Do You Want To Be A Hero?

✧₊⁺

Most people want to be remarkable.

“Kisaki-chan, congratulations on your exams. That university scholarship is as good as yours if you keep this up. Hey, why don’t we have Hot pot at Feng’s to celebrate? It’s yours and your dad’s favorite!”

But only some can reach the high expectations others set for them. This reality was especially true for the sisterly pair of Uruka Kisaki and Kurumi.

“That would be great, but mother, Kurumi-nee improved in every subject too. Shouldn’t we go somewhere we all like for dinner? It would be the fair thing, don’t you think?”

“Oh… Don’t you worry so much about that, sweetheart. Your sister is probably locked up in her room like usual, playing those silly games of hers. I swear, you might be twins, but that girl doesn’t have half the drive you do. It’s a shame, she used to work so hard on her studies…”

“Mother, that’s a little…”

“In any case, she seems like she’d rather be alone. I tried to bring up the topic of her future, and she brushed it off. I know we agreed she could finish her classes online, but I don’t understand why she doesn’t just go back to school. It’s already been four months.”

“Maybe Kurumi-nee really just wants you to understand why she—“

“—And besides, I had some ideas of a few prestigious colleges overseas that you could test for. Your father will be meeting us at Feng’s to discuss this. We’ll pick your sister up a to-go box on the way out, okay sweetie?”

“…Yes, Mother.”

On the way out the door, Uruka Kisaki—the more driven and successful of the two twins according to their parents—glanced up the stairs and imagined what her sister might be up to in her room at the end of the hall. Little did she know, Kurumi had heard the whole exchange with her ear pressed to the door.

Hearing the front door close, she slid to the floor with her back still pressed against the wooden surface. The girl let out a deep sigh of defeat, the reward for her eavesdropping, as her tired eyes scanned the cluttered room before her. Empty to-go containers were scattered all over, along with piles of clothes and other personal items.

Anime posters also lined her walls. Hidden in the clutter were her bookshelves with an impressive collection of manga, light novels, and figurines. Uruka Kurumi was a devout otaku, as one could obviously surmise.

Her family was wealthy by Japanese standards, among the lucky few who could afford real cuisine as opposed to the colorless slop that the masses consumed after the collapse of modern agriculture. They had the best air purifier on the market that kept their mansion’s interior livable compared to the hazy outdoor air.

She had every gaming system one could dream of, and every game for said systems. She never wanted for anything in her life, and yet…

“I’m sorry mother, for being such a disappointment, and Kisaki for having you shoulder the pressure for both of us…”

She felt like a stranger in her own family, the weak link and an utter failure.

The girl got dressed, wearing a sweatshirt and joggers. As she slid her feet into her tennis shoes, a smile swept across her face while looking at one of her posters. A girl around her age with bright pink hair, and an infectious, powerful smile stared back at her. The characters she idolized were a shining ray of hope in her bleak existence.

“If only I could be like that, a hero… things would be different. Wouldn’t they?”

Kurumi stepped outside into the amber fog, breaking into a coughing fit mere steps from her front door. Even she didn’t know where she was going as she walked down the street.

However, she had no plans of returning home. Her parents would never understand what she had faced at school only four months prior, the horrors that crushed her spirit and sapped her of the will to carry on. Her sister would have to continue carrying the expectations for the both of them.

Armed with the trust fund money her parents had left for her, she spent almost two years on the road bouncing from manga cafe to karaoke booth, making sure not to patronize the same location twice for fear of being found out. She was lost, lacking purpose, and the money she carried had a hard limit that quickly approached.

“I miss my ad blocker back home. “Hot Russian singles in my area, who even clicks on these?”

Kurumi sat at a manga cafe, closing tab after tab that popped up to interrupt her anime piracy session. Her favorite character, the magical girl from the poster back in her room, activated her special transformation and defeated the monster with one swing of her magic wand.

Kurumi did a little pose in the cramped space and repeated the character’s words with a flourish and her own twist.

“My name is Kururu Ururaka, defender of justice, and I will defend the hearts and minds of the people with my last breath.”

The smile on her face faded as she sat down once again.

“As if I could ever be special.”

