Author's Note: I return with my fourth prequel about rescuing Yoichi from the vault! Or is it the fifth? Even I can't keep track at this point. This should be the last one, since now we have a canon backstory for the brothers. In light of the reveal that the Shigaraki brothers had no one to raise them and grew up on the streets, I wanted to explore how Second and Third would have handled a feral Yoichi. The Second One for All holder's name is Kaiji Kudou (combining his canon last name with my preferred first name) and the Third One for All holder is Sanzou Bruce because Bruce can be a last name too and I still like my placeholder given name for him. I dislike Third's canon name (if it's even a real name not a code name) but I will use it more in the narrative because this is intended to be my canon compliant prequel. If you choke on Bruce then you can do a search and replace with Sanzou, that's what I did while writing this. These two still have the same personalities as my usual Kaiji and Sanzou.
The white-haired man was coughing up blood. Kudou could feel the wetness soaking into his back. He ran faster.
As the leader of a vigilante organization, Kaiji Kudou had been called a hero before. People whispered the name of his alter-ego, Gearshift, as one of the most famous heroes in Japan. The white-haired man had smiled up at him and called him a hero before taking his hand. In Kudou's opinion, heroes were only worth something if they succeeded in saving people. If the man from the vault died without ever seeing the sunlight, then Kudou would no longer call himself a hero.
There was no time to stop and administer medical aid. Not that he even knew how to help. He was no doctor, and his emergency first aid class hadn't covered any lung diseases. Kudou could only pray the frail man would survive. At the very least, he damn well would let the prisoner see the sun.
With one last burst of speed, Kudou leapt up the final step. He pushed open the door, emerging from the underground compound into the sunshine. Exhilaration and terror made Kudou laugh out loud. "You see that, little Shigaraki? We're out!" Since Shigaraki = All for One in his brain, he tacked on the size modifier. The younger brother was certainly smaller, almost comically so.
The man on his back did not move. He lay worryingly still.
Sanzou Bruce, his second-in-command, shoved past Kudou and leapt into their truck. Wordlessly, he started the vehicle.
Kudou shouldn't have wasted a single breath on speaking. They needed to get out of here, fast. He leapt into the backseat, setting the former prisoner down. The truck lurched forward. For understandable reasons, Bruce hadn't waited for them to put on their seatbelts. Instead, he had pressed the gas pedal straight to the floor.
Despite being knocked around, Kudou managed to drag out the first aid kit. Remembering old medical training, he turned the white-haired man on his side and cleaned his bloody mouth with a cloth. That should prevent him from choking on his own bile. "Stay with me, little Shigaraki." The former prisoner did not respond, his eyes closed and his breathing hoarse. Kudou brushed back the sweaty white hair. A lurch sent him forward, but he caught himself before falling on top of the patient. Another faint memory of first aid class made him take off his coat and throw it over the white-haired man, trying to keep him warm. "A friend of ours works at a hospital. We'll get you treatment. Just hold on a little longer. I know you're a tough one. Most people would have cracked after a day in that vault. Can you hear my voice? Stay with me. There's so much to live for. Sunshine, good food, revenge on the bastard who locked you up. Just stay with me a little longer."
The vigilantes didn't dare linger at the hospital. All for One would be hunting them hard.
At first the white-haired man had seemed scared of the doctor. Upon seeing the oxygen tube, he'd flinched away. They'd been pressed for time, but even so, the doctor had gotten out a video on his phone to explain the treatment. Watching had seemed to reassure the man even though it was unclear how much he'd understood.
The doctor had attached the tube to the patient's nose, tested his oxygen level with a pulse oximeter on his finger, and given him medicine. The white-haired man had looked suspiciously at the inhaler, but allowed it in the end. Whatever it had been, it had knocked him out. Kudou and Bruce had carried him back to the truck, along with a long list of instructions from the doctor, a nebulizer, and a couple inhalers.
The two vigilante leaders were currently hiding from All for One in an isolated cabin in the woods. Kudou had ordered the others away, out of the city entirely. The further they could get from All for One's wrath, the better. Kudou and Bruce would stay, to keep the heat off their people. It would be best if one or both of them popped up around town to keep All for One's attention fixed in place. The former prisoner would be an even better distraction. Since All for One wanted his brother alive, that would prevent him from sending a ranged attack of mass destruction at their base if he found it. Kudou hated how coldly and cynically he was thinking. Still, a leader had to keep such considerations in mind.
At the least, Kudou would not turn All for One's brother into a hostage. He'd considered it, once. He'd even been about to shoot the man. But after what he'd seen in the vault…there was no value in being called a hero if you couldn't even try to save someone who needed it so badly.
Gently, Kudou tucked the former prisoner into bed. As instructed, he turned the man on his side and wrapped him up in plenty of blankets. The former prisoner looked so pale his blood vessels stood out. His skin stretched thin over his bones. The doctor said he'd been suffering from starvation and long-term malnutrition. He was not out of danger yet. If his condition worsened, it would not be easy to bring All for One's brother to a hospital again. All for One had people who owed him favors everywhere. There would be a delicate calculus concerning the white-haired patient's odds of recapture versus odds of survival without treatment.
"I know you're a fighter," Kudou told the former prisoner. "Don't let that bastard All for One take your life on top of everything else he tried to take from you."
With one last glance at the bed, Kudou departed. His ribs ached, and he had plenty of his own cuts and bruises to attend to.
In the kitchen, Sanzou Bruce whipped up a light porridge. It made him feel useful, despite his lack of medical training. The doctor had suggested such a meal for a stomach shrunken by starvation. Kudou's snores drifted from the bedroom. He'd taken a couple serious hits in the fight. Next, Bruce planned to make a hearty meal for his dear leader.
Bruce pushed open the bedroom door a crack, wanting to check if the younger Shigaraki was awake before speaking.
The white-haired man was gone.
