Yoichi found the bank vault first. He would always remember that, later.

The twins had been combing through the trash heap, looking for useful items. Yoichi's white shirt had a massive hole under the armpit, and he hoped to find a new one. It had been rainy lately, making life on the streets even more difficult than usual. Every last bit of exposed skin always got soaked to the bone.

In the twilight, it was not easy to look. Hisashi had a quirk to let him see in the dark. But Yoichi had never had particularly good vision. Nothing about his body worked well. He was always slow, coughing, trailing behind his larger twin.

A bit of metal gleamed in the darkness. Yoichi pushed aside black trash bags to reveal a giant bank vault, large enough for several people to easily fit inside. The door hung open, dented and slightly bent. Perhaps the vault had been thrown away because it had been broken. Burn marks and a splash of blood covered the back wall. These days, banks got robbed frequently. Hisashi said that someday he hoped to be strong enough to rob a bank, so they could finally get money and spend a night in a hotel instead of sleeping under bridges or in alleyways.

"Big brother!" Yoichi cried. "Come see."

Hisashi glided over, using a new ability to speed up his feet. His eyes widened. "Oh, this is excellent. We can use it to keep out of the rain. We might even be able to repair the door. It will be a safe place to keep our belongings and make them harder to steal. Well done, little brother." He patted Yoichi's greasy hair, accidentally smearing on dirt from his palm.

Yoichi beamed. The praise made him feel warm despite his still-wet clothes and the chill in the air. Back then, his older brother had been like a god to him. Usually Yoichi felt useless, but the slightest word or smile from Hisashi made him proud.

That night, the twins sheltered inside the vault. They slept intertwined, their noses pressed together, desperate to preserve body heat. It mostly kept off the rain, but some slipped in through the open door.

The next morning, Hisashi started hammering at the vault door, trying to remove the dent. An ordinary person couldn't have done it, but big brother had unnatural strength. After a moment, Hisashi paused, frowning. He said, "Mom says even if I repair the door, we can't let it close all the way. We might be locked in."

Yoichi shuddered to think of being trapped in the darkness. "Oh! Then how would we breathe?"

"We wouldn't, stupid. That's why we can't let it happen." Hisashi scowled, his eyes crossing slightly. "Don't tell me what to do! I'll call him stupid if he's acting stupid!"

Yoichi knew his brother wasn't talking to him, but rather to "Mom." Back then, Yoichi did not understand what a mother was. His brother frequently spoke to voices in his head. Yoichi, a pragmatic child, did not believe in voices he could not hear. But he never argued with his brother. Not when Hisashi kept them both alive. Yoichi was in no position to do anything except obey his stronger protector. On a few occasions, Yoichi had tried to stop Hisashi from going too far and hurting people to take food or powers. But it never did much good, just leaving Yoichi with bruises. Saving lives was worth fighting over. The imaginary voices were not.

When they cuddled at night, Yoichi whispered, "I love you." It was a nightly ritual. Love was one of the very first words created in their shared twin language. They used the same word to mean "own."

"I love you," Hisashi mumbled. "Mom says she loves you too."

Even though Yoichi didn't believe them, he liked to get messages from Mom. They were always kind and encouraging. Yoichi wanted to think that kindness secretly came from his brother, who often insulted him. It would be just like Hisashi to only be kind when he pretended it came from someone else. Yoichi felt like a child receiving a present from Santa, knowing it actually came from his parents but loving the gift all the more for that reason.

The bank vault kept off rain and snow, so paper could survive. Thus, the vault was the start of Yoichi's comic book collection.

Yoichi was greatly confused by the first Captain Hero comic book he ever found. The drawings weren't very realistic so he did not at first understand they were people. Still, the colors fascinated him, so he took the book back the vault.

As Yoichi approached, Hisashi asked, "Did you find food?" Today Hisashi had a scratch across his face. Bruises purpled down his arms. He must have been attacked, either by a roving patrol of metahuman haters or someone he'd stolen food from. He looked grumpy. The very air felt heavy from his bad mood. On such days, Yoichi risked getting slapped for acting stupid.

