Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Force or any characters therein.
It was a fine November day on the surface, and Sho and Arrow were eating lunch on a park bench. Sho watched as yet another child rode past them on the bike path.
Arrow asked a question that she already knew the answer to. "Is something the matter, Commander?"
"Arrow, I want to ride a bike." He continued to stare longingly at the cyclists.
"I would teach you, but I am afraid that I don't know how." She struggled to keep the disappointment from her voice.
"Surely it must be easy. Even that child is able to do it." Sho indicated an elementary schooler riding laps around a basketball court.
"Yes, sir," said Arrow. "First, we must acquire a bike." Arrow thought for a moment. "Since you do not yet know how to ride, we'll seek out one with training wheels on it."
"Don't be ridiculous, Arrow," Sho scoffed. "I don't need training wheels."
"Some of the children here have training wheels on their bikes..." Arrow said, knowing that she was wasting her breath.
"I am not a child," said Sho indignantly.
"Of course not, Commander."
Sho and Arrow cased a neighborhood on the edge of town and flagged a suitable two-wheeler with pedal brakes. In the early hours of the morning, they came back to steal it. Once they'd broken the lock, Sho got on the bike and tried to ride it away, but immediately tipped over into the bushes. Arrow pulled him out, then grabbed the handlebars and quickly walked it down the street and out of sight.
"Commander," she whispered. "I propose that we conceal the bike until tomorrow, and you can learn to ride it then."
Sho's pride was still hurt from falling into the bushes. "Very well."
In the abandoned lot near their hideout, Sho practiced balancing on the bike.
"Arrow, do not let go until I give the order."
"Understood. To review, I will hold on to one handlebar and put my other hand on your back. Then you'll start pedaling and I'll run next to you and let go when given the order. Are you ready?"
Sho gave a curt nod, and they were off. After Arrow released him, Sho made it five feet before toppling over.
"You have to keep pedaling it, Commander," Arrow reminded him.
"I know that!" he snapped, getting up and brushing himself off.
They'd been at it for nearly an hour. Both of them were dressed in t-shirts and dirt-stained jeans, and Sho sported a number of band-aids on his face and arms.
Arrow just stared at him, keeping her face blank.
"Don't say anything," Sho said, an unmistakable warning in his tone.
"Yes, sir. You know that I never said anything about that time you got your arm caught in—"
Arrow was smirking now, and Sho threw a dirt clod at her.
They took a break, and used their well-honed strategic analysis to observe the children at the park. The angles of their feet on the pedals, the way they pushed the bike a few feet before mounting it, the height of the seat relative to the rider... Sho and Arrow made careful note of every detail.
After a while, people noticed these two suspicious characters staring intently at children while muttering to each other, so Sho and Arrow relocated to some nearby bushes so they could get closer and stay out of sight.
Apparently their hiding place was not as good as they'd thought, because a police officer approached the bushes and ordered them to come out. Sho disappeared—he'd used Severed Universe and run for it—leaving Arrow behind to make up a reason why she would be hiding in the bushes next to a playground. Apparently nobody went beetle hunting in November, so she was now banned from the park.
Sho was on his side looking up at the gray, overcast sky. Arrow entered his field of vision and looked down at him.
"This foe will not vanquish you, Commander."
"Arrow, why did you let go of me before I gave the order?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Because you deserted me at the park earlier. By the way, we have been banned for suspicious behavior."
Sho closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then blew it out... right before flying into a rage. "This is not supposed to be difficult! I can balance on your arrows mid-flight, so why can I not so much as stay upright on a bike? I am superior to a surface child in every way!" Indeed, he was throwing a superior tantrum on the ground.
Arrow's voice dropped an octave. "Sho Kusakabe, if you do not get up right now and act your rank, then I will make you."
Sho scrambled to his feet immediately. Then he growled and kicked the helpless bike.
"Commander, shall I try riding it?" Arrow said.
Sho huffed. "If you wish."
Arrow adjusted the seat to its maximum height, straddled the bike and froze.
"What is the matter?"
Arrow looked embarrassed. "I'm afraid that this bike is too short for me: I'm not even touching the seat. There's no way I can pedal it."
"That's your comeuppance for being freakishly tall," Sho sneered at her.
Arrow kicked him in the shin without getting off of the bike, and ignored the glare he shot her. "Commander, perhaps we should acquire another bike, one tall enough for me to ride. I might be of more help to you if I could learn myself."
Sho considered the idea. He did not want to be outdone by his guardian, but he would like to see Arrow fall in the dirt a few times when he "accidentally" let her go too soon.
"Very well."
