Chapter Eight

Usually, Hana spent her Sunday evenings in her pyjamas, eating Chinese takeout, and watching her favourite comedy shows. It was her 'take it easy' kind of evening, since she hadn't made many friends yet in the city. Just a relaxing night with her funny shows.

Tonight was not one of those nights.

Instead of a television screen, big brown eyes were staring at her and blinked curiously, causing Hana to fidget a bit. An adorable chubby cat rubbed its cheek against her calf and she reached down to stroke its head. While she did, those big brown eyes followed her movement and god, she needed to strike up a conversation.

"So…Hiro, right?"

"Yuuuup." The boy popped the 'p' at the end and didn't say anything more.

Oh man, this was so awkward she could cut through it with a butter knife. Just how did she end up in this situation?

~ Earlier that day ~

"Hey, Hana, could I talk to you for a second, please?" Cass said, poking her head out from the kitchen. Hana's head swiveled around while washing one of the steel pitchers and nodded, worry washing over her body. Once Cass disappeared into the kitchen again, Hana stared at Angela with the widest eyes.

"Why do you think she wants to see me?" Concern yet a bit of fear seeped through her question.

"Not sure. Maybe she knows you want to tap Tadashi's ass." Angela joked, giggling.

Hana, however, was not amused as she put the pitcher on the drying rack. "That is so not true." Okay, maybe a little, but that wasn't really important right now. "Maybe I forgot something during inventory check."

"I think we tripled checked before we wrote everything down." Angela patted the shorter girl's shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry so much and go talk to her."

"Right…yeah." Steeling herself, Hana walked into the kitchen where Cass was putting a tray of cookies into the oven. Wiping her hands dry on her apron, Hana walked over to her boss and smiled. "What did you need to talk about?"

"Are you busy tonight?" Cass asked, closing the oven door and smiling at the young girl.

Busy tonight? Hazel eyes blinked curiously and she shook her head. "Not tonight. Did you need me to work overtime?"

"Yes and no. This might be a wild thing to ask and feel free to say no. You can totally back out of this if you want." Cass cleared her throat. "Would you be able to babysit Hiro? Tadashi has a study group and I have to go somewhere tonight. I didn't know who else to ask."

Babysit? Hiro? This was a whirlwind of information at once. But Cass's smile and hopeful eyes really won her over and Hana couldn't help nodding her head.

~ Present ~

Right…that was how she got into this. Cass had been so delighted and had promised to pay her for this as well. She even left money for dinner if they planned on ordering food.

And now, here she was with Hiro and their cat, Mochi. Hiro just staring at her and Mochi curled at her feet. They'd been like this for twenty minutes and she had no idea how to start up a conversation with a twelve year old.

"So, what grade are you in?"

"Eleventh grade. I'm graduating next year."

Scratch that, a genius twelve year old kid.

"Really? That's amazing." Hana smiled sweetly at the young boy. Hiro offered her a small smile, but the same silence fell over them and he opted to just stare at her again. He didn't seem nervous at all whereas she sat there fidgeting and trying to think of something to do or say. It wasn't her first time babysitting. No, there were times back when she was still back in her hometown and she had to babysit some neighbourhood kids. That was in the past though. Now, she was older and sitting in front of a super intelligent almost-teenager.

"Are you thinking of going to the same school as Tadashi?" Hana spoke up, hoping she could clear the ice.

"That nerd school with the nerd himself? Nahh."

"You call that place the nerd school?" A delicate eyebrow rose up and the corners of her lips tugged upwards, even though she tried hard to fight the giggle that forced its way up. Oh, now she was incredibly amused. Hiro's brown eyes twinkled and a boyish smile appeared on his face too. When he smiled like that, she could see the resemblance between him and Tadashi. It was actually really adorable.

Hiro's shoulders eased as he leaned back into the sofa chair and rested his laced fingers on top of his stomach. "Yeah, only nerds go there."

This time, the giggle escaped and the nervousness began to disappear. "Oh really?" She smiled widely. "Aren't you the twelve year old in junior year?"

"But I'm so much cooler."

"Yeah, you're a pretty cool twelve year old." Hana grinned. "If not college, what do you want to do?"

The moment she asked, he leaned up excitedly and she noticed how his eyes brightened up with that young, boyish charm. "Bot-fighting."

That was sort of unexpected, but it seemed both brothers loved robotics. Though, one was in a robotics school and the other wanted to do robot battling things. "Isn't that illegal?"

"No, no. Betting on it is illegal, but bot-fighting itself isn't." There was excitement in his voice as he began explaining the specifics of bot-fighting to her. He looked like a young boy on Christmas morning that just and it warmed her heart. There definitely was a resemblance between the two Hamada brothers.

"Wait, wait. You guys have work station lab thingy in your garage?"

"Yeah! I can show you sometime and the stuff I've been working on."

