Disclaimer: Not mine.

Warning: This is male/male slash. Don't like, don't read. Seriously.

A/N: Hey guys! Uhm, I know it's been so long since I've posted anything in this site. So, to make it up to you guys, here's a new story! Technically it's an old story. I've posted this in my AO3 account but decided that it's time to share it here as well because the story is almost completed in my AO3. I'll post the link to this in my profile page soon. But anyways, to those who haven't read it yet, here it is! This is the non-related AU! So, Hiro and Tadashi are NOT RELATED AT ALL WHAT SO EVER. That being said, enjoy this! -Krystal

Chapter 1

Hiro smiled.

He laughed.

Hiro took pictures with his fans.

Signed a few autographs and gave out a little wink whenever he felt like it (his fans loved that). Then, his fingers were interlocked together with the person next to him and Hiro looked at them before he smiled adoringly.

The man he was with smiled for the cameras as well before his warm brown eyes locked with Hiro's. He gave out his most charming smile, the ones that always made Hiro's heart flutter. His cheeks reddened slightly as he grinned before he looked back to the crowd in front of him. They made their way down the red carpet for the awards ceremony tonight.

Lights flashed and fans screamed as they walked inside. Their fingers tightened together and Hiro gently morphed another smile on his face. He sighed softly to himself as they were escorted to their seats and they sat down, next to each other before breaking their interlocked hands.

The ceremony award began and the night was just starting to become beautiful.

They won for the Best Actor award and for the Best Role Played award. Hiro didn't expect anything less than that as he cheered for the man once he went on stage, then in return, the man pecked his right cheek as he went to collect his award.

It was a beautiful night. What more could Hiro ask?

Once the ceremony was done with, they walked out of the auditorium together, close, side by side until they smiled and just flashed their brilliant smiles to the cameras and adoring fans. Then, their limo came into their view and they got in.

And—

Cut.

Immediately, Hiro moved as far away as he could from the taller man and took in a shuddering breath. He took his right hand and immediately tried to rub his cheek where the man had last touched him with his lips. "God, we're never doing that again. You! You don't have to freaking put your lips on my cheeks! That's—that's gross, Tadashi!"

The taller man, Tadashi, sighed and relaxed as if a huge burden was lifted from his shoulders. He loosened his tie as he slumped deeper into his seat. The tension started to roll off his shoulders before he glanced at Hiro. "What else was I supposed to do? Just hold your hand throughout the night? That's just childish, Hiro. And besides, it's not like I'm the one who requested for 'more public PDA'."

Hiro sharpened his glare at Tadashi and shuddered internally at the words. "Just—stay away from me."

"My pleasure," Tadashi retorted curtly and then silence filled in between them.

Hiro didn't want this to happen. He was stuck in an unhappy imaginary relationship with Tadashi Hamada (No, Hiro Hamada and Tadashi Hamada are not from the same descendant or related in any way, thank you very much! We're not!) or his actor name, Tadashi Takachiho. How? It was quite simple really. It all started with that stupid movie called 'Big Hero 6' few years ago.

Yeah. That.

They acted as siblings in there, not much to decipher from that. Hiro was the younger sibling and Tadashi was his older brother who supposedly killed himself trying to save some douchebag. That part was Hiro's favourite scene but that wasn't the point. The point was his fans; his lovely (irritating and obviously could be the most stupid people on the planet at some times) fans said that there was something more going on between Hiro and Tadashi outside of the sets.

Then the backstage-scenes were released and Hiro had to act civil (god, that cringe) with Tadashi throughout the entire shooting time. The fans loved it and just within the first few hours of that backstage scene being released, his fans, Tadashi's fan, heck, even the Queen of England's fans started to think that maybe Hiro was indeed in a secret relationship with Tadashi and that all this 'I-hate-you-but-I'm-trying-my-best-to-be-civil-with-you-for-the-cameras' act was just a cover-up for their—

And Hiro quoted; "For their true, mature love for each other. The romance of the year."

God, could these people be anymore blind?

