Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A wheezing breath joins the myriad of other sounds echoing amongst the dense forest, interrupting the soft chirping of song birds fluttering from branch to branch. Yoichi Shigaraki stumbles over his feet and catches himself on a rock to the side of him as he looks upwards, squinting from the sun shining into his eyes and he shades them with his other hand.

"Brother! Why are we climbing this hill? Mom and dad told us to stay where they could see us!" Yoichi complains softly as he takes another shaky step over the various sharp rocks, trying to catch up to his elder brother. He bites his lower lip gently as he risks a look back the way they came, if he tries hard enough he can already imagine his mother's disapproving stare and his father's loud booming voice yelling at them. Not for the first time is he questioning if it was a good idea to follow his brother when he left their small camping spot.

"Stop being a buzzkill Yoichi! I climbed this hill while you were all busy unpacking yesterday and I found something awesome. Being me, the greatest brother ever, I decided to bring you along and show you!" His older brother, Suchiru Shigaraki, tosses back from over his shoulder as he keeps a steady pace up the hill. "Now quit complaining and hurry up!"

Yoichi grumbles under his breath, internally cursing his brother's ability to make a climb like this seem like something a baby could do. He looks down at his thin pale hands shaking with every step and his breath wheezes out even harsher when he feels the sun shine too hotly on his back, he can't help but choke up as he asks why he had to be born so frail and weak.

His depressive thoughts are broken when his small wrist is grabbed by a bigger hand and he is helped up the final bit of the hill, Suchiru pulling him up and smiling down at him with his full bright grin. "Don't think I can't see that pout on your face, Yoichi. You're still growing just like me and soon you'll be able to climb things like this without a care in the world." He says as he runs his fingers through Yoichi's long hair.

"I guess you're right..." He mumbles as he smiles up at him, not complaining as his brother takes his hand and walks with him towards the edge of the hill. "What did you want to show me anyway?" His curious tone makes another bright smile break out on Suchiru's face, his gait speeding up as he tugs him along. "This! Just take a look!"

Yoichi didn't know what he was expecting to see but it certainly wasn't this. His eyes widen as he looks out from the tall hill they were standing on, far from them was the city they lived in fully visible and the sun makes the glass of the far away skyscrapers shine beautifully. His own lips slowly grow into a small grin, he turns to look at his brother to voice his agreement that it was worth the climb only to freeze.

He's seen many emotions on Suchiru's face before such as joy, anger, sadness, and mischievousness countless times but...this was a new look. His soft amber eyes that almost looked red in the right light stare out over the city with an intense air to them, face neutral and chin lifted up confidently. The forest quiets around them and the wind barely makes a sound as both brothers stand there, almost as if the very world was waiting to see what the eldest would say.

"Yoichi." Hearing his name jolts him out of whatever trance he was in as he meets his brother's eyes when they turn to him, amber eyes now bleeding rubies stare into his own green seriously. "I heard that they are letting people become heroes with a special license. You don't even need a quirk like some people originally thought, you just have to be willing to work with quirk users and be able to fight." Suchiru explains, his neutral face beginning to change into a determined smile as he looks back out over the city. "When I get older I'm going to apply and I'm going to be a hero. I want you to join me!"

Yoichi can't help but startle at the sudden shout and he lets out a surprised yelp, blushing as his brother laughs at him. "Suchiru...I know you could be a hero even if you never get a quirk but...I don't think I could do the same." He whispers as his lower lip quivers in sadness, his brother was an amazing person and he had no doubts he would be an even more amazing hero. But him? Yoichi Shigaraki, the weak and sick kid who has to depend on his brother to defend him from everything that means him harm? How could he ever be a hero to anyone?

He flinches when his forehead is sharply flicked and he looks up with teary eyes into his brother's hardened ones. "Shut up! Don't say you can't without even trying!" Suchiru says angrily as he scowls. "We'll be a team together and even if you don't want to fight you can still help me out! You could be a rescue hero and save people as I fight or be my strategist as well since you're smart."

Suchiru grabs his shoulders and pulls him close as he looks down at him, his normal smile returning to his face as he brings him in for a tight hug. "You're my brother and that means wherever I go you can come. I'll never leave you behind in the dust as long as I live, I promise." Yoichi sniffles as he nods against his brother's chest, wetting his shirt with his tears.

"Ok! We'll be heroes then, the best heroes the world has ever seen!" He pushes back from the hug and smiles widely up at his brother, the wind making both their snow white hair blow wildly. "They won't know what hit them when the Shigaraki brothers are on the scene!"

"That's what I like to hear! Let's head back before it gets too late."

Yoichi could only keep smiling as he holds his brother's hand the whole way back to camp, even when their parents yell at them for leaving without their permission. How could he care when he has the best older brother ever? How could he care when they were both going to be the best heroes ever?

Chapter Text

Yoichi smiles gratefully at another cadet, dressed similarly as himself in knock off military fatigues, as the young man hands him a canteen of water that trembles slightly in his hand. He can't help but frown slightly when he sees the tremors the man tries to fight off, every now and then they become particularly violent as his whole arm jerks up and down.

Yoichi still hasn't learned his actual name and can only recall him from the nickname passed around by the other cadets, Twitchy. He was one of the quirk users put into their squad and his wasn't pretty for a couple reasons, his quirk being dubbed Flash seeing as when he activates it his hands light up in bright strobing lights. Stunning at a distance and blinding close up, rumors that he accidentally burned out someone's eyes that tried to get a jump on him in an alleyway spread quickly.

The downside was that he was born with photosensitive epilepsy and literally gave himself seizures with prolonged use of his quirk, which in their current situation? Was constantly. His constant seizures had caused him to develop a twitch and thus his nickname was born.

He was nice though, especially to him since they were both considered useless by a majority of the squad. Nobody wanted someone who would cripple themselves in seconds and they definitely didn't want someone who got out of breath from a brief jog. Both of their main protection from the more violent members ended up being Suchiru, where he flailed his brother soared amongst the squad.

From day one his brother made fast friends with various members, some simply being workout buddies to full on friends that preferred to spend their days simply sitting around with him. Three of said friends were the other quirk users, making their small group have four total and leaving only a single quirk user outside of their circle, and most of the other cadets noticed this hierarchy being made.

It wasn't too long before some of the weaker willed and lazier cadets folded and let themselves be added to their growing group, others being more stubborn and either joining later or actively staying away from them all together. Of course one person did fall into their own category, antagonist. Tsume Seicho was the last and final quirk user assigned to them and was the most vocally against anybody that was 'Quirkless', a new slang for people with no quirks that was steadily growing more popular now that quirk users were becoming more accepted. Funnily enough they are now becoming the hateful group.

As if summoned Yoichi looks up and can spot Tsume making his way towards their tent, smirking at them as the nails on his fingers grow and sharpen into tiny little spikes. Not as flashy and eye catching as some of the quirks he has seen but definitely a dangerous one to people like him and Twitchy. He stands up and grimaces as the bigger man gets progressively closer and his wicked grin only grows. "Hey Shigaraki!"

Yoichi is cut off from the chance of answering, his mouth half way open when a shadow covers his face and his vision of Tsume is blocked by a wide back, his brother standing in front of him all big smile and sharp eyes as he stares the now halting man down. "Tsume! I heard you call my name, friend. What can I do for you?" His tone drips sarcasm as his wide grins only gets bigger like Tsume's was previously. Footsteps sound out as others that were with his brother previously come out of from between the tents surrounding them.

"You know who I was talking to." He grumbles as he looks around at the suddenly small space as other recruits make a circle around them, the quirk users taking up position behind Yoichi and simply observing. "What? You need your friends to back you up, huh?" Tsume's mood seems to plummet even further as he bares his teeth and extends his nails to their full length, making two inch long points.

"Back me up? We are just talking aren't we?" Suchiru tilts his head inquisitively as his eyes bore into the older man's face. "Unless...You are inviting me to spar? You know I would never turned down that!" His joyful tone fools nobody to the vengeful glee simmering underneath it, waiting for the man's choice of words as the three behind them snicker to each other.

Tsume's face heats up a bright color of red as he glares down at the young man and he lets out an annoyed growl as he flexes his fingers. "Sparring ring. Right now, Shigaraki!"

"Gladly, friend!"

Line Break

Tsume was young when he got his quirk, busy stupidly climbing a tree too tall for him and falling off ended up with him growing sharp nails and digging them into the bark. In the end nobody saw him as nobody was caring enough to watch out for him. The years passed and he kept his quirk a secret from everyone he knew, especially his dead beat of a father, occasionally using them to rough up some thug who gave him trouble and even rarer times using it to rob some poor tourist who wandered too far into the darker areas of the neighborhood.

Of course it all ended when men in dark suits arrived one day and revealed they caught him on camera, he was handed a contract and told to sign. He would be offered a position in 'hero' group and he would fight 'criminals' for a set amount of payment, all he had to give away was his freedom. He signed without hesitation and never regretted it, a free chance to make a steady income for being a government funded thug? It's way better than rotting in a cell next to his father.

The next couple years flew by in a comfortable breeze, the squad he was assigned to were full of lackluster nobodies and even the quirk users could barely be called anything special. Their commanding officer was some desk jockey who showed off to much and got a promotion to ordering them around, seeing as he had no true power here they mainly did whatever they wanted until someone big told them to get up and complete a mission.

He was comfortable here and the other cadets knew who was their leader and acted accordingly. Of course that peaceful time ended when the two newest cadets showed up, the Shigaraki brothers they introduced themselves, and they were disgustingly quirkless. The youngest the most pitiful of them both seeing as a strong breeze could topple the kid over, Tsume knew the true threat was this Suchiru.

He almost seemed to emit some type of aura around himself, drawing in the weak and useless masses like moths to a flame and somehow making them stronger than before. They weren't going to win any fights or anything but their self confidence soared and Tsume found himself slowly losing his hold on any kind of power in the camp. It didn't help his mood when he found out the kid absolutely terrified him, those eyes that burn red in the light seem to stare through you as if you were nothing. His grin was even worse when he decided to fully turn his attention on you.

The boiling pot that has been this tense atmosphere in the camp finally boiled over, on both sides were the squad's alliances finally being shown. Shigaraki standing on the right with the other quirks users gathered behind him and a large handful of the various cadets. Tsume on the left with what was left of the group he could still bully into his control and some of the old guard who were too aged to care who held the stick.

In the end it began with them simply wrestling in the circle ring they sectioned off with sandbags, both of them tightly gripping each other and trying to get a hold on the other to toss them down and pin them. Tsume of course looked for every opportunity he could to try and stab at him with his nails, gritting his teeth as he tries to at least get a drop of blood to be spilled to the ground beneath them.

Cheers break out from the surrounding crowd as Tsume falls to his knees in the dirt, panting and sweating tiredly from their long strength match. Suchiru looking down at him with that same shark like grin, all shining teeth. He holds out a hand to him mockingly and Tsume finally snaps, throwing both his hands up to jam his nails into either side of the brat's skull and plunge them deep inside.

He cries out in pain when both of his arms are seized by the biceps and squeezed painfully, his pained eyes meeting the angry ones of the boy above him as his hands grip down on his arms tightly. He's about to start begging for mercy when bright red sparks light up around Suchiru's hands and the arms he was holding, Tsume suddenly thrashing in even more pain as his back arches and he sobs loudly.

All the cadets eyes fly open wide as they take a step back, watching as the light show ends and the eldest Shigaraki releases the man and they all look on as he falls to the floor and huddles into a ball and whines softly. The sudden quiet is broken when Yoichi pushes himself to the front and rushes up to his brother, catching his sleeve as he looks up at him worried. "Brother? What was that?"

Suchiru flexes his fingers as the last bit of red electricity fades away and he turns to look at his group with a wide grin. "It seems like my quirk came in! Electricity everyone!" He waves his hand in the air and the right side of the camp bursts into cheers, some members of the left side jogging over and patting him on the back with congratulations.

