Chapter Thirteen:

Toshinori paced the small hospital room. "My poor little angels! Are you all right? Where does it hurt?" He cast anxious eyes at Yoichi and Hisashi.

Hisashi rolled his eyes. His guardian had asked that half a dozen times already. "We're fine. Just a few bruises."

Toshinori clutched his hair tufts. "What kind of hero am I if I couldn't be there when my own kids were in danger? I'm a failure! I should hang up my cape." His voice turned pitiful as he shifted back into concerned parent mode. "You must have been so scared. I'll never let you out of my sight again."

"It was scary." Yoichi sniffled. "I thought that villain was going to kill my brother."

"You poor thing!" Toshinori threw his arms around Yoichi and burst into tears.

Yoichi started crying, too. "I did my best! I was useful!"

"Yes, you were! You're my wonderful little hero!" Toshinori hugged him even tighter.

"I didn't cry until after the danger was over!"

"You're so brave." Toshinori glanced over at Hisashi. "Do you need a hug, too?"

Hisashi snorted. "I was hoping that you'd express your gratitude in more material form. I stopped a dangerous criminal and saved two lives. Three, if you count my own. I deserve a reward."

"I'll buy you anything you want," Toshinori said.

Hisashi's eyes lit up. "A white tiger!"

"Anything neither illegal nor harmful to your health."

Hisashi had expected his first attempt to be rejected. "A white cat."

Toshinori considered. "You've been keeping your plant healthy…but you haven't yet passed the required time limit…but you demonstrated great responsibility and ethical principles by saving young Uraraka…you deserve a reward…"

"I'd like a cat too," Yoichi said with pleading eyes.

This made up Toshinori's mind. "I'll take you to the shelter tomorrow. I hope we can find the color you like, but I'd prefer to rescue a cat."

"Sounds good," Hisashi said, content in his victory. An older cat would probably already be housebroken.

Hisashi waited until they were home and he could get Toshinori alone in the kitchen. "The Hero Killer said something about a prophecy that I would be your downfall. Do you know anything about that?"

Toshinori dropped his glass. His other hand grabbed it with his enhanced reflexes. He set the glass on the counter. "How would he have…uh."

"It's too late to lie. I know that you know something." Hisashi glared. "Tell me. After I nearly died, I deserve to know."

Toshinori's eyes misted. "I never should have let you be in such danger."

"Yeah, yeah, don't start crying on me again. I was fine. I took care of the situation."

"You did amazingly! You defeated a villain who's overcome countless trained heroes! I'm so proud of you!"

"As much though I'm enjoying the praise, I still want answers."

Toshinori sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Do you remember meeting Sir Nighteye?"

"Yeah. He seemed sensible." Hisashi approved of people who were intelligent and didn't talk too much.

"His quirk lets him see the future. Usually, he only sees one future, but this time, he saw two possibilities. In one, I adopted you, and in the other, I didn't."

Hisashi had a sinking feeling in his chest. "The future where you adopted me was the worse one?" It made sense. He'd destroyed his own mother. He was probably destined to be a plague on any guardian.

"I would argue the opposite. In the future where I didn't adopt you, you died."

Hisashi choked.

Toshinori winced. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you that. I didn't want to worry you."

"I'd rather know! It's my life at stake." Hisashi glared. "You should have told me sooner. I had the right to know this."

"I'd never let anything happen to you. I swear." Toshinori met his eyes. "I'll be adopting you as soon as my lawyers can finalize the paperwork."

"Any future is better than one where I die, but what happens in the other one?" Hisashi asked.

Toshinori sighed. "All for One steals my quirk. Sir Nighteye saw something implying that you helped him. I'm certain Stain must have learned of our conversation somehow, because why else would he call you the downfall of All Might?"

Hisashi scowled. "I'd never help that bastard."

"Language! I worry that All for One might have taken someone hostage or otherwise threatened you. Whatever happens, please know that I'd never blame you."

Hisashi said, "No offense intended, but a future where you lose your quirk seems better than one where I die." He could totally acquire a new quirk for Toshinori, not that he was letting on about that part yet.

"I agree, of course. But to give you context on why everyone is so worked up about it: my quirk is rather special. It's the only quirk All for One can't steal and it's extremely powerful. He forced the quirk on his younger brother…no, I shouldn't tell you about that."

"I'd like to know," Hisashi said. This talk of a powerful quirk that couldn't be stolen confirmed some suspicions he had about his little brother possibly having a hidden quirk.

