A/N: First and Second's relationship and the mysterious nature of One for All has always interested me, and I tried to do my best to write what I think would be how it came about.I wanted to make Yoichi in particular more intel-worthy to the initial movement of the resistance. This way he was more of a well rounded character I like- not just a damsel in distress who was in the right place at the right time.I also think that the damsel in distress is a disservice to Yoichi in general, which is why I gave him a more proactive role in the movement of the resistance. I also tried to emphasize this by highlighting his sickness, but I am a bit afraid I just fit him back into that troupe in a backwards way. But I was trying to highlight Yoichi's anxieties and worries, so maybe it's fine! I also wanted to make an effective counter to All for One's networking abilities. It's pretty hard to network when the network itself is actively hostile to outsiders in its construction but also in its people. He'll have to attack the resistance base directly if he wanted any concrete information, and even then nothing is written down and it all exists entirely on fragment-pieces of the members. No one man has all the information. He'll need a lot of resources and time to truly go after the resistance, which he does not have at this moment. This is a very annoying thorn in his side for this exact reason.

Yoichi's lungs burned when he exerted himself. An ever-persistent symptom of the disease he was infected with as a child, eating himself from the inside.

It presented itself in the worst situations. When he tried to escape from Ni-san's grasp, it always seemed to be his damned lungs that would give out and allow him to be captured once more, subject to the whims of his brother's manipulation and witness to the atrocities he committed with people's hearts.

Stockpile mitigated it, at least a little. It saved his strength for when he needed it most, unleashing it when the time was right. It was the reason why he could run alongside Ichi and Mitsu when they infiltrated the bank Ni-san was holding him in. It gave him boosts of energy to direct the resistance, divide and conquer the chaos, making it ever so harder for his brother to gather the information he needed.

But the symptoms persist. It made him cough blood in the bathroom sink late at night. It made him late to meetings, an eternal visitor at the medical facilities for medicine, losing appetites in the middle of eating and wasting food that could have gone to someone else.

And his lungs failed him now, when Ichi asked that, with his eyes so wide, and his heart so perfect.

Here, in this busy hallway with strangers and friends and brothers all around him, asked to marry the first man he ever loved.

Truely, he did love Ichi. He loved Mitsu, he loved the comrades he befriended in the resistance, he loved the children that he played with. He loved them all. But Ichi was perhaps the first person he ever looked at and could see himself by his side forever.

It was a miracle that Ichi loved him back. Him, the brother of his greatest enemy. Blood with the man who toyed and tossed aside thousands of lives. The surname of a beast so hated that it seemed no one in the world could stand against him.

Him. With his sickly form, his weak constitution, and his frail hands.

Who he forced a meta ability upon, who took it with a gleam in his eyes.

And this man, Ichi. Who took it all, everything Yoichi had to give, and gave it back with a simple question asked under the blanket of a thousand conversations at once.

"You can't marry me, Ichi." He finally said. A cough itched in his throat. He tried to swallow it. "You don't want to. Ichi, look at me."

He gestured to himself, shaking his arm out of Ichi's grip and allowing himself to cough into his sleeve. It came back shiny with fresh blood. "I'm dying. You can't marry me, because I will die soon and leave you all alone, and I could never live with myself if I ever hurt you."

Ichi brought his thumb to Yoichi's lips, gently pushing away the drops of blood that dribbled from his lips. "That's the price that marriage implies. I would love to be hurt by you."

Ichi clasped Yoichi's hands in his own in a tight, warm grip that made Yoichi's heart flutter. "My occupation isn't exactly OSHA-compliant. We have about 50/50 odds of it going either way. So why should we stop? You'll make me happy, Yoichi. And I'll try my damndest to make you happy too."

Yoichi realizes that, despite this, he's been smiling the whole time.

He gives his answer.

A meeting is planned between the leaders of a few of the cells. Mostly the cells that work in tandem with Ichi's, but a few others are included. Trusted people. Confirmed people. Strong people who will sooner die than tell All for One a single thing.

It is a room off to the side, unseen by most people in the base. Soundproofing in the form of meta-applied foam, guarded from sight by an illusion.

