Tadashi POV
Thud.
"Ninety-six…" Four to go.
I pulled my left arm to my side and raised my bandaged fists for the ninety-seventh time, bruises and blisters surfacing. Sweat was gliding along my arms and snaked down my shirtless torso. I could feel the wetness slide down the left of my face and my hair was stuck to my forehead from perspiration. Heavy breathing escaped my lips…
"Ninety-seven…." Three to go...
I pulled my right arm back and closed my eyes. Innocent brown eyes, furrowed eyebrows and messy black hair came to view. Lips parted to show a gapped tooth mouth wearing an awkward smile.
"Tadashi?I… uh… Th-thanks… Thanks for getting me…"
I chuckled. My hand reached for his head and tousled the mess of black locks.
"That's what family's for, knucklehead."
The memory of a smirk coming to my lips made my eyes open… and I sent my fist soaring into the leather punching bag.
Thud.
I'm coming, Hiro.
"Ninety-eight…" Two…
I pulled my right arm to my side an rose my fists. Knuckles were reddening, and the bag was becoming dented. My arms were becoming numb from being strained. Another pant… My eyes found their way closed from tiredness. A canvas of white vinyl, with two black cameras for eyes, and a monotone voice crossed my mind.
"Do not worry, Tadashi. I will look after Hiro and Aiko and the others." I gave a sigh of relief and looked at the robot with appreciation and fondness. But there was more…
"Thank you, Bay-"
"But may I offer advice?" Baymax said with a head cocked to the side. Anticipation and impatience rose within me…
"Yes." I said flatly, hands in my pockets and tapping my foot. Looking down to let his words fly by, going in one ear and out the other.
"I advise you to use extreme caution during your time apart from personal contact to your friends and family. Declining endorphin levels and states of depression may occur within them. Especially in the case of your inclining relationship status with Aiko Miyazaki…"
My hands left my pockets and foot stopped tapping. I raised my head, suddenly eager and concerned with what Baymax had to say.
"…I noticed and increase of adrenaline and cortisol relating to a growth of stress or nervousness. As well as oxytocin and endorphins, often relating to sexual intercourse. From my data I can assume that you are planning to increase your status with Aiko to the next stage of an intimate relationship. Diagnosis: proposition for permanent mating; also known as marriage." He ended his analysis with a pointed finger.
My throat was dry and my jaw was tense. I was both pleased and unsettled by my creation's knowledge… But it was best he knew if anyone needed to find out. I nodded my head to assure the robot I understood what he said.
"Baymax… take this recording and file it under 'Classified' and... Erase it from your memory until the audio password is stated." I stated simply. Baymax faced forward for a few seconds until he turned back to me.
"Will the password be for specialized identification or general?"
"Specialized… to Aiko." She would understand. This way she could find out if I didn't make it in time. But I won't let that happen… I'll make it.
My fists clenched tighter, as did my already closed eyes…
"Yeah, right." I said barely audible…
"What would you like for the audio password to be?" I thought for a moment. It had to be something she'd say… when she's alone. I felt a small smile spread on my face.
"'When will you be back?'" I said.
My eyes opened and left arm flew with white, hot anger.
Thud.
I'll be back, for Aiko. I have to be…
"Ninety-nine…" One…
My left arm returned to my side, fists going back to their starting position. Knuckles now turning purple, the bandages falling apart from the sweat. The leather bag was becoming torn, and beginning to loosen from its chain. The links wrenched open.
"When will you be back?" It was no longer my voice… it was hers. It was drowsily tired like she just woke up from a too nice of a goodnight's sleep.
I kept my eyes open and brought back my right arm. I left it there for a second to gain momentum… then I threw the punch.
Thud.
The leather tore…
The bag unhinged…
"When will you be back?" again she asked. This time more alert and fully awake, it was more expected. Confidence brimmed with the question because of how sure she was that I would come back.
THUD!
And there was a loud fall…
I stared at the laying bag, with my hand throbbing from pain and my arms sore. I took off the bandages on my hands to reveal cut knuckles from pocketknives and bruises from throwing punches: all from fighting Krei's spies. All to protect the people I love.
"Hundred." I said stiffly.
Zero.
Inhaling deeply, I lifted my head towards the ceiling and covered my face with my hands, slicking my hair back with sweat. Only to have it return to it's cowlick state from the force of gravity. I exhaled, trying to control my rapid heartbeat and thirst for panting.
"When will you be back?" Her voice repeated over and over. Each time she asked, it was from a different time, a different day, and a different reason for me to leave. But each time, she didn't need to ask if I will be back, she already knew I would. She just didn't know when.
