Author's Note: Hello again, this chapter is actually two times longer than the first one! I'm very surprised that I managed to update this much in a short amount of time without procrastinating too much XD
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this except my OC!
Chapter 2: I'll Save You
Kaede Ueno was not a complicated man, he considered himself rather simple in person. True, he was the mayor of San Fransokyo but that didn't mean he was like the stereotypical mayor. He was rather open minded and curious, and very interested in new opportunities technology wise. He believed that anything was possible, and openly reacted with the people of San Fransokyo. Having this in mind, he couldn't really believe it when an extraordinary phenomenon had landed in his hands.
It had all started a week ago when a teenage girl had requested a private audience with him...
*Flashback*
"Sir." he looked up at his assistant from the documents he studied. "There is a...rather unusual visitor for you. She claims she knows you but we have no proof, or verification of a scheduled appointment."
Kaede glanced at the TV screen up on the wall to see a teenage girl, up at the desk impatiently pacing in front of the waiting chairs. She had waist length long, straight black hair, healthy tan skin, and from his view he could see her blue eyes flashing with frustration and worry. She wore a dark navy blue hoodie, with skinny jeans, and grey converse.
Although he didn't know her, his curiosity got the best of him and he granted her passage. "Yes, I spoke with her...in town before. Inform them to let her in, she is a welcome guest." He ordered.
Nathaniel, his assistant left immediately. The elder man played with the tiny model of a windmill on his desk before the doors clicked, and slid open. The girl stepped in, taking in the view of the office after the doors closed behind her.
"Welcome." he greeted.
She bowed, and smiled. "Thank you for granting an audience with me, I know you're...busy."
He chuckled and gestured the seat in front of him, "It's nothing, please, take a seat."
She furrowed her eyebrows as she took a seat, and frowned. "You're very polite for not knowing me and granting me an audience with no appointment or identification." She muttered.
He shrugged, "My curiosity won out, and it would be rude to turn away a polite young lady." He answered, and stared out the window.
He never got tired of this view. From his view you could see sky scrapers, tall buildings, daily life at its best, and the flashing lights from local pedestrians and cars. It was beautiful during the sunset, where you could look at the orange sun kissed sky, and be amazed as the bright glow of the setting sun created a halo-like glow around the blimps in the sky.
"Nice view." She commented softly.
He gave her a smile, seeing her finally relax and took this opportunity to introduce himself. "I'm Kaede Ueno, although you probably already knew that." He introduced.
She returned the smile, and gave a small bow. "Hikari Tsuyoki."
"Tsuyoki?" He felt a light bulb go off in his head. "Yes, I remember an old friend of mine, Takashi Tsuyoki."
Her facials brightened just a fraction, "That's my father." She stated.
So this was Takashi's little girl he had heard about. Takashi was a fine young man, and loved studying robotics. He was amazing with energy efficiency technology, but had transferred to South Korwaii before his daughter was born. But from his letters and from what he recalled before, he thought she was younger...around the age 14. He hadn't heard from the man since two years ago, and he wondered why, seeing as the man kept in touch with him often. Now in the flesh, was Takashi's daughter standing in his office after all these years.
"What do I owe a visit to my old friend's daughter?" He asked pleasantly.
She sighed, and slumped in the seat. "Well...you see I am here but at the same time I shouldn't be here." She said slowly. "I don't know if you'll believe me Mr. Ueno..."
"Try me, I'm all ears, and please just call me Kaede."
"Kaede then." She corrected. "Well, my friend Hiro Hamada and I. To put it bluntly we're from the three years into the future from a wacky evil scientist guy who made a dimensional pocket machine that somehow malfunctioned and put us three years back, creating a new dimension." She said quickly in one breathe.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. She seemed to be telling the truth, and he could see nothing more than honesty. It wasn't considered impossible, and he was open to unnatural phenomenons. "Alright," he said, "I believe you."
She blinked in surprise, "Really? That easily? I thought you would've called me crazy and kick me out." She said incredulously.