The sudden fanfare covers up the intrigued stare Suchiru gives his hand and the continued sobs coming from the ball formed of Tsume, slowly rocking himself back and forth.

Line Break

Yoichi eventually lifts the tent flaps to the shared sleep area of him and his brother, spotting him and the others huddle around his bed as he speaks with them. Yoichi can't help but laugh internally when he sees these men, some even older than his brother, listening with such rapt attention and awe filled eyes. Though he can't really talk since he does the same.

Suchiru spots him and waves him over with a smile, the others that are circled around him all nod in greeting and let him pass to sit next to his brother. As soon as he is sat down an arm is wrapped around his shoulder and he is pulled in close to his side, hand ruffling his longer hair.

"Dear brother! I was just telling our friends here something interesting, you of course deserve to know as well." He looks at him with that cheeky smirk that he only gets when he has a secret that he is dying to tell, Yoichi looks at him curiously as he lifts up his palm. "Tell me, what was Tsume's quirk again?"

He raises an eyebrow but answers anyway. "Claws, he could make his nails grow into small points to attack with. Why?" His brother suddenly laughs and the others around them all look at each other with amusement, he catches his breath and flexes his fingers in front of them all. "His quirk was truly wasted on him, the capability of it was so much more than that idiot could ever imagine!"

As soon as his sentence was over his brother's nails grew long thick spikes colored black with bright red veins running up them, they cracked and twisted as they grew throughout the tent and surrounded them all. A blunted point stopped in front of Yoichi's nose and bumped into him, making him blink in surprise. "But...That's..." He swallows thickly as he stares at the twisting spikes. "That's Tsume's quirk."

His brother nods as he looks at the quirk growing from his nails and skin, the red light from the pulsing veins casting a shadow over his face as he smiles. "It is. My quirk isn't electricity, just a little lie to be safe!" He explains as he deactivates the quirk and it recedes back into his hand. "I tested it out on our poor friend here." His hand comes down to pat Twitchy on the head, previously going unnoticed by Yoichi as he was sitting on the floor by his brother's knee, and the young man bows his head at the touch.

"His quirk always hurt him so much, causing such problems for his life. He won't have to worry about it anymore!" He gives his head one last pat as he lets his palm light up with the obvious signs of Twitchy's quirk. "He's as quirkless as I used to be now. Do you understand now brother? I can take and give quirks at will."

Yoichi gasps at this reveal and his mind reels at the sheer power his brother now controls, the ability to take and give any quirk he wanted? He'll be lucky to ever be able to resign from this assignment. His worries are laid to rest when his brother takes his hand and holds it firmly, giving him a soft smile.

"With this quirk I can save so many more people. I can stop those with power from ever being able to use on the innocent! This squad was the first step brother, now it'll be this whole city!" He proclaims as everyone nods in agreement. "We are all going to be amazing heroes my friends! Let me bring you all with me to a better world!"

"I will call this quirk All for One! The quirk of the greatest hero ever!"

Chapter Text

It was a rainy night, Suchiru observes as he stares up at the dark sky and sees the stars shining brightly. The rain falls gently on his face and makes his hair flatten to his forehead as he stands there outside of a run down building, multiple flashing lights illuminate the scene in bright blues and reds. He was called here a half an hour ago by the police that needed someone with a quirk as backup in case there was a quirk user inside, he immediately headed over since it was a slow night and he was in the area.

It was nothing new, just another patrol like all the others he has been on since graduating from 'Camp'. The government eventually scrapped the idea of having multiple squads being controlled by a commanding officer and instead restructured it into a training camp until they were deemed ready enough to be let loose into a city, they of course had to report in after every patrol and were always on call for any situation labeled 'too dangerous' for non quirked individuals.

The moment he arrived he was briefed by the officer in charge of the scene that they have been investigating rumors of drug dens in the area, eventually getting lucky with an informant and finding out there was also run down houses and warehouses dedicated to prostitution and sex trafficking. The apartment building they were surrounding was one of the smaller place of 'business' they had scoped out and tonight was the night they brought it down.

Suchiru's job was to go in with the officers and mainly be their protection against any criminal quirk users that could possibly be inside, the orders were simple enough and he was glad to follow them. Just another way for him to clean up this city and make it a safer and better place for the current and future generation to live in.

Of course nothing goes as plan, the place was disgusting. Numerous people leaning against walls drugged out of their minds and the private rooms even worse, he'd have preferred to have never had to go in some of them. The 'patrons' of this establishment were rounded up and cuffed as soon as the doors were kicked in and any one that tried to fight back were either scared down by the unholstered pistols or the obvious quirk user amongst the officers.

The last door at the back was left to Suchiru since the officers had their hands full trying to herd the criminals out of the building and at this point he wished the night would just end. His heavy boot slams into the wooden door and sends it slamming against the wall inside, splintering it slightly as the hinges squeal violently.

Suchiru breathes in the outside air deeply as he comes out of his memories, fighting back the vomit begging to come up. He always knew people were sick but this? He can't remember when the the world looked this dark. She was so small and innocent looking, and the only thing he can remember of her was how broken she looked. The sick fuck standing there in shock as he looked at him and backed away like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

A weasel like grin as if to say "It wasn't me!" and all Suchiru could see was red. In the end the man had a broken nose and was handcuffed tightly on the curb of the sidewalk, his pitiful mewls of pain music to his ears, the cold rain soaking both of them through and helping to cool off his burning anger. He was originally going to throw in the back of one of the officer's cars when the lieutenant took one look at the man and sucked in a breath sharply, telling him to simply wait there as he calls his superiors.

Suchiru straightens up when a man he recognizes walks into the scene, his current handler that was assigned to him after graduation and the man who controls if he keeps his license or not. He was an older man that show obvious signs of aging and was forced to walk with a cane but he still held some strength in his old body, the seasoned officers nodding his way politely.

The man looks around before spotting him and making his way over slowly, waving for him to follow as they take a step further away from anyone that could listen in. "You did good today, boy. Cleaned up this neighborhood of a big eye sore and made it safer." His voice was raspy as he stands there and nods sagely, he turns his head and looks at him from the corner of his eye. "Do me a favor, forget you ever saw that one. As of right now he was never here and never existed in this area, got it?"

Suchiru blinks in confusion as he cocks his head to the side, looking down at his superior. "Sir?" He questions, looking behind him as another older man with graying hair grabs the man with the broken nose under his arm and starts pulling him away, the officers sneering but turning their faces away and letting them walk towards the police tape sectioning the area off. "He's a criminal. He was...He killed that little girl, sir! I saw them carry her body out of that building!" At this point his voice is getting progressively louder.

A wrinkled hand pats him on the shoulder as the man nods tiredly, lips set in a neutral line. "I know, boy. I know. He's the son of an important man, a very wealthy man who routinely gives the police department and our 'hero' department generous donations." He explains. "We can't touch him. You can't touch him or the least of your worries will be a simple confiscation of your license, understand?"

His blood feels like it's boiling as he grits his teeth, fists clenched tightly and every quirk he has ever taken thrashes violently underneath his skin like electrical wires. His eyes burn into the older man's as he stands to his full height and gives him a big grin, nodding his head as he tastes the acidic bile on his tongue. "I understand perfectly, sir. Is my patrol over for tonight or shall I continue?"

His handler sighs and waves him off quickly. "Get some sleep, son. Come back to active duty when you feel you can." This was the only kindness he could offer as he walks off, his cane tapping a steady rhythm on the sidewalk.

Line Break

Yoichi wakes up with start when he hears a loud bang come from the kitchen, he stands up and puts his slippers on quickly and makes his way out to see what happened. The whole room is dark except for the small light above the sink that lets him see his brother standing there, back turned to him as he grips the side of the counter tightly, the water still running. He swallows nervously at the cold heavy atmosphere that surrounds the kitchen and he slowly makes his way closer. "Brother?"

He sees Suchiru's shoulders relax and he turns the water off, moving to face him with a tired smile and the previous heavy feeling disappears entirely. "Yoichi...I'm sorry did I wake you? I was washing my cup and it slipped from my fingers." His tone is tired and he gives a small smile."It's fine! I was just worried what the bang was. If I knew it was you I wouldn't have been so cautious, clumsy Suchiru."

His brother laughs and comes closer, pulling his smaller form into a hug and resting his chin on his head. "If I'm clumsy what would that make you? Mr. I trip putting on my socks." He teases and they both laugh, Yoichi relaxing in his hold. "Did something happen at work tonight? You didn't call to tell me you were off patrol."

"No, nothing happened. It was the same old patrol as usual, I'm just tired." A long sigh escapes him as he releases Yoichi and backs up, the familiar pep returning to his face as he grins. "Listen, the old squad wanted to get together for a couple drinks tonight. I know you don't like to drink so do you mind if I step out for a couple hours?" He can't help but huff at his older brother's mood changes, waving him off like an exhausted parent.

"Go on go on, I know you haven't seen them in a while. Give them a hello from me, okay?" Suchiru nods happily and grabs his coat, waving a final time before he closes the door behind him. Yoichi just smiles in amusement and shakes his head, heading back to his room for more sleep.

Line Break

Sukamu Tsuyoi curses wildly behind the gag that was stuffed in his mouth, all he wanted was to drink his worries away after the long night he had and now he's been grabbed from behind and drug off. He doesn't know how far he's been taken since they threw a blindfold over his eyes as well but it has definitely been a while and he no longer hears any sounds of civilization around him.

He's tossed to his knees and two strong hands grab his arms and hold him down as they pull his gag away. "You fuckers! Do you have any idea who my father is! The Tsuyoi family won't let you get away with this easily!" Sukamu cries out in his nasally voice, looking pathetic to everyone around him with the blindfold and obviously broken nose that has been bandaged up.

His blindfold is pulled away and he takes his sweet time looking at each and every one of the men around him, remembering their faces for when he tells his father exactly who roughed him up in such a way. "Your days are numbered! You hear me?! You dare touch me and think you can just walk free?" The large empty warehouse makes his threats echo into the night, his body thrashing against their grips as he twists his head side to side to look at them all. "Just who the hell do you think you people are!"

"Heroes." A calm voice replies from shadows, steps echoing out as they get closer and Sukamu cranes his head up to look at the taller man coming into view. He pales rapidly when he recognizes the same white haired quirk freak that broke his nose and arrested him. "We both know each other, don't we? These are my friends! I was just telling them all about how we met."

Sukamu takes a moment to observe these men closer and his pale complexion somehow gets even paler when he notices the licenses clipped to their shirts, proudly stating they were quirked individuals. "What is this? Is this about tonight? It was just a little fun, man! You know how it is, I was just getting what I paid for." He shakily explains, looking up at their emotionless faces hopefully. "Come on come on! You guys gotta know what I'm talking about!"

The white haired man crouches down in front of him and grabs the side of his head, pulling it to face him and the man gives him a wide grin that is all teeth. "You seem to not understand something. We all think buying someone against their will is horrible, right friends of mine?" The men all nod as one. "But buying kids? There are special places for people like you, dear."

He pats his cheek consolingly as he stands back up, cracking his knuckles. "The law can't touch you, why? Because your father says so. Heroes can't touch you, why? Because the laws says so. I can't touch you, why? My superior says so." He lists as red sparks start surrounding his hands and he reaches forward to tighten his grip on Sukamu's head. "But look at me, I'm touching you right now. Why? Because I said so."

The warehouse is lit up bright red as Sukamu screams his throat raw, the muscles in his body feeling as if they were being stretched tight and boiled at the same time. "Do you feel that? That is your body receiving a quirk for the first time and now this is the feeling of a quirk being taken away for the first time." The screaming picks up in volume as he fights against the iron grips on him even harder, tears filling his eyes and pouring down his cheeks as he sobs loudly into the night.

