Another day of classes behind him meant that Hiro could relax in the café with his friends, Aunt Cass doting on the lot of them with free doughnuts and coffee, much to Fred's delight. As the five students munched on their snacks and sipped their various drinks, they compared notes over the lectures their professors gave them and discussed their independent study projects, occasionally digressing to try and argue with one of Fred's many suggestions for inventions that weren't 'real science'. Today's topic? Freeze breath.

"Okay, but it was totally in an issue of Corporal Commando." Fred assured the rest of them, clearly not buying the logical excuses they were giving him for why it wouldn't work. "He used it to defeat the evil Agent Orange and his minions of doom."

Rubbing his temples, Hiro looked down at his notes, wondering how the other students managed to do this on a regular basis before he came along. "Yeah Fred, but you can't swallow liquid nitrogen..." He tried explaining once again, hoping that the fifteenth time saying it would change the superpower enthusiast's mind.

"What if, what if, you had a stomach of steel then? Huh? Huuuuuh?" Fred countered, eyebrows wiggling as he bit into another doughnut, talking around the food in his mouth. "I mean, iron lungs are a thing, aren't they? Steel stomachs, that's the next big one." The mention of lungs, however, gave him a new idea, perking him up. "Oh, oh, here's an easy one for you guys then, what about breathing underwater-" He questioned the group, eliciting a collective groan from the lot of them. Gogo popped her gum in frustration.

But fortunately a distraction arose in the form of Wasabi making one out of thin air, which was probably for the best. "Hey Hiro!" He cut Fred off, biting his lip as he tried to come up with a good change of topic, "What... do... you do for fun around here?" He asked lamely, eyes shifting to Gogo and Honey Lemon for support.

The skinny chemist managed to make a save, though. "Yeah, Hiro! This is the neighborhood you and Tadashi grew up in, right? We've never really looked around, do you have any cool spots where you hang out?" A few months ago the mention of Tadashi's name might have led to silence at the table, but since apprehending Callaghan and starting classes, Hiro was slowly starting to let go of his grief.

Realizing a second later that the conversation had been served to him, Hiro grasped for an answer and promptly missed his chance to return the metaphorical ball. "Uh, well... I don't, er..." He stammered, gulping as he looked to Gogo, as if the gum popping girl could help him.

But Aunt Cass was the one who came to the rescue, with a new platter of doughnuts for Fred to stuff into his mouth and a couple mugs of fresh drinks for everyone. "Oh, if you all want to go sightseeing around the neighborhood, you should check out Tattoo Temple." She chimed, patting Hiro's shoulder. "It's been a while since you've been that way, Hiro! He used to go and look in all the time. Tadashi too!"

"Tadashi had tattoos?" Gogo questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow as she sipped her coffee black.

Looking into his cup and suddenly thinking back to Tadashi's funeral, Hiro shook his head slowly. "No, we uh. We hav-had... A friend, she works there." He wasn't sure how he was supposed to word it, and it was obvious that thinking about things in past tense made him uneasy.

But Honey Lemon, ever the optimist, was good at keeping Hiro in the now. "Why don't we go? We can stretch our legs!" She suggested, already standing, and Wasabi was quick to follow. Gogo looked at her unfinished coffee like a challenge had been issued to her, and as Fred took a moment to choose his next doughnut victim to come with him, she sipped continually until the cup was down to a fourth, then sat it down and retrieved her gum from her saucer.

As they left, Hiro lead the way up the street, hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. "The shop is a few blocks up and over, I mean, we don't have to go." He tried to talk the team out of it, recalling with guilt (for the first time since the wake) that he never visited Vesper at the shop since Tadashi died.

But it's no dice, and Fred's hands were on Hiro's shoulders, guiding him to go faster. "So you're friends with a tattoo artist? Why didn't you tell us? Is he like some sort of secret ninja sensei, tattooing Yakuza by day?" Even the change in topic couldn't deter Fred's wild theories, but Honey Lemon laughed at the concept anyway.

"Nah, uh. Vesper's actually a girl." Hiro corrected Fred, although the idea of her tattooing Yakuza and secretly being a ninja made him smile.

Wasabi stopped Fred from nearly shoving Hiro into an intersection, because despite the lack of traffic, the sign still said not to walk. Gogo sighed in discontent. "I'm surprised Tadashi never introduced her." She stated in monotone while they waited, mirroring Hiro with her hands in her pockets, popping her gum. "Is she more your friend?"

The light changed and Hiro started walking again, managing to duck out of Fred's grip. "No, ah, she and my bro were actually friends first, they went to high school together." Mostly. But he didn't say that. "Sometimes he'd go visit her when he was having a hard time thinking, and I'd go with." He explained, trying not to sound out of breath. Her shop was always a pain to get to and a breeze to come back from, with it being so uphill.

