Brothers

16

Ages (Change throughout this chapter) but in the beginning they are…

Hiro: 7

Tadashi: 10

Hiro's POV

"Whatcha workin on Dashi?" I asked. He had been writing and drawing like crazy in his notebook since this morning. "Just some robot stuff." He responded. I huff. "I knew that already! What kind of robot stuff?" I whined. Dashi turned to face me and simply smiled. "You'll find out one day." He said, patting my head. I huffed again and crossed my arms. "C'mon Dashi!" I whined harder. Dashi sighed. "Fine. I guess it's not like you'll remember in a few days anyways. It's a robot I'm planning on building." He said, smiling.

I widened my eyes in wonder. Dashi rarely talks about building robots. He's afraid I'll get into botfighting or something.

"Really?" I ask in amazement. "Yup." He confirms. "What's it gonna do?" I ask curiously. "It's going to help people, namely you." He said, sounding proud. I cock my head to the side. "Me? Why would I need help? I got you don't I?" I ask, confused. Tadashi adjusts his hat, something he always does when he's nervous.

"Well little bro, it's like you once mentioned. I won't always be there for you. So this is a backup plan. This robot would take care of you." He explains gently. I feel panic rise in my body. "But Dashi, you promised me you weren't going anywhere anytime soon, remember?!" I cry, crushing him into a hug; afraid he might try to leave if I let go.

He pushes me away softly. "Whoa Hiro, clam down. I'm not going anywhere. It's just sometimes I might be busy with something or you may need me and I won't be there at the exact moment, so I'm gonna build this robot in case of those scenarios." He says, trying to calm me down. It's working as my heartrate goes back to normal.

"So when's it gonna be done?!" I ask excitedly. Tadashi's smile fades. "See, that's why I didn't want to bring him up. I didn't want you to get your hopes up. Sorry Hiro, but half the stuff I'd need to build him, I couldn't get ahold of until college." He said sadly. I frowned, but for Tadashi's sake decided not to look too upset.

"Don't sweat it Dashi. I still got you don't I?" I say gleefully. He messes up my hair and I huff. "You got that right bonehead. Seems like I'll be forever stuck with you." He says teasingly. "Hey!" I cry in protest, nudging Tadashi. He simply laughs.

"So whatcha gonna call him?" I ask curiously. "Baymax." He responds in a heartbeat. He sounded so confident about it. Almost as it were obvious. "Why?" I ask, wrinkling my nose. Tadashi shrugs. "I dunno, he looks like a Baymax, don't you think?" he asks me. "How should I know? He doesn't exist yet." I point out. Tadashi holds up his notebook to show me a sketch of him.

"That's what he's going to look like?" I ask, but regret it. Tadashi probably spent a long time on this and I just besmirched it. To my relief, he laughs at my comment.

"Yeah, I'm trying not to go for a threatening hunk of metal kinda look, you know." He says lightly. "I guess that makes sense, but shouldn't he have legs instead of wheels? I'd want it to look cute, not forced." I suggest. Tadashi puts a hand on his chin and looks over his sketch of baymax. It was chubby, white, friendly looking, and it had wobbly arms.

"You know what Hiro? That's actually a really good idea. I'm gonna do just that." He says, erasing the wheels and replacing them with legs equally as chubby as the arms. I laugh at how he made Baymax look and Tadashi bonks me on the head in response. Tadashi finally finishes sketching and closes his notebook. "Hey bonehead, we've been cooped up in this room all day and I'm sure you're bored to death. Wanna catch a movie?" he asks. I nod eagerly. "Yeah!" I say in joy, grabbing for my hoodie. I rush out of the room and wait by the front door. Then, I realize in my excitement, I forgot my shoes so I go back upstairs, but before I head into the room, I hear Tadashi talking to himself.

"One day buddy. When I can't be there to protect my baby bro, you will. I'm sure of it. I hope I can actually build you one day Baymax." I hear him say, putting his notebook into his desk drawer. I don't think there are words to describe what I felt with Tadashi's words.

Tadashi's POV

"So how's it feel to be a teenager?!" Hiro asks. "Not that different than from when I was twelve honestly." I respond. Hiro doesn't seem satisfied with my answer, but it's the truth.

