This time I might just disappear...
"Tadashi don't do it!" She screamed, the whistling of fire extruding into her ears. She hastily looked at Cass. Cass shook her head, tears falling down her face. That's when she made her move. She ran towards the burning flames, smoke biting at her skin. Her vision blurred, and her lungs got tight.
She looked for him, his tall, lean structure. That black hair he had. That's when she saw him. Differently though. He was laying on the ground, clutching his head. She ran to him frantically.
"Tadashi? Where's professor?" She said, looking around. He shook his head.
"I can't see anything in these flames. Do you hear anything?" he asked.
"I can't hear anything." She stood up, pulling him up so they stood tall. "Let's look around. Professor Callaghan has to be in here."
Suddenly, the ground shook. Both looked at each other, frightened. Was the building about to explode?
"Tadashi, it's gonna blow. We have to get out. I'm sorry about your prefessor, but you tried your hardest. You have to get out."
"No! I'll find him You get out! Save yourself!" She shook her head.
"Not without you." She said as she followed him towards the flames. Both covered their faces. The air was getting thin, smoke billowing around them. They made their way towards a door, pounding coming from it. Tadashi stepped forward, reaching towards the doorknob. He opened it and fell back. There stood a figure. Tall, dark, and scary. He wore a long dark trench coat, his face covered by a Kabuki mask. Red and white lines were written on his mask, and at his feet, were millions of microbots.
"Microbots? Aren't those Hiro's microbots?" She murmered.
"They used to be. They're mine now. Same as you." And with that, the building went dark, she fell onto an already unconscious Tadashi, fire nipping their skins. SHe felt at peace, knowing it was the end. Or so she thought.
"Their names are Tadashi Hamada and Emi Akiyama. They're still in there." Cass held onto herself tightly, her arm around Gogo. They were both worried as all. Fred and Wasabi stood behind them, Honey Lemon at their immediate left. They all stood in a huddle, trying to stay warm in the raging winds. One of the police officers handed them blankets.
"When was the last time you saw them?" Cass shook her head, fighting tears.
"Tadashi ran in to save his professor, she ran in to save him." The police officer wrote down their names.
"Can you give me a descriptions of them? Also, how do you know them?"
"Tadashi is about five eleven, six feet tall. He's got short black hair, his bangs are shaggy. He's twenty-one, almost twenty-two. He was wearing a green jacket, a gray cardigan. and an old, white t-shirt. He had brown pants on with his mint green Converses. He has brown eyes. He's my nephew." Cass said, breaking down. "And Emi is one of my workers at my cafe. I took her in about six months ago after she badly needed a job. Her and the boys bonded quickly, so she's practically part of the family. She's seventeen. She's got blue eyes, and deep red hair. She's shorter, like maybe five-nine. She was wearing a black dress and black tights. She had on a pair of black Converses. She had on a sweater. She's practically my daughter. Please find them. Please sir, you have to." Cass fell to her knees, tears racking her body. Gogo kneeled down next to her, crying onto her shoulder. They grabbed each other tightly.
"They can't be gone." Cass whispered.
Hiro paced back and forth, Honey stopping him from running into someone.
"I'm sure they're okay. Hiro, please calm down." Honey grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a hug.
"How do I calm myself down Honey? This is my brother and my best friend who are in there? Half my family is gone Honey, and that's another group of my family what they call, dead." Hiro sat down on the curb, his hands running through his shaggy, black hair.
"I know. But we can't change fate. It's been four hours. It's just a matter of time. hey have to be okay." Honey sat quietly as Hiro pulled her into a hug.
"How's Aunt Cass?" Honey looked down.
"She's a mess. Gogo's no better. Crying herself into depression."Hiro pulled back and stood up.
"I'm gonna go see them. They need me." Honey nodded as Hiro ran to his aunt.
"Aunt Cass!" He ran to Aunt Cass's side, pulling her in tightly.
"They can't be gone. They can't be." Her voice trailed off as she cried onto her nephew's shoulder. The eighteen year old boy sobbed, seeing his aunt like this killed him. Not knowing what the future was, that was ten times worse.
"It's out!" screamed a firefighter, his face black with ash. Kinda looked like Santa Clause. The building was just a pile of depris.
Aunt Cass stood up quickly. "Sir! Did you find them? Please tell me you found them." The firefighter hid his face.
"M'aam, we're doing everything we can to find them. This place is a pile of ash. I'm not saying the results aren't possible. I'm just saying th outcome of finding them alive and well after such an explosion are very unlikely." They all stood and loked at each other, horror written on teir faces.
"Are you still looking of them?" asked Gogo, her grip on Aunt Cass tightening.
"Of course. We wont't stop until we search the entire premises." The all exhailed, but in the pit of their stomach, they already knew the answer.
