Chapter Five: BAD ENDING
Author's Note: As a reminder, this is the first of three possible endings to this story. We still have two more chapters after this.
Izuku turned on speakerphone after calling his brother. "Hey, Tomura."
"Nerd? I tried to put in a good word for you, but Dad's on the warpath. Good thing you didn't actually want that private jet, am I right? But seriously, if you want to play games with me before you turn eighteen, maybe you should head back home. I'd rather not lose my healer."
"This situation has gotten a lot more serious than a runaway beach trip." Izuku blew out a breath. "I don't know where to begin. To start with, we've got an uncle."
"Hi!" His uncle chirped. "I'm so happy to have a second nephew! Izuku showed me some pictures of you on his phone. Phones these days can take pictures, isn't that amazing?"
"Huh? Our uncle? Isn't he—" Tomura cut himself off abruptly.
"Yeah, I know, I'd always assumed he was dead and Dad was in denial. But the truth is much stranger." Izuku repeated the whole story, with his uncle filling in details periodically.
"Whoa." Tomura's voice sounded small on the other end. He rallied. "Of course I'll help you."
"Just like that? You believe me?" Izuku blinked. "I'd come prepared with so many ways to convince you. I was going to send you a video of the seal transformation, I was going to offer to meet you and show you the pelts…"
"Of course I believe you. You're my brother." Tomura sounded a tad defensive.
"Okay, then." Izuku would take the good luck. "I need you to tell us when Dad is out of the house but Mom is home. I could also use your help disabling the outside cameras. If you can get us to the basement, Uncle says he can pick the locks."
"I can do better." Tomura's voice sounded stronger. "I know where our dad keeps the basement keys."
"You do?" Izuku was a little surprised, but given how his father confided in Tomura, it made sense. "Thank you so much. I'm asking you to risk a lot. And I don't even know what will happen to us after Mom is free. If she leaves him then of course she'll take us with her, but it won't be easy. Still, I have to help Mom, no matter what."
Tomura said, "Everything I do is for the sake of you and Mom. You know that, right? I love you."
Izuku smiled. "I love you too, big brother."
The Midoriya mansion looked darkened and quiet. The taxi let them off a block away. His uncle was walking with more confidence now, no longer needing to lean on Izuku. In addition, Izuku's headache completely faded away as he got within eyeshot of his house. It was good to have confirmation that his pelt must still be inside.
As instructed by Tomura, they headed for the back gate, where he said he'd disabled the security. The gate pushed open with a creak. Izuku tried not to wince.
Judging from the lack of cars, the cooking and cleaning staff had already left for the night. They walked past sculpted hedges and a golden fountain. The bushes had been shaped to resemble lions, bears, and many more animals—but no aquatic ones. Next came the rose garden. The mansion grounds were the size of a park.
According to Tomura, their father had taken a train to Izuku's last known location at the beach house. They ought to be safe. Yet Izuku's treacherous brain kept running through ways this plan could go wrong.
As they reached the back door, Tomura pushed it open. He looked even paler than usual. "Let's get this over with," he said in his usual blunt fashion.
"Aw, look at you! You're even cuter than your pictures!" His uncle latched onto Tomura like a limpet. "Group hug!" He dragged Izuku into the embrace.
"We don't have time for this," Izuku protested, squirming.
"Give me a moment to enjoy being the older relative for once," his uncle said, mussing Tomura's curly hair. "I heard you like games! I do too! Well, I just started playing, but this 'Candy Crush' may be the best thing ever."
"Please, I play way better games than that." Tomura elbowed his way free. "Stop fooling around, and I'll teach you how to properly game later."
"Yeah, hurry," Izuku hissed, heading into the mansion.
As they walked through the mansion, Tomura kept sneaking glances at their uncle. Finally, he asked, "You were stuck as a seal? What was it like? Was it…bad?"
His uncle shrugged. "I wasn't suffering—seals are happy creatures—but I didn't mean to do it. I misjudged how long it would take me to lose myself because I was so desperate to escape my brother. I won't let it happen again."
"That's right. We can't let it happen again." Tomura sounded more sure of himself. His steps picked up speed.
At the basement door, Tomura held out two keys. "The bigger one should unlock this door."
His uncle took the keys. "It worked! Faster than me picking the lock." He pushed the door open.
Flicking the light switch turned on a single bulb hanging from a wire. The basement had rose wallpaper, a large sofa, and a tall oak desk with a hutch. Shadows made the room look sinister. The bank vault door on the back wall resembled a black hole. A metal box sat on the desk.
Izuku frowned. "Shouldn't the box be inside the vault?"
Tomura said, "Dad took it out, probably to check that your pelt was still in there. He left in such a hurry that he forgot to put it back in."
"Lucky for us. The bank vault door is the most difficult to lockpick, although not impossible." His uncle walked over to the desk and picked up the box.
Some instinct made Izuku hang back. Weren't there more locks before? He opened his mouth to say something, but his uncle had already tried to put the second key into the lock. "Huh. It doesn't want to go in."
