A single sob sent Tadashi spiraling into action. He dove to the floor beside Hiro, who was desperately holding in his tears while keeping his fingers to his right cheek. Tadashi, eyebrows narrowed, gingerly pulled the hand away and saw the yellowing under his brother's eye, which was soon to turn purple. He glared up at the spidery man.

Krei, on the other hand, looked bored. He watched the boys, clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes when Tadashi threw himself to the ground. He pulled a pink-rose embroidered handkerchief out from his pocket, wiping his hands off as if disinfecting them. Finally he looked back at the teen boy's eyes, still expressionless.

"What? He did something he wasn't supposed to do."

Tadashi kept glaring, daring the man to continue justifying himself.

Krei laughed, still wiping off his hand. "Don't tell me you haven't wanted to just smack some sense into the brat before."

If he wasn't sure he would lose in a fight (for Tadashi was at that strange, lanky puberty stage as a fifteen year old), Tadashi would've thrown himself at the man. "I would never hit Hiro," he growled, hunched protectively over the child as Krei looked at them.

Another eye-roll. "One day it will come," he muttered, making Tadashi bare his teeth in anger. Krei raised his eyebrows, flicking his hand to shoo the children away. "Well go on then. Go coddle him." He smirked, eyes half-lidded knowingly. "My, the baby gets hurt and momma bear comes running. That'll be useful."

Hurriedly, before he could do something that would get both him and Hiro hurt, Tadashi stood in front of Hiro and bent down, gesturing for the hurt child to get on his back. The messy-haired boy did so, climbing onto the older boy's back and wrapping his arms around his neck. He rested his cheek on the other's shoulder, shaking, still willing the tears away by biting into his lip.

Tadashi tried to walk as fast as he could up the stairs without jostling Hiro too much. He reached their room and placed Hiro on the windowsill, darting back to the door to close and lock it, once again shoving their suitcase in front of it. He knew Krei had a key, but somehow he still felt safer. Then he turned to Hiro, whose eyes were red and cheeks puffed out.

"I'm not crying," he huffed, not meeting his brother's eyes.

"I know you're not," the elder replied.

"It didn't even hurt."

"I know, cause you're pretty tough for a little guy," the older brother teased, sadly smiling at the bruise forming under the younger's eye. It began to blue.

Hiro pouted further. "I'm not little."

Tadashi held up his hands in surrender, taking an old shirt from his suit case. He ripped it in half, going toward one of the side windows and wrenching it open. Grabbing a handful of snow, he placed it in the shirt and twisted the corners together. Satisfied, he walked back to Hiro and put it on his cheek.

"There, see? Make-shift ice-pack." Tadashi smiled down at him, resisting the urge to frown when Hiro flinched and tried to pull back from the cold. He sighed, putting his hand on the back of Hiro's head and forcing him to sit still.

The child whined, kicking his legs. "That's cold, Dashi!"

"Well your cheek's gonna blow up like a blueberry if we don't ice it!"

Hiro deadpanned. "A blueberry? Really? That's your comparison?"

The frustrated teen rolled his eyes. "Yes, it was a good one."

"You sound like an old lady that's baked one too many pies."

"…was that supposed to be an example of a good comparison?"

The eight year old exhaled through his nose, pouting, glaring at the floor as he roughly took the cold shirt from Tadashi and held it on his own cheek. He looked away, mumbling. "This isn't how Mommy made me feel better." Hiro hadn't intended for his brother to hear it, for though he could be a brat when he wanted to be, he certainly didn't blame the elder for their situation in anyway and was very aware he actually began to cling to him for comfort. But Tadashi had heard it, and his eyes drooped.

He snapped up suddenly, making Hiro jump. "Hold on," he said, going toward the suitcase and pulling out multiple items. He pulled out the strange metal ball first, pushing it away, making the object roll until it harshly hit the wall. Hiro cocked his head to the side, curious as his brother pulled out a candle, a magnifying glass, a box with a hole in it, and what appeared to be a slip of paper. Tadashi looked up sheepishly.

"I've kinda been swiping some things from the house. Just borrowing," he assured, pulling out some matches and tape. He ripped off the top of the box, smiling delightedly, while Hiro fidgeted.

"…you've been stealing?" Hiro said quietly, watching as his brother taped the magnifying glass inside the box, so that the lens of the object was right over the hole. Tadashi frowned.

"No. I'll put it all back eventually. And besides…" he trailed off, bending the paper so that it could stand on its own. "I thought you would like this. It's like one of those big projectors Dad used to pull out and play those weird films on." Tadashi's small smile returned, finally meeting Hiro's big chocolatey eyes. Hiro opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when his brother held up his hand. "I've gotta make it dark. Hold on."

