Driving along a rolling hill of a serenely quiet San Fransokyo neighborhood within the Sotobori-Sunset district, Hiro slowed his red scooter when he arrived at a rather large Victorian-style house. After parking it between two other cars, he took a red compartment off and placed it on the floor, "Looks like we're here, buddy. Let's go."

The compartment suddenly released open, a white vinyl balloon inflated and expanded quickly to form his robotic healthcare companion. "/All right/" Baymax replied tersely, the squeaking of his footsteps promptly following the young boy as he walked up the steps to the doorway. Hiro abruptly stopped at the door, his hand halted right before the doorbell.

Hiro looked to his companion, a nervous smile on his face, "This still feels weird going here, but I think it's a good idea we have to try…" Baymax simply nodded in agreement and Hiro nervously pressed on the button. He could hear the ringing echo throughout the large Victorian house, immediately followed by the barking of several dogs within.

The door promptly opened, as Hiro looked up to see Professor Granville's stern expression that nowadays seemed to have a hint of a fond smile populating it at his presence. "Good afternoon, Mr. Hamada. Please come in," she stepped to the side as Hiro took in the new surroundings of his professor's home. "Oh, thanks for having me, Professor Granville," Hiro smiled as he looked around. As he would have expected, there was an air of regal charm and many of the walls were adorned with shelves of varying books as is customary, if not mandatory, for those steeped within academia.

Before he could step further in, he heard the tiny legs of a scraggly small tan dog scurry off towards Baymax. It immediately started pawing at the vinyl body of the robot, an incessant rubbing ensued at a rapid speed. "/Hello, Oppenheimer./" Baymax bent down to pet the small dog, but it dodged around and rushed at Hiro's feet. Without warning, Oppenheimer managed to grab Hiro's shoes and yank them off of his feet. The boy yelped as he fell into Baymax's arms, "Hey! Those are mine!"

Oppenheimer quickly scurried off out of the living room with them, but Granville simply chuckled lightly, "I should have told you that we take our shoes off in my household. But Oppenheimer took care of that. Don't worry, Mr. Hamada. They'll be tucked neatly for your retrieval in a pile with other assorted goods." The boy groaned softly, "Um, okay, if you say so."

As he stood up on his own from Baymax's hold, this time he could hear the heavier paws of a white fluffy dog that rushed towards him. Hiro screamed as the large dog proceeded to hop excitedly atop the boy, pinning him to the ground as she licked his face and wagged her tail, "H-Hello, Curie! Nice to see you again! Y-You can get off now, p-please!" He chuckled as the dog continued to lick his face, but he couldn't seem to lift the large dog off at all. Try with all of his might but the large canine just wouldn't budge.

Professor Granville knelt down and reached her arm around the mass of white fur, casually standing up and lifting the dog with comical ease as she nuzzled herself into the fluff. She smirked, "It would seem that my dogs have become quite fond of you already, Mr. Hamada. Even Fermi seems excited to see you."

Getting off the floor, Hiro turned around to see a rottweiler sitting on the other side of the living room. Much to the boy's dismay, he immediately noticed the mischievous grin that remained on the rottweiler's face. "Oh, you… Hey, Fermi…" Hiro's eyes narrowed at the troll of a dog, gazing at it suspiciously as he sensed the troublesome plotting the rottweiler was undoubtedly scheming. And he did not want to know what trouble the dog could be bringing.

With Curie in her arm, Granville stepped over to the rottweiler as she affectionately nuzzled his chin, "Perhaps, you can watch them again for me. Your aunt seems to approve of you having a real summer job away from your enthusiastic gaming contraptions. What do you say?" Hiro continued to eye the rottweiler, who now seemed to raise its eyebrows like it agreed but only for the dog's entertainment.

Hiro promptly shook his head, laughing, "As much as I enjoy your dog's, umm, company. I think I'll pass on dog sitting on a regular basis, thanks. But if you really need the help, I could look after them again." Granville smiled slightly, "Very well."

She grabbed a small fanny pack and handed it to Baymax, "I trust you have read my instructions down to the last detail, so could you watch my babies for me at my backyard, please?" Promptly receiving the fanny pack and placing it on himself, the marshmallow robot nodded as he grabbed Curie into the other arm, "/Certainly, Professor Granville. Good dogs, please come with me./" In his other hand, Baymax took out a small crab chew toy from the fanny pack and squeezed it. The squeaky sounds quickly got Fermi's attention, as the rottweiler excitedly followed Baymax out of the room.

