**Thank you, sayagirl24 for the help on this chapter, and a huge thanks to Telemain's Daughter for beta-ing it for me! Without further ado, let us continue!**
The team reconvened in Fred's comic room for comfort to discuss the possibilities of Tadashi's healing tears and to eat the pizza Fred had ordered for the group. After speaking for a good hour or so, they decided to call it a night when they noticed Tadashi nodding off in his reclaimed corner of the couch.
Hiro gently shook Tadashi awake before grabbing the two helmets and following the group to the front door. The brothers were almost to the bike when Wasabi noticed their course of action.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you're doing?" Wasabi's voice stopped Hiro's hand midair as he had started to put the helmet on Tadashi.
"Going home," Hiro stated, looking up at Wasabi, exhausted in his own right. "He needs to wear his helmet... though it is one of Gogo's, so maybe it's too big." Hiro looked at the helmet again consideringly, before continuing to secure it to Tadashi.
Wasabi shook his head.
"No. There is no way I'm letting you put a half asleep five year old on the back of a bike." Wasabi reached out to the bike and started to lead it to his van, plucking the helmets from Hiro's hands and securing them to the handlebars. "I can take you both home."
"That really won't be necess-" Hiro interrupted himself with a yawn, "-ary."
"Oh, really?" Wasabi tossed his keys to Hiro, who failed spectacularly at trying to catch them. "I will take you home," Wasabi said sternly, not taking 'no' for an answer, while accepting the keys back from Hiro, who had sheepishly picked them up from the concrete.
Tadashi climbed into the center passenger seat of Wasabi's van as the two older guys managed to get the bike into the trunk after collapsing the back row of seats. Bike secured, Hiro slid into the seat next to Tadashi, checking to make sure he was properly buckled in. Wasabi began driving as carefully as ever, and began to nag Hiro as they left Fred's neighborhood.
"What were you thinking? That was not safe!"
Hiro settled in for a 'Wasabi lecture,' realizing it was going to take a while.
"-And I don't care if there isn't an age restriction for motorcycle passengers in California; a child shouldn't be transported like that until he can at least reach the passenger footrests. Especially not this far of a distance!"
Hiro smiled when he felt a warm weight fall against his arm.
"Shhh, he fell asleep," Hiro whispered as he looked down at Tadashi, whose breaths had deepened and evened out. He moved his arm carefully to wrap around Tadashi, making it more comfortable, and Hiro felt increasing warmth coming from him, though nothing unbearable.
Wasabi relented, deciding that Hiro would only hear what he wanted to hear.
"Long day, huh?" Wasabi chuckled, speaking in a much softer voice, not daring to look back as he kept his eyes on the road.
"Yeah. Lots of adventures. Honey probably has enough pictures to fill a new scrapbook." Hiro looked up at Wasabi. "Do you have class tomorrow?"
"No, I'm off. My ten a.m. was canceled. Why? You need help with the cafe?"
Hiro nodded, belatedly realizing Wasabi wouldn't see it. "That would be very appreciated, yes. You know how Mondays are."
Wasabi nodded sympathetically. "No problem. I'll come early to help open the shop."
Wasabi finally pulled in front of the café, taking an extra minute to park at the curb. He then popped the trunk and wheeled the bike around the side of the building, securing it to the bike stand.
Hiro didn't have the heart to wake Tadashi, so while Wasabi was busy with the bike, Hiro carefully unbuckled Tadashi before lifting him into his arms, being careful not to jostle him. He had known Tadashi was light, but it was still unsettling to carry a child and feel like he was lifting nothing more than a pillow. A very warm pillow.
Wasabi took the house keys from Hiro and unlocked the door, turning on a few lights for Hiro as they made their way upstairs. Hiro carried Tadashi up to his bed, tucking him in before inspecting his own, finding the blankets still damp from the morning and having been left wadded up all day in a cold room.
"I may regret asking, but what happened here?" Wasabi grimaced at the mess.
