"Hey, Ari, did you hear the last part of Professor Mull's lecture?" Tucking her papers and textbook back into her bag, Aria looked up as one of her classmates, Lee, paused in front of her table. "He was mumbling for like, the past half hour, I could barely understand a word out of his mouth."

"Yeah, I did," she said, still getting used to the ridiculous nickname Finn had stuck her with. Unfortunately, having been called 'Ari' for the entirety of orientation pretty much forced the stupid name on her. She decided not to bother fighting it, it would have been too exhausting always correcting people. "I can scan and text you the last page of my notes if you want?"

"Hey me too, please!" The girl sitting next to her said, Aria thought her name might've been Molly.

"Okay, yeah, I know I have Lee's number already in my phone, do you wanna just create a new contact with your name and number and I'll get right on that." Handing her phone off to the girl, a third voice chipped in, a boy Aria remembered had dropped her in one of her trust falls.

"Did you guys see how fast he sprinted out of here?" he asked, referring to their 'Applied Principals of Biotechnology' professor.

"Maybe he had a roast in the oven," Aria quipped, more to herself than these people she barely knew. But to her surprise, it garnered more than a few chuckles, and a small smile spread across her face. She liked being funny around strangers, she knew these people didn't feel obligated to be nice to her, so their laughs must be genuine, right?

"Or a hot date?" Lee put in. "Probably scampered off to shine that bald spot; someone's fixing to surprise a special lady tonight!" Beside her, Molly let out a rather loud snort, trying to keep a laugh in. And Aria couldn't hold in a grin of amusement at that!

"Well, I know I gatta get out of here too," Molly said, calming down and handing Aria back her phone. "And thanks for sending those notes, Ari! Don't forget!"

"I won't." Molly waved as she stood up and made for the door, Lee and the other boy close behind.

"See you tomorrow," Lee called over his shoulder at her, and while the classroom was basically empty by then, Aria remained seated for a few more moments. She wasn't some social butterfly, especially not here, where every other students was some kind of genius savant, but she rather liked the sort of easy raport that had just occurred. Just, casual friendliness. She certainly wasn't used to it, the only people she felt comfortable with were Hiro and the gang. But, this was nice. She'd have to try being more social from now on.

And especially now. Since she'd started her summer classes three weeks back, Hiro had made himself so scarce, she hardly ever saw him anymore. She just didn't get it, he'd told her he didn't like fighting with her, and then he pulls a Houdini every time she even turned to look at him? And always with some bogus story about his Doctoral project, or recovering fragmented data from the break-in earlier that year, or some such other nonsense. Aria knew he was making excuses not to hang out with her, and it hurt more than she was willing to admit.

Technically, she was still angry at him, if only slightly, so she should have been the one avoiding him. But these days, she found herself seeking him out more and more, and just growing more frustrated with each passing day when he answered any texts from her with very short, curt answers. He was her boyfriend, for crying out loud!

Suddenly a bit more somber, Aria heaved a sigh, and stood up. Exiting the lecture hall, she checked her phone for the time. Nearly an hour until her next class. 'I guess I'll just hunker down and go over my notes till then,' she thought, and made her way out of the building and out into the courtyard. It was hot, even by San Fransokyo standards, and she quickly made her way to a shady spot. Sitting on a small brick retaining wall sheltered by a low-hanging cherry blossom tree (which was not nearly as beautiful in the dead of summer as it was in the spring) she fished through her bag for her notebook. Several bees were hopping from groundflower to groundflower as she opened up to a page full of pen and highlighter marks, and began to skim through.

Classes here at SFIT were proving to be just as difficult as she imagined, dare I say feared? Aria had always been a good student, a diligent note taker and studier, but she knew she'd have to kick it into high gear if she wanted to succeed here. The classes were not easy, she couldn't rest on her laurels, not now. But, even with that in the back of her head, she couldn't keep her mind from drifting. She knew she should be focusing on her notes, but there was only one thing she could effectively think about, and that was Hiro. She just grew more frusterated as she had to reread several lines because she hadn't been paying enough attention as her eyes had glazed over them.