Arrow had no luck teaching herself to ride either. Sho's petty delight at seeing her fall in the dirt had worn off when she'd hit her knee on a rock, leaving her with a large bruise and a pronounced limp. She was holding a cold can of soda to her knee as Sho wrestled with his bike. It tipped over and he caught himself, but he let the bike fall to the ground. He walked over to the tree on the lot, sat down on the dirt, and hung his head.
Arrow limped over to him but did not sit down. "Commander, the great Cataclysm draws closer every day. Do you wish to spend the final months of mankind's existence defeated by a bicycle?"
Sho looked up and saw Arrow's eyes blazing with determination. Arrow rarely got excited about anything. Sho realized that she wanted to ride just as much as he did, maybe even more. Arrow held out her hand, and when Sho took it, she helped him up.
"Arrow, had we someone to teach us, I am certain we would succeed." Sho sighed. "But we know none of these surface people, nor can we trust them."
Arrow spent a minute deep in thought, then spoke. "Perhaps we could find reference material at the local library?"
After putting on disguises consisting of long coats and sunglasses (Sho's idea), Sho and Arrow set off to the Shinjuku Public Library. Despite his disguise, Sho attracted the usual amount of unwanted attention, putting Arrow on edge. She didn't want to assassinate civilians, but the commander's safety came first.
Before they went in, Sho touched her arm. "I do not wish it known that we cannot ride," he whispered.
Arrow nodded. "Leave it to me, Commander." Her sniper training had included the basics of interacting with the public. She walked up to the front desk and addressed the librarian. "Excuse me, ma'am. Our younger sister wishes to learn how to ride a bike, and although we know how to ride, we do not know how to teach her. Do you have any books on the subject?"
The librarian was not fooled in the slightest, but didn't let on. "Yes we do, but watching a video might be more helpful. Do you want to use a computer to look up some?"
Arrow cast a sidelong glance at Sho, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
A few minutes later, Sho and Arrow were sitting in front of a computer, completely lost as to what to do. That didn't stop Sho from ordering Arrow to click on anything that looked like it might be an instructional video. A commander needed to appear confident at all times.
The librarian walked by and noticed that they had somehow opened Minesweeper and the boy was getting frustrated because his sister didn't know how to close it, so she asked if they needed help.
Sho was about to say something but Arrow cut him off. "Yes. We come from a very strict family and do not possess a home computer."
The librarian found them a video, which they watched at least ten times while scribbling down notes and muttering to each other.
As the boy walked out with his big sister limping behind him, the librarian silently wished them luck.
"Ah! Sho! Commander! I think I've got it!" Arrow was riding across the vacant lot, wobbling but staying upright.
Sho watched, awestruck, as she veered too far left and crashed into the only tree on the lot. She fell over and Sho started laughing hysterically. Ten seconds passed and Arrow hadn't moved. Sho stopped laughing and ran over to her.
"Arrow? Arrow? Are you injured?" He knelt down beside the body of his guardian. Her eyes were closed, and it didn't look like she was breathing. He was about to take her pulse when Arrow suddenly grabbed his ankle.
Commander Sho definitely did not shriek in surprise as he fell backwards onto his butt.
After she got done laughing at him, Arrow got back on her bike and repeated her ride across the lot, this time in the opposite direction of the tree.
Sho was torn between being happy for her and being jealous that he still couldn't ride.
Arrow used her newfound knowledge to help Sho.
"Are you ready, Commander?"
"Yes."
"Start pedaling." As he did, Arrow jogged beside him, pushing his back. Once Sho had enough momentum, she let him go. This time, he didn't fall over.
Sho started laughing. "Hey, Arrow! Look, I'm doing it!"
Arrow was elated. "Excellent, Commander! Make sure to hold the front wheel straight."
Sho picked up a little speed.
"Good, now ride towards me. Don't turn too sharply or you'll skid out!"
Sho carefully steered the bike until he was heading back towards Arrow.
She beckoned to him. "Good, good. That's it."
Sho was headed directly at her, and going much faster than she'd thought. "Move, Arrow! I can't stop!"
Arrow didn't make it out of the way in time, and Sho ran over her foot. He wiped out on the dirt and she yelled a couple of choice curse words.
After Arrow reminded him that you stop by pedaling backwards, they stood the bike up again and Sho gave it another try. Arrow barely had to push him at all and soon he was riding all over the lot. She stood well out of the way as he practiced braking. Before long, he got the hang of it. And after learning bicycle traffic laws, they were both riding all around town.
Sho and Arrow agreed that learning to ride bicycles was one of the best ideas Sho ever had.
It made transporting provisions to their hideout easier. And when their funds ran low, they could ride faster than the shop owners could run.
And riding was just... fun. They raced each other, felt the wind on their faces, and staved off the boredom they felt as they waited for the Cataclysm to destroy the earth.
Two weeks later, Arrow tried rollerskating. She quickly learned that she could not do a split, and threw the skates in the nearest dumpster.