"So, what have you been working on in the garage lately?" you like practically live there now. He says curiously. I feel myself get nervous. I hope he didn't go poking around there. I've been getting started on Baymax, but it's nowhere near even halfway done yet.

"I don't practically live there. I still sleep in our room." I defend. He rolls his eyes. "I had to wake you up one night because you fell asleep down there last week." He says accusingly. I blush a bit. Maybe I am spending too much time on Baymax. Ironic that I'm making him for Hiro, but I'm neglecting Hiro in the process.

"So?" Hiro asks impatiently. "Huh?" I ask, snapping out of my thoughts. "So what are you doing down there anyways? Building yourself a girlfriend?" he asks, laughing. I can't help but laugh at that too. "That was actually pretty funny, but let's be real Hiro. I can get any girl I wanted with this face." I say, showing my dimples off. "Whatever you say Dashi. So what are you really doing down there?" he asks, getting anxious.

"You'll find out someday." I say with a small smile. Figures he already forgot about that talk we had three years back about Baymax. I'm glad he doesn't remember. It's supposed to be a surprise. Hiro's about to fuss and beg me to tell him so I decide to change the topic. "Hey, you want some gummy bears?" I ask quickly. Hiro forgets all about my suspicious garage activities and jumps up at the idea.

"Yeah, let's go!" he says excitedly, grabbing my arm to drag me to the candy store. I shake my head. He's a crazy kid, but his hearts in the right place. At least I think it is.

Normal POV

"And guess who's late again." Aunt Cass said dejectedly. Hiro put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Aunt Cass. He doesn't do it on purpose. College is probably just wearing him out, ya know?" the younger brother suggested. Aunt Cass was not comforted by this greatly, but hugged Hiro for trying anyway.

"Thanks little man. Do me a favor and put the leftovers in the fridge will ya kiddo?" she asks. "Sure Aunt Cass." He responded.

Hiro put the food into the fridge and snagged a cookie out of the jar to snack on while he waited for Tadashi. As if on cue, the older Hamada walked through the door, bags under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

"Tadashi, I know you're really mesmerized by all the crazy magical stuff they have in college, but you really should make an effort to come home once in a while for dinner. Aunt Cass's is being really negatively affected by all this if you haven't noticed." Hiro said, chomping on his cookie.

"Right, that's perfect. Thanks Wasabi." Tadashi said, half asleep. Hiro sweat dropped. "Maybe you're too tired to have a conversation." Hiro mused.

"Yeah, I already calibrated those Gogo, but thanks." Tadashi said in his sleepwalking daze. Hiro laughed. "This is pretty funny.

"Hey Tadashi, I'm in love with you." He said in a voice that resembled Honey Lemon's. Tadashi smiled dreamily. "Really?" he asked in happiness. Hiro burst out laughing. "C'mon college boy, you need to sleep." Hiro said, more to himself than to Tadashi.

The younger brother pushed the older one up the stairs and into his bed. "I don't know what you're doing in that crazy school, but it better be worth it if you're losing this much sleep bro." Hiro said, walking to his own bed.

"How's it feel to be senior little bro?" Tadashi asked. Hiro shrugged. "Not much different from a junior, sophomore, or freshman really." Was his nonchalant response. "I can't believe you're gonna graduate in just a few months!" Tadashi exclaimed excitedly. Hiro shrugged.

"Yeah that's exciting and stuff, but what about you? You're in your second year of college, but you haven't even built anything yet. What are you waiting for?" the younger brother asked anxiously. Tadashi turned nervous.

To the older brother, it seemed as though Baymax would never get done. So many complications kept arising. Malfunctions in programming, structure, and more. He had been working on the plush nurse bot for what seemed like forever now. He really wanted to show Hiro his work and have him be impressed, but an unfinished robot wouldn't suffice. Tadashi wanted Hiro to be blown away from what he could do at SFIT.

"I…" Tadashi said, trailing off. Hiro slumped his shoulders. "Hey, it's fine if you're too busy to show me or whatever. It's just, I bet your friends know about what you build; shouldn't I know too?" Hiro asked, sounding hurt. "Wow Hiro. It's not like that at all. I just don't want to show it to you until it's done. You're gonna be blown away by it, I promise." The older brother assured. Hiro's hopes seemed to be lifted by this statement to Tadashi's relief.

"Are you ready for the presentation Tadashi?" Aunt Cass asked. Tadashi nodded eagerly.

