Hiro soon found himself being guided outside, Obake right by his side. The sunlight was harsh and he enjoyed the feeling of the sunrays on his skin. He hadn't known that their old home was located right at the beach, next to a cliffside. As he let his eyes take in all of the scenery he felt a slight sting in his heart when he noticed the red bridge far away in the distance. It was the same sensation he had felt when he had first seen the monument on Obake's screens the day before. The way it seemed so familiar was starting to make him uncomfortable.
"Hiro." He quickly turned to where he had heard his name called. He saw two rather large, white vans with commercial print for a pizza company on them, Obake standing right in front of them. Hiro found the picture odd and couldn't help but to chuckle a bit, especially when the hamburger robot climbed into the backseat of one of the vans. When Obake gestured for Hiro to come he took one last look at the bridge before hurrying over. For a moment he feared that the chips he had taken from the metal skeleton would fall out of his pocket, but he was lucky enough that they didn't. Although he felt like he did trust Obake he wasn't sure whether he wanted to find out how the man would react when he realized that Hiro had blatantly disregarded his orders.
"You'll sit in the front. With me." Obake said when Hiro reached him. He had opened the door of the van and gestured for Hiro to get in. "The others will be following us in the other."
Hiro didn't give it a second thought and immediately climbed onto the elevated seat. He found himself rather far off the ground and enjoyed the feeling of being so high up. When the door was closed he buckled up and made sure the zipper of his pocket was up as well. The last thing he wanted was for the chips to fall out, after all.
It took Obake only a moment to join him and to climb onto the driver's seat. As he started the car Hiro glanced out the window. He couldn't really see the bridge anymore and felt a bit unsettled. Somehow this was feeling strange to him. He didn't know where they were going, nor did he know what was going to happen next. All he knew was that, although he had no recollection of what had happened before he had woken up, he desperately wanted to go to the city.
"Are you alright, my boy?" Obake asked suddenly and pulled Hiro out of his thoughts. "You seem distracted."
Hiro blinked and turned his attention away from the window and instead to the man next to him. He was a bit confused as to what he meant as he felt like he was just the same as he had been the last couple days. "I'm okay." He reassured Obake and gave him a small smile. "Just … a bit tired."
Obake did not seem satisfied with his answer and Hiro could tell that the man knew he was hiding something. His heart was beating uncomfortably in his chest as he grew more and more aware of the chips inside his pocket. In order to not get caught he turned his face back to the window and watched the scenery change as Obake finally started driving. Despite the growing worry of getting caught Hiro quickly found himself distracted when there were houses passing them by. Despite not really knowing how a city like San Fransokyo might look, he got the feeling that they were getting closer and closer. Just by the way the houses were growing larger and the number of shops was increasing he thought that he could tell.
"Do you know where we're going?" Obake suddenly asked, once again pulling Hiro out of his thoughts. The man's eyes were switching between watching the road and watching they boy next to him. When Hiro just shook his head he seemed satisfied, knowing that the others had kept to his orders to not let him know. "My friend Robert found a good place for us outside of the city, down south." Obake began explaining. "It has enough space for your workshop and for me to work without being interrupted. But we have to drive through the city to get to it."
Hiro let out a small gasp of excitement that immediately caught Obake's attention. "S-Sorry." The boy quickly said. "Just … I really wanna know more about the city. I heard the others talk about the city when we were cleaning out the room and-"
"And what did they say?" Obake cut him off coldly, his brow furrowed. "Tell me exactly what they said."
"They said, uhm …" Hiro tried his hardest to remember every single thing they had said. "There is a cinema, a lot of good food and … I can't remember the name, but a coffee shop that's popular. And lots and lots of people."
"Alright." Obake nodded slowly, seemingly listening very closely to Hiro's words. "Keep going."
"That's … that's it." Hiro admitted, his smile fading as Obake's expression remained stern. "I didn't hear all of it … but it sounded pretty cool."
Another silence spread out between them in which Hiro nervously waited for a reaction. He couldn't really explain it, but, despite being his teacher and the person who took him in when he needed it, Obake really intimated him. The way he was so calm and then so angry within a second frightened him. It was like Obake had a side to him that Hiro just hadn't seen, but felt.
