Forty per cent.
An incredible force slammed into Hiro’s knuckles as a fist blocked his punch for the third time. He staggered back, willing his dislocated arm to move. It refused to listen. Hiro increased Bjarkan mode by another ten per cent.
“You can’t stop this!” Kiko yelled, throwing dozens of flying knives at his shield with frightening speed. “You won’t stop this!”
The hero lunged forward with a burst of energy, but Kusanagi flipped to the side and plunged her Karambit into his shoulder. Blinding pain screamed at him as the assassin dragged her weapon savagely, widening the gash in his flesh. He rolled away from the assassin, catching a glimpse of the countdown timer on the computer screen behind her.
One minute.
Kiko roared, seizing her assault rifle from the floor. Hiro ducked under the initial burst of bullets and grabbed the gun. Metal strained as he bent its barrel with full force. Kusanagi shoved him away, but a grappling hook hurtled towards the woman immediately after. She caught it in mid-air and yanked Hiro towards herself instead.
The two of them tumbled over each other, wrestling to get a more advantageous position. Thirty seconds.
“People… are going to die, Kiko.” Hiro wrapped the grappling rope around the woman’s neck. “I can’t… let that happen.”
Kiko flipped into the air with a sudden burst of strength and pinned him down instead. “I can’t let you win, Hiro… This means too much to me!”
“Not much…” Hiro gritted his teeth, trying to push back her Karambit with a pair of batons. “As you mean… to me!”
He swung her weapon to the side and snatched the dangling grenade on her collar. More pain lanced into his dislocated arm as Kiko stabbed him vindictively, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him.
Hiro pulled out the pin with his teeth and flung the grenade out. Five seconds.
Time seemed to slow as both of them stopped their tussle momentarily, watching the grenade fly towards the machine. Pressure relieved itself from Hiro’s body as Kiko let go. She scrambled to her feet, desperately stretching her hand out as though she could stop what was about to happen.
“NO—”
Hiro curled away instinctively as a huge explosion blasted the machine into smithereens.
The tremor rang through the entire building, and cracks ran up the walls. He looked around worriedly; that grenade was more powerful than he had anticipated. This place could come down at any moment.
“DAMN YOU!” A fist slammed into his face without warning.
“You ruined everything!” Kiko bellowed, sweeping his body over her head and slamming him onto the ground. “I’ll kill you… I’ll fucking kill you!”
Hiro had barely gotten to his feet when a foot crashed into his stomach from below, kicking him a few metres into the air.
“You were the one person I needed on my side!” The woman caught his body mid-fall and threw it against the wall. “This was for you! Everything I did, I did for you! What was it all for?!”
Her face was slick with tears as she rained punches onto Hiro’s swollen face.
“Fight back, damn you! Fight! Back!” Kiko flung him onto the ground carelessly. “You’re my enemy! Stand up and hit me!”
Hiro pushed himself to his feet painfully, stumbling around as though he were drunk. But he kept his hands down.
“I won’t hurt you,” he wheezed as blood squirted from between his teeth. “You’re my friend.”
“You… You idiot!” Kusanagi clenched her fists as the lines on her suit glowed fiercer than ever. “Then I’ll knock your damn head off! Bjarkan Mode, maximum power—”
She screamed in pain, red light bursting from her eyes. The veins on her face swelled up immediately. Blood spurted from her gaping mouth as she collapsed to the floor.
Hiro stepped forward in shock. What was happening—
Miles’ words surfaced in his head.
You’re the first person to use Bjarkan Mode, mostly because it doesn’t play well with anyone with a quirk.
Shit, Bjarkan Mode must’ve been clashing with Kiko’s natural quirk. Zero Hero stumbled towards a small syringe sealed behind the cracked ballistic glass as the woman trembled like a drug addict on cold turkey. He wasn’t sure if this would work, but he had to do something.
Hiro threw a punch at the glass and seized the tiny syringe on display inside. Bjarkan Mode dropped by twenty per cent. Darkness threatened to cloud his eyes. He willed it away. After all, a hero is just someone who knows how to hang on for one minute longer.
The building shuddered once more as he dropped the syringe. Hiro lost his balance as well, falling beside the writhing woman. He snatched the quirk deleter from the floor before it could roll away.
“Hiro, what are you doing—”
Hiro cut her off by plunging the syringe into her exposed thigh. The woman squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing Hiro’s dislocated hand instinctively. Sharp pain seared through Hiro’s arm, but he placed his other hand on hers and held her close to him. He didn’t want to let her go.
Not this time.
The spasms gradually left Kiko. Tremors continued to shake the ground as both of them lay motionless for a while.
“You… fool.” Kiko’s body trembled as she tried to push herself away from him. “Don’t you know the things I have done? I’m a killer. I’m a villain. I deserve to die! Why…? Why did you help me?”
“Because…” Hiro’s eyelids were fluttering shut. “I made a promise, Kiko. Help… comes to those who need it, not just… to those who deserve it.”
The woman broke down uncontrollably, holding him close. Hiro’s face was nearly unrecognisable from the beating she had given him. Her heart ached as the man coughed out a puddle of blood.
“Kiko, I… love… you—”
Cracks rushed down from the walls without warning, and the floor gave way below Hiro. Kiko yelped, reaching for him. She was too slow.
“Hiro, no!”
And as rubble collapsed around the woman, her hero plummeted into the murky sea.
~ ~ ~
One.
Most people underestimate the number’s power, yet they put it on a pedestal like it’s some sort of unattainable prize. One chance, one man, one hero.
One moment.
To most, it takes all they have to be the one who stands out. To some, they go through their entire life without even one minute of good fortune.
But to the blessed few, all it takes is one right choice.
~ ~ ~
The shadow of a motorcycle loomed on the surface of the rippling sea before a figure plunged into the water. She waded towards an unconscious man still shrouded by a cocoon of metal and pulled him back to the surface.
The woman leaned over him, pressing her hand into his chest. Water squirted out of the man’s mouth after a few chest compressions. He reached for his saviour’s hand instinctively, but the woman pulled away. She couldn’t bring herself to face him yet.
Kiko Asahi trudged into the distance without looking back.
Farewell, my Hiro. And thank you.146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvNoRDtiWE
and then Add to home screen.