Class One Misdemeanor
Hiro's presentation speech was flawless and went off without a hitch. Was there ever a doubt that it would be anything but perfect? He was a genius after all and the fact that he'd done this before… well that was just a bonus. He wasn't worried. Not even for a second.
Who was he kidding?
Hiro was terrified. His fear of public speaking was still very much alive, even after two and a half years of being in the spotlight as the leader of a rather, let's just say extraordinary group of heroes. Knowing what he knew only made it that much worse as every minute that ticked by brought him a minute closer to the worst moment of his young life. Simply breathing was a tremendous effort but he wasn't about to let Tadashi know that. Tadashi worried about him enough as it was. It was his turn to worry about Tadashi.
Jumping off the stage he dropped the neurotransmitter down and returned Tadashi's clap and fist bump sequence with ease allowing himself a moment to revel in Tadashi's joy and pride at his victory. It was a selfish move on his part but he couldn't help it. It wasn't often that his brother got the opportunity to be genuinely proud of him and Hiro wanted to enjoy it, if only for a minute. He did, after all, need all the courage he could muster for the confrontation that was coming.
"You did it!'
"Not bad!"
"Yeah! You just blew my mind, dude!"
"They loved you. That was amazing!"
"Yes. With some development, your tech could be revolutionary." The gang's exuberance was quickly killed by the arrival of what to them was an unexpected guest.
Hiro on the other hand had both been anticipating and dreading this moment. "Alistair Krei." Hiro's greeting was both cautious and nervous.
"May I?" Alistair Krei asked holding out a hand.
This was it. The moment of truth. Time to initiate his subtle plan to change the future. Hiro reached into his pocket and clenched his hand around the micro-bot he had slipped into it mere moments before. Breathe, Hiro… just breathe… Hiro took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Mr Krei but I think I'll hold onto it for now."
Alistair Krei blinked, momentarily surprised by Hiro's response. He clearly had not expected to have his request denied. He was, however, not phased for very long and casually adjusted his suit as he quickly regained his composure. "I want your micro-bots at Krei Tech."
"Mr. Krei is right." Callaghan approached the group casually as he spoke, addressing Hiro. "Your Micro-bots are an inspired piece of tech. You can continue to develop them, or you can sell them to a man who's only guided by his own self-interest."
You mean someone like you?
Hiro couldn't help the stray bitter thought. Fortunately his mind to mouth filter actually worked for once in his life and he managed not to give it voice.
The irony in Callaghan's statement did not fail to escape Hiro's notice as it had the first time around. It was incredible how he could so casually accuse Krei of only being guided by his own self-interest when it the end it was Callaghan that had let self-interest take him down the dark path of vengeance. How did he manage to miss just how deep Callaghan's animosity towards Krei really ran? Now that he knew what he was looking for it couldn't be more obvious. The shift in his eyes, the anger in his tone, the defensive angry posture. It was all there, blatantly advertised for anyone that bothered to look.
"Robert, I know how feel about me but it shouldn't affect…"
"This is your decision, Hiro. But you should know Mr. Krei has cut corners and ignored sound science to get where he is." Callaghan continued speaking right over Krei.
"That's just not…"
"Hold it!" Hiro raised his hands along with his voice cutting off the argument both Callaghan and Krei were trying to hide beneath their polite speech and casual demeanor. "Let me stop the two of you right there. Mr. Krei, I appreciate the offer you are trying to make but my micro-bots are not now nor will they ever be for sale. Not for any amount of money or prestige. All I want is a chance to go to go to school alongside my brother." Hiro glanced up at Tadashi, offering him a smile which Tadashi easily returned, pride and approval gleaming in his eyes.
"I can certainly help with that." Callaghan said, looking far too pleased with himself as he pointedly handed Hiro is SFIT acceptance letter in front of Krei. "I look forward to seeing you in class." The action was clearly intended to be a barb directed at Krei and it was clear Krei didn't miss it.
"Robert." Krei's farewell was curt and dismissive as he turned and walked away, adjusting his suit once more.
That was one more obstacle down.
"Woo-hoo!" Fred returned with a jubilant cry leaping forward to embrace Hiro in excitement. "You did it, little dude! You got into SFIT! We need to go out to celebrate!"
"Yeah!" Honey Lemon exclaimed, joining in the fray. "All your hard work finally paid off. Come on, come on. Let's go!" She shuffled him forward towards the door, the rest of the gang close on her heels. "You were amazing!" And so it continued, each member of the gang piling praise on him, surrounding him with happy excited energy. Hiro was all too quickly caught in that moment, beaming beneath their praise and waving the acceptance letter above his head as they walked out of the showcase building.