Bruce frowned. The starved and ill man shouldn't be moving around in his condition. There was also, of course, a security concern with taking in All for One's brother. The cabin had no confidential materials except on their phones, and after seeing the former prisoner's near-dead condition, the escape had clearly not been a ruse. Even so, the enemy of their enemy was not necessarily their friend. Bruce felt uneasy about a stranger wandering around with his beloved leader asleep. At the same time, he couldn't say the man had done anything wrong. He wasn't a prisoner here.
Bruce headed back to the kitchen, planning to drop off the porridge, then search. As soon as he opened the door, someone growled.
The white-haired man crouched on all fours on the kitchen tiles. A drop of blood dripped from his nose to the floor. He still wore the same filthy sweatshirt. Greasy locks of white hair fell over his eyes. A cereal box hung from his mouth. He'd bitten straight through the cardboard to get at the food.
In a moment his leader would tease him over for the rest of his life, Bruce shrieked and dropped the porridge.
The white-haired man shot forward and grabbed the food. He ate hunched over defensively, as if fearing someone would take it away. Furthermore, he poured the hot porridge straight down his throat, making growling sounds. Was he licking the bowl? No, he seemed to be gnawing at the bowl. Yikes.
From the bedroom, Kudou mumbled, "Wha?" The scream must have woken him up.
Recovering his senses, Bruce said, "We have more food. But, uh, the doctor said you shouldn't eat too much too fast. It can be extremely dangerous to overfill your stomach after you've been starving."
Ignoring him, the white-haired man leapt on the counter and grabbed another box of cereal.
Bruce gently tugged away the box. "I'm very sorry. I know you're hungry. But you can't eat that. Can I offer you some water?"
Face contorted, the white-haired man hissed at him. His fingers curved like claws.
Leaning away, Bruce said, "How about you lie down? Then we can have a conversation." He felt like he was talking to himself. What was wrong with this man? Did he even understand Japanese? Was he delirious or always so animalistic?
Kudou stepped into the kitchen. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the growling man crouched on the counter. "Am I still dreaming?"
The white-haired man howled. He leapt into the air, soared over Kudou's shoulder in a surprisingly compact blur, then ran down the hallway on all fours.
Bruce and Kudou ran after. Kudou shouted, "Stop, little Shigaraki, you're too ill." The door to the former prisoner's new bedroom hung open. But when they stepped inside, they found no one.
A single drop of blood fell onto Bruce's head. He looked up. The white-haired man clung to the ceiling lamp overhead. For the second time, Bruce screamed like a baby.
Kudou screamed too, though the leader would later deny it. The two bumped into each other, stumbling backward.
From the ceiling, the white-haired man hissed. He was sweating badly as well as bleeding from the nose and mouth.
They backed away. Kudou whispered, "Is he some kinda vampire or werewolf?"
Bruce could understand the sentiment. The white-haired man should not be able to move around so fast in his current condition. The cereal should have given him serious stomach cramps if not killed him. Something seemed unnatural about the bent of his spindly arms and legs. He seemed too tough and too fast. There was a monstrous gleam in his green eyes—entirely too much like All for One.
But the white-haired man had been starving and choking on his own blood when they'd found him. He needed help. Bruce took a deep breath and got ahold of himself. "He might be delirious. I'm worried about his throat after he ate cardboard."
Bruce fetched a water bottle from the fridge, then entered the room again. "I brought water. It's safe, see?" He took a sip himself.
The white-haired man skuttled down the ceiling and dropped to the floor. On all fours, he slowly approached.
Bruce held out the bottle. "Will you take another dose from the inhaler after you drink? I'm worried because you're still bleeding."
The white-haired man guzzled down the water, then fell face-forward. Bruce leapt to catch him. Working together, Bruce and Kudou put the man back in bed and gave him more medicine. Bruce wasn't sure what to make of the man's odd behavior. Perhaps he'd been locked up in that dark bank vault even longer than they could have imagined in their worst nightmares. Had All for One tortured his brother into insanity? It was horrific, and he had no idea how to help. They had no access to mental health services. They could only do their best to look after him, on their own.
At the first sound from the bedroom, Kudou rushed over. He'd rather not see that freaky pale face staring at him from the ceiling again. No, he preferred to know where to find All for One's brother. His second-in-command followed after him.
This time, the man had remained in his bed. With wide green eyes, the former prisoner stared up from under his hair. "Food," he said pleadingly. He had such an intense gaze, maybe as intense as All for One himself. It made Kudou shudder despite his best efforts.
Bruce cleared his throat and spoke gently: "I'm glad you're hungry. That's a good sign for your recovery. But the doctor said you can't eat too much too fast, or you'll hurt yourself. Your stomach is shrunken from starvation."
The man stared.
Uncertainly, Kudou asked, "Do you understand us?"
"You're not giving me food." The white-haired man looked down at his hands.
"I promise we'll feed you later. We're only worried about making you sick." Kudou crouched down by the bed. Bruce followed suit. "My name is Kaiji Kudou. This is my righthand man, Sanzou Bruce. What's your name?"
Slowly, the former prisoner said, "Yoichi…Shigaraki."
"You don't sound sure about it," Kudou said dryly, wondering if they'd been given a fake name.
"My brother only ever called me 'little brother.' Even though he told me our names, he wouldn't let me keep anything of my own. I don't like the Shigaraki part because I share it with him. I want my own name. Will you call me Yoichi?" Yoichi looked up from under his eyelashes. He had white lashes, Kudou noticed to his surprise. Very pretty.
"Of course," Kudou said. "Nice to meet you, Yoichi."
Bruce echoed, "Nice to meet you, Yoichi."
Yoichi smiled for the very first time since they'd met. The expression chased away some of the shadows on his dirty face. "Nice to meet you, Kaiji Kudou and Sanzou Bruce."
Kudou blinked. "Uh, you can just call me by my first name, since we're all on first name terms here."
"First?" Yoichi asked, twisting his fingers. "Which part is first?"
"Just call me Kaiji." Exactly what was going on? Kudou and Bruce exchanged glances. Even if this man had been held prisoner for a very long time, that wouldn't justify him forgetting how names worked.
Bruce said, "Oh, you must be confused because Bruce is usually a first name. I'm half-British. In England, Bruce is a pretty common last name."
