Hello, how is everybody? I'm doing fine here, because it is semester break! In other words, faster updates...maybe...hehehe...

I'm glad that everyone's enjoying this story, or so I thought. Let me keep that thought...I don't wanna know if anyone hates this story of mine. I got the idea for the cover for this story during my Hospital Management exam. Weird name for a subject, right?

Okay...enough babbling for once. Thank you for reading, following, favoriting(?) and reviewing my story! ENJOY! ^^/

Chapter 3

"So…he asked you on a date?" Gogo reconfirmed.

"I guess…if that's what you two think it is…" Alicia replied, sighing.

It was Saturday. Gogo and Honey were helping out Alicia with her homework. They were at the Public Library with Kate, but the younger girl was hanging out with her friends there. When Kate was heading to another section in the library, Alicia suddenly opened up a topic about Hiro asking her out last week.

"But, I think he has been liking for quite some time," Honey remarked, with a persuasive nod.

Gogo agreed. "He was staring at you right after you greeted us at the entrance of the café," she said.

Honey gazed the girl deep at her eyes. "What's holding you?" she asked, concerned.

"The thing is…I can't really go out with anyone," Alicia confessed.

Gogo and Honey looked at each other before turning back to Alicia. They waited for her explanation. The youngest of the three sighed.

She started her explanation, "My parents is very, very strict. The last time my brother brought his girlfriend home, they turned her down. As in, rejected her and my brother had to break up with her. If I were to date or even just a simple hangout with a guy, I'd have to let them meet him first…"

Gogo jaw dropped, shocked that there were such parents who practically control every activities their children. Honey kind of understood why they did that. Alicia is still young and she exposed too much about couples and dating.

"Okay, let's put that aside," Gogo said, staring hard at Alicia.

Alicia nodded slowly to her. "My parents are like that and I can't change them…" she muttered.

Gogo stopped her before she could say more. "Well, do you like Hiro?" she asked.

Sighing yet again, the brown haired replied, "I've only known him for almost a month and the title he gets is my boss' nephew. Nothing more than that. I don't know if I like him…or not…"

"So, you don't know your feelings towards him?" Honey asked, reconfirming what she had just said.

"I guess. Look, I'm sorry for bringing this up, okay? My homework won't get itself done if we keep on talking about Hiro…" Alicia changed the topic and continued reading the assignments she was assigned.

"Right. Let's finish with the homework and then, discuss about this…" Gogo agreed.

"Just, get your parents to like him…" Honey suggested, before turning to look at the Biology text book.

After dinner that night, Alicia sat in the living room with her parents. She had told them that she has something to discuss with them. Her mother and her father sat opposite of her so that they could look her in the eye as she talks. Asch was busy wiping the cleaned dishes but he glanced up at them once in a while.

"So, is this something important?" her father asked.

"Y-Yes. A guy just asked me out…" Alicia spoke up and then, chewed on her lower lip.

Her mother looked panicked. "Did he ask you to do something bad? Did you agree on this invitation?" she asked.

"Darling, calm down," Mr Koizumi said to his wife.

His wife nodded and obeyed. She kept quiet, giving out a reassuring smile to Alicia. Alicia replied with a small smile. She turned to look at her father. Mr Koizumi leaned closer to her in his seat.

He said, "Can you tell me more about this guy?"

Taking a deep breath, Alicia started to tell them about Hiro. "He's name is Hiro Hamada. He's as old as me, a boy genius…you, I mean, we practically know everything about him. He is a hero, father, mother…"

"He asked you on a date?" Mrs Koizumi exclaimed, shocked.

"It-It's not a date…he just a-asked me out…" she explained, turning to her father, "I never said 'yes'…"

Mr Koizumi nodded. "I know. You would have never said 'yes'…because you know the rules, right?"

Alicia nodded. The husband turned to look at his wife. The wife smiled and nodded to him. He was the only one who understood what she could have meant. He turned back to look at his daughter.

"Then, follow the rules…" he said with a small smile.

"You mean… He… I… We…" Alicia was speechless.

Mr Koizumi nodded and his wife said, "Yes, honey. Ask him to come for dinner. We want to meet him in person."

Beaming, the girl hugged her mother and thanked her father. She rushed upstairs, eager to call Honey and Gogo to tell them the news.

The next day, Alicia came to work a bit late, leaving Hiro to help his aunt like always. When she arrived, she quickly apologized, changed into her uniform and started her work by minding the cash register. She was glad that Aunt Cass wasn't angry at her and that Hiro was around to help that day since it was a very busy day. Alicia and Hiro's eyes met for mere seconds and they smiled at each other before minding their own business again.

"Alicia, why don't you go clean up the table at the corner?" Aunt Cass said to her, pointing at the table.

"R-Right…" the girl replied.

She dragged herself to the table and started picking up the cups, glasses and plates. Hiro was watching her all the time. Her small physique kind of attracts people's attention, or so he thought. She went to do the dishes after that, but before she could, Aunt Cass asked her to serve a cup of coffee to a customer. She said that the customer requested her to do so. The customer was a male, wearing a hoodie to cover his head and face. Alicia cautiously went up to him with his coffee.

"Your coffee, Sir…" she stuttered, serving it on the table.

"Oh, thank you," the customer said.

Recognizing the voice, the girl almost flipped. "Asch! What are you doing here?" she whispered in anger.

