MHA: Exchange

Jugram moved toward Yuto, who stood, looking down at his two bloodied hands numbly. Tears streamed down the boy's cheeks in twin rivers that cut through the blood, dirt, and grime that covered his face. He tried to wipe away his tears, but his arms were so stained with gore that the gesture had no effect. All the while, Yuto was cast in an eerie halo of light from the burning buildings around the two.

"Glad to see you alive," Jugram said, unsure what else to say.

The destruction of the village had been total. While there could be a few lucky survivors, the chances were that only the two of them remained. Jugram surveyed the cataclysmic wreckage with a frown. He hadn't particularly cared for any of these people, but that didn't mean their deaths hadn't affected him.

If anything, this was a grim reminder of the new reality he now found himself in. A world full of superpowers was bound to create shining beacons of good and heroism, but the brighter the light, the deeper the shadows, especially now that the murderers and rapists have superpowers too. 

"Are...are we the only ones left? Yuto asked, slowly working his jaw as he looked around.

"There is always a chance that more survived." Jugram shrugged.

"Rumi..." Yuto choked, but nothing more came out.

"We can look for her." 

Silently, the two boys moved toward where their friend's house had previously stood. It had been spared from the torching that most other houses had received, but it had been blown off its foundations. The whole building was flipped on its side and sagging dangerously, with parts of the walls hanging high in the air already collapsed.

It didn't take long for them to find what they were looking for. At the sight of the house, Yuto had desperately bounded ahead. Jugram made no move to stop the boy, but he wasn't optimistic about the scene they would find. A raw scream ripping through the night told him what he had already guessed. Despite knowing the outcome, he dragged his feet through the dirt as if to delay the painful truth for just a few more moments.

In his previous life, he had always considered ignorance for the weak, but now, confronted with uncomfortable truths, he found that he would have preferred to stay ignorant. At least that way, there could still be a shred of reasonable doubt in his mind, but, of course, there wasn't any doubt. 

Rumi's body had been crushed then the walls collapsed as the building rolled. She had clearly been scrambling out of bed when it happened, still dressed in her pink bunny pajamas. As the building turned, the walls had buckled and collapsed. Thick beams crushed her, pinning her body to the ground. 

Around her, rats and mice twitched on the ground in random spasms, and the little girl's unseeing eyes looked up toward the smoke-filled skies. The backlash of the bond severing had mentally crippled the rodents, and perhaps they had been able to feel their master's pain at the moment of her death. 

With a quick motion, Jugram drew some of the blood hovering around him into the form of a blade. He dispatched the mice and rats with quick motions—no need to prolong their suffering. While he didn't consciously admit it to himself, anything was better than looking into those sightless eyes. Even now, with his back turned, he could feel his body trembling, and his eyes burned as silent streaks ran down his cheek.

Yuto moved to remove the fallen debris to free Rumi's body, but Jugram stopped him now. He didn't think either of them would be able to handle the state her body was in now. With a hand, he reached out and grasped Yuto's shoulder. At his touch, the boy crumpled into soundless sobs, holding their dead friend's head and stroking her hair, no matter that it was matted with blood.

Jugram forced himself to watch this scene without turning away. This was the cruel truth of the world. To avert his eyes would be doing his grandfather, Rumi, and all those who had died here a disservice. He clenched his hands and jaw tightly before taking a deep breath. Deep inside him, he felt something crack. Then, that crack spread until the dam burst, and a burning heat flooded him.

He collapsed, grasping at his chest. He tried to breathe through the raging inferno inside but couldn't. It was like all the oxygen had been robbed from him. Luckily, the feeling left as quickly as it had begun. Despite the short timeframe, It left him on one knee panting heavily. However, when he rose, he raised what had changed.

A Quirk Awakening

It seemed that coming to terms with reality's cruel nature had caused Blood Manipulation to awaken. He could now sense the blood in his surroundings with greater ease, and he even got the sense that he could change the blood to match his own or others' if he needed to. He quickly tested this new power.

With a gesture, Jugram condensed the blood around him into the size of a marble before sending out a jet of pressurized blood that ripped through the wood of the house with ease and continued beyond. 'It seems my control and skills have taken a considerable leap forward,' he thought as he turned his attention to his own quirk. Although Blood Manipulation had awakened, his own quirk felt no different than before. 

"Perhaps it had to undergo certain conditions to awaken," Jugram muttered to himself but couldn't find the energy to care at the moment. 

With a shake of the head, he moved out of the building, returning a moment later with a piece of wood that was half alight. He moved toward the pile of wood that covered Rumi's body and made to place it into the makeshift pire. He half expected Yuto to try and stop him, begging that there was still something they could do, but Yuto didn't.

