Chapter Six:

At the sight of his baby brother's body swinging from a handmade noose, Hisashi's heart stopped. His entire world destroyed itself. Then Yoichi gave a tiny twitch, and Hisashi sprang into motion.

His fury activated several of his abilities at once, ripping the room to shreds. The back wall blew out, scattering wood across the lawn. A whirlwind of furniture and cloth poured through the hole. Hisashi moved untouched by the chaos, grabbing his brother and ripping the makeshift rope off his throat.

The skin underneath looked raw and bruised. Hisashi cradled the frail form tightly, hearing a tickle of breath by his ear. He had no healing power—they were too rare—but he activated an ability that served like a shot of adrenaline.

Yoichi jolted. He coughed. It was the most beautiful sound Hisashi had ever heard.

A guard poked his head through the door, a late responder to the alarm. "Doctor, now," Hisashi snarled.

His fear and terror had rapidly warped into fury. How could Yoichi do this? How could he?

Hisashi could forgive his little brother almost any betrayal. Giving information to his enemies. Running away. Those hateful words. But not this. Never this. Yoichi could do nothing to hurt Hisashi more than by dying.

To his profound regret, Yoichi woke up.

Yoichi returned to awareness yet again in his brother's arms. He was torn between going limp and biting. Then he realized they were moving. Walking down a familiar set of stairs to the basement. Where the vault was.

A small whimper escaped Yoichi's lips.

Hisashi's grip tightened. He hissed, "How could you? How could you, how could you, HOW COULD YOU?"

Spitefully, Yoichi returned to the silent treatment.

"You wanted to hurt me, didn't you? It worked. Some time in here will let you think about what you did. There won't be any means for you to harm yourself, either. If you can't be trusted with a bed or sheets, then you don't get them."

A sliver of fear wormed into Yoichi's heart as the vault door opened. His will to keep silent broke. "I know you're trying to brainwash me, so it won't work," Yoichi snarled. "It only works on cult members because they don't know what's happening. I'll never give in to you!"

Hisashi tossed him onto the metal floor with a bit too much force. "Then you'll never leave this place."

That was a bluff. It had to be. Yoichi no longer doubted the depths of his brother's cruelty, but Hisashi was far too possessive to stay away forever.

Yet a part of Yoichi wondered: if he pushed his brother far enough, just maybe Hisashi might leave him alone in the darkness forever. That frightened part wanted to beg and plead, to promise anything if only he didn't have to go back into the vault.

He only stopped himself by summoning all his rage. "You're no brother of mine! I hate you! I'll never forgive you! Just kill me already! Kill me because I'll make you regret it if you don't!"

The vault door closed, leaving him in total darkness. Yoichi flinched.

He told himself that his plan to take revenge on his brother had worked. He had to keep going. No surrender or compromise. I'm winning. I'm winning. I'm winning. I'm winning. (I want to die). I'm winning.

Yoichi broke down sobbing. He hated himself for it. Knowing full well there were cameras everywhere, he'd resolved to never let his brother see him cry. To see him broken.

But what did it matter? He was broken. He hated himself almost as much as Hisashi. He hated himself for being alive, for being weak, for failing to stop his brother, for suffering so much.

Despair washed over him like a wave and dragged him under. More sobs wracked his shoulders. He couldn't stop them. Once again, he was no longer in control of his body, and this time he had no one to blame but himself.

He hated his worthless body that tormented him with pain and failed to work when he needed it to. If his body would just die already, then he wouldn't have to suffer.

When the first meal arrived, Yoichi threw it against the wall.

Shortly after leaving the basement, Hisashi's anger started to fade, replaced by horror. His precious little brother had tried to commit suicide. This was not going according to plan. To have reached this point…had he made a mistake? Had his brainwashing tactics been too harsh?

What else could he have done? These constant escape attempts were untenable and put Yoichi in danger. To have any hope of restoring the good old days between them, he needed to change Yoichi's mind. But whereas Hisashi normally excelled at manipulating people, Yoichi had met him with a complete unwillingness to cooperate. Now, Yoichi had raised the stakes further. He'd put his own life on the line.

The thought made Hisashi angry at his brother again, for committing an unforgivable act.

