Chapter Two:

Yoichi slammed the door with extra force and stalked over to the sofa. He threw himself down with a huff.

"Did you fight with Leader?" Sanzou asked.

Belatedly, Yoichi realized that he'd flopped next to Sanzou. In fact, he'd flopped with his foot on top of the vigilante's leg. "Sorry!" Yoichi sprang up.

"It's fine," Sanzou said. He switched off the television. "What's this about?"

Yoichi paced in front of the sofa, stepping around the coffee table. "We were discussing the new professional hero team and how it was basically created to oppose my brother."

"Mmm," Sanzou said.

"All I did was say that I hope they'll capture my brother alive. I think that's understandable. Heroes shouldn't kill people if they can help it." Yoichi stopped with his hands on his hips. "And Kaiji gave me this look."

"What kind of look?"

"The 'poor, stupid Yoichi has Stockholm Syndrome but I'm sure someday he'll get over his braindead delusions' look." Yoichi was very sensitive to people treating him like he was mentally fragile or foolish, because of how his older brother had used to insult him. This wasn't even the first time he'd gotten that look from Kaiji, either. Every single time, without fail, it happened when the topic of Hisashi had come up. Otherwise, Kaiji never patronized Yoichi or treated him as if he was worth any less because of his family connections. That gave Yoichi the uncomfortable worry that maybe this time Kaiji was right. Kaiji knew so much more about the world, after all. Yoichi had a deep admiration toward the handsome, courageous, and worldly hero who had saved him from the vault. That was precisely why he never wanted his hero to look down on him.

Yoichi hung his head. "I suppose you think I'm an idiot too." Or worse, maybe the vigilantes thought he was a liability. It had been asking a lot to expect them to trust All for One's brother. How could they accept him as one of them if he didn't want their worst enemy to die?

Sanzou frowned. "I never said that. Neither did Leader."

With a sigh, Yoichi flopped down on the sofa next to Sanzou. "I know you think my brother is a monster. Toward you and many other people, he has been a monster. But when we were children, Hisashi was different. He was everything to me, mother and father and loving big brother all rolled into one. He used his own body to protect me from our father. He fed me when our mother ignored us for days. It was the two of us against the world. The very first time Hisashi activated his quirk, a metahuman robber broke into our house. The man shot steel spikes at us. Hisashi jumped between me and the robber to protect me. He didn't know that he had any powers back then. He must have believed that he was about to die to save me." Yoichi swallowed a lump in his throat. "So you see, big brother wasn't always a monster. At one point, he was my hero. It's different from what you and Kaiji think. I don't have Stockholm Syndrome or trauma bonding or whatever the technical term is, my feelings are real."

Sanzou said, "I don't think anyone is born a monster. Plenty of objectively terrible people have redeemable traits."

"Is it wrong for me to love All for One?" Yoichi asked, not looking up from his hands.

Sanzou exhaled gustily. "That's a more complicated question. To start with, I think you misunderstood Kaiji. Did he ever tell you about his parents?"

Yoichi said, "He told me that they hated metahumans and abused him."

"Good—I wasn't going to tell you if he hadn't. Kaiji understands your feelings very well, better than me. He'd never think that you're stupid for struggling with the exact same things that he once did. I think he assumes that since he let go of any attachment to his parents, you will too."

"It's not the same. Kaiji's parents were purely horrible."

"But it is the same," Sanzou said gently. "Kaiji's parents raised him. His mother gave birth to him. He never would have lived to adulthood if they hadn't looked after him. They treated him much differently before they found out about his metapower. He had many good memories with them. A lot of people feel sincere love and gratitude toward abusive parents. No one would struggle to cut off an abuser if they were always awful. Of course it's going to ring hollow to Kaiji if you claim that you're somehow different from him and everyone else in your situation."

