Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Astro has done it. He saved the city. The crowd cheered as he woke up and they cheered as he hugged that man—that man he called father.

Cora just watched.

She watched as Astro woke up. She watched as he smiled up at that man.

She watched as Astro let himself be led away, hand in hand, like a lamb to the slaughter.

Cora watched.

***

Cora moved in with her parents.

It was less of a decision than an inevitability.

With Hamegg gone there wasn’t anywhere else she could go and even if there was, why would she want to? She was with her parents again, they wanted her, they loved her, they missed her. They hadn’t forgotten her.

With Hamegg gone it also meant that the other kids didn’t have a place to stay anymore. And for now, it meant that Zane, Widget, and Sludge were staying with her too.

Which she was thankful for, she reminded herself again. It was good to know that they had a safe place to stay. That was a little hard to remember when Sludge was screaming his lungs out.

“Give it back!”

Widget clutched something closer to her chest, “No,” she declared, nose turned up in the air, “Astro gave it to me.”

If possible, Sludge managed to cry out even louder, “He gave it to both of us and now it’s my turn!”

Cora sighed. At least on the surface they had space. Keeping four kids in one small room was a lot. Hopefully the one room thing was going to be temporary. This was getting to be a little more than she could handle. Maybe her parents would figure something out soon. She grimaced. Parents.

“Hey, Zane.”

Zane was laying on a thin blow up mattress. Books like “Learning to Read as an Adult” and “Reading Strategies 101” lie strewn about him. Apparently, he had wanted to go to school ever since he watched one of those cheesy high school sitcoms and learning how to read was the first step in him getting there. Guess he hadn’t realized school actually sucked, but she wasn’t going to be the one to burst that bubble. Zane flipped to the next page in “Reading: An Activity Book!” which really looked oh-so captivating. “Yeah?” he said.

Cora paused, gathering her thoughts for a moment. “What do you think of Astro’s Dad?”

“Dr. Tenma?”

Cora shot up, “Wait a minute, he’s Tenma? The Dr. Tenma?” As in the father of modern robotics? As in that guy who was on her current events test that one time?

“Yeah,” Zane said as he opened the cover of a new book, flipping to the first page. Cora might be more impressed by his commitment to learning if he wasn’t holding it upside down. “Remember that framed picture Hamegg had? With all the old geezers?“

Cora thought for a moment. “The one that Grace hit with the blowdart gun?”

“Yeah, that one, Hamegg showed it off to me once, Tenma was one of the guys in it.”

That’s why he looked so familiar. Cora hadn’t seen Astro’s Dad—Dr. Tenma—since that day with the Peacekeeper. Apparently, being the head of the ministry of science kept a guy busy.

A thought occurred to her, “Do you think he made Astro for his job?” Astro did seem to have a lot of weapons. Maybe our dearly dismissed Ex-President Stone commissioned Tenma to make him for his ‘war against the surface.’ But that begs the question of Astro’s appearance. Why make him look like a kid?

Zane only made a non-committal sound.

The more Cora thought about the more that didn’t seem to quite fit. Stone had never tried to control Astro, he only wanted the blue core back. Which would mean Astro’s creation was contrary to Stone’s intentions. Tenma must have made Astro for something else then.

Cora frowned, “Astro calls him ‘Dad’, Do you think he makes Astro call him that?”

Zane looked up at her, “If you were a robot, would you call the guy that made you Dad?”

Cora had a phase where she only called her parents by their first names so she definitely would not. “I just think that it is—I don’t know—something is off about that guy.” Cora folded her arms and glared at the ceiling.

Zane went back to his book, “I guess.”

“Astro said he didn’t have any parents but now all of a sudden now he is living with that man.”

“So did you.”

“Yeah but I—“ Cora sat up, “You think I’m making a big deal over nothing.”

Zane frowned, pausing for a moment. That was unlike him, he usually just said whatever he was thinking. Maybe he was taking this more seriously than she thought. He put down his book. “I think Astro’s pretty smart, he would come to us if he needed help.”

Cora flopped back on her bed and sighed. The twins were still yelling at each other. Should she stop them? She never had at Hamegg’s. Maybe she was supposed to do that now.

Cora and her parents never had the best relationship. It was the reason why she ran away in the first place, the reason why she found herself at Hamegg’s. She loved them. She knew that now. It was hard not to after she spent so many nights missing them.

She loved them, but she wasn’t sure if she trusted them.

And if she didn’t trust them, she definitely didn’t trust Tenma.

***

Astro’s house was huge.

Scratch that.

Astro’s house was a mansion. His mansion was massive. Cora’s family had always been well off, but this was something else. The guest rooms had spare rooms for the guest’s guest. They had gone by three separate doors Astro had all called “Study.” There were two kitchens.

“Come on, it’s just this way” Astro called out, Cora and the other kids trailed just behind him—still utterly shocked by the size of the place.

