Hiro carefully leaves the back alley, looking both ways before casually sauntering his way out onto the main street. First rule of bot fighting-make sure no one (especially the cops) saw you leave, and when you did leave act like you'd just been out and about doing your normal business, not competing in a slightly illegal betting ring.

It wasn't like Hiro had much of a choice about this. He'd just graduated from high school in May at the age of thirteen, and while most high school graduates were looking forward to heading to college in the fall, Hiro's abysmal foster parents weren't about to help him at all with tuition so that was out of the question. Even if he'd managed to get enough of a scholarship to actually go to some college his foster parents wouldn't have let him go-they were determined that now that he had so much "free time" it was time he started "contributing to the family's well being" (which basically meant that they wanted to squeeze as much money out of him as they could before he could legally leave care.) Hiro was too young for most respectable places to actually hire him, however, so they'd decided to put his skills with robotics to "good use", not seeming to care how much potential danger it put him in.

If Hiro was being honest with himself, he didn't hate the fights. He enjoyed building bots and he enjoyed going up against other people who were at least close to his level of skill. And after supervising him at the first few fights, as long as Hiro brought home plenty of money from his winnings the foster parents didn't care where he went or what he was doing so he had an excuse to be out of the house for the most part of the day which was fine by him. But the thing that he hated was the fact that he was being forced to do this-he didn't like to take orders from anyone, especially these people who weren't in any way, shape, or form family to him. He might be forced to call them his foster parents but they would never be his real mom and dad.

As Hiro makes his way down the street, he finds himself wondering yet again if he had any real family out there in the world somewhere. His parents were gone, he knew that and he wasn't about to kid himself trying to pretend like that wasn't the case. He'd only been three when they'd died in a car crash with him in the back seat, but even as young as he'd been the horrific memories of that were permanently seared in his brain. (He still had nightmares about it occasionally.)

But sometimes… Hiro couldn't be sure, but sometimes he thought he vaguely remembered someone else. An older sibling, maybe, but he couldn't remember their face or their name or even if they were a boy or a girl. He knew any chance of finding them was probably hopeless. With as fucked up as the foster system was, even if he someday was old enough to legally be allowed to start making inquiries he doubted he'd actually be able to locate them. For all he knew they were halfway across the country or even halfway across the world. He knew that it was ridiculous to miss someone he couldn't even remember. But all the same it was something that was always gnawing away at the back of his mind, even when he wasn't actively thinking about it-a hole in his heart that he didn't think could ever be filled.

Hiro was so lost in thought that he didn't even realize until it was too late that he was walking right into a large chalkboard advertisement board outside of a shop. He went down hard, but as he struggles to his feet he was pretty sure his pride was more bruised than his body.

"Whoa, are you okay?" a teenager who had been sweeping the sidewalk in front of the shop cries, hurrying over to help him up.

"I'm fine, thanks," Hiro mumbles (great, there had been a witness), before apologizing, "Sorry about your sign, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…"

"It's fine, no harm done," the other teen reassures him with a smile before looking him over with interest. Hiro felt himself growing slightly uncomfortable-what was this guy staring at?-until the boy suddenly says, "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Sunfire?"

"Like… Who?" Hiro asks, blinking in surprise. Who or what the heck was Sunfire?

"You've never heard of him?" the other teen asks, an oddly eager look on his face.

"No, I don't think so…" Hiro answers, shaking his head.

"Come on, then!" Before Hiro even knew what was happening, he found himself being dragged into the shop against his will. As it turned out, the shop was a music store, if the shelves of CD's and records were any sign. It wasn't a place Hiro would voluntarily go into on his own (he didn't really listen to any music but Fall Out Boy) but it seemed clean and so hopefully he wasn't getting pulled into anything too weird.

"Chamaco, what are you doing?" a raven haired man who was standing at the register calls to the teen. "Who's this?"

"A new friend, Tío Hector!" the teen calls back.

