Roaring flames collided with Hiro’s nanobarrier. It stood firmly in place, completely unscathed. Amid the inferno, Yuusuke leaped into the air and slammed his greatsword against the shield. Hiro let go of his only form of protection and darted away. Fire singed his clothes.
“Running away? Again? Are you really that scared of me?” Yuusuke fired waves of flames at him. So long as Hiro kept his distance, they weren’t difficult to dodge.
“Yeah, what the hell man? This is boooring!” Maki yelled out, only serving to annoy Hiro more.
Hiro circled around, but walls of flames blocked his path and soon surrounded him. Yuusuke unleashed a flurry of swings. With no escape, Hiro lunged forward and dodged up close. Speed was his only advantage. While Yuusuke recovered from a missed slash, Hiro grabbed his opponent’s hair and drove a knee into his face. Yuusuke toppled down, and the fire around him dissipated. Hiro immediately rushed back to the nanobarrier.
Maki screamed from the mezzanine. “That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout, champ! Never doubted you for a second!”
Shinji placed his hands on his head in disbelief. “No way… Hiro got the first hit?! This is insane!”
Yuusuke got back to his feet and wiped the blood off his lips. “Lucky shot.”
Hiro hid behind his nanobarrier. “Care to test that theory, Mr. Strongest?”
“Heh. You know how stupid you look saying that? Don’t get too cocky!” Yuusuke held his sword to his side and mimicked the motion of sheathing it. A burst of fire exploded from his blade and propelled him forward. He zipped through the air. In an instant, he closed the gap between him and his foe.
Hiro held fast to his shield and blocked the oncoming slash, but the blow was too strong. It pushed him back and knocked him off balance. Yuusuke ricocheted back into the air and thrust himself forward again. In just the nick of time, Hiro preemptively jumped out of the way.
There was no time to catch his breath. Yuusuke redirected his blade to his front and caused another explosion; the impact switched his direction midair. Hiro evaded once more. Since his opponent traveled in a straight line, leaping to the side proved most efficient.
This series of attacks and dodges sapped Hiro’s stamina. On the contrary, Yuusuke only grew faster and stronger with every swing. As his opponent zoomed toward him, Hiro’s foot slipped, and he fell on one knee. He was forced to block with the nanobarrier. However, instead of a slash, Yuusuke hurled his greatsword at him. He ran around the nanobarrier as it clashed with the sword and punched Hiro’s jaw. Hiro fell on his back, and Yuusuke stomped on his leg.
A piercing cry echoed throughout the training grounds. Hiro pushed Yuusuke’s foot, but it wouldn’t budge. Yuusuke stomped on him again and again. Bones cracked; pain shot up Hiro’s whole body.
Yuusuke stepped back and picked up his greatsword. He tossed the nanobarrier to Hiro. “Come on, now. You can do better than that.”
Hiro stood up but fell down once again. His shin snapped. He looked at Leo in the hopes of getting him to end the match, but the boss stood still and silent.
“What’s wrong? I know you got more gas in you,” Yuusuke said. “Gonna cry ‘cause of a little broken bone?”
“Arrogant prick…” Hiro forced himself back up. He stood on one leg; the other dangled like a leaf. If they wouldn’t end the fight, there were only two options left. Either he fought desperately now, or died by the hands of the very group he left everything to join.
He didn’t come all this way just to die.
He activated the nanobarrier and hopped on one leg. The plan was simple: if he got close enough, Yuusuke couldn’t swing his sword as freely. The only problem was how to actually get close.
“Oho! What a fighter you are!” Yuusuke scraped his blade along the floor and swung upward. Sparks erupted into flames as they hurtled toward the nanobarrier.
Hiro kept pushing forward.
Yuusuke welcomed the challenge and stood firmly in place. “For once, you’re not running away! Now that’s something I can respect!”
With a mighty shout, Hiro readied to tackle him. Yuusuke shielded himself with his giant sword but fell for his own trick. Hiro threw the nanobarrier at his face. His opponent swung to deflect it and left himself wide open. Pouring all his strength on his good leg, Hiro jumped forward and rammed his fist straight into Yuusuke’s stomach.
Yuusuke took several steps back and fell on one knee. Hiro hobbled to him and pried the greatsword from his hand. The sheer weight of the blade was too much to handle, so he threw it away as far as he could.
Yuusuke pushed him back and slowly stood up. “Heh, couldn’t carry it? For a big boy, you sure are weak.”
“Please. Do everyone a favor and shut the hell up.” Hiro’s breaths grew heavy. The pain in his leg worsened with every second, but his mind only focused on his opponent.
