[Heroes] In Some Place Between Fiction and Reality
Title: In Some Place Between Fiction and Reality
Fandom: Heroes
Characters: PG
Rating: PG
Lenght: +2300
Summary: Ando remembers how he and Hiro met.
Spoilers: It has heavily implied spoilers for 1x17 "Company Man".
Author's note: Written for the hiro_ando June Fic-A-Thon. Prompt: Car.
Beta-ed by kelly_girl
It wasn't until he'd driven for a couple of days that Ando actually noticed he'd adjusted to do it on the other side of the road and the other side of the car without any effort whatsoever, and he couldn't help but feel very smug about it.
His head had been so full at the time he and Hiro disembarked from the plane and rented the Nissan Versa-how were they going to stop a city from exploding when they didn't even know what was going to cause it, for a start that he completely forgot that many things were different in this country; thus, when they got into the car, he just turned it on and both of them, the three of them, given that Hiro had clearly stated that the car counted as a character too, were on their way.
Ando smiled; it'd been nice, how he'd adjusted to the situation. A quick glance at the rear-view mirror told him that all he needed to complete his image of self-confidence was a pair of dark glasses; besides, by taking them off in the right way, they'd increase his sex-appeal, turning him into a chick-magnet.
Next, it came to his mind that Hiro, being able to bend time and space, was a living proof that superpowers were real, so, if they existed, who was going to say that he, Ando, didn't have a power too?
Though, as far as he could tell, the only extraordinary ability he had was an extreme adaptability to circumstances. He snickered; that'd be a silly, or more like lame, power to have. Yet, thinking about it, it could turn out to be quite useful. It'd help him to feel comfortable in all the exotic places they'd go if, after this mission was completed, Hiro suddenly decided to begin fighting crime all around the world. Which was very likely, if Ando knew his friend.
Ando turned his head to ask Hiro about that, both the crime fighting and the possibility of him having a superpower, but Hiro was fast asleep. No wonder, Ando thought, smiling, since he had spent the whole night before composing a lengthy post for his blog on the computer at the hotel where they'd spent last night.
Convincing Hiro to stop at a hotel had been difficult. He’d wanted to keep going non-stop until they reached their destination, but Ando needed to rest. “Do you want us to end up at the bottom of a cliff if I fall asleep at the wheel?” Ando asked. “We can't carry on your mission if we're dead.” That had worked pretty good, and Ando had gotten a good night's rest even if Hiro hadn't.
Ando, of course, knew Hiro was narrating their journey to save the world on his internet journal. He'd certainly expected as much, but he was amazed at the amount of comments each entry had. There were too many people encouraging them, though Ando wondered how many of them actually believed what Hiro said. Most likely, they thought it was a fictional journal for an RPG character, or something like that.
Several times during said journey, Ando had pondered if Hiro thought of himself as an RPG character to an extent. It was hard, even for Ando, who had known him for years, to tell if Hiro had ever set a foot properly on Earth. After all, Hiro's life gravitated mostly around comic books, science-fiction television series, and online gaming, to the point that it had been through comic books that he and Ando had bonded when they first met.
Ando could recall very clearly the first time they'd looked at each other, and how scared Ando had been that day...
-
Ando was aware that his father called their house 'small', but he didn't think of it like that despite having seen on television that some characters lived in huge houses, specially in foreign production. After all, that was fiction and this was reallity, and his friend's houses were all roughly the same size.
At least he didn't think of it like that until the day when the Nakamura household opened its gates before him.
He’d had problems believing that a building so big, big enough to be twice the size of his school, sheltered only one family. Still, he promised himself he wouldn't say a thing about it; he'd been admonished earlier that morning, while his mother dressed him to be as polite as possible while he was there. There was always the possibility that this invitation he'd gotten could translate into blessings for his whole family.
Ando and his father walked down the paved road towards the main building, between two rows of cherry trees. Ando reflected briefly that it had to be wonderful being there when they bloomed, but now he had more important and immediate matters to worry about, like how he was going to survive the current experience.
Ando nervously held the present he’d give to his hosts. He didn't know what it was, and most probably he never would, but he didn't really care.
His father touched him on the shoulder and Ando breathed deeply and focused his eyes on what was in front of him.
There was a neatly-dressed, stern-looking man standing in front of the main door, apparently waiting for them. From the pictures he'd seen, that'd to be Mr. Nakamura. Ando wondered why such an important man would be awaiting them, though, on the other hand, it would've been very rude if he hadn't, since he had invited him to his house.
