i keep writing new plots and then never finishing the ones i already have oops
also if you haven't noticed i really only write protective tadashi fics oops
"Yay, Hiro!"
Hiro, Tadashi, their aunt, and their friends all burst out of the SFIT Showcase building in excitement as Hiro raised his acceptance letter to the school in the air. Hiro laughed as their supportive comments got lost in the evening breeze, and he couldn't wipe his satisfied grin off of his face. The events of that night played on a loop in his head, from the drive there to Professor Callaghan handing him his acceptance letter. His older brother was beaming as well.
"All right, geniuses, let's feed those hungry brains. Back to the Cafe! Dinner is on me!"
"Yes! Nothing is better than free food! Unless it's moldy."
"Aunt Cass?" Tadashi perked up. "We'll, uh...We'll catch up, okay?"
"Sure," Cass smiled in return. "Oh, I'm so proud of you! Both of you."
"Thanks, Aunt Cass," the brothers said in unison, watching their Aunt skip to the parking lot before Tadashi led Hiro to his favorite spot on campus.
"I know what you're gonna say," Hiro said as they crossed a bridge on the campus. "I should be proud of myself because I'm finally using my gift for something important."
"No, no," Tadashi shrugged. "I was just gonna tell you your fly was down for the whole show."
"Ha-ha, hilarious," Hiro said, rolling his eyes before his eyes trailed down, just to check...
"What!" Hiro cried, zipping his pants before smacking his brother on the arm.
"Hey-ah!" Tadashi chuckled, leaning back against the bridge's railing. He sighed, looking out onto the beautiful campus. "Welcome to nerd school...nerd."
"Hey, I, um...I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, so...you know, thanks for not giving up on me."
Tadashi smiled softly at his little brother, his pride still apparent until a loud ringing came from the distance and Tadashi's smile was forgotten as he was jogging towards the noise to investigate. As Hiro and Tadashi rounded the corner, a loud gasp escaped both their lips. The showcase they had been in only minutes before was now engulfed in flames, and people were running from it screaming. Tadashi suddenly burst forward running, rushing to an older woman's side.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm okay, b-but Professor Callaghan is still in there!" the woman replied, coughing and running from the flames.
Tadashi looked up at the building in horror, contemplating his options before looking down at his little brother only to find no one. Tadashi raised an eyebrow, looking all around but Hiro had vanished from sight.
"Hiro? Hiro, where are you?!" Tadashi cried, spinning around until his eyes landing on the showcase building. A large figure dressed in a black trenchcoat was holding someone bridal style, approaching the inside of the building. It didn't take long for Tadashi to realize that the unconscious person in the figure's arms was his little brother. Tadashi's breath caught in his throat.
"Hey-STOP!"
The figure turned, and Tadashi didn't get the chance to go rushing toward them because, in a split second, the building was exploding.
Tadashi slowly opened his eyes to face the evening sky.
The stars were out, though for some reason he couldn't see them very well. He could, however, hear his heart beating loudly in his chest, along with a distant ringing noise. He squinted his eyes as sparks began flying in the air, and for a moment he thought he was dreaming. With pain and confusion, he finally found the courage to stand up, only just then realizing he was laying on the ground. When he was able to see more clearly, he collapsed back on his forearms, his breaths escalating at the sight before him.
The showcase building was destroyed. Large flames danced in the evening breeze, only furthering the building's demise. Memories came flooding back of how Tadashi had gotten there, and his eyes were suddenly fixated on the steps leading up to the crumbling building. His heart skipped a beat at the sight.
On the steps lay his baby brother. He was unconscious, crumpled into a ball, with blood gushing from his head. His jacket was seared at the arm, and his leg was also bleeding profusely. The man that had carried Hiro up those steps was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh...oh, god...Hiro! H-Hiro!"
Tadashi bolted up from the ground and sprinted across the pavement toward Hiro, scooping him up and running as far from the burning building as possible. As he ran, several ambulances came speeding toward the building, and Tadashi let out a shaky breath as paramedics jumped from the vehicles.
"Help! Please, help my brother!"
One of the paramedics came racing toward the two, taking Hiro from Tadashi's arms and running back to the vehicle as he spoke into his walkie talkie.
