Ears and Tail 03 – Exposed

CatBoys!Hidashi, Ears and Tail only

Cheetah!Gogo, Parrot!Honey, Gecko!Fred, Gorilla!Wasabi


Tadashi was worried. Well, more worried than usual.

Hiro had left almost half an hour ago, and their break was starting in a couple of minutes. He shouldn't have taken that long just to retrieve Baymax's chip, and Tadashi knew that his brother wouldn't get distracted by something so much so that he'd just run off and leave him waiting.

The door to his personal lab slid open, and the older Hamada turned to the entrant - a scolding on his tongue about Hiro taking his precious time and worrying Tadashi - before he realized who it was.

Honey Lemon bounced into the room with a cheerful chatter and the slight flare of yellow-pink-green wings.

Tadashi flinched. He still wasn't used to anyone but Hiro coming into his personal work space, and it honestly felt a bit like an invasion of privacy when anyone other than his little brother burst through those doors.

"Hey, Tadashi! We're going to go out to the cafeteria for lunch, are you going to join us?"

"Uh, sorry Honey Lemon. I'm still waiting for Hiro."

Gogo Tamago appeared behind the tall blonde and popped a bubble, her ears flickering. "It's been half an hour since he passed the nerd lab. It's lunch already," she stated blandly.

Wasabi was quick to join in the conversation, Fred trailing nonchalantly behind. "What's going on?" they asked in tandem.

The cheetah-mix turned to the Afro-American, jerking her thumb towards Tadashi and deadpanned, "The pipsqueak's taking his precious time in the locker room getting something and this nerd here is going to wait for him."

Fred peeked over Wasabi's shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "I saw the little dude go past the labs, but I didn't see him return."

The gecko rubbed his chin. "In fact, I think I saw Ritchie and his friends walking in the same direction," he commented absentmindedly. "They're kinda like the common low-class villain you see in those comic books who are bullies to the heroes when they first develop their powers. Like Spider Man!"

"What did you say?" Gogo snarled, grabbing Fred by the collar and bringing her face so close to his, their noses were touching. The wild cat's tail thrashed violently behind her in a show of sudden irritation.

"Like Spider Man?" The lizard squeaked out, unsettled by the change in their friend's attitude.

"No, who did you say you saw going in the same direction?" she questioned with a growl.

"R-Ritchie and his friends," Fred got out. When Gogo pulled away, the rest of the gang were finally able see why the gecko-mix had turned a ghastly shade of white.

Gogo's eyes were narrowed dangerously, and her pupils were contracted into slits. A crease had crinkled in between her brows as she snarled, flashing her bared fangs.

A nervous chitter left Honey. Wasabi gasped, mouthing "Oh, mama," under his breath, and Tadashi shuffled - trying not to twitch at the intimidation he felt at seeing his friend's outright aggression.

"He's the guy who keeps picking on the runt! I thought I told them to stay away from him!" Gogo scowled to herself, sheathing her fangs once she noticed the way the gang shirked away from her anger.

A bad feeling twisted in Tadashi's gut. "What?" he asked numbly.

Gogo glanced sidelong at the cat-mix. "Last week I was going to get myself a canned coffee from the vending machine down that one hallway past Hiro's mechanics class and I saw those jerks backing your little brother up against a wall," she explained impatiently.

Tadashi's eyes were as round as saucers as dread pooled low in his stomach with the slippery chill of ice.

"I warned them not to touch a hair on the pipsqueak's head, otherwise they'd get it. They ran off and that was supposed to be the end of that," Gogo blew a bubble and popped it with more force than necessary.

Behind her, Honey, Fred and Wasabi flinched.

"But I guess they still haven't learned their lesson," she growled. "They're all idiots. It's not surprising that they didn't recognize a death threat when they heard one."

Tadashi balked at the story. "Why didn't you tell me?" he nearly screeched.

"I-" Gogo began, but before another syllable had left her mouth, Tadashi was already running out of the lab faster than anyone had blinked.

A second of stunned silence weighed on the hybrids before a squeak caught their attention.

"Um... guys?" Honey asked hesitantly. She held up Tadashi's spare baseball cap that he kept hanging on the lab's cluttered desk lamp in case something happened to his beloved San Fransokyo Ninjas hat.

Wasabi gasped and the rest of them paled. All four of the hybrids turned to look out the open doors of Tadashi's lab.

Honey Lemon was the first to break the uneasy silence.

"He didn't tuck his tail in either, did he?"


Tadashi was already halfway down the hall to the locker rooms when he saw them.

Ritchie and his goons were walking at a leisurely pace, postures slumped and cocky as they smacked each other's arms, laughing in quiet snickers like they were sharing a good joke.

The older Hamada skidded to a stop in front of them, breathing hard and looking ruffled. "Where?" Tadashi demanded breathlessly, eyes wide and chest heaving.

"Hamada Sr.," Ritchie said, lifting a bushy eyebrow, "looking kind of...windswept, aren't ya? Did something..." the bully smirked, tilting his head to the side mock-innocently. "Get under your fur?"

Tadashi hurriedly lifted a hand to his head to run his fingers through his hair, the spaces between his fingers catching on his ears. Hair... Ears...

