Say Hello
Hiro stayed alone in an one person apartment, only to be accompanied by his sometimes companions from his college. Mostly, he was up in his room alone to his thoughts, and the sounds of nature outside his windows. Well, they weren’t actually sounds of nature, rather cars, bikes, and people talking all drowsy too late at night when he did sleep. But there was a sound he was always glad to hear; the small rattle of a garage door that sounded in the alley way. It was usually around 6:45am that he would hear it, causing him to stir around from his dreams and get up. He’d walk to the bathroom and peek out the small window that resided in the cramped room and see a younger boy pulling out his bike, helmet and bag at ready as the other would climb on, then go off into wherever he went. Then, Hiro would start his day.
He should really thank the kid for waking him up with the noise every morning, he’s never late to school anymore. He only wished the other had come early, and not just two years ago. The younger man came when he was only 13, apparently, as his Aunt says, and since his parents weren’t around anymore, he needed a place to live. She was more than happy to take him in, and heck, he was happy to. When the younger boy moved in, his visits to the woman’s cafe next door became longer when he had to work. She became more talkative, and even told him about the boy’s silly activities after closing time and at dinner. Hiro had ended up learning the boy’s name was Tadashi, though he never really called him or referred to him as Tadashi, rather just ‘your nephew’, ‘that boy’, and 'kid’, because he found it less awkward when they didn’t directly introduce each other.
That didn’t stop Hiro from noticing the boy, now 15 and more hyper than ever. Himself at 19, he found it weird to have this subtle fondness over a boy he has yet to speak one word to-- Okay, that was a lie, they did speak, many times. It’s not as a normal conversation, when he would return home late, and Hiro was still somehow at the cafe, lost in conversation with his Aunt, he’s come in and look at them, wave and say hello, and then off up the stairs he went. He didn’t mind the quiet greetings and simple nods; even sometimes he’s receive a wave when the boy saw Hiro at the window in the morning.
Yes, all was well. He knew a small family next door, and they accepted him. He hadn’t gotten that family feeling since he was small, before his parents allowed him to move away into a city all by himself. It was warm, nice, and relaxing to know that someone cared for him as maybe a child; he always snagged off a free drink from the boy’s Aunt, and she of course knew he was trying, and let him get away with it. Hiro was great with the cute act, but he still payed for his food, and listened to her stories.
The night that was running to an end was a night he stayed late at the cafe; earlier he had to leave before the boy even came home. He wondered where Tadashi could have been, it was nearly 11:30pm when he got himself home, which was hardly a two minute walk, counting the house was barely down the street from the cafe.
He must have had his music in when the boy came home, because that night he didn’t sleep, or rather couldn’t. He stayed up, working on his essay for class.
He knew it was morning when the sun rise snuck in from his open window, blinding him.
Lifting his arms to block out the menacing light, he knew he’s miss that loving sound of the garage and the boy returning. Looking at the time on his phone, 6:30am, he knew he’d hearing that fond sound any minute. So he settled into his chair, leaned his head back and waited. Waiting.. Waiting..
Jolting awake suddenly, the boy breathed in quickly-- Looking at the time; 7:15am. He barely slept, but that wasn’t what bothered him. He didn’t hear the endearing sound, or rather, his alarm clock. He supposed his boy could be his alarm clock, but that sound had never come. He was slightly sad that the familiar sound didn’t wake him up, even though he’d probably groan to himself as he got up for not sleeping-- But now he’s going to be late to school, and with the new found mystery of the missing younger boy, he didn’t really want to go, but since that’s definitely not an excuse to miss school, he jumped up, simply throwing on a plain sweatshirt to cover his shirt that he had worn yesterday.
“I’ll get something to eat when I get on campus..” he whispers to himself as a reminder, hurrying out the door and locking it before he bounced off to catch the late city bus.
--
Hiro grumbled, walking up the street towards his apartment. He missed the bus back home, and the late one, thanks to his oh-so dear friends who then teased him about needing to walk more. Having brushed them off, saying he walks enough, only made them cross their arms and raise their eyebrows, all at once. It was a weird experience, and he still wonders if they rehearsed it. His thoughts were subsided as he got to the alley way. THe garage door still closed, making a frown edge it’s way to his face.
Being upset over a kid wasn’t a usual thing for him, honestly, he hated children, but Tadashi wormed his way into his okay status. Probably for the fact that he didn’t really try to force Hiro into conversations, plus he loved his Aunt, so two point already for the kid. He turned his attention to the mailbox that rested on the sidewalk, along with the other people who lived in his apartment complex.
104, 105, 106.. 107! He dug the key from his wallet, pushing it into the slot and turning. The small click made his heart skip, peeking into the box. Letters from his parents, just as he wanted. He quickly grabbed them; three of them from his parents, two were bills-- Augh, bills! He threw his hands up into the air, which wasn’t the best of choice, because the five letters fled from his hand and fell to the ground.
