He was everything that I needed. I'd known that all my life because, well, I had known him all my life. He was the type of person to drop everything he was doing & help you with anything you needed in a heartbeat, no matter what it was. He was smart, talented.. of course, people said the same things about me. But him.. he was different. I couldn't even compare. At least, that's what I thought.

"Hiro, breakfast is ready!" Aunt Cass called for me from downstairs. I groaned, greeting the day to a headache due to me staying up all night working on various projects. I needed a new bot to fight with nowadays; the guys down at the alley were starting to catch on to my old tricks. I had to come with something better, faster, stronger.. something more-

"Hirooooo! It's getting cold! & nobody likes cold eggs, trust me.."

I got up, jumping to my feet & opening the blinds. I squinted as the light reflected off my face.

"Tadashi, you awake?" I lightly tapped on his door. Well, it wasn't really much of a door so much as it was a screen. We technically shared a room: one half was mine, the other his. The brown bamboo screen slowly slid open, revealing my older brother; tired eyes, bed head, & shirtless. Mochi, our pet cat, creeped its way out between the crack.

"There you are," I picked her up gently, & she purred at me. Glancing up at my brother, I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I wrote it off as me just waking up. He looked at me, eyes still drooping.

"Aunt Cass says its breakfast time." I consciously tried to keep eye contact. Tadashi rubbed his head, blinking once.

Footsteps could be heard, & Mochi lightly jumped out of my arms to rub up against my aunt's leg. She put her hands on her hips, shifting her weight from one foot to the next.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" her green eyes went from me, to Tadashi, & then did a double take at Tadashi. She picked up a shirt that was lying on the floor & threw it at him. Raising an eyebrow, he held it out in front of him, tilting his head.

"This.. is Hiro's.."

Spazzing as usual, Aunt Cass frantically waved her hands around, heading back down for the steps. "Whatever, whatever! Just put something on!"

I chuckled, grabbing him a sweatshirt from his closet & following Aunt Cass. She really did try the best to raise us, & we'll always be grateful for that. When both our parents died, she was the only one we had. The only one I ever really knew. I was too young to know our mom & dad, but my brother always told me stories about them. It hurt, knowing I could never know them, never hold them, touch them.. But this is the family that I had now, & I'd say we're doing pretty okay. I'm not in any way ungrateful. You could even say that I was blessed.

We all met up in the second level of our 3 story house, where Cass had set up the table with plates & glasses of orange juice. On the plates were my faves: bacon, pancakes, & eggs.. which were probably cold now that I thought about it.

Tadashi pulled himself a chair next to mine, & I smiled brightly at him.

"Eggs?" I asked, holding my plate up to his now more-awake face.

"Ha-ha. Nice try. I already know they're cold."

I frowned. "How could you tell..?"

"There's no steam coming off of them, dum-dum." Getting up, he took both my plate & his, & set them one at a time in the microwave. He shot Aunt Cass a look. Aunt Cass held her hands up at eye level.

"Hey, it's not my fault. I called you both several times. Want hot food? Wake up next time."

"Got it."

With all the food reheated, we all sat down again & began to eat.

"So boys, what's the plan for today?"

"Studying. I'll probably head over to the school to do a few more adjustments to my project."

I stopped chewing. "On a Saturday?"

"Hiro's right. Why not relax for a change? Take a day off. You're always go go go-" she pumped her fist into the air- "without stopping. The project will still be there when you go back on Monday."

"I know it's just- I'm so close to finishing & I know if I take a break now it'll just mess up my thought process.." Tadashi swirled the pancake syrup around his plate with a fork. "I gotta focus."

"I'm proud of you honey, you know that. I just don't want you to overwork yourself."

"& just what is it that you're working on anyway day in & day out? You have near-perfect marks- whatever it is, I'm almost certain that it doesn't need that much attention."

He stood up now, clearing the table & putting the dishes away in the sink. "I'm not doing this for the grades, Hiro. What I'm working on is gonna help a lot of people & change a lot of lives."

I raised my eyebrows with uncertainty. "Riiiiight. What is it, some kind of world peace machine? Can it cure cancer?"

"Hiro!" Aunt Cass swatted at my hand. Tadashi leaned against the counter.

"Close."

Close? How could I be close? Now I was interested.

"Take me. I wanna see it."

Both Aunt Cass & Tadashi stared at me wide-eyed in disbelief.

"You? School? What?"

Come on, Cass, use your big girl words.

Stroking his chin, he walked over to stand behind the chair that I was sitting in, leaning over me. "Why now, all of a sudden? You've never taken an interest in my school before, & everytime that I would try to get you to come, you refused. Every. Single. Time. So why now?"

He got me there. "I just.. if this thing is taking up all of your time, & you're serious about it, then I want to see it." I turned to look at him now. "Because it's important to you, right?"

He nodded, smiling, & rubbed my head. "Great, let's go!" He grabbed his jacket & his moped helmet.

"Now?" I asked, thinking that his reaction was a little too quick.

"Yeah, now. Why not? Got nothin better to do, right? Oh wait, I forgot about your little career in bot fighting." He smirked. I frowned.

Aunt Cass started to lift a disapproving finger but I stopped her with my pleas.

"In my defense, Aunt Cass, I cut back a lot on going recently. & besides," I glared at my brother now, "that only takes place at night."

"Alright then! All the more reason to come with me now." He grabbed my hand but I jerked it back.

"What's the rush? I mean, at least let me take a shower first." I rolled my eyes & headed back for the stairs. He started bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly, following me.

Suuuuper slow paced, but this is more of an introduction. Feedback is greatly appreciated. I know my chapters are short :[