#adifferentbeginning

Since it’s long, I’m placing the text under the read on link. If you’re having trouble reading, just send me a note!

If you need to catch up, here is the first chapter: Chapter One

I also have a tags list on my blog to help locate the rest of the chapters.

Chapter Seven

The sun blazed over the lawn of SFIT’s campus, the grass a sparkling neon green, and the gates repainted fresh red. Tadashi looked up as he passed underneath the gate, Hiro skipping around him, unable to contain his glee. He was like a puppy new to the world, wanting to sniff and bite on everything. If his brother kept this up for much longer, he might need a leash. But the sheer enthusiasm was practically contagious and Tadashi couldn’t help but smile himself. It was a new year. Another chance. Hiro hadn't stopped talking since breakfast, not even when his mouth was so full it spilled cereal everywhere, not even when they were zooming through traffic so loud that Tadashi couldn't even hear him if he tried. Tadashi thought Hiro might've worn himself out by now, but his little brother seemed to have a never ending stream of thoughts that needed to be voiced. "I can't wait to see what classes they have I hope I can meet more scientists you think it'd be okay if I asked for their autographs because I'm definitely asking for autographs especially if it's Stan Cobs and if I can't find paper I'll use my shirt and I'll never wash it ever and it'll be the most important thing I've ever owned and I'll keep it forever and pass it on to my children and grandchildren and tell them all how I met one of the most important programmers on Earth and how I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for my older brother who's a complete and total nerd and still manages to be the coolest guy around!" Tadashi laughed, ruffling a hand in Hiro's hair. "Thanks, bro. It's nice to know I'm appreciated." "You think we're going to have any classes together?" Hiro asked, skipping up the last of the steps. "Probably not, I'm two years of classes ahead of you," Tadashi replied, shaking his head. "You're might be smart, but you're not that smart. We'll probably be working in the same lab, though. All the Applied Sciences majors work there." "You mean you and the rest of the gang?" Hiro asked with a grin. Already he considered Tadashi's friends as his own; which was what Tadashi intended. "Awesome!" Most kids Hiro's age weren't mature enough to handle the company of a tiny kid with big brains without bullying him - even fewer who were in college. And while Hiro wasn't very mature himself, he still looked up to people older than him, and the others were great at keeping a rational mind in case Hiro wanted to do anything crazy. Besides, they all had a good influence on him, and Tadashi had rarely seen Hiro so consistently happy without the reliable social life they brought.

Tadashi didn't want Hiro to stay locked up in his room, staring at a computer screen with no interaction with the outside world for over seventy-two hours. He definitely didn't want Hiro to spend his time competing in illegal bot-fighting in back alleys, either. This just so happened to be a happy medium. "Do you think I'll get an office like you?" Hiro asked. "Not yet. The board waits until you get on the Dean's List before they offer anything like that. You also have to present your capstone project idea beforehand, to show them what you'll be using it for. You'll probably have a workspace with everyone else in the main lab." "Neat!" Hiro didn't seem discouraged in the least. He tugged on the straps of his new backpack, red of course, as he looked up at the sky and grinned. "When do I get to set up? I can't wait to start working on my micro bots again." "After your classes are over." Tadashi glanced at his watch. He, of course, had memorized Hiro's schedule, mostly because he wasn't sure if Hiro would be able to remember it himself. "Speaking of which, your first one starts in ten minutes. Vector Calculus I. You remember how to get to Dashburg Hall?"   "Yeah sure," Hiro nodded, giving Tadashi a quick salute before heading down the path to the right. "I know this place like the back of my hand." "Really? Because Dashburg Hall is that way, genius," Tadashi replied with a smirk, pointing in the opposite direction. Hiro paused, turning around with a bewildered look, then shrugged and said, "I knew that. I was just testing you." Tadashi wasn't going to fall for it. "I'm not the one who needs testing, bonehead. So I'd hurry if I were you. Professor Herring likes to lock the doors after the bell rings." That wasn't true, but he took particular delight in watching the look of panic cross Hiro's face before he took off running. "Gotta go! Text you later!"  As Hiro disappeared down a hill, Tadashi just shook his head and laughed to himself. These next few years were going to be interesting. Tadashi had yet to realize just how right he would be.

