Full Summary:
It was only supposed to be a temporary thing. A few fights here and there and the electric company wouldn't have to turn off the lights. And maybe he could get new shoes. That's what Hiro Hamada told himself when he started bot-fighting alongside a notorious trouble maker from his high school, but when the young prodigy finds himself in the middle of an offer he literarily can't refuse, it's up to him to try and pull himself out of it. All while keeping his family in the dark.
So I posted this headcanon a while ago on tumblr (bigherosixheadcanons - post/102383003220/) and I saw that a lot of people were liking it and saying nice things and I was like OMG WHAT IS THIS WHAT DO I DO. So here we go.
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Hiro was abruptly torn from sleep when a droplet of water splashed on his forehead for the umpteenth time. Wetness traveled down his face, creating a somewhat steady stream of water that was beginning to pool underneath his face. If he didn't know any better, he would've mistaken it for a puddle of drool. He forced his long eyelashes to part, allowing the darkness of his bedroom to seep into his eyes. He sluggishly looked around the room, half expecting to see the figure of his older brother standing next to him, dripping water on his forehead. It took another drop to encourage Hiro to look up, setting muggy eyes on the source of the problem, and other raindrop. The torrent hitting the windowpane confirmed Hiro's problem: the roof was leaking. Again.
If the situation were any different, Hiro would've loved nothing more than to curl back into his nest of sheets and blankets, allowing the pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting his window lull him back to sleep. The fates, however, weren't in the younger Hamada's favor that early morning. Small, steady droplets of water continued their journey from the ceiling, successfully landing on face. As they continued to gather and bead on his forehead, Hiro's patience grew thinner and the idea of sleep seemed to get farther and farther away. He tried covering his face with his blanket in an effort to dry his head, but every exhale made his cotton cave a little more unbearable to settle back into sleep.
He kicked off his covers, relieved as the cold air in their attic bedroom suddenly overtook him. For a brief moment, he was suddenly thankful that Aunt Cass wasn't up for cranking up the heat that month. He didn't want to imagine his reaction when his slightly-overheated body met a warmer environment. He lay there for a few moments, twitching his nose every time a drop collided with his face.
He craned his head, barely registering the faint glow that radiated from the paper divider that gave the brothers somewhat of their own room. The alarm clock on his nightstand wasn't going to ring for another two hours, why would Tadashi be up this early in the morning? Hiro's brain tried to rack up multiple reasons to answer why his older brother would be up at such a god-awful hour as he kicked his sheets to the foot of his bed. Maybe Tadashi would provide a good enough answer.
"Tadashi," The preteen mumbled, wiping off the remnants of his rude awakening as he trekked across their attic bedroom. "Tada-nii, why are you up?" He raised a hand, prepared to slide aside the divider. Before he could make contact with the wood, the it slid for him, revealing a disheveled Tadashi. Hiro had to bite his tongue to prevent him from laughing at the state his older brother was in. He was still wearing the clothes that he had worn the day before, except he had opted to replace his sneakers with a pair of neon orange skiing socks. His usually kept hair had resembled the look of a birds nest, as if he had ran his callused hands through it too many times. Dark puddles of sleep deprivation were forming underneath his eyes, and he was beginning to rock a 4:19 am stubble.
Hiro managed to collect himself together as his older brother yawned, palming his eyes in an attempt to rub the exhaustion out of him.
"You're up early," Hiro quipped, trying to lighten the mood. Tadashi just shot his younger brother a look.
He grumbled, "Is it still considered 'early' if you never went to sleep?"
The preteen gawked at his older brother as he continued to wake himself up. "How are you even functioning?" Tadashi shrugged his shoulders back, letting out an exhausted groan.
"Apparently, my grades mean more to my professors than the amount of sleep I get."
