Blue. That was the only word for the sky. Unbelievably blue. And warm. Not a smothering, sticky warm. A warm that has a freshness to it, a new warm born after winter's tight grip. That was the atmosphere at San Fransokyo Insitute of Technology, as Hiro jogged breathlessly up the steps to the lab. A mild breeze shifted the burgeoning blossoms on the surrounding trees, which were primed to explode into bursts of white and pink, and whipped Hiro's messy hair about his head. Hiro's cheeks were rosy from the fresh air as he snuck in the door and into the lecture hall for his advanced robotics class.

The professor, Robin Harrington, was turned towards the board, explaining a new technique for rapid circuitry as he sent holograms shifting around the large white screen. Hiro crept silently though the darkened room towards the empty seat near the back, where Wasabi waved to him.

"By removing the s-10 wire and replacing it with a..." Professor Harrington's British accent, and pleasantly deep voice, filled the room. Hiro was almost at his seat. GoGo was adamantly taking notes, but she looked up quickly to give Hiro an urgent glance. Move it, before he sees you! Hiro inched closer, trying not to let his sneakers squeak on the pristine tile. Almost...there...

"And from that rewiring process you can increase your speed by 30%. Which may have come in handy this morning for you, Mr Hamada," said Professor Harrington, turning around smoothly and stopping Hiro lurchingly in his tracks. "Perhaps if you increased the efficiency on your alarm clock, you would make it to my class on time." The lights in the room came up and all eyes turned to Hiro, who was standing, mid-tip-toe, with an embarrassed grimace, mere inches from the empty chair. Snickers danced their way around the room, and Hiro bit his lip and shrugged sheepishly as he flopped into his seat.

"Sorry, Professor," he confessed, smiling awkwardly. Professor Harrington, having had his fun, nodded, the hint of a smile briefly crossing his face before adjusting his tie and the crisp white cuffs of his shirt where they turned up casually at his elbows. Hiro felt his lingering blush increase again. The professor cleared his throat to silence the trickle of murmurs and giggles that still sounded around the room, and continued the lecture again.

Hiro threw open his laptop and began taking notes. Wasabi let him catch up on what he had so far missed, whilst GoGo sent him half-dissaproving half-amused looks. All the while, Hiro heard Tadashi's chuckling voice in his head.

Busted, bro. Shoulda gotten up earlier!

Hiro couldn't help but smile, even though his cheeks still burned and the other students continued to glance at him and whisper to a friend, laughing under their breaths. It wasn't like Hiro could hear Tadashi's voice, exactly. It was just that Hiro always sort of knew what Tadashi would say in a certain situation, and that would reverberate in Hiro's mind. Tadashi was gone, and while Hiro wasn't religious, it seemed to him that someone as decent, kind, and caring as his brother would most certainly be at peace somewhere. When Hiro felt his own thoughts echoed in Tadashi's persona in his mind, he couldn't help like somehow, he was still communicating with his brother, and the thought always made his stomach hitch in a way that was both happy and comforting, if not a little bittersweet. Hiro felt...content. And, of course, there was always Baymax. Hiro always thought of his brother and Baymax as being part of each other, and it was what kept Hiro diligent about continuing his education. That, and Professor Harrington.

Professor Harrington continued at the front, answering questions and explaining the homework. Hiro watched him carefully, dutifully taking notes as if to make up for his earlier trangression. Robin Harrington was a compelling person. He was not all that tall, mid thirties, and lean without being scrawny. He had a mop of unruly dark brown hair that fell in waves around his ears, and made his pale skin look like porcelain. His dark blue eyes were set under thick brows, and were piercing with intelligence, an intelligence he used to challenge his students in a way that made learning addictive. He had an air of ease about him, the way he stood casually but still commanded respect and attention. Professor Harrington had only recently joined the SFIT faculty, and was already universally loved by his students. He had a fairly taciturn nature, but was not without humour, and his expessions were always cool and understated. His teaching style was firm and he expected the best from his students and was not prone to buying excuses. Harrington was reknowned for not accepting bullshit from anyone, easily dismissing lazy or arrogant students, and giving F's to substandard work, but he also had a kind reserve which he exhibited as needed. Hiro thought of the day a girl in the front row started having a severe nose bleed, and how calmly and carefully Harrington had attended to her. He had genuine concern in his face as he had escorted the woozy, stumbling student out of the room to the nurses station personally, not caring at all that there was blood getting on his impeccably clean shirt. Hiro had been staring at him, his easy fluid movements, so long that he had stopped taking notes, and Wasabi gave him a nudge to jolt him back to reality.

