Chapter One:
Izuku stumbled through the doorway, socks sliding on the floor. With his arms in a straitjacket, he struggled to maintain his balance. His feet had been cuffed together by a chain barely long enough to let him walk. A push on his back shoved him all the way through. He bent his knees, barely catching himself before he fell.
The inside of the vault was pitch-dark. Bruises throbbed, especially the ones on his cheek and running down his side. Izuku blinked, disoriented.
A grinding noise behind him snapped him back to awareness. He couldn't let that door close, or he'd be trapped in a metal box. Desperately, he threw himself at the last sliver of light.
All for One held out a hand to stop him. The villain didn't even need to use a quirk. His body was too weak. How embarrassing. Izuku groaned as the door closed.
"There, there. It's okay, son. You're safe." All for One petted his curls.
Izuku jerked away. Of all the bad things that had happened to him today, the revelation that All for One was Hisashi Midoriya sat very near the top of the list. He hadn't believed it at first when his father had appeared healed in front of him. Part of him still hoped it would turn out to be a disguise. But his father's patronizing tone hadn't changed since childhood. "Don't touch me," he growled.
Hisashi held him trapped. Big hands encircled his back. Perhaps from a better father the touch would have been comforting, but it made Izuku's skin crawl. He tried to bite his father's ear.
Unfortunately, Hisashi easily dodged. "This reminds me of when you were a baby and used to nibble on my hair. Those were such happy times."
The words gave Izuku a chill. Ah, the good old days, when I didn't have any independent thought or free will. A distance formed between me and Dad when I started expressing my own opinions, didn't it? He never took well to my hero dream. Which makes a lot of sense in retrospect.
"Are you going to kill me?" Izuku asked, the coldness in his voice hiding his fear.
"Of course not!" Hisashi recoiled. "I'd never, ever do that to my own child." My own possession, his tone seemed to say.
"Then you'll regret it." Izuku met his father's gaze squarely.
This only made Hisashi laugh. "That defiant expression brings back memories, too."
Izuku wasn't sure what that meant. Before he had time to ask, he heard a low groan. Someone else was in here? A human or a Nomu?
"Did I wake you up?" Hisashi flicked on the lights (blessedly letting go of Izuku.) "There's someone I want you to meet, ducky."
The sudden brightness blinded Izuku. After a moment, he could make out silver walls decorated with hanging cloth murals of forests and waterfalls. The corner desk made of cherry wood had shelves of books for a hutch. A cubicle in the corner likely contained a bathroom. Plants spilled out from shelves all over the room, no doubt providing oxygen. Oh, goodie, this place is self-sustaining, Izuku thought with a hint of hysteria.
One bed stood empty with green sheets and a forest-patterned blanket. Someone sat up from the other bed and rubbed his eyes.
Shoulder-length white hair fell over a frail, thin face. One green eye stared at Izuku with blank incomprehension. The stranger wore lavender pajamas. He coughed into his hand.
"First?" Izuku whispered. He'd seen his man before—seen him inside a vault before, no less, a more barren one than this.
But the anger and resistance he remembered from his vision were now completely gone from those dull eyes. How can he still be alive, after so many years? All for One had lived so long due to his quirks. That might answer that question. How long has he been in here? Since the dawn of the age of quirks? Izuku did the math with mounting horror. So long, all alone in this place. No one could stay sane.
Hisashi said, "Little brother, this is my son, Izuku. He's going to be staying here indefinitely. Izuku, this is your Uncle Yoichi."
Izuku had somehow not immediately made the uncle connection, probably because he was still in shocked denial over All for One being his father. But that one visible eye, green with white pupils, looked exactly like his own. "Nice to meet you. I wish it was under better circumstances." He spoke sardonically, directing a malicious look at his so-called father.
Yoichi didn't make a sound. It was difficult to tell if his unfocused eyes were seeing Izuku at all.
Hisashi said, "Pardon his manners. He's very sick."
Sick? Oh, yes, I'll bet he's sick after being trapped in here for over a hundred years. No wonder he turned cationic. Izuku's heart filled with rage toward All for One, followed by a desperate, all-consuming need to help.
He ran forward and dropped to his knees before his fellow prisoner. He would have wanted to offer a helping hand, but his were all tied up. He asked, "Do you know where you are? Do you know who I am? Do you know…who you are?"
