Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Black suede shoes clicked against the marble floor, pacing agitatedly in front of two elaborate doors. Fingers stroked his beard and rubbed his temple, then moved further upwards and ruffled his already messy hair. His hands traveled back down and rubbed against each other in a vain attempt to sooth their shaking.

"Dr. Tenma?" A voice spoke, startling the pacing man. "Are you alright?"

Dr. Tenma turned to the source of the voice, relaxing slightly. "I'm fine," he breathed. "If this goes to plan… Well, I just hope this goes to plan.”

"You'll be fine. And don't worry." The other man smiled, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "When I introduce you, I'll make sure the crowd drools to see your face and hear this marvelous presentation."

"So many people have showed up..." Tenma peeked through the crack of the doors. "Is that the… President of Germany?"

"Seems so. Apparently, it's not just Japan you've interested, my friend, and I'm quite sure I saw the Prime Minister of the UK here, too."

"Everything had better go to plan..." Clothes ruffled and the other man pulled out a small device that lit up the dim hallway.

"Oh, it's almost time! I'd better get in there. You ready, William?" The man looked at Dr. Tenma encouragingly.

Dr. Tenma inhaled deeply. "As ready as I'll ever be, Pack," he breathed, calling his old friend by a nickname reserved solely for him.

Dr. Packerdermus Elefun chuckled. "Haven't heard that nickname in a while." He smiled. "Best of luck to you, Bill!"

"Same to you," Dr. Tenma spoke to the retreating figure as his friend walked through the wooden doors, entering the auditorium that echoes loudly with the hundreds of voices seated within.

Dr. Elefun made his way to the stage at the end of the auditorium, waiting at the base of the stairs for his time to introduce his friend, and more importantly, their presentation. Dr. Tenma watched him till he reached the stage before resuming his anxious pacing.

"You'll be fine, Bill."

Tenma stopped pacing and this time frowned at this new person who'd spoken. "What gave you the idea that I was nervous?"

"I never said that you were nervous." The woman smiled.

Tenma realized what he'd said and rubbed his face, groaning. "There are so many important people here. I can't mess this up..."

"You'll do fine." The woman reached her hand up and rubbed his back comfortingly. "You always do fine at these sorts of things. Once you get out there, you'll be the proud, confident man I know you to be."

"Why aren't you sitting in the audience?" Tenma asked her.

"I wanted to wish you good luck." The woman smiled. "A wife should always wish her husband good luck."

"Really?" Tenma raised an unbelieving brow.

"I also knew how much of a nervous wreck you were going to be before the presentation started, so I came back here to calm you down." She grinned, a laugh in her eyes.

"I am not a nervous wreck," he grumbled.

"Not all the time, but before important presentations you are."

"Not really."

"William Alfred Tenma, I have been married to you for eight years,” she said with her hands on her hips. “I think I would know when you become a nervous wreck or not."

"Oh, so you know all my secrets, do you, Hoshie Michi Tenma?" he shot back, a spark of playfulness in his eye.

"It's not exactly a secret." Hoshie raised a sly brow.

Tenma rubbed his face again. "I thought you came back here to comfort me!" he complained.

"I'm sorry!" Hoshie laughed. "I'm just teasing you; I'm sorry!" She kissed his cheek and he kissed her back, his eyes softening.

"Don't be, it's working," he murmured.

"Oh, by the way..." Hoshie’s smile widened. "I have a big surprise for you. It'll have to wait, of course, till after tonight, but... I'm sure you're going to love it."

"I'm not sure if I should be scared or excited right now," he chuckled. "Can you give me a hint?"

"You'll catch on too quickly if I give you a hint," she teased with a wink, holding her hands together by her abdomen. "But it'll give you something to look forward to."

"Dr. Tenma?" A man poked his head through the doors. "Five minutes till it's your turn on stage."

"Thank you," Tenma said before turning to his wife. "You'd better go sit down."

"Good luck!" Hoshie kissed him one last time before entering the auditorium. As she walked down the aisle, the lights in the large room darkened greatly, and a spotlight lit up the stage.

"May I have your attention, please?" A sallow-faced man spoke into a microphone in the center of the stage, hushing the clamoring voices of the crowd gathered before him. "The presentation will begin in a moment. Please keep your cellphones and other devices turned off during this live presentation. Thank you." The man walked off the stage, nodding to Dr. Elefun who gave a polite nod back.

Dr. Elefun stepped up the stairs to the stage and walked to the microphone, smiling proudly in the spotlight. "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen," he spoke in a clear voice that carried throughout the auditorium. "My name is Dr. Packerdermus Elefun, second-in-command to Dr. William Tenma. Now, don't you all worry; the man you all wish to see tonight will be here shortly. I'd like to begin tonight talking about a certain form of energy—or rather, where it came from."

The spotlight shining on the scientist darkened, and the large screen behind him lit up. A graph of a humanoid figure appeared, its arms and legs spread out like Da Vinci's 'Vitruvian Man.'

"Starbornes," Dr. Elefun began. "There is nothing in this world more mysterious or powerful than these beings. You all know of them, and some of you might even know them personally, but nothing has fascinated us scientists more than the powers they posses. Starbornes can accomplish incredible feats, withstand extreme conditions, and have abilities some might even call supernatural. And yes, some have taken advantage of their power, causing massive wars and devastation." The image behind him changed from powerful humans to a barren landscape, images of wars in the past caused by said powerful beings. "But how did they become so powerful? What gives them the energy—the power—that they wield?

"Three centuries ago, in the year 2020, a meteor containing thousands of different, quite unique crystals—almost like a geode would carry it's beautiful cargo—fell to Earth. When it entered our atmosphere, the more brittle part of the meteor dissolved and scattered its contents around the globe via wind or ocean currents or hurricanes. Shortly after, a young man stumbled upon one of the pieces of the meteor, and somehow absorbed a strange energy force kept inside the crystal, which in turn gave him extraordinary and unearthly powers. He was the first of the race of Starborne.

