Chapter Title :: The secrets we keep
Summary ::
In the end, Tadashi still lost something to the fire. In which he seeks and Hiro hides, but every game has to end. First part of the fic takes place before 'Birthday Gifts' and the rest after.
Author's note ::
Zephyrus Anemoi Fiction suggested that I make my small universe oneshots into a multi chaptered fic instead, for easy reading (Thanks again for the wonderful critique~). So I'll be updating this for every drabble/one-shot in this universe, I hope you guys will like it. :) A huge thanks to every single favorite, follow and review from my last two fics (I never got this much support before, I'm very, very flattered, you guys are the kindest people ever).
As for this chapter, I originally wanted to write a lighthearted, funny one shot for when Tadashi found out about Big Hero 6's identities, but I thought about it for a very long time, rolled ideas around in my head and my muse goes like, nope, it's better to be full of feels so here we are. It's a little intense, so be warned.
It was on the third night after Tadashi woke up from coma that the harmony they had come to be comforted by began to crack.
After all, Tadashi had woke up in a world that wasn't quite his own.
"Professor Callaghan got arrested!?"
Honey's breath hitched and she dropped the thermos she was holding. Gogo had the reaction and speed to catch said thermos, much to the short amazement from everyone. Wasabi choked on something that he was nibbling carefully on and Fred fell off his chair.
The only one who wasn't reacting was Hiro and that's only because he was sleeping. It's already late and they had barely managed to squeeze in some visiting time after university hours. The younger Hamada was cuddled up on top of Tadashi like a fluffy cat, despite the hospital bed being a tight fit.
Tadashi patted Hiro's hair lightly with a fond smile on his face, making sure that the noise didn't wake him up, before shooting a questioning look at the rest of his friends, one hand holding up the old newspaper he was reading.
Wasabi cleared his throat nervously.
Gogo was the one who answered.
"He caused massive destruction and injured civilians, so he got arrested," she explained while giving the thermos back to a very flustered Honey.
Tadashi frowned. "Are we are talking about the same professor?"
"You mean the one that you ran into the fire to save?" Fred blurted out before anyone could stop him, "Yeah, totally the same. That dude's insane!"
"Fred!" Wasabi hissed.
The older Hamada gave them an unbelieving look.
"Look, genius," Gogo popped her bubblegum, "We'll tell you the rest when you get out of the hospital, understand? Not now, visiting time's over anyway." And no one dared to argue with her.
"We'll see you tomorrow Tadashi," Honey gave him a weak smile, her eyes darting aside, "Just rest and don't think about it, okay?"
"Yeah, dude, like, it's not worth thinking over," Fred clapped Tadashi's shoulder, only for the older Hamada to hiss in pain. Gogo promptly dragged Fred away.
"Eh," Tadashi frowned a little more, before deciding to let it go for now, "Alright, I guess. Goodnight guys."
His friends stood there, staring at him.
"...What are you all waiting for?"
Wasabi held out his hand, gesturing to the sleeping Hiro.
"...right," Tadashi reluctantly let go of his baby brother, allowing Wasabi to scoop him up. It's just that, waking up from the coma feels like he missed a lifetime of things with Hiro and he hates to waste another second of it.
A chorus of goodnight from his friends, and soon he was left all alone. Tadashi laid down on his bed, mind running a mile a minute on what they said. He couldn't get rid of his troubled thoughts. After all, Professor Callaghan was a good man, so why would he suddenly go all destructive and get arrested?
He sighed, already missing his brother's warmth.
"Hiro, you're not fooling any of us."
A pause.
Then, a sigh.
Hiro slowly sat up from where they put him on the backseat of Wasabi's new van, the team slowly driving home. "What gave me away?" he grumbled, wiping the remaining sleep from his eyes.
"Your breathing rate's different," Wasabi remarked, "It was out of sync. Well, at least that's how I noticed it." The last part was hastily added when the other four stared at him.
"It's obvious. You can lie as well as Tadashi does," Gogo shrugged.
"Uh...thanks?"
"Hiro," Honey chuckled softly, "Tadashi lies horribly."
"Oh," Hiro facepalmed, "Right. Of course."
"So you were pretending to sleep so you can spy on the conversation, huh?" Fred grinned, "Totally badass, bro."
The younger Hamada didn't bother telling him that he jolted out of sleep at the sound of Professor Callaghan's name and only woke up fully when Wasabi picked him up from the soft, warm bed.
"What do we tell him?" Gogo asked, straight to the point.
"We can always tell him the truth," Wasabi suggested, "It's easy and it's honest."