Two days before, Ando's father said that Mr. Nakamura had approached him and had asked him if he had a son about ten years old. Though, Ando's father confided to his mother when they thought the boy was asleep, he’d done it as if he knew the answer would be affirmative. But that was to be expected since Ando's father's, and all of the employee's data was in the company's records, Ando thought while getting nearer and nearer to the tower Mr. Nakamura seemed to be.
At some point, Ando realized there was a boy his age just behind Mr. Nakamura's leg. That had to be the son he wanted Ando to play with.
As Ando and his father got closer, Mr. Nakamura pushed his son slightly forward.
“Masahashi-san,” Mr. Nakamura said, bowing his head a little, “We welcome you to our humble house. This is my son, Hiro.”
Yes, humble, Ando thought while trying not to look around. He did notice, though, that the other child's' eyes were glued to him. He didn't know if he was supposed to smile or bow or what, so he remained still.
“Nakamura-san,” Ando's father said, “I thank you for being so generous and inviting me and my son to your home.”
Next, Ando's father made the sign they had agreed to use beforehand and Ando offered the present to Mr. Nakamura, who seemed very pleased by the gesture. He took the package from the child's hands while bowing again. Ando bowed too and stepped back to his father.
As Ando had thought it'd happen, Mr. Nakamura didn't open the present right there. Instead, he invited Ando's father to drink sake inside the house, so Ando and Hiro were left alone on the outside.
It was then that Ando felt a little more free to inspect the other boy. Hiro looked very nerdy-like, the sort of kid who'd rather remain inside playing video games than running around outdoors. His glasses only increased the effect. His clothes were simple, pretty much what Ando'd call normal. Actually, there was little that'd make Hiro stand out as a rich kid among Ando's friends.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Hiro smiled broadly. “Hello! My name is Nakamura Hiro!” he said, a little too enthusiastically.
Ando forced himself to smile; despite his observations, he was still feeling somewhat nervous. He'd been told not to judge a book by its cover, and there had been nothing that'd ruled out the possibility of Hiro's true self being snobbish and proud. “I'm Masahashi Ando,” he said, carefully.
“I'm very pleased to meet you, Ando-kun!” Hiro said, still beaming. “Do you want to see my comic book collection?”
Before Ando could answer, Hiro grabbed his arm and dragged him to a secondary entrance, and then all the way to his room, which didn't matter because Ando was going to say yes anyway, or, at least, he wasn't going to say no.
The Nakamura household was as impressive on the inside as it had been from the outside. Ando surrendered himself to being led while looking around. A state of awe took the place of his fear. Everything seemed new and expensive, so Ando thought it'd be wiser to follow his mother's advice for once and not to touch anything.
He raised his left arm-Hiro held the right one in a firm grip-and did his best to not hit the furniture. There was a hallway where he had to navigate with his hips to avoid crashing with some vases that were on display. Hiro didn't seem to notice, Ando didn't say a word, and, fortunately, nothing happened.
The children finally got to Hiro's room. It was bigger than Ando's living room and kitchen combined. While Ando regained his breath and went back to being scared, Hiro took a box from under his bed which contained what seemed like thousands and thousands of comic books.
Ando gaped at them, but he didn't dare touch them; they were in a great shape, so it'd be a total shame if he were to damage them. He could find himself in trouble if that happened.
All of the sudden, Hiro took a bunch of comics and handed them to Ando. “Here, take them!”
Ando looked from Hiro's hand to the boy's face. He looked both happy and sincere. “Really?” Ando asked.
Hiro nodded solemnly. “Yes!” He beamed again. “Please, take them!”
Ando did it at the end. Hiro took another bunch for himself and sat on the floor, gesturing for Ando to do the same.
While sitting down on Hiro's floor, reading his comic books at his side, Ando's nervousness and anxiety faded away. Half a dozen issues later, he was feeling quite at ease in the other boy's company, having even forgotten that Hiro was a rich kid. There was nothing that'd make him stand out as such.
Later, when they talked for hours, literally, about what they had read, Ando realized for the first time how many levels comic books could have, if looked at from the right angle.
-
Since then, they'd done most things together, from trying to meet girls, emphasis on trying, to trashing Kimiko's room looking for a red lipstick the time Hiro had wanted to characterize Ando as the Joker for a convention. Hiro was going to be Batman, of course. The experience had been a disaster, though not because they were grounded as a result and at the end they didn't go to the convention, but because they couldn't find the right shade of red. Mainly because Ando and Hiro couldn't agree on which Batman issue to use as a model.