Apparently, Hiro's mind muttered bitterly, they could because even after all these years, the pairing was still strong among his fellow fans until one day, his agent was contacting him, scheduling a meeting with the agency that was currently holding onto his contract. Hiro went to the meeting and he thought that maybe he needed to apologise for something he did (even though he didn't think there was anything he did wrong) but when he spotted Tadashi in the conference room with him, he got the hint on what was to be discussed at the moment.

It was one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.

"I repeat, and let me make this absolutely clear for you both to understand," Hiro had said to the managers of the agency and their agents. "I do not harbour any—and when I say any, I mean really, none, zero, absolutely nu-uh, feelings of affections or even like, or heck, I don't know, even near anything remotely positive, for this man right here."

"That's sour," Tadashi commented lightly though he wasn't really paying attention to any of them, instead, he was on his phone. Hiro knew who he was so busy typing to, there was no way he couldn't especially from the way the news had been reporting stories about them every now and then lately. But pushing that matter aside, the agency finally thought that this was an opportunity that could not be missed. An opportunity for them to officially make the rumours true, that indeed something romantic was hiding behind the shadows of hatred.

Hiro was the first to protest and Tadashi was frozen in his seat. And then he protested too. Finally.

But it was futile. They didn't want to hear it.

"It's just for a few months, to get the rating high enough so that people will remember you both, want you both more in movies and dramas and interviews. Your image gets lifted, so does our agency's."

Well, it made sense to them but Hiro refused to believe it made sense to him.

But he had no choice but to follow through this or he could kiss his carrier goodbye. He glared at Tadashi the entire time and the taller man wasn't really enjoying the ride either.

Hiro remembered the first time he hated Tadashi. The feelings were mutual for each other, it was just that. They met, they fought and the next thing they knew, they were rivalling for everything, from movies to interviews. Then, Big Hero 6 came along and they had to work together to produce a movie where it showed love and affection in every form to the viewers.

Few years later, that movie was still the cause of this—this—thing between them. Nineteen now and the 'Hiro & Tadashi having a secret affair but not telling us' still hadn't let up until the agency decided to make it official two months ago.

Hiro just hated his life. Really, he did. Ignore that huge mansion rolling into view and more than three million dollars in his bank account, he just hated his life. Period.

Once the limo stopped in front of his house, he took in a deep breath and opened the door. "Thanks," Hiro said to the driver, who only glanced at him from the rear-view mirror and nodded. Hiro didn't even bother to look at Tadashi as he got out of the car and slammed the door. Then, he stalked to the house and rolled his shoulders.

"Aunt Cass?" he called out to his only family member since his parents died in a tragic plane crash two years ago. His aunt moved in with him right afterwards and took care of him like he was her own son. He loved that part of her very much, the only real thing in his life every time he was stripped bare from the facades he had to wear the entire day.

There was no reply back, so Hiro tugged his tie from his neck and walked to the living room. There, sleeping soundly on the couch with a glass of wine hanging dangerously from her fingers, laid his aunt. He couldn't help but to smile at the scene as he cautiously walked to her. He then grabbed the glass from her fingers and placed it on the coffee table. The fire was burning nicely as it warmed the living room. It was the perfect place to fall asleep.

Hiro simply sat on the floor next to her as he looked at how relaxed she was at the moment. It always tugged his heartstrings when he realised that his aunt had went through a lot in her life to be who she was today, even if at the end of the day, she was known as Hiro Hamada's aunt. She loved to bake, so she usually spent her time in the kitchen. Hiro loved her pastries. They lighted up his gloomiest days. It was the one thing that tasted closest to home, to his parents.

He laid his head at the edge of the couch and closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and opened his eyes again. This moment right here was enough to fuel his warmth for another thousand years.

He didn't know that he had ended up dozed off in the middle of it all. When the smell of breakfast reached him, he was wide awake on the floor with a blanket on him. He blinked a few times before he felt a yawn ripping through his lips. Then, he ran his fingers through his hair as he slowly sat up.

