Parents Weekend: Part 1
Hiro sighed as he sat down at his usual seat in the SFIT cafeteria. Go Go nodded her greeting as she dug into her salad and Hiro returned it with a smile. The last few weeks since the power station raids had gone smoothly. Rishi was eager to make up for the part he played in the almost cataclysmic event, Roddy Blair was being paid overtime to repair the hideout, and classes had been running smoothly. All in all, pretty much everything in Hiro's life had finally settled down to a manageable level now that there wasn't an imminent foreboding sense of doom hanging over the city thanks to a laundry list of escaped criminals. Despite midterms beginning to be whispered about in the halls, Hiro finally had a chance to sit back and relax for a bit, and he was glad that he could do that surrounded by his friends. Or rather most of them. A quick glance at the usual lunch spot told Hiro someone was missing.
"Hey, Go Go. Have you seen Karmi today?" Hiro asked. Go Go swallowed her bite before answering.
"No. Have you?"
"Nope, and she's usually here by now. I wonder where-" Hiro was cut off mid-sentence as the girl in question slammed her fists down on the table to announce her presence.
"Hiro!" Karmi gasped out. The sudden arrival caused both Hiro and Go Go to jump in their seats. Karmi was breathing hard, as if she'd just run all the way across campus, and her hair was free of its usual ponytail, causing frayed ends to be sticking out in odd places. "We forgot!"
"Forgot about what?" Hiro asked, startled at his girlfriend's appearance.
"Parents weekend! It's tomorrow! We forgot!"
Despite not having anything in his mouth, Hiro almost choked. His eyes went wide as he stammered, trying to collect his thoughts. "I thought it wasn't until the 24th?!"
"Today is the 23rd! They're going to be here at 11 AM tomorrow morning! Probably closer to 10:45, they always like to be early."
"I haven't done anything to prepare! How could we forget?"
"Didn't you set a reminder on your phone?"
"I thought I did, hold on…" Hiro pulled out his phone and quickly scrolled through it, his face somehow becoming even more white. "Oh, looks like I set a reminder for September 20th of next year!"
"How'd that happen?!"
"I don't know! We got kind of busy there for a while. I had some other things on my mind!"
Go Go waved her arms, catching the teens attention. "Not that this isn't entertaining to watch, but I'm lost. What's going on?"
Karmi took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair as she sat down and launched into her story. "So, remember the day Hiro and I got together?"
"Blackhole Dance, yeah. What about it?"
"Well, that morning I had a text conversation with my parents. They wanted me to move back home again, thinking the city wasn't safe. I barely managed to convince them otherwise."
"I bet they were thrilled when the very next week a maniacal android tried to shake the city to pieces." Go Go laughed dryly.
"No, but they think that was a natural earthquake and conceded that they can't do anything about nature… yet. Anyway, one of the conditions of me staying here was that they visit on parents weekend to scope out the city for themselves to make sure it's safe like they want it to be… and to meet Hiro."
"But things have calmed down enough in the last few weeks that I guess we kinda forgot about it." Hiro added, his lunch tray now left forgotten on the table.
"And my parents are very hard to please. If they spot one little thing wrong in the city while they're here, they'll force me to move back home with them. That would be bad enough, but then if they don't like Hiro, they'll want me to break up with him, but I won't do that, and then they'll get mad, and we'll fight, and just… ugh." Karmi slammed her forehead down on the table in exasperation. Hiro reached over and rubbed her back in support, trying to soothe his panicking girlfriend. He continued talking in her stead.
"We wanted time to work out everything we would say and do, where we'd go in the city, all that stuff. But now we've got less than twenty-four hours to figure out how to assure her parents that she can stay and for me to make a good first impression."
Go Go just whistled in response. "Congrats you guys, you've single handedly gotten yourselves into a cliché sitcom plot. And don't you dare tell Fred that I went 'meta'."
Karmi smiled underneath her curtain of hair despite the situation she found herself in. Sighing, she sat back up and grabbed Hiro's water to quench her thirst after her run across campus. "So what do you think we should do?"
"Well obviously you should stick to the nicer parts of town. Don't come over to my place to say hello, and no Good Luck Alley."
"We figured that much." Hiro mumbled, grabbing his empty cup back from Karmi.
"In terms of first impressions, it's corny, but just be yourself. You're a good kid, Hiro, and I'm sure Karmi's parents are going to love you. Just maybe don't mention the year-long feud like… at all."
"Not exactly a good conversation starter, is it?" Hiro chuckled.
"On the subject of 'be yourself' I maybe have one teensy little thing to say about that…" Karmi added sheepishly.
