Notes: I want to say that the cover image for this fic is the Japanese character for Shadow. Why? Well, I thought it looked nice and it will appear in the next chapter, or so. So, I wanted you to know what it looked like. As always, reviews tell the writer that you enjoyed his/her story. Please, leave your thoughts.

Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967: I am glad you loved it. I hope that you love this chapter too.

After break, her skin was a light shade of blue. She beamed from ear to ear and he couldn't help stare at her. She was blue. Her hair a was a fiery shade of red with blue roots and Fred was drooling at the sight of her. She looked like a mutant from a comic book. Tadashi couldn't believe his eyes.

"It worked." She laughed. "I tried to change my skin to blue and it worked. I can't change my eyes yet. But my skin is blue. Side effect is my hair is blue." She explained. "Like, all my hair is a light blue. It's kinda weird."

"No, it's not." Fred sighed out. "It's kind of hot."

"It's not going to kill you, is it?" Tadashi rushed in. He ignored his friend's words. He didn't want to think about it. It bothered him.

"I hope not." She stated in thought. "That would be bad. Who would take on my work when I pass?" She tried to think that over. "I can't die. No one will finish my work." June cried out. "I know someone will take up my skin regrowth project, but who would want to do this?" She waved a hand over her body. "I can hardly find funding."

"You try pitching it to beauty places?" Fred asked as he opened a comic. "I imagine lots of people would want designer skin tones and stuff."

"I could do that." She snapped her fingers. "It'll be like contact-lenses. People who need it use it and those who want a change can use it too."

"Wait a moment." Tadashi stopped her. "What about skin regrowth? I want to hear more on that."

"I have to make a call." June shouted out. "Text me later and I'll send you the info on my pet project."

xxx

Pet project? Yeah right! If she was able to pull this off, it would change the world of medication. This had the ability to save countless lives. Her theories seemed sound. Her ideas understandable. He couldn't imagine someone would be stupid enough to not fund the research.

'Why pet project?' Tadashi texted her.

'Not good with machines.' She texted back. 'Not too sure how to build it.'

'You could always just do the research.' He texted back. 'Someone else could do the building.'

'Would you trust just anyone to finish your work?'

'Not sure.' He thought it over. 'Is this everything?'

'No, just half of it.' She texted after a long pause. 'I didn't want to overwhelm you.'

'I could use a break on my project.'

'Okay.' She sent him an address. 'See my lab. Keys behind the third brick to the left of the lock.'

That was the start of their partnership. He thought of it as a sort of step up from study-buddies.

Xxx

Her lab was a rather large space. In fact, it was bigger than his garage. He wondered how she had the money to rent such a big space. There were a number of tables, blackboards, and kitchen area. He wondered if there was a bed close by.

"Oh, Tadashi." June said as she walked in from a different area of the space. "Sorry. I was looking through some photo albums. My mother let me take some. She wanted me to create a slide-show for her wedding. My side goal is to see if I can find the one of Dashi and me."

"Dashi?" He wondered who this boy could be. "A cousin?"

"First crush." She smiled. "I was shy and I hid when he came by. It was kind of cute." She laughed. "I didn't want him to see me, as me. So, I would pretend to be a something else..." She seemed a bit sad. "I wish that I had spoken to him."

"Well, he missed out." Tadashi told her as he thought over her words. She had to have spoken to this Dashi at least once. How else would they have been able to play together if they didn't talk?

"Anyway, so I hasn't sure where you'd like to start." She played with her fingers. "I have my notes on the table and I can answer questions as you catch up to speed."

"Yeah, that sounds good." He nodded. He took out a notebook for her to look over. "Made some notes over what I read so far."

"Notes?" She took the book and frowned. She flipped through it carefully. "Oh, on the machine itself. Yes, I'll look these over with a textbook." She seemed a bit lost.

"Well, you take on the biology side and I'll build the machine." He smiled brightly at her. "You don't have to do everything on your own anymore. You've got me." He took a seat and started to look over the papers in front of him. He loved the way her mind worked.

"For now." She muttered to herself before snapping the book close. In the end, she was always alone.

xxx

"I like your idea." June said after a long night. "About the robot that knows all medical stuff and can treat people. I have faith you'll finish it before the showcase." It had been a while since they talked about Baymax.

"Yeah, I hope so." Tadashi said as he looked over their shared projected, her pet project he reminded himself. "Isn't working too well."

