Chapter Text
“I will spare them this once if you choose to submit and stay by me. Make your choice carefully, little brother.”
It could be a lie. It probably is. But what is Yoichi supposed to say when he, Kudou, and Bruce are cornered in a sewer by Kyoshiro? No? If he says that, Kyoshiro will slaughter the two other men right here and now like cattle. Either he does that and watches them die, or he takes a chance, agrees to go back, and they potentially live. It’s probably a little selfish, but he agrees. He agrees to go back with Kyoshiro. If Kudou and Bruce die, at least Yoichi doesn’t have to know.
“Yoichi, what are you doing?” Kudou mutters. His hold on Yoichi’s hand grows tighter. “Y-you can’t—” He closes his mouth when Yoichi turns to him, a faint smile on his lips. He’d come to hate his smile after realising how much it looked like Kyoshiro’s. He couldn’t look in the mirror without seeing that man grinning back toothily. But, he’ll never forget the countless times that Kudou and Bruce have told him how coming back to see his smile made all that fighting worth it. How Bruce would always try to make him laugh, and make him smile. He always said Yoichi had a contagious smile, that it was the one thing that was always certain to make Kudou—a man hardened by years of pain and fighting and war—smile.
He’ll miss that. Oh, he will miss that dearly.
But anything is better than watching the two greatest men to ever set foot on this damned world die.
“Don’t ever stop fighting for us,” Yoichi whispers. Kudou's eyes widen slightly, like he’s only now registering what’s happening. It takes everything in Yoichi to keep smiling when he sees Kudou's eyes turn misty with unshed tears. He can feel Kudou's hand begin to tremble. Yoichi slowly pulls his hand away, wishing that he could feel that warm, kind touch for just a second more.
His smile fades when he turns to meet Kyoshiro’s gaze. The larger man’s face splits into a grin of delight, and Yoichi can almost imagine him a wolf, drooling excitedly as its prey willfully walks right into its jaws. That wolf beckons him, reaching his hands out. “Come, Yoichi, and they may go.”
“Yoichi! You can’t!” Bruce shouts. “We can save you again, just don’t go with him!”
Yoichi walks over to Kyoshiro and turns to the two men. “Thank you for letting me live, my heroes.” He meets Kudou's gaze. “I will never truly leave you.” He knows that Kudou understands when his white eyes widen more with understanding: Although Yoichi’s body is leaving them, there’s a part of him that will always remain with them. A part of him that will continue to grow stronger as the days pass.
“All right,” Kyoshiro says, “that’s enough of this TV drama. We must get home, Yoichi. And I’m sure you’ll stay there if you know what’s good for your little friends.” He places a hand on Yoichi’s shoulder, and that vice grip makes Yoichi want to cry. Not so much because it physically hurts him, but rather that it reminds him of the years upon years of pain he’s had to endure, all while that iron hold kept him tied to the man who would eventually take away any sliver of freedom he had. As they leave, Yoichi looks back to see Kudou and Bruce staring after them. Bruce is holding Kudou's arm as if the red-haired man would otherwise collapse. Yoichi wants to cry. He wants to bawl. But he will not let that be the last thing those two see.
So he smiles. He leaves with them the memory of his smile.
As they turn a corner and lose sight of the men, the door, that had once been open as a symbolism of his freedom, closes once more.
“Your metapower…,” Kyoshiro murmurs. He’s taken Yoichi back to his fancy penthouse in one of the tallest buildings in the city. It’s spacious.
It’s horrible.
Years ago, Yoichi would have seen this and envied whoever lived in such luxury. He would have given anything to spend a day in a place like this. But now that he’s spent a year with Kudou and Bruce…
He was happy living in the sewers as long as he got to be with them. Wherever they went, Yoichi would have been more than happy staying.
He’s about to live a life that everyone would envy, and he doesn’t even want it.
