Juu Ni: Betsu No Ichi

Twelve: Another One

Hiro laid on his bed the next day with his eyes open and his hands underneath his head. Tadashi had insisted that he take a nap to rest himself so he could focus later on, but he really didn't want to. He was afraid that if he fell asleep, he would have another nightmare.

He was starting to become slowly afraid of sleeping as it would usually only bring him bad luck. It was then that Tadashi entered the room, but Hiro failed to acknowledge him. Tadashi would have thought that Hiro was asleep, it he hadn't seen that his eyes were open.

"Uh, Hiro, aren't you going to take a nap?"

It took a second for Hiro to answer. "I am."

Tadashi shook his head. "Hiro, if you were taking a nap, your eyes would be closed and you wouldn't have answered my question."

"That's because I'm sleep talking. Duh."

Tadashi walked over to Hiro's bed and knelt down until he and his brother were face to face. "Hiro, what's wrong?"

Hiro blinked and sighed. "I don't wanna take a nap."

Tadashi's eyes shifted downward towards the floor. "I know you don't, but you need rest. You've hardly gotten any and I really don't want you losing sleep more than you can help it."

Hiro blinked. "I just don't want another...you know."

Tadashi sighed deeply. "I know you don't, but you still need sleep. Please just try."

Hiro's eyes shifted away from Tadashi and down to the floor. "Uh, Tadashi? Can I maybe, sleep in your bed?"

Tadashi blinked as it took him a couple seconds to process, then he smiled. "If it makes you feel better, then sure."

Hiro smiled and swung his legs around, touching the floor. "Thanks, Nii-chan."

Tadashi's smile grew. "No problem."

Hiro stood and walked to the other side of the room and past the paper screen where he plopped down on Tadashi's comfortable bed. "This feels nice." Hiro said as felt the soft blankets underneath.

Tadashi smiled and joined him. "Are you going to be able to sleep here?"

Hiro smiled with his eyes closed. "I think I'll manage."

Tadashi ruffled Hiro's hair. "Sleep well, knucklehead."

Hiro smiled and finally drifted off to sleep. Tadashi sighed and pulled out one of his text books and began reading.

Hiro's eyes opened two hours later. He started to slowly gain consciousness and he realized that Tadashi wasn't there with him.

"Nii-chan?" He asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Hiro?" He heard a familiar voice ask him.

He turned to see Tadashi with his bag filled with books. "Tadashi, are you going back to nerd school?"

Tadashi nodded. "Yeah, Callaghan is giving a lecture today."

Hiro immediately perked up out of bed. "Really? Can I come with you?"

Tadashi raised an eyebrow. "Look, Hiro, I'm sorry, but two hours isn't going to cut it. You were up most of the night last night and you need more rest then that."

Hiro had to pull out his weapon. "B-But 'Dashi, please? I'll behave, I promise."

He had the puppy dog eyes out and everything. Tadashi rolled his eyes "Oh, so now you call me 'Dashi."

Hiro broke concentration and scoffed. "Fine, I'll get some more sleep. But don't come crying to me when your precious, valuable items go missing mysteriously one by one."

Tadashi eyed Hiro for a second, thinking about the words he had just said. "Yeah...okay. Well, I'll see you when I get home, if you're still awake."

Hiro lopped back down on the bed. "Yeah, whatever."

Tadashi gathered up the rest of his books and walked out the door. Hiro sighed and rubbed his eyes again. He figured that he could at least get something to eat before going back to sleep.

He headed into the kitchen and started looking through the fridge. He picked up an apple from the fruit basket and started eating it. He couldn't find anything good in the fridge, so he shut it. He decided to stick with the apple, so he walked back up the stairs and decided to sleep on his own bed.

He finished his apple, which would sustain him for now, and fell back asleep once again.

Hiro woke up in another two hours, which Tadashi found kind of annoying. The lecture had already ended, so he was already back home. Hiro argued that he had already gotten enough sleep and was feeling just fine. Tadashi eventually gave in because of reasons he was unaware of.

After all of the arguing, the two brothers had eventually decided to go walking. Hiro and Tadashi were walking through Sakura Park, the place where they used to come all the time when they were younger.

"Hey, Tadashi, I uh, I just wanted to say thanks for bringing me back here. It's nice to see this place again."

