DISCLAIMER:

THIS FIC IS VERY INACCURATE WHEN IT COMES TO MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION. PLEASE IGNORE THEM FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY. THANK YOU

Crescendo

Tadashi didn't expect much from the SFIT open house but instead met a mute orphan who resembled his deceased baby brother. Hiro was excited to see SFIT but never would've imagined it would lead to him being adopted. As the two bond through gummy bears and Baymax, disturbing secrets are unearthed and brought to light.

"What's your name?" The smiling woman sitting across from him asked.

Hiro.

The ten year old boy stared at her blankly and sucked his thumb. No words would come out of his chapped lips. She stared at him for a few moments before widening her eyes and gasping. "How could I forget?" She opened a drawer of her desk and pulled out a blank piece of paper and pen. She pushed it towards him. "You can write out your name."

He stared at it then her and shook his head. Her shoulders lowered as she sighed. "You don't know your name?"

I do. It's Hiro.

He shook his head before staring at his soaking wet sneakers. He moved his feet against the floor and winced from the sound of the screechy rubber.
She sighed before looking pitifully at the lost orphan. "I guess we'll have to name you ourselves. Got any ideas?" She asked with a smile. "Anything from a cartoon you would want to call yourself? Maybe Gon? Or Narumi?"

He shrugged his frail shoulders and continued to suck his now-wrinkly thumb. "How about Koji? You look like a Koji to me." She smiled genially at him.
Hiro stared at her with dull eyes, making her uneasy as she typed into the computer. She didn't want to imagine what kind of horrors the boy went through.

Hiro shuffled in his seat and exhaled through his nose. Of course he knew his identity, he wasn't stupid, but that was all he had left. It was his last memento from his family and he couldn't just give it away so easily.

I'm not Koji.

I'm Hiro. Hiro Hamada.

Chapter 1

Open House to Inspire

"So tell me why we have to clean up the lab?" Gogo complained as she lifted a heavy box full of electromagnetic wheels into a corner.

"It's because Professor Callaghan agreed to have an open house for San Fransokyo Orphanage for Young Boys." Honey Lemon announced as she threw some useless scraps of paper in the recycling bin.

Gogo popped a bubble with a stoic expression before wiping her hands from the dust of the box. "I don't see why. It's not like this is going to help them. What's going to help them is getting adopted." She said coolly. She leaned down to pick up another box but was surprised when it suddenly became light.

"I got this," Wasabi said as he lifted it out of her dainty hands and brought it to the corner with the rest of the prototypes. "There."

"Thanks Wasabi."

"No problem. I already finished cleaning up hours ago." He pointed to his table of carefully organized tools and projects, all bordered with either a thin masking tape or marker.

"Of course." Gogo laughed.

There was a sudden slam and everyone looked at the door to see their school mascot spinning a sign. Honey Lemon nearly shrieked from shock.

"Hello friends!" The green fish-monster suit announced, still spinning the sign.

"Freddie! You scared me!" Honey Lemon sighed.

Gogo rolled her eyes. "Get out Fred. We're cleaning."

Fred laughed. "Bros, don't worry. I'm here to give you guys entertainment as you clean."

"If you make a mess…" Gogo mumbled under her breath.

"Don't worry, don't—Whoa!" The sign slipped off his finger and flew to Wasabi's organized table.

Metal clanged against metal before meeting the floor, the sound echoing across the building.

"Fred!" Wasabi exclaimed, his mouth almost touching the floor. "My-My table!" He stared in defeat at his once perfect table. He started to pick up the wrenches and bolts from the floor. "Do you know how long it took for me to do this?"

Fred lifted the top half of the mascot's head above his head. "Whoa. Sorry buddy. Let me help you there."

Honey rushed over. "I'll help too."

Gogo popped another bubble before going back to her work station. "Who would've guessed it."

"What was that sound?" A panicked voice said as he ran in the room.

"Hey Tadashi! Sorry about that. My sign flew off my hand and onto Wasabi's table." Fred explained himself, dropping a bolt on Wasabi's hand. "Sorry bro."

Tadashi stifled a laugh, Wasabi's face when his table was destroyed must've been hilarious. "I would offer to help but it looks like you're almost done."

Wasabi nodded. "Yeah I'm fine." He said making a few adjustments to his tools, like sliding them over a millimeter.

"Oh yeah. I forgot why I came in here." Tadashi cleared his throat. "Professor Callaghan said that the orphanage kids will be here in 5 minutes, so we should make any last minute touches to our labs."

"Got it."

The 19 year old nodded before walking out of the room and in the hallway which was now decorated with bright posters.

SFIT was holding an open house especially for the orphans as the director's attempt to get them excited for college and their education. Many of the boys were very apathetic to their studies and often fell asleep in class. Being an alumni from SFIT and a friend of Professor Callaghan, she set up open house to inspire the kids. She knew firsthand how SFIT and the staff always managed to stir the kids to work harder and put forth their all.