"But even the media doesn't know what's Professor Callaghan's true motives," Honey played with her own fingers nervously, "They assumed that he gone power hungry. Tadashi knows the professor pretty well, there's no possible way he will buy the media's excuse."
Hiro had to turn away at that. Professor Callaghan...he's afraid to admit that he understood what had drove the Professor to such thing, because Hiro had nearly done the same, something that will forever haunt him.
Where the professor had been able to sacrifice lives for his goals, Hiro would and could have sacrificed his friendships.
The similarity was chilling.
"Hiro?" Honey's concerned voice snapped him out of his dark thoughts.
"We're not telling him anything," the younger Hamada said in a weary tone, "It's just.. He will freak out. He will get hurt. Just follow whatever the latest news said." Because revealing the truth requires them to reveal their source, and the only other people who know what really happened was Alistair Krei.
Next to him, Fred let out a distressed sound at not being able to show off. Wasabi looked conflicted as well.
Gogo popped her bubblegum, crossing her arms. "That better not be your brother complex talking." She doesn't like keeping secrets. Too much of an emotional burden.
"No, yes, maybe," Hiro grumbled, "The point is there isn't any reason for him to know. He's also probably going to ground me forever and that's not good. We'll tell him after he recovers fully. Deal?" He refuses to see another situation in which Tadashi ran and not come back, again.
"Suit yourself," Gogo shrugged, but there's something in her eyes that says she agrees with Hiro's sentiment. At least on the fact that Tadashi will definitely hurt himself over this fact and the adrenaline junkie didn't want that for her friend anymore either. "Sounds easy enough. Just not say anything."
"It always sounds easier than it does," Wasabi deadpanned.
"Or it could really be easy this time!" Honey chirped, readily agreeing with keeping the secret, "It can't take that long for Tadashi to recover, right? And then we will break it to him calmly, in a nice room with some hot tea and cookies-"
"Or it could totally be like inside comic books in which the harder the protagonist tries to hide a secret-" Fred waggled his eyebrow, "the faster it is revealed. Major plot twist!"
The rest of the team groaned.
And of course, the universe hated Hiro and loved to make his life miserable.
Two days after the team came to the decision, Hiro found himself once again on top of Tadashi on his hospital bed. He had done this for the past week since they found the older Hamada, wanting to be near where he can be sure he can hear Tadashi's heartbeat, cuddling up to make sure the warmth and the solidness is real.
(Real and not just a fleeting moment of his imagination)
Things are quiet since the others couldn't make it because of morning classes. Hiro used the silence and the comfort of his surroundings to read up on several papers, getting ready for his afternoon class's small exam, while Tadashi leisurely browsed through all the news he had missed while he was in coma.
"Big Hero 6?" Tadashi sounded amused, "Interesting costumes."
And Hiro promptly fell off the bed.
"Hiro!"
Baymax, who had followed Hiro to the hospital, waddled over to lend a hand to the fallen teen.
"Why are you reading on Big Hero 6?"
Tadashi raised an eyebrow at the flustered look on Hiro's face. "They are on the front page of the newspaper, genius," he lean over to ruffle his brother's hair, before patting his stomach as an invitation for the younger one to lay on top again.
For the first time that week, Hiro didn't take the invitation. Instead, he took deep breathes, trying to calm himself down. He is not going to find out, not going to run into danger with them, not going to leave him behind all over again-
"Hiro?"
"There's nothing worth reading about them!" the younger Hamada blurted out.
"You're looking pale, otouto. Come here."
Hiro snatched the newspapers out of Tadashi's hands, crumpled it the best he could and chucked it into the nearest rubbish bin. Now Tadashi can't see the several pictures the media had of them, can't spot out their familiar features. The boy made a mental note to add tinted lens to their visors.
Tadashi blinked. "Hiro, why?"
"Because you have other things to catch up on, like, eh -" Hiro spotted a couple of magazines Honey had left behind on their visits from the corner of his eye, "Like, this! Now I've gotta go to afternoon class, be safe, love you!"
Hiro rushed to his side, gathered all his revision papers and kissed Tadashi on the cheek as goodbye, before promptly rushing out of the room, all in the span it takes for Tadashi to blink.
Tadashi blinked again.
Then he looked at Baymax, who got left behind in the hurry.
"Goodbye Tadashi," Baymax gave a small wave, before waddling out of the room to follow Hiro. There was a frantic shout for Baymax to hurry up that echoed down the hall.
"Okay..." Tadashi remarked slowly to the empty air, before looking down at the magazine shoved forcefully into his hands, "...Latest, sexiest summer fashion?"