Then he checked the camera feed and saw Yoichi crying, and his opinion flipped. Yoichi had always been proud. Even though he'd cry easily as a child, he'd never let anyone see him completely break down. He'd tried to hide it when he got bullied at school. Even when he'd broken an arm on the playground, he'd protested being taken away in an ambulance. After their parents had died, he'd cried very late at night, trying to hide his tears from even his older brother.

For Yoichi to have collapsed where the cameras could see, he must be truly in a state of despair. Hisashi's finger traced the image on the screen as if he could wipe the tears from his brother's face. Although he longed to rush to his brother's side, he couldn't delude himself quite badly enough to think that Yoichi would want to see him right now. Yoichi wouldn't want anyone to see this. He would have to delete the camera footage later.

If only he hadn't left Yoichi alone in his room. Hisashi loathed himself for that inexcusable moment of carelessness.

The suicide attempt hadn't been calculated after all. His younger brother had truly wanted to die. The memory of Yoichi pale and hanging from the noose made him shudder. That poor child. His frail little brother, his treasure to protect.

How had it come to this point? What should he have done differently? Should he have coddled Yoichi more? Tried harder to keep him ignorant? Did Yoichi need more freedom to be happy or should Hisashi have imposed more control starting from a younger age?

He had no idea how to fix this, and it terrified him.

The antidepressants had been supposed to prevent this. The drugs ought to have fixed whatever had gone wrong with Yoichi's mind to cause him to act out. After researching the topic, Hisashi learned that antidepressants could have very bad side-effects if given to someone who hadn't been depressed to begin with, so he murdered the doctor who hadn't adequately warned him. Although punishing the culprit made him feel slightly better, it failed to solve his problem. With Yoichi so uncooperative and uncommunicative, Hisashi couldn't figure out what cocktail of drugs would set him back to normal and didn't dare experiment more.

When Hisashi received word that Yoichi had stopped eating entirely, his fear turned to panic. Before, Yoichi had eaten sparingly. Now he refused water as well as food. He seemed deadly in earnest about his desire to die.

If the alternative was his brother's death, would Hisashi let Yoichi go?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he dismissed it. Yoichi was too powerless and frail to survive on his own and his foolish ideals would immediately get him killed. Besides, Hisashi had no intention of losing. Not this clash of wills, and certainly not his brother.

So what if his first attempt had failed? He'd keep trying as many times as it took, for his little brother's sake. Hisashi had power, patience, and time.

He closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and tried to think. Physical control wasn't working—Yoichi would find a way to dash his brains out against the bars of any cage. The paralyzation had been enjoyable at first, but Hisashi had to admit he preferred his little brother with a little spirit in him. Then he needed to find a way to give his brother a bit more freedom while still keeping him within the safety of his grasp. Ideally, he'd like to persuade Yoichi to completely join his side.

What if he gave Yoichi a metahuman ability? In the past, Hisashi had found that any ability he took contained a bit of the original holder—and in turn, when he gave away abilities, he gave away a tiny bit of his own will. Something he could use to influence the person who held it. It wasn't as convenient as mind-control, but it left people more susceptible to his suggestions and seeing matters from his point of view.

Before, Hisashi had never wanted Yoichi to have a power. His little brother couldn't handle it: neither his weak body nor his weak mind. Yoichi would no doubt seek to use such a power for foolish, dangerous resistance. But what if Hisashi found a metahuman ability weak enough that Yoichi couldn't use it against him, then used that as his lever into his brother's mind?

Hisashi knew just the right power. A weak stockpiling ability he'd passed up on claiming earlier because he had no use for it. Why, he could even tell Yoichi that the purpose of the power was to strengthen his frail body. It would make the perfect gift to demonstrate his generous side and show his little brother that he still loved him.

It would be a risk. But something had to be done.

Having made up his mind, Hisashi stood up and left his office.

Yoichi had finally reached the state of hunger where he didn't constantly think about food. A gnawing emptiness filled him. The lancing pain in his head made it hard to think. But he could hate. Oh yes, he hated. He loathed this stupid body so much. It did nothing but give him endless pain. At least he got a certain spiteful satisfaction from hurting his body back by denying it food.

He drifted in and out of consciousness. In his dream, rain hit the window of his childhood bedroom and there was shouting downstairs and his big brother crawled into bed with him. Usually, his brother's presence made him feel safer when their parents fought, but this time, he shivered and moaned, tossing on the hard floor and clutching his pajamas tighter. His brother's face warped into a dark, faceless void reaching out to swallow him. He tried to scream, "You're not my brother!"

