Ando had a sixth sense, Hiro often said. Hiro himself claimed to have eight or nine senses, like knowing who an email was from when the chime rang without looking first, or knowing when that week's Naruto would be a repeat, but he cheerfully granted Ando just the one extra. He called it "friend sense" and explained it like this:

As Hiro's official best friend and Vice Captain (and Secretary) of the Nakamura Hiro Fan Club, Ando could tell immediately when Hiro was upset about something, even if Hiro was being very, very subtle (which was never, Ando added). But more impressively, Ando always knew exactly what to do to make Hiro feel better, instinctively and without any silly questions or platitudes.

"Hiro," Ando had tried to tell him, "that's not a sixth sense, that's just not being dumb as a brick," but Hiro hadn't listened to a word of his protests, and then had promoted him to Treasurer.

So it was, that when Hiro finally did come back through the doors of the diner, Ando's chest tightened in sympathy immediately, before Hiro even opened his mouth for his minimalistic explanation.

"Here, sit." Ando steered Hiro into one of the empty booths and sat him down, the same one they'd been sitting in originally, he noticed distantly, then went to the counter.

He waited patiently for one of the waitresses who was left to notice him, despite the bustle of police and other personnel around them.

"I'm sorry," Ando said when he had her attention, "but we need some pancakes."

"Honey," the waitress put on hand on her hip and the other to the pen slipping out of her hair, "in case you can't tell, we're having kind of an emergency here, and…"

"I know, but," Ando stepped slightly to the side and nodded towards Hiro, chin propped on his arms, "we are having an emergency too."

Pancakes in progress, Ando went back to the booth, and sat in silence with Hiro until the pancakes arrived. It was a terrible shame, Ando reflected, because he had liked Charlie too, even though they had barely just met her. Not as much as Hiro had, the details of which Ando was certain he would hear later, when Hiro was ready.

Hiro ate his first pancake in silence, then his second. Ando went to have the syrup refilled and continued picking at his own first pancake, not hungry, but patient. Halfway through the third pancake, Hiro finally looked up.

"Just like Ando-kun," he said, and even though it was really painful to watch Hiro try and put his smile back together, Ando smiled back. "That's why you're the Treasurer."

"I'm the treasurer because you spent all our dues on mochi," Ando answered.

"It's true," Hiro said seriously, sticking another messy forkful of pancakes in his mouth, but he was sitting up straighter and seemed to be thinking again.

And that was what his sixth sense was for, after all, Ando thought to himself, pushing his plate towards Hiro but being careful not to bump the paper crane tilted against one wing in the middle of their table.