Author's Note: Heyoooo I'm back! I am really sorry for being late again, this month I've been really busy. I also haven't had the time to edit my mistakes from previous chapters so please try and ignore any mistakes or typos I might have put there accidentally. Thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! They all really make my day and motivate me to update XD Well, to make up for me being semi-late again here's a realllllyy long chapter. It's probably the longest chapter I've written for this story. Hehe, well enough of me talking, go ahead and enjoy the chapter! Please review :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero 6!

Chapter 12: Awakening

"Aunt Cass?"

One minute he was staring at her tear stained face in a daze and the next she was hugging him really hard with sobs wracking her small form. Tadashi immediately felt guilty and tried his hardest to hug back, wincing at how sore his one arm that wasn't being pinned against his aunt's weight to pat her back. She cried into the crook of his neck, blubbering and not making any sense.

Tadashi didn't know how he was here or how he was alive...but he pushed that aside for now and leaned his head against hers, closing his eyes. "It's okay..." He croaked, feeling tears of his own prick at his eyelashes. "Please don't cry..." He whispered, pushing away his need for water to soothe his dry throat.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, but eventually he felt the woman in his arm pull away. He opened his eyes tiredly, coming in contact with green shimmering orbs. His aunt smiled like she had just won the lottery. "Oh Tadashi...you're awake." She whispered happily, reaching up to wipe a tear that trailed down his cheek that he never noticed. "My baby is awake." She repeated.

The black haired man smiled groggily, his eyes scanning the room as he strained to crane his stiff neck. "Awake?" He rasped, then coughed and his face twisted in pain as his throat lurched. He was too focused on trying to breathe and stop coughing to notice a cup of water being guided to his shaking lips. He downed the glass desperately, relishing in the cold liquid that quenched his thirst.

The cup was then pulled away, and he took a deep breath, slouching back into the pillows beneath him.

"How are you feeling?"

Tadashi turned his attention to the new voice, and recognized her after thinking about a minute. "Aunt Miya?" She nodded, and rubbed his forehead gently. "I feel...tired." He decided, shifting his body and grimacing at the stiffness. "And sore." He added.

The woman hummed in acknowledgement, and gave him a soft smile. "As expected, you did just come out of a coma."

A coma?

The bedridden man struggled to crane his neck to the side, and felt Aunt Cass caressing his cheek. "What happened?" He rasped, but was only shushed by his guardians comforting voice.

He never noticed that he stared into space for a while as Aunt Miya administered some tests, Aunt Cass sat on the chair bedside him squeezing his hand. A light was shone into his eye, and he watched blankly as she gently tugged down the blanket and set the stethoscope on his chest. "I need you to take a deep breath, now exhale." She instructed, and he did as she said, repeating the procedure as she moved to different spots. "Can you feel your arms? Legs? Toes? What about your fingers?" She asked.

Tadashi wriggled those body parts, nearly slouching in relief when all of them responded. "Yeah." He whispered, watching as she scribbled on the clipboard.

"Don't worry about your voice, it'll come back eventually. You haven't used your vocal cords in quite a while." She assured. "You seem to be healthy so far, the hospital will most likely want to run a few more tests. You'll need to have a weight gaining diet and physical therapy to make up for the muscle atrophy." She explained, gently holding up his hand to show the clear loss and how some of his bones stuck out.

Tadashi sighed, feeling downtrodden and confused. "Hey." Aunt Cass' small hand gently pushed his chin up to make his eyes meet hers. "It'll be okay, we'll all go through this together. You'll be up and running in no time." She assured, giving him a small smile of encouragement. "Oh, wait until I tell Hiro about this, he'll be so happy."

Hiro.

Tadashi suddenly realized what this meant. He wasn't dead...he was alive. He could see Hiro again and return to his own life. But...did that mean all he went through was fake or was he actually a ghost or spirit for a certain amount of time? He needed a phone...or some type of social media. He needed to check everything he knew, he couldn't tell his Aunt or the hospital because they would automatically assume something in his brain got damaged and sign him up for counseling. He wasn't crazy, and he had a feeling that none of what he went through was fake.

Speaking of that knucklehead brother of his...

"Where's Hiro?" He asked.

The brunette frowned, "Oh, Hiro is back at home sick, Hikari is taking care of him."

"Sick?" He asked in worry despite his current health.

