And he never came to bed… Tadashi thought as he got up, noticing Hiro's bed was empty. Must've fallen asleep in the garage doing whatever it was he was doing…
Tadashi shifted to his orb form flying on down through the floor to the garage. He looked around stopping short as he shifted back to his normal form. There he saw Hiro and Kathleen out cold, using Baymax as a cushion to lean against.
Hiro mumbled a bit in his sleep shifting as Kathleen's head moved landing on his shoulder. He relaxed resting his head against hers.
"Aww…" Tadashi whipped out his phone, snapping a picture before looking to Baymax. "Morning big guy." he whispered.
"Good morning." Baymax replied voice quiet. "They've been asleep for awhile now… One of the few times Hiro willingly went to sleep…"
"What were they doing all night? And I'm surprised Kathleen didn't decide to go home since her parents would flip if she stayed out all night."
"They were working… Laughing… Enjoying themselves. There was a brief incident regarding Kokoro but they handled themselves fine… After they were talking and gradually drifted off. I did contact the Colemans on her behalf explaining that she was too fatigued to return home safely."
"Good… don't want them getting upset now…" Tadashi looked over to Hiro's work table, seeing what they had been working on. His eyes landed on the sketches that were mounted on the tack board. "That… looks kind of like me…"
"It was Kathleen's idea… To work from your image… Hiro explained it would be for you but he used your code name. He sketched from there… The bracelet is functional. I saw it myself."
Tadashi's eyes got wide. "He actually…"
If he could have Baymax would have smiled. He nodded. "Yes… He worked on it for a long time…"
Tadashi looked around the room, curious if he spot the device. Sure enough, he found the bracelet set on one of the desks picking it up.
"Watch bracelet… nice choice."
Baymax nodded. "He wanted it to be concealable in plain sight. You turn the knob to activate it."
Tadashi looked at it. "May I…?"
"I believe it is what Hiro would want."
Tadashi nodded before snapping it on. He glanced over to the pictures before looking back at the watch.
Alright… let's try it…
He closed his eyes, turning the knob, his appearance changing within an instant to the person he had seen on the sketches.
Baymax looked him over nodding his approval. "Very nice… It suits you."
Tadashi looked at himself before looking over to reflective surface.
"The glow is covered up too… and the clothes actually feel real too… I gotta ask him how he pulled this off, this is incredible."
"It is Hiro…"
"True… Hm… particle manipulation mixed with holographics if I had to guess… the watch sets up a framework then the framework manipulates particles around the person to get the desired appearance…"
"Yep… And in your case you will submit to the spiky haired empire…" A tired voice whispered.
Tadashi looked over to see Hiro was awake now. "Morning bed head."
Hiro smiled shaking his head. "Morning to you too… Like your present?"
"Very much… Hiro… this is amazing."
Hiro carefully moved Kathleen as Baymax took her into his arms. The boy stood up going over to his brother. "And there's more…. Some extra stuff I was working on before I started working on the watch itself…"
"That so?"
Hiro grinned before producing a file from one of the desk drawers holding it out to Tadashi. On top of it was the insignia for SFIT. "Tadashi Hamada… Or rather Takashi Hamada, cousin of Hiro Hamada newest robotics student at SFIT, transferred from MIT."
Tadashi's eyes got wide. "No way…"
Hiro grinned. "Way… With all your old majors including med and biotech."
Tadashi nearly dropped the file, but kept a grip on it as a grateful look came into his eyes.
"I'll… I'll have my life back again… I'll be a student and I'll be studying with you… Oh my gosh…"
"And… You can talk with all your friends again… You'll even get to graduate with us." Hiro smiled some tears in his eyes. "Like I rewound time back to that night…"
Tears welled in Tadashi's eyes as he put down the file, bringing his brother into an embrace.
"Hiro… I… thank you… thank you Otouto!"
