Hey guys! okay let me start off by saying sorry for the late update. I'm pretty sure this chapter gave me grey hairs -_-"

Anyway just a couple of authors notes! i would like to give a big, and i mean BIG thank you to Melanie-March & Sora Matasuki. They were kind enough to look over and fix this chapter as well as help revise my previous ones =D seriously, it would be filled with so many silly mistakes if it weren't for those awesome friends of mine. Much love to you guys!

id also like to thank all who faved, followed and/or reviewed. your feedback really fuels my fire to write and it means so much to me :)

So with that, i hope you enjoy this chapter! it took...a LOT of work...


Chapter Four:

Everything felt distant.

It was if she wasn't even there, but merely watching everything from afar, too weak and powerless to do anything.

Rikku's breathing was short and shallow, and though the harsh sensation along her cheek where the knife had cut finally ceased, the pain was replaced with the desperate screams of her lungs as they called out for air. The man's forearm forcefully pressed against her throat, and beads of sweat dampened her forehead as she struggled to escape from his hold.

Her mind reeled as she stared at the man atop her. The anger and frustration of the situation had subsided, leaving behind a terrified and empty feeling in her gut.

"Y-you're not going to get away with this," She managed the spew out, trying her best to sound intimidating. However, her words came out as slurred coughs and hacks, making the threat far less effective. The dark eyes of her predator glowered at her, his teeth clenched and lips parted in a satisfied grin.

It made her want to vomit.

"Is that so, girly?" he replied darkly "Well, who's going to stop me? You?" he sneered, pressing harder against her.

She hated this feeling. The hopelessness that washed over her. She had always been a fighter, in more ways than one, and how utterly weak the situation was made her feel disgusted. So, in a pathetic, last ditch effort to seem threatening, she drew her tongue back and spat harshly in the man's face. She watched in satisfaction as the sticky substance ran down his eye and into the corner of his mouth.

The mans face crumbled into a furious scowl, and Rikku grunted in pain as she was suddenly lifted by the scruff of her shirt, then just as quickly rammed back into the ground, her head snapping against the concrete with a sickening crack. A feeling of lightheadedness fell upon the teen, and her eyes fluttered tiredly; everything suddenly feeling even more withdrawn than before. Groaning, she swallowed hard, desperately trying to hold back the bile that raised in her throat.

"You know, I was really hoping we could have a little fun," He sneered, his voice sounding like venom to her ears. "But you're ending up to be a lot more trouble than you're worth."

"I… I know what your definition of fun was," came her grimacing response, " I'd rather die!"

"That can be arranged." His dark eyes narrowed at her, and Rikku closed her eyes in preparation for the worst.

Suddenly, the ground beneath her shifted, and mere moments later, she felt the pressure against her release. Her body naturally gave in to a fit of coughs as the much needed air rushed into her lungs. Rikku slowly tried to push herself up, though the action was too fast for her body's liking and she slumped back to the ground.

She tried to open her eyes, though her vision was hazed, and the pain in her chest along with the throbbing of her head made it hard to focus on anything. The girl blinked slowly, but the cloudiness in her eyes refused to go away; all she could make out was a blurry figure of red and purple.

"Is there a problem, here?" she heard a voice question from her right. It was stern, and it sounded rather youthful.

Is that supposed to be a real question? She thought bitterly. Of course, there's a problem here!

"I… I… ugh" The teen attempted speech, though her mouth felt like all the moisture had been sucked out of it, and she was unable to form proper words. She groaned again, slamming her eyes shut once more as she rested a hand to her forehead.

"The hell?!" came the hateful sneer of her attacker, though Rikku could swear she heard a trace of fear in his tone. "This isn't any concern of yours, pal! Now why don't you mind your own business and keep moving!"

"Or," she heard the boy start, sounding a bit too cocky for her liking, "We could take the girl, and send your perverted ass to prison where you belong."

