Stage 6:

I awoke on March Tenth, groggy and not feeling like getting out of bed. It was cold and knowing Aunt Cass she'd rather wait until who knows when to bring out the kotatsu table so I'd rather lie in bed and sleep more.

But when I do, someone eventually starts shaking me.

"Hiro."

I recognize the voice and groan. "Baymax fifteen more hours…"

"Hiro. Get up."

His voice sounds… Urgent. Normally, Baymax's voice is calm, sometimes his tones serious, sometimes more lighthearted or comforting but always calm and always quiet. But never urgent.

Tadashi.

I get out of bed and shove my robe on looking to him as he follows me out of the room. "What's going on?" I ask mid-yawn trying to hide my worry. "Is it…?"

"It's not Tadashi."

He goes ahead of me pulling me along.

Leon is standing in the cafe waiting for me when we appear. "Hiro."

"Leon." I say before crossing my arms giving him an unimpressed look. "What the FRICK man? It's not even seven!"

"Look… It's about Tadashi… How's he been lately?"

"Like any other Connie-"

He silences me with a glare. "The truth."

"... Acts like any other Connie around other people. When the cafe's running and Aunt Cass is watching him when I run to the store he apparently just sits there wrists tied like we were told but at night…" I sigh thinking back to how he's been. "... He acts like himself. A burglar tried to rob us and he snapped… He kept going even while he was getting shocked by the collar and…"

"Mercy Mode?"

I nodded. "Yes… We were able to calm him down but… He started getting better… Even before that there was traces but then they'd be gone…. A roll of the eyes, a smirk… But now… He's been hugging me… Comforting me… Rubbing my back when I'm stressed out like how he used to. Smirking… Is that normal?"

Leon was grinning like he had just won the lottery. "No…. That… Is amazing…"

"I actually… Tried to take the collar off but he stopped me." I admitted.

"... He… Stopped you?"

"We're not sure if it actually helps him, but… Tadashi was always a law abiding citizen… I'm not really surprised if he's keeping it on just so he's not breaking the law."

"I see… Well… "

"Leon what the hell do you want? Seriously."

Leon sighed and gave me a serious look.

"Someone thinks that someone at the labs effed up… That… There may have been normal people that got neutralized… Brain scrambled, collars put on them but normal… ANd… I'm wondering if Tadashi may have been one of them… Before the whole thing started I was actually a doctor so… Can I take a look at him?"

I crossed my arms frowning at this news.. If Tadashi had never actually been a Connie… But… It didn't make sense. "But he was guzzling Thinpro while he was at school…"

Thinpro, protein water. Stuff that because it got contaminated and no one wanted to admit it, was the reason people were going crazy.

The reason my brother's favorite teacher had snapped in the middle of class and tried to actually kill me when we met.

I looked to Baymax. "Baymax, explain to Leon here Tadashi's medical history prior, right before and when you scanned him at the kennel."

He nodded and stepped forward as he started to explain. Some of it went over my head because of how tired I was but I just wanted to be sure Tadashi was alright.

"So… He was actually a Connie then… He showed all the symptoms before disappearing…" Leon murmured. "Which… Makes it even more incredible… Maybe… You should actually try taking the collar off."

"Maybe…" I shrugged. 'Anyways… Thanks for stopping by… Thanks for being concerned."

"Hey I watch out for them… Even after they leave." He smiled a bit offering me a handshake. I shook his hand letting out a yawn.

We both laughed.

I had been back in bed for ten minutes when I heard Aunt Cass shriek…. I jumped out of bed and bolted down the stairs to the kitchen only to see her hugging my brother. She was smiling, tears in her eyes.

"Oh look at you… Look at you! Hiro! Come look!"

I went over and wanted to facepalm and start laughing. Tadashi was letting her see that he was still awake in there. He hugged her back, stroking her hair a little.

"Oh Tadashi I love you too… Alright cinnamon rolls for breakfast!"

Tadashi smirked and I just started cracking up lightly smacking him on the shoulder.

"Dork!"

Tadashi

For a long time now, I wasn't really aware of myself. I could think… I could try to grab things but that's about as much as I could do.

When I became Contaminated it was like someone had taken out half of my brain.

It was all a blurr… Even the pain and and trials that came when I got taken to the labs…

After all that… It was nice to be home. To be around the people I knew. I knew it was hard for Hiro. It was hard for me too…

I wasn't myself.

I still couldn't talk but I was at least waking up. I could take care of myself again. Although there was things that still needed looking after. For all intents and purposes I was still one of THEM.

