Chapter 15 – The Hero’s Answer

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CRASH—!!

Two masked girls collided. By now, they had forgotten about guns—only their fists flew at each other.

CRASH—!!

Himari bit her lip hard at the deafening impact filling the screen. Eimi, who had been reaching for a snack as if watching a movie, froze, her eyes locked on the broadcast. And it wasn’t just them. Every citizen watching the news beyond the screen was the same.

At first, they cheered for Silk’s battle. They had witnessed the overwhelming might of a hero crushing evil, convinced of justice’s triumph.

But as time passed and blood stained Silk’s body, their expressions began to change—from cheers to shock, and then to horror. And now, they could do nothing but watch in silence.

CRASH—!!

The two girls threw punches, kicked, and rolled across the filthy ground. 

In the process, there was no nobility of the hero or pettiness of the villain.

Only desperation.

The hero tried to persuade the villain, while the villain shed invisible tears. 

No one in the footage spoke, but their earlier conversation made their circumstances clear.

Their reasons and their struggles.

CRASH—!!

A single strike—carrying a question and an answer.

Their battle was no longer just a simple fight, but a proof and an appeal to each other.

“Junior…”
“…Nanashi.”

Someone called out the name of their friend—their junior.

“Silk. I’ll remember this name.”

“…This is hard to watch.”

“Whoa. That’s… something else.”

Some engraved the hero’s image in their minds.

“…Is this your answer, Silk?”

“Magnificent. Is this what a hero is? Conviction, Reason, Experience, Wisdom… something everyone can admire.”

And others found intrigue in the girl’s resolution.

CRASHHH—!!

Then, with a sound much louder than any before, one of them fell.

The black-haired girl in the fox mask collapsed to her knees. 

Kivotos’ hero, Silk, stood above her.

White and black. Two fox masks, similar yet different. Hero and villain.

Even the reporter, who had been narrating the scene, fell silent at the contrast between the two people.

“I won, Kosaka Wakamo.”

“Hehe… Yes. I’ve lost completely.”

They stared at each other, exhausted. The hero declaring their victory and the villain accepting defeat.

The citizens watching could only stand in silence.

It seemed that only the weight of responsibility and duty remained on the back of the hero, who was breathing hard.

Relief and joy surged, but so did unease and confusion—emotions they couldn’t shake.

However.

As if noticing the emotions of the villain 

Thud—!

The hero raised her fist high into the sky.
Almost as if to hide her own exhaustion.

And in that moment, the citizens’ worries faded, replaced by pure elation.

“WOOOOOAH—!!”

“SILK! SILK! SILK! SILK—!”

“Hell yeah! I knew you’d do it, Silk—!”

[Look, everyone! Our hero, Silk, has finally defeated the Fox of Calamity and claimed victory!]

She kept her fist raised for a long, long time.

Because the hero is–

Not someone who receives the people’s worries. 

But someone who relieves their worries away.

The hero’s declaration of victory spread across Kivotos.

Many cheered, celebrating justice’s triumph.

But just as many remembered the hero’s hidden exhaustion.

Many others wonder if they themselves would be able to face the hero one day.

***

Responsibility.

It was one of Blue Archive’s central themes.

At the same time, it was something that I valued the most.

The responsibility of an adult. The responsibility of a hero.

Responsibility as an adult who realizes children’s dreams and future, taking on their pain.

Responsibility as a hero who must protect the weak and fight against evil as a being with great power. 

But which carried more weight and value for me?

Why had I chosen to be a hero?

Wakamo’s question echoed in my mind:

“What is your goal? Why do you play the hero?”

Maybe I’d been running from that fundamental question.

Or maybe, thrown into this world so abruptly, I hadn’t been ready to confront my own existence.

I was just twenty when I woke up in the body of a Kivotos student. Although I was biologically a student, my mind was still twenty.

Just last year, I was a student just like the children in the game.

So… who was I now?

An adult? 

A hero?

Or am I still a student?

My answer:

“I don’t know, How should I know that?”

I didn’t think the answer was mine to give.

I could only deny.

I couldn’t claim to know what I didn’t.

I was an adult in age, but I’d never truly felt like one.

And at the same time, I was not a student as I had already graduated from being one and became an ‘adult’.