Since the last schoolhouse had gotten squashed in the Peacekeeper’s attack, school had been “suspended indefinitely.” Indefinitely had turned out only a month in this case. A month that was slowly coming to a close. The new school was supposed to be reopening just a week from now meaning all five of them only had a few days left of freedom.

While Astro had come over to Cora’s place a couple times, it was their first time at his. Cora had no idea why they had been hanging in her significantly more cramped room when Astro had so much more space. Maybe it had something to do with his father. Was he up to something that he didn't want anyone else to see? Maybe he was building a top secret robot for the government. Or he could be working on some sort of weapon? Cora sighed. Both those ideas were stupid. But could she really blame herself? Other than what she read on his wikipedia page, she didn't know anything about Dr. Tenma. As far as she knew he could even be in this house right now. Not that she had seen him but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He could be hiding behind anyone of these closed doors for all she knew. She looked over at a suspicious-looking cupboard. Probably not in there.

“Here it is!” Astro finally stopped at a door which looked utterly unassuming. Cora could swear they had already been down this hallway before. Good thing Astro was here, she would never find her way out of this maze of a house on her own.

Astro put his hand on the handle before stopping. “Wait! Let me—uh—clean up!”

Astro slammed the door in their faces. A couple of rustling sounds emerged from the room as the group waited. Zane and Cora exchanged a look right as Astro opened the door and gestured them inside.

“You are not hiding anything from us are you?” Cora couldn’t help but tease as Widget and Sludge peered inside.

Astro laughed, “No! Definitely not. Nothing to hide here, I'm like an open book.” He smiled nervously.

Cora just gave him an amused look. He must be more anxious about having friends over than she thought.

The first thing she noticed was that Astro’s room was huge. Considering the rest of his house, that was no surprise. The size only seemed to match the grandness as well as the style of the rest of home.

The second thing Cora noticed was that his room was absolutely stuffed with crap.

That made it sound like Astro was some kind of slob, he wasn’t. At least, Cora wouldn’t consider him one. It was just that he had way more stuff than anyone who has only been alive for like a couple months should have.

Elaborate paper airplanes hung from the ceiling, one corner had nothing but boxes stuffed full with computer parts, and a tower of books nearly blocking any view of his closet. There was a wilting fern on his desk. How do you already have a dying plant after living in a place for a couple of weeks?

Astro motioned for them to come in.

Widget and Sludge only hesitated for a moment before moving to invade the room, leaving Zane and Cora standing near the entrance.

“I’ll get snacks! Make yourself at home,” he said before racing back out of the door.

Zane looks around the room seemingly unimpressed by the grandness. “Astro seems pretty nervous,” he said, rather noncommittally.

Cora glanced over at him, Zane had his arms crossed and was decidedly not looking anywhere. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who was worried about Astro after all. She wasn’t sure if she liked having her suspicions—well, not confirmed but—backed up by Zane. Was that a thing? Suspicions being backed up?

With Zane more on board maybe the two of them could figure out what was so fishy about Tenma. Maybe he wasn't building secret government robots or weapons but that didn't mean he wasn't up to something. She couldn't trust him—not when he had made Astro and then abandoned him without a second thought. What kind of person would do that?

“Ow!” A paper airplane nailed her right in between her eyes. Cora looked up to see two mischievous twins smiling back at her.

“Betcha can’t make a better one!”

“Oh, you are so on!”

***

Okay, Cora was mature even to admit that her paper airplane making skills might be less than optimal. One might even consider them to be non-existent.

A crumpled piece of paper sat in her hand. If looked at from the right angle it might vaguely resemble a plane. From Cora’s angle it looked like lost a fight with a paper shredder.

“Looks like a winner,” Zane intoned. He had decided to sit his one out. What a jerk.

“Shut up.” The group had relocated to just down the hall in what looked to be an unused living room. But who knows in a place like this—it probably had some fancy name like ‘the sitting room’ or ‘the main parlor.’

Possibly doing her best President Stone impression, Widget stood in a mock military salute. “At attention soldiers! Airplane with the longest uninterrupted flight path will ‘bring home the bacon’. Losers have trash duty for the next month. Godspeed soldiers, godspeed.”

Astro was sure taking a long time with the snacks. If only he could come back now and save her from this embarrassment. Maybe he got lost on the way to his kitchen. Kitchens. Whatever.

“On your mark, set, go!”

Unsurprisingly, Cora’s plane dropped like a lead balloon, which shocked a total of no one, leaving Widget’s and Sludge’s plane to battle for the win.

Evenly matched, the two places twirled around each other, until Cora lost track of which place was which. One started to dip and the other overtook it. It glided ever so gently past the coffee table, past the bookshelves, floating gracefully over the couch. The paper finally starts to make its descent: right into the open door of Dr. Tenma’s study.

The group stood there in a moment of silence, desperately hoping that hadn’t actually happened.

“Oops.” One of the twins said.

Cora just sighed. She was going to have to be the one to fix this mess, wasn’t she? “I’ll get it.”