"And that is?" Hiro asked.
"You should probably get your hair cut just a tad before tomorrow."
"I thought you liked my hair?" Hiro questioned, subconsciously moving his hands to mess with it.
"I do!" Karmi interjected, waving her hands around. "But Mom and Dad… they dress in business casual to go to the grocery store. So you should probably trim your hair back a little bit, like slightly more than you got for the dance. We both know it'll grow back in like a week."
"That's fair." Hiro admitted. It was true, the slight trim Hiro had gotten for the Blackhole Dance was nearly nonexistent nearly a week after the fact. Few people had even noticed the change at all. "Ok, so haircut, and I'm guessing no shorts and hoody?"
"Noooo. A button up shirt and slacks are probably best." Karmi confirmed. "Sorry."
"No, I get it. I want to look my best for your parents, and besides, at least I won't have to wear the full tux again. Not eager to wear that thing again after the way Aunt Cass fussed over me."
"Honey Lemon did leave me Megan's number, so I can send in the reinforcements again if needed." Go Go joked. Hiro's response was a brooding glare as the older girl laughed. Karmi checked her phone and grimaced.
"Shoot, I need to get planning our itinerary for tomorrow and I have class in twenty-five minutes. I'm going to steal your emergency granola bar, sorry."
"It's fine, take it." Hiro helped Karmi with the zippers on his backpack and handed over the wrapped bar. "Text me later so we can go over the plan together?"
"Yeah." Karmi answered as she quickly pecked him on the cheek. "Bye, Go Go!"
Go Go waved as Karmi sped-walked away, eagerly tearing into the breakfast bar. Hiro groaned and dug back into his own meal, his mind now obviously elsewhere. Go Go fished out her own phone to text Honey Lemon about the on-going drama. One of the things the taller girl had made Go Go promise before she moved was to keep her updated with an unbiased account of Hiro and Karmi information since she wasn't there to witness it herself and didn't trust the two teens to be sincere when it came to their fresh romance. Go Go was halfway through her message when she looked up and noticed Hiro's 'thinking' face. She sighed silently and leaned forward, snapping her fingers in his face to catch his attention. He blinked and looked at her.
"Huh?"
"Relax, Hiro. It'll be fine." She tried to assure him.
"But what if they still want her to go back home with them? We just got each other back. I don't think I'm ready for her to leave again."
"If worst comes to worst, just try talking to them. You're both wise beyond your years, and not just because you're two of the youngest students even admitted into SFIT. You're both very stubborn and tend to overthink things sometimes, but you've both come a long way in a short time. I bet if you plead your case in a mature and civilized manner, then Karmi's parents will see things differently. Although… probably best not to mention the whole superhero thing."
"Tell me about it. We both agreed early on that her parents do not find out. Bad enough that Aunt Cass knows, I don't need my girlfriend's parents knowing about that either."
"There's an awkward breakfast I'd like to forget." Go Go laughed, thinking back to a few weeks prior after the raids when the whole team had assembled at the Lucky Cat for breakfast and Cass had made them all Big Hero 6 pancakes. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and focused back on comforting her surrogate brother. "Like I said though. Just be yourself and everything will be fine."
"Everything is not fine…" Karmi muttered as she walked briskly towards the Lucky Cat. The door opened with its typical ding as she strode in past the threshold. Cass looked up from behind the counter and smiled at the new arrival.
"Morning, Karmi!"
"Morning, Aunt Cass. Is Hiro up?"
"I think so, but-"
"Great. Thanks!" Karmi quickly made her way through the café and into the house, ignoring Cass's calls after her.
"Wait, you should probably-!" Cass sighed, knowing the girl was already out of earshot. She let out a chuckle as she went to fill a cappuccino order, shaking her head. "Well, she's going to be in for a surprise."
Karmi almost took the stairs two at a time as she made her way up to Hiro's loft. She quickly rapped her knuckles on the wall to announce her presence. "Hiro, you dressed?"
"Yeah, come in!" Hiro answered. Karmi took the last few steps up into Hiro's room, already talking before she'd even caught sight of her boyfriend.
"We've got a problem. So as it turns out, my… WHAT HAPPENED?!" Karmi's jaw dropped as she caught sight of Hiro. The boy was dressed in his nicer looking clothes as requested, but Karmi hardly noticed that. What she did notice was Hiro's hair. Or rather the lack of Hiro's hair. What had been a wild and unruly head of hair the day prior was now a very short slicked back hairdo. While the previous style had given Hiro a couple extra inches in height, this new cut flowed with the contours of his head and traveled neatly down to the base of his neck. The drastic change had short circuited Karmi's brain as she tried to process the information, so Baymax attempted to fill in the missing information.
