A/N: Yup, even though I have, like, five other on-going fics in different fandoms, I just had to add my own to this one because I'm obsessed.

LET ME KNOW in a review/PM how dark you want this to end up. I can write M-rated dark so...or I can keep it this level of just-barely-there dark...or, more than likely, it will fall somewhere in between. But let me know! I have a lot of different ideas of where this can go, so let me know what you want to see! (Though the over-all theme isn't going to change regardless of how dark it will be written...)

So, this really started out as a rant way back in January... The first 1000 words or so were written when I was supposed to be writing a paper for class, but after some stuff happened earlier that day... Paper got done, and this got started. This is totally me, guys, just sayin'. Not based on real events by any means, but I definitely put myself in Hiro... But considering Hiro's social awkwardness and the fact that it seems like he really doesn't have any friends of his own, I really feel like this plausible sooo...

First section sets up the story; second section starts the actually story.

Sorry for the long note... Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by! I shall update soon!

WARNINGS: Grief after a death; brief mention of bullying; depression starting next chapter and other dark themes therein possibly following that, depending on readers' responses. New warnings will be posted as necessary.

Disclaimer: I own a copy on DVD. Does that count? No? Didn't think so.

I Will Run and Hide 'Til Memories Fade Away

Hiro Hamada was no stranger to loneliness. He had never been very good at making – or keeping – friends. He'd always known he was different from everyone else which certainly didn't help matters at all in the first place, and when he skipped a few grades and was suddenly around kids older than him all the time… Well, that certainly didn't help matters any either. The few friends he'd managed to make early on in his schooling were suddenly so far away, it seemed, and before he knew it they weren't really his friends anymore. He was back to square one, and none of the older kids wanted anything to do with him – unless one counted getting bullied. Being three years younger than his peers and scrawny on top of that made him an easy target, after all.

He was relieved when he entered junior high; the school he was attending was attached to the high school his older brother was attending, and just knowing he was closer to his brother made him feel a little more at ease. Not to mention that the bullying he'd been enduring promptly ended when said bullies learned who his brother was. Apparently everyone knew and no one messed with Tadashi Hamada.

His brother was popular and out-going, despite having skipped a grade himself. Everyone knew who he was, and he got along with everyone. (Well, almost everyone, Hiro would amend. There was the one time Tadashi had caught his little brother being bullied. The older Hamada certainly hadn't gotten along with those boys then… But that wasn't the point.)

Hiro was the exact opposite. He didn't understand how his brother had so many friends.

"Just be yourself," Tadashi had told him. "People will like you for just being you."

He tried. It didn't work. But he didn't tell his brother that. He simply resigned himself to the fact that the only friends he would ever have would be Tadashi and Mochi. But, he thought, maybe that was enough. After all, his brother would always be there.

But then he wasn't. Tadashi graduated from high school and stared classes at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Without his brother there, the bullies came back in full-force without anyone to oppose them. He hated school.

When he had finally opened up to his brother about the matter, he wasn't expecting the answer he received. Tadashi had smiled at him a knowing smile accompanied with the words, "Then why don't you just graduate early? You're smart enough, nerd." He had decided then that his brother really was the smartest person in the world.

When he did graduate a semester early, Tadashi, knowing full-well how much Hiro hated school, didn't push him to go to college – at least, not at first. Oh, sure, there were the subtle hints that Tadashi thought Hiro should go to SFIT, but his brother didn't push. At least, not until Tadashi learned what his little brother was doing with all of his free time.

But Hiro refused to go to college still. He hated school, didn't see any point in it when he could make so much money from bot fighting. Besides, all schools were the same. It didn't matter if it was high school or college, he knew what would happen. He was too different. The only place he felt like he belonged was in the back alleys of San Fransokyo, hustling the hustlers. At least when he was bot fighting, his young age came in handy. But in school? In school, it only made him a target. At least when he got beat up on the streets, he deserved it.

But then Tadashi tricked him, took him to his school's 'nerd lab,' introduced him to all of his nerd friends. And suddenly he realized maybe there was somewhere he could fit in, find friends, because the people there were just like him. His brother's friends – they didn't seem to care that he was so much younger, and even Robert Callaghan himself had stated that his age wasn't an issue.

That night, he remembered why he loved robotics so much. He remembered the thrill not of fighting but of creating. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

"I have to go here. If I don't go to this nerd school, I might lose my mind. How do I get in?"

By the time the date of the student showcase arrived, he had realized something. His brother's friends had become his friends. And in a school like SFIT, he was sure now that he could find even more friends, people who would be okay with the fact that he was younger but just as smart. But even if he didn't? That would be okay too, he had decided. After all, he would always have his brother. Tadashi would always be there for him, he was sure of it.

