Note: Tomadashi Week Prompt 1 – Goodbye

Not only is this part of Tomadashi Week, it will also serve as a prequel to my other story, Take on Me. Don't worry – this one is going to remain tame for the purposes of public consumption!

oooo

You say yes, I say no.

You say stop and I say go go go, oh no.

You say goodbye and I say hello.

oooo

Tadashi's First Week of His Sophmore Year of College.

Tuesday – Noon – [Tadashi]

He knew about her even before he met her. Word travels fast in a small program, and the SFIT Advanced Applied Sciences and Technology labs (the "Nerd Lab" to the rest of the campus) was already buzzing about the freshman that had attended morning classes. Words like 'scary', 'mean' and 'bitch' had filled the halls. While never one to partake in a lot of idle gossip, Tadashi was intrigued. As a sophomore, he had spent most of the previous year settling in and adjusting. He knew how hard it could be.

Tadashi also understood what it was like to be a little different. The Nerd Lab was not known for stunning personalities. While a certain level of personability was expected, as a presentation was part of entry, most of the students were very much socially awkward or a little bit off of normal. As a result, he was a little bit of an anomaly. He was largely friendly, personable and approachable which threw some of the other students off a little.

But little had prepared him for the new girl that swaggered into the lab like she owned it. From the descriptions, he had expected some amazon to stride in. Instead, it was a petite girl chewing gum with a bike strapped to her back. Still, he could definitely see where the misgivings came from.

She wasn't your standard Nerd Lab attendee. Her outfit showed a lot of skin – cutoff shorts, a loose tank top with a sports bra underneath. This in turn showed off the fact that she was tattooed. A colorful dragon coiled along her right shoulder, and a Korean style lion on her left thigh. The SFIT cap on her head was accentuated by the ponytail sticking out the back. She was pretty, in a rough and tumble sort of way – definitely not the sort of girl seen in the SFIT halls on a regular basis outside of the occasional bike messenger.

She popped a bubble between her teeth as she stalked her way through the lab. It was moderately busy that day, but people gave her a wide berth. It was clear that her attitude was less than warm. If her body language wasn't enough, the icy stare from heavy-lidded eyes was more than enough to clear people out of her way.

Footsteps broke Tadashi out of his casual observation of the young woman hunting for a place to set up shop. "I see you've noticed our latest addition." Robert Callaghan stood there with a coffee cup in his hand. Callaghan was a brilliant scientist, a charismatic mentor, and master of understatement. "She's a little rough around the edges, but there's definitely talent there."

Tadashi nodded as he turned back to his project. The oblong pod was the first start on his way to making a fully functional personal healthcare assistant. 'Alphamax' or 'A-Max' as Tadashi sometimes referred to it was to be a simple search and rescue machine, capable of assessing basic physical conditions and extracting injured people from a location.

"I'd never question your judgment, Professor, but it looks like she's going to have a tough time fitting in. Being friendly doesn't look like her forte."

There was no immediate reply. Instead, Tadashi could feel Professor Callaghan standing there silently, watching the young man work diligently. The look on the older man's face couldn't be called 'expectant' as much as it could be considered the look of mild amusement someone might get while waiting for a foregone conclusion to occur.

"…I'm guessing you'd like me to help her transition?"

"I'd like you to be her Guide for the Orientation Tour. I'd find that to be a great personal favor to me, Mr. Hamada." The professor sipped from the coffee mug in hand. The Orientation Tour was a three day program designed to help SFIT admittees make the change from wherever they were from to the school culture. Although some considered it an annoying inconvenience, it was actually quite valuable given the rather unorthodox way that the Advanced Applied Sciences and Technology collected students.

Tadashi turned again to see the woman setting up, hands already flying across Bay 23's holographic interface controls to personalize her workstation with all the ease of an expert. He looked back up at Professor Callaghan and nodded. "Isn't that normally a job for seniors?"

