Dark stormy clouds overhead rumbled lowly as she slowly made her way to the Lucky Cat Café one day after school. It was blustery, it was cold, and worse of all, it was raining buckets. Puddles were pooling all over the sidewalks, on the asphalt, her feet splashing through the wet ground as the rain soaked her to the bone, the chill settling deep in her flesh. She grit your teeth as she continued the trudge, though for the millionth time she wished she wasn't foolish enough to forget an umbrella. Nonetheless, she ruled it out. The weather reflected her mood exactly, and what did it matter, for someone who already lived a hopeless life? There's no room for hope anymore. Not in her situation.
Calliana sighed as she pulled her jacket closer to her, shivering against her will with the raindrops pounding all over and around her as she began to reflect deeply on the unfortunate events of her life. No one would ever imagine the horrible things that would ever befall on this little girl; and it's understandable as to why. She did live a happy life once before. But now it was all gone. In a short matter of two weeks, everything was taken from you, snatched away by the claws of Fate. Who knew how long it would be until the next fatal strike?
It took a few moments, but eventually after avoiding all of the passersby staring at her like she was crazy, she managed to reach the Café. With cold white fingers she reached for the handle of the front door and pushed it open.
The sound of tinkling bells alerted Aunt Cass working at the counter, and she turned to her shivering form at the door.
"Aww, Calliana!" she cried, rushing to her. "Are you okay?"
Calliana nodded, teeth chattering. "F-f-fine. Thanks, Aunt Cass."
But Aunt Cass clucked her tongue in disapproval. "Nope. You are not okay. Thank goodness you showed up early before your shift. Normally I wouldn't tend to clients or workers in this condition, but let's just make this an exception for you."
To this, Calliana smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Aunt Cass."
"I'll go grab some hot chocolate and dry clothes for you," Aunt Cass said. "In the meanwhile, my nephew, Hiro, should be able to keep you company. He's just got out of SFIT for the day a while ago, so he should be able to help you out."
"Thank you so much, Aunt Cass. How can I repay you?"
Aunt Cass just smiled. "Just do your best work here, and don't make me fire you."
Calliana laughed airily at her response, promising herself not to let anyone down. As Aunt Cass left, she heard footsteps descending from a set of stairs, and she turned to see...a young teenager about her age, holding a small bot in his left hand. He wore a dark blue hoodie, a red t-shirt, dark beige shorts, and black high-top converse shoes. He ran a hand through his messy black hair, and she simply smiled at him in greeting.
"Hi," Hiro greeted you with a wave. "You're Calliana, right? Aunt Cass's new employee?"
Calliana nodded in response.
"You don't mind me sitting with you, don't you?" Hiro asked.
She shook her head. "Not at all," she replied, gesturing to the empty chair across from her.
Hiro quickly went over to that chair and sat in it, taking a good look at her. She was freezing and he could tell by the way she were trying to keep herself together, keep herself warm...but apart from that, he thought she looked pretty. Probably on a normal day he would see her better, but at the moment, the way her black hair framed her face made him stare at her, her blue eyes twinkling under the Café lights captivating him further.
"And you are Hiro, right?" he heard her ask.
Hiro simply nodded.
Just then, Aunt Cass came back with a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa, and also set a plate stacked with small cupcakes on the table. She also set a pile of dry clothes for Calliana to change into on one of the spare chairs by the table, and Calliana smiled.
"Thank you, Aunt Cass," she beamed as she wrapped the blanket tightly around her.
"No problem, Calliana," Aunt Cass said before disappearing in the kitchen.
Calliana watched Aunt Cass go for a few seconds before nodding at Hiro and grabbing the clothes to get changed. Eventually she emerged wearing a fitted grey V-neck t-shirt and navy blue capris, a black pair of Vans on her feet to complete the look. She attempted to towel-dry her hair to the best of her ability, though by the time she came out it was still a little bit damp. Discarding her old clothes in a plastic bag, she then returned to the table where Hiro was waiting for her, and she slid back into her seat graciously, wrapping the blanket back around her to keep herself warm.
"Here," Hiro murmured as he passed the cup of hot chocolate to her. "Drink this. It might make you feel better."
Calliana obliged as she raised the cup to her mouth, taking a careful sip. The warm drink instantly warmed her up, and she smiled gratefully as she set it down.
"Mm," she remarked after she swallowed the drink. "Hiro, your aunt makes amazing hot chocolate!"
Hiro beamed at her in return, evidently pleased. "Wait till you take a bite out of her spicy chicken wings! She makes amazing wings, really, and-oh, there are her doughnuts, especially the ones with chocolate icing on the top, and, oh yeah, these cakes over here are good too, and-um..." He stopped, realizing that he was babbling.
"That sounds amazing," she simply said, which made Hiro's doubts go away immediately. "At least she could cook something! My mom used to be able to cook that well, but then something happened and her cooking skills have gone down the drain."
That made Hiro turn round. "What happened?"
