Till I'm Gone

Sora Matasuki

Chapter 26

"So we still need to figure out the first two stanzas, right?" Hiro asked for confirmation, having stood up and started to pace some few minutes prior.

Tadashi glanced down at his phone, then back up at his little brother. "Yeah." he said, nodding.

Hiro nodded back, hand on his chin and his eyebrows drawn together. "The first one instructs a place to turn, right?"

"Right." Tadashi agreed, watching as his little brother paced a few steps away, mind obviously going full steam. The senior could practically see the gears grinding away at the problem at hand.

"So there must be a corner or some street that we have to turn at. Logically speaking, it's got to be close to the school. What's close by and has a river?" Hiro asked. The boy spun around to face Tadashi.

Tadashi was already pulling up the GPS on his phone and looking before his little brother had even finished speaking. "There's the Maka River, San Rico River, the Big Blue, and the Green Stream. All of which are in a five mile radius and feed into the San Fransokyo river, which leads out to the bay."

"Okay. Okay. Um…" Hiro dug his fingers into his hair and lightly tugged at the black clusters in between his fingers. "We really need to figure out the second stanza."

"It says 'the empty place' so obviously they're somewhere abandoned." Tadashi pointed out, having returned to the text message.

Hiro walked over to his older brother and peered at the creepy riddle. "No…" the twelve year old realized, "It's a landmark. They're not at… wherever this is, they're at a house by one of the rivers!"

Tadashi conceded the point, eyes narrowing at the other lines, mind racing. "The second stanza is key to figuring out which body of water they're at." Tadashi realized grimly.

"It has to deal with water. And drying things." Hiro added, worrying his bottom lip. "Something that gets wetter the more it dries…"

Hiro and Tadashi made eye contact, the answer striking them nearly milliseconds apart.

"Where do you keep towels, Hiro?" Tadashi asked urgently, fighting a grin and nearly vibrating away in his place.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Oh… I don't know, at the beach?"

Tadashi poled Hiro on the nose. "Building, knucklehead."

Hiro nodded sagely, something rather hard to do when you've gone crosseyed. "Ah. Yes. Buildings. You'd need a swimming pool locker to hold your… towels…" Hiro looked up, eyes wide at his revelation. "You don't think-"

Tadashi nodded. "Herrington Pool, it's slated for renovations and it's by the Maka river."

Hiro slapped his fist into his palm. "That's it! Let's go, Tadashi!"

Tadashi grabbed Hiro by the collar. "Hold it, where do you think you're going?"

Hiro wiggled in tadashi's grasp. "Tadashi!" he protested, "The adults are on the other side of the school! We don't have time to get them!"

Tadashi shoved Hiro back slightly in that rough manner of brothers well and truly exasperated by their sibling's style of common sense. "Fine. But you'll-" he poked Hiro in the chest slightly, "You'll stay in the car when we get there."

Hiro shrugged. "Fine with me."

Tadashi's eyes narrowed at the easy agreement then glanced down at the time, barely swallowing the swear that came to his lips in time. They had wasted twenty precious minutes by figuring out the riddle. They needed to move, and fast.

The Hamada brothers looped around the school, making sure to duck beneath the windows so as to not be spotted by well meaning teachers. Quietly, Hiro started humming the Pink Panther theme - if only to give himself some comfort. Tadashi leaned over and smacked his little brother on the arm.

"Hiro! This is serious!"

Hiro winced and rubbed the place Tadashi had whacked. "If I don't do something I'll start gibbering like a crazy person." Hiro muttered. Tadashi was too busy making sure that the security officer looming by the front gates wasn't looking at them to hear the twelve year old.

"Okay. It's clear. Let's go." the elder Hamada said, gesturing towards the parking lot. Hiro nodded. The reality of what they were doing sent waves of adrenaline coursing through his veins, making his heart hammer in his chest. They were skipping school! Hiro's brain scrambled to a halt as the next realization hit him: Tadashi was skipping school and dragging Hiro with him!

They hadn't attempted something of this caliber of crazy since Hiro was seven and Tadashi was nine and 'old enough to know better'. That day had been fun, involving flying cakes, a disgruntled Mochi, a bag of feathers and syrup. Lots n' lots of syrup. It had been glorious.

