Chapter Three:
"Whoa!" Izuku cried as he stumbled through the doorway. His broken arm throbbed.
"Sorry about that." Uncle Yuuto touched his injury. As soon as his hand made contact, Izuku's arm glowed blue. The break mended. His pain vanished. Only the blood drops on his sleeve remained as evidence of his injury. It had happened so fast.
"Whoa, so you developed a healing quirk now?" Izuku asked, flexing his arm.
"That's my latest one." Yuuto locked the door handle and fastened a deadbolt. "Never fear, you'll be safe from pursuit here. The doctor doesn't have permission to go into my personal space. He's not important enough, no matter how much he'd like to be."
There was a mischievous note in his uncle's tone, inviting Izuku to share the joke. Izuku didn't smile back. He couldn't forget that this particular uncle was on his father's side. Unwillingly, apparently. Izuku badly hoped he could save him from the brainwashing. But he couldn't trust Uncle Yuuto.
This space was clearly a replica of his uncle's room back at the family mansion. It was a sitting room with a long blue sofa and a pair of beanbag chairs. Three doors led to three more rooms—one must be a bedroom and one a gaming room. Izuku didn't know about the third door, because there had only been two back home.
Like always, Yuuto had covered his space with hero merchandise. Posters filled every inch of the metal walls, ranging from the top ten to fan drawings of lesser known heroes. An All Might plushie sat between the couch cushions. Figurines spilled over the white mantle above the fake fireplace. The glass table held a staged battle between hero and villain toys. A bookshelf had been double-stacked with comics and movies. Everything was hero-themed, from Edgeshot's face on a pot holding a fern to Ryukyu spreading her wings on the carpet. Izuku and Yuuto had frequently discussed their shared passion for heroics and attended many hero conventions together. How could his uncle be such a big hero fan and still aid his brother's villainy? Did the brainwashing remove any concern over the contradiction from his mind?
Izuku rubbed his cold hands. He still only wore his pajamas from last night. He didn't even have shoes.
Noticing, Yuuto nudged aside a shopping bag full of comics to unearth a pair of slippers. "These might be a bit big for you, but you can borrow them for now." He searched through the pile of clothes lying on the sofa to find a sweatshirt, then tossed it over.
"Thank you." Izuku pulled the too-large clothing over his head. The sweatshirt had All Might's smiling face on front.
"You can keep it. I know you like All Might." Yuuto smiled. "In exchange, will you give me my quirk back?"
The request was so ridiculous, it took Izuku a moment to understand it. "Of course not!"
Yuuto tilted his head, his hair falling over one eye. "Why not?"
Izuku wasn't sure how to explain himself to someone clearly not living in the same reality as him. "One for All is the legacy that exists to defeat All for One. A sacred trust passed down to me from All Might. I'm not going to give it to you in exchange for a sweatshirt!"
"That's not just any sweatshirt. It's the very first piece of All Might apparel ever produced," Yuuto said.
"What, really?" Izuku looked down. All Might's face did look unusually young. "Whoa, it is! How did you find—?" He stopped himself. "I'll give you back the sweatshirt if you want—and you should be keeping it in a glass case, not on your sofa—because I'm not trading my quirk."
"It's my quirk." Yuuto scowled. "My brother will never give me back One for All if he gets it, not in a million years. He says I lost it through my own carelessness, but I don't remember how."
Izuku thought, Yeah, I'll bet he doesn't want to give you that quirk back. Even more so now, because he definitely doesn't want you talking to the vestiges inside.
Yuuto leaned forward. "Big brother will definitely worm your quirk out of you one way or another, but if you give it to me first, he won't be able to get it. It will annoy him so much. That way you can get revenge on him for grounding you. Won't that be fun?" He winked, as if this was as much a game to him as the days when they'd snuck into the kitchen to steal a cookie before dinner.
Izuku wet his lips. Was it possible to reason with a brainwashed person? What was the worst that could happen if he tried? At this rate, he'd surely be caught eventually. He couldn't even use One for All without breaking a bone. Only with Yuuto's help might he have a real shot at escape.
Izuku said, "Uncle Yuuto, you didn't lose One for All. You gave it to someone you trusted in order to defeat your brother."
"That doesn't sound like something I'd do," Yuuto said.
"You can't remember what happened, can you?"
Yuuto's nose scrunched up. "It was a long time ago." His leg started to twitch.
