Chapter Four:
Toshinori ushered the two children up the stairs to the top floor of All Might Tower. He'd previously used the attic for storage and had it converted to living space at top speed. The air still smelled of cleaning fluids.
The door opened to a walk-in closet, the newly added bar covered with currently empty hangers. Toshinori said, "I know it's a bit awkward to walk through your closet every time you go to sleep, but these rooms weren't originally bedrooms, so we had to create a space for your clothing. I thought this arrangement would be ideal because the two rooms are conjoined." He pointed at two doors to the left and right. "You can be close to each other but still have privacy. You two can pick which bedroom you want."
Hisashi ran for the right door and Yoichi for the left.
Having read about sibling competitiveness, Toshinori had made certain that both rooms were identical. Each held a bed with a tan comforter, a white-and-gold desk, a dresser, and a bookshelf. He'd cleaned the windows and added a loveseat to each one. The ceiling slanted slightly overhead, with the walls next to the windows covered in empty shelves. Pictures of a sailboat, a vase of flowers, and a hippopotamus hung on the walls.
Toshinori said, "We can change the pictures to whatever you like." Unfortunately, he sounded nervous even to his own ears. He ought to be exuding a calm, reassuring presence. But he very badly wanted the children to like their new rooms.
Yoichi ran to the bed and jumped on it. "It's so bouncy!"
Hisashi sidled up to Toshinori and whispered, "Don't you think that my room should have a few extra pieces of furniture, since I'm the older brother?"
"No, I don't think so," Toshinori said without batting an eye. He was fully aware that Hisashi was testing him to see what he could get away with. The parenting book had told him to be "patient but firm." He met the boy's eyes without blinking.
Hisashi looked away first. Toshinori shifted into his muscular form to carry the massive number of shopping bags up the stairs. These would take a while to unpack.
"Where the hell is my new gaming system?" Hisashi asked, looking through his bags.
"I put that in the family room on the second floor. Hisashi? No swearing. I won't punish you the first time, but from now on, please adjust your language."
"What will you do if I don't?" Hisashi asked, watching him like a predatorial cat.
"It would be a shame if you missed out on the cake I brought for your first dinner at home," Toshinori said. "Repeated offenses will earn you a time-out."
"What would it take for you to throw me out?" Hisashi asked.
"I'm not going to throw you out, no matter what. I promise."
"What if I get bad grades?"
"I wouldn't punish you for that." Toshinori rethought this. "Well, not unless you were deliberately skipping classes or not turning in your homework. But I know it will be difficult for you to adjust to modern schooling so I'll take that into account. I'll get you both tutors."
"What if Yoichi gets sicker?"
"You can't possibly imagine I'd throw you out because of that—" Toshinori realized the boy probably did. "I've already made arrangements for a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I promise, I'll look after your little brother."
"What if I set fire to the tower?"
"I'd have to restrict your belongings so you wouldn't have access to flammable materials again."
"Huh." Hisashi looked either impressed or disbelieving. It was hard to tell.
Toshinori hadn't been quite sure how to answer that last question. He probably needed to read more parenting books. Pyromania hadn't been covered so far.
Yoichi ran out of his room and threw his arms around Toshinori. "Thank you so much! It's perfect!"
Toshinori tousled his hair. "I'm glad you like it."
He was about to show them the family room when his phone rang. "Excuse me for a moment."
In the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, Toshinori answered the call. "Young Midoriya, how did you like Best Jeanist's lecture?"
"He's not you, but he made a great substitute teacher." Izuku's smile came through his voice. "Thank you for getting him to come. It was quite interesting to hear a top hero talk frankly about publicity and merchandising deals. Everyone enjoyed the change of pace from our usual class."
"I'll be back tomorrow." Toshinori shifted the phone under his ear. "Only for part of the day, because Yoichi has a doctor's appointment early in the morning. I got permission from Nezu to bring the children to school. We're worried it might be dangerous to leave them alone."
Izuku said, "It will be nice to see them again. I have loads of questions to ask about the past—only if they're comfortable answering, of course."
