Night Shift [Tadashi Hamada x Reader[Y/n]]
Summary:
She worked the night shift at the Lucky Cat. He was the café owner's robotics engineering nephew. Neither of them expected that to become anyone else's problem.
Chapter 3: The Wrong Side of Right
"Are you sure that's all you want, Hiro?"
Tadashi asked as he took a matcha ice cream from the cashier and handed it over.
"Trust me, I'm getting the better end of this deal."
Hiro shrugged, accepting it like it wasn't a big deal.
He'd asked if he could watch Tadashi run tests with Baymax at the Nerd Lab, partly to learn more for his upcoming admissions presentation.
It was only his second time there. And this one...
He'd chosen to come.
Keeping Tadashi out of the picture while Y/n worked nights? Easy.
Keeping Tadashi hidden from a screenwriter with the observational instincts of a hawk, someone capable of writing fifty different scenarios from a single awkward glance...
(Or, as normal people called it...
an overthinker.)
That was a whole different story.
Today was a moving day.
Y/n was bringing her things over to Lucky Cat, which meant Tadashi absolutely could not be home.
Because if she found out he lived there too
...there was every chance she'd drop her bags, turn around, and disappear before anyone could stop her.
Hiro had thought about just telling Tadashi the truth.
Then he remembered Tadashi had this annoying habit of being honest.
Tadashi and GoGo actually communicated.
Nothing stayed a secret once Tadashi and GoGo got involved.
There was a decent chance Hiro would end up caught in the crossfire.
So for now...
Keeping everyone in the dark felt like the safest plan.
"HIRO!"
Another blue ball exploded behind Honey Lemon the moment Hiro walked in after Tadashi.
"Tadashi brought his apprentice back." Fred shuffled past wearing his dinosaur head under one arm. "Make yourself at home. GoGo brought ice cream."
"Should I be worried? " Tadashi called after him.
He sounded way too entertained by that fact.
"WHO PUTS AN ICE CREAM TUB ON THE SHARED TABLE WITHOUT A COASTER?!"
Wasabi seemed to be the only one who wasn't celebrating the news.
"Oh..." Hiro glanced down at the half-finished matcha bar in his hand. "Maybe I should've gone with rum raisin instead."
"When did you start liking matcha?" Tadashi finally asked. "You usually have to be reminded to eat actual meals. And now you're voluntarily buying snacks?"
Hiro stiffened for half a second.
"...Puberty?" Hiro laughed. "Maybe?"
"Nice try." Tadashi chuckled. "But you're still too young for rum raisin."
He looked across the room.
"Morning, GoGo."
GoGo was the only person who hadn't said a word.
“I don't think I've ever seen you commit to that much ice cream before. Didn't know you were into comfort food."
"Yeah."
GoGo didn't even look up.
"There's no one left at home to eat it."
Tadashi understood.
He just didn't realize...
Hiro knew exactly where that ice cream had come from.
Maybe even a little too well.
He had a pretty good guess as to who it used to be.
A family-sized tub of ice cream simply didn't belong in Y/n Louv's version of running away. Not when she'd spent so much effort refusing to look vulnerable while being homeless.
This...
This felt much more like GoGo's way of dealing with it.
If Y/n had walked away and left only one thing behind, then this was probably the only thing GoGo could be mad at.
"They just needed one honest conversation."
Tadashi muttered, mostly to himself.
"Conversations don't happen by yourself."
Hiro said quietly.
"What was that?"
"Come on."
Hiro changed the subject before Tadashi could press him.
"I wanna see what directions I can take my project next."
Once the door to the lab shut behind them, Hiro and Tadashi threw themselves back into work, both acting as though the whole Y/n Louv situation had been left outside with it.
It almost worked.
Almost.
Because every time there was a lull, every quiet moment between soldering wires and scribbling notes, Hiro's mind wandered right back to it.
Eventually, curiosity got the better of him.
"So..." he asked over lunch, trying to sound casual.
"Why's GoGo so mad?"
Tadashi shrugged.
"Family stuff."
He left it there.
Hiro just kept staring.
The kind of stare that quietly said, Come on. Keep talking.
Tadashi sighed.