"Damn him," she swore under her breath, whining and eventually snapping her notebook shut. "Why can't you be a normal boyfriend?" She knew for Hiro that was probably impossible; he was not normal in any way whatsoever. Hunching over slightly, she thought about maybe just going to get some lunch or a cup of coffee at the overpriced campus coffee stand, but she didn't feel like eating anything either. She never felt like eating anything anymore. It was still summer quarter, but Hiro was pretty much always at his lab space these days, and whenever she saw him avoiding her on campus, she lost her appetite.

Standing up suddenly, she began frantically shoving her papers back into the pit that was her messenger bag, and started off at a brisk pace, towards the robotics lab. This was crazy, and it was ending now! Aria was going to march right up to that boy and tell him what was what! She would not be ignored, damn it! This would drive her crazy otherwise!

Taking the steps outside the lab two at a time, she pushed open both double doors, feeling so sure of herself, and walked right up to the elevators. Punching in the first floor code, she watched the doors slide shut. He was not going to pull any more funny business with her! He was going to apologize!

…Only, what if he wanted her to apologize. She didn't want to! But, she had to admit…the fight was half her fault. It takes two to fight, after all…as she waited for the elevator to open back up, she begun to doubt herself. 'Ohhhh, this was a bad plan,' she thought, suddenly wanting to push the 'close doors' button over and over. 'Never make rash decisions on an empty stomach!' she chided herself, holding her breath as the elevator finally touched down, and opened.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, for Hiro to be standing right outside the doors when they opened. But he wasn't. Swallowing hard and gathering her frazzled courage, she stepped out, and made her way down the hall, towards the main lab space. She peeked it, but not seeing Hiro anywhere, stuck her head in further.

"Er, is Hiro Hamada here?" she asked, as a graduate student moseyed slowly by the door. The guy, who Aria didn't recognize, just shook his head.

"No, but I'm sure he's around here somewhere," he replied, "there's only like, three of us guys who come by the lab during the summer."

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway," Aria said, letting the guy get back to whatever it was he was working on. Coming all the way into the lab, she bagan poking around, looking to see if he was hiding out in any of the walled off spaces on the main floor. 'Huh. The one time I come by the lab, he's not here,' she thought, crossing her arms. Deciding that this whole idea was a bust anyway, she exited the lab, pulling her phone out again. She glanced at her screen briefly in the hallway, before looking back up. And to her great surprise, who should she see entering the elevator with a box in his arms but Hiro?

"Hiro!" she called out, sprinting forward, but it was too late. She was just able to catch the flicker of recognition across his face as the doors slid shut. Huffing angrily at the inconvenient timing of the horrid elevator, she turned to the fire staircase, and started quickstepping her way up to the ground floor.

Out of breath when she arrived in the main lobby (she hadn't been in practice with BH6 for a year at that point, after all) she looked around frantically, her head swinging side to side. But Hiro wasn't anywhere to be seen, and she knew she couldn't have possibly beaten the elevator up. Bursting from the front doors, she saw the boy strapping the boy he was carrying to the back of his brother's moped, and hopping on to start it up.

"Hiro!" she called again, breathless as she nearly flew down the outside set of steps, but again, no use. He kicked off from the curb before she could reach him, and took off. "Goddamn it, Hiro! I know you heard me!" Yelling after him, she attracted more than a few stares, but at that point, she was so frazzled, she hardly cared. Why was he doing this!? Why was he intent on driving her insane!?

Hiro scowled at his reflection. He was a mess. Splashing more water onto his face, he turned the bathroom faucet off and peeked at himself again. Yup. He looked terrible. His earlobes were a painful red after moving up a gauge too quickly, there were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was…well, not really any messier than usual, but still. Messy.

"What am I even doing with my life," he groaned, pressing his palms to his eyes. He felt like collapsing in the bathtub and taking the most self-pitying of naps there, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had too much work to do for that.

"You should rest," Baymax said, looking up at Hiro shut the bathroom door behind him and sluggishly slouched his way back to his desk. Swiping several small half-finished products from the surface to the ground, he collapsed down into his chair, and proceeded to clunk his head down on the desk. He felt utterly exhausted. "Excessive exhaustion has the same effect on the brain as a blood alcohol level of .12" he continued, walking over to stand behind his creator.

"So you're saying I could take a couple shots and still be as productive as I am now?" Hiro mumbled, half sarcastically.

"It would be inadvisable," Baymax said, once again not realizing the wry humor of his words. Hiro might've normally laughed, but not today.

