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

[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)

[ he shakes his head slowly. it's not because he doesn't think ami is best for him, but because he doesn't know how to answer that question at all. he likes ami, and that's all that he's ever considered. people have been telling him to live in the moment, and that's what he's doing. whatever happens after that is something he doesn't exactly think about.

so no. he honestly doesn't know if ami's best for him. or being in a relationship is what's best for him. after all, he's still dealing with his issues about his death. he's slowly overcoming it, but it's not like he's completely healed yet. ]

I don't know. [ he manages to let out a soft snort. ] I honestly don't. But she's always understood me, and she's been helping me a lot.

[...he stops kicking him at least and realizes that it was probably an unfair question. But it's not like Hiro's always good at playing fair anyway. So instead he sits up okay, yes, he does prod his foot into Tadashi's leg again to get him to really look at him.]

Then...we'll figure it out. Okay? [He doesn't want to. He's still not sure how to feel even after this whole conversation but Tadashi deserves to be happy. And if dating somebody right now and going out and really dedicating himself to someone else makes him happy then...okay.] Hamada brothers stick together. Just...give me a heads up next time, will you?

[ he smiles before glancing back at hiro. hiro's seen tadashi vulnerable once. that's more than enough times. ]

Yeah. We will.

[ brofist? ]

[Brofist! (Bro this is why Hiro's trying really hard not to be vulnerable around you anymore, too. They're both fine.]

And now since you just gave me a heart attack, you owe me. [He schools his face into a faux-thoughtful expression.] Two hours on the couch watching a movie in my queue. And you have to make the popcorn. Deal?

[He's already getting up. Tadashi you literally have no choice until he inevitably falls asleep during said movie. What a good brother.]

action.

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