"This one is kind of a special case. I need the big guns." When Callaghan had found out how friendly Tadashi could be, he had turned the boy into the lab's unofficial welcome wagon. Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses, and several prospective students that had visited the lab from the local high school had submitted showcase projects, and many of the new entering class had already gotten a visit.

"Okay," Tadashi replied simply. He didn't mind being called in for his pleasant demeanor. There were worse things in life, after all.

"Very good then. I'll get the paperwork cleared."

"Anything I should know?"

"Yes," Callaghan replied, taking another sip from his cup as he walked away. "Careful. I've been told she bites."

Tadashi chuckled in amusement. Curiouser and curiouser.

oo00oo

Tuesday - Late Afternoon - [Gogo]

"So you're the stooge they assigned me for orientation week?" Aggressive, insulting words didn't really reach the girl's eyes. If anything, she seemed reserved and distant. Her face was inscrutable, betraying no real emotion. Her body language was a different story. Folded arms, slightly arched eyebrow – it was pure skepticism.

She hadn't been really welcomed by the student body with open arms, not that she wanted that. For the most part, her tough girl demeanor was earned and not an act. However, it was often an issue asserting that in the real world. Not so at SFIT. Gogo knew how difficult she could be. The thing was, she reveled in it and enjoyed a world where she could make people fold or flinch whenever she wanted. Then there was this... whatever he was.

A crooked smile crossed his face. She was bristling under the idea that she needed help, but there was something off about this one. Gogo couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Look, it's just a thing the school has us do. Not everyone really needs it, but we don't really do special treatment around here. Besides, it's just three days. After that, you can tell me to take a hike. School's happy, we're happy. Whaddya say?"

There was a pause. Her face was unreadable – she had long practiced a look that made people wonder if emotion was a foreign concept to her. Though her eyelids were heavy and half closed, her eyes were clear, sharp and searching his face silently. It was only a few seconds, but it seemed to stretch for an eternity.

He's not flinching.

There was a voice that never whispered, but quietly pointed out things when she was having a hard time making a decision. It never judged. It never suggested. It only made note and posed uncomfortable questions. Indeed, the young man was not yet cowering or breaking under one of her coldest stares. If that was the case, it was certainly not worth the effort maintaining it.

The ice woman stare dissolved almost instantly, and the punk girl gave a nod, turning back to her work. The stylus in her hand drew a bold line on the holographic grid before her. "Fine. I'll be done with this design draft in twenty minutes. Come back then and we'll do whatever it is we're supposed to do to check off the boxes on Callaghan's list."

He was still behind her. Why? She could feel his energy – more confused than intimidated still. "Was I unclear about something, Mr. Whatever-Your-Name-Is?"

"No. That was just way easier than I thought it would be. And it's Tadashi. Tadashi Hamada. No sense rushing it. Meet you at the quad in front of Kant hall on Monday, 7:00AM."

Gogo's face flushed slightly out of actual emotion.

Mad that he called you out on that could shoulder act in less than five minutes?

"Mn," came the short grunt. "Goodbye, Hamada," she raised a hand to wave goodbye, although it was more a signal that the conversation was over and that he should shoo away.

Her face grew redder as she heard him laugh, the sound of footsteps retreating into the distance.

oo00oo

Wednesday – Morning – [Tadashi]

Aunt Cass had made sure that he left the house that day with an extra coffee and danish. She had been inordinately helpful when she found out he had been hand-picked by Professor Callaghan to help with someone's Orientation Week. That helpfulness had turned into straight meddling when it was revealed that Gogo was a girl in casual conversation. Hiro had not assisted anything when he found the young woman's profile on the school directory.

"She's cute!" Cass had exclaimed, and Tadashi had to admit there was a certain attractiveness to her that the punk haircut, mean-as-sin attitude and scowl present on her face in the picture was unable to erase. Or was it accentuate? Girls like her weren't really his thing – in fact, girls hadn't really been a thing at all for a while. Between entering college and breaking his back to be the best, dating and girls had sort of fallen by the wayside.