She squared her shoulders and reminded herself that with two other studies, the man probably wasn’t even in there. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if Dr. Tenma was even home right now. Letting out a breath of air, Cora strode inside.

The study’s decoration was more or less what she expected—big, bland, and full of books. What she didn’t expect was an antique mahogany desk stacked high with abandoned documents and half-finished devices. Not that she could really see much of it—the desk was completely surrounded by piles and piles of boxes, each one taped tightly shut. The whole room was coated with a thick layer of dust, cobwebs lingered in corners still holding long dead prey.

It looked like this room was functioning more as a storage closet than a study. She didn’t even need to come in here, a paper airplane would have gone unnoticed for weeks in here.

Satisfied that no one was here, Cora moved to grab the plane but before she could her eyes caught on a particular box. Unlike the others, it had been left open and lacked a layer of dust.

She approached it warily before crouching down beside it. Gently pushing aside the open flaps, Cora peered inside.

The box was full of photographs. The old retro kind, not the sleek holographic ones that were all the rage these days. Some loose papers, but most of them were framed in shiny silver. They looked like they belonged up on a wall, not abandoned in a dingy box in a glorified office.

Momentarily abandoning the paper airplane, Cora knelt next to the box and flipped over one of the unframed photos.

A woman and younger Dr. Tenma smiled back at her. They looked happy. Scrawling handwriting on the back of the photo named the pair ‘Umataro and Hoshie.’

Was Tenma married? Considering she hadn’t heard anything about a wife this ‘Hoshie’ probably wasn’t in the picture anymore. Their bright smiles seemed a little bleaker. Cora set it aside.

This time, Cora pulled out one of the framed photos. A small child no older than four was carefully adding a cube to a wobbling block tower, moments away from toppling.

Was that Astro?

That was beyond impossible, she had seen the wires sticking out of his arm. She knew he was a robot. He couldn’t also have been a toddler who played with building blocks. He couldn’t.

Cora grabbed another frame. A boy stared back at her. Dark hair, dark eyes. He was holding some sort of trophy. His wide smile revealed missing teeth. It was Astro, only younger.

Cora pulled another, nearly tearing the glossy paper as she tugged it out. A little boy clutched at a stuffed animal. She flipped it over and froze as she read the back.

Tobio age 6

Tobio. She knew that name. She’d heard it before. It was the first name Astro gave to her. It was the name that didn’t belong to him.

A missing piece finally clicked into place. Why Tenma had made Astro.

Astro’s room was so jam packed with stuff. Stuff wasn’t acquired in a few weeks of use, a room that had been lived in for years.

A room that couldn’t be anyone’s but a kid’s. A room that wasn’t always Astro’s.

A room that used to belong to a boy named Tobio.

Cora could hear her breaths. One in, one out, in, out. When had they gotten so fast? She shoved the photos back into the box and grabbed the paper airplane. She had enough of the study for today.

***

The rest of the day was a blur.

Cora didn’t remember how she got back home, or what muttered excuses she said before she left. She didn’t remember locking the bathroom door or sliding down the side of the wall, eyes red but dry.

She did remember those words. Those three damning words.

Tobio age 6

She had felt like her world was falling apart when she learned Astro was a robot. She thought he had been trying to trick her—that he was just fooling her into believing he was a person. At the time, it just hadn’t made any sense. Why would anyone go through the trouble of it all? Making a robot that tried to convince you it was real.

This was so much worse because it did make sense. Everything was falling into place and it was rocking the steady ground she stood on all over again.

Cora hugged her knees to her chest and squeezed. He had lied to her again. He had promised he wouldn’t lie again. Hot rage bubbled up inside of her. Astro had said there wouldn’t be any more secrets, but he left all this out! He let her down, it was supposed to be different this time, they were supposed to be on the same page now. But Astro was nothing but a liar. Astro was a two-faced jerk who couldn’t help but deceive the people around him.

Astro was…

Astro was dependable. He was reliable to a fault, and could always be counted on to help someone in a time of need. He was way too polite to adults and wouldn’t—for the life of him—go shoplifting with her but he always was able to make her smile. Astro was her best friend.

But he hadn’t always been Astro.

There had once been a boy called Tobio and he had lived with his father and anything beyond that she would never know because Tobio was a boy that she had never met.

A boy that she might never meet.

What had happened to him? Had he been kicked out like Astro had? Or had he run away just like her. Was he lost, wandering around the surface, scared and alone? Had he looked up to Metro City each night and wondered if his father had even cared that he was gone? What could inspire such cruelty, to not even care about his own son like that? To just forget about him? To replace him?

A sudden movement caught Cora’s eye. From a mirror her reflection glanced wildly back at her. She looked small. Scared. A little girl lost in a world too big for her.

Cora wiped away at her face and ran her fingers through her hair. Astro could lie all he wanted but screw him she wasn’t going to let him get to her.

