A/N: Wow, I didn't expect this story to get so much attention! Thanks to everybody who is supporting this story, whether it be in a review or simply favoriting/following. You guys are awesome! Maybe I'll actually reach my goal of a hundred reviews. Also note that Hiro has been bot-fighting since he was fourteen. Also, there was a guest review asking about if there were going to be microbots in the story. Yes. Baymax will be in this as well.
"What do you want us to do now, Boss?" A man asked, lighting a cigarette as he did.
The other man replied, "We're going to break that kid until he doesn't want to live anymore."
"He's a tough kid, how are we going to break him?" The man questioned.
Laughter filled the room, "I think it's time to show him just how threatening we can be."
A week had passed since Hiro first arrived at Tadashi and Honey Lemon's home.
A week had passed since Tadashi tried to get his brother to talk about that missing year.
A week had passed since Hiro realized he would never be safe.
Hiro sat on the back porch, watching Sophie playing fetch with Danny. Honey Lemon sat next to him and smiled after hearing her daughter's laughter. The sixteen-year-old teen didn't even glance at his sister-in-law. Instead, his eyes kept darting from side to side, never in the same place for more than a few seconds. It's not right, seeing a teenager worry about things like this. He's too young. Honey Lemon thought as she noticed the dark shadows beneath Hiro's eyes from not sleeping in days.
Tadashi told her what Hiro said about the people following them days ago. At first, Honey Lemon wondered if the teen could be lying, but she eventually came to the conclusion that if Hiro was half as smart as Tadashi, anything was possible. Including beating top-rate bot-fighters. Ever since they were followed, Hiro had been more aware of his surroundings, quickly draining him before the day was over. Tadashi and Honey Lemon worried the teen would completely shut down one day or have to be put in a hospital.
"You should take a nap, just looking at you makes me exhausted." Honey Lemon urged, hoping he would agree and get the sleep he needed.
Instead, he shook his head. "I'm not tired."
She sighed, "Hiro, I appreciate you looking out for Sophie, but you need to rest. I can watch her."
"I'm fine." Hiro stated, not looking at Honey Lemon.
The woman decided not to argue with him, knowing it wouldn't work. Instead, she rose to her feet and went to play with Sophie and Danny. Meanwhile, Hiro watched the family, making sure nobody was currently targeting them. He was exhausted mentally and physically, but with recurring nightmares and worry, Hiro found he couldn't sleep. Guilt from making his brother's family a target gnawed at his insides, making him nauseous. Hiro didn't notice Honey Lemon walk into the house nearly fifteen minutes later, which was nearly impossible since she walked right by him. Over an hour later, Sophie's voice finally registered in his brain.
"Hiro, are you okay?" The six-year-old asked, her eyes gleaming in worry.
The teen rubbed his eyes, "Yeah."
"Mommy has dinner ready." Sophie said and grabbed Hiro's wrist, trying to pull him to his feet. The teen rose to his feet and followed Sophie into the house, his vision a little blurry as he slowly walked into the house. He sat down at the table and everybody began eating the food on their plate. Hiro was nauseous to eat, so he drank the glass of Coke in front of him instead. Sophie was talking about a movie she had watched while Hiro tried to focus on what was being said. Eventually, Hiro just zoned out.
A hand on his shoulder snapped the teen to his senses and he looked up to see Tadashi. "You okay, bud?"
Hiro didn't even attempt to protest to Tadashi using the term 'bud'. "M'fine." He rose to his feet and began to go to his room. Hiro's attempt to thank Honey Lemon for the food was mumbled to where nobody could understand. In that moment, his vision began to grow dark and he felt himself falling.
Tadashi caught his falling brother, now passed out in his arms. He whistled in amazement, "What exactly did you put in his drink, Honey?"
She smiled in victory, "Just a strong sleeping pill. He should sleep through the night and most of tomorrow."
"Is Hiro okay?" Sophie asked, confused about what happened.
Honey Lemon smiled, "He's just sleeping, don't worry."