Hiro's reminiscence was sharply interrupted by his foot catching on uneven pavement. "Woah!" he yelped loudly, arms windmilling frantically as he tried to keep his balance. Tadashi bit off a mild swear word and tucked his toppling younger brother under his arm. It was in this awkward, footballer type fashion that the two Hamada brothers found themselves making a break for the parking lot and diving behind the first car they reached. Hiro went rolling on asphalt with another loud 'oof' for Tadashi's help.

The teenager paid his little brother no mind, too busy peering through the dirty windows. With a softer grumble, Hiro got up to his knees to look at what Tadashi was looking at. It was just in time for Tadashi's eyes to widen and yank the younger Hamada down, ducking his own head as the security officer's watchful gaze swept past, alerted to some sort of commotion by Hiro's loud and involuntary noises of pain and surprise.

"Nnii-san… you're… squishing me!" Hiro whined, finally remembering to keep his voice quiet. The boy batted at the elbow digging into his shoulder blades with the irritation of a boy pressed far past the limits of what was acceptable for a younger brother to suffer under an older brother's tutelage.

"Shhhh!" Tadashi hissed, warily rising to peer through the window again, hand digging into Hiro's hair. A displeased 'mrrrt' that sounded remarkably like Mochi escaped Hiro's throat.

Tadashi's eyes locked with the officer's and paled as the man did a double take.

"Crap! Run!" Tadashi's hand curled around Hiro's collar and dragged him upwards. Hiro flailed in the elder's grasp, practically hissing.

"Tadashi! Lemme go!" the boy nearly tripped over his own feet as Tadashi dragged him at half a run. "This would be a lot easier if you just let me run on my own!"

Tadashi practically all but shoved him forwards, looking over his shoulder at the officer who had started giving chase. "Fine!" he snapped, already on edge from the day's events.

"Hey you kids! Get back here! You should all be in class, don't you know there's been a kidnapping?!" the officer yelled.

But Tadashi was digging his keys out of his pocket and then the Hamada car's headlights flashed. Hiro opened the passenger door and dove head first into the cushions, slamming the door behind him. At the same time, Tadashi hopped over the hood and jammed the keys into the ignition.

The officer was coming closer and closer. Hiro tossed Tadashi a panicked look. "Go already, he's nearly on us!" It was then that Hiro noticed Tadashi struggling. With a desperate groan, Hiro gripped his older brother's shoulder and yelled in his ear, "Forget your seatbelt and drive!"

Tadashi glanced up. The incoming security officer's face was more enraged than he'd ever seen the guy before. The sixteen year old did the sensible thing when confronted with such ferocity and floored the gas pedal.

Hiro was slammed back into his seat from the force of the car roaring into motion. "Whooohooo!" the boy cried, raising his thin arms as if he was on a rollercoaster which - when also considering how tadashi had just turned the wheel so sharply - was pretty much how the car ride felt to the twelve year old.

"We have thirty minutes left, how far is it to the Maka river?" Tadashi asked as he sent the car screeching all the way across the street and into the left hand turn lane.

"Where's your phone?! Mine doesn't have GPS on it!" Hiro squeaked, heart once again pounding as he clung to his seat for dear life.

"Why don't you have the GPs? Isn't it automatically on your phone?"

Hiro sunk in his seat. "Ihackeditoff." he mumbled in a rush.

"What was that?" Tadashi asked sharply as the light turned green and he floored the pedal again, sending them squealing into a sharp left turn.

"I didn't need it so I hacked into my account and took it off! It's not like I'll ever go anywhere important anyways!" Hiro had to yell to be heard over the roar of the engine as they hit 75 mph.

There was an awkward pause then Tadashi took one hand off the wheel and held it up non-threateningly. "I was just asking. Phone's in my pocket. Let me get it." The teen dug around in his pockets then tossed the device over.

"The password is-"

"2126 yeah, yeah, I get it." Hiro muttered distractedly, typing in the numbers as he spoke.

Tadashi's eyes narrowed. "Hiro, how did you -"

"Keep going straight." Hiro interrupted.

Tadashi growled but turned his attention back to the road. "This isn't over Hiro. We will talk about how you got my password."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Ooooh I'm so scared."

