This Big Hiro 6 story made me tear up. But what do you do when it's the first Christmas without your brother? The third day of my Twelve Days of Christmas challenge! Enjoy!
"Hiro Hamada, what in mercy's name is this?" Aunt Cass sounded disappointed. Hiro was pulled out of his sleep and looked up, Aunt Cass standing at his door, hands on her hips.
"You can't be a slob just because you finished your first semester of college. Clean this up or Santa's just going to give your presents to someone else this year." He groaned, not wanting to tell her that he hadn't believed in Santa for like, eight years now. Deep down, she probably knew that he was too old for Santa, but the legend still persisted, and he'd always played along.
"Sorry, Aunt Cass. I'll start cleaning." He didn't even bother changing out of his PJs, beginning to pick up miscellaneous items.
"You might consider giving some of your stuff to charity," his aunt added as she headed back downstairs.
"I'll think about it!" He promised. Just cleaning was going to get tedious, so he dialed up his best friends on a group call and put them on speaker as he cleaned.
"What're you guys' plans for break?" He asked, shoveling failed ideas into a big trash bag, Mochi batting at a crumpled up ball of paper, adorably making Hiro's job just a little bit harder.
"Oh you know, just a small, private Christmas on the family island with me and my parents and Mini Max."
"Be careful with Mini Max okay? I've rebuilt him enough already."
"To even imply that I would do anything to hurt my sidekick is ludicrous and oh no get down from there Mini Max- I'll be right back."
"Go Go, what're your plans?"
"Nothing. Christmas is just another excuse to spend money you don't have-"
"We're decorating gingerbread houses!" Honey Lemon said excitedly.
"We're not doing that."
"Come on, it's super fun, you'll love it! Hiro, what are you doing over break?"
"Right now it looks like I'm cleaning," he said, sounding bored.
"Hey, me too! Deep cleaning my whole apartment. It will be great." Wasabi chimed in.
"You should come over and decorate gingerbread houses with us, Wasabi!" Honey Lemon offered.
"Uh, sounds, sticky. I'll pass this time. You two have fun though, maybe we can all meet up at Noodle Burger later today or this week."
"I'm in, it beats living in tinsel town," Go Go interjected.
"You love the decorations," Honey Lemon argued.
"They're alright."
"I'm down for Noodle Burger," Hiro said, "if I can ever get out of this cleaning prison."
"Keep working, we won't distract you."
"Yeah, I have to go get the cookies out of the oven anyway."
"I have to go make sure she doesn't burn down my apartment." One by one his friends signed off, and Hiro was left to his cleaning. Bored after only fifteen minutes, he snatched up his phone and shot a text to his rival.
H: Hey Karmi, what are you doing over break?
K: Why are you texting me, weirdo?
H: I'm being friendly
K: More like creepy.
H: Haha. I just asked a question
K: Stop flirting and get over me already
H: Captain Cutie is never going to date you
Captain Cutie. He hated that name. They should've gone in sooner with their own superhero names, not that he could think of any good ones, but certainly, anything was better than Captain Cutie, Tall Girl, and Chop Chop. Her fanfiction was the dumbest thing he'd ever read. What kind of person writes fanfiction, anyway? Not wanting to squabble with her anymore, he tossed his phone on the bed and kept diligently working. He'd even compiled a stack of toys that he was willing to part with.
He'd made it to the dangerous cavern known as under his bed when he butted heads with a shoebox. Hiro dragged it out to see whether or not it was charity-worthy and stared at the contents in dismay.
Since he could remember, he'd gotten ahead of the Christmas shopping craze by getting his presents a whole year in advance. He was pretty sure Tadashi had snooped a couple of times, possibly concerned that the contents of random boxes had to do with Hiro's bot-fighting addiction, but he always stashed these things under his bed anyways. After the funeral, he'd forgotten about the present. It hurt to see the little bauble now. He'd gotten it downtown at a little store, just a tissue wrapped trinket of a waving cat, because Tadashi had sometimes joked that there weren't enough cats in his life, especially when Mochi would trip him up on the stairs. Tears sprung to Hiro's eyes, and he tried to wipe them away, but soon the tears were leaking down his face. He pulled his knees up to his chest and cradled the waving cat and sobbed.
"Hiro?" Baymax inquired, but he waved him away.
"I am satisfied with my care," He insisted, bidding the robot to disappear. This was the first Christmas without Tadashi. He felt so alone. He heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Hey, Hiro, I forgot to mention breakfast- Hiro?" Aunt Cass wasted no time dropping down next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hiro? What is it?" He produced the little figurine, eyes wet.
"I got this for Tadashi last year. It would've been his Christmas present this year…" He choked out. She pulled him into a hug and ran a hand through his hair.
"It's going to be hard this year." She admitted.
"He always played along with the whole Santa bit. I know you knew it wasn't real, but it made me so happy to see you two, your eyes lit up…" She sounded like she was about to cry herself. He hugged her, burying his face in her shoulder.
"Do we have to celebrate this year?" He asked, his voice muffled.
"Yes, Hiro, we do. Because we still have to live our lives, for him. We still have to show the world that we don't stay down when we're kicked to the ground. We're celebrating so much more this year honey. We're celebrating the life he lived and the love he gave. We're celebrating Tadashi." He wept into her shirt, but she was right. This Christmas, they celebrated Tadashi.