He tapped his pen on his desk and hummed, "While I would, the possibility of what you're implying is not impossible. That, and I can only distinguish honesty and seriousness. I know that Takashi's daughter would be about 14 now, not seventeen. And yet, you look exactly like what she could look like. You don't seem like a person to fool around so recklessly in front of authority." He explained. "But may I ask how you ended up here? I know that isn't the full story."
"In the future, there was an explosion at the upcoming science convention. Callaghan went evil, stole Hiro's microbots and tried to kill Krei in revenge for his daughter, Abigail. In the explosion Hiro lost his brother..." She ran a hand through her hair wearily, "He was distraught. He tried to catch Callaghan, and right before Callaghan got to kill Krei, they formed the Big Hero 6 and defeated him. Callaghan is in jail in our dimension. Ever since the formation of Big Hero 6 they kept protecting the city and after I moved back I joined in the group. They evil scientist guy is Casper, and we believe that he might be here to brew trouble." She explained grimly.
This was not good, not at all, no wonder they came for help. "Then we have to take action-"
"No." She interrupted. "By doing that you will change the events, and Callaghan may change his plot and do something worse if he got wind of this. Things need to play out, and when the time is right we will interfere and help." She planned. "But..." She paused. "We need your help."
He nodded firmly, "Very well." He opened his desk drawer and tossed her a key, in which she caught in surprise. "While you two are stuck you may stay in this apartment. Everything is paid off, and there are supplies you need. There is also a garage you can use for your...tinkering. If you need any help just give me a call, and I will help to the best of my abilities." He instructed.
She fingered the key and looked unsure, "Are you sure? Isn't this too much-"
"Nonsense, I will do anything to protect this city. You are also Takashi's girl, and I knew the Hamada family before the...accident. It is the least I can do for you all. Plus, you two are putting your lives on the line to protect the citizens. You have every right to deserve this." He insisted.
His eyes widened in surprise as she abruptly pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you so much!" She exclaimed, giving the first genuine smile ever since she entered the room.
He chuckled lightly, and patted her on the shoulder. "You two will do great things in the future, just don't make me regret it."
*Flashback end*
He believed in the two time travelers, and knew that they could do it. Kaede knew he would not be disappointed in the two. Two teenagers, risked their lives to save others and protect the city from evil masterminds. The convention was today, the day where everything went wrong. He just hoped that their plan worked for the sake of his people and the safety of the younger generation.
Shaking his head, he focused on the documents in front of him with a sigh. Well, time to do my job and work...
"Yeah! You did it Hiro!" Hiro laughed happily as he clutched the envelope in his hand, while being squeezed to death in a family hug.
He made into the institute of technology, he actually made it in. Now he could have his own lab, go to school where he wouldn't be criticized for his young age(hopefully), he had friends, and he would be going with Tadashi. Nothing could be more perfect.
Tadashi ruffled his hair with a wide smile adorning his face. "I knew you could do it." Hiro stuck his tongue out playfully. "Now are you going to finally use that brain of yours at nerd school?" His elder brother mused.
Hiro pouted and crossed his arms, "Laugh it up Tadashi." He muttered.
Tadashi smiled softly, and crouched down to meet his eyes. "I'm just glad that you'll be able to do something for yourself." He said honestly.
Hiro felt a warm feeling flutter in his chest, and subconsciously smiled. It's not that he didn't like Tadashi's motherly tendencies, he actually liked them secretly. The feeling of making his brother proud and happy...well he wanted to keep doing that. He loved his brother despite going against his word and going bot-fighting, not listening, and seeming like he didn't like his brother's affectionate teasing. But if he did show that he liked it, he was worried his brother would stop doing it or tease him endlessly about it.
Their moment together was interrupted by a column of fire that roared from the convention building, and he felt Tadashi curl over him protectively.
"Oh no..." Tadashi whispered.
Hiro looked at the fire with wide eyes, it was huge. The fire had spread to the whole building, and the flames roared and soared into the sky. The building had already started to fall apart, and he could see the flames lit up the dark sky like a lava lamp. People ran away in panic, pushing and shoving. Anything to get away from the smoking building. He tried tugging away his brother but found that Tadashi wouldn't move.
