Chapter Eight:

"You want to spar with me?" Kaiji looked up from the punching bag with a frown. The vigilantes had a gym in the basement, with treadmills, exercise bikes, weights, and half a dozen punching bags. The walls were made of plain cement, but the back wall had been decorated like a dojo with a hanging scroll, a suit of samurai armor, and a glass case containing swords. A padded square off to the right had been roped off for combat practice.

Feeling Kaiji's skeptical gaze rake his skinny arms, Yoichi bristled. "I trained in martial arts before my imprisonment." He'd been working on building his muscle back, dammit. Every single day he'd weight-lifted despite his exhaustion. Perhaps he should have trained longer before asking for a spar, but he wanted to take Sanzou's advice and show off his combat proficiency.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but people around here don't like to spar with me because I can get vicious. I'm not good at holding back when I start to lose. It's my fault, not yours." Kaiji turned away.

"Offense taken." Yoichi grabbed Kaiji's shoulder. "People used to say the same about me. Come on, don't you want to get revenge for your stolen phone?"

The provocation worked. Kaiji flung off the hand. "I'll give you one round, and if you lose, you won't bother me again."

"If I win, you'll spar with me whenever I want." Yoichi smirked. He had confidence because he always fought dirty.

Kaiji handed Yoichi a vest and a helmet. "This should fit you." He helped Yoichi tighten the straps, then dressed himself.

Standing barefoot on the matt, the two of them bowed at each other. Kaiji moved first, a high kick clearly intended to knock Yoichi down and finish this fast. How insulting. Yoichi let the blow bounce off his vest, then pivoted and kicked harder. Kaiji stumbled backward, a grin on his face acknowledging this would not be such an easy fight.

"At least you have something to back up your boasts." Yoichi winked. "I'd be disappointed if you ended up pinned under me too quickly."

Kaiji blushed, then covered it up with a fast fist jab. Yoichi ducked. Kaiji said, "You're not all talk, either."

"You're cute when you blush," Yoichi drawled. He was rewarded with an even deeper flush.

They circled each other, exchanging kicks. As the taller one, Yoichi had the superior reach and they both knew it. Kaiji ran close, ducking under Yoichi's kick and grabbing his leg. With a grunt, he threw Yoichi to the floor.

It was still gentler than it could have been. Kaiji could have leapt on Yoichi and tried to pin him down, but instead he was retreating. His eyes had a worried look, as if not sure if he'd gone too far. How infuriating.

Yoichi clutched his throat and pretended to cough.

"Are you okay?" Kaiji leaned over, reaching out.

Yoichi grabbed Kaiji's arm and yanked him down, then rolled on top, pinning the shorter man with his knees. "Got you!"

Eyes sparkling, Kaiji laughed. "So that's how you want to play it?" He grabbed Yoichi's head and pinned it against his chest.

For the first time, Kaiji wasn't holding back. Yoichi had reach, but Kaiji had superior muscles. To get free from the hold, Yoichi had to twist his body away, giving Kaiji time to get up to his feet.

They grappled, their arms locked together and their heads touching. Yoichi tried to break out, to regain the advantage of his longer legs, but Kaiji refused to let him go. Grunting, Yoichi started to wrench them apart. Kaiji yanked his hair.

Blood boiling, Yoichi punched Kaiji in the left eye.

Kaiji cried out but his grin betrayed his pleasure. "Not bad." He threw back his head and laughed. "Now this is getting interesting!"

They'd both started fighting dirty. Hair-pulling was illegal under most fighting rules. Yoichi shouldn't have punched his opponent's face, he knew better. They should have discussed rules before this. They should stop the match now. But neither of them wanted to stop.

Yoichi got in another kick, knocking Kaiji into the wall. The air filled with the sound of their pants and the scent of sweat. Kaiji jumped off the wall and leapt on Yoichi, wrapping around both his legs and dragging them to the floor. Yoichi landed on the ground with Kaiji clinging to his back, legs locked to hold them in place. Yoichi's heart was racing in tune to the ferocious song of his blood rushing through his veins.

"Amazing," Yoichi breathed, then paid the best compliment he could—an elbow to the side. He tried to rise, but Kaiji dragged him down, and they both landed sprawled sideways with their cheeks touching.

Looking into those burning crimson eyes and flushed cheeks, Yoichi grabbed Kaiji's face and kissed him.

