Chapter Four

Tadashi, like Hiro wasn't always the greatest at keeping his emotions in check. That much was for certain. That dreaded flaw despite the fact he was a brilliant guy for his age and progressive. It shows that the Green Eyed Monster can wrap it's tendrils around anyone no matter who they were. He was certainly no exception.

He realized this finally as he listened to Masashi talk with his mother. At some point he actually winced when he heard the woman's course language over the speaker.

"Uh huh…yeah. Y-Yes ma'am…yup…I under…understood. I swear, this will NOT happen-yeah. Yeah Tadashi and Hiro are both fine as well…mhmmm hm…okay…love you to. Bye."

The minute he hung up, the eldest Hamada sibling whistled lowly rubbing the back of his neck. That wasn't really the first time he heard Choa Nishino snap like that, but it still made him just as nervous even though he wasn't the one getting yelled at by her. "Well: Sounds like your mom's ticked off."

"You have no idea." Masashi groaned, feeling an ache in his head seating himself beside Tadashi on his bed. "Once she starts, it's like…it's like a broken, scratchy record playing over and over again."

Tadashi nodded sympathetically, making a move to pat his shoulder but pulled his hand back thinking Masashi was still mad at him for how he behaved that night.

"I'm not mad anymore you know…"

"Still though…that was no excuse for my behavior." Tadashi mumbled under his breath, rubbing a hand down his face sighing in frustration. "I don't know what the hell's going on with me lately."

A faint smile of comfort suddenly crosses over Masashi's face, leaning over to put his hand in Tadashi's giving it a firm squeeze. "Sometimes I think I know what you're going through." Masashi muttered, remembering now all the times he'd feel a little left out if Tadashi spent most of the day with his own friends leaving Masashi on his own for a few hours. "I think we've just been so swamped with work that we're under a lot more stress than usual."

"Now why do I ever doubt you when you tell me things like that?" Tadashi asked, a grin on his face followed by a chuckle. He looked at the other in surprise when he flicked him on the forehead in a playful manner.

"Because: For someone with such a big brain you can be really dumb still." Masashi teased, giving him a wink.

"Oh that's it Nishino." Masashi didn't have time to retaliate against Tadashi for the older male had him pinned to his bed, tickling him like the last time after they finished with Baymax. And again, Masashi's face flushed red as his hair feeling the other move his hand from his feet to his sides.

"T-T-Tadashi! Cut it o-out you big jerk!"

"Oh so now I'm a jerk? You know what happens when you call me names Masashi!" Tadashi gave a mocking evil laugh proceeding his little tickle torture. Only when Masashi 'accidentally' kicked him in the chest did he finally cease his actions, both panting heavily when the 'torture session' had finally ended.

"Must…Must you do that to me?" Masashi muttered, fixing his shirt pulling it back down scowling playfully at Tadashi's smug expression. Tadashi hadn't noticed however that his hand was still placed on Masashi's side immediately pulling it away.

"S-Sorry."

"N-No problem…"

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

That same night, Tadashi and Masashi both tricked Hiro into thinking they were going to take him to another bot fight when in all actuality they had something a little 'different' in store for Tadashi's younger sibling. With Masashi in the middle on Tadashi's moped, a grin crossed his face the minute they arrived at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Although it was passed the schooling hours, some students still stayed after to complete unfinished works or lived in the dorm rooms.

"What are we doing back at your nerd school?!" Hiro pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "The Bot fight's that way guys!"

"Don't get your little panties in a bunch," Masashi rolled his eyes, hopping off the moped the minute they stopped. "We just have to grab something we forgot."

"Greeeaaat…" He grumbled as they went down the hall. "Is this gonna take long?"

"Relax ya big baby, it'll only take five, ten minutes, tops." Tadashi explained, using his school ID to get them inside. "Besides you've never seen our lab Hiro."

Masashi chuckled seeing Hiro throw his arms up and say in mock awe: "Oh great! I get to see your nerd-."

"Heads up!"

"Wah!"

Hiro stumbled back when a young woman zoomed passed him on her air bike. He stood in complete fascination seeing students hard at work on their projects, experiments and what not. And…did he just see a cat on rocket boots? He shook his head, scoffing in irritation. He made similar things before even as a child, these just looked much better. More advanced.

While Hiro was exploring the area, Masashi tossed Tadashi a smile of approval leaning against his work station desk.

"Hey."

Hiro spun around when GoGo removed her helmet after looking at her bike. "Electro-mag suspension?"

"Gogo: This is Hiro, my younger brother." Tadashi said putting his hand on Hiro's shoulder.

