Hey everyone! This is my first BH6 fanfic so please be gentle! There are spoilers, so be warned. Also, I was inspired to write this after reading 'Big Hero 6: Fighting Destiny' by 'DuoXKouga'. It's an amazing fic and I recommend reading it! The fire scene is probably going to be similar but I tried my best to make that scene and the entire plot as different as possible.

Italicized words are their thoughts by the way.

Please review!

"Wow, a LOT of sweet tech here today." Tadashi said in amazement as he helped Hiro push one of the many recycle bins towards the stage. "How ya feelin?" he asked his little brother, nudging his shoulder.

"You're talking to an ex-bot-fighter. It takes a lot more than this to rattle me." Hiro scoffed with a shrug, pushing his own bin of his invention. Although there are a lot of amazing pieces here… He thought as he looked around the showcase room. Suddenly, all of Tadashi's friends from the "Nerd Lab" came up, each pushing a blue bin for Hiro while voicing their own thoughts out loud. Said fourteen year-old could hear them from behind him.

"Yup… He's nervous." That owner of that voice was Gogo.

"Ohh!" That concerned voice was Honey Lemon's.

"You have nothing to fear little fellow." Fred.

"He's so tense!" Honey again.

"No I'm not!" Hiro denied, although he was not feeling as confident anymore.

"Relax, Hiro. Your tech is AMAZING! Tell him Gogo!"

The speed junkie looked at him with a bored expression. "Stop whining, woman up."

"I'm fine!" Hiro assured, but he felt his brows furrow and smile falter at his own words.

This time, it was Wasabi who pitched in. "What do you need, little man? Deodorant, breathe mint… Fresh pair of underpants?" he asked with raised brows.

"Underpants? You need serious help." Gogo told her friend as she set down her blue recycle bin.

"Hey, I come prepared." Wasabi said proudly as he and the others all set down their own bins by back stage. Fred jumped onto the stage butt first and began to tell his strategy of "underwear recycling" to the gang, but Hiro didn't hear him over his own thoughts swarming his head.

Alright… this is it. My chance to go to this school… My ONE chance to really impress THE Robert Callaghan, who can be very easily be disappointed in my invention and shut me out from this beautiful place… Crap. Hiro stressed as he ran a hand through his messy hair. He was snapped out of his daze when the female announcer called his name, cuing him to demonstrate his new technological advancement. "Guess I'm up." he said with a nervous smile. Although he was talking to the group, it was more like he was talking to himself.

"Okok photophoto!" Honey Lemon squealed as she gathered everyone up. She extended her arm out in front of her, phone in hand and ready for a selfie. "Everyone say 'Hiro'!"

"HIRO!" they all chorused.

SNAP!In the picture, Hiro's obviously nervous face made him look like a deer in the headlights. A whirlwind of good lucks, commands not to mess up and loud shout of science passed through Hiro's ears as everyone but Tadashi and himself took the bins and went into position.

"Alright bro, this is it," Tadashi said with a smile, extending a fist for Hiro to hit with his own, but it never came. "Come on, don't leave me hanging…" Tadashi began to walk in front of Hiro with a grin on his face, but then it faded into a look of concern when he saw his little brother's face showed a look of dread. "What's going on?"

"…I really want to go here." Hiro replied. He was absolutely terrified. He spent so much time on this project, but what if it wasn't good enough? He had always been told he was a boy with a gifted brain. I mean, he graduated from high school at the age of thirteen for crying out loud! But this wasn't high school. This was San Fransokyo Institution of Technology, one of the best schools in the country for robotics. This was his chance to get into this haven. This was a chance to finally use his potential instead of using it on useless bot-fights, but that chance could easily be given to someone else, someone smarter than Hiro, and that's what he was afraid of. He was afraid of failing himself, the gang from the Nerd La- the lab, his Aunt Cass who was excitedly rooting or him in the crowd, and Tadashi. His older brother. His only remaining family member. The very person who had always believed in him the most.

"Hey," Tadashi put his large hand onto Hiro's small shoulder. "You got this." and with that, the older Hamada pushed the younger gently to toward the stage steps.

Hiro trudged up the stairs, his feet feeling like they were made of lead as he clutched the microphone like it was lifeline. Walking under the spot light, he swallowed when he spotted the three professors who were judging the inventions for the showcase in the front. In the center was Professor Callaghan. Hiro brought the mic to his mouth. It was now or never.