The man growled in fury, and Rikku's eyes flew open, her heart stopping mid-beat as she heard the familiar click of a gun being loaded. "BAYMAX, GRAB HER!" was all she heard after, and before she could move, there was a flash of purple and red that engulfed her in what felt like metal hands. There was no time to resist, no time to argue, and with the words "thrusters on" the girl was suddenly being propelled into the sky. With a high pitched scream she didn't even know her body was capable of making, Rikku found herself screwing her eyes shut for the umpteenth time and grabbing desperately at whatever the hell was keeping her from falling to her death.

"Hey, are you alright?!" The voice called, practically screaming against the wind.

"NOT REALLY!" She called back frantically. She was in the air. THE AIR. Carried by who what to who knows where. She was most certainly not alright!

"My scanners indicate that the subject is experiencing dangerously low blood pressure, and rapid heart rate."

Rikku's ears twitched. That definitely was not the sound of the voice she had heard just moments ago. The voice from earlier was that of a guy, a human guy to be exact. This one sounded... well…. mechanical. Reluctantly, she dared to ease her eyes open ever so slightly, though they went wide as her gaze met with the black optics of a giant… metal… man?

"Oh… my…." Rikku's breath caught in her throat, and her heart banged against her chest as trying if trying to escape. She let out a pathetic, startled scream (borderline whimper) and before she knew it, she was engrossed in a world of black. The startled words of "Oh, crap…" ringing in her ears as she drifted off into darkness.


"It appears as though she has fainted."

"Oh really Baymax? Gee, thanks for that observation."

"You are quite welcome."

"I…. really need to work with you on your sarcasm, bud."


Rikku Togoyashi was stuck somewhere in between a dream and a nightmare.

Her skin felt clammy and her breath was short.

The area around her was dark, cold and void. She was unsure of her surroundings, but it felt like someone had blindfolded her and locked her in the freezer. She shuddered as the frigid air made contact with her skin, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around herself. "H-hello?" she called out, her breath forming a small cloud of fog. Rikku winced at the softness of her own voice. She was yelling, yet her voice wasn't carrying through; it felt like someone had turned her on mute. "HELLO?" she tried again, her throat now going hoarse.

It was then that a boy appeared in front of her. Young, no older than ten years of age. His skin was flushed, his cheeks were chubby, and upon his head was an all too familiar mop of unruly black hair.

"H… Hiro?" Rikku couldn't help the small smile that crept on her face. Suddenly the world didn't seem so dark, and she found herself running toward the child in excitement. She had never been a very emotional or touchy feely kind of person, but with Hiro she couldn't help herself. She couldn't help the elated beating of her heart, or the ongoing grin that never seemed to go away. It was him. Her best friend. After all this time he was right there in front of her.

"Hiro!" Being significantly shorter than herself, Rikku kneeled down to hug the boy, squeezing him tightly. "I'm so happy to see you," she smiled sadly against his head, her words almost coming out as whimpers. "I've missed you so much."

he didn't say anything, and Rikku stopped, pulling away slightly as she felt the boy stiffened against her touch. "Hiro what's wrong?" she asked, concern in her voice. But her concern quickly turned into regret as her hazel eyes were met with distraught brown ones. He was crying, angry tears streaming down his cheeks.

"You're a liar!" He sneered, eyes narrowing. Rikku felt her heart stop. Three words. Three simple words, yet they sent her world crashing down. Suddenly she felt frigid water on her skin, and next thing she knew it was raining. She looked around wildly, her surroundings all of a sudden becoming familiar. She was outside, in the yard of a small duplex…

Rikku blinked the shock out of her eyes, trying to focus on the boy in front of her. "H-Hiro, why would you say that?"

"It's true!" he yelled, his voice cracking. "We were friends. You said so! You promised we would always be there for each other and that you would never leave. You lied!"

The teen swallowed the large lump in her throat. "Hiro it wasn't my fault." She pleaded, tears threaten to stain her own cheeks. "I...i didn't want to leave, but my dad-"

"RIKKU!"

Rikku jolted, and her eyes widened as she whirled her head to face the bellowing voice from behind her.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

The teen couldn't help the narrowing of her eyes or the tightening of her jaw as looked at the man, none other than her father.

