The school was an oven. Fire ran up the walls and raged fromthe ceiling like angry dogs, growling and snapping and biting. It was all Tadashi could to walk fast enough not to get burned. Moving fast didn't keep the superheated air from searing his lungs, though.

He shouted for Professor Callaghan long after his body began to scream for him to shut his mouth.

An inner voice told him he was going to be leaving Hiro alone and he acknowledged that it was probably right. The building's structure was unstable. The ceiling could collapse at any minute. If he stayed any longer, he and Callaghan would both die, and he couldn't leave his brother. Not now. Not after he was finally turning his life around.

Thanks for not giving up on me.

He wanted to be there on Hiro's first day of college. He wanted to be at his graduation. He wanted to see his little brother grow up.

He turned around.

Over his head, a beam began to groan, straining and breaking under the stress of the ceiling's weight. He calculated his fastest speed against the current rate of the building's collapse and realized he didn't have a snowman's chance in Summer of surviving.

He ran, anyway.

He ran faster.

Something pushed him from behind, sending him stumbling forwards, confused and disoriented. It was followed by an ear shattering crash. And a force like ten bowling balls being slammed against every inch of skin.

He deactivated.

The first thing he heard when he came to was someone arguing and someone sobbing.

-have to tell him!

No, we don't! He almost died, Gogo. Do you really think now is the best time to tell him something that would kill him on a good day?!

Stop it! Stop fighting! I can't-

Going back to sleep seemed incredibly tempting, especially now that his body was starting to ache, but a featherlight touch on his hand alerted him to Hiro's presence and he realized he couldn't keep worrying them. Suppressing a groan, he let his eyelids flutter open and let the light in. The extremely, absurdly, bright light.

Five faces froze, the sound stopping abruptly like someone had pressed the mute button on the room.

Fred was sitting in the green armchair in the corner, his skinny body nearly enveloped by the seat cushion. There were dark bruises under his eyes. Honey stared at Tadashi, slackjawed, her nose red and inflamed from crying. Wasabi and Gogo also stared, though they'd never changed their posture so they still looked like they could start up again any second.

And - Tadashi forced his stiff neck to turn so he could get a better look at Hiro – Hiro was staring at him with wide eyes, his hand resting lightly on his arms and, in the time it took to breathe, a smile began to creep up his face.

Tadashi tried to speak, winced, and regretted the attempt immensely. Hiro saw his pain and immediately went for the cup at his bedside, but Honey beat him to it. She snatched the cup away and helped Tadashi gulp down some of the water without paying any attention to Hiro.

The cool water was a relief. It was really was. It was just that the look on his brother's face kind of made Tadashi feel a little nauseous and he wished Honey had just let Hiro give him the drink.

When it seemed like Tadashi was comfortable and fully awake, Fred wrapped his arms around him.

"Don't do that again, man." He sniffed. "You have to live for another bajillion years."

On Tadashi's tongue were the words he'd said to Hiro; he decided not to say them again. Instead, he chuckled. "That might be hard, Fred. But I'll try."

Most of his friends looked happy with his answer, especially Hiro, who punched his shoulder softly, as if saying, You better.

Gogo snorted. "You better."

Rolling his eyes at her, probably because he was still angry about whatever they were fighting about at the moment, Wasabi came over to shake his hand. Tadashi reached over with the hand he wasn't using to caress Honey Lemon's head - she was sobbing freely on his chest, her tears seeping through his gown and fogging up her glasses. Periodically, she would raise her head to choke out just how happy she was that she was okay - and grasped his hand in a firm, manly handshake. Apparently, that wasn't enough, though, because Wasabi quickly abandoned the handshake so he could throw his arms around him.

"Hey, Big Guy?" Tadashi squeaked. "I can't breathe."

Wasabi loosened his grip but didn't let go. "We almost lost you, Tadashi."

Hearing it said brought back memories of fire. He shuddered. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Hiro was wearing his hat and frowned. "Hiro? Why are you wearing my hat?" He reached for it but Hiro danced out of range, edging back in only for Tadashi to reach for the hat again and Hiro to dance away again. "Fine" He grumbled. "Just remember I'm going to want that hat back when I get out of here."

Hiro grinned. Neither agreeing nor disagreeing to give him back his hat.

The others looked between him and Hiro uneasily.

"Listen, Tadashi," Gogo began, her voice oddly low. "There's something we need to tell you-" That was as far as she got before Wasabi surprised her by clapping a hand over her mouth and dragging her out the door.

The day wasn't soundproof, though.

"Ow! She bit me!"

Whatever Gogo said in reply was too muddled by rage to be discernable. Tadashi turned to Honey, his face a huge question mark.

Though Honey laughed nervously, she didn't elaborate, so Tadashi worried his lip. He'd wracked his brain for whatever his friends could've been fighting about and could only come to one conclusion.

"It's Callaghan, isn't it?" He muttered, eyes focused determinedly on her and not on his clenched fists. "He died, didn't he?"

Taking the stunned silence as an answer, he lowered his eyes, his bruised arms and shoulders screaming at the sudden and abrupt exertion he'd put them through.

"Yes." The answer was so soft and quiet Tadashi almost missed it. "They never found Callaghan's body, but his funeral is in two days." Eyes brimming with tears again, she said, "I'm so sorry, Tadashi."

Maybe if he'd stayed longer. Maybe if he hadn't turned back. Maybe if he hadn't given up so quickly, Professor Callaghan would still be-

The skin on his arm prickled, cold. Drawing him out of his thoughts. He looked down to see Hiro leaning on his arm, staring up at him like a baby reindeer.

"Sorry, Bonehead," Tadashi mussed his messy hair. "I'll try not to beat myself up too much."

Speaking for his brother was a little weird, especially since usually he couldn't get him to shut up, but Tadashi wanted to let Hiro know that he got the message and he understood.

Concern flickered across Honey's face as she watched the two of them. Fred, on the other hand, just shrugged and waved at Hiro.

Bemusedly, Tadashi noticed that Fred's wave missed Hiro slightly. His body was faced more to the right of him than directly at his back.

He shrugged it off.