[Hello, once again! I have returned, and I bear gifts! Well, gift. I wrote a new chapter. Is this a nice gift?

Anyways, in terms of the playlist I was thinking about adding, I think I'll just add one or two songs to the beginnings of the previous chapters and call it a day. I'll probably end up doing that later. Mrrp.

I'll also probably add a list of headcanons at some point, because I have so many. xD

Also, as you have doubtless noticed, I have changed the title! I apologize for doing so with absolutely no notice, but it needed to be done. The original title was intended to be temporary, anyways. Try to guess what it's from!

Anyways, here you are, please enjoy, and DON'T kill me, please.

This chapter's song is 'Breathe No More' by Evanescence.]

'All the little pieces falling, shatter

Shards of me, too sharp to put back together

Too small to matter, but big enough to cut me into so many little pieces...'

-Breathe No More, by Evanescence

Hiro sat atop one of the buildings outside an abandoned warehouse, blinking in the harsh sunlight.

"Seriously, little dude, what is it with your brother and abandoned warehouses?"

"I don't know. Lots of space," he mused aloud, remembering a time that he had found Tadashi almost in the middle of a panic attack... because he had stepped into their closet and almost gotten stuck there. That was when Hiro had discovered that the seemingly invincible, overly confident and strong Tadashi Hamada was, for all of his airs, extremely claustrophobic. Oops.

"If he wanted a ton of space, he should have just swung by my house," Fred replied, chuckling to himself. "Seriously, here are only four people that live at our house: my parents, Heathcliff and I. And my parents aren't even over that often."

"Maybe I should take advantage of that," Hiro joked, nudging the redhead with his elbow.

"Hey, watch it, little dude," Fred laughed, wincing. "Your elbows are lethal."

"Hey, there's a reason I don't have any weapons on my suit." The younger Hamada stopped laughing abruptly, a lone figure catching his eye, and leaned over to watch it. The face was mostly obscured by a San Fransokyo Ninjas hat—almost identical to the one Hiro had at home, minus the ash and tatters—but the slightly awkward gait from the cybernetic prosthetic made him instantly recognizable.

"Would that be Tadashi?"

"Yep."

"Where do you think he's going?"

"I don't know," Hiro muttered, straightening up and stretching his cramped muscles, "But I intend to find out. Let's follow him."

Clicking the heel of his left boot against the concrete, Hiro shifted slightly to the side, caught off balance by the sudden activation of the thrusters.

Sometimes, I don't think I'll ever get used to this.

Regaining his bearings, the teenager propelled himself forward, Fred close behind as his boots caught the air, glinting in the noonday sun as he jumped to the next building.

"He's turning a corner," Fred replied helpfully.

"I know."

"Okay, he's heading into that alley."

Hiro frowned behind his visor, shifting just so to skid to a halt. "Why is he going there? It doesn't lead anywhere." He fished his phone out of his pocket, double checking that yes, this was his brother, then moved to the edge of the flat roof to look over, and his heart almost stopped as Tadashi's voice carried to the figure three stories up.

"I know you're there, Hiro."

Feeling an embarrassed flush creeping over the top of his ears and the back of his neck, the younger Hamada waved sheepishly at his older brother and suddenly stopped, remembering that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Well? Are you going to come down? Or are you just going to sit up there?"

Fred turned to look at him, hands up in a sort of 'I-don't-know-he's-YOUR-mentally-unstable-older-brother-YOU-go-figure-this-out' gesture-which is a gesture that had not been used before, and likely would not be used again. Rolling his eyes, Hiro looked around for some method of getting down, his eyes finally alighting on a fire escape. He sighed, deactivating his boots as he did so. The last thing he needed right now was to trip and fall on his face, likely reopening the wound in his shoulder.

"I'll just go scope out town while you two figure this out. I don't want to intrude on a brotherly moment or something."

"You do that, Fred," Hiro muttered, almost tripping despite the lack of activated rockets on his boots.

Tadashi took a deep breath and stepped out of the warehouse, wincing as the sunlight hit something reflective and flickered across his eyes. He tilted his hat's brim, blinking a few times, then moved out of the way to get a better look at what it was... and sighed as he saw a metal helmet resting snugly on the (rather large in his opinion)head of his little brother.

"Unbelievable," he muttered to himself, shaking his head as he continued walking, as if he hadn't just noticed a superhero/runaway teenager on a rooftop. Because that would be ridiculous, right?

I guess the only thing I need to figure out now is where this is all going to play out. He ruled out possible meeting places in his head—no, there was too populated, that building was abandoned but probably crawling with spiders, and Hiro hated spiders... Hey, he might have not seen his little brother for a year, but some things never changed.