Tadashi picked his brother up bridal-style and carried him to the guest bedroom, gently laying him on the bed before covering him with a blanket. The older Hamada left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him and walking back downstairs to his wife and sat down at the table once again and took a drink of his Coke, stopping once a thought came to him. "Honey, you didn't spike my drink with anything did you?"
The woman smiled, "You'll find out."
When Hiro woke up, the first thing he noticed was how thirsty he was. A glass of water sat on the nightstand next to his bed and he immediately grabbed it, drinking it more slowly to help clear his head. I can't believe I fell asleep! The teen mentally scolded himself as he took another drink of the water. Wait, I don't even remember going to sleep. Confused, Hiro rose to his feet and nearly ran to the door, but his head began to swim and he fell against the door with a loud thump, muttering curses under his breath.
He reached for the doorknob and turned it, opening the door and stumbling through it. With another curse, he fell against the wall and leaned against it, waiting for the dizziness to vanish. Why am I like this? What happened? Hiro tried to think back to what happened yesterday, but everything was a blur. "Ugh, I feel like I've been on a boat in the middle of the ocean during a storm." Wait a minute... Dizziness, thirst, being weak... I've heard about this before.
Tadashi appeared at the end of the hallway, "You okay? I thought I-"
"You drugged me!" Hiro accused.
Honey Lemon appeared behind her husband, "Technically, I put a sleeping pill in your drink. That's what you get for refusing to sleep, but I bet you're caught up on it now."
Hiro stared at them, "What day is it?"
Tadashi laughed, "Thursday."
It took a minute for Hiro to understand completely. "I've been asleep for two days?!"
"Yep, welcome to the world of sleep deprivation. Don't do it again." Honey Lemon warned. "Now, go take a shower."
Stunned at Honey Lemon's attitude, Hiro pushed away from the wall and staggered back to his room to get clothes. Then, he slowly made his way to the bathroom, trying to not fall. Tadashi laughed, "I think you gave him too much."
She shrugged, "He deserves it. Besides, it'll wear off eventually."
After leaving the bathroom, Hiro found he still didn't have a sense of balance as he staggered down the hallway. Suddenly, his stomach growled loudly and he looked at the stairs. Slowly, he walked toward the edge and looked down the stairs, wondering if he could even make it down the first two steps without falling. Cursing under his breath, the teen began to turn around and just forget about food when an arm wrapped around his waist and lifted him off the ground. "What are you doing?" Hiro quesitoned, slightly panicked because he couldn't touch the ground.
"I'm not taking you to the hospital because you've fallen down the stairs." His older brother stated as he practically carried the teen down the stairs.
Annoyed, Hiro argued. "I wouldn't fall! Now put me down!"
Suddenly, his feet touched the stairs. "Okay, I'll see you downstairs then." Tadashi began to walk away from his brother, leaving him halfway down the stairway.
Hiro muttered, "Idiot." Then, went to step down onto the next step. However, Hiro's balance and sense of distance were off, making the teen grab on to the railing for support. He tried to step down again, but his foot slipped and he fell sideways on the stairs.
"You were saying?" Tadashi questioned from the bottom of the stairs.
Hiro growled, "Shut up and help me."
"What's the magic word?" His brother teased.
It took Hiro a minute to process what his brother say. "You can't be serious. There's no way I'm begging."
Tadashi shrugged, "Guess you'll be there for a while then."
Hiro tried to get to his feet, stretching his hand out to use the wall for support. However, he missed the wall and fell against it. He stayed there, leaning against the wall, wishing the effects would wear off. After about ten minutes, Hiro's stomach growled again and the teen sighed, whispering under his breath in annoyance. "Please help me get off of these stairs."
Tadashi crossed his arms like a kid, "I didn't quite hear that."
"I'm not saying it again, Tadashi, now help me off these damn stairs!" Hiro protested.
"Language." Tadashi commented, helping his brother to his feet and getting him down the stairs safely and into the kitchen. Hiro sat at the table with a bowl of cereal and Tadashi handed him a Coke, making Hiro glare at him suspiciously. Tadashi laughed, "Too soon?"