"How many times do you think I can do this till you break? I haven't tried it yet so let us figure out together!" Loud laughter from multiple people join the screams that night.

Line Break

"Hey boss! What do you want us to do with him?" The one who asked pointed behind him with his thumb to the snivelling wreck of a person currently huddled as closely as he can get in a corner, staring blankly into the darkness of the warehouse and begging for his father to help him. Suchiru waves his hand dismissively as he takes another drag of his cigarette and blows the smoke out into the air. "Make him disappear boys. Dinner is on me next time, got it?"

The three all let out sounds of excitement as two of them grab Sukamu by his ankles and start dragging him outside towards the dock. The third member of their trio staying behind to bum a smoke off him, leaning against the wall and enjoying the cold air. "What now boss? Are you still going to keep working for these people who let scum like that free?"

Suchiru sighs tiredly as he massages his forehead. "I don't know. So far this has been a good place for me, I get to clean up the streets and I get a fresh supply of quirks from the criminals I leave out of reports. But this?" He waves at the area as a whole. "This was something else."

The man nods before cracking a smirk as he bumps his shoulder against his. "What if we become vigilantes like the first quirk users? Those were some crazy years! Quirks like those haven't been seen in forever." He praises, sighing in a little bit of awe. "Yeah, they were pretty crazy, huh. I guess we'll see." He is cut off from further conversation by his phone ringing.

"Hello hello? Ah, Yoichi! Yeah I'm just finishing up with the guys, we got a little crazy!" He laughs at his brother's reply as he hums in agreement. "I'll be home soon and I'll even pick up your favorite on the way. Love you too!" He hangs up just as a splash is heard and the two others rejoin them, dusting their hands off and nodding to him.

"Lets go my friends! Yoichi hasn't seen you all in weeks!" They all get into their parked car and pull out from the area, leaving no traces they were there.

Chapter Text

Six figures run through the back alleys and shadowed streets as they make their way towards their target, no words are shared as their blank white masks cover their faces from the chill air. The somewhat tall building is already in their sights and they can make out the lights of the front entrance, hazy figures can be seen standing guard and it is a quite lax guard at that.

Kotsuzui doesn't pay attention nor consider these things, mind already filled with the fact he's actually on a mission with the boss. Don't get him wrong, he's fully on board with the mission and will be on his best behavior! But come on, it's the boss. He sees him whenever he is at base and they share some polite words but this is different, a mission is chance for the boss to notice you! A chance to maybe join those special meetings he has with the "Old Guard" as the other recruits call them.

You could say his recruitment was more important than the others seeing as the boss himself scouted him out and gave the offer, but he doesn't see it as a simple recruitment! No, a recruitment was too simple to describe their agreement. He didn't just accept an offer to join, he swore himself to the boss. His father always told him that one day he would have to actually devote himself to something, well look at him now!

His life was actually pretty soft compared to the things he is doing now, breaking and entering wasn't part of his day until now. He was a second son to a relatively wealthy family, his father an accomplished CEO and his mother a respected lawyer, which gave him some leeway for the first couple years of his life. But even second sons have make something of themselves eventually and his parents worked tiredly to find something that would suit him.

It wasn't his fault he wasn't as smart as others, he didn't want to be stupid. Everything that they considered a respectable profession was never something he could do and the longer they searched the less they cared, after a time there was no more job discussions or future planning. He was used to being a forgotten second son, someone the public saw only on occasion, but nobody even knowing that there was a second son hurt more.

He lived almost like a shadow in his own home and was left to his own devices, as long as he brought no attention to himself he could do as he liked. He would have wasted away like that, living an empty existence with no purpose until his family either discarded him or he died. But the thing that saved him was a surprise visit from his uncle, a rarely spoke of and barely seen uncle.

His uncle was his father's uncle and they weren't that close but his uncle adored his nephews and would stop by on random occasions, a shining star to young Kotsuzui seeing how his uncle was both a second son like him and made it in a non respected job in the eyes of the family. His uncle was a musician who played in small bars and theaters, he didn't make as much money as his family did but he was respected and liked.

He truly saved him the day he introduced him to music. The first time his hands touched the keys to that piano was the day he found what he was meant for, fancy well paying jobs meant nothing to him compared to this. His parent's hopes for him and his successful older brother didn't compare to the happiness he felt at letting his music be heard far and wide.

All good things end eventually though, his ending was violent and sent him right back to where he began. He was practicing a new song in his room as usual when the sound was forced to stop, his fingers no longer responding to his calls and his arms following them. Looking down revealed they were stiff as stone and refused to bend in anyway, his fingers frozen in the shape they were before.

A rushed doctor visit and a silent car drive home later and he was now a new owner of his very own quirk, his parent's mood didn't make the idea of giving it a name a good idea at the time. His parent's continued unhappy mood actually made giving his quirk a name an impossibility, even to this day his quirk didn't have a name. Forgotten son became forgotten quirk freak and his room was moved even further away from any place the family frequented, meals were eaten in his room and the day was spent in there too.

He didn't realize just what his quirk did to him until a couple days later when he worked up the feeling to play again only to find he couldn't, his fingers would constantly stiffen back up and he couldn't glide across the keys as he once did. His doctor was kind enough to explain it in a way he could understand in an email when he asked for it, his quirk hardens his bones.

Not in a normal way like making them as hard as iron like some other quirks out there but infinitely creating more bones and fusing them together into one bone. Any available space would be filled by bone endlessly until either the quirk was deactivated or the perceived danger was no longer there, his quirk sadly was skittish it seems and made any continued movement seen as a threat.

His fingers would fill with bone and turn into statues in seconds of trying to play even the simplest songs. His music career ended too early and his hopes burned away quickly after that, his days were once more filled with that endless emptiness. It lasted for weeks until he met him, until he met his future boss and everything he offered him. His offer was generous and the price was nothing.

He would be able to play music again and all he had to give him was his friendship. He never asked what exactly was done to him and he knew he probably wouldn't understand anyway, the only thing he knew was that he still had his quirk but something was different and he could play again. That's all that really mattered and he even got a friend, his boss, out of it.

His memories are waved away when the boss nods his way and the five of them continue to run into the building, Kotsuzui skidding to a stop and turning to face back the way they came. Multiple footsteps echo throughout the night and people dressed in guard uniforms come from around the corner, his hands lifting up in front of him and stiffening with bone.

He'll hold his very own concert here while the others work, these people will hear his music.

Line Break

Suchiru smiles to himself as the building tremors and he hears loud bangs and yells coming from the entrance they ran through, their momentum not falling for a moment as they race through bright white hallways and push by the surprised staff. Their lab coats making them stand out from the small amount of guards still on patrol in the actual building, their shock at a break in making them sloppy and easy to bulldoze through.

"Should we have left little Kotsuzui? Wouldn't he have been better off back at base with his piano?" His smile falls at the voice that has been constantly raising doubts since he put the plan in motion, he wouldn't say that his good mood was completely ruined by this man but he was annoyed. The continued skepticism of everything he does is one of the reasons he forgot this man's name, he isn't embarrassed to admit he is petty.

The man was of no importance anyway, a middle age man who followed orders even if it was with constant complaint. The only remarkable thing about him was his quirk, Air Run. A mobility quirk that exerts some kind of force against the ground, his current hypothesis is magnetic force, to make the user float a bit off the ground and glide around like roller skates. The quirk is quite useful and not bad all around.

The only problem is the user is an idiot. The man had no imagination! Air run is a mobility quirk? Yes, but it's so much more! From close observation he has seen multiple times Air Run has been used above its "limits" the man told him about, if his findings are correct Air Run could potentially continue to exert more and more force to push yourself up higher into the air from the ground.

Combine that with the ability to easily glide in any direction as if there was no resistance? Air Run would be moved from mobility quirk to flight quirk, an off the charts flight quirk at that! The ability to goes as high as you want and move however you want with no resistance or lag and no learning curve to use? Anyone that could would bankrupt themselves for such a quirk in their hands.

His runaway analysis on the quirk is pushed aside for the time being as he turns and smiles at Air Run, he snickers to himself at the new name for the man, and waves them down a left turn. "Don't you worry! Our little pianist will be completely fine." He answers with his words dripping honey, sweet but entrapping. "Now in here, we have some documents to find."

They all file into a dusty room filled with boxes and cabinets with files upon files, they split up and get to work rifling through them all to find what they need. Suchiru closes another cabinet and checks his watch, cursing at the time and he turns to look over everyone else as they search. "Come on. We need to be leaving soon." His warning sends them searching faster and he shakes his head, returning to his own search.

"Boss! Boss, I found the files!" He immediately heads over to the call and takes the offered folder filled with multiple files, clapping a hand on the teen's shoulder. He was a relatively new recruit and one of their youngest, but he was loyal and helpful. "Good job! You did good work and good work is rewarded. When we get back to base let's talk about your new quirk." The boy's eyes look up at him confused and he barely stutters out his reply. "My quirk? I'm quirkless, boss."

"Rewards, remember? Now let's get going people! Back to our little pianist!"

Suchiru's previous smile has returned in full force as he looks over Kotsuzui's work, burning cars ripped in half and dented littering the area and bodies dressed in security uniforms are gathered amongst the wreckage. Kotsuzui truly was a diamond in the rough! He originally targeted his family hoping to get close to the first born son and find a way to get their money for himself, but how could his plan stay when the second born was so much more interesting!

His family truly didn't do him any favors and it showed in his rapidly changing moods and emotions, happy to sad to excited to melancholy. He was short of a few morals and important empathy emotions but he was still a good man, a kind man. Suchiru was truly stuck! Break him down and have an amazing soldier or fix him up and leave him to a happy life?

In the end the choice was made for him, he fixed his little playing problem and the man swore his allegiance to him in the next breath. Suchiru has and will always be a sucker for people looking up at him with such admiration, how could he ever let his dear pianist leave his side? The man who was once a second son was now his, an important friend in his circle.

His quirk was quite beautiful now as well. The man was imaginative and creative but he wasn't as smart as his peers, if only he had both of those he would realize exactly what he could do with what he gave him. Infinitely replicating bones if there is enough space for them, what if the available space was the entire earth? He outdid himself with this experiment!

He had a quirk he took from a traveling circus member he discovered in a night of boredom, an interesting little thing that allowed him to push anything inside of his body out of any part of his body. His favorite trick was making blood pour from his tear ducts to scare the crowd, and now it serves a different purpose. Kotsuzui can now push his bones out of his body and their available space skyrockets, allowing him to continuously grow his bones freely.

The man surprised even him when he revealed that his quirk had a secondary use, the ability to control said bones. It seems his body just couldn't handle the quirk and it would of stayed dormant without the second quirk, Suchiru knows he struck gold with his choice.

The quirk is powerful but what makes it terrifying? The unending ability to grow the bones and the endless space to do so, the speed of their growth only growing the more danger is perceived. The world would eventually be a graveyard of bones and who knows when the stars themselves would be next, but Kotsuzui won't ever think of such things. He is happy with this and doesn't search for more, how fun!

"Boss! Did you see me, boss?" He's brought back by the excitable shouts seeking praise, he is almost reminded of a dog as he waves him off with a laugh. "Good work. I'm glad the quirk is serving you well!" He steps to the side to stand with Kotsuzui and points over at the group making their way over to them, his finger lingering on Air Run specifically. "Our comrade here helped us a lot with finding those files and I've decided he deserves a quirk!" He calls out to the rest and make his way towards the teen.

He ignores the sound of a cracking bone and keeps his eyes on the recruit, a bone white lance extending behind him and thrusting through the throat of Air Run is also pushed aside. He grabs the boy's face and brings it back to look at him and he smiles warmly, holding his hand to the side as Kotsuzui drags the twitching body by the hair towards them. He places his hand on the head and two red flashes of electricity later the old Air Run was rotting on the ground, and the new Air Run was looking up at him with awe.

