Chapter 1 – The Birth

When Takahiro Tochi was born, nobody would have ever guessed he was to become one of Dakota's most notorious (or just annoying) metahuman menaces, and henchman of Ebon in the Metabreed. No, he was born as a perfectly healthy, happy baby; the pride and joy of Mr Tadashi Tochi and Mrs Hinata Ryugazuki, first generation immigrants into America who had settled and built their lives in Dakota. He had always been a restless child, crying night and day, though any colourful or interesting object easily pacified him, keeping his interest for at least a short amount of time.

His parents only started noticing problems with their child as his mental development seemed completely delayed. He learnt to walk at 1½ years old and only started speaking at 4. Still, he was a happy kid who saw no problem in his lack of ability to talk or walk. No, he thought he was a perfectly normal kid. Still, he was prone to tantrums every now and again, but mostly he was happy. He grew up smiling, and his relatives often called him a happy little bundle of joy.

He enrolled in school a year late, having difficulties in learning how to read and write, and then was held back another grade. His father changed his working hours so he could accommodate teaching his son and tutoring him in anything he needed, and then eventually quit his job to become a full time Dad. Still, young Takahiro found writing and reading so frustrating he often threw tantrums in class and left to hide in the bathrooms. He had to be forced to sit down and concentrate, when all he could think about was being outside and running around.

It was a nice summer afternoon, and Hiro was having fun running around with his friends. Sure, he was 12 while they were 9 and 10, but it didn't matter to him. School wasn't something he excelled at, nor was it something he liked. He hated that he was going to have to go to high school after that year. His friends had warned him that it was increasingly hard, and that he wouldn't have a teaching aid to help write things out for him; he was going to have to do it himself. Hiro tried not to dwell too long on it, after all it was all in the future and he would rather think of the present.

"Takahiro," called his dad, "Takahiro, come on, it's time to go home."

Takahiro groaned, frowning as he rushed over, stumbling a bit, to his dad. "Dad," he said, "It's Hiro. My friends all call me Hiro. I like that name."

"Of course you do," Tadashi said, smiling, "Come on, Hiro. I'll help you write your name, okay?"

"Okay," he said, taking his dad's hand and swinging it between them.

"Can you spell it for me?"

"T-a-k-a-h-e-r-o," he replied confidently.

"It's T-a-k-a-h-i-r-o, Hiro," he said, "There's no 'E' in your name."

"That's lame," he pouted, "I've been writing it as 'Hero'."

That evening, they spent over an hour working on Hiro's writing, but he could barely pay attention and after 10 minutes had stopped listening to his dad.

"Can I just go play?" he asked.

"Alright," he said, "Take care, okay?"

"Mm," he nodded, grinning before rushing up to his room to play some video game his dad had bought him some time ago. His room was a small affair, but at least it was his. His dad did all the housework while his mum got all the money, and he always made Hiro's room super neat, even if he didn't want it to be neat. Still, it was nice to have a clean room.

After a while, there was a knock on the door and the quiet creak of it opening. "Come on, Hiro," his dad said, "It's time for dinner. I made your favourite."

"Okay dad," he replied, tapping away at his controller, "Just a moment."

"It'll get cold."

"Just 5 more minutes, it's fine."

"It's burgers."

"Dad, just 5 more minutes."

Tadashi frowned and strode into the room, turning off the television monitor, to which his son shouted in objection. "You're coming to dinner, Hiro," he stated firmly, "Now."

Hiro huffed and tossed his controller down in a huff, getting up and storming down the stairs. His father sat in front of him at the dining table, eating the homemade burgers that usually made Hiro extremely excited. Still, Hiro didn't seem to be in the mood for that. He kept getting distracted; holding the burger halfway towards his mouth, jaw hanging open while he stared into the wall as if it were a action thriller movie. Half way through his burger, Hiro stopped eating and refused to finish.

"Come on," Tadashi encouraged, "It's your favourite."

"Not hungry," he muttered, "I don't wanna."

"You know Mum would be really upset if you didn't finish it."

"I don't care." Without another word, Hiro stormed back upstairs and slammed the door. Tadashi sighed. His son had always been difficult, but recently it had gotten worse, as if the impending preteenhood was aggravating his hyperkinetic disorder. Usually, his son would be off the walls at having burgers for dinner. He even asked to wait 5 minutes before going down to dinner, which was unlike the Hiro that Tadashi knew. His son would've dropped the controller at whatever point of the game he was at and run downstairs to eat without a second word.