"...I guess I'm partly responsible."
And that was all the invitation Hiro needed.
So Tadashi told him the whole story.
The full version this time.
He was too honest to leave pieces out, let alone lie.
By the time he finished, all he could do was let out another weary sigh.
"GoGo's cousin is still going to school, but she won't answer any of GoGo's calls, and GoGo refuses to go see her. Actually, both way.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"So... maybe that's why I probably should've handled things better."
Hiro tilted his head.
"But how is that your fault? I mean... Why are you responsible?"
Tadashi looked down at his lunch.
"...Because I stopped her from leaving that night."
Hiro stayed quiet for a second before answering.
"Even if Baymax hadn't figured it out then...the anaphylaxis or diagnosis would've happened sooner or later."
That much was true.
Although...
Nearly costing Y/n her transfer to dream university SCU? That part really had been partly because of Tadashi.
Still...
If Hiro had been in her shoes, he probably would've kept it a secret too.
"Come on."
Tadashi gave him a tired smile.
“I built Baymax to make people's lives better. So if he ends up making someone's life harder then somewhere along the way, I failed."
Hiro shrugged.
Typical.
Between the two of them, life had clearly divided everything up unfairly. Tadashi must've used up the entire family's supply of empathy before they were even born. Hiro couldn't imagine caring that deeply about someone else's problems.
Then again...
Maybe that was why people found gossip so entertaining. It was easier to talk about someone else's life than deal with your own.
"So..." Hiro said with a grin. "She must be pretty."
Hiro'd seen her already. At first glance, nothing really stood out. But the longer you looked, the more all those little imperfections somehow fit together... until she just looked right. Somehow, though, the longer you looked, the harder it became to look away.
Tadashi laughed.
"What does that have to do with anything? You think I'd stop helping people just because they weren't?"
He reached over and jabbed Hiro in the ribs. Hiro nearly choked on his lunch.
"...Ow!"
A moment later, though...
Tadashi caught himself thinking about it.
Pretty...?
He wasn't even sure.
He'd never actually seen her smile.
Not once.
He'd only heard it.
That bright laugh drifting toward him while she still had her back turned...
...only to disappear the instant she looked at him.
As though someone had quietly pinched out the little flame behind her eyes.
...
She had a nice laugh.
A really nice one.
Strange...
For something that made other people feel that much better, it had never made it into a medical textbook.
Funny.
Baymax had thousands of treatments stored in his database.
None of them mentioned that.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"...You really don't have to help me with all this," Y/n said quietly as Cass spread a brand-new bedsheet over the frame.
Truth be told, if Cass hadn't insisted...
Y/n had already decided she'd burn through what little savings she had left just to buy one herself.
"Alright, let me show you around."
Cass dusted her hands together before pointing across the café.
"Out front is the seating area. Past that is the dishwashing station. Then you've got the back room with a backdoor from the outside, leading to the stairs going up."
She gestured beneath them.
"And this cozy space under the stairs is yours."
Light is up, no, Harry Potter would’ve been jealous. The bed only took ⅓ of the room, and this one has windows.
"There’s a restroom out front for customers, but no shower. If you need one, you're welcome to use mine."
She pointed to the door beside Y/n's room.
"My room's right here. Your room is under the stairs, so it can get a little noisy sometimes. The good news is the walls are surprisingly well insulated."
She reached for the thick wooden door.
"The only downside is... this thing."
She gave it a hard push.
The heavy hinges let out a long, unmistakable creeeeak.
"So just... don't fling it open unless you want the whole house to know."
Y/n gave a solemn nod.
"Got it."
"If my bathroom's occupied, you can also borrow the boys'."
Cass started upstairs.
"Second floor. Right next to the kitchen."
Y/n followed behind.
"There are only three living here."
Cass smiled.
"But I'm still the one doing most of the cooking. So don't be shy about using the kitchen."
Fair enough.
Between a male teenager...
...and one chubby cat...
There wasn't exactly much competition for stove space.
"It's a gas stove, so just be careful with the flame."
Cass continued leading her upstairs.
"The third floor is the boy's area. There isn't a door separating it, so once you reach the top of the stairs, you're basically inside their room."