It was less a kiss and more a battle for dominance, their tongues grappling as they grappled on the floor. Kaiji was trying to touch Yoichi everywhere. They locked their arms and legs together, part a hold and part an embrace. When Kaiji gasped for air, Yoichi released his lips and bit down on his neck instead. The answering moan was deeply gratifying. Remembering the tip he'd received, Yoichi nibbled on an earlobe. It turned satisfyingly flushed in response. Kaiji retaliated by seizing a fistful of hair and putting a hickey on Yoichi's neck. "You're fucking beautiful," he mumbled.

Yoichi wanted too much. He wanted to see what a cool, powerful hero looked like stripped bare-naked and gasping for more. Kaiji wore a confident grin, like he knew how every tug on Yoichi's hair sent heat to his groin. Yoichi wanted to push Kaiji down and tease him with his tongue until he begged for Yoichi to take him. Or he wanted to ride Kaiji until they both collapsed from exhaustion. He wanted to try enough different positions and acts that it would take them the rest of their lives.

They paused, their foreheads resting against each other, both panting. Kaiji's touch on Yoichi's hair turned gentle, playing with a purple lock. "Your new hair looks great."

"I love it." Yoichi smiled.

"I'm so damn relieved I kissed you, not All for One." Kaiji murmured it like a confession. "Sanzou has been mocking me relentlessly about that."

"And he's not going to mock you for being seduced by me?"

"He can't, he's head over heels for you too."

Yoichi growled with pleasure. He touched Kaiji's face, just above where a bruise was starting to form, and pulled off his hero's helmet. Then his hand moved downward to unfasten the vest. "You'll spar with me anytime I want, because I win."

It had been the wrong thing to say. Kaiji's face shuttered closed. He pushed off the hand on his chest. The soft look in his eyes vanished, replaced by the sternness of a leader. He stood up. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." He didn't sound sorry, he sounded angry, although whether at Yoichi or himself was unclear.

"Wait!" Yoichi leapt up. "I didn't mean it like that. This wasn't a game, well, it was a game but both of us were having fun, weren't we? I'm sorry about your damn phone. I swear I didn't kiss you to trick you or deceive you—"

"I know," Kaiji said. "But I have to think of my position. I'm not just a member of Sunrise, I'm the leader, and that means I can't be serious unless I completely trust you. But it will hurt too much if it's not serious."

Those words stole Yoichi's breath, because in truth, he'd be deeply hurt if Kaiji only wanted him for sex, not a relationship. After having lost his only family member, Yoichi had no one except his rescuers. Maybe he'd fallen so fast and hard because he needed someone to care. He could not tolerate being an ant sniffing around the crumbs of Kaiji and Sanzou's love for each other.

Yoichi could not speak another word as Kaiji left.

Later, sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter, Yoichi complained, "He didn't even explain what he meant. Is it because I'm All for One's brother? I can't do anything to change that! Is it completely hopeless?"

Sanzou placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of Yoichi, then added whipped cream on top. "It's not hopeless. It wasn't a permanent rejection either." He brushed Yoichi's hair back comfortingly. "Kaiji would never judge you because of your family. His own family wasn't great, either. I don't want to go into too much detail without his permission, but they rejected him for being metahuman."

"Then it must be because of my past." Yoichi took a small sip of hot chocolate, testing the hotness. "I can't change that, either."

"We've taken in defectors before. You just need more time to build trust."

"Why do you trust me?" Yoichi asked. If you do, his brain added. He immediately regretted the question.

Sanzou shrugged. "I have a lot of faith in my ability to read people. I know you'd never go back to your brother. I know that you sincerely like Kaiji. I know that you can be manipulative but it's all in good fun with people you like. Besides, you didn't steal my phone so we don't have that baggage."

Yoichi's shoulders sagged as he bitterly regretted taking that phone. What if their first meeting had been his only shot at sleeping with Kaiji, and he'd wasted it to get information for his stupid evil brother? Would he still have taken a one night stand even if he'd known Kaiji would never love him? Maybe. Gods, he felt pathetic. Yoichi mumbled, "At least Kaiji cared enough about me to be afraid of hurting me."

"Oh, that's not what he meant." Sanzou's lips quirked. "Kaiji has far too deep feelings for you to have a casual fling. That's why he needs to trust you first. He's the one afraid of being too badly hurt."

"Oh!" Yoichi sat up, eyes bright, the hot chocolate forgotten. "Then you two are open to dating another person?"

"Not just anyone—you. We've talked about it." Sanzou met Yoichi's eyes. "We'd like to date you together, as an equal partner. If it works out with you, then we'd offer to change the terms of our relationship and become a closed triad with you. That means the three of us only date each other. Would you want that? If you'd prefer to stay open on your end that would be acceptable but I got the impression that you—"

Yoichi could barely speak so instead he dragged Sanzou into a hug.

