Chapter Text
Hiro Hamada was thrilled at his success. The presentation blew everyone out of the water!
Hiro jumped down from the stairs just in time to meet his brother's fist bump. "Nailed it!"
As everyone came over, Fred threw his hands up in the air. "You just blew my mind dude!"
Honey Lemon swept the young genius up into a hug before gently putting him down. "They loved you! That was amazing"
As Tadashi messed with his hair, they heard a new voice travel to them. "Yes, with some development, your tech could be revolutionary."
Hiro looked up at the billionaire in awe. "Alistair Krei!"
Krei smiled gently and politely reached out a hand. "May I?"
After realizing that he was still staring, the younger Hamada blushed and fumbled at his jacket pocket till he found the microbot that was nestled in there and handed it over.
Krei took it and examined it with a hum of fascination. "Extraordinary." He looks back down at the 14 year old. "I want your microbots at Krei Tech!"
Hiro was stunned. "Shut. Up." He was about to agree immediately when yet another voice spoke up.
"Mr. Krei is right. Your microbots are an inspired piece of tech." The professor says as he comes to a stop right beside Krei. "You can continue to develop them, or you can sell them to a man whose only guided by his own self interest."
Krei rolls his eyes. "Robert, I know how you feel about me, but it shouldn't effect-"
"This is your decision Hiro, but you should know that Mr. Krei has cut corners and has ignored sound science to get where he is." Professor Callaghan interrupts.
Krei sighs and looks back at the teen. "That's just not true-"
"I wouldn't trust Krei Tech with your microbots." Callaghan interrupts again, glaring up the small height difference between them. "Or anything else."
Krei closes his eyes and brings his hands together as he opens them again. "Hiro. I'm offering you more money then anything a fourteen year old could imagine. In fact-" He frowns at Callaghan. "I am willing to make you an even better offer. Impress me even more, and you can join my company. Great minds like yours are exactly what Krei Tech needs." He smiles benignly and places a hand on Hiro's shoulder.
Hiro feels a thrill go through him at the touch of the hand on his shoulder. Krei is touching me! Krei is actually touching me! Goes on like a mantra through his head. He pretends to think about it as Tadashi walks up and stands protectively behind him. "I appreciate the offer Mr. Krei..." He looks over at Professor Callaghan nervously. "And... I would like to accept your offer."
Most of the group has a shocked look on their faces, but the most startling one is Callaghan's. He was glaring at him, but seeing him catch his stare, he smooths his face into a softer look of disappointment. "I... thought that you were smarter than that. Krei." He glares one last time at Krei before stalking away.
Krei smirks at the professor before bringing his attention back to the unsettled boy infront of him, handing him his microbot back and his personal card. "I look forward to seeing you again." He smiles kindly at the younger Hamada and nods at everyone else. The billionaire starts to walk away before stopping and addressing Hiro once again. "Thank you," Hiro looks up, startled. "for not believing Callaghan's words about me." He smiles again and makes his way out of the building.
Everyone else makes their way outside as well. While they were a little disappointed that Hiro wouldn't be joining them at SFIT, they were mollified by the fact that Hiro said that if he gets the job, he would visit at much as he could. In fact, he needed to borrow their lab for the project that he was going to impress Krei with. They agreed, but Hiro had to promise to let them help out.
After they opened the doors that led outside, Aunt Cass brought herself up to the front of the group. "Alright people! How about some dinner? Let's feed those hungry brains cause dinner is on meeee~!" She strikes a pose at the end of that. The Nerd Herd let out various sounds of excitement.
Fred jumped forward as the group continued to the car. "Yes! Nothing is better than free food! Unless it's moldy!"
Tadashi chuckled and stops with Hiro. "Aunt Cass? We'll, uh, we'll catch up, ok?"
"Sure!" She looks at them before lunging to tackle Hiro into a hug then bringing Tadashi into it with her other arm. "I'm so proud of you! Urrrgh! Both of you!" Both of the Hamada brothers laugh as their aunt catches up with the group.
Tadashi jerks his head over to the small bridge leading to the college and heading over there. As Tadashi leans against the wooden rails, Hiro comes up beside him. "I know what you're gonna say. 'Even if I'm disappointed that you're not going to college with me, I'm glad that you are finally using your gift for something important!'"
Tadashi smirks and shrugs nonchalantly. "No! No, I was just going to tell you that your fly was down the entire show."