Cora brushed off her clothes and flung open the door of the bathroom, ready to stomp back over to Astro’s house and give him a piece of her mind. How dare he break a promise like that. How dare he hurt her again.

Widget stood hesitantly in the hallway, curls pooling around her shoulders, her usual smile was carefully replaced with something more careful.

She sucked in a breath before she started. “Cora, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she snapped. Widget flinched back and Cora immediately felt ashamed. “Sorry, I just…” Cora crossed her arms, “Sorry,” she finished lamely.

“You left so quickly earlier," she began, her eyes didn't quite meet Cora's, "Are you…“ Widget trailed off for a moment, wringing her wrists slightly. It was times like these where Cora was intimately reminded just how young she was. Growing up on the surface hadn’t been easy, and Widget and her brother had gone through so much. The two of them deserved the world. They shouldn’t have to worry about Cora’s… whatever this was.

Widget looked up to her, eyes big and round. “Are you mad at Astro?”

Of course she was.

He had still lied to her. Again. He had promised to do better and he had betrayed her trust, just like Hamegg and Tenma and her parents and every other stupid adult out there. He wasn’t any different from them. She thought he was going to be different this time.

But it wasn’t just Astro that had created this lie, but Tenma. They had created nanny bots to replace tired parents, why wouldn’t someone like Tenma go create a robot to replace kids. But not just any kid, his kid. His own son. What had happened to Tobio? Was he missed at all? Or was he just replaced—forgotten. Shoved away in a moldering box in a dusty room. Left behind and upgraded to the newest model.

But could she really blame Astro for that? He didn’t ask to be made. He didn’t ask for any of this.

For a moment, Cora tried to picture herself in his position, she imagined waking up to a world to learn that she was a copy of some other girl. That her parents had gotten tired of the original girl and made her instead. To replace her. To forget about that other girl. Would she have the courage to tell anyone?

She couldn’t bring herself to be mad at this fictional girl. But the parents…

“No,” Cora decided, “I’m not mad at him.”

***

Getting into the ministry of science was a lot easier than she thought it would be.

Well—kinda.

Her plan to sneak in was a complete and utter bust. She had been spotted in under a minute and was just about to be ‘escorted away from the premises’ when that old doctor guy she’d seen him was the day of the peacekeeper attack stepped in. Doctor Okamura? Oobayaji? Whatever. He recognized her as one of Astro’s friends, called off the guards, and offered to escort her to wherever she was going. The guy seemed a little eccentric, the whole way over he talked about his research. Either he hadn’t noticed her red eyes and mussed hair or was too polite to say anything. He dropped her off at Tenma’s lab and waved her goodbye.

Cora stood at the foot of the door, the door loomed over her in return. This was the point of no return, going beyond this door she was going to learn some uncomfortable truths. She could turn around right now, go back to her too full house and pretend none of this ever happened. That she never saw any of those photos at all.

But she wasn’t that kind of person. Cora was getting answers. And she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

She stormed inside, pushing the door aside with a resounding thud. The room was spacious, filled with well organized mechanical parts—that Cora couldn’t even begin to guess at the function of—hung about the room. Despite the clutter Cora could tell each part had its place in the lab, the room reeked of motor oil all the same. It reminded her of Hamegg in a strange way.

In the center of the room a man was hunched over a workbench, elbows deep in some project, wire guts strewn about his work station. As she approached he gave no indication that he had heard her at all.

“Dr Tenma.” She called out. It was a statement not a question.

Tenma waved a hand like he was swatting away a pesky fly. “I’m busy, make an appointment.”

Cora stood there for a moment sizing up the man before her. He was gaunt, a lab coat hung weakly off of him, his brow was slightly furrowed as he examined something on his desk. This was the man who had made Astro? Who had replaced Tobio? He reached out to grab another wrench and fiddled with something important. Cora couldn’t help the rage that burned inside her as he continued to ignore her.

Tenma finally looked up, annoyance evident on his face. “What are you—” he started before recognition sparked in his eyes. “You’re one of Astro’s friends—Cora was it?”

Cora stopped her eyebrows from raising in surprise. She hadn’t thought he would recognize her. “Yeah I am. We need to talk.”

Tenma turned away, eyes back on his work “Whatever this is about I’m sure it can wait until—”

“No it can’t,” she interrupted, “I’m not leaving until I get some answers.”

Tenma turned around, irritation sparking in his eyes.

“We,” Cora enunciated, “are going to talk. Now.”

He looked at her for the first time. Really looked at her. She wondered what he saw in that moment, the messy hair, bloodshot eyes, the way she couldn’t quite stop the tremor in her hands. Cora only scowled in return, crossing her arms in effort to hide the shaking.

In the end, it didn’t matter what he saw. Tenma put down whatever device he was working on and faced her, gesturing for her to proceed. The floor was hers and she had his entire attention.

This was the moment of truth. Would she finally learn what happened to Tobio? Would he tell her the truth? She couldn’t back down now, she needed to know, Cora stood up straight, eyes locked onto Tenma’s. “Why did you make Astro?”

