Summer used to be Hiro's favorite time of the year; and why wouldn't it be? Outside it was warm and sunny, ice cream venders rounded every corner, and any responsibility he had towards school was a distant memory.

Now that he was was finally allowed his early graduation from high school, those responsibilities were permanent memories. Gone were the days of tedious work sheets and projects, of dimwitted peers who thought they were so much cooler than him just because they were legally allowed to drive a car; good riddance to all of it. The nightmare was behind him, and now Hiro had an eternal summer stretched before him.

It was going to be perfect.

Then his brother ruined it.

"Um, what are you doing?" Hiro made a show of tipping his sunglasses down to peer at his sibling, cautious as the older boy approached his carefully constructed lounging area with two surfboards in tow.

Tadashi only grinned at him and tossed a board down to Hiro's feet, forcing the teen to squirm out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Hey!"

"Time to get up, Bonehead! I'm going to teach you how to surf."

Hiro stared at him, then glanced down to the surfboard at his feet, and gave a prompt snort of decline, "Um, yeah, that's ok."

With little regard he shoved the board away with his foot, regaining his lounging position as he readjusted his sunglasses, "Hey, though, if you want to go and look like an idiot by balancing on a piece of polystyrene foam in the water, be my guest."

"Ha, you're hilarious, wise-guy, but guess what…"

Before Hiro had a chance to give his traditional cheeky reply, he felt his world being thrown out of balance, his body suddenly hurdled over Tadashi's shoulder as his brother gave a quiet grunt of effort, followed shortly by his amused voice, "I wasn't asking!"

"Wha-hey-put me down!" Hiro reached for his glasses as they fell from his face, barely missing them as they brushed past his finger tips. He took to pounding his fists on his brothers back as he walked instead, surfboards dragging behind him, "What the hell, Tadashi!?"

"Hey!" Tadashi jumbled the small boy in reprimand, "Language, Hiro!"

"Language!? This is kidnapping!" Hiro desperately flailed his arms towards a young woman as she walked past, crying out, "Ma'am please, I don't know this man, help me!"

"Hiro, I'm hurt! You'd really disown your own brother?" Tadashi gave the stranger a playful smile as he continued to walk towards the ocean; the woman shook her head at the two of them but said nothing, leaving Hiro to his own defenses.

"Yeah, you wanna pull the brother card!?" Hiro was now attempting to somehow gain enough strength to push himself off of the boys shoulder, "I thought brothers were supposed to respect personal boundaries! My boundaries are not being respected!"

"Hm, yeah, well, I guess that's life." Without much fuss Tadashi dumped his brother unceremoniously into the ocean, watching with some enjoyment as the boy fell backwards into the waves. He paid the angry insults Hiro hurled at him upon returning to the surface with little concern, instead pulling the two surfboards out into the ocean to join them.

"Now then," Tadashi's index fingers pointed in expression as he spoke, collected as always, "the first rule of surfing is-"

"I'm not doing this, Tadashi!" Hiro began to try and make his was back to shore, but was quickly pulled back as his brother grabbed him by the arm.

"Oh, come on Hiro! It'll be fun-"

"No, no it won't be 'fun'! 'Fun' is being back at my towel, with my laptop and some cheese fries, and not being forced to try and do some balancing act in an ocean that a bunch of kids have probably been peeing in all morning!"

As if to prove his point, a toddler boy with orange arm floats swam past them and, upon hearing Hiro's protesting against peeing in the water, gained a very guilty look and immediately turned to swim in the other direction.

Hiro glared and gestured towards the boys retreating back, shooting his brother a disgusted look as he went on, "You see!? I bet you we got peed on just now!"

Tadashi only rolled his eyes, his expression annoyingly amused as he gently pushed Hiro towards the floating surfboard, "Oh, you're just over-reacting. Tell you what, you give me one honest go at trying to surf, and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day. Deal?"

Hiro narrowed his eyes suspiciously down at the surfboard bobbing before him, then turned his attention to his companion, contemplating the offer, "…hmm…throw in letting me drive the scooter, and I'll do it."

