Chapter 27: Hiro.

Two hours had passed since the crimson duchess departed Buchai central station and the train was speeding through the viriticilian countryside at almost two hundred kilometres an hour. During this time the environment on board had somewhat improved and most of the displaced passengers had managed to acquire new seats.

Okimodo had just woken up from his nap and his stomach roared with hunger. He retrieved a can of beans mixed with pork sausage from his robe’s pouch and ate as he watched his brother standing out on the roof.

Shipo watched on as the tropical scenery went by. “Where almost at the great bridge and still no enemy resonators?…”

Ever since the train had left he had been using a resonance ability that altered his vision, allowing him to see over three times more accurately than a falcon. His eyes had deformed greatly and resembled that of a cats with two massive pupils. His proto atoms had been greatly exhausted and the time for rest drew near. Under his feat he had used another resonance ability to stick himself to the roof so that the air pressure didn’t blow him off.

“Just give up already.” Okimodo walked out onto the roof before suddenly getting blown away by the air pressure. He narrowly passed Shipo as he got sent tumbling over the side of the carriage and into a dark ravine by the train’s left side.

“Idiot.” Shipo laughed out loud having finally seen something entertaining.

Okimodo stared straight down into a flowing river before he grew a pair of wings and flapped them ending his plummet. He analysed his surroundings and found that just bellow him there was a narrow dirt path barely visible amidst the grass. It ran along side the river as it went on as far as the eye could see. In the far distance the smoke produced by the crimson duchess still rose as it got further and further away. Okimodo naturally didn’t care much about this as he was already more than capable of catching back up to the train in a few seconds. He was about to return to the crimson duchess when he heard something rustling in the leaves. The smell of fear instantly caught his attention and he spun around becoming a blur.

“Wait, wait please!” A man was ruthlessly dragged from the bushes as Okimodo dragged him by the hair.

“Hey there darling.” Okimodo let him go before leaning down to speak further. “Why do I feel so much fear coming from you? An ordinary person wouldn’t have a reason to be afraid just from seeing an Azurai. But an assassin would.”

“You have it all wrong!” The man protested as several strands of his red hair fell out.

Okimodo observed the man’s appearance. He was unnaturally well built and was covered in scars that appeared to be from battle. Those alone were tell tale signs that a person was a super resonator.

“I admit.” The man sighed before all traces of his fear vanished and a twisted smile stretched across his scarred face.

At the next moment Okimodo instinctively jumped back several metres to the other side of the river before observing his left hand. His pinky and ring fingers had turned black and necrotised, likely as a result of the enemy resonator’s abilities.

“What’s the matter?” The man laughed as he paced back and forth while keeping his eyes fixed on Okimodo.

Okimodo wondered when his fingers had necrotised guessing that It must have likely occurred when he dragged the man out from the bushes. Okimodo racked his brain as he tried to pinpoint the man’s class and school. In total there were roughly one hundred and thirteen schools each dedicated to one of the archetypes. This naturally meant that each school had its own unique abilities as well. Okimodo like every Azurai male strictly followed the school of Heshea which gave them many resonance abilities that were geared towards combat. But they weren’t the only school like this. It was entirely possible that this person was from a similar school so Okimodo had to watch out.

At the next moment Okimodo drew forth his bow and leaped up over fifty metres where he landed at the edge of the dark ravine. He gazed down at his enemy beneath him before he activated a resonance ability named eyes of predation. His irises grew vertical and slit, giving him the ability to see his enemie’s every detail.

“Hey what’s the big deal?” The man raved on from within the darkness.

“Can he not reach me from down there?” Okimodo stroked his chin. “Perhaps he doesn’t have any long range abilities.”

Okimodo raised his bow and was about to fire when he realised something; his bow was still on the fucking train…

He didn’t have it, having simply gotten so use to drawing it he couldn’t tell the difference between holding it and holding fin air.

Without his bow, Okimodo’s long range capabilities were none existent leaving him no choice but to confront his enemy head on.