The smell of toasted bread and pancakes finally hit him hard and he couldn't help but to sigh relaxed. After a while, he stood up and dragged the blanket with him before he rolled it and placed it on the couch. He glanced ahead to the entrance of the living room and took a minute to compose himself.

When he reached the kitchen, Cass had actually laid the table out with pancakes and a mug of coffee. Hiro couldn't help but to smile wide before he sat down near the table and took hold of his fork. "Good morning, Aunt Cass," Hiro greeted before he shoved the first forkful of pancakes into his mouth. Cass turned off the stove and untied her apron before she turned around and smiled at her nephew.

"Good morning to you too, Hiro," she said. She placed the apron on the kitchen counter and made her way to the table before she sat down in front of Hiro. "You should've brushed your teeth at least."

Hiro glanced up from his plate and gave her his sheepish smile though he heeded no attention to her advice and continued to eat. "I just like your pancakes too much."

"Uh-huh," she said as she eyed him carefully. Silence flowed into the scene as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. Hiro knew that something was on her mind when she leaned into her chair and started to stare at him. The young Hamada sighed before he looked at her and raised his eyebrows. She gave him a quick smile before she asked, "How was your night?"

Hiro immediately scowled at her before he looked down to his plate and continued to shove the pancakes into his mouth. "I'm gonna pretend you didn't ask that question."

"Hiro," Cass said with humour in her voice. "Not good?"

"Nope," Hiro said as he finally decided to get this over with. "Not good at all so don't bother asking. It's just a waste of your time."

She rolled her eyes at her nephew's drama. "You always had a knack at exaggerating details."

"I do not!" Hiro protested as he leaned into his chair and placed the fork at the edge of the plate. "I'm not exaggerating. It really was a horrible night."

"Ah, being stuck as Tadashi's lover is quite bad, isn't it?" She had a sympathetic smile on her face. Hiro nodded before he rubbed the back of his neck.

"It was—annoying," Hiro finally concluded. "It wasn't fun, I mean, it would've been fun to win the best actor award but—with Tadashi, meh. I would rather swim with the sharks than to ever do that again."

"But you might," she pointed that information out. Hiro mentally shuddered at that thought as his scowl deepened on his face.

"Hopefully not," Hiro said. "Hopefully by that time, the two idiots would realise that this was all a bad idea and let me go."

"The things they make you two do for the sake of their publicity," she said with a frown of her own. Hiro agreed with her whole-heartedly. Though, he would be lying if he told her that he wasn't expecting it. He knew fame came with a price and this was it. He lacked his own self-privacy, who he liked, how he dressed, what he ate, and who he ended up dating. His life was tied up from the start to the end unless he found a way to get out of this.

Until then, every move he made was front page news. It wasn't a thrilling idea at all.

"It's only for a few more months," Hiro said, at the same time he reminded himself. "Then I can have my bachelor life again."

Cass sighed before she looked at Hiro. "You know I only want the best for you, right?"

"Ah, not this again," Hiro mumbled under his breath but he knew what his aunt was trying to say. "I know. I know that if I don't want to do this anymore, I could walk out at any moment but Aunt Cass—as much as it's a pain in the neck, its—it keeps my life entertaining. My life—it'll be—less…lonely."

Silence matched at both ends before Cass reached out to her nephew and placed her hand on the table. Hiro eyed the open hand before he placed his right hand on it. His aunt then squeezed their hands together before she gave him an encouraging smile. "The lab is waiting for you if you want it back, you know that. So, take it one step at a time. You can do it, Hiro."

He knew the lab was waiting for him. He could leave his lifestyle and get back to his original life, to his town at San Fransokyo and never come back here again. But he couldn't step into the lab without tearing up, not after what happened to his parents. Everything in that lab reminded him of them and it was like a sharp scalpel through the gut every time he remembered them.

He needed space. Two years was long enough space but he liked where he was now.

Besides, he wasn't the brave guy everyone thought he was. He was him, he was still that young boy in his mind.

Not yet. One day, maybe, but not today.

Cass read that message loud and clear in the silence and squeezed their hands again.

