Chapter 3
*****(Live)*****
Tadashi was sitting across from the restaurant he had showed up at, at a Mexican restaurant. 'I hope Hiro's okay...he probably thinks I'm dead...' he thought to himself while sitting in one of the booths. Keisuke found a Mexican restaurant on the same street that he and Emi had met Tadashi. Perhaps they would see Tadashi here around again. Keisuke wanted to talk to him some more. The three dodged raindrops as they ran inside. Emi looked around and saw Tadashi sitting alone at a booth, quietly. "Hey, there he is." She said pointing at him. Keisuke followed her finger. "No way. The odds are in our favor. Come on Aeiko, let's get a table nearby." "What odds?" Aeiko asked. "What are you talking about?" "Tadashi, that person we met before we had to save you," Keisuke replied. Aeiko didn't like the way he made "saving her" sound like he was forced to save her. "Come on," Keisuke said. "Hey, Tadashi! Funny to see you here!"
Tadashi snapped up from his thoughts and looked up at them. He smiled. "Hey. Yeah, I felt it were probably safer over here then there. Is this your sister?" He asked, curiously while inviting them to join him at the booth. Keisuke accepted his invitation and sat down. "Yep. This is Aeiko Sontaro. She's-" "I'm fourteen," Aeiko interrupted. He smiled softly. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Tadashi Hamada." Emi sat down as well. "Aeiko was nearly in a skateboarding accident," explained Keisuke. "Was not!" Aeiko countered. She turned to Tadashi. "I got too deep into competitive skateboarding and I was almost killed." "Same thing," Keisuke muttered. He set a sample salsa on the table. "Don't know what she was thinking," he added. "Funny. I use to have to save my brother from stuff all the time." he replied. "Really?" Emi asked. He nodded. "Did you ever have to lecture him about doing life-threatening things?" Keisuke asked, giving Aeiko a look.
Aeiko innocently and slowly reached for a chip. "From time to time." Keisuke only nodded and gave Aeiko another sideways look. Aeiko dipped the chip in salsa and took a bite. "Mmmmm, yummy salsa," she said. Emi snickered slightly. "You said you were from Sanfransokyo?" she asked. Tadashi nodded. "What's it like?" "Well, we have bridge very similar to the one I saw in the distance. It also has monorails and trolley cars. Also...bot fights. Their illegal though. We also have Sanfransokyo institute of technology, at which I am a student." he replied. "That sounds amazing." Emi replied, smiling. Tadashi smiled softly and nodded. "It is...but I can't help but miss my brother. I'll probably never see him again..." "What happened-" Aeiko started, but Keisuke silenced her with yet another look. "Um, what are 'bot fights'?" he asked instead. Embarrassed, Aeiko dipped another chip into salsa and ate it silently, staring at her brother the whole time.
"It's a competition where the competitors make robot and then bet on them to see who wins the fight." he replied. "Wow. Seems intense," Keisuke said. Aeiko agreed, her mouth too full to say anything. But she felt an odd sensation on her tongue. It wasn't painful, so she ignored it. "We do that with skateboarding," she said when she could speak again. "We go to skate parks and pay people to race them," "She did it much to our chagrin again tonight," Keisuke said. "And almost got killed in the process." "I didn't know they might actually go through with it," Aeiko protested. She ate another chip. Her tongue felt very strange and her throat was getting raw. Tadashi nodded. "Sounds like something my brother might do though he's more interested in robotics." "Cool," Aeiko said. Her voice came out sounding like a croak. She could barely feel herself breathe.
"Are you ok?" Tadashi asked her. "I'm fine." Aeiko answered. Her tongue felt swollen the size of a golf ball and her throat closed around the words. "I'm just-". Aeiko broke off, unable to breathe. She took in huge, empty gasps of air. "I...Cahnt breef!" she gasped. "Holp!" Keisuke stood up so fast, the salsa tipped over. "The salsa!" he shouted. "Aeiko's allergic to salsa! Someone get some help! Call 911!" Just then Aeiko slumped to the floor, unconscious. Tadashi quickly stood and Emi called 911. He knelt beside her and started thinking of different things that would allow her to breathe again. People around them started surrounding the fallen girl. "I've got an EpiPen if she needs one!" A plump, middle-aged lady announced. "She can use it until the ambulance comes." The lady triumphantly held up the medical device that she had grabbed from her purse. Tadashi nodded his thanks, still thinking. 'If only I had Baymax...' he thought to himself. The only thing Aeiko remembered during her blackout was seeing a blurred image of paramedics surrounding her, then a surreal image of the keychain passed in front of her. She didn't remember anything else, and the keychain remained hidden until she found it a few days later.
(Everytime they see Tadashi something comes up. Lol)