Yoichi tilted his head sideways. "Eggland? What a funny place."
"No, England."
"England," Yoichi repeated with satisfaction. "Japan is Japanese. Why are people from England called British?"
Looking flummoxed, Bruce said, "Uh, England is a part of Great Brittain. I guess you could also call me English but people usually say British…I don't know why, I never thought much about it."
Yoichi shrugged. "At least you admit you don't know. Big brother would pretend he knew everything. He told me all kinds of lies, like about demons being real and how they'd eat me if I ever left the vault."
Kudou and Bruce exchanged looks again. They had even more questions now. But the sweaty, filthy, and slightly bloody stench made it hard to speak, and gave them a more pressing concern.
Bruce cleared his throat. "Would you like a bath?"
Yoichi tilted his head like an owl and said, "No."
Kudou and Bruce exchanged a more exasperated glance. That hadn't been an offer so much as a request. Kudou said, "Dude, you smell."
Yoichi nodded. "I have good sense of smell. Even big brother said so."
Even more confused and alarmed, Kudou said, "I'm telling you that you smell bad. You're dirty. You clearly haven't taken a bath in a long time. There is a foul stench radiating off you. Am I getting through at all?"
Yoichi lifted his arm and sniffed. "Don't smell anything," he said reproachfully.
Bruce sighed. "You've gotten used to your own smell. It will be healthier for you if you let us wash you off."
"Water scary." Yoichi hunched up his shoulders. "Water nearly killed me when I was small. Do I have to?"
That small, defeated voice tugged at Kudou's heartstrings. He said, "Nah, we're not gonna force you."
"Leader," Bruce growled. He leaned in and lowered his voice. "If we leave him dirty then one of his scrapes could get infected. We don't dare buy antibiotics. The bath is a medical necessity."
Apparently Yoichi had great hearing as well, because he replied, "Cold water makes me sick. I cough up blood."
Bruce's head shot up. Sheepish at being caught whispering, he said, "We have warm water."
Yoichi stared skeptically. "Do. I. Have. To?"
"We won't force you to do a single damn thing," Kudou insisted. "You're safe here."
"But we should talk some more about the benefits of a bath before you veto it," Bruce added.
Yoichi bounced a little in his seat. "Damn? What does damn mean?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow and gave Kudou a look. It was a very telling look.
Kudou coughed. "It's a curse word. People use it for emphasis. It doesn't really mean anything. It's for flavor, like hot sauce?" Judging from Yoichi's stare, he didn't get it. Kudou tried again, "If I said we won't force you to do anything, then we won't force you to do anything. But if I say not a single damn thing, then I feel appalled you'd even question it. Also, damn is an adult word. People get upset if you say it around children."
"Damn." Yoichi rolled the word around on his tongue. "What a marvelous word. I'm an adult, so I will use it often. No wonder I never heard it before. I've only read children's comics."
This just kept getting stranger and stranger. Kudou had so many questions. He started with the most basic one. "How long were you in the bank vault?" It was a question that had been preying on his mind for some time.
"As long as I can remember," Yoichi said. "Big brother didn't use to lock me in, though."
Bruce choked. Kudou tried to keep his horror off his face. Holy shit, that was insane. "You didn't have parents?"
Yoichi said, "Big brother told me that Mom died the day we were born. Rats came to eat us, but he dragged me into the river and saved my life. Ever since then, he looked after me. He found food for us. We ate a lot of trash. My body is weaker than my brother but my stomach is strong. I should be able to eat your food if you will let me. One day he found a bank vault in the trash heap. It was a safe place for us to sleep at night. At least we didn't get rained on. I didn't mind the vault back when it had comic books inside."
Twins, huh? They didn't look much alike. Even so, the twin part was the only bit of that story Kudou believed. He didn't think Yoichi would lie—but All for One would. "How would your brother know what happened when he was born? How could a baby look after another baby?"
Yoichi shrugged. "Big brother is weird. He's always had an unusual body and unusual powers. The voices in his head might have told him. He hears Mom's voice sometimes. I'm not strong like him but my memory is very good too. Sometimes I remember my brother holding my hand as babies."
Although Kudou didn't believe in baby memories, he believed that Yoichi had been on the streets for as long as he could remember. Clearly it had done a number on him. "Uh, that must have been rough."
"We survived. Big brother always wanted more. He started bringing back fancy stuff to the vault. But it had blood on it. I wouldn't take stuff he stole, so he locked me in." Yoichi lowered his head and spoke softly. "I just didn't want my brother to hurt anyone."
Gently, Bruce said, "That was brave of you. How do you feel? Do you want painkillers?"
Kudou had been transfixed with shock at the horrible story. He snapped back to attention. "Yeah, we have more medicine."
"I'm okay. Don't want to sleep again." Yoichi lowered his head, hair falling over his eyes. "Can I have a knife?"
Kudou choked. He did not know how he felt about this wild man having a weapon. On the other hand, if he'd been in a strange place with people who had initially wanted to kill him, he'd feel more comfortable with his gun.
Stubbornly, Bruce insisted, "You can have a knife if you take a bath first."
Yoichi growled low in his throat. He rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head, apparently ending the conversation.
The two vigilantes stood up and left. In the basement, far enough they didn't think even Yoichi could hear, they talked. Kudou said, "Damn, that poor guy's condition is worse than I imagined. Do you think he's mentally handicapped?" Not only had Yoichi stumbled over his sentences, he'd also mispronounced a lot of words.
"It could be. Or it could be poor socialization. Or growing up feral could have impeded his development. I don't know enough to say." Bruce ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll do some research on feral children. We'll have to see what he is capable of understanding. We can't let him join us if he's mentally handicapped."
Kudou nodded. They'd both thought that having All for One's brother on their side could be a propaganda coup. But heroes couldn't take advantage of someone with the mentality of a child or send him to fight. "He needs someone better equipped to look after him, but where can we send him that All for One wouldn't find him?"
"Nowhere," Bruce said succinctly.
