Almost a month went by already and it seemed pretty good. Hiro's fracture is healed and thank goodness I'm not sick anymore. Plus on the more optimistic side, my nanotech bracelet is nearly complete and hopefully it's fully functional by next semester. I can't afford to pay my way into SFIT again. Hiro's lucky that he's got the brains.
Another positive note, one of my teacher's called in and there were no substitutes, so my last class got to go home early. On my way out, through one of the windows of Hiro's class, he was glaring down at me with a pout. I stuck my tongue out at him and waved bye before laughing and making my way to the cafe.
The only downside side is that I have homework which I breezed through. Now I'm sitting with Cass at the counter and teaching Mochi a new trick.
"Okay, Mochi. Slow clap." Me and Aunt Cass clap at a slow pace while Mochi watched us closely. I mean, he wanted to since he gets a treat when he does something right. Very slowly, he lifts up his paws and slow claps.
Oh my GOSH!!! I squeal with Cass at the adorable action. "Good job, Mochi!" I gently scratch under his chin as he purrs happily and Cass gives him a treat. "I need to record this!" This time I've got Mochi slow clapping on video and we watch it over and over again.
"I love it so much!!! The little soft pats!" Aunt Cass gushes with adoration.
Mochi continues to purr until Cass fills his bowl with food which he took that moment to leave.
A sudden flick to my head, made me groan out in pain and rub the spot. "Ow! What was that for?!"
Hiro plops down in the chair next to me while the others follow suit in taking a seat around the table. The boy genius just smirks and immediately goes on his phone. "That was for leaving early and without me."
"Us. Without us." Gogo adds in and takes out a 'Popular Physics' magazine.
Hiro chuckles, "Yeah....that's what I meant."
I shrug and smile, "Sorry about taking off so early. I just wanted to beat you guys here for once and for an extra life bonus, it's the weekend. Finishing my homework is easier here in the cafe when it's not busy."
"Those are some good points, but seriously, (Y/n). How do you end up with homework?" Wasabi asked.
"Because she gets distracted very easily when it comes to school." Gogo excuse with a small smile.
"I'll admit. I do just that." My head falls onto the table in dramatic shame, which earns laughter from everyone.
"Oh! (Y/n)! You've got to show them Mochi's latest trick!!!" Cass hands me a freshly made muffin. "I mean, you guys have to see. It's completely optional, no presh."
Honey is already squealing with delight, "Ah! I love anything to do with cute cats doing cute things! I live for cat videos!"
"Wait. Is shortening words still a thing?" Cass says confused.
Fred laughs and reassures her, "Oh totes. That's short for absolutely."
I pull up the video on my phone and hand it over to Honey Lemon. "Here you go-Hey!" I move the muffin away from Hiro's grasp and shove his face away.
"Why does Aunt Cass give you a fresh muffin and not me?"
"It's because I'm special and you—" I flick his forehead with the same smirk he pulled earlier, "—are not."
Honey squeals at the cute video of Mochi, even Gogo admits that it's cute. They show Wasabi and Fred, while I'm still dealing with Hiro.
Hiro clicks his tongue then proceeds to take out a notebook and pen from my bag. "Well, I'm sure you have snacks in here."
I hug my bag after snatching it away,"You literally live just right up those stairs. Go get your own food."
Hiro looks to the stairs, "But I don't want to walk upstairs just to get a snack."
"We are in YOUR aunt's cafe."
"I don't want to bother her while she's working."
Is he really going to pull this annoying act with me? "I guess you'll have to starve because I have no snacks in my bag because I ate them during class."
Hiro snickered and opened my notebook to a random blank page, "I'm sure you have at least one more snack in there. Sharing is caring. You do care about right?" He flashes a close eyed smile before continuing to jot down notes.
My face heats up and I turn away with a grumble. Why does he have to do that?! I don't think he knows how much his words affect me.
"I am totally posting this." Honey taps on my phone screen.
"Oh man! I almost forgot." Fred has two tickets in his hand, "I have an extra ticket to Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge."
Hiro raised a brow, "Maximum what?"
I roll my eyes, "Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge. The wording is a handful, but it's an online game show that is the definition of its name."
Fred takes my phone from Honey Lemon and pulls up a video of the insane game show, "It's number one on the online videos too! I also never picked up on the show's name. Basically a hidden message."
