Disclaimers: This story, of course is property from the movie by Disney/Marvel, and I claim no ownership to the characters and story therein. For this chapter, many other inspirations have also come from the book "Hiro and Tadashi" (currently only available electronically on Amazon), "Hiro's Journal", and other such book trivia found on Disney's Wikia website.

Chapter 5 - Indomitable Spirit

"You're made of metal, but you have feelings… and you think about things, and that means you have a soul. And souls don't die." Hogarth, The Iron Giant

-oOo-

It was Aunt Cass's voice calling to Hiro up the stairs that finally had awakened him.

Wait. Is it… 9 o'clock?! He thought he had set the alarm, or did he turn it off by accident?

"Just letting you know your friends are waiting for you in the cafe!" She called again.

Friends…? Scrap! Hiro jumped out of bed to change his clothes as fast as he could, and pulled on his new blue SFIT hoodie. It also occurred to him it was a couple days already since he last taken a shower. Hopefully they wouldn't notice, because he had no time now.

He did stop halfway down the stairs, only to run back up them to the bathroom. Maybe he should at least brush his teeth and wash his face first.

His nerves got to him at that point, when Hiro started to think about everything that had gone wrong yesterday. If GoGo's suspicious behavior wasn't one thing, the close call he had from using his brother's ID presented another problem. The only security that guard provided him was knowing that the odds of the lab spontaneously exploding was greatly reduced. But this was just one of his many concerns.

College is not like high school, it's not. Hiro told himself one more time as he spit out some toothpaste. For starters, college was at least full of people who wanted to be there. He really didn't like high school for the fact that everyone there had so many issues. What was it about becoming a teenager that turned a lot of people into jerks? Seriously, all he did was do what everyone expected of him, and they still wanted to turn him into sashimi. If it wasn't for Tadashi to keep him going, he probably would have given up on this idea of 'school' a long time ago.

Hiro washed his face, dried off, then decided to swipe some deodorant, just in case. He really tried to not dwell too long on that awkward conversation with GoGo in the elevator. Little did she realize that was one of the things he got picked on about in high school. Those teens acted like he knew nothing about that stuff, but he did, at the ripe young age of ten. His brother had no choice but to give him the whole nine-yards about sex-ed just because he didn't want Hiro to find out the wrong way. Needless to say, it really bugged Hiro when Baymax had started to describe in great detail everything about puberty, like that was going to be a sick joke that Tadashi had planned to pull on him.

But with GoGo, Hiro felt more confused about her than before. He did kind of like her, not just because she also researched magnetics and had this cool biker style. It was the way she was always there to keep his head on straight when he needed it most, that really meant something.

Because even before that, GoGo and Honey Lemon didn't seem at all bothered when he had to consider their cup sizes and stuff when making their super suits. Then yesterday, he just absent-mindedly glanced at her well-toned legs and she chewed him out. How was he supposed to know how to act around her, if he wasn't sure what she really thought about him?

Hiro went down a couple steps again, somewhat caught up in his thoughts, when realized he had forgotten something else. "Geez... backpack!"

He now dashed back down both flights of stairs, and burst through the doors at the back corner of the cafe. The group of four was sitting at the table, finishing their coffee when Hiro spotted them.

"Hey," he waved, giving everyone a small smile.

"Awesome, he's here!"

Wasabi stood up and greeted him by messing up his hair, some more.

"Let's go!"

"This is so exciting," Honey Lemon put her hand on his shoulder as they walked out.

"Yeah," Hiro glanced up, still not used to her height when she was next to him like that. Then he caught a glimpse of Aunt Cass behind him and waited for her.

"Hey sweetie, have a great day," Aunt Cass handed him his lunch bag, which he took, along with a hug.

Hiro stepped back as if he was going to leave, but before she had the chance to get the coffee cups that were left on the table, he hugged his favorite Aunt again, this time a little more tightly. "One more."

This gesture was the least Hiro could do to show how much he appreciated her efforts from the last couple of days. And that she also shouldn't be taken for granted. His aunt smiled at him warmly, and then let him catch up with the others.

The group of five sat in the mid-section of the bus where the seats faced each other, like in a subway car. This time, all of them agreed to make a special trip together to meet with him at the Lucky Cat Cafe, to make sure he started off on the right foot, per say. Naturally, one of their conversations gravitated towards the status of Wasabi's van. He had submitted the claim with the intent of totaling it, but the whole nature of the accident was not an easy one to process. Fred also added that Heathcliff would only provide transportation for emergency situations. Getting to class did not qualify as such. So they had no choice but to fall back on good ol public transportation for a while.

