There were only three times in Tadashi Hamada's life when he felt unsure of himself. The first time was when he presented his first invention to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. The second was when he and Hiro got into the biggest fight of their life and he started questioning his ability at being an older brother.
The third? Was now.
"You what?"
There were many ways that Tadashi Hamada had imagined this scenario. Thousands of millions of ideas, blueprints, and fantasies of how he was finally going to confess to GoGo Tomago. In one, he was serenading her with a guitar. In another, he was waiting for her at the end of the finish line of a bike race she was joining; that was, of course, assuming she'd join one. His favorite scenario in particular was the two of them underneath the Sakura trees, as they fell slowly in perfect formation.
Of course, he knew those would end up with her storming off angrily, or shoving him away hard enough to bruise him. Which is why they were in this unlikely situation: In GoGo's little cubicle at five in the morning, with only her yellow bike in between them. He was leaning against the counter, staring at anything but GoGo, but she was staring at everything but anything that wasn't Tadashi. The six words he had just uttered hung in between them, heavier than her bike.
GoGo, I think I like you.
He said those words exactly 3.2 minutes ago. Right when she was in the middle of adjusting one of the wheels. She had dropped the wrench, and was looking at him as if she didn't believe him, as if he were telling a joke.
And he had no idea what to reply to her. Because anyone who knew Tadashi Hamada knew that while he was a sweet hearted, romantic-minded, marshmallow of a man…
He was not smooth.
"What do you mean you think you like me?"
"I-I-errrrr… I was…" He turned redder than the container that Baymax was supposed to come in. "You know what, we're both sleep-deprived, it's five in the morning and both of us haven't had our daily cup of coffee and-"
GoGo Tomago snapped her gum. He shut up.
"Woman up."
"I-I-I- GoGo, how can you just tell me to woman up-"
"Because you definitely aren't manning up, Hamada," she grunted, and turned back to her bike.
Anyone who was looking at GoGo from an angle entirely different from Tadashi's would know that she was merely shielding her red face from Tadashi.
Tadashi dragged a hand against his face. This was not turning out the way he had planned.
He should've stuck with the Sakura trees, damn it.
"GoGo-"
"Convince me."
Her voice came out shaky; the only time he had ever heard her sound anything but strong. And it surprised him, because for all the years he had known GoGo, she was anything but weak. It was one of her redeeming qualities. "…What?"
"Convince me." She repeated her words, sounding a bit more like the GoGo he was definitely half-way in love with, and put down her wrench with a finality.
She shot him a look as she passed by his figure, and gave him a half smile. "I'm calling it a night. Good night… Tadashi."
He was still reeling from her sudden, rare smile 10.2 minutes after she left.
(*)
"Hiro, how do you convince a girl you like her?" Tadashi was currently watching his brother make the 589,250th microbot in his collection of millions.
"Ask Baymax." Tadashi shook his head before reaching for one of Hiro's prototype microbots, and aiming expertly for his little brother's head. "Ow!"
Hiro Hamada winced as he rubbed his head, and looked at Tadashi. "What?" He suspiciously looked around him. "You better not set Baymax on me. I'm not going to have him fuss around me and-"
"Calm down, Baymax is too far away to hear your pitiful cries for help," Tadashi teased. "Hiro. How do you convince a girl you like her?"
"How would I know?" Hiro rolled his eyes. "I'm not a girl. Ask Honey Lime."
"Honey Lemon," Tadashi corrected. "And I know you have a suave man inside of you somewhere, conjure…" he poked Hiro in the chest. "Him. Up." Two more pokes.
"Tadashi, quit it!" Hiro laughed. "Fine, but my answer's gonna suck."
"I accept all answers."
"You have to show her it's real, I guess. Don't most girls like that?" Hiro shrugged.
"You see, little brother, that's the problem. I don't know." Tadashi threw himself into a chair, and looked up at the ceiling. When he had righted himself, he saw his little brother smiling knowingly at him.
"It's that biker chick, isn't it?"
Tadashi blushed. Again. Hiro laughed evilly, the way that only a little brother could. "GoGo, right? Awww, Tadashi's in loooove with a biker chick with purple hair!"
"Quit it, Hiro!" Tadashi lunged for Hiro, and gave him a noogie.
"Look, Tadashi. Aren't you supposed to be like, some kind of genius? You'll figure it out." Hiro shrugged, and expertly ducked out of his older brother's arms.
"If only it were that simple…" Tadashi sighed, and continued to watch his brother work on his microbots.
(*)
His other friends weren't helpful. Wasabi shrugged and told Tadashi to make her, 'whoever the lucky girl is', food. Tadashi knew that food wouldn't convince GoGo. Honey Lemon had given up on the concept entirely, badgering him for a full hour about who she was. He only got her away by sneaking into GoGo's cubicle, something he did purely by habit…
And then remembering what he was looking for in the first place. He ducked out before GoGo even noticed he was inside.
