Tadashi Hamada was 11 years old when the first Kaiju landed in San Francisco.

Hiro Hamada, his 5-year-old brother pulled him along down the bustling and lively Main Street. It was around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and the streets were as busy as ever. People were rushing though stalls and shops, heading to their destination. Street vendors advertised their goods; the smell of food from restaurants and carts filled the air. It was a wonderful, sunny afternoon. Looking out at the bay, he could see the ferries transporting passengers and small private boats. It was really was perfect.

Their parents were in an important meeting and allowed Tadashi to take Hiro to their favorite candy store up in the hills. They trusted him enough to look after his brother and keep him out of trouble. Hiro had a tendency to be a little...overzealous. Tadashi was always up to the task to handle him however.

"Nii-san! Hurry up!" His little brother's excitement was almost contagious. He continued to pull on Tadashi's cardigan.

"Calm down Hiro, we'll get there when we get there!" Tadashi pulled his brother back as they approached the curb.

"You have to look both ways!" Tadashi frowned at him, "you're going to get yourself run over."

"M' not..." Hiro murmured.

Tadashi kept a hold on his brother until the crosswalk blinked green. He then let Hiro lead him to the small candy corner shop called "The Jar". The shop was colored a bright pink, perfect for its goods.

"Hello Hiro, Tadashi!" The shopkeeper, Rosa smiled brightly. "Did your parents send you?"

"Yes ma'am." Tadashi said curtly.

"Tadashi! Nii-san! Look at this!" Hiro tried to hold up a huge gummy bear, but it was obvious that he was struggling. The thing was huge.

"Hiro..." He sighed as he helped him, and put it back on the shelf. "We don't have enough money for that. Here"

Tadashi laid out the bills that were given to him. "How much did mom and dad give us?"

"4 dollars!" Hiro said, rather enthusiastically.

"And how much is the..." Tadashi squinted his eyes to read the label, "3 pound gummy bear?"

"10 dollars." The youngest Hamada frowned as he realized what his brother was trying to tell him.

"You're smart enough to know that we can't afford that." Tadashi gave the 5 year old an empathetic look, "Just get what you usually get, and remember that I get to buy something for myself too!" He called after him as Hiro ran across the store to fetch his favorite candy. His brother certainly was something.

"You always get those weird Japanese things!" Hiro yelled from across the store. "They're so small! I rather have something big, and that tastes good!" He pulled out a bag of gummy bears from the shelf. "Like...gummy bears!" He have him a toothed grin.

The 11 year-old sighed as he picked out the peach candies from the small foreign section of the store.

"I've explained to you before, otouto, these were my favorites when I was your age."

"I still think gummy bears are the best candy in the world!"

"I know."

Tadashi followed his brother as he jumped and slid the bag of candy onto the counter. He put his small candies next to his.

"That will be 4 dollars even." Tadashi handed the bills to the shopkeeper. "Always a pleasure boys."

"Thank you Miss Rosa." Tadashi made a curt bow, as his brother ran outside.

As he turned to the door to fetch his brother, a violent boom shook the entire store.

Tadashi's felt his breath hitch.

"Oh my gosh, Tadashi are you alright?" Rosa ran over, "was that an earthquake? Where did your brother go?"

His brain was screaming at him to move, but he was frozen in place. It took him longer then it should to realize that his brother wasn't at his side.

Another explosion sound could be heard in the distance.

"HIRO!" He ran outside, not noticing that everyone was staring at the coast, until he found his brother, shaking in fear as he watched something emerge from the bay's depths. Another boom accompanied the parting waves to reveal a horrifying sight:

A monster.

Its thick claws grabbed the Golden Gate Bridge and toppled it into the watery depths below in a matter of seconds.

Tadashi was hyperventilating.

He knew about Kaiju, monsters, destroying cities and continents from his childhood, in the movies he watched.

This can't be real. This must be a dream. You're dreaming Tadashi. Wake up!

"N-nii- san..." Hiro whimpered, pressing close to Tadashi's side.

