Tungsten Carbide

Eight

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't think I'd be this late," Honey apologized, sliding into the seat across from Tadashi.

"No, I just got here."

"Professor Lewis gave us an extra assignment and I had to run to the library and grab some books," she explained.

Tadashi smiled and stirred his coffee. "I'm just glad you could meet me in between classes. How are all your classes going, by the way?"

"They're fine. My chemistry teacher is fascinating. How's your therapy going?"

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Can we not talk about it?"

"Sure, sure," Honey said.

"Do you want anything?" he said, gesturing towards the front counter of the coffee shop. "I'm buying."

"Aw, thanks, Dashi." Honey skipped to the counter and ordered a drink. She slid back into her seat as she waited for her name to be called. "So," she began. "Hiro's doing great. I hardly ever talk to him because he's so busy doing homework."

"He really likes it, I think."

"That's good. Professor Lewis said he'd probably get his own space in the common area of the robotics lab by the end of the spring semester."

"What?" Tadashi laughed incredulously. "I didn't get my own until I was, like, a junior."

"You did not. You've had it at least two years."

"I became a junior almost four years ago."

Honey's eyes popped open. "What?!"

"I started at SFIT early. Not nearly as early as Hiro, but, you know."

The worker at the counter called Honey's name, and she jumped up to grab her order. When she returned, Tadashi stood up and placed a tip on the table.

"Let's take a walk, Honey," he suggested. Honey shrugged complacently and followed him outside.

"It's a beautiful day," Honey said, breathing in deeply of the late summer air.

"Yup," Tadashi said.

"Where do you want to walk?"

Tadashi shrugged. "Dunno. Let's just walk."

They did, and ended up heading towards the grounds of the convention center. The charred remains had been loaded away weeks ago, and new construction had already begun. Tadashi stared at the spot affectedly. 

"I just wish..."

He didn't continue. Honey leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I'm still here. I just wish I could have gotten Professor Callaghan."

Honey wrapped her arm around his back. "You were so brave," she said.

"But it didn't do any good."

"Maybe it did. Maybe someone else saw your selflessness and it changed them."

Tadashi laughed shortly. "Maybe, but probably not."

Honey took hold of his chin and forced him to look at her. "I did." 

He softened. "Yeah."

"And it doesn't matter if no one else even knows what happened- which, lots of people do, by the way- but the point is, you did the right thing. It's not your fault Professor Callaghan died."

His gaze rested on the new construction. "It's already becoming a memory, isn't it?"

Honey took a sip of her coffee and tilted her head. "It's becoming a monument."