Chapter Twelve:

Izuku reminded himself that Yoichi was going for help. All he needed to do was stall Tomura. "What do you want from me?" He barely kept his voice steady.

Tomura said, "Don't deplete your stamina bar fretting. I merely need to you to join my party for a brief time." His teeth flashed in an unpleasant grin.

Izuku stared. The hell did that mean?

Looking sideways, Tomura scratched at his face. His feet shuffled. He looked…nervous? Finally, he cleared his throat. "What would you like to do?"

Izuku stared even harder. "Leave?"

"I mean, besides that." Tomura frowned. "I'll think of something fun. Follow me."

Tomura linked his arm in Izuku's and dragged the younger boy forward. Even though his hands were gloved, Tomura avoided touching Izuku with them, opting to instead hook their arms together at the elbow.

Being this close to the man who'd nearly killed him at U.S.J made Izuku hyperventilate. He pumped his legs to keep up.

Tomura pulled Izuku into a shop full of video games. "What kind of games do you like?"

Was this a test? Could there be some deep hidden philosophical meaning to the question? Izuku wet his lips. "In games, players often help NPCs in order to obtain valuable items or information. If you stop to think about it, that's symbolic of how we help each other in society—"

Tomura interrupted, "I mean, what games do you want that are available for purchase in this store?"

Izuku stared. He kept doing that. He tried to think, but his mind wasn't functioning properly. He blurted out, "I don't usually play video games, sorry."

What a terrible answer! What if the game-loving villain murdered him on the spot?

Tomura grunted. "Then I'll get to introduce you to all my favorite games. We'll bond."

"What?" Izuku whispered.

Tomura moved down the shelves, putting games into a basket. Over his shoulder, he glared at Izuku as if daring him to run away. Then he plopped his basket on the counter and pulled out a credit card.

The small part of Izuku's mind capable of analysis took over. He mumbled, "Tomura Shigaraki has a gold card? But he looks like a NEET. He must have a wealthy backer. Given his use of Nomu, it's almost certainly All for One. Hmmm. All for One wanted to kill Hisashi and kidnap Yoichi. Tomura has the last name Shigaraki, just like the brothers…" He felt like he was on the verge of understanding something important.

Tomura handed Izuku a shopping bag full of his purchases. "This is for you. Let me know what games you liked the most later."

Izuku's brain short-circuited. On second thought, he had no idea what was going on here. "L-later?"

Tomura tried to smile. It looked grotesque. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. I'd never hurt you."

Actually, Izuku had been concerned about the implication that he'd still be around Tomura at this vague "later" point in time. Was this a kidnapping? Could All for One be planning to take him alive in order to steal One for All? Try though Izuku might, he couldn't think of how this might connect to Sir Nighteye's prophecy. After all, Sir Nighteye had seen the confrontation happen at Might Tower.

Tomura continued, "I'll buy you anything you'd like, little brother. Except hero merchandise. Although maybe a few pieces of Eraserhead merchandise if you can find any? Even though he's my enemy, the man is stone cold cool."

"Wait. Hold up." Izuku raised his hand. "Leaving aside your villainous crush on my teacher, did you just call me 'little brother'?"

Tomura scratched his head. "Oops. I wasn't supposed to mention that so soon. Can you forget I said that?"

"I don't think I can," Izuku said faintly.

Tomura grunted. "Follow me."

Rather than be grabbed again, Izuku hastened after the villain. He couldn't leave Tomura alone in a crowd of civilians.

Stopping at a soft pretzel stall, Tomura asked, "What kind do you want?"

Izuku gaped, trying to figure out the trick. "Cinnamon raisin?"

"One cinnamon raisin and one plain pretzel." Tomura pulled out his gold credit card.

The hapless teenager manning the stand said, "We don't accept credit card purchases for small orders."

Tomura glared. The teenager started to sweat. Izuku hopped up and down, trying to convey with his eyes to the older boy that a minimum wage job was not worth dying for.