Hiro was quietly bothered by the fact that GoGo sat on the bench right across from him. Yet, sitting next to him could have been possibly worse, but with her right across, he had to make more of a conscious effort to not look at her, below the shoulder-line or above her knees. Thankfully, Wasabi, who had been standing in the isle-way (because crowds in public transportation made him nervous), had moved down so he blocked GoGo from Hiro's line of vision.

Honey Lemon, however, did sit next to him, which somehow also made him more self-conscious. It was going to be awhile before the realization that she was Tadashi's really close girlfriend slid back to the recesses of his mind. Of course, that helped explain why she had been so concerned about him, like a big sister. But the way she stayed so strong through it all impressed him now.

The tall blonde had noticed his pensive silence and gave him a nudge. "Do you know where the Registrar's office is, Hiro?"

"Yeah, it's the building on Osaka and 3rd?" He remembered roughly the lay out of the campus.

"Not exactly," she shook her head. "That one is the Student Union. The Registrar's office is in the old temple style building on the other side."

"Yeah, the Student Union has a lot of other stuff, like where you get your Student ID's, free bus passes, laptop rentals—" Fred piped in.

"Wait, I thought you weren't a student." Hiro had stopped him.

"Not a SFIT student," he stressed. "But this fall, I enrolled at thee U of San Fransokyo. English lit is my specialty."

"If you want to call comic books, literature," GoGo jabbed.

"If you can find it in the library, it's literature." Fred refuted, with a nod.

"I guess that means... congratulations?" Hiro told him, somewhat surprised by this.

"You inspired me, dude," he jabbed the boy, whole-heartedly. But then he leaned over, whispering, "And it's also because the change in security meant I couldn't get into the labs."

"Yo, guys, our stop is next," Wasabi alerted them.

They poured out onto the sidewalk by the bus stop located on the east side of campus. This was the closest location that particular bus route would get them to where they wanted to be. They didn't mind since the weather was also very nice. Honey Lemon suggested it was a good way to tour the campus too. Hiro still wondered in the back of his mind if they were actually baby-sitting him, if not trying to keep him away from certain places on purpose. He still remembered the layout of the campus, and knew where the convention center was. The likely-hood of him happening across the area it was located, by accident, was slim.

After a brief rundown of which direction to go for what place, they began to discuss where to meet for lunch afterwards. A couple of the others did have morning classes to attend as well.

"Kyoto Kafe is the best spot," Wasabi explained. "There is a food court at the Student Union, but I like the food better at the Kafe."

"Plus they don't care if you bring your own food to eat there." GoGo added.

"Kyoto Kafe it is!" Honey Lemon confirmed. "At 12:30?"

"Works for me."

"Oh, yes.. Hiro?" Honey snapped her fingers, just remembering something. "Do you have a phone, in case we need to reach you? I can give you my number."

"No, I don't," he made a face, shaking his head. He briefly thought about their comm links, but then that would mean having to find the helmets from their supersuits and somehow pulling the devices out from the helmets to carry somewhere else (provided that it did not get too far out of range) and well, that didn't sound like something they could do right now.

"Do you have something else?" Honey Lemon wondered.

"It's.. kind of complicated," Hiro wasn't sure where to begin his story, at this point.

"How..?" GoGo had to ask.

"Well... okay, about a year ago, I was tinkering with the cell phone Aunt Cass gave me, to use for just calling her or Tadashi... like for emergencies. I was trying to develop an app that made the phone work like a walkie-talkie."

"Don't they already have apps like that?" Honey Lemon wondered.

"Yeah, but I wanted it to be able to work without needing a wifi connection." Hiro explained further.

"Let me guess," GoGo stated flatly. "It backfired."

"Exactly..." He looked down at the sidewalk, hands in his pockets. "I kind of messed up my phone, which did something to how the rates were charged, and... Aunt Cass got a phone bill.. which was over a thousand dollars."

"Get out of here!" GoGo practically shoved him aside in disbelief.

"Oh my god, really?" Honey Lemon was just as surprised, but smiling in some amusement.

"I paid her back! ...eventually," Hiro refuted quickly. "But yeah, she took away my phone privileges after that."

"I hope our comm links are legit," Wasabi spoke up, now thinking about that bit of tech.

"They are. The comm links just use regular radio wave frequencies."