"You and quite a few historians." Toshinori laughed. "Taking them with me everywhere can't be a long-term solution. Those children need school, but I've yet to find one with adequate security."
A note of wariness entered Izuku's voice. "Since you spoke of security, I assume you're looking at rich, private schools?"
"Exactly, the kind of schools used to protecting the children of politicians and celebrities."
Izuku sounded subdued. "Those types of schools won't be kind to quirkless children. They're both quirkless, aren't they?"
"We believe so, although some of the first generation didn't discover their quirks until later. Of course, I've carefully asked each school about their bullying policy. I remember my own childhood as a quirkless kid." And Toshinori suspected Izuku did as well, judging from his tone.
"It's gotten even worse for the quirkless since you were a child. I would be wary of throwing those brothers in a class with a bunch of wealthy children with high-powered quirks. Even if the teachers try their hardest to stop any bullying, there's a limit to what they can do when the entire class hates you. A private school isn't going to expel a bunch of rich people's kids."
"You make a good point. I was already thinking about private tutors. I just wanted to ensure the boys got socialization with their peers. I'll do some research into home-schooling and what social activities are available outside school."
"I hope I didn't overstep," Izuku said.
"Nonsense, my boy, your advice was good." Toshinori hesitated. "If you ever want to talk about your past experiences with bullying, then I'm here."
"Nah, it was no big deal. I have to go. Homework to do." Izuku hung up abruptly.
Toshinori stared at his phone, feeling like he definitely still had a ways to go on this parenting thing.
While All Might lay on the floor assembling a gaming system, his cell phone stuck out of his back pocket. Hisashi inched closer and grabbed it.
"I have to go to the bathroom," he said.
"First door to the right down the hallway," All Might said without looking up. Yoichi sat on the couch looking through his new games. All his attention had been engrossed by the decision of which to play first.
In the bathroom, Hisashi used his new quirk. His finger glowed green, then the numbers of All Might's phone passcode appeared on the screen. Once inside, Hisashi scrolled through latest calls to find the one labeled doctor's office. Making his voice sound deeper, he said, "Yes, I need to cancel the appointment tomorrow for Yoichi Shigaraki. No, I don't want to reschedule at this time."
His hands shook as he hung up the phone. He took deep breaths. He knew this was a temporary measure, but it ought to take a little while to reschedule the appointment. Ever since the cause of Yoichi's ill-health had been removed, his cough had been steadily improving. If progress continued at its current rate, Hisashi might be able to convince their new guardian that a doctor visit was unnecessary.
Or at least buy himself some time to research on the internet and figure out how likely it was that modern medical technology would notice what he was afraid of.
Hisashi returned to the game room and slipped the phone back into All Might's pocket. No one noticed.
That night, Izuku had a strange dream.
He found himself covered in shadows from head to toe. He couldn't move or talk. Yet his surroundings felt strangely vivid for a dream world. He stood in fancy house next to a winding stairway. An antique grandfather clock ticked, each sound loud in the silence. A portrait in a gold frame hung on the wall, showing a younger Hisashi Shigaraki with two people who were presumably his parents. Izuku wondered why Yoichi wasn't in the picture, even though Hisashi looked old enough that his younger brother should have been already born.
The front door opened, letting in fresh summer air. The father from the picture stepped inside and took off his shoes. He wore a business suit and a stern expression. He had similar features to Hisashi, although his hair was straight and black.
Hisashi walked forward, each step soft and measured. He looked two or three years younger than when Izuku had last seen him in the real world. He presented a stack of papers. "I've finished the extra homework you assigned me, Father."
"You're such a smart boy, Hisashi." The man patted his son on the head. "I knew school wasn't advanced enough for you. You get your intelligence from me, of course."
"Yes, Father," Hisashi said with no real enthusiasm.
"I'll be counting on you to take over the family business someday, since your younger brother is completely useless."
Hisashi's expression didn't change, but his shoulders tensed very slightly. "Yes, Father."
The man took off his coat and started up the stairs. "Has Yoichi been released from the hospital yet?"
Izuku considered this an appalling question. A father didn't know if his own son was back home from the hospital yet?