"Don't worry, Hiro." He eventually said, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel. Watching the man be this tense made Hiro feel uneasy. "It's okay. You'll soon have a place to relax and work."
Hiro nodded closely and bit his lip. He hesitated for a moment before asking "Did … did I do something wrong?"
Obake furrowed his brow at the strange questions and looked at him for a moment. "Why would you think that?"
"Just …" Hiro broke eye contact rather quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed at his own question. "Back in the room you were so angry with Momokase … and I couldn't really understand why. I felt like … like it was my fault you got angry. I didn't mean for you to be … mad." He fiddled about with the hem of his shirt, nervous as to what Obake's answer might be.
For a moment there was absolute silence in the van. The only sound Hiro could hear were the many boxes in the truck rubbing against each other and the dishes and materials in some of them clinking. The way Obake stayed silent for so long had Hiro worried that he might have overstepped his bounds. Maybe he wasn't supposed to read this much into things?
Worried about the man's response Hiro glanced out the window and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the large, red bridge up ahead of them. They were on their way to drive over it and into the city.
"Hiro," Obake eventually spoke up, "you should take your medicine." The man gestured at another small bottle in the side of the van's door. A bit disappointed that he still hadn't gotten an answer Hiro obediently took the water bottle and started drinking. The slightly sour taste made him shiver, but he drank all of it within a few more moments. The way Obake seemed satisfied again made him feel a bit better and less tense. Just like it had been the day before after he had finished his medicine, his nervousness slowly ebbed away. He leaned back in the seat a bit more comfortably and rested his head against the door so he could look outside. The bridge was getting larger and larger right in front of his eyes, but his excitement didn't grow like he had expected it to. Instead it slowly disappeared and instead of taking in the impressive sight of the bridge he just watched as other cars passed them by. Suddenly he didn't really have any interest in the bridge or in the city. The weird feeling he had had in his gut was slowly starting to disappear, too. The medicine really did help him overcome all these weird side effects of his lab accident, he thought.
However, for some reason he grew strangely tired all of a sudden, his body feeling heavy. He probably hadn't gotten enough sleep last night, he figured. His heart was beating heavily, like it was begging him to go to sleep. But, being the curious nature that he was, he didn't want to sleep again. And so, Hiro yawned silently and sat up in his seat, trying to wake up a little.
"You did do something wrong." Obake suddenly said, his voice cutting through the silence. "But it's okay, because you didn't know." Hiro's heart sank a bit at the man's words. "It was Momokase who overstepped her bounds though, not you. And I'd rather you avoid her from now on." He continued explaining, his eyes fixed on the street ahead of them. Hiro watched him speak and tried to take in everything it was he needed to know. "It is not her place to explain these kinds of things to you, that's it. It is my job to make sure you know what you need to know and that you're safe. Looking at those things made you feel strange, didn't it?"
Hiro blinked in surprise, wondering how he could have known that, and agreed quietly. When the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the sky grew a bit darker Hiro immediately felt his eyelids get heavier. He found it so hard to stay awake, but he continued fighting not to fall asleep. "Y-Yeah … I can't really explain, but … it made my head hurt. I think it might have …" he needed a moment to find the words. Speaking suddenly became harder. "… sparked my memory or something …"
"And that is exactly why it is not her place to talk to you about what happened." Obake said coldly. "Please do not think it was your fault, because it wasn't. But," Hiro blinked up at him when his voice turned strict, "I did not like you doing things without first discussing them with me."
"D-Doing things?" Hiro repeated, confused as to what he might mean. Had Obake seen him take the chips?
"You do not do what others ask of you, do you understand? You listen to me only." Obake's voice was now colder than it had ever been before. He did not look at Hiro but only stared on ahead. "If I don't tell you to, you do not leave the room, you don't work or sleep. You won't even breathe if I don't tell you to. You'll do exactly as you're told or there will be consequences, do you understand?" when Hiro hesitated to answer Obake repeated "Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes." Hiro answered quickly. "Of course … I-I'll do as you tell me to … and … s-sorry about what happened …"
"And that includes," he added, "changing your clothes when I tell you to."