Scared anything he could say might upset his brother, Yoichi shook his head and held up the comic book.

"Worthless," Hisashi proclaimed. Then he divided up the food in his bag between them. Hisashi always gave them equal portions. And Yoichi always ate less and put some back, even though he was still hungry, because his brother was larger and required more food. This time Yoichi ate even less than usual because his brother was injured.

That evening, as Yoichi settled down to flip through the pages, Hisashi came over. Yoichi tensed, afraid his brother might toss out his book in a fit of bad temper. Instead, Hisashi said, "Mom says she'll read your book to us."

Yoichi had never heard the voices in Hisashi's head talk to him, but he didn't argue. He just held up the book.

Slowly, Hisashi said, "C-captain hero was not always a hero. He started out as a boy s-scrawnier and weaker than the rest." Hisashi frequently stumbled over words he did not know and paused as if listening to someone else before speaking.

Gradually, Yoichi realized the words matched the actions that had been drawn on the pages. He flipped eagerly, becoming engrossed in the story. Once Captain Hero had been weak, but then he became strong and made friends. Yoichi wanted to be strong someday too. Then he could prevent his brother from getting hurt. Hisashi wouldn't have to go out looking for food alone. They could be a team, like Captain Hero and his sidekick.

Yoichi asked, "Do you think I might get a power someday, big brother? Captain Hero was born powerless like me but he got them later."

"Don't be so sure you want—ow!" Hisashi gripped his head. "Ow! No, I won't give you back! Ow! If I'm a monster what does that make you? Mom, make them stop!"

Sometimes Hisashi heard other voices besides their mother in his head—and they increased the more abilities he stole. The other voices were not kind or useful. When they started tormenting Hisashi, it was always a bad time.

Yoichi put down the book and hugged his brother.

Hisashi moaned and leaned into the embrace. When Hisashi started ripping out his hair, Yoichi grabbed his hands to stop him. The two brothers stood together for a long time, Yoichi stroking his brother's head as Hisashi spat curses at invisible beings.

That night, Hisashi woke five times because of nightmares. Each time, Yoichi soothed his brother and held him. Silently Yoichi prayed for Mom to help, even though he didn't truly believe in Mom. They needed all the help they could get.

Both brothers liked comic books a lot. Although usually Hisashi would refuse to do anything he considered useless, he helped Yoichi comb the trash heap for more volumes of Captain Hero. Hisashi even worked with the voices in his head to repair a battery-powered lantern so they could read at night. Sometimes the voices could be helpful. Hisashi said that Mom beat them into submission.

Yoichi started to match the written squiggles to his brother's words. Slowly, he could read the comic by himself. At least partly. He had a lot of trouble with kanji. They didn't make logical sense because the symbols didn't match to sounds. And they had too many different meanings.

The comic books taught Yoichi what was a mother. He realized his mother must be dead. Then who or what did Hisashi speak to? Just a ghost of his own unconsciousness, as Yoichi had always suspected. It was a shame. Yoichi thought mothers sounded lovely. He did not say anything. There was no need to break his brother's delusion. It felt happy to imagine their mom looking over them.

The vault was a good place to hide, but it attracted attention. Another homeless kid came by at night and grabbed their food bag. Hisashi, always a light sleeper due to nightmares, woke up. Yoichi woke up second to the sound of the kid screaming.

Blood hit Yoichi's face before his eyes opened. He grabbed Hisashi's legs. "Big brother, stop, too far, die!" In Captain Hero, only bad guys killed their enemies. Good guys just defeated them.

The street kid scampered away. Hisashi growled and threw Yoichi against the wall. "He got away with part of our food! Look what you did."

Yoichi whimpered in pain.

Hisashi doubled-over, clutching his head. "Mom, he had it coming! Why don't you scold him instead of me for letting our food get stolen? Ugh! I won't say I'm sorry this time! Just because he's smaller, I have to let him grab me without fighting back? He's not as fragile as you keep insisting. Ow! What do the rest of you even care? You keep calling us both freaks! Why are you acting self-righteous now, huh?"