Tadashi smiled. "No problem, Otouto. I just knew you would want to come back here."

The walk went on for some time and the brothers continued to discuss multiple topics. "We all dared Fred to sneak over to Wasabi's station and switch some of his tools around and he actually pulled it off. It was hysterical. Wasabi started complaining about his system and he screamed like a little girl." Hiro finished the story of what went down at the lab the other day when Tadashi took him.

"Wow, I can't believe I missed that."

"Well, you should have been there Nii-chan. It was hilarious."

As Hiro's laughter died down, Tadashi's voice started to take on a more serious tone. "Uh, Hiro?"

The younger of the two turned to his brother. "Yeah, Tadashi?"

The older started twiddling his fingers nervously. "There's, uh, something I have to tell you."

Hiro blinked. "What is it?"

Tadashi motioned towards the direction in front of them. Hiro turned and saw another building, set on fire. His eyes widened and he stepped behind Tadashi. Strangely enough, the door to the building opened and the figure inside was revealed to be none other than Professor Callaghan himself. Hiro stepped out from behind Tadashi.

"Professor Callaghan?"

The Professor looked as professional and role model-like as always. "Mr. Hamada, I've been expecting you."

He then shifted his eyes to look at Hiro. "And I see your brother is here as well."

"What was it you wanted to see me for, Professor?"

Callaghan smiled. "Mr. Hamada, I would like you to come forward halfway."

Tadashi complied and walked until he was in the middle of both his little brother and his professor. Hiro was confused. "Tadashi, what's going on?"

Callaghan continued. "Now, the reason I called you here is this. I want you to choose. Will you come inside with me, or will you stay with your dear little brother?"

Hiro blinked. "W-What? You mean, he has to go with you or..."

Callaghan noticed the worry in Hiro's voice and smirked. "That's correct."

Hiro looked back to Tadashi. "N-Nii chan, you aren't thinking about going with him are you?"

Tadashi didn't answer, but instead looked back to Callaghan. The man stood tall and proud on the porch of the burning building. Tadashi turned back to Hiro. "Please Tadashi, we're brothers. We promised each other that we would stick together forever."

Tadashi turned back to Callaghan once more and he saw how his eyes practically beckoned to him. Tadashi had made his choice.

"I choose Professor Callaghan."

Hiro had fallen into shock. "W-What?"

Tadashi turned to him with angry eyes. "I said, I choose Callaghan."

Hiro had to do his best to not to fall to the ground. "Wha-W-Why?"

Tadashi scoffed. "Please. All our lives, you have been nothing but a nuisance to me. You always do the opposite of what I tell you and you've always just been such a burden. Not just to me, but to Aunt Cass as well."

A tear ran down Hiro's cheek. "N-Nii-chan, you don't m-mean that, do you?"

Tadashi nodded. "Oh, I mean it. I am just so sick of you. Don't call me Nii-chan anymore. You are no longer my Otouto."

Tears started running down Hiro's cheek. "T-T-Tadashi."

Tadashi scoffed. "See you around, I guess."

With that said, Tadashi and Callaghan both entered the building. Hiro slumped to the ground and tears started falling one after the other. "I'm sorry Tadashi! I can change! Please come back to me!"

The building exploded shortly after.

Hiro woke up again in a cold sweat. He started breathing in and out, realizing that it was all just a nightmare. His clock read 1:46 in the morning. Hiro's breathing started to slow down and his heartbeat returned to normal. He looked over to the other side of the room to see Tadashi fast asleep.

Hiro's mind wandered back to all the things that Nightmare Tadashi had said to him. He knew the real Tadashi would never say anything like that to him. But still, even though he would never say it, that doesn't mean that he might not think it.

Hiro didn't know what he would do if he found out that Tadashi thought such things about him. His own brother, who promised to always love and protect him. Hiro gathered all of his willpower and walked over to the other side of the room. He took a minute to stare at Tadashi's sleeping form.

"Am I really a burden to you?" He asked aloud, knowing he wouldn't be heard.

Hiro walked over on the left side of the bed and climbed in next to his brother. He snuggled up to him, and didn't try to hold his tears back. This one nightmare is what got Hiro started on thinking about certain things.