Till I'm Gone
Sora Matasuki
Chapter Two
Eight months earlier...
"Oh look at you two, my wonderful highschoolers…" Aunt Cass sighed, dreamily staring at the brothers. She was so busy in her overjoyed staring that she completely missed the shared looks of commiserated misery in the face of an overly mothering force such as their Aunt that the twelve and sixteen year old traded.
Abruptly, she shook her head and leveled both boys with a stern look, making Hiro straighten from the uncomfortable slouch he was gaining. "Now you boys remember to come straight home, I'm making something special to commemorate my two boys being in high school! I feel so old…"
Hiro perked up. "Hot wings?" he asked hopefully.
Aunt Cass smilled mysteriously. "Maaaybe." she said cheerfully.
"Is it Takoyaki?" Tadashi piped in, grinning at the thought.
"You boys will have to come home and see, won't you." Cass said warmly before squeeling. "Oh come here, both of you! Big hugs, big hugs!"
With mutual groans, the brothers obliged their Aunt's clinginess in a group hug.
"Oh my boys, you both are gowng up so fast…" she sighed, stepping back and wiping away a few tears. "Now. Hurry up, otherwise you both will be late!" she warned.
"Bye Aunt Cass! C'mon Hiro, race you to the car!"
"You're on!" Hiro grinned at the challenge. "On your marks, get set, GO!" the twelve year old crowed. In his excitement though, it came out as "nyermarsgesetGO!" but Tadashi obviously knew what his little brother meant as the two burst into motion and sprinted for the front door.
"Drive safely, Tadashi!" Aunt Cass called after them, smiling to herself as she watched the two enter into a new stage of life.
The cool morning air hit Hiro's face and he felt a grin spread across his lips as he ran.
"Last one to the car has to pick up the winner's room!" he called over to Tadashi who laughed.
"I'd better make a mess then!" he called in reply. "Otherwise there'll be nothing for you t pick up!" With that statement out of the way, the elder brother increased his stride. Hiro let out an undignified squawk and followed suite.
The two Hamada boys ran and leapt off the curb, Tadashi's longer legs eating up the distance but Hiro had the advantage of youth on his side. And so it was that a dual call of ‟FIRST!" mingled with the thud of two bodies hitting the metal contraption at the same, forming one harmonious note.
Panting from the exertion, the brothers locked wide eyes and immediately started laughing.
"We-we didn't… come up with… a stipulation for…. for a tie!" Hiro howled, tears of laughter leaking out of his eyes.
"So… does this call for a truce?" Tadashi laughed, offering a fist bump to which Hiro - still giggling - obliged. Their knuckles brushed and Hiro made an exploding noise softly, cheeks puffing out as he wiggled his fingers. Tadashi chuckled but made the obligatory 'boom' noise as well, wiggling his own fingers at Hiro.
The two brothers grinned at each other before Hiro moved to go around the back to hop into the passenger seat. Suddenly, Tadashi surged forwards and grabbed the hood of Hiro's hoodie and yanked him backwards. Choking slightly, his eyes widened as a car sped through the parking lot noisily, nearly clipping Tadashi's car.
"Onī-san…" Hiro mumbled shakily, shivering and shocked enough by his near brush with death that he had slipped into calling Tadashi by his formal title gifted to them by their heritage. It had been something that hailed back from when they were little. Something that their American side of the family had slowly bled out. Not intentionally of course, but without the constant reminders… things fade.
Tadashi shook his head and pulled his little brother close as he glared in the direction of the long gone speeder. "Jerk. He could have killed you at the speed he was going!"
"I'm fine Tadashi." Hiro pulled away from his brother's embrace despite wanting to stay a little longer. Tadashi gave him a once over then nodded, satisfied that there weren't any true injuries sustained from the incident.
"C'mon Otōto, let's go to school." Tadashi finally said, ruffling Hiro's hair, making the twelve year old scowl and try to bat the bigger boy's hand away.
"Tadashi, stop it! No touchie the hair!"
"Ooh… scary grammar." Tadashi teased. "I'm so scared."