"Hey, Tadashi, come see all the fresh meat!" GoGo said, popping her head into his office. There was a mischievous grin on her face. "Look at how tiny they are!" Tadashi just sighed and hung his head. Every year they did this, and every year it was the same. They spent about thirty minutes watching as the professor guided the sinew students around the room and showed them to the empty workstations, where they would eventually set up their various projects. GoGo liked to make up funny back stories for them, Honey liked to take selfies with them and pretend not to notice how many were intimidated by her height, while Wasabi critiqued their organization and well-kemptness and Fred got to show off his neat board tricks to the awed freshmen. He'd rather just work on Baymax at the moment. Tadashi was starting to feel tired again, even though it wasn't even noon yet. It was like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night. “I-I’m kind of busy right now, GoGo. Maybe later?” “Oh, come on! This only happens once a year! You gotta live a little, Tadashi.” But there was no resisting the power of GoGo, so Tadashi just heaved a sigh and got to his feet. “Oh, all right. But just for five minutes. I’ve got a lot of work to do.” He didn’t really want to leave work, considering how much he already had. Tadashi’s new programming class was killer, and considering it was just the first day, he knew it was going to take up a lot of his time to just to get a passing grade — even more if he wanted an A, which he definitely did. They already had homework, lots of coding to parse through, as well as three chapters to read in the two-ton textbook that was worth more than Krei-Tech’s new top of the line tablet. But he might as well get a little break now before diving waist-deep into code, so Tadashi followed GoGo into the main lab, where everyone stood back and pretended to work while a large group of tiny freshmen bustled around, chattering and oohing and ahh-ing as they were guided around by a woman with clicking heels. It was Professor Holgate ahead of the charge, waving a stiff gloved hand around the various inventions and discussing what students at SFIT were capable of doing. Tadashi didn’t expect to see her here. This wasn’t the building she worked in. She was the head of the Computer Science program. What was she doing in Robotics? She was a prim little woman, always perched in high heels and dressed to the nines in a black pinstriped pantsuit. A little older than Aunt Cass, Professor Holgate had piercing blue eyes that made you wish you went to a different school, guarded behind horn-rimmed glasses that sometimes flashed ominously under the right lighting. Tadashi didn’t think she’d be covering her hands, though. “Is she wearing latex gloves?” Wasabi glanced at Tadashi before squinting at Holgate. “Oh, yeah, she is. Maybe she’s protecting herself from germs. I should try that sometimes.” “What, why? This is Robotics, not Biology. We’re not dissecting anything and we don’t experiment with chemicals,” Tadashi said, then remembered Honey Lemon. “Well, not most of us. But if it were chemicals, wouldn’t she be wearing rubber gloves instead?” “I don’t know, man,” Wasabi just shrugged. “All geniuses have their quirks, like me, and this must be hers.” “Yeah, I suppose,” Tadashi nodded to himself, still feeling a little skeptical. It was unfair to criticize when his own friends were a little weird, and weird was never bad. But Tadashi had met Holgate a few times before (even had a class with her — thankfully just one, which took many a sleepless night to pass), and he’d never seen her wear gloves before. “Maybe it’s a new thing.” Geniuses and their quirks were not an unusual occurance, and Tadashi was quite familiar with them himself. There was, of course, Wasabi and his habit of extreme organizing and subsequent freak-outs when anyone (particularly GoGo) messed with his stuff; GoGo’s obsession with speed, unsatisfied with anything short of Mach 3. Honey Lemon liked to add colors and doodles to everything, to the point that the school board had to issue a new rule stating that unsanctioned painting of school property would be dealt with heavy fines. And, obviously there was Hiro, who would eat all red foods, no matter what they actually tasted like. Then there was Fred. Fred was...well, he wasn’t a genius. But he was Fred. He had enough weird to fill the whole state. Tadashi couldn’t think of any of his own quirks, although that may be because he felt almost boring in comparison to everyone else. He was sure that if he asked, they would be able to come up with a bunch of things, and Tadashi decided to avoid the embarrassment if he could help it. “Explore at your leisure,” Professor Holgate said, holding out her arm in a gesture of go-ahead. “We’ll meet again in ten minutes.” As the new students dispersed to examine inventions more closely and ask questions, the tiny professor turned and headed towards the door. Tadashi did a double-take when he realized, no, she was not going to the doors, she was making a beeline to him. “Ah, Mr. Hamada, I thought I saw you earlier,” Professor Holgate said, peering up at him through half-lidded eyes. Tadashi couldn’t fathom what she was possibly thinking at the moment. “Hiro’s brother, correct?” “Uh, yeah, why?” Tadashi frowned, crossing his arms and leaning back, immediately going on the defensive. Whenever adults asked him if he was related to Hiro, it usually meant one of two things: one, to remark on Hiro’s intelligence and aptitude for robotics; or two, to inform Tadashi of yet another misdemeanor his little brother may or may not have committed, and perhaps place the onus of responsibility on Tadashi himself. As if anyone could control Hiro. While Tadashi loved Hiro, and would do anything for him, he was not his brother’s keeper. “I saw him earlier today, making bets with other students on the outcome of the upcoming baseball game,” Professor Holgate said, her expression unchanging. Tadashi felt the others shift around him, switching their attention from the students to the teacher now talking directly about a friend of theirs. Holgate pretended not to notice, merely tilted her head as she gazed at Tadashi, measuring his reaction. “He doesn’t have a problem, does he?” “What? No, of course not,” Tadashi snapped back, perhaps a little too quickly. Inside, his gut filled with dread. The day had barely even started and already Hiro was finding himself in a heap of trouble. Aunt Cass was not going to like this. “He knows better than that.” “Good,” Holgate sniffed, lifting her chin in a manner that said she won even if Tadashi had been telling the truth. “Because, as you all know —” she cast a side glance at the others, who stiffened at the almost-insult — “Gambling and any other related activity is illegal on campus, and would result in immediate expulsion. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Hamada, but take care. I’d hate to see such potential wasted.” “Right,” Tadashi’s voice was strained and he had to keep himself from glaring at Professor Holgate walked off. “Thanks for the memo.” “She seems a little...uptight,” Fred finally spoke once the woman was out of earshot. He cast a conspiratorial glance around the group, saying in a hushed whisper, “You think she’s onto us?” “Onto what?” GoGo asked with a skeptical eyebrow. “We’re not doing anything.” “Maybe she knows we’d help Hiro,” Wasabi pointed out with a shrug. Of all of them, he seemed the most relaxed, while Tadashi was absolutely seething on the inside. “Maybe she thinks he’ll cheat and come to us, because he’s not ready for college.” “Of course he’s ready!” Tadashi exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air and gathering the looks of a few passerby. He felt his cheeks heat up and dropped his shoulders, feeling a little self-conscious. Get a hold of yourself, man. “There’s no way he’s spending any more time on his own. He can’t go back to bot-fighting.” “We’re not disagreeing with you, Tadashi,” Honey said, a little disapproving of his outburst. She raised a hand in consoling, resting it on his shoulder. It felt comforting, a feeling helped by the fact she was several inches taller than him, and thus carried an air of authority. “This is just what Professor Holgate might be