Chapter One: A Night In

"Hiro, seriously, move over," Tadashi said, trying to shove his brother out of the way so he could get a better view of the TV. It was around 11:30 at night, and they were watching some nameless horror movie on a cable station that specialized in that kind of garbage. Aunt Cass had let them move the TV into their room for the night, and they were sitting on Hiro's bed, a bounty of snacks on a table nearby. They were passing a bowl of popcorn back and forth, and Hiro scowled as his brother shoved him again, shoving back with both hands.

"Dude, I already did, it's not my fault you're getting so fat you're falling off the edge," Hiro said, getting a punch in the arm, to which he just smirked at Tadashi and punched back.

"You really want to make that argument, mister 'gummy bears are one of the basic food groups'?" Hiro threw a handful of popcorn at Tadashi, who grabbed some and threw it in return. In seconds the movie was forgotten, the bowl was empty and popcorn was everywhere, and Tadashi had his little brother in a headlock as the two circled around, and Hiro tried to hit him with a can of soda.

"I'll let you go when you apologize, knucklehead," Tadashi said, making a fist and giving him a noogie. Hiro let out an indignant squawk and tried to twist away.

"Like hell I will, turbo-dork!" Hiro said, hitting Tadashi in the side just hard enough to make him loosen his grip. Hiro pulled back, but slid on his heels and landed right on his butt. He made a face as Tadashi started to laugh, but still took the hand his brother offered him; Tadashi regretted giving it when he saw his brother's grin. The kid pulled hard, and Tadashi almost landed on him.

The two rolled around on top of each other, Hiro half pounding on his brother's chest while Tadashi half-heartedly tried to toss him off of him.

"You're a real pain, you little brat!" Tadashi yelled as he grappled with his little brother.

"You love it, niisan!" Hiro yelled back. The two were laughing, with the occasional snorts and howls, and only stopped when they heard a loud pounding through the floor.

"Seriously you two?! I have to get up at 4:30 tomorrow to get the café ready!" Aunt Cass yelled, pounding her bedroom ceiling again with a broom for emphasis.

"Sorry!" They yelled at the same time. They finally took a look around, and saw the devastation: half the bedroom floor was covered in snacks, the rug was covered in a massive, sticky stain from the soda bottle that had burst open, and the wooden screen that divided the room had fallen and knocked over a big stack of books and papers. They looked at the mess they'd made, and Tadashi sighed.

"Well, I can go make more popcorn if you want."

"Nah," Hiro said with a headshake, "I'd say we've got enough," he added as the two started to clean up. "So, did we miss anything?" Hiro asked, pointing at the TV before righting the table.

"Does it really matter?" Tadashi asked as he set several bags on top of it. This was the best thing on right now, and they were still only watching it by default. They finished cleaning in silence, just tossing some dirty clothes on top of the stain, and sat down beside each other.

"We could watch Game of Thrones," Hiro said, picking up a bag of beef jerky and pulling out a strip.

"Uh, yeah, that's a bit above your age group little bro," Tadashi responded with a hint of sarcasm.

"So? Just fast forward through all the adult parts then," Hiro said as he tore into the jerky.

"And then we'd miss nine-tenths of the exposition." Hiro gave a brief chuckle, shoved the rest of the strip in his mouth, and pulled out another.

"I gotta say dude, this is kind of a lame way to spend your birthday," he said.

"What would you be doing then?" Tadashi asked, lowering the volume just a tad.

"Hanging out with my friends," he said. "Doing something fun."

"I'd say that's what I'm doing," Tadashi said, "I mean, you are my best friend," he added as he turned to look at him, "even if I was kind of saddled with you. And your idea of fun would probably mean something illegal."

"I meant with your real friends," Hiro said, and Tadashi hit the mute button on the TV.

"Kid, you are a real friend."

"Yeah, but like you said, you were "saddled" with me." And Tadashi turned his head and grimaced – it had hit the kid differently then he meant it to. "I mean, I heard you talking on the phone this afternoon with that girl, what's her name, Gogo? You were talking about a bar-crawl."

