"It's been two days! The furniture should have been here by now! Are you sure you talked to them about this?" She heard her father's voice rise.
"I told you, the movers will be here when they get here!" Her mother started raising her voice too.
The sound of rustling was faintly heard before her father stormed outside.
"I'll call them myself and finally settle this. I can't believe we're paying for this it's ridiculous."
Waiting a few more moments after hearing the door slam, she finally made her way downstairs after grabbing her bag. Her mother sat at the kitchen table, head down with frustration. Deciding to lighten the atmosphere, she put on her signature smile.
"Hey mom!"
Her mother startled a bit at the sudden sound of her daughter's voice.
"O-Oh Yumi," She hesitated a bit before continuing, her head in shame. "Did you happen to hear your father and me?"
"Hear what?" Mayumi feigned innocence. "Sorry, I was unpacking boxes with my headphones on. You know how I tend to zone everything out. Was I supposed to hear anything?" She faked an apologetic smile.
Her mother immediately smiled with relief.
"It's nothing to worry about dear." She spotted her daughter's bag.
"Are you going out?"
"Yeah, I was thinking of exploring a few of the shops down the street. Is there anything you'd like me to grab while I'm out?"
"It's fine, have fun." She smiled.
After giving her mother a quick hug she left through the front door and nodded goodbye to her father who was pacing around the patio, still on the phone.
Putting on her earphones, she walked with a fast pace until Mayumi reached the district which was only a few blocks away from her new house. When reaching the shopping district, she let out a heavy sigh, not realizing she was holding in her breath. She was glad to be out of house. As any child, she hated hearing her parents argue.
She just finished purchasing some caramel candy bites when she noticed some loud voices coming from a nearby alleyway. Letting her curiosity get the better of her she took off her earphones and followed the voices until she was found a group of young boys cornering another boy their age. The boy was covered in a few bruises and cuts already as he curled up against the brick wall.
"What's going on here?" She demanded loudly, using her older age and height to her advantage against the children. She even crossed her arms and stared down at them to get her point across. All the boys suddenly turned to the boy in front, no doubt the leader of the pack. He puffed out his chest when speaking, trying to make himself seem older no doubt but it didn't help when he was at least one and a half feet shorter than her.
"We're just teaching this freak a lesson." He smirked.
"Yeah, he made fun of our skateboards." Another boy chimed in.
"He also spoke to us in big words to make us look stupid!" Another boy burst.
"It's not my fault they don't understand quantum mechanics." The beaten boy mumbled.
The leader turned his attention back to the boy but right when he was about to kick him again, Mayumi interfered and grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, pulling him away.
Before he could kick her away, she moved quickly, using her strength to pull him down to the ground and restrained his dominant arm behind his back. With her other hand she used her force to keep him pinned to the ground and spoke close to his ear but loud enough for the rest of his lackeys to hear.
"You guys better learn some respect since I'm pretty sure that boy will one day be more successful than you brats. Now, I better not catch any of you kids bullying that boy anymore alright, unless you want me to teach you some manners?"
The boy grumbled something but started giving in when Mayumi pulled his arm a bit more.
"Alright we get it!" He yelled before Mayumi backed off and allowed him and his friends to skateboard away.
'Man when did kids get so rotten and spoiled?' She thought to herself. 'Man am I glad I spent a summer wrestling with my guy cousins.'
Quickly shifting her attention to the bullied boy, she knelt beside him and smiled.
"Are you alright?"
He quickly nodded before looking down with red evident on his cheeks.
Finally analyzing his injuries, Mayumi quickly pulled out a water bottle, some napkins, and a few bandages from her bag. Being super clumsy herself, these items were a necessity and boy was she glad it came in handy for this situation. Receiving an ok from the small boy she quickly tended to his wounds, making sure to be gentle so they boy wouldn't have to feel too much pain. Finishing off with a small band aid to the boy's cheeks, the boy blushed madly before mustering out a small thank you.
The shyness and awkwardness from the boy made Yumi amused as she let out a small giggle before tousling the boy's messy black hair.
"What's your name kid?"
The boy hesitated a bit before answering.
"H-Hiro…Hiro Hamada."
Mayumi finally stood up and stretched her legs.
"Well Mr. Hiro Hamada, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Mayumi but you can call me Yumi." She smiled.
"Y-yumi… that's a nice name." He murmured looking at the ground.