The two of them are currently seated on the soft cushion of the armchairs in the living room. In front of them is a large artificial fireplace, offering a warm glow to the space around them. Kyoshiro has apparently decided to attempt a different approach. Yoichi gets to live here instead of a vault with four concrete walls, no windows, and the promise of claustrophobia and nyctophobia. He hasn’t been able to sleep in the dark since being shoved into that vault. For the past year he’s always had a window open to illuminate his sleeping place with moonlight, or a nightlight. Sometimes he feels a little childish for it, but it’s justified: get locked in a vault for a few months and you’d also be afraid of the dark.
Kyoshiro looks at Yoichi, who is curled up in the armchair, partially hiding his face behind the mug of hot chocolate that his brother offered to him. “It’s gone.”
“Surprise,” Yoichi mumbles. “You thought you were the only one with tricks?”
Kyoshiro gapes at him like a fish. It’s almost laughable, seeing such an expression on the man’s face.
“What happened to it?” Kyoshiro questions, though Yoichi knows it’s more a demand than anything.
“It’s just gone,” Yoichi says simply. The two of them gaze at each other in many agonisingly slow moments of silence. Something in Yoichi’s expression is telling, and eventually something seems to click into place in Kyoshiro’s brain. The man’s eyebrows fly comically high, and a smile spreads over his face.
“I see now.”
Yoichi’s eyes widen and he lowers the mug. “What?”
“You have a power like mine, don’t you?”
“What?” Yoichi repeats as he sits upright, a little alarmed. “What do you mean?”
“So that’s why you told Kudou that you’d never leave.” Kyoshiro’s smile turns into a full-blown grin, teeth on full display, and it feels as predatory as ever. “You sly little thing—!”
“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!” Yoichi screams, flying to his feet and sending the mug to the floor. He winces when it crashes, shattering and spraying glass and hot cocoa across the hardwood.
“He has something that belongs to me,” Kyoshiro says coolly.
“You promised!” Yoichi cries.
“I never promised anything, Yoichi.”
“You said you'd spare them if I stayed with you.” Yoichi's eyes begin to burn with tears. He furrows his brows. “If you won't stick to your word, neither will I.”
Kyoshiro leans back in his seat and, if possible, that sickening grin widens.
The Shigarakis are always seen to be opposites, but there are certain things that tie them together: They are stubborn, keen, quick-thinking, and versatile.
Yoichi isn't the only one who has an eye for loopholes.
“I did stick to my word, little brother. I said I'd spare them that once, did I not?”
Yoichi's heart drops and shatters like his mug. “You can’t be serious….”
Kyoshiro lets his grin slip away and sits upright, folding his hands on his knees. “I do not plan to kill him, little brother. He is of no interest to me, only the metapower. If he hands it over without a fight, I will inflict no harm.” He grabs the arms of the chair and pushes himself to his feet. “However. If he is to fight back in an attempt to kill me, then I will have no choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Yoichi breathes. “There is always a choice, big brother. You just…” He steps forward and grabs fistfuls of his brother’s shirt. “You just have to make the good ones; the right ones.”
“My adorable, foolish little brother,” Kyoshiro coos, taking one of Yoichi’s hands into his own, prompting Yoichi to meet his gaze. “You say that as if you’ve made the ‘right’ choice. Surely you knew this didn’t guarantee their safety?”
Yoichi’s eyes widen. His cheeks become wet with salty tears. He stares into those white, empty eyes. He still wants to believe that there’s good in his brother. He wants to believe that he can change, but he makes it so hard.
“Kyoshiro, please.” Yoichi hates himself for it, but he begs. He begs Kyoshiro to spare Kudou and Bruce; to leave them be. The metapower is useless to a man like Kyoshiro. He should be happy just having Yoichi back in his claws to keep around like a pretty little trophy. “Please, I’ll do anything. Just don’t—”
“I don’t need you to do anything but stay right here. Where you belong. With me.”
“I’m going to run away again if you hurt him!”
Kyoshiro smiles at him. “Be my guest. But remember: this is a heavily guarded estate. You only escaped last time because they came for you.”