The grinding of a heavy metal door woke him up.

Hisashi stepped through the door. "Still refusing to eat? You've gotten so thin, little brother."

Yoichi would swear he detected a mocking note in those words. Or perhaps a triumphant one. Hisashi was probably happy he'd gotten thinner and weaker. His suffering didn't matter to his big brother in the slightest. In the past, Hisashi had been happy enough to poison him personally. He's not my brother. He's a monster.

"I refuse to be manipulated by you." Yoichi coughed. Boycotting the drugged food should have made that go away, but his nose and throat had gotten even more stuffy. Maybe he'd gotten sick for real this time. Wouldn't that be ironic?

"Isn't it about time you gave up?" Hisashi launched into yet another speech. He loved those. This time, he was bragging about his followers eliminating a rival group without him even needing to give orders. What was the point of this? Was he trying to convince Yoichi that there was no escape?

Yoichi nearly snorted. He knew that already. There was no way out of this metal box. No one outside cared about him—he'd had friends, classmates, and coworkers, but no one close enough to him to even investigate super-carefully into his disappearance, much less take on a criminal empire for his sake. Even in comic books, he wondered if there had ever been any hero foolish enough to want to save the villain's brother. He doubted it.

Nevertheless, he spat out his last defiance at his brother. "The villain always loses in the end!" It wasn't his strongest comeback, but anything to interrupt that insipid speech.

Hisashi's hand shot out and grabbed his face. "Fantasy has become reality, and in reality things don't go like they do in stories. Now, I'll rewrite the reality where you refused to yield to me! Because you're so dear to me, I found a meta ability that even someone frail and starving like you can handle. Walk this path with me!"

"Stop it!" Yoichi screamed as the forced power drilled its way into his head. But he'd never been able to stop his brother.

It felt as if his brother's fingers were penetrating through his skull. Pain, yes, but also a sense of violation, as if his brother was feeling around his mind.

What have you done, Hisashi? he thought as he fell over sideways.

Hisashi caught Yoichi before he hit the ground. He'd tried to transfer the power as quickly as possible, and despite his brother's struggles, he'd succeeded. It would have been over faster and without pain if Yoichi hadn't kept trying to fight him. That was just like his foolish little brother, making everything more difficult, and he'd probably blame Hisashi for his unnecessary suffering, too.

Yet Hisashi remained in a good mood. He'd been cheerful from the moment he'd entered the vault, pleased to have figured out a solution to his younger brother's stubbornness. He'd never enjoyed seeing Yoichi suffer in this unpleasant steel prison, despite the necessity. His little brother's self-destructive behavior gravely concerned him, and he had to admit that he might bear part of the blame. Fortunately, he should be able to use the metapower he'd implanted to guide Yoichi's mind in a healthier direction.

He'd bragged about his loyal followers just to prove that he didn't need his little brother on his side—if anything, Yoichi ought to be grateful for the offer. His growing influence should also show his brother the benefits he'd receive if he joined his side. He felt like Yoichi had listened to his arguments for once. Even disagreement was preferable to the silent treatment.

It gave Hisashi pleasure to carry Yoichi upstairs and place him down in his repaired bedroom. This time, everything would go as he'd planned. They'd put the past behind them and move toward a brighter future, together.

When Yoichi returned to consciousness, it came as no surprise to find his brother cuddling him on the bed again. Would he ever stop trying to act like they were still children? Yoichi clicked his tongue in disgust, remembering his last nightmare. Now he couldn't even escape the suffocation when unconscious. He went limp, returning to his latest spiteful tactic to deny his brother to what meager extent he could.

"I felt that. You're awake. How do you feel?"

Yoichi hated that part-amused, part-gentle tone. Mockery again, he just knew it.

"Has the stockpiling ability restored a little of your strength?" Hands caressed his hair and ran down his side. "I can feel it's settled well. I'm glad I found an ability you're compatible with."

A gasp escaped Yoichi's lips. A violation of his vow to remain silent, but he couldn't help it. He felt Hisashi's touch inside his head.

Yoichi remembered the records in Hisashi's office about how the people who he gifted powers to could be controlled by him. He didn't understand how it worked, but he felt afraid.

Hisashi whispered into his ear, "I'm not asking for anything difficult, little brother. I love you. All I ask is that you don't try to harm yourself and don't try to escape."

