As promised, the bonding session.


Tadashi thought over whether he should get through with this. If everything backfired, he would not only have effectively scared away a girl he was interested in, but also freak his brother out.

He was, if not, a determined young man whose heart was in the right place.

Still, it could have the possibility of not turning out the way he wanted.

There was just one way to find out.

"We're going for...ice cream?"

Tadashi nodded, saying, "yeah, as a treat for your graduation," amicably.

Little did his brother know, he had also invited Ayako along, to which she also didn't know about the extra company. He knew it was a huge risk, but imagining the payoff if both of them had some bonding time, it was all well worth it. He didn't have to split his time between them and feel guilty for spending too much time with one or the other.

At least, that's what he hoped.

Tadashi parked the scooter and removed his helmet, placing it on the seat. Hiro did the same, small smirk in place.

"Man, and here I thought you wouldn't want to treat me for my graduation."

He snorted. "Then you were wrong."

Hiro didn't seem to hear, entering the ice cream parlor with an excited grin. Tadashi shook his head, following him suit. Sometimes, it tend to slip out of his mind that his brother, despite being a super genius, was as much a kid as the next fourteen year old was.

The smell of just baked wafers and vanilla greeted him like an old friend and he stopped for a moment to inhale. His eyes scanned the parlor and noticed a familiar wave of dark hair. He tapped Hiro's shoulder and pointed at the young woman.

"Hey, look, Ayako's here."

Hiro lifted his brow, mischievous smile growing on his lips. "Cool, go say hi. Just give me the money since I presume you wouldn't want any distractions."

Tadashi shrugged, pretending to contemplate on his choices.

"How about I ask her if its okay to share a table?"

Hiro nodded, attention more focused on the ice cream. "Yeah, whatever."

He passed some money to his brother and sauntered over to Ayako. She peeked up at his approach, pocketing her phone that she had been observing before he came.

"Hey," he said, taking the seat opposite of her.

"Hey," she replied brightly. "Thought you got lost on your way or something."

He gave her a friendly smile. "As if I could get lost. Um, I have something to tell you."

Maybe he should talk about Hiro instead of springing him up on her like that, giving her a warning before catching her off guard.

"'Yako, listen. We're not alone today. My brother is-"

"Got the ice cream!" Hiro walked over to them, two sundaes in hand. He grinned at Ayako, who wore a slight look of surprise.

"Hiro, hi," she said, putting on a smile after she recovered. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting ice cream with Tadashi," he replied, pulling out a chair and sitting. "How about you?"

Tadashi threw her a panicked look, one that said, 'I'm sorry I can explain.' She replied with an exasperated glare but went along with it.

"Um, just needed a new place to find inspiration. Finals are coming up and I need to think of what I'm going to animate."

Hiro took a bite of the ice cream, looking thoughtful. "You're studying art?"

She wrinkled her brow. "Now you put it like that... yeah, although studying sounds pretty weird when you pair it with art."

"Any ambitions?"

Ayako couldn't help but chuckle at the wide, innocent look on his face.

"Hmm, I've always wanted to be a comic book artist and at the same time open my own gallery," she said.

"Cool."

"How about you?"

"Building robots," the young teen said with a shrug.

She chanced a look at his older brother to find him smirking discreetly. The things she wanted to iron out with him right now...

But Ayako cleared her throat, determined to get something out of this.

"Building robots, huh? Which kind?"

"Fighting ones," he said, as if it were obvious. "What else could there be?"

"How about robots that fight monsters?" Ayako asked, feeling amused at the enthusiasm suddenly lighting up his features.

"Could be too, but I don't think it would be legal."

Tadashi coughed into his hand, the words sounding like, "too darn right." She had to stifle a laugh at the petulance on Hiro's face.

"Well, I think they're really interesting and if you build anything like that, I wouldn't mind having a look." Hiro nodded, taking her up on her offer.

Tadashi decided to interject with a thoughtful, "hey, let me go get some ice cream for you," to her.

She quickly shook her head, looking sheepish. "It's okay, enjoy yours. I'll go get it by-"

"I insist," he replied smoothly, standing up and promptly leaving them alone.

"He set you up to this, didn't he?" Hiro asked, dropping all pretense as he fixed her a pointed look the moment Tadashi was out of earshot.

She raised her arms up in exasperation. "Does it look like I had a clue? No."