"Careful! The hot chocolate!" Sanzou caught the mug before it fell off the counter, with Yoichi still clinging to his neck like a baby koala. "I was going to wait to talk about relationship terms with the three of us together, but it seemed like you and Kaiji had misunderstood each other."

"I don't know what we two idiots would do without you. I think we'd kill each other if we didn't have you to balance us out." Yoichi took a long sip of hot chocolate, licking whipped cream off his lip. "Mmm, this is good. You're an awesome cook. Without you, we'd probably starve both emotionally and physically."

Sanzou smiled. "I'm glad you like it." His gaze lingered on the hickey on Yoichi's neck.

"Ah-ha! I know what you like now." Yoichi rested his chin on his hand and smirked. "You like praise, and you like it when Kaiji leaves a mark on me. It turns you on, doesn't it?" He ran a finger down Sanzou's chest and drew out each word musically: "You've got a kink!"

Two spots of color appeared on Sanzou's cheeks. "Mmm." He turned away, busying himself with cleaning the dishes.

Yoichi laughed silently. He'd finally succeeded in making the unflappable Sanzou blush! And he had a game plan! If Kaiji needed a slower courtship, then that was no problem at all. Yoichi already had some plans for building trust: by helping the vigilantes and not incidentally screwing over his brother. If all went well, Yoichi would create a chance to get closer to both his heroes.

When Yoichi entered the living room, Kaiji sat on an armchair working on his laptop. He had an ice compress over the black eye that Yoichi had given him. Two-Step and Sparrow sat on the couch whispering to each other. "Hmm, both a hickey and a bruise…do you regret your bet now?" Sparrow asked.

Two-Step snorted. "Knowing Leader, he probably enjoyed getting punched in the face. I'll move my bet even earlier—they'll be banging before the week is out."

"I can hear you," Kaiji called.

"We know. Did you at least win the fight?" Sparrow called back.

"It was a draw," Kaiji said.

Yoichi said, "I still think I won."

Kaiji's gaze shot up, and he smiled. It was an open, welcoming smile. Yoichi felt relieved he'd talked to Sanzou first, because now it seemed obvious that "not now" hadn't meant "not forever." He still had a chance. A very good chance, at his estimate.

Yoichi said, "I have a plan for how you can use me. I told you before there was no point in having me pretend to be All for One in front of his people, because he would have come up with a counter-measure. But what if I pretend to be Hisashi Shigaraki in public? My brother is still maintaining his good reputation as a metahuman rights activist."

"Hmm." Kaiji shifted to business mode in an instant. "Are you thinking about humiliating All for One?"

"That would be fun, but let's hit him where it really hurts. His wallet," Yoichi said. "I'll promise a large number of charitable donations in my brother's name. If he doesn't honor the promises then he'll be publicly disgraced. If he admits someone pretended to be him then he'll look weak."

"We could save money for our own operations if we obtained funding another way for the causes we support." Kaiji bit his lip as he considered. "We need the money. We've been planning a huge protest march."

"I like how you think," Two-Step said. "But what about your purple hair?"

Yoichi looked at his feet. "I could bleach it back and cut it short." He didn't love the idea, but it would be worth it to get back at his brother and win the vigilantes' esteem.

"No, there's no need to go that far," Kaiji said. "We'll get a wig. If we're going to do this right, then we need a high-quality suit and high heels for you too. We'll pick a time when All for One is distracted. Even so, it will be risky."

"Of course I know it will be risky." Yoichi scowled. He was a former villain, not a child. Also, he understood the depths of his twin's obsession with getting him back better than anyone else in this room. "I want to get revenge on my brother, can't you understand that?"

"I can understand very well." Kaiji met Yoichi's eyes, both of them remembering the vault. "We can only do this once before All for One will start keeping an eye out for fakes. Let's make it good."

Four members of Team Alpha came along on the mission: Kaiji, Sanzou, Two-Step, and Sparrow. As a strict non-combatant, Migraine remained at the base. In the car, Yoichi found himself squeezed into the backseat between Sparrow and Two-Step. They drove to a second base hidden in an abandoned hotel downtown. Kaiji said it would be safer to have other vigilantes pick up the wig and clothing, because his team and Yoichi were too notorious. He also told Yoichi to wait in the car.