"Yeah, for tomorrow night."

"But tonight would have been more, I don't know, special."

"Hiro, no one cared. I mean, you couldn't exactly go with us, it didn't seem fair." Hiro's face brightened slightly at that last part, but clouded a moment later.

"That's just it though, why would you want me along?"

"Kid, I held you the day you were born," Tadashi said, and Hiro blushed a bit, "and I've gotten damn good at reading you. So why not just let me know what's bugging you?"

"It seems like this should be one of your last big milestones is all," Hiro said as he lay back, balled up a sock and tossed it into the air.

"Milestones to what?" Tadashi asked as he watched his brother catch it.

"You know, getting on, growing up," he explained, throwing his arms out each time, "moving out." He let his arms fall with that one.

"Hiro, did I do something? Do you want me out of here?" Tadashi asked, laying back and propping up his head with a hand.

"No!" Hiro said, and turned away in embarrassment. "I mean, I knew it'd happen someday, because, like, who the hell would want to keep living with their aunt and their dorky little brother when they could have a place of their own." He'd called himself (and Tadashi) a nerd, or a geek, or a dork on a daily basis. But the way he said it now… it was the same way the kids who had tormented him in high-school had said it. It made Tadashi shudder, and he pulled his brother in close.

"Otouto, I'm not leaving for a long time," Tadashi said, and he could feel a bit of tension leave his little brother's body. "It would just be too weird not having you around."

"I get that, but… I mean, you shouldn't have to hold yourself back because of me. You should go live your own life, not let me weigh you down," Hiro said as he pulled back, "I mean, the way you mother-hen me…" he smiled at the last part, but Tadashi knew it was fake. There'd been too many times to count that he'd pulled his little brother's butt out of the fire, and for the most part, Hiro was a flippant little brat. But there had been times where Hiro had hung on for dear life way past the point of danger, and Tadashi had felt the kid's tears.

"Hiro, you and I are part of each other," Tadashi said, and Hiro turned to look at him. "I don't think I'd handle it if something happened to you. We've been through way too much together, I need to know that you're going to be okay. I love you, and I don't have any reason to leave you yet."

"You're a real sap, you know that niisan?" Hiro asked as he hugged Tadashi.

"You love it, otouto," he said as he hugged him back.

"So, this bar crawl of yours, does Aunt Cass know about it?" Hiro asked when they separated.

"Yeah," Tadashi said before launching into an imitation of her, ""as long as you don't drive, or end up in the hospital or the drunk tank, I hope you have a good time."" Hiro let out a laugh as he lay back on the bed.

"Any chance I could meet those friends of yours from Nerd School?" Hiro asked as he propped up his head with one arm.

"And let you figure out a way to embarrass me in front of them?" Tadashi said with a dismissive wave.

"You do that just fine on your own, King Dork," Hiro said, socking Tadashi in the arm.

"That's practically your mission in life, bonehead," Tadashi said, socking him back.

"Really? Was I the one who lost control of Aunt Cass' truck and drove it into a lake the day he got his driver's license?"

"Hey, somebody cut me off and there was ice on the road!" Tadashi said, shoving his brother onto his side.

"Was I the one who put ghost pepper sauce into a batch of cinnamon rolls because he was too busy chatting with his girlfriend on the phone?"

"That was an accident, and hardly anyone bought any before I pulled them back!" As he rolled Hiro onto the floor.

"Was I the one who, when trying to make a new cleaning chemical, ended up getting the hazmat team called?"

"Alright, that's it!" Tadashi roared, leaping forward and tackling Hiro, who'd just stood up again. The two landed in a heap, Hiro laughing while Tadashi shouted in mock outrage. They didn't even hear the footsteps pounding up the stairs. It was only when the door swung open and they looked over that the laughter stopped.

"Oh crap," they both said at the same time as they looked upon their furious aunt.