She looked over her shoulder.
"So if you're ever looking for Hiro, call up from the stairs first. There are a few things people probably shouldn't walk in on."
Noted.
Thankfully...
Back home, at least Y/n's bedroom had come with a door.
"...Can I leave this here?"
She held up a small notebook before sticking it to the refrigerator with a magnetic clip.
Cass tilted her head.
"What's that for?"
"If I ever have to use any food because I didn't have time to buy groceries..."
Cass didn't answer.
She simply walked over, pulled the little notebook off the refrigerator, and pressed it back into Y/n's hands.
"Oh, enough of that."
Her tone wasn't angry, just firm.
"Do you charge people every time they do something nice for you too?"
Y/n pressed her lips together.
"You've already done so much for me, Ms. Cass. I just think...the kinder people are to each other, the more important it is to keep money separate."
Cass stared at her for a second.
Then...
She smiled.
"Sweetheart...You really don't make things easy for yourself, do you? If you insist on paying people back for every little thing..."
Cass said firmly.
"One day somebody's going to figure that out and take advantage of you."
She reached over and pinched Y/n's cheek.
Again.
For the eighth time.
From halfway down the staircase, Hiro quietly watched the whole exchange unfold.
After spending ten years raising Tadashi and him...Aunt Cass had probably just unlocked her lifelong dream of finally having a niece.
She'd probably be a lot less delighted if she knew this sweet, polite girl had come about one bad decision away from juvenile detention.
Pretty much like the two bOysSss nephews she'd already raised.
"Besides, you're taking over inventory too. So consider the fridge part of the job. You cook, don't you?"
"...I do."
For the first time since walking into the Lucky Cat...
Y/n smiled without looking like she was forcing herself to.
Cass seemed happier seeing her like that.
Hiro couldn't argue.
Guess Tadashi would have to wait his turn.
Shame Hiro’s brother missed that version of her.
Tadashi picked a terrible day to be late for dinner.
_____
Maybe not every problem needed Hiro to solve it.
Y/n and Tadashi would find each other eventually.
Hiro probably didn't need to worry about it that much.
Besides, Tadashi had spent practically half his life teaching Hiro not to live like that.
"Like that" being...
...pretty much Y/n's entire lifestyle. Everything about the way she lived went against every rule model student Tadashi Hamada had ever sworn by.
Tadashi went to bed at ten every night.
That was exactly when Y/n's shift began.
He was up again by seven the next morning...
and Y/n had only been asleep for about three hours.
Eleven in the morning was Y/n's version of sunrise…
while Tadashi had already been sitting through his first class for an hour.
Dinner at 7:30pm sent Tadashi home.
It sent Y/n out the front door.
Usually toward a bookstore, a movie theater, or whoever happened to be free with her that evening for a deadline, a lesson discussing in a public library.
And when Y/n finally sat down for what she considered the last meal of her day, happened at an hour most people would've called tomorrow.
Tadashi had already been asleep for two hours.
Still...
There was only so much you could hide.
"Hiro."
Tadashi held up a brand-new loaf of brioche.
"I already ate half of this. So why is there another one?"
"...Cass probably bought it." Even Hiro didn't sound convinced.
"Cass's been working all day. You and I were the ones who went grocery shopping, remember?"
"...Maybe I bought it. Why are you acting like that loaf did something wrong?"
Hiro shrugged like it wasn't worth discussing.
"Either way, it's fresh now. Problem solved."
Hiro looked away before Tadashi could keep going, and knew exactly what had happened.
As if there was anyone else it could've been. Yeah, there was only one person who couldn't stand owing anyone anything.
Not even half a loaf of bread.
Finish what has been borrowed, then quietly erase every trace she'd ever touched it.
Eat it.
Feel guilty.
Replace it before the crime scene exists.
On the other hand,
Tadashi wasn't even sure what he was investigating anymore. Or why.
He simply toasted three slices anyway.
One for Cass behind the counter.
One for Hiro.
One for himself.
That...
...was when he started noticing the little things.
Nobody in this house cared much about their hair.
Tadashi just let the barber decide whatever looked decent.
