บท 10: What Heroes Do
"What do you want with Mira?" Tsubasa said, stepping forward with all the confidence of a child with an adult nearby.
Although he probably had the intention to protect her from a stranger, Mira had never wanted to hit the boy harder in her entire life. They could have lied and said there wasn't anyone with that name in the group. Granted, she was absolutely sure the man already knew who she was. That didn't mean they had to play along!
That said, Mira was currently too afraid to even move in this man's presence, so she couldn't stop the little idiot from mouthing off.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, boy. I only need her to come with me for a while, is all. That shouldn't be too difficult, right Mira-chan?" The man said, eyes still locked on her as his smile turned even wider, as though he was trying to appear disarming. It only caused her to start trembling, though!
The others, perhaps finally reading the atmosphere, looked over at Mira who practically looked like a newborn fawn. They could tell that she didn't want to go with this man, which meant she probably didn't know him.
They were all still kids, with Mira being the oldest at 5, but even they could tell when a situation looked bad. All of them read hero comics and played pretend in the park. They instantly recognized that this man was a bad guy! There was no way they would let a bad guy take Mira!
Seemingly coming to the same conclusion, all four kids stepped in front of the still trembling Mira in an effort to shield her from the weird man. This however only caused him to raise an eyebrow, all the while still looking her in the eye.
"Well, she doesn't want to go with you, so back off, creep!" Bakugo said while causing small explosions in his hands.
Izumi just put her hand on Mira's shoulder and continued to watch silently, taking in any information she might be able to get. She knew she wasn't strong, but she didn't want anything to happen to her best friend. Mira was the only person who believed she could become a hero, and she would show her it wasn't misplaced trust.
Sakaki honestly didn't understand much of what was going on. He only stepped forward because that's what the others were doing. He knew the man in front of them was bad news, but he was confused about why Tsubasa's grandpa wasn't saying anything during all of this. So he incorrectly assumed that it wasn't as bad as he thought.
"Hmm, that would be a problem. I've personally come out all this way to get her after all. I can't just leave empty-handed. isn't that right, Mira-chan?" The man once again questioned her, this time bringing tears to her eyes. She was terrified, and she couldn't understand why the others weren't feeling the same thing she was. She wanted to tell them all to run away and get help, but she was still frozen on the spot.
"WE SAID LEAVE CREEP!" Bakugo said, aiming an explosion at the man. In truth, his hands had been breaking out in a cold sweat from the moment this guy showed up. He was thankful for it at this moment, since it allowed him to produce a huge explosion that he normally wouldn't be able to. Well huge for his standards, it wasn't enough to cover the man's entire body, but it still should have been enough for the creep to get the message.
"Hmph! How do you like that, bastard! That'll show yo-"
"That was rather rude now, wasn't it?" The man said completely unscathed. His suit wasn't even singed by the explosion. He finally tore his eyes away from Mira and looked at Bakugo with some minor interest. While the boy in question panicked a little since he didn't expect it to do nothing at all.
"You have a pretty interesting quirk, boy. I wonder if I should take it?" The man seemed to genuinely question as he put a hand to his chin. This sent even more warning bells through Mira's mind as she knew what this man was capable of now.
He wasn't after her money or her game. That must mean he's either after her knowledge or her quirk. She was pretty sure she hid her knowledge and the various things she had been working on, unless someone was spying on her. That thought almost made her mind go numb as she realized she didn't have many security measures in place to prevent such things. It didn't matter to her. She was fine as long as she could research whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. She didn't really think about other people coveting her possessions.
Of course, she knew they would if they found out about them, but she figured so long as she didn't tell anyone what she was doing, no one would care. She was naïve to think no one at all would watch the girl with super intelligence, even if she neglected to tell anyone anything. There were signs. Purchases could be traced. Computers could be hacked. She was careless.
"Are you deaf? Get lost- Argh" This time Tsubasa, using his wings, flew at him, likely intending to punch him in the face or something. He was instead grabbed by the neck as he got close.
"You on the other hand...I don't need you" The man said almost lazily and in one swift motion-
*SNAP*
-snapped Tsubasa's neck.
"HHHEEE!!!" Sakaki who was still trying to figure everything out fell on his butt with tears in his eyes as he crawled away from the villain in front of him.