Toshinori shook his head. "It might be too dangerous for you to know."

Unfortunately, Hisashi didn't have a good reason to explain why this was so personally important to him. He did wonder why on earth his idiot older self would ever need to force a quirk on his brother. Yoichi loved quirks! He'd accept even Flexible Fingers with glee!

Toshinori continued, "Suffice to say that my quirk is vital to holding back All for One from conquering Japan. The future where All for One takes it could have horrible consequences. If it was my life at stake, I'd be willing to die to stop him. But I could never sacrifice your life. You're all-important to me."

Hisashi flushed with pleasure at this very much deserved appreciation. "Don't you die so easily either! Yoichi would miss you so much, he'd never be able to handle it. I've gotten rather used to having you around myself."

Toshinori flung his arms around Hisashi. "You're such a good kid. I love you too!"

"Both you and Yoichi are such crybabies," Hisashi grumbled, pretending he didn't enjoy the hug. He'd never gotten much touch from his parents or after he became homeless. It was kinda nice to have so much freely offered now. Of course he'd happily accept love from anyone who cared to give it. It was useful to be loved. Although what did Toshinori mean with the I love you too? Hisashi had never said any such thing! But for some reason he didn't feel like correcting the statement.

Hisashi said, "Don't worry, I hate All for One, and I won't let him use me to steal your quirk. I don't believe that the future is predetermined. I'll make my own destiny. This is why you need to tell me things, so I can make plans to prevent the worst case scenario."

Toshinori hung his head. "Sorry, Hisashi. I shouldn't have kept this from you."

"That's right, but now I know, I'm going to change the future." Hisashi patted Toshinori on the back. "You're so lucky you have me around."

"I am lucky." Toshinori's smile was brilliant and blinding.

A big part of Toshinori wondered if he'd been right to tell Hisashi about the prophecy. The boy had taken the prediction of his own death so calmly. That only proved what a difficult and dangerous life he'd lived such far. Toshinori wanted to give him a better childhood from now on. One where he didn't have such stresses.

On the other hand, Toshinori remembered being a preteen, that delicate age where he was old enough to understand when something was wrong but too young for the adults around him to be honest. It had driven him crazy.

Hisashi had made a good point: this was about his own life or death, so he'd deserved to know.

But Toshinori was one hundred percent certain he'd been right to not say anything about himself dying in the timeline where Hisashi lived. The child didn't deserve to bear that burden.

Hisashi walked down the rows of cages, looking for white fur. This place smelled bad enough to almost make him reconsider his desire for a pet. He told himself that one animal wouldn't be so bad, especially not after he gave it a thorough bath. He passed a mostly white dog, but that simply wasn't close enough to his dream tiger.

Yoichi bounced around the cement floor. "There are so many animals! I want all of them!" Yoichi was as cheerful as ever. Last night, Toshinori and Hisashi had mutually agreed not to tell him about the prophecy. Toshinori thought he was too young, and Hisashi didn't want to upset his little brother with his possible death. Hisashi would never let that future happen. He'd never die and leave his baby brother all alone.

After having made his inspection and found no acceptably pure white cats, Hisashi rose to suggest they try another shelter.

Yoichi leaned down in front of a cage. "This one! It has to be this one!"

Hisashi sighed and went over to see what foolishness he would have to talk his brother out of.

The cat was mostly white, with grey-brown fur like a cap on its head and a line of grey running down the back. One golden eye stared warily while the other had nothing but scar tissue. The cat's right paw and half its tail were also missing.

"Not white," Hisashi said.

Yoichi pouted. "The fur is almost entirely white!"

"But not the head, aka the most important part. White hair is our family trait."

"But he likes me. Or she?" Yoichi stuck his fingers between the bars. Hisashi almost leapt forward to drag his brother back. But the cat only rubbed its cheeks against the boy's hand and purred.

An employee said, "She's a six year old female cat. Her name is Dirty Snow because of the grey on her head."

"What a ridiculous name," Hisashi said.

Yoichi bargained, "I'll let you name her if you pick her."

From his chair near the door, Toshinori asked, "Why are you so certain that she's six years old? She looks like a stray."

The employee said, "Actually, her owner gave her age when he dropped her off. As for the injuries…we can't prove anything, but we suspect she was abused."

"Aw." Toshinori's eyes widened.

