A Road Not Traveled
Author's Note: This story is an AU off Custody Battle where Inko lived. It was originally published as chapter four of A Life Not Lived, but due to popular interest in a continuation, I've made this a separate multi-chapter story. The new content starts from chapter two.
Chapter One:
THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF QUIRKS:
Yuuto Shigaraki kept a wary eye on the blue-haired villainess. The tall, muscular woman stared him down back. When she stepped sideways, he did too, remaining between her and her assassination target. The balding politician behind him moaned and spat out a curse about metahuman scum.
In truth, Yuuto had no real enthusiasm about protecting this man, but he reminded himself that a hero wouldn't judge which lives were worth saving. Besides, he would thwart any of All for One's schemes on general principle. It would drive Hisashi crazy to learn that plan had been ruined by his foolish younger brother.
Glowing blue light formed around the villainess' hand. In response, Yuuto let the power of One for All crackle down his arm.
The woman leapt sideways and shot her light at the politician. At the same time, Yuuto yanked him out of the way.
"Eep! Save me!" the politician cried, shoving Yuuto in front of himself. To be more precise, shoving him straight into the blue light.
The villainess shouted in pure horror.
Not good: she wouldn't look so scared unless she was afraid she'd killed me. Yuuto's arms and legs tingled. He couldn't move as the light spread down his body.
The sound of more footsteps rushed up the stairs. Yuuto barely glimpsed his older brother's white, curly head before the blue light consumed his vision.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS LATER:
The sun blinded Yuuto's eyes. Pavement dug into his palms. He found himself on his hands and knees on a crowded sidewalk.
Several people stepped around him. A teenage boy stopped to stare. His bubblegum popped. "Dude, did you just teleport?"
"Uh…no," Yuuto claimed. Demonstrating strange powers was a good way to get lynched.
"Whatever. Be more careful," the teenager said, walking on. He hadn't sounded scared in the slightest. A fox tail peeked out of his jeans, but he made no move to hide it. No one around him pointed or stared or called the police.
"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto," Yuuto muttered. He stood up and brushed off his pants.
"Stop!" A woman screamed. "Purse-snatcher!"
Yuuto's head shot up. With One for All adding strength to his legs, he ran after the sound.
Two men on a motorcycle shot out of an alley, both with the heads of gecko lizards. One held a pink, sparkly purse.
In a flash, Yuuto picked up the motorcycle in one hand and the purse in the other. They stared and gibbered something about heroes.
He tossed the motorcycle down the street and let the would-be criminals speed off, because he'd heard too many horror stories about those with mutated appearances dying in police custody without a trial. Even if this place seemed different, he couldn't risk it.
A middle-aged woman with the elaborate bun ran out of the alley. "My purse!"
He handed it over. "Are you unharmed, ma'am?"
"Are you a hero?" she asked
Yuuto blushed in pleasure. "Do I seem like a hero? Thank you!"
She stared. "No, I mean, are you a licensed hero?"
Yuuto blinked. "Heroes have licenses?"
"Ahhhhh! Illegal use of a quirk!" She ran off.
Well, that was rude. What was a quirk?
Yuuto started walking down the sidewalk, looking for clues about where he'd ended up. The writing on the signs was Japanese, fortunately. Upon seeing a calendar in a shop window, he stopped and stared.
He was over a hundred years into the future?
Behind him, the woman said, "Officer, that man used his quirk to attack people." He turned around to see her talking to two police officers and pointing at him.
Setting aside his shock, Yuuto ran away at top speed.
SIX YEARS LATER:
A punch from one of Overhaul's four arms knocked off Yuuto's fox mask. He stumbled backward, each step sending throbs of pain through his broken leg.
The world blurred and spun. One more good hit, and he might pass out. He had to finish this.
Putting the full power of One for All behind his punch, he swung.
Overhaul bounced off the ceiling and fell face-first to the ground.
Panting, Yuuto watched for any sign of movement. Luckily, the yakuza finally seemed unconscious. Time to go rescue Eri.
Yuuto turned around in time to see his older brother, Hisashi Shigaraki, walk through the door.
The two brothers stared at each other in mutual shock.
With his black suit and perfectly combed hair, Hisashi looked more like a CEO than a villain. How was his older brother still alive and as obnoxiously handsome as ever a century later? Yuuto had rather mixed feelings. On the one hand, he still loved his big brother, but on the other hand, he preferred to love Hisashi from a safe distance, out of grabbing range.
In a dazed tone, Hisashi asked, "Is this a quirk? Does it show me my worst memory? Are you about to disappear before my eyes again?"
