Once high enough, he pulls her in close.
Shiori "G-getting a little handsy there, aren't you?"
Hikigaya "You wanted this."
They smile at each other as he then snaps her away from him, spinning her at high speeds, flying towards the ground. Hikigaya then dives towards her and slams his fist into her cheek in the opposite direction of her spin. Hikigaya slides past her as she then spins in the opposite direction from the punch as she hits the ground before spinning and facing Hikigaya. He too spins and stares at her as they both pull their arms back and ready themselves for a punch. They dash at each other and throw their fists at the same time and collide with each other's faces. They slide back from the hit as Shiori extends her tail at high speeds at Hikigaya. It wraps around his neck and pulls him back close to her as she delivers a heavy kick to his stomach. He goes flying back and tumbling on the ground. He gets up and looks up at Shiori who pants.
Shiori "This can stop anytime you want. Just admit that it was my fault."
Hikigaya "But it wasn't."
They both stare at each other for a moment before diving at each other and pulling their fists back yelling. Their fight drags on for a while longer but eventually comes to an end. They lay on the ground next to each other, panting and sweating, covered in slight bruises and small amounts of blood around their mouths.
Hikigaya "It… It wasn't your fault Shiori…"
Shiori "I know… It wasn't yours either…"
Hikigaya "It wasn't either of our fault. We both tried our best, didn't we? That's what matters, right? We tried our best. It's just… I just miss her…"
He starts crying a bit while he places his arm over his eyes. Shiori sits up slowly and gives a concerned look. He stops crying after just a moment and sits up, wiping off his tears and such.
Shiori "You okay, Hikigaya?"
Hikigaya "Yeah. I just needed to get that out of my system. Thank you Shiori. For helping me. I needed this."
Shiori "That's what friends are for. If you ever just need to beat something up, I'm right here!"
They laugh for a moment before both of them wince in pain.
Shiori "Although, maybe we should go a bit lighter next time…"
Hikigaya "Yeah. Hey, why don't you use that healing aura you have?"
Shiori "Oh yeah! I forgot about that."
She says as she lifts her open palm to her shoulder and it begins to glow a pale yellow color. She hovers her hand across her body for a moment and onto her face as bruising and swelling in certain parts goes down.
Shiori "Ah, that's much better. Still gonna need some healing time but that's a good start."
She rolls her shoulder in satisfaction as Hikigaya happily stares at her. She looks at him and moves a little closer to face him.
Shiori "Now your turn."
Hikigaya "Oh no, it's okay. I have my own healing factor. You don't have to."
Shiori "Come on, just let me help you out a bit."
She insists and he accepts as she hovers her hand above his shoulders and chest before making her way up to his cheeks. She places her hand on his cheek and Hikigaya blushes. Shiori focuses on her hand before making eye contact with him and realizing how close they are and how she is holding his face. She blushes and looks away before eventually pulling her hand away.
Shiori "W-well there you go. Should be all better soon. Probably sooner than me."
Hikigaya "Thank you Shiori. For everything."
She smiles at him before turning around.
Shiori "Yeah well there is still one more thing. Come on guys, we're done now!"
She shouts into the forest. From behind the trees comes a few people. Hikigaya's eyes widen as Ryuji, Sugawara, Lucy, Chizuru and Haru come up to them. He looks at Shiori with a surprised face.
Hikigaya "You told them?"
Shiori "Yeah. I realized, I'm smart enough to know that I'm dumb enough not to be able to help you on my own. They're better at that than I am."
She gives him a soft, almost regretful smile.
Haru "Hiki!"
He shouts as he and Chizuru fly through the air and into Hikigaya causing him to fall over. Tears pouring from their eyes.
Haru "I'm sorry man! We were so caught up in our own stuff that we never stopped to think about how you were feeling!"
Chizuru "Yeah, we're so sorry! We should've been supporting you better! You lost your sister! How could we be so dumb?!"
They hug Hikigaya tightly as they cry. Hikigaya looks a little frustrated from getting tackled and squeezed so tightly.
Hikigaya "Guys, it's okay! It's not your fault. I didn't bother saying anything, how were you supposed to know I was in pain?"
Lucy "We should've asked. But not once did we stop and think about you even knowing how much you lost."
She crouches down next to him, tears in her eyes too. Ryuji and Sugawara sit around him too. Ryuji's eyes are glossy too as if on the verge of tears while Sugawara is fully crying. Sugawara places his head on Hikigaya's shoulder to show his support.
