Chapter Text
AFTER
“Get up off your ass,” Bruce yanked a hastily sketched floorplan out of Kudou’s grasp. “We’re sparring.”
“I’m working,” Kudou made a sluggish grab for the floorplan, which Bruce easily avoided. Their next mission had at least a half dozen holes he needed to fill before it could be executed. Now that the Resistance was a direct target of All For One, it was more important than ever to make sure his strategies were foolproof.
Bruce didn’t seem to pick up on the urgency.
“Work is great, but you’ve been locked up in here too long,” Bruce tossed the floorplan onto the top of a bookshelf, just out of Kudou’s reach. “It isn’t healthy. People are starting to worry.”
“Since when has my health been the priority?” Kudou muttered under his breath, only somewhat bitterly. He knew Bruce had a point. His work in the office was important, but it was also a good distraction. When Kudou was locked away with his spreadsheets and blueprints, he didn’t have to face the rest of the Resistance. Or reality.
“How about this,” Bruce crossed his arms. “If you win, I’ll stop bothering you.”
Kudou considered. It wouldn’t be the end of the world to leave the office for a bit. It would probably be beneficial to let the rest of the Resistance see him. That way, they’d know he was still alive, even if his current appearance wasn’t particularly reassuring.
And, of course, it would be a nice chance to get Bruce to stop pestering him. Bruce had been incessant, always watching with those too-knowing eyes. If Bruce wasn’t around so much, Kudou wouldn’t have to live in constant fear that Bruce would bring up the…thing that happened in the sewers.
“Let me guess. You’re suggesting hand-to-hand combat?” Kudou raised an eyebrow. Kudou’s quirk, Gearshift, was made for long range fighting. With Fa Jin, Bruce would have the distinct advantage up close.
Still, hand-to-hand combat was pretty much the only way to spar at the safehouse. They couldn’t do much else without attracting too much unwanted attention.
“We can fight without quirks if you’d like,” Bruce shrugged, a spark of triumph glinting in his eyes. They both knew he had Kudou where he wanted him. Kudou couldn’t back out without risking looking like a coward, and he was too proud to take that risk.
“Alright, fine,” Kudou shrugged, getting to his feet. “But you’re keeping your word when I kick your ass.”
Kudou wasn’t an idiot. He knew he wasn’t in good shape to fight, even without the additional strain of using his quirk. He’d been too busy to eat recently, and what he did manage scarf down rarely stayed in his stomach. Waves of nausea would strike out of nowhere, always accompanied by the taste of blood. When they hit, there was little Kudou could do but rush to the nearest restroom and wait until he’d vomited up the entire contents of his stomach.
Kudou had never heard of any sickness like his before, and he’d lost his doctor in the last attack. He didn’t have the time or the resources to try to identify his illness and treat it, assuming it even was an illness. Whatever he’d managed to catch, he just had to wait it out. There wasn’t much else he could do.
Kudou met Bruce in a clearing outside of the safehouse. Unlike the old base, they were far enough away from the rest of civilization that they could risk going outside for short periods of time. Kudou soaked in the warmth of the sun against his skin, inhaling the scent of maple trees and cherry. Time had been strange lately. He didn’t even know how long it had been since he’d breathed fresh air.
The wind rustled the branches of the forest around him, sending leaves dancing through the air. Kudou watched them flutter to the ground. It wasn’t so bad out in the country. He would have liked it.
Kudou had to take a second to refocus, staring at a spot on the ground until he could be sure his thoughts wouldn’t betray him. He looked up to find Bruce waiting on the grass, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He grinned at Kudou, “Almost thought you wouldn’t show.”
“Let’s just get this over with,” Kudou said, stretching one arm, then the other. Obviously, he wanted to win the fight, but a more attainable goal was probably to not throw up as soon as he started moving.
Back in the old base, they’d had copious space to train and spar in the gym Kudou’s father had built into one of the lower levels. Now, they just had this small clearing in the woods. Kudou stepped into the clearing, trying his best not to think of it as a reminder of his failure to prevent All For One from devastating the Resistance’s forces.
Bruce shrugged, squaring up. Kudou did the same, watching Bruce’s movements, waiting.
Bruce struck first. His fist punched towards Kudou’s jaw, so fast Kudou could hardly believe he wasn’t using his quirk. Kudou only just managed to step out of range, but another punch was already coming. He barely managed to get his arm up to block, the impact running down his arm.
Bruce stepped back, grinning as he shook out his hand, “I’m not gonna go easy on you, Boss.”
“Good,” Kudou smirked back. Adrenaline had started to kick in. He hardly even felt nauseous anymore. This really was good. The best he’d felt in a long time. “If you can’t beat me while I’m like this, you’re never going to.”
“Talking shit now, are we?” Bruce flashed a slightly amused smile before narrowing his eyes. “Well, just so you know, I’ve got no intention of letting you lock yourself back in the office.”
This time, it was Kudou who charged. He sprinted for Bruce, throwing a big right hook at Bruce’s jaw. Bruce ducked beneath it, but Kudou was ready. His other arm was already in motion, slamming into Bruce’s stomach.
Bruce doubled over and Kudou backed out of range, letting him get his breath. Bruce wheezed but straightened up anyway, “You think you can afford to go easy on me, huh?”
It was true that if it had been a real fight, Kudou wouldn’t have given Bruce the chance to recover. However, Kudou wasn’t showing Bruce any courtesy that Bruce wouldn’t have also shown him.