thinking. Hiro’s so young, and sometimes he likes doing things the easy way, rather than the right way. We might have to help him, after all, if Holgate’s serious in wanting him expelled.” “She’s gonna be in for a big surprise,” GoGo muttered, punching her fist into her palm. She, out of all of them, would probably actually punch a teacher. Actually, she might already have, but Tadashi couldn’t be sure. “It shouldn’t be too hard.” Fred commented, flopping down in his favorite seat. “I mean, the classes here are gonna have him buried for weeks. He’ll be too busy to do anything crazy or fun.” “Yeah, because you, of all people, would know,” Wasabi said with a snort. “You don’t even go to this school.” “So? Doesn’t mean I can’t love and appreciate what you guys do here.” Fred said, reaching for his soda. Food wasn’t necessarily allowed in the lab, but at least Fred sat far enough way that it probably wouldn’t interfere. “Besides, San Francisco State is boring. Their mascot is whale. How lame is that? I’d rather be Godzilla.” “Our mascot isn’t Godzilla,” Tadashi said. “It’s a dragon.” “What? I’m allowed to take liberties.” “Anyways,” Honey said before they got lost in a discussion about mascots. “I think Professor Holgate’s the new dean of Robotics. If Hiro gets into trouble, she’ll get to deal directly with him.” “Wait, since when was she the dean?” Wasabi asked, walking around his work station and fixing a misaligned tool. It wasn’t actually out of place, it was just something Wasabi did when he got anxious. News like this could make anyone anxious, really. “I thought she was in Computer Science.” “She was,” Honey said, holding up her phone. Its screen showed a miniature article from the school’s online newsletter. “But she was the only one that qualified for the job. She has three PhD degrees, you know. One of them is in Robotics. She’s spent twenty years working in that field before moving on to computers, but she still has the credentials. I guess it must have been an easy pick for the board.” “I miss Callaghan,” Honey sighed, then went silent, as if realizing what she just said. Everyone went a little still, perhaps stunned that she said the name that had been haunting everyone’s mind since the fire. Callaghan’s death hung in the air like a silent, constant reminder. They hadn’t openly discussed it since the funeral, a fact which Tadashi was glad for until this moment. There still seemed to be some unspoken words on the matter, but the way his gut tightened and his jaw clenched, Tadashi knew it wasn’t something he wanted to deal with right now. “This sucks,” GoGo said finally, popping a bubble gum and accurately describing everyone’s feelings on the matter.  Then her head switched to the right, eyes widening slightly. “Yo, can I help you?” Everyone turned around, surprised to see a freshman standing there, watching them with big, almost fearful eyes. She clutched her new books to her chest, almost in protection, intimidated by the large group of older, smarter kids all staring at her. “H-hi,” she said, tucking a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear, slowly pulling her gaze from the group to GoGo, who waited patiently. “I-I was, uh, just wondering, um, why your b-bike doesn’t have any wheels?” “Oh, right,” GoGo glanced at her project and rolled her eyes, as if annoyed with herself. She tapped her skull with the palm of her hand, saying, “Doi. Yeah, the wheels aren’t attached right now. I’m still trying to get the right design to make it go faster.” “How do the wheels work?” The girl said, drawing nearer to the project to peer at the wheel wells. She pressed a finger to the smooth metal. “There aren’t any sockets or hinges. Are the wheels magnetized?” “Essentially, yeah,” GoGo nodded, looking pleased to have someone understand without needing a heavy explanation. She wandered over to the wheel-barrow filled with discarded wheels, yellow and made of light material. She picked one up and tossed it over. The girl gasped and ducked; it seemed as though GoGo meant for her to catch it, but with the books in her arms, the girl couldn’t. But that didn’t seem to be GoGo’s intention at all. Instead, the wheel bounced off the floor once before shooting up into the nearest wheel well of the bike, catching to the magnet in one swift motion. Tadashi had to hide his smile from the awed look on the girl’s face; GoGo’s aim was impeccable. “See? Completely frictionless,” GoGo wandered back, taking her finger and spinning the wheel. It made a soft hissing sound as it cleaved through thin air. “Must have good suspension, too,” the girl remarked, finally getting over her surprise to smile at the still-spinning wheel. “The gears won’t get worn out so quickly, and it’d maximize the amount of power the rider puts into the machine. Less energy, more work.” “Yeah, pretty much.” “What? You’re telling me someone actually understands what the great GoGo Tomago’s doing?” Fred laughed, earning an annoyed look from GoGo. “Your name’s GoGo?” the girl asked, her eyebrows shooting up. “It’s a nickname,” GoGo replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. “And that’s Fred. He’s the one who comes up with them. Who’re you, by the way? You must be a freshman.” GoGo stuck out a hand and the girl reached for it, nodding. “Oh, I’m —” “Gather up, freshmen!” Professor Holgate’s piercing voice cut the girl off, making her spin around. Professor Holgate was standing at the doors, her arms raised to get everyone’s attention. “We’re heading to the Biology lab next. Let’s let everyone here get back to work, shall we?” “Oh, gotta go, sorry,” the girl said with a sigh, hanging her head before giving them a final wave. “But thanks for the lesson!” “Hey, any time,” GoGo said, crossing her arms and watching as the freshman gathered like little ducklings in the wake of Professor Holgate. She jolted just as the girl disappeared from sight. “Oh, crap. She didn’t tell me her name!” “Hey, I’m sure she’ll be back,” Tadashi said, not sounding as concerned as GoGo. She cast him a curious look. “What makes you say that?” “Her books. They were on Robotics and mechanical engineering. She’ll probably be working here later.” “Oh, good eye,” Honey grinned. “Does this mean I’m allowed to make a nickname for her, too?” Fred asked, leaning forward in his seat and sounding hopeful. “No.” everyone said, frowning at him. While Fred was pretty good at coming up with nicknames, he also had a tendency to make people angry when he called them things they didn’t like. Especially with people he didn’t actually know. “Aw, man,” he pouted, flopping back in his seat. “So, what were we talking about again?” Wasabi asked, leaning against his worktable and everyone gathered around in a tight circle, so their discussion wouldn’t be overhead. “Hiro,” Tadashi answered, because who else could it be about. “I think we should keep an eye on Hiro, in case he does anything...criminal.” “Or anything that looks criminal,” GoGo added. “I don’t trust that Holgate woman.” “Oh, I’m sure he’ll be fine, guys,” Honey replied, looking a little disturbed. “Why do you all think he’s going to do something bad?” “Because he’s Hiro and doesn’t know any better?” Tadashi shot back. He appreciated Honey’s optimism, but he couldn’t afford to think the same way. If Hiro’s stay was as much in jeopardy as he believed it to be, then they had to be careful. “Just watch out for anything, okay? I don’t want him to get in trouble. I especially don’t want him to get hurt. If anything happens, just stick with him and make sure he’s safe, okay?” “I think this calls for a hand stack,” Fred said, before sticking his hand out in the center of the circle. “We all agree to defend Hiro’s honor with our lives?” “Oh, please,” GoGo rolled her eyes at the hyperbole, but surprisingly was the first to add her hand to the pile. The rest followed suit, with Tadashi resting his hand on the top of the pile. There was an air of agreement, of solidarity in this, that made his gut flutter with pride. “You guys sure about this? I don’t want to ask too much —” “Its fine, Tadashi,” Honey gave him a reassuring smile. “We know what we’re doing. Hiro’s as much our family as he is yours.” “All right, on three,” Fred said, an infectious grin on his face. “Protect Hiro. One, two, three!” “Protect Hiro!”

