When people think of a fourteen year old boy, they think of a poindexter, scrawny adolescent with acne covering every square inch of their face. A boy who gets thrown into lockers and have upperclassmen pushing him around. Or, it could be the complete opposite. But no one would actually think that a fourteen year old would be studying advanced engineering mathematics, and entered into such an elite university of technology.
Well, this young boy is doing just that. Sitting down on a computer chair, with his brain almost fried and his hair tousled into a messy concoction, his head laying on his arm in frustration on a problem. Never has he ever been stuck on a mathematical equation - in fact when Hiro was around just four years old, his older brother was given a theorem that Hiro discovered, and when he accomplished it, it was notably justify that Hiro was a genus. Smarter than his older brother, and proved a theorem no mathematician could do. But these goddamn equations were going to be the death of him. The problem is, the actual course isn't hard, but his teacher expects so much of him because of his intellectual powers he entitles, that his professor gives him insane and onerous work. It wasn't like Hiro could ask Tadashi for help either, he would lose his end of the deal. (When Hiro was around 12 years old, he told Tadashi he would not ever need to ask him for help, with anything. Especially not math or physics. Because he told his older brother that he was "too smart" to ask for help.) If he lost his deal, he would have to pay Tadashi fifty yen. Not a lot, but Hiro was a man of saving money - for robotic purposes, that is. And of course, gummy bears with Japanese soda pop.
The room was warm, and the windows were ajar to allow the winter's wind to come in and prevent their bedroom from becoming into a sauna. "Hirooo~ Do you need he-"
"No! I don't need your dumb self!"
"Ow!" Tadashi whined, dodging the large books away from his body. "- Was that even necessary- hey! Stop throwing your text- OW!"
Once Hiro ran out, he could feel his stomach yearning for comfort. Maybe food would help him. Gosh, throwing those books made him so hungry. "When is dinner? Maybe I just need food." Hiro asked, pushing away from his desk and spinning in his chair.
Tadashi felt his own stomach grumbling from the mention of food. Food. Food. Food. Oh lord, how hungry he was. "I dunno, I'll go check up on Aunt Cass," Tadashi murmured, with his mouth drooling from the mention of the delicious nourishment that will soon enter his system. He placed down his book, exiting the room with his reveries displaying a scrumptious meal.
Hiro's computer let out a beep, grasping his attention. He spun around, averting his gaze as a new message icon popped up. It was honestly the closest thing Hiro could get as a phone. It wasn't the best thing, but hey, it was better than having no communications at all. It wasn't like Hiro didn't want a phone, but whenever his aunt asked if he wanted one, he always said no. Well, now he wants one and his aunt is constantly forgetting every holiday. Oh well.
Hey Hiro, got us a gig. Come join me at 8, it's gonna be lit!
The corners of Hiro's mouth slowly tugged their way up, and his eyes lit up with elation. He met this guy for quite a while now, and it was the greatest friend Hiro could ask for. Being a natural smart ass, this 14 year old doesn't allow much social activities into his life (not on purpose, of course). Unless that social life meant beatings and name-callings and constant bullying. Especially out of pure jealousy. - But hey! Hiro made it just okay - well sort of.. Okay, not really. There was a really dark time in his life, but he slowly dug himself out of it. Hiro doesn't really like to think back to those time periods, however due to his lack of social interactions with people other than himself, his aunt and his older brother, he was beyond awkward and know not what to say. Because of this, Hiro can't exactly indicate social behaviors, as in, if someone is truly being genuine with the words they spit out. Heck, he's proud when he makes one friend, and on his own with that!
Why yes, the child prodigy is quite an enlightened one to simple things. Hiro took his robot, rolling across his floor with papers and clothes laid haphazardly towards his bed. He leaped on top his bed and stuck his hand outside the window feeling the cold wind. It was a nippy January day but not too freezing for a sweater. Besides, the place would be hot- really balmy if anything, like a tropical, sizzling summer day. He'll just take his lucky sweater. Hiro stuffed his Megabot in his pocket, heading out of his bedroom door.
Tadashi was helping his aunt serve them their dinner, as he placed a scoopful of rice on each plate. "Hiro, come help out."
"Oh, well I was going to go and hang out with Fabrice."
Aunt Cass averted her attention to Hiro, stirring her homemade stir fry. "Aw, but dinner is ready. Plus it's really late out-"
"I'll be back soon, no need to worry. He just asked me to help with a science project. When I come back I'll just eat."
