Hello, world! Sorry for the long wait. It's a little bit short, sorry again. I did my best and I like how I ended this chapter.
Are you dying to know who the murderer is? Or are you dying to know whether Alicia will end up with Hiro or not?

hahaha! I'm just messing with yah!

Enjoy! ^^

Chapter 9

Alicia rushed to the school with the uniform for her classmates. It was at last the day of the Summer Festival of her school. She was excited because she had invited Hiro and his friends too. The thought of seeing him was enough to make her happy. Hiro had been really busy with the murder cases. There was only one more surviving victim that they would have a chance to save. Even without the murder weapon, it didn't stop the killer at all.

"Sorry I'm late, guys! My brother can't send me today," Alicia apologized to her friends.

"No worries. All we need is the uniforms and we're all set to open the café," the class representative said.

Alicia nodded. She handed each of her classmates their uniforms. The other preparations were all done. Once they were in their uniforms, they were ready to open. After a brief speech from the principal, the festival had officially started.

"Alicia, is he coming?" Meredith asked the girl.

Alicia held the notebook she was holding tighter, blushing. She nodded once. The others smiled at the girl. They had approved of her relationship with Hiro and never were against it. Hiro is always sweet to her. As long as he stays that way, they won't try to kill him. They adore Alicia too much for that to happen, considering what she had been through.

"We can't wait to meet him and get to know him better," one of the boys in her class said.

People started to visit their little café. They got busy in an instant. Alicia didn't even have time to think about Hiro.

Hiro and his gang were at the police station. They had just turned in the murder weapon. Officer Jay came back with the results.

"How was it?" Hiro asked him in anticipation.

"No fingerprints at all…" the officer sighed, sitting down with them.

"Great, the killer knows what gloves are for," Gogo muttered.

"Relax…" Wasabi said, "It's not the end of the world."

Hiro stared at the knife and then at Baymax who was next to him. The robot tilted its head. Hiro thought hard of what to do.

"Why don't we have Baymax scan the entire city. We have one information, the killer is shorter than me," Hiro suggested.

"Yeah…that would be like hundreds and thousands of elementary and kindergarten kids," Gogo remarked.

"It's worth a try though. We can exclude those kids because I don't think they are worth as suspects. I mean, would kids be that fast," Honey suggested.

The group agreed to try it. However, it was indeed hard. Hiro had to upgrade Baymax's enhanced scanner yet again. He would need time and who knows, by the time he was done, all of the members of the group had been killed.

"No, wait. That killer doesn't have his weapon. He'd have to lay low for a while too," Wasabi stated.

Gogo nodded. "He's right. We can even use that to lure him out."

Fred though hard. "I don't know about that. Think about it, he's smart enough to escape us that night. I think he'll know it in an instant that we're trying to lure him out," he remarked.

The others agreed. They just had to try the idea of scanning the whole city once again. Hiro had to start working immediately, which means he might not even make it to Alicia's school's festival. He sighed. They headed back to the garage after that. Officer Jay decided to keep the murder weapon for further investigation.

"Hiro, you should go see Alicia. You promised," Honey remarked.

They were back in the garage. Hiro had been cramped up at his desk for hours, trying to improvise Baymax's helmet. He was having a hard time because thoughts about Alicia was clogging his head. He kept on grunting and scratching his head. The gang was trying their best to help in whichever way they could.

"I'm fine, guys. I'll see her tomorrow. That festival will last a whole week," Hiro replied.

"So…that's how it is?" a familiar voice asked.

Hiro was stunned to hear that squeaky voice. He turned to the entrance of the garage. Alicia was standing there, her face was blank. She didn't know how to react.

"Alicia…why are you here?" he asked.

"I came back early. Aunt Cass said she needs me. They let me off early. I thought I'd come and see what you're doing," Alicia replied.

Hiro got up. "I can explain…" he said.

She shook her head and smiled. "No. The promise isn't important to you. I'm sorry I bothered you with it. I have to go help out at the café now," she sighed.

She walked away after that. Hiro was stunned by her words. Silence was in the air. The only sound that was heard was the screwdriver he was holding falling onto the floor. Honey tapped the boy's shoulder. Hiro turned to look at her. The young lady smiled to him.

Alicia wiped her tears as she forced a smile to each customer that came through the entrance. Aunt Cass noticed how hard she was trying to hide her sadness. She called the girl to the counter.

"What's the matter, honey?" she asked, concerned.

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it. There's so many customers after all," she replied.

Aunt Cass looked at her sternly. "I can't let you work in this condition."

"Aunt Cass, I'll be fine," the girl forced a smile again.

A businesswoman called for Alicia to take her order. The girl rushed to the table. Aunt Cass sighed at her behavior. Alicia has always been strong no matter what, but when it comes to love, she just couldn't help but give up.

Alicia welcomed another customer to their little café. Meredith and Arietta observed the girl. Most of the customers loved her company. They even ordered seconds and thirds because of her.

"She's doing great with the customers," a boy said to her two best friends.

"Yeah…but I wonder when Hiro will come. It has been four days now…" Meredith remarked.

"She didn't seem to care…" Arietta muttered.

The two knew that their best friend was depressed. She was forcing herself to be happy and keep on working to ignore her real feelings at that time. When it was time for her to end her shift, to take a break, she refused to do so. Meredith and Arietta had to pull her to change into her uniform and enjoy the festival for a change.

Sighing, the brunette replied, "I'm not feeling like it."