Yes, they'd done very crazy and unusual things that most of the time made Hiro's always-composed father roll his eyes and Ando's father threaten to do all kinds of nasty stuff to his son. Even with those threats, neither boy ever received a harsh punishment. Except that time when they were camping in Hiro's backyard and they fished and ate some of Mrs. Nakamura's goldfish from the pond.
The boys agreed to never mention the incident again.
-
And, now here they were, in their craziest adventure yet, living, literally, a super-hero comic book in a strange land, with powers and all. Hopefully, the author, this Mr. Isaac, was on their side, and he would let the heroes triumph as they always did. The story would have a happy ending, well-deserved after all their hard work.
Save the day and get the girl. Hiro would save the day and Ando would get the girl? Assuming there was only one girl. But what if there was no girl? Ando knew that, if he asked Hiro that, he would answer, “It doesn't matter! We have each other!” and Ando would have to agree. As a matter of fact, he was agreeing already.
Through his life, Ando had asked himself many times why Mr. Nakamura had handpicked him as his son’s companion, how he'd known their friendship would grow so strong and so sincere.
Once, two days after the goldfish incident actually, he'd accidentally overheard Mrs. Nakamura talking with her husband about how much of a bad influence Ando was on Hiro, to which Mr. Nakamura had answered, “Their friendship was fated; destiny would've brought them together even if I hadn't done anything. I hurried things up because it makes me happy to know my son has someone to be himself with.”
That conversation kept Ando awake many nights, musing on the real meaning behind Mr. Nakamura's words, 'fate' and 'destiny' specially. Still, he didn't mention them to Hiro, honoring their pact of never bringing up anything related to the goldfish incident.
Now, at this moment, driving the Nissan Versa through the United States, Ando wondered if this was what Hiro's father was talking about, that the two friends were meant to save the world.
Yeah, right, Ando laughed. Mr. Nakamura was always two steps ahead, but that would be just too much, wouldn't it?
As Hiro woke up, complained about his stiff neck, asked where they were, and laughed about him not noticing earlier he was driving differently than in Japan, Ando completely dismissed that idea. It was more likely that Mr. Nakamura had bet on chance while deciding randomly which of his employees had a son around Hiro's age, and had gotten lucky.
After all, what truly mattered was that they cared for each other and they always would, until the end of the road.
Fandom: Heroes
Characters: PG
Rating: PG
Lenght: +2300
Summary: Ando remembers how he and Hiro met.
Spoilers: It has heavily implied spoilers for 1x17 "Company Man".
Author's note: Written for the hiro_ando June Fic-A-Thon. Prompt: Car.
Beta-ed by kelly_girl
It wasn't until he'd driven for a couple of days that Ando actually noticed he'd adjusted to do it on the other side of the road and the other side of the car without any effort whatsoever, and he couldn't help but feel very smug about it.
His head had been so full at the time he and Hiro disembarked from the plane and rented the Nissan Versa-how were they going to stop a city from exploding when they didn't even know what was going to cause it, for a start that he completely forgot that many things were different in this country; thus, when they got into the car, he just turned it on and both of them, the three of them, given that Hiro had clearly stated that the car counted as a character too, were on their way.
Ando smiled; it'd been nice, how he'd adjusted to the situation. A quick glance at the rear-view mirror told him that all he needed to complete his image of self-confidence was a pair of dark glasses; besides, by taking them off in the right way, they'd increase his sex-appeal, turning him into a chick-magnet.
Next, it came to his mind that Hiro, being able to bend time and space, was a living proof that superpowers were real, so, if they existed, who was going to say that he, Ando, didn't have a power too?
Though, as far as he could tell, the only extraordinary ability he had was an extreme adaptability to circumstances. He snickered; that'd be a silly, or more like lame, power to have. Yet, thinking about it, it could turn out to be quite useful. It'd help him to feel comfortable in all the exotic places they'd go if, after this mission was completed, Hiro suddenly decided to begin fighting crime all around the world. Which was very likely, if Ando knew his friend.
Ando turned his head to ask Hiro about that, both the crime fighting and the possibility of him having a superpower, but Hiro was fast asleep. No wonder, Ando thought, smiling, since he had spent the whole night before composing a lengthy post for his blog on the computer at the hotel where they'd spent last night.
Convincing Hiro to stop at a hotel had been difficult. He’d wanted to keep going non-stop until they reached their destination, but Ando needed to rest. “Do you want us to end up at the bottom of a cliff if I fall asleep at the wheel?” Ando asked. “We can't carry on your mission if we're dead.” That had worked pretty good, and Ando had gotten a good night's rest even if Hiro hadn't.
