A Song to Come Home to

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Fuyumi hands over a mug of hot cocoa to Shouto, who takes it with a quiet thanks. Taking a seat next to him, she glances over the balcony half wall. It's a cold day, her breath comes out in white puffs and she can see Shouto's nose and cheeks are a rosey red. They enjoy the silence of the morning together, they had cried over a lot last night and well into the morning.

In the midst of everything that's been going down recently, Fuyumi had totally forgotten how Shouto was faring through all of this and that had left her with a festering ball of guilt that she still feels right now. Earlier in the night when she had expressed this to Shouto, he had simply told her that all that matters is that they're together now and that they finally have a chance to catch up and heal. No matter how disjointed and broken their family might be, they still have each other. Fuyumi idly wonders exactly when had her baby brother grown up to be such a sharp and caring young man.

She pushes her glasses up and gives her brother the best smile that she can. He's right, everything might be in an utter state of chaos but they do have each other and Fuyumi won't ever let go of that ever again.

"Yumi." Shouto says so quietly that his whisper is almost lost against the morning breeze. "... Thank you." Shouto still looks like he wants to say something but he looks away, rubbing at his eyes that are puffy from crying. She has no shred of doubt that her eyes are just as puffy and red as his right now.

Before she has a chance to reply, a shrill scream erupts from below. Fuyumi's heart lurches as the scream cuts out as suddenly as it started. Sharing a startled look with Shouto, Fuyumi stands up and peers over the fence of Kamiji's balcony. A sole woman is running down the street, even from up in the highrise, the woman's fear and panic is plainly written over her face. She pushes and shoves away curious onlookers and the would-be good Samaritans who want to help her.

Shouto joins Fuyumi, watching the terrified woman dash around the corner. Fuyumi wants to shake off the feeling of dread, she wants to tell herself that there's already a hero that'll square all of this away. After all, Kamiji's apartment is in the middle of downtown Musutafu where heroes work basically shoulder to shoulder. There's no way that anything too drastic can happen right on the Hero Public Safety Commission's home turf.

A tremendous shudder rumbles beneath her feet. There's just a beat of silence before the cacophony of cracking foundation threatens to deafen her, Fuyumi can't even hear her own pained shout as she covers her ears. Each window in the surrounding buildings explode, glimmering shards of glass rain down on the screaming civilians below. To her horror, massive fissures rip through the streets and debris chokes out anything on the ground. Electrical poles strain against the tension and snap, live wires flail in a shower of white sparks. She watches with wide eyes as the occasional spray of sparks light up what's going on down below. Fuyumi sees a mass of panicked people running in every direction, their screams are drowned out by the thunderous roar of crumbling buildings.

Shouto is the first one to act, he grabs hold of her hand and yanks her away from the balcony. That's enough to jump start her mind into action. There's no time for her to be rooted by her own fear, she has her little brother with her. It doesn't matter if Shouto is training to be a hero, he's still only sixteen- a mere child in her eyes. Fuyumi leads him through the apartment, she needs to get them to the fire exit and to safety. Jiji is weaving between her feet, yowling and his hackles are raised. Scooping up the terrified cat, his claws sink deep into her skin as they burst through the front door of the apartment.

The hallway lights are flickering and some of them pop, plunging Fuyumi and Shouto into a nightmare as the building continues to sway and groan. Thin cracks spider web out and then start to crumble around them. Fuyumi coughs and splutters, choking on the dust and she tightens her grip on Shouto's hand.