zerotohiro | Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

[Where's this going.]

She's okay I guess? [Lately he's been having a couple of mixed feelings about her that aren't exactly her fault.] She's nice enough. We sent a bunch of those elephants at the circus out of the colony and into the jungle so they wouldn't hurt anybody else. Why?

[ okay. okay. he can do this. this is even worse than presenting in front of an entire class. tadashi is hardly ever insecure when it comes to his decisions, but things like these? it's just difficult because he's practically been living for two (three if you include aunt cass) all these years. so whatever he decides, hiro has to be right there with him. ]

I was wondering if you'd be cool with me seeing her. I mean—we're not officially dating or anything, but we do go out from time to time.

[ which... basically means nothing unusual, but there's the fluffy things with handholding and all that now. ]

[And like that it's sort of the way one feels if one were to swallow a bowling ball. He doesn't speak for a moment, letting those words echo in his head as he thinks about it.

"I was wondering if you'd be cool with me seeing her."

"We do go out from time to time."

It's a kneejerk reaction, but his brain's suddenly sending red warning lights all over the place. Back then he'd encouraged Tadashi to try and embrace his life in Cerealia after he'd told him why he turned Ami down. He never thought about the idea that his brother would actually boomerang back to her. His expression says everything he hasn't yet. This isn't okay. He isn't sure how to explain it (and perhaps it's hypocritical, considering Ruby), but…]

You mean like…seeing her. Like…more than other people? [And wait.] What do you mean you go out from time to time? When?

[ he rubs the back of his neck, looking a bit awkward. this definitely isn't easy for the both of them, even if it's not even related to serious family business. so after that, he nods slowly.

there's a reason he's been so adamant about not telling hiro. it's because of this. it just isn't fair to ami, though, so he has to. and hiro needed to find out eventually. ]

Yeah. And sometimes, after work, we see each other. At the carnival... that kind of stuff. [ he looks away and shrugs his shoulders.

it's so difficult to be confident at this very moment when hiro doesn't even look all that happy. ]

[It's scary and it's new and he's known for a while that Ami likes his brother, but now there's…it's stupid. He knows it's stupid to feel like it's a threat but their world's always been pretty small. Hiro's world, at least. It's always been Tadashi and it's always been Cass. He hadn't even met Tadashi's friends from the lab until recently, so the idea of Tadashi having a girlfriend…someone to dedicate other affection and time toward. It's…weird.

He's staring him dead in the eye though and almost-pouting.]

…you lied to me. You said you were with Levi when we were talking about Katsura but you were with Ami instead, weren't you? [He remembers that split hesitation, bro. Even that aside how was it possible he completely missed that? He knew Tadashi wasn't home as much some days but he assumed it was work or ViViD or something dumb. Some of those days when he's by himself in their apartment he seeks out Ruby, but he still had to wonder where Tadashi was. Now he knows. Now it all makes sense.]

[ "you lied to me".

ouch.

those words ring in his head a couple of times before he shakes his head and pockets his hands. boy, this sure is really awkward. he shouldn't have lied, but he just didn't know what to tell hiro then. he should have expected this conversation to turn in this direction. ]

Yeah... I'm sorry.

[His shoulders hunch forward a bit and he looks back down at the comic book he was reading. That's not fair. He's been lying to Tadashi since he showed up in Cerealia, but that's different. This is…]

…okay. [What else can he say? He could be an asshole and demand that Tadashi not see her. He could be a huge brat about the whole thing and complain about her. But he won't. He'll keep that all to himself and instead shrug. He's still not entirely thrilled though for reasons unexplained.] Then...date her or whatever.

[ oh god. this definitely wasn't in his calculations. he never would have thought hiro's reaction would be something like this. and while he did imagine hiro possibly getting mad—he understands the little guy more than anything—because tadashi's a big part of his world, he never imagined hiro to be so bummed about it.

so now he's having second thoughts. but before he does anything again, he should probably comfort his brother first. ]

You know I won't change, right?

["Yes you will, because you already have."

Just not from things like this. He looks up at him from under his bangs but he doesn't respond at first. Prior to everything that happened at home his reaction would have been nothing but anger and bitching. With everything though and with what Tadashi's told him and what he knows of Tadashi from prom night, it's a mix of weird emotions he doesn't know what to deal with and it results in something more sullen.]

You have to if you have a girlfriend, dude. [There's a very weak smile to try and back it.] It's okay. [No, it's not.] Ami's…[A homewrecker?]…great. [A pause.] You like her that much?

[ tadashi wants to say some more things about how he wouldn't change, no matter what, but it doesn't seem like hiro's convinced. he frowns, feeling hurt that he and his brother can't seem to see each other eye to eye with this.

it's fine. it'll be fine.

hiro wants tadashi to be happy—he said that himself. and tadashi can't be happy like this when his heart is being torn. he has to pick one over the other. and blood runs thicker than water. (that's a pun. i'm laughing right now because it's so funny.) ]

... No. [ he does like her, but he'd rather live in a home with hiro where both of them are happy. if he's the only one pleased with this, then there's just no point. he sighs, and looks away. ] No, I don't.

[(Goddamnit Nikki) Just a skeptical look.]

