Chapter Text
If Hiro was asked to name his worst mistake, he’d give you an Excel spreadsheet and a 50-page-long PowerPoint presentation on his laundry list of bad life decisions.
Bot-fighting. Going back to bot-fighting. Not following Tadashi into the fire. Showing off his intelligence too much and getting Obake interested in him.
Thinking Tadashi had been resurrected superhero-community style.
Thinking an internship with Alistair Krei would end well.
“It’s not even the summer! I have classes!”
“Then cancel them. Intern, we are going to Gotham!”
Hiro screeches out loud (ignoring Krei’s side comment of “jeez you were already androgynous enough, what’s up with your voice?”) and pulls both hands down his face. He can’t bang his head onto Krei’s office desk-the last time he did that, Krei screeched about forehead sweat for 15 minutes.
“But why me?! Don’t you have enough people who are slightly dumber than I am but taking an internship with you?!” Hiro has a tie. A very poorly tied tie, but something to strangle himself with, nonetheless. He knows how easy it is after all those ‘how to tie a tie’ YouTube videos failed for him, Aunt Cass, and Baymax.
Krei pulls a face. “Bruce has a kid who was the CEO of his company while he went on vacation, and his stocks rose more in a year than they did in two decades. I’m not going to Gotham again unless I have a genius kid with me that I can brag about in person.”
Hiro’s temples are throbbing. He’ll have to open the Ziploc in his backpack labelled ‘Krei Headache Meds’ in Gogo’s handwriting the second Krei looks away long enough.
He needs to talk to Professor Granville. She has the will of gods and Wonder Woman and puts fear in someone no matter their status. If anyone can persuade Krei to leave him in San Fransokyo, it will be her.
“This is the first good opportunity you’ve had since becoming Krei’s intern, Mr Hamada.”
…or not.
Why doesn’t he have a convenient strangulation device, AKA a tie, in his everyday wear again?
Oh, right. Because he can just use his backpack straps instead.
He'll have to wait until he's out of Granville's office, though.
“Did you even look up the former CEO that he spoke of?”
Of course. Hiro learned his lesson after Yama-make sure you’re not bot-fighting someone with mob connections unless you’re wearing a decent disguise and using a fake name.
Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, the adopted son of Bruce Wayne. Brucie’s got exclusively dead flies and bits of fluff in his head, but Timothy Drake-Wayne is just as ruthless as Janet Drake.
(Turns out Aunt Cass dated her for a bit before Janet met Jack. They fell out of touch after that, but Aunt Cass kept up with her, even holding a vigil when her and Jack died. Aunt Cass broke up with her because she saw sides of Janet she didn’t like, but unlike Alistair Krei, Janet Drake was better at hiding it. Sometimes Hiro forgets how badass his aunt can be before she reminds him again.)
“I don’t think I want to be compared to Timothy Drake.”
Professor Granville raises an eyebrow. “Really? A boy known for his sharp wit despite his young age? A highly competent individual respected and feared equally?”
Okay. That’s a little tantalizing.
And the worst part of these conversations is always Granville being dead right.
Going to Gotham and getting paraded around at galas would do wonders for Hiro’s opportunities after college. He could find a better internship that’s researched more thoroughly and mock Karmi. Everything in Gotham will be paid for by Krei-hell, he’s even said he’ll give Hiro pocket money because it’ll make him look good.
So why doesn’t he want to go?
“Gotham has the Bats. And they’ll notice Big Hero 6 is missing its leader, Indigo.”
“The team has survived without Indigo before. And do you not have a good relationship with the superhero community as a whole? It wouldn’t be a challenge to at least inform the Justice League you’ll be out of San Fransokyo for civilian reasons.”
They do. But Hiro can’t do this. He had to fight tooth and nail to get the Justice League to realize that he was just small, not malnourished, and that he was worthy of his own place in the superhero community. That he wouldn’t leave his position as BH6’s leader to join the fucking Teen Titans just because they said it would be better suited for him.
Hiro spent three days awake just kicking Batman off the tail of their secret identities and survived exclusively with YouTubed makeup skills and a stash of coffee Aunt Cass hadn’t discovered until two months after. That destroyed a good part of his rational decisions and impulse control. He was hallucinating Tadashi by the end of it. Obake made him repeat that experience again for real on Halloween.
Hiro refuses to let it be wasted for nothing.
“Hiro.” Oh no. Granville pulled out his first name. Shit’s getting real.
…why does she look sad?
“Someone has to help, but that someone does not have to be you all the time. Hiro Hamada is more than just Indigo. He is a child who deserves the opportunity he has been given and should not turn it away because of ‘what ifs’ he should’ve never had to worry about.”
Hiro swallows. He hates emotional conversations. They leave his ambivert ass flayed open and exhausted. “I chose this. I chose to protect my city.”
“And I’m asking you to choose yourself. Just for a while. Because there are others who chose to protect their cities, too.” Granville slides a photo across the table.
It’s a photo Hiro has seen before. Big Hero 6, with core members of the Justice League talking to them in the aftermath of the battle against Yokai. Indigo has his helmet blurring on, but his stance shows how he’s arguing with Batman, with the rest of the team standing next to him.
Hiro breathes deep.
In.
“You’re sucking germs into your lungs, Genius Boy.”
Out.
“Okay.”