“Wait.” The man spoke suddenly. “Maybe we don’t have to try and kill each other.”

“But you’re going to assassinate that one Benjamin guy.” Okimodo spoke with twitching lips. “Do you really expect me to just do nothing while you try to kill him?”

“That guy is a walking piece of junk.” The man frowned before he suddenly vanished.

Okimodo immediately became on guard at the sight of the man’s disappearance.

“Relax.” The man said reappearing in a tree several metres to Okimodo’s left. “Why do you think it is that so many people want him dead? Do you think Benjamin Norton is an innocent man?”

Okimodo rolled his eyes. “The last time I checked I’m not getting paid to be his judge. I got paid to keep that man alive until he gets to Corone, that’s my only concern.”

The man smiled before sitting down on a branch. “I guess I can’t blame you. That’s how most people are after all. Only concerned with their own immediate convenience. Of course that’s why heroes are so amazing right?”

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Okimodo instantly became silent, his silver eyes grew sharper as an indescribable sensation overcame him. “Heroes.”

“Yes.” The man clapped his hands before leaning forward and saying. “Do you want to know why it is that I chose to kill him?”

“Why?” Okimodo muttered unable to understand why he was so bothered by what the super resonator was trying to convey to him.

The man cleared his throat before speaking. “Because he starved out thousands of west islanders just because they wanted an independent nation for themselves. Because he constantly uses public funds for his own devices while letting normal people starve. Because countless better and more loving politicians had to suffer set backs because of him. Because he’s garbage, plain and simple.”

Okimodo was in a sticky situation. It was clear that the individual before him was hell bent on killing Benjamin. He had also likely been following the crimson duchess for quite some time as they were currently in a very rural part of the country. In such a location, the chances of randomly encountering a super resonator was extremely low as most of them tended to cluster in large cities. The fact that this man was able to avoid Shipo’s detection completely alluded to him being above class three at least. They have been having a conversation right now but in truth it was only a matter of time before Okimodo had to kill him.

The man retrieved a bottle of alcohol from his tattered black coat before drinking it. Once he had finished he threw the bottle into the ravine before he spoke again. “Benjamin Norton is a villain and so I’ve taken it upon myself to purge him from this earth. That’s why I can’t have him dying at the hands of assassins hired by people equally as awful. He has to be killed in an act of retribution, not for profit.”

“And I should care because why?” Okimodo was growing increasingly impatient by the second. In his mind he contemplated on attacking the man mid speech.

“Because we can strike a deal.” The man smiled as he jumped down from his tree. His appearance began to distort and fade into a black mystical cloud. From within the cloud the figure of a beautiful woman emerged. She had long white hair and tan skin with freckles and her eyes were so dark they looked more black than brown. She wore an ornate white dress that seemed to shimmer in the sun which was now growing increasingly red as it began to set.

Okimodo was taken aback by this sudden transformation. While the woman’s overwhelming beauty was partially to blame for stunning him, it wasn’t all that important compared to her identity. Okimodo knew who she was and she was not one to be messed with. Her name was Hiro and she was known for many acts of terrorism against the government. She was a class four super resonator from the school of death and not someone Okimodo could take lightly.

Hiro smiled as she assumed a suggestive pose. “What are you gawking at?”

“You’re Hiro?” Okimodo stared at the woman before him in amazement. “You’re beautiful!”

Okimodo spoke his mind plain and clear without a trace of self consciousness. Girls his own age were ok at best, it was the older women in their twenties and thirties that he found the most attractive.

Hiro held her chest stunned at the boy’s bluntness before she suddenly reared back in laughter. “Aren’t you just the most adorable thing in the world.”

“What was that deal you wanted to strike again?” Okimodo asked.

Hiro held her index finger to her lips while motioning with her other hand for Okimodo to come closer.

