Brothers
12
Ages
Hiro: 4
Tadashi: 13
Normal POV
"You excited Hiro?" Mrs. Hamada asked. Hiro nodded eagerly. "Yup mommy. We're gonna go see Dashi right?" he asked. Hiro's mom nodded. "Thar's right Hiro. We're going to go surprise Tadashi for making it through his first day of high school!" His mother said.
"Honey, slow down the car will you? You're going a bit fast." Mrs. Hamada said to Mr. Hamada. Hiro's father didn't respond to his wife's request and kept on going. Mrs. Hamada was getting worried.
Mr. Hamada hurriedly whispered something into Mrs. Hamada's ear and her face grew pale. She nodded and moved into the back seat with Hiro, though with clear difficulty. "Mommy?" Hiro asks, confused as to why his mother came into the back with him. "Hush Hiro. I just want to sit in the back with you is all." His mother said softly, hugging her son close to her. "Mmph, Mama! You're squishing me." Hiro complained.
His mom hushed Hiro again. She placed Hiro in her lap and started telling him stories of when she was younger. Hiro didn't mind, but it was puzzling him. Why now? It was weird to the little four year old. Suddenly, the car was moving at an intense speed and Hiro was getting slightly afraid. "Daddy, slow down." He whined. Mrs. Hamada hugged Hiro even closer to her.
Then, before Hiro could comprehend what was happening, the car swerved and toppled over and over again, making him dizzy. "MOMMY!" he cried in fright. His mother had concealed the small boy into her body and he remained perfectly intact. Hiro finally thought it was over and was happy that they were right side up again, but fate had other plans for them. A shiny red car came crashing toward him and Hiro got a glimpse of it right as it made contact with their car, toppling them over the side, into the water below them. Hiro shrieked in fear and closed his eyes, hoping someone would save them before they fell.
Too late. The car went sinking down, causing Mr. and Mrs. Hamada to yell at each other about what to do. They both agreed on doing everything in their power to save Hiro, so Mrs. Hamada let him out of her grasp. "Hiro, listen carefully. Daddy is going to open the window now. As soon as you can fit, swim through it and get to the top, okay? Do you understand me?" she asks anxiously. Hiro unknowingly was crying, but nodded. "Alright, but what about you and daddy?" he asks.
Mrs. Hamada smiled sadly. "We're right behind you Hiro. We'll always be with you. Even if you can't see us." She said. Unbeknownst to Hiro, her words held a double meaning. Hiro nodded and braced himself to swim out. Before his dad could open the window, water started filling the car faster than they could react. When it was up to Hiro's waist, his parents were in full blown tears. They knew there was no more hope. Hiro, though only four, figured it too. The fact that his parents were crying was enough for him to realize that something was terribly wrong. He was bawling at his point, and his head was now getting covered in water, blocking off his breathing. Mr. and Mrs. Hamada could do nothing more at this point.
Mrs. Hamada's face was covered with water now as well. Mr. Hamada was at a loss, but none the less, opened the door of the car in an act of hope. Before he closed his eyes, a man came. Mr. Hamada could make out a 'San Fransokyo rescue team' on the t-shirt and looked more than grateful. The man was about to grab Mr. Hamada, but he shook his head vigorously and pointed at the back seat.
The rescue man pointed at Mr. Hamada's wife, but he once again shook his head. Then, he pointed to Hiro and Mr. Hamada nodded, his last act before death took over him. He lost the power to stay awake, and sunk down. Hiro was still managing to hold his breath, but he wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer. His doe eyes just decided to close tightly, refusing to open.
The rescue man did as Mr. Hamada said and took the little boy and swam up with him. Hiro felt the man grab him, but remained with his eyes shut, cautiousness leaving him.
Tadashi's POV
I was just getting out of school and my friend wasn't getting off my back about the dopey grin that was on my face. "Yo Tadashi, what's got you so happy? A girl?" his friend asked teasingly. I shook my head. "Nah, just my family. They were going to take me and brother out to a fancy dinner to celebrate my first day of school is all." I admit.