Tadashi gave a small shrug of his shoulders, "Ok, sure."

"Yes!"

"Once you're 16."

"Wait, what? Hey!"

Before he could protest, Hiro was lifted from the water and onto the board, his hands struggling to steady his balance as it teetered to and fro. Tadashi reached under the water and pulled up a cord with a velcro collar at the end, and almost made Hiro fall off the board when he grabbed his leg to securely fit he collar around his ankle.

"As I was saying," He continued as Hiro regained his balance, "the first rule of surfing is to always make sure your surf leash is on securely. You might be able to do without it when you get more experienced, but for now it's safer for everyone around you if you just keep it on."

"Psh, ok." The teenager rolled his eyes and sulked, hardly giving his brother any attention as he went on to explain the finer points of surfing. After a few moments Tadashi seemed to take notice of this and gave him a nudge on the arm.

"Oh, all right then Bonehead," He pulled his own board towards him and climbed on top of it, sitting as he gave Hiro a challenging stare, "I guess you're so smart that you don't need my help, so why don't you just give it a try right now. Go on, try to stand up on the board."

Hiro blinked, then returned the stare full force and huffed, "Ok, I will!"

Tadashi sat back and watched with a smile as the boy began to slowly attempt to stand on the board, his arm and leg shaking as he tried to keep his weight proportions equal, ultimately landing himself face first into the water. He could hear his brothers laughter even before he came up for air.

"Yeah, well, that was certainly impressive." Tadashi's grin seemed to know no bounds today, "Let's try actually staying on the board for more than 3 seconds this time, huh?"

Hiro gritted his teeth and grumbled as he climbed back onto the surfboard, shaking the water from his hair. He took a deep breath and began to attempt the challenge again, but hesitated as the rolling tides continued to hit his board.

"Gah!" He sat firmly again, agitated, "Well I could probably do it if this stupid ocean would stop moving the board around!"

Without a word Tadashi reached over and steadied the board, lifting an eyebrow at him as if motioning him to continue. Hiro cleared his throat and began again, legs trembling…

and promptly fell backwards into the water.

He didn't hear laughter this time, but when his head bopped back above sea level, gasping for air, he got a good look at the smug expression his brother currently wore. It was enough to make him forget whatever deal the two had made, tearing off his surf collar in frustration.

"You know what!? Forget it! I don't care what you say, this is stupid, and besides what would you really know about surfing anyway!? I thought nerds only liked to read textbooks and-and help teachers grade their papers! Why would you be any good at this?"

Tadashi's eyes, once sparkling with entertainment, began to dull as he watched the tantrum unfurl, darkening with disappointment, "…yeah, well, even nerdscan surf, Hiro."

"Well then, prove it!"

Hiro was expecting some witty response, or some sort of patronizing lecture about how he needed to mature and not give up the moment something didn't work out for him, but instead Tadashi only turned away on his surfboard and began to paddle out further into the ocean, pausing only once he was in deeper waters. Hiro watched as a wave began to form, gaining momentum and size as it approached his brother, while Tadashi only sat and waited.

At last Tadashi turned around, laying his chest against the board, then in one fluid movement pushed himself up to a standing position as the wave came up to him, lifting him and the surfboard up with ease. Tadashi kept his knees bent and arms slightly out, starting out at a slow pace before he ducked lower and, as though the board suddenly grew a jet, gained speed as he turned and weaved alongside other surfers. Water sprayed in his wake, and he skidded his board across the top of the wave, much like grinding a skateboard along an object.

The wave overtook him at last, sending him and other surfers tumbling into its waters as it finally crashed and died out, but the damage was already done.

Hiro had never seen his brother look more cool than he did in that moment.

Tadashi gripped the floating foam above him as he pulled himself up from under the water, shaking his head from the sensation as he rubbed the salt water from his eyes.

"Hey, Tadashi!"

He looked up to see Hiro, sitting back on his surfboard with surf collar attached, a large grin spread across his face.

"Let's go over those rules again."