"Since then, people have sought to get their hands on these crystals, each of which contained a strange powerful energy that granted humans an incredible—and sometimes dangerous—power. Scientists have longed to discover the cause of this—what that energy exactly is—and how we might reap its benefits. But over time, finding the crystals have become increasingly harder, as more and more people had landed their hands on the raw material before scientists could even think to study it. While studying Starbornes is fascinating, we scientists wished to study the energy in its purest form, from the crystal itself. For years we have tried to discover a pure raw crystal, and as of three months ago, three pure crystals have been discovered. Behold!" The screen lit up to show images of two, beautiful stones which radiated light and energy. On his left was a shining blue crystal that gave off a soft, cheery sky-blue glow; the middle a pale yellow crystal, hardly glowing compared to the first; and the crystal on the right emitted a deep, ruby red glow that came off as more eerie than the other two.

"Behind me are images of the Azurem Crystallus, the Ianthos Crystallus, and the Cruentus Crystallus." He gestured to the blue, yellow, and red in turn. "Which, if you translate the scientific names we gave them, just means Blue Crystal, Yellow Crystal, and Red Crystal." He chuckled, a few others across the auditorium laughing with him.

"Let me explain to you as simply as possible what we have discovered about these crystals and what we hope to achieve with them. The Ianthos is an interesting crystal." The screen zoomed into the middle, yellow crystal. "While studying it, scientists have discovered that it has a habit of absorbing any metallic materials it touches and converts the absorbed matter to the crystal it is made out of, enlarging it. We have taken great care to make sure it does not grow too big and keep it in a large anti-gravitational containment unit, and we hope to continue studying this spectacular form of energy.

"The Cruentus Crystallus, however, is—as we've discovered—quite dangerous," Elefun went on. "The Cruentus is extremely unstable, and gives off enormous amounts of energy at spontaneous or irregular times. As we continue to study it, we shall take extra care to not touch this particular source of energy, as it is most definitely one of the more powerful and dangerous ones, especially if it fell into the wrong hands.

"And finally, the Azurem Crystallus." Elefun gestured again towards the blue crystal. "This crystal we've found holds a power source ten times stronger than nuclear energy and so much more pure! If, say, we were able to unlock its power, it might be enough to power all of Japan for more than three thousand years!

"And what if I told you that we have indeed discovered a way to utilize it? 'How', you might ask? How are we planning to unlock its power? How are we planning to study and use it? Both questions are answered with one man: Dr. William Tenma." The large screen behind Dr. Elefun lit up with the face of a bushy-haired, thin bearded, long-nosed man. "Dr. Tenma, a Nobel Prize Winner and prodigy, and has created at least a thousand different designs for robotic helpers and employees—most of which are distributed around the world and are found in every home and city—and who is that I can proudly say an esteemed colleague of mine, is working to unlock the power of the Azurem and create a generator that will send the power of the Azurem Crystallus to our homes across the nation and give us light and heat. But I think you've heard enough from me. I believe it would be best if you heard it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak," Elefun chuckled before standing to attention, his face proud. "Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and welcome the man who has made this all possible. The man who found these crystals with the technology he himself created, and the very man whose intuition and gifts are a great blessing to this nation. Please welcome, Dr. William Alfred Tenma!"

The audience erupted into a barrage of claps and whistles as Dr. Tenma pushed through the doors and made his way down the center aisle of the auditorium. His shoulders were pushed back, the nervousness gone to be replaced with pride, and a broad smile rested on his face. He shook hands with Dr. Elefun once he stepped onto the stage and when he reached the podium, held up his hand to quiet the audience.

"Thank you," Tenma greeted the crowd as they settled back into their seats. "Thank you, everyone. I, of course, couldn't have done it without the help of Dr. Elefun." He gestured to the older scientist, who beamed. "He has helped to estimate the power these energy sources hold, which in turn helped me to create the basics of the generator. The project is not finished, but it is under way. In roughly ten year’s time, if all goes to plan, we will have activated the generator and said goodbye to nuclear energy and dangerous power plants.

"The plan is that the generator," he continued, turning to the screen which had turned into a large map, "will be placed in a special containment unit a few miles outside of Metro City. Currently we are working on designing a system that connects all cities, towns, and homes of Japan's power to this generator, so that everyone can share the energy of this self-sustaining crystal. Now, I know what you're all probably thinking. 'Couldn't that lead to catastrophe?' 'What if the generator were destroyed or damaged once it's connected to everything in Japan? The entire country would be powerless!' Not to worry. I and a team of experts have already thought through every possible catastrophic situation.

"If the main generator or the Azurem itself gets damaged so that it can no longer distribute energy—say, at least three days after being turned on—each city or town's private generator that has been hooked to the main generator will have enough of the Azurem's energy to keep going for at least ten years! As I mentioned previously, this energy is completely self-sustaining that can last an immeasurable amount of time away from its original source, and ten years would give us more than enough time to rebuild or replace the generator so that Japan wouldn't ever have to suffer a blackout again.

"Now." Tenma beamed at his audience. "To make this a reality, your support is greatly needed in this task. Help us to create a clean, eco friendly energy source without fear of a nuclear meltdown or possible blackouts. Help us create a better world, a better future for our children and their children. A better, safer, cleaner world, where all reap the benefits."

0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Hoshie squeezed through the crowd, her brown eyes searching for a familiar tall form. She pushed past ambassadors and scientists, apologizing for the bumps and pushes she caused. Eventually she spotted him and her pace quickened, then slowed. Dr. Tenma was currently in a deep conversation with another man who wore thick-rimmed glasses and a serious scowl on his face. Hoshie stopped approaching, not wanting to interrupt her husband's conversation, and patiently waited a small distance away.

"…Not even sure why you even thought to use the same energy as those freaks who blew up New York in 2081," the man was saying, his arms crossed. "You're seriously planning on putting that same energy into our homes?"

