Because there always needs to be more dark AUs.

[antihiro]

No. I'm not doing this.

I don't CARE who might be here.

I don't want to talk to them. I don't want to talk to-

There's nothing for me to say.

To any of them.

Not anymore.

I have other things I need to focus on anyway.

Comments

[invisiblesandwich]

...hey, Hiro? What's going on?

[antihiro]

[There is a long pause.]

Doesn't really matter here. Don't worry about it.

[invisiblesandwich]

[...shoot]

I'm gonna worry, man! C'mon. You can tell me, really. You can tell me anything!

[antihiro]

[I MAY HAVE KILLED A MAN.]

Really, Fred, it's no big deal. It's just a....pet project.

For the cafe.

Really boring stuff.

[invisiblesandwich]

[BACK THE TRUCK UP THERE]

[I'm not the smartest with sciencey crap but I know you pretty well, and your brother's not here, and someone has to fail at being good for you like he was]

...Hiro.

[voice gentle and rough and worried]

What did you do?

[antihiro]

[LISTEN, IN SOME TIMELINE, HIRO HAD TO THINK TO PUT ON THE MASK. Bad life choices were made.]

Who said I did anything?

[Crossing his arms and not meeting his eyes. It's easier to deal with what he did if he just shuts down the feelings before he can think about them too much.]

[He didn't realize how much harder it'd be in face of a friend who didn't know, who wasn't a witness.]

[invisiblesandwich]

[SAID FRIEND HAS BEEN READING YOUR ENTRIES AND IS WONDERING IF HE SHOULDA COME IN KNOWING ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU DID INSTEAD, BECAUSE DAAAAAAMN]

[gulping]

[I've met enough Hiros now to know you're not all necessarily 'my' Hiros. I've watched enough science fiction to know about alternate timelines.]

You. Um, you're not from my world, huh.

[But you're still Hiro, and you're still important to me.]

[antihiro]

[IT]

[IT REALLY WAS NOT A GOOD DAY.]

[May have never returned home to avoid friends whenever they managed to get off the island. Has not been helping his mental state.]

What gives you that idea? [Will just...play dumb, yes, A Plus strategy.]

[invisiblesandwich]

[NO, IT'S GOTTA RANK RIGHT UP THERE WITH RUNNING OUT OF DORITOS AND COKE *ON THE SAME DAY*]

[Oh crud]

Because you, um. [staring at you, but in a concerned kinda way, not in a bug in my salad kinda way] Don't feel right.

[antihiro]

[THAT WAS PROBABLY THE PROBLEM.]

[NO DORITOS OR COKE ON THAT ISLAND.]

[COULD HAVE SAVED LIVES, SNACK FOOD.]

[He shifts, stepping away. Because he hates it. He hates that look, hates that it's like the look they kept giving him before it all went downhill, hates how he misses it compared to the horror in their eyes-]

[No, breathe, calm.]

Well, you know. Moodswings, puberty. I'm sure I'll get an earful from Baymax the next time I stub my toe.

[invisiblesandwich]

[LMAO YEAH THAT'S IT]

[I KNOW SCIENCE IS IMPORTANT BUT I CAN'T DO SCIENCE, I *UNDERSTAND* SNACKS, MAN]

Puberty doesn't normally leave people looking like that. Puberty's just kinda weird, man, it doesn't do that to you.

Look, Hiro... whatever it was. Your friends aren't gonna stop caring about you. Promise.

[antihiro]

[Snacks are very important.]

[And there's a slight bitter laugh at that that just screams 'wanna bet.']

I think I get enough puberty talks. [Tried to save it. Probably didn't.]

[satisfiedwithmycare]

[just kind of staring at you]

[horrified]

[utterly horrified]

[invisiblesandwich]

[can't be THAT bad, right?]

No problem. I'm a little shaky on what the puberty fairy does to us anyway.

[still looking at you, worried and warm and open]

[antihiro]

...the mood swings can be killers.

[Sometimes he can't resist the dark humor. Or maybe its a cry for help, who knows.]

[antihiro]

[There's a few moments where he's just STARING because it's Tadashi. It's Tadashi and he's...he's not sure how to handle that. At all.]

Ta.... [But then he registers how Tadashi is LOOKING at him.] Why-

Wait, what do you mean they can find out what I-wait. What. No, it's not.

Tad- [He can't say it, he chokes on the name.] It's not-I was just-I didn't-

[satisfiedwithmycare]

[He's looking at you, registering all of it. The hollows around your eyes. The paleness of your skin. Have you even slept in the last week? The... distance.......]

[swallowing]

Hiro. Yeah, I - I know what you did.

[And he looks away for a moment, passes a hand over his face.]

Are you okay?

...stupid question.

[antihiro]

[He totally slept!]

[Like.]

[Two hours for the past five days.]

[See, this is what happens when he hasn't had the guts to put the healthcare chip back in.]

[He actually steps back when Tadashi says he knows, and he looks torn between trying to determine if he's hallucinating, or just straight out bolting.]

I-

I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?

[satisfiedwithmycare]

[...he's going to speak to you about that.]

[He keeps still. Gulps. Wants to come to you, but doesn't want you to run.]

Because I... I died.

[He knows you know this, but it needs saying.]

And because you killed.

Of course you're not all right.

[antihiro]

[He just shrinks in response the more he speaks, looking away.]

It's-I'm not that bad-

[It sounds weak to his own ears.]

[satisfiedwithmycare]

[He hugs himself for a moment, looking at you, supremely unsettled and terrified for you.]

[......but not terrified of you.]

Hell, Hiro...

[Taking the few steps forward to sweep you up into a bear hug, if you'll let him.]

[antihiro]

[Tadashi didn't want him to kill.]

[Tadashi isn't here. Wasn't here.]

[And there's terror on his face and it's THAT look. That look they all had when they pleaded and tried to get through to him and suddenly it feels like something constricted around his chest.]

[He jerks back, moving several steps.]

I'm FINE! I'm....I'm fine.

Because I did it! I...I ended it! I know what I have to do now, so I'm okay!

[And oh, that...that is a very much not sane smile on his face. Nothing like intensely lying to yourself.]

[satisfiedwithmycare]

[Oh, this could be going better...]

[His hands are held out uselessly for a moment, then he lets his hands fall to his sides again. You're so far away.]

[Soft] You ended it, yeah. You stopped him.

But you stepped over the line, buddy. You know it. You scared Gogo and the others. And it's hurt you.

[antihiro]

He was EVIL. At lest we knew Krei had loose morals. At least Krei didn't OWE you anything!

But Ca-he pretended to be a good person, that he cared about doing good, but he didn't. He was...he threw away his whole life for his plans, prison wouldn't have taught him anything! It wouldn't be a fair punishment.

[Justifications. Ways to prove it wasn't just anger, that he was right.]

They weren't willing to go as far as we needed to. That the world needs. That's why I took their armor and left!

They can just go back to being nerds in their lab. No more being scared, no more having to deal with anything like that again! I'm protecting them as best I can!

[satisfiedwithmycare]

[Hunching over, just a little. Not happy about any of that, either.]

I... It was wrong, Hiro. What they did. Both of them. Means I'm not around for you any more. [Wry pained grin] Or for me.

But you took away Honey's agency, and the rest of 'em, too. That's not okay. And it's not okay for a kid to have to think like that.

It's not okay that you killed someone. We don't have the right, Hiro!