Big Hero 6 is not mine, if it was, a lot of scenarios would be going down here, you know?
If you asked Hiro how he pictured his college debut, he would have given his signature smirk and told you it would be "a piece of cake." At least, that was what he told the gang, but innerly, the poor boy was gittery. Strolling past the competition, Hiro felt small and out of place. It was an insecurity that he couldn't quite adapt to no matter how many years he has had to deal with it, so he pressed it down.
Out of sight but never quite out of mind. So for now, he'll focus on the task at hand. He wanted into this school. He wanted to find purpose in his life -
Something that always eluded him.
With that desire, formed deep doubts, like 'what if Callaghan isn't impressed? What if I mess up? What if my zipper is open through the whole thing?' At the last thought, Hiro forced himself to not look down. How uncool would it be if someone caught him looking at his zipper?
Despite the gang's best attempt to ease him, his gitters still stuck. Now he faced the crowd, on stage, feeling bare before their eyes. "Hello." the microphone screeched, causing his anxiety to rise. Hastily, he apologized.
'What do I do?' it was a quiet prayer to God to send something to swallow him, anything.
Eyeing his brother, who stood beside him, he begged for any profound advice. Tadashi smiled at Hiro, gesturing for the kid to breath and proceed. The headband sat cozily on Dashi's head, awaiting for orders of its own.
Following the other's advice, the young Hamada began anew. Voice shaking, he pressed on. "My project is about microbots." Taking one out of his pocket, he presented it to the crowd, ignoring their unimpressed look. "It may seem small but add it to the rest of its friends and things become interesting."
That was Tadashi's cue: as Hiro spoke, a hoard of microbots unleashed themselves from the bins the gang rolled in. Slithering to the platform where the hamadas stood, they began their act. The audience watched the bots morph into one as Hiro became more confident with his presentation.
Tadashi flawlessly executed his part with building a miniature tower underneath his brother and even transporting the boy upside down from the ceiling. He laughed as Hiro high fived a robotic hand he passed by. At the end of their performance, the brothers bowed politely, dashi making the bots do the same.
The whole room erupted in applause, making Hiro light on the inside. Usually his creations causes mischief but today, people actually liked his work. It felt good but what really highlighted his evening was being approached by the owner of the biggest tech company in the world - Alistair Krei.
As a businessman, whose heart was a bottomless piggy bank, Alistair's search for talent never ceased, and poor Hiro screamed of gold.
At least, Hiro's invention did.
However, he wasn't the only one looking at Hiro. Overhearing Krei's proposal to buy the microbots, Callaghan intervened. Inviting himself into the conversation, the professor commented; "Krie's right. Your microbots are an inspired piece of tech." He praised before adding. "You can continue to develop them or you can sell them to a man who is only guided by his self interest." He didn't try to hide his disdain towards the end.
"Robert - I know how you feel about me..." Alistair tried, only to be ignored while Hiro looked between the two, confused about the subtle fight he was witnessing.
Cutting Krei off, Callaghan urged Hiro to pick a side, stealthy manipulating him by throwing in Krie's unorthodox reputation. "It's your choice Hiro but you should know that Mr. Krei has cut corners and ignored sound science to get where he is."
"That's just not true." Krie tried to defend himself. He could see Hiro losing interest in his offer as the boy hung on Callaghan's words.
It only worsened as Callaghan added "I wouldn't trust Krei Tech with your microbots...or anything else." At that, the professor threw Krei a hateful glare.
It was Hiro's choice.
A choice where one could open doors to places faster than the young boy could run through. Yet, as tempting as it was, Callaghan's warning brought up some concerns. Hiro liked science and being a genius; these were gifts God blessed him with. It also helped him make lots of money on the side...until the cops took it away.
His work was something special, a transition of sort in the boy's life. A start of a new beginning where his work would be doing good for once. So would selling his latest work be prostituting the gifts he was given and for money that would fade away?
'How would Tadashi answer this?' he pondered, even though his brother was still beside him, watching the whole thing take place. Weighing the options, Hiro decided. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Krei, but they're not for sale."
That wasn't what the rich man wanted to hear but there wasn't much he could do about it except make his exist. Tadashi kept his eye on the man, from the moment Krie asked his little brother to see the microbot. As Krie began walking away, dashi stopped him. "That's my brother's." He pointed to the Microsoft in Krie's hand.
Anybody suspicious to his professor was suspicious to him.
