illustration by jin kim
Summary: Hiro's first day at "Nerd School."
~Chapter Three: Cutting Edge~
Hiro followed behind Wasabi, swept up in the cheery clamour of students wearing paths in the halls. He caught snippets of conversation: "but if you use hydrophobic polymers" from a brunette with bright red headphones around her neck, "this might help reduce drag" from a tall man who sported a completely bald head. On the way to the lunch room, Hiro peeked into the labs, intrigued by frisbee-throwing robots and translucent fabric that was currently stretched out on a frame with two goggled scientists pouring liquid onto it. The spirit of innovation here--on the very cutting edge of science and technology--was practically palpable, and Hiro drank the atmosphere up eagerly. Sure, he'd been here before, but never as a student, always as an outsider looking in. Today--today he was actually part of the thrilling flood of brilliant people and inventions and ideas.
"Hiro!" Honey cried excitedly, leaning across the table over her plate. "How was it? Did you have fun?"
"It was great," Hiro answered, zipping open his backpack. "This place is amazing."
"Do you want to get something?" Wasabi asked, taking out a metal lunchbox and opening it to reveal neatly compartmentalized seedless orange slices, uniformly cut celery sticks, and a PB&J sandwich with the crusts sliced off at right angles. "Or did you bring your own food?"
Hiro stifled a laugh at Wasabi's perfect meal. "Aunt Cass packed me a lunch," he said, pulling out the brown paper bag and looking in. "Onigiri, a banana...oh, and cookies to share."
"Aw yes!" Fred yelled, pumping his arm in the air and attracting not a small number of stares. Most of the people just kind of turned back to their lunches, though, once they saw that it was just the school mascot at it again.
"These are amazing, Hiro!" exclaimed Honey, biting into a chewy chocolate chip cookie. "Like your aunt's always are, of course."
Fred nodded in agreement. "And maybe they'll sweeten Go Go up. She's been a grump today."
As if to prove his point, Go Go angrily speared a piece of sashimi. "I said no, Fred."
"Come on, Go Go! How do you know you won't like it? I bet you'll have a great time! Just think about it. Please?" Fred did his best puppy eyes, but persuasion of any kind was pretty much impossible with Go Go. Even if--especially if--you tried to do the puppy eyes.
"I have thought about it. My answer is no."
Noting Hiro's confused expression, Honey explained, "Fred is trying to get her to go to a con with him. A...convention. A comic convention. He says that she looks a lot like one of the characters...what was the name? Haiku? Harajuku? No, that's the street..."
"Haiaku," Fred quickly filled in. "Plus she's totally awesome and can fight super well, so I don't see why Go Go is so against the idea. I'm going as Salamanowar, so it'd be great to have Go Go come as Haiaku." Turning to the Korean girl, who was furiously chewing, he wheedled, "Hey, look. I'll even pay you. I know you still need to work on your bike handlebars. How about it?"
Go Go swallowed and shot Fred a scathing look, causing him to move back in his chair a little, cowed. "Do you really think I'd give up my dignity for money?"
"Aw, man, Go Go, no need to make it so dramatic..." Fred trailed off as Go Go continued to glare at him. "Okay, okay, whatever. I'll let it rest."
Leaning over to Hiro and Wasabi, Honey whispered, "If I know them, it'll go on for weeks. Or at least until the con's over."
~~~
Hiro had a blast at lunchtime (even if he did get a couple of bruises when Wasabi kicked him for egging the bickering Fred and Go Go on) and he felt a little sorry it was over. At the same time, however, he couldn't wipe his ridiculous grin off his face, because he would be having lunch with these nerds for the next few years. And he was really looking forward to his last class of the day, too--Aerial Robotics.
He wouldn't have any of his friends in the class this time, but by now he felt pretty ready to tackle anything the rest of the day might throw his way.
At that moment his phone beeped, and Hiro opened a message from Aunt Cass, kind of surprised she had actually resisted the temptation to text him for this long.
how's it going, honey? can't wait to hear everything when you get back! hot wings will be waiting!
Smiling at his aunt's practice of always celebrating with favourite foods, Hiro answered:
terrific! your cookies really went down well. fred demands mor
Hiro suddenly collided heavily with the robotics lab door. "Ow!" he cried, cursing his ill-timed fixation on his phone. "Ow," he said more softly, rubbing his shoulder.
If Baymax had been here, he'd have activated. Probably scanned him for injuries even if it was no big deal. Maybe offered him a lollipop (although Hiro had told him he preferred gummy bears). And again, as with every time these memories rushed back, Hiro was reminded that if the pain wasn't as raw, it was still just as real.
He'd struggled with guilt after Tadashi died, even though he couldn't have done anything to save him. But Baymax's death (if he could even call it that, Baymax wasn't technically alive) could have been so easily prevented if only he'd taken that chip out...
If only. Those two little words were keeping him trapped in the past. "Stop. Just stop," Hiro said to himself. "Baymax wouldn't want you to do this. He'd want you to enjoy your last class of your first day. Mental health is important, remember? Keep those neurotransmitter levels up."