Izuku asked, "Maybe this is the wrong box, and the real one is inside the vault?"
"Let me try to pick the lock." His uncle touched it with his finger. A blue electric spark leapt out from the box. He staggered backward, crying out in pain.
The vault door opened, and Hisashi Midoriya stepped out. An unholy light burned in his eyes as they fixed on his younger brother. He hissed, "Finally!" and grabbed the shoulder bag holding the pelt.
As his pelt was yanked away, his uncle screamed as if he was being skinned alive. Hisashi leapt backwards. His uncle coughed up a river of blood, then collapsed to the floor in a heap.
Izuku ran forward to help.
Hisashi pulled out a white pelt with green spots. Izuku knew his pelt by the sensation of phantom fingers on his back. "Stop," his father commanded.
Izuku's feet refused to move.
But his uncle needed help. He lay on the floor, blood dripping from his mouth.
Izuku lifted one leg and set it down. It felt like he had sandbags attached to his ankles. But he lifted his other leg.
Hisashi's eyes widened with surprise, then anger. "Stop!"
The weights became even heaver, yet still Izuku stepped forward. He looked at his father, hoping to see some trace of the kind man he remembered, but there was nothing but possessive fury in that gaze. Nothing he could reason with. "Tomura, help me."
There was no reply. Izuku suddenly had a bad feeling. "Big brother?" He looked over his shoulder.
Tomura stood behind him, holding cloth dipped in liquid. Izuku's stomach twisted with betrayal.
"Don't try to fight," Hisashi said, and this time, he twisted the pelt in his hands. Izuku screamed in pain and dropped to his knees.
"I'm sorry, little brother," Tomura whispered. "I helped Hana get her pelt and lost her forever. I can't lose you, too." He placed the cloth over Izuku's mouth and held on until the struggling stopped.
"Can I return to school in the fall?" Izuku asked his father. He tried to keep his voice even and non-confrontational. A hint of bitterness leaked in.
Hisashi looked up from his dual monitor computer. His office walls were covered with awards. Expensive glass knickknacks sat next to his son's old craft projects. "You know what you need to do."
Izuku gritted his teeth. His father had been trying to use his pelt to impose commands on him for weeks, and he'd thrown off the suggestion each time. If he gave in, then he'd be stripped of any ability to escape ever again. "No."
"If your answer remains unchanged, then so does mine." Hisashi shrugged.
"You'd stop me from going to high school?"
"I can hire private tutors. They'll be able to give you more advanced classes better suited to your level."
"I want to see my friends again!" Izuku's voice rose to a scream.
"I know you're upset about being grounded—"
"I'm not grounded! You imprisoned me here! My window has bars over it now! Stop acting like this is normal parenting. It's not! No normal father would try to command me like a puppet. I hate you!"
Hisashi's eyes narrowed. He called, "Inko?"
"No, don't do that again," Izuku whispered, knowing it was too late. He'd gone too far. His father hated challenges to his self-image as a good parent.
Inko poked her head into the office. "What's wrong?"
"Izuku thinks I'm being too harsh on him. What do you think?" Though he addressed his wife, Hisashi's eyes remained fixed on his son.
Inko sighed. "I know you're upset about being grounded, Izuku, but you did run away from home. It's a reasonable punishment. I don't understand why your father hates the ocean so much, but—"
"The ocean is dangerous," Hisashi said, emphasizing each word.
Inko's eyes glazed over. "The ocean is dangerous. I lost my family there. Please, just listen to your parents. We only love you and want to protect you."
A small moan escaped Izuku's lips. This was revenge for his defiance, though his father would pretend otherwise. Because Izuku was too skilled at resisting commands, Hisashi used his influence against Inko instead, knowing Izuku would keep up a façade of compliance to avoid causing his mother pain.
"Fine. I'll behave," Izuku whispered. Anything to make what his father was doing to his mother stop. A muscle clenched in his jaw.
"You're such a sweet boy." Inko kissed him on the top of his head. "I've got to return to making dinner."
"I'm looking forward to your excellent cooking, darling," Hisashi said. Izuku hated him.
She giggled and blew a kiss at him as she left.
Izuku forced himself to remain calm. He hadn't come here to pick another fight. He'd been hoping to gain at least a tiny bit of ground. "You know my uncle's sickness hasn't gotten any better."
"It has. I've been monitoring his temperature regularly."
Izuku despised his father's calm. "He'll get better if you put his pelt back in the same room as him."
"That would ruin all my hard work trying to wean him off the addiction. He used to be able stay much further away from it. Once he's been on land long enough, the side effects will subside."
"I don't exactly agree with you that it's an addiction—but it's against medical advice to cut addicts off cold turkey. You could start with the pelt in the same room, then gradually move it further away." Izuku tried to sound calm. Reasonable. Compromising.
Hisashi sighed. "Your uncle hasn't been well-behaved lately."
"Well-behaved? He's not a child."
