Throughout the course of Tadashi and GoGo's relationship, there were always times when she asked the question, "Why?"
(*)
She blinked once; twice. She had to be seeing things. Because she knew no one who would fill her worktable with orchids (lavender orchids, were in fact, her favorite flower), and wait for her to come back so he could surprise her.
Apparently, she didn't know Tadashi Hamada.
"Hamada?" she asked, pausing by the door. "What is this?"
He stood up straighter and blushed, holding an arm out stiffly towards her worktable. "I remembered you liked orchids, and I... Uhm..."
"You...?" She can't help but sound hostile and suspicious; it's the only way she knows how to speak.
"I wanted to ask you out on a date!" he says in a rush, trying to get all the words out.
GoGo feels her heart stop, and the tingling in her ears is a signal that her ears are turning a tell-tale red. "Wha... Why?"
"Well..." Tadashi blushes, reaching a hand behind his head. "I think you're... I think we should... I've always..." He lets out a forced laugh. "You make me speechless."
GoGo smiles at him, the blush becoming apparent on her cheeks, as well. "I guess the same goes for me."
(*)
GoGo doesn't need to look up when she hears Tadashi's pounding footsteps approaching her in the lab. She knows his footsteps, and knows what they sound like when he's excited.
And boy, is he excited.
"We got a puppy and I named it Neko!" Tadashi proclaims as he sat next to her, grinning widely.
She pokes her head out from underneath her bike, eyes narrowed. "When did you think it was a good idea to get a dog, when you have Mochi?" She pauses, and speaks again. "And why did you name the dog 'cat'?"
Before he answers, he leans forward and gives her a quick peck on the cheek, blushing as he does so. She swats at him, smiling faintly. "Stop it. Answer my questions."
"Okay, so..." he leans forward, pressing his fingers together. "I've always wanted a little puppy to play with. Mochi's too lazy to fight with it, anyway. And I think that calling it Neko is... cute."
"Only you, Hamada. Only you."
(*)
GoGo is not one for public displays of affection; in fact, she never has been. But somehow, Tadashi makes her feel like holding hands in public is okay. That kissing her on her forehead before leaving for his class (and making Honey Lemon squeal in delight) is, God forbid, cute. That him draping an arm around her shoulder while the entire gang is hanging out together is normal.
But GoGo is not ignorant, and after a couple months of being together and being generally cute together, she realizes (okay, with the help of Honey Lemon, as well) that Tadashi has not told her three specific words yet.
You see, even though she is a stubborn person and seems like she is made of stone and steel, she has a heart, too. And she is so certain that if he would ever say those three words, she would say them to him, too. She's taking these numerous feelings one at a time, the first time she's done anything slowly, and she is going to go crazy. She often asks herself why she's going through all the trouble, but she's doing it anyway. Because it's Tadashi. And that is reason for her enough.
One day, they are alone in the lab, doing actual lab work, mind you, when he walks up to her and just says it.
"You - GoGo- Love - Leiko - I."
She sighs heavily; if he had said it straight away, she would think that something was up. Honestly, she's more comforted that he's like this. If both of them acted the way she was, they'd have their first kiss when she was twenty-five, their 'I love you' at thirty, and get married probably a few years short of fifty.
GoGo stands up, turns to him and reaches up to grasp the front of her shirt with both of her hands. She gently pulls him down and kisses him softly on the lips, and leans back. "Alright, Hamada. Slow down."
He is put at ease with the exasperated expression on her face, one he's gotten used to. One he'd want to see for the rest of his life- "Leiko. I... I love you."
He sees the emotions that he can read so easily in her eyes; fear, confusion, love, and shock... Although not necessarily in that order. "And why bring it up so suddenly, after two months of dating?"
"Be... Because I wanted to tell you when we weren't with the gang. It's... It's special. And you have to admit they haven't left us alone much." He chuckles weakly. "So... There it is, Leiko... I love you."
A wave of emotions swells in her heart, and it's like nothing she's ever felt before. She feels like she's about to choke up, and immediately starts coughing. Tadashi waits for her to stop, and he tilts his head to the side, waiting for her reply.
"I... I love you too, Hamada."
(*)
"You always call me Hamada," Tadashi whines, and Honey Lemon winces.
The gang are hanging out together, and Tadashi and GoGo are bickering; albeit, it's a rare situation, but it happens, and when it does, it's not pretty. Wasabi discreetly nudges Fred, looks at the couple, and looks away.