Tadashi then proceeded to rip off the sheet on the mattress, confusing Hiro more. Standing on the sill, he stuffed the end of the sheet in the top half of the windowpane. Satisfied, he jumped down, pulling the sheet taut, setting the mattress down on the dangling end to keep it strained.

Completed, the rumpled sheet made a right triangle with the wall. Tadashi put his hands on his hips triumphantly and beamed. Hiro, however, rose an eyebrow, turning his head. The elder brother rolled his eyes, crawling into the tent.

"Get in here, bonehead!" he called, shaking Hiro out of his inquiring daze. The eight year old jumped down from the windowsill, keeping the now sopping shirt on his cheek, and cautiously peered in the tent.

His brother sat there with his legs crossed, grinning goofily up at Hiro. His body and contraption were facing the wall. Behind the dingy box, however, the candle now stood, lit, illuminating the piece of paper Tadashi had folded. The child looked once again at his brother, wanting an explanation.

Tadashi just lifted his hand, smiling warmly. "Come here, otouto." Hiro, still hesitant, crouched and entered the fort. Hands shot up and grabbed his waist, plopping him in his brother's lap. Tadashi smirked when his brother looked up, agitated. Hiro only relaxed when his brother took the ice-pack from him, taking the hand that had been holding it into his larger one and squeezing, trying to warm the tiny fingers back up. The child finally looked up at the wall, and his eyes widened slightly at what he saw.

The projected picture of his mother and father smiled at the two of them. Hiro realized that the piece of paper wasn't paper at all, but a photograph. The photo was in sepia-print, and it looked as if a tea-bag had been accidently set on one corner. His father was beaming proudly, closed smile aimed at the camera, a hand on his wife's back. He wore a suit, glasses on the bridge of his nose, rose pinned to his jacket. He couldn't deny his mother was lovely—face slim, completely unblemished cheeks, big eyes like caramel candies. She wore a tight, lacey, long sleeved dress and held a mixture of roses and peonies in one hand.

Tadashi further pulled Hiro into his hold, leaning his chin on the little one's shoulder. He smiled warmly at the picture. "That was their wedding day," he explained, watching as Hiro's eyes took in every detail. "Mom said it was her favorite picture of them because Dad didn't have bags under his eyes yet."

"Where'd you get this?"

"I took it from the house before we left. Before you burnt your hand on that," he gestured his head toward the metal ball.

Hiro reached out of Tadashi's grasp, making the elder squawk and try to pull his little brother back. Hiro, instead of escaping from the older one's hold, just grabbed the metal object and sat back down on the crossed legs. The brunette older boy smiled slightly, surprised he didn't have to wrestle Hiro back into his lap.

The boy's tiny fingers fit right along with the layers of the object. "Did you figure out what this is?" he whispered, resting back on Tadashi's chest as his arms came around him once again.

Tadashi shook his head.

Hiro scowled, moving the layers of the ball, which made strange swishing noises. "I hope this wasn't Daddy's project he'd been working on. Some heavy, rusty play-toy for us."

The older brother pinched Hiro, making the child yelp. Hiro defended himself. "What? It's lame, he worked for hours on something that doesn't do anything." Hiro finally set the ball down and pushed, watching it roll into the wall.

Tadashi thought for a moment, then rested his chin on Hiro's shoulder again. "You're right. It is lame. But Dad didn't make lame stuff, so it must do something else."

"…yeah," Hiro replied meekly, hoping his brother was right. Suddenly the boy was flipped around, staring up at the caring eyes of his brother.

A hand ran through his hair, pushing the bangs back from his face. "Does your cheek hurt anymore, otouto?" Hesitantly, Tadashi placed a small kiss onto the purpling bruise. Both boys felt strange, considering Tadashi had only kissed Hiro when he had been first set in his arms as a baby. "That's how Mommy made you feel better, right?"

Hiro could only meekly nod, keeping his eyes down to stare at his lap. "Dashi…?" The older boy hummed. "Can…let's not separate again."

Tadashi nodded, poking the little one's forehead to try and get him to look up. "Deal." Their pinkies instantly linked, setting the promise in stone.

The next morning, the boys found themselves being dragged out to Krei's shiny new car. When the boys had protested, the gangly man tried to snatch up Hiro in order to force him into the car, but naturally the older brother wasn't letting that happen. He swooped and grabbed Hiro before Krei could, and agreed to follow the man as long as he didn't touch either of them. A sly smile and a nod later, they were rolling down the street for the first time in months.

They pulled up to a ridiculously tall building, its windows blinking in the sun as the boys' eyes travelled up its stature. Tadashi glanced at Hiro, whose little mouth was gaping up as he tried to see the top of the building.

"Why are we here?" the teen demanded, opening his door and exiting the car. Hiro followed suit, the elder brother instantly reaching for his hand when Krei smirked back at them.

"I'm officially your dad as of today!" Tadashi narrowed his eyes when the man dared to label himself as such. "Well, after I finish the paperwork."

