HOLY CRAP I DID IT!

*coughs*

Ahem!

I just literally finished this chapter after... *scans dates* three and a half years? Yeah, I know, I died and somehow managed to come back to post. BUT! I finally was able to reconcile what I wrote previously with the parts that I wanted to include from the major change of the narrative, so writing this shouldn't be that hard from here on out. Thank god I hadn't trashed any of my chapters from before, because now I can just build on from what I had previously written and get this finished.

Chapter 6

Coincidences

Hiro could hear something like cursing coming from the garage. He wasn't sure who it was, but it sounded like they were mad. Or frustrated. Either way, he decided to peer around the doorframe to see who it was.

Zane Davenport was leaning over his car, tools splayed out around him as he worked on something in the engine. From what Hiro could tell, he had his arm stuck down inside the engine and as trying to fish for something. Curious, he entered the garage, watching as the older man continued to reach down.

"All right, c'mere you damn thing. You're not getting away from me this time…" Hiro's snicker caused Zane to start and he turned his head to look over toward the boy, rubbing the back of his head from where it had smacked into the hood. "Oh, hey Hiro. I didn't see you come in. How was school?"

Hiro shrugged. "Oh, it was okay." He perched on the stool in the garage, a frown pulling at his features as Zane leaned back to try to grab whatever it was that fell. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to replace the timing belt. Unfortunately, I dropped my socket wrench in the engine compartment and can't reach it." Zane sighed and withdrew his arm, grabbing a towel to wipe his hands on. "I should have grabbed a claw tool last time I was at the parts store."

Hiro hopped off the stool and walked over to look. Sure enough, he could spot the wrench stuck halfway down the engine, which usually wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't in a narrow section of the engine. "I could grab it if you want." Already he was calculating which angle he'd have to go at to grab it, and it shouldn't be that hard for him, He had skinny arms, after all.

"Um, sure, if you want."

Hiro nodded and slid his arm in, careful to avoid some of the more tight areas and managed to grab it. Grinning, he pulled it out and handed it over to Zane, who sighed in relief and checked over Hiro's arm real fast to make sure he didn't get hurt. "So, um, what's a timing belt?"

Zane chuckled as he leaned back over. "Well, it's a rubber belt that helps to keep the car's engine in sync. If it goes, well, it would depend on the engine. Some engines get trashed if they snap, others aren't so bad off. This one is just worn, so I'm changing it before it does snap."

Hiro frowned, already examining the inside and trying to work the engine out. "What parts of the engine does it connect to?"

Zane looked over at the boy and gave him a surprised look. "What, want to learn how to work on engines?"

"Well, it can't be any harder than a hand mixer, right?" At Zane's incredulous look, Hiro looked sheepish. "I um, I might have gotten in trouble with one of my last families for taking it apart."

"Oh really?"

"And then there was the vacuum motor I worked on one time. I think the Gutierrez house still has some pieces of that stuck in the walls."

"Um-"

"Not to mention the Wilsons and the dryer that I took apart. I don't think Buttons ever recovered from when the drum came out of it."

Zane had stopped by that point and was looking at Hiro with a slightly concerned expression. "Should I worry for the fate of my appliances while you're here? You sound like a one-kid wrecking crew."

Hiro bit his lip. "I got bored, and well, I needed something to do. It wasn't like I broke them, I just tweaked them. They just, um, couldn't handle the stresses?"

Zane leaned against the car, looking consideringly at Hiro. "How about we make a deal then?" Hiro frowned, not knowing where this was going. "You lay off touching the appliances without asking first, and I can teach you what I know about cars."

Hiro frowned. He wasn't sure about that. From what he knew, Mister Davenport was an accountant, not a mechanic or an engineer. However, his natural curiosity was getting the better of him and the eight year old nodded after a while. "Okay, deal." He then looked at Zane confused. "I wouldn't think you would let me look at your car though."

Zane laughed. "Well, this is my tinker car. I work on it when I feel like it. Xiáng thinks that it's a hunk of junk, but well, she lets me work on it as long as I don't make a mess of the garage. But seeing as it's my dad's, I couldn't just let it rust away."