Her money was depleted, and her options were limited. Her two-year life on the run had finally run its course. She had no choice but to return home to her parents, having achieved nothing with her act of rebellion. She feared whether they would even accept her as she was. The tears began to fall, however…

“Huh, what’s this…” she sniffled.

Another ad popped up on the screen. Every attempt to close it was met with another identical ad popping up in its place, like the hydra of advertisements. Kurumi grew frustrated with her many failed attempts, almost electing to call for technical support before finally reading the fine print.

“Have you ever wanted to get paid to play video games? Heard that one before.” She scoffed before continuing. “Have you always wanted to try a groundbreaking virtual reality experience and make strides towards your career without college or prior work experience? Project Memoria is recruiting Hunters to beta test their product before the full release. Interesting… Click for more info.”

She wiped her eyes and clicked on the link, against her better judgment, and it took her to a landing site after multiple redirects. Her gaze brightened as she read the headline at the top of the webpage.

“Do you want to be a hero?”

. . .

I watched as Kururu stood by herself in the center of the grotto, holding her staff tightly in her hands. A determined look painted her face as she prepared to put the plan we had cobbled together into action.

For my part, I hid behind a ridge with barrel guy beside me. We knew that defeating the thing by ourselves was a long shot, but Kururu’s spirit was weirdly infectious. I wanted to see it through with the star of our show, and hope that things would work out for the best. Archie wasn’t available to impart his usual wisdom, so we were on our own here.

The monster had slunk back into the shadows to surprise the next batch of unsuspecting Hunters by the looks of things, but we would not or could not be fooled with the same ambush twice. This time it was us who would be doing the ambushing.

“Oye, sirenface!” Kururu called out with a smirk. “We’re baaack! What was that about us dying if we interfered!? You sure you aren’t just scared!?”

The ground rumbled again as the monster emerged from the body of water at the base of the waterfall. Despite not having eyes, the creature immediately locked on to Kururu who continued to taunt the great beast. The nameplate above it read “Iron Colossus”, and it stomped in her direction with long strides.

“This…world…must…end.”

It spoke in its warped manner and let out a screech once it towered over the magical girl.

“Alright…” Kururu mouthed with a smile. “Now, fellas!”

I fired off two shots that were direct hits into the body of the creature. It reacted like one would a fly buzzing around, turning towards me in an annoyed manner. Kururu took the opportunity to skate away with her rollerblades and started launching projectiles of her own toward the colossus. As a small benefit to our cause, its cricket friends were nowhere to be seen having scattered in the caves they chased us into.

The monster punched the ground, picked up a huge chunk of limestone, and launched it like a major league pitcher in the direction of our hiding spot. Barrel guy and I were just able to dive out of harm’s way as the ridge was obliterated. The impact caused another chunk of rock to fall from the ceiling, barely missing the monster’s head as it stepped to the side.

“Tch.”

The general idea of our first option was to get the thing to destroy itself by any means necessary using falling debris, assuming our efforts at providing offense were met with mixed results. The only worry was the instability of the greater cavern taking us out in the process, a dangerous gambit.

“That was close guys, but let’s give option B a try!” Kururu skated in the direction of our tank, whom had taken a position behind the monster.

She jumped high in the air and struck his shield with enough force to create a loud clank. The monster reeled a bit in response, confirming a theory of ours.

“This one’s sensitive to sound too!” Kururu noted. “That means you’re up, Cowboy!”

“Roger that.”

I charged in guns a-blazing, trying to land as many shots as possible on the body of the beast while Kururu and barrel guy repeatedly weakened the monster with their concussive noise maneuver. However, as Kururu leaped for a second attempt…

“—!” She gasped as the monster hit her with a mean backhand, sending her careening into the wall behind us.

The monster slammed its foot down, sending a shock wave that threw barrel guy and me aside like ragdolls. I hit my head really hard, feeling every bit of the pain as I rolled to a stop a few meters away.

“Magical girl-san!” I shouted, wincing in pain. My stress meter shot up to critical levels after taking only a single hit, slowly working its way back down. “Are you alright, kid!?”

I didn’t receive an answer. I scrambled to my feet at the sight of another rock flying in my direction, and I dove out of harm’s way firing off a round as I did. As the dust cleared, the creature towered over me with murderous intent.

The colossus raised its foot, and I prepared for the worst.