He pats him on the cheek as Kotsuzui gives a thumbs up in the background and the other two simply sigh and nod their heads towards them. Let's see how this works out, hm?

Line Break

Doors are closed and cigarettes are lit in a dimly lit room, a handful of chairs are arranged around a circular table and there are already glasses filled with rum sitting there. A elderly man reclining in his chair scoffs and waves his arm at the man standing up holding a clipboard. "Well? You called us all down here for this meeting. We set things up so someone else could handle these "big problems" you brought us here for, so start talking why you needed us to come down."

The man clears his throat and begins to set down pictures on the table, the men leaning in to look. "These were security pictures taken last night. They show a group of six making there way through hidden areas in the outskirts of the city." He explains and sets down another photo, the mood completely plummets as all of them suck in a breath at the building they can see them heading inside of.

"Our research station was broken into with no sign of difficulty by these men and we are still looking into how they bypassed our security doors and got into the record roo-" His report is violently stopped by a fist being slammed onto the table and making the glasses rattle, his face set in a vicious scowl. "The record room! They got in the fucking records! What did they steal? Was it one of the new schematics the R&D thought up?" His anger simmers down into annoyed questioning, hoping nothing too irreplaceable was stolen.

The man giving the report seems to let out a breath at his superiors questioning, relaxing more and shaking his head negatively. "No sir! Nothing of importance seems to have been stolen, the only file that we can see that was taken was something called..." He looks down at his clipboard quickly. "File name: Beginning."

If possible the air seemed to get even more tense as the men sitting down all turned to each other as one in disbelief and seemed to communicate silently to themselves, the clipboard holder swallows nervously. One of the men finally break the stare and turn to look at him now and he grabs his drink. "Does anyone else know about Beginning?" The question breaks the quiet and he stumbles over his reply as he looks around. "N-No sir. I was the only one to look into the file log and look through them all to see if any were missing."

The old man nods as he lifts his glass up to him. "Good lad! Thank you for your service." The man's body slams onto the table in front of them and blood starts pooling around his head, a smoking bullet making a hole in it having come from the window and ending him before he could even smile at the praise. "Well now. Are we going to talk about how Project Beginning was found in a record room? After we gave the order to destroy it?"

"You ask like we have answers. Project Beginning should have never even been in existence near that lab and yet there is a folder containing the files all about it in someone's hands now." Another man replies with a tired sigh, downing his rum in one take. "We all know what we did. We all know what's in those files and we all know what they'll find in them."

"You mean who they'll find in those files. Don't forget one of them is still out there." A reply is hissed from the opposite end of the table, ending in multiple glares being thrown around. A man slaps his hand down with a sad huff of laughter. "Oh yes! How can we forget him. There isn't a point in bringing up our ghosts when others will do it for us. The only thing we can do is find them before they do or find a way to make it not matter when they do."

They all meet eyes once again and stand up, nodding to each other. "Then it's agreed. We will do as we have done since Project Beginning failed. We deny any knowledge of the first quirk users and their existence." They collectively leave at the same time men in scrubs come in to drag the body out and clean up the mess.

Chapter Text

Suchiru lets out a pleasant hum as he sips the cup of tea one of his followers handed him, giving the woman and quick smile and nod as he brings his attention back to the meeting that has been arranged before him. He almost ruins his cool when he sees the same woman smack another of his followers on the back of the head for trying to get out of helping clean up the place, the pout he sees making him snort a little.

He clears his throat and sets his cup down once he realizes his small noise drew the attention to him now, multiple eyes searching for answers to the brand new batch of problems that have come down onto their heads. The problem is Project Beginning, and all that it implies, with it being the source of the group's mostly negative moods lately. He can see where they are coming from, a simple mission to break into a research facility that mainly deals with creating next generation weapons for current generation needs and steal their schematics.

So the question on everyone's mind is why was their another file buried in amongst said schematics that has nothing to do with fabrication and instead deals with quirk experiments and DNA? The somewhat small file stamped with bright red lettering labeled "Project Beginning" is already eye catching alone but like the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover.

This proved true when just the opening documents at the very front of file break some preconceived notions of the world as they know it and digging further in paints a very interesting picture of what was going on behind close doors when a very specific event happened.

The Day of Power. It could also simply be called "The day when the first quirk was born" but everything must have an important name, especially if people feel strongly enough about it. People certainly felt strongly about it when it happened, after all it was a glowing baby. What could it be? A mutation? Extraterrestrial? A work of some God above? The world and all it's intelligence dug for answers and many fights broke out over which hypothesis was right.

The answers were finally given by a team of scientists that explained in a long roundabout way that there was now powers, and that soon the super would live amongst us all. That went as great as you could guess, it was a very long time until quirked individuals could even have the ability to proclaim themselves as such without being found in a back alley murdered or worse.

This chaos went on for a while until the governments stepped in and started introducing the "Hero Program", and now a shaky peace exists. But the most important part of this story is that during those wild times that glowing baby, the first quirk user to ever be born, disappeared without a trace. The parents were interrogated, neighbors questioned, anyone who even smiled at the child was investigated just to find who took the child but eventually the trail was too cold and the hunting dogs of the Hero Program were called back.

Yet this Project Beginning goes on to say that the baby was never lost to these government funded scientists, in fact it was a part of the plan to make it seem they lost him but instead spirited him away in secret. From then on the child that glowed was theirs and they were his parents for his foreseeable future. Multiple papers stapled together explain the experiments they went through and the various things the child was put through, though most of the information on the quirk seemed to have been left out.

"Boss, what are we going to do about this?" He looks up at the person talking and sighs as he realizes he lost himself in his thoughts, he sits up straighter and leans his chin on his fist. "What are we going to do, hm? I thought such a thing was obvious, at least for the ones in this room. Don't tell me I was mistaken to think that everyone around me is in fact the best that I have in my ranks?"

His eyes look over his trusted inner circle and watches as they shuffle slightly in their seats and the ones standing keep their eyes averted and turned away slightly, the tension growing slightly as his amber eyes rakes over them. He lets out a quiet breath and ruffles his hair that is starting to get somewhat shaggy, closing his eyes and letting the pressure building dissipate. "Forgive me, it has been a stressful discovering these files."

He listens to the soft acceptance of his apology from those around him, accepting a refill of his cup as he gathers himself once more. There is no need to get that worked up so early in the morning. "Our next move is to keep an eye out for anyone that seems to look at one of us too much or too long, their will obviously be people looking for the files we stole. I want people to keep their eyes and ears to the ground so we don't get blindsided by anything, understood?"

Everyone nods quickly and some start to stand, sensing the end of the meeting drawing near. It's cut off when a paper is slid towards Suchiru and he takes it, looking down at the picture of a young boy on the front page. "I'm sorry, but what are we going to do with him?" The man who asked the question says softly, still a bit nervous of acting out of line in front of him.

Suchiru can already guess why the question has been on the other's mind for the whole meeting, green lettering underneath the status of the subject clearly spells out alive but with an added note below it saying escaped. The question has been bugging him since he first read the files, just how did he escape from the facility?

"No need to worry, I already had someone put on tracking him down and seeing if they could find where he could be possibly hiding. Most likely I will be looking for him myself so my previous orders stand and I expect them to be carried out professionally." He grins at them as they all nod seriously. The serious atmosphere is broken when the front door opens and Yoichi walks in with multiple bags in his arms from shopping.

He pauses seeing all the people in their house and awkwardly returns their greetings and well wishing as they file out around him and leave just as quickly as he met them, his curious stare swinging around to Suchiru. "Who were they?"

"Some people I met while working, they've been helping me keep an eye out around the city for any criminals lurking underground. It's kinda like I'm making a hero group!" Yoichi smiles as his brother acts his typical self, shaking his head as he drops the groceries in the kitchen, jumping slightly when his brother comes up from behind and grabs him by his shoulders with a big grin.

"Yoichi!" He shudders at that teasing tone that generally means Suchiru is up to some kind of mischief and is dragging him along for it. "How would you like to go on a vacation with me?" He looks behind him quickly with his own grin growing to match as he gets excited, spinning around to face his brother. "A vacation? Where are we going? Have you already talked to your superiors? Can we afford it?"

"Calm down calm down! Everything is handled and you leave the worrying to me, all I need to know is how do you feel about..." He trails off for effect.

"Hawaii."

Line Break

Suchiru watches with a teasing grin as he leaves his brother in the not so gentle hands of some curious local girls that will keep him safe and occupied, though he does see a few daring gentlemen sending looks at the younger as well. He shrugs as he silently wishes his brother well, meeting his pleading eyes as he is dragged off to go swimming with the group. It'll be good for him to get out and meet some people and make his own friends, besides he can always show them why they should never touch anyone that carries the Shigaraki name if they decide to do anything his brother doesn't want.

He turns away and starts making his way further into the less populated and more wild parts of the island they found themselves on, following a set of coordinates that he has remembered on the trip here. He feels slightly ridiculous going into a important first meeting wearing nothing more than a floral decorated shirt that doesn't even have any buttons and a pair of swimming trunks, but what Yoichi buys him must be treasured and worn like the good big brother he is.

His sandal covered feed crunch the leaves below them as he comes up the entrance of a small village with buildings still made out of mostly wood and leaves with a small population roaming around doing various tasks. He knows he stands out amongst them as the elder's eyes follow him the whole way down the main dirt path through the village, nearing a near faded dirt path leading into another part of wooded area.

He spots some children kneeling down in the dirt next to a small pond and dunking their hands into the water to fish out some brightly colored rocks, his interest is peaked as he hears them whispering to each other in that familiar tone of "I'm doing something wrong". He wanders over to them and starts hearing their muttered conversations. "Come on! We gotta get these to Grandpa Death! You know how he likes how the stones look in the light." The oldest of them says in a sure tone, likely the leader of their little group.

"Grandpa Death? That's an interesting name." He chuckles as the kids startle and turn to look at him crouched down behind them a bit away, waving his hand to calm them. His accent is a little rough but he makes do as he asks them some questions about where this man is and if they could lead him to them. He huffs in amusement as the little leader looks at him and puts his fists on his hips, declaring that they don't know if he is a good guy and that he's a stranger.

"Then how about this? I just wanted to give him my own pretty stone!" He says and waves his hands like an overeager magician, a bright yellow light shines in his palm and a stone shining the same color is sitting in it and he shows it to them with a smile. He delights in how their little eyes grow wide and they are put in awe at something as simple as that, the little leader looking over the stone critically and he finally nods and gives him a thumbs up. "Alright! Anyone who brings gifts can't be a bad guy."

Suchiru can only laugh softly as he follows their little group to their destination, really if only adults had that kind of thought process everything would be so much easier for him. He keeps his eyes roaming and his ears listening out for any sounds around them as they make their way towards the man he came all this way to meet, he twitches slightly as the air grows stiff.

In fact, he doesn't hear the birds chirping anymore nor the bugs chattering around them. If the children find this weird they don't say anything and simply push past some vines into a circular clearing where the sun is shining down brightest, various stones of differing color and brightness lay littered around the area and the sun bounces off them to shine the colored light around.

In the middle stands a large rock that has enough room for someone to sit upon, and there was indeed someone sitting there. A man that looks like he is in his early thirties sits there and stares up at the sky, his long black hair swaying in the breeze that carries the smell of the ocean with it. Suchiru watches the children lay their stones with the others around them and quickly wave goodbye to the man even though he hasn't turned to them once, the little leader promising to come again next week with an even bigger haul of stones.

He is about to take a step towards the man on the stone when his head slowly tilts towards him and stops just before their eyes can meet, his pale hand extending out towards him wanting. He walks over slowly and drops the stone he created in the outstretched hand, watching the man pull it back towards himself and run his hands over it allowing Suchiru to see how the man's nails are pitch black and seem to have no shine to them.

