Altren stood out Kang's room hesitantly with a tray of food in hand. His heart was racing with guilt. Back then he did not know.. he did not know a kid was in danger. If he had.. he would have gone with him..
'Fuck, Kang would not call out my name unless it's an emergency. Why?! Why didn't I realize it, this dumb brain, dumb brain,' he banged his head forcefully on the wall.
The pain did not take away the guilt that was eating away inside.
"I can't break down like that. The others have gone to search for lia. They will bring that kid back. I'm sure. There's hope."
Yesterday was the first major security breach the academy had ever experienced in twenty years. An attack like this put their entire new generation in danger. Thankfully the villains did not detonate a bomb or anything inside or else there would have been substantial damage to the students.
The snakehead gang was the aggressor. They strategically attacked this place when most of the trained heroes were away.
First, they created a distraction by creating a large-scale attack on the city. Most of the seasoned heroes and licensed ones were called there.
His uncle was also called out, but he stayed back because of the documents that he had to deal with.
Even with him here, he could not deal with three villains by himself.
It was only because of that they suffered such a loss.
Altren sighed loudly, leaning his head on the wall. "I'm such an idiot..."
An armada of heroes, who just returned after fighting with the villains, were sent out to track the lost kid. They could not even find a trace of them.
It was like they had just disappeared out of thin air.
"They are still searching. I'm sure they can find him. I'm definitely sure,"
Taking a deep breath, he gathered some courage and knocked on the door. "Kang, the others have gone to save Lia. I assure you, they will bring him back unharmed. I swear on my honor. So, please. Please come out."
"...."
"Kang...I'm sorry.... I'm so sorry. Please.. please come out and eat. You haven't had breakfast or lunch. At least eat something. if you don't want to face me…. I'll…. I'll place the food here."
The villains were still wreaking havoc out in the city and they reinstated his license just today. They had called for him to defeat a certain water-type villain who was terrorizing the city by shooting everyone in sight.
"I.. I have been called out. I'll make sure to search for Lia as well. I'll find him and bring him back safely. I promise so… please eat well. Kang, don't show your anger on your food, please eat… I'm sorry,"
"...….."
He placed the tray out the door and left, throwing anxious glances at the door.
Inside, Kang blankly glanced up at the boring ceiling. A crippling feeling of emptiness filled his whole body.
He peered at the blue scaled hand. he really wanted to get up there and get strong... but... but he could not.
That emptiness in him was stopping him.
'This must be what they call depression.... Never imagined that I will also experience depression one day.'
He sat up. His joints groaned and creaked. His body temperature still had not gone up. He desperately craved that warm hug from that certain someone.
"But it's useless. I should not depend on anyone." He stood up with difficulty and stretched his body and did some basic workout.
Little by little, his body gained the heat that he lost in that fight.
A small amount of sweat formed on his forehead as he continued working out.
Soon his body temperature became normal.
Kang sat down on the ground, panting softly. Even though his joints were now freely movable, they still hurt from the strain of the intense workout.
"It still hurts..."
Right then, his stomach growled loudly. It was embarrassingly loud enough to echo in his empty room.
"sigh. It sucks. It really sucks. I hate being a hero. I just want to escape from here," he tiredly walked over to the bathroom. He slashed warm water on his face.
Water dripped down his body, cooling the heat from his workout.
His reflection stared back at him. Black circles under his eyes made him look like a drunkard. His eyes, though... they had changed.
"What the fuck is that?" he leaned close, peering into his green glowing eyes. They had not gone back to normal. The pupils constricted into a small horizontal slit the closer he got to the mirror reflection.
His vision was perfectly normal, but just his eye color had changed.
"Gwyn would have known what to do/... i... I miss him. I miss my brother." he had never missed someone so much before. It physically hurt to even breathe.
He really wanted a hug from his brother. He wanted nothing more.
"I just…. I just want to go home..."