Happy Birthday
Tadashi held around Hiro’s waist, his arms locked tightly against the older boy as if his life had depended on it. It was night by now as Hiro drove his motorcycle along the sides of Sanfransokyo’s roads, the street lights flickering on one by one as the sun dug lower and lower over the ocean.
The traffic being limited near the docks, they drove slowly, looking at the sun setting and the waters growing darker. The young inventor sighed, closing his eyes as he nuzzled his face into the back of Hiro’s sweatshirt, tightening his hold even more. All he got in response was a small grunt from the tall male seated in front of him, making a smile grow on Tadashi’s face.
A small giggle interrupted their silent ride, making Hiro question, “What’s so funny?”
“You..” Tadashi answered, pressing the palm of his hand against the other’s hip, lifting his head up and to the side to peek at Hiro, “I squeeze you and you grunt-- Kinda like a toy, y’know?”
Hiro snorted rather loudly, shaking his head as he pulled up to a stop, glancing back at Tadashi, “You keep calling me all cutesy things-- Like toy and sugar-- Are you hinting that I should have given you sweet stuff for your birthday?” He pushed his bottom lip out in a pout, “Did you not enjoy your birthday present?”
Tadashi flushed, hitting his hand on Hiro’s chest, ordering him to keep moving; which the older boy did, “No! I loved spending the day with you-- And the medical book looks amazing.. It’s the newest copy with the newest diseases!”
Hiro visibly shivered, “I can’t believe a 16 year old would want something like that..”
Tadashi only laughed in response, letting the silence engulf them again. The small hum that came from under him was soothing, allowing himself to close his eyes and think..
The day started out as any birthday would; Aunt Cass called for Tadashi to come down stairs, a little ‘happy birthday!’ to be followed after her fuddling around to get his pancakes ready. He would get up and move to the door, opening it, but instead of almost tripping downstairs like everyone morning, he ran into a body. That body was Hiro Takachiho, a large smile spread across his face and a small squared present in his hands.
Tadashi questioned at first, but was only dragged downstairs by Hiro to start the celebration day. There wasn’t much to talk about besides Hiro’s schooling, and Aunt Cass insisting on the young boy to open Hiro’s present before she had to go downstairs; and so he did. When he did, he just expected a video game, nothing more, but what he saw was something special to him. He nearly choked on air when he saw the book-- The book he’s been wanting since it published with all the updated diseases, cured and uncured. Hiro.. Had been listening?
The small boy looked up towards the older one, his expression showing shock. Hiro merely smiled in returned, his nose scrunching in approval. Tadashi grabbed the book all too excitedly, wanting to rip off the plastic and open it then and there, but the two adults stopped him. Cass explained that Hiro would be taking Tadashi out today and they would be back later for wings and cake, after the cafe was closed.
Tadashi nodded, more happy to have someone around for his birthday than to read alone for once. He hopped off his seat, excusing himself upstairs and going to change. Hiro had stopped him on the second step, having heard his Aunt leave when he did, Hiro followed him and grabbed his arm.
There was something in Hiro’s eyes-- Determinace. The college man spoke, “Happy 16th, Tadashi; you got one chance to do it right, and I’ll make sure it’s one of the best days of your life.”
That had been ringing in the boys ears since then; Hiro promised and brought Tadashi the best birthday he’d had in a long time. They went to Tadashi’s every favorite spot; the park, the bridge, then to a sushi bar for lunch (He found out it was one of Hiro’s favorite place to eat, too!), they even had stopped at the library and rented a few books-- Then they went to the zoo until finally making it to the docks at sunset.
Now here they were, just driving.
Tadashi didn’t mind the pointless driving around, the silence that surrounded them, it was calming. After a long day of talking, joking, and fooling around, the quiet was welcomed. That was until the silence was broken with a light tap on his thigh.
He halted a moment, hesitant to let go of Hiro before realizing they were stopped. He pulled back, rubbing at his eyes when a bright light was shining near them. The boy looked, expecting the light to be coming from the cafe, but was instead was surprised with a large building; covered in glass, a blue orea tracing it with silver piping and roof to hold it all together. Vaguely, he could see the people’s shadows moving amongst the hallways, and a few faces within the room where the window’s were facing out.
Tadashi looked up at the large building as he stepped off the bike, taking his helmet off as he spoke, “..Are we at--”
“SFIT? Yeah, yeah we are.” Hiro seemed smug with his answer as he was already to the steps, hands stuffed in his pockets and leaning on the railing.
“It’s pretty.. I haven’t- I mean-- I have seen this--” Tadashi glanced at Hiro nervously, playing with his sleeve as he walked up to the other.
