The Originals

The Breaking Point

Hiro walks out of the elevator, fists still clenched, to see two men dressed in all black blocking the only door in the hallway outside of the elevator.

"Stop right there." The man on the left says, holding his palm out towards Hiro in a stop position.

"This is an urgent matter, sir." James responds, standing next to Hiro. Hiro clenches his teeth and lets out a *tsk*

"Move." Hiro's voice booms through the hallway.

"Not happening, pal." The man on the right says. Both these men are relatively bigger. Their black suits tighten against their muscular frames. The one on the right puts out his hand with his palm to the ceiling and a tiny flame sparks from it. "I won't hesitate to use my gift. I am a B rank." Upon seeing the small, pitiful flame, Hiro bursts out in laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHAH!!!" He put the palm of his hand onto his face and continues laughing uncontrollably. "Will you protect me?" The words echo louder in Hiro's mind, driving his steps forward, drowning out everything else. Each word pulses through him, matching the rhythm of his heartbeat, steady and relentless. The man with the flame gift took a step back, his confident expression faltering as Hiro's laughter echoed through the hallway, loud and unhinged. The flame flickered, almost shrinking, as if in response to Hiro's growing intensity.

"Woah, what's wrong with this guy?" The left man says, James has backed away a little bit now, hugging the door to the elevator.

"We need to escort the boss out of here right now." The man with the gift says into the collar of his shirt.

"I." Hiro begins walking towards the man with the gift. As he steps forward, a faint purple aura begins to pulse around him, flickering like a ghostly flame, growing brighter with each step. His hair obscuring his eyes, but the energy radiating from his body makes the air hum with a tense, electric charge.

"Will." As he gets closer, the man's body tenses up and he ignites his hands in flames.

"Protect HER!" Hiro's voice ripped through the hallway, a command that reverberated off the walls, echoing with a force that sent shivers down the spine. His eyes, once hidden, blazed with a fierce, purple flame—brighter, sharper, and far more dangerous than the man's flickering gift. The door at the end of the hallway exploded inward, sending shards of wood and a burst of purple flames scattering into Taka's office.


"I will for sure take a look at it. I'm sure I will get to the bottom of it, sir." Taka sits at his desk with an old man sitting across from him. The old man has two men sitting beside him dressed in black suits that fit snugly as well. Taka's hair is longer now, more vibrantly blue now. He wears a long sleeve white button up shirt that perfectly outlines his earned muscles. He is looking over a small stack of papers.

"Thank you. I knew coming to you was the correct mo-" The old man begins, but is interrupted by one of the men in black suits exploding through the door. The explosion is filled with purple fire that is mixed with blues and blacks that impersonate an exploding star. Right before hitting the floor a bed of water catches him, extinguishing the fire that was clinging to his clothes. The man is passed out, and Taka is now standing in front of the man, looking at Hiro engulfed in purple aura, his eyes are filled purple rather than black at the moment.

Taka's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, his calm mask slipping as he took in the sight of Hiro, engulfed in a wild, flickering purple aura. "Hirito..." he murmured, more to himself than anyone else, as if trying to reconcile the figure before him with the friend he once knew. Strings of water move gracefully around Taka's body, as if they have a mind of their own.

"I WILL PROTECT HER!" Hiro lunges at Taka so fast that Taka barely is able to dodge to the left as the window behind his desk shatters. Taka has a look of relief wash over him. The sound of the attack is so loud, that hearing is temporarily removed from all in the room. The men with the old man yell as they escort the old man out, though nothing is audible. James helps escort them onto the elevator and the door closes. Taka stands, Hiro directly in front of him. Hiro glances to his right to see a wall of water where the old man was.

"Hirito, stop this," Taka said, his voice calm but firm, water swirling protectively around him. "I don't know what's happened, but this isn't you. Let's talk." But Hiro's eyes burned too brightly, his aura pulsing with a desperate energy that drowned out Taka's words.

"Still protecting others before yourself." Hiro says, eyes still filled purple.

"You've lost it." Taka says. They begin slowly walking in a circle around one another.

"I will protect her." Hiro responds, the aura enlarged now. Specks in his aura almost appear like tiny planets and stars.

"Protect who, Hirito?" Taka responds, the water moving faster around his body now, and more of it.

"I will protect her!" He says again as he launches at Taka once again. This time, Taka was ready. Taka's water moved like it was alive, coiling and twisting around his body, responding to his slightest gesture. When Hiro lunged, the water reacted instantly, solidifying into a wall before splitting into tendrils that snaked toward Hiro's outstretched fists. Waiting behind the wall was a giant fist of water. Taka stands a little to the right of the fist and swings his fist as hard as he can. The water fist connected with a deafening crash, sending Hiro hurtling across the room. He slammed into the wall with bone-rattling force, the plaster cracking beneath the impact, as if the entire room held its breath for a moment. Hiro pulls himself out of the wall and drops to a knee. He puts his hand to his head and screams.

Hiro's entire body trembles, veins pulsing with the strain as his aura flickers wildly around him. His scream tares through the room, raw and guttural, a sound that seems to shake the walls themselves. His breath came in ragged gasps, each one shuddering through his frame. "WHERE IS SHE?!"Taka does not miss his chance, though. He quickly commands water to trap Hiro in a ball. The ball raises slightly into the air as Hiro is still screaming from inside the ball, though it is muffled.

Taka's brow was slick with sweat, and for a moment, his hands shook before he steadied them, the water swirling around him never breaking its fluid, protective dance. "Can you please, for the love of everything, calm down?" His voice was calm, but there was a subtle strain beneath it, a hint of the effort it took to maintain control After a couple seconds, Hiro finally stops his muffled screaming and lets himself relax in the water bubble.

"If I let you out can we talk like civilized people? I haven't seen you in 40 years, and this is how you greet me? Missed you too, buddy." Taka chuckles a little to himself, "Who would've guessed you'd be so hotheaded after all these years." He adds, looking up at Hiro who nods slightly. The water disperses and falls onto the floor. Hiro smacking against the floor with it. 

As Hiro stumbled forward, the water dissipating, Taka watched him carefully, his calm smile masking the worry in his eyes. "Wanna have a seat and talk?" He motioned to the chair, but his gaze never left Hiro, as if bracing for whatever might come next.