Brick by Boring Brick

Chapter Seven: Another Detour, Another Friend

That was when he heard it.

The sound of an idiot flailing in the water because the basic knowledge of swimming has left his mind.

Sero, despite being tired, cold, and wet, jumped to his feet once more.

"KAMINARI?!!", he tried again, his defeat forgotten as a sound broke through the quiet night.

"SERO?!! SERO, I'M OVER HERE!!!!"

Sero sighed with relief and ran towards the voice. It wasn't long before he saw Kaminari dragging himself onto land.

Upon reaching the shore, Kaminari managed to get to his knees and cough up some water as Sero had before. His entire body felt shaky and tired. Unconsciousness? Kaminari welcomed it, but of course if you want to go unconscious, the world will keep you awake.

Sero ran to Kaminari's side, then getting on his knees to wrap his arms around his friend.

Kaminari bit back a wince of pain; the weird bat-dinosaur-demon-thing had drove its talons into his shoulders, so naturally they hurt, but he hugged Sero back nonetheless.

"DUDE", Sero said, looking him dead in the eye after letting him go,"I THOUGHT YOU DIED OR SOMETHING!!!"

"I THOUGHT YOU DIED OR SOMETHING!!!", Kaminari replied, then coughing up more water.

"Honestly though", Sero sighed, relief washing over him,"I'm so happy you're alive that I could kiss you right now."

"Bet you won't", Kaminari laughed, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Bet?"

"Bet."

"Bet, then."

"Wait actually-"

Kaminari was cut off when Sero kissed him on the cheek. Whatever brain cells that had managed to survive for that long in Kaminari's chaotic mind died then and there.

"Wh- uh- hUh?!!", was all Kaminari could manage.

"Just be glad we're both alive. Also, a bet is a bet is a bet, dude", Sero snickered, then standing up and holding out his hand,"Now let's find the nearest village so we don't actually get eaten by something else. I think I see light that way."

So they walked, headed towards the light in the not-so-far distance. It wasn't long before the lights grew unnaturally bright.

Just like a fire.

"Kaminari...shit, I think something's burning!", Sero said, pointing towards the strange light. Kaminari squinted and replied,"I think so...hurry, man, let's go see!"

They ran towards the light, though freezing and exhausted they ran, ran because if something's burning down, you don't just stand and watch. You run, even if it hurts, you run to help because you're a hero.

It wasn't long before they reached the light, which, to their credit, had been a fire.

An entire village had been burned to the ground.

From where they were standing, Kaminari and Sero could see someone on their knees, collapsed at the front of all the wreckage. They did not move, speak, or do anything to signal that they knew Kaminari and Sero were standing only a few feet away.

The two approached the figure, silhouetted against the glowing reds and oranges of the blaze, until they reached it. It was a girl.

She had strange pink skin, golden eyes where all white was replaced by black, small horns poking out from beneath her hair, and a large battle axe on her back. She was crying as well as holding a glove in her hand. Beside that glove, a foot or so away, was another glove.

"Hey...", Kaminari spoke up as he and Sero approached,"Are you...okay? Do you need help?"

"It's gone...", was all the mysterious girl murmured,"All gone..."

"What...what happened?", Sero asked, careful to keep his voice as gentle as possible.

"It's all gone...", this time, the voice came from next to the girl. The glove on the right, which wasn't being held, limply gestured towards the burning remains of the village,"Everyone, everything, all that we knew...gone."

"Oh...", Sero nodded in understanding,"I...I'm sorry. I know how you feel; I lost my father during an event tragically similar to this."

The pink girl slowly nodded, then turning to the empty space to her right,"I'm glad you decided to come with me...if you'd hadn't..."

"Me too...Mina, I'm so sorry...but don't blame yourself. We couldn't have know that...", the other person, which Kaminari and Sero realized to be invisible, attempted to comfort the pink girl, who's name was apparently Mina.

"I should have stayed...", Mina whimpered, and the invisible girl beside her spoke once more,"What did I just say? You couldn't have known this would happen."

"I know, but..."

"I- er- we understand how you feel", Kaminari attempted to help the invisible girl out in her efforts,"My brother went off to fight a dragon, and I stayed back in my village. My brother never came home. Sero here had been too young and inexperienced to help his father in battle. We couldn't have done anything, and afterwards we both grieved over them, but in the end we couldn't have stopped it."

Mina looked up at them, the dying fire from the former village flickering him her eyes. They were sad, yes; but determined.

"Thank you, two; and you too, Hagakure", she sighed, managing to get to her feet. The invisible girl, Hagakure, stood up beside her.

"Who are you?", Mina asked, her head tilted to the side in tired curiosity.

"I'm Denki Kaminari", Kaminari bowed slightly,"And this is Hanta Sero."

"Why do you keep introducing me?"

"Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Shut up."

Kaminari rolled his eyes and turned away from Sero,"Who are you guys?"

"I'm Mina Ashido. You can call me Mina. Everyone does...or everyone did.", she sighed, obviously still heartbroken over the destruction of her village.

Beside her, Hagakure spoke up,"I'm Toru Hagakure. What are you two doing here so late...? Usually...the village didn't get many visitors a night..."

"Long story short", Sero spoke up, cutting Kaminari off,"We're on a quest. Gonna fight the King of Dragons for revenge and also to save other people from his wrath and stuff. The dragons...something's up with them."

The light immediately returned to Mina's eyes; they glowed like twin suns as she spoke up,"I'm coming with you!!"