This time Hisashi was talking in Mom's language, not their twin language. Yoichi didn't even understand what self-righteous meant. His brother knew a lot of words he didn't. But Yoichi knew that Mom was always the one who kept Hisashi from hitting him too often. In fact, Mom had insisted on leaving Yoichi behind in the vault after Yoichi had interfered in his brother's fights a few too many times. Mom didn't care if Hisashi hit other people but hitting Yoichi was not okay. When Mom came out, she always tried to protect them. The other voices were…very mixed. Yoichi crawled over and hugged his brother. For the rest of the night, Yoichi kept hugging until the voices stopped.

When winter came, Yoichi always got sick. That year, he got super extra sick. The snot came out so thick he tasted it in the back of his throat constantly. Despite all the blankets piled over him, nothing stopped his chills. He felt grateful they at least had the vault to keep out the snow. Every last bit of his body ached. His head hurt so much he could not even think.

Yoichi thought he might die. When he heard Hisashi leaving, he moaned because he didn't want to die alone. But he could not find words with his heavy tongue.

Hisashi returned with hot soup (a miracle!) and some strange plastic device. First Hisashi stuck the device to Yoichi's mouth. "Breathe deeply, little brother. Mom showed me what to put in the inhaler. She said this will help." Then Hisashi fed Yoichi the soup using a bent ladle.

It hurt to even swallow, but Yoichi forced himself. The soup eased his sore throat, and he felt warm for the first time all day. "T-thank you." Tears sprang to his eyes: from relief, pain, and the ache of being useless. "Thank you, big brother. You saved my life. I thought I would die."

"I'll never let you die," Hisashi said, as implacable as the steel walls around them. "You're mine."

"I love you too," Yoichi said.

When Yoichi was well enough to walk again, Hisashi said, "You look pale and shriveled like a comic book exposed to rain." He paused. "Mom insists that I tell you that you're very handsome. But we both know she's lying."

Yoichi laughed. Clearly Mom was his brother's kinder side. Hisashi just couldn't bring himself to be nice without pretending the message came from someone else.

"I'll make sure you have medicine in the future," Hisashi said, deadly serious. "No matter what I have to do."

Yoichi shrugged. "I'll make it with or without." He knew that food could not be counted on, so medicine would be the same. "You don't have to worry about me." He nearly said, You don't have to feel guilty, but his brother would take offense at his emotions laid bare even if his guilt was plain for the world to see.

But Hisashi kept true to his word, even if it meant he returned more often with bruises. He trained harder as if punishing himself for his failure to win against an illness.

Hisashi had gotten stronger and obtained more powers, like how Captain Hero kept getting new abilities. He brought back better food, clothing, and blankets to the vault. Yoichi would be happy, except he'd noticed blood on the valuables. It made him uneasy deep in his stomach. He did not feel good about violence just because it happened out of his sight. Captain Hero said indifference was the real evil.

Based on Yoichi's reading, people with voices in their head were crazy and villainous. Yoichi didn't want his brother to be a villain. He wanted his brother to get better. The power of love made people better in comics. And Yoichi loved his brother with the desperate, all-consuming depths of someone who had never had anyone else.

Yoichi tried telling his brother that the voices were not real and the nightmares might get better if they were ignored. This made Hisashi angry, and he said it made Mom angry too. "Ungrateful," Hisashi spat out, his eyes glowing red. Yoichi shrank into himself and dropped the subject.

Still, Yoichi noticed his brother left for longer periods of time and developed a more malicious smirk. Yoichi didn't like his brother's latest ability, some sort of air canon. Hisashi's personality often changed a little for the first few days after he got a new power. This one had made Hisashi mean. Yoichi hoped it would wear off quickly.

Then Hisashi returned home to the trash heap, smiling and glowing. Hisashi said that he'd killed the Glowing Baby, someone who had done no harm to them and only tried to help people, like a hero. Hisashi planned to kill more people. There was some nonsense about ruling the world like a Demon King. How had Hisashi missed that the Demon King was the bad guy?