Sorry for the months long wait! I had severe writer’s block and didn’t know how to continue the conflict when the next few chapters are probably just going to be about them in college. It’ll be a little while before Hiro runs into Yokai.

But this is still relevant! I have it all set up, so don’t worry :)

Ugh, I haven’t posted anything in so long. I want to draw, I want to write, but school just takes the life out of me and I feel so drained I don’t want to do anything. 

Click here to read the other chapters.

Chapter Six

    The rest of the summer passed without much event.     Tadashi didn’t quite feel the same as he used to, but surprisingly it was the only difference he noticed in this world after the fire. A part of him expected some massive upheaval in his life, proportionate to gravity of his emotional state. He didn’t know what those things could possibly be, but still. Some things had to be different now, right? He couldn’t be the only one affected by the fire like this.     He wondered how the world could keep spinning, how everyone could just continue on with their lives as though tragedies like this never happened. How did they do it? How did they just get up and forget? Tadashi didn’t know if there was something wrong with him or them because he couldn’t do the same.     But life went on, as it always did. Nothing changed in any big way and Tadashi didn’t know whether he should be glad or worried. Sure, Aunt Cass was a little more careful in the way she spoke around him, and she tended to hover while he worked, which was kind of annoying when one was trying to program a robot or serve customers.     And Hiro always wanted to help with Baymax, but Tadashi kept pushing him away, to work on rebuilding his own micro-bot project. They had no idea what going back to SFIT would be like - who would be heading the new Applied Sciences college? Would Hiro get new scrutiny because of his age? They may ask him to keep his focus on the micro-bots if they didn’t trust Hiro to start something else.     But ordering new material took time, as well as getting the money to fund it, so there wasn’t much Hiro could do but wait. Aunt Cass was careful to budget her funds - even though Hiro got accepted into SFIT, there were still fees to pay, and it was tough to decide how the money should be spent.     Tadashi was afraid that Hiro might go back to bot-fighting, if only for the easy cash. As of yet, he hadn’t seen any suspicious activity of his brother, and the hidden GPS tracker in his shoes showed that Hiro never wandered into the bad parts of town.     In fact, Hiro never seemed to leave Tadashi’s side. He even hung out in the cafe when Tadashi was working, which could be a distraction. It was tempting to fool around with his younger brother and play games, but Tadashi had to keep his head on straight. He didn’t want his own aunt to fire him from the only job he ever had. But Hiro managed to mostly behave himself, and Tadashi found himself starting to relax again in his younger brother’s presence.     No, Tadashi realized, it was rather the small things that he noticed. Like the way Hiro followed him everywhere he went. This usually wasn’t so weird, since they lived in the same house and shared the same room, it was impossible not to see him all the time; but it became obvious when Hiro volunteered (!) to go grocery shopping when the cafe ran out of milk and sugar.     Hiro hated grocery shopping, said it every time Aunt Cass asked him to go or made him put the food away – but he didn’t utter a single complaint as he pushed the cart around while Tadashi picked what they needed off the shelves.    They actually had a good time (and maybe knocked over a canned soup pyramid, and went cart racing in the parking lot). Everything went so smoothly that Tadashi didn’t think it could possibly go wrong.     So it was odd when Tadashi got a call from Hiro later that day.     “Hello?” he spoke into the phone as he opened the overhead cabinet and started putting away the half dozen cereal boxes he bought (no one liked the same type). He had just recently returned from doing errands, to restock their kitchen as well as the cafe’s.     “Tadashi, where are you?”     “What do you mean? I’m at home,” Tadashi replied, frowning. Why was Hiro calling him in their own house? Was he really so lazy that going down a single flight of stairs was too much for him? “I just got back from grocery shopping, but I think I forgot something.”     “Yeah, man,” Hiro snapped, sounding oddly annoyed. “You forgot me! I’m still at the store!”     “Oh, crap!” The realization hit him like a freight train. Tadashi almost dropped his phone tearing back down the stairs, just barely remembering to grab his helmet before hopping back onto his moped. “I’m coming, Hiro!”     The seat was still warm from the last ride. Tadashi hit the accelerator so hard on his moped that it literally squealed out of its parking spot. Aunt Cass had just opened the door to follow him, but he sped off before she could even ask what was going on. He tore through the streets, breaking at least half a dozen laws and going three times over the speed limit.     “All right, new rule!” Hiro said when he finally came to a screeching stop at the sidewalk in front of the grocery store. His little brother had been waiting there for him, arms crossed and scowling. “Never leave your brother at the grocery store, especially in the whole grains aisle, yuck.”     “I’ll add it to the list,” Tadashi sighed, handing Hiro his helmet as he got onto the seat behind him. “Didn’t run into any trouble, did you?”     “Come on, you could at least give me some credit,” Hiro complained as the moped puttered off, at a much slower pace this time. Hiro adjusted his weight on the seat, moving so vigorously that he nearly knocked the whole vehicle over. “I can’t believe you forgot me, your only brother! Do you know the kinds of people that hang around the store? There are people with dogs in their bags and kids hogging all the games. They could’ve mugged me for quarters! Do you know how humiliating it is to get mugged by five-year-olds?”     “No more than having a genius younger brother who gets lost in a grocery store.”     “Pfft, whatever,” Hiro scoffed, taking out his phone to text. At least he wasn’t rocking the moped anymore. “I’m going to tell Honey on you. I’ll let her know that you’re a horrible brother and then maybe I’ll get to live with her instead. Did you know her family has a pool? We don’t have a pool.”     “That’s because we live in the middle of the city, bonehead. Honey’s from Sacramento.”     “Still. Since when does the great Tadashi Hamada forget things?” Hiro replied as they came to a stop at a red light. He grabbed Tadashi’s helmet and turned his head to look him in the eye. “Who are you and what have you done to my big bro?”     Tadashi pulled his head out of Hiro’s grip, seeing the light turn green and pressing the accelerator. The sound of the engine filled the space, giving             Tadashi and excuse not to answer that. Inside, he wilted a little. Was he really losing his touch? Tadashi didn’t think he’d still feel the effects after a couple weeks.     This was the first big sign of the strangeness that would occur throughout the following summer. But even then it wasn’t very obvious. Tadashi hadn’t made a mistake as big as that in a while, and chalked it up to simple chance.     It was easier to think of it that way, but Tadashi knew, deep down, he was just lying to himself. The weeks passed by without disaster, but that wasn’t what kept him up at night, staring at the ceiling and catching the phantom scent of smoke in the air. The very thought sent chills down his spine every time it happened.     Of course, he hadn't heard the last of it. Later, when he was serving drinks in the cafe, GoGo wandered in to chat. "Hey, loser, I heard you left Hiro at the store this morning. I know younger brothers can be annoying, but that's usually not the way you get rid of them."   "Ha ha," he replied with an eye roll. Tadashi wasn't really annoyed with her, just humorist the situation. "No, I just forgot. Hiro probably just blew the whole thing out of proportion, that's all."     "Sure, sure. But hey," Gogo leaned over the counter, whispering with a mischievous smirk on her face. "If you really want to get rid of Hiro, I know a guy."     "Very funny."     But Tadashi wasn't an idiot - he had a pretty good feeling his friends were conspiring behind his back, agreeing to check up on him every day to make sure everything was all right. They thought they were clever, never gathering all together unless it was a special occasion. Usually they only went one or two at a time, switching it up as though they just ‘happened’ to wander by the cafe that day.   It got pretty obvious after the fourth day of it happening. But Tadashi never called them out on it. He knew his friends were just coming from a good place, and to be honest the companionship was comforting, if a little patronizing. He wasn't a little kid that needed to be supervised all the time.     "No, I mean it. He's totally ready and willing to take care of Hiro at any minute. Just call and he'll be there."   Tadashi threw her a weird look as he fiddled with the espresso machine. Gogo sounded oddly sincere and it was starting to freak him out. "Wait, are you serious? Who?"   "Uh, hello?" Gogo rolled her eyes as if it were obvious. "Fred, duh. He's says he'd always wanted a sidekick."     "Oh, right," Tadashi had forgotten about Fred's enthusiasm for the superhero genre. Who knows, maybe one day the guy might actually become a superhero himself. "But where would Hiro sleep? Fred's place can't be that big. He has no idea how to take care of kids. Or how much Hiro eats."     "Who knows? I think he might be living under a bridge."      "That doesn't bother you?"     "Are you kidding? Fred could live in Antarctica and still be happy. Until he complains, or something happens, then I'll do something."     "Fair enough."     "What about you?" Gogo asked, playing with a stirring straw. She was trying to play it cool, but she was deliberately avoiding his eyes, and her tone sounded stilted. "Everything all right so far?"     "Yeah." Tadashi decided to play along, if only for the sake of easing Gogo's concerns. If he set off any alarms, he might get another intervention, like at the funeral. He wasn't sure he could go through that again. "Yeah, everything's been going great. I mean, aside from the whole Grocery Store Incident."     "Good, that's good," Gogo nodded absentmindedly, bending the straw in half. After a second of silence, she asked, "...Any nightmares?"     Tadashi paused, nearly burning himself with hot coffee as he lifted the full pot. There it was, the big question. He should've known it was coming.     A few weeks ago, only days after the funeral, Tadashi had confided with Wasabi about a nightmare he had - reliving the memory of fire, trying to save Callaghan. Only, this time it was Hiro trapped inside. The building exploded before Tadashi could get to him. Like in real life, he was thrown back by the blast.     Then he got up. He saw the burning building, collapsed in on itself. He had watched, in horror, as that black specter with the pale eyes walked out the flames. Its hair floated in the wind. In its arm it carried a small body. Too small. Not breathing.     When Tadashi saw Hiro's face, he had woken up, crying. He almost woke up Hiro, the real Hiro, in his dream-induced panic. Tadashi had been able to hide it, but for days afterward he couldn't fall asleep, afraid of having the same dream.     Tadashi had hoped to put it all behind him. Maybe if he just tried to forget about the dream, it wouldn't keep haunting him.     So he lied. "No. Just the regular, weird ones, you know."     "You sure?"     Tadashi clenched his jaw, feeling a little frustrated by Gogo's concern. Sure, it was warranted, but what clue did she have of that? How could he explain how he wanted some things to be left alone, without making them upset?     He still hadn't figured it out yet. Instead, Tadashi did his best to keep his tone natural, saying "Yeah. I mean, if I did, I can't remember it, which is just as fine. I wouldn't want to, anyways."     "Well, okay." Thankfully, Gogo didn't press the matter. She tapped the counter with her finger, saying, "I have to go, packages to deliver. But call if there's a problem, okay? Anytime, it doesn't matter."     Although he felt a little resentful of her doubt, Tadashi was also grateful for that offer. He didn't know if things might go bad unexpectedly. It was nice to know he had her support, even at the worst of hours. "Y-yeah, thanks. See you later."     But the nightmares never left. The first few happened in the direct aftermath of the fire, so it wasn’t that surprising. After that particular discussion, they eased up for a while, and Tadashi thought that was the end of it. The ‘random’ meeting with his friends in the cafe started to lighten up in July, especially after a great Fourth of July party. Perhaps he had managed to convince them he had recovered through cake and fireworks.     