"Ohhh, we should go now, right?" Fred says this with a goofy smile on his face, and Honey Lemon sighs.
"Yes, we should go, and forget about being discreet," Honey Lemon smiles tightly at the couple, practically running out of the door, shoving Fred and Wasabi out before her.
"And why is it such a big deal for you?" GoGo spits out, crossing her arms and faces away from her boyfriend. "I've always called you Hamada!"
"Maybe that's kind of my point!" Tadashi replies, now sounding wounded.
She snorts. "What are you talking about?"
"Look, I get that you don't want to be called baby, love, honey, and etcetera..."
"Yeah, because calling me Honey in front of Honey Lemon is so not weird-"
"GoGo..." Tadashi sighs. She shuts up. "But sometimes I just think that... I think that, since you've always called me Hamada, we're still... You know. Like we were before."
"Just... Friends?" she asks, clarifying if they're on the same page.
He sighs.
"Look, Ha-" she pauses, backtracks. "Ta... Tadashi. I'm not exactly relationship material, okay? You know that."
"And yet, I put up with it."
She turns around, and sees the apologetic smile on his face. She sighs, and shakes her head. "I'm an idiot. I'm sorry."
"We're both idiots," he states, and her shoulders, which were once tense, sag down in relief. She doesn't like arguing with him, she really doesn't.
"Let me tell you something," she says, and he tilts his head to the side, indicating he's listening. "How many people have called you Hamada for the past few years?"
He's quiet. She knows he's thinking about it. His eyes flash back to hers. "No one, GoGo. Just you."
She has a tinge of pink on her cheeks. "Well, actually.. It was kind of my... Endearment for you since the very beginning.
(*)
A young black and white husky, which is too big to be called a puppy, yet too small to be called an adult, pads its way over to his master, or, more correctly, mistress, as she sits in a corner of her room. The adolescent dog whines, and approaches her slowly; he knows that she is very delicate, and has a temper.
His small mistress is sitting against the wall, her knees hugged to her chest, her face bowed over as her shoulders shake ever so slightly. She is... What is the human word for it? Crying.
His canine instinct tells him to approach her, as she is in despair, and needs someone to hug... Even though it doesn't seem like it. He knows from experience that she is volatile, closed off, and angry... But she is different when she is with his master, and he knows it.
She is also different when she is with him.
He tries another, pitiful whine, and she finally looks up, her eyes red and the shadows under her eyes even darker than yesterday. "N-Neko," she calls to him in a strangled voice, and he no longer feels the resent towards the idiotic name that master had given him so long ago. "H-Hey, boy..." she murmurs, and he collapses into her lap.
Mistress is especially distressed today, Neko thinks, noting her black attire. He nudges his head into her side. He wants to be here with her, not with that lazy cat Mochi back at master's house. "Do you miss him, too?" she asks, and he can't help but look up at her with his wide, piercing pale eyes.
Is she talking about master? Neko wonders, and presses himself even further into his mistress' embrace. He sees a picture that's on her lap; a small, wallet-sized picture of his master, Tadashi, with GoGo. His master has a wide smile on his face, nothing unusual about that, and GoGo has a small smile on her own, that almost looks like a smirk. The picture is wet with salty tears.
"He was such a selfless idiot," GoGo chokes out, half-leaning on Neko, now. "He was my selfless idiot," she growls, and Neko is offended. At Neko's glare, she cracks a small smile. "Of course, he was yours, too."
She picks up the photograph again, and the tears start pouring down her face. Neko knows in his heart that something is terribly wrong. Everyone around him had been so sad. Hiro didn't play with him anymore, and Aunt Cass didn't wear a smile on her face, not even when she dropped him off here, at GoGo's. He hasn't seen his master for a while now, and he's wondering why he can't seem to feel his presence anywhere.
He turns his attention to GoGo, who is now turning her attention to the Tadashi in the photograph. "Tadashi..." her voice cracks, and she folds into herself even more. "Why did you have to be so selfless?"
(*)
Today is one of those times.
(*)
I swear to God my little muse of Angst (who dons horns and wears black, and I have named Belle) has been bugging me to write angst after my long absence. Here it is.
For those who were slightly confused, in this universe, Tadashi and GoGo were in a relationship waaaay long before he was a selfless idiot that walked into a flame-engulfed hall.
Thanks for clicking, everyone!
PS Thanks to the lovely pk-buttcheeks for the lovely cover picture. She's amazing, check her out on tumblr.
/disappears in a puff of purple smoke/