Chapter 3

The door was shut to the Hamada lab as Hiro sat at a work table in one corner that was covered with metallic parts, circuits, and bins containing even smaller pieces. The fog from that morning had completely burned off by the bright early afternoon sun. The sounds of action movie and anime soundtrack scores that came from his tablet helped break the silence in the room. That, along with the occasional snore. The robotics genius had dozed off earlier, his head resting on his left arm on the table. His right hand still loosely held a tool.

It was the chiming sound of a text coming through on his tablet that had awoken him with a start. Hiro reached over to pull his tablet closer, to also check the time. He also wiped off some of the drool he just noticed at the corner of his mouth and cheek. Yawning, the teen typed his response to GoGo that he was still going to stop by the Kyoto Kafe for lunch, and then remembered to turn off the music before shutting down his tablet.

He just packed his bare essentials, namely the tablet and the Japanese workbooks for that class afterwards, plus his lunch and skateboard, before dashing out the door. It was not something Hiro did often, just only when he was running late, but after getting to the first floor of the big lab building, he put down his skateboard to coast the rest of the way out.


Gogo already had finished her lunch, but she stuck around for Hiro to get to the Kafe since she still wanted to talk. With the schedule being as it was, the team settled on meeting for lunch at the Kyoto Kafe on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. For the last few weeks, it had been touch and go for many of them, due to the demands of part time work schedules or just needing that time to finish other assignments and projects by the end of this semester.

The mechanical engineer did find it oddly ironic that it was just Hiro who came for the last few days. She concluded that was because they had their Japanese class to go to an hour afterwards, which also was held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Unless, the others really did think the two of them needed more time together. Wasabi, on the other hand, he had his own set of reasons.

"Hi," Hiro promptly slid into to the bench seat of the booth opposite to GoGo, banging his skateboard and backpack against the bench in his haste.

The sophomore took a moment, chewing her gum to notice his pensive expression that hid his gap tooth smile this time. His bangs were starting to hang low over his eyes too.

"Have a good nap?" GoGo asked, matter of factly.

"What? No..." Hiro swept his hair back out of his eyes, in confused denial. "I mean, how...?"

GoGo just ran a finger on her cheek, mirroring the red lines she had seen on his. "You gotta mark from your sweatshirt," she whispered.

"Scrap," the teen quickly rubbed his face, hoping to make them go away.

She decided to not ask what time he actually went to bed. "What was your question in that text last night?"

"Uhm," he was reaching over to grab his lunch from his backpack. "Yeah, it was about that time we went to Akuma Island, and you guys found other videos. Were there more on what happened?"

Again, she waited a beat to pop her gum before responding. That question took guts from Hiro's behalf, knowing full well as to why he himself didn't know. The speedster kept her voice down, just because she didn't like discussing these kind of superhero matters in public. "There were other files, but we didn't have time to go thru them all. Honey only copied that one about Callaghan's daughter."

But since we were more worried about you, we didn't look at anything else...she finished the rest of the thought to herself.

He did look rather stiff in his motions after lifting his tablet up out of his pack. "I'm getting the feeling something else happened, keeping them from going back. Why else would it be quarantined like that?"

"Because something else happened," she simply repeated his line. And to change that topic, she grabbed a protein drink from her bag, then swapped it out with his energy drink.

"Hey!" Hiro stared at her, wondering why she did that.

"Try that instead. Drinking more fluids and milk will flush out more of the lactic acid buildup so your muscles don't get as sore. Caffeine's a diuretic, making it worse." She insisted. There was no doubt at this point he was sore from the push-ups yesterday. Fred was Fred, but it still bothered her that she had lost her temper with the both of them. GoGi thought she had gotten better about controlling those kind of outbursts.

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro teased her. "Except I'm lactose intolerant."

"Lactose intolerant and allergic to peanuts... sucks to be you." GoGo huffed, teasing him back. The peanut allergy became an unlikely topic during his second week of classes back in September when Fred came in with a PB & J. Even though Hiro tried to tell them he wasn't severely allergic, Wasabi still made the mascot sit at another table. "But, this stuff is not made with milk or nuts. Just drink it, short-stuff."

After taking two bites from his sandwich, he did. Just not without one more protest. "I did grow two inches last month!"

"I'm still taller than you."

Hiro stuck his tongue out at her. Then he looked at the ingredients on the bottle. "Not sweet enough..."

At risk of also sounding like Wasabi, however, GoGo had to bite her tongue about what she thought of him drinking too much caffeine and sugar, on top of staying up all hours of the night. He'll be forever short and slight at that rate. So a different topic then.