"All right, geniuses." Aunt Cass said, joyfully skipping down the steps. "Let's feed those hungry brains. Back to the café! Dinner is on me!"
"Yes!" Fred leaped into the air in excitement. "Nothing is better than free food!"
Tadashi placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder gently slowing their walk, while simultaneously addressing Aunt Cass. "Aunt Cass..."
Wait…
Aunt Cass turned to face Tadashi.
Wait! What was he doing?
"We'll catch up, ok?"
This was all wrong. He shouldn't be here. He'd forgotten it inside.
"Sure." Aunt Cass agreed rushing in to embrace Hiro. "I'm so proud of you." Hiro tensed in her embrace, panic coursing through his veins. He needed to go back. Now… There was no time to waste. "Both of you." Aunt Cass pulled Tadashi into the embrace before releasing them both and running off.
The moment Hiro was free, he turned and ran back up the stairs.
"What the… Hiro?!" Tadashi called up turning to run after Hiro.
No! This was all wrong. Everything was falling apart. Hiro needed to keep Tadashi out of the building, not have him run in after him. Why was everything falling apart so quickly? He'd had a plan. It had been so simple. Keep the fire from happening and talk to Professor Callaghan once the semester started. Why was it so difficult to stick to such a simple plan? Tadashi couldn't follow him. He needed to stay out of the building at all costs.
Hiro swivelled around and ran back down towards Tadashi, pushing his brother down the stairs in a rush. "No, no, no, no, NO!" He yelled pushing Tadashi towards the bridge. "You stay out here. Meet me at the bridge. I only need a minute to fetch something. I promise I'll be right back." The words escaped him in a rush, sheer desperation lending them more force than they required.
Tadashi frowned and gave him a strange look, confusion swirling in his deep brown eyes. "Hiro?" He asked tentatively, a wealth of concern in that single word. "You ok?" He reached out, moving to touch Hiro only to have his hand brushed briskly aside.
No time.
Hiro didn't have time to deal with his brother's concern or to reassure him. He needed to go back, needed to fetch it before Callaghan got his hands on it or his entire plan would go up in flames, along with the showcase building and… No. Now was not the time. "I'll be right back." Hiro insisted looking directly into his brothers eyes. "Promise me you'll wait for me by the bridge."
"Hiro, what…"
"Promise me!" Hiro yelled, cutting Tadashi off.
Tadashi blinked, the frown on his brow deepening with his ever increasing levels of distress, his initial concern now tinged with a hint of panic and fear. "Hiro…"
"Please." Hiro tried once last time, the word escaping him in a broken whisper. "Just… trust me." And with those words he finally made some headway.
Tadashi's face softened and he reached out to ruffle Hiro's hair. "Ok. Go fetch whatever it is you've forgotten and meet me at the bridge. I'll be waiting for you. We'll discuss whatever is going on with you, when you get back." Tadashi's concern was still there and he was basically telling Hiro this topic was far from over but he was giving Hiro a momentary reprieve and that… that was all Hiro needed.
Turning away from Tadashi, he ran up the stairs and back into the showcase building, only one destination in mind. Pushing open the door he ran into the exposition hall, rushing past the underwater exercise machine, the IHS booth and the ecobot stand without sparing them even a second glance in his bid to get back to the stage in the shortest time possible.
Please… please, oh please, oh please let it still be there.
The chant went round and round in his head with each desperate ragged breath he took, his heart thudding in his chest so hard he feared it may leap out at any moment. It had to be there. It just had to. Just a few more steps and the stage would be in sight… There it was. Finally! The stage was in sight and lying innocently on it was the object he'd so desperately returned to retrieve: His neurotransmitter!
Oh, thank God!
The surge of relief that rushed through him at the sight released a shot of adrenaline into his blood stream enabling him to put on an extra burst of speed as he sprinted the last few steps forward, so focused on snatching up the neurotransmitter before Callaghan could get a chance to get hold of it that he ran headlong into the stage, completely forgetting to stop in the process.
Bang!
The impact send a jarring pain through his body, and the air out of his lungs. "OW!" But it was so worth it. Everything hurt. His feet, his knees, his chest and his lungs but none of that mattered. The only sensation that mattered was feel of the smooth, cool metal clutched firmly in his grasp. Hiro had won. He'd managed to retrieve his neurotransmitter and without the transmitter his micro-bots were useless. Take that, Callaghan! Things were finally taking a turn for the better.
Turning away from the stage, Hiro tossed the transmitter joyfully up into the air and caught it with a smirk before sauntering back towards the entrance to the showcase building, his steps cocky and filled with confidence. Another hurdle down!
Wait…
What was that?