"You're gonna have to. You've been working too hard," Meredith complained.

Alicia didn't reply. She bit her lower lip. They went out to the field where stalls were opened by their seniors. One of the stalls was selling Big Hero 6 merchandises. Alicia turned away from the stall. Arietta and Meredith realized that the girl had had another fight with her boyfriend. Arietta bought them all a glass of smoothies. Alicia sipped on hers faster than her two friends.

"What is up, girl?" Meredith asked.

"I'm sorry… I had another fight with Hiro," Alicia sighed, looking up at the sky.

"Again? What did he do this time?" Arietta asked.

"He forgot his promise…" the brown haired petite replied, walking ahead.

Arietta and Meredith looked at each other before following her. Alicia told them what had happened. As they listened, they felt like banging their head on a wall.

"Hiro is a busy guy. You have to understand that," Arietta groaned.

"I know… I just felt like I'm not important anymore…" Alicia sighed.

Meredith pulled the girl into a hug. She knew Alicia needed one. A single tear fell from her right eye. Alicia stood there, embracing the hug. Arietta patted her shoulder for more comfort.

"Why, Alicia?" Arietta asked, patting her, "Why did you even stay with him?"

"Because I love him… I really love him…" Alicia whispered.

"Hiro's one hell of a lucky guy," a familiar voice interrupted them.

The three turned around. Asch grinned sheepishly at them. Alicia groaned and complained at her brother's behavior. Her brother explained that he came to see his sister in a maid uniform but was late that day.

"Care to show me around?" he teased.

"As if you didn't graduate from this school," Meredith rolled her eyes.

The four of them laughed and kept on walking. They stopped from stall to stall. Asch treated them to some caramel apple and cotton candy. Then, they watched a theater performed by the freshmen. Alicia was enjoying herself. Noticing her condition, Meredith and Arietta smiled, satisfied.

Meanwhile, Hiro was staring at the map of San Fransokyo inside his garage. No new murder had occurred over the past few days, which means that the weapon is the only weapon the murderer has. He thought of using it to lure the murderer. Carla barged into the garage, killing his focus. She looked like she was out of breath.

"You have to read this. I've translated some more of the journals…" she explained.

"Did you find something interesting?" Hiro asked.

"I don't know if you want to tell the others about this, but I thought you should know," Carla said, pulling out some papers.

She had printed some parts of the journals in order for Hiro to read it. Hiro schemed through the five pieces of printed papers. He widened his eyes at a very familiar surname. He turned to Carla. The teen nodded. He shook his head, throwing away the papers.

"Are you serious?" he asked her.

Nodding once, she replied, "Yes. I tried decipher it over and over again because I don't want it to be true…"

"I need to discuss this with them…and Baymax. It may be significant for the murder cases," Hiro said heavy-heartedly.

Carla patted his shoulder once. She nodded to him. "I'll support you till the end, Hiro. It's your choice," she muttered.

Hiro nodded. He called out his best friends. In less than five minutes, they were all gathered in the garage. Carla showed them the part of the journal as asked by Hiro. All of them were shocked.

"Hiro, it can't be true…" Honey said, worried.

"It could be. I don't know," Hiro muttered.

"This is complicated. I can't even relate this to any of my comic books," Fred spoke up, scratching his head.

"If it's true, it's worth asking…" Gogo remarked.

The four looked at each other before looking back at Hiro. His shoulders were slumped. He had no confidence and no motivation. Could it be true? Was Carla just messing with them? Carla would never do that. Hiro trusts her with his life. She even made an effort to clear things out with Alicia. Carla would never lie to them. She was paid to do her work.

"Hiro, what are you going to do?" Carla asked.

"I have to ask someone else first. I need to know the truth," Hiro muttered.

"Who are you going to ask?" Wasabi asked him.

"Asch Koizumi…I'll find out from him," the black haired boy replied.

Alicia was home late that night. When she stepped into the house, the light in the living room lit up. Her parents were waiting for her return. On the table was something unusual but also very familiar to her. Her mother's eyes were swollen, so she was crying. Her father was facing the 'something' on the table in front of him. His back was bent, his elbows resting on both knees, his faces, resting on his clenched hands.

"What's going on?" the girl asked, confused.

"Alicia…we found this in your room. It's not supposed to be there," Mr Koizumi said.

"I don't know what it is. It doesn't have my name on it," Alicia replied.

Her family was thought to write their names on their belongings so it wouldn't be thrown away easily by other people. She knew that the case on the table was not hers, yet it felt so familiar. It was as if calling her to reach out for it.

"We know it's not yours…" Mrs Koizumi said, glancing up at her husband.

Mr Koizumi cleared his throat and gazed at his daughter. "It's your sister's…"

"Kate?" Alicia asked.

The two shook their head. The father handed the case to her. He told her to read the name out loud. She turned to case and saw the name. Suddenly, memories started to clog her mind in an instant. It was a memory of a girl who was always by her side, giving her strength and protecting her.

"Ashley…" she muttered.

Nodding, Mrs Koizumi said, "Yes, Ashley Koizumi was once your sister."

"What happened to her?" Alicia asked.

The parents looked at each other. Mrs Koizumi nodded to her husband. The husband turned to Alicia.

"Sit down. We need you to listen. It's very important. It's time…" Mr Koizumi said.

Whooaaaa...more family secrets coming right up! Hehe...just wait patiently, 'kay?