Growling, Tomura said, "Two dozen pretzels of both kinds."

"R-right away, sir!"

Afterward, Tomura gestured Izuku to a bench and handed him a pretzel. "This is a bribe. Don't tell anyone that I called you 'little brother,' okay?"

Izuku supposed the villain couldn't have had time to poison his food, nor did Mister Hands Over His Face seem like the subtle type. He took a bite. Due to his nervousness, he could barely taste it.

"Is it good?" Tomura asked.

"Y-yes?" Izuku had to keep the villain talking. Stall for time. "How do you like your pretzel?"

"It's okay." Tomura chewed with his mouth open. "I'm not interested in eating two dozen of these, so you can keep the leftovers."

"Thank you. Do you come here often?"

"No. We have more important things to talk about than where I refresh my supplies."

"We do?" Izuku squeaked.

"You need to stop being so reckless." Tomura jabbed his finger. "I saw you break your arm at the Sports Festival. That wasn't even a life or death battle. Learn how to save your hit points for when they matter!"

"Um." Izuku desperately wondered why Tomura Shigaraki of all people sounded like Recovery Girl.

"Becoming a hero is bad enough. I can't agree with you doing that."

"Err." Now Tomura sounded like Izuku's mom?

"I especially can't agree if you're going to keep nearly getting yourself killed. This is for your own good. I'm going to have to take your games away."

Izuku gestured at the shopping bag. "You can have all of them back if you want them."

"I meant figuratively! It's time for you to stop playing the hero game." Tomura spoke as if he sincerely believed he had the authority to dictate this.

Izuku had fallen extremely far down the rabbit hole. He summoned his memory of correct hostage behavior and stalling tactics from class. First, get the villain talking. "Why do you dislike heroes so much?"

Tomura began, "It all started when I developed my quirk—"

The villain proceeded to spill the entire story of his childhood, starting with his father's abuse, then the runaway quirk he'd developed spontaneously murdering his entire family, then no one helping him as he wandered around the streets until All for One picked him up.

First Shouto Todoroki, now this? Why would Tomura possibly tell such a personal story to an enemy? Izuku wondered if he had a hidden quirk causing people to spill their tragic backstories to him.

"That's why hero society is rotten and corrupt, and all those people who rely on heroes to save them need the power cord pulled on their games. You shouldn't get hurt defending a rotten system or NPCs who don't deserve it." Tomura gazed at Izuku earnestly as if he sincerely believed he could convince the hero student to defect.

"Uh." Privately, Izuku wondered if there might be a connection between young Tomura developing a dangerous quirk and All for One conveniently showing up to pick him up. He knew All for One could give people quirks, and the villainous mastermind wasn't exactly the altruistic type. However, his hostage situation training suggested he absolutely shouldn't agitate the villain. Tomura clearly idolized his "sensei" and would take poorly to an unproven theory condemning him.

Tomura sighed. "I knew it wouldn't be so easy to persuade you. I'll keep raising your approval rating."

"My what now?"

Decaying his pretzel wrapper, Tomura stood up. "Time for some more shopping."

As long as he could stop the villain from killing people, Izuku would follow along willingly.

Tomura led them to a toy store. "What would you like?"

Izuku was severely confused. "Do they have Legos?" He'd blurted out the first toy that came to mind.

Tomura ransacked the store, but found no Legos. Most of the toys were aimed at younger children. "What kind of a shitty store doesn't have Legos, huh?" He kicked over a stack of baskets.

Desperate to defuse the situation, Izuku said, "I love all the toys here. Everything is great. Look at this frog." He poked the frog's belly. The toy made a ribbit sound. "It's the best."

Tomura snatched up the frog and put it in the basket. Then he wandered around the store, collecting a Mega Fossil Dig Kit, a stuffed rabbit, and a box of crayons.

"They're so great. The best toys ever," Izuku babbled.

Tomura's hunched shoulders straightened. A very small smile brushed his cracked lips as he pulled out his credit card.

First the villain treated him like an unpaid therapist, and now like a child? What was going on?