Five steps into his departure he stumbled to a halt, a shadow of movement catching his eye. Panic suddenly rising up within him, Hiro turned towards the movement located in the far corner of the room and peered into the surrounding shadows. "Breathe… It's just your imagination Hiro." He whispered to himself under his breath, cautiously moving towards the corner of the room on tiptoe, using both his hands to firmly clutch the neurotransmitter against his chest. Only it wasn't his imagination.
Hiro's breath caught in his throat when the shadows moved again revealing for but a moment the far too familiar silhouette of a tall cloaked man. Yokai! Hiro's plan had failed. Callaghan was already on the move, preparing to set the showcased building alight in order to get his hands on Hiro's invention. Hiro needed to get out of there! Now! But first…
Turning away from Yokai and his dubious activities, Hiro rushed back towards the stage and the fire alarm he had noticed during an inspection he had performed of the building several days prior to this event.
Thank God, he'd had the foresight to at least do that much!
Skidding to a halt, he punched the 'glass' shielding the box. The plastic shielding cracked and crumbled to the floor automatically triggering the alarm which immediately filled the air with a loud evacuation beep, alerting everyone in the building to the looming danger. Satisfied that he'd done everything he could to protect everyone in the building from Callaghan, Hiro turned and ran, joining the crowd of people all rushing towards the exit.
Beep, Beep, Beep.
Panicked people ran, shoving and pushing one another out of the way.
Beep, Beep, Beep.
Someone accidentally shoved Hiro to the ground and stepped on his ankle in the rush to get out the door. Hiro felt something crack. Well that was going to hurt later. Okay, truth be told, it hurt now but he didn't have time to deal with it.
Beep, Beep, Beep.
Another person tripped over one of the hands Hiro had splayed to catch himself during the fall.
Beep, Beep, Beep.
Hiro had to move! He risked getting trampled to death if he stayed here and there was no way he was going to let that happen! He wasn't going to let Callaghan win by taking a Hamada brother out of the equation. Not Tadashi and not him! Hiro twisted his body into a roll and used all the knowledge of martial arts, many years of practice with his brother had ingrained into him to smoothly leap into motion, slipping between panicked people to find his footing once more. Ignoring the sharp pain that coursed through him the moment he put weight on his ankle he ran, ran straight towards the glass doors like there was no tomorrow to finally reach his goal.
One moment he was inside, trapped among a surge of heated bodies driven forward in a panicked rush and the next he was free, outside in the cool evening air and away from all the turmoil being trapped in potentially burning building had wrought only he didn't have time to be relieved as the sight before him brought back all his worst nightmares with the force of a hammer blow straight to his gut. Tadashi was running up the stairs towards the entrance of the showcase burning.
Oh, hell, no!
Hiro was not going down that route. Not again. He hadn't just risked his own life just to have Tadashi repeat the mistake he had made all those years ago. Gathering the little energy he had remaining, he rushed forward and launched himself at his brother catching Tadashi around the waist as he fell. The momentum of his movement carried onto his brother and they tumbled down the stairs, Tadashi landing on his ass with Hiro sprawled in his lap. "Hiro! What on earth do you think you're doing? That was dangerous! You could have gotten both of us seriously injured!"
Tadashi's rant was the best thing Hiro had ever heard, the familiar lilac scent of the washing powder Aunt Cass used to wash their clothing mingling with a scent that belonged uniquely to Tadashi blanketing Hiro to provide him with comfort. Everything was ok. Tadashi was there, in his arms and Hiro would do everything he could to make sure it stayed that way. "I'm ok." He muttered into the fabric of Tadashi's cardigan. "You're ok." He looked up to meet his brother's gaze, a stupid dopey smile on his lips. "We're ok."
"Of course we are, bonehead." Tadashi ruffled Hiro's hair, signs of relief still etched onto his features. Tadashi had been worried about him. "No thanks to you, now let go so I can get in there and help out the rest of the people in the building." Tadashi had rushed over to his aid because he'd been worried about Hiro and now he wanted to… wait… WHAT?!
NO! No, no and a million times NO! Tadashi was NOT going into that building. "Tadashi! No!" Hiro yelled tightening his grasp around his brother's waist.
"There could still be people in there." Tadashi said shifting to move Hiro off. "Someone has to help."
"No." Hiro repeated clinging to Tadashi with all of his strength. Tadashi was trying to escape his grasp but Hiro was not about to let him go. That had been his biggest mistake last time and he was not about to repeat it.
"Hiro, the fire alarm has gone off. That means there could be a fire in there. Someone could be trapped." Tadashi continued his attempts to pry Hiro off all while trying to reason with him.
"No one is trapped!" Hiro informed him, not about to be moved.
"You can't know that, Hiro!" Tadashi yelled managing to work one of Hiro's hands off of him.