"It's still another couple days, Father," Hisashi said. "It would mean the world to Yoichi if you visited him."
"I'm too busy."
"You could send a card."
"Isn't your mother smothering him enough?"
Hisashi closed his mouth and looked at the ground. "Yes, Father." He bit his lip and continued, "But Mother won't take me along when she visits, so I wondered if maybe you might—"
The man interrupted, "You're too busy with your studies. If you have free time, then I should be giving you more work." There was a note of threat in the statement. "On top of eating up all my money with his medical bills, now that useless brat is even getting in the way of your future?"
"It's not like that, Father," Hisashi whispered. Izuku felt sympathy and helpless fury.
"I just wish he'd make of his mind if he was going to live or die. A funeral would be cheaper than all these hospital bills." The man laughed.
Hisashi looked at the ground. Izuku only briefly caught the look of pure hatred in his young eyes. Then the scene shifted and blurred.
The walls of the house vanished, turning into a grassy yard. Izuku blinked from disorientation. He stood outside the same house. Roses lined the back wall. A short set of stairs led to a screened-in porch.
Hisashi and Yoichi tossed a ball back and forth. As he caught it, Hisashi grumbled, "I will never understand why you like this insipid game so much."
"I like a chance to get out of the house." Yoichi grinned as he caught the ball in return. "Admit it, you're grateful that I dragged you away from all that endless studying. It's summer vacation! You shouldn't still be doing schoolwork!"
"Maybe you should be doing some work to catch up after your hospitalization."
Undeterred, Yoichi continued, "Father gives you way too much work, and I'm going to tell him so."
"Don't." Hisashi's face turned serious. The ball clattered at his feet as he made no move toward it. "I keep him happy, and he pays for your medicine."
"It's not as if he could stop paying—" Yoichi stopped talking at the look on his older brother's face. "He threatened to, didn't he? I hate it when he threatens me to get at you."
Hisashi tried to smile, but it looked strained. "I can handle him. I'm going to study hard and become rich and get us both out of this house."
"I believe you, big brother." Yoichi's words ended in a cough. He fell to his knees. Blood dribbled from his mouth.
Hisashi ran forward to catch his little brother as he slid sideways.
A scream came from the porch. The woman had long black hair, just like the mother from the portrait. She dropped to her knees on the grass. "Yoichi, my baby, you need to take your medicine."
"Don't wanna," Yoichi whispered. "It tastes bad and it makes me feel funny."
"It will help you," his mother said.
"But I always feel worse after taking the medicine! I don't want it!"
"Those are normal side-effects." The woman held the bottle to his mouth.
Yoichi batted it away. "No! No!"
His mother looked up. "Hisashi, please, he always listens to you."
Hisashi took the bottle. "Little brother, you need to drink your medicine."
"It doesn't work, and it makes me sick." Yoichi coughed even harder.
"As long as you keep taking it regularly, you'll get better." Hisashi looked his brother in the eye. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, big brother."
"Then drink up. I promise I'll get you a cookie to wash away the bad taste."
"Only for the cookie." Yoichi coughed, then drank from the bottle in his older brother's hands.
Once again, the shadows wrapped around Izuku and carried him away.
Time had passed. Izuku could tell because of the ice on the window. This room looked like a study, though the desk was sized for a child. The walls were packed with books on shelves, but not a single toy. Hisashi sat on a hard wooden chair working on problems from a math textbook.
Out the window, moonlight glowed over the snow. It was far too late for a child to be up working. Izuku felt a stirring of helpless anger at how Hisashi's father was overworking him.
Hisashi yawned and rubbed his eyes. Ink staining the tips of his fingers got on his face. He turned a page.
The door slammed against the wall. The Shigaraki family father stood with his face framed by the shadows of the hallway. His eyes were bloodshot and his hands trembled. Even from his position wrapped in shadows on the other end of the room, Izuku could smell alcohol on his breath.
"Father!" Hisashi leapt to his feet. "I'm almost done the math problems."
The drunk staggered into the room, clutching the trim on the wall. "You shoulda already finished," he slurred. "Aren't you a genius?"
