It's been 2 years since he started college and things were going great. Hiro spent all day doing what he loved, and he has awesome friends; something he wasn't used to having at school. Life was perfect, more or less... Except for one thing. All of his friends are older than him. That never really bothered Hiro, he doesn't have a lot in common with other 16 year olds. Age gap aside his friends have similar nerdy interests like science, or in Fred's case super heroes. The only thing that gets to Hiro about his friends is the parties. Everyone goes out on a Saturday night, leaving Hiro at home with aunt Cass. Tadashi even ditches him, and that's exactly what he was trying to do tonight.
"Come on Tadashi! Why can't I go with?" Hiro whined as his brother got ready to leave. Tadashi grabbed his phone off of his bed and turned to Hiro.
"I told you bonehead, these parties aren't for kids." Tadashi said ruffling his little brothers hair. Hiro swatted Tadashi's hand away with a pout forming on his face. Seeing the look on Hiro's face made Tadashi feel guilty. "Hey, why don't we all hang out next Saturday? No parties, no projects, we can do whatever you want."
Hiro's eyes lite up, but then they dropped. "Ugh, I can't next Saturday. I promised professor Callaghan I would help set up for a demonstration."
"Then the Saturday after that, sound good?" Tadashi asked.
Hiro smiled at the thought of it. "Yeah, it sounds great." He sees his friends almost on a daily basis, but they're always working on projects. And when they did hang out Hiro didn't have much of a say in what they would do. They have all been friends for 2 years, but he was still treated like the little brother that tags along. Sometimes Hiro wished he had friends his own age.
Tadashi left with Wasabi, and Hiro went down stairs to start the Saturday night ritual of watching bad horror movies with aunt Cass. The problem was aunt Cass wasn't picking out a movie or making pop corn. She was putting on earrings and looking herself over in the mirror.
"Why are you all dressed up?" Hiro asked his aunt.
She spun around to look at her nephew, still fidgeting with her earring. "Hey sweetie. I ran into one of my old friends from college at the store earlier and we decided to go out tonight. How do I look?"
Hiro looked over his aunt. She did her hair, put on her favorite dress, wore the heels she hates but insists they go good with everything. She looked nice... Too nice. "This old friend wouldn't happen to be a guy, would it?"
Aunt Cass's face turned a little red. "Yes, he is a guy. His name is Brandon and we really hit it off earlier."
"Wait. You got a date?" Hiro asked, slightly afraid of her answer.
She shook her head at Hiro's concern. "You could say that. I'll be out late so don't wait up."
Don't wait up? Hiro knew what that meant. The thought of some guy... and aunt Cass...Ew. Tonight just went from bad to worse. He went back upstairs and fell back on his bed. All of his friends were having fun and aunt Cass was going on a date. Ew. Hiro was about to give up on the night and go to sleep when he had an idea. After he started college Hiro promised himself he wouldn't bot fight, but what better way to spend a Saturday night than winning a ton of cash.
Hiro made his way though the streets of San Fransokyo, Mega bot in hand. The street wasn't very crowded considering it was only 8:30. It was probably for the best. This wasn't the best neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination. Hiro turned a corner and jumped back just before running into a girl. She let out a little gasp and stumbled back. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you." She said in a low, timid voice. The girl was a bit shorter than Hiro, but she looked to be about his age. He could tell the girl was a little chubby, and she had sort, messy chocolate hair.
"No it's fine, I was the one that almost ran you over" Hiro laughed. The girl looked up and Hiro got a good look at her face. Her lips looked perfectly pink compared to her pale face. He also noticed that behind her glasses that her eyes were puffy and red; as if she had been crying. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to freak you out." Hiro asked.
"I'm fine. It-it's just... I don't know how to get home." She sniffled with a few new tears starting to fall.
Hiro panicked. He's not used to being around girls, besides Honey and Gogo; but they were different. This was a real girl, not some college chick that looked right past him, but someone on his own level. She looked up at him and let out a sob. Hiro's mind was racing. "No don't cry! I can help you home." He blurted out.
She sniffled and wiped her face with her sleeve. "It's okay, you don't have to."
"It's no big deal, helping you get home is a better use of my time than bot fighting. " Hiro insisted.
The girl looked hesitant, she was biting her lip and looking down at her feet. "Okay." She sighed.