His aunt smiled, "Don't worry, it's nothing major. Hikari texted me last night that he's feeling better gradually. She's taking good care of him." She reassured, then pursued her lips. "You're going to be so surprised at how much he's grown. He's grown so much over the past two and a half years."

Well...that was one piece of evidence. It was still two and a half years here. He hoped his baby brother got better, he hated when Hiro got sick and tended to panic. But Hiro was a big boy now...well that is what Hiro would insist but Tadashi wouldn't care and still treat him as the same baby brother.

"Oh..." He didn't know how to respond since his mind was still trying to process everything else. "When...when can I see him?" He asked

The woman squeezed his hand, "Soon, Tadashi. Right after he gets better, the doctors wouldn't allow Hiro inside because he's still sick. I'm sure he'll want to reschedule his exams too in order to visit you." She mumbled the last part to herself.

Tadashi found himself re-living the moments where he saw Hiro for the past week, cramming exam reviews and studying to the point of passing out in exhaustion. Hiro had worked hard, he had even gone out of his way to help at the café and help at the hospital where he supervised Baymax as he made his rounds. Every single night, he watched his brother just drop his backpack on the floor and crash onto his bed. No wonder his brother had fallen sick.

"Could...you not tell Hiro?" He said quietly, looking down at the blankets.

Both women in the room blinked in surprise, and Aunt Cass' jaw went a little slack. "You...don't want Hiro to know?" She asked incredulously.

He nodded, "Yeah..." He sighed and clenched his bony fist. "It's not that I don't want to see him. Hiro has exams...knowing that knucklehead, he got sick because of cramming for exams and helping you because I wasn't there."

That was simply it. He blamed himself for running into the fire, for leaving Hiro alone. Some brother he was. And his sacrifice was for nothing, Callaghan had the intention of killing his brother and his friends. He spent two and a half years watching over his brother and being invisible, being a guardian of some sort. Now, he suddenly finds out he was in a coma all along.

Tadashi flexed his hand, taking note as some bones stuck out and looked pale.

Another reason was because of well...how he looked like. He was pale, bony and he betted that he looked extremely sick from being bedridden for so long. The elder Hamada didn't want Hiro to see him like this. He was supposed to be a role model, he was supposed to look after Hiro. What could he do when he could barely stand up by himself? His brotherly pride didn't want Hiro to see him yet. If he didn't dream up everything, then there was no doubt that Hiro would drop everything he was doing and spend his whole time fussing over Tadashi.

Hiro had worked too hard to have all of that effort thrown away.

"At least...don't tell him until exams are over." He pleaded.

His aunt sighed, and nodded. "I...Okay, exams are over in three days anyways. I guess you want to look your best for Hiro right?" She wiped a tear away from her eye and laughed softly. "Oh Tadashi...even after being bedridden for two and a half years and waking up from a coma you still put your brother before you."

Tadashi responded with a weak smile, "Hiro always comes first."

That, and he needed to sort himself out. Tadashi hesitated, before speaking up. "Can I use a phone or something? I...want to catch up on what I missed." He said in embarrassment.

His aunt adopted a guarded look and furrowed her eyebrows. "Um...can't that wait?"

He shook his head.

She twirled a strand of hair, one of the habits he recognized as her being nervous. "Really? Because I don't think you need to know right away, you just woke up! Um...how about I have Hikari come here? Yeah, she could tell you stuff." She said, plastering on a pleading smile.

Tadashi knew that she was simply trying to protect him from figuring out what happened to Callaghan if his ghost adventures were accurate. If he had figured out by social media and never knew about Callaghan, they would expect him to be devastated and depressed. Well, he was depressed and felt betrayed for about a week after he figured out the truth. Callaghan was his ex-professor, the man used to be his favorite and one of his role models. But from watching the man himself try to kill his brother he couldn't bring himself to forgive the man, neither could he regret trying to save his professor.

Everybody deserved a second chance, his professor got one when Tadashi ran into the fire and he simply threw it away.

But what could he possibly tell them without sounding crazy? The doctors would say that everything he went through was a dream, a way of coping with being in a coma. He needed to find someway to prove he didn't just make everything up...of course he would tell Hiro about his time as a ghost or spirit. No...that wouldn't work because he was bound to find out something he wasn't supposed to know in the span of three days.