Hisashi sighed. He recognized a lost cause when he saw it. The two heroes had immediately latched onto the most pathetic cat in this place. Since he knew full well he'd never be able to overrule Toshinori, he whispered to his brother, "I'll agree to adopt that one if you owe me a favor. And I still get to name her."

"Absolutely anything." Yoichi wrote a blank check without hesitation.

Hisashi smirked, certain he'd obtained a more important objective. And he could always get another cat someday, preferably a purebred.

After dinner, Toshinori carried out a cake. "Surprise!" he cried. "This is for our new family member's welcome home party."

The cake had two layers. One of them was sliding off. Candles stuck haphazardly out of the vanilla frosting, trying to form the shape of a cat face.

"I take it you made this one yourself," Hisashi said, raising his eyebrow.

Toshinori rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Cooked with love?" His latest apron read: Super Dad with the Superman icon on front.

"Nice apron!" Yoichi clapped. "Where did you even find Superman merchandise in this century?"

Toshinori beamed. "I had it custom-made, since I've been enjoying watching that show with you. I figured it would lend superstrength to my cooking. I'm not sure it worked, though."

He's an idiot, Hisashi thought, but with a fond edge. He stuck out a finger and swiped a bit of frosting. "It still tastes great, no matter what it looks like."

"Now, now, let me cut the cake before you start sampling it," Toshinori said, but he was smiling.

Late that night, Hisashi knocked on Yoichi's door. "Little brother? Are you still awake?"

"Come in," Yoichi called.

As Hisashi opened the door, a yellow eye stared at him from under the bed. The cat mewed, then retreated further out of reach.

Yoichi knelt down on the floor. "Come on, Toregene. It's okay. It's just Hisashi. He's not going to hurt you."

Hisashi had named the new cat after Toregene, the Empress of the Mongols. The most powerful woman in the world in her day. Hisashi was particularly a fan of how she'd arranged her husband's death, framed someone else for the crime, and taken over his empire. (Historians still weren't sure if she'd done the crime, but that only proved just how good she'd been at covering her tracks.)

Toregene let her herself be coaxed out from under the bed. The expensive prosthetic paw Toshinori had purchased for her gleamed in the darkness. She sat on Yoichi's lap and purred as he petted her. Yoichi seemed to have a knack for handling her, perhaps because he was the smallest. She still got scared whenever Hisashi or Toshinori went near her. Yet she was too much of a coward to even scratch them. She just trembled or tried to run away.

Hisashi had dreamed of a cat he could stroke as he conquered the world, but it was painfully obvious that Toregene didn't have the stomach for it. She flinched at the slightest movement, she seemed pathetically grateful for any kindness, and when Hisashi had given her a mouse toy, instead of attacking it, she'd whimpered and played dead. What kind of majestic predator was she? Hisashi suspected he'd gotten a defective cat. He should have saved his wonderful name for a better one.

Petting Toregene, Yoichi asked, "Is this about the favor I promised you?"

"Yes. To start with, I want to run a test. I'm going to try and take your quirk, and you try to stop me."

Yoichi raised an eyebrow. "You know I love to learn more about quirks. But you'll give it back if you take it, right?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die if I lie."

Yoichi held out his hand. Palm glowing, Hisashi reached.

He might as well have been pushing at a brick wall. Nothing happened. "Do you feel me trying to take it?"

Yoichi nodded. "It's like a tug, but it's not too hard for me to fight off. Does this mean you can only take quirks people give up willingly?"

"No, I definitely stole those four quirks off my adult self. I have another theory. Toshi told me that his quirk originally belonged to your older self." Hisashi didn't reveal the context of that conversation. "He wouldn't give me details, but I got the impression that you have a hidden quirk allowing you to transfer on your quirk to someone else, but only willingly."

Yoichi's face fell. "You mean I got an ability that's basically half of yours, but the useless half? Aw, man!"

"I don't think that's your entire quirk. I have another theory. I gave you Flexible Fingers and now your entire body is flexible. Then there's Toshinori's quirk, strong enough to make him number one hero. Coincidence? I think not. I suspect you have the ability to charge up any quirk you receive."

"Whoa. That would be cool." Yoichi clapped his hands, prompting Toregene to nuzzle him to make him start petting her again.

"It would be revolutionary. If I have the ability to take quirks, and you have the ability to turn minor powers into top-tier ones, then together, we'd be unstoppable. Nothing in the world could stand in our way."