“I know,” Hiro said lightly, starting up the stairs along side with Tadashi, “Your aunt said something about you applying here for the expo.. Why didn’t you tell me? I could have put in a good word for you--”
“That’s why.” Tadashi said, a smile back on his face once again, “I wanna get in fair and square, no help like that.”
There was a silence for a moment, and Tadashi almost apologized before Hiro laughed, “Of course you would,” He said with a small snort at the end of his sentence, “You’re too good for a little free-be, huh?”
Tadashi just smirked, looking away from Hiro as a small blush faded onto his cheeks, “Yeah, I suppose I am.”
Hiro opened the door for Tadashi as he entered the building, and the small gasp that came from the younger boy almost made Hiro cheer. He had impressed the all straight and proper young man Tadashi.
“Whoa.. I’ve never been inside here,” Tadashi exclaimed, hurrying down the hallway with Hiro at his heels, “It’s so big a-and--”
“Cool?” Hiro asked, leaning so he was in front of the boy now, getting up to an elevator.
A smirk formed on the young inventors face, crossing his arms as he waited beside the other. After a few moments, the elevator dinged; opening the doors. A couple of students passed, side glancing at Tadashi before they kept to their business. He followed Hiro in, grabbing at the back of his sweatshirt as the door closed and he felt as though he could breath again.
“You gonna be okay there, Tadashi?” Hiro asked, lifting his arm so he could peek at the hiding boy.
Tadashi nodded, coming out from the spot, “Y-yeah-- I’ll be alright. Thanks for your concern..”
Only going up the few floors that they needed, they let the quiet be and just listened to the mind numbing elevator music.
When they reached their destination, Hiro seemed more excitable, practically hopping down the hall as Tadashi followed him, a giggle coming from the younger male. He looked around the halls, some doors still open and allowing him to peek in. There was a guy with a nerf gun that shot goo, and a few girls working around a table that could travel and serve people on it’s own--
“‘Dashi?” Hiro’s voice directed Tadashi back towards him; a soft blush invading the boy’s face as he ran up to the other that was stopped at the door.
“What are we doing here?” Tadashi finally asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
Hiro smirked, “Oh.. I just needed to pick some things up, but..” He then opened the door, walking in proudly as he raised his arm into the air, “Welcome to the nerd lab!”
Tadashi stared for a long moment, slowly walking in after Hiro as his eyes wandered the room. It looked so lively, and everyone was doing something-- Was that a flying cat?
“Is that a flying cat?” Tadashi then announced loudly, getting a side glance from the man who was helping the poor animal levitate
The boy didn’t receive a reply, he now noticing that Hiro was out of hearing range. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he tried to rush over to the older boy; only being slightly slowed in his tracks when something flew past him. He walked now, watching the person on the bike hang it up and walk away for a moment.
Tadashi walked up to the bike, Hiro leaning on the counter in front of him smirking, the younger boy taking interest into the well built machinery.
“Electromagnetic suspension?” Tadashi asked, looking at Hiro who just shrugged in response.
Instead, a woman answered, “Yeah, makes for a faster bike.”
Tadashi jumped aside, stumbling into the counter as the older boy giggles; the woman had removed her helmet, grabbing one of the wheels and tearing it from the hold so easily and tossing it aside, “But not fast enough.”
The girl then turned to the two, popping her gum, “Who are you?”
Tadashi stayed silent for a few moments before cracking out a small, “Tadashi..”
She glanced at Hiro, who gave her a small grimace, “Babysitter boy,” She mused, chewing on her gum rather loudly, “Welcome to the nerd lab.”
She trotted off, leaving Tadashi in a daze from her greeting. “That’s Gogo,” Hiro whispered to him, ushering him off towards a larger man this time.
This man looked rugged, large, and ready to lead his friends to victory. Tadashi saw him tinkering at a large pole; wanting to come and investigate, but was only denied by the large man, waving his hands, “Whoa whoa! Stay behind the safety line!”
“Ah?” Tadashi looked down, stepping back into Hiro with a small gulp.
The man looked between the two, raising an eyebrow at Hiro, “And you are?”
“This is Tadashi,” Hiro smiled, grabbing onto Tadashi’s shoulders, “And this is Wasabi.”
“Hey.” Tadashi said quickly, playing with the edge of his sleeve as he looked up at the other.
Wasabi smiled, slipping his safety glasses over his eyes, “Well, prepare to be amazed.”
Wasabi grabbed an apple from his table, tossing it around his back before tossing it forward. Tadashi winced at first, but the apple was soon cut to thin slices before his very eyes.The young man gawked, grabbing one of the thing pieces from the air and looking at it.
“Whoa..” Tadashi started, playing with the apple slice as he walked up next to Wasabi’s work table.
