Hello,,,blergh... Sorry, I got tired of reading this chapter. Enjoy it though! I hope you will. Thanks for reading! :)

Chapter 8

Alicia woke up one day with a headache. She checked her temperature and it turned out she had a fever. Asch forced her to stay in bed that day. So, she texted Meredith and Arietta to get the things she had to do that day done. It was Friday, three days before summer break and the Annual Summer Festival of her school.

"I just have to get sick now…" she groaned.

Chuckling, Asch said, "It's a nice break from work. You've been working too hard. I see that…"

Alicia replied, "But it is my job. That festival is held for one week…I can't miss it and I can't screw it…"

Nodding, the brother smiled. After breakfast, he had to leave for class. He told her to stay put in bed and that he would tell Joey's babysitter to check up on her once in a while. Alicia thanked her brother before lying down to sleep. She thought of Hiro. It has been almost two weeks since she didn't show up for work. One of the reasons was that she wanted to avoid him and the others was that she had to help out decorating the classroom and such. She sighed, wondering what he was doing at the time.

Was he thinking about her?

What did he eat for breakfast?

Was he still busy with the murder cases?

Hiro was already helping out his aunt at the café. He actually didn't have much time for that because the police wanted to discuss some things with him. There were three murders for the past few days. People were getting scared to get out of their houses and some were having a hard time to trust the people around them. Hiro and his gang had to capture the killer soon or else no one would be out on the street. Besides, his aunt's business was affected too. Not many people came by just for a coffee and donut anymore. Carla hadn't contacted him yet. The last time he heard from her was the call before Kate's birthday.

"Hey, Hiro, honey…you can go meet the police now. I'll be fine on my own," Aunt Cass said to his nephew.

"Okay. Thanks, Aunt Cass," Hiro replied with a smile.

He nodded to his teammates who were waiting for him. They made their way to the police station. Carla was apparently there too. She waved when she saw them. An officer explained why she was there. She came by to tell them about the journal she had fully deciphered last night. She had also found a list of the members of the assassination group.

"I texted you if we could meet, but you said you were coming here, so I thought I should just wait for you here," Carla explained herself.

"Nice… Have they read it?" Hiro asked.

Nodding, she replied, "Yeah, half of it… It's really long."

"What is it about?" Wasabi asked.

"A kidnapping of twins, both female and almost look alike. I think they're identical from how the journal described the two," Carla started.

Honey was confused. "Wait, why did they kidnap them?" she asked.

Smiling, Carla said, "I am getting there. A very rich man hired them to kidnap the twins. It had something to do with threatening their father to give up his wealth or something…"

"It turns out they keep journals like reports," a policeman interrupted.

"Oh, good to see you, Officer Jay," Hiro bowed.

"You, too, Hiro," the officer said.

"Why did you say what you just said?" Gogo asked.

Turning to her, the officer explained, "Well, we found one, similar to the one Carla showed us. It was two years ago. The one we found was about a murder which they committed, but made it look like a suicide."

The gang turned to look at each other. Hiro asked if they could track down all of the female twins in San Fransokyo. Honey suggested that they should use Baymax, but Hiro said that he would have to give him another upgrade to scan 'just twins'. Officer Jay took the task to search for every living and deceased identical twins. He went on his way after that. Carla handed Hiro a list of the members of the group. They decided to head to Hiro's garage to think of where a murder may happen next. Carla decided to come with them.

"So…" Honey started, taking her seat in their main base.

Hiro turned on his computer and put up a map of the city. He turned to his friends. They marked the places of where the murder had happened. Then, Hiro marked the places where the remaining alive members were living.

"From the way I see it, the next murder could be around this café…" Hiro suggested.

"Yeah… It looks that way. Most of the members around the block have already been killed," Gogo agreed.

"There's only two left around here...hmmm…" Honey muttered.

Fred spoke up, "I think it'll be thoughtful for the killer to go get the furthest member from here. I mean, he'd want to decrease the number of members leaving close together."

"Wait… How do you guys know that there's only one killer?" Carla asked.

"Because there's no killing that happens at the same time…" Wasabi replied.

"Yeah, most of them happens three nights after each murder…" Hiro said, reading the copy of the murder cases that the police lent him.

"Nice observation…" Carla praised them.

Hiro smiled to her. His mobile phone vibrated. He got a text from Asch telling him that Alicia had a fever and that he should visit her with Baymax. Hiro sighed, earning everyone's attention.

"What's up, Hiro?" Fred asked.

"Oh… Asch texted me. He asked me if I could come by his house to check up on Alicia," Hiro explained.

Honey and Gogo glanced up at each other. "What's up with her?" the blonde one asked.

Staring at the computer screen, he replied, "She's sick…a fever."

"Then, we should totally go visit her," Wasabi suggested.

"No…I don't think we should…" Hiro muttered, shaking his head.

Carla glanced up at the gang and then, looked ta Hiro. "Why not? You girlfriend is sick, for goodness sake."

