I'm Not Giving Up On You [Tadashi Hamada X OC] [COMPLETED]

Professional...Nothing Else...

Cherry's POV

I'm slumped against the countertop, letting my coworker organise things for me for once. I can see Antoni and Tonya watching me with worry from their bar stools. I've been like this for an hour - it's unusual and deeply concerning.
I let myself flop over to Tonya and I grab her wrist. "How do I learn everything about anything now the textbooks are gone?" I ask desperately again, for possibly the hundredth time since they came in after class.
"How about a teacher?" she suggests annoyingly for possible the hundredth time, and I shoot back, "I barely have enough money for rent Tonya, how am I gonna get somebody to teach me?"
Tonya just shrugs and I groan in frustration.

I hear above me a small cough and without thinking I jerk my head up and bare my teeth like I used to back in the days, to see none other than the universe's way of saying 'you are clearly not meant to follow your dreams,' Tadashi.
I immediately scramble up, unscramble my thoughts and grab a pencil. As I'm trying to find my pad I say in my customer voice, "Hello sir, what would you like today?"

Tadashi, a little bewildered by my outburst, innocently says, "I would like to talk to you, but I think I'd better go as you're not in a very good mood."
He turns to leave.
Tonya sees me look secretly forlorn, bites her lip, and jumps up to the boy before he moves. "Hey! Whatever your name is! You can talk to us!"
I facepalm - for fuck's sake, could she be any more obvious?

Tadashi looks round and the twins grin brightly, all their expensively whitened teeth showing up. I am so jealous of those teeth whilst mine are just a dull white.
He considers it, then sits down in the bar stool next to Tonya and she immediately leans forward. Oh, you know she's about to ask him everything then write it all up in a little book she's named, 'How To Get People To Seduce Cherry.'

"So... what's your name? Where are you from? Do you have a girlfriend - or boyfriend?" Tonya asks.
"And why are you always tryna talk to a waitress who's on duty?" asks Antoni, ever observant and subtle.
Tadashi thinks for a second, then replies:
"Well, my name's Tadashi Hamada, I come from the middle of town since my aunt owns a cafe of her own, no I don't have a girlfriend, and I want to talk to Cherry over here because I want to get to know her."

I narrow my eyes in disgust. I don't want him to know me. Yes, he's cute, but I don't want him coming round my small hovel of a house and playing friends.

"But why?" Antoni persists, "She hasn't got time, hasn't she told you?"
I clear my throat and Tonya shoves her twin.
"Haven't you ever heard of keeping your mouth shut?!" she hisses, and the black-haired boy stares at the three of us having a silent war with our eyes. I realise that this isn't appropriate behaviour in front of customers, and rearrange my face into a disinterested look, and Tadashi looks a bit scared before leaning over the counter to me, regardless of the two irritating friends of mine watching intently.

"Why don't you have time for anybody? Is it your textbooks and studying?" he asks curiously in a soothing way. I didn't know he could do that, and I find myself nodding and saying uncharacteristically sadly, "Somebody stole my textbooks today and now I can't teach myself the subjects."

"I could teach you," he offers straight away, looking into my eyes like he can't bear to tear his away from mine, "Of course I major in Robotics but still a lot of Natural Sciences go into it, as it goes into everything."

I knit my eyebrows together. "What do you know about science?"
He shrugs, actually smirking a little. "I just go to San Fransokyo Institute of Technology."
My eyes widen and, I'm sorry brain, my entire face twists in pure awe.
I lean forward over the counter to get to him better.

"You go to SFIT?"
He nods. Against my own wishes, my mouth contorts into a smile. Not just a smile - a huge grin, and for once I don't even care.
"That's brilliant! What can you teach me?"

Over the next ten minutes Tadashi and I talk studying and exchange phone numbers, me subtly embarrassed at my old cranky pay-as-you-go which I got dirt cheap in a garage sale.
He tells me that he doesn't need paying and I don't argue on that subject, and he even suggests that if in doubt I should go round his and use his computer. Now, I've heard of computers before, but I've never seen or used one. Is that weird for someone of my age?

We shake hands firmly and he leaves waving for his class at SFIT. I blink and find Tonya and Antoni staring at me as if I'd just won a marathon.
"You just... got that guy's number," Tonya says, gobsmacked.
I sigh and reply, "It's just business," and go to take over my coworker's jobs, feeling the twins' eyes burning into me with shock.

This setup is professional, no matter what anybody says.

Professional... nothing else...