Hi everyone! I'm back again! Okay, so, The next few weeks are going to be awfully busy for me and I'm not sure when (if at all) I'll be able to write. However, I have a small safety net at the moment and hopefully, I shall be able to upload the next two chapters without problems. However, as ever, I shall keep you posted on my profile should anything go awry. I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter! I wasn't sure about posting it, but no-body said it was crap, so it can't have been so bad, right?
Frostystuff: Yeah. It did. I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I know how curious you are about the chip, and coming chapters may give you some clues...
Th3Ph4nt0miz3r: Funnily enough, I've never owned a stress-ball. I tend not to stress out for ages and then all of a sudden completely lose my head. Honestly, they wouldn't help much, I don't expect. Anyway, glad you're enjoying everything, and that the USB wasn't in the loo!
AwesomeWriter2013: I know, that's where the idea came from. Someone gets it! Everyone is still guessing at the culprit! Thanks for your review.
DAISY: Thanks, you're so kind! I know, I think he might have needed to release that big ball of stress, right?
Purpalz Minor (PEARL): Yeah, I know, right? Thanks for reading!
Muchina and Company: Yeah, poor Hiro. Teenagers go through a lot of stress!
.92: Hehe, yeah. Thanks!
It was movie night (Or rather, afternoon), and the screen flickered with the stuttering images of a strange Sci-fi horror. Hiro pressed himself further into the cushioned back of the sofa, hoping the others wouldn't notice. The man on screen was suspended in the air in the middle of a thunderstorm, his video camera in hand, documenting everything, for some reason. Hiro hated the way the young man had been so humiliated, so abused, so angry for so long...
His friend flew towards him, materialising through the clouds. Somewhere earlier in the movie, the three characters had developed the ability to move things, including themselves, through the air with their minds.
"Andrew, what are you doing up here, man?" The Afro-American on screen called out. The camera was shaking badly.
"Get away from me!" The teen behind it shouted, hurt and confused. The boy genius felt Go Go sit forward in her seat beside him. There was more shouting, angry shouting, the older boy trying to get his friend with the camera to come out of the clouds and back to the earth.
"You've got to get away from me!" Andrew yelped. Suddenly, there was a zap of lightning, and the camera was falling, falling, falling...
The next scene was an outdoor funeral. Grey clouds, dull headstones, people dressed up in suits, gathered around. Hands on shoulders. Softly spoken words. The whisper of someone crying.
Hiro suddenly felt sick. His hands were shaking, his heart pounding uncomfortably. It was all too fresh, too real, too raw. It may have been almost a year ago, but he still remembered, still felt every detail. Inside his mind, he was reliving the day. Pouring rain. Black umbrellas. Grey sky. Aunt Cass's hand on his shoulder. His gut wrenching. Tadashi, gone, gone, gone...
The boy bolted upright and headed for the door. He suddenly felt confined, trapped, afraid. He had to leave. He had to get out of here.
"Hiro?" The boy genius stopped dead. Turned back. Honey Lemon was staring after him. The others, too, were starting to look towards him. He clenched his fists to stop his hands from shaking.
"I'm... going to the bathroom. I'll be back in a sec," He told them. 'Lies!' screamed his brain, and he shuddered as he hurried away up the stairs.
Completely avoiding the toilet, Hiro made straight for his desk chair, reaching out shaking hands to steady himself before he flopped down into it. I don't know what it is about funerals, he thought to himself, but it always brings everything back... He span his chair to face the other way, sliding down so that his head was below the headrest and so that, at a glance from the stairwell, no-one would see him.
All his swirling emotions made him feel sick. Hiro wrapped his arms snugly around his stomach and closed his eyes, willing everything in his mind to go away. It only served to intensify his brain's efforts to hurt him. His chest ached, his lungs shuddering with every breath as he fought the urge to sob. It's been so long! I should be better now. I thought I was better now.