He shrugs. "Yeah, that sounds like your family all right." He says. I chuckle at him. "Well, see you tomorrow?" I ask. "Totally." He says, leaving. I'm waiting for my dad's car to come, but after fifteen minutes, I get mildly worried. Maybe they forgot? Nah, that can't be it. They would've called to tell me to walk home like normal. Just wait a little longer Tadashi, I tell myself.
Thirty minutes more pass and I get really worried. They should've been here by now. I decide to walk home and then call them from there. I make it down a block or two when I get a call from mom. God, I hope they aren't at school now, they might be upset that I decided to walk home. I hope they don't think I'm impatient. Maybe if I tell them I just got worried. I take a deep breath and answer the phone.
"Hey mom." I say.
"Tadashi Hamada? Brother to Hiro Hamada?" a strange and very unfamiliar voice asks and I flinch.
"Y-yes?" I ask, voice cracking.
"Mr. Hamada, will you please come to the California medical hospital as soon as possible. Right away if possible." The voice says, monotone.
"I-is, everything okay? Is Hiro alright?" I ask, getting worried.
"Please come to the hospital at your earliest convenience." The voice says, hanging up.
Well, I definitely am worried now. I hope Hiro's alright. I don't know what I'd do if anyone in our family was hurt. I start running to the hospital. It's about a ten minute drive so it takes me a while to get there by foot, and when I reach it, I'm completely out of breath.
I hurry inside and head to the front desk. "Uh, a man called me to come here as soon as possible. My name's Tadashi Hamada." I say nervously. The lady looks at a clipboard and then gives me a majorly sympathetic look. Well that can't be good. Please be okay Hiro.
"Yes, take the elevator to the fourth floor and it's room number 407." She says sadly. I nod and rush to the elevator. I press the button and wait quite impatiently for the elevator to get here. After only two minutes, I'm fed up and decide to take the stairs. I run up the stairs like my life depends on it and finally reach the fourth floor.
Making my around until I reach room 407, I stare the door down, scared of what might be behind it. A man reaches me before I can open the door. "Tadashi Hamada?" he asks. I nod slowly.
"Come here." He says, leading me to a waiting room, gesturing me to sit down. "With all due respect sir, I really need to know what's going on with my brother." I say anxiously. He puts a hand up. "Your brother is going to be just fine son. It's your parents we need to talk about." he says carefully.
I feel my heart stop and my face feels really cold all of a sudden. My parents?
"What happened? Are they okay? They're not hurt are they?!" I ask desperately.
"Tadashi, I need you to calm down and brace yourself. This kind of news is never easy to deliver. Please calm yourself." He asks. I take about five minutes to take all this in. can I handle this? Probably not, but I HAVE to know what's happening. He said Hiro WOULD be fine. What happened to him? I wonder of all the possibilities, but then urge the man to continue. He nods curtly and proceeds.
"Okay Tadashi, your family was in a rather extreme and severe car crash. The car was totaled and sunk in the river." He starts, waiting for my reaction. I gasp in horror. "Did they make it out?" I ask, willing myself to believe they did.
The man sighed. "Tadashi, the rescue wasn't informed that quickly, keep that in mind when I tell you what happened. One of our guys got to the scene pretty quickly since he was around the area. He went in and brought all the bodies out as quickly as he could. Your brother was the quickest to regain consciousness so we took him into intensive care immediately. Then we waited for your mother and father to come to. I'm very and extremely sorry to tell you that your father had far too much water in his lungs and couldn't make it. Your mother is in intensive care as we speak." He says solemnly.
I blinked and tried to wake up, hoping desperately that this was all a bad nightmare and wasn't really happening. I pinched himself. To my utter dismay, I was still in the waiting room. I tried to take in the fact that I was now fatherless.
I was trying to be as thankful as possible that I had a mother and brother still. Sure I wasn't that close with Hiro. The guy didn't talk much to anyone except mom. Good thing they both survived. But the hole was still there. The hole that could never be filled again. Or at least that's what I believed. The hole that used to be where my dad was.
Suddenly, a very horrible idea strikes me.
"Did my mom come to? What are her chances?" I ask, hoping that she would make it. The man sighs heavily.
