Hatchi: Saihatsu Akumu

Eight: Reoccurring Nightmares

Hiro and Aunt Cass were out and about the next day. Hiro tried to make conversation, but for some reason, his aunt wouldn't talk to him.

"Aunt Cass, are you alright?"

She turned to him and smiled. "Yeah sweetie, I'm just fine."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "Then where are you taking me? You haven't told me anything about where we're going."

His aunt didn't answer him. She just kept on staring at the road while she drove. Hiro could feel as the car came to a stop. "This is our first stop." Aunt Cass said "Find something nice."

Hiro got out of the car and looked at where they stopped. They were parked right outside of one of those stores for fancy clothes. "Huh? What are we doing at a clothing store?"

Aunt Cass shut her car door. "Now, I know you don't like clothe shopping, but today, at least pretend you enjoy it."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "Uh, okay."

The two walked inside the store and Hiro started looking in the boy's section for a tuxedo, although he had no idea why he would need one. Aunt Cass found a knee length black dress over in the dresses section. "Aunt Cass, why are we shopping for tuxes and dresses?"

She didn't answer the question. "Go try it on, Hiro."

"Could you just tell me w-"

"Go try it on!"

"Okay, fine."

Hiro couldn't fathom why his aunt was being so silent and snappish. It just wasn't in her character. Something was definitely going on, but he had no idea what. He had changed into his tux and stepped out for his aunt to see.

"Is it too tight on you?" She asked.

Hiro shook his head. "No, not really."

"That's good, now lets pay for this and get going."

"Exactly where are we going?"

And just like that, his aunt's sunny smile turned into a threatening scowl, and Hiro knew not to ask again. "Okay fine, let's just go."

His aunt's smile brightened up again and the two walked out the door. They got back into the car and started driving. Hiro kind of zoned out, and before he knew it, they had arrived somewhere else. "Our second stop. Pick out something nice."

Hiro and Cass stepped out of the car for the second time, and Hiro spotted the florist's. He was about to ask what they were doing there, and then he remembered not to. They entered the store and Hiro could see flowers everywhere. For some reason, he was leaning towards picking out Forget-Me-Nots. He showed his chosen flower to Aunt Cass and she agreed on it.

They left the store and got back into the car. When Hiro looked down, he saw that he was wearing his tuxedo, and Cass was already wearing her dress. The car eventually stopped again. "Last stop. Say something nice."

They got out of the car for the third time and Hiro observed that they were in a graveyard. He saw people in the distance, all dressed in black. "A funeral?" Hiro asked. "Who's?"

The two came closer and Hiro could see the entire gang was there and dressed in black. "Hey guys, what are you all doing here? Who's funeral is this?"

The four of them stared down at the ground and silently stepped aside for Hiro to see the name on the stone. As Hiro saw who the stone belonged to, he dropped the flowers in shock.

'Here lies Tadashi Hamada, beloved brother and nephew'.

Hiro immediately started freaking out. "Wha-What's going on?"

Hiro immediately turned to the rest of the group. "You knew! You all knew about this and you didn't tell me!"

They all bowed their heads low. Hiro turned his head back to the grave and started crying. "Tadashi...please come home...please."

'Don't let him go.' Hiro ignored the voice and kept on crying in front of the grave.

Hiro screamed as he woke up on the garage couch. That was the second nightmare he had, had that week. He could hear someone running down the stairs and into the garage. Tadashi came bursting in, full of concern.

"Hiro, are you alright, why were you screaming? are you okay?"

Hiro took a second to return his heart rate to normal. "Yeah, I'm fine, I promise."

Tadashi walked over to the couch to comfort him. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Hiro's eyes widened at the question, but he nodded. Tadashi sat on the couch and gave Hiro a hug. "It's okay Otouto, I'm here."

Hiro shed a tear and gave Tadashi a hug back. "Thank you, Nii-chan."

The two pulled away from the hug and Tadashi rested his hands on Hiro's shoulders. "I think you should take the rest of the day off."

Hiro shook his head. "I can't. I can't let a little nightmare stop me from getting my work done."

Hiro stood up and picked up a tool from off of the desk, but his hands were shaking so bad, that the tool fell on the floor and he couldn't help but fall with it.

