Hero

As Kelsy encouraged me to battle, my eyes dilated, 'Can't be helped. We are all out of options.' In the background, The bullies laughed out underestimating my capability as I steadied myself. My feet staggered, distributing the weight on half between both. My chin downed and my fist readied.

The boss chuckled devilishly as she stood, "Hey hussy, try me. Too bad… a handsome old man had a sucker punch much softer than a cotton ball. You think you can defeat a brown belt in training?-" She administered a front kick while eyeing at me with a cold smile. Its strike landing heavy blows on the air.

I scowled at her while holding my knees, "Brown belt or not… you had gained no understanding in the name of the art. Karate should not be used under your abuse. It's generally for defence. Well... at least from what I expect it to be."

Suddenly she aimed her knee with a strike on my arm... which was definitely not a great spot to take a blow into, when I ducked down, dodging her attack. As the force brought her forward, I elbowed resolutely her sciatic nerve on the midline of her inner thigh.

A shock scurried through her as the pressure temporarily immobilizes her right leg, collapsing her down with a quick thud. At the back, two of her punk-looking underlings sprinted forward as their boss dizzied frantically below me.

Hearing their footsteps vibrating the cement, I faced in a flash towards them appearing like that of a assassin. As the other ran to me in a close range, I kicked the tibialis anterior muscle on her lower leg as the massive pain tore through her blood vessels. The other stifled in fright, awaiting her turn. As I locked my eyes on hers, I jutted her head below giving her a knee strike on her jaw. With such a hit, her brain literally shakes.

My face turned bright red while breathing fast until the last second; as I took a malicious glimpse towards the bully's other minions. They shivered terribly as their weapons dropped on the ground, sparkling midgets of running water against my face.

I noted proudly while displaying a corrupted smile, "Instinctual is a good one… but when fighting, martial artists with experience target their hit on the weakest spots before striking a strong blow on the opponent-" I stared back at the homophobic who was wincing in pain, "-Sure, your skill was beyond amazing… since you manage to get a brown belt after all. But… why were you not aware of a sneak attack? You declared that you'd levelled up to a higher expertise… and yet... you did not gain knowledge of such… and you had a brown belt?"

The bully scowled in protest as she held herself up; her face turning black, "Who are you… to know anything about that? I'd defeated half of my class for decades… and I'd never lose ever since!"

I chuckled, perceiving that she's just a low class student, "I never train or anything… since its irrelevant for me. My own research did justice. I do believe that combat is not only about practice but also the mind-set of the person in action-" I placed my palm on my hips, taunting at her as I leaned forward with self-esteem,"-We are half in half… but still who won the brawl?" She sneered as her failure submerged her pride just a minute ago.

I gaped impassively again towards her minions. The two who fought me earlier laid down tiredly on the floor. Kelsy sat side by side the gay with a look of applause, ignoring the torment on her shoulder and ankle. The three other of her henchmen froze on their place, staying on their lane out of possible danger.

Suddenly an awful inference pooped out my mind, 'I can fight… but if that sharp knife reappears. Will I?' I searched for the knife, regarding every corner of the dump site. When the bloody knife near the canal suddenly dive in through the sewer, giving me a pleasant relief. 'Oh damn. So afterall, the fight went too fast.'

I sighed deciding to not deduce about it further while sweeping the dirt off my blue polo shirt as I addressed the scaredy cats, "Choose one: Will you prefer to ran for your lives or be at the police with this hooligan? -" I pointed my index towards the boss while dealing with them as she eyed sternly at them, "To sum it all… will you shelter your loyalty… or survival?"

Having received constant anxiety from most of them, the other three scuttled without any reluctance as the one I hit on the jaw tried to get away… although she could barely move from the dizziness.

Feeling so sorry about that person, I called out the thug who peed on her pants and ordered to carry their mate out of danger. She complied in a heartbeat and dragged the pitiful injured to safety. Since they were too slow to act, I yelled towards them, "Faster! Don't take my time." In no time, the poor woman ran with her heavy buddy on her back, leaving their boss screaming in discouragement.

Out of the norm, a young adult man wearing a Hawaiian shirt stopped by us, astounded by Kelsy's frightening appearance. I urged him since I need a help after remembering that, I left my phone inside the clinic, "Mister… sorry for the inconvenience… but kindly call the police-" I gazed again towards the culprit as she let out a big shriek, "-She had to be arrested for quite a sensible reason."

Kelsy smile at him with a delightful look. Meanwhile, the homo gave me all his praise as he thanked me as sincerely as possible, perceiving that if it weren't for me he would had died... or call him 'her' I guess.