Hiro didn't say anything. He gave her a small smile and then, continued to stare at the screen. Honey whispered to Carla what had happened between the young pair. Carla laughed at the part where Alicia might have thought she was Hiro's scandal. She took her sling bag with her laptop in it.

Turning to the confused faces, she said, "Well, let's get going to see this Alicia and I'll explain everything to her."

Hiro glanced up at his teammates before looking at Carla. "You'll do that?" he asked.

Nodding, she replied, "Yeah, if you still love her. You do love her, right?"

Hiro rubbed the back of his neck, acting all shy. "Y-Yeah…" he turned to Carla, "Thanks."

Alicia got out of bed to make herself some warm milk. She mostly limped out of her room and to the stairs until Joey saw her. She stopped halfway down the stairs. Coincidently, the bell rang and Joey's babysitter had to get the door. She told her brother to be quiet as she continued to the kitchen.

"Oh, hello there. Who might you be?" she heard the babysitter asked.

"Big Bwo Hiwwo!" Joey screamed out of joy to see him.

"Hey, Joey! How have you been?" Hiro greeted the boy with a big hug.

Joey grinned and giggled as the black haired picked him up into his arms. Carla was amazed at how well Hiro could handle the toddler. The babysitter asked the same question again. Hiro was about to tell her why they came when they heard a loud crash and a girl's scream from the kitchen. The babysitter rushed to see who it was.

"Oh my goodness! Alicia! What have you done to yourself?!" she shouted, shocked.

Alicia was squatting and cringing in pain, holding her feet. She was going to pour some hot water into her cup but didn't have the strength to hold the kettle full of water. She accidentally let it go, causing it to fall to the ground and the water hit her feet, and she let go of her hold on the cup, causing it to fall. Some pieces of the cup hit her feet too. Carla, Hiro and Joey went to the kitchen too.

"You're bleeding!" Carla exclaimed.

Alicia stared for mere seconds before replying, "I-I'll be fine…"

"Lea, first aid kit?" Joey asked.

"Oh, r-right. I'll go get it…" the babysitter replied.

Alicia reached out for a chair to sit on. She ignored the two person who came to visit her. Carla and Hiro looked at each other. The blonde made a move by cleaning up the mess Alicia made.

"It's okay, please. I'll manage. Can you just go? Both of you…" Alicia muttered, her tone was a bit rude.

Carla turned to her. She smiled and said, "I should probably introduced myself."

Looking away, the brown haired girl replied, "Now's not a good time."

"Just listen, even if you don't want to look at me. My name is Carla and I've been helping Hiro with the murder cases. Hiro didn't want his friends to know first, so we were talking privately that day at the café. I found some clues that could help them. He's fine with me showing you that if you really want me to proof that I have no special feelings towards Hiro," Carla explained.

"She's older than me, older than Asch…" Hiro interrupted.

Carla nodded a few times, agreeing to what Hiro had said. Lea came in with the first aid kit. She opened the kit to start tending to Alicia's wounds.

"Ummm… May I?" Hiro volunteered.

"Oh, s-sure… If Alicia says you could. I'm not really good at this anyway," Lea replied, making some spaces for him.

Alicia didn't say anything as Hiro tended her wounds. He cleaned her wounds with a clean wet towel before wrapping them up. It wasn't a big wound but he still had to wrap both of her feet. She didn't say a word to him. After he was done, she was back to limping upstairs to her room. They heard someone came into the house and it was Asch. Hiro and Carla greeted him. Lea announced that she was going to head home since Asch was back.

"Lea, come get your pay check this weekend," Asch said to her.

"R-Right, I will," Lea replied, leaning in closer to whisper, "They came here to see Alicia but she turned them down. Tell me more about them, will you?"

Asch gave a small nod to her. Hiro and Carla looked at him. He smiled to them, inviting them to Alicia's room without her permission. She bit her lower lip and looked away when she saw them again.

"Asch, I want to rest. Can you please…?" she said.

"No," Asch replied short and stern.

Hiro and Carla gapped at what he just said. He invited Carla to the living room because he had to look after Joey and make lunch.

Turning to Alicia, he said, "Work this out."

His sister didn't reply. The two young adults went downstairs, leaving the couple alone. Hiro stood at her door, didn't dare to go in. He could sense that she was still angry or maybe confused. He didn't know which. He rubbed the back of his neck, played with the hem of his hoodie, thinking of what to say to her. Alicia didn't want to say anything. She was hoping she could still stay away from him. They stayed that way for about ten minutes.

"Just come in and close the door," Alicia spoke up.

"Okay…" Hiro replied. He stepped in and closed the door.

He tried taking another step forward but she told him to stay where he was. Hiro did as told. She waited for him to speak up. He was observing her. Her face was a bit pale and she had bags under her eyes. She was a mess.

Coughing once, the girl asked, "Is there anything you'd like to say in particular?"

"O-Oh…" Hiro stuttered, "Your brother suggested that I should come check up on you…"

"I see…" she muttered, heaving a sigh.

Hiro bit his lower lip, knowing that he had explained it in the wrong way. He tried to think of a better explanation before she told him to go, or so he thought she would. Alicia lied down.

