Hiro cocked his rifle with a quick grunt and held it in his arms. He paused. With the gun in his hands, he wasn't so eager to go out into the fray anymore. Gripping the rifle handle, he realized how sweaty his hands were and how tightly they were clenched. He knew there were people dying down there. He knew there were Cybugs. He knew it was ugly, and it terrified him.

"Hey. Hiro."

He turned to see Tadashi place a hand on his shoulder. "You look like you need a moment."

"Uh…y-yeah," Hiro said and looked back down at the gun in his hands, sucking in air and letting it out in quick puffs from his cheeks. "Yeah. Yeah, I…" His brain couldn't grasp words to complete his sentence. He felt the warm grip on his shoulder tighten.

"I've got your back."

Those words sank into Hiro's shuddering soul as he took in a few steady breathes, trying to stabilize his mind. He closed his eyes and nodded. "Thanks. And…I got yours," he said in a small voice. His elder brother quickly pulled him into a silent hug. Holding his rifle aside, Hiro squeezed back as best as he could with one arm before pulling apart with a nervous breath.

The people around him rushed to ready themselves, cocking guns, pulling on jackets, lacing boots, and pulling back hair. Hiro pulled the blue headband out of his pocket and, pushing his bangs out of the way, tied it around his forehead with a firm knot.

"Hey, genius."

Hiro turned.

Vanellope shot him a coy smile. There was something behind it that he couldn't discern. Maybe uncertainty. "Maybe a word for the troops? You're leading us, you know."

"Speech! Quick speech!" Jordan shouted from the front of the crowd.

Hiro choked on a bit of his spit, swallowing it with a guttural cough. "N-no—"

"You should. Something quick," Tadashi said.

Painfully aware of the seconds slipping by, Hiro agitatedly cleared his throat. "Listen up!" he yelled above the din, which dimmed at the sound of his voice. Hiro licked his lips, trying to grasp for words. "When we step out there…we're crossing the Rubicon. There's no going back. The others are expecting us to help them. This is the only shot we have to fix things. To make them right." He licked his dry lips and looked out across the diverse mass of faces. Faces that were waiting on him. Expecting from him. Looking toward him to lead them into a fight. He drew in another breath to steady his pounding heart and let it out. "So let's make it count!"

Jordan loudly slapped his hands together in a booming clap and hollered a whoop at the top of his lungs.

( 0—0 )

Beads of sweat were dripping from GoGo's forehead, pits, and back, but she couldn't afford to take time to wipe it away. The sun had been beating down mercilessly on them for that whole afternoon. Now, as the sun started to set, she was grateful for the increase of shade from the towering skyscrapers. However, the loss of light would mean a disadvantage for their forces. Yes, they could see the Cybugs by their glowing green eyes, but they wouldn't be able to see each other. That was a scary thought. And there were so many people fighting around her, their faces were all blurry to her. But the thought of hitting one of those blurry faces made her shudder.

The deafening sound of a screech behind her made her whirl around and pull the trigger on her rifle, knowing that the Cybug was too close to miss. Sure enough, a large Cybugs with its body partially deformed to look like what seemed to be a lamp sputtered and screeched, one of its eyes shattered and out. GoGo fired a shot into the mouth, and it fell. Where are the reserves? She thought, irate. How long ago was it that I fired that flare? They should be here by now!

Loud whirring overhead made her look up. Two Cybugs were flying above the fray to perch on a nearby skyscraper, where they could sit and eat unbothered. It was a long shot, but she could make it. Cocking her rifle and aiming, GoGo shot at one of the Cybugs. She saw a crackle of electricity spark from underneath the Cybug's undefended belly, before the robot shuddered and fell out of the sky due to nonfunctional wings, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. Its companion turned to see it fall, before immediately locking eyes with GoGo. With no hesitation, it made a beeline for her, its metal maw wide open. GoGo aimed straight into its mouth, but before she could pull the trigger, a loud bang erupted, and it, too, dropped to the ground with a large crash that ripped two of its legs off. GoGo turned.

Behind her, Vanellope cocked her rifle and tossed her disheveled ponytail out of her face, a triumphant look on her face. "First kill of the day!" she called.

"Yeah, and it was mine!" GoGo yelled at her. "I had that one! Get your own!"

Vanellope ran over to join her side. "How bad is it down here?"