Yoichi looks around and takes a step back. He releases Kyoshiro’s shirt to throw his free hand out, pointing at the balcony. “I’ll jump!”
Kyoshiro seems a little taken aback. He stares at Yoichi in shock, and then he laughs. “You wouldn’t do that!”
Yoichi glares up at him and yanks his hand out of Kyoshiro’s. “I will! If they die, I die.”
The older seems to consider that for a while. He seems at a loss, and so he says, “Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that. Very well, I will leave them be for the time being. But know this: if they dare try to fight me, I will fight back. This is the best I can offer, little brother.”
Yoichi knows it will not get any better than this. Negotiation is not something that works with Kyoshiro. He’s treading on eggshells at this very moment. He’s lucky that the man has made the decision to let Yoichi roam the building freely under the circumstance that Yoichi never attempts to leave on his own. If he tries to argue further, he’s more than likely to be put into another vault.
It might be a little selfish of him, but he can’t handle being shoved into another vault. He’d honestly rather die than go back into one. So, he agrees, and he prays every single day to whatever deity is up there that Kudou and Bruce be spared.
Much to Yoichi’s surprise, Kyoshiro stays true to his word. Kudou and Bruce don’t come after Kyoshiro, and Kyoshiro doesn’t go after them.
There’s something a little touching about Kyoshiro having a clear hatred for Kudou, but valuing Yoichi’s feelings enough to spare the man (or perhaps he only cares about having Yoichi at his side. Either way, the two men are spared). A few years pass, and Yoichi, a man who has always valued honesty and morals, stays true to his word as well. He stays with Kyoshiro as long as Kudou and Bruce remain untouched.
Kyoshiro comes home one day with a stout, pudgy man. Yoichi almost comments that he looks almost like a younger Dr. Eggman with his bushy moustache and funny glasses, but out of politeness he decides against it. The man introduces himself as Ujiko Daruma, and Kyoshiro informs Yoichi that the man has discovered a way of duplicating metapowers. Yoichi isn’t fond of that at all. He makes that much clear when he responds with nothing more than a frown. He could be happy living in ignorance. Ignoring the horrible things that his brother does. Ignoring the literal cult following his every order; worshipping him like a god. But it’s a little hard when Kyoshiro makes a point of telling Yoichi things such as this.
“Don't you have enough?” Yoichi growls. “You have so much power already! You're practically the emperor of Japan!”
Kyoshiro grins. “With this, I could take over the world.”
“No, that's enough of this!” Yoichi snaps. If anything is certain, it's that Yoichi has gotten very comfortable with talking back. Kyoshiro has become too desperate to have a close relationship with Yoichi, no matter how fake it is, to risk putting him in a vault again. Yoichi hates himself for it, but sometimes he feels the same. It’s why he tries to ignore what’s happening.
Kyoshiro grabs Yoichi’s hands—something he’s been doing since seeing Yoichi hold Kudou's hand—and smiles at him. “I can’t now. Not when I can make us live forever.”
“A long time,” Ujiko corrects.
“A long time,” Kyoshiro repeats. “I know I won’t have time to do everything I want in this measly lifespan. This way we can do everything and see where the world goes!”
“You just want to have the time to destroy this planet,” Yoichi mutters. “I don’t want any part in that, brother.”
“You promised to stay by me, didn’t you?” Kyoshiro grins widely. As much as Yoichi wants to believe that they’ve become close again, he has to acknowledge that, in the end, the past few years have been a back and forth game of who can find the most loopholes. They’re both constantly trying to outsmart the other in various ways in an endless battle of wits. Kyoshiro is usually two steps ahead, so Yoichi takes pride in the times that he leaves Kyoshiro stumped. For a moment he can believe that he will win this battle in the end.
But, Kyoshiro has won this round. He knows that Yoichi hates to go back on his word.
Kyoshiro releases Yoichi’s hands and gives him a pat on the head before turning and leaving with Ujiko at his side. All Yoichi can do is watch. He feels utterly powerless, being unable to do anything but hope. He has to remind himself again that he’s done his part. He gave his metapower to Kudou.
