A/N

Thanks to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter!

Tadashi tried to get some sleep, but he kept waking up in a cold sweet and would run to check to make sure Hiro was really okay. After about three hours of this Tadashi gave up any hope of sleep and wandered down the stairs. If he was going to go out job hunting, he needed to find someone to keep an eye on Hiro. Without even thinking about it Tadashi started to dial Fred's number before freezing. No, Fred was already doing so much; he couldn't ask him to do more. If he kept bugging Fred he would start to get sick of him, so instead he dialed Wasabi's number.

"What's up man?" Wasabi asked after the second ring.

"Hey Wasabi…I-I hate to do this to you but…are you free?"

"Yea of course, what do you need?"

"Can…can you watch Hiro for me? I…I need to find a job…" Tadashi reluctantly explained.

"Yea I can but…is now a good time? I mean it's…Hiro just got home from the hospital…" Wasabi stammered. Tadashi knew what he almost said but chose not to comment.

"Yea but social services stopped by. I-I have to find a job in the next week o-or…or I…"

"I'll be over in like fifteen minutes!" Wasabi assured before hanging up. Tadashi let out a heavy sigh before collapsing onto a chair. The day had barely started, but Tadashi was already exhausted. A part of Tadashi wondered why he was even bothering, how could he possibly find a job in a week? He'd never had a job before, his resume only had school things, and he only had Professor Callaghan now as a reference. Maybe he could use his other professors but none of them where really good references. The more Tadashi thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed…

"Dashi?" Hiro asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

"Oh hey buddy," Tadashi said, forcing himself to smile. "I thought you were still sleeping."

"I couldn't…" Hiro mumbled, shuffling over to stand in front of Tadashi, holding his arms out. Tadashi reached down and pulled Hiro onto his lap and hugged him close saying,

"I'm sorry to hear that buddy." Hiro shrugged and nuzzled up against Tadashi. "Are you hungry?"

"No…" Hiro mumbled.

"You need to eat something buddy," Tadashi said, frowning. "How about a slice of toast?"

"My tummy doesn't feel good…" Hiro mumbled.

"Maybe later then…" Tadashi sighed, defeated. He just didn't have the energy to fight him right now. He didn't have the energy to leave the house even. But he had to if he wanted to keep Hiro. For the next ten minutes the pair sat in silence, Hiro seemingly not in the mood to do much other than cuddle, and Tadashi didn't have the willpower to try and coax anything out of the five year old.

A loud knock started Tadashi out of his thoughts. He quickly stood and set Hiro down on the chair, but when he tried to leave Hiro clung onto him, whimpering.

"I'm just going to answer the door," Tadashi tiredly sighed. Hiro let out another whimper but let go and started to suck on his thumb. Tadashi suppressed a groan and went to answer the door where Wasabi was patiently waiting for him.

"Wasabi thank you so much for-" Before Tadashi could even finish Wasabi pulled him into a tight hug asking,

"You holding up okay?"

"No…" Tadashi reluctantly admitted. He felt like he was falling apart, but somehow he was supposed to find the energy to go out and find a job? "I have no idea how I'm supposed to find a job in just a week and Hiro was refusing to eat and now he's freaking out on me and probably will start crying when I leave!"

"Hey it's cool. I can handle it," Wasabi assured. "He was just in an accident where his parents died. It's understandable that he'd be a little clingy."

"I know…" Tadashi groaned. "I just feel overwhelmed."

"If I could job hunt for you I would," Wasabi sympathetically said. "But I can't do that. I can babysit though."

"And that helps, a lot." Tadashi assured. "I can't pay you right now…and it might be awhile before I c-"

"Don't worry about paying me okay?" Wasabi said.

"I can't not pay you though!" Tadashi exclaimed.

"And I can't let you pay me," Wasabi countered.

"All right," Tadashi groaned. "You win! Why don't I introduce you to Hiro? Maybe he'll be a little calmer about this…" Wasabi nodded in agreement and the pair walked back into the kitchen to find Hiro rocking himself back and forth, frantically sucking his thumb. Tadashi kneeled down in front of the chair and said,

"Hey you okay?" Hiro shook his head, refusing to remove his thumb from his mouth. "Listen…I…I have to go but my friend Wasabi will take good care of yo-"

"Why are you leaving?" Hiro cried, eyes growing watery.

"If I want to keep you buddy I have to get a job," Tadashi explained.

"Why?" Hiro whimpered.

"Because….some very powerful people said I had to…" Tadashi sighed.

"Can I come with you?" Hiro asked, lip quivering.

"No," Tadashi quickly said, forcing himself to look away. "I'm sorry buddy but you need to stay here."

"But I need you Dashi," Hiro whimpered. Tadashi was tempted to give into those big brown eyes that begged him not to go, but he couldn't. Tadashi looked Hiro in the eye and soothingly told him,

"Hiro I need you to stay here okay? I can't take you while I'm looking for a job and I can't not look for one either. So please just stay here with Wasabi, I'll only be gone a couple of hours at most." Tadashi hoped Hiro would understand, but unfortunately, tears started streaming down Hiro's face and he jumped off the chair and raced out of the room. A part of Tadashi wanted to go after him, but another knew he couldn't waste so much time trying to calm Hiro down.

"I should probably just go…" Tadashi groaned.

"Dressed like that?" Wasabi asked.