"I was thinking about it the other day." She said as she took out a sketch book. "Was thinking of a kid friendly look."

"Kid friendly?" He seemed confused.

"Well, I thought about it in use." She explained. "Victims of fire, small children, PTS or whatever, people will be in fight or flight. They need something to make them feel safe. Robots don't really seem that cuddly."

"I see your point." He glanced at her. She slid the book towards him.

"Few ideas." She smiled softly.

"How's your project?" He noticed that she didn't seem happy.

"I can change skin, but not eyes."

"I like your eyes."

"Their red." She snorted. "I look like a demon."

"Fox spirit."

"What?"

"A fox spirit." He smirked at her as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, is this a good spirit?" She wondered as she pulled out her phone.

"I think so." He said as he grabbed her phone from her. It was like something had clicked in his mind. "You're like Kuzunoha."

"Oh, is that someone important?" Her eyes narrowed as she tried to remember the name for later. "Do anything special?"

"She's like you." He eyed her softly.

"Tst, that didn't answer my question." She pointed out. She stood up swiftly. "I'm leaving. Have a meeting in the morning about skin altering."

"Good luck with that." He continued to gaze at her softly.

"Thanks." She pulled on her coat. "I'll see you next weekend."

xxx

"Who is she?" Hiro asked.

"Who's who?" Tadashi said as he walked into their room.

"The girl your seeing?" Hiro smirked. "Or is it a guy? I won't judge. I'd be cool with it either way."

"It's not like that." Tadashi frowned. "It's just work."

"Just work." His brother didn't seem to believe that. "What kind of work?"

"Stuff."

"Cuz that tells me everything." Hiro rolled his eyes as his brother fell onto his bed.

"I think she'll pull out soon." Tadashi sighed.

"Why?"

"I told her something stupid." He buried his face in his hands.

"Couldn't be that bad."

"I told her I thought she's like Kuzunoha."

"Thought you said you didn't like her?" Hiro snorted as he worked on his new bot.

"I said it's not like that." Tadashi pointed out.

"You called her a beautiful, other worldly being." His little brother shook his head. "How is it not like that?"

"Because I didn't know what I was saying."

"Well, how'd she take it?"

"She didn't understand what I was saying." Tadashi sat up. "She was confused. She didn't know what a fox spirit is or who Kuzunoha was."

"How'd you explain it?"

"I said She's like you."

"So, you like her." Hiro laughed. "A lot"

"Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"What are you working on?" Tadashi asked. "You're not going to do something stupid or you?"

"Don't make this about me." Hiro rushed out. "Tell me about her. Is really other worldly?" He was mocking his big brother. A pillow came flying towards his head. "Hey."

xxx

That night June flipped through the photo albums once more. She was nearly done with her slide-show. She paused when she noticed something. How could she have missed it? She took the picture out of the book and sighed. It was the only photo she had of Dashi and her. It was the only thing she had to prove he had been in her life. She slowly turned the image over and wrote something on the back of it.

She took the picture and put it into one of her books. She wondered what become of the boy. Did he recall her? Did he miss her? Had she mattered to him? She doubted that. How could she meant anything to him when she hadn't said a word to him? She frowned at how hopeless she was in love. She was never going to find someone to love her at this rate.

She was broken from her somber thoughts by the beeping of her phone. She glanced at her cell. It was her sister, April. Something was wrong. June needed to go at once. She didn't have time to think to think over that she was doing. She shot out of the lab and raced down the street into the darkness. She didn't know the horrors that she would face. She only thought that protecting her family and before there for them in their time of need.

xxx

He didn't see her for several weeks. She hadn't spoken a word to him or anyone else. In fact, she seemed to just drop off the map. She didn't go to classes and she didn't stop by the lab or pick up her phone. He was sure that she hadn't been to her apartment from what her neighbor said. He was about to reach out to her sisters when he found her on his door step. She looked like she'd been crying. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting. She was shaking, possible due to the sitting out in the rain in the middle of the night. He imagined that she most have been cold.

"Fox spirit?" June muttered as she slowly stood up. She was saying the words like they had so much meaning to them.

"Yeah," He said as he moved to cover her with the umbrella.

"I think that fits me well." She glanced around. "They called me Ghost growing up, but fox spirit... that fits me much better." She had a far off look in her eyes. "That fits me too well."