Bruce still seemed offended as he aimed a series of blows at Kudou. Kudou only just managed to block him, ducking beneath his blows to aim a punch at his stomach. Bruce sidestepped and used Kudou’s momentum against him, tackling Kudou to the ground.
Kudou rolled as he hit the ground, softening the impact and twisting to pin Bruce underneath him. He only managed to land one blow on Bruce’s face before Bruce’s knee caught him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back. Bruce was on him before Kudou could get back to his feet, knocking him onto his back and pinning one of Kudou’s arms under his knee. He held the other down with one hand as his other reared back to hit Kudou in the face.
The blow hit hard him in the mouth. Kudou winced at the taste of blood in his mouth as his lip cut against his teeth. It wasn’t quite hard enough to knock his teeth out, but Kudou felt the impact rattle through his skull. He twisted, kicking upward in an attempt to free himself from Bruce’s grip, but even without using Fa Jin, Bruce was too strong.
“Yield?” Bruce grinned down at him, pulling back his arm to punch Kudou again.
Kudou grunted in frustration, struggling to pull free. He’d trained in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat for as long as he could remember, but Bruce had a natural ability he couldn’t compete with. Despite all of Kudou’s big talk, at peak health, Kudou could only just manage to hold his own against Bruce. He should have known his second-in-command would have no trouble pummeling him now.
“You going to make me do this?” Bruce huffed out a disappointed breath as Kudou continued to struggle. Before Kudou could react, he’d twisted around, his arm wrapping around Kudou’s neck in a sleeper hold. Kudou immediately felt the pressure against his neck, cutting off the flow of blood to his brain.
He scrambled for a way out, trying not to panic as his vision darkened. He couldn’t lose consciousness. When he was so obviously at a disadvantage in every other way, carefully laid plans were the only way to deal serious damage again All For One. Kudou couldn’t give that up. He had to keep fighting.
As his vision darkened, Kudou made a desperate grab for anything that might give him the strength to get out of Bruce’s hold. For a brief second, stars flashed behind Kudou’s eyes. He thought it was over, that he had lost consciousness, before power suddenly flooded through his body.
He grabbed Bruce’s arm with one hand and pulled away, giving himself just enough room to jam his other elbow into Bruce’s side. Bruce grunted in mixed surprise and pain, releasing his grip. Kudou was on him before he could recover, grabbing the back of his uniform with one hand while he pushed on Bruce’s neck with the other.
Bruce only struggled for a moment before he realized what Kudou already knew. Kudou had caught him in a baseball choke, cutting off air and blood flow to his head. If he didn’t tap out, he’d pass out. Bruce tapped his arm to signal his concession, gasping for air as Kudou released him.
Kudou got back to his feet, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he let Bruce sit up, “Guess I’m back in the office after all.”
“How is that possible?” Bruce was breathing hard, staring at him in amazement. His face was still red from the blood flow Kudou had cut off with his chokehold. “You should have lost.”
Kudou frowned, “You want an apology?”
“No, I just mean— You were pathetic at the beginning,” Bruce’s confusion was starting to make Kudou uncomfortable. “You shouldn’t have been able to get out of that hold. How’d you do it?”
“Maybe I was just letting you think I was weak,” Kudou countered, though he knew it wasn’t true. It had taken all his energy to keep up with Bruce at the start of the fight, and by the time Bruce had pinned him, he’d used it all up. Bruce was right. He shouldn’t have been able to escape Bruce’s grip.
Kudou shook out his arms. He felt strange, like there was a weak current of electricity running beneath his skin. It was dissipating now, but back when he’d been pinned, he’d felt it much more acutely. In that moment of desperation, when he’d hung on the edge of unconsciousness, he’d been digging deep for some way out, for some last reserves of energy. And he’d found it. Not much of it, sure, but enough to shock Bruce and escape his hold.
The problem was that Kudou had trained, with and without his quirk, for nearly his whole life. He knew his body too well. Enough to know that those last reserves of strength shouldn’t have existed.
“Hey, Boss,” Bruce’s tone was so grave that Kudou looked up immediately. “You don’t think that—” Bruce hesitated. “All For One didn’t manage to touch you, did he? Back in the sewers?”
Kudou felt a chill creep over him at what Bruce was implying. The thought of All For One’s touch—it left that too-familiar metallic taste in Kudou’s mouth. Kudou couldn’t think about it. He couldn’t bear to relive it.
He never wanted to be anywhere near All For One again. The white hair, the shape of his mouth— They were echoes of something familiar, twisted to become grotesque and revolting. It felt wrong to look at. Kudou never wanted to see that face. Never again, unless it was to watch the light leave those pale, empty eyes.
“No,” he finally said. “There’s no chance.”
BEFORE
The facility only had so much hot water, so Kudou’s shower was only a matter of minutes. It wasn’t nearly long enough to feel clean after the last night’s mission. How many had he killed this time? Six? Eight? He wasn’t sure, which was almost more disturbing.
Death was a part of being a soldier. Kudou’s father had drilled that lesson into him when he was still a boy, right after Kudou had killed for the first time. In Kudou’s line of work, killing was often the difference between victory and defeat, and sometimes he had to take the lives of the guilty to save the innocent. Kudou knew it had to be done, but that didn’t make him feel any less dirty.
This time, at least, Kudou could comfort himself with the knowledge that the mission had been a success. There had been minimal casualties on the side of the Resistance, while nearly all of All For One’s supporters had been killed by the Resistance or crushed by the collapse of the building. Not only that, but one of the teams had managed to steal a cache of weapons from one of the higher floors.
