Update - I know that I put in the wrong document for this story when I originally posted it - thank you all for giving me gentle comments on telling me to fix it.

Hello, everyone! Katierosefun aka Caroline here! *waves* Um...back with a Big Hero 6 fic. Obviously. I started writing this a few weeks ago, actually, but never got around finishing it until this morning, because of Christmas...and other fics. But...finally managed to get this thing done, so...

Happy reading!

Switched Roles

Hiro Hamada slept like a corpse. He used to be teased about it by Tadashi and Aunt Cass – how there'd probably be an earthquake and he'd sleep right through it. And for the most part, that was true. Hiro had an uncanny ability to sleep through mostly anything, but then again, he figured that most people were a bit like that at least once in a while.

So when Hiro suddenly woke up at five thirty in the morning, he knew there was something wrong.

He frowned into the darkness of the shared bedroom he had with Tadashi, trying to put a finger on what exact reason there was for why his body decided to jerk awake now. Hiro didn't have to worry about waking up early for school anymore, so it couldn't be that. Mochi always slept with Aunt Cass, so it couldn't be that, either.

And then it came.

A deep, heaving cough sounded from the other side of the room. Hiro instantly sat up, eyes wide. He stared curiously at the divider in the bedroom – the divider that separated his side from Tadashi's corner. On most nights, it was kept open, but Hiro remembered that Tadashi had seemed oddly intent on keeping the divider closed last night. Hiro frowned, slowly pushing away the covers. "Tadashi?" he whispered. "That you?"

There was another cough – this one muffled, and then the reply, "Yeah." There was a pause. "What are you doing awake? You should go back to sleep. I'm just…getting ready to go."

"Getting ready to go? Where? Nerd school?" Hiro snorted. He slipped out of his bed and started to walk towards the divider. Without warning, Hiro tugged it back to reveal Tadashi hopping around the corner, arms flailing around a shirt and hair still messy from sleep. At the sight, Hiro almost laughed.

Almost.

In the dim morning light, Hiro could make out a thin film of sweat over Tadashi's face, bruise-colored half-moons under his eyes, and even the slight shiver in his muscles. Hiro tilted his head, bewildered, and then, in a quiet voice, asked, "Are you seriously gonna go to nerd school looking like that?" He shook his head. "I mean, no offense, but you don't exactly look that great."

Tadashi let out a small, weak laugh in response. "I'll take only a bit of that, if you don't mind," he replied. Hiro watched as his older brother started to sling a jacket around his shoulders. "Why do you need to get out so early again?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow. Tadashi grinned. "It's a secret," he answered. "I'm working on something – I'll have to show it to you later."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Right," he replied, making his voice sound as unimpressed as it could possibly be. "Can't wait." Tadashi stuck out his tongue and grabbed a brush. Hiro leaned against the wall, saying, "But c'mon – are you sure you want to get out?"

"'Course," Tadashi replied easily. It unnerved Hiro – it was actually in times like these when the younger Hamada would wonder how people like Tadashi could ever actually be eager to go to school. Why bother waking up early every morning and boring your brain out when you could do something else with your life? (Preferably outside a classroom, thank you very much!)

Before Hiro could come up with a decent retort, however, a guttural, low, coughing fit erupted out of Tadashi. Hiro instinctively stepped back, but not too far away to totally leave his older brother alone in his section of the room. "Do you want to go out now?" Hiro asked over the coughing. Tadashi managed to straighten himself into a half-standing, half-doubled position. Though his face was wound up in agony, the glare in his eyes was clear – Hiro ought to keep quiet. Still, the young Hamada persisted with lifted shoulders, "I think that was a yes."

Tadashi gripped the edge of the wall, mumbling halfhearted protests, but it was obvious to both brothers that Hiro was right. "Come on, big brother," Hiro said, drumming his fingers against Tadashi's arm. "You're staying and going back to bed like a normal human being."

With that, Hiro started to tug off Tadashi's jacket. He flung it to the side of the room, ignoring the low grumble of protest from his older brother. "Take care of you now, neatness later," Hiro explained with an eye roll. "Seriously, Tadashi – no time to be a neat freak when you're sick."

After letting Tadashi change himself back into a more comfortable set of clothes, Hiro practically shoved him into bed. "And that's where you're gonna stay 'till you get better," Hiro said in a determined voice. Despite the obvious discomfort Tadashi was feeling, the older Hamada let out a small laugh. "Since when did you decide to take care of me?" he asked.

Hiro shrugged his shoulders. "You'd do the same," he replied. There was a beat of silence between the two – and then, shifting his weight awkwardly from foot to foot, Hiro added, "But if you're gonna puke, I'm gonna get Aunt Cass, 'cause there is no way I'm gonna clean that up." For extra measure, Hiro shuddered at the mere idea. "Ugh."

Tadashi laughed again, only this one was quieter than the one before. Hiro's face split into a smile at that; he gave his older brother a small pat on the shoulder and without another word, plopped himself down at the foot of the bed. For a while, the only thing Hiro could do was listen to Tadashi fall asleep, and that was something that he already knew by heart. First, there was the quiet that could only be made by someone trying to fall asleep…and then the deep, almost sigh-like breaths would be heard…and then the breaths would even out, signaling Hiro that Tadashi was finally asleep.

When Hiro was a little kid, he used to like the way Tadashi breathed while sleeping – and while that sounded weird, it was his way of knowing that his older brother was near, and that eventually, things would be okay. For some kids, it's the sound of their parents washing dishes downstairs (but that was something that Hiro never had – and the Hamada brothers did the dishes with Aunt Cass most of the time, anyways), for others, it's the sound of their dog's tail hitting the carpet – for Hiro, it was the way Tadashi slept.

