*kicks down the door* GUESS WHO'S BACK FROM THE MOTHERFLIPPIN DEAD

Yeah that's right - a literal year since I've last updated and this shit STILL AINT DEAD YET

*rubs defibrillators together and applies directly to the chest* CLEAR!

Chapter Thirteen

Hiro slept restlessly that night. When he wasn't tossing and turning, he dreamt of Yokai.

Although Hiro had never seen Yokai before, the creature that appeared in his dreams was black and demonic, a shadowy beast with a thousand writhing limbs, reaching out to snatch him. But Yokai never touched Hiro - the fox-faced ninja always appeared just in the nick of time, battling Yokai , sacrificing himself so Hiro could escape.

It wasn't exactly pleasant, but it did bring a strange reassurance The ninja's eyes glowed with the spirit of the fox, and Hiro couldn't help but think of him as some sort of hero.

Even if he did steal Hiro's money.

By the time he woke up, the sun was high and the room bright. Hiro winced against the invading light, rubbing at his eyes groggily. His immediate instinct was to turn over and look for Tadashi. But the folded screen only revealed an empty bed.

Tadashi had already left for school. And Hiro didn't have any classes today. With a sharp jolt, Hiro realized he hadn't actually seen Tadashi in over twenty-four hours. Much less spoke to him.

And somehow, that just felt...normal. Not a good kind of normal. Just what he was used to now.

Deciding to go back to sleep, Hiro rolled over — and promptly fell out of bed.

His head smacked against his bedside table. "Ow!"

Landing in a heap of pain and blankets, Hiro groaned, cheek planted on the floor. Why did mornings always have to suck? Why couldn't he be more like Tad —

No. Hiro killed that thought before it could get anywhere.

Still wincing, Hiro rubbed the back of his head. He had fallen so hard there was a strange squeaking noise in his ears.

That's when he heard the sound of inflation, and turned around just in time to see Baymax rise and step from his port. "I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the trouble?"

"I'm fine, Baymax," Shaking himself, Hiro started to pick himself up, throwing the blankets off his legs. What a way to start the morning. A headache and inexplicable ear-noises. "I just fell out of bed…"

But the sound persisted, and it seemed to be coming from underneath Hiro's bed. He frowned, bent down, squinting into the darkness. There was a bunch of junk in here, as would be expected in the messy room of a fourteen-year-old boy...Hiro reached in, and his hand fell on something soft, familiar.

"I will scan you for injuries." Baymax said.

"D-don't scan me," He replied absentmindedly.

"Scan complete." Baymax continued without pause. "You have sustained no injuries. However, your hormone and neurotransmitter levels indicate that you are experiencing mood swings, common in adolescents. Diagnosis: Puberty. "

At this point, Hiro wasn't paying attention. Dragging out the cloth, Hiro was surprised to discover his blue hoodie. He thought he lost this ages ago! "No way!"

"Oh, it is a statistically proven fact," Baymax said, completely misinterpreting the situation. "According to Dr. Lawson's 2003 survey on human maturity…"

But if Hiro was surprised to discover his missing hoodie, he was even more shocked to find what was in its pocket.

The source of the squeaking noise.

A micro-bot.

Hiro blinked, bewildered at the tiny piece of metal hardware, wiggling in his palm. That's when it hit him; this was the hoodie he had been wearing, the night of the tech show. The night of the fire. This micro-bot, the last of its kind, had remained in his pocket, where he had tucked it away — right after Tadashi had retrieved it from Krei.

In reality, it shouldn't mean anything. Just a sad reminder of a sad night. The destruction of all of Hiro's hard work. The death of Callaghan, Tadashi's mentor.

...But why was this micro-bot still moving?

"This doesn't make any sense," Hiro muttered to himself, drawing himself back to his feet.

Baymax, utterly oblivious, waddled over to him. " Puberty can often be a confusing time for a young adolescent flowering into manhood —"

"What? No," Hiro waved his hand to dismiss the thought, trying not to dwell on Baymax's particular choice of words. Flowering into manhood ? Euugh. "This thing is attracted to other micro-bots."