There was also the matter of what Kudou had discovered, though he wasn’t sure he could call that a victory yet.
He stumbled out of the shower. His next stop was the far wing of the lowest level of his underground base. That was where he’d instructed Bruce to keep their new guest. Bruce would probably be waiting for him to come question All For One’s brother.
Kudou got halfway dressed before his legs started to give out on him. Shit. He immediately recognized the symptoms. When Kudou overused his quirk, his body had to compensate for all the energy he’d expended. Using Gearshift to blow through those guards had been more physically draining than he’d anticipated. Now that the adrenaline was finally wearing off, he was starting to feel the effects.
Still, he had to get down to the lower level. He couldn’t just—
Kudou barely made it to his bed before his body gave out on him. His head hit the mattress and he plunged into deep, dreamless sleep.
----
He woke up disoriented, body slow and mind groggy. It took a second for him to remember where he was. Why was he…? A spike of apprehension jolted through him as he remembered the previous night’s events. All For One’s brother. He’d left Bruce to watch him and then—
Kudou scrambled for the clock on his desktop. What time was it? A good few hours had passed since he’d passed out. It was better than sleeping the day away, but it wasn’t great. So much could’ve happened in that time. Hell, All For One’s brother could have broken out and killed everyone except Kudou.
He finished getting dressed and headed to the far end of the lower hallway, breathing a sigh of relief as he passed through the common area. People were milling around as usual. No one ran up to him with any news that All For One’s brother had escaped to wreak havoc. Kudou figured it was probably safe to stop by the mess hall on the way, pouring himself a thermos of herbal tea.
Kudou hadn’t really thought their new guest would massacre the Resistance. If he had, he never would have brought him in. However, realistically, Kudou knew nothing about All For One’s brother. He didn’t know if he meant harm, or had a dangerous quirk, or even what side he was on. It didn’t hurt to be cautious.
Still, some didn’t think Kudou was being as cautious as he should be. Bruce had wanted to put All For One’s brother in the high-security room they usually used to interrogate prisoners, but Kudou shot that idea down. Although Kudou had trouble extricating his fingers from the young man’s grip when he left, his guest hadn’t caused any other trouble. It felt like a step too far to throw him back into a cage when he’d been so cooperative with them thus far.
Instead, he had Bruce place their newest addition in one of the unused rooms, far from where the rest of the Resistance slept. Bruce had agreed on the condition that the room stay under heavy guard. If All For One’s brother made a move to escape, he’d be quickly subdued.
Kudou rounded the corner, speeding up as he spotted a few of his soldiers at the far end of the hallway. Bruce was there, accompanied by Yua and a couple other guards. He stood up as Kudou approached, nodding his head respectfully, “Boss, we were getting worried about you.”
Kudou waved him off. It made him uncomfortable how formal Bruce could be with him, given that they were nearly the same age, “Didn’t mean to make you wait. I, uh…overused my quirk. Had to take a rest.”
He’d been debating whether or not to explain himself to them. Kudou didn’t want to come off sounding weak, but he figured it was even more suspicious not to explain himself at all.
Bruce’s brows furrowed in concern, “Are you—”
“I’m fine now,” Kudou reassured him quickly. “Seriously. Don’t worry about it.”
Bruce nodded, though he still looked troubled. He exchanged a glance with Yua that instantly made Kudou uncomfortable, “Good. We were worried he might have done something to you. Like, when he touched you.”
It took Kudou a second to realize what he meant. Bruce was talking about their new guest. They didn’t know if he had a quirk. If it was anything like his brother’s, skin-to-skin contact with him had the potential to be lethal.
Kudou knew he should be worried, but he wasn’t. He shook his head, “Nah, I know my quirk. This was all me.”
Bruce didn’t look completely reassured, but he nodded anyway. Kudou glanced at the door pointedly, “Any updates?”
Yua sniffed in distaste from where she was seated on the only chair outside the door, “He’s a little shit. Smells like one, too.”
“Really mature. Thanks for that,” Kudou replied drily, glancing at Bruce. “Anything else to add?”
“We’ve kept an eye on him all night. He hasn’t said a word, and he freaks out if anyone touches him,” Bruce frowned. Bruce was trying to be flat and factual, but Kudou could still hear the edge to Bruce’s voice. “Other than that, he hasn’t tried anything. Maybe because he knows he’s dead as soon as he does.”
Kudou watched Bruce carefully, noting the turmoil swirling within his second-in-command’s eyes. He still remembered Bruce’s horrified expression, back when Kudou had emerged from the vault holding All For One’s brother’s hand. Bruce was conflicted, Kudou realized. He still didn’t see the sense in Kudou’s decision, especially through the haze of his hatred for All For One.
Kudou nodded in response, mentally weighing his options. This wasn’t like their normal interrogations. Their captive wasn’t some known villain with blood on his hands. In order to find out where All For One’s brother stood, they needed to go into this with an open mind. Looking at Bruce’s cold expression, at the grim looks on the faces of his other soldiers, Kudou wasn’t sure he could count on them to do that.
Yua cracked her knuckles loud enough to force Kudou to meet her gaze. She wasn’t even trying to hide the bloodthirsty look in her dark eyes, “So, Boss, are we doing this? I’ve been waiting all night.”
As one of his upper-level soldiers, Yua should have been excused from keeping watch. Her presence probably meant she’d volunteered to take a shift, and Kudou somehow doubted it was just to help him out. His soldiers all knew Kudou and Bruce interrogated most of the prisoners they brought in. Yua, and maybe the others too, probably wanted to be around so they could see All For One’s brother suffer.