The chant of 'Tadashi's got a girlfriend!' had followed him out of the café courtesy of his eleven (and 3/4ths) year old brother as Cass handed him a cup and bag of her best, because first impressions are important. With a last hug from his Aunt and a raspberry blown at him from his brother, Tadashi found himself waiting for the girl at the curb in front of Kant Hall reviewing the guide pamphlet. He'd be the first to admit that while the tour had been mildly helpful, it had largely been a waste of time. It was nice to know where the bursar was, but it would have been more helpful to know which Chinese food places would deliver on campus and how late you could stay before the courtesy shuttles stopped running.

She showed up a little early. The crisp San Fransokyo air didn't seem to bite into her much as she rolled up, her ultra-light fixie supporting her small frame. Leggings, t-shirt, a simple hoodie and a helmet was her outfit of the day, a sharp contrast from Tadashi's jeans, button up shirt and windbreaker. The fact that she showed up was a pleasant surprise – from all the muttering about how she behaved at school, he almost expected her to blow off the appointment.

She fixed him with that same empty stare as he stood from the curb. The girl looked tired, dark rings under her eyes. They did nothing to dull her sharp gaze as she took off her helmet to adjust her hair. The crinkle of a bag pulled her from the practiced motion, as did the smell of something delicious.

"…thanks," was the quiet acknowledgement as he handed her the food and coffee without even asking if she wanted it. Reading people was what Tadashi did. As difficult as the girl was to interpret, certain things were universal. From the look on her face, Tadashi could tell that she had planned to reject the offer. From the sound of her stomach grumbling, he could tell she would have done so solely to assert her self-reliant nature.

He gave her another smile. She stubbornly forced eye contact as she looked up from the bag's contents. The punk girl's face was neutral, although it softened ever so slightly when she bit into the pastry using the bag as a holder to keep her hands clean. Tadashi had to really look and think due to her reserved nature and subtle expressions and body language. For some reason he felt himself looking at her a little bit too long each time.

Each time he looked, he wanted to look longer. Something about her made him want to know everything about her.

"…so what's the deal here?" The hard edge in her voice was still there, albeit muffled behind a mouthful of pastry. "You taking me on a grand tour of this fine campus that I've already mapped out, or…?" She recovered quickly, already challenging despite catching her off guard with breakfast. He was starting to understand her a little.

Tadashi watched her expression as he waved the pamphlet at her and made a big show of reviewing the itinerary. The impatient look on her face only made him want to tease her more. "According to this thing, I'm supposed to make sure you're acquainted with the counselor's office and student services in the morning, and then take you around the lecture halls."

"Ugh."

The frown on her face as she sipped at the hot coffee was almost audible. "Tell you what," Tadashi intoned lightly, "We'll finish the tour up fast so we can check off the boxes, and I'll tell you about the stuff that really matters, like when the gym gets busy, the secret cafeteria menu, and who to talk to about getting the good study rooms."

The look of irritation on her face instantly neutralized, but she didn't say anything. An eyebrow raised. Skepticism. She stared at him hard again, eyes searching for something. Tadashi tried to find purchase in the look, find the basis for her behavior. Maybe she was just an extremely wary person. Most girls wished they were this mysterious, he thought to himself with an internal smirk. Usually it was an affectation, designed to get attention. This one was definitely different. Curiosity demanded more.

"Hm. Ok," Her face was hidden by the coffee cup, but he could swear he saw the corners of her lips turn up in a small smile.

oo00oo

Wednesday – Evening – [Tadashi]

Tadashi had kept his promise. After a whirlwind blow-though of the facilities, Tadashi had quickly taken her to the important places on campus. That weird little nook just under the footbridge path that had a pile of stones good enough to sit down and take a breather. The little bun shop tucked amongst the student apartments just a stone's throw away from campus that sold little iced coffees in old fashioned milk bottles. Ming's – the hole in the wall Chinese joint that seemed to have more Hispanic workers than Asians, but was cheap, filling, and fast.

