In honor of:

My fucking dumb big sister who worked herself so hard she got pneumonia.

._.

-Eibetsu-

-Chapter 1-

- 家族 -

-Kazoku-

Being tired was the worst.

Hiro Hamada could avidly attest to this as he trudged through the snow on his way home from a late night at SFIT. Blinking snowflakes out of his eyes and trying not to let his pluming breath distract him, he hefted his backpack over his shoulder into a more secure position. Hiro's hands hurt from working with machines 24/7. His head hurt from thinking so hard for so long. His stomach groaned and tightened and begged for a meal that wasn't instant. Hell, even his butt hurt from sitting around so much.

Oh, and he didn't even want to put a second thought into his poor feet.

From 6 AM to 10:30 PM young Hiro Hamada plowed through classes with all the vigor one could expect of a 14-year-old. At first, surprising his fellow students and his teachers with his intellect had been quite fun but after the first few weeks this had begun to get dull. While what Tadashi had said about learning something in college turned into a truth, the undetermined measurement and consistency of such was rather unattended. For every new concept that clicked into Hiro's head three old ones were introduced to the class.

In an attempt to create a more interesting atmosphere for himself, Hiro had begun to challenge his teachers. His results varied from pride, respect, to scorn. There were those who accepted his challenge- like Mr. Senft- and those who simply started throwing pieces of chalk at him- like Mr. Shinji. Either way, they took some amount of delight in trying to reflect his challenges back in various ways. For Shinji that meant aggressively piling up the homework and for Mr. Senft that meant staying after class to go over theorems and more complicated algorithms.

And yet, truth be told, the youngest Hamada was beginning to feel a little bored. If he could get into the more byzantine classes rather than sit down and work through the mandatory introductions he knew things would be way better. But, in order to get where his big brother was, he'd have to "work for it".

He heaved a sigh and slouched, pulling his jacket closer to himself as he shivered and turned a corner.

Well, rather, he turned into a corner. Smacking his shoulder hard against the brick building Hiro recoiled with a hiss at the unexpected return to reality. In order to keep himself on his feet he had to widen his stance and bow his head- a sudden, dangerously severe head rush threatening to topple him.

Maybe, he thought dizzily, leaning forward and resting his head against the wall, I should have actually eaten lunch today instead of testing the chemical absorbency capabilities of plasma.

Groaning quietly, acutely aware of the possibility that he wasn't as alone as he appeared, Hiro put a hand to his head and continued on his way. It had been a full three days since he'd last slept for more than 5 to 10 minutes and he felt his exhaustion in every miserable bone his body held.

Taking a deep breath and swallowing a thick lump in his throat the youngest Hamada wobbled down the street, sticking close to the eaves so he could avoid the snow as much as possible. He was thankful that there weren't that many people out on these streets so late tonight; Hiro wasn't really sure how to appropriately express himself to strangers and would rather not have to deal with such a troublesome thing at this moment.

I wonder if I'm getting sick with something? He rubbed a hand against his throat with a cough, writing off its soreness as another part of being awake for so long. Little water and lots of talking could just as easily make his esophagus feel like sandpaper as a cold and he didn't have any other symptoms so…

Like a miracle from some deity, Hiro raised his head to see the familiar building of his Aunt's home bakery. Had he the energy, the teen would have run up to the door right then and there. But as things were in stark reality the prodigy couldn't convince himself to pick up his pace at all and simply stumbled his way up the front steps. After a few moments spent fighting to find his keys in one of fourteen different pockets set among the thick layers he'd adorned himself with, Hiro was able to hobble inside the abrupt warmth of his home.

"I'm back," he mumbled, unable to raise his voice above regular speaking level without fear of it breaking off into a croak.

"Hiro?" his Aunt called from the kitchen, "are you home, sweetie?"

"Yeeeees," He groaned at the same volume, shutting the door behind him and kicking off his shoes. Clumps of snow drizzled this way and that as he shook himself, batting at his hair.

But Aunt Cass hadn't heard him and called for her youngest child a second time, "Hiro?"

Sighing in exasperation, the teen shrugged off his layers and hung them by the door before tripping his way up the stairs. Each time his foot collided with the back of the steps a harsh stinging ache seared up his foot but he was too tired to summon an appropriate reaction to the abuse. As the blood in his toes and fingers thawed and his limbs increased in weight the young teen arrived at the top of the stairs to see his Aunt leaning over the breakfast bar, eyes searching.

"There you are!" she cried with glee, "didn't you hear me call you?" Hiro opened his mouth to tell her that he had but the bubbly young woman was already moving on, "never mind that, dinner is ready for you." She reached forward to grab his shoulder, clutching him just a little too hard as she tugged him towards the table.

Geeze, it was like she thought he was going to try and escape dinner or something.

Wait.

"Oh, sweetie, are you okay? What happened?" Startled, Hiro turned to his aunt. He found her beside him with a plate in one hand and concern molded into her features. From upstairs he heard the thud of footsteps, indicating that Tadashi was home. He must have looked really confused like that, though; standing there with one hand on the table and the other grasping the back of a kitchen chair, because she put the plate down and took a step towards him. "Let me see your shoulder," she said, reaching for him again.

"What?" Hiro asked, "Wait, why? What's wrong?"

His aunt scoffed, grasping his collar and giving it a gentle tug before her nephew could flutter away. "Don't you try and evade me, young man," she told him sternly, "I saw that look on your face a moment ago. Have you been fighting again?"

The drum of footsteps coming down the stairs spoke of the third family member's introduction to the situation.