Yoichi thought about Captain Hero saying that indifference was the real evil. He thought about heroes redeeming villains through the power of love. He decided he would save his brother.

First Yoichi tried to leave their home to tell other people about his brother's plans, but that didn't go well. Hisashi had repaired the bank vault door long ago and found the combination. He locked his little brother inside.

The walls around Yoichi pressed tight, his former sanctuary turned into a prison. It hurt even more because he'd once loved this place and seen it as safe. As Yoichi crouched around the flickering lantern, he heard his brother ranting outside. "Mom, you always told us that we had to stick together. So what else do you want me to do? Let him leave? We both know he'd never survive on his own."

Yoichi wished for his mother to save him, like a child wishing for Santa Claus to come, but he had a feeling this gift would be too expensive for reality to afford. His brother couldn't stand to be left alone. Hisashi pretended that Yoichi needed him more, but had always actually been the more codependent twin. So Yoichi switched tactics. He tried buttering up his brother and convincing him to become a hero.

Hisashi loved flattery for his abilities. But he mocked the notion of using them for other people. He said villains were cooler.

"But villains hurt people!" Yoichi cried, frustrated and nearly at the end of his rope. "Please, you always kept me alive. Can't you muster a tiny bit of that compassion for other people?"

Hisashi laughed. "We're the only people who matter. Only family. You, me, and Mom."

"Mom doesn't even exist!" Yoichi snapped.

The words hung between them, thick and heavy. Yoichi had not realized how deeply they would cut until he saw the stunned look on his brother's face. Hisashi had completely and utterly believed that Yoichi believed. And that belief had been important to him.

Defiantly, Yoichi said, "Come on, we're both too old to be talking to our dead mother."

"She's not dead," Hisashi snapped. "She lives on inside of me."

Yoichi sighed. "Big brother, you know how I take medicine for my cough? If we found medicine for you, it could stop your nightmares—"

"You think I'm crazy." Betrayal filled Hisashi's voice and gaze.

Yoichi struggled to find the right words. Twin language had a more limited vocabulary, and he didn't speak Japanese as well. He stuck to twin language, because it was more intimate. "You've always helped me with my illness. I want to help you, too."

"You're jealous of me being stronger. That's why you want me to be crazy, so you can be superior for once." Hisashi sneered. "You're pathetic, little brother."

"You're a mass-murdering villain!" Yoichi screamed back. "Do you think our dead mom would be proud?"

"Shut up, she said I could do whatever it takes to survive, shut up, shut up!" Hisashi screamed, then stormed out of the vault. This time he took the lantern, leaving Yoichi locked up in darkness.

Yoichi never got another loving message from Mom after that. It was unclear if the messages had stopped or Hisashi had stopped passing them along.

The vault had been filled with more luxuries and books as Hisashi became stronger. Now they were all stripped away. Yoichi was left alone in the darkness, without a single blanket. At first he could not believe his own brother had done this to him. They'd always shared. Even during the worst days of their childhood when they both had so little.

Rotting in the dark, Yoichi dwelled on how little he'd done with his life. His dim childhood memories only involved hardship on the cold streets. When he'd gotten old enough to remember, he'd rarely left the relative safety of the vault and the trash heap. His life had been short, hungry, and brutal. If he died here, he would never get to see the exciting and beautiful places from his comic books. And he felt death creeping up on him with the rattling cough in his throat.

Hisashi stopped giving Yoichi his inhaler. At first Yoichi thought it was a punishment. Then as he got sicker, his brother's smiles widened. When Hisashi knelt down with a spoonful of soup, Yoichi understood. His older brother wanted to duplicate the old days, looking after him. He wanted to once again receive love and gratitude. How revolting. Hisashi was the one who had made Yoichi sick. Didn't he understand how that changed everything? It was no longer a gift, a kindness, an act of love. It was a curse.

Yoichi spat the soup straight back into his brother's face. "I'll take nothing you don't force on me."

Hisashi recoiled, the soup dripping down his chin and shirt, a hurt look on his face. Yoichi felt a brief mean triumph. Gifts were his older brother's way of showing love. To reject them was to reject his very being. Yoichi had finally been able to hurt his tormenter in return.

