The garage helps him think. Maybe it's having a bigger space to work with, or maybe it's the cool nighttime air that comes in through the open door. Either way, it's better than the desk up in the attic. And Aunt Cass hasn't really needed a car of her own, living in the same building as her job and all, so nothing's taking up room except the moped, leaving an impromptu study space.

Tadashi twirls a pen between his fingers, staring vacantly at the sheet of notes under the study lamp. Getting data for a project? Easiest thing in the world, it seems like. Marking down the relevant information, seeing the connections, figuring out what it means practically... he's a pro. It's never been tough for him.

Slowly, his gaze moves over to the laptop, where a blank document is still glaring-white.

Organizing that information into a formal report? Absolutely impossible, for some reason. Not for the first time, he wishes Professor Kagome would just let her students give an oral presentation. He'll stand in front of the class and explain graphs on a Powerpoint any day.

Finally, he drops the pen altogether, pushing off the floor so the rolling chair scoots across the empty space. The chair spins slowly, and he lets out his breath while looking vacantly towards the ceiling.

He might as well be honest with himself. Homework isn't the real reason he's having trouble focusing. He can feel the weight of his cell phone in his pocket, because it's practically become a symbol of everything that's been going wrong-

"No no no nono NO-" A string of frantic whispering is cut off by a door slamming shut. Suddenly alert, Tadashi can hear a sharp intake of breath, then a moment of silence, as if someone's waiting to make sure nobody is stirring.

Then, footsteps.

...If there's one thing Tadashi has grown to recognize over the years, it's the very specific sound of Hiro Hamada trying to sneak out.

He barely has to leave the garage. Sure enough, he can see a figure slipping away from the restaurant, hands jammed in the pockets of a hoodie. There isn't much ground to cover before he'll get to the street, so Tadashi sighs and hisses as loudly as he dares, "Smooth move, ace."

"GOD!" Hiro practically leaps out of his skin, and he's almost tempted to laugh- it was perfect, he must've jumped two feet in the air- but soon the kid's glaring at him, clearly embarrassed for getting caught, and embarrassed for getting scared, and probably just embarrassed in general. He pulls the hood down over his forehead and glances toward the road, but seems to understand that there's no sneaking away anymore, so a facepalm and some muttered grumbling are all he gives for a response.

"Good try." Tadashi shakes his head while walking closer. "Pro tip, though: maybe hold onto the door so it doesn't wake up the whole block?"

"I wasn't- I just-" Hiro seems to give up in a huff. "Why are you even out here?"

"Studying. You know, for school. But you're too smart for that, aren't you?" His brother gives him a mutinous scowl for an instant, but quickly breaks eye contact and starts back toward the house. "Hey! What were we just talking about today?"

Turning, Hiro's eyes flare like he wants to say something- instead, though, he shrugs lamely. "Look, man, I really don't wanna get into it right now."

"Oh, you don't? You're tired of dealing with all this?" Anger's slipping into his voice, and he takes a second to rein it in, keeping the volume low. "Believe me, Hiro, I'm not exactly having the time of my life here."

"Great. So drop it."

He blinks. "Drop it? You're getting hurt! Do you seriously not see that?"

"It's not-" Hiro falters, but still seems determined. "I'm fine."

"Really? What, the bruise on your shoulder magically got better? So quick you don't even remember how it got there?"

The look Hiro gives him could stop traffic, but he's practically used to it by now. "What am I supposed to do, bonehead? You want me to put a tracker in your shoes or something?"

"No!"

"Then what? What should I do?"

Finally, Hiro throws up his hands. "I don't know, try not freaking out! What's your problem, dude?"

He takes a second to get in front of his brother, keeping him from just darting into their home, and makes sure to grab the other shoulder. "I'm trying to keep you safe!"

Hiro roughly throws his hand off. "I don't need you to keep me safe!" He stops, a look of panic in his eyes, and he quickly turns back to stare up at the windows of the café like he's worried Aunt Cass might have heard the outburst. Or maybe he's taking a second to think over what he says next. "You always do this... thing," he says more quietly, voice still full of venom. "You think just because you're older, and just because you- you never get in trouble or anything, you know what's best. You're smarter."

"Hiro, that's not-"

"But guess what? I can take care of myself, okay? I don't need you looking over my freaking shoulder all the time! And I don't need you telling me what I can't do!"

He switches tactics. "So what, you think you know best? You think you're smarter than the people who just want to help you?"

"Yeah!"

There's a beat of silence. Hiro's face is kind of pale, but he locks his jaw back and doesn't blink- he's clearly going to stick with it, even it if kind of scares him. "I know what I'm doing, alright?" he says. "Everyone's always talking about how bright I am, and how I'm a goddamn genius. So stop treating me like a little kid!"

...Dear God. Tadashi blinks for a moment, then turns back to the street and rubs at his eyes, because that was a loaded statement if ever he's heard one. Did they seriously make him think that? Is this partially his and Cass's fault, for constantly building him up and praising his intelligence? He has no idea how to unpack that information, and on top of everything else in his already-exhausted brain, he feels like he can't deal with this.

"Well?" There's still an unsteady shaking in Hiro's voice, but he glares at him anyway. "You wanted to talk, right?"

"You-" He tries to breathe deep, tries to think, but he can't seem to come up with any coherent argument. "Hiro, you can't keep- I can't take much more of this. Right now, I'm just- I'm not-"

"You?!" Incredulous, his brother takes a step closer. "Wait, this is about you? So you're gonna get mad at me 'cause you can't figure out your stupid friend problems?" He takes a swing at Tadashi's arm, but he's so worked up and unfocused that there's no real force behind it. "Screw this, man!"

Face red, he spins and heads back to the café, and Tadashi can only stare as his form becomes a dark silhouette against the light over the front door. Friend problems. It's not the first time the two worlds have overlapped, but now it has him thinking even more. When Hiro gets mad at him and Aunt Cass, he's drawn to the fights to let off steam. But the fights are why they're mad to begin with...

And the same could be said about-

Who else gets upset with everyone, then withdraws and tries to avoid them? Which is exactly what they're worried about in the first place!

As Hiro does his best to silently open the door and slip inside, Tadashi starts to follow. He's debated if he's being too controlling in the past- if he should ease up on the lectures, and let Hiro live his own life. But hell if he's not going to keep trying to get through to the kid now. Especially now.

Maybe everyone thinks they know what's best for them. Maybe everyone thinks they don't need help.

Even as his heart sinks when he walks in the entryway, even as Cass strides down the stairs and demands to know what on earth is going on with all the shouting, even as Hiro trips over his own feet he's so surprised- even as a long and complicated explanation starts up, Tadashi realizes something else.

He has to talk to Fred, and he has to do it face-to-face. It's time to stop dancing around all this.