"Yes, that's absolutely right." Yuuto edged towards the window in hopes of making good on his promise to disappear.
Hisashi's eyes narrowed. "Yuuto. Still as foolish as ever, I see." His tone shifted from dark to delighted.
"Ha-ha. Who is this Yuuto you speak of?" Yuuto took another step sideways, without taking his eyes off All for One. His leg burned with pain, as did numerous cuts and bruises all over his body.
"I looked for you for decades. I'd given up all hope. This is such a pleasant surprise." There was a maniacal edge to Hisashi's jovialness. "I'm experiencing a lot of emotions, so don't you dare take one more step away from me, little brother."
Yuuto wet his lips. With his leg broken, he couldn't run away. This was it. Time for the grand showdown between One for All and All for One. He raised his fists.
Hisashi said, "Overhaul just split into two people. One of them stood up and is about to hit you from behind."
Starting off with a mind trick? And such a cheap one? Yuuto snorted, keeping his eyes on his older brother. "As if I'd believe—"
His words cut off as something clocked him over the head.
Awareness returned in fragmented glimpses of the ground, a sense of motion, and the sound of footsteps on gravel. Yuuto opened his eyes. He was hanging upside-down. The hand on his back felt very familiar.
Yuuto hadn't been thrown over his older brother's shoulder and carried since childhood. He didn't like it one bit. Since Hisashi had wrapped him head to foot in quirk-generated sticky thread, he could barely move. He tried to bite his older brother's ear, but couldn't quite reach. His teeth gnashed empty air.
"None of that, now," Hisashi said calmly. He shifted the little brother in his arms slightly as he walked through a door camouflaged by fake leaves.
Each movement hurt Yuuto's broken leg, but he refused to let out a cry. He clenched his teeth. He was being carried down a metal corridor and into a service elevator. A safehouse? Such a place would be harder to escape, unfortunately. "What happened to Overhaul and his minion?"
"I killed them," Hisashi said with horribly casualness.
Yuuto winced. He didn't like to see anyone die, not even those horrible yakuza. He was almost afraid to ask. "Eri?"
"Who? You mean the little girl with the ridiculously powerful quirk? I left her there after I took it. She's still alive."
Then the worst case scenario had been avoided. Although Yuuto wanted to rant at his quirk-stealing older brother, the jolt of the elevator hitting the bottom floor made his head spin with pain.
As the elevator doors opened, Hisashi said, "I answered two of your questions, so now it's my turn. Did you become a hero? I ought to have heard of you. I keep track of all powerful quirks belonging to professional heroes."
"Pshaw, no. I'm a vigilante. We're way cooler than those tame, materialistic professional heroes."
After a pause, Hisashi asked, "You got into trouble with the law, didn't you?"
Sullen silence answered this question.
"You're an idiot."
Thrashing against his bonds, Yuuto shouted, "Any law preventing me from helping people is wrong! Where does a criminal mastermind like you get off criticizing my lifestyle?"
"I break the law in a calculated fashion for power and profit. You pick fights with people stronger than you because you lack common sense."
"Hypocrite! Double-standards! Villain!"
Hisashi carried him into a suspiciously large medical bay loaded down with equipment and tall tubes. As soon as his older brother set him down on an examination table and removed the threads around his legs to take a look at the injury, Yuuto made a break for freedom.
He got maybe a couple inches before Hisashi shot out another thread and dragged him back. "Are you trying to make your leg even worse? Thank god Izuku is better behaved than you in every regard."
"Izuku? Who's Izuku?" Yuuto asked, squirming.
"Oh, yeah, you wouldn't know. I have a twelve-year-old son. He's an angel and my living proof that there's nothing wrong with my parenting. You were just impossible."
The bombshell had been dropped so casually. Yuuto stared. His entire world shifted.
Blithely, Hisashi continued, "If you sit still and let me set your broken leg, I'll show you pictures."
Still wordless, Yuuto nodded.
His leg quickly went numb as Hisashi utilized a combination of a quirk and the medical knowledge he'd learned a century ago because (according to him) his younger brother was a reckless fool. Meanwhile, Yuuto scrolled through his older brother's phone. Nearly every single picture featured an adorable green-haired boy with freckles and a brilliant smile. Yuuto fell in love immediately.
A long-haired woman with a round face and kind eyes appeared frequently. She had the same green hair as his nephew. Yuuto had his suspicions, but he had trouble believing his older brother could have tricked this obviously sweet woman into a relationship. "Who is she?"
"My wife, of course."
"You have a wife?"
"That's the usual way to get a son."
