Till I'm Gone
Sora Matasuki
Chapter Twenty Three
"Tadashi." Hiro rubbed at his temples, feeling a headache of pure annoyance approaching in rapid waves. "If you keep following me to class like this, you'll be late."
Tadashi pulled out the puppy dog eyes, lip sticking out in supplication. Hiro folded his arms, raising an eyebrow.
"Nii-san. I'll be fine." he insisted, "You don't have to worry! If anything happens, a teacher will step in."
Tadashi didn't look convinced. "Oh, yes, because they did so well before." he deadpanned.
Hiro scowled. "This pattern you've got going is so not healthy. For both of us! I need my space!"
The elder Hamada looked lost. "But…" he began to protest.
"But nothing!" Hiro interjected.
"But Hirooo…!" Tadashi moaned in distress, throwing his head back for emphasis.
"But Tadashiiii…" Hiro whined right back, hands on his hips and eyebrows raised.
"Mr. Hamada!"
At the sound of a stern, male voice, both Tadashi and Hiro jumped and turned to face the door to Hiro's class.
"Yes, Mr. Arwald?" They addressed the teacher together. Tadashi guiltily eyed his posture: arms folded and leaning against the door frame. Never a good posture for a teacher to take.
"The elder." He clarified before continuing, "Class is about to start. I would advise you to heed your younger brother."
"But Mr. Arwald-!"
The older man put his hand on Tadashi's shoulder. "Young man, your brother will be fine. Please trust me. He's in good hands."
"But-"
Mr. Arwald's lined face hardened minutely. "Go Tadashi. Otherwise I'll be forced to give you detention." the man threatened.
The sixteen year old's face contorted into a grimace, eyes glancing away from the teacher.
Hiro peered around Mr. Arwald, intent on giving a sly smirk in his older brother's direction, but he froze immediately, eyes widening. Tadashi looked… desperate- scared even. His arms were pressed against his sides and, upon closer inspection, the younger Hamada could see the tremors running through his body and shaking his clenched fists. A twinge of emotion ran through Hiro's chest and the twelve year old moved without thinking.
His skinny arms wrapped around his older brother's waist, and Hiro pressed his cheek into Tadashi's stomach, near his ribcage.
"I'll be okay, Onii-san. You don't have to worry so much." Hiro whispered as Tadashi practically curled around the boy, contorting ever inward.
"I can't help it… I care too much… worrying about you is just… it's what I do." Tadashi whispered into Hiro's fluffy hair. The twelve year old let out a quiet huff, struggling to find the right words to express the feelings welling up inside him.
"Mr. Hamada." unlike earlier, Mr. Arwald's voice was soft with new understanding.
Tadashi met his gaze, rubbing at his face. "I'll go." he whispered finally, hands fumbling as he tried to pry himself out of Hiro's clutches. But now that Hiro was there, now that he'd finally given in (to some degree), the boy didn't want to let go. And so, the twelve year old clung, determined to get his older brother (who was his pillar even if he to admit it) up to more cheerful levels of attitude.
"You know I love you, right?" Hiro asked, voice muffled by his pressing his entire face into Tadashi's stomach. He felt his older brother's body going stiff, hands still grasping Hiro's hoodie sleeves as he stared down at his little brother. Said little brother refused to look up at him, lest the elder could spot the red tinging his cheeks. Then, slowly, wide brown eyes softened into a gentle - if still tired - expression.
The twelve year old twitched slightly when he felt long fingers gently find their way into his hair and ruffle it.
"I know." Tadashi said softly, "But you were right earlier. I need to give you space. I can't keep clinging to you just because I'm worried."
Hiro stared up at him, wide eyed at the tired grimace that danced across his elder brother's face. The boy felt conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to cheer, because heck yeah! He'd won the seemingly endless battle between himself and the ultra clingy Nii-san! But then again… Hiro was nearly overwhelmed with the icy winds of worry and concern that suddenly swept through his mind. The kind that only came when a loved one was acting… well… very unlike themselves.
