[Hello there! I have decided to make a little archive for my Big Hero 6 one-shots-of which there shall be many. Some of these will be based off of my Scorched AU, so if you have not read that, some future one-shots might not make sense. I will specify beforehand whether a story is part of the Scorched AU or not.

This particular story is based off of the poem 'But You Didn't' by Merrill Glass. It is not part of the Scorched AU, although I suppose it could work there as well.

I hope you enjoy! Please let me know how I did!]

"Tadashi will never find out. It looks fine, I think. It's just a dent."

"Mearp."

"I mean, sure, it isn't perfect, but I certainly could have done a lot worse."

"Mearp."

"Oh, why don't you shut up, Mochi?"

Hiro could have sworn that the calico cat had given him a cold glare before strutting away, tail held straight in the air. He sighed, shaking his head, before returning to the damaged motorcycle. He ran a fingertip along the rough seam and leaned back, groaning. This was going to take a little while to fix, and despite the fact that the younger Hamada was a prodigy, not even he could completely perfect the seam of metal, seamlessly file away the excess metal, and repaint it until it looked almost brand new in the next ten minutes.

For Tadashi would be home at some point in that period of time, and he would have a freakout if he even suspected that his little brother had taken his beloved moped for a joyride… and then totaled it.

We can fix this, I just need my-

There was a soft jingling noise as the door to the cafe opened later than it should ever have. This meant one of two things-someone had figured out how to lockpick and broken in, or Tadashi had arrived.

Okay, I guess we're doing this now.

As quickly as he could, Hiro grabbed a tarp and threw it over the damaged vehicle, his palms already beginning to get cold. Okay, I'll just hide this until he goes to bed, then while he's asleep, I'll fix it. No one has to know, and everything will be just fine. Just-

"Hiro, would you like to explain to me why GoGo saw you going down the incline at Sixth on my moped?"

...Well. This wasn't what I expected.

Hiro slowly turned around, an innocent smile plastered on his face. "Who, me?"

Tadashi tilted his head to the side, raising a single eyebrow to heaven. "Yes, you." A mint green Converse tapped on the cement floor, which Hiro only noticed because he couldn't meet his brother's eyes.

"That wasn't me."

"That wasn't you?" Tadashi reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and opened up a certain picture. Hiro leaned closer to get a better look, and felt dread flood through him from the soles of his feet to the tips of his hair. For on Tadashi's phone was a picture of his little brother, a helmet that was clearly way too big for him on his head, obviously going way too fast down Sixth Street.

Even Hiro had the decency to look away, his ears stained scarlet with embarrassment.

"What exactly were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that you keep talking about how great it will be when I finally start driving and I, well, I wanted to try it out."

"So you decided to go down the biggest hill in San Fransokyo." Tadashi's tone was completely flat, no emotion there whatsoever. Hiro looked up, and found him completely deadpanning.

"Well, no. First, I just went around an empty parking lot. Then, after a few weeks of getting a little better-"

"A few weeks?!"

There was the anger. Hiro had been wondering when that would pop up.

"Well, I didn't learn how to pop a wheelie on your moped in one day, 'Dashi."

"You…!"

Hiro winced, wondering when he would ask about the dent, but found to his surprise that there wouldn't be any questioning there.

"Unbelievable. I start taking later classes for one month-I've only been taking them a month, Hiro!-and you do this."

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't hurt myself."

"I can see that." Tadashi let out a sigh of irritation, a frown tugging at his mouth, and walked over to the moped, hand reaching for the edge of the tarp.

"Uh, Tadashi? I think Aunt Cass left you some spicy chicken wings."

The elder Hamada immediately perked up at this. "Did she?"

"Uh, yeah. They're in the fridge."

"I'll have to take them to class tomorrow-I already ate. Sorry, Hiro," he threw over his shoulder, a smirk crossing his lips. "I know you hurt my baby, and I'm going to find out how bad the damage is."

Hiro winced and sat down, waiting for the inevitable tongue-lashing. The tarp came off, and he closed his eyes as a soft gasp hit his ears.

Right. Any second now…

"...Well, it could have been a lot worse."

Whoa, what?

"By the looks of it, the damage is mainly to the body itself and the paint job… Yeesh, Hiro. How many lamp posts did you crash into?"

"Only one. You're not mad?"

Tadashi sighed and turned around, leaning against the red moped. "I'm irritated at the fact that you're such a bonehead, and I'm annoyed that you deliberately ignored me, but no, I'm not mad at you."

"...So you're not going to kill me, then?"

"I've considered it a few times, but I've decided that prison isn't worth it."

Hiro let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "I'm off the hook, then?"

"Oh, no way, knucklehead. You're fixing this."

"I told you, no more gummy bears!"

"But Tadashi, you know they're my weakness-" Hiro broke off, forcing himself to swallow. "Oh God. That tastes vile."