Fidgeting, Yoichi stared out the window. He doubted Kaiji's transparent excuse that someone needed to watch the car. Clearly Kaiji didn't want to take All for One's brother to meet Team Zeta. Was it for Yoichi's protection or was Kaiji embarrassed by him?

In Yoichi's mood of bitter contemplation, he failed to notice the man approaching until he tapped on the window. Then Yoichi jumped so high his head banged the ceiling. Some lookout he'd turned out to be.

This man wore casual clothing with the golden pin of Sunrise on his collar, so he must be a vigilante. Staring at Yoichi with cold eyes, he said, "You really do look like All for One."

Yoichi turned on the charm immediately. "I'm Yoichi Shigaraki, and I'm completely devoted to defeating my brother. What's your codename?"

The stranger's upper lip curled. "If you're willing to do anything, then you should offer yourself up as a trade—"

A roaring filled Yoichi's ears. He couldn't even hear the rest of the sentence.

Kaiji came up behind the stranger and yanked him away by the back of his shirt. "Hey! I said no one goes out to the car! I'll be having a word with your team leader." The threat sent the other vigilante running.

In a dead voice, Yoichi said, "If you agree to that plan, then I'll starve myself again. I'd rather die."

"I would never." Kaiji opened the door and took Yoichi's face between his hands. "Look into my eyes. I give you my word."

Yoichi shuddered. He believed Kaiji, but— "Others have suggested trading me, haven't they?"

Kaiji said, "Our teams are strictly isolated. No one but me and Sanzou knows where to find each one. Even if someone were to betray my orders and come after you, they wouldn't know where to find you."

Yoichi sagged with relief. Yet guilt still nagged at him. He did not have the capacity to go back to the vault again, but he felt selfish. "You probably should trade me. I'd be worth a lot more as a hostage than an agent, now you have all my information. Your followers are right."

"They're fools. All for One would turn the deal into a trap and slaughter us," Kaiji said.

This surprised a snort out of Yoichi. "You know my brother well. That's exactly what he'd do. He's too petty and vengeful to ever stop hunting you. I guess I have the right to live after all."

"Hey, you always have the right to live." Kaiji cupped Yoichi's face and turned him to look into his eyes again. "You're a person. You have the right to be free and alive. You don't need to earn it. I'll protect you because it's the right thing to do, not because I need anything in return."

"My hero," Yoichi murmured fondly. "I understand now why you wanted me to wait in the car."

Kaiji tensed, then admitted, "Some people might do worse than hurl nasty words. My people deeply hate All for One. I was afraid someone might take a shot at killing you."

Yoichi subsided into silence, and remained quiet even when the others returned with the supplies. The team had been so kind to him, he'd nearly forgotten how the rest of the world saw him.

Dressed in a black fedora and a black suit, Yoichi strolled into the lobby of a free speech advocacy organization. He'd left off the tie because, as he'd told the vigilantes, his brother never wore them. Unfortunately, his brother did wear exceptionally tasteless fedoras. At least it was a place to hide his extra hair.

Sanzou trailed after, pretending to be his bodyguard. Actually Sanzou truly was there to guard Yoichi. The other vigilantes were spread around the block, keeping an eye out for All for One's people.

Leaning on the front desk, Yoichi told the receptionist, "Tell Ao that Hisashi stopped by to see her." Ao was the first name of the president.

The receptionist blinked. "President Ito is very busy, she—oh! Mr. Shigaraki! Yes, of course." She reached for the phone.

"Excellent, because I've decided to donate a billion yen to your organization and I wanted to tell her the good news in-person." Yoichi spoke loudly, because he wanted everyone gossiping about this.

In the president's office, Yoichi exchanged pleasantries, pulled a "whoops forgot my checkbook" act, and then signed a note promising the amount with his brother's signature. By the time he got to the elevator, he was grinning. He had to force his face into an All for One expression when they stepped back into the lobby.

They walked a block to disguise that "All for One" didn't have a limo, then drove to the next location. And the next. In a few hours, they'd spent All for One's money on charities around the city.

"That was easy," Sanzou murmured as they left the homeless shelter. "I guess it helps that not many people know All for One has a brother."

"I didn't get out much." That memory doused Yoichi's good mood. "He said the secrecy was for my own protection. He said a lot of things. Hey, can I ask you a question? Do you have any siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," Sanzou said. "But my team are like brothers and sisters to me."

Yoichi bit his lip. "On television, siblings argue a lot but it's not a big deal. It's playful. Everyone on the team is like that, too. Sparrow and Two-Step got in an hour-long argument yesterday about some sports match."

"Siblings are notorious for fighting," Sanzou said. "It's usually no big deal, all in good fun."