The man dropped Tsubasa unceremoniously on the pavement underneath them. This time, instead of looking at any of the now stunned children, he instead looked at the old man who had been silently watching even now.
"Wasn't that one your grandson, Dr. Garaki? You didn't still need him, correct," The man asked while looking at Dr. Tsubasa. or is it Garaki?
"Of course not, Master. The boy has served his purpose in life by bringing us the child. That is all that matters. Besides, I can still make use of his body." Dr. Garaki said with almost religious zeal as Mira pieced together the last piece of the puzzle.
It seems they targeted her from the very beginning. No, perhaps it wasn't her that was targeted, but she was the unlucky one that drew attention first. After all, the man was a doctor to her older sister before her, so he had to have been there a while.
"Well now then Mira-chan, why don't you come with me now? You can even bring your friends if you like?" The man once again locked his eyes on her, yet didn't take a single step forward to retrieve her by force.
Mira wanted to scream and run away, but before she could, two small and shaking bodies stepped in front of her again.
"W-w-we s-said ge-t-t LOST" Bakugo struggled to say with tears and snot pouring down his face.
"I-i-i won-t-t l-let you t-t-take her" Izumi said with her arms held out like she was preparing to fight. Tears and a bit of vomit on her face.
They had just watched their friend get killed. They were terrified. They were horrified. They didn't want to be there anymore. Tsubasa's grandpa wouldn't help them.
But Mira needed help. Mira needed them. And they refused to abandon her. No matter who was in front of them. Because they would be heroes!
Mira was extremely touched. Even though they were scared, they still wanted to protect her. The duo's actions had allowed her to finally break free from the fear that had paralyzed her.
"You both remind me of someone. Someone I don't really like." The man said, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly as he raised his hand.
"HAAAAA!!!" Both Izumi and Katsuki ran at the man intending to fight for their friend. They didn't make it far before-
*ZAAAP*
-They were struck from behind by a pink beam of energy.
*POOF*
In their place were two floating Jawbreakers. They zoomed backwards into the waiting arms of Mira and she held them with all her strength. She whispered something before looking up at the intrigued man before her.
"I'm the one you want, right? Let them leave and I'll go." Although it sounded like a request, her small voice carried as if it were a demand, as she locked eyes with the man. This time no fear present, her eyes unwavering.
"Hmm, and why would I do that? They were rather rude, don't you think?" The man's face returned to being his attempt at disarming. In truth, he didn't care about those two brats. He was only after the girl, but he might as well coax her cooperation out of her with their lives. And just like he expected-
"If you let them go, I'll do whatever it is you want. You want my research? My quirk? Whatever it is, fine. Just let them go, please" She said. Although the fact that her eyes still contained a certain vigor to them was a little bothersome, the girl wouldn't be able to do much, anyway. No matter what little plan was brewing in her head.
"Very well. Hurry along then." The man said as Mira let out a small sigh of relief. She then approached the still crying Sakaki and made him look at her.
"M-m-mmira, w-w-we haaave t-t-to-o ru-u-un" He tried to stutter out a complete sentence but utterly failed as he looked back as Tsubasa's unmoving body still lying cold on the ground.
"Un, that's right. Sakaki, here take them both and run, okay? Everything will be alright. Can you do that for me?" Mira said gently while handing the boy the two jawbreakers, one green and one yellow. Even now, the green one was wiggling around a little in an impressive show of willpower. Mira was touched, but she knew neither of them was strong enough to break out just yet.
Sakaki wanted to ask if she would come. He wanted to tell her he would come back with help. He wanted to say a lot of things, but he couldn't. Sakaki wasn't a hero. He was still a kid. He just wanted to go home. He stood up with shaky steps and without another word, took off running. He wasn't very fast, and he almost tripped a few times, but in the end, he kept running.
Mira watched his back with a sad smile before turning back to the man and Dr. Tsubasa with his grandson's corpse under one of his arms. She glared at the doctor before approaching them both with no hesitation.
"Good. Let's go." The man put his hand on her shoulder as a black portal suddenly opened in front of him and he led her through.
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Phantowhite
Phantowhite Short chapter since this was the best place to end things and i'm kind of busy today. Time skip next chapter maybe? or the one after that? who knows. Will Mira make it out alive? Find out next time on dra-
As always, thanks for the support!
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