There was a special program going on for the science majors tonight and Tadashi was asked to present something for it. Everyone was excited for it. Aunt Cass because she was an eager person. Hiro because he would FINALLY see what his brother could really do. And Tadashi because he was going to show his family what SFIT was like.

"Can't wait to see what you've been working on this whole time." Hiro said, nudging Tadashi with a huge grin. Tadashi smiled back. "Well, you're gonna have to wait a little longer bonehead, I'm not going to present that at the event." Tadashi said with a smirk. Hiro looked to Tadashi in disbelief. "Why not?" he asked. "I'm going to show it to just you when we get back home." Tadashi said with a wink. Hiro grumbled, but was secretly extremely honored that Tadashi chose to show him and him only first.

"Aw, don't be like that bonehead. I'm sure it'll lift your spirits when you see it. I think you'll be majorly impressed." He said smugly. Hiro was really looking forward to it already. He'd been waiting YEARS for this moment.

After the presentation, Tadashi said he'd take Hiro for ice cream while Aunt Cass headed home.

Hiro pouted as both brother's walked out of the school. "You really want me to suffer don't you? Waiting forever to see your dang project." Hiro said in mock anger. Tadashi chuckled. "Just trying to build up suspense little bro." was his response.

Before they could leave campus grounds, they felt a vibration. It was so powerful, Hiro almost fell down. Both brothers looked at each other and ran toward the explosion. Both bothers came to the scene only to see a horrible fire breaking out of the school.

"C'mon Tadashi, we can't just stand here. Call the fire department!" Hiro urged. Tadashi shook his head. "Someone's bound to have done that by now, we have to take action now!" he exclaimed, Running into the building. Hiro shook his head. "This is crazy." Hiro said to no one in particular, running into the building as well.

Hiro and Tadashi managed to get about 15 people out before they saw that the fire was getting unstable. Hiro stopped himself from going back in, but Tadashi showed no signs of quitting. Luckily, Hiro stopped him from running back in.

"Tadashi, be sensible. This fire's way to unstable now. The building could collapse at any given moment." Hiro reasoned. "There's still innocent people trapped in there." Tadashi protested. Hiro grabbed Tadashi's arm. "Tadashi, we helped as many as we could. We need to leave it to the firefighters now." Hiro reasoned once more. "No Hiro, they're taking too long. A little girl is still in there." The older one said stubbornly, trying to pry his arm away from Hiro.

"Dashi please. I can't lose you!" Hiro pleaded, down on his knees. Tadashi contemplated staying, but his better judgment told him to go save the last person in that building. He shrugged away from Hiro's death grip and raced into the building. Hiro couldn't believe it. As soon as Tadashi disappeared from his line of sight, he heard fire trucks come.

Hiro was close to tears when he thankfully found Tadashi coming out. His heart swelled with hope and happiness, thankful beyond belief that Tadashi was okay. He had the little girl in his arms, unconscious and was running back.

Then, as if time slowed down, Hiro saw a thick piece of the building fall right above Tadashi. The older Hamada saw it coming and threw the little girl in Hiro's direction, but the millisecond after, the chunk of burning architecture made direct contact with the older boy's body and he fell down. Hiro ignored the girl and raced to where Tadashi was.

"Dashi?! Dashi?!" he cried, trying to get the piece of the wall off of his brother frantically. The firefighter came and pried it off with his fireproof gloves. Hiro stared down at Tadashi and hugged his burned form. "Dashi, you're gonna be alright. You have to be. You can't leave me. Not now. You can't!" Hiro cried in sadness. A few minutes passed and Tadashi didn't come to.

"DASHI! DASHI WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! THIS IS NOT FUNNY. GET UP. PLEASE GET UP. GOD DAMMIT GET UP DASHI!" Hiro demanded. When Tadashi remained unresponsive, Hiro's eyes welled with tears and poured down, making contact with Tadashi's lifeless body.

Hiro sniffled and hugged Tadashi's body even closer. "Nii-chan. You promised. You promised you wouldn't leave, and you even promised that you wouldn't make promises you couldn't keep, but you did. Nii-chan, why'd you leave me?" Hiro asked, almost pleading with Tadashi's body. Whispering continuously. "Why Nii-saan. Why?!" he whisper cried.

