Cyonil: Hello guys again! It's been awhile isn't it? By the way, we have something to clarify before the chapter will start.
1. Since this is a mega crossover, there's a lot of changes will be implemented, especially in BH6 timeline. Just changes xD
2. If some of you are familiar with the Malaysian Animated Movie, "Puteri", this is the chapter they will go on stage. Their names were changed for some reason and please don't be confused much with it xD. For those who are familiar with it, maybe you can distinguished who are they or Google is always there to save the day xD. Maybe you can have some research about "Puteri" so you'll have an idea xD.
3. Lastly, this is a major event xD. Kidding. Well, I guess... Let's start!
Disclaimer: We don't own anything! Just the plot! Big Hero 6, Danganronpa, Puteri had their respectful owners.
Chapter 2: Hamada-Fujisaki Turning Point
Approximately, 7:23 am
Monday, Fujisaki's Residence
January 17, 201X
The sun already rose up on its peak, however, in Fujisaki's residence, two kids were still sleeping soundly in a room. One was on a bed while the other was laying on a mattress. They were uncovered since their blankets were aimlessly placed in the floor. While having their peaceful hour, their bodies began to move.
Without any seconds passed, the boy with messy black hair abruptly sat on his stature as light struck his eyes.
On the other hand, the boy on the bed with brown hair gently moved upward and intuitively put his feet down on a floor, without opening his eyes though.
"Oh, you're awake already." Hiro said while yawning. He scratched his eyes and fell down on the mattress again.
Chihiro stood up while staggering. He went to Hiro and suddenly grabbing his right foot. "Stand up there... Don't you remember we are going to their workplace..." he muttered in gibberish manner while pulling him.
"Stop pulling me..." Hiro said in a dozing way. Hiro freed his foot and sat up again. "...Fine, fine..." However, the two boys fell down on the floor again and snored; signifying that they were still sleepy.
Downstairs, Taichi was cooking some breakfast so they could be energized by the time they arrived in their workplace. He was actually nervous about presenting Baymax with some company, along with the other problems they had to face such as screwing things up with either the kids or them.
Tadashi was setting Baymax on the garage. There was no way it would fit to their moped so they had to settle with Taichi's car instead. By the time he arrived to the main room, he could smell some usual eggs and bacon from the distance.
"Now when are the kids waking up..." Tadashi thought himself.
"Chihiro! Hiro! It's breakfast time!" Taichi called from the kitchen.
The call from Taichi literally startled the two. Their eyes opened so wide as they sat on their stature. Hiro went to the bathroom immediately to do his morning routine and got changed from his pajamas. While Chihiro, he arranged the mattresses and put it on the spatial side of his room. He even fixed his bed and got some clothes from his closet.
"Are you done, Hiro?" Chihiro asked behind the door of the bathroom while knocking. A "yes" from Hiro replied together with the opening of the door. He was changed now on his usual attire, but, Chihiro waved his hand near on his nose.
"Have you taken a bath?" Chihiro asked eerily. "Uhh... you smell awful."
"What?" Hiro steamed his head again. Uh oh, it was a sign of another fight again between the two. But, before it happened again, Chihiro pushed him back to the bathroom and said, "Just take a bath! Okay!"
Hiro had no choice, but to follow the room master's command. Well, he was not used anymore to take a bath in the morning unless when he was still student.
After some few moments, Hiro was done and Chihiro came next. Hiro went downstairs first as he saw the father putting plates on the table.
"Good morning, Mr. Fujisaki." he said politely, but still uncertain on his feeling on how to greet him properly. Later on, Chihiro arrived in the kitchen, too.
"Oh! Good morning, Hiro. It's nice to see you excited for today. Breakfast is on the table, I hope you like it." Taichi was glad by Hiro's meeting. So this was what Hiro was like when he was not on the botfighting mood.
Tadashi was in his causal clothes by the time he arrived the dining room. He could see that the two were sitting on the table already. He did not expect Taichi was cooking breakfast for them and it made him feel modest about it.
Tadashi sat beside Chihiro and ruffled his hair, as usual. "So...which one of you woke up first?" he asked mischievously to Chihiro and Hiro; to see which one of the two were heavy sleepers. He also expected Hiro was sleeping in different angles by the time he woke up.
"Me of course!" Chihiro and Hiro said at the same time, both with proud demeanor on themselves. After that, they glared on each other again. "Hey, it's me!" They said once again to each other as their foreheads met one another.
The older brother and the father shrugged in dismay, much to their expectations that they were friends already.
Taichi looked at the clock just to check the time. It was still two hours away to the appointed time, but in his opinion, it was getting late. Out of nervousness, of course. "By golly, look at the time. It's getting late!"
"Uhhh, it's still too early though." Tadashi thought that Taichi was actually panicking. Clocks were the main factors in pressuring people if they got late or not.
Taichi frowned, "I can't help it! I'm SO NERVOUS."
"It was me!" Hiro insisted while Chihiro started eating his meal. But, Chihiro ignored him and drank his milk; and Hiro thought of it as an opportunity to tease Chihiro again. "See who drinks his milk. A kiiiid!" Hiro said in a sing-song manner.
But, Chihiro seemed not pissed, "Well milk is needed to strengthen bones and use for additional energy for the whole day. And with our age, we still need calcium for our bones... Do you ever know that... Mr. Airhead?" Hiro was speechless as Chihiro continued on his food affair.
Hiro, now backfired of his own silliness, munched down on his food and fought against the food instead. He gulped his choco drink in one shot and munched down for another time until there was no left on his plate.
"I'm done!" Hiro stormed out, "I'll just wait outside!" Then, he went out of the house. Chihiro just stared on his back while leaving and looked on his father and on his brother figure. "What is his... problem?" Chihiro asked innocently.
Tadashi sighed as he drank his glass of water, "Kids..."
Taichi started to pickup the plates and placed it to the sink to wash it. After washing the dishes and placing it to the dishwasher, he picked up his car keys. "I better open the garage." Taichi told Tadashi since Hiro was waiting outside.
By the time Taichi opened the garage door, Tadashi ignited his moped and drive out of the garage. He saw Hiro waiting and threw his helmet to his younger brother.
The father switched his car on, and checked if Baymax was set on the backseat. "Come on Chihiro, we're gonna be late!" he called out Chihiro.
Chihiro rode on the car, beside his father of course. His face was glum as he was silent staring on the outside. Meanwhile, Hiro took the helmet and wore it. He rode behind his brother as he suddenly hugged Tadashi without saying a word.
"Oh!" Tadashi almost went out of balance from his moped when Hiro hugged him unexpectedly. Situations like this sparked his brotherly instinct. By the looks of Hiro's face, it only meant that something was wrong with him. "H-Hiro...you alright? What's wrong?"
Hiro leaned moreover on his brother's back. "I don't like him." All was he could say. His voice was annoyed yet... at the same time... Disappointed? Of some sort.
"Him? You mean, Chihiro?" Tadashi asked the obvious.
"He is annoying. He acts like a smartbrain although he dresses like a girl." Hiro replied indirectly. He pursed his lips and sighed an irritated one.
"Well, to tell the truth, he is almost like you. You act like a smart brain too, you know?" Tadashi switched off the engine and turned around to his brother. He placed his hands over Hiro's shoulders and looked at him.
Hiro frowned. Tadashi was right at some point... He acted like one, too, but, "But I still don't like him. He was so distant. He can't get my jokes right. And..." He didn't want to say the next line because he might admit he couldn't win over Chihiro. He always won in all botfights he played so being a "loser" was not a good record to see.
"And?" Tadashi knew that there was something that Hiro wanted to say but didn't.
Hiro couldn't help but sighed. He didn't want to spill it out. "...I can't win over him. I mean, he can backfire my teasing and make me mad instead! But I don't like to hurt him, but I just want to make fun! I mean, I just want to see him smile, too because he seemed so faraway! I can't reach his hand and—" Hiro suddenly cooped his mouth by saying such embarrassing things; in his opinion. His face flustered up as he lowered his head. "This mouth," Hiro acted like zipping his mouth off.
"Looks like bonehead just spilled the beans," Tadashi thought right now. He tried to hold on to his laughter, but couldn't. "Pffft-ahahahaha! So that's why you were down in the dumps! Woo!" he took a deep breath and eased down his laughter as he started to reminisce.
Tadashi began, "You know, when I first met Mr. Fujisaki, it was very awkward for us to talk to each other or anything. He's a programmer, while I do robotics. He is silent, while I talk too much. It's a total opposite for us two!" he looked up to the morning sky, "Say, do you know why Baymax is created in the first place?"
Hiro pouted at his brother who was laughing down at him. This is embarrassing, Hiro covered his face with his palm. But, in order to drop his "shamefulness", he took his brother's new topic. "Uhm... I guess I can know. I'm curious about it, too." Hiro gave his ears and eyes to let Tadashi story tell about "Baymax".