"Go. Straight." Tadashi's GPS chimed in a male monotone.

"Woah! You changed the voice! ...Is there something you're not telling me, Nii-san?" Hiro teased.

Tadashi blinked, obviously thrown. "Wait, what? What do you mean by that, Hiro? The voice is more soothing to me that's all. The default is too shrill and nagging."

"Oh?" Hiro leaned forwards, a smirk on his face. "Don't let Aunt Cass hear you say that!" the boy cackled.

Tadashi rolled his eyes and kept driving.

Hiro sat in his seat, leg jumping up and down as he worried his bottom lip with his teeth. When they had arrived at this cottage, Tadashi had made him promise to stay in the car, no matter what. He'd also muttered something about only having twenty minutes left, which wasn't ominous at all, thank you very much Nii-san…

The boy let out a groan, thumping the back of his head against the seat. His hands fisted in Tadashi's sweater.

Screw it. Hiro thought savagely. I can't just sit here and wait for whatever to happen, happen!

With fingers that shook ever so slightly, he pried the door open. The sounds of the river rushing nearby assaulted his ears as he slid out from the safety of the car.

Up ahead, the cottage loomed. It's ivy coated walls suddenly took upon it a dark and terrifying visage and instead of a peaceful dream home, there was only a place of despair and horror. Hiro flinched and shook his head.

He could do this. He knew he could! For all he knew, Tadashi and Fred could be hurt and it would be all Hiro's fault! If he'd been stronger… if he wasn't here… then neither Fred nor Tadashi would be in this mess!

He had to fix his mistakes. He couldn't just sit there and let others fix it for him!

Hiro glared up at the cottage, nails digging into his palms. He wasn't going to let Thomas hurt anyone else ever again!

Tadashi crept down the darkened hallway that connected to the stairs, hand trailing along the wall for guidance. It was so hard to see. His breath was a hot exhale in comparison to the cold cement. It was so jarring to be in a building that had a basement.

The Japanese-American continued walking in the near dark, until he could see light coming from underneath a door. His pulse quickened. This was it. This was where it would all end.

His hands turned into fists and adrenaline surged through his veins. Taking a deep breath, Tadashi slammed the door open. There was ice jammed through his chest as his eyes caught sight of a trussed up Fred tied to the wall, shivering from the air's chill. A dim part of Tadashi's mind catalogued that Fred didn't have any clothes on. The gentleman side of him refused to take advantage and forced Tadashi to keep a firm look on the other teen's face.

Fred's face was a mess. His cheeks were red and tear stained and one side was puffy, a sure sign that it was about ready to bruise. His eyes were rimmed with red and wide. As Tadashi watched, a tear ran down Fred's cheek adding to the countless number already shed.

Tadashi took a stumbling step forward and that broke the stunned spell around them as Fred started babbling frantically.

"Tadashi! You have to get out of here, Thomas isn't sane!"

Tadashi's eyes narrowed as his pace quickened and soon he was halfway across the large room. "I'll handle Thomas, I just need to get you out."

A familiar voice laden with unfamiliar tones caused Fred to whimper and Tadashi to whirl around. "You? Handle me?" There was a dark cocky smirk on his face as he placed a hand on his hip. "I'd love to see you try Hamada."

Tadashi growled low in his throat, lunging at the young man who had hurt both his best friend and his little brother. His fist met air as Thomas stepped to the side and batted it away. There was a cold look in the young man's blue eyes, one reminiscent of glaciers and the darkness hidden in them. A darkness that was finally coming to light.

It made Tadashi's blood boil. To think he'd been friends with a monster!

They grappled, both trying to gain dominance over the other. On one hand, Tadashi had years of martial arts training. On the other, Thomas was older and had gone mad - and a person in the clutches of madness, was always dangerous.

Thomas managed a lucky blow to Tadashi's face and sent the younger teen reeling back. The sixteen year old's oath was lost in the noise of Fred's scream.

Tadashi shook his head to clear it of the ringing in his ears and only barely missed getting his nose smashed in. As it was, he knew that there would be a black eye amongst the other bruises along his body.

His dark brown eyes locked with Thomas' blue and it was like fire had clashed with ice.