Yoichi tried to fight back against the command. But unfortunately, he wasn't just fighting his brother. He was fighting the weeks of starvation and the exhaustion filling his body and soul. Whether he cared to admit it or not, he was tired of fighting.

Warmth covered his mind like a foggy haze. A feeling of love and affection washed over him. It felt so pleasant, he had to remind himself why he was supposed to fight off that insidious feeling.

Hisashi pulled him into a sitting position. "I brought soup and crackers." He gestured at the pot sitting on a warming pad on the table. "We're going to start with something light that your stomach can digest."

When Hisashi tugged him toward the table, Yoichi's feet followed. He didn't know any more if this was his plan of passive-aggressive compliance or the influence in his head forcing him into obedience.

Hisashi held up a spoon of soup. "Open up."

Yoichi's mouth shot open without thought. He swallowed the tomato soup down.

A moan escaped his lips. He wanted the food so badly. He needed it. And the pressure Hisashi had exerted inside his head had ripped his willpower to shreds. Don't try to harm yourself. Between trying to fight the command and trying to fight his own body, it was too much. His mind vanished. He'd eaten an entire bowl of soup before he returned to awareness.

Hisashi dipped a saltine cracker into the soup, pressing it with the spoon until it turned into mush. "You don't even need to chew. Do you think you can swallow this?"

More like Yoichi couldn't stop himself.

A full belly for the first time in ages made his body feel heavy. His eyes drifted shut. The lids overflowed with liquid. Was he crying? From despair, perhaps. He'd tried so hard to maintain his hunger strike, only to have his resolve destroyed by the force-feeding. When he'd lost all control over his body, he'd clung to his mind until the bitter end. But now his brother's grasping fingers snuck even into there. Truly, everything was hopeless.

"There, there." Hisashi stepped around the table and knelt down next to him. "I know you've been through a lot."

His big brother didn't understand anything in the slightest. If he could comprehend even a fraction of what Yoichi felt, then he'd be forced to acknowledge himself as a monster.

Hisashi hugged Yoichi.

This time, Yoichi melted into the embrace. He couldn't help it. Don't try to harm yourself. A part of him needed human touch after spending so long in isolation. Therefore, he'd lost all ability to reject it. No matter how badly the conscious part of his mind screamed in fury and horror, his own arms hugged his brother back.

Hisashi made a soft sound of pleasure. "I'm so glad you're doing better."

Yoichi wished that he'd tried harder to hang himself with the blankets. He'd half-assed it, wanting to give his brother a scare but not yet entirely determined to die. He should have weighed down his body with books to try to snap his neck.

He had a feeling that he'd wasted his last opportunity to die.

When Yoichi woke up, Hisashi was gone. His thoughts were torn between Probably off killing more people and Thank god. If only Yoichi could have a few minutes alone without being glomped and with a semblance of privacy (no doubt there were still cameras). A breather would let him push past his exhaustion and try to think. He had a new metapower. There must be a way he could use that to get out. Whether to escape this house or escape into death—the two had started to feel like one and the same.

What did the ability do? Hisashi had called it weak but told him nothing else. Yoichi sat up and raised his hand over his head. He concentrated, trying to summon…something. He didn't know what. Just power. He desperately needed power. And while he was dreaming, he'd also like some freedom and bodily autonomy.

Tingles ran up and down Yoichi's wrist. Then a sharp pain, like an electric shock. He winced but kept pushing—

As quickly as it had come, the power vanished. A hazy outline flashed before his eyes. It looked like his older brother, wrapped in shadows. Hisashi's voice whispered, Don't try to harm yourself and don't try to escape.

Yoichi shot backward so fast that the back of his skull nearly slammed into the wall. But he didn't hit his head, because his body stopped in time. Independent of any thought from his brain.

Hisashi was still here. Still enforcing his commands. Yoichi looked around for some metapower-created ghost, but deep down he knew better. This was coming from the ability that had been forced inside of him. Hisashi had stamped his ownership across Yoichi's mind.

The commands would still linger even when Hisashi was gone. Yoichi couldn't even try to use his new ability, because it might harm his body (because he was weak just like his brother had always said.) There was absolutely no escaping Hisashi now. Yoichi would always carry a part of his big brother around inside of him.