Tadashi rubbed his forehead, feeling an upcoming headache sneak by again.

Who could he talk to that would believe him? He couldn't contact his friends because they would not believe him no matter what he said, well, with the exception of Fred. But Fred wouldn't take it seriously. Hiro would feel betrayed if he told one of his friends before his brother. There had to be some loop hole that he could use to his advantage.

The Hamada watched as his aunt talked to Aunt Miya, the certified doctor was pointing to things on the chart she held and explaining things to his aunt.

Wait.

Tadashi's mind went back to Aunt Cass' suggestion before she started talking to the other female in the room.

From his out of body experience Hikari studied in medicine and robotics. She also worked at the hospital occasionally and helped her mother. Although she worked in the child wing of the hospital, she also volunteered to help other patients in the main facility. Hikari was really close to the Hamada family, and he saw as the little sister he never had.

She was his loop hole.

He did remember her seeing him a few times, and he noticed that she saw him more often near his awakening. But unlike Hiro she didn't space out and just drop everything. Hiro could see him for a longer period of time...Hikari could only see him for a few seconds and then he disappeared from sight. Tadashi often saw her furrowing her eyebrows or blinking where he stood, she didn't say anything against it and seemed to smile.

Almost like she knew he was watching over them...

One time Tadashi followed her when she visited her father's grave, then his afterwards. She was upset, and talked about almost giving up on a project. A few words of encouragement came out of his mouth even though she couldn't see him, but to his surprise she gaped at him freely for a few seconds. He took that to his advantage and encouraged her to never give up, and to look for a new angle.

That was one of the only times he could speak to somebody without disappearing for about three minutes tops.

After that, and she asked herself if she was hallucinating, and blamed it on the all-nighter she pulled the other night. But she thanked him, and he got to tell her to tell Hiro that he loved him and missed him so much before he shimmered away from her sight. Hiro had the guts to tell her about the times where he thought he saw him, and she admitted that she saw him too. They both kept that secret between themselves, and Tadashi was so happy when Hikari had passed on the message.

Hiro looked so happy when he heard that despite the hope of it being fake.

If he could find someway for Hikari to believe him he would use that...and if she remembered and all of his memories matched up, it was all real. He trusted her, and Hiro wouldn't get mad at Hikari for keeping Tadashi a secret for three days. She worked here anyways, and if the bonehead did get mad Tadashi would step in and make it clear with his brother that it was his request.

Once Hikari knew and Hiro knew, they could help cover the fact that he knew everything from the past two and a half years from his friends and Aunt Cass. Hiro was a master at lying, and over the years Hikari had picked up on some habits from Hiro. Both good and bad like her substitution of coffee with hot chocolate...or how they both still took Mochi out for a joy ride with the cat thrusters Hiro made when they were little when Aunt Cass wasn't looking.

Tadashi inwardly did a happy dance at his plan and cleared his still sore throat, "Aunt Cass?" She looked over. "Um...Hikari can come."

She raised an eyebrow, "...Really?"

He could tell she was getting a little suspicious as to why he would prefer Hikari over a phone where he could search all he wanted with a swipe of his finger. "Well...I haven't seen her in a long time, Hikari can keep a secret. It's better than a phone, right?" He stressed the word phone and she widened her eyes, adamantly nodding.

Aunt Miya spoke up, "Hikari can help him recover Cass...he needs to be around somebody, she could tell him. She can also help with therapy." She added which made his aunt completely convinced.

"Alright." She said, standing up from her chair.

He looked at her in confusion, "Where are you going?"

The brunette gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "I have to go back home, Hiro will get suspicious if I don't come home soon and I need to open the cafe. Miya says that the hospital wants to run some tests. I'll go home, sneak by and tell Hikari to come. By the time you finish Hikari will be here with you, I'll try and visit you soon okay?"

Tadashi nodded, smiling weakly. "Okay."

"Good." She reached up, kissing him on the forehead and giving him one of her famous last hugs. "Now you behave during your tests, okay? Recover quickly so you can come home and you can have any pastry you want...right after I lecture you." She added the last part, he lightly chuckled and ignored the itching feeling in his throat.

"Okay." He whispered, squeezing her hand and watching her walk out of the room.

Aunt Miya smiled beside him, brushing a piece of hair out of his eyes. "Now let's go get those tests done."