Hiro's hair had its own personality. Everyone had accepted that years ago.
Cass's hair was cropped so short that a regular comb had always been more than enough for her.
So...
Where did that expensive-looking pink rubber hairbrush come from? It showed up in the bathroom Hiro and Tadashi shared. It looked like something someone had actually invested in.
There was no way it belonged to Cass.
And it definitely wasn't Hiro's.
Out of curiosity...
Tadashi tried it.
...
Wow.
Whoever bought this had clearly cared about quality. Fred had been telling him for years he'd look cooler if he grew his hair out a little. For the first time...Tadashi actually considered it.
The brush really was that good.
...
The next morning...
It was gone.
The whole thing wasn't nearly important enough to ask Cass about. But, another tiny splinter lodged itself in the back of his mind.
Something...
Somewhere...
Didn't quite add up.
No.
Maybe he should focus on today's problem instead.
Another week passed.
Monday came around again.
"Big day today, sweetheart."
Cass straightened Tadashi's shirt collar.
"You packed the lucky lunch I made?"
"Already did. My presentation starts at one-thirty. If everything goes well… It'll all be over by then."
"Wow. Didn't know you had a shirt without coffee stains.” Hiro wandered past, immediately pulling a face at how much more put together Tadashi looked than usual.
"Just don't forget Baymax this time."
Today mattered.
Honestly… Calling it important almost felt like an understatement.
Professor Callaghan himself had offered to evaluate Baymax.
Professor Callaghan.
Normally, third-year prototype evaluations were handled by faculty instructors. But Callaghan had personally requested to grade Tadashi's presentation, treating Baymax as the foundation of what would eventually become his senior capstone project.
This would be Baymax's first official demonstration in front of Professor Callaghan. The only downside, Tadashi had to present nearly three months ahead of everyone else in his year. Meaning Baymax's first formal evaluation before the review committee...
...was scheduled for exactly 1:30 this afternoon.
"Lucky you, Tadashi."
Fred gave him a solid smack on the back the moment Tadashi walked up to the Motion Capture Studio in a freshly pressed shirt.
"We know you're gonna nail it." Honey Lemon smiled brightly.
"Just don't panic." Wasabi rested a hand on Tadashi's shoulder.
"Don't choke." GoGo answered by punching him square in the upper arm.
Hard.
"Thanks... really."
Tadashi slipped into the restroom to wash his face and tame his hair. The gel clearly wasn't doing him any favors.
Funny.
He'd barely thought about that mysterious pink hairbrush all week
...until now.
He really should've kept that pink hairbrush around.
It would've made this a lot easier.
Today...
Everything had to be perfect.
He reached for the door.
Then a voice outside stopped him before he could push it open.
"I know... don't. No, don't say that. Sorry, that’s so nice… But, whether this was my fault or not, I still have to fix it. Put Rodriguez on the line. Let me talk to-"
Silence.
A long one.
Then smoke drifted through the gap beneath the door. The scent of burning made his eyes sting hard enough that he almost coughed.
"That's not fair. We finally got that appointment AND Rodriguez after four months, FOUR MONTHS, Artie, because I booked it, WE have prepared. We can't just lose it."
Her voice gave out before the sentence did.
A shaky breath.
Another cough.
Silence.
Whoever had been on the other end had already hung up. What’s left is just the faint sound of someone swallowing every sob they could, right beyond the wall.
Tadashi didn't want to intrude. He cracked the door open just enough to make sure he wouldn't walk straight into that person.
Sometimes...
Life really did have a strange sense of humor.
It was Y/n Louv.
She wiped at her eyes with the hand that wasn't holding her phone.It was hard to tell whether she was brushing away fresh tears or just trying to clear the sting left behind by the smoke curling around her fingers.
Even Tadashi had to blink a few times because of how much the air stung. It wasn't cigarette smoke, just dried herbs. The kind people burned because the smoke gave them something else to blame.
Burning eyes.
A scratchy throat.
Anything...
Except tears.
A harmless herb wrapped like a lung-cancer-causing cigarette.
The same mistake was made with her.
"Hey."
He stepped out before he could talk himself out of it. Quietly holding out a neatly folded handkerchief.