“Tsk. One of us definitely will.” Yuusuke ran up to him and tossed a punch. Hiro leaned to the side and threw a fist of his own. It hit Yuusuke squarely in the jaw, but he barely moved. He delivered a swift kick to Hiro’s broken shin.
High pitched ringing filled Hiro’s ears. Gritting his teeth didn’t help the pain. Just before he plummeted to the floor, he grabbed Yuusuke’s collar and dragged him down with him. Immediately, he rolled over to get on top, but Yuusuke was too strong. He straddled Hiro and raised his fist. In a panic, Hiro grasped his collar and pulled. A crushing headbutt left them both on the floor writhing.
The entire area started to spin. Blood dripped down Hiro’s head. It was warm. It tickled, but he couldn’t gather the strength to wipe it off. His vision blurred; his body grew numb. The ringing wouldn’t stop. He regretted his decision.
But it worked.
Yuusuke teetered back up but lost his footing. On all fours, he spewed out vomit. Hiro took the opportunity and crawled to the nearest wall. Leaning against it for support, he got back up on one leg. Both gasped for air.
“You… weak ass bastard. GET BACK HERE!” Yuusuke spat on the ground and charged at him, fists readied.
Fueled by rage, Hiro shrieked as he limped forward. He lost all reasoning. No more running away. All he wanted to do was take down the man in front of him. Before the two could make contact, Hiro felt a great force push his head down. He crashed face-first onto the floor.
“Oh, whoops. Was that too hard?”
Everything turned black for a second. Lights flashed around him. Hiro lifted his head. Yuusuke lay on the ground; he wasn’t moving. Looking up further, he saw Leo grabbing both of their heads.
“Sorry! Are you al…”
Leo’s voice trailed away as Hiro fell unconscious.
***
“...ey. Hel… You… ake?”
A gravelly voice spoke, but Hiro couldn’t make out the words. He tried moving his head, his hands, his feet—even opening his eyes, but he felt no strength in him at all.
“Hey… D… ass, wake…”
The voice grew clearer.
“Alright… You… no choice.”
Something poked at Hiro’s injured shin. A surge of intense pain ran through his body. He quickly opened his eyes and gasped for air. A bright flash made him cover his face.
“Wh-Where…” Hiro’s mouth was too parched to keep talking.
Soon enough, his eyes grew accustomed to the light. He found himself in an infirmary with several beds. Bottles, pills, and laboratory equipment filled the shelf at one end of the room. A blue gown replaced his clothes.
“Ugh, you look like a mess.” A man in glasses and a stained lab coat sat beside Hiro’s bed. His unkempt hair flowed down to his shoulders. Smoke rose from the cigarette in his mouth. Underneath, he had a button up shirt and a loose tie. “Here. Drink up.”
A glass of water on a nearby table levitated into the air and hovered right in front of Hiro’s face. He stared blankly at it.
“Well? Gonna drink? Or are you too weak? Let me help.”
The glass drew closer to Hiro. He tried to turn his head, but he was completely frozen in place. His mouth opened wide against his will. The glass tilted itself and forcefully poured water inside. Even his swallowing wasn’t voluntary. Once emptied, the glass floated into the man’s hand. As it did so, Hiro suddenly had a coughing fit. He could move himself again.
“There. Feel better?” the man asked.
“What happened to me? Was that water? Did you do something to me? Are you trying to kill me?”
The man huffed a smoke. “So many questions. Relax, will you? You’re still recovering, so don’t move around too much.”
“Recovering…? Oh, yeah. Wasn’t I in a fight just now? I remember something hit my head. What happened?”
A loud groan interrupted them. Yuusuke had been silently asleep in the bed beside Hiro. He got up and stretched his arms. With a drawn out yawn, he glared at Hiro. “Pipe down. Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep?”
“Yuu?” Hiro asked.
“...suke. It’s Yuusuke to you.”
“S-Sorry.”
“Well, as you can see,” the man in the lab coat said, “that fight messed you both up. And guess who has to come fix you? That’s right. Good olllll’ me.”
“Fix us?” Hiro pulled up his gown and checked his leg. It looked completely normal—like nothing ever happened to it. “My leg is… okay?”
“That leg took a hell of a lot of work. You know how many shards of bone I had to piece together?”
“D-Did you… perform surgery on me?”
“No duh. How do you think I fixed your leg?”
“But— But there’s no scar.”
“Of course not. You think I’d ever half-ass these procedures like all the other doctors?”
“That’s a load of crap, Tenzo!” Yuusuke butted in. “You don’t even use anesthesia!”
“Huh?!” Hiro yelled.
Suddenly Yuusuke’s arm bent in the opposite direction. It twisted itself until it made a sharp crack. He screamed in pain.
“Why the hell would you tell him that?” The man scowled. “Now my data’s compromised. And it’s Doctor Tenzo. Get it right.”