Tadashi surged forwards through the pain and grabbed Thomas' collar, the anger boiling hot and righteous in his chest. The teen pulled back and socked the older teen right in the jaw. Tadashi hoped it was broken.

Thomas' head was down and slightly tilted from where it had jerked to a stop. But then Thomas smiled, blood trickling past his bared teeth in a gruesome display of chilling madness.

Tadashi's grip - loosened by shock - faltered and Thomas ripped himself free, yanking down on Tadashi's still extended arm to send the younger teen tumbling to the cement floor. Tadashi's head hit the floor with the sickening crack of bone on stone contact.

There were spots in Tadashi's vision and the teen laid there, stunned for just long enough for Thomas to pin him and pull the knife.

All Tadashi could do was grab at Thomas' wrists and pray that he had enough leverage and strength to keep the knife from sinking into his chest.

"Just die already!" Thomas half hissed half giggled, eyes glacial and mouth spread in that terrifyingly bloody grin. "Die so I can have Freddie all to myself!"

The reply Tadashi shot back nearly cost him everything as his his arms buckled slightly. "Fred's not some toy that you barter with and then throw away! He's a person!"

"Well he's not yours." Thomas concluded and the knife plunged downwards in time with Fred's agonisingly helpless scream as Tadashi involuntarily froze.

But at the last second, Tadashi's grip grew stronger and he forced the knife back up to a safer height. Sweat trickled down his face and down his neck. His shirt was cold and damp with perspiration and his breath came in gasps. His arms trembled.

Tadashi didn't know how long he'd be able to keep the knife up and away from making a fatal blow.

"How does it feel to be completely helpless, eh Hamada?" his ex-friend cooed. "Isn't it exciting?"

"Tadashi!" Fred whimpered, and the terror in his friend's voice nearly made Tadashi's heart stop. "Don't let him get to you!"

"I… won't!" the sixteen year old grunted, gritting his teeth as he tried to find some way to get the upperhand.

"Aww… so sweet, Freddie… your heart still not where it belongs?" Thomas cooed, putting even more weight into pressing the knife down. Tadashi's arms shook even harder from the effort of keeping the blade from sinking into his chest. "I can fix that you know… all it would take is snipping the string of this loose end."

"Stop it!" Fred sobbed, "I told you - I'll do what you want, don't hurt him!"

"But I want you to be faithful, Freddie and if you still have him… well… I've said how I don't like sharing."

Tadashi's arms gave way and the knife surged downwards. At the last possible second, the elder Hamada twisted. The pain was hot against his senses and Tadashi couldn't help but scream as the blade dug into the flesh of his shoulder.

Thomas cursed but Tadashi fought through the pain to sit upwards, taking the other male by surprise and promptly headbutted him. It was crude and now he hurt in more than one place, but the lack of weight on his core was worth it.

Tadashi scrambled onto his feet, ignoring the knife now impaled in his arm - he'd done enough research to know that removing it before professionals could get to it was a bad idea - and staggered over to Fred's disheveled side, fingers dumbed by pain fumbling to untie the ropes keeping Fred bound. The younger senior flinched back, seeking to look anywhere but Tadashi.

Fred looked over Tadashi's shoulder, cheeks damp from crying and flushed from the shame that came from inhumane humiliation. His puffy blue eyes widened.

"Tadashi - LOOK OUT!"

But before Thomas could touch even a hair on Tadashi's defenceless head, the phedophile was down like a pile of bricks. The wooden chair shattered around the young man old enough to know better (if he had been sane and of a good constitution). The eldest Hamada whirled around, and promptly stumbled at the sight of Hiro's flushed face, the twelve year old's chest heaving from the exertion of running down several hallways, a set of stairs and swinging a chair at Thomas.

The mentioned man was groaning on the ground, completely out of the picture. It was then that Fred broke down and started sobbing, hands rubbed raw covering his face. Without a thought, Hiro shrugged off Tadashi's sweater and gently tucked it around Fred's shaking frame, giving him some dignity back.

"It's over." one victim said to the other. "It's over. He's not getting away this time."

Tadashi gathered both close to his chest. "I'll make sure of it." he promised, locking eyes with Fred.

But Fred couldn't hold his gaze and instead just started sobbing harder. Because once you've set something in motion, its rather hard to stop it. This simple law of physics applied even to something as human as crying.

