A New Generation: A ZoroMiku Story

34: Intervention

Miku

Miku's eyelids fluttered open. Her drenched clothes were sticking to her skin and she felt sore and exhausted. Crouching above her was the familiar face of Goro. He had a concerned look in his eyes and was wearing the same formal uniform that she and Zorome were wearing. She could feel that she was lying on the soft sandy ground at the edge of the beach now, no longer struggling to keep her head above water. She must've passed out. 

"G-Goro?" Miku croaked, feeling confused. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at-" She broke off with a cough. "Should you be at Bird Nest?" She wheezed. She stared blankly up at him, puzzled and overwhelmed with shock and anxiety. 

"I heard about the ceremony and I went to the Meeting Centre to see it," Goro explained to her. "But when I got there, I was told by your fellow teachers that you hadn't shown up and that Zorome had gone to look for you. Everyone was worried since it's long past sunset. I looked at your house and then tried to find you, which led me here..."

Shouts and splashes sounded from in the water.

Miku gasped. "They're still fighting?!"

Goro nodded. "Yes," He stood up and straightened himself. "But don't worry, Miku, I'm going to put a stop to this. Someone needs to intervene. Just stay here and rest. You don't look like you're doing too good." 

Miku watched as Goro ran over to the water where the two boys were still fighting. They both looked like they had a few injuries. Thankfully, however, it seemed as though Hyaku was the one who had suffered the most during this fight. She was glad. She hoped he went into a coma or something. She was guessing that was what Zorome was intending, as he was definitely not backing down from the fight or leaving Hyaku alone. 

"Stop!" Goro shouted. "Zorome, Hyaku, stop!" 

"Goro?!" Zorome jerked his head around and looked at the tall blonde, his purple bright eyes widening in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

Hyaku took Zorome's distraction as an opportunity to attack. He kicked Zorome in the knees, causing him to stumble, then grabbed him by the shoulders and twisted him around. He put his hand on his head and began to try drowning him by pushing his head into the water.

"Hey!" Goro barked, splashing his way over to the two boys. 

Hyaku ignored him. It was almost as though the crazed boy didn't even notice Goro was there at all. "I'm going to make you pay for stealing her," Hyaku roared as. he held Zorome's head under the water with one hand on his head and the other on one of his shoulders. "You should've taken the hint...she's mine. She's exactly like 988...she must have been sent to replace me!"

Miku stared at him. He's truly insane! What the hell is this guy's problem?!

Goro reached Hyaku and grabbed him by the wrist, twisting it and causing Hyaku to release it.

"This ends here!"

As they fought, Miku's eyes grew clouded and she blacked out once more.

Zorome

Zorome immediately stood up, gasping for air as his head broke through the surface. His hair was plastered to his skin and he wiped his bangs away from his eyes, narrowing them to see what was going on.

Goro had grabbed Hyaku's wrist and was twisting it behind his back. Zorome splashed over to him and grabbed the other. Hyaku was stuck now. He wouldn't be hurting anyone any longer. 

"Let go of me!" Hyaku yelled, twisting and squirming as he tried to free himself from the grasp of the other two boys.

"No!" Zorome shouted. "You tried to kill Miku! You're lucky I haven't skinned you alive!"

"Zorome, calm down-" Goro's eyes widened. "Wait, did you say he tried to kill Miku?"

"Yeah! Why do you think she's injured?" Zorome shot Hyaku an accusing glare. "This absolute moron was trying to drown her!"

"She belongs to me!" Hyaku spat. Goro shot him a startled glance. 

"What's going on?" A voice shouted in the distance. A wave of relief swept through Zorome as he saw his fellow future teachers heading over to them, kicking up sand as they ran across the beach. Jasper was in the lead, with Raven close behind. Sevi and Bani were further behind, with Pondo at the tail end of the group, nearly struggling to keep up with his friends and fellow teachers. Even Kakeru, the former parasite who was in charge of building and construction, was with them, as was Fifty, the boy they'd first met when they arrived at the settlement.

"What's going on?" Jasper demanded, breathing heavily as he halted beside Zorome, Goro, and Hyaku. 

"This bastard tried to kill Miku!" Zorome shoved Hyaku closer to him. "We should do something to make him pay!" He was overwhelmed by rage, though his legs were shaking from exhaustion. Perhaps his anger, however, was also causing his legs to shake.

"Miku? Oh no!" Bani fell to her knees beside Miku, fear glistening in her eyes. 

"We should detain him," Goro said, grunting as Hyaku tried to thrust his way free. "He can't be trusted."

The situation reminded Zorome much of the time they had detained Zero Two when he and Futoshi had been told to guard her door. She had, of course, escaped and things between her and the squad had been fixed later on. "Yeah, what he said!" He hoped they'd also punish him.

Jasper nodded. "Right. Here, I'll help you two. Everyone else, please bring Miku to the infirmary so that we can treat her. She's...not doing too good, I fear." He frowned as he looked at her body.

Zorome winced as he looked down at Miku. Her uniform was soaking wet. Her hair on one side was plastered against her face and sand, while the other was still in its pigtail. Blood was trickling down the side of her face. 

"Wait, I know where we can take him," Kakeru hurried over to where they were holding Hyaku back. "We have a place for detaining those who cause trouble...just in case. Come on, let's go."