Chapter 3 - What Does It Mean To Be A Hero?

Kidnappers have taken several people from Kibou's village and he is the only one around to do anything, should he go get help or prove himself worthy of being a Hero?

After the Hero Candidates are chosen there is a one month waiting period before they are to arrive at the academy to be trained. No one knew about Kibou and the fact that he had gained the mark of the Hero, he didn’t want to stir a commotion so he simply kept it a secret from everyone until he would set off for the academy, this would probably prove a little difficult when the time comes, but he simply thought that if he was able to show them the symbol on the palm of his hand then they would have no choice but to believe him. Kibou was walking around around the outskirts of his village, he wanted to clear his mind and make sure that he had his priorities in order, plus, a little fresh air never did anyone any harm.

 

‘Sure is quiet tonight, well, it is a weekday so that is to be expected I guess, also I’m on the outskirts of the village right now so there’s that to take into consideration as well’

 

The faint sound of vehicles travelling from within the village could be heard but as Kibou continued to walk it in turn began to get quieter and quieter, it was peaceful.

 

‘I know it’s been a week but I still can’t believe that I’ve actually become a Hero Candidate. Hero… I’ve never really thought about it, but what does it take exactly to be a hero?’

 

Kibou asked himself as he gazed upon the night sky.

 

‘Is it someone who saves people? Or someone who simply does good things?’

 

It was an intriguing question that one could ask themselves, moreso with the Hero Candidate choosing, this was a question that Kibou needed to find an answer too, but this wasn’t something that could be found out through research or methods like that, this was something that Kibou would have to search for deep inside him, through his own morals and ideals.

 

As darkness began to fall upon the village Kibou began to head back to his home. On his way back he spotted a small light off into the distance of the forest.

 

“Hmm? That’s strange, I don’t think I recall ever seeing any civilisation in the forest, there’s no harm in checking it out I guess”

 

Kibou changes his course of direction and heads to the light, brushing past branches and bushes and other types of foliage. Kibou hides behind a bush as he spots a truck outside of a concrete building.

 

‘There doesn’t seem to be anyone there… Should I approach it?’

 

Kibou nervously works up the courage to approach the building but as he does so a man wearing dark clothing and a black mask walks out of the building and Kibou quickly ducks down behind the bushes again, he peeks his eyes over and observes what the man was doing. The man unlocks the back of the truck and two other men climb out, as they do so they reach back into the back and drag citizens from Kibou’s village out, they weren’t dead but they had their mouths covered up with tape and their hands were tied with thin rope. Kibou lets out a small gasp and becomes overcome with fear.

 

‘Is this… human trafficking of some sort? I’ve gotta tell someone at the village!’

 

As Kibou releases his hands from his mouth he notices the Hero symbol on the palm of his hand.

 

‘No… I’m gonna prove to myself that I’m worthy of being a Hero Candidate’

 

It’d be useless to try and face the three men head on, they’d probably just be able to apprehend Kibou in an instant, this meant that he would have to devise a plan that not only allows him to not get harmed but also allow the villagers to be able to return safely to their homes.

 

‘Think Kibou, think!’

 

Kibou’s face lights up, almost as if a light bulb had gone off in his mind.

 

‘I hope this works, cause this is all I’ve got right now’

 

As the two men escort the villagers inside one stays outside on look out, Kibou picks up a large rock and throws it at a point where Kibou would be out of eyesight if he were to attack from behind. The man curiously walks over to where the sound was made.

 

“Who’s out there? Better not be some dumb kid playing a prank”

 

As the man looks behind a tree, Kibou slowly creeps up behind him and smashes a large rock against the man’s skull, the man falls to the ground hard, he isn’t dead but he will be unconscious for a little while.

 

“Holy crap… I can’t believe I just did that”

 

Kibou wasn’t feeling any fear, except it felt like more of an adrenaline rush.

 

“Okay, one down, two to go…”

 

Kibou walks slowly over to the door of the building and leers inside, the villagers were all huddled up, still tied up, the other two men seemed to be talking in another room, as quiet talking could be heard from a small room on the other side of the building, Kibou slowly walks over to the villagers who all notice him and hope and uneasiness is brought about on their faces. Kibou brings his finger to his lips.

 

“Shhh… I’m going to get you guys out of here… just bear with me…”

 

Kibou unties one of villagers hand’s and takes the tape off his mouth.

 

“Ahhh… thank you, young man”

 

“A-Ah… you’re welcome. Listen, You’ve gotta untie everyone else whilst I think of a diversion for the other two men got it?”

 

“Y-Yes, I’ll get right on it”

 

“Good, make sure you keep it down”

 

“Will do”

 

As Kibou leaves the man to untying the rest of the villagers he walks over to the room in which the other two men are, their faint talking gets clearer and clearer as Kibou approaches the door. Kibou keeps watch as the villagers finish untying each other.

 

“This is good… if they all untie each other quiety no one will get harmed…”

 

Everything is going well, there didn’t need to be any more casualties as long as the two men stayed in the room and the villagers were to escape quietly. The villagers all finished untying each other when it of no where one of them must of gotten to scared and yelled

 

“Run!”