Kudou sighed. "If even half that story was true, do you think All for One turned out so shitty because of his poor little meow meow backstory?"
Bruce snorted. "I think All for One speaks a lot more eloquently than Yoichi. Clearly he kept his little brother locked away while he had the freedom to explore the world himself."
"Oh, good point." Kudou nodded. "What a relief, I'm glad I don't have to feel sorry for All for One."
Kudou and Bruce were crouched around the computer, reading an article about feral children, when they heard at thump outside. Both of them reacted without speaking, grabbing weapons and heading outside. It could be All for One attacking them.
Instead, they found Yoichi Shigaraki crouched on a tree branch, holding a dead squirrel. A partly eaten dead squirrel. Under their stunned eyes, Yoichi licked one of the white rib bones clean of blood and gristle.
The sight seemed to break the spell on Bruce, who leaned over the bushes and retched. He didn't properly throw up. But he was sweating profusely as he turned his face away from the sight. Neither of them could escape the smell.
"Holy shit." Kudou gulped. "Holy shit." His mouth seemed stuck on repeat.
Yoichi clutched the carcass tightly to his chest. His hands were covered with blood—had he grabbed the squirrel with his bare hands? Was this why he'd wanted a knife, to hunt for his own food? Even more blood dripped down his mouth and stained his teeth. Perhaps he'd pounced on the squirrel like a wolf and bitten through its neck. He seemed capable of it. Yoichi gazed down at them with those same bright, feral eyes. His voice sounded scratchy. "You said I couldn't have your food, so I got my own. I'm not a thief." His tone turned pleading on the last word. Kudou knew what Yoichi really meant: I'm not a monster.
It was a feeling Kudou could understand all too well. He'd been called a monster ever since his metapower had developed.
Swallowing, Kudou got his nerves under control. He raised his hands pacifyingly. "I'm sorry we didn't share our food. If we ate after starving for a long period, it could kill us, so we were afraid for you."
Yoichi gazed down at him suspiciously. "My brother used to refuse to share. He wouldn't let me have the shiny new knives even though he had so many spikes already. He'd tell me I might cut myself and it was for my own good."
In other words, Yoichi didn't believe him. Kudou sighed. "I can see why you would think I'm selfish and greedy. I don't know how to prove myself to you. I can show you videos about starvation if you come back inside." Would Yoichi even understand those, though? "If I ate raw meat, I'd get very sick. See, Sanzou is sick just from looking at it."
"I'm okay," Bruce mumbled from the bushes.
Slowly, Yoichi said, "I've seen other people get sick from eating the same stuff I eat."
"Clearly you've got a damn strong stomach." Kudou flashed a tentative smile. "A lot stronger than me or Sanzou. I admit it, we were wrong."
"I ate a lot of trash as a kid," Yoichi said. "I'm not strong like my brother…but I'm not normal, either."
Kudou did not know what to make of that. "Even so, you shouldn't eat raw meat. That stuff has a way of tickling your stomach and making you barf it all up. Come inside and let us wash off the blood, and we'll give you a knife and some fucking proper food. Deal?"
Yoichi regarded him with half-lidded eyes. "My brother likes to make deals, too."
"Yeah, but I keep my promises. I got you out of the vault, didn't I?" Kudou held out his hand. "Come on."
Slowly, Yoichi scampered down the tree and took the hand. Kudou did not mind the blood too much. He'd gotten blood all over himself many times before. Usually his own.
As they headed back into the house, Bruce asked, "Are we sure it's a good idea to go against the doctor's orders? Yoichi, how is your stomach?"
"Inside me?" Yoichi sounded confused.
Kudou said, "Look, he ate a raw squirrel. If he's going to die from overeating then it's too late for him. We might as well send him off with a good last meal."
"Leader!" Bruce barked.
Yoichi actually laughed. "I like you."
Kudou grinned. "I'm starting to like you too, you feral little menace."
"You're both impossible." Bruce sighed. "Let me at least take your vitals, Yoichi."
"Take?" Yoichi looked alarmed.
Bruce clarified, "I want to touch your wrist and measure your pulse."
Though Yoichi looked no less confused, he held out his hand. Bruce took it, blood and all. After feeling Yoichi's forehead and his stomach, Bruce said, "You don't seem sick. Leader, I think you're right about him having an unusual metabolism. In that case, it might be better to feed him."
Yoichi smiled at the mention of food. "Bath fast. Need food." His sentences became less complete when he got excited.
When they reached the front door, Bruce ran ahead, spreading down paper towels to catch the trail of blood off Yoichi.
In the bathroom, Yoichi immediately stripped off his clothing with no trace of modesty. The rags had so much blood and filth on them, Kudou suspected they would need to be burned. Yoichi had numerous cuts and bruises. Scars covered his emaciated body: thin white ones, cratered red marks, and twisted burns. Some of those scars looked old and stretched out, marks on a child's skin changing as he'd turned into an adult. It really brought home that Yoichi had grown up on the streets. Yoichi was painfully thin, his ribs standing out. The ends of his hair hung uneven.
Bruce started the water running. Yoichi moved toward the tub.
"Not yet," Kudou said. "We've gotta wait for it to get hot. You don't want to catch a cold, remember?"
Yoichi stopped. He eyed the water warily. "I don't wanna get in full. I might drown."
"We'll stay close, we won't let your head slip under," Bruce said. "Have you never had a bath before?"
Slowly, Yoichi shook his head. "Big brother had a quirk to keep us clean, later. Didn't use it when punishing me."
"I'm glad we're at least not dealing with years of dirt." Bruce stood up. "I'll fetch towels and fresh clothing, then get the cooking started."
Kudou whispered, "You're in for a treat. Sanzou's cooking is fit for a king."
"Don't let my brother hear, he'll kidnap." Yoichi giggled.
Once the water was warm enough and the tub mostly full, Kudou helped Yoichi in. Yoichi gasped as he touched the water. "It really is warm! Not scary."
Yoichi's smile was so infectious, Kudou couldn't help smiling back. He said, "That's right. Here, soap." Since Yoichi didn't seem to understand soap, Kudou helped him clean himself off. Then he applied shampoo, warning Yoichi to keep his eyes shut.
