Categories: Angst, hurt/comfort, family and friendship.

Trigger warning for anyone that may have lost someone important to them due to terminal illness.

This is a complete AU set before the events of the movie.

Chapter one: The beginning.

It started in the kitchen.

"Hiro, back up! I mean, seriously this is ridiculous!" The young college student wore a highly annoyed scowl on his face, twisting his torso as he held a bowl of brownie batter out of reach from his pestering little brothers hands. It was Sunday afternoon, and with the café being closed that day it was his job to bake some of the sweet treats for business time tomorrow. An easy task, one that shouldn't take nearly as long as it was. However it seemed like as soon as Tadashi stirred the last of the ingredients together, Hiro was on him like a moth to a flame, trying to stick his grimy little fingers into the bowl and disrupting him from his work.

"Oh come on Tadashi! It's just one taste don't be selfish!" The thirteen-year-old droned, a sugar-crazed gleam in his eye as he lunged for his target. Unfortunately, Tadashi was much taller than himself and easily kept the delicious container of raw chocolate goodness just far enough away. The older Hamada sibling balanced himself on one foot, using the other to keep Hiro at bay as he continued to stir the batter to its proper consistency.

"Hiro you already managed to swipe a taste when my back was turned," Tadashi replied in a dry tone of voice, "these are for tomorrow's customers and besides it raw! You're not supposed to eat raw batter it'll make you sick!"

"But it tastes so goooood."

Tadashi's eyelids drooped into a less than amused expression, "You know its times like this when I ask myself how you managed to graduate high school early," he deadpanned.

The youngest Hamada's eyebrows furrowed just before he stuck his bottom lip out in a pouting manner, all the while simultaneously making his eyes big and glossy, almost tearful.

The look.

Most of the time it would serve its purpose of getting him what he wanted, and Hiro was quite proud that he's gotten to a point where he could easily manipulate his brother with a simple glance and bat of the eye. However, this time Tadashi held his ground, not even faltering at the soul penetrating gaze.

"Not happening bro," he said simply and Hiro frowned at his new found source of will power. "Now can you make yourself useful and hand me a baking sheet, please?"

Hiro groaned over-dramatically, booing at Tadashi before sauntering over to the cupboard that held the cooking supplies. He picked up a small stepping stool-considering the baking sheets were on the top shelf- before climbing up and stretching his arm out to grab it the tool in question.

Tadashi raised an eyebrow as he watched, "having trouble?" He asked with an amused grin.

"N-no I got it." A look of determination was on Hiro's face as the tips of his fingers just barely brushed past the edge of the pan. Even with the stool he wasn't tall enough to reach it, and it was clear the young teen was struggling.

"Here knucklehead I'll get it." Hiro sighed in defeat, accepting his short stature and taking a step down. Tadashi snickered as he walked over, handing his little brother the bowl before ruffling his hair, "You can have one dip got it?" he told him, to which the boy nodded hover-excitedly. The college student snorted, rolling his eyes his brother's enthusiasm. Normally, Hiro was pretty mature for a kid his age, but bring sugar or sweets into the situation and suddenly he was a three-year-old again.

Tadashi kicked the stool aside, more than tall enough to reach the pan in question on his own. He grabbed it easily, pulling the pan from the shelf in one swift motion.

That's when the pain hit.

It was a sharp and impulsive, and Tadashi sucked in a breath of air as his head began to throb with an unforgiving amount of force. The young man let out a low, aching groan, screwing his eyes shut as he staggered backward. Metal clashed against the floor as he let go of what was in his hands, and if it wasn't for the fridge that was directly behind him he would of fell flat on his back.

"Whoa, Tadashi?! What's wrong?!" Hiro asked frantically, the brownie dough completely forgotten as he kneeled down to his fallen brother's level. "Tadashi?"

