, beyond knowing he was Hisashi’s captive, and yet they still put their whole hearts into his rescue.
Yoichi’s only regret was that he wouldn’t get to meet any of the other “holders..
Not too long later, within the confines of the Void, he would eat those words, too.