"Hiro!" Tadashi rushed over to his little brother's side. "Are you okay?"

Hiro was heavily breathing in and out. "I think I should take the rest of the day off."

Tadashi nodded. "Come on Otouto, let's go."

The two of them walked up the stairs and out of the garage.

"I'm just saying that Megazon would win because he is the fastest."

"No way, Stan Lee is the clear cut winner."

"You're just saying that because he's Fred's dad and you know him through connections."

"No way, I mean it, Stan Lee is the greatest superhero of all time."

"Sure, whatever you say big brother."

Hiro was feeling a lot better after waking up from his nap. His nightmare really took its toll on him, but he was okay now. "Okay then, who do you think would win in a fight? Samurai or Ninja. That dispute has been going on forever."

Tadashi thought. "I think that a ninja would win because they blend in with the shadows easily and they can attack unexpectedly."

Hiro scoffed. "No way. A samurai would win for sure. They have tons of armor and sword training."

"Ninjas have sword training too, you know."

"Yeah, but they don't wear armor to protect them."

"Fine, how about a battle between a Mecha T-Rex and a Mecha Pterodactyl. Who would win?"

Hiro turned towards the window with eyes closed and a finger pointed up. "Mecha T-Rex, and let me tell you why." Hiro turned around. "It would win in a fight because it-." Hiro stopped talking when he saw that the room was empty of anyone else. Tadashi wasn't there. Hiro could smell smoke coming from somewhere. He looked out his window and saw a building burning. Hiro's eyes widened.

"Unbelievable." 'Hurry and get him back.'

Hiro immediately rushed downstairs and outside the doors of the café. He hurried as fast as he could over to the building. He found Tadashi standing in front of it a safe distance away. "Tadashi!"

He ran up to his brother to find out what was going on. "Tadashi, what's going on?"

Tadashi turned to his little brother. "This building just caught fire and I don't know why."

"Then what are you doing!? Don't just stand there, call someone!"

Tadashi stared a few seconds longer before running towards the building. Hiro's eyes widened and he started running after him. "Come back here you knucklehead!"

Hiro ran as fast as he could after him, but it seemed that something was rigged and prevented him from catching up to him. Hiro stopped running when he saw that Tadashi was on the front step of the building. A tear threatened to escape, but he wouldn't let it.

"Don't you dare." He spoke barley above a whisper.

Tadashi smiled. "I'll always love you, Otouto."

"Tadashi, please don't go, I'm begging you!" he shouted.

Tadashi smiled. "Take care of Aunt Cass for me and tell her I love her. I love you both."

A tear fell through. "Tadashi, no." He was back to whispering.

"Goodbye Hiro." With that Tadashi ran into the building.

"TADASHI!"

The building exploded shortly after. Hiro, unable to stand up, fell to his knees and started sobbing. "Tadashi, why did you have to go?"

He continued crying. "Tadashi...I love you". More tears fell. "I'm so sorry I never got to say it." Hiro completely collapsed on the ground.

"...I love you, Nii-chan."

Hiro woke up in a cold sweat later that night. He shot up out of bed and took deep breaths. He looked over at his brother and saw that he was fast asleep. Hiro calmed down, knowing that it was just a nightmare and nothing more.

He looked at the time and saw that it was about two in the morning. Hiro used his blankets to try and wipe the sweat off. It felt so real, like it was actually happening. Hiro couldn't understand why he was having so many nightmares about the same thing. Tadashi's death. Why would he be dreaming about that? What was it about Tadashi dying that would come inside multiple nightmares?

Hiro remembered Tadashi's offer that he could sleep with him whenever he wanted. He hadn't felt a reason to do that in so long, but now, he felt he could use it. Hiro got out of bed and walked over to the other side of the room.

Tadashi was a sound sleeper, so it might not be hard for him to keep him asleep. Hiro carefully pulled the blankets back and got into the bed. He got as close to Tadashi as he could.

Tadashi's arms unconsciously wrapped themselves around him and Hiro was able to snuggle up to Tadashi's chest. This time, he didn't care about his dignity. A tear came out of his eye, and after that, they couldn't be stopped. Hiro quietly sobbed into his big brother's chest, careful not to wake him up.