And knowing my own shortcomings, I couldn’t call myself a true “hero” either.

“Isn’t that pathetic? Not a student, not an adult, not a hero.”

A walking contradiction.

That was the phrase that best described who I was.

But even so, I didn’t dwell on it.

Accepting those contradictions was also a part of growing.

There was no reason to overcomplicate it.

I admired heroes because I hadn’t lost the purity I had as a ‘student’.

The reason I upheld a hero’s duty was because I understood the virtues that a hero should have.

The reason I fought for others was because I knew my responsibility as an adult.

That was enough.

“So it doesn’t matter.”

I’m contradictory. So are you.

People are always like that. We are all contradictory

Good and evil coexist. Likes and dislikes intertwine.

And love and hate exist together.

But does that mean we shouldn’t live?

Does being a person require choosing only one side?

No. That wasn’t it at all.

“You decide who you want to be.”

A message to myself. And to her.

The same blessing, that one day, would be given by the story’s true hero to a certain robot.

“So if your head is in a mess, ignore it”

“The future you, or someone else, will be able to take care of such worries for you”

“If i’m still lacking now, it’s not too late for me to help more about it after I’ve grown a little” 

Words of comfort for a crying fox girl.

Something only I, who vaguely knew her past, could say at this moment.

“Come to me if you’re troubled. I’ll help find an answer together with you.” 

“And if that’s not enough, I’ll ask others to help too.”

You, me—everyone, together.

That was the answer I came up with.

My response to her question.

What’s your goal?

Why do you play the hero?

“Who knows? Maybe I’m just someone who dreams of being a hero.”

I’d been given power far beyond my worth.

I just wanted to live up to it.

That was all.

***

“Hehehe… I’ve lost. I can’t even resist anymore.”

“…Wakamo.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t run.”

Wakamo remembered the hero’s words.

At first, she’d been irritated—who was this girl, acting like she understood her pain?

But the more they spoke, the more she felt… relief.

‘I wasn’t wrong.’

‘My suffering wasn’t my fault.’

‘Just… bad timing. Bad choices.’

“…That’s enough.”

No one had ever told her that before.

Silk was the first.

She’d thought it was too late for her—but Silk had said otherwise.

That she still had a chance. That she deserved happiness.

The despair and pain that had festered inside her began to wash away.

A new feeling. A new kind of comfort.

And so, the Fox of Calamity faded—and Wakamo’s true self stirred.

Then… if it’s possible…

If I can be happy…

If I can choose…

“I… like being by your side.”

They had met as hero and villain.

But now, Wakamo was sure—Silk would accept even her flaws.

By her side, she could erase her past.

Not as the Fox of Calamity— just as Kosaka Wakamo.

Not as a criminal, but as a student.

“It’s possible… if you’re there.”

Silk called herself as “someone who dreams of being a hero”.

But after fighting her, Wakamo knew the truth.

“You are a hero, Silk.”

“……”

“You beat even me. If that’s not a hero, what is? Hehehe.”

“If you say so.”

Silk seemed indifferent. But Wakamo found that amusing.

After all, this girl had changed her so much—and yet acted so aloof.

She was fascinating. Someone she wanted to know more about.

“You’re the one who changed me. So take responsibility.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean, Wakamo?”

Wakamo laughed at Silk’s flustered reaction.

Of course she hadn’t expected this.

She wouldn’t stop here.

Silk was no longer her enemy—but someone she admired.

“You said it yourself. ‘Come to me if you’re troubled. I’ll help’.”

“I told you to come to me if you couldn’t solve it yourself!”

Wakamo laughed and ignored her.

“If you want me to stop hurting people, I will. If you want me to help, I’ll do that too. But—”

“…But?”

“…Just allow me to keep watching you.”

She wouldn’t be a burden.

A hero’s time was precious. She only wanted one thing.

To know Silk—the girl beneath the mask.

“That’s all I ask.”

At her earnest plea, Silk sighed deeply.

“…Do as you please. As long as you don’t cause trouble, I won’t care.”

“Hehe. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.”

“Ugh… What even is this? I’m exhausted.”

Wakamo smiled, content.

Though battered and beaten, the Fox of Calamity was gone.

Only Kosaka Wakamo remained.

Just a girl who admired a hero.

That was all.