Unfortunately being one of them you also see their side of things.

When your like me… You can't stop moving. You need to keep moving, in order to survive. To not lose whatever's left. As it is, it's hard to keep moving when the hunger sets in.

When you start to get sick…

I knew what was wrong when it started. My head wouldn't stop aching one night, I felt like I was being set on fire. It was hard to breathe. I didn't wake anyone, I didn't want anyone to know. I just left making sure no one else could get in.

After that I just lived… Existed.

I tried to keep some point of my humanity alive. While others like me were going after former friends, family, I was going after animals in the woods. Even if it meant getting scratched up it was better then possibly hurting Hiro.

Then stupid Tadashi got himself caught.

And now here I was, trying to decide if it was a good idea that I was still here, or if it was just hurting my family more. Aunt Cass seemed really happy when she realized I was still awake in there… Hiro too but…

I remember how angry I got when that man hurt him. I couldn't control it and I relished in the strength this state had given me. Strength that could've killed that man if Hiro hadn't shot him.

I sighed looking around the apartment, it was quiet. Hiro was asleep on the couch his glasses sliding off his face, Baymax was keeping a quiet watch over the both of us. I went over to Hiro kneeling next to him taking his glasses off.

Goofball's gonna smash them again if he's not careful… He can't exactly afford to replace them right now…

Even if I couldn't talk, I could still do this much at the least.

Although the idea of letting HIro just go nuts on this collar is really tempting…

Gosh this hurts…

That was another thing. I had to suck it up constantly, the shocks it was sending into me hurt. Sometimes dull, you had to get used to it when you were outfitted with one… But when I get too angry, or if I got too excited it would increase it…

Too much and that would be the end of me.

I didn't want to repeat the pain Mercy Mode brought.

What a joke…. This isn't mercy…

I glanced over to Baymax and shook my head nodding to the glasses and gesturing to Hiro.

"That's his fifth pair in the last six months."

I ran my hand down my face sighing. Unbelievable. Hiro your thirteen try to be more careful!

Before anything else could be done there was noise.

Both I and the robot's eyes flickered to the windows.

That was another "bonus" of being a Connie… You can hear a lot better. You have to if you want to hunt right.

We quietly made our way over looking down. There was some punks in the alleyway between our building and Mrs. Matsuda's.

"What is it Hiro says at a time like this… Blood for the blood gods?"

I smirk and reached for the vase on the counter.

This is gonna be nice..

Hiro

The sound of glass breaking and yelling jolted me awake. Everything was blurry as I fumbled for my glasses trying to see what was going on. As soon as they were on I could see my brother and Baymax huddled by the window.

"What the hell are you guys doing!?" I whisper/yelled.

Tadashi had the nerve to try to look innocent. Baymax had the decency to look a little ashamed.

I ran my hand down my face. "Unbelievable…"

"There was a gang of young men down in the alley making a ruckus. It looked as if they were trying to find a weak point in the cafe's siding." Baymax reported. "We decided to get rid of them before they could find a way in."

Tadashi nodded quickly.

"Alright, alright... " I rolled my eyes although honestly I didn't expect much better from Tadashi. That was just how he was. Mess with the family, get killed basically.

"Just don't get too excited brother…" I trailed off we both knew what would happen if he did.

I still couldn't get that image out of my mind. Every time I thought about it, it would come back.

Tadashi seemed to get this as he went over to me, squeezing my shoulder.

"Thanks…" I whispered.

This isn't fair…

Tadashi you are so lucky I respect your wishes even if I think your being stupid by keeping that on….

The silence that fell was broken by the phone. I rushed to get it. "Hello Hamada residence-"

"Hiro!"

I blinked. "Leon? What's going on now?" I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. We had Tadashi home, he was okay, what else did he want from us?

"Look, there's soldiers… Lots of them. There's something going on, it's like… Their not telling us things. They grabbed a list of all the recent returns, the last names at least… We think their going to go after and take all the returned Contaminated... "

I swear my heart skipped a beat as horror started to fill me. "No… No they can't!"

"Get the collar off." Leon snapped.

"I-"

"GET IT OFF AND GET HIM TALKING! If they think he's normal but just sickly they'll leave him alone!" Leon screamed. I flinched before sighing shakily.

"Okay…. Okay… I'll do it…" I hung up before turning to Baymax and Tadashi.

"Guys… We need to get Tadashi his voice back… Or somethin' worse than Mercy Mode is coming for us…"