Wait, friend? Hiro thinks in confusion.

"I just wanted to show him that new demo CD we got from Sunfire!" the other teen continues.

"All right, Miguel, but don't take too long-remember you're on the clock," the older man answers, but from his smile Hiro could tell that he wasn't being too serious.

It was nice, Hiro couldn't help but think-Miguel apparently worked for his uncle but they seemed really close. He wished that he had a family member who cared about him that much.

"Here it is!" Miguel says, pulling Hiro into the back stock room of the shop and handing him a CD from on top of a small stack. "This is Sunfire! He's a local artist and he mostly does covers of songs but he's got a great voice! Music isn't his main job, I don't think, but Tío Hector and I found him online and met up with him at a small show he was doing and he gave us some sample CD's to hand out to try to get some interest in his work! Look at his picture, don't you think he looks a lot like you?"

Hiro stares down at the cover of the CD, trying to see the resemblance that Miguel apparently did. He wasn't sure that they had much in common-this Sunfire guy looked a lot taller and broader shouldered than him, and his hair was much shorter than Hiro's. The closest thing that he thought he might see the similarity on was their eyes, but that didn't mean much.

"I… Don't really see it," Hiro finally says, shaking his head.

"Well at least your voice sounds a lot like his, even if you don't think you look alike," Miguel answers eagerly, not seeming to be deterred. "That's probably what made me think of him in the first place when I heard you speak for the first time-I've got a good ear for voices and music!"

"I wouldn't know since I've never heard him," Hiro admits, shrugging and starting to hand the CD back to Miguel.

"Then take this and listen to him!" Miguel says, pushing the CD back into his hands.

"Oh, no, I couldn't-"

"Take it! Seriously, I think you'll like it!"

Hiro really had no intention of listening to some random guy singing but he figured the sooner that he did what this kid wanted the sooner he could get out of here so he finally accepts the CD.

"Come back and let me know what you think once you've listened to it!" Miguel calls, waving to Hiro as he leaves the store.

"Sure thing," Hiro answers with a tight smile, thinking to himself that from now on he'd make sure that he never took this way home again.

Hiro forgot all about the CD as soon as he got home-he tossed it on his desk and never gave it a second look. That is, he forgot about it until a few weeks later when he was desperately looking for something to cover up the sound of the shouting coming from downstairs. Far more often than Hiro liked his foster parents would get drunk and start arguing very loudly and sometimes violently. He'd learned from past experience not to try to sneak out of the house when this happened-if he did, he'd always end up with a whole new series of bruises when he got caught (and no matter how careful he was, he always got caught.) So locking himself in his room and blaring music was the best way that he'd found to get through it.

Since his phone was always confiscated the minute that he walked in the door (and keeping a secret phone was no use, his room was routinely searched for anything hidden) and the only computer in the house was downstairs the only option he had for playing music was a glitchy old CD player he'd gotten from a thrift store that was one of the few personal possessions he was allowed. Unfortunately, his foster parents had a bad habit of "borrowing" his CD's without permission and never returning them, and as he searches for his copy of American Beauty/American Psycho to no avail he realizes that the one CD he'd had left was gone too. Shit, shit, shit! What the actual fuck? What was he supposed to do now?

Hiro angrily kicks his desk, about to resign himself to his fate of lying in bed all night with the pillows pulled over his head to try to block out the noise when his eyes suddenly fall on the demo CD that was sitting on the corner of the desk. Apparently his foster parents hadn't taken that-probably had no interest in it-and while Hiro had had no intention of listening to it he was desperate for anything to cover up the noise and so he quickly pops the CD cover open and grabs the disk, putting it in his CD player and hitting the "play" button on it.

Music instantly fills the room and Hiro allows himself to relax, grateful for the sound buffer. He didn't really intend to pay attention to the music and was about to start tinkering on his favorite fighting bot, Megabot, when the instrumental opening to the song that was playing ends and the singing actually starts.