Ando, of course, knew Hiro was narrating their journey to save the world on his internet journal. He'd certainly expected as much, but he was amazed at the amount of comments each entry had. There were too many people encouraging them, though Ando wondered how many of them actually believed what Hiro said. Most likely, they thought it was a fictional journal for an RPG character, or something like that.
Several times during said journey, Ando had pondered if Hiro thought of himself as an RPG character to an extent. It was hard, even for Ando, who had known him for years, to tell if Hiro had ever set a foot properly on Earth. After all, Hiro's life gravitated mostly around comic books, science-fiction television series, and online gaming, to the point that it had been through comic books that he and Ando had bonded when they first met.
Ando could recall very clearly the first time they'd looked at each other, and how scared Ando had been that day...
-
Ando was aware that his father called their house 'small', but he didn't think of it like that despite having seen on television that some characters lived in huge houses, specially in foreign production. After all, that was fiction and this was reallity, and his friend's houses were all roughly the same size.
At least he didn't think of it like that until the day when the Nakamura household opened its gates before him.
He’d had problems believing that a building so big, big enough to be twice the size of his school, sheltered only one family. Still, he promised himself he wouldn't say a thing about it; he'd been admonished earlier that morning, while his mother dressed him to be as polite as possible while he was there. There was always the possibility that this invitation he'd gotten could translate into blessings for his whole family.
Ando and his father walked down the paved road towards the main building, between two rows of cherry trees. Ando reflected briefly that it had to be wonderful being there when they bloomed, but now he had more important and immediate matters to worry about, like how he was going to survive the current experience.
Ando nervously held the present he’d give to his hosts. He didn't know what it was, and most probably he never would, but he didn't really care.
His father touched him on the shoulder and Ando breathed deeply and focused his eyes on what was in front of him.
There was a neatly-dressed, stern-looking man standing in front of the main door, apparently waiting for them. From the pictures he'd seen, that'd to be Mr. Nakamura. Ando wondered why such an important man would be awaiting them, though, on the other hand, it would've been very rude if he hadn't, since he had invited him to his house.
Two days before, Ando's father said that Mr. Nakamura had approached him and had asked him if he had a son about ten years old. Though, Ando's father confided to his mother when they thought the boy was asleep, he’d done it as if he knew the answer would be affirmative. But that was to be expected since Ando's father's, and all of the employee's data was in the company's records, Ando thought while getting nearer and nearer to the tower Mr. Nakamura seemed to be.
At some point, Ando realized there was a boy his age just behind Mr. Nakamura's leg. That had to be the son he wanted Ando to play with.
As Ando and his father got closer, Mr. Nakamura pushed his son slightly forward.
“Masahashi-san,” Mr. Nakamura said, bowing his head a little, “We welcome you to our humble house. This is my son, Hiro.”
Yes, humble, Ando thought while trying not to look around. He did notice, though, that the other child's' eyes were glued to him. He didn't know if he was supposed to smile or bow or what, so he remained still.
“Nakamura-san,” Ando's father said, “I thank you for being so generous and inviting me and my son to your home.”
Next, Ando's father made the sign they had agreed to use beforehand and Ando offered the present to Mr. Nakamura, who seemed very pleased by the gesture. He took the package from the child's hands while bowing again. Ando bowed too and stepped back to his father.
As Ando had thought it'd happen, Mr. Nakamura didn't open the present right there. Instead, he invited Ando's father to drink sake inside the house, so Ando and Hiro were left alone on the outside.
It was then that Ando felt a little more free to inspect the other boy. Hiro looked very nerdy-like, the sort of kid who'd rather remain inside playing video games than running around outdoors. His glasses only increased the effect. His clothes were simple, pretty much what Ando'd call normal. Actually, there was little that'd make Hiro stand out as a rich kid among Ando's friends.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Hiro smiled broadly. “Hello! My name is Nakamura Hiro!” he said, a little too enthusiastically.
Ando forced himself to smile; despite his observations, he was still feeling somewhat nervous. He'd been told not to judge a book by its cover, and there had been nothing that'd ruled out the possibility of Hiro's true self being snobbish and proud. “I'm Masahashi Ando,” he said, carefully.
“I'm very pleased to meet you, Ando-kun!” Hiro said, still beaming. “Do you want to see my comic book collection?”
