Sizzling heat gnawed at his skin. His arms, though guarded up, hung limp, raw muscle exposed beneath charred wounds. Every slight movement sent fresh waves of agony through his nerves. And yet, despite it all, Akuma stood tall, his resolve unwavering.

  The monster remained unfocused, its obsidian skin pulsing with streaks of molten light. Each time it opened its grotesque jaw, the air crackled and buzzed. In the next moment, a crimson beam scorched through the air with a deafening screech, obliterating anything it happened to home in on.

  Akuma glared at the creature through his guard. That’s when he noticed it. Before, he thought the creature was simply attacking mindlessly, but now, having taken a blow directly, he could sense a hint of deliberateness in its gaze. Like it was… searching for something.

  Akuma gasped, his breath coming in quick, frantic bursts. His heartbeat hammered in his ears, drowning out the distant screams of fleeing pedestrians.

  “Are you... okay, Alice?”

  She nodded slightly, dust clinging to her tear-streaked face.

  “Y-Yes... I'm fine. Thanks to you.”

  “That’s good. I don't know what I'd do if you were hurt...”

  In a fluid motion, Akuma pivoted, channeling his momentum as he unleashed a powerful kick that sent the debris pinning Alice down flying. The impact jarred his injured muscles, sending a jolt of pain through his damaged arms.

  “...You should run away...” He warned, clenching his jaw to suppress the pain. “I have a feeling things are about to get ugly.”

  “No.” Alice insisted as she fought to regain her footing.

  Her hands trembled, but her eyes remained steady.

  “...I can't just leave you here. Not when you're fighting for my sake.”

  A wave of unfamiliar emotions washed over Akuma. For her to still hold such feelings for him even in the face of such danger was truly... beautiful. But he knew what had to be done.

  His attention shifted back to the monster looming in the distance. It had paused its rampage, its head tilted as if listening in on their conversation.

  “I'd rather not have the extra baggage.” He said, his voice deliberately cold. “Sorry, Alice, but you'd just be getting in my way.”

  “I just told you I won't. I can't in good faith leave while I know you're fighting to protect me–”

  “Look!” He growled, trying to dismiss the emotions swelling inside him. “I like fighting. It's what I do. It's what I live for. I ain't protecting you or anything, I've just been getting bored of fighting humans, ya know? Figured, why not fight a creepy monster that can shoot energy blasts?”

  He spat blood onto the ground then wiped the remains on his mouth with the back of his hand.

  ”...I'm just hoping this thing can actually give me a challenge.”

  “I'm staying.” She insisted once more, struggling to keep herself standing.

  By now, Akuma snapped, his frustration evident by the sharp click of his tongue. His hands balled into fists so tight that his knuckles turned white and the veins in his forearms bulged.

  “Oh, get over yourself!” He roared, turning to face her. “You think I'm risking my life for you? That guys just throw themselves into fights because a girl is a little cute? Please tell me you're not that stupid!”

  “What? What reason would I have to think that?”

  Her voice cracked slightly, but she stood her ground, matching his tone.

  “Clearly you do because you seem to have this idiotic notion that I'm trying to save someone. I'm always getting into fights, and I always keep to myself. I don't do anything that isn't necessary and just mind my business. The only reason I plan on fighting that monster is because I'm just a muscle head that loves to fight! That's the only thing I have going for me!”

  His voice broke, revealing a vulnerability he instantly regretted.

  “...That's the only thing I've ever had going for me... So what makes you think this time is any different? Huh? Don't get a big head just because I happen to let you talk to me every now and then. Me and you are in completely different worlds–!”

  Slap!

  The sound cut through the air like a blade.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  His cheek burned, not from the force of the hit, but from the shock of it.

  Tears streamed down Alice’s cheeks, and the anguish in her eyes pierced through him like a dagger. As her head sank to the ground, he completely forgot about the burning pain in his arms and the looming threat of the demonic creature.

  All he could feel was a hollow ache in his chest. A sensation so foreign it left him speechless.

  Her hands curled into fists at her sides. Even as pain flared in her ankle, she stood her ground, refusing to leave his side.

  “Over and over and over...” She repeated, her voice shaken by her tears, each word a hammer against the walls he'd built. “...I've watched you isolate yourself from everyone around you over and over again. Even now, you're trying to push me away when all I want to do is help...”

  Her voice softened a bit.

  “But that's just a mask you put on to hide your insecurities... The truth... is that you hate yourself, don't you? You hate the fact that you can't be like the Akuma that's in your head. You hate the fact that you can't be as cold and heartless as him. Because you're just not that kind of person… No matter what it is, you'd inconvenience yourself if it meant someone else's happiness. That's the kind of person you are! ...But... But...”

  In that moment, she lifted her gaze to him, her eyes filled with genuine sorrow.

  “…If you’d just drop the act for one moment, everyone will realize just how kind you really are.”

