One second Hinata was thrust out of the door, the next it slammed behind him. He stared at the sky nervously, as he knew he was to set out on this adventure, but didn't really plan on it being today.

A monstrous dragon had been feasting upon his small village for years, and every time it drew near Hinata's father would grow more and more on edge. Eavesdropping had told him he was going to be sent to slay the beast, but he didn't necessarily think it would be until another few years. Well, he supposed he was wrong.

A handful of gold coins. The thin cloth he wore. A wooden shortsword which had such a large quantity of slivers that it may as well be a blade made out of porcupines. Even now he scowled to hold the thing. It'd likely cause him more injury than anything he swung it at. Yet beyond those few materials, he had nothing else in his possession. Yeah, he sure would survive long.

He rationed that the first step would be to find some adventurers to join him, as going it alone didn't seem like the best idea. There was a tavern across town, and knew if they could be found anywhere, it was there.

/

The building was absolutely desolate save for the barkeep. And on a Saturday afternoon too. This was most unusual. Hinata took a seat.

"Where is everyone?" He pondered while the barkeep passed him a glass of orange juice. There wasn't really much available here that wasn't alcoholic. Not that the owner could care less who drank what, no matter their age, but Hinata wasn't a fan of drinking, and passed at the given option.

"Aye. Out of beer. The carts that bring the barrels here got attacked by some scorps and they refuse to travel the roads until the creatures are cleared out…" He pulled a face, muttering about pathetic lily-livered cart drivers.

Hinata nodded. Nothing makes a tavern clear out like running out of drinks.

The barkeep continued. "I wish I could just get someone to slay those things. I would pay well, too. I would get my useless worker over there to do it but he doesn't want to go alone for whatever reason." He gestured to a frail boy in the corner sweeping the floor, who Hinata hadn't noticed up till now. For a second Hinata made eye contact with the kid, probably the same age as himself, and the boy smiled before returning to his job.

Hinata realized he needed a chance for extra gold, and asked if he could take care of the issue. "Oh, thanks. Take the kid with you if you want. Scorps are dangerous."

Truth be told, Hinata wasn't exactly ecstatic when it came to fighting a group of scorpions nearly half the size of him, but he took the job, and plus, he had a helper. The boy had some strangely fluffy white hair, and a dull green tunic with tears and rips along it. After exchanging greetings he learned his name was Komaeda as well. Didn't seem like a bad guy, for the most part. The pair departed from the tavern, and headed out on the east road.

"So… Komaeda. Have you ever really fought things before?" He inquired, staring at the other's choice of weapon. It was a rather small spear, but seemed fairly lightweight, despite the heavy appearance. The stone point seemed pretty dull as well.

"No, never, really." Hinata stared at his smiling face blankly. How can anyone look so positive when seeking semi-powerful creatures if they have no fighting experience? Hinata at least has been hunting out in the woods before, and the most he had slain would be a baby troll and a couple goblins (With his father's help, honestly), but it was something.

Komaeda noticed his gaze towards his spear. "Ah… a most useless weapon, isn't it? Well, that's only natural. It does belong to me after all."

Just as Hinata was about to ask why that made it useless, he stopped Komaeda and motioned to not make a noise. A faint clicking sound lingered in the air, a sound Hinata knew belonged to the giant scorpions, and creating sound would be the basic equivalent of begging one poison you.

The creatures drew in around a rock, three of them total, and moving towards Hinata slowly. He held his breath and waited for- "Komaeda, DON'T!"

Well, Komaeda definitely wasn't lying when he said he hadn't taken down any wild monsters before. Without noticing that the things were completely on guard, Komaeda lodged his spear at them. It was deflected by the beast's thickly carapaced stinger with little effort. The same scorpion, however, hissed and scurried towards the now disarmed Komaeda, with the others closing in as well.

Hinata sensed the danger, and stepped before Komaeda in defense. He prepared his wooden blade, and waited for it to strike. These beasts were actually pretty small compared to most giant scorpions, and luckily the smaller ones don't attack all at once. Once the stinger reared forward, Hinata parried and knocked it away, while taking the opportunity to crush his foot down on it's head. The scorpion hissed, but slowly fell to the floor. While Komaeda stayed behind, looking kind of amazed, Hinata reared around, pressing down the head of the second not unlike the first. After the first two were covered, the third was a cakewalk.

That wasn't so bad.

"That's some technique you have there, Hinata-kun!" He cheered, while Hinata checked to be sure all three were actually slain. "Everyone uses it for these things. You probably should know how to do it…"

Komaeda nodded understandingly. "Of course, I really am trash for not knowing! However, you really don't need to keep me safe. I'm merely a burden!" The statement was followed by a dry, raspy laugh. Hinata looked confused, but shrugged it off. He reckoned that they head back to claim the reward, while keeping a steady eye on the only person he had ever seen who degrades himself with a smile on his face.

This guy… I really don't get him at all.

/

A/N: Eyyy it's my first multichapter big story (hopefully)! If you've read my stuff before you should know I'm going to fail horribly at this goal but I'm gonna try to avoid fluffy adorable KomaHina shipping in this one. Just a couple of friends killing stuff together. Just like any old friendship should be like. Anyways if there's any issues with the story relating to anything from spelling errors to plot holes feel free to let me know how you feel, I'm open to critiques on this sort of thing. Hope you enjoy! (: -FC