"Tadashi come on." He urged, pulling his sibling's arm.
Tadashi looked between Hiro, and the fire. "But Mr. Callaghan is in there!" He insisted, and ripped out of Hiro's grip. "I have to save him." He stated.
Hiro felt his eyes widen, "But you'll...!"
"Somebody has to help." Tadashi looked at him in the eye and gave a soft smile, and ruffled his hair. "I'll be fine, I promise, I'll come back for you." He said, before taking off into the fire.
"No! Tadashi!" He yelled, running after him but was flung away from an abrupt explosion. He ignored the shattered glass and the fact that his body was soar from the impact. With tears in his eyes, he stared at the growing fire from the explosion and felt tears run down his cheeks.
No...Tadashi!
In his frozen state, he never noticed the coaxing people that tried to pull him away from the fire. No! Tadashi is in there! He struggled, pushed, shoved, anything. But found that the arms held him tight, which prevented him from lunging at the building as the fire department put out the fire. He was a mess. Soon he grew exhausted, and gave into the darkness, crying for his brother.
Tadashi coughed as he squinted, trying to navigate through the hazy smoke from the fire. Sweat dripped down his face in exertion. He was practically walking blind in this disaster. Where would the professor be? He needed to help the guy. But the burning image of his brother running toward him and screaming his name made him wince. He probably shouldn't have acted so rash.
He coughed again, and yelped in pain as small debris hit him on the shoulder and he felt the fire burn one of his arms.
At this rate...No. He shook the thought out of his head and kept walking, holding his sweater over his nose and mouth. Hiro is okay, he's outside safe, not in the fire. He reminded himself. All you have to do is get the professor, find a way out, and go back to him. Keep calm...don't panic, he told himself.
Just as the fatigue was about to claim him he saw a shadowed figure in his hazy line of sight, and avoided the crumbling debris. "Mr. Callaghan?" He coughed.
The professor was indeed there, but stood over something, like he was...setting something?
His teacher looked up in surprise, clearly not expecting Tadashi to be in here. "Hamada? What are you doing here?"
Tadashi nodded, but broke out into coughs and felt tears well up in his eyes from the smoke. If they didn't get out of here soon they would both die. "Mr. Callaghan we need to get out of here, the building is crumbling down from an explosion." He wheezed, holding out his hand.
But Callaghan stood his ground, and looked at him straight in the eye with emotions similar to guilt and malice. "No." He stated firmly.
He felt his eyes widen. No?
"But Mr. Callaghan-"
"No, Tadashi. This is business." His gaze flickered to the object he stood over before. His eyes landed on a ticking noise, and his eyes widened in realization when he saw a bomb and timer attached to it. The bomb was the size of a mini television set, with colored wires surrounding it and a digital timer that quickly went down.
Three minutes.
"Business?" He demanded. "The building is on fire and you're only concerned about a bomb? Mr. Callaghan, you could die, we could die." He exclaimed sharply.
The man studied Tadashi as he broke off into another coughing fit, "But you're already dying." he stated monotonously. "This is all just sacrifice, I will not die, but you on the other hand..." he trailed off.
Tadashi felt betrayed. His teacher, mentor, a rolemodel, was really going to kill him and flee. Where had Mr. Callaghan gone wrong? Where was the man he used to look up to?
"Why?" he whispered. His former teacher looked up at him in question. "Why do this? Why ruin the convention and risk a lot of people's lives?" He asked softly. The unsaid question was, why kill your own student and kill other bright young people who had a future.
The grey haired man's expression became stoic, and a glint of madness could be seen from the reflection of the flickering fire that surrounded them. "Revenge," he answered, "Revenge for my daughter." With that being said, Callaghan gazed at the timer, then proceeded to use one of the flying inventions from the convention to disappear into the smokey air.
He tried to reach out to the man, but it was a failed attempt as he fell to the ground and moaned in pain. Tadashi felt numb, partly because of the pain and the other one because his so called teacher left him to die. His eyes wandered to the bomb, and felt fear as he read the time.
