"So...thanks for not giving up on me," Hiro told his brother with a small smile, gazing up at him with shining brown eyes.
He was finally going to the college of his dreams, a college where it wouldn't feel like everyone was going to be telling him stuff that he already knew. A college that, because of Tadashi's clever tour, actually made him want to learn and make a difference in the world.
No more bot fights for him. He was done with all that at last, much to Tadashi's relief. The older Hamada supposed that he would have to take out the trackers he'd placed in Hiro's hoodies, the trackers that enabled him to find his brother whenever the need arose.
Tadashi nodded and smiled in return; of course he would never give up on his little brother. "Alright, let's go feed that hungry brain of yours," he said, remembering his aunt's offer of free food as he turned to leave.
Hiro began to follow, but spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. He looked to see Tadashi's professor exiting the showcase hall. Taking a deep breath, he knew it was now or never.
"Professor Callaghan!" Hiro called. The teacher stopped in his tracks, turning to face the young teen.
"Yes, Hiro?" he asked his future student.
"Thank you for accepting me."
Callaghan, albeit shocked, smiled gently in return and simply nodded.
"Would you like to come celebrate with us?" Tadashi invited.
"Nah," the professor replied softly. "You go on ahead. Congratulations, Hiro," he said, sending the genius a knowing wink.
Tadashi gave his brother a light nudge on his arm as Callaghan left in the other direction to head home.
"This is going to be so awesome, man!" Fred cheered inside of the Lucky Cat Café as Aunt Cass prepared a special dinner. The science enthusiast could hardly contain his excitement over free food and the fact that Hiro, his best friend's little brother, was going to be in the same school as him. Things were certainly going to get little more interesting with two Hamadas around.
"You're going to love it, Hiro," Honey Lemon agreed, smiling like no tomorrow at the fact that her friend's little brother had gotten accepted into the college.
"Callaghan's probably gonna go nuts with assignments," Wasabi warned, though he tried not to ruin the mood.
"Why would he go nuts with assignments?" Hiro asked cautiously. But then he remembered Callaghan's words when he'd first taken a tour around the school: "We push the boundaries of robotics here. My students go on to shape the future."
"Well, you're a genius, aren't you?" Fred asked casually. "Callaghan usually gives us all a hard time, even though he's a great professor. Imagine what kind of assignments he'll give you."
A sick feeling made its way to the teen's stomach as he realized just how much was riding on his shoulders. He was a young prodigy who had graduated from high school at age thirteen, after all. Who knew what college was really going to be like, especially with a robotics genius like Callaghan as his professor? Hiro wondered whether or not he'd be able to eat dinner.
"Well, like I said, " he replied with the best smirk that he could muster, "you're talking to an ex bot-fighter. Takes a lot more than a stupid presentation or homework of all things to rattle me."
Homework at this college was going to be a cinch, just like at all his other schools. He was a genius; it was going to be a breeze. Easy peasy.
Right?
"Yep, he's nervous," GoGo said, repeating her words from before the showcase before Hiro's presentation.
"Oh, knock it off, guys. You're freaking him out," Tadashi cut in, noticing his little brother's 'rattled' (though not rattled, because Hiro was 'never' rattled) expression. But Tadashi knew what pressure was like at college, and Hiro had seen him pressured before.
"Aw, there's no reason to worry, Hiro," Honey Lemon reassured the teen, "you always have us to help you out if things get too hard! You'll be amazing!"
"Just think of all the neat tech you can mess with there," GoGo put in, "but don't start a fire."
Hiro laughed nervously at the mention of fire, not sure why it made him so uneasy. "It's not going to be hard," he mumbled, looking down at the café table and suddenly regretting giving up bot fights. Maybe he could go to a few more just for stress relief (not that he was going to get stressed.) Tadashi wouldn't disapprove of a way to deal with stress...but Hiro knew that he couldn't do that to his brother again, not after all of his work with the microbots and finally getting accepted.
"Callaghan's a great professor," Fred repeated, "I'm sure he'll go easy on you the first couple weeks."
"Of course he will," Tadashi said in agreement, placing a gentle hand on his little brother's shoulder. Callaghan knew that Hiro was only fourteen and that, while he was indeed a young genius, needed to take things slow until he got the hang of it.
"Ooh! Speech!" Honey Lemon suddenly exclaimed in excitement, gesturing to Hiro wildly.
"What?" Hiro responded, startled that she wanted him to talk in front of everyone. Hadn't he been through enough during his presentation when the microphone screeched at him or even worse...when his fly was down for the whole show as Tadashi said? He hoped that the others wouldn't follow her suit.
Too late.
"Speech!" Fred joined in, and soon, much to Hiro's dismay, everyone began to join in, including Tadashi and even an eager Aunt Cass. Hiro gave him an evil glare and the older Hamada chuckled as his little brother gave him a small punch in the arm.
Hiro stood up slowly from his seat, looking about at his brother, aunt and friends. They weren't strangers like the people at the showcase, like the ones who would walk away once they were bored with him.