His face hardened as usual, and his features were cold. "It is time to leave. Grab your things and let's go." He spoke in that same contradicting tone that he always used, causing Rikku's blood to boil.

She hated it. He was always right there, ready to pull her away from something important.

"See? You're doing it again." The small voice pulled her back to the important matter at hand. Young Hiro's shoulders were slumped. His face was no longer sad or angry, but merely defeated.

She let him down.

"Hiro please I…I promise I won't leave again…I didn't mean to-"

"RIKKU!" came the hateful sneer of her father once more. "I said, lets go. Now."

"No!" Rikku stood, her fists balled in rage. "I'm not leaving! I'm not going to let you do this to me again!"

Her father's eyebrows furrowed darkly, and a cynical laugh escaped his throat, immediately sending shivers down her spine. "I don't believe I was asking you." He sneered, his lips parted in a dark smirk.

Kaden rose his hand in the air, and Rikku let out a pained shriek as black substance wrapped around her appendages. They dug tightly into her skin, and the harder she struggled, the harder they tightened their hold. The teen's eyes widened in a state of fury and panic as she realized what her father was doing.

He was commanding them. He was commanding her. She was nothing more than what she always had been: his puppet. Rikku found herself being pulled to her knees, and she winced as her flesh made contact with the ground.

"Bye Rikku." Came the sad, soft voice of the raven haired child in front of her. Hiro waved, and a Rikku found herself slowly being engulfed in darkness one more. "No! Wait Hiro! Hiro!" She called, but once again it was if her screams were put on mute. She had made another promise, and once again, she had broken it.

She was a failure of a friend in more way than one.

"Hiro!"


The blank space around her slowly faded into white, and the white soon turned into meshed blurs of colors and shapes.

Rikku groaned. Her mind felt like it was floating in the cosmos, and it wasn't until close, but muffled sounds of voices filled her ears that she was brought back to earth. She blinked slowly, a soft whine escaping her throat as the glare of the setting sun hit her eyes.

.Hiro… was all she could whisp out, her voice raspy and barely audible.

The sound of shuffling feet was heard, and it wasn't long before a voice made itself known.

"She appears to be awaking. Are you alright? On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

Rikku wrinkled her nose in distaste at the horrible question, and her eyes fluttered, desperately trying to get the last of the cloudiness out of them. "A freaking billion," she answered bitterly. Once her vision came into proper focus, she was able to make out the face in front of her. The same robotic, way too close for comfort face that sent her into hyperventilation in the first place.

"GAHH!" The injured teen let out a startled scream, her face crinkling into a look of fear. She quickly sat in a sitting position, kicking with the heels of her feet in a pitiful effort to scurry away. A big mistake. Really big mistake. Rikku felt like she had been hit by a semi-truck, and all the sudden movement sent pain rocketing throughout her entire body. Blood rushed to her head, causing excruciating throbs, and the 'ba-dump' of her heartbeat thumping against her eardrums didn't help.

"Who are you?! Where am I?! What-uhg my head!" he questions were rushed and erratic, hardly understandable even to herself. She pressed her hand against her skull tightly, as if trying to keep her brain from oozing out of it.

"Whoa, whoa take it easy! We're not going to hurt you!" suddenly, a boy appeared in front of her, and two hands were gently placed on her shoulders. "We're not the bad guys okay?

"Just breathe…" he motioned his hand slowly, up and down, in demonstration.

Rikku looked at him frantically. The boy was armored, and you could barely see his dark brown eyes through the metal helmet he was wearing, though that seemed to be all she needed. There was something familiar about them, something warm and comforting that seemed to calm the girl down; and soon she felt her heart rate ease, and her breathing slowed to a normal pace.