Kudou glanced away, his mind suddenly made up, “Actually, I think I’ll handle this myself. You’re all free to go.”
“Boss?” Bruce repeated, this time incredulously, at the same time as Yua’s loud, “You’ve got to be joking.” The other two guards exchanged a look Kudou liked even less.
“This is All For One’s brother,” Bruce said slowly, like Kudou hadn’t realized that fact. “You can’t expect us to leave you alone with him.”
Kudou fixed them all with a cold stare, “I expect you to follow orders. I’m your leader, aren’t I?”
They fell silent, though all but Bruce were staring at him reproachfully. Kudou didn’t pull rank often, and for him to pull it over something like this? They wouldn’t understand.
“Fine, let’s go,” Bruce waved for the others to clear out, catching eyes with Kudou as he turned to retreat down the hallway. The look in his eyes was a clear message. I hope you know what you’re doing.
Kudou hoped so, too.
----
Kudou knocked on the door before opening it, giving a few seconds of warning before he stepped inside. His eyes adjusted quick to the harsh lighting, scanning his surroundings. The room was furnished just like the rest of the rooms at the base, with a small bed in the corner, a circular table, and two chairs. This room had a bathroom attached, too, unlike some of the others. It was nothing special, but nice enough by Resistance standards. It had probably only gone unclaimed because no one wanted to live so far away from the rest of the Resistance members.
He scanned the room. The chairs were empty. The bed was still perfectly made, like it hadn’t been slept in. The bathroom door was open and the small room beyond appeared vacant, too.
A jolt of anxiety shot across Kudou’s skin, his heartbeat speeding up. Where was All For One’s brother? Could he have escaped? Bruce didn’t seem to have notice, but maybe with the right quirk, he could have snuck out. If he was loose in the facility and still loyal to his brother… Kudou didn’t want to think about what that would mean for the Resistance.
He was already reaching for Gearshift, ready to sound the alarm, when he noticed a huddled figure, barely noticeable in the far corner of the room.
Kudou could have gasped in relief. He didn’t, not willing to completely lower his guard as he cautiously skirted around the edge of the table. All For One’s brother was sitting in the far corner of the room, back hunched and knees pulled up to his chest. His dirty hair had fallen across his face, so that Kudou could barely see the green eyes that had shocked him so completely the night before.
Back in the darkness of the vault, All For One’s brother had looked almost inhuman. In the full lighting of the room, that hadn’t changed much. He hadn’t showered, his hair just as matted and filthy as before. He still wore the worn long sleeve shirt he’d been wearing in the vault, though in this light Kudou could see that his ragged pants were too small, the hem reaching up past his ankles.
The light only made it more noticeable how horribly emaciated he was, his clothes falling loosely on his too-thin frame. Kudou had seen lots of hungry people, but never any as bad as this. It looked to Kudou like All For One’s brother had been starving for a long time.
He would have looked almost completely feral, if not for the slight recognition in his eyes as he looked up at Kudou. All For One’s brother watched him, tracing Kudou’s every movement with his green eyes gleaming from behind his hair.
Kudou was suddenly unsure where to begin.
He took a cautious step forward. All For One’s brother flinched. It wasn’t a dramatic recoil, but Kudou still noticed it. Kudou stepped back again, staying at a safe distance as he slowly took a seat on the floor facing his guest.
All For One’s brother just watched, hands still wrapped protectively around his knees.
Kudou decided to start with an introduction, “My name is Kudou.” He coughed awkwardly. His voice sounded so loud in the quiet room. “I’m the leader here.” He decided to hold off on calling it a resistance until he knew where his guest stood. “And you’re…All For One’s brother, right?”
The young man made a noise. It was so strangled and unintelligible that it took Kudou a second to realize he was trying to say something. He must not have spoken for a while, for his voice to be so unused to forming words. He coughed and tried again, “Yoichi.”
“Yoichi?” Kudou repeated, a little surprised. Bruce had told him All For One’s brother hadn’t said a word so far. Kudou hadn’t expected him to speak with so little prompting. “That’s your name?”
All For One’s brother nodded. Up close, Kudou could tell he was around Kudou’s own age, give or take a couple years.
Kudou grabbed the thermos of tea he’d brought with him, offering it to Yoichi, “Here. For your throat.”
Yoichi hesitated, then slowly reached out to take the thermos from Kudou’s grip. He sniffed it before taking a sip, his eyes widening slightly, “What is it?”
Kudou blinked, “Uh, herbal tea?”
Had he seriously never tasted tea before?
Kudou waited for Yoichi to be joking, but there wasn’t a trace of humor on his face. Instead, he just nodded to Kudou, his face sincere, “It’s very good. Thank you, my…Kudou.”
Yoichi had an abnormal way of speaking. His words were ever so slightly stunted, his voice wavering slightly on some syllables. Kudou wondered how long Yoichi had been locked in that room, and when he’d last engaged in conversation. He knew these were the questions he should be asking, but something made him pause. From his slumped shoulders to the slightness of his frame, Yoichi seemed on the verge of crumbling apart. Kudou didn’t want to be the one to land the final blow.
Yoichi took another sip of tea, but he kept his eyes on Kudou. Those eyes were full of wariness as he asked, “You have questions for me?”
Kudou glanced at Yoichi, taken slightly by surprise, though he wasn’t sure why. He frowned, feeling slightly guilty, “I don’t have to ask them.”