Cass blew a piece of hair out of her eyes, shivering at the chilling winds that went up her spine. She scrambled with the keys, sighing in relief as the warmth enveloped her and shut the door behind her.

"Hiro?"

Cass furrowed her eyebrows when nobody answered and climbed up the stairs.

"Hikari? You two okay?" She called. Maybe they were still asleep...it was around 10:00 am and it was a Sunday too. Teenagers will be teenagers, they slept in and ate food...then either went outside or would take a cat nap.

The brunette caught herself, looking back from the doorway leading to the living room where she saw black hair peak from the sofa. Creeping forward, she snuck around the couch and peeked, hands slapped over her mouth.

"Awwww..." She cooed.

On the couch was Hikari and Hiro, sleeping. They were both snuggled up in blankets, a dark blue blanket hung off of Hikari's body and was half way drapped across Hiro. Her sweet baby nephew snored softly, head resting on Hikari's shoulder with a soft look on his face. Hiro's fluffy tufts of hair stuck out, one strand was being lifted up and down repeatedly from his soft breathing and a small peaceful smile. Hikari was asleep next to him, a relaxed expression on her face as her head lingered near Hiro's.

They were...SO ADORABLE!

She kept one hand clamped around her mouth to prevent the upcoming squeals that threatened to escape her mouth. Using her free hand, she silently scrambled for her camera, taking a bunch of photos with childish glee. Ohh! This is so golden! Wait until Miya sees this!

Once she was satisfied with her photos she tucked the camera away, about to wake them up and she paused. Her gaze wandered to the two phones that sat on the coffee table, and she grinned evilly when an idea came to her mind. Taking both of the phones, she took individual photos, and modified the settings with satisfaction. Cass set down the phones on the coffee table, and although she didn't want to wake them up...she had a request from her bedridden nephew to fulfill.

"Hiro...Hikari, wake up! Rise and shine sleepy heads!" She cooed, shaking both of their shoulders lightly.

Slowly but gradually, they both stirred, blinking tiredly and slowly looking at each other.

Cass took this rare opportunity to coo at them, and clasped her hands together. "Aw, you two fell asleep together." She teased.

She took their reddening faces and wide eyes in satisfaction, and although they didn't pull away from each other, both sixteen year olds gave her twin glares full of embarrassment. "Aunt Cass!" They both whined, and she smirked when Hiro only relaxed his head on Hikari's shoulder.

She laughed, "What? I get my embarrassing privileges." She excused, putting her hands on her hips. "You two must've been tired, you know it's already 10:04 in the morning on Sunday, right?"

Hiro only groaned and burrowed himself into the blankets even further, "Too early..." He mumbled, adamantly staying put because he was comfortable where he was and there was no way he was going to drag himself away from the couch.

The brunette giggled, rolling her eyes at his stubbornness. "Hiro, your 'pillow' needs to be somewhere else. Hikari, your mother told me to let you know that the patient you've been tending to is awake. He wants to see you so he can thank you."

Hikari's eyes snapped open from dozing off, and gasped. "R-Really? Oh-uh! I have to go then." She sputtered, squirming out of the blankets and pausing as Hiro groaned in protest.

"Kariiiiii..." He whined. She betted that Hiro was still half asleep, he was such a heavy sleeper Cass was surprised that he was still awake.

Hikari's blue eyes softened, and she gently guided Hiro's head down to the discarded pillow beside her. "Sorry Hiro, I-I have to go. I'll be your pillow later, okay? Then you can sleep on my shoulder all you want, I'll even get those gummy bears I promised." She persuaded, and at Aunt Cass' questioning glance she spoke again. "He wouldn't take his medicine earlier...so I bribed him with gummy bears." She explained hastily.

Hiro grumbled in response, shifting his position on the couch to face the cushions. "Fine..." He huffed, hugging the blankets around him and drifting off into sleep.

Cass exhaled, rubbing a thumb against Hiro's shoulder and gave the black haired girl a smile. "Thank you for taking care of him...again."

The girl smiled sweetly, stretching in place. "No problem, I'm just glad he's feeling better. I'll just stop my the hospital, get Hiro's gummy bears and then come back. I can help out with the late noon shift for the café, and I can help Hiro with exam studying if he's up for it." She offered, shrugging on her jacket and wrapping the scarf around her neck.

