She didn't think it would be this hard, but it really was. After realizing her feelings for Tadashi, every time they were together, Yumi found herself staring at him longer than normal. Each time his fingers brushed against hers, his body leaning against her as they sat together, or when she felt his warm breath on her ear when he whispered something to her, she had to fight the chills that ran through her spine. She found it strange that things that seemed so normal and had no effect on her before now made her muscles tense up. She had hoped that maybe with time her feelings for Tadashi would dissolve as she constantly reminded herself that they were only friends, but she felt her feelings only grow. Her resolve felt so thin but she was determined to keep their friendship alive. She couldn't lose Tadashi. She already lost her parents, she couldn't lose Tadashi too.

Along with the weather change, summer brought many other changes as well. Her parents had finally finalized their divorce and Yumi's mother started scouting out homes in Manbai. To get his mind off of the situation at home, Yumi's father had taken up another project which would expand the company to another foreign country. Yumi decided to take advantage of her free summer time and spent it either studying for the SATs early while working part-time at the Lucky Cat Café. Hiro usually spent his time exploring junkyards in order to find parts for whatever he was creating in the garage. Tadashi was also focused on some sort of project of his own. Every time Yumi came over however, Tadashi was already putting away his notes, sparking Yumi's curiosity on what he was hiding.

It wasn't until one warm summer day when Yumi finished her shift early did she uncover the mystery. Hoping he wouldn't notice her footsteps, Yumi stealthily and quietly made her way up the stairs and into his room where she saw him incredibly focused on his notes. She sneakily walked towards him and peered over his shoulder to find blueprints of some sort of robot.

"So this is what you've been up to." She stated loud and clear for him to realize her presence.

He spun around on his chair to find his best friend smiling at him with a smirk. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh before raising his arms up in defeat with a grin on his face.

"You caught me."

"So what is it exactly?" Yumi leaned in closer to get a better look at his blueprints. After quickly scanning the functions and a few parts she realized what he was trying to build.

"A personal healthcare robot?" She asked.

"Yeah." He confirmed.

A bit hurt, Yumi had to ask him the question that plagued her mind.

"Why didn't you show me this earlier?"

"I was planning to," Tadashi defended himself, "but I wanted to finish with the schematics and original design before showing you."

"Why wait?"

A faint pink glowed from his cheeks.

"Well, I mean… you sorta inspired me to make this so I wanted it to be perfect before showing you."

"I inspired you?" She questioned.

"I also want to be able to help people get better as well, but I don't have the medical knowledge and application skills like you so I figured, why not build something instead."

Yumi gave him a smile before scanning Tadashi's blueprints again; taking a good, long look at the cute design of the robot.

"You're going to help so many people Tadashi." Yumi gazed into his bright, brown eyes which were filled with hope and determination.

It was as if something possessed her but as she stared into his glistening eyes, she lost all reasoning. She forgot her resolve that she would keep her feelings to herself. She forgot her fear of destroying their friendship. She forgot that she and Tadashi were best friends. She forgot everything as she took hold of his face in her hands, leaned in closer, and did what best friends don't do: she kissed him. As soon as she felt his lips against hers though, the spell on Yumi broke and her fears and realization came crashing back. She quickly pulled back and saw the shock across Tadashi's face. Before he could react or say anything though, Yumi's brain shot into overdrive as she stuttered out an excuse that she promised to be home early before sprinting out of the room, almost knocking Hiro down on her way out.

"Where are you going?" He asked her, carrying a bunch of parts which Yumi almost knocked over.

"I have to go home." She managed to muster out as she continued her flight down the stairs.

"But it's still early!"

"I promised to be home early today." She lied.

Yumi quickly got into a taxi which took her home where she ran up to her room straight away. She buried her face into her pillow when she plopped onto her bed, letting the memory of what she did sink in. She couldn't get the image of Tadashi's shocked face out of her mind. She tried biting back the tears which threatened to form as her fear started to overwhelm her.

"What'll become of us now?" She thought aloud.

...

Hi everyone! Please let me know what you think so far since I find myself wondering if this story is even enjoyable to read. I literally just type up whatever ideas I find would be cute between the characters. Also, just curious, but how are you guys liking Yumi? I'm sometimes worried that readers wouldn't really like her but I wanted to attempt to create a character who I felt would fit well with Tadashi and Hiro's personalities.

But anyway, we have finally reached this part of the story! I was even surprised that I was able to reach their first kiss so soon but I hope you all liked it nonetheless. I realize this chapter is much shorter than the previous few chapters have been but I was having a bit of difficulty writing this chapter ): As always, thank you all for reading this far into the story and I will try to update every week like normal! ^_^