"It was my 33rd test of my robotics project, by the time Baymax's chip was set I knew something bad would happen. Baymax got haywire and somehow blew the fusebox in the school. It was me who caused the blackout in the first place." Tadashi chuckled of what he did a long time ago, "A man came in to my room when he figured out that I was the source of the blackout, it was Taichi. Well, I kinda did something bad from the blackout when his programming on his desktop wasn't saved by the time it shuts down. Ha...He freaked out when it happens, but he didn't mind. I apologized to him when I found out of what I did, but he asked me what I did wrong in the first place. Programming isn't really an easy task as I thought it be, I showed him the codes in Baymax's chip. He said that I missed a bracket from the very start. Since it was still a prototype, every test I checked from the coding and it always go haywire. He said that I shouldn't do things alone, so he offered me some help with Baymax. And in return, I helped him restart the lost coding that wasn't saved. Ever since then we helped out on each other, Baymax wasn't a solo project anymore. It was a project with two people."
Hiro smirked on his story. Well, Hiro knew he was always committing the same mistake like... "Chihiro..." He voiced out when the scenario last night flashed on his mind.
"Nii-chan, how does it like to work with a partner?" Hiro asked again. He had no idea to work with others since he always go alone for himself. A soloist as per they said towards him.
"Like I said, it was awkward at first. But when we finally get to know each other, we understood the reason why it became awkward in the first place. Taichi and I were able to talk more, we were able to help each other when we are facing obstacles. We were there to support each other. Once he told me that he has a son, I figured out that Chihiro needs help in opening up." Tadashi saw Taichi's car out of the garage as the father closed the door. He restarted his engine once more.
Hiro was puzzled. He couldn't understand what his older brother really meant. He was used in any kinds of awkwardness but it was on different way. He just nodded in response as he arranged his fixture in the moped.
"Okay, doors are locked, windows closed, unnecessary plugs pulled, and Baymax in the backseat. So everything is ready to go then..." Taichi murmured to himself while checking the house as he went back to his car to start the engine. "Seat belts in place and..." he noticed that Chihiro was quiet as usual, however, more quiet than before, "Chihiro? Are you okay?"
Chihiro was on a deep thinking. He didn't know what this thing called like, but there was a bittersweet sensation on him. He was brought back in the reality again when his father called out his name.
"A-Ah... I'm fine... Don't mind me. I was just analyzing the codes last night. I wonder if I can add something... On it..." Chihiro answered nervously as he fell on silence again. He rested his hands on his lap and on deep concentration, his forehead was forming wrinkles and looked like... sadder than before?
Taichi remembered about what Tadashi said about the younger ones when they first opened up; when they said that they were okay it meant that they were lying and it had to be the first thing that came up to their mind.
"Is this about Hiro?" he asked his son.
Chihiro emitted a surprise expression. Well, it was his father anyway and he should never be surprised if his father knew if something was wrong... But the thing that made him surprise was his right guess. He never spoke for awhile as he hesitantly nodded his head in slowpoke motion.
Chihiro played his lips as his face soured. "A noisy tin can is like a person with an empty head... Right?" Chihiro said, frowning. It was tainted on him that he wanted his father agreed on his statement.
Unfortunately, Taichi never understood a single word from his son. He didn't want to be rude though, "I'm sorry, Chihiro. But I'm a little confused with what your saying. Can you elaborate on that?"
Chihiro frowned once again. "I mean Dad... When the tin can is noisy, it is empty. And like a person with cocky and rude attitude, that person is an airhead." He explained without removing the tone of respect on his voice. "It bugs my head... And I can't tolerate any behavior such as that, Dad." he confessed his annoyance although he wasn't mentioning any names. He crossed his arms and the mirror from the car reflected his scowling facade. His mood was rather... cloudy as it seemed.
Taichi sighed, so he was right the whole time. "So it really is Hiro, isn't it?"
"Yes Dad." Chihiro said without any reservations. He was greatly annoyed with Hiro, especially on what happened on their breakfast. "I was just explaining him everything so he can be enlightened! I don't mean any harm with any of my words, Dad. I was just trying to make him know things. Even it was still a common sense. Now I know why Onii was having a headache whenever he is visiting us." He further continued as his face showed no signs of delight; instead, complete madness against human stupidity.
"Well that's brothers, there are times where they are having a good time until it reaches to it's limit. Besides, you two just met. I'm sure Hiro will understand on what you do, I think Hiro is trying to do the same thing for you." Taichi remembered last night when his son finally laughed in his time of life. "You know, when Hiro helped you last night reminds me of the time Tadashi and I first met."
"Huh?" Chihiro raised a brow from his Dad's sudden opening up of things. He never heard his father before on telling how they first met. "What exactly... happened then?" he asked.
"Well it was when I am programming something in San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. I was close to completing the codes until everything went black, and my hard work is completely erased! I wasn't able to save them once the desktop blackened. I realized it was a black out in the school. I took upon myself to find the source of the power outage." Taichi said while trying to remember the events. Though he chuckled at the next, "I saw a small light from a room nearby. I saw a young man holding a flashlight and a big robot. I am guessing that he was the one who made my work unfinished that time around, but I wasn't mad that time...Well, maybe a little...I think." He thought whether he had a grudge or not back then.
Then, he continued, "Well, Tadashi did apologized when I told him about what happened to my scenario. I guess we won't bring that back, so I decided to help him instead of flipping out in rage. He is a student after all. I was amazed from his hard work on making his project from his codes, except that he missed a bracket." he shrugged at Tadashi's little mistake that veterans could see at the blink of an eye.
Chihiro's eyes were glowing. He never thought that his dad and brother figure would meet in that kind of situation. Well, he proved once again that his Dad was really kind and never know how to get mad at all...
Chihiro smiled on the side when hearing the "missing bracket" error which happened to him last night. "I still need to learn a lot of things..." he suddenly clutched his hands, "I've been a bad person towards Hiro... He helped me last night to finish the program and pointed me out my mistake. I wish I've been the same as you, Dad... Know how to tolerate things... Even the situation is really brain racking." Guilt ruled his heart now as a tear escaped on his eyes... Now, he believed on himself that Hiro's outrage earlier was his fault. And he never properly thanked him anyway about the codes last night.
"Chihiro..." Taichi saw his son starting to cry. He went near to Chihiro and embraced him with a hug. "It's okay, Chihiro. People make mistakes sometimes, all they have to do is learn from it. It takes time to learn the virtue of patience, after all. I'm sure Hiro will understand. I think he has that attitude because he feels that he has no friends to be with. Under his tough exterior lies a soft heart." he slowly stepped on the accelerator as the car moved out of the house slowly to meet Hiro and Tadashi.
Chihiro wiped his tears out and absorbed his Dad's wise words. All of what he said was true and maybe... he would try to understand Hiro from now on, as what his Dad said. He lowered down the window of the car and saw Hiro behind Tadashi. He carefully watched him as he noticed that Hiro's face was softened and the rage on his eyes were begone. He raised the window again and laid back on the seat. He was thinking now on how he would say thank you on the other boy which he got annoyed lately.
Approximately, 9:53 am
Monday, Almzicle Corporation Building
January 17, 201X
The two vehicles stopped at a building in the city. Taichi and Tadashi have to raise their necks a little too high because the tower was quite tall for them too see.
"Geez, seeing the building gives me butterflies in my stomach." Taichi looked at Tadashi in nervousness.
"As a matter of fact, I also have butterflies in my stomach... Literally." Tadashi jokingly said.
Hiro removed his helmet and stared up like what the older guys did. His mouth was opened widely that a fly could enter it. He didn't know what to describe first; the building or his emotions.
Until he heard someone spoke beside him. "So... Huge. A prestigious building... Well worthy of its name all over San Fransokyo..." Chihiro was the one beside him who had his mouth opened widely, too.
Hiro recapped what his brother said about Chihiro; he was in need on how to open himself up. He closed his mouth and raised up his hand to touch his shoulder. However, Chihiro suddenly went beside his father and telling praises about the building while Taichi was still acting nervous.
Hiro frowned with another load of disappointment. "Oh great, now I can't talk to him..." He said mentally as his face revealed his mind statement.
"Well, there's no turning back now." Tadashi murmured to himself as he drive his moped to where the parking lot was along with Taichi. Their spaces was separated though; a moped and a car couldn't be beside each other after all.
He switched off his engine as he took off his helmet, as Taichi parked his car and brought out Baymax in his hands.
"Uhh...Tadashi. Don't you think that Baymax is light or not? Or maybe it's just the box?" Taichi asked Tadashi if their project was a little bit heavy.
Tadashi answered as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "It's just the box."
Meanwhile, Hiro and Chihiro was already inside the building. They were sitting on a bench as Chihiro seemed acting uneasy. Hiro noticed his weird behaviour as he asked him. "Uh... Hey? Are you alright?"
Chihiro quickly turned to him as his hands were clutching on his skirt. "Ahh... I'm fine...? Ahh... I-I'm not sure..." Hiro noticed that his eyes were looking down on all people in the hospital. He also had seen some sweats pouring down from his skin.
The mischievous boy scowled as he gently tapped the timid one's shoulder. "Hey, calm down..." He was guessing that the reason why he was acting like that because of people; too much people since he got a small reference from his brother. "I guess... You have a social fear?"
Chihiro got no choice, but nodded in response. It was a confirmation gesture that he really had that kind of fear. He couldn't say a thing, and his phobia was restraining himself to express.