All of a sudden, his attention was caught by the certain, familiar squeak of vinyl and hushed buzz of moving robotics. Hiro tried to ignore the presence of the nurse-bot as he mounted the final stair, but nothing could hide from Baymax's scanner.
"Hiro," He called plaintively, approaching the turned chair in that cute, waddling way of his. "Your friends alerted me to your distress. What seems to be the problem?"
"It's..." Hiro wanted to say it was nothing, that everything was fine, but he knew it was no use lying. Anyway, Baymax couldn't judge him; he was a robot. He let out a long, drawn out sigh, his gaze falling to watch his fingers entangle themselves in the strings of his hoodie."The funeral in the film," the boy finally breathed, "I couldn't help but think about.. y'know... Tadashi."
The robot waited patiently as Hiro slowly turned his chair to face him, then reached out with one, fluffy white arm and patted his charge gently on the head. Hiro looked up curiously. "You should be in contact with your friends. It will help you to tell them how you feel."
"I dunno, Baymax. I don't wanna say anything 'cause, well, shouldn't I be over this by now?" He winced at the way his voice was cracking, glad that no-one but Baymax could hear him.
The robot tilted his head ever-so-slightly. "It takes time to recover from a loss," he stated simply. "Sometimes, one may never fully recover."
Hiro frowned. "Yeah, thanks, that's good to know..."
Whatever the robot said next, however, he missed completely, as a flash of silver caught his eye. It came from somewhere on Tadashi's side of the room: the screen that separated Hiro's space from his brother's was slightly ajar. He was certain he'd seen something move in there, between the double bed and the piles of books on the shelves. His curiosity flickered on inside him like an old lightbulb.
"Baymax, scan that side of the room for vitals," He commanded slowly. The healthcare robot obediently turned and scrutinised the area.
"Scan complete. There are no life signs in the room." He reported back. Hiro frowned.
"But..." He began, but was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming towards him from the stairs. Baymax waddled around in a circle and waved his hand at the intruder.
"I have located Hiro. He was indeed 'stressed'." He reported. The boy genius peered around the side of his companion to see Go Go standing before him, arms folded, weight on one leg, bubble half-formed from her lips. She caught sight of him and shrugged.
"Actually, I just came to see if he was locked in the bathroom," She droned indifferently, as though she didn't care. It was all just a front, and she knew the other two knew it. "You hiding behind the marshmallow man for a reason?"
"Uh..." There! He caught sight of that glint again, flashing in the weak sunlight pouring through the windows. He stared at it, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. It gave him a bad feeling, somehow.
"Hey!" A hand in front of his face, fingers snapping him back to reality. "Hello? Anyone in there?"
"S-Sorry," Hiro muttered, looking up in bewilderment. "I-I keep seeing something over there!" He pointed. Go Go looked up, then down again, slightly crestfallen at the sight of her late friend's stuff. Of all her friends, Tadashi had been the one she had liked most, though she'd never admit it.
"Maybe it's a ghost," She scowled sarcastically, coming across more meanly than she really meant it to, but luckily for her, the boy wasn't listening. He was already creeping over to investigate. Hiro dropped to his hands and knees, peering resolutely into the shadows under his brother's bed. He knew there was something there. There had to be.
His other friends were beginning to appear at the top of the stairs, too. Honey Lemon boldly strode out to stand beside Go Go, the other two curiously looking on as they edged forwards. No-one said a word, like there was some sort of mutual agreement to remain in silence. Only the questioning looks passing between the individuals filled the pressing noiselessness.
Jerking forward suddenly, Hiro snatched something from under Tadashi's low double bed and dragged it out into the light. Honey rushed forward, snatching a split-second look at it before Hiro gave a yelp of pain and pulled his hands back, blood dripping onto the polished floorboards.
Her eyes were wide, fearful and staring. She turned to the boy beside her, who was busy nursing the injury he'd sustained. She reached out, but he pulled away.