This wasn't the vibrant Tadashi that Hiro knew. The twelve year old could still feel the tired trembling that came from his older brother. Hiro felt his heart lodge uncomfortably in his throat, making it hard to swallow. A sick feeling grew in his gut.
"Tadashi…" Hiro tried to swallow, but found himself unable. "I-I think… I think you should go see the nurse."
Tadashi blinked down at his little brother, not seeming to comprehend the advice. The sixteen year old swayed slightly in place, despite how Hiro was trying desperately to act as an anchor.
The twelve year old traded worried glances with Mr. Arwald.
"I'll write him a pass, Hiro." the elderly teacher murmured. Hiro nodded over the pounding of his worried heart.
"I don't know what's brought this on…" he whispered, practically to himself as Mr. Arwald headed in to get the pass. Tadashi was clearly too out of it to understand that he was out of it, and, as if to prove this, the elder Hamada slumped against Hiro's head, muttering something into his fluffy hair. Hiro let out another huff, amusement warring with concern.
"You need sleep." Hiro informed his sleepy brother. "And to lay off the donuts... donut hog."
"...'m not a donut hog." Tadashi grumbled, chin settling firmly onto Hiro's head. "You're the donut hog." he added as an afterthought.
Hiro snorted. "Your weight says otherwise."
"...'re you calling me fat?" Tadashi leaned even more heavily on Hiro, causing the twelve year old to flail as he was thrown off balance momentarily.
"Tadashi you're tired. You don't even know what you're talking about."
"...mm…. not…" Tadashi tried to protest, words slurring together. "R'lly… 'm fine…"
"Hiya, little guy! Mr. Arwald wanted me to take your brotherrrrr - Tadashi?"
Hiro blinked and craned his neck to see who was speaking. His eyes narrowed as he saw a very familiar blue beanie crammed onto a head of blond hair.
"Fre...d… hi…" Tadashi yawned in greeting, flopping an arm in an attempt to wave.
'Fred' (if that was even the guy's real name, Hiro couldn't tell because his brother had lapped the loopy stage and was back at having hallucinations at this point) stared for another moment then visibly shook himself. He'd seemed almost… entranced with Tadashi's state of being. Hm… Hiro narrowed his eyes, then mentally shrugged. Oh, well. Whatever it was wasn't really his problem right then.
"I can take him to the nurse, if you want. I don't have anywhere to go since I've got a TA period now."
Hiro blinked, before grinning. "That'd be great!" the twelve year old paused before his grin turned mischievous. "Can you video his reactions for when he's actually awake enough to process what's going on around him? That'd be hilarious."
The beanie clad teen saluted him, grinning back with just as much devilry. "Can do, little dude!"
Hiro gratefully untangled himself from his older brother, though he earned a pathetic whine that made his heart twinge. "It's gonna be okay, Nii-san, you'll feel better after a nap." Hiro reassured Tadashi as 'Fred' slung one of Tadashi's limp arms around his shoulders.
"C'mon man, let's get you to Ms. Ayako. She'll make you feel better."
"Buh… Hiroo…" Tadashi weakly flailed his other arm in Hiro's direction before it fell limply to his side. A wet sniffling sound made Hiro's chest tighten even more as 'Fred' steered his older brother around and towards the nurse's office.
"Byhee Hirooo…" came the fading voice of his extremely exhausted brother and Hiro let out a sigh as the bell finally rang. Slowly, he entered Mr. Arwald's engineering class.
The chatter of his fellow classmates washed over him like a soothing balm, equations and debates on certain models' aerodynamics flying through the air like paper airplanes. This was his type of class. It was already one of his favorites, and he'd only been back for a week or so.
"Hey mini-da Vinci! Someone left you some flowers!"
Hiro glanced over at his table partner, a one Will (last name?) and felt his eyebrows crease. "Flowers? Really?"