Hiro hugged him tightly smiling. "Anything for you Nii-san… Enjoy this okay? I want you to chase after your dreams again… Just like you would've done for me."
"I will…" Tadashi nuzzled him. "I… My gosh I feel alive again…"
Hiro nuzzled back sighing in relief. "Good… There was a lot of thought put into it... I want you to feel as much as yourself as you can…"
"And this is perfect…" Tadashi sighed happily. "Being with my friends again is something I've wanted… well I have as Immortal 7 but it wasn't the same.. being a student again… having a normal life… this is a blessing…"
Hiro nodded. "It's huge… I'm so glad it works… And it'll keep working long as you take care of it…. Just hand it to me every Friday night so I can tune it up and make sure nothing's broken okay?"
"Will do." Tadashi embraced him again. "I look forward to studying along with you… thank you again for this Hiro."
"Anytime Tada-nii…." Hiro sighed happily nuzzling his brother. "Anything for you… I'm excited for this…"
"You and me both… When do I start class?"
Hiro grinned. "Monday morning."
"Awesome…" Tadashi looked over to Kathleen. "I guess I should thank her too… She helped right?"
"Yeah, she helped me with your looks and with getting the parts together. All those summers of having her man the 3D printer while we cooked some crazy stuff up came in handy." Hiro chuckled. "She said she was gonna hug you next time she saw you."
"Heh… well I'm open to it… But why? She doesn't know… ya know."
"I had to tell her a different story though technically I didn't lie. I said you had burns from a fire you got in and that was the reason you were in the armor all the time. To keep others from seeing it."
Tadashi nodded. "Got ya... Thanks kiddo…" He ruffled his hair. "I'm so proud of you…"
"Heh… I do my best."
"Mm…"
Both looked to see Kathleen stirring as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Hey Kat…" Hiro went over to her. "Rise and shine."
She yawned stretching a bit as she got out of Baymax's arms. "Hey…" She glanced around the room before she stopped, her eyes landing on Tadashi. "Is… that?"
"Immortal 7… Or as he prefers… Takashi." Hiro replied with a small grin.
Tadashi gave a wave. "Hello."
She smiled. "Hi… Oh look at you, you look amazing."
He gave a sheepish look. "Aw shucks… Thanks… And I have you and Hiro to thank for this… I can go without the armor now…"
Kathleen nodded before going over to him, hugging him.
"Sorry just I heard what happened. I'm happy for you Takashi."
Tadashi smiled hugging her back. If you only knew who I actually was Kat..
"It's alright, thank you for this Kat, I won't take this for granted."
"I know… I'm so happy for you… Congrats." She pulled back looking him over. "Amazing…"
"You're telling me." Tadashi looked at his reflection again, messing with his glasses a little. "Heh… did always think one day I'd need specs because of all the late nights in front of a computer."
Hiro smirked. "Felt it was high time you got them Clark Kent."
Tadashi ruffled his hair. "Very funny Iron Man."
Hiro chuckled. "Heh…"
Kathleen giggled. "Well alls well that ends well."
"Yep… and Kat, like the others said at the lab, if you need help with anything you can talk to me."
"That would be great… Oh shoot…" Kathleen hung her head. "What day is it?"
"Saturday." Baymax answered.
She sighed in relief. "Good… for a second I thought I biffed it with school… I got homework and stuff…"
"No worries." Hiro squeezed her shoulder. "Like Takashi said, he and I can help you out if you need it."
"And I'm eternally grateful…"
"What's got you stressed out?"
"Two science classes I'm taking… Chem… and Robotics."
Tadashi raised an eyebrow. "Is robotics required now for graduation?"
"No…" Kathleen sighed running her hand through her hair. "My siblings talked me into taking it as one of my elective courses… Specifically Alice since she said it would look good on my college applications… More well rounded you know?"
Hiro cringed. "Don't I know it…"
"Yeah and I suck at it… and chem is kicking my butt."