"Of course not," Dr. Tenma responded. "The energy of the Azurem has been tested over and over and is perfectly safe. Also, its energy is completely different than the energy of those that destroyed New York. The New York attack was done by a Starborne, this energy is just…energy. A tool for us to use."

"And what if someone were to use that crystal to become a Starborne? What then?" the man asked snidely.

"We have the Azurem under tight lock and key, in the most high tech vault you could possibly imagine. We only take it out when we need to research or run tests, and even then we take extra care to keep it under intense supervision and to not touch or misuse its incredible energy.”

"Sounds like a waste of time and money." The man shook his head. "You sure won't be getting any funding from me. Have a nice night, Dr. Tenma," the man finished in the most annoyed voice possible, before strutting away leaving behind an exhausted Dr. Tenma.

"He seemed cheerful," Hoshie observed, startling her husband.

Dr. Tenma turned, relieved to see his wife. "You have no idea," he groaned. "I'm just glad he didn't notice you standing there…"

"Who was that, exactly?" she asked.

"That was Drake Lamp, founder of Lamp Industries. He's known for being disapproving of the Starbornes, especially the extremely powerful ones."

"Does he even know who you're married to?" she chuckled.

Tenma shrugged. "I have no clue what he knows. It's not like we keep it a secret…"

"Still," Hoshie sighed. "What he said about Starbornes—I'm used to it."

"What, being called a 'freak'?" Tenma raised an eyebrow.

"Such language is trivial and hardly phases me." Hoshie stuck her nose in the air, putting on an air of haughtiness. "I am above such banal insults." Her pretend demeanor broke and she let out a laugh that sounded like music to her husband's ears.

"May I have a hint to that surprise now?" Tenma asked.

Hoshie stopped laughing but her smile widened. "Impatient, are we? Well, I suppose I could give you a hint." She leaned in closer and put her lips near his ear. Softly, she whispered, "You'll find out what it is when we get home."

"That's not a hint," Tenma complained. "Come one, give me a real one."

"No, you're too smart! You'll see right through me," she laughed.

"I suppose I should take that as a compliment," Tenma deadpanned. "Not one hint?"

"I did give you a hint, you now know the whereabouts of where I'll break the news."

"You're impossible," Tenma grumbled.

"You love me." Hoshie grinned.

"Oh, I do? This is news to me. Tell me, when did I fall in love with such a sly vixen?"

"I believe it was nine years ago."

"Nine years ago? Really? That long?"

"Mhmm." Hoshie smiled. "Now, enough flirting, Sir. You need to go back to work."

Tenma sagged slightly. "You're right," he sighed. "Are you going to go home?"

"Yeah, my feet hurt a bit and I don't want to get in the way between you and potential funders. I'll be waiting for you," she smiled.

Tenma smiled back. "I look forward to it," he replied, kissing his wife's hand. Hoshie waved farewell before disappearing into the crowd. Tenma watched her go, wondering just what the surprise was she had for him. He glanced around the many people he had to talk to and hopefully convince to give money for their cause, and sighed. Could the end of the night come any quicker?

0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Hoshie was sitting on the couch wrapped in a fuzzy bathrobe, watching a random cooking show when her husband finally entered through the front door. She heard him kick of his shoes and tiredly make his way to the living room, tossing his jacket and scarf onto the couch before collapsing next to her, groaning loudly.

"Hello, there," she murmured, smiling.

"Hi…" he breathed, completely exhausted.

"How'd it go?"

"Well enough… but now I'm home." He looked at her curiously. "Now what's this surprise you have for me?"

"Hah, straight to the point, I see. Well, I've made you wait long enough for it." Hoshie smiled widely and sat up, turning off the TV. She turned to her husband, lacing her fingers together. "Bill… You know…you know how we've been trying to have a baby for a long time?"

"Yes?" Tenma sat up straighter, his curiosity growing. "Your point?"

"Well…" Hoshie grinned. "Point is, William, in about seven months, nervousness from looming presentations won't be the only thing keeping you up at night." Tenma stared blankly at her for a moment absolutely confused. Hoshie laughed. "Come on, I thought you were smart," she jabbed his arm playfully.

Tenma blinked, processing her words. "Are you saying…what I think you're saying?" he said slowly, hardly daring to believe the conclusion he'd made in his mind.

"I'll put it into simple words for you." Hoshie smiled, tenderly taking hold of his hand and resting it against her stomach. Tenma's breath hitched and he stared wide-eyed into her light brown eyes. "I'm…I'm pregnant, Bill," she whispered, her eyes shimmering. "You're going to be a father."

Tenma's eyes filled with tears and he held his hand gingerly on her stomach, hardly daring to believe this good news. This incredible news. For so long, he and his wife had tried to have children; for eight years they tried. The fact that she was going to bear him a child finally, after so many years, had rendered him absolutely speechless. What he'd thought was impossible had just become possible, and he was filled with a joy he could barely comprehend.

"S-seven months, you say?" he finally croaked out, his eyes lifting from her stomach to her brown irises. "So you've been pregnant for…for two months now…?"

"I wanted to be absolutely sure I was pregnant so I waited to tell you," she replied. "I could barely believe it myself but… We're going to be parents!"

"I'm…I'm going to be a dad," Tenma voiced hoarsely. "I'm going to be a dad! And you," he laughed, taking hold of the back of her head and kissing her swiftly, "you are going to be the best mother in the world."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, but I'll try my best." Hoshie smiled, rubbing her stomach.

"You always do your best, which is why you'll be so great." Tenma smiled, kissing her again. Hoshie giggled, closing her eyes at his affection. The two were quiet for a few moments, just resting in that beautiful moment between the two. "What do you think it will be?" Tenma finally whispered, running a hand over hers as she massaged her abdomen. "Boy or girl?"

"It's going to be a boy," Hoshie said confidently. "I'm positive it's going to be a boy."