"It's your fault, you know."

"I'm aware of that, Tadashi."

"Maybe next time you'll consider moderation?"

"That's a pretty big word, Tadashi."

Tadashi let out a sigh, reaching up to ruffle his brother's hair. "It means that you don't down ten bags in one go."

"In that case, certainly not."

"Hold on, stairs." Tadashi held his brother a little tighter as he carried him upstairs. "Try not to spew rainbow all over them?"

"No promises."

"Seriously, I think Fred just about had a freakout when you threw up. He thought that Honey Lemon had given you something and you had superpowers."

"Is that what he thought?" Hiro was barely able to hiss through clenched teeth, pain stabbing through his abdomen. "He didn't notice the…?"

"I had to point them out."

"Nice. I bet that was fun to explain."

The stairs were cleared, and Tadashi leaned into the door, pushing it open and stepping into their room. "Okay, I'm going to set you down, then I'll go and get some water. I'll bet Aunt Cass has some soup on the stove or something.

"Okay, 'Dashi." Hiro closed his eyes and felt himself be set on a bed-probably Tadashi's, it was closest, and besides, his own was covered in a mixture of clothing, machinery and candy wrappers.

Tadashi turned as he stepped out the door, frowning as his little brother curled into a ball, softly moaning in pain. That kid has a serious sugar problem. He sighed and quickly went downstairs, searching for something to contain the… Rainbows? Really? My little brother is quite literally puking up rainbows. I feel like this is a metaphor for something.

Finally, he found a large metal bowl. "Aunt Cass, is it okay if I use this?"

Cass leaned over the counter, stirring chicken soup with one hand. "Hm. Yeah, that's alright. Give Hiro my love, okay?"

"I think you're already doing that," Tadashi replied with a smile, gesturing to the bubbling pot. "Maybe next time he'll think before having ten bags of gummy bears within half an hour."

"Hah! I did worse when I was his age," Cass said with a wink. "Stress eating."

"I don't doubt it."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Tadashi opted not to respond.

As he climbed the stairs to the brother's shared room, he strode through the open door, bowl and a glass of water in hand. "Okay, bud, I've got…" He trailed off as he took in the scene, and forced back a sigh of frustration.

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"No, no, I know, it's not your fault." Tadashi winced and ran his hand through Hiro's hair. "You feeling any better?"

"Not really."

"Hm. You should probably go and take a bath or something, and in the meantime, I'll attempt to make a dent in the landfill that is your bed. I'll change my sheets later, okay?"

Hiro looked up at his brother eyes, wide with guilt. "I'm really, really sorry. I'll help-"

"Nonsense, you're sick. You go and get cleaned up."

For several seconds, the younger Hamada didn't respond, then slowly got to his feet, swaying slightly as he stepped into the bathroom and turned the faucet on.

As he did so, Tadashi turned to the wreck that was their room and reached up, popping the joints in his neck.

Okay, this might take a while.

Two hours later, Hiro was curled up in his own bed, Tadashi patiently waiting by his side for him to fall asleep.

"You can go to bed now, Tadashi. I'm feeling much better."

"That's Aunt Cass' soup talking. Anyways, I was going to stay up a little later anyways. I just need to make sure you're okay."

"I am, though."

Tadashi glanced at the glass of water on the desk next to him, which was still empty-it had been refilled several times, as Hiro seemed severely dehydrated somehow. "I know. I'm overprotective. But if I weren't, I wouldn't be me, now would I?"

"You're a nerd," Hiro mumbled, pulling his blankets closer.

"Oh, I'm so much more than that. I'm your nerd," Tadashi teased, reaching out for the thousandth time to try and fix his brother's hair.

"...I'm sorry."

"What? About my bed? Don't worry about it. I was going to wash the sheets soon, anyways."

There wasn't a reply, and for a moment, Tadashi considered perhaps giving his brother a hug, until he heard the soft snoring. He allowed himself a small smile, and got up from his position on the bed. "Good night, Hiro."

"C'mon, Tadashi, we still have time!"

From his position on the couch, the elder Hamada slowly lowered his book. "Hiro, it's about to rain."

"No, it won't. It'll start raining in about an hour from my estimate, and if I am correct-and I usually am-we still have about half an hour to go and hang out on campus."

Tadashi sighed. "Hiro, you may be a genius, but you suck at meteorology. It's going to rain very soon, and you'll catch cold."

Hiro glared at his brother, then got up and walked into the other room. There were a few blissful moments of silence, then a sharp cry as the younger Hamada tackled his brother from behind, flipping over the back of the couch and sprawling over the book he was holding.

"What the-?!"

"Take me to campus with you."

"No."

"I'll just sit on your book until then."

"Hiro, this is one of my textbooks, and I can't afford for you to rip it."

Hiro did not respond, except to pick up a pillow and shove it in his brother's face.

