I watch Tadashi grin, shaking his head. He says, "You're not serious, are you?"
I cross my arms and gesture to his bike, jabbing my thumb at it. "Perfectly."
Tadashi's joking expression disappears, and is immediately replaced with one of concern and a bit of exasperation. Well, I can be annoying, I suppose. He takes off his cap, and while readjusting it, he begins, "So, let me get this straight."
I groan. "Oh, here we go."
As if I didn't say anything, he continues, "You stay at the Institute for about 18 hours, and that's if your information was true, which I calculated is slightly incorrect. By about 3 hours, GoGo. That's approximately 21 hours. You were working the entire time, except for that half-hour when you took a nap-"
"How do you know about that?" I interrupt, wondering if there was a secret security camera I didn't know about. I always bunk useless classes to explore the campus, and trust me, I have a lot. After being busted a dozen times, you tend to find the blind spots in the Institute's security.
"Don't worry, Honey Lemon told me. But that's beside the point. The point is, you haven't properly slept for just less than 24 hours, took a joyride around the lab and knowing you, probably haven't eaten, and you want to drive my motorbike?" He ends his rant in one breath, then deeply gasps and gives me a moment to think of a retaliation.
Unfortunately, I have nothing. Well, nothing that will win me the argument, anyway.
"Come on, Tadashi," I retort coolly. "You can't tell me what I can and can't do. Plus, you're being a bit over-protective. And, for your information, your facts is incorrect. I had an energy bar and the last of my candy stash."
Even though I can only see a percentage of his face in the half-darkness, I can sense his smugness, but an unusual hint of compassion as he retorts, "You really can't win this argument, GoGo. I care about you too much for you to potentially hurt yourself while I could've stopped that from happening."
I'm pleasantly stunned by what he said. He... cares about me. "Care about me, huh?" I raise an eyebrow, quoting his answer. Tadashi looks at his feet, uncomfortably scratching the back of his neck with his hand.
He stares at me for a second, flustered. "You know, I meant that in a completely platonic way, right?"
I give a short chuckle, just to make him even more flustered. "Completely."
At this point, he climbs onto his bike, strapping on his helmet. I was about to do the same, but then Tadashi asks, "Why don't we make a compromise?"
"I'm listening."
He clears his throat, then starts, "What about you drive us home, to your house?"
I'm wondering if I heard the wrong thing, because this just doesn't sound like Tadashi, especially after that little lecture he gave me. "Are you serious?"
"You didn't let me finish," he pauses, holding up a finger. What now? "You drive us to your house. Only after I take you for something to eat. You clearly don't have the energy to drive us the whole way. So why not divide the ride into two?"
I contemplate this proposition for a moment, even though there's pretty much nothing to internally discuss. Let me think. Going straight home to practically nothing, or go eat with Tadashi when I'm starving and I'm lazy to make myself dinner. Why am I still thinking about this?
"Well, if you insist," I reply nonchalantly, nearing myself to the motorcycle. Tadashi visibly beams as I put on my helmet (finally), and sit on the back half of the bike. Realizing the crimson helmet itself was feeling a bit heavy, I pay attention to it, taking in all its components.
"Plexiglas fibre, Tadashi? Really?" I say, looking around at the landscape, Tadashi starting to drive slowly out of the parking area of SFIT. Really, this guy drives slowly.
"You want optimal vision when you're driving around this city, don't you?" Tadashi answers, not realizing my sarcasm. "It also improves anti-shattering by over 70%. Plus, it's been specially modified. Fixed with optic fibres that adapt the saturation, brightness and colour scale depending on the visible light shining through."
I state, looking at the city lights above, admiring the constant variation of effect through the glass, keeping the scenery's brightness constant, "Like a camera, basically."
"If you want to dumb it down," he says, "then yes."
"Ear and voice sensitive microphone and speakers? You've outdone yourself this time, Tadashi. And I thought the memory foam impact cushioning and lightweight jackets from your previous upgrade was impressive."
I hear Tadashi gasp melodramatically, keeping his eyes on the road, but flashing me a grin which I caught in the rear view mirror. "The stoic GoGo Tomago, who was indifferent when Callaghan showed us his prototype for the first self-processing military technology, is impressed by me?"
What a moron, I think as I process that. But a mildly attractive one, nonetheless. "No need to get a big head about it. I just meant that it was merely more of a triumph since your last upgrade, which was somewhat impressive at best."
We've been conversing for only a few minutes, I expect, but by that time, we've already reached our destination. "Wait," I voice, only at that moment realizing something. "Tadashi, where are we going to eat?"
"I thought that would be obvious," he answers vaguely as he hops off his motorbike and takes off his helmet, revealing a navy peak cap underneath. "Where you simply miss school to drink some hot chocolate."