"I could become a hero." Yoichi looked enthralled.

"Don't get your hopes up too high. I need to test my theory first." Hisashi held out his hand. "Give me Flexible Fingers so I can make sure it stays enhanced in my body. Then I'll give you the other three lesser quirks to see if you can power them up too."

Yoichi leaned backwards, his flexible body bending at a ninety degree angle. "Are you sure that you didn't realize that you'd accidentally given me the best quirk, so you came up with this story to trick me into trading?"

"Would I do that?"

"You told me that Flexible Fingers was the strongest one when you gave it to me, and that clearly turned out to be a lie."

Hisashi considered claiming that he'd acquired some of his other quirks since then. But he was trying to be more honest with his little brother after seeing how their relationship had turned out in the future. "Sorry about that."

"Sorry? You?" Yoichi gasped dramatically. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm going to deal more honestly with you from now on. If my theory turns out correct, then I'll offer you a partnership. I promise to let you keep half of all the quirks I take after you charge them up. Fifty-fifty." Personally, Hisashi thought that seventy-thirty might be a fairer deal given he had to be the one to steal all these abilities. However, his top priority was to avoid fighting his little brother in the future like his idiot adult self. This time around, he and Yoichi were going to be on the same side from the very beginning.

Also, Hisashi hadn't promised to let Yoichi pick which quirks he got. This was an omission not a lie, so it didn't count.

"Whoa." Yoichi's face lit up with happiness at the thought of so many future quirks. "Done." He held out his hand to shake.

As they shook hands, Hisashi swapped their quirks. This time, Yoichi let him. Giving up fire, sound and hacking left Hisashi with a hollow feeling under his chest. At least he got flexibility in return. He kept Bloodcurdle—he needed at least one offensive ability.

Testing his new ability, Hisashi bent over backward in an arch. "It's so easy!" He spun his arm around in a circle at the elbow. "I still have the enhanced power. That's a good sign."

A small flame formed on Yoichi's fingertip. "I can't make a bigger one than you. Just this tiny thing."

"Don't worry. Like last time, it should take time for the power to grow. We'll try again in a few days." Hisashi hoped his theory was correct. He had a good feeling. It felt right to him: if he could take and give quirks and his little brother could power them up, then their quirks had always been meant to work together as a team. This felt like destiny. As long as they were together, nothing in the world would be able to stand in their way.

When Yoichi opened his eyes and stared at the dream void and his older self, he screamed, "You liar!"

First took a step backward, protecting his crotch. "I've never once lied to you."

"You told me that my big brother would keep on poisoning me! Guess what, he told me the truth about what Mom did in the past! He apologized and said he'd never do it again!"

First shook his head. "I was watching for that part. I could barely believe it. He even gave you a quirk instead of saying you were too weak and fragile for one. Then he asked before taking it back?"

"And replaced it with three new ones." Yoichi summoned a flame on his finger. "We think that I can enhance quirks. Do you know if that's true?"

"It might be," First admitted. "I've talked a lot with the other vestiges in here with me about why the weak stockpiling quirk that my brother gave me became strong enough to even copy the consciousness of everyone who held it. It's possible that the quirk was stronger than he knew, but it's not like my brother to make such a mistake. En had a theory that maybe my original quirk had the power to enhance quirks as well as pass them along. He'll be happy to get more evidence that he could be right." First rubbed his forehead. "I can't say I'm happy about the younger version of my brother getting more power, though."

"Hey! You're on strike two with insulting my brother! Strike three, and I attack." Yoichi bared his teeth. "Hisashi has gotten even cooler lately. He defeated the Hero Killer and saved Ochaco!"

"That part was even more unbelievable. He's not the type to risk himself to save other people. Have you seen any signs of him being brainwashed?"

Yoichi made a fist. "I warned you about what would happen if you keep talking bad about my big brother."

First retreated another step. "I didn't even mean that sarcastically. I was quite serious."

"You're just jealous that I have a big brother who's better than yours in every way!"

"Oh, like that's hard."

"Not only do I have a better brother than you, I have…dum dum dum…a cat! She has white fur and one eye like a pirate and her name is Toregene. So there!" Yoichi stuck out his tongue.

"Dammit! I am jealous!"

"Of my cat?"

"No! I'm jealous of your brother! Why is this happening after I already gave up all hope?"