"Hrfrm."
"What? I don't understand pillow-speak, Tadashi. Take me to campus or I'll smother you."

Tadashi reached up and took the pillow off his face. "Why can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"Have you ever known me to have patience?"

"I just took you there this morning!"

"Don't care."

Resigned, Tadashi finally pushed Hiro off of his lap, brushed off his textbook, and got to his feet. "Okay, bonehead. Go get your helmet."

In response, Hiro leaned over and picked up said helmet. "Already covered."

Ten minutes later, two sopping wet figures entered the darkened cafe, moved into the living room, and flopped on the couch.

"What did I say?"

"You said that it would rain."

"And?"

"I should have listened."

Tadashi glanced over at the soaking wet teen, and rumpled his dripping hair. "Go take a shower, Hiro. You smell like a wet dog."

"That might be because I was riding a moped with one."

"Ha, ha."

Hiro stuck out his tongue at his smug brother, then ran up the stairs to get rid of the wet clothing.

It wasn't until he stepped into the shower that he realized Tadashi hadn't said 'I told you so'.

Hiro knew better. He was, after all, a genius. Even so, it didn't take a genius to know that illegal botfighting wasn't the best way to be spending your Friday night.

It wasn't because he needed the money-he really didn't. Aunt Cass' cafe was more than sufficient for the family's needs, and really, he didn't have a ton of things he especially wanted. Well, that is besides the killer actuators he had seen the other day but, hey, he could probably build those himself.

No, the real reason Hiro was in an alley at 2 in the morning was because he was bored out of his mind.

School was never hard, but it was at least something to do. The legal age to work was 16, and due to the fact that he still had two years to go, he spent most of his days moping around the house, waiting for something to do.

To say it frankly, Hiro was bored.

Tadashi had suggested college, but really, there wouldn't be a huge point to that-it would just be teaching him stuff he already knew.

So here he was, impatiently waiting for the current match to be over so that he could move in.

"Who dares to challenge Yama?!"

And there was his cue.

"M-may I try?"

The crowd parted at the small, tentative voice, and Hiro stepped through, his bangs falling into his eyes, an innocent, timid expression pulling his eyebrows together and pulling his eyes wide open in a look that could make almost anyone want to pinch his cheeks.

That is, unless you were:

A. A seasoned botfighter.

B. Angry with him.

C. Tadashi.

"I… I have a bot. I built it myself." Hiro held up the unassuming magnetic bearing servos, knowing that despite everyone's laughter it could take down any robot in the alley.

"Beat it, kid. House rules: You've gotta pay to play."

Moment of truth.

In response, Hiro pulled out a wad of cash, hoping that it would be enough to entice the older man to play. You never really knew- he could just order his goons to take it. It wasn't unheard of and had happened before, but hopefully he wouldn't consider it a waste of time.

"Prepare your bot, Zero."

Like I haven't heard that before. Ha, ha.

"This is your fault."

"I'm sorry, Tadashi."

'You should be, you got us arrested!"

"How many times to I have to say sorry?"

"You put a blemish on my record. I was a good noodle!"

At this, Hiro fell silent. In all honesty, despite the nervous grin he was giving his brother, he was really and truly penitent.

"A good noodle?"

"Yes!"

"Like an egg noodle?"

"I suppose…?"

"So you're an egg head."

From somewhere behind the elder Hamada, one of the gang members started laughing.

"That wasn't funny."

"Shut up, I'm hilarious."

Tadashi let out a long breath of frustration. "You do realize that we are in jail?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good, just making sure that you understand."

"I did say that I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't get us out of jail, Hiro."

Hiro considered putting on his best cute face, but at the pure fury and humiliation at being put in jail-Tadashi of all people was the last person one would expect to be in here-on his brother's face brought a genuine spark of guilt to his expression.

This had not gone unnoticed, and as the younger Hamada scuffed the floor with his shoe, he heard a soft sigh from across the cell.

"I know you're sorry. And I forgive you-but as soon as we get out of here, you're making this up to me."

"I know."

"Nothing. I have no ideas. Stupid. Useless. Empty. Brain."

Each sentence was punctuated by a loud thunk as Hiro's head hit the desk. If there were such a thing as Inventor's Block, Hiro would have had it.

"Washed up at 14." Tadashi clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, turning a page. "So sad."

"I'm done for! I have no ideas."

At this, Tadashi put the book down, anticipating the next words and getting up.

"That's it-I'm never getting in."

"Hey."

Hiro turn to look, but found himself forcibly turned around anyways, his face level with his brother's.

"I'm not giving up on you."

Two seconds later, the younger Hamada was hanging upside down by his legs, crying out in surprise as he was shaken around.

"What are you doing?!"

"Shaking things up! Use your big brain to find a way out!"