The junior nodded, jerking his head to where the aforementioned gift lay innocently on his desk. The blue petals jumped out at him in stark comparison to the black tabletop.
The young Japanese-American approached his desk and picked up the single sprig of Forget-Me-Nots, twirling it around with his fingers as his eyes examined every inch for clues to the identity of the sender.
"Did you see who delivered them?" the twelve year old questioned and Will shrugged.
"It was a TA. Blonde. Looked kinda like the TA that Mr. Arwald had take your older brother out… I think his name was… Fred? I dunno. I don't pay that much attention to people when I'm distracted."
Hiro let out a hum and spun the sprig around a bit more. "I wish I knew who was sending them. I had a huge bouquet in my locker the day I came back."
"Really?" Will asked, scratching at his face as his eyebrows lifted.
"Yeah. What I don't understand is why someone would send flowers to me. I'm not anything special…"
"Whatever you say, mini-da Vinci. You're a genius. Someone's gotta like you somewhere."
Hiro made a face. "But I don't know any girls! Why would a girl pay attention to me?"
Will shrugged, hanging his massive headphones around his neck. "Who knows what goes on in their minds. Between you and me, I'd stick with the sciences. Much easier to comprehend those."
Hiro nodded, face smoothing out as the topic moved away from the confusing and into the realm of things that he could really understand. "Yeah!" he agreed, setting the sprig of Forget-Me-Nots back on his desk.
Mr. Arwald cleared his throat and the class took off, racing towards the exciting future of building real life models. They'd be building pretty some awesome things - like an actual catapult! They'd be launching wadded up marshmallows instead of rocks because of the hazard they presented - but hey! Free marshmallows to eat after they were done, right?
It was official. Best. Class. Ever.
"Wheeee..."
"Steady there, oh Tall One." Fred cautioned his lanky friend as Tadashi leaned heavily on the comic enthusiast, nearly causing both of them to fall over in a tangle of limbs.
"Imma steady person…" Tadashi declared woozily. "I… gotta… gotta be… Hiro'd… Cafe go 'boom'." the last part was declared so solemnly that Fred had to shove down the urge to look behind him to take another glance at Tadashi's kid brother in shock. So the kid was the mad scientist type, huh?
Awesome. And yet, extremely terrifying.
"Sounds hazardous, man." Fred said aloud as Tadashi swayed away slightly, eyes unfocused.
"Is." the sixteen year old agreed, wobbling as he tried to take another step. The two moved forward a few more steps, swinging whichever way Tadashi's balance decided. If Fred had to put an analogy to this situation, it would be like the two of them were one of those really retro ping pong games only found in ancient Arcades.
The walls were the boxes that bounced the ball around and the two of them were the ball. Tadashi was the momentum and Fred just went along with it. Otherwise the two of them would have been in a mess on the floor several steps back.
"But love 'im." Tadashi finally declared, after several minutes of silence that Fred had used to continue their trek towards the nurse's office.
"Of course you do." Fred agreed.
"Only family I have…"
Fred winced. This was going down a darker road than he'd ever expected from his friend. "What about your Aunt?" he asked, trying to shift the conversation away from sadness.
"Not Hamada… We're… last? No one else."
Drat. That didn't work. Okay, Freddie… be random! "Sooo… what was your favorite TV show when you were a kid?"
Tadashi's weight was heavy against Fred's side as the taller teen rested his head awkwardly on the comic book enthusiast's shoulder. "Mmmph…" he hummed, closing his eyes as he obviously struggled to work his brilliant mind backwards.
Before the sixteen year old could form an answer, they had arrived at their destination.
Fred stared at the door in consternation. How was he going to get the door open when he already struggled to hold Tadashi up? By this time, the Science Star had started leaning even more on his rather small friend and Fred hated to admit it, but Tadashi was heavy.
Awkwardly, Fred shuffled forwards and tried to open the door. He tried several times, in fact, but he still couldn't get it open. The teen considered the urge to bang his head against the door in the hopes of Ms. Ayako hearing him. But he finally succeeded in his venture.