Tadashi didn't get the chance to question Hiro on his behavior, nor read up on any Big Hero 6 related news until a good two weeks after he got discharged from the hospital, a day or two after Hiro's birthday.
He had spotted Fred's present on the side of Hiro's bed and curiously flicked through the comic. The stories are simple, straight to the point, superheroes' story and Tadashi briefly wondered what got his brother to fan boy over this particular team.
Speaking of Big Hero 6, he should read up on the news again. Things had been hectic for a bit and he had lost track of the news he was reading, but the comic book had reminded him of where he had left off. Tadashi opened up his internet, and began to search.
"Heroes of Sanfransokyo, huh," he mumbled, eyes scanning over an article he found. His eyes sparkled with interest at the first bit of info he found.
'They first appeared during Professor Callaghan's case?' Tadashi frowned slightly. He hadn't had time to question his friends on Professor Callaghan's case either. The older Hamada searched the web for more news around that particular incident.
Big Hero 6 saves Sanfransokyo from mad man!
Power hungry professor stopped by mysterious team!
Who are these heroes who save Sanfransokyo from destruction?
However, none of the news have any clear report on the professor's motives. Most written it off as power hungry, attention seeking or even fame and glory hounding, considering the target was Alistair Krei. There was a small section on the professor's daughter being found in the wreckage, but no more.
Tadashi closed his computer, thoughts whirling.
There's something he's missing here, he just knew it. Before he could think about this any further, his eyes drifted downwards and noticed the time.
Then, he reached for his phone.
And of course his phone had to go off when they are in the middle of a mission.
Hiro was thankful that his phone's directly linked to his helmet, part of the communication system, but that didn't stop him from having a small heart attack when his phone randomly went off near his head.
Who would be calling him? Most of the contacts in his phone knows that he's busy since they are like right beside him. The only person that's not was Aunt Cass but he had dropped her a message saying he's on a mission and -
Oh.
Tadashi.
Of course.
"Hello?" Hiro tried to sound normal, or as normal as you can be while on air and flying to the trouble site. He didn't let out a squeak. Nope, not at all.
"Hiro? When are you coming back?" Tadashi paused, "It's been an hour after your last class." The fact that Tadashi took the time to memorize his timetable didn't escape the Hiro and he begrudgingly admired his brother for that.
"Eh..."
"Hiro? Are you bot-fighting again?"
"No!" Hiro yelped, "I mean, uh, yeah. Yeah, you caught me bro. Uh, I'll go home right now, uh, soon! Promise!"
"Hiro..."
"Talk to you later bye!"
Silence.
"Are we being suspected?" Wasabi asked from Baymax's hand. "I knew it was a bad idea to keep it from him. Now he's going to kill us for hiding it from him!"
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Honey piped up with a weak smile, "Maybe he's just worried because Hiro isn't home yet. Right, Hiro?"
"I'm totally grounded."
It was late when they wrapped up a bank robbery, so Hiro did what a sane, 15 year old teen would do when they came home late.
He proceeded to sneak to his room.
"Hiro."
Of course. Why does he even bother?
"Tadashi," he whirled around, giving his older brother a sheepish smile, "Hi! Uh...uhm...why are you still awake?"
"...bot fighting, Hiro?" Tadashi looked disappointed.
"Uhm, yeah," Hiro cursed himself for not coming up with a better excuse, "I-it's my last, I swear! Besides, nothing happened. Baymax was with me!"
The older Hamada looked behind Hiro, expecting Baymax to pop up and say an affirmative, but when nothing showed up, he raised an eyebrow.
"...He had some malfunctions so I placed him in the garage so I can check on him tomorrow?"
"Right," Tadashi sighed, "Hiro, you know how I feel about you bot fighting. Especially now that I can't..." 'go out and save you in case anything happens' remains unspoken but hinted. The spark of worry in Tadashi's eyes was like a punch to Hiro's gut.
(He's not going to bot fighting ever again because he can't risk Tadashi being disappointed enough in him to up and leave him once again. Please please please he can't bear the thought of another goodbye)
"I'm sorry," Hiro doesn't even know what he's apologizing for. "I'm sorry, nii-chan. I'll stop, I promise. No more." The half-lie tasted bitter in his mouth, but he will lie forever if it meant Tadashi staying.
His older brother held out his arms and Hiro complied, sinking into the warm hug.
No words were exchange. They have reached some sort of agreement, but whether the agreement's the same remains unspoken.