He looked at himself in the dressing room mirror. He was about to go on live for an interview with the currently famous host in Hollywood, Danny Heyman, with Tadashi. He frowned deep at that thought. Another stupid interview about his 'relationship' with that man. It was already infuriating that he had to act like he loved standing next to him but every time he had to voice it out in his own words, he had to make sure he smiled and kept that lovey-dovey look in his eyes and not how sandy the sentence felt on his tongue.

A knock on the door had Hiro alerted that it was time to head to the backstage. He took in a deep breath before he nodded to himself and headed to the door. Once he was outside, the backstage manager dragged him to the edge of the set and wired the microphone around him. Then with a last touch of makeup, he was done.

Just as they moved away, he spotted Tadashi a few feet away from him. Hiro had to take a double look before he realised how—smart Tadashi looked in that suit. Huh. He never noticed it before but the taller man did look good in suits or formal wear. It was just so—him. Hiro felt the awkwardness of that thought catching him off guard before he shoved them to the back of his mind.

What the hell was that?

Yeah, no. Hiro wasn't about to start complementing Tadashi about how he looked, even if it was all in his mind. Not now—not ever. Just in time, the host appeared on the set and the show was on air. Within minutes, Hiro had found himself smiling for the camera and had sat in front of the host before Tadashi was introduced a second later.

"So, Hiro and Tadashi," the host, Danny, started with a dry look though he was smiling. Hiro tried to keep the look of menace out of his face and simply smiled back. "Dating. Together. Doing the woop-de-doo, in a relationship, or even some people, crudely I may suggest, call 'f'-ing. You get what I mean, guys."

Hiro felt his cheeks actually reddening at the blunt implication. That image alone made him wanted to hurl. Probably. Maybe. He shook away those thoughts from his mind as he tried to focus on the host and not at what the hell was wrong with the interviewer. "Two months, that's quite long."

"Not really," Tadashi started catching Hiro off guard with the gentleness in his voice. He glanced at Tadashi and just in time, the taller man caught his eyes and gave him a warm smile. Hiro smiled back though he didn't think he could ever fake that much warmness in his eyes even if his life depended on it. "It's quite a short time for us."

"Oh hoh!" Danny said with a leer. "Good, that's how being in love is like! Am I right?"

"Sure," Tadashi said with a shrug before he crossed his legs. "But we also enjoyed each other's company, so time flies real fast when we're together."

As if on cue, Hiro felt his hand being taken into Tadashi's and their fingers interlinked. A resounding 'awws' filled the air. The young actor simply intertwined their fingers even closer and leaned into the chair as if he was comfortable with this.

Though, internally, he really wanted this to be over with.

"That's definitely nice to hear," Danny said before his eyes landed on Hiro. "So, Hiro, who confessed to whom? You or him?"

Hiro had heard of this question a million times before. He knew how it was done with. "Him." It was simple as that because the people out there really believed that Tadashi was apparently the 'boyfriend' material type so obviously he would do things like this.

Obviously.

Hiro really feared for the survival of humanity at the moment.

"It was just—you know, he's always been a charmer, the way he talks, the way he is—and I—well, which sane person would say no to that face?" Hiro said as he smiled widely. He felt the fingers between him tightening almost like in a warning grip to not carry this off the limit. Hiro glanced over to Tadashi and returned the grip with a mocking grin. "I just love him too much to say no. I always did. Didn't I, love?"

"Yes, you did," Tadashi said though the twinkle in his eyes was a bit sharper today. It was as if Hiro was to take care of the limits he was about to cross. Hiro simply tightened his grip back painfully as a sign that Tadashi should just shut up and let this interview to be over fast. Tadashi didn't retaliate.

"Pet names, now that's another thing," Danny said. "Who calls who what?"

"Depends," Hiro answered smoothly before Tadashi could. "I call him a lot of things, you know, terms of endearing and stuff like that." Tadashi shifted in his seat and Hiro found that he liked this. It was always him who had to deal with Tadashi talking about them but this time, Hiro actually found this quite—fun. He wondered if he could indirectly get on Tadashi's nerve. He tried anyways. "Like darling, love, lump cakes, sugarplum, sweetie, honey, chubby cheeks," Hiro said with pouty lips before he pinched Tadashi's cheek with his free hand.