"I haven't heard from Tauni or Gakuto. My guess is they're occupied down on the sixth block. Maybe the seventh. Wasabi has a lot of casualties and one of Gakuto's thots is missing."

"GoGo, call her a cohort."

"She's a thot and you can't change my mind." GoGo shot at an oncoming Cybug. "Where were you guys? I shot that flare an hour ago! If we ever get songs sung about today, it's gonna be about how tardy the reserves were!"

The sisters were now back-to-back, Vanellope aiming at an air-born Cybug. "Hiro got lost. Blame him."

"For real?!"

"No." Vanellope pulled her trigger and the Cybug dropped out of the sky. She bit her lip and silently yelled at herself as she cocked the rifle. How could she be so light-hearted right now? Her life—and a butt-ton of others' lives—were at stake, and she was making jokes about Hiro getting lost!

"Where is the kid, anyways?"

"I don't know," Vanellope answered honestly.

"GOGO!" the girls both heard a shout.

GoGo turned. "THERE YOU ARE!" she hollered. "GET OVER HERE!"

Hiro ducked a flying Cybug and dashed over to them. Soon, the three were back-to-back.

"Nice of you to join the party. We were just talking about you," Vanellope said over the noise. She again internally yelled at herself for being so casual.

"What's the situation?" Hiro asked, quickly taking a shot at an oncoming Cybug.

"Tauni and Gakuto won't respond to me, one of Gakuto's thots is MIA, and Wasabi needs backup," GoGo responded.

"Is anybody on their way to help him?"

"Not that I've heard."

"I can go," Hiro offered. "Where is he?"

"Magnin street."

Hiro clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as a screech tore through the air. "Right. Me, Vanellope, and some of the others will make our way over there."

"I might as well go with you," GoGo added, quickly reloading her rifle. She grabbed the walkie-talkie at her hip and yelled into it over the roar around them. "All troops in squad GA, make your way to Magnin street! We're rendezvousing with sub squad W3! Move!"

( 0—0 )

Hiro could feel the ache building up in his ribs as he ran, breathing in and out through his dry mouth. His tongue was already sticky. He swallowed and tried to keep his eyes on his path ahead; around that lamp pole, hang a right, and keep clear of the knocked over tree to the left. The beacon inside his jacket was jostled with every pace, bumping against his chest. He needed to activate it soon.

"How much longer!" Taffyta called out behind him.

"A few more blocks!" he responded without looking back.

Surprisingly, he didn't hear a complain about tired legs or shortness of breath. Then again, even someone like Taffyta had to come to terms with the weight of their situation. Still, he couldn't understand why she still chose to wear short-shorts and a tank top with no jacket. Her arms and legs were practically bare, and he was sure she was going to be some bad scrapes because of it.

"Hiro!" Jordan called from behind as well.

Looking up, Hiro saw an oncoming Cybug headed straight for them. He paused in his running, slung his rifle off his shoulder the way Calhoun taught him, aimed for the mouth, and fired. The Cybug stumbled with a cut-off cry and crashed to the cement. Hiro resumed his running, now in step with his comrades.

They turned the corner of the street, and were met with an already brewed skirmish in the middle of a large traffic circle. Hiro instantly recognized a large, dark figure with black dreadlocks. "WASABIII!" He hollered the best he could through his panting.

The man turned to see him. "Hiro!"

Hiro jogged over to him along with Jordan, and the three were soon back to back. "How bad is it here?" Hiro asked.

"Bad. I've lost almost a third of my regiment. They're trying to surround us, I think." Wasabi answered.

"Wait, are Cybugs smart enough to do that?" Jordan asked.

"If they've been vamped up by my DNA, they would be," said Hiro. "I can activate the beacon now, but I'll need some cover—" He lifted his rifle, aimed, and shot at a flying Cybugs overhead, shattering one of its wings. It wobbled before making a dive in his direction. Jordan followed with a shot of his own, with finished it off. It fell to the earth with a crash, several appendages breaking off. The three moved back to avoid the flying shrapnel.

"If you need cover, you'll get it," Wasabi said. "Everyone! Form a ring around Hiro! Give him some cover!"