"Oh, you're positive, huh?" Tenma grinned. "Who am I to disagree, then?"

"Hmm, you'd better agree with me." Hoshie moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You'd be a fool not to. Call it a mother's intuition."

"And if it is a boy, what should we name him?" he asked.

Hoshie remained thoughtful for a moment. "Tobio," she said. "I want to name him Tobio. Toby for short."

"Tobio…" The name was pleasant to Tenma and his smile broadened. "Capital choice, my dear. And if it's a girl?"

"I'll think of a girl name later…but I'm quite sure it's going to be a boy."

"I guess we're going to have to wait and see." Tenma kissed her temple tenderly.

Hoshie shifted, looking up at her husband, a question in her eyes. "What if he becomes a Starborne like me?" she asked.

Tenma glanced at her, surprised. "Are you worried he might be picked on?" he asked. "I thought you were above such trivial insults."

"I just worry for his future, that's all," she sighed.

"There is a chance he won't inherit your powers," he said.

"It would be useful for him if he did inherit them, though," she said thoughtfully. "Healing is a very useful power."

"Indeed," Tenma sighed. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens…" His smile returned and he kissed his wife once more. "Let's not worry about that right now, though," he said softly.

"You're right," Hoshie replied, resting her head on his shoulder again. "We have a few months before we can start thinking about that."

"I'm looking forward to it," Tenma chuckled.

0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Seven Months and Two Weeks Later…

Brown eyes flitted from place to place, taking in everything they saw. Chubby hands grabbed at the air, and a weak cry escaped from a gummy mouth. The eyes landed on the form of a beautiful woman and toothless smile appeared on the child's face.

"Hello, Tobio," Hoshie breathed, allowing her little son to grab onto her fingertips with his tiny hands. The baby cooed and reached for her face, grabbing her chin and reaching for her hair.

"He's a lot smaller than I thought he was going to be," the father commented.

Hoshie rolled her eyes. "He's a baby, of course he's going to be small," she said dryly.

"He's a lot quieter than yesterday," Tenma observed.

"Being born can make people quite cranky, if you hadn't noticed." Hoshie grinned. "And not just the baby. I heard you knocked over some co-workers while trying to get to the hospital?"

"Ah…so you heard about that. Ah. Well, uh… I was in a rush."

"Have you apologized for their trauma, both physical and psychological?”

"Yes, I have. May I remind you I am a gentleman." Tenma smiled.

"Gwah!" Baby Tobio waved his little arms, his brown eyes searching his father's face.

Tenma's eyes softened immediately. "Hello there," he said tenderly. "It's me, Daddy…"

"Goo," Tobio cooed.

There was a knock at the door, and a doctor entered the room, smiling. "Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Tenma," the doctor said. "I ran the test like you asked me to and the results have just now come back."

"Oh?" Hoshie straightened up in her bed, clutching her child closer to her chest. "What does it say?"

"The test results show negative signs of Starborne energy in the child's DNA. It appears your strain of energy is un-inheritable," the doctor said, glancing at the folders in front of him.

"I…I see," Hoshie said softly. She glanced forlornly at her son.  Tenma noticed her change in demeanor and quickly kissed her forehead. 

"He's still a beautiful son," he said.

"It's not that, it's… I…I wanted him to inherit my healing abilities…so he'd be safer that way," Hoshie sighed. "Guess I'll just have to keep a closer eye on him, huh?"

"If he gets hurt, you can just heal him," Tenma said.

"But…what if we have another child and both are hurt at the same time? I can only heal one person at a time—or what if—"

"Hey, hey, Hoshie, calm down!" Tenma chuckled. "Don't worry about that right now. He's healthy and he's beautiful."

"You're telling me not to worry?" Hoshie glared, unamused. "Which one of us was panicking yesterday and had to be forced outside the delivery room because they were screaming at the doctors to not mess anything up?"

Tenma flushed a bright crimson, and instead of defending himself, turned to the doctor who was still standing there. "Anything else we need to know, Dr. Tezuka?" he asked, ignoring how his wife chuckled at him for sidestepping her comment.

"Well." Dr. Tezuka looked at the papers again. "Other than the fact that your child is perfectly healthy, there is nothing further to discuss. If everything goes well, you'll be discharged tomorrow."

"Good," Hoshie sighed, taking one more moment to lovingly gaze at her son.

0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Four Years Later

"What's up, Toby?"

A little boy turned his head from the raindrops running down the window and grinned at his mother. "Nothin'," he said, swinging his legs in his car seat. "Just thinkin'."

"'Just thinkin', huh? You know, you and Daddy get the same look when you're deep in thought," Hoshie observed through the rear view mirror, amused.

Toby perked up. "We do?" he asked, surprised.

"Mm-hmm. Your eyebrows furrow and your eyes move about as if you're trying to solve all of the world's problems at once."

"I am trying to solve the world's problems!" Toby said proudly.

"What're trying to solve?" Hoshie turned the wheel, entering a busy intersection. Her knuckles tensed. I hate rush hour traffic, she thought, tapping her thumbs on the wheel agitatedly.

"I'm trying to make a robot that can help people," Toby said, adjusting himself in his booster seat. "I wanna be like Daddy when I grow up."

"You wanna make a robot to help people? Wow, that's awesome, Toby!" Hoshie praised, smiling widely. "What sorts of things is the robot gonna do? How is he going to help people?"

"I don't know yet…" Toby shrugged, his thinking face returning. "Maybe he can help save people's lives."

"Like a doctor?"

"Naw, I was thinking more like a superhero…but a doctor could work, too," Toby added as an afterthought.

Hoshie hummed. "Well, I can't wait to hear all about this robot once you've decided how you're going to build him." She smiled. A traffic light turned red and she slowed the car to a stop. The traffic around her was filled with honking and blaring as people tried vainly to improve the speed of the slow traffic. The rain isn't helping any, either, Hoshie thought. In the distance she heard sirens. I'll bet the rain and traffic caused an accident somewhere, she thought, chewing her lip. 