When they'd finished, the water was soaked brown and red, and Kudou still didn't think Yoichi quite clean enough to satisfy Bruce. So Kudou drained the first bath and ran another one. By then, Bruce had returned with a towel to wrap around Yoichi as they waited for the water to fill up again. Bruce said, "My clothing all looked too big, so I borrowed some of yours, Kaiji." Using his first name instead of "Leader" was a sign he was becoming more comfortable around Yoichi.
Kudou shrugged. "That's fine."
Yoichi's head shot up. "Do you want anything in exchange for the clothing, Kaiji Kudou?"
"Nah. It's a gift," Kudou said. "And just Kaiji, remember."
"You won't ask for a price later?" Yoichi demanded.
"I won't. I promise." Kudou wondered how many times All for One had done that.
After the second bath, Yoichi finally looked less like a feral jungle man. He kept touching his hair. "It feels different now. Lighter."
"It looks better. Sit down, I'll trim the edges." Kudou directed Yoichi to sit on the toilet seat. When he approached with the scissors, Yoichi flinched and growled. He made fingers like claws. Kudou raised his hands. "I want to cut your hair. The scissors are too dull to do any damage." He held them out.
Yoichi turned over the scissors in his hands, sniffed them, and even licked the blade. Finally, he handed the scissors back to Kudou. "Okay."
"Okay to cut your hair?"
Yoichi nodded.
Not having any skill in this area, Kudou gave him a crude trim. When done, he could start to see a cuteness in Yoichi's soft cheeks and white locks. There was nothing to lust after in Yoichi's desiccated form. It would have been obscene to want anything from a body clearly barely clinging to survival. But Kudou could see hints that, with food and tender care, Yoichi could be beautiful.
Even though Kudou knew himself short, his clothing still swam on Yoichi. He helped Yoichi roll up the pants and sleeves. With the belt on the tightest notch, the pants still barely stayed up.
Afterward, Bruce presented Yoichi with a pocket army knife and showed him how to open it. "It's a Ka-Bar 1220 US Army Straight Edge Utility Knife. This is good quality."
Yoichi grunted. "A bit small, but it will do." He seemed to understand the concept of pockets, because the knife immediately vanished into one.
When Bruce presented the meal he'd made, Yoichi's face transformed with awe. A feast of tempura, ramen, edamame, and grilled fish on rice spread across the table. Ignoring the chopsticks, Yoichi picked up the fish with his fingers and bit into it. "Good! Very good!" His vocabulary also seemed smaller when he got excited.
"It's hot. You should use silverware to pick up the food." Bruce demonstrated with a fork. (Probably he'd realized chopsticks would be difficult for a beginner.)
Yoichi speared the fish on the fork and kept eating. Kudou figured that would be as good as they could get. Yoichi inhaled the meal at a rapid rate. Since it wasn't mealtime, Kudou and Bruce weren't too hungry, and just had a little of the tempura.
Eyeing the last shrimp tempura, Yoichi asked, "Yours?"
"Eh, you can have it," Kudou said. Bruce nodded.
Yoichi's eyes lit up. He grabbed the shrimp tempura and stuffed it in his mouth, including the tail. "Sorry. Forgot fork."
"It's fine. How do you feel?" Bruce watched Yoichi warily, as if fearing he might drop over dead.
"Good." Yoichi patted his stomach. "Sleepy."
"You should rest," Bruce said. "You need to restore as much of your energy as possible."
Yoichi pointed at Bruce. "Good cook. I like you, Sanzou Bruce. I mean Sanzou."
Bruce snorted. "I'll like you too if you don't track any more blood or dead animals into my house."
"Deal," Yoichi said very seriously. He even held out his hand to shake on it.
Bruce knocked on Yoichi's door. "Breakfast is ready, if you want it." He hesitated to go inside. It wasn't easy to find reliable information about feral adults, but Bruce understood enough about PTSD to suspect Yoichi would be dangerous if startled.
Mumbling came from inside the room. Yoichi appeared to be talking in his sleep, but Bruce didn't recognize the language. Bruce knocked harder.
A rustling came from inside, then Yoichi opened the door. His pajama pants slipped down over his skinny hips. He cried, "Sanzou, feel my hair! It's shisha."
"Your hair looks great," Bruce said. "That's the benefit of baths and shampoo." He wanted to drive the point home and encourage regular bathing, because he'd needed to throw out the first sheets Yoichi had lain on with his filthy and bleeding body. They didn't have a whole lot of spares.
Yoichi lowered his hair. "Feel!"
Eventually Bruce gave in and patted him. "Very soft. What's that language you were speaking in before?"
"Twin language," Yoichi said. "Me and my brother used to speak that, back when no one else would talk to us."
Ah, that made sense. Bruce had heard of twins developing their own language to speak in before. This set of twins had no one to teach them a common language, likely leading to Yoichi's speech delays. It hadn't seemed to affect All for One as much, but then clearly All for One had been out and about in the world while Yoichi had been kept tucked away. The explanation of All for One talking to ghosts was…possible. At this point Bruce had not entirely ruled out All for One being a supernatural being or science fiction-style mutant, because otherwise he could not understand how the twins had survived their childhood. Yoichi's stomach had recovered with unnatural quickness, and his cuts and bruises seemed to be healing very fast too. Bruce was no doctor, but clearly something seemed abnormal about the twins.
Yoichi loved Bruce's pancakes. He licked his plate clean, and he could only be persuaded to stop trying to eat the plate when Bruce made another batch. Yoichi watched over Bruce's shoulder as he flipped pancakes. "Amazing! That thing heats up like big brother's quirk."
"Did you never use a stove before?" Bruce asked.
"I saw them in books," Yoichi said. "Around the time big brother got a house was when we…started fighting. I didn't like it when he took stuff away from people. He didn't like it when I refused what he gave me. Giving stuff, that's how my brother shows love. From everyone else, he takes."