“When you rescued me, you told the other soldiers that I could help you,” Yoichi’s voice gained a little strength, wavered a little less. “You want to know about my brother, right? That’s why you killed his guards. You want to stop him.”
Kudou nodded, choosing his words carefully, “I do. How do you feel about that?”
He watched Yoichi’s expression carefully, looking for any hint that might give away where Yoichi stood. If he was going to stand against the Resistance—if he was on his brother’s side—there was nothing Kudou could do to help him. Yoichi remained composed, not giving Kudou a clear sign either way.
“I’ll tell you about my brother and I,” Yoichi said. “Then I think you’ll know the answer.”
Before Kudou could say another word, Yoichi was telling him everything.
BEFORE KUDO
My whole life, there has only ever been my brother.
I never had a father, and my mother must have died when I was too young to remember. Or maybe she abandoned us. I’ll never know. All I know is if I try to think back to my earliest memories, my brother is the only face I can recall. He’s the only one who’s been by my side, unfailingly, from the day I was born.
My brother was always stronger. He says it’s because he took most of the nutrients from our mother, back when we were still in the womb. That makes sense, I guess. And it explains why I’ve always been so much smaller and weaker, my body always on the verge of failure.
Whatever the reason, my brother was powerful. And in the beginning, that was a good thing. I was in no shape to survive on the streets on my own. I tried to help as much as I could, but he was the one who found us food, made sure nobody messed with us. We didn’t have a roof over our heads and the clothes on our backs were scavenged from dumpsters, but because of him, we lived.
We didn’t grow up with much, but we made the most of what we had. Like, there was this comic book someone had thrown away. Captain Hero. I found it and instantly became obsessed, because it had enough pictures that I could actually read it. I wanted to be just like that hero, flying around and saving people.
My brother read it too, and he became just as much of a fan as I was. I remember how happy I was that he liked it. Back then, we were already so different. It was hard to find common ground with him, so I really latched onto that book series. It was one of the only things we shared, and maybe it was part of the reason I believed in him. How could someone who admired such a great hero be truly bad?
----
We grew older and nothing changed. I was as weak and quirkless as ever. My brother only became more powerful.
I was probably five or six when my brother discovered his first quirk. It was Spear-like Bones, the meta-ability he’d stolen from my mother in infancy. That quirk gave my brother his first taste of real power. If people opposed him—if they turned their backs on him—he could do something about it.
He started killing. Anyone that wouldn’t serve him would die, and not many were willing to bow down to a little kid dressed in rags. When I saw what he was doing, I tried to stop him, but he just kicked me out of the way like I was nothing. He wouldn’t even be angry at me. He’d just lash out and then stare at me with this blank look on his face, like he was looking at some object that hadn’t behaved in the way he expected.
I should have realized, maybe, that something was missing in him. But I couldn’t. He was my brother and the reason I was alive. He was the boy who worshipped the same heroes as me. And he’d saved me, hadn’t he? He’d protected me when I was defenseless, just like a hero would.
We kept growing. My brother kept killing, with me powerless to do anything but beg him to stop. I couldn’t get him to listen to me, but I did successfully annoy him enough that he started locking me in a vault. I spent more and more time in there, until eventually he only let me out so he could boast to me about his accomplishments. He’d tell me all about how strong he was becoming, how soon no one would be powerful enough to stop him.
I wasn’t strong enough to stand against him, but I held out hope that I could still coax him away from his dark path. Of course, then he finally realized what his actual quirk was. The power to give and take quirks was the end of my brother, and the start of All For One.
----
What do you think it takes to convince a man that he’s a god? My brother was born believing in his own greatness. His quirk was the final reassurance, but he didn’t truly become unstoppable until he discovered his dream.
Once, he left me locked away for days. It was the longest he’d ever been gone, and I’d run out of water. I started to think he’d left me to die, but he came back just like he always did. He let me out, and I noticed he looked happier than I’d seen him in a long time. He almost seemed to be glowing.
He told me about the glowing baby we both knew from TV. You’ve heard of it, right? It was one of the first to ever exhibit a quirk. At that point, it had grown up into a leader advocating for the rights of those with meta-abilities. My brother explained that he didn’t understand how that baby could have grown into a leader. Just because it was born first? It didn’t make sense.
It was then that I noticed my brother really was glowing. I got this really terrible feeling and demanded to know what he’d done. He just smiled, with that same empty look in his eyes that he always wore when I tried to fight him. He told me he’d killed that glowing leader and stolen their quirk. I was horrified by how proud of himself he was. I didn’t understand. Why would he go to such lengths to kill someone who wasn’t hurting us?
Turns out, it was because of that book we loved when we were children. I always assumed my brother worshipped Captain Hero, just like I did.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
My brother was never interested in being like Captain Hero, who was forced to hide his identity and give up his happy life to fight his sworn enemy. From the start, he had related much more to the terrible villain of the series. That villain, the Demon Lord, lived out in the open while the world cowered at his feet. My brother wanted to use his quirk to live like that, with undisputed power and complete control. He wanted to become a villain.
I don’t know how I didn’t see it sooner. Maybe it was because I didn’t want to let go of the belief I’d clung to my entire life—that there was good in my brother. I wanted so desperately for the hand that had gripped my wrist when we were children to have been kind. I wanted the reason I was alive to be because my brother loved me.
But it wasn’t. It never was, and I had been so, so blind.