The brunette sighed in relief, and hugged the teen. "Ugh! Thank you again! But take it easy okay, sweetie? Don't want you getting sick like Hiro. Take your time at the hospital, I have a feeling that its going to be a long visit. But just be careful with him, he doesn't know about Callaghan yet." She whispered, peering back to see Hiro softy snoring on the couch.

Hikari nodded, rocking on her heels signaling that she was in a real rush to just run to the hospital from the excited gleam in her once tired eyes. "I will." She pulled the woman into a hug and then rushed downstairs, and Cass could hear the back door open before being locked.

The Hamada walked toward the window, and watched as Hikari jogged through the streets waving at various regulars at the café on the way. Hikari's hair bobbed up and down from her messy bun, and in her rush she had put on her boots sloppily and she still wore Hiro's hoodie and SFIT pants. The sixteen year old then waved a hand to one of the cable cars running down the street, and jumped on quickly and walked inside.

Cass felt a smile creep onto her face, and she cupped her cheek with her palm as she exhaled.

They grow up so fast...

As the cable car disappeared from sight she walked back, and briefly checked on Hiro before heading downstairs to put on her yellow apron. Cass sighed at the ingredients in front of her, and cracked her hands in preparation for work.

Time to get back to work.

"Well, good news Tadashi." Aunt Miya beamed, her doctor coat swaying behind her. "The tests went well, and there are no other problems besides your weight loss and muscle atrophy. I'll talk to the staff about your therapy and we'll get started right away."

Tadashi slouched against the mattress in relief and gave a tired smile. "That's good to hear." He whispered, his voice still didn't come back completely but he didn't care. All that mattered was that there was no other damage he needed to be concerned about, and since he was in a coma for two and a half years he didn't really have to suffer through his healing burns and other injuries. He still had to use a wheelchair to get to places because he couldn't walk without his legs giving out under strain but he could handle that.

All that was left was for him to gain weight, muscle, and get used to walking again from being bedridden.

Miya hummed, tapping a pen against her mouth as she set the clipboard down and ruffled his black hair. "It'll go by quickly, plus, with Hiro knowing that you're alive you'll never be bored." She laughed, her gaze wandering to check on the IV bag and feeding tube they didn't remove yet.

He followed her gaze, and then looked down to his IV riddled hand with a frown. "When will I be able to take this out?" He asked.

"As soon as we think your body can cope without it. It's been surviving off of the medication and nutrients for a long time. The feeding tube can come out if you pass your feeding test. That will probably be tomorrow, if your body can down at least some food without rejecting it you pass. You haven't eaten in a while...so your stomach will have to adjust to food. It's sensitive right now so we'll start with liquids and go to solids."

He nodded, and inwardly pleaded his body to not reject the food. If he couldn't handle eating that meant more time in the hospital. It was weird enough to survive on a feeding tube, it felt abnormal for him and he just wanted something to be normal. Plus...he felt kind of hungry.

The sound of skidding feet caught his attention, and he turned his gaze to the door as his hospital door opened.

"I'm...here..."

Hikari stood at the door, one hand on her knee and the other clutching the doorway as she leaned forward and panted in exhaustion. Her hair was disheveled, the messy bun laid limp on her head. She wore a jacket over a baggy hoodie and sweatpants, and a scarf. Her sweatpants were tucked in her boots in a messy manner.

Miya quirked an eyebrow and smiled at her daughter in amusement, "Hikari...that was quick." She mused.

Hikari smiled sheepishly, and dragged herself toward the foot of the bed. "Yeah...I took the cable car...got here as fast as I could." She said in between breathes. "Did I miss anything?"

"Actually, no. You were just in time for me to tell you that you're on nurse duty everyday after your classes at SFIT." Aunt Miya turned to Tadashi. "Tadashi, Hikari will help you from now on and assist with your therapy. I have to check up on another patient so you two get along. " She said, before walking out the door.

Tadashi watched as Hikari took off her soaked coat, throwing it against one of the chairs that was lined up against the walls and almost skipped to his bed with a wide grin. "Sorry I wasn't here when you woke up, your knucklehead of a brother was too busy using me as a pillow." She giggled, brushing a bang out of her face.

He raised an eyebrow when she mentioned being used as a pillow and studied Hikari instead. Now that he thought about it...was that Hiro's hoodie and SFIT sweatpants? It looked like she just rolled out of bed too...that was unlike her unless she was too tired or lazy to care. "...Is that Hiro's hoodie and sweatpants?" He asked hesitantly, watching her with wide curious eyes as she blushed a bright red and suddenly realized what he was assuming.

