Pokemon - From the Brink

Chapter 32 - Snag

The revelation that Victor had gone mute was shared with everyone else the next day. The boy stood in silence as his teammates tried to find the words to express their sorrow.

"I'm so sorry..." Midorima put his hand on his shoulder. "Victor, I... I wish it didn't have to be this way..."

"Dammit..." Hikaru growled, looking down.

"So you can't talk...?" Yu looked up at him with fear. "That... That can happen...?"

"That's awful..." Shu-ling shuddered. "I'm sorry..."

"It hit you that hard, huh?" Chloe looked at the Russian boy with a solemn expression. "That could've been me..." She almost whispered to herself.

"Victor, listen..." Paolo stepped forward. "You don't have to be part of this if you don't want to."

"..."

"I understand how you feel... Trust me, I do... And... Forgive me for how this will sound, but... If you're not up to the task, you should stand back and let the rest of us handle it."

"Paolo...!" Gabi gasped. "You can't just say that!"

"I'm sorry." Paolo shook his head. "I didn't mean for it sound like I was calling you useless or anything. It's just... You heard what Janus said before, right? We need to be set on this, no matter what."

"You've really psyched yourself up for this, huh?" Hikaru said through gritted teeth. "How are you so calm?"

"I'm not." Paolo admitted. "I... I'm as scared as anyone, but... We've already lost a lot of friends... If we don't focus on this and give it all we've got, we risk losing even more." The Italian sighed.

"He's right." Kiria agreed. "It's horrible what happened, I know..." She said to Victor. "But if you're going to wallow in sadness and regret, then, honestly... You might as well go home."

"Guys!" Hikaru exclaimed. "Give him a break! He just lost his brother, for God's sake!"

"We've all lost people!" Kiria snapped back, before composing herself. "We've all lost people..." She repeated. "But if we all gave up here, we'd all be as good as dead. For all we know, we're the only hope our world has against Bedlam. Once Toby awakens to his true potential, the rest of us can follow – and we'll need as many of us to do that if we want to even stand a chance at winning."

"So what? You're saying that we should be focused on this completely? With no time to grieve?" Hikaru was getting heated.

"No." Kiria frowned. "There'll be time to grieve when we've made sure more people don't die!"

"And you just expect this whole plan to work! We're broken, dammit!" Hikaru stood her ground. "Some of us aren't in the right state to even think about this right now!"

"You all said you would stand together for this!" Kiria barked. "If you're having second thoughts, then leave! Weak wills are useless here! You'll only get yourself killed.!"

The room fell silent for a moment as everyone watched the two of them stare each other down.

"Fine." Hikaru straightened up. "Maybe I will." She turned towards the door.

"Hikaru-" Midorima reached out.

"Don't let them push you around, Victor." She said with a heavy tone. "You might not have a voice, but actions speak louder than words."

"..." Victor watched her leave the room, his fists clenched.

"Kiria..." Kudou looked at her. "Was that really necessary?"