Joan Stimson rode along on the bus line, daydreaming about her graduation from the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Her ultimate wish was to have a phD in Biotechnology, solving her family's financial problems forever. It'd be all thanks to that untapped genius so many teachers said she had. But as the bus jerked to a halt to pick up another passenger, her mind was yanked from dreamland back to reality. Familiar voices caught her attention: Tadashi Hamada stood at the front aided by his aunt. Joan's eyes minded how strained his face was, but if it was strained by physical pain or by embarrassment she couldn't tell. Joan watched Tadashi try unsuccessfully to scan the bus card, but it'd fall to the floor through uncooperative prosthetic fingers. She wished on his behalf that the prosthetic worked better on such little tasks. Aunt Cass repeatedly picked up the tiny piece of plastic, handed it off to Tadashi, encouraging him to keep trying. Joan's eyes now rested on the driver who grew impatient, and as Joan looked around, the other passengers seemed to become just as annoyed at the hold up. Joan felt bad for Tadashi. It clearly wasn't intentional, still Aunt Cass took the task onto herself to swipe the bus card. She then helped Tadashi down the aisle to find a seat.

Joan called out to him, "Tadashi!" Aunt Cass smiled on hearing her, relieved that she could leave Tadashi with someone familiar. Tadashi also seemed to visibly relax upon seeing her kind face in a sea of judgmental strangers. Joan watched Tadashi practically fall onto the chair beside her. Cass lingered in the "last hug" she was giving to Tadashi, but the driver barked that either she needed to pay for passage or get off, so Cass hastened off the bus. Tadashi and Joan saw her waving goodbye until they were out of sight.

Tadashi sighed softly and tried to stretch his knee. Moving around slowly in such a fast paced world was so difficult. He went to physical therapy twice a week and still he felt stiff as a board. Everything ached and the giant metal thing taking the place of his arm was so cumbersome. Joan first broke into his thoughts, "Where are you off to?"

"I'm off to therapy. Luckily for me, it's leg day!" Tadashi chuckled softly when Joan laughed. "I'm actually on my way home from testing at school," Joan smiled and gestured discreetly towards Tadashi's arm, "Hiro's design is original." Tadashi rubbed the piece self-consciously, "One way to put it. It's a little difficult to use sometimes but I am glad just to have it." Tadashi tried to sound grateful. In truth, he had spent countless hours thinking about all the little adjustments he could make. Though optimistic about finding his path in life again Tadashi knew one thing, hopes of going back to the Institute as a top notch robotics engineer had gone up in smoke along with his arm. Tadashi shifted the conversation away from his insecurities, "How are your applications coming?"

"Fine," was her clipped reply. The reality was that no schools were really interested in her talent, least of all the Institute of Technology. Joan was sure that the showcase would have helped her make some future connections, but because her family hadn't been free to take her, she blew her chance. Without that shot she now grasped at loose ends, attempting to pull her dream together. Joan knew that Carter's healthcare bills were the priority. That cost alone drained her parents of both cash and energy. The last thing Joan wanted to do was burden them more. If she was going to reach any of her goals, Joan desperately needed someone to take interest in her. The only person who she thought understood how important this was to her was Hiro. She had been going over with Carter whenever he went to visit Tadashi. Carter and Tadashi would talk downstairs in the garage space while Joan followed Hiro upstairs to the apartment. There they'd eat gummy bears, play around with computers, and talk. Well, Joan did most of the talking and Hiro mainly listened. Sometimes she wondered why Hiro preferred them to go upstairs rather than sticking with their brothers. The air just seemed to die when Hiro and Tadashi were in the same room. Something more had happened, but Joan knew better than to pry.

Tadashi was content with Joan's silence, deep in thought regarding his own circumstances and troubles. Going back to college felt impossible right now. How would he be able to hold a tiny soldering iron when he was still learning to hold a fork and knife to eat with? He couldn't dream of sprinting across campus to make a seminar when walking up the bus stairs was a hassle. All of the days stuck in bed caused his confidence, and his pride to sink. His eyes would follow the hands of the clock, spinning minutes into hours into days of wasted time. The only real enjoyment he had in his day right now was when one of his friends from the Nerd Lab would come over and spend time with him. Yet even now with school starting back up again, their visits would be few and far between. There was Carter, and he brought Joan. Tadashi was so grateful for their companionship during especially low days. Their different energy distracted him for a few hours. During lonely days, Tadashi would think about the times he and Hiro would be together building. Together. That word didn't seem to apply to them anymore. Back then, Tadashi and Hiro would spend hours talking and sharing everything together, no secrets held back.