"Alicia, please… I'm trying to work this out…" Hiro beseeched.

"I know… Really, Hiro, thank you…" she sighed again.

"I missed you, but your best friends told me you were busy. I didn't want to bother you yet. I was busy too, with the murder cases…and I understand that both of us needed time," he explained.

Alicia slowly sat up, listening to him. "I wanted to see you. I went to your school, hoping there are chances I could bump into you. I threw a birthday party for your sister to make her happy, so that you'd be happy too. I'm trying to solve these cases faster so that we could spend more time together…" he muttered.

She stared at his face. The face that would always look at her with a smile even when she messed up at work, when she was angry at something, or when she was about to cry. She pondered and made up her mind.

"I'm sorry… I guess I was just too shocked…" she muttered.

Hiro gazed into her eyes. "I'm sorry too. I was just worried that they might take actions and get your family involve," he said, sighing.

Hiro stood beside her bed. She smiled to him and he smiled back. He gave a smooch on her forehead. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

She whispered, "P-Please, can w-we s-stay like this for a few m-minutes?"

"Uh…s-sure…" Hiro stammered.

He patted her head. Footsteps were heard coming upstairs. They broke their embrace and the black haired boy rushed to sit at the edge of the bed. It was Kate who had just gotten back from school. She gave out a teasing smile when she saw them. Hiro shot a nervous grin. Alicia blushed, looking down at her hands. Kate giggled mischievously before walking up to her bedroom. Asch came after that.

"Oh, Hiro, will you stay for lunch?" he invited.

"I should probably ask Carla about that…" Hiro replied.

Asch nodded and replied, "Carla told me to tell you that she's going back first. So, will you stay?"

Hiro was about to answer but Alicia tugged at his hoodie. "Please stay. I'll come downstairs and eat with everyone if you do…" she pleaded.

Smiling, the boyfriend nodded. Asch's lips curved into a smile, satisfied. He nodded and asked Hiro to help him with lunch. The boy obliged. He followed the older male to the kitchen. Joey toddled into Alicia's room when the two had left. He climbed up his sister's bed and rested his head on her lap. Alicia played with his hair.

"Bwo Hiwo stay here?" Joey asked.

"Yeah. He's going to eat with us…" Alicia replied, happy.

Lunch was soon ready. Joey accompanied Alicia down the stairs as Kate followed from behind. Hiro was already at the table with Asch.

"Now that everyone's here, let's eat," Asch said.

That night...

Hiro stood, with his team, on top of a building. It was the building where Hiro had suggested: the café he pointed out on the map of San Fransokyo. It was the third night they started their patrol, since after the day Hiro had cleared things out with Alicia.

"What are we waiting for here?" Gogo groaned.

"The culprit of course," Wasabi replied.

"Hiro, maybe we should split up. I mean…well…you can divide us into partners and we can patrol another part of the area," Honey suggested.

"I agree! Are you sure that the murderer would come through this way? He could've spotted us by now," Fred remarked.

Hiro pondered for a while and decided. "Fred and Honey, you guys take the south of this person's house. Gogo and Wasabi, you guys should take the north. Baymax and I will stay here. If anyone finds anything, inform the whole team," he ordered.

Pointing at Wasabi, Gogo asked, "Why am I partnered with him?"

"Oh, I'm sorry you didn't like me!" Wasabi said, rolling his eyes.

"Guys, focus!" Hiro snapped.

Spotting a shadow at the entrance of the house, Baymax spoke up, "Hiro, someone is entering the house through the front door."

"Huh?" the five muttered.

They watched the shadow. "How stupid can the killer be?" Gogo remarked.

"Maybe he's just very good at hacking people's lock?" Honey stated her remark.

The shadow entered the house after two minutes of fidgeting the lock on the door. The group jumped down onto the ground and followed the shadow. They sneaked into the house too. The killer had reached the bedroom of his prey. They heard a scream of help.

"Come on, guys!" Hiro exclaimed, rushing towards the voice.

When they got there, the killer had already sliced his prey's throat. He was shocked to see the heroes, dropping his weapon. He escaped through the window while the heroes were still shocked of what happened.

"Hiro, we should go after him!" Gogo exclaimed.

"R-Right!" Hiro snapped.

Gogo rushed out of the house and followed the killer. Hiro and Baymax flew up to spot where the killer was. Honey, Wasabi and Fred called the police to report what had happened. The killer entered a dark alley which the three thought was a dead end. They crept closer into the dark alley only to find that it was connected to another section of the town. They had lost the killer.

"Don't worry, they could bring something up from the murder weapon," Hiro stated.

"Baymax, didn't scan him?" Gogo asked the robot.

Baymax blinked and explained, "I did, but even my enhanced scanner cannot see through his dark tights."

Hiro spoke up, "Well, from the look of it, he seems shorter than me, but pretty fast."

Oooooo, we're getting closer to know who the murderer is! Now all Baymax need to do is search for people who are shorter than Hiro...and maybe Alicia too? Meh...poor Baymax. Welp, wait for the next chapter to find out!

Moonfire out. :)