Who We Are (Hiro x Reader)

chapter twelve

Your eyes open to the dimly lit attic. You slowly lift your head from where it lays on Hiro's shoulder. His eyes open and he looks over at you. You look into his glassy brown eyes that are still red from crying and sleep.

"Morning," you whisper. "Are you okay?"

His jaw tightens and he nods. He pulls away from you, leaving you without warmth. He stands up and stretches.

"Tadashi," he says dryly, walking over to his brother and nudging him with his foot. "Tadashi, get up."

He lets out a groan from underneath the curtain and slowly sits up. He stares blankly at the wall, almost as if he isn't sure as to how he got here. Then, in realization, he rubs his face and runs his hand through his messy hair.

You stand up and grab your backpack. Hiro looks up at you from where he's organizing his own. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going on a run," you explain. "Look, right now we're running on a can of beans. We need water and food."

"You can't go on your own," Hiro says.

"He's right," Tadashi says. "You can't. We'll come with you."

You grab one of your hair ties and start to pull your hair up into a ponytail. "No. I'm going alone." You turn towards the exit.

Hiro's hand shoots out and snatches your wrist. He squeezes it tightly. "No," he orders sternly. "It's too dangerous. No."

"Ow, let go of me," you mutter. You yank your hand away and glare at him. Your wrist throbs in pain. You wince as you massage it with your fingers, watching the skin begin to color red and purple underneath.

Hiro looks down in horror. He reaches out to you. You stagger back, dropping your backpack and tossing it in the corner.

Tadashi stands up. "I'll go. You two need some rest. Especially after both attacks yesterday. I'll be back soon." He gives you a nod and Hiro a long look before quickly leaving.

You're left with Hiro in the silence. You cradle your hurt wrist against your chest, biting your lip against the pain.

"___," he says from across the room. You don't reply. "___, I-I'm sorry." He sighs and stands up. You don't move as he steps up to you and reaches out. "I didn't want you to go out there. Not after everything that happened to us yesterday." He swallows and takes both of your hands. Pulling them from your chest, he says, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

You nod. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't," he says. "Don't apologize. It was me that hurt you to begin with." He looks down at the bruises that line your wrist in a fingerprint pattern. Swallowing hard, he says, "Man, what have I done?" He smiles blankly and presses his fingers to his forehead.

You shake your head and throw your arms around him. "No, Hiro, it's okay-"

"It's not okay," he whispers. "Aunt Cass told me to always keep my humanity and here I am... hurting you."

"You can't blame yourself. We all make mistakes sometimes, Hiro. And you're under a lot right now. I can't blame you."

He nods. "I'm sorry." His arms circle around you. Your cheek is pressed against his shoulder.

"I'm know you are," you whisper. "And I forgive you." You shut your eyes and relax in his hold. What were you doing? This was insane. You've known this guy for three days, yet you're hugging him and sleeping next to him and caring for him.

But you don't have anyone else to care about. You don't have anyone else to turn to. You don't have anyone there to comfort you or protect you except for him. And yeah, you've only known him for three days now, but you know more about him and he knows more about you than any of your friends did in your entire sixteen years with them. You have a right to this.

"I shouldn't have let him go out on his own," Hiro realizes.

"He'll be okay," you assure him. "He was able to get those guns without a problem. Now he's armed and ready. You don't have to worry about him."

"You're probably right," he breathes. The silence between both of you falls once again, and you're comforted in it. Then, as if to ruin it all, your stomach growls loudly. You sigh. "You're hungry."

"I'm fine," you say. He ignores you, pulling away and digging into his backpack. He hands you the can of beans. "No, these are yours."

"There are ours," he corrects. "We're together now." He shuffles though his pocket and takes out a lighter. He lights it and holds the can over the small flame.

This makes you blush. Why are you blushing? Why are you acting like a normal teenage girl, all giddy and obsessed with the idea of love? Love is dangerous in this new world. Love is what broke you when you lost your family, and then again when you lost Cass.

Hiro grabs his pocket knife and stabs it into the top of the can. He cuts around the lid, pulls it off, and hands you the can. He bends the lid on both sides, forming some sort of a spoon. He smiles and hands it to you.

"Huh. You really are an inventor," you comment. You look up at him and laugh.

"Ha. Yeah, I work with what I can." He shakes his head and sits down. You take a seat next to him and dip the makeshift spoon into the beans. You lift it up with a shaky hand and lift it to your lips. The edges of the spoon are sharp, so you gently pour the beans into your mouth. The barbecue seasoning hits your tongue. Although the beans aren't throughly cooked and there isn't a bowl of coleslaw, nor a rack of ribs and a pitcher of lemonade beside you, you can almost hear the familiar sounds of the neighbors, the smell of the charcoal grill, see the sunshine, feel the happiness. The normality. "Is it good?" he asks with a smirk.

You blush again. "Well, I'm sort of starving."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," he replies.

You swallow the mouthful of beans and hand him the can. "Here."

He shakes his head. "No, it's yours. Tadashi'll be back with food soon."

"Hiro," you say. He looks over at you. You smile and put the can in his right hand. "We're together now, right? It's ours."

He smiles. "Yeah, we're together now." He takes the spoon from you and turns his attention to the food. For the rest of the morning, you share the beans and sit in comfortable silence.