Disclaimer: Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. The new character is here is not.
Disclaimer #2: Just as a reminder, this set of stories takes place before Season 2. So remember that as you're reading this.
Chapter 4 – Wasabi's On A Roll
"How is everything? Have you had a lot of customers today?"
"Everything is fine, Mr. Furakawa. It's been that way since you called ten minutes ago."
"I don't hear a lot happening in the background. Are you busy?"
Wasabi took a slow scan around the venue. Every single one of the four booths had people in them. Heck, even the two outside ones were occupied. There wasn't even anyone in line. "Everyone is fed and happy, sir. You have nothing to worry about."
"I see." His voice grew quiet over the phone. "But you let me know if anything happens, OK? I have to go."
He hung up on Wasabi, the dial tone loud in his ear.
Yeah, this passed as a normal shift when it came to his job: manning Furakawa's Sushi down by the docks.
Typically, he and the owner would be here together, Wasabi making the food and Mr. Furakawa playing showman with everyone that came into the tiny place. On this day, however, the owner was off somewhere else. He had said that he was going to head down to the fish market to see a man about the catch of the day; Wasabi wasn't well versed on the market, but even he knew that it didn't take three hours to go ten minutes down the road.
But he didn't really mind that much. He kind of liked being alone; the forced social interaction helped him come out of his shell, and it didn't have to come at the expense of the owner breathing down his neck.
Er…back. He was barely taller than Go Go, a fact that she reminded him of every single time she stopped by while he was at work.
The phone rang again, and Wasabi was quick to answer it. "Hello?"
"Why do you not answer the phone the way I taught you to?"
"...Because I knew it was you calling?"
The man paused, the background noise growing louder. "I'll be out for the rest of the night. You remember where the key to lock up is, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Furakawa. I've done it before."
"Good, good. Then I will see you on Friday." Without waiting for a response, he got off the line.
Wasabi put the phone on the cradle, shaking his head. Part of the reason why he was even working there to begin with was because he had been approached by Mr. Furakawa during Fred's adventure with his giant mech. The owner had needed someone to train; Wasabi had needed money. The conversation was quick, and before he knew it, he found himself in the kitchen learning the menu inside out.
And now here he was. Manning a restaurant while the owner was out doing...whatever.
But hey, he could be out on patrol with everyone else. He'd take serving sushi to customers over clinging to Baymax's arm while flying over the city any day of the week.
The next hour was quiet, the patrons coming in and out at a declining pace. Eventually, Wasabi found himself alone, clearing off the last of the booths. It looked like it would be another slow evening…
"Fancy meeting you here."
He looked up from wiping down the table to see a familiar, suit-wearing CEO standing in front of him. "Mr. Krei? What are you doing here?"
"If you must know, Bobbie..."
"Wasabi."
"Whatever." Krei started tapping away at his phone. "I found myself in the harbor on my boat, as one does...and I was hungry. I went to call my personal sushi chef, and then I remembered that my personal sushi chef was an assassin ninja mercenary sent to steal a bunch of prototypes from my company!"
"Sooo...you decided to come here?"
"No. I was peddling with the fishmongers up near my dock and for some reason they didn't want to give me anything. Then I came here."
Wasabi made his way back around behind the food counter. "What can I get you?"
"Hmm." Krei leaned over the counter, getting unnecessarily close to the glass window blocking his workstation. "Get me one of those California rolls. Oooh, and maybe some tempura. And also the tuna otoro temaki."
"I can also dive into the bay and grab it for you, if you want."
"Excellent." The CEO took a seat at the booth he just cleaned. "I will be waiting."
Wasabi made a motion to say that he wouldn't dive into the water because he was scared to go down there, but thought better of it.
It took about five minutes, but Wasabi had gathered everything everything that Krei had wanted. He had to get the tempura made fresh, and pull some new tuna from the cooler, but finally, the food was set down in front of him, complete with a small glass ramekin for his favorite dipping liquid.
"Because I know how much you love soy sauce, Mr. Krei."
He looked at Wasabi curiously. "That woman told you that, didn't she?"
"I don't know what she was more upset about: the fact that she got caught and is now in jail or that you try to bring the fish back to life by drowning it again."
Krei picked up one of the California segments, examining it closely. "Yes, well. She's in prison and I'm enjoying sushi, so who got the better end of that deal?"