Hikari simply hugged the hoodie closer to her to keep warm, and sent a small, playful glare. "Not another word Hamada." She warned, but her twinkling eyes said another story with her pink cheeks either from embarrassment or the cold.

But his protective brother side was curious so he ignored her warning and proceeded to tease her, "Are you sure? How do I know you two aren't doing anything?" He asked.

The girl once again turned cherry red and threw her arms up in exasperation, "It was just a nap okay? We both fell asleep on the couch and he used me as a pillow!" She exclaimed, dramatically gripping her messy hair with an exaggerated expression.

Tadashi laughed, ignoring the painful itching in his throat and smiled wearily. He knew Hikari was doing this on purpose, she was always melodramatic when it came to these kinds of things...well, at least in his ghost adventures. "Thanks Hikari, I needed that." He rasped, and cleared his throat.

The blue eyed girl stuck her tongue and shrugged, "You looked like you needed it, I could care less about that. That's not the most embarrassing thing that has happened between the two of us, it was just a nap."

The elder Hamada found himself a little confused at her casual gestures, he thought she would be more like how Aunt Cass acted.

"You're probably wondering why I'm not bawling my eyes out and suffocating you with a hug, am I right?" She asked.

He blinked in surprise, "How did you know?"

She smiled sheepishly and blew a bang of hair away, "You're easy to read, I had plenty of practice reading through Hiro's lies and excuses when he tried hiding things. Somebody has to 'keep him in line' as Gogo likes to say." Tadashi snorted at Gogo's logic. "Plus, I...kind of had my share of crying when I first figured out you were here from my mom. Although I didn't hug you to death...I will do that once you're out of the hospital and recovered like how the others will do."

His shoulders slumped in relief, and lazily opened an eyelid. "Good, I don't think I can handle another teary reunion today." He said, opening both of his eyes when she set a hand on his. He squeezed it, smiling at her comforting gesture. "By the way...I actually have some things to ask about." He brought.

Her casual stance immediately shifted, and she tilted her head attentively. "Yeah? Fire away, I'm all ears."

Tadashi took a deep breathe and gripped the sheets around him in his knuckles, "About the past two years...I have some things I want to clarify." He shifted his head on he pillows and turned it to face her eye to eye. "Callaghan...he's in prison for assault on Krei, stealing, and destruction of property right? His daughter Abigail was rescued from the portal from cyber sleep, and now works at Krei Tech."

Hikari's eyes widened in shock, and her arm fell against her thigh. "Wha...?"

But he wasn't finished yet.

Tadashi continued. "Then the convention hall was rebuilt...and Krei funded the construction of the Tadashi Hamada hall. Hiro cut the ribbon and they are on good terms. Everybody is graduating next year together...right? Oh, and you're all superheroes in Big Hero 6." He added, wincing because talking too much at one time made him resort to whispering hoarsely.

The girl's jaw was now hanging a little, and she was frozen on the spot as Tadashi kept his eyes steady with hers. "How do you know all of that?" She demanded.

So everything was true, she never said no for an answer.

The injured man looked down at the sheets where he fiddled with his hospital gown. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He murmured, slowly loosing his confidence and thinking that he shouldn't have brought this up.

"Try me." She challenged.

He exhaled, closing his eyes as he opened his mouth. "I...I don't know how to explain this in a logical way. But after I died..." He saw her flinch when he said that word and continued. "I found myself waking up at the ruins, I assumed it was a dream so I went back to the café. I saw the news on the way about the fire, and people just walked through me."

Tadashi shivered, distantly remembering the feeling of people walking through him. "I was in denial. When I arrived Aunt Cass and Hiro were leaving so I followed them...I watched my own funeral and they suffered because of my sacrifice. Then the whole fiasco with Callaghan and I was in a slump for a while. I watched over Hiro, deciding that since nobody could see me I might as well watch him grow up. It's what I've been doing over the past two and a half years, just a ghost watching over the living." He sighed. "But right when I come to peaceful terms with my death, I wake up and discover that I've never been dead but in a coma for all this time. I don't know the difference anymore, I don't even know if everything I saw was fake or not." He croaked, feeling unwanted feelings bubble up inside him.

