I'm back~

Anyone miss me? LOL

Chapter 8: New Friends

Chiyeki made her way through the glass doors, waving hello to the familiar face at the reception desk. The man behind the table looked surprised. "Chiyeki?" he asked. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Sorry, Frank, I went out of town for a bit," she sighed, grabbing a pen to sign her name on the sign in sheet. "How's she been?"

Frank shrugged. "The same," he replied. "She has her good days, but it depends really. You know how she is with those mood swings…"

"Don't I know it," Chiyeki muttered. "Well," she sighed, "I'll see you in a bit, I suppose."

"Same room," Frank called as she made her way through the metal doors and into the sanatorium.

Chiyeki walked through the empty hall, muscle memory taking her through the building. It was emptier than she remembered it. Most likely, many of the patients showed signs of mental improvement and were released.

Tomoe would never get that luxury.

After the trial, the judge had officially deemed her mentally ill, and instead of sentencing her to basically a lifetime in prison, she would be locked up in a mental asylum, never to see the light of day again. From what several sources had told her, she learned that her older sister had no intention of trying to get a possibly lesser sentence by getting good behavior points. She still acted high and mighty, looking down on anyone and everyone that treated her.

She reached the room she was looking for. Just as she was about to knock, two nurses walked by and noticed her. One nurse made a face and muttered, "Be careful. She's in one of her moods again."

"Noted," Chiyeki replied gratefully. There was no doubt Tomoe would be in an even worse mood, especially since she hadn't visited in almost a year.

Knocking lightly, she jumped back in surprise when she heard something collide with the door from the inside, then hearing Tomoe scream, "Oh, for crying out loud, just come in, you wretched low lives!"

The nurses looked at each other, then threw sympathetic glances at Chiyeki. The woman sighed and slowly opened the door.

"So, is it true?"

"You're the fifth person to ask me today, Vanellope, and the answer is still yes."

"Sorry," his friend sighed in frustration. "It's just it's kinda big news that you found a dead lady. Especially since that serial killer escaped…"

"Yeah, the cops say this is his first kill since he escaped," Hiro said absentmindedly, flipping through his notebook to quickly review (not that he needed it) before the in class quiz on All Quiet on the Western Front. Truthfully, he had read it already when Tadashi was still in high school. His brother had fell asleep with the book dangling from his hand, and four year old Hiro was bored and out of books to read (their parents had just died and he already finished reading all the books Aunt Cass got for him). So, doing what any bored infant would do, he gently pried the open book from Tadashi's hand and began reading. Two hours later, Tadashi jolted awake and saw Hiro finishing up the last chapter of a high school leveled novel.

"That's pretty scary man," Vanellope shuddered. "Ralph said that the sicko kills kids and adults. And that he doesn't feel bad for killing them either."

"I can't speak for a serial killer," Hiro shrugged, closing his notebook as the teacher walked into class. "But Tadashi said the same thing. He told me that this guy has a bunch of connections and stuff, and that was how he escaped so easily."

"I heard that he's actually an ex-mafia member, and that he was an assassin that double crossed his boss, which is how he lost an eye."

"Really?" Hiro raised an eyebrow in surprise. That was one rumor he had never heard before. "Who said that?"

Vanellope shrugged. "Just some kids talking. Overheard them when I was getting my stuff from the lockers.

"Huh…" Hiro looked forward as the teacher greeted the class. "Well, whatever he is, I'm pretty sure he's not our problem, I mean, as long as we listen to what they said on the news, we should be fine."

"I guess," Vanellope sighed. "But aren't you a bit curious?"

"No," Hiro replied immediately. He already went through one life-altering event, he didn't need another.

Vanellope jokingly looked at him with an offended look on her face. "No sense of adventure," she teased.

"I like staying alive, thanks," Hiro replied flatly.

"Yeah, you're right I guess," Vanellope snickered. "But the thought of going on some epic adventure… catching a bad guy… doesn't that seem kinda cool?"

Hiro didn't say anything as the person in front of him passed back the quiz.

"So, how have you been, onee-sama?"