Izuku took this agitation as a good sign. His words were having an impact. "Afterward, Dad—All for One—he captured you and brainwashed you." He met his uncle's eyes. "Please, try to remember the reasons why you wanted to stop All for One. It's not right to control other people. It's definitely not right, what he did to you and Mom. He took away your right to choose—"
"Shut up!" Yuuto shot to his feet. His eyes blinked rapidly. His feet couldn't remain still.
Izuku pressed harder. "Please, the uncle I know believes in heroes. He would want to save the people being experimented on by Dr. Garaki—"
"Are you going to give me back my quirk or not?" Yuuto snarled. He clutched at his head as if it hurt.
"If you'll just hear me out, then you'll understand why—"
"It's mine! Give it to me!" Yuuto leapt forward and fastened his hands around Izuku's neck.
Sheer surprise kept Izuku from reacting in time. Then he couldn't breathe. The pressure on his throat turned into overwhelming pain. Air air air I need air please! Please, uncle, stop! But no words could emerge from his mouth. Only a weak gasp. His head felt like it was about to explode.
Desperately, he thrashed. A buzzing sound filled his ears as his vision faded in and out. Panic consumed his mind. His flailing foot connected with his uncle's shin.
It was a weak blow, barely enough to make Yuuto look down. A look of confusion filled his face, as if he didn't understand why he'd been kicked. Then he looked at what his hands were doing.
With a horrified cry, he dropped his nephew to the floor.
Izuku fell to his knees. He massaged his throat. Each breath of air felt like a precious gift.
Uncle Yuuto bent over him. Izuku flinched away from that familiar face, once safe, now a threat.
Yuuto babbled, "I'm sorry! So very sorry! Please forgive me! That temper of mine, I have to get it under control! Next time I get so angry, I'll count to ten—what were we talking about again?" His uncle's guileless green eyes stared down at him.
"Nothing," Izuku croaked, barely able to speak above a rasp. He had to avoid setting off another such fit at all costs. His throat still ached, but he counted himself lucky nothing felt ripped. It had only been for a brief period, yet he'd never felt such pain.
"What have I done? I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"
"I forgive you. It's okay." It was not, in fact, okay. Izuku had gone into survival mode, saying whatever he needed to say in order to appease the much stronger adult looming over him.
"I'm so glad! Hey, want to see my collection?" Yuuto smiled, all traces of anger or guilt gone. The shift was jarring.
Izuku knew he had to get out of this room. He wasn't safe here. But his uncle dragged him toward one of the doors, chattering, "You're going to love this, I just know it."
He seems completely different now, Izuku thought distantly. It's like his temper is balanced on the edge of a coin, ready to flip with one wrong word. This was bad, very bad. Rational psychopaths like his father could be predicted or manipulated. The ones who couldn't control themselves were far more dangerous.
How had he failed to notice this before now? In retrospect, Dad had always been there throughout his childhood, immediately stepping in whenever Uncle Yuuto had an episode. Izuku had always known his uncle was sick—he'd just believed it limited to nervous tics, not violence.
He'd been safer back when he'd been locked up with his father, though that thought irritated him given that his father was the number one person responsible for all of this. It wasn't that he resented his uncle for his actions while under brainwashing. He knew full well All for One held the true blame. For all he knew, his uncle might have been programmed to try to kill anyone who told him the truth, and his dad forgot to add in any exceptions for family.
But not blaming Yuuto didn't stop him from feeling scared as his uncle dragged him through the door into a round room.
A series of concrete pillars segmented off different parts of the tan wooden wall. Each area held a glass case. The fanciest one was in the back of the room, gilded with gemstones running up the legs and velvet cushions, but before Izuku had time to take a closer look, Yuuto pushed him in front of the closest case.
The shelf held pictures of children. Izuku blinked. It took him a moment to recognize his old classmates from elementary school, since he hadn't seen them in years. There was Tsubasa, with a red scrap pinned to his picture. It didn't look like cloth—a leathery material? Half a dozen more children whose names he didn't remember, because his interactions had largely involved them grinding his face into the dirt. Katsuki Bakugo scowled from an ebony frame in the middle. There was a lock of blond hair attached to the corner.
A chill crawled like a beetle down Izuku's spine. He asked, "What's this about?" The question didn't come out as calmly as he'd intended.
"I did this for you." Yuuto gestured at the glass case.
"I-I don't understand. I'm sure you meant well, but I didn't have an easy time in elementary school, so those pictures aren't exactly bringing back good memories—"
"No need for euphemisms, Izuku. These little monsters bullied you." Yuuto scowled. "That's why I got rid of them."
