Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero 6. Disney does. Please go support the BH6 team by watching Season 2. They absolutely deserve it.

Disclaimer #2: These one-shots, again, will contain varying levels of spoilers for the episodes of Season 2, so it would be best if you did not read these until you have watched said episodes.


Chapter 1 – Fair Play

Karmi flopped onto her bed, exhausted. Another day gone by, and another day spent within the wondrous expanses of Sycorax, Liv Amara's company. Inventions, prototypes, flying pods delivering sushi. A little bit of everything happened.

The only thing that wasn't wondrous were the callouses that were beginning to form on her feet.

Luckily, she had a secret weapon.

She slowly dipped her toes into her portable foot bath, recoiling a bit before getting used to the temperature. She submerged her entire feet, the water doing wonders to them.

"Mmmmm," she groaned as she laid down on her bed. "I don't know where you are, Chef, but thank goodness you suggested this."

As she let her feet soak, she reached for her end table, grabbing her phone. She started to scroll through her e-mail; hopefully, a few people had gotten back to her by now.

Yup, a few had come in. Go Go was first to reply, then Honey Lemon, then Wasabi. A little bit farther down, Fred had RSVP'd. Man, even Baymax had accepted the invitation.

That just left one person out.

Karmi frowned, her good feelings now soaked just like her feet. Man, you try to do a nice thing for someone and then they just...ugh.

She let the phone hit her chest as she stared at her ceiling. Did she even want him to come at this point? She had invited him out of courtesy, but if he wasn't going to even bother...

"You know what?"

She raised her phone, going to her contacts. Underneath the G's was her destination.

"You better pick up, Hamada."

She put the phone to her ear, hearing the tone three times. With each one, she began to get more and more angry.

"Hey, you've reached my phone, or whatever. Leave a message."

Beep.

Now she was furious. She was so furious, she wasn't even know she was furious about any more.

But when has that ever stopped her from talking?

"Listen, Genius Boy, I know you're there! Pick up!"

No response.

"Why do you have to do this? Why do you have to be so difficult? Why can't you just-"

She stopped, putting her hand to her face. Her breaths were heavier now, more spaced.

"Why can't you just be my friend?"

She tried to calm herself down, but her next few sentences came out in a blur.

"I mean, I know that I still make fun of you and everything and I get on your nerves and tease you a lot. And when you had that cow with you and you told me about your internship or whatever with Krei, it was funny because you were clearly copying me. But you were only copying me because I-"

Karmi stopped again, the realization hitting her.

"...I just answered my own stupid question, didn't I?"

She let her hand run down her face and to her side. "You know what? Forget it. I thought that I could do normal things and be friends with people and all that..."


"But now I'm not so sure anymore."

The phone clicked off, the screen now black. In the reflection of it was only the overhead light...

And Hiro's face as he frowned.

Yeah. He had heard her.

All of it.

He put the towel down on the bed, his hair now somewhat dry and just as disheveled as before. The shower was quick but necessary, having just finished wrapping up patrol. Other than a few ketchup puddles and a little property damage, Trina and Noodle Burger Boy were covering their tracks well.

But that wasn't important now.

Hiro sat down on the bed as he grabbed his phone. He tapped a couple of buttons on the screen and brought it up as it rang.

She picked up almost immediately, but he could hear a couple of sniffles as she answered. "Hello?"

"It's me."

"Oh great." Something creaked in the background, maybe her bed. "Did you...listen to my message?"

"Yup. I did."

A moment of silence followed, punctured by the continued sniffles of Karmi. Hiro swung his legs over the bed and propped himself up with his pillows.

"I'm...sorry that I made you upset."

"You didn't do anything. It's me."

Hiro straightened up. "No, I didn't help the situation at all. I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a problem with being jealous of people." He grimaced, glad she couldn't see her. "Or...just you, I guess."

She didn't respond. He didn't really know what to say to her now, but he had to say something. He had to try to fix it.

"Karmi."

"...Yeah?"

"...You deserved that internship. And trying to get one from Krei in revenge was..."

Hiro remembered Honey Lemon's word and sighed. "Shallow of me. It was a disaster, anyway. Probably for the best, because I shouldn't have done it in the first place." His hand was rubbing the sheets unbeknownst to him, trying to get out the wrinkles. "I'm happy for you. It may not matter much that it's over the phone, but...I'm really happy for you.

A beep came over his cell, and Hiro turned to see the video call prompt again.

Ohhhh, no. He wasn't going to fall for that again. "Nice try, Karmi. I'm not gonna-"

"Just pick up, you weirdo."

