#wasabi

day fourteen: the date?

nervous was an understatement. (y/n) had probably paced twelve full circles around her apartment by now, and it was only five pm. she had two hours to pull herself together mentally and physically before tadashi would be standing at her door; and that knowledge only made her jitters worse. there was no reason to be nervous, she knew that, but still her fingers shook as she went to the bathroom with the set goal of taking a shower. she hoped the hot water would provide some kind of clearness to her current mental state.

they had only communicated in friendly and somewhat brief texts over the past two days, their conversations being mainly about the fair and the little details surrounding the plan for that, and it went as such: tadashi would pick her up at seven pm sharp, they would go to the fair, and then he would bring her home by midnight. but yesterday he sent her a photo of himself in his lab, a pencil tucked behind his ear and a tired expression on his face with a text saying: "the grind never stops." she reacted to it with a heart and left it there, because she feared if she said anything else she'd never stop.

upon entering the bathroom she set the water on before anything else and all but ripped her clothes off while it was heating up. when she stepped in, it was only about lukewarm, but that didn't deter her. she stood under the mediocre spray of the faucet head and stared at the wall, her stomach twisting like a pit of vipers. eventually she began the process of washing her body, her hair, shaving, if only being mildly successful at that, and of course overthinking. what if the people at the show thought she was weird? what if tadashi only invited her because he felt bad for her or something? what if--

suddenly the water she stood under turned from scalding hot to freezing cold, and it was then that she realized she had been in there for way longer than her apartments water heater could tolerate. she quickly switched it off and stepped out, effectively soaking her bath rug in the process. she wrapped her hair in a towel with the haste of somebody who was running from cops, swung the bathroom door open and began scittering across the hall to her room, leaving wet footprints in her wake.

it took her all of ten seconds to seat herself in front of her vanity to begin doing her hair and makeup, too preoccupied to even put music on like she usually would when getting ready. mid hair care routine, her phone pinged from where it was charging. she reached over haphazardly and when the device was brought to her eyeline, she was met with a text from tadashi hamada reading: 'super stoked for tonight! see you soon :)'

it was then that her eyes flicked to the time and she realized it was already six thirty. shit. very quickly she abandoned her plans of doing an updo with her hair and instead left it down, pushing it back with a headband to speedrun her makeup. she kept it simple with some concealer, blush, highlighter, mascara and her favorite clear lipgloss. next was to moisturize and get dressed. "what does someone even wear to something like this? a dress? no, that's too fancy." she narrated out loud to herself while slathering her legs and arms with her favorite lotion before hopping to her closet, rummaging through the options. when the clock hit six fifty-five she realized she didn't have any more time to give a damn about the intricacies of an outfit and chose a nice sweater and her favorite pair of jeans.

she pulled those on along with the first pair of underwear she grabbed, which happened to be the kind with the day of the week across the butt. "great. real sexy, (y/n)." she muttered, then mentally slapped herself. "it doesn't matter what underwear i have on! this isn't even really a date! and i will not be doing.. ugh!" she seemed to have a certain affinity for embarrassing herself because mid putting her shoes on, mentally scolding herself, and blushing like a ripe summer tomato; her doorbell rang. "shit!" she only had to put her left shoe, jewelry, and perfume on, but making him wait for any amount of time made her feel like a horrible person. "uh, just one second!" she shouted from her room, praying he'd hear it.

and he did. tadashi stood in front of her door wearing a pair of jeans, an SFIT hoodie and a brown leather jacket over it, his helmet tucked under his arm. he chuckled upon hearing the frantic tone of her voice, shaking his head. on the outside, he seemed perfectly casual and cool, but on the inside he was about to throw up with nervousness. he'd met plenty of smart girls at SFIT, and plenty of them were beautiful, but none were like the girl he was waiting on. he couldn't explain what about her was so intriguing, but it felt like there was an inescapable magnetic force pulling him to her at all times.

before he could dwell on the thought too hard the door before him swung open, revealing the girl he thought oh so highly of. her outfit was simple like his, but he still found her to be the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. he smiled wide, opening his arms for one of those friendly side hugs. "hey! it's good to see you again," her arm wrapped around his torso and his around her shoulders, doing a short squeeze before separating again. "yeah! you too." she smiled, clearly a bit frazzled in the way she'd been the last time he saw her, smiling and eyes sparkling in the cafe, cheeks pink from laughing.