"What do you want, Chiyeki?" Tomoe spat out viciously, tossing her name out like it was poison. "Come to laugh at me after being in this crazy home for four years?"

"You know that's not why I'm here, nee-sama," Chiyeki sighed. Four years in a sanatorium and she was still as rude as ever.

"Hmph," Tomoe huffed, crossing her arm angrily. To say the least, Tomoe's room was huge for a hospital (probably from her ex-husband, he didn't exactly cut off all connections with her, why he didn't was a mystery to Chiyeki). Her room was the size of a king's suite, the walls pure white and large windows on one side of the wall. The only sign that showed she was in a mental asylum was the lack of furniture, equipment and the bars across the windows. She had her room modified to look like a little girl's dream. A large bed filled up almost half the room with plush cushions and mountains of stuffed animals piled high. Chiyeki could see some of the stuffed animals were the ones she brought from her past visits. She used to bring a new teddy bear each time she went to see her older sister. She wasn't sure if she was touched that Tomoe even bothered keeping the plushies.

No matter how you looked at it, the pure white room was changed to look like a somewhat subtle padded room. Tomoe was one straight jacket away from looking like a cliché mental patient.

"So, what brings you to visit your poor, insane sister, girly?" Tomoe snarled scathingly. There was a small coffee table with two seats, Tomoe in one and Chiyeki sitting across from her in the other. There was no tea in front of them (no doubt because the nurses and doctors were afraid she would toss the scalding tea at her visitors, which knowing Tomoe, she would probably do).

"They said you lost your mind when you lost everything else," Chiyeki mumbled, half to herself. "When you lost your power and control, the shock was so much that your mind went with it."

"Idiot," Tomoe snorted. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"No," Chiyeki muttered. She glared at her older half sister and hissed, "I think you were crazy from the start."

Tomoe didn't say anything. She merely glared back coldly, then growled. "What. Do. You. Want."

"Information," Chiyeki pressed. "I still haven't found those missing researchers, and you handled all their files when you were still working on that ridiculous New Life plan."

"Don't call it ridiculous if it actually worked," Tomoe scoffed, turning her head to the side. In Chiyeki's mind, it was like negotiating with a five year old, slow and getting nowhere.

"It only worked cuz you kidnapped a kid into doing what you wanted," Chiyeki retorted.

"Speaking of which, how are Hiro-kun and Tadashi-kun? Haven't heard much big news on the prodigy brothers," Tomoe suddenly cooed, voice sickeningly oversweet. She sounded like a cat that had just caught a particularly juicy prey.

"They're fine," the younger woman snapped back. She would rather not involve her friends in this case. After all, they had already gone through enough mess with her involved. "Don't change the subject."

"How about this," Tomoe snarled, standing up suddenly. "I'll help you with your little research project, if you do me a favor."

"Depends," Chiyeki replied warily. She knew from past experience that a favor in Tomoe's book was never anything good for the rest of society.

"Tell that useless, fat judge to get off his lazy ass," she hissed, leaning in threateningly with each word, "and get me out of this godforsaken loony bin!"

"No way," Chiyeki said firmly, refusing to be intimidated. "You got what you deserved. Lifetime here with no chance of parole. There's no way I'm letting you out."

"Fine," Tomoe huffed, dramatically spinning around to face the opposite wall. "But just saying, I know something that could possibly save more worthless lives," she sang, turning slightly to gauge Chiyeki's reaction.

She didn't take the bait. "Nice try, sister," she scoffed derisively. "I know all your tricks, and they're not gonna fool me."

"You may think you know me, little sister," Tomoe hissed, fury blazing around her entire being. "But you know nothing about me."

"That may be," Chiyeki snapped back, standing up abruptly. "But I personally think that's a good thing."

Tomoe turned, glaring daggers at the younger woman. "Get out," she rasped. "Get out!"

Chiyeki didn't need to be told twice. She turned and walked out the door quickly, not giving her sister a second glance. From the sound of her voice, she knew that if she didn't leave soon, Tomoe would start throwing the chairs if she had to. The one thing that would always be constant with her is her extreme temper tantrums. It could take hours before she calms down again. Giving the nurses a quick warning for their troubling task at hand, Chiyeki bid them all good luck before walking back out the metal door.

