Hello! Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows. I appreciate all of the support for the story, especially since it's not exactly a common pairing.

There were a few guest reviews (removed because it was flames and completely irrelevant) that said some particular shit about it being slash and calling me a few choice names that I don't really care for (and found extremely offensive at that). So just to make one thing clear to everyone, any flames/hate will be deleted- I really don't have time for that mess/headache.

~CWA


CHAPTER ELEVEN


Tadashi Hamada

The good news is that, for once, I'm actually able to come down to the cafe early so that Aunt Cass and Hiro don't have to do it alone. It'll give me a chance to help them when the lunch rush hits later too. Not to mention that this gives me a chance to really bond with Hiro too. I feel kind of bad for always being away at college, but I have to admit that I feel a bit better about it knowing how many times Danny comes in here during lunch to converse and help out. Sometimes I wonder why Danny just doesn't work here with how much time he spends here.

Hmm. Now there's a thought. Danny working here. That would be pretty nice. I mean, it'd help Aunt Cass out a lot. Motivate Hiro to help out and give Hiro someone to talk to. But on the other hand, if Danny worked here, I don't know if I'd get any work done. I'd be an absolute mess. An absolute mess… I think back to yesterday and Danny's 'graceful' exit. He was the most flustered I had ever seen him. I have to admit it's… cute. Adorable even. How he gets so flustered and can't seem to even move or think straight, stuttering over his words as a blush covers his face.

I sigh a bit wistfully, a blush of my own on my cheeks. I barely even register the fact that I'm just leaning against the mop with a lovey-dovey expression on my face until Hiro comes by and gently pushes the mop with his fingertip with a cheeky grin on his face. I don't even know what he's doing until the mop plops down and the sudden loss of balance causes me to plop down as well. Hiro bursts into laughter.

"Bro, I love you, but if this is how flustered you get just thinking about Danny working here, I can't wait to see how well you do today when he actually does start working here."

I scramble to my feet at his words, my eyes widening in panic. Did I hear him right? Is Danny actually going to be working here? With us? With me? Together? My heart is creating a whole new beat in my chest. Hiro is still laughing at me as I grip his shoulders tight with absolute panic taking over me.

"What," my voice cracks, "Why hasn't anyone told me this? I'm hurt, betrayed."

I make various dramatic faces and gestures with my words, hoping maybe if I joke about it it'll stop the fluttering in my stomach. Hiro laughs and gently shoves me off of him,

"That's why I told Aunt Cass I had already told you- this reaction is priceless."

I pout at my younger brother, my bottom lip puffing out slightly. Hiro is still laughing at me, a big cheeky grin on his face. The traitor. He has betrayed me. My own flesh and blood.

"Wow, I knew you were a little shit Hiro, but waiting to tell Tadashi that I'm working here until the very last second. I'm impressed."

Danny's voice cuts through me clearly causing me to flush as I turn to face him, embarrassed that he caught Hiro and I's exchange. He no doubt saw the faces I made too. So much for maybe impressing him. But he just stands there with a big grin on his face, his eyes twinkling as he catches Hiro into a headlock and ruffles his hair. Hiro is laughing as he mockingly protests the notion before Danny finally lets him go.

Hiro teasingly sticks his tongue out at Danny before he runs off to go do his own work…. I really should be working too, honestly, but it's kind of hard when Danny is still there. Just staring at me. With that smirk and those eyes.

"So, where's my apron," Danny questions, but his eyes are still looking me up and down in a way that makes me flush.

"I… Uh… There."

I motion toward the area behind the counter causing Danny to click his tongue with a wink before he goes to get his apron. Shit. He hasn't even been working here for two minutes an already I'm a mess.

This is going either going to be lots of fun or absolute hell.


It's hell. It's total and absolute hell. All because of Danny. Every chance he gets, he's teasing me in some way or another. A suggestive face or two. A smack on the butt that would have been sexual harassment if it was unwanted (though I would never admit that to Danny- he has enough fuel to tease me as it is). A few casual comments that make me an absolute blushing mess. Sometimes, it's not intentional. Our hands grazing when we reach for the same thing. A few intense, almost loving sighs and glances. Sparks that are ignited when he just gives me that damn smirk. Intentional or not, I have a blush to last a life time.