My brother was, from the very beginning, filled with contempt towards others. He never saw other people as humans. They were possessions, things for him to acquire. If he couldn’t own them, or if they didn’t bow down before him, they were of no use to him.
And me. I was alive because I was his very first possession. My very name—the name he’d given me—was proof of that. He hadn’t kept me alive out of kindness. He hadn’t saved me. The only reason I survived is because I belonged to him.
I exist because he allowed me to.
----
My brother discovered his quirk during a time of chaos. It was right around the dawn of quirks and society was crumbling. There were too many opportunities for people like my brother to slip through the cracks of the law, to grow strong simply because no one wanted to deal with them.
The chaos also meant too many people who were desperate for something to believe in. You remember how it was. When quirks started appearing, no one knew what was happening or how to proceed. Life couldn’t go back to normal. Everyone was afraid. If you had a quirk, you lived in fear of being hunted down for it. If you were quirkless, you were afraid that those with quirks would rise up against you and there would be nothing you could do to stop it.
When people are living with that much fear, they get desperate for someone to cling to. At the beginning, it was the glowing baby. When that leader fell, it opened up a space for my brother to fill. He started calling himself All For One, based on the villain’s words in that book I loved. He fashioned himself as a force of order in this lawless world. With his abilities, people began to flock to him. He would give and take quirks as desired from those who swore allegiance to him. From his enemies, he stole as many quirks as he could. His power and reputation grew, and still more gravitated to him.
By the time the world learned his name, it was too late. All For One was too strong and his followers were a force to be reckoned with. Even the government knew they couldn’t stand up against him and win, so they let him grow stronger still.
I was kept locked away in the vault during most of that time, but I knew he wasn’t done with me. He seemed to hold out hope that I’d bow down and worship him, that I’d become one of his followers and take a place by his side. Because I was his first possession, I stayed important to him, at least enough to keep alive.
One day, he dragged me out to watch as he transferred quirks. He liked to make a show of it because he knew how much I opposed it. He enjoyed it when I tried to stop him. It gave him the chance to throw me aside and remind me of how much stronger he was. I always fought anyway, even if it was pointless, because it was the only thing I could do.
This particular time, though, wasn’t his usual gloating. I mean, he did that too. He threw me down on the ground and laughed as he stood over me. He asked me what difference I thought I could make. I was weak, worthless, had never even tasted true power. Didn’t I know that only those with power could make change?
He looked at me with his empty eyes and told me he would give me a power that even my pathetic body could handle.
I knew, then, what he wanted to do to me.
I fought, I begged. In the end, I was just as powerless against him as I’d always been. I couldn’t stop him from laying his hands on me, from forcing a quirk onto me. It was all true. He was as unstoppable as he claimed, and I was as pathetic.
My whole life, I’d dreamed about being a hero. I wanted so badly to be like the character in my book. I wanted to save people. I knew I was weak, but I still hoped. I dreamed that maybe one day, I would be strong enough to help people.
This act—the quirk he forced on me—was just his way of making me acknowledge a truth I’d never learned to swallow. He knew my great vision. He saw what I craved. So he forced the power I’d always wanted onto me. He twisted my greatest dream into something repulsive and wrong. He made the power I’d always longed for into a reminder of my own weakness, of his strength.
The message was clear. My goals—my dreams—were just another thing that he owned. I was his to play with as he wished, until the day that he decided he didn’t want me anymore. From the day I was born to the day I died, I belonged to him.
----
The quirk he gave me was a stockpiler. It allows me to store up power to be used later, but because I’m not strong, it isn’t really useful. I think my brother knew that when he chose it. I bet he was laughing to himself when he decided to give it to me. The illusion of power probably seemed like a perfect fit.
Since this quirk was forced on me, I’ve had to wrest with my own dreams. All For One broke them into pieces when he gave me this power, but I’ve managed to put them back together. They’re not quite the same as they were, but I’m trying to be okay with that.
My goal is different now. I know I’m not a hero. I’m not strong enough to defeat my brother, but I’ll stand against him anyway. My whole life, I never won against him, but I never stopped fighting either. I won’t stop now, or ever. If it seems pointless, if life seems hopeless, I’ll fight anyway.
When I first learned my brother’s true quirk, I never imagined what it would go on to become. Instead, I thought that the power to give and take could be the solution to this world’s problems. I believed that All For One could have been the kindest, most charitable power in the world.
I still believe that. I still believe that there’s kindness to be found, and that it is powerful enough to stand against the empty way that All For One sees the world. When you reached out your hand to me, you were proof of that. So I’ll keep fighting to stop One For All, even if it’s not as the hero I always wanted to be. And I’ll stand strong, so that heroes like you don’t have to stand alone.
Yoichi explained his life in a cool, factual tone. That was probably the only reason Kudou could sit through it. He told Kudou the story of his life, from the very first memories to the reason he’d gotten locked away in that cell. His voice stayed emotionless through it all, like he was reciting lines instead of recalling past trauma. Kudou thought it was probably a coping mechanism, or maybe Yoichi was trying not to disturb him.
“So,” Yoichi finished, looking away from Kudou and down at his hands. “Now you know what I think of him.”
Kudou looked away too, feeling slightly queasy. The life Yoichi had lived was so empty. Had there been a single moment of happiness in it? Yoichi’s entire existence had revolved around All For One, and not for a single second had he ever been free.
Yoichi was watching him again, resting his head against his knees like he was waiting for Kudou to say something. Kudou just stared.