"I imagine it's different for twins. Twins don't argue."

"Not really. Twins are just siblings who happen to be the same age. They disagree all the time."

"Oh."

"I take it that it wasn't like that for you and your brother?" Sanzou asked gently.

Yoichi looked down. "When we disagreed, it was always…bad. We had to settle it right away so we could go back to sharing the same opinion. Usually that meant Hisashi got his way."

Sanzou was quiet for a moment, long enough for Yoichi to become afraid he'd said something wrong, then he said, "Nope, that's not normal, and it sounds like your brother was too controlling."

"Understatement of the century," Yoichi mumbled. "I couldn't even grow out my hair. Much less dye my hair or pierce my ears."

Sanzou said, "While we're in the city, you could get a piercing."

"I could?" Yoichi perked up. He'd researched how to do ear piercings and tattoos at home and asked about it, but Sanzou had said he didn't want to risk causing an infection with a botched job. They couldn't easily get to a hospital if something went wrong.

"I wouldn't recommend a tattoo without taking time to think about what you want. It should be something special and meaningful to you. And appointments need to be booked in advance. We've got a better shot at getting a piercing as a walk-in. Let me check with Kaiji." Sanzou texted. "There's been no sign of All for One or anyone working for him. We think he's still distracted with a gang war on the other side of town. Kaiji says we should go for it. I'll hold your hat. When you take off your wig, with your new hair, you don't look that much like All for One."

Yoichi knew that wasn't true, but it was kind of Sanzou to say so.

The tattoo and piercing parlor had granite walls with graffiti sprayed on the side. Sunrise's golden question mark had been slipped next to a drawing of a cat. When Yoichi asked if it was on-purpose, Sanzou winked and said yes. Allies to the vigilantes displayed the mark subtly to show their support or identify a place as safe. The small symbol popped up around the city, on the side of a restaurant menu or the sign of a homeless shelter.

The inside smelled sterile, like a hospital. Yoichi looked at the drawings hanging on the walls, already thinking about what kind of tattoo he would want. Something to symbolize freedom? Something that looked cool and fierce? The emblem of Sunrise? But he'd learned today that some members of Sunrise wanted to turn him over to All for One or kill him, so maybe not. Sanzou had been right, this required more thought.

The people here all knew Sanzou and agreed to slip Yoichi in last-minute as a favor. Yoichi picked a pair of earrings with silver wings on the stud. The piercing gun looked horrifically intimidating, but the pain was only a quick pinch. Yoichi strolled out feeling very pleased with himself. He kept looking at his blurred reflection in the glass window, touching his ears and smiling.

In the glass, Yoichi glimpsed President Aoi Ito walking down the sidewalk behind him. It was not nearly as bad as being caught by All for One's people, but if she saw someone who looked exactly like Hisashi, she might start to doubt who had visited her and maybe even call Hisashi to ask.

Yoichi thought fast. He grabbed Sanzou, mouthed "hide our faces," and kissed him.

Their lips barely touched, but it was enough to steal Yoichi's breath away. Aoi walked past, not sparing a glance at the man with purple streaked hair.

Brow furrowed, Sanzou asked, "All for One's people?"

"No, just the president of one of the charities we visited."

"Good, Kaiji would kill me if we ran into All for One because I delayed us. That was fast thinking on your part."

"I wasn't done kissing you," Yoichi said, then leaned down again.

Sanzou tasted like mint. He froze in surprise, then brought his hands up to touch Yoichi's chest. Yoichi shivered. He felt Sanzou's smile against his lips. Sanzou's tongue moved unhurriedly, with the precision of a musician.

Yoichi had already gotten hot and flustered just from a kiss. Really, normally he did that to other people. Sanzou adjusted his collar and said, "Let's go home," with the cool aplomb of a man confident there would be more kisses.

As it turned out, they didn't run into All for One because of any delay. The ambush had been clearly planned.

The car was heading out of town. The radio was playing Queen's "We Will Rock You" and Yoichi's leg jiggled in time with the music. One moment, Sparrow was laughing at something Two-Step said. The next, the people and metal around Yoichi vanished. Chilly outdoor air hit his face. He found a pair of muscular arms wrapped around his waist.

The street block had gone eerily silent, so very fast. No lights came from the surrounding buildings. They'd reached the outskirts of town, where a lot of buildings were abandoned, but even so that couldn't be natural. People in black suits stepped out of the buildings to surround the car.

In his state of shock, it took Yoichi a moment to realize that he was no longer inside the car. He twisted his neck.

