"So, your visitor today.." Aunt Cass began. She set a plate of chicken and rice on the desk in front of Hiro and grinned. "She a good friend?"
"She's okay. She was more Tadashi's friend than mine. But she's pretty nice." he answered, twirling his fork in in the rice.
"Right. I remember her and some of their other buddies coming in for lunch and stuff. Nice group of kids. Real smart too." Aunt Cass looked at Hiro, who was still wasn't eating.
"Yeah.." he didn't meet her gaze.
"Hiro." she said it like a sentence. He looked up at her. "You should think about going to back to school. I think it would be good for you. Get your brain going again. Get you out of the house. You seem so bored here."
"I'm okay. Really. I can help out around the cafe if you want."
"No no, hun. I've got that handled. You just find something for you. Something to keep yourself busy. You're still allowed to use the garage as your lab."
"I know. I go in there sometimes, but nothing really comes to me anymore when I'm tinkering." Hiro set down his fork and sighed. Aunt Cass noticed.
"You're not hungry again? You sneaking cafe food when I'm not looking?" she jested, urging him mentally to laugh. Giggle. Smile. Anything.
"No, I promise I'm not. I'm just not hungry." he answered monotonously. He took a sip of his milk, but it hit his stomach and went sour.
"That's okay. I can wrap it up and you can eat it when you want. Midnight snack or something."
"Maybe." Hiro knew he wouldn't. But he couldn't stand to see Aunt Cass worry so much. He stood up and hugged his aunt. "I'm sorry I've been such a pain lately."
"Oh no, sweetie. Don't think that. You could never pain me." she returned the hug.
"I just wish I could be better." he said into her shoulder.
"You're the best, dear. Don't think anything else." she said, ruffling his messy hair. Then she took the plate of food and went downstairs, leaving Hiro alone. He sat down on his bed again and looked around the room. He'd done this a dozen times before in an attempt to find something to do. His gaze fell on a small red robot on the shelf. He remembered building it with Tadashi years ago. He'd been seven, Tadashi was close to twelve.
"See, Hiro. Let me help," Tadashi reached for the bot in the boy's hands.
"No, Dashi! I wanna do it!" Hiro whined, pulling it away. He pushed the bot's head into place too hard and it snapped in his little hands. "I GIVE UP!" he shouted, throwing the pieces onto the floor. He stood up and went to run away when Tadashi grabbed him by the pants.
"Well I'm not giving up on YOU. Just try again and be gentle this time." he'd said. He sat Hiro down on the floor firmly and sat cross-legged in front of him. Hiro picked up the pieces and clicked the head back together with ease. He looked at Tadashi wide-eyed. Tadashi grinned and nodded,, urging the child on. Hiro took the head and body and slowly twisted them together, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. There was an audible click. Both boys looked up and saw Aunt Cass, camera in hand.
"Oh look at my two little men, building things. This is going to go right in the living room." she said. As she walked away, the boys brought their attention to the newly glowing bot in Hiro's hands. It moved its head to the right and lifted a claw. Hiro looked up at his brother.
"I did it, Dashi! I did it!" he jumped up and shouted with glee. Tadashi picked up the giggling boy and put him on his shoulder.
"You did it! I knew you could. I never gave up on you." he said, spinning the child.
"You never did give up on me, did you.." Hiro said to the photo in the living room of that night. Aunt Cass was asleep in her room, so Hiro kept himself busy and silent looking at all the pictures in the house. All of them another story, another memory. His favorite was the one of all three of them. They had been standing on a rooftop, the Golden Gate Bridge in view behind them. Aunt Cass' arms were draped over Tadashi's shoulders and Hiro was on hers, grinning his little gap-toothed grin. The sun was setting behind them. All of them were smiling. It was taken the same day they built their first bot together. We looked so happy, he thought to himself. What happened? But he knew.
Hiro stood in front of the fridge and stared at its contents. His dinner was wrapped on the top shelf. He decided to eat it in spite of himself. He hoped Aunt Cass would notice and stop worrying so much. He knew she would. She noticed everything. He put it in the microwave and waited in front of it. Just as it reached one second, he stopped it so it wouldn't beep and wake his aunt.
As he pulled his food out of the microwave, he stopped short. He noticed that the knives were back in their block. Aunt Cass trusted him again? He wondered. Should she? He pulled a small, delicate one from its place and studied it. The urge to place it against his skin was tempting. He shook slightly, terrified of what he would do.
"No," he said quietly. He put the knife back into place and took his plate upstairs. He quickly sat at his desk and concentrated on his food. He hadn't eaten in a few days, but still he wasn't hungry. He took a bite and closed his eyes. Even his aunt's leftovers were fantastic. He made sure to eat every bite so Aunt Cass would see he was getting better. Not okay yet, but getting there. He took the last bite and sighed.
Creeping back downstairs to the kitchen, he rinsed and washed his plate silently. He left it in the drying rack so Aunt Cass would see that he'd eaten. As he was walking away, his eye caught the knife block again. He wrapped his arms around himself and shook his head. I will not do it, he willed himself. I will not disappoint Aunt Cass. Again.
With that in his mind, he marched quietly back to his room and flopped onto his bed, suddenly tired. He'd exhausted his willpower to stay awake and let the sleepiness take over. He pulled his blanket all the way up to his chin and snuggled his head against the pillow. He breathed deeply and accepted the invitation to subconsciousness.
So the picture that inspired the flashback is this: dc68562b1517b5c0b84f095e9931006b/0eanrph/Qa7nffa4f/tumblr_static_
and the family picture is . /wp-content/uploads/2015/01/big_hero_6_seis_grandes_heroes_walt_disney_family_familia_hiro_hamada_little_peque_o_ni_o_kid_baby_bebe_tadashi_aunt_tia_
Hope you like. Love to all!