"Oh man, that reminds me," Fred mused, turning to face them. "Remember when Baymax called all of us that first time?"

"How could not I forget," Wasabi countered.

"I tried to stop Baymax from contacting you guys," Hiro sighed, only to smile uncomfortably after realizing what he said. "But I guess that wasn't a bad idea after all."

GoGo shot Fred a harsh glare, knowing full where this was going to go, and that hopefully it wouldn't annoy Hiro.

"Yeah, the caller ID showed Tadashi's name, and what made it more creepy was that we all received the call at the exact same time!" Fred at least kept from saying what they all had thought at the time, that it was a haunting from Tadashi's ghost. "Or should I say, I found out they all got that call too after I got to the Lab to tell them about it."

"GoGo actually had the guts to answer her cell," Wasabi explained, hopefully with a little more tact for Hiro. "But then she told us it was a recorded message from Baymax, to come and meet with you."

"Which was still creep- ow!" GoGo jabbed Fred this time, since he was next to her now.

"We first wondered if it might have been a glitch, but when we got a second call about a change in coordinates to meet at, then we knew it had to be real." Honey also explained.

"I think what Fred is getting at, is that Baymax had smartphone tech built into him," GoGo finally decided to get to the point of this mildly awkward conversation.

"Yes, actually!" He agreed.

"Yeah... I remember that.. Tadashi asked later if he could get an additional phone at that time. But instead, Aunt Cass traded in mine for a new one for him to have, so he was able to use his old phone for Baymax. He probably succeeded at what I was trying to do with the functions." Hiro really did not know about that part of it, he just remembered reading Tadashi's journal report on that design element yesterday. But he stretched the truth for their sake right now.

They were quiet for a few steps more before Hiro remembered the original question that started this whole conversation. "Yeah... I did bring my tablet though, so I can text you guys."

"That'll work too."

"Here's my number," Honey said, looking through her purse for a pen and notepad.

After the initial registration, Hiro was told he needed to meet with an advisor to help him with the selection of his major and the classes he needed to start with. He did not recognize the new advisor, and assumed she was probably new, due to various given reasons that he did not need an explanation for. There was some concern again about his age since he did not have a legal guardian present at the time, but since he did receive a scholarship, the immediate concern of financial responsibility was something to be addressed later when Aunt Cass was able to come at a later time. The session with his advisor became another reality check of sorts, and fortunately he was still able to choose classes that were manageable for that semester. She said the program curriculum was undergoing some changes too, but she did not freely explain why.

Upon explaining his initial motive to take over the Baymax project, the advisor had to gently explain to him that plan was a great idea, but since it was a nearly completed project, it could not be used for his thesis capstone. Hiro would still need to come up with an idea of his own, from scratch. Since that suggestion initiated further confusion, again, she had to clarify that he can and was welcome to continue what Tadashi started, but he also had to develop a project of his own. At this point, she offered a few more suggestions on the types of projects other students have done to help him understand the purpose and goal of a capstone thesis for his degree in robotics engineering.

Even though the woman appeared to be new to this school, she at least had the patience to answer any other concerns he had, which had helped boost his confidence again. He didn't want to say it, but it had left him wondering what SFIT would be like now that Callaghan was no longer in charge.

With his new ID badge in hand, Hiro still had some time before he was to meet with the others. Since he did need some time to think, he was okay with arriving at the Kafe early. He had toyed with the thought of swinging by the lab, but there really wasn't enough time. He also made a mental note to bring his skateboard next time, just because there would be so much time lost if he just walked everywhere on campus.

After entering the Kyoto Kafe, Hiro surveyed the large seating area before settling on a round table with a curved bench seat in one corner. Once settled, he pulled out his white tablet to look at his new class schedule again that was emailed to him. Hiro could start into his afternoon classes today, if he wanted. But he felt it would just be better to start everything from the beginning tomorrow. He still wanted to get some stuff unpacked in his lab first after lunch, now that he can.

Hiro pulled out his own battered scientific notebook journal to look at, the kind with actual paper pages and written in with a black ink pen. Clearly being a fan of these things, Tadashi had given the empty journal to him over the summer, for Hiro to record the progress of his microbots. The reason being is that it was good planning to have both the paper trail as well as the digital formats, just because 'you never know'. Hiro had brought the journal as proof for the advisor that the microbots were his, in case there was any question about how he won the scholarship.

Just looking at it still made him feel guilt and disgust about the microbots, however. Again, that question haunted him: If he never invented the microbots, resulting in Callaghan to stealing them, would his brother still be alive?