he realized he had been staring for a little too long to be considered normal and cleared his throat, gesturing vaguely to the staircase that lead down to the parking lot. "well! shall we get going?" "well yes, i think we shall." (y/n) giggled, following him as he lead the way. "what's the helmet for?" she asked as they descended one of the two flights of stairs, her hand hovering over the rail for comfort. she wouldn't put it past herself to embarrass herself further by tumbling down these stairs. "my moped?" his tone, though friendly, gave her the impression that she was supposed to have known that. she had not. his words made her nerves start to buzz, and they went full-fledged flying when she laid eyes on said moped.

he noticed her shift in body language immediately and felt that if he didn't help calm her he'd melt into a puddle on the sidewalk. "have you never ridden on one before?" he asked. "no. i've only ever, uhm, been in cars.. and like, buses." she wrung her fingers while she spoke, and it surprised her that they weren't on the verge of falling off with how often she did so. tadashi's eyes softened as he listened to her, sympathizing with her nerves. when he first got the bike it definitely made him nervous, but it really wasn't as scary as it seemed, and he told her as such.

with some light comforting and just a little bit of convincing (y/n) found herself awkwardly situating herself on the back of the vehicle, buckling the helmet he brought for her onto her head. she was grateful she didn't do the updo now. tadashi climbed on after her and they wiggled around to find a comfortable arrangement for a moment before the anticipatory build up finally reached it's peak and she began shaking. "hold onto me like this, okay? i promise i won't let you fall." he said, a soft smile evident on his voice. gently, he took her trembling hands and wrapped them around his middle, holding onto them for a moment longer than necessary. (y/n) swore she felt electricity travel from his body to hers in the best way, and was suddenly very aware of their proximity.

she could smell his cologne mixed with his natural tadashi scent, feel his warmth; she could almost feel his heart beating. she was suddenly very grateful to be sitting behind him with her cheek pressed to his back, because she was certain they could see her blushing from the international space station. she gave a nervous squeeze to his torso and scooted a bit closer for comfort, holding onto him like she'd die if she loosened even the slightest bit, which wasn't entirely wrong.

he laughed at her; but not mockingly. more like 'she is the most adorable thing to ever exist.'. "i've got you, (y/n). i promise. just have fun!" before the snarky comment she had waiting could leave her mouth they were off. she yelped and squeezed impossibly closer, which also made him laugh, full and happy. "not funny!" she squeaked, squeezing her eyes shut tight.

"kind of funny." he shouted back over the wind that rushed around them, taking off towards the school. he weaved them through traffic like a pro, squeezing between buses and cars and getting them there way faster than a normal vehicle would have. somewhere in the in between her eyes opened, and she watched the blur of lights zip by them on their way. she was giggling before she fully realized she was having fun, holding onto him more like a backpack than a titanium chest plate now.

within fifteen minutes they were pulling into the student parking lot. buzzing with adrenaline and looking mildly like she had been on a rollercoaster, (y/n) stepped off the moped with tadashi lending a helping hand. "thank you," her shoes hit the pavement with a light crunch as she took her helmet off, unsure of where to put it. "oh! i've got it." the boy said with a smile, gently taking the helmet from her hands. he placed it on one of the handlebars, his hanging on the other. "do you ever worry about something stealing it?" she asked, falling into step next to him as they began their journey inside.

she began wringing her fingers again, the cool wind nipping at her cheeks and neck all the while. now that they were really there, walking towards the main entrance, and she could literally see the people standing outside and making their way inside, she was having second thoughts. 'i shouldn't be here.' she parted her lips to tell him as such before his voice rang out: "they wouldn't get very far." he swung the ring of his keys around his pointer finger playfully, and she laughed, albeit a bit forced. because it was the socially acceptable thing to do.