They were there for about four more hours until they were sent home. None of them slept though. They all went to Aunt Cass's house, lounging in her living room. They moved the phone so it was right next to them. They said they would call when they had new information. All sat in silence, no one had anything to say. All were still in shock of what had just happened. Eventually, they all dozed off, but flames and screams lingered in their nightmares.
Aunt Cass woke up at six o' clock to the phone ringing. All of them quickly sat up, knwoing what that phone call meant.
"Is this the Hamada residents?" The voice asked carefully. Aunt Cass forcefully nodded her head. "Can you please come down to the station?"
"Yes we can. We'll be right there." They all piled into the car and drove to the station. They stood still and quiet when the deputy walked in. He extended his hand. They all shook his hand.
"Listen, what I'm about to tell you. I don't want to. I truly hate this part of the job. I'm so sorry." His hazel gaze already gave an answer. "There were no survivors left in the building. NO bodies were found. Most likely burned. I'm so sorry for your lose."
Cass fell to the ground, sobbing. They were gone. Dead and alone. Killed in the worst way.
"If you need any help with the funerals or anything, we're here for you. Anything, really. This is a very tough time."
"A tough time?! Oh really. Over ten years ago, my brother and sister-in-law were killed. I got custody of my two nephews. An eight year old and a four year old. I raised them on my own. Now one of them is dead. And my best worker and practical daughter is gone too. My nephew's professor, who he sacrificed his life for, is also gone. They're all gone. How is this going to get better?!" She screamed before breaking down, falling into her nephew's arms. This was a nightmare they would wake up from and they'd all laugh and be a family again.
This was a nightmare they weren't waking up from.
Her vision was cloudy, and her head ached. She sat up, her hands reaching towards her head, which was bleeding. Her legs and arms had burns and marks on them, and she smelled of smoke and soot. She looked a She scooted over towards Tadashi's lifeless body. She cradled his head in her hands.
"Tadashi? Tadashi wake up." She whispered. Tadashi mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over. Emi laughed, her anxiety wiped. She felt a surge of relief hit her when he responded.
He sat up, his head aching just as much as Emi's. He looked over at her before engulfing her in a hug. He hugged her tight. She hugged back even tighter.
"We're alive." She huffed, her voice soft and raspy. They had both been through too much for one day.
"Where are we?" Asked Tadashi, inspecting their surroundings. It was musty, and smelled rotten, like something had died in here.
"I have no clue. All I remember is being in the fire."
"Same." replied Tadashi. He tried to stand, but the chains pulled him back, plummeting towards the cement wall. He smashed towards it, but stopped himself.
"And the strange man in a Kabuki mask." She said rushed. "He's the reason we're here. He kidnapped us. He knocked us out and stole us!"
"You are correct my lady. My, you already know too much." Both were shocked, their eyes widened when they saw the culprit.
"Why are we here?" asked Emi, gritting her teeth in anger.
"I'm running low on human companions. These microbots can't keep me satisfied. You know what I'm talking about right?" The man had a sinister tone of voice. The voice every villin=an in a movie had, only it was raspier.
Emi and Tadashi nodded, replying to his question.
"I need some minions. Some sidekicks. If you want to live, you will follow my every step. No matter the consequences. Agree or disagree?"
"Agree." They said simaltaneously. Both were afraid of what their challenges would be. They looked at each other. Emi extended her hand, gripping Tadashi's much bigger one. Tears both streamed down their faces.
"For Aunt Cass, Hiro, Wasabi, Fred, Honey, Emi and Gogo." whispered Tadashi, calming himself down.
Emi looked over at him, a grin forming onto her face.
"For Aunt Cass, Gogo, Wasabi, Honey, Fred, Tadashi, and Hiro."
"Wear these." The masked man threw a pair of jumbled up clothes at them. They both looked up in shock.
"The transformation is tomorrow. Rest up. You'll need it."
The clothes consisted of black leggings, tall black boots, a zip up black shirt and a trench coat. A pair of black gloves and wrap were required.
"Tomorrow. You won't even recognize yourselves." He let out a cackally laugh. They looked at each other in terror, fear flooding their faces.
"I have a bad feeling what we agreed to isn't pretty."
"Most likely will be very painful and bad. Torture, murder, death."
Emi sent him a glare.
"Thank you for those words of motivational wisdom. In conclusion, we're gonna die."
They both threw on the clothes, worrying about what their future appearance would look like.
"We won't recognize ourselves? It doesn't make any sense." Whispered Tadashi, zipping up his shirt. Emi nodded her head.
"He wants us as minions? What type of minions?" asked Emi. Hopefully not the minions she had in mind. She pulled up her boots. Clutching the wrap, she laced it tightly up her boots, Tadashi doing the same.