"Don't stay out too late or I will kill you," Cass glared, pointing her finger at him sternly. "10 o'clock is your curfew, understand?"
Hiro shrugged, taking a glance at Tadashi. Oh, Tadashi knew where he was going. But they made a promise that they will never bail on each other, so as usual, Hiro casually walked out of the house, already feeling that rough winter wind brushing past him.
He walked the empty road of San Fransokyo in the dark side of the ally. The clouds were covering the sky and the graffiti vandalized the blocks of rotten and decaying buildings that had chipping walls. The pavement wasn't all that promising either, the potholes made Hiro trip more than once. It also didn't help that his stomach was grumbling like a wild man - like someone who is starving and just survived 10 years of imprisonment. It also didn't help that he just passed by the mouthwatering whiff of barbecue sauce and grilled ribs. Oh, that stir fry sounds so good just about now. Perhaps after the bot fight he could grab a quick bite at Nosh-and-Bosh. They have some pretty good fries, oh, and sundaes.
Ugh, now Hiro was really hungry.
"Hey!"
With a noticeable leaped, Hiro jerked his body around seeing Fabrice removing his hands from Hiro's shoulders.
"Sheesh man, don't scare me like that." They both laughed, walking through the alleyway. "H-hey, where's Grace?"
Fabrice chewed on his gum, making Hiro drool at the scrumptious aroma of Juicy Fruit. "I told her it would just be the guys tonight. You know, she told me she likes you."
Hiro was caught off guard. Back up, likes Hiro? He only met her two months ago. How can one say they like someone without actually getting to know them. Hiro thought that only happened in Disney movies. And his life is not going to end up as a cheesy Disney movie. Grace couldn't possibly like him - unless of course it's because of his hideous looks. Hiro can list all the reasons why Grace shouldn't like him. And he couldn't think of one to actually allow himself to think someone likes him.
Hiro blushed, motioning his head side to side. "I don't really like her like that though…"
Fabrice smirked, staring at his flushed friend. "You know…" Fabrice trailed off, taking out his phone and placing his arm around Hiro's shoulder. "You might change your mind once you see her nudes."
Hiro cringed, pushing Fabrice off of him. "Gross dude, she isn't like that!"
Fabrice almost collapsed on the floor in laughter. Struggling to open the door from his ecstasy. "Yo, I was totally just kidding. You should have seen your face - priceless!"
"Ha-ha, hilarious." Hiro rolled his eyes, entering the room, waiting for his turn to sit down onto the pillow. The crowds were yelling and cheering with bottles of liquor in their hands.
Hiro used his same tactic and sat on the pillow, betting on half of his money making his opponent bet even more. The older man had a beard whiter than Santa's, and his breath could be smelled from miles away ~ it was such a repugnant scent of rum. The crowd knew Hiro, and some who didn't, underestimated him like he was a joke. Well, who would have thought a 14 year old kid, who looks like he hasn't even gone through puberty yet, is going to win against a boulder. His little, puny robot wasn't going to win against a truck. Right?
Once the fight started, Hiro purposely lost, betting even more money. This was a daily routine at this point. He loses intentionally just so he can gather more than 20000 yen. Yeah, Hiro is a little rascal in many people's eyes. He placed down more than 50 grand of yen in the tray, eyeing as the old man complacently dumped twice the amount. Only the Lord knew how much this man wished he didn't spend his rent money that night.
With just a flick of a few buttons it was obvious who was winning. Little prodigy boy who usually won everything - finally got to keep his 130,000 yen. Who knew, right? Hiro grabbed the money, walking away from the old man who was on the edge of tears. Pretty much all the bot fights were in dark alleyways of San Fransokyo, you would think a 14 year old would be a little apprehensive around danger. Not this kid, this kid was practically vein to the bone around people. Which made him a little overwhelming to be around. Especially after he won - whether it was easy or not. However, something about tonight made his skin crawl. Was it the flickering light or the sky that laid eerily across the city that was pretty dark tonight? There were no stars nor a moon, and the ominous clouds that threatened to allow small flurries to glide through the frigid air.
It felt like a true horror movie to Hiro. Two teenagers walking through dark alleyways in the depths of hell. Sounds a recipe for a killer to come out of nowhere. Well stay tune! Will they survive? Or will they die?
"Hey," Hiro jerked from Fabrice's surprise speech. "I need your help with something."
"Uh… Sure? What is it?"
Fabrice felt a little skittish to ask but he had to. Otherwise him and his friend would get the dirt. It was wrong yes, and Hiro would most likely get the wrong idea - no it's not even wrong. It's the truth, he was practically using Hiro to get money. "I need you to give me 50 grand."