Yuuto muttered, "Who knows with you? You seem like the type to kidnap an enemy's grandchild to raise them as a villain."
Hisashi snorted. "Now you're just being ridiculous." A mist came from his hands, sealing the cast on Yuuto's leg. "Her name is Inko Midoriya. I've been operating under her last name with my civilian identity. I can't let anyone from my work life find out that I have a family."
When the phone was taken away, Yuuto stared after it longingly. "I want to meet them."
Hisashi frowned. "I don't know. Much though I'd like to introduce you, I can't trust you not to carelessly gab away about things they don't need to know."
"I resent that! I wouldn't accidentally say anything. I would deliberately explain to them all about your villainy."
"That's why it's not happening. Inko is already unhappy about a few unpleasant facts she learned recently." Hisashi suddenly looked tired. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Neither of them needs any involvement in that part of my life. You'd be a bit…difficult to explain."
More like the vault would be difficult to explain. Yuuto crossed his arms. "You can't keep me from my only nephew."
Hisashi raised an eyebrow. "In fact, I can. If you want me to reconsider, try getting through a week with no escape attempts or hunger strikes. Then we'll see about heavily supervised visitation." His eyes gleamed with happiness. Clearly, he'd realized he now had the perfect method to control his foolish younger brother.
Look at this absolute asshole! That smug, punchable grin! Yuuto burned with helpless fury.
Within minutes, Yuuto ended up tossed in the bank vault. He landed on the soft carpet, seething. Back here again? Ugh. How hateful. He mourned the loss of a glorious six years free of elder brother tyranny.
His first instinct was to target the lock, but he remembered Hisashi's threat.
He had a nephew! It was wonderful news. Despite the many unpleasant events of the night, a smile tugged at Yuuto's lips. He was so excited to be an uncle. Assuming he could get out of this godforsaken hellhole to meet the boy.
It was frankly rather worrying that Hisashi already had a bank vault in such great shape when he hadn't known about Yuuto's survival until tonight. He looked around.
The room contained two beds, one sized for a child. Numerous toys, video games, and comic books covered the shelves. A vanity held make-up, jewelry, and other female accoutrements. Oh, dear, he really hasn't changed a bit. At least they're not in here yet.
Before he had time to truly freak out, there was a knock on the door.
Yuuto looked up. Another polite tap came on the round metal portal. My brother wouldn't knock. But who else could it possibly be?
Burning with curiosity, he called, "Come in?"
After a fair bit of heaving and groaning, the door opened to reveal Inko Midoriya.
Upon seeing Yuuto, she gasped. "He really did it! To his own brother!" Her face paled starkly against her vividly green hair. She swayed.
"Hi!" Yuuto scrambled to his feet, using a chair as a crutch. He hopped over. "You know who I am? Did Hisashi tell you?"
Her hair falling over her eyes, she shook her head. "He seemed in such an oddly good mood. I snooped on his computer. I know where he keeps his passwords, so that's how I found the combination to your…" She didn't seem to want to say the word "cell." Her eyes darted around the horrific room. "Those are copies of Izuku's favorite toys…" She burst into tears.
Yuuto put an arm around her. "I'm sorry. This must be a terrible shock. If it makes you feel any better, my brother is exactly the type of person to have a place like this purely as a precaution. It doesn't mean he's planning to do anything to your son immediately. Sans that weak reassurance, I'm afraid it's about as bad as you fear."
Inko wept even harder. Yuuto kept holding her. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry for making such a mess on your shirt, Mr. Shigaraki."
"Please, call me Yuuto. I'm your brother-in-law, after all."
She smiled through teary eyes. "Then call me Inko."
"I take it that you only found out about All for One recently."
"Hisashi claimed to be an ordinary salaryman. I had no idea the truth until one of his business rivals attacked me while I was grocery shopping." Inko clenched her jaw. "I feel so stupid."
"No, no! My brother is a master at deception. Please don't blame yourself." Yuuto rubbed a soothing circle on her back.
"I don't know what to think," Inko whispered. "A villain?"
"I'm afraid so." Yuuto suspected she still didn't know her husband wasn't just a villain, but rather THE most prominent villain in Japan. But it was clear this poor woman had already received enough of a shock tonight. She had the right to know everything he could tell her, but he'd wait until she felt well enough to ask questions.
"Did Hisashi break your leg?" Inko whispered.
"Oh, no!" Yuuto waved his hands. "That was a child-abusing yakuza with overly large arms. Kinda a long story."
"That's something, at least. I'll help you get out of here. I've already disabled the alarms and cameras."
"Is that why he hasn't come tearing down here already? Thank you."
