Control Alt Delete (A BH6 crossover)

Chapter Five: Microbots

Hiro woke to the sound of purring. Feeling more than a little disorientated, he couldn't at first figure out why he heard and felt that vibration. But, upon opening his eyes, he realized Mochi, their pet cat, had decided to take up residence just above his head. The feline was so close, in fact, that the cat was sitting on Hiro's hair. The messy mop actually got pulled as the boy tried to move.

"What the-?" Hiro exclaimed as he moved his head to release his hair.

That's when the sound of quiet chuckling met his hears.

"Tadashi! That's not funny!"

Hiro's older brother slapped his thigh, a grin plastered across his face. "You should have seen your face!" he said, wiping away a few laughter tears. "It was so worth it."

Understanding dawned as Hiro pushed off his blankets and got out of bed. "You know I hate it when you do that," he protested.

"Oh, I know," Tadashi replied, controlling himself as he sat down on the bed. "I was just trying to lighten the mood after last night."

Oh yeah, Hiro thought, resisting the urge to smack himself in the noggin. He'd managed to not throw up again, which meant Tadashi hadn't taken him back to the hospital, though his head still hurt. "S-speaking of last night, I didn't get the chance to ask you how long I was out. I mean when I.... you know..."

His half question sobered Tadashi, who rubbed at the stubble on his face. "I admit I was a little surprised by that, and more than a little worried," he confessed. "But, you weren't out for more than a minute. Any longer and I probably would have activated Baymax."

Hiro breathed a silent sigh of relief for that intervention. He didn't know why, but he somehow didn't want Callaghan to see that his brother's project was almost complete. Maybe it was a pride issue. Or, maybe it was the fear that he'd try to somehow use Baymax in ways he was not intended to be used.

Thinking about that brought up memories of the microbots and the showcase. Thanks to last night's shaking, he'd come to the realization that the showcase had been the real inciting incident leading to Tadashi's death. And if he was going to keep Tadashi alive, he had to somehow figure out a way to change that event. But unless he entered a project, there was no way he was going to have a chance to do that.

"I was thinking," Hiro said, moving to his chair to fiddle with the soldering iron on his desk. "A-about what your professor said last night."

Tadashi seemed to tense, though Hiro wasn't sure why. Perhaps he was still uncertain about the decision to not take Hiro back to the hospital as the professor had suggested. Anything was possible.

Hiro ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think through what he was trying to say. After all, even though he'd remembered those events, his brain still felt like melting jello. "W-what I mean is I was thinking of applying to your nerd school. Is there like a showcase or something where I can present an idea or two and maybe get in?" He looked up hopefully, his expression almost wistful with a hint of uncertainty.

His older brother blinked a few times, almost as if he had to reboot his brain after hearing Hiro's plans. "You want to apply to SFIT?" He turned to more fully face his brother, his eyes showing surprise even as the corners of his mouth turned up. "Hiro, that's wonderful!"

The next thing Hiro knew, he was being enveloped in one of his brother's giant bear hugs. "Can't...breathe..." he protested, legs dangling in the air until his brother set him back down again.

Tadashi spun as he let Hiro go. "Mom and dad would be so proud of you! I know I am." He gave his brother a rather large smile as he ruffled his hair.