Enhusiasm
5 year-old Hiro is enthusiastic about a lot of things in life.
Like, for instance, Hiro enjoys ice cream very much. After all, it's cold and it's sweet. It's possibly the best food in the world, barring gummy bears, so when he gets ice cream he usually eats it with gummy bears. Who says one can't have both in the same time?
Ice cream and gummy bears makes him very happy, much like how Tadashi makes him happy.
Hiro paused.
Tadashi is not happy today.
Today Tadashi wears black and he brings Hiro to their parents' gravestones. Today Tadashi brings flowers and looks solemn and Hiro cannot understand why does two stones represent their parents. They are dead and they are gone, so why are they still crying over stones?
When he asked, Tadashi just ruffled his hair and gave him a weak smile. "You will understand one day," he promised.
"Let's get ice cream," Hiro suggested, "And gummy bears."
And Hiro shares them and even tries to give more to Tadashi because ice cream and gummy bears makes him happy, so they must make Tadashi happy too.
5 year old Hiro is enthusiastic about many things in life, but his biggest want will always be to make his nii-chan smile.
9 years later and 14 year old Hiro Hamada stands in front of his brother's gravestone with two ice creams in his hands.
What he is about to do will earn many disapproving glares and disbelieving stares, but it doesn't matter. It never matters anyway.
He puts one of the ice creams in front of the gravestone and puts on a watery smile.
The dessert will melt, will disappear under the heat of the sun and be gone soon enough, leaving a puddle of sticky goo. Then the rain will come and wash away the remains until nothing is left.
Hiro thinks that it's so very much like Tadashi's death, disappearing within the searing flames and left with ashes that his tears washed over. Life goes on and soon the fire and death will become nothing but a memory.
But for now, both the ice cream and Tadashi stays, and that is enough.
"I understand now, nii-chan," he murmurs quietly.
He spends the entire evening in front of the gravestone, his own ice cream melting in sync with the one offered to his brother. When the sun sets and both ice creams melted to nothingness only did Hiro stand up and walk home.
He will always offer ice cream to his brother, because ice cream makes him happy, so it will make Tadashi happy too.
Maybe he will bring gummy bears next time.