'Mutual assured discretion. I don't ask about their business, they don't ask about mine.'
Yuta tried to move again. This time, he managed to lift his right arm a few inches before it fell back down.
'What's wrong with me? My quirk's never been this out of control before.'
Having a quirk that granted great control over his body since childhood and suddenly losing all form of control over it was a strange sensation. Especially in his current situation.
He took a slow breath, forcing himself to suppress panic and think logically.
'Okay. Assess the situation. What do I feel?'
The answer to that was even stranger. His body felt ... Fine.
It wasn't the weak feeling from chakra exhaustion on the day he first used body flicker, nor was it the damaged pain that came from being deconstructed by Overhaul.
If anything, there was an underlying sensation of... strength? In the simplest terms, he felt fine, yet for some reason, wasn't.
'This isn't exhaustion. The captain probably thinks I'm just recovering from hypothermia and near-death, but this is something else." The only conclusion he could come to was something was fundamentally wrong with how his body was operating. Something was wrong with his Quirk.
'This ... It can't be damaged quirk factors, could it?"
The though popped into his mind, leaving him genuinely worried for a moment. 'No, that can't be right. My quirk factors aren't localized like in my hands or feet. It's probably all over me. Nearly dying from Overhaul didn't damage them, so why would just drowning down the trick?'
Something had changed. But what?
Yuta focused inward again, trying to sense his chakra network.
The result was the same as before—a blurry, indistinct mess. Like trying to see through frosted glass smeared with oil. His chakra was there, he could feel its presence, but the clarity he was used to was completely gone.
'My internal sensing is shot. Can't rely on that. What else can I use?' The answer was obvious.
'My eyes.' He turned on the Sharingan immediately. If something was wrong with his body, his dōjutsu should be able to identify it.
Chakra flowed towards his eyes quite easily. With considerable effort, Yuta managed to raise his right arm again and held it in front of his face. He triggered the activation. His eyes shifted. And immediately, something felt wrong.
"What in the .. .." The disbelief in his thoughts were made aloud.
His sight was .. dark? 'That can't be right.' Yuta blinked, trying to clear his vision.
It didn't help. At the moment, everything within his gaze was Pitch black with a hint of red.
Forget, seeing through his internal body, he could barely see at all. The crystal clarity he was used to from the Sharingan was gone. 'What the hell?' He blinked again, harder this time, trying to force his eyes to focus. Then, his eyes throbbed.
"Guh—!"
He gasped as a sharp, needle-like pain lanced through his optic nerves. The feeling was painful. "Dammit. What's happening to me?"
He deactivated the Sharingan ... Or tried to. It didn't work. It seemed his chakra had returned to default disobedient mode and constantly channeled more chakra into the eyes.
Thankfully, the sensation didn't last long. Ten minutes later, his eyes returned to normal and the constant chakra supply faded, returning back to its erratic misbehaviour. Yuta on the other hand, felt like his skull was about to split open.
'This isn't normal.' Panic crept into his thoughts.
Everyone feared the unknown. Yuta was no different.
Earlier, unable to stop the process, he had focused on his hand again, trying to see his chakra pathways like he normally could despite the pain.
The result ... He could see them, faintly, like shadows beneath his skin.
But they looked... wrong. The clean, organized network he was used to seeing had become something else. The channels were wider in some places, narrower in others, branching in patterns he didn't recognize. And the chakra flowing through them .. 'It's moving all wrong.'
He saw a chaotic swirl of red and blue energy, overlapping and merging in patterns that made his head throb. His eyes felt hot.
For one ... That was yin and Yang release chakra ... Two, it was clear that his chakra was surging erratically. Racing through some pathways, trickling through others, pooling in unexpected places.
'I'm cooked.' Yuta's arm fell back to the mattress, his already limited strength exhausted from holding it up.
He stared at the rust-stained ceiling, mind racing.
'Something's changed. But what? And why? And what does it mean for me now.'
He ran through possibilities.
'Overuse? No, I've pushed my chakra to empty before. This isn't the same.'
'Damage from the ocean? Hypothermia? Maybe, but that wouldn't explain why my pathways look restructured.'
'Some side effect of nearly dying? Yeah .. that feels about right.' It wouldn't be the first time he was gaining a negative effect, but was this really what was happening?
That didn't sit well with him.
The Sharingan was his greatest advantage. His ability to see attacks coming, to predict movements, to improve his combat skills, all of that relied on his eyes working properly.
If his vision was compromised, if his Sharingan was damaged somehow...