As if he hadn't heard, Hisashi continued, "His runaway phase lasted far longer than yours. Do you know how many nightmares I had about him being eaten by a shark or a killer whale? It's impossible to reason with someone who barely even remembers being human. With his skill at picking locks, leaving his pelt in the same room isn't an acceptable risk."
Which Izuku took to mean that at the end of the day, his father cared more about keeping his loved ones confined then their well-being. But if he said that aloud, he'd only anger Hisashi again. "Please. He can't even get out of bed. If you must be overcautious, you could move the pelt to a room below or above him."
"If I didn't have to worry about you escaping, then I could monitor him more closely, so perhaps I'd be able to work something like that out." Hisashi beamed. "See? We can compromise. If you'll even allow one little command…"
Izuku turned and walked out of the office before he said something he'd regret.
Tomura approached down the hall. He waved, a hopeful look on his face. "I talked Dad into letting you play some games with me. If you want…?"
Izuku sighed. He was still angry at his big brother, but he also felt sorry for him. Tomura had told him the whole story of his past and his missing older sister, hoping to persuade Izuku. Instead, Izuku had reached the conclusion that Tomura had been manipulated by their father from a young age.
Maybe if Izuku rebuilt his relationship with Tomura, he might be able to talk the older boy around. It looked increasingly like his only chance. Izuku said, "Sure. Let's play after dinner."
Tomura's face crumpled with relief. "We'll be a team. I'll always protect you, both in the game and in real life."
Once again, Izuku managed to stop himself from saying something he'd regret.
As Tomura entered their father's office, Izuku lingered outside, hoping to eavesdrop.
Hisashi was saying, "It's maddeningly frustrating. If I'd had any idea about the blood trick, I would have tried it years ago. If he wouldn't have come for my blood, he'd have come for Izuku's. Information about selkies is so hard to find…they've nearly gone extinct."
Were they talking about how Izuku had accidentally summoned his uncle with his blood? But why did that matter now? Izuku pressed his ear closer to the door.
Tomura asked, "Do you need more blood from me?"
"No, I came with good news. It worked! She must have traveled quite a distance over the years, because it was one of my ships in northernmost Japan that finally had a result from dropping your blood into the water. Here's the picture they took of the seal they captured."
There was a rustling. Tomura gasped in excitement. "That's Hana! I recognize the black spot around her eye."
"She'll be shipped here by tomorrow."
"Thank you so much, Dad!"
"You've earned it, son."
Izuku leapt away from the door. His plan had been squashed. Tomura would be so grateful to get his sister back that it would cement his loyalties permanently.
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a new idea.
Walking down the hallway, he stopped at his uncle's bedroom. The door opened without resistance. No need for locks when Hisashi could use a selkie's pelt like a leash.
His uncle lay huddled under a prodigious number of blankets. Izuku sat down by the bed. "How are you feeling?"
Like last time, there was no response.
Izuku lifted aside sweaty hair to touch his uncle's forehead. The skin felt hot.
"Should I just give in to Dad?" he asked. "Would he keep his promise and let you get better?"
Even if he couldn't help himself, he desperately wanted to help his uncle. There lay the problem—his father had too many hostages to use against him. Izuku refused to escape without his mother and uncle.
His uncle gave a small groan and curled into a tighter ball. Dried blood smeared the corner of his mouth.
Disheartened, Izuku returned to his room. He peeked through the bars on his window. As always, his father had men in black suits stationed all around the mansion.
His room had been stripped of all his games and comic books. He sat in front of his computer, wishing he could work on a video for his environmental channel, but his father had deleted that.
He burst into tears.
Hisashi pushed the door open. "There there, baby." He wrapped Izuku into a hug.
Though Izuku tried to shove him off, his father's arms were too strong. He sobbed harder.
"Everything is going to get better." Hisashi kissed his curly hair. "Forget."
Too late, Izuku saw his father's hand buried in his briefcase, touching something. The compulsion took ahold of him. He tried to throw it off yet again. But he was too tired. He could no longer keep up the constant struggle.
The command seized him and dragged him under.
Author's Note:
Selkies vary in their magical coercibility. Inko is good at being far from her pelt, but she's easily influenced by mental commands given by someone touching it. The First had a strong resistance to mental commands, but gets very sick if away from his pelt. Izuku is the lucky one who's both resistant to mental coercion and can travel far from his pelt.
In case it wasn't obvious, Hisashi is deliberately letting the First get sick to weaken his resistance to mind control, just like what he did to Izuku. Once he manages to brainwash all three selkies, it's a permanent Bad Ending Good Ending for Hisashi.
Custody Battle's Hisashi has something to say: Whoa, your younger brother comes with a built-in tether and you can even give him commands by touching a seal pelt? Talk about useful features! Want to trade with me? My younger brother has, uh…he has great hair.
(Don't be fooled, other Hisashis. When an All for One says "trade" he means he plans to run off with both. He's like a Pokémon trainer, gotta catch them all. Any All for One dumb enough to try to trade away his little brother deserves to lose him!)
Next chapter will be the Normal Ending! Or, alternatively, the not really good or bad but sorta okay ending.