"Was she that bad, you were only in there for a few minutes," Frank commented as Chiyeki signed out.

"As bad as always," she sighed, putting the pen down with more force than necessary. "Thanks, Frank," she smiled halfheartedly. "I'll see you soon."

"Hey nerd."

Hiro sighed, looking up cautiously from his sandwich. He had aced the quiz (naturally), went through his other classes, no problems, and met up with Vanellope for lunch. She excused herself for a bit to go buy lunch (usually, her foster dad packed it for her, but for some reason she didn't have lunch from home today), and while she was gone, Chuck decided to show up again.

Overall, he had to say that Chuck wasn't that annoying. Sure, if he ever accidentally stepped in the bigger boy's way, he would roughly shove Hiro towards the lockers, making his arm hurt for a good portion of the day. However, after closer observation, Hiro saw that everyone received the same treatment, and that he wasn't being singled out or anything. He didn't know why, but the thought of not being the number one priority on a bully's list made him really relieved.

Until today.

"Can I help you, Chuck?" Hiro asked pleasantly, putting his meal down slowly. There was no way Chuck would let him get away with eating while he spoke. That was just asking for a beating. Pity, he was really looking forward to eating that turkey sandwich…

"Heard you found a dead chick yesterday," he mumbled lowly. Looking around warily, as though he would suffer eternal embarrassment and humiliation if anyone saw him talking to Hiro, he mumbled, "What was it like?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Hiro hissed exasperatedly. After a day of having every person on campus pull him out of the crowd to ask the same question, he was starting to get annoyed. Even seniors that he had never talked with before stopped him on the way to class to ask him. There was one guy, the "delinquent" of the school, who was especially curious. As Hiro recounted his story for the millionth time, the snowy haired boy clung onto every word with wonder and curiosity. Vanellope later told him that the boy was high school sophomore Jack Frost, an infamous trickster who was in detention more than he was in class. Although girls swooned when he flashed his pearly whites at them, the teachers disapproved of his carefree attitude. From what Vanellope heard from rumors, only one teacher, a school counselor, was able to keep him in school. Because of Mr. Mim, Jack was going to his classes rather than facing expulsion. Vanellope also told him that he was "unofficially" part of the school council as a punishment for ditching one too many classes. The teachers apparently hoped some time with the responsible, studious kids would make him be more like them. Hiro honestly wanted to know more about the guy. He seemed nice enough.

Chuck, on the other hand, was someone he didn't want to get involved with, ever.

Said person's face turned red and he snarled, "Don't get snappy with me, kid." He looked like he was using every ounce of willpower to not grab the younger child and punch him in the face. "I just wanted to say… I'm sorry for what you're going through."

Hiro blinked. Wow. He was not expecting that. Not at all. Especially not from a guy like Chuck, with his bullying reputation.

"Um," he mumbled in surprise. "Thanks." I guess… "I appreciate it, really, but… it's nothing that bad, I wasn't that affected."

"Whatever," the jock snorted. Great. That split second of talking with someone other than the muscle head that was usually there was gone. "You better not tell anyone we had this conversation or I'm gonna pound you into tomorrow!"

"My lips are sealed," Hiro promised, making the act of zipping his lips and throwing out the key.

The bigger boy gave him one last threatening glare before turning and stalking back to his table. He was instantly greeted with cheers, high-fives and claps on the back from the rest of the cool kids.

"What was that all about?" Vanellope asked curiously as she slumped down next to him. "Why's Chucky over at our table?" Why was everybody interrupting his time with this perfectly delicious turkey sandwich?

"He was passing his condolences," Hiro shrugged, determined to finish at least half of his meal. "Said 'e was 'orry," he mumbled through a mouthful of his food.

"Huh," Vanellope huffed curiously. "The day Chuck decided to grow up." She shuddered. "It's so unlike him it's terrifying."