Hesitating slightly, he pressed the Accept button, and Karmi's room came into view once again. This time, she was holding her phone above her head with both hands, her head laying on the middle of her bed, a stray pillow underneath it. The streaks under her eyes were still a little wet from her tears.

"Don't say it over the phone..."

Her head filled the entirety of the frame as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Say it to my face."

Hiro blinked once. "You know this is still technically over the phone, right?"

"Hiro..."

"OK, OK."

He steeled himself up, his eyes wandering off. "Karmi, I-"

"Look at me."

He looked back, and the sight startled him: Karmi had put the phone down on her bed, propped up, but her head was now on its side, her cheek rubbing against her pillow. She tucked her arm underneath it as she spoke up again.

"To my face."

Hiro sighed deeply, getting himself ready. He tried his best not to look away from the screen as she had requested, but those eyes were making it really difficult.

"Karmi..."

OK, make that super difficult. There they were, staring at him again.

But enough.

"Karmi, I'm happy for you. I really am. In fact...I don't know how you do what you do."

She raised her eyebrow at him, but let him continue on.

"You have school, this internship, your job, and who knows how much more stuff I don't even know about. And you're handling all of it...like a machine. It's almost natural to you."

"You wouldn't say that if you saw my feet now," Karmi said, glancing down the length of the bed, "But go on."

"What's...wrong with them?"

"Sore. And bumpy." She chuckled to herself. "You wanna see?"

"I'll pass, thanks." Seeing her smile, even slightly, was good to see. "But you work hard at everything you do, and it pays off. I can't even get the stupid Nano-Dex to work properly."

"You shouldn't overtax it so much. That's what kills the power."

Hiro's mind flashed back to the rooftop, the streaks of silver dancing around him. "If only you knew..."

"Hmm?"

"You're getting me off track," Hiro said. "Look. The point is that you have all of this good stuff going for you. And you can do this, even with me being in your way. You're...

He paused, trying to think of the right word to say.

"Amazing."

"...Do you mean that?" she whispered.

"I do." He stared straight into her eyes, his voice as firm as he could muster. "I absolutely do."

The tears started to come down again, carrying over her nose to the pillow. Karmi wiped them away as she blew her nose on her sleeve. "Thank you, Hiro. I appreciate that."

Hiro leaned back into his pillows, his mind a little more clear. "And I'm sorry that I didn't return your e-mail. For your Lady Majesty's parade or whatever."

"You know it's...not really a parade, right? To be fair, I may have gotten a little excited when Liv made it official."

"It wasn't official before?"

"Not technically. There was a whole group of us, and got whittled down to me. I didn't technically start until the other day, when you guys showed up."

"So can I still come?"

Karmi rolled her eyes. "Yes, Genius Boy, you can come."

"Will there be a smorgasbord there?"

"A little smorgas, but a lot of bord."

Hiro smiled at the joke. Seeing her happier made him feel a lot better himself. Now if only he and Karmi could making each other feel bad on a regular basis, perhaps they could stop taking so many steps backward.

"Sooo," Hiro started, "I'll see you in a few days when I'm jealous and fanboying over you all over again?"

Karmi's eyes were half-shut, no doubt ready for some sleep, but she managed to get the last word in. "It's a date, then." She reached over to her phone with her finger. "Good night."

Hiro stared at his phone, the screen going black again. Did...did she just say what he thought she said?

Don't freak out, he thought, turning the lamp off next to his bed. She was falling asleep; she had no idea what she was saying.

His phone lit up again.

And there she is, probably explaining herself. Hiro grabbed his cell, looking for the text message that was just sent. See? Nothing to-

"Aaah!" Hiro juggled his phone in the air, finding a way in the mess to take the picture off of his screen. Hurriedly, she started typing out a message.

I thought I told you I didn't want to see that!

Hiro brought his phone down, but almost immediately the answer came through.

What? Not a foot person?

He felt the blush coming up again. Thank goodness he wasn't on video anymore.

Oooooh that's right. You're a LEG person.

Hiro stared at the phone, not responding.

Hehehehehe. :P


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hehehehehe.

As I watched the episode, I took particular notes to sort of make sure I stayed within the continuity I had made.

But then I thought...why keep with the one I made when I can just do it in the continuity? Insert guy pointing to own head here.

I'll say it again: Hiro and Karmi don't hate each other. It's a competition with them (or at least with Hiro). And sometimes when people go back and forth, someone goes a little too far. In this case, it may have been both of them.

And you know what they say...turnabout is fair play. :)

The plan will be to make a new one-shot after every new episode this week. We'll see how this goes, because I guarantee not all of the episodes will be as interesting as this one.

Read and review, if you like. Until...tomorrow?