Laden down with bags, Izuku staggered out of the mall. Tomura stopped before a window. "Look at that!"

"What?" Izuku stared at a Teddy bear nearly as tall as him.

"It's the biggest toy, and that makes it the best. You deserve the best." Tomura marched into the store.

Izuku followed as fast as he could while weighed down with bags. He found Tomura arguing with a store employee.

The man wearing a red apron said, "That Teddy bear isn't for sale. You have to purchase a lottery ticket to win it."

Tomura's face turned red. His fingers twitched.

Desperately, Izuku whispered, "You promised not to hurt anyone!" He dropped into a fighting crouch.

Tomura looked at Izuku. His face twisted. After a moment, he said, "I'll buy all the lottery tickets."

Both Izuku and the employee nearly fell over.

Where on earth are the heroes? Izuku wondered. Hasn't Yoichi found help by now?

Before Hisashi even realized what had happened, he found himself standing in a smelly alleyway facing down some homeless guy armed to the teeth with knives. Even worse, his little brother stood next to him, bent over panting. How had Yoichi gotten over here and why did he have such a knack for finding trouble?

Yoichi gasped out, "Izuku found a villain—oh, no, we did too!"

Hisashi despaired. All his relatives had a hidden quirk for attracting danger.

The bandaged man scowled. "I'm no villain."

"Stain, the Hero Killer," Ochaco whispered. She stepped in front of the two boys.

Hisashi saw no advantage in provoking someone who looked like an insane asylum escapee. He pasted a winning smile on his face. "None of us are heroes, so can we leave?"

Stain's piercing eyes fixed on him. "I see three children, when I was promised only one."

Why did Hisashi have such a bad feeling?

Stain pointed a knife at Hisashi. "That one is my target. The other two may leave. It's my duty to eliminate the downfall of All Might."

"What?" Hisashi blinked. "You mean me?"

Ochaco's voice shook. "Please, don't attack an eleven-year-old boy. He's only a child. He could never threaten All Might."

"Exactly!" Hisashi agreed. "Have you seen the muscles on that man? He could crush me with his pinky. Who told you to kill me? Was it a loser on life support without a face? Because he's a very biased source."

Stain said, "No one gives me orders. It's been foretold that you will cause the destruction of All Might. A true hero would never be able to kill a child, so I will get my hands dirty for him, the only worthy one."

Ah, great, so this fanatic was completely incapable of listening to reason or persuasion. Just Hisashi's luck.

Yoichi leapt forward. "If you want to hurt my brother, you'll have to go through me first!"

Before Hisashi could yank his foolish little brother back, Stain threw a knife.

Ochaco leapt forward and knocked the knife down. It nicked her palm. She pushed Yoichi to the side of the alleyway.

Stain lunged to grab his knife.

Instinct told Hisashi that the Hero Killer had made a calculated move, probably to obtain Ochaco's blood. "Don't let him get the knife!" he screamed.

Ochaco pressed her hands together and sent the knife floating up out of reach.

Stain kicked her in the stomach instead.

Ochaco hit the dumpster with an umph. Dirt and a stray wrapper fell down on her hair.

As Stain lunged to stab him, Hisashi enhanced his voice to the maximum level his new quirk would allow. "Help!" Then he flicked a flame from his finger, aiming at Stain's hair.

The Hero Killer dodged. The sound blast didn't even make him flinch. If only Hisashi could create larger balls of fire! His weak quirks were barely useful!

He had no time for lamentation. Stain pulled out yet another knife and swung.

At the same time, Ochaco lifted the entire dumpster and threw it at Stain's back. At the last minute, she gave it enough weight to make him stagger. She's gotten better at controlling how much weight an object has, Hisashi observed with pride. He'd been the one to suggest she could use her quirk that way.

Yoichi latched onto Stain's leg. "Stay away from my brother!"

"Don't, little brother! Run away!" Hisashi screamed as he snapped his fingers rapidly, forming a larger flame.