"Oh…" Hiro bit his lip. "Wait, you'll let me tinker with it even though it was your dad's car?"

"Hey, every kid has to learn somewhere. Plus, if it keeps you busy, I don't see the harm in it." Zane grinned. "So, what do you know about '78 Novas, anyway?"

Hiro groaned. Tadashi was hiding something, and he knew it. But every time he tried to figure out why, the older teen would deflect and go on another tangent. This time, the topic had turned to building things and Tadashi was Tadashi's near-obsession with anything related to the field of robotics. Ethel had checked out of the conversation early on, muttering something about not having enough speed, but continued to sit there and work on her own paper that was due later that day. Hiro, however, had to admit the topic was one he himself was interested in, though he tried to adopt the air of nonchalance that Ethel was exuding.

"So I was thinking that if I improved the actuators on it, it could easily lift half a ton without needing massive energy or larger compressors to work. I'm just trying to figure out how first." Tadashi sat back, examining the notes in front of him. "Only problem is, I want to get this done before the expo so I have something to present."

Hiro leaned forward himself to examine the problem, running through everything he'd ever read about the subject. Mr. Davenport had gotten him quite a number of books over the time he lived with them, and had even suggested taking him to the next expo. "Well, I hate to tell you this, but unless you managed to find a stronger alloy to withstand the pressures, or potentially carbon fiber, you'll never get one that strong or durable without some major bulk. Though, there is the potential for using nanotubes to get the same thing."

"Nanotubes?"

"Well, yeah. Some experts are trying to apply them to robotics as a form of muscles for machines, so it's a possibility." Hiro leaned back, a small smirk on his face. "Only problem is that they're only in testing on them. They don't have working prototypes yet."

Tadashi groaned. "Then that doesn't help my problem." He palmed his face, then lowered them to peer at Hiro. "Why are you smirking though?"

"I'm just pretty sure that if I tried to work out the problem myself, I could probably make working prototypes myself. I mean, I am a genius, after all." Hiro grinned smugly.

Tadashi sighed and looked heavenward. "No shame. I swear you have no shame whatsoever."

"Hey, it's not my fault that I've got a giant brain. I might as well use it, right?" Hiro looked innocent, all the while looking at the notes himself. "You mind if I make my own notes on it?"

Ethel snorted. "Yeah right, like Tadashi would really let you do that." She popped her gum and looked between the two, obviously paying attention now that most of the major talk about bots was done with. "I tried to help him with some physics work a year ago. He told me he wanted to figure it out himself without taking advantage of me."

"And it would still be taking advantage of you." Tadashi rolled his eyes. "No offense Hiro, but I still wouldn't feel right about it."

Hiro huffed. "Fine. I won't help you with your stupid bot. Besides, I've built way cooler things than that before."

The three continued on with their individual tasks in silence, Ethel on her paper, Tadashi on his notes, and Hiro reading through one of Tadashi's textbooks. Ethel would snort and cross something off before rewriting it, and Tadashi would give her sympathetic looks while knowing they didn't have anything due that day. It wasn't until a bit later when they were all packing up their things to go to their first classes that Tadashi decided to break the silence.

"So, um, I heard that there was an expo coming up for SFIT here in a month."

"Sorry Tadashi, but I heard about it. I can't go. My parents are wanting to take me and the rest of the family to see one of my aunts in Washington." Ethel made a face. "They had the whole thing planned for that weekend, otherwise I'd love to go."

Tadashi seemed to deflate, but then looked over to Hiro. "What about you? Don't have any plans, do you?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know if I'll be in this area of town next month." At Tadashi's expression, Hiro rolled his eyes. "Foster care, remember? Right now I'm in a temporary home, so it might change pretty much any time."

Ethel winced. "Ouch. That has to suck."

Tadashi nodded, though that strange expression he wore lately was on his face again. "Well, here's hoping that maybe if they do move you again, it's to a permanent home."

"Yeah…" Hiro finished putting his things away and then waved to the other two. "Well, I'm gonna go ahead and get to class. Later nerds."