There. Tadashi glanced up, making sure the purple-clad figure and his kaiju friend were in pursuit, then turned into the alley he had spent a good four to five hours brooding in.

He stood, facing a concrete wall, then took a step back and called up. "I know you're there, Hiro."

There was silence for several moments, and Tadashi allowed himself a small smile as his little brother tentatively leaned over the edge, looking down, waving sheepishly—or rather, he assumed it was sheepishly, he couldn't see through Hiro's visor.

"Well?" the elder Hamada demanded. "Are you going to come down? Or are you just going to sit up there?"

Hiro seemed to glance back, probably at Fred, then he began to move towards a fire escape that lead to the alley. Tadashi leaned against the wall, waiting patiently as he descended three slights of stairs, and began to climb down the ladder. He winced as a soft exclamation of pain came from the purple-clad figure, and immediately moved forward to help him down, taking some of his weight as he eased onto the ground.

"I know how to get off a ladder, 'Dashi." his voice was more irritated than anything, as if it hadn't been a year since they'd had a normal conversation, unhindered by gunshot wounds, or burn scars, or bumps caused by a metal pipe across the head.

"Yes, but I feel the need to remind you that you have a gunshot wound in your shoulder."

Hiro didn't reply for a moment, obviously holding back some sarcastic comment, then took a deep breath. "I know what you're going to say."

"Oh?" Tadashi's voice was—as it had been since the fire—oddly raspy and harsh, almost breathless. "And what is that?"

"You're going to say that you're disappointed in me for deliberately disobeying you."

"Well, I am, but that wasn't-"

"You're going to say that I shouldn't have come looking for you, and that I shouldn't have put my health at risk to come find you."

Tadashi winced. "Well, yes. I was going to say that."

Hiro was silent for a few moments, then reached up to take off his helmet, wincing as the sunlight hit him head-on(pun not intended). "I want you to come home with me."

The elder Hamada didn't reply for a moment, then sighed, kneeling down to get a better view of his face. Oh. He's gotten so much older. Not much taller, but older. Yet another reminder of how much I've missed.

"You know I can't do that."

"Well, why not?"

"I thought I summed that up pretty well in my letter," Tadashi muttered, then seeing that Hiro wasn't in the mood for his special brand of humor, he sobered up, taking off his hat as he did so.

As Hiro walked down the stairs, he couldn't help but notice something rising in his chest as he got closer to his older brother. Anxiety? Panic?

What if he doesn't want to be around me anymore? What if that's the real reason he left? What if the letter was a lie?

He grabbed hold of a ladder rung, wincing as he stretched his shoulder in order to cling to one of the holds. The stitches pulled at his skin, and Hiro allowed himself a soft gasp of pain(although in reality, he was forcing back a small shriek). Almost immediately, he felt a hand just underneath his shoulder, pushing his arm up just a little to give it some relief, then an arm wrapping around him as he was eased onto the ground.

Frowning, he looked up into Tadashi's concerned expression(which he could only see half of, due to a little more than half of his face being in shadows), and almost sighed with relief.

"...I know how to get off a ladder, 'Dashi."

"Yes," the older Hamada said decidedly, tilting his head as he seemingly thought that over, "But I feel the need to remind you that you have a gunshot wound in your shoulder."

I suppose that's true, Hiro thought, the injury aching even now. In all honesty, he had been regretting not thinking to bring painkillers. Of course, it was a little late for that now.

"I know what you're going to say," he started slowly, panicking and eerily calm at the same time.

"Oh? And what is that?"

Hiro winced at the raspy, breathless quality that his brother's voice had taken on, and forced himself not to look down, afraid of what he would find underneath Tadashi's collar. "You're going to say that you're disappointed in me for deliberately disobeying you."

"Well," Tadashi interjected, "I am, but that wasn't-"

"You're going to say that I shouldn't have come looking for you, and that I shouldn't have put my health at risk to come find you."

Even beneath the hat, which was lowered so that most of his face was in shadow, Hiro could see his brother wince. "Well, yes. I was going to say that."

Hiro tilted his head slightly, trying to see through the shadows and examine the scars sprawled across Tadashi's face, but as soon as he found Hiro looking, Tadashi turned the scarred side of his face away just enough to make it too difficult to see. In doing so, however, he revealed a small portion of the burn scars around his throat. Forcing himself not to squeak in surprise, Hiro took a deep breath, taking off his helmet to get a better look. The sunlight hit him head-on(pun not intended), and he was forced to squint as he looked Tadashi over.