It is here that seven people sit around a shoddy looking table and wait for Ichi to begin.

"As you may have known already," Ichi begins. "I had used Yoichi's meta-ability on a recent mission, of which the specifics will remain unknown for now."

Mitsu was the only one that acted surprised, even though he clearly heard the gossip through the grapevine. Ichi gave no explicit orders to keep that exact detail a secret, and he trusted every member of his team. However, the resistance was a ring of spies and intel-gatherers. Even if Sand, Claws, and Slash all kept their thoughts to themselves, gossip had a way of going around the higher-ups.

"I think the original meta ability I was born with was a vestige ability. A type that wouldn't activate unless the circumstances are met. I am the brother to All for One, so I think I perhaps got a similar meta ability."

Shinomori Hikage blinked. To anyone outside of their circle of comrades it would have been nothing more than an involuntary blink, but to Ichi who knew Shinomori so well, it might as well have been a gasp of shock.

"A hidden meta ability… " Shinomori nodded. "It's certainly possible. If you never took a DNA test growing up, you never would have realized that you had the plus alpha proteins on your DNA relating to its activation."

"Even then," Tsukaige interjected. "He wouldn't have known if it was an actual meta ability or a vestige mutation. His hair being white would have hidden such a fact, if he had no visible ability."

"My daughter has an ability that activates under very particular circumstances," Lady Sakura says. "And Shinomori's ability is similar in regard to circumstances needed to activate. This isn't impossible."

"So, this similar ability. Does it let you give a meta ability to someone?"

Yoichi nodded. "Apparently. I would have never known, had it not been for Stockpile being passed onto me, and Ichi using it earlier this morning. I think the activation is different- I lack the orifices my brother has on his hands." Yoichi held up his palms to show them.

"I think," Ichi says. "If you want my theory, I think there's two things required to give it to someone. Ingesting DNA, and a will to give." Ichi flushed a bit at the thought, but he pressed on. "I believe Yoichi passed it to me in a, erm, private moment between the two of us."

Yoichi reached for his hand under the table. "During this moment, I was thinking quite deeply about helping Ichi in any way I could. I even remember thinking this exact phrase; 'I wish he had stockpile instead of me.'"

"Romantic." Mitsu teased. "He was giving you head and your only thought was on the work that we need to get done."

"It wasn't!" Yoichi went completely red in the face. With his white hair, he looked kind of like a frost-covered strawberry. "It was just making out! There's not enough privacy here to do that sort of thing!"

"That didn't stop Spade and Hornet from doing it that one time in the changing rooms."

"Wait, they did what? I'm putting them on cleaning duty for a week; I told them to knock it off!"

"ANYWAY," Lady Sakura hushed the lot of them. "To focus this back on the subject. This is very enlightening on not only your meta ability, but the possibility of how All for One's ability functions as well. But I must ask the purpose of this meeting if it was only to quash rumors. Why must we gather here, putting lives at risk, to confirm this?"

Professionals, the group of them. Trusted people. Confirmed people. Not only sympathizers with the resistance but leaders of their own cells of intel-gatherers and code breakers.

Ichi felt himself smiling at this.

"Actually," Yoichi cleared his throat. "If this meta ability is passed solely by thoughts alone, it is possible that Ichi can pass it to another if the same circumstances are met. More than possible, I would say a very high chance."

"We need a contingency plan." Ichi gruffs. "Stockpile is a powerful weapon that we can use against All for One. If it can be passed to different people without the threat of blackmail or retaliation, we have a mobile weapon in the form of a meta ability that can be passed on to different units or people if the time calls for it."

"It also grows with time." Yoichi says. "Stockpile gathers potential energy passively and converts it to kinetic energy when it is activated. The more time we have, the more this ability will grow."

Mitsu raised his hand. "If that's the case, why not just keep it to yourself for now? If you use it now, you show your hand to All for One."

"It's possible that he knows already," Ichi pointed out. "We could have been surveyed. We'll know for sure when the salvage team gets back."

