A/N: Partly inspired by a Rooftop Prince scene. Sorry for the tragic fics, y'all, but I swear this one's purely fluff.
GoGo Tomago wonders if she's ill.
It starts when Fred makes some offhand remark about his "secret headquarters."
"You mean under your bridge?" she asks, half-sarcastically. She's not trying to be funny, but it makes somebody laugh. She looks to Tadashi Hamada, who's grabbed onto his baseball cap and wheezing a little. Something about it strikes her-there's just something hearty and boyish about his laugh, and she feels a little flutter in her chest.
"It wasn't really that funny," she says, followed by a pop of her bubblegum.
...
It's pouring, pouring so much that it sounds like the raindrops are waging war against the windows outside. GoGo curses her stupid self for not checking the weather report that morning, and then some more for oversleeping and leaving her backpack at home-which includes her umbrella. She stands on the front steps, watching the rain pour in buckets. Maybe if she runs fast enough...
"It's wild out here," Tadashi comments, slinging his satchel over his arm and opening his umbrella.
"Yeah, well." She continues chewing her bubblegum.
"Where's your umbrella, GoGo?" he asks.
"Don't have one."
"How are you gonna get home?"
She pops another bubble. "Go fast."
He frowns. "You'll catch a cold that way-here." He walks over to her and hovers the umbrella over their heads and grins at her. "You want me to walk you home?"
The first thing that registers in GoGo's mind is how close he is. And is it just her, or does it feel warmer? It's his body heat. Most likely. She tries to keep her voice stoic.
"I don't have my keys either," she answers, "so there's no point."
"My aunt's café isn't too far from here, actually. You could wait there until the rain blows over?" Then, as if to catch himself, he clears his throat and scratches the back of his neck. "That is... if you want."
Get stuck in the freezing rain or hang out at a warm café. "All right."
Tadashi adjusts his baseball cap and grins. "Great!"
It's a small umbrella, admittedly, and GoGo has to inch closer to him to at least keep her sides from getting wet. She also wonder how it hasn't fallen apart given how hard the rain slaps against it, but Tadashi doesn't seem to mind. He smiles pleasantly the entire time and asks her questions about how her project's going and stuff like that, but GoGo's face feels hot. Maybe the rain's already making her catch a cold.
And she swears she's not fighting any kinda urge to close the sliver of space between them.
...
She takes to hanging out at the café with him during their spare time. Most of the time it's with the rest of the gang, but sometimes it's just the two of them studying or chatting over a cup of coffee. It's just smalltalk. Stuff that happened in class, the stain on Wasabi's shirt Fred so tactfully named him after, the time Honey Lemon nearly blew a hole in the wall. Sometimes he'll tell stories about his brother (who conveniently is always either upstairs or outside) and his cat Mochi. He's actually really funny sometimes, and GoGo notes how animated he gets when he talks. It pulls her in, somehow. And even though she's not much for conversation, she can't help but enjoy the ones she holds with him. In return, she talks about her bike and the races she's won and maybe makes a snarky comment here or there. For whatever reason, it still makes Tadashi laugh, and for whatever reason, she still feels the flutters in her chest like she did the first time.
She wonders if maybe she should see a doctor.
...
It hits her when she's knows she's stayed up way too late at the lab and she's probably going to have to pull another all-night, but dangit, if she could make this one wheel work...
She yawns, fighting to keep her eyelids open. From down the hall, she hears a crash and someone yelling, "Stop! Stop!" The noise jolts her awake for a moment and she sprints down the hall, swinging the door open and finding Tadashi Hamada wrestling what looks like a giant marshmallow. Thinking fast, she storms over and whacks the robot with a textbook lying on the desk. Immediately it makes a buzzing noise before shutting down.
"Thanks," Tadashi murmurs, rubbing his face. "What are you doing here so late?"
"I could ask the same of you."
"Touché." He yawns, and she notices the dark circles under his eyes and the 5 o'clock shadow. "This stupid thing... I just know if I figure out what's wrong-"
"I'm in the same boat."
A smile tugs at his lips, and she wonders how even with bags under his eyes a stubble he still manages to be so unfairly attractive. Then she mentally slaps herself within seconds of the thought. Shut up, GoGo.
"Okay," he says, sitting down and leaning against the wall. "Short break. Five minutes, tops."
Maybe a short break would help. She takes a seat next to him, cross-legged, and feels her head growing heavier. From the corner of her eye, she peeks at Tadashi, whose eyes are slowly closing. Despite her fatigue, she remarks how lean he is, and how peaceful he looks in his sleep.
Not too soon after, she feels her head falling in the crook of his neck as she drifts off. It hits her then.
She might be in love with Tadashi Hamada.
...
She's waiting for him on the park bench right underneath the cherry tree. It's warm out, and everyone else texted saying something came up and they're all going to be late-it'll just be her and Tadashi for a while. They text the entire time, and he swears he'll be there in a few minutes.
"Hiro made flower crowns from here when he was little," he texts.
"No kidding," from her end.
"You should try wearing one."
"As if."
"You'd look good. It could be some new hippie look."
"Very funny."
"Oh hey-be there in a few."
GoGo just stares at the screen, a blank text box ready for a reply. She contemplates what to say-maybe something that'll make him laugh. Shut up, GoGo, she tells herself.
Absentmindedly, she just types.
"By the way, I love you."
Delete! she thinks, annoyed with herself for being such a sap. She hits the button, but...
"Sent!"
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
"Crap!" she squeaks aloud. She never squeaks. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap-how do you take back a message how do you
"GoGo?" a voice asks.
GoGo freezes with terror. Haltingly, she glances upwards at Tadashi Hamada, who's holding his phone out.
"Did you-" she begins, even though she already knows the answer.
"You... love me?"
She wants to die, right then and there. She wants to dig a ten-foot ditch and throw herself in, never to emerge.
"It was... a joke. Ha ha. Very funny. Delete that. Right now."
"Is it really?" His cheeks are pink. "I can tell when you're joking, GoGo."
"Zip it, Hamada. It's... Shut up."
"So you..."
"Forget I said anything."
To her confusion, a beam lights up on his face. "You really mean it? Because-"
"What?"
With no warning, he throws her arms around her and pulls her in.
"Me too," he whispers.
She freezes. "What are you talking about?"
"I love you, too."
The fluttering in her chest turns to explosions, and she takes a moment to register what he's just said.
He loves her.
He loves her, too.
She wants to scream and dance and laugh, but the most she does is tug at his shirt and bury her face in his chest, taking in his scent. He smells of biscuits and coffee.
When they pull apart, Tadashi punches a few numbers in his phone, and it buzzes.
"Wait-what are you doing?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Hiro!" he exclaims into the phone. "Hiro-you're never gonna guess what happened-"
"Hamada!" she protests.
"GoGo said she loves me!"
"Cut that out!"
"Hold on-I have to mass text everyone-"
"Tadashi Hamada, I swear-"