When All Else Fails, Improvise

Summary: All things considered, I was coping pretty well ever since I landed in San Fransokyo, you know, the fictional city from Disney's Big Hero 6 Movie. Coping all the way, until my boss's youngest nephew, one Hiro Hamada, told me he was entering SFIT's Showcase. Fuck my life.

"Haruka, we can close up early today."

A young woman with black hair stuck her head into the kitchen, confusion on her face. "Close up early up, Cass?" she asked in disbelief. "But it's beat poetry night?"

Outside in Lucky Cat Cafe was a poet giving a whimsical performance on the importance of bacon. The crowd engrossed in the performance, hanging onto every word. It was one of the few times the cafe was packed at this time of night.

Cass gave her employee a tired smile. "It seems my nephews got themselves arrested and I have to go bail them out. I don't want you end up cleaning all this by yourself. So after we finish cleaning, I'll go pick them up. The boys can sit and think about what they've done in the meantime."

Haruka blinked. "I don't mind, cleaning up by myself that is. You can go pick them up," she said. It wasn't like cleaning was hard. Sure, it would take longer by herself, but Haruka had been helping clean the cafe for over two years now. It wasn't a difficult task.

Cass gave Haruka an expectant look. "Are you sure?"

Haruka nodded. "We're only gonna be open for another hour anyways. By the time you get back, I'll probably be done." There was no point to close early on one of the busiest nights of the week. That would just hurt the business in the long run.

Cass let out a huff. She crossed her arms across her chest; a mix of irritation and bemusement playing on her face. "I should make the boys clean. I can't believe they got arrested. What on earth were they doing?"

"Stupid boy stuff?" Haruka offered. If it was one thing Haruka had come to learn, it was trouble followed the Hamada brothers like a lost puppy. Frankly, Haruka was surprised it only took until now for them to get arrested.

Cass snorted. She hung up her apron on one of the wooden hooks behind the counter and grabbed her purse and keys. "They're walking geniuses, those two, but sometimes it's like they lack common sense. I'll be back, Haruka. Throw out anyone who gives you trouble!"

Haruka gave a salute. "Aye Aye ma'am!"

xXxXx

Hi. I'm Haruka. Look, I'm not going to bore you with silly information on who I am, what my favorite color, or if my eyes are some multi-shade rainbow hue color (they're not). I actually remember being in your shoes okay? In fact, if you skip over this part of the story, I'm not gonna be offended.

The important thing to know is that two years ago, I was living in San Francisco and not San Fransokyo.

It was a couple months after my college graduation (which I worked my butt off for my degree, I just didn't have a job yet) when Disney had just released a certain movie called Big Hero 6. I saw said movie with friends and may have just a teeny tiny bit gotten a little obsessed with it. If I bought a bunch of BH6 merchandise and those curse damn tsum tsums, that was between myself and my wallet okay?

Anyways, I was driving home after having Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' place when, well, I'm not sure what happened other than a bright flash of light and I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder and asking if I was alright.

Finding out that someone looked exactly like (younger) Hiro Hamada well, I may have freaked. A lot.

After a lot of yelling and panicking and several espresso shots, I calmed down and tried to wrap my head around the idea that somehow I traveled to a completely different universe. More specifically to the backyard of Lucky Cat Cafe/Hamada Household. Ya… it was not a fun experience.

Now skipping through some more useless information, the bottom line came down to, was when she figured out that I didn't have anywhere to go, didn't have any money on me, Cass gave me a job as a cashier/waitress in the cafe and let me crash on their couch for six months. (After six months, I have enough saved to rent out a very cheap studio a couple blocks away).

So I was coping. It was a new universe and I clearly had no way of going back to my old one.

When life gave you lemons, you made lemonade. Cass was a lifesaver, the closest thing I had to a mother since mines was 'misplace' and Tadashi and Hiro were cute, annoying siblings (I really miss my own siblings).

All was well… until this happened.

xXxXx

"Haruka!"

Haruka placed down the mug she had been wiping as Hiro came bouncing down the stairs into the empty cafe. The cafe wouldn't open for another twenty minutes, but Haruka was always in two hours earlier to help Cass open. Well, that and Cass insisted on feeding Haruka breakfast and who was she to turn down Cass' awesome food?

Haruka felt an amused smile twitch onto her face. "Hiro," she greeted, leaning over the counter. "I heard you got arrested last night. Out bot fighting again?"

"I beat the guy," Hiro said, flashing that brilliant grin. He all but vibrated with energy in front of her.

Haruka shook her head. Such an adrenaline junkie, this young one. It wouldn't be Hiro though if he wasn't getting into trouble. Thankfully Tadashi was there to haul his baby brother out messes. "You're going to give your aunt gray hairs, if you haven't already. You really ought to use that big brain of yours for something good."

Hiro gave her a look, eyebrows arched. "Tadashi said something similar last night."

Oops. Right, two years later and she was still quoting things from a movie that doesn't exist.

Hiro continued onward, ignoring Haruka's sheepish expression. "But I promise, I am. Tadashi showed me his nerd school, which turned out to be kinda cool. Professor Callaghan teaches there too! Why didn't Tadashi tell me that? I would have signed up for classes in a heartbeat. But first I gotta get into that school. Tadashi said if I can impress Professor Callaghan at the SFIT Showcase, I'm in. Speaking of which, I should get back upstairs. I'm gonna need a really impressive idea. Just wanted to say hi!"

Haruka blinked, stunned. She didn't get a chance to say anything before Hiro bounced back upstairs. Did… Did Hiro just say what she thought he said? No, no, no. Not the SFIT Showcase.

xXxXx

Well, fuck my life.

If you made it this far, thanks for stopping in to read. This is purely a self indulgent fic that was pretty much just bugging me until I sat down to write it. Whether I bother to post the rest of what I have, depends if you guys even like this story. So tell me what you think? I know this type of story OC-centric is probably one of the most hated type in fandoms (and fandom has gotten quiet in my opinion probably because the movie has been out for a while).

If you're worried about what kind of OC Haruka is going to be, I can tell you she's not here to be a love interest to anyone or a replacement sibling to the Hamada bros, or to join the team. In many ways, this is still Hiro's (and Tadashi's) story and Haruka the casual observer who is a little genre-savvy and will try to influence what she can. Outside of our BH6 obsession and spazzy thought process, Haruka and I don't share much so I don't really count this fic as a 'Self-Insert' OC.