Hiro gave a pitiful looked towards him, but decided to hide it since he didn't want to tease him with that. It was not a funny thing at all anyway. "Well, stop looking at them... Hmm, maybe you can tell me about the programs you have before?" Hiro was trying to diverge his attention. It was his way to help him, even in a small way though.
Chihiro seemed like to avoid him but he accepted his offer. "Ah... Maybe..." Unfortunately, he didn't know where to start.
Hiro was waiting for him to reply, but Chihiro seemed getting hard to begin so he was the one who restarted the whole conversation. "Uhh... I remember last night... You said you want to create a walking AI right? I wanna know your design of it, if ever you have already." he shrugged and moved an inch towards him.
"Actually... I have created an AI before... The name of it is Alter Ego..." Chihiro replied, in hopes to survive the whole talk. Hiro looked fascinated and it sparked him some curiosity... At least, he was somewhat successful on bringing up a topic.
"Can you tell me about Alter Ego?" Hiro queried.
As the two adults entered the doors of the building, both of them were still having some disagreement on whoever was going to bring the heavy Baymax.
"You know maybe I should bring Baymax THIS TIME." Tadashi was attempting to pull the red box from Taichi, but the father had a tight grip.
"No no, I'm okay with it."
"But you were complaining about it being heavy a while ago, I think your back is going to have a fracture."
"I'm just trying to be reliable."
"But people have to rest sometimes."
"Not this man."
And it went on and on like they were having a tug-of-war until they reached to where Hiro and Chihiro were sitting.
"Hey guys, we're going to the top floor of the building now." Tadashi said as he suddenly let go of the box in which Taichi won their little tug-of-war. He pouted like a child.
The two kids looked up as Hiro stood up first. But, Chihiro remained unmoving on his seat. "Hey, Chihiro, let's go." Hiro told him as he got his shoulder to help him to stand up.
"I wanna go home..." Chihiro muttered, but Hiro pulled him up as they stood side by side again.
"Hey, stop it already. Don't worry, I'll stay beside you until we reached the top floor. Don't mind the people around, just think that me, Nii-chan and err..." Hiro looked at Chihiro's Dad, "...uncle, probably, will be the only person here? Do you copy that?" Hiro grinned again as he rested his arms on his shoulder.
Chihiro wasn't sure if he could only think of them only but he just nodded once again and said, "I'll try..."
"Oh man! Be a man, okay? Well I'll never leave my companion so don't be scare anymore." Hiro tried to cheer the timid boy even on his own measurement, Chihiro would get hard to do what he had instructed to him.
"I said I'll try..." Chihiro answered again.
"Hmm...They said that the office is on the top floor, but they never said which specific number for it." Taichi wondered.
"Well, I guess if we see the last number on the elevator would do." Tadashi said.
Taichi twitched his lip on the side, "You do know that the elevator doesn't do normally in this building.."
"Oh yeah, I forgot."
By the time they stepped in to the elevator, they searched for the numbers for the office. The rest were no numbers, except for the one button that was saying "Tingkat Atas". Tadashi pressed it in curiosity.
That was when something crazy happened.
The lights blacked out as the doors closed shut. The elevator started to speed up in an accelerating speed, not what they expected in a company normally.
"WHOOOA!" Hiro couldn't help but scream out loud. He never imagined that a kind of elevator such as this was existing! His hands were widely stuck on the wall while keeping himself not to fall down. "This is crazy!" he shouted again and a dazzling smile appeared, "But fun!"
"What are you saying, airhead?! This is crazy, yes, but not fun!" Chihiro yelled at him as he was taking his father as the pillar. He felt that his heart was racing in a fast rate and his whole body flying against the gravity.
Taichi had his knees squeezed together as he tried to stand up from the gravity. Luckily, Chihiro was holding him for balance... or maybe Chihiro was balancing himself and was acting like a balance for Taichi...
Meanwhile, Tadashi had his face planted on the floor. He wasn't expecting that the elevator go in a scary speed that he fell on the floor once it started. He could see that Taichi was holding on Baymax so tight since he was worried that it might fall; that was one thing that he was glad of that he didn't have to experience on having none to hold on to.
However while the others were suffering the crazy trip in the elevator, Hiro seemed the only one enjoying it. He kept on laughing and yelling like a person fresh from mental hospital.
"Would you stop being a crazy hooligan?! Airhead!" Chihiro yelled down at him as he almost slipped on his balance. Thankfully, he was holding on his father or else he would be on the same situation as Tadashi now.
Just a few seconds later, the elevator stopped all of the sudden and emitted a "ting" sound. All of them jumped due to the impact.
Hiro stayed on laughing but lowered down when he realized it was not moving anymore. "Oh, it's done already? Oh... I want more..." Hiro said in dismay.
"THANK GOODNESS IT'S DONE!" Chihiro yelled, and probably pinning it out towards Hiro who was still upset about the crazy trip.
"Ha... haha... wooo!" Tadashi took deep breaths to calm himself down from the crazy elevator. He could see that Hiro was the only one enjoying it, so much of worrying of being in danger or some sort. At least they were safe. "Good thing we eat less, right Mr. Fujisaki? Mr. Fujisaki?" He saw Taichi standing like a statue for real. His face is stuck with his "I'm scared face" that Tadashi even waved his hand in front of Taichi's eyes, the father didn't blinked though.
Until Taichi slowly gave Baymax to Tadashi's arms, "Y-yo-you... take... Baymax... this time..."
"O...kay?" Tadashi replied as he lifted Baymax while dragging the still-statue-Taichi on his heels.
"Yeah yeah! I really like it, yeah! I like it, yeah! I wanna do it once more yeah!" Hiro sang while walking. Might be this was the effect after riding on that weird elevator. Chihiro was walking like a zombie while Hiro was walking like a drunkard. Chihiro didn't have energy left to yell to Hiro again and he figured out he was getting out of his character since he had met him. He seemed also to forget to ask if his almost lifeless father was only fine.
They were just following the older ones as for some odd reason, they had bumped into their backs.
"Uhh... Can I ask why do we stop?" Chihiro asked to Tadashi, who was more reliable to get ask for at this moment. Hiro kept on singing about his craving to ride once again in the elevator which tempted to Chihiro to coop his mouth.
In front of them was a large wooden door with a gold plate written "Donald Almzicle".
"It's the big boss." Tadashi answered Chihiro's question.
The still father finally came back to his senses, only to see that they were standing at the door. "OKAY, I'm going home!" he started panicking as he attempted to go back to the crazy elevator.
Until Tadashi pulled him backwards and dragged him back, "Seriously, I'm not giving up on you until you stopped hyperventilating."
"I'm not!"
"Yes you were." Tadashi made Taichi face him and tapped his forehead. "Look, I'm nervous too you know. But we went this far as we know it, we can't give up now."
The father took deep breaths and tried to relax a little, "Okay, okay. You were right, I can't let the kids down." he quietly told Tadashi.
"Then let's get in there, we might never know what will happen inside besides that crazy elevator." Tadashi encouraged the nervous father.
"Okay, let's go." Taichi said as he opened the door and saw an office.
By opening the large wooden door, a brand new environment entered on everyone's visions. Well, it was only a regular office, but just more fancy because of paintings around the walls and the huge space inside of it.
From the other end of the office, there was a wooden table with herbal plants designs and a huge black leather-made chair, facing them away. There was also a wooden signage, as "Donald Almizcle, CEO" was carved on it.
As the applicants which were Taichi and Tadashi, along with the kids, entered the office, the chair turned around.
The two young boys felt shivers on their spine, once the person in the chair revealed himself. It was an old man, with short black hair and beard. His face was one intimidating and in just one move, you might get killed, if ever. The man's eyes were brimming with high frightening aura and adding on his frowned forehead, he was scarier to look at. He rested his chin on his two big and tough fists and scrutinized Tadashi and Taichi carefully.
"Are you the applicants that we are hiring at?" The old man said with his deep tone voice, like somewhat pulled out from a deep well. Hiro and Chihiro literally feeling a pressure bulging them down as their feet seemed like stuck with a glue. They looked like a tamed sheep on describing their outlook right now.
Tadashi and Taichi were still as statues and their smiles were somehow frozen into place. Taichi nudged Tadashi by the elbow since he was holding Baymax in his arms, how unlucky for him.
"Y-yes, Mr. Almzicle. We were the applicants." Tadashi answered while trying to maintain his normal voice.
"Ta-ta-Taichi Fujisaki and Ta...dashi Hamada." Taichi introduced their names.
"He is maybe... The big boss... Mr. Donald Almizcle..." Chihiro said unto his mind. Now, he was worrying about his dad who seemed pretty nervous and somewhat, he was feeling the same, too. Good thing, the two kids were standing behind their guardians and would likely to survive from the big boss' deadly stares.
"Have a seat here," Donald gestured them to seat down on the couch in front of him. Donald pushed a button from his table as the door behind him opened. A man in black suit came to his summoning. Donald seemed to whispered something at him as the man kept on nodding.
Donald noticed that the applicants didn't heed his demand as he shifted his gaze at the two professionals. "I said have a seat. Don't make me repeat my word." He said in deep monotone but danger was recognized on his voice.
The two applicants shivered from his voice. Taichi even snatched Baymax from Tadashi as they brisk towards the couch and sat on it.
