Who We Are (Hiro x Reader)

chapter fifteen

"Rise and shine, lovebirds!" a voice says loudly. Your eyes pop open in shock.

"W-What?" a voice murmurs beside you.

"About time you made your move, brother," Tadashi says, smirking. You glare at him as you sit up and rub the back of your neck.

"Get lost," Hiro snaps grumpily. He moves closer to you and hooks his arm around your waist. You blush madly as he pulls you against him. "Leave us alone if this bothers you."

Tadashi only chuckles. "Eat something if you want to get to that apartment before nightfall-"

"Okay, okay," Hiro interrupts angrily, sitting up and glaring at his older brother.

"We've have some leftover potatoes and carrots." Tadashi hands each of you a can.

"I didn't have any leftovers," Hiro mutters. "Tadashi, did you eat anything?"

He shakes his head. "Not hungry."

"Tadashi-"

"Just eat, knucklehead. I know how to take care of myself. I used to skip breakfast all of the time, remember?" Tadashi smiles as he packs his backpack for the journey ahead.

"Yeah," Hiro says with a longing sigh, "and Aunt Cass would get so mad at you."

He chuckles in response. His brown eyes meet yours as he explains. "I've never been much of a food-in-the-morning person."

You smile. Tadashi looks a little sick this morning, but you used to do that, too. He just woke up. He needs his stomach to settle down. You'll have lunch in an apartment tonight. A lunch at a table with silverware and dishes. "What are we waiting for? We've got to go looking at apartments today, boys."

Hiro grins. "I wonder if our neighbors will be welcoming."

Tadashi slides the straps of Baymax's luggage over his shoulders. "Probably not the kind of welcoming we'll be wanting. Let's get out of here, guys. You two haven't seen the sun in days."

It's true. When you step outside, you close your eyes and smile. The warmth of the sunshine touches your skin softly, almost like gentle kisses against your eyelids, nose, and cheeks. "It does feel nice out today."

"Yeah," Hiro agrees. "It's quiet, too. Where are all of the creepers?"

Your eyebrows pull together. Where are they? Usually there are a few scattered around, but not today. The streets are vacant. "I don't know... maybe a noise dragged them somewhere else."

"We can only hope," he says.

The three of you start towards the apartments. You feel pretty safe with a handgun in your belt and a knife in your back pocket. All spare weapons were in your backpack, too.

Even as you near the apartments, there's nothing but silence. It's more eerie than it is peaceful. Where are they?

Still, you move on. When you approach the apartment building with the fire damage, you look up Tadashi. "Good?"

"Good," he breathes, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead, catching drips of sweat. "Let's go."

"Too hot out here for you?" Hiro asks him.

"Sort of," Tadashi admits, gulping as he looks up at the apartment.

Hiro's eyes widen. "Dude, don't worry about the fire. It's all out now."

Tadashi's eyes drop down to look at his little brother. "I know. Thanks, knucklehead." Tadashi ruffles the top of Hiro's messy hair and chuckles. He leads the way, gently opening the front doors. Before he lets either of you in after him, he taps the barrel of the gun against the white walls loudly.

"Dude-!" Hiro exclaims.

"Shh!" Tadashi hushes him. "If there were any in here, we'd have heard them." He waits a couple more seconds and then nods. "Let's go."

You stick in the back of the group, your hand on your gun just in case. Tadashi slowly makes his way to the staircase. It's a long way up. The first few flights go smoothly, but by the fifth flight of stairs, it's clear that the fire did a lot of damage. The floor is covered in a thick layer of ash and dust. The wooden walls are burnt black. "How do we-"

"Just be careful," Tadashi whispers.

Two flights later, another obstacle. A couple of burnt bodies litter the stairwell. Your eyes land on one - a blackened figure burnt beyong recognition. The smell is enough to send you gagging at the bottom of the steps, but that's not what does it. It's the baby in her arms. You don't even have time to explain before you turn away and let go of all your breakfast.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you." Hiro stops and pats your back as you struggle to hold your breakfast down. "It's okay," he murmurs. "Just take gentle breaths out of your mouth. You're okay."

You nod and shakily stand up straight. You're not sure how much of this you can take. He senses this. His hands grab your arms gently and he looks at you through thick eyelashes. "Hey," he breathes, "I love you." Your lips curl up into a smile. Hiro nods encouragingly at you and you both start walking up the steps side by side. He strokes your arm as you pass by the bodies. The next staircase is dangerous. Pieces of it crumbling off, a couple of missing steps, some chunks of concrete making it difficult to even make one small move.

Tadashi observes the staircase throughly. "Okay. Watch every step I take and follow me slowly."

You nod and look down at your feet. Tadashi takes two steps, you take one step. You can hear Hiro slowly walking behind you. When you're in the middle of the staircase, you gulp. Halfway there. Tadashi braces himself against the wall as he moves around a burnt body that's sprawled across four steps. He takes a step right above the body's shoulder. You place your foot right where his was, but the floor shifts. You barely have time to scream before the two steps that you're on cave in and you're falling. Your fingers latch onto the ledge of the broken stairs. You fearfully look down below you at the darkness.

"___!" Hiro shouts. He drops to his knees and looks down at you. "It's okay, I'll get you out!"

Suddenly, growling erupts from the halls. You look nervously up at Hiro as the creepers groan. Then, a hand claws its way out of the wall. "What-!" Tadashi shouts, shooting back. "They're in the walls! Get ready to fight."

"No, I have to save ___!" Hiro exclaims.

"Get her out now," Tadashi orders, pulling out his handgun. He stands in front of Hiro to protect him.

Hiro drops down to his knees and holds out a hand. "You've gotta let go."

"I can't!" you cry.

"Look, I'm right here! I promised I would protect you, didn't I?"

"You did," you whisper. Even as your mind screams 'No! Don't do it! You'll die!', your left hand lets go of the ledge. You groan at the shift of weight on your right hand as your left waves around. Hiro grabs your hand and hooks his other underneath your arm. Using all of his strength, he pulls you out. Once you're on the floor, you let out a cry of terror and throw your arms around him.

"It's okay," Hiro assures you. "It's over now."

But it isn't. Your jaw drops as the creepers tear their way through the walls, their eyes fixated on you three.

"We've gotta go!" Tadashi shouts. He shoves you both forward. Hiro doesn't hesitate to sprint forward, your hand still in his. "Keep going! Don't stop!"

Your lungs are burning as you rush down the steps of the apartment. On the second step, you slip and fall forward. Tadashi pauses to help you up. The creepers are throwing themselves down. There's just a level between you.

"Come on!" Hiro shouts from the bottom floor. He's pulling down a black security gate from the ceiling. You nearly smile. This'll be what saves you.

"Go!" Tadashi shouts. "I'll get it!"

Hiro nods and runs off, you right behind him. You look back as you hear the gate close, but something's wrong. Tadashi isn't out of it. He's still inside.