I'm blowing it. I can't stop stuttering. I'm acting like a complete idiot! They're bored, unimpressed… Disappointed. Hiro panicked. His nervousness and doubt keeping him from speaking further about his microbot. His large brown eyes darted back and forth in the crowd until they spotted Tadashi, standing with Aunt Cass, Gogo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred. Tadashi looked Hiro in the eyes and mouthed one simple word: "Breathe".

And Hiro did.

Tadashi smirked as he once again heard the crown around him gasp again in awe for Hiro's microbots. Really, what was he nervous about? He thought just as he high-fived his little brother when he swung by upside down. He's doing great.

As Aunt Cass and the others from the lab went ahead to the café to celebrate with a free dinner, Tadashi and Hiro wanted to go talk somewhere more privately. As they walked, they were stopped by a man in a suit holding a microphone with a news station logo on the handle. A cameraman followed suit.

"Hello and good evening! My name is Zachary Nalen and I'm representing San Fransokyo news. I wanted to know if I can interview you since your tech work was one of the ones that left the biggest impact on people." the suited man explained with a gleaming smile.

Hiro looked at Zachary and then looked back to Tadashi who just shrugged. "Sure." Hiro answered.

"Fantastic!" Zachary motioned the cameraman to come closer and a red light on the camera appeared, signaling that it was on. Facing the camera, Zachary brought the mic to his face. "I am here with the genius inventor of the groundbreaking microbots, Hiro Hamada!" he turned to the young boy. "I'm sure many people would like to know, myself included, on how did you come up with such an amazing idea?"

Hiro blinked. "Oh, um… well to tell you the truth, I got inspired from uh, bot fighting." Hiro's voice was barely audible. What did they expect? It was his first interview on live T.V. and he just mentioned bot fighting!

"Bot fighting? Isn't that illegal?"

"No, betting on them is."

"I see." the newsman said with a hint of amusement. It sounded as if Hiro had said that statement a thousand times. "So, how did you get every single microbot to follow your directions?"

"I programmed each bot with a software of my own design that allows the microbots to receive and follow the signal the neurotransmitter releases. Kind of like how a television set is programmed to only respond to the remote control it's paired with."

"Incredible! You're only fourteen and all of this detail and innovation came from bot fighting?"

"Y-yeah…" Hiro was embarrassed that his old bad habit kept appearing.

"Absolutely remarkable. Mr. Hiro Hamada, thank you for your time and congratulations on your scholarship to SFIT. Anything you would like to say before I leave?"

Hiro stood for a moment, thinking of something to say. Leaning closer to the microphone, he said "I would like to thank Gogo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred for helping me even when I just met them. I want to thank my Aunt Cass for her endless support and for always taking care of me. And I want to thank my older brother Tadashi for helping me get my act together and for always believing in me, no matter what happened." he had to admit, it was sappy as hell, but he didn't regret saying everything. After all, it was all true.

The camera man panned over to Tadashi, who was standing on the sidelines looking at Hiro with a proud smile on his face. The camera turned back to Zachary. "That's all the time we have tonight! I'll see you tomorrow at the same time San Fransokyo. This is Zachary Nalen, signing off." the red light on the camera turned off and he turned to Hiro. "Thank you for the last minute interview! It was live, but it will also be on the news website along with an article on the showcase. Again, congratulations Mr. Hamada!" and with that the news team walked off.

"Well, that was interesting." Tadashi commented.

"That was nerve wracking. His breathe smelled like tuna and I had to try my best to keep a straight face!" Hiro said as he threw his hands up.

"Heh! Come one, at least more people will get to know about your idea."

"I guess… Come on, let's go before someone else tries to talk to us." and with that the two brothers continued their walk to a quieter location.

Tadashi and Hiro walked over to a small bridge, taking in the view of the main building on campus in the distance. "Welcome to nerd school, nerd." The older Hamada said with a smug tone.

Hiro laughed and shook his head. "Hey, I meant what I said before. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you so, you know," Hiro looked up at Tadashi with a look of genuine gratitude. "Thanks for not giving up on me."

Tadashi smiled proudly back at him when the sound of the buzzing alarm and terrified screams polluted the once quiet air. Tadashi immediately snapped his head up and began to run back towards the noise with Hiro hot on his heels. They turned a corner and stopped, horrified by the scene in front of their eyes.