With that single remark any of the respect she earned withered away. A darkened scowl formed across his face. “I don’t believe that is any of your concern.” Tenma replied coolly.

Cora clenched her fists. “Tell me anyway.”

Tenma paused to analyze her for a moment, his cold gaze seemed to be taking her apart piece by piece. “Why come to me with this? You seem like a perceptive child, I’m sure you could find your answers elsewhere. Why not ask Astro, you are his friend aren’t you?”

Cora nearly growled at the insinuation. That man dared to question whether she was really Astro’s friend. Like he had Astro’s best interests at heart. “I want to hear it from you.”

Tenma scowled. “I’m sorry to have to disappoint,” he said not looking the least bit sorry. “Check the tabloids if you are so curious. I am sure they have plenty of baseless speculation for you to ponder,” he finished with a dismissive wave. He was already turning back to his work bench. Like this conversation was over.

Cora could feel the rage bubbling under her skin. How dare he treat her like some precocious child. How dare he not care enough about his son to tell anyone what became of him.

Cora fists grew tighter, nails digging into her skin. “What happened to Tobio, Dr Tenma?”

“Enough,” Tenma snapped, “this conversation is over. Up until now I have allowed you to remain and ask your inane questions but I will call security. Leave—now.”

The rage bubbled over. “Why did you do it?” she cried, “Why replace him? Was he not good enough for you? Smart enough?” Cora couldn’t stop the angry words spilling out of her, “Or did you just get tired of him.”

She knew she pushed too far as soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth. With a snap, Tenma whirled towards her. Up until that moment Cora hadn’t realized how tall he was. The man loomed over her, she didn’t even reach his shoulder. Cora took a small step back.

“Don’t pretend like you know anything about my son.” Tenma seethed. “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

Cora was frozen, the oxygen felt like it had been sucked out of the room leaving Cora gasping for air. Tenma stepped back. With that single motion the energy drained for the room, leaving her shaky and empty.

“Why exactly did you come here?” Tenma asked, almost softly, “To confirm a hunch? Your questions accomplish nothing. Tobio is…” Tenma trailed off emotion crackling in his voice. “He’s gone.”

Gone. The way he said that word, it wasn’t the type of gone that someone might come back from. It sounded too final for that.

Cora stared at the man; he looked so listless, so broken. “What happened to him?” She whispered. She couldn’t bring herself to speak any louder.

Tenma turned away from her, his face obscured in the half shadows. “Leave. Now.”

Cora fled.

Chapter Text

Cora went home. She went home and wrapped herself in as many blankets as she could find, pulling her arms as tight around her as she could. She didn’t sleep.

The next day she went to the archival section of the Metro City’s library. She gathered up the most recent newspapers and started to dig. She found the obituary dated nearly five months prior to the day she first met Astro. Tobio Tenma: age ten, beloved son.

Cora left the library.

The days passed with a blur. Widget was worried about her. Sludge tried to comfort her. Zane kept giving her concerned looks but didn’t push. Even her parents seem to notice her mood. But she refused to talk to them and they left.

Zane approached her. It was the last day before school started, he said. They were going to hang out with Astro, he said. She should come with them, he said.

Cora stayed home.

The next day the four of them went to school.

***

The car felt crowded.

Zane sat shotgun while Cora and the twins had been stuffed into the back row. This wouldn’t have been such a bad spot to be if it wasn’t for Widget and Sludge who were very loudly not speaking to each other, asking Zane to pass increasingly ridiculous messages to the other twin. Her parents weren’t here of course, they were much too busy to deal with a daughter and why bother when you had a car that would drive without any human input? Zane was mostly ignoring the twins’ newest argument as he gazed out the window, probably still upset at how despite all of his ‘studying’, his comprehension test got him placed in the same class as the twins. He swore that he would study hard and catch up with her. Cora couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Not like she was really in a place to judge. After missing over a year of school some bigwig decided that she would have to repeat a grade to catch up. Not that she actually cared. She wouldn’t miss any of the people from her own grade.

The self-driving car continued to crawl forward, bravely facing the chaos that was the first day of school drop-off zone. This school wasn’t the one she had used to go to. Hers had gotten completely demolished in the Peacemaker’s attack displacing a couple hundred school-aged kids. Despite the loss of the city’s education infrastructure she could only bring herself to be disappointed that she hadn’t been there to see the building go down.

All the overflow kids from schools like hers got moved into the surviving schools—leaving twice the students in half of the space. Just glancing out the window proved that today was likely to be more than a little hectic, the line of cars clogging the street was more than enough to illustrate the problem, not to mention the unruly mob of children filling the schoolyard. Her parent’s self-driving car slowed to a stop at the gate of the school leaving them just enough time to find their class.

Widget and Sludge stomped away from the car, eager to get some space from each other. With a huff Zane went to follow them into the younger kid’s building leaving Cora to her own devices.