"Better?" he asked, his lips parting into a smile and revealing a small gap between his teeth. Coming out of her stupor, Rikku stiffened slightly and she felt her jaw clench. There was only one human being on the face of the earth she knew with a smile like that…

However, realizing how ridiculous the idea sounded, she quickly shook the thought out of her head. Come on you idiot that dream is just psyching you out. Just because he has a gap in his teeth doesn't mean it's him. There's no way…The Hiro you remembered was a scrawny little child with ears too big for his head. This guy…there's…there's just no way.

Rikku nodded hurriedly in response to his question before pushing his hands off her and inching away. He looked a bit taken aback at first, but otherwise didn't say anything. Taking a moment, Rikku tilted her head as she took better hold of her surroundings. She was outside, the setting sun casting a colorful shadow of oranges and pinks. Judging by the high view of San Fransokyo Bridge and the hum nearby air conditioning unites, she figured she was on the terrace of some kind of building.

Her mind reeled, wondering how the hell she got there when sudden remembrance of what happened earlier came back to her. There was the asshole alley guy…then she was on the ground…then in the air…then there was nothing and now she was here. On a roof.

Great. Just fan-freaking-tastic.

"Who…who the hell are you?" she questioned, a sudden anger flaring within her. This entire day sucked, and all she wanted to do get away from all the craziness and find a decent place to sleep. Was that too much to ask? Apparently so because she went from the hands of a pedophile psychopath to a kid playing dress up with a freaky robot. A better scenario yes, but weird nonetheless.

The boy almost seemed shocked by her question, like she should automatically know who he is. "Um...Big Hero Six? You know…Heroes of San Fransokyo?"

Rikku scoffed, never hearing of those people in her entire life. "Heroes huh?" she mused, an questioning eyebrow raised. "Any reason you're called big hero six when there's only two of you?"

The guy cleared his throat, "um, well, there's more of us. But me and Baymax here were just doing a perimeter check. Don't need to attract too much attention ya know?"

Rikku hummed, looking over at the robot-Baymax apparently- who blinked slowly at her, his head tilted as if silently examining the teen. She would admit the thing was…cool, but the way it was looking at her was really creeping her out.

"Gotta say, I've never been in the presence of a real deal superhero before," Rikku pondered, her shield coming down in the slightest. she figured If these guys were wanting to hurt her, they probably would have done so already. "It's pretty cool but, damn this city has gotten weird…"

The boy chuckled lightly, a smile on his features. "I take it stuff like this doesn't happen where you're from?"

"Hardly." She scoffed. "So whats your name anyway?"

"I just told you Big Hero Six, remember?"

Rikku rolled her eyes at his obliviousness. "I meant your real name genius. You know the one they put on your birth certificate?"

"Oh," the boy blushed slightly, and rubbed the back of his neck where the armor left exposed. "I, uh, can't really tell you that. It's kind of a secret identity thing."

"I suppose that's fair enough," she shrugged.

Rikku grunted as she tried stagger to her feet, her legs locking together weakly. She managed to get up just enough the lean herself against a nearest wall. Concern flashed in the boy's brown eyes, and he took a step forward, aiming to help the girl.

"Hey maybe you should-"

"I'm fine." Rikku interrupted harshly, holding a hand up to stop him from coming closer. Although her words rang false, and next thing she knew found herself slumping back the ground, her back against the wall. The boy's eyes widened a fraction, and he quickly turned to the big armored robot.

"Baymax, scan her for further injuries." The boy ordered, and moments later, said android waddled its way toward the girl.

"Wait, what?" Rikku raised an eyebrow, and stiffened slightly as it got closer, "no, no, no! i'm fine, Just get that thing away from-"

"Scanning complete."

"Really?" She shot a glare over at the robots commander, causing him to shift uncomfortably.

"it's okay!" He reassured once more. "Baymax here is a healthcare companion. He's only trying to help."

"You seem to have suffered a mild concussion." The mechanical voice mused. "I highly suggest little movement and activity. My scanners also show that you have abrasions along your forearms and scalp, as well as slight swelling in the face. I would recommend the medical attention from a local hospital that I cannot currently provide."

Rikku was impressed, but her moment of amazement was short lived as the word hospital hit her hears.