Stain lifted his leg and tried to slam Yoichi into a wall. But Yoichi's entire body bent at an impossible angle to avoid the impact. Grimly, Yoichi clung onto the Hero Killer's leg.

Hisashi thought rapidly. Is that his new quirk? But I thought it only let him bend his fingers?

Ochaco floated up in the air, then descended on Stain like a bird of prey, her foot aimed for his face.

As Stain jerked his head sideways, Hisashi seized this distraction to throw his fireball. Stain's mobility was still limited by the child clinging to his ankle. This was the perfect moment.

Stain took the impact and shrugged it off. He shrugged it off! His back was on fire! The scent of charred flesh distorted the air. Yet the Hero Killer didn't even flinch. He struck Ochaco's stomach with the handle of his knife. At the same time, he kicked Yoichi with his other leg while extending the blades in his boot.

Yoichi screamed with pain. His fingers finally slipped. He flew down the alleyway.

"Little brother!" Hisashi screamed, running to catch him.

As Ochaco fell, she clawed at Stain, digging her fingers into his burn injury. A spray of blood hit Hisashi's face. Landing hard on the ground, Ochaco groaned and vomited. Crawling along the filthy ground, she grabbed Stain's ankle.

Stain gave Ochaco no time to recover. He slashed his knife lightly across her arm, then licked her blood. (What a fascinating quirk that Hisashi didn't have time to analyze right now! He wanted it.)

Ochaco's body froze. Her teeth clenched in determination as her rigid hand kept on clinging to the Hero Killer's pants cuff with all her might.

Yoichi lay in a heap at the other end of the alleyway, groaning. Hisashi helped his little brother to his feet. He realized that he'd passed Stain while the Hero Killer had been distracted with Ochaco. Now both he and his brother were at the entranceway to the alley, the light of the street just steps away.

They could escape!

Stain slammed his back against the wall to pat out the last of the flames. His hair tips smoked. He must be seriously injured, yet he looked even more terrifying.

"I regret this necessity. Everything is for All Might's sake." Stain pointed his blade at the paralyzed Ochaco's threat. "If you run, then I'll kill the girl."

Ochaco gritted out, "Run…please…"

"It would be a waste to kill you, but I will if I must." Stain silenced Ochaco with a kick to her head, knocking her out.

Had any other member of Class 1-A (besides Izuku) been in such a position, then Hisashi would have immediately taken them up on their offer to run and said nice things at their funeral. But he really was very fond of Ochaco.

Besides, he was tired of getting kicked around by his older self and his pawns. He wanted to win. He wanted Stain's quirk.

Hisashi raised his hands. "I'll surrender. Just don't make my little brother watch me die. Let him leave." He touched the bit of Stain's blood on his nose. From this gesture, hopefully Yoichi would understand that he had a plan. Hisashi would steal Stain's quirk, then use it to paralyze him. If Yoichi got the unspoken message, then he'd leave to fetch help.

Stain grunted. "Very well."

Yoichi inhaled. "I understand." Hard determination filled his voice. He turned and ran toward the street.

Hisashi didn't move yet, planning to buy as much time as possible for his little brother to run away.

As soon as Yoichi was out of sight, Stain pressed his blade closer to Ochaco's throat and ordered, "Come."

Hisashi walked forward. "One last handshake for a condemned man about to die?" he asked.

Stain frowned. "You're up to something."

Giving up on subtlety, Hisashi lunged forward, his palm glowing red. "Now, little brother," he cried, staring over Stain's shoulder as if there was someone behind him.

As he'd hoped, Stain glanced backward. Unfortunately, this didn't stop him from kicking Hisashi at the same time.

Hisashi fell backward, grimly aware that he'd failed and frantically reaching for a backup plan.

To both of their surprises, Yoichi dropped down from the window of the abandoned building to land on Stain's head. "I got your message, big brother!"

Yoichi most certainly had not. He'd been supposed to run! Hisashi resolved to have a chat with his younger brother later about discretion being the better part of valor. But at the moment, he saw an opportunity.