Professor Granville smiled as she watched them head out, then turned to her protégé, "I'm sure you had some things you wished to discuss with me, Mr. Hamada. Please, follow me." With a nod, Hiro followed his professor into her kitchen and took her cue as she gestured for him to take a seat at the dinner table. "Would you care for some hot earl grey tea?" the professor asked as she was setting up a pitcher and small cups between them.

"Oh, yes please. Thank you, Professor Granville," the teenaged boy genius responded, watching as she then began to pour him a cup of tea. The aroma was pleasant, as he noted that there was an assortment of cookies besides the cup set up. As he grabbed the cookie and bit into it, Professor Granville spoke, "Now, onto business. While it is a pleasure to spend time with students, this is summertime. So, I was quite surprised that you would want to meet with me and discuss a certain proposal. As cryptic as that is, I am all ears, Mr. Hamada."

Quickly swallowing the bite of cookie in his mouth, the boy cleared his throat before speaking, "Right. Thank you, Professor. I need your help; I think you are the only one who can really orchestrate this. But I'm not sure how to explain this plan of mine yet… Because I hope you'll agree." Professor Granville raised an eyebrow, "How about you explain it simply as a start?"
"Right." Hiro cleared his throat again, folding his hands together as he scooted forward, "I want to get Karmi back into SFIT." The professor's eyes widened in surprise, but immediately softened her gaze knowingly and sympathetically with her protégé, "I understand you care for her… Hiro." She looked at the young boy, seeing the determination but noticing the sense of desperation behind his pleading eyes at the prospect. It was moments like these that she only referred to him by his first name when they spoke about personal and emotional subjects.

"You two… became close before she left, didn't you?" She asked, understanding that the circumstances of them becoming close was arduous. Of course, she knew that the two were at odds as rivals for most of the semester, but that they became close at the time of the Sycorax incident. But she also understood why she was forced to leave, after the monstrous thing that had happened to her. "Yes, we did get close…" Hiro looked down, fidgeting forlornly with his cup of tea.

The professor smiled sadly at her young student, "I understand you want your friend back. I care about Karmi, as well. I would want her to continue her education at SFIT, too. But it's not up to any of us or even her. I tried to persuade her parents. But they didn't feel she was safe here in this city, at SFIT. And I cannot fault them for that. They care for her too, Hiro. Unfortunately, it's not our call."

There was a moment of silence between them. Until Hiro seemingly steadied himself, a soft smile with a glimmer of hope in it, "And yet, she was allowed to come back for a day. I know that it isn't up to any of us or her. But something must have changed. She was able to convince her parents somehow that she would be okay to visit San Fransokyo for her signing. We may be able to convince them to let her come back to SFIT. It's her dream school… She wants to be there with me…" Catching himself, he blushed as he stammered to continue, "And the others! She wants to be back at San Fransokyo with us! We're her friends! Especially Honey Lemon!"

Professor Granville chuckled at his flustered outburst, noting that the boy genius seemed to speak more fondly of his fellow prodigy. She smiled softly at the boy, "I told you I am all ears, Hiro. If you truly believe we have a chance at convincing Karmi's parents to bring her back, I'd like to hear your plan and see where I play my part." Hiro's face visibly brightens at this, smiling warmly, "Thank you, Professor…"

He stood up looking around, laughing shyly with a rubbing of his unkept raven hair, "I prepared a presentation, but it's with Baymax… I'll grab him, if that's okay?" With a soft chuckle, she nodded as Hiro got up to get his robot healthcare companion.

Once back, Baymax reported to the professor, "/I have left Fermi, Curie and Oppenheimer with their appropriate items for care as per your detailed instructions, Professor Granville./"

"Thank you, Baymax. I knew I could trust them into your care. Now, please, enlighten me, Mr. Hamada," Professor Granville said as she crossed her legs atop her chair. As she seemed to slip into a grading professor-mode, Hiro smiled as he then pointed to a screen that populated along Baymax's chest. It immediately displayed an image of the chibi-versions of Karmi and himself (as Captain Cutie, of course) and the rest of the Big Hero 6 team.

"Okay. So… Based on Karmi being able to return solely for her signing at Richardson Mole's Rare Comics, we can infer that her parents are at least supportive of her creative success and passion to allow her to be back in town. And Karmi's Big Hero 6 fanfiction and her Big Chibi 6 web series have been really successful, it's grown its own… ummm… cult following everywhere, especially at SFIT," Hiro said shyly, remembering the awkward feeling of hearing the entire campus talking about him and Karmi being together as "Karmutie."