There was one good thing about it being near the end of October. Mostly the heat of summer was leaving to make room for the crisp air of autumn. Not that Hiro minded either, but it was just reminding him that it was getting closer and closer to the end of yet another year in foster care. He hated reminders about that. He'd gladly trade it in for some place he didn't move around so much in.

Unfortunately with the reminder of his home life, he'd started wondering where he'd be placed next. Foster care was supposed to be only a temporary solution until they found a forever home for him. With how many years he'd been in the system, it was getting harder and harder to believe that he'd ever break free. Honestly, he almost wished that maybe Tadashi's aunt could adopt him, but he doubted that would happen. After all, Tadashi was almost out of the house, and he didn't think that she would want to have yet another kid to worry about.

Sticking his hands into his pockets, he sighed and walked along. Tadashi was in front, and Hiro was going with the older teen to visit the café that Tadashi's aunt owned. Not that it bothered him to visit. If nothing else, his foster parents had finally relented and let Hiro spend time with the older teen. Not that it would have stopped Hiro. He would have found a way to sneak out. He just didn't like being cooped up like he was some kind of troublemaker.

"So I'm gonna warn you, Aunt Cass is probably going to rope me into working the minute I walk through the door," Tadashi warned as they got closer to the shop. "It's usually every now and then, but tonight's supposed to be beat poetry night and it gets kinda busy in there."

"Hey, if the food there's as good as those muffins you bring every morning, I'm not gonna complain." Hiro shrugged, his shoulders lifting and falling with the statement. "Besides, do you know how many times I get to have junk food?"

"So you're doing this for the food? Unbelievable." Tadashi palmed his face and shook his head before looking at Hiro again. "I swear, I think that's the only reason you like walking to school with me every morning."

Hiro grinned. "It's a bonus, but I dunno. I just like hanging around you."

They made it to a two-story building with sign above announcing the Lucky Cat Café, which Hiro looked over. "So this is where you live?" Hiro studied the outside, noting the cat motif through the windows. "Looks cozy."

"Yep, this is where I live. Well, not quite. We live above the place." Tadashi opened the door, and Hiro noted a brunette woman behind the counter waving him over. "Hey Aunt Cass. Let me go ahead and drop off my stuff real fast and I can be down to help out."

"All right Tadashi. Just hurry up though. I think Mrs. Matsuda wanted to talk to you about her granddaughter again." Hiro blinked, noticing the woman near Cass smiling and waving. Tadashi's face turned red and Hiro had to hide a snicker as Tadashi looked like he was escaping up the stairs to put stuff away.

Hiro decided at that point to take a seat at the counter, looking over the woman that looked like she was a thousand years old dressed like some of the teenagers at school. She seemed nice enough, if a bit eccentric, and Hiro was about to ask about the getup when Tadashi's aunt made her way over. "Welcome to the Lucky Cat Café. What can I get for you?"

"Oh, um." Hiro scanned the menu for a moment, trying to think. "Can I get a chocolate doughnut and milk? I heard from Tadashi that you make some awesome food, and I wanna see if that's true."

Cass looked surprised and blinked for a moment. "Oh, you're Tadashi's friend from school?"

"Um yeah. He's been helping me get used to high school and everything. He's pretty cool for a nerd." Hiro shrugged, noticing the look that Cass was giving him.

"Okay, well, I'll get that real fast for you." Cass seemed to hurry away, and Hiro had to wonder what was going on.

The woman at the counter shook her head and looked at the young boy. "I could have sworn that she looked like she'd seen a ghost." She smiled and extended a hand. "Yukino Matsuda. So you're Tadashi-chan's friend from school?"

"Yeah, I guess." Hiro accepted the handshake and shrugged. "You know the Hamadas?"

"Ever since Cass opened the shop." Mrs. Matsuda chuckled as her hand withdrew. "She's been wonderful with Tadashi since she took him in. I don't know how she does it and run the café some days."

"A good dose of luck and trying not to panic," Cass announced as she set the doughnut and milk before Hiro. "Eat up, you look like you need to do some growing."

"Yes ma'am!" Hiro grinned and grabbed his doughnut before taking a large bite. He had to pause for a moment, though, as the taste hit his mouth. Wow, these were really good! He swallowed and took another bite as he reached for his milk, suddenly glad that he'd followed Tadashi home today. There was no way he was going to stay away from this place now.

