Chapter 5 Wish

The crash killed the remaining mercenaries inside.

All of them except Jack.

“Hah…huff…fuck… my head…” Burned and injured Jack started to limp off towards the construction site with a serum in his hand and gun in the other.

Hiyaru regained consciousness. His vision was blurry, his right arm was gone again, and he was covered in blood. When he looked up, he noticed Jack trying to walk away. He crawled after him while struggling to stand. His regeneration was not limitless; it was trying to heal him, but his body was already exhausted. He didn’t even realize that he had killed those mercenaries in the car by accident; his goal now was just the vial.

“...Stop…Come back here—” He coughed blood out and crawled forward. “Come fucking back here…”

Hiyaru tried to stand up but his legs bent again, then for the final time he managed to do it while his legs were trembling, his body ached from head to toe as he struggled to stem the bleeding from his arm and steady his shaking legs to chase Jack down.

“J-Just…give me that vial…you could bleed out.” Hiyaru shouted, struggling to his feet as they climbed the stairs.

Jack turned to face him. His breathing was strained, but he showed no sign of giving up.

“Over my dead body—” Jack coughed harshly, spun around, and fired the moment they reached the upper floor.

Hiyaru took the bullets, while charging forward with all the strength he had left, and punched Jack in the face, knocking the weapon from his hand. Suddenly he lost his breath as a knee struck him hard in the stomach.

“I trained for years, and fought many soldiers. Do you think a freak like you in a costume can take me down, kid? Who do you even think you are?” He headbutted Hiyaru and began striking him from left and right while holding the vial tightly in his hand. Then he kicked him several meters away. Hiyaru remained standing, staring at him just breathing.

“Are you finally done?” Jack spat blood while taunting Hiyaru with his hand.

“Nah…I’m not even dazed, Jack. I’m just trying to survive your breath. Seriously, all that training and you never learned to brush your teeth?

“Also, if you still haven't caught my name, I'm Deathfire. Your worst nightmare so I don't give up that easily! Muhahahah!”

He coughed up more blood as he comically laughed.

“Fuck… ugh. Nope. Edgy stuff is not for me.”

“You just won’t ever shut up, regardless of your situation?”

“And here I wished you could as I told you already. Even my gas mask isn’t enough for that caliber, what is your toothpaste, by the way?”

“Shut the fuck up,” said Jack, drawing a knife and closing the distance, managing to stab Hiyaru in the hand.

“You should have just given up on this… Why is this even so important for you? It is just business.” As Jack finished that sentence, Hiyaru gripped the knife with his fingers.

“Seems you never had proper friends then.” Hiyaru twisted his hand which made Jack slip his hand off the knife. Right after that Hiyaru landed a crushing punch with the very same bloodied left hand that sent Jack sprawling across the concrete. His mask came loose and fell away.

Hiyaru froze.

“No… You’re that man from the other day…”

The man who had bought that ice cream for his daughter.

Hiyaru stared at him in disbelief.

“Why would you do this job when you have a daughter?”

Jack struggled to his feet, barely able to stand.

“What the fuck do you know about me? Just who are you?”

Jack was reaching his limit, and his breathing grew heavier with every step. He tried to charge at Hiyaru again, but stumbled backward toward the edge of the floor.

Hiyaru reached out trying to take his hand.

“Wait…stop! DON'T!!!”

Unfortunately Jack lost his footing.

Hiyaru lunged forward, but he was too far away to grab his arm. He fell one floor below on the exposed steel rebar structure.

His body struck the metal, and the steel rods pierced him through. His breathing became faint as he lay motionless beneath the cold night sky.

Hiyaru stood frozen, his hand still stretched towards him.

Police sirens grew louder in the distance. He knew he had to run due to his injuries or else they would catch him.

His heart sank.

“No…”

He looked at Jack one last time and clenched his fist in frustration. There was nothing left he could do, so he ran away.

…..

….

…

Ahh so this is…where I die? I wish I could have seen your face, my sweet daughter, Linnea… In the end, your ol’ pops couldn’t do anything for you…

Color faded from his eyes, barely breathing from how much blood he was losing… Then he noticed that he was holding something in his hand… the vial.

