"Tadashi, guess what? I got a job at that diner you work at!"

Tadashi almost chokes on his coffee. It's practically keeping him alive at this point, but he's pretty sure he won't need it anymore with the panic that Hiro's exclamation is sending through him. Not to mention that seeing him in that dreadful, pale purple uniform shirt is the most frightening thing he's seen in a long time, because that just confirms exactly where he's going.

"H-Hiro- never- d-dangerous-" the older brother wheezes, and he tries to support himself on the table. He can't let Hiro go in there. He can't. There's too much at risk; too much to lose. He won't let his precious baby brother near those monsters, especially not when he'll be at college, and won't be able to keep an eye on him.

"Bro. Chill. They're just robots! How bad can it be?" Hiro grins cheekily, and Tadashi can't stand it. He reaches out, and grabs the smaller boy's shoulders, which makes his smile drop right off.

"Hiro. Listen to me. You gotta-"

Tadashi is interrupted by a car horn. Aunt Cass seems to be getting impatient.

"C'mon, nerd, let me go! I've really gotta get to work." Wriggling himself away, the smaller boy shoves his arms into his signature blue hoodie. "I mean, you're always telling me to do something with my brain, so I decided to do part time and earn some cash! Pretty cool, huh? Fourteen, and already engineering. How about that!" Hiro laughs, but Tadashi just can't get into the spirit. He's terrified.

"Just... just be careful, alright? Promise me, Hiro," Tadashi pleads, and it makes the younger Hamada start to take it seriously.

Hiro stares for a moment, as if wondering who the hell is standing in his kitchen and pretending to be Tadashi Hamada. "Jeez... fine, I will," he says.

The boy dashes off, and Tadashi is left feeling hollow. Now he wishes he'd given him a hug goodbye, just in case the worst comes to the worst. But the animatronics should be in day mode, not free roam, so there should be no issue.

12:00 AM.

Tadashi listens to the second phone call. It's the only thing keeping him sane right now.

"Uhh, hello? Hello? Uh, well, if you're hearing this and you made it to day two, uh, congrats!"

No thanks to you, Tadashi grumbles in his head as he briefly checks the cameras. Nothing has moved thus far. He's okay for now, he thinks, relieved.

"I-I won't talk quite as long this time, since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses."

"What?!" Tadashi yells out loud, slamming his hand on the surface of the table. Then he regrets making noise, and quickly checks his cameras to see that Bonnie has moved... again. Oh, great.

1:00 AM.

"Uh... Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often. I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though..."

Tadashi saw that last night. He saw it when the damn bear nearly killed him. Tonight, he's not going to be so easy to catch. Now he knows what he's up against. He's warmed up, and he's ready.

He moves over to the door on the left, and checks the light. Nothing is there, so he returns to the phone monitor.

Instinctively, his mind wanders to Hiro. Just like the kid had said, he was absolutely fine. When they met up, switching from day shift to night shift, the youngest brother had enthused about how he hadn't needed to do any work all day, and had still been allowed to eat what had been left after a birthday party. Tadashi hadn't been in the highest of spirits when arriving, but he'd kept a playful demeanor, not wanting to worry his brother about anything that is happening in these night shifts.

"Thank god," Tadashi whispers. It seems like the animatronics aren't vicious in the day, then.

2:00 AM.

"Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time."

That's weird. There are only supposed to be three characters- Freddy, Bonnie and Chica. The bear, the bunny and the chicken. They're the only three on the poster right above his desk. Frowning, he checks the cameras.

Bonnie and Chica are gone, but that's to be expected. He soon finds them; Chica is clanging pots and pans in the kitchen- which she is not programmed to do, he realises as a chill runs down his spine- and Bonnie is staring through the backstage camera. It startles him, because his face is right in the lens, and his plastic eyes are completely gone. Instead, faint white dots glow brightly through the sockets, which haunts him long after he's switched screens.

He finds CAM 1C. Pirate Cove. The purple curtain, covered in sparkles and star patterns, is drawn. A sign reads, "Sorry! Out Of Order." That makes much more sense. The animatronic is broken. But... it can still walk around?

"Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control! Uh, talk to you soon."

The call is over. He's alone again.

3:00 AM.

Tadashi decides to call one of his friends. He can't bear the silence, and thinks a familiar voice will soothe him.

Gogo is the one he calls first. After all, she's the only one who's likely to still be awake at this time of morning. Besides Fred, of course- that man is practically nocturnal. But he tends to turn his phone off so as not to be disturbed in the midst of his comic spree.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, calling me at 3 AM?!" comes Gogo's sleepy hiss. "If you don't hang up right now-"

"Gogo, it's me!" Tadashi interrupts. He doesn't want to face his friend's foul temper, particularly not right now. As he hears Chica approach on the right, he darts across the room and strikes the door button.

"Tadashi? Dude, aren't you at work right now?"

"Yes, I am," he responds exasperatedly as he launches back across the room. "I'm using the phone in the office. Listen- these robots are not normal. I swear, they're haunted!"

Gogo pauses, and he can hear the crackle of silence through the speaker. "Tadashi, are you drunk?"

4:00 AM.

"So, let me get this straight. These robots-"

"Animatronics!" Tadashi corrects as he checks the monitor for the umpteenth time.

"... Robots," she insists impatiently, "Are walking around and trying to kill you?"

Swearing under his breath, the eldest Hamada gazes upon the fox animatronic peeking out from behind the curtain. Its jaw is broken, and it stares emptily into nothing. He wants to scream; this thing is horrifying. No wonder it's out of order.

"Tadashi!"

"Yes! That's right! I know it sounds crazy, Gogo, but would I lie about something like this?!"

"I guess not... What's going on? What happened to Mr Watch-Your-Language Hamada?" she demands, and she yawns loudly down the line.

Tadashi sighs and massages his temple. "Gogo, if I don't make it out of here... tell my family I love them."

"That's a bit dramatic, Hamada. What's the worst they can do?"

5:00 AM.

"One more hour, Gogo. One more hour, and Night Two is over."

All he hears in response is a gentle snore, followed by an exhausted murmur. Part of Tadashi is irritated that Gogo has left him alone, but the rational section of him understands that it's an awful time to still be awake, and he should definitely let her sleep.

"Goodnight, Gogo. Thanks for keeping me company," he whispers, and ends the call.

"Okay, Tadashi. Make it out of this," he orders himself. "You have to. Do it for Cass, and for Hiro. And for your friends, too."

God, he's tired. He wishes he can go to sleep like Gogo.

"Don't you dare move," he threatens Foxy through the camera. All is quiet right now, and it makes him rather suspicious, but he tries not to fret about it. Instead, he focuses on lasting for the final hour. He closes the monitor and checks the left door.

Nothing much happens over the next little while. Apart from Chica appearing once, it's a very relaxed end to the night, and he finds himself cruising into:

6:00 AM.

The alarm goes off, and he lets his head tip back in relief. Four more nights, he assures himself as he listens to the animatronics march back to their stations once more. Even Foxy seems to know to go slip into Pirate Cove. It's not like he cares. Now he just wants to finish up this job, before anything terrible happens.

That terrible thing will come sooner than he thinks.


A/N: That's chapter two done! So Hiro's got a job at Freddy's. How well can that go?

Chapter three is on its way!