Till I'm Gone
Sora Matasuki
Chapter Four
Hiro was exhausted. He hadn't run that far or hard since he was five. Who did those coaches think they were, athletes training for the Olympics? Knowing the statistics, the probability of that thought being true was at 99.45%.
"Hey Hiro, how's your first day been?" a familiar and welcome voice called, making Hiro start and look up to see his older brother slipping out of the crowd and approaching him.
"Oh you know…. just survived a murder attempt via weights in gym." Hiro grinned tiredly, fighting back a yawn. Tadashi winced in sympathy
"There's many reasons why we're into the sciences and that's one of them." the sixteen year old said, lightly patting Hiro on the back.
The twelve year old's sore muscles protested this form of affection and Hiro slowly let his breath out from behind gritted teeth.
"Can we go home now? I just wanna fall onto my bed and sleep the rest of the day away." Hiro entreeted his older brother who nodded, smiling softly.
"Sure thing, bonehead." Tadashi grinned, ruffling Hiro's sweaty hair, making the younger boy to squawk.
"Tadashi! My hair's off limits, remember!?"
The elder brother laughed, pushing down and off of Hiro's slightly damp head before walking in the direction of the car, leaving Hiro to scramble to catch up.
"Wait up! I'm exhausted remember!" the twelve year old called to his brother who whirled around with a gleeful gleam in his eye that instantly put Hiro on guard.
"You're exhausted, huh?" Tadashi said, grinning widely as he slowly stalked towards a quickly backpedalling Hiro. "Good thing you have me then!"
And then Tadashi surged forwards and grabbed Hiro arround the waist, earning a startled squawk from the twelve year old's lips.
"Tadashi! Let me go!" Hiro squirmed in his brother's grip, sneaker clad feet kicking the air as the elder brother hefted him up and over his shoulder like a stack of potatoes. "Put me down! TADASHI!"
Tadashi grinned, holding his squirming bundle firmly lest he drop his little brother.
"Nooope." he drawled.
Hiro let out a disgusted huff as he slumped into his brother's shoulder. "This is embarassing." the twelve year old grumbled, arms folded as best as his conditions could allow.
"You did say you were tried." Tadashi pointed out.
"But I didn't mean ffor you to pick me up and carry me like a little kid!" Hiro complained.
"Hiro." Tadashi deadpanned. "You are a little kid."
Hiro scowled and thwacked his brother in the ear, having tried to aim for the back of his brother's head instead.
"Shut up." the twelve year old grumbled.
Tadashi just laughed before he suddenly swung Hiro up and over his shoulder and to the ground, making Hiro yelp at the sudden movement.
It was then that Hiro realized that they were at Tadashi's car.
"Admit it Hiro, you had fun." Tadashi teased as he unlocked the car.
Hiro sulked as he slipped into the passenger seat. Dumping his backpack by his feet, he slumped back with a tired sigh. The boy listened with half lidded eyes as Tadashi sat his bookback in the back seat before slipping into the driver's seat and buckling himself in. With a quiet huff, Hiro reached for his own seatbelt.
"You ready to see what Aunt Cass has in store for us?" Tadashi asked as Hiro's seatbelt clicked.
"Hope it's hot wings!" Despite being bone dead tired, Hiro still managed to drag out one of his trademark eye crinkling grins.
Tadashi made a face. "The ones that make our faces numb? How about no thanks."
"You just can't take the heat!" Hiro crowed, slowly waking up in his excitement.
Tadashi grinned tolerantly as he shot back, "You just don't like Takoyaki."
"It has fish in it! Yuck!" Hiro stuck out his tongue childishly.
"It's octopus, Hiro. Not fish."
"Still tastes gross!"
"And I hate having my mouth numb for days afterwards!"
Hiro had a devious idea. "Fine! Let's have a bet!"
Tadashi shot his younger brother a wary but considering look. "A bet? What kind of bet?"
"If your dish gets served tonight, I'll… I'll take out the trash for a week, and I'll even clean the tables too!" Hiro promised, even though just the thought of taking out the trash plus cleaning the tables made him want to gag.
"And if I lose?" Tadashi prompted.
"You can clean my room for me!" Hiro grinned.
Tadashi let out a loud laugh and reached over to lightly shove at his younger brother's shoulder. "You really don't want to clean your room this week, do you."
"Sooo….? Do we have a deal?" Hiro prompted, ignoring the statement.
Tadashi laughed, shaking his head. "Sure, bonehead." he teased. Hiro grinned, leaning back.
Aunt Cass and a few regulars jumped as the door was slammed open with a dual cry of "FIRST!"
"Boys! What have I told you about slamming the door open!" Cass scolded and the two boys halted with guilty expressions on their faces.
"Sorry Aunt Cass…" the Hamada brothers chorused in near unison, both resolutely looking at their shoes.
Cass sighed and shook her auburn head. "Go wash up, dinner's on the table." she instructed and both boys ran to do her bidding, highschool having turned them into famished monsters known as teenagers.
"Thanks Aunt Cass!" Tadashi called as he rushed passed, Hiro just nodding has he hopped over the stall leading into the back. "Hiro! Don't jump that, you'll break it!"
"Remember our bet, Tadashi!" Hiro called back, unperturbed.
"And I thought you were exhausted!" Tadashi yelled, sliding to a halt so as to gently unlatch the door through the counter.
"The bet!" the younger Hamada remained steadfast in his reminder.
"I remember, Hiro!" Tadashi rolled his eyes and strolled into the family eating area when he noticed his little brother standing stock still, staring at the table. "...what's up?" he asked.
Hiro turned his head and started snickering, wordlessly pointing at the table where the debated dishes were set upon.
Tadashi snorted and that's what caused Hiro to collapse in a fit of laughter. The sixteen soon joined his brother on the floor, memories of earlier that morning filling his mind.
"We gotta start planning for our bets to not come true!"
Hiro giggled, nodding in agreement.
Aunt Cass popped her head into the room to see what all the commotion was about and smiled at the laughing boys. She had been worried, but seeing Hiro so obviously happy, she was sure he had a wonderful day.
AN: So I've come to the conclusion that due to the age difference between me and my little brother I tend to act more like a second mother/big sister to him than I probably should, which makes Tadashi really sympathetic to me. I just know I'm going to cry so much tonight after my little brother's performance in Peter Pan (we're going to see BH6 afterwards and I'M SO EXCITED!) I'm so excited, that I rushed to do this chapter before I left. Hope you guys enjoy the fluff, because soon there's gonna be a time skip... *cue evil laughter*
AN #2: OH! I forgot! BIG THANKYOU'S GO TO *takes deep breath*: TheKreibae, Blue Torpedo, Miss Effie T, Snowflake, Highcrest Tomoko (phew!), Blue D, Silverstream, All Things Animated, Treasured Sanctum, and Chibi Atariel Tsukai!
*Is reeaaaaally spacey today...*