Hey guys! Thanks for reading the prologue and here's Chapter One! Thank you to BigHero6Fan18 for favoriting! Please review for faster updates, constructive criticism is always appreciated!
—BH6ORBUST
TADASHI
Hiro's going to kill us both.
I thought I could teach him how to ride a motorcycle. I might be wrong.
"Twist the throttle," I instruct him. "Gently."
He revved the engine so hard that the motorcycle shot forward and smashed against the garage. It hit head-on, so neither of us hit the door, but the bike promptly toppled sideways and we both fell onto the driveway.
I sit up slowly, rubbing the scrape on my chin. It's a good thing we were wearing helmets, otherwise we would've been hurt worse.
Hiro pushes himself up next to me. His elbow and cheek are scraped, but he seems all right.
I gesture at the motorcycle. "Try again or get medical attention?"
"Try again," he mumbles. "I'm fine."
I roll my eyes. "You're always fine."
"Yep."
We try again. This time, Hiro's hand slips, he knocks me off the bike, and crashes into the garage door again.
Hiro yells with pain as I hit the concrete and I scramble up almost immediately. I don't think I'm injured—I mostly caught myself, but Hiro is definitely hurt.
Hiro is curled on the driveway next to the toppled motorcycle, clutching his ankle. His face is twisted with pain and he looks like he's holding back tears. His ankle looks normal, but it's starting to bruise, so it's probably injured.
Baymax comes waddling out of the café, stopping when he sees Hiro. "I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the trouble?"
"Crashed the motorcycle," Hiro mumbles. "I think my ankle's broken."
"I will scan you now," says Baymax. "Scan complete."
"Unbelievable," I mutter.
"You have mildly fractured your ankle and you have various slight epidermal abrasions. I recommend a splint and some band-aids. How did you break your ankle?"
"I ran into the wall," Hiro says. "My ankle got caught between the garage and the bike."
"Does it hurt when I touch it?"
He reaches out toward Hiro's ankle. Hiro tries to protest, but he can't get up and fails to stifle a cry of pain when Baymax touches the fracture.
Baymax straightens up. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"
"Zero!" Hiro says, his eyes watering. "I'm fine."
"I will create a splint for your ankle."
I walk the bike back into the garage while Baymax fixes Hiro's ankle. I was afraid something like this would happen.
We're barely done with the motorcycle before Aunt Cass suggests driving lessons.
I sit in the back seat as Aunt Cass instructs Hiro on the basics of driving a car. I'm not going to be surprised if he crashes again.
"All right, now gently press the gas…" Aunt Cass is saying to Hiro, which usually means we're about to shoot forward and crash into a tree.
Hiro presses the gas and, as predicted, the car jolts forward. There aren't any trees in the empty parking lot we're using to practice, so we don't crash, but the car is moving a lot faster than Aunt Cass intended. She tells Hiro to brake, but he hits the gas instead and we go even faster until we hit the curb and Hiro finally manages to brake.
Aunt Cass takes us home and then says she's going to the DMV to pick up Hiro's learner's permit and that she'll be back in half an hour. The café is closed today, so at least we don't have to work while she's gone.
Forty-five minutes later, she's still gone.
"Maybe she's stuck in traffic?" Hiro suggests.
I don't answer. I hope that's all it is.
An hour passes, then two, then three, then six. She's never out this long, and especially without telling us.
I pull out my phone and dial her number. It goes straight to voicemail. I call back. Nothing. I try again.
Still nothing.
I give up and call the police, telling them my aunt left home seven hours ago and hasn't come back. They reply that they're taking care of it and they'll send someone over in a few minutes. I try to protest, but they hang up.
The thing I'm worried about is that they had to send someone in person to tell me what's going on.
That can only be bad.
Half an hour later, the doorbell rings. I open the door to find a young, tired-looking policeman.
"Hello," he says politely. "Are you the nephews of Cassandra Elise Rowan?"
I nod and invite him in. I'm fairly certain you should always be courteous to a policeman.
"Boys, I'm sorry to tell you this, but…" The officer sighs. "Your aunt was in an accident on her way home."
He stops, glancing between us as if analyzing our reactions. Neither of us move and he continues. "Her car was hit directly, and she did not survive the accident. She was in possession of a learner's permit issued to Hiro Hamada at the time." He slides a small card over to Hiro. "Legal guardianship of her younger nephew passes to Tadashi Hamada."
The officer turns to me. "You are now the owner of her business and her remaining possessions. The government is unable to offer a consolation sum as the new legal guardian is over eighteen."
He stands and picks up his hat. "I'm sorry, boys."
I nod. "Thank you, officer."
He closes the door and drives away. I turn my back to the door and slide down it, burying my face in my arms.
In all the times we've been kidnapped, struggling for survival, or presumed dead, we always had Aunt Cass. Always came home to her warm embrace and her incredible cooking. For ten years, she's been all the family we had left.
And now, for the first time, she's gone.
For the first time, we really are alone.