"I promised father that I would watch over you. If you want to keep this job, I have to keep my end of the deal too," Asch explained.

"Is that why you're wearing a hoodie? You're scaring me…" she whispered back.

Chuckling, he changed the topic, "Nice outfit."

He eyed her from head to toe. Blushing furiously, she stomped her way to the counter. Asch kept on smiling to himself. He caught sight of Hiro staring at him and raised his right hand to the boy as a kind gesture. The black haired boy quickly walked to the kitchen. He bumped into Alicia on his way. The girl almost dropped the tray she was holding. He caught it for her. He gave out a sheepish smile.

"Where is this going to be taken to?" he asked, rather jumpy.

"Uhhh…the blonde lady sitting alone by the window," she replied.

Hiro nodded. He made his way to the lady to serve what she ordered. Aunt Cass handed Alicia another order. This time it was a customer, sitting next to Hiro and his gang's favorite spot. She took a deep breath and started walking. She was walking fine when suddenly, she tripped and feel forward, accidently tossing her tray. The tray smashed into Hiro's face, who was coming her way. The coffee spilled onto his messy hair with the cup on his head, the donut hung up his nose and the plate fell and broke into pieces. Alicia's face turned red out of embarrassment. Hiro calmly took the cup on his head as well as the donut on his nose. He giggled to himself before turning to look at Alicia's flustered face. She took out her handkerchief to wipe the coffee dripping down his face.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to… I-It was…" her words were interrupted.

"It's okay...heh," he chuckled, "I'll just go change my clothes in my room. Can you clean up the mess?"

Alicia abruptly gazed into his eyes, a bit dazed. Hiro smiled to her. He patted her head and went on his way to his room. Alicia started cleaning up the mess she made. She could feel some cold stares from a few customers. They must have been angry at her for throwing a mess onto their idol or something, she thought. Asch glanced up at his sister once in a while. Once she was done, she headed for the kitchen.

"Alicia, honey, why don't you go see if Hiro needs any help with anything. I'll finish up here," Aunt Cass stopped her.

"Aunt Cass, I don't think I should… I mean, a guy and a girl, in a bedroom…" Alicia replied, worried.

"It's okay. Hiro will never make a move on you. I trust you wouldn't too…" the woman looked the girl in the eye.

Alicia smiled weakly and nodded slowly. She cautiously took the stairs to Hiro's room. When she took the last stair, she didn't know whether she should go in there or not. She pondered fore a few seconds. Then, she took a deep breath and stepped onto the floor of his bedroom.

She spoke up, "Umm…do you need any help?"

Hiro's head was covered with a towel and his back was facing the girl. Alicia stared at his bare back and slim arms. She faintly blushed before turning away. Hiro turned to look at who was speaking him. He was surprised to see her.

"Oh…I-I t-thought it was A-Aunt Cass…" he said, faintly blushing.

"Umm…s-she asked me to c-c-check up on you…" Alicia stuttered nervously.

"It's only been 5 minutes. Man…she worries a lot…" the boy said, putting on a blue t-shirt.

Alicia turned to face him. "Well…she kind of helps me out by making me come up here. A lot of people were staring at me…" she muttered, walking around the room.

Hiro sighed, sitting on his bed. "Those people are always like that," the boy replied, staring at her, "S-Sorry…my room's kind of messy," he changed the topic.

"Oh, it's okay. My older brother's room is more or less like this too," she replied with a smile.

Hiro nodded to what she said. She observed his computer and looked the posters on his wall. Some of them were about the Big Hero 6. Alicia spotted one poster about the grand opening of Tadashi Hamada Hall. There were some crumpled papers on his desk, probably new sketches of some sort. Hiro watched as she looked around his room. Then, she spotted his Megabot, may be the one he used to use for bot-fighting.

"Is this your Megabot?" she asked, pointing at it.

"Huh? Y-Yeah, that's mine, though I hardly play with it anymore…" Hiro replied.

Alicia nodded. She suddenly remembered about her conversation with her parents last night. She walked up to Hiro, clasping her hands together. Hiro suddenly felt nervous when she was right in front of him.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Ummm…my-my parents ask-asked if you c-could join us for d-d-d-d-dinner tomorrow night. W-Would you like to?" she asked, smiling awkwardly.

Hiro gapped at her invitation. Alicia smiled nervously, awkward of what she has said. She waited for his answer. It took him a few minutes to snap back into senses.

He stood up, rubbing his hands on his pants and said, "S-Sure. I'd love to, i-if they re-really want me to…"

She lighten up after that. "Ohhh…thank you, thank you…thank you! My family's looking forward to get to know you better," she said cheerily.

"I'm glad," he said, smiling, "So…will you tell me more about your family before I meet them?"

"Sure, I'd love to…ummm…" she was about to start her story when they heard a call from the living room.

"Hiro! Alicia! What are you two doing so long up there? Don't tell me you've fallen asleep!" Aunt Cass called out.

"We're coming, Aunt Cass!" Hiro called back.

"Guess my story has to wait…" Alicia muttered.

Hiro nodded. He took the stairs to head to the café with Alicia following behind him. When they got there, Aunt Cass was beaming happily like always but some customers were giving Alicia cold stares. She glanced up at Hiro. The boy smiled reassuringly to her, as if trying to tell her that she shouldn't mind them. She nodded and started her work again.