Then Hisashi set about forcing everything. He forced food down Yoichi's throat. He forced hugs. He forced his poisonous words into his ears. He kept on forcing even when Yoichi's throat was a screaming mess of agony and he could barely stand. The medicine burning down his mouth didn't taste the same. He didn't feel better, either. Perhaps it might have been poisoned.

Yoichi had lost track of time in the vault. A lot of time had passed. He didn't know if he wanted to save his older brother any longer. He just wanted out, to see the sun again. He'd started to forget Japanese words. He could no longer even clearly remember all the scenes from his beloved Captain Hero which he'd read a thousand times. He'd clawed at the walls until his fingernails bled.

Just when Yoichi thought there was nothing left to force on him, his brother found one last thing.

Hisashi entered the vault humming a jaunty tune. "I have a new name, little brother. Since you won't call me by my name any longer, you can call me All for One."

Yoichi sneered. "I'm not calling you something so stupid. You really have gone crazy." Then he stopped talking because his throat hurt too much. The force-feeding had left his body a wreck. He'd gotten sicker. His brother didn't care—or rather, seemed to enjoy his helplessness.

"You'll see soon enough." Hisashi's demented grin widened. "I have one last gift for you, little brother. I found a power that even someone as weak and starving as you can handle. Once I give it to you, you'll become like the others, a voice I can steal. Then you can live on inside my head forever, with Mom. You'll never die, because I never intend to die. We'll be one again, as we were in the womb."

Yoichi gasped, a strangled sound turning into a cough. Then he ran. His brother had completely lost his mind. If Hisashi truly believed that Yoichi would "live forever" if he forced a power on him then took it back, then Hisashi might actually stop caring enough about his flesh and blood body to keep Yoichi alive.

Of course there was nowhere to run. Hisashi held Yoichi down and forced the power into his head. It hurt worse than every single force-feeding combined. This was a violation of every part of his body, right down to his soul.

Yoichi screamed until his throat choked with blood and the darkness took him.

When Yoichi woke up, light blinded his eyes. The figure looming over than him seemed shorter than his brother, but that didn't really register. When a hand reached out toward him, Yoichi reacted on instinct. He bit the hand.

Someone yelped in pain. Too late, Yoichi realized that he'd bitten a stranger with spiky red hair, not his brother.

Yoichi coughed up blood on top of the stranger's bite mark, then passed out.

When he next woke up, he had sunlight on his face. He was out of the vault.

OMAKE TIME!

Hisashi: I like Batman because I'm pretty sure he's a villain even if I can't read very well. Mom has trouble with English words.

Yoichi: Batman gets chased by the police. Definitely a villain.

#

Yoichi: I'm going to warn everyone about your evil business.

Hisashi: With your pitiful grasp of Japanese? They won't understand you.

Yoichi: Then I'll repeat the speeches from Captain Hero.

Hisashi: This will be funny to watch.

#

Hisashi: Mom is driving me mental with her nagging, maybe I should give her power to my brother so she can fuss over him for a bit.

Mom: I'll tell Yoichi that he's actually the older twin and you're younger.

Hisashi: Well-played. I can see where I got my evil from. I'll go find a stockpiling ability instead.

#

Second: All for One, you son of a whore—

Yoichi: Hey! Leave Mom out of this!

Second: Say what?

#

Hisashi: I have a disagreement with my brother so I'll lock him in a vault. My comics have taught me that violence is a normal and proportional response to any disagreement.

Yoichi: Oh, yeah? Well I'm going to accelerate this fight into a centuries-long feud! That's even more comic-like.

#

Second: Every other version of me who rescues Yoichi from the vault gets a love-at-first-sight moment. My Yoichi tried to eat me!

Yoichi: Nonsense, I didn't even rip out your flesh. If I ever try to eat you, you'll know the difference.

Author's Note: Stealthsuitdeku has drawn beautiful art of feral Yoichi for the sequel to this fic, "Learning to Speak the Same Language." Delete the spaces to get the link:
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