The tense silence lasted for several more seconds, then finally Hiro decided to break it. "I want you to come home with me."

"You know I can't do that."

"Well, why not?" Yes, the letter had gone into detail on that subject, but Hiro needed to hear it from Tadashi's mouth, to hear him confirm it.

"I thought I had summed that up pretty well in my letter," Tadashi grumbled, amused, but seeing that Hiro wasn't in the mood for this particular brand of humor, he sighed. Casting a tortured glance in his direction, the elder Hamada finally reached up and took off his cap, wincing as the ridged skin on his left side met the harsh sunlight.

It took everything in him for Hiro not to take a step back. Not in horror, or fear, but because the sight was so... unexpected. The red-pink skin stretched from his neck to his bridge of his nose, his left eye almost closed, and the little of it that was visible a sickly white-pink. It was obviously at least slightly painful, with the way Tadashi's hand almost immediately flew to protect his eye from the sunlight.

Perhaps Hiro should have been horrified, no one would have blamed him. But to be entirely honest, he just felt... Surprised, maybe? No, not really, Tadashi had said he had been scarred pretty badly. He was initially a little startled, not by how bad the scars were, but because a small part of him was expecting to see his brother as he had been before: bright eyed, with his signature lopsided grin, confident and ready to change the world.

Seeing him like this wasn't scary, or horrifying. Underneath it all, he was still Hiro's brother. It just felt... wrong, somehow. Not the scars, but the lack of cheerful enthusiasm.

I need to fix that.

Tadashi leaned back a little bit, searching for any sign of emotion on Hiro's part, maybe a squeak of horror, or a double take, followed by a hand flying to his mouth.

"So?"

Tadashi blinked once, twice, three times, in quick succession. "What?"

"So, what?" Hiro shrugged, raising one eyebrow to heaven.

"I don't understand."

"You said that you had summed up why you had to leave in your letter," Hiro explained, forcing back his amusement at Tadashi's shocked expression. "I understand that, but-"

"You're... not afraid?"

"Why would I be?" Hiro frowned, looking his brother up and down. "There isn't really anything frightening going on."

The elder Hamada's jaw almost dropped, his eye growing wide with surprise. "I... I guess I'm just used to screams of terror."

"Come on, 'Dashi," Hiro replied teasingly. "You may be a little grumpy sometimes, but I've lived with you long enough to know you're not a total Grinch."

"That's not what I mean."

"You know, now you could go cosplaying as Prince Zuko, and no one would find you weird."

Tadashi opened his mouth to reply, but found himself lost for words. "Hiro, would you please take this seriously?"

The younger Hamada held back a sharp outburst of laughter. "Have you ever known me to take anything seriously?"

"Yes."

"Then maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did, Nii-chan."

"Maybe I don't," Tadashi muttered, suddenly beginning to wonder if this was a good idea after all. "Hiro, please, I'm trying to make you understand..." He abruptly stopped, seeing that Hiro was mouthing along, making the strangest faces as he did so.

As Hiro realized that Tadashi had stopped speaking, shooting him a glare that could have burned twin holes in his skull, he interrupted. "And I'm trying to make you understand that I don't care. The fact remains, plain and simple, that despite all of your 'good reasons', there's one painfully obvious flaw in your reasoning."

Tadashi glanced at him with something similar to amusement. "And what's that?"

"You don't have the right to do this."

"I... what?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" The college student put his hand against the wall, leaning on it as he continued. "I thought you were supposed to be almost as smart as I am, brother dear." He paused, stepping forward and taking his hand off the wall as he got as close as he dared, eyes suddenly bright with something resembling irritation. "You. Don't. Have. The. Right."

"How dare you?" Tadashi stiffened suddenly, looking down at the fifteen year old. "I'm twenty-three years old. I'm a legal adult, and I can do what I like. If I want to leave San Fransokyo, I most certainly have the right to do that."

Hiro rolled his eyes, letting out a long breath of frustration. "That's not what I meant. You're doing this for my protection. You seem to think that you know the best for me, Tadashi, but I think we both know that's not true."

"You've never just brushed off my advice like this before," Tadashi said quietly, eye narrowing. "I do know what's best for you, and I-"

"No, you don't."