"But you only assigned them this evening…" Hisashi's voice trailed off. Izuku recognized the look on his face, because he'd seen it on his own many times when he'd tried to report his bullying to his teachers. It was the expression of someone who'd given up because he knew nothing he said would get through. "I'm sorry for being slow. Please punish me."
His father dropped to his knees before the boy and grabbed his shoulders. "Hisashi. Why are you looking at me like that? You know I would never do anything to hurt you, my little genius. My pride and joy."
"Please," Hisashi whispered. Izuku didn't understand why he sounded even more terrified at those words.
The father grabbed a letter opener off the desk, then staggered out of the room. Hisashi ran after him, screaming, "Stop! It's my fault! You should hit me!"
When the Shigaraki father pushed open a bedroom door, and Yoichi sat up and blinked, Izuku finally understood what Hisashi had been so scared of.
"What—?" Yoichi barely had time for one word before his father grabbed his shirt and pinned him against the wall.
Hisashi latched onto the adult's leg, shouting, "Stop! Please!"
"Are you disobeying me?" his father asked in a deceptively calm voice. He pointed the letter opener at Yoichi's eye.
Both children froze. Hisashi released his father's leg and backed away with his hands raised. "No, Father. Of course not. I only sought to remind you that a nurse was suspicious of Yoichi's bruises last time. You don't want a scandal, do you?"
His father shook his head. "Such ingratitude. It brings a tear to my eye. Don't I give you the best of everything, Hisashi? The perfect education and the fanciest clothing?"
"Yes, Father," Hisashi whispered, his eyes tracking the blade still pointed at his little brother's face. Yoichi trembled in silence.
"I can't have two weak and useless children. That would be too disgraceful. You need a reminder of what will happen if you disappoint me like this one." The father swung the blade down across Yoichi's left eye.
Blood splattered. Yoichi screamed.
Izuku tried to fight through the shadows around his body, desperate to help even though he knew it was impossible. But the darkness wrapped around him and carried him away again.
At this point, Izuku wanted this whole nightmare to be over. But the dream did not let him go.
Izuku now stood in a child's bedroom. The shelves were stacked with comic books. Bottles of medicine lay on the desk. From the cherry blossoms pressed against the window, time must have passed again.
Yoichi lay on a poster bed with a blue canopy, fast asleep. He looked pale and wraith-thin. Hair fell over his left eye, covering the scar Izuku now knew must be there.
His mother sat by his bed. She stroked her son's forehead, taking care to flatten his hair over his eye to hide his scar. "My little angel. You're my heart and soul. I love you so much. You mean everything to me. Your father is off with another woman again, and there's something wrong with your brother, but you'll never leave me. I won't let you."
Izuku winced. He'd almost dared hope the brothers had at least one decent parent, but apparently not.
Yoichi coughed. The mother reached for a bottle.
"Stop." Hisashi's voice was hard as a steel blade. He stood in the doorway.
His mother looked at him like an insect. "I told you not to come near me when no one else is watching." The hatred in her voice made Izuku recoil. "I'll only pretend to be the mother to a monster like you in public or in front of Yoichi."
"As if you have any right to call me a monster." Hisashi's eyes blazed. "Stop pretending you care. You did nothing when that man nearly gouged out Yoichi's eye. You just told Yoichi to put a chair under his doorknob next time! You make Yoichi cover up his scar because it reminds you what a worthless mother you are!"
"You're telling lies again." The woman wrung her hands. "Yoichi slipped and fell and hurt his eye. He's a clumsy little thing. Weak and simple-minded but pure of heart. That's why he needs me to look after him."
"Sometimes I think you actually believe that." Hisashi snorted. "There's nothing wrong with Yoichi's mind—he saw through you faster than me!"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yoichi was right. He kept getting sicker after taking his medicine. So I tried a bit of it myself. It made me throw up. My throat hurt so much I started coughing."
The woman paled. She couldn't meet her son's eyes. "Those are all normal side-effects to the medicine."