Stain had dropped one of his knives to try and pry Yoichi off his face. Apparently, he hadn't quite sunk to the level of being willing to kill the youngest child.

Hisashi snatched up the knife and threw it—more as a distraction than with any hope of hitting. As Stain dodged instinctively, Hisashi grabbed the Hero Killer's leg and drained his quirk.

Then Hisashi licked Stain's blood off his nose, the same blood that Ochaco had ripped from the Hero Killer's body with all her determination. Stain toppled to the ground, paralyzed by his own ability.

Yoichi's new, flexible body let him back-flip away and land on his feet. Together, the two brothers dragged Ochaco away. Hisashi didn't know how long the paralyzation would last, so he planned to make a rapid escape.

From his position the ground, Stain's bloodshot eyes burned. He growled, "You're a liar and a coward! Breaking deals and using your little brother as a shield! Have you no honor?"

"I'm not a hero. I won and you lost." Hisashi sneered. He didn't see the point in admitting only the first part of that had been his plan. "Thanks for the quirk."

As soon as he reached the light of the bustling street, Hisashi ripped off a strip of his shirt to bandage the cut on Yoichi's arm. Then he dialed emergency services on his phone while Yoichi shouted for help. Fortunately, Yoichi almost immediately flagged down a passing hero on patrol—none other than Tensei Iida, aka Ingenium.

In short order, Tensei had Stain tied up. An ambulance arrived to carry off Ochaco. A paramedic checked over both Hisashi and Yoichi for injuries, but they only had shallow cuts and bruises.

The two brothers sat on the sidewalk together. Leaning over, Yoichi whispered, "I guess you gave me the good quirk after all! I was wrong to complain. Thank you, big brother."

"Of course, I'm the best brother ever," Hisashi said, thinking, Dammit! A fully flexible body is better than either tiny flames or a slightly louder voice! I should have kept that one! But he could have sworn the quirk only let him bend his fingers when he gave it to his little brother. Quirks could increase due to repeated use, but so fast? It seemed unlikely. Something odd might be going on.

As Stain was hauled away, he growled, "Everything I did was for the sake of a better society. I've stained myself with blood to remove fake heroes. The only one allowed to kill me is All Might, a true hero."

Nearby reporters were filming this speech. Irritation lanced Hisashi. Why did the jerk who'd tried to murder him get free publicity for his ideals?

Hisashi stood up. "Hey, asshole!" He enhanced his voice. The cameraman spun around to film him. "You're talking awfully big for someone who tried and failed to kill an eleven-year-old!" Now, time to discredit Stain before he went around talking about his missing quirk. "You rambled as if you could see the future, have you lost your marbles?"

A knife appeared in Stain's bound hands. Cutting the ropes, he lunged.

Tensei moved even faster. He shot forward and pinned Stain to the ground.

Had he just nearly died? Hisashi tried not to let his shock show on his face. He refused to be embarrassed on television. His aborted moment of fear only made him angrier. He cried, "Who wants to listen to a murderer act self-righteous? Look at this!" He pointed at the bruise on his face. "That lunatic is nothing but a child-beater! This is his justice! He tried to murder three children, and he got his ass kicked by them!"

Yoichi applauded frenziedly. "Big brother is the coolest!"

Hisashi turned his head to make sure the camera got his good side as Stain was dragged away, kicking and spitting.

From the U.A. teacher's lounge, Toshinori stared at the television screen in horror. "My baby! He's in danger! Look at that bruise on his face! Get that monster away from my children!"

Aizawa put a hand on Toshinori's shoulder. "Relax. Despite one misstep, Stain has been taken into custody. He can't hurt anyone now—"

Glass shattered as Toshinori broke the window leaping through it.

Aizawa stared. "Oh. You're not listening to me. Who's going to clean that up? It had better not be me."

Upon receiving information from Yoichi, the heroes stormed the mall in massive numbers, looking for Tomura Shigaraki and his hostage Izuku Midoriya.