The hour and a half-long lecture rolled down, and at eleven precisely, Professor Harrington checked his watch and excused the class. With a rumble of bookbags scraping the floor and auditorium chairs snapping closed, the students filed out. Over the noise, Hiro heard Harrington's accented voice.

"A word please, Mr Hamada."

Hiro gulped, and shot a look at GoGo and Wasabi. Wasabi shrugged, and Hiro started walking, slowly, towards Harrington. He was his favourite teacher, he didn't want to face his dissaproval.

"You're in for it now, idiot," said GoGo quietly, but she followed behind. Hiro couldn't decide if she was there to support him, or to make sure he didn't try and bolt for the door.

Stupid alarm clock! Hiro thought to himself.

It's not the alarm clock's fault.

Shut up, Tadashi.

Ha!

Hiro waited anxiously as Harrington finished up with another student's question. He curled his toes inside his sneakers. Finally, Harrington turned his eyes, as blue as the cloudless spring sky, towards Hiro, and Hiro pursed his lips tightly.

"Mr Hamada," Professor Harrington said slowly, "I'm glad you made it to class today." Hiro winced ever so slightly. Harrington hadn't said it with cruelty or snark, but the slight raise of his eyebrow was enough to let Hiro know that it would not be tolerated again. Hiro swallowed, waiting for further admonishment, but the Professor held out his hand, holding the USB drive with Hiro's latest assignment on it.

"I wanted to hand this back to you in person, and tell you I was very impressed."

Hiro blinked.

"Your exploration of the theory of robotics and how it pertains to human relationships was very well articulated. Keep up the good work." Harrington dropped the USB into Hiro's hand and exited the room without any further comment. Hiro blinked again. He was sure the expression left him looking like Baymax.

"I don't know how you get that lucky," said GoGo, giving him a slight punch in the arm that roused him from his daze. "Any one of us would have been made a complete and total example of." Still, GoGo smirked as Hiro followed his friends out into the hall. Honey Lemon rounded the corner, holding several large textbooks and piles of paper, balancing them effortlessly as she sang along, slightly off key, to the music blasting through her neon purple headphones, eyes squeezed shut as she bobbed her head to the popping beat.

"Hey, Honey," said the three in unison, knowing the tall girl wouldn't hear them. She opened her eyes right before walking into Wasabi, and seemed almost surprised to see them.

"Oh! Guys!" she cried, as if it was she who had spotted them. She tugged her headphones off, and brushed an errant strand of long blonde hair off her mouth, where it had stuck to her lip gloss. "Just the people I was looking for!"

"I didn't think you were looking for anyone. You shouldn't walk around with your eyes closed, Honey," GoGo admonished. Honey grinned.

"I've gotten pretty good at it!" she laughed. Her face became intense and she smiled excitedly. "Did you guys hear about..."

Hiro stopped listening to his friends animated chatter. His eyes had cast down the long hallway to the large glass doors leading to the courtyard. In the cool blue tinted light of the windows, Harrington had stopped to talk to a faculty member. Hiro couldn't look away. The man was so compelling, even from a distance. Hiro wasn't sure what it meant...only that he stole this coveted glance for too long, until the professor's eyes shot past his colleague's shoulder and locked with Hiro's. Hiro jumped and then froze. There was no way it wasn't obvious that Hiro had been staring, and yet to look away now would only be more awkward somehow. Hiro gulped and felt the colour rising in his cheeks, locked in his embarrassing moment, when suddenly, Honey Lemon gave him an out.

"Hiro, did you hear me?"

Hiro snapped his attention back to his tall friend, grateful for the distraction.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, flustered. Honey Lemon, still beaming and excited from whatever she was talking about, threw up her hands in excitement, scattering books and papers everywhere absentmindedly. Wasabi let out a yelp and caught them with ease, although his face was comically panicked.

"Oh nevermind, I'll show you guys!"

She grabbed Hiro's sleeve and tugged him down the hall at a run. Hiro was impressed she could move so fast in her stilettos. She giggled as Hiro and her friend's stumbled behind, down past the corridor where Harrington was still talking. Hiro intentionally averted his gaze at first, but his friends were running so fast he couldn't resist but steal a fleeting glance. He dared look up as they raced by the professor.

Hiro's heart leapt into his throat.

Harrington had, ever so slightly. smiled at him.