Till I'm Gone

Sora Matasuki

Chapter 27

A lazy saturday morning rolled around, leaving the Hamada brothers to decompress and try to comprehend the scope of what had happened to them. Hiro was still in bed, refusing to greet the bright day ahead of him. The delicious scents of food baking wafted up from the kitchens of the cafe. Hiro's stomach growled noisily. Amongst all of these savory smells was a tantalizingly sweet scent that rose above all the others in pertinence towards the young boy lazily lounging on his bed.

Hiro's nose twitched as his mouth began to water.

It smelt like cake. Chocolate, to be exact.

The boy laid in his blanket cocoon for a few more seconds, trying to figure out if the smell was real or if it was a figment of his imagination before he sat up. Investigation was the only true way for Hiro to figure out what was going on in the kitchen… And so in a matter of minutes t he boy found himself tiptoeing down the stairs, clad only in his pjs.

The smell of baking chocolate increased with every downward step. Eventually, Hiro's bare feet touched cool wood and the boy shivered at the mild chill. The sound of someone bustling away in the family kitchen beckoned Hiro onwards. With light footfalls, the twelve year old investigated the noise and delicious smells.

Peeking his head around the corner, Hiro found to his relief that it was Tadashi who was making the racket, not Aunt Cass like he had supposed (re. worried). Though, it really shouldn't have been a relief to find his brother puttering around the kitchen, cleaning up the spilled flour and other things that hadn't made it into the bowls, but Hiro was relieved nonetheless.

Tadashi was humming a tune under his breath and clad in a black v neck with one of the red Lucky Cat Cafe aprons tied around his waist. It was completely covered in miscellaneous powders from baking the cooking cake. It made for an interesting sight, if Hiro was to be honest. It wasn't every day you saw your older brother in the kitchen baking cakes of all things.

The boy took in a deep breath of chocolate aroma and grinned as his eyes spotted a glass bowl full of homemade chocolate frosting. Jackpot. Especially since the cake was still baking and was out of his grabby hands. For now at least. That would soon change if Hiro had his way.

Now… to just to sneak past 'dashi… Hiro's face contorted into a musing frown as his hand cupped his chin. Tadashi seemed to be pretty distracted… if he could slip behind him then he should be pretty golden to get a few fingers into the frosting before Tadashi could even notice…

Battle plan made, Hiro slowly, ever so slowly, tiptoed into the kitchen, keeping as low to the ground as possible to avoid detection. Tadashi turned towards him, as if he could hear Hiro's feet squeaking against the floor, and Hiro tucked in his legs and rolled. The boy hit one of the lower cupboards and fought back a yelp.

He froze as Tadashi's humming stopped for a brief moment. Sweat ran down his neck. This could be it… the entire operation… blown to pieces before his very eyes… The boy's heart pounded in his throat and he held his breath. The time crept by in centimeters. The only sound to be heard was the whir of the oven. Hiro wobbled, leaning heavily against the cupboard door in an attempt to keep from sprawling out of his hiding place.

But just as he was about to tip over and blow his cover, Tadashi started humming again. The clink of silverware being taken over to the sink could be heard and Hiro started breathing again. That was a close one… he thought with a minute sigh.

He didn't dare straighten up entirely just yet… The only option was to waddle like a duck and hope that he didn't fall flat on his butt.

Step. Step. Step.

Waddle. Waddle. Waddle.

Well this is a completely useless mode of transportation. Hiro's mind drily informed him. Hiro swatted at it with a mental hand. So what if it was awkward, at least he was still hidden. Then, Hiro pressed himself against the cupboards again, eyes wide.

Tadashi walked passed, completely oblivious to the interloper in the kitchen. Hiro grinned as his older brother exited the area and left the frosting completely unattended!

Hiro punched the air with a quiet "Yes!" and stood up, shaking his head at his older brother's actions. To think that he expected the frosting to remain untouched, in a household of sweet tooths… well, it was incredibly naive. A senior in highschool should know better. Hiro thought wickedly, hand reaching for the bowl of frosting. Come on Tadashi, wake up and smell the smell of stolen chocolate! You completely walked into this!

SMACK!

Hiro jumped back with a high pitched yelp, clutching his fingers to his chest, brown eyes wide as he stared at his older brother who stared evenly back.

"Ow! Dude, not cool!" Hiro scowled, glaring at the silicone spatula in Tadashi's hand that was the culprit of his stinging hand.

Tadashi raised an eyebrow. "Putting your grubby hands into my frosting isn't cool either, you know." he evenly replied. Hiro stuck out his tongue.

In a fit of extreme childishness, Tadashi stuck out his tongue right back at him. Hiro gaped, before mischief sparked across his mind.