"It's the only decent thing to do." Inko rubbed her arms. "Ever since I found out, he's been all sweetness and light. Showering me with expensive presents. Renovating the entire house. But there's someone following me around whenever I leave the house. He claims it's for my protection."
"Ugh, that's just like him," Yuuto growled. "He's love-bombing you. He did that to me too right after I found out, like rare comic books and chocolate bars would make me forget about his villainy. It won't make us forget, right?"
"Of course not." Inko's lip stuck out.
"He thinks he can just buy our consciences with material goods, but he can't!"
"That's right." She started to sound angry.
"He's such an asshole."
"I put a lump under the sofa before I made him sleep on it, and I'm not even a little bit sorry."
"Ha-ha! I love you already, big sis." Yuuto grinned. "What do you want to do now? I'm hightailing it out of here, and you're welcome to join me."
Inko's fury subsided. She looked at her hands. "I thought about running away, but I'm scared to endanger anyone I ask for help. It's even harder because, well, the truth is…I haven't made up my mind if I'm done with Hisashi or not. Even despite what he is." She glanced away, her cheeks flushing with shame.
"Hey, I completely understand. My brother is a complicated person, and he can be very good toward those he loves." Yuuto smiled bitterly. "He makes it hard to completely hate him."
"I just want a few days away from him and a chance to make a free choice. He won't let me have either of those, will he?"
"I'm afraid not. You'll have to take what you want." Yuuto took Inko's hands. "I'll help you. I have loads of experience running away from my brother. You don't have to worry about endangering me—he won't kill me and he's already doing his worst to me right now. I'll keep you away from him for as long as you'd like, and if you decide to go back, I won't judge either."
"Thank you." Inko wiped her eyes. "But what about Izuku?"
"Fair warning: if you run off, my brother will immediately stick Izuku down here. We'd have to take him along."
"He doesn't know the truth about Hisashi. I haven't been able to bring myself to tell him." Inko shook her head.
"He deserves to know, but hopefully we can break it to him gently." Yuuto considered. "Perhaps we'll frame this trip to him as a fun family excursion?"
"Maybe that's for the best. I think I should figure out my own future plans first before I talk to him." Inko bit her lip. "Imagine how Hisashi will react if he finds all of us gone."
"He'll have a breakdown, and it will be hilarious. It serves him right."
A gleam entered Inko's eyes. "Yes, it does."
Using his makeshift crutch, Yuuto crept down the hallway and peered into the kitchen. Izuku Midoriya sat at the table, eating a bag of chips as he worked on his homework.
His nephew was so cute! Those big green eyes! The way he scrunched up his nose and nibbled on the tip of his pencil! Yuuto just wanted to pick him up and hug him.
Abandoning stealth, Yuuto hopped into the room. "Hey, kid! It's great to finally meet you." Yuuto had known about Izuku's existence for less than half an hour, but it felt like forever.
Izuku jolted. "Who are you?"
"I'm your uncle, Yuuto Shigaraki. You've never met me because your dad keeps me locked in the basement." Seeing the disturbed look on his nephew's face, Yuuto realized that might have been too much information. Unfortunately, there was a risk of it reflecting more poorly on him than his big brother, since Izuku didn't know about the villain thing. Yuuto hastened to add, "Just kidding. But that does sound like something he'd do, doesn't it?" He winked.
Izuku stared at him coldly. It probably didn't help his case that he still wore a dirty, bloodstained hero costume. Yuuto straightened his collar. Suspicious eyes tracked his every movement.
"Who are you actually, and why are you in my house?" Izuku brought up his book, a subtle motion preparing to use it as a shield or a weapon. Clearly they were still a long way off from hugs.
"He really is your uncle, Izuku." Inko followed at a more sedate pace. "Yuuto, what did you say you needed again?"
"Hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, food coloring, dried yeast, water, a funnel, and an empty soda bottle."
"We have all of that." Inko started rummaging around the cupboards.
Yuuto called, "Dry ice and liquid nitrogen are also wonderfully explosive if you can find any."
"I'll check."
Izuku looked between them. "What's going on?"
"Great news!" Yuuto clapped his hands together. "There's a hero convention a couple towns over, and I'm taking you and your mother. We'll have our first family bonding outing together. I'm so excited."
Izuku blinked. "Dad agreed to this? Even though he can't stand heroes?"
Yuuto sighed. Izuku thought he needed permission to leave home. This was tragic. Clearly he needed to teach his brother's poor, sheltered child how to properly rebel. "Don't worry about your dad. He more-or-less raised me, and I ran away from home all the time. He never minded."