  His mind raced, but no answers came. Akuma stood there, the sharp sting of her slap muted by his utter confusion.

  (Why did she slap me? Why is she looking at me like that? With such sadness…?)

  Alice, a simple classmate and nothing more had just laid bare something he'd never allowed himself to see.

  No.

  She cut a bit deeper than that.

  There was no hiding it from her, or from himself at this point. For so long, his walls had stayed firm. He was convinced that the only way to protect others was to keep them at arm's length.

  (Am I really like that?)

  His fists clenched tightly by his sides. He wanted to deny it, he wanted to snap back at her, but the words caught in his throat. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple, mingling with blood from a cut he hadn't noticed before.

  (Is that really all I’ve been doing? Pushing people away so I don’t have to face who I really am? …Am I really a kind person?)

  The question gnawed at him, but it didn’t feel like a simple answer.

  (In the first place, what exactly does it even mean to be kind? Is it like being a hero? If that’s the case, then what does it even mean to be a hero? ...No, I know the answer. A hero is someone who helps people for a reward. A glorified businessman. An opportunist…)

  Her voice rang in his head, the meaning of her words sinking in slowly like water filling a hollow.

  (…To inconvenience oneself for someone else’s happiness… Is that… really what it means to be kind? To be a hero?)

  With Akuma lost in his thoughts, Alice’s attention was suddenly drawn to a civilian trapped beneath a pile of debris, desperately struggling to free themselves from a heavy stone wall that had fallen across their midsection.

  “Are you alright?” she called out, rushing to their aid.

  However, with just a single step, she felt a sharp pain in her right ankle, causing her to stumble. Only now did she notice she received an injury from earlier. The pain was enough to make her wince, but her determination pushed her forward.

  Alice pressed on, limping toward the distressed individual while carefully navigating the jagged remnants of the wreckage.

  “What’s going on?!” the trapped person exclaimed as Alice poured her energy into lifting the rubble. “I-Is it a bomb? A terrorist? Why is every building suddenly exploding?!”

  Alice’s expression tightened at the question.

  “Huh? Can’t you see that monster over there? The one firing off those beams of crimson light?”

  “M-Monster?! Where is it? Where? WHERE?”

  Their voice cracked as dust fell from their hair, their eyes darting wildly around the rubble.

  “Please miss, I don't wanna die!!”

  “You really can't see it... Then why am I able to–?”

  Her words instantly died in her throat as she turned her gaze to make sure. Instead of a monster off in the distance, she was met with two piercing shadowy eyes, mere inches from her face.

  “So you can see me…” It said, its voice reverberating ominously in her ears.

  The pungent smell of sulfur and old books left to rot washed over her. The startling sight sent a shock through her, causing her to inadvertently put weight on her injured ankle. But she bared through the pain, believing that any sudden movements would result in her death.

  “A mortal… who sees beyond the layer? No mere human. No, no, no. You are sweet. You reek of divinity. Is it a twisted gift or perhaps a curse? …Tell me, which god is it that blessed you?”

  Akuma, sensing the overwhelming bloodlust, snapped out of his daze, but he was already a step too late. He sprinted forward with all his might, but the distance felt too wide.

  His eyes widened.

  The creature’s fist moved too fast to stop, yet somehow slow enough for him to feel every second stretch into eternity.

  But then, he saw something that made his breath truly hitch.

  “No. It couldn’t be possible.” That’s what he told himself.

  But there was just no denying the facts. The apparition, that wretched thing that taunted him at every turn of his life, had slammed into the creature’s fist, forcing it to narrowly miss Alice.

  Akuma’s mind reeled, the battle momentarily forgotten as he struggled to comprehend what he had just seen. Sensing his momentary hesitation, the apparition grunted at Akuma, hastily pointing at the monster.

  That was the push he needed.

  Akuma lunged forward, channeling every ounce of strength he had left. His muscles howled at him, and his wounds reopened, but none of that mattered. He drilled his left leg into the ominous creature's right side, sending it sliding through the rubble, hunching over as it growled from the sudden pain. It sounded almost like boulders grinding against each other.

  He landed forcibly, a burning fire coursing through his soul as he smiled at Alice. It was the kind of smile that anchored her to the moment, gluing her eyes to his. Not the practiced smirk he wore as armor, but something real and unguarded. A genuine smile.

  “I've decided, Alice...!” He announced, his voice steady despite the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

  As he did, the apparition hovered beside him, no longer a haunting presence but something almost... protective.

  “I still don't think true heroes exist in this world. People just ain't that nice... But... I don't think they don't exist either. Right now, I'm uncertain which one to pick. So I think... I'll try it out.”

  He gestured at himself with a determined thumb, standing tall despite his wounds.

  “I'll inconvenience myself to the depths of hell! And at the end of that journey, I'll give you my answer.”