"You can say that all you like, otouto, but the fact remains that I'm dangerous-"

"No, you're not!" Hiro was shouting, balling his fists. He was almost in Tadashi's face, and he was aware that this wasn't appropriate for the situation. Tadashi was unstable right now, but he didn't care. He had gotten started, and he wasn't going to back down now. "You don't know what's best for me! You may be 'a legal adult', and you might be my big brother, but you're not my legal guardian!"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Tadashi's eye grew wide with confusion and hurt. "I'm not your legal guardian, but-"

"And there's a reason for that! If anyone were to be able to make that distinction, it would be Aunt Cass or myself!" Hiro's breath was coming quick now, and he continued. "You don't know what I need, despite what you think! You're not my dad, and you can't tell me what I can and can't do."

Tadashi's voice grew very low as his brother's grew higher, and his eyes grew cold. "I may not be your father, Hiro, but I'd say I'm about the closest thing you've got."

"Oh, so what? You're going to- to send me to my room?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You haven't even been around for the past year!" Hiro was beginning to hyperventilate now, forcing back the sobs threatening to choke him. "How would you know what's best for me?!"

"I'm your older brother, of course-" Tadashi stopped, his breath knocked out of him as Hiro suddenly surged forward, his arms wrapping around Tadashi's middle. He found himself suddenly with a face full of soft black hair, and winced as his brother hugged him a little too tightly.

"I don't need you gone, Nii-chan."

Tadashi glanced down again, his heart pounding. I can't let this happen. I can't go back home, I can't let Hiro get hurt again.

"Otouto..." He stopped again, feeling the teenager shaking, and let his thought trail off as he realized that Hiro was sobbing gently into his shoulder.

"Please, T-Tadashi." Hiro's voice grew quieter, the screams locked in his throat dying down, and it dropped to a low whisper as he choked back tears. "I... I can't lose you again. Not again."

"We have arrived in Las Edo."

"Yeah, we got that, Baymax."

The robot blinked—well, if you could count it as blinking—and landed on the nearest building, which just so happened to be a large replica of the Taj Mahal. He gently set down Wasabi first, who clutched the spire as if it were a lifeline.

"You know, this isn't much better than being in the air!"

"Calm down, Wasabi, it isn't so bad!" Honey Lemon let Baymax set her down, then straightened up, rolling her shoulders back and letting the wind blow her hair out of her face. "This feels amazing!"

"Not if you're afraid of heights," Wasabi muttered, holding the spire close.

GoGo ignored him, leaning over to look at Baymax's face. "Can you scan the city now?"

"Affirmative." Baymax seemed to look around, a slight whirring lost to the wind, then blinked again. "Tadashi and Hiro are: over there," the healthcare companion informed them, pointing towards a more run-down section of the city.

GoGo looked up, tilting her head and squinting to see the area of town. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. "There's smoke coming from over there."

"Affirmative."

"I see flames."

Honey Lemon was on her toes, straining to see. "I see a fire engine."

Wasabi sighed, reluctantly loosening his grip on the spire and returning to clutch Baymax's arm. "Well, looks like there's our next stop. I really hope Tadashi hasn't run in again or something."

If Hiro had given Tadashi a hug on this scale(bone-crushing, suffocating, with tears streaming down his face) a year ago, he could have handled it, no sweat. He was fairly certain he had gotten a good handle on how best to calm him down back then. He was the strong, morally-centered, gentle and encouraging older brother who had spent a good portion of his life doing everything he could to keep him safe.

But now, after he'd quite literally hopped out of the frying pan and into the fire, murdered a mob boss and innocent policewoman, hit Hiro upside the head with a metal pipe, tried to kill his robotics professor and, on top of it all, put his little brother in the hospital with a bullet in his shoulder, he wasn't quite as sure.

To be entirely honest, he wasn't even sure that Hiro quite knew what to do now, either.

Tadashi's arms attempted to move in such a way that it could be interpreted as a hug, of sorts, crossing over his back, and ended up in not a much better position than before. He had a sudden urge to pat Hiro and the head and say something awkward like 'There, there,' or, remembering an awkward test involving pictures on his phone, mumble 'Hairy Baby'. Of course, Hiro probably wouldn't understand the reference...

"I'm sorry, otouto."

"Please don't say that." Tadashi felt Hiro's fists clench behind his back as he hugged him tighter. "That makes it sound like you're leaving again."

Well, crap. How can I tell him now?

"Hiro..."

"Hiro!"

Tadashi looked up, startled, to his redheaded science enthusiast friend bounding to a stop in front of them. He glanced down to his brother pulling away just slightly to look at Fred through the suit. "What is it?"

Fred pulled off his(rather large) helmet, eyes wide with concern. "I hate to break up such a lovely brotherly reunion, but we're needed. Now."

Hiro frowned, and forced himself to let go of his older brother, trying to pretend he hadn't noticed the sigh of relief as he did so. "What's...?"

