On the morning of the anniversary of Tadashi's death, Honey Lemon had sent a text to Hiro telling him that they were available if he wanted to talk. Hiro had replied five minutes later, thanking her for the offer and promising to let her know. He hadn't sent her any other texts the rest of the day and, now that Honey was looking through her phone the next morning, she saw that he hadn't sent any during the night, either.
The next school year at college didn't start for several weeks, and Honey didn't really have any plans in particular for that day, so after getting dressing and fixing up her hair a bit, she decided to head to the Lucky Cat Café to see how Hiro was doing.
Aunt Cass had just opened the café when she got there.
"Good morning, Aunt Cass," she said.
"Oh, good morning, Honey Lemon," Aunt Cass replied.
"…Is Hiro in his room?"
"Yes." She didn't need to ask why.
Honey quietly went upstairs, passing the kitchen on the way up.
"Hiro?" she said gently when she reached the top of the stairs.
No response.
"Hiro?" she repeated a little louder.
Hiro wasn't in his bed or at his desk (though Megabot was there). He wasn't even in the room. A quick check of the bathroom revealed he wasn't there either.
It was then that she happened to bump her leg against Hiro's desk. Her resulting "Ow" must've been loud enough to activate Baymax because the next thing she heard was the sound of inflating.
Baymax waddled up to her and said, "Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. Hello Honey Lemon."
"Oh, hey Baymax. Uh…do you know where Hiro is?"
"I do not," he said, tilting his head slightly. "Why?"
Oh dear.
"Uh, Baymax? W-Would you mind helping me find Hiro?"
"Of course."
Finding Hiro would be a lot easier with Baymax's sensors.
0~*~0
Hiro had no idea what was going on anymore. He was walking down a tunnel lit by red lights along the sides, and every once in a while, he would hear the sound of something lightly scraping against the floor right behind him, but he couldn't turn around or stop. Eventually, he went around a corner and went into what looked like the inside of a warehouse, though there were no visible windows and the only light was from red lamps scattered around the place. Hiro felt himself stop and turned in the direction he had come, but the only thing there was a wall; there was no sign of the tunnel he had just come through.
Hiro suddenly heard a scuffling noise behind him.
"Tadashi?" he said automatically.
Instead of Tadashi, though, Hiro was face-to-face with an enormous fox with nine tails. It glowed with a golden light…and it was splattered with blood.
"Tadashi is gone," it said. Its voice sounded like three different people speaking in unison.
The fox slowly moved towards him. Hiro felt paralyzed.
And then the fox rubbed the clean side of its face against Hiro's head and rested its head on his shoulder. Its fur was remarkably soft. "But I'm here."
0~*~0
Hiro's eyes opened. He was staring at a white wall. This wasn't his room.
Hiro then noticed Honey Lemon standing over him, with Baymax a few feet behind her.
Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he said, "Honey Lemon? Did you, uh…"
He was lying on a couch he had never seen before in a hallway he had never seen before, and on top of him was a tattered black blanket.
"Did you…do this?"
"Uh, no," she replied. "I just got here."
The last thing he remembered before that weird dream was sneaking out during the night to visit Tadashi's grave one more time after hours of trying and failing to fall asleep (though why he had decided to do that of all things was beyond him). Had he fallen asleep? But then how did he get here?
"What are you doing here?" said a voice behind Baymax.
The three of them looked and saw a woman with a purse over her left shoulder and a coffee cup in her right hand, standing in the doorway.
"Uh… I was looking for him…" said Honey Lemon, feeling awkward.
"How did you get in here?" the woman said.
Honey Lemon somewhat sheepishly said, "The door was unlocked…"
"I…have no idea," said Hiro.
The woman stared for a few more seconds before walking past them. "Well unless you have business with us, I suggest you leave before my manager gets here."
Hiro glanced up at Honey Lemon and Baymax before getting off the couch and following her out, leaving the tattered blanket on the couch.