"Hiya Ms. Ayako!" he called as he helped Tadashi through the door.
The school nurse, Ayako Kimura glanced up from her desk and sighed. "Fred, you have a TA period right now, what could possibly be wrong-"
"Mmmh floatin'… wheeeeee…"
Fred tried to stifle a laugh at the flummoxed expression on the older woman's face. A brown strand of hair was falling out of her crisp bun and her green eyes were wide under her thin, wire-framed reading glasses. A snort escaped his lips, and Ms. Ayako shot a stern look in his direction.
Visibly shaking herself, the school nurse focused on the task at hand. "And who might you be…?"
Tadashi wobbled slightly. "Ta… Tada…" he yawned widely, unable to finish.
"Tadashi Hamada. Can he lay down here, Ms. Ayako? He's seriously sleep deprived and about to fall flat on his face. OH! And here's a pass from Mr. Arwald." Fred flapped the small green slip in her general direction.
Ms. Ayako took it, green eyes narrow as she examined the paper for any forgeries. "Everything seems to be in order. You know where the beds are, since you always seem wind up getting 'ill' around period two…"
Fred flushed guiltily.
A confused whine escaped Tadashi's throat. "Fred… yoooou skip? Fooor shaaaaaame…"
"Oh, great." Fred griped. "He's not tired enough to miss processing that…"
Tadashi let out a huff, resting his chin on Fred's beanie clad head. "May be tired… but still have… ears…"
Fred heard the muffled snort that Ms. Ayako let loose and stuck out his tongue at her. She raised an eyebrow at him and he glanced away quickly.
"Let's get you to a bed." he said, focusing on his more important task.
"...M'kay…" Tadashi yawned again, trying to take a step without Fred and wobbling dangerously. Fred grabbed Tadashi's arm to steady him.
"Whoah! Wait for me, Tall One!"
"Yoou're slow. Hurryyyy..." Tadashi muttered, pouting.
"You're just too enthusiastic for your own good, that's what you are." Fred retorted. "On the count of three. One… Two… Three." And then the blonde started walking, Tadashi's weight heavy against his side (though… it had been like that since Tadashi's tired form had 'transferred ownership' from Hiro to Fred).
Like in the hall, the going was slow as Tadashi would crash into Fred's legs and side before trying to veer off into the walls and cabinets. "Steady… steady…" Fred cautioned. Tadashi just let out a huff, his eyelids drooping and his ballance got even worse.
And then, the room where the cots were held was in view and Fred grinned at the sight of the open door. He wouldn't have to repeat the awkward process of trying to open doors with dead weight occupying his arms!
The two staggered into the room and Fred gently guided Tadashi to sit on the cot nearest to the door. The sixteen year old slid his legs up from the floor with the combination of a crinkling and creaking sound.
"You all set?" Fred asked, to make sure Tadashi didn't need anything else. He waited, but when it appeared as though Tadashi wasn't going to reply, he nodded to himself and turned to go.
"...mmh a bad brother…"
Fred froze, halfway out of the room when the words were dropped. What…? The blonde glanced back at his friend to see the that Tadashi had rolled onto his side and was staring at him, brown eyes beginning to tear up.
Inwardly, Fred panicked. Outwardly, he merely turned on his heel and walked to Tadashi's side. He was so fast that it was like he had the superpower of teleportation.
"What makes you say that, Tadashi?" he asked as he pulled up a seat by the older teen's cot.
Now that he knew he had Fred's attention, Tadashi rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling with a tired sigh. "...just am…" he mumbled.
"How can you say that? You're the best brother a guy could ask for!" Fred tried to encourage.
Tadashi closed his eyes. "Firs… I ignore Hiro… Now…. mmm tooo… clingy? Can't find a b-bal-" he yawned. "Balance… Don' know… what to do…"
Fred let out a hum, but said nothing. His hand hand found it's way to Tadashi's and gently squeezed.