Hiro lay in his bed. Solemn. Alone. Brotherless. It had been two weeks since Tadashi had passed away in that building. Thanks to him and Hiro, all the people that were trapped in the building were saved. He was the only one to lose his life. Hiro couldn't believe Tadashi was gone.

"He promised. He promised that he wouldn't leave me, but he did anyway." Hiro whispered softly to himself. It hurt like crazy to know Tadashi wasn't there to bounce ideas off of. To make funny jokes with. To ask pointless questions with. To mourn about his parents with. To comfort him when he had nightmares (Not that they happened anymore, but still).

Hiro sighed and spread his arms and legs out on his bed. "They say Tadashi's not really gone as long as we remember him, but that doesn't get rid of the pain." Hiro said to himself again. The fourteen year old genius got out of bed and looked around his room. His room. His own room. He didn't share it with anyone anymore. He let that sink in.

Mochi suddenly came into the room. Hiro picked up the tubby cat and pet it behind the ears, causing it to purr in satisfaction. Hiro sighed once more. "I wonder what it was like for you to leave your family Mochi. Now we have one thing in common. We're a broken family. But I guess we still have each other." Hiro whispered to the cat. The cat meowed in response, causing Hiro to crack a light smile.

Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, Mochi scratched Hiro on the arm and scampered away in a flash, causing the boy to yelp in pain. "OW! Mochi, what was that for!" he cried to the cat, but it was long gone.

"Ow. He got me good." Hiro said, inspecting his arm, which was beginning to bleed. Then, a beeping sound was heard followed by a somewhat inflating sound. Hiro looked up in alarm.

Hiro's POV

Some weird balloon thing just came out of nowhere from Tadashi's old side of the room, scaring me a bit. I squinted and couldn't help but feel like I had seen this somewhere before. It waddled over to me awkwardly and waved in an attempt to seem friendly I guess. It was so chubby and plush. I couldn't place why or where, but I really felt like I knew him from somewhere.

"Hello, I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. I was awoken by your call of distress. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?" it asked, monotone. I blinked. Baymax? Why did this look and sound so familiar. It seemed surreal, but I none the less responded to the balloon bot. "Uh, a two?" I said uncertainly. Baymax nodded. "Alright, I will proceed to scan you now." It said, looking me up and down.

"Scan?" I questioned. "Yes, scan. It is imperative that I scan my patient for signs of injury. My scanners indicate that you not only feel physical pain, but emotional as well. I will relieve the physical first as that is what I was programmed to do." Baymax said, pulling out an antiseptic from who knows where. I watched in silence as the robot tended to my arm injury.

After Baymax did his thing, he pulled out a cherry lollipop. "This is your reward for being a good boy." Baymax said, patting my head. I accepted the lollipop and popped it into my mouth. "You've got some sick programming." I mused, observing the robot in wonder. Hyperspectral cameras that can scan a human? Pretty impressive.

"My programming is not sick Hiro. Tadashi made sure I was fully functional before bringing me out of his lab. He was very excited for you to see me." Baymax said. I flinched at his words. "Of course! Baymax!" I cried in surprise. Baymax blinked. "I am confused." He said, monotone. "Wait a sec." I say, digging through a box containing stuff from when I was younger.

I found what I was looking for and almost cried in happiness. A picture I drew of Baymax when I was 7. I remembered Tadashi telling me about Baymax all those years ago, claiming that I wouldn't remember it later so there was no harm in telling me then. But my brain had other ideas. I drew a sketch of Baymax based on what Tadashi had in his notebook, telling myself I wouldn't forget. I looked at Baymax again, only this time, from a fresh perspective.

"It appears your functional fixedness has come into play. You remember me?" Baymax asked. "Yeah." I said in wonder. I noticed an access port on Baymax and opened it, revealing a chip in Baymax. The words 'Tadashi Hamada' were sprawled onto it, with a little nurse picture etched into it. I smiled and closed the access port.

"I was wrong. Tadashi will always be there for me." I thought, hugging Baymax tightly. He hugged back, though a bit stiffly.

"Love you Nii-San." I whispered to myself.

God, I really didn't want to kill Tadashi in this chapter, but I had to in order to emphasize Baymax's impact on Hiro. SORRRRRYYYY. I personally am one of the people that think up of theories as to how Tadashi is still alive despite the fire, but he's just dead in this chapter. Anyways, review away!