Chapter 5

~The Roar of Flames~

"Tadashi…"

Hiro paced angrily in front of the building, his entire frame shaking.

Was Tadashi insane or had he inhaled too much smoke? How could he have just ran in there with no self-preservation? But even more than that, how could he have just left me, like that?

Hiro looked towards the fire, his hands clenched, not worrying about the wrinkles he was leaving on Tadashi's beloved cap. Squaring his shoulders, Hiro stood facing the building. He had made up his mind.

Letting Tadashi's cap drop to the floor, he bolted forwards for the main entrance doors. Hiro charged in and was instantly met with a rush of hot air. He had already started pant for breath as sweat beaded down his face. Squinting from the bright flames, Hiro's eyes swept across the room. He could hear faint wheezing in the distance. His heart leapt. Ignoring his dry throat and burning lungs, Hiro pushed onwards towards the sound.

As soon as Hiro turned the corner, his heart stopped.

"TADASHI!"

Tadashi was unmoving, buried under a steel beam that had once supported the exhibition hall. Blood was running down the side of his face, his leg looked as though it was slightly bent at a slightly awkward angle and his usual pale green cardigan was darkened and charred in several places.

Hiro bolted towards his fallen brother. As soon as he tried to lift the steel beam he hissed and flinched backwards with a sharp cry of pain. Tears sprang to his eyes as he was looking at his red raw hands.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! He berated himself.

Tadashi, who was floating in and out of consciousness, blearily blinked. "H-Hiro?" He said hoarsely.

Hiro fell to his knees, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Hold on, Tadashi." Ignoring the pain radiating from his palms, he took off his jacket and threw it over the steel beam. The young Hamada then mustered his strength as he tried one last time to heave the metal beam from his brother. "I'll get you out of here, just stay with me…Stay with me."

Hiro grunted with the effort. "Come on, please. I have to do this."

But the metal beam didn't move and the intense heat from it was already seeping into his jacket.

"Hiro…" Tadashi at this point was floating in and out of consciousness. "You have to get out."

"No! I'll think of something" Tears were flowing freely from Hiro's eyes. He couldn't move the beam. He looked around the room, hoping to spy anything that could possibly help him lever the beam from Tadashi. If only he had his microbots. But the neurotransmitter that he discarded on the showcase stage was nowhere to be seen, most likely engulfed by the flames.

Hiro had never felt so helpless, so desperate. If only he was strong enough to either lift the beam or pull Tadashi free. But then, it came to him.

What if I used my powers?

Suddenly, Hiro was filled with determination. He hoped that this would work, it was the last thing he could try to free his brother. The danger that Tadashi would find out about his powers was the last thing on his mind. But he would cross that bridge when he got there. Hiro firmly gripped Tadashi's arms and widened his stance, preparing to drag his brother out as soon as he turned him intangible. He hadn't learned how to fully control his powers yet, there was no telling when the steel bar would become tangible and possibly crush his brother again.

"H-Hiro?" Tadashi's eyes were unfocused as he looked at his younger brother.

"It'll be okay, Tadashi. Trust me." Hiro willed his hands to turn intangible and let it freely flow into Tadashi. With a grunt, he yanked his brother towards him and fell to the ground.

It worked!

Hiro was beside himself with joy. Without a second thought, using his remaining strength, Hiro once again turned in tangible and lifting off the ground with his brother, he flew in the direction of the main doors.

Hiro burst outside, still clutching his brother tightly. He could feel himself begin to drift away as his powers sucked up his remaining energy. Both Hiro and Tadashi came into view as they tumbled to the ground, the older Hamada landing with his back on the ground. Not one moment later, a growing high-pitched sound became louder. Then, the building exploded.

'BOOM'

The whole building shook, sending shards of glass and debris still on fire towards the vulnerable brothers.

Hiro yelped, jumping to try and shield Tadashi from the tiny fireballs.

A few minutes later, Hiro unburied his head from Tadashi's chest and gently shook his shoulders. He shakily got on to his knees, looking back at his unconscious brother, whose head was still sluggishly bleeding; and tried one last time to shake him awake.

"Tadashi," he coughed whilst roughly shaking Tadashi, "Wake up, already!" Hiro coughed again.

He swayed, a slight dizziness overcoming him. Hiro slapped a hand to the ground, trying to steady himself as he coughed again whilst using the other hand to massage his throat. It was obvious that the smoke inhalation was getting to him and his use of ghost powers had taken a toll on his energy.

Slowly a pitter-patter of footsteps grew closer, not stopping until they were right beside him.

"Hey kid, are you alright?"

Hiro blearily looked upwards to see a sea of hands reaching towards him, separating him from his brother. Through the crowd of people he could just make out Tadashi being taken away on a stretcher. The younger Hamada suddenly panicked, batting away all the arms, he tried to stand but his legs wouldn't cooperate.

"Tadashi!" Hiro cried, trying to scrabble his way towards his brother.