"Funny, that. I went looking online, and as near as I can tell, there isn't any orally ingested tuberculosis medicine at all. Does Yoichi even have tuberculosis? Or have you just been poisoning him?"
The silence from the bedside was an answer.
Hisashi hissed like a predator. "You hurt my little brother just to make Father come home? Or did you stop Yoichi from going to school so you could use him like an emotional support human? Pathetic. I'm going to tell Father what you've done. I'll tell everyone."
This finally got a response from his mother. "Don't you mean what we've done?"
Hisashi recoiled. "There's no 'we.' You've been poisoning your own son out of a sick need for attention, whether from doctors or Father or Yoichi himself."
"But you made him take the medicine, even when he tried to tell you he didn't want to. You're my little accomplice." The woman's smile filled with malice. "Maybe it was you who slipped poison into the medicine all along. You're wicked enough to do it."
Hisashi took a step backward. "Yoichi would never believe that. No one will."
"Don't be so sure. You're not as good at hiding what you are as you think." Standing up, the woman backed her son into a wall, an adult looming over a child. "I knew you were a wicked creature from the moment you were born. Just look at those ugly red eyes." Her long nails brushed the curly hair away from his forehead. He flinched at the touch. "What kind of evil monster isn't loved by his own mother? You. You were born a freak. A mother always knows."
Hisashi wet his lips. "Father doesn't love you and he certainly doesn't respect you. He'll throw you out if I tell him the truth." His tone returned malice for her malice.
"Your father values respectability over all else. No matter which of us he thinks poisoned Yoichi, he'll cover it up all the same." The woman threw back her head and laughed, a crazed sound. "There's something wrong with everyone in this house except Yoichi. That's why I have to keep him away from all of you. If Yoichi didn't play with you so often, then I wouldn't have to keep him from leaving his bed, so it's really all your fault."
"If you don't stop poisoning him, I'll make you stop. Maybe you'll be the one to find poison in your food next." Hisashi's drastic threat hung in the air.
"That proves it! I knew you were a monster." The woman made a sound between a growl and a laugh. "One of these days, Yoichi will find out. He'll remember all the times you coaxed him to take the medicine that made him cough and throw up. You were my perfect partner in crime. If he ever learns what you've done, he'll hate you and leave you forever."
Hisashi raised his chin and stood steady. "Stop making Yoichi take poison." His voice wavered. "If you do, then I'll keep what you did a secret."
Izuku wanted to scream at him to not fall for this horrible woman's manipulation. But no words would emerge from the shadows wrapped around his mouth. He fell into total darkness.
The falling continued endlessly.
Izuku woke up to darkness as well. The red letters of his alarm clock cast shadows over his end table.
What he'd seen had been too vivid to be a dream. It had felt like a memory. Hisashi's memories, perhaps? Had the quirk somehow created a connection between them when it had summoned the children from the past?
Izuku wondered if he should tell All Might. He felt uncomfortable violating Hisashi's privacy. It was as if he'd read the child's diary, except even more intrusive. If someone else had seen his own worst memories, he'd never want them to be revealed.
But this also seemed like information All Might needed to know. Their guardian ought to be informed that the children had a history of past abuse. Obviously Hisashi had been manipulated into feeling guilty for both Yoichi's scar and his poisoning, and someone needed to help him with that—preferably professional help. Even more importantly, knowing that Yoichi didn't actually have tuberculosis would be critical to his medical treatment.
That last argument decided Izuku. He needed to tell All Might, as soon as they met at school tomorrow.
The numbers on the clock read 5:00 A.M. Izuku closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
It didn't come easy. He kept tossing and turning, full of anger at the abuse he'd witnessed. Both children had been mistreated in different ways. If only he could have done something to help. Nothing bothered Izuku more than being useless.
By the time his alarm rang, he still hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.
Hisashi dreamt that he was standing in a dark void. Shadows licked at his feet. He looked around but only saw more darkness—and a man. White, curly hair stood out against the blackness. The man was tall and wore a black suit that blended into the shadows.
"Your face looks exactly like mine." Hisashi stared. "Am I dreaming of an adult version of myself because I'm feeling weak and unempowered after getting my ass kicked by a skull-faced loser? How juvenile."