It echoed throughout my brain, as I brought my hands to my waist and looked back down to stare at the damaged punching bag. I stared at it to ask myself that question. After all, when will I be back? Tomorrow? A week? Two weeks? A month? When?
It drove me insane that I didn't know. It was inexplicably annoying how long it's taken for them to find out. It was annoying how no one could leave Honey alone with Baymax so she could find out. It was annoying how she couldn't leave my mind. How she would stand all alone in her small apartment and say the right thing, the thing I needed to answer… but couldn't because Baymax wasn't fucking there to tell her. It was frustrating how I couldn't tell her. Tell her what she needed to know and what she needed to say to Hiro.
"When will you be back?" Again…
My eyes refocused and I came back from zoning out. I needed to sit. Turning I walked to the bench next to the opposite wall, only five feet away. Sitting down, I leaned back and rested my head on the wall, behind the bench. I closed my eyes and tried to think of a happy thought.
I unwillingly woke up to a sight of a sleeping face with blonde hair lying on my upper arm. Loose strands of hair dangled across her face. Her eyes were closed peacefully; eyebrows were rested and not tense like usual. For a split second I thought that she wasn't alive. But her slow, paced breathing assured me that she was, thankfully. Her small mouth was parted for exhaling. I've never seen her more beautiful, or more at home.
In the lab, she always seemed to manage to furrow her eyebrows or bite her lip, turning it into a pout. She was always worried about something. Whether it be accidently exploding the lab or worrying about Hiro doing his best to aggravate me; she seemed to care. Despite her petit form and her delicate past, she seemed to have the biggest and strongest heart. Always doing what she could to help. I smiled to myself, thinking about how lucky I was to have a girlfriend like her. Even though, our relationship was a secret between us and unfortunately… Baymax and Aunt Cass.
I gingerly took my hand and maneuvered the loose blonde strands covering her face so I could get a better look at her slumbering features. With the strands out of the way, I could make sharper focus of the tiny irregularities in her skin; the faintest freckles she earned from being outside in her past home of Spain, the scars of a faint white from skin being cut by glass from her father when she was young, and the faint line from a stitch that went over her lip from it being busted open from a beating by her father before she left for New Japan. I always figured I was the unlucky one when it came to unfortunate events with parents; but it seemed that Honey had beaten me to it.
She came to the N.J. when she was thirteen, from a completely different country from a different continent. When I was thirteen, my parents left me and I had to fix my life. When she was thirteen, she left her parents and restarted her life, ending the one she had from Spain. I understood how big and challenging the move was for her, but I didn't understand why her parents weren't involved. Until she told me, a year before we began dating, she was an illegitimate child. Born as the devil's spawn and sin in her Catholic father's eyes, or the man who claimed to be her father for the first thirteen years of her life. She was physically abused with cut wine glasses and beaten with bare hands and isolated in a room she was practically forced to live in. Her mother wasn't allowed to speak to her or see her, even though they lived in the same house. Aiko didn't even know what her mother looked like, she could only assume her mother had blonde hair and green eyes and tall like her. Before she was told that her father wasn't her actual father, she believe she took after her mother since she looked nothing like her supposed father.
She was born as a sickly child. But it wasn't until, after two years out of the almost six years I've known her, I found out that she was born with Arrhythmias, serious asthma and the Marfan syndrome and her last name was Miyazaki. I found out because an accident happened in the lab that made her heart race and jump out of her chest, the gases create made it impossible for her to breathe making her fall unconscious and the gang and I had to bring her to the hospital. The only person who actually knew about her condition was Gogo, and I've never seen her more terrified. She remained calm while Fred, Wasabi and I were screaming and panicking like four year olds, but the look in hers eyes were foreign. They weren't steely and hard; instead they were warm, soft and wet. She kept darting her wide eyes at the sleeping Aiko, with tears forming, whisper shouting at her, scolding her for not taking her medicine.
The nurse greeted Gogo with a familiar nod of acknowledgement, as if this has happened before. Only Gogo was allowed in the hospital room, because only her name and another's was down for Aiko's emergency contact. The other's being her maternal grandmother. The guys and I were left in the waiting room, only once did I ever feel that useless, and it was when my parents were leaving me; my mother in suicidal hysterics and my father already past. I felt useless even more when the nurse said that if we waited any longer, her heart would've given in and she would've died. It was then I realized I fell and fell hard in love with Aiko. And, it was a week before I would see Gogo and my crush again.