It's been a long day without you my friend. And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. We've come a long way from where we began. And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.

In spite of himself, Hiro felt his attention being hooked and held by the voice of the singer. The voice was mellow and soft, but somehow oddly haunting with an understated power to it, and without knowing why Hiro felt himself being totally captivated by it. Maybe part of it was the song-a song about loss and missing someone and not knowing how long it would be, if ever, before you saw them again. It wasn't until the song faded out that Hiro realized that there were tears running down his cheeks. How? How was it possible for a song to move him to tears when he'd become so numb to all the pain in his life that he hadn't cried in over five years?

There was only one song on the CD, but Hiro keeps playing it over and over again, memorizing every chord and note and nuance until he was sure that the entirety was burned permanently into his memory. And then he keeps playing it, singing softly along, until he finally falls asleep listening to it.

As soon as Hiro woke up the next morning and could get out of the house, he hurries downtown to the San Fransokyo public library. He knew that he needed to hit up at least one bot fight today to keep himself out of trouble, but he had more pressing matters to attend to first. He needed to use a computer that his foster parents wouldn't be able to trace to learn everything that he could about Sunfire. He didn't know why he felt such a need for secrecy, but somehow whatever it was that had happened to him last night when he'd listened to Sunfire's music felt so personal that he couldn't stand the thought of his supposed caretakers prying into it.

A quick google search for the website that was printed on the back cover of the CD brought up a simple but surprisingly well put together website with a brief bio of the artist and a link to his youtube channel. Hiro eagerly dove into listening to all of the songs that had been uploaded. Most of them were covers, but there were one or two original songs, including one which the artist introduced as "a song about someone he'd been missing for years but he hoped he'd find again someday." Hiro knew that it was absolutely insane, but somehow he had an odd feeling in his gut that Sunfire was speaking directly to him when he said that. But no, that was impossible! He'd never even met this guy!

Still… Even though he knew that he couldn't possibly be the person that Sunfire was looking for, that didn't change the fact that he wanted to meet him. Hiro didn't know why or how, but somehow his brain had decided that it wasn't going to rest until he'd had a chance to meet Sunfire and speak with him face to face.

If Sunfire had been a more popular artist, that might have been difficult. But as he seemed to be a little-known local artist, there was a listing on the website for a show that he would be performing at a local bar the following Friday. The cover charge was only $10, which Hiro could easily skimp off of his bot fight winnings, and as long as he hit up a bot fight the same night no one would have to know that he was going to the show too. The only problem that he had now was finding the patience to make it until next Friday night!

It felt like an eternity, but Hiro did somehow manage to make it through the wait. And considering he managed to score big at a fight right before the concert he was in a great mood, knowing that he had plenty of money to get in and that his foster parents wouldn't ask any questions about what he'd been doing considering the winnings he'd be giving them. All in all, he thinks as he settles down at a table near the makeshift stage Sunfire would be performing on, this night was off to a great start, and it would hopefully only get better!

It was about half an hour after Hiro's arrival that Sunfire finally makes his way onto the stage to start doing a mic check. Hiro had to physically hold himself back from racing right over to introduce himself to him-no, he couldn't distract him while he was working, and besides, he didn't want to seem like an over-eager fanboy! No, he would wait until after the show to be over, then he could try to casually wander over and introduce himself. Yeah, he could be cool about this. He could totally be cool! Or so he told himself until the show began and Sunfire started out with "See You Again" and Hiro just about lost it. If he'd thought the song was emotional hearing a recording of it, it was nothing compared to hearing the pure, raw emotion in Sunfire's voice ringing through the small bar. Everyone in the bar seemed to be captivated by it, even the people at the far end who clearly hadn't come for the show, but Hiro knew that none of them appreciated it as much as he did.