Baymax probably wouldn't have put it quite like that, but it did make Hiro feel better. He took a deep breath and opened the lab door.
Hiro had to work a little at it, but it didn't take long for him to plunge completely into the lesson at hand. Professor Roe, a kindly man with mussed brown hair, showed the class various examples of flying robots used in the service industry that set Hiro's mind racing. He immediately fell in love with the idea of flying waiter drones (not least because it would lessen his work at the cafe) and snapped a picture to show Aunt Cass, who promptly replied with several very valid safety concerns and an admonishment to stop texting in class. Shaking his head good-humouredly, Hiro added that to the list of ideas for improving the Lucky Cat Cafe that his aunt had rejected, still bemoaning the demise of the Hamada Caffeination Delivery System.
As if to make up for it, though, another of Hiro's ideas found an avid supporter in Professor Roe.
concept art by jim martin
Just as a sort of friendly joke, since he'd warmed to the man so much, Hiro remarked off-handedly as he left the classroom, "you know, I made my cat fly once."
To his surprise, Roe called him back immediately, a glint in his eye. "Say that again, Mr. Hamada. Or Hiro--can I call you Hiro?"
"I...made my cat fly once?" Hiro said with a shrug. "And yes, sir, of course you can call me Hiro."
Roe grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started scribbling. "So what did you use?" he asked eagerly, adjusting his glasses. "Was it a simple glide, or did you use engines? Propellers?"
"Rocket boots, actually," Hiro explained, leaning over to sketch a diagram. "Mochi had the time of his life, but I don't think my aunt was impressed."
Fifteen minutes later, Hiro left the room with his professor's phone number, surprised and gratified at the man's interest, but also slightly alarmed at the almost manic enthusiasm he'd shown.
"You have some very fascinating ideas, Hiro!" Roe called out from where he was finishing up the last of his notes."I look forward to working with you in the future!"
Hiro walked up to where his friends were waiting. "What was that all about?" Go Go asked, lifting an eyebrow quizzically.
"He loves my hover-cat!" Hiro burst out, and then started to laugh hysterically. "I can't believe it. You know those flying boots that I put on Mochi when I was little? He loves the idea. I don't know what he's going to do with it." He stopped mid-laugh to his friends' confused--and very concerned--faces.
"What? Is something wrong?"
"You told Roe about putting rockets on your cat." Go Go stated flatly.
"Yeah...is there a problem?"
"Oh, no." Honey said.
Go Go grabbed Hiro's arm. "Come on, let's go."
Looking perplexedly from one person to another as Go Go dragged him through the school halls, Hiro cried, "Where are we going?" The Korean girl ignored him, but Honey was kind enough to offer an explanation.
"To the office," she said, bouncing on her high heels. "If they're going have to put up with flying cats, they have the right to know."
"Let's just say Roe doesn't have the best reputation for ethical experimentation," Wasabi added.
"Or common sense," Go Go snorted.
Fred grinned, his collector's-item spaceship necklace flying about wildly. "Remember the canary incident?"
As they reached the office, Go Go levelled a cold stare at Fred. "We do not talk about the canary incident."
~~~
After they informed the secretary, who did not look particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of felines with flight capabilities within the next two weeks, Hiro bemoaned the fact that his hover-cat would lose its sole admirer. "You guys are impeding scientific progress," he grumbled, sticking his hands into his pockets.
Shaking her head, Go Go shoved him playfully. "Give it up, Hamada. Your hover-cat wasn't going to win you any Nobel prizes."
"Want to go get pizza or something?" Fred suggested.
"Fred, it's four-thirty."
"Ice cream then. I got Heathcliff to pick up peanut butter cup flavour."
"I'm allergic to peanut butter," Hiro began, but broke off as another student stopped the group in the hallway.
"You guys knew Tadashi Hamada, right?" the girl said, playing with a loose strand of hair.
The five friends exchanged wary looks. "Um...yes," Go Go said. "Why?"
"The memorial hall is open already, and I thought you might want to visit."
"...Already?" Wasabi tilted his head to the side. "I'm pretty sure it's only opening next month. We got invitations to the ceremony and everything."
"I mean, it's not open officially. They're still working on some of the rooms and stuff. But the main hall is open to visitors," she qualified. "Just thought you might want to pay your respects while it's still quiet...there'll probably be a lot of visitors on opening day."
"Uh, thanks," Wasabi said as she left. He turned to the others, focusing especially on Hiro, who had suddenly gone silent. "What do you think? You ready for this?"
Hiro swallowed, hard. It might upset him again, but maybe it would also help. Maybe it would give him a sense of closure, seeing how his brother's legacy was honoured. Besides, the girl had a point--the opening ceremony would be crowded.
"Now is as good a time as any, I guess," he said, smiling a little at his anxious friends. "Is it this way?"
1. I took the superhero names for Fred's cosplay from the ones Ryan Lang (a Disney artist) made up for the heroes in the transition shot. He says they're bad, but I like KnightVision.
2. Go ahead and watch the hover-cat in action in this deleted scene.
3. A little fluffier, but the last chapter is more of a killer.
No comments:
Post a Comment