No response was forthcoming. Seconds ticked by as Yoichi stared at him.
Izuku took that as a no to his questions.
Light flashed. Izuku looked up, annoyed and startled.
Holding up his phone, Hisashi laughed. "I'm sorry, you two looked so cute together that I couldn't resist taking a picture."
Cute. Izuku had a whole lot he wanted to say to that, but his head hurt too much to be witty and he didn't want to shout for fear of alarming his uncle. He settled for a withering glare.
"I'll give you two some time to get to know each other," Hisashi said. His skin glowed as he phased through the wall. Dammit, so much for Izuku's plan to lunge for the door the minute his father opened it.
"Wait! You're leaving me in here wearing a straitjacket?" Izuku shouted. Silence told him that the answer, apparently, was yes.
His pitiful excuse for a father probably didn't want him to punch a wall to dust and escape. The chains on his ankles didn't give him enough slack to kick, either. Izuku didn't know if One for All could pierce through the thick steel, but he was willing to shatter all his bones trying to find out. He'd give anything to have Black Whip back, but Tomura had stolen that one from him during their last fateful final fight. Izuku had lost a lot of his quirks. A big part of his connection to One for All had vanished with them.
Izuku turned back to Yoichi. "He's gone now. Do you know if he has cameras recording this place?"
Yoichi lay back down on the bed and pulled the covers over his head.
Okay, then. Izuku hesitated. He didn't want to push a sick person, but he also desperately needed information to plan his escape. If he had any hope of busting out of a vault, then he'd have to wait for his father to open that door again.
Izuku knelt down by the bed. "We can whisper, so he can't hear us." He placed a hand to cover his mouth. "Does he ever open the door? How do we get fed?"
No response.
Izuku tried more coaxing and eventually even shaking his uncle. Nothing worked. He finally gave up. With a grunt, he used the bed to push himself to his feet. Then he started exploring the room.
He couldn't open any of the books with his hands restrained in a straitjacket. The desk had writing utensils and paper, but he couldn't use those either. The cheery pictures of outdoor scenery seemed like adding insult to injury.
If he picked up a pencil with his teeth, could he use it to stab his dad's recently healed eyes out? It seemed worth a try. Izuku bent over.
His foot slid on the thick carpet and he fell. His head banged into the desk chair. He yelped, more in surprise than pain. He'd been through so much agony he barely felt it.
Covers rustled. Yoichi ran over and dropped to his knees next to him. "Are you all right?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.
"Nothing hurt but my pride." Izuku grimaced. "Can you help me stand up? I don't think I can with these." He thrashed his bound legs to demonstrate.
Yoichi lifted him up and set him on his feet.
"How about helping me get out of this straitjacket?" Izuku asked.
Immediately, Yoichi set about trying to loosen the buckles. But they seemed stuck with an adhesive.
"No good, huh?" Izuku sighed. "Thank you for trying."
Yoichi turned and walked back toward the bed.
"Wait!" Izuku cried. "Can you help me read a book? Turn the pages for me?" Izuku did not have a burning desire for fictional entertainment. But he'd noticed that Yoichi had only responded to his need for help. Hopefully another request would trigger a bit more life.
Yoichi turned back. He stood before the bookshelf, arms hanging limp, until Izuku picked one out. Then he obediently turned the pages when asked.
Izuku had picked a story more-or-less at random. It was an old children's chapter book from the twenty-first century. He asked, "Did you read this book as a child? With…him?"
Still no response.
"Are you afraid?" Izuku asked. "Will you get punished if you talk to me?"
"No."
At least that was a response. "Am I bothering you? It must be boring to turn pages for me, right?"
This time, nothing. Izuku sighed.
A glowing light made his head shoot up. His father's hands placed a tray of food on the floor. Then the hands retreated back through the wall.
"Wait! Come back!" Izuku screamed. He had no idea what to say to make his father return. His heart had fluttered with panic. If All for One could deliver meals without opening the door, then his last chance at escape was gone.
Tears welled up. He'd tried so hard not to cry, but now he broke down sobbing.
Yoichi pulled him into a hug. They remained like that until Izuku had cried himself into exhaustion.