This wasn’t the information he wanted. The Resistance needed All For One’s weaknesses, the locations of his bases, the numbers of his supporters. Never before had Kudou questioned someone and gotten their life story. He didn’t know what to do with the knowledge Yoichi had given him, or how to handle the sense of pity he felt.
Had Yoichi told him all this on purpose, to make Kudou let down his guard and feel bad for him? Was it all a lie?
“Why did you tell me this?” he demanded, unable to keep the cutting edge from his voice.
Yoichi’s eyes widened at the change in Kudou’s tone, his voice wavering slightly, “I-I thought you wanted to know.”
Kudou saw fear in Yoichi’s face. He spotted worry in the depths of those emerald eyes. Nowhere did he see a trace of dishonesty.
Kudou let his tension fade away. Yoichi’s story wasn’t a lie. More likely, he really had just been trying to help. Kudou had to remind himself that Yoichi wasn’t an ordinary captive they’d abducted from All For One’s side. His life had never contained even a trace of normalcy, so he probably had no idea what Kudou and the Resistance wanted from him.
“I did,” Kudou softened his tone slightly. “Thanks for telling me.”
Yoichi brightened immediately, “Of course. You saved me. I want to help you.”
Kudou nodded, “So…do you know where any of All For One’s hidden bases are located? Or the identities of any of his connections in the medical field?”
Kudou tried not to feel guilty when Yoichi flushed in embarrassment, “Oh. That’s what you wanted to know.” He looked down again, his hair obscuring his face from Kudou’s view. “I’m sorry. I don’t.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kudou shrugged. It wasn’t typically his policy to try to cater to people’s feelings, but in this case, he had to try. He didn’t want Yoichi to feel helpless anymore. “You know All For One better than anyone, right? That’s going to be helpful to us.”
Yoichi looked back at Kudou, slightly dubious, “I’m sorry I don’t have more to tell you.”
“Don’t apologize,” Kudou waved him off. “It was a long shot to think you’d know everything. You’ve been helpful to me. Really.”
Yoichi nodded, though Kudou wasn’t sure a single affirmation would be enough to convince Yoichi of his own worth. Kudou got to his feet.
“I’ll let you rest, but just so you know, you’re not our prisoner,” Kudou glanced towards the door. “If you want to join us and fight against your brother, there’s a place for you here. Think about it, okay?”
Kudou knew the idea was a little radical. It wouldn’t be an easy sell with the rest of the Resistance, since they didn’t know anything about Yoichi other than that he was All For One’s brother. He didn’t even know whether it was something Yoichi would want. Kudou offered anyway, and not just because he wanted Yoichi’s insight. It was Yoichi’s words that had made up his mind.
Yoichi looked at him with such wide-eyed shock Kudou almost wondered if he’d accidentally suggested something truly insane, like joining forces with All For One.
It took a second for Yoichi to form words, “You…really mean that?”
“The others will need time to get used to the idea, but yeah,” Kudou rubbed the back of his neck, recalling what Yoichi had told him. “You said you’ve been fighting All For One your entire life, right? And that you’d keep fighting him? That’s all we’re looking for here.”
“I—” Yoichi’s voice was hoarse. He bit the inside of his cheek, his eye twitching slightly. Kudou wondered for a second if he was trying to hold back tears. “Of course I’ll join you.”
Kudou smiled slightly, “Okay, then. Welcome to the Resistance, Yoichi.”
----
“I know why we’re here,” Bruce crossed his arms, leveling Kudou with an intent look. “You got All For One’s brother to talk, didn’t you?”
After his meeting with Yoichi, Kudou had called his most elite soldiers in for a meeting. His three lieutenants were the ones he trusted the most, and the ones who had been with him the longest. Bruce, his second-in-command, sat in the middle, leaning forward in anticipation. Next to him was Yua, who Kudou had placed in charge of surveillance and intelligence. She sat back in her chair, fiddling with the tinted glasses she wore to protect her super-dilated eyes during the day. The final chair was occupied by Kudou’s older cousin, Atsuo, a demolitions expert who also oversaw the training of new recruits. The three of them watched him expectantly from the other side of his desk.
Kudou nodded, “Yes, he was willing to talk to me.”
“Well, spit it out,” Yua frowned at him, tilting her head to stare him down over the top of her glasses. “Did he say anything useful?”
Kudou sighed, “Not as much as I would’ve liked. He’s been kept in that cell for years, apparently. He knows the broad strokes of All For One’s plans, but none of the details.”
“So he’s useless,” Atsuo said drily. “Damn. When I heard what you and Bruce had brought back, I really thought you’d struck gold.”
Since the rest of the Resistance had gotten word of who Kudou had brought back, reactions had been mixed. Half the resistance seemed to be on Atsuo’s side. They believed Kudou and Bruce had made the right call by bringing Yoichi back, if only because Yoichi had the potential to be the best source of information they’d ever managed to snag.
The other half of the Resistance didn’t care about Yoichi’s intel. They wanted him dead. To them, bringing in Yoichi was nearly the equivalent of bringing in All For One himself. Knowing he was around meant living in fear and hatred. How could All For One’s own brother not be a danger to them all? How could the right path not be eliminating him?
“He’s not useless,” Kudou corrected. “He grew up with All For One. He knows his brother’s motivations and a decent number of his quirks. We can take advantage of his input at the planning stage.”
Bruce frowned, “You want him helping you make plans? That doesn’t seem like the best idea.”