Are you lying again? [Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop being a selfless shit except for don't because he does perk up a little tiny bit. Miniscule. Hiro's an awful child sometimes.]

[ (it's so funny, though.)

tadashi straightens up and waves a hand dismissively. ]

It's fine. [ and he starts to walk away, though he adds something loud enough for hiro to hear. ] I won't lie to you again.

[Fuckfuckfuckfuck...before Tadashi gets too far he eventually blurts out:]

I'm dating Ruby. [Annnnd immediately cringing a little because this is the epitome of bad timing]

[ he stops, blinks, turns back, cants his head. huh...

somehow, this is making him feel a lot better. he smiles at his brother, and chuckles through his nose. ]

Yeah? How'd you ask her out?

[...why isn't Tadashi mad? Wasn't Hiro just technically lying to him, too? And it's funny because he knows Tadashi's not mad. He recognizes his "genuine happy" versus "I'm putting on a front and will draw on your face in sharpie while you're sleeping because I'm pissed" moods. He's still sort of hunched down even while he's looking at him.]

....I tried to make her pancakes and set the kitchen on fire and it sorta just came out after that. [A beat.] She helped me pick out your new pillow.

[He'd tried to tell Tadashi about it on that day about three weeks ago, but Tadashi was too pissed about the pillow.]

[ that.

okay.

he feels like they've had this conversation before. except, you know. hiro totally omitted the part about dating ruby. ]

Un. Believable.

[ of course, he only sounds annoyed. he really isn't, though. and he proceeds to shake his head, continuing to mutter "unbelievable".

he's judging you, bro. ]

[You know what he thinks of your judgment, Tadashi Hamada? There's a pillow flying across the room and smacking him in the chest. Hiro was aiming for his head but Tadashi's too tall.]

Dude shut up! [Ugggggh. But at least he seems to be a little more animated than he had been.] You were busy talking about your pillow and the fire and it just didn't come up after that.

[...] ...I didn't want to bother you with it after...y'know. [Prom. Ruby and Hiro had started dating a few days prior to that, and then everything sort of came to a head.] I was trying to figure out how to tell you about her.

[ yeah... he's catching that pillow. and you know what? he's putting it on his ~~bed~~ couch and claiming it as his now. move over mochi, he's taking a seat now, too. ]

You better not do anything that would hurt her. [ says the hypocrite. why are they a family of hypocrites. ] Yang's scary when she's angry.

[ and like hell is he going to meddle in hiro's affairs. ]

[Well shit. He'll have to stage an operation to get his pillow back later. For now Mochi meows and moves further up the bed away from where Tadashi's sitting and Hiro's rolling his eyes.

Just like that, the world's sort of right again.]

I know. She and Naoki already gave me a talk about what they're gonna do to me if I hurt Ruby. And Weiss told me she'd break my arms if I made her cry. [A beat.] ...I really, really like her. I might hurt her on accident but it's not something I wanna do. So...don't worry about that.

Yeaaaaah, alright... can I have dibs on your legs, then?

[ meaning he'll break them too. he's just kidding, though. like he could ever hurt hiro. ]

[Well since he asked, he's taking his bare foot and pushing at Tadashi's arm in a way that says "shut up" again.]

Nobody's allowed to break any of my bones! We're going to be fine. [...and because he can't leave it alone.] You're not mad?

Edited 2016-02-09 04:27 (UTC)

[ wow rUDE???? he swats at hiro's foot, covering his nose with his other hand. smelly. ]

I have no reason to get mad over this. Why would you think I'd be mad?

Because I didn't tell you right away? ["And got on your case for lying..." Also that's rude his feet (probably) don't smell.

...he's a teenage boy who usually doesn't wear socks, they probably do. Sorry Tadashi.] It's just...I dunno. You know Ruby. You've known Ruby for even longer than I have so I didn't really think about it and she's always been pretty important to me. [He may as well add the absolutely cheesiest part of it, too.] But she also knows you're the most important person in the world and she knows I'm going to try to make things better. She's got my back on that. Ruby sort of knows a lot of things.

[Ruby has been the one Hiro talks to about things that are complicated. She's been nothing but great and supportive and has absolute faith in him. Doesn't that sound familiar...and the thing is, as much as he likes Ami he's also not sure she'd really understand. That's where most of his worries lie in this.]

[ goddamn it hiro. where is baymax to fix your feet problem. this is clearly a medical issue?!?!? ]

Just do what you think is best, bro.

[ he's looking at his own feet as he says that, not really interested in looking at hiro right now. at the very least, he's smiling?!

tonight's going to be a long night. ]

[WHY ARE YOU SUCH A JERK???

He's tilting his head in response though. He...did something, didn't he.]

...Ruby is best for me. I don't have to change anything about me for her to be happy. [A beat.] Is Ami best for you? [He doesn't mean in terms of personality or anything of the sort. He means at the time. Hiro and Ruby waited for months before trying to date and...it's pretty much exactly the same other than admitting he cares for her a lot and vice versa. He doesn't know the nature of his brother's feelings for Ami but...sometimes wise words come out of his tiny body. This is one of those times.]

Edited 2016-02-09 04:59 (UTC)

Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

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