The Rubber Band Theory

Chapter 7: Unease

     Tadashi and Hiro sat on top of a koi turbine with Baymax, their feet swaying back and forth as they gazed over the city. Baymax watched them in the fading light, slowly mimicking their motions. Hiro settled back farther, letting out an exhilarated sigh.

     "That was..." he trailed off, not quite finding a word that quite put it to justice. Tadashi smiled down at him, knowing exactly what he meant.

     Baymax peered down at them both. "Sick." They looked up at him, a little surprised. He turned to look back at the horizon. "It is just an expression."

     Tadashi chuckled. "That's... that's right, buddy." It was amazing to see how much Baymax was evolving, using the code he'd built to adapt to the people around him. It was like watching him develop a little bit of a personality of his own.

     "I am never taking the bus again," Hiro said softly, watching the way the light painted the clouds as the sun set.

     Baymax turned to look at them again, the shuttering in his eyes indicative of a scan. "Your emotional states have improved. I can deactivate if you are satisfied with your care."

     Hiro and Tadashi looked up at him in surprise. "What?" Hiro blinked, shaking his head. "No, I don't want you to deactivate." He stood up, moving in front of Baymax. "We still have to find that guy."

     It didn't take Tadashi's empathic abilities to know what Hiro was feeling. Baymax was more than just a means to make them feel better. He was every bit a part of their family and their new team now as anyone else.

     Hiro glanced out at the rest of the world, gesturing. "So, fire up that super-sensor."

     Baymax stood up carefully, turning his head to face the rest of the city. Tadashi stood up too and moved to stand beside his brother. Baymax's visor lit up for a moment as he slowly panned his head.

     "Functionality improved. One thousand percent increase in range." Baymax beeped softly, and he held up his hand to point out to the water. "I have found a match... on that island."

     The pleasant, warm fuzzy feelings of the day's flight was gone, replaced with a sort of low anxiety that curled in the pit of Tadashi's stomach. The flight back to the Fredrickson estate had been straightforward and without embellishment, but both Hamada brothers tried to use the opportunity to distract themselves from their thoughts. The scenery helped, but only so much.

     Their friends were happy to see them return alive and in one piece, but even their moods developed a small edge when they told them that the scanner worked. They'd located Yokai.

     Hiro wasn't convinced that the man in the mask was really Krei, so Fred had decided to give their 'super-villain' a name. It was somewhat fitting, Tadashi supposed, that the wraith-like man be named after that particular slice of Japanese folklore. Yokai were monsters, spirits, and demons. The man fit the bill.

     It had taken a little while to get it figured out, but by the time dusk began to settle, they were flying over San Fransokyo once again, this time as a team. Go Go and Honey Lemon joined Hiro on Baymax's back, holding on to the wings on either side of the boy. Baymax was holding Fred by the hood in his large left fist, leaving the enthusiastic nerd to strike a ridiculous pose as they flew. Wasabi was clinging desperately to Baymax's right arm.

     Go Go looked out at the city appreciatively. "Killer view," she mused. Honey Lemon shot her a shaky smile. The taller woman thought it was pretty too, but wasn't quite as comfortable in the air yet.