A/N: Stop begging me to update. The next time someone asks me to update, I'm going to remove this story from the website. Your support is appreciated, and it makes me happy that you want to read more of my story. But ever time you review, telling me to update or work faster, you put unneceessary stress on my life. The point of reviews is to inform the author of what you like and don't like about a story. It helps us write better and build the plot. I don't have to do this- I take time out of my day to write for you people. I have a life, friends, family, and none of that revolves around fanfiction. It's extremely rude to send one word reviews (UPDATE) or keep reviewing with the same message (update update update). Tell me what you think, what I should work on, what you hope to see in the future. I want my review box to be filled with intellectual responses that inform me of my personal writing progress, not meaningless begging for more.

Anyway, here's that chapter I worked hard to pump out. My friend accidentally deleted it, so I had to rewrite it. Still mad at him, by the way. I'm trying to steer this story in a certain direction, so sorry if characters seem off.

[Chapter 8- Explanations]

Hours later, Hiro was sound asleep, and Tadashi was mulling over what his little brother had explained to him.

As his month in captivity had progressed, Hiro's brain had tried to cope by creating a realistic, pleasant delusion. Since he spent more time unconscious than awake, he had started to believe the dream. And now he believed that Tadashi had died in the fire, Callaghan was some kind of psychotic villain, and he and Tadashi's friends had formed a group of super heroes.

Well, he always did dream big.

The college student sighed and slowly ran his hands through his hair. What was he supposed to do now? How could he help his little brother?

As Hiro's story had gone on, his face had gradually closed off and his tone become flat. When he had finished talking, he curled into himself, turned away from Tadashi, and immediately tried to fall asleep. He seemed almost shy about it, and Tadashi had a feeling there would be some kind of personality change from these traumatic events.

The college student frowned as he packed up the things that had been unloaded while Hiro slept and quietly exited the room. Visiting hours were almost over anyway.

Still, Tadashi mulled over Hiro's strange delusions. He couldn't help but wonder, what if they weren't just delusions? Each part of the story had some aspect of truth to it. Hiro's brain was like a sponge for information; what if he had been subconsciously absorbing these things while he went about his daily life, and now his brain had a chance to lay out a possible result?

Tadashi sighed and finally looked up, just in time to bump into someone familiar. "Professor Callaghan?!"

"Oh! Hello, Mr. Hamada," the grey haired man greeted.

"Are you alright, sir?" Tadashi fretted, checking the man for injury. "How are your wounds healing?" His teacher laughed.

"I'm doing perfectly fine. I'm not here for me, really, if that's what you were suggesting."

"Oh?" A red flag flashed across Tadashi's brain, and he couldn't help but study his professor closer. Could Hiro's dream really have some truth to it?

Staring at Callaghan, Tadashi noticed the stiffness of his posture and the wild gleam in his eye. The man looked a bit crazy, to be honest.

Maybe Tadashi was just seeing things because of what Hiro had suggested.

"Oh, yes! I heard they recovered your brother. I was on my way to visit. How is he doing?" The elderly man smiled. His smile was forced, for sure. That could be because of the subject matter...

"He's recovering well, sir. Visiting hours are almost over though, and he's asleep. Maybe another time?" The college student's protective instincts still flared to life, even though he logically knew the professor couldn't be trying to harm his little brother.

Still...

"I can't help but feel like it's all my fault, you know?" Tadashi sighed a bit theatrically. If he baited the man, could he get a peek at his true hand? "I mean, if it weren't for me, he'd still be out not fighting, not stuck in the hospital."

Callaghan's eyes flashed with something unidentifiable.

"I'm the one who took him to the university. I pushed him to do something more with his intelligence... If I hadn't intervened..." The college student trailed off.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Tadashi," the man laid a hand on his shoulder, sending a chill down his spine. "It's not like you started the fire or forced Hiro to go that night. If he weren't for you, he'd still be hopelessly fighting in the streets, and he'd still be in danger. My daughter did the same thing until I pushed her to take hold of her life."

Finally! A way in!

The professor's hands were trembling now.

"How did that go? Was she safer?" Tadashi questioned. The underlying question was Did I make the right choice?

Callaghan shouldn't be able to resist.

"She was, for a time." The man sighed and pulled back from his student, his shoulders tense and his jaw locked.

"What happened, sir?"

"I don't like talking about this, Mr. Hamada. I'm sorry. I hope Hiro recovers well. Good-bye," the grey haired man quietly retreated.

Tadashi mentally cursed himself. Of course the man would be sore about the subject! His daughter had died.

But Tadashi shouldn't have known that.

Before Hiro's dream, he never knew that the man's daughter was dead. Was never mentioned and was never thought about. Could Hiro have guessed that from Callaghan's brief mention of his daughter? What if it was true, and Hiro learned that without consciously knowing it?

Had he found it in an article on the Internet? Had he heard it from another scientist?

Had he... predicted the future?

No. No, there were obvious differences between Hiro's dream and the true reality. Like Tadashi was alive, and his friends weren't actually close to Hiro. It couldn't be the future.

But an alternate reality?

No. That's not sound science either. No one can prove the concept of multiple universes. How would Hiro even see into an alternate timeline? Even then, he'd be seeing the future of that timeline, progressing faster than their own reality.

Could that explain why Hiro believed three months had passed instead of one? Maybe-

"Sir, are you alright?"

Tadashi startled and looked up to see a nurse standing to his left. He blinked and took a quick assessment of the situation. It seemed he'd been staring at where Callaghan had retreated.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," he smiled. "I was visiting my brother and got lost in thought on the way out."

"Okay. Would you like me to walk you out?"

"Sure."

He'd have lots of time to contemplate this later.

A/N: I'm really not sure what I'm going to do for the next chapter. Ideas and theories are always appreciated!

QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: What is your favorite holiday and why?