The traffic light turned green once more and Hoshie quickly accelerated the car, eager to get out of this traffic. A horn blared at her from the right, and she had just enough time to see a large truck barreling towards her before a blinding, sickening pain reverberated through her being. The world was spinning and there was a scream of pain and terror coming from two different places.

Hoshie blacked out for a moment. When her eyes opened again, her vision was blurred and an incredible pain resided in her chest. Looking down she saw metal and glass sticking through her chest, blood leaking steadily from her wounds. Her breath came in gasps, pain like lightning shooting through her body every time her lungs filled with air. If she could just pull out these shards, she could heal herself and she would be fine—

TOBY!  Hoshie gasped and turned her head wildly. The sudden movement caused her vision to blur again and she winced. Her vision cleared after a moment and her stomach curdled at the sight. Her four-year-old son was unconscious, blood leaking down his face from a nasty gash on his head, and a large shard of metal, most likely from the truck that had hit them, was sticking into his stomach. No! No, no, no, NO, NO! Hoshie pushed herself closer to him with immense difficulty, her seatbelt miraculously unfastening for her without trouble. She reached over the front seat and grabbed the shard of metal in her son's side and yanked, pulling it out. Toby yelped in pain but remained unconscious, as fresh blood started to leak more quickly from the wound in his side.

Hoshie grabbed Toby's hand and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. Her breathing became ragged and her head was swimming, but with all her might she channeled whatever energy remained in her being to go to her son.

Heal him, heal him! she repeated over in her mind. Don't heal me, heal him!

Slowly, her magic began to work. The wound on his head began to close, as did the one in his side. Hoshie could feel everything in her son's body. She could sense all the shrapnel and internal injuries, and with all her might expelled all foreign objects and closed all his wounds. But the more her son healed, the more Hoshie felt the pain in her own body, and the harder it was to breathe.

Toby coughed and gasped once the last wound closed, and his brown eyes blearily opened.

"Mama…?" he croaked. He saw his mother give a painful smile.

"I'm here…T-Tobio…" she rasped. "I'm…he…" Her hand fell and his mother slumped over.

Toby sat up straighter. "Mama?" he cried, his voice stronger. "Mama, what's wrong?"

No answer.

"Mama, what happened? Mama?"

Sirens. Flashes of red and blue.

"MAMA!"

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

~Ten Years Later~

“…And if you divide that by three squared you get…thirty-four to the tenth power!” Tobio Tenma lifted up his sheet of homework proudly, then looked down to his left. “Right?”

Jump, his wire fox terrier, merely rolled over with a snort in reply. Toby set down his homework with a sigh.

“Yeah, pretty sure that’s right… Ahh, finally done!” He rubbed his face tiredly. “Ugh…guess we have the rest of night off, huh?”

Jump wagged his short tail, looking up eagerly at his human friend. Toby grinned and stretched, leaning back in his chair. He let his arms drop over the sides, letting out another heavy sigh.

“What do you wanna do today, huh, bud?” Toby asked his dog. “We could go to the park…play some frisbee or something… It’s getting a little late for that, though, isn’t it?” He chewed on his lip, staring out the dusk-lit window. “We can go tomorrow though. Or—wait, no, I’ll be doing stuff with Dad tomorrow,” he remembered, grinning. “That’ll be fun. I’ll be sure to take you to the park on Saturday, though.”

He sat in silence for a few more moments, wondering what else to do with the rest of his Thursday evening. He’d finished all his homework before dinnertime, as per usual, and found his only company once more resided with his dog—unless you counted the robot butler. Toby didn’t really think he counted, since he couldn’t carry a real conversation with the machine besides pre-programmed responses. Modern artificial intelligence, though impressive, wasn’t so advanced that machines could actually think and feel for themselves like in sci-fi movies.  Toby knew it was all just a program and therefore didn’t try to ‘make friends’ with his robot butler, a RB-TA model, the newest of its kind. That was one of the perks of being the son of the Minister of Science; you got all the cool gadgets before they were released to the public.

His father was never home, of course. Toby often found himself eating dinner alone, while his father remained at work all day nearly every day till about nine in the evening, where he would afterwards sit in the living room and read a book with the news on in the background. What conversations they had were small ones that didn’t carry on for too long, and usually ended with his father expressing his tiredness and wanting to read. Toby perfectly understood that his father was tired from work and needed his space…but it didn’t stop the loneliness from creeping in every so often.

A wet nose nudged Toby’s hand, startling him out of his thoughts. Toby looked at his dog fondly, scratching his head.

“Wanna go outside?” Jump’s tail started to wag faster, making Toby smile. “Alright, then,” Toby added, getting out of his chair. “Come on, boy!”

Jump hopped up excitedly and raced to the corner, grabbing his favorite ball before bounding over to the door, his tail wagging eagerly. Toby grabbed it from his mouth and opened the door, his dog racing out of the room like a bullet. Toby ran after him, bounding down the stairs two at a time. He reached the landing and then raced to the kitchen where Jump was waiting by the back door excitedly.

Just as he was about to open the door to the backyard, though, the house phone rang. Toby stopped, glancing at the phone on the counter a few feet away.

‘Call from: William Tenma. Call from: William Tenma,’ said the automated voice.  Toby quickly ran over to the phone and pressed ‘answer’.

“Hey, Dad!” Toby said cheerfully as the image of his father appeared on the screen in front of him. “What’s up?”

“Hello, Toby, ah…just calling to let you know that I’m going to be home much later tonight than usual, and probably will continue to do so till next Saturday,” he said. “The opening ceremony of the generator is a little more than a week away and all of us scientists and engineers are scrambling to make sure everything’s in order before we start it up.”

“Got it, Dad,” Toby said. “That’s fine. Oh, uh, I have a question for you.”

“Yes, but make it quick, I have to get back to work here,” Tenma said, shuffling papers in front of him.

