He sighed as he stared out of the window, the rain splashed on the ground, a soft thunder rolling in the distance.
"Don't you just love the rain, Hirohito?"
"Yeah," He paused, a soft smile dancing onto his face "Yeah I do." A sudden strike of lightning illuminated the soft tears streaking down the man's face.
"Hiro!" The young boy bounced towards him, his curls that still had a faint baby blue color to it bounced with him. "I was accepted on the track team! The coach said if I was older he would have already put me on Varsity!"
"That's great," The man chuckled, "I'm so proud of you." He tilted his head back to get a better view of the rain falling, smoke pouring out of his mouth in a twirling cloud. His hands limped towards his amber intoxicant, his body ached for its bittersweet relief.
"Hiro! Hiro!" His hair sported various reds and oranges, his curly hair made it look as if crashing waves captured the sunset. "You'll come to the State Tournament, right! I'm supposed to compete with high schoolers!" His eyes were no longer brown, but freshly brewed pu-erh ginger tea struck with the early morning sunrise.
"Of course," He was now the sky, crying over something that evaporated long ago. "Anything for you, Hinata, my sunny day."
His glossy eyes didn't move from the window, even when an old friend entered his room.
"Honestly, Hiro, you should lock your doors." A playful smile was on his friend's lips, "Or are you too busy brooding in silence?"
Ignoring his friend's question, he gave one of his own, "Why are you here?"
"Came back from visiting my father," They now locked eyes, "Crazy, I know, but-"
"Your father killed people, left your family in debt." He slammed his glass of amber solution on the ground, "You hate him."
"Well," He pulled out a bottle of clear yet undoubtedly pungent liquor, "Now you know why I'm here." He chuckled lightly.
"You don't drink." He watched as his friend sat down across from him.
"Yeah," He shrugged, "But you do, and I brought water for myself." He gave a crooked smile, "And Adelise told me that you were acting weird."
"Adelise always thinks I'm acting weird." Hirohito rolled his stormy gray eyes.
"Talk to me," Hirohito felt as his friend poked his side with his foot, then his voice changed to a sympathetic whisper as if his next words would cause the whole building to crumble. "Is it Hinata, again?"
Hirohito let out a shaky sigh, another tear running down his face, "Yes." His voice managed to whimper out.
"Let's talk then," He shifted so that he sat next to him, "Tell me everything, whatever place you want to start."
He let out a short laugh and met eyes with his bright blue eyes that were slightly stained with the red residue of crying. Hirohito sighed, he clenched his fists, memories came rushing back, all bad memories. He burst,
"I remember when my mother died, not much before or after that, but I remember her last words- 'Take care of our little sunshine, Hinata'." His voice was monotone, then turned sharp, "Almost a year later my dad decided to jump off of his work building."
He knew this speech, he knew Hirohito, but each time. His tone would change when talking about his past.
"And Hinata," His tone drastically changed to a soft tone, as if he was consoling a small, crying child. "Hinata was my... he was he reason I put up with everything." He smiled lightly, "When I moved to America, everything was different. The arguing between my uncle and aunt, Hinata was growing up, I was living in New York City."
Hirohito smiled, "I remember when I met you and Maggie."
"Oh god," His friend laughed and covered his face.
Hirohito couldn't stay in that house for another second, Hinata went on a trip with his fellow track members and Hirohito couldn't help but let his little brother go to the week long retreat with the kids he was desperately trying to get the respect of. Unfortunately, that left him with his abusive aunt and his uncle trying his best to keep his marriage intact.
He didn't have any friends or family to stay with, Hinata was all he had.
When it started to rain, he thought about going back to the cramped apartment, but he knew better than to return during a raging argument.
He was lucky that he didn't return, because when he passed by a small shop's dirty windows, his gunmetal blue eyes connected with an cornflower pair. He young boy looked familiar, he had pimples scattered randomly across his face, a lopsided smile that flashed his green colored braces, and his round, black thick-rimmed glasses that was crooked on his face and was duct taped in various places.
"Chuck! What have you done to the pies!"
His smile disappeared and was replaced with a shocked expression, Hirohito couldn't quite identify it through the rain and the dirty window, but he knew for certain that it was a ridiculous face that he couldn't help but chuckle at.
"Boy!" The same voice that shouted before belonged to a tall woman who was wrapped in various colors. "Get in here, you're going to get soaked!" He was shocked, he now knew what the other boy felt like. He knew, somewhere in his head, that he shouldn't walking into a stranger's old shop where no one knew where he was, yet, he walked in anyways. He wasn't about to get on the woman's bad side.
"Are you talking about how dysfunctional you looked or how she used to call you 'Chuck'?"
"Both." The two laughed at the shared memory.
"What would Maggie think of us now?" Hirohito shook his head lightly, a smile resting on his lips.
"She would be yelling at us in French, she loved doing that."
When his uncle died, Hirohito knew he had to get Hinata out of the abusive clutches of their aunt. Hirohito knew who to go to, Maggie was always someone he trusted, and he knew a life with Maggie in it would help Hinata.