Once out of earshot, Callaghan bestowed his acceptance letter to Hiro, commenting, "I look forward to seeing you in class." before walking away himself.
It was a dream shared by two, binding one to the other. If only one saw what was going through the other's mind, maybe the rabbit hole could have been avoided.
In this moment in time, all Hiro knew was that he made it into the school. He could be anything he wanted, push boundaries pass the ceaseless sky, and work alongside his brother.
It brought him back to good times. The youthful days where Tadashi and he built robots together, coming up with many ideas and their uses. He couldn't recall much of the stuff they made in the past - he was so little after all, but he remembered how much fun he had with his niichan. How well they worked as a team.
It was almost unreal to the boy. Most brothers fought and picked on one another but not them. Hiro literally terrorized his older brother growing up, yet, said sibling never lost his temper. Dashi always dotted on the kid.
Pushing those nagging memories aside for the time being, Hiro basked in the sweetness of twilight. Celebrating his newfound niche, Hiro was certain this was a dream but as night ends, morning comes, bringing with it a harsh wake up call.
As the gang headed for aunt Cass's cafe, the brothers stayed behind, Tadashi wishing to share a private moment with his dear brother. That moment was short lived as a fire broke out in the building, tricking off the alarm systems.
Hearing screams, urgently, Tadashi ran to the institute with Hiro in tow. Helping the nearest person, he questioned "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," The girl assured, coughing a bit, and pointing to the school. "But I think professor Callaghan is still in there."
Having a heart like Tadashi's sometimes came with its downfall. As much as Hiro admired the older boy, he wished sometimes dashi would check with his head first before following his heart. That wish amplified as Hiro tried to stop his brother from running in the flaming building.
But Tadashi wouldn't listen.
"Someone has to help."
'Why does that have to be you?' Maybe it was selfish of Hiro to think that. To want his brother safe...to want someone else to pick up the responsibility so his brother wouldn't have to.
Unable to shake the awful images of an exploding building, and the firefighters finding Tadashi's burnt remains - Hiro did what his brain screamed not to do.
He ran after the older one, screaming at the top of his lungs "Tadashi! Tadashi!" over the sounds of the fire alarms. Frantically, he searched, his mind conjuring up darker scenarios after another, adding to the fear already pounding his guts. The lad didn't notice how easy he could breathe in the inferno or how the heat bothered him none. Hiro's mind was focused solely on his brother.
"Tadashi, where are you?" At that, flaming wood fell from the ceiling, forcing Hiro to jump back. One last time, he called, begging, "Tadashi, answer me if you can hear me!"
"Hiro." It was a cough - like noise, but it was all Hiro needed. He dashed towards the voice, overjoyed when he saw his brother ok. However, Tadashi was losing oxygen fast and his professor still was nowhere in sight.
His little brother pulled his arm, desperate to get him out into the fresh air. With his mind becoming fuzzy, Tadashi had no strength to argue so he allowed the pull to guide him.
They made it in the nick of time. As soon as they were out and a couple feet away, the building finally collapsed. Firefighters were now at the scene, doing their best to hose down remaining flames. They took Tadashi from Hiro, assuring the kid that the older boy would be alright.
Hiro thanked God that his brother was alright...that they both survived and now, the danger was over. Silently, he prayed that God would protect his brother, that the lack of air didn't cause serious damage to that brilliant mind. He also hoped Tadashi wouldn't be angry with him for stopping him from finding the professor.
There was no need to worry about the second part as said professor came up from behind the kid. "What happened?" the horror on his face mirrored hiro's as his eyes roamed what use to be part of the school.
Not knowing what to tell the teacher, Hiro simply stated, "A fire broke out."
"And Tadashi?" Hiro heart sank a little, "Was he in the building when it happened?"
Hiro shook his head. "We thought you were still inside, so Tadashi ran in to get you." Part of him was now angry, blaming that girl for saying Callaghan was in the building. If she never said that, then his brother wouldn't have to go to the hospital.
"I'm sorry, hiro." Callaghan offered, placing a hand in the teen's shoulder's and giving it a firm squeeze. Things were working his way - much better than he planned as Callaghan secretly inserted a virus in Hiro. He had discovered that the replica couldn't actually feel what he couldn't see. So if he saw a squeeze, then it was nothing more to it.
Clueless to the other's plans, Hiro shrugged off the hand. It's not that he wasn't grateful for the professor's kindness. It just made no sense for the teacher to apologize to him. "Thanks, but you didn't start the fire."
