Those of you who have taken psychology in high school and/or college are probably aware of the Kübler-Ross model, or the five stages of grief. Though this model was initially created to highlight the emotional stages of someone's death, it was later expanded to include stages of other traumatic-related events in a person's life.

In this case, Tadashi deals with the loss of memory after surviving the fire, and this affects his life a lot. This is a five-chapter story on how Tadashi goes through the stages of Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Characters belong to Disney and/or Marvel.

First Stage: Denial

Fire.

Smoke.

Darkness.

Lack of oxygen.

Burnt smells.

Those were some of the last things he remembered when he first woke up in the hospital that night. What else can he remember? His head did hurt a lot that night. Did he hit something?

Tadashi tried so hard to remember, but to no avail. What happened? Why can't he remember anything significant?

It was Robert Callaghan's fault, they said.

Professor Callaghan, the nice man from the prestigious San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, his dream school. The man who invented magnetic bearing servos. He was the man who was the cause of this. He's the reason why he had these burn marks on his left arm, and a large scar on the side of his left cheek. Heck, he remembered meeting this kind man during a college tour. They both had a nice, long conversation.

He would never cause this. He wouldn't. He's an extremely kind man who looked happy to have met me. Even I felt the same.

He did not want to believe it. He couldn't believe it. Why would a brilliant man like Professor Callaghan put him in this situation?

What's the date today anyway? What?! How come the calendar says 2015? Shouldn't it say 2012?

"What was the last thing you remember aside from the fire?" The doctor asked him slowly.

Here he was, sitting at a table in his aunt's cafe, while the doctor sat on the other end taking notes. The doctor was able to make a visit after closing hours, and the silence in the cafe was so tense that it could be felt. His aunt and his brother were standing behind the counter, watching nervously. The expression on Hiro's face shows it all. As a matter of fact, Tadashi noticed something different about Hiro for awhile.

Something about Hiro looks much older. What the hell? How long was I out for?

Whatever, at least he wasn't in the hospital anymore. Now time to answer the doctor's question.

"I remember physics class ending," Tadashi answered slowly, "Some of my friends and I came to eat here at the cafe."

"Anything else?" The doctor asked curiously.

"We were talking about how glad we were that we got our test over with," Tadashi answered as he tried to recall that specific memory, "We also talked about how we were looking forward to summer vacation. I actually introduced them to you, Aunt Cass."

Seeing how Tadashi turned his head toward her, Aunt Cass was stricken with worry. Hiro looked at her as well and shared the same look. The last time Tadashi took physics was in his junior year of high school.

"Who were these friends, Tadashi?" Aunt Cass asked him.

"Hmmm let's see," he thought, "There was Peter, Luke, Natalie, and I think Susan was there too."

"Your high school friends?" Aunt Cass spoke, sounding alerted.

"Uh, yeah," Tadashi noticed a weird look erupting on the faces of his aunt and brother.

"Tadashi," Hiro spoke, "Do names like Fred or GoGo ring a bell?"

Who?

Tadashi shook his head slowly. He was confused.

"Honey Lemon? Wasabi? Baymax?"

Tadashi continued shaking his head.

This time, it was the doctor's turn to ask, "I have a question for you: What year is it?"

"2012... Why?"

He saw his brother and his aunt exchanging worried glances, and his doctor gave him the same look as well.

This can't be good.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Tadashi..." The doctor spoke in a tone that panicked him, "We've been diagnosing some cognitive problems in regards to your mental health for about a week now, and it looks like what you have may be permanent."

The second half of that sentence killed him.

"... What do you mean?" He asked the doctor, hoping for another answer rather than the obvious.

"It's 2015, Tadashi," The doctor told him.

He looked back at the calendar, still hoping that it has a typo and that he misheard the doctor. Whatever else the doctor has to say, he wasn't prepared to hear it.

"You have suffered a permanent memory impairment," the doctor continued, "All the memory from that day at the cafe until the fire, it's gone."

Then, it seemed like time froze. Tadashi felt the world around him stop, and he was the only one in motion.

"So... Three years of my life, gone?"

The doctor grabbed Tadashi's hand, "I'm sorry son."

Tadashi couldn't believe it.

This is all a dream. It can't be real. I'm going to wake up, and take the bus to school. Yeah, that's it. This is all a dream. Just a dream.

But if it was just a dream, why does it feel real? He can feel the doctor grabbing his hand. He can feel the intense looks of worry eliciting from his aunt and brother.

What if this WERE real?

Snatching his hand away from the doctor, he spoke, "What did I miss?"

His tone was neutral, showing no emotion. Though, he was practically hiding those emotions.

Hiro came walking to his older brother, looking at him with sympathy while his brother looked back with worry.

"Tadashi, you're a student from the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. You helped me get into that school."

What? As good as it may sound, how would I have what it takes to get into that school? When did I ever apply? And how did I help Hiro in? Shit, how did someone as young as him get in?

"No, that can't be."

"You don't remember any of that?" His little brother asked him sadly.

He sounds older. Much older.

Not real. Not real. Not real.

"What are you talking about? What are you all talking about? I'm still in my junior year of high school damn it!"

Hiro flinched back from his brother's yells. That wasn't like his brother.

Aunt Cass came walking towards him, kneeling down and placing her hands on his shoulder, "I'm sorry sweetie."

Tadashi stood up, "No, this isn't happening."

He walked away from the table and up the stairs, while his family and the doctor looked at him solemnly.

He was hoping to finally wake up from this stupid dream.

That's right. This is just a stupid dream.

Before going into his room, he realized that he wanted to stop by the bathroom just to examine himself in the mirror.

Once he did, it made sense. No wonder why he felt heavier for some reason. He looked taller, definitely had a more physical built, and some broader facial characteristics. In addition, he had that scar on his cheek and the marks on his arm showing outside of the short-sleeved shirt he's wearing.

This is one heck of a dream.

But when he laid back on his bed, he couldn't fall asleep. Whatever dream this was, it felt too real. He just wants to wake up already.

Yet, he already feels awake.