The man's face twitched. "This isn't a dream. It must be a shared mental connection. I am your adult self from the modern time period."
Hisashi raised an eyebrow. "Prove it."
"You once wet your bed at age eight because you drank too much hot chocolate the evening before and—"
"Ah! Stop! No more proof!" Hisashi waved his hands. In all honesty, this all felt a little too vivid and his mind too clear for a dream. He decided to at least play along. "Whoa, does this mean I actually lived for over a hundred years? I'm so excited! I'm going to brag to Yoichi tomorrow. Am I rich? Did I get married? Do I have any children? Do I have a white tiger?"
The adult version of himself watched him like a predator. "How about we trade questions with each other?"
Hisashi immediately felt wary. "I don't think so. None of my questions were particularly important."
"I can offer more. Would you like me to show you how to use your quirk?"
How did he know about—oh, right, this was an older version of himself, of course he knew. Hisashi gnawed on his lip. This was very tempting. "What do you want to know?"
"Information about your location—"
"No," Hisashi interrupted.
"How about information on the location of Izuku Midoriya?"
Hisashi hesitated. Technically, he should have no problem telling tales about a virtual stranger. But an intensity came from the older him when he asked that question. Hisashi knew this information was very important. Without knowing why, he didn't want to give anything valuable up.
He equivocated. "I barely know anything about Izuku Midoriya."
"But you may be able to obtain such information later. Then I'll trade you in exchange for my teachings." The adult smiled. Although it was a warm, gentle smile, it couldn't fool himself. "I'll even offer a down payment in advance. I'm very rich, I have no wife or children, and of course I have no use for something as frivolous as a white tiger."
"You're lying. Not about being rich or the tiger—but you're lying about not being married or having children."
The man's mask slipped to show surprise. "How did you know that?"
Because Hisashi knew he'd been dragged into the future by a descendant of himself or Yoichi, so he'd made an educated guess. "You can't fool yourself. I know all your tells." He was very curious about his future family, but he could tell he wouldn't get any answers on this subject. "I can't believe I'm rich but I didn't buy a white tiger!"
"Tigers are wild animals. They're ridiculously expensive and largely untrainable."
"It's not about if they're useful, it's about the coolness factor." Hisashi smacked his forehead. "Ugh, I turned into a boring adult."
"My turn to ask a question."
"No, it's not, I never agreed to your deal, and also, you lied to me."
The adult version of himself kept talking. "Are you and your brother currently at All Might Tower, yes or no?"
Hisashi crossed his arms. "I'm not answering. What makes you think I've even heard of this tower?"
The other's red eyes gleamed. "You are there."
Hisashi didn't reply, but he supposed his other self knew his tells, too.
"It must be so difficult living with that blond moron. You have my sympathies."
As far as Hisashi was concerned, stupidity was a plus in a guardian. He could get away with more that way. "If you're so confident about my location, then why don't you come by and pick me and my brother up? You're my closest blood relative. Ridiculously close. You'd have a case for custody. Unless you can't." His eyes narrowed. "Did you become a villain? Don't worry, I don't mind! I think it's cool!"
All relaxation dropped off his adult self's face. "You need to keep that information to yourself."
Hisashi rolled his eyes. "Stop treating me like I'm stupid. I'm you, so it's a backhanded insult to yourself. Of course I'm not going to announce to the heroic adults around me that I grew up to be a criminal."
"You can't tell Yoichi, either."
"Why not? He knows about my dream. Where is older Yoichi, anyway?"
A shadow passed over the adult's face. "He's gone. He abandoned us."
Hisashi stepped backward. "You're lying." Except that wasn't something either of them would joke about. "What did you do to my little brother?"
"You've already done it. He found out about the poison."
"But that was an accident!"
"He won't believe that. You have to keep Yoichi from finding out the truth about his illness or what we are."
Hisashi took another step backward. "What we are?"
"You know what I mean." Those red eyes bore into him. "A sociopath."
"Mom always said that, but she was lying, she hated us—"
"The old bitch might have been mean-spirted, but she wasn't wrong. We're both naturally evil, you and I."