"We're gonna die aren't we?" asked Tadashi in a non impressed tone.
"Whatever happens, Hiro and Cass lost us. We can't change that."
Tadashi looked down in angst.
"I wonder what they're doing right now?" Both said simaltaneously.
Planning the funeral was the hardest for Cass. It was for Emi and Tadashi. The police department helped a lot, with funds and stuff. They offered help and comfort. Cass couldn't be more thankful.
When the day of the funeral came, it was felt. Everyone had a knot in the pit of their stomachs, as if sensing it.
Gogo woke abruptly, nightmares swarming her dreams of Tadashi's painful death. She shrugged, and got up to get dressed. SHe pulled on a black t-shirt, a tuxedo jacket, and some black pants. She grabbed a pair of black ballet flats and threw them on. Combing her hair and brushing her teeth was it. She didn't eat. She knew it wouldn't stay down for long.
Honey woke up in a sunshiny mood. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, it was a beautiful day. Only to end up in tears of what occasion it was. Forcing herself out of bed, she grabbed a black dress with a collar. Threw on some floral black tights and a pair of black pumps. She pulled her hair up in a bun, and adjusted her glasses. She wasn't ready for this.
Wasabi was a mess when he woke up. All he could do was try to pull himself together for Hiro and Cass. He threw on a suit and tie, some nice dress shoes, and a gray headband. He shuffled out the door to the funeral home, drak clouds covering his usual good mood.
Fred tried to act as cheery as usual, making remarks about comic books and super villains and firebreathing dragons and invisible sandwiches. He got up, groggily and exhausted, having not slept a wink the night before. He threw on a white dress shirt and tie, some pants too big for him, and his sneakers. He combed his hair and kept a calm demeanor. He couldn't imagine what Aunt Cass was going through.
Cass was up all night. She tried to sleep, tried all theses home remedies for making you sleep. She ended up getting up, forgeting sleep. She threw on a pair of tights, a nice black dress, and some flats. She grabbed her necklace. She had worn the very same one to her brother's funeral, as well as her sister-in-law's funeral. She remembered the day so clearly. Tadashi was sobbing, while Hiro was kind of oblivious. He didn't really know what was going on. Tadashi on the other hand, knew too much.
"Aunt Cass?" asked Tadashi, the preacher speaking the eulogy.
"Yes babe." replied Cass, throwing her arm around him.
"What's gonna happen to us? Are we going to go to a foster home?" The little boy looked frightened more than sad.
"No, no, no. You're not going to a foster home. You and Hiro are coming to live with me. Forever." Tadashi smiled, wrapping his small arms around Cass. She was their guardian. She had to protect them, teach them right from wrong, show them good and bad. She was their teacher and role model now. She was all they had left.
"Aunt Cass? Are you okay?" asked Hiro, shaking his hand in front of Aunt Cass's face.
"Oh yeah hun. Just thinking." SHe shook her head.
"It's all gonna be alright Aunt Cass. We'll survive. They wouldn't want us to become recluses."
"That's right Hiro. We have to stay strong. For them." She shrugged and headed towards the funeral home, nerves racking her body.
Fred and Honey walked in together. Wasabi followed a short time afterwards. Gogo was there before everyone, coming right after Aunt Cass and Hiro.
As the prcession started, everyone couldn't take their eyes off the two closed coffins in the front. Both were beautiful, paid for by the police. One was white, representing purity, like Emi. She was pure at heart and couldn't harm a fly. Tadashi's coffin was a deep maroon. It was representing strength and bloodshed. Tadashi would do anything to help someone. Even lose his life for them.
The precession was long, but at parts were cheerful. They asked people to come and give speeches about them. Honey went first.
She walked towards the podium, placing a piece of paper on the stand.
"If I had to explain Tadashi and Emi in one word. That word would be strong. They were the srongest people I knew. They both went through such tragedies. With Tadashi it was losing his family and I applaud him for how strong he was afterwards. He was so young, having to change his life and be the best brother he possibly could be. As for Emi, she was abandoned by her family. I couldn't imagine what would happen to me if that happened. She didn't fall into depression, or become bitter. No, they both pulled through. Only to die was too early." Honey burst into tears. "If I could've stopped them, I would've. I would've told them it wasn't worth it. I would've stopped them. God, why didn't I stop them?" She sobbed.
Fred quickly got up and led her back to her seats. He politely handed her a box of tissues. Then, he made his way to the stand.
