CH 9: Beginning of the End

The lively ring of the bell hanging just above the Lucky Cat's entrance was a sound that always made Catherine feel like she'd been transported into a different realm; one where there were people who were actually good and where caffeinated drinks were equally as delightful to drink as they were to pronounce. The girl looked around and noticed things that were there before yet that she'd not noticed before. Simple apparently meaningless things like the random calendars on the wall or the little strips of colored paper that swayed under the A.C. She stepped in and walked straight to the left where the counter displayed a variety of pastries. Tadashi was nowhere in sight but she figured it was best if she let her presence slowly mix into the ambient rather than do as she'd been doing for the last couple months. It's amazing what a good family argument can make you realize, other than that she'd cried more that evening than she had for the last 2 years however to be fair she wasn't the only one. One of her epiphanies though was something obvious: Tadashi was not getting the love he deserved.

The sun that spilled into the lively café was nothing too overbearing but still had a tone that set everyone at ease. Catherine had been thinking how the place had an aura of love that drifted around it like the awakening and comforting scents of sweet batter and coffee when a familiar voice brought her back.

"Tadashi's girlfriend?" A boy almost Catherine's height said from behind her and caused her to open up a smile that had been withheld for much too long.

"Hiro." She said a bit awkward but glad to see him nonetheless.

"Um, Tadashi's not here yet." He said guessing the reason for the girl's visit.

"Oh, alright...but, um actually...I just wanted a coffee."

"Oh, well, okay then, let me get you it. Which one?" The younger boy said walking behind the counter.

"Macchiato." She answers and Hiro grins a little. Catherine notices but doesn't say anything as she waits for the drink which the boy quickly prepares. He steps back from behind the counter and as she takes the drink Hiro presses his lips together.

"Could you come back here for a few minutes?" He points to a familiar door that led to the garage and Catherine nods.

The state of the place was as it always was; filled with everything you could possibly think could fit in a garage except for a car. Hiro had taken a seat on the single chair that was part of the desk and Catherine took her own seat on the lumpy sofa. Although the young boy was the one who invited her he was awfully quiet and between sips Catherine noticed how he regretted his choice.

"Listen." The pre-teen's voice finally came. Catherine did.

"I know this is none of my business but when has that stopped me before."

"Yes?" Catherine nodded and took a big sip of her drink accustomed to the temperature of the liquid.

"Well, um, you see, Tadashi tells me a lot of things." Hiro swirls a bit in his chair as he initiates something that Catherine already noticed would end up in a personal question.

"Like that for example." He points loosely to the foam cup in the girl's hand and she looks down to it.

"When you two first went out he came home a few days later with a bunch of ingredients, when I asked him what it was for he said he wanted to learn how to make a Macchiato so we could add it to the menu but after a few weeks he was going on and on about you and then he says how you love Macchiato and I just connected the dots."

Catherine blushed upon hearing the story and took another sip to keep from having to comment at all.

"So...I hope that you don't find this weird but...why are you with him?"

Suddenly she stopped everything she was thinking of and stared at Hiro's face. He looked like he was both anxious and repelled by the thought of hearing someone romantically describe his big brother.

"Hiro." A voice that wasn't Catherine's called to the boy and instantly both of them looked to the figure at the door. Tadashi stood tall and unnaturally serious. Catherine kept staring at him; his face had a little bit of stubble which made him look much older than he was and he wasn't wearing his cap. Hiro jumped from the chair and looked from Catherine to his brother before making his scattered exit to leave the two to themselves.

Everything was intensely silent after the younger Hamada left. Catherine felt like smiling and telling him everything that she'd been through but knew better and just sustained their silence as she watched him flick his signature cap on the desk and, after a few seconds internally debating if he should or not, decide to pull up the chair Hiro had just left and take a seat. The chair seemed to have a certain hex on that made the one who sat upon it seem like they did and didn't want to start a conversation. She stayed still only slowly rotating her cup in her two hands. A few more seconds of infinite silence, another sip and she had finished her drink. All the while Tadashi stared at her, slightly menacingly actually.

"Hi." She said finally. He didn't answer and she bit the inside of her lip. She knew there was going to be a serious conversation and only wished it would begin sooner; she couldn't stand the weight of the boys stare.

"Why are you here?" He suddenly questioned looking directly into her eyes. She felt her heart melt upon hearing his voice and suddenly she realized that she hadn't thought about what she was going to say when she actually saw him.

"I...I want to tell you everything." She decided to answer in short. His response was a simple change of expression. She had studied him well enough to understand that he wanted to hear it. And so she told him. She told him about really liking him in the beginning and told him about Kade and about her childhood and about her parents and about the game she invented and was playing with him and how terrible she felt after the first "I love you" and about the part where she wanted him to hate her but he didn't and about the Thanksgiving and about the argument and about thinking about him while she was there and about the gallons of tears she cried and how he was the reason for half of them and then she started crying again. And she sniffled and apologized and told him about not believing in love and about being fake and absolutely sobbed as she mentioned the Macchiato story and it was right about then that he could hold it in anymore and stood. He simply stood there. She didn't hear him say anything so she cried more quietly just in case he whispered something. But he didn't. And so she looked up and saw him crying too. His large hands brushing away the thin streams of tears that went down his cheek. She stood in front of him and he placed one of his big hands behind her head and pulled her into his chest and she suddenly stopped crying. But he didn't and with each breath he heaved her head followed his lungs movements until it became slower and slower. Then she listened to his words reverberate inside his thorax and she pulled back to look to his face to make sure she heard correctly. He stared back at her and she could feel her knees get a little weaker as each letter sunk into her.

"It's too late."

"Ready?"

"Not really." Catherine giggled excitedly as she looked to the redhead besides her.

"Sure you are. We all are." He nodded assuring and patted her back. She smiled and nodded back to him as they stepped into the room of the surgery together and joined the 5 other doctors surrounding the patient who'd just given into the anesthesia.

After a few hours the girl came out of the OR taking deep breathes and feeling the greatest satisfaction in being the one to tell the patients family that the woman was free of the tumor and already being taken to ICU. She watched with gleaming eyes as they hugged each other some letting relieved snivels escape in the moment of joy. Dismissing herself from the crowd she slowly walked down the hall. While rubbing her lids with both hands she came out of operating mode, finally observing the exhaustion she'd been neglecting throughout the entirety of the process. After lowering her hands she saw a face she knew well and greeted him a slightly apprehensive smile.

"Hey."

"Hey." She answered while looking straight into his eyes, wondering why he'd show up so unexpectedly.

"I have news." The boy's dark eyes swayed from side to side before landing on Catherine once again.

She nodded encouragingly.

"I'm moving...to another country."

"What?" She said and felt her fingers twitch from the impulse of the announcement as she thought how this truly was "news".

"Let me explain; it's nothing crazy." He raised his hands in a soothing manner and she drew a long deep breath before allowing him to continue.

"I signed up for college in London."

"Kade, that's great. What for?"

"Chemical Technology." He answered and smiled sadly.

"You never asked me how I ended up getting involved with the Chemistry teacher, did you? Turns out I have a real knack for crazy people careers."

Catherine felt a knot in her throat and bit her tongue in order to not let the tears start pouring down her cheeks.

"Kade, I..."

"No need baby sister, I found my way again." He stretched out his arm and pulled the girl into a loose but meaningful embrace.

"Thanks for always being there."

Catherine was really biting down on her tongue at this point. She looked up at her big brother and for the first time she felt that he was just that.

"No problem...big brother."