He was pulled back when a pair of strong arms made their way around his shoulders.

Aunt Cass hummed as she made her way to the car park. Spotting her truck, she fished the keys from out of her bag and swung it around her finger.

Just as she opened the door, a shrill bell began to ring in the distance. There were sounds of screams and sudden crowds of people were running towards their cars, all of them were wearing expressions of fear.

Aunt Cass turned around to see what the commotion was about. Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. The entire exhibition building was shrouded in smoke and flames.

Slamming the truck's door shut, she started to make her way past the people who were leaving the premises and those who were stood watching the giant fireball with shock. She had only one thing in her mind: her nephews.

"Tadashi! Hiro! Where are you?" She shouted, frantically looking in every direction for Tadashi's signature hat and Hiro's bright red shirt.

Then, the building exploded.

Tears had already sprung to her eyes. Her boys were nowhere to be found. To her, that could only mean one thing. They were still inside of the building.

Aunt Cass walked up to the start of the steps that lead to the exhibition building with shaky legs. She could already feel the intense heat radiating from the fireball.

Just a couple of meters in front of her, a group of paramedics were crowded around a boy who was flailing his arms wildly. Another pair of paramedics was wheeling a second boy to the ambulance. Time slowed as she looked closer at the stretcher passing her and her eyes widened.

Tadashi! So the other boy must be…

"Hiro! Hiro…" She rushed to Hiro's side and fell to her knees. "You have to let the paramedics do their job. They'll look after him." Aunt Cass placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder before pulling him into a tight but warm embrace. She sniffed. "He'll be just fine."

Slowly, she and another paramedic began to pull a wheezing Hiro towards the ambulance, coaxing him to allow a mask to be placed over his face for oxygen. When he finally understood that he wasn't going anywhere unless he received medical attention first, Hiro begrudgingly accepted the mask.

The paramedic immediately got to work on Hiro's hands, wrapping them carefully with gauze.

About ten minutes later, when the paramedic was happy with Hiro's improved breathing he smiled at the teenager.

"Alrighty! You're free to go, but take it easy, okay?" He advised, carefully removing the oxygen mask.

Hiro jumped to his feet and immediately grabbed Aunt Cass's hand, he gave a quick thanks to the medic and started dragging his Aunt to the truck. They were both eager to get to the hospital and see Tadashi.

When they got to the car park, their truck was the only vehicle left. Without wasting time, the pair jumped into the truck and Aunt Cass started the engine.

Throughout the entire ride, the atmosphere was heavy and tense. Aunt Cass was gripping the wheel tightly, you could tell she was worried from the way she was biting the inside of her mouth. Hiro had his hands clenched on top on his knees, adamantly staring out the window.

This must have been how Tadashi felt when I was in hospital… The agonising feeling of your gut twisting, not knowing if your only brother was going to be okay.

Hiro placed his head against the cool glass, closed his eyes and sighed.

Aunt Cass and Hiro sat nervously outside of Tadashi's assigned room. Whenever a shadow moved, they would look towards the door with hope. The nurses were still treating his wounds. Only fifteen minutes had past since they arrived but to the pair, it felt like a century.

Then a nurse walked out of the room towards Aunt Cass and Hiro.

"Alright guys, you can go in now." The nurse carefully turned the door handle and the door softly creaked open.

The older Hamada still had remnants of the fire visible on his face. There was still some smeared blood along his hairline and a visible bruise on his cheekbones, but he looked relatively 'normal'. His body, however, was much worse for wear. Tadashi's left leg was covered in a cast and propped up, his arms were covered in bandages and an oxygen mask covered the lower half of his face.

"Whoever got him out of there, did so just in time. Other than the broken leg, he's lucky that he escaped with only a couple scratches and burns!" The nurse said, trying to reassure Hiro after seeing his worried expression.

Seeing that Tadashi was alive and breathing was more than enough for Hiro, he calmed down and collapsed into the chair next to the bed.

"See Hiro, it's going to all be okay." Aunt Cass smiled and heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm going to go grab a coffee, do you want anything to drink?"

"A cup of water would be nice, thanks Aunt Cass." Hiro returned the smile.

Aunt Cass silently slipped out through the door.

Hiro sighed; he looked around the room, taking note that everything was painted white. He didn't notice that Tadashi's fingers were beginning to twitch and his brows were knitting together as he brought himself back from unconsciousness.

Finally, Tadashi opened his eyes. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision and the first thing his eyes laid eyes on was his brother who was sat beside him, staring at the ceiling. Tadashi'a eyes were immediately drawn to the white gauze that was thickly wrapped around Hiro's hand.

"Hey bud, what happened to your hand?" Tadashi croaked.

"Tadashi! You're awake!" Hiro leapt to his feet with surprise. "Nevermind that! How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

"I'm fine." Tadashi coughed a little.

The door to the hospital room swung open and Aunt Cass walked in, careful not to spill the drinks in both of her hands.