Not really.
A contestant dressed as a bumblebee races across and tries to avoid getting hit by giant fly swats, ending up pinned by the last fly swat.
Hiro stops the video and gets up, "Looks fun, Fred. But I've got to work on something to deal with our suiting up problem." Quickly, he runs out the cafe doors.
"I would go if it wasn't maximum insane. You're basically signing yourself up for embarrassment." I held out my hand to Fred so he could give my phone back.
"No problem. I can ask Wasabi, Honey, or Gogo aaaand Hiro took your phone."
My eyes widen and I rush out the door, "HIRO HAMADA!!!!"
Hiro waves my phone at me, a street away from the cafe and I run fast to grab it away. He starts laughing and holds up his hands in defense at my threatening fist. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"I will only forgive you, if you buy me food. That panic and run took a lot out of me." I try to steady my breathing.
"Deal."
We start walking and Hiro again jots notes down in my notebook. He better give that back after he's done.
"So what's happening with your guys suiting up?" I make sure Hiro doesn't walk into anyone or anything as we walk.
He sighs stressfully, "Okay. Last night, we had trouble finding out which one of us had our suits at their home. We went to Fred's until Honey remembered that the suits were at her and Gogo's place. Then Wasabi couldn't find a piece of his armor." His hand ruffled his hair. "We showed up very late to a fire emergency at a tiki torch factory. Luckily, the fire department got it handled."
"Oh. Wow, I didn't even know that happened last night." I felt a little guilty that I didn't answer their call either last night.
"What were you doing last night anyway?" Hiro takes a glance at me.
I recall what happened last night. Me and Karmi were planning our next cosplay and getting ideas, leading us to binge watching our anime. "Uh....talking girl stuff with Karmi." Baymax would understand a little....and Tadashi. "Where is Baymax?"
"He's charging and most likely playing with Mochi."
Finally, we stopped at a small restaurant. It looked decent and there weren't so many people inside, so we chose to sit in a corner booth toward the back. Hiro and I flip through the menu.
"So what ideas do you have for your suit up problem?" I take a sip from my drink after telling the waitress my order.
Hiro does the same and sighs, now staring at my notebook that had his notes. "Honestly, I have no idea. So far, I've just written notes down and hope that my brain will think of something easy."
"I'm pretty sure you will think of something." He shows me the ideas and I shrug. "Suits having a built in homing signal to fly to your location. The suits shooting out of a giant sphere, that kinda seems dangerous. Uh, voice command rocket that delivers the suits. If you do that on your phone, it might be a bit faulty."
"Ugh. That's all I could think of." Hiro picks at his food.
"You're not really thinking these ideas through like you usually do, Hiro. Just try out your ideas and if it doesn't work out, keep moving forward."
"I guess."
The conversation ceased so we could enjoy our meal and shared a dessert together since we were full, but not too full. A comfortable silence stayed even after we headed back to Hiro's house and into the garage. That's where I spot the big huggable marshmallow.
"Baymax!" I rush over and try to glomp him into a big hug. "You have no idea how much I missed you."
Baymax tilts his head and pats my head, "No, I do not know, but my scans indicate that you are very happy at my presence. At that analysis, I now know you have missed me very much. I shall hug you now." He lifts me up into a big hug.
This is one of the many simple joys of life. I hum happily.
"Ew. Can that cute stuff move to the side so I can work?" Hiro rolls his eyes and sits in front of the hologram computer.
"Kay, kay!" I salute and pull Baymax to sit on the couch in the garage. My back leans against his side as I start watching a movie with my earbuds in so it doesn't distract Hiro. I yawn and relax more from the good food.
I stretch and roll onto my back as my phone chimes from a notification. My eyes tiredly stare at the screen and I raise a brow.
A text message from, "Tadashi?"
'You awake, Sleepyhead? The night is still young, you know.'
I tap the call icon and hear the phone ringing on the other end until Tadashi answers.
"Finally. You done studying?" He chuckled playfully.
"Yeah and I'm still tired." I start to drift off again only to slightly awaken at a familiar voice that screamed, 'Yeah! There's nothing better than free food!'
Tadashi laughs, "Well as you could hear my friend. Cass is making a celebratory dinner for Hiro. He got accepted and I was hoping you can come over."