There was a sincere pain in his older self's voice that Yoichi couldn't mock. Instead, he ventured closer and patted First on the arm. "Maybe your older brother could change, too. He seems like a jerk right now, but what if you tried talking to him?"

First looked at him with wild eyes. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Yoichi scowled. "Maybe I don't, because you haven't told me anything, but I know that my big brother and I will always love each other."

A new voice spoke: dark and smooth as chocolate. "Aw, how sweet. You're making my nonexistent heart flip-flop." A man with curly white hair and red eyes stood at the edge of the shadows surrounding them.

"Get back!" First pushed Yoichi behind him. "Leave this place, big brother. You're not welcome here."

Big brother? Yoichi had only ever seen the faceless All for One. Yet this adult man did bear a strong resemblance to an older Hisashi. He peered out from behind First. Even though Yoichi knew that this bastard had tried to kill Hisashi, he couldn't help being curious about an alternate version of his big brother.

"Little brother. You're here, too?" All for One stared at First with a burning intensity. Then he shook it off and returned to his casual tone. "No matter. I don't need you anymore now that I have a younger and cuter version." His gaze latched onto Yoichi with a hunger that made the child flinch.

First snarled, "I didn't need confirmation that I was never anything to you but an object that can be replaced, but thank you for showing your true colors to my younger self."

All for One laughed. "My, my, are you jealous?"

"Concerned!" First growled. "I'm concerned about you even breathing the same space as this child."

"You are jealous. How delightful."

First stared wearily at his older brother. "What the hell alternate universe do you live in?"

"I'd never replace my big brother!" Yoichi cried. "How could you try to replace yours? Even if this me is a bit of a jerk, thinks he always knows best, equivocates instead of answering questions, doesn't have a cat, and has limp and greasy hair—"

"Whoa, I draw the line on that last one," First said.

"—he's still your brother!" Yoichi finished. "I get it: I'm so cute that even I want to kidnap myself. But even if I'm more adorable and have a vastly better personality, that doesn't mean you can just ditch the older model. I'd never give up my big brother, no matter what."

All for One smirked. "That loyalty of yours is touching. It brings back good memories."

"If you haven't completely lost your mind, then you ought to know that even if you capture me, I'll never accept you. I won't forgive you for trying to kill my real brother." Yoichi crossed his arms.

"Oh, I wasn't planning to give you a choice." All for One raised one eyebrow slightly.

Yoichi had a bad feeling. That twist in All for One's lips reminded him of the look Hisashi always got when he had a trick up his sleeve.

All for One lunged forward, grabbing for Yoichi.

First raised his hands, knocking him backward with a blast of light. "Leave!" he cried. Yoichi felt his body start to fade away as the two brothers squared off.

All for One said, "I overheard that your quirk can do quite a bit more than I thought, little brother. You've been holding out on me. Even if you'll never let me have One for All, now I have another brother."

"Stay away from him," First hissed. "You'll probably kill him in the end, just like you killed me."

Something flickered in the depths of All for One's eyes. "I truly didn't mean for you to die."

First said, "Too little, too late."

Before All for One could reply, Yoichi woke up.

His heart hammered rapidly. Even a pile of blankets couldn't keep him warm. He slipped out of his room and crawled into Hisashi's bed. He knew his big brother wouldn't mind. Right now, he didn't want to be alone. He needed the reminder that his real brother was here and not staring at him with those creepy, greedy eyes.

When Izuku found himself with shadows covering most of his body and muffling his mouth, he knew yet another dream vision had begun. This didn't thrill him, since he never found these enjoyable and he'd yet to sort out whether he should tell All Might or keep quiet to protect the young, innocent Hisashi from being judged based on his past self.

This time, the vision focused on Yoichi, now a young adult. He staggered through a parking lot, looking thin and dazed. His clothes seemed like they hadn't been changed in days, his hair hadn't been washed in even longer, and his eyes were unfocused. Izuku would lay good money that he'd been drugged again.

When a group of metahumans fell upon him, he kicked, punched, and even bit. But there were too many of them, and they dragged him into a car.

Helplessly, Izuku watched as Yoichi was thrown at Hisashi's feet. He'd already guessed that Hisashi was responsible for this. Yet seeing it confirmed hurt his heart. The Hisashi he knew was tricky and arrogant and full of trouble, but he was also fiercely protective of his brother. When had he turned into the bully hurting his little brother?

The two immediately started arguing, with Hisashi saying something about wanting to compromise. Izuku snorted. After watching Hisashi slip poison and seeing Yoichi stagger around drugged, he called bullshit on the compromise.