Hiro froze again and looked down his body. He hadn't thought that this would be a big deal. He apologized in a quiet voice, hoping that there was nothing else he'd done wrong.
Obake nodded and the stern expression slowly softened again. Although he had seemingly returned to be the same nice man he had been last night, Hiro felt uncomfortable in his presence. He had mentioned consequences if he did something Obake did not approve of … and he really didn't want to find out what those consequences were. He thought that maybe he was lucky that there were no consequences now, despite his wrong-doing with the clothes.
Before he could think about this for much longer another wave of tiredness washed over him, dragging him down. Hiro couldn't remember ever being this tired. He could barely keep his eyes open. His heart was now beating uncomfortably fast in his chest, it felt like it was screaming for him to just close his eyes and sleep.
"You must be tired from packing today." He heard Obake say, a soft chuckle escaping him. "Sleep a bit. I'll wake you when we get there."
Hiro only hummed a bit, unable to form words. His consciousness almost gone. This felt like more than just a regular sleep, he thought as his mind drifted off.
For the second time that day he saw the face of the man whom he had dreamed of to be his older brother. The high cheek bones, dark, brown eyes and the black hair that covered his forehead, Hiro could picture it so well. For a moment they just looked at each other and Hiro started to notice all the similarities between the two of them. They shared the same eyes, the same lips and the same hair. Even the slender figure was something the two of them had in common.
The way the man smiled down at him made him feel so warm and comfortable inside that Hiro couldn't help but to believe that this man really was his older brother – at least in this dream he was.
Before he could anything about it though the dream shifted and he found himself sitting on the floor, back in that room from his dream the night before. His brother was by his side, wearing shorts and a well-worn shirt. When Hiro glanced down at his own body he noticed how he was wearing the same shirt and the same shorts. He couldn't help but to chuckle a bit when he realized that they had the same pajamas. His brother was drawing on a large piece of paper that was on the floor. When Hiro looked down at it he got excited. The picture his brother was drawing seemed to be for some sort of machine that was supposed to produce snow and ice. Somehow Hiro just knew that he had never really seen snow before. Although he couldn't remember, he just knew.
His brother continued drawing for a bit before sitting up and straightening the paper on the ground. A wide smile spread on his face as he looked over it one more time. Hiro sat up too and leaned a bit closer, trying to help him check the machine's plan.
When his brother suddenly turned his head to him Hiro looked up. "_!" however, when he could only see his brother's mouth move silently, Hiro blinked in confusion. The older was looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response, that Hiro could not give him. "_?" his mouth moved again, but Hiro could still not hear a single word he was saying. He was so confused and so was his brother. When Hiro spoke, he could hear his own voice, so it must have meant that the issue was with his brother. "I can't hear you …" he said, his heart aching. He had been so curious and excited to hear his brother speak.
"_." He said, still mute. Hiro sighed and looked up at him sadly. "_?" he continued speaking, but Hiro still couldn't hear a word he said. He tried if he could maybe read his lips, but of course he couldn't.
"I still can't hear …" Hiro told him. For some reason, not being able to hear his brother's voice was slowly breaking his heart. It felt so horrible to have him here, with him, but not being able to communicate properly. There was this strange longing in his heart to hear the man's voice at least one last time before he woke up from his dream. The burning feeling in his eyes slowly grew more and more until he couldn't hold back the tears. At first it was only one or two, but they soon turned into so much more. Hiro couldn't understand why this was so devastating to him. He did not know this man, did not have a brother or a family. And yet, somehow, this dream felt so real and so true that it was tearing his heart apart to know that this was not the reality he lived in.
"_ …" his brother looked down at him with sad eyes. He slowly put down the plan he had drawn and scooted closer to the boy next to him. Hiro felt the strong arms of the man slowly wrap around him and immediately leaned against his chest. He felt so at home here that it only made his heart ache even more. When his brother hugged him tightly Hiro hugged him back, his small face buried in the man's chest. He never wanted to let this moment pass, wanted to just stay here, in this comfortable dream that made him so happy. Although he knew that he was in good hands in reality, he would have traded anything for this dream to become true.