Hiro snorted and almost choked on his food. Playfully shoving Vanellope, he asked, "So what's up with lunch today?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you usually bring food from home," Hiro explained his observation as Vanellope poked at the slop on her plate that the school called a Sloppy Joe. "Are you trying to go on some epic adventure by trying school food and seeing if you get food poisoning? Cuz that's one way to go on that epic adventure you were talking about this morning."

"Haha, very funny," Vanellope snorted, shoving back at him. "No, it's… Ralph," she sighed. "Things have been kinda tight lately… The construction company he works for is demanding more hours or they're gonna fire him, they said. He was outta the house before I was even up this morning."

"Sounds tough," Hiro murmured sympathetically. "I'm sorry." If anyone knew anything about being alone in the mornings, he would. Even when his parents were still alive, they often left early in the morning to go to their mystery job, leaving Tadashi with a set of instructions on how to take care of Hiro. Of course, the older Hamada still had to go to school, so there were several days that he wouldn't even see his older brother until later in the evening. It was lonely, but he eventually got used to it.

"Don't be," Vanellope replied firmly. "I'm fine. We're fine. Ralph said it was just gonna be for a few weeks anyways. That little pinhead of a boss can't keep forcing him to clock in extra hours."

"I guess," Hiro shrugged, slowly biting into his apple (he finally finished the sandwich with no more interruptions.) Chewing thoughtfully, he mumbled, "Tell him I said good luck."

"I'll pass the message." Vanellope unenthusiastically poked her food for a bit, before excitedly turning to Hiro. "So I heard Jack Frost went to talk with you today, what's he like?!"

"Tadashi, sit down."

"Why!" The older Hamada threw his hand up in frustration. "I worked on this project with you guys, the least I can do is help you test it, too!"

"You read instructions from the manual, whoop-dee-freakin'-doo," Gogo said flatly. "And doctor's orders, no physical work until that arm heals up."

"That's bull," Tadashi scoffed, awkwardly crossing his arm across his chest. "I can't let you guys do all the work!"

"Tadashi, language!"

"Wow, Wasabi, from all that, all you do is tell me to watch my language," Tadashi said dryly. "Sorry, lemme just go wash out my mouth with soap."

"Sorry, Tadashi," Honey Lemon giggled. "You can watch and tell us what we're doing wrong," she said cheerfully, patting the dirty armchair that Fred usually lounged across. Their carefree friend was absent, probably either bothering other students or actually in class for a change. "I'm sure a pair of eyes from the side would be great help."

"Great," Tadashi replied sarcastically as he sank into the stained seat, wrinkling his nose as he looked at the pizza grease and soda spills over the cushion.

"Cheer up, man," Wasabi said happily as he strapped their deadly laser into it's holster, taking aim at the target across the room. "We'll go get lunch as soon as we're done here."

"Admit it, you're not whining cuz you can't help, you just wanna try out the laser," Gogo snickered as she passed out the protective lenses to her friends.

"Duh," Tadashi snorted, gratefully accepting the lenses and slipping them over her eyes. "This laser's supposed to pack enough of a punch to reach the moon, and I'm supposed to just watch?"

Wasabi rolled his eyes. Usually it was Fred that complained about not being allowed to test any of their projects. "You get first dibs when your arm heals."

"Awesome."

After lunch, Hiro learn a lot more about Jack Frost than he planned to. From the way Vanellope chattered on about him and the rest of the girls on campus acted around him, he was the high school heartthrob. However, with his busy schedule as an unofficial student council member and pulling pranks, the guy never seemed to notice.

After school ended, Vanellope rushed an apology, saying she had to leave. With Ralph working late, she had to run to the bus station before it left, and that was a good three blocks away. It was either that or walk the five miles home.

Hiro waved goodbye to his running friend halfheartedly. Tadashi had texted him, telling him to stay on campus till he got there. Since the whole found-a-dead-body incidence, Tadashi refused to let Hiro walk home, despite the younger's objections. Tadashi's last class usually ended at 3:00, unless he had to stay late to work on something at the lab. He didn't have to look at the clock to know what time it was. It was only 2:45, and if Tadashi had to stay a little longer, Hiro had a more than half an hour left until he would be home.

