Hero

Summary: Some people were born to be heroes. They were compassionate and strong and brave. Yoki was not that kind of person. But even cowards can become heroes.

Pairings: None.

Warnings: Minor spoilers for episode 52 of Brotherhood/ chapter 92 of the manga.

Some people were born to be heroes.

They had their own personal spotlight always following them around, and they were always ready to take action against injustice. Well, that was just great for them, but not for Yoki. He wasn't a hero. He hadn't been born with the components needed to make one.

Some people were born with compassion.

They cared too much about other people, even those that they had just met. They couldn't be reasoned with. They wore their hearts on their sleeves and they just had to try and save everyone that they could.

Of course Yoki had compassion. He liked to think that he had the basic empathy that the whole human race shared. He tried to be a good neighbor, helping others with some trivial misfortune. He cared about people. He just wasn't ready to sacrifice himself for them.

Some people were born with strength.

They had been blessed with muscles, burly arms and thighs the size of tree trunks. They had been lucky enough to receive stamina, the ability to endure all kinds of physical exertion.

Yoki wasn't like that. It wasn't his fault that he had brittle bones and a weak heart. He hadn't chosen to be born with asthma.

It was only natural that he wished to stay away from things that wished to do him harm, like little boys that controlled hungry shadows with eyes and very sharp teeth.

Some people were born with courage.

Not that Yoki was a coward, per say. He just had a strong survival instinct, that was all. He understood that he wasn't a hero, and that if his life was in danger, common sense demanded that he turn tail and run.

He was reasonable. He didn't go rushing into situations where he was likely to get hurt. He wasn't like the reckless fools who kept going even when everything was against them.

People like Yoki were born to be managers, taking care of their uncouth charges despite the daily abuse heaped on them. They preferred to direct from behind the scenes and only take a small part of the profits. He belonged to a group of people content to stand back and watch.

He was just average. Besides, no one expected him to do anything. Sweaty hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.

Yoki hadn't been born with any heroic characteristics. He was not a hero.

So logically, he shouldn't have come crashing though the trees in a small, battered car to save a suit of armor, a chimera, and a doctor. But he did.

Maybe, he thought as he drove away, just maybe, there were some people who could grow into heroes.

A/N: Yoki is one of my favorite characters in FMA:B. I think that he's awesome because he's a coward that acted like a hero. Seriously, that scene with the truck was pure win. That's why I wrote this.