Hiro's Age: 6

Tadashi's Age: 12

In Tadashi's eyes, the summer days had just felt as if they were slowly drifting away. They came and went at a leisure pace, and he didn't mind it one bit.

Of course, little Hiro's opinion on the matter at hand was that they were speeding by. It felt as if every day didn't last more than five minutes. Time was just too quick and Hiro felt as if his vacation was abruptly slipping out of his hands.

When in reality about two weeks had gone by since Aunt Cass had caught them disassembling her vacuum cleaner. The Hamada bros had vastly improved the cleaning device, leaving her hooked on the new item. She marveled at how small and fun it was to control the machine with a tiny joystick while stick picking up all the dirt in her home.

Now, at the present moment, Hiro was totally and undeniably bored. It was as if all the plans he had for this summer had been swept under a rug, mainly because Tadashi was being a big lazy nerd.

Anytime Hiro would suggest that they should go outside and play, 'Dashi would counter with, "It's busy in the Cafe. We should wait until it slows down, just in case Cass needs us."

Yet, every time it was practically empty in the cafe, Tadashi would automatically respond with, "It's pretty late Hiro, we can go outside tomorrow."

Right now it was about six in the afternoon when Hiro Hamada had finally had enough of being told to just sit around inside all day. His body was eager to just go out and do something! Anything! He shuffled around on the couch, not even apologizing for kicking Tadashi in his thigh.

"If you're not taking me outside, then I am taking Mochi with me and we're gonna play. Might I add it is going to be awesome!"

Tadashi had spared his little brother a sidelong glance, before returning his focus to the small television in the center of the living room.

It was most definitely not the response Hiro had wanted.

He groaned loudly. Somewhere in the back of his mind he hoped that the noise would distract his older brother from watching the TV.

When he was ignored yet again, the young boy slid his body off of the soft couch leaving himself sprawled out on the floor at an awkward angle. He shut his eyes and evened his breathing trying to calm himself down and not pounce on Tadashi out of frustration.

This was totally not what his summer was supposed to be like. Tadashi had promised him that they would have fun, and so far all they had managed to do was screw up both of their sleeping schedules (at one point) immensely. It wasn't like they had even done anything remotely important at four in the morning to begin with!

Both of the brothers, for some time now had been in an odd sort of block. Neither of them had a single clue as to what to construct. So with the summer days seemingly floating away, the Hamada bros both would stay up during the late hours of the night just talking back and forth across their wide bedroom.

Tadashi would ramble on about an anime he had stumbled upon while channel surfing late at night and Hiro would pretend to be listening. When in reality, while Tadashi was talking about his interests, Hiro would be on his side of the room fidgeting with LEGO blocks. He had somehow felt that it was no longer his duty to listen to his older brother's likes and dislikes when that dweeb couldn't even spare an hour to go outside and play!

Which is the exact reason Hiro had decided to fix his sleeping schedule. It was more or less to get back at Tadashi for not wanting to go out and do stuff.

At that point, Hiro Hamada didn't really care if people thought he was acting childish. All he wanted to do right now was build a wall made of LEGOs, knock it down, and spread all of the sharp pieces around Tadashi's bed. If that darn older brother of his really wanted to be lazy, then he could be lazy with LEGO pieces jabbing into his feet as he stayed up alone throughout the night.

Hiro blearily opened his eyes, not able to see his surroundings clearly. So, the boy scrubbed with more force than necessary at his now closed lids, causing black and purple spots to form inside them.

The six-year-old emitted another sound of pure displeasure while on the floor, as he wiggled himself around like a worm. Contrary to popular belief, even the softest looking rug one could ever hope to find still was not going to be very comfortable. Especially for a kid who seemingly had ants in his pants just about every waking hour.

Tadashi, after he was done staring mindlessly at the TV screen, finally looked down at his little sibling, trying to internally decide if he wanted to spend his day outside with Hiro or do something that would just benefit himself. The latter was appearing to feel like the right choice with each second that ticked on.

"Ta-Da-Shi. Pleeease."

Just as Tadashi was about to give in, the sound of footfalls ascending the stairs broke his train of thought. The brother's both shared a wide eyed look when they realized Aunt Cass wasn't coming up alone.

Tadashi quickly launched his body off of the couch, landing in a heap next to Hiro's bare feet, and causing a thump to resound in the room.