He noticed Tadashi coming down the stairs with a pensive expression on his face and waved to the teen before shoving the last half of the doughnut into his mouth. "'Ey 'Dashi! Your aun' ma'es th' bes' donu's." Hiro ducked his head real fast, swallowing what was in his mouth before speaking up again. "Sorry. Your aunt makes the best doughnuts. Why didn't you tell me she did?"

Tadashi looked like he was caught off-guard, blinking for a minute between his aunt and Hiro. Hiro wasn't sure, but he thought Tadashi must have been thinking of something before he shook his head and moved. "I never thought to say anything. Besides, it's not like the café doesn't get a lot of people talking about it."

His aunt was another story. She had looked up at her nephew briefly before glancing back down at Hiro, and then back to Tadashi. That weird expression was back on her face before a hand shakily rose to her throat. "Tadashi, who did you say this was again?"

Tadashi froze before answering. "Um, I didn't. I was…" He looked like he was trying to think real fast before he cleared his throat and shook himself. "Aunt Cass, um, this is… This is Hiro. Hiro Takachiho."

Cass just stared at Tadashi for a moment before turning her gaze back at Hiro. For one wild moment, Hiro was sure that Mrs. Matsuda was right and that she had seen a ghost, but she turned and rushed into the back room, a sob barely making it past her lips before she disappeared behind the door.

Hiro, not knowing what just happened, looked between the door and Tadashi, confusion written plainly across his face. "Um, did I do something wrong?"

Hiro sat on the stool where he had been left, blinking as Tadashi disappeared into the kitchen after his aunt. He didn't know what was going on, only that something was going on, and Hiro was somehow responsible despite Tadashi stating otherwise. It was weird, and left Hiro wondering what had caused Tadashi's aunt to look at him like she did. It made him acutely uncomfortable, and he scratched the back of his head, His milk forgotten on the counter before him as he contemplated leaving. Maybe it was a bad idea, staying here. Hiro had heard often enough about Tadashi's family that he wanted to see what it was like, belonging. He had never belonged anywhere, the Davenports being the closest to a family he had ever had, and the reaction that Tadashi's aunt had obviously meant that he shouldn't try to impose longer than he needed to.

Hiro had just climbed off the stool when he heard Cass's voice beyond the door. Curiosity getting the better of him, Hiro crept closer to the door, noting that none of the other patrons of the café were even looking in his direction. Taking that as a sign that no one was going to pay attention to him, Hiro crept around the counter and slunk to the door. "-and I can't believe this Tadashi. Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"Aunt Cass, I didn't even ask him to come by! He asked me, and I couldn't-"

"You couldn't say no." Cass's sigh sounded more resigned than anything else, and there was a moment where silence reigned. "You remember when you were in seventh grade, and that sixth grader was being bullied?"

"I don't think this is the same."

"Yes, I think it is. You've always been doing this, ever since the accident. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, wanting to help people, but it's not bringing Hiro back."

Not bringing Hiro back? Hiro blinked at the statement, wondering what they were talking about. He hadn't disappeared. Besides, as far as he knew, Tadashi had never said he was in an accident, and Hiro had never mentioned to Tadashi how he'd lost his parents. "I know it won't bring him back. I'm not trying to bring him back. I'm just trying to help a friend, that's all."

"And you're sure that you're not trying to imagine that boy out there as your brother?" Wait, what? "He looks like your mom, he even has her eyes, and he has Hiro's name. None of that has anything to do with this?"

"No, it doesn't." Hiro was having a hard time figuring out what sci-fi film or soap opera he had walked in on, but he didn't miss Tadashi's sigh. "Look, I know how Hiro died. I was there. I knew he was worse off. It was an accident. I'm lucky I survived it." Hiro clapped a hand to his mouth, trying to hide the gasp that he had unwittingly made. "Look, you don't know what his life's been like. I lost everyone, yeah, but I still had you. He doesn't even have that. He's been bullied and bounced around from one foster family to another, and I can't imagine how he's been dealing with it. I just… I don't want to make his life harder by avoiding him because he reminds me of Hiro."