A sound emerged from Yoichi's lips. At first, he thought it was a sob, but it turned into a giggle. He laughed hysterically until tears streamed down his cheeks.

He'd never imagined that he could actually come to miss any part of the vault, much less its horrible isolation.

But now? He was never, ever going to be alone again.

Hisashi hadn't been in such a good mood since his brother's very first escape attempt. Over the next week, he threw himself into his business with new vigor, obtaining new territory instead of merely defending it. He hummed as he walked down the hallway. Work felt so much more pleasant when he had someone to come home to.

Throwing open the bedroom door, Hisashi said, "I'm home."

Sitting in an armchair, Yoichi looked up from his comic book. "Mmm. What's for dinner?"

Hisashi's heart sang. This new responsiveness proved that his plan had worked perfectly. As he'd hoped, he'd been able to soothe away the suicidal tendencies by using his brother's new meta ability to lightly influence his mind. If only he'd done this sooner. Back in the old days, he hadn't wanted to treat his little brother like another minion to be controlled—but this wasn't about control, it was about properly protecting his brother from everything, including himself.

"What would you like to eat?" Hisashi asked.

Yoichi looked down, his hair falling over his face. After a moment, he mumbled, "Katsudon?"

"Of course, I'll order the chef to start immediately." Hisashi would have offered his little brother the sun and stars as long as he kept behaving this obediently.

Yoichi still often seemed shy, but Hisashi didn't mind. It was a welcome change of pace compared to the constant arguing and complaining before. Hisashi expected that once Yoichi's body had recovered a bit more, he'd get some of his old spirit back.

For this reason, Hisashi had even stopped drugging Yoichi's meals. At the moment, he'd prefer to build up his little brother's health instead. After frequent bouts of hunger-striking, Yoichi was still significantly underweight. His collar bones jutted from his shoulders, his skin had a yellow sheen, and calluses covered his knuckles from forcing himself to throw up too many times. Even now, Yoichi still picked at his food and needed to be coaxed to finish the whole meal, but at least he was eating. Hisashi had him on a high calorie diet. The last thing he wanted was to make his little brother mistrust his food again.

But Hisashi would be sad if he never got to look after Yoichi when he was sick. Someday Yoichi would recover enough to be drugged again. Just a little, of course.

"Have you tested your new ability at all?" Hisashi touched Yoichi's wrist. This allowed him to feel the power surging within his brother and check for any side-effects. "It's proven stable. I think it's helping you retain energy. You don't look quite as pale." His fingers brushed his brother's cheeks, which finally had a hint of rosiness.

"I haven't tried anything." Yoichi half-shrugged.

That surprised Hisashi. His little brother had always been such a superhero fanatic, it would have been more like him to explore the ability for every possible use. But he supposed the weak stockpiling power probably couldn't do anything besides inertly gathering strength. It wasn't a particularly useful ability, so better if he didn't rub that in his brother's face. "Don't let it concern you. Want me to tell you about some of the more interesting powers I've seen lately?" His brother always liked hearing about meta abilities.

Yoichi said, "I'd rather analyze some comic book hero powers."

A wave of relief washed over Hisashi. It was so good to see his brother finally expressing opinions and desires. (As long as they weren't desires to leave, of course.) This proved that Yoichi was getting back to normal. Perhaps metahuman powers were still a bit of a sore spot. Hisashi was happy to keep to safer topics. "Of course, baby brother." He tousled his brother's hair. The once-lustrous locks felt thin and patchy. They'd have to work on that.

Yoichi rolled his eyes. "If you love touching my hair so much, then I'll get you some straightener to use on your curls so you can muss up your own hair."

Even a joke? Hisashi's heart soared. Spontaneously, he pulled his little brother into a hug. "Nonsense, curly hair looks better on me. I just like to see how you react."

"Somehow, I'd guessed that." Yoichi sighed.

Hisashi felt confident that Yoichi had given in to him. Not that he'd force his little brother to admit it. He could be charitable now that he'd won. Unpleasant topics were best avoided.

His mind turned, forming plans. Perhaps it would soon be possible to take Yoichi on short walks outside. Then maybe dinner at restaurants he controlled. He'd been looking into buying a hot springs, which would be a great place to recuperate. He might be able to bring Machia back as his brother's bodyguard. He'd kept the two of them apart, fully aware that Machia, although totally loyal, would be easily tricked into helping Yoichi escape. Before the bad days, the two of them had gotten along so well.