Hisashi kept backing away. The shadows thickened. "You're awful and I'm never going to turn into you! Yoichi would never, ever leave me! Even if I'm different, he doesn't care! He loves me!"
"If you let Yoichi find out what you've done, then he'll hate you, just like my brother hated me."
The shadows rose up with a howl, consuming the face of his adult self. Screaming, Hisashi fell into the darkness.
He woke up alone in this room. He slipped out of bed and padded over to the adjoining bedroom. Yoichi lay asleep. Hisashi slipped under the covers next to him and held his younger brother until his heart rate settled down.
Yoichi also dreamt of a dark void.
Shadows danced around an endless field of black. Yoichi stood across from an older version of himself. The adult had shoulder-length hair and wore jeans and a sweatshirt. He slouched with his hands in his pockets. Looking at his younger self, he muttered, "This could be useful." In a louder voice, he said, "This isn't a dream."
"I know," Yoichi said. He never dreamed—or more likely never remembered his dreams—so he knew instinctively this time was different. "Are you my future self?"
"That's right. You can call me First. That will keep this less confusing. When I died, I suppose I gave up my claim on our name."
It came as no surprise to Yoichi that his adult self was dead, since over a hundred years had passed. The strange part was that he could still appear in dreams. "Are you a ghost?"
"I promise I'll answer all your questions, but in case time is short, first you must make me a promise. Tell All Might that Hisashi is All for One."
Yoichi stared. "My brother is a line from the Three Musketeers?"
First looked harried. "Please, just repeat the message to him as I told you."
Yoichi crossed his arms. "Not until you explain it to me. Who or what is All for One?"
First's shoulders slumped. "The man in the skull mask who tried to kidnap you. That's why this is so important—"
"What?" Yoichi shrieked. "He tried to kill Hisashi!" He wanted to call this a lie, but he had a bad feeling that skull mask had looking suspiciously like his brother's style. "How could Hisashi turn into a monster who would attack the two of us in the future? How could you let that happen?"
"How could I let it happen?" First paled, two red dots forming on his cheeks. "I did everything in my power to stop it! It's not my fault that he's evil."
Yoichi kicked First in the shins as hard as he could.
"Ow!" First hopped backward.
"No one insults my big brother. Not even myself."
First sighed. "I can't believe I was ever this blindly trusting. Haven't you already seen him hurt and manipulate people? That's how he's always been."
Yoichi fell upon First, punching and kicking with all his might. "You take that back! You take it back right this instant! My big brother is the best brother in the entire universe!"
First picked Yoichi up by the back of his shirt and held him far enough away that his legs and arms couldn't connect. Yoichi pinwheeled helplessly as First regarded him with a sardonic look. First said, "This is just plain embarrassing. Sadly, I remember when I actually believed that. What a fool I used to be. This must be how some people feel looking back at the horrible haircut in their high school yearbook."
Yoichi spat at his face. "You want me to tell All Might something that might lead to him think badly of my brother! Traitor! I want to be a hero when I grow up, but I'd rather be a villain compared to someone who betrays his own brother. I'm the one embarrassed by you! I'll never listen to you!"
Sorrow filled First's eyes. "I'm sorry. I remember when I felt that way. I remember the betrayal after I learned the truth. I can't blame you for being tricked. Most of all, I'm sorry for what lies ahead of you."
"Shut up! Don't you dare look at me like that!" The pity in his adult self's eyes was terrifying to Yoichi. Because it meant First actually believed the horrible things he was saying about his big brother. "I don't know what happened in your future, but I won't let it happen in mine. I'll save my brother from turning into a crazy villain with poor taste in masks."
"Oh, child, it's already too late." First's face pinched. "You don't know what he's already done."
Yoichi wanted to demand to know what that meant. But another part of him didn't want to know. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and wished to be gone.
It worked. He fell into dreamless slumber.
OMAKE TIME!
Omake: What Would Have Happened if Hisashi Had Been "Thrown In With a Bunch of Wealthy Children with High-Powered Quirks"
Other children: The new kid and his little brother are both quirkless! Let's bully them!