"Yes! Yes I can!" Hiro yelled in desperation, trying to pull the free hand back so he could use it to latch back onto Tadashi.
"How?! How can you know that?!" Tadashi demanded holding onto Hiro's free hand while using his other hand to work on the hand Hiro still had latched onto his body.
"Because I'm the one that set if off." Hiro yelled, still clinging to Tadashi for dear life.
"What?"
"I pulled the fire alarm." Hiro clarified, glaring at Tadashi.
"Did you see a fire?" Tadashi asked, his attempts to escape momentarily forgotten in light of this new information.
"No."
"Hiro!" Tadashi exclaimed, releasing the hand he had been clinging to, to throw both of his own up into the air in sheer exasperation. "I can't believe you! That's a first-degree misdemeanor! Are you trying to get yourself arrested?!"
"No." Hiro repeated, relief coursing through him. He'd won. He had finally won. Tadashi was no longer going to run into the showcase building. He was going to yell at him, reprimand him and tell him all the reasons why his actions were stupid and reckless and idiotic but he wasn't going to go into the showcase building and he wasn't going to die and that's all that really mattered.
Now that the immediate danger had been taken care of, his brain was threatening to shut down.
"Don't you 'no' me!" Tadashi continued his reprimand. "Pulling a fire alarm when there is no fire is a crime, especially when you do it at a school! You could be charged with culpable negligence if anyone gets hurt cause of this! Or even preventing or obstructing the extinguishing of a fire! Think Hiro! Actions have consequences! You can't keep recklessly endangering yourself and others like this! Come on." Tadashi stood easily slipping out of Hiro's grasp now that the immediate danger of him running back into the building was past. "We're going home before someone catches you and we're going to have a serious talk about the consequences of your actions." Reaching down he pulled Hiro up and onto his feet.
Sharp pain coursed through him the moment Hiro stood and his body began to crash. His ankle crumbled beneath his weight. Oh yeah, he'd forgotten about that. Could he be charged with culpable negligence if the person he had managed to hurt by pulling the fire alarm was himself?
"Hiro?"
Hiro giggled, pain, adrenaline, relief and remnants of fear clouding his mind. Wouldn't that be ironic? The state would hereby like to present the next case. Hiro Hamada versus himself.
"Hiro?"
Would that mean he'd get both the compensation and the sentence if he was found guilty? It would be interesting to see how that possibility would be resolved. Maybe the compensation would involve lessening his sentence for the crime?
"Hiro!"
Hiro tumbled to the ground, darkness rushing in to claim his exhausted mind.
- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 -
A/N: This was originally supposed to form part of the previous chapter but I split it out while still writing the previous chapter when I realized that it was just going to get far too long. To be honest though, I didn't expect this half to be quite this long when I planned what was going into it. \O.O/
CrazyBlueOwl: Yeah, Hiro's big mouth does tend to have a tendency to get him into trouble here but I'm loving it. As for angstiness... there is still a little more coming but yes, for some strange reason this story did manage to pick up a lighter note despite all the subtle angst. So... is this the best chapter you expected? XD Or did you mean to type next in your review?
Interviner: Your compliment makes all the frustration that I felt, while trying to balance the movie dialog with the original dialog I wanted to insert, worth it. My main goal when writing is to make people feel things in reaction to the story.
SaiyanPrincess: He came so close to having his plan fail on him completely. Poor kid. Was this chapter every bit as interesting and exciting as you expected to be?
Creepy-Stalker: YAY! A new reader! Welcome. Thank you so much for taking the time to review every chapter as you read it. Your running commentary seriously made my day when I woke up to find it this morning. I'll see if I can address some of your questions in my response here though I'm sure you've already figured a lot of them out on your own as you read the story. Let's start at the beginning.
Both realities are real. Hiro died in a fire during a mission that went horribly wrong which resulted in his consciousness being transported back in time into the body of his 14 year old self with all of his memories intact thus providing him the opportunity to change things. Only time will tell if he succeeds or not which is why I can't promise not to kill Tadashi at this stage. I can promise Hiro will do everything in his power to make sure it doesn't happen again.
I'm glad you like my interpretation of Hiro's and Tadashi's characters. Keeping characters that someone else invented believable is the main reason I avoided writing fan fiction for so long. I believe writing good fan fiction is actually a lot harder than people realize.
And now for the most important comment of them all. Hiro does miss Baymax. Terribly. He's gotten so used to relying on him that he is quite lost without him, as proven by all his actions. Baymax was always there to be his voice of reason, the one thing he had to keep him grounded and his brain to mouth filter is malfunctioning as badly as it is simply because he doesn't have Baymax to use as a sounding board.