A/N: So I actually looked up 'little brother' in Japanese this time. Turns out I've been spelling it wrong, so worry if the change seems weird.
Also, this is fairly short compared to the other chapters. It's mostly filler and character building, but I wanted to take a closer look into Tadashi and Hiro's relationship and everyday lives. And, Hiro isn't going to be 100% better any time soon, so I had to make that clear as well.
[Chapter 10- Protection]
Hiro was the Hamada best at building robots that could attack and form offensive and defensive strategies. Tadashi figured it was from a combination of avoiding bullies in school and an obsession with action movies.
Either way, Hiro was good at making bots that could fight, and Tadashi made the ones that could heal. It was a striking contrast, and sometimes it made Tadashi consider taking a philosophy class. They were very different in their creative styles as well. Where Hiro liked bright colors and sharp edges, Tadashi used neutral tones and made sure everything fit together seamlessly.
So the older brother sat in the garage, struggling to design something to protect his brother with. He didn't want to make anything that could harm someone, but then again, he might have to if that person was going after Hiro. He had already designed some basic suits of armor for them, but there wasn't anything beyond that, nothing the could really protect Hiro.
A stun gun? A tazer? What was he supposed to make that could stop an attacker without using lethal force?
Could he pull ideas from the team's outfits in Hiro's dream?
No. No, that was wrong, and it might trigger his otōto. He might not know what to do, but he can't risk his baby brother's mental health.
But that wasn't to say he couldn't ask Hiro for help...
-[]-
"What's this?" Hiro asked quietly as Tadashi showed him the designs he had come up with so far. The older brother rubbed the back of his neck slowly; he really should have thought of what to say before coming here.
"Well, I- You see- It's... I..." Tadashi hung his head, scrubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, and took a deep breath. "After hearing about your... your dream world, I didn't really- I didn't feel like we were very safe. I just... I just wanted to keep you safe," he admitted hesitantly.
"So... You made armor?" Hiro questioned, eyebrow raised. Tadashi huffed.
"Yes? Don't give me that look!" He pointed. Normally, he would have knocked his knucklehead brother upside the head, but Hiro was still delicate, so he refrained. "I... Just... What do you think? How should we keep ourselves safe?"
Hiro studied the blueprints for a moment. He reached into his cast and pulled out a pencil (Tadashi squawked at the sight and made a note to have Baymax scan Hiro). The younger brother began sketching and writing.
"Nothing lethal or permanently damaging," Tadashi warned as he looked over his shoulder. Hiro whuffed lightly, making his bangs flutter.
"I know, nerd," the smaller boy declared. "How were these going to protect us anyway? Were we just going to walk around in them all day? We'd get a lot of looks, you know." He shook his head. "We're going to have to fix that."
"We could make them smaller and transformable," Tadashi muttered and began to pace. "They'd fit in a-a bag or a backpack or something, and when we needed them-"
"They pop out and wrap around us?" Hiro guessed. He pulled out another piece of paper and began to sketch a bag-like carrier. "What else? We can't compromise durability or function- we have to still be able to move, and we need some kind of connection with each other, too..."
"What if we made some kind of metallic fabric?" The older Hamada eyed Baymax. "It would have a thin, strong skeleton, programmed to our bodies and bio-signatures. The fabric would have to be waterproof, and dense enough to protect again attacks." Hiro's pencil scratched a few notes on the side of the first blueprint.
"And it would have to have a low level of conductivity, in case anyone uses EMPs or something," the thirteen year old added. "Maybe there could be some kind of helmet? It could hold communication devices, and the lens could display data, like Baymax's scanner."
"Communication devices, yes," Tadashi murmured. "Not so sure about scanners. That took me months to program, and we don't have that long." Hiro paused, pencil stilling. Slowly, he turned to his older brother. His face looked distressed.
"Don't have that long until what? Tadashi?"
The college student clammed up. "Nothing- I- It's nothing, Hiro."
"Tadashi, what did you mean?" The younger asked quietly. His face was flooded with panic, and his breathing was starting to pick up.
"Hiro, you need to calm down. Here, why don't we go get you your medi-"
"Don't try to change the subject! What are you trying to protect us from?! It was a dream, right? And none of it is real! So why are you so worried!" Hiro had gone pale. His fingers clenched the arms of the chair, and he looked like he was seconds away from another panic attack.
"I'm not! I just- I wanted to feel safer! It's not a big deal-"
"And why don't you feel safe?! Nothing's going to h-hurt us, right! Right?" His voice was getting smaller and smaller. "You said it was just a dream, and none of it happened, but why are you so scared? What are you getting ready for? Was it.. Was it true? I- The team, I should talk to... B-Baymax... I need... Please." Tears dripped silently to the floor.
"Otōto," Tadashi whispered sadly. He gently placed his hands on Hiro's shoulders, ignoring his flinch. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to scare you. You're right; there isn't anything to be afraid of. I was being silly. We don't need to protect ourselves. We're fine. Everything's... Everything's fine."
Hiro hiccuped, and Tadashi carefully guided one of the younger's hands to his chest.
"Breathe with me, otōto," he whispered. "Just like we practiced at the hospital. In for five, hold for four, out for three. There you go. Good job. In for five, hold for four, out for three. You're doing really well." The brothers focused on breathing together for a few moments.
"Why does this keep happening?" Hiro choked and rubbed his eyes. "I feel so stupid..."
"It's fine, Hiro," Tadashi hummed quietly, fiddling with the younger's jacket and smoothing his clothing. "You're just in a bad place after what's happened. You look really tired. Why don't we get you into bed-"
"I'm sick of napping all the time!" The smaller boy whined. "I don't want to be like this anymore! I want to be the way I was! Not small and fragile and terrified all the time!"
"I'm sorry, Hiro."
"It's not your fault..." The thirteen year old rubbed his eyes again. He stood up and made his way over to his bed. "Just... Just don't make the armor, okay? We don't need it."
"Okay."
-{[(•)]}-
So that was a bust.
Tadashi obviously wasn't going to make the armor now, but he had to figure out some other way to keep them safe. It was strange and wrong and against everything he had told Hiro. But he knew something bad was going to happen.
He just needed to figure out what it was.
-{[(•)]}-
He ended up going with the stun gun.
He styled it so it looked like an everyday, regular, run-of-the-mill pen. He tested it on Mochi, and when he was sure it worked, he started carrying it in his pocket. It wasn't much, and he would only use it when necessary, but it made him feel a lot better.
Maybe he could actually protect Hiro this time.
A/N: Tadashi has a good sense of premonition. ;) In the timeline, they're about two months into the movie, which I estimate is around the time Hiro finishes training Baymax and goes to look for Callaghan the first time at the docks. So Tadashi is actually behind and needs to catch up. ^u^
QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: If you could design any technology that could fit in a pen, what would you make? I think I'd make a 3-D pen. Not a printer pen like people try to confuse you with, but an actual 3-D pen.
