Rain hammered down on the people as they stood around the graves. Their black umbrellas stopped the water soaking their heads, but it did not stop how their feet would get soaked from puddles. The weather seemed to match the mood of everyone there that day... apart from a young Hiro.

Hiro was only three at the time. He didn't understand why his parents were missing, or why they were standing around in the rain when they could be inside drinking hot chocolate, or watching a movie. He looked up at his brother, confused. Was he... crying?

Hiro frowned tugging at his sleeve. "'Dashi...?"

Tadashi rubbed his eyes (which were red and puffy) and looked at his younger brother. "Y-yeah Hiro...?"

"Where's mummy and daddy?" He asked quietly.

Tadashi's breath hitched in his throat as he choked up. He hugged his brother tightly, tears beginning to flow again. Hiro was a little startled but hugged him tightly. He felt tears splash onto his messy black hair, undoubtedly from his brother's eyes.

"Are mummy and daddy on a trip?" He asked quietly. Tadashi took a few deep breaths and nodded. He smiled a little, despite the tears still running down his cheeks.

"Y-yeah... they're on a trip..."

Hiro nodded and went quiet. A minute later he looked back up at Tadashi.

"When will they be back...?"

Tadashi swallowed hard. After all, how do you tell a three year old his parents died? "I don't know... but they told me to look after you while they're gone, and they said you gotta be a big brave boy. Can you do that for me Hiro?"

The youngster nodded quickly. "Ahuh! And when they get back we can play games and do other fun stuff, right?"

"That's right..." Tadashi smiled.

Oh Hiro... if only you knew...

...

Four years had passed since the death of Tadashi and Hiro's parents. Their Aunt Cass had taken them in. She didn't want to see the boys shipped off to some foster home where they would end up being separated. So she looked after them.

The boys loved her, she was funny and a great cook (although her famous hit wings were sometimes a little on the spicy side). TThey shared a room at the very top of the three-story place, which gave them a great view of part of the city.

As it turned out, young Hiro was a very bright child indeed. So bright that teachers had skipped him ahead of kindergarten altogether and he started elementary school at the age of four and a half. This was by no means a challenge for him - he found the work easy, and was always putting his hand up.

Of course, some children didn't like the fact that a 'toddler' seemed to be coping better with the work than they were. Hiro became a target for bullying. It started out with a few snide comments here and there, the odd shove in the corridors. Hiro thought they were just messing around, and did his best to ignore them.

Then things began to escalate. Louder comments, name calling and full on shoves became more and more common. 'Nerd', 'freak', and other such insults became a regular thing for Hiro to hear as the semesters went on. The quality of his work didn't falter, however, which just made the bullies even more furious.

One day, as the bell rang for lunch, Hiro headed to his locker to put his bag there bbefore heading to the cafeteria. A pair of strong hands grabbed him from behind, pulling him round and smashing his back into the lockers. Hiro let out a startled yelp at the strength of the person's grip.

Looking up, his stomach dropped as he realised the person who grabbed him was none other than Lucas Mansfield, the most well-known bully in the year. He took pride in picking on others, making up for the lack of intelligence he himself had. He despised Hiro, after all, a kid three years younger than him was doing so much better in class. This made his blood boil.

"Hello, squirt," Lucas spat in Hiro's terrified face. "Enjoying class?"

Hiro debated with himself for a moment as to whether he should answer that question. He never got a conclusion though, as Lucas delivered a punch to Hiro's jaw.

"Answer me you little freak!"

Hiro whimpered a bit. "Y-yeah I am... class is fun..." He said quietly. This earned him another punch.

"Well if you're enjoying it so much, why not do my homework for me?" Lucas growled. He held up a piece of paper. On it were some simple addition and subtraction questions, none of which had been answered.

Hiro gulped and shook his head. "The teacher'll know it was me..."

Lucas punched him in the stomach. "Well that old fart doesn't have to know, does he? Now do it!" He shoved the paper at the terrified younger boy. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something in Hiro's bag. A small white stuffed toy robot. An evil smirk broke out on his face.

Releasing Hiro, he grabbed the toy and held it out. "What's this? A wickle cuddly toy for the wickle baby?" He said mockingly.

Hiro lunged for it. "Give that back! It's mine!"

Lucas held it up, well out of Hiro's reach. "Ah ah! You do my homework, and I might just think about giving it back,"

Hiro pouted, but grabbed a pen and quickly scribbled the correct answers on the sheet, along with a few crossed-out wrong ones to make it look like he'd had to think about it. He handed the completed paper back to Lucas, who looked it over.

"Nice work, nerd," the bully said with mock approval. "Too bad I'm not known for keeping my word,"

He took the body of the toy in one hand, the head in the other. With a rrriiippppp, he tore the toy into two pieces, before dumping it on the ground in front of Hiro's feet. He took the homework and left, melting into the crowd now filing towards the cafeteria.

Hiro held back a sob, quickly stuffing the two pieces into his bag and locking his locker. He didn't go to get something to eat; he just went outside and sat on a bench.