"Welcome to the nerd lab." She popped her gum, voice laced with distaste at Hiro's 'nerd lab' remark which Masashi could see he was now embarrassed having said such thing.

"Ehehe… Yeah… I've never seen electro-mag suspension on a bike before…" Hiro stammered, rubbing the back of his neck.

GoGo gave the wheel a little spin. "Zero resistance, faster bike… Buuut." She ripped the wheel off, throwing it over Masashi's head-it barely grazed a bit of his hair-and over Hiro's who ducked quickly. "Not fast enough!"

Masashi chuckled along with Tadashi. "Nice throw."

She proceeded in punching them both in the shoulder. "Whatever."

Hiro looked around, starting to wander off Masashi not too far behind him. "I still don't get how you of all people became friends with a bunch of nerds. Correction: You've always been on the 'nerd side' but with Tadashi and his friends?" Hiro asked, picking up something from Masashi's desk only to roll his eyes when it was placed back down.

"You know: Being a nerd's not such a bad thing. At least we don't hide who we really are."

Hiro was about to retort back when a hand shot out in front of him, blocking him from allowing any further entry. "Back away, behind the line please!"

Masashi snickered raising his hand up. "Relax Wasabi: This is Tadashi's brother Hiro." He said, giving his friend a nudge just when Tadashi walked up.

"Hello Hiro," Wasabi gave a smile backing up a few steps back holding up an apple. "Prepare to be amazed." After giving it a toss, it almost like magic turned into see threw slices that flew around the stunned Hiro and even surprised Masashi despite having known what his friend had been working on.

"Whoa…You actually made it work!" Masashi exclaimed, smiling as one of the slices landed in his opened hand.

"How did you do that?" Hiro walked made a step towards him. Wasabi turned on a dial as a field of lasers was shown. Masashi face palmed.

"You are so lucky you didn't walk into that."

"Hey how was I supposed to know?!"

Tadashi shook his head giving Wasabi and Masashi a 'See what I live with' look.

"Wow… How do you find anything in this mess?" Hiro asked picking up a magnifying glass peering into it.

Wasabi took it back laying it down. "Ah ah!" He said smiling as he put it back down. "I have a system." He stood up fully making a wide gesture. "There's a place for everything and everything's in its place-."

"Need this!" Gogo bolted over grabbing a handful of tools off of their friend's desk.

"HEY!" He yelled. "You can't do that! This is anarchy!" Wasabi chased after her. "SOCIETY HAS RULES!"

Tadashi, Masashi and Hiro chuckled before parting as another young woman entered the room, rolling a large ball of metal. "Coming through!" She stopped leaning over it backwards grinning at Tadashi and Masashi. "Oh hello you two!" But when she paid attention to Hiro she let out a squeal of delight. "You must be Hiro! I've heard SO much about you: C'mere, c'mere! Perfect timing."

Honey Lemon really was an 'eccentric' woman, but very sweet all the same. When Masashi first enrolled she was the first of Tadashi's friends he had met. "That's a lot of tungsten carbide." Hiro commented.

She nodded eagerly pulling the boy closer towards her station full of chemicals and what not. "You're gonna love this. Aaaaaand." Taking out a bright neon pink substance, she sprays it all over the carbide putting on her goggles just before it explodes dusting Hiro in pink. "Pretty great huh?"

"So….pink." Hiro coughed some out of his mouth, scowling at Masashi snickering at his now pink covered hair and clothes.

"Not bad Honey Lemon." Tadashi commented grinning at their friend.

"Wait, wait…" Hiro held up a hand confused. "Gogo… Wasabi? Honey Lemon?"

"I spilt wasabi on my shirt one time. ONE. TIME!" Wasabi shouted from behind as Tadashi and Masashi leaned in whispering 'It was three'.

"Fred comes up with the nicknames." He replied with a small shrug.

"Fred-"

"This guy!"

Hiro let out a rather unmanly scream of fright, stumbling backwards as Masashi cracked up at his reaction holding onto his side. "What kind of scream was that Hamada?! You should see your face!"

"No need to be alarmed this is not my real face or body." The 'oh so scary lizard' had said, sticking his arm out of the middle part of the suit shaking Hiro's hand. Fred may appear a little on the 'scruffy side' of the tracks but he was still an all-around good guy: To be completely fair though when Masashi first met him he had almost the same reaction as Hiro although he would never admit it out loud. Hiro would never let him live it down.