Joan cleared her throat, "Well, it's clear Hiro loves you," she said out of the blue. Tadashi wondered what prompted that statement. "I mean he made you an arm and defeated Professor Callaghan a couple months back, practically becoming a superhero in the process! I mean, that's a loyal brother if I ever saw one," she prattled on. Tadashi's mouth dropped open. That's a new idea: his little tooth-gapped, bull headed, 14 year old brother, a superhero? "When did-" The bus jolted to a stop in front of the physical therapy clinic. Irritated and curious, but aware he had to go, Tadashi turned to Joan. "Say hi to Carter for me okay? We'll see you later." With that he managed clumsily off the bus to where a therapist waited to help him inside.

That night after dinner, Hiro was in his room by himself doing homework. He knew just by the weight of the footsteps that Tadashi and Aunt Cass were coming up the stairs. Aunt Cass was the first to appear in the doorway, her face smiling, "Look who's coming back upstairs." Tadashi appeared, breathing heavily from working his way up the stairs for the first time since coming home from the hospital. Tadashi leaned against the doorway for a moment to catch his breath before smiling at Hiro, "Hey, bro." Hiro looked up, restraining his resentment out of respect for Aunt Cass. "Coming back upstairs?" Hiro frowned.

"The therapist says I'm doing really well at the facility but I need to move around here at home. What better way to get extra exercise than by going up and down the stairs?" Tadahi heard a less than happy inflection in Hiro's tone, as did Aunt Cass, yet he answered with all his power. There was something in what Joan said earlier which suggested Tadashi needed to discover a secret, something he missed while in the coma.

Hiro however was fighting bitterness. The bitterness didn't feel right but it was so strong. 'There are stairs between the café and the basement. Just walk around down there and out of my way' he thought. Hiro watched Tadashi struggle over to his half of the bedroom. Aunt Cass took the initiative to move various things out of Tadashi's path to help him maneuver around. She observed that Hiro wasn't being nearly as helpful as usual. What changed? She put that aside for the present to help Tadashi into an office chair until they put Tadashi's bed back in the room. Cass kissed her nephew's brow, "I'm so proud of you, Tadashi. You always were a fighter." After saying those few words she turned back downstairs.

Tadashi wheeled a little bit closer to Hiro. Hiro heard the 'big brother" tone in Tadashi's voice, "You're pretty messy, you know that? All those dishes and your bed unmade, what is-"

"That's all you have to say after all this time? You come up here and-" Hiro interrupted.

"It's been six months since I was here. Sometimes I forget how messy you are."

"Would you stop picking on me?"

"Just forget about it, Hiro." Tadashi frowned. Tadashi had to gain Hiro's love and trust back, at the very least to just share the room peacefully, and this was a bad start. "Can you go help Aunt Cass bring my bed upstairs now?" He moved a little away. Hiro threw down his work and ran out of the room. The one thing he wanted right now was to be away from his hypercritical who had to put his five cents in on everything. Couldn't he just have stayed downstairs out of Hiro's way?

Tadashi took a slow deep breath. He had thought that simply being closer in proximity to Hiro would bridge the gap that was between them emotionally. But it didn't seem to be having that effect. 'I know Hiro loves you.' Joan had said. The young adult scoffed. It used to be that way, but every action showed Hiro's distrust, irritation, and almost disrespect for Tadashi. Tadashi was so tired of fighting! Why did everything and everyone have to be so difficult? What was that other thing Joan said about Professor Callaghan? Tadashi wheeled over to Hiro's computer, his own still being downstairs. He had the intention to re-examine the details about those heroes, but when he glanced over the disorganized desk for the mouse, he noticed a robotics chip- It was for Baymax! Why would Hiro need to construct a new chip for Baymax? Tadashi picked it up and turned it over in his hand a couple of times, looking for writing or anything to give him insight. Forget the newspaper articles. This was sure proof that there was more to the story than anyone in the group was telling. If Hiro refused to tell him what had happened, Tadashi would interrogate someone else, or rather four others, for the information.