Aizawa found his student first. Izuku sat on the steps of the mall surrounded by shopping bags. A giant Teddy bear leaned against his back as if wrapping him in a hug.

"Izuku?" Aizawa looked around. "Where is Tomura Shigaraki?"

"He left. He saw Stain on the news, being dragged off by the police with Hisashi and Yoichi in the background. He freaked out about failing his quest, then he ran off. Are the brothers all right?"

"They're perfectly safe now," Aizawa said. "How about you? Did Tomura hurt you?"

"No." Izuku shrugged. "He brought me all this stuff and tried to talk me out of being a hero."

Aizawa looked at the pile. "Bribes?"

"Maybe? Very strange ones." Izuku held up a plastic frog and poked it. It ribbited.

"What's going on, problem child?" Aizawa asked.

Sitting in the embrace of a giant Teddy bear, Izuku stared at him with lifeless eyes. "I don't have the faintest idea."

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: The Tragicomedy

All for One: Tomura, I have a son. Actually, I have two sons, because Yoichi would be sort of hard to explain another way. (Cough I have no intention of admitting that Hisashi is my younger self cough.) I'll be counting on you to become a good big brother.

Tomura: I'm on it like a vulture on carrion! I've downloaded a visual novel with a very similar plotline involving a long lost brother. It looks like the best way to raise his affection score is to give him presents.

#

Omake: The Interrogation

Detective Tsukauchi: So the villain purchased a talking frog doll for you? Then a giant Teddy bear?

Izuku: Don't look at me like that. I don't understand it either.

#

Omake: The Conspiracy Thickens

Shouto: As resident master conspiracy theorist, I'm here to help you figure out why Tomura Shigaraki called you "little brother."

Izuku: Actually, I've been trying to avoid thinking about that.

Shouto: From the instant I laid eyes on Tomura at U.S.J., I felt a strange connection to him. I thought to myself, "Ah-ha, here's someone who hates his father even more than I do."

Izuku: Given that Tomura is wearing his father's hand on his face, you're probably correct about that.

Shouto: Tomura must be All Might's lovechild just like you!

Izuku: There's all kinds of things I want to say to that, but to start with, I'm not All Might's biological son.

Shouto: Tomura hates All Might because he never paid child support. A completely understandable grudge. How many other children has All Might fathered, then discarded?

Izuku: None. You're completely off-base here.

Shouto: All Might? More like All Manwhore!

#

Omake: A Silent Secret Sibling Language

Hisashi: (Winks) I hope Yoichi understands my hidden message: "Please run away to somewhere safe so I can protect you, my weak little brother."

Yoichi: Big brother just winked at me. He's sending me a sign. I think he means "Pretend to leave, then sneak-attack Stain. I'm counting on you to save me, my heroic little brother." Yup, I nailed that translation.

#

Omake: Delusion

Stain: The only hero who can kill me is All Might!

Author: Congratulations, now you tried to kill his son on live television while he watched, he might actually do it.

#

Omake: The Future Changes

Spinner: (Watching Stain get the verbal smackdown from Hisashi) Who wants to follow the ideals of a guy trying to kill an eleven-year-old? That's not cool or admirable.

Toga: What a loser. On second thought, maybe I should stay in high school. I don't want to be a villain after all.

Twice: Time to get some therapy before I end up that crazy.

Magne: I wonder if the Metahuman Liberation Army is recruiting?

Dabi: It turns out that trying to murder a child on television makes you look very bad. Who would have guessed it? If I want my grievances taken seriously, I should leave Shouto out of it. And I should probably just kill my father without making dramatic speeches first. I'm learning all kinds of valuable lessons today!

Author's Note: I thought letting Tensei arrest Stain was a fun bit of irony. Tensei deserved to have that moment!

I'd like to imagine a happier future for the League of Villains in this AU. (Cough I didn't have a role for them in this story cough.)

Pay attention to how Yoichi's quirk changed. That's going to be important.