0~*~0
As Fred headed to the Lucky Cat Café, he decided to take a shortcut that he hadn't taken for at least five years. It went past a huge, partially underground, abandoned warehouse that Fred had loved to explore when he was a child. It had always seemed like the perfect supervillain lair. Fred couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of all those times he would pretend to be a superhero stealthily sneaking through the villain's lair to find the secret plans to the doomsday weapon. Of course, it probably would've been more fun if there had been others to play the role of the villains…
A scream pulled him out of his thoughts. It sounded close. Fred immediately ran toward it, stopping in front of the warehouse…or rather, where it was supposed to be. In its place was a burned-out hole in the ground, with a few wisps of smoke still coming off of it. In front of where the entrance had been were two girls. One was kneeling on the ground, clutching something to her chest. The other one was staring at the ruins, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape.
Moments after his arrival, Hiro and Honey Lemon suddenly rounded the other corner. Hiro stopped short at the sight of the girls, looking surprised.
"Th-This…" murmured the younger-looking one, the one staring at the ruins, "this…wasn't…supposed to…happen…"
Seemingly in response, the kneeling girl began crying.
It was at the moment that Baymax, walking as fast as he could on his stubby legs, rounded the corner. After briefly taking in the scene, he waddled up to the crying girl and, scanning her, said, "What seems to be the trouble?"
The girl held out the object she was clutching to her chest. The other girl said, "We…found that…in there…" She motioned toward the burned-out ruins.
Baymax tried to take the object out of the girl's hands, but she refused to let go of it. Hiro approached and also grabbed the object. This time, the girl let go of it.
Hiro looked over it…and soon threw it away in surprise, yelling out as he did so.
"Is that…real?" he asked cautiously.
"It…should be…" mumbled the younger girl.
The object had landed close enough to Fred for him to tell what it was: it was a burnt human femur.
"This…shouldn't have happened…" mumbled the younger girl. She turned to Hiro and, with an indescribable expression, said, "I'm so sorry, Hiro… I'm so sorry…"
Hiro gave her a somewhat confused look. "For what?"
The girl stared at him for a few moments before shaking her head and looking back at the ruins. "…It doesn't really matter… Not anymore…"
0~*~0
"Reports are coming in about an abandoned warehouse…" Hiro could hear bits of the news drifting from the TV in the cafe to the garage. "Authorities have recovered the remains of an estimated 300 people from the wreckage…" Hiro jerked upright in the couch. "The cause of the fire is still being investigated…"
"Three…hundred?"
How on Earth could there have been three hundred people in that warehouse when it burned down? Several possibilities began swirling in Hiro's mind, none of them pleasant.
Before he could really think about any of them, one of his computers started beeping. Hiro wheeled his chair over to the computer. Alistair Krei was trying to contact him.
Of course.
Rolling his eyes, Hiro accepted the contact.
A screen opened, showing Krei with a rather frightened look on his face. This…wasn't quite what Hiro was expecting.
"What's the matter?"
"My house was broken into," he said quietly, looking like a scared rabbit, "along with fifteen of my neighbors."
Hiro's eyebrow went up. "Was anything stolen?"
"N-no, not as far as they can tell, but…" He glanced around nervously. "But even if anything was stolen, that's…that wouldn't be the…main problem."
"What do you mean?"
"A-Apparently, they didn't want any witnesses-"
Hiro wasn't in any mood to let Krei dance around the issue. "Get to the point."
Krei gulped and said, "…Nine people were murdered."
"…What."
"Nine people were murdered in their homes. Three of which…were children."
Hiro almost fell out of his seat. "What!?"
"It appears they didn't want to leave any witnesses…"
Hiro sat in stunned silence for a few moments. "…Any idea who these people are?"
"Well, no… B-But the police suspect a serial killer might be involved."
Both of Hiro's eyebrows went up. "Why?"
"Because of the way…one of the victims was found."
Hiro tilted his head to the side. "Explain."
"Well… I don't know the details. It was just something I overheard. The officer seemed quite disturbed, though…"
Hiro waited for him to say something else, but Krei remained silent. "…Let me know if you find out anything else."
"…All right."
Hiro then closed the contact and leaned back in his chair.
A serial killer.
Hiro had faced all kinds of criminals in his superhero duties, but not an active serial killer, so this was pretty interesting to him. Especially since he knew pretty much nothing about real serial killers. Still, he decided that it would be better to confirm it with the police before telling the others, especially considering that all he had was Krei's word for it (he genuinely tried to be helpful, but his tips weren't always accurate).