Someday he might even be able to involve his brother in his business, perhaps in some nice, safe role like auditing his budget. Not that Hisashi wouldn't be happy to keep financially supporting his only family member, but he knew that Yoichi preferred to feel useful (and might get himself into trouble if not kept busy.) Ah, he had a better idea! He'd let Yoichi work on some of his charitable projects, which he used to build his community image and sometimes launder criminal funds. Nothing made Yoichi more fulfilled than helping people.

A beautiful future spread before Hisashi, and he had his most important person in his arms. He couldn't be happier.

Yoichi poked at his katsudon. It didn't make him happy. Nothing made him happy, these days. He had trouble feeling any strong emotions. He floated along in a hazy state. Having accepted that he had no way out, not even by dying, he had nothing left to fight for. Sometimes he felt guilty about eating food that had been probably purchased through criminal funds. Other times he glanced at the dinner knife and wondered if it would be sharp enough to cut into his wrist. But these brief impulses faded before they could overcome his inertia.

Hisashi was talking about comic books. This was an easy topic. Yoichi could respond without even thinking.

Most of the time, Yoichi saw a hazy monster with an indistinguishable face sitting across the table at him. Today, as Hisashi became increasingly animated on the subject of the strongest Marvel villain, he smiled broadly. In that moment, Yoichi saw his brother again. His heart clenched with sadness. He missed his brother. That might seem like a strange thing to say, with Hisashi sitting across the table from him. But it wasn't the same. It would never be the same again. All for One had swallowed up his beloved brother and left him alone with a monster.

After dinner, Hisashi asked, "Would you like me to read you a bedtime story?"

"Sure," Yoichi said. It was easier to agree to anything. Besides, when All for One did the same things as the old days back when they were children, he could pretend that this thing was still his brother.

He barely listened to the story. He just closed his eyes and let his brother's voice wash over him. Afterward, Hisashi tucked him under the covers. As his hand brushed Yoichi's arm, he touched the stockpiling power, once again whispering the same command. Don't try to hurt yourself and don't try to escape.

The same old routine. There was no point in resisting.

But this time, Yoichi felt a strange pressure well up under his chest. As if two pieces of a puzzle had clicked together. His meta ability felt different, somehow. Stronger. Suddenly, he believed he could push out his brother's intrusion if he tried. It caught him completely off-guard. Before he could decide what to do, Hisashi left, closing the door behind him.

The door locked with a click. It was always locked. Hisashi didn't trust his control quite so much as to give him free reign of the house.

Yoichi stood up. His bare feet felt cold on the wooden floor. He walked over to the window and raised his fist.

The glass was thick and bulletproof. He summoned his meta ability. Small green sparks danced down his arm as the power converged in his hand.

Normally, Yoichi hated the ability. It felt like some foreign thing his brother had grafted onto his skin. Worse, he knew he was carrying around a part of All for One inside of him. He didn't even like to think about it. He tried to pretend it wasn't there.

But this time, the power felt completely under his control, as much a part of him as his hand.

The command laid on him should have stopped him before he even got to this point. At the very least, there should have been some resistance. But Yoichi knew he could punch straight through the window if he tried. The energy built up in his hand. It started to itch, on the verge of painful.

Just before his fist impacted with the glass, Yoichi stopped himself. Little tingles ran up his arm as the lightning dissipated.

What was the point? Even if he broke the window, he'd never escape the many guards around the mansion or the monstrous All for One. Even if he somehow got over the wall, he'd only be recaptured like he had been so many times before. Then he'd end up back in the vault. He'd rather die than go back in the vault.

It wasn't as if he had any reason to escape. Nothing mattered to him anymore. He felt so tired.

That stupid power had hurt his hand. He'd never wanted it. He refused to use it. If he'd tried to activate the ability, it probably would have broken his bones.

Yoichi went back to bed and tried not to think about anything at all.

Late that night, Yoichi felt strong arms scoop him out of bed. "What the hell," he groaned, upset at having his warm blankets jerked away.

Hisashi tossed his little brother over his shoulder as he ran out the room. "The mansion is under attack. I need to take you to a safer place until it's over."

As Hisashi opened the door to the basement stairway, Yoichi's heart stopped. He pleaded, "No. Not there. Please, don't put me down there again."

