Hiro sighed with boredom, lazily sketching designs in his notebook. He'd never been away from Tadashi and so hadn't realised how…empty he felt without his brother to joke with and go to advice. He even almost missed being randomly tossed around like a sack of potatoes or taken by surprise with one of Tadashi's tickle attacks.

He and Aunt Cass had visited the man almost every day but they were only ever allowed in for an hour. Hiro missed his brother. A lot.

"When does Tadashi come home?" he asked Aunt Cass at dinner that evening.

"Oh honey, he comes home next week. Not long to wait. Why don't you go to SFIT? That'll take your mind off it."

"I don't want to start without Tadashi," said Hiro. His past school experiences hadn't exactly been positive, not to mention that he was shy and would be uncomfortable with asking people where to go. Honey, Go Go, Wasabi and Fred had all started the new term three weeks ago so Hiro hadn't seen much of them except when they took him to visit Tadashi. That was always fun, because they laughed and joked like a family and with Tadashi there, Hiro was comfortable enough to join in.

Time skip

Hiro bounced his leg up and down impatiently. Aunt Cass had gone to get Tadashi, and he had been sitting near the main entrance for ages.

Where on earth were they?

Ten minutes later, Tadashi hobbled around the corner on his crutches, Aunt Cass in tow. The young man grinned with delight to see Hiro, who had leapt to his feet and rushed over. They awkwardly hugged, Tadashi struggling with his crutches but Hiro more than making up for it by squeezing Tadashi like a lemon.

"Hiro, you can't jump on him or anything," reminded Aunt Cass gently, knowing her youngest nephew's boisterous, energetic attitude. Hiro nodded seriously.

"I know, Aunt Cass!" he replied, bouncing lightly on his feet. "Come on, let's go."

The journey to the car was slow. Hiro helped Tadashi as much as he could- at least, he thought he was helping but there was only so much support a short, frail kid could give to an athletic, well-built nineteen year old male.

Tadashi gave a sigh of relief as he collapsed into his car seat, abandoning the crutches on the floor. Hiro sat beside him, careful not to kick his legs. Tadashi turned his head to the side and smiled fondly at his little brother, who grinned back.

"Gosh, it was boring in there. Your visits made my bloody day," said Tadashi tiredly, running a hand over his face.

"Tadashi Hamada!" exclaimed Aunt Cass. "Don't use that kind of language around Hiro."

Tadashi teasingly covered Hiro's ears. "It's all right Aunt Cass, his little ears didn't hear a thing," he chuckled. Hiro pushed his hands away, huffing.

There was a calming silence. "When do you think you'll go back to SFIT?" asked Hiro, looking at the floor.

"Next week," said Tadashi, excitedly. "I can walk well enough with the crutches. I'll be off them soon. Are you looking forward to it?"

Hiro nodded hesitantly. Tadashi frowned and cupped Hiro's chin, lifting his brother's face to look directly at him. "What's wrong bonehead?" he asked, looking deeply into Hiro's chocolate brown eyes.

Hiro sniffed. "I guess I'm a little nervous…"

"Why?" asked Tadashi gently, taking his hand off Hiro's face and pulling the boy into a one armed hug.

"You know why," mourned Hiro, his voice muffled by Tadashi's shoulder.

"Oh Hiro, I promise that college is very different from high school. Especially a college like SFIT. Everyone there is hard working and sensible, like you." Hiro gave a snort and even Tadashi had to laugh at that. "All right, not so much sensible. But they won't pick on you."

"Promise?" said Hiro trustingly.

"I promise."