Even though he was consciously aware that he was right beside him, Hiro's voice felt like it was miles away from the twenty-year-old. It was as if someone dunked his head underwater, and no matter how hard he tried to focus his senses, his body wouldn't let him. "I… I…" he tried, only to gasp as another wave of pain seared through his skull. Tadashi scrunched his eyes even tighter now, biting the inside of his cheek as he tried to suppress a scream. The throbs were relentless, thumping in unison with the beat of his heart. "I'm... I'm fine," he finally muttered out, his words coming out slow and shallow. "It's just… it's just those headaches again, that's all." He held his hands to his temples, massaging them slowly as if trying suppress the agony. The action seemed to help some, and his eyes slowly fluttered open as the throbbing began to subside into subtle pulses. A relieved sigh escaped Tadashi's throat, but he felt his stomach knot a little as his eyes were met with Hiro's apprehensive expression.

He had been experiencing these sudden outbursts of migraines for about two weeks now and would usually brush them off, often popping in a few Advils and going on with his day. They were just headaches after all, and not too uncommon of a thing for someone who had just started college and was working his ass off every day to experience. However, they seemed to be getting worse these past couple of days or so and Hiro as well as Aunt Cass had been urging him to see a doctor about the problem before it got too unbearable.

Too late for that now.

"Tadashi this is getting out of hand," Hiro said, his voice now much more in focus than before, "Maybe you should see a-oh, I dunno what they call those guys that help you with health problems again? Oh yeah, a freaking doctor!"

The older brother snorted before carefully staggering to his feet, using the refrigerator to balance himself. "I'm fine Hiro really," he tried to reassure, "It's just a migraine no big deal. I'll take some-"

"No big deal?" Hiro interrupted, completely exasperated by Tadashi's stubbornness. "Dude, you just had some kind of episode! Stop being stupid and make a doctor's appointment!"

Tadashi raised questioning eyebrow, and the corner of his lips crinkled into a smirk. "Gee, that's pretty sound advise coming from someone who had to be dragged by the ankles in order to get to the dentist for a cavity last month."

Hiro's face flushed slightly, his cheeks turning into a rosy shade of pink. He cleared his throat while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I, uh…"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Tadashi chuckled softly. Deep down he knew going to the doctor would probably be the best thing to do, although the ego that came with being a previous med student often convinced him otherwise. He was pretty confident that there was nothing anyone at a hospital could tell him that he couldn't figure out on his own, and all in all a doctor's appointment would just be a huge waste of time. But, seeing how distraught it made his brother, he decided it was finally time to face the music.

"Alright, fine knucklehead. I'll go, but only to get you to stop worrying about me," he said the last part in a cooing tone of voice, knowing very well Hiro despised when he did that.

The fourteen-year-old rolled his eyes, trying to fight back the heat in his cheeks.

"I'll go check out that clinic a up the block, tell Aunt Cass I'll be back in an hour tops, okay?" Tadashi ruffled his little brother's hair playfully, earning an annoyed grunt from the boy.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, swatting the larger hand away. "Just hurry up alright? The sooner you get back with a clean bill of health, the sooner I can start trying to give you grey hairs again."

Hiro let small smile part his lips as his brother laughed. He would never say it out loud, but he really was concerned for Tadashi. As annoying as it was at times, he was quite the health nut and hardly ever got sick. So to have these random outbursts well… it brought up some concerns.

Tadashi nodded before giving a quick wave goodbye and grabbing his set of keys from the café counter, confidence rolling off him as he walked out the door and mounted his moped. He started it up quick and easy, putting on his helmet before speeding of down the busy streets of San Fransokyo.

Little did Tadashi know that the news that would later be shared behind those hospital doors was going to change the course of his life forever…

So i know this chapter isn't exactly angst, but i thought id give you guys some brotherly fluff before i TKO you in the feels later on.

I'm just nice like that.

Anyway as you know i really value the opinion of my readers, so please be sure to leave a review or constructive criticism down below. =) let me know if you even think i should continue.

~thanks for reading~