"I figured." Cracking his eyes open against the stream of light coming in from the partially open blinds, he sighed. What kind of a friend was he? What kind of a boyfriend was he? He'd been avoiding Aria for so long now, that even today, when she'd finally come looking for him, he still ran away. Like some kind of douchey-coward. Groaning again, he closed his eyes and conked his head against his desk again. "…I wish I wasn't such an ass. I could really use Aria's advice right about now."

"You could just ask." The voice that spoke was not Baymax's. Shooting straight up and out of his chair, Hiro spun around, and came face to face with none other than Aria, who seemed to have the timing of God himself, appearing there like that. He hadn't heard her climb the stairs to his loft. He froze, his heart skipping a beat; god, she was cute when she was annoyed. But more than that, he felt nervous. She wasn't scowling, wasn't crossing her arms in that disapproving manner of hers, but he still knew she must be mad at him. How could she not be? He'd been the worst sort of boyfriend recently; one little fight, and then a three week stalemate?

"Aria," he managed to sputter, still stunned to see her there. She just stood for a moment, and then rolled her eyes.

"You can stop looking like a deer in the headlights," she said, pulling the strap of her bag over her head, and letting it fall to the ground next to the banister at the top of the staircase. Pulling her jacket off, she tossed it onto Hiro's bed, before flopping down on it herself, sitting on the edge. "I'm not here to chew you out, if that's what you're afraid of."

"You're…not?" Suddenly confused, Hiro let his guard down a bit, and his shoulders relaxed. Aria let out a short laugh, and shook her head.

"If I'd caught you at the lab, I would have! I would have torn you a new one, I was in such a bad mood!" She rolled her eyes again, at herself this time. Having to sit through class, having to stew in her own thoughts for an hour and a half made her cool off a bit. "But I guess now I'm just…here. Just me. No insults; unless you piss me off."

"…I, er…" Not really knowing what to say next, Hiro sank back into his chair, still looking anywhere but his girlfriend's face. "…I'm glad you're just here," he finally said, actually being honest. Avoiding her had been exhausting, and he was tired of running from that one stupid little fight.

"Are you?" she asked, though there was no malice in her words. She was honestly just curious. "You've been doing a really good job of brushing me off these past few weeks."

"I've been…busy," he answered lamely, and he knew it was a crap answer. Aria knew it too, but just sighed, and accepted it. She didn't come here to fight some more. She'd decided to just say what she needed to say to get this whole thing behind them. She couldn't always be so proud. "I know that sounds stupid," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I guess I've been keeping busy too," she answered back, shrugging. "But, look, I'm tired of just avoiding any of this. So, I'm just gonna say it…" Hiro bristled for a fraction of a second; was she going to break up with him? The irrational side of his brain seemed to think so. "…I'm sorry."

"Aria, I- …huh?" He was relieved, but confused. What did she have to apologize for? He was the asshole here.

"I guess we just weren't communicating very well before," she said, running her hands through her hair, much longer now than it had been when she and Hiro had met. "I shouldn't have just expected you to read my mind and guess what I was feeling. I should have told you I was feeling pushed and rushed, but I just kept beating around the bush, and then I guess I kind of blew up at you…in public…" She was feeling a bit flustered with this apology, and her cheeks grew rosy as she continued. "And, I dunno, I should have been more articulate or something-"

"Hey, look," Holding up his hand, Hiro hesitated, before standing, and coming to sit beside her on the bed. His heart clenched slightly when Aria scooched over for him so their legs didn't touch, instead of just allowing them to be close. But that was to be expected, he supposed, with how he'd been acting lately. "I wasn't…I didn't mean to push you or rush you or anything." He said, feeling awkward perched on the edge of the bed like this, too stiff. You wouldn't think these two people were dating. "I was being a jerk, and, you didn't deserve for me to continue to act like an ass like that. But, you gatta know, I haven't been like this because of our fight."

"Well, then why?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together above her eyes. Biting his lip, Hiro avoided her gaze again, and shifted through his brain for a silent moment.

"I don't mean to sound so stupid, but it's really not an excuse, I've been really busy lately." He finally met her eyes, and in the same movement, set his hand down on top of hers. He felt her hand twitch slightly in surprise, but she didn't pull away or protest. "I know you probably don't believe me. But, with everything that's happened-"

"What's happened?" Aria interrupted, now slightly worried. Had she been mad at him for something out of his control? "Was there another break in or something?" Hiro looked surprised for a second, and then shook his head.