Tadashi's eyes flashed annoyance at the exaggeration and Hiro triumphed inwardly. However, that joy was short-lived when Tadashi flashed him a devilish grin, stopping Hiro's rant in half. "But only my name when we're in bed together."

Hiro's eyes widened at that and his cheeks involuntarily, for the first time, went red. The impact was huge until Hiro closed his mouth and stared at Tadashi as if he couldn't believe that this happened—on set. Tadashi glanced at him before he shrugged. "Well, woah!" Danny brought Hiro's attention to the set as the young actor looked at the interviewer and composed himself immediately. "That was juicy."

"Rest is behind closed doors, sorry," Hiro said quickly before Tadashi could open his mouth.

Danny looked slightly disappointed but hell like he was about to hear about their pretend-private lives' juicy details right in front of a million people watching. Yeah, no way man.

Once the interview was over, Hiro pulled the microphone away from himself and handed it over to the technician. He ran his fingers through his hair and pointedly decided that if he saw Tadashi again, he was going to shove his foot into that man's mouth. Just as he wished, Tadashi was spotted a few feet away from him. Hiro had to refrain himself from attacking the older man until he was in a private space, so he sighed and rolled his shoulders.

Hiro then walked into his dressing room again before he picked his things up. Just as he was about to, the door to the dressing room opened and Tadashi walked in as if he was looking for something. Hiro glanced at him before he frowned. "What do you want?"

Tadashi looked at him before he rolled his eyes. "I'm searching for my necklace."

"Necklace?" Hiro asked before he frowned deeper. Ah, it was that silver necklace he always wore, written in Japanese. He didn't ask what it was about but he knew it meant a lot to the taller man. Tadashi found it soon afterwards and a smile of relief washed on his face immediately. Just before Tadashi could leave, Hiro stopped him. "Did you have to say that?"

The older actor stopped in his tracks before he looked at Hiro. "Say what?"

"That!" Hiro exclaimed as he scowled. "Seriously? 'But only my name when we're in bed together'? Like they needed to know that!"

"I didn't start with all the non-existent pet names, Hiro," he said dryly though there was a spark of humour in his eyes. Hiro tightened his jaw before he narrowed his eyes at the man.

"But you ended with the note that we're sleeping together!" Hiro said. Tadashi simply sighed before he rolled his eyes.

"Isn't that what everyone is thinking already when we announced we're—dating?" Tadashi said with a pause. Hiro backtracked for a moment before he gaped.

"That!" Hiro said as his face gradually reddened, his mind started to blurrily conjure up images of him and Tadashi—and a bed—Okay, stop now! Tadashi's eyes narrowed slightly before he blinked his eyes and smiled. Though the smile seemed mocking than anything else.

"Ah, so you actually want that?" Tadashi asked as he took a step forward. Hiro immediately took a step back and glared at him. "Your face is all red. Don't tell me you thought about it."

"Tadashi," Hiro warned. "Shut up. Just—shut the hell up before I make you."

For a moment, Hiro thought Tadashi was going to retort but after a second, he dropped his act and simply ran his fingers through his hair. "I have somewhere else to be," he announced before he looked at the young actor. "Goodbye."

Hiro watched him walk out and once the door clicked closed, Hiro had to take in a deep breath. Just then, he realised that his heartbeat was racing against his chest and his face was still red. The image was still blurry in his mind too. Before the image could get sharper, he pushed away the thoughts, he grabbed his things and quickly walked out of the room.

Once he made his way to his car, Hiro had to will himself to take another deep breath in. That was—unexpected. Hiro had countered Tadashi's sly comments all the time but this felt—different. Hiro glowered at the thought that this relationship thing was affecting him already and immediately pulled out the lists of reason to why he hated Tadashi to the core.

It calmed him down bit as he got into his car.

God, he needed this to be over. It was getting too close to being uncomfortable.

He just couldn't wait for this public stunt to end.