Toby hesitated for a moment before finally asking, “What… Um, what are you going to do once this project is finished?”

Tenma looked up at him, surprised. “When I’m finished?”

“Yeah, I mean… How long have you been working on this generator project? Like...thirteen years or something? And you’ve been working so hard and I’m super proud of you for it, but like…what are you going to do when it’s done?”

Tenma stared at him, slightly taken aback as if he’d never even thought of the question before. He sat silent for a few moments before finally clearing his throat. “Well—uh, well, there are always problems people are going to need to solve and things to be researched and discovered and built… I’m sure I’ll find something.” He scratched the side of his jaw thoughtfully. “Especially as the Minister of Science, there will always be something for me to do.”

“‘Kay, just curious. So you’re not going to take a vacation or anything afterwards to celebrate?” Toby prompted.

“I’ll figure that out when the time comes, but right now I have a very busy schedule and I need to get back to work. Was there anything else you needed?” Tenma asked, typing some things into his computer.

“Yeah, one more thing. You’re still gonna be free tomorrow, right?” Toby asked. “Like you promised?”

Tenma stopped typing and turned to him confused. “I did?” he asked.

Toby felt his heart sink like a stone but tried to not show it. “Y-yeah, um…kind of a big day tomorrow…” he croaked.

“Sorry, Toby, but with my schedule the way it is, I can’t possibly be free tomorrow,” he said apologetically. Toby clenched his jaw and gave a tight smile. “I’ll make it up to you when everything here is finished.”

“Okay, that’s u-um… That—that’s fine. You’re busy and stuff… I-I understand. See ya later, Dad.”

“Bye, son.” The call ended and the face of his father disappeared.

Toby stood slouched on the counter, in an immensely different mood than before. Had his dad actually…actually forgotten about tomorrow? He’d hoped that tomorrow he’d be able to spend just a little bit of time with his father. But then again, this generator project was a huge issue that had been going on for years; of course important things were easily forgotten in the mess that must be the schedule for the Minister of Science. Toby understood perfectly; besides…there was always next year, right?  

A whine from a certain dog broke Toby out of his thoughts and he turned to Jump, who was looking up at him expectantly.

“H-hey, Jump, sorry about that. Come on, let’s go play outside,” he said, ushering his dog out the back door.

The fresh air felt good in Toby’s lungs as he stepped outside. He and his father lived just on the outskirts of Metro City in one of the nicer neighborhoods, so the sounds of city traffic was less noticeable and at night the sky was clearer than in the city. The backyard was large and beautiful, surrounded by large trees that mostly consisted of willows and cherry trees. The house itself was surrounded by various beautiful plants and bushes that were all cared for by their hired gardener, Orrin Silver.

Speaking of which… Toby could faintly hear the tell tale sound of the gardener’s humming, which meant he hadn’t left for the day yet. He was probably still working on the tulips on the side of the house. Toby quickly threw the ball for Jump before following the sound of the gardener’s humming to—just as he suspected—the side of the house. Orrin Silver was crouched over the tulips, spreading mulch as he hummed one of his favorite tunes.

“Hey, Orrin!” Toby called over to him.

Orrin jumped in surprise, nearly falling over. “GYAA H—oh! Oh, hello there, Mr. Toby!” Orrin took off his cap and patted his bald head with a handkerchief. “Sorry, didn’t see you there!”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Toby quickly apologized, but Orrin waved him off.

“No, no, you’re fine, you know how jumpy I am… What can I do for you today?” he asked, grabbing another handful of mulch from a wheelbarrow next to him.

“Eh, actually I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you?” Toby offered. “Do you need any help?”

Orrin shook his head. “Last time you helped me, you were the one who did almost all of the work. If you keep that up, I’ll be out of a job!” Orrin said accusingly, but from the twinkle in his eye Toby could tell he was just joking.

Toby grinned. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Well, I have most everything finished actually…” Orrin glanced at the flower bed thoughtfully. “I was just going to spread some more mulch over these tulips and then I was going to be done for the day. Don’t bother helping me with that, though, I’ve got it covered.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. You helped me a lot last week, anyway. You don’t need to do it again today. So,” Orrin added as he went back to spreading the mulch around the flowers, “what’s going on at the Tenma residence?”

“Not much…” Toby shrugged. “Dad’s been busier than ever now that the opening ceremony for the generator is a week away.”

“Oh yeah, that was in the news! That’s gonna be something,” said Orrin.

“Yeah, but…I—I’m kind of hoping afterwards he’ll take some time off.”

“Huh, been missing your old man?”

“Sorta…just… It’s also… It’s also my birthday tomorrow,” Toby said rather shyly, digging his foot into the ground.

Orrin straightened up, surprised. “Really? Wow, happy birthday! How old are ya gonna be?”

“Fourteen,” he admitted shyly with a smile.

“Hey, fourteen’s not a bad age! So, what are ya gonna do for your birthday? Planning on throwing a party? Having a bunch of your friends over?” Orrin asked, standing up and taking his gardening gloves off.

Toby’s smile faltered. “Well—uh, I um… I-I wasn’t going to do anything huge; I don’t like big parties.” He shrugged.

“Aw, too bad. But you’re going to do something fun with your friends, right?” Orrin asked, patting his bald head with his handkerchief again.

Toby fell silent, chewing his lip. “Um… I don’t…um… I don’t really have…” he trailed off, uncomfortable.

Orrin raised an eyebrow. “Don’t have what? Plans?” he asked.

“Y-yeah, I don’t have anything planned,” Toby said quickly. “I was just hoping to do something small.”

“I see! You have anything you’re hoping to get for your birthday?”

“Uh…not…not really,” Toby mumbled. “I’m pretty content as it is, I mean…there’s not much I want at the moment.”