It seemed like All for One had definitely been keeping his brother deliberately isolated. When they had been children it would have been one thing, but the current All for One was wealthy enough to own several kitchens. Bruce felt a stirring of anger.
Yoichi continued, "Big brother didn't like me to talk to other people. I always wanted friends. Can we be friends?"
Bruce couldn't possibly turn down such a wide-eyed, adorable request. "Of course."
After breakfast, Yoichi said, "I wanna see the trees and animals."
Bruce swallowed. "Err, if you're still hungry, I can make more pancakes. Even if you have a strong stomach, raw meat is…"
"Not to eat!" Yoichi sounded frustrated. "Want to see…trees. Forest. I only ever lived in the trash dump."
Ah, now Bruce could understand. He said, "I'd be happy to take you on a walk."
Bruce had to show Yoichi how to zip up a pair of jeans. Yoichi tried to just tuck the laces into his shoes, so Bruce tied them for him. Finally, he buttoned up Yoichi's coat.
It was fall, with the trees bright red and yellow. Yoichi seemed fascinated by each fallen leaf. He picked them up and sniffed them. But, after a glance at Bruce, he did not try to eat them.
The cracking of twigs announced the arrival of a young deer. It looked at them, then vanished into the brush.
"Horse!" Yoichi cried. "Wanna ride!" He chased after the deer, falling down on all fours instinctively. Except after only a few leaps, he collapsed.
Bruce ran over and dropped to his knees. "Is your nose bleeding again?"
"No blood. Hurts. Arms shaky." Yoichi scowled. "Can't run fast now. Body too weak. No good. Brother will catch me. Make fun of me, then catch me." His words slurred as he became more agitated.
"You just need to get better at walking on two feet, then you'll run even faster than before." Bruce helped Yoichi stand up. "That was a deer, not a horse, and they don't like to be ridden. They're wild animals."
"Deer," Yoichi repeated. "Like 'my dear.' Nice sound for cute animal."
Bruce guided them toward a nearby lake, because it was the prettiest spot in the area. Yoichi gasped and pointed. "Ducks!"
"Yes, would you like to feed them?" Bruce had come prepared. He handed Yoichi some stale old bread. "Tear off little bites for them."
The ducks swarmed around Yoichi as he tossed bread for them. He was generous, making sure to spread out the bread and tossing it at those who hadn't eaten yet. "They no fear us."
"They're used to me feeding them," Bruce said. He smiled a little, watching the adorable sight.
"Would be easy to catch and eat." Yoichi cast a sidelong glance at Bruce. "Only if we run out of food." He tossed the last piece of bread, and the ducks dispersed.
"There's nothing wrong with eating a duck, I only ask that you cook it first," Bruce said. "I could get food poisoning from raw meat."
"Tastes better when you cook it. You're a chef fit for a king, like Kaiji said." Yoichi nodded. "Okay, I promise. What about the rats in the trees?"
"Rats? Oh, do you mean squirrels? The rodents with the bushy tails?" Bruce tried to mime with his hands.
"Yes. Squirrels? What a nice word. Squirrels. Squirrels. Squirrels!" Yoichi bounced on the balls of his feet. "Are they for eating?"
"You can, but they don't have much meat on their bones. I'd rather you use up the food in the house first. I'll let you know if we need to hunt."
"I'm good at catching food. I'll help when you need it." Yoichi smiled. "This is fun. I like the forest. I like your food."
Bruce said, "I could teach you how to cook when we return home."
Yoichi spun around with excitement. "Yes! Please!"
Back in the kitchen, Bruce quickly came to regret his offer. He'd wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but his efforts were constantly derailed by Yoichi trying to consume all the ingredients. Yoichi stuck his hand straight in the sugar to grab a fistful. Upon discovering they had a gas stove, Yoichi turned all the dials to make the flames pop up under the burner, laughing.
"Stop that!" Bruce chased Yoichi away with a wooden spoon, then turned off the stove. He set the oven to preheat.
When Bruce turned around, Yoichi was eating cookie dough out of the bowl. "Stop that, too!"
"I got a spoon." Yoichi held it up.
"That's better than using your hands, but you're not supposed to eat cookie dough. It has raw eggs, it will make you sick."
"My stomach stronger than yours."
"I know, but if you eat all the dough, I can't make cookies." Bruce held out his hand for the spoon.
Lowering his head, Yoichi held out the spoon.
Kudou crept up behind them and stuck a spoon into the cooking bowl. He smacked his lips as he devoured the stolen treat.
Turning around, Yoichi pointed. "He ate it raw!"
Bruce glared. "KAIJI KUDOU! How are we supposed to teach him manners when you don't have any, huh?"
"Sorry." Kudou didn't sound particularly sorry. "Eating cookie dough is the best part of making cookies."
After fending off the two hungry men, Bruce finally got his cookies into the oven. Yoichi crouched down next to the oven and stared straight inside, fascinating by each tiny change as the cookies baked. Bruce was pretty sure he'd read somewhere you shouldn't stare into a stove for a long period of time, but he decided to pick his battles.
When the cookies finally came out, Yoichi grabbed one with his bare hands, only to drop it. "Ouch! Hot!"
"They taste the best when they're hot." Kudou grabbed one with a spatula. "You just need a utensil."
The three of them sat around the table, eating cookies. Yoichi ate half the batch by himself. Once finished, he patted his belly. "Delicious. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Bruce said, wondering where Yoichi had learned to say thank you. Not from his ill-mannered brother. On second thought, All for One seemed like the type to demand groveling from others.
Yoichi leaned forward. "Next time, can we make the other cookies?"
"Sure, what kind do you want?" Bruce asked.
Yoichi wrinkled his nose. "The…other…colorful on top. White on bottom."
"You don't want to cook them as long?" Kudou asked. "Me too, I like them a little underbaked."
Bruce elbowed his leader. "No, I think he wants sprinkles."
"Want…sweet." Yoichi waved his arms. "Sweeter cookie. Like…"
They waited.
Yoichi buried his face in his hands. "Dunno how to say it. Dunno. Not stupid! Big brother says I'm stupid, but I'm not. When I talk in my own language, I'm smart!"