"What? No! I'm fine, seriously, NO hospitals!" Rikku slowly staggered to her feet once more, (this time more successfully) and dusted the soot of her now slightly ripped clothes.

The boy looked at her with concerned eyes, "But-"

"NO. HOSPITALS." she warned, pointing a finger at him. She couldn't risk going to the hospital. She was a minor, and no doubt would need some sort of ID and contact information for her legal guardian. Of course that meant her dad. And if they contacted him…

There was a silence between the two, and Rikku felt a pinged of regret for her rather snappy attitude, She should be thanking this guy, not scolding him for trying to help.

"Listen," she started, softening her voice to the best of her capabilities, "Thanks…a lot for what you did, but honestly I'm fine and I don't need any hospitals. I'll just take my stuff and be on my-"

Her jaw dropped as the sudden realization that she didn't grab her belongings dawned on her, and she began to look frantically around for her things. Crap. Crap. CRAP!

"Oh, um, are you looking for this?" the boy shared a smile, and reached behind his robot companion for the bag filled with the only things she owned.

Rikku sighed a breath of relief, "Thank you, you're a life saver in more ways than one."

"It's no problem. Its, uh, kind of what we do." He shared a rather cocky grin, causing her to smirk.

"Well look I don't exactly have much, but-" Rikku reached in her back pocket in search for her wallet, remembering that she had put it there instead in her bag. Although cold sweat formed on her forehead as she realized it wasn't there. "No…no, no, no ,no ,no!" she frantically began searching for the only money she had on her. She checked her front pockets, her back, and hell even in her bra. This could not be happening right now!

"Hey it's no problem, you don't have to pay us."

"No it's not that! she yelled, eyes narrowing and blood pressure rising. Her reaction was enough to earn a gulp from the boy. "That wallet is basically my entire freaking life! I need that or else-AHG!"

In defeat and utter frustration, Rikku slumped onto her knees, burying her face in her hands before letting out a muffled groan. What was she thinking? This entire plan-if she could even call it that- was all a stupid mistake. Now she was stranded with no money to get another train ticket home, no way to contact anyone, and nowhere to stay for the night.

She was stray.

"She appears to be in distress." Stated Baymax. His obvious words caused another groan from the girl.

The shuffling of feet was heard, and it wasn't long before she felt the presence of someone next to her.

"Hey…don't worry it'll be okay." came the gentle voice of the armored boy.

She applauded him for being so nice despite her snappy attitude, but it annoyed her nonetheless. No. no it wasn't going to be okay.

The boy furrowed his brow, concern still swimming in in big brown eyes. "Is there somewhere we can take you? A friend's house maybe?"

"No." she said bitterly, taking her hands from her face. "There's only one guy I knew in this whole freaking city and I don't even know where he lives anymore."

Annoyingly enough, a small smile parted the boy's lips and he quickly pushed himself up before extending a helping hand to Rikku. "Give me his name."

"What? Why?" she questioned, taking his hand before he gently helped her up.

"Baymax is equipped with scanners. He can practically scan the whole city, I'm sure we can find him for you!" his enthusiasm was intense, but Rikku was much less than convinced.

"Listen, that's nice of you but I doubt-"

"Oh come on! It's worth a shot right?"

Rikku sighed, but accepted her defeat in the matter. "Its not going to work but…" she hesitated for a moment, before continuing. "its Hamada. Hiro Hamada actually." She turned just before she could notice the stiffened look of her armored savior, and rested her elbows on the edge of the terrace as she looked out into the city. "We grew up on the same block, I mean we were practically siblings." Rikku bit her lip in embarrassment. She wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to explain that last part, but it seemed like her mouth went on autopilot.

There was a silence after that. A dead silence that slightly concerned her the girl.

"Rik…Rikku?"

Her eyes widened in surprise at the sound of her name. and she quickly turned around to see the boy, helmet in hand, with familiar, horribly unkempt black hair upon his head.

No way. There was no way anything in her life worked out like this.

"Hiro…"


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