"It's just water. It was Tadashi's way of waking me up." Hiro regretted not having dealt with it earlier when he hadn't been so tired. He stripped the damp sheets from the bed, which had absorbed excess moisture from the comforter, bundled them up and took them to the dryer downstairs. They weren't necessarily dirty, so there was no sense in washing them.
When Hiro had trudged back up the stairs to his room, he found Wasabi straightening the clutter on his desk.
"Wasabi, seriously?" Hiro had no problem with him organizing his own space, but there were limits.
"What? It's a mess." His cleanliness went into overdrive when Hiro opened his closet to find another set of sheets.
"Dude."
"Look, I haven't really had the time to clean up around here okay? You know, older brother coming back as a five year old kinda messes with things."
"It looks like you haven't cleaned in months."
Their whispers were interrupted when they heard Tadashi shift in the bed. They switched to wild gestures, not wanting to wake Tadashi, but both trying to get their point across as Wasabi tried to clean and Hiro tried to convince him it wasn't necessary. Hiro eventually caved with a loud sigh followed by a quick glance in Tadashi's direction. Good, he hadn't woken.
Hiro begrudgingly helped with some of the cleaning, deciding he would probably be able to go to sleep faster if he did. He put the dry sheets and comforter on the bed and took Tadashi's ripped jeans down to the garbage.
At one point after Hiro returned, Wasabi knocked an unsteady action figure off of the desk he was desperately trying to organize, making him yelp more out of surprise than pain when it landed on his foot. He quickly stifled it, but a familiar inflating noise flooded through the room.
Hiro was quick to attempt damage control.
"Baymax! Shh!" Baymax put a finger on his face, mimicking the noise.
"Yes, Master Hiro." Baymax trudged over to Wasabi, quietly asking how he would rate his pain on a scale of 1-10. Hiro shook his head, looking over and being happy to see Tadashi had remained fast asleep.
"Master?" Wasabi asked. "He calls you master?"
"Yeah." Hiro shrugged, remembering when he had jokingly asked Baymax to call him that after watching a marathon of Batman cartoons, and Baymax had ended up sticking with it, especially when Hiro was being ridiculous. "He doesn't say it all the time, but convincing him not to hasn't worked."
Baymax quickly confirmed no major injury, and performed a quick scan of Hiro and Tadashi before Hiro confirmed that he was 'satisfied with his care.' Baymax then returned to his charging station and deflated.
After another couple of minutes, Wasabi finally gave up on the desk, deciding it was too large a task for one night. He wished Hiro goodnight, went downstairs, and drove away in his van, having locked the front door behind him.
Hiro waited until he heard the click of the door locking before flopping onto the bed and falling asleep where he landed, not even taking the time to get under the fresh covers.
Hiro startled to wakefulness and silenced his alarm as quickly as he could, before checking to make sure it hadn't woken Tadashi. Through the divider, he saw the smaller form stir, turning to his side, but he showed no other signs of waking up any time soon.
Problem averted, Hiro sighed, falling back onto the bed and debating the merits of just sleeping until Wasabi arrived. After a moment of consideration, Hiro sighed again, still not wanting to get up, and forced himself to roll out of bed to get ready for the day.
He had barely made it downstairs after brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower, when he heard a knock at the door. Punctual as always. He welcomed Wasabi in and made coffee for them both from one of the non-evil machines, allowing Wasabi to pour his own so he wouldn't complain about the incorrect concentration of milk or sugar in his coffee.
Once they were both properly caffeinated, they started their usual routine of opening the shop. Wasabi looked over the pastries from the previous day, tossing the ones that did not meet his standards of freshness and putting marked down labels in front of the others. Hiro got a batch of fresh pastries started, and double-checked the sandwich supplies to make sure he had what was needed for the day. Wasabi was not allowed to do the first batch of pastries, even though his normally came out better than Hiro's; he took far too long making sure everything was perfect.
Once everything was relatively in order, Hiro looked to Wasabi, who nodded, before he flipped the sign on the door to 'OPEN', and let in the handful of early morning regulars in dire need of their before-work coffee. The two bustled around, making coffee and selling pastries to the steadily increasing crowd.