"Well, I think I know why," Hiro said, giving her an unnerving stare.

"What?"

"I think that knucklehead wants us to bond."

She snorted, eyes widening in disbelief. "By setting us up on a blind date?"

Hiro chuckled at her words, thrown off by her sudden humor.

"I didn't give him that idea so don't look at me like that."

Ayako brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, shrugging. "Well, since we're already here, let's just make the most out of it."

Hiro raised a brow but didn't say anything else. He thought he had already established that he would be fine with Ayako, but apparently, it wasn't enough for his brother.

"So, how long have you been studying art?"

She huffed a laugh. "Ever since I could grip a pencil. My mother wanted me to take a course in microbiology but I took an art course instead. At the Art Institute."

"You mean that cool place that looks like an old castle?" Hiro's eyes held a sliver of bright excitement and she couldn't help the hint of pride at the thought of her college.

"Yeah, bought and restored from a wealthy family during the eighteen hundreds."

"I've always thought that the college looked pretty cool."

Ayako smiled at that, "You should see it from the inside. It's almost like a museum."

"Are outsiders even allowed in there?" He asked, apprehensive.

"Yeah, just have another student with you," she replied casually.

Hiro snorted. "At least it's better than my brother's college-"

Tadashi took this opportunity to return with her ice cream, eyebrows raised at the mention of S.F.I.T.

"What is it about my college?"

Hiro gave him an innocent look. "Just telling her that it looks like a futuristic egg from far."

Tadashi leveled him with a look that left Hiro rubbing the back of his neck.

"You know it's true!"

"Whatever."

Despite the unexpected turn of the evening, Ayako was having a great time, gaze moving back and forth as Tadashi and Hiro bantered it out, squeezing a few chuckles from her at the most absurd arguments.

"Your head looks like an egg."

"Oh, that's original," Hiro commented drily.

Ayako shook her head, taking a bite of her ice cream. Caramel pecan fudge. How did he know that it was her second favorite flavor?

~~O~~O~~

Hiro thought that Ayako was pretty cool, as evident by her amused disposition at the brother's petty argument. Most people would roll their eyes and try to intervene but she sat like a tennis spectator, watching them back and forth.

She indulged him with the mention of her favorite childhood anime, which turned out as his favorite too.

"You liked Cybernatic Animal Junkyard too?" He asked, in disbelief.

The young woman nodded, lips pressed together in amusement. "Yeah, it was my favorite afternoon cartoon."

"Mine too," Hiro said, eyes wide in pleasant surprise.

"Although the remake lacked the original spunk of the characters," Ayako commented off-handedly.

Hiro jerked his head towards Tadashi, smirking. "He likes the remake."

She glanced at him in disbelief, to which Tadashi lifted his hands up in mock surrender.

"Whoa, whoa. What's with all this hostility?"

"Because you're lame," Hiro supplied, to which Ayako tried very hard not to laugh at.

"I just think the designs are cuter," he said.

"Yeah, but it undermines their badass-ery."

Ayako had to nod at the teen's words. "I have to agree with him. RB-1 was way better in the original. At least he didn't sound like an electronic chipmunk."

"So true."

"Whatever you say," Tadashi snorted. "I thought I'd never see the day when I'm judged for the anime I watch."

"Well, too bad," Hiro said, to which Ayako added, "sucks to be you."

He gave them both a flippant look.

~~O~~O~~

The conversation started petering out and Tadashi decided that he needed to get Hiro back home, since his brother's graduation would be tomorrow.

"Come on, genius. You still have to brush up on your speech."

"A speech?" Ayako asked, and Hiro blushed a faint pink.

"Um... I got chosen to be valedictorian."

He had expected her to laugh or callously cut him off like other kids, but she merely fixed him with a look of bright disbelief. It melted into a wide smile and she laughed slightly.

"Wow kid. Genius extraordinaire, robot enthusiast and valedictorian? You got it going on, Hiro."

He returned her smile with a bashful one. "Thanks, Ayako."

She grinned and ruffled his hair, something that would normally put him on edge since he didn't exactly like people touching his hair. But when she did it...he didn't feel as defensive as he thought he would.

Maybe it was because she did it out of pride and amusement, much like how Tadashi would when he did something amazing.

"You're a pretty talented kid, Hiro. If you were my brother, I would be immensely proud of you," she said, all sincerity. Okay, now he was really starting to like her.