Turning away, Hiro found a petri dish and carefully placed the still-twitching micro-bot inside. It was about the size of a quarter, but the thing still had its magnetic qualities. There was a possibility that Hiro might lose it if he didn't keep it safe. More to himself than anyone else, Hiro whispered, "But that's impossible. The rest were destroyed in the fire…"

Hiro scowled, then sighed. "Dumb thing's broken."

It was as simple as that, really. What else could it be? Hiro's curiosity didn't sustain itself, and he found himself already bored with the micro-bot. Leaving it in its petri dish container, Hiro sat in his desk chair, reached for his shoes.

"Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere," Baymax said behind him.

"Oh yeah?" Hiro said, not even half-listening as he bent over to tie on his left shoe. "Why don't you find out where it's trying to go?"

"Would that stabilize your pubescent mood-swings?"

"Uh-huh," Hiro grunted, somewhat sarcastic as he pulled on his right shoe. "Absolutely."

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to be going outside so soon after the fight with Mr. Yama, but Hiro couldn't stand the idea of being cooped up inside all day — unusual for him, yes. But he also couldn't keep looking across the room and keep meeting the same sight over and over again; the paper screen that separated Tadashi's half from his, stretched out to block any view of what was inside.

It had been like this for almost a week now. Tadashi, walling out Hiro.

Hiro wasn't going to stay where he wasn't wanted.

He caught himself staring at the screen again, and scowled to himself. As much as Hiro was angry at Tadashi, a part of him just wanted to know what was going on — what Hiro could do to fix this. Why wasn't Tadashi talking to him anymore? What had Hiro done wrong?

At least Baymax wasn't ignoring him.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Hiro heard the front door slam. He blinked, looked around. "Uh, Baymax?"

But the room was empty. Baymax was gone.

And so was the micro-bot.

Hiro stood up, bewildered. It was like the medbot had just completely vanished into thin air. He stepped towards Tadashi's screen — not like there were a lot of places up here to for a big white balloon robot to hide in.

But just as Hiro started to pull the screen back, he heard car tires screech, and jumped back, rushing towards the window. Yanking up the blinds, Hiro gaped.

There was Baymax, in the street below, not paying attention as he walked straight into traffic. Apparently transfixed with something in his hands, Baymax continued to shuffle straight through the crossing lane, and two cars blaring their horns as they swerved out of the way.

"What?" Hiro cried, alarmed. He had no idea what Baymax was doing, only that it was wrong and crazy. If Baymax got flattened by a semi, it would be Hiro's fault. "Oh, Tadashi's gonna be so mad!"

Heart leaping into his throat, Hiro spun on his heel, grabbed his sweatshirt, and tore out of his house.

(●—●)

And indeed, Tadashi would be mad.

Unfortunately, by the time Hiro got home, he had completely forgotten about his older brother.

It had been a trying day, to say the least. First the attack at the warehouse by none other than Yokai himself, then going to police, then Baymax running out of battery power. The robot was barely able to stand on his own two feet, much less communicate clearly. Hiro had to drag the slurring, tipsy Baymax halfway across town, and that had been no joke.

Once more, he found himself having to sneak into the house. This time, he wasn't as lucky as last night. It was still fairly early — five-thirty, maybe, and Aunt Cass was making dinner if the smell from upstairs was any indication. The night wasn't dark enough to give him enough cover sneaking in through the back door.

At least the store was dark, closed. Hiro didn't have to worry about any strange onlookers.

"C'mon, Baymax," he whispered, dragging the half-deflated robot through the back door. Baymax tripped on the stoop and Hiro had to catch him before his head could clonk onto the steps.

As soon as Baymax was safely inside, he shut the door and started ushering him upstairs. He didn't even see Tadashi.

"So, did you have any fun today?"

The voice emanated from behind. Hiro froze, turned around. At the base of the steps was the cafe's storeroom. Beyond that, the doorway to the main floor, filled with tables and chairs. Sitting on one of those tables was a tall figure, silhouetted against the dim light of the street behind him.

"T-Tadashi?" Hiro stammered, as Baymax slumped over him like a big plastic blanket. He tried to go for a weak smile. "H-how long were you waiting there?"