GoGo nodded and continued the call, waving for everybody in the vicinity to gather around. Eventually, Hiro was surrounded by a thin, human shield, firing at any oncoming bugs. With no time to waste, Hiro pulled the beacon out of his inner jacket pocket and set it on the ground, powering it up. It immediately lit up and beeped, unfolding metal legs that clamped onto the pavement. A nearby bare leg wearing slim, leather boots nearly stepped on his hand. "T-Taffyta!" Hiro reprimanded, irritated. "I need space!"

"Aghk! S-sorry, Hiro!" she apologized in a high peep.

Shaking his head, Hiro tried to drown out the noise and dissonance around him, zeroing in on the small panel of buttons on the beacon. He knew the confirmation code and the green button was all he needed to activate it. The code, the code, the code…what was the code? Hiro panicked to himself. He had memorized it before he left, but in that moment, everything fled his head. Thankfully, he had written it on his arm. Pulling his jacket sleeve up to see the blue numbers scrawled on his skin, Hiro's eyes quickly scanned the numbers he once knew. 297929283. Right, he knew that. He leaned over the punch in the numbers on the dial pad.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling shriek blasted his ears, and the pale, bare legs that had been standing too close to him were gone, like a limp rag doll was sucked into an abyss. Hiro felt his heart leap into his throat as he saw the gap in the ring around him, where the girl had once stood. Through that window of legs, he saw her, screaming and crying as a Cybug gripped her legs in its spiny maw. Blood was already gushing from her skin, leaving a smeared trail of crimson on the cement where she had been dragged away. Her platinum blonde hair was swishing as she struggled to escape the robot's hold. All other sounds around him were muted, except for Taffyta's desperate cries and screams for help and she quickly slid farther and farther into the Cybug's gullet. On impulse, Hiro bolted from his position and ran as fast as he could, reaching out for her hand. The Cybug continued to drag her out of his reach until only her arms and head were visible. The terror of the last look he saw on her face made Hiro's blood freeze and his feet stop in their tracks.

And then, Taffyta was gone.

The screaking was cut-off, and the Cybug that had consumed her started to mutate. The face of a teenage girl with near-white hair and running mascara appeared, and the body of the robot turned the neon pink her tank top had been. After its transformation, it let out a screech.

Hiro opened his mouth to speak, but found that he couldn't breathe. His heart pounded in his chest, and his stomach threatened to turn itself inside out. He wasn't completely aware that his legs were giving out under him, until he felt a hand on his arm, pulling him backwards. A voice yelled at him from above, asking if he was alright, but he couldn't find words to answer, the image of Taffyta's terrified face burned into his head.

"Hiro? HIRO! Can you hear me?" Wasabi continued to ask before he started to drag Hiro into the ring. Before he could rejoin the rest, a flying Cybug made a dive for them. He dropped Hiro's arm and shot his rifle at it, but missed. Panicking, he aimed for the mouth, but he knew he was too late. He quickly threw his body over Hiro's as the Cybug crashed into them.

Hiro was still trying to grasp his bearings when he felt Wasabi cover him. And then, a force slammed his head to the ground, and his vision went black.

"WASABI! HIRO!" Jordan shrieked from his position in the ring, voice cracking. Abandoning his position, he ran over to the heap, rifle raised and aimed at the Cybug, but when he got closer, he saw that he was dead. Frantically, he positioned his hands on the Cybug's body, straining to push the thing off. What muscle he had bulged in his pale arms as the robot started to budge. GoGo joined his side, and pushed her back against the Cybug, and together, they shoved it off.

"Wasabi?" GoGo called, her voice rising. A large, red bloom stained the back of Wasabi's shirt as she turned him over into her lap. Wasabi's blue head band was smeared with blood that trickled from his forehead, and his eyes stared blankly up at the sky. "Wasabi? Wasabi!" GoGo yelled. "Look at me!"

"Wasabi! 'Sab! Hey 'Sab!" Jordan joined her, leaning over the man.

When she came to a realization, GoGo felt something wet slick her eyes as she stared into the still face of her comrade. Jordan continued to call Wasabi's name until he was struggling not to sob. But she couldn't get emotional…not now. Not now. No… Standing up and ignoring whatever was falling down her cheeks, she turned her attention to Hiro, who was also slumped on the ground. She could feel a Cybug near her fall the ground with a cry as someone bullet tore through it. Leaning over Hiro, GoGo searched his body for large wounds, but saw his chest rise and fall. He was still alive.

"Hiro!" Vanellope called from the ring.

