Chapter Twenty Five: There are ways around that.

The anticipated ride to the Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab was pretty quick, all things considered. And Hiro didn't complain once the entire ride there. "Is this where your lab is?" he asked the moment Tadashi parked his moped. He had to remind himself he hadn't been there yet in this timeline. That and it never hurt to stoke his brother's ego just a little.

"Yep," Tadashi replied with obvious pride. Hiro had struck the right note there. "They gave me a private space so I can finish my senior project without interference. I'll show it to you when we get up there."

Mindful that his brother was still recovering from major surgery, Tadashi watched Hiro like a hawk as they climbed the stairs to the front doors. But there wasn't anything to cause concern so he shrugged it off and headed towards the elevators. His brother was just a bit slower than usual, which wasn't unexpected.

Hiro tried to look impressed. The effort was, admittedly, a bit harder than he'd thought it would be, especially since he knew the building like the back of his hand, but he tried. His halfhearted attempts at complimenting, however, came out flat and he only hoped his brother would attribute that to still being in recovery mode.

When Tadashi led him to the open lab area, he took a moment before following him, just in case GoGo was trying out her bike. When he felt sure he'd given it enough time, he followed his brother inside. After all, all the previous times he'd done this had resulted in his almost being mowed down by the cycle.

GoGo was already making adjustments to the streamlined frame of her bicycle. Helmet sitting on top of a 3D printer, she popped her gum as she stood back to inspect her work. She had a wrench in one hand, making it easy for Hiro to imagine her wearing a bandana over her hair to keep it out of her face.

Tadashi beckoned Hiro over from near the workbench of GoGo's space. "GoGo, I'd like you to meet someone. This is my brother, Hiro." He said the last part as Hiro nervously came into view.

"Hi." Hiro gave a half-hearted wave, his heart running laps around his rib cage. He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt so nervous. It wasn't like this was the first time he'd done this. He should be a pro by now. "Electro-mag suspension, right?" He moved to wave a hand at the yellow vehicle. "Zero resistance, faster bike?"

GoGo raised a brow at him. "Right." She popped her gum again, clearly not looking impressed. "But not fast enough. Yet." She took off the back wheel and tossed it into the recycling bin like it was trash. And with that, Hiro knew this introduction was over.

Not ready to repeat some of his previously mistakes, Hiro turned to go around the partial wall separating GoGo's space from her more meticulous partner's area. His shoulders sagged just a little, until he remembered that his initial introduction to GoGo hadn't exactly gone that smoothly either.

As expected, Wasabi was making a few adjustments to his screen of laser-induced plasma. Since Hiro hadn't even come close to crossing the caution tape line marking out the safe zone, he didn't look up until Hiro cleared his throat.

"You must be Wasabi," Hiro said when the man in question looked up. He hoped he'd struck the right tone but wasn't sure. "Laser induced plasma, right?" He pointed at Wasabi's creation.

Wasabi blinked in surprise as he flipped the switch that would make the parallel lines visible to the naked eye. "How did you know? I haven't even shown it to you yet."

Hiro looked a bit wide-eyed at that, hedging an answer. "Well, I uh—"

Tadashi came to save Hiro from an awkward explanation, or sounding like a complete know-it-all. "Because my brother's a genius," he teased, cuffing Hiro's ear. "Wasabi, this is Hiro."

The OCD freak moved around his project to shake Hiro's hand. "It's nice to meet you." Despite being mild-mannered, he did have a good grip and Hiro had to shake his fingers out a bit afterwards. After the handshake, he turned back to his project, pointedly ignoring the younger Hamada. Like with GoGo, this introduction was over. And he had no reason to believe it could be salvaged.

At that moment, Honey Lemon breezed by with a large ball of tungsten carbide. "Excuse me!"

As in times past, Hiro couldn't help but follow behind her, Latin music leaking out of the earbuds she wore. And, as before, Honey Lemon gave him a kiss on each cheek as she realized who he was. "It's nice to finally meet you! Come here! Come here!"

Still trying to play it cool, Hiro had forgotten how the chemist would pull him along to show off her skills until it was happening all over again. "Heat it to 400 Kelvin and-!"