She still had more time before she needed to be anywhere and even if she didn’t, Cora didn't care if she got a tardy. Taking a seat by the gate she watched as more children filed in. Some parents looked misty eyed as their kids raced away, others just looked relieved. The students started to spill into the yard reluctantly, slowly finding their way to their new class. Including one student she hadn’t wanted to see.

“Cora!” Astro waved before running over to join her. “You’re here! I was worried you weren’t gonna come, Zane said you were sick but—”

She hadn’t realized earlier but being moved down a grade meant that she was going to be with the kids who were a year younger than her. Astro’s grade. Which would have Astro, who she hadn’t spoken to since that day at his house where she ran off like a total baby.

Cora just sighed.

She tuned back into the conversation just in time to see Astro looking at her expectantly.

“What?”

Astro only stared at her for a moment, his expression growing concerned. “Are you alright?” He asked carefully.

She scowled, how could such a simple question bring up such nasty emotions in her? “Fine,” she grounded out.

Astro didn’t look convinced. “About the other day…”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Maybe she wasn’t really angry with Astro but that didn’t stop her from feeling betrayed.

“Right, gotcha.” Astro looked down awkwardly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He paused for a moment looking unsure about how to continue before he started again, “At least, are you doing okay?”

Cora wants to be. “Astro I…” With a sudden blast the five minute warning bell rings and the students around her begin to swarm, each pushing through the small hallway to make it to their classroom. “I guess we should go to class.” But she couldn’t make herself turn away just yet.

Astro furrowed his brow but didn't let confusion betray his voice. “Alright. I’ll see you at lunch.” And with that he let the current of the students pull the two of them apart.

***

The first part of the school day was exactly what she expected. Boring, tedious, and—did she mention boring?

It was also a bit of a mess if she was honest. Doubling the number of students per room wasn’t exactly great for a cohesive school lesson. And due to a shortage in classrooms her class had to rotate outside while another group came inside. This might have been a functional system if the teachers were anywhere near prepared for the new setup. They weren’t.

At least she didn’t end up with the same teacher as Astro, she didn’t think she was ready to finish their conversation.

With a final few remarks her new teacher released them for lunch. Cora could only sighed gratefully despite it meaning that she was only halfway through the day. She was ready to go home and forget about school.

One thing she would not miss about the surface was the cuisine. Even the worst food the school cafeteria had to offer was significantly better than eating out of the trash. It might be a pretty close win for this lunch Cora thought as she looked at the spread of mysterious mushes before her. Stepping away from the caf line Cora caught sight of Zane and Astro who were reserving their group a table.

Zane waved her over, while Astro sat beside him looking his part despondent. He was slumped over the table mournfully tracing the lines of the wood as Cora slid into a spot across from the two. “Where’s Widget and Sludge?”

“The younger kids eat in the other caf.” Zane said through a bite of food chomping down just a bit too loudly. Cora rolled her eyes. Boys. “This school stuff is nothing like they show on TV—way less drama, we all introduced ourselves and made hand turkeys, it's great.”

Figures that Zane somehow managed to make being in toddler jail sound like fun. Astro sighed just a bit too loudly and Cora wanted to roll her eyes again. Boys. “Quit the pity party already.” Astro jolted upright, protest already on his lips.

Before he could interject Zane let out a laugh, “You’re one to talk.”

Cora spun to Zane, “What?”

“You’ve been mopey all week.” Zane said, taking a break from stuffing food into his mouth to actually look at her.

“I am not mopey.”

“I guess I just thought school would be different.” Astro interrupted them. He was still looking down at the table, eyes locked on his hands. Cora almost winced, she forgot that this wasn’t just Zane’s first day of school but Astro’s too. He just seemed like the type of kid who would breeze through all the social school crap.

Should she comfort him? She wasn’t any good at that but she should say something, right? “Astro—”

“Tobio?” Someone interjected. Cora feels her eyes widen and the three of them turn to see two girls facing their table, hair neatly styled.

“See, it is him,” a girl with a large hair clip whispered loudly before the other girl could shush her.

The second girl straightens her back, ponytail bouncing as she does so. Cora narrows her eyes, she didn’t like the look on Ponytail’s face—she was on the hunt for some gossip. Cora looked over to Astro, his eyes weren’t wide with shock or even surprise, just a resignation that she had never seen on him. He looked tired.

Zane spoke first, “No Tobios here.”

“What do you mean? That's Tobio right there,” hair clip girl said, confusion evident in her voice.

Astro looked away, back down at the table. He hadn’t taken any food from the caf line, Cora suddenly noticed, the table in front of him stretching out startlingly empty.

“This is Astro,” Zane enunciated slowly, as if the girl had hit her head one time too many and needed the extra time to process simple information.