Hiro was confused and stopped short in his tracks. Fabrice silently cursed himself, stopping as well and facing Hiro's face. "Why?"
Hiro grew defensive and clenched his money tightly in his pockets. The hunger in his stomach was increasing rapidly. The weather was too cold and his thoughts weren't processing correctly. Not only that, but starvation changes a person, and Hiro was growing angrier than he usually would. At least Hiro would make rational decisions and connect A and B together, but right now, all Hiro could think was this kid was using him for only money. That's why he didn't bring Grace. Did he set Hiro up?
"Hiro, it's too complicated. But I promise I'll pay you back. If you don't want to get hurt, then I suggest you giving me the money."
Tadashi Hamada was enjoying his lovely dinner with his favorite aunt in the whole world, (to be honest, Tadashi didn't even know if he had anymore aunts or uncles) Cass, not paying any mind to his phone that was sending out alarms from Hiro's jacket. He took his poker cards, contemplating if he should be betting on his lucky stars. He was biting his tongue and secretly taking sneaky glances at Cass. A full house baby! He was going to get all the money tonight!
"Full house," Tadashi smirked, slamming down the cards. "Two eights, and three jokers."
Cass sucked her teeth, rolling her eyes. "Sorry baby, looks like I got a fuller house. Royal flush."
Tadashi's mouth literally dropped with eyes locked onto Cass's deck of cards. "H-how?"
"I don't know, once DJ and Stephanie grew up, I just knew."
Err...
"Here I thought you were my friend - instead you just wanted to hang out for money! You're just like everyone else!"
Fabrice captivated his gaze on the wet concrete, feeling the guilt of playing Hiro tonight. He should have just asked before, he's sure Hiro would have said yes. This was the wrong time, oh how guilty he felt. "Hiro, I know this seems like I'm playing you but, I didn't mean to ask you like that."
"What did you mean then?" Hiro stuffed his money in his pocket, scowling at his friend. How could Fabrice use him like that? And how did Hiro not catch on?
"Please-"
"Fabrice!" Fabrice cringed, and Hiro was addled at the man's sudden appearance. Was he going to die? Is this the night where he actually says goodbye to his lucky stars? "Where the fuck is the money?"
The money… The money, is this why Fabrice asked? Shit. Why was Hiro being so stubborn? It's because he's hungry. All he wants is food. Maybe a little bit of food will calm down everyone. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah of course.
"I-I-I don't have it, give me one more day, just one. Is all I ask."
The buffed man that looked like Cyborg chuckled. And it wasn't the haha, so nice type of chuckle. It was the chuckle that was alarming, the one that's made Hiro's stomach churn. And not because of hunger. "Who the hell is this kid?"
Fabrice tried to force himself not to tremble with fear, but his hands were already shaking. Hiro sort of just stayed back at a far enough distance. Why was he brought in this petty argument? He might as well give the guy all his money at this point, and if the guy did ask Hiro for money, and Hiro said no, well people might as well consider him suicidal.
"He's just my friend."
The tattooed covered man shook the ground with every step he took when he headed towards Hiro. Before Hiro could nonchalantly say hi, he was lifted up by the man's monstrous hands as if he was a one pound dumbbell. Curse Hiro and his weightless body. "Well you better go and get me your money or I will do a lot of shitty things to this piece of crap."
Ouch, there goes Hiro's self esteem.
Fabrice knew what his friend was in for if he didn't get the money. They would do everything they did to him, possibly worse. Fabrice still had a scar on his forearm from the burn mark they sheared on him with a metal stick. Melting his skin to the bone. But every time was different.
The panic was arising rapidly in Hiro's mind. Why wasn't Tadashi here by now? The only reason he kept calm was because silently knew Tadashi would come riding on his motorcycle to rescue Hiro. So where was he? Is he sleeping? Hiro gulped, wincing as he tried to gasp for air. "H-hey, let's talk a-about this," Hiro tried to speak, only for his words to come out muffled. His wobbly hands drew the money to the guy's face.
The man laughed such a manic laugh, with a leer grin and devilish eyes. It was the same gaze, the same sound this man laughed when Fabrice was in that very position. It was already too late for Hiro, this guy was going to take him to his "lovely" hangout, where he and his demented buddies would do all the wrong to Hiro. And the worse part was, it was all Fabrice's fault. He genuinely liked Hiro as a friend, and Hiro did not deserve this at all. He deserves so much better, and he deserves much more reverence than the respect they're going to give him. Hiro deserves someone who actually cares about him, and not someone who cares only about their own selfish wishes.