Hiro hummed disapprovingly. Tadashi had promised his younger brother that he would go to sleep as soon as he finished his research paper for his History of Robotics class, but judging from the calamity of his desk, he had most likely finished that paper hours ago. He had overheard his older brother gripe to their aunt about the academic rigor that his first year at SFIT was putting him through. How high school classes were a walk in the park compared to college courses, how much was expected out of him, and that he wished he could still go to bed at a reasonable hour. Aunt Cass had just poured him another cup of tea, telling him that freshman year was always the hardest, and reassured him that he would eventually find a schedule that worked for him.
That was in the beginning of September. It was now reaching mid-October, and Tadashi could count times he went to bed before midnight on his fingers. SFIT was draining him, he was being challenged in ways he had no idea was possible, but he was loving every minute of it. Minus the irregular sleep schedule.
Tadashi let out a breath he had no idea he was holding, and looked down at his little brother, trying to manage a reassuring smile.
"I'll be okay. Why are you up though? You finished everything yesterday."
Hiro just pointed to his ceiling, where the droplets were starting to drop on his bed at an alarming rate.
"The roof's leaking again."
Tadashi let out a soft curse as he strode over to Hiro's side of the room, stepping onto his bed. "Turn the light on, will you? I can't see anything."
Hiro reluctantly obeyed. He flicked the switch on, illuminating the room in a harsh, fluorescent light; too harsh for four in the morning. Both brothers let out a low hiss, but slowly let their pupils adjust to the sudden change in light. Tadashi inspected the ceiling further, letting out a low groan at the dark ring that was starting to form above Hiro's bed.
"I don't get it," he griped, "I just fixed the roof last week!"
"Maybe some shingles got loose," Hiro interjected with a yawn. "The weatherman said it was going to storm hard tonight."
The eldest brother let out a huff through his nostrils. "I highly doubt it." He ran a hand through his already tangled locks. "In the meantime," he hopped off the bed. "We'll just have to make do with what we can."
Hiro watched his brother as he slid his socks off, slightly cringing as his warm feet made contact with the cold hardwood. He gripped Hiro's bed, successfully pulling it away from the window, and from the faulty hole in the ceiling. He put a clean trashcan underneath the drips, smiling proudly to himself as the water was captured in the bucket, resonating with an annoying plink.
"I'll talk with Aunt Cass in the morning about this," Tadashi said as Hiro tucked himself back into bed. He switched the light off, then stumbled back to his unusually messy workspace. Hiro propped himself on his elbows, watching as his older brother collapsed into his work chair. He jiggled his computer mouse to resonate his computer from sleep mode.
"How much longer are you going to be up?"
Tadashi didn't look away from his computer, his face illuminating slightly from the glow. He cracked his knuckles, then began typing away at his keyboard. "It's gonna be another all-nighter, bud."
Hiro opened his mouth to protest, but his older brother held up a hand in an attempt to silence him. "Don't even try to stop me. I have too much to do."
"You promised me that you'd go to bed as soon as your paper was finished."
Tadashi sheepishly grinned at his brother, craning his head slightly. "About that... I haven't started yet?"
"What?!" Hiro cried out, but was immediately shushed by his elder brother.
"It's just that I completely forgot this coding assignment for my Computer Science class, and I have stuff for Biomechanics as well. And don't get me started on Calculus... But," Tadashi sleepily rubbed his eyes, "I will go to bed as soon as my paper's done, I can promise you that."
Hiro would've gone on a rampage. He would've shut Tadashi's computer off and forced him to bed with all the strength an eleven-year-old could muster. He would've sat on his older bother until he had fallen asleep, better six hours late than not at all, right? That's what Tadashi would've done. But Tadashi had six years, a black belt in karate, and the stubbornness of an ox against him. There was no way he could persuade his older brother, so he just settled for grumbling and pulling his damp sheets around him in a cocoon fashion.
"You're such an idiot..."
"Love you too, Hiro."
Hiro had beaten Tadashi to breaking the news about the roof to Aunt Cass. The eldest Hamada was still in the shower when Hiro had made the trek downstairs for breakfast, where his aunt had prepared him what she called "The Ultimate Hunger Buster", when in reality it was just scrambled eggs and turkey bacon between two pieces of buttered toast.