Could I…see you again if I drink this…? Ahh… I wish I could have moved this steel away…

With the last bit of strength left in him, he gulped down the liquid in the vial and then fell unconscious.

A few seconds later the police arrived.

…..

….

…

Minutes passed and Hiyaru was still running away, even though his legs seemed about to break down with each step. His lungs were burning and his vision grew worse as he went. All he could hear were police sirens from everywhere.

…Dammit.

His jaw clenched with disgust after realizing he had completely lost himself and people died because of him.

That guy knew what he signed up for and the risks of doing this job just like those other mercenaries but still people died even though they didn’t have to.

“Tch…”

He turned a corner and punched a wall.
“FUCKK.” He screamed because he broke his finger by accident.

He stared at his finger for a second. “It hurts like hell… but it will heal, I guess... However that guy won’t...” He sighed as he leaned against the wall and slid down into a seated position.

“Even though he was a mercenary and a stranger… Someone's kid just lost her dad. It feels strange; I never had any family to begin with, and now here I am, some so-called hero, leaving kids to look for foster parents… Great.”

Incoming call — Neki.

“What should I even tell her…” he sighed and then picked it up.

“…Yeah.”

“What happened?” Neki asked.

“So… the vial’s gone, there was a guy who died with it on him, so it probably got into police or AAC hands… And I had to run away.”

Silence followed.

Then Neki’s voice snapped through the comm.

“…Wait, who? And you WHAT?” She almost fell out of the chair.

“That was our biggest job!” she continued. “You knew what was at stake. I had to go through a lot to get intel on this one!”

“I know! I KNOW!” Hiyaru reacted. “You think I did this on purpose?!”

“I thought you were a professional who gets the job done! And not only did you mess up the last time but now also this time? You even lost that one last vial you had!”

Her words hit harder than he wanted to admit.

“I know! I—”

“You always know after the fact!”

Her voice sharpened, frustration spilling through the link.

“I stuck my neck out for you because I trusted you wouldn’t screw this up!”

“Look Neki, there was a man who had a daughter, okay?! And he died because of me. He wasn’t just some—”

“I don’t care about some mercenaries! We live a different life, and you should finally understand that. People like us die every day, and nobody cares. The issue is that you never listen, no matter how many times I tell you to be careful and not take it lightly! You just joke around and never take it seriously.”

Hiyaru was quiet.

After a second Neki spoke again. Her voice felt colder and more distant now.

“I was stupid for thinking this time would be different.”

The line went dead.

Hiyaru put his head on his knees and sighed.

“…I’m such an idiot.”

A dry, bitter laugh escaped his mouth.

“Yeah. Real genius, Hiyaru.”

Rain began to fall, mixing with the dust and blood on his clothes.

One minute passed and his comm buzzed once more.

Incoming call — Neki.

He looked down at it and hesitated but then answered.

“…Hey. Since your hideout’s compromised…” she sighed.

There was no anger in her voice this time. She just sounded tired.

“I’m sending you an address. It is a safehouse I was keeping for myself if anyone found me. It was abandoned for some time so it will not be that clean... Don’t get comfy. I’m still pissed, just so you know.”

Hiyaru exhaled. His shoulders finally relaxed.

“…Neki. I’m sorry.”

A brief pause followed.

“…I know.”

Another silence.

“I shouldn’t have pushed you into that job either. It was probably too big a fish for us right now…” she admitted.

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise. I’ll take whatever comes next and make it a success.”

“You better.”

A notification appeared on his comm. The address had arrived.

“Get there safely. You are really messed up today. Lost hand…broken bones, internal bleeding almost everywhere. I know you can heal but you should know that I can see all this gross stuff too, because of the link we made. I can visualize everything that is happening around you within some range and give you info to some extent with my ability. So take a better care about yourself please."

“Yep, I remember. I’ll try to be more careful… Thank you.”

“Mhm… Don’t die of blood loss on the way.”

“Heh. You’d miss me.”

“…Hmmm not sure after today,” she smirked. “And make sure to rest up. Bye bye…”

She hung up.

Hiyaru lowered the comm and stared at the address.

“Rest, huh…I should get going before I get caught.”

He looked up at the rain before standing up and walking off again.