Atlanta, GA
United States of America
March 2017
Flashing lights, blinding lights. A
microphone was pushed into his hand, the other gripping the plaque tightly.
“Congratulations,” someone – Sol? – whispered, pushing him a little more to the
front. Tadashi froze and stared, wide-eyed and still in shock upon what had
just happened within the past two, three minutes.
He wasn’t sure what had happened, honestly.
He and the rest of Squad A were busy drinking, and he was laughing at a joke
Peters had told, when all of a sudden his name was announced and Aether was
pulling up with the brightest smile on her face. Peters was whooping and Mack
was laughing too, and before he knew it, he was stumbling to the stage with Sol
beaming up at him. There was someone with her too, probably a higher-up, who
most likely congratulated him as well, he didn’t know.
“I—I honestly don’t know what just
happened,” he admitted into the mic, the entire room laughing warmly at that.
He wasn’t trying to be humble nor was he trying to play off his win, not at
all—it was the truth. He hadn’t been expecting any of that to happen, not at
all. “Honestly. I never really expecting any of this,” he told the rest of HQ,
his eyes falling to Squad A’s table.
He caught Aether’s gaze momentarily. She
smiled even wider, if that was possible, and was holding a handkerchief that
Mack had most likely lent to her. You can
do it, she mouthed, and he swallowed, nodding before looking at the rest of
them.
Tadashi inhaled for a second before putting
on a smile, loosening his grip slightly and starting to speak.
He remembered a gala just like this one,
one he had attended with his previous team all those years ago. Someone else
had just been announced as HQ’s most valuable or whatever it was, and Sumire
had nudged his arm with a small smirk on her face.
“You
deserve that more than he does,” she told him, and
he couldn’t help but laugh. “I mean it.”
“I
don’t,” he admitted. “I’m far from winning something like that.” Apparently, Makoto and
Akira had heard him, and they both turned to give him equally scathing looks.
The timing was impeccable; it almost seemed a little creepy, to be honest on
his part.
“Stop
that shit. You’ll win one before we die,” he
declared, Akira nodding eagerly. “Or else
we’ll have to bribe them.” Tadashi scoffed.
“That’s
cheating.”
“Not
if you deserve it,” Akira piped in. they eventually
quieted down after until Sumire leaned her head on his shoulder. He glanced at
her, seeing her smile softly at him with a certain look in her eyes.
“They’re
right, you know,” she murmured. Tadashi didn’t want
to argue and instead nodded, listening to her. “You’ll win, and we’ll be there to cheer you on.”
In the present, the rest of HQ watched and
listened. Peters couldn’t help but chuckle upon seeing Aether wipe at her eyes,
she too listening as her teammate and friend spoke. “Someone’s proud,” he
teased.
“Of course I am. It’s Tad,” she managed.
Mack comfortingly patted her shoulder and she shot him a watery smile. “I’m
just happy that he won, you know? He deserves it so much.” Mack nodded. They
continued watching, Mack only patting Aether more as Tadashi directed his
speech at them.
“I couldn’t have done it without my present
team, honestly.” The lights redirected towards Squad A’s table; Peters caught
Ross smirk at them, flashing a quick thumbs-up. “I’m sure all of you know what
had happened to my previous team those years ago.”
Somber silence. Tadashi took a deep breath
and continued, “I lost the rest of my team due to an unfortunate incident and
worked alone for a couple of months. Eventually Eri convinced me into training
two new people—two young people who I honestly underestimated when they first
arrived,” he admitted, glancing first at Peters, and then Aether. “I thought I
wasn’t ready. But after training them, they helped me realize that I was. They
made me realize a lot. And when I thought that it was just going to be the
three of us, Mack came along from England.” Mack grinned and waved. “And it
felt like I had my family back.”
Tadashi cleared his throat, lifting the
award just a little bit. “You guys deserve this as much as I do. Truly. Thank
you so much.”
* *
* * *
“You made her cry,” Peters laughed, Tadashi
embracing Aether back tightly. He had returned to the table upon finishing,
having thanked Eri as well in his speech as well as his other friends in HQ.
“But to be honest, I think the rest of us cried on the inside, too.” Aether
looked up at him with a watery smile and he couldn’t help but hug her even
tighter, a few of the other attendees smiling their way and expressing their
congratulations.
“You deserve it,” she told him, voice
muffled slightly but he could still hear, “You deserve it so, so much, Tad, and
I—we’re so proud of you.” Her voice cracked at the end and for the better of
them, he kept silent and kept hugging her. Mack set down a few more bottles on
the table, amused at the sight.
“To be fair,” the Englishman spoke, “we
weren’t expecting it, either. Despite that, we’re happy for you. It’s a pretty
top-notch award,” he told Tadashi, Peters picking up the plaque and reading it
to himself. The American eventually let out a low whistle, impressed.
“Most
Valuable,” he read. “Jesus, that’s a lot to take in. But still, congratulations.”
Aether managed to pull away from him, picking up her unconsumed glass of
alcohol. Peters and Mack did the same, raising it to him. Tadashi felt himself
redden a little at the attention; the adrenaline was beginning to crash, and he
still felt like he was in the air. “To Tadashi,” Peters cheered, the four of
them in their own bubble while the party around them went on.
Lights flashed, music played. There were
people in the middle, dancing, and other guests were mingling, drinking. He
looked at his team: Aether in her red dress, Peters and Mack in black suits
with a blue and violet tie, respectively. They raised their glasses to him,
faces containing the same proud smile.
For a moment, the image of Sumire, Makoto,
and Akira flashed in his mind, the three of them too raising their glasses to
him. It faded immediately, and before he knew it, Tadashi was laughing and
drinking with them as well.
He took his teammates into his arms and hugged
them as tightly as he could, promising yet again to never let them go.
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