It felt like an eternity had passed when Hiro finally settled down. The tears were starting to dry, his eyelashes sticking together from being so wet. Even though he felt better after letting it all out, Hiro didn't leave the warm hug he and his brother were in. He could hear the man's heartbeat and his chest rising and falling slowly. He felt safe here and wanted to stay a little longer.
"H_?"
Hiro froze when he heard a sound come from his brother's lips suddenly. It was barely more than a breath, but he heard his voice for sure this time. Their eyes locked for a moment and suddenly, without really knowing why, Hiro burst out crying even harder than he had before. The sound of his brother's voice had ripped his heart apart, it hurt even more than if someone had stabbed him.
All of a sudden all these emotions came crashing down him – he felt desperate, hurt and, most of all, so very lonely. Like he was going to be alone for the rest of his life. His heart was hammering inside of his chest so hard that it physically hurt. Despite his brother's efforts to help him calm down by stroking the boy's hair, rubbing his back and holding him close, Hiro soon realized that there was no way he could relax. He was getting more and more caught up in these strong emotions and felt his grip on this dream reality slip away.
His brother's hands started to fade, the feeling of his warm hug dissolving quickly. Hiro tried so hard to hold on but eventually couldn't stop him from disappearing into the darkness. Once his brother's face had dissolved the room around him started to fade as well. Everything around Hiro started breaking apart when his brother had disappeared. And just when Hiro was about to fall into the dark abyss that was spreading out beneath him where the floor had once been – he woke up with a gasp.
His whole body was shaking, his breathing unsteady and tears streaming down his cheeks. His dream had felt so real that he was actually panicking. Cold sweat was dripping down his temples and his hands felt numb despite their heavy shaking. His whole body hurt so bad that Hiro started to believe that he was going to die. The way his heart was hammering so strongly must have meant that he was going to die.
Hiro quickly looked around and found himself in the same spot that he had fallen asleep in. But he found himself alone. Obake was not there.
With shaking hands he hastily unbuckled his seatbelt, it feeling like it was choking him, and looked around to try and find Obake. He couldn't be alone right now, he just couldn't. He needed someone by his side and to keep him safe, to help him survive and to tell him that he was going to be alright.
His vision was blurry with tears, but he quickly spotted Obake and the others not too far from the van. They were standing close together and seemed to be discussing. Without thinking about it Hiro quickly opened the door and jumped out of the car. He didn't really care that he might not have been allowed to leave the van on his van. All he knew was that he needed help.
And so Hiro ignored the pain in his knee and rushed over to the small group. When Momokase spotted him and pointed it out Obake turned around just in time to catch Hiro as he threw himself at him. The boy wrapped his arms around the man, his face hidden in the man's lower chest. Obake seemed more than just a little surprised to see Hiro like this and he needed a moment to react. Eventually though Hiro felt the man's arms around him and was finally able to calm down a tiny bit. The fact that the world and the arms around him were real helped grounding him so well.
"What happened?" Obake asked and held him tightly. "What's wrong? Hiro?"
Hiro sobbed quietly and just gripped onto the man tighter. Although the feeling was so different from the hug his brother had given him in his dream, he wasn't ready to break away just yet. He wanted to stay for as long as possible to make sure that he really wasn't going to die, until his heart was finally not hurting so badly.
He was thankful when Obake gestured for the others to leave them. The more he calmed down the more he wanted peace and quiet around him. Knowing that there were others around him, people and robots that he didn't know and couldn't remember, made him nervous. And so, when it was just him and his teacher, Hiro's death grip on Obake's shirt finally loosened a bit. Silence engulfed them for a long time before Hiro finally felt safe and comfortable enough to relax in the man's arms. He did not break the hug and decided to stay close for a bit longer.
"Hiro?" he heard his name called again. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
He took a shaky breath and mustered up all of his courage to slowly look up at Obake. His face was burning from all the crying. "I-I …" he tried to find the words to explain what had happened but couldn't. He didn't know how to explain why this had taken such a toll on him, didn't know what to say. And so he just buried his face in the man's chest again.