"Well…" Tadashi mused. "I was thinking of going to the lab today… and I do want to introduce myself… and we know a good chemist and a good robotics engineer that could help."
Hiro grinned. "Indeed we do… And I think there's only one price Honey would ask for…"
"What?" Kathleen asked a little nervously.
Hiro pointed to her hair. "She'll wanna play with that."
"O-Oh… Well… I'm okay with that… Just no scissors."
"Oh she'd never, she's got long hair that she rarely cuts." Tadashi shook his head. "Always keeps at the same length."
"She once said her hair was her first baby her chemicals came second." Hiro chuckled. "So you'd be in good hands… And she's of course the best chemist SFIT has to offer… And she's sweet too."
"Okay…" Kathleen smiled. "A study at SFIT it is."
oooooo
"Another new kid?" Wasabi poked his head around the corner seeing Tadashi walk in. "... or relative?"
Everyone else looked, all surprised.
"Who's this Hiro?" Gogo asked.
Hiro smiled gesturing to Tadashi. "This is my older cousin on my mom's side. His name's Takashi Hamada."
Tadashi gave a bow. "It's nice to meet all of you… I've transferred here from MIT to continue my studies and am staying with Hiro for the time being. I look forward to getting to know all of you." He looked over to Honey, giving a small wink.
She smiled returning it, having gotten a text from him earlier giving her m the heads up. "Well, welcome to SFIT Takashi."
"You will be nicknamed eventually…" Fred vowed pointing to him. "You and your little cuz too."
"Good luck with that Fred. Two years and nickname free." Hiro smirked.
"And look who's back." Wasabi chuckled taking note of Kathleen. "Hey there."
"Hey…" She smiled shyly. "I was thinking of taking that offer with needing help… Chemistry and robotics are not being too kind to me…"
"Ah…" Gogo gave a nod. "Well you're welcomed to our facilities… And our head chemist." She nodded to Honey with a small smirk. "And you already know our robotics geek."
"That's Prince of the Nerd Lab thank you!" Hiro shot back.
Tadashi shook his head. "Oh boy…"
Fred had his eyes on Kathleen, snapping his fingers. "You like sweets, right?"
"Um… yes?" Kathleen got a shy look again. "I have the worst sweet tooth according to my sister."
"Then I got just the nickname for you." Fred walked over to her, making a motion with his hand. "I hear by dub you… Kit Kat!"
"K-Kit Kat!?" She squeaked.
Hiro looked to her with a small grin. "I like it…"
"After the candy of course." Fred chuckled. "That is your name from now on in the nerd lab."
Kathleen blushed. "So much for being off limits… and I'm not even a student here."
"Honorary SFIT nerd." Hiro put an arm around her shoulders. "Just how it works."
Kathleen blushed more. "Ehehe… Y-Yeah."
"Alrighty, let's give the girl room to breathe." Gogo clapped her hands. "We all got projects and we all know that Saturday is usually when Mr. Wylie lets his lady run through here since most of us aren't here…. And I still need to get a video of that chick tackling Baymax."
"Eh?" Kathleen tilted her head. "Who?"
"Our teacher, Professor Wylie, he's got this rather… unusual girlfriend named Toshio who really likes Baymax. She kind of confiscates him sometimes just for hugging purposes."
"Unusual… how?"
They heard the door open as Hiro held up a hand. "In five… four… three…"
"EEEEE!"
Baymax was tackle hugged by a young woman with green hair, her voice having a robotic twinge to it as she hugged him. There was red glowing marks on her, looking like circuits.
"As in she's a robot… Like him."
Kathleen was dumb founded.
"Um… that's pretty weird… how….?"
Hiro shrugged. "I don't know… She's an AI of her own league as he puts it. He found her and fixed her up after she was nearly wrecked so she's been with him ever since… They just make it work… She's got her human side."
"I see."
"Yep." Gogo had her phone out. "And got it all on tape."
"Good morning Toshio." Baymax said, bringing his arms around her.
