We All Need A Hero

The brutal sounds of punches echoed through the alleyway, staggering a young boy who tried to do what was right. His cheek was bruised, his lip was bloody, and his eye was blackened. He could barely see… the pain overwhelmed him and eventually made him fall to his knees. He held his face… crying from his busted eye.

"Well, gonna delete that shit or what?" One of the gangsters walked up to the young man, gripping a bundle of his hair, "or do we have to knock out your fucking teeth too? Haaah!?" they kicked him in the chest, knocking the boys back into the wall.

The one being brutally beaten was Kinzaki. He sat there with his phone in his hand… dropping it from the loss of strength. Nobody cared. Nobody cared that he was being beaten in an alleyway, halfway to death.

Nobody except… him.

"You… bastards!" Standing at the entrance of the alleyway was Atticus, who had been taking the trash out from the store, but luckily he made it just in time.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?" One of the gangsters looked at Atticus and chuckled, "let me guess, his boyfriend? Kehahaha!" one reached into their pockets… bringing out a switchblade, threatening Atticus who bravely confronted them. "I bet someone with a face like yours gets all the girls, haaah? Would be a shame if I carved into that pretty face, taking away the only thing you're good for!"

"Atticus…" Kinzaki mumbled from his mouth, turning his face to the side to hide his hideous appearance. "I-…I don't need help, I got this."

"Kinzaki?" Atticus stood there in shock, realizing who they were beating. "Is that really you, Kinzaki?" His eyes trailed to the ground, and he could see the mocha glass shattered upon the pavement. "I didn't know… it was you…" Atticus closed his eyes, frowning with malice intent. "I wont let you get off Scott free from this… you no life bums!"

"Huh? The hell did he say?" One of the gangsters mumbled.

"Big talk for someone with those scrawny little arms," the lead gangster charged at Atticus, holding the switchblade in his hand, "Come here! Let me show you what happens to heroes! Life isn't a fairy tale! Heroes die out here!"

"Atticus, run!" Kinzaki tried standing up to stop the gangster, but his body was too weak and beaten. He could only watch as he feared for Atticus' life.

"I'm not being a hero, I'm protecting a friend of mine!" Atticus dashed forward with the garbage bag in his hands, swinging it horizontally to knock the gangster down on his back, forcing him to drop his blade.

"…Aghhhh! Fuck, my face!! My face!" the gangster rolled to his side, holding his face in pain, "what the hell? What the hell was in that trash bag?" Blood ran down his forehead, as he tried standing up wobbling.

"Haaa!" Atticus dropped the garbage bag and tackled the gangster back down, sitting on his chest to pin his body to the floor. His fist rose into the air, before striking down with heavy force, smashing the man into the face. Blood covered his fist from the first punch, as the second followed behind. And the third, then forth, fifth, sixth. All the way to the tenth punch.

"B-Boss!?" The two other gangsters standing there had only watched, seeing their leader being beaten into a pulp. "What are we doing? Get him!" They regained their bravery, and charged forth at Atticus.

But Atticus stood up in haste, awaiting their arrival. Once they were close enough, he swung a roundhouse punch to one of them, which staggered them backwards.

"Raaaaa!" The other gangster lunged at Atticus like a Lion, but it wasn't enough. Atticus swung forward at the last remaining gangster, feeling his fist connect with muscled flesh, "Oomph!" the man groaned in pain, as their body collided against the ground.

"…A-Ah!" Kinzaki was stunned. He could only watch Atticus fight off the gangsters, while his battered body was sat upon the ground. He felt useless, but everything worked out in the end. "How did you do that? It was three against one."

Atticus turned to smile at Kinzaki, "Hahaha, I guess I got lucky? There was a few bottles inside the garbage bag, it must've hurt like hell once I smashed it into his face. Thankfully he was the only guy with a weapon, so I had to be careful with him. But the other two were easy to handle, they were already scared after I beat up their 'Boss'." Atticus walked towards Kinzaki, holding out his hand, "Can you walk, Kinzaki? If not, I can carry you."

Kinzaki looked up with a flushed expression. It felt as if his heart was about to beat out of his chest. This man saved him… and now he was about to aid him from his pain? Kinzaki did reach for Atticus' hand… but he slowly came to a stop.

"Huh? What's wrong, Kinzaki? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah… I'm fine… but there's someone else you need to be helping." Kinzaki turned his head to the old man laying on the ground, "I only got caught up in this mess from trying to save him, but… I don't know if he's conscious or not, they really did a number on him."

Atticus smiled as he stood up straight, nodding his head, "I see, so you were doing what was right. That's just like you Kinzaki, putting yourself in danger for someone else you don't even know. Seriously, how many times are you gonna do this?" Atticus jokingly said.

"…So you know about those times as well?" Said Kinzaki.

"Hahaha, damn right I do; ever since middle school you always gotten the snot beaten outta you for trying to help everyone, even against the 'big bad bullies'. They called you Godspeed, because you always showed up when something was happening."

Kinzaki moved his head to the side, disabling eye contact, "Do you just remember everything about me? Why am I so special to you?"

At that moment, it felt like Kinzaki's heart stopped.

Did I just say that? Oh god… he's gonna think I'm weird. Why did I say that? He probably doesn't even think I'm special! I don't know what I was thinking, I just said what was on my mind to continue the conversation!

"Because, you're Kinzaki Urato!"

'…What? Did he just say that? For real?'

Kinzaki rotated his head, looking back at Atticus.

"Um… oh!" Kinzaki responded, "I'm really not anything special, trust me, hahaha, just some normal high schooler!"

"Normal? I look up to you Kinzaki… I wouldn't say you're normal."

Kinzaki widened his busted-eyes, forming a visible expression of shock, "You don't have to make me feel better about myself… Atticus."

"What do you mean? Don't tell me you think I'm lying? I always seen how you thought. You value human life more than anything else, and you would do anything to protect people, and their feelings. You're incredible Kinzaki, and we need more people like you in this cruel world, wouldn't you agree?"

Kinzaki smiled. His smile was genuine. He hasn't shown such a smile like this in years. They couldn't believe their ears from hearing this… but it made them happy. Happier than they've ever been in their life. Kinzaki's response was full of joy, "Yes… we do need more people like that! It's the world I always wanted… and to achieve that goal, I must first speak to the mayor to bring back Olympic track and field!"

Atticus nodded his head, "Exactly! Once it's back, you can do races for charity, and save up enough money to open shelters for the homeless. That's your dream, right?"

"Yeah, it is! Yasuville always did Olympic track and field, but our new mayor took it away for some reason. But no matter! I'll be the one who brings it back! This city can count on me to win our races. I'll make Yasuville feel like home for everyone."

"That's the spirit Kinzaki. Now that you're cheered up, think you can walk?"

Kinzaki realized how excited he just was, which did make him embarrassed thinking about it, "O-Oh yeah… I think I'm fine now-" he slowly rose to his feet, using the wall as leverage, "by the way, are those guys okay?"

"Who? The ones that were attacking you? Well… I only knocked some sense into them, so hopefully they'll wake up and walk back home."

"Oh, alright. Then let's help the homeless guy first."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Both Atticus and Kinzaki walked over to the homeless man laying down, checking his pulse to see if he was still alive. Just from the looks of it, his ribcage was broken, and his ankle was sprained. Calling the ambulance would be the wisest choice.

"You have a phone?" Asked Atticus.

"Y-Yeah… hold on." Kinzaki reached into his pocket, typing in his password to unlock his screen, "Should I call 911? Is it that bad?"

"Yeah, go ahead. This guy is seriously beaten, I don't want him dying on us…"

"Dear god… alright!"