By now, Hiro was very used to his brother's odd ways of cheering him up-not that he disliked it, although he could do with less of the shaking.

"Look for a new angle."

You mean a 180 degree angle? Because that appears to be the angle I have come to. I'm upside down. You are holding me upside down. This is a very uncomfortable position.

Resigned, Hiro let himself relax, looking around the room and trying not to feel lightheaded from the blood rushing to his admittedly rather large head.

His eyes alighted on the small robot resting on his desk.

And he got it.

The sky was gray. Overwhelmingly so, and to the point that it was cliche.

The rest of the funeral party had left, leaving only a woman in black, holding an umbrella over her head and that of a small teenager, his black hair pushed out of his face for once, because that was the way that he would have wanted it.

Tadashi had never been able to convince his brother to brush his hair, not once. He would sometimes do it himself, once having to pin the younger boy to the ground as he ran a hairbrush through the bird's nest on his head. After he had grown older, and Hiro would be just a little bit too fast for Tadashi to catch, he'd give up and let him run off.

Hiro's hair was brushed now, and that carried more significance than his Aunt realized. Because it hadn't been his older brother who had brushed it.

Over the past week, Hiro hadn't cried, not once. He wasn't hurt inside, he wasn't grieving.

Because overall, he just felt… numb. Empty.

This was wrong, he shouldn't be standing by a graveside. He should be at home, doing something dumb like putting rocket boots on the cat, just to see his brother's expression.

Inside, he knew that he should have been in pain. It would come later, but for now, all he could feel was the idea that this was wrong.

Why is it always raining? Where was this rain a week ago?

"Honey, it's time to go."

But he didn't want to go, now until he could grasp why he felt so empty inside.

"I'll catch up later, Aunt Cass."

And so the woman in black left, the wind whipping her hair around her face, looking over her shoulder at the young man in the black coat.

And Hiro was alone.

There was silence for several moments, and finally, he reached out to touch the cold stone that lay set into the ground, six feet above an empty coffin. The cold stone that was where his brother's head should have been, that would never be able to replace the black head of hair he would always mess up just for the sake of irritating him.

"I'm sorry that it's raining. I can't help but feel like this is the most cliche ending… And I honestly don't even know what to say right now."

The headstone didn't reply-not that he had expected it to.

"I guess I should be crying right now, begging for you to come back, but… I don't know why, but I don't feel like crying. I keep feeling like I'll go home, and you'll be standing in our room, then you'll scold me for leaving my laundry everywhere. I'll stick my tongue out at you or something, then I'll go to bed way too early with a bag or two of gummy bears. I expect it, then I feel empty when it doesn't happen."

The words, overall, just felt hollow, as hollow as the speaker. He felt as if he were trying to fill the place where a young man should have been standing, his cap placed over his perfectly styled hair-which was really sort of redundant, and contradictory. Why would you style your hair if you were just going to put a hat over it anyways?

"I feel like I'm rambling. I'm sorry, Tadashi."

At this, the dam finally broke, and words spilled out of Hiro rather than tears, because he couldn't cry, he couldn't cry, he couldn't cry.

"Do you remember that time that I took a joyride on your moped, then totaled it?"

He allowed himself a soft laugh as he remembered the dread, the clammy palms as he imagined his brother's horrified reaction.

"I thought you would kill me… But you didn't."

"Do you remember the time I ate ten bags of gummy bears in the span of a half an hour, then threw them up all over your bed? I thought you'd hate me, but you didn't."

Memory after bittersweet memory poured out, and Hiro fell to his knees, clutching at the wet grass.

"Do you remember the time that I wanted to go and hang out on the SFIT campus, and it rained, just like you said it would? I thought you'd say 'I told you so', but you didn't."

"Do you remember the day I went botfighting, and I wasn't being careful and so we got arrested? I was so sure you'd hate me, but you didn't."

"Or do you remember the time I was completely out of ideas, and was on the verge of throwing in the towel?"

Hiro felt himself take in a sharp breath, pain filling his chest and squeezing his eyes shut.

"I thought you'd give up on me, just like I had, but you didn't."

By now he was shaking from the effort it took not to give in to the tears that were threatening to spill down his cheeks, but he had started to talk and he had to finish.

"I…"

He took another shuddering breath and sat up, staring at the stone. He forced himself to give the carved words a small smile that vanished as soon as it had come.

"Yeah, there were a lot of things that you didn't do. But… You put up with me. You protected me, and you loved me. Because that's the way you are."

Hiro blinked, and the floodwaters broke through, dripping from his eyes to the tip of his nose, silently streaming down his face.

"There were… There were a lot… a lot of things that I wanted to make up to you… When we got back from the SFIT showcase."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into a pair of green eyes, then forced himself to get up, let himself be pulled into his aunt's embrace. She gently ran a hand through his hair, then put her arm around his shoulders, leading him away.

...But you didn't.