Hiro stared at the journal a second or two longer before he stashed it back inside his backpack. He really did not need to look at that for reference anyway, if all it was going to do was drag him backwards again. He was doing his best to remember his promise that set him apart, the difference that made him a hero. Heroes save lives. The news reports also reminded him that Callaghan acknowledged this now. He chose to keep them out of it, and did not publicize who they were. The act of forgiveness was still a bitter pill to swallow sometimes, but it was the only way if he was to move forward.

The new robotics engineer sighed, before pulling out his next journal notebook and Tadashi's first scientific journal for Baymax. He finally found those in a box down in the garage last night.

The list of materials needed to build Baymax alone was massive, and that did not include the supplies and non-prescription medicines needed to equip the robot. He flipped through more of the pages, the schematics, and hand drawn notes about design details. He would have to ask around on how to go about getting this stuff again.

Hiro pushed that aside, as his greater drive was to start collaborating new designs for the idea he had for his own project. He picked up the new, empty journal, and opened it.

On the inside cover of his journal, and the very top, he wrote "In memory of my brother, Tadashi Hamada." Then below he wrote at the bottom edge, "Rule 2: Hamada brothers never give up on each other." After a couple more moments of thought, in the center where a printed box was, he wrote "Geronimo" as the project name, and for the subject, "search and rescue robots", followed with that day's date.

This was the most amazing idea that occurred to him on his walk over to Kafe, and he had started grinning from ear to ear from just how crazy awesome of an idea it was. With this new project, he hoped it would also help save the lives of so many more people. Fireproof robots, like fire fighters or the EMS, that is durable and strong enough to go into burning buildings, wreckage from earthquakes, or underwater situations. It was quite possibility the best idea he ever had, and he was certain it would be greatly accepted. Except this time, he was a little more hesitant about letting others know so soon.

"Hey."

Hiro heard GoGo's voice greet him, otherwise giving him a start, and he quickly closed the cover of his journal. She seemed to do that to him a lot lately.

She slid into the other side of the table, popping her gum. "How'd it go?"

"Okay, I guess," Hiro stacked the two journals together, keeping his eyes down on them and the table space in front of him.

"Were you able to get access to Tadashi's files from the server?" GoGo asked next, remembering their conversation yesterday. She had set her protein shake tumbler on the table, with a red ramen noodle bowl that had bold black Korean letters on it.

"No," Hiro sighed. "Aunt Cass has to come later to sign and release them."

She nodded. "You got your own ID though," she added, looking at the badge he left on the table.

"Yeah," he picked it up, remembering now to tuck it in his backpack so it didn't get lost.

"What does the R said for?" For some reason that question threw him off guard. She was referring to the initial for his middle name that she saw on his badge.

Hiro glanced at GoGo, making eye contact with her for the first time since she sat down. "Um, Ryan."

"Suits you," GoGo nodded, the slightest hint of a smile now playing at the corners of her mouth. "Way better than my American name."

He shrugged, then hesitated before he dared to ask, "Which is?"

GoGo she popped her gum, leaning forward to emphasize the point. "If I told you, then I would have to kill you."

"It's that bad?" Hiro couldn't help but smirk. He was sensing more of her openness, which in turn made him feel more comfortable with her again.

"Yep... Something the orphanage gave me, which kind of added insult to injury." She sat back and peeled the cover on the spicy ramen noodle bowl the rest of the way off. GoGo had already nuked it earlier, so it was ready to eat now. She broke apart her wooden set of chopsticks to stir them up.

"I guess that's why you like your nickname more," Hiro confirmed.

GoGo shrugged, now putting her wad of gum on top of her tumbler, but her gaze shifted to someone else approaching the table.

"Hey, hey guys!" Fred greeted them, sliding in next to Hiro, otherwise causing him scoot further into the booth with his backpack.

"Hey, yo." GoGo nodded.

"How'sit going?" Fred nudged Hiro, right next to him. "Which major did you sign-up for?"

"Robotics Engineering, of course," Hiro just looked at him coolly.

"You had to ask?" GoGo looked to Fred, almost in disbelief.

"Well, you'll never know..." He shrugged, opening up a bag of nacho flavored chips that he had.

"I was this close to going with Forensic Science," Hiro added, giving them a teasing smile. "Only because."

"Ooooh, that would have been cool too if you did!" Fred also agreed.

"But that doesn't mean I couldn't do a CSI angle on the robotics," Hiro looked up, twisting his mouth in thought.