“Ha ha, hilarious.” Hiro mocks as he leans against the railing as well. Like he wouldn't have noticed... He looks down. “WHAT!?” He scrambles for his zipper and fixes it. He wacks Tadashi in the shoulder afterward.
Tadashi yells out and laughs. Attempting to shield himself from his brother. After a moment they settle down and go back to watching the view. “I hope you like your nerd job... Nerd.” Tadashi says as he smiles down at his younger brother.
Hiro smiles and shakes his head. “Hey, I wouldn't even have been here if it wasn't for you so, you know, thanks for not giving up on me.”
Tadashi smiles back, but then an alarm went off back at the show case building followed by panicked screams. They both look up, alarmed, and rush back to the building where they can see a bright orange glow coming from around the bushes.
It's a terrible type of magnificence. The haunting orange glow coming from the flames that consume the once fine structure. Plumes of smoke rise from high broken windows. People are screaming and falling over themselves in an effort to distance themselves from the burning building. Tadashi and Hiro stop to gape at the scene before them before the elder Hamada brother hurries forward to catch a lady who was having trouble getting away. “Are you okay!?”
The woman nods but points back toward the flames. “Yeah, yeah I'm okay, b-but Professor Callaghan is still in there!” She keeps on running after that.
The brothers watch here leave, then Tadashi turns and heads toward the flaming entrance. Hiro panics and rushes to grab a hold of his arm, keeping him from going any further. “Tadashi, no!”
Tadashi jerks to a stop and gives Hiro a helpless look, then gives the burning building the same before turning back. “Callaghan's in there. Someone has to help.” These were his parting word as he rips his arm from Hiro's clutch and dashes for the fiery entrance and inside.
Hiro whips his head around, seeing the people that are far away, watching the once magnificent building burn. He sees Tadashi's hat float to the ground before him and moves to pick it up and run after his brother, but then everything explodes.
MM~HH~AK
The funeral was almost unbearable. It never stopped raining and the emptiness in his chest just wouldn't go away. As soon as they came back to the cafe, Hiro slowly trudged up the stairs and sat at the top, hanging his head as he did so.
Why? Why did Tadashi have to go into that building? He knew that it was only a matter of time before it came down!
WHY!?
WHY wHY WhY!?!? He could keep on asking himself that. Why. It wasn't like anyone was going to answer.
__________________________________________________
By the time he started to smell tea wafting up the stairs, he had decided to do something, anything, to try and distract himself from that horrible ache inside. He got up and walked the rest of the way to his room, shedding his monochromatic attire as he went.
He stopped when he saw something white fall out of his jacket pocket and flutter to the ground. The last Hamada bent down and picked it up. It was Alistair Krei's personal business card. And just like that, some of the aching in his chest eased the slightest bit. That's it, he'll just work on his project for Krei! And he did.
It was finished in a month. A month of working until his fingers felt as if they were about to fall off and there was a constant churning hunger in his belly. But it had all paid off because it was finished. As he gathered his project and put it into it's case, his eyes caught a video message indication on his computer. Hiro frowned and clicked on it. It was the Nerd Herd. “Hey Hiro. Just wanted to check in and see how you're doing.” Honey Lemon spoke up first. Then it was Wasabi. “Wish you were here buddy.” Next it was Fred. “Hiro, If I were a superhero right now, the only power I'd wish to have would be the ability to crawl through this camera, and give you a big hug-” Hiro turned the computer off. The motion sent Megabot tumbling off of his desk and slamming right onto his foot.
“Argh!” He yelled out as he flailed and hopped toward his bed. He sat down and tried to rub the soreness away. “Ow...” Across his room and into Tadashi's, a light flared in a circle on Baymax's casing, followed by the robot nurse activating.
He inflated himself and met Hiro's gaze when he turned around. He then looked down and lifted his long arms as he shuffled sideways and an attempt to get out of the cramped space next to Tadashi's bed, thus causing most of the books on the late Hamada's bookshelf to fall. Once the healthcare companion finally freed himself, he toddled over to the gaping Japanese boy. “Hello, I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion.”
Hiro shook himself and blinked a few times. “H-hey, um, Baymax. I didn't know you were still... active.” The last part he said with a small shrug.
Baymax tilted his head down with a whir and blinked. “I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the trouble?”
Hiro looked away and shrugged again. “Oh, I just stubbed my toe a little. I'm fine.”