Peniel had gone silent for the first time since she appeared in his mind. Sure, at night she would still appear and help him learn to control his powers, but their sessions were shorter than before. She let him sleep to be awake enough for class the next day. However, when he was at school, she would disappear. Even now, when he closed his eyes and tried to find her, he couldn't. It was strange, and slightly unnatural. He had gotten used to hearing her nagging voice.

Deciding he might as well wait outside for his brother, he closed his locker and shouldered his backpack. Vanellope had to be halfway home by now. He made a mental note to message her later and ask if she was alright. He didn't need to check the news tomorrow and find out that his friend was missing, or worse…

He shuddered, shaking the image of the poor woman from his mind. He still didn't know how to react to such a shocking discovery. Tadashi said that he should talk with someone, if not him then a professional. He stubbornly insisted he was fine, but with everyone asking him today, it was the first thing he thought of when someone approached him, no doubt to ask him about his experience. While he didn't tell them all the details, every time he had to bring it up, the scene replayed itself in his head, clearer and more vivid each time.

Just as he opened the main doors, a mass of something cold fell over him, falling all over him and effectively snapping him out of his thoughts. Blinking owlishly, he looked up and saw an empty bucket. Whatever was inside it was probably all over him now. Patting his head, he felt something cold, yet fluffy. His immediate thought went to snow. But snow? In the middle of October? In San Fransokyo?

The sound of squeaking sneakers sounded behind him. Turning slowly, he saw the familiar mop of white hair skid to a stop besides him. Jack Frost looked at him excitedly, then in shock. "Shoot," he muttered. "That's not meant for you."

"Who was it supposed to be for?" Hiro muttered crossly, swiping at the ice on his sleeves. Upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't snow, but shaved ice. Without the sticky syrup, thank god.

"Sorry, that was for Aster," Jack sighed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "That rude Aussie hates the cold."

"Well, I'm not particularly fond of it either, so thanks for the ice bath," Hiro replied sarcastically, shivering slightly. At this point, the slush had melted into freezing cold water, soaking him from head to toe. A rather cold wind also decided to start blowing, sending chills down his entire body.

Jack winced. "Sorry about that, freshie," he said apologetically. "Here, let's go to the student council room. It'll be warmer there and I'm sure there's bound to be some towels."

The two walked down the hall, Hiro's wet shoes squeaking on the clean ground. He felt sorry for the janitor that had cleaned the floors so well. He would have to clean up Hiro's muddy shoe prints that had sullied all his hard work.

"We're here," Jack announced cheerfully. He opened the door, motioning Hiro in. The shivering kid cautiously entered, relieved that it was considerably warmer in the room than it was in the empty halls. Just as he walked in, a colorful blur rushed past him, zipping over to Jack.

"Jack Overland Frost, where have you been! I've been trying to reach you for hours now! You were supposed to stop by during lunch, but when you didn't, I thought you got detention again, and when I asked Mr. Mim, he said you didn't, so I asked-"

"Tooth, calm down!" Jack shushed his hyperactive companion. "I went to go ask someone a question, that's all," he assured her.

"Oh," she breathed, noticeably deflating as she calmed her nerves. "Well… tell us next time," she said angrily, crossing her arms to emphasize her frustration.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And who's this?" She suddenly turned to focus on Hiro. He jumped, surprised by how fast she changed her attention. "New friend?"

This girl, to say the least, looked weird. She wore a colorful sweater with a matching skirt and had on a hair clip with the same colored feathers. A pair of gold earrings adorned her ears, and a complementary bracelet rested on her thing wrist. The way she moved reminded him of a ballerina, graceful and swift. That, or a hummingbird on steroids.

"This is the kid that found the dead lady yesterday," Jack introduced, moving past the two to the drawers, looking for towels. "Hiro, Tooth. Tooth, Hiro."

Tooth was leaning in, looking Hiro up and down. Hiro couldn't help but shrink back at her intensity. Before he knew it, he had sunk down on the couch in the room, Tooth still looming over him. "P-Pleasure," he stuttered shyly.