Occasionally he makes faces at me that are just absolutely goofy; Hiro had even joined him and then it was just all three of us making faces at each other before Aunt Cass reminded us we did have work to do. A few times he made faces behind customers back to see if I would burst into laughter as I spoke to them… It worked. Twice. Until Aunt Cass snapped at him- and even then, she was laughing a bit herself.

At least now it's all over. The cafe is all closed up. Everyone has gone home. I can finally relax. I let out a sigh of relief and lean against the wall. I know I probably reek by now from all the sweat. I look like a hot mess, I can just feel it. Yet as I glance toward Danny, who is happily chatting with Hiro a bit away from me, he doesn't seem to have a single hair out of place. Nor does he even seem to be hot. I swear sometimes that guy is like a walking freezer.

The thought causes me to stop for a moment, furrowing my brows slightly as I muse to myself. Now that I think about it, he really is a freezer. Every single time I've had contact with the guy, his hands have been absolutely freezing. Even after he worked on his 'portal', including some work with a wielder, he was still cold as hell and didn't even seem to sweat. Though a part of me is slightly worried about a possible medical condition such as dysautonomia, I can't help but think he's in perfect health and this just adds to his strange mysteriousness. Because that certainly isn't the only strange thing about Danny that I've noticed- I've noticed enough to even make me think that maybe Fred actually has an accurate nickname for him. Casper. I may not believe in ghosts, but I have to admit that if I ever had to say what I thought a ghost would be like, I think Danny would fit the description.

I shake those thoughts out of my head. There's nothing wrong with Danny. He's just a normal, slightly strange, guy. But he's perfectly healthy. He's normal. He's kind. He's strong. God is he an amazing guy. I give myself a light slap on my face to try to focus back on reality. Somehow, every time Danny is involved, I always end up losing myself in my own little world.

I glance toward Hiro and Danny. There's a thoughtful look on Hiro's face as he seems to be musing over whatever Danny just said, a finger resting on his chin. No doubt that Hiro is questioning Danny, in detail, about his project. Thankfully, judging from Danny's face and movements, he seems to have nothing but the uttermost patience toward Hiro and his questions. If anything, they seem to excite him as his eyes twinkle.

"-So what you're saying," I catch Hiro saying, "Is that this parallel universe you're trying to get to, this Ghost Zone, has all sorts of ghosts? Some that were never really people or animals here in our world in the first place?"

Huh. That… Doesn't make much sense. I mean, it may make sense since it's a different universe, theoretically, so they could all just be a separate species all together that happens to mimic what we consider ghosts and- Shit. I stop that train of though as soon as I catch on what I'm doing. I am not going to get wrapped up into this conversation.

"Uh yes and no," Danny winces, rubbing the back of his neck in thought, "It's pretty complicated. Basically, this dimension we do have ghosts. Other dimensions that aren't ours have ghosts too. All ghosts thrive on ectoplasm and since there's not much ectoplasm in our dimension and others, they're left being nothing more than the very stereotypical ghost. That's where the Ghost Zone comes in. The Ghost Zone is where ectoplasm comes from. Ghosts from our dimension and other dimensions flock to the Ghost Zone- not all of them, granted, but some do and it's enough from all the dimensions that the Ghost Zone is pretty freakin' huge."

"So," Danny continues, "Ghosts from all sorts of dimensions enter in the Ghost Zone and because they're suddenly being really overcharged, it can cause dramatic physical changes to their appearance, some may not even look like they did when they were alive. These changes can cause fanatical designs- strangely colored skin, flaming hair, the list goes on, as well as give them a more edge. Ghosts in our dimension and others that are very low powered have to stay invisible and intangible- they can't turn solid, they can't let us see them. The ones that do just have some extra juice. So the Ghost Zone makes them so overly charged that they can stay solid and seen as long as they want. Ghosts that venture out of the Ghost Zone eventually have to return to recharge."

Strange. Sounds like Danny has had some really personal experiences with these so-called ghosts from this Ghost Zone to know so much about them. If he's telling the truth that is…. And if they're even real in the first place. But he sounds so matter-of-fact that I'm inclined to at least partly believe him, or believe that at least he thinks he's telling the truth anyway.