"Hah! Yesh! Except... Robocop's already been done, right?" He crunched on a chip.

"Yup... but that's not what I want to do," Hiro nodded.

"Did they let you have Tadashi's lab also?" GoGo stopped slurping noodles for a moment. She had been glancing at the journal for Baymax that he had stacked on top.

"Yes," Hiro looked down at the journals too. "At least that was the only thing going my way. They'll let me continue with Baymax, but... I still need to come up with my own project for my capstone."

"Figures," GoGo clicked her tongue.

"But... as a Hamada brother, I never back down from a challenge." Hiro countered, that knowing look evident to them in his eyes.

"Hi guys!" Honey Lemon greeted them as she and Wasabi approached the round table. She set her tray down, on GoGo's side, thus encouraging the speedster to slide in closer to Hiro, to make room for the two. At this point, Hiro was deeply grateful for his backpack that separated the space between him and her.

"All's good?" Wasabi scooted his tray over to take his drink and bowl of udon noodles off of it.

"Yeah," Hiro answered automatically. He also remembered now to pull out his nearly squished brown lunch bag from his backpack.

"Got any classes this afternoon?" Honey asked next.

"I do, but I decided wait until tomorrow to go to them." Hiro took out a sub sandwich, a bag of chips, a can of pop, and then a small bag of gummy bears. "Uhm," he smiled modestly, pushing the gummy bears back into the paper bag. "I wanted to finish unpacking the lab today."

"You got the lab, Hiro?" Honey glowed with excitement.

"Yup."

"Right on!" Wasabi also congratulated him. "We figured that you would."

"Which classes did you get?" Honey asked next as she squeezed a packet of dressing on her salad.

"A lot of the classes were full already, so she gave me the permission to take a couple classes that should be taken after the introductory classes, but I told her that shouldn't be a problem." Hiro attempted to take a bite from his sub.

"Such as 'Physics and Function 201'?" asked Honey Lemon. "I am in that one this semester."

"I think. There was another one about hydraulics, and mathematical algorithms for AI programming." He knew that many of the others were second and third year students with different angles on their studies, so the chances of also being in any classes with them were slim.

Honey nodded, as she started on her salad.

"I also wanted to sign up for Chinese as my language requirement, but it was at the same time as my required classes for the next few semesters." Hiro explained, pausing to drink some pop. "But the only class still open this semester was Japanese 101."

GoGo snorted.

Honey also laughed a little. "Is that a language you know how to speak already?"

"Kind of, except I couldn't carry on a conversation if I had too," he tried to suppress a belch.

"Is it the one with Dr. Harada, at 4 o'clock?" Gogo asked him.

"Um, yeah."

"I'm in that class." She said, almost at a whisper.

"Really?" Hiro had to remember to not let his jaw hang open in surprise. "I mean, I'm glad to know I'm not the only loser."

GoGo turned to face him, narrowing her eyes and leveled her fist within his line of vision. "What are you implying?"

"That I am the loser." Hiro promptly answered, feigning innocence as he smiled nervously. His eyes shifted their focus between her fist and her eyes, gauging if that was actually bluff or not.

She just glowered a second longer before turning away from Hiro.

"Ooo..." Wasabi breathed, in response.

"You... have guts.. my friend," Fred whispered to Hiro, as he sucked the cheese powder off his fingers.

Checkmate. Hiro thought mentally as he took a big bite from his sub. The others wisely ate in silence for a moment after that little exchange. What could he say? If GoGo was going to mess with him, why couldn't he do the same?

"Oh yeah, are we still doing the Scientific Research Club again this year?" Fred asked no one in particular.

Honey Lemon pursed her lips in thought before saying anything about that. Wasabi scratched his head as he also exchanged some glances.

Fred just noticed Hiro's confused expression about this. "Oh wait... no one told you about the club?"

"Not really," Hiro shook his head. He could only assume now by the way they were squirming again was that Tadashi must have been the club president. That made sense now, how out of all the other people in the lab, that this motley crew of students were drawn together. "But I imagined you guys were part of something."

"Well..." Honey started, setting her fork down. She lowered her voice, looking over to Hiro. "Are we still going to be a super hero team?"

Hiro blinked, remembering when that proposal came up the other night, and it was never really confirmed. But now, now it was apparent they all looked to him to make the final call. Since he had been the one to assemble them, they also saw him as their new leader. This was a new kind of responsibility that actually kind of scared him, because it was a role that he was not yet accustomed too. A new challenge he had yet to tackle.