I shook my head and sat up. The soft cotton sheets slid, from my bare torso, to my waist. I leaned forward and rested my head in my hands to make the awful memory leave. I let out a deep sigh... Bad air out. I inhaled... Good air in. Exhaled... Bad air out. I felt a smile tug on my lips at Aiko's helpful stress-relieving procedures… Maybe I should program Baymax with some of Aiko's tips.
I began pondering on the idea of downloading stress-relief tips for Baymax. Maybe I should create a separate database dedicated to getting rid of stress. I chuckled silently at the thought of naming the programming after Aiko, except with the usage of her nickname, Honey Lemon.
A soft kiss on my shoulder made me jump out of my brief moment of zoning out. I turned my head to see a woken up Aiko, leaning her forehead against my shoulder blade. I noted how she smiled to herself before planting another kiss, and looking up at me, resting her chin on my shoulder. She brought her thin arms around my torso, and seemed pleased and relieved to see me. Her action caused the sheets to fall, revealing her bare upper body, only in a lace bra.
"I thought you'd be gone by now." She exclaimed sheepishly with her cheeks turning rosy. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.
"Why would I do that?"
She gave me a surprised look and, to my dismay, took her arms away from my torso quickly. Her chin was no longer on my shoulder, therefore I could turn myself to get a better look at her. She sat up straight, giving me a stern look.
"You don't remember?" She asked me in unsettling disbelief.
It was supposed to be a question, but it sounded more like an order to tell her what I did remember. I had no clue what she was referring to, therefore I hesitantly shook my head.
"No… I only remember getting smacked by Baymax and you taking me here to rest…"
I trailed off only to murmur the last bit.
"… Or that was what's supposed to happen."
She eyed me poisonously.
"So you don't remember promising a certain someone, that you'd go to a certain event to cheer them on and give them support?" She leaned, supporting her weight on one arm and cocked her head, while looking at me, hoping that I'd catch on.
Before I shook my head no, realization hit me like a truck going hundred miles per hour. I brought my hands to my face and looked up wide-eyed at Aiko, who merely nodded knowingly. How could I have forgotten? Today was Hiro's high school graduation…
"I'll make you breakfast while you wash up." She stated casually, pecking me sweetly on the lips and leaving me in the unmade bed. She picked up my shirt from last night off the ground nonchalantly, without a second thought. It was our morning-after-spending-the-night ritual. As she left the room and put on my shirt, she called out.
"Your spare shirts are in my closet! I think there's a button-down there too!"
I sat dumb for a moment to thank all supernatural beings – God, Allah, Muhammad, Buddha, aliens – all of them for putting Aiko on this Earth. After giving my thanks, I jumped out of bed and ran to her closet jerking open the sliding mirror door to reveal her vast collection of sweaters, skirts, and blouses, along with my stolen cardigans and shirts. After searching the large void of clothing, I came across one of my missing button downs; a simple white linen dress shirt. To go with it I chose a black cardigan. I grabbed my pants from last night, fortunately they were nice brown slacks, and ran out the bedroom door to the door next, her bathroom. As I was transferring rooms, I caught a whiff of peppered eggs frying on a pan, instinctively my stomach growled. I entered the bathroom and closed the door, threw my clothes on the counter, took off my boxer briefs and jumped in the shower, closing the shower door behind me. I altered the water's temperature to hot and turned on the shower head, and immediately regretting it. A blast of cool water shot on my body and I briefly cursed the engineers that designed this shower and it's poor thermal construction. But to prevent losing time, I dealt with it and took a bar of soap, washing my hair with it and rinsing off my body. I again thanked the supernatural beings for Aiko's existence because of her ability to foresee the future and purchase both a fragranced bar of soap and a plain Dove brand of soap.
After my shower, I towel dried my hair and body, put on deodorant – again thanking the beings because Aiko bought the generic Gillette – and got dressed. I left the bathroom as I was buttoning my shirt and walked to Aiko's small circular dining table that was diagonal to her wall divider that separated her kitchen and living room. I sat down to find Aiko's traditional Spanish omelet with a cup of green tea. I turned to see her sitting next to me, sipping her own cup of tea, pretending to act like it was no big deal. I smiled and leaned to kiss her cheek. I lingered for a moment, only to see her look down and smile at her lowering cup. She turned to face me, her face not wearing it's usual accessory of bright pink glasses. She leaned forward to give me a smiling kiss. It was brief, but sincere. We parted.
"Thank you, Honey. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you." I said softly with utter truthfulness. She smiled shyly and looked down for a moment. Her smile faded as she looked up, making eye contact.
