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Tadashi had noticed the shift in his brother almost immediately.
The young boy had been stuck in his head more. He got like this occasionally. When his peers, far much older than him, treated him condescendingly. Hiro would sometimes describe it as a cat cleaning a mouse before it goes in for the kill.
Kindness to mask their hideous intentions.
These types of analogies always scared the elder boy. In all honesty? He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because he had seen some of the horrors the world had to offer. Maybe it was because he didn’t know all of the horrors to be uncovered. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
So many unanswered questions that just piled up in the corner of their room.
Why are you not eating?
Why are you not drinking?
Are you okay, Hiro?
How long has it been since you took off the binder?
(Far too long, Tadashi can tell by the way he pulls at the edge with a wince.)
The cruelty of people was something Tadashi had discovered at a young age. The cruelty of the world even younger.
When he was growing up, he knew he needed to protect his younger sister. Protect her in ways Aunt Cass couldn’t. He had to protect Hiromi from the men like his classmates, who laughed crudely after tripping a girl to see her bent over.
Finding out he had a little brother in actuality? The need to protect just increased. An urge to make sure that Hiro was protected at all times itched under his skin.
It was days like this when Tadashi was reminded of when Hiro was younger. When he would come home from school in tears, his long hair a mess. Oh so uncomfortable. Sobbing and shoving Tadashi away like he held a scalding pan.
Tadashi’s young mind didn’t understand the signs, however smart he was. Nowadays he wondered just how big of warning signs he and Aunt Cass missed.
It all reared its ugly head one day when Tadashi arrived in his lab, quickly meeting GoGo. The sassy woman had agreed to help him with a bit of tech on baymax that was out of his area of expertise.
“See this code?” She pointed at a spot on the computer screen. Tadashi nodded, eyes fixated on the spot. “It’s wrong.” she drawled, hitting the backspace button before rewriting it. “Should work now.” She straightened out her back, blowing a bubble with the wad of gum in her mouth, before turning back to her own creations.
“Thanks, GoGo!”
“Don’t even.”
Tadashi chuckled at her response. At that exact moment, the door to his lab flung open, banging against the door from the impact. Looking back on the moment, Tadashi could swear he heard his neck crack from how fast he had whipped his head around to the source of the noise.
Hiro.
He shot up from his seat almost immediately, rushing to his little brother’s side. An endless stream of tears cascaded down his flushed cheeks, nose a little raw from rubbing against it with the back of his hand. His breaths came in short puffs, the fists at his sides opening and closing sporadically. \
“Hiro, you need to breathe buddy.” Tadashi laid a hand on Hiro’s shoulder, causing a full-body flinch. “Okay, I won’t touch you. Would you feel better if GoGo was to help you?” He looked up at the shorter woman, who had approached slowly. Hiro nodded frantically.
GoGo made her presence very known. Exaggerating her footsteps, rounding to the front of Hiro’s body. She placed one hand on Hiro’s shoulder, the other taking his right wrist to hold over her chest.
“Do you feel the way my chest moves as I breathe in and out?” She took a deep breath for demonstration. Hiro nodded, a short puff of air escaping his lungs.
“I need you to breathe at the same pace as that. Can you do that?” GoGo encouraged, and Hiro took a deep shuddering breath.
“Good, Good. Again, Hiro.” She breathed along with him, exaggerating the deep inhale through her nose, exhaling softly through her mouth. The two repeated this circuit until the tears were slowing to a stop, the shaking of Hiro’s hands decreased, and the young boy was breathing at a normal pace. Tadashi watched, almost helpless, from the sidelines.
What exactly had made his little brother this anxious?
A million different scenarios run through his head. Tadashi had to resist the urge to physically shake the almost painful thoughts from his head.
(Was a sore loser from his bot fights hunting him down? Somebody tormenting him? Did another student find out about his transition?)
(Even though Hiro thought he hid it well, Tadashi knew he still snuck out to bot fights.)
GoGo rubbed the young teen’s back, Tadashi inching forward to rub his brother’s shoulder.
“Hiro..” Tadashi murmured, craning his neck to peer down at his brother. “Could you explain what that was about for us?” He prodded gently, watching Hiro’s body language intently.
“I- I don’t know.” Hiro rushed out, throat tight.
“Hiro, yes or no.” GoGo spoke calmly, yet firmly. Her lack of bluntness was offsetting. The entire situation was offsetting, honestly.
“There’s a guy. I thought we- I thought we were friends, y’know?” His voice cracked slightly. Hiro swallowed harshly.
Alarm bells blared in Tadashi’s head.
“He skipped grades too so we’re uhm,” Hiro paused. “Uh- closer in age than most of my classmates.”
“I made him mad — I don’t even remember how, I thought we were joking around. We had just left the class.” Hiro fidgeted nervously with his fingers, hesitating greatly.
Tadashi rubbed his shoulder gently, offering quiet reassurance.
“He told me–” Hiro bit back a sob. “The janitor was right there. I’m not even suee if he— if he knows about y’know,” Hiro gestured towards his general body. “He told me he hoped the janitors raped me and left me to die in the supply room.”
Both GoGo and Tadashi inhaled sharply.
“What the hell is this kid’s name?” She growled, anger matching Tadashi’s.
“I will go to Callaghan right fucking now I swear to god— as long as you want me to Hiro I will get that boy reported.” Tadashi’s voice grew in volume, taking a step aside to thread his hands through his hair.
“Tadashi no! He’ll be so mad!” Hiro fretted, and GoGo scuffed.
“Hiro, he said disgusting things to you. That isn’t okay.” She spoke, bluntness returning.
“I know its horrible– trust me, I know. I firmly believe if someone is willing to say something like that, even as a joke, they’d be willing to do it. I don’t want to turn it into a big deal.”
Tadashi exhaled frustratedly.
“What if it was Honey Lemon?” Tadashi asked, turning back to Hiro. The younger’s dark eyes were glossy again. “If he said those things to Honey Lemon, wouldn’t you want her to report him? Why is it different when it’s you?”
“I don’t… I don’t know.” Hiro shrugged, curling his arms around himself. His stare bore holes into the computer screen, code still open and taking up most of the monitor.
Tadashi took Hiro by the wrist.
“We’re going to report him, alright? I know you might not want to but we can’t have him say the same or worse to you. Okay?” The elder spoke, pacing himself appropriately.
Hiro nodded wordlessly.
“I’ll stay here, I need to work on my bike.” she popped a bubble. “Still isn’t fast enough.”
“Alright, thank you GoGo.” Tadashi smiled warmly at her, walking through the doors with his younger brother in tow.
Would Hiro forget that exchange? Most likely never. But he would also remember the compassion– the way GoGo had helped him down from his panic, and Tadashi had pushed for him to get justice.
He left that room feeling much more hope than he had when he had entered.