"Likewise," she replied shortly, still studying him closely. After a few seconds of scrutiny, she smiled largely and gave him a huge, bone-crushing hug. "It's not often Jack brings back a friend," she giggled happily. She didn't seem to care that Hiro was soaking wet.

"Tooth, you're suffocating him," Jack sighed, back with an arm full of towels. "And I just met him today," he snorted, handing Hiro the towels as Tooth finally let him go.

"Thanks," Hiro gasped, gratefully wrapping several around his soaked body. Tooth really didn't go easy on her hugs. He was pretty sure she would've broken his ribs if she squeezed any harder. She kinda reminded him of Honey Lemon, the same energy and hyper activeness.

"Sorry, you're just so cute!" she giggled. "And your little tooth gap is adorable!" Without warning, she pulled on his cheeks to open his mouth. "Your teeth are beautiful, too," she gasped, either ignoring or not hearing Hiro's muffled squawks of protest.

"Tooth, stop terrorizing the freshman," Jack chastised, swatting her hands away from Hiro's face. "Sorry about Tooth," Jack apologized to Hiro as she shot him dirty looks for ruining her fun. "Her parents are both dentists, and teeth are kinda her obsession."

"That's… cool," Hiro murmured as he rubbed his sore cheeks. She seemed nice enough. Just… weirder than he thought she was. "It's nice to have an interest in something unique." Just please don't shove your hand into my mouth next time.

"Yeah, you should see her presents," Jack snorted. "Usually you get candy and toys, but no, she gives toothbrushes and floss."

"It's good for your teeth," she protested.

"But you don't give it to people as presents."

"Why not? I don't see why-"

"FROST!"

Hiro jumped, turning his head to look at the new person in the room. A tall, tan guy with a brown leather jacket coated with slush stormed into the room. Trailing behind him was an even taller man dressed in a thick red parka with black fur and a short boy wearing a gold coat. The short boy was making wild gestures while the taller boy in red only shrugged.

"Oh shoot," Jack muttered, jumping over the couch to hide. At Hiro's questioning gaze, he grinned and said, "You didn't think that was the only place I boobie trapped, did you?"

The tan boy looked around furiously, looking ready to murder. "Where is he?" he snarled angrily as Tooth tried to calm him down. "I'm gonna kill him!"

"Now, now, Aster, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation-"

"Don't get in my way, Tooth, where is that bloody show pony," the angry boy growled in a heavy Australian accent.

"Calm down, friend," the red parka clad boy said calmly in a thick Russian accent. "Maybe he went home."

"No way," the tan boy fumed. "There's no way that guy would just go home and miss out on seein' the outcome of his prank." His eyes shot to the couch and focused on said white haired boy. "FROST!"

"Hey, Bunny!" Jack said cheerfully, quickly moving out of the angry boy's reach. "How's it going?"

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"Now, now, that's not nice," Jack scolded, jumping over a desk to dodge him. The two boys that had followed him in were literally holding him back (the taller boy was holding both his shoulders while the short boy was clamped onto his leg.) "Mr. Mim always said, murder is not the answer."

"I swear to god, when I get my hands on you, Frost, I'm gonna-"

"Time for our meeting!" Tooth announced quickly. "North, help me move these tables, would you?"

Jack took that moment of distraction to jump down from the desk he was perched on and helped them move the chairs and desks around in a circle. The boy who had gotten pranked glared daggers at the snowy haired teen and muttered threats and curses under his breath as he dragged the chairs over.

As they worked, Tooth fluttered over to Hiro and announced, "This is Hiro, everyone. Jack brought him in."

Immediately all attention was focused on him again. Hiro gulped as he felt the heat of all their stares was burning into him.

Red parka boy grinned and grabbed Hiro's hand for a handshake (he was so large and strong Hiro was surprised his arm didn't fall off.) "Is nice to meet you!" he said heartily as he shook Hiro's hand. "My name is Nicholas St. North. Can call me North if you like."

"North is our student council president," Tooth explained when North finally let go of Hiro's (now throbbing) hand. "And that's Sanderman Mansnoozie," she introduced and pointed at the waving shorter boy with the gold coat. "He's our treasurer."