"Standing by passively also isn't an option when we're in an active state," Lady Sakura says. "If we have resources, we should use them."

"That being said," Ichi clasps his hands. "If the time ever comes where I may die, I would like one of you to take the meta ability from me. It is vital that this ability does not die with the current holder, and must be passed on. Not only as a weapon, but as hope for the future. It will grow, and it will be strong. If we cannot kill All for One in our lifetimes, it would be up to the next generation if we fail. And if we fail, we are already at a source of shame. The least we can do is give any advantage they can get."

"Another thing," Yoichi says. "I believe this meta ability cannot be taken by force. I have a reason to think so. When Ni-san forced Stockpile on me, it burned and hurt. I remember little of the event afterwards, but I do remember his hand across my forehead once more. Looking back, I believe he was trying to take it back. He only wanted to briefly inflict pain upon me when I refused to submit."

Lady Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"That being said," Yoichi continued. "I may have very well been hallucinating, or misreading the situation looking back. But I know my brother very well, and he is not the type to waste such a useful ability on someone who, ah, to use his terms,"

Yoichi makes air-quotations with his thin hands. "'Iis not a viable long term investment.'" he says coldly.

Silence. Only the telltale hum of Lady Sakura's quirk in the background of their conversation could be heard.

Ichi squeezed his hand under the table, rage boiling in the pit of his stomach at the very thought of All for One seeing his associates as something so dehumanizing as investments.

Shinomori eventually spoke up. "If that should be the case, out of all of us here I am the one best equipped to dodge and avoid danger. With my Danger Sense, I would be able to avoid large and small groups. I will go into exile if that is the case to better avoid harm."

Tsukaige clenched his fist. "That image of us failing. I can't imagine forcing my children or grandchildren to the same hell All for One is subjecting us to now. That image is a horrible thing. I agree. If the time comes where you will pass, I will take it and give it to Shinomori."

Mitsu blinked. "Are you really okay with doing that, Shinomori?"

Shinomori nodded. "I've lived off the land before. Avoiding other humans is what I'm good at."

Lady Sakura sighed. "That is a noble deed. I can admire that. I do not believe I can do the same. I will pass it to you as well, if the circumstances come to be right."

Mitsu glared at Icni. "And all of this is only based on if a lot of factors come into play at once? It's possible that you can't give it away, and it's possible none of us will be near when you die."

Ichi leveled a blank stare back at his dear friend. Yoichi spoke up before he could make a witty comment, however. "Contingency plans are always good to have. All of this may be possible, and if that is the case we would need to accept our losses and move on."

"I agree." Mitsu rolled his eyes. "Don't get defensive of your boyfriend, now."

Shinomori placed his folded hands on the table. "If this meta ability is going to live on, I think we need to give it a fitting name."

"It's an antithesis to All for One," Lady Sakura said. "Everything he controls, this is a rebel. An ability that cannot be taken, only given. I find it fitting that only Yoichi could forge a meta ability like this."

"What if we call it…" Mitsu brought his hand to his lips in thought. "It can be given to anyone if the circumstances are right, and only if the person wants to. So, If it's the antithesis to All for One, what if we call it One for All?"

"It's perfect," Yoichi breathed. A smile has begun to form on his face. "One for All. The end to All for One. It's perfect."

"One for All," Ichi breathed. "I like it."

Lady Sakura let out a little laugh. "It's so cheesy. I love it. This is the thing of comic books, truly."

"Yoichi loves comic books," Ichi says. "It fits."

Yoichi squeezed his hand under the table.

"And, now that the heavy stuff is over with, we have good news." Ichi's eyes sparkled with excitement, but if anyone asked he would have denied it vehemently. "I have asked Yoichi to marry me."

Under the hoots and hollers of their comrades, Yoichi blushed. "We would like to be married tomorrow after dinner hours, if possible."

"PLEASE LET ME OFFICIATE!" Tsukaige yelled at the top of his lungs.

Mitsu tackles Ichi from across the table and wrestles him to the ground. Ichi goes willingly, accepting the noogies to come. "You little shit! Why didn't you tell me you were thinkin' 'bout it!"