Hikari stayed silent the whole time, watching him with soft eyes. She reached up, and rubbed her forehead with pursued lips. "Well...even though I don't get it either, what I can tell you is that all you asked really happened." The black haired girl squeezed his hand. "You said you watched over all of us, right? So to prove it tell me something that you wouldn't know without actually being a ghost. Maybe that will prove everything was real." She suggested.

Tadashi blinked away the upcoming tears that glazed over his eyes, "You...believe me?" He said incredulously.

She shrugged, "Why not? Everything is possible, there have been things like that at some point. I know you aren't crazy, the Tadashi Hamada I know would never bring something up as crazy as this if he was serious. It sounds too much like what Fred would reference from his comic books."

Something that only somebody else would know...but there would be no possible way of him knowing.

An idea flashed in his mind and he prayed that this would prove everything, "A while ago...you came to my grave and talked to me. You were upset about a project and talked about giving up. You saw me, I told you to never give up and look for a new angle. You didn't believe I was there and thought the stress was getting to you from the all nighter you pulled the day before. Before I disappeared, I asked you to tell Hiro that I loved him and missed him." He paused, looking up to see her surprised face. "I...I returned to the café and found you two talking about seeing me sometimes when you were closing the place for the night. Both of you have seen me randomly...and you suggested that maybe I was watching over you two and you told Hiro what I said."

Tadashi coughed, biting his lip once he realized he talked to much and he might loose his voice for quite sometime. Hikari offered him a glass, and he shakily drank it with a shaky hand and sighed in relief. "I think I talked too much." He whispered.

Hikari rolled her eyes, "No kidding." She then fell back onto her chair and sighed, "Okay, I believe you. That actually happened and this is really freaky...but this does prove that you're right. So that means I don't need to tell you anything concerning the past two years." She then frowned. "What will you tell Aunt Cass...or my mom? I don't think they'd believe you...neither will the hospital. I can see why you asked me, they would've stuck you in a padded room."

He snorted at her insinuating him being put in a padded room and shook his head tiredly. "I'm not telling Aunt Cass or Aunt Miya...But I will tell Hiro. I have enough support to back my time as a ghost or spirit." He answered.

Hikari leaned one hand against the mattress and circled her pointer finger on the bed sheet. "So...you're going to lie to them? You aren't that good at lying, no offense."

The Hamada sighed, "I don't want to lie but it's the best option...but I have you two to count on right?"

The blue eyed girl nodded, her bun bobbing with her head. "Of course, Hiro would do anything for you, well, of course you would know that. Watching over him and all that stuff." She then rested her cheek against her palm, and leaned against the mattress. "So...how are you going to break it to Hiro that you're alive? You know that will be a mess."

Tadashi smiled sheepishly, "I...was hoping that you could help with that. I don't know what to tell him, and Aunt Cass agreed with me to not tell him until his exams are over. I'd rather have Hiro not worry about me and take his exams instead. I can't call him myself because he'd probably think that its a cruel prank call, I want to see him in person."

Hikari rubbed her chin, "Well..."

Uh oh.

Tadashi had the urge to face palm as Hikari's face morphed into a mischievous smile and her eyes sparkled. "I've got a plan, you know since Christmas is close. You in or out? I'll have to get Aunt Cass involved too."

Hikari looked pretty excited with her idea...and he knew that she would never do anything to hurt Hiro intentionally. He had seen their pranks on each other and it couldn't possibly be that bad. Scratch that, it might be as bad as that. Well, he practically had no choice in this situation. Plus he was bored, he wanted to go out and do something because being bedridden was more boring than wandering around while being invisible. He hadn't pranked Hiro in a while...

The Hamada hesitated, before speaking up with furrowed eyebrows. "Okay...but what do you have planned?" He asked.

The sixteen year old laughed lightly at his wary expression and leaned back into her chair in a relaxed manner. "Three key words Tadashi: ribbons, lights, and blindfolds." She said with a sly smile on her face.

Tadashi shook his head in exasperation when he could just picture the gears turning in her head for a master plan. "Unbelievable."

What was he getting himself into...?

Author's Note: Well there's chapter 12, again, really sorry for being late again. I'm just reallllllly busy lately, I hope the really long chapter made up for my lateness... So what do you guys think? Please review if you can and have a great day! :)