"You have come far." A soft voice speaks, the trees creaking around them. "You brought a gift. I will speak." Suchiru keeps an eye on him as he pulls out a folded up piece of paper stuffed in his back pocket and unfolds it to read the name printed on it, the only name they could find and no last name. "I've come because I want to understand what happened to you and the Originals, Fumetsu."

It is as if the name awoken him as the man turns to him fully, his dark eyes catching his and staring deep into them. His skin chills as he feels the cold choking sensation of drowning as the depths of his eyes swallow him further into them, his heart thudding in his chest as he can feel the power flowing underneath the skin of the man in front of him.

Deep in his chest he can feel All for One crooning in excitement and his hands flex into claws as the red electricity crackles across his fingers, the hungering greed for the quirk is drowned when another dose of that powerful aura hits him. Those eyes once freezing now feel like burning heat gliding across his skin, he can almost see the bright consuming light of an atomic bomb behind those eyes as the mushroom cloud rises and swallows everything beneath it in pure death.

"Enough. Control your hunger, young one." Suchiru pants slightly as All for One and his feeling of want slowly subsides and he relaxes his hands, looking over the man in a new light after that show of power. "You ask hard questions. Questions that bring back things I'd like to forget." He nods as he slowly settles himself down onto the grass before the man, sitting among the shining stones.

"Tell me what you can and I'll be satisfied." Fumetsu turns away from him and retakes his previous pose on the rock, bringing his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "The story started like you've been told...It all started with Taiyō. The glowing baby was the first to be taken, but we all ended up with him." He says, voice low as he looks up at the sky.

"The 'Originals' as you call them were just a bunch of scared kids who were the unlucky ones to first awaken their quirks but there was more to it than that, and the scientists found that out. Our disappearances were quick and any stories about the original quirk users were falsified and sprinkled with just enough truth to make it seem as such."

"Our quirks should have never been, period. We were all too powerful, too much for this world to handle and to this day I still don't understand why we were the only ones to receive these curses."

Suchiru furrows his brows as he looks at him, confused as he listens. "I understand what you mean by powerful, I felt that aura you were putting out, but the others? Wasn't Taiyō's quirk just simple glowing? That's all that was written in the files." Fumetsu laughs a little, the wind rising and catching the sound to carry it out to the open sky. He turns to face him again with a smile of both joy and sadness.

"Taiyō was the strongest of us all! We were already feared for simply having quirks but you should have seen those scientists when they found out the truth of what our true powers were, the terror they held as we lived amongst them in that facility. His quirk wasn't simply glowing, no not all. His quirk was the sun itself." The man raises his arms to the sky and stares up at the bright ball of fire in the sky with longing. "His body contained a living sun, it was safe to say that once he got older he could very well use that power to become a second sun right on earth."

Suchiru swallows heavily as he tries to imagine a living breathing person holding the entire strength of a sun in themselves, that power completely theirs to use for whatever purpose they put their minds to. They could be a God and nobody would be able to disagree, how do you deny the thing that both gives you life but can as easily snuff it out.

"You are starting to understand, young one. They feared us for what we were born with and they feared us more for what we would become. Taiyō was beautiful though...He shined so brightly and it was almost like he was life personified. He would walk with you and you couldn't help but feel loved and cared for, the way his eyes would see you and only you. It wasn't hard for us all to accept him as our pillar when nobody else would look at us with such care."

"But they ruined everything! They took everything beautiful and turned it wrong! It was not their place to do such an act and think of themselves so mighty to play God! Those cowardly men who thought they could control everything in their sight and look down upon us like we nothing more than beasts!" Suchiru tenses up once more as the area is drowned in pressure, soft crunching catching his attention as he looks down at the grass around the rock Fumetsu sits upon turns gray and starts crumbling.

He calms himself as he takes a deep breath, looking down at the yellow stone still in his hand and rubbing it softly with a broken smile. "They knew they couldn't touch us with Taiyō protecting us, he would burn the world down if he had to. So they decided they didn't need him anymore. He was drugged during a routine testing and was loaded up in a prototype rocket meant for the abandoned space travel projects." He looks up unseeingly, almost like he is still following something going towards the sky.

"They sent him on a one way trip to the very thing that lived inside of him, they let him join the original and burned his existence away. Something died in us all that day and eventually we all did die for real, they ripped us apart so they could learn everything about us. That facility joined the casualties though, it was only right after they destroyed my family. That place will forever remember the screams."

Suchiru stands up and dusts himself off, face set in an unsure frown as he looks up at the sun as well. "I wonder when the people of this world will be able to live without the need to destroy the things that are stronger than us. I suppose someone will just have to change things, hm?"

Fumetsu turns to look at him and it is a new look, something pitiful in it as those dark eyes roam his face. "You shouldn't exist either, young one. That quirk of yours is not one born for the ideals you wish to live up to, eventually that hunger in you will push you too far." Suchiru stiffens and looks down at the man with a hard look, gritting his teeth in annoyance and being told he is incapable of doing something especially if that something is being a hero.

"I am Suchiru Shigaraki and I promised a long time ago that I would be a hero, that I would make this world a better place. This quirk is mine and it will be the quirk of the greatest hero in the world, just you watch." He turns away and starts making his way out of the field, the conversation having gone on too long and his brother is probably wondering where he is.

"The children call me Grandpa Death, young one. It is not a stretch considering the quirk that resides within me, as I'm sure you have already begun guessing at what it is exactly. It is fitting that we both carry death in our name, for no matter how much we try to create we only destroy. Goodbye, Young Devourer."

Suchiru continues to walk away with a blank face that hides the furious emotions burning in his chest, All for One pulsing next to his heart as the multiple other quirks in his body beat along with his pulse.

He is a hero. He has been and always will be. For his brother. For his people.

For himself.

Chapter Text

Suchiru stares at himself in the mirror with a practiced face that shows none of the emotions underneath the veil, his eyes shaking slightly in pure and utter dismay and pain. Was this the cost for the deaths on his hands, the dozens of quirks that he's ripped from their original owners and left behind? Was the universe finally deciding that he was simply too radical in his quest for a peaceful world?

The reflection in the mirror only serves to mock him further as if his questions are meaningless in the eyes of the abomination that has caused such horrific feelings in his heart, if he was a weaker man he would have been drove to tears by now and begged for forgiveness to be spared but he wasn't such a weak person. No, he was Suchiru Shigaraki, the man who would be the greatest hero in history and the one who would have their name echoed far and wide.

So with a deep breath he turns away from the mirror and meets his brother's eyes, smiling his most loving smile at him as he brushes his hair away from his face and shows off the newly bought outfit that his dear younger brother spent all yesterday picking out for him and buying with his own hard earned money. Yes, if he puts it that way, he can pull this off without any of the pain he was feeling previously.

A brand new shirt described to have been designed solely to be untucked, sky blue with flowers covering almost every inch of it. Bright red swimming trunks decorated with white Valentine like hearts that criminally leave his knees and a good bit of his thighs visible from how small they are on his tall frame. And the pièce de résistance, the flipflops, pink decorated with even more flowers.

Yes, he was a walking challenge to fashion everywhere and a spit in the eye to any designer ever, but his brother said he looked dashing. Even now he can see the bright sunny smile on his face as he nods his head, complimenting how his older brother pulls off the travesty.

"I'm so happy you like it! I didn't know if you would since it's different from your usual style, but something new is good every now and then!" Yoichi says to him, filled with such glee it's hard to stay upset, his own smile growing as he fights back tears and nods his own agreement.

"Yes, it really is nice! Thank you for looking out for your older brother so much like this, I feel like I'll get less stares if I'm dressed like this." These words were blatant lies and they fall from his mouth as easy as breathing, anything to keep that innocent joy on his face. "Now I have to go, I'll be back soon so please stay safe. I left some money on the table in case you get hungry or you wanted to go out with those friends you made yesterday. My phone is with me as well so just call and I'll be there in an instant."

Literally, he stole a speed quirk a couple days before this trip so as soon as his phone would ring he would be across the island in front of his brother no matter what. "You worry too much! Just go, I'm starting to feel that I'm the only one enjoying our vacation!"

Suchiru looks him over one last time and deems it fine as he nods and opens the door, walking out to go take care of the last bit of business he had on this island before they can get back on the plane returning home and meet his followers. He can only imagine what they have been getting up to without him, he shivers slightly at the thought of his more rambunctious followers getting new ideas on how to serve him.

So into his mind he misses his loving younger brother's shoulders shaking up and down from suppressed laughter, his eyes tearing up slightly as he looks over his outfit once more and almost breaks down laughing. Yes, so loving.

Line Break

His sandals crunch the same leaves he already previously stepped upon on his way to where Fumetsu made his home, offering his greetings the gang of stone gatherers that are coming back from the field after dropping off their newly gathered stones before heading back home. The little leader even giving him a respectful tilt of his head once he spots another quirk made stone in his palm, Suchiru snorts at his diligence once they pass far enough away.

Moving the vines aside reveals the area the same as it was before just with a couple more new stones littered around, the man of the hour still sat on his usual stone and staring up the sky per usual. Fumetsu turns his head halfway and holds out his hand, both of them repeating their past introduction as Suchiru drops the stone into his palm and takes a seat in the grassy area.

He has to admit that the man knows how to pick a place to remain in for all these years, it's peaceful here and if he wasn't filled with this ambition he could see himself remaining here as well. Wouldn't that be a sight? They are both most likely the strongest beings in this world at the moment and all they would be doing is sitting in the middle of nowhere enjoying the breeze, he smiles to himself at such simple thoughts.

That's what he's trying to give the people though so it's not right for him to enjoy these things until they can as well.

As if his thoughts were tangible, Fumetsu looks down from the sky and turns to face him fully with a question look upon his face. Suchiru also offers him his full attention and goes to speak about the things he's been thinking since he has left from their first meeting, his mouth barely open before he's cut off.

"Has the fashion changed since I've left?"

Ho, that was close. His facade almost crumbled at the question but he was able to keep his smile up as he fixes his collar. "It's a treasured gift from my younger brother and I wear it with pride."

A slow nod is the only answer he receives and he sighs internally before getting his mind back on track, bringing up his reasoning for coming all the way out here again. "What are your thoughts of leaving this place?"

"Leaving?" The word is whispered softly, barely audible as he seems to test it out before looking at him confused. "Why would I leave when this world has nothing left to offer me? I have everything I need here, my sun is the brightest here."

Suchiru sighs, this was going to be harder than he thought. It's not like he completely needs him but having him amongst his group would be a definite bonus, it would be an added layer of reasons for people to be cautious when starting anything with them and or in their protected territory. The already slowly spreading whispers in alleyways near the areas they operate of a being who can take and give quirks is circulating, some of those rumors from their own doing and others from survivors of his past deeds, but another rumor of an immortal joining their group?

They might as well bow down to the new power moving in, the yakuza would be yesterdays news even quicker than they were becoming and criminals would think twice of even looking up from their feet without permission.

"What about making the world a better place? Japan has always been just a starting point for me, eventually me and mine will be moving to the surrounding countries and doing the same that we are doing there." He says, waving his hand around the surrounding area they are in. "Do you not wish to spread this sense of peace to every corner of the globe? Do you not wish to one day see a world where no one has to worry about being attacked or going hungry?"

Fumetsu looks over him with a neutral expression, uncaring in the face of his speech as if the ideals he is preaching means nothing to him. He looks as if the things he is saying is nothing more than a bum on the street corner proclaiming the world is coming to an end and then asking for twenty dollars, it irks him to no end to see such dead eyes.

"Why would I care about this world? This world that has done nothing but take everything that I have ever loved and destroy it; scatter it to the winds and laugh as I watched it do so. You ask if I wish for these things but they are pointless and meaningless to me, do not misunderstand my amusement in the local children as anything more than a passing fancy before I forget their existences as they pass from this world as I remain."