BOOM.

His eyes grew wide, and he briefly glanced at Tadashi to make sure he wasn't going to run off. However, the elder Hamada stepped forward, placing his hand gently on Hiro's injured shoulder. "Let's go."

Hiro wasn't entirely sure what he expected. Perhaps a bank robbery, or a shooting. What he hadn't expected was an apartment building up in flames.

He took an involuntary step back, old panic rising up in him as the orange fire licked at the air, filling it with smoke and ash. Instinctively, he turned to look at his older brother, and...

"Tadashi?"

The elder Hamada was staring, open mouthed at the roaring flames. He was clearly having trouble breathing, his chest rising and falling rapidly, shaking.

"Tadashi, look at me." Hiro watched as his brother glanced down at him, then back up, then back down again before backing away.

"I... I can't... Not again."

There was a piercing scream, and, torn between his brother and whoever was screaming, he finally decided that Tadashi's life wasn't in any immediate danger and turned to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" He moved forward, placing his hand on a woman's shoulder, about 25 years old maybe. "Are you alright?"

The woman looked up, tears in her eyes, then shook her head emphatically. "My daughter!" She was barely able to keep from screaming it, saltwater pouring down her cheeks. "My little girl's still in there!"

Hiro froze, blinking once, twice, three times, then looked back at Fred, willing him to understand what he meant.

He did. Unfortunately, so did Tadashi.

"Hiro!" A strangled scream ripped from Tadashi's throat as he surged forward, Fred lunging after him as he grabbed his brother's arm. "Hiro, no!"

And Hiro was thrown back in time, to a year before.

A building was in flames, the sharp light from the Exposition Hall contrasting against the blue-black sky. He was running up the steps, clutching his older brother's arm, terrified and confused.

"Tadashi, no!"

And his older brother had looked back, once, eyes wide with that selfless concern, the look that from that moment on he had hated with a passion, because it was the look that he got just before he did the dumbest thing in his life. He had stood up a little straighter, determined to be Callaghan's savior, and replied quietly.

"Callaghan's still in there."

Hiro felt the memory wash over him in an instant, his own fear from a year previous reflected in Tadashi's eyes.

He gave his brother a small smile, swallowing his own panic.

"Someone's still in there, Tadashi."

"Hiro, I absolutely forbid-"

"Someone has to help."

The parallel was not lost on the elder Hamada. His grip loosened just slightly, and only for an instant, but it was enough. Hiro wrenched himself away from his brother, and ran into the burning building.

"No..."

"Hiro, please, no!"

Tadashi's breath came in short, gasping bursts, and he screamed. "Hiro!"

[Ahh, no! Hiro, don't be an idiot! Dumb autho... Oh, wait, I forgot. I wrote this. I'm a jerk. *winces*

I loved writing the part about Tadashi suddenly forgetting how hugs work. Mrrp.

Anyways, here are the answers to your reviews!

Buttons and Horseshoes: Yeah, I'm partial to cliffhangers. I love them so much!

Lady Cougar-Trombone: Actually, the fire is in Las Edo. I apologize for not clarifying further!

Tears Fall: No, it doesn't matter who that lady is. She's just a little plot device I threw in.

Banana Gun: Okay, so the answers to those are: I can't say, and yes, yes they do.

SkatingDJ: Actually, my friend came up with that(although in her case, it was a potted plant, not a jacket).

The Fujita isn't actually anyone especially important. I just needed some more words to feel good about the potentially extremely boring chapter. I just needed to show how the fire started!

I'm trying to subtly push him back in our direction, don't worry! Momenti!

DaydreamDepartment: Erm, the latter. She isn't that important(to the plot, at least). And I'm afraid I can't say! But thank you, so, so, much!

HorseTechie: No kidding. I feel old as well... And I'm really not that old. xD

Agreed.

That might be a little weird. Talk about a plot twist! However, it has already been done. Have you ever seen 'The Empty Child'?

Okay, thanks!

Tony18: Yeah, this story might be drawing to a close in either the next chapter or the one after. ;^; Not entirely sure how to feel about this.

Yeah, Fred has seemed startlingly out of character for the whole story. I attempted to explain this the best I could this chapter.

As to who the Fujita and 'he' are... It really doesn't matter. To be entirely honest, I hadn't intended to make that a big thing. Although... Hm. I might have to look into this. I smell a sequel on the horizon.

Everyone else: Thank you so much for reading! Please give me a review and let me know how you did-your support is much appreciated! Thank you again!

Oblivious Out~! *throws self out of frame*]