Hisashi: What lovely quirks all of you have. It would be a shame if anything happened to them. (Yoink.)
News announcer: Researchers are stunned and confused by the sudden loss of quirks among children from powerfully gifted families. Does this cast into question everything we thought we knew about Quirk Singularity? More news at eleven.
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Omake: The Celebration Dinner
Toshinori: (Holding up a three-tier cake with chocolate, vanilla, and velvet cake.) I hope you two like the cake I picked out.
Hisashi: Even my greed can't figure out any way you could improve on this masterpiece.
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Omake: Custody Dispute
Hisashi: Get your own little brother, adult me.
All for One: Yeah, about that…we can share?
Hisashi: No, we can't.
All for One: Ha-ha, I never intended to share with you either.
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Omake: Notice that All for One Never Said He Didn't Buy a White Tiger
Author: I don't believe for one second that you gave up on getting a white tiger because it was too expensive. What's the real story?
All for One: (Rolls up his shirt sleeve.) Do you wanna know how I got these scars…?
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Omake: Inside the Void, Part 4
Banjo: If you have a mental connection to your past self, do you think that All for One has been talking to his child self too?
First: AHHHHHHH!
Banjo: Is he ever going to stop screaming?
Second: He doesn't need to breathe inside the Void, so probably not.
Toshinori: Why do I have such a headache lately? It's like someone is screaming in my ear.
Author's Note: Anyone who's read my other stories knows I really like Chronically Ill First, but here I decided to try something a little different. This time it's Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy First.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP), also known as factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), occurs when a caregiver fakes health problems for their child. In the worst cases, the caregiver will poison or injure the child, up to permeant disability or even death. The most common motive is to obtain attention. The abuser enjoys receiving praise, admiration, and sometimes charitable donations for looking after a sick child.
In canon, the First continued to be sick into adulthood, even after their parents weren't in the picture. In other words, All for One later started poisoning his little brother too. Although the current child Hisashi is innocent, the adult version eventually turned into what he was trying to save his little brother from. I'll explore the full story behind that in a future chapter.
All for One was deceiving his child self—he didn't admit that the real reason adult First was so upset about the poisoning was because All for One did it again later, on-purpose. If All for One successfully kidnaps the child version of his younger brother, he'd rather Yoichi not know that his illness is artificial. He'd like to keep his little brother sick forever. So he deliberately terrorized Hisashi into silence.
In the Shigaraki family, the father favored Hisashi and ignored Yoichi while the mother favored Yoichi but hated Hisashi. Both parents were abusive in their own way. Not only did they abuse the child they didn't like, they both abused their favorite just as much. The father was overworking Hisashi and the mother poisoned Yoichi. The Shigaraki parents deserve an award for shitty parenting.
Izuku doesn't know it, but he's seeing a vision from One for All, just like in canon. The elderly woman who used her enhancement quirk on him caused quite a few powers of One for All to be triggered early and unpredictably. This time, the vestiges aren't in control of what Izuku sees either.
In this AU, the stockpiling quirk copied some of All for One's memories during the brief time he held it as well as the past users. I would argue that All for One's memories being inside One for All is more-or-less canon since we clearly see his past battles in one of the flashbacks. Izuku doesn't yet realize that Hisashi is All for One so he'd have no way of knowing this—that surprise still lies ahead.
For the sake of clarity, I'm going to continue to use All for One for the adult version and Hisashi for the child version, and First for the adult version and Yoichi for the child version.
When we're in Toshinori's point of view, I call him Toshinori because that's how he thinks of himself, but he's All Might from Izuku's point of view.
All for One looks like his uninjured form because the conversation takes place inside his mind, hence why child Hisashi doesn't recognize him. Naturally, All for One decided to exploit this to try and obtain information on where to find Yoichi and Izuku. He plans to keep doing this in the future.
My ideas for the brothers' backstory got too long just for flashbacks, so I'll be starting a prologue story about the two of them soon. I've always wanted to write a pre-canon fic about the first time Yoichi ended up in the infamous vault.