"I love you too, Dashi…" She said with her eyebrows slanted upward and her eyes still maintaining contact, she seemed like she was upset about me leaving.
But, it wasn't like I wanted to leave. I just needed to. Hiro needed me… and I couldn't let him down after I made a promise. Her eyes lowered to her hands folding over each other. She knew this, I knew she did…
"… When will you be back?" She asked softly.
Her voice was fragile and it seemed to cling onto this question. She knew I'd be back, but she wanted to know when. I let a small smile grow on my lips as I raised her face with my hand so her eyes could meet mine.
"I'll be back as soon as I can get away… And I'll be running as fast as I can."
It wasn't right for me to only say this, because it wasn't just something I said. It was something I promised. I carefully took her face in my hands and gently kissed her forehead. I had her, Hiro, Baymax, Aunt Cass and Mochi… She only had Gogo and me. Compared to her, I was living the life of a king. The least I could do was make her my queen.
"Tadashi? You alright?" A deep voice asked.
I reluctantly opened my eyes; to see a blurry Professor Callaghan, who was kneeling on the ground, hand on my unburned shoulder. When I came to and everything was more focused, he looked at me with his wrinkled eyes filled with concern. I nodded and brought my head to my hands, gently rubbing my tired eyes. I took my head out of my hands and gave him a wry smile.
"I'm fine… I just fell asleep after my punching." I reasoned nodding my head to the beaten leather bag on the floor.
He blinked a few times at the bag to make sure he was seeing the sight properly. He then turned towards my bruised hands and nodded to himself.
"Yeah… Let's take a break from punching." Callaghan said with his warm grandfatherly smile. I nodded in agreement with a rising blush at my doing.
"Abby's back." He stated. I raised my head to face him immediately.
"And?" I asked, hoping to gain more insight. He looked behind him at the closed door leading to the small room and looked back at me.
"Let's just say she's received more intel about the flash drive…" He answered, getting up from his kneeling position. He motioned for me to follow.
When he was a few steps ahead, I rose from the bench, grabbed my shirt and followed him out the door to a narrow hall that led to the main-room of the warehouse, where I could only assume Abigail was waiting. I gingerly put on my shirt as effectively as possible without popping open any of my serious burns. Once I did so, I followed Callaghan into the dreary, cool and poorly lighted main-room of the abandoned warehouse that we've hidden away in for the past two months.
We walked across the room to where Callaghan was manufacturing Hiro's microbots and the corkboard that laid out all of the attacks of Krei's field agents, where I am to meet with the different bot-fighting gangs for reports and recruitments, the locations of Krei's black market dealings that we know of and the patterns of his material's shipments from land and sea. Next to the board, studying it with her arms crossed was Abigail. I stood off to the side of Callaghan for politeness and to not cause disruption.
"Abby…" Callaghan said to get her attention. Abruptly, she turned around. When she realized it was only Callaghan and I, she let out a relieving sigh. She smiled warmly at Callaghan, who returned the smile.
"Hi, Dad." Her eyes then went from him to me and gave me a small nod of acknowledgment.
"Tadashi."
"Abigail." I said indifferently.
She turned back to her father and raised her hand, holding a small metallic portable thumb drive. Her aqua eyes, mirroring her father's, were shining in pride. A fire sensation to grasp it started to burn in my center.
"I found something you might find interesting!" She said in a loud whisper, handing the small rectangular device to him.
I followed the device with my eyes, my chest yearning to hold the prism-like object in my hands. To hold the prism-like object that determined the future of seeing my family and friends… and future wife. Promptly after examining the flash drive, he smiled and glanced at me, and my unbroken staring at the device. After realizing my thirst for it he tossed it to me, at the dismay of his daughter, who seemed to have put all her effort in inquiring the tiny thing. By instinct, I raised my hands and, in silent glee, caught it. I took a moment to reminisce in the beauty to the simplistic sleek silver flash drive, and take in the greatest chance I've ever had to reunite with my loved ones.
Without a second thought I turned and hurried to the laptop sitting on the table next to the corkboard, as Callaghan wrap his arm around Abigail's shoulders and pecked her temple in a loving fatherly way. Once I reached the laptop, I abruptly opened it and without hesitation plugged it in the drive's access port. As the flash drive's alert came up I smiled, for the first time in a very long time.
"Ok, buddy, let's what you've got for us." I whispered to no one in particular.
I'm coming, Hiro…
I'm on my way, everyone…
…
I'll be back, Aiko...
I promise…
…
…
…
…
…
…
I promise – I swear…