"The name's Fred! School mascot by day." He struck a pose spinning an SFIT sign. "And by night…" He flipped the mask up again. "I'm also a school mascot."

While their friends bantered playfully back and forth over whether or not Honey Lemon could turn Fred into a lizard/man/creature thing from one of his comic books, Tadashi and Masashi used the time to show Hiro their lab finally.

"Just stop."

They heard Fred ask some other things before finally arriving inside the room. "So what have you been working on?" Hiro asked wiggling a piece of machinery around.

"I'll show you."

Oh. Masashi was practically beaming when Tadashi took out that dreaded duct-tape for once. "Duct tape?" Hiro had no idea what his brother had in mind with something such as that, raising a curious brow seeing how 'gleeful' Masashi appeared to be now. "Hate to break it to you bro: But duct-tape's already been-." Tadashi slaps the tape on before ripping it right off the skin. "OW! Dude! What did I do to deserve this?!"

Masashi cracked up at his reaction only to halt his actions when Tadashi started to activate Baymax from his red case. Hiro had fallen quiet as the large, fluffy robot inflated before him. "This…is what we've been working on."

Masashi beams up at the robot watching as he carefully picks up a chair that was in his way, then gently moving him out of the way to stand in front of Hiro. "Hello, I am Baymax your personal healthcare companion." Tadashi nodded in rhythm with Baymax's intro. "I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said…" Tadashi mouthed it as Baymax spoke. "Ow."

"….This is what you guys worked on? A robotic nurse?" Hiro asked, arching a brow and backing away as Baymax stepped closer.

"On a scale of one to ten how would you rate your pain?" Baymax asked as his pain chart appeared on his chest.

Masashi whispered in Hiro's ear with excitement. "Eight. Say eight!"

Hiro chuckled at his friend's expression, a little smirk forming. "Physical…or emotional?" Tadashi got a fake hurt look. "I'd say… Eight!"

Tadashi face palms. "Really? What is it with you two and eight?"

"I will scan you now." Baymax said as he scanned Hiro…and Masashi due to the fact he was standing close to Hiro. "... Scan intercepted. Masashi Nishino, please take a step back."

Masashi took a step back while Hiro gave him a puzzling expression watching Baymax scan him. "Scan complete, you have a slight epidermal abrasion on your forearm."

He winces, remembering his own incident with the duct-tape on that fateful night with Tadashi's weapon of choice. "And the Duct-Tape Overlord' strikes again." Giving Tadashi a narrow of his eyes however when he was hit on the head by his hat.

"I recommend, an anti-bacterial spray."

"Hang on: What's with the spray?"

"C'mon Hiro do you have to be smart mouthed over EVERYTHING?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

Baymax paid no heed however to the banter as he showed the spray's formula. "The primary ingredient is bacitracin."

"That's a bummer." Hiro snaps his fingers, a smirk on his face. "I'm allergic to that!"

Masashi was about to call him on only he was stopped by Tadashi putting a hand over his mouth. "You are not allergic to bacitracin. You do however have a mild allergy to…" Baymax held up a finger as Hiro interrupted.

"Peanuts." Hiro dead panned.

Tadashi grinned. "Programmed him with over ten thousand medical procedures." He smirked, leaning up against the robot giving the panel on his chest a small tap. Out popped a green card that read 'TADASHI HAMADA' on it with a little cartoon styled doctor's face. "This chip here is what makes Baymax, Baymax."

Hiro gave a smile, tapping it when it was put back in. "So this is why Sashi visited you so much. Here I thought it was for 'other things'." He teased earning an eye roll from the two older males, earning a whack on the head from Masashi.

"You little perv. But Tadashi does have a thing with torturing people with duct tape: Even ripped off Fred's chest hair. Remember that Dashi?"

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "C'mon I did NOT torture you guys. You're just being melodramatic as per usual."

"Oh I'm melodramatic?" Masashi snickered giving him a grin, eyes glinting at what he had to say next. "Hiro told me when we stopped seeing each other for a while, you were moping around like a lost puppy."

Tadashi's face flushed a crimson shade as if he had been out in the hot summer sun for too long giving Hiro a rather fowl glare before rubbing the back of his neck. Listening to Masashi explain to Hiro more of Baymax's functions and what not. It was true though. After their little 'argument', Tadashi had been feeling quite lonely for some strange reason without the other around. Even Aunt Cass noticed for she kept grinning at him whenever he brought Masashi up.

"Oh it's nothing. Nothing at all."

She would always tell him which made him more curious as to what she was really thinking about. Women and their secret thoughts "He still looks like a walking marshmallow. No offense." Hiro's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, chuckling at his younger brother's reaction.