"As per your request, Hiro got a haircut."
"I can see that." Karmi finally stuttered. "I didn't expect you to cut all of it off, though."
"I didn't have all of it cut off." Hiro defended. "But I thought that if having a closer cut would guarantee a better first impression then its worth it. Besides, it'll grow back fast. Do you not like it?"
"No, no, it looks great I just…" Karmi waved her hand above Hiro's head, trying to feel for the non-existent hair. "Wasn't expecting to lose two percent of my boyfriend to the barber shop. But I appreciate the effort."
"Anything to make sure today runs smoothly." Hiro said as he sat down on his bed and ran his hand through his hair, suddenly a very different experience compared to the previous day.
"About that." Karmi sighed as she sat down next to him. "So… as it turns out my parents got in last night instead of this morning, and they were wondering if we could get an early start."
"Oh!" Hiro's eyes went wide as he took in the new information. "Well, I am pretty much ready to go. I guess we'll just have to skip breakfast with Aunt Cass."
"Did you talk with Fred about lunch?"
"Yeah, he managed to get us last minute reservations at La Nourriture. I don't like using the Frederickson card, but it does come in handy. So 11:30, we're all set."
"What do we do in the meantime? That's two hours from now!"
"Tour of SFIT?"
"They've seen plenty of SFIT, and if they get their way, they won't ever see it again after today."
"Right, um… Tori Gate Park? Take a trolley, have a relaxing stroll, just kill time before lunch?"
"That's a good idea. Far enough away from most of the city so they'll feel safe but close enough that we can get to our reservation on time. Good thinking."
"Well, I am a genius." Hiro joked.
"And a very humble one at that." Karmi quipped back as she grabbed his hand. "C'mon, we're meeting them at their hotel. Let's go."
Leaving Baymax to help Cass and the mascots run the café, Hiro and Karmi trekked across town to meet her parents at their hotel. Arriving at the large building, Karmi immediately noticed them standing outside the double doors waiting for them. With a final squeeze of Hiro's hand and a quick shared reassured smile, Karmi let go of Hiro and jogged forward to greet her parents. Despite the situation, the family warmly greeted one another with hugs and tight holds.
"It's so good to see you, sweetie." Karmi's mom said as she let go of her daughter. "Have you been eating well? I still don't trust that cafeteria food."
"SFIT's cafeteria is state of the art, mom." Karmi chuckled, rolling her eyes at the familiar conversation. Her father patted his wife on the back as he spoke.
"The cafeteria isn't what I'm most concerned about. I'm just happy we haven't been mugged or held at laser-point or anything." Karmi sighed, knowing the direction the conversation was heading in. Surprising her, Karmi's dad noticed her discomfort and shifted the topic. "Of course that's not the whole reason we're here, is it?"
Hiro's face burned as three sets of eyes suddenly turned towards him. He gulped silently and put on his best smile, walking forward with an outstretched hand. "H-hi. I'm Hiro."
"Harold." Karmi's father answered, taking his hand and returning the handshake. As he greeted the parents, Hiro noticed where Karmi got her looks from. The sharp brows and brown hair were certainly from her father, who wore a wool sweater vest over a button up shirt and slacks. Karmi as it turned out was almost the spitting image of her mother, having the same nose and black hair tied up in a similar ponytail to go with her teal summer dress. The woman gave Hiro a quick look and extended her own hand for shaking, putting on a polite smile.
"Padme." She told him. Hiro nodded and stepped back, allowing Karmi to loop a protective arm around him. "We've heard a lot about you, Hiro."
"Lots of good things!" Karmi interjected.
"Mmm, that's not exactly the verbiage I'd use." Harold said, beginning to count off things on his fingers. "There was that incident with the ketchup. Constant battles of one-upmanship to be better than her. Getting her kicked out of the Trevor Trengrove lecture…"
"That one wasn't his fault!" Karmi cried out.
"But… you were right about Liv Amara." Harold finished, ignoring Karmi's outburst.
"And we've never had the chance to thank you for that, Hiro. We owe you a great deal for saving our daughter." Padme told him sincerely. Hiro and Karmi were stunned by the sentiment and didn't say anything. Finally, Karmi got her wits about her enough to elbow Hiro in the side to reboot him.
"Uh- you're welcome. I, uh… I did what anyone would've done to help. Despite our differences, deep down I feel like we always knew that we could be friends, and I wasn't going to let Liv's clone ruin that."