He is all kinds of cliché. I remove the helmet from my head, shaking my head to get my hair back to normal. I look at where we are, not realizing until not we are right in front of his family's house. The room inside is dark, though, the upper level being the only source of light. "Lucky Cat?"
Tadashi chuckles, strolling over to the entrance of the café, unlocking and opening the door. "But, of course."
I enter first, pulling the door closed and 'accidentally' making Tadashi lightly bump his forehead against the glass. I grin slightly. "I can open the door myself."
"Still," he retorts, rubbing his forehead before coming through the door himself. He is so dramatic. "The thought was polite."
I flip the light switch, and immediately a dozen tables, chairs and a bar top appear into view. "Well, it doesn't matter. What matters is food."
He quickly runs into the kitchen, disappearing behind the door, me jogging closely behind. Tadashi frantically rifles through the cupboards, removing hot chocolate mix and two mugs from the shelves. Meanwhile, I look through the fridge, getting milk. Occasionally, the group helps Tadashi and his Aunt Cass in the café, so we all know how the kitchen is run. I also put the kettle on, it already being filled with water.
"Well, that's the hot cocoa handled," Tadashi says while he starts ladling mix into the mugs. I warm the milk slightly in the microwave, and pour the water and milk into them. I then walk to the pantry and take three vanilla muffins and two plates out to the silver kitchen table in the centre. Tadashi already drew out two stools from the main bakery and pushed them side-by-side opposite the counter.
I lift up the violet-coloured mug, and swallow a long sip. "This is good."
Tadashi looks up from his cup, and smiles. He pronounces, "It really is, but you know what would make it better?"
I nod, then reply, "Marshmallows."
Simultaneously, Tadashi answers, "Whipped cream."
We look at each other in confusion, while trying to intimidate the other into surrendering. "Whipped cream has been surveyed in a poll across 250 people that 67% of people prefer it over any other topping," Tadashi says, trying to win the squabble with meaningless facts.
I stare into his eyes, giving him a cold stare, the colour matching the cocoa in front of him, lightened by steam. I state, emphasizing the word. "Marsh. Mallows."
He realizes he lost the battle, and attempts to bring himself back up from his defeat. He raises his shoulders, and asks, "What about both?"
Thinking that's a good compromise, I nod and make way to the fridge to retrieve the whipped cream while Tadashi goes to the 'dessert section' to get marshmallows. Suddenly, I hear a loud crash, echoed by clanking. I turn to Tadashi and burst out laughing. In his hands, he holds the bag of marshmallows and he's surrounded by frying pans.
"It was on the top shelf," he explains, giving me a flustered smile. "And I tried to jump for it."
"Idiot," I declare, shaking my head. He places the bag on the stall and starts picking up the pans and putting them back into their original positions. I kneel down to help him, and our heads collide as we reach for the same frying pan. I rub my head, because he has a really hard head. Tadashi does the same and lifts his head slightly. I gaze into his eyes for the second time that evening, and stay motionless. He leans in, little by little, and I can't move.
His face is approximately 1.2 inches from mine, and is still approaching, and I'm able to count his eyelashes. I slowly close my eyes, and then a thud from the kitchen door erupts and a figure rushes through the door, crying out, "AHA!"
I rapidly open my eyes, and I see Aunt Cass standing in the doorway in a defensive stance, holding a broomstick out, pointed directly at us. She's wearing a light blue, fuzzy bathrobe, and is currently in the middle of a facial. The majority of her face is covered with a green substance, presumably avocado, and her hair is bursting into massive curls, framing her face. Her fiercely determined expression slackens as she recognizes us, and then she eyes us in bewilderment.
"What are you kids doing here?" she asks, much more stunned than stern.
"Drinking hot chocolate," Tadashi replies immediately, little beads of sweat starting to form near his brow. He must be scared if he's acting like that. I wonder why. Aunt Cass is so cool.
"Okay," Aunt Cass says, dragging it out. I would also be confused. She looks at me and grins. "Hi, GoGo. Nice evening, isn't it?"
Suddenly, my system can't take all this tension anymore, and I start laughing at the situation. Tadashi also begins to laugh, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. We both look hysterical, laughing at apparently nothing. Aunt Cass just stares at us in confusion, and that only makes us laugh harder.
A/N
'Sup, guys. I get you guys must want to kill me, and I deserve it. Problem: inspiration. I only got the rest of the chapter from the second paragraph today, so yeah. And how about that, huh? And, other thing. If you have any ideas, maybe the characters' histories, or plot ideas or really anything, just PM me, and I would love to hear your input. This is your book too, and I love all of your encouragement. Especially to everyone that voted. You guys rock.
Stay awesome
TJ