"Feel…" Tadashi trailed off, grasping at the air with his free hand as his tired brain struggling to find the word he was looking for, "...lost?"
"Have you tried letting Hiro come to you for things?" Fred asked, thumb tracing circles on the back of Tadashi's hand in what he hoped was a soothing manner.
"Tried… Mmm scared…" Tadashi whispered, swallowing harshly as his breathing hitched. "What if… Hiro… not feel loved… like before?"
"So… since you ignored him for a while earlier, you feel like you need to make up the difference with more affection, right?" Fred clarified.
Tadashi nodded, eyes shut tightly. "Don' want... Hiro to... to feel unloved… not again..." A tear slipped down his cheek.
Oh nooooo… Fred moaned in his head. What do I DO? He wasn't a counselor, he didn't know what to say to a person who was crying over something so… so… Mentally, the comic book enthusiast flailed.
"I'm pretty sure he knows." Fred finally said, wincing at how lame he sounded. Tadashi opened a brown eye and looked over at Fred, hope glimmering in their dark depths.
"Do you… think so?" he whispered.
Fred nodded. "I know so. Now, go to sleep, Tadashi. Your little brother will be fine. If nothing else, Mr. Arwald and I will make sure of it."
And Tadashi smiled. It was small and full of exhaustion, but the genuine joy at Fred's proclamation was there and it made the comic book enthusiast's heart pound.
"Thanks… You're a really…" Tadashi yawned deep and wide. "A really good friend, Fred…"
A soft smile spread across Fred's lips. "You too, Tadashi. Sleep well, okay?"
"M...kay…"
And Tadashi Hamada was out like a light. Finally.
"WHERE ARE THEY ALL COMING FROM?!" This shout was accompanied with the sound of something rather heavy hitting hollow metal.
Will glanced over at the loud ruckus to see the small twelve year old repeatedly banging his head against his locker.
"Woah, Mini-da Vinci! What's wrong?" he asked, pulling the boy away before Hiro could give himself a concussion.
"THESE!" Hiro thrusted a fistfull of the tiny blue flowers in Will's face. "I'm up to my eyeballs in these stupid things!"
Will plucked the mildly crumpled sprig of Forget-Me-Nots from his brilliant friend's grasp to examine them more closely. "Secret Admirer again?" he asked.
"At this point it's more like a stalker." Hiro grumbled, flopping to the floor to lean against the lockers. Will blinked, but sat down beside him, still twirling the Forget-Me-Nots between two fingers.
"So it's not just Engineering?"
Hiro slumped. "They're everywhere. They're in my Art class, in Calculus and English. It like an epidemic! I take one bouquet out and then next day there's another one! I don't think my locker will ever stop smelling like flowers!"
Will blinked at the sudden tirade. He opened his mouth with the intention of asking another question, but Hiro exploded.
"I don't even know who's sending them!" Hiro's voice was slowly but steadily rising. "Or how they've gotten my schedule, or my locker combination! And the saddest thing is that I'm beginning to hate my favorite flower!" The boy threw up his hands with a disgusted cry, looking to be minutes away from tearing out his fluffy black hair. His eyes were wild and his chest heaved and shuddered from the emotions of his outburst.
Will leaned in cautiously. "Hey… At least we're going to begin our testing of the catapults today." the elder student pointed out.
Hiro visibly brightened. The crazily paranoid look faded from his brown eyes, only to be replaced with excitement.
"Oh yeah!" Hiro scrambled up to his feet. "C'mon, c'mon! I want to get there early! Let's see if we can beat the person delivering those flowers!" In his enthusiasm he started tugging at Will's arm, trying to get the older boy up.
Will laughed, pushing off the lockers as Hiro pulled on his arm once more. "Okay! Okay! I'm moving!"
"What do you think the catapults will do?" Hiro asked, walking backwards so he could see Will's face when he responded.
"I think some will fall apart, naturally. Also-"
"Do you think there'll be explosions?" Hiro interrupted and was practically vibrating at the thought. Will tossed his young friend a befuddled look.