The show ran for about an hour, and even though most of the songs weren't quite as emotional as the first one they still held Hiro absolutely spellbound. He felt like he was coming out of a dream when the music finally ended, and he hated that it was over, but then he reminds himself of his goal of getting to finally meet Sunfire which he could finally do now that the show was over!

He tries to time his approach for the right time-he could see Sunfire packing up his guitar and other equipment, and he didn't want to disturb him. But on the other hand, he realizes, once Sunfire was completely packed up, what if he didn't stick around? What if he left and Hiro completely missed chance?

Hiro stews in uncertainty for a minute before finally realizing that he actually had a perfect opportunity. Trying to keep his gait and expression casual, he makes his way up to Sunfire, who was seeming to be having some difficulty with juggling all of his equipment, and asks, "Hey, do you need some help with that?"

Sunfire looks momentarily startled by the question, but then he looks up and sees Hiro and a smile actually forms on his face. "Wow, yeah, if you wouldn't mind helping that would be great!" he answers.

"I don't mind," Hiro answers with a shrug, trying to play it cool. "Just hand me whatever you need help with and I'll carry it wherever it needs to go!"

"Thanks, I really appreciate that!" Sunfire says with a grin, carefully handing Hiro a couple of bags with equipment in them. They were a bit heavier than Hiro was expecting, but he doesn't complain as he follows Sunfire out the back exit to where Sunfire's car was parked-the important thing was that he'd actually made contact. This was progress!

"I think that's everything," Sunfire says once they finally have everything safely loaded in the car. "Thanks again for your help!"

"You're welcome!" Hiro answers, only to realize that it sounded like Sunfire was getting ready to leave. No, he couldn't go yet! He'd barely had a chance to talk to him yet!

"D-Do you have a minute?" he finds himself stammering out-he didn't want to sound desperate, but he sort of was at the moment.

Sunfire seemed surprised by the question, but after a moment his expression softens. "Sure," he answers with a smile. "Do you want to go back inside?"

"Y-Yeah, sounds good!" Hiro agrees gratefully.

"Are you thirsty?" Sunfire asks once they're back inside the bar.

"A little, yeah," Hiro replies, not quite sure what was happening-was Sunfire offering to buy him a drink? Wait, just how old did Sunfire think he was? Not that Hiro would mind getting his first taste of alcohol tonight, but somehow Sunfire didn't seem the type of guy to buy someone underage a beer or anything like that.

As it turned out, he was right about that. Sunfire does go up to the bar, but he orders two cokes for them, and Hiro notices that he only takes his own drink, allowing the bartender to hand the other glass directly to Hiro, which was a relief considering everything that Hiro has heard about people slipping drugs into drinks. Wow, Sunfire really was that good of a guy….

"I was actually about to come back in to talk to you after I'd finished loading up if you hadn't come over to offer to help," Sunfire says as they find a booth at a quiet end of the bar.

"Y-You were?" Hiro stammers out, unable to believe what he was hearing. Wait, had Sunfire somehow felt the same connection that he had?

"Yeah," Sunfire answers, a concerned frown making its way onto his face. "I noticed you crying during the first song, and you were all by yourself-I was seriously worried about if you were okay."

"O-Oh…" Hiro feels himself flushing with embarrassment-shit, Sunfire had noticed that? Wow, what a great way to make a first impression...

"Are your parents here with you?" Sunfire presses, and Hiro had the horrible realization that Sunfire was legitimately trying to find out if he was in danger. While he appreciated the sentiment, he knew exactly how the foster system worked-the minute you got taken from one horrible place, you got dumped in a worse one, and he was better prepared to deal with the demons that he knew than ones who could put him through hells he couldn't even imagine right now.

"No, I'm here by myself," Hiro carefully answers, not wanting to give away too much information but also knowing that if he lied and said that he was with his parents he'd quickly get caught in the lie and make Sunfire even more suspicious. "My foster parents, um… They couldn't make it so they told me that it was okay for me to come by myself?"