"Tadashi, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your mother was in the worst physical condition when she was rescued. She had bruises, cuts, and her head was hit when the car was crashed. We don't know the full details, but her brain is going through internal bleeding. The chances of her surviving are simply too slim. She is going to pass away slowly. Just be thankful that Hiro is alright. You still have him. He's going to be just fine. The doctors are just running a few final tests on him right now." He says.
Parentless. That's the only word into my mind. Hiro and I are going to be fatherless and motherless. No parents. Who will take care of us? Where will we go? What's going to happen to me? And Hiro of course.
"Who's going to take care of us?" I ask, dreading the answer. Mom and dad never talked about relatives. Mom did mention a sister once, but she lived in San Fransokyo, a whole other country. I've never even seen her.
"We looked through your parents contacts and found a relative to care for you, though it's a ways away. She fully agreed to help you and she'll be here in a week or so." He says.
"Who?" I ask, already having a good hunch on who this person was.
"Your Aunt Cass. Your mother's sister from San Fransokyo." He says.
I process everything I just heard. Dad and mom and goners. All I've got left is Hiro. My baby brother. He's four. He's probably traumatized.
"When can I see my brother?" I ask. The man checks his watch and then looks at me. "You can actually go see him now. Just…just be prepared Tadashi." He says carefully. I nod and head over to the room.
I take a deep breath as I stand by the door. Brace yourself Tadashi. Deep breath out. I open the door and see a beyond tired looking Hiro spread-out on the hospital bed. He looks as if he wants to go home. His breathing is a bit uneven and he looks somewhat relieved to see me, though he doesn't speak.
"Hey Hiro. How are ya holdin up?" I ask.
Hiro remains still and silent.
"You okay?" I ask.
No response.
"Hiro?" I try once more.
Nothing. Blank, empty, voiceless stare.
I'm embarrassed and the tension in the room is so thick, you can cut it. I scoot out of the room and take my hat off, screaming into it lightly. The man who told me what happened patted my shoulder sympathetically.
"It'll get better son. Just you wait and see. In a few weeks, you and Hiro will move to San Franksokyo and meet new people. You'll be back on your feet before you know it." He says comfortingly, though his words helped me in no way at all. Eventually, he left, leaving me all alone in the cold hospital. I sat myself in a chair and put my face in my hands.
That's when a nurse came. "Tadashi Hamada?" she asked. I looked up to meet her gaze. "We have been informed that your mother has…passed on. I'm truly sorry about this. On the brighter side, your brother seems to be making a full recovery, no internal damage such as memory loss or internal bleeding is showing, which is fantastic." She says. I stoically nod, indicating I heard her. She takes her leave.
I bury my face in my hands again, but this time I break down. Tears are falling and I feel pending emptiness in my heart. It's unbearable. To think just moments ago that we supposed to be laughing and having a good time made my heart twist and ache in ways you couldn't possibly imagine. Why'd this have to happen to me? And Hiro! How would I explain all this to him? What would I say? That our parents are dead? The poor guy's only four. He probably wouldn't even understand.
All the drama and conflict surged through my body, making me sob uncontrollably, only this time, there was no one here to dry my tears. No one.
I don't know how long I stayed like this, but I somehow fell asleep because the next thing I knew, I was yawning and stretching. I blinked a bit and rubbed my eyes, which were still wet and warm.
I decide to go check on Hiro since I'm up.
I head into his room. He's expressionless again. I feel so bad for the kid.
"Hey Hiro. Me, Tadashi, again. You feeling better?" I ask.
Silence.
"C'mon Hiro, talk to me. It's your older brother, Tadashi!" I plead. To my surprise, Hiro looks a bit irritated at this statement. He gives me a look.
"I know that you're my older brother. Didn't the nurse tell you I'm fine? I didn't forget anything. I don't have memory loss TADASHI." He says, clearly displeased with me.
"I'm sorry Hiro. I just- It's just- I only- I'm sorry." I blurt out, not sure what to say. He rolls his eyes. "When are we going home? Where's mommy and daddy?" he asks seriously. I gulp. I was hoping to god he wouldn't bring them up.
He evidently notices my lack of response and his expression turns into that of a sad one. "They're gone aren't they?" he asks solemnly. I widen my eyes in terror. How could Hiro possibly understand that?!