“Well, I guess that’s a good thing, right?” Orrin grinned and Toby smiled back.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Toby said. An indignant bark broke their conversation. Jump was sitting a few feet away with the ball at his feet, looking at Toby expectantly. “Ahh, sorry, Jump. Got talking to Orrin. Here.” He picked up the ball again and tossed it to the edge of the backyard. Jump bolted after it, yipping excitedly after the little green ball.

“Well, I’m pretty much done here!” Orrin took off his gloves and tossed them into the wheelbarrow. “I think I’m going to head home for the day. You take care of yourself, Mr. Toby. And happy birthday! Wish I’d known it was your birthday tomorrow, or I would’ve gotten you something.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t have needed to; I’m fine. But thanks anyway.” Toby smiled.

Orrin smiled back, wiping his head once more with his handkerchief. “You’re a really good kid, Toby, you know that?” he said. “You’re always thinking of others before yourself. Don’t ever change that about yourself. We need more people like you in the world.”

Toby’s cheeks turned pink. “I—I’m not…”

“Not what, selfless? Gentlemanly? What did you just offer to do for me five minutes ago?” Orrin laughed, picking up the wheelbarrow. “Take care of yourself, Mr. Toby!”

“S-see ya!” Toby called after him, then turned back to the backyard where Jump was laying in the grass, gnawing on a stick.  “Where’d you get that stick?” Toby asked his dog with his hands on his hips. Jump merely continued to crunch on the piece of wood contentedly.

Toby felt exhaustion creep into his bones and he sat next to his dog with a heavy sigh. Jump stopped chewing on the stick and gave a low whine, resting his white and brown head on Toby’s leg. Toby scratched behind Jump’s ear, smiling ever so slightly.

“I guess it is just gonna be you and me tomorrow…” Toby said quietly. “Again. Just…just like last year. And the year before that…” He slowly laid down in the grass, folding his arms behind his head. He wasn’t going to act like a spoiled rich kid and throw a tantrum. He understood why his father worked so hard. There had been so many setbacks in the building process that delayed the workers so much that, for these past few years, they had been way too far behind schedule. Toby’s father was extremely overworked with deadlines and needed the time to wrap everything up and bring it all to a close this coming week. Toby’s birthday could wait. After this generator project was finished, Tenma would be able to relax and maybe even take a vacation. The idea of spending a little more time with his father made Toby’s heart swell. He could wait. He could be patient.

“Whaddya think, bud?” Toby turned his head to Jump, whose head was still nuzzled on Toby’s leg. “Should we do something fun tomorrow? Like go to the park or…something? Maybe I’ll go see a movie. I heard they made a remake of The Phoenix, you know that super old anime? That show was cool.” No response except for a twitch of Jump’s leg. Toby scratched his dog’s back absent-mindedly as his mind started to wander. 

As he laid there, though, a terrible ache appeared in his chest. There it was, Toby thought. The loneliness. Every so often it would creep in like an unwanted virus, latching on easily and shaking off difficultly. Toby tried to not complain about it, but the feeling was hard to get rid of—if Toby had had a sibling or even a friend…just someone he could talk to…

It’s not as if Toby didn’t try to make friends at school. He really did try, but apparently no one wanted to be friends with a thirteen year old senior in high school. And it wasn’t just that; it was all the cliques. They were so extreme. Basically, you had to completely identify with your own group or be excluded forever, and you had to make sure to exclude anyone from any other group. Toby thought that was completely ridiculous and childish, to be frank, but when he tried to talk to other kids about it they just… didn’t care. Toby’s opinion against the cliques had led him to become a sort of outcast in the school, even when he’d tried to explain that he wasn’t against them forming groups, he just couldn’t see why they had to hate everyone who wasn’t in their group.

I don’t even know why I bother, Toby thought to himself, sighing. I’ll be done with high school soon, anyway. Just another month and a half and I’ll be graduated.

He lay there for a while, staring up at the slowly darkening sky. A cool spring breeze ruffled his ink black hair, caressing his cheeks. He deeply inhaled the fresh air, letting it comfort him. He most definitely did not want to think about tomorrow, now that he knew what it would bring. He didn’t want to let his mind think about how he was going to spend yet another birthday alone, with no friends or family to wish him a heartfelt ‘Happy Birthday!’.

Darn it all, I’m thinking about it. Toby sat up irritated. He knew laying there would only make his mind wander more, and therefore think about tomorrow. He had to do something to keep himself distracted, something to keep him focused. And he knew just the thing.

0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Toby turned the handle to the wooden attic door, which gave loud protests as it swung open. Jump pattered into the large room and sniffed a box in a corner. He sneezed from the large amount of dust that had accumulated on the box, making Toby laugh.

“It’s less dusty over here, Jump,” he laughed, closing the attic door and walking to a couple of work tables that had been set up in the middle of the attic. In this area, the dust was less apparent and gave clear signs that it was often used. Around and underneath the work tables were boxes full of wires, robotic parts, and other various things that would’ve been considered junk to the common eye. But not to Toby.   

Ignoring the two computers on the table to the left, he went straight for a strange figure made of metal and wires that lay silently on the table. Toby picked up a screwdriver that was laying nearby and set to work. His hands worked automatically as he twisted the screwdriver. He fastened bolts, connected wires, locked joints, and quickly tightened pressure valves. The movements were familiar and comfortable to him as he tinkered away at his robot.

Jump gave a great yawn as he lay beside the tall stool Toby was sitting at. Toby continued on without stopping.

This robot was a project of Toby’s that had been going on for several months. He’d been inspired after finding an old—and rather childish—drawing of his from when he was little. He remembered coming up with the idea and what it entailed; it was a robot to help people. When he was younger he remembered wanting to make a ‘super robot’, which was basically a robotic version of superman. The older, more realistic Toby had thought it would be better to make a robot handyman with basic medical training. He didn’t have the resources to create a full-fledged medical robot like Baymax in that centuries-old movie ’Big Hero Six’, but he could make a robot that had basic procedures. It was a start.