"Good morning Baymax!" Toshio squealed hugging him. "Kyaaa you're still adorable! I wish I could take you home!"
Hiro shook his head. "Here we go again…"
Honey went over to Kathleen. "Would you like to get started on your chemistry or would you want to do robotics first?"
"Um…" She hummed in thought. "I really should do chemistry first… I don't like having something nagging at me when I'm trying to do another thing… It drives me crazy…"
"Then we can get started right away."
"I can help if you like." Tadashi chimed in. "Not a professional but I can try."
"I'd like that." Kathleen smiled.
Behind her Hiro was smirking at Tadashi raising an eyebrow. Already going back to Honey's station as per usual bro? Hehehe.
Tadashi rolled his eyes. "I know some bio chemistry so I can lend some help."
"All are welcome." Honey giggled leading them off. "Step into my office."
"Okay!"
"Ten bucks says Kit Kat makes a bomb." Gogo said quietly.
"Twenty says Honey gets them all coated in blue stuff." Fred challenged.
"Thirty says you two are gonna get smacked if I hear more of that." Hiro replied as he walked off to his station.
Fred was quiet before smirking. "Someone's a little touchy."
Gogo smirked. "We will manipulate that."
Hiro swore he felt a cold chill go down his spine. Why do I feel worried?
oooooo
"You're doing great Kathleen, you're really starting to nail the math formulas." Honey smiled as she got another equation done. "Lot of progress made within just an hour or two."
Kathleen smiled. "Thanks… You make a lot more sense than my teachers."
"I do my best." Honey giggled. "Alright, just a few more than we're done."
"Bring it on!"
Tadashi sat back and watched as he doodled away in his notebook. He couldn't help it. He was excited to get right back to work on Monday so now was the perfect time to brainstorm ideas to get a head start.
"How is she doing?"
He looked to the side to see Hiro peaking in.
"Two hours of work paid off, she's nailing the formulas according to Honey."
"That's great!" Hiro grinned. "Way to go Kat."
Kathleen blushed a bit giving a sheepish smile. "Hee…" There's that smile...
"We should be done soon." Honey said. "Then she's got the robotics part of her homework to take care of."
Hiro chuckled rubbing his hands together. "Oh that'll be fun… I got some ideas…."
"L-Let's wait until I show my assignment… plus I gotta have my mind put into it too…" She got a worried look. "Um.. it wouldn't be cheating to have a SFIT student help with a robotics project would it?"
"If it is then my brother shouldn't have ever showed me how to make 'em." Hiro replied. "If college students can become assistant teachers I don't see why not. It's like hiring a tutor except we're doing it for free because we want to."
"O-Okay…"
"Just as long as he doesn't do all the work." Tadashi commented. "That's all that kind of counts."
"I'm not that bad Takashi!" Hiro got a mock offended look. "I am WOUNDED you would think I'd even do that."
Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Drama king alert."
"Hmph! Well I'll be in MY lab if you need me. The prince needs his quiet time." Hiro walked off making a show of it.
Kathleen giggled. "That's Hiro… Always up to something…"
"Guess you're already used to it huh?" Honey asked. "Just always been like this?"
"Yup. He mocked Tadashi about being a nerd but he's always been one himself… He can just be silly when he wants to, especially if he knows it might get a laugh… He can be serious too…. Honestly…." She looked back down to her assignment. "... I'm just happy he's smiling again…"
Honey got a worried look. "... You were around for Tadashi's death, weren't you?"
"... Part of it… I wasn't at the expo, family dinner that night… But I was there with my folks for his funeral… And I know Hiro was hurting really bad… He didn't wanna talk to anyone… And I heard he wasn't eating much either… I brought him some cookies from home and a few notes hoping to cheer him up… Honestly I was just glad when he started being himself again…" Kathleen looked up a sad look in her eyes. "I wish I could've helped more… I still have my siblings and I never lost anyone… I didn't know how to help him…"
"We all know that feeling." Honey frowned as she looked to the others. "Tadashi was our best friend but I don't think any of us could've understood what Hiro was going through… we were able to help in the end.. and we were happy when he was finally smiling again… laughing. He's been getting better and better with time… at this point… I like to think he's back at his peak."
