Chapter Four: Adjustments

Tadashi had been in the hospital for months now, yet he was still failing to comprehend his situation. Five years. He had missed five years of his life. Not only his life, but Hiro and Cass's lives too. They'd thought he was dead, and not without reason, either. He'd run into a fire.

And now he was supposed to live with the information that the man he'd nearly died saving had gone full out supervillain. How was that going to be possible?

"Tadashi? You okay back there?" Hiro called from the driver's seat.

That was another thing that was going to take adjusting to. He had been expecting Aunt Cass to pick him up from the hospital, so when Hiro had showed up, he'd been more than a little surprised, though he was even more surprised to see Baymax squished into the passenger seat.

It seemed there wasn't a time when Hiro was separated from the nurse bot. At least they were close, though how that had come to pass Tadashi would question later.

They pulled into the driveway, and Tadashi was glad to see that the house hadn't changed much. The sign had been upgraded, it moved now, but that seemed to be all.

After pulling Baymax out, with no small difficulty, they walked in. Aunt Cass was serving what looked like six tables at once, with Honey-Lemon behind the counter dishing out more treats then typically humanly possible.

"Tadashi!" They both called.

"I'll be right there, boys." Aunt Cass called, as she set three plates on table seven. "Just let me finish these things up!"

The two boys wove through the crowd, making their way upstairs.

"We've been trying to get your things back in order." Hiro told him. "It's not exactly correct, but I think most everything is in its proper place."

They reached the top, and Tadashi was greeted by a miss-made bed, disheveled bookshelves, and drawers with clothes spilling out. With Mochi sitting right on top of the mess of blankets.

Tadashi laughed. "It's nothing I can't fix."

He started to make the bed. "So run the explanation by me one more time."

Hiro glanced up at him. "Run through what?"

"You know. How I'm… here."

"Oh, that. Well, Sparrow's just lead to dimensions,"

"Yeah, yeah. I got that part. How am I here?"

"Oh." Hiro blushed. "Well, when the Sparrow malfunctioned I think it created a sort of time loop/portal thing, allowing access to you. What I don't know is how it happened, or how to replicate it."

Tadashi put a shocked expression on his face. "What? You can't figure something out? I thought you were a super genius. Graduating high school at thirteen, and now collage at nineteen, I thought you were on a roll." He sighed dramatically. "Well, I guess you'll just have to give up on all your dreams."

He felt a shove from behind. Turning, he saw Hiro grinning at him. "Chill out. It's not the end of my career. I can still give any bot fighter out there a run for his-"

"BOT FIGHTERS?!" Tadashi yelled. "You've been bot-fighting again?! I thought you'd given that up. It's too dangerous for a kid…"

He trailed off as a realization hit him. Hiro was his age now, with his birthday coming up. His kid brother was about to pass him in age. He felt a pang in his heart.

He looked at Hiro, who was clearly realizing the same thing. Finally Tadashi cleared his throat.

"No more bot fights, okay?"

"Deal." Hiro walked back to his desk.

Tadashi went back to cleaning up. He picked Mochi up, and started to make the bed. Suddenly a blur of pink and yellow tackled him from behind.

"Tadashi!" Honey-Lemon squealed.

He chuckled. "Hey Honey."

"Ohmygosh! You're actually here!" She gripped his shoulder. "we all thought you were dead, I mean, for us you were, but now you're not! You're here!" she squealed again, then held him out at arm's length.

She had changed too, now that he got a good look at her. Her long blond hair had been cut to shoulder length, and her oversized pink glasses had shrunk a few inches. Her wardrobe also seemed a bit more muted, but other than that she seemed untouched by time.

"Wow." She murmured, suddenly quite. "You look…"

He supposed this was as big a shock, if not bigger, to the others as it was to him. While they had all gone from his age to older, it was the exact opposite for them.

Just then, Aunt Cass decided to make a timely appearance.

"Tadashi." She grinned. She walked over and gave him one of her famous, nerve soothing hugs. "I missed you."

"Aunt Cass, you visited me, like, every day in the hospital."

"I know." She sighed. "But I'm glad your back." She sniffled a bit.

Tadashi was hugging her back when he noticed Hiro trying to sneak out, Honey-Lemon right behind Baymax.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa." He pulled away from Aunt Cass. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Our destination is 23rd and main." Baymax informed him while Hiro face-palmed.

"Uh-huh. And just what were you planning to do there?"

"We were going-"

"To see a customer!" Hiro interjected. "They wanted to make sure their brownies got there, so they asked for a hand delivery."

Tadashi raised an eyebrow, not buying it for a second.

"It's true!" Honey insisted. "I was going with him. To- uh, help. With the delivery."

"Okay." Tadashi said slowly. "Just make sure you get home in time for dinner, alright."

"Sounds good! Gotta go!'

They darted down the stairs as fast as their feet would carry them, pushing Baymax to make him go faster. Suspicious. Very suspicious.