again, tadashi noticed. he glanced down at her and saw the look of concern on her face, her eyebrows pinching and her teeth pulling at her bottom lip in the way they always did when she was freaking out. "hey," he said, stopping his stride. she stopped too, standing before him but not meeting his eyes. instead she stared through him, past his flesh and skeleton and to the potential horrors waiting for her through those doors. she was significantly younger than anybody she saw walking inside, they'd probably all mistake her for being his younger cousin or something, or maybe the girl he was babysitting. or-

there was a set of hands on her shoulders now. he blocked the sight of the main doors with his taller body, making it to where she could only look at him. shocked, her wide eyes met tadashi's concerned ones before they flitted around his face, searching it, trying to find his soul, to find what he was thinking. his hands were warm even through the crocheted fabric of her sweater, grounding her in place. "(y/n)." she steadied. his voice was calm and gentle, a tone that you would use to talk to a small animal or something of the like. she met his eyes. "it's going to be okay." she nodded, and the notion got nowhere close to convincing him. he deliberated in his head for a moment about what to do, slightly tilting it in the way he did when he was trying to find the answer to something.

"when we walk inside," he spoke slowly, deciding what words to use as he said them. "there's going to be a lot of open space. we will walk down a hallway to the open lab. people will be set up with their inventions, and people will be looking at them. my friends will be there, and they will be so excited to meet you." he gave her the rundown as best he could, hoping that having a set expectation would calm her mind. and it did, if only a little bit. the wringing of her hands slowed and her teeth released her lip, but his hands remained on her shoulders, gentle and friendly. he could see she still wasn't totally calm. it was time to learn some tricks he picked up from the various psychology courses he took.

"here." he removed his hands to instead hold them out in front of her, cupping his palms between them. "imagine there's a cupcake in my hand." she nodded, imagining. "now imagine there's a candle in the cupcake." she did. she looked to him as confirmation. "okay. now take a big, deep breath and blow out the candle." she blushed, a little embarrassed. "we look silly." "it's not silly if it works." he smiled. she rolled her eyes but ultimately gave in, taking a big breath to blow out the imaginary candle.

he moved his hands away just as she exhaled, holding them just above her head. "oh! the cupcake ran away! looks like you have to try again." he was smiling like an idiot, and now so was she, but she wasn't worrying about the near future anymore. all she had on her mind was the boy in front of her, the dimples he had when he smiled, and this imaginary cupcake he created specifically for the purpose of calming her down. he lowered the 'cupcake' to her once more, grinning with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "don't move it this time!" she huffed, cupping her hands around his to hold them still.

tadashi's eyes widened a bit but he was ultimately unmoved by her unintentional boldness, at least on the outside. on the inside his mind was screaming 'she's holding my hand she's holding my hand she's holding my hand'. he watched her in complete admiration as she took another big breath and successfully blew out the candle, being as she was holding it in place. "there! it's done." she smiled wide, and he wanted nothing more than to lift her up and exclaim that she was the most perfect human being in all of existence. he refrained, if only because it was the socially acceptable thing to do.

she then realized that she was in fact holding his hands and quickly removed her grip, clearing her throat. with a shared look of silent communication, they began walking to the front again. "so.. you talk to your friends about me?" tadashi was caught entirely off guard by the question and stuttered, embarrassed at having exposed himself previously. "uh, well yeah! i just told them that you were interested in the school, you know? that you, you applied and.. and stuff like that." he said lamely, rubbing the back of his neck.

(y/n) giggled at him as they ascended the front steps, a little less nervous about the whole thing. "hi! welcome to the SFIT annual science show. remember, look and don't touch!" chirped an overly perky blonde at the front door. (y/n) nodded in acknowledgment towards her as they stepped inside. immediately she noted how warm it was for it being late-fall early-winter, and deducted the cause to being everyone's compressed body heat. tadashi slowed his steps beside her and she followed suit, looking around in awe. she never thought she'd be seeing this many different kinds of people and creations.

there was someone walking on robotic stilts, a solar-panel powered microwave, a car engine model that ran off of corn seed oil instead of gasoline, and so many other things that made her jealous of the creativity of other people's minds. someone had fire red hair and at least twenty piercings, someone else had tattoos up to their neck, and some guy walking by had a robotic arm. she realized she had been nervous for nothing. no one would be paying her any mind if this was the crowd she blended into the background of.