Honey Lemon didn't seem to be having any trouble, because she had enough energy to whip out her phone and take a snapshot of a building they passed. "Your neighborhood is so cool, Hiro." She hummed, and Fred started talking about how awesome the buildings would crunch under a monster's feet, and Hiro could tune the conversation out for a minute as he lead the way with familiar steps.

The walk wasn't too long, only three blocks up and two blocks over, enough to give the group time to stretch and enjoy the mild, sunny weather. Hiro saw the shop front long before everyone else did, a red Torii contrasting against black lacquered wood. The front bay window had blocky, capital calligraphy spelling out the shop's name, 'TATTOO TEMPLE' in vivid red, and a glowing neon sign hung up top said they were open. The door was plastered in different tattoo designs, with a sign by the handle that made the others pause.

'NO MINORS ALLOWED*', it decreed in bold, the 'NO' underlined for emphasis. Underneath, however, in neat little lettering, there was an addendum; '*except Hiro'. Smirking slightly, the fourteen year old opened the door, bells chiming with their entry.

The front was empty, Honey Lemon's heels echoing on the black hardwood floor that creaked under their combined weight. Hiro sidled up to the counter, remembering something last minute as he turned. "Hey, do any of you guys dislike bir-" He started, but the flapping of wings and screeching cut him off, startling everyone else.

"No free ink! No free ink! Freeloaders, freeloaders!" A large macaw scolded the lot of them, landing on the counter as it tilted its head at Hiro, imitating a phone ringing with precision before breaking off into another round of nagging. "Little delinquent! Brat! Brat!" It chirped, and Hiro smiled as he stroked the bird's head.

Fred was enraptured, naturally. "Whoa, it's like an evil guard bird with a deadly weakness to Hironium." Fred attempted to pet it, but the macaw shied away with unhappy squawks, alighting onto Hiro's shoulder.

A little concerned, Wasabi frowned, pointing to the bird as it began to preen Hiro's hair. "Aren't you worried about diseases, or..." He trailed off, fingers curling in as his eyebrows raised.

"You calling our bird diseased?" A male voice questioned, and a short tattooed man, only slightly taller than Hiro, emerged from the back. "Hey brat, it's been a while." The guy looked at Hiro, and the bird took off to land on his shoulder instead. "You here to see Vesper, finally?" He questioned, leaving Hiro a little nervous under his frowning scrutiny.

Honey Lemon was the one to answer, stepping up to the counter and extending a hand to shake. "Hiro was just showing us around the neighborhood! We're friends of Tadashi's." Her chipper attitude seemed to make the man a little bemused, so he took her hand. "I'm Honey Lemon!" She introduced herself. "Are you a tattoo artist too?"

"Nah, I just do the piercings." The man explained, flicking the large tunnel plug in his ear. "I'm Yusei. Vesper's an artist though, she's in the back taking a smoke break." He jerked his thumb to the back hallway he'd entered from. "I'll get her." With that, he winked at Honey Lemon and left with the bird, leaving the five of them standing by the counter.

"That. Was so. Coooool." Fred groaned after a moment of silence, laughing.

"Did he just..." Wasabi started, trying to process the fact that he had winked at Honey, who was blushing.

"Yeah." Gogo answered his unspoken question, making Hiro smile as he leaned on the counter, watching the usually bubbly college student as she patted her hair and smoothed her shirt, all flustered.

The four of them standing in a shop he'd been sneaking into since he was ten made for an interesting sight. Fred was marveling over the framed tattoo work on the walls, while Gogo spent more time looking at the décor. Wasabi seemed intrigued by what was behind the counter, probably surveying at the tattooing chair and equipment. Honey Lemon had discovered the photo albums of the artist portfolios and was flipping through them, taking pictures of pictures on her phone.

Sighing, Hiro turned- and found himself face to chest with Vesper. "AUGH!" He shouted in surprise, jumping back from the counter and startling everyone else.

"She is a ninja..." Fred whispered to no one in particular, and Hiro grinned at the familiar face and shock of fire engine red hair.

"Hey!" He shouted, raising his hand up in a high five, which Vesper returned- then it was down low, two hands, two fist bumps, and- "Kapow." The two of them said in unison, and with a grin Vesper hopped over the waist high counter with ease to bend and grab Hiro and lift him, spinning him as he was trapped in her hug.

"This is ground control to major Tom, I've just encountered a huuuuuge dork!" She laughed, putting Hiro down and mussing his hair. "Where the frack have you been, you little delinquent-in-training?" She hummed in mock indignation, and Hiro felt suddenly at ease, despite the guilt gnawing at his stomach only minutes before.

Brushing his shoulders off like he was a big shot, Hiro scoffed at her question mockingly. "Well, this huge dork goes to huge dork college now, uh-loser." He put his finger and thumb in the shape of an L and held it in front of his forehead, making Vesper snort and all but double over laughing for a moment before she straightened up.