"Hiro, when did you start having the dreams?"

He gave her a look that must have indicated he wasn't expecting that question, while he swallowed a gulp of the protein drink. "A couple months ago."

"Do you have them a lot?" Her concerned eyes were on him. That time frame meant they must have started after they caught Callaghan.

"Not really," he looked down. "At first they didn't make sense though. Just scary shapes and stuff."

She just watched him fidget with the lid from the bottle.

"The inside of the portal was like being inside a nebula in outer space, except it wasn't," Hiro sighed. "Then the shapes started attacking."

"Shapes."

"Microbots. They are all in there, hiding in the gases and debris inside of, of… that place," Hiro narrowed his eyes to emphasize their elusive and scary nature.

"But they are also nothing without the neurotransmitter!"

"Unless someone found a way to make another. Primus knows what other... freaky, malicious, life forms are in there!" He was getting a little bit more animated as he spoke about this.

At this point, GoGo rolled her eyes. "Okay, how many late-night, scary monster movies have you also been watching?"

"I'm serious!" Hiro gasped, holding his hands out.

"We're basing all this off of your overactive, post-traumatic nightmares." GoGo sat back against the seat of her booth. "What am I supposed to think?"

"If I didn't think this was something, I wouldn't have told you guys in the first place." Hiro responded with that subtle hurt tone.

GoGo sighed, guessing that he was very likely trying to mess with her again. "Don't go there."

They were quiet for a while as a result. Hiro finished the last of his sandwich, and ate a couple more chips, before he glanced at her briefly. His eyes went back to his lunch again, still not saying anything.

She sighed. "Okay… Just let me know when you're ready for us to go back to the island." The silence continued a moment longer, before he finally took the next stab.

"Why are you so tough on Fred?" He asked her.

GoGo popped her gum, then chewed it as she shook her head. And yet, the question she had was why Hiro liked someone as weird and obnoxious as Fred. Well, apart from it possibly being a Hamada thing, since it was Tadashi who had befriended the man-child and invited him to join their club.

"Because... he liked me," GoGo sighed, "But Fred's absolutely not my type."

Hiro just gave her the bugged-out look.

"He didn't tell you?"

"Not exactly."

"Explains that then," GoGo had her eyes on the table. She had other reasons too, like the fact she also had a short fling with Wasabi. "He's jealous."

Hiro laughed once, trying to hide his smile.

"All that means is that I just like you as a little brother." She leveled her eyes with him. "For now."

He just nodded, not appearing phased yet by that fact. Hiro just crumpled up what was left of his lunch to throw away.

"That's part of why I was so mad yesterday," GoGo looked at him, hoping this would make more sense without upsetting him too much. It wasn't the whole story, but it was what she was going to tell him for now. "It's just that you're fourteen, and- let's face it, I'm not ready to think of you as a boyfriend, yet."

"Yeah… sorry." It was all he could say, his eyes shifting from her to his hands on the table.

Smooth move, girl. Now he's hating himself again. Change it up.

"Okay, so you know that when I was in high school, I was big into street racing, right?" She said, chewing her gum casually. "It's a guy's sport... so yeah, I got a lotta.. 'feedback' from them, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah," He was nervously flipping the bottle's lid in his fingers again.

"Just pisses me off when guys are like that, that's all." She shrugged, hoping that made better sense.

Hiro pressed his lips together in thought, still playing with the lid between his fingertips. "How come you don't have a car here? Was it because of the freshman/sophomore rule?"

"I wish," she popped her gum. "My license is still suspended."

"Oh... For how long?" He didn't bother with asking why, because he somehow understood.

"Til next year." GoGo checked her watch, seeing it was time to go. She stood up. "That's part of the reason why I am working on such a fast bike. No motor… no need for a license. No reason to be pulled over."

"Slick." Hiro followed suit, appearing very much relieved to be going as he got his things together.


Saturday mornings were usually touch and go. If the weather was nice, or people in general have some reason to be up and at 'em, then the café was busy. Which also meant that Aunt Cass was literally dragging Hiro out of bed to come down and help. And by help, it meant waiting on and cleaning tables.

Only because Aunt Cass hired an eighteen year old barista to come in and work most mornings now. His name was Steve, and was also a guitar player for a praise and worship cover band. He looked the part too, as there were tattoos on his arms (which he kept covered up with long sleeves), some piercings in his ears, and his brunette hair had the tips bleached and dyed red. Steve probably wore it like a mohawk if he was performing, as the sides and back of his hair were cut close with clippers. But while working, it was pulled back into a ponytail, otherwise making Hiro think he looked like Sokka from the Last Airbender series. Steve certainly was quite the character too, using juggling and other creative twists when making the drinks - no doubt the reason why Aunt Cass hired him.

