A/N;hi hi howdy friends hope we're all happy and healthy. just saying hi really it's been a while. i hope you enjoy this chapter and it's still making sense lol. i kinda hated writing this one so that's why it took so long for it to come out lmao. we're nearing the end now - but not necessarily the end of their story altogether, simply the end of this one. maybe i'll do a high school mini story or another one based off the series. wherever it takes me. anyway, enjoy :) (TW in this chapter for bullying/bad mental health/suicide. please don't read on if this affects you badly 3)
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Please don't suffer in silence
Half an hour later, they were all in Fred's room. Hiro was lying unconscious on one of Fred's many couches, the rest of them were sat in an awkward circle together.
Rena was sat in the middle of Tadashi and Honey Lemon on the couch. Gogo was kneeling on the floor, Wasabi sat on a footstool next to her. Fred was sitting upside down in a chair, the only one of them who seemed to be not at all bothered by the situation at hand.
'Look guys, all I'm saying is that there's no need to worry! We're superheroes! We can handle anything!' He said casually, examining his fingernails.
'Fred!' Gogo snapped, 'that's not the point! We want to be in a position that we don't need to be saving anyone's life every other week!'
'Superhero gear isn't going to stop Hiro from botfighting.' Tadashi sighed, leaning his head on his sister's shoulder.
Rena nodded in agreement. 'Before we even consider what Yama said about these so called 'enemies' of his, we need to come up with a plan to get him to stop botfighting in the first place. It's dangerous, and he's only going to make things worse for himself.'
Wasabi sighed. 'So... what do we do then?'
'Well... we need to figure out the root cause, right?' Honey Lemon said, 'if we figure that out, then we can think of a way to stop it.'
Gogo looked at the pair of Hamada's. 'Do you know why he started botfighting?'
Rena and Tadashi exchanged a look. They knew exactly why.
'It's uh... it's a bit of a long story.' Tadashi said sheepishly, scratching his neck and frowning.
Rena sighed. To say it was a long story was an understatement. She glanced over at Hiro. Baymax was stood over him and working away quietly, and the sight brought her comfort. At least he was in safe hands.
She turned back to her friends' expectant faces. 'Uh... yeah. Long story. Probably... not the best if we do umm... share...'
Gogo shrugged and folded her arms. 'We're here and we have the time to hear it.'
'If you wanna tell us, that is.' Honey Lemon said, grabbing Rena's hand and squeezing it tightly.
Rena looked at Tadashi. His mouth was pulled in a thin, straight line but he nodded his head slightly, clearly not eager to tell it himself. She took in a deep breath.
'Well, it's about time you knew anyway. You probably would've found out anyway.'
Gogo and Wasabi exchanged a worried glance. 'What are you talking about?' Wasabi asked quietly.
Rena pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin them. She absentmindedly pulled at a thin thread on her jeans. 'So, Hiro joined high school at the age of nine. You know that. He was so excited. Do you remember his first day?' She said, nudging Tadashi.
Tadashi smiled warmly. 'Yeah. He was so excited, he could barely sit still long enough to get his seatbelt on in the car.'
Honey Lemon smiled. 'I can imagine.'
Rena nodded. 'Yeah, so picture this. Tiny kid, massive nerd. He could outperform kids five years older than him without even trying. So what do you think happens next? They give him shit for it.' She paused, clearing her throat. 'They uh... yeah. They gave him a lot of shit for it. And the thing is... we didn't notice. Not for a while, anyway. These kids were ruthless. Made him do their homework, and when they didn't get a grade high enough they'd beat him up. All that excitement? It had gone within weeks. And we never noticed. Hiro... he tried to keep it hidden. Didn't want to worry us. Didn't want to look as weak as they were telling him we was, I guess.'
Honey Lemon sniffed, tears forming in her eyes. 'That's so... wow. I had no idea.'
'Kids are dicks.' Gogo said, shaking her head.
Rena nodded. 'Yeah, well.' She sighed and a long time passed before she spoke again. 'It went on for ages. Towards the end, we sort of had an idea of what was going, but we didn't quite know the extent of it. Not until umm... not until...' Her voice faded into silence. She glanced at Tadashi but he didn't seem to notice, instead he was staring up at the ceiling as though it was the most fascinating thing in the world. She pretended not to notice how his hands were shaking slightly. She cleared her throat. 'We never knew until he tried to kill himself when he was 13.'
Tadashi closed his eyes, a single tear running down his cheek. He wasn't the only one. Honey Lemon was sat with her hands to her mouth, tears running freely down her face. Wasabi's eyes were wide with shock. Fred had fallen off his chair. Gogo was sat with her hands balled into fists, her face pure white.
Nobody said a word, so Rena took this as her cue to continue. 'It was... yeah. Not great. He was in hospital for a while. Word spread fast, and soon enough we knew exactly who the bullies were. There was this one guy, Chad. He was like, the ringleader of it all.' She looked down at her hands, a white scar shining out on her left hand. Almost gone, but it was still a prominent reminder. 'I went after him. I wasn't going to, but like... he was the biggest piece of shit. I uh.. I hurt him pretty bad. Probably would've got expelled if it weren't for Tadashi.'