"Good thing you are quick to respond. That's what I need in my company." Donald seemed to praise the two although it sounded a little sarcastic. He stared at the two boys that remained on their positions as the old man smirked slyly. He moved his head a little as the man in black suit hastily strode to the kids who seemed frozen on their spot.
"Uh, let's go kids. I'll take you somewhere, okay?" The man said nicely while holding their shoulders as the two youngsters looked first at their guardians to take some permission at them.
"Uhhh...Chihiro, Hiro. This is an adult talk we're going to have, so you can wait outside or somewhere. And DON'T leave the hospital." Tadashi told the kids.
"We're going to be fine... I think." Taichi doubted it.
Chihiro and Hiro seemed to understand them, however, Chihiro was greatly worried about his dad. Like him, he was also hard on facing people especially the ones similar with Mr. Almzicle.
On the other hand, Hiro was just calm as he tapped Chihiro's shoulder. "Well, like what they said. It's an adult whatsoever talk. Don't worry about them. They'll be fine." Hiro said calmly as he faced the man, "Okay. We will come with you."
After that, the man in black suit guided them towards the door behind the CEO's table. Their necks were still flipped around while looking at the adults as they totally got inside the other side of the office.
They reached inside as another door with black vault-like seal surprised them. Hiro turned around and saw the man who had just done on closing the door.
"Why there's another door here?" Hiro asked while pointing it.
Chihiro nudged him and whispered, "You should not act like this is your place. Remember, we are on an elite's territory. Behave."
"Don't worry about me. Asking things don't kill." Hiro reasoned out.
But Chihiro wasn't satisfied and scowled, "Still."
"He's right. Asking won't kill. Well, we are just going to stay behind that until they are finished in negotiating. Don't worry kids, you are safe there." The man smiled as he gently put some combinations in the keypad; emitting strange sounds as it gradually opened.
"What the..." Hiro mouthed out when he saw the environment behind the door. It was like a rest house with regular decorations of a home. He never expected in a hospital to have a house-like place on it.
"Let's go in." The man said as he headed in first and the two followed him.
"What kind of place is this? A living room behind an office? Never heard of that before." Chihiro voiced out and astonished from it also.
"Yeah. Me too." Hiro seconded in motion as he grinned widely.
They stopped in the midst of the room as the man in black suit turned to them. "Well, my boss said that you can wander around the room but just keep everything here in touch, okay? By the way, my name is Hanson. I'll just leave for awhile and just call me if you need something. I'm on that room only. Is that clear, kids?" The man named Hanson said as he left the two, tapping their shoulders
Hiro turned to Chihiro, "So what now?"
"I don't know, Mr. Hanson said we can wander around here. I do wonder who sleeps in this place..." Chihiro said while walking around the room.
Hiro smirked mischievously again, plotting some crazy plan on his mind. "He said that we can wander around here, right? Maybe we can take a tour, right? Let's go!" Hiro was about to take a step when suddenly a cat strolled in front of them. The feline has patterns of orange with white until its feet reached the white spot, they have long pointed ears, and they have a golden collar with swirls inside the border. Hiro pursed his lips in curiosity as when he was going to bend down to touch the cat, the cat disappeared.
"Huh?! The cat disappeared!" Hiro exclaimed in horror.
"Jebat!"
"Don't hide from me!"
"YOU WIMP!"
"AHHH!" Hiro screamed when a kid suddenly popped out in front of them and it made Hiro to fall down in surprise.
Chihiro was stiff when Hiro screamed from getting jumpscared by the girl. His senses came back again and had his hand on his hip. "You gave me a heart attack, Hiro Hamada!... Though it's actually funny!" he chuckled.
The young programmer looked at the young kid who was somehow young at her age, even younger than them and looked like a princess from the looks of her dress.
She was wearing a teal colored dress that was decorated with golden patterns on the collar along with a gem in the middle. She was also wearing white tights along with matching teal colored shoes. Her black short hair was held with a ribbon on her head.
Chihiro asked the girl, "Uhh... mind if I ask. Who is Jebat?"
"Yeah right! Chihiro!" Hiro said as he stood up to his feet. He seemed annoyed again for laughing down at him again. This was the second time that Chihiro made fun of him. He dusted of the dust behind him and looked at the little girl again. "I guess Jebat is the cat." Hiro took a lucky guess since he recalled the wild happenings from the cat until the sudden popped out of the kid.
On the other hand, the girl seemed disgusted with Hiro's answering of Chihiro's question, so she glared at him and put her tongue out. "I'm the one who supposed to say who Jebat is! Meanie!"
Hiro's face soured on the kid's rudeness. "What?! It was a wild guess! It's not my fault if I got it right?! Chihiro?" Hiro turned to other boy and like asking to take side on him.
"Yeah, Hiro's right. It's quite the obvious that in this place, a cat would be suitable for company." Chihiro said. But he suddenly remembered that he didn't know her name, "Umm... Mind if I ask something, Miss. What's your name?"
"He didn't get it right..." Hiro said mentally as he face palmed. But, it was better than being taunted.
The girl's expression cooled down when hearing Chihiro asked her name. She smiled brightly with all her teeth showed up and went near at the young programmer. "My name is Abigail Almzicle! Just call me Abby. Nice to meet you! Can I know your name, sis?" The girl whose name was Abbigail asked to Chihiro.
Hiro on the side, covered his mouth with his hand as he turned back to restrain from bursting out his laugh.
Chihiro's eyes widened as his face flushed in red. He forgot that he was wearing girl's clothes. He glared at Hiro for attempting to laugh at the mistake. It was happening all the time when they mistaken him as a girl. The problem was that how was he going to explain it to a girl who was younger than him.
"Uhh... Uh... Um... Oh shocks, how am I going to say this one to a girl?!" Chihiro asked himself. He punched Hiro's arm, "You get in this mess, so you help me. Airhead!"
Hiro almost tripped down from Chihiro's weak punch, which made him to stop on laughing secretly. He turned to him with a teasing smile. "What? Why did you punched me? Are you a man now, 'sis'? Pfft..." he turned back again while trying to calm himself not to laugh.
"Uhm. Is there something wrong?" Abigail interrupted them as she frowned like she did something bad. "Did I say something wrong to you, sis?"
Now Hiro couldn't hold himself as he rolled down on the floor and laughed endlessly.
Chihiro was not amused. The crossdressing boy frowned that he had to settle with his "condition", and looked like he had to do this by himself.
"No no... It's okay... really. Umm... where should I start? Oh! My name is Chihiro Fujisaki. It is nice to meet you, Ms. Abby." he answered as he weakly kicked Hiro on the floor.
"Aw! No fun, you Chihiro!" Hiro used the back flip stunt to stand up. "And, I'm innocent! I didn't do nothing wrong to be kicked!"
"Yey! I see, your name is Chihiro! It's so cute and suitable for you!" Abbigail kept on praising Chihiro, who she had mistaken as a girl. "You are so nice than that wimpy kid. Now I really like you! Right, Jebat?" Abigail caressed her cat as it purred in agreement.
"Eh?! Me? Wimp? Chihiro help me! Tell me to her that I'm not wimp!" Hiro begged to Chihiro who seemed mad at him at this moment.
Chihiro rolled his eyes when he felt the irony coming from Hiro as he crossed his arms and looked away from him, "I called for help but you rejected it. So I won't help you." Well, looked like he had to go with the flow of being mistaken as a girl.
"What? Hey, don't be like that." Hiro pouted as he crossed his arms. They stayed in silence as Abigail looked at them alternatively.
"Is it possible that you two are siblings? You always fight like—" Abby's statement was cut off when her cat purred at her. "Oh, I forgot! I need to go, I'll just feed my Jebat! See ya!" She ran away and when Hiro turned back, he noticed that the girl...
"She disappeared!" Hiro exclaimed in horror again.
"Well, she did said that she has to feed her cat. Didn't you hear it?" Chihiro asked Hiro. He had something in mind when Abby said about them being siblings. It might be the fact that they really act like that? It was a mystery for Chihiro to know.
"What? I didn't hear any single thing!" He shrugged as he shuddered in fear, "Now I feel like this place is getting creepy, you know..." He started to walk around the area while observing the other decorations in the living room. He saw some diplomas in frames displayed in the walls. He even saw a certificate when the Almzicle Corporation became number one in whole San Fransokyo for all over a decade. He thought that this company that his brother had applied was one big time and might be a lot of professionals wished to be in their place instead to work here.
Being too focused on looking on the achievements of Almzicle Corporation, a door near him opened so suddenly as it bumped into his head. The impact made his head flailed away and stepped backwardly for inches.
Chihiro slapped his forehead for Hiro's constant clumsiness and decided to help his fellow Japanese up. "We are sorry for the accident Mister, er, maybe Miss. We didn't mean to—" he stopped when he saw a woman whose face looked like a ghost. "GIYAAAAAAH!"
Hiro collected himself again as he shook his head to recover up. He blinked many times to adjust his vision properly while knocking down on his chin. He was startled when Chihiro screamed like a girl and...