Yoichi places a hand over his chest and clutches it. He lets his misty eyes fall on the floor. His lips quiver and it takes everything in him not to sob. The memory of Kudou always brings with it Bruce. The two of them were an inseparable duo who eagerly accepted Yoichi. The memories hurt. They make him ache for them to become reality again.
He’s written letters to them, but they always end up sitting in his desk drawer, sad and forgotten and unsent. It just helps him feel like he’s speaking to them. It brings him a little comfort, which is already so much to ask for.
But now he longs to hear something from them, so, while Kyoshiro is gone, Yoichi goes to his room and writes. He writes over ten pages, pouring out all of his feelings for them. Telling them how he misses them, telling them how he desperately wishes to see them again, but making certain that they know not to come for him lest they die. He won’t be able to live with himself if that happens. He tells them how they mustn’t worry about him, even though living with Kyoshiro can be hell. They mustn’t worry, because Yoichi is eating well, he’s taking his medicine, he’s well-clothed. He doesn’t enjoy it here, but he’s okay.
As long as they’re alive, he’s content.
Those pages are folded up and placed in an envelope. He writes on it the box number of which Kudou always used to receive reports and packages from other resistance groups. Hope flutters in his chest as he leaves the penthouse and takes the long trip to the lobby, where he hands the letter to the man at the front desk and asks that the letter be sent to the given address. The man smiles at Yoichi and lets him know that he’ll do just that.
He should have known it was a lie, for a day later Kyoshiro steps into his room while he’s sitting on his bed with a book, dropping a small stack of paper on the sheets. It takes all but one glance for Yoichi to realise that it’s the letter he had asked the man at the front desk to send. His entire body flushes with shame and humiliation when he glances up to see the disappointment painted across his brother’s face. He wants to curl up in a hole and die in that moment. He can’t imagine how it could get worse.
Until it does.
Kyoshiro opens the top left drawer of Yoichi’s desk and pulls out a fat stack of paper, and Yoichi wants to cry. He raises his hand to his mouth and looks away. Not a single word is exchanged the entire time Kyoshiro is in his room. Kyoshiro too disappointed in his brother’s attachment to ‘such despicable bastards’ as he puts it, and Yoichi too humiliated by the situation, and too horrified by the reality of it.
It makes it so much worse when he spares another glance at Kyoshiro and the man is smiling. Amused. When at first he was disappointed, likely believing this to be Yoichi’s way of asking for help (despite the clear instructions to not come for him), he now sits amused as he reads through each individual letter, seeing line after line of Yoichi hopelessly yearning for freedom; for them. For the warm touch that their kind hands always offered.
And when he’s finished, he simply lays the letters on the bed and stands up, grins at Yoichi, and murmurs, “My adorable, foolish little brother,” then leaves Yoichi with the image of that triumphant grin spread across his face as he exits the room. Kyoshiro feels no need to discuss those letters with Yoichi, because Yoichi can’t send them to anyone. Kyoshiro has won again, and that triumphant grin is his way of telling Yoichi that there is no taking that victory away. Kyoshiro had the upper hand here.
Weeks go by. Months, even, before Kyoshiro comes in one fateful day, grinning victoriously and declaring that he and Ujiko have successfully duplicated the life-expanding metapower. Yoichi tries to resist, telling his brother that he doesn’t want to live that much longer than his heroes.
Kyoshiro simply calls him childish and proceeds with giving him the metapower. It’s painful. So very painful. Did it hurt this much last time Kyoshiro gave him a metapower? Like Kyoshiro was drilling a spearlike bone through his skull?
He just wants it to stop. He wants it to stop. Please stop. No more! Stop! STOP!
The hand clutching his face loosens its grip and runs through his hair, trying to soothe him. Kyoshiro pulls Yoichi against his chest, wrapping his arms around his trembling form. Yoichi feels pathetic for it, but he latches onto Kyoshiro, eagerly accepting the comfort that he so desperately needs.