"Because of what you did and based on what Karmi has told us since, we're more than willing to forgive your rivalry with our daughter. Especially since it doesn't seem to be as one-sided as we initially believed." Harold and Padme both shot a look at Karmi, who grinned sheepishly at everyone present.
"So, with that said," Padme continued for her husband. "We want to know the real Hiro. Why don't we get started? We can talk as you show us around."
"Right." Karmi answered, clearing her throat. "We know just the place to go. You're going to love it."
As it turned out, Karmi's parents were indeed very impressed with Tori Gate Park. Padme smiled as she leaned down to study a plant in the botanical gardens. "I'm impressed that they managed to get this African Acacian Thorn to take to the soil. They must have a lot of resources to keep all of these unique plants as healthy as they would be in their natural biomes."
"So you're a botanist?" Hiro asked. Padme laughed in response and smiled.
"I'm a botanical geneticist, but I suppose in a very broad sense I'm a botanist, sure. My day-to-day involves studying plant DNA to see what we can learn from it and if it can be applied to human medicine."
"That's… really cool." Hiro said, amazed. "I see where Karmi gets some of her talents from."
"Yes." Padme nodded. "We always knew she was gifted, but had no clue until she got to middle school. Should've known she'd end up surpassing us by being a prodigy in biology."
"Mom, stop!" Karmi blushed happily.
"I'm just a mathematician." Harold offered with a raised hand. "Not as glamorous as my wife's job, I give you, but I do a lot of contract work for big tech companies."
"Every work with Krei Tech?" Hiro asked. Harold grimaced in response.
"Oh heavens, no. That bozo CEO couldn't offer me all the money in the world to work at a liability ridden company like Krei Tech. Wayyy too many accidents for my liking."
Karmi leaned in close to Hiro to whisper in his ear, a grin tugging at her cheeks. "He's very risk adverse. So we don't have a lot of omelets at our house as you can imagine."
Hiro quickly covered his mouth to keep from laughing out loud, which drew the parent's attention. Padme eyed them and crossed her arms. "What's so funny, you two?"
"Nothing!" Karmi answered quickly, again elbowing Hiro to get him under control. "We were just looking at the time and noticed that it's eleven o'clock. We should probably get going if we want to get to our lunch reservations."
"Reservations?" Harold asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "Where do we have reservations?"
"La Nourriture." Hiro answered. Now it was Padme's turn to be surprised.
"Isn't that the place known for its incredibly long wait list times?" she asked. "How'd you manage to get us a reservation?"
"One of our friends has certain connections." Karmi said, purposely leaving out some details.
"I see." Her mother responded, taking a moment to think over her next response. "Well in that case, I suppose we should be going."
The group left the botanical gardens and began their walk through Tori Gate Park to get to the nearest trolley station. They were about halfway there when both Hiro and Karmi's phones buzzed simultaneously and with the same custom notification vibration. They stopped in their tracks and looked at one another in surprise and worry.
"What are the odds they're just checking in on us?" Karmi asked quietly.
"In this group chat? Not likely." Hiro answered. Harold and Padme noticed that the two teens had fallen behind and stopped walking, turning around to see what had happened.
"Everything alright?" Harold asked.
"Excuse us for a moment." Karmi said, dragging Hiro a couple feet away so they could read their messages privately. Hiro pulled out his phone and opened up the messaging app. Much to their dismay, the message that had arrived did not bode well.
Fred, 11:03 AM: GIANT ROBOT SNAKE ATTACKING THE HISTORIC DISTRICT!
Both teens groaned as they read the message and looked at one another.
"What do we do?" Karmi asked.
"Well we can't both go. You need to stay and stall your parents, the rest of us can handle this." Hiro paused as another distress message from Fred came in. "Probably."
"I'll take them to lunch. This city is big enough that as long as you keep that thing away from downtown, they probably won't have any idea there was an incident today."
"Ok. Sorry about this."
"Hey, it's not your fault. Now call Skymax and get out of here." Hiro nodded and signaled for Skymax to meet him nearby in a secluded area of the park. With that done, the two walked back to Karmi's parents. "Mom, Dad, something has come up and Hiro needs to leave for a little while to take care of it."
"What's wrong?" Padme asked.
"Just a small issue at my aunt's café. No big deal, but I do need to go help out. So you three go enjoy lunch and I'll join you again later. Probably." Hiro smiled widely and gave Karmi a quick pat on the shoulder as he ran off to get suited up.
"Um… bye?" Harold questioned as Hiro quickly disappeared. Eager to distract her parents, Karmi stepped in between them and grabbed their hands, pulling them towards the exit.
"Now, who's hungry?"