(Hiro POV)
I and Sora continued our session in the arena smoothly, after cultivating a sufficient amount of stabilisers in my Trigger, we got on with some physical conditioning. She highlighted how my body might've been aesthetically pleasing, but the body of a trained Core user is physiologically different compared to the average human.
It was late afternoon now and the sky was beginning to fade into a blueish hue, resembling the light radiating from the city. Sora got us both ice cream from a shop near by. "Yuck.. this tastes horrid, how do you like this stuff." She spat out a mouthful onto the concrete.
"This was literally your idea!" I shot back vexed.
She laughed at me teasingly, throwing her cone into a bin, "You know. You really should learn how to control that hothead of yours. If you were to get into battle with it, it could be detrimental." She lectured me in an advising tone, almost as if she cared about me.
"Why the sudden change of heart? 2 days ago you were trying to kill me, now you're giving me advice like you care about me. Seriously?" I questioned her, I wasn't used to such kindness. It made me uncomfortable with myself because it was something I couldn't comprehend. In my short time on earth, nothing good had ever happened to me. My future is finally beginning to look bright and I can't help but feel empty and alone. All this strength and I feel like a failure. A slave to my own fears, a pleaser of others ever still. I haven't changed.. I never will.
Sora could see the look in my eyes. I looked away but the message had already been sent, like a silent cry for help. She understood. Her expression softened, she approached me slowly, and she embraced me, holding me gently in her arms.
"Poor thing.. You've been alone for the longest time haven't you." Her voice was sweet. This wasn't the cold executioner i'd met not long ago.
I refused. I refused to open up to her. I couldn't. No good had ever come out of me displaying my feelings in an honest way, or any way for that matter. Words like 'fat' and 'worthless', phrases like 'attention seeker' and 'drama queen' spun agonisingly through my head. I didn't speak, but my silence eventually betrayed me.
"Hiro. It's okay to cry. I won't hurt you.."
Those words. They struck deep into me. Never once has anybody shown the slightest hint of understanding to me. I don't know why but, tears started to hurl out of my eyes uncontrollably. There was no whining or weeping. Just soft whimpers. I cried on her chest helplessly, holding onto her like a defenceless infant.
She let me cry there for some time, and then my tears stopped, pulling away I saw the gorgeous smile on her face. I blushed, thinking that I had utterly embarrassed myself in front of her, but her smile never wavered, instead, it brightened.
"Hiro. I'm really sorry for how I acted that day. I especially hate men who take advantage of women and abuse their powers as a means to do that. And please understand, from my perspective, it was almost blatant that you had killed that girl. Not that i'm still accusing you or anything but, what really happened that night..?"
I didn't respond. I looked away to a Karaoke bar across the street and tugged her arm, "Hey.. would you like to go?" I hoped she got the message. I didn't want to talk about that night.. Not to even think about it.
Her smile returned and she replied excitedly, "Of course!"
We entered the bar and headed to our designated room after I obviously paid. The room was lightly decorated, with the table full of different drinks and snacks, the disco spun around, illuminating the room with a variety of colours.
. The overall vibe of the place felt awkward, music played in the background but, Sora and I weren't dancing or singing, we simply sat on opposite sides of the table. That was when the music changed. The new song began to play and Sora started humming the rhythm faintly. It was a song I was familiar with, her gentle humming encouraged me to do the same, and so I did.
Our eyes met as we continued to hum, then she quietly began reciting the lyrics in tune. Her voice was quiet, but you could tell she'd sung the song many times before. Eventually I gave in too, that was when she stood up.
"Hiro. Have you ever dreamed of being a singer or something?" She asked me shyly, her cheeks tinged with red in embarrassment.
"Well. Maybe a rapper but I've never really been interested in singing or anything. Why?"
"It's nothing. Never mind." She shut down my question, sitting down directly after.
Looks like I did something wrong.. I saw her sitting down nervously across the table, disco light illuminating her flushed cheeks as she turned away. I sighed in reluctance but I knew what I needed to do.
I rose from my seat, and taking a deep breath I stepped unto the small stage in the room. Sticking my hand out I called out to her.
"Come and sing with me. Sora." I said as we locked eyes. I smiled at her affectionately. She's already done so much for me. Why don't I return the favour.
Her eyes lit up with excitement, like a child about to play with a new friend. She grinned from ear to ear and shot up, running to me, she picked up two microphones, one for me and one for her. She turned up the volume immediately after, and began singing as loudly as possible. But it wasn't a barbaric chant or anything, her voice was mesmerising. Every word that she uttered, perfectly in sync and in tune with the song. I gazed at her next to me for a moment in awe. Then she nudged me to follow along, so I followed.
Quietly at first, but as she continued to egg me on, I sung matching her volume. Although not nearly as good as her I sung, pouring my heart into every verse. She held unto me, her movements exaggerated, singing to the empty room as if she were an idol singing to her crowd of fans.
We continued to sing and dance for hours, switching songs, switching genres, it didn't matter. It was surreal. In the past few hours I'd been happier than I had been in a long, long time. When our session had ended, the songs stopped and Sora and I were panting with exhaustion. She laughed childishly and looked at me.
"You're pretty good at singing." She said, short of breath.
I tilted my head in genuine confusion.
"You have to either be an amazing liar, or the kindest girl I've ever met." I chuckled.
She pouted, looking away from me.
"I was being honest but okay."
After gathering our stuff and leaving the bar, waving goodbye the staff, we walked along the street in the direction of my house. The walk would take about 30 minutes so there was a deafening silence between us.
"Sora, your voice. It's beautiful." I said, looking forward.
She shook her head in disagreement.
"You're just saying that to be nice."
"No. I promise. When you sing, it looks so natural, like you were born for it," I pressed on, "and it gets to a certain point where you're in some sort of zone. It's amazing. You sound amazing. Serious."
She'd look away from me as I turned to her. I shut up in case I struck a nerve I might've hit, changing the subject.
"So. Sora. Are you some type of Vigilante or something? Last night I checked through the online Hero Association database thing. You weren't listed."
She stopped walking and turned to me again, this time her eyes widened in shock and slight fear. I hadn't noticed so I continued walking for a moment.
"So are you apart of a group or something..?" Now facing her I stopped, seeing the look in her eyes. She was looking at me, or so I thought at first. But then I noticed her gaze pointing behind me. Turning my head, i looked up to a building on the far side of the street. Atop it stood 4 silhouettes, all varying in shape. The one in the middle seemed to emanate a potent signature of manta, it leaked out towards me, entrancing me with fear. I found myself petrified but wondering.
"Who.. are these guys..?"