A smile sigh passed his lips as he stood, shut and locked his mail box, walked a few steps, and kneeled again. He started to pick up the letters when suddenly he didn’t feel alone; a small warmth was next to him.
“Do you need any help?” Spoke the voice, it was a familiar one, a smoothing one.
Hiro looked up, meeting the boy’s face he’s been worrying about all this time. Of course he wasn’t going to admit that, his Aunt probably already did that for him. Tadashi was now cocking an eyebrow, looking at Hiro closely as he was leaning forward on his heels.
“Oh, uh--” The older boy had started, looking down at the two letter’s he held. Before he could speak another word, Tadashi kneeled next to him and picked up the last three.
He stood up, his hat giving the late sun some shade to Hiro’s face as the boy held out the letters towards him. Hiro gulped and stood up, as much as he had earned for the some wake up call that morning, he didn’t exactly want the boy talking to him. It wasn’t because he didn’t like the boy-- Tadashi. No, as it seemed how explained before, he enjoyed him, but it was another thing to speak with actual words.
Tadashi snorted as Hiro finally took the letters with caution, “Are you alright?” He asked, tilting his head.
“Oh yeah--” Hiro spoke quickly, “Yeah, I’m fine, y’know. I was just-- Well. You kinda came out of nowhere kid. I thought you were an hallucination at first.” He was speaking before he thought, and quickly subsided in his words.
But, for whatever reason, Tadashi laughed. It wasn’t a burst into laughter kind of thing, but rather a small chuckle. He smiled then, a show of braces on his teeth now clearly seen. Hiro never knew Tadashi had braces.
The laughed calmed his slightly, letting his shoulders relaxed as he smiled back at the younger boy. For a moment, they looked at each other; a connection suddenly becoming clear.
“You live here, right?” Tadashi was the one who broke the silence, a small nod coming from Hiro before he looked back at the building.
Tadashi tilt his head, starting towards the sidewalk that lead up to the front door of the apartment complex. Hiro complied and followed the younger boy. The first few steps along the cracked and beaten up cement were in silence. He was quiet again.
“So,” Hiro started up another conversation, “I kinda.. Noticed you weren’t out today. Did you even come home last night? Me and your Aunt were..”
“Yeah I did, around 1 am, actually,” Tadashi spoke, a small tug in his voice as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Aunt Cass gave me heck about it, but I had to finish up some paper work..”
“Paper work?” Hiro asked, taking the first step towards the door with Tadashi.
Tadashi then smiled, another flash of the braces, “Yup! I’m applying some where, it’s for a school, and I’m really excited. So is Aunt Cass, she can’t wait for me to get in-- If I get in, I mean.”
Hiro smiled, reaching out to the door knob, “I’ve heard you’re a smart boy--"
“Tadashi.”
“I know.” Hiro answered, which was quickly shot down when Tadashi scrunched his nose.
“I mean--” The older boy stammered out quickly, trying not to sound as creepy as he already had, “Your Aunt told me your name, is all. I promise I’m not keeping tabs on my neighbors or anything, I just--”
Another laugh was coming from Tadashi by the time Hiro finished. He was being defeated by a 15 year old, and the 15 year old knew it.
“It’s alright,” Tadashi spoke, holding his hand up to calm the other’s nerves, “Cass does that all the time, she talks about me with her friends, who I still hardly know, and they go all what-a-handsome-young-man on me..” He trailed off, but quickly brought back with his hand sticking out towards Hiro.
“But, here,” He said, a soft smile resting on his lips, “I’m Tadashi.”
Hiro looked at his hand, then up to him. Taking the smaller hand in his own large one, he shook it, “Hiro.”
“I know.” The younger boy smirked, recoiling his hand, “I’ll see you around, dude. I need to head back, Cass wants help in the cafe today.”
Tadashi was heading down the stairs as Hiro sighed quietly to himself, opening the door. He was stepping in when he heard the other sputter on his shoes, “Wait!” They both turned at the same time. Wow, how many times were people going to do that today?
“Aunt Cass wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come eat dinner at our house sometime. She really likes to have an older man around the house.” Tadashi’s smirk was back on his face when he saw the red rush to Hiro’s face.
“S-sure.” Hiro said softly, looking back into the hallway of the building before meeting the other’s gaze once more.
Tadashi relaxed, putting his hands into his pockets and rocking on his heels, “Cool.” He said, turning on his feet and speeding down the way.
Hiro didn’t wait to see the boy make it home, he popped into the building so quickly he thought he would become the new flash. Usually with new people, he would be restless and nervous, but right now he was just restless and a little.. Warm? The boy seemed genuine when he talked to people-- Oh god, he now had a formal meeting with Tadashi, he can finally stop calling him boy.
He should really talk to his Aunt about that dinner soon, maybe he’ll dress nice...