"I've got an injured minor on sight, he's got a head injury and possible internal injuries. I need a trauma room ready at San Fransokyo Hospital. We're on route."
"W-wait..." Tadashi pleaded, trying his best to get into the vehicle with them but he wasn't fast enough. He fell to his knees, watching as the ambulance sped out of the parking lot. All he could do was stare, until...
"-adashi! Tadashi!"
Tadashi looked up to see his aunt's wide, terrified eyes staring at him, her trembling hands cupping his face.
"Tadashi, are you okay? Where's your brother? Where is Hiro?"
Tadashi shook his head, unable to process what had happened.
"He's...he's hurt, we need to go to him. He's hurt."
"What?!"
"Come on, we have to go!"
With that, Tadashi rose to his feet, grabbing his aunt's hand and racing to their vehicle, where his friends waited anxiously.
Beep...beep...beep...
Hiro stirred, slowly fluttering his eyes open only to shut them in pain with a wince. He opened them again slowly, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion at his surroundings.
He was in a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines. The room was dark, only lit by a window on his left side. He looked at the faint city lights before glancing at the clock next to the window.
2:30 in the morning.
Hiro tried to sit up but fell back into the bed instead from the pain. He looked down at his body. His right leg was wrapped in bandages, though he could see a red splotch forming through it. His right arm was also wrapped in bandages, and there was a sharp, constant pain in his right side. He lifted his good arm to feel his head, which held a large bandage plastered to his forehead. His heart began beating faster as the events from that night came flooding back to his aching mind.
He and Tadashi had been talking on the bridge when they heard an alarm. He had followed Tadashi to the burning building until a large hand grabbed his arm and pressed a cloth against his mouth. The last thing Hiro saw was his older brother conversing with an older woman in front of the building before everything went black.
Hiro's breathing got faster and faster, along with the faint beeping of his heart monitor. Where was Tadashi now? Did he get hurt in the fire? Who brought him here? Was this a dream?
"You people haven't given us any information about his condition-"
"Sir, please."
Hiro's head perked up at the sound of arguing coming from outside of his door, an all-too-familiar voice discussing with what sounded like a nurse.
"My aunt and I at least to deserve to know if he's alive. You've driven her to stress eat in the cafeteria. We're worried sick-"
"And I understand that, but-"
"No, you don't understand anything! If you understood you would be holding his file and telling me where he is. I need to see him right now-and we need to have the police called so that I can know who the hell did this to my baby brother. I have to see him, please-"
"Right now, all I can tell you is that he's in this room right here, and that-"
Before Hiro could listen to the rest, the door swung open. Tadashi stood in the doorway, breathing heavily and examining the room before his eyes landed on Hiro and he rushed toward him, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside him.
"Hiro, hey, buddy," Tadashi cupped Hiro's face with his hand. "Are you okay? Can you hear me and see me? Are you brain dead?"
"Tadashi," Hiro said, sleepily watching his brother. "What happened to me? And what happened at the showcase?"
"I'm not entirely sure of that myself, knucklehead...Do you remember anything?"
"I...I remember being on the bridge with you and then seeing the fire. But then...you ran toward it, and someone grabbed my arm...they pressed a cloth against my mouth and then suddenly I woke up in this hospital. What happened?"
"Someone grabbed you and drugged you?" Tadashi choked, looking into his little brother's tired eyes for more answers. "Hiro...whoever did this to you wasn't messing around. I lost you, and then I looked up and they were carrying you into the building. I think that whoever tried to take you is the one who started the fire, and..."
"And what?"
"...And killed Professor Callaghan."
Hiro suddenly lost consciousness again, the stress of the news being too much on his slim, bony shoulders.
One month later
It was a Thursday afternoon, around 3 PM. Cass had gone out of town for a baking convention, leaving the two Hamada brothers to run the bustling cafe by themselves. Hiro's heart sank as he glanced at a tray of food from across the restaurant, realizing he was supposed to deliver it to table seven nearly ten minutes ago.
"Oh, crap!" He weaved his way in between tables and people until he made it to the tray, rushing to table seven and placing it between two people. "Sorry!"