"I'm sorry, but I have to keep you away from the fighting. The vigilantes have penetrated the mansion. I don't know how they found this place or why they seem to know so much about my security system."

Yoichi had some idea, but it would hardly help his case to admit he'd sent that information to the vigilante organization during his final successful escape. "I won't try to run away again. I won't get in your way. I'll do anything. Please."

"It's the most secure location in my possession. You'll only have to stay in there a short time."

As Hisashi opened the vault door, Yoichi kicked and pummeled his brother's back. His long imprisonment had left him too weak to put up more than a token fight. "Please don't do this to me! I was good! I didn't try to escape! I did whatever you wanted! You can't lock me up in the darkness again!" He broke down sobbing. "What more do you want from me? Please! I'll do anything!"

Hisashi dropped Yoichi down on the metal floor. "I'll come back for you soon, I promise. This is the only way I can keep you safe. I love you more than anything, baby brother."

"Please, big brother!" Yoichi screamed. But the vault door closed, plunging him into darkness.

Yoichi curled up into a ball and sobbed. He'd given in to his brother. Yet it still hadn't been enough. Even after he'd lowered himself to begging, he'd still ended up back here again. Hisashi hadn't even left him with a light. Perhaps that had been an inadvertent oversight this time rather than a deliberate punishment, but that only added insult to injury. Big brother's so-called protectiveness had never extended to pausing a moment before hurting him.

The walls seemed to constrict around him. He couldn't breathe. Sweat dripped down his neck and soaked his hair. It felt like he was choking, almost like the feeding tube again. Chills shook his body. He clutched at his pounding chest.

If only he'd broken that window last night, then used the glass to slit his wrists. He wanted to die. He wanted to kill All for One. Maybe they could both die together. That would be the perfect ending to this sordid tragedy.

Yoichi didn't know how long he lay on the floor, trying to fight off the sensation of the darkness burying him alive.

A sharp bang made him sit up. Someone had kicked the door in. Two strangers appeared in the vault doorway, one with a ponytail and the other with short, spikey hair. They wore combat clothes, but not the uniform of his brother's men. These must be the vigilantes.

Perhaps Yoichi should tell them that he'd been their informant or beg for rescue. But he no longer had enough hope left in his heart to try.

The spikey haired man pointed the gun barrel strapped to his arm at Yoichi. Fury and hatred burned in his eyes.

Was this stranger about to kill him? It would be a mercy. Yoichi stared back, pleading for death with his gaze.

To his surprise, the man's expression softened. He lowered his weapon. Then he extended his hand.

Sheer surprise penetrated Yoichi's apathetic haze. A little voice in his head screamed that escape was hopeless and trying only brought more pain. But even so, the kindness in the man's gaze made him want to believe in heroes one more time. Yoichi found the strength to grab that hand and let it lift him to his feet.

Hisashi stalked back into his mansion covered in blood—none of it his own. The foolish vigilantes who'd dared invade his home had fled from their failed raid. They'd never gotten near his office or the information they'd likely wanted to steal. But they'd caused far more important damage. They'd disrupted his little brother's recovery.

Yoichi's cries still rang in his ears. Because of those insects, his precious baby brother had been hurt. For that crime, he should have killed them slowly.

Now that his initial panic had worn off, he wondered if he'd been a bit too hasty with the vault. But no, nothing mattered more than keeping his little brother safe. Hisashi would do whatever it took to soothe Yoichi. He'd take another break from work to stay by his side all day and sleep together at night. It always made his little brother feel better when Hisashi held him while he slept.

Hisashi's musings were interrupted by the sight of a smoking basement door and two dead guards.

His heart did a somersault. When had this happened? The vault had been secure when he'd left to chase after the fleeing vigilantes. He'd checked! Unfortunately, he must have missed a few rats hiding in the mansion.

Hisashi took the stairs two at a time, his pulse galloping, praying like he'd never prayed before that the vault door had held firm.

At the bottom of the stairs, he found a sight he'd be seeing in his nightmares for the rest of his life.

The vault door hung open. His treasure was gone.

Hisashi screamed. Power exploded off him, blowing out the back wall of the mansion and ripping the ceiling to shreds. The wreckage swirled around him like a tornado. Still, he screamed and screamed. He howled a denial of this cruel reality as if he could rip down the heavens with the force of his pain and rage.