Hisashi loomed over him, eyes glowing red with power. Even in the vault, Yoichi had never seen such a terrifyingly possessive expression on his brother's face. He went limp from shock. And, perhaps, engrained fear. Every muscle in his body screamed at him that he couldn't fight his brother, that he'd failed too many times in the vault, and he would only get hurt again.

Stroking Yoichi's hair, Hisashi growled, "What have those kidnappers done to your beautiful hair? To your poor ears?" His fingers dug into the piercing.

Yoichi screamed, "They're not kidnappers! They rescued me!" He had no expectation that his twin would listen to him, but he wanted the vigilantes to know that he wasn't a traitor, he hadn't set this up.

The car door hung open and Kaiji had half-stepped out, but he froze upon seeing Hisashi's hands on Yoichi's neck. How ironic: the man who Hisashi had called a kidnapper feared that Hisashi would harm Yoichi. Once Yoichi would have said that his twin wouldn't hurt him, but with those fingers tugging at his piercing almost hard enough to rip it out, he could no longer believe it.

"It doesn't matter what you think with that weak little brain of yours, baby brother." Hisashi chucked under Yoichi's chin as if handling a child. "I decided that you're coming back home. You're not thinking clearly, so my decision overrules yours."

Unfortunately, right now Yoichi saw no way out of it. If the vigilantes tried to rescue him then they'd die under the superior numbers, then Hisashi could easily carry him away. "Leave without me!" Yoichi screamed at the van, his voice choked with unshed tears. Glaring up at his brother, he snarled, "Even if you stick me back into the vault, I'll never break. I'll never join you. P-please, brother, can't you let us become our own people and make our own decisions? I can never forgive you for what you've done, but I can never stop loving you. Please let me go."

"I don't care," Hisashi said impatiently. "I'll never let you out again whether you join my side or not. I have a nicer room for you where you can stay forever."

Pain consumed Yoichi's mind. Which hurt more: that his brother planned to vault him forever or that Hisashi no longer cared if Yoichi loved him? When had Yoichi stopped being a brother and become a possession? Or had it always been like that and he'd just been too foolish to see it?

The grief turned to rage. Green light crackled down Yoichi's body. "Let. Me. Go!" he screamed, and kicked All for One with all his might.

The force exploding from Yoichi's body ripped his clothing down the seams and rattled his bones. Brilliant, burning green consumed his gaze. Everything felt distant. He was only aware he was flying because of the wind whipping his hair. The pavement ripped up from his flight, debris striking his body.

Then Yoichi landed in Kaiji's outstretched arms. The vigilantes had stayed.

Yoichi blinked, staring up at his hero's shocked face. He looked down at his shredded pants. His legs felt numb and tingly. There was a ringing in his ears. On the other end of the street, Hisashi had fallen down. Yoichi's power had made his implacable older brother fall over. The entire street had slipped into a state of shock. All for One's people did not move, staring at their boss as if they couldn't quite believe this wasn't part of the plan. Groaning, Hisashi sat up.

High on triumph, Yoichi screamed, "This is who I choose!" Tilting up his head (the only mobile part of his body) he kissed Kaiji.

With a thud, Hisashi fell over backward again.

Fortunately, Kaiji had the presence of mind to drag Yoichi into the car. With Yoichi fallen across Kaiji's lap, Two-Step stomped her feet on the floor and activated her power. The entire car vanished.

Yoichi had no strength left in his legs. He could barely even lift his arms. Kaiji and Sanzou carried him into the vigilantes' house. Waving at Two-Step, Yoichi slurred, "You have the best metapower ever and I owe you big time."

Her answering smile held a note of worry. "You focus on getting better, okay?"

Migraine examined Yoichi and proclaimed that his body had collapsed from the backlash of using his metapower for the first time.

Lying on the infirmary bed, Yoichi asked, "Will it get better next time I use it?"

"If this was the metapower you'd been born with I'd say yes, but from my observations of other people All for One transplanted powers to, there's no guarantee. Your body isn't suited to this power." Migraine frowned. "You could adapt, or the deterioration could get worse. You're lucky you didn't blow your arms and legs off."

"That's not funny."

"It's not a joke." Migraine applied hot compresses on Yoichi's legs. "These should help you recover faster. Stay still for at least a few hours."

"As if I have any choice," Yoichi groaned. "I can't move." His head flopped down on the pillow.

In the doorway, Migraine said, "You two can stop hovering and come in now." Then he left.

Kaiji and Sanzou rushed into the room. "I brought you a glass of water," Kaiji said.