"He's alive!" GoGo yelled back at her, looping her arms around Hiro. Then, she started to drag him back to the ring, gritting her teeth as the boy's boots scraped against the cement. "JORDAN! GET BACK HERE!"

Tears in his eyes, Jordan looked up at her, before tearing himself away from the dead body to follow.

GoGo slung Hiro's limp body into the middle of the dissolving ring. "He's unconscious!" she reported, scanning the ground. "Where's the beacon?!"

The group started to search the ground like they were trying to find gold. "Here!" A young woman shouted, running towards the metal contraption that had been kicked aside. However, she was forced to pause when a Cybug stepped in her way. The young woman aimed and shot one of its eyes, causing it to dance around madly. In its feverish frenzy, its sharp, spindle-like legs pierced straight through the beacon.

"NO!" GoGo yelled.

The young woman finished off the Cybug and collected the now splintered pieces of the beacon. "I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"Give it here!" GoGo demanded, snatching it from the woman's hands. It was almost split in half. There was absolutely no hope of it working. It was broken. Broken…the beacon was broken. Gritting her teeth in rage, GoGo leaned back down, where Vanellope held the unconscious Hiro in her lap. "Vanellope! Can you stay with him?" she asked.

Vanellope nodded quickly. "Yes!"
"Then do so! I'll call somebody to pick him up and move him, but the rest of us need to follow the Cybugs! They're starting to move down the street!" GoGo instructed. "Expect Tadashi to come for him!" With that, she motioned for the rest of the fray to follow her, and they started a half-retreat-half-chase down the street where the Cybugs were moving. GoGo pulled her walkie-talkie out. "GA to TC! Come in TC!" she called.

Static, and then a response. "TC here. I read you."

"Tadashi, your brother is unconscious and the beacon is broken. He's with my sister on Magnin. The rest of us can't stay with him; we're chasing the Cybugs. We think they're heading toward the main commotion. Come over here and move him somewhere safe."

"THE BEACON BROKE?!"
GoGo bit her lip. "Just come and get him! We can't worry about the beacon now."

( 0—0 )

Tadashi's chest was aching as he ran down the street. He could hear the gunshots and screeching behind him, but they were growing fainter with each stride. Sweat drenched his shirt, dripping down his sides and back, but the air was getting cooler as the sun started to set. But that wasn't good for visibility. That would only give the Cybugs an advantage.

And now that the beacon is broken… Tadashi grit his teeth in anger. He wasn't sure where he was directing the anger, but for now, it was fueling his tiring legs on. He wanted to swear, but held his tongue. No use wasting breath.

He slowed his pace to look up at a bent street sign. Magnin. Thank God, he was close. Vanellope and Hiro were here somewhere, he just had to find them. He could hear any screeching or conflict. It was almost silent, except for distant echoes of what he had just left. Decided the risk of Cybugs was small, Tadashi cupped his hands to his mouth and took in a deep breath. "VANELLOPE!"

There was no response.

"VANELLOPE! HIRO!" he yelled again.

Then, he heard a faint cry.

"Tadashi? TADASHI!"

"KEEP YELLING!" he instructed as he started towards Vanellope's voice.

"TADASHI! WE'RE OVER HERE!"

Tadashi made a right around a street corner, and there he saw them. Vanellope was sitting on the ground with a limp Hiro in her arms, waving for him. As Tadashi approached them, he could see that her cheeks were red and her eyes puffy, a sign that she had been crying.

"Tadashi—!" Vanellope started, lacking breath to finish from her sobs.

"It's okay, it's okay," he quickly reassured, setting down his rifle and kneeling next to her. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder, looking around. "What happened here?"

Vanellope's crying, now renewed, obstructed her speech, but she tried to explain the best she could through her sniffles and tears. "A-a-and then, the…the—the beacon, the beacon—! A Cybug broke it! It—it-it-it broke it! While Hiro was about to activa-aaa-a-a-aaate…" Her words trailed off into sobs.

Tadashi rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. "We'll worry about the beacon later. How's Hiro?"

"H-h-he's unconscious," Vanellope answered, gesturing to the body she held in her lap. She hefted him and let Tadashi take him, still wiping away tears.

A large scrape on Hiro's forehead bled into his eye and dried in his bangs. A parched moan escaped his lips. "Hiro. Hiro. Hey, hey Hiro. Look at me. Hiro? Look at me," said Tadashi in a rushed but quiet voice, jostling him a bit to wake him up.