"You're right." Bruce patted Yoichi's back. "You're not stupid, you just don't know words yet. That's lack of knowledge, not lack of intelligence."
Yoichi looked up between his fingers. "You called me stupid. Ment…ally handi…capped. Stupid."
Bruce paled to realize Yoichi had overhead that conversation. "I was wrong. I didn't know you yet. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too," Kudou said.
"Maybe not wrong." Yoichi made a face. "I never learned words as fast as my brother. Not as strong or as smart. Weak and dependent."
"Because he kept you isolated," Bruce said. "We can teach you."
Kudou slapped Yoichi's back. "All for One is a shithead! Don't listen to a word he says. If he says you're dumb, that makes you a genius."
Yoichi laughed.
"I told you to stop swearing." Bruce ran and fetched a notepad and pencil. "Here, Yoichi, this will help. What did you want to cook?"
With a bit of drawing, they realized Yoichi wanted sugar cookies with frosting. Bruce promised to make them next time.
Kudou had an idea. People learned languages by watching movies and TV. Wouldn't that help Yoichi learn more words? Besides, they didn't have much else to do. Bruce had snuck into town once and let All for One's people see him to draw attention away from the other vigilantes. Now they were laying low.
After gathering a pile of movies, Kudou found Yoichi in the bathroom with the door half-open. Yoichi was admiring his reflection. Turning around, he smiled. "Sanzou brought back more stuff to put on my hair! It looks fluffy."
"Your hair looks great," Kudou said truthfully.
Solemnly, Yoichi pulled out a rainbow scrunchy and wrapped it around his hair. He struggled a bit, so Kudou came and helped him put his hair into a ponytail. Afterward, Yoichi spun around in a circle. "How I look?"
Kudou applauded. "Like an idol. Speaking of which, want to watch some anime?"
Yoichi grinned. "I love cartoons. Do you have Captain Hero?"
"Follow me, and I'll check." In the living room, Kudou looked through the pile. "No, we don't have Captain Hero, sorry."
"I've read the whole story," Yoichi said proudly. "Not like stupid All for One. He stopped on the second to last volume."
Kudou held up a DVD. "How about this story? It's another superhero cartoon, and the same actor who voiced Captain Hero is in the cast."
"Actor?" Yoichi stared uncertainly.
"Someone who plays the part of a fictional character."
"Fiction?"
"A made-up story." Kudou watched Yoichi's face, worried by the sudden grief he saw there.
"You mean lying? My brother does that all the time!" Yoichi shook all over. "Captain Hero is a lie?"
"No, Captain Hero is a story. The difference is that fiction doesn't pretend to be real. It's a fun story to entertain people." Kudou struggled to explain it. "Have you ever had dreams? Imagine someone telling the story of their dream."
"I have dreams about better places." Yoichi bit his lip. "Captain Hero is a dream. A better future that doesn't exist." Tears filled the corners of his eyes. "The real world doesn't have heroes."
"Yes, it does. I'm a hero. Sanzou is a hero." Kudou took Yoichi's hands. "You can be a hero too, if you want."
Yoichi's answering smile was brilliant.
Movies and TV had been a great idea. Yoichi's vocabulary and mastery of grammar improved in leaps and bounds. Kudou no longer had any doubt that Yoichi was smart—no, a goddamn genius. He only had to hear a word once to remember it. During television time, he sat in silence and absorbed everything like a sponge.
Yoichi quickly came to love baths. In fact, he would hog the bathroom for hours, soaking in the tub. Kudou was annoyed, but then he remembered they'd stolen the money for the electric bill from Yoichi's brother anyway.
The next problem they had was food hoarding. Bruce first noticed the foul smell coming from Yoichi's room. Yoichi bared his teeth at the mere suggestion of parting with his food and offered/threatened to hunt animals if they wouldn't let him store their own food in his room. They struck a compromise. Yoichi would be allowed to keep dry foods like crackers in his room at all times. He left the perishables in the fridge.
Yoichi recovered rapidly. Perhaps it was partly due to his unusual body, but Yoichi had also said his brother had forced a metapower on him. So far the metapower hadn't done anything exciting. But since it was supposed to stockpile strength, it could be improving his health.
Often Yoichi would vanish for hours on end. It had stressed Kudou out at first—partly because Yoichi was ill and partly because, to be honest, a stranger wandering around was a security risk. However, Kudou didn't want Yoichi to feel like a prisoner, so he never said a word. Besides, he quickly came to realize Yoichi had no ability to lie. Not even by omission. If Yoichi ever betrayed them, he'd surely tell them first.
One day, as Kudou worked on building a gun in the basement, a sandwich appeared on the table next to him.
Kudou jumped a foot in the air. Looking over, he saw Yoichi perched on the basement rafters with his legs dangling down. He'd never get used to that. "How long have you been there?" Kudou asked.
Yoichi shrugged. "Since breakfast. It's lunchtime now." He gestured at the sandwich.
"Thank you." Kudou took a bite, trying to sound casual and not like a man who'd nearly jumped out of his own skin. Yoichi would sometimes sit and watch in silence for hours, but this was the first time Kudou had failed to notice him. Uh. The first time Kudou had realized, at least. Wasn't that a scary thought?
Yoichi said, "I still like knives more, but guns are cool too."
"Guns beat knives in every fight," Kudou said, indignant on behalf of his favorite weapon.
"I bet I could win with a knife." Yoichi hopped down from the ceiling. He landed in front of a disassembled gun. In less than a minute, he put it back together. "Guns are too fragile. One piece missing, and it doesn't work."
Kudou gaped. "Whoa. Yoichi, that was amazing. You learned just from watching me?"
Yoichi nodded.
Kudou grinned. "You're brilliant! If your brother ever called you stupid, well, he's the king of morons. People with years of training couldn't have done that as fast as you. Hey, want me to take you to the shooting range out back and teach you how to fire a gun?"
