A Red Ball of Trouble

The silence in Hiro’s room was deafening. Never had his interest in anything dropped to a complete zero so instantly. He slowly closed his eyes, blurring his vision until only a red ball lay in front of him. His mind peacefully drifted into the land of dreams once more.

“DON’T! GO! BACK! TO! SLEEP!” With every word, Maki hammered her elbow into his chest.

Air was forcefully expelled out of Hiro’s lungs. As he wheezed and gasped for air, he delivered an uppercut straight to Maki’s face. He then followed up with a swift kick, which knocked both Maki and his blanket onto the floor.

“OUT!” He pointed at his door. “Stay here any longer and I will tell Leo about this.”

Maki sat down and wrapped the blanket around herself. A brief chuckle slipped out. “Oh? Ya still got the balls to talk to him after yesterday’s tantrum?”

His brow furrowed. “Tantrum? The hell are you on about? You’re the one that lashed out in the meeting.”

“W-Well…” She looked away and scratched her bruised chin. “Yeah, but we get into those kinds of fights all the time. You, on the other hand, were goin’ crazy in this room! Bangin’ the bed and stuffin’ your face under the pillow like a lil’ baby.”

“A-AH! What’re you saying?! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Hiro’s face flushed red.

“Pfft. Please. I built this place. Got cameras all over.”

He grit his teeth. Even his moments of vulnerable solitude weren’t safe. “Voyeurism is a crime, you know.”

“And I’m a criminal. What’s your point, crybaby?”

Muscles ached all over as he stood up. “Last warning. You have ‘til the count of five before I go to Leo myself. Five—”

“Aren’t ya tired? Of feelin’ useless?” She put her hand up, cutting him off before he could respond. “Don’t ask. I heard all your mumblin’ about it. Anyways, I feel ya. Cool, world-changin’ eyes but you still get outperformed by a sparky lil’ girl. Sucks. But guess what? Stayin’ down here and doin’ nothin’ is even more useless! It’s tough, but I can give you that big break right now. Just… calm down and listen up, okay?”

Hiro stared into her pleading eyes. Maybe she made a good point. Waiting until he was useful would never work. But still, getting advice from her of all people? Even he knew better. “No. Five seconds are up.”

As he brought his key card close to the door, Maki leaped up to her feet. “Code Red! I repeat, Code Red! Intercept him, now!”

Suddenly Hiro’s eyes were covered. He felt a hand gently placed on his shoulder. A puff of warm air brushed against his neck. A voice whispered the words “I’m sorry” in his ear.

This feeling was familiar—a cold bloodlust that appeared out of thin air in one moment and disappeared the next. “Sh-Shinji, is that you?” Hiro asked.

“Oh. You know it’s me. Sweet, that makes things easier.” Shinji took his hand off Hiro’s eyes and walked to his front. Removing the menacing oni mask unveiled a fair-skinned face with silver hair that winked at Hiro. “Y’know, you’re a pretty sharp dude for someone who thinks he’s so worthless. Maybe reconsider that.”

Which was worse? Maki having an accomplice, or Shinji snooping into his private moments? Hiro genuinely couldn’t tell. He pinched his forehead and sighed. “Okay, what the hell is going on? And what’s this about Brigade? Is she serious about that, Shinji?”

The assassin nodded with a look of resignation in his eyes. “Unfortunately. Maki’s being real stupid, but I need you to throw all logic and reason out the window for a second and help a brother out.”

“Ahem!” Maki snapped her fingers. “Is that how you’re supposed to address me, loner?”

Shinji sighed. “No, Ma’am. I’m sorry.”

Hiro jerked his head back. “What in the world…?”

Maki took her phone out and showed them a picture of a flaming red ball. “Do you remember this, Hiro?”

“Isn’t that the, um, that thing you were geeking out about yesterday?”

“Solarium core. And yes, you would be correct. I want it.”

“You only learned about it yesterday.”

“And I want it today. All that beautiful, glistenin’ energy inside… just to be wasted by some snotty politicians?! I have to save it from them! Hehe.”

Hiro dared not ask what she would do with it, though her sparkling eyes practically begged him to do so. He learned his lesson from his first trip to the base with her. Instead, he turned to Shinji. “And you? Why are you involved? You struck me as a guy who’d know better than to buddy up with her. Then again, most people seem to be at least that smart.”

Shinji clutched his ponytail that dangled from his shoulder. “It’s not my choice! She has my Yuna-tan!”

Hiro slowly cocked his head toward Maki. Petty kidnapping? He didn’t think even she would stoop so low. “Maki, do you actually have someone hostage? For something so idiotic as this?”

She placed both hands on her hips. “I think there’s a big misunderstandin’ here.”

“Don’t lie to me!” Shinji pointed his finger at her. You better not have hurt her, or I swear!”

Hiro shook his head, clicking his tongue thrice. “There’s serious consequences to this. Whoever they are, I’m sure they just wanna innocently enjoy living their lives. Please be a better person for once.”