Everything had been going so perfectly. Hisashi had finally succeeded in restoring Yoichi's rightful love and adoration and brought his little brother over to his side. He'd gotten everything he wanted. That only made this sudden twist even more cruel. Despite devoting all his power to keeping his adorable little brother safe, he'd still lost him. It felt like a Greek tragedy where he'd been destined to fail from the beginning.

His beloved baby brother had been kidnapped by his enemies. What if they took Yoichi hostage or tortured him to death for revenge? Visions of his brother's maimed corpse danced before his eyes. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

NO. If this was destiny, then Hisashi would overturn his fate. He straightened. His eyes and palms glowed red. His panic was replaced by a murderous resolve.

Even if he had to burn Japan to ashes, Hisashi would get his little brother back. Then he'd never let Yoichi leave his side ever again.

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: If Yoichi's Spirit Had More Time to Recover

Vestige All for One in Yoichi's Head: You love your big brother and you want to do everything he tells you.

Yoichi: One hundred and one bottles of beer on the wall…

Vestige All for One: Stop that infernal noise!

Yoichi: (Still singing off-key) This is the song that never ends. It just goes on and on my friend.

Vestige All for One: You can't get rid of me! You're stuck with me!

Yoichi: And you're stuck in here with me.

#

Omake: None So Blind as Those Who Will Not See

All for One: Everything is going wonderfully! I've finally repaired my relationship with my brother.

Yoichi: I want to die.

All for One: Forcing a quirk on my brother was the best idea ever. This will in no way, shape or form ever backfire on me.

Second: Hi! My yet-to-be-revealed-in-canon name is Freedom.

Yoichi: New plan, I'll kill my brother instead.

Later:

All for One: I don't understand why my little brother showed up on the other side of the battlefield against me. Did my enemies brainwash him? Hey! I'm the only one allowed to do that!

Yoichi: I'm going to start a lineage of heroes dedicated to killing my brother.

All for One: It's the brainwashing talking. This is tragic. I knew he was too mentally frail to be allowed out of my sight.

Author's Note:

Looking at that last omake: boy, All for One is a deluded bastard. Hisashi's plan was never working as well as he thought because he mistook a state of mental collapse for sincere compliance. If given more time, he could have broken Yoichi down even more, but it's difficult to say if that would have given him his happy ending. Would he have ever realized that Yoichi was miserable and kept constantly, futilely trying to repair it? Or would he have been too self-centered to notice?

It's been hinted in both Boku No Hero Academia and Vigilantes that All for One can exert control over people after giving them quirks. (Perhaps even passing along a bit of his consciousness with each quirk he gives away.) I suspect All for One may have forced a quirk on his younger brother to try to mind control him. Later revelations may prove my theory to be non-canon, but I wanted to have some brainwashing in this story as a treat. There are other reasons All for One might have benefitted from forcing a quirk on his brother. (I list off half a dozen of them in Custody Battle.) Our resident evil mastermind All for One definitely had a more subtle and plausible plan than Step One: Force quirk on younger brother. Step Two: ? Step Three: Profit.

The control worked less over time because Yoichi was absorbing the stockpiling quirk into his own hidden quirk. That hidden quirk was the flaw in All for One's plans in more way than one. The scariest part of All for One's attempted mind control is that it almost worked.

The dialogue from the forced quirk scene was directly taken from the flashback in chapter 193. I used a mixture of fan and official translation based on what version of the lines I liked. As with the first canon scene I used, I tried to justify a little why these idiot pair of brothers were talking about comics in the middle of a serious situation. Is it just me or are they both a bit chuunibyou?

Joking in the omake aside, Yoichi didn't switch straight to trying to kill his brother. He thought that maybe Hisashi would listen to him if he wasn't in a position of total powerlessness, but that didn't end well for him. By the time Yoichi became a vestige in Forgiveness of the Attribute of the Strong he was super-salty and regretted ever trying.

I ended the story here because we don't yet know how canon Yoichi died after he escaped the vault. I'm keeping this prologue within the bounds of canon, while filling in the blanks. I might add another chapter someday if we get more information about Yoichi's death or at least names for Second and Third.

In this story, Second and Third belong to the vigilante group that Yoichi sent information to. It took them over a month to verify the tip and plan an attack. Then they raided All for One's mansion and found the vault. So in the end, Yoichi did save himself.

But since Yoichi is still destined to die, neither he nor his brother will get their desired happy ending.