"I think so too… Tadashi was my friend too but he was closer to my siblings… It hit us but… It was just better at the time to let Hiro just figure things out… We didn't wanna hurt him more since as Alice put it… We'd just be a reminder of the better times…" Kathleen sighed. "But he's getting better like you said… And he's got all of us… Baymax too."
Honey nodded. "That's right."
She nodded. "Yup... " She looked to where Hiro was seeing him trying to pry Toshio off of Baymax and smiled a bit. "That's our genius…"
"TOSHIO I NEED TO CHECK HIS OPTICS!" He yelled.
"Noooo! He's fine!" She gave him a defiant look. "You can't have him!"
"He's MY Baymax!"
Toshio gave him a kicked puppy look as she whimpered. "But he's my friend…"
"Gack!"
Baymax patted her head. "There there."
"Hee…" She gave Hiro a bit of a smug look. "See? He agrees."
"Uggggh… FINE! I'll check them later."
"Yay! More hugs for me!"
The three at Honey's station laughed as they watched. "He can never resist that look." Honey shook her head.
"Nope… And sadly he knows how to use it too."
"Welcome to another Saturday at the nerd lab." Gogo commented as she rode around on her bike.
"Where robot girls claim our medic as their own and where we just do whatever." Fred commented sitting upside down on his couch with a comic. "Still saying we need to give Baymax laser eyes!"
"NO!" Everyone yelled.
"Fine… Then give me invisible sandwich."
"Just stop." Wasabi groaned.
"Shrink ray?"
"NO!"
"Fire breathing death lizard?"
Wasabi gave him a look. "You already do that on a weekly basis."
"You do what now?" Kathleen yelped.
Fred pointed to him. "He speaks nonsense!"
Wasabi realized what he had just done and just rolled his eyes. "Kidding, but I swear he secretly is one."
"I don't do that tongue thing!"
Kathleen blinked. "Ok...ay?"
Tadashi ran a hand through his hair. Guys.. she's gonna find out eventually… She may take things at face value but she's not stupid.
"They're just bein' men." Gogo replied as she sped by. "As per usual!"
"HEY!"
"Need some ice?" Tadashi smirked.
Fred rolled his eyes. "Ha ha ha…. Ice ray!"
Everyone threw their heads back groaning.
"NOT SCIENCE!"
"Not yet it isn't! I bet if I asked Hiro he would do it!"
"No I would not recycle boy!"
Kathleen looked to Honey raising an eyebrow. "Do I wanna know?"
She cringed. "You don't… You really don't."
Beep beep beep
Hiro looked over to Baymax, seeing a message symbol on his chest.
"Oh boy… What's the news Baymax?"
"Six car pile up on Maine Street."
"Accident?"
"It would appear so, but there appears to be fires coming up from some of the vehicles…"
"The fire department is gonna need some help." Hiro looked to the others. "Guys, emergency."
"Right!"
"We're on it!"
Kathleen was confused as everyone around her started heading out. "Wait, what's going on!?"
"Just something we need to take care of." Hiro answered as he got Toshio off Baymax, heading out with him." We'll be back as soon as possible. Takashi, keep her company."
Tadashi nodded. "Can do."
Kathleen sighed watching them go. "He runs off like that a lot…"
"Busy man he is." Tadashi looked to her. "Don't take it personal."
"I don't… I just worry about him…" She replied going back to her work. "I just don't wanna see him hurt…"
"I'm sure he'll be fine… and if he does he's got Baymax with him."
"True… Mind helping me with this last formula…?" She gave her own version of the puppy eyes.
Tadashi chuckled, sitting down with her.
"Of course."