"I can't lift my head," Yoichi moaned.

"I brought a straw." Sanzou knelt down and offered it.

Yoichi took a deep sip. "Ah, that's better."

"Would you like me to massage your legs?" Kaiji asked. "It might help."

Sanzou offered, "I could massage your shoulders at the same time."

"That would be lovely, thank you," Yoichi said. He could use some pampering. His heart still hammered from shock.

He felt the shadows over him as they moved into position, but he couldn't feel their hands at all. He couldn't feel the heat of the compresses either. Only tingling all over.

After some time had passed, Yoichi said, "I bet this would be erotic if I could feel it."

Sanzou laughed. "You never change."

"How are you feeling?" Kaiji asked anxiously. "I know that seeing your brother must have been…tough."

Yoichi tried to shrug but his shoulders wouldn't move. "That's my brother for you. He's always struggled to see me as a separate person. Lately it's gotten even worse. But it's not anything new."

Quietly, Kaiji said, "I didn't realize how big an ask it was, for you to dress up as All for One. I knew it was hard on you, but I underestimated how hard it must have been."

"I suggested it," Yoichi said.

"I trust you," Kaiji said passionately. "I wish I'd said that sooner so you didn't put yourself through that."

"It wasn't only because of wanting your trust," Yoichi said. "I wanted to get back at H—All for One. I haven't known what to do with my life since escaping the vault. Taking down my evil brother sounds like a good goal." Not the least because Yoichi knew he'd have no peace himself until he could force his brother to stop chasing him.

Sanzou brushed back Yoichi's hair, which was falling over his eyes. Yoichi could feel that, since he only had sensation in his neck and above. Both Kaiji and Sanzou crouched down so that Yoichi could see their faces. Sanzou said, "You amazed me back there. I've never seen anyone knock All for One down like that. We're grateful to have you on the team."

Yoichi's cheeks warmed. He couldn't remember ever being praised for his strength before. He'd always been the weak brother.

Shaking his head, Kaiji said, "Your brother is a real crazy bitch, huh?"

Yoichi laughed, but with an element of guilt. Would Kaiji still feel sympathetic if he realized how deeply Yoichi had once been willingly involved in the codependency? He looked away.

Sanzou picked up on it. "What's wrong?"

Yoichi couldn't hold back his fears. "I-I-I'm not as innocent as you think I am."

Kaiji said, "Yeah, we know from your intel that you worked for All for One. So what? We take in defectors from the shitty military, All for One is slightly better on account of not wanting to genocide my kind."

"You don't understand. I volunteered to pretend to be All for One. I encouraged him to treat me like an extension of himself." Yoichi bit his lip. "Once upon a time, I was just as dependent on my brother as he was on me. Moreso, because he had to look after me when I was sick and provide for us both. From his perspective, I'm the one who changed up the rules and wanted to stop being his other half."

"You had the right to change," Sanzou said. "Yes can become no later. A relationship you can't change or leave is nothing but a prison. It sounds to me like you two had an unhealthy childhood. You developed coping mechanisms as a result. You were right to try to change your dynamic later."

Kaiji said, "It sounds to me like All for One had all the power in this shitty game."

"Most of it, at least." Yoichi stared off into space. "I needed him to live. But it's not fair that he was put in the position of caretaking when he was only a child."

Kaiji shrugged. "I had a rough childhood too, but I never groomed my brother to look like my freaky clone." Sanzou elbowed him, and Kaiji added, "Sorry, was that too blunt?"

"It's true." Yoichi sighed. "A bad life doesn't excuse my brother hurting so many people. I'll never be able to only feel hatred for him, and I'll always wonder if he could have turned out differently with a different life. But he still needs to be stopped."

There was a moment of silence while everyone digested this. Then Sanzou said, "You should have seen the look on All for One's face when you kissed Kaiji. You both were too busy lip-locking, but I captured the precise moment of realization on my phone. Here, let me show you."

"That kind of great thinking makes you my second-in-command," Kaiji declared. Then all three of them laughed.

A vigilante and a villain working under All for One ran into each other at the grocery store. There was a brief awkward moment when they took in the symbols of each other's identities: the golden pin on the vigilante's collar and the "AFO" tattoo on the villain's arm. Both of them pushed carts laden high with groceries. Neither of them wanted to ruin their shopping or get banned from the store. After waiting for the other to attack, and silently confirming that it didn't seem likely to happen, they moved on to verbal combat.

The villain sneered. "Rumor on the street has it that your leader has an itty, bitty peashooter."