Suchiru can feel his teeth creaking as he grits them tightly, lightning crackling softly on his fingertips as he tries to rein in his emotions that are slowly getting away from him. "So what? You'll content yourself with watching the world pass you by one year after the next without doing anything about it? An uncaring watcher that simply exists to exist?"

He scoffs at such an idea in disgust, to sit still and be stagnant without even trying to change something goes against everything he is doing. This disgusting world that looks upon people with quirks as mutated creatures born from black magic and devil worshiping, how it and its people watch as they are beaten and destroyed without a care. This world that sees the injustice committed against the weak and innocent without blinking! The world that allowed that little girl to be destroyed in such an irreparable way and tossed away like trash!

No, this world doesn't deserve to continue to exist and he'll rip it apart with his bare hands and reshape it in his image by force. This world will scream and cry by the time he is done with it till it learns exactly how it should be, a just and kind place for people to flourish.

"You dare say these things with such a face. If your existence is such a pain and your quirk is such a misery then you might as well give it to me, I'll take and end both in the same breath and leave this peaceful Eden to be your memorial."

Fumetsu eyes are dark and deep like an abyss that stares back endlessly until it leaves you as empty as itself, no anger visible but brimming underneath the void like depths. "Do not speak to me as if you care about this world like you preach to any small minded man child that eats up your words like gospel. I have said it before and I will say it again, you will never live up to your ideals. Your very existence is the antithesis to the world you wish to see."

"You are a black hole that walks on earth, a being so greedy that no light will ever shine into it for it will only be swallowed whole. You were born to be a cancer; a plague that will never stop till it infects everything around you and even then you will hunger for more."

"You do not know the first thing about me. You say these things about me with no base and no proof, condemning me to these deeds that I have not committed and have no wish to commit. Who are you to judge me and find my future wanting when it has not been written yet?"

Fumetsu scoffs and turns away, disgust swimming in his vision. "My very being whispers these things to me. My soul knows yours and feels nothing but revulsion, it knows nothing good will come from you being alive. You can feel it too, can you not? Something that's been in the back of your mind, constantly whispering in your ear about things."

Suchiru frowns as All for One gives a hard pulse in his chest, a feeling of nerve numbing anger and pure want echoing through his bones at these insidious words being spat at him. "Everything that I do and every choice I have ever made was my doing and mine alone. To say that my soul, my quirk is leading me down this path in life is insane. I am the one in charge of my own destiny."

"Think what you wish but do you honestly think that we are the first beings to exist with these curses? Why is that we have these quirks so much stronger than any living being in existence? We were chosen to be vessels for these things and it ruins me every day to still not know why, when will we know? We should have never been born."

Suchiru has had enough of listening to this and stands up, turning away from the person he thought he could convince to be a betterment for humanity. "You say these things like our quirks are living creatures that burrowed into our bodies and we are simply their new incarnations, that we are their transportation and our own will is simply theirs. I deny this and I will continue to deny it till I die, if you won't help me then I'll simply prove you wrong and make this world beautiful myself."

His footsteps are near the level of stomping as he leaves the field, skin burning and blood churning with barely repressed rage as his amber eyes beg to burn the path in front of him to cinders. Fingers cracking as he balls them into fists and knuckles turning white from the pressure, his stolen quirks screaming inside of him as All for One feels like it coos into his ears like a loving mother.

It only serves to make him angrier and disgust him further.

"The last kindness that I will give you is this, Fumetsu. The people who order the experiments on you and your friends are alive still, old but alive. They live peaceful lives with no repercussions for what they did to you all, my kindness is the opportunity to cut these parasites down so they won't do the same to others. It's your choice if you wish to watch even them continue to exist as you waste away in this non life of yours."

The field remains silent as he leaves and Fumetsu remains on his rock, knees pressed to his chest as his long black hair hangs over his face and hides his expression. The warm sun still bathing his shoulders in it's loving embrace, chasing away the chill that has taken up residence since he lost his own sun.

"What kindness?" He whimpers softly.

Only time will tell if he'll get on that plane set to take the two brothers back home. Only time will tell if the prophecies given by the non prophet will come true.

Chapter Text

Yoichi breathes the air in deeply through his nose, enjoying it after being away from his home for such a long time. Don't get him wrong, he loved going on the vacation with his brother, but nothing could ever replace someones home and that was his feelings as he walked off the plane and followed along to an already prepared car. He smiles politely as his brother introduces him to a colleague and explains how he asked him to give them a ride back home.

The drive could be described as...interesting. The car was fancier than anything Yoichi had seen in his life and he's seen the suits his brother buys! There was also already three other people in the car, two of them simply nodding before turning back to what they were working on, with the third excitedly greeting Suchiru and talking a mile a minute.

Looking closer he does remember these people being in their house at one point and discussing some kind of business with Suchiru, but they kept their voices low so he could only assume they must have been ordered to keep it quiet by their boss since it wasn't the first time his brother couldn't share certain missions he was sent out on.

Seeing Suchiru so close to these people, even if only one is talking right now, makes him smile. His brother didn't have an easy time growing up, not being able to connect to the other kids their age, well they were the same in that regard. The moment they joined that government squad aimed at making people into "heroes" is when it all changed though, more and more people realized he was special and flocked towards him, he just needed to find his people.

There are times when he feels left behind from his brother's new life, with him on his way to becoming their childhood dream of being a hero and him still just being the same as he has always been. There are even more times when he wishes for a quirk of his own, spending nights alone in his room and wondering what would happen if he just...asked one day.

His brother rarely talks about his quirk in front of him and almost never brings up the quirks he has taken or how they came to be, but he knows if he just asks him he'll give him a quirk in the same second. He looks down at his hands, sees how weak they look and wonders if he could be a hero like his brother too...someone who could save people and be strong.

That kind of person sounds so different than what he is now, someone who still gets winded from doing a light jog for more than a couple minutes. Someone who grows faint if it is too hot outside and always gets bedridden when winter comes around. His thumbs press together till the skin grows white from the pressure and he can feel his wrists shake from just that.

His spiraling thoughts are halted when a hand is placed on the back of his neck and gives it a comforting squeeze, he notices his eyes have become a little blurry and he realizes some tears were starting to form before he quickly blinks them away. Luckily his face was down but when he looks up and sees the concern in his brother's eyes he knows it didn't hide the fact something was bothering him.

"You feeling alright, Yoichi?" Suchiru only calls him by his name when he really is worried or serious and he can't help feeling worse, he shouldn't make his brother worry simply because he was feeling bad about himself and his own problems. He gives a quick shaky nod as he gives him a smile, patting his brother's arm.

"Yes yes, I just didn't get enough sleep on the plane! Someone kept kicking my seat." The excuse is quick and easy and his brother seems to buy it, frowning in slight annoyance at hearing someone had been bugging him when he wasn't paying attention. The easiest way to distract Suchiru is to take advantage of his overprotective tendencies and he's been abusing those rights since they were kids.

"Tell me next time then, I'll make sure they leave you alone." Yoichi laughs at his brother's threatening tone, his hand doing that little crushing motion whenever he plans on knocking someone down a peg for messing with him. "Yes, brother. I'll be sure to tell you how a child was bullying me and kicking my seat next time." The sarcastic drawl he laced his words with draws a snort from one of the silent passengers that was busy on a laptop, the man's face falling when he notices Suchiru looking at him with a stink eye.

Yoichi smiles and tosses away his previous thoughts as quickly as they came, a quirk would make him a hero but who needs to be a hero when he can spend time like this with his brother and his somewhat strange friends? The world might only grow to learn one of the Shigaraki brothers' name but Suchiru will always remember him and that's enough for Yoichi.

Line Break

The man that was in the car with his brother and the man who entered the room his followers are occupying were two different people, one was loving and kind and the other had the capabilities to be the same but was willing to abandon it all to do what needed to be done.

To be a hero one must be a beacon that society and the people within could rely on, a strong figure with a calming smile that will uplift the heart of the one who saw it. But a hero must also be someone who the criminals fear it, a stopping force that culls the chances of a crime being committed in the first place simply because they are out there.

Suchiru takes his seat at the head of the table and looks over everyone he called here, his most trusted seated the closest to him and he smiles at the familiar faces that he hasn't seen for a while. "Everyone! It is great to see you all again, I hope you are all in good health?"

There is some muffled mumbling from further down the table as some turn their heads to look at each other, the muttering lasting longer than he'd like and his finger begins to tap against the tabletop making it quickly grow hushed. Finally a older man stands up and gives a bow before meeting his eyes as he tries to keep the slowly developing tears in check.

"Sir...my son and his family were attacked while you were gone..." He says, voice cracking at the beginning and he balls his fists against the side of his pants, his lower lip trembling furiously. Another man who has a resemblance to the first shoots up to his feet and gives the same bow, fists equally clenched and he keeps his head down in the bow even as he speaks.

"Sir! This is my brother and I'd like to explain for him." Suchiru looks between them both before giving his acceptance, watching the previous man sit back down and hunch over. "We have done as you asked and kept our heads down while you were gone, keeping to our designated areas and keeping the peace in them. That's when we learned of a group that has been operating in one of our nearby territories, they mainly operate in drugs and have been roughing up anyone who gets close to them that doesn't wish to buy."

"My nephew was one of the people on patrol and stopped one of their members from completing a sale, confiscating the product and knocking the dealer out before turning him in. We didn't think much of a bunch of drug pushers but after two weeks had passed a group of people broke into my nephew's home and beat him with metal pipes, his wife and children were home at the time and the only reason they were untouched was because a neighbor called the police in time."

The man finally stands from his bow and angry tears stream down his cheeks, teeth bared in a suppressed snarl as his brother's shoulders shake beside him. "The doctors said that he might not walk again, sir. He's a good man and he is loved by our family dearly, he is more a son to me than a nephew and I can't stand to see what these people did to him! Please sir, I beg that you stop them!"

Suchiru leans back in his chair as he observes his people, he didn't think that anyone would be so cocky to try something like that with him only being gone for what felt like a short time but it seems someone was. He knows he ordered his people to keep their heads down but he should have been clearer that they could destroy these upstarts without his command but it's good that they also know to wait for orders.

But this is a problem...either these people haven't heard the rumors spread of him and his in the territories they own or they simply didn't care or believe in them, that simply wouldn't do. Attacking his followers? Traumatizing their families? Making these two shed tears like this and even go as for as to beg him for help?

How disgusting.

Basic criminals like this always make his mood plummet and it only grew worse hearing what they decided to do for vengeance, his chair creaking as he stands up to his full height. The ones with him from the beginning already cracking their knuckles and his little pianist smiles cheerfully up at him, he puts his fist on the table in front of him and leans forward, giving the man who bowed so low to him a smile.

"Point me to them."

As it turns out their guide was going to be one of this group's little drug dealers that roams the streets nearby the little hole they dug for themselves. A scruffy looking gentleman, though he doesn't deserve that title, leans against the entrance of an alleyway as he tries to bring in some customers to sell his supply to and the man continues on with his activities without a care or worry.

He doesn't realize the circle closing in on him till it's already to late and his achilles heels are punctured through with sharp shards of bones, his mouth covered before he can scream and he is dragged further into the darkness of the alley without anyone noticing and quickly forgotten by any who were interested before.

Line Break

Donju leans back in a reclining chair that he had his boys buy with their steadily growing profits, the sounds of sweet sweet chemistry bubbling away around him. He might not know what science nonsense goes into making the drugs they peddle to the suckers in this area but he definitely knows how to do good business, and good business is being the main supplier to anyone who wants to get high.

He doesn't care about the little problems like who they sell to or who gets addicted. Some businessman's life goes down the shitter because he got a dirty drug test? Not his problem. Some teen put a little bit too much up his nose and won't be graduating, or breathing, anymore? Tough luck, should've had moderation. Some quirk freak got his face plastered over the morning news because he had a bad trip? Hell, he's more likely to laugh at him and try to guess what underground hellhole they'll shove him in.