"E-Explosions? How would that happen?" Will spluttered.
Hiro shrugged. "Cool things explode and catapults are cool, therefore they can go boom!" A few seconds passed as Will struggled to comprehend what Hiro was saying before the boy added another bombshell, "They're awesome with rocket boosters though."
Will stared at his twelve year old friend in horror. "You didn't."
Hiro blinked innocently at the junior. "Didn't what, Will?"
Will grabbed Hiro and shook him, panicked. "Mr. Arwald's gonna kill us if you put explosives on our catapult!"
"Well, he didn't say we couldn't!" Hiro pointed out sensibly.
"That doesn't mean you should!" Will wailed, shaking the twelve year old even harder. "How did you even get the things necessary to make a rocket booster - shouldn't that be illegal?! I'm pretty sure it's illegal! Oh no we're going to get arrested aren't we? This is bad! I'm too young to go to juvie, I'd die in there! Mini-da Vinci, what have you done?! We'll both be ruined!"
Hiro held onto his straight face for only another minute amidst the panicked shaking before he broke. It started with sniggering, then slowly escalated to full blown giggles until the twelve year old was practically howling his laughter. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his sides began to hurt from laughing so much.
Will shoved Hiro away in mild disgust. "I can't believe you!"
"You totally fell for it!" Hiro laughed, wiping away a tear. "I can't believe you really fell for it!"
Will twitched. Was this what his older brother Ashton felt when he was younger? Had he been such a brat to him? "Why you little…"
Hiro let out a giggling squeal and started running, Will hot on his heels. "Get back here!"
"Nooo! First one to Mr. Arwald's gets to actually operate the catapult!"
Will spluttered indignantly. "You little cheater! Get back here so we can have a real race!"
"You'll just have to catch me then!" Hiro practically cackled and Will let out an aggravated hiss, eyes narrowing.
It was so on.
Fred was humming when he walked into the classroom, about fifty graded assignments clutched safely to his chest.
"I don't get it! How'd it get here before us?!"
The blond glanced up, startled at the fact that there were kids in the classroom already. It was Tadashi's younger brother (Hiro, right?) and another boy (Fred recalled his name as Will King), both attempting to huddle around a desk.
"Hey little dudes, what's going on?" Fred called as he approached the huddle.
Hiro glanced up, before he twitched. "Have you seen anyone come in here and put this on my desk?" The boy held up a sprig of blue flowers that looked vaguely familiar to the TA.
Fred tried to search his memory so he could answer the question correctly. Nothing came up. "...Can't say I have. Sorry."
Both boys slumped. "Dang…" the other boy murmured. "Guess we were too slow."
Fred cocked his head. "So this has been going on for a while?"
Hiro twitched again. "A while? A while?" the twelve year old laughed, near hysterical. "Don't get me started. They're everywh-"
Hiro's friend slapped a hand over the young freshman's mouth. "Don't mind him, he's just frustrated that he can't figure out who's sending them."
"Oh?" Fred raised an eyebrow before a teasing grin flooded his face, "Is it a giiirl?"
Will jerked hand away from Hiro's mouth with a disgusted expression on his face. "Dude! Did you seriously just- You licked my hand!"
Hiro ignored his friend's protests to the childish action as he gagged and brought his hands to his throat. "Ewwwwwww! I hope not! Girls are gross! Besides, would a girl be this crazy? These flowers are everywhere!" The flower went flying.
Fred stared hard at the flower that lay innocently on the desk, something suddenly sparking in his mind. Everywhere? But who would be so obsessed with someone that… well, he'd normally just go unnoticed…
It slammed into him like a ton of bricks, and his eyes widened. "Him…"
"What?" He blinked a couple times and glanced up, noticing that both Hiro and his friend were staring at him, confused.
"Ah… nothing, little dude. Listen, I have to go take care of something. Tell Mr. Arwald that I'm here if I'm not back by the last bell." Setting the papers down, Fred abruptly turned and headed out the door.
