Tadashi looked around the room in confusion. Why was he in the hospital? And then it hit him, the car crash. His parents, HIRO. Tadashi started running through the hospital, desperately trying to find someone, anyone who could tell him what was happening, if his baby brother was okay.
The hospital was terrifyingly empty however and Tadashi couldn't find anyone. Where was everyone? Why did they leave? He needed to find his brother, now. Suddenly a hand landed on his shoulder saying harshly.
"Mr. Hamada?"
"Yes that's me," Tadashi said. "Do you know where Hiro is?"
"He's dead." The doctor coldly said, removing his hand.
"W-w-w-wha-" Tadashi weakly stammered, his voice suddenly failing him. He couldn't move, speak or even breathe. Dead? No he couldn't be…
"He'd dead because of you." The doctor said, "You killed your brother."
"No…" Tadashi whispered, stumbling back. No no no no no no! Hiro couldn't be gone!
The doctor vanished and was replaced with his parents.
"You killed my son!" Her mother roared, looking sickened by the sight of Tadashi.
"No I didn't!" Tadashi shouted.
"If it wasn't for your damned convention he'd be alive!" His father growled. "You're a murderer!"
Tadashi tried to open his mouth to protest but the words wouldn't form. They vanished just like the doctor and he was facing Wasabi.
"What kind of monster kills his brother?" Wasabi growled. Tadashi couldn't speak, so he shook his head, tears streaming down his face.
Gogo was standing before him saying, "You don't deserve to live."
"I-I…" Tadashi tried to form the words, but his whole body felt heavy. Tadashi collapsed to the floor as Honey Lemon appeared before him, screaming curse words at him. Tadashi covered his ears, but the words filtered through his ears as if there was nothing covering them.
"You sicken me," Fred said. Tadashi slowly looked up and whispered,
"Fred…please…"
"I don't want to hear it," Fred snapped, his eyes cold. "I can't believe I wasted so much time with you. I gave you everything and yet you go on and kill your little brother."
"No…" Tadashi whispered, but Fred was gone and Hiro was in front of him, bloodied and pale.
"Why Dashi…" Hiro whispered, blood pouring out of the deep gashes that covered his body.
"Hiro I-I didn't mean-" Tadashi stammered.
"But you did…" Hiro whispered before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he crumbled to the ground.
"NO!" Tadashi shouted, eyes flying open as he sat up in his bed, heart pounding. He was shaking and covered in sweat, tears streaming down his face. That dream felt so real….but what if it wasn't? He frantically looked around the room, desperately trying to find Hiro, to assure himself that his baby brother was alive and well. He felt something nuzzle against him and glanced down at Hiro's sleeping form, his chest gently rising and falling. Tadashi let a small sob escape him as he scooped Hiro up into his arms, cradling him against his chest. Tadashi kissed his forehead and buried his face in his brother's hair, trying to calm his frantic heartbeat. Hiro was okay, Hiro was alive.
"Dashi?" Hiro sleepily asked eyes half open. Tadashi mentally cursed himself for disturbing his brother and started soothingly running a hand through his hair whispering,
"Go back to sleep buddy. I uh just wanted a cuddle." Hiro hummed contently and snuggled up against Tadashi, breaths evening out. Tadashi leaned against the backboard and drew his knees up, clutching Hiro in his arms for fear he'd vanish if he let go. Tadashi knew it was an irrational fear, but he'd come so close to losing him so many times already… Tadashi started to gently rock Hiro, heart rate slowing.
He knew he needed to get up and talk to Mr. Lee, but he couldn't bring himself to move, protectively curling himself around Hiro's sleeping form. The dream left him shaken and reluctant to leave Hiro's side. A part of him wanted to just bring Hiro with him to see Mr. Lee, but another knew Hiro needed sleep and that he'd get restless sitting with Tadashi or coming with him to do whatever he was asked to do.
Reluctantly, Tadashi stood and tucked Hiro back into bed before walking into the bathroom to change. Tadashi wasn't sure what he was supposed to do and how he was expected to do it so he hoped to talk to Mr. Lee before he left. Or was he supposed to leave last night? Tadashi groaned and finished getting ready. If Mr. Lee was already gone Tadashi wasn't sure what he'd do. Once dressed, Tadashi slipped out of the room and walked down the stairs.
Tadashi grinned when he spotted Mary already out and about cleaning the mansion. She was one of the maids that worked in the mansion who also lived in the mansion. She had always been very kind to Tadashi; maybe she'd be able to point him in the right direction.
"Morning Mary!" Tadashi cheerfully greeted. "Have you seen Mr. Lee or Heathcliff?"
"No I have not seen them," Mary snapped, not looking at Tadashi as she worked. "Now stop bothering me!" Tadashi winced at her harsh tone, she was usually so nice…
"Sorry…" Tadashi sheepishly mumbled.
"You should be!" She said with a huff. Confused, Tadashi nervously backed away from her, colliding with someone.
"Sorry!" Tadashi exclaimed, turning around and tripping over his own feet and tumbling to the ground. Before he hit the floor, the person he ran into grabbed his arms and helped him back on his feet. "Heathcliff I am so sorry!" Tadashi exclaimed when he realized who grabbed him.
"It's quiet alright," Heathcliff assured. "Master Stan wishes to speak with you."