"What's wrong with my-? Oh…right…" Tadashi groaned, realizing he was still wearing the same clothes he'd worn at the showcase. Was that only yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago. Groaning Tadashi dragged himself back up the stairs to change into something more appropriate. He forced himself to ignore Hiro's cries and focus on the task at hand. As he got changed, Tadashi wondered if Hiro would ever forgive him for leaving like this. He knew from experience though that Hiro would never let him leave if he walked into his room, and how could he not go? If he didn't he and Hiro would be separated for good. Hiro would understand, eventually. Or at least that's what Tadashi hoped. Once he was changed he wandered back down the stairs to find Wasabi critically eyeing Tadashi's outfit.

"Defintiely better but uh I think you need to lose the hat." Wasabi informed him. Tadashi's hand flew to his head where his SFIT hat sat. When had he put that on? Tadashi was just so used to wearing it he had thrown it on without even thinking about it. Reluctantly Tadashi pulled it off of his head and awkwardly set it down on the coffee table. It felt wrong not wearing the hat, it had been a gift from his father when he got into SFIT and he had worn it nearly every day since. Fred said he looked way better without it, something about how much he loved being able to freely run his hands through Tadashi's hair? Not wearing it so soon after his parents' death though made him feel vulnerable. Like he was throwing away the last piece of them that he had.

"Way better," Wasabi declared, not noticing Tadashi's inner turmoil. "No go get that job!"

Unfortunately it was not nearly as easy as Wasabi made it seem. Though it was summer, most businesses had already hired and trained for their summer jobs. Most business said they liked him or he seemed like a hard worker and they would keep his resume and consider him if there was a job opening. Every rejection just made Tadashi want to scream. He was trying to keep his brother! Didn't they understand he needed a job now?

These people didn't care about his troubles though; they only cared about their business and their people. Some orphan's plight didn't concern them. Orphan…Tadashi didn't like to think about it but both he and Hiro where orphans now. People didn't help poor little orphans, they had to help themselves.

For most of the afternoon Tadashi's mind wandered back to Hiro. Had Wasabi managed to calm him down? Did he finally eat something? As it grew dark out, Tadashi finally had to admit defeat and trudged home, feeling even more miserable and drained then before.

As Tadashi approached his house, he hesitated before opening the door. Being away from home hurt, but somehow, being home hurt even more. At home he was constantly reminded that his parents were gone. As much as the reminders hurt, it was hard to be away from the house for too long. He felt both a strong urge to cling onto what remained of his parents, but a painful need to get away from the painful memories. He couldn't think about that though, Hiro needed him to be strong so he would be. Tadashi straightened himself and unlocked the door, stepping inside. Immediately Wasabi appeared at the door whispering,

"Hey how was the hunt?"

"Terrible…" Tadashi grunted, collapsing face first into the couch.

"I know it's hard but you can't expect to find a job in one day."

"Or a week…" Tadashi grumbled, angry at the dumb social worker. He had to know what he was asking was impossible!

"Hey, just keep at it okay?"

Tadashi asked, "How's Hiro?"

"He's calmer now," Wasabi said. "I kind of explained what was going on."

"Dashi?" Hiro tentatively asked, slowly shuffling into the room, clutching his stuffed toy to his chest. Tadashi felt his heart clench when he saw Hiro's puffy eyes and the dried tear stains on his cheeks.

"Hey why don't I go and give you two some alone time?" Wasabi softly suggested.

"Yea. I um…thanks again for helping…" Tadashi tentatively said.

"I said anything and I meant it okay?" Wasabi assured. "Now go have some brotherly bonding or whatever." He added before walking out the door. Tadashi awkwardly turned on his side and said,

"Hey buddy…you feeling better?" Hiro nodded his head and shuffled a little closer. "Listen….about earlier. I'm sorry I was so harsh…I'm just kind of stressed and… I know it's not an excuse but…"

"It's okay…." Hiro mumbled. "'Sabi explained…I'm sorry I fussed…" Tadashi smiled and said,

"It's okay. But…I'm going to have to go out again tomorrow…" Hiro's eyes watered and he looked like he was going to fight, but surprisingly refrained. Tadashi sat up and started running a hand through Hiro's hair. "I know it's hard, but if you want to keep living with me I have to keep going out until I find a job."

"I know…" Hiro whimpered. "But I really don't like it…" Tadashi carefully picked Hiro up and hugged him tightly saying,

"Me too buddy….me too."

"I got you a 'pology gift…" Hiro sheepishly mumbled.

"You didn't have to buddy," Tadashi assured.

"I wanted to," Hiro said, pulling out a bag of gummy bears from his pocket.

"Where did you get those?" Tadashi asked.

"They're the ones mama and papa gave me…" Hiro mumbled. "They make me happy and since you seem sad I thought they'd make you happy too…"

Tadashi smiled and ruffled Hiro's hair saying, "Thanks buddy but I really can't take them, they're yours."

"But I'm giving them to you," Hiro reasoned. "So that makes them yours."

Tadashi considered arguing more, but he could tell Hiro would keep fighting him on this, but Hiro also looked like he needed some cheering up. Smiling he said, "Alright how about we share them?"

"Okay!" Hiro agreed, a smile growing on his face. Tadashi opened the bag and split the gummy bears, being sure to give Hiro all the red ones and enjoyed their impromptu snack. He knew this would spoil his and Hiro's dinner, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. Hiro was smiling again and that's what was most important.