Atsuo snorted, “What I think Bruce means to say is, ‘Why are you acting like an idiot?’” Kudou just stared at Atsuo, not letting his temper rise. Atsuo was older, so he sometimes had trouble respecting Kudou’s authority. This time, Kudou refused to let Atsuo get under his skin. “Do you really think he’s just going to help you bring down his own brother?”
“I do,” Kudou answered. “He’s been cooperative so far. And—” He took half a second to brace himself. “He’s going to join the Resistance.”
For a second, the room was silent. All three of the other Resistance members just stared at Kudou. It was almost like they were trying to convince themselves that Kudou’s last sentence had never been uttered aloud. Bruce was the first to find words, his eyes still wide with bewilderment,
“Boss,” Kudou had never seen his second-in-command at such a loss. “What the hell?”
“I knew it,” Yua laughed, her mirth at complete odds with the savage look on her face. “You’ve finally gone insane.”
“What do you mean by ‘finally,’ Owl-Eyes?” Atsuo raised his eyebrows at Yua. “He’s always been crazy. Now he’s proving it.”
Kudou knew his plan to integrate Yoichi into the Resistance would be a tough sell, but he hadn’t anticipated just how horrified even his most trusted lieutenants would be by the proposition. He gritted his teeth, preparing himself to weather their incredulity.
“Tell us you’re joking,” Yua demanded, leaning forward in her chair. “I don’t find this very funny, but I’ll cut you some slack since you’re new to the whole ‘humor’ thing.”
“Seriously, Boss,” Bruce still looked confused and maybe a little betrayed. “You can’t expect us to be okay with this. He’s All For One’s brother. You want us to just let him wander around the base?”
“Of course he does,” Atsuo grinned. “He can’t help it. He’s under some sort of quirk influence. It’s the only explanation.” Atsuo smirked knowingly at Kudou. “I didn’t believe anyone could get the upper hand on my little cousin, but it looks like that grimy little bastard managed it.”
Kudou straightened, meeting Atsuo’s eyes, then Yua’s, and finally Bruce’s. They all met his gaze, but none of them could hold it,
“For the last time, I’m not doing this because of some mind quirk,” he snapped, unable to hold in his irritation. “He has a weak stockpiler meta ability. That’s it.”
“He told you that?” Yua raised an eyebrow. “And you just believe him?”
“I do,” Kudou said simply. “But I understand that you’ll need more than that. I’ll ask him to take a blood test. Then we’ll be able to tell for sure.”
One of the doctors Kudou had recruited to join the Resistance had recently managed to organize the acquisition of a device that determined quirks from blood samples. It was a complex scientific instrument and Kudou didn’t fully understand how it worked, but the important thing was that it did. It had already come in handy in testing new recruits.
“Even if he isn’t using a quirk on you, that doesn’t change the facts,” Bruce protested. “All For One is his blood. You think he’s just going to join us? That’ll never happen. He knows we’re trying to kill his brother.”
“He told me he wants to fight his brother, and I believe him,” Kudou said simply. He knew he wasn’t going to change their minds with a single conversation, but he needed them to accept that they weren’t going to change his, either. He frowned, letting his voice harden,
“I’m not telling you this so that we can argue,” Kudou told them. “I’ve already made up my mind. I’m telling you as a courtesy, because I want my most trusted lieutenants to know before anyone else.”
“Boss—” Bruce started to object, but Kudou raised a hand to signal that he wasn’t finished.
“I know we don’t agree on this, but you were the ones who put your trust in me when you chose me as leader,” Kudou watched them carefully. “As your leader, I’m asking you to continue to trust my judgement.” He hesitated, his voice intense. “I’m asking that you continue to believe that our shared goal is my priority.”
The room was silent for a second longer. Bruce looked down at his hands, not meeting Kudou’s eyes. Finally, Yua sighed dramatically,
“Alright, fine, Boss. No need to get so heavy.”
“Seriously,” Atsuo rolled his eyes. “You just had to pull out the melodramatic speech, didn’t you?” He met Kudou’s eye and gave him a nod. “I might not agree with you, but you’ve led us right so far. I’ve got no reason to think you’re wrong this time.”
Kudou nodded back appreciatively, then turned to Bruce. His second-in-command was still looking down at his lap, not meeting Kudou’s eye.
“Bruce?” Kudou prompted.
Bruce was silent a moment longer. Kudou tried to shove down his unease. He and Bruce had been a team from nearly the moment the Resistance had been founded. Kudou might have been leader, but Bruce was just as important. If he decided to stand against Kudou now, it would rip a divide down the center of the Resistance.
Bruce finally looked up, “This feels wrong to me. Whatever bigger picture you have in mind, I just can’t see it.
He sighed, shaking his head in bemusement, “But fortunately for you, I trust your judgement more than my own. I’ll stand by All For One’s brother, if only because it means standing by you.”
Kudou met Bruce’s eyes, trying to hide his relief, “Thank you, Bruce.”
Bruce just nodded, his expression still conflicted. The two of them so rarely disagreed. If there was anyone Kudou could count on to see the logic in his decisions, it was Bruce. This time, though, his decision wasn’t completely logical. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t explain himself in way that would make sense to Bruce.
Bruce pushed back his sweatband, searching Kudou’s gaze. He knew that Kudou was holding back something, keeping his reasons to himself in a way that wasn’t normal for him.
“Don’t thank me,” Bruce narrowed his eyes. “The second that little white-haired bastard even looks like he might be up to something, no amount of respect for you will stop me from killing him.”
Kudou knew Bruce meant every word. And he couldn’t blame him for it.