After the initial rush calmed down a little, when it was late enough that many customers had left for work, Hiro let himself lean against the counter to recuperate from the mad scramble. Who needed exercise when you were on your feet most of the day? Wasabi chuckled at Hiro when he dropped his head to the counter with an overly dramatic sigh, prompting him to lift his head and childishly stick his tongue out at Wasabi.
Wasabi glanced around the café at the various patrons busy with their meals and chatting to each other. He noticed a red-haired guy lingering just outside the door as if trying to decide whether or not to enter, looking into the shop through the glass.
"Do you know this guy?" Wasabi nudged Hiro, pointing him out. "He looks like he's afraid he'll get struck by lightning if he walks through the door."
"I don't know his name, but I think I recognize him." Hiro shrugged, "I'm pretty sure he came in yesterday." He wasn't completely positive, what with the craziness surrounding Tadashi, but red hair wasn't exactly common in San Fransokyo.
Apparently making up his mind, the guy finally entered and walked up to the counter, ordering a small coffee and a donut. He took a seat at the table closest to the counter while he waited for his coffee to brew, glancing over every now and then, and seemed content to drum his fingers on the table absentmindedly.
Wasabi brought his order to the table, receiving minimal response in thanks.
"Someone's chatty," Wasabi muttered to Hiro when he came back around the counter.
Hiro shrugged as he took more empty mugs to the sink; it wasn't uncommon for the earlier crowd to be less than friendly before they got their morning coffee. Hiro had learned to ignore it: people became nicer once they were awake.
"I'm sure it isn't personal." Hiro swore quietly under his breath when one of the mugs slipped from his grasp and shattered on the floor.
"Yeah, but he just seems a little... off." Wasabi kept an eye on him as Hiro picked up the pieces of the mug and deposited them into the trash before going to get a broom.
"You're just being paranoid. Again." It wasn't the first time Wasabi had thought such things about a customer, and it likely wouldn't be the last.
The morning crowd had mostly filtered out, and the lunch crowd was yet to arrive, leaving them with only one customer in the café: the very customer that Wasabi had been commenting on. He had apparently just finished the last dregs of his coffee and approached the counter to pay.
"Good morning." Hiro smiled at him, accepting the money and counting out the change.
"Morning." He replied, keeping his head a little low, not quite looking Hiro in the eye. "You guys looked pretty busy. Do you not have any other help?"
Hiro was a little shocked that someone had asked; normally people acted like they didn't even notice the lack of workers and just expected to be served as quickly as at a larger scale café. He looked over to Wasabi, who had a similar expression of surprise, before turning back to answer.
"Well actually, my aunt owns the café and usually runs it as well, but she's..." Hiro paused, but decided it couldn't hurt for anyone to know, "She's in the hospital at the moment, so I'm taking care of it for now."
"Must be difficult, huh?"
"It's not too bad," Hiro laughed, "It's kinda fun most of the time. It certainly keeps me busy."
The guy nodded in understanding, causing red hair fall over his eyes, which he absentmindedly pushed away from his face. He looked like he was going to say more, but instead turned to leave, muttering a quick goodbye.
"Come back soon!" Hiro automatically recited the line Aunt Cass had drilled into him when he was younger in the hope that his cuteness would make customers want to come back.
The guy nodded before going out the door, letting it shut behind him with the jingle of bells that had been hung to alert Hiro when someone walked into the café. Apparently, spacing out and forcing a customer to address you first is considered bad customer service.
Looking around the now empty café, Hiro estimated that he had a couple hours before the bulk of the meager Monday lunch crowd arrived. He grabbed a sandwich for himself, and Wasabi created and ate some vegetarian configuration of foods that Hiro didn't even know what to call. It was still before noon, and Hiro wondered if Tadashi had woken up yet.
They both finished their food, and Hiro started cleaning the dishes he had piled in the sink. Wasabi wiped down each of the vacated tables, before turning to Hiro.