"Hey, Aunt Cass." Tadashi waved.

Aunt Cass jumped and the drinks splashed on her hands. She glared at Tadashi.

"That wasn't funny." She put the drinks down on the bedside table and gave Tadashi a halfhearted whack on his head. "Don't you ever dare do that again to me and your brother. You gave me a heart attack! Honestly, what were you thinking? Running in a building that was on fire."

"I'm sorry, Aunt Cass. Professor Callaghan was still in there, I had to at least try and save him." Tadashi looked at Hiro. "Do you know if he made it out?"

"No… We haven't heard anything…"

Tadashi looked away.

Aunt Cass dropped her empty styrofoam cup in the bin and stretched. She looked at her watch. It was getting late.

"Okay Hiro, we should probably leave Tadashi to his rest." She said as she grabbed her handbag and concealing a yawn.

"If it's okay with you, Aunt Cass, I think I'm going to stay here." Hiro said. He had almost lost his brother tonight, he wasn't going to let him out of his sight for a while, or at least until he had learned that running into burning buildings was a bad thing.

Aunt Cass opened her mouth to advise Hiro against it, but seeing Tadashi nod subtly, she gave in.

"Okay then." Aunt Cass ran her hand through Hiro's hair and then looked towards Tadashi. "Call me if you need anything."

"Relax, Aunt Cass. I'll be fine!" Tadashi beamed.

Aunt Cass looked at both of her nephews a hint of worry in her eyes, but she pushed on and slowly closed the door behind her.

Tadashi fiddled with the edge of his blanket. "Hey Hiro, who got me out of that fire."

Hiro, who was reading a magazine, looked at his brother and cocked his head, his eyes widened.

He must not have remembered that I was in the fire with him or that I used my powers. I could use this to my advantage!

"A bunch of firemen did." Hiro lied.

"Really? The nurse said that when the paramedics got to me, it was just me and you."

"They ran off to deal with the fire." Hiro shrugged, avoiding Tadashi's piercing gaze.

Tadashi's eyes narrowed.

"Well, it definitely wasn't me. There's no way I could've lifted that metal beam. Stop worrying, bro, just be glad you're here right now and not a pile of ashes." Hiro laughed nervously, trying to appear interested in the article he was reading. "Now rest up! You're gonna need it now that I'll be going to college with you." Hiro smirked.

Tadashi laughed, sinking further into a pillows before falling silent. He was still deep in thought about the events that happened in the fire, something at the back of his mind was nagging at him and he had a strange feeling that what Hiro said wasn't exactly true.

Tadashi closed his eyes and recounted what happened from when he entered the building. In the building, everything around him was groaning, the metal work becoming deformed by the fire, and then all he could remember was suddenly being forced to the ground. The pain he felt spread like wildfire.

"Wait, I remember…I remember being pinned down by some metal beams, not being able to move. There was someone inside of the building with me..."

In Tadashi's mind, he saw flashes of black, blue and red. Colours that he associated with his brother. When the figure stood over him, he couldn't quite make out the face. But when the figure dropped down to his knees. It was obvious who it was.

Hiro held his breath, hoping that Tadashi would be mistaken.

"Yeah, those were the firemen." Hiro tried to make his voice sound convincing, brushing it off as though Tadashi was mistaken.

But Tadashi shook his head, quite confident about what he saw.

"Hiro…"

The younger Hamada's eyes met Tadashi's.

"What were you doing inside of the building?"

End of Chapter 5

AN: You guys are AMAZING! So sorry for not updating! I had University exams. I do update my profile so if you want to know how the next chapter is going then have a look :) Good luck to all of you who still have exams left or anything challenging coming up! As per most of you guys requesting it, I've decided to keep Tadashi alive… for now. Please leave me a review! Should I reveal Hiro's powers to Tadashi, or mess around with him a little longer? :D

A MASSIVE THANK YOU to VeeVours for creating fan art for this fic, which is now the cover picture! It's a huge milestone for me because it's the first piece of art I've ever received for any of my fics.

I'd love to see any other concoctions you guys make if you have time :)

Thanks for Reviewing:

Some of my replies were getting a little long and I didn't want to cheat on chapter length, so check your inboxes!

animals202, Angela3000, Wolfan Terror, Nausicaa of the Spirits, QueenKnightwing, Yondaime Namikaze, JustaPapaFrog, Queen Amaryllis Kay, VeeVours, Purpalz Miner, BelieveInYourDreams4Life, Izi Wilson, Guest (1), Guest (2)

Guest (1)– Thanks for reviewing! Yup, I'm going to let Tadashi live. You're completely right, it will allow for a lot more plot ideas :)

Guest (2)- Here's your update and thanks for reviewing! Sorry I left you hanging so long! Can I have my cookie? :3

Guest (3) – Oooh, you were on point with guessing what was going to happen haha! Thanks for reviewing :)

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