To his surprise, Gogo hadn't been terribly resistant to the informal tour. At first she was passive. She let him do most of the talking, her blank expression like a mask. She would lag or trail behind by a step or two, seemingly reluctant or observant of where they were going and what they were doing. By late day, however, she started trying to match or exceed his pace. Silence and staring were replaced by expressive tilts of the head, questions of 'What's next?', or 'What's good here?' She offered only a little – the tantalizing bits left him feverishly trying to put her enigma together.

More importantly, somewhere along the line she forgot she was supposed to be angry. Frowns, cold stares and scowls eventually dissolved, revealing a softer face and small smiles. More than once, Tadashi found himself watching her when he felt she wasn't paying attention. The tiny, almost secretive smiles, the way she tucked her hair back behind her ear, the way she moved and how she was built. Tadashi had consciously determined that he found her attractive, and that was all – a biological function. She was pleasing to the eye – he would be careful to keep that in mind when attempting to read her further.

She still wasn't sharing a whole lot about herself, but she let him ramble and appeared to be listening occasionally, sometimes engaging in light inquiry about his small family and what his Aunt's Café was like. He found himself losing track of time, and she did nothing to indicate that she was keeping tally either.

She didn't even notice that it had gotten a little dark by the time they got back to Kant Hall. Gogo kept walking when Tadashi stopped, only to scuff to a halt a few feet away. "Hm?" The look on her face was clear: Why'd you stop?

"It's six o'clock. I gotta go home, help Aunt Cass with dinner. You locked up your bike here, right?"

"Oh. Hm." She nodded, turning around. She forced eye contact again as she stepped past him. Tadashi never looked away, responding with a crooked smile. Sharp eyes flicked away from his as she stopped by her bike, kneeling silently to pop the lock.

"Well, I guess that's a wrap," Tadashi said conversationally, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. He was frankly a little disappointed as to how cold she had suddenly become. Even though their interactions throughout the day had been largely one sided, she had been receptive and engaged him in conversation. He could feel the iron wall being raised again. It bothered him. He didn't know why.

"Yeah. G'bye." She fumbled with the lock, turning it over once or twice.

"Same time and place tomorrow?" He stepped forward, crouching next to her to hold the combination pad up to the light so she could tap in the number sequence. Fingers brushed, and his heart jumped in spite of himself. She glanced up at him with a frown. For once, he couldn't return the eye contact. The combination was entered.

"Mn. G'bye," she stressed, standing and stepping away. Her gum popped. Was she blushing a little? It was hard to tell in the dimming lights and the harsh halogen street lamps flickering into existence.

He suppressed a nervous laugh, turning away. "Yeah. Okay. See you tomorrow." Despite the awkwardness, he was looking forward to tomorrow morning.

oo00oo

Thursday - Morning – [Gogo]

She came prepared.

She had eaten, had her coffee, and cleaned up a little. Highlights had been refreshed, hair washed and conditioned. A light dusting of makeup applied, just for appearances. Eyes were bright. Time to be on top of her game. No more of this 'taken off guard' crap.

The question that had been bugging her since he first stood his stupid face in front of hers was: what was Tadashi's angle? Clearly it wasn't to be Callaghan's little sidekick. While it was clear that the faculty favored Tadashi, he wasn't getting any favors from it and there was none of the usual adulation that a toady often showed. He wasn't a wolf. She had given him a few opportunities to be a lech, but there were no stray hands, suggestive comments or questionable looks outside the normal glances any healthy guy would take.

He was just… nice.

It confused her no end. She had always been taught to question, investigate, and offer little and obtain more to find out the true motives of the people around her. Tadashi, to the best of her ability, seemed to have no motives other than just showing her around and being friendly. It was time to take another approach.

