Where do we begin?
Tadashi slid a plate in front of Hiro before sitting down across from him with his own plate of food. "Grubs up." He said cheerfully in an attempt to introduce normalcy to the awkward situation. Picking up a chicken wing, he bit into it watching Hiro as he did so.
Hiro reached onto his own plate and reluctantly picked up a piece of chicken before following suit. The motion was unenthusiastic and automatic almost as if Hiro were running on auto-pilot.
"I know it's not as good as the ones Aunt Cass makes but I didn't think it was that bad." Tadashi commented lowering his own chicken wing.
Hiro glanced up at him, a questioning look in his eyes.
Tadashi pointed at the plate. "You really need to eat, you know." He continued to speak. "If you don't pick up some weight soon the doctors will probably put you on a combinations of drips and supplements.
Hiro lowered the chicken he was holding a guilty look on his face. "I will eat it… I just… I just have a lot on my mind." He admitted picking at the food on his plate. The response was only a partial lie if one went with the theory that lying by omission was actually a thing. Hiro really was distracted, his mind trying to find a solution to the monitor still attached to his ankle but he was also not very hungry. He'd grown accustomed to the lack of sufficient food and really didn't think he'd be able to finish everything Tadashi had piled onto his plate without throwing up.
"Anything I can help with?" Tadashi offered resuming the act of eating in the hopes of encouraging his brother to do the same.
Hiro continued pick at the food, mind racing over all the events that had occurred since his rescue looking for a safe topic to bring up in a bid to avoid the actual cause of his distraction. He was reluctant to let Tadashi know the true extent of his failure. "The police came to see me at the hospital."
"I know." Tadashi placed the chicken wing; he had been trying to eat; down, momentarily giving up on the pretense of eating. "Your return is kind of big news. You've been gone a long time. I don't think they expected you to come back alive."
"I figured." Hiro said dropping his own wing and poking at another so hard it fell off his plate. "They wanted to know what happened to me."
"What did you tell them?" The question was soft, almost casual but the anticipation behind it was more than apparent.
"I told them I don't remember much between getting kidnapped and waking up in the hospital."
"So you lied." It was a statement, not a question and the moment of silence that followed Tadashi's statement was all the clarification he needed.
Hiro peeked up at Tadashi through his scruffy bangs, the expression in his eyes filled with both guilt and pain. "They wanted to know if you had anything to do with my disappearance. I told them you'd never hurt me. I said you'd be more likely to hurt my kidnappers than me. They seemed to believe me."
Tadashi tensed. Well at least there was some truth in the statement Hiro had given the police. After reading the diary Honey Lemon had given him, Tadashi wanted nothing more than to return the agony that Hiro's kidnappers had inflicted… with interest. He picked up a chicken wing once more. "Well. I guess that explains the lack of police presence in front of the café." He bit carefully into the meat, working really hard to appear casual even though he was practically seething inside. If he ever got his hands on those kidnappers…
"The café was under police surveillance?" Hiro glanced up, a moment of surprise flickering over his features. "Isn't that a bit extreme?"
Tadashi nodded, sighing as he once again gave up the pretense of eating. "AS you said, they thought I had something to do with your disappearance."
"I got that but why?"
"I appeared in this timeline on the same day that you were taken." Tadashi said softly.
"Oh."
The silence that followed Hiro's short response was heavy, filled with pain, unseen conflict, repressed emotions and unspoken truths. It was a fragile balance, filled with silent scrutiny, each waiting for the other to call their bluff. Tadashi was the first to give in. "That's not really what's on your mind, is it?" He asked bringing the conversation full circle.
Hiro frowned. He should have seen this coming. Tadashi's perception had always been his downfall. Since Tadashi's death, he'd grown so used to dealing with his problems on his own that he'd forgotten what it was like to lean on his brother for support. "Actually…" He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out the remote he'd stolen from one of Inquisitor's goons. "Can you give this to Wasabi and ask him to figure out what frequency it runs on?"
Tadashi reached out and took hold of the remote examining the device in his hands. It seemed innocent enough. It looked almost like a car remote. Suddenly curious, Tadashi moved to press the button it contained.
"Stop!" Hiro's sharp cry was followed by the sound of shattering dishes freezing Tadashi in place. A second later Hiro's hands were on his pulling Tadashi's fingers away from the button. Confused and uncertain, Tadashi looked up only to catch his breath at the sight the met his gaze. Hiro was sprawled across the table clearly having thrown himself across it. The plate that had contained his food was lying shattered on the floor, chicken wings scattered haphazardly beside it. The chaos was unexpected but the real issue was the terror in Hiro's wide brown eyes as he carefully pried the remote out of Tadashi's now slack grasp. "What is it?" Tadashi whispered, suddenly afraid of the answer."
