Broken Hero

Summary: The path of a hero was always seen through rose colored glasses. Everyone knew the good guys won and then lived happily ever after. If that was so then why? Why was she so tired? So broken? Not only was she broken but now she had to watch as her friend went down the same path.

Kagome sighed as she sat under God Tree. He was here again, he came everyday and everyday he asked the same question and got the same answer. Even if he was a childhood friend he was pushing her to her limit.

"Why don't you use your powers for the greater good of mankind?" She let out a tired breath; she was growing bored of this game.

"I did and look where it's gotten me. I am alone and I am broken Hiro. I played the hero once upon a time and it brought me nothing but sorrow…please stop asking me to play it again."

Hiro let out a frustrated sigh as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. He saw what she could do, she could make a great impact on the world yet she refused to! She always said the same thing. That she played the hero once and it broke her. What did that mean?

"Kagome please just hear me out…with your help we could do so much. We could stop Sylar, we can save thousands of lives!" She sighed as she turned tired blue eyes to look into his passionate brown ones. Kami, she remembered that passion, she once held it. As well as the ideals that once person could save the world.

How she wished she could go back to believing that but she couldn't. No, she had played the hero once and had paid greatly; she would never pick up that mantel again. She just wished that Hiro would understand that, but she knew he wouldn't.

He was blinded by the fairy tales promise, that the hero always won and that the hero lived happily ever after. That was utter bull shit, she knew first hand and wished he would understand it as well but she knew he would not.

No, he needed to experience it first hand, he needed to learn it on his own that being a hero was not all sunshine and rainbows. One person could notchange the world, no it took many people and most times those others died and left you alone.

They left you alone to deal with the after math, with the guilt of being called a hero just because you survived and they didn't. He would learn it all to soon and she felt bad, but it was his choice. He chose the path of a hero and he would meet the same end as the rest of those who had chosen that path.

"Hiro…it is not my fight. I fought my battle long ago and won. I merely wish to live the rest of my days in peace." Hiro sighed and nodded, she would say no more on the subject, she was stubborn, but so was he.

"Kagome…I know its not your battle but a hero never turns his back on his calling. I will return tomorrow. Have a nice night." He got up to leave and was startled when she grabbed his hand. He turned to look at her and gasped.

She looked so tired, so worn, and so broken. Her long black hair hung down to her slim waist, a stark contrast to her pale white skin. Her miko clothes seemed to swallow her small form and made her seem like a glass doll. Her eyes were shadowed and dull, she looked like she was going to keel over at any second.

"Hiro…the path of a hero is hard and long. There is no guarantee that you will and your friends will reach the end of it. You will see and do many horrible things on this path…but…if you come out the same way you went in you will be a true hero and not just a survivor like me…Hiro…don't end up like me."

Hiro gulped thickly as she let his hand go and looked over the courtyard. Never in his life…kami…her words…they stuck a cord in him and it made him want to pull her into his arms and promise to protect her, that he would make everything okay. But he knew he could not, he had to stop Sylar, he had to save the world.

"Kagome…" She looked up at him and smiled sadly, she knew that tone. He was conflicted. He no doubt wanted to make all the bad things in her life go away, maybe she shouldn't have said what she had but she knew all to painfully well you couldn't change the past.

"Hiro, I will be fine. I walked my path and I must deal with the consequences. These are my burdens not yours. You have just started out on your path, you have much to learn and do. I will not join you on this path, I refuse. But when you journey is done I will be here waiting to hear of your heroic tales…and maybe I will tell you of mine."

Hiro nodded, a new found respect for Kagome Higurashi, his former classmate, his friend, and his secret love. Kagome Higurashi the miko of the Higurashi Shrine, the last blood member of her clan, and the last true miko in the world. She was not running away from destiny, no…she had paid her dues and he would never think her a coward again.

"I will return I promise and I will be the same Hiro you know now." She smiled as she stood up and touched his cheek. Her smile was not a tired one but a smile that reminded him of the young bright girl he had fallen in love with in the ninth grade.

"I can only pray that you do. I wish you good luck on your journey, I will hold onto the hope that you will come back alive and the same Hiro that I know and love…please don't disappointment me Hiro-kun. Come back a real hero not a broken one." She leaned in and touched her forehead to his.

He blushed a bright red but leaned in a bit closer and inhaled her scent, it had an underling of bloodshed, it had since the night she had shown up beaten and broken when she was twenty. Ever since then he had made it his mission to get her back to normal, to fix her.

It was two weeks ago that he found out he was special and he had to save the world. It was one week ago that he found out she was special. He thought it was fate, destiny, that they would travel the path of a hero together so he had begged her to go with him but each time he asked she said no.

Now he felt like an ass, he was so caught up in the grandeur of destiny and fate that he ignored how truly tired and broken she was. He would travel his path alone and he would come back to her the same man that he had left as. Maybe then she would deem him worthy of telling hearing her tale.

He blinked when she pulled back a small serene smile on her face. He blushed.

"I will be waiting Hiro. When you get back I want to hear of your grand adventures and then I will tell you of mine. Until then be safe." With that she turned on her heel and limped her way towards her house. He watched with a new found light as she walked away from him.

They both knew there was no guarantee that he would come back, let alone as the same man he left as but she was willing to lie for him to make him feel better. Then again they both knew deep down that's what she wanted, she wanted him to come back to her the same man and so she deluded herself into thinking he would. He was no better, already he could envision himself coming back to her waiting arms and swapping tales.

Nothing was set in stone, no one knew what the future held. Anything could happen, this was not a manga, he could die. Even so he would walk the path set out before him and could only hope that it would lead him back here, back to her. Kagome Higurashi, his child hood friend, his love, the last true miko, the broken hero.