"That'severything, Hiro."
He shrugged, but I saw the emotion he was trying to hide. "Their mom survived too and they moved to another shitty apartment in the same neighborhood. But from that day on. . ." A ghost of a smile. "Those two followed me everywhere. Like little shadows. Wherever I went, they went. Whatever I did, they watched. It was annoying at first, and then I just. . ."
“What?”
“I couldn’t live without them.”
I looked down at the blank page and thought. "Fire and ash."
"What?"
"That's what the drinks should be called. Fire and Ash." I started sketching two glasses side by side—mirror images of each other. "One drink is warm. Amber. Like fire. The other is cool. Grey. Like ash."
"Two halves. . ."
"Exactly. And here's the thing—" I looked up at him, excited now. "You can't drink them separately. You have to mix them together first. Pour them into one glass, combine them, and then drink."
"Because one without the other is incomplete."
"Yes!" I grabbed an amber pencil and started coloring the first glass. "After they mix the drinks together, they light it on fire and watch it burn."
Hiro was staring at me. "Nyomi."
"What?"
“This will be dangerous.”
“Why?”
"They're going to cry."
"Good crying or bad crying?"
"The best kind."
“I’m just glad that they’ll love it.” I finished coloring the first glass and moved to the second making sure I added cool grey, silver tones. "What do they like to drink?"
"Whiskey for Aki. Vodka for Yuki."
"Perfect. So the fire drink is whiskey-based—cinnamon, orange bitters, flamed orange peel. Warm and spicy." I wrote it down. "And the ash drink is vodka-based—activated charcoal for the grey color, elderflower for softness."
"And they mix them together."
"And set it on fire." I finished the sketch—two glasses, mirror images, a line of fire connecting them where they would be poured together.
“Fire and Ash.”
“Yep. That’s the name.” I winked. “We’re done.”
He frowned. “No. We’re not.”
“Yes. We are.”
“What about the most important Claw?”
“Who the fuck is that?” I started to close the sketchpad, but Hiro's hand stopped me.
“Me. I’m the most important Claw.”