"do you like it?" (y/n) looked up at the boy to her left with eyes full of wonder, shaking her head to express she didn't even know what to say. "tadashi, this is-" "coming through!" a blur of black and purple zipped by barely a foot away and she yelped, stepping back to avoid being hit. she watched as the flash of movement came to an abrupt stop at a table, removed it's helmet and revealed itself to be a girl. maybe early twenties, short black hair, leather outfit. she took off the wheels attached to her shoes and tossed them in an overflowing box of the same prototype, visibly a bit annoyed.

tadashi walked over to where the girl had parked herself and (y/n) followed behind him like a puppy, eyes gleaming with interest. "looking good, go-go. seems like they've gotten faster." the girl, go-go, rolled her eyes and chewed hard on the bubblegum in her mouth, making small bubbles then chomping them flat. "yeah. but not fast enough." she said as she rummaged carelessly through a box of tools on her work desk. tadashi didn't seem deterred. "this is (y/n). (y/n), this is go-go." (y/n) raised her hand in a shy little wave, giving a soft 'hi'. go-go's eyes looked up from what she was doing but she did not lift her head, regarding the girl with the same amount of interest most people give the dmv.

she looked her up and down silently, which made (y/n) want to sink into the floor. she was now acutely aware of herself. was her hair messy? was her sweater crooked? was there something on her face? did- "so. you're the child prodigy?" go-go was no longer looking at her. she had instead turned her attention back to the toolbox. (y/n) flushed, immediately embarrassed at the label. she put her hands up in a 'no, no' way and shook her head, smiling through the awkwardness she felt. "i wouldn't say that, i mean-" "don't be ridiculous! you're way smarter than you give yourself credit for, (y/n)." tadashi chimed in, smiling at her.

now she really wanted to sink through the floor. 'this is so embarrassing.' she thought to herself, before a glint caught her eye. "are those magnetically enhanced maglev discs?" with a beat, go-go perked up a bit, looking fully at the girl for the first time. she held the object in question in her hands, turning it this way and the next. "yeah.. they are." she said, giving the other girl a look that said 'and what else?' (y/n) observed her workplace closer and noted multiple wires, magnets of varying sizes, and different gears. "those aren't manual gears.." she gasped, eyes lighting up with the realization. "are the wheels electronically charged too?"

go-go smirked, clearly pleased. "yep." "that's so cool!" from the corner of her eye she could see tadashi smiling at her, seemingly more interested in her than what his friend was working on. the thought made her blush, so she pushed it down before anyone commented on it. "yeah," go-go said, tossing the disk in her hands into the box like she had done to the other one. "can't get the balance right. it's throwing the speed off." she grumbled, running a hand through her short, slightly tousled hair. "hm.." (y/n) tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows in thought, taking a moment to assess the situation.

"have you tried using a different base?" she asked, pointing to the plethora failed beta-version's. "these are heavy. if you break it down and use only the magnets, then incorporate the wires to the inside of it, like, place them around the inner rimes, it could help with gaining velocity." go-go blinked, looked to her failed ones, then back to the girl, and shook her head. she began to walk away, presumably to get the tool she had been looking for previously, and patted (y/n)'s shoulder on her way by. "don't scare her off." she said to tadashi before slipping off into the crowd. (y/n) giggled, feeling a bit awkward and welcomed at the same time.

"i told you." tadashi said, leading her to the next attraction. "you're super smart." next was a guy showing... something? there was nothing physically there except for two vertical, parallel bars. the two of them stood at the front of a throng of people who were listening to his presentation speech, some taking notes on clipboards. "that's wasabi," tadashi leaned down to speak quietly in her ear, and he did so to avoid interrupting the presentor, wasabi; or so she told herself. the proximity, though momentary, had her mind cloudy with the idea of being near him to the point she only registered what wasabi was saying when he looked directly into her eyes. "catch!"

before she could register the command there was an apple coming at her. she yelped and put her hands up to (hopefully) catch it, only to watch it dissipate into a hundred paper-thin slices. the crowd around her ooh'd and awe'd as she recovered from her surprise, chuckling it off awkwardly. he flipped the switch on one of the bars to reveal thin green lasers between them. she watched and listened in awe as he explained his invention, it's purpose, it's setbacks, the kinks he had to work out, and how long it took him to put the prototype together. she was too enamored to realize that she had been shifting gradually closer to tadashi over the past five minutes and was nearly brushing arms with him.