 

Startling the rest of villagers they all run out of the building, alerting the two men causing them to sprint out, Kibou hides behind a bunch of stacked crates which allowed his presence to become unknown easily.

 

‘Why did they have to get startled like that!?’

 

Though this was unprecedented, the villagers actually manage to gain considerable distance over the men and manage to escape back to the village.

 

‘At least they’ll manage to get back safely…’

 

“D****t! How the hell did they manage to escape, and where did our other guy go!?”

 

Exclaims one of the men as the pair of them head back into the building. Kibou slowly approaches a window that is placed behind the crates, almost conveniently, he begins to discretely climb out until he is able to hear small squealing which causes Kibou to hesitate in his escape, he looks back to the direction of the squealing and notices and small girl with shoulder length blue hair and blue eyes, with tears running down her face, it seems like the villagers forgot to untie her.

 

‘How did they forget to untie the poor girl?’

 

Unfortunately her squealing caught the attention of one of the men and one of them approaches the girl and grabs her by her hair pulling her up, he rips off the tape on her mouth and her loud crying could be heard almost instantly.

 

“Looks like we still managed to nab ourselves one, you’ll sell for a good amount as well”

 

Kibou was frozen, he knew he had to help the girl but to go up against two men almost double his size seemed like a death wish.

 

“Why are you crying little girl? It’s no use, no one's going to save you, you know”

 

As the two men snigger with laughter, Kibou feels an overwhelming emotion begin to consume him.

 

“You’ll never be a hero…”

“You’ll never be saved…”

“...What does it take to be a hero…”

 

These words run around in Kibou’s head as he sharpens his gaze he comes out from behind the crates and before either of the men even had time to react a punch was landed on the man holding the small girl by her hair. Releasing his grip on the small girl he’s sent flying into a different set of crates.

 

“What the hell is a dumb kid doing here!”

 

The other man approaches Kibou as he begins to pin him down, Kibou grabs his hand and swings the man over his body, causing him to land on the floor and bouncing as he does so, doing some serious damage to the man’s spine.

 

“Graaaaah! You… dumb… kid!”

 

Kibou picks him up by the collar and throws him with full force into the other man.

 

“How dare you deprive someone of being saved!”

 

With them both unconscious Kibou releases his strengthened stance and quickly notices the symbol on his hand go from glowing to dissipating into an engraved looking state again.

 

Kibou turns to the small girl takes a deep breath and softens his composure as not to startle the poor girl, he then slowly unties her hands.

 

“It’s okay… You don’t have to be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you in any way possible”

 

As Kibou unties the girl’s hands her crying had stopped, but when she looked up at Kibou she went straight into him and the tears began to flow again, spreading her arms around his body, not even reaching half way around, Kibou instinctively wrapped his arms around the small girl embracing her with one of the most heartfelt hugs he had ever given, it was a hug that would make anyone feel safe, which was certainly the effect it had on the small girl as her crying began to slow down as she was being held by Kibou.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“(sniffle)...Myu”

 

Slowly giving him an answer Kibou smiled at her.

 

“That’s a really pretty name!”

 

Myu hides her face with her hair at Kibou’s flattery.

 

“Where are your parents?”

 

“I… Don’t… None”

 

“You don’t have any parents?”

 

Myu shakes her head from side to side, she was missing words in her sentence, and after a small conversation with Myu, Kibou was able to piece together that the Myu was an orphan who also hadn’t received a proper education. Kibou immediately felt sympathy for Myu, he then made a snap decision, though it might be one he would regret based on his mother’s emotions, however, Kibou knew that he couldn’t just leave Myu on her own.

 

“Would you like to... come back to my home?”

 

Myu looks at Kibou with a confused gaze.

 

“Home?... (sniffle) What that?”

 

“What’s a home you ask? Hmm, well if I had to give an explanation I would say that it was a place where you feel most safe, there are no threats at all and you can be who you really are”

 

“...You ...be there?!”

 

“Of course, I’ll be with you the whole time, so you can feel extra safe, there’s no way I’d leave you on your own!”

 

Myu’s face lit up as she blushes and buries her face into Kibou’s shirt, tears began to flow from her eyes again,  though these seemed like happy tears, like someone who had just been given a place that they could belong, somewhere in which they could call ‘home’.

 

“I’ll take that as a yes”

 

Kibou smiled wholeheartedly. They quickly made haste back to Kibou’s village before the men would wake up, Kibou made a call to the authorities on his way back and reported suspicious behaviour on the outskirts of the village, the police replied with them already being on the move.

 

“Hmm, I guess someone who broke free went straight to the authorities, It’s good to hear that at least someone was doing something about this situation”

 

As Kibou re-enters the village he looks down and notices Myu sleeping whilst being cradled in his arms.

 

“A girl like her shouldn’t of had to go through something like that. Still, I’m glad that she agreed to come with me, with her being an orphan and everything, I hope mum will be okay with this though…”

 

Kibou lets out a soft laugh followed by a small sigh.