Wasabi started to fix his tools places, smiling, “Laser induced plasma,” He said, a smug tone in his voice.
Tadashi smiled, popping the slice into his mouth and reached for a tool; instead he got his hand smacked away.
“Don’t touch,” Wasabi instructed, “I have a system: there's a place for everything, everything in its place.”
No faster was that mislead by Gogo, grabbing a wrench and hurrying away with it, “I need to borrow this!” She announced, leaving Wasabi in distress and chasing after the younger lady, his hands waving, “You can’t just do that! There are rules--!”
The two boy’s shared a look before Hiro smiled, taking Tadashi’s arm in his hand and walking off again. They were welcomed with a girl rolling in a large black ball, listening to rather loud spanish music. She rolled the ball into a holder on the floor, leaning back on the object until she could see the other two, a wide smile on her face.
“Hiiiro~!” She cheered, slipping off the ball and walking over, “Oh, you must be Tadashi! Hiro talked about you aaaaall the time!” With that, the girl leaned down and kissed both of the young inventor’s cheeks.
A blush washed over Tadashi’s face, his head spinning slightly as he was then tugged along. What did the girl say? Oh god, he couldn’t focus. He watched her, followed her, and nodded as she talked about her experiment. He tried to catch up with what she was saying, but all questions were soon brought to a stop when she nearly burned up his hat.
She smiled, after finishing the warm up, she took the small jar and stuck it to a spray top. Skipping over to the black ball, she spun around it, spraying it in a color of pink. Tadashi followed, standing to the side as Hiro did. The tall woman then grabbed a lever, catching the pink in an air trap and coating the ball.
“Isn’t it cool?!” She grinned, leaning towards Tadashi.
Tadashi smiled sweetly, his face only turning a darker red, “It.. It sure is pink..”
She squealed, hoping on her feet, “Now, for the best part..”
She then did a little skip towards the orb once again, raising her finger for a moment before poking the object. Sudden, there was an explosion of pink, causing Tadashi to fumble on his feet slightly before catching himself on the wall; looking at the woman with wide eyes. She turned, her face covered in pink and removing her glasses.
“Chemical metal embrittlement!” She cheered, her form relaxing finally as she started to clean off her glasses.
“That’s-- Cool!” Tadashi said, jumping in his spot, “Wow, that was amazing-- Uh..”
“That’s Honey Lemon,” Hiro interrupted, leaning in front of the small boy’s view.
“Honey Lemon? Gogo?” Tadashi gave Hiro a confused look, his eyebrows knitting together, “Wasabi?”
“I spilled wasabi on my shirt one time!” Wasabi announced with some annoyance, barging through a back door to the lab.
“Fred makes up all the nicknames.” Hiro added, a smile on his face.
“Who’s Fred?” Tadashi asked, and Hiro only raised his eyebrow while pointing behind of the younger boy.
Tadashi froze at first, his arms stiffening before he slowly turned his head; being greeted by a large lizard-man’s head. He screamed, jumping into the air and falling backwards. He caught himself on his heels, reeling forward a little as a small laugh came from within the mouth of the beast.
A small head then poked out of it’s mouth, causing Tadashi to suck in air and regain his balance. Why did he think it was an actual mutant? Why not ask any other just-turned-16 year olds. He sighed before smiling at the other.
“Hello,” Tadashi greeted the man in the suit, waving his hand slightly.
“Hey, little man,” The blonde male greeted, taking a moment to get his hand out of the restricted costume; but it came with a consequence, his head was covered with the beast again as his arm stuck out of it’s mouth.
Tadashi smiled, shaking the other’s hand as he continued to speak, “The name's Fred; school mascot by day, but by night…” He popped out again, flipping his sign in the air and catching it, “I'm also the school mascot.” A wink following after his introduction.
Tadashi giggled, looking back at Hiro who smirked, shrugging his shoulders as he stuffed his hands into his jacket as Fred then began to talk again. The two followed the rambling boy.
“Wait wait,” Tadashi stopped him as Fred flopped onto his chair, “Are you-- A student here?”
“Nope, but I’m a heavy science-enthusiast.” Fred answered, feeling around besides the lazy boy chair, then pulling out a comic with a man forming into a large lizard-like creature on the front, “I tried to convince Honey to make a potion so I can change into a monster on will;” He then sighed, tossing the comic aside, “But she said ‘that’s not science’.”
Honey was then walking up, Gogo at her side while the blond spoke, “It’s really.. Not.”
“Okay okay,” Fred started, Wasabi now joining the conversation while glancing at Hiro with an ‘oh no not again’ expression, “What if.. An invisible sandwich…”
Tadashi was taken out of the conversation with a small tap on the shoulder, Hiro giving a nod as to follow him. The boy followed, hearing the shared muffle groan between the group of friends.