His hand lashed out and soon was equipped with a ladle. "Engarde, Nii-san!" he cackled, brandishing his chosen weapon in a threatening manner. Tadashi snorted, bringing his silicone spatula up to meet his brother's thrust with a clack!

"You shalt not have my chocolate hoard, o' puny one!" Tadashi called as the brothers traded blows as if the two cooking utensils were swords.

"I'm not tiny!" Hiro protested, "I just haven't got my growth spurt yet!"

Tadashi grinned. "Whatever you say, midget." he teased. Hiro growled and stomped his foot.

"I'm not small, Nii-san!" Hiro parried a slash downward, his scowl more of a pout than anything else.

"Oh yes you are." Tadashi disagreed, managing to poke Hiro in the ribs with the bendy tip of his spatula. Hiro folded like his legs had been kicked out from under him, giggling madly.

Tadashi snickered and stood over his downed brother, spatula to his little brother's throat. "Do you surrender?" he asked.

"Never!" Hiro declared, giggles fading to even breaths as he glared defiantly at his older brother.

"Then I guess I'll just have to do this!" Tadashi tossed his spatula onto the counter and bent down next to his brother. Hiro only had a chance to widen his eyes comically before he was again squirming with laughter.

"Noooo! Nii-saaaan!" the boy wailed, giggling and kicking his feet as if it would help him get away. "Stoooop!"

"Nuh-uh, you tried stealing my frosting so now I get to tickle you." Tadashi grinned as a loud squeal of laughter escaped Hiro's mouth.

"S-Stop! I can't breathe!" Hiro giggled breathlessly. "Stop it! 'Dashi!"

"Not unless you promise not to steal my frosting."

"F-Fine! I'll do it! I won't s-steal any!" Hiro squealed.

Tadashi nodded, fingers poking at Hiro's ribs one last time as revenge before he stood up. "I'll let you lick the bowl after the cake's frosted, okay kiddo?"

Hiro stared up at his older brother, breathless and red faced. A wide eye crinkling grin allowed Tadashi to see the gap in between his little brother's two big teeth. It was the most beautiful thing the sixteen year old had seen in a long time and he had wondered if he'd ever see it again.

"...Tadashi, are you… crying?"

"Wh...what?! No! I'm not!"

"Ohmygosh you really are!"

Tadashi pulled a startled Hiro into a tight hug. "You're imagining things." he sniffled into his little brother's black hair, chuckling at Hiro's angrily muffled yells.

"Tadashi, let me go! Let me go, this isn't funny! Nii-san!"

"Okay, this has to stop." Tadashi said, eyeing how both his aunt and his little brother weren't even looking eachother in the eye. This had been going on for weeks. It was nearly time for graduation and this family drama wasn't helping his stress levels.

"What has to stop?" Hiro asked, false innocence in his voice as he pushed his food around on his plate.

Tadashi made a sweeping gesture, his frustration building even higher. "This! Neither of you will talk to the other, you guys won't even look each other in the eye!"

Hiro scowled, "I'm fine with that." he grumbled, pushing his plate away as he stood up.

Tadashi grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back in his seat. "Oh no. You stay here and talk - actually talk - to Aunt Cass. This has gone on for long enough and I'm about to get a stomach ulcer from all the stress this tension has been giving me."

The younger Hamada's face darkened even further. "But Tadashi, she-"

"No. This has been going on for weeks and I'm sick and tired of it!"

Hiro twisted around and pouted. Tadashi nodded firmly then spun on his heel and stalked off.

He came back two hours later to find both Aunt Cass and Hiro on the ground, Hiro in her lap as she cradled his sleeping form. Tear tracks stained both their faces.

"Oh Tadashi… I understand now." she whispered up to her eldest nephew. "I should have never said what I said in the hospital."

Tadashi sat down next to her with a shrug. "You didn't know. I or someone else should have told you but, you were operating on a limited amount of information and reacted accordingly. Hiro… Hiro didn't see that. I didn't see that. Not until I calmed down enough to think about it harder, so… I'm sorry for not letting you know earlier."

Aunt Cass reached a out a hand and put it on Tadashi's shoulder. "When did you become so grown up, Tadashi?" she whispered sadly, fresh tears streaming down her face.

Tadashi enfolded her into a group hug. "I guess it had to happen sometime."

"And now, a speech from our Valedictorian, Tadashi Hamada!"

Hiro watched as Tadashi took the stage. This was so surreal. He could feel Aunt Cass vibrate with suppressed cheering.