All in all, life is going great and there isn't even any competition to worry about! Just some losers trying to play "hero" by calling the cops and threatening him with their "boss", ha! The little ghost stories that he's heard floating around are nothing more than hot air to make the weaklings feel strong and make the people dumb enough to listen to scared to try anything because, "The boogeyman that can take and give quirks will get you."

He's not five anymore, thank you very much, and even if he was why would he believe such a bullshit story? In his opinion these quirk freaks are just flashlights with weak batteries, flashy till they short out and die.

He pushes away such useless thoughts and wiggles deeper into his comfy seat, his hands behind his head in complete relaxation. How is this for least likely to achieve, teach?

His confident grin quickly drops when the building they're all in rumbles and he hears shouting from the area that the front door is at, the chemists around him stopping their work to look in the same direction as he is. He scowls and sits up and starts snapping his fingers at some lackey sitting at a table to the left of him, groaning at how long it takes the moron to come running over with the laptop that has their security camera feed on it.

He flicks through the different views till he reaches the front and leans in for a better look only to flinch back when a body slams into the wall next to said camera, a trail of blood left behind as the person slides down from the impact area. "The hell?" He mutters as he uses the controls to turn the camera to see what's going on.

A small group of people are making quick work of his guards, cutting through them like a paper and chucking them to the sides. His face pales when obvious signs of quirks start flying around and decimating anyone in their way, leaping to his feet and holding the laptop tighter. Why the hell is there so many of them here?! Who the fuck are these psychos?!

He tosses the laptop into his seat and grabs a travel bag from nearby, sweeping some stacks of money off the table and in to it as he starts shouting orders at the panicking people around him. "Stop standing there! Pack up everything important and let's get out of here!"

He smirks as his previous confidence starts returning with each bag he begins filling, attack my base will you? Do you expect me to fight back? Yeah right! A smart man always knows when to back off and rebuild! This is just a minor setback and then they'll be back and better than ever!

He tosses the bags to some of his boys and shoulders two as they start walking to the back exit, his eyes full of mockery to the people attacking his base. He'll just let them think they won while he escapes, he still has all the chemists so this loss isn't harming him at all!

Everyone stumbles when the building shakes once more, dust falling from the ceiling as they turn around to look at the door leading into the room. Multiple locks blocking anyone from entering without being allowed in lets them breathe easy but even that is lost when the metal begins to dent in with repeated slams to the door.

A imprint that looks like a foot growing more and more in the middle of the door before it breaks off its hinges and flies into the room and embeds into the wall nearby, the attacking group flooding inside and immediately zeroing in on Donju and his group. They start making a path for a tall man to walk inside and the thing that stands out the most is the white hair that stands out against the drab colors of the walls, his hands in the pockets of his pants and his suit spotless as he strolls further into the room casually.

"Hm. I suppose I expected more from this place, though it seems you can't expect too much from people like this." His tone sets Donju's nerves on edge, that uncaring lilt to his words as if anything he does is just another reason to be disappointed. He heard it too many times from his old teachers and bosses and he grits his teeth.

"Stop just staring you idiots! Attack them!" He yells and pushes past his men and towards the backdoor, hand gripping the doorknob and about to open it before it is opened on its own. He only has time to furrow his eyebrows before the door is swung open roughly and slams into his face, making him stumble back and look up to see even more of these people coming in from the hidden exit.

How did they know about it?! Who talked?!

A sigh is heard from behind him and he turns to look at the same man shakes his head and takes his hands out of his pockets, shrugging slightly as he looks at them all one by one. His eyes finally fall on Donju and the swaying light fixture that has been flickering since the building first shook make his eyes almost seem to glow in the dark.

"Though calling you people might be too kind. What would be a better term for things that are so below people that you don't even want to bother with them?" He watches him tilt his head slightly to the left, someone behind him chipping in for him. "A cockroach!"

The trapped people flinch when the man snaps his fingers and nods to the person who called out, looking over them again with new eyes. "Yes, exactly! A cockroach is something you barely think about in your day to day life and yet they are such a bother when they decide to get into things they shouldn't."

"You were yelling orders earlier so it's safe to assume you are Donju, right? That makes things easier for me, I don't have to worry about weeding you out anymore." The sentence is barely out of his mouth before Donju feels something splash against the side of his face, his hand lifting up to wipe at it in confusion and look down at his fingers that now feel sticky.

His eyes widen when he sees them covered in red and he slowly turns to look at his side, one of his chemists that was standing at his side had fallen to his knees and as his eyes focus in the flickering light he sees that the man has a black and red spike running through his forehead and poking out the other side. The spike retracts and lets the body fall face down and he follows it back to the man's hand.

"Seems I grew rusty from my vacation, I was going for the person behind that unlucky fellow." He sighs and walks towards the reclining chair still situated in the middle of the room and spins it around to face Donju and his group, sitting down and propping his leg onto his knee as he waves his hand at them like he is shooing them away.

"I've lost my interest after that, clean them up will you?"

Donju sits on his knees in front of the man that brought down his entire operation in not even an hour, head lowered as he shivers. He was forced to witness as these monsters destroyed the people around him so easily, his face and clothes still splattered with blood as they go around and check if the others are actually dead. He flinches when the man lowers his leg back down and his eyes shake watching the two fancy dress shoes remain in his vision.

He feels a large hand land on his head and pushes it up so he meets the eyes of the owner, a neutral expression on his face as he looks him over. "W-Why?" He says, more a whine than anything as he wonders what he could have possibly done to have everything ruined like this.

"You don't know why?" He quickly shakes his head in denial only for his face to fall when it seems to annoy the man.

"Must I explain what you did wrong? Am I your parent or something? Are you a that much of a child that you can't recall?" He hand on his head pushes him away and makes him almost fall on his side before he catches himself, tears gathering in his eyes. He looks up and clasps his hands together, bringing them up as he starts to beg.

"Please! I-I don't know what I've done to offend you! I'll do anything to repay it!" He bows down low, eyes shaking as he begs with all his heart. Another lesson of being a good businessman is knowing when to grovel to someone higher than you, nothing is too low if it means you can succeed. He swallows every ounce of his pride as his forehead scratches against the floor and his tears fall onto it. "Please my lord."

A sigh is heard from above him and he doesn't dare raise his head, eyes shut tightly as he waits. "So this is the thing that attacked one of my followers...how pathetic. I will have to remember to not make assumptions since I'm constantly let down by them, like how I assumed someone who has heard the rumors of my existence would know not to raise their head too high lest I take notice of it."

Donju's breathing stops at the mention of rumors, his mind running back to what he was previously thinking about and he slowly looks up at the person in his chair. He thought this was just a massively strong quirk user not...not that the people have whispered about. His lips shake as he utters the name they gave him, the one they said would come for you.

"All...for One?"

His face is reintroduced to the ground as the man kicks it back down, grinning for the first time down at him. "Did I say you could look upon me? You're a cockroach remember? A cockroach has no right to ever look a human in the eyes, know your place."

Donju can't bring himself to even move as he sobs silently to himself, a scoff of disgust the only answer to it. "I'll leave it to you two, this is the one that had the audacity to harm your family like he did. I give you the destruction of his little "empire" and the ringleader himself, play with him as you like."

The one known as All for One stands up and walks away, the click of his shoes on the ground growing fainter and fainter as he leaves. Only when he can no longer hear them does he dare look up and his vision is filled with the furious faces of two men he's never seen before standing over him, he opens his mouth to hopefully beg to them only to receive a harsh kick to the face that sends him sprawling.

"Trash!"

"Coward!"

"Die!"

The sounds of cursing and screaming echoes in the building as the two men take out all the rage they've felt since the police told them what happened, their kicks full of vengeance as they kick this man again and again without giving him any chance to defend himself. Giving him the same treatment that their poor family member got, a loud crack as the man's head flies back and teeth clack against the ground.

The others cheering them on from the sidelines as they form a circle around the three, hurling their own curses and insults as they watch.

Line Break

Suchiru hears the cheering and cries from behind him as he exits the building and lights up a cigarette, feet carrying him further away as dead bodies of the people that followed that cockroach lay around him. Only back for a day and he already had to clean up a pile of waste, how much more till these people learn to not mess with what is his?

He continues to take a drag on his cigarette and look up at the night sky, a full moon out to illuminate the area. He smiles and blows out a fog of smoke as he brushes his hair out of his eyes, cursing at the feeling of blood in it.

"That's gonna be a bother to wash off..."

A figure sits cross-legged sits atop a building up above the scene, watching it all with calm eyes. "A hero, hm?" The figures snorts at the title, black hair that blends into the sky sways as he shakes his head. "You are only proving what my eyes see you as, Suchiru Shigaraki."

Fumetsu stares hard at the white haired man, his ink black eyes once more taking in the one he said damning things about. He doesn't know if it is his quirk or simply himself that allows him to see the things he sees but all he does know is that the being that has the name "Suchiru" doesn't look like any human he has ever met.

Everyone has their own look to them in his eyes that gives him idea of their character, it's mainly in their eyes that he finds it and yet...

Suchiru Shigaraki doesn't have eyes.

His hair almost seems alive when he looks at him, covering his features and only leaving that mouth that is an expert at whispering honeyed words. The air almost slithering around him as if something else was there and coiling around his body, an aura of emptiness and nothingness and yet hunger as well.

He looks away from him and up at the stars, scratching his head to chase away the dull pain the grows when he thinks about it too hard. He doesn't know what he is completely and only knows the things that are whispered to him in the quietest moments.

Knows of the whispers that tell him to stay away.

Chapter Text

It had been two weeks since the brothers had returned from their vacation and dealt with their little dealer problem, Suchiru not being idle for even a moment. Word had traveled fast in the communities protected by the blanket of their group, rumors and tales of a being know as All For One being spread and new recruits were flooding in and being accepted with open arms.

A warehouse situated in a quiet dock area is where multiple people can be see filing into the building, one of they many owned by their group and this was one was specifically set aside for meetings such as these. Suchiru watches from his place atop a stage that had been constructed as droves of bodies fill in the empty space inside, the amount of people called here made it a disservice to call them just a "group" and it would be better to say they were now a militia built to serve around one man.

He smiles when he notices them conversing with each other and making introductions to get to know one another, making friends and future business partners for any number of occasions. He allows them their time as he stands there with his hands in his pockets, tilting his wrist to look at his watch and check the time for the actual meeting to start and looks back up to see the last few expected people wandering in.

He nods his head to the guard set up at the door and he pulls it shut at his order, his legs taking him towards the mic situated at the front of the stage. He taps on it and lets the sound echo through the speakers set up around the room, the people gathered quickly quieting down and turning their attention to him as he nods in satisfaction at their quick reaction with the room soon filling up with complete silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, friends and comrades, I welcome you to this meeting. For some of you this has been done before but for a lot of you this is your first time meeting up and seeing our complete numbers in one place, no matter if it's your first time or your twentieth I'm glad to see all your faces gathered tonight! You are probably wondering why I have called you all here and what our plan is going forward, worry not we will get to that but first I have something to say to get us all in the right mindset for lack of a better term."

He gives them a slight joking smile, some of the new members cracking their own grins and scattered huffs of laughter spread among the numbers but it slowly quiets down when they look back up at his face. The smile seeming to have melted off his face in the very next second and replaced with a serious look as he grips the microphone stand, pulling it closer to his face.

"I have a question for everyone here tonight, there is no wrong answer to this question so do not feel afraid. My question is have you ever felt in pain? Have you ever felt abandoned? Have you ever felt discriminated against, despondent, alone, and broken? If any of you have felt this way, even in the slightest way, then you belong here. It matters not if you have felt this way in the bare minimum, what matters is that somewhere in your life your heart was plagued with these things."

