Who We Are (Hiro x Reader)

chapter fourteen

When Hiro and Tadashi wake up, you're holding a can of potatoes underneath the flame of a lighter. "Have a nice nap, sleepyhead?" you ask Hiro as he stretches.

"'Bout as nice as a nap on a wooden floor can get," he says, wincing as his back pops.

"'S'okay," you assure him. "One day, we'll have a house. Or an apartment in one of the huge buildings down the road. You know, I remember seeing an apartment building. The middle was destroyed by a fire, but the building is intact. We could have beds or something."

Hiro sighs. "That sounds nice. Is it possible, Tadashi?"

"Possible that we can live there?" Tadashi mumbles in a dry voice. "Sure. Not until morning, though. I don't think we can trust going in the dark."

"Awesome," Hiro says, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He looks around nervously. The room is dark again, a navy blue where you can only see silhouettes. "Speaking of dark, do you think we can have some light in here?"

"Building a fire is kind of risky inside an attic," you say.

Tadashi nods in agreement. "Best thing we can do is eat before the sun sets completely."

Hiro groans. "Okay. What's for dinner, ___?"

You smile triumphantly as you slide each can lid topped with potatoes, peas, and carrots to each of them. "You're gonna have to eat with your fingers. It was either no plate or no spoon."

"Perfect," Tadashi comments.

Hiro chuckles as he picks up a carrot. "Yeah, what's your recipe?"

You roll your eyes. "Just eat, you dummy."

Hiro raises his eyebrows at you and chuckles. Tadashi sighs and shakes his head. "I swear, you two just need to kiss and get this over with. The flirting is so annoying!"

"We're not flirting!" you defend.

"Yes we are," Hiro says.

Your face turns red again. "No, we're not. And I'm not talking about this anymore." You pick up a potato and chew it slowly. It's throughly cooked this time, but it doesn't have much of a flavor at all. Still, it feels so good to have food in your stomach, so you can't complain.

The rest of the night is quiet. Tadashi falls asleep again after dinner, so you're left with Hiro. You sit in front of him in the middle of the floor, coming up with new handshakes. He teaches you the one that he does with Tadashi all of the time. "Once, I taught Baymax how to do it. Tadashi never programmed him to make explosion noises, so he just says something like, 'Bah-a-la-la-la' or somethin'."

"Does he really?" you ask with a giggle.

"Yeah," Hiro says, laughing lightly.

"That's so cute!" You sigh. "It's nearly pitch black and we still don't have a secret handshake."

"We still have time," Hiro says.

"No we don't," you reply. "I can't even see you!"

"Okay." He pauses for a minute. "Okay, then here." He fumbles around until his hand finds yours. You remain still has he lifts your hand into the air. Your breathing escalates as you feel his palm press up against yours and his fingers slowly move in between yours. He grasps your hand tightly. Hesitantly, you fold your fingers over until they hold his. "There. Perfect, don't you think?"

You smile. It did feel perfect. His hand fit perfectly around yours; almost as if they were made to do exactly this. You squeeze his hand. "Yeah, I think so."

"We should sleep," Hiro says.

"Are you tired?"

"No," he replies honestly, "but I haven't been running around as much as Tadashi has." He pauses and grabs your curtain and his. "I'll keep watch."

"Okay," you whisper, pulling your blanket over you as you lay back. You turn over on your side until you're facing Hiro. He leans against the wall next to you. You can tell that his face is mere inches from yours. His fingers move up from your hand and touch your cheek, stroking your skin, brushing away the tangle of hair on the side of your head. You sigh in comfort and move closer to him.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks quietly.

"Us," you whisper back.

"In a good way, or in a bad way?"

You bite your lip. "In a good way, I think."

"I'm thinking about us, too," he adds truthfully. "Honestly... I'm thinking more about how I feel about you."

You're scared to ask, but you want to know. You need to know. "H-How do you feel about me?" you ask. You mentally slap yourself for not keeping your voice steady.

"It's crazy," he says. "Here we are-"

"We're not strangers," you remind him, afraid that he might think that you still are a stranger to him.

"No, I know," he assures you. "I feel... I feel like I need to protect you. All of the time; I have to make sure you're okay. You mean so much to me, ___."

Your stomach is fluttering like crazy. "I do?"

"Yeah," he says. He swallows. "Would it be too crazy to admit that it's kind of like I love you? I mean, we've been through so much together, and even then you've been strong and always at my side to help me."

Your breath hitches in your throat. You weren't expecting that! Now what do you do? Do you love him? You're afraid to answer yourself. "What kind of love?" you whisper.

Hiro lays down next to you and turns over. It's too dark to see his face, but you know exactly where his eyes are. "The kind of love that'll hurt us someday." You're silent. A couple of seconds later, he says, "But I don't want to hurt you."

"A little too late to go back now, huh?" You smile a bit at your remark. Your fingers search around for his hand. Once you find it, you say, "It's okay. We're together. Pain is a part of the deal."