Baymax lifted his hand, chiming in, "/Yes. It is very popular. Karmi's web series has thirteen full-length episodes and six shorts, with over 2.5 million views./"

Hiro continued, "So, I propose we get her to come visit the city again for her winning nomination for the San Fransokyo Creative Artist Awards! Which I've already nominated her for… With the help of her fandom… That helped her win... And Richardson Mole is even willing to host her again at a more secure venue," he explained shyly, pointing at an image of the specific award's trademark logo that had actually changed from its previous incarnation, as it used to be called the Shimamoto Awards previously in honor of the famous San Fransokyo artist, Lenore Shimamoto. But this fell out of favor at the advent of her painful confession of her part in the Great Catastrophe.

While the professor was curious as to where this was going, she did have to commend that the boy genius had already laid some ground work before even broaching her with this proposal.

Admittedly, in concocting this plan, Hiro had worked painstakingly to contact Karmi's fanbase for the award nomination without Karmi knowing. Much to his delight, her many fans throughout the world-wide web were eager to support her as a surprise award for her series. She was nominated as top pick in a landslide of a vote, especially as it provides a unique view to San Fransokyo's own crime fighting team and creatively represents the city's culture to the world.

Professor Granville smiled with a hand resting along her chin, "I can see how this would help to bring her back to San Fransokyo. But for a visit only… How do you propose we convince her parents to let her stay?" With this poignant question, the professor emphasized the last word.

With a shy smile, the young boy continued as his cheeks reddened, "Karmi is the smartest person I know. She's incredibly brave in the face of danger and challenges. She's strong-willed and passionate. She has shown time and time again that she has immense potential to help people with her intellect and talents in biotechnology and even… robotics and programming. She fought the Mayoi. She worked to cure Orso Knox, at the risk of her own placement in her internship and did what entire teams couldn't. Her insight helped save the real Liv Amara… She even stopped Hardlight at her signing…"

Hiro paused for a moment, reflecting on what Karmi had gone through as he recounted her deeds that were being displayed in various images along Baymax. "What Karmi has done is truly… heroic…" he spoke softly, an admiring smile adorned on his face as he stared at the images of Karmi's actions that helped people.

"She deserves to continue her dreams at SFIT. She's earned her spot there more times over. SFIT is where she was proud to be, she earned it. If her parents are willing to support her success as a creative artist, then they have to recognize her success and potential in all that she has done and will do in biotech. It's her passion, too. Knowing her, I'm sure she's trying to remind them that that is what she yearns for and belongs to. We just… have to make it even harder for them to refuse her dreams. They need to see that their daughter can help change the world for the better if they just let her," the boy said as he finally looked up to his professor, who patiently listened to her student. She was honestly moved, understanding that he was willing to speak from the heart to her.

"And that's where I would like to ask your help, Professor Granville. To help create a scholarship foundation with me, to support Karmi's education here at SFIT and beyond and help fund her research and passion projects," Hiro spoke confidently and earnestly. The boy genius looked to her with sincerity. "I need your help to make Karmi the very first recipient of the Tadashi Hamada Memorial Foundation Scholarship."

For a moment, Granville was actually speechless. She appreciated the sheer weight of how much this meant to Hiro to do this, to both honor his late brother's legacy and support his friend's path. The professor placed her hand along her chest, with a soft expression she looked to her young protégé, "I would be honored to, Hiro."

Author Notes:

I hope you enjoyed the start to this mini-series! As a little note, I got this idea because I've recently got the honor of being selected for a paramedic scholarship from Christopher Meadows Memorial Fund.

He was a young EMT who passed away on a search and rescue call, before he could move onto becoming a Paramedic. So I would like to formally honor this young man and the Meadows family, and all whose legacies of service will live on by those who carry their torch.

So this scholarship idea was inspired by real life factors in my life. It all fell into place when I thought about it because whenever I study, train or work in EMS, I think of Tadashi's saying "You don't understand this yet, but people need you so let's get back to work." It's my reminder to myself that I need to work hard to be there for others.

So I liked the idea that Hiro would want to honor his brother's legacy through education and helping others. And who better or deserving than Karmi?

But stay tuned! I have work and school competing for my noggin's attention, but I'll bring out the next chapter as soon as I can!