Hiro clutched Tadashi's shirt tighter, biting the bottom part of his lips.
This was not how this is going to end.
He just knew it.
After Hiro slowly fell asleep, Tadashi pried him off slowly, making his way down to the garage.
There had been a kind of sincerity in Hiro's voice when he apologized. It makes his brother sound so young and innocent and this only fueled Tadashi to make sure Hiro stays safe. There's only one way he could think of, now.
(He lost too much time and he sees the hurt in Hiro's eyes and he swore to never hurt him again)
Baymax's always with Hiro nowadays. He plans on installing a GPS in the robot so he can always get to Hiro.
"Baymax? Ouch."
The marshamallow-like robot inflated, and Tadashi took a step back in shock.
Baymax's arms were deflated and there was a nice, noticeable rip on his left arm. Slight burn marks littered around the lower part of the robot and Baymax was standing with a tired look, if a robot could look tired, that's it.
"Hello Tadashi," Baymax greeted with his signature wave.
"What happened to you?" Tadashi murmured.
Baymax tilted his head. "I got shot by an electrical gun. It does no long lasting damage, but a check up is recommended just in case of system failure."
"Electrical gun," Tadashi repeated numbly. He tried to think but there's a kind of panic rising at the back of his throat. What had Hiro got into this time?
"My scanners indicate that you are about to hyperventilate," Baymax's voice was soothing, as though as he's oblivious to the problem at hand (he probably is), "Tadashi, please calm down."
That did it.
"Calm down!?" no, that was not a shriek, "Electrical gun!? What was that knucklehead thinking? No wait, he obviously wasn't thinking! Why would he be in a situation where an electrical gun was present!?"
"Your stress levels are at unhealthy numbers," Baymax remarked (he totally imagined the amused and slightly fond tone in the robot's voice), "Diagnosis: Brother complex."
"What!?"
"It is alright to feel protective over a family member," the marshmallow-like robot ignored the gawking Tadashi, "It's recommended for you to give Hiro some space. Growing teenagers often easily feel trapped."
Silence.
"Oh gods I-" the older Hamada rubbed a hand over his face, "Baymax, just- I don't know." He leaned against the wall with a sigh. "I feel like I've been left behind. I can't keep up. I feel utterly useless. I-
"Will knowing where Hiro was this afternoon improve your mood?"
"Yes!" Tadashi blurted, "I mean, of course! Do you have readings on it?"
"Readings from this afternoon activities are in my database."
"Let me take a look at it for a bit," Tadashi pressed the chip compartment (Was it his imagination again or did Baymax hesitated a little?). The compartment slide open smoothly enough, and Tadashi plucked the green chip from Baymax.
"This isn't my chip," he inspected the new chip. It's still bright green in color, even if it's just a tad shade lighter, and there's even a crude, copied drawing of his original doctor symbol.
"Hiro replaced the chip with a new one after the old one got battered," Baymax supplied helpfully, "All data was synced and copied over. There were no major changes to the mainframe codes."
Tadashi frowned a little. Just what event would cause the chip to take a beating? Putting that on the list of ever growing questions he plans to ask Hiro, he slid in the chip to his computer. Data began to cover the screen.
"Uh..." Tadashi tapped a finger at the edge of a table, "Location, first. What's this?"
Fighting moves. Altitude readings.
Tadashi felt as though as the ground shifted under him.
Unfortunately he didn't quite manage to catch Hiro at a good time for a long explanation and confirm his suspicions, especially with all the school work and Hiro sometimes coming home late when Tadashi was already asleep, body still recovering and needing the rest that he can't sacrifice.
He did however, manage to catch of a time when Hiro rushed out of the room a few days later (Tadashi was about to drift to an afternoon nap). The younger boy gave some excuse to Aunt Cass and ran out of the door as though as his life depends on it.
So of course Tadashi whipped out his GPS tracker. This was his chance!
He pushed his moped to go as fast as possible, but Hiro seems to be travelling at definitely-not-walking speed.
Well, screw the traffic laws when his brother's at stake.
"Tadashi is here."
"Yes," Hiro absentmindedly nodded, listening to the police reports after the latest mess the team had cleaned up. They had been a little too late to this time's robbery and by the time they got here, they only got the last of the robbers.
Hiro blamed it on his own sleepiness. If he had not been so drowsy, maybe he could have gotten here earlier, but he had not gotten a good amount of sleepnowadays, what's with a string of bank robberies and lab ransacking crimes, coupled with schoolwork and trying to squeeze in more time with his older brother because they had lost enough time as it is.