He followed her as she sprayed the giant marble of metal, and then threw a switch, making it turn solid pink. But instead of waiting for her to touch it, he reached forward with a hesitant hand and pressed a finger against the surface.

A cloud of pink dust erupted in his face, coating both him and Honey Lemon. Thankfully, he'd remembered to close his eyes at the last second. "Whoa!" He'd never actually had the chance to do that before. And it was just as cool as it had looked. Then he looked up at Honey Lemon, a chagrined expression on his face. It was, after all, her project.

But instead of being mad, Honey Lemon was beaming. "I know, right? Chemical Metal Embrittlement!" She took off her glasses to clean them as she spoke. Clearly she understood Hiro's need to touch.

"Pretty cool, Honey Lemon," Tadashi smiled as he walked over. Seeing the mess on his brother's clothes, he tried to help him brush them off. "Though I wouldn't try that just anywhere. By the way, have you seen Fred?"

At that exact moment, the costumed mascot jumped out from his hiding spot, letting out a mighty roar.

Despite anticipating some kind of crazy entrance, Hiro was not prepared for the abrupt noise and almost jumped out of his skin. "Ow!" he called out, feeling his stitches pull uncomfortably. He bent over, clutching at his stomach, his teeth clenched against the unexpected pain.

Fred was immediately apologetic. "Sorry, little dude! I totally forget you just lost an appendix! You okay?"

Tadashi lifted Hiro's shirt before the boy could even think about responding. Luckily, the bandages remained white. "That's a relief," he sighed.

"It's okay," Hiro winced, pulling his shirt back down as he tried to not turn beet red. "Fred, right? I take it you're the school mascot?"

Fred backed up a few steps as he popped his head out of the creature's headpiece. He picked up a sign board as he went, twirling it with practiced ease. "Yep! By day and by night, though it would be so much cooler if I could be a superhero by night."

The mascot flopped down into a comfy chair, setting his sign to one side. "I've been trying to convince Honey Lemon to make a formula that can transform me into a fire-breathing lizard at will, but she says that's 'not science'." He added air quotes with his covered hands.

"It's really not," Honey Lemon piped up as she came around to join them. She was followed by Wasabi and GoGo, who followed more warily. It was almost like Fred was some kind of magnet pulling them all together. That or Tadashi was.

Here was Hiro's chance. Before Fred could launch into his continued ideas from science fiction and comic books, Hiro cleared his throat. "Maybe not, but there are ways around that."

All eyes turned to him at that announcement. Fred practically flew from his chair as he grabbed Hiro's hand and jumped up and down. "What exactly did you have in mind? I know! An animatronic suit!"

"Something like that," Hiro hedged, glancing around nervously. "Actually, if you like the idea of being a superhero, I could probably make a super suit for everyone here. What do you think?"

Fred danced up and down some more. "Oh yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I would LOVE that!"

GoGo gave the school mascot an incredulous look. "Are you serious? Who would want to do that? Count me out."

"You mean go up against bad guys?" Wasabi asked. From his expression, chances were good he'd go into panic mode over the idea if it wasn't dropped quickly. "That will never happen." He folded his arms in finality, though it was also likely in part to keep himself from flying off the handle.

Honey Lemon bent down to give Hiro a hug. "As fun as that sounds, I'll have to pass," she apologized.

Tadashi had an incredulous look on his face. "When did you come up with that idea?" Clearly he wasn't impressed.

Hiro shrugged, trying to not look disappointed. They'd eventually have to come around. "Sitting in a hospital room for days with only superhero cartoons on TV, you'd find it a little hard not to fantasize about it just a little. So I was bored and sketched a few ideas. So sue me."

"I would totally do it," Fred piped up, even though he'd already said as much. "I mean, how cool would that be? Fighting off super villains, saving the planet..."

Tadashi rolled his eyes as Fred went on, motioning for Hiro to follow him back into the hallway.

"It'll never happen," Wasabi told the jabbering mascot.

The rest of the conversation was cut short as the door closed between Hiro and the gang. He shook his head a bit sadly. They would come around. They had to.