He can almost convince himself that Kyoshiro really is changing for the better, because the last time he forced a metapower onto Yoichi, he didn’t give him so much as a pat on the head afterward. He gave Yoichi the metapower and left him to cry it out.
He’s going to live for centuries now. It’ll be hard to ignore his brother’s wrongdoings for that long.
Years upon years pass by. In that time, Kyoshiro has slowly returned to the shadows as metapowers become stronger. They’re not actually called metapowers anymore. The common name nowadays is Quirk.
Because of his decision to return to the shadows, Kyoshiro has made the decision to give up their life of luxury. More or less because Pro Hero En found their previous living quarters. They now live in a cosy little apartment in Yokohama, a city south of Tokyo, near the ocean.
Yoichi doesn’t really like water. Bad memories from his infant-hood and all. But he manages (by completely avoiding going near the ports and bridges).
Something that bothers Yoichi now, however, is that he hasn’t seen Ujiko in a long time. He doesn’t like to imagine what that man might be doing. He knows Kyoshiro must have spent all this time planning something with that Dr. Robotnik knockoff. But what, he has no idea. Kyoshiro has never been a robot person, so he highly doubts they’re making robots. At the very least Yoichi can just be glad that Kyoshiro hasn’t been going out causing havoc lately. To his knowledge, at least.
Still, they must be meeting up or something. Kyoshiro still goes out consistently for reasons that he doesn’t tell, and he suspects that Ujiko is involved.
Whatever the reason, Yoichi knows it’s something he wouldn’t approve of, but Kyoshiro won’t say anything, so Yoichi has made the (very difficult) decision to drop it.
It’s all going well and fine, until they suddenly have to move again some years later because of another Pro Hero coming after Kyoshiro. Yoichi doesn’t know much except that the hero was called Shimura Nana.
Yoichi has this nagging feeling that Kyoshiro didn’t make the decision to move without causing harm to that hero.
They find themselves in a city by the name of Musutafu. They’d stay there for another twenty-one years. By then, the world has become far more under control. It’s almost like things went uphill overnight. Order has finally been brought to Japan thanks to the work of heroes. Yoichi has found himself taking great interest in the hero known as All Might. He has, admittedly, watched the recording of his debut more times than he’d like to note.
Life is fine. Mostly. Yoichi still has no idea what things Kyoshiro is up to in the background, but he knows it can’t be good. But, again, he’s willing to ignore things for now, because it’s the only way he can be okay with staying by Kyoshiro’s side. Kyoshiro stuck to his word, so Yoichi will stick to his. He refuses to stoop down to Kyoshiro’s level, as he is usually never a man of his word.
Kyoshiro has informed Yoichi that he’d be out for a few days. And after two days, Yoichi realises that they’re running low on vegetables. (Definitely a result of Kyoshiro obsessing over making sure Yoichi eats healthy.) He doesn’t really go out that much, because Kyoshiro always fusses about how dangerous it is out there, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. So, slipping on his shoes and grabbing some cash, he exits the apartment, locking the door and making his way to the stairway.
It’s a sunny spring afternoon. A light breeze saves Yoichi from the heat of the sun. Some clouds drift by in the bright blue sky. Yoichi thinks, this is a good time to be alive. Even regular old passersby offer brief greetings, and Yoichi is always eager to reciprocate. He likes how friendly many people are in this era.
He wonders for a moment what it could have been like for him and Kudou and Bruce had they been born in this generation. Perhaps they could have been happy. Maybe they wouldn’t have had to worry about Kyoshiro getting between them. Maybe Kyoshiro wouldn’t be this way.