"What are you doing here?"

Izuku turned his head as much as the shadows would allow. The man who'd spoken looked exactly like adult Yoichi, except no longer filthy or shaking. A moonlight glow around him made him seem like another visitor in this place. Was this the ghost of the original Yoichi, the one who'd split off from the Yoichi who'd been yanked into the future and lived out his life in the past?

Testing his theory, Izuku asked, "Are you Yoichi Shigaraki?"

Looking away, the ghost muttered, "I don't know how you could have come here when I didn't bring you. This breaks all the rules." With a wave of his hand, the voices of the arguing brothers vanished. They kept moving, but in silence. "Did something get triggered when you summoned my past self through time?"

"You know about that? Are you a ghost currently watching over the real world?" Not that Izuku knew much about ghosts. "If you feel that I'm intruding by watching your past, then I can leave. Actually, I can't leave, but maybe you can help me with that? Since you stopped the sound from the current vision?" Izuku pointed at the brothers. A minion of Hisashi's had knocked Yoichi down and pinned him to the ground, but though his mouth moved, his words still couldn't be heard.

"I don't know." The ghost wrung his hands. "At first, I wanted to tell you everything. Now I'm not so sure. This is a second chance for Hisashi."

"Hence why you don't want people to find out about, uh, this." Izuku waved his hand at where the minion had knocked Yoichi unconscious and carried him into a car, aka obviously kidnapping and likely other crimes going on as well. "I agree with you. The current Hisashi is a prepubescent child. He doesn't need to be burdened with actions he's never done."

"I think so, too."

"Then we're in agreement. Can you help me wake up?"

The ghost avoided his eyes. "There's something important I need to tell you. It's absolutely vital to your future."

"I'm not going anywhere." Izuku waved his one free hand at the shadows restricting his body. "Go ahead."

"I'm not sure how to tell you without telling you what I don't want to tell you about the young Hisashi."

Izuku took a moment to follow this. "How important is what you want to tell me?"

"Extremely."

"Does it have anything to do with Tomura Shigaraki calling me 'little brother'?"

"Oh, you already know," the ghost said with clear relief.

"I have no idea, but I very much want to. I think you should tell me. I already know that the past Hisashi grew up to be a criminal and an extremely creepy kidnapper, and I promise not to hold it against him or tell anyone else. How much worse can the rest be?"

"You'd be surprised how much worse it can get," the ghost said. "But I need to say it. Have you ever seen the Star Wars movies?"

"Never heard of it."

"That's just shocking. What was your father thinking, not showing you Star Wars? I demand that you go to the library and find an old copy at once. But if you haven't seen Star Wars—" The ghost's shoulders sagged. "This is going to be much harder."

The vision shifted. Izuku looked around. They were inside a bank vault? Izuku stared in horror at the metal wheel on the door, the steel walls with a stain of blood, and Yoichi curled up in a ball on the ground. Desperately hoping he'd somehow misinterpreted the situation, he asked, "Did your brother stick you in a bank vault?"

The ghost covered his face with his hands. "This is so embarrassing."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He really likes bank vaults. Always did."

"That's…a thing people like?"

"When we were little, he was obsessed with designing the perfect safe room. He had this idea even then that he would put it inside a bank vault. I told him that no one could breathe in there."

Izuku nodded. "Because people can't, obviously. Oh my god, am I about to watch you suffocate to death? Is that your big secret?"

"No, no, there's a ventilator. I swear, part of the reason he did it was probably to prove me wrong."

"The rest of the reason?"

"I have something more important to tell you first."

"Then spill it already!"

The ghost winced. "If you haven't seen Star Wars, how about Aladdin and the King of Thieves? X-Men? The Mortal Instruments? His Dark Materials? The Count of Monte Cristo, but the movie version?"

"Stop stalling already and tell me!" Izuku looked down at his fading hands. "My time is running out."

The ghost looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Let's try a good news and bad news approach. The good news is that you have an awesome uncle. The bad news is—"

Izuku woke up.

Dammit! He just knew this was going to come back to haunt him. Neither of his parents had siblings, so he could only assume adult Yoichi had been making another movie reference he'd never heard of. He had no idea what the ghost had been trying to tell him, but he knew it would be stuck as a nagging worry at the back of his mind all day.

His alarm said it was four in the morning, he'd never be able to fall back asleep, and today was the start of the Forest Training Camp.