'No. Don't think like that. I don't have enough information yet. This could be temporary. Could be my body still recovering. Hell, maybe my eyes are evolving into the rinnegan or something ...'
Think positive. It could be a lot of things.
But lying here speculating wasn't going to give him answers.
'I need to figure out what's happening. And I need to do it before we reach Manila in four days.'
'Priorities. What matters most right now?'
Priority one: Regain basic motor control. He needed to be able to walk, to move, to function independently. Being helpless was unacceptable.
Priority two: Figure out what was wrong with his chakra network and his Sharingan. Understand the problem before trying to fix it.
Priority three: Survive the next four days and get off this ship without causing problems for himself.
And after that...
'After that, what?' The question hung in his mind. 'What do I do after we dock?'
He would be more than thousand kilometres from home.
Well, the answer to that was simple. Contact U.A. somehow and let them know he was alive.
Once discovered, they would come find him without a doubt.
However, the thought didn't bring as much relief as he thought it would. Rather, another question popped up. 'And then what?' Yuta mulled it over. He would go back to Japan .. and become the center of attention once again.
The sole survivor of the YAMANOTE LINE tragedy.
The hero student who survived and foiled the attack of The League Of Villains twice. And then ...
'They'll know I'm alive.'
From his understanding, the passenger list of victims involved in a major accident would be released to the media not long after.
It had already been two days since then.
Regardless of whether the crash site on the ocean had been discovered or not, it was highly likely that the list had already been released.
Even if it wasn't, it would be soon. Meaning if his name was on that list, which there was every possibility it was, by the time he returned to Japan, he would already be declared either officially missing or officially deceased alongside everyone on the train.
The problem would be he was the only one that made it back alive.
'The only one that made it back alive.'
The thought settled in his mind like lead.
Yuta stared at the rust-stained ceiling, following the logic to its inevitable conclusion.
'When I return, the media will explode. "Sole survivor of League attack returns." "How did he survive when 715 others died?" "What makes him special?" It would be Hosu but fueled with a national disaster.'
There was no doubt about it. He would be the focus of the public media storm for weeks, if not months to come.
There would be all sorts of speculations. Both good and bad, but most likely bad.
The media would link the Train attack to Hosu.
Best case scenario, he would be the unfortunate kid he was who had gone through a major trauma and barely survived. Worst case scenario, he would be the reason everyone else on that train died. Families and loved ones ... People wouldn't care.
The questions would be relentless. Invasive, and unavoidable
The public scrutiny that would follow would be unbearable. And worst of all, somewhere, Shigaraki will be watching.
'He'll see the news. He'll know the train attack failed to kill me. And in all likelihood, try something worse.'
Meaning unless that fact was concealed. Unless, his return from death was never made known to the general public, then he who had just survived would return to a new, unescapable version of hell.
Weighing his options, Yuta realized.
'It seems, What's next isn't as easy as I thought.'
There was no way the League of Villains would just take his return from death lightly. His very existence was practically a stain on their reputation.
Even more so if it was revealed that they had targeted him and failed.
In Canon, Villains joined them because they were drawn to Stain's ideology. Now, there was no ideology. Unless he was missing something, the League Of Villains would currently be seen as terrorists and nothing more. If his survival was added on, they would be incompetent terrorists.
Whatever grand ideals Shigaraki had would crumble before they even began. No one would join such a joke.
Honestly, it sounded great ... Until it got to the point where the immature manchild went into overdrive. At that point, he would be an eyesore Shigaraki would attempt to get rid of at all costs.
As shown with their last stunt, anything could happen. He would probably have to stay in U.A for his own safety, accelerating the dorm development ahead of time.
If he was careful, he would most likely be fine. The same couldn't be said for his family.
Without a doubt, if they couldn't get to him, they would go after the next best thing. His mom and Eri.
To protect them, they would have to be moved to the Hero equivalent of witness protection, greatly restricting their freedom. Unless they lived in the school, he would hardly be able to see them.
Even then, he would always be worried. After all, behind the immature manchild was a old fossil with a century of networks and planning. Who knew what scheme All For One would pull up to help Tomura achieve his goals. Having his family targeted by that guy was the last thing he wanted.
If Bakugo could be kidnapped during the Summer Training Camp, what chance did his mom, a disabled Ex Pro and a little girl have against Kurogiri's warpgate?
The more he looked at it, the more it seemed that returning to Japan ... Was ladden with disadvantages and problems at every turn.
_
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