Be A Hero

Chapter 3

     Kono was fast asleep on the ancient mattress that all the fluff had floated out of, snoring gently, dreaming about what her life used to be like. She tossed and turned under her torn, old blanket that she shared with Miki. Finally, flames crept into Kono's dreams, launching her back into reality quickly. Her eyes flew open and Kono woke up. Remembering her nightmare, she shivered, slipping deeper underneath the blanket, and closed her eyes.

     Someone crept into the small room that the sisters shared. They were extremely skilled at creeping around, almost as if they did it all the time. The person snuck deeper into the room, finally stopping just in front of the dilapidated mattress.

     Sensing the disturbance, Kono slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to see who it was. She stifled a scream, then breathed out a sigh of relief. "Rae, it's you. Sorry, I assumed the worst," she said after her heart rate had slowed down a bit.

     Raeden laughed. "You can't be too careful these days." She crouched down next to Miki, gently pushing a few strands of hair from her little sister's face.

     "Rae, you realize that the sun hasn't even come up yet, right?" Kono asked as Miki grunted softly. Miki sat up slowly and Kono buried her head under her thin cotton pillow.

     "That would be the point," Raeden said.

     "Is everything okay?" Miki mumbled.

     "Of course something's not okay. It's too early!" Kono whined.

     "You're just not a morning person," Raeden replied.

     "Who is?"

     Miki frowned. "Why are we up now, Rae?"

     "Do you agree with Kono?" Raeden asked.

     "Sort of."

     "Well, I had a surprise for you guys. But if you don't want to come, then I suppose I'll go by myself."

     "I like surprises." Miki perked up a bit.

     "I guess I'll go," Kono mumbled, poking her head out from under the pillow. "But I'm still tired."

     "Noted," Raeden said. "No, get dressed and let's go."

     After a few minutes (more than a few- Kono was definitely not a morning person), the sisters crept out of their room. They made their way from the catwalk on the second floor of the warehouse to the bottom floor, careful not to wake Callaghan- he wasn't a morning person either. Kono unlocked the padlock and swung open the double doors. Raeden led the way out into the darkness, her sisters following her faithfully.

     Bright stars sprinkled the dark sky, the moon lighting the sisters' way through the field. Finally, the lights of the city were able to be seen.

     "Isn't it beautiful?" Miki mumbled, still half-asleep.

     "Yeah," Raeden said, wrapping an arm around her sisters. "It is."

     The girls continued into the city, where Raeden's surprise was waiting. Kono shivered slightly. The air was crisp and cool, and a slight breeze ruffled her blonde hair. The stars reflected in the eyes as Kono looked up at the sky, marveling at the vastness of it all.

     A few dark clouds huddled at the edge of the sky, coming closer as the sky began to brighten slowly.

     "Come on," Raeden said. "We have to hurry before we miss it!"

     "Miss what, Rae?" Miki asked.

     "It's a-"

     "Wait," Kono said, "let me guess. It's a surprise?"

     "Yep," Raeden said.

     "I knew it," Kono muttered.

     Taking their hands, Raeden ran to the lights in the distance that happens to belong to the city. As they ran, a few more stars faded away, and the clouds crept deeper into the brightening skies. The sun hadn't risen yet, however, it would soon.

     The sisters soon reached the edge of the city. The huge buildings towered over them and the girls had to bent their necks to see the tops of them.

     Kono bent over, panting. "We... really should... have brought... our skates," she said, barely getting the words out as she gasped for air.

     "Agreed," Miki said, also out of breath.

     Nobody was out on the streets yet, and the silence was settled like a blanket over the modern city. Together, Raeden, Kono, and Miki dashed through the darkened streets, Raeden leading them to a building towards the center of the city.

     When they reached the building, they started to climb the fire escape to the top. The building was slightly shorter than the other building surrounding it, but that didn't mean that it wasn't tall. It took the sisters a few minutes to get to the top. When they did, Raeden took their hands and led them to the eastern edge of the building.

     The sky was brightening quicker now, the stars almost all gone. The moon had slipped quietly away, and now the sun was coming up.

     The sky turned a beautiful shade of pink and the top of the sun peaked out from the horizon.

     "There it is," Raeden sighed.

     The light from the sun hit the glass walls of the buildings all around, reflecting the beauty of the sun over and over again.

     "Wow," Miki whispered, her eyes filled with wonder at the sight in front of her.

     Kono turned to Raeden. "How did you find out about this place?"

     "I actually come here often," Raeden replied. "It's always beautiful, and it's nice to come here to relax." Looking down at Miki, she added, "I thought it might be nice to come here now because of, well, you know."

     "Tadashi?" Miki asked.

     Raeden sighed again. "Yeah."

     "Do you think that he's going to be okay?" Miki asked, looking up at Raeden.

    "Of course he's going to be okay," Raeden said. "Callaghan wouldn't hurt him, and even if he did, we would stop him."

     "Yeah," Kono added. "Callaghan doesn't stand a chance against us! He would be begging for mercy in half a second!"

     "Still," Miki said, "don't you feel at all bad for Tadashi?"

     "Of course," Raeden said. "I feel awful about it."

     "So do I," Kono said, "but we have to remain strong. Tadashi can't do anything about it, but we can."

     "Don't worry, Miki," Raeden said. "Tadashi's strong. He can handle Callaghan for a few days."

     Miki bit her lip. "What if it's longer than a few days?"

     "It won't be," Raeden reassured her. "Now, let's watch the sunrise. You'll feel better."

     Miki nodded slowly and turned to face the sun. Raeden did too. But Kono stared straight ahead, not really looking at anything. She wondered how much of what they had told Miki was true, and how much was make-believe. Callaghan was a loose cannon. They had no idea what he would do next. Could they really count on him to release Tadashi anytime soon?

     Finally, the sun was above the horizon and people were finally milling around on the streets. The clouds had almost covered the sky by now, so it was no surprise when it started to pour. Laughing, the sisters ran down from the rooftop into a deserted alley. They dashed through empty streets and courtyards so they wouldn't be seen.

     Once, however, they passed a courtyard that was full. The sisters passed through quickly and nobody looked up from where they were staring, but Kono stopped as she was running and looked at the gathering. They all had black umbrellas lifted up and everyone was mourning. Shrugging it off, Kono ran after her sisters.

     They made their way back to the warehouse and went inside to face Callaghan.