“Right,” Ponytail’s voice was cautiously skeptical, evidently not buying a word Zane said. “Anyway, where have you been the last couple months? Did you go on a trip with your Dad again? It's been too long since we caught up.” She slid into the seat next to Astro and Hair Clip did the same. Cora couldn’t help but stare. Was this one of Tobio’s friends? She realized she was surprised—somehow she never considered that there was anyone else but Tenma in Tobio’s life.

“I, uh…” Astro looked profoundly uncomfortable. Cora reevaluated, not sure if his discomfort was from being accosted by Tobio’s friends or by someone who was definitely not Tobio’s friend. She decided to cut in.

“He’s been on the surface with us.” Both the girls seemed to forget about Astro, attention turning to her and Zane.

“Really?” Hair clip said, her mouth forming a perfect o in awe. “That’s really cool.”

“You’re the kids from the surface?” Ponytail asked, a quizzical eyebrow raised as she seemed to size them up, her and Zane suddenly becoming much more interesting. Cora paused, getting the feeling that anything she told them would end up circulating the school’s gossip circles for the next couple weeks. Maybe she should tell the girl to screw off before they got what they wanted—Tobio’s maybe-friend or otherwise.

Before she could decide Zane jumped back into the conversation, “Yeah, that’s us. How do you guys know Astro?”

“Tob—I mean Astro and us were in the same class last year.” Hair clip smiled, “But you are from the surface? How cool!”

Zane pointedly ignored Hair clip’s not so indiscreet redirect. “Oh, I thought this was your first time at school.” Zane said, looking over to Astro again.

Astro looked down, “Well, uh.”

Ponytail looked at Astro, eyebrow raised, “What kind of story did you tell these guys?” She turned back to Zane, “He and I have been going to the same school since kindergarten.”

“Akemi can you just leave it,” Astro had turned to face Ponytail, face set in a deep scowl. Cora didn’t think she had ever seen him scowl before.

Akemi just scoffed, “What's going on Tobio? You show up to school after disappearing for months and act like nothing happened.”

“Don’t call me that.” Astro's face was flushed an angry red as he glared down at the table.

“You can call yourself whatever name you want but it is not going to change the fact that something is up with you, Tobio.”

“I told you I’m not Tobio! Tobio is—” Astro looked at Cora, eyes wide with shock like his outburst had surprised even him. Before Cora could say a word, Astro was gone.

***

The grass crunched beneath the heel of her boots, the sound almost melodic to her ears, the windup of her leg, the touchdown of her boot, the grass letting out a final cry before the whole process repeated itself once again. It was satisfying to have something she had control over, something that wouldn’t explode at the slightest provocation.

Astro wasn’t her responsibility, he was her friend, yet she couldn’t help but feel like she should have done something more today. Maybe she could have helped if she had seen he was struggling earlier. This wasn’t something they could put off any longer. It was time to talk.

Cora entered the Metro City graveyard. The sign hung above her slightly crooked, she briefly wondered if it had been like that for years or if it had come askew when the city fell from the sky. She let the thought slip to the side as she headed towards the area of the yard which held the newest interments, the grass gradually shifted from a coarse yellow to a soft green. The trees above her swayed gently in the breeze. She came to a stop as she saw a familiar figure.

Before her, Astro sat on sprouting grass, dappled light scattered sunbeams about the gravestone that loomed in front of him. Cora wanted to say he almost looked peaceful there among the memorials to people long gone. Or people not so gone in his case. Astro’s back was turned to her, blocking her view of his face. She moved closer.

“How long have you known?” His voice sounded resigned, defeated in a way that he had never heard from him before.

Cora crossed her arms across her chest and looked down at the ground. Fresh grass sprouted out of the newly turned dirt around where Astro sat. She had never wanted to pry into his life, but she couldn’t unopen that box. “A couple days.”

“Oh.” They sat in silence for a few moments. Cora stood awkwardly behind Astro, his back still turned to her. He didn’t move to face her.

Astro shifts in his spot on the ground. “I’m sorry, I should have told you before.” Cora couldn’t see his face but she could see him turn to look down at his hands. They fidgeted restlessly. “I knew it was gonna all come out eventually but I just—” Astro stopped, in that moment she couldn’t help but think he sounded profoundly sad. Astro finished collecting his thoughts and continued, “I just didn’t want it to.”

Cora says nothing.

“When I first woke up I was so confused. I had all these memories floating around in my head but none of them felt like my own. I mean I could remember doing all these things but they all felt so distant, like I was watching through someone else’s eyes. I guess cause I was.”

“But then Dad brought me home and everything was okay but… it was all off. I would go to bed with my shoes on. Who does that? But I knew that if I tried to take them off I would know. I would know for real.”

Astro shifted in his seat for a moment, cicadas chirping gently in the distance. “Tobio didn’t have any friends. It was always just him and Dad and I don’t think he has come back here since the funeral. I didn’t know Tobio, not really but…” Astro trailed off for a moment, eyes glistening, “I just don’t think he’d want to be alone. He was for too much of his life.”