A masculine voice that neither of the brother's could recognize had questioned what the random noise was. At that, an airy laugh had escaped Aunt Cass's lips, as the duo moved by and entered the kitchen, completely ignoring the living room area.

"Ahaha, that was probably one of my nephews. They sure do have a knack for running rampant throughout the house. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Their voices faded away to nearly nothing as they both went further into the kitchen and began to speak in hushed tones. Hiro strained his ears to try and pick up on any bits and pieces of that conversation. Sadly, his efforts were for nothing because apparently all adults in his life were excellent at whispering.

'Dashi regained himself, and lightly poked Hiro's head with his index finger. When Hiro gave him his full attention, Tadashi held his finger to his lips gesturing for him to stay quiet.

Hiro begrudgingly nodded, he really didn't like being told what to do by someone who wouldn't even do what he had wanted for the last few days.

Even though eavesdropping on their Aunt was probably going to be the most interesting thing they were both going to do for the remainder of the day.

Tadashi crawled around Hiro, making his way to the wall that divides the kitchen from the living room. He turned his head to the side, letting his ear get smooshed almost painfully against said wall.

After a few moments of adjusting his body to get comfortable, the realization that Hiro wasn't near him became increasingly apparent. The older of the two fumbled a bit when he saw his little brother crawling on his hands and knees into the kitchen.

Tadashi wasn't sure at this point how to even get Hiro's attention without giving away their positions. He just watched uselessly as the boy disappeared from his sight.

Hiro had managed to hide behind the island in the middle of the kitchen without even being noticed. His ears began to pick up bits of the hushed conversation. Apparently, the man's name was Robert, and he was personally asking Aunt Cass to make his kid a birthday cake? Hiro furrowed his brows, currently unaware that Cass did special orders for birthday cakes other than his and Tadashi's.

The man, Robert, spoke up once more, "If the cake could have a little mechanical gear as the topper that would be great. Abigail has a strong fascination in engineering right now."

Of course Aunt Cass was nodding enthusiastically, adding that she had basic ideas on what she wanted to do for this special order.

"That's interesting," Cass began, a gleam in her olive eyes, "My nephew Tadashi also has a love for engineering! If you want you can stay for dinner and meet the dynamic duo?"

Clearly not expecting a request like that from Cass, Robert shakes his head, laughing, "As wonderful as that sounds, I really need to be getting back home to my own kid. Thank you of course for the offer, Cassandra."

A loud thump echoes from the other side of the kitchen, causing both adults to turn their heads. Splayed out on the floor is none other than Hiro Hamada, who had lost his sense of balance while eavesdropping and had tumbled out into their view. His big brown eyes slowly trailed up Robert's body until they came in contact with soft looking dark blue ones.

A rough tug caused Hiro to slide back behind the island before he was almost completely out of their vision. No words had yet been exchanged even after Cass, and Robert heard feet scamper quickly up the stairs.

She was the first to break the silence, as she tucked hair behind her ear and embarrassingly smiled at the man.

"That would be my nephew, Hiro. Haha…" She trails off trying to gauge Robert's initial reaction. Shock. The older gentleman was evidently really shocked by the nosy little boy.

Up in the bedroom, Tadashi and Hiro crouched at their door frame, anxiously awaiting a noise. Any noise really, just something to assure them that they didn't completely mess up anything or upset Aunt Cass. That was honestly one thing Tadashi couldn't stand, seeing his aunt, his hard working, loving aunt, sad. He would do anything in his power to fix things up as soon as it was okay for him to venture back down.

About five minutes passed by when the sound of shoes tapping against the wooden floor was heard, followed by the soft closing of the café's front door.

Cass sighs, leaning against the stair railing, looking longingly towards the door. 'Dashi noticed her unusually slouched posture, as she stood quietly downstairs. Hiro was about to make his way to her, when Tadashi yanked at his shirt collar, pulling him back into the room.

"Listen, I'll go see what's up. You stay here until dinner is done okay?"

"No, not okay! Maybe I want to see if Aunt Cass is feeling alright too, Tadashi!"

The twelve-year-old face palmed, a short-lived whine escaping his lips. So much for that idea…

"I'll make a deal with you Hiro. If you stay up here, quietly, then we can do whatever you want tomorrow. No strings attached, it's all about you tomorrow, baby bro."

