Chapter 48: Tira and Hiro

Tira had seen the whole outburst with this girl and Loki.

Who was she anyway, to charge at Loki like that!?

She walked by, and Tira set up an ice pack.

She gave Loki some mint oil with it.

Loki stared at her.

"Where did you get this...?"

She fiddled with her hands nervously.

"Um... I found some... Some mint leaves, and... Well, you showed me how to um... So I reduced enough of them to get some oil... It's not much though..."

Loki smiled. "No, thank you. This will help..."

Tira beamed. "If more people saw you like this? I'm sure they'd like you just as much as I do!"

She laughed. "Well, so what? Let them be! I'll be okay..." Her face fell.

"Run along now." She said softly. "I'm sure Kahn will be able to heal me now."

She smiled. "But I'll save the oil, you never know..."

Tira nodded. "Alright then."

She walked away.

That girl had no idea how nice Loki was! She was blunt to the extreme, true. That girl... Hiro. She had no right to threaten her.

She walked by angrily.

Tira softened. Eiji must like her for a reason... Maybe she should try talking to her?

"Hey... Um..."

She walked past her.

"Hey! Um, I was talking to you..."

Hiro stopped, and turned around.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She exclaimed.

"I didn't hear you. You should speak up next time... So?"

She fidgeted nervously.

"Well... C-Can I say... Um..."

Hiro smiled. "You're so shy! Well...?"

"Um, about Loki... There's a lot you need to know before you hate her."

Hiro hardened. "Look, to be honest? You seem like a real sweetheart. I don't like Loki though... She's kind of a b-"

"DON'T FINISH THAT!" She yelled.

She began fidgeting again.

"Just... Just don't call her that. Please... She saved us all from up there."

She looked at Hiro dead on.

"Do you have any idea what it feels like to be eaten alive? To have been digested alive so many times, that you'd rather drown yourself in stomach acid then spend another second feeling the flesh peel off of your bones!?"

Hiro went pale.

"That's a fraction of the tortures one can experience, wandering THAT HELL! Loki has seen more than ANYONE! SHE SAVED US! And you... You just come waltzing in like you own the place! She cares about every single one of us here! She cares a lot about Eiji... A lot. That's why she's so hard on him, because she desperately wants him to live."

Her eyes teared up.

"Because one day soon, we're all going to die..."

Hiro froze.

"D-Die...?" She asked shakily.

"What do you MEAN DIE!?"

"Keep your voice down!" She whispered.

"If the others were to know, then they'd panic. None of us would have a chance... Loki knows that. She's doing the best she can... But the defenses are not what they used to be... I'm scared, but Loki promised it wouldn't be like the last one. Her and I were the only survivors that time..."

Hiro calmed. She looked at Tira.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"T-Tira..." She said.

"Tira, you must not know much about me or Eiji. My dad and Kahn too. No one's going to die... I promise."

She looked at Hiro hopefully.

She smiled. "I see why he likes you so much."

Hiro blushed. "Well... Thanks."

She looked over at the pond. There was a pool of water she considered a pond, and she looked at Hiro excitedly.

"Hey! Are you hot in here!? Cause I am!"

Hiro looked at her with confusion.

"Umm... Did you just hit on me?"

She went red.

"No! Is... Is th-that what you thought!"

Hiro laughed. "Oh! You meant the room temp! Okay!... Yeah, actually. It's scorching in here!"

Tira gestured toward the pool.

"Well? There's technically a swimming pool... See?"

She gestured to the pool of water.

Hiro practically jumped with excitement.

"Wow! That DOES look refreshing!" She stripped her shirt and pants off, and Tira was red.

"Hey... Um... Guys live here too."

Hiro waved her hand dismissively.

"Ahh, Don't worry about it! No one will see us!"

Tira looked away. "Well, I'm keeping mine on."

Hiro laughed. "Suit yourself!" She jumped in the water.

Tira smiled and jumped in with her.

They laughed.