"Hiro…we have to find mom and dad." Tadashi struggled to find his words as he pulled his brother towards the direction they came from, just as the monster made landing onto the city.

Screams of panic were the only thing Tadashi heard as he started running away. The monster tore through the streets, as it's presence grew larger and larger. He knew he had to think his way out, and fast.

"Hiro! This way!" He pulled Hiro into an alley. Tadashi knew that running into the hills would do no good. He kept running until they were a safe distance away from the line of destruction the monster was creating. Hiro started to cry.

"Mommy! Daddy!" He wailed.

"Shhh...otouto..." Tadashi could hear voice shaking, "look at me."

Hiro looked up at him.

"We're going to be OK, the coast guard will come in and take care of this thing." he knew that he was only telling him that, but the thought was comforting. Tadashi could tell that he was shaking, his breath running short.

A loud explosion could be heard in the distance. More screams...billowing smoke...

Smoke rising from the direction their parents were.

Silence was what fell over the city as the sun slid across the black-stained sky. Tadashi was never ready for this kind of disaster. He panted as they rounded a corner, discovering the only area that wasn't completely destroyed by the monster's rampage. The streets were abandoned, silent, lacking the liveliness that accompanied the city only hours ago.

Hiro continued to wail as Tadashi slid to the ground. "Mommy! Daddy!"

Tadashi grabbed his crying brother and held him close, covering his mouth. "Shh!"

He couldn't understand how his brother could still be yelling like that, especially since Tadashi's lungs felt like they were on fire. He needed help. They /both/ needed help.

"Hiro..." He lifted his hand from the boy's mouth.

The 5 year-old hiccupped as he tried to stop crying. Burying his face into Tadashi's chest, he could tell that his little brother wasn't listening to him. He began to panic.

"Hiro...mom and dad...t-they aren't alive. We have to get help..." He started to ramble, "we need to find the coast guard...but they aren't here. Oh god..." He began to shake like a leaf, "Hiro I don't want to die...!"

The ground shook.

"Oh god..." Tadashi's breath hitched as he whispered. Hiro's grip tightened as his body became rigid.

That thing was searching for them. Tadashi could feel it.

"Nii-san..." Hiro whimpered.

THUMP

Tadashi struggled to breathe, his throat closing up on him, telling him to be quiet.

THUMP

He could make out the legs of the creature out of the corner of his eye. Tadashi pressed into the brick wall as his mind screamed in fear. He could hear the monster looking around, trying to find what he most likely thought, the last survivors in the city. He didn't dare look up, even when he heard something approaching from the distance.

The streets exploded with noise as the monster roared, knocked back from the incoming wave of missiles and bullets. The jet fighters were out as fast as they were in, circling the giant before diving in for another blow.

Tadashi looked up as the wind picked up from where he and his brother were hiding.

"Are you hurt?" A figure wearing all white jumped down from the helicopter and pulled the two of them to safety inside the helicopter.

Tadashi Hamada was only 11 years old when his home and his life was destroyed, and he knew from this day forward he would never be the same.

AN:

Hello everyone! This is the beginning of a BH6/Pacific Rim AU. I was set out to write this so people who haven't seen Pacific Rim would be able to understand it, so it might not follow some cannons of the pacific rim universe. I only plan on keeping in a few characters from Pacific rim, the rest will be unnamed or other characters from BH6. Until that happens, it will remain in the main BH6 section.

Anyway with that said and done, I can move on to some other notes:

-FF is not going to be the first place this fic updates. It will update on Ao3 first.

-I'm aiming to get one chapter written per week. (maybe more)

-My profile is still being set up, so check back if you want to know where to contact me, or follow my tumblr/twitter/etc.

-I haven't written a fic in about 5 years, so please go easy on me. if there's any mistakes, or if you have any suggestions, don't be afraid to tell me!

As a final note, I'll be including a short list of headcannons/info in the A/N from this point forward. you won't be getting a list like this anymore. I promise.