It was really beautiful here. The birds above sung a song, the wind whispering through the trees. Locks of golden light fell to the ground curling around tree trunks and gravestones. Cora could see why Astro would want to come here.

Astro turned around and Cora saw a flash of the gravestone, the name Tobio Tenma inscribed in stone. She could paint a picture of that moment. Astro strewn on the grass his eyes glistening in the waning sunlight, the gravestone a somber grey, its dark shadow lurking behind him. A dead boy’s face mourning over the dead boy’s grave.

“Are you mad at me?”

The soft wind blew against her face tousling her hair. Cora sat down beside Astro—she didn’t look at him, the both of them now facing the gravestone. “I wish you told me.”

“I’m sor—”

“I know you are!” she couldn’t help but snap, suddenly angry. “This whole time I didn’t know you were struggling. You are always there to listen to me when I need to talk to someone but you have been hiding this whole side of yourself from me again. Did you not trust me?

Astro looked away, “No, I just didn’t want you to—I don't know,” he pressed his eyes shut. “I guess I just felt like I could just be me around you. Without Tobio.”

Cora let out a breath and reminded herself that she shouldn’t be mad. Not at him. “You can talk to me, we’re friends.”

“I—” Astro stopped for a moment, face furrowing into a frown before he continued, “Right.”

Except for the evening cicadas, silence swallowed the air once more. The sun began to set in the distance, its darkening rays reached out to brush them as they sat together in the empty cemetery.

Astro pulled his legs up to his chest, he didn’t look at her. “I never felt like I was living his life until today.” He started off shakily, “Before I came to the surface I just thought that I was him. Dad said I was and I believed him, even though it didn’t feel right. But that was when it was just me and him and there was no one else around to tell me otherwise. And then I was at Hamegg’s and I was just able to just be me. No one had any expectations about who I was or who I was supposed to be. But today…” Astro hugs his legs closer to his chest. “Everyone looked at me and saw someone else. It was awful.”

Astro pulled himself inward. He looked so small sitting there next to the grave. Its hulking structure seemed too big for a kid. “Tobio’s is gone and no one even noticed. How is that fair?”

“Ponytail noticed.” Cora said softly.

Astro uncurled himself to turn to face her, confusion evident on his face. “What?”

Cora's face turned red, “I mean—the girl from earlier, she seemed like she—” Cora tried to come up with a kind way to describe Ponytail, “—cared.”

“Oh, right. That was nice of her.” Astro considered the girl for a moment. “Akemi and Tobio weren’t friends—not really—but it was still nice.”

Cora wasn’t sure if she would ever use the word ‘nice’ in the same sentence as Ponytail especially after that fiasco but she let it go.

Astro seemed a little looser now, gesturing emphatically as he continued, “The worst part is I feel like I have been stealing from him. We have the same Dad, the same room, the same face, the same school. I can take his whole life and no one would even figure it out! I don’t want that!” Astro screwed up his face and looked away from the gravestone, something dark flashing in his eyes before the tension left his body and he sunk back into the grass, head resting on his knees. “I never did,” he whispered, “I just wanted the chance to be me.”

Cora thought about how her parents never were around. She thought how even when they were they never seemed to see her. To really see her. She looked down at the grass to see fresh shoots reaching up to grasp at the sunlight,“I get that.”

Astro’s face scrunched up in confusion before he could stop it. “I just mean that—” Cora interrupted before he could ask.

“I didn’t—” she started off shakily, the words catching in her mouth. “I didn’t really ever have any friends up here. My family didn’t really have much growing up. So my parents were always busy with work so they could provide for me I guess. And it did in the end. They got raises and promotions and we moved to a better area of town and all a sudden they always had these expectations for me. Do this, do that. Behave this way. They never really saw me.”

She hunched over, for a moment she couldn’t help but want to be anywhere but here. “I guess I thought if I left they finally might notice me for me.”

Cora shifted uncomfortably. People back at Hamegg’s had known that she had been a runaway but she had never told anyone why. “I just want you to know I get it.”

She glanced over at Astro and saw that he was looking at her with his big stupid eyes. She looked away.

“My Dad loves me.” he said, suddenly, desperately, like he needed to let it out. Like he needed it to be true.

“Mine do too.”

Astro and Cora sat there for a moment, the silence filling the air between them. The sun was dipping below the horizon, it emanated a brilliant red as it drifted downwards. Night would fall soon.

“We should probably go soon.” Astro’s voice broke the quiet of the dusk.

“Yeah,” Cora said. She didn’t move. He didn’t either.

“Hey Astro,” she started. The boy turned to look at her. “We’ll figure this out,” she promised. She wasn’t sure how but they were gonna make it all work out.

Astro smiled back at her, it was a tired hurt smile, but it was real. “Thanks.”

The pair of them sat in the dying light, darkness consuming the graveyard once more. Tonight they would have to go to back to their homes and parents but for now they could just sit together in the waning light and watch as the horizon swallowed the sun.