"Oh I was actually just looking for him," Tadashi admitted, rubbing his neck, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"I will show you to his office then," Heathcliff said, smiling.
"Thanks," Tadashi said, thankful Heathcliff was not snapping at him. Maybe Mary was having a rough morning or something. She didn't always have to be nice. Heathcliff nodded and led him through the mansion. Though Tadashi had seen a good amount of the mansion, he didn't know where everything was yet. Heathcliff suddenly stopped in front of and opened it, gesturing for Tadashi to enter.
"Good morning Tadashi!" Mr. Lee greeted, setting down a paper he was looking over. "I trust you slept well?"
"Yes, definitely, the room you gave us is amazing. I-I feel bad actually..."
"Oh it's nothing really." Mr. Lee assured, waving his hand dismissively. "Now please sit down we have a lot to discuss."
"Okay…" Tadashi said, sitting down in a chair across from Mr. Lee.
"First things first, I need to officially hire you! So if you could just look through this contract and sign when you're ready we can get started on all the other business." Mr. Lee said, passing Tadashi a large packet. Though Tadashi was not very familiar with everything in the contract Mr. Lee patiently explained everything to him.
"Just one last question before I sign. Why did you hire me as a part time if you're having me live on site?" Tadashi asked.
"You're in college, you don't have time to be a full time and I do have room. I would have let you just live here but Bubbles said you needed a job."
"I'm honestly thinking of dropping out," Tadashi admitted.
"Why's that?" Mr. Lee asked, looking surprised.
"If I want to be a good guardian for Hiro I don't think I can be in school and working," Tadashi explained.
"Well I am more than willing to work with you to make sure you do not have to drop out."
"Thank you but you've alre-"
"No, I don't want to hear it. College is very important and I want to make sure you finish it." Mr. Lee declared.
"I appreciate you caring so much but in the end isn't this my decision?"
"In the end yes but I don't want you dropping out simply because you feel you can't ask me for help. You are just supposed to work when you have time. I will be the first to admit this is a very unusual job but…you need this job so I will make this work for you."
Tadashi frowned at Mr. Lee's declaration and asked, "I appreciate all the help but…can I ask why you're working so hard to help me?"
Mr. Lee sighed and didn't answer for a minute. He looked worried, but eventually admitted, "Tadashi…I love my son very much…but I know I haven't been the…best father. I haven't been here like I should I didn't even have a clue that he might be dating anyone! That said, my reasons for hiring you like this where very selfish. I knew Fred cared about you and I wanted to make him happy. Helping you made him happy. So I will do what I can to help you."
Mr. Lee's declaration caused a surge of emotions to rise. A part of Tadashi was angry at him. He was only helping him to get closer to Fred? Another part of him was relieved to know the truth. And yet another part struggled to stay mad at the man who inadvertently was the reason Hiro was still in his care. Despite his reasons for hiring Tadashi, this was still a job that would pay him and ensure Hiro stayed with him. Tadashi knew the circumstances of being hired made him working here questionable, but if he wanted to keep Hiro what other choice did he have but to take it? If Tadashi was honest with himself, all he cared about really was that this kept Hiro with him. He could handle whatever people said about him as long as it meant keeping Hiro.
Eventually Tadashi said, "This…is a lot to take in…"
"I know this doesn't help but…from meeting you, I think I would have hired you if you and Fred had not been dating."
"Huh?"
"I mean, I've been looking up on you and you have glowing reviews from all your professors including Robert Callaghan who is a friend of mine. And from what I've seen you are a wonderful young man." He was right, it didn't make Tadashi any less uneasy about working there, but it made him hope that maybe he was capable of being a better father, something he never really saw in his own parents.
He still felt like he needed to drop out of SFIT, but so many people where telling to not to. They didn't have Hiro's best interests at heart though…well Fred probably cared about them both. Could he really so no to the man who gave him a job? Besides, he hadn't even tried seeing if he could balance everything, maybe he needed to give it a chance.
"Alright…I guess…for now I'll keep going to school and see how it works." Tadashi finally said.
"I'm glad to hear that!" Mr. Lee exclaimed as Tadashi signed his name on the contract. "Excellent! Now as for how this will all work. As with my other employees I do an honor system when it comes to pay and hours worked."
"Honor system?" Tadashi asked.
"You will keep a log of how many hours you work every day and turn it in to myself or Heathcliff if I am out of town which does happen regularly."
"If you're gone a lot how can you be sure people are working when they say they are?" Tadashi asked.
"Oh Heathcliff will inform me if he see's anyone is being dishonest. And with you if we see not very many things are being fixed it will be pretty obvious something is going on." Mr. Lee said.
"Okay, how will I know what needs my attention?" Tadashi asked.
"In the past Heathcliff would call a repairman as he found things that needed repair or work done. Initially I planned on setting up an email system to email you with requests for repairs but several of my staff do not have access to a computer so unfortunately we'll need to use paper to have repair requests placed. For now I would like you to take a look at my car."
"Of course," Tadashi said, reluctantly standing up. "Anything else?"
"No, honestly I'm kind of making this up as I go." Mr. Lee admitted with a laugh.
"Honestly if it lets me keep Hiro I won't complain," Tadashi said.
Sticking out his hand, Mr. Lee said, "Well then I hope we can make this work!"
"Me too…" Tadashi admitted, taking Mr. Lee's hand.