Building the robot wasn’t the difficult part. All he had to do was read up on mechanics, watch some tutorials on welding—also visit some welding shops to get some hands-on experience, the people who worked there were more than happy to help him out—and building his little robot friend was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. The hard part was the coding, the actual heart of the robot. Toby wanted to give the robot the best personality he could possibly give him, which of course meant hours sitting in front of the computer trying to write the code from scratch. And hours in front of the computer meant late nights, and late nights meant not much sleep on school days.

Since it was a Thursday night, Toby knew he couldn’t stay up too late working on his robot, but when you’re focused on something, time seems to simply melt away. Time indeed flew by by as he worked on his robot. He welded and screwed and wired, then unscrewed, rewired, then welded some more. His hands moved by themselves, almost as if they knew where to go and what to do on their own.

This was definitely his passion. Building—no, creating. He loved putting things together, and finding the perfect place to fit two pieces together and creating something extraordinary with it. Toby became so lost in what he was doing he didn’t notice the sky darkening before finally turning an ink black. A light bulb hanging directly above Toby and a few lamps on the tables were now his only source of light, which was plenty for him.

Toby was so absorbed into his work that he didn’t notice headlights light up the window or Jump lift his head when the front door opened. He did, however, notice when his dog barked and ran to the attic door, scratching it eagerly. Toby set down his tools, turning to his dog.

“What is it, boy?” he asked, stretching tiredly from sitting in the same position for so long. Jump nosed the door. It was then that Toby heard the telltale sounds that his father was home. His heart lifted and he jumped off the stool, racing to the door to let himself and Jump out. Jump bolted down the several flights of stairs, wagging his tail and barking. Toby followed not far behind, jumping the last few steps to the bottom floor.

“Dad?” he called out, looking around.

“In the kitchen,” was the reply. Toby exited the foyer and entered the large kitchen to see his father standing at the counter pouring himself a brandy. Tenma looked up as his son appeared. “I thought you’d be asleep,” he said, capping the glass bottle.

“Nah, I was working on my robot upstairs,” Toby replied. “How was work?”

“Fine, fine… “ Ice clinked in the glass as Tenma took a sip. “How was school?”

“Great! My math teacher dropped a pop quiz on us but I’m pretty sure I got an A, and in my history class we’re going over World History from the 2100’s to the 2200’s. Right now we’re talking about the second Blue Knight and how he rescued Class 1 and 2 StarBorne from the concentration camps during World War VI. That guy is cool, you know? Oh and in my languages class I think I’m finally starting to get the grasp of French, though my tenses are still pretty tricky, and then the funniest thing in PE hap…ha-happened… um...” Toby trailed off and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, realizing his father wasn’t paying attention to a word he was saying as he looked down at a blue screen, reading a report for something undoubtedly related to his job. Toby felt his heart slowly sink again.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” he found himself asking his father. Tenma replied with a grunt, completely absorbed in his work. Toby exhaled. “Just more work, I guess,” he muttered. “I think I’m going to go to bed. Goodnight, Dad.”

He turned to leave the kitchen but paused in the doorway. Toby turned his head over his shoulder. “Goodnight, Dad!” he called louder.

Tenma looked up from the tablet for half a second. “Yes, uh, goodnight son,” he acknowledged, clearly distracted. Toby let out a resigned sigh, having hoped to have a real conversation with him, but once again having failed completely. He trudged back upstairs with slow, heavy feet. His father was more distracted tonight than usual, but that was to be expected with the presentation coming up soon and all. Toby slowly ran his fingers along the wooden banister of the walkway that led to his room, just above the foyer. He knew he was being selfish for thinking so, but…he couldn’t help yearn for a little more affection from his busy father. Just something to acknowledge his existence…

With all his meetings, his schedule, and always staying after hours…it’s almost as if Dad is trying to avoid me. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he pushed it away, thinking it utterly ridiculous. His father was just busy; he couldn’t help it! As the Minister of Science, his schedule was jam-packed, so of course it was going to be hard to spend quality time with his family. But…he could at least make an effort, unless he doesn’t think I’m good enough to be his son, that voice whispered in his ear again.

Toby stopped short, pausing in the middle of his bedroom. Was he not good enough? Did his father…resent having him?

‘No, no, Dad wouldn’t think that at all! He’s just busy! I’m sure he loves me!’

But what proof has he given me of that? If he really loved me, wouldn’t he have followed through with that promise he made last week to go out with me on my birthday? The voice struck a cord in Toby’s mind as his memories traveled back a week ago. Toby had reminded his father of his birthday and his father had actually seemed to want to spend time with him, and had told Toby he would make an effort to do so… But recalling the conversation he’d had with his father this evening on the phone—and the one a few moments ago—it seemed that was all but forgotten.

I’m sure Dad loves me… He does love me… Toby slowly sat on his bed. In his mind he tried to recall the last evidence of love he’d received from his father, something to prove that he wasn’t a waste of space in his father’s house. His heart sank lower and lower as he dug through his memories—he could hardly remember when his father had even last said “I love you” to him.

A wet nose rubbed against Toby’s hand. He blinked away tears he hadn’t even realized were there to see Jump sitting in front of him. Jump wagged his short tail and rested his scruffy head on Toby’s lap, making him smile softly.

“You always know when I’m upset, don’t you?” he whispered, running his fingers through the dog’s white and brown fur. Unlike someone else I know, a snide voice whispered in his mind. Toby shoved that thought back where it came from, but the damage was done. The voice was right—his dad never noticed when he was upset. Ever. He never took the time to ask Toby what was wrong, or how to help him—he never noticed the various bruises Toby would bring home once every so often, thanks to a certain prank-happy jerk back at school.

Toby took a shaky breath to calm himself down. His eyes started to blur again, but Toby absolutely refused to let these tears fall. He wasn’t a crybaby. He wasn’t weak, and he certainly wasn’t a spoiled rich kid who needed his dad to solve every single problem. He could get along just fine. He was fine.

He was fine.