Chapter 2

Hiro blinked the tiredness out of his eyes. So, some kind of explosion landed him on the ground huh? No wonder his body was aching everywhere. It felt like every particle in his body had been torn apart, heated up and put back together in just a millionth of a second. In short, he did not enjoy this experience one bit.

Wincing, he pushed himself into a sitting position, leaning against the dumpster in the process when a wave of dizziness washed over him. Now that he got a good look at his body, his left leg seemed to be bending at an odd angle. Great, a broken leg.

"Hey big guy, can you come pick me up?" Hiro spoke quietly to his earpiece, overlooking the lack of static due to the intense pain that was coursing through his injured limb "I don't think I'll be able to move…"

Silence greeted him. That's weird. Baymax would never leave him, or anyone for that matter, hanging. Ever. The marshmallow of a robot always had his communication device on in case of emergency.

Hiro tried again. Still no response.

Even greater, the only device for contacting was broken as well. That meant he would have to drag his useless butt back to the café, which was pretty far away according to the still-working GPS, all by himself. The genius noticed his board hovering a few feet away, as if waiting for him to hop on. How the thing remained intact after the explosion, Hiro had no idea.

A plan had already started to form in his head, but the board was designed to be stood on, not sat on. He would have to make do. It was time he put his big brain into good use then.

x.X.x

The fly home was agonizingly slow, no thanks to the added weight of the ice sculpture. The alley Hiro found himself in was the backdoor to a luxurious restaurant with a special seafood night. The delicate dolphin sculpture the chefs threw out was now tied securely on top of his broken leg, numbing the constant pain. With the wounded appendage stretched out, taking up all the available space on the board, his right leg had to dangle freely over the edge.

The Lucky Cat Café stood silently, devoid of life at the late hour of night. Opting to get into the house without waking his aunt up, Hiro flew up to his bedroom's window. Golden light was pouring out from his room in strips. Could either be Baymax waiting for him or Aunt Cass checking up on him. Hiro wasn't a tad bit worried about her noticing him missing from his bed on nightly basis. The 3D projector installed in the corner of his headboard always showed an image of him sleeping soundly. As long as Aunt Cass did not prod him, he was considered out of harm's way.

Since Tadashi's abrupt demise, Aunt Cass had been even more protective of him. She always offered to take him to school in the old pick-up truck when one of his friends had to get to school early and could not join the group to go with him. Hell, she even offered to walk all of them to school when snow was just slightly falling outside. Aunt Cass put a GPS inside his hoodie, much like what his brother used to do, when she did the laundry. As a precaution, she even placed another inside his backpack, not so secretly this time. Of course he knew of the tiny devices' existence, but he left them alone.

Most people would find this annoying; it felt like their every movement was being watched and analyzed. However, Hiro, well, he found this endearing. Aunt Cass was his only living relative, his solid anchor to this life. She meant so much to him. A mother figure ever since he was three years old, and now, someone he could lean on, someone would hug him and let him cry until his tears ran dry as they visited Tadashi's grave every week for these past few months. The pain was just as fresh as if it was just yesterday that his brother passed away.

Hiro loved his aunt dearly. The smile she always wore was so radiant that it chased the darkness away from his soul. He loved how she would fuss over something as small and insignificant as a paper cut he got at school and how she cheerfully prepared special dinner with chicken wings and the hot sauce that makes your face melt to celebrate every breakthrough in his projects.

He understood all of that was just a brave front his aunt put up for his sake, still, he was grateful for it. During school year, when she thought he was too caught up in schoolwork to join her for a movie night, she would play the CD about Tadashi that Baymax had copied, but never with sound. Mochi would obediently curl up in her lap, let her gently stroke its tear-soaked fur.

When Hiro crept down for a glass of water, his heart stopped as he saw his brother, in his trademark baseball cap, put on a smile bursting with unwavering faith. Instead of turning away, he found himself watching on. There his brother was, doing that stupid gleeful victory dance.

It hurt so much to see him so close, so full of life, yet, so far away, so out of his grasp.

Hiro did not want a CD, although he did make an audio record. He could not bear seeing his brother's face, but hearing his voice was a different matter. He played it every day, again and again. He heard it so many times that he memorized every single word and even the intonation. The panic in Tadashi's voice when Baymax poked him relentlessly never failed to bring his tear-stained face to a smile.

And then Baymax would come into the picture, reminding him that delving into the past was not good for his mental health. The robot would squeak his way to Hiro's bedside, pluck out his ear buds and proceed to sit down next to his bed until he fell asleep.

A life time ago, Hiro would scoff when someone said My thoughts are killing me. It was an illogical thing to say, really. Thoughts did not have a physical body. Therefore, they could not touch you, much less kill you.

Now, he had a taste of just how true that expression really was…

Shaking off the gloomy introspection, Hiro focused on the task at hand. He had no idea how his aunt would react if she ever found out that her only nephew was willing to put his life in constant danger, a heart attack seemed like a possibility.

Too tired to even wonder if Aunt Cass was still wandering inside the room (to hell with the secret), he made to slide the window open.

That was when he heard voices. Two male voices. Coming from his bedroom. One was more high-pitched than the other. And one sounded eerily like Tadashi's. They seemed to be talking and laughing. That did not resemble anything that Hiro had recorded. He tried to peer inside through the gap in the blinds, almost came tumbling down the earth in the process.

His breath hitched in his throat. Because standing just a window away was Tadashi, alive and well.


AN: This chapter is a bit rush at the end. I wrote this in my chemistry class... Please forgive me! Ok, on to another matter. OMG. I really have nothing to say. I mean when I posted the first chapter, I never thought it would get any views, let alone reviews, favorites and follows. You guys completely blew my expectation out of the water. I mean, more than 200 views, 7 favorites, 14 followers and 5 reviews, on my first ever story, too! I love every single one of you. No words can really describe what I am feeling now. Thank you guys so much!

To my lovelies ~~~ (I know, it is original)

BrokenWings2602: Oh, thank you. I've never considered myself a writer. A prankster, yes; but not someone who is capable of doing creative work, like drawing or writing. Your word really brightens my day c: . Here is the new chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it.

ChamaVictorire: Really? You too? This is so exciting! Have you posted it yet? Don't be afraid your story might not be well-received, there will always be someone checking out your story. I will be one of those lucky people to read your amazing work c; .

DeathBringer13: I will definitely continue this story, thanks to all your support. Well, here I am again, hope this chapter bring you the same excitement like the first chapter did.

camitake: Awww, thank you, your review made my day wonderful. There will be more to come, I assure you. But that depends heavily on my school schedule. Anyway, here the second installment, hope you like it c: .

Golden feathers Edward: Oh, this is just the beginning, my friend. I have everything planned out for Hiro, and not all of them are pleasant. Here is the new chapter, hope you'll enjoy it :) .

P/S: I know time traveling is an overused idea, but please just put up with me a little longer. I really love you guys. Enjoy!