The Painter

Chapter One

Coffee Fall

"Boys…! Have you fed Mochi yet?"

Tadashi's eyes widen as Aunt Cass's voice echoed through the house. Oh, no. He forgot to feed the cat again. He had to be at campus in under half and hour, and he still had a million other things to do.

Reaching for the cat kibble, he placed the food in the cat dish, poured out the milk and placed them in front of Mochi. He pat the cat as the feline purred against his touch.

Glancing over at Hiro's bed, Tadashi saw that he was still asleep. He smiled. Hiro better not get into trouble today.

Grabbing his bag, today was going to be a big breakthrough. He finally figured out how to make the power cell more efficient from using too much energy. It would prevent the motor from exploding, preventing future burn scars. He smiled to himself. Today was finally paying off. Progress happened, and it was all going to come together today.

Dashing down the stairwell, the usual scent of the bakery went through the house. Good thing about living above a bakery, food was never far. He smiled as he saw his aunt. Her face turned from a smile to a wince.

"Bye, Aunt Cass, I'll see you…"

"Tadashi…!"

His frame then collided into something. A head full of long hair swayed violently in the corner of his eye, objects crashing to the floor.

"Oh, goodness, I am so sorry…" He bend down and tried to help with the fallen items. "I shouldn't have rushed."

As he picked up a book, the title indicated it was a book about art. Looking up, he couldn't help but feel the woman in front of him was familiar.

Then it hit him.

Coffee cup in the woman's hand hand, he saw there was a mild spill on the floor.

"Don't be, just watch out where you're going next time…" The frown was gone from her face, her eyes widening.

"Ami…? Amelia Oshiro?"

"Ta… Tadashi, is that you?"

Covered in mud, tears were in Ami's eyes. Ken pushed Ami into the puddle that a rain storm left. Ken and the rest of his friends were laughing.

"Come on, Ami, I'll help you up…" Tadashi reached out to the little girl.

Tadashi's eyes narrowed. What jerks! How could they do what they did to Ami? She did nothing wrong.

The little boy's eyes narrowed. "Hey, guys, knock it off!"

One of Ken's friends jeered. "Ooh, sticking up for your girlfriend, aren't we?"

Twisted laughter echoed through the air as they walked away from the grounds. HIs brow narrowed further. They truly were lowly scum. Ami helped him with his inventions. She didn't deserve what just happened to her.

They were soon in an embrace. It was Ami from Kame Elementary School. It was just about six years since the last time they saw each other. Did the time really went by that fast?

"It's been so long…" Ami smiled as she arranged her books in her arms. "Look at you, my goodness you've grown."

"They called me your girlfriend." Ami breathed.

A teacher was in sight across the playground. They began to walk over to the grown up. Tadashi mused.

"That is true. You are a girl, and you're my friend."

Ami looked at the little boy. "But Ken knocked me down… I couldn't stop him. How could you still want to be my friend?"

Ami drew, he tinkered. They made a great team. It didn't matter if she was a girl. She was his friend, first and foremost.

"I'll always be your friend, Ami. Nothing can ever change that. There's no way I'm giving up on you."

"I almost couldn't recognize you…" the smile couldn't come off his face. "When did you get back to San Fransokyo? Last I remembered, you moved to New Yorea in elementary school. You in town to visit?"

"I moved back," the smile was still on her face. "I'm studying at Sakura University of Art and Design."

"That's right, you always loved to draw," he nodded. "Do you remember…?"

"I drew, you tried to make whatever I drew on the paper…" Chuckles then left the both of them. The days of elementary school came back. The years really have gone by.

"What are you doing nowadays, still inventing?" asked Ami.

"Yeah, I am. I'm at SFIT."

"Nice…" she nodded. "I always knew that you'd be an inventor. Small world, huh? That we'd meet in this cafe."

"My aunt actually owns the bakery."

"Really, awesome! You must stuff your face here…" More chuckles left. "How's Hiro? Your parents are here as well?"

He swallowed. He didn't knew how to break the news of his parents' accident. Ami visited Tadashi's house when they were small, and she saw Hiro. Tadashi remembered that Ami had a little brother, Tom.

"Yeah, he's… he's fine. Kid gets himself into trouble."

Glancing at her phone, Ami's eyes widen. "Lovely running into you again, but I have to get to class."

"I got to, too."

"We should catch up over lunch or coffee when we have time," she gestured to the cafe. "Here's a good place?"

Tadashi chuckled. "Sounds like a plan."

After they exchanged numbers, Ami was just about to head out the door.

"It's so nice to see you, again," she smiled. "I'm glad to see a familiar face here in San Fran."

"It's nice to see you, too." he nodded. "Have fun in class."

Once Ami was gone, Tadashi saw his aunt had a smile on her face.

"Old friend of yours?"

"Yeah, haven't seen her in years… Her family had to move to New Yorea for her father's work. He's a surgeon. We didn't have contact for a long time."

"I'm glad for your little reunion, but there's still the coffee spill that you both left."

Glancing over to the puddle, Tadashi frowned. He definitely was going to be late for class. And Ami said living above a bakery was a good thing.