"42, he didn't do anything wrong. Just leave him alone," Fabrice declared with a sturdy voice. He had to muster all the courage within him to actually try and defend Hiro.
42 laughed once more, turning his head like a mental patient. "You should really just shut the fuck up before I get really pissed off." 42 gritted his teeth, growling like a rabid dog. He pulled his attention back to Hiro, who was struggling to be let loose. His airways were closing and the oxygen was slowly running out.
Tadashi where are you?
Hiro looked around, swinging his leg to kick 42 in the groin before he slammed Hiro on the floor. Hiro grimaced, feeling his ribs throbbing - they were most probably fractured at this point. But Hiro was a smart kid, and he knew when to let pain stop him.
The three boys were all gathered around, circling Hiro in a tight space. The 8 year old was confused as to why they were angry at him.
"So you think you are better than us now, do you?" Matthew spat out, getting his spit all over Hiro's face. Hiro kept his little notebook filled with his drawings along with his plush monster snake he had when he was young. It was the only thing his parents gave to him. And even though he never met them, it still held a special place in his heart. "Aw, what is this? Your little chew toy? Are you still in teething?" The kid yanked the doll out of Hiro's hand, smashing down his notebook onto the floor. "Such a cute little thing, don'tcha think?"
"Hey, give that back!" Hiro tried to jump, reaching as far as his little hands could go.
Matthew laughed, pushing the small boy onto the muddy ground, smashing Hiro's face in the dirt before kicking his leg. Hiro grunted, pushing himself off from the ground seeing Matthew tearing off it's head, tossing it around onto the floor. His little goons all laughed before stepping on the snake. "Just stop coming to this school and all of this could be avoided-"
"Hey! Get away from my little brother!"
"Crap, let's go!"
Tadashi quickly ran over to his younger brother, wiping off the dirt that was spread around all over his baby brother's face. There was a small scrape on his chin, and a wound on his knee and elbow. Tadashi just prayed that he never saw those boys again, otherwise he might wind up in jail.
"I'm okay, really. But snakie isn't," Hiro whined, picking up the two pieces that was drenched in mud. "I'm sure you can fix him though, right?" Hiro said, smiling as his gap tooth shined through Tadashi.
Hiro struggled to lift himself up before he felt the hood of his jacket being pulled. He tried to twist and turned, thrashing like a fish out of water attempting to remove the sweater off of him. Fabrice tried to help Hiro run before he was pushed into the wall.
Hiro tried to block, but his reflexes were sluggish. All those practices with Tadashi never paid off, and Hiro felt his nose bleeding, with blood dripping down onto his shirt. 42 wrenched Hiro's hair, seeing his face filled with agony. It made 42 laugh before he knocked Hiro out of consciousness.
Tadashi finished cleaning the dishes before positioning them in the dish rack. "Ah, another day's work." Tadashi said with a sigh, wiping his forehead.
He stared back at Hiro's plate that was covered with food, what time was it? Shouldn't Hiro have came back by now? Was he and his aunt really all that invested in their poker game? Tadashi peered over to see the clock that was hung on the wall, "11:15?"
The kid was way past out his curfew, surely his bot fight didn't last all that long. And if he was in jail Tadashi would have already been notified. Right? Tadashi quickly looked outside, trying to see if Hiro was even nearby their house. Not a single body was seen, or a single car. The snow was falling already and Tadashi knew it would be a pain in the ass to drive through. Usually it doesn't snow down here in Califronia, but ever since 2026, the weather here was dropping. Tadashi reached for his phone, feeling his heart dropped once he noticed all the notifications his alarm sent out. He quickly listened to the recording, hearing every single word. His heart was gunning and his mind was racing. He nearly tripped over his own footing before he leaped down the stairs to the front door. He had to make sure Hiro was alright.
How did he not hear the alarm? Why did he play such a stupid game of poker? Tadashi raced on his scooter to the site, squinting his eyes when he was a blurry figure laying on the floor. Tadashi stopped short, leaping off his motorcycle before running to the mysterious object. But there was no person, there was no living being even near by.
"Hiro's jacket? And his robot?"
There! I hope you liked it and yah. The story is going to be different, but I'm sure no one really minds. Please remember, I love reviews more than anything in the world, and I hope you give my story a big fav! I'm very passionate about this story and people leaving me reviews gives me more confidence in my writing. C:
