"Heads up!"
Sparing only a second, Tadashi ducked as one of Go Go's disks went shooting by, sparing his head by an inch. She went to where her disk was now protruding from the wall and pulled it out, examining its edges before turning to Tadashi with a cocked brow.
"What's going on with you? Normally you're the one chewing my ear off about safety and yet here you are with your head in the clouds, just asking to be beheaded," lectured Go Go.
"You paint quite the pretty picture," said Tadashi as he slowly got up from the floor. "I think your aim could use some work, unless… I was your true target all along," he added with an overly-dramatic flair.
"Haha," she said sarcastically. "Quit trying to change the subject, why're you actually here? Honey, Fred, and Wasabi went home a long time ago, so why're you still sticking around?"
"Whhhaaat? I'm offended. Can't a friend stay behind while their other friend tests her equipment?"
Go Go gave him an unamused look that said she wasn't buying his story.
"Sigh fine, I'll tell you. It's Hiro," Tadashi admitted.
"What, did he replace your shampoo with hair-dye again?" she joked.
"No!" shouted Tadashi as he grabbed his hair in paranoia. "And don't remind me of such dark times."
"Well you were certainly the talk of the university with joker green hair," she said with a chuckle.
"Anyway, this isn't about my hair products. Hiro's been acting strange, always looking tired and coming home late. With school out of the way I'm not sure what he does outside of home for hours on hours."
Go Go stared at him in boredom as she chewed her gum and blew a bubble.
"Would you quit staring and say something already?"
"Wow," she began, "you can design, build and fully automate a healthcare robot but you can't figure this out?"
"Please enlighten me," said Tadashi.
"He's 14," said Go Go, as if Tadashi wasn't aware of his own brother's age.
"And?"
"Aaand genius, he's probably just out having fun. You've been 14 before, I'm sure you understand that most 14 year olds don't like to be cooped up at home," she explained.
"Hmm, I don't know Hiro isn't exactly your…average kid," pondered Tadashi.
"Maybe, but I wouldn't worry, he's a smart kid I'm sure whatever it is that he does, he'll be safe about it."
All around him crates, glasses of beer, poker chips, and discarded bits of bots were flying around the place. And being the scrawniest and smallest one in a full-on raid was not the best situation to be in.
He definitely should have done his research properly, should have made sure the tournament was scheduled through the appropriate channels, that only verified clientele (such as himself) were aware of the event and only they could be allowed entry.
But he got lazy, he let excitement at finally finding a local tournament cloud his judgement, and was now on the verge of a panic attack as the San Fransokyo police department had the place surrounded and were trying to arrest anyone they could get their hands on.
"Keem 'em busy!"
Startled by the yelling, Hiro looked over to see Yama, one of his fellow bot-fight gamblers running towards a nearby exit as he left his henchmen to deal with the cops, in his right hand was his prized bot 'Little Yama'.
Was it cowardly and Distasteful? Yes. But it was also smart and exactly what Hiro needed. Taking advantage of his small size he silently followed after Yama, which wasn't hard considering how loud his heavy steps were.
Through sheer luck both made it out into the alleyway, with Yama leaning against a railing to catch his breath, though their rest was short-lived as a bright light shone on them.
"You two, hands where I can see them!" shouted a police officer who was brandishing a flashlight in their face.
"Two?" Yama muttered in confusion.
Hiro quickly wrapped his hoodie around his face and sprinted down the opposite direction, jail was bad but letting Yama see him was worse, especially considering the fact that Hiro was partially responsible for him landing in jail last time.
"Hey! Get back-" the officer tried to get by, but unfortunately, Yama's large stature was blocking the officer, and with how narrow the alleyway was, there was no getting around. The officer sighed as he had to weigh the options of chasing after him and risk losing Yama, or being content with capturing at least one person. He chose the latter.
Hiro didn't bother letting up his head-start, there were bound to be more officers and he knew he wasn't out of the woods just yet. Up ahead he heard music booming out of a club with neon-lit signs and dashed inside.
Before the bouncer could get out a word Hiro flashed his library card, knowing full well it was too dark and too fast for the bouncer to even make out and slammed a couple rolls of cash in the man's large hands. That had been almost all of tonight's winnings but he knew staying out of jail was worth every penny.
"Enjoy," said the man as he stepped aside and let Hiro in, pocketing the money as he did.
"Wow, this place is packed, huh?" said Honey.
"Not surprising, this club only opened last week and reviews are already pouring in," said Go Go. "You okay though? I know this isn't your usual style."
Honey Lemon was far from her usual lab look, which Go Go was so used to. She'd replaced her yellow sweaters for an all-black outfit adorned with punk band logos. While Go Go wore ripped jeans and a leather jacket.
"Pssh, I'm totally with it," assured Honey as she bumped shoulders with her friend. "And besides it's been a while since we've had a girls' night, it'll be fun."
"Alright, but don't go too crazy. I'll grab us some drinks, you want anything? Honey?"
"Oh… yeah sure," said Honey distractedly as she continued to stare away.
"What's up?"
"I'm sure it's nothing but… doesn't that guy look a lot like… Hiro?"
Go Go followed her line of sight and saw someone sitting over at the bar, his small stature and tousled hair definitely seemed familiar.
Hiro, unbeknownst of the two women, was busy pestering the bartender for another Melon Soda, one of the few things he recognised from the menu. He'd been there for a little while, but still didn't feel comfortable leaving just yet, he wanted to play it safe and spend some more time before daring to step outside.
"Sir, this is the 6th one I've given you, are you sure you don't want to try anything else? I'm sure I can mak-"
"I'll have another Melon Soda please," he said stubbornly.
The bartender gave up trying to change his mind and began preparing his drink, she'd felt a little offended at the lack of order variety, after all one of the main things the club was known for were their exotic drinks, and she felt maybe the customer doubted her abilities. But in the end he tipped well and was content drinking in silence, at first she'd been a bit spectacle about his age, but she'd seen her fair share of customers coming in different shapes and sizes and checking IDs wasn't her job anyway.
"Thank you," Hiro said as his 7th drink was placed in front of him. He slumped down in his chair, playing with the umbrella straw in the drink when he saw something in the glass' reflection. Walking up to him were Honey and Go Go, two people who knew his real age, knew he definitely wasn't supposed to be here, and even worse, would likely tell Aunt Cass and Tadashi.
Not wasting any time he stood up abruptly, making sure to keep his back to them and not let his face be shown. Though his awkward posture caused him to walk straight into another club-goer, and nearly spill his drink that he forgot to put down.
"Easy, easy! We got enough for everyone!"
Hiro looked up to see a tall woman with tattooed arms waving shirts, while a group behind her was fine-tuning their instruments. He realized this must be the debut night of a band, and sure enough the band's logo, a flaming coin being flipped, was imprinted on each shirt as well as the woman's left arm.
"Crap, where'd he go?" muttered Go Go as she continued glancing around, she was about to give up before she saw Honey crouching down near the band.
"Hiro! It is you!" Honey exclaimed, shaking his shoulders without realizing it. "What are you doing here and WHAT are you drinking?! she asked, trying to snatch the drink out of his hand.
"Relax, it's just Melon Soda," hissed Hiro, making sure to keep his voice low as others nearby shot confused looks at them. "Just come."
Hiro led them to a less crowded part of the club, away from prying ears.
For a moment, Go Go just stared at him with her arms crossed, trying to wrap her head around this bizarre situation. "Mind explaining what you're doing here? Or how you even got in?" she asked.
"I umm… heard this place opened recently and I really wanted to check it out," lied Hiro, it wasn't the most believable story but it beat the fact that he was only in here seeking shelter from the cops who raided an illegal gambling tournament that he was very much involved in.
"In that outfit?" asked a sceptical Go Go.
"B-burning Change!" blurted out Hiro loudly, startling both women, he'd finally managed to peek at the band's shirt name.
"I-It's a band I like, today's their debut night and I really wanted to see them play in-person. Look, I even got their shirt," explained Hiro as he began showing them the object that cost him the remainder of tonight's winnings.
"Burning Change?" questioned Honey as she examined the shirt's design. "Isn't this a bit-"
"Lemme see that," interrupted Go Go as she swiped the shirt.
Hiro watched anxiously as the two whispered to each other, until finally Go Go nodded and walked off, leaving him with Honey.
"Come on, Hiro," she said as she grabbed his arm and led him outside the club. The bouncer suddenly became very interested in the carpet as the duo walked by.
"Look Hiro, you're young and I'm sure you want to… let you inner-punk out. Is that what the kids say these days? But anyway, sneaking into clubs and ordering from bars isn't the way to do it."
"It was just a Melon Soda," muttered Hiro.
"What was that?"
"N-nothing," stuttered Hiro. He wasn't one for being lectured but he really wanted this conversation to end for another reason. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the cop that had caught Yama was still here, patrolling a nearby alley.
"Now look, we won't go telling your Aunt or brother about this, as long as you understand you can't do this again. And you do understand, right Hiro?"
"Right, of course. Won't happen again, I promise. Look, um lesson learned, but I need to catch the bus home, so you and Go Go have fun, k? Bye!"
"Wait, you forgot your shirt," reminded Honey.
"Thanks," Hiro said as he grabbed it and took off, waving bye. Relief came flooding once he was safely inside the subway heading home. Today was quite the close call and the shirt he purchased would definitely serve as a reminder of that.