Nani strode along the streets of SanFransyoko, pulling her little sister Lilo along, and innocently raising her middle finger to guys pointing at her stomach that her pale orange crop top revealed. "Come on, Lilo, this is the place," she said, as they stopped at a corner.
"A coffee shop?" Lilo wrinkled her nose. "You didn't get a job the last time you applied for a job at a coffee shop.
Nani raised her eyebrows as she held the door. "Yeah, because of you, stupidhead. If I remember correctly, it was your mutt that ruined it for me." She smiled triumphantly as Lilo harrumphed, arms crossed, and crawled onto a chair at a round little table.
"It's empty," Nani said, "Weird." She raised her voice. "IS ANYONE HERE?"
"Sorry!" a feminine voice called. "Tadashi, Hiro, a little help down here! We have a customer and I haven't finished my breakfast yet!"/p
"Can't you finish your breakfast down there?" a young boy yelled back.
"No, Hiro!" There was a pause. "If you go attend to our customer, I'll….I'll make you my special celebration hot wings! You know, the ones that're so hot they make you go ehhhhh!"
"Really, Hiro? I'LL do it, Aunt Cass!" a husky, male voice sighed, and trotted down the stairs. Nani immediately did a double take. He had messy black hair tucked under a baseball cap, and a grey cardigan. David definitely couldn't pull this off, she thought, which was true, as her ex-boyfriend was more of a board shorts and t-shirt kinda guy. She shook her head. No. She couldn't like him, not after the breakup. And she had just met the guy!
He extended a hand, which she shook. "Sorry about that," he said, "I'm Tadashi. What can I get for you?"
"What's with the cats?" Lilo interrupted, pointing at the Japanese fortune cat on the cafe's counter, the stuffed cat on the windowsill, and the rotund tortoiseshell purring and rubbing itself against Tadashi's leg.
Tadashi laughed. "My aunt loves cats. It's called the Lucky Cat Cafe for a reason! You are?"
"Lilo Pelekai," Lilo said, "and that's my sister Nani. She wants a job, not food."
"Huh. I guess it's your lucky day, Nani Pelekai," Tadashi smiled, "Because we happen to have an opening. My friend Honey Lemon just quit, because she's too caught up with her chemistry work."
Nani beamed. "Thank you! You don't know what this means to me-we're new in town, and I couldn't find a job anywhere!"
"So we were your last resort?" smirked Tadashi.
Nani paled, brushing off her high-waisted shorts anxiously. "No, no-that's not what I meant, sorry,"
"No, I was kidding. It's fine," Tadashi reassured her.
"Stupidhead," commented Lilo amusedly from her chair, giggling as Nani whipped around and glared.
The tense awkwardness was interrupted by a smiling woman in a black v-neck and rolled-up jeans."Hi, I'm Cass Hamada! You said you're new in town, right?"
"Right," Nani agreed.
"Then maybe Tadashi would show you around town, introduce you to his friends," Cass said, with an edge in her voice directed at Tadashi.
"Sure," said Tadashi, "Hiro should come with us, and I'll take you both to S.F.I.T. It's my college, and Hiro's visit is been long overdue."
"Can I come?" Lilo asked hopefully. But she was interrupted by a younger version of Tadashi, who was leaning against the top staircase banister, grinning.
"Since when did you get a girlfriend, Tadashi?"