Who We Are (Hiro x Reader)

chapter nine

The creepers groan and snap their teeth as they see you. You look down at Hiro, who's covered in blood - yet another reason why they're here. You blindly grab your crowbar and stand up, ripping yourself from Hiro's grasp.

"___-" he chokes out.

"I've got it, I've got it!" you tighten your grip on the weapon and walk towards them. Your heart was beating rapidly, your fingertips growing ice cold in your sudden panic. You raise the crowbar over your head as one of the creepers swings its arms out to you; it's nails inching for your skin. You slam the weapon down into its neck and shove it away, only to be yanked with it as it falls to the ground. You gasp as you fall on top of the thing. Its mouth opens and nearly takes a huge chunk out of your arm. You scream and scramble off just as the other two creepers drop down and grab your legs.

"___!" You kick the creepers away as fast as you can, but they keep grabbing you. You turn around onto your stomach and find yourself face-to-face with Hiro. He takes your hand and pulls you up, his other hand holding the knife that lodges itself into one of the creeper's skulls. He pulls you out of the way of the other.

"Hiro-"

"Go!" he screams, shoving you to the side. He scrambles to his feet and you reach out for him, grabbing his elbows and helping him upright. "Just go!"

"I'm not leaving you!" you scream.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because I'm not like that!"

"Well, you wouldn't kiss me-" he says jokingly.

"Hiro!" you shout in annoyance. "Now is not the time!"

"Just trying to lighten the mood!" He laughs.

"Fine," you huff. "Enlighten me before we die."

Hiro shakes his head and backs up with you. "Nope. Not today, ___."

"Hiro, there's nothing we can do," you remind him. "Our weapons are over there and we're cornered."

"No," he repeats. "No, I made you a promise."

You shake your head and smile sadly. "You can't keep every promise." Hiro doesn't reply. Instead, he just grabs your hand and backs away quickly. It's clear that you won't be getting out of this. Nothing you have will save you now. Your knees tremble in fear.

I don't want to feel their teeth sink into my skin.

I don't want to be ripped into pieces until I die.

I don't want to come back and be the cause of someone else's gruesome death.

Suddenly, the door behind you opens and three bullets hit the creepers in their skulls. "Wow, I actually did it!" Tadashi exclaims.

You turn around and grin. "Tadashi!"

"Great timing, bro!" Hiro shouts. "We were almost lunch!"

"Are you two okay?" he asks seriously.

"Yeah," Hiro breathes. "Yeah, I think so." He looks at you. "You're okay, right?"

You nod and release Hiro's hand. "Fine," you say. You walk to your bag and pack it up, tear the crowbar from the creeper's neck, stick it in your bag, and hold your hand out to Tadashi. He doesn't hesitate to hand you one small gun. He gives Hiro the other, then evenly distributes the bullets. "Let's go. We should head back to the café before dark." You walk out, not slowing down even though Tadashi and Hiro are a bit behind.

You don't want to look at Hiro or talk to him. You screwed up back there. You nearly kissed him, some kid that you just met yesterday, and then you almost got the both of you killed. You weren't focused. You were distracted and that slowed you down.

All because of a boy.

What was wrong with you? This isn't the time to flirt and be happy. The world is a killer, and you've got to realize that. Nothing is going to be perfect again. It took away your family without a second thought. Your baby sister, your kind parents. They didn't stand a chance. Why would you? Why would he? As cliché as it sounds, you know that distancing yourself from these people is the only way that losing them won't hurt as badly. You've got to keep moving, because if you make one wrong move, it's over.

"Hey, ___!" Hiro whispers loudly. You turn your head a bit. "What are you doing? Slow down!"

You do. Hiro walks just a couple of feet behind you, Tadashi at his side. The streets are eerily quiet on the way back to café. That is, until you reach the block.

You see the smoke before they do. The thick, black smoke puffing up and pouring into the light blue sky. The groans are barely audible as the roar of the flames take over every sound. The building is nearly gone. It's beyond saving. Even a team of firefighters wouldn't have the ability to put these flames out in time. Everything in it or around it will be reduced to nothing in mere minutes. It's gone.

The café, your new home, is nearly gone.