Hiro clenched his jaw, not knowing how to respond to that. Besides, what was he going to do? Appear through the door and apologize for not being their Hiro? That just sounded fucked up. "All right, all right. Let me just… Let me just pull myself together, and I'll be back out. Just… Just make sure you're not doing this for the wrong reasons, all right?"

Hiro heard motion on the other side of the door, and scrambled back to his seat before he could hear whatever reply Tadashi had. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Suddenly he was analyzing every interaction he had ever had with Tadashi and trying to figure out if there was any indication Tadashi thought of him anything more than a friend. He couldn't see it, and the only thing that might have been off was the encounter his first day. Tadashi had mentioned that they looked similar enough to pull off a lie like being related, but that had been the only thing. Other than that…

His thoughts were disrupted by Tadashi coming back out and glancing in his direction. Hiro busied himself with his drink instead, trying not to look like he had just heard a conversation between family members. Tadashi didn't say anything, going to grab a couple of plates from one of the tables and bringing it back to the counter. He then sighed before looking at Hiro properly. "Sorry about that."

Hiro blinked as innocently as he could. "About what? Something happened to her?" Play dumb, he doesn't know that he was listening. At least, that was Hiro's hope.

"It's… complicated." Tadashi's mouth drew into a line, and Hiro decided it was best to drop it.

Instead, he considered his options and decided to distract Tadashi instead. "Hey, stupid question."

"There are no stupid questions. I thought you knew that."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "It's just an expression. Anyway, is it okay if I look at your statistics book? I… I think I got bored with my trigonometry one."

Tadashi had moved to put the dishes in the kitchen, but paused and blinked at the younger boy. "You got bored with your textbook? How?"

"I um, I kind of started doing the work ahead of the class, and I might have accidentally read through it all and worked out all the problems already." Yeah, if Tadashi didn't think Hiro was enough of a freak for having his brother's name and appearance, let's throw on Hiro's genius on top of it. That didn't qualify as freak material at all.

"Is that why you already had your homework finished?" At Hiro's nod, Tadashi's hand met his forehead. "Does this include any work in other classes?"

Hiro now looked guilty. "Well, any of the history stuff is pretty easy, and if I really wanted to graduate early, I'd have to double up on my English credits. And physical education." Hiro made a face at that. "Other than that, everything else is a cakewalk. My biology teacher is already asking me why I'm taking his class if I already knew it all."

Tadashi studied the young boy carefully before shaking his head. "You've been hanging around me to get to my textbooks, haven't you?"

Hiro cracked a smile then. "Well, that was before I found out your aunt makes awesome donuts. I might have to hang around here more often." He swung his legs, glad that the conversation wasn't on the weirdness about his appearance, his name, or Tadashi's family. "So I'm not hearing a no about those textbooks, am I?"

"Let me get these dishes to the sink, and I can run up and grab my bag. Just do the work in your own notebooks. We plebeians have to actually work to learn everything." Tadashi cracked a lopsided smile at the younger boy.

"Aw, Tadashi-senpai! You're taking the fun out of this whole thing."

"And no getting ahead of me either! I'd like to have some pride left before I graduate, after all."

Hiro's giggles followed Tadashi as he went into the kitchen. Now, if only all of his problems could be solved that easily.

Of course, after the whole evening (which Cass had invited him over for dinner. Hot wings, score!), Tadashi had offered to walk Hiro home. It was starting to get brisk, but Hiro had his hoodie and Tadashi had on a sweater, so neither really noticed the temperature. That and the twilight descending over the city made Hiro wish that he wasn't heading to where he'd recently been placed, but back to the Davenports. They always liked taking walks right about this time of night.

"Those were some good wings. I just wish they were hotter." Hiro looked over to the older male, who rolled his eyes.

"I'd like to have some taste buds left, you know. Aunt Cass used to make them hotter, but stopped when…" Tadashi winced, and Hiro picked up on the silent cue.

"When your brother died?" At Tadashi's wide-eyed expression, Hiro decided to continue on, figuring he might as well come clean. "I overheard you and her talking earlier. I really look like your mom?"