"I'm worried," Tadashi told his wife that evening, "He's been getting so distracted, and I'm scared he's not ready for high school."

"He is," Hinata assured, "He is ready. You can't keep sheltering him, Tadashi. He's growing up, and we'll figure it out."

"He told me to wait when I told him it was his favourite for dinner."

"What?"

"I don't know what's wrong," Tadashi said, raising his hand to his face and shaking his head, "The doctors said he'd get better as he grew up, but he's not. He's getting worse."

"We'll take him to the therapist tomorrow, okay? Maybe it's the medication."

"He's been taking the medication fine, Hina. I don't know what's wrong."

"Don't worry," she said with a smile, "Let's go to sleep."

The next morning, Hiro felt lethargic and strangely unhappy. He didn't feel like getting out of bed, and he felt like maybe the world around him was collapsing, and the safest place was there under his blanket. His dad burst into the room, gently nudging him to wake up, to which he shook his head.

"Do you have a fever?" he asked, placing the back of his hand to Hiro's forehead, "Your temperature's fine. You don't seem to be sick. Come on, Hiro, it's time for school."

"I don't wanna go," he grumbled.

"Get up and get dressed," Tadashi said, "Come on, it'll be a fun day."

"No it won't."

"You'll see your friends, and you can play with them."

"No."

Tadashi sighed and nudged the boy, "Come on, I made you breakfast."

"Not hungry."

"Come on, you barely ate your burger last night."

"Dad, I don't want to go to school," he said, "I don't want to, I don't want to!" Then, the boy burst out into tears, and his dad picked up the small boy and held him in his arms, gently rubbing his back as Hiro cried against his shoulder.

"Okay," Tadashi said, "No school. Come on, let's go down for breakfast." Hiro continued to cry, mumbling incoherent words as Tadashi carried him down the stairs and to the living room. He tried to put his son down, but he refused, clinging onto his dad as if he were the only life source he had. At least he wasn't a heavy child, Tadashi thought to himself. Hiro had always been a scrawny little kid. He ran around too much, and had an incredibly high metabolism from his disorder. He usually ate tons, and was never not hungry, but this was an anomaly Tadashi did not understand at all.

Eventually, Hiro's crying subsided to a few sobs, and he let go, plopping himself down on the couch. He pulled his feet up and crossed his legs, still looking frustrated and upset.

"What's wrong?" Tadashi asked.

"Everything," he replied.

"I'll get your toast," he said, walking to the dining table to fetch the plate, along with a glass of water and a little blue, translucent box with pills in them. Hiro nibbled mindlessly on the toast, then gave up a quarter of the way in. He put it down, then shuffled so he was looking away from his dad.

"Time for your medication," Tadashi said, sitting down next to Hiro, holding the glass in one hand. In the outstretched palm of his other hand was the white little pill that helped to quell some of Hiro's energy.

"No," Hiro said.

"Hiro, what's wrong with you today? You usually always—"

"No, dad, no," he exclaimed, "I don't want to take my medication!"

Tadashi huffed, "I don't want to have to do this."

"Do what, Dad? I don't care, I don't care anymore!" Hiro pulled his knees up to his chest and clutched at his spiky black hair, pulling them down as he tried to cover his ears. He shook his head, refusing to comply to his dad.

Tadashi sighed, putting the glass of water down and grabbing his son by his cheeks. While his son tried to move away, he managed to open the boy's mouth enough to put the pill in, then quickly moved to get him to drink water and take the pill. He felt guilty, of course, but his son had to take his medication. That was it, he decided, he was going to bring his son to the doctor and get him checked out.

Hiro refused, of course. He shouted, screamed, begged for Tadashi to stop. He cried and refused to walk or get into the car. Tadashi took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He had to keep calm. He couldn't lose his temper.

When they arrived, Tadashi had to drag his son kicking and screaming into the waiting room of the doctor's. The other patrons looked at him, and he just smiled, saying it was fine.

"Let go of me!" Hiro shouted, "I hate being carried, let me go!"

"Only if you promise to be a good boy," Tadashi said, trying to maintain his grip on his wiggling son as he told the nurse about his problem.