"It's okay Dashi. I kind of expected it." He says, voice cracking a bit.
"I- how did you know?" I asked stupidly.
"I know you never paid too much attention to me, but mommy said I had a gift. She said I learned fast. That I was really smart. I can talk well for someone my age. I can understand things better than most people my age. Stuff like that." He explains. My mouth makes an 'oh' shape.
"So, whose going to take care of us then?" he asks curiously. I'm surprised he isn't crying and Hiro can sense it because he comments on it.
"Dashi, I can understand it, but I'm still only a kid. I can't understand how utterly serious it is. I'm probably not going to remember much about it when I'm older. Get it?" he asks.
I don't comment on it. Hiro is one smart kid. How'd I miss that?
"Aunt Cass is going to take care of us." I say, Hiro wrinkles his nose. "Who?" he asks. "She lives in San Fransokyo, so we get to move there. It'll be really fun." I say, trying to convince myself more than him.
"When?" he plainly asks. "About 2 weeks." I say. He nods and doesn't say anything more. Even as I talk to him, he remains wordless.
Hiro's finally released from the hospital and that's music to my ears. We're on our way to the airport now, where we'll meet Aunt Cass. Hiro doesn't look very happy about all this. He hasn't really spoken to me since that one day at the hospital.
We're waiting patiently in the lobby when we finally see her. Or at least I do. From Hiro's expression, he was probably expecting an old hag and was surprised that Aunt Cass was young. Way younger than mom.
"Boys! There you are!" she cries, pulling me in for an immense bear hug, taking me completely off guard. She moves in to give one to Hiro next, but he ducks and grabs onto my leg for life. She giggles at that and merely pats his head affectionately. He looks agitated at that
"Well let's go kiddos." She says brightly. I can't understand how happy she can seem when her sister and brother in law were in a fatal car crash, killing them. I let it go though, gesturing Hiro to follow. He doesn't move, staying stuck to my leg like glue. I bend down to meet his gaze. "Hey, you want me to carry you?" I ask softly. He nods silently, holding his arms up. I hoist him up on my neck, but he's majorly displeased about that, so I take him off and ask him what's wrong.
"Like mommy did it." He simply whispers. My heart stops for a moment at the mention of mom, but I give in to what he wants. I pick him up and he buries his face into my chest.
Suddenly, my heart doesn't feel empty. It almost feels like the hole is filling up for just a split second, then the hole returns. But a warm tingly feeling stays. I glance at Hiro in wonder, shake my head, and then head to the plane with Aunt Cass.
When we get to San Fransokyo, Aunt Cass takes us to some place called the lucky cat café. I don't want to hurt her feelings, but I'm really not in the mood for sweets.
"Hey Aunt Cass, I'm really not that hungry and Hiro's sleeping. Can we just go home?" I ask as politely as I could. She cocks her head to the side in confusion, but then realization hits her.
"Oh! Tadashi, this is home. My house is actually in the bakery." She says gleefully. I widen my eyes. "You live in the bakery?!" I muse. She nods with a smile and opens the door.
"So you and Hiro will share a room, that's okay right?" she asks cautiously. I actually think about that for a moment. I glance at the Hiro in my arms. We've never shared a room before and I never really thought too much about it. Actually, this could be a good thing. We could keep each other company after what happened.
"That's fine. That's perfect." I say. She seems satisfied with my answer and goes to her room calling, "Tadashi, I'm going to go shower. You and Hiro get settled and make yourselves right at home now, okay?"
I sigh and carry Hiro and myself upstairs. There's only one room up here so it's not hard to find. I open it and it's pretty spacious. Claiming the right side for myself, I dump Hiro's stuff onto the left bed with my left hand, while still holding Hiro with my right arm.
Suddenly, the little guy wakes up. He looks around in confusion before assuming what happened. He groggily gets out of my arms and looks around curiously.
"How is it?" I ask him. I get a shrug as a response. Upset that I won't get him to talk, I jump into bed and sigh, trying my hardest to relax.