40 seconds
It was too late to get out, fire surrounded him at all angles, debris blocked everything, and he could now barely even see from all the smoke exposure. He felt light headed, numb, dizzy, and was in pain. He couldn't dissemble the bomb, he needed more time and didn't have any tools like pliers to cut the wires.
He was trapped and he was going to die.
His life flashed before his eyes, but all he could think about and focus on was his brother, Hiro.
Oh Hiro...
He remembered his last words to Hiro: 'I'll be fine, I promise, I'll come back for you.' He had lied, and now his brother would be left all alone. He didn't want to die, he wanted to watch Hiro grow up, be there for him like their parents couldn't because of the accident when they were little. But now he couldn't, and his brother would be the last one left...
The timer ticked faster now, edging down to ten seconds, seven seconds, then six-
He squeezed his eyes tightly, feeling tears stream down his face and mix with the ash and soot. "I'm so sorry Hiro." he whispered hoarsely.
Five...four...three...two...one...
Tadashi closed his eyes, waiting to be blown into pieces. Before he closed his eyes he saw a figure dart in front of him. His hazy eyesight couldn't see the figure really well, but all he saw was a glowing purple force field above him and a sea of black before he passed out.
Hiro was glad he had made it just in time before the bomb went off, ten more seconds and he would've lost his opportunity to save Tadashi unlike the last time.
Hiro grunted as the explosion impact collided with his microbots and the purple force field he had put up. He had to get his brother out of here before he really died on him. After he was sure that the explosion was done he unraveled the dome of microbots, with the shield still activated he tried to be careful as he could to wrap his brother's limp arm around his shoulder. He went as fast as he could through the roaring flames and debris, all while checking Tadashi.
When he emerged outside he saw Hikari gently laying down a victim alongside others, talking on the phone with who he guessed was the mayor for medical help. There were already sirens on the other side of the building, and he could hear the commotion as the firemen scrambled to put out the fire. Hiro gave Tadashi's limp body to Baymax who craddled his creator, giving scans. The blacked haired teenager peeked from the corner of the building to see frantic firemen and paramedics. There was a small commotion by the bottom of one of the stairs with railings at the front of the convention center.
"No! Tadashi!" He winced as he saw a younger version of himself, shouting at the top of his lungs and frantically try to squirm out of the steel grip that held him away from the fire. Hiro was tempted to go and tell his younger self that his brother was actually alive but he couldn't blow his cover like that. He also preferred that Tadashi look more decent instead of scarring the young Hamada with mental images of raw burns and blood all over his brother.
Hiro ducked as a flashlight came in his direction and looked there again with a brief whistle to get the firemen's attention. The flashlight came to his direction again, before he heard frantic feet and the sound of gurneys. He ran back to Hikari who was finishing up with the remaining survivors. "We have to go, they'll come here any minute." He said.
She looked at the injured people and walked away reluctantly, getting her hover board afloat in the air. "I talked to the mayor and he's already sending a bunch of paramedics. They should be fine, I managed to save all of them without any life threatening injuries." She reported, and jumped on her board. Hiro jumped onto Baymax's back, and they took off toward the skies. He glanced back down, and sighed in relief when the firemen found the survivors and immediately tended to them.
Speaking of survivors, his brother was still alive. Hiro felt fear eat at him and flinched every time he looked at Tadashi. His elder sibling was a mess. His clothes were burnt, burns circled around his arms, there was bruising on his face, and he could see blood on the t-shirt and right lower leg. Tadashi's was slow and labored, and looked dead if it weren't for the slight rise of his chest.
Once they had arrived, Baymax and Hikari went into the guest room and started to treat his brother. Hiro could have helped, but he felt queasy just by looking at Tadashi earlier and didn't need more unpleasant mental images to haunt him.
It had been about two hours now, and the teen paced in front of the guest bedroom in panic and worry. Was his brother ok? Would he not die this time? Tadashi did look really bad when he managed to get to him in time...what if he didn't make it?
"Keep pacing and you'll be digging a hole to New China." His inner ranting was interrupted when Hikari appeared at the door, with a tired smile on her face. "He's fine."
