video

[microbrobotics]

[ A rare video post for Hiro tonight - but then again, this is a rare occasion. He's already gotten past the initial crying phase, so he's just numb and a little blotchy more than anything else, but his voice still shakes a little when he talks. A plain bedroom backdrop, clearly from where he lives in Heropa.

He takes a deep breath. ]

Has anyone seen my brother Tadashi? He's - he looks like this - [ A picture of Tadashi flashes on the screen for a moment. ] - and I'm getting error messages from his comm. Nobody I've talked to has seen him and ...

[ His voice trails off to a whisper. He can't even get through a whole post without tears welling up in his eyes. ]

I just - I need to know, please. If anyone has any idea. I need to know he's still here. If he's not, then ... then he's ...

[ Ported out. And dead. ]

Comments

[microbrobotics]

[ He's sagging back away from the edge now, letting go of the railing entirely. No more chance of that today; he scared himself a little just now, even without realizing how Ken reacted. He still doesn't see when Ken continues, doesn't even look up. Fumblingly, he fiddles with the strings on his hoodie. Comforted, somewhat, by knowing someone else feels the same way. Maybe he's not just a selfish jerk after all. (Or maybe they both are, but he can't see Ken in that light.) ]

Besides Shinjiro? [ The question comes out quietly, tentatively. ] Someone from home?

[amadaman]

Yeah. He's kept it hidden from me, and I don't know how to tell him that I know now, either.

[He has a feeling everybody knew but him. Jaime did. Nico knew. Tadashi.. probably did, too. He could just picture Minato thinking he could raise it as something they had in common, something to offer Tadashi as a point of understanding. And Hiro, too. Akihiko and Shinjiro probably also knew.

But now he knows, and now he knows more than anybody what happened to to SEES after Minato's death.

He remembers calling him right after his return and realizing how much he'd missed him, and instead of an explanation, a carefully worded sentence, he murmurs out just the name.]

... Minato-san.

[microbrobotics]

[ There's no surprise in Hiro's expression. Technically Minato had told him in their very first conversation ... More of an "oh duh" look when he realizes. Of course Minato would be the other person. He just didn't realize that Minato's friends knew yet. ]

... why can't you tell him?

[amadaman]

[Even Minato hasn't been told that Ken knows. Or if he had any suspicions that Ken did, he was ignoring them.]

If you didn't know why someone died -- not just some philosophical reason behind it, but the actual cause and everything about it -- and were struggling to move on, and you somehow found a way to go back to a time before they died...

[after facing the manifestation of your regrets in the form of the person you missed most; after fighting that Shadow and hearing its scream; after seeing their face for the last time with an expression you never, ever wanted to see -- after all that, to be handed a key to the past... Yukari's sobs and Aigis' cries ring in his ears still. He can see Akihiko and Junpei's clenched fists, Koromaru's tail tucked between his legs, Mitsuru biting down on her lip so hard that she bled at one point. Realizing, the moment they realized that they might be able to reverse at least one of their losses, how much they missed him]

... what would you do?

[microbrobotics]

[ There's no hesitation - the answer seems obvious, to him. ]

I'd go back. Of course I'd go back. If I could have gone back with the porter, I would have.

[amadaman]

[He asked knowing what Hiro's answer will be, so he doesn't react to it. He almost forgets to breathe with how hard the wind is blowing, but he lets out a quiet sigh and turns his head slightly.]

Even if it might undo everything you did to save the world? Even f there was a chance that the person's death was caused by saving the world, would you still do it?

[microbrobotics]

[ He swallows slowly. ]

Who cares about the world if he's not in it?

[amadaman]

If the world is destroyed, your aunt will die, too.

And your friend, Baymax. Gogo-san, Wasabi-san, Honey-san, and the other person, Fred. And the person you tried to save, too, will die anyway. Even then?

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro flinches at that. ]

That's ... that's different.

[amadaman]

It's not different. That's what it means.

But it's not... a shameful way to think. It's just how important that person was to you. We fought over it, too.

[microbrobotics]

We? Who?

[amadaman]

We. [He raises a hand to his chest where the Gekkoukan School's logo is embroidered to his blazer.] SEES. After Minato-san's death.

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro's eyes go wide. ]

What - but you're a team, right? Why would you fight over that?

[amadaman]

We're a team but we're all different people. Some of us were willing to risk anything to have him back. Some of us didn't want to risk wasting his sacrifice and undoing everything we fought for.

... In the end, we decided to move forward to tomorrow. We know what he did, what he had to do, and that even if we went back, we'll end up making him make the same decision again. We owe it to him to keep living the lives he saved, you know? But that doesn't mean, every time I see him here, I don't wish he could go back and live the life he deserved to, too.