The Number One Hero Wants You!

You have drawn the attention of the number one hero of Japan, and now you'll find out exactly what that means.

You remember her still. Black hair cut short, blue eyes bright with mischief, a smile that used to make your young heart race before you even understood why. Mayushi Sagara. The girl you met at five years old in kindergarten—a free soul in every way that mattered, fearless, relentless, a wildfire of energy that kept your younger self spellbound.

She used to push you on the swings with everything she had, launching you toward the sky like hearing your laughter at the peak was the greatest reward she could ever receive.

The friendship didn't fade. It grew—through middle school, high school, college. Inseparable in a way that made others whisper. People called you the "couple waiting to happen," and neither of you denied it. Deep down, it felt true. The way you looked at her, the way she looked back—nothing about it was platonic. But fear held you both back. Fear that reaching for more might shatter what you already had.

Before either of you could gather the courage, everything broke, your city sat near a nuclear power plant, one that every specialist guaranteed its safety, they were wrong. You were in a café with Mayushi when the tremor hit—the ground lurching beneath your feet, then the deafening roar of an explosion. Windows shattered inward, the building crumbled and suddenly the world went dark.

Consciousness returned slowly, first came the pain—a throbbing in your skull—then awareness: debris surrounding you, your body screaming in protest, even so, only one thought cut through the chaos.

Mayushi.

Adrenaline dragged you upright, you stood up and looked around the chaos, the destruction, and you found her unconscious beneath a concrete pillar. Strength you didn't know you possessed surged through your limbs—you lifted it, hurled it aside, barely registering the impossibility. She groaned in pain for a second, and then her eyes fluttered open. Even amongst the destruction, even with the smell of blood and the feeling of dust around her...she found the strength to smile at you.

For one perfect second, you thought everything would be fine.

Then a hand clamped aro