"Nice to meet you," Hiro said nicely, waving back at him. Instead of replying, he made several wild gestures and smiled.

"He's mute," Tooth explained. "He can only reply in sign language. And feel free to call him Sandy."

"Oh." Hiro blinked, then, trying to remember from what little sign language he knew (he was bored and read through some of Tadashi's medical journals), slowly signed, "Am I doing this right?"

Sandy beamed and applauded him enthusiastically. He signed something back, and from what Hiro could remember, it was something like "I can teach you more if you'd like." It was either that or "My cat lives under a roof in my head." Hiro nodded excitedly. He was always up for learning new things.

"And this is Aster," she giggled as she danced over to the boy that had fell victim to Jack's prank. He still looked furious and had his arms crossed angrily across his chest. Tooth handed him a towel, which he snatched out of her hands immediately. "E. Aster Bunnymund, our VP."

"Won't tell us what the E. stands for," Jack snickered quietly in the back.

"Zip it, Frost," the tan boy growled. "And nice ta meet cha," he nodded to Hiro. "Call me Aster."

"Or Bunny, it pisses him off."

"Jack Frost, if you don't shut your trap right now I'm gonna-"

"We begin meeting now, yes?" North announced loudly. "You will join us?" he asked Hiro kindly.

As though right on cue, his phone buzzed. "Sorry, my brother's here," Hiro apologized, grabbing his still damp backpack.

"Maybe next time," North offered.

"Um… sure." Hiro didn't know why their president was asking him to sit in on a meeting when he wasn't even part of the student council, but he wouldn't mind coming back to visit them.

"I'll see you around, kid," Jack waved as Hiro walked to the door. "Sorry again about the whole ice thing."

Hiro shrugged. "I'm mostly dry already, so you're mostly forgiven," he said jokingly. His senior snorted, while the other person that had fallen victim to the prank just rolled his eyes.

"It was nice meeting you, Hiro!" Tooth gave him another huge hug. "Come visit whenever you'd like, okay? And you should really consider joining the student council while you're still a freshman."

"Maybe," Hiro managed to gasp while she literally squeezed the breath out of him. "I'll think about it," he promised when she let him go.

All the older kids waved goodbye as he left the room. Sandy promised to meet up with him soon to start the sign language lessons. Hiro couldn't wait.

"Wow, what'd you do, jump in the pool?"

"Shut up," Hiro grumbled, climbing into the seat of the family truck. "Let's just say I became an unfortunate collateral to a prank."

"Did you catch the guy?" Tadashi snorted, turning out of the high school.

"Yeah, he invited me to the student council room where I met the board and then was offered a spot."

Tadashi blinked in surprise, not sure if his younger brother was joking or not. "So, you made more friends then?"

Hiro hesitated. He wasn't sure what they were to him. Friends? Or acquaintances. He did only meet them all today. But they were all so nice to him, and even invited them into their circle. "I guess?" he finally replied unsurely. "I really don't know, to be honest."

"Sounds like you had an eventful day then," Tadashi chuckled. "That's cool that you made some new friends. They sound interesting."

"They're… unique," Hiro said. "How was your day?" he asked hurriedly, trying to change the topic.

Tadashi shrugged. "Tested out a new super laser," he said nonchalantly, trying not to smirk when he saw Hiro's eyes widen in awe out of the corner of his eye. "The gang wouldn't let me test it since my arm's still not healed, but they gave me first dibs when it gets better."

"You have to take me when you test it," Hiro said immediately. The kid was practically bouncing in his seat. And he calls me the nerd, Tadashi snorted in his head. "A super laser? What's it supposed to do?"

"It's supposed to reach rocks in outer space," Tadashi replied. "Wasabi's hoping to patent it to NASA."

"You. HAVE. To. Take. Me." Hiro emphasized each word, staring at his brother pleadingly. "Pleeeeaaasssseeeee?" he begged, extending the one word desperately.

"Hmm, I could always just take a video and show you after," Tadashi jokingly mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Or just webcam it to you…"

"You wouldn't dare," Hiro gasped. "Daaasssshhiiiiii."