Then, the weight of the sentence hit him. "Wait, where!?"
"12 meters away, to your left," Baymax supplied helpfully and the team looked towards that direction. True enough, Tadashi's looking around at the scene as if searching for someone. He's shaking a device in his grip, seemingly frustrated with it.
"What did I tell you?" Fred's voice was smug underneath the costume, "Comic books are always right."
"I'd rather not," Hiro groaned. He's thankful for the tinted lens that he had installed on their visors.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Gogo placed a hand on her hip, "Let's go."
With that the team dispersed, Fred jumping into the air and up among the buildings, Wasabi and Honey riding on their newly-added-equipment-to-the-team, a green electromagnetic bike and Gogo making her way through the crowd and down the streets with her unholy speed.
Hiro himself jumped on top of Baymax, the robot taking a few steps before flying upwards.
For a moment, Hiro looked down and his eyes met Tadashi's.
His heart skipped a beat.
(Please please please don't recognize him)
Then Tadashi turned away and Hiro was too far to see anymore.
His stupid GPS broke down just before he reached the destination.
Tadashi grumbled at the timing of it all, letting out a slew of words that he will always be careful to not use around Hiro. A frown crossed his face; Big Hero 6 were at the situation, though they had dispersed before he got a good look on them.
(There was something oddly familiar about the one that flew away last.)
He couldn't pinpoint why but it shouldn't matter because his priority was Hiro. Just where did his genius of a baby brother go? His mind recalled back to something that Fred had said. Something about Hiro fanboy-ing over these people? Those fighting data, where he was yesterday...Was Hiro trying to mimic them?
He had mixed feelings over that. On one hand, there was disbelief because Hiro really, really isn't the type to idolize superheroes randomly. And then there was a slight tint of jealousy that Tadashi will never admit.
There's someone else Hiro idolizes. Someone that he looks up to, someone he wants to copy and follow as role model.
Someone that is not him.
It hurts.
As he neared Lucky Cat Cafe, there was a sound coming from the garage. Tadashi perked up. Hiro?
"I do agree there had been more robberies lately."
That is definitely Hiro's voice. Another voice replied him, a little static due to it being a video call, but Tadashi remembers that voice clearly.
"I have heard rumors of an underground plot," Alistair Krei's voice was as smooth as the last time, that fox, "It appears they are planning one of the largest bombing this decade."
"That's not good, though it does make sense of their lab ransacking crimes and money haul," Hiro sighed, "What of their motives? Why bombing?"
"Unknown, as of now. There are theories..." A pause. "Regarding my safety-"
"Your safety's as important as the rest of the citizens in San Fransokyo," the younger Hamada replied with a clipped tone, "Thank you very much for the tip."
"...You're welcome."
And Tadashi couldn't stand it anymore.
"Hiro!"
There was the sound of frantic shutting off and a quick 'bye' before Tadashi stormed in.
Hiro (thankfully not in armor anymore) looked like a fawn caught in headlights. Those doe-like eyes and slightly opened mouth and the look of horror at being caught at something he should not be doing. Tadashi clenched his fists.
"Was that Alistair Krei!?"
"What, who?" Hiro looked away nervously, shuffling his foot, "I don't know what you are talking about. I was just talking to...uh...Wasabi! Right! About, uh, about gummy bears." By the end of the sentence Hiro had a what-am-I-saying expression.
"With Wasabi. About gummy bears?" Tadashi's voice only held disbelief and barely reigned anger. He did not buy Hiro's lie for a minute because he recognizes Krei's voice anywhere and how dare that man talk to his baby brother. "So why close the video call, then?"
"Because you startled me?" Hiro snorted, "I'll call him again later."
"You're lying."
"I'm not!"
"Are you trying to get yourself hurt?"
"Why do you always think that I'm getting myself hurt!?" Hiro burst out. His lack of sleep finally caught up on him. "Why was it that you can't have a little faith in me? I'm not the one that ran into the fire!"
The younger Hamada covered his mouth, but it was too late.
Tadashi flinched back with his eyes wide.
(They had lost time because he chose to run to the fire.)
"Tadashi," Hiro reached out weakly, "Nii-chan, no, please, I didn't mean it like that. Tadashi!"
But Tadashi had backed away and ran, away from the garage, on his moped, away from the cafe. He drove and drove and drove until he reached one of the bridges overlooking a river running through San Fransokyo, and only then Tadashi let out hurt gasp.
'I'm not the one that ran into the fire!'
That's right.
Things have changed. He had closed his eyes and woke up in a world where Hiro doesn't need him anymore, where there were secrets that walled their relationship and he's no longer the most important person in Hiro's life.