Tadashi nodded. 'I thought you were gonna kill him.' He dried his eyes on his sleeve and sighed, opening his eyes and looking at her for the first time. 'You were quite scary.'
Rena shrugged. 'He deserved it!'
'What exactly did you do?' Wasabi asked, looking a little afraid.
'Broke a few bones. Nothing MAJOR though... just like... his arm, nose.. maybe a rib or two? Really, the details are hazy.'
'He started botfighting pretty soon after.' Tadashi said, 'we knew from the start what he was doing, although neither of us had any idea how dangerous it was. He enjoyed doing it, and he seemed happy. That seemed like good enough reason to let him keep going. But... towards the end of high school, I think he started getting a little more involved with it. Like, he'd gotten really good and was starting to beat people. So people got angry at him.'
Rena nodded. 'He sneaked in once with a broken nose and two hundred dollars in cash. That was when we first realised what he was doing.'
'He got thrown in jail for the first time a week before he graduated. He still got his diploma though, so there's that at least.' Tadashi added.
'So he used it as a coping mechanism?' Wasabi summarised, 'that actually... yeah that makes sense.'
Rena nodded. 'Pretty much. We were a bit reluctant to get him to stop botfighting at first though, because at least getting thrown in jail was better than the alternative.'
Gogo nodded, her hands clasped together in front of her face. 'Yeah... okay. So, he just needs an alternative thing to do. Something that can distract him, something that's exciting and not dangerous.'
'Well, that's obvious.' Fred said from the floor, 'we get the gear out, and we do night patrols! See, I've been saying all along that being superheroes would be amazing!'
'Did you hear the part about it not being dangerous?' Tadashi asked, exasperated.
'No but...' Gogo leant forwards and picked up her helmet, running her hand across the smooth surface. 'That's not... that's not actually a bad idea Fred.'
'I mean, we do need a distraction for him.' Honey Lemon said, nodding in agreement with Gogo.
'If we just did night patrol, it wouldn't necessarily mean anything dangerous.' Wasabi said.
'I'm actually warming up to it.' Rena said, 'I mean, if a couple of us go every night... and Hiro goes on Baymax, what's the worse that could happen?'
'Many things could happen!' Tadashi exclaimed, exasperated. 'But... I guess you're right. It's better than botfighting. Anything is.' His eyes drifted over to his brother, still asleep on the couch.
Baymax looked over at them all sat together. 'Hello!' He said, waving his hand.
Rena stood up and stretched, turning towards Baymax. 'How's he doing?' She asked.
'My scan indicates that Hiro will make a full recovery with plenty of rest.'
'Good.' She stepped over Fred and walked towards Baymax, leaning on the edge of the couch next to Hiro. 'Thank you Baymax.'
'I am a healthcare companion. It is my duty to help my patient.'
'I know that. But still. Thanks.'
Tadashi limped over to them and smiled slightly. 'Night patrol it is. Let's pray it works.'
'It will.' She said, looking down at Hiro. 'I've not lost faith in him yet.'
'What are we going to tell him when he wakes up?'
'Well, I'm just going to tell him I love him. Then, I'm gonna kill him.'
Tadashi grinned. 'Fair.'
All of a sudden, his grin quickly slid off his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and his hand shot up to the back of his neck, the same place that had been annoying him all night with a constant pain that refused to cease.
Rena blinked. 'Uhh... you alright there?'
Tadashi raised his head, his eyes darting around the room. 'No... no I'm... good. Headache.'
Baymax handed him a pill. 'I recommend a dose of paracetamol for headaches.'
Tadashi took the pill and swallowed it, wincing. 'That was... weird.' His eyes were dilated and his breathing was rapid.
Rena was about to say something when Hiro stirred. She stood up as he awoke, yawning and sitting up. He adjusted himself and looked up, blinking at the two of his siblings.
'Hello.' He said hesitantly, wincing. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. 'How long have I been out?'
Rena shrugged, sitting down next to him. 'Like... an hour? Maybe two? Honestly not that long at all.'
Hiro nodded and sighed. 'I don't know what to say.' He whispered.
Then something very unexpected happened.
Tadashi staggered backwards. Baymax caught him, helping him back to feet gently.
'Are you alright? I will scan you now.'
Tadashi pushed the robot roughly out the way, swearing loudly. He angrily stormed forwards until he was towering above his brother. Hiro stared at him, eyes wide and face white as Tadashi lowered his face down until it was inches away from his little brother.
'You,' Tadashi hissed, 'are a pathetic, snivelling, piece of SHIT.'
Rena immediately jumped to her feet, staring at Tadashi in shock. 'What the fuck did you just say?!' She exclaimed in disbelief.
Tadashi ignored her. 'Do you know what you've done?!' He shouted, spit flying everywhere and his eyes wide with fury. 'You're a waste of oxygen! You know that, don't you?'
