Chapter 11: Laser Cutter

The next week was spent with Hiro, Leiko, and Baymax keeping their double lives a secret and hanging out as regular teenagers would. Tadashi had been as busy as ever and rarely had time for Hiro, but his little brother was perfectly okay with it. It only meant that his secret would be safe and he and Leiko could continue to bond. The two of them were currently hanging out inside the Lucky Cat Café, watching something on Leiko's phone.

They were watching a scene that took place in a classroom. There was a man who sat at the teachers desk up front, and there were two boys, his students, on opposite sides. One was dressed as George Washington and the other was dressed as King George the Third. The kid dressed as Washington spoke.

"Keep your goods. Like we need your stinkin' British goods. We're American, we're independent. Well just get our goods from Japan."

Hiro and Leiko started laughing at that comment and turned back to the screen. The kid dressed as Washington continued. "Why do we need to know about George Washington? Or King George? Was every boring guy in history named George?"

Then the teacher, who's name just happened to be George, started staring at him and the kid gave a nervous chuckle. "I meant every dead boring guy."

Hiro and Leiko broke out into uncontrollable laughter. "Seriously? Sometimes they're just so stupid, it's funny." Leiko commented.

Hiro nodded. "I know, but it's worth it."

After a few moments, their laughter subsided. Leiko noticed as the bell above the café door rang and she saw as a man with a large frame and dreadlocks entered the building. Leiko raised an eyebrow. "Damon?"

Hiro looked in Leiko's direction. "What is it?"

"No, Damon is just someone I go to school with. We're in the same friend group as your brother."

Hiro had to take a second to let that sink in. Meanwhile, Damon approached the front counter where Aunt Cass was working. "Oh, hi Damon, how are you doing?"

He smiled. "Pretty great Miss Hamada, my laser project is coming along just fine."

She smiled. "That's great. What can I get you today?"

Damon had to take a second to look at the menu. "How about, a chocolate croissant with a vanilla late."

She smiled. "Coming right up."

It didn't take her more than five minutes to come out with his order. "Here you are."

He smiled at her. "Thanks Miss Hamada."

"You can just call me Cass."

"Thanks Miss Cass."

He was about to leave when he heard someone call out to him. "Hey, Damon!"

He turned to see Leiko sitting with a younger boy whom he had never seen. Still, he decided to join them. "Hey Leiko, how are you?"

She gave him a two finger salute. "Never been better." She motioned to Hiro. "This is Hiro, the littlest Hamada boy."

Hiro narrowed his eyebrows at her. "I'm not little."

Leiko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

Hiro and Damon both held out their hands. "Hi, I'm Damon."

Hiro smiled. "Hey, I'm Hiro."

Damon smiled. "I knew Tadashi had a little brother. He talks about you a lot."

Hiro's eyes widened. "Really?"

He turned to Leiko. "Oh yeah. He just goes on and on about how smart and great and troublesome you are."

Hiro smiled. "The smart and great part I agree with, but troublesome? Me? Just doesn't make any sense."

Leiko rolled her eyes and Damon stood. "Well, it was nice meeting you Hiro. See you soon, Leiko."

The two of them gave him a two finger salute. "Najung-e boja." Leiko said as he left.

"Well, he was nice." Hiro commented.

Leiko nodded. "Yeah, he's one of the nicest guys in school. He may look tough, but he's an absolute neat freak. He's also a pretty good chef."

Their conversation was cut short as Hiro's communicator went off. He pressed the red button and answered. "What is it, Baymax?"

"Hiro, is Leiko with you?"

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, she's right here."

"I need you to come down immediately. Another teammate has been found."

Hiro and Leiko exchanged looks with each other and they were immediately off.

They made it to the hideout in almost no time flat. The elevator opened up to the Relaxation Room and Baymax was already waiting for them. "Who is it Baymax? Who's our new teammate?"

The marshmallow robot displayed the scan on his belly. "The scan belongs to one named Damon Wayans. He will be the Laser Cutter of our team."

Leiko's eyes widened. "You mean we have to convince him to join out team?"

Baymax nodded. "Yes. He will have to join the team if we are ever going to defeat The Yokai."

"Uh, yeah, getting him to join the team isn't going to be easy. He is majorly afraid of things like spiders, snakes, camels..."

Hiro was about to interrupt, but he was cut off. "Don't ask about that last one. All I'm saying is that he won't be easy to convince."

Hiro nodded. "But still, we have to at least try."

Baymax nodded. "I agree. We need to try to convince him."

Leiko nodded. "I'm supposed to meet up with Damon and Tadashi in the park later for a study session. You can come with me and we'll try to convince him then."

"But, what about Tadashi?"

"Don't worry." Leiko reassured "We'll think of something."

Later in the evening, at Sakura Park, Damon and Tadashi were sitting on a bench, looking inside their school textbooks. "So, I think that since we have that big Chemistry test coming up soon, I think we should study for that first." Tadashi suggested.

Damon nodded. "Yeah, this test is gonna be a killer. Chemistry isn't exactly my best subject."

Tadashi nodded. "Yeah, it's not mine either."

The two of them could see as they were approached by Leiko and Hiro, whom they noticed were both almost the same height with Leiko just a few inches taller. "Hey guys, what are we studying?" Leiko asked.

"Chemistry." Tadashi answered.

His eyes then shifted to Hiro. "What are you doing here Otouto? I thought you were too smart for study sessions."

Hiro coughed, clearing his voice. "Tadashi, please, I'm here for important business."

Tadashi smiled and raised an eyebrow. "What kind of business?"

Hiro sat down on the left side of his brother. "That's classified."

Tadashi nodded. "...Right. Well, let's get back to it."

Leiko sat down on Hiro's left, holding a Chemistry text book. Hiro sat back and watched in silence, calculating all the right answers in his head. Soon after, Tadashi's phone started ringing.

"Hang on, I'll be right back." He said as he stood up and walked away to answer the call.

That only left the three of them. "So Damon, what do you think about those new superheroes in town?" Hiro asked, trying to get a conversation started.

Damon had to think about how to answer that one. "I don't know, they're pretty cool I guess."

Leiko nodded. "Right, right, so, random question, if you ever had the opportunity to join them, would you?"

Damon thought. "Well, I-"

He was cut off. "Sorry guys, I've gotta go. Aunt Cass wants us both home because of those monsters that have been appearing all over the city."

Leiko nodded. "Yeah, I should probably get going as well. Don't wanna take a chance, right?"

Damon nodded and stood. "I guess it is getting kind of late. And besides, one of those monsters did appear here the other day."

Leiko's mind flashed back to that day. "Yeah, I know."

After the group exchanged their goodbyes, they started walking off in different directions. As Damon was walking though, he couldn't help but notice that something fell out of Hiro's hoodie pocket. He raised and eyebrow and walked over to it. As he came upon it, the item was revealed to be a small purple cube about the size of his palm.

"Hey Hiro! You forgot something!"

The brothers were already out of earshot, however. He looked back down at the cube and wondered why Hiro would possibly be carrying it around.

"I guess I'll just give it back to him the next time I see him." He said nonchalantly as he started walking home.