Big Hero 7

Chapter 6 - Memorization

Chapter 6

(Akira’s POV)

I stopped and turned to Hiro’s voice. There was a sound of a squeak as he sat on his bed. “Like what?” Hiro was silent at my question. Suddenly, Baymax grabbed my hand and placed an object in it.

“This is one of Hiro’s important objects.” I let my fingers dance over it. It was made of fabric, worn, and shaped. I continued to feel the object in greater detail.

“It’s… an old baseball cap…?” I inquired.

“Baymax, don’t go into Tadashi’s room without my permission again.” Hiro sighed. “Yeah, that’s Tadashi’s hat…” 

“Oh, Hiro. I’m so sorry,” I whispered.  “Here.” I handed the cap back to Baymax, who then shuffled around the room, opened a door, and then shuffled back. I attempted to feel my way to Hiro by his bed, and tripped over a low lying box on the floor. Baymax barely caught me in time. I laughed nervously.

“Please be careful, Akira,” Baymax warned. I nodded.

“Thanks, Baymax.” I reached out towards Hiro and he took my hand and helped me to his bed. I carefully sat down next to him and crossed my legs. It was quiet for a moment; I was afraid that the incident with Tadashi’s hat had reminded him of the incident and caused him to be upset. “I didn’t meen to bother you. Hiro, I’m sorry about-“ He cut me off with a small laugh.

“Whoa whoa wait a minute, Akira. You didn’t upset me. Yes, I miss Tadashi, but that’s not why I’m quiet right now,” he reassured.

“Then why?”

“I was… Uh…,” He mumbled. “I was wondering what color your eyes are I guess.” He giggled. “Sorry to scare you. What about you why are you quiet?” I smiled shyly.

“I’m quiet because I had a similar thought,” I admitted cheerfully and giggled.  “I’ll show you my eyes if you let me feel the features of your face. I only memorize what’s important to me, remember? There are only a handful of people that I know what they look like by touch. I was wondering if you’d be willing to let me learn your face.” I turned my head slightly, embarrassed. It’s quite awkward to ask somebody to feel their face, of course. He was quiet for a moment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out with that question.” He laughed at my apology.

“I did it again,” he said between muffled laughter. I broke down laughing too.

“You nodded again, didn’t you?” I teased. He made a small ‘mmhm’ noise between the laughs.  I fell backwards onto is bed in a fit of amusement. “Hiro, you need to stop doing that,” I squealed in response. Slowly our giggling died off and I sat back up.

“You can, uh, feel my face first before you take your glasses off,” he explained. I nodded and turned to face him.

“You need to hold still, okay?” I reminded him.

“Got it. Ready when you are.”

I slowly inched my hand towards his shoulder, and then began moving my hand across his neck to his cheek. I felt him shiver slightly as I touched his neck. “Sorry, Hiro, I started at your shoulders so I wouldn’t poke you in the eye or something.” I let my hand run over his cheek and ear first, then across his forehead, letting my hand brush into his bangs slightly. I slid my fingers down the bridge of his nose, determined to memorize every detail of the perfect genius’ face. …Why did I just think that…? Nevermind.I ignored it and continued across the side of his nose, down the other cheek, over his chin, and then the lips last. My thumb drifted across his lower lip. His lips were… soft. Suddenly, my face heated up intensely, and I urged myself to jerk my hand away in reflex to the sudden embarrassment. Before I could he opened his mouth to say something, going against my advice not to move, causing my thumb to touch his upper front teeth. I pulled my hand away and giggled. “Hiro! I told you not to move!” I teased.

“Sorry! I was just-“ He stopped himself and laughed. “Nevermind.” I grinned.

“Hiro,” I giggled slightly and covered my mouth with part of my fist as I smiled. “You have a big gap between your upper central incisors.” I remarked jokingly. I giggled again.

“Hey! That’s not my fault! That’s genetics fault or something!” He defended. I laughed to his defense, which caused him to break into laughter yet again. “Geez, I was hoping I could get away with that without you knowing.”

        “Well, hey, you were the one who opened your mouth,” I jokingly argued. “Besides, that’s kinda cute,” I observed. He let out a content sigh. I now had, while not extremely detailed, a basic idea of what Hiro looked like. Basic, not perfect, colorless images filled my head of what Hiro might look like in different emotions. I made sure to memorize each image quickly so I would have a face to put with each emotion he had. I smiled. “Alright, I’ve got a basic picture in my head. Thank you.”