After a few moments, Hiro's eyes fluttered open and he groaned. "T…Tadashi?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What…? The…—! The beacon! The—where is it?" the boy said frantically, trying to sit up and look around.

"Here." Vanellope sadly offered the broken remains of the contraption.

Taking a moment to process the image of his destroyed handiwork, Hiro slowly reached out his bruised and scraped hands for the pieces. It was like just the touch of the metals and screws pierced him. Before he knew it, tears welled in his eyes and fell in small drops down his cheeks and neck. An ache built up in his chest that restricted him from breathing. And then he started to sob.

The pitiful, broken remains of a small machine that he held in his hands were the last thing, the only thing that stood between humanity and the Cybugs. He had worked so hard—sleepless nights, stressful mornings, skipped meals, sore hands, even crying, as embarrassing as it was—it was all in vain, everything he had worked for. He could hear Vanellope start to cry with him, and he felt Tadashi place a hand on his shoulder. None of it helped. The pressure building up in him was so great, he eventually lifted his head and let out the worst, gut-wrenching, throat-ripping cry he could. "WHY?!" Vanellope flinched and wept some more. "I WORKED SO HARD! I WAS THE LAST CHANCE! THE LAST CHANCE! WHY?!"

"Hiro!" Tadashi yelled at him.

"NO!" Hiro yelled back.

"HIRO!"

Hiro snapped his head up to look at his brother, tears streaming and lip trembling. His eyes were blazing with fury and grief, but as Tadashi looked into them, he could see something else…defeat, worthlessness, failure. It made him realize that there was absolutely nothing in the world he could say to Hiro that would remedy anything. A+ for effort. You tried your best. You'll do better next time.

There wouldn't be a next time. The weight of the situation started to sink in a little more. As he watched Hiro and Vanellope cry, he swallowed the rising lump in his throat. Even though the atmosphere of despair was so thick, his mind couldn't shake off the fact that there was still a fight raging on. "We can't stay here," he said quietly.

Vanellope looked up at him, her brown eyes even puffier than before. She turned to Hiro with a sniff, waiting to see how he would respond.

The boy also tried to hold in his sobs as he turned to his brother. "Where do we go? What do we do?" he asked, voice tight and nose stuffy.

Tadashi waited for a moment. "We…we—"

"What do we do?" Hiro asked again, firmly. The tone in his voice dared Tadashi to find a solution to their predicament. His eyes were still angry. Probably at himself. Tadashi knew from experience that reasoning with an angry Hiro was never fruitful. Especially a Hiro that was angry at himself.

The man sucked in a breath, trying to show both Hiro and Vanellope that they wouldn't get anywhere unless they both calmed themselves. Of course, he wasn't he could expect them to do that. "We go back," he answered finally. "We go back and help the others fight. We can regroup with GoGo and the others and try to find a solu—"

"A solution? Like what? A spare beacon?" Hiro grit his teeth at the thought. "Even if I tried to fix the beacon, by the time I was done, I would be the last human in San Fransokyo."

"Hiro, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?! You expect me to calm down right now?! Now?! The ONLY WAY TO STOP THE CYBUGS JUST. BROKE. AND YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM!?"

"YES, I DO!"

"EVERYBODY IS GOING TO DIE, AND IT'S GOING TO BE MY FAULT!"

Hiro's voice was cut short by a sharp hand across the face. The skin, bone, and nails against his cheek stung and he could feel the skin start to burn. He froze, wide brown eyes still pouring tears and mouth slightly open. He didn't know what to do…he hadn't expected a slap.

Next to the Hamada brothers, Vanellope sat stone-still, afraid that another peep or sniffle might make Tadashi slap her, too.

In a dark silence, Tadashi took Hiro by the shoulder, forcing their eyes to meet. "Hiro Hamada, you look at me. None of this is your fault," he said slowly. "The Taffyta, Wasabi, the beacon breaking…even the Cybugs…none of it is your fault, so you had better stop treating it like it is. You want me to let you wallow in your shame and self-pity? That's not happening. That's selfish, and it won't help anybody."

Hiro bit his lip, sniffing. "Then what will?" he asked in a breaking voice. "What can I do? Is there even anything I can do anymore?" He bowed his head, wishing his crying would stop.