Later that day, when he got home from school, Hiro ran straight up to his bedroom and flopped onto his bed, burying his face in the pillow.

Tadashi frowned looking across. He was sitting on his bed reading a book when his younger brother came in. He put the book down and came over, sitting on the side of Hiro's bed. From here he could hear faint sobs escaping his brother. He gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Hiro? Buddy, you okay?"

Hiro looked up, tears staining his cheeks. The punches from earlier had left him with a nasty bruise on his left cheek. He shook his head quickly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Hiro didn't answer. He instead reached into his bag and pulled out the two halves of the toy. "A mean kid did this...c-cause I wouldn't do his homework for him," he whimpered.

Tadashi pulled his brother to sit in his lap, keeping both arms strongly around him. "Then he is a mean kid... is he also the one who hurt you?"

Hiro nodded wiping his eyes as he laid his head on his brother's chest. Tadashi's heartbeat soothed him and he stopped crying. Tadashi stroked his hair gently, keeping him calm.

"That's it... shhhh... I've got you..." He whispered softly. He hated the way his little brother was being treated, just because he was a few years younger. He knew Hiro was unquestionably intelligent, and this wasn't his fault. He deserved to be praised, not bullied in such a way.

Hiro held the two pieces of his toy in his small hands. "Can you fix him...?"

Tadashi smiled nuzzling him a bit. "Of course, right away,". He hopped off the bed in search of some thread and a needle. He was soon sat on Hiro's bed carefully sewing the toy back together. When he was finished, it hardly seemed as if there had been any damage in the first place.

Hiro smiled in delight hugging the toy close to him. He wrapped his arms round Tadashi's neck, as his brother returned the hug.

"Love you Dashi!" Hiro smiled.

Tadashi smiled happily hugging him close. "Love you too knucklehead."

...

Hiro was sat on the sofa in front of the TV. He was now eleven and finding school work extremely boring. He sighed to himself as he flicked through the channels, browsing for something to watch. All that was on were a bunch of shopping channels, and he wasn't watching the News of all things!

He sighed putting the remote down after he had chosen a documentary about lions. He frowned remembering a great movie he had seen in the cinema. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. The DVD had come out recently, but he didn't have enough pocket money to buy it, and his birthday wasn't for months.

Tadashi was on his way down the stairs for a drink, when he noticed the bored figure of his brother. Aunt Cass was downstairs working in the cafe, so it was just the two boys for the time being. The older smirked getting an idea. He crept back into their room, grabbing a handful of gummy bears from Hiro's 'secret stash'. (It wasn't very secret, I mean having a bag on your desk is hardly incognito). He came down and sat on the stairs behind the sofa, grabbing a gummy bear. He threw one over at Hiro, and it sailed over the boy's head landing on the table in front of him.

Hiro blinked looking at it. Thinking it was one left over from earlier he ate it and laid back on the couch. Tadashi threw a couple more at him, this time they hit Hiro's shoulder. Again, Hiro just ate them and kept watching the TV.

Tadashi stood up and crept right up behind him, before dumping the whole handful of gummy bears on his brother's head. Hiro yelped and quickly stood up, turning to face a smirking older boy.

"Tada-nii!" He whined. "Why did you do that?"

Tadashi shrugged. "You were bored, I was bored, there were gummy bears... it was DESTINY!"

Hiro laughed shaking his head. "You're a dork,"

"Yeah but I'm YOUR dork," Tadashi pointed out. He looked at the TV. "Why are you watching this garbage?"

Hiro groaned falling back onto the sofa. "There's nothing else on!"

Tadashi pulled out a DVD from where he had hidden it behind the sofa cushion. "Why not watch this then?"

Hiro looked up, letting out a small gasp. "No way!" He grabbed the DVD before hugging his brother. The film in question? Just the one Hiro had been thinking about minutes earlier.

Tadashi chuckled hugging him back. "You like it then?"

"YEAH!" Hiro grinned quickly putting the DVD in the player. He sat down on the sofa again (after gathering up the lost gummy bears) and motioned for Tadashi to sit next to him. The older boy did, relaxing as Hiro hit 'play'.

Hiro watched happily as the film played, lying his head against Tadashi's shoulder.

"Hey Nii-san?" He said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"We'll always be friends, right?"

Tadashi smiled looping an arm around him. "Of course,"

"Promise?"

"I promise, Hiro..."

I promise

…

The happy memories faded away from Hiro now as he stared at the flames that continued to consume the showcase building. Only minutes earlier Tadashi and him had been talking and laughing together, both looking forward to the new year of education at SFIT.

Tears ran down the boy's face as the truth hit him like a tonne of bricks. Tadashi wasn't going to come out of the fire, helping an injured but alive Professor Callaghan. They weren't going to be studying together. Tadashi wasn't going to be there to make sure Hiro didn't get hurt bot fighting. All his future had just gone up in smoke like his brother.

He didn't comprehend the loud voices, or the wail of sirens in the distance. All that he registered was the crackle of flames as the building burned... along with his brother.

You promised Nii-san... You promised...