"Would you...would you like to come for the graduation?"

Her expression faltered and for one, terrifying second, he thought that she would decline. But she recovered and shot Tadashi an unsure look.

"Will I be intruding on a family moment?"

"Oh... it's all right."

She gave Hiro a tentative smile, not knowing what else to say besides, "Sorry."

Hiro shrugged, an adorable furrow on his brow. "Never mind. Come on," he looked to Tadashi. "Aren't you going to send me home yet?"

Tadashi pressed his lips together to keep from smiling and nodded. "Sure, just give me a moment."

Hiro looked back and forth to the two young adults and conceded, walking over to the scooter.

"Just don't say too much lovey-dovey stuff. Underage here."

Ayako shook her head at his words, although a small blush stained her cheeks. Tadashi cleared his throat and she turned to look at him.

"So..."

"At least that went well."

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, mumbling, "I thought it would be great idea, that's all."

"To put me on a blind date with your brother?"

He jerked up, embarrassed and horrified at the same time. "No! I mean, it wasn't a blind date, it was... it was..."

"A litmus test?" She asked, smirking.

Tadashi gave a forced laugh, hoping against hope that she wasn't mad with him. Heaven knows that he would have to spend a long time trying to convince her that it was in both of their interests that he had them meet for tonight.

But her face broke out in a grin and she glanced over wistfully at Hiro, who stood, oblivious to the attention he was receiving.

"He's a great kid."

He smirked. "Told you so."

"Well, you could have told me that I would be meeting him tonight so there's that..."

Tadashi grimaced. "I'm so sorry."

She shrugged. "Don't be, I liked meeting him."

"I could see that, what with you both ganging up against me," he replied in a miffed tone.

Ayako grinned. "Hey, at least he liked me better. Honestly, I feel so good, as if the divorcee's kid likes me."

Tadashi's eyes widened and he barked a surprised laugh. "Divorcee?"

She shrugged, looking nonchalant as she said, "well, it does kinda feel like I'm dating a divorcee and have to win over his kid."

Tadashi shook his head, amusement written on his face.

"Well, at least I now have experience in case the same thing happens in the future."

~~O~~O~~

Tadashi couldn't have been more proud of his brother. Hiro walked down the stage in his graduation gown and tasseled cap, smiling bashfully as he approached his family.

The older brother squeezed his shoulders, wearing a proud smile.

"Hey, you were great up there."

"At least I didn't fall," Hiro said, eyes sparkling and cheeks pink from the speech he had given.

Aunt Cass pulled Hiro into one of her bear hugs, catching the young teen off guard. "I'm so proud for you, honey," she said, voice muffled by his hair.

"Thanks auntie," Hiro said, a little embarrassed but otherwise grinning from ear to ear.

Tadashi looked around at the open field. Hundreds of graduates were milling around with their family members, chatting animatedly and taking lots of pictures, the whole atmosphere pleasantly charged.

He smirked and turned to ruffle his younger brother's hair when he removed the cap, earning an indignant yelp from Hiro.

"What was that for?"

Tadashi's eyes glimmered with mirth. "For good luck."

They walked down the road, Aunt Cass announcing that she would close the cafe and head down for lunch at a Cantonese restaurant she had booked as a treat.

The inventor kept an eye on his brother, noting his wistful expression. He knew how much high school was a sore spot for Hiro, him being the youngest in their school and often overlooked, if not underestimated. His younger brother had refused to go to prom that the school was hosting tonight in a hotel, saying that he didn't feel up to it.

A sliver of compassion arose in his chest for his brother.

Tadashi knew that the reason why he didn't want to go to prom wasn't because he didn't 'feel like it'. He was afraid that they would push him to the sideline, leaving him ignored, much like how he had felt for the first two years in high school.

Tadashi patted Hiro's shoulder, shaking him out of his reverie. Hiro arched a brow, expression questioning.

He shook his head, small smile in place as they exited the school grounds.

"Just removing a speck of lint there."


A/N: Okay, so the response to the last chapter was amazing and thank you for all of your kind words. Some of you really did inspire me to watch Lord of The Rings and make Tadashi do the same. That will happen in later chapters (but under sadder circumstances hehe).

Reviews are like gummy bears, they make my inner fourteen year old squeal in excitement.