Izuku raised an eyebrow like a judge presiding over a trial. "That doesn't sound like my father."
Yuuto noticed that his nephew wore a shirt with All Might's picture on the front. Talk about great taste in heroes! "All Might will be making an appearance at the convention. He's giving a lecture on quirkless discrimination."
"Really?" Izuku's ears perked up.
Without hesitation, Yuuto shameless sold out Toshinori. "I'm super-tight with All Might. I call him Toshi-nii. If I ask him, he'll sign any merchandise, pose for pictures, answer all your questions about his equipment, and even give out hugs."
"I'm sure Dad won't mind as long as Mom comes with me," Izuku said in the tone of someone who didn't believe this but could convince himself of it for a chance to meet All Might.
That's my contribution to his genetic material, Yuuto thought proudly. "We're going to have so much fun."
The concrete wall tottered, then fell down with a massive boom. The jeep containing Yuuto, Izuku, and Inko came flying out.
A security guard ran towards them. One hand on the steering wheel, Yuuto tossed a hydrogen peroxide bomb. This one was significantly less fatal than the first one he'd used, but he still aimed at the man's feet.
As foam exploded everywhere, Inko called, "I'm extremely sorry about this! A bit of bleach will remove those stains from your clothing."
Gripping a door handle, Izuku said, "Dad will definitely be upset about that."
"Nah, that was nothing. You should see the damage I usually cause to his buildings." Yuuto smiled winningly. "At least this time, nothing is on fire." He'd spoken too soon—a spark hit the wooden guardhouse. Whoa, it was spreading fast.
Inko dabbed some dirt from the explosion off Izuku's cheek. Then she turned her wet wipes on Yuuto. "Is anyone hungry?" She held up ziplocked bags of peanuts and raisins.
"You packed snacks for our escape?" Yuuto laughed. "Thank you. You're the best big sister ever."
Izuku eyed him. "To be honest, ever since we met I've been wondering if you were really my uncle or a lunatic. Now, my question has been answered."
Yuuto beamed. "Glad to hear it!"
"I'm not sure why I didn't realize sooner that you could be both."
OMAKE TIME!
Omake: Yuuto Got Arrested All the Time in the Past Too
Hisashi: Hey, little brother. I'm here to bail you out for—what is it this time?
Yuuto: Metahuman discrimination protest!
Hisashi: If you like getting locked up so much, I have this comfy bank vault for you. It would basically be the same thing.
Yuuto: That's not the same thing at all.
Hisashi: Yeah, the bank vault is a lot safer.
#
Omake: Wedding Bells
Hisashi: I'm so happy we're married, Inko. You're part of my family now.
Inko: Aw, that's sweet.
Hisashi: That means you can never, ever leave.
Inko: I'm not sure if that's sweet or terrifying.
Yuuto: Trust me, big sister, you're going to want to go with "terrified." Welcome to the vault, we have comic books.
#
Omake: Younger Siblings Never Keep Their Hands Off Their Older Siblings' Stuff
Yuuto: How dare you keep me away from my nephew and sister-in-law?
Hisashi: They're mine, and I don't feel like sharing. Neener-neener. What are you going to do from the vault, cry about it?
Yuuto: Maybe I'll steal both of them.
Hisashi: YUUTO SHIGARAKI! YOU GET YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF MY STUFF RIGHT THIS INSTANT!
#
Omake: Dadmight
Izuku: I've never even met All Might, and already I'm perfectly willing to sell out my dad for him.
Yuuto: I'm guessing that my brother wasn't quite as successful in parenting as he was bragging about?
Izuku: Mostly it's just that All Might is awesome. But yes, I have gotten tired of disabling cameras and tracking bugs. He also seems to have upset my mom, and I'm only pretending I haven't noticed so I can later make him pay for that.
#
Omake: What Happened to Eri
Shota Aizawa: I was patrolling the city when I coincidentally found this little girl in a demolished yakuza mansion.
Eri: Hi!
Shota Aizawa: I am struck with an inexplicable yet profound urge to adopt her.
Hizashi Yamada: What? You're not All Might or Nana! You can't just adopt strange children.
Oboro Shirakumo: Great idea! You should do it! I call second dad, no take backs. Hizashi spoke too late, so he only gets to be third dad.
#Eri will always be happy in my fics, okay? #Oboro is alive too #Do I even need a reason? #This is the everybody lives AU
Author's Note:
I now deeply regret not including Inko in Custody Battle, because this was so much fun to write. It turns out Inko and Yuuto make a great team, especially when it comes to giving Hisashi his just deserts.