Hiro's POV:
"Fred watch your left side!" "Gogo distract it!" The leader yelled out his commands as the Earth seemed to shake before them.
"Honey Lemon, freeze the outer coating of the power core. Immediately after, Baymax send a plasma blast at the core and then Wasabi, you will cut out the power supply."
"Got it." He heard his teammates reply.
As quickly as he sent out his orders, his team carried it out. It wasn't long before the mammoth-sized robot was taken down. With the robot quickly defeated, their leader had flew to the machine's core and took the heart in his hands, inspecting it.
"Who do you think created it?" Wasabi asked his leader.
"I'm not sure," the young man started before turning to the golden haired member of their team. "Hey Honey Lemon, do you think you can run traces of any unusual chemicals on this core just in case? I'll run traces on areas containing the tech when I come back." He handed the core to his teammate before preparing his suit to leave.
"What would you like me to do Hiro?" Baymax inquired.
"Go back with them to the lab Baymax." He replied quickly before beginning his ascent into the sky.
"Where are you going?" Wasabi called after him before Gogo jabbed him in the stomach.
And despite himself, Hiro couldn't mask the smile on his face as he flew away.
"To see Yumi!"
As Hiro flew towards his destination he couldn't contain the happiness inside himself. He felt incredibly glad that he added the rockets to his suit to allow him to fly. It was nice riding Baymax in the first few years, but Baymax always flew a bit too cautiously sometimes. Though he knew his white plush friend was concerned about his safety, flying with no restrictions and boundaries gave him this incredible freedom.
Landing in a hidden alleyway he quickly transformed his suit back into a purple metal watch on his wrist. Once in the clear, he felt his legs dashing across the street and into the medical center, ignoring nurses telling him to slow down. Only when he reached a particular door to a particular room did he feel his world come to a pause. Despite the adrenaline surging through his body, he pulled out his phone and checked to make sure his hair was decent, though he could never tame the bushiness, and made sure there was nothing in his teeth. Realizing what he was doing, he felt his face blush and hastily tried calming himself before entering the room, only to find her coworker there.
"Hi Hiro." He smiled.
"Hey Dr. Walker…" he waved but before he could ask what he really wanted to know the doctor gave him a knowing look.
"She's in the courtyard on break."
"Cool, thanks Dr. Walker!" He was about to dash out of the room again when the doctor stopped him.
"Hold on Hamada. Did you have time to think about Dr. Hernandez's offer?"
"Yeah, I'm still not on board. I don't know if that's what I really want to do."
"Are you sure? With your skills I'm sure you would make an excellent addition to his Medical Robotics team."
"I'm good." Hiro replied a bit too curt before leaving the room.
The thing was, Hiro did think it was a good offer, but for some odd reason, he didn't feel like being tied down to a project right now. He knew it was about time he got a steady gig rather than just inventing for fun in his garage and selling random tech he made but he didn't feel ready yet. After all, he just recently graduated the university and already had his hands full leading Big Hero 6.
So instead, Hiro ran away from the offer, from the unknown into what he knew was comfortable; and what he found comfortable was sitting in the hospital courtyard, with a cup of coffee in her hands as she leaned back against the wood of an old bench, her eyes closed. Hiro walked quietly as to not wake her from her peace but when he finally reached her, his playfulness awoke. Spotting a nearby Mexican bush sage, he plucked the bloom off and very delicately, proceeded to run the bloom up her neck but instead of earning a frightening squeal, she unexpectedly grabbed the bloom out of his hands and observed it before quickly catching onto the prank.
Before he could counter her sudden reaction, she turned around and gave him a well-deserved jab to the stomach.
"Hiro?" she almost yelled. "What do you think you were doing?"
"Well I was trying to scare you but obviously that was unsuccessful." He held his stomach in response to her strength.
She let a smile seep from her lips.
"Damn right. Did you forget who you're dealing with?"
Before he could retaliate with a witty response her demeanor altered as her eyebrows furrowed slightly and her lips formed a disapproving frown indicating an emotion Hiro knew all too well.
"Hiro where did you get that bruise on your head?"
Despite his messy long bangs, Hiro should've known that of all people Yumi would notice the hidden bruise from an encounter with a criminal a few days past.
"It's nothing."
"Are you ok?" Her face held such concern that made Hiro glow inside.
"Never better."
And that wasn't a lie. Hiro couldn't recall the last time he felt this happy.
Though five years had passed, he still remembered the pain as if it were yesterday. He remembered watching Yumi's plane depart with a heavy heart but he had Tadashi with him, at least until the fire, when his whole world seemed to break but after battling Professor Callaghan with Big Hero 6, Hiro finally found peace with Tadashi's death but inside himself, he formed a deep resentment for Yumi. How could she not come back? He thought that she would at least come back for Tadashi's funeral, but she never stepped foot in San Fransokyo. Choosing to forget about her, Hiro tried burying her into the back of his heart and was successful for a while until a few weeks ago on Tadashi's death anniversary when he visited his brother's grave to find a girl with long, flowing dark brown hair who he fell in love with when she saved him in an alleyway ten years ago. Looking into her eyes, he felt all his buried resentment melt away as he returned back to his thirteen year old self.
Hiro woke up from his nostalgia when he caught her staring a bit too intensely at him.
"What?" He stuttered.
"Nothing," she smiled, "It's just hard to get used to you being so tall."
"Well," he smiled proudly, "I am eighteen now."
She tousled his hair the same way she used to when they were younger.
"But you're still the same Hiro I knew and loved."