"Wow, this is great!" Hiro exclaimed.

"I just want to soak in the coldness..."

"I know, right?" Said Tira. "I come here all the time!"

Some guys whistled.

"Damn! Look at the rack on her! Woohoo!"

"Hey!" Hiro yelled. "We're trying to SWIM HERE!"

They walked over.

"Well then... Can we join you fine ladies?"

Hiro glared at them. "No. It's obvious why you want to join, and it's not going to happen!"

They scoffed. "Damn, look at that uptight bitch!"

"Just shut up!" Tira yelled.

"You're all a bunch of pigs!"

One guy walked up to her.

He grabbed her chest.

"Damn! I think hers are bigger!"

Hiro grabbed his wrist, and bent it back.

She got dressed, and pounded his face into the ground.

The other guy shoved her off, and punched her.

Hiro stood, and punched him back.

"You're not a lady! You're just a dumb cow!"

Tira jumped out, and slammed him to the ground with her foot.

"She's NOT a COW!" She yelled.

She pressed her foot down on his chest, cracking some of his ribs.

"Now go tell your friends you just got owned by a twelve year old... If you have the balls."

She lifted her foot, and he ran off.

Hiro looked at her.

"You're pretty tough, I think I like you!"

She laughed. "Yeah, that will be the last time they mess with us!"

They both laughed.

They sat and talked for a while, then Eiji walked up.

"Hey Hiro! I... What happened to your face!?"

Hiro touched the spot where she was punched, her eye had blackened.

"Oh! These stupid guys!" Tira exclaimed.

"We gave them a good pounding! They tried to grope me, can you believe it!? Then Hiro messed him up! Then the other guy punched her in the face. She punched him back... Then he called her a 'dumb cow' so I was like... Oh hell no! I beat the crap out of him! Don't you worry!"

Eiji looked dark. "Where is he."

Tira pointed. "Him and his friends ran over there like wet kittens! You show 'em Eiji!"

He walked away to go find them.

"Well..." Hiro sighed.

"Now he's pissed."

...

Eiji walked up to the guys with all of the bruises.

"Yeah... And that bitch punched me back! What a dumb whore!"

They laughed.

Eiji punched him, knocking him on the ground.

"That's nice. Can I punch you too?"

Eiji started kicking him on the ground.

His friends surrounded him.

"Well, aren't you a tough guy... Ya little shrimp!"

Loki entered the circle.

"That's right, he is... And so am I. You may want to rethink this, and play nice..."

She looked at him. "You too Eiji."

Eiji glared. "But these guys were messing with Hiro..."

Loki sighed. "Was she messing with them?"

"Yeah!" Yelled a guy.

"Punched Sorin right in the face!"

Eiji scoffed. "That's because he got grabby with Tira, you idiots..."

Loki stopped, and looked at Sorin, who was holding his face.

"Stand up WORM!" She yelled.

He stumbled up, and she slammed him against a wall.

"If I so much as sense this from you again... I will hurt you. This is nothing."

She let go, and walked away.

Kuhn ran up to Eiji.

"Eiji!? Did you just get in a fight!?"

Eiji nodded. "Yeah, because he was messing with Tira, and Hiro. Loki handled it."

Kuhn stopped, and looked at Sorin.

He walked up to him. "Hi, I'm Hiro's Father. You're lucky that she got to you first..."

He walked back to Eiji, and nodded.

"Fair enough Eiji."

They walked away.

Eiji sighed. "Yeah... I got pretty mad. Hiro's eye was all bruised, and she said she punched him back... I think I believe her."

Kuhn shook his head. "I do. Did you see his face?"

Eiji nodded. "Yeah I did! She's so awesome..."

Kuhn looked. "Yeah she is, and no making out with my daughter, by the way."

Eiji turned red. "Oh... That."

"Yeah, that. It shouldn't happen." Kuhn said flatly.

Eiji sighed, and said nothing. He couldn't make any promises...