Hiro slid back across the table regaining his feet before placing the remote down onto the now unoccupied space. He dropped his gaze and looked away from Tadashi in shame. How was he supposed to tell his brother that he'd effectively let someone cage him?
"Hiro?" Tadashi prompted softly when no reply was forthcoming.
Hiro glanced up again, meeting the mixture of concern and hurt in Tadashi's brown eyes. His brother was worried about him, had been worried about him for longer than Hiro knew and it wasn't fair that his own insecurity was adding to that emotion now. Ignoring the shame that continued to course through him, he stepped around the table pulling the left leg of his jeans up watching Tadashi carefully for a reaction.
Tadashi glanced down, trailing his eyes over Hiro's far too slim form. The jeans were hanging low, barely held up by Hiro's hipbones but that was clearly not what had his brother so worried. Following Hiro's reluctant motion, he ran his eyes down Hiro's left leg only to catch his breath once more when he spotted the deceptively innocuous black box attached to Hiro's ankle. "Is that…?"
"It's some kind of ankle monitor." Hiro completed Tadashi's train of thought for him, his tone dispassionate in an attempt to distance himself from the reality of the situation he found himself in. "The rigged it to electrocute me. They told me it will activate if I try to tamper with it. That remote triggers it. I need Wasabi to look at it so we can figure out what frequency it runs on. If we can block that we can probably figure out a way to take it off without…" Hiro hesitated licking his lips. "…without hurting me."
Disbelief. Tadashi stared at the ankle monitor in sheer disbelief before glancing up at the remote in sheer horror, the realization that he'd nearly electrocuted his brother coursing through him with the sharp pain of a lightning bolt. "Oh Hiro! I didn't mean to… I nearly… I'm so sorry… I…"
Hiro shook his head, a derisive smile on his face. "It's ok. You didn't know. I probably should have told you sooner but…" Hiro hung his head, looking away from his brother once more.
Tadashi didn't think it was possible but his heart broke a little more at the sight of it. His brother looked so small, so lost, so forlorn and so very alone. Reaching out, he ruffled Hiro's hair. "Don't worry about it, knucklehead. I understand. So, why do you want me to send it to Wasabi? I can take a look at it for you, you know?"
Hiro looked up once more, drawn back into the conversation by the casual manner in which Tadashi was approaching the topic. "Wasabi's specialty is lasers, lights and communication. He knows everything there is to know about frequencies and wavelengths." Hiro explained bending down to begin cleaning the mess he'd made on the floor. "He works for NASA now. He calibrates all the lasers they use in space and I figured he'd be the best person to ask seeing as a mistake could… um… you know." Hiro's hands paused awkwardly holding a few jagged pieces of porcelain.
Tadashi blinked at the random piece of information suddenly realizing he'd never asked the gang what it was they did after graduating college. Pushing back the guilt the realization brought to the fore, he knelt down beside Hiro in order to help clean the mess. "That makes sense. What do the rest of them do?"
Hiro glanced up in surprise. "They didn't tell you?"
Tadashi flushed in embarrassment. "What with your kidnapping and suddenly appearing three years into the future, I completely forgot to ask." He admitted.
Hiro blinked before grinning mischievously. It would appear his big brother was not all that perfect after all. "What's the information worth to you?"
Tadashi blinked, the sudden switch in mood momentarily taking him off guard but anything that made Hiro smile in these circumstances was worth going along with. "A bag of gummy bears?"
Hiro quirked an eyebrow. "You don't value your friendship much is that's the going price for inside information." He retorted.
Tadashi stood, throwing the chicken and porcelain he'd picked up away. "You do have a point. Twelve bags of gummy bears? That way you'd be guaranteed at least one per month for an entire year."
"Twelve bags?" Hiro scoffed, joining Tadashi beside the bin as he too threw away pieces of the plate he'd broken. "I'm not some kid that can be bribed with a handful of gummy bears. I can afford to buy myself a packet of gummy bears every week for the entire year, you know. You need to be a lot more creative than that if you want me to dish out the information you were too preoccupied to gather for yourself."
"Then how about I make a promise not to call you pip squeak for a week." Tadashi offered leaning forward with a smirk, the motion calculated to emphasize the fact that Hiro was still shorter than Tadashi.