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: Cat People

Yoichi: I have a cat!

First: I'm jealous!

All for One: I'm jealous too!

Aizawa: Absolutely everyone is jealous about the cat, myself included.

#

Omake: Home is a Bank Vault

All for One: (Staring creepily at Yoichi) Would you like to come home with me? I have candy.

Hisashi: Do you think I didn't reach my little brother about stranger danger? Get out of here!

All for One: I also have comic books and hero merchandise.

Yoichi: Which comics?

Hisashi: Little brother!

First: In all fairness, that's how he got me in the vault the first time.

Hisashi: I don't even know what to do with the two of you.

#

Omake: Inside the Void, Part 7

All for One: I think I managed to make my little brother jealous that I was replacing him. He was playing it calm, but I could see it in his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the Void:

First: And then the crazy bastard goes, 'Oooo, you are jealous.' More like I'm insulted he even suggested the idea. (Takes another chug from his wine bottle.) He has a lot of nerve. Even after all these years, he still believes I should have been grateful for his protection. He never even understood that he'd crossed the line with that damn vault. Because why would he? He never cared about anyone's boundaries except his own!

Nana: There, there.

First: Now he wants to do it to poor Nineth and that annoying yet innocent mini-me! I just can't…I can't watch them go through that too…

Nana: We'll do everything we can not to let that happen.

First: Thanks. You've a good friend, Banjo.

Nana: I'm Nana. Guys, I think he's seriously drunk this time.

Second: That's not possible. The Void's fake alcohol can make you mildly buzzed at best. Wait, how many bottles have you had? (Looks at the towering empty stack.) I think you've had enough.

First: (Staring at the mysterious door in the Void) AHHHHHHH! It's a bank vault!

Second: That's just what this place always looks like. Time to get you off to bed.

Nana: Wait! First, you did tell Izuku the truth about his father as we agreed, didn't you?

First: …I said the words, yes.

Nana: Why does that sound suspiciously specific?

First: There's even a very tiny chance he heard me before he woke up.

Nana: YOICHI! Hey, don't pretend to pass out!

#

Omake: The Vault Makes Its First Appearance

Izuku: You never did tell me the rest of the reason your brother stuck you in a bank vault.

First: Go read "Kill What You Love." That story is too traumatic for me to tell it twice.

Izuku: Oh, well, it's not as if that story has any personal relevance to me. That vault has nothing to do with me. I'll never see it again.

Author: Heh.

Author's Note: All for One definitely would like to kidnap both of his little brothers, he's just deluded enough to think he can make First jealous by pretending to give up on him. Though All for One wants the younger, more easily manipulated one the most. He's convinced himself that it's because little Yoichi needs his protection. He's good at deluding himself.

For the purposes of this story, Hisashi has hit upon the truth about Yoichi's hidden quirk. In canon, I'm pretty sure that the First user's quirk just gave him the ability to pass along quirks, like a discount rate version of All for One. However, for plot convenience and Rule of Cool, I changed it in this AU.

Yoichi's quirk allows him to power up any quirk he receives to make it stronger. He can also remove quirk ghosts and remove any other flaws that make a quirk difficult or dangerous to use. Yoichi's body can handle multiple quirks at once, just like his brother. Thus, instead of Yoichi having a weaker version of his older brother's quirk, it's more like Yoichi's ability is the other half of his brother's quirk.

This means that any quirk All for One had given his little brother would have grown into something capable of stopping him, and the irony of that appeals to me.

I like the irony of the two brother's quirks being made to work together. Yoichi's ability can't function at all without Hisashi's quirk because he needs someone to give him a quirk. But Yoichi can cover for the flaws in All for One by removing quirk ghosts and making quirks safer, easier to use, and more powerful. That last one is particularly important. Imagine if every quirk All for One stole could be enhanced to be as powerful as the number one hero's quirk. Exactly as Hisashi said in this chapter, if All for One and One for All were to work together, then they'd be unstoppable.

I've posted the link to the cover art for Kill What You Love before, but I can't resist doing it again so I can brag about tunafishprincess' amazing work. It's a good fit for this chapter since the exact same scene appeared in Izuku's vision. Kill What You Love fills in the dialogue that First hid from Izuku. Delete the spaces to get the link:
tunafishprincess.
tumblr.
com/
post/663163594770464768/art-commission-i-did-for-katydids-fic-kill-what