"UWAAAAH!" He screamed out loud, too, seeing the person Chihiro had seen. It was a girl, probably older than Abbigail with chubby cheeks and plump figure. She was wearing a red three-fourth blouse with a light green shirt inside and an orange long skirt with yellow line in the hem. She had a multicolored bracelet on her left wrist and equipped with magenta sandals. The hair was tied like a bun as the face was full of...
"Powder?" Hiro quickly analyzed the woman as his eyes fell lazy again. "Chihiro, don't be scared. It's just a regular female." he said in a plain tone.
The woman who had been mistaken as a ghost, stepped aback. "AHH! INTRUDERS! DON'T KILL ME PLEASE! Don't kill a pretty girl like me, no, no..." She fronted a dramatic cry that made Hiro lowered down his shoulders, instead of getting alarmed on her reaction.
Chihiro had to calm her down or she would cause havoc from them. He pulled out his phone and opened his camera app as he set it on selfie mode and showed it to the lady. "Ummm... miss... you have powder on your face."
The lady took Chihiro's phone as...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PRETTY FACE?!" She screamed a head splitting one that made Hiro covered his ears in desperation. In order to stop her, he removed his jacket and wiped her face gently.
"There, there." Hiro said once he was done, "Look at yourself again. The powder was gone."
The lady looked at herself again in the camera and blinked twice. She saw her face being "clean" now and had her face flushed in red.
Chihiro smiled at Hiro's good deed or maybe it was because he wanted to silence her screams? "See miss? You look pretty now."
The lady choked after Chihiro's statement. She suddenly giggled like a wealthy person and dazed at the innocent Chihiro. "Ohh... I always look pretty you know... Don't you see me? Am I cute right?" She suddenly shifted her attention to Hiro who was busy on wearing his jacket again. "Hello, cutie. Tell me I'm pretty right?"
"Huh?" Hiro looked at her as he scratched his head. He stared at her from head to toe and landed his eyes on her face again. He forced a smile, "Ahaha, yes?" Hiro thought the lady was pretty... In a cuddly way.
Due to his reflex, Hiro couldn't help but pinched her cheek and smiled widely and said, "You are pretty cute. I like your cheeks. It's so cuddly."
The lady's face became redder from Hiro's praise towards her.
Chihiro's face became red. He was too young to see a girl and a boy doing that kind of stuff. So he decided to change the subject, "Again, we are very sorry about what happened miss..." He didn't know her name though.
The lady was still blushing but was interrupted by Chihiro's unfinished sentence. She had thought they didn't know each other yet so she moved her head to face Chihiro. "Well, my name is Corina Almzicle. The prettiest daughter of the well-known Donald Almzicle."
Hiro giggled with no malice, "Ahaha, I guess you are. You look really cute." Hiro was actually referring to her cuddly features; not with the beauty that the everyone used to know.
Corina put a coy smile and turned towards Hiro; totally throwing Chihiro out of the picture. "Can I know your name, cutie?"
"Eh?" Hiro perked an eyebrow as he chuckled. "The name's Hiro. Hiro Hamada... And that one is—" he was about to introduce Chihiro when Corina snapped his hand and took it her near instead. "I wanna know about you more... Hiro."
Unknowingly, Hiro felt a strange nervousness inside him... Weird.
Chihiro's red face was even redder than before. Maybe Hiro was really needing some help, for real. He quickly pulled Hiro near him, "Uhhhh...he and I are children from the people who are going to apply for work sooner or later. My name is Chihiro Fujisaki by the way." He pulled Hiro much closer to him, though it made somehow that Chihiro didn't want the two of them engage in some "weird" activity.
"Thanks man," Hiro whispered in the wind, in hopes Chihiro would be able to hear him. However, Corina became shock for real when Chihiro pulled Hiro near him.
Corina was pointing at them, while trembling. "We-wait..." She stared at them for a meantime as she gasped in overreacted way. "Don't tell me... ARE YOU COUPLES?!"
Hiro's eyes widened in utter shock as his hands automatically pushed Chihiro away. "NO WAY! YUCK! EWW! I DON'T LIKE GIRLS WITH THE HUGGING AND KISSING AND I'M STILL TOO YOUNG! ROMANCE SUCKS YOU K-KNOW!" he blabbered out as he coughed numerously.
"W-What do you mean... Aren't you...?" Corina was confused too. "Well... Hiro is a boy... And Chihiro is a girl... It is possible that you are..."
"We... haven't told Miss Abby about this, I'm not a girl. I'm basically a boy. A MAN BOY." Chihiro emphasized the phrase towards Hiro with a glare when he constantly teased Chihiro to "man up".
Corina became more confused. "Wait I don't get it. If you are a boy... Why are you wearing girl's clothing? I hate to admit but I will almost admire you because you totally look like a girl..." A jealous emotion appeared on her eyes, "I thought you are together but... you sure you aren't fooling me around?"
Chihiro sighed that Corina seemed not to understand his crossdressing situation, "It's... personal... I don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet. But, I am really a boy. I'm serious..." he looked down in sadness while playing his feet on the floor.
Corina smirked. "Oh really? Then..." She suddenly got close to him and clung her arms on his neck. "...Prove it. Be my prince charming."
Chihiro's face went red back again as he was staring right at Corina's "pretty" face, it looked like she was taunting him because of Hiro. "Uhhh... What am I supposed to do again? I blame you for this, Airhead!" he said it as he looked at Hiro with his red face.
Hiro remained speechless at first. In fact, he didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. But, instead of helping it... He took this another opportunity to tease him again.
"Ooohhhh! Finally, you are a man now! Ahaha!" Hiro raised his thumb and supportively grinned at him, "I'm proud of you! Ahaha!"
Chihiro's right eye twitched when he was trying to calm himself down despite he was fueled with anger slowly. He couldn't do that in front of a lady, so he must be civilised when confronting this silly situation.
Chihiro looked at Corina again, "Um... Hi lady?" He sucked in talking to ladies, and that was his conclusion to his hypothesis.
Hiro wasn't numb at the situation, so, he went near at them as he grabbed Corina's hands and removed it from Chihiro's neck.
"Well, I guess Chihiro doesn't like you..." Hiro said, lying, "maybe you should make yourself 'prettier' so he will accept your offer being your err... prince charming."
Corina touched her face abruptly as she got her eyes widen. "Oh no! I forgot to put a make-up! Ahhhhhh!" Corina rushed back to her possible room and closed it with a slam. Now, Hiro sighed in relief and faced Chihiro again.
"Well, we are too young for that kind of thing. Ahaha. But," Hiro punched Chihiro's shoulder in a friendly way, "You are being outspoken lately, huh. I noticed that." Hiro formed a smile on his lips as he began to walk in nowhere again.
"It's either because of you or Miss Corina, but it's mostly you! My father's going to kill me if I was flirting to a lady who is older than me!" Chihiro hid his face in embarrassment. If flirting was not the right choice for the old lady, then kissing would be outrageous!
Hiro glanced at him, but never stopped on walking. "Well, I guess my brother will kill me too if I was on your position earlier... Well, I remember my Aunt Cass said that everything happens in the right time so that kind of thing isn't suitable in our age..." Hiro seemed to act mature right now, but, "But, I'm really enjoying watching your reaction earlier! REEEEEED!" He was making fun of Chihiro's flustered face and got faster on walking or else, Chihiro might punch him, in the face now this time.
And the perfect word for his face, "priceless".
"Why I oughta... This time I'm going to punch you... in the FACE!" Chihiro yelled at Hiro who was walking faster than him now. He chased the jokester Japanese by running until he skidded into a stop when he saw a young girl standing in the way with her reading a book without caution.
She was wearing a dark green blouse with white collar on her shoulders that was under her lime green dress with a white ribbon lace in the middle. She had a matching green leggings with slip-ons. Her hair was tied to a bun with a stick that appeared like a magic wand in Chihiro's point of view. The bracelet on her right hand sounds like a bell. She flipped the page of the book she was reading, and yet Chihiro was waiting for her to move.
Hiro kept on running, but still mocking down at his fellow boy. "Ahaaa! REEEEED!" He never noticed that he was heading in the place where the girl was standing that Chihiro had seen.
BUMP!
Hiro fell down in the floor, AGAIN.
The girl was also taken by the impact from Hiro and fell flat on the floor with the book landing on Chihiro's head. He had his hand covered his mouth from what happened and decided to help the fallen girl.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about him there. We were just playing and—" but the girl cut him.
"No no, it's okay. It's really my fault that I didn't see where I'm going, I didn't know you were running. I really apologize, Mister..." Now, she was asking HIS NAME.
And surprisingly, she knew that he was a boy the whole time. "My name is Chihiro Fujisaki." He didn't even bother to ask how she knew that Chihiro was a boy.
"My name is Lauryn Almzicle, I am the CEO's daughter on medicine. I'm sorry about my book falling to your head, though." she stood up with Chihiro's help while picking her book from his head.
"Aw, aw, aw!" Hiro finally felt some pain from all his landings he did today. He was ran out of energy already as he looked up to Chihiro. "Hey man! Care to help, me too?!" Hiro bluntly requested, as he attempted to stand up again but failed on doing it.
Chihiro attempted to help him until Lauryn pulled Hiro up instead, "It's okay Chihiro, I should be the one who helps since I messed your game up." She dusted off Hiro's clothes until she looked at him in the eye, she stared at them. It seemed so familiar to her.