Unconsciously he had been waiting for Hiro to said it all this time because he could see the hurt in those eyes, the trust that was betrayed when he chose someone else over him.
He screwed things up.
Tadashi closed his eyes, falling down on his knees.
And now they stand in this awkward road, with independent Hiro who no longer needs a person to butt into his business every single time, because Tadashi had left him to grow up on his own and Hiro doesn't need him anymore and it hurts.
A choked sob.
It was all his fault.
Hiro chucked a screwdriver against the garage door.
He had tried to chase after his brother but his knees had wobbled and he saw stars for a moment because when was the last time he had actually slept? He doesn't remember anymore, and as a result he fell back on the sofa, cursing the very fates above.
He had not meant to say that.
It was not Tadashi's fault because Hiro had asked himself the very same question again and again and again after the funeral (not that that matters anymore). If that night was repeated, Hiro knows in his guts that Tadashi would have done it again and again because it's Tadashi and he's not as selfish as Hiro was.
"Me and my big mouth," the younger Hamada's eyes were closed. If he opens his eyes he sees stars and doubles that reminds him of his fatigue, but when he closes them he sees Tadashi running away. It reminds him too much of the other time his older brother had ran and that hadn't end well.
"I've contacted our friends to search for Tadashi," Baymax piped up with his warm voice and Hiro gave him a weak smile.
"Thanks bud," Hiro slowly sat up. "Now let's join the search -."
And the shrill beeping of the alarm cut him off.
Honey and Wasabi were the ones who found him.
It was slowly edging to midnight and the moon was bright and they found Tadashi Hamada looking out at San Fransokyo over a bridge.
"Tadashi, Tadashi!"
"Ooomph!" Tadashi was nearly knocked over by the force of Honey's hug. "Honey!"
"Thank goodness we found you!" Honey's voice was full with concern, "We were so worried when Baymax contacted us but we're so glad that you're alright!"
"Yeah man," Wasabi sighed in relief. "Don't run out like that again, you scared the wits out of everyone!"
Tadashi chuckled warmly, patting her shoulder and giving them a thankful look. "I just needed some place to think." He explained, eyes slowly going back to the view of the city, "This was a pretty good place."
"Tadashi, are you okay?"
"I'm alright for now," Tadashi's eyes glazed over, his voice solemn, "I'm sorry for making everyone worry."
"There's something you are not telling," while her voice is soft, Honey's words were sharp, "Tadashi, you're still his most important person, you know."
Of course she could see through him, through them like she always could because Honey's expertise was noticing what her friends were thinking and making sure they were all fine. Her words felt like an invisible blade and Tadashi reeled backwards, eyes wide.
"He's not telling only because he's afraid you are leaving again," Honey offered him a sad smile, "So show him that you're not going away?"
A loud explosion rang through the air and stole Tadashi's reply.
"What was that?" Wasabi's voice was a high squeak, eyes darting towards the source.
Over the bridge and in the middle of the city were the tell tale signs of smoke, clear and horrifying gray against the blue, night sky.
Honey's phone rang.
"Yes, Gogo," Honey's eyes widened at the news she received. She let out some curses in Spanish. "Yes, we'll be right there."
"What happened?"
"Something bad," Wasabi's tone was grim as Honey filled him in on what happened."Tadashi, it's high time you know something."
There're no point in keeping secrets now.
As he rode on the back of Wasabi's green electromagnetic bike (tight fit but it worked), Tadashi couldn't help but thought that everything makes so much sense now.
Why Hiro sometimes came back late at night even if there were no classes. Why Hiro wouldn't let him see the news if he could help it. It seemed like Hiro has a mountain of secrets to keep.
It's so very surreal to try and put his friends' faces in Big Hero 6's, but suddenly Fred's comic made sense and why Hiro had gawked at it. The truth had been there all along but it was Fred, so Tadashi had not believed. Seeing Honey and Wasabi in their suits cause reality to fall upon him like a brick. If they were the heroes and if Fred's comic book told the truth then Hiro was there, risking his life for the well-being of other people.
(Just like him)
They reached the bombing site and Tadashi stared because fire, fire everywhere and the scars on his back throbbed.
"Honey, Wasabi!"
He turns and sees Baymax in glorious armor and Fred in his monster suit, forming a private circle. Gogo's yellow suit is blackened with ash and her visor is up and -
"Oh my god, Hiro!"