"It's nothing," He muttered, not meeting her gaze. Then, all of a sudden, he perked up again. "Over there! It's trying to get out!" Hiro leapt forward. Slammed his hands down on sleek, metal casing. Tossed it over his shoulder, towards his friend. Go Go was suddenly behind her, grabbing it from the air with practised skill and slamming it against the ground. She pinned a lashing, vicious, sharp tail to the floor with her foot. Honey retreated in alarm.
Hiro snatched the first heavy, blunt object he could get his hands on and slammed it down onto the writhing machine's tail joint, rendering its only weapon useless. He met Go Go's bewildered, nervous gaze for a second, before he let his eyes drop to the struggling thing in her hands.
It was a little robot, four wheels hidden beneath a light, pale metal exoskeleton. The aluminium alloy was arranged in bands that slid together, overlapping each other in much the same way as an armadillo's shell. The only thing that breached the machine's outer casing was the wide, black lens of a high quality camera. This thing must belong to whoever stole his SD card four days ago. Hiro looked at the object in his hand. It was one of Tadashi's favourite wrenches. Anger seethed within him. Was it not enough that the fiend knew every little detail of their armour? Now they were spying on him as well!
His knuckles turned white as he raised the wrench, then brought it down with a smack, right on the camera lens. It burst into glittering shards of glass. Go Go recoiled, afraid for her hands as he readied himself for another blow, but the sight of her half-fearful, half-concerned look stopped him in his tracks. His stomach filled with a cold, uncomfortable sense of guilt. With a gulp, he dropped the heavy tool onto the floorboards.
Go Go smiled encouragingly, releasing a breath she didn't realise she was holding. "Deep breath. It's okay. Well done."
Unable to see anymore, the robot gave a defeated buzz, no longer trying to escape. The mechanics student gathered it up, along with Tadashi's wrench, placing the tool back on the rack under her late friend's desk and holding a hand out to his little brother. Hiro, however, didn't respond at first. He was too busy staring at the pale fingers in his lap, smeared with his blood, considering the possibilities of what he might have done with those trembling digits had he not stopped himself.
"C'mon, Hiro," Honey Lemon cooed, reaching for his shoulder, relieved when he didn't shrink away from her touch.
"Yeah, why don't we go take this apart and see what makes it tick?" There was a certain venom in Go Go's voice, an anger barely spoken.
He looked up with wide, brown eyes, fury still pinching his brow. "D'you think we'll find a GPS inside? Or a manufacturer's mark?" He asked, his voice low and controlled, gaze flicking irritably between the faces of his four friends.
"Don't know. Only one way to find out, though." The mechanics student felt relieved, if only slightly, when he finally accepted her outstretched hand and hauled himself to his feet. She grimaced slightly at the wet, warm feeling of blood on her palms. "Hiro..."
"Your wounds require my attention," Baymax said softly, reaching out to take Hiro's arm for a better look, but the boy pushed past him, running a hand through his hair like his brother used to. He made a beeline for his shoes.
"Take that thing apart, see what you can find out. My garage is all yours. I need to get out of here." He growled, ignoring the shaking of his fingers as he tied his shoelaces. Go Go nodded seriously behind him, taking Baymax by the hand and leading him away with the others.
Fred stopped at the head of the stairs, glancing back as Hiro pulled on a heavy coat to ward off the autumn chill. "You sure you're okay, little buddy? Someone can go with you."
"I'd rather be alone," Hiro muttered, though as he looked up to find the uncomfortable look on the school mascot's face, he hurriedly added, "Thanks for the concern, Fred, but really, I need a minute."
The older boy nodded understandingly, a smile lighting up his features before he followed the rest of the group into the garage.
Hiro, glad for the peace and quiet, silently descended the two flights of stairs. On the way out, he rummaged through the medicine cupboard, wrapped his cut palm in a messy bandage and then left soundlessly through the back door.
Hiro controlled his anger! Yay! However, he now needs to go walk it off, which is a really good idea, by the way. If you're every stressed, depressed, angry etc. just take a little walk and you'll feel better.