"Unless she breaks out, and comes after you."
"Thank you for jinxing me, Watanabe."
"It's—Ugh. Whatever."
Wasabi returned to his station, leaving Krei to his dinner. He started to clean the entirety of his station; it would soon be closing time, and Mr. Furakawa was very particular when it came to shutting down the restaurant. All he had to do was get Krei out of there. He hadn't had much experience with the CEO, but from what Hiro had told him, he didn't seem like the kind of person that knew when to leave.
But he checked back over after a couple of minutes, and Krei's entire plate was clear.
As was the soy sauce bottle.
That was full when he sat down.
"I guess you do enjoy your soy sauce."
"Yup. It's quite addicting. But tell anyone, and I'll buy this place off of the owner's hands and turn it into a soy factory."
Krei got up from the table, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. "That was excellent. I must remember this place. What was the name again?" He craned his neck out the door to look at the sign above. "Furakawa's. Good to know." He pulled out a bunch of bills and handed them to Wasabi. "I think that'll cover everything. You do delivery?"
"You'd have to talk to the owner."
"Here. I'll leave my number." He jotted his digits down on a spare napkin and handed it to Wasabi. "Have his people call my people, and I'm sure we can set up something."
"I...don't think he has people. I'm his people."
"Well, that will make it easy, then." Krei made his way to the door. "Now, I heard that it was suppose to storm this evening. Hopefully I can get back to my house before-"
He opened the door, and he was greeted by a torrential downpour. Wasabi didn't even know when it had started, but it was sure coming down now. Krei glanced back at Wasabi, who merely shrugged.
"Hey, I didn't jinx you this time. You did."
"Fair enough." The CEO said as his limo rolled up. He glanced to his right and plucked one of the full soy sauce bottles off of the table. "For the road, of course."
Wasabi could only shake his head in amusement as Krei stepped out into the rain, as well as into the largest puddle known to mankind. Soaked to the bone immediately, he jumped into his car and sped off.
He took a glance at his phone. Yup, almost closing time. It was rather unlikely that anyone else was going to show up in this weather.
Wasabi noticed that the sliding door was still open, no doubt from Krei's hasty exit. Some of the rain was also beginning to seep inside. Great, he thought. More work for me. Thanks, Mr. Krei. He walked over to the door, ready to close it…
"Heads up!"
A blurry mass came through the door, almost knocking Wasabi off of his feet. Said mass skidded to a stop right in front of the counter.
"Man, that storm just snuck up out of nowhere, didn't it?"
He pushed the door shut as he turned toward the new arrival. "Hey, you all right? You almost took me-"
The person's jacket had been covering their head, so he hadn't been able to see who had come barreling through the door. But now that the person had returned the jacket to its normal position on her back, he could see her properly.
"Out..."
Her bluish-black hair fell down a little past her shoulders. It was still a little damp from the outside, so she started twirling it in her hands to try to get the excess water off. The short jacket was a light blue, adorned with some fancy lettering he couldn't make out. Underneath, she was wearing a light green tank top and blue jeans, a pair of white flip-flops squishing underneath her feet. Her dark skin tone was a perfect compliment to her entire outfit.
And Wasabi couldn't stop staring at her.
"You OK there, bud?" The girl, finished with her hair, turned to face him. "I know that I blew in here without any warning, but I was-"
She stopped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh God. You were about to close, weren't you? I was just trying to take cover and...I'm so sorry. I'll just get out of here and take my chances with the storm."
Wasabi recovered just in time to block her off of the door. "No no no. That's...fine. It looks pretty bad out there, anyway."
"Such a gentlemen, for someone I literally fell into thirty seconds ago. You have a name, Mr…?"
"Wasabi," he said automatically.
"Mr. Wasabi. OK." She scanned around the room, taking note of her surroundings. "Then I guess it's a good thing you work in a sushi place, huh?"
"No! It's a...nickname. My friend gave it to me in school, and it's just kind of stuck since."
"Why? Are you only good in small doses, or else you'll overpower everything?"
Wasabi didn't respond as he attempted to think of something witty to retort. Thankfully, the girl let up, playfully pushing her shoulder into his arm. "Dude, I'm just joking. Lighten up. I appreciate the shelter from the storm. I really do."
She took her jacket off, tossing it into the nearest booth. "So, how are you going to entertain me for however long I'm here?"
