The Lonely and The Brave

Chapter 3 - Projects -

The next day...

Kira did not want to get out of bed that morning, even though she had a couple of classes that day. She felt too upset to go without either a.) bursting into tears, or b.) screaming at someone for everything they did, which would be very unfair. She really had no intention of leaving her room until she got a video chat request on her phone from Honey Lemon. It got annoying after 3 rings, so she finally picked up.

"Hey..." She mumbled. Her eyes were red and puffy, signaling she had been crying recently.

"Rose Petal..." Honey started, "No... You seem upset, so I'll just call you Kira."
In the background, Kira could see GoGo, Wasabi, Fred, and Tadashi.
"Kira.... What's wrong? We only want to help you. We're friends, you know. You can trust us, right guys?"
She heard the rest of the group say yes, none of them smiling. It hurt all of them when someone they cared for was upset.

"Thanks for trying to look after me..." she replied, "But... I just... Don't feel well is all."

Suddenly, the camera was taken from Honey and Tadashi was the one on the screen. "Kira, you know you can trust us with anything," He repeated softly, giving her a gentle smile.

"Tadashi..." She closed her eyes, "I just... Want to be alone, in all honesty..."

"Well, if you aren't coming today, drop by the café and see if Hiro needs any help with his project. He wants to enroll at SFIT now."

"Will do, Hat Hamada," She chuckled lightheartedly, then held up her hand to wave goodbye, "Bye guys."

"Bye."

Kira ended the call and placed her phone on her nightstand, staring up at the ceiling.

'I'll take a nap first, maybe that'll calm myself down...'

She shut her eyes on hope of a dream-less sleep.

---

Around 1 o'clock, Kira finally managed to drag herself out of bed and made herself look decent before heading over to the Lucky Cat Café. When she walked in, she found Cass working and the place really busy.

"Hello, Cass," She greeted as she walked up to the woman.

"Oh, hello, Kira!" Cass said cheerfully as she helped a customer, "Don't you have class today?"

"They're all over for today."

She lied right through her teeth. She was good at that, so Cass couldn't tell Kira was lying to her.

"Oh, then you must be here to see Hiro?"

"Yes."

Kira could've sworn she saw Cass with a slight smug grin on her face, but she had turned away to help another customer.

"He's upstairs."

"Okay. Thank you Cass."

"You're welcome."

Kira have the woman a smile before heading upstairs. Once she reached the kitchen area, she noticed another flight of stairs and wondered if she should go upstairs again. She looked around the room but did not see Hiro, so she headed up the other stairs. She was led into another room, a bedroom to be exact, and that's when she saw Hiro sitting at his desk, scribbling away on a piece of notebook paper.

"Hey, Moron," she joked, making him jump slightly in his chair.

He turned around to face her, a slightly surprised look on his face.

"Kira?" He asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Class was over for me so Tadashi suggested that I came to see how you were doing with your project, whatever it is."

"Oh, here, I'll show you!"

He held up his paper with an excited grin. On it was a sketch of his design and a couple of notes. She looked confused and asked "What is it?"

"I call it a 'Microbot'."

"A microbot?"

She took the paper from him, reading the notes he had written down for its functions. He had written something down about a "neural transmitter" that would control the microbots from someone's imagination.

"Sounds interesting. You need any help?"

"A lot. I've got so many to make, there's no way I'd be able to finish them by myself. Mind helping me?"

"Sure. When do we start?"

"Now."

---
After Hiro taught her how to make the microbots, they got to work immediately. Kira started making the microbots while Hiro started on the neural transmitter.
"Even though I'm still technically working," she mumbled, "this beats class and people who might annoy me..."

"You say something, Kira?" Hiro called as he looked away from his project. He sat at his desk while Kira sat on the floor.

"Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself about the microbots..."

"Ah, okay."

She let out a soft sigh as she completed her 50th microbot.

"I made 50..." She said softly, clearing bored of repeating the same process over and over, "How many of these do you need? I'm tired..."

He laughed, "If you're tired, take a break. And I'm gonna need a lot more than 50."

"What, like a million?"

"Probably a lot more."

"You've got to be kidding me..."

He laughed again.

"I promise that it won't be just the two of us working on these. Tadashi's going to help, and maybe his friends if they can put these together correctly."

"Good," She stood up and stretched her arms and walked over to him, handing him the microbots, "Well, I'm going to call it a day and head home."

"Already?" He looked up at her with a confused expression.

"Hiro, it's been 6 hours... It's 7 o'clock..."

"What?"

He looked at his computer screen for the clock and she laughed, ruffling his hair.

"Like I said yesterday, and today, you're a moron," She smiled, "But, you did manage to put me in a better mood than I was today. So being a moron has it's advantages. See you tomorrow?"

He blinked, as if he didn't hear her, before shaking his head slightly and grinned.

"Oh, yeah sure. Come over whenever. Although, there's a good chance I'll be working on these in the garage where I have more space, so make sure you ask Aunt Cass where I am first."

"Okay, bye, Hiro."

She started to walk downstairs when she passed Tadashi.

"Oh, hey Tadashi," She said cheerfully.

"Hey, Rose Petal," he replied, "Or is it not okay to call you that right now?"

"Nah it's fine, at least, for now."

"Oh?"
He raised an eyebrow, a smug grin on his face, "Did being with my brother make you happy?"
She felt her cheeks grow warm.

"If you're implying that I like him, you're wrong," she growled, but then a mischievous smile appeared on her face, "Now, if you're going to tease me thinking I like him, I would recommend not wearing any hats to school. It'd be a shame if something happened to them." An evil glint flashed in her eyes and his own widened.
"See you tomorrow, Hamada."
He gulped and she laughed as she walked down the stairs, a satisfied grin on her face.
((A/N: Well, I have nothing to say so... Yeah. Haha))