"Too soon." Hiro agreed and pushed the Coke away, only focusing on the bowl of Fruit Loops in front of him. After Hiro finished eating, he noticed he felt a little bit better and went to the living room to rest a bit, not wanting to have a repeat of what happened with the stairs. "Is this ever going to wear off?" Hiro complained as he sat on the couch, still feeling the effects from the sleeping pill.
Suddenly, Sophie ran into the living room and began to dig through a cabinet filled with DVD's, then looked shyly at the sixteen-year-old. "Will you watch this with me?"
Hiro looked around, thinking Tadashi or Honey Lemon was around, but realized they weren't and Sophie was talking to him. "Uh, sure." Sophie grinned from ear to ear as she put the DVD in the DVD player and hit play. The six-year-old sat beside Hiro on the couch and the two began to watch How to Train Your Dragon. Immediately, Hiro was focused on the movie, even though he told himself he shouldn't like a kid movie. Halfway through the movie, Hiro felt Sophie lean against his shoulder, asleep. Hiro noticed his eyes were growing heavy, too, but desperately wanted to finish the movie. Eventually, both Sophie and Hiro were asleep and, about thirty minutes later, the movie's end credits appeared on the screen.
Neither one of them noticed the flash of a camera when Honey Lemon took a picture of them asleep.
The frigid air made his shirtless body shiver uncontrollably, his teeth unable to chatter due to the rag in his mouth. Hiro struggled to break the ropes binding his ankles and wrists, but didn't have any luck. A door opened with a loud creak and Hiro turned his head in the direction of the noise, unable to see thanks to the blindfold. Somebody stomped on his side, making the teen scream painfully, the sound blocked by the rag.
"You're going to die here, kid. We'll make sure of that." A voice teased.
Fear coursed through Hiro's veins and was soon paralyzed by it. 'Just let me go!' Hiro thought, quietly begging. Suddenly, the rag was removed from his mouth and Hiro spoke, his voice rough and barely above a whisper. "Somebody will find me."
The man laughed, "Nobody cares about you! If they did, you would have already been rescued. Think what you want, kid, but it's not going to change reality."
"Just let me go!" Hiro yelled as best as he could.
"Now, where's the fun in that?" The man asked, grabbing a knife from his pocket.
Hiro felt the knife touch the skin on his back, "W-what are you doing?"
"Making sure you remember us for the rest of your miserable life." The man stated and began to make long cuts down the teen's back. Hiro screamed in agony as he felt the warm blood stream from the cuts and tried to move away from the knife. However, the man simply pinned him down and continued cutting into his skin, deep enough to scar.
Hiro woke with a gasp, not immediately recognizing where he was and began to panic. He jumped to his feet and began to look around, trying to figure out where he was. Then, he sighed, relieved he was still in the living room. "Stupid nightmares." Hiro muttered as he began to walk upstairs. Glancing at a clock, the teen noticed it was two o'clock in the morning, everybody else was already asleep, and the only thing that could be heard was a dog barking.
Somebody shook Tadashi's shoulder, waking him up instantly. He opened his eyes and sat up a bit, noticing Sophie standing next to the bed with a teddy bear clutched in her arms. "Are you okay?" Tadashi asked, sitting up completely, briefly wondering if his daughter was sleepwalking.
"Danny won't stop barking." Sophie stated.
Tadashi sighed, "Just ignore him, sweetie. He'll quit in a few minutes. It's probably just another dog or a cat."
Sophie shook his head, "There's somebody-"
The sound of glass breaking made Tadashi more alert and Honey Lemon woke up, quickly sitting up. "What was that?"
By that time, Tadashi was already on his feet. "Sophie, stay with your mother. Honey Lemon, lock the door behind me and don't come out until I say so." Another crash followed the sound of breaking glass.