he wasn't. he noticed, but chose not to say anything, if only to enjoy the moment while it lasted. the night continued in a blur of movement, discussions, shared laughter and knowledge, with most of the knowledge sharing coming from (y/n) herself. tadashi introduced her to his other friend, honey-lemon, and seemingly the one friend he had with a normal name, fred. she chatted with honey-lemon for a lot longer than she intended to, easily swept away into a conversation about chemistry and how different elements interact in ways nobody would have thought to even observe. tadashi on the other hand was just happy to tag along. he spent the night letting (y/n) see all the wonders SFIT had to offer, letting her meet his closest friends and favorite teachers, and showing her creations he thought she'd take a particular liking to.

before they knew it, it was ten pm and the show was coming to an end. that same perky blonde from before regarded them as they left, laughing together on their way down the steps. "aren't you glad you came?" he bumped her with his hip playfully, chuckling when she stumbled. "yes. that was so much fun, and all of your friends are so nice! and there are so many brilliant people here, and-" she rambled freely, eyes gleaming with wonder and admiration as she spun on her heel, facing him and the school now. "just, wow. i thought i'd.. y'know.." she shrugged, visibly trying to find the words.

"stick out. like i always do. but i don't feel judged here! i feel like, like.." tadashi watched her with a soft, knowing gaze, letting her find the words for herself. standing here, looking at her stand in front of the school, illuminated by it's lights.. he couldn't imagine her being anywhere else. she sighed and shrugged again, putting her arms out with a breathy laugh. "i love it. i want to go. this is the perfect place for me to continue my old projects."

he hadn't said anything still, only watched her. she became a bit shy under his eyes, giggling awkwardly and putting her hands back to her sides. "sorry. were you going to say something?" he chuckled, light and open before shaking his head. "nope."

"i'm glad you like it. like, so very glad." he stepped towards her and gently took her hand in his, just holding it between them. "i can help you finalize your application and enrollment. you could be in classes for the spring semester." he seemed to always have such a strong look of puppy-love when he was around her. any time she had a problem, he had to solve it. any time she was upset, he had to make it better. he felt like he could barely breathe unless she was smiling at him like she was now. "yes! i would love that, that would be so.. ugh, thank you tadashi!"

she was on him faster than he could blink, wrapping her arms around his nape in a tight hug. he immediately reciprocated, although caught off guard a bit. his arms wrapped easily around her waist, holding her gently. he laughed into her hair, amused by her enthusiasm. "and to think you wouldn't have come if you never met me." he teased. she scoffed and broke her hold, giving him a look of feigned insult. "oh, whatever! don't get a big head about it."

they laughed, and she realized they were still holding each other, if at a distance. "uhm.. well, thank you again." she blushed, looking away but making no move to remove her arms from him. "of course." his voice was soft and so full of something like tenderness as he kept his hands comfortable on her waist, making sure to be respectful of the placement. for a moment they stood, him looking at her and her blushing under his gaze, no words being exchanged. that is, until, a loud voice rang out from about two yards away.

"hey tadashi! honey-lemon is asking if your girlfriend wants to come to lunch with us next weekend! ask her, okay?!" they separated like guilty teens caught kissing and looked up to see fred standing on the front steps of the building. tadashi laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. "yeah, okay fred! thanks." he shouted back, groaning in embarrassment. she watched as fred retreated into the building, probably to tell the others he completed the task of telling tadashi. he looked to (y/n) to see her giggling, cheeks pink. "sorry about that.." he mumbled, visibly embarrassed. she laughed. "no, it's okay! don't worry about it."

he shook his head, looking up to the sky. "so.. lunch?" he asked, making her laugh again. "yes. lunch." she stepped to him and bumped his hip with hers, starting to walk to the parking lot. "am i your girlfriend, too?" tadashi sputtered, eyes wide as he looked to her in shock. she laughed, head back in amusement. "i'm kidding! don't choke on your tongue." she teased and he flushed, laughing breathily. "right. sorry."

if only she knew how badly he wanted her to be. and if only he knew how badly she wanted him to say yes.