maskormenacelogs | One of us won't be forgotten, the other one's wrong

WHO: Tadashi and Hiro
WHERE: Heropa 16
WHEN: directly after this
WHAT: The Hamadas are really bad at cleaning up their messes oh also Hiro might've almost gotten killed thanks callaghan
WARNINGS: n/a

The whole world lurches to a stop when Tadashi hears the sounds of wood cracking, support beams creaking in preparation of giving up their structural integrity. There's a heat around him, different than the anger he just had. Fear. Fear grips him, stills him in an instant, he's in the main exposition hall, fire all around eating his surroundings, smoke clouding his eyes and choking his lungs and he calls out for, "Callaghan! Come on!" Whether or not they're fighting, the man doesn't deserve to die here. He was only trying to help things for them getting Hiro into the program through this event.

And then he's whisked away, the scenery blurred out of reach in an instant before he's spat onto the floor and the world stops again. It's home, their home, Hiro's with him, everything's fine. It's fine, even if he can't stop shaking, grasping for what fibers he can grip of the carpet to ground him because not again, the world's not collapsing around him again.

Hiro--

Tadashi scrambles to kneel next to him, start looking his injuries over. "Hiro! Hiro, hey-- come on."

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Hiro, meanwhile, is an absolute mess. One badly broken arm, curled protectively against his chest. Bruises along his forehead, with the worst of them down along his neck where Callaghan had been choking him. And he's pale from his exertions, not fully recovered from his encounter with Dark Megaaman either. But he's alive, he's breathing, and not unconscious. Yet.

He groans softly, turning so that he can see his brother. Tadashi's here. Tadashi didn't die in this building collapse ... That's the only thing he cares about right now. "You're alive," he croaks out, not quite believing his own eyes.

The arm he knows he'll have to work on gradually. Hiro's bruised neck though, he can start healing now, does without bothering to ask. But he blinks slowly at those two simple words.

Crap. He knew Hiro had been part of the mess but didn't realize until now how far back he'd been taken. He swallows, focuses on healing the bruises.

"Yeah, I am. In this place, at least."

It's like he's seeing double vision. Part of him is astonished to see his brother alive, in front of him, for real - and the other part knows that Tadashi's been here the whole time, that that was what Project Phoenix had been for. It's giving him one hell of a headache.

That and, y'know, the head injuries from getting tossed around. He winces as Tadashi's fingers brush his neck, then relaxes a bit as the bruises recede. When he speaks again, his voice is less hoarse. "I - I know. But I don't know." He sucks in a breath. "What the heck is going on?"

Tadashi's eyes flit back to Hiro's face, then down again as he focuses. "I don't know a lot of the details. You went to work on the porter, then something happened." Okay the worst of the throat bruises are healed up, he moves on to his head.

"All I know is people started being reversed to earlier times in their timeline or way forward." Then Tadashi's quiet again until the bruises on his forehead are gone. He's sure the arm is what's hurting the worst, so he carefully touches at it and sends the gentle warmth through his fingers. "You said something back there about Callaghan sabotaging the portal. What happened? Think about the barn.

Hiro's brow slowly uncreases as some of the pain leaves him. His arm still hurts terribly, but with that warmth taking the edge of it, he can just about bear it. He still clutches his arm closely to his chest as soon as Tadashi's done.

"I don't know. I just know he was there, and then something went wrong." His expression hardens. "It had to have been him. He did something."

His brother always thinks too fast and says the first thing that pops into his head. Tadashi takes a slow breath to recover some of his own strength and simply keeps a hand on his shoulder to keep working.

"Hiro, think further. Focus. The barn, Callaghan. You were getting along, you were working together. If he was there, then he had to be helping, not messing it up."

He can't remember. Of all the things muddled in his head, that seems like it's worst off. Especially now that he's seen Yokai without his mask and knows who it is underneath ...

"Why would I get along with him?"

Christ... He really is having a hard time consolidating the two lives. How to explain it?

Easiest way is the truth. Tadashi takes both Hiro's shoulders and faces him, gets eye level. Stay intent on the important details. Refresh his more recent memory.

"Hiro... We've both been in this place for a year. He agreed to work with us to fix what he messed up. I got sent back home four months ago and -" Breathe. Big gulp. " - died. You and Callaghan were still working on it to try and send me back anyway."

It just doesn't make any sense to Hiro. The person he's become in a year isn't completely alien to his younger self, but there are certain milestones that he's hit that seem just unfathomable. Like his quiet friendship with Callaghan ... He just can't parse it any more.

"But he killed you. Why would I work with someone like him?"

"Because I trusted him."

Concentrate on healing his arm, make it usable again.

"Because you started to trust him again. Callaghan was doing good work here. Is doing good work."

Or at least he was, until this all happened.

Hiro just shakes his head slowly. Now that the adrenaline is wearing off and the pain is starting to fade, he's trembling.

"I don't believe that..."

One of us won't be forgotten, the other one's wrong

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