The older Hamada moved through the open bedroom door and shut it, hearing it lock immediately. He slowly moved downstairs in the dark, his eyes adjusting steadily. As soon as he moved toward the living room, he noticed a rock next to the glass on the floor and began to look through the broken window to find the culprit. The floor creaked behind him and Tadashi whirled around, throwing a punch through the air. However, Tadashi pulled back the attack at the last second, recognizing the person in front of him.
"It's me." Hiro stated, one hand raised in an attempt to protect his face while the other held a metal baseball bat.
Tadashi lowered his fist and looked back at the window, "Have you seen anybody?"
Hiro shook his head, "Sorry. It's too dark."
Tadashi looked around the room, "Have you checked inside the house?"
"That's what I was doing when the rock came through the window." Hiro stated.
"I'm going to check outside. Go upstairs to Honey and Sophie. The door is locked but Honey should let you in." Tadashi ordered, already walking toward the front door.
Hiro protested, "What if you get jumped out there? There's no way I'm leaving you."
"If there were more people out there, they wouldn't have just thrown a rock through the window. Don't forget, I have my black belt in karate, so it's not like I'm defenseless. Now, don't argue with me and go upstairs." Tadashi argued, hoping his little brother would obey his orders.
Hiro growled in annoyance and handed Tadashi the baseball bat. "Fine, but take this with you."
A little touched that his brother cared about his safety, Tadashi took it and made sure Hiro was upstairs before going outside. Danny was still barking, a growl rising in his throat as he strained against the chain barking toward down the street. Tadashi knew if the trespasser had already ran off, he would never be able to catch up. Cautiously, Tadashi began to walk around the house, searching for the person terrorizing his family.
Hiro stood in the room with Honey Lemon and Sophie, watching for any movement outside the window. He saw Tadashi walking through the yard, the baseball bat clutched tightly in his hands as he searched. Then, he was out of sight. Almost ten minutes later, there was a knock on the bedroom door and Tadashi's voice could be heard. Hiro unlocked and opened the door, stepping aside to let his brother in the room. Immediately, Tadashi turned the light on.
"I didn't see anyone." Tadashi stated, "The neighbors heard the glass breaking and called the police, so they should be here shortly."
Honey Lemon spoke, "Did anybody see him?"
Sophie looked at her mother, "I did. That's why I came to wake daddy."
"What did they look like?" Tadashi asked.
"I couldn't see their face, I just saw somebody walking through the yard. That's when I came in here." Sophie replied, sitting beside her mother on the bed. "Do you think they will come back?"
Tadashi sighed, "I don't know."
Honey Lemon questioned, "What about the second crash? We heard the window being broken and something else followed that."
"That was me." Hiro informed, hoping to avoid telling them that he tripped over a rug and fell into the wall while going to investigate the noise.
"Are you hurt?" Honey Lemon asked, concerned.
Before Hiro replied, Tadashi interrupted. "Don't lie, Hiro. I know how you are."
Hiro glared, "I'm fine. Just a few bruises, nothing serious."
There was a knock on the door and Tadashi knew the police had arrived. However, what bothered the older Hamada the most was the fact that Hiro was hiding something.
After the police left, unable to do anything other than inspect the damage, Hiro went upstairs to his room, still shaken after everything that happened. The teen stuck his hand in his pocket and grabbed a piece of paper, reading it slowly. He sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. What do I do now? Hiro stared at the piece of paper that was tied to the rock, wishing this was all a screwed up nightmare.
On the paper was a message written in messy handwriting. 'This is only the beginning.' Hiro crumpled the paper up and threw it across the room, wondering what was going to happen next and if he could somehow prevent it. I'm not going to let anybody get hurt. Not like I did. I can't let Tadashi and the others get hurt because of something I've done. Hiro took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. If it comes down to it, I'll go back to that place. Just that thought terrified the younger Hamada, but he tried to force the fear away with the understanding that everything that has happened was his fault.
The Boss smiled at the new arena, pleased with a job well-done. It had taken months to build and a few casualties, but the man knew it would be worth it. The message had been delievered successfully and with the arena finished, the Boss would be able to continue with his plan. "Begin preparing for phase two."