Before I can truly relax, Hiro breaks down on the floor and begins bawling his eyes out without any warning whatsoever. I rush down to the floor next to him and try to calm him down, but he's in full blown hysterics.
"Hiro! Hiro listen to me! Listen to me! You're fine, you're absolutely fine! It's okay, I'm here!" I say, pulling him into me. He stops screaming hysterically for a moment, and I think he's alright but boy was I way off. He starts punching my chest as hard as he can (Which isn't that hard for a four year old) and screaming at me, though his words aren't directed at me.
"WHY? WHY ME? WHY DIDN'T HE CHOOSE MOMMY?! YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT ME. YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MOMMY OR DADDY!" He cries hysterically.
"SHH, Hiro it's alright. You're just in shock." I say soothingly.
"NO DASHI! You don't understand." He says, whispering the last part. I look to him for an explanation.
"We were underwater, me, mom, and dad. The rescue guy came and was about to save him, but he told him to choose me. He made the guy save me. He sacrificed himself to save me. ME. Why though? You don't need me. We hardly talk to each other. He could've had the guy save mom. But no, he chooses me! WHY? WHY DASHI WHY?!" he demands, banging on my chest with his tiny fists once more. I try to calm him down, but to no avail. I don't know what to do so I just hug him there while he continues to beat my chest with his punches, crying.
His story wows me. I didn't know that's what happened.
Suddenly, Hiro stops crying. "Red." He says.
"What?" I ask.
"Red."
"What red? What do you mean Hiro?"
"Red car. It was a red car that hit us. I remember." He says, wiping away tears. "Oh Hiro." I say comforting him as best as I could. He keeps sniffling, but the bawling and hysterics are thankfully over.
"What time is it?" he asks softly. "Late." I reply. "We should get to bed." I say, taking his pajamas out of his hand carrier for him. He nods and goes to the bathroom to put them on.
I put a hand to my vibrating chest. He's in so much pain and it hurts me. He's never shown signs of violence and it worries me that he punched me like crazy. I change myself and sit on my bed, waiting for Hiro to finish. After five minutes, I decide to check on him.
I knock on the bathroom door. "Go away." He says feistily. I try to open it, but he locked it. I bang on the door lightly. "Hiro, please open it. It's me, Tadashi." I say.
"What part of 'my memory is perfectly fine' did you not understand the first time?" he responds smartly. "Hiro please. I want to help you!" I plead. He opens the door. "What are you gonna do?! Nothing you do can bring back mom and dad! Can it?!" he demands. I remain silent. "That's what I thought." He whispers, beginning to cry again. He's about to shut the door, but I block it from closing with my foot. It hurts, but I'm too focused on helping Hiro.
"Hiro, I may not be able to bring them back, but I can comfort you. And vice versa." I reason.
"How could I help you?" he asks, completely curious.
"Well, when I held you, I felt some of the pain go away. We just have to be there for each other. We have to make sure we stay safe. I can't stand to lose you too. We can't take each other for granted." I explain. Hiro seems to be taking my words in.
He comes out of the bathroom, red eyed. Closing the door, he turns to me with his arms raised. "Up." He says simply. Instead of listening to his request, I bend down. "C'mere." I say, stretching my arms out as wide as I can.
He obliges and crashes into me full force, wrapping his teeny tiny little bone arms around me. I do the same. A few seconds later, Hiro pipes up. "Dashi, why does this help? Nothing changed. Mom and dad are still gone. I'm still upset, but it's decreasing. I don't understand it. It doesn't scientifically make sense." Hiro says.
I ruffle his hair. "Well little guy, this is something not even science can explain. It's called love." I say, laughing. Hiro wrinkles his nose. "Gross." He says childishly, pulling away from the hug. I laugh even harder.
"How gross is this?!" I cry, playfully tackling him to the floor. Hiro's majorly taken aback. He starts laughing too, making me happy. "Stop it! Get off of me!" he cries. I smirk at him.
"Not until you admit you love me." I demand mockingly. Hiro sticks his tongue out at me. "No way." He says. I reluctantly move when I hear Aunt Cass call us. "Boys! Dinner time!"
I get up off of the floor and head to the door. Hiro avoids my gaze, remaining on the floor. "What's up little guy?" I ask. He mumbles something utterly incoherently. "What?" I ask.