"Ha! Like anyone still believes that! Not after how your boss reacted to seeing our leader kiss someone else." The vigilante grinned triumphantly, pleased to finally have a perfect rebuttal to the insult All for One's people kept hurling. "It was plain as the stunned look on All for One's face that he's still hung up on Gearshift. No matter what All for One claimed to save his pride, clearly he was the one who got dumped by our leader."

"Gearshift kissed the boss' brother!" the villain yelped. "Not very heroic, is it, to hook up with your ex's little brother?"

"Oh, puh-leaze! We're vigilantes: we're considered noble criminals, not heroes." The vigilante snorted. "Besides, our leadership says that Gearshift rescued the brother from some creepy imprisonment." The vault almost got mentioned but even Sunrise's members weren't sure they believed that.

"I don't blame the boss one bit for locking up his little brother, not when his brother had an affair with his boyfriend."

"Oh, so you admit that our leader dumped All for One?"

"I never said that! All for One dumped Gearshift for cheating on him with his own brother."

"That's not how it happened. They had already broken up by then." The vigilante's voice raised. "All for One trashed Gearshift after the breakup to be petty so he has no right to act wronged. Clearly our leader was good enough to charm your boss' own brother, so his performance can't be as bad as claimed." The vigilante waggled thin eyebrows.

Face flushed, the villain screamed, "It's absolutely pathetic that your leader seduced All for One's brother out of desperation for the boss' attention!"

"Who the hell is desperate? Our leader clearly picked the hotter brother!" the vigilante screamed back.

By then, people around them were staring. The two enemies glared at each other, then walked away in a deliberately slow manner to make it clear they weren't afraid of a fight.

Neither of them mentioned their encounter to their respective superiors. They knew it would not go over well. Gearshift's official statement was that he'd never slept with All for One. No one believed that, but he got very angry when challenged on it.

None of All for One's people had dared ask him about what had happened between him, his brother, and Gearshift. They didn't want to die. However, the boss' heated reactions on the subject only made his underlings more confident that where there was smoke, there was fire. The great kiss incident had confirmed it. All for One clearly still had feelings for Gearshift. This explained why All for One was hunting Gearshift and his runaway brother with all the resources of his organization.

Everyone felt relieved to have a good reason for why All for One had locked his brother up in a bank vault and why he got so worked up about his brother's love life. Otherwise he would have to be some kind of weird brocon.

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: Above His Paygrade

Yoichi: I'm finally going to open up a little about my brother.

Sanzou: I know that All for One is terrible and I've braced myself for all kinds of horrible abuse.

Yoichi: Oh, no, I would never want you to think that he was abusive! He locked me up in solitary to break my mind, so I'd become an extension of himself like I was for our entire childhood. But he wouldn't have hit me, only his bodyguard did that.

Sanzou: …I was not ready.

#

Omake: What's Yours is Mine and What's Mine is Also Mine

Hisashi: Ahem. Brother, if you want to get a tattoo then you need my permission.

Yoichi: Who's body do you think this is?

Hisashi: Mine.

Yoichi: …Honestly I was expecting you to say our body.

Hisashi: You've been removed as an owner because of your negligence. Deep down, I always meant "mine" when I said "ours" anyway.

#

Omake: The Minions Talk Part Three

Minion #1: Did you see our implacable boss faint dead away because Gearshift kissed his little brother? Whoa, despite what he said, he's completely obsessed with the vigilante leader. Gearshift is a lowlife. I bet he was at least emotionally cheating with the little brother before they broke up. Otherwise he wouldn't have moved on so fast.

Minion #2: Gearshifter? More like Gear-playa!

#

Omake: Gigantomachia Reacts

Gigantomachia: Yoichi you rat! Betraying the master is bad enough, but this is a new low. You ran off with his ex, who he clearly still has feelings for (even though far more worthy people would gladly offer their hearts to him, maybe there's someone at his side he hasn't noticed all this time.)

Yoichi: It's a misunderstanding! My brother was never involved with Kaiji, people mistook us for each other. Hisashi is single and completely available.

Gigantomachia: You mean I have a chance?

Dr. Garaki: Dibs.

Yoichi: I'm going to run away while you two fight it out.

Author's Note: Check out this lovely prize that B_O_M_B (Ao3) / fluffybirb18 (tumblr) drew for me of Yoichi and Second kissing. They are so adorable together and I love the colors. Delete the spaces to get the link:
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aimportantdragoncollector/721124128322650112/the-devils-double-chapter-1-katydid