He reached into his cardigan pocket to pull out a single gummy bear. He popped it in his mouth and patted his stuffed pocket. There was more where that came from. Tadashi's pocket began to vibrate rhythmically. He reached in and answered it.

"Tadashi?"

"Yes Professor Callaghan?" He replied, stopping in his tracks.

"I need you to go to the main entrance of the school. The bus has arrived." His mentor said.

"A-Already?" He stammered.

"Yes, now please hurry. I'll meet you in the lab later." With that he hung up. He sent a quick text to Fred to warn the others. Tadashi then gripped his SFIT cap before running through the halls and out of the glass building. His eyes narrowed from the bright summer sun but quickly adjusted as he made his way through the green campus.

At the front of the university was a nostalgic yellow bus unloading the children. Mrs. Woods, the orphanage director, was taking a head count of the children, all who had a sullen look on their pallid complexions.

"Eight…Nine…Ten…"

"Hello! You must be Mrs. Woods." Tadashi greeted her in staccato because of his uneven breaths. He held out a sweaty hand which swayed due to his deep breaths. "I'm Tadashi Hamada."

The lovely blonde middle aged woman smiled as she gladly took it. "Hello Mr. Hamada. I take it you'll be our tour guide today?"

Tadashi nodded as he stood proud. He was one of Professor Callaghan's prized students and assistants.

"We can start whenever you're ready." He said, noticing a clipboard in one hand and a pencil in the other.

She nodded. "Of course. Right after I finish taking count. Now where was I?" She started from the beginning.

"Ten…Eleven…" She stopped and stared at the multitude of boys before her. "We're missing one. Is anyone in the bus?"

One of the boys raised his hand. "Mrs. Woods, Koji is still in the bus!"

"Oh, someone get him now. Koji!" She called out, walking towards the bus door. A short thin boy of Asian descent stepped out of the bus. His raven hair stuck in all directions. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his ill-fitting hoodie.

"Koji. We were waiting for you." She gently chastised him.

'I'm sorry. I fell asleep on the bus' He signed to her with a flustered face.

"It's fine Koji. Now come on, get into the group. We have a tight schedule today." She forgave him quickly with a genial smile. He obeyed and slowly shuffled in.

"Now Mr. Hamada will be our tour guide. Everyone say hello!" She introduced him.

Tadashi wasn't listening. He was too busy staring at the young orphan. There was a striking resemblance between him and his little brother. His dead little brother. He knew for a fact, that if Hiro was alive, he would look like Koji. He was so certain he would sell his soul to the devil.

"Mr. Hamada." She repeated, concerned.

Koji lifted his head up and stared at the man who was staring intently back at him.

Hamada? It can't be. It shouldn't be.

Koji broke the gaze and stared at the pavement instead. There was no need to get his hopes up over something so trivial and impossible.

"Huh? Oh yes." Tadashi finally came to his senses. "I'm Tadashi Hamada and I'll be your tour guide of SFIT. SFIT stands for San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, just in case you didn't know. We're known for our award winning Robotics program." He continued to state a few facts he had trained himself to remember for this day but during it he kept making quick glances at the mute boy.

"And this is the lab for students. Students usually rent out a room for the semester. As you can see, these are just a few of many Robotic students." Tadashi said as he walked through the room, the people from the orphanage trailing behind him.

"This is my good friend Gogo. She works with electromagnetic engineering for her project. I'll let her tell you the rest." Tadashi said he stepped back, letting Gogo bask in the spotlight.

"Hey kids. So this one of many prototypes I've made for my recent project." She waved her hand to the yellow bike with suspended wheels. The kids all stared at it in amazement but one pair of eyes stared it with dull eyes. Koji was standing at the back of the crowd and couldn't see much due to his short height. He didn't seem very interested to begin with though.

Tadashi frowned slightly and casually made his way to the back of the room.

Koji was tracing over the wrinkles on his palm instead of listening to the Korean girl.

"Why don't you move up to the front, buddy?" Tadashi suggested.

If Koji spoke he would've screamed. Instead he nearly jolted and swung his body around to see the tall college student. He rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a worn out notebook, a pen was attached to it by a string.

I'm fine, he wrote.

"You should go up. Her experiment is really cool." He encouraged him.

Koji shook his head and returned his notebook in his bag. He was finished talking to him.

Tadashi frowned but turned back to normal after Gogo sent him a signal that she was done.

"Alright kids, onto the next student, Wasabi." He said as he walked over to the tall man wearing green. "This here is Wasabi." The kids all laughed and poked fun except Koji, who's lips barely moved.

"Isn't that for sushi?"

"Are you a fish then?"

"I cried from wasabi once!"

"Wasabi's gross!"

Wasabi shook his head, flustered. "It is. I dropped wasabi on my sweater once so now all of my friends call me Wasabi. Don't call me that though, call me –"

"Mrs. Woods, could I speak to you for a second?" Tadashi whispered to her. She looked at him oddly for a second before following him out of the room.

"Um…I have some questions about Koji." He admitted rather bashfully.

"Really? Why is that?" She asked, crossing her arms casually.