His thoughts are interrupted when his keen ears pick up the sound of child-like whimpers. He stops on the bridge and leans over the railing. He stares down at the footpath beside a water channel and listens. It’s silent for a moment or two, and then he hears a weak sob. His eyes widen and he lets instinct take over. His feet move faster than his mind. Before he knows it, he’s staggering down the rocky hill beside the bridge. He rushes to the underpass and slows to a walk, eyeing the running water warily and trying to ignore the gut-clenching nervousness writhing inside him, begging him to leave. But he can't turn away from someone in need of help. A child sits there, staring up at him with wider-than-the-moon eyes, irritated and bloodshot. Behind the shaggy mop of blue hair, red irises stare into Yoichi’s own green. The child’s state breaks Yoichi’s heart. He’s a mess, to put it gently. Dirt and blood all over his hands and feet. A cut on his dry lips that is still bleeding, like the boy hasn’t figured to leave it long enough to clot. Wrinkles around his eyes that are quickly explained when the boy begins to scratch at his face, dragging the skin around his eyes back.
Yoichi steps over and kneels down, reaching over, but the boy cries and turns away, clutching his hands to his chest. “N-no! Don’t—Hurt!”
Yoichi jerks his hands back, face twisting with worry. “I-I won’t hurt you. I’m here to help.” He slowly reaches a hand out again. The boy stares at him, almost incredulously, and that genuinely hurts. How many people have turned this child away for him to believe Yoichi doesn’t mean what he says? Yoichi offers a wavering smile. “What’s your name?”
The boy blinks up at him, sitting silent and still like a statue for a few heartbeats before rasping, “T-Tenko…”
“I’m Shigaraki Yoichi,” Yoichi murmurs. “Would you like to stick with me for now?”
A slight nod. Tenko avoids touching Yoichi completely by pushing himself up against the wall to stand on his feet. Yoichi drops his hand and stands up, accepting the fact that Tenko will not hold his hand. He guides Tenko along the foothpath, staying as far from the gentle river as possible until they find a stairway and take it up to the sidewalk. In favour of Tenko, Yoichi completely forgets about going to the grocery store. Instead, he leads Tenko back to his and Kyoshiro’s apartment.
Should he bring the child to the police? Probably. But that is never the first thought to cross his mind in times of trouble. He grew up in a time where police hardly existed.
They go up to the apartment together. Yoichi opens the door and walks inside, leaving his shoes in the genkan and closing the door behind Tenko. The boy scans the new environment warily.
“Would you like a bath?” Yoichi asks after the boy has stood in complete silence for an entire half of a minute. He nods. Yoichi takes him to the bathroom and, after a lot of negotiating, Tenko lets Yoichi help him undress, keeping his chubby little hands balled into fists. Yoichi has so many questions to ask, but his first priority right now should be getting the child clean and…
“Oh no,” Yoichi groans. He holds his face in his hands. “I forgot about clothes….”
The child seems mostly unbothered by that notion. He sits in the bathtub, glancing between Yoichi and the showerhead. Right. He probably doesn’t care about that right now.
As Yoichi grabs the showerhead and starts the water, he can’t help but be a little concerned at the way Tenko merely sits there as if expecting Yoichi to do the washing. Not that Yoichi won’t if he has to. He vividly remembers being covered in dirt and grime, living on the streets, and he had no idea how to clean himself. It was horrible. It didn’t help his chronic illness one bit. It did the opposite, in fact. The last thing he wants is for this child to get sick.
No, it’s not that the child doesn’t know how. The way he keeps his fists glued to his chest is the first clue. Then there’s the fact that he’s clearly scared to touch Yoichi.
Was he perhaps telling Yoichi that he can’t take his hand because he’d hurt Yoichi? Is it his Quirk? Yoichi shakes his head, pushing the thoughts away for later. Right now he needs to get this child washed. He starts with rinsing as much of the dirt and blood as he can.
And then he finally registers where the blood is.
It’s all over his hands.
“Tenko… what happened?”
The boy stares at him for many, many moments, then looks down at his hands. “D…don’t know. My Quirk… hurt someone. I hurt someone.” He raises his hands to his neck and starts to scratch at them. “I hurt someone… My Quirk—” He tenses up when Yoichi takes hold of his wrist, staring intently at Yoichi’s hand, as if expecting something to happen. He’s holding his breath, trembling. He meets Yoichi’s gaze, red eyes glossy with tears.
“Tenko, what does your Quirk do?”