Jeans, leather jacket, fingerless gloves, all accessories for the black and yellow Fujikawa Road Warrior she was leaning on in front of Kant Hall. The 1200 CC forkless bike with push rod suspension and carbo-disc wheels was a beautiful beast. Spotless, meticulously maintained, it looked like a superheroine next to the battered pile of junk Tadashi rode in on. She almost laughed as the heavily dented, scraped glorified supermarket scooter rattled to a stop in front of her. There was also no small feeling of triumph as he gave her a slack-jawed stare for a solid second or two as he stepped off the bike.

"What in the name of all things motorized is that?" Gogo asked, struggling to hold back unbridled laughter.

Tadashi shook his head as he wheeled the thing over to the bike rack and locked it with a chain. "Cut it out. You might hurt her feelings. I'll have you know that Veronica and I have been through some pretty tough scrapes together."

She barked out a laugh. She couldn't help it. Another taunt danced on her lips as she glanced at Tadashi. He was only pretending to be insulted. It was easy to see that he was amused behind those brown eyes of his. The glance turned into a gaze before she turned away sharply. A momentary feeling of discomfort filled her chest as she slung a leg over her bike, slipping on her helmet. "Get on," she intoned flatly. "I'll go wherever, but we're doing it at my speed today."

The tall boy held up the pamphlet, his half-smile fixed on his features. "Well, it says we're mostly on campus today. Lab tours and stuff. Then I'm supposed to make sure you've gotten all your lab stuff from Supplies."

Sharp eyes stared at him – safe inside the helmet, visor down. It was different, looking at his face from behind fiberglass, padding and plastic. "I really don't want to do any of that stuff."

"Okay, well, tell you what. We do one lab, meet some friends of mine, and then we go do what you wanna do. Fair?"

There was a pause, and a reluctant movement off of the bike. She pulled her helmet off of her head, expression neutral again. "Yeah. Okay." Her hand ran along the gas tank of the motorcycle. When did she start compromising? "Let's get this over with."

oo00oo

Thursday – Early Afternoon– [Tadashi]

He found himself looking for excuses to stop and point things out just so that she'd step a few paces ahead of him just so he could watch her walk. Tadashi chastised himself for the juvenile behavior, but she looked great and he couldn't help but check her out. Still, it made him feel guilty. He was supposed to be helping out, not entertaining a schoolyard crush.

He felt a little more scattered today, and she was taking advantage of it. Far chattier today than yesterday, the girl appeared to have found her mental footing and was busy giving him a hard time about his bike, his clothes. He really couldn't hear it over teenage hormones. He smiled and played it off. Tadashi was intensely logical, knew that a lot of what he felt was the fault of biology, chemical reactions and simple wiring in the hindbrain. Despite the conscious thought, there was little he could do about the fact that her butt looked great in tight jeans.

The automatic door swooshed open as he picked up the pace, getting himself under control as Gogo groused on entry. "Oh boy. You're showing me the lab I was just in yesterday. Whoop de do."

"Don't you ever get tired of complaining?" Tadashi responded teasingly. She shot him a glare as he walked into the workshop proper. "There they are. Wasabi! Fred! I want you to meet someone."

A large black man with dreadlocks looked up from his workstation, magnification goggles still on his face. "Seriously, Tadashi? Why do you insist on helping Fred make that ridiculous nickname stick?" The soldering iron in his hand switched off as he took off his goggles to see Tadashi with the Scary Girl in tow.

"All I'm saying is that you're like that extra spice in the dish we call life," Fred drawled from his battered, smelly recliner nearby as he flipped through another pulse pounding issue of the Amazing Spider-Ham. "Also, you dropped a lot of that stuff on your shirt. It was epic. I'm not even sure how you managed to run into that waiter."

"Because you decided to wear your stupid Gamera mask to the dinner table and you decided to show off its realistic fire breath action," Wasabi said sourly before looking back to the pair approaching the station.