Tadashi had no idea what had happened.
He didn't need to.
If she needed someone...
Tadashi didn't know the cause.
He only knew the symptom.
And maybe...
This time...
She'd let someone treat it.
Maybe this time...She'd let him.
Y/n Louv looked up. Their eyes met.
“Hamada."
She knew exactly who he was.
"Thanks."
She took the handkerchief.
It wasn't much. Somehow it still felt like a start. He hadn't gotten it wrong this time.
For once... today seemed to be on his side.
"Smoking right now probably isn't the best idea."
She dabbed carefully at the corner of one eye with his handkerchief.
"You mean while I was making a complete scene a minute ago?"
"I wasn't eavesdropping."
"I know...Sorry you had to walk into... whatever that was."
“Don't say that.”
Y/n straightened her back.
"I'll wash this before I give it back."
By the time she looked back. She'd already put herself back together.
Or tried to.
Her face was still flushed.
Her eyes still betrayed her.
"This building belongs to the Freaks. What brings a nerd all the way over here?"
Before Tadashi could answer, her gaze dropped to the participant badge hanging around his neck, the one for today's evaluation.
Everything about her expression changed.
"So…It's you."
He frowned.
"...Me?"
"'Research projects have priority over coursework.'" She said, while staring at him.
Y/n tilted her head, a faint laugh escaping before she could stop it. Not because it was funny, because it suddenly explained everything.
"So it was really you."
Before Tadashi could ask what she meant, she was already gone.
He stood there for another moment, the conversation replaying in his head, searching for something he'd missed.
Every time he reached for Y/n Louv, he always seemed to arrive one step too late.
____
The presentation went well. He should have felt joy, rather than just a sense of relief.
The others were already waiting for him outside the studio. Since the Art Tech building had a cafeteria nearly twice the size of the one in the Science building, they'd decided to celebrate there. Normally, Tadashi was the only one who insisted on eating lunch back in the lab. GoGo was too lazy to cook. Wasabi refused to eat anywhere that violated lab regulations. Honey Lemon and Fred were always chasing whatever new dish had appeared on the menu. Tadashi, meanwhile, was perfectly content with whatever Aunt Cass had packed for him.
So of course they weren't about to waste an opportunity to drag the cave-dwelling nerd out into civilization.
"Come on, this calls for a proper celebration. Ugh... Tadashi, you seriously brought lunch from home again?" Fred groaned the second he spotted Tadashi pulling out his lunchbox.
"I mostly just wanted to eat with you guys." Tadashi shrugged with a smile.
While everyone else wandered off to hunt for empty seats with their trays...
The thing that was bound to happen...
It happened.
Not immediately.
It started with a voice from the next table, just behind Tadashi, where he was sitting alone waiting for the others to come back with food.
"Enough with this shitty situation already. Maybe we should just ignore whatever she said and go sit with her."
"Yeah, fuck the silent treatment. What's she gonna do? Chase us away?"
A second guy answered.
"River. Apple."
A third voice cut in.
"I'm only saying this one more time. Artemis already told you, didn't she? Who here has known Y/n Louv for less than five years?"
He didn't even wait for an answer.
"She's never hung up on someone in the middle of a conversation. Ever. So what does that tell you?"
That was enough to pull Tadashi's attention over his shoulder.
"Come on, Luca." Another voice chimed in. "Artie thinks that's the real reason you've been hiding instead of going to see her, isn't it? Remember when she brought River an entire bag of potato chips with nothing but the folded ones because those were his favorite?"
"She bought ten bags," River corrected. "Picked out every folded chip herself and put them into one bag... just because I'd failed an exam."
"See?" Apple sighed. "Somebody's gotta help her."
He pointed toward the seat by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the courtyard.
With the quiet caution of someone afraid to be noticed, Tadashi looked up.
She was there, bathed in the afternoon sun, her lashes casting long shadows over her cheeks. Somehow, it made her look even more like someone who had just cried, the kind of smudged mascara left behind after tears. Her eyes, full of sunlight yet distant, drifted aimlessly toward the lawn beyond, while the meal before her sat completely untouched.
That was right.