"Do you think you'll need any more help today?" He wouldn't leave if Hiro actually needed him, but finals were in a month and every bit of preparation was important.
"No, you can leave if you want. I'm sure you're busy." Hiro washed the unbroken cups, stacking them neatly with the others. "Thanks for helping out again."
"No problem." The door announced Wasabi's departure, leaving Hiro alone in the cafe.
Hiro dried the last dish and was in the process of putting it away when his cellphone rang. A modified clip of "Sail" denoted Wasabi's particular ringtone, which he claimed to dislike, though he secretly found it as amusing as the others had when they heard it for the first time.
- 'blame it on my OCD, baby' -
Hiro wondered what Wasabi might have forgotten, and pulled his cell out of his pocket to answer it.
"Hel-"
"I ALMOST RAN HIM OVER! ohmygod, I didn't see him and he got hit and I need help, Hiro!" Wasabi yelled over the phone at a frantic pace, making Hiro hold it away from his ear to protect his hearing.
Wait, Wasabi hit someone? Hiro was almost out the door when he realized he didn't know where he was supposed to go.
"Where are you?"
"Just down the street from the café. Hurry."
Hiro left the store quickly, almost forgetting to lock it behind him in his haste, and ran down the street.
He quickly found Wasabi crouching next to the red-haired guy from earlier. He didn't seem too badly hurt, since he was sitting up on his own, but he was cradling his arm in such a way that suggested an injury.
Even at the distance he was from the two, Hiro could hear Wasabi frantically asking various questions about his injuries, such as whether or not he had a headache. Hiro pitied the guy, getting hit by a car and then having to deal with Wasabi's neurotic tendencies was a bad way for anyone to start their day.
As he approached the pair, Gogo pulled up on her bike, having been on her way to the café.
"What happened here?" She stopped, leaning over Wasabi's shoulder to see. The guy's face was twisted in pain; dark red blood seeped through the sleeve of his untorn shirt. Wasabi still seemed convinced a concussion was involved.
"Can you remember your name? Spell it for me, er... in English letters."
"Kyouji Shakuzai. K-Y-O-U-J-I..."
"Seriously, what happened?"
"Not now, Gogo."
Hiro decided that it would be faster to have Baymax look over him before they tried taking him to the notoriously busy hospital nearby.
"Alright, let's get him back to the café to see Baymax."
"Hey, wait-"
Wasabi easily lifted Kyouji to his feet, despite his protests. He was careful not to jar the injured arm, which Kyouji was keeping very close to his body, while shepherding him towards the café. Hiro ran ahead to unlock the door before running upstairs to get Baymax.
Wasabi led Kyouji to the back room and set him down on a crate just as Hiro was walking down the stairs with the charging station in his arms. Hiro had been careful to not disturb Tadashi's sleep; the kid was still out cold.
"Hello? Gogo? Where is every-" Honey Lemon walked into the back room to see if Gogo, who she had agreed to meet for lunch, was back there. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"
She was in front of Kyouji in a flash, looking at the arm he was still shielding and holding close to his side. She didn't exactly wait for a response.
"You said your name was Kyouji, right?"
"Yeah... you're- Honey Lemon," Kyouji chuckled humorlessly. "We really need to stop meeting like this."
"Wait, you know him?" Gogo still didn't know what happened, but she was determined to get at least one of her questions answered.
"Sort of, we've run into each other before."
"Literally." It was said under his breath, but everyone was close enough to hear it.
Kyouji was looking nervously at the crate Hiro had set on the floor and was clearly becoming agitated by the number of people in the small space with him. Hiro guessed the shock was wearing off and their guest was wondering why they hadn't taken him to the hospital yet.
"Ow." Hiro said flatly, causing Baymax to quickly inflate. "I need you to scan-"
He stopped midsentence once he turned around to see Kyouji. Golden eyes were wide in panic; his breathing quickened and became shallow. Kyouji shook his head violently, trying to back away, but the crate didn't leave much room for maneuvering. He was visibly shaking.