"Oh gee, thanks!" Hiro said, never sounding sincere on his voice. He was annoyed because he had been enough for today's landings as he scowled once again. "Thanks for the help anyway." Hiro coldly said to Lauryn and ruffled his own hair in hopes to ease down the today's frustrations.
His hair, his eyes... It was so familiar to her. Now who could be the one who she reminded of him from?
"Are you... Hiro Hamada?" she asked the boy.
It rang a bell. Hiro cringed as he turned to see the dignified lady, "You... know me?" As he put out his signature grin again, "I don't know I'm that famous already! It's a pleasure to meet you." Hiro bowed down in butler-like style. "Do you want an autograph?" he added on.
Chihiro sweat dropped on how cocky Hiro was still. He was thinking that Lauryn would not ask for Hiro's autograph. Impossible.
"Well, more like a question. Is it true? That you're Tadashi Hamada's brother?" she asked Hiro while covering her right side of the face with her bangs.
Hiro blinked. Oh geez... Another load of embarrassment. Hiro stood up on his posture again. "Certainly I am. I'm his younger brother, Hiro." Hiro answered as his mind was giving him a sarcastic chuckle inside.
Lauryn released a gasp as her face blushed in red. Her heart was beating fast when she actually met the brother of Tadashi Hamada.
She was smiling from ear to ear as she was thankful of the revelation. Chihiro was guessing that the name of Tadashi Hamada made her having a crush on him.
"Terima Kasih..." Lauryn thanked in her mother language as she walked towards her room.
Hiro was dumbfounded again. "What's with her?" Hiro couldn't help but expressed himself. "First we met a hyperactive kid. Second, a girly girl then, a weird person. Now, what's next? An INSANE?! No way!" Hiro even moved his hands like irritated or what as he slumped down his shoulders. "I don't want to get bump again."
"Don't judge the book by it's cover, Hiro. We just first met them, it'll just take time for them to open." Chihiro told Hiro by taking his father's advice when they were in the car.
Without them noticing, there was a young lady from behind, who dressed up with a yellow dress that was reaching to her feet and was decorated with white patterns along with a yellow gem in the middle. She had a light green sash wrapped around her waist and donned with green shoes. Her hair was tied up with a bun and had a bracelet on both of her hands.
She walked towards the boys without their awareness. Upon the arrival, she poked Hiro's shoulders. "Excuse me."
"WAAH!" Hiro wailed as he accidentally tripped over his own feet and fell down ONCE AGAIN. His face met the floor as he tried to either sit up. He brushed his forehead and said something under his breath. "I said I don't like to fall down again." he said in a hard voice as he glanced and saw a young lady with a kind and glowing face. His eyes locked up on her for a second and remained frozen on his spot.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Hiro Hamada." the lady said as she helped Hiro to stand up from his frozen state.
Chihiro was astounded that she knew Hiro's name, "How did you know his name?"
She turned to face Chihiro with a smile, "Oh, my father just told me that there are children from the applicants in the living room. You are Chihiro Fujisaki, right?" she asked Chihiro.
"Y-yes! My name is Chihiro Fujisaki!" he excitingly said.
Hiro sighed. "Finally, a real person in my eyes." Hiro said, less annoyed now. He sensed that he had a light feeling towards her as he engaged to ask her name. "What's your name? So you are sisters with those girls... But you act differently than them."
The lady shrugged at the remark from Hiro, "Maybe because I'm the eldest of the sisters, so I know some in my experiences." she mildly tiptoed, "My name is Sarah Almzicle, the first daughter of Donald Almzicle." she introduced to them in a formal fashion with her sweet voice.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Sarah." Chihiro said when Sarah chuckled. "You don't have to be formal for me, Chihiro. Sarah will be just fine."
Hiro seemed to adore her aura. Well might like she said, she was the eldest and she reminded him of his brother. Sarah was dignified and wise; just like his brother, Tadashi.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sarah." Hiro said as he grinned, "I was wondering, can you sing, too?"
Chihiro cringed at Hiro's sudden question.
Well, Hiro was testing some hypothesis. He suddenly remembered that his brother was singing some lullaby to him when he was a child, even his brother's voice was not that good at all. He just wanted to know if Sarah could sing, too, like his brother.
"I'm actually a singer outside of the hospital. But I go with my stage name, 'Puteri Manis'. This way, people would get recognise me without difficulty." Sarah answered while having her fingers crossed behind her back.
Chihiro's eyes widened when he learned about who she was, "Really?! You're Puteri Manis?! THAT'S AMAZING!" It was pretty evident on the brown haired boy that he used to be a hardcore fan of music. Plus, he met a well-known icon today. Perhaps, Chihiro was considering this day as a "lucky day".
"Thank you, Chihiro. And I'm assuming that you met my sisters, am I right?" she asked them when Hiro had say about meeting her sisters before she came.
"Yes we have. I almost had heart attacks in all of them..." Hiro said like he regretted on meeting them in the first place. He never expected to meet such individuals like them, but the eldest seemed to wash away all those headaches from him. "We met your 3 sisters. And I can't explain everything now... I'm mental block..."
"3? We were supposed to be 5 sisters. Now where did she went off to this time?" Sarah said, in curious of her "missing" sister.
Hiro frowned in confusion. "5? We just met three then you... Well... Can I know her... name?"
"The second sister, Michelle Almzicle. Oh dear, I remember now. She's off with her illegal street racing habits again..." she said to Hiro.
Chihiro shrugged when he figured out when Michelle was like Hiro of playing illegal bot fighting.
"Michelle...?" Hiro repeated as when he was about to ask another question again, a voice echoed around the room and it literally made him to shriek down.
"Well, well, well. I'm glad you're here, Sarah." It was Donald's voice. "And the two boys, too..."
Hiro turned around together with Chihiro as it was confirmed. It was Donald and their...
"Nii-chan!" Hiro cried.
Chihiro smiled when he saw his father again. He felt like a lot happened lately and never saw his father for a long time. "Dad!" He said happily but fell downgraded when he saw the old CEO, making him shiver again in fear.
"Welcome home, father." Sarah greeted her father in welcome. And as on the cue also, the rest of Sarah's sisters came out from their chambers and gathered behind the eldest one.
"Hey, Hiro!" Tadashi waved his hand happily to his brother.
Taichi went to Chihiro and ruffled his hair, "We got some great news!"
Chihiro and Hiro looked at their guardians respectively. "Good news?" They said in unison as all of their eyes landed on the CEO of the company.
"Yes. What they said is right. Well, I would likely to announce that Tadashi Hamada and Taichi Fujisaki are hired in Almzicle Corporation for such a brilliant presentation they have demonstrated before me. Well, I would like to congratulate these two geniuses again. They'll become a great asset in our company." Donald declared as his voice seemed to be lighter now. For the first time, they had seen the strict CEO to put a small smile on his lips that made some of his daughters smiled in joy, too.
"Oh, Dad smiled!" Abbigail was the first to react as she turned to Corina who was only right beside her, "Right, right, sis? Dad is happy!"
"Yeah, I can see it." Corina replied to her in almost a whisper with a tiring smile.
Hiro wore his usual grin again as he felt some delight for his brother. "That's so cool Nii-chan!"
In contrary, Chihiro felt some odd feeling. He did want to ignore it, but... he sensed that this was not also a good news either. Well, he didn't want to spoil the good moment, right? So he forced a smile to his father. "Congrats, Dad." he said in a low tone.
"Then that means...Tadashi is here?" Lauryn asked herself as she stared at the Japanese. Tadashi looked at her suddenly which she looked away while brushing her bangs to the side of her face. She was blushing in red, but she didn't want to show it.
Sarah clapped her hands in joy, "That's really great news! Welcome to the Almzicle Corporation, Taichi and Tadashi."
"Yes, yes. Thank you very much." Taichi said as he shook hands with Sarah.
The supposed to be a light atmosphere now, it was down once again heavy and suffocating. The CEO removed the lightness on his face as he scrutinized each of the person in the room. He pressed a button down on his sleeve as the man in black suit earlier, Hanson, arrived and stood beside Donald Almzicle.
"Well, listen to my general secretary to discuss about the contract since both of you are qualified already to work under me." Donald said in his firm and superior voice that made everyone to silence down.
Hanson, bringing a folder on his hands, opened it and cleared his throat before speaking. "As part of becoming an employee under Almzicle Corporation, Incorporated, there are things you need to follow while you are here. First, you shall not blabber about anything confidential in the company. Second..." Hanson kept on discussing the whole contract; rules, regulations, do's and dont's, and it just bored Hiro down which he almost yawned with it. Meanwhile, Chihiro was listening carefully in all of it. The young programmer's feeling was getting ease down when he found out that most of it were just regular contents of a contract.
For a sudden, Donald raised his hand which made the general secretary to halt in talking. "You forget the most important one, Hanson. Well, it seems like I should be the one to say it." Donald said in a prim way that made Hanson to stiff on his position.
"I apologize, boss." Hanson said ashamedly.
"Well to continue, the first requirement for you to be able to officially work under Almzicle, your names shall be deprived by law and issued a new one." Donald continued, without getting straight to the point.