Hiro stared up at his brother, his entire body trembling like a leaf. 'T..Tadashi?' He breathed, voice shaking. 'Wh- I don't... I don't understand..'
'Of course you wouldn't! Because you're a fucking idiot! Honestly, your stupidity shocks me sometimes!'
Rena grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from Hiro, but Tadashi slapped her away cruelly. 'Hands off! He needs to hear this - he's needed to hear this for a long time!'
'What the hell is wrong with you?!' Rena shouted, her mind racing. Five minutes ago, Tadashi was fine. Now this? This was so uncharacteristic of him, never in a million years would he ever lash out at Hiro like this.
Gogo was suddenly at her side, her face full of fury. 'Tadashi! Mate, what are you doing?!'
Tadashi ignored them. He grabbed Hiro's wrist and pulled him roughly to his feet. The latter cried out in pain, his hand going to his side where there was a bandage wrapped carefully around him.
'Oh shut up, act like a man!' Tadashi laughed, ' pathetic!'
'TADASHI!' Honey Lemon yelled, 'stop it!'
'Yeah man, not cool!' Fred added.
Rena grabbed Tadashi's wrist again. 'I don't know what you're doing, but stop it right this second.' She hissed, her voice dangerously low.
'No.' Tadashi said simply. 'I'll kill him.'
Hiro was leaning on the back of the couch for support, looking as though he was moments away from passing out. 'What's wrong with him? What did I miss?'
'What's wrong with ME?!' Tadashi yelled in fury. Before Rena could do anything, he launched himself at Hiro. They fell to the floor, wrestling on the ground.
Honey Lemon screamed. Hiro shrieked with pain, Tadashi in anger. Fred was swearing loudly and Wasabi had jumped backwards, hands over his face in fear.
Rena and Gogo dove forwards and grabbed one of Tadashi's arms each. Tadashi yelled out in fury, kicking with all his might at Hiro.
'A bit of help here please!' Rena shouted over the chaos.
Wasabi materialised next to Rena and helped to restrain Tadashi whilst Honey Lemon and Fred grabbed Hiro's shoulders and pulled him away from Tadashi. Baymax picked Hiro up gently and carried him away, leaving the rest of them to deal with Tadashi, who was acting like an angry toddler.
'Gogo, Wasabi, go with the others and take Hiro out of the room.' Rena yelled.
'Are you sure?!'
'Yeah, I got him!'
Reluctantly, Gogo dropped Tadashi's arm and pulled Wasabi away. They hurried out the room, slamming the door behind them.
Tadashi stood up, looking feral. 'He deserved that.' He spat cruelly.
Rena felt like throwing up. 'What the FUCK is wrong with you?!' She shrieked.
His fist connected with her face and she felt a nasty crack. She cried out and staggered back, her back smacking against the wall. Blood was flowing thickly from her nose, the smell made her stomach turn. She dabbed at it with her sleeve, attempting to stop the flow.
Tadashi was on the floor. In an instant, all anger had completely disappeared.
Rena hesitantly walked over to him and crouched on the floor, afraid that if she let her guard down he would swing again.
'That.' She said quietly, 'was the most despicable thing you've ever done. I can't believe you.' She had a lot more to say, but her mind was still reeling. That had all happened so quickly.
Tadashi was almost hyperventilating. His hands were shaking ten times worse than before. 'That wasn't... that wasn't me!' He gasped. He brought his hands up to his face and let out a guttering sob. 'That wasn't me! That wasn't me!' He repeated, rocking back and fourth. 'I don't.. oh god... what the hell? That wasn't me! That wasn't!'
Rena blinked back tears. 'Then who was it?! Asshole!' She hissed, 'that's going to fuck with him so bad, do you even realise what you've done? I can't... oh my god!'
Tadashi shook his head. 'No! I! Rena... Rena please. Would I ever do that? I can't... I can't breathe.. I can't.. think... what.. the fuck?' He gasped.
'You have some serious apologising to do.' She said. Then, she sighed and shifted towards him, wrapping her arms around him. Tadashi collapsed into her, crying his eyes out. Rena hugged him tightly. 'Calm down. Breathe.'
'He... he hates me. You... you hate me.'
She sighed deeply. 'No... not hate. He won't either. Just... wow. I don't know what to think. That was... scary.'
'That wasn't me...'
'No, it was. Now you're going to compose yourself, and you're going to apologise to the kid you've just traumatised. Then I'm going to kill you.'
'I don't know what happened. I don't even... it was like a switch went off in my head.'
'Well then you need therapy.'
'Rude.'
'Yeah well, you're a prick.'
Tadashi pulled away from her. 'Please believe me Rena. I wouldn't do that. I would never.'
'Then what happened?'
'I... I don't know.'
'Then you had better come up with a fucking good excuse.' Rena said, standing and brushing herself off. She wiped her nose again. 'Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find a tissue.'
She turned to leave, leaving her brother alone on the floor.
'I love you.' He whispered.
His only response was the slam of the door behind her.