"Wasabi?" It was a one word rhetorical question as she looked at Tadashi, then Fred before peering up at the big man. "Whatever. Hi. I guess I'm the new kid that everyone's been talking about. Name's…"

"Gogo!"

"What."

Fred looked pleased with himself. "Yeah. Gogo. I remember you. You were screaming that this morning when the band bus blocked the intersection headed to Kant Hall, remember?" Gogo's harsh glare came back immediately – it was amazing how quickly she could switch that on. Fred cowered almost immediately.

"That was you!?" Wasabi said, turning to look at the smaller girl. "The one screaming 'Go! Go! For the love of God, go! I hate being late'?'"

"Maybe it was, Wasabi." She stressed his nickname, causing the big man to twitch.

Tadashi grinned at her. "Did you hurry over just to see me?"

"No! Are you stupid?" She scowled, shoving Tadashi's chest. He laughed despite himself. As she turned to fully train her scowl on him, he noted that the intensity of her stare dropped just half a notch.

"Anyway," Wasabi interjected, attempting to sort out the mild chaos. "Is this the person you said you wanted to take with us to lunch?"

oo00oo

Thursday – Early Evening– [Gogo]

The wind tore across her body as she headed home alone on her motorcycle after lunch. Speed was her friend. Where others needed to direct their full attention when hurtling at 85 miles an hour on a busy street, Gogo could partition her thoughts to pilot and focus on problems eating at her.

When it came to building a friendship, you couldn't go wrong with a good old fashioned pizza. That's what Tadashi had said when he had led them into the restaurant. Gogo had responded that she didn't need any of them as friends. He wore the face well, but she could see the crack in his armor when that gem came out. She immediately regretted saying it.

She didn't know why.

It had been an easy, natural response. It came out almost without thinking. In the past, words like that kept people at arm's length, pushed aside the useless and stupid. Usually the response was anger, or equal coldness. The look that flicked across Tadashi's face for a split second was hurt, as if she had kicked a doting puppy. Gogo felt guilty, made even worse by the fact that she was starting to believe that there was no angle. He was only sharing what he had to try and make this situation more tenable for her. He had to know at this point from Callaghan how antisocial she was.

Lunch had been fairly uneventful. Tadashi and his friends had done most of the talking. She didn't really participate, but it wasn't particularly distracting until the end, when she decided that she just wasn't interested in being a part of it. She was uncomfortable. The way he kept looking at her made her uncomfortable. He didn't ignore her, didn't treat her like a piece of meat, and seemed to want to engage her in real conversation. She just wanted to leave – she didn't belong in a place like that.

Gogo had just lived in a dog-eat-dog world so long, she had forgotten that people could live without being on the take. Backstabbing, lying, and deceit was the norm where she was from, and that was just in high school. Gogo had taken the opportunity to just become the meanest, nastiest thing around… and in exchange almost all normal thought had burned away, leaving a paranoid, angry shell in its aftermath.

…then came along a sweet boy that gave her big puppydog eyes and was trying to show her the various trees and flowers and places to nap on campus. She hated herself for how she was behaving, and hated it even more that she only knew how to respond that way.

Need a hand?

No. Goodbye.

See you tomorrow?

Maybe. Goodbye.

Come meet my friends?

They're boring and stupid. Goodbye.

Okay, so lunch wasn't so hot, but do you want to…?

No. Goodbye.

The voice was mocking her, and she knew that the voice was only the part of her that was still left alive after dealing with adolescence ruled by iron fisted parents, backstabbing, petty, shallow, rich classmates and weirdos. It was sad and pathetic that the only part of her that wanted her to feel anything anymore was resorting to being mean in order to make a point.

She was home before she knew it. The apartment was a hole, and it cost a small fortune, but she managed between her job and the gift her parents gave her so she could manage the first few months on her own. Gogo pulled out her phone, stepping up to the second floor as she dialed the number Tadashi gave her.