With Izuku's arms restrained, Yoichi had to feed him dinner. He even had to be helped to use the toilet, to his embarrassment. Afterward, Yoichi lay back down on the bed, completely still. If not for the occasional cough, he would have seemed dead. Izuku paced the entire vault, but didn't find a single idea for his escape.
Finally, Izuku's exhaustion overcame him. He used his nose to flick the light switch. Then Izuku collapsed into the soft covers of the second bed.
This dull routine continued for seven days. Or at least, Izuku was fairly certain it had been seven days. He'd counted the meals, but if Hisashi had tampered with their timing and frequency, then Izuku would have no way of knowing. For the first couple days, Izuku's arms hurt. Then they went numb. He had a bad feeling about that. It probably implied long-term damage to his mobility.
Izuku was about to go stir-crazy. Yoichi was barely better company than no one at all. In seven days, Izuku had coaxed his uncle to speak no more than a dozen words.
With no way out, Izuku told himself that his friends and teachers would be looking for him. All Might would never give up. But last he'd seen, U.A. had been in ruins. The condition of the outside world must be dreadful. Quite likely, the remaining heroes had other priorities.
On the seventh dinner, instead of merely dropping off the meal, Hisashi stepped all the way into the vault.
Izuku stared at his father with wild eyes. He contemplated grabbing the pencil off the desk with his teeth and stabbing. But in retrospect, that had been a bad plan. No matter how badly he spoiled for a fight, the smarter move would be to talk his way out of this vault. He had to get out of these steel walls if he wanted any real chance at escape.
Softly, Izuku asked, "What do you want?"
"Always such a clever boy." Hisashi patted him on the head.
Izuku's teeth ground. Everything inside him wanted to throw off the touch. In his mind's eye, he saw those big hands attacking his classmates and teachers. He shut his eyes and held himself steady.
"You're doing so well," Hisashi said. The implication that Izuku was surrendering by allowing this touch only rankled even more. "I thought we could all have dinner together tonight, as a family."
Izuku's eyes snapped open. There was no table inside the vault. "You mean…outside?"
"That's right." Hisashi smiled. "All you have to do is ask nicely."
Compared to tolerating that touch, Izuku could grovel on the floor. "Can we please have dinner together tonight?"
"Of course, son," Hisashi said amiably. "I'll even remove your restraints if you give me One for All. But as long as you have that dangerous quirk, I'll need to keep you strictly contained."
"I'm afraid I must decline." Izuku tried to sound pleasant. At best, he managed to keep his voice steady.
"I figured it would probably be too soon for that." Hisashi shrugged. "The offer is an open one, whenever you're ready."
Izuku didn't like how his father said that, as if it was inevitable. But he bit his tongue and kept silent.
A small sound escaped his lips as Hisashi phased back through the wall. Izuku wondered if he'd been abandoned. Maybe the offered dinner had been a cruel joke on the prisoners.
Then Hisashi opened the vault door. The tiny bit of light from the hallway beyond seemed like heaven. Izuku clenched his teeth to stop himself from bolting.
Hisashi stepped through the door. He walked to where Yoichi lay on the bed and lifted his little brother up by his armpits. "Come on, now. You can stand up." His tone turned coaxing.
Yoichi grunted, then took one step. Then another. Hisashi supported him with an arm over his shoulder.
Izuku followed after the two of them, stepping out into the light. He stood in a perfectly normal-looking finished basement, with no furniture and a single set of stairs leading upward.
As soon as he stepped outside the vault, Yoichi straightened. "Big brother, what's for dinner?"
Izuku gaped. An actual sentence? Without being forced? That casual, normal tone made even less sense. Yoichi could almost be mistaken for cheerful.
Hisashi asked, "What do you want to have?"
"Hmm, should we let Izuku decide?" Yoichi turned wide, guileless eyes on his nephew.
"Now you know who I am?" Izuku regretted the sarcastic words as soon as he spoke them. His uncle was clearly in very bad mental shape, for quite understandable reasons.
"Of course I know you." Yoichi beamed. "Big brother told me so much about you."
Izuku glanced at his father and mouthed, "Mind-control?"
Hisashi smirked. "He's just feeling less sick now. If I had a quirk like that, I'd have already used it on you."