They were his family.
An indescribable feeling suddenly washed over him, a feeling, cheesy as it was, that he'd never felt before; the only thing that came slightly close was the rush and adrenaline that coursed through him whenever he had gone bot fighting—just as intense, yet somehow more soothing and genuine.
"I...I never thought something like this would ever happen," Hiro began, any hint of nervousness washing away. Once he got started, he found—much to his surprise—that it was hard to stop. "All my life, it was always so easy. I was so tired hearing the same things over and over, but from different people. It got old fast. Then..." he laughed a little, glancing at Tadashi. "I started getting into trouble. Going to bot fights. Which are still not illegal, by the way. Only betting on them is."
Aunt Cass shook her head with a sigh and closed her eyes at his words, not wanting to remember how her nephew would sneak out and get into trouble, and the time he was almost arrested by the police. Had Tadashi not gotten there when he had, she hated to think what might have happened in those dark and cold alleyways. But everything was going to be okay now; the past was in the past and Hiro had a bright future ahead of him.
"But then this nerd over here showed me your nerd school and I started to think that maybe going to college wouldn't be such a bad idea," Hiro continued, recalling Tadashi's tour of SFIT. "After seeing all the cool things that you guys could make, I wanted to make something cool, too. I knew I just had to get in, otherwise I'd lose my mind, shrivel up and die right there."
Tadashi rolled his eyes at his brother's dramatic statement.
"But he told me to look for a new angle and with all of your guys' help with the microbots, I actually got in...and...well...I can't wait to get started," Hiro finally admitted, a smile sneaking its way across his features.
Silence all around the table. Tadashi stared on, radiant and proud. Aunt Cass was trying to hold back tears, but with no luck. Even GoGo seemed to have trouble keeping it together.
Tadashi had never heard Hiro say something so moving and profound all his life. It was almost out of character, yet there was his little brother as he was about to cross a huge stepping stone. It was going to be so amazing to have Hiro working with him! The two Hamada brothers; they were going to change the world together and do great things, help so many people. He just knew it.
"To nerds!" Wasabi cheered, breaking the silence and raising a glass. GoGo rolled her eyes but followed suit along with the others as they raised their own and bumped against one another.
"Thank you so much for dinner," Honey Lemon told Aunt Cass gratefully, "this looks amazing!"
"Yeah, thanks, Ms. H," Fred said as he stared eagerly at the (free) food on his plate.
"Eat up!" Aunt Cass encouraged, and soon dinner was finished and hungry brains were fed.
"Thanks again for dinner," Honey Lemon thanked Aunt Cass on her way out the café doors.
"Yeah, thanks," Fred said with a wide smile as he followed the others. "Free food rules!"
"Anytime! Whenever those brains need extra fuel, come on in." Aunt Cass turned to face her two babies once everything was finally quiet.
"Oh, just look at my little college men," she cooed, giving Hiro and Tadashi another tight and suffocating hug like the one she'd given them just before leaving the school. "You're going to do wonderful Hiro," she told the younger genius, "I just know it! Goodnight, you two."
"Goodnight, Aunt Cass," Hiro and Tadashi said in unison, watching as their aunt went upstairs to bed with Mochi close behind.
"Well, we better hit the hay, too," Tadashi told Hiro tiredly.
"Hiro..." an unknown, yet somehow familiar voice suddenly whispered in the teen's ear. He glanced up at Tadashi, but the older brother only stared back with that proud and bright smile of his.
"Did you hear that?" Hiro asked, jumping slightly and looking about the dark and empty café for the source of the voice.
"Hear what?" Tadashi asked, watching his little brother with concern.
"Hiro..." the haunting voice whispered again. It sounded almost robotic, but Baymax was still back in Tadashi's lab where he'd first met him, wasn't he?
"That!" Hiro cried in surprise, watching Tadashi to see if his brother had heard it, too. But Tadashi didn't seem to notice.
"Come on, you nerd," Tadashi laughed as he made his way towards the stairs. "Let's get to bed before you pass out on me or something."
"Hiro!"
Brown eyes shot open and the café walls were replaced with a bedroom; his bedroom that he was already inside of. Hiro looked up to see Baymax standing over his previously-sleeping form on his bed.
"...What?" Hiro asked himself, confused as he ran a hand over his tired face. "How did you get out of your case?" he asked the robot warily, glancing to the side at the charging station, then at Tadashi's empty side of the room.
"I was alerted to sounds of distress," Baymax informed him, "you seem to have been suffering from a 'nightmare.'"
"It wasn't a nightmare," Hiro told him bitterly as realization set in, desperately wishing that he was back downstairs with Tadashi where he'd left off. Baymax simply tilted his head to the side and blinked in confusion.
Hiro sighed, heart feeling heavy. It all had seemed so real...
Stupid dreams.
Even the good ones were bad, because they reminded you just how poorly reality measured up.