Need for Speed [A Big hero 6 (GoGo x Tadashi) fanfic]

Argument Winning and Hot Chocolate Drinking

I watch Tadashi grin, shaking his head. He says, "You're not serious, are you?"

I cross my arms and gesture to his bike, jabbing my thumb at it. "Perfectly."

Tadashi's joking expression disappears, and is immediately replaced with one of concern and a bit of exasperation. Well, I can be annoying, I suppose. He takes off his cap, and while readjusting it, he begins, "So, let me get this straight."

I groan. "Oh, here we go."

As if I didn't say anything, he continues, "You stay at the Institute for about 18 hours, and that's if your information was true, which I calculated is slightly incorrect. By about 3 hours, GoGo. That's approximately 21 hours. You were working the entire time, except for that half-hour when you took a nap-"

"How do you know about that?" I interrupt, wondering if there was a secret security camera I didn't know about. I always bunk useless classes to explore the campus, and trust me, I have a lot. After being busted a dozen times, you tend to find the blind spots in the Institute's security.

"Don't worry, Honey Lemon told me. But that's beside the point. The point is, you haven't properly slept for just less than 24 hours, took a joyride around the lab and knowing you, probably haven't eaten, and you want to drive my motorbike?" He ends his rant in one breath, then deeply gasps and gives me a moment to think of a retaliation.

Unfortunately, I have nothing. Well, nothing that will win me the argument, anyway.

"Come on, Tadashi," I retort coolly. "You can't tell me what I can and can't do. Plus, you're being a bit over-protective. And, for your information, your facts is incorrect. I had an energy bar and the last of my candy stash."

Even though I can only see a percentage of his face in the half-darkness, I can sense his smugness, but an unusual hint of compassion as he retorts, "You really can't win this argument, GoGo. I care about you too much for you to potentially hurt yourself while I could've stopped that from happening."

I'm pleasantly stunned by what he said. He... cares about me. "Care about me, huh?" I raise an eyebrow, quoting his answer. Tadashi looks at his feet, uncomfortably scratching the back of his neck with his hand.

He stares at me for a second, flustered. "You know, I meant that in a completely platonic way, right?"

I give a short chuckle, just to make him even more flustered. "Completely."

At this point, he climbs onto his bike, strapping on his helmet. I was about to do the same, but then Tadashi asks, "Why don't we make a compromise?"

"I'm listening."

He clears his throat, then starts, "What about you drive us home, to your house?"

I'm wondering if I heard the wrong thing, because this just doesn't sound like Tadashi, especially after that little lecture he gave me. "Are you serious?"

"You didn't let me finish," he pauses, holding up a finger. What now? "You drive us to your house. Only after I take you for something to eat. You clearly don't have the energy to drive us the whole way. So why not divide the ride into two?"

I contemplate this proposition for a moment, even though there's pretty much nothing to internally discuss. Let me think. Going straight home to practically nothing, or go eat with Tadashi when I'm starving and I'm lazy to make myself dinner. Why am I still thinking about this?

"Well, if you insist," I reply nonchalantly, nearing myself to the motorcycle. Tadashi visibly beams as I put on my helmet (finally), and sit on the back half of the bike. Realizing the crimson helmet itself was feeling a bit heavy, I pay attention to it, taking in all its components.