Fair point. Izuku looked between his father and uncle. He felt like he was trapped in a dream. "How about gyudon?" The request was a test. He wanted to know if All for One could obtain fresh beef quickly. That would be a sign of connection to the outside world.
"Sounds wonderful," Hisashi said.
Izuku followed his father up the stairs, still playing along with the happy family game. The chains on his ankles clanked. They emerged into a normal hallway with green wallpaper. Passing a window with the blinds open, Izuku stopped and stared. A normal lawn was visible with a garden around the house and a forest beyond. No street, of course. Nothing to stop him from jumping straight out that window.
"Are you coming?" Hisashi asked, stopping. "If you're tired, I can support you."
Izuku swallowed. He knew it couldn't possibly be that easy. There must be defenses around the house. All for One would overpower him if he tried to run. He needed to bide his time and wait for the best opportunity. Yet it was so hard for him to force his feet to move away from his first sunlight in a week.
Hisashi pushed open the door to a bedroom with a bunkbed and the walls covered with bookshelves. "Izuku, as long as you remain stubborn about giving up One for All, you'll have to room with your uncle so he can help you out. I replaced the usual bed with bunkbeds."
"I get the top one, since you can't climb." Yoichi laughed. "I'll show you my whole comic book collection. There's way better reading material up here."
Izuku cast his uncle a sideways look. Seriously, what the hell?
Hisashi went to the closet and removed a pale blue suit. "I think this one tonight." He started unbuttoning Yoichi's pajama shirt. "You're going to need a shower first. No, maybe a bath—we have a week's worth of sweat here."
Izuku gasped, then quickly turned his back. This seemed uncomfortably strange. The Yoichi in the vault had been pretty close to comatose, but the current one seemed fully capable of taking off his own clothing. There had to be something wrong with his dad's head.
He took the opportunity to catalogue the bedroom. A partly open door showed an attached bathroom. The large tub had jacuzzi jets. The window overlooked the same forest. There was nothing stopping someone from hopping out of it, not even a lock. The desk had pens and a pair of scissors lying on top. This place wasn't secure in the slightest! There had to be some trick. What was his dad playing at?
Hisashi said, "It will save time if you both get in the bath." He reached for Izuku's straitjacket. "I can take this off, as long as I'm here to supervise."
"No way!" Izuku leapt back and pressed his back the wall. "I'm fine in my current clothes."
Hisashi's nose wrinkled. "You have a bit of a smell, ducky."
"Who's fault is that?" Izuku growled. "You're not giving me a bath. I'm not a baby. No, no, no." He ought to have seen this coming. He probably ought to have braced himself and gone along. It wasn't smart to fight back at this point in time. But smart or not, he knew if Hisashi put a finger on him then he was going berserk.
Yoichi stepped between them. "He doesn't like it, big brother." His tone had turned soft and fearful. He glanced between them with wide eyes. His lower lip trembled.
Hisashi sighed. "Now look what you've done, Izuku. You're making your uncle get sick again."
What did that mean? Izuku had no time to reply before a blast of light shot from his father's hand and knocked him unconscious.
Izuku woke up sitting in a wooden armchair. A feast of gyudon, shrimp tempura, edamame, and other traditional Japanese side dishes spread down the table. His hair smelled like strawberry shampoo. He wore a grey striped suit. He felt infuriated by this evidence of a bath while he'd been unconscious. The suit jacket had been modified into another straitjacket. His legs had been fastened to the chair.
"It smells great," Yoichi said from his right side. "Thank you, big brother." He sounded back to normal. Or rather, fake-normal? In their current situation, acting normal was not normal.
Hisashi smiled at Izuku from the other side of the table. "Since you're still new, I'm giving you one chance. Next time you act like that, you're going back into the vault."
Very slightly, Izuku noticed Yoichi tense up. This was his first indication that his uncle had some awareness of the insanity going on around him. Interesting.
"Fine," Izuku said from between clenched teeth.
"You mean, 'Fine, Dad,'" Hisashi said.
Izuku stared. He wanted this even less than the bath, and that was saying something.
Hisashi sighed. He leaned across the table. "You've already used up your one chance, ducky. If you keep being uncooperative, then I'm putting you back into the vault. Since I can't leave you alone while your arms are restrained, and I don't trust anyone outside the family to look after you, then I'll have no choice but to put your uncle back with you. Even though he's done nothing wrong."