Hana giggled and wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. "Oooh, is this a date?" She was totally joking, but it got Hiro stuttering and blushing like crazy. The awkwardness that had hung in the air before had dissipated completely and now it was as if it had never occurred. Talking became easier, and the joking and teasing came naturally to both of them. This must be what it felt like to have a younger sibling, huh?

"W-what? No way! Ewwww! It's not a date. You're crazy." He sputtered with bright red cheeks and he crossed his arms over his chest childishly. She was sure if he could, he would've stomped his foot as well.

She really couldn't help herself. Laughter bubbled out of her and she had to clutch her stomach because it started to hurt a little from the laughter. His expression was cute and priceless at the same time.

"I know, I know. I'm kidding, Hiro." She grinned and she reached over to ruffle his already messy hair before standing up. "So, how's about we order some pizza? Then maybe after we can make cookies or cupcakes?"

The pout didn't leave his face, but he nodded. "Okay, fine. Pizza sounds good, but don't forget to ask for extra cheese."

In a few minutes, the pizza was ordered and she had pulled Hiro put from the sofa chair and into the kitchen. Digging around the fridge – she had asked Cass for permission beforehand, of course – she grabbed two heads of romaine lettuce and instructed the younger boy to wash it for her.

"This is child labour, you know." Hiro grumbled, but nonetheless did as he was told.

Hana chuckled as she chopped some tomatoes into wedges. "Oh, c'mon kiddo, you and I both know it's not."

"Don't call me that. I'm not a kiddo." His bottom lip jutted out cutely. "Plus, why are we even having salad?"

"You're younger than me therefore you qualify as a kiddo." She countered while tossing the tomatoes into a big salad bowl. "As for the salad, I thought that it would be a nice side dish. Something healthy to go with the pizza."

"So basically you want to have a healthy side choice while we're pigging out on pizza?" There was a hint of amusement in his question and she nudged him with her elbow, which only had him chuckling. Jeez, this kid. She shook her head while grinning and started chopping up some cucumber slices.

Once the salad was finished, they set up the coffee table with their plates and cups, and not long after that the pizza arrived; two medium pizzas, one loaded with meat and extra cheese, and the other was a deluxe. Thank god for the salad.

After fending off Mochi from having any pizza, Hiro and Hana dug in. They were barely on their second slice when Hiro spoke up.

"Do you like Tadashi?"

The question caught her off guard and she nearly choked on her soda. She coughed painfully to try and let the soda out of her throat as she pounded on her chest. It was a miracle she didn't spray it out.

"What makes you think that?" She wheezed out and her eyes darted to look at the young boy, whom stared at her with half lidded yet curious eyes. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her answer. "He's a nice friend."

"I'm twelve, not stupid." He deadpanned, taking a bite out of his pizza slice. Hana wasn't sure who was worse, Angela or Hiro.

Hana sighed and started nibbling on a cucumber slice. "There's nothing between us. We talk and stuff." Why in the world was she telling a teenager this? Especially Tadashi's younger brother, who seemed to be too smart for his own good sometimes. It was amazing how she had easily opened up to the kiddo even when she wasn't even sure about her own feelings.

"Tadashi's cool, I guess. A total nerd, but he took care of me since I was a baby."

That made her smile softly. Tadashi did seem like that kind older brother type. Even when Hiro was mentioned during their conversations, she could tell how much he cared for his younger brother. That must've been what it was like to have a sibling, older or younger. A part of her was a bit envious of that kind of relationship because she didn't have any siblings.

"Are you guys eating pizza?" A new voice cut through and Tadashi appeared in the living room with his messenger bag on one shoulder. He smiled when he saw Hana sitting on the couch eating pizza with his little knucklehead of a brother. Silently, he thanked the heavens for ending his study group early.

"Mhm, you want a slice? We have deluxe pizza –"

"And meat with extra cheese, right?" Tadashi finished with a smile as he rested his messenger bag against the couch. He disappeared into the kitchen to grab himself a plate and also to wash his hands before he plopped down next to Hana. "So what're you guys talking about?"

Hana's cheeks tinted pink and she gave a nervous laugh. "We were, just, uh, talking about –"

"About how we were going to make cookies after, but I can't because I have something to do. You should make cookies with her in my stead." Hiro quickly supplied, being really smooth. And oh god, Hiro Hamada really was a rascal.

Tadashi nodded and grinned. "Yeah, I'd love to."

A really, really genius rascal.

Hey, everyone!

This is just part 1 of this babysitting gig. Cookie baking time will be the next chapter ;) I'm sort of iffy about this chapter so I might edit it later. But I hope it turned out sort of okay.

Did you hear about the sequel for Big Hero 6 and how Tadashi might be alive? When I read the news, another idea struck me! I know, I know, I'm getting ahead of myself. It's also an AU based on this 'Tadashi might be alive, but not a good guy'. I was thinking of an AU of BH6 and this story, but we'll see! It'll probably be a super short series if I do intend on writing it.

In any case, I would like to thank everyone for their continuous love and support! Thank you so much to everyone who favourited, followed, reviewed, and read this story! Until next time!

~Mari