But upon returning home one night in early August after going out to the movies with his friends, Tadashi felt strange. The movie had been good and everyone had a fun time, but there had been a certain scene where the ninja princess returning home to find her village burned down...the images still flashed in Tadashi’s mind, even as he went to bed. He knew it was the onset of a nightmare, but the next morning he couldn’t remember it.     Faint images of a burning town, like in the movie they watched. Crying, screaming, typical images of death and destruction, but it didn’t feel like it came from his own mind. Perhaps his brain was just recycling the memories, finding correlating with scenes from the movie and the fire and operating under the function that Tadashi needed to know this, even though he certainly did not.     But at least it wasn’t vivid. They didn’t stick with him throughout the day, and Tadashi could move on without too much trouble.     For nights he seemed to experience it, only to wake up with faint images flitting about in his head. Perhaps Tadashi was so glad to be awake again in the world of the living, of safety and reality and Hiro not being dead (why did that always come to him? Of all things, why?), that his brain simply let go of the dreams, only to store them in a secret place to be released at night, when Tadashi was most vulnerable.     He put up with it, mostly because there really didn’t seem to be any other solution. And it wasn’t so bad, to be honest. Tadashi didn’t have too many responsibilities over the summer, and since he had no schoolwork to worry about, any sleeplessness wasn’t too noticeable or detrimental to everyday life.     Maybe Tadashi was lucky. After the funeral, he had done some research into PTSD, depression, and shock after tragic death. He read stories of other people who lost friends and family to horrible accidents, even sabotage and murder. His symptoms aligned with what others reported, with what WebMD said was typical behavior for the situation. It was nice to know that at least he wasn’t some weird special case with no solution – but then again, these cases didn’t really have solid solutions either. Most said it took time to overcome the worst of depression, to be able to live normally after someone important died. Medication was recommended if it was bad enough, counseling if one could afford it.     But Tadashi didn’t want to put his family through any of that. He didn’t want Hiro to think he might be weak, or helpless, or not the big brother he was supposed to be. How was he supposed to be there for Hiro if he couldn’t even be there for himself?     Maybe this was denial. Maybe Tadashi didn’t care. So far, it worked.     Until it didn’t.     It came back. The same dream he had, the same nightmare, whenever he had them.     Always the same.     Tadashi found himself walking through San Fransokyo in the winter. It was quiet, peaceful, serene. Not a soul in sight. His bare feet crunched in the deep snow, but it wasn’t cold or painful. Tadashi almost enjoyed it, until he looked at the buildings. Looked at them hard.     They were all black. Burnt, smoking, charred. The further he walked, the worse they became. Some crumbled into ash, others were just hollowed remains. He thought he could hear screams inside, but whenever he got too close, they disappeared. Sometimes Tadashi saw shadowy forms in the smoke, gliding about like trapped ghosts. Whenever he squinted at them, two big moon eyes would look back.     It was haunting and Tadashi wanted to leave, but he couldn’t. The dream wasn’t over yet.     He found himself walked down a familiar street. In front of him, the Lucky Cat Cafe — his home. Always the same.     Burning.     “No!”     Tadashi saw it and ran. Ran right towards the fire, even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to, that it was wrong. He didn’t care. Hiro and Cass were still inside. He just knew, in that bizarre omnipresent dream-logic sense, that his family was still inside their house, trapped, burning, dying —     But somehow that wasn’t the worst part.     No, the worst part was the fact that the harder Tadashi ran, the farther away he got. The house receded blocks, and suddenly Tadashi wasn’t moving at all. He felt like he was trying to run through molasses, muscles going in slow motion yet everything else was normal. He couldn’t fight through the haze; the more he focused on it, the more frustrated he got, and it just seemed to make everything even harder.     Always. Every time. He just wanted to die.     The house was still in front of him, so far away. Yet the sound of crackling fire was right in his ears, the heat against his face, so hot, too hot — no one should be inside, it’s too dangerous, they couldn’t survive —     Tadashi could even hear their screams. This time, he could hear them. Why? Why was it different? Did his brain just finally decide that he wasn’t suffering enough?     It was Hiro. Of course it was Hiro. Why was it always Hiro?     First, only the vaguest notions of his little brother’s voice; but Tadashi knew it anywhere. Even as he continued to run in slow motion, he strained his eyes, heard the voice get louder.     It was Hiro. It was Hiro calling out his name, begging for Tadashi, where are you, please, help me, Tadashi, it hurts, wake up Tadashi, it’s too hot, it hurts too much, where are you, wake up, you said you’d always be there for me, why did you leave me, why did you lie, you’re not a firefighter you’re my brother why did you choose him over me why did you leave I hate you I hate you I hate you     wake up Tadashi     Tadashi     I hate you     “Wake up!”     Tadashi jolted, sheets flying as he shot out of bed. Breathing hard and feeling the burn of tears in his lungs, Tadashi looked around wildly. The fire where’s the fire where am I?     His room. Bright. Messy. Whole. Hiro.     “Wake up, Tadashi! Wake up!”     Hiro was jumping on his bed, mop of black hair bouncing up and down with his movements. Tadashi floundered, his mind still trying to catch up while he grabbed the edge of the mattress.     “First day of school! First day of school!”     “Wha...what?” Tadashi rubbed at his eyes, the screams of Dream-Hiro still echoing in his head. Somehow, his brain knew just how to hurt him right wear it mattered. “Ugh, what time is it?”     “Dude, its seven AM! And I’m up! First day of Nerd School! Let’s go!”      Oh, boy. Tadashi had to force himself to look at his clock, the calendar on the wall. No, no, that can’t be right, just yesterday they were at the beach, they had at least a whole month until classes started, he wasn’t prepared to go back, it was too soon...June, July, August, they were long gone.      “It’s September already?”

