A long time ago in high school, my crush at the time was panicking, because a bug was crawling around her table. I was nearby, caught the bug, but then while still panicking, she told me to kill it.

I didn't care to kill it, it was a harmless bug, but figured, eh, at least I'll be her hero.

...nope. Immediately after I stepped on it, she hit me with "Why did you kill it?". She's vegetarian, just forgot her own principles for a moment while panicking.

Yes, she was not the most rational lady, but either way, that was when I learnt to have my own principles.

Few years later, there was a wasp in our classroom, which was drowsy from the heating. It managed to fly half around the room, then landed right on my sleeve. Everyone told me to whack it with a book, but I figured, fuck it, it can't sting me through my sleeve, I'll carry it to a nearby window.

She was in the room, too. This was long after I could have been her hero for anything. But that made it feel all the better, to show her I've grown up since.

What felt even better, though, was that I was my own personal hero, because these were my own principles.