"It was spur of the moment! I promise!" Ichi laughed as his face was pressed into the tatami mats.

"We need to see how much alcohol we have in storage," Lady Sakura hums. "I believe the 21st regiment used it for, ah, mission purposes recently. We may be low on stock."

"Actually, Mitsu's regiment has a moonshine silo. They have amassed an impressive stock, I'm sure they'll be willing to share." Says Shinomori.

"Goddamnit, it's still running? I told them to knock it off since my daughter found it." Mistu rolled his eyes. Mitsu's daughter was five and very nosy.

"Yeah, it's running in the ceiling above the woman's bathroom on floor 3C so you wouldn't find it."

"Seriously, how do you know more about my regiment than I do?"

The wedding itself was traditional, by Japanese standards. Simple, by modern standards.

Of course, in a refugee compound that also doubles as a base for a political resistance movement, you don't have time to be picky. If they lived anywhere else, Ichi would have lavished Yoichi with all of the pomp and glamor he could muster to stand, despite his general repulsiveness to anything kirakira. He would have suffered through a western style wedding with suits and ties, flower girls and bouquets, dinners and dances, if it was for Yoichi.

But instead, a shinzen kekkon ceremony would do. In borrowed and old but beautiful kimodos, one hemmed at the last second by a displaced shrine maiden.

Traditionally, only the closest family members would bear witness to shinzen kekkon. But Ichi had no blood family, and inviting Yoichi's brother here would be a laughable affair.

The entire base of operations watched with bated breath as the first two cups of sake (which, of course, was actually home-brewed moonshine) was poured. Representing the act of sharing joys and sorrows as a married couple, the oaths are repeated three times, sake poured three times, and drunk in three sips.

He barely remembered the oaths he said, or the burn of horrible moonshine on his lips. All that he could focus on was Yoichi. His beautiful face locked in that kind smile, his thin hands delicately reaching for the cup and the eye contact they made when exchanging the cup to take their respective sips.

With the final horrible burn of moonshine on his throat, the dining hall erupted into cheers. The 15th regiment had acquired pots from the kitchen and banged them together over their heads, reciting a poem about peace and long life that could barely be heard over the noise. Someone popped a confetti popper, another used their meta ability to make snowflakes rain from the ceiling. A little girl with bare feet ran up to the pair and shoved a poorly made crown of paper over Yoichi's head. It had crayon-colored flowers on it. Ichi wanted to kiss him so badly as he smiled at that little girl and thanked her, before adjusting the crown on his head.

The 36th regiment with their huge member akin to a hulking gorilla scooped them up, placing them each on his shoulders. Icni only let out a little yelp as Yoichi laughed more, protesting.

"Eat!" Lady Sakura bellowed over the noise. "Drink! Celebrate the joining of two lives as you please!" She tossed an apple into the air and it exploded.

Ichi was slammed into one of the tables by the 36th regiment and Yoichi was gently placed next to him. Someone shoved a bowl of food into his hands, another a cup of the same moonshine.

Yoichi knocked back another cup of the moonshine, raising the empty glass above his head. His laughter was barely heard by Ichi despite being right next to him.

His bowl of food was pork dumplings. His favorite. He brought one to his lips and bit into it.

Eventually, the celebrations really kicked off once the children were whisked away by their parents and guardians to bed. Yoichi pulled Ichi into a dance, a modified two-step to fit the beat of the homemade music consisting of several actual records being played at once and the banging of pots and pans attempting to hide the clashing beats and lyrics but only added to the general chaos.

Yoichi had spun around in time to the music and saw that Ichi had been kidnapped once again by his regiment, who were holding him up with a combination of Sand's meta-ability and someone else's fiber manipulation ability. Yoichi laughed as his husband was stolen from him to be forced to take a shot of moonshine again.

Mitsu sneaked up to him while Ichi was fighting his regiment to "Put me down, damnit!" while they continued their parade. His quirk was built up in all of his limbs from doing the limbo earlier.

"Yoichi, I have been informed that it is my duty to kidnap you."