(●-●)

Woo! This took longer than it needed to, considering its shorter than the last two chapters. But whatever! It didn't belong in Chapter Three and it won't fit the mood of the next chapter, so it has its own now!

Just another one of the tough editorial decisions that writers have to make.

Here's the rest of the fic if you haven't caught up yet (Tadashi survives the fire and suffers trauma for it): Chapter One, Two, and Three

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Chapter Four

              When Tadashi returned to the Lucky Cat Café, the windows were completely dark. All of them, except for the one at the very top, on the third floor. He could see it flicker and shift with movement from inside.

            Tadashi sighed, hanging his head as he pulled off his helmet. So Hiro had decided to stay awake after all. Well, there was no way Tadashi was avoiding this one.

Time to face the music.

            His reluctance to deal with Hiro came in the form of sluggish and quiet movements. Tadashi winced when the bell above the door announced his return. He expected Hiro to come bounding down the stairs to confront him, alerted by the sound, but Tadashi was surprised when that never happened.

            Still making a point to be careful, Tadashi grabbed the bell overhead so the door could shut silently. Then he crept across the floor, managing to remain quiet until about half-way through, when his hip bumped against a table he didn’t see. Its legs ground against the floor, sounding like a buzz saw in an empty theater. Another step forward, and Tadashi nearly tripped on the nearby chair. He grabbed the back before it could fall, cursing at his own clumsiness.

           He was going to wake up the whole neighborhood if he kept this up. Tadashi eventually just stopped moving for a second, not willing to make any more noise.

           When nothing happened (apparently everyone slept like rocks around here), Tadashi heaved a sigh and started walking again. He made it to the stairs without incident. Leaning more than he should have on the handrail, Tadashi climbed up the stairs, finding his way in the darkness. He considering turning on the lights so he could at least see where he was going, but decided against it. Aunt Cass had already gone to bed, and Tadashi didn’t want to wake her up.