"I don't know." He was still a little surprised at how this conversation was going. A pleasant surprised, but a surprised nonetheless. "Are you hungry or anything?"
"And if I was?"
"I could feed you. And you can give me money for the feeding. Because that's how goods and services work."
"OK, I haven't been back in the city that long," she said. "But I think I know how that works, thanks."
Wasabi suddenly remembered that he had cleaned up the counters, taking everything back to the coolers in preparation for closing. "Well, we have a lovely menu right here (pointing to the chalkboard above him). Why don't you pick something and I can get it out?"
He thought that she would take a few moments to look over the menu on the overhead board. Instead, the girl looked at him straight in the eye, a twinkle forming in her own.
"You know what, Mr. Wasabi?" She turned and sat down at the booth with her jacket, her gaze not leaving his. "...Surprise me."
"I don't normally do requests."
"Would you do one for little ol' me?" she said, batting her eyelashes at him.
...OK, that did it. He cracked his knuckles and ducked down underneath the counter. "You asked for it, mystery girl. Prepare to be amazed."
"Oh, I'm preparing."
Wasabi unfurled his knife roll, the graphene shining in the overhead light. He pulled out some ingredients and got to work. For the next few minutes, the only sounds being made were the knives cutting through the fish and pieces to his masterpiece.
"Ooooh! Shiny!"
And now the girl was out of her seat, staring down at the blue clear knife Wasabi was currently holding.
"Is that graphene? How is it not slicing through literally everything?"
Wasabi raised the blade up to eye-level. "It's not because I got it tempered. It's still really sharp, and you don't want to put your fingers near it, but it gets the job done without the collateral damage. I didn't realize you know a lot about graphene."
"I don't. Not really."
"Oh."
The girl smile grew wider. "But I do know about graphene oxide."
Wasabi raised an eyebrow at her.
"And how it's impermeable to all liquids unless you form a capillary membrane so it can go through it as if the blade wasn't even there."
The other one went up.
"And how it can be used for water purification films that are solar powered."
Content with Wasabi's now shocked face, she walked back over to her seat, stealing a glance over her shoulder. "And you thought I was just a dumb girl."
"I didn't think that."
"I can feel you judging me all the way from over here," the girl said as she sat down again. "Don't worry, I'm used to it."
A few moments later, Wasabi was done. He picked up the tray and walked over to the booth, setting it down in front of her. "I present to you...the Wasabi Roll."
The girl took a quick glance over her offering. "I see shrimp, avocado, some cucumber, and...is that wasabi layered underneath the nori?"
"Just a little bit. Mixed with soy sauce and pepper flakes to bright some other flavors."
"Wow, all of this just for me? I'm flattered." She reached over and grabbed a pair of chopsticks, freeing them from the wrapper. "You really know how to go all out? Your girlfriend must be so impressed with your cooking."
Hearing no response, she looked up at him and saw his face. "Oh, drat. I did it again, didn't I? I keep telling myself to reel back on the personal questions, and I never listen to myself."
She had one chopstick in either hand, trying to lift a segment of the roll to her mouth. She saw Wasabi chuckling across from her, having taken the opposite seat in the booth. "You're judging me again! And this time I can see it!"
"Have you never had sushi before?"
"Look, I study marine habitats. I don't normally eat what's in those habitats!"
Wasabi sighed as he took his own set of sticks. "Have you been living under a rock?"
The girl stared at him for a long moment, a small smile on her face. "Nah. Just the water."
"What?"
"Hey, how are you suppose to hold these darn things?"
Wasabi looked up to see the chopsticks sticking out of her fingers, almost like a claw. "Not like that." He held his up for her to see. "Hold the first one like a pencil, and the second one against the base of your thumb and your ring finger."
She adjusted the sticks in her hand and tried it again, succeeding in snagging a piece of sushi. The girl took a small bite and leaned back. "Oh wow. This is good. I should eat sushi more often...but only if you make it."
He took a segment himself, growing ever curious. "So...how long have you been in town? Because you're clearly not from here."
"I actually am." She finished the rest of her piece. "It's been a looong time since I've been back here, though. Everything's changed so much. I've only been back for a couple of days, but...it's so foreign to me now."
"Why are you here, then?"