Someone has to help.
Clack.
Scrape.
Tadashi pulled out the chair across from her, set his lunchbox on the table without asking, and casually nudged her soda can aside to make room. Then he sat down, folded his arms on the tabletop, and looked straight at her.
He made himself comfortable.
Not in the chair but in the decision he'd already made.
He wasn't leaving.
"I'm Tadashi Hamada."
He smiled.
"Tadashi (正) is a single kanji that means righteous or upright. Third-year Robotics Engineering."
He really was trying.
Y/n didn't return the smile.
That was alright.
He'd expected as much.
"You brought your own lunch too?"
He gave his lunch box, a simple meal of rice and spicy chicken wings, a small shake.
Well...
At least she'd looked at him.
That, oddly enough, was reassuring.
Good for Louv. If she had homemade food packed in a lunch box, then she'd probably found somewhere to stay after leaving GoGo's place.
He kept talking.
"Same here. Prices keep going up, and nothing beats homemade food. It tastes the way you want it to, and at least you know it's safe."
"The meal is homemade. The invitation isn't."
She finally spoke.
And that flat, unreadable stare was still there, quietly trying to pin Tadashi down like prey that ought to know better than to move.
"If I've done something to offend you, I'd rather know what it was."
He met her eyes without flinching.
"Because I'm... really sure most of it has something to do with me."
He didn't try to defend himself, and that alone caught her off guard. Confusion flickered across Y/n's face as she blinked, the hesitation lasting no more than a heartbeat before she quietly buried it again behind the same guarded expression.
Apparently...
She turned her gaze back toward the courtyard outside.
Not because she was indifferent.
Tadashi could tell that much now.
Whatever was behind those eyes...
It wasn't indifference.
"My name is Y/n Louv."
She answered at last.
“The museum. Without the r and the e. First-year Digital Film and Video."
"...Nice to meet you."
It was probably the latest two people had ever introduced themselves after meeting.
The bare minimum.
Tadashi didn't mind.
Honestly...
It was more than he'd been hoping for.
"I thought you'd be angrier once you found out who I was."
Tadashi held up the participant badge hanging around his neck, his face, full name, and department printed neatly beneath the SFIT logo.
"Whatever's bothering you... started after you saw this, didn't it?"
Without waiting for an answer, he popped open his lunch box and started eating his rice as naturally as if the conversation could take all the time it needed. He wasn't trying to corner her into answering.
It wasn't what she'd prepared herself for.
Still, staying silent had become just as suffocating as talking, so she finally opened her own lunch box and took a bite from the Vietnamese bánh mì she'd packed.
"Favorites stay favorites."
She spoke without looking at him.
"So let's just say I'm jealous. This is your territory. People like you belong here, so I can't even call it unfair."
A faint, humorless smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Every jungle has its own predators."
Tadashi didn’t understand. By the time he moved on to his second chicken wing, Y/n had already put down the half-eaten piece of bread after only taking a small bite. Somehow, that little amount of food was enough for her to build another two or three layers of walls between them, just to keep him from getting any closer.
“Help me understand.”
His voice stayed calm.
Patient.
"I'm talking about people like you, Hamada."
This time she looked him straight in the eye.
"The ones who belong at San Fransokyo Institute of Tech-no-lo-gy."
She pronounced every syllable with deliberate emphasis.
“People like to believe that the ones who carry the heaviest never speak of the weight.”
She let out a dry cough.
"That's usually coming from the ones who throw a fish onto dry land... then wonder why it can't win a marathon."
Tadashi didn't interrupt.
He wanted her to keep going.
"Do you know what the Pew Research Center reported back in 2013?" she continued. "STEM graduates didn’t just feel like their degrees were more valuable, 79% believed they were, compared to 43% of non-STEM graduates. They were also more likely to get hired right after graduation, with 32% finding jobs compared to 19%.”
Apparently statistics landed better with science students than metaphors did.
"So..."
Tadashi finally spoke.
“So... you’re backed into a corner.”
She gave a small shake of her head.
“That doesn’t give me a reason to take it out on your name tag. Yet.”
There it was.
The anger she'd been holding back.
