Norukaito, Book I: Arising

Blaze

As Asahi ran to the scene, a building about 20 stories tall blew out black smoke. There were people covered in smoke and debris being helped out of the building by firefighters.

Firefight 1A:
THERE IS TOO MANY LIVES TO BE SAVED! WE CAN'T SAVE THEM ALL

Fire Chief:
THEN I GUESS YOU BETTER STOP STANDING AROUND AND DO YOUR FUCKING JOB!

*She sees Asahi*

Firefighter 1A:
What are you doing here, kid? Unless you are a superhero, stay out of the way; you can't do anything except get yourself hurt. The professionals got this.

Asahi:
Are you sure you got this? *Points to the burning building* In there, innocent lives of families and children are being burned away.

Firefighter 1A:
What could a kid like you possibly do?

Asahi:
Hm. Well, I will have to find out, won't I?

Asahi runs into the entrance.

Firefighter 1A:
Hey, stop! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! DON'T TRY AND SAVE THE DAY!

Asahi does not listen.

Policeman 1A:
SOMEBODY STOP HIM! HE'S JUST A KID! HE'LL GET HIMSELF HURT!

Firefighter 2B:
We can try our best, but we must save some lives! Jokingly –Who knows, he could be the guy that Norden City needs!
laughs

Despite all of the people trying to tell him to stop what he is doing and turn back, Asahi doesn't listen. Asahi enters the building.

Fire alarms are going off, and the sprinklers won't work.

Asahi travels up the stairway.

Asahi:
cough cough
Damn! What the hell happened here??


The Noroki glows.

Asahi:
I can breathe! But how?

The Fire continues to blaze.

As Asahi continues to go up the stairwell, bodies burned to a crisp are seen along the stairs.

Asahi:
Oh god, they probably couldn't make it out in time.

Asahi, in remorse, tears fall from his eyes, but they evaporate entirely.

Asahi:
Continues going up the stairwell
Bless those people, dear God.

The burned bodies of the brave firefighters who couldn't make it out in time are seen as well.

Asahi:
These brave firefighters. They sacrificed their lives to save these people. But their deaths were not in vain.

Asahi continues up the stairwell, but as soon as he gets to the 8th floor, he starts hearing things.

Asahi:
He stops in his tracks
I can hear everything. The Fire burns as the people rush out of the building, screaming and the people screaming in agony as they can do nothing else but burn alive. I can hear the floors collapse and crumble down and the people as they run down this stairwell. I can listen to muffled sirens from outside. Make it stop! I CAN'T BEAR TO LISTEN TO THIS MUCH LONGER!

Everything Asahi was hearing faded away. He continued walking up the stairway and eventually got to the 9th floor.

Asahi stops again.

Asahi:
I hear another thing. It's almost like-- sobbing. But it's coming from the 10th floor.

Asahi runs up the stairwell to the 10th floor.

Asahi:
!!! The Fire feels so tense up here!


The hallway was close to buckling down.

Asahi:
The sobbing is close! I can hear it nearby! Seems like the 3rd on the right side.

Asahi took careful steps, and not soon after, he approached the door.

He tries to open it, but it won't budge. Instead, he kicks the door open.

After he did that, a girl was on her knees sobbing.

Unidentified girl:
My family is dead.
trembling
And it's all my fault!
sobs

Asahi approaches the girl. As he gets closer, she is alerted. The Fire's blaze gets stronger.

Asahi:
ARGHHH! THE FIRE IS TOO STRONG!

Asahi's scarf starts to burn away.

The girl sees parts of the red scarf fall to the ground.

Unidentified girl:
gasp


The Fire calms down.


Asahi then slowly gets closer to her.

Asahi:
Who are y-

With tears in her glowing red eyes, she gets up and hugs Asahi.

Asahi:
!!!

Unidentified girl:
sobbing
Asahi-

Asahi:
!!!

Unidentified girl:
Please. Please help me.
hugs tighter

Asahi:
How do you know my name?

Unidentified girl:
That's because-
puts head up
I'm Ami Uragiri.

Asahi:
Ami! Do you know what caused all of this?

Ami:
sniffle
Not what. Who...

Asahi:
Who?

Ami:
Mhm...

Asahi:
Then who caused all this?

Ami:
I did.

-Silence-