"Oh, I don't know," Tadashi drawled, getting up from his spot and walking closer. Still shadowed in darkness, he came to lean against the doorframe of the storeroom. The light case from the staircase shown on his face. Brows drawn together, jaw working as if he couldn't decide whether to be angry or really angry. "Only for a few hours, after class ended and I learned my younger brother went out on a joyride with Baymax all day long. Without telling me or Cass where you went or when you were coming back. And when you do, you bring back Baymax with a dying battery. How thoughtful of you."

Hiro winced. Busted. "L-look, I can explain. We ended up at an abandoned warehouse, okay? And we looked inside —"

"You went inside an abandoned warehouse?" Tadashi did a double-take, then paused, his eyes narrowing in on Baymax. "...Is that scotchtape? What the hell happened, Hiro?"

"I found one of my microbots, under my bed! And Baymax figured out where it wanted to go, and that's where he took me."

"So that's why he's almost out of power and full of holes?" Tadashi threw up his hands, disgusted. "I thought you were more responsible than this. Was one stupid little microbot really worth damaging my project? Which I still haven't finished, by the way."

"W-what?" Hiro flinched back a little, hurt. Hunching up his shoulders, he asked, "I thought you liked my microbots? Y-you helped me make them. It was t-the only one left and I —"

"It's not worth getting yourself into trouble!" Tadashi snapped, gesturing towards the door Hiro just entered in. "Jeez, Hiro, do you have any idea how worried I was? Or Cass? We had no idea where you were. Why didn't you tell anyone? What if you got hurt?"

Hiro didn't know why hearing Tadashi was worried about him surprising. Maybe it was because he had felt so little of that concern lately. Or maybe he was too hurt to think otherwise.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! We were attacked by Yokai!"

Now Tadashi was starting to look doubtful. He brought his head back, crossing his arms with growing skepticism. "You mean the demons from the stories Dad used to tell?"

"No, no, he was a real dude!" Hiro shook his head, leaning against the railing to face Tadashi in full. To be honest, he was still shaken from the experience. Yokai hadn't nearly been as bad as his nightmares, but not by much. "A-at least I think he was. He was in the warehouse, okay? He was wearing this creepy kabuki mask and was wearing this big black trenchcoat, a-a-and he was building microbots. My microbots! H-he had a whole automated manufacturing system and everything! More than I ever made before. When he caught us, he attacked. Me and Baymax barely got out of there alive!"

It all came out in a rush, loud and panicked. It was a wonder Cass hadn't heard and come down to see what all the commotion was about. But as Hiro continued to speak, he could see the realization dawn across Tadashi's face. The way the anger slipped away, how his arms dropped, shock flickering across his features.

When Hiro finally finished, he slumped over the railing, arms hanging loosely. Baymax had officially died, flopping down the steps. But Tadashi wasn't looking at his robot anymore. No, his eyes were fixed solely on Hiro.

"You're not joking," Tadashi said. It wasn't a question, but a statement. An observation. His voice had gone very quiet.

"Now you get it!" Hiro huffed with indignation, unable to rise from his slumped position.

"Someone stole your design," Tadashi continued, starting to frown again. He shook his head, as if he couldn't quite believe it. Hiro himself was still in a state of disbelief. "Did you go to the police?"

"Of course I went to the police, I'm not an idiot!" Hiro complained, hating that he had to go through the motions now. Recapping his previous actions like he was stupid was not Hiro's idea of helping. "But they didn't believe me! A guy attacking a city with a million little robots? I don't think anyone else has even seen him. Besides, you know, Baymax. Who's going to believe me?"

"He tried to hurt you?" Tadashi asked, and there was something new in his voice that Hiro wasn't expecting. The way Tadashi looked him up and down, the worry, the slight wringing of his hands together. It was different. "This Yokai, whoever he was. He attacked you with the microbots?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm fine," Hiro sighed. "Thanks to Baymax. I guess I'm lucky, the guy didn't chase after us. But it was bad, Tadashi. He had more microbots than I ever made. I have no idea how many he has. Or how powerful he is. What if he's the same guy who —"

He cut himself off suddenly, and Tadashi looked at him strangely. "He's the same guy who... what, Hiro?"