“Okay, okay!” Yuusuke’s voice cracked. “I’m sorry!”
“I’m sorry, who?”
“D-Dr. Tenzo…”
His arm reverted back to normal.
“Ugh, now he’s gonna respond to the pain differently.” Dr. Tenzo poked Hiro’s leg. “Does it still hurt?”
Hiro flinched back. “Ow! Yes!”
“Good, good. Pain is good. It’s a sign that you’re alive.”
“I-I see… Well, thank you, Mister—”
“Doctor. Doctor Tenzo.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you, Doctor Tenzo. So, about the results of that fight…”
“I don’t know. Ask him.” He pointed at Yuusuke.
Hiro looked at him. Yuusuke turned his face away and said nothing.
Dr. Tenzo chuckled. “Is someone’s pride hurt?”
“Shut up, Te— I mean, Dr. Tenzo.” Yuusuke crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.
“That’s a good boy.”
The door slid open. Maki rushed inside. She shoved the doctor away and jumped on Hiro’s bed. He let out an agonizing groan.
“Hiro! You’re alive!” She clasped his cheeks.
“Of course he is. It’s me,” Dr. Tenzo said. “Now get off the patient.”
Maki floated into the air and fell on the floor. “Ow…”
Three loud claps from behind the door grabbed everyone’s attention. Leo stepped in and took a sip from his mug. “Maki, don’t be too loud. You’re bothering him.” He turned to Hiro. “How are you doing? Feeling better?”
“Mhm.” Hiro was intimidated at first, but the yellow pajamas were an odd source of comfort.
“Bah! You guys are too stuck up! He’s fine!” Maki slapped Hiro’s shoulder repeatedly. “ I knew you could do it, big guy! Goin’ up against our strongest like that. Look at youuuuu! Obviously, I’m the best talent scout in Lionheart. Mwahahaha!”
“Oh, please. He didn’t even win.” Yuusuke rolled over, facing his back to everyone. “Don’t expect me to go easy on him next time.”
“You sure? Did you really hold back?” a man’s voice asked.
Hiro was shocked to see Shinji standing by his bed. He didn’t even see him enter the room.
“Hmph! Of course I held back,” Yuusuke said. “He was too weak for me to even try.”
Shinji wiggled his finger. “I don’t knooooow! It looked to me like our strongest boy was struggling. Nyahahaha!”
Yuusuke jerked his head to him and cracked his knuckles. “What about I make you struggle instead?”
“Whoa, whoa! No need for that, hehe.”
Maki knelt beside Hiro. “So? How’d it feel fightin’ him?” she whispered. “The adrenaline, the rush, the desperation. Ain’t it all so cool?”
Hiro shook his head. “I hate pain. Never wanna do it again.”
“Boo! Borin’!”
Leo bowed his head. “I apologize for my sudden interruption of your fight. I myself was getting quite invested and didn’t want it to end so soon. But perhaps I let it carry on for too long. Now you’re both here because of me. I’m sorry.”
Hiro waved his hands in disagreement. “No, no. I’m glad you stopped it. I was getting rolled out there.”
“Still, I must commend you for your efforts. You did well, all things considered.”
“Is it… well enough to pass?”
“Oh, of course! Don’t worry. I don’t think any of us expected you to win. It was simply a test of your strength. I made sure to stop the fight before things got too far.”
“You didn’t stop us when my leg was broken,” Hiro muttered.
“Hm? What was that?”
“N-Nothing.”
“I see. Well, there was a second reason why I wanted to see you in action. And to be quite honest with you, I want to hear the answer before letting you join Lionheart.”
“Uh, sure. Hit me.”
Leo’s welcoming expression faded into a piercing gaze. “Tell us about your eyes.”
Hiro looked away. His voice rose in pitch. “Ah, w-well… You see, my mom—”
“Don’t lie. Haruka already reported everything to me. That was the whole reason I let this fight happen in the first place. And now I’m convinced there’s more to your eyes than you’re letting on. Tell us.”
Hiro fell silent.
Leo tapped his finger against Hiro’s bed. “Trust is a key factor when working together. If you want us to trust you with our lives—and trust us with yours—you can’t be hiding secrets like this from us.”
“I…”
“It seems you are hesitant. Let me rephrase the question.” Leo bent down and placed his hand on Hiro’s head. “I won’t repeat myself. Tell us now, or you are dead.”
Hiro couldn’t look away from Leo’s stare. These were the eyes of a cold-blooded killer. He’d let his guard down. The welcoming smile, the gentleman-like demeanor, the soothing voice—they all fooled him. Bandito’s boss paled in comparison to the fear he felt on that bed.
Hiro’s lips trembled. “Okay. I’ll talk.”
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