"What?!" Aunt Cass screeched once Hiro told her about his ceiling. "Again?!"
Hiro nibbled at the edge of his toast, nodding in affirmation. "Yep. I think some shingles got loose or something. It's not that bad, it just gets annoying after a while."
"Annoying is right way to put it," Cass moaned, "There could be mold up there for all we know! Who knows what'll happen next?! It could collapse on itself and crush you in your sleep!"
"I think we'll be fine, Aunt Cass." Hiro and Cass turned their heads to see Tadashi traveling down the steps, freshly shaven and clean, not at all looking like he had been awake for over 36 hours. With his favorite satchel on his shoulder and his usual hat on his head, he looked completely fine, but Hiro knew better.
Perhaps it's the caffeine talking, he thought to himself as Tadashi tousled his hair as he passed by him, making a beeline for the coffee pot. He pulled his favorite San Fransokyo Ninja's thermos out of the sink, quickly inspected it, then began to clean the inside.
"I'll go on the roof sometime and check the damages. I doubt that it's that bad, but I'll try and fix the leak."
"Oh, honey," Cass started, "You don't need to do that. I'll call Ansel later on, see if he can come out and take a look. You have mid-terms in a bit, don't you?"
The neighborhood handyman, and a Lucky Cat regular. He was a good person, Hiro liked him enough, but the thought of an 82 year-old man on the slanted roof was enough to scare Hiro out of his wits, for the old man's sake.
"I'll make time," Tadashi mumbled, filling his thermos to the brim with coffee. "We don't need to waste money on things like that."
He was suddenly jabbed in the side by Cass' bony elbow, making Hiro's eyebrows rise in question. They exchanged a brief stare down, before Cass went on again.
"We wouldn't, 'waste money'," their aunt air quoted as Tadashi rubbed his sore side, "Ansel loves us! I'm sure he'd give us a good deal if we told him what was going on. I'm sure I could throw in some coupons for free coffee-"
"You can't pay a man with coupons, Aunt Cass!" Tadashi interjected sharply, screwing his thermos shut. "I'm pretty sure that's illegal!"
"I wouldn't pay him in coupons! It would be more like... a tactic of persuasion!"
"Again, I'm sure that's illegal! Why do we need to pay for something I can do myself?!"
The nephew and aunt argued back and forth, while Hiro focused back on his breakfast sandwich, suddenly less hungry than earlier. Tadashi was often like this whenever he didn't get enough sleep and tried to make up for it with coffee. He was irritable, and more likely to snap at the littlest things. Hiro had gotten yelled at for the stupidest things in the past when Tadashi was in his mood. The most recent one was that morning, when Hiro chose to let his alarm ring for a few extra minutes, and Tadashi had had enough.
Hiro meekly picked up a piece of turkey bacon, then began gnawing at it with his back molars as he listened to his family argue about coupons.
"Tadashi, you're too busy. I'll talk to Ansel when he comes by today, end of discussion!"
"No, not end of discussion! You said it yourself, we can't afford spending any unnecessary money this month!" Hiro perked up the slightest bit, turning his head to see Tadashi's ears flushing with anger. "I'm not going to watch you spend anymore than we have to! I can easily go on that damn roof and-"
"Swear jar!"
Cass shot a finger to a large mason jar that sat on the counter, nearly half full with a mixture of one dollar bills and colorful paper squares. Tadashi dumbly glared at his aunt before hugging his blazer closer to his body, turning on his heel, breakfast completely forgotten.
"I can't afford the swear jar today! I only have enough for the trolley! Just... Just write me an IOU!"
Tadashi hurrying down the stairs before Aunt Cass could retort back. Hearing the faint noise of the door slamming, she let out a sigh, and pulled out a pad of colorful papers from the junk drawer.
"That mouth of his... I might as well start charging interest..."
