84 Times (Big Hero 6 Fanfiction)

Chapter 7: Lucky Cat Café

        "Ooooooooh! Is this your new friend you were talking about, Hiro? She's so pretty! What's your name, sweetie?"

The sudden charisma of the woman surprised Rose upon entering the café, but it didn't take long for her to regain her bubbly composure.

        "Thank you for the compliment, I should be saying just the same to you! My name is Rosabella Nanami, it's really nice to meet you Ms. Hamada. I appreciate you having me over on such a short notice."

        "Oh it really is no problem at all! In fact, come over whenever you'd like! Hiro and Tadashi are always lounging around over the weekends, it'd be nice if you came over and spent some time with them! Besides, it'll be a nice change to have girl around for once. Maybe the boys will actually start cleaning their room to look more presentable."

        "Aunt Cass!" The two brothers cried out in unison. Hiro nudged the woman with his elbow while Tadashi looked away to avoid any eye contact.

Rose laughed and nodded her head.

        "You're too kind... I might take you up on that offer and make sure Hiro and Tadashi clean their rooms."

She giggled and offered a pleasant grin.

        "Come on... I'll show you where we can work..." Hiro spoke softly, the conversation between his aunt Cass and Rose still making him a bit bashful.

        "You two have fun, I'm going to go upstairs and work on my own project." Tadashi grinned and gave the two of them a thumbs up before sprinting up to where Rose presumed his room was.

        "I'll go prepare some snacks then! I'll deliver them to you when they're ready." Cass chirped, her mood now more cheerful than before.

Finally, Hiro led Rose to the garage of the café, though no car was there to occupy the space. In its place were several desks, various computers, and a sofa. It looked like a game room more than anything, but Hiro referred to it as his 'work room'.

It took at least a half an hour or so to finally come up with a plan on how to rebuild the miniature model, but the blueprints the two of them had come up with were fairly spectacular. All the while, Hiro kept track of their ideas in a journal of his, a habit that she found to be a good one. Rose was amazed that someone the age of Hiro could come up with a plan so complicated and intricate. She could see why he was considered a genius. It took another hour to start assembling the figure together, but it wasn't long until the two completed a new and improved model: Mochi 2.0 (name courtesy of Hiro).

        "I've got the snacks!" The sing-song voice of Ms. Hamada suddenly rang through the garage as the door opened. The woman entered with a grin and a tray full of various sweets, treats, and beverages.

        "So what have you two geniuses been up to?" Cass set the tray down on one of the many desks and took a seat next to Hiro.

        "Well so far we've made this miniature model that can actually move with these electroactive polymers in the joints! And with the figure being made of a carbon fiber, reinforced polymer shell and a simple, light-weight alloy skeleton so it doesn't move slowly, this little guy can withstand even being run over by a car! We were going to use lithium-ion batteries to keep it going but Hiro suggested supercapacitors, he said they would charge waaay faster. Either way, it'll last for a long time. Isn't that cool?" Rose breathed out the specs of the model with excitement, the process of creating the figure causing her adrenaline to course through her entire body.

Rose picked up the model and turned it around in her hand a couple of times before handing it over to Hiro, who then allowed Cass to have a closer look. She couldn't help but grin at their accomplishment as the woman began to gush with excitement and an overwhelming amount of compliments at their work. At last, after a torrent of compliments and proud comments, Hiro's aunt left the two of them alone to munch on the snacks she had brought them.

        "I think we did a good job today! I bet you no one else has started on their model." Rose grinned as she took a bite into one of the glazed doughnuts on the plate of treats. She heartily finished eating the dessert without Hiro having said a word. After wiping her fingers on a napkin and drinking some of the sweet tea that was brought, she looked over at Hiro, only to find him staring at her.

Is there something on my mouth? Or maybe I scared him off with my intense love of sweets...

Rose parted her lips to speak, but Hiro beat her to it.

        "Y-Your hair looks pretty today..."

        "..."

        "..."

Rose smiled and leaned over to bring Hiro into a quick hug. He was just too cute to not hug.

        "Thank you for the compliment. I'm flattered, and from such a gentleman as well!" Rose teased, sitting back in her chair to take another sip of her glass of sweet tea.

She continued to watch Hiro as his whole face lit up with joy, making Rose feel a lot better than she did previously on the way to the café. She almost choked on the drink though when the door to the garage suddenly opened again and instead of Hiro's aunt entering, it was Tadashi.

        "How's the planning and building coming along?"

        "..." Hiro looked at his older brother pick up a cookie and take a bite into it before sitting down next to him where Cass had previously sat.

Rose, being in no position to talk as she still had a mouthful of tea ready to be choked on, simply held the cup to her lips and hoped for Hiro to talk instead. Unfortunately, Hiro did not say a word and simply stared at his brother with a small spark of animosity in his eyes. Evidently, Tadashi tilted his head to the side and spoke in a quiet voice that only Hiro could hear. Though Rose did pick up a few words like 'unbelievable' and 'rules'. Despite the fact that she was extremely curious as to what the brothers were talking about, Rose managed to swallow her tea and set the glass down without interrupting their conversation.

At last, Tadashi turned to Rose and smiled.

        "Mind if I join in on the project and help?"