"Where have you been?" Tadashi sounded pissed. "You just ran off, without a word."

"Yeah, I kind of did." She smirked as she bit her lip. "Kind of had to. Family matter came up."

"You should have-"

"I should have what? Told you?" She cocked her head to the side. "You're not my boyfriend. Not even sure if we're friends. It's not like we ever do anything but work and study." She had a point. "I didn't have to tell you anything."

"Why are you here?"

"Because even though I didn't have to tell you a thing," she huffed out. "I felt bad." She touched the back of her neck and frowned deeply. Something bad had happened to her. He could tell that much.

"What's wrong with your neck?"

"I'm going home." She snapped out of her thoughts. "I need to...check on stuff." She lied. She looked him over before slowly walking out.

"I missed you." Tadashi called out to her. She turned to smile at him.

"I thought about you the whole time." She blushed slightly. Her eyes seemed sad. "You were a real ray of hope on the whole... thing."

xxx

June placed a bandage on his face. The robot had attacked him. What was this? The thirtieth failed test? She frowned as she fished through the medkit for something. It was clear that he was in the dog house. She all but slammed the third bandage on his arm.

"Hey, be gentle." He whined. "I'm all but broken."

"You are an idiot." She gritted her teeth. "That thing could have killed you."

"It didn't." He pointed out.

"What if it did..." She tried not to cry. "Your so selfish!" She shouted at him as she stood up.

"What?" He roared. How dare she call him selfish? "How am I selfish? This is going to help people."

"What about me?" She pointed at herself. "I...I can't loss you... I don't..." She covered her mouth. She broke down crying.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he took her in his arms. " Shhh, it's alright. I'm going to be alright." He promised her as he kissed the top of her head.

Xxx

They were at the school lab. June was writing something down in her notebooks. Honey was working on some formulas. Tadashi smiled softly as he watched Jane open up three more books and turn look through it. She was working out some problems for their class assignment. Machines weren't really her strong point, but she was amazing in bio-chem.

"You should ask her out." Honey stated as she glanced towards the woman in question.

"I doubt know." He sighed out. "I don't want to ruin things."

"I think she likes you."

"Well, of course she likes me." He pointed out. "If she didn't, we wouldn't be friends."

"You know what I meant." Honey pouted. June looked up at them and frowned as the blonde touched Tadashi's arm. "You should ask her out before someone else does." He frowned. He didn't like the sound of that.

Xxx

"It's a date than." Tadashi heard some man say to June. He looked to be several years older than her, but that didn't mean she couldn't be interested in the man.

"Better not be late than." She giggled. It seemed that she was nervous.

"Yeah, better not." The man eyed her carefully. "That guy..."

"Just a friend." She rushed out. "Nothing there."

"Alright, that's good." The man smiled. "Because I'd hate to see something bad happen to him."

"I would too." June muttered as she bit her lip.

"Just don't be late for our date." The man frowned at her. "We have a lot to talk about."

Was she dating that guy? Tadashi didn't know what to say to her. He hid behind a trash can as the two parted ways. Had Tadashi missed his chance?

xxx

Tadashi couldn't believe it. He had done it. He had finished Baymax. He had made it work. This was going to change the world, not like June's pet project but it would change the world. He couldn't believe that he had made it work. He wanted to share this moment with someone.

He rushed out of his lab to tell everyone the good news and found Honey, Fred, and June talking. Without thinking, Tadashi picked up June and spun her in the air. He crushed his lips onto hers after placing her on the ground. He quickly turned to his friends with a wide grin.

"I did it! He works!"

"Yeah," June whispered as she touched her lips. "Go you." She was in shock. Everyone was.

"I can't wait to share this with my brother." Tadashi added. "I have to go and tell... Be back later." He said before running off. They heard him screaming in the hallway.

"He kissed you." Fred grinned.

"Yeah," June nodded her head.

"That's-" Honey started to say something but June cut her off.

"Nothing." The albino blushed. "A mistake. He didn't mean to."

"I-"

"Sorry Fred." June went on to say. "I have to go." She didn't want them to see her cry.

xxx

Six weeks later nothing really changed in their relationship. In fact, everything went back to normal. Either one brought up the kiss. It was like it never happened. It was as though they had never kissed. A part of her wished they had talked about it or that he even knowledge that it happened. Instead he spent much of his time talking about how Hiro wanted to go to their school.