Before Ando could answer, Hiro grabbed his arm and dragged him to a secondary entrance, and then all the way to his room, which didn't matter because Ando was going to say yes anyway, or, at least, he wasn't going to say no.
The Nakamura household was as impressive on the inside as it had been from the outside. Ando surrendered himself to being led while looking around. A state of awe took the place of his fear. Everything seemed new and expensive, so Ando thought it'd be wiser to follow his mother's advice for once and not to touch anything.
He raised his left arm-Hiro held the right one in a firm grip-and did his best to not hit the furniture. There was a hallway where he had to navigate with his hips to avoid crashing with some vases that were on display. Hiro didn't seem to notice, Ando didn't say a word, and, fortunately, nothing happened.
The children finally got to Hiro's room. It was bigger than Ando's living room and kitchen combined. While Ando regained his breath and went back to being scared, Hiro took a box from under his bed which contained what seemed like thousands and thousands of comic books.
Ando gaped at them, but he didn't dare touch them; they were in a great shape, so it'd be a total shame if he were to damage them. He could find himself in trouble if that happened.
All of the sudden, Hiro took a bunch of comics and handed them to Ando. “Here, take them!”
Ando looked from Hiro's hand to the boy's face. He looked both happy and sincere. “Really?” Ando asked.
Hiro nodded solemnly. “Yes!” He beamed again. “Please, take them!”
Ando did it at the end. Hiro took another bunch for himself and sat on the floor, gesturing for Ando to do the same.
While sitting down on Hiro's floor, reading his comic books at his side, Ando's nervousness and anxiety faded away. Half a dozen issues later, he was feeling quite at ease in the other boy's company, having even forgotten that Hiro was a rich kid. There was nothing that'd make him stand out as such.
Later, when they talked for hours, literally, about what they had read, Ando realized for the first time how many levels comic books could have, if looked at from the right angle.
-
Since then, they'd done most things together, from trying to meet girls, emphasis on trying, to trashing Kimiko's room looking for a red lipstick the time Hiro had wanted to characterize Ando as the Joker for a convention. Hiro was going to be Batman, of course. The experience had been a disaster, though not because they were grounded as a result and at the end they didn't go to the convention, but because they couldn't find the right shade of red. Mainly because Ando and Hiro couldn't agree on which Batman issue to use as a model.
Yes, they'd done very crazy and unusual things that most of the time made Hiro's always-composed father roll his eyes and Ando's father threaten to do all kinds of nasty stuff to his son. Even with those threats, neither boy ever received a harsh punishment. Except that time when they were camping in Hiro's backyard and they fished and ate some of Mrs. Nakamura's goldfish from the pond.
The boys agreed to never mention the incident again.
-
And, now here they were, in their craziest adventure yet, living, literally, a super-hero comic book in a strange land, with powers and all. Hopefully, the author, this Mr. Isaac, was on their side, and he would let the heroes triumph as they always did. The story would have a happy ending, well-deserved after all their hard work.
Save the day and get the girl. Hiro would save the day and Ando would get the girl? Assuming there was only one girl. But what if there was no girl? Ando knew that, if he asked Hiro that, he would answer, “It doesn't matter! We have each other!” and Ando would have to agree. As a matter of fact, he was agreeing already.
Through his life, Ando had asked himself many times why Mr. Nakamura had handpicked him as his son’s companion, how he'd known their friendship would grow so strong and so sincere.
Once, two days after the goldfish incident actually, he'd accidentally overheard Mrs. Nakamura talking with her husband about how much of a bad influence Ando was on Hiro, to which Mr. Nakamura had answered, “Their friendship was fated; destiny would've brought them together even if I hadn't done anything. I hurried things up because it makes me happy to know my son has someone to be himself with.”
That conversation kept Ando awake many nights, musing on the real meaning behind Mr. Nakamura's words, 'fate' and 'destiny' specially. Still, he didn't mention them to Hiro, honoring their pact of never bringing up anything related to the goldfish incident.
Now, at this moment, driving the Nissan Versa through the United States, Ando wondered if this was what Hiro's father was talking about, that the two friends were meant to save the world.
Yeah, right, Ando laughed. Mr. Nakamura was always two steps ahead, but that would be just too much, wouldn't it?
As Hiro woke up, complained about his stiff neck, asked where they were, and laughed about him not noticing earlier he was driving differently than in Japan, Ando completely dismissed that idea. It was more likely that Mr. Nakamura had bet on chance while deciding randomly which of his employees had a son around Hiro's age, and had gotten lucky.
After all, what truly mattered was that they cared for each other and they always would, until the end of the road.