A new Big Hero 6 story! This one was originally going to be a one-shot, but then I decided to expand it because it was getting way too long to be a one-shot. That tends to happen any time I write a one-shot. Either they are way short or I have to end up turning them into chapter stories.

I hope that you enjoy this short (for a chapter story, I mean) piece of work!

Chapter 1: Nervous

Hiro Hamada was the smartest kid to attend San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. That much was known. Entering at age 15, Hiro graduated at the age of 19. It was the best day of his short life. The day after was not quite so fun.

The Big Hero 6 gang along with Hiro's Aunt Cass attended the ceremony. Aunt Cass had obsessed over Hiro when the young man, dressed in his graduation gown, had walked downstairs. "Look at you! All grown up! Ready for today?"

"Yeah, sure, Aunt Cass," Hiro murmured, trying to preoccupy himself with his food.

As Hiro pushed his food across his plate, Baymax waddled into the café. "Hello, Hiro."

"Hey, Baymax," Hiro replied instantly without looking up.

"Your voice appears to be lacking its usual tone," Baymax spoke up, robotically. "I will now scan you to determine the problem."

"No, don't scan me," Hiro urged. "I'm…"

"Scan complete," Baymax confirmed.

"Fine," Hiro finished, "What's 'wrong' with me, Baymax?" Hiro consented in an almost bored tone.

"Your neurotransmitter levels are lower than usual and your nerves appear to be shaky. This indicates that you are nervous. Would this have something to do with today's ceremony?"

Aunt Cass's attention was piqued when she heard Baymax conclude that her nephew was nervous. She had noticed that Hiro seemed to be acting "off" and she could all-but guess that it had something to do with today's events. When her nephew did not reply to Baymax, that was all the answer she needed. "Hiro! There's no reason to be nervous! You should be exited!"

Hiro continued to push his breakfast around on his plate. "Yeah…I know. It's just…I always figured Tadashi would graduate before me. I always imagined that...Tadashi…"

Though Hiro's voice choked up, Aunt Cass knew what her nephew would have said. She had always envisioned Tadashi standing beside her in the crowd, cheering on Hiro as he took the honored walk across the stage. "I know, Hiro," she comforted her nephew. As she pulled him into an unreturned hug, she caught a glimpse of the clock nearby. "Oh no! It's so late already! We need to go!"

Sighing as he pushed his chair from the table, Hiro prayed that he could make it through the ceremony without suffering a breakdown…or passing out from nervousness.

888

The ceremony was to be held in the newly-built exhibition hall. As the building came into view, Hiro felt the rise of a panic attack. Though the building had been opened several years ago, Hiro refused to set foot inside it. He did not care how similar or different it was to the old building. Every time he saw the building, flashbacks of that night always played before Hiro's eyes. Occasionally, Hiro's professors had arranged for classes to be held in the new exhibition hall. On these days, Hiro would "take a sick day" to avoid the flashbacks. Aunt Cass had been very understanding and even assisted when Hiro had to take extended absences (which was rare).

Today, though, there would be no avoiding it. Hiro had to enter that building and remain inside for an extended amount of time. As the building loomed closer and closer, Hiro tried to calm his unsteady breathing in an attempt to not hyperventilate.

Despite his best efforts, Aunt Cass still seemed to notice. Squeezing Hiro's shoulder, she asked him, "How ya feeling?"

"You're talking to the founder and leader of San Fransokyo's elite superhero group. Takes a lot more than this to rattle me."

"Yep, he's nervous," Gogo spoke up from behind Hiro and Aunt Cass.

Hiro could've cried as the conversation continued to mimic the one he'd had with these very same people (excluding Aunt Cass but including Tadashi) before his presentation at the SFIT Showcase. Luckily Fred did not go into his recycling spiel like he had done last time. Hiro did not want to imagine Aunt Cass's reaction to that one. It would probably be much less forgiving and humorous than Tadashi's had been.

"Well, young man, it's time for you to go join your class and for us," Cass motioned to herself and Hiro's/Tadashi's friends, "to go find some seats." She pulled Hiro into a hug and whispered, "Good luck" into his ear.

Hiro thanked his aunt and made to pull away. However, she pulled him back into another embrace. "Last hug."

Once Aunt Cass and the others left to find seats, Hiro walked shakily to the meeting place for his class. Because he was a commuter student, Hiro did not know many of the others in his class. He recognized some faces, but could not remember their names. His only friends were the ones Tadashi had introduced him to on the night when he'd decided that he simply had to attend SFIT.

The crowd of graduating students grouped together within the meeting room and Hiro found it easy to literally "get lost in the crowd". He was still the smallest (even after going through several pubescent growth spurts) in his class.

As the start time grew closer, several SFIT faculty members assisted in assembling the class into alphabetical order. When the class was ordered, the faculty led the class out to where the presentation would take place. Hiro already felt ready to faint…and he'd only just left the meeting room.

Go figure…I combined the first two chapters and it's still shorter than I normally like…by over a hundred words too! This always happens when I handwrite stories…

Well, I hope you liked the first chapter. Next chapter details Hiro's graduation! Hopefully, it'll be posted soon. Guess we shall see.

Thank you all for reading and supporting Low Battery!

Posted: April 25, 2015