"What are you talking about?" Hiro asked, sitting down and scooching away from his Aunt as Tadashi came up beside her.

"What's going on?" he asked, hiding his concern behind a welcoming smile.

"Apparently, I am grievously injured and didn't know it," Hiro explained, deadpan.

Knowing well himself the fussy nature of their aunt, Tadashi's smile became a little more amused. Likewise aware of his younger brother's stubborn disposition he proposed a solution, "Thanks Aunt Cass, why don't you heat up Hiro's dinner for him and I'll take a look at his shoulder." For a moment both brothers thought she might argue but then, with a frown on her face, she turned and grabbed Hiro's plate.

"Alright," she said, "But I want to see it if it's serious!"

Tadashi nodded, "Sure." Pulling himself into a chair beside his grumbling brother as his foster mother made her way towards the microwave he set one hand on Hiro's shoulder. "You haven't been bot fighting again, have you?" he whispered, dipping his long fingers under the neck of his brother's shirt.

As if he'd forgotten that Tadashi was even there, Hiro jolted back, chair screeching across the tile floor and a particularly hard shutter racing through him.

Tadashi frowned, seeming to take the reaction to mean something else, "Hiro, what hav-"

"What, no- I haven't gone to a bot fight in, like, a month, Tadashi!" Thankfully it didn't take the teen to realize what his elder had been trying to ask him while he was zoned out. A deeply weary sigh seemed to deflate the youngest child as he lifted his palms and rubbed them against his eye sockets in a fight to stay awake. "I just bumped into a wall on my way home today, that's all," he explained.

Life hadn't been any easier for Tadashi lately than it had for Hiro- what with the winter robotics fair right around the corner. He wanted to be ready to show off Baymax to possible buyers, like the Red Cross representatives that would be attending. This was his chance to start making connections with important people and take those next few steps closer to helping the world!

And while he might not be taking as many classes as his younger brother, that didn't mean the classes he did take swamped him any less. Hiro knew he'd been trying to make room for him in his schedule but classes, approaching midterms, the fair, and volunteering had been keeping the eldest Hamada's hands full and he had only the brief glimpses between his studies coupled with the words from his friends to assure him that his younger brother was still attending the same school.

Feeling worried and agitated, Tadashi looked to his brother's face. It had been a while, he realized since he'd really managed to get a good look at Hiro and at this moment he couldn't help but regret that.

The poor kid looked beyond exhausted and he shivered as though unconsciously. He was as pale as ivory and soft purple crescents underlined his half-lidded eyes.* A distant beep announced the completion of Hiro's dinner being warmed and Tadashi turned his attention towards his aunt as she approached her boys.

"Alright, young man," she said, using her "Mom-voice", "I know that cottage chicken isn't a favorite of yours but you have to eat up! I don't want you getting sick with that pneumonia that's going around, you hear me?"

But, as it turned out, Hiro hadn't heard her. When the youngest household member failed to respond both elder occupants gave him their full attention, only to discover that he had passed out in his chair, slumped over like a stuffed doll.

There were several moments of flabbergasted silence between the three before Aunt Cass spoke again, "Wow."

"Heh," Tadashi, despite the situation, couldn't help but smile, "I guess SFIT is really making him work hard."

His aunt hummed, folding her arms across her chest and giving her youngest child another brief examination.

"I can't honestly decide what he needs more of right now," she sighed, "food or sleep."

A light laugh escaped Tadashi as he reached once again for his brother, "well, if he gets hungry enough to wake up I'll be sure to bring him something." Tucking his fingers into the younger's shirt he began feeling around the abused area. Beginning gentle palpitations Tadashi sensed his aunt hovering behind him, worried for her young nephew. "Why don't you head off to bed, Aunt Cass?" he proposed kindly, "I'll look after this knucklehead," he gestured to his little brother.

At this a warm smile lit up her face and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a grateful hug, "Well, alright. Come and get me if you need anything, alright?"

"Sure thing."

With that the woman pulled away and headed off to her room with Mochi hot on her heels.

Left alone in the kitchen, hands under his little brother's shirt, Tadashi released a sigh before returning to his work. Other than a small grumble of discomfort when his thumbs pressed against his acromion, Hiro's shoulder seemed to be just fine. Tadashi wasn't too sure what he should believe as far as the cause of the injury went, but, he figured that discovery was something that could wait for tomorrow. Pulling away from his little brother he stood and grabbed the untouched plate. As he covered it with saran wrap, Tadashi stole a glance at the clock set in the stove and winced a little. It was already 11:30 and both he as well as his brother were going to be busy tomorrow.

Quickly setting the plate in the fridge he hurried to his brother's side. Hiro was a few shades shy of weightless when Tadashi lifted him into the air, causing the elder to do a startled double take.

Maybe SFIT's working Hiro a little too hard, he thought. Had Tadashi overestimated his younger brother's intellect by some margin?

The quivers that continued running through the teen's much smaller frame- and most importantly yet, the half-strained breathing escaped the busy mind of Tadashi Hamada as he took his brother up to bed.

*The truth about sleep deprivation, guys, is that it's kind of hard to notice in the facial features. (At least for me?) Every time I end up working for three consecutive days it's only my actions that give me away, not my face. Don't let fan-fiction fool you.

*Slumps* I'm tired and I'm hurting and I'm stressed about finals. TT—TT Please excuse the mess, the organization on this one is piss-poor for sure but I wrote it in under an hour so #hereiamcrying.

Leave me an O if you liked and an X if you hated!

Notice: This story is a work in progress, information in this chapter is subject to change.

Happy Holidays!