There was no way Hiro was going to pass up an offer like that, seeing as he had been confined to this house for what felt like a majority of his precious summer. Quick to agree, Hiro skipped along to Tadashi's side of the room and fell face first onto 'Dashi's soft bed. He was grinning widely, his mind was already filling to the brim with ideas for tomorrow. Even with one more mischievous plan for today...

Aunt Cass held a knife in her hand as she struggled to unwrap one of those off-brand frozen pizzas. Normally she preferred to make the boys a homemade one, but tonight she just honestly wasn't feeling up to the challenge. Once the plastic wrap was entirely off, she almost carelessly threw the pizza into the oven.

A timid knock sounded throughout the kitchen, just as Tadashi stood at the entrance, unsure if he should enter or not. She looked up at him, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. No, she couldn't show her slight disappointment. She didn't want either of her boys to sense that something was off. There was nothing going on between her and Robert.

Really, all she had wanted was a male friend her own age! It's been a while since she had had one of those to begin with.

Trying not to seem confused at her odd mood change from earlier at the stairway, Tadashi cautiously took a seat at the table attempting to understand what exactly was going on with her. One moment she's looking forlorn, then the next she's smiling as if nothing was really wrong. As if she didn't just look entirely like an abandoned puppy.

After all, Tadashi liked to think he knew his own aunt better than anyone else, but right now he was just at a loss.

"So, um… is everything okay, Aunt Cass?" Smooth Tadashi, real smooth.

She sat across from him at the table, resting her head in both of her hands. Her eyes briefly glance past him and towards the living room.

"Of course it is, Tadashi."

"C'mon Aunt Cass. I know it may not be super comfortable, but you can tell me anything okay? I know how odd it must have been to have Hiro just appear out of nowhere while you were in the middle of…something."

"It was just a business deal, Tadashi. I know I don't usually make side cakes for others due to not really having the time for special orders, but he's been a customer here for a really long time. It's the least I could do."

'Dashi raised his hands in defense, trying not to come off as accusing or anything along those lines.

"No, no, I get that, but you know…" Tadashi stops halfway through his ramble, once he feels a familiar set of eyes piercing at his back from the living room. Smoothly getting back on track, Tadashi promptly wraps up his remaining thoughts with, "You have the right to have your own friends, Cass."

Not wanting to delve deeper into the subject, the young woman smiles saying anything other than an acquaintanceship with Robert really wouldn't have worked.

"He's really nothing more than a customer Tadashi, now that that's out of the way, how do you feel about pizza?"

She gets back up, slips on oven mitts, and pulls the steaming, cheesy goodness out from the oven.

"Mmm, now that my dear nephew is the smell of heaven! And y'know the stench of about 400 calories...if you could smell calories. Not that you have to keep track of 'em to begin with."

At that they both share a loud laugh, Cass almost missing Hiro's quiet entrance.

The younger boy took his seat right by Tadashi, impatiently shuffling around waiting for his plate to be served to him. He was being uncharacteristically quiet, which caused Tadashi to quirk his eyebrow up. If Hiro Hamada was being the reserved one that meant that something important was on his mind.

Something that he was going to blurt out whether anyone wanted to hear it or not.

Once all the plates were served and everyone was sitting down, Hiro asked, as innocently as possible, "Why was that guy with the big nose here? Is he your boyfriend Aunt Cass?"

Tadashi had come very, very close to choking on his own glass of water once that had been said. He swiftly kicked his little brother's leg, earning a yelp from the boy. Even with Hiro shooting daggers into Tadashi's face, the older of the two regained his calm attitude and answered that it was just a business deal.

Hiro gave them both a flat look. Not at all impressed that Tadashi had answered instead of Aunt Cass. He began to pick off the pepperoni from his slice, waiting for Cass to speak up for herself.

Reluctantly enough, she responded, "Hiro, with all the eavesdropping you've been doing today I thought you heard me say that Robert was a loyal customer?"

"I didn't hear you say Loyal, Aunt Cass."

"So you were just listening in on Tadashi and I just now!" She scoffed, a playful look in her eyes, "Honestly, little boy, when will you learn that spying on other people isn't a very good habit at all?"

Tadashi slouched down into his chair, listening to the conversation at hand and hoping Hiro would understand that she was just joking and not at all mad.