Tadashi inhaled deeply, "Speech, speech, speech. Speech, speech. Speech." There was a wide, world eating grin on his face. It was the face of pure mischief. Slowly, ever so slowly, Tadashi drawled out, "Watermelon."

The whole graduating class broke, their snickers turning into real, genuine (and very loud) laughter. Tears were shed and Principal Henricks buried his head into his hands, exuding pure mortification. Ms. Clarke was leaning against the stairs, unable to remain standing under the weight of her breathless laughter.

Hiro imitated the principal and covered his face with his hands with a loud groan.

"Sorry, sorry, just kidding. I actually do have a speech prepared. Graduating Class! We've made it through some pretty tough situations…"

Hiro decided it was now appropriate to tune his brother out. He'd snatch the final draft off of the computer if he really wanted to know anyways.

"Fredrick Lee!" Silence met the name that was called. Small whispers floated among the graduates, and Tadashi took the time to look around. Come to think of it, where WAS Fred? He'd been so busy with preparing for graduation and working on bringing his grades up, he hadn't seen the other male for quite a while, but he'd just assumed that it was because Fred hid himself easily.

And then the truth slammed into him. "We apologize for the mix-up. It seems that Fredrick was deleted from our student roster a month ago when he transferred out and he never got taken off the graduation list."

Tadashi felt like his heart would break. He looked down at his diploma. They would never have a matching set.

Hiro decided that Grad Nite sucked. Grad Nite, that horrid day when his older brother had to get up at four o'clock in the morning just so they'd be able to get the Disneyland before lunch.

It wasn't fair. How come did Tadashi get to go to Disneyland, yet he had to stay home, cooped up in his room. Summer was turning out to be very, very boring.

He rolled around a bit on his bed, a whine in his throat. Hiro's gaze landed on his botfighter.

...maybe it wasn't so boring after all…

"So. You've finally decided to come back." Aine said, hair a dark brown that matched her eyebrows. Hiro supposed it was close enough to her natural hair color and dimly wondered why she had changed it.

"I got a bot." he said instead of asking her when the change had happened. He held up his bot, a roughly humanoid shape that held many geometric shapes in the body.

Aine's eyes narrowed. "So kid, come to challenge me after a several month hiatus, hmmm?" she cocked a hip and placed her hand on it in a manner full of scepticism.

Hiro bristled. "Y-Yes!" he said.

And all of a sudden Aine bent over, slapping him on the back as she burst into howling laughter. "Man, kid! You sure got guts! Lemme show you the ropes." she wiped her eyes shoulders still shaking from suppressed giggles. "And… and then, when I'm satisfied you understand the house rules, I'll take you up on that challenge of yours."

The boy stared up at the queen of the court, eyes wide. Then, a small grin spread across his face, making his intelligent brown eyes sparkle.

It was official. Aine was the best.

AN: Long time no see, eh guys? Sorry for how long this has taken, but adult life plus summer laziness had swept me off my feet! I'm like so stressed six ways to heaven about college and finding a job plus minding the new puppy we got that my muse marbles got a little scrambled for a bit! I know it's short but it's pretty much one of those transition chapters. I hope you enjoyed the cake scene as much as I did writing it! I hope everyone has been having a great summer so far and I hope for those going back to school that you'll be able to have more good things to add to the good pile that will outweigh the bad pile.

Also, the graduation stuff? That actually happened to us during practice and everyone joked that the kid made as valedictorian would say that then segue into his actual speech. Didn't happen, but it was funny enough that it made the rehearsals more bearable.

Big thanks to Mel who is my lovely editor and soundboard as always~

BIG THANKS GO TOOOOO: KodiakWolfe13, BlueD, Sand-wolf579, Izi Wilson, regularshow565, Guest (#1), narniac4aslan, Praisn-aint-easy, Yuki, Dragon Silhouette, The Golden Marauder, DreamGirll, Oncomingstorm10, Lizzy, CriticsBakana (to be completely honest he didn't start out like that, he was originally just gonna be a low level bully but then exploded into the final form you see now. If I were to actually publish this for monetary gain, I would go back and add foreshadowing. But as his development into the Big Bad was unplanned, we all got hit in the face with him.), Purpalz Miner, jellyhill, DestinyWing, zntkilledme, Atariel Tsukai, Ur Skool Buddie, Kisa167, Hannah Elric, Guest (#2), OswaldTheRabbit (IDK if you'll see this, but ? this is a story of recovery not fullthrottle depression all the time. Thank you for reviewing however. I hope you'll enjoy the recovery proccess as well as the depressing bits too.)

Thanks again for bearing with me guys. Sorry again for it being so short.

AN (#2): so apparently fanfiction ate a divider. Sorry about that. Hope it's a bit easier to read now.