There's a small body in blackened purple suit, in Gogo's arms and oh god Hiro no -
"Hiro!" he practically snatched the child's body from Gogo's hands, "Hiro, Hiro wake up. Wake up!"
Hiro's so very small. Tadashi was painfully reminded that his younger brother just turned 15 and while that he's a superhero now, Hiro will forever be his baby brother and this was not fair. The fire had claimed a portion of his life and they were not going to claim his otouto too, he refuses -
"...nii-chan."
And Tadashi stared, Honey held back a choked sob, Gogo looked emotionless (but the hurt was in her eyes), Wasabi paused in his call for an ambulance and Fred froze.
Hiro smiled weakly up at them (oh god he looks like a precious angel) and his eyes focused on Tadashi. His smile turned wider and there was that little gap between his tooth that makes him look that much younger. "...I got them out," he wheezed, because other people's lives were more important now, "I got them all out."
Then, he let out a choked cough and looks up at Tadashi with such awe in his eyes because
"I got you out, nii-chan. I got you out."
There's a glitter of achievement and peace because he finally did what his nightmares could not and
Tadashi felt like the wind was knocked out of him.
The ambulance came and took Hiro away. The flames crackled and burned behind them and the team slowly began help out with cleaning the mess but Tadashi just stared at the ground because
this was all his fault.
The sun was too bright when he woke up and Hiro wants to go back to sleep immediately.
Where's this comfortable bed that he's in? He doesn't remember having such a good night sleep in a long while now and Hiro sighed, snuggling to the fluffy pillow. It's not like there's anything he needs to do, right? There were school assignments (sure, but those can wait), there was an alarm, there was a bomb -
Hiro shot up.
The bombing! Krei's information was accurate!
"...mhmm..Hiro?"
To his side Tadashi woke up slowly, looking up with sleepy eyes until the older Hamada realized that yes, Hiro was actually awake.
"Hiro!" he gripped the younger boy's arms, "You're awake. Oh thank heavens!"
"Tadashi," Hiro let himself be pulled into a warm hug, one that he gladly returned, "Tadashi, stop it. I'm fine."
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I don't think so?" Hiro stretched to test his muscles, "A little sore and bruised but-"
"Then what were you thinking!?" and Hiro had forgotten what it was like to see Tadashi cry because his older brother hadn't cried in so long, "You could have gotten killed! Why would you run into a burning building!?"
A pause.
Hiro's eyes were wide and there were tears running down Tadashi's cheeks.
"Because someone had to help," the younger Hamada's voice was quiet, but it got the point across and Tadashi stiffened, "I asked myself that every night and someone had always needed to help."
(Hiro had grown up too fast and they had lost so much time)
"This is all my fault," was out before Tadashi could stop. He's not suppose to be weak in front of Hiro but he so very nearly lost him so he doesn't care - "I abandoned you. I betrayed you. I'm so so sorry, Hiro, I'm so sorry." There, he said it, the burden left from the flames that had eaten far too much.
Hiro made a face and buried himself closer to his brother's warmth.
He remembers now, what he sees last as Gogo dragged him from the burning building, saving his life with her speed.
(He had seen Tadashi and he had reached out and Tadashi had stopped, stopped and not ran into the building. It was breathtaking because his wish had come true and he had closed his eyes, for a moment living in a world where the fire had not touched his older brother at all)
"I'm sorry too," Hiro didn't know when he started crying and his sobs were soft, "I'm sorry for not stopping you. I'm sorry because I hesitated. I'm so, so sorry."
Tadashi let out a strangled chuckle, tears marring his features and he rubbed Hiro's back in comforting circles. "There was nothing you could have done to stop me and you know it."
"Yes," the smaller boy admitted readily, "But it still hurts."
And Tadashi agrees.
Their hug felt like forever and the tears felt like another lifetime but when it dried up it felt like there were wings in their hearts.
While Tadashi obviously could not snuggle on top of Hiro like the other boy had did earlier last month or so, the older Hamada had most of his upper body on the bed in attempts to be as close as possible. Hiro welcomed the contact readily, basking in the warmth of being alive and knowing Tadashi was alive and all was well.
Then Fred opened the door.
"Group hug!" he joined the hug before they could protest.
Tadashi groaned, before noticing Fred's shoulders were shaking ever so slightly. Another body joined the hug and he sees Honey with puffy eyes that just finished crying, and there's Gogo awkwardly joining with a raw kind of emotion she's barely holding back. Even Baymax joined, the marshmallow-like robot's eyes closed. Wasabi was last and the man didn't even bother to stop crying.