"Shut up, Nī-san…" Hiro muttered, ignoring the stunned look Tadashi sent his way.
That was the second time that his little brother had called him that…. Dim memories of a time before Aunt Cass flooded the sixteen year old's mind and Tadashi found himself with a melting heart and bittersweet tears threatening to fall.
"Tadashi, are you gonna unlock the door or not?!" came the familiar impatient drawl and the elder brother shook his head, the thought fading like the others on that same subject always did.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, Hiro!" Tadashi called, laughing at the impatient huff he got in reply. "You're such a drama queen."
"Am not!" came the indignant squawk, making Tadashi laugh harder as he unlocked the car and slid in.
"I love you, Hiro." Tadashi murmured, reaching over to brush a hand on his little brother's shoulder.
Hiro flushed and looked out the window. "Yeah… same here." he muttered, clearly embarrassed to be talking about feelings, yuck.
Tadashi chuckled softly and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot.
Hiro would never admit it, but he was nervous. He was excited to be learning things that would be more of a challenge to his brain yes, but… He would be the youngest Freshman in attendance. Statistically speaking, people didn't like people who were different. And Hiro was definitely different.
He was smart for one thing, and he really didn't have all that big a filter on his mouth - previous experiences in elementary and middle school had shown the results of that nasty combination. Another thing was that he was small. And Tadashi was tall and large and looked like he was a grown up. Hiro just… looked like the kid he was. Add that all up and the probability of Hiro being bullied shot up to the higher ranges of 80%.
He was different. And different meant weird. Which equalled being shoved into lockers! Oh he prayed that the lockers were too small for him to fit. But what about bathrooms - did those have cameras or would he get ambushed there and - logically, Hiro knew that he had no true basis for his fears but he couldn't help it! Hiro knew if he followed this train of thought through it's logical conclusion, he'd have an anxiety attack.
"Hiro? We're here." Tadashi's soothing voice broke through the tidal wave of panic and the twelve year old latched onto that feeling of comfort like a life preserver.
"Okay." Hiro was glad his voice didn't reveal how shaken he was to be joining High School's student population.
"...you gonna get out?" Tadashi asked, confusion clear in his voice.
Hiro started and then laughed, ruffling his hair sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm coming! Just got lost in thought!"
"Don't wander too much. You won't know where the exit is, your head's so big." Tadashi teased.
The twelve year old rolled his brown eyes. "Oh haha, Tadashi. Very funny." he deadpanned as he slipped out of the passenger side, backpack slamming into his back. Hiro winced as his books' sharp corners dug deeply into his spine.
"Hey, not all of us can be geniuses." Tadashi shrugged, grinning.
"You're one to talk, Mr. I-Skipped-a-Grade." Hiro snarked, brown eyes sparking in amusement as his smile grew wide enough to crinkle the corners.
Tadashi threw back his head and let out a loud laugh.
"That is true, you've got me there little brother." the sixteen year old admitted, shaking his head before jerking it towards the school grounds. "C'mon let's go."
Hiro stared nervously at his brother's retreating back as the elder headed towards the entrance to the school then slowly nodded, not moving an inch. He watched as Tadashi greeted old friends and was swallowed up by the similarly tall crowd. Tadashi belonged here. Hiro was slowly gaining a creeping feeling that he… wasn't.
It was then that Hiro realized something.
He wasn't nervous. Oh no, Hiro was terrified.
AN: Big thanks to Snowflake, BlueD, Silverstream, Escaping The Shadow, Oncomingstorm10, Blue Torpedo and Highcrest Tomoko for reviewing! I am simply blown away! 7 reviews in a 2 day(ish) period? That's never happened to me before! So from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all! Now, concerning Hiro... Everyone take deeeep breathes. Now, repeat after me: 'this is canon compliant.' rinse and repeat until you realize what I mean by saying this. Now, this is no way saying that it's a happy journey... You are embarking in a journey with our twelve year old genius in to darkness that he may or may not return unscathed from... ^^ Love you all lots, and enjoy!