Cass dropped the note into the jar. Hiro could make out "TOU", Tadashi Owes You, written in his aunt's chicken scratch. He turned back to his scarcely eaten breakfast, weighing the pros and cons of attempting to choke down the food. He eventually decided against it, and began to sip the glass of orange juice that remained neglected the whole time.
"I'm sorry that you had to hear all of that, sweetie."
He looked up, the smiling face of his aunt appearing over the brim of his glass. Hiro lowered his gaze back to his food, and allowed his head to be awkwardly hugged. He set down his juice, suddenly not thirsty anymore.
"It wasn't fair of you to sit through that." She continued to flow apologies out of her mouth, Hiro half-absorbing them.
"Are... Are we really worrying about money?"
Cass halted herself, releasing her nephew when he released the heavy question. It took her a while to respond, but she eventually pulled up a chair next to him and sat down, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. She raised his chin with her finger, allowing them to look eye-to-eye for what she was about to reveal to him.
"Yes. Yes we are, baby."
Hiro let out a steady sigh through his nose. He had a good feeling that they were struggling financially for the past few months. They couldn't crank up the heat like they were usually able to, there were reminders in the bathroom to take shorter showers, and she came back with fewer groceries than usual. She had also been really persnickety about their electronic usage, begging the boys to use the power strips that she had gotten them a few months ago, and to unplug those when they were done with their computers. The signs were everywhere, but was Hiro choosing to ignore them? He couldn't even remember.
"People aren't coming into the café as much as they used to anymore. Mr. Mori next door is struggling a bit, too. He claims its the economy and whatnot, everyone's having a difficult time right now." She began to parade her fingers thorough his hair, trying to comfort him somewhat. Hiro leaned into his aunt's touch, grateful for the small head massage. "Tadashi wanted to keep you out of it, he didn't want you to worry. It's not fair for a kid to worry about grown up things."
That sounded like something he would do. Take on more stress and responsibility to allow his younger brother to cling on to whatever shred of childhood he had left. Tadashi had abandoned his role as a child once he graduated middle school, opting to step up to the challenge of becoming the man of the house. He did a pretty good job at it, making sure that Hiro stayed on top of his schoolwork and out of trouble, and repairing their home whenever it faltered. All while balancing his own studies, his position at the café, and maintaining his status as captain of the Matsumoto High Robotics Team. His efforts were rewarded when he graduated as his graduating class' Salutatorian, with honors in math and science, and a beefy scholarship to SFIT. Aunt Cass had been so proud, and Hiro couldn't've been happier for his older brother.
Was it too much for him?
Were the stress and self-placed expectations finally bubbling over?
"Hiro? You in there?"
His aunt's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She had stopped her rhythmic petting, choosing instead letting her hand sit on her nephew's head. He threw his eyes to his aunt, all while giving her a reassuring smile.
"Yeah," he wiggled away from the hand, "I was just thinking. Not- not about that, if you were wondering." He had added when her expression melted into worry. Hiro slid out of his chair, leaving his half-eaten meal behind as he went to gather his backpack. Zipping up his favorite hand-me down from Tadashi, Cass handed him his lunch as he toddled over to the staircase.
"Made your favorite." Hiro took it eagerly, already looking forward to the ham sandwich that he knew was inside. "You have enough for the bus?"
He patted his pocket, four single dollar bills guaranteeing him a roundtrip ride to and from school. He placed a single foot on the declining stairs, not before he felt a vice grip around him.
"Have a good day!"
He patted his aunt's arm, chuckling at her daily reminder of affection. Before she could engulf him again, Hiro hopped on the banister, choosing to travel downstairs in fashion.
"いってきます!" He cried out in his native tongue as he braced the cold October breeze, suddenly wishing he brought along a hat.
He heard Aunt Cass call out a shaky, "いってらっしゃい!" He closed the door after him with his foot, more mindful of the chill that could steadily replace what little heat the small home had to spare.
Japanese Translation Fun Times!
いってきます - ittekimasu - I'll be back!
いってらっしゃい - itterasshai - See you soon!