"I vote that we should!" Fred clapped his hand on Hiro's back in an attempt to encourage him.

"Okay, okay," Hiro held his hands out, as if to freeze their thoughts. "We're on."

"Yes!" Fred cheered.

"Great! Then maybe we can do this instead." Honey gave her explanation. "If that is okay with everyone?"

"Fine with me," GoGo shrugged, smiling knowingly.

"Although... how are we going to hold the meetings, and train?" Wasabi decided to address more important details.

"Compadres, you are all welcome to keep coming to my place!" Fred smiled. He was still quite giddy knowing that this was for real now.

"The physical education classes here are lame, and so is the gym." GoGo added her two cents on the training proposal. "It'll be better if we develop our own training routine. I can help you guys with that."

"I just want to say, I don't like running much," Honey confessed, despite the chance of irking GoGo.

"I know some strength training routines," Wasabi added, in between bites.

"Yes, we do need to plan something to help build up our strength and reaction time." GoGo agreed.

"Maybe… we can use my garage too," Hiro spoke up. More ideas of his own were starting to come to him the longer they thought about it. "I can clean it up and turn it into a workout area, for like hand-to-hand combat or crossfit stuff."

"Hey, that could work!" Wasabi liked where that was going.

"And then we can still go to Fred's for supersuit training, since he's got such a big, yard in a secluded location." Hiro explained.

"So like on one day we meet at your garage, and then another time, we meet at Fred's?" Honey confirmed.

"Something like that."

"Okay, we just need to check our schedules this semester to find some free time." Honey advised the others, now looking at the calendar on her phone.

"Sure. We can pick some days, like by this time tomorrow?" Hiro wondered, munching on a chip.

"Or maybe we can text each other," Honey added. "Today we were able to meet together this time, but tomorrow I have to work off campus at this time."

"Whatever works," Hiro shrugged.

"We don't have to rush into this, this week, do we?" Wasabi wondered too. "I need some time to look at training routines we can use too, right?"

"Well, of course," GoGo said, finishing the last of her noodles.

"I did also have these ideas to upgrade my own super suit," Hiro decided to tell them, since it was related to the topic. "So this will be a fun way to test it out!"

"Ironman armor?" Fred had to ask.

"Um, no." Hiro pressed his lips together for a moment. "But it's close, kind of. I realized I can use the magnets I have in my suit… add electromagnetic chargers, like what I put into GogGo's suit, and then I can create pulse blasts from my gloves, or a big magnetic field from all four combined."

"Wow."

"This came to me last night, just because Baymax is gonna take a lot longer than I thought to rebuild." He crumbled up the wrapper from his sub, and picked up another chip.

"Game on," GoGo just looked at him, acting as though she was not as impressed by this new unspoken challenge he set before them.

It was a weird new reality yesterday when he walked into Tadashi's lab, but today, now it was officially his. But in his mind, he rather think of it as the Hamada Lab, only because Tadashi had said something about them sharing it after Hiro was accepted.

A part of him felt he didn't deserve to have a lab as nice as this one all to himself now, especially when the others had to share the larger lab areas. But from what Hiro understood of the complexity of Baymax, this lab must have been for the safety of the others. One thought of the pressurized systems failing, resulting in sharp needles and questionable fluids exploding all over the place, was probably enough reason. Hiro found himself smiling imagining that, despite the very scary thought of projectile hypodermic needles. He absolutely hated needles.

Hiro dropped his backpack by the computer desk, and decided to attack the boxes that were stacked in the middle of the room first. He moved the smaller box with office supplies over to the desk. Inside that one, he took out Tadashi's SF baseball cap and looked at it for a moment. Baymax was right... his brother was always there, in spirit. Just as long as he remembered him. Hiro hung the hat on an old desk lamp that he doubted he would ever use.

The hat made him think of Baymax's rocket fist. He did not want to say it, or make the direct connection, just because the idea still sounded crazy... but maybe there really was truth from all the Japanese folklore stories he heard when he was growing up. The soul of a great warrior would also live on in the owner's sword, since the weapon was an extension of the warrior.

Hiro opened the flaps on the big box, taking a moment to look at the shiny red fist, like it was Baymax's extension of himself, his metaphysical sword. With a sigh, he hefted the heavy fist into his arms to set it up on a counter. It was his visible reminder that he'll rebuild his best healthcare companion. The fingers were still retracted inwards also, looking like a tight fist.

