A/N: HI, GUYS! I BE NOT DEAD! I BE ONLY SLEEPING . . . FROM STORY!

OKAY, NOW IT BE TIME TO READ CHAPTER. YOU WILL EITHER EXPLODE OR DIE AT THE END OF IT. ACTUALLY, IF YOU EXPLODE, YOU WILL DIE, SO YOU WILL DIE ANYWAYS, BUUUUUT. . . . WHATEVER. :P

PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF MY NEW FAVORITERS AND FOLLOWERS!

READ ON!


Chapter Six

The Unlucky Lobster

Hiro dropped his phone down on the table, realized that he might need it at the restaurant, and hurriedly picked it back up amd dropped it in his pocket. Then he dashed downstairs, through the cafe (where Aunt Cass shook her head fondly at him), and darted outside, where he hopped onto Tadashi's old moped.

This was it.

He was going to see the girl of his dreams — again!

There was the grin of a happy boy in love on Hiro's face as he zoomed through the crowded streets of San Fransokyo. Cars honked and people yelled, but the teenage boy was oblivious to it all — that was, until he realized that he'd just gone through the street just as a bunch of cars were doing the same. That made him a little more aware of his surroundings.

Finally, he reached it: the Unlucky Lobster. Why the restaurant was called that, Hiro had no clue, but Raina had wanted to meet here, so meh. Who cared about titles? He was going on a date.

As Hiro rode the moped to a stop in front of the Unlucky Lobster, he stared up at it. It was a small place, and a bit shabby, too, but looked like it had once attempted to be a fancy restaurant. It was funny, really; Hiro and Raina had met at Hiro's job of selling live fish for pets, and at this place, they sold dead fish for food.

He chuckled to himself a little slap-happily. Then a wave of nervousness overcame him as he approached the door. Raina would be in there. He wondered if he looked good enough? What would happen if Raina decided she didn't like him anymore?!

Hiro frantically started smoothing back his ruffled hair to no avail. It just — wouldn't — lie — flat!

He started smoothing it over more and more frantically — that is, until he saw a familiar face in the glass door that he was using as a mirror.

Hiro whirled around, pushing his hans against the door in an attempt at a casual position — but it swung open, and he barely caught himself from falling right into the building.

"Oh! Heeeeey, Raina," he said, leaning on the wall, which was thankfully very firm indeed.

Raina giggled. "Hi, Hiro."

Man, would those eyes make every guy feel like this?

"Hi!" Hiro replied. He tossed his hair back.

Raina giggled again. "Zey don't call zis the Unlucky Lobster for nothing, now, do zey?"

Hiro laughed uncertainly. "Awe, yeah, u-hu . . . wait a sec — did you just call me a lobster?"

Raina laughed again. "You are the one who said it."

Hiro scratched the back if his neck. "U-hu, guess so."

"Shall we go inside, then?" said Raina, pointing at the door.

"What? Oh, yeah — yeah, let's go inside. I'm starving!"

In truth, Hiro wasn't really starving — he'd had to eat breakfast at Aunt Cass's in order to prevent any suspicion — but he didn't care.

After all, brunch was just — brunch!


Akira sighed as she stepped into her aunt's café. She hadn't been here in such a long time . . . not for twelve years.

"Akari!" came the voice of Aunt Cass from by the cash register on a counter, before which sits a container full of donuts and cookies and things like that.

Akira walked over to her. "Hi, Au — I mean, hi, Cass."

"Hi," she said, wiping a strand of hair out of her face. "All right, you wanna work here, right?"

"Right," said Akira. "What do I do first?"

"Well, we don't have any customers quite yet," said Aunt Cass, "so I can give you a little tour before they come."

Akira gave a small smile to herself. She'd already explored her aunt's café a hundred times before, but she sort of needed an update on it, and was happy for the tour.

"Okay, so, uh, here are the donuts and then here are the drinks —" Aunt Cass started. Suddenly she stopped. A bell was ringing, and both woman and girl's gazes turned to the door.

"Honey Lemon! Fred! Gogo! Wasabi! Everybody!" Cass spluttered as a group of people burst through the doorway.

"Hey, Cass!" called a tall blond girl. She shoved her large, round glasses up her button nose.

"Hi!" Cass replied. She looked surprised. "What are you guys doing here? Weren't you supposed to be hanging out with Hiro?"

A short, black-haired girl scrunched her eyebrows and loudly popped a piece of bright pink bubblegum. "We were just coming over to see if he wanted to see a movie with the rest of us," she said.

"Yeah! 'Megalatron 3: Power Within'," exclaimed a tallish, light-haired and tomato-nosed young man. "It's gonna be epic."

"Wh-who are you?" stuttered the other man uncertainly. He had dark skin and hair and a confused and also slightly scared expression.

Akira started. She hadn't expected any of these people — whomever they were — to talk to her.

"My name is Akira," she said after a moment.

"Oh," said the man. He was staring at her, his expression still confused.

Akira suddenly felt a little self-conscious. She felt her cheeks go crimson and turned to Cass, giving her a questioning look.

"Oh!" said Cass. "Yes. So, everyone, this is Akira. Akira, this is Honey Lemon —" She pointed at the blond girl "— Gogo —" She pointed at the short one "— Fred —" She pointed at the tomato-nosed guy "— and Wasabi," Cass finished, finally gesturing towards the black man.

They all waved or nodded and smiled at Akira when Cass introduced them.

"These are Hiro's friends from his school, SFIT," Cass explained.

Akira gasped. "My l — Hiro goes to SFIT?" she stuttered, catching herself quickly. She was going to say "little brother," but of course she couldn't.

"Yes," Cass replied proudly, beaming. "He's just so smart! Just like Tadashi . . . except, well . . . a prodigy. . . ." She stopped, staring off into the distance. Her eyes shone a little. Her expression was very sad.

"I'm sorry," she said, sniffing. "Tadashi was my older nephew." She stopped and held her breath. Akira assumed that she was trying not to cry.

"He was our friend," said Gogo solemnly. Honey Lemon nodded beside her, and Fred put an arm around the blond girl's shoulders.

Cass nodded, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "Yes, he was. He . . . he passed away in a fire at school."

There was a silence as Akira digested the words of Aunt Cass and Gogo. She . . . she knew that her brother was dead. The harsh reality of it had struck her just minutes previously. She'd had no idea why it had to happen.

She still didn't.

"Well!" said Cass suddenly, breaking the silence. "You guys have got a movie to catch, and . . . I've got a fourteen-year-old prodigy to call."

"We'll see you later, then," said Honey Lemon.

"Yeah . . . later," agreed Wasabi. His voice went up an octave as he said it. He was still staring at Akira with his mouth slightly open.

"Bye," said Akira slightly pointedly, and then the group of people in front of her left the café with a jingling of the bell as the door shut behind them.


"Ah!"

The figure of a defeated-looking young man sat up suddenly in the hard, white-sheeted bed, panting and sweating profusely. He was confused, and he was scared, and he was in pain.

His arms and legs and back felt like they were on fire. His cheeks felt raw and numb.

He was in a dark room that looked like it might be one from a hospital, except for different — there was not quite enough light. His panting was fading away, and his mind was quickly registering what might be going on. But it wasn't quite doing it properly.

Suddenly, a voice broke through, and the man didn't realize how silent it had been until it was broken.

"Hello, Tadashi. I'm glad to see you're finally awake.

"Now, let's get started."

A/N: Merry Christmas Eve. *evil laughter*

SEE YOU NEXT TIME!

~MagicFireTiger