"How tall is this building?" Hiro asked, still gaping up at the shining glass.

Krei turned, starting to walk toward the entrance. Tadashi followed, keeping a few paces behind. "Sixty-five floors."

Tadashi's mouth dropped. "That's impossible."

The doors slid open when the small group stepped on the map, further causing Hiro to stare in awe at the extremely advanced building.

Krei spread his hands, not looking back at the boys. "This entire place is made with electromagnets."

"All of it?" Hiro gasped. Tadashi squeezed the child's hand to keep him quiet.

The older man glanced back with sparkling eyes, turning down a long hall decorated like a marble chess board. "The walls all consist of a series of electromagnets that allows the building to function. It's how the doors slide, and it's how the elevator operates." As he said the final sentence, they approached said elevator.

Its doors resembled a garden gate—swirling designs decorated with metal leaves against a solid gold background. Hiro stretched his tiny hand out to touch it, eyes shining across the metal framing. His older brother stopped him, snatching his wrist, the little one's eyes looking up at him with a slight glare. Krei jabbed the button with a long finger.

"We need to go to floor forty-three," he commented as the doors slid open. Hiro practically dragged Tadashi in, bouncing on the balls of his feet and pressing the button before Krei could even enter. Tadashi, on the other hand, looked up with a scrunched up nose, skeptical, and quite frankly, unimpressed. He was the son of two great inventors after all.

"Shoot!" The older man cursed, snapping. "I forgot the paperwork in the car!" Tadashi turned his attention toward the man, raising an eyebrow. "Meet me up there!" Krei cried, sprinting down the hall and back out the doors.

"H-hey, hold on!" Tadashi protested, lunging forward to stop the doors before they could close. He was too late, however, and the metal doors nearly slammed on his wrist. He stumbled back, mouth slightly parted as the elevator began to ascend.

The elder brother subconsciously grabbed the other's hand again, watching the eerily green numbers above them begin to climb. The numbers ticked like a clock as the changed, making the nerves in Tadashi twist. He tapped his foot.

"That guy's a dick," he blurted, trailing his eyes down to the carpet.

"Tadashi…!" The younger squawked, cussing the equivalent of physically harming someone at his age.

"Sorry, I'm just angry. But it's true!" The teen's eyes looked hesitantly at his little brother's cheek, which was bright purple and bulging right under his eye. He grit his teeth. "He doesn't deserve the term guardian, let alone dad."

"Tadashi…"

The elder brother was appalled. "You can't seriously be defending him Hiro? He hit you! He has not right to lay a finger on either of us. Dad would've kicked his skinny greedy tight-wound a—"

"Dashi!"

"What, Hiro?" Tadashi shot a harsh look at the boy, releasing his hand angrily.

"Look!" He pointed toward the numbers, which were still clicking away.

The green lights said they were on forty six. They were supposed to stop at forty three. "We passed our floor." Hiro's voice confirmed that.

And the numbers were still clicking away, and the elevator was still going up.

"What the hell?" Tadashi mumbled, hastily stepping toward the panel and pressing the forty-third button repeatedly. He looked up. Now they were well into the fifties.

He felt his throat begin to close up. "W-we'll be okay, Hiro, hold on," he mumbled, more to reassure himself than the child next to him.

Hiro, however, hardly took his brother's words as comfort. "We're already at sixty…"

"I know," Tadashi hissed, jabbing at any number lower than the floor they were on. Of course his effort was pointless, clearly the buttons were not the problem.

Suddenly he felt a jolt and the elevator stopped, nearly making the teen lose his balance. Slowly his eyes trailed up to the number counter, which now flickered a dark-green sixty-five. He gulped.

The number flashed, and then was a sixty-four. And then it was sixty. And then it was a blinking fifty-five.

"Dashi…?" The elder looked at his little brother, big brown eyes wide and hands fisted in his jumper. "What's happening?" Tadashi's throat felt sticky, and even though he opened his mouth to reassure his brother, no sound came out. The counter was now beeping loudly, stuck on a conspicuous fifty.

Then he felt it. The slight release of the elevator, the hesitation of complete weightlessness between the metal contraption and the concrete floor sixty-five levels below.

Without thinking he launched himself at Hiro, falling to his knees and shoving the trembling child against his chest. He clutched the boy, tucking his head under his chin protectively, squeezing his own eyes shut and holding his breath.

The magnets released, and they began to plummet.

A/N:

Sorry for the long wait, but I tend to make my chapters long so they take forever. I'll try to be quicker next time, but I am in college so please be merciful :) Reviews do help push me through, good or bad!

So yeah. I'm definitely doing all my own situations, just in the style of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The technology is way more advanced, but it's necessary for the plot.

Anyway, thank you for the read! Next chapter we'll see what these boys can do, and then after that we'll meet some familiar faces ;)