For a moment Obake seemed too stunned to speak or to react. Hiro just stayed like that with Obake for a long time before he finally felt secure enough to break away. He looked up at the man and slowly let go of the man's clothes. Just having been held had calmed Hiro so much that he was thankful towards Obake.
"Are you alright?" Obake asked again and put his hands on Hiro's shoulders. "You're worrying me."
"I-I'm fine." Hiro mumbled, his voice small and shaky from all the crying. "Just … I-I don't know …" he snuffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve, not really caring if it was disgusting. "But … t-thank you … I feel better now …"
"That's good." The man said and gave the boy a soft smile. "We can talk about this later. Let's go." Obake put his hand on Hiro's back and guided him towards the van. Hiro returned the small smile and followed him, thankfully accepting the man's help to climb back onto the passenger's seat. When Obake closed the door Hiro took a moment to take a look around. He only now realized that they had been parked outside the city in what looked like a suburb. The area they were in was a bit desolate with only a couple strangers around. He noticed some of them looking over at him, apparently they had seen what had happened. When he noticed someone taking out a phone and taking a picture of him Hiro leaned back in his seat far enough to not be seen.
When Obake entered the van and sat down Hiro felt relieved to have him by his side again. Waking up from that dream and being on his own had been a horrible feeling.
"We're almost there." Obake told him and started to drive. "Are you excited?"
"Uhm," Hiro needed a second to recollect himself, "y-yeah, of course … I want to see my room." As he looked over to Obake and saw a smile on the man's face he couldn't help but to smile as well. "Thank you … a-and I'm sorry … for what happened."
"Don't worry, my boy." The man said, his voice soft. "Think you can tell me what happened?"
"I'm not really sure …" Hiro answered, unsure of how to explain. "I-I know it sounds strange, but … I had a strange … d-dream …"
"A dream?" Obake repeated. "What kind of dream?"
Hiro hesitated. He couldn't really say why, but the thought of telling Obake about his dream-brother felt wrong, like it was meant to stay his secret. And still, he knew he could trust the man by his side. And maybe, if he told him about the dream, he'd be able to help him understand what happened and who this guy from his dream was. And so, Hiro decided to go against his gut feeling that was telling him not to and opened up to Obake about the dreams in which he had seen this guy who appeared to be his brother. Obake listened closely, his brow furrowing with each and every word that came out of Hiro's mouth. When Hiro was done explaining the dreams that had felt so real he noticed how the man's knuckles had turned white as he gripped the steering wheel.
"Thank you for telling me, Hiro." Obake eventually said. "You did well by letting me know."
Hiro felt kind of proud when he was praised. So it really had been the right decision to open up to him. This just proved that it wasn't always right to listen to one's gut feeling.
"You should take some more medicine." Obake then went on and pulled out a little blister packet full of pills from his pocket. "This is for headaches, but it'll help relax you a bit so you can sleep well tonight."
"But …" Hiro hesitated. "I feel fine now … I don't think I-" when he saw the look that Obake shot him he fell silent right away. The conversation they had had before came to his mind and despite not feeling comfortable with he still took the blister packet and took out some of the medicine. Without hesitation he swallowed the pill with some water and it didn't take much longer than a few moments for Hiro's mind to become cloudy once more. He figured that the medicine must really be strong if it was able to relax him this much this quickly.
"Stay awake for me, Hiro." Obake said when Hiro's eyelids began to flutter. "You can sleep at home." Hiro hummed in agreement and rested his head against the van's window. Obake was telling him about their new home, but he didn't really pay attention. His eyes were staring aimlessly outside the window as the scenery of San Fransokyo's suburbs rushed by them, not really taking any of it in. He just tried to relax and not to let the fogginess lull him to sleep. No matter how much he tried though, his eyes eventually closed and only opened again when he heard his name called. Once Hiro lifted his head a bit the door of the van opened and Obake appeared in front of him.
"Welcome, Hiro." He said and took a step aside so Hiro could take a look at their new place. "Welcome home."