"Nothing," Hiro mumbled into his arm, not meeting Tadashi's eyes. He couldn't tell Tadashi about what he heard at the bot-fighting ring last night. How Mr. Yama now worked for Yokai. That would be awkward. "But I have to get them back. They don't belong to him."

"No, they don't," Tadashi began, taking a deep breath and straightening his shoulders. He took his weight off the doorframe and approached Hiro, voice firm, "I'll try to figure something out. But you're going to stay out of it from now on, Hiro."

Now it was Hiro who was suspicious. He looked up at Tadashi, frowning. "What do you mean? Figure what out?"

"I'll go to the police," Tadashi replied with a shrug, glancing at the array of shelves to his left. Working his jaw again. Thinking. "Maybe they'll listen to me."

"What? Yeah, right," Hiro didn't believe it for a second. "You're lying, Tadashi, and I know it."

"What?" Tadashi snorted, looking more amused than offended at the accusation. "Why would I lie to you?"

"Because that's just how you are lately," Hiro snapped back, rising again, hands gripping the handrail. He wasn't an idiot, he knew the 'big brother' play. He'd lived long enough under it to recognize the attempt anywhere. He jabbed a finger at Tadashi, adding, "You're still treating me like a little kid!"

"Because you are just a kid," Tadashi fired back through gritted teeth.

"Why are you being such a jerk?" Hiro demanded.

"I'm just trying to protect you!"

"Well, you used to be better at it!" Hiro retorted. Tadashi nearly recoiled at this, blinking in shock. Hiro continued just as viciously, "You barely even talk to me anymore, and when you do, you're always angry about something! We used to have fun together, but now you don't want to do anything anymore. And you hate my microbots —"

"I don't hate your microbots!" Tadashi cut him off, offended by the inaccuracy.

"Then why did you call them stupid, huh?" Hiro demanded. "What, they're not as important as Baymax or something? I worked on these for months! You even helped me, the whole way through! But now you don't even care!"

"I do care! I just —" Tadashi stopped, unable to find the words. His hands rose helplessly, before dropping to his sides. "I just have other things to worry about right now."

" What other things?" Hiro asks, utterly confused. "You mean, school?"

"No, no, not school —"

"Then what ? Because you don't do anything else, Tadashi! You're either there or here, lying in bed all day! What's going on? What did I do wrong?"

"Wrong? No, no, you didn't do anything wrong," Tadashi shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut, hands rising to his head as if he didn't understand what Hiro was talking about. Like he couldn't even comprehend it. "Hiro, it's not you, okay?"

"Then just tell me what it is! Maybe I can help!" Hiro was desperate now. He didn't know how an argument about Baymax and Yokai turned into one so much more personal, but there was no turning back now.

"No, you can't help —"

"Why not?" Hiro demanded, but Tadashi didn't have an immediate response. "Well? Come on, Tadashi, we're bros! This is what we're supposed to do, right? We stick together! We look at things from a new angle, like you always say!"

He was breathing hard, his voice starting to tremble with the rise of tears. Hiro couldn't help it, he was just so frustrated and helpless. What could he do if Tadashi didn't want to tell him anything? When Tadashi, his brother, his best friend , didn't want anything to do with him anymore?

"I just want to help." He whispered, voice cracking. "I just want the old Tadashi back."

Tadashi could only stand there, arms hanging at his sides, blinking at Hiro in utter speechlessness. Then Tadashi hung his head, unable to defend himself. Silence hung in the air for an indefinite time.

When it became clear that Hiro had won this fight, he fell back on his heels, the breath leaving his chest in a sharp sigh. It was strange. He didn't feel satisfaction or glee at having proven himself right. No. He was disappointed. Disappointed that Tadashi hadn't tried harder to prove him wrong.

Without another word, he picked up Baymax and began to drag him upstairs. He left Tadashi behind, in the darkness of the storeroom to stew in his own thoughts.

Tadashi's remained head bowed as Hiro's footsteps echoed up the stairs. If he could've seen Tadashi's face, he would've only seen an expression completely bereft of life.

"I want him back, too," Tadashi whispered to himself.