Today, however, Wasabi came by to help with a new website and app design Aunt Cass was thinking about doing for her café. Hiro was going to work on the app, but Wasabi wanted to make sure the information between the two platforms were the same. There were a number of other tech gurus in the coffee shop that morning too, talking about start-ups and other innovations.

And Fred, he just happened to be passing by when he noticed them there. He was on his way to advertise with his sign spinning skills for a pre-black Friday sale at a store a few blocks down. Of course, free coffee and donuts are always hard to resist.

Hiro slid behind Aunt Cass standing at the register to take over the three coffees he made to his teammates.

She caught him by the arm on the way out from behind the counter. "Hey, those aren't 'fully loaded' this time, are they?" Aunt Cass whispered.

"No," Hiro tried to sound truthful.

"Okay, sweetie," she winked at him. She didn't mind the coffee being on the house for them, but the excessive number of shots and syrup he had been putting in them was not good.

After setting the tray on the table, Hiro pulled the top part of his apron over his head and flipped it down, just to indicate he wasn't working at the moment. Kneeling in a chair, he leaned over to see what Wasabi had so far.

"I'll let you know when this is ready, then after Ms. Cass approves, you can finish up the app," he explained. Then picked up his coffee cup with a frothy cappuccino, "And thanks."

"Sure," he picked up his tablet that was on the table, then pulled out the keyboard that was in the back cover to attach to the side.

"Looking cool," Fred agreed, watching as the physics scientist flipped back and forth between the coding screen and the graphic webpage in his web programming software.

"Hear anything yet about the grant you applied for?" Wasabi asked Hiro, his eyes still on the string of code he was typing.

"Not yet. Still waiting," Hiro frowned, also looking at his screen.

"Hey guys!" Aunt Cass came over to greet them warmly. "How's it looking so far?"

Wasabi promptly switched the screens to show her the website in real time, while also describing the features they discussed.

Suddenly, and simultaneously, the alerts chimed on Hiro's tablet and on the phones between Wasabi and Fred. It was the Big Hero team alert from GoGo, and before they could act that was when the whole café felt like it was dropped. That was just the first tremor, and then the place really started to lurch.

"Oh no. Everyone, take cover!" Aunt Cass warned everyone, ducking under the table they were at. Others closer to the entrance exited outside as well.

Hiro quickly concluded this wasn't going to be one those little tremors they usually have. The cups and laptops from everyone's tables came crashing to the floor, along with anything and everything else that was loose throughout the café.

Instead of taking cover, the three instinctively looked over to the large windows up front in horror. It felt like a minute had passed, and the quaking still continued.

Fred grabbed his sign and a tray off the floor to use as shields as he ran toward one window that already started to crack. Hiro and Wasabi picked up two small tables no one was using in an effort to also shield the people up front from the glass.

Before the two could get there, the large window panes up front had exploded inwards from the buckling pressure coming from the ground below. At least they were in place when the front awing collapsed next, with clay roof tiles raining down through the damaged entry way.

"We need to get out of here!" Wasabi shouted, worried that the place was going to collapse next. But they still held their ground for the next few moments, hoping for it to stop shaking.

Damn... why... That was all Hiro could think, his teeth gritted as he stood awkwardly with the table over a mother with her two children. The mother and one of the little boys were bleeding from the glass fragments. The younger one was sheltered more under her jacket, still inside the stroller. He gently let the table drop behind them into the pile of rumble before taking a step back.

The quaking of the earth had stopped at that point, but his hands had not stopped shaking from the adrenaline rush. "Baymax, suit up. And call 911." Hiro pushed a button to speak into his comm-link watch. He left his robot in the garage earlier, so he hoped his healthcare companion was able to respond quickly. He really could use his help, like now.

Hiro knelt down to the mother with her children, who were now screaming and crying in shock of what had just happened. "It's okay, I can help… you'll be okay," he first assessed their situation, not touching them yet because of the blood. Hiro heard Wasabi and the others around him talking also, but he first had to focus on keeping his own calm.


AN: Ah... there be the action! *laughs evil like*

Again, I give much of my credit to the deleted scenes videos Disney had revealed, as well as some of the research I have done about SF earthquake history. Also, kudos to author 'wreckingduty' for a similar idea from her/his fanfic "Beyond the Portal" in reference to Hiro's dreams in this fic. (although, my fic will not follow in the same manner as that one.)