And so, Chihiro gasped in shock.
"Ch-cha-change... our names?" Taichi asked Donald about the requirement at the risk of changing his and Tadashi's name.
"Well, uhh, that will take effect just here in this company. Right?" Tadashi asked with his palms sweating.
Donald sighed a long one. "Well... To tell you the truth, it will be permanent since it will be changed by law." Donald said as he looked to the kids. "And in addition... it will have its effect while you are working inside the company, however, you are all required to stay in the company til the rest of your days."
Hiro quickly turned to his brother. "I can't understand everything on what's happening! Nii-chan, tell me I'm guessing a bad idea right?!"
Chihiro had a terrified look on his face as he thought that... "It also means..." He bite his lip as he looked up to his horrified father, too.
The father took a big swallow from his throat. Not only he had to stay for the rest of their "days", but their names had to change, too.
And changing their names was equivalent on changing of their identities, or at least of his interpretation.
Tadashi sighed from the risk, especially to his own brother who didn't understand the situation. "Sorry about this, Hiro." he looked Hiro with a saddened smile.
"You guys have to stay here." Taichi answered Chihiro's question.
"What? What... WHAT?!" Hiro exclaimed exaggeratedly. "Stay?! What?!"
"We are inside the scope of the contract, too..." Chihiro said like a dummy while looking in the floor. His eyes were widened in utter shock or fear as he crouched down on the floor. He covered his ears as he let out a silent scream. "No..."
Hiro looked at him with pity as he clenched his fists in anger. "No way this will going to happen!" snapping his hands away, he continued, "Nii-chan don't agree with this! This is unfair! I thought this will be only a regular job and anything about CHANGING our IDENTITIES is clearly excluded in this job!"
Chihiro's eyes began to dwell some tears as he even lowered down his head furthermore.
Donald just hardened his face. He was used in these kind of reactions. He had seen this already for all years of his life. "I'm a businessman, I won't let such an opportunity to pass on to have great assets that will be needed in the company. As a matter of fact, I've called my servants already to prepare your rooms already right after our negotiation earlier. You don't need to worry a single thing, the company will provide all your needs and even... security. Especially, with these two brilliant child." Donald explained as he stared at Tadashi and Taichi who seemed still in shock.
Abbigail and Corina looked at each other as their face saddened, too. It was painted on their faces that they wanted to do something in the situation, but, it was their father, who declared everything finished. Countering their father's decisions would almost similar to a suicide; follow it, or be kicked out.
Lauryn reached her hand out to Tadashi, but quickly pulled it back and sighed in sadness. Tadashi's face didn't seem the happy guy she knew after the contract had been signed.
"I'm sorry... Tadashi." she quietly said as she returned to her room; remembering the name that she first said becoming the last she would ever knew.
Taichi kneeled down to his son and embraced him with a hug, "I'm so sorry, Chihiro. I'm sorry that you have to experience this."
"We're so sorry. Father has no choice but to change your names for protection. I just have to remind you, this company you are working isn't just an ordinary work office. You didn't tell the kids about this, did you?" Sarah asked Tadashi in her monotone voice.
"Sorry, we... didn't tell the truth yet." Tadashi looked at Taichi who was shaking his head. The older sighed in was the one who wasn't ready yet, but they had to tell the kids so they wouldn't listen to lies after what happened.
Hiro frowned in disappointment to his brother... He thought there was no way to get angry at him, but all his emotions rushed towards his head. "Nii-chan... You lied to us...? Why?" A tear escaped on his eyes as his brows furrowed. He faced away on his brother; running away for a sudden. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
They all heard of his wild screams as Hiro went straight towards the door to get out. Unfortunately, it was locked. He was desperate to get out and released everything through botfighting. Everyone seemed ready to chase after him, however, Chihiro remained on his spot as voices began to echo on his head.
"You'll be trap forever in that state... First, trap mentally now... Trap physically... Oh poor Chihiro..."
"No... I don't like to get trapped again..." He said mindlessly.
"I want to be HIRO HAMADA as long as I live!" Hiro screamed again as his face was now red in fatigue while pulling out a metal on the door.
Tadashi marched up to where Hiro is. He forcibly turned his younger brother around, raised his right hand and—
SLAP!
Sarah gasped in shock when Tadashi, Hiro's own big brother, just slapped him.
"Hamada!" Taichi scolded Tadashi for physically hurting Hiro out of anger.
"You... You don't know... Why I have to do it. Right now, you're hurt because I slapped you. But you don't know that I am hurt too because of what I did, because I have no choice but to do it." Tadashi was fumed with both anger and sadness from what he did to his brother. He knelt down to Hiro's level and placed his hands onto his younger brother's shoulders, "We were both hurt from what happened. And I'm so sorry that I made you involved with this, but it's your protection. You AND Chihiro's protection!"
Hiro was staring blankly on his brother. He couldn't say anything... Tears rolled down on his cheeks not because of being slapped by his brother, but, because his brother was more in pain than him. He thought he was being selfish and only thinking on himself only... Tadashi had gone more struggles before this moment happened.
After all, Tadashi only wanted to ensure his safety, yet, he was this annoying and immature brat who had been so self-centered all the time.
Hiro, with a guilt inside, gently embraced his brother. His hands were formed in a fist like regretting his actions earlier. "I-I'm sorry... Nii-chan... Sorry I'm being... So stupid..." he sniffed, "...I only care for myself and I almost forget about you..." His hug became more tighter and sniffed once again.
"It's okay... It's okay." Tadashi returned Hiro's hug and proceeded to comfort him as much as possible.
Sarah, who watched the two children in tears, sighed in sadness that they had to experience this and they were still confused of what was happening the last seconds ago.
"Do you want to know the truth?" Sarah asked the two kids, with glints of wariness for them.
Hiro slowly released from the hug. He stared long to Sarah who had the will to explain everything. On the other hand, Chihiro remained on his spot, but set his ears to listen.
Donald proceeded to his eldest daughter and whispered on her, "You can handle them more nicely than me... I'll leave all the explanations for me." He looked on his younger daughters, "Abby, Corina. Go back in your rooms. This is something private."
Abbigail was about to retort when Corina held her hand and beckoned her to follow. Corina pulled the youngest one's hand and entered their room.
Donald signed to his secretary to also give them some private time to "talk". Hanson affirmatively left the area.
"Well, Sarah will explain everything why we need to do this." Donald announced at the so-called applicants inside the living room.
"Will do father. Let's start from the very beginning, shall we?" Sarah said as she walked towards the middle of the room. She picked up a remote and switched on the television nearby.
The image had shown the building of Almzicle Corporation.
She took a deep breath and began, "The Almzicle Corporation is an all known hospital where doctors, nurses, surgeons of any kind have worked together to help the patients to gain the miracle of having a second life... A second chance to restart and to continue to live on with a miracle."
The television switched to another building with a sign of "Silph Corporation".
"Hiro and Chihiro, can you read what the sign says?" she asked the children.
Chihiro raised his head as Hiro did the same. Their mouths opened while reading the sign, "Silph Corporation."
Chihiro widened his eyes... He was familiar to it as another kind of fear overwhelmed onto him again. "Wait... They are accused of drug overdose these past two months..." He tried to recall all the information he had gathered while he was surfing in the internet. "So... What's with them?"
Hiro was just speechless because he had no the slightest idea with it. "Uhh... Silph...?" Maybe he didn't know about the issue since he was too busy with botfights lately.
Donald nodded to his daughter to continue.
"Chihiro's right, that company was accused of a drug overdose. Silph Company sells medicines that gives side effects instead of improvements to the human body." Taichi remembered about the controversial company about their medicines.
"No wonder Aunt Cass feel dizzy when she took that vitamins, that came from them." Tadashi murmured about what happened to their Aunt few months back. It must be the side effect of using vitamins from the Silph Corporation.
The television showed a security footage of a masked man invading their science lab, only to get captured by the security once he was out of the lab.
"He's from the Silph Corporation, isn't he?" Tadashi asked Sarah.
Sarah seriously nodded, "...Correct."
Hiro stood up from his feet in a sudden. "What are they up to?!" His hands were trembling as his whole body, "What do they want to A-Almzicle?!" He almost stuttered. It was evident on his eyes that he was surprised on learning such things like that and totally "new" to it.
Chihiro, in silence, carefully analyzed the footage as he said. "A spy." he concluded as he turned to Hiro, "Hiro, calm down." He figured out that the other boy was not used on the darker side of reality, which he had experienced already when he was still a child.
Donald in crossed arms, showed an angry face by watching it. "How dare they do that in my company... They don't have the single idea what I am capable of..." He seethed and scowled more deeply.
"We've been targeted by that company. Not because of the drug overdose controversy, it's been like that ever since we've emerged after them." Sarah stated in a serious manner from the dangers of the company. "There is one case that has never been taken attention." Sarah flipped the channel to a news report video. A word from the headlines were emphasized in capital letters,
"CHILD MASS GRAVE"
Tadashi and Taichi gasped in shock when the bodies of the victims were in the age younger than them. The burial site was shocking when it was actually somewhere near Silph.