Izuku's mind went blank with horror. "Y-you mean you arranged for their families to move away. Like how Kacchan's parents moved to America when we were five." That was what he wanted to believe. He didn't want to acknowledge his suspicions. That bit of red, like part of a Tsubasa's wing…Kacchan never replied to any of my letters, but that's probably just because he didn't want to be friends any longer…
"I killed them." Yuuto spoke as casually as if talking about the weather. "Big brother helped me with the cover stories. He said you were too young to know, but surely you're old enough now." He smiled as if expecting praise.
"Y-you're lying."
"I can prove it." Yuuto punched a fist into his hand. A small spark rose up. "See? The Bakugo brat was the one who hurt you the most, so I made his death the slowest. I kept his quirk for the fond memories."
Izuku clamped a hand over his mouth. That was Kacchan's quirk. He'd know it anywhere, even after all these years. He'd admired and studied that quirk so intently. "N-no, Kacchan can't be dead, you must have copied his ability, so surely that means Kacchan is alive for you to copy, this joke isn't funny!"
"I can't copy quirks. I don't have any quirk at all. Big brother takes quirks from people and gives them to me, and I help him kill them in exchange." Yuuto laughed. "A favor for a favor. You'll do me a favor too, won't you, Izuku?" He bent over so their eyes met at the same level. "Give. Me. Back. My. Quirk."
The entire room felt distant and hazy. Horror and fear consumed him. Once again, Izuku switched to survival mode. He put aside all his feelings into a box and sealed up that box until he could get out of this situation alive. "I'd be happy to give you One for All, you know I'd do anything for you, but it's not just up to me. The other previous users, they're inside me as vestiges. And, uh, they don't seem to like you or Dad much. They'll refuse to go with you. I'm sorry, I truly am."
"Hmmm. Those vestiges, they're heroes, aren't they?" Yuuto tapped his chin. "I bet I could make them hand over the quirk by threatening to kill you." Before Izuku had time to feel horrified, his uncle laughed. "But of course I'd never do that! I guess it's okay as long as my cute and adorable nephew has my old quirk."
Izuku sensed a bomb failing to go off. He touched his sore throat. That was close. Next time, the coin might flip in the other direction. When his uncle ruffled his hair, he tried not to flinch away. I have to get out of here. "I'm feeling tired, I'd like to go—"
"Just let me show you a few more before my brother shows up to be the fun police." Yuuto took his nephew's arm.
Izuku didn't want to see, but his eyes couldn't help being drawn to the golden case in the back of the room. He glimpsed many pictures he didn't recognize, including someone with spikey hair like Kacchan and a scar across his face. Nana's picture was in the middle. Perhaps he should have listened more carefully to what Nana had been trying to tell him.
Yuuto shoved Izuku in front of another case. "This is my absolute favorite!" He pointed at a picture of Hizashi Yamada, holding up a peace sign for the camera and wearing his Present Mic costume. A pair of grey earphones hung over the photo frame. They still had a bit of blond hair attached, bloody at the roots.
Izuku's stomach plummeted. "B-but you love heroes!" He'd fanboyed with his uncle countless times.
"That's right, I love heroes. They're strong and cool. That's why, when I kill one of them, that makes me even cooler." Yuuto beamed. "It's a game I play with big brother. If I can capture a hero, then that makes me more worthy of their quirk. After I drag them back, he gives me their quirk before we kill them. Rotating out the old one, since I can't handle more than three or four at once. I love quirks, but I get bored with them easily, so I play a new game every couple months. All Might's the ultimate prize, but I've never even gotten close to him."
"But All Might is your favorite hero," Izuku whispered, desperate to believe surely his uncle wouldn't hurt Toshinori.
"Uh-huh, that's why he'd make the best trophy." Yuuto spread his arms wide. "Heroes are cool, but I'm villain and I'm even cooler. Want to hear how I got Present Mic?"
Izuku very much did not. "Ah…ah…" emerged from his mouth.
"I pretended to have a coughing fit. When he ran to help me, I knifed him in the gut." Yuuto demonstrated the gesture. "The only hard part was keeping him alive long enough to get him back home. I really needed that quirk, after all. You're the one who pointed out how useful it would be to me."
"Me?" Izuku whispered.
"You told me that if I had Present Mic's quirk, then I'd be able to speak normally again." Yuuto touched the scar on his throat. "It worked perfectly! Thank you so much!"