Fuck.

The older Hamada's eyes widened and when his head whipped back, Tadashi caught sight of his obsidian tail standing straight and frizzled behind him.

Crap, he hadn't been paying attention before he had left his lab, and now he was completely exposed!

The cat-mix mentally shook himself.

No! That didn't matter right now; he could deal with these jerks. The person he needed to protect right now wasn't himself – it was Hiro.

Tadashi opened his mouth – about to roll some sort of cosplay excuse off his tongue and question them again about his little brother – when the guy on the left of Ritchie interrupted him.

The first crony chuckled light heartedly and waved a hand in a flippant gesture, flicking his wrist to indicate the still perked ears atop Tadashi's head. "It's okay, we already knew!" he said a little too cheerfully. "Hamada Jr. was kind enough to tell us before we left."

The mention of Hiro caught the cat-hybrid's attention, a sense of urgency spiking up his spine at the ominous words. Tadashi's jaw snapped closed. With a scowl, the corner of his lips turned down in a firm press and his ears flipped back against his head. He narrowed his eyes at the three standing in front of him.

"Where is he? Tell me where," the older Hamada asked, tone borderline harsh and with a tinge of desperation colouring his words.

"What are you talking about? You're making no sense," the second crony griped, pulling a perplexed face.

The cat smothered a scoff before it could come out. He wasn't stupid. He knew that expression was fake. Tadashi had been able to see through all of Hiro's lies before, and his little brother was a marginally better liar than these goons.

Tadashi's heart jumpstarted and beat wildly against his ribcage when an image of his little brother - beat up and lying on the floor battered and bruised somewhere in the building - flashed before him.

Unbidden, a growl left his chest. It wasn't like him to be so hostile, but not knowing what state Hiro was in (and talking to his brother's past tormentors) was not helping the older Hamada's agitated mood.

Ritchie held up two hands in a surrendering gesture and moved to stand in front of his pal. "Whoa there, no need to get all freaky on us - just confused a little. Let me rephrase: where's what? Are you looking for something?"

The man paused and the flicker of a smirk lifted the corner of his lips briefly. "Or is it someone?"

Tadashi held back a snarl. These people were really testing his patience. "Hiro. Where is he?" he snapped tersely.

The gang leader smiled sickly sweet. "Well, last we saw him, he was enjoying his own little space... Alone."

The insinuation in his voice was enough to send hypothetical situations racing through Tadashi's mind – and none of them were good. Dread pooled low in the older Hamada's stomach. At the same time, a burning hatred flared up, filling his limbs with static.

In an impulsive move, Tadashi grabbed Ritchie's shirt collar, bringing their faces close enough that their noses were barely an inch apart.

"Tell me where he is!" he hissed, pupils contracting and slitting – flashing dangerously.

From the distance they were at, the older Hamada could see the sweat collecting on the senior's face, and the sharp, tangy scent of fear filled his nostrils.

"H-hey, no need to get violent," Ritchie squeaked. "T-the last we saw of your little genius was a few minutes ago!"

"A few minutes ago is not a place, Ritchie," Tadashi rumbled. "Now where is my younger brother?"

Shaking now, the senior lifted his shoulders in a hesitant, non-committal shrug. Behind him, the other two followed the gesture. "W-we don't know..."

Tadashi released the jerk with a growl, shoving Ritchie with a little more force than necessary. The bully stumbled back, but regained his footing at the last moment.

Ritchie rubbed at his neck. "Freak," he muttered, backing up so he was once again flanked by his goons.

The older Hamada huffed in their direction and swerved around them, hackles raised in the form of hunched shoulders.

These idiots wouldn't give him a straight answer, even though Tadashi was 98% sure they knew where Hiro was. There was no use wasting his time picking a fight with them when he had to find his younger brother. For now, he would let the derisive comment go.

Tadashi paced agitatedly in one spot, his tail thrashing behind him and low growls leaving his chest.

He needed to look at this from another angle; use that big brain of his-

Through the haze of panic and feral anger that filled his head, Tadashi vaguely recalled that Hiro was wearing a hoodie.

And all of Hiro's hoodies had trackers in them.

Yanking his arm up, the cat-hybrid held his wrist to his face, revealing the watch he had modified himself. With a few presses to the buttons in a specific order, the little clock gave a beep and changed the LED number display from the time to a map.

Tadashi wanted to yell in triumph. There, on the little screen of his watch, was a blinking red dot, flickering in one place: the locker rooms.


Hey guys, Egg-chan here; just wondering, but which villain did you like/hate the most? I'm planning on making another story strain (either a mermaid/faerie AU), but I'm not sure if I want to make another villain. Henceforth, the thought of reusing.

So far, these are the contenders:

-Henry Matsuoshita (from Wings)

-Avidel and Revendale (from Fire and Death)

-Ritchie and his goons (from Ears and Tail)

-Tadashi (Why Tadashi you say? Yandere!Tadashi, that's why.)

-Callaghan/Krei/Abigail

I've put up a poll - with up to three choices - on my profile page. Please vote! It'll help me get out the new chapter faster! ;D