Hiro was confused as to why he'd be scared; though admittedly Baymax wasn't exactly something you saw everyday. Tadashi had built Baymax in a non-threatening way to avoid scaring people, but it looked like this guy was about to have a panic attack.
"He seems to be in distress. I will scan-"
"No, Baymax. I'm satisfied with my care." Hiro tried to do damage control by deactivating him quickly.
"But he is clearly injured," Baymax protested. Hiro had made it so Baymax was better at following instructions, but he still questioned them sometimes.
"Baymax," Hiro said firmly, "I am satisfied with my care."
"Yes, Master Hiro." Baymax deflated, and Kyouji visibly relaxed.
"We can take you to a hospital." Honey Lemon put her hand on his uninjured shoulder, intending to lead him out.
"No, I'm okay. Really." He let his arm fall and moved his fingers, wincing slightly. "Nothing's broken; it's just a few scrapes. I'll be fine." He stood up as worried looks were passed around the group.
"You should at least get checked..." Wasabi tried to insist, but Kyouji simply shook his head again.
"Really, I'm fine... Thanks though." He looked like he wanted to bolt, cautiously looking at the group surrounding him.
Hiro nearly laughed at how uncomfortable Kyouji looked, thinking it was lucky for him Fred hadn't come as well. His group tended to be a bit overbearing at times.
Honey Lemon reluctantly moved out of the way and Kyouji was finally able to escape the circle that had formed around him. He slightly waved goodbye with his uninjured arm before quickly leaving the café.
"So, what happened?" If Gogo was anything, she was persistent.
Wasabi sighed deeply, leaning against the doorframe.
"Okay, so it wasn't really my fault-"
"Wait, you did that? This I've got to hear." Gogo reached for her phone in order to record whatever Wasabi was going to say in his defense. This was going to be good.
"Gogo! Is that really necessary?" Wasabi was not pleased.
"Yes." She held it out towards him in a way reminiscent of a reporter during an interview. "Start talking."
"No, but- ugh." Running a hand down his face, Wasabi quickly tried gather his thoughts.
"Okay, so I left the café, and I was going to head home to study for finals. I checked my mirrors like five times, but as I pulled forward, he walked out from in front of this delivery truck that was dropping something off down the street. I wasn't going very quickly yet, but it was so sudden that even after applying the breaks... I hit him."
"You hit someone with your car?"
"It was an accident! What was I supposed to do?"
Hiro finally cracked and started laughing.
"I'm sorry," he wheezed, "this shouldn't be funny." But he couldn't stop, even after valiant effort.
"It isn't. He could have been seriously hurt. Heck, he probably is hurt worse than he showed. Why didn't we just force him to the hospital?" Wasabi probably could have managed it.
Tadashi picked this moment to come down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
"What's everyone doing here?" he murmured, still waking up. "What hospit- ow!" Not paying attention combined with being half-asleep resulted in a stubbed toe on Baymax's charging station.
Baymax inflated once again to check on Tadashi.
"He's fine, Baymax." Hiro patted Baymax on the back as he passed Tadashi to make more coffee. The lunch crowd was due to arrive sooner than he'd like.
"Is there anyone else you do not wish for me to treat, Master Hiro?"
"I am satisfied with my care, Baymax."
He deflated once again as Tadashi approached Hiro.
"Again with the 'master'?" Tadashi seemed a little upset, reminding Hiro that he was still angry about the other 'upgrades' he'd done to Baymax.
"It was a joke." Hiro tried explaining, but the stare he got didn't lighten up. Tadashi just sighed and grabbed a blueberry muffin from the counter, wondering how much Hiro had corrupted Baymax by just being Hiro.
"It's not that big of a deal." Hiro mumbled as the coffee machine started, drowning out any other noise.
**A.N. I wrote more after this, but it really wasn't coming to a stopping point, so I am sticking it in chapter 11. Also, I'm going to start doing a couple of one shots for scenes referenced in this story, but not outright told. UPDATE: These One-shots include: Rules and Reasons, and Valentine's Day Mishaps. There's also a side story involving Kyouji called World So Cold.**