"So you stopped your bot fighting pro circuit?" She questioned, hands on her hips. When Hiro nodded, she groaned. "Man, and I was gonna bet some cash on you! Now I owe forty bucks to Tada..." She trailed off, and suddenly the gap between them was back, the words at the wake, the long months of silence that Hiro couldn't find excuses for.

It was fortunate, then, that others could break the silence for them- namely Wasabi, who cleared his throat in the least awkward way he could manage, considering the four of his friends had been forgotten on the sidelines by Hiro.

Stumbling over his words, Hiro pointed to the group. "I brought, uh, these are my friends, from college- Tadashi's friends too!" He added on at the end, as if that marketed them better as they muttered their various hellos and greetings, a little apprehensive with the elephant in the room.

But, for once, it was Fred to the rescue, who seemed oblivious to the heavy air resting on everybody else and he stepped past Hiro, sauntering right up into Vesper's space and laying an arm across her shoulder. "Okay, so I need to know, mano y mano here." He started, before pointing to a drawing on the wall, "Is that a tattoo design of the kaiju Ultro Denborg Sentai?"

The others held their breath as Vesper followed his finger to the wall, surveying the framed art piece he was talking about. "Nnnnoooo." She drawled, and Honey looked to Hiro with a nervous expression, until- "But it's an easy mistake, that's actually the clone, Ultro Denborg Gundan, from 'Denborg takes Los Anhanoi'. It's so far away you can't see the blue eyes, though I legnthened the purple spikes on the elbows to try and make it more obvious."

There was silence so pregnant you could hear a pin drop in that moment.

After that, there was laughter and introductions. "I am but a student to your giant monster mastery, oh great ninja!" Fred bowed in reverence before straightening, shaking her hand with the same enthusiasm he gave Hiro when they first met. "But, you can call me Fred."

Honey Lemon was up next, stepping forward with a giddy laugh now that the unease was broken. "Honey Lemon! But you can call me Honey, and I. Love. Your hair." She complimented Vesper, who smirked as she ran her hand through the red.

"It looks great, but it stains all of my towels and pillowcases..." She admitted with a shrug. "It must be easier for you with the streaks, uh-"

The short Asian girl snapped her gum and didn't offer her hand, but she at least hazarded an introduction. "Gogo." That was all the conversation they were going to get from her, but Wasabi stepped in to keep the ball rolling.

"And I'm Wasabi; Hiro said you went to the same high school as Tadashi?" He offered, and Vesper smirked as she looked back down at Hiro, who merely kept his hands in his pockets and tried not to ruin the moment.

"Yeah, for a while. I dropped out my junior year." She explained. "We rode the same trolley to school though, him, me and Hiro." She glanced at the younger boy and hazarded a small smirk, though he noticed how it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Nobody else caught it though, and they all were too enthralled with meeting someone new to notice the little tics Hiro did, like how she kept fiddling with all the rings on her fingers, and rubbing her arm. She was uncomfortable, he could tell. She did the same thing in high school, when old ladies would glare at her on the trolley because of her hair and clothes. But Tadashi, he would always...

Hiro coughed slightly, and when Vesper looked over to him he pushed his nose up with his finger and crossed his eyes, she same funny face his brother always pulled to make her laugh. But rather than making her feel better, it just made the older girl look away, glancing at his friends with an apologetic look. "Sorry, but you all kind of caught me at a crappy time, I was actually about to leave." She took a few steps back, pointing to the back hallway. "I gotta grab my stuff, but I have a thing, across city, I'm so sorry..." She hopped over the counter at that, spinning and walking backwards as she snagged her bag and continued. "But you guys seem really cool, maybe I'll see you, and Hiro..."

She paused by the back door, and the fourteen year old found himself walking up to the counter and laying his hands on it, eying her wistfully as her hand turned the knob. "I'll come visit you soon?" He hazarded, and Vesper smiled before darting out the back.

The others were a little stunned by her exit, and the walk back to the café had them questioning Hiro, some inquiries more serious than others. "I'm serious man, you gotta be straight with me. Yes or no, is she a ninja or not?" Fred pursed his lips, eyebrows knit together in suspicion that Hiro was holding out on them.

Gogo, however, had a question that fell on the more serious side of things. "She didn't seem happy to see us." Okay, it was less of a question and more of a statement. An observation. A true observation.

Deflecting a little, Hiro shrugged it off as they waited at the crosswalk. "She probably wasn't expecting us, that's all." He lied, wondering to himself if she was upset that he hadn't visited her since Tadashi's funeral. Maybe she was angry he found new friends and left her behind.

Arriving at the café, Wasabi held the door open as they reentered, Fred making a beeline for the doughnuts. "You know, I had classes with Tadashi for two years, and he never mentioned her before." The older man mused.

And Hiro had no explanation for that.