Seated on the cement, Tadashi pulled Hiro into a hug. "Since when have you let a broken invention stop you?" Hiro didn't respond, still trying to stop his ever-flowing tears. "Look for a new angle."

Look for a new angle. Hiro had heard those words so often. He had grown to hate those words, because they usually worked. But now…he replayed them furiously in his mind, praying that they would work again, because he felt that they were useless when he needed them most.

Tadashi looked over to Vanellope, who sat watching them in near silence. With a gentle, sad smile, Tadashi stretched his arm out towards her. "Come here."

Even though being brought into the midst of the Hamada-drama she had just seen unfold before her made her slightly uncomfortable, she couldn't find it in her to turn down a hug. She scooted a little closer and leaned against him, wrapping her arms around him and trying to keep her crying for starting again. She felt Tadashi's arms wrap around her and Hiro, and for a moment, even with the hopelessness of their circumstances, she felt safe for once.

After a small while, Tadashi finally patted them to let know that they should get up. "Alright. We had better go. We can't stay here."

Quickly, so as not to be inconvenient, Vanellope quickly rose to her feet, watching the Hamada bros slowly follow her suit. Hiro avoided eye contact as he wiped away some tears, taking in a deep breath.

"Where do we go?" she asked quietly.

"Like I said, we go back. The others need all the help they can get. We'll explain the situation to GoGo and try to find a solution," answered Tadashi. "Let's go." He started a slow jog down the street towards where he came from.

Slowly, Vanellope and Hiro followed suit. It took Vanellope a bit of forced will to get her legs to stop being so sluggish. She just wanted to sit down, mope, and soak in her snot and tears, but…she couldn't afford to do that now. She was sure Hiro felt the same way. She looked across at him to see his eyes trained on the ground in front of him. His eyes were still red. Looking away, Vanellope trained her own eyes on Tadashi's back ahead of her. She could hear the sounds of the conflict getting closer, and it made her legs want to slow even more.

"Wait," Hiro murmured, slowing his pace.

Taking the opportunity, Vanellope stopped as well. "What? What is it?"

Tadashi also turned to look at them.

In deep thought, Hiro bent over, hands on his knees and elbows locked. "We need to go back and grab the beacon," he said. "I can't rebuild it in time, but I can recycle pieces."

Tadashi nodded in approval. "Sounds good. You wanna get it by yourself, or—"

"I can get it," Hiro responded, cutting off his brother as he turned on his heels.

Vanellope watched him go until he was just a mite turning the corner of the street. She let out a breath when he was out of sight and sniffed his still damp nose. "Do you have any ideas for a plan? A backup? For the…?" she let her sentence trail off uncertainly. With the first despairing look she had seen from him, Tadashi hung his head and shook it sadly. It made her heart sink. Is…is this the end…? She couldn't stop her mind from falling into that thought. What if Hiro can't rebuild the beacon? What if we can't do anything? Is it all over? Is this the moment I'm going to look back on? The moment when I realized that… She bit her trembling lip. Am I going to die today? Tomorrow?

Then, she saw a dark figure turn the far-away corner, sprinting towards them. Jacket wildly flapping, blue headband ends trailing behind him, his strides were long and frantic. Almost like he was fueled with a new fire.

Vanellope looked up to see him.

The shape of Hiro approached faster than she thought. "TADASHI!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "WE NEED TO GO BACK! BACK TO CAMP!"

"W-what? WHY?!" Tadashi asked.

Hiro waited until he was closer. "I think I have an idea for the beacon!" he shouted, clearly out of breath. "But I need something back at camp! And tools!"

"Then let's move!" his older brother ordered, and the two started to run side by side. From the tone of his voice, he sounded excited.

It made Vanellope feel excited, too. It made her legs want to run as she followed behind them.

Maybe there was hope.

I have to apologize, I left this fanfic alone because I thought I had no more chapters in the reserves to post, but when I finished the 35th chapter, I realized I hadn't posted 34. OOP SORRY-!

Well, since I do have the 35th chapter ready, I guess that'll come in a few weeks. After that, we only have 36 and an epilogue to go! My sister forced me to add "finish Hiro's Duty" to my non-existant 2020 resolutions list, so welp, it looks like I'll try to finish it this year (*^u^)

Thank you for hanging in there, as always!

kiwii