"First, some clueless healthcare robot nearly destroyed my future AND broadcast my private medical information to an ENTIRE disciplinary hearing. And somehow nobody in that room thought a Film student might be worth listening to over Robotics Engineering's golden boy. Because this is San Fransokyo Institute of Tech-no-lo-gy, remember!?"
She drew a slow breath.
"Then a professor hijacked the studio I'd reserved four months in advance because “potential students are SFIT’s future, so they need it more than Art students who are just doing coursework.”
She lifted both hands, curling two fingers on each side to mock the invisible quotation marks.
So…
'Research projects have priority over coursework.'"
That was the line.
The same one she'd thrown back at him earlier.
"You probably don't know who Dalton Rodriguez is," she continued, "but because someone decided to cut the line, Artemis Kruczynski, our directing lead, ended up losing the stunt performer she’d fought for an entire year to bring onto the coUrSeWorK that same day.”
Only then did everything click into place for Tadashi.
Professor Callaghan had done that.
For him.
"People lose every right to be heard the moment someone decides they're not as intelligent as the straight-A science students."
She laughed again, quieter this time.
"Parents would rather brag about having a dr for a child than an artist."
Tadashi had never felt worse.
"And this isn't even the first time Art students have been treated like we're disposable. My academic record is spotless."
She looked down at her hands.
"But apparently it's already a crime that… my greatest strength is a pen and a blank screenplay... instead of a camera or advanced production technology."
She exhaled.
"Honestly? They shouldn’t have opened an Art department if students were always going to be caught in the middle of that bias.”
Looking at her now...
The red around her eyes.
The slight swelling she hadn't quite managed to hide.
Tadashi suddenly understood why she'd been crying outside the restroom, clutching that burning bundle of herbs.
Then, after a long pause, Y/n spoke again, this time far more quietly.
"Before you misunderstand me..."
She folded her hands together.
"I have nothing but respect for scientists and inventors."
She looked up again.
"Science creates a lot of economic value. Because its discoveries can be turned into useful products, and used on a large scale. A single invention can be worth billions.."
She let that sit before continuing.
“But when it comes to the value of something truly one-of-a-kind, collectors and society have always been willing to pay far more for a great work of art than for even the most important scientific discoveries left behind."
Realizing she'd raised her voice, she lowered it again.
"We don't have to compete."
Her gaze settled on him one last time.
"We don't even have to intersect."
A faint smile.
Tired more than bitter.
"We both create value...as long as we're allowed to stand on opposite sides."
The river didn't have to flow into the well.
She'd made herself perfectly clear.
Painfully clear.
“Hey.”
A voice from beside the table cut through the conversation before Tadashi could even add his own thoughts to the discussion.
GoGo.
“Oh, sorry. Did I keep you guys waiting too long?” Tadashi turned to her.
“Not anymore.”
Calmly, Y/n picked up her lunch box and soda can before standing up, as if she had been waiting for any possible excuse to escape this conversation.
….
.What was Tadashi supposed to do?
A part of him was relieved that she had finally said something instead of keeping everything buried inside.
The problems within the education system were massive, far beyond what one person could fix. But could someone like him do anything about it?
He wanted to help people.
Just because science students were not at fault, it didn’t mean the blame had to fall on those who excelled in other fields.
People with different talents. People who created things in different ways.
It wasn’t fair.
Tadashi had never wanted to step on someone else just to move forward. But he never realized that behind the Baymax he had created, behind his pure desire to help everyone, how many people might have already been hurt.
“How come you look so gloomy, Tadashi? Did your presentation not go well?”
Aunt Cass asked the moment Tadashi stepped inside through the back door.
"No, it went great. Professor Callaghan actually complimented me."
Tadashi quickly pulled himself together, putting on a smile that was mostly meant to reassure Aunt Cass. Her mood had been surprisingly good this past week. Even her eating disorder seemed to have faded away along with it.
Tadashi had no reason to bring those worries back.
“I left dinner in the fridge. Just heat it up and get some rest, okay? Hiro’s already eating upstairs .”
She patted his shoulder before returning to the front counter when the customer bell rang.
