Some Would-Be Heroes

[Yukika Inoue]

The pseudo-Kitsune leered through her wooden mask. Her arms crossed over the Obi-sash that held her kimono folded in place. Though no one could really see her face, they could tell she was holding every fiber of her being back to not smack him over the head. Wisteria stood there nervously ready to take the bandages back before the heroine pressed her hand to the first aid kit and pushing it back at him.

“Keep it.” She said in her deep, mysterious voice. Wisteria jumped back as her hand reached past her onto the clear box with the bandages. “We don’t need it, it could be much more helpful to you.”

“But, you three are travellers, aren’t you? This kind of stuff could save your life.” Dean mentioned, trying to offer the box back. “Take it.”

“I said, keep it.” The Megitsune implied in a much sterner voice. “Someone such as us has no need for something that we can create out of nothing,”

The boy in front of them grew quite and paralyzed for a moment. He looked at Wisteria, then back to the Ice Queen, then returned to the fox-girl. It all made too much sense to him now.

“You three are primes?” He asked, getting a simultaneous nod from the group of girls in response. He clutched the aid-kit in his hands and pulled it back to himself. “Fine, I’ll hold on to it. You three be careful.”

“Thank you, you too.” She said, as she waved him off. Wisteria turned to the other two, tears close to welling in her eyes.

“Th-Thank you guys for defending me. I appr-” The plant-girl hushed as the kitsune removed her mask and shushed her. The wooden mask hung lazily off the side of her head.

“Don’t thank us. It’s not necessary to thank a friend for something they should do. It’s not so much that we wanted to what we did, as it was that we had to, because you’re our friend Wisteria. You would have done the same for either of us.” The Kitsune explained. She turned and continued to walk, not exactly sure where she was going. “Let’s go find some work to do. Maybe if we do something heroic, people will stop picking on Wisteria around here.”

“And you think that dragon will descend upon this town and you’ll just kill it?” Weiss prodded at Yukika, mostly jokingly. The two bickered momentarily as they walked, leaving Wisteria in thought behind. IT wasn’t until the distant voices of her friends brought her back to reality.

“Hey! Wisteria, come on or we’ll leave you behind!” She called out. Wisteria jumped in surprised, stuttering as she attempted to catch back up.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m coming!” She called out and crawled across the ground as quickly as possible, trying to catch up. While she was still out of whispering earshot, she mumbled to herself with a smile forming on her face. “Thank you guys.”

Thirty minutes passed of idle conversation while the team looked for some place that could give them some kind of work to do. Yukika groaned at how long it took to find something to do.

“This is as difficult as finding work as an C-Rank hero! It’s always too damn quiet.” The angered voice came out annoyed. The kitsune felt a tendril lay across her shoulder.

“Please don’t get angry Yukika-san. I’m sure we’ll find something to do soon enough.” The plant girl mentioned. Her eyes gazed through the crowd of people, staring at the green girl that was close enough to mistake for a monster. They closed on a sign, too difficult to see without paying close enough attention. “Adventurer’s Guild - Work for mercenaries and heros.” She read aloud subconsciously. Yukika’s attitude changed instantly.

“Finally!” The kitsune headed towards the sign Wisteria pointed out. “Let’s show this town that looks don’t mean anything for a hero!”