But then he wasn't. The fire had stolen not only his brother and the last of his immediate family but also his best friend.

He pushed everyone away, didn't answer the many messages GoGo and Honey Lemon and Wasabi and Fred all sent to him. It wasn't intentional, really, but it just hurt so much and his brother's friends were only a constant reminder that his brother was gone. He couldn't stand the thought of being at SFIT, walking the halls and going to classes when his brother would never set foot there again.

The one friend he had thought he would always have was now six feet under. Maybe it was better to be alone, then. You can't lose what you never found.

Hiro hated school once again. After all, if he hadn't been so obsessed with getting into the same school as his brother, none of them would have been at the showcase, and Tadashi would still be alive. He hated school. He wouldn't go back. Not now, not six months from now, not ever.

It hurt. Everything hurt, and Hiro was sick of it. Losing Tadashi had been the worst part, but the thought of losing his newly formed friendships hurt too. He had never had any friends like them before. They cared, and he could see that; they wanted to help, and he could see that, too.

But the thoughts he had thought for so many of his younger years had begun to resurface, causing him to push them away no matter how much his mind screamed for him to let them in. He couldn't do it; he just couldn't do it.

Or so he told himself.

It was that very reasoning that, when he found out that his microbots had been stolen, convinced him that he and Baymax could handle it on their own. But Fate has funny way of twisting everything around, and after Yokai chased them through the streets of San Fransokyo, he finally admitted that maybe he did need a little help from his friends.

Even so, it didn't come easily for Hiro. He was excited, it was true, at the prospect of using his 'big head' to make a bunch of nerds into superheroes, but after it was all said and done…

Callaghan was behind bars, Baymax had been rebuilt, Hiro was even attending classes at SFIT. But Hiro Hamada was no stranger to loneliness, and he had never been good at making – or keeping – friends.

The gang could only stand and stare at the doors as they swung shut behind the 15-year-old.

Fred was the first to find his voice. "What…just happened?"

"You think it was because we were talking about Tadashi?" Honey volunteered quietly. The five of them had been having a seemingly normal conversation when Hiro had suddenly stood up and walked out of the lab without another word to anyone present.

"I'm not sure why you guys are so surprised," GoGo spoke up quietly. "I don't think even he's really noticed, but…he's kind of been pushing us further and further away for a while now."

"But…why?" Fred asked.

Wasabi sighed. "Some people are just like that. I bet it'll just blow over if we let him alone, give him some space. Besides…it's coming up on a year. I'm sure the fact that it's almost time for the showcase again, and the fact that info about the showcase is up all over campus, isn't exactly helping any."

"I just wish he wouldn't push us away like this just because he's hurting," Honey spoke quietly. "Look at what happened last time…"

GoGo frowned, picking up on her friend's train of thought. "And this time there's no villain to distract him."

"Hey, now! Don't go jumping to conclusions here!" Wasabi cut in quickly, figuring out what the two girls were thinking. "Some people just require a little more space than others, that's all. I have every confidence that Hiro will talk to us when he needs to, but until then, just let him alone."

"You sound like you know something we don't," Fred asserted, eyes narrowing.

"I just know what I see… and what Tadashi told me once."

GoGo raised an eyebrow, popping her gum. "Which would be…?"

He sighed. "Hiro has always had a hard time making friends. He's always known that he's a little different, and everybody else always knew it too, so…" He shrugged. "Look, everybody makes friends at a different pace, right? I still remember the first day here at SFIT. When I saw Tadashi walk into the lab on the first day of classes, Honey was practically stuck to him like glue already. But you all remember how long it took GoGo to warm up to him. And we all met the same day in Orientation." He paused. "The point is, it takes some people longer than others to form bonds strong enough that they're comfortable talking about anything."

"So you're basically saying that Hiro doesn't trust us."

"No, I'm saying –. Okay, maybe, yeah, to a point." Wasabi sighed. "I don't think it's that he doesn't trust us; it's just that some things are harder to talk about than others. You all know that as much as I do." He paused glancing around, seeing the looks that passed briefly over his friend's faces. "So just give him space right now, give him time to feel more comfortable around us, then he'll start to open up more."

"Yeah, but how long is that going to take?" GoGo questioned, popping her gum once again. "And in the meantime, when he finds some other way to cope… You may be speaking truth about Hiro, but in case you've forgotten, Tadashi was also Hiro's best friend. From the way Tadashi talked about Hiro, and how Hiro talked about Tadashi way back when he was still making his microbots, when Tadashi wasn't around but we were… Severing a bond that strong can cause serious damage. I agree that maybe we need to give him space, but I think we still need to let him know – remind him – we're here and encourage him to talk."