After Mochi finally released him from his furry hostage situation, Tadashi carried Baymax’s case upstairs. Hiro was sitting there with one leg propped up on the table, a piece of bread stuffed in his mouth, only to immediately spit it back out because it was too hot.
“All yours..”
Tadashi laughed softly at Hiro before walking over to the fridge and opening it.
What a coincidence.
Tonight’s dinner was Vietnamese-style bread.
Apparently, Aunt Cass had made Hiro hot cocoa and somehow managed to forget that Tadashi was also living in the same house. Cass must have been busier than usual. With everything she had to juggle, missing one small thing wasn't exactly surprising.
And Hiro’s bánh mì had a large piece of bone sticking out from it, obviously because the kid had stuffed a chunk of lamb rib inside as extra filling. (happy, Hiro’s started eating lately)
Meanwhile, Tadashi didn’t have a single piece of lamb.
Well. Whatever.
Tadashi brushed it off. His brother was still growing, after all. It only made sense that Hiro needed more food than the rest of them.
Tadashi placed his bánh mì into the oven.
This was his first time trying this dish.
Honestly, it was hard to believe someone could look so grumpy while eating something this good.
Y/n Louv, he meant.
At least Tadashi had been right about one thing: food made at home really was the best.
And lately, Aunt Cass seemed to be in such a good mood that Tadashi couldn't help but notice the difference. His lunches and dinners had gotten better by the past 4 days. Every morning, there was always something new waiting in the fridge, a meal prepared with care, ready for him to pack before leaving.
It was a small comfort as he worked on creating something meant to help people, while struggling to understand how the very system around him could end up hurting them.
Without really meaning to, his eyes kept drifting toward the lawn at lunch, and more often than not, Y/n Louv was there.
River had found his place across from her at lunch again.
The same River she had once threatened to call over when she thought Tadashi and the others were crossing a line.
But she no longer brought homemade lunches.
Whatever had happened had left a mark. The homemade lunches disappeared, replaced by two cans of soda and a packaged sausage.
Every time Tadashi opened his own lunch box after that, he couldn't help feeling a little luckier than he deserved.
Then one afternoon, Aunt Cass asked something completely out of nowhere.
“Tadashi, have you been skipping meals lately? Be honest with me. Is this because your presentation didn’t go as well as you hoped?”
“...Huh?”
Tadashi stared at her.
Just that afternoon alone, he'd demolished six roasted vegetable muffins with macadamia nuts.
“Because the food I packed for you has been sitting there for four days. It’s gone bad.”
Four days ago...
“I thought we already ate the bánh mì.” Tadashi frowned.
“Bánh mì? What bánh mì?” Cass looked confused. “I made you two roasted lambs. Hiro was the only one who actually ate his.”
Tadashi became even more confused.
He had assumed the lamb had been Hiro’s portion.
Growing teenage boy. Bigger appetite. It made sense.
“I’ll eat tonight. You have my word.”
He answered just as the bell at the counter rang for the second time.
He was already keeping Cass from her customers.
“There’s curry rice and katsudon in the lower shelf of the fridge,” Cass called before hurrying back to the counter.
When Tadashi opened the refrigerator, the answer was waiting for him.
As usual, the first thing that caught Tadashi’s attention was the meal that looked unmistakably fresh as usual. The kind of food that had clearly been prepared that day. Tiny droplets of condensation still clung to the plastic wrap.
It was always placed in the same spot.
Easy to find.
Neatly arranged.
Just like every other day.
The curry rice and katsudon Cass had mentioned were still there, tucked away exactly where Cass said they would be, deep inside the lowest shelf of the fridge.
But sitting in the usual place where Tadashi’s eyes went first... was something else.
Today: a bowl of Russian salad mixed with smoked duck.
And there was one detail that stood out more than anything.
For the first time in four days, the food had been divided into two portions. One was neatly placed on a separate plate, covered with plastic wrap.
The other sat inside a container, with a small note attached to the top.
“Yours.”
…Okay?
Aunt Cass?
…Isn’t it?
The pink brush.
The refrigerator that somehow kept filling itself.
It gets to a point.
Another piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. The problem was... Tadashi still didn't know what picture he was supposed to be seeing.