Okimodo was naturally still a little wary. After all this was a person he didn’t know personally, plus it would be extremely easy for her to use that nasty necrosis ability she had on him if he got close. He didn’t know much about the school of death but he did know that their abilities were largely given away by their name. They had various abilities that all centred around death in some way so it would be stupid of him to get into close proximity to one randomly, smoking hot or not.

“I’m not stupid.” Okimodo sighed refusing to get closer.

“Then I’ll just get closer to you then.” Hiro said walking towards him.

Okimodo took a step back.

“Don’t be stupid, we can both benefit in this situation.” Hiro urged him before suddenly moving towards him with an incredible speed.

Fearing for the worst Okimodo immediately sprouted a pair of wings to escape. He didn’t want to engage in close combat with someone of her calibre without his bow and arrows. Well to be more honest, he just didn’t want to hurt such a pretty woman.

Hiro quickly closed the distance between the two of them and lunged for Okimodo’s hand with the two necrotic fingers.

“Crap!” Okimodo cursed as she managed to get ahold of him.

He sighed internally already regretting what he was about to do. His finger nails on his remaining healthy hand extended into blade like protrusions. In a flash he jabbed towards the woman’s neck hoping to give the beautiful woman a quick and painless death by decapitating her. His long nails suddenly stopped less than an inch away from her jugular as he felt something soft moist and plump touch his other hand.

“What the?” Okimodo was immediately stunned as he watched the white haired woman kiss his hand. The necrotic skin quickly dried and fell off before new and healthy skin grew back in its place.

“There you go.” Hiro smiled warmly as she looked up at him. “You’re all healed up, no need to be afraid of me anymore.”

“What was your plan again.” Okimodo immediately became melancholic as he realised that he almost killed someone who potentially meant him no harm.

“As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, I have been following the train for quite some time.” Hiro continued to smile warmly as she spoke. “There are currently five other super resonators following the train apart from myself. All of them appear to be Assassins hired by Benjamin’s enemies.”

“Isn’t that a good thing for you?” Okimodo asked not getting where she was taking this.

Hiro rolled her eyes. “He has to die yes, just not for profit. It should be done because it’s the right thing to do.”

“I don’t personally get it.” Okimodo shrugged. “Either way he’s still dead in the end.”

Hiro took a second to think before continuing to ask him. “What do you think it means to be a hero?”

At the next moment time seemed to freeze as ten long and fin fingers landed gently on Okimodo’s shoulders. He felt a voice speak to him from behind, its tone was raspy and crackled disgustingly.

“Why the hell would she ask us such a question?” The entity was sneering like a dog. Its pale face had ape like hairy cheeks and blood shot eyes with slit pupils. “I hate it, don’t you?”

“Silence.” Okimodo’s spoke softly and the hallucination was gone.

That question was one Okimodo dreaded, because he didn’t for the life of him know what the answer to that question was. On a grammatical and definitional level he understood what a hero was very well. But the substance of those words were not something he could grasp. He just couldn’t, he didn’t have it in him to know. He knew only that they inspired people with their stories on stone tablets. He had of course red Heshea’s story many times but the meaning of the story had become lost to him over time. He had in other words forgotten it completely.

Okimodo remained silent, not saying a word.

Hiro looked him up and down before frowning and asking. “Did I say something that offended you?”

“No.” Okimodo finally spoke up. “Let’s just get back to your deal.”

Hiro quickly regained her beautiful smile and asked. “Your job only requires you to guard the train right? That means that when Benjamin leaves the train you’re no longer responsible for protecting him. Let’s cooperate and get rid of all of the other assassins together and when Benjamin reunites with his wife in Corone I’ll kill him. Your job will be long over by then so it won’t affect your payment.”

Okimodo fell into deep contemplation. From a logical perspective, there was no reason for him not to take the woman’s offer. She had methods of detecting the enemy resonators that were superior to himself and Shipo’s. With her help they could deal with the other enemies with relative ease.

“Deal.” Okimodo said smiling before the smile became a sly grin.

End of chapter 27.