Yoichi stiffened. His mouth opened. Then he closed it. Izuku glimpsed the flash of defiance in Yoichi's eyes as he decided not to beg.
If Izuku had one thing in common with his uncle, it was that they would both always act for someone else's sake. Which meant Izuku couldn't let Yoichi pay the price for his disobedience. Right now, that might be a weakness, but Izuku wanted to believe their unity would later become their strength.
"Fine, Dad," Izuku said.
"Good boy." Hisashi held up a bite of meat. "Open your mouth."
Burning with cold fury, Izuku let himself be fed.
Dinner went slowly with his father alternating between feeding himself and Izuku. When it wasn't Hisashi's turn to be chewing, he'd take the opportunity to badger Izuku with quirk analysis questions. Always unrelated to people he knew, safe and harmless conversation topics. Since he'd been forced into cooperation, Izuku had no choice but to answer. Plus, he wanted to keep the pressure off Yoichi, who still looked pale. Gradually he fell into a routine reminiscent of his past phone calls with his father.
"Light refraction or true invisibility quirk, which would you prefer?" Hisashi asked.
"Light refraction, obviously. Invisibility would probably reveal things like the food sitting undigested in my stomach. I'd look like a walking lump of chewed beef." Izuku took another bite. The gyudon was cooked to tender perfection, he had to give the meal that.
"That's the right answer. You're as brilliant as always," Hisashi said.
Izuku carefully kept his face neutral. He was annoyed by the frequent compliments—he felt manipulated and patronized. Yet at the same time, it was also a welcome relief to talk to someone after so long isolated with a silent invalid.
That had been the purpose of his confinement, of course. Only a fool would fail to realize that this cycle was designed to break him. He refused to let it work.
Afterward, Hisashi brought out a tray of cookies. Chocolate chip, salted caramel, and sugar cookies. All of Izuku's favorites. Nothing subtle about the love-bombing, any more than his father's threats had been subtle.
"Thank you, Dad," Izuku said. Accidentally, a bit of his true anger slipped into his tone. He could tell by the way Yoichi stiffened next to him.
But Hisashi only smiled and held up the first bite-sized piece.
After dinner, Hisashi left the dirty dishes on the table. Izuku believed that someone else must come by to clean them, although he'd yet to see a single sign of another person. His father had never done dirty dishes in Izuku's entire life. Izuku filed away every last bit of information.
Hisashi took them to a family room with a giant maroon sectional couch and a big-screen TV. "Would you like to watch Star Wars? Perhaps the original trilogy? The ending of the second movie seems relevant to recent events." He laughed in a not-very-nice way.
Yoichi cast a glance at Izuku. In a tone too casual, he asked, "Why not start with the prequel trilogy to watch them in order?"
The thought was nice. But there was nothing in any movie that could possibly traumatize Izuku compared to his current situation stuck in a straitjacket with his mad father and his uncle who'd lost his mind after a century-long imprisonment. At the end of the day, he didn't care what movie they watched. He shrugged.
"The prequel it is." Hisashi picked a movie off the shelf. "Izuku, in this household, there are only six Star Wars movies. We don't talk about the Disney ones."
"Uh-huh," Izuku said. His mind was in another place, formulating his escape plan.
Hisashi sat down on the couch. He tugged Izuku after him, so his son fell into his lap.
"Hey," Izuku grumbled reflexively. Then his lips clamped shut, afraid of starting another fight. Not now, when he had just come up with an idea.
This time, Hisashi only laughed. "Come over here, Yoichi. I want to get a picture of the three of us together."
Yoichi sat down next to them. He didn't resist as his brother put an arm around his shoulder to tug him closer.
"Say cheese!" Hisashi held up his phone and took a picture.
Izuku grimaced at the camera. His father ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. He shuddered at each touch. "You're such a creeper," Izuku couldn't resist hissing.
"So your uncle used to tell me, many times." Hisashi tucked Yoichi's hair behind his ear and pulled him a little closer. "I wonder how long it will take before you stop fighting me too."
The casual question chilled Izuku. He paid no attention to the movie.
It wasn't enough for Hisashi to make Izuku sit on his lap. The constant touches continued throughout the movie, smoothing his hair, whispering in his ear, and giving him little hugs. The jostling made Izuku's numb arms start to ache and tingle again. Letting his mind go robotic allowed Izuku last until the credits rolled.