Why did all this feel so familiar?
"Mmmm....Maybe I can swing by tomorrow after my test. I'm pretty worn out right now." A sense of guilt washes over me when I hear Tadashi laugh lightly.
"Alright. School is important, so you better get rest. I'm not talking about binge watching anime all night until morning. I'll bring by some breakfast for you too, okay? Get that brain turning."
I snicker, "Well right now, my brain mostly likely has a loose screw, or....a few gears missing."
This time Tadashi laughs out loud, "Yeah. You're right, but you're lucky I've got the tools. Bringing you food, scolding you to get rest, and being your friend till the end."
The last words of his suddenly repeated. Till the end.... "Wait! Tadashi! I-I'm—.." My phone shuts off with a low battery. "No...no, no, no, no." The accident!!! This was the night of the accident!!!
My hand turns the knob on my room door and it's not budging!!! "AH!" The doorknob grew extremely hot and burned my hand.
I'm not going to sit here.
I slam into the door. It's not opening either.
I'm not going to lose him.
Tadashi, you're wrong. That isn't the end!
"I only asked for one thing—..." Tadashi stood near the balcony of my room and I froze at the vacant stare in his eyes. "...—Yet when you asked for something I was always there. What kind of friend are you?"
Is he blaming me?
"Tadashi—"
He cut me off, "—I don't want to be friends anymore."
I couldn't move. Did he really say that? I don't want that, I need a friend. I need someone to be there for me.
Tadashi takes off his hat and sighs a bit. "I'm just holding you back." The hat slowly slips to the floor as he begins to walk away.
"Tadashi! Wait!" I didn't care about the hat and rushed at my best friend, but there was only a bright light and a loud slam.
My body jolts awake and my heart is beating fast. Baymax has an arm around me and I look up at him which he blinks, tilting his head in confusion.
"Oops. Did I wake you?" Hiro asked while picking up a metal sheet.
"Of course, Big Brain." I rub my face and see that it's only been an hour. Honestly, I'm glad Hiro woke me up even by accident. "It's fine though. I might've slept throughout the night if you didn't." I smile softly at him.
Hiro shrugs with an apologetic grin then continues to work.
Not even 20 minutes later, I see Hiro stop his work and walk over to Tadashi's moped. "Wow. You fixed it up nice considering that it was messed up the last time I saw it."
"I know. I feel stupid for taking this out on a lone mission that night I was sick." Hiro picks up two helmets, "I'll take you home. You seem pretty wore out. Maybe you can see the test run for the first suit up gadget tomorrow. Mostly likely a very isolated part of the park."
I hug Baymax and stroll over to take a helmet, "Sure, I'll let you know if I can."
>>>————————————>>>>
The young teen boy turns on the moped after noticing the draining tone in your voice. He did see you hug Baymax's arm in your sleep, like you were having a nightmare and it seems like he might be right. That's why he purposely dropped a sheet of metal.
You were quiet as Hiro drove and he tried to speed up to get a laugh out of you or an annoyed reaction....but there was none.
Hiro began to feel a little awkward and unsure of what to do. Should he ask or leave you be?
Soon, your apartment complex came into view. Hiro rode onto the sidewalk so you would be closer to the glass entrance of the complex. The painful awkward silence still lingered as you handed Hiro the helmet back.
"Thanks....."
That's it? Hiro thought and he finally was able to try to say something, but you beat him to it.
"Hiro?" You gulp from the anxious question you wanted to ask.
"Yeah?" Hiro waited patiently and shut off the moped. He didn't like the way his best friend stood there with a trembling voice. Almost scared and it was strange to see, yet familiar.
"Would......would Tadashi blame someone that wouldn't do what he wanted?"
The question literally made Hiro so extremely confused and surprised. Not only was it about his brother, but those words seemed unlike him. He really wanted to laugh, but it disappeared at your teary eyes which you were trying to hold back. It didn't help that Hiro grew very, very quiet.
"F-Forget it! I'm sorry! Night." You run inside.
Hiro didn't react fast enough and he groaned in frustration at himself. You didn't give him enough time to answer, maybe tomorrow. "Goodnight, (Y/n)." He looks up at your balcony doors, then drives back home.
There is work to be done.