"Hey, Hiro! We have three more tables," Tadashi said to his brother. Hiro tiredly glanced at his brother, who was wearing an apron and writing something down on a notepad. "And I'm on the cash register and in the kitchen. Can you handle it?"
"Y-yeah," Hiro said, looking down at his leg. It was wrapped beneath his jeans, but the pain coursing through it from his third-degree burns was impossible to ignore. "I got it," Hiro gulped, making his way to the new tables. He took out his notepad to take their orders, his wrist cramping from all the writing. He hurried over to the counter, placing the orders beside Tadashi before rushing to an empty table to clear it off. Rush hour seemed to be finally dying down, and Hiro was beyond relieved.
After about thirty minutes, the last occupied table in the cafe was empty, and Hiro let out a breath of exhaustion. It was his first day being that active since the accident, and he hadn't had the chance to recollect himself. He sighed before continuing to clean more tables, stacking dirt dishes on top of each other and placing them in his bucket.
While cleaning off the last table, however, something caught Hiro's eye when he collected the bill. A slip of paper fell out of the bill, and Hiro examined it only to find that it wasn't just a slip of paper, it was a photo. Hiro's eyes widened when he saw what it was.
The photo was of Hiro, waiting tables. It seemed to be taken from a distance, like a building or a roof. There was a target drawn around Hiro's head, and an "x" drawn inside of it. Hiro swallowed, flipping the photo over and taking in a deep, shaky breath at the phrase scribbled on the back.
"We're back. And this time, you're coming with us."
"Hiro, are you okay?"
Hiro jumped at the sound of his brother's voice from behind him and he shoved the photo in his apron pocket before Tadashi could see. He turned to face him, smiling though it didn't reach his eyes.
"Hey! Y-yeah, I'm okay..."
"Oh my god, Hiro!" Tadashi gasped, looking down at Hiro's leg. "You're bleeding!"
Hiro raised an eyebrow, following Tadashi's gaze to find that his burned leg was, indeed, bleeding through his jeans, even though it was wrapped.
"Oh, I...I must've worked it a little too hard, I guess."
"It looks like someone slashed you with a machete!" Tadashi cried, pulling out a chair for Hiro to sit in. "Hiro, if you needed the rest you should've told me. I could've handled the crowd myself."
"Please, you needed the help. I'm okay, really. It's nothing that hasn't happened before."
"Alright...well, hey, why don't you go get yourself cleaned up and we'll close up early? I hear there's a storm coming, and I was gonna invite our friends over for dinner."
"Sounds good," Hiro smiled softly, walking toward the stairs. He stopped at the banister, watching Tadashi as he finished cleaning off the table Hiro hadn't been able to finish himself. Something twitched inside of him, and he retreated miserably up the stairs, the photo in his pocket weighing heavy on his steps.
Hiro sat upstairs on his bed, staring at the ground. The storm his brother had mentioned before seemed to have started as heavy raindrops hit his window and thunder clapped in the distance. He looked up from the photo in his hand when he heard Tadashi's friends downstairs. How long had they been here?
He sighed, standing from his bed with a wince as he looked down at his leg. It throbbed and continued bleeding, but it wasn't seeping through his pants anymore, which was the goal. Before going downstairs, he reached for his pain medication on his nighstand, only to find it empty.
Crap, he thought. If he didn't have his pain medication, his burns and his head would be hurting all night. He would have to go to the store later, and the thought made him groan.
Regardless, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Tadashi and his friends were at the bar talking and laughing, though they all perked up when they saw Hiro coming.
"Hiro!"
"Hey, little dude!"
"We were wondering when you would come down."
"Hey, guys," Hiro said with a smile, making his way toward the group. Honey Lemon winced.
"How's the leg doing?" she asked innocently. Hiro chuckled under his breath.
"So Tadashi informed you about today."
"Sorry, bud...I can't keep secrets to save my life."
"It's true," Gogo said, popping her gum. "I broke a window my first year at SFIT and Tadashi nearly told every professor on campus.
"I had to grow up with the guy, I know what you mean," Hiro laughed. Tadashi's phone buzzed, causing everyone's heads to turn.