"Tadashi was actually the one who suggested we 'spy' on you guys! I was just going along with what he told me to do!"

'Dashi sat straight, his mouth opening and closing trying to form a coherent response.

Even at the end of dinner, the air remained light, and without tension. Hiro was full, happy, and actually a little thankful that Aunt Cass had directly told him she had no plans for any type of future "boyfriend" at the moment.

The six-year-old thought his aunt was too perfect, and that she didn't actually need a love interest. Or apparently any friends her own age because she had him and Tadashi around all the time. Hiro had assumed that would be enough for the time being at least.

The rambunctious Hamada boy did, in fact, have a peculiar way of thinking. Just like he didn't like the idea of Tadashi having any of his own friends, it was nearly the exact same way for his own aunt.

Once Hiro was upstairs and out of earshot, Tadashi offhandedly commented, "You know Aunt Cass, if it matters I think it's okay for you to date."

Cass nodded, signifying that she heard him loud and clear.

"I'll date once Hiro isn't so defensive about me bringing clients over. Which is going to take some time... I'm just glad that you'll be okay with that in the future, Tadashi."

It wasn't something that Tadashi had planned on, ruining his sleeping patterns, but when Hiro had miraculously managed to fix his, a twinge of jealousy made its way into the older Hamada. It's not like he specifically planned to ruin his sleeping patterns this summer! All he had wanted to do was build stuff, there just wasn't enough hours in a day for that!

Which is the prime reason at the start of summer he had decided to drag Hiro into staying up super late with him, because where's the fun when there isn't anybody to talk to in the late hours of the night?

Currently, though, Hiro was eyeing his sleep deprived sibling, who could barely keep an eye open.

"Whaaat?" Tadashi had groaned, allowing his slightly opened left eye to droop closed again.

The sunlight was too much for him right now. Darkness was the only thing Tadashi had wanted, needed even. He had wished for a black curtain to magically drape over his window sill and save him from the warm clutches of the sun.

"Oh no you don't, Tadashi!"

Forcefully, the cozy blankets were yanked to the side, allowing a cool breeze from the air conditioner to tickle Tadashi's slightly exposed stomach. The twelve-year-old curled in on himself, attempting to stay warm, because honestly, he wasn't a fan of being sleep deprived and cold.

"You'll never get your sleep schedule back if you keep sleeping all day!"

"S-so, Hiro?! Maybe I like sleeping?"

"Well, maybe I like going out of the café for adventures! Let's count all of the times we've actually gone outside to do something this summer. Oh, wait. That's right we haven't done anything!"

Another muffled groan emitted from Tadashi, as he embraced his pillow tightly. Sure, the preteen had those constant nightmares, but if he could gather up some peaceful sleep from time to time, then he would almost happily endure them.

Soon enough, he realized that Hiro was one hundred percent serious, and all chances of beautiful sleep had slipped away. If only he could fathom dozing off as someone else awkwardly stared deeply at him, but alas that wasn't going to happen today.

Especially with a rowdy child such as Hiro Hamada. If 'Dashi hadn't decided to move around at that very second, Hiro had already had it in his mind that he was going to jump onto him. This boy seriously had no regard for the consequences that would have come with that poorly thought out action.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake. You can stand down you little monster."

He was not fazed by 'Dashi's word choices, and simply stuck his tongue out before commenting, "Yeah, well now you can go brush your teeth! You've got morning breath!"

Rolling his eyes, Tadashi stretched saying, "Yeah well, it is the morning, and I haven't had a chance to even brush my teeth. So bite me."

Despite popular belief, Tadashi wasn't really a morning person during the summer. As if that wasn't obvious enough. He was in no way a go-getter right now. He undeniably would rather be up in his room hibernating and not moving at all until later that day.

It was their vacation time after all, even before he messed up his sleeping schedule if he was awake early he was sure to be grumpy. While Hiro, of course, was the Not-So-Grump of the two. That kid was seemingly okay with being awake early. (On most days of course.) Maybe it was all the high energy that typically comes with being a kid.

Or maybe it was because he thought there was going to be some grand adventure to go on. (There never was, Aunt Cass just always needed extra hands in the morning time rush.)

