A/N: I know I don't say this enough, but I just want to thank you all for reading my story/stories and for supporting me as you have been since day one. Thank you. I appreciate you guys doing that for me. Here's another chapter! Let me know what you think! R&R. Enjoy!

~…~

Moping

~…~

It had almost been a week and a half since the last time Tadashi saw Hiro. He would be lying if he said he didn't miss the boy, and he wasn't a liar. Nor was he one to deny what he felt. He missed Hiro. Really, really missed him. In the short time he had known him, which was, like, literally a handful of days, Tadashi had gone from curious and amused to genuinely interested and concerned, wishing for the other's company as the days passed by him.

Their last encounter wasn't what Tadashi would call good. Not that he'd call it bad, it was just…intense and strange. It wasn't often – hardly ever as a matter of fact - that he ran into someone younger whose intelligence far surpassed his own and who was so…different from everyone he knew. Not even that; there was just something about Hiro that called to Tadashi, that made him want to see him more and more. And just when he thought that maybe they were moving beyond the weird yet refreshing witty banter they shared…things stopped. They didn't reverse. They just…stopped.

It made him worry a lot, a lot more than he usually worried considering that he hardly actually knew Hiro. But Tadashi just couldn't help himself. What was Hiro doing right now? Was he okay? Was he hurt? Was he thinking about Tadashi at all? Was he regretting meeting him? Did he hate him now? Did he leave the city? Would he? Was he missing Tadashi the way that Tadashi missed him? Was he eating properly? Getting enough sleep? Was he planning Tadashi's demise this very instant?

Tadashi shook his head and sighed, his eyes gazing at the city below him though he didn't see the streets. He wasn't actually looking at the people down below; he was too far gone within his own mind worrying about Hiro that he wouldn't notice a burning building in front of him.

But it was driving him insane! It was the not knowing that was killing him the most. Hiro could be doing anything. Anything could have happened to him. He could be hurt, he could be bleeding, he could be unconscious, he could be dead…

Shaking his head, Tadashi stood up and turned in the direction of home. His aunt had noticed something was wrong. He wasn't as happy as he usually was; he wasn't as talkative. It was obvious he was worried, but Aunt Cass didn't know why he was worried or who it was directed at. As a matter of fact, she didn't even know what Tadashi did. Tadashi hadn't told her, hadn't wanted her to worry about him needlessly, though she wasn't stupid, so she probably had an inkling and just didn't bring it up.

His friends knew something was wrong too. But again, Tadashi hadn't told them anything. No one knew. Not about Hiro and not about what Tadashi did at night and where he went. He didn't want to put any of them in danger, in case he was hurt or in case he had messed with the wrong person and they decided to go after his loved ones. So no one knew except Hiro.

And that…

That had felt amazing.

It was a wonderful feeling, having someone know that he was out here doing what he could to protect the people of his city. And what more, it seemed that Hiro was helping him. Well, not really, but he was doing his part. And it was just nice, having someone there, someone that he could relate to, someone who didn't ask a lot of questions, someone who just accepted the things he did and said without question, someone that he was interested in, someone he could envision spending his days with…

Tadashi shook his head again. He needed to think straight, he knew that. He also knew that he couldn't, not when Hiro was on his mind all day and all night. But it was silly. No one could fall for someone so fast, right? That just didn't make sense. Of course, none of this made sense, did it? Him dressing up in this suit and climbing buildings and helping people and stopping criminals and doing things that no normal person did. That didn't make sense either and yet he still did it, has been for a year.

Sighing deeply, Tadashi headed home. He needed sleep. And Hiro wasn't going to show up anyway.

~…~

"Why are you moping around my gift shop again?! Go out there and find your boyfriend, jeez!" Mrs. Niikura brandished her broom at Hiro, who winced ever so slightly. He was not friends with that broom, not friends at all…

"I'm not moping! I just…have a lot to do," Hiro replied lamely. "That's why I'm not going to see him."

"Yeah, sure, lot to do, huh? Like moping around in my gift shop and drinking that hot chocolate that you got at his aunt's café," Mrs. Niikura grumbled and started sweeping the floor of her gift shop again.