Maki scrolled through her phone and showed them another image: an open briefcase with a framed poster of a purple-haired girl in a bright lily-inspired dress. She struck a pose, shaping her hands into check marks and pressing the thumbs together to form the letter Y. The poster was signed on the bottom corner with a heart next to the words “To My Special Shinji”.

The assassin vanished into a puff of indigo smoke and reappeared right next to Maki. He swiped her phone and zoomed in on the photo. “Give me that!” Both his voice and fingers trembled. “It’s her. My beloved.”

Hiro recognized her face. He’d seen it on some billboard advertisements and television commercials back in Ushiro. “Wait, isn’t she famous?” he asked.

Shinji snapped his head toward him so quickly that Hiro flinched backward. “Uh, duh! You don’t recognize the Yuna-tan?! Only the most beautiful, gorgeous, adorable, amazing, elegant, perfect human being alive?!”

“...And you two know each other?”

“OF COUR—”

“No, he doesn’t,” Maki butted in. “I don’t have anyone ‘hostage’. It’s just a dumb poster.”

“A limited collector’s edition only-fifty-in-the-whole-world deluxe Yuna-tan poster included in the front-row seats package of her ‘With Spring Comes Love Anew’ concert! PERSONALLY SIGNED WITH MY NAME ON IT!” Shinji aggressively stomped his feet and pecked Maki’s phone with his lips over and over again.

“EW! Stop that!” Maki yanked her phone back. “Get your loner juices off my stuff! Apologize now, or else she gets it!”

Shinji immediately stood up straight. “Yes, Ma’am! Sorry, Ma’am!”

Hiro gawked at the two, utterly dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe it; they were both idiots. There was no longer any doubt in his mind that staying to chat would only result in wasting precious sleep time. As the two quarreled, he scanned his key card on the door.

“Hey! Code Red again!” Maki whispered loudly. “Go go go!”

A cloud of smoke suddenly surrounded Hiro. Before he could turn his head, the cold, sharp edge of a knife pressed against his neck. Shinji blocked the only way out, his piercing scowl alone enough to kill a man.

“One more move or word out of you, and you’re dead,” Shinji said. “Anything for Yuna-tan.”

Hiro stood completely still. He wasn’t sure if he should even breathe. Staggered inhales through his nostrils echoed through the room.

Maki skipped toward Hiro with a proud smirk. “Listen. This is all well calculated, okay? I’m already well aware you’re too much of a pussy to fight. And this might sound crazy to you…”

As though she wasn’t already crazy enough, Hiro thought.

“...but I don’t wanna fight either! I just want the core. Shinji can help me get that. What I need you for is to use those special Eyes of yours to make sure we do it all smoothly and safely. Got it?” She pinched his cheeks, then turned to Shinji. “Oh, and just to be clear, if Hiro insists on stayin’, that poster is gettin’ ripped to shreds.”

Quaking intensely, Shinji nodded in agreement.

“Good! I’ll get everythin’ ready in the workshop. Let’s get goin’.” She gleefully hopped her way to the elevator.

Shinji lowered his blade. “I’m sorry, buddy. But please, just cooperate. Once I have Yuna-tan, I’ll make sure no one ever touches her again.”

As soon as he was let go, Hiro crawled back until his back touched the wall. He rubbed around his neck. “I hope you know how clinically insane this is. We’re gonna get killed out there.”

“She’s all I got, man. Please.”

There was no point in reasoning with him. For once, Hiro didn’t feel like the most pitiful person in the room, which gave him an odd sense of relief. This feeling only grew at the realization that his job was to actually avoid fights for once, instead of pursuing them. Not so bad compared to dying by his colleague’s hands. He exhaled and headed for the elevator. With a faint “thank you”, Shinji followed after him.

Maki led them to a black jet with sharp ears hanging from the ceiling. Its wings were folded in, giving it the appearance of a bat sleeping upside-down. Giant mechanical arms picked the aircraft up. While lowering it to the ground, the jet's wings spread open.

“Tada!” Maki gestured proudly. “Behold! My beloved baby, the Bat-like Jet! Or B-et, for short.”

Hiro’s face crumpled to a grimace.

“What’s up, hobo? Amazed at its beauty?”

“I stand corrected,” he replied. “Your naming sense can get worse than ‘The Duck’.”

She sent a right hook to his stomach. “You wanna hang from a rope outside the B-et? Fine by me.”

“N-No. I’m good, thanks.”

Barely lifting his feet, Shinji jumped to the B-et’s cockpit. He tapped a finger repeatedly against its polished frame. His gaze darted between Maki and the hexagonal exit. “We don’t have much time. Zenpo City is still a ways away. Let us make haste.”

“Okay, loner. Calm your pants. You’ll see her—or it—soon.” She raised both fists into the air and marched to the B-et. “Off to get my core!”