"You killed him because of me. It's all my fault." Izuku's voice kept getting lower. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
Yuuto didn't seem to notice his distress. "That's right, it's because of you! But that's not the only reason why this one is my favorite." He pointed at the picture next to Present Mic's. "See this guy? It was a two-for-the-price-of-one!"
Izuku recognized the dark-haired man wrapped in a scarf. Shouta Aizawa had been on the news after Present Mic's death, hollow-eyed and swearing to find the culprit responsible. He'd looked so sad, it had broken young Izuku's heart. A few years later, Aizawa had been on the news again after he'd lost his job at U.A. due to alcoholism. It had been a minor scandal because a month after being fired, he'd committed suicide. "He killed himself because of you," Izuku whispered.
"No, no, that's the beauty of it! It wasn't a suicide. We just made it look like one afterward. I called him up late at night and described exactly how I'd killed Present Mic. He went nuts. Went straight to the address I'd told him. He must have known it was a trap, but he'd lost his mind by that point. A two shot kill!" Yuuto made finger guns.
Izuku whimpered.
Yuuto said, "Technically, Kurogiri dealt the final blow. You never met Kurogiri, did you? His programming broke down and he went completely insane shortly afterward, so we had to put him down."
"W-why…"
Yuuto grinned. "Big brother loves Erasure. He says it was the best gift I'd ever gotten him. But really, Izuku, it was as much your gift as mine. You gave me the idea to begin with, so you deserve credit too!"
The guilt was too much to bear. On top of everything else that had happened today, this finally broke him. Izuku's emotions exploded from their carefully contained box. He dropped to his hands and knees and vomited.
"Izuku? What's wrong?" Yuuto's concerned face leaned over him. So full of familiar love, yet now transformed into a monster. "You're not upset about the heroes, are you? I know you like heroes, but there will always be more to replace the ones who fall. Those people don't matter, because they're not family."
Izuku vomited again. Nothing more was left to come up, but he kept on dry-heaving.
Yuuto tried to pat him on the back. Izuku threw him off, screaming, "Don't touch me!" Tears and snot dribbled down his face.
The door opened. Hisashi called, "There you are."
Izuku leapt to his feet. Only a tiny part of his sanity returned at the sight of his enemy—just enough to make his anguish turn feral and dangerous. Summoning the power of One for All, he charged for his father. This time, no lingering sentiment stayed his hand.
The sparks dancing down his arms went out. Erasure. He used Erasure on me. Though Izuku still tried to punch, his father caught him easily. Izuku's body became heavy. He knew it must be a quirk, tried to fight it, but his eyes slipped closed.
Distantly, he heard Yuuto say, "I guess hide-and-seek is over because Izuku is sick."
Annoyed, Hisashi replied, "This is why I told you and Inko not to see him until I was done. He wasn't ready yet."
"He's the one who found me, big brother. What got him so upset, anyway?"
"You couldn't understand. Don't worry your mind about it, little brother. I'll take care of Izuku and make sure he feels better. Soon, none of this will concern him."
As Izuku fell into unconsciousness, that was exactly what he was afraid of.
Author's Note: No omakes from here on out. This moment shouldn't be made funny. It all gets even worse if you've read any of my stories where Yuuto and Aizawa are good friends.
Principal Nezu blames himself for Aizawa's supposed suicide because he had to remove him from his teaching position after Yamada's death drove him to alcoholism. If Nezu ever found out that it wasn't a suicide, then All for One would discover that All Might's fury can't compare to Nezu's vengeance.
Hisashi's brainwashing ability makes the recipient every bit as sociopathic as him. It's just that Hisashi is a high-functioning sociopath, and Yuuto is a low-functioning one, hence why he turned out closer to a serial killer than an evil overlord.
The worst part to me? Hisashi doesn't even understand why what he did was so wrong. In his eyes, his little brother came up with all his plans to hunt down heroes on his own. Why would Hisashi stop him from having fun? Hisashi simply doesn't have the capacity to grasp why what he did to Yuuto was so horrific.
A story like this is what happens when All for One gets what he wants. For example, I brought about the good ending in Sealed with Love by taking his power away (as opposed to the bad ending, that showed what happened when he held the advantage.) All for One is the type who becomes worse the more power he has. He can't be trusted with any degree of control over his loved ones. Unfortunately, in this story he has the maximum amount of power over his family, and that doesn't end well for anyone but him.
Word of warning: it only continues to go downhill from here.