"I l-love you Dashi. Okay, and don't forget it because I probably won't say it again!" he warns threateningly. I laugh and hug him once more. He pushes away. "Still gross." He says childishly.
"Hiro, feel better?" I ask cautiously. "Yup. It's me, Hiro. I'm fine." He says teasingly. I shake my head. "Whatever bone head." I say. "Bone head?" he asks. "Your new nickname." I explain. "You never gave me a nickname before." He points out. "Yeah, well, I didn't really take the chance to get to know you before Hiro. I don't really know much about you to be honest. I wanna change that immediately." I explain.
"I'm not good at making friends and getting to know people Dashi." He says softly. "Hey hey. Don't worry. I'll take you step by step." I say, slightly joking. He smiles softly at me and nods.
"Well, getting to know someone means figuring out all the deep and personal stuff." I say. Hiro raises an eyebrow. "Deep and personal huh?" he asks. I nod very seriously.
Okay, what's your favorite color?" I ask. Hiro smirks teasingly at me. "Now you've crossed the line. That's a bit too personal." He says playfully. I laugh at his sarcasm. This kid's going to be really funny when he grows up. Either that, or he's going to get himself beat up.
"It's blue. What about you?" he asks. "Mine's blue as well. Why's yours blue?" I ask.
"It's the color of my hoodie, whys yours blue?"
"It's the color of my favorite hat. What's your favorite subject?"
"Science. Yours?"
"Mine too!" I say, shocked in a good way. Who knew Hiro and I had so much in common.
"Dashi, what's your biggest fear." He asks softly. The questions catches me off guard. "Why do you ask?" I ask. Hiro looks down.
"Mine was losing mom and dad. Now I don't know what to fear." He admits in a small whisper. My heart goes out to Hiro. He's only four. No one should lose their parents when they're only four.
"I guess I fear of losing you Hiro. That's all I can think about lately. You were the only one that survived. I could've lost all three of you, but fate decided that I needed you too much I guess. I need to be the best brother ever to make up for what happened though." I say.
"You don't need to make it up for anything. It wasn't your fault. It was the stupid break's." he says bitterly. I'm confused. "Hiro, what do you mean? I thought you said a red car hit you?" I ask, completely lost.
He sighs. "I didn't tell you the whole story Dashi. When we were in the car, dad was going way too fast and mom told him to slow down before the car swerved like crazy. I didn't realize it at first, but looking back, the break must've been broken. Mom still did everything in her power to make sure I stayed safe, explaining why I'm not bruised at all. Only emotionally scarred." He admits.
I pull Hiro close. "Hiro I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have had to go through that. I wish I could take all the pain away so bad." I say to him.
"No, I can't be selfish. I can only imagine how you feel. Getting a call from some strange man that your family's been hurt on your very first day of high school. We were supposed to celebrate that day, but look what happened." He says, put out.
"It'll be alright. We'll get through it." I say.
"You know, people keep saying that, and until you said it just now, I didn't believe it. Maybe you're right. I don't feel as sad as before. Thanks Nii saan." He says. I smile.
"Maybe we're enough for now." I suggest. Hiro nods.
"Maybe we're enough for now." He mirrors. Our moment is interrupted by Aunt Cass. "Boys, dinner! Now! I called you ten minutes ago, it's getting cold! I know it's really late, but you need food in your bodies before you go to sleep." she calls.
"We better head down huh?" I say. Hiro stretches his arms up. I roll my eyes playfully at him before lifting him up. He snuggles into my chest and I can't help but chant "Gross!" mockingly. He glares at me, but hides a smirk.
Maybe we're enough for now.
I'm so sorry I didn't update yesterday, but I had a good reason! I have mid-terms coming up and I have to cram like crazy to keep my grades up. I don't know how often I'll be updating because of this, but I can't promise it'll be everyday anymore. Again, really sorry. Also, disclaimer! That part where Hiro said he was bad at making friends? That was from The Hunger Games, Catching Fire. It was the scene where Peeta and Katniss attempt to make nice. I just thought it fit there.
Girl you wouldn't expect