Just then, Hiro's phone started beeping and he picked it up. It was a text from Honey Lemon that said, "Guys, check the news. Now."
Hiro raised his eyebrow again. He went into the main part of the café and sure enough…
"…That nine people were murdered in their own homes last night. According to police reports, the victims' houses were broken into and ransacked, as were several other houses in the area, though there have been no reports of anything being stolen. Police are conducting a thorough investigation…"
The report went on, but there was no mention of the way any of the victims had been found, let alone a serial killer being involved. Then again, Hiro figured, even if a serial killer was indeed involved, the police would probably wait to reveal that information until they were caught or a few more murders happened. But regardless of whether or not there was a serial killer, one thing was certain: he and the rest of the team would make sure that whoever was responsible for the murders spent the rest of their life behind bars.
He then pulled out his phone and texted the others.
0~*~0
Kevin woke to the sound of dripping water.
"Huh…?" he muttered groggily, forcing himself upright.
Water was dripping from the ceiling onto the floor, away from where they had put their mattresses. He glanced over and saw that Marina was still on her mattress, sound asleep. Kevin lied back down…and caught a glimpse of Kitsune's mattress. He wasn't there.
Kevin sprung upright, wide awake. Where was he? He hadn't gone outside, had he?
Kevin desperately looked around, hoping that Kitsune had just woken up early and…
…And he spotted something white in the catwalks.
Kevin got up and dashed up the steps. Sure enough, it was Kitsune, sitting down and tightly gripping the handrails.
Kevin slowly walked toward him, stopping just a few feet away. "Kitsune?"
No response. And then Kevin realized that Kitsune was trembling.
"Kitsune?" he asked, kneeling down. "What's wrong?"
Kevin heard him take a shaky breath. "…They…killed…nine…people…"
Kevin leaned in a little closer. "Huh?"
"They killed nine people."
"'They?' You mean…your previous employers?"
"Yeah. They broke into people's homes…and killed anyone who happened to be there."
"What…?"
"They're trying to draw me out."
It took Kevin a few moments to fully process that statement. "Draw you out?"
"They know I won't stand for this. And they want to get back at me as soon as possible. They'll do whatever it takes…"
Kitsune's breath hitched.
"Three of them…were children…"
Kevin's eyes slightly widened. "Oh no…"
Kitsune gripped the handrail even tighter. "GODDAMMIT, WHY!? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN!? WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE!?"
It took every ounce of willpower Kevin had to not jump back at Kitsune's sudden yelling.
"They didn't deserve this… None of them deserve this… It's all my fault…"
Kevin wrapped his arms around Kitsune, resting his head on the man's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Kitsune. It's their fault for choosing to kill those people in the first place."
Kitsune let go of the handrail and let his arms drop down.
"…I have to stop them."
"Kitsune—."
"I have a plan."
"Kitsune, there's no way you can do this alone."
"…If you think I'm going to let you and Marina—"
"I meant Big Hero 6."
Kitsune briefly chuckled. "Them? They're certainly skilled, but my previous employers… Many of them are escaped convicts. If they got arrested, they'd just escape."
"I meant work with them to deal with…your previous employers."
"They're superheroes. I'm a hitman. At best, they'd refuse to let me work with them. At worst, they'd turn me in to the police."
Kevin couldn't think of an effective counterargument.
"Besides, it's not like I'll be taking on every single one of them at once. And I'll only kill the ones who refuse to stop attacking me."
Kevin, knowing that was the best he would be able to get out of Kitsune at the moment, said, "…All right. But as soon as you start to get in over your head…get help. Whether it's Big Hero 6, the police, or someone else, just get someone who can help you."
"…Okay."
Kitsune shifted himself so that he was facing Kevin and wrapped his arms around the man. Kevin could feel Kitsune trembling slightly.
"It's okay, Kitsune," assured Kevin, stroking the back of Kitsune's head, wishing he could run his fingers through the other man's hair. "We won't leave you."
Author's note: I hope this chapter made sense. I tended to work on this late at night.