Yoichi grinned. Mitsu threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"Oh, dear me! It appears a mere low-ranking resistance rebel has captured me!" He cupped his hands to his mouth as Mistu climbed on top of the tables for a better path out of the crowded dining hall. "My dear husband! Save me!"

Mitsu stopped in the middle, his quirk crackling like static electricity as he did so.

"If you want to see your husband again!" He laughed over the noise of the celebrations. "A ransom is needed! A bottle of your finest liquor within 10 minutes, or your husband gets it!"

Someone let out a whoop and a few firecrackers went off.

With that, Mitsu and Yoichi excited the hall. Ichi shouted "What liquor! Y'all drunk it all!" after them.

In the quiet hallway, Mitsu and Yoichi laughed as Mitsu put him down.

"Well, resistance rebel, where shall my captor be taking me?"

Mitsu pulled a bottle of water out of his uniform, and handed it to Yoichi who drank it gratefully. "The infirmary for your medicine, of course."

He turned and walked briskly down the hall. Despite having drowned several shots of the moonshine earlier, he still walked perfectly straight. Yoichi groaned and followed.

"I've been drinking, Mitsu-sannnnn. Doctor will chew me out."

"Doctor understands exceptions! Anyways, your drinks has been diluted all night anyway. You're not nearly as drunk as you think you are."

"Boo…" Yoichi blew a raspberry in his direction. When he returned, he was going to steal someone else's glass.

Doctor was in fact, super mad at him, but only chewed him out a little as he made Yoichi prick his finger and draw blood. He said his iron levels were low. Yoichi promised to eat more spinach but was still shoved a horse pill of an iron supplement with his regular doses of medicine.

Ichi waited until Yoichi was cleared by the doctor before opening the door, throwing a bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol at Mitsu, and scooping Yoichi up again to return to their celebrations.

"This doesn't count, Ichi!"

"Ask your regiment for more if you actually want liquor instead of a first aid kit!"

"My hero," Yoichi sighed in a faux-dreamy voice. "Have you come to save me?" he teased.

"Of course," Ichi kissed the top of his head as he set him back down and pushed him through the doors.

"Look at that! The bride has been returned!" Tsukaige, who had removed his shirt while Yoichi was gone, announced.

"He's not a bride, he's a groom!" Lady Sakura shouted from the other side of the room.

"He's a husband now, they're already married!" Someone from the 13th regiment shouted as another meta-ability explosion of glitter rained over everyone.

Yoichi sat back down at his table with Ichi, thanking the people who tried to congratulate him but were too drunk to do so properly. Somehow, he was given another bowl of food.

It was spinach and rice. That damn doctor.

Yoichi ate his spinach and rice as the general ruckus of the party turned into a sea shanty that was so raunchy it made Mitsu blush when he returned. Yoichi didn't know the words but laughed when Ichi's face went red at a particularly vivid description of a woman's bosom. He clapped his hands to the beat.

Ichi tucked his hands around Yoichi's waist. He leaned against the collarbone of his husband.

"I'm so blessed," He whispered into the collar of Ichi's borrowed-kimodo. "To have you by my side. I promise to remain as long as I can."

Ichi squeezed him closer. He didn't say anything, but Yoichi understood him perfectly.

Several hours in, Yoichi's eyes start to droop and he yawns more often than not. His food and drink lay untouched as he curled into his husband's side, watching the dance the resistance members moved to as the worst out-of-key bar song Ichi had ever heard was bellowed from Lady Sakura's gaggle of friends.

"Tired?" He whispered into Yoichi's ear.

"Yes," he admitted. He rubbed a fist against his eye. "But I don't want to go. I don't want to spoil the celebrations. They all look so happy."

And they did look happy. Ichi had never seen Slash so unwound. Usually his stoic demeanor translated to all aspects of his life. Now he was shirtless and in a mock sword fight with a table leg that had gotten smashed at one point against another equally shirtless woman. Claws had left a while ago, but Ichi had seen her set off a few homemade firecrackers before she did.

Their cheer was infectious and made a feedback loop that repeated itself, like an echo chamber.