"So, everyone is helping him out?" June asked as she put a mug in front of him. She was kind of hurt.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a mess." He laughed.

"And you're taking a break here?" She eyed him carefully. "Don't you ever just go out, see a movie, date someone?"

"Don't you?" He watched her shrug as he sipped his tea. It was clear that something was bothering her.

"Guess not." She replied.

"Hm, well." He pretended to think the matter over. "There's that film you wanted to see... and everyone agrees I need a few hours of down time." She looked shocked that he was implying they go out together and see a movie, like a date.

"Oh, you want to see The Thin Man?"

"Not very, but you do."

"I guess I could go out." She sighed. "Not like I'm getting much work done. I only mastered skin change in a few colors and I haven't gotten it approved for human use yet."

"Well, I'm glad that you aren't hot pink any more." He recalled. "You finally look almost normal." He noted that her skin was still too pink, though he imagined that she felt more normal now than she ever did before. "I missed the natural you."

"You saying I'm pretty or something?" She bit her lower lip as she blushed softly.

"Come on fox spirit." He quickly stood up. "Let's go see that movie."

"Not even going to answer? How rude!" She pouted slightly.

"We could stop by that Tia place you like." He said as he made sure he had his wallet.

"Can't go there." She reminded him. "I asked not to come back because they thought I was an ill omen."

"Oh, how about that... pasta place?"

"I could do with some noddles." She smiled. "But only if dinners on you."

"Fine." He smirked at her.

"Cool." She rushed to her phone. "I'll get the tickets." He frowned as he watched her play with her phone. He had no doubt that she was order their tickets. He had wanted to pay for the whole thing. He had wanted this to be a date. Maybe, he should have made things more clear. Hiro was right. He totally liked her a lot. It made him stop thinking clearly.

Xxx

Tadashi glanced at her as she looked over the menu. It was clear that she was nervous. People were looking at her. Small children were giving her odd looks. She was hiding her eyes from them in hopes they wouldn't cry. He sucked his teeth. This may not have been the best idea.

"It's fine." She said pulling him out of his thoughts. "This is normal."

"Still..."

"I'm okay being the freak." She muttered softly. "A monster to kids. It would have happened no matter where we went."

"I think your beautiful." He said just as the waiter came.

"What?"

"Ah," The waiter looked at between the two and froze on her. "Your? Your-"

"Yes, I know." Her sunglasses were close at hand. It seemed that bright lights bothered her, such as sunny days, and it made people more comfortable around her. "If you'd like, I could cover up my eyes. Whatever you feel more comfortable with." She tried to sound like she didn't care. Her fingers played with the edge of her glasses.

"No, it's not that." The waiter blushed. "Daffodils."

"Oh, that." She turned a deep shade of red. "I didn't know anyone saw that. I mean I thought some would, but not enough people that someone would know it was me."

"It's not favorite." The waiter blushed harder.

"I'll tell my sisters you loved it."

"Are they signal?" He asked her much to Tadashi's shock.

"Uh, well... kind of." June tried to get out. "What's wrong with me?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Aren't you on a date?"

"No," She stated at the same time Tadashi shouted "Yes."

"I mean no." Tadashi corrected himself. "This isn't a date."

"He has a girlfriend. She's like super tall and always in heels." June stressed. "I feel so short next to her in flats that I've been wearing heels all the time for the last several months straight. I don't even know if I can walk in flats anymore. It's been like over a year."

"Honey's not my girlfriend." Tadashi said as he tried to think over why she thought the blonde was. "Did she say something?"

"No, but your always together, like next to each other and stuff." June explained. "Plus, Fred said that you two had a thing for each other...or something. I just thought you were together."

"Aren't you dating that guy?" Tadashi pointed out. "Why are you hitting on the server?" He than felt like an ass. Hadn't he just wanted this to be a date when he thought she could be seeing someone, though he hadn't been sure?

"I'm not dating anyone." She pouted in thought. "Why did you think I was? Was it Alistair? Did he say something to you?" Alistair Krei had been a man June had spoken of a few times. She had been talking to him about funding their work and possibly testing it out. She didn't seem to like the man much. She always rolled her eyes and wondered how he was so great. He was nothing like her father she would say time and time again. "In fact, father would hate the way he's been acting." She muttered one day.