"Er, no. Just, there's just a lot of damage to my project from that break in back in January."

"Oh."

"It probably sounds like a really bad lie, but I promise-"

"No, no." Looking a bit sullen, Aria nodded before continuing. "I do believe you. I guess I was so caught up in my own feelings I didn't even realize you were still dealing with your own problems. I'm…sorry again."

"…Stop saying you're sorry." Standing up, Hiro ran a hand through his hair, and took a few steps away. "I should be apologizing."

"Okay," she said, still feeling a bit weird with the whole situation. "No more sorry's, no more avoiding each other. Okay?"

"Deal." Hiro smiled back at her slightly, but it wasn't one of his usual carefree numbers. There was something more on his mind, and Aria knew it. But just as she was opening her mind to press further, she thought better. Not right now. They were finally on neutral ground again, no need to keep digging when things were finally stable.

"So….we're good now again?" Aria asked, smiling back at him. Hiro didn't answer, shoving his hands in his sweater pockets. There was a pause, a bit too long for Aria's comfort, before he nodded.

"Yeah," he said quietly, trying to give her another distracted smile. This one irked her even worse; made her think he was still mad at her.

"Okay. You sure?"

"I'm sure." Holding his hand out to her, Aria took it, and he pulled her to her feet. Kissing her forehead, Hiro pulled her into a hug, which she accepted, but it felt strange. He was really clinging to her on this hug. It felt…sort of like a goodbye hug. She felt a bit trapped by it in fact, and even after wanting to step away, it didn't look like he was going to let her. Pressing his face into her hair, she heard him sigh slightly, and then mumble. "Why can't things go back to normal?" he said, which irked Aria even further.

"They're going back to normal," she assured him, patting his back awkwardly. Finally letting her go, she stepped away to see him turn back to his desk, looking pensive.

"Are they?" he asked, to no one in particular. That was Aria's cue to leave to go home and digest the conversation. Weirded out by Hiro's crypticness, she went over to her bag and hauled it over her shoulder, across her torso.

"Well, I actually can't stay very long," she said, which didn't illicit much of a response from Hiro. "But, I'm free tomorrow, after around noon if you want to hang out? You seem like you could use a little bit of time to just unwind. You're pretty distracted." Hiro didn't answer right away again.

"I was actually thinking of doing some recon tomorrow night with Baymax," he said, and nothing more. Aria couldn't tell if that was an excuse not to hang out, or an invitation for her to come along, or what. Clearing her throat slightly, to see if he had anything else to add to that statement, she sighed.

"Alone?" she asked, to which he nodded slightly, glancing back at her. "Wouldn't it be more efficient for the whole team to go? Cover more ground?"

"Er, yeah…I guess…" He looked away, seemingly uncomfortable at that, but Aria pressed further.

"I mean, if it's leads you're going off of, having the whole gang along just increases the amount of area you can cover in a night. And, like I said, I'm a little rusty. I could use some practice!" Since Hiro had once been so keen for her to rejoin Big Hero 6 and go on missions with them, she figured this suggestion would perk him up from his somber attitude, but alas, nothing. If anything, he seemed more uncomfortable with the idea of her coming along by the minute. "Unless you don't want me there…?"

"No, no, that's not it!" Looking conflicted for another moment, he finally smiled back at her. This time it was a more convincing smile, one that seemed to fool her. "I'd love to have you along, you know that."

"Okay, then it's settled." Nodding once to herself, Aria put her hand on the banister. "I'll suit up and meet you guys here tomorrow, just text me what time."

"Okay. I will."

"And, Hiro?" He looked up at her, and at her genuine smile of affection, he felt the weights sitting on his shoulders lift slightly. She really was a breath of fresh air for him, why couldn't he knock it off and appreciate her more. "I love you," she finished.

"I love you too," he parroted back, before she started making her way down the stairs, and then was out of sight. He continued to stand there for a few moments, before turning to look out the window. He saw her exit the café's front door, and frantically jog to catch up to the departing trolley. He chuckled slightly, before his mood returned, and his smile slowly faded away. "Love you, Aria. More than I'm capable of saying right now."