“W-when I touch… breaks apart…”
Yoichi gazes at Tenko’s hands and hums softly. There must be a way around that. For now, he instructs the child not to touch anything. He gets the boy washed and lets him sit in the bathtub while he grabs the child’s discarded shirt and exits the bathroom. He reaches for the phone sitting on the counter. He pauses and thinks about what he’s about to do. This could end very badly… But dammit, what other choice does he have? He bites the bullet and snatches up the phone.
He sighs deeply as he holds the ringing phone up to his ear.
“Little brother?” says the voice on the other line. Yoichi chews on his lip for a moment as he stares at the tag on the back of Tenko’s shirt. “Little brother, what’s wrong—”
“Nothing really,” Yoichi interrupts. “I just… You’re coming home today, right?”
“I am! Finally showing some excitement for your brother’s return?”
“As if,” Yoichi huffs. “I just need a favour…”
“From me?”
Yoichi grits his teeth. “Yes. I need you to buy size 110 clothes.”
There’s a pregnant pause. Yoichi wonders briefly if Kyoshiro left, but that thought is easily dispelled when his voice returns. “Did you get hit by a size regressing Quirk?”
“No. Just get the clothes, please?”
“Very well. But I’d really like to know—Oh, I have to go, little brother. I will be home soon enough!” He hangs up, and Yoichi sets the phone down. He taps his finger on the counter and chews on his lip. His brother will return with some clothes for Tenko. And then what? He hadn’t planned further than that. He likes to think that he knows Kyoshiro inside and out, but he can’t even begin to conjure up an idea of how his brother will react to a child in their home. It scares him a little that he has to resort to the one thing he does not want to do: wait and see.
Yoichi paces at the door. Tenko still hasn’t left the bathtub. Yoichi asked him if he wanted to come out, but he’d replied with a shake of his head, preferring to stay in the tub until he had clothes. Fair enough. Yoichi just hopes Kyoshiro gets back before the water turns cold.
Speak of the devil, the front door begins to open, and Kyoshiro’s grinning face greets Yoichi. “Little brother! You’re not smaller at all!”
Yoichi completely ignores the comment in favour of snatching the bag from his brother’s hand and peering into it. He turns and heads toward the bathroom. He can hear Kyoshiro at his heels, curious to see why Yoichi would request clothes for children. Yoichi stops at the bathroom door and lays his hand against the painted wood. His voice comes out soft and quiet. “Don’t freak out, okay?”
Kyoshiro quirks a brow. He seems a little unsettled. He probably feels the same way Yoichi does about this: uncertain. Neither of them knows what will happen next.
Deciding it best to get this over with, Yoichi pushes the door open and steps into the room. Tenko looks at Yoichi, then the bag of clothes, and then his eyes fall—or, more accurately, rise—on the gargantuan figure standing in the doorway. His eyes blow wide. Yoichi turns to meet Kyoshiro’s dumbfounded expression and, putting on a brave face to hide the nervousness, he points a hand at the small boy.
“We… have a child on our hands.”
OMAKE:
—
If Yoichi was size regressed
Kyoshiro: Here you are, little brother!
Yoichi: [Opens bag] Why is everything black? You know I don’t like black.
Kyoshiro: Oh well. Until you return to your original size, you’ll just have to make do with this.
Yoichi: You just want to fantasize about me being your little minion!
Kyoshiro: Oh please, if I wanted that I’d use you as a test subject in my nomu project!
Yoichi: Your what.
—
In which someone tries to age regress Yoichi
Mugger: Give me everything you have!
Yoichi: What are you going to do with two-thousand yen?
Mugger: Just hand it over! [Uses Quirk on Yoichi]
Yoichi: Is this supposed to do something?
Mugger: Egad! I always rely on my Quirk to help me succeed! I never have a weapon, and I don’t even know how to throw a punch! Usually people turn into children within seconds! HOW OLD ARE YOU?
Yoichi: That’s rude. This world really isn't as dangerous as my brother makes it out to be.