He eyes roam over the crowd and slowly but surely he sees heads start bobbing up and down in answer to his question, their lips quirked down slightly as some think back to situations that gave them these feelings and the memories come to the front of their minds.

"Many of you here have probably looked for something to blame for these feelings. Maybe you blamed your parents, the place you were raised up in, yourself, the world itself. I agree with the last one the most personally, the world has caused us so much pain and misery and a lot of us have thought to ourselves in our quietest moments 'Why is the world so unfair?', but others have looked at it in a different way. They have looked deeper and decided to fix the world, make it a better place to live in. I will tell you this here and now..."

He pauses and pulls the mic even closer till his lips barely brush against the surface of it, giving the people a moment to push their full attention onto his next words as he takes a deep breath.

"This will never be possible."

Immediately mumbling breaks out among the ranks as heads turn left and right to look at the neighbor next to them in confusion, eyebrows furrowing as they question if they heard his words correctly. Their eyes show they don't understand why he would bring them all here just to tell them the world can't be saved, doesn't that go against the whole mission they are doing currently?

Just as someone is about to open their mouth to question him he raises his hand to halt them, silencing them once more as he continues on from his pause.

"Don't get me wrong, I too wish for the world to be made into a better place for all of us and for it to continue to be as such even when we are long gone and our descendants continue on after us! But with each passing year the speeches and promises from the ones looking to complete this task have gone unanswered, I ask you what has come from it? Nothing. No matter how much we toil away at making the world a better place it will never happen!"

"You must be wondering then why I have done all this? Gathered us all together only to tell you our goal is impossible, but what if I told you that it isn't? I must sound like I'm talking in circles and going nowhere but it's all to bring you to this revelation. The reason the world cannot be saved is because there are beings out there constantly undermining our efforts and ruining our progress before it can come to fruition."

"I call them beings for these people cannot truly be called humans! It is more right to call them inhuman for their actions, they have dug deep into society and have become a corrupting cancer that eats away at all the living people in this world without a care. They walk among us and look the exact same as us all! They eat, breathe, and exist just as we do but they are the furthest thing from us."

"What are these creatures you must be wondering? It's simple, you see them everyday and you hear them everywhere! They are your governments, they are your law enforcement, they are the big businesses that you purchase everyday amenities from. Do not be confused, I do not label every person that has been apart of these things as evil or inhuman, of course not! Our own group has people that work in these jobs or used to and I ask you to treat them no differently than you would someone on the street, these people are not the real enemy."

"No, our real enemy are the ones at the very top! The ones that have benefited off of decades of pain and suffering and have grown fat from it, they are parasites that have infected the body of this world and use the population on it as their food source. These beings live long easy lives until they grow old and die without a single day of misery to recall and yet the cycle does not end here! They raise their spawn to be the carbon copies of themselves and teach them their ways to further the destruction of our planet and the people of it!"

"They look at you as their cattle and them the butcher, they harvest you for your hard work that you will never see any benefits for. They take your imagination and boast of their glorious minds! They rip your determination from your bodies and loudly proclaim their greatness to the world so their enslaved population will fawn over them, calling them the best of their species! These creatures call themselves gods and think themselves immortal in their ivory towers built from the blood and tears of countless generations, but they are not!"

"They only exist because of you! Without your efforts they would be nothing more than the dirt beneath your shoes but they have gotten into your head and convinced you that their crimes are your own, pushing the blame off of themselves and daring to stand in the sun without a care in the world. They have whispered insidious lies that everything that is done to you could have been avoided if you just did something different."

"Then let me do my own whispering in this building tonight. Do you not feel the rage boiling underneath the surface of your heart? Do you not hate these monsters for pushing you to this point that any kind of escape, no matter how bad it is, is better than living in your current situation? Does your very soul not weep for the loss of those halcyon days, the days that you looked forward to waking up in the morning and went to bed not wondering what next fresh misery would be there waiting for you as you awoke?"

The masses before him start to change, their fists tightening and their eyes hardening, their teeth clenching and their hearts pounding. For the first time many of them have a face to put on the shadowy figures that have buried them in this hellish existence, the ones that have taken away the good days with no warning and fed upon them as their next meal without leaving even the barest of scraps.

They were the vultures and they were the carrion to be feasted upon.

"Everyone! I tell you these things so that you may know the true cancer that has infected our world behind the scenes but I do not force you to be a part of the cure, I understand if you wish to leave at this moment. The exit is there and I will not hold it against you, turn now and leave if you must and continue to live as you have for as long as you wish with my promise that we will not stop you. But..."

He leans towards the crowd and raises his hand out to them all beseechingly, drawing them in one final time as his voice grows softer from the passionate fervor it had reached.

"Do me one last thing before you make your decision, look to the people next to you and meet their eyes. Look into them deeply and search the hearts, can you see it? That pain reflected back at you? The person in front of you is just another version of yourself, a tired and beaten down person looking for a place to belong just like all of us. Everyone in this room has felt the same way you have somewhere in their lives and it matters not the race, gender, nor religion, these people are the closest people to family you can get without sharing even a drop of blood."

Shuffling echoes through the building as multiple eyes turn to look into others own, their faces changing as if this is the very first time they are seeing this person. Feeling the closeness to another living being that they have longed for, the more emotional ones searching for comforting hands and holds as tears build in their eyes. Isn't this what every human being wishes for at least once in their life? This belonging?

"My friends and my family, what we have done here is something monumental, this here is the first step to saving the world. It will be a long journey from this point and this first step is indeed a small one but everything begins with that first small step, the last question I have for each and every single one of you in this building tonight is an easy one."

He spreads his arms out to the crowd, the lights above the stage turning on for the first time and illuminating behind him, his shadow growing out over them all and splashing against the wall behind them.

"Will you take the first step with me?"

He smiles down at them as they look up at him with resolute eyes and raise their hands out to him, trying to reach out towards him and the promises he is offering.

Not a single person turns to face the exit.

Good, now he has to show these people how to get their vengeance.

Line Break

Fumetsu sighs as he sits cross-legged once more on the front porch of the Shigaraki household, rolling one of his stones between his fingers as he waits for Suchiru Shigaraki to come home. He was promised revenge against the ones that gave the order for the experimentation done on him and his family and it had already been two weeks, those two weeks were too long in his opinion with this place having too many bad memories for him to stomach spending even a second longer here.

If he isn't given something he might as well just leave, after showing some of his displeasure before doing so.

"Are you one of my brother's friends? He isn't home currently, have you been waiting long?"

Fumetsu's face falls into a small frown at how distracted he had been that he didn't even sense someone coming towards him until they were right behind him and drawing attention to themselves. His eyes squinting slightly as he processes the words and stands up, still facing away from the person that spoke to him.

"Brother? Are you Suchiru Shigaraki's younger brother?"

Yoichi raises his eyebrow at the odd man and gives a slight grin as he nods, blushing softly when he realizes the man was still facing away from him and wouldn't have seen it and he quickly clears his throat. "Yes I am, though I prefer to go by Yoichi Shigaraki. Your version is a bit of a mouthful!"

The air between them remains silent as his joke falls flat and neither make any attempt at further conversation, poor Yoichi feeling even more embarrassed and awkward as he turns away to face the front door slowly. He fumbles for his keys and balances the bags of groceries in his hands as he unlocks the door and takes a step inside, half turning his head to call back to the man.

"Since you know my brother you can come inside, it's cold out tonight so I'll get you something warm to drink."

Fumetsu doesn't say anything still and just follows behind him inside and closes the door for him, matching his steps towards the kitchen and watching the younger man start making some tea for them both.

"You never answered my question before, are you friends with my brother? I don't recall seeing you around when the others visited..." Yoichi tries to recall seeing anyone like this at the couple times he stumbled across his brother and his friends at their house but comes up blank, beginning to wonder if he might be a new employee that Suchiru has been showing around.

Fumetsu blinks slowly as he stares at the back of Yoichi's head, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Friends? No, I am not friends with Suchiru Shigaraki." He says before thinking about his feelings for the man that intruded on his quiet haven and had given him such horrible feelings by just being near him.

"I dislike your brother mildly."

A sound of a mug clinking against the counter echoes loudly in the suddenly dead silent kitchen, Yoichi holding it there tightly. There wasn't a lot of times where he has felt anger or anything resembling such a thing, brief annoyance or discomfort? Of course, who alive hasn't felt such emotions? It truly takes something big to push him into anger and even then it would be a brief and small bout before he went back to his normal self.

But his brother? Anyone that tries to bad mouth his brother would see the rare side of Yoichi come out, when his anger would show its self and burn hot in his chest.

He slowly turns his head to look at the stranger standing in their kitchen with a deep frown on his face, his green eyes boring into the man's own dark ones intensely as he shoves the mug of tea in his direction with a white knuckled grip.

"I do not know your relationship with my brother but I will not accept any badmouthing of him or harsh words in this house. If you are going to continue doing so, I will have to ask you to leave immediately and not return."

Fumetsu takes the mug being offered to him and takes a sip with a hum, realizing that maybe the younger was indeed more like the eldest than he originally thought. That tone that he spoke in, while the words were polite, had the same undercurrent of anger in them as Suchiru's had during those talks in the woods. It seems he let his thoughts get away from him since he didn't sense anything special around the brother and let his mouth run on autopilot.

His eyes flick up to stare at the thin and pale man's face and his pupils almost seem to vibrate for a moment as he looks deeper, looking at him the same way he did Suchiru during the drug raid night.

The same flowing hair, almost as if he was underwater or an invisible breeze was blowing the snow white locks gently, blocking any sight of his eyes from his vision but the similarities ended there.

While the air around Suchiru felt oppressive and like something was coiling around him, Yoichi's gave off a different kind of presence. It was almost like something barely there had its arms wrapped around his body tightly and protectively, holding him close like a child cradles their favorite stuffed toy in their sleep. He tries to peer deeper but the surroundings seem to freeze as soon as he does.

The best explanation for it would be that something opened its eyes and peered down at him, barely open and lidded eyes gazing at him and studying him. For what felt like minutes this feeling continued before abruptly ceasing, the digging gaze disappearing like it closed its eyes and went back to sleeping and clutching Yoichi even tighter than before.

"My apologies, I have offended you. I will wait in the living room until your brother arrives."

With these last words he walks away and takes a seat on the couch, nursing his tea as his mind runs through what just happened.

It seems no matter which Shigaraki it was they both had something wrong with them, something else existed around them and it only gave him more confirmation that his previous theory was right.

The question now was, what crawled into these brothers and took residence?

And just what is inside himself?

Line Break

At a completely average store a young businessman wanders in, adjusting his tie as he grabs some snacks and a cup of coffee to bring to the counter. Hurriedly fishing out the money as he listens to the cashier engage him in the usual robotic greetings and he gives his own back, briefly looking up at the teenager behind the counter when he asks if he was part of their rewards plan.

He stumbles slightly as he tries to recall if he ever signed up for such a thing and after a moment shakes his head no, listening to another prepared speech about the benefits of signing up for it and how much money he will save in the long run from the offered discounts to their members. He shrugs and agrees to sign up, he does end up shopping here pretty often on his way to work so what the heck?

"I'll just need your name, phone number, and an email address if you have one, sir."

"Ah yes, my name is..."

"Thank you very much, sir! You're all set and ready to go, have a great day!"

"Thanks, you too!"

The young cashier watches him run out of the store and quickly get in his car and pull out quickly, obviously running late for his job. The teen turning back to the screen with the information still blinking on it and he pulls his phone from his pocket, taking a quick picture and sending it to an unnamed number which he quickly receives a text back confirming they got it.

He smiles as the next customer comes up and he shoves the phone back where it was, rattling off the store policy lines as he scans their items.

Yes, thank you very much indeed, sir.

You're helping us take the first step after all, how can I not wish you a great day?

Enjoy your great days while they last. Soon it will be our turn.

Very soon.