Ryuji "I promise, we're here for you Hikigaya. So don't leave us, okay?"
He gives Hikigaya a warm smile despite the tears now rolling down his cheeks. Hikigaya smiles back.
Hikigaya "I promise guys, I'm not going anywhere."
Chizuru "You better not!"
Haru nods agreeing with Chizuru as they hug him tightly. Shiori smiles as she watches them all together. Her face has a look of slight jealousy. Lucy then wipes away her tears and stands up with a smile on her face.
Lucy "Alright, that's enough of that. Now, are we gonna just ignore the fact that you guys are superheroes?"
Shiori "I don't know about heroes but."
Sugawara "You guys have literal super powers and fight bad guys!"
Haru "Yeah! We watched you guys duel and you're incredible! So many different abilities!"
Chizuru "I honestly wish I had some powers…"
Hikigaya "Trust me, it's not all that. Besides, you have to keep it a secret. You can't just go around telling anyone, got it?"
Haru "Right! Gotta keep your secret identity. Can't be letting the bad guys know your other life."
He says playfully as he looks around cautiously and sneakily.
Hikigaya "Actually it's more for mom's sake. She hates vigilantes. Especially Fullsky and Watchdog…"
Shiori "Yeah, and we'd probably get in a lot of trouble if everyone found out. Even if we are friends with the Chief of police."
She says with a smirk on her face.
Lucy "Oh really?"
Ryuji "I heard that guy is tough."
Shiori "How else would I be able to keep our duel here hidden from the news?"
She points her phone at them to reveal text messages to Chief.
Back when the duel was still going on, Chief looks down at his phone at the texts.
Fullsky: "Chief, Watchdog and I are going to have a little chat but it might get big and loud. Can you keep the heat off of us for a little bit?"
Chief: "You guys make my life harder day after day."
Chief: "But sure. I'll keep units out and the news off of you but make it fast. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep them back."
Fullsky: "Thanks! I owe you one!"
Chief: "You owe me 20."
He looks up from his phone at the room filled with monitors and people keeping track of happenings within the city.
Officer "Chief, I'm getting a report that there are strange lights and booms coming from the mountains. Should we investigate?"
Officer 2 "Could be that Keeper guy who escaped a while ago."
Chief "That won't be necessary, people. Just some construction going on up there. Carry on."
They look hesitant but trust their superior and move on.
Back to the present time in the mountains with the others.
Hikigaya "Man, he's always got our back."
Shiori "Even when he tries to arrest us!"
They both laugh about that as the others stare in awe.
Chizuru "You guys are so cool.."
Lucy smiles before thinking about something and getting a devious smile on her face.
Lucy "You know what I wanna know though?"
They look at her confused.
Lucy "I wanna know why you two were being so handsy with each other while you fought."
They stare at her for a moment before everyone turns and looks at them while they blush.
Lucy "Especially you Hikigaya."
Hikigaya "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
Lucy looks at Chizuru as if telling her to back her up. She gets the signal and gets a mischievous look.
Chizuru "Yeah Hikigaya. What was with your hand there all along her leg?"
Haru "If you like her or something just say so. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
Haru gets a playful look as well as he chimes in. The others giggle and smile as they tease Hikigaya.
Hikigaya "We were duking it out, that's all! I didn't mean it like that or anything! Let's just get out of here."
He says while blushing intensely as he stomps off. They all giggle as Shiori blushes thinking about it. She looks down.
Shiori 'Now that I think about it…'
She thinks back to a while ago. A night when Hikigaya and her had gone out as Watchdog and Fullsky. The night that they kissed. She begins to blush even more intensely as she makes an awkward smile.
Shiori 'That was him..! I kissed Hikigaya! He had my first kiss!'
Sugawara notices Shiori blushing intensely and giggling awkwardly a bit.
Sugawara "You okay Shiori? You look red. Did Hikigaya hit you too hard?"
Shiori "Ah! No no! It's not that…"
She says with a smile after freaking out. Sugawara stares at her for a moment before getting a mischievous smile.
Sugawara "Could it be that you like him too?"
Shiori freaks out again and jumps back.
Shiori "W-what?! No way! I don't like him! Wait, too?"
Ryuji "Come on. It's getting late, let's get home."
He pushes both of them along as Sugawara giggles and Shiori awkwardly follows along.