The blood from the two kids almost begone. Their eyes were horrified by seeing the horrible video. Hiro stumbled back but Tadashi was there to quickly support him.
Chihiro almost cry again as his body was shaking in fear... Not just a simple fear. "D-Dad... I-I'm s-scared! I-I'm scared!" he was tearing up already whilst his shaking intensified. Death was not a good topic with kids on their age.
"What such a horrible sight to see." Donald snarled as he went near to his daughter and tapped her shoulder, "It's a bad idea to let the kids see it. We sorta gave them some... Trauma." He took the remote from his daughter and turned the TV off. "Well, we just want to protect everyone in my company. We don't know their plans. I should be thankful that we have tight security in the company, however, it's not enough to ensure everyone's safety. And, we will go in great lengths to make everything alright." Donald put his hands behind and stood firmly.
"We suspect that the Silph Corporation would have done this incident because of the corpses are positive with the content of the drugs that came from them, and most of the children are killed because of multiple organ failure. And I did not say it medically, their organs corroded FROM THE INSIDE." Sarah emphasised the "from the inside" so the applicants could get the idea of what she meant.
"You mean... the Silph kidnapped the children... so they can have them as LAB RATS?!" Tadashi reluctantly asked them for they might be right of his theory.
"We signed in to Almzicle because it has security preferences to the family of the applicants, but you never told us about this!" Taichi exclaimed from the revelation.
If the adults were surprised, the two kids were astonished, too. Their hearts were pacing in a fast rate and learned that their life... wouldn't be the same anymore. They got inside Almizcle Corporation already, and there was no turning back.
"...What can we do now...?" Hiro fell down on his knees. He couldn't be the same Hiro who used to engage with illegal botfights to have some fun, but now a Hiro that would have a new name. Chihiro had the same thinking as his heart was now feeling empty. Learning something ruthless had given them a total shock in their whole systems.
"That's why you need to change your names. The primary objective of this company IS your safety. And we are requiring you to work with us for a lifetime because once you left the company, you'll get hunted by the Silph Corporation to force you to spill everything you know if we are just offering a limited contract. We have studied this for a long time already and this was the BEST solution we've found to make sure our employee's life." Donald explained, showing a deep concern on his voice. He suddenly grasped his chest as his eyes burned in anger. "I won't forgive that man to do such a heinous act and I have sworn that I'll protect all the people involved in my company..."
Tadashi held on Hiro tightly for comfort. Hiro was affected because his life would be stuck in the headquarters for the rest of his life. He couldn't go to school and have friends or even do his illegal botfighting scenario, much to Tadashi's dismay that this was worse than getting involved in Hiro's racket.
However, Taichi stood up firmly with his face expressed with determination. "If you want us to work here, then I have a proposal for you. We will work here, but protect the children as much as you can! No matter what, protect them! If they're dead because of Silph, then I will never forgive myself to work in this company, I swear to it."
Sarah seemed to be surprised about Taichi's sudden change of attitude, but it was probably normal for parents to protect their children that much. More likely parental instinct as a father since Chihiro and his friend were now involved of the contract.
Donald had scrutinized the applicants and the kids again. He snorted as he brushed his beard. "Like what I said, it's the primary objective of this company. If I break to the contract, I'm a bad businessman. Well, I hope we are settled already." He pressed something under his sleeve again as Hanson immediately arrived beside him. "Hanson, escort them to their rooms."
Hanson bowed his head in affirmation. "Yes, boss."
Approximately, 12:07 am
Tuesday, Headquarters, Almzicle Corporation Building
January 18, 201X
It was midnight in the Almzicle Corporation, but the building was still filled with people just in case an emergency happened at this time of hour.
On the floor where the Hamadas, the Fujisakis, and the Almzicles were now sleeping, a young lady emerged from the elevator carrying a strange bundled object that was wrapped in a white sheet. She went towards the main room until she reached the vault. She typed in the password in the keypad as she had to open the vault quietly so no one would hear her, but the door released a loud creak; much to her dismay.
Meanwhile, in the room where the kids were located, Hiro was brushing his teeth on the bathroom. Chihiro went out on a cubicle as he found Hiro spitting already the foams from his mouth. They were changed into their pyjamas as Chihiro sighed and looked in nowhere again.
"Well, we are facing a new chapter of our lives, isn't it?" Chihiro muttered as he stared down on the floor. Hiro raised his head and reflected himself in the mirror after washing his mouth and turned behind.
"We have no choice anyway. I know it's kinda sad to get stumbled in this kind of problem, but, like what they said. It's for our safety anyway." Hiro said plainly as he put his toothbrush in its place.
Creek... Tomp... Tomp... Tomp...
Hiro and Chihiro quickly looked at each other. "Do you hear that?" Chihiro stated with his brows furrowed.
Hiro nodded in response. "It looks like... In the living room."
"Let's check it out?" Chihiro inquired, pretty nervous now in the tone of his voice. He was being wary at the same time since they had the knowledge that the rival company had been plotting to sneak inside Almzicle.
"I guess we should." Hiro declared as he left the large bathroom. Chihiro face palmed first by Hiro's recklessness and had no choice but to follow him.
Hiro carefully opened the door of their room as he stealthily peeked outside and Chihiro imitated his style like ninjas.
"It was dark." Hiro whispered as Chihiro sighed in slight irritation.
"Of course the light switch in the living room is off." Chihiro answered in sarcasm.
She walked slowly towards the middle of the room, it was dark but it seemed that she got used to it. She placed the wrapped bundle on the table and went to the room that was having the nameplate on the door written "Michelle Almzicle" on it.
The bundle moved somehow a little...
"Don't act like a nocturnal Hiro." Chihiro went out the room as he flipped the switch beside the door. The whole living room lightened up as Hiro was shocked on what he did.
"Hey! You're no fun really!" Hiro pouted as he scowled at him. "Well I guess no—" Hiro suddenly stopped when he saw an object wrapped in a white cloth as Chihiro snickered.
"Nothing to say anymore, Airhead." Chihiro teased, but realized that Hiro was looking, SOMEWHERE.
The programmer turned to the place where Hiro was looking at. He raised a brow, "What's that?" He pointed it as Hiro strode towards the table and Chihiro followed on his track.
They were still inches away from the table as it suddenly moved that made the two stumbled back. "It moved." Hiro said as Chihiro pushed him.
"Don't be such a coward. Go ahead and check it." Chihiro pushed him again as Hiro finally reached the table.
"Fine." Hiro was about to unwrapped the cover until...
"AAAAAH!" Hiro exclaimed as he fell down, again.
Chihiro shook his head. "How many times do you have fallen today?" he asked himself, "And why did you screamed again... Airhead... aaah!"
He screamed because the objects movement had been getting more creepier. They even heard some strange sounds as the two kids hugged one another and kept on yelling.
The white cloth slipped out from the bundle revealing a small boy laying in a fetal position. He had a fair skin, but stained with fresh blood along with bruises on his skin; it seemed that he was hurt from something or someone. His black hair was long and messy, but there was that one white streak on the side of his hair was showing. What was more shocking was that he DIDN'T WEAR ANY CLOTHES at all. His skin was exposing most of the bruises and blood all over his body along with dirt.
The girl went out of Michelle's room when she heard the screams. She was wearing her green blazer under her shirt along with matching jogging pants and brown sandals, and she had two brown sweatbands on her wrists.
She pulled out a dagger from her side. It was green and designed with some golden patterns on the blade, and the hilt was also green with a gem on the middle.
She crept out to the living room which the light switch was turned on, thinking that someone went out of their rooms.
She hid behind the wall from the corridors, hiding from the light. She slowly peeked in from the main room.
Once she got the full view of the living room, she saw strange two boys hugging each other while staring at the boy which she actually carried to her home.
How did they get here? Who are they and why are they in the living room? How were they able to access the password when they are not a member of the Almzicle Corporation? Are they intruders who came from Silph Corporation?
She had many questions in her head and they were the ones who got the answers, so she sprung up to her hiding place in her fighting stance.
"OI! Who are you and what the hell are you doing in here?!" she yelled at the presumed intruders.
As on the cue, the two kids turned back their heads as they saw a short haired girl... who looked like tomboyish in her attire. They got alarmed when they figured out she was holding a sharp dagger.
A stare war happened for a minute and...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Trishia: Now you know why this chapter is entitled "Hamada-Fujisaki Turning Point". While Cyonil works on what you will expect in this chapter, I will be the one who will do the 'finishing remarks'. It's a pattern, she will say stuffs in the beginning and i will say things in the end.
Okay, short summary of this:
The two family arrived in the Almzicle Corporation and is eventually accepted, but at the cost of their Identity. Of course, the kids were shocked at the consequences and they have no choice but to stay for their own safety.
And then, we have a new character arrive in the story.
For the ones who are still confused about the names of the Puteri characters, order of appearance of course:
Raja Limau = Donald Almzicle (Don't laugh)
Puteri Limau Nipis = Abigail Almzicle
Puteri Limau Bali = Corina Almzicle
Puteri Limau Purut = Lauryn Almzicle
Puteri Limau Manis = Sarah Almzicle
Puteri Limau Kasturi = Michelle Almzicle
I think that's all we say for now.
See you in the next chapter. Maybe.