Anyways.

The sun was beginning to rise now – not quite enough to brighten the room, but the sky outside was growing increasingly lighter every few minutes. Hiro could hear the sounds of cars honking cheerfully at each other down below, as well as earlier joggers yelling out in greeting. Careful not to wake Tadashi, he slid off the bed and walked over to the window by his bookshelf.

Huh.

Hiro was never a morning person, but Tadashi certainly was. He was always rambling about how nice things always were in the early morning, and this sense of renewal or whatever. Hiro always figured that was a load of philosophical, over-thinking, totally Tadashi-like thing for Tadashi to say, but now, as he watched the sun rise between a cluster of skyscrapers, he figured this wasn't too bad –

An abrupt moan reached Hiro's ears, causing him to automatically turn around to look at Tadashi. Sure enough, his older brother had rolled over on his side – only no longer was he sleeping peacefully; instead, Hiro could make out a stronger, less controlled tremble run up and down Tadashi's body.

Biting at the inside of his cheek, Hiro cautiously walked over to the bed. He gingerly slid over to Tadashi so that he would be facing him, just to find that Tadashi was, in fact, still asleep. However, there were more beads of sweat trailing down Tadashi's forehead, and his eyes were squeezed shut in what Hiro quickly recognized as pain.

And though Hiro was no nurse, he instantly slid his hand up to Tadashi's forehead, and flinching, he pulled it away immediately. His older brother's forehead – and Hiro was guessing the rest of his body – was hot – too hot and uncomfortable and something that Hiro figured was a bad sign.

"Um…" Hiro nervously paced the space in front of Tadashi's bed. Usually, Tadashi would be the one looking after Hiro when he was sick – and whenever Tadashi was sick, it wasn't ever really major. Or he'd quickly recover.

This left Hiro to uncharted territory.

"Water," Hiro muttered to himself – that's what Tadashi did whenever Hiro had a fever, right? He always brought a bowl or basin of cold water – and used it to cool Hiro down.

Setting his lips into a determined, thin line, Hiro darted out of the room. He scrambled down to the second layer and skidded to a stop in front of the cupboards. He yanked out a bowl with one hand and using the other, turned the sink faucet on. He dunked the bowl underneath the steady stream of cool water and went to looking for a towel – and after searching around the bathroom; he managed to find a clean, folded one.

By the time Hiro had re-emerged from the bathroom, the bowl was already filled to the brim with cool water – and so, he turned the faucet off. Flinging the towel over his elbow and carefully balancing the bowl, Hiro slowly walked up the stairs (and took extra care not to let a single drop of water spill out).

Tadashi hadn't moved a single inch when Hiro reached him, which put the younger Hamada in the position of having to turn him over. To his relief, however, Tadashi didn't struggle – but he did open his eyes, though it was brief. "Hiro," he mumbled, almost bewildered-sounding, before closing his eyes again. Hiro managed to give Tadashi a grimace, replying, "Yeah, it's me. And please don't puke. Dear God."

Tadashi didn't respond.

Hiro puffed out a small breath and dunked the towel into the bowl of water. He spent a few seconds wringing out any extra water and as gently as he could, he placed it over Tadashi's forehead. The effect was immediate – at first, Tadashi didn't do anything except shake a bit harder at the impact, which made Hiro furiously wonder if he had done something truly, awfully wrong.

But then Tadashi's face flattened out into a calmer, easier expression – and that was all Hiro needed to feel the sweet sensation of relief flood back in his mind. He reached over and as if he was a child again, rested a hand over Tadashi's arm. Smiling to himself, Hiro whispered aloud to himself, "Looks like I'm not that bad…"

"Hiro?"

Hiro whirled around to see Aunt Cass at the top of the stairs, brow furrowed in concern. "I thought I heard you moving around," she said with a shake of her head. "What are you doing this – oh…" Her voice trailed off as she spotted Tadashi's figure on the bed. "Should have known – your brother has been running around in the last few days. He was going to get sick sooner or later."

Aunt Cass walked up to Hiro's side, adding, "But it looks like you've done well." Face splitting into a grin, she gave Hiro an affectionate hug. "Look at you, trying to help out your big brother!"

Hiro gave a small laugh. "Yeah, Aunt Cass," he replied, awkwardly hugging the older woman back.

At that very moment, Tadashi made an odd, sputtering, coughing sound, followed by the sudden fssh of blankets being shoved away.

Aunt Cass and Hiro exchanged startled looks and then, after a pause, Hiro quickly said, "I'm gonna get the bucket."

"Right, dear, you go do that – and hurry!" Aunt Cass shouted.

Moments later, Hiro returned, heaving a trash bin by his side. He pushed it underneath Tadashi's mouth, which was hanging open – and openly cringed as he felt something dunk into it; an acrid, burning smell filled the room shortly after. Then, with a gasp and shudder, Tadashi groaned, "Sorry." Hiro took a second to look down at his older brother – and grinned. "Still not cleaning it," he said loftily.

"Tadashi, do you want to take a shower? I'll get some medicine up here in a few," Aunt Cass said with a tsk. Tadashi gave the guardian a sheepish nod and pushed himself off the bed. Hiro dropped the bin and slid it to the side with his foot and after watching the older Hamada leave the room, he turned to Aunt Cass.

"I think I'll keep helping," he said slowly. He gave a small shrug. "Just…because. Y'know."

Aunt Cass beamed down at Hiro. "Of course, sweetie," she said happily. She started to walk across the room. "Come on, we've still got plenty of work to do."

A/N - It's been a while since I've last seen the movie, so I'm sorry if the characters seemed a bit OOC - but hey, I tried! :P

Reviews are always welcome! Constructive criticism is allowed, but flames are not.