(They were all coping too, because the Hamadas weren't the only ones who were scarred)
"Can't breathe," came Hiro's small, muffled voice after a bit, beneath all the bodies. The team moved aside awkwardly with sheepish laughter.
"Were you guys listening on us?" Tadashi asked in an amused tone.
"Sort of?"
"We were outside the room for approximately the last 30 minutes."
"Baymax!" Fred gasped with a mocked betrayed tone, "Is this my punishment for replacing you with Tadashi in the comic books? Oh right!" The teen's eyes lit up with glee, "Now that he knows, we can regal him with all our tales, all the fighting that we do, all the danger we got involved in -"
"Fred, just stop," Wasabi clamp a hand over Fred's mouth because Tadashi's eyes were widening to a comical level.
Hiro cleared his throat nervously.
"While it's great that the secret's out and everything, maybe we can keep the description of our missions to a minimal level?"
"No way!" Tadashi interrupted immediately. He wasn't letting Hiro get out of this one. "No sparing me the details. I want to know everything," he leveled a stern look on Hiro, "and I mean everything that you guys have done until now."
Fred was all too eager to launch into tales of their adventures while Hiro groaned, burying his face to his hands. He was totally going to get grounded after all this.
But then
He peeked at the group from between his fingers.
"And then Gogo got shot and I saved her ass, totally -"
"You did not save me because it didn't even hurt!"
"Lies." That's Wasabi. "We had to go to the hospital."
"There were guns? Real guns?" Tadashi looked like he's stuck between horrified and amazed.
"It's okay, they only got one shot out," Honey chirped in to calm him down, "I managed to muck up all the barrels so they can't shoot anything."
Hiro stifled a laugh when Tadashi didn't look all that mollified. Oh, they'll need a lot more than that to stop him from worrying and by the look on Honey's face, she knows it too. She's just having a little fun on Tadashi's behalf and the girl winked at Hiro before joining back the conversation.
"My scanners indicate that you are happy, Hiro."
The younger Hamada gave Baymax a grin that could light up the room.
"I am," Hiro sighed, his voice warm and full of contentment, "I really am. I'm so happy."
This is perfection.
Headcanons list~
- Tadashi has a web of scars running across his back, expanding to the back of his legs and most notable, up till his arms and a few lines or two reaching all the way to his fingers. In the last moments during the fire he had tried to shield his face from the fire, thus the horrific scars focused on his arms, back and legs. His face wasn't left untouched, but it's not that major.
- Hiro was adamant on not letting Tadashi jump straight back into school. If the younger Hamada had his way, Tadashi won't be attending university for a good long while. They settled on Tadashi taking less subjects in the first semester he returned.
- Aunt Cass knows about Big Hero 6. She figured it herself after seeing the first few newspapers reports on their daily, trouble solving cases and Hiro's similar timing disappearance. She is smarter than she makes herself out to be, being parent to two geniues and the sister-in-law to a genius couple does that to you.
- Hiro replaced Tadashi's old chip in Baymax with a new one. It's still green, though a tad shade lighter (he couldn't find the same color), and there's a crude drawing of the doctor symbol (Hiro tried, really). The new chip contains the exact same codes as the old one. Hiro didn't overwrite or do anything, only adding never subtracting. The only reason for the change was the old one is a little battered and Hiro didn't want to risk losing that one, for memories sake.
- The team has extra equipment since the events of the movie. While they are still working on transportation stuff, since not all of the team has to be there to solve very crime, the current set up is Fred moving in his suit (has enough jumping power), Wasabi and Honey sharing an electromagnetic bike (Gogo customized that one, but Wasabi insisted on his own set of features, Honey's just glad she can move about quick) and Hiro has Baymax.
- There was that one mission that Fred managed to shield Gogo from a shooting (although there was one bullet that got the girl). Gogo insisted that she's fine (she's pretty okay, really) but Fred teases her constantly about it.
- Tadashi joins the Big Hero 6 but not as a fighting member. Hiro threw a tantrum and was adamant that no, Tadashi does not get to go to the front lines. As agreement Tadashi gets to handle all the communication, knowledge, engineering and equipment stuff at the background. That did not mean he stays at home and twiddle his toes, however, Tadashi is very much on the field to make sure all of them stay safe. He is considered, in the loosest term, a backup, someone to get everyone to safety if the situation cannot be handled by them. (He also hacked into Hiro's communication because he can)
Author's note ::
I would love to add into this universe as much as I can, so you're all welcomed to send in ideas and prompts. While I cannot guarantee all will be written, I want to fill this fandom with as much feels and hopefully more lighthearted fics. :)