He let out the breathe he never knew he held and relaxed. He wanted to go in, really, but he also hesitated. He didn't know how he would react, seeing his brother actually in the flesh. He still couldn't believe that they had actually done it and the only thing between him and his brother was that door.
Hikari rolled her eyes, and dragged him into the room forcefully before he could say anything. His breathe hitched when he saw his brother sleeping peacefully on the bed, bandaged, with an oxygen mask and IV without a care in the world.
He nearly cried in relief, and held his brother's hand hesitantly. "He's alright." He stared in disbelief.
Hikari hugged him briefly, "You can watch over him, he'll be just fine." She kissed his cheek, in which he blushed brightly and was glad he wasn't facing her right now.
He felt his eyes water with happiness and caught her before she managed to slip out of the room unnoticed. "Hey." She paused at the door way and looked at him in question. "Thank you." He said lamely.
She gave him a comforting smile, and slipped out the doorway, leaving Hiro to sit by his brothers bedside.
"Would you like me to perform a scan?" Baymax asked.
He shook his head, "No it's fine Baymax." Hiro couldn't believe it when Baymax had knocked on the warehouse door after Hikari had left to find a place to stay at. He thought that Baymax was back with the others but the robot then told him that he jumped in the after them, and simply used the GPS tracking microchip on Hiro's armor to locate him.
The robot walked up to him with an audible squeak, and held him in an unexpected hug. "There, there." Baymax patted his head and he sighed and smiled wearily at the robot. Baymax was always there for him, and always cheered him up when he was down.
Like Tadashi, except that this time, Tadashi would be there for his younger counterpart.
"Tadashi, rest in peace."
Hiro numbly stared at the coffin as it was buried. They had found no body in the ruins, so his coffin was going down empty with just a photo of him inside. Somehow there had been a bunch of survivors that somebody rescued that night. The savior was unknown, because they had fled the scene before anybody could catch up to them. He just wondered why his brother couldn't be one of the lucky survivors. Why didn't the mysterious savior save his brother? His brother died, he died. He wanted curl up in a ball and cry.
He barely even noticed as the rain poured down, how people comforted him. He just stared at the mocking gravestone, the explosion constantly repeated in his head nonstop. He didn't even notice how he was ushered into the car by his aunt, and was helped up to their-his bedroom until he was left alone on his bed.
Tadashi was gone, and that's all that was all that mattered right now. He numbly stared at the empty bed, where Tadashi's hat laid untouched after the accident. He remembered how Tadashi had a weird obsession with that hat, and always liked to wear it. He had tried taking it before, but that resulted in him getting tickled to death until he apologized. The older Hamada would call him a knucklehead, and laugh happily at his brother's despair for tickle attacks.
He would never see his brother again. He would never see Tadashi's smile, laugh, or get hung upside down, tackled, scolded, get his hair ruffled in a brotherly love fashion, teased, nothing.
'I'll be fine, I promise I'll be back for you.'
He broke that promise, for the first time Tadashi didn't keep his promise. Tadashi always kept his promises. But this time, that chain had been broken.
He hesitantly walked up to the isolated bed, his fingers lingering on the hat before he walked away, shutting off Tadashi's area with the wooden screen his brother always used for privacy.
Hiro laid in his bed, and stared at the ceiling blankly. Usually around right now, Tadashi would come home late from his lab. The tall teen would then ask what Hiro had been up to and why he was up this late, then scold him for looking up bot fights in the town, calling him 'unbelievable.' Hiro would never be the same, all he wanted was his brother back.
He burrowed himself into his blankets, and tried to shut out the whole world so he could grieve for his brother. All he had was aunt Cass, he had no parents, and in addition now he had no brother. The young genius sobbed into his sheets, curling up into a ball and quietly cried himself to sleep.
Tadashi wasn't coming back this time.
Author's Note: I know, it's sad and I'm a horrible person! I hate making Hiro sad, and Tadashi thinking he was going to die. But it was really intense right? I'm so proud of myself. Don't forget to review ;)