Hiro slumped bonelessly in Tadashi's arms, too weak with relief to even let the tears fall. They were safe. Fred was safe. Hurt and in need of therapy but safe. Thomas wouldn't be able to hurt him anymore.

But… did Hiro really want to go back? Tadashi would be gone, as would the only person Hiro could relate too. They'd both be off at college. And Hiro would be stuck with the kids that had a year of Thomas' vile influence.

He really, really didn't want to go back. Though… judging from what he'd experienced in those halls, could anyone blame him?

'No'?

That's what he'd thought.

Distantly, the sounds of sirens could be heard over all the other noises of traffic and Hiro smiled, a tear sliding down his cheek.

Aunt Cass gulped down a big bite of powdered donnut and took another, chewing angrily. "Just what were you two knuckleheads thinking?!" she shouted through the food. Hiro wilted into Tadashi's side.

"We couldn't just stand there, Aunt Cass -" Tadashi tried to say but Aunt Cass was having none of it.

"You should have let the adults handle it!" she yelled, polishing off the donut and digging into the box for another.

"But it was a challenge addressed to me-"

"Tadashi your recklessness is something I would expect from Hiro, not you! I expect more from you!"

The Hamada brothers flinched back. Hiro's hands gripped at Tadashi's arm like a lifeline and he was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"The adults are stupid over there, Aunt Cass!" Hiro finally burst out. "They're stupid and slow and rely too much on paperwork!"

"Hiro, honey I know you've had bad experiences at that school but that doesn't mean-"

"He was hurting Fred! Just like he was hurting me and I won't sit around with adults who don't care about anyone but themselves while someone's hurting! I'll never go back to that hellhole!" Hiro screamed, right before he ran out of the room. Aunt Cass could only watch in stunned silence as Tadashi stood up and started walking towards the open door.

But before he reached it the eldest Hamada paused and turned to look at his aunt who had frozen in shock. "Aunt Cass… you should listen to all the sides of the story before you make your judgement. I would have thought you'd learned by now that when Hiro does something, he does it for a reason."

And then both of her boys were gone, leaving Aunt Cass to weekly slump to the ground, a hand over her mouth as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "What have I done?" she sobbed.

In the darkness of a hospital room, a thin blond teen shifted slightly underneath the pile of blankets and pillows, hiding further from the real world and the reality of what had happened to him.

On the bedside table, a blue beanie lay desolate and abandoned.

AN: Hey guys! I wanted to hurry up and share this chapter because next week (on the 22nd) I'll be away visiting family and friends for three weeks and I'm unsure if I'll have computer access (due to our poor struggling, really old, family laptop finally giving up the ghost) during that time (so sorry its a bit unpolished, Mel and I were really busy this week too). I'm really grateful of everyone's feedback! Now, to give honorary mentions to people who could figure out the first part of the riddle but not the second (because I twisted the second one waaaaay more than the others haha)! Honors go to: DestinyWing, wubtastical, Dreamgirll, Purpalz Miner, Bibliophilea, and BeatriceBennet!

Everyone who tried did awesome jobs, because lets be honest, riddles can be super hard!

I hope everyone enjoyed the end of Thomas' reign of terror! I certainly did! Now, the last and upcoming arc will feature Tadashi's graduation from High School, his entrance into SFIT, the building of Baymax (and the shenanigans that ensue), the Nerd Herd, Hiro's growth under Aine's tutelage and much much more! Also, stay tuned for Hiro's progress in the journey of recovery and the emergence of canon. And lots and lots of brotherly shenanigans that aren't limited to cake, sparring with kitchen utensils, tickle fights and other such things! A pillow fort is probably inevitable, just saying.

Big thanks go toooo: Guest (#1), regularshow565, BlueD, KodiakWolfe13, narniac4aslan, perky, DestinyWing, BeatriceBennet, Sand-wolf579, wubtastical, sherlywherlylock, Treehugeer, DreamGirll, Fyphoniex, Purpalz Miner, Praisin-Ain't-easy, Atariel Tsukai, Lizzy (guest), bibliophea, SarahWithAnH, aaaaand Guest (#2)!

Love you all lots! I look forward to your feedback!