"Ah, the Chinese is ready. I gotta go pick it up."
Hiro's head perked up as Tadashi grabbed his blazer and took their aunt's truck keys from their hook.
"Hey, Tadashi, can I come with you?" Hiro asked. "I need to go to the store to grab my pain meds."
"Oh, sure," Tadashi smiled, ruffling Hiro's hair before turning to his friends. "You guys won't burn the place down, right?"
"We'll just see where the night takes us!" Fred grinned, earning a groan from Wasabi and an eye-roll from Gogo.
"I think it'll be fun!" Honey Lemon exclaimed, looking to the group for support. "We'll hold down the fort for you, don't worry."
"Alright," Tadashi laughed, leading Hiro downstairs.
"We'll be back before you know it."
The rain pounded harder and harder as the brothers drove to the Chinese restaurant. Hiro looked out the window sleepily, admiring the lightning cracking in the sky. Thunderstorms had always been his favorite, especially in the evenings.
"Well, by some kind of miracle, we've made it," Tadashi chuckled, pulling into a parking spot and putting the car in park. "Luckily, there's no one out in this weather, so how about I go get the food and you go grab your medicine?"
"Sounds good to me," Hiro shrugged, opening his door and jogging to the store right next to the Chinese restaurant Tadashi walked into.
Hiro shook his shirt a little to get the water off when he made it inside, nodding at the cashier as a greeting. He made his way to the back of the store, finding his aisle and searching for what he needed. As he was looking, his eyes trailed above the aisle's shelf to see a large, muscular man in black. He was on the other side, glancing Hiro's way through his sunglasses. At first, Hiro paid him no mind, but he looked to his left at the aisle across from him to see another man, dressed exactly the same, who was speaking into his watch. Hiro's heart began to beat loudly through his ears, and he quickly grabbed the pain medicine he needed before making his way to the cashier.
On his way there, he spotted two more men, dressed exactly the same.
He placed his medication bottle on the counter, hands shaking as he looked around the store. He could count four men dressed in black scattered around the store, slowly making their way toward him. The photo that was left at the cafe was replaying in his mind and he tapped the counter anxiously with his fingers, looking back at the cashier, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"You got ID? I can't give you this without it."
"Oh...y-yeah, would you mind if I run outside and get my brother?"
"Sure, sweetie. Be careful out there, it's coming down pretty hard.
Hiro nodded in gratitude, still shaking as he walked toward the exit. He looked behind his shoulder. There were six men at this point.
He walked faster.
As he left the store, his brother was rounding the corner from the Chinese restaurant, food in hand. Hiro let out a breath of relief.
"Tadashi, hey-"
Before Hiro could finish, a large, black van came barreling down the street, stopping abruptly next to the brothers. Tadashi lifted his head from the receipt he had been examining, locking eyes with Hiro and noticing the van. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, eyes widening slightly.
The van's doors flew open and three men jumped out from the inside. One of them held a black sack and duct tape. He taped Hiro's mouth shut and then proceeded to throw the sack over Hiro's head.
"Hey, what're you-! Mmph!"
The other two held rope, which they began to tie Hiro up with. One grabbed Hiro's wrists and bound them together tightly, while the other bound his ankles before tying his waist.
Tadashi dropped the sacks of food to the ground, eyes wide as saucers as, in a matter of seconds, his brother was being tied up.
"Hiro!" he cried, racing toward the commotion.
Hiro kicked and thrashed to the best of his ability, but to no avail. He tried yelling until one of the men kicked Hiro's side and then proceeded to slam Hiro's head into the side of the van, causing him to fall unconscious.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" Tadashi roared, running toward the men and fighting them to the best of his ability, but to no avail, as one of them punched him in the jaw and proceeded to kick him on the ground before rushing back to the van. The two other men grabbed Hiro and jumped into the van, slamming the doors shut and speeding away, all while the rain continued pounding. Tadashi scurried up from the ground, rushing into the street.
"NO! STOP! PLEASE!"
He slipped in the middle of the street while chasing the vehicle, looking up as the van sped away. He read the license plate before crying out in defeat.
"HIRO!"