But she had rules; one was to always follow curfew, that rule was a must, and it was a reasonable rule. Another was that they had to attend school, learn French as she never liked English and thought that learning multiple languages was good for child development. The others were normal rules; help out around the house, you have to participate in cooking/baking as she's old, lights out at midnight, and a few others.
Maggie was the first good role model the boys have had in a long time, and they loved her for that.
"Then..." They were silent, they both knew what came next.
"Hinata, I know." His friend whispered, "I know."
"He won!" His voice cracked, "He won his competition, and," He was hyperventilating, "and I want, I wanted to show him something cool. The docks, the docks were the best place, the best place to watch," He could barely breathe, his hand was placed on his chest, his heart pounding in his ears and his chest rising and falling rapidly. He felt his friend comfort him, whispering,
"I know, Hirohito, I know."
"Maggie wouldn't like this," Hinata wasn't wrong, they were past curfew, a rule they never dared to break.
"But she's not here, Hinata." He was acting stupid, he recognized this. But the bullies at school today, calling him ruthless names, going after not only him but Hinata, Maggie, Adelise, everyone. He wanted to prove them wrong. "She doesn't have to know we were here."
He was curious, robots and shiny metals, busting something it this, and he'll be a hero.
But in sense, he should have listened to his brother.
"I know, Hirohito, I know." The whispering, the cradling, it was drowning him in that night.
"Hinata!" It was a blur. He swore. He swore that they would leave. They were going to. But the robots. They spotted him. They spotted Hinata. They raised their guns. Their shiny guns. Their powerful guns.
Shiny guns.
Powerful guns.
Deadly guns.
He was yelling. Or maybe he wasn't. He felt everyone's eyes. He saw it all. The orange one was in the way. Why did he do it? Why did Hinata push him. The turtle should have gotten hit. The turtle was going to get hit. But Hinata. Hinata and his pink and green hair. Hinata and his fast feet. Hinata and his gold track medal. Hinata and his blood. Hinata and his eyes. Hinata and the gunshot.
The turtle.
The turtle should have gotten hit.
He was screaming at them. He didn't know what exactly. Just pure yelling. Rage. Guilt. Sadness. All burning hot. He was crying. Or was it raining? Everything was so clear. So blurry.
Red. Blue. Lights. And the shadows were gone. The turtles were gone. The robots were gone. Hinata was gone.
And in a way, so was Hirohito.
The smell of bacon hit his nose first, he rolled over to the right of his sturdy bed to see a glass of water. He smiled lightly,
Issac's such a mom friend.
He struggled to get out of bed, his head pounding and feeling as if someone was grasping his head.
"Breakfast's ready," Issac was leaning against the doorframe, an apron was secured onto his torso, "Pancakes and bacon, your favorite."
Hirohito smiled and held his head, "You happen to have the cure for a hangover in there do you?"
"Advil and coffee." He shrugged, "But I suggest you don't go to the restaurant."
Hirohito closed his eyes, I shouldn't lie to him.
"I'll cancel my shift." He lied smoothly, Issac smiled before walking out of the room. Hirohito sighed and fell back onto his bed, he was debating what he was going to do. He reached over to check his phone, only he grabbed the wrong one. It was undoubtedly Issac's phone, and he thought nothing of it until he checked the time.
He couldn't breath.
Staring back at him was the family he ordered Aapep to kill, their eyes almost seemed taunting him. He moved away from the phone, as if it burned to touch the phone.
He killed his best friend's family.
"My family," Hirohito froze, Issac was standing at the doorway again, "They would have loved you."
"Any," He didn't know what to say, what could he say to make this situation any better, "Any news on what happened?"
"My dad," Issac paused for a moment, "We talked over the twenty-fourth and fifth."
Hirohito was attacking the turtles during that time, what if Issac was there.
"He said some guy named Swipe did it."
For a moment, Hirohito could have swore that Issac knew.
"Crazy, right?" Issac chuckled, "he's just doing anything he can to stay in contact. Making up villains, when we all know who the true monster is."
Hirohito was ready, for screaming, for yelling, for his best friend to find out he's the monster under the bed.
"My dad is still trying to torture me, going on this wild goose chase to find a killer that he knows nothing about."
Hirohito could barely hear him, his heart was pounding in his ears again, louder with each beat.
"It was the Prowlers,"
Hirohito let out a shaky breath, "Yeah?" His voice cracked.
"I don't know who yet." He pursed his lips in a frown, but Hirohito was sickenly relieved that his friend didn't know. "But one day, I will." His confidence would be threatening to anyone else, but Hirohito knew he could get away with it. "Anyways, let's go eat. Your hangover is probably pretty nasty right now."
"Yeah," He felt as if he escaped from the police, "Let's go eat." He smiled, because he knew, he will kill anyone to keep his secret from Issac, and that's a promise he attends to keep.
Chapter End ~
I hope you all enjoyed our latest chapter! As always like, comment, and share our story. Check out our other stories, Loki's Redemption and TMNT Together. Check out our other profiles hbbug3 and k_Borchert!
Chapter by K