He stayed in the same numb state while his father combed his hair and brushed his teeth. It was good he'd already had a bath. He didn't even want to think about another one.
After finishing the grooming, Hisashi picked Izuku up in his arms.
"I can walk!" Izuku snapped. "You haven't chopped off my legs yet." He squirmed.
Hisashi seemed to find his little struggles greatly entertaining. "You'll always be a baby to me."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Izuku grumbled. His father placed him on the bottom bunk and tucked the covers over him.
"Goodnight," Yoichi said as he climbed the ladder to the top bed.
"Stop," Hisashi said.
At his brother's words, Yoichi froze.
Hisashi planted a kiss on his younger brother's forehead. "Sleep tight and have good dreams."
Then Hisashi dropped to his knees next to Izuku and gave him the same kiss. "Sleep tight and have good dreams."
Dreams of you dying, Izuku thought.
As soon as his father was gone, Izuku carefully counted out fifteen minutes inside his head. Then he sat up. "Are you awake, Uncle Yoichi? I can't sleep."
"Yeah. Can I get you a glass of water?" Yoichi called groggily.
"Can you sleep with me? There's enough room in the bed for two of us. I don't think I can fall asleep alone."
Yoichi scrambled down the ladder. "Sure, if it will help you."
Izuku couldn't tell if Yoichi was playing for the cameras or actually clueless to his ulterior motives. At this point, Izuku felt quite confident that there would be cameras. His father had shown how he felt about privacy and bodily autonomy. Plus there was his creepy picture-taking obsession.
Pulling the covers over both of their heads, Izuku whispered, "We should be able to talk in private now." He kept his voice barely audible.
Yoichi whispered back, "He knows exactly what we're doing."
"I'm sure he does, but I'm equally certain he expects me to do something like this. I need information. What are the defenses of this place like?"
"…It's hopeless. You don't know how many times I've tried."
At least this was better than the total lack of communication from within the vault or the fake pretending everything was okay outside of it. Izuku said, "This time, we have One for All on our side."
Yoichi made a choked sound. His whole body tightened. He'd reacted to the words One for All as if they gave him a trauma. Seriously, how bad a number did Dad do on him? Izuku had seen the signs, and he didn't like the conclusion they pointed toward.
A period of isolation followed by excessive compliments, touching, and gifts. That was a brainwashing tactic used by cultists, designed to break the victim down and then love-bomb them while they were vulnerable. Izuku's teeth ground in rage. Just imagining someone stuck in that cycle for a hundred years made him want to rip out All for One's throat with his teeth. Given what he'd been through, it was a miracle Yoichi had even this much sanity left.
Yoichi said, "I won't interfere or tell him about your plans. But I don't want to be involved. You can do whatever you plan on your own."
Izuku let out a small sigh. "I don't blame you one bit. I was only in that horrible vault for a week. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you to be stuck in there for over a century. I don't want to demand anything more of you."
"Then don't," Yoichi whispered. "Don't ask for what I can't do."
"But this isn't for my sake. It's for my friends. I know they're out there right now, fighting All for One. They might be injured or even—" Izuku swallowed. "Without the power of One for All, they don't stand a chance. I need to protect the world and the people I love. Please help me. Please. I'm begging you."
Yoichi did not reply. Izuku waited patiently.
Finally, Yoichi said, "That forest outside? It's entirely manmade. The trees hide a wall, about half a mile away from this building. I've only gotten over the wall twice—"
Izuku listened and cataloged every bit of information as Yoichi described the mansion's defenses.
Author's Note: Despite the popularity of quirk suppressors in fanon, they don't exist in canon. Vigilantes has stun cuffs to disrupt concentration, but they could not restrain All for One or One for All. Although I often use quirk suppressing handcuffs myself as a plot device, for this story I thought it would be fun to explore the measures Hisashi would need to resort to in order to imprison his son if he couldn't just switch off One for All.
I like to think of this universe as what could have happened if All for One had won at the end of Kill What You Love. The title of this fic comes from a quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton: "The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself." The test was probably not intended to be taken as literally as in this fic. Many cute quotes about family get creepy very fast when it comes to All for One.