"However," Danny continues, "Since the Ghost Zone is constantly streaming with all of these ectoplasm it causes sentient beings to form. Beings that ghosts in the sense that they're made from ectoplasm, but not in the sense that they were once alive. Such beings can look like anything of any size with any range of powers not common to the normal ghost from other dimensions. The ectoplasm also causes physics to go all wonky and what we consider normal is different there."

I'm really not sure how Danny knows all of this if he is doing mostly theoretical work on a dimension that we don't even have a way to yet. Millions of questions are going through my mind about this and I inwardly curse at myself for even getting so involved. Either way, Hiro seems to be soaking up every word Danny says, believing all of it with a nod of his head and a thoughtful expression.

"So," Hiro speaks up softly, "We do have ghosts here… Like actual ghosts? Ghosts of people we know? Like...family members?"

His voice almost breaks as he looks up with Danny with pleading eyes. My heart just breaks realizing what it is that Hiro is hoping for. I've denied the existence of ghosts because of our parents' death, yet here Hiro is wanting nothing else but to fully believe in it because of their deaths. Danny's expression softens and there's a reminiscing gleam in his eyes as he pauses briefly. That pause reminds me that Danny lost his parents too- recently at that- and my heart clenches.

"Yeah," Danny finally whispers, "It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens. A lot of the time, ghosts like that tend to just stick to family and don't leave to the Ghost Zone, leaving them to be pretty powerless and weak…."

"So it's like they're not even here at all," Hiro chimes glumly, his face dropping.

Danny leans down and puts his hand on Hiro's shoulder,

"No. They're here, Hiro, and we can feel it. A mother's comforting presence on our bad nights. A soft whisper in the wind. How sometimes you can still hear their voice. When we're nervous or scared or need to know that everything's going to be okay, we can feel it. I like to believe that all of that is them still with us, comforting us and loving us the best they can…. We may not be able to see them, but they can still see, and hear us, and I think that's enough."

He gave Hiro's shoulder a comforting squeeze before he stood up. I can see the tears shining in both of their eyes as they muse over all of it themselves. I wipe at my own eyes with the back of my hand, knowing too well just what Danny means. Countless times have I felt like that. Felt as if Mom was there with me, comforting me, especially on the nights when I wondered if I was a good brother to Hiro. Sometimes I still think I hear her singing a lullaby to me.

Hiro nods a bit solemnly and as if a switch went off, Danny's own solemn expression changes into a happy one as he smiled at Hiro.

"But that's enough talk about that for today," Danny laughs and ruffles Hiro's hair, "We can talk more about this later, but I don't want that big head of yours to explode."

Hiro's attitude changes at the joke and he laughs along with Danny, swatting at his hands to get him to stop before he heads off upstairs. With Hiro gone, I finally approach Danny. There's no tension or awkward silence, just an odd peaceful nostalgic feeling in the air.

It's moments like this that I can really feel some sort of connection with Danny, something I can't really explain and something I don't really understand. It's as if we just get each other. Like we both understand each other. A feeling that I get with Hiro and Aunt Cass, but this is just something deeper, more intimate. I'm almost disappointed when the silence gets broken.

"No arguing comments to add," Danny chimes as he glances at me through the corners of his eyes.

"No, not this time," I shake my head with a small disbelieving smile.

I see the small smile on Danny's lips as he looks at me with a bit of amusement,

"Well that's a first. Don't tell me you got hit in the head or something?"

I snort at the thought, though he has every right to question me since I've been nothing but argumentative since Day One.

"No," I shake my head, "I guess… I guess that talk with Hiro is making me think about ghosts now…. You might make a believer out of me yet, Danny. Maybe."

Oh boy. Danny turns completely and faces with me. His eyes are wide and his mouth is gaping like he can't believe he actually just heard that come from me. He starts gesturing erratically with his hands, making strange noises of excitement as he bounces up down… After a second, he's just clinging to me as if I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread with a giddy expression. I just opened a huge can of worms, I can just feel it.

The real question is, what horrors did I just unleash?