Hiro was curled up in a tight ball in his bed when he slowly stirred awake. Sunlight was streaming into the room and he could hear the distant rumble of cars and people passing by outside the window. But drowsiness refused to release its hold on him. He tossed his blanket over his head and lay snuggled under the covers. He never wanted to leave him soft warm bed.
As he lay there, he felt oddly calm. As if it was the first time in a long while that he had slept peacefully, without terrifying nightmares rousing him in the dead of night. He felt so at ease, he almost slipped back to sleep.
"Hey bonehead, time to get up!" a voice cut through the peaceful morning silence.
It sounded familiar. But in Hiro's sleep-addled mind, he couldn't tell who it was.
Huh? Geez…it's way too early. Keep it down.
He felt someone latch onto his shoulder and gently shake him.
"Come on, you don't wanna be late for you first day at college."
It took him a few seconds to finally recognize who it was.
Ugh. Tadashi. Why was he waking him up so early?
Wait.
What?
Hiro practically flew out of his bed as he tossed his cover aside.
"Tadashi!" Hiro yelled.
He sat up so suddenly, he barely even noticed that he had accidentally smacked his elbow on to something. That something happened to be Tadashi's jaw.
"Ow!" came Tadashi's surprised yelp.
Hiro stared in absolute shock at his brother. His brother who was leaning over his bed. His brother who was alive. Hiro's mind was reeling.
"You're OK!" Hiro cried.
"Um yeah," Tadashi replied, rubbing gingerly at the sore spot on his jaw, "I wouldn't classify getting my face brutalized by your elbow as OK."
A small smile formed on his lips as he jokingly said those words. But it slipped of instantly when he saw the expression on Hiro's face. His younger brother's eyes looked like they were about the pop right out of his head. His mouth hung open like he was about to start screaming.
A look of concern settled on Tadashi's features.
"Hey-" Tadashi began but was stunned into silence when Hiro leapt off the bed and threw himself towards him. He nearly knocked Tadashi clean off his feet when they collided. Hiro hugged him, clinging to him tightly like a drowning man gripping on to piece of driftwood. He held on to him like that for a moment, before Tadashi placed a comforting hand on his messy hair.
Oh God, Hiro thought.
He was hugging him. He was here. He was real. Hiro couldn't breathe. His vision was getting blurry and it took him a split second to realize that tears were threatening to fall from his eyes.
No don't cry! Don't cry!
He couldn't let Tadashi see him like this. He would only freak his brother out from his pathetic sniveling. But even as he tried to hold on to the last shreds of his teenage dignity, his composure kept crumbling away. His face was burning from embarrassment.
"You-" Hiro whimpered.
A choked sob escaped from his mouth. He could feel himself trembling. His head was starting hurt from all the effort to hold back his crying.
"Whoah, hey." Tadashi said uncertainly. "You alright there?"
Hearing his brother's concerned voice finally broke him. He thought he would never hear his brother say those kinds of things to him again. He never thought he would miss his brother fretting over him.
Hiro's tiny sobs become full on bawling. He was too tired and overwhelmed to stop the flood of tears that came pouring out.
Tadashi stroked his head with slow gentle motions. He was at a loss at the way his brother's sudden mood swing.
Hiro buried his face into Tadashi's shirt. He was soaking his clothes with his tears. But Hiro didn't care. All he could perceive at that moment was how solid his brother felt. How soothingly warm he was. How he smelled faintly of mint. All these little details he never paid much attention to until they were suddenly gone.
"You idiot!" Hiro snapped into Tadashi's chest, voice coming out muffled. He tried to hide how utterly strained his emotions were with a mask of anger. It was easier for him to pretend to be angry than to admit to weakness in front of Tadashi.
"I can't believe you would do that. Stupid stupid stupid Nii-chan!" Hiro cried, emphasizing each 'stupid' by halfheartedly pounding his fist on Tadashi's chest.
"What are you-" Tadashi started.
"Shut up. Just shut up. It doesn't matter anymore," Hiro said.
That's right. Whatever happened in the past was irrelevant now. All that was important was that Hiro had Tadashi again. Despite the tears, Hiro managed a tiny smile. Hiro was suddenly aware of how tightly he was hugging his brother.
Trying to pull himself back together, Hiro eased himself out of the embrace. He felt embarrassed to have lost control so completely. He looked pointedly at the ground. He could feel his face heating up.
"Are you alright?" Tadashi asked.
"Yeah. Sorry," Hiro said. He wiped his teary eyes with his sleeve. He tried to sidestep Tadashi but his brother just blocked his path.
"Hiro, what's wrong?" Tadashi pressed.
Hiro shook his head. He refused to meet his gaze.
Hiro couldn't tell him. Not about the fire. Or Tadashi's death.
Or his wish.
God. He almost forgot about that. But now he remembered that he had met Kyubey. And that he made his wish. He remembered seeing light. It was so blindingly intense. And there was pain. Unbearable pain that burned through every cell in his body. He had felt like his entire being was being ripped apart. The pain from his memory came surging back. It still felt so vivid.
Light
Pain
Light
Pain
LIGHT
PAIN
LIGHT
PAIN
And then darkness.
Did that actually happen?
"Hiro?" Tadashi said gently.
Hiro was pulled back from his shell shocked silence.
He shook his head frantically.
"It's nothing. I guess I just had a bad dream," he lied.
"About what? Just tell me," Tadashi urged.
"I said it was nothing alright? It was just a bad dream," he insisted.
"Tadashi? Is Hiro up yet?." Aunt Cass called from downstairs, "He's gonna be late for his first class."
Tadashi turned to face the flight of steps that led to the kitchen and called back, "Yeah, be down in a minute!"
While Tadashi was distracted, Hiro took his chance to slip by him.
"Well I better get ready then!" Hiro chirped in the most cheerful voice he could muster.
He ignored Tadashi's "Wait!" and sprinted towards the bathroom. He slammed the door shut and locked it with a satisfying click.
He leaned his back against the door. He shut his eyes and tried to process what just happened back there.
"Alright," he muttered to himself. "Not the best way to start the morning."
He put a trembling hand on his forehead. That was when he felt something hard and cool press against his face.
He pulled his hand back to see a silver ring on his left middle finger. It had some strange symbols engraved on it.
He couldn't make out what language it was. He had never even seen writing like that before.
The nail on that same middle finger had a distinct purple mark on it. It was shaped like a gear with six cogs. He tried rubbing on it but it seemed to be permanently embedded on his fingernail.
"Where did these come from?" Hiro thought out aloud softly.
"You received those after you made your contract with me."
Hiro looked up to see Kyubey who was sitting on the bathroom countertop and was right next to the sink.
It wagged it fluffy tail.
"Hiro Hamada, your wish has been granted. From this day on, you are a magical boy."
At that point, Hiro had no idea just how ominous that declaration truly was.