We parted ways around that time with Zelinth (the one we met earlier) while the hooligan was still left intact on her place. About that guy with the hawaiian suit, he insisted us that he'll keep on watch while waiting for the authorities to arrive. We also told him what happened. That's when we decided that he'll take charge with the interrogation since Zelinth admit she needs help in doing so. He seems pretty much a nice guy. Good thing, we met him.

It's only a kilometre away from the hospital's entrance and I had to carry Kelsy on my back since she can't unfortunately walk by herself. I held tightly underneath Kelsy's legs and interlocked both of my hands together to avoid her from falling down as I hauled her up in a piggyback ride. Her wounded ankle and shoulder was wrapped under my torn sleeve's fabric.

Once I lifted her up, she winced in pain and bit her teeth, muttering on why she had to keep this burden inside her. I did not fail to tell her about the consequences of having her life on the brink of danger.

At that time, I thought she was going to reason with me but surprisingly, she didn't… Obviously she knew that I'm the type of person who nobody doesn't want to debate with since I'm purely confident that I'm the one who is correct… no matter how my competitors will talk me down. Yes, I'm a pain… but I bet that anybody can relate to me. Right? Ah… well… whatever.

Even though I'm still mad at Kelsy, fidgets of pink flew around us as we journeyed back through our destination. Its aroma humidified the air, bugging the butterflies out of me. The light post illuminated our way as I walked by the sidewalk as steadily as possible… although with my current situation, I might had dropped her for the heck of it.

My cheeks blushed hard as she wrapped her slender arms around my neck, and her head leaned sentimentally on my shoulder. I felt her heat distributed on me. Her breath touched my bare skin. Her thighs were soft under my… No.

My thoughts were so flooded with…. Is this a curse? I can't stop myself from thinking about her…. I realized that she's precious to me. Ahh… no thanks… I had enough. My mission here is to relocate her back towards the hospital for medical assistance. Nothing else.

As the silence bothered the two of us, Kelsy suddenly interrupted giving me a breather, "Sorry that you'll have to go into trouble of carrying me. I should take responsibility for it." I stared away off her face and muttered, since we're too goddamn close to each other, "Good thing, you admitted that you are supposed to take responsibility."

She giggled as the soft vibration of her voice crawled through me, "As expected from you-" In a matter of time, she questioned me recognizing my ability earlier, "You aimed for the pressure points to defeat them… That's amazing. A big hit around those can provoke severe damage. You managed to think before aiming a hit on the opponent... not just by instict as the usual trope."

I rolled my eyes, ashamed by her compliment, "More like research… I'd read too many articles about those stuff. Never thought 'till now, it will come in handy." In response, she smiled from ear to ear as she held tighter, making my heartbeat faster than normal. As the cold wind caressed my cheeks, her weight lightened on my back. The sounds of nature resounded, oozing the stresses and troubles I'd overcome with.

When we collided back again near the hospital, Kelsy expressed her emotions out of the blue as she gazed towards the beautiful sky, "At least if I die… I'm grateful that I had left something in this world… something to be learned about." As she said that, I stopped on my tracks; my face blackened in dismay. 'What are you trying to say? To live just to risk it like that?'

I remembered what she had told me, '"It's just me as always, feeling as if these sentiments will get off my chest once again if I had to stay in touch with the missions the deceased entrusted me, to create a future much big than my own. They love and fight while I'm here protecting those… I defend everyone's purpose in every aspect."'

As Kelsy noticed my heavy expression, she drove down her gaze in front and tugged my face straight to hers locking her sweet luminous brown eyes on mine. She smiled from ear to ear while I regarded at her in anxiety, 'Those smiles of hers I don't want to see them again…' "Aiden, I just want to let you know that you are special to me in many ways. I'm glad I met you."

I growled in disappointment as I shifted my face away from her, not allowing her to arrow consistently my rotten heart, "Sure, say whatever you- "

Instantaneously, a heart-warming and lifelong dream engulfed through me landing big sparks on my arteries, ' "You are special whatever it takes." ' An aerial woman used to tell me this once from a dream I cherished in a long time. Does that mean Kelsy-

Big lumps grovelled through me as I insisted blankly on her, "We should escape out of this mess together." Kelsy chuckled sweetly as ever… but bitterly beneath every ha-ha of hers, "You think so? -" In a flash, I scurried away with her on my back as far as possible as Kelsy demanded me to stop and go back…

I'll treasure every bits of our moments as if those obstacles are long forever gone. Not all heroes had to sacrifice their life for others. Kelsy didn't have to do so when she already brought meaning to my life. She is my hero... and I want to tell her how much I love her from every beat of my heart.