You'll be back. Hiro smiled faintly as he fist-bumped with the rocket fist. Then something green caught his eye as he stepped away. The boy quickly stepped closer, prying apart the large fingers.

No way... No! Way! Hiro's jaw dropped when he pulled Tadashi's chip out of the fist. Baymax was Tadashi's sword; there was no doubt about it now. How else could he explain this? He could only guess that there was core robotic programming that existed no matter which chip was installed, but it still left him wondering how Baymax would know how to send off the chip with the rocket fist.

Instead, Hiro was just hit full force with the most insanely awesome happiness he ever felt. Before he knew it, he was running through the hallway, using the stairs rather than the elevator, to get to the first floor labs.

"Oh my god! Look!" Hiro nearly ran headlong into Honey Lemon by accident, as he was completely beside himself with happy.

"Wait, what is it?" She exclaimed in surprise. Fortunately she wasn't carrying anything volatile in an open container, because it would have ended up exploding everywhere. Then she saw what he was waving around. "Oh my gosh— Hiro! It's Tadashi's chip!"

"Yes! I found—" Hiro shouted, only to be cut short by a sudden hug from Honey.

"What the what?" Wasabi and GoGo finally came over to see what the commotion was about.

"The chip... Baymax gave me the chip!" Hiro tried to explain, once Honey released him. "I found it in the fist of th—"

And again, he was cut short by another spontaneous group hug by everyone but Fred, only because he wasn't there.

"I can't believe it!" Honey chimed in again, practically in tears as she leaned her head on top of Hiro's.

"That is just awesome," Wasabi added, from the outside perimeter of the hug.

Hiro's eyes started welling up, so overcome with emotion and their support. Even more embarrassing was that he realized GoGo was right there, seeing him get all emotional again. "I'm not crying... just.. tears of joy," he whispered, despite his strained voice, quickly wiping them off his cheeks.

"S'kay," GoGo whispered back, "You've been through a lot."

"We all have," Honey sobbed a little.

"Like I'm not hugging you," GoGo pulled her arm that she had around Honey so she could give Hiro a bear hug so tight he couldn't breathe.

Okay, crying for a whole different reason now, ow, Hiro gasped. The four broke apart before they started to attract unwanted attention from the other students in the lab. He bend down for a moment, hands on knees to catch his breath.

As he straightened up, Wasabi patted Hiro on the back before going back to his lab.

"Way to go! You made Hiro cry," GoGo teased Honey Lemon, prodding the taller girl on the arm. "Need a tissue?"

Honey shook her head, laughing a little at herself too now. She took off her glasses to carefully wipe the wetness from her cheeks. "I'll just go to the bathroom to touch up."

"Wasn't crying," Hiro still resisted that idea, even though he had just wiped his face with the back of his hand again.

"Then you better get that leaky malfunction fixed before you dehydrate," GoGo punched him in the shoulder.

Hiro just snorted, walking backwards a few steps as he looked down at the green and white chip, running a thumb over the black letters of his brother's name. The rest of Baymax should be easy for him to duplicate now, since all the original programming was right here. Or at least, he hoped it wasn't going to take him as long as it had for Tadashi. "Going back upstairs," he just said, before turning to leave.

"We'll be going to our classes, so.. see you tomorrow!" Honey called after him, whether or not he actually heard her.

It was really kind of early the next morning, but that was also because Hiro's first class started at 8:30 in the morning. Naturally, if he was up that early then Aunt Cass took every advantage to use him to help her open up shop. She had found out at this point for as long as Hiro had a carrot dangling in front to bait him, it was a lot easier for her to ask him to do things. Her ultimate motive was to teach him how to be more responsible with this, as she had done with Tadashi when he had been Hiro's age. But she also wanted to help him out, in a more legal way, with his cash flow. Thus, she had given him a new list of chores that he could do anytime at night or in the morning when the Café was closed. If they were completed by the next day, Aunt Cass agreed to give him twenty bucks for each day.

Hiro's dark hair was still damp from the shower, as he had wasted no time getting the chore list done that morning. "Okay, cleaned the fingerprints from the front doors, wiped down the front counter and the pastry cases, swept the floor, made sure the trashcans were empty, and the bathrooms still look clean," he told Aunt Cass, giving her the clipboard.

"The bathrooms look clean?" She caught his last statement.

"Um, yeah." Hiro swept his long bangs out of his eyes again. "I cleaned the toilets last night."