"Foster parents, huh?" Sunfire says, and there was an odd light of understanding in his eyes. "I wonder if they're anything like mine were."

"Wait, you were in foster care too?" Hiro gasps-could Sunfire really understand what he was going through?

"Yep," Sunfire answers with a nod. "Got put in when I was thirteen, but fortunately I got taken in by a friend's family when I was fifteen so I wasn't in the system for too long. Still, I have memories that I…" He seems to involuntarily shiver and then shakes his head. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

"I've been in since I was three," Hiro tells him. "I can barely remember a time when I wasn't being bounced around from home to home until I was at this most recent one, and it's hell but I guess it could be worse…"

"Your foster parents don't know you're here tonight, do they?" Sunfire asks gently.

"No, but they're okay with me being out so please don't call the cops on me!" Hiro quickly answers, not wanting to get dragged home by police officers which would surely result in another painful beating.

"What? No, I'm not going to call the cops on you!" Sunfire hurries to reassure him. "If anything I'd like to call them on your foster parents for negligence but-"

"But I'll probably get sent somewhere even worse if you do!" Hiro cries.

"I know that's how it usually goes, so yes, don't worry, I won't," Sunfire promises. "I'm not going to do anything that's going to get you hurt."

"Thank you." Hiro gives him a grateful smile-thank goodness that Sunfire understood.

"Of course." Sunfire gives him a warm smile before asking curiously, "So, can I ask what brought you here tonight? I'm seriously hoping that you weren't trying to pass off a fake ID to drink because, no offense, I don't think you'll be fooling anyone."

"No, I wasn't," Hiro reassures him. "I-I came here to see you show. Someone introduced me to your music about a week ago, and I just… It spoke to me in a way I can't even describe, and when I saw that you were performing a show here, I just… I knew that I had to come see it and meet you."

"Seriously? Wow, that's extremely flattering, and a bit embarrassing," Sunfire says, rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks flushing a bit pink. "I never thought anyone would take my music that seriously, it's more of a fun hobby for me than anything-sort of a stress reliever from my main job. Not that I don't love my job! But inventing can get a bit frustrating when things don't go the way you want, and sometimes you just have to step away and clear your mind before trying again…"

"Wait, inventing?" Hiro asks curiously. No way, this wasn't something else that they could have in common, was it?

"Yep," Sunfire answers with a sheepish smile. "I work in a lab at SFIT under Professor Callaghan while I'm getting my doctorate degree, sort of a work-study program. Maybe you've heard of him?"

"Of course I've heard of Professor Callaghan!" Hiro cries, eyes lighting up. "He's my idol!"

"So you're into robotics too?" Sunfire asks, his voice sounding eager.

"Totally!" Hiro answers, getting excited in spite of himself.

"Have you ever thought of going to SFIT when you graduate? They've got a great robotics program if that's something you want to pursue!" Sunfire tells him with a grin.

"I… I've thought about it, but tuition would be a problem," Hiro answers slowly, not sure how to explain to Sunfire that he'd already graduated high school. "Even if I could get a scholarship, as soon as I'm out of care I'm going to have to find a job to support myself so I don't think it's a possibility…" There was definitely no way that he was going to tell Sunfire about being a bot fighter when Sunfire was a doctorate student at SFIT working with Professor freaking Callaghan!

"I see," Sunfire says with a small frown. "I do see where that could be difficult…"

"Not that I wouldn't love to go," Hiro sighs, allowing himself to be honest for a moment. "I mean, maybe I could be the next Tadashi Hamada and build something as incredible as Baymax…"

An odd look crosses Sunfire's face. "You know about Tadashi Hamada?"

"Of course, who doesn't?" Hiro answers eagerly. "God, I'd love to meet him and pick his brain, even for just five minutes… I know he works really hard to keep himself out of the media and so I've never even gotten to see a clear picture of him, but he's got to be brilliant if he made Baymax!"

"You really think that much of him?" Sunfire asks softly.