Fred marched down the hall, face set in determination. This felt like a dramatic scene from one of his comic books. The Hero going off to confront the Villain - his own family (and what a twist that would have been if it were ever a real story)! But this was bigger than just that. The Hero had to think about the innocents under his protection. He had to think about the promise he had made to Tadashi… the one person he was determined to keep his promises to, no matter what.
...Well… Fred hesitated, just out the door. He could see Thomas from the warping of the glass. It's now or never. Are you gonna step up to be the Hero, Freddie?
Thomas was with his friends, laughing about something that the glass blocked. Fred clenched his fists and swallowed his fear. The comic book enthusiast grasped the cold metal of the doorknob and opened the door.
If Fred's life was a cartoon, dramatic music would be playing before the screen cut to black for the adds to play across. It was the perfect cliffhanger moment. Too bad Fred couldn't be on hold too.
He stepped into the semi-crowded room and approached his cousin. "Thomas." His voice wasn't shaking. It wasn't.
Thomas turned his head and his eyes lit up slightly at the sight of Freddie standing in his territory. The predatory look that crossed the elder's face made the insides of Fred's stomach clench.
The eighteen year old leaned forwards, resting his chin on threaded fingers. "Why hello there, Freddie… What brings you to my part of school?"
"Don't play dumb!" Fred snapped.
Thomas' eyebrow twitched as his friends gave a soft chorus of 'Ooooh…' in mock fear. He glanced to one side, effectively silencing them, before his gaze returned to his younger cousin.
"Excuse me?"
"I said 'don't play dumb'! What the hell do you think you're doing, giving that kid flowers?!"
Fred growled as Thomas smirked slightly. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." He sighed, shrugging. "What flowers? What kid?"
"Hiro Hamada!" Fred held his ground as his cousin rose slowly. It felt as though he was being towered over, and he leaned away slightly, but overall, he held his ground.
"Did you think you could change something by coming here, Freddie?" He purred, though his eyes glinted with slight annoyance. "You can't even stand properly and face me. How do you think you're going to stop a plan that's already in motion?"
Fred froze. "What?" He whispered, swallowing hard. "What…? 'already in motion'? What's that supposed to mean?!"
"You know what it means, Freddie." Thomas replied. He took a step towards Fred, and the smaller male ran, the door to the classroom slamming behind him as he escaped.
Being a hero was hard.
AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. Life caught up with me and made the muses say 'nope'.
Sad but important update: I will going on hiatus for a bit. I'll be helping Mel with getting A Cage of Fire ready and synched up with TIG. Which is when the action (and creepiness of Thomas) really starts to pick up!
If you haven't already read ACoF, here on out is the critical point in which things will be very confusing for you. Things will remain Gen but there will be dark topics brushed upon that aren't all light and fluffy rainbows. Just warning you all.
BIG THANKS GO TOOO: Melanie-March (as always I wouldn't have survived writing this chapter without you roasting my butt for being so lazy and lethargic), BlueD, annatang347, Epically-ME, ArianandXaia, shelywherlylock, DreamGirll, Guest (#1), kplusthree, E, narnia4aslan, DisneyandWildKrattfangirl, AmyXRoseXMoon, regularshow565, fyphoniex, thetimehasturned3, Purpalz Miner, Disneynerdbh6, KodiakWolfe13, Guest ((L) *hugs ferociously* I'm sorry L. I pray that you'll be able to recover. Please know that Mel and I are here if you need to talk to us. We care.), Atariel Tsukai, Cori, KanaMac, CazyCartoonistOtaku, Guest (#3), bukalay, KellyKatt19, SushiHawkeye, Hellbound-Shadow, Fuchsia Phantom (*hugs*), RazzlePazzleDooDot, KHMugiwaraRocks15, Sabeloid, AzureSynergy, Lady-x-Exorcist, Highcrest Tomoko, aaaaand BeatriceBennet!