Chapter 22
When Hiro and Tadashi woke up the next morning, they knew that they were going to have to tell Aunt Cass about Akari. Of course, they'd leave out the superhero parts, and they'd say Baymax stopped working because of water in his system.
The hopped out of their beds, and looked at Akari's in despair. It only made Hiro think of Baymax more, which made him feel guilty that he lost his brother's robot in the portal.
"Tadashi?" Hiro asked.
"What is it Hiro?" Tadashi asked.
"I'm sorry," Hiro apologized.
"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Tadashi asked.
"For losing Baymax in the portal," Hiro replied.
"Hiro, you don't have to apologize for that," Tadashi told him.
"But it's my fault! I couldn't find a way to get us all out fast enough," Hiro exclaimed.
"Hiro, Baymax sacrificed himself for you. You don't need to feel guilty for what he did," Tadashi said in an attempt to calm him down.
"But I still do," Hiro muttered.
"Maybe it's because we all failed to protect Akari. Because I feel guilty for that," Tadashi admitted.
"Me too," Hiro agreed.
"C'mon, we need to tell Aunt Cass," Tadashi stated.
"Do we have to? I'm afraid about how she'll react," Hiro asked fearfully.
"I am too, but we have to face it," Tadashi replied.
"Ok… let's go," Hiro sighed in defeat.
They walked down the stairs, and greeted Aunt Cass solemnly, who was sitting at the table.
"Hey boys, what's wrong?" Aunt Cass asked, her voice full of concern.
"It's about Akari," Hiro said quietly, and they sat in front of their Aunt at the table.
"What is it? Did the police find her?" Aunt Cass asked.
"No, the police didn't find her, but we know what happened to her," Tadashi said quietly.
"What happened to her?" Aunt Cass asked.
"She…she's…she's dead," Hiro stammered,
"What?! How do you know that?" Aunt Cass asked in shock.
The two of them proceeded to tell her about Callaghan being alive, and that he admitted to being the masked man and drowning Akari in the port to their faces. After they finished, Aunt Cass cried, and they joined in. they lost Akari forever…
Or so it seemed.
When Akari woke up, she remembered why she was sleeping in a warehouse, her new friends had brought her there. She felt relieved to be off the island, and even though her dreams were plagued with nightmares, she slept more peacefully than she had in about a week
She met all of the group of runaways, and she thought they were all really nice. She didn't know how they could be runaways, they seemed so friendly and caring. Their stories of how they became runaways were so heartbreaking, but they all agreed that Akari's was the worst of all.
She sat up, and saw that she was the first one awake. She decided to sit in the window, and bathe in the sunlight. She realized she smelled like dirt and ocean water, so she wanted to clean up before she went back home.
She walked down the stairs that led to the window, and saw that Lanie was awake. She was reading a book, and Akari decided to tell her where she was going.
"Hey Lanie," she whispered.
"Hey Akari, what's up?" she asked.
"Is there somewhere where I can get cleaned up?" Akari asked.
"Why?" Lanie asked.
"Because I smell like dirt and ocean water," Akari stated simply.
"Oh. Yeah, the community center is just down the street. That's where we clean up," Lanie explained.
"Ok. I'll be back soon," Akari said as she walked out the door.
"Ok, be careful," she heard Lanie say.
"I will!" she called.
She walked down the road a few blocks and reached the community center. She walked in the doors, and headed to the bathrooms, and headed into one of the showers.
After her shower, she felt clean and refreshed. She walked out the doors and down the street. The small breeze was air-drying her hair, and she walked through the town. She ended up in the park, and looked at the fountain. She watched the birds fly by, and the people jogging through the park.
She got up, and she walked back to the warehouse, noticing everyone was awake now.
"Hey guys," Akari greeted.
"Morning Akari!" they all replied.
"Lanie? What's for breakfast?" Anna asked.
"Well, I still have to go to the bakery. Does anyone want to come?" Lanie offered.
"Let Akari go with you," Anna stated.
"Me?" Akari asked.
"Yeah! You'll be going home soon, but we want to get to know you better. Not just by your backstory," Anna explained, and everyone agreed.
"Oh, Ok!" Akari replied.
Lanie stood up and grabbed some money out of a bag in the corner, "Come on! There's a really nice bakery a couple blocks from here!"
"Lead the way!" Akari said enthusiastically.
They got breakfast for the group of runaways and returned to the warehouse half an hour later. They all sat in a circle, and Akari began to tell them all about herself. She told them about her Aunt, her brothers, what it was like being a prodigy-they felt bad when they discovered she had been bullied- what it was like going to SFIT, and that her Aunt owned a café.
"You're Aunt owns a café?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah. The Lucky Cat Café," Akari replied.
"We should check it out," Lanie said.
"Yeah, she makes really good doughnuts," Akari admitted.
They all made the "mmmm…" sound.
As Akari went on to tell her new friends about herself, and they went on to tell her about themselves, she couldn't help but feel like she could trust them with anything, like a… sibling relationship. She suddenly lost the urge to immediately go back to the café, and maybe experience what it would be like living out in the real world with her friends.
"Do you guys think I could stay here a couple more days?" Akari asked.
"Why?" Elsa asked.
"Well… I guess maybe I want to live out in the world a little bit. You know, not worry about assignments being due, and Mochi eating parts of my projects," Akari explained.
"I guess… What do you guys think?" Lanie asked.
"Yeah!" Anna exclaimed.
"Akari should stay!" Elsa agreed.
"I guess it can't hurt," Kristoff said honestly.
"Yay! Thanks guys!" Akari said gratefully.
"Don't mention it," Lanie smiled.
Akari smiled. She had new friends now, but she would never forget her old ones, or her brothers. She told herself that it was just for a few days, and then she would go back to Aunt Cass.
But in the meantime, Akari was genuinely happy for the first time in 4 days. Not scared, not sad, but happy. Joyful. Cheerful. Enthusiastic. And she didn't want to feel any other way.
Small chappie, sorry for that, but the next one is slightly dramatic in my opinion.
I won't post it until Monday or Tuesday because I'm going camping this weekend, and that means no Wi-Fi.
:(
Follow and Review! See you in the next chapter!
~Krypie