Hiro felt his knuckles tighten with tension at her words. He wanted to tell her so badly but it was already hard enough to keep her within his grasp. If she knew exactly who he was, she would slip from his fingers again. Despite this, his heart parted his lips, ready to reveal what happened to him but thankfully their conversation was interrupted when a man appeared, drawing Yumi's attention away.
"Caleb?" She curiously asked before quickly turning back to Hiro, introducing the two to each other.
"This is Hiro Hamada, he's my…"
"Of course," the man extended his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet Mr. Hamada, the child prodigy. I've heard many extraordinary things about you."
Taking hold of his firm handshake, Hiro forced a smile.
"Not at all, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've seen your work. Tell me, what's an actor like you doing here?"
The man never pulled away his hand as he continued his business-like smile.
"Unfortunately I retired from that life in order to return back to my grandfather's company."
Hiro already knew this however. It was huge news in San Fransokyo after all. Though Mr. Evans, Yumi's father, had maintained Hebert Tech excellently over the years, there was a sudden announcement a year ago that Caleb Hebert was retiring from the entertainment industries to train under Mr. Evans to eventually regain his rightful place as the CEO. It shattered the media.
"So what are you doing here Caleb?" Yumi cut in, breaking the tension.
"The business dinner with Mr. Montgomery, the financial representative of Ferrum?"
The look she gave him revealed enough.
"You forgot didn't you?" He sighed.
"I'm so sorry Caleb. I'll tell my supervisor and get my bag." She patted Hiro on the shoulder, saying her goodbye before hastening through the double doors of the hospital.
As soon as she disappeared Caleb dropped his act and crossed his arms as he looked upon the eighteen-year old, all pretenses dropped.
"Don't you think its best that you didn't hang around her so much?"
"That doesn't really concern you does it?" Hiro huffed.
"You're only going to cause her pain. She deserves a fresh start."
"What do you know?" Hiro's expression darkened, his voice raised and deepened but this didn't faze the dirty blonde man in front of him. The man peered into his eyes, as if scanning and analyzing his soul.
"Enough." The man then turned around and headed out the courtyard in such a calm manner that infuriated the young man he left behind.
Hiro felt his knuckles forming and tighten with frustration as he thought about what the newcomer said. What infuriated him the most though was that he was probably right. After all, how could Yumi truly move on when being around Hiro would constantly remind her of the person she loved so passionately; his brother, Tadashi Hamada.
Yumi's POV:
Despite the summer chill, the fruity mixtures of her frozen gelato was refreshing, despite the chills that occasionally ran down her body. She felt so carefree and content as she walked down the sidewalk with her old friend who towered over her, forcing her to stretch her neck while the two talked.
"I still can't believe that you're so close with Caleb Hebert!" Her honey colored friend squealed.
"It's only because my father is the current interim CEO of Caleb's grandfather's company." Yumi answered before taking another lick, tasting a hint of lychee this time.
"So your father was actually ok with giving up his position? I mean, he's basically getting demoted."
Yumi smiled at the thought of her father.
"Yeah, he told me that he always half expected Caleb to come around sooner or later. After all, Hebert Tech is a legacy company. Besides, Caleb, despite his attitude problems at times, is actually very bright."
Before Yumi went any further in her words or her steps, she spotted something which caught her attention.
"Hey Honey Lemon, wasn't there a crepe shop over there before?" She pointed to the bohemian clothing store.
"Oh yeah," Honey Lemon recalled the memories of the old crepe store which used to sit at that spot and remembered how Yumi once told her of the time Tadashi had took the two there on one of their dates. She tried to mask the look of sympathy on her face as she looked upon the petite girl next to her who looked wistfully at the store.
"Man, so many things have changed," Yumi started as she started listing all of the newfound information she discovered after returning back to San Fransokyo, "Gogo a mechanical sports car engineer, Fred is an intern for a science fiction screenwriter, you're a chemistry professor at the university, and Wasabi is a researcher in plasma technology."
Silence filled the air.
"Hey," Honey Lemon offered, "Not everything's changed. We're still friends aren't we?"
Yumi gave her friend a sweet smile as her heart warmed.
"That's right; you all still accepted me back even though I left."
"It's not your fault that you had to leave. You left to be with your mother who needed you. Besides, why wouldn't we accept you back? Nothing changes the fact that you're one of our close friends."
"I'm honestly surprised Hiro forgave me. I thought he'd be mad and avoid me but he's still the same Hiro."
Yumi could've sworn she saw Honey Lemon's smile falter a bit. Making sure she wasn't imagining things she consulted her friend further.
"Honey Lemon? Is everything alright?"
The short haired blonde hesitated a bit before revealing the truth.
"I'm not sure if I'm the one who should tell you this, but about a year ago, Hiro disappeared for almost half a year. He only left a note to Aunt Cass about him studying abroad but it was so sudden and unexpected. He didn't even take Baymax with him. When he returned, he was so…different. Since you've been back Hiro seems back to normal but… I'm worried he's going to revert back to that time."
Yumi felt her head spin with confusion as she wondered why Honey Lemon was telling her this.
"Why are you telling me this Honey Lemon? If he's not like that now then there's no problem right?"
The tall girl just offered a small smile but Yumi saw through the fake smile in a heartbeat.
"You're right."
Hi everyone! Thank you for reading the first chapter of Missing You! Please let me know your thoughts on this story! Love it? Hate it? Was it alright as a stand alone or did you feel confused? Again, thank you guys! ^_^