"He's pretty much my idol!" Hiro responds before a sudden thought crosses his mind. "Wait… You work with Professor Callaghan. Tadashi is supposed to work in his lab! D-Do you know him?"

"I…" Sunfire seems to be deliberating something for a moment before finally answering, "I actually am him."

"You're… What?" Hiro stares at him, open mouthed. No way. This couldn't be possible! Sunfire couldn't be Tadashi Hamada-could he?

"Here's my driver's license if you want proof," Sunfire answers with a sheepish smile, pulling out his wallet and opening it so that Hiro could see his license inside, with the name "Tadashi Hamada" clearly printed on it next to a picture of Sunfire. "Sunfire's just the stage name I picked to try to keep my professional life separate from my personal life."

"W-Wow…" Hiro stammers out, heart hammering in his chest, unable to believe that he was sitting at the same table as one of his heroes. "T-This is incredible…"

"Please don't freak out!" Tadashi begs. "I'm just a normal person, just like you!"

"Normal nothing, you're one of my heroes!" Hiro cries. "I am seriously geeking out right now!"

"That's really flattering, but I promise you, I'm really not anything that special," Tadashi says with an embarrassed smile. "In fact, most of my friends and especially my husband, Fred, will tell you what a huge dork I am…"

"It's still so, so cool getting to meet you!" Hiro answers eagerly. "I have so many questions for you, but I don't want to be a bother, I know you didn't come here to have some stranger nerding out over you..."

"You're not a bother, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you have," Tadashi answers firmly, an oddly determined glint in his eyes. "I just have one question before you ask me any."

"Y-Yeah? What is it?" Hiro asks, feeling a bit nervous, not sure what Tadashi had in mind. Was it some sort of tricky math problem or theorem to try to test his intelligence? Usually he would have been more than up to the task but he was so nervous now that he wasn't sure that his brain would function correctly.

"What's your name?" Tadashi asks with a smile. "I feel like I should know yours since you know mine."

"Oh, duh, of course!" Hiro laughs. "It's Hiro-Hiro Hamada."

"It's… What?" The smile falls from Tadashi's face, an expression that Hiro couldn't quite place replacing it.

"Hiro Hamada?" Hiro answers a bit uncertainly-had he said something wrong? "I-I swear I'm not making this up, that really is my last name! People always used to ask me if I was related to you and of course I told them no, it's probably just a really common last name, I mean there's no way that the two of us could be-"

His voice falters off when Tadashi unexpectedly stands up, turning to face away from him. Shit, shit, shit! He had apparently seriously fucked up, but how? All he'd done was tell Tadashi his name!

He was about to try to stammer out some sort of apology for whatever he'd done wrong, but then Tadashi finally turns back around, and to Hiro's complete and utter shock, there were tears in his eyes.

"H-Hiro?" Tadashi says softly, and before Hiro could even react, Tadashi was suddenly right in front of him, cupping his face in his hands, eyes desperately searching for… something. Hiro didn't know what he was looking for, but he was starting to feel slightly freaked out.

"T-Tadashi? W-What's going on?" Hiro stammers out.

"I-I think it's you…" Tadashi continues, as if not hearing his question. "Y-You look just like him, and I think you're about the right age… H-How old did you say you were when you went into foster care?"

"Three?" Hiro answers in a small voice.

"And how old are you now?"

"T-Thirteen?"

"Oh my gosh…" Tadashi finally lets Hiro go, a look of what, to Hiro's complete and utter shock, looks like joy on his face as he looks down at him. "After all these years… I-I can't believe that I finally found you!"

"Found me?" Hiro repeats, part of him wondering if Tadashi was going crazy, but another small, hopeful part of him wondering if maybe, just maybe…

"Hiro, I know you probably don't remember me," Tadashi says softly, kneeling down to Hiro's level and taking his hands in his own. "But I'm your nii-chan-your big brother!"