Their comrades haven't had a lot to celebrate in some time. All for One's forces had recently taken over another prefecture entirely, and before then an entire cell had been lost to the war. Supply lines were held, but everyone was still on edge and mothers and fathers had begun to give their food to their children. Ichi found a false electrical outlet stuffed with smoked sausage obviously hidden by a scared parent.

Everyone in his generation remembered when society fell and agriculture was halted. Ichi still remembered the pangs of hunger while waiting in line at a grocery store for a restock that never came.

It was worse than the riots, worse than the sense of instability. Starvation is the type of feeling you never forget.

He placed his hand on Yoichi's arm. "The party won't stop if you leave. I'll say it's even part of the celebration to send off the grooms."

"Okay," Yoichi smiled. "Let's go, then."

The nearby people wolf-whistled as Ichi hauled Yoichi up and held him in a bridal carry, drawing the attention of everyone else.

"Clear a path for the happy couple!" A woman shouted, and people scrambled out of the way, onto tables and knocking over cups and bowls as they did so.

"Get it, Leader!" Sand cheered.

"For the glory of the resistance, you better fuck that man!"

"Hot damn!"

"Ayooo!"

Yoichi blushed. He once again looked like a frost-covered strawberry. Ichi twirled him around before waltzing out of the dining hall for a final time, the door slamming behind them.

The nest of blankets and Ichi's warm body is hard to leave. Yoichi tries to rise without waking him, but Ichi still shifts in his sleep, arms trailing after Yoichi like roots to water.

"Back in a moment, my love." he whispers.

In the bright fluorescent lights of the bathroom, he coughs blood into the sink. There's a random partygoer passed out in the corner of the bathroom, but luckily he is not shaken awake by the awful hacking from Yoichi's lungs.

He stares at that little bit of blood. It's nothing new, all things considered. He's been coughing up blood and mucus for years now. But the sight of it, after everything they've been through, fills Yoichi with rage.

He'll never have a peaceful life with his husband. They'll always be fighting, for their friends, for their comrades, for the future. They will never have children. They will never be able to buy a house, adopt a cat, or go on walks on the beach. That's the cost of Ichi loving Yoichi. Ichi will suffer.

If not soon, then later. Yoichi's hands already shake with cold no matter how many layers of jackets he puts on. Without Stockpile, he can already feel the feeble attempts of strength in his body fading. Soon he won't be able to run without collapsing again.

He splashes water on his face, washing the blood away as he does.

He returns to bed. Their bedroom is a little more than a small room put together with meta-ability created wood with two plastic-stuffed mattresses pushed together with a bundle of blankets acting as bedsheets. Mitsu's daughter had drawn a picture of them and their comrades, and it was taped to the wall instead of a window. So far underground, windows were a rarity. Windows were a safety hazard. It's why the base was stuffed with as many plants as possible. Potted ivy along the halls and weeds growing between the cracks in the cement. Meta-grown vines along the bare wires and pipes on the ceiling.

He latched the door behind him, removing his slippers and returning to his still-warm spot on their bed.

Ichi reaches out and cards his fingers through his hair, tucking his bangs behind his ear. Yoichi couldn't see his face clearly in the dark, but he could just see his eyes glow just a little. Stockpile was already at work, gathering energy and storing it away. He felt a flutter of pride in his chest at that. Ichi would be able to use that meta-ability so expertly. He was always thinking and moving. He was like a betta fish- always moving and fluttering in an expertly crafted dance of his strength and his abilities. He would be able to utilize it to its full potential. Combined with Gearshift, he would be a menace to Ni-san.

He closed his eyes.

Ever so softly, Ichi splayed a hand on his back, pulling him closer. They pressed their foreheads together, not saying anything.

Yoichi places a hand on Ichi's chest. He thought he could feel his heartbeat under his fingertips, but it might have also been his own. Either way, it was a comfort. A warm beat in the safety of the night. A balm on his aching lungs.

Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he could feel the difference between his heartbeat and Ichi's. Maybe he could feel the warmth of Stockpile working its way into Ichi's bones.

But he didn't need to. He could feel Ichi, and that was enough.