"I don't believe Tadashi and Emi are really gone. If we were in the superhero world, they would be supervillains or have developed strange superowers. Do I wish they were superheroes and saving the world right now. Yes. Is it true that they're superheroes and saving the world from nasty supervillains? Sadly, no. Emi and Tadashi were both very great, kindhearted people. They both would devote their lives to helping people. I've known Tadashi for years. We were best buddies. He would let me into his lab and we'd build weird stuff. It was awesome. Then I met Emi. She was just as nerdy as he was, so she fit into our bunch really easily. So did Hiro. I'm so sorry for your lose Aunt Cass, and Hiro." Fred bowed a little and sat down next to Honey Lemon, taking her protectively in his arms. Trying to calm her sobs.
Wasabi stood up and made a speech. "Tadashi and Emi were great people. Kind, strong, funny, dependable, trustworthy. They had everything you would want in a friend. Emi was like the little sister of the group, reeling us back in when we wandered. You could tell she was part of the Hamada bunch, though not by blood. Honestly, I'm still in shock. I'm trying to wrap my head around it. These two people who were going to change the world were lost in a second. I mean, they were going to solve major world problems. No one could have a friend like them. They are so missed. I'll always rememeber their jokes and their stories. The way they joked and their sarcasm. I'm gonna miss you Emi and Tadashi." He tilted his head down, tears dripping down his face.
"I remember the day I met Tadashi. He was working at the cafe. I went in for a job, only to recognize him from my Science class. I had saw him at the lab, but he seemed pretty nerdy. He actually was kinda cool. Of course he was annoying and way too sensitive, but I loved him for it. I met Emi not that much later. She worked at the cafe too. SHe was always so bubbly and cheery that it surprised me. She always had a joke to tell and not to mention she looked like Ariel. Honestly, these two fit perfectly. They were Hamadas. They were tough, and trusting. They knew right from wrong. Of course they had their share of tragedies, but it didn't bring them down. Yes, Tadashi was my boyfriend. He was the best. I would never tell him that, though I wish I would've. I wish I would've told him I loved him. I wish I would've hugged Emi and told her that she was one of the strongest girls I have ever known. Yet all I can do, is wish." Said Gogo, her voice bitter and gravely. Tears sreamed down her cheeks, her mascara running. She quickly rushed down to her seat next to Cass, her head buried in the crook of her neck, CAss rubbing her back trying to calm her.
"Hi, I'm Hiro Hamada. Tadashi was my older brother. People keep on telling me Tadashi's not really gone, as long as we rememeber him. Sadly, Tadashi is gone. So is Emi. All because they wanted to save someone. I'm sorry, but that's the worst way to die. To die for someone who ended up dying. That's horrible! Tadashi and Emi should've lived long, happy lives. Tadashi was going to be a doctor and save people on a daily basis. Emi was going to create a medical cure for cancer. This was their dream, that they'll never live. All because of a good deed. Emi and Tadashi, you saved me when I needed saving. I wish I could've saved you when you guys needed saving. I'll love and miss you both." Hiro hung his head and took his seat next to Cass. She stood up and went to the podium.
"Tadashi was my nephew, and Emi was my daughter. Well, Emi wasn't my daughter, I adopted her, so I guess she is my daughter. She was young and small and I couldn't say no. Tadashi and Hiro were placed into my care after their parents died. It's so funny cause I remember when Tadashi was born. It was a chaotic day because he was like a week early. He was so small and fragile, I swear I thought he was gonna break. Yet, I got to watch him grow up. Sadly, I didn't see him grow up enough as I should have. He should've lived longer. Twenty-one year old boys shouldn't just die suddenly. And Emi. She was my baby girl. And she's gone. She shouldn't be gone. I remember adopting her. She was so small and weak. They said she wouldn't make it, but she did. And she grew into a beautiful young lady taken way too early. They were great kids, never a doubt in the world. They never saw this coming. We didn't see this coming."
Everyone nodded, many crying at this point. "Oh my babies. I will miss you so much. Not a day will go by that I don't think of you. I wish this was a nightmare and I could wake up but I can't. And we don't have closer because you're not in those coffins. You never will be. And I'm so deeply traumatized by this. Life will never be the same. We love you Tadashi Riku Hamada and Emi Wanaka Akiyama. You will never be forgotten. Thank you for changing my life in such a short time."
They all went to the cemetary a short time later. They buried them, said their last goodbyes, cried, and made their way to the cafe for a short reception celebrating Tadashi and Emi's lives. No one really ate though, and there were more sobs than laughs. There were still those stories that made them burst into laughter. Stories like when Tadashi broke his arm on the jungle gym and went two days without telling anyone. Or when Emi mistook an elderly woman for a man. Good times.
They toasted and shared stories and listened to songs that reminded them of Emi and Tadashi. They celebrated their lives, rather than mourn. Of course they would still mourn, but they ahd to remember the good times rather than the bad. They sadly knew they were gone though.
Atleast that's what they believed was true.