"My mom has been pretty depressed lately," she mentioned cautiously. "My dad passed away not too long ago. Poisoned at a business conference. I know it sounds weird, but that's what really happened. By the time my dad got home, he got ill, and the next day...well..."/p
Tears streamed out of her eyes as she recalled that day-the day she saw her father's lifeless form on his bed in the early morning sunshine. Her mom was downstairs at the time, making breakfast, when she ran down the stairs to her to check on your dad, and then when she saw him she wept so hard. The funeral was held 3 days later, and after that, she shut herself in her room and never came out. She forgot she were there. No matter how many times Calliana had convinced herself that her mother would return to her senses, she couldn't help but begin to think whether that would ever be true.
Her father was dead. Her mother had shut herself away from the world. And amidst the resolution to take care of herself by taking up the part-time work at the Lucky Cat Café, she have never felt more alone.
Who knew how long this would keep up?
Suddenly, the chill returned-not just from the blustery autumn day now, but now from the memory. She felt an empty feeling settle in, cold and evil, numbing her fingers and making her lightheaded...and she hated it.
"Hey..." Hiro spoke up softly, and she turned, temporarily forgetting that he was there. He got up from his chair, walked over to her, helped her up, and wrapped his arms around her. The blanket around her shoulders fell to the ground, but she completely ignored it. Even though she barely know Hiro, she had to admit that this gesture was...welcoming. Comforting. In response, she wrapped her arms around Hiro tightly, tears streaming from her eyes dripping on his sweater.
"Don't worry, Calliana," he reassured her softly. His voice by her ear made her relax. "I have been through the same ordeal. Trust me."
She had no freedom to wipe her eyes, but she did sniffle a bit, shocked to hear him say that. "Really?"
"Yeah," Hiro replied.
"Who was it?" she whispered, breaking the embrace to face him.
"My older brother, Tadashi," Hiro said, squeezing her forearms. "I got into SFIT thanks to him. He never gave up on me. He took really good care of me after our parents died. But then after my presentation of my invention to the head of Robotics, Professor Callaghan, I got in...and on that same night there was a fire...and then...my brother ran in upon realizing that he was still in the building." He sniffled, blinking out tears and turning away from you. "For weeks, I couldn't eat. But then there was his nurse bot, Baymax, who helped me out a great deal. And for that, I was grateful. Together, and with the help of Tadashi's friends, we caught Callaghan since he was the one who started the fire that got Tadashi killed...and I'm not saying necessarily that life has gotten so much better here, but you know I still miss him. Aunt Cass does too. But he lives on in our hearts."
"My dad was a good man," she recalled. "He had a knack for software engineering, and landed as one of the CEOs of a big company he founded, Trenchman Tech. And he wanted to help so many people."
"So did Tadashi," Hiro whispered quietly, and she was quick to notice the tears brimming in his downcast eyes as she brought him back into a hug, his tears now soaking her t-shirt.
"I'm sorry for your brother," she said after a moment.
"I say the same for your father," Hiro whispered back, the words making Calliana smile wanly.
After a while, Aunt Cass returned.
"Is everything alright?" she asked.
Calliana nodded as she broke the embrace and smiled. "Yeah! Everything's great. I'm just getting to know Hiro, you know. He sounds like a great guy so far."
"That's great!" Aunt Cass beamed. "Well, your shift starts in 5 minutes, so I thought I'd drop your uniform off. Just wear this apron whenever you work, and everyone'll know you're an employee," she added.
Calliana nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you!"
Aunt Cass smiled and left the two of them alone.
"If you're right..." she murmured to Hiro, the moment Aunt Cass's footsteps disappeared. "If you're right, then there should be no reason I should forget about my father. He would never stop caring for me."
"Your mom probably 'disappeared' because she kept trying to get rid of every memory of your father. If she keeps acknowledging the absence, then how can she move on?" Hiro smiled at her gently and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You have to believe, Calliana. Believe that your father is here. That worked for me when Tadashi was gone. And your mom too."
She gave a weak chuckle, and nodded. "I'll try to."
"No. Say you will."
"Okay. I will."
The two of them exchanged shifty looks before Calliana looked at the clock.
"Whoop. Guess my shift starts soon," she said, putting on the apron Aunt Cass gave her and gulping down the rest of the hot chocolate, the drink blistering her throat slightly. Hiro smiled as he grabbed a cardboard box from the counter and packed up her cakes.
"You can take these home after work," Hiro told her, bringing her jacket and backpack and bag of wet clothes to the back of the counter. "Do you want me to help you with your first day on the job? I promise not to screw up."
She turned to him and gave him a calculated look, though inside she felt the urge to say yes. How could she not turn down this amazing young boy, who just trusted her with a dark secret the same way she did him? Besides, she didn't want to think of him as a bad friend already from the start.
"Of course," she smiled. "I don't mind having some company."
Hiro then grabbed an apron for himself, and then went to wash his hands. "Great. Let's get started." He headed out to the counter, and she followed suit, grateful for Hiro's company on her very first day at the job.
Hello! So you may have noticed now that I'm putting in an OC in light of a problem on the site about X Reader stories. This was previously published on Wattpad (on magic_mockingjay) as an X Reader, but for the sake of following the rules here on I will be making a few changes accordingly. I may also end up taking the rest of the book down so that I would be able to make the proper changes. But as of now here's the first chapter! Expect the rest of the book to be up fairly soon. I also might end up editing this as well so don't mind if there are some places that kind of fell flat-I'll address them as I go.
-musicalinara