The exhibition hall was swamped with bright flames. Smoke billowed out of the top. Students, faculty members and attendees from the showcase swarmed away from the inferno, all screaming and all afraid. Tadashi stopped a woman who passed by. "Are you ok?" he could barely be heard above the chaos.

"Yeah, I'm ok, but Professor Callaghan is still in there!" she continued to run. Tadashi on the other hand ran the opposite way, going towards the scorching building. He stopped when he felt a sharp tug on his arm.

"Tadashi no!" Hiro cried out desperately. Tadashi looked at Hiro, and then back to the building.

"Callaghan's in there, someone has to help!" he turned away from Hiro who only pulled back harder.

"Don't! There's no point! His chances of surviving in a fire this intense are already low!" Hiro shouted, frantic to get Tadashi to stay. "You can't risk your life-"

SLAP! Hiro landed on the ground with a thud. He brought up a hand to his left cheek and felt that it was already swelling and hot to the touch from the impact. He looked up at Tadashi with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"HIRO!" he flinched from the amount of anger in Tadashi's voice. "How could you be heartless enough to say something like that!? It doesn't matter how low his chances are, it's still a chance! There is someone in there who needs me more than you do, so stop being so selfish!" he didn't spare another glance at his fallen brother and began to run towards the building.

Hiro simply sat there as he watched his brother's retreating back, hurt from what Tadashi had said and from the slap. Tadashi was right. It was an awful and selfish thing to say. Hiro knew that. But didn't he deserve to be selfish? He didn't want any chances of losing another family member. His hands began to shake. Tadashi was almost at the steps. It looked like he was at the steps of a burning hell. No! Hiro was going to lose the last of his family. He was going to lose his father figure, his role model, his best friend, his brother. "Tadashi…Brother…" he whimpered. His eyes widened. He began to shake uncontrollably, overcome with absolute panic and it was like Hiro was four all over again.

"NII-CHAN!"

Tadashi just reached the top of the steps when a blood curdling cry broke through his ears. He knew only one person who called him 'nii-chan', and that was his precious otouto. He looked back towards Hiro, and felt his heart break. His precious baby brother was on his knees with his hands fisting his unruly hair above his ears and was crying his throat out as fat tears were sliding down his cheeks. Tadashi felt his brotherly need to comfort and protect. "Hiro!" He took a step back down the stairs. "Hir-"

BOOM!

Tadashi was launched down the rest of the stairs from the impact of the exploding building behind him. He put his hands out in front of him just as he hit the ground, the cement shredding the skin on his palms. He gritted his teeth as he got back on his feet. His hands hurt, his knees hurt and his pants were ripped from skidding on the ground when he landed. An annoying ringing sound was in his ears. He might have gotten a busted ear drum. He shook his head, forcing his vision to clear. When it did, he saw a lone figure still on the ground, crying. "Hiro!"

Tadashi ran to his brother, ignoring the sting on his knees. He just kept running he bent down when he finally reached Hiro. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" he asked. Hiro just continued to cry. Since the palms were slightly bloody from the scrapes, Tadashi used the back of his hand to lift up Hiro's chin to get a better look at his face. Hiro's eyes were still closed at tears continued to fall. His mouth spilling out incoherent cries and snivels. What really caught Tadashi's eye was Hiro's left cheek. It was swollen. It was slightly red, but the center had begun to turn blue from a forming bruise. Did a piece of debris hit his face? Did he fall? Tadashi wondered. His eyes widened. He remembered. Hehad slapped Hiro and said all those terrible things to him. He struck his own brother. He caused him to cry.

He wrapped his large arms around Hiro's scrawny shoulders. "I'm so sorry." he whispered into his messy black hair. The younger one just cried harder as he fisted Tadashi's shirt. Tadashi looked back at the building, or at least what was left of it.

The explosion caused the glass to propel out of their respective panes and ceiling had caved in, crushing anything and everything underneath it. Tadashi swallowed. He would have died along with Professor Callaghan if had gone into the building. The fire had already increased to large scale by the time he had gotten to the entrance and there was no way that neither he nor Professor Callaghan would have made it out before the massive explosion. Hiro was right to try and stop him. Tadashi gasped and looked back to the quivering boy in his arms again. Hiro was just doing what anyone would do for family. He was trying to stop Tadashi from basically committing a suicide act and Tadashi cruelly punished him for it…

His own eyes began to water. "What have I done?"