Blushing at the praise, Yoichi nodded. It turned out he was an absolute natural and an amazing shot. For the first time, Kudou noticed small green sparks running down Yoichi's arms.
After watching a commercial for the new Captain Hero spinoff movie, Yoichi immediately begged to go see it in theatres.
Kudou and Bruce discussed in whispers in their office. Bruce said, "It's not safe. You know that. All for One is looking under every rock for Yoichi. The movie will be streaming in a few months. We can wait until then."
"At this rate, it doesn't look like All for One is ever going to decrease the heat on the search. He's an obsessed bastard." Kudou exhaled. "Yoichi really wants this." There was a delicate balance sometimes, between wanting to protect someone with so little life experience versus not wanting to control him. Past experience said sometimes Yoichi actually did know better, like with his appetite. Kudou would rather err on the side of freedom. "Why did we bother to rescue Yoichi if we were just going to keep him locked up ourselves?"
Bruce flinched, acknowledging the point. "But is a movie worth the risk?"
"It's worth it to me." Yoichi's voice came from the window. He crouched with his face pressed against the glass.
Bruce ran to open the window. "What are you doing out there?"
Yoichi hopped into the office. "Don't talk about me behind my back."
"That's fair." Bruce sighed. "Hear me out, what if we pirate the movie so you can watch it early? Frankly, we've committed greater crimes."
In a soft voice, Yoichi said, "I've never been in a movie theatre before. I want to see it on the big screen for once."
Never been in a movie theatre. Kudou tried and failed to keep the horror off his face.
Bruce's face reflected the same emotions. "Fine, a compromise. What if we drive a city over? It will add an extra hour to the trip, but it would be safer."
Yoichi hesitated. "I could go alone. I know it's dangerous. You don't have to come. You don't even want to see the movie."
"Of course I'm coming," Bruce said. "I'm your friend, and I'm not letting you face danger alone."
"Seconded," Kudou said immediately.
Yoichi pulled them both into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You'll love the movie. I just know it."
Yoichi loved the movie. Kudou felt frankly bored and a little lost. Judging from how Bruce's eyes glazed over, he felt the same way.
Kudou observed how far Yoichi had come. Today, he wore tight black jeans and a green hoodie pulled up to hide his white hair. He looked more like an idol than a feral street kid. He walked upright and drank his soda through a straw. When he ate popcorn, he didn't try to eat the kernels or the paper box. After using the bathroom, he washed his hands without being asked. In the movie theatre, he still sat in perfect silence, absorbing every word. Afterward, they went to a bookstore. Yoichi cried a little at the sight of so many shelves of books spreading out in all directions. He ran around excitedly reading the titles, most of which had previously been too hard for him to understand. He'd learned a lot from putting on the subtitles when watching television. They'd had to order a box shipped to their local post office because Yoichi had wanted too many books to carry. As they walked down the sidewalk, Yoichi babbled about everything he'd loved and every last detail of new Captain Hero lore. Despite his excitement, he spoke in full Japanese sentences. Kudou wondered if this was what it felt like to be a proud parent.
As they rounded the corner, a gang of young men on motorcycles approached. Kudou tensed when he saw the sign of "Meta X" on their helmets. It was a symbol of those who hated metahumans and believed them not to be part of humanity.
The gang was whooping loudly and revving their engines. As they passed a little too close, the wind knocked off Bruce's hood, exposing his blue-gray hair.
The motorcyclists skidded to a stop. The closest one barked, "Dyed hair or meta scum?" He yanked a baton out of his backpack.
Kudou reached for his hidden gun. Yoichi moved faster. In one stride, Yoichi leapt in front of the motorcyclist and bit into his arm.
The man shrieked. "I've been infected!"
The others went for their own batons. For a tense moment, the prospect of a fight hung in balance. The motorcyclists looked at Yoichi, blood dripping down his chin and holding a knife. White hair hung wild over his face. Yoichi bared bloody teeth at them and snarled.
The gang got back on their motorcycles and fled screaming.
Yoichi turned back to face Kudou and Bruce. His shoulders sagged. "Sorry. I'm not supposed to bite, right?"
"Nonsense!" Kudou slapped Yoichi's back. "That was just the right situation for biting. A fucking magnificent bite."
Bruce said, "It's okay if you're feral sometimes. That's part of who you are, after all. You protected me, and I'll always have your back in return."
Yoichi's eyes welled up. He pulled them both into a hug. Between happy sobs, he cried, "Big brother always said that villains got friends and heroes were alone. But you two? You're the best friends I could ever have."
OMAKE TIME!
Second and Third: You can't eat solid foods yet because your stomach is damaged, have some porridge.
Yoichi: Screw your porridge, I want meat.
Second: I think we should feed him before he decides to cannibalize us.
#
Yoichi: (Eats a squirrel raw.)
Second: Author, how am I supposed to fall in love with that?
Author: Don't blame me, it's practically canon.
Second: Duo holders or the feral guy eating raw animals?
Author: Both!
#
Second: Captain Hero is not real.
Yoichi: Wait, you mean people don't randomly give dramatic speeches to total strangers? Weird.
Second: This explains a little too much about All for One.
#
Yoichi: I want to be useful. It's a shame I don't know any basic household skills.
Second: How about you clean the bathroom? Here, have a rag and some cleaning fluids.
Yoichi: I'm on it. Hmm, let's see what happens when I combine these liquids. It will be fun.
(Second finds Yoichi passed out in a cloud of mustard gas.)
Second: Quick, CPR!
Yoichi: Well, that was a learning experience. Mainly I have learned that being clean is exactly dangerous as I originally thought.
Second: I've got green sparks running down my arm now.
Third: I can't believe you inherited One for All by giving Yoichi CPR after he gassed himself trying to clean. This is just too weird to explain to future generations. At least a kiss would have been romantic. I'm going to tell everyone that the power transfers by eating a hair.
Author's Note: Thank you to pocketramblr for the last omake, based off a tumblr post. It's perfect for feral Yoichi. Also, thank you to Gentrychild and Gfan97 for brainstorming this fic with me. There will be more to come as we haven't gotten into the romance yet.