Yumi couldn't get over how adorable the blushing boy was. She assumed the boy wasn't used to girls or even strangers judging by his awkward responses, not that she minded. The boy attempted to finally stand but she noticed his legs were a bit wobbly; his cuts were pretty bad on his knees.
"So Hiro, how about I walk you home?" She offered.
The boy's cheeks suddenly puffed up a bit.
"I can protect myself." She must've hurt his pride.
"Oh no," She quickly asserted, "I know you can take care of yourself but my help doesn't come cheap." She slyly smiled.
"W-what do you want?" He nervously asked, not sure what the older girl wanted.
She held up her empty water bottle.
"I used up all my water treating your wounds. The least you could do would be to give me another one right?"
"I can do better!" He quickly blurted out. "My aunt owns a store so I can give you a cake or smoothie as thanks!"
Tousling his messy hair again, Yumi agreed to the proposition before kneeling down, ushering him to climb onto her back. He, of course, hesitated again.
"I need to build my upper body strength, you mind lending me your weight?"
Though hesitant, the scrawny boy climbed onto her back and wrapped his arms around her for support.
As Hiro directed her towards his home, the two made some small talk though Hiro sometimes spoke so softly it was hard to hear, despite him being on her back. She learned how he lived in an apartment above his aunt's café with his older brother ever since their parents passed away when he was a toddler.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She couldn't bear to think of having to grow up without her parents, no matter how much they tended to bicker when they thought she wasn't listening. She felt his chin against her shoulder.
"It's ok. I have Aunt Cass, Mochi and Tadashi."
Once he mentioned his brother, Hiro suddenly brightened up and talked nonstop about how "awesome and cool" his older brother was. Yumi couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. She always wanted a sibling. Even though she grew up surrounded by her younger cousins before the move, it wasn't the same. She remembered when she demanded for a younger sister when she was six years old but when she got older she discovered that it was already hard for her mother to even give birth to her and dropped the subject.
"We're here!" Hiro's happy voice startled Yumi out of her thoughts.
The café lights were still lit up when they arrived and the café chalkboard easel reading "Lucky Cat Café: Specials of the Day" still stood outside the door. A boy soon came out of the store, folding up the easel when Hiro suddenly exclaimed.
"Tadashi!"
Yumi suddenly stopped in her tracks. This was Tadashi? She was expecting someone older based on how Hiro described him. Tadashi looked around her age.
The boy quickly turned to the pair and quickly dashed to his brother. Yumi allowed Hiro off her back so the older Hamada brother could examine his brother's injuries.
"What happened to you?"
The younger Hamada shrugged.
"Just playing around with some guys from school."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
The older boy hit his brother playfully on the head.
"You bonehead."
Hiro quickly let out a small whine of pain and his brother let out a small chuckle before finally turning his attention to the girl beside them.
"Were you the one who bandaged Hiro up?"
The boy gave her a warm smile.
"Thanks for taking care of my bonehead of a brother. My name is Tadashi by the way. What's yours?"
"Mayumi but my friends call me Yumi."
Before she could say anything else, Hiro interjected.
"I was planning on giving Yumi some cake as a thank you for helping me."
Tadashi tousled his younger brother's hair, making Hiro let out a toothy grin and laugh. Yumi noticed a small gap between the boy's front teeth, making him even more child-like.
"Good idea little bro."
Yumi's eyes widened with realization. She used the cake idea as an excuse. She didn't actually plan on taking any. It felt rather rude.
"Oh no it's ok. I was just planning on taking him back and making sure he was ok. I wasn't actually planning on taking anything." Yumi cut in.
Hiro let out a pout and his brother shook his head.
"We insist. It's the least we could do after you took care of Hiro."
Yumi put her hands up and slowly backed away.
"It's totally fine. I should be getting back home anyway since it's getting late. My folks will be worried. It was really nice meeting you two though." She quickly waved and turned around, jogging the direction she came.
"Maybe we'll see you around?" She heard Tadashi yell.
Yumi stopped jogging then and turned back to look at the brothers in the distance. Breaking into a smile she waved back.
"I hope so." She answered before starting her jog again, meaning every word she said.
xxxxxxx
Hi everyone! This is my first publish on and I'm excited to share my story with you all! I still can't get over Tadashi's character in Big Hero 6 so I decided to explore the possibility of what it'd be like if there was a girl in his and Hiro's life. Though the beginning may start off a bit slow, I'll definitely be picking up the pace soon! Please let me know what you all think and if there's anything I need to improve upon. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!