Once they were in a separate room, Tadashi smirked, “Neat friends you have there.”
“Aren’t they?” Hiro smiled over his shoulder, grabbing a headband from his desk before setting it on his head, “But.. I wanted to show you something.”
“If it’s that headband, I’m sorry, but I’ve seen better.” Tadashi snorted, crossing his arms.
Hiro gave a small smirk, “Sadly, no it’s not just that..”
Tadashi’s smile soon disappeared as he felt something scutter across his feet. He looked down, his eyes widening as the little objects were suddenly wrapping around his legs, lifting him up into the air. The small inventor squealed, grabbing at the air.
“H-Hiro--!” Tadashi whined, trying to keep his upper-half balanced, “What’s going on?!”
A small laugh escaped the college boy, pulling the younger one closer to him and raising him higher into the air with a smirk, “The thing I wanted to show you, of course,” He smirked, lifting his arms and allowing Tadashi’s face to touch his finger tips, “”It’s my invention.”
Tadashi paused for a few seconds before sighing, finally relaxing and leaning his head forward, pressing his cheeks against Hiro’s hands, “You scared me.. I have to admit, these are pretty cool.. What are they?”
“I call them micro-bots..” Hiro’s look turned soft, his smile caring and reaching his arms open wide.
Sudden, the bot’s gave a small shake before they all just fell to the floor, leaving the boy to fall in the eldest’s arms. Hiro held onto Tadashi tightly, his arms tight around the small body as the bots laid on the floor lifelessly.
Tadashi didn’t react much, just wrapping his arms around Hiro’s neck and sighing happily. They stayed like that for a few moments, letting the silence and peace wash over them before there was a small click at the door.
Hiro was the first to let go, letting the other slip a little down his chest before Tadashi finally let go, looking up at the door and seeing an older gentlemen there. He squinted, and when the man was in full view, he smiled.
“Hello, Mr.Callaghan.” Tadashi said, just as Hiro did. The boy’s shared glances as the professor laughed.
“Are you working late again, Hiro?” Callaghan asked, moving past Tadashi and ruffling his hair, “It seems you were making a mess already..”
Another glance was shared between the two, a blush invading Tadashi’s cheeks and Hiro’s soon after. Callaghan chuckled, picking up one of the micro-bots and tossing it up and down in his hand, “Well, it seems like you’re very busy.. I’ll let you two be.”
Dropping the small object, Callaghan left the room with the two still fighting off the redness in their face.
“So..” Tadashi started, his face finally resorted back to it’s normal color.
Hiro took off the headband, glancing back at Hiro with a small grin, “Wanna.. Head back to my place?”
The color didn’t stay away too long; and it covered the boy’s cheeks once again as his smile grew, “I’d love too!”
--
“You’re 16.” Hiro stated, his throat making a sound as if he was choking.
“You’ve said this 5 times today, and it’s only a bother now.” Tadashi looked up at the boy who was leaning over him, his arms outstretched on the floor, “You’re not an adult yet.”
“That sounds weird. Don’t say that,” Hiro side, rubbing his eyes with the balls of his hands before leaning forward again, putting his hands on either side of the boy’s head, “How do we keep ending up like this..”
“Like what?”
“Confused and hurt. I tried so hard,” Hiro stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breathe, “I just.. I tried hard to make it a good night, but I couldn’t stop this. I couldn’t stop from.. Doing this.”
“Hiro--” Tadashi sat up, Hiro following in his wake and leaning back as the boy grabbed his cheeks, “”Hey. This one was all on me. I started it when we got in--”
“-- So I end it?” Hiro more said than asked.
The older boy looked almost lost as he stared at the other, and the young inventor couldn’t help but blush with the eye contact. He wanted to speak up to Hiro, tell him yes, tell him that wanted it to end he’s been wanting it to-- He was being selfish.
Tadashi sighed, merely leaning forward and laying a kiss on Hiro’s cheek, “No. I don’t want you to end it. At least not like that..” He’d win Hiro over, “I want you to feel comfortable. So, let’s watch those movies?”
Hiro nodded slowly, a smile on his cheeks as he moved back to lean against the couch instead of sit on it. Tadashi joined next to him, crossing his legs and sighing.
“Y’know..” Hiro spoke softly under the noise of the tv-- Tadashi will win him over, “I’m really glad.”
“About what?”
“That I didn’t do anything,” Tadashi help his breath as Hiro paused, “I kinda.. Thought I’d need to. But, I’m glad I didn’t.”
Tadashi would win Hiro over, it’d be hard, but he’ll do it.