"Krei?" Tadashi watched as she nodded her head. "What does he have to do with-"

"Did he spoke with you?" She snapped. "He always does this. He always pushes people away from me or pays them to watch me. Uh, I can't stand him." She rolled her eyes.

"Isn't he-" The waiter seemed to want to say something, but June swiftly stood up, slammed her fist onto the table and caused the man to take a step back.

"I'm going to rip him to pieces next time I see him." She sat back down and sighed. "I don't understand him at all. He says he wants nothing to do with me than blows up my phone. He's driving me crazy!"

"Uh, he is?"

"Yes!" June crossed her arms. "All that money and he still... uh. No wonder no one asks me on dates and my sisters go out all the time. I had to be his favorite." She cursed to herself. She glanced at the server. "Can I get a Cape Cod? I could really use one."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I want to have fun and forget all about him." She told Tadashi in a firm tone. "Let's just have fun."

"Okay." He didn't know what else to say or do.

Xxx

Once they made it to the movies, things had settled. They were both in better spirits. He hadn't cared for the film, but she had enjoyed herself. It had been a nice evening. It was fairly warm, but not too warm. It was a good night for ice cream she said as they walked down the street towards her apartment.

"I think that it's still a bit too cold for that." Tadashi pointed out.

"Can I ask you something?" She blushed softly as she watched a few people laughing in the distance.

"What?"

"Could you stay the night?" She asked shyly. "With me that is? But not sexual! I mean not that I don't want to... I mean not that I'm not willing... I mean to say that your attractive but I'm not into... not that I wouldn't. I would, but... I'm just going to stop talking." She buried her face in her hands as he laughed. He found her cute. It wasn't often that she rumbled like that, but she was cute when she did.

"Yeah, I'll stay over." He finally said. "May I ask why?"

"You'll think it's stupid." She reasoned as they stood outside her apartment building.

"Nah, I'm sure I won't." He promised.

"I can't shake this feeling," her eyes were feel of worry. "A feeling that something bad is coming. Last time I felt like this, I was kidnapped and the time after that nearly died. I just don't want to be alone."

"Wow, kidnapped?" Was that why she disappeared? Or had that been something else?

"Yeah." She waved the matter off. "We were six and it was a long time ago. But when I feel like this, something bad happens to me or around me."

"It'll be fine." Tadashi promised her. "You'll see. Everything will work out."

xxx

She readied the sofa for him to sleep on. Two pillows, a base sheet, a second sheet and a quilt. She felt rather bad about asking him to stay with her.

"It's fine." He smiled at her. "I'll be right here if you need anything."

"Thank you." She whispered to him before she left to get ready for bed. He would never understand how much this meant to her as she slid behind a door. "Sleep well."

"You too."

xxx

Fire. June saw flames dancing around her. The fire was all around her. There was no way out. The flames reached to touch her, but she fell backwards into her shadow. It was dark and endless the world of shadows, a never again blanket of black. She had felt like she had been in this strange dark world before.

Her red eyes darted left and right as she stood up tall. She noted that her breasts were wrapped in white bandages and she wore a bandage like skirt as well. She glanced at her bum to find a white tail and touched her head to feel for her ears. They weren't at the side of her face, but had transformed into fox ears on the top of her head. This was odd. In her dreams, she never appeared like this unless...

"June..." She heard a gentle voice call out to her. She knew the man from somewhere, but couldn't place it. It was like trying to recall a good dream. It floated into her mind and quickly faded.

She slowly stepped towards the voice and a bright light filled the darkness. It hurt her eyes as it forced her backwards. She heard the sound of locks opening and a man screaming at her. Everything was so loud and bright. She couldn't see or hear anything clearly. The man was pulling at her to move. Her eyes went wide at the sight of blood. He was bleeding. He was hurt.

"Stop! NO!" She shouted. "No! Stop!" She begged. He was blocking someone from getting to her, from hurting her. "No! NO! Stop it! Stop it! No!"

"Save him..." The man whispered to her as she sat up screaming.

Tadashi rushed to into her room and quickly wrapped his bare arms around her. She was shaking and sobbing into his chest.

"Don't leave me." She begged him. "Please, don't." She glanced up at him with wide, sad eyes. "Please." The words hung in the air as he slowly moved back to look into her eyes. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she liked with those puppy dog eyes. He felt a tug at in his heart.

"I'm not going anywhere." He told her in a firm but gentle manner. "I swear it."