Tadashi nodded quietly, and Hiro bit his lip before continuing. "You were an older brother then. To someone that had my name and face. That…" That had to be awful. Hiro knew he wouldn't want to meet someone that had Mrs. Davenport's face after all, or her name. "That's got to be rough. I'm sorry."

"It happened years before you were around. Car accident. Drunk driver and not paying attention to the road. I wish I had been able to say goodbye, but I moved on I think." Tadashi gave a half-hearted shrug, though Hiro could tell there was something in his voice that belied his feelings.

"I… I lost my family in an accident too. I don't remember it, but I was told it happened. I don't even remember my family." Which was true. The closest he could remember of the event was that there was screeching tires, pain, and crying. That in addition to someone saying that he had been worse off was about all he recalled. "At least you had someone there for you."

"How old were you?" Hiro glanced over to Tadashi, who just looked curious. He guessed the fact that they both had experienced the same thing made it easier to talk about. He'd certainly never mentioned it to anyone before. He doubted that Tadashi had either. Or if he had, it had been to his friends.

"I was three, I think." Tadashi stopped, causing Hiro to stop too as a look came over Tadashi's face that was hard to read. It certainly didn't help that he was staring at Hiro like he had seen a ghost. "What?"

"You were three?"

"Yeah?"

Tadashi swallowed hard, and he shook his head. "It has to be a coincidence. That's the only explanation. There's no way…"

"No way what?" Hiro was honestly confused, though the look of dawning horror on Tadashi's face was telling him there was something seriously wrong. "Okay, just spit it out, whatever it is."

"I know what I remember." Tadashi went over to the wall and leaned against it, still with that look of horror on his face. "I remember everything with that accident because I was conscious enough to. I was nine, and Hiro was three. My mom and dad were probably already dead, but…" He shook his head. "My brother wasn't. He was still alive, I think. When they were getting me out, I told them to take care of my brother, because he looked like he had it worse. I never saw him after that until the funeral."

"And if there were two accidents that night, oh shit…" Hiro felt sick. He'd never felt sicker in his life. Had he honestly just run across his family by accident? He'd been told that he had no living relatives, and yet…

And yet, there was that small stab of hope that Hiro knew had everything to do with Tadashi's words and not at all to do with anything else. It made a weird sort of sense, and Hiro didn't know how to feel about that. "How… If there were two accidents, how could they have fucked up so badly?"

Tadashi gave him a look, which Hiro suddenly realized was more to do with the fact he swore than anything else. It wasn't quite his fault though. Well, maybe it was. But considering some of what he'd dealt with over the years, his language was the least problem he'd had. "Same hospital I'd guess. Maybe they couldn't get an ID on either person and assumed one survived? I don't know."

"We could get DNA tests to find out." At Tadashi's incredulous look, Hiro just rose both his hands. "Look, both of us are possibly related. If we're not, then it just provides closure, right? If we are…" Hiro winced, not even wanting to think of the mess that would cause. People didn't just come back from the dead all the time. "Well, we can tackle that when we get to it."

Tadashi still looked apprehensive, and the tone was evident in the words he spoke next. "What about your family? They wouldn't be too happy if someone just decided to intrude into their family, right? What if-"

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Please, it's a temporary family at best. They don't want me. They're just a temporary place until I get placed with another family. They said so themselves."

Was he bitter about it? Maybe. He'd been shunted around too often not to be bitter, and the last time he had been with people that wanted him, they'd died. Just like his real family. But if he had found his real family…

"So a DNA test then? That'd be the only way to confirm anything without having to dig through hospital files right now. Plus, more than likely they'd expedite the whole… whatever it is we'd have to do if we're really…" Tadashi ran a hand through his hair, knocking his cap sideways before straightening it back up. "We really might be related."

Hiro felt just as poleaxed as Tadashi seemed to look at that thought. He couldn't hope too much, right? He'd been disappointed before. He didn't want to be back in that situation again. "Might be. It might be just coincidence. We don't really know."

"Yeah." Tadashi shook himself before standing from the wall, continuing with Hiro back to the other's house.

"If we are, I don't think I'd mind having you are a brother though, even if you're a giant nerd." Hiro looked up a bit and had to smile at Tadashi's surprised expression.