"Man, you are just giving me the third-degree, huh?" she chuckled. "Can't tell ya. Super secret business and what-not. Only thing I can tell you is that I work for my dad's company. We might be doing some work out in the ocean and surrounding waters, including the bay." She brought her hands up above her head, simulating an explosion. "It turns out when someone tries to blow up San Fransokyo, no one cares to think about what will happen to the life in the water."
Wasabi paused, his chopsticks hanging in the air. Was she talking about…?
"But I've said too much. Man, you got me rolling there for a minute. Is that the food talking? Probably the food talking."
Before they knew it, the plate was empty, and the two made small talk for a little bit as the rain died down. It was mostly banter, until they got to a particular...touchy topic of hers.
"Hey, not everyone can be six feet tall like you. Some of us have to represent for the short crowd."
"Six-feet-four, but yeah." Wasabi looked her up and down. "You have a small everything."
She stood up in a huff, straightening to her full height. "I'm five-foot-six, and proud of it!"
He stood up himself as he pat her on the head. "Yeah. Next you're going to tell me you're also twenty-one like me."
Hearing no response, he looked down at her, her face changing to a surprised look. "Umm...I'll turn twenty-one next month," she said. "And I'm finishing up my last class online, so I'll graduate early from college."
"Congrats. That's a big deal." Wasabi started re-cleaning his station behind the counter. "I wish I could graduate SFIT early."
"Oh my God! You go to SFIT? That's so cool!" The girl stuck her hands on the glass window display. "I wanted to get accepted, but then I found out there's not really a marine biology focus there. But still...the prestige. You must get all the girls." She clapped a hand over her mouth again as Wasabi's face went red. "Yup, did it again. Stupid me."
"It's a very good thing my friends aren't here with me." Wasabi closed the door to the cooler. "Or else they'd probably be laughing up a storm right now. Or maybe just Go Go."
The girl tilted her head at him. "Man, you have some weird named friends. Can I have a weird name?"
"I don't even know your real name. How am I suppose to give you a nickname?"
"I don't know, Mr. Wasabi. Figure something out. Like...Water Girl. Or...Water Woman."
Wasabi chuckled to himself. "Yeah, leave the nicknaming to Fred. I'm sure he'll come up with something."
She looked out the window, noticing the weather. "Looks like it's cleared up enough for me to head back to my hotel room." As she put her jacket back on, she pulled out a few bills and placed them on the counter. "Thank you for the food, Mr. Wasabi...and the hospitality. Maybe I'll see you around again before I leave."
As she made her way over to the door, Wasabi called out to her. "You do know that's not my real name, right?"
Her head turned back as her hand came on the handle. "What is your real name?"
"What's yours?"
The two stared at each other for a long while. The girl was the first to blink, her smirk reappearing. "I guess we'll just have to leave that for next time," she whispered.
She opened the door to the outside. The rain was still falling, but nowhere near at the rate it was during the storm. "You'll be OK out there?" Wasabi called out to her. "It could get worse in a hurry."
"Nah, I think I'll be fine." She looked at him again, her blue eyes seemingly glowing even brighter. "Thanks for your concern, though."
The girl stepped out and shut the door behind her. Curious, Wasabi walked around to one of the windows, taking a peek outside.
She was now on the other side of the street, taking a long look at the waterfront. One of her hands was palm up, held right above her head.
And he wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, or just his eyes being tired, but...it seemed like the weather was bending to her will, every single water droplet curving around and missing her body, almost as if she was-
Nah. That was impossible.
...Right?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Coming up with character traits for new people showing up in these stories is really difficult. You don't want to duplicate anyone already in the show, but you still want to make them somewhat relatable to the universe. That's the struggle when you have to integrate a new character into this universe.
Oh yeah, the new character? Let's see if people can figure it out.
Recap/Summary: she is a character that has an origin in comics. She is not a Marvel character. She apparently also doesn't know personal boundaries.
Or irony. Or how to use chopsticks. Trust me, there's a reason for that.
Mister and Misses, you could know her. I've given you all of the clues.
(Don't watch The Snowman. It's a terrible, terrible movie.)
Thankfully, unlike Silver Sable, you guys will hopefully only have to wait about two weeks for her to make a reappearance. She will be in the next story, once this one is done.
Speaking of done, Honey Lemon & Fred still need their highlight. Let's see if we can't give it to them, huh? The finale will be next week.
Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.