"Hey! That's a low blow." Hiro retorted. "I'm not short! I'll have you know I grew several centimeters while you were gone!"
"Oh really?" Tadashi swooped in and lifted Hiro up. Swinging him over his shoulders he caught hold of Hiro's ankles, easily slipping his baby brother into an all too familiar position. The moment Hiro was secure he began to spin and bounce around. "You're not too tall for this."
"Hey. What are you doing?" Hiro protested as Tadashi began to swing him around. An awkward laugh escaped Hiro's lips when Tadashi ignored the protest and continued with his antics, fond memories of the past momentarily distracting him from the complications of the present. "Ok, I give up! I give up! I'll tell you everything! Gogo works with Wasabi only she's in charge of all the magnetism. Honey Lemon is in pharmaceuticals and Fred, well Fred is learning to take over his family business. We don't know what he does exactly and it's better not to ask."
"See. Was that so hard?" Tadashi asked carefully sliding Hiro down so his hands could touch the ground.
The moment Hiro's hands connected with the floor he flipped himself over landing gracefully on his feet. He glared at Tadashi, dusting himself off. "I'm not short." He repeated crossing his arms across his chest in defiance. "I'm compact. I could still take you down if I wanted to!"
Tadashi smiled fondly at the picture Hiro presented before him. Short, wild and so very defiant. It was good to know that beneath all the hurt, fear and insecurity that now surrounded his little brother, was the little spitfire he knew and loved. "I know." Tadashi reached out to mess with Hiro's hair again. "Don't worry, little bro, I know."
- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 –
A/N: More broken dishes for poor Aunt Cass. I really like how this chapter somehow slipped into a lighter tone at the end there. Tadashi is trying really hard to cheer Hiro up. Posting this chapter today as a bonus because it's a public holiday here today. Enjoy!
Alexissenpai: You're mean... using my own words against me. I nearly cried when you used snippets of my story in your review.
Iron Rose Writer: Agreed. All these emotional chapters are tear jerkers and there are more to come. Hiro still has a ways to go!
Guest: Glad it was worth it. This roller coaster ride is not over yet!
Ern Estine 13624: Losing a family member would always be very hard... I like seeing Tadashi and Hiro together.
Anony mouse101: Alice in wonder references? Oh please do share. They were not intentional but if I somehow managed to slip them in it would be amazing! LOL.
Rosycat: I'm permanently emotional when writing these chapters. I struggled with so many of them simply because I get too emotionally involved. It's nice to know my hard work pays off.
shooting2stars: I also love it when Tadashi comforts Hiro. It's such a Tadashi thing to do. I know its not an official expression but its how I see their relationship. Hope the future chapters do not disappoint ;)
CrazyBlueOwl: Thanks. There are more things that are connected in this. I love connecting things in my stories, particularly when I've hinted at something very early on. Tadashi does read about Hiro's future suicide but chooses not to say something about it. Its kind of a sensitive subject and the diary implies that it happens only when Hiro is in captivity.
Jo Anna Grace: Thanks you for the kind words. Welcome aboard. I hope you enjoy the rest of it as much as you enjoyed it up till here.
Dreamer: I'm a bit fluey but I think it's simply burn out. Can't really remember when last I didn't have an insane schedule. This entire year has been hectic. My normal schedule entails: a full time job (9 hours plus 2 hours travel time), highland dance practice (Mon and Wed 4 2 hrs), horse riding - Sun 2 hr + 2 hours travel time, cooking (which got more complicated this year as I've discovered I'm allergic to sulphites), looking after my dogs and feeding my brothers when they pop over (they practically lived here this year). To make life more interesting the last two months added - a amateur contemporary ballet show (3 months practice on Fri 7pm-10pm (PS: I seriously SUCK at ballet. Will never be flexible. Biokinitiscist says I'm not built to be), a visit from my parents (they live overseas (Temporarily) and come visit once a year. I have to drive an additional 200km every single weekend to see them. And this story which has seriously kept me busy (There is more written than posted to make sure I have something to post when my schedule gets too bad to let me write or (as has been the case twice now), when I feel too sick to write. First time was a migraine that took me out for three days... But enough about me :P
Tadashi was never under house arrest? He was simply under suspicion which is why they were watching him and since big hero 6 was supposed to be a secret it made trying to do hero work difficult. They didn't even realize he noticed them. Hope this chapter resolves that XD. Always looking forward to your theories :P Chat soon.