But finally, in the end, it was Fred of all people, who came up with the suitable situation. Well, that was partially true. Fred had suggested he invent something to help him figure out the answer.
Fred let out a strangled 'You're welcome!' after Tadashi nearly strangled him to death in an embrace.
(*)
GoGo looked up at Tadashi, who was looking completely the opposite from the way he had looked five days ago. Instead of looking unsure and weak, he looked confident and… sexy.
Maybe it was the polo. All GoGo knew was that when he wanted to, Tadashi Hamada looked like one sexy motherf-
"Read them."
GoGo dragged her eyes away from Tadashi, and fixated her eyes on the sight next to him. She cocked her head in confusion. "Your… old blueprints?"
On her counter was a stack of four binders, with old blueprints sticking out haphazardly. She knew they were Baymax's blueprints. They were the same white binders she had always seen him poring over, arranging, and re-reading them like his favorite book.
Was he serious?
He nodded. "It'll take a while. But you told me to convince you. And I can't imagine any other way to do that." He allowed a small smile. "I hope you read them."
Before she could reply, he was moving out of her cubicle. "I'm going home early. I have to help Hiro prepare for tonight." GoGo belatedly realized that the presentation was going to be tonight.
"Oh. Okay." GoGo snapped her gum, and took a long look at the sack of blueprints. "See ya there."
Tadashi left San Fransokyo Institute of Technology crossing his fingers and toes.
(*)
In GoGo's defense, she was busy with her bike. And Honey Lemon needed help with a few things. And Fred wanted someone to spot him while he was practicing mascot routines. And Wasabi needed a few materials to slice up.
All three were wondering what on earth was possessing her to do things she wouldn't have even bothered doing if she were acting normally. If they didn't know better, they'd think she was procrastinating.
But GoGo Tomago never, never ever, never ever never, procrastinated. Ever. Especially not her bike. The only thing was, it wasn't her bike that she was procrastinating on.
It was reading those damned blueprints.
(*)
"Tadashi?"
"Yeah?"
Hiro noticed that his brother was being exceptionally quiet the past few hours. "I should be the nervous one. Not you."
Tadashi chuckled, breaking out of his reverie. "It's nothing. I just… I think I found the perfect way to convince her. The waiting is the hardest part."
Hiro grinned toothily. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure GoGo's going to believe you. If you could convince me that I had a secret twin when I was in Grade Four, you can convince her that you like her."
Tadashi let out a loud laugh. "Thanks, Hiro. Really."
If that doesn't convince you, nothing else will.
(*)
GoGo finally got around to reading them once everyone had left. The minute Fred had slouched outside the door, yelling at GoGo to meet up at their favorite restaurant before going to support Hiro, she reluctantly approached the blueprints, and after more than a few minutes of staring at them, pulled out binder number one.
"What is in these, Tadashi?" she muttered, and wiped a thin sheet of dust away from the cover, and without knowing it, settled in the same position Tadashi would put himself in when he read them; cross-legged, and against the wall. She found the first prototype easily. It was nothing like the Baymax she knew now. It was a funny drawing, and was overrun with lots of pencil and eraser marks. She flipped to the next one.
She was getting very annoyed with him, thinking he was just setting her on a wild goose's chase, until she saw the first one.
Tomago.
Her last name. It was scrawled in a little corner near the fourth protype's head, but it was there. Tomago. Curious, she flipped through the first binder, heart racing. There it was again; on the sixth prototype, her full name. On the tenth, a doodle of her, mid-bubblegum chew.
And despite herself, slowly, she found her heart melting. The first prototype, she knew, dated two years ago. He had been working so hard on Baymax those days, she'd remember him staying for weeks straight in his cubicle. Putting all that aside, it meant that he had been 'liking' her for more than two years.
And that apparently, he doodled her when he was coming at a blank.
It was a trend she was starting to notice in the middle of the second binder. Whenever his blueprints were starting to look sloppy, or were a feature that she knew for a fact wasn't in Baymax, she'd find a drawing of herself.
She shut the fifth binder shut, an hour and a half later.
An hour and a half after finding her last name on his fourth prototype, she had come to three realizations.
Tadashi was one good artist.
Sometimes, she looked attractive, especially during the third binder (which was when she had just cut her hair)
She had liked Tadashi for as long as he liked her.
"I need to find Tadashi," she said, rushing out of her cubicle.
(*)
For Joshua and Alyssa:
Let's be realistic. I could never finish the whole thing now. So, to be a meanie, I made this a two-shot.
Tbc, readers. Tbc.
Read and Review. /salutes