Yoichi paled with horror. "Did Kaiji think that I was looking down on his trauma?" He whirled to look at Sanzou, afraid but desperate to see his friend's facial expression. He found only sympathy.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. Stop assuming the worst." Sanzou sighed. "A lot of people love the person who hurt them. A lot of people have abusers who loved them in their own twisted and unhealthy way. Everyone who's not ready to leave an abuser always says 'but they love me' as if that makes their situation special. Everyone thinks they're the exception. It's something Kaiji can understand very well. Kaiji's not looking down on you. He sees you going through the exact same thing that he did. He wants you to hate your brother like how he hates his parents, so that you don't have to suffer conflicted feelings any longer. But there, he's wrong."

"He is?" Yoichi asked, because he'd become increasingly convinced that Kaiji was right throughout this conversation.

Sanzou said, "You don't have to make the exact same choices as Kaiji. When your brother mistreated you, you left. That's the important part. How you feel about your brother and whether you decide to forgive him is up to you."

"I can never forgive Hisashi," Yoichi said, his mouth a flat line. "But I can't stop loving him, either. Not even if it's wrong."

"I don't know how to answer your question," Sanzou admitted. "I don't think you're wrong to love your brother, but I see that love hurting you. Kaiji wants you to stop because he doesn't want you to suffer any longer. He's also a bit afraid that you'll make a bad decision and get caught again because you can't let go of your brother. That's where I draw the line personally, I think. Your love is okay unless it leads you to make decisions that hurt yourself." Sanzou reached out and placed his hand on top of Yoichi's. "You can love your brother if you want, I just hope that you'll love yourself more."

Yoichi's eyes felt wet. He'd been so convinced that the vigilantes viewed him as a liability, not realizing that they were only concerned for his sake. "I'll think more about that, I promise. Even if I never completely stop loving my brother, I don't want to be caught by him again. I couldn't survive going back into the vault. I'll be careful."

"That's all I can ask." Sanzou squeezed his hand. "Never think that Kaiji is looking down on you. Kaiji thinks that everything you do is perfect."

Yoichi chuckled. "I should go talk to him. I want to apologize." He stood up.

In the hallway, Yoichi passed Hikage. The boy stepped in front of him. "I brought you this to make you feel better." He held out a cookie on a plate.

"Aw, thank you." Yoichi accepted the plate and took a bite of the snickerdoodle.

Hikage said, "Next time you feel anxious in open spaces, you should try deep breathing. It also helps me when I relax my muscles one at a time, like this." Hikage closed his eyes. His body sagged.

Yoichi blinked. "Thank you, but how did you know about that?"

"Big brother Kaiji wanted me to cheer you up—whoops!" Hikage clamped a hand over his mouth. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that he sent me, because you're mad at him."

Yoichi chuckled. "I'm not angry at him any longer. I'll go make up with him right now."

After Yoichi finished the cookie and left the empty plate in the kitchen, he searched the vigilante base. Kaiji was in the exercise room, lifting weights. He looked up, his eyes widening.

Yoichi said, "I'm sorry."

At the same time, Kaiji said, "I'm sorry, I never should have made you feel stupid—"

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten mad at you just because of a facial expression that I read way too much into." Yoichi held out his arms. Kaiji ran over and hugged him.

Closing his eyes, Yoichi soaked in the body warmth and the slight smell of sweat. He felt Kaiji's heart beat against his chest. Even if Yoichi could no longer go back to his old home, this place was home now.

Hisashi moved about the party with a glass of champagne in his hand. Every eye followed him. He was the person everyone wanted to network with. Half a dozen people were making their way across the room in order to approach him. Everyone in this building wanted Hisashi or wanted to be Hisashi.

Normally, Hisashi exulted in the worship. Today, everything felt sour. Hisashi was here as part of his plan to find his brother, even if he had to take this whole city down. Nothing else mattered.

As the first sycophant arrived, a woman in a business suit with adoring eyes, Hisashi only felt weary.

Apparently he could make anyone love him except his little brother.