           Tadashi took a deep breath to steel himself before climbing to the final floor. The lamplight from their bedroom spilled down the stairs, a warm yellow light that welcomed his return.

           He expected to see Hiro on his bed, ready to explode with thousands of questions as soon as Tadashi revealed himself. But when Tadashi came upon the landing and looked around he was once more surprised not to see Hiro’s mass of fluffy hair where he thought he would. The room was entirely silent and at first Tadashi didn’t see Hiro at all.

           That’s because Hiro was sleeping, but not in his bed. The boy was resting his head on his desk, arms for pillows, and snoring softly under the lamp he forgot to turn off. Beside him on the desk was Mochi, who was currently in the process of cleaning himself, finding a spot under the lamp that was most comfortable, casting large shadows across the walls.

           Well, that explained why Tadashi thought he saw movement upstairs.

           “He wanted to stay up until you got back,” came a soft voice behind Tadashi. A hand rested on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Aunt Cass standing next to him. She was in her pajamas, clutching her robe around her, and giving Tadashi a small smile, “How are you feeling?”

           “Better, I think,” Tadashi said, rubbing the back of his head. He had to admit, he was still feeling pretty satisfied with how he handled Alistair Krei earlier. Somehow, it eased the pain of Callaghan’s loss, just a little bit. He didn’t know how long that feeling would last, though. It was hard to say when he would feel better as a whole – if he did at all.

           Such negative thoughts he kept to himself. Aunt Cass took his word for it and said, “That’s good, but don’t be afraid to talk to me, okay? There’s nothing wrong with discussing, you know...what happened.”

           “I know,” Tadashi said, but he was glad of Aunt Cass’ reassurance. Whether or not he would take her up on that offer was left to be seen. “Thanks, Aunt Cass.”

           “Just don’t go to bed too late, all right, kiddo?” she told him, a hint of reproach in her tone. After last semester’s finals, Aunt Cass was much more careful with how late she let them stay up – because if Tadashi was awake until four in the morning, then so was Hiro, and two tired, brain-exhausted boys was worse than one. “And don’t worry about the cafe tomorrow. Just sleep in.”

           “But –” Tadashi started to protest, unwilling to shirk another day of work over a simple (or not so simple...) matter of emotions.

           “Doctor’s orders,” Aunt Cass interrupted him, shaking her head with a small chuckle. She pushed him towards his bed, adding, “No one’s ever complained about getting too much sleep. I promise it won’t hurt.”

           Tadashi sighed, relenting to his aunt’s will and shuffling over to his bed. “If you say so.”

           “Good night, Tadashi,” Aunt Cass said, hand lingering on his shoulder, and giving him one last, long look before heading back downstairs.

           “’Night,” he replied half-heartedly.

           A few seconds later he heard the door to Aunt Cass’ bedroom close. Tadashi glanced over his shoulder, watching Hiro as he snored away. Mochi meowed at him and he wandered over, petting the cat before he could wake up the boy. Mochi could be very demanding when he wanted to be.

           How long had Hiro sat there, wondering when Tadashi would home? Had this happened a week ago, Hiro would’ve taken the opportunity to go bot-fighting. What had been going on in Hiro’s head? Did he feel abandoned, did he feel left behind? Was he upset that Tadashi had once more chosen Callaghan over him again, even if he didn’t mean to? Because it was sure starting to feel that way.

           He ran his hand across Hiro’s head, ruffling his hair like their father used to when Hiro was little. Hiro had been excitable when he was younger, perhaps more so then than now. A favorite game of his was to run around your legs with the intent to slow you down and pay attention to him. Hiro was quite the little genius back then, too, because that tactic turned out to be extremely effective.

           Dad had been surprisingly good-natured about it. Instead of getting angry or impatient with Hiro (like Tadashi did), Dad just laughed, ruffled Hiro’s hair, before picking him up and placing him in his crib.

           Tadashi wished he had the same eternal patience as his father, who always seemed to know what to do with Hiro when he got into trouble. Or the way their mother could soothe a crying Hiro with just a warm hug and some consoling words. Somehow, his parents always seemed to understand Hiro better than his brother could. How did they do it?

           (Then again, they might never have anticipated the whole bot-fighting fiasco. How would they have reacted to learning that their baby boy was partaking in illegal activities?)

           Tadashi decided he would never know. The only thing he could do would be to try his best. Hiro was capable of great things; as long as Tadashi got to see that one day, then it would be worth it.

           The bay window was cracked open and a cold breeze blew in; the papers on Hiro’s desk rustled, the posters on the wall fluttering slightly. Mochi curled up under the warm lamp light while Hiro shivered in his sleep, shifting in his chair and burrowing his face in his arms.

           Tadashi considering moving Hiro to his bed, where it would be warmer and softer, but his brother seemed comfortable where he rested; Tadashi didn’t want to risk waking him up from a perfectly fine sleep and instead ignite the surely subsequent interrogation that he was still trying to avoid.

           Then, Tadashi got an idea. He shrugged off his green blazer and, with careful movements so as not to disturb him, rested it over Hiro’s shoulders. The blazer, still warm, stirred Hiro, but he remained asleep.

           Tadashi smiled to himself, considering his work done, and turned off the lamp light (much to Mochi’s displeasure). He ran a hand through his little brother’s hair one last time.