"Are we there yet?" Hiro whined. He, his brother and aunt Cass were south of San Fransokyo for the school holidays.

"For the last time, Hiro! We are almost there" aunt Cass began to get fed up with the little five year old's constant whinging.

Her eldest nephew, on the other hand was quite well reserved and had plenty of patience. After all, Tadashi had to be. He was Hiro's nine year old brother and a role model.

"Are we there-" before Hiro could finish his sentence, Cass stopped him.

"Yes, we're here. Now go and play with Tadashi. And be safe!" She called as the two brothers ran side by side to the playground's swing set.

"Push me 'Dashi!" Hiro giggled as his older brother pushed him back and forth on the swing.

"Higher! Higher!" He laughed. After a few more pushes, Hiro began to cry.

"I'm scared 'Dashi! It's too high!" Tadashi immediately stopped the swing from moving. Little Hiro slipped his shoes off and ran towards the climbing net.

"Come on slow poke!" He laughed at his brother.

Before long, Hiro and Tadashi were sitting at the top of the net, watching the passing traffic.

"Punch buggy!" A young girl's voice laughed.

"Ow! That hurt!" The other girl was tall and had blonde hair and wore a frilly pink dress.

"Come on Aiko! Woman up!" The other girl pumped her fist in the air.

The tall, skinny girl walked over to the climbing net and began to climb to the top. She then reached the top, where Tadashi and Hiro were sitting and talking about robots.

"Hi!" She waved, startling the brothers.

"Ew! A girl! Run! You'll get cooties!" Hiro poked his little tongue out.

"Shush!" Tadashi elbowed his younger brother in an effort to stop him.

"I get it now" Hiro smirked "You love her!" Before Tadashi could respond, Hiro had already bolted off towards the slippery slide.

"Sorry about my brother" Tadashi scratched the back of his neck as red started to tint the bridge of his nose. He didn't feel anything for the girl, it was just that Hiro was so embarrassing!

"Aikooo" the other girl reached the top of the net and sat on the other side of Tadashi, as there was no room beside the little blondie.

"Finally I beat you, Ethel!"

"Hey" she smiled as she saw Tadashi, tucking a stray hair behind her ear "I'm Ethel"

"Tadashi. Tadashi Hamada" he extended his hand for the girl to shake. She gratefully took it.

"And I'm Aiko" the blonde girl smiled "I like rainbows and kitty cats"

"Well, my little brother Hiro and I like robots"

"I like fast things" Ethel grinned.

"Come on 'Dashi. Stop talking with your girlfriends!" Hiro once again poked his tongue out in an attempt to embarrass his older brother, and it worked.

"Go away Hiro!"

"Nope. I won't stop until you come down!" He planted his foot on the ground.

"Do you mind if we go and play somewhere else so my brother won't bug us?" Tadashi asked the girls. They shook their heads. Tadashi began climbing down the net with Aiko and Ethel.

"Hello!" Aiko grinned "Hiro, is it?"

Hiro jumped behind his brother and hid, poking his head out to manage a small nod.

"Awww, you're shy" she cooed "You're very cute, Hiro. Tadashi's lucky to have such an adorable little brother"

Hiro remained behind Tadashi.

"Come out before I poke you and give you cooties" Ethel growled.

"No! Not the cooties!" He immediately stepped out and stood beside Tadashi.

"I won't give you cooties, sweetie" Aiko hugged Hiro "See?"

"Mm hm" he mumbled quietly.

"Wanna ride on my electric scooter?" Ethel showed Hiro her scooter "Don't worry, I don't bite"

Hiro and Tadashi stepped on the scooter (without helmets or any sort of protection) and revved the handle.

"Aaa ah!" Hiro squealed as the scooter zipped past trees.

"Woo hoo! This is awesome!" 'Dashi whooped, taking his eyes momentarily off the footpath, sending themselves tumbling into a ditch.

"Tadashi! Hiro!" Ethel and Aiko ran over to the brothers and helped them up. For the first time, Ethel wasn't concerned about her scooter.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry" Ethel scanned a small abrasion on Tadashi's knee.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not your fault"

"It hurts 'Dashi" Hiro held his little elbow for Tadashi to see.

"Lucky I always carry band aids in my bag!" Aiko pulled out a bandaid with a robot on it. "I never use the robot ones. I use the kitty cat ones and Ethel uses the motorbike ones"

"Thank you" he mumbled as he hugged Aiko.

Tadashi smiled at the girls "That was fun"

"Yeah!" Hiro smiled, regardless of his scratch.

"So, are we friends?" Ethel asked.

"Yes" Tadashi and Hiro responded.

Later that day, the Hamada brothers had to leave the park, and their new friends.

"Bye Aiko! Bye Ethel!" The boys farewelled.

They never thought they'd see each other ever again after that day, but they did, nine years later at the San Fransokyo institute of technology. Those girls were none other than two of their four best friends, GoGo and Honey Lemon.