"I cannot be offended, I am a robot." Baymax spoke up.

Masashi rolled backwards in his chair he was now seated in, smiling at Hiro with his hands behind his head. "Pretty cool huh? We decided to go for more of the 'huggable', kid friendly approach."

"He can lift over a thousand pounds." Tadashi then chimed in. Hiro gave his brother a dumbfounded look.

"Shut. Up."

Baymax then produced two lollipops. "You have been a good boy. Have a lollipop."

"Thanks."

Baymax looked over at Masashi. "Would you like one as well?"

"Sure. Thanks Baymax."

Baymax nodded before looking to Hiro. "I cannot deactivate until you say, you are satisfied with your care."

"Well in that case… I am satisfied with my care." Hiro said, popping the sweet treat in his mouth.

The three watched Baymax waddle over to his charging station starting to deflate. "He's gonna help a lot of people." Tadashi said in pride.

"So what's it run on?" Hiro asked.

"Lithium ion" The two males said in unison, blinking at one another before laughing sheepishly. Had they always said things at the same time before?

"You know supercapacitors would work better." Hiro replied.

"…Huh. We'll think on that." Masashi spoke, blinking. He turned when he felt someone at their door, a strange feeling emitting from him hearing a familiar voice.

"Burning the midnight oil again Mr. Hamada, Mr. Nishino? Cloning?"

Tadashi beamed at the sight of Callaghan all the while trying to be as polite as possible when he saw Ackerman again standing beside him as they walked inside noting the nudge Hiro gave him signaling him to be cool towards the other professor. "Professors: No. We were just showing my little brother around the lab."

"Ah the bot fighter." The professor noted looking at Hiro's Megabot. "When my daughter was young that was all she wanted to do. May I?"

While Hiro showed Callaghan his bot, Ackerman smiled at Tadashi and Masashi while looking over at Baymax in his red case. "You two have been working hard on that robot of yours haven't you?"

"Yes sir." Masashi stated, trying to mask his pride but failing miserably at doing so. Even Tadashi gave the blond haired man a grin. "We hope he'll be a robot that will be of better use to people right Dashi?"

"Yes." Tadashi answered with a nod, pursing his lips when Ackerman leaned in a little too close towards Masashi for his liking. Noting the blush on the other's face.

"I sense great promise in the both of you," Ackerman said, chuckling at Masashi's reaction. "Yes. Great promise in deed."

Tadashi tried his hardest to not scowl and yet failed all the same. He couldn't help it. There was something…something about Ackerman he didn't like period. And whenever he caught Masashi walking with him down the halls, that same feeling always came up again. "Thanks, I could show you how I put him together." Hiro could be heard saying to Callaghan, catching both their attentions.

Masashi smirked after straightening himself up from Ackerman smirking at the teen. "Hey genius, he invented them."

Hiro's eyes widened. "You're… Robert Callaghan… As in… Callaghan's laws of robotics? And you're Alex Ackerman: The co -founder of this university."

"Indeed. You know your stuff." Callaghan smiled handing Hiro back Megabot. "I bet you win a lot."

"Yeah I do. I made a robot for Masashi once but he doesn't fight with it." Hiro shrugged. "It's kind of my thing. Winning comes easily if you know how to pull the right moves."

"The kid's unbeatable."

"I see… Maybe you would consider applying here? Your age wouldn't be an issue." Callaghan commented.

Hiro and Tadashi gave each other a concerned look when Masashi walked ahead of them with Ackerman and Callaghan tailing behind before stepping inside the elevator, Ackerman smirking down at Hiro. "We push the boundaries of robotics here, my students like your brother and his friend all will go on to change the world and make their path in history. But good luck with your tasks." He let it close.

Hiro cringed. "But really, me? Not being able to apply here?!"

Tadashi and Masashi both tried not to chuckle shaking their heads. Ah. It was only a matter of time before the right type of fire ignited within Hiro. "Well, you did try to skip out on your high school graduation."

Hiro scoffed as they started to head out. "Shut up."

Tadashi went over to his moped grabbing his helmet. "Better hurry if we don't wanna miss that bot fight." Hiro grumbled something inaudible. "I'm sorry what was that?"

Hiro turned around. "I HAVE to go here! If I don't go to this nerd school… I'm gonna lose it!"

Tadashi and Masashi looked at one another, already knowing where he was going with this giving the other a wide grin. Music to their ears.

"How do I get in?!" Hiro yelled.

"We'll tell ya when we go back to the café short-stack."