With that, Baymax straightened up and had his chest light up with the screen on ten different faces for levels of pain. “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”
Hiro stared at the robot for a moment before answering and standing up. “Uuuh, a zero? I-I'm okay, really. Thanks, you can shrink now.”
Instead of doing just that, he walked over and bent down, trying to poke at his foot. “Does it hurt when I touch it?”
“No, no, no, no. No touching, just go-” The last part of that was cut off by him tripping and falling over. He then got stuck in the spot between his bed and desk. He sighed. He really needed to go and present this to Krei.
Baymax waddled over and looked down at him. “You have fallen.”
Hiro made a face at the large marshmallow. “Ya think?”
He tried to grab a hold of his shelf to pull himself up, but it broke under his weight, making all of the bots on his shelf slide and fall right onto him. Throughout all of this, Baymax kept on trying to ask him how high his pain was. Hiro sighed in aggravation. “Zero. I'm fine.”
This must go over Baymax's head as he leans over to pick him up. “It is alright to cry. Crying is a natural response to pain.” It's like he can't hear Hiro muttering 'no' in the background.
“I am not crying!” He squirms out of the bot's hold.
“I will scan you for any possible injuries.”
The young genius furrows his brow and points a finger at the robot nurse. “No scanning.”
Baymax looks him up and down quickly. “Scan complete.”
The boy throws up his hands. “Unbelievable.”
“You have sustained no injuries. However, your hormone and neural transmitter levels indicate that you are experiencing mood swings, common in adolescence. Diagnosis;” Baymax holds up a finger. “Puberty.”
Hiro's go wide as he waves his arms around. “Whoa, whoa, what?! Okay, time to shrink now!”
Baymax's gaze follows Hiro as he goes and gets the robot's charging port. “You are to expect an increase in body hair. Especially on your face, chest, armpits, and-”
Before he can finish, Hiro butts in, placing the port infront of the robot. “Whoa, thank you! That's enough!”
As the boy continues to crawl all over him, Baymax continues. “You may also endure powerful new urges.”
“Okay, let's get you back into your luggage!” Hiro exclaims as he tries to push Baymax's head down.
Baymax's voice is slightly muffled when he replies. “I cannot deactivate until you say that you are satisfied with your care.”
The fourteen year old has had enough of this. “Fine, I am satisfied with my- Whoa!” He gets cut off as he falls off of Baymax and lands face first onto the floor. As he opens his eyes with a grimace, he sees something moving around in his jacket's pocket. He blinks in confusion as he reaches out and drags it from out of there. He reaches in and stands up at the same time. He pulls out one of his microbots squirming around in his hand. “My microbot? This doesn't make any sense...”
As he finishes that statement, Baymax comes back over. “Puberty can be a confusing time for a young flowering adolescent into manhood.”
Hiro could see that he was trying to be supportive, but he shot that down. “No, t-the thing's attracted to the other microbots. That's impossible, the others were destroyed in the fire.” He grabbed a petri dish on his desk and places the microbot inside and closes it. “Dumb thing's broken.” He shrugs and moves to pick up his case again.
Baymax looks at Hiro, then goes to pick up the petri dish with the microbot gently clinking against the side continuously inside. He turns in different directions, observing the way the microbot kept on going in one direction. Hiro sees this on his way to the door and arches his brow curiously. Baymax backs up to where Hiro is infront of the door and looks at him. “Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere.”
The boy thinks about it but no. He has to get this project into Krei first and foremost. “Yeah, I can see that, but I really need to get my project to Krei first.”
Baymax tilts his head. “Will taking this project to Krei stabilize your pubescent mood swings?”
He follows Hiro down as he makes his way downstairs. “Uh huh. Absolutely.” He answers, not really listening anymore. The crate was kind of heavy. Once he came down the stairs and evaded Aunt Cass and she went by, and the door closed on his squeaky vinyl casing on his arm, that he finally noticed that Baymax was following him. “Baymax? You know you don't have to come, right? I'll be okay on my own.”
The large robot patiently waits as Hiro frees one hand to help pull him out of the door. “You had replied that taking your project to Krei will help. I am merely helping you archive that goal.”
Hiro sighed and turned back around once Baymax was free. “Well, then follow me and don't get lost. I don't have the time to go searching the entire city for your marshmallow butt.” He looked both ways before crossing the street.
Baymax blinked and looks behind him at said butt. “I have been told that it is a 'rather fabulous butt indeed'.” A laugh bursts out of Hiro before he can stop it. This robot is something else.