In fact even after being awake and somewhat alert for the past thirty minutes, Tadashi still felt pretty dead. Normally he would be concentrated and attentive to his surroundings, but as he stared blankly at the wall everything going on around him didn't seem to register in his mind.

Not even when Hiro was waving a burnt piece of toast in front of his face in a swaying motion. It was as if the young boy was trying to hypnotize, or even wake him up from his trance-like state, with a piece of overcooked bread.

"You're getting veeery awake, Ta-Da-Shi. Not sleepy. No, no, you're wiiide awake now", Hiro had mumbled trying his best not to drop the burnt toast on Tadashi's lap.

Swiftly, the older Hamada grabbed the bread with his teeth, and chomped on a piece, causing Hiro to let go, shaking his hand around.

"You almost bit me!"

"You were waving toast in my face!"

Another voice chimed in from the living room, "And you both are interrupting my soap opera!"

In unison, the brothers both yell back, "Sorry Aunt Cass!"

It took a while for them to both finish their burnt toast, which Hiro claimed he proudly made. The seriously crispy slice of bread left a lingering bitterness in Tadashi's mouth.

Now, he didn't reeeally want to hurt his little brother's feelings, so he forced the food down and chugged a glass of milk.

"What a fulfilling breakfast this was," Tadashi had thought grumpily to himself.

"Now that food is out of the way," Hiro began bounding towards the staircase leading into the Café, "Let's get today started!"

Tadashi had to suppress his sigh, because what he really wanted to do today was be lazy, and maybe even watch TV with Cass. Basically, he didn't have any desire to deviate from his daily summer rituals, but a promise is a promise. What kind of brother would he be if he lied to Hiro again about going out for the day?

"Where are we going to today, Hiro?"

Tadashi had hoped he came off as enthusiastic and not sounding like a monotone robot.

Hiro didn't miss a beat as he jetted down the stairway all while yelling, "We're going to go swimming at the pool!"

Following closely behind, Tadashi answered, "You mean the one down the street?"

Hiro had made a point to exaggerate rolling his eyes, all while hopping around trying to slip on his shoes in record time.

He glanced up at a tired looking 'Dashi, as he said, "No, Tadashi, I mean the pool behind our house."

Ooh, the sarcasm was strong with this one, and Tadashi wasn't very thrilled about that either.

"We gotta get there before all those snot-nosed kids get there!"

'Dashi scratched his neck, looking around the empty café and adding, "Don't forget, you are one of those snot-nosed kids."

"Ha. Ha. Now would you please hurry up?!"

An actual laugh came from him, as he glanced up and down at Hiro.

"You can't seriously be thinking about swimming in your Captain America pajamas?!"

At the sudden realization that the he hadn't changed into swimming shorts, Hiro's entire demeanor had shifted into being downright embarrassed.

"Y-yeah well, you're one to talk Tadashi! Nobody goes swimming in jeans!"

Feeling a little more alert, Tadashi smoothly countered with, "I didn't even know we were going swimming today."

Hiro had always loved to bicker with Tadashi, but he knew when he was beaten. (Most of the time that is.) He also knew that he only had a little less than an hour before icky kids infested the public swimming pool. He apparently did not count himself as a kid anymore, who knew?

Choosing not to acknowledge 'Dashi's victorious smirk, Hiro dashed by him and back up the stairs.

Maybe today would be more interesting than Tadashi Hamada had originally thought. Then again, when Hiro was around things were always interesting.

A/N: Yo yo. Any excuse wouldn't be a good excuse. But its here now. Don't light the torches and hunt me down just yet people. As always thanks a bunch for patiently waiting on my slow updates. The future looks grim with college starting for me in 5 days...but i still have lots of chapter ideas. Its just whenever will i get a chance to write them all?

Also side note im sorry for any errors its like 3 A.M. also fun fact i've legit been writing this chapter since may, and didn't actually finish past the first part up until today. So i've been working on this basically all day today whoops.

And yeeeeah i know Robert isn't a super fan fav, but i thought it would be cool to show him here. Just for a moment at least until way later on. I mean what happened to his daughter in the movie was messed up, so in a way i kinda don't hate him as much.

What you did to Tadashi was totally not cool though Rob.

Once again like...just thanks for the constant support. It's been really cool and i didn't expect to even get to this point.

You guys are pretty rad.

-With high hopes of keeping up with spare parts,

Ironlokitty