Hiro suppressed a sigh and slid further down in his chair, sipping his hot chocolate – it was his favorite and it was from the Lucky Cat Café (even when he wasn't going out every night to see Tadashi he was still drawn to him). He watched without really seeing as Mrs. Niikura swept shop, preparing to close down for the night. She had a rough and tough outer shell, but she cared for Hiro. She saw him as a kind of grandson since she, like him, had no family of her own to speak of. She took care of him, even though she nagged him something awful half of the time. But Hiro knew that she did it because she cared and that meant a lot more to him than he could actually put into words. It was nice having her there, giving him guidance in her own unique way and giving him comfort as well.

She was right, of course. Hiro needed to stop hiding and go and see Tadashi. He knew Tadashi's routine by now; he had stalked him – and there was no other way to put it aside from that because that's pretty much what he did after meeting him the first time – well enough to know his routine. Tadashi was always punctual unless something came up, and in San Fransokyo the only thing that usually arose was a cat getting stuck up a tree or something. So, it wasn't like Hiro didn't know where he'd be and at what time.

He just…

The last time hadn't gone according to plan. Hiro liked Tadashi a lot, as in a lot a lot. But he hadn't wanted him to know who he was or tell him about his baggage so soon, so early on. Baggage like his was a game changer, and it could go well or awful depending. Hiro knew he was making it awful, but he couldn't help it. As much as he tried to act like he was over it and like he didn't care, his façade didn't last when it was just himself and memories were hard to dismiss when they were bad and painful. That's how it usually went, though: the good memories fade fast but the bad and painful ones stuck around.

He hated it. And it wasn't as though he tried to keep them alive. But there were some things that he couldn't keep away; they just reared their ugly heads constantly. It wasn't as though Hiro hadn't tried to keep it in the past, but…

"Get out! We're closed!" Mrs. Niikura shouted at two young boys, no older than nine, and they scurried out of her gift shop when she got her broom. That caught Hiro's attention and he blinked, realizing that he should probably be getting back to his apartment that way so Mrs. Niikura could actually work in peace.

"I guess I'll get going too, Mrs. Niikura," Hiro said and he quietly tip toed towards the door. He did not want to have a run in with that broom; once was bad enough.

"Hold it! Don't go anywhere yet!" Mrs. Niikura squawked at him, the very imagine of an old, Asian lady who had bad hearing to go with that bad eye sight. Hiro shook his head but smiled fondly at her nonetheless.

"Here! This is for you since you like to miss meals so much!" Mrs. Niikura shoved a nicely wrapped bento box in his hands. Hiro blinked and looked at her. She gave him a look that told him he shouldn't even bother with arguing.

"Thanks! I'll be sure to eat it as soon as I get home," Hiro said quickly, smiling at her. Mrs. Niikura smiled smugly back, standing proud and tall – and yes, she was, not so surprisingly, taller than he was.

"Good boy. You learn fast," she said. "Now get out of my shop!" Hiro didn't need to see her reach for her broom before he all but bolted out of the door.

"And go see your boyfriend tomorrow!" Mrs. Niikura yelled out at him from the doorway of her shop. Great. Unbelievable. Now everyone outside knew he had a boyfriend.

Wait a minute! He didn't have a boyfriend! Tadashi was so totally not his boyfriend. Nope. Nu-uh! No way! He was just a nerd who thought he was Batman or something. But he definitely was not Hiro's boyfriend. He just…y'know…knew stuff about Hiro that not many people in this city knew. And he was hot. And totally too nice – that was going to get him killed someday.

Hiro sighed as he walked home to his cold, empty apartment. Who was he kidding? He was head over heels for Tadashi and he knew it! He was just so screwed up in his head that he was freaking out about Tadashi finding out who he was and what had happened. It's not like Tadashi wouldn't have found out eventually, right? Especially if they had kept seeing each other on the roof tops of the city, pretending to be heroes. There was just something about Tadashi that made Hiro want to get close for a change, to let someone in.

But could he do that? Would he? Was he strong enough to take that risk?

Hiro didn't know. But what he did know was that he didn't want Mrs. Niikura to smack him with her broom again, so he was going to have to go out tomorrow night and see Tadashi. He ignored the skip his heart made and the excitement rushing through his veins at the very thought. It wasn't as though he actually wanted to see Tadashi; he just didn't want Mrs. Niikura to sick her broom on him. That was it. There were no other feelings involved.

Oh, who was he kidding? Hiro had the hots for some nerdy goody two-shoes. This was what his life had become. God, he was screwed.