Even before his alarm clock violently jolted to life, Hiro was awake, sitting up on his bed and staring out his window. It was early enough that San Fransokyo's streets were quiet under a soft blanket of morning light.
Hiro stood up with a kind of sigh. If someone had asked him how he felt at that moment, he would have had a hard time answering. Nervous? A little. Excited? Very. So much so that he'd have been bouncing off the walls, except...
It was his first day at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. A day he'd dreamed of countless times. But...
Tadashi won't be there. And, thought Hiro, looking over at the red charging pod that still lay in the corner, neither will Baymax.
Then, as he so often did, Hiro imagined what his brother would have said in response. "Hey, knucklehead! It's your first day at nerd school! Stop moping. Go out there and tackle it!" The picture felt so real that Hiro could see his brother's expression softening. "I know it's hard, buddy. But remember: Baymax and I will always be with you."
That's exactly what Tadashi would have said, Hiro realised, and the thought made him smile. Okay, knucklehead, he responded silently.
~~~
Hiro made his way downstairs to find a brown paper bag sitting on the table, with a note written on the front. After graduating high school at thirteen, he had barely set foot into another school for months, so he had pretty much forgotten the comforting feeling of finding a packed lunch with a handwritten note.
Aunt Cass never knew if she was going to be busy in the cafe, so she made it a point to leave each boy a note every morning--but Hiro was up unusually early today. He grabbed the bag and ran down to the cafe.
Hearing her nephew coming down the stairs, Aunt Cass turned from arranging little cat-shaped buns on a bakery tray. "Well, you're up early, sweetie! Why don't you sit down and I'll whip up a few pancakes." She headed to the cafe's kitchen, but Hiro raced ahead and stopped her. "I have a better idea. Why don't I help you get the cafe ready, and then we can get those pancakes together!"
"You sure, Hiro? Don't you have anything else to prepare for school?" Aunt Cass began, but Hiro had already stuck his head in the fridge and grabbed a pack of strawberries to wash for the cafe's breakfast smoothies.
For the next hour the two Hamadas worked together, refilling the cookie jars, polishing up the glass bakery cases, and debating over what to do with the last of the butterscotch chips. To Hiro, it felt surprisingly good. He and Tadashi used to help out regularly every morning, but as they grew up it kind of fell to the sidelines. Despite pulling all-nighters to finish college projects, Tadashi still tried to pitch in every once in a while, but Hiro was usually too exhausted by late-night bot fights to even think about waking up early.
Hiro was glad his brother had pulled him out of that. And he was glad that he could do what Tadashi would have done, even if he would have given anything to have his brother--always glaringly cheerful in the mornings--by his side.
Finally Aunt Cass straightened up, tipping her cutting board and letting the sliced bananas slide into an empty bowl. "I think we're about finished here, honey. How about those pancakes?"
After a satisfying pancake breakfast, during which Hiro was allowed to have as much syrup as he wanted, Aunt Cass said, "I'll roll up the blinds and open the shop. I suggest you run along and get ready for school. Are you going to put on that new hoodie?"
"Sure," Hiro answered, already halfway out of the cafe.
"I'm so proud and happy for you, baby!" Aunt Cass called. "Have an amazing day!"
Back upstairs, Hiro pulled his brand new blue SFIT hoodie, rumpling his hair even more in the process. He stood for a while in the mirror, ignoring his hair (he knew from experience that it was hopeless to tame it) and admiring the enormous round SFIT logo plastered on his chest. Most of his books had been packed the night before, but then he'd also decided to read a little ahead since he'd missed three-quarters of a term and waited it out till the start of the next one. So had to clear the ballpoint pens, crumpled paper, and potato chip crumbs that seemed to gravitate towards him off his robotics text before he could slip it into his old backpack, and then he couldn't resist reading a little more since he had time to spare. After lacing up his blue sneakers, Hiro stood up, straightening one of his beloved childhood robot toys that had moved out of its place on the display shelf.
Then, on impulse, he picked up Tadashi's old blue baseball cap from where it sat on his brother's empty bed. He didn't feel worthy or ready to wear it--not yet--but it made him feel as though a little piece of his brother was coming with him to "nerd school."
Skipping down the stairs, Hiro grinned as he noticed the cafe was quickly filling up--Aunt Cass's fantastic pastries had gained quite a reputation in San Fransokyo. His grin grew wider as he spotted his friends--Wasabi, Honey, Go Go, and Fred--sitting at a table. He walked up to them, giving them a quick wave . "Hey!"
"Hey!" Honey said excitedly, as the gang looked up from their coffee cups (on the house, despite their protests) to greet the latest arrival. "Want to walk today? We're really early and the weather is beautiful!"
"Sure!" Hiro answered as Aunt Cass turned from delivering a hot doughnut to table two to give him a goodbye hug. He broke away after a few seconds, but then plunged into her arms again, saying "Last hug" and breathing in the homey scent of her perfume combined with coffee and butter. A little teary, she watched her baby nephew all the way to the door.
~~~
The five teenagers took their time walking to school, soaking in the spring sunlight softened by the blooming branches of cherry trees. Hiro hung back a little as Go Go argued with Wasabi over Dewey decimals and Fred tried to explain the plot of his latest comic book to a slightly confused Honey, wondering if he'd ever fully take in that these amazing people were his friends. And it's all because of Tadashi, he said inside. It would be perfect if only he...Hiro stopped himself before he went too far. He'd gotten to the point where he could think about his brother without a stabbing pain in his chest and instead appreciate what Tadashi had done for him, but wishing...wishing and "what if's" and "if only's" would never get him anywhere.
Hiro looked up to notice that the rest of the group was several steps ahead, and he dashed past them so he could reach the Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab first. The sleek, teardrop-shaped building glinted in the sun, sending beams of light bouncing over all the surroundings. One just so happened to fall on the stairs, and made a perfect path to the door of the lab. Wanting to snicker at his own sappiness, Hiro stepped a little to the left so he could follow it. It felt like a new beginning. A new beginning...exactly what he needed after months of pain, turmoil, and upheaval.
art by jim martin
Then his friends caught up with him, Fred made a bad joke at Wasabi's expense, and Hiro broke from his reverie to race Go Go up the stairs. (He lost.)
Notes:
1. Information about Hiro's class schedules and stuff in the later chapters comes from the lovely Hiro's Journal published by Disney (a great read for fans, by the way).
2. New fic, guys! So excited!
3. Not sure why Blogger is making the fonts different colours...the OCD part of me is not pleased. >.<
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