"Fine, fine, I'll take you," Tadashi laughed.

"Yes!" Hiro punched his arms up at his victory. "This is gonna be awesome," he crowed, his minds already racing with the thought of the super laser and possible inventions.

Finishing his shower, he collapsed into bed, phone in hand. Remembering his earlier note to himself, he opened his messaging app and wrote: Hey, Vanellope. You still alive?

Only a few seconds passed when she replied: hey weirdo, yeah I'm alive.

Hiro let out a relieved breath. Good. I would hate to have to eat lunch alone.

Wow, is that all I am to you? A lunch buddy?

Basically. Hiro could see Vanellope do her fake offended gasp in his mind.

How rude, she replied. I'll see you tomorrow nerd. Gotta finish homework.

Yeah, see you. Hiro typed back. Putting his phone down, he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was surrounded by darkness. Great, he sighed. I must've fallen asleep.

Walking around, he realized that something was wrong. Peniel was nowhere to be seen. He even called out her name, hoping she would do her usual magic trick and appear out of thin air. Nothing.

Shrugging, he turned around. If she wasn't gonna show up, then that meant no training. As soon as he turned around, he realized he was looking right at his worst nightmare.

Tomoe was standing behind him, glaring icy daggers at him.

His breath hitched in his throat. He couldn't breathe. Just the sight of her made him remember everything that had happened three years ago.

Tomoe leaned in and slowly wrapped her hands around his throat. His feet wouldn't listen to him. They refused to move. She squeezed, closing his airway. He gasped for breath, choking as his mouth gaped open, desperate for a fresh breath of air. Tomoe leaned over to his ear and hissed, "Get out."

His eyes snapped open and he lurched up. The shock of his dream made him lose the strong grip he had on his ability and every electronic in the room sparked, then fizzed out. He heard a surprised cry come from downstairs. No doubt from Tadashi, who had been downstairs working on some assignments. A few seconds later, the door creaked open and Tadashi poked his head in with a flashlight. "You okay, bud?" he whispered.

Hiro was sitting upright in bed, panting as though he had run five miles. He was drenched in sweat, and that little slip was already giving him a major headache. Squeezing his eyes shut, he mumbled, "Yeah, I'm fine, bad dream." He rubbed his temple, trying to will his headache away. It didn't work.

Tadashi crossed over to his side of the room and opened his drawers, digging around for some aspirin. "At least you didn't cause a blackout on the whole street this time," he said jokingly, handing his brother a pill and the bottle of water on the nightstand.

"Sorry," Hiro said sheepishly, gratefully accepting the medicine and water. "How bad this time?"

"Just our house, from what I can see," Tadashi reported. "I'll fix it tomorrow morning, so why don't you do back to sleep?"

"Yup," Hiro yawned, crawling under the sheets this time. "G'night, Dashi." It's been a while since he last said those two words…

"Sleep well, baby bro," Tadashi laughed quietly before leaving the room. Now, he thought, time to clean up the mess in the kitchen and call it a night.

"You have a visitor, Miss-"

"Yes, yes, that's very nice, send them in," Tomoe snapped at the nurse standing by the doorway. God, how she despised these slow worker women! They wouldn't be able to bring her anything even if it were resting right in front of them.

The door creaked open and a familiar face walked in. Tomoe raised a brow, not amused. "Come here to gloat?" she drawled, rolling onto her back and sprawling out on the large bed. "I'm a busy woman, you know."

"Is that so?" her visitor snickered. "I can see that. Busy collecting teddy bears all day?" he commented, nodding to the mountain of plushies resting around her.

She rolled back over, laying on her stomach and glared at her visitor. "What do you want?" she hissed. "This obviously isn't a social visit, so what reason could you possibly have to be here?"

"A proposition," Koetsu offered. "Give me some names and I'll get you out of here."

"Oh?" Tomoe raised an eyebrow. "And how will you do that?"

The man smirked. "Do we have a deal?" he asked, lifting a hand up.

Soooo... I brought in some pretty familiar characters, that might or might not show up again later *hehe...*

Hope you enjoyed this longer than average update!

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