It seemed they had both changed from this event, not that there was any other choice. With a final glance at Rumi, he placed the burning log in the midst of the wood and waited as the whole thing caught alight. They stood watching the flames for a while before turning to leave, both Yuto and Jugram overcome by crushing exhaustion, but it wasn't over yet.

They returned to Jugram's house to give Ren the same treatment as Rumi. Pain bloomed once more at the sight of the old man, but Jugram pushed through it and did what needed to be done. After that, the two stumbled out into the village and collapsed. Everything had only lasted around 15 minutes from start to finish, but it already felt like a lifetime.

"What do we do next?" Yuto asked from his seat on a large piece of debris, his voice choked by emotion.

"For now? We wait," Jugram replied.

"No," Yuto said, his puffy eyes shedding a fresh stream of tears down his heavily stained face, "Wha...what do we do going forward?"

"I don't know if we'll even be kept together," Jugram said, his nausea growing until he finally leaned over and vomited onto the bloodied and smoldering soil of the village. "The government... The government decides where we go from here."

"I don't want to leave you," Yuto said, beginning to bawl harder.

"We'll see what we can do," Jugram said, spitting the last of the bile from his mouth, but the oppressive stench hanging over the area didn't go away.

They lapsed into a brief silence, only interrupted by Yuto's intermittent sobs. Jugram tried to mask his emotions, still trembling and feeling his stomach knot despite his best efforts until he could eventually push his rampant emotions down for the time being. Then he slapped himself hard. I need to think about the future now! 

He turned his head and looked at Yuto, who had curled into a ball. The boy had stopped crying, but he seemed nearly catatonic now.

"What is your dream again?" Jugram asked, pulling Yuto to his feet and putting a hard on his shoulder.

Yuto took a moment to respond as he focused on Jugram's face. He then looked down at his bloody fists, stained with the blood of his slain foe and dead friend alike. His eyes gleamed darkly as the boy inspected the dried blood and dirt. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking. 

"A hero," he whispered, "To stop something like this from happening ever again," Yuto began.

Jugram nodded regretfully, not surprised by the outburst. It seems our paths will diverge then, he thought. This incident only exacerbated the need for him to get moving with plans to collect more quirks. It seemed a path diametrically opposed to Yuto's.

"However, I want to stay with you, Jugram." Yuto said, tearing up but wiping them away before they could fall, "I don't care if I have to abandon my dream. I will help support yours if it means we won't need to be split apart." 

"Are you sure?" Jugram asked, unsure of what exactly to say.

"We only have each other left. I will stay with you." Yuto said, growing more resolved as he spoke.

"Alright," Jugram said, clapping Yuto on the shoulder. We will both do everything we can to ensure they don't spit us up. Cry, scream, beg—anything that it takes."

Yuto nodded mutely, turning to face the burning buildings before cringing away as if struck. He turned his face down, then faced Jugram.

"What is your dream, Jugram?" Yuto asked quietly.

"It's like I've always said," Jugram said with an attempt at a smile that failed horribly, "I'm going to become a businessman."

"How? We have nothing." Yuto said gravely, looking like he would burst into tears at any moment.

We have each other. That's all we really need anyway." Jugram started, trying to lighten the mood. "However, we need to get to one of the big cities, preferably Musutafu," Jugram said.

"U.A.," Yuto whispered, perking up slightly, his eyes gleaming with something other than sorrow or despair. "Do you want to sell quirks to heroes?"

"Either the heroes at U.A. or the Meta Liberation Army," Jugram said, "We need funding since I can't steal quirks to sell."

"Meta Liberation Army? What's that? Are they villains?" Yuto asked, clenching his fists tightly when he said villains.

"Sort of," Jugram said with a shrug. "The important thing is that they are wealthy, and we need help. It doesn't matter who they are as long as it isn't the Leauge of Villians,"

"Why consider them over the heroes?" Yuto asked, Jugram's explanations helping the boy avoid the internal distress he was feeling.

"Who says we have to limit ourselves to one or the other?" Jugram asked with a genuine smile, "To be honest, I don't know how willing the heroes will be to help acquire quirks for our own personal use. I can see it going both ways with them, but I feel that the MLA will be much more open and willing to help us."

"Alright," Yuto said with a nod, sitting on the ground heavily.

"We can always have you enter U.A. Yuto. No matter the situation, we can get you in and start you on the path of a hero," Jugram said sincerely, gripping his shoulder.

With that, they lapsed into silence. All that was left was to wait for the authorities to arrive.