"I don't know how to explain it. He's just…"

"So different from the rest of the kids?" She finished his sentence rather naturally. "Is it because he's mute?"

He shook his head. That was one of the reasons but definitely not the main one. "He just isn't very into the tour. He seems a little apathetic."

She sighed. "Yes. That's one of the reasons why it's been so hard for him to get adopted. He never opens up to any of the eligible parents." She ran a hand through her hair slightly frustrated. She loved him, but it hurt her to see him not even trying to get adopted. "Once we walked out of an interview because they triggered something."

Tadashi pondered over the minute possibility that they were related in blood.

"When did you get Koji?"

She thought for a second and pursed her lips. "He came to us when he was about 9, so four years ago?"

"Four years ago…" He mumbled to himself. "Just one last question, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead."

He rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't know how to approach this delicately without being offensive. "Was…he always a mute?"

"Though that is a touchy subject, especially for Koji since he's a special case. All I can say is ever since we met him, he hasn't spoken a word to us." She said. "I'm glad you are concerned for one of our kids, but unless you plan on adopting Koji, I shouldn't tell you anymore." Tadashi agreed, that was all very personal information that shouldn't be announced everywhere.

"We should get back inside, I think Wasabi is done with his presentation. I apologize that I took you away from it."

She waved a hand. "It's fine. No worries."

After the rest of the gang finished their presentations, Tadashi separated himself from the group and stood next to a red and white metal cube.

"Hello guys, this is the project I have been working on. I'm really proud of him and I hope you'll like him."

The kids stared at him dumbstruck. It was a box.

Tadashi cleared his throat. "Ow."

Almost immediately the white part of the cube began to inflate. Before them stood an inflatable white robot.

"Hello!" It spoke in an robotic yet soothing voice. "I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

The kids stared in awe.

"He looks like a marshmallow!"

"Whoa!"

"He looks funny. I like that."

Out of everyone, Koji looked the most amazed. His chocolate eyes seemed to glisten at the sight of the robot. Tadashi felt so happy, as if his little brother was looking at his own creation with googly eyes.

Baymax turned to Tadashi. "I have been alerted because you said 'OW'. What seems to be the trouble, Tadashi?"

He shook his head. "Do me a favor buddy, scan me."

Baymax looked at him from head to toe in a second. "Scan complete. My readings tell me that your dopamine and serotonin levels are very high. You are elated."

"Thanks." Tadashi turned to his audience. "Would anyone like to be scanned by Baymax?"

All of the hands rose, even Koji's. Tadashi couldn't hold back a smile.

"How about the one in the navy sweater?" He pointed towards Koji. Koji pointed to himself, in disbelief. "Yeah you, get over here."

The small boy pushed his way through the crowd and stood before the towering marshmallow.

"My readings tell me that you also have high levels of dopamine. Based on your hormone and neurotransmitter levels, you may be experiencing mood swings. Diagnosis, puberty." Baymax said in a blunt voice.

All of the boys began cracking up as Koji turned as red as a tomato.

"Now now!" Mrs. Woods scolded them. Koji had tears welling up in his eyes before bolting out of the room.

"Ko—" She began to call out.

"Koji!" Tadashi shouted after him as he dashed out of the room.

Mrs. Woods was flabbergasted, she didn't expect him to be so concerned.

"Koji! Where are you?" Tadashi called out as he searched around the building. He peered into his room but pressed on. He stopped in his tracks when he heard a soft sniff coming from his room. He slowly walked in and saw Koji hiding behind one of his drawers.

He placed a gentle hand on his trembling shoulders. Koji gasped as he inched back.

"Hey, sorry about what happened. I didn't mean for you to get so embarrassed." Tadashi apologized. Koji faced the wall, away from him. Tadashi frowned. It was like when Hiro would ignore him when they were younger. "Is there anything I could do to make it up?"

Koji shook his head.

Tadashi pondered for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful of colorful gummy bears. He sat down next to the frail teen. "Do you want some?"

Koji stared at them then at Tadashi. He hesitantly nodded.

"Pull out your hands." He said in a calm voice. Koji listened and extended his clammy hands. Tadashi placed all of the gummy bears into his hands. Koji looked shocked and his body language indicated that that was too many treats.

"Don't worry." Tadashi pulled out his stash from his pocket. "There's plenty more where that came from. So eat up."

Koji nodded and popped one in his mouth.

Tadashi ate one too and gave him a reassuring smile. Koji returned the smile but he didn't know if it was because of Tadashi or because of the nostalgic taste. He had eaten gummy bears once in a blue moon at the orphanage, usually during a birthday or holiday, but as of right now it just seemed different. They seemed to taste a lot better when he was sitting next to Tadashi.

Hello BH6 fans!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I really liked it. I personally don't really like having to write Hiro as Koji but it won't be forever, I promise.

There's a lot of secrets and mystery in this story so I hope you'll give it a chance until they are revealed. I'm really excited for this. I actually outlined the whole story.

Anywho! I hope you enjoyed Crescendo so far and if you did please leave a review, I would love to hear your thoughts so far on this.