What shocked Herro and Kira was the claws on her hands that looked identical, although smaller to the one that the mutant had.
She was scared out of her wits when she saw her hands had already turned in to vicious-looking steel-like claws. She fell silent out of fear and shock.
She was about to ask why did this happen when she saw that the astounded expression on his face had already replaced with a serious look. And it was clear that he was contemplating something. Then Kira realized that maybe he is the one who did this to her.
"Wha-What did you do to my hands!" Kira shouted at Herro as she kept on shaking her hands, trying to get rid of the claws.
"I..... I tried to heal you and this happened unexpectedly!" Herro answered while he was nervous. He didn't expect this to happen and he didn't know what to do.
"Heal me?" Then she suddenly remembered the gaping slash on her stomach that she received from the mutant who attacked her.
The first thing that entered her head was that everything was all but a dream and didn't happen But the claws in her hands, and her torn shirt expelled that thought.
"It was indeed healed..." She said, in astonishment and momentarily forgot about her current problem, which is her hands.
"BUT WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO MY HANDS?!" She shouted in anger as she stared at Herro who was looking away, avoiding the question.
"Ahhhhh! These claws are cool. Maybe I can sever someone and hear that someone's miserable wails." Kira pierced her claws on to the ground and Herro jolted in shock. Then she slowly stood up, using her claws that pierced to the ground. Then she started walking slowly towards Herro.
Herro was dumbfounded about how situations had turned. I just saved your life and you're already threatening mine! He strongly complained in his thoughts.
"Hey Hey hey! Wait a minute Kira! Think through this, it was just a mistake of mine and maybe I can find a way to revert your hands back to normal but let me explain everything first.
"Then start explaining now before I change my mind from cutting you to pieces. What does a minced Herro sound? Just thinking about it makes me shiver in excitement!" Kira said this as she licked her lips, showing Herro that she might eat him if he didn't explain it well.
Herro felt that the hair in his body had stood up in fear—exception for the bush on top of his head and the bush below the belt.
Then he took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly: "I don't know if you believe in what I am going to say, but I can stake my life on the line just to tell you that I am not lying." Herro showed Kira how serious he is and Kira nodded, signaling Herro to continue.
Herro exhaled in relief and he felt less tense than before.
"I don't have a single clue about how did this happened but I am just having a fun ride with my bike and I fell from a cliff. I felt despair at that moment and everything turned black when my head hit something hard."
"I already knew I was not going to survive, but the next thing I saw was not the blue sky and white clouds, but a wrecked room that looks like those from the military war movies.
He saw that Kira was listening seriously to him and from the looks of it, she was not even thinking about Herro was lying to her.
"I was really confused at that time. I don't know if this is the afterlife or hell, but from what you said, it was not. Was this the same earth I lived before or this was another planet that can hold lifeforms similar to ours? Or the dark future that everyone back then was talking about?"
"I know that thinking will be useless in my situation, so I stood up and peek at the broken window. That's where I saw the terrifyingly large, dilapidated buildings with broken windows."
"I was really amazed by what I have seen because I only saw this kind of scene when watching movies. After a couple of seconds, I looked down and saw that there were zombies walking aimlessly. Even before I could think about whether they're zombies or not, one of them turned its head towards my location."
"I hurriedly crouched down trying to hide, but it was still useless because it just took a couple of seconds when a hand came out of the broken window."
"I look like a lost lamb that didn't know what to do. I just ran into the corner of the room furthest to that window. I clearly saw the zombies climbing the window. The broken glass pierced its skin, but it didn't feel anything."
"Then it started walking in my direction as it roared towards me terrifyingly. I was shivering in fear and regret. I already died once and was given a second chance and I am going to die without enjoying my new life."
"I don't want to die! So I mustered up my courage and grabbed the nearest thing beside me, and that was the steel pipe that I was carrying before."
"I smashed its head and I eventually killed it. Then I accidentally touched its head and a small suction force appeared on my palm. First I neglected it, but the suction force grew stronger, and it sucked the zombie's body."
Herro saw Kira's face changed. Kira looked at Herro thinking that he was telling a lie.
"Since it comes to this, I'll just show it to you. Actions speak louder than words, after all."
Then Herro grabbed the nearest corpse of the zombie and lifted it in the air. Kira was watching seriously. This will determine if he is talking the truth or not.
Then Herro activated Absorption and it quickly absorbed the zombie. When Kira saw what happened, she was shocked to the point that her mouth was left gaping.
"That was....." Kira couldn't find words to describe her surprise.
"Yes, it was my skill that helped me up to this point. I can heal myself using this and I think I can regrow my hands if they were severed." Herro explained as he started walking back to Kira.
"But how did you heal me? And why do I have claws instead of my fingers?" Kira asked Herro softly. She was not angry because she knew that Herro was telling the truth and the fact that he saved her life made her look at Herro softer than before.
"After scavenging for foods, I came back hurriedly so we can start eating. But before I could enter your base, an explosion occurred not too far away from me. Then a second explosion occurred not too far away from the first explosion."
"Those explosions created a cloud of dust that acts as a smokescreen, hindering me from seeing anything. When the cloud of dust subsides, I saw a crater from the first explosion and saw you in the center. I was shocked and was about to run towards you and help you when I realized that two explosions occurred.
" When I looked where the other explosion occurred, I saw a severely wounded mutant. I was scared, really, really scared, but then when I saw it walking towards you, I felt that the fear in my heart had turned to anger. I battled it and managed to kill it."
"After that, I was about to absorb it, but then I remembered you. So I carried you towards the corpse and started to heal you."
"I transferred the skill effect towards your body. I acted like a water pipe for the energy it flows from the mutant to your body and that energy healed your wounds. The only setback was the special trait of the mutant, which is the claws was also transferred into your body. And that explains why you got the mutant's claws."
When Kira heard this, she realized that even if it is a lie, it was the most believable lie. So she chooses to believe and have faith in Herro. It was a gamble: if his plan won't work, then she will live her claws for the rest of her life.
Well, she can ask Herro to sever her hands and then ask him to use his power to regrow them, but it would take them to kill other humans just to heal her hands. She won't do it unless that someone is evil, done to the core.
"I will try to absorb that claws from your body. Don't worry, I think my skill will help me to control the claws and I can retract them at any moment." Herro confidently explained. Then Kira nodded and extended her hands towards Herro.
Herro knelt and held her hands. It was menacing and everyone who saw it will shiver in fear. But to Herro, it was beautiful because the one holding it was also a beautiful and cute person.
"You're still so beautiful, Kira, even though you're messy right now." Herro couldn't help but praise Kira.
When Kira heard this, her face felt hot red as she blushed. "M-make it faster! I d-don't need your useless comment!" All she could do was to act angry, just to hide her happiness when Herro praised her.
Herro smiled and started to pour all of his concentration towards his hands, which are holding Kira's.
Then he manually activated his absorption skill and does not rely on automatic because he can't control the force and the intensity of the suction.
He closed his eyes and felt the suction force was slow, like what he desired. Then he started to imagine the claws outline in his head. Then he increased the intensity of the suction force. He slowly feels the changes in Kira's hands.
After a couple of minutes, he felt that her hands were smooth and her slender, candle-like fingers were back. He opened his eyes and saw that her hands were reverted to their original form.
"Open your eyes, Kira!" Herro excitedly said.