Beep...beep...beep...beep...
The purified room smelled like hydrogen peroxide and bleach.
Everything was white, save one thing; the unmoving figure on the bed.
Distorted colors of skin and red mixed together across his neck and cheek.
A white bandaged was wrapped underneath dark hair, stained with the various treatments of ointment.
It all looked pretty terrible.
But the smile was the same, the eyes were the same, and there was no doubt about one thing; this man was Hiro's big brother.
"T-Tadashi..." Hiro whispered with wide eyes, jaw dropped.
Tears filled them, ready to fall.
Already falling.
Tadashi simply smiled sympathetically and opened up his arms.
Sympathetic, but there was real joy in there too.
Joy that, somehow, Tadashi managed to have. Always the optimist, Hiro's brother.
But then again, that's what made him, well, him.
"Hey, knucklehead."
Hiro didn't want another minute before bounding into his brother's arms, hugging him tightly.
He'd never let go.
"Don't ever do that again. Don't you ever do it again, Tadashi."
He was sobbing now, and didn't care.
He simply kept on clinging to his brother who, if he felt any pain from the death grip, didn't let it show.
"I'm sorry.
I really am. "
Tadashi wrapped his burnt arms around Hiro and hugged back.
"Nevermind. You're here now. It'll all be okay.
You'll come back to the cafe and live with us again- we'll be a family again, Tadashi." Hiro pulled back from the hug at last to look at his brother.
Tadashi then smiled.
"Hiro, we never stopped being family.
We'll always...be a family. No matter what happens."
His bandaged hand reached out and gently poked where Hiro's heart was. Tadashi was smiling all the while.
Hiro smiled back.
And then Hiro woke up.
His eyes averted to Tadashi's empty bed.
His cheeks were wet from tears that were still falling.
He felt a sob rise to his throat, choking the words he croaked out.
"But I'll never stop missing you, big brother."
I FELT REALLY ANGSTY