"I'm telling you, GoGo, it's not going to help," Wasabi stated confidently, crossing his arms over his chest. "He already knows we care – or if he doesn't by now, he's an idiot, but that's not the point. Just let him be."

"I can't believe you," GoGo huffed. "So you're just going to let him go sulk in his office and not do anything about it? I won't do it, Wasabi. I don't care if you're right at the moment, okay? Because there's always the chance that maybe you're wrong for once, and he's just waiting for us to come after him. There are people like that too, after all – people who walk away just see if anyone will care enough to follow them." She pushed off the work table she'd been leaning against and headed for the door, leaving her stunned friends behind her. Once on the other side of the door, she paused to collect herself, calm down from her outburst, before quietly making her way down the hall, coming to a halt only when she found the correct door. She hesitated only momentarily before knocking on the door.

"It's open."

Hearing the muffled reply from the other side of the door, she took a breath, grabbed the handle, and let herself into the room. He was sitting hunched over the desk in the far left corner, focusing intently on what appeared to GoGo to be a very small and very delicate piece for whatever project he was currently working on.

"Did you need something?"

His voice startled her slightly, and by the tone of it, she was starting to wonder if maybe she should have listened to Wasabi after all. But she couldn't – wouldn't – back down now. "Not really."

"Oh." A pause. "Why are you here then?"

"Because you suddenly walked out in the middle of a conversation with zero explanation."

"Oh. That."

GoGo sighed in frustration. "Yes, that. So what happened?"

He shrugged.

Her fuse was slowly getting shorter. "Look, if something's bothering you and you don't want to talk about it, just say so. But you make us all worry when you just walk out like that."

"I'm fine."

That was when she knew he was anything but.

"You're not fooling anyone, I hope you know."

"Fine. I don't want to talk about it," Hiro snapped. "Happy now?"

Her frown deepened. "Not particularly."

"I just can't win with you, can I?"

"No, because none of us like seeing you like this."

He finally put down what he was working on, slumping back wearily in his chair. "Some days…are just harder than others, that's all." He rubbed at his eyes tiredly before sitting back up and going back to work. "Really, GoGo; I'm fine."

"You're not," she stated quietly, resolutely, "but I understand. I know some things are hard to talk about, Hiro, but talking really does help. So…we're here for you, okay? Please, just…don't shut us out like this."

"I'm not trying to."

She almost missed his words, they were spoken so softly. But as he breathed out a shaky sigh, his hands once again stopping their work, she knew she hadn't imagined it. He was tired, worn down, with an exhaustion no amount of sleep could cure.

"I really…don't try to," he muttered, voice shaking slightly. "It…just…happens…"

Suddenly she understood. Wasabi had been half right. There was something holding him back, keeping him from being able to openly talk to them, but it was obvious to her that not even Hiro seemed to know what that thing was. She cautiously approached him, leaning back against the desk when she reached it. She turned to meet his gaze, but he had turned slightly away from her and was intently staring out the large oval window.

After a long moment of silence, GoGo finally spoke quietly. "It's okay. We aren't going anywhere, Hiro; I can promise you that. And when you feel comfortable talking to us, we'll be ready to listen. We won't push you to talk until then, but please just promise me you won't pretend to be fine when you're not."

She wasn't entirely sure he was still listening to her as the silence continued to stretch on. But finally he breathed out a sigh and whispered, "I don't make promises I can't keep." He glanced her way before averting his eyes back to the window. "Sorry."

"Well," GoGo muttered, absently scratching the back of her neck, "at least you're being honest about something…"

"I'm sorry," he muttered again. "It's just…not that simple."

"Hiro…"

He sighed in annoyance. "Look, GoGo, I really need to get some work done, okay? I've got a deadline on my project coming up and a paper to write, and I'm nowhere near where I need to be on either of them."

With a small huff, she pushed herself away from the desk. "Alright," she finally conceded after staring at him for a long moment. When she reached the door, she paused, her hand on the handle. "But I meant what I said, alright? We're here if you need to talk." Without another word, she turned and left his office space to return to the main lab. She wasn't at all surprised to see that no one had left yet.

"You were gone a while," Honey spoke quietly.

GoGo huffed. "Yeah, and I didn't even get much out of him for all my efforts. He pretty much just shut me down."

"Told ya so," Wasabi stated, smirking.

"Actually," she returned, one eyebrow raised, "you were only half right, Mr. Know-It-All." She paused, her frown deepening. "He's not going to talk to us even though he's hurting, so I think we need to keep a close eye on him. Just to make sure he doesn't try something stupid."

"You…don't think he really would, do you, GoGo?" Honey asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Honestly? I don't know."