It went to voicemail.

"Hey. Sorry for ducking out. I… wasn't feeling too good."

She paused a moment, opening the door with an old fashioned key and deadbolt.

"See y…"

The phone buzzed. Tadashi was returning her call.

"G'bye," she said hastily, shutting it off. Anger welled in her chest.

The phone banged and clattered off the far wall of the apartment the moment she opened the door.

oo00oo

Friday – Morning – [Gogo & Tadashi]

It was another cold fall morning as he sat on the curb in front of Kant Hall, the chilly concrete's cold seeping into his pants. He didn't think she'd show up. The fog made it even less likely that she would. The entire campus was blanketed, making visibility poor past a few dozen feet.

Tadashi wasn't used to failing quite so completely, but he really didn't know what to do. He relied on methodical logic a lot, but found himself muddled by emotion. He was good with those, too, but truth be told, he was only good at those things one at a time. It wasn't a problem when he was given the opportunity to switch gears. It was much more difficult when it was a muddled mess.

He found her attractive. That made it even worse. Aesthetics aside, she was just fascinating to him. It wasn't the wounded bird act that interested him so much as just how tough she actually was compared to the weaknesses he had found. He thought going out, having some fun, and meeting new, friendly people would be enough. Instead, Gogo had gotten fed up and left. Tadashi had heard her message, and left one of his own but still felt like it was all very much up in the air.

The irony was that as fast as Gogo wanted to be, there was definitely a long, slow road ahead in order to adjust to SFIT life.

There was a soft scuff as wheels hissed to a stop, and Tadashi looked up from his melancholy musings to see the girl leaning over him on her fixie, a coffee and paper bag in hand. "Hey. Sorry I'm late. I stopped by your Aunt's Café. She said you didn't have breakfast." He had a sad look on his otherwise handsome features. The guilt worsened.

A crooked smile crossed his features as he stood. "Thanks." She chewed her lower lip as he opened the bag, stopping as he looked up.

"She's nice," Gogo said quietly, brushing her hair from her face as she peered at him.

"Yeah… nicest person I've ever known," Tadashi mused, taking the bag and coffee. It was hot – two creams, one sugar. Cass knew what her boys liked.

"I dunno. I think I might know someone nicer."

Tadashi went silent as he stopped drinking. Her face was neutral as always, but she wasn't able to look at him.

"Hey, look. I'm just not used to… this. This school thing with the friend stuff. I won't bore you with the details, so I'll keep it short. My school sucked. High school sucked, and all the kids there were jerks. My dad is mean, my siblings are brats, and my mom periodically checks in from Saturn to provide home spun wisdom and death threats every time she sees me with a new piercing or tattoo. It's like since I was eight I've been living in my own head, trying to get out of there and now that I have, I don't even know how to behave anymore."

Tadashi looked at her, quiet, face soft. It was the most he had ever heard her say in one sitting. Gogo sighed heavily. "I get it if you don't want to put up with my garbage. We'll just finish the day out with whatever is on the list and we'll say our goodbyes and call it square."

A soft laugh. She shot a curdling glare at him, but one look into his warm eyes made her feel terrible for even having thought about anger. He could see the flames in hers and saw how hot the blaze had to be to protect the contents inside. Silence settled for a moment as they looked at one another, the fog rolling about them, making them feel like they were the only two people in existence.

"I don't like goodbyes," he eventually replied, holding out his hand to shake. "And I don't like giving up on anything."

That infuriatingly adorable smile made her so sick her heart hurt. There was a twinge in his chest as she took his hand, and the smile on his face grew into a grin to kill the feeling of infatuation.

"Friends?" She asked softly, her eyes peered at his. Yeah… friends. That was safe. A soft, tentative smile eased onto her features. It was the first one he had ever seen on her. Gogo wasn't just pretty. Her smile made her captivating.

"Mn. Okay," replied Tadashi, grinning. She punched his shoulder.