"No!" he shouted, "No, no, no! I wanna go home, I hate this, why do I always have to go to the doctor!"

"It's for your own good," he said sternly, "You know that."

"No, I'm fine, Dad, I'm fine!" Hiro cried, "I'm fine, I'm fine! I'm healthy, why do I have to go to the doctor?"

"This way, Mr Tochi," the nurse said, and Tadashi sighed in relief that he didn't need to sit in the waiting room for the the doctor specialising with Hiro's case. Hiro continued to scream, causing weird looks from others all through the hall until they reached the room. When they entered, the nurse closed the door behind them and locked it. A desk sat the doctor, pulling out a file as they entered.

"Ah, nice to see you again, Mr Tochi," the Doctor greeted, "And you too, Takahiro. What seems to be the problem?"

"My son," Tadashi said, finally letting go of his son. Hiro plopped onto the ground and just stopped struggling, instead lying down on the ground on his back, refusing to move. "He seems to be having a problem."

"Well," he said, "Come on, Hiro, take a seat." He motioned to the chair in front of his desk, but Hiro shook his head and continued lying there. "Are you sure he's not just throwing a tantrum."

"If this is a tantrum, Dr Spalding, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He bent over to pick up his son, who started struggling again, before putting him down on the chair. "He's been, I don't know, depressed since this morning, and acting incredibly strange. He didn't want to eat, and you know him. He loves food."

"I see," Dr Spalding said, turning to look at the grumpy boy sat in front of him. He smiled, "Come on, Hiro. I'll ask you a few questions, okay?"

The session seemed to drag on for eternity. Hiro didn't want to answer questions, so after the first four he started repeating "No, no, no, no!" over and over again until his dad calmed him down sufficiently for them to continue the questions.

"Well," Dr Spalding said, arranging the papers in his file, "From the symptoms, I think your son may have developed bipolar disorder."

"What?" Tadashi questioned, a look of shock rising to his face.

"This may be one of his depressive episodes, Mr Tochi. You see, when you have a bipolar disorder, it means you can have manic or depressive episodes, and Hiro seems to be experiencing his first depressive episode."

"Are you sure this has nothing to do with his hyperkinetic disorder?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes, I'm sure."

"What do I do?"

"We're going to adjust his medication," he replied, "He will need mood stabilisers, and I think you will need to increase the number of visits he has with his psychotherapist. He meets with her once a week, yes?"

"Yes, every Friday afternoon."

"I suggest that you bring him to sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays from now on."

Tadashi sighed, looking down to his feet, "We can't afford that. It's trouble enough for my wife to provide for the family, his medication, and the weekly therapy sessions."

"May I suggest another place?"

"Please."

"Have you tried the Freeman Community Centre? There's a wonderful social worker there," Dr Spalding said, smiling, "His name is Mr Robert Hawkins, and he does wonders with troubled children."

"My son is not troubled," Tadashi stated firmly, "My son's just a bit sick, is all."

"Am I sick, Dad?" Hiro asked, looking up at his dad with eyes full of wonder.

"Yes, you are Hiro," he replied, "And you have to take your medication so you get better, okay?"

Hiro smiled and nodded, as if he was finally reverting back to his original self. "Okay, Dad."

"Lisa," Dr Spalding said, to which the nurse looked to him for instructions, "Please take Hiro outside to the playroom and keep and eye on him. I'm going to talk to his father."

Lisa nodded and took Hiro by the hand, leading him out of the office. He was smiling again, and was gaining a small hop in his step as he arrived in the playroom.

"Lisa?" he asked, and the nurse nodded, "Can I play with everything here?"

"Yes, but be careful," she said in a gentle tone, "You don't want to hurt yourself."

"Of course!" he exclaimed, beginning to play with whatever he could get a hold of. No, he didn't understand his dad, but at least school was going to be over in the next week, and then he could have a nice summer vacation with his parents.

Note: Shiv is and probably always will be my favourite character and I felt like doing this so why not, right? Basically I'm kinda inspired by Taken Lightly, which was a great fanfic I read years ago, as well as 100 Days, which was sadly deleted from the face of the internet (seriously if anyone has it please send it to me because that would be like the world's greatest godsend), and yeah, I just kinda felt like it. Yes, it's Tochi as in Brian Tochi. And then other names that hint to other stuff yeah. Cool stuff.