"I'll be the judge of that," Aunt Cass finally sighed, circling the bathrooms on the list. "Remind me again tonight to trim up your hair." She checked the clock again before walking to the front to open the doors.

"Right…" Hiro cringed, before sneaking an éclair from the case. He quickly inspected the set-up of the coffee machine and the equipment used for making cappuccinos and lattes, before making a syrupy sweet, foamy concoction of his own design for himself. He picked his white tablet up from the counter to show Aunt Cass when she came back.

"Can you get these puzzle mats?" Hiro pointed to the web picture of some big square red and blue mats he found on a wholesale martial arts site. Normally, he was able to purchase these things himself if they had the option for him to use his BuyBuddy account. But this one didn't, and it was the only company that had these kind of floor mats.

"Puzzle mats?" his aunt raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Gonna turn the garage into a mini dojo." He took another bite out of the pastry.

Sometimes his wild imagination produced ideas that weren't always the best. She set the tablet down on the counter, looking at him. "…why?"

"It's just for the guys from the Nerd Lab, for our superhero training." Hiro reasoned. "You can take it out of what you were going to pay me this week."

Aunt Cass sighed. "Hold that thought." She recognized a few people she knew coming inside the cafe, and wanted to greet them for their orders.

Hiro overheard what they wanted, and went ahead to make the coffee drinks accordingly. While he was not fond of manning the cashier, or waiting in tables (tasks that Tadashi had gladly accepted), Hiro prided himself in at least maintaining and operating the coffee and drink machines (when he became considerably old enough to be seen operating them).

Aunt Cass thanked him with some surprise after she noticed that he took it upon himself to make the coffee for her. Why it was so significant was that it was the first time since they lost Tadashi that he had made this kind of effort again. She decided it was the amount of sympathy many of her customers had been giving them the first couple of weeks after the accident that had affected Hiro to the point he no longer wanted to come down. Aunt Cass also knew he had been becoming more and more withdrawn during his time at high school, only to later just be caught up for many long hours in his own projects in the garage, by himself. And then, no longer having his brother's support anymore was the straw that broke the camel's back, for both of them, really.

Even though Cass still did not feel comfortable with the danger level involved with this new superhero team Hiro was part of, the positive influence it had on him was earth shattering. He was acting more and more like himself again, something she had realized she was truly missing.

She caught her nephew by the arm as he was preparing to leave. "Hey, I'll get the puzzle mats for you, and you don't have to pay. Okay, sweetie? Just send me the link."

Hiro just gasped in surprise. "Thank you, Aunt Cass!" He made sure to hung her tight before leaving.

AN: Thank you for everyone's patience. My schedule is so busy these days,I average about a paragraph a day on this, not counting the time I go back to edit. :p I am sad, but also happy, that this set of the story is also over. Yes, this fic came to me just because I wanted to know more about how Hiro got from one point to another from the scenarios at the end of the movie. I did twist a few details to make this fic more fun, but I hope you liked this alternate ending!

Also a nod to my other favorite robot and boy movie, The Iron Giant. I just had to make some parallels to that, here.

The story is not over though! I have planned to continue from here with other random instances based off the drawings during the movie's end credits, and just my own wacky ideas. Check them out! The sequel to this is "Indomitable Force", with one-shot fics like "Crazy Chronicles of Nerds in Training" and "No More Superheroing".

I also have a confession to make... way back when I was a college student (Class of 1997!), I was in a creative writing class my freshman year. I had this idea of writing a story for the young adult audience, about this Japanese-American boy and his brother, whose mom was American and Dad was Japanese. (I kid you not!) The Japanese influence was from me crushing on Japanese culture then, and cause I was taking a Japanese language and culture class. Anyway, in this story, the mom was a detective (insert Law n Order here) but she got killed on the job. Dad still lives to take care of them though, but one brother is taking the loss of their mom harder than the other. Then the mystical cool thing about the story is that Dad was also a martial artist in his younger years. Dad also had this heirloom samurai sword passed down through the family. And well, it's a haunted Spirit Sword that both brothers (aka My Friend Totoro) have visions from, but the dad does not know. So yeah... I had remembered this story I never really finished, and then had to laugh at how SIMILAR it was to Big Hero 6. Damn.. no wonder I like this movie so much! With that being said, this is why Hiro's American name is Ryan. Ryan was the name of the depressed brother from my story, and... I also thought it would be cute to use the VA's names. *innocent grin* (yes, Tadashi's name is Daniel).