Chapter 19 (Karmi's POV)

All in all, I thought Hiro was handling everything the best way he could. It had already been weeks since Callaghan had escaped, and all the clues only seemed to lead us in circles. It was as frustrating as it was baffling. But through it all, he was trying to put on a strong face for me I was proud of him, but mostly, I just wanted him to be honest about his feelings. Not that either of us ever excelled at that…

"And in other news," Gogo mumbled from the seat beside me; the both of us were sitting in the Lucky Cat on Saturday morning. She slid her phone toward me and I glanced at the news article in between sips of my depressingly decaf coffee.

"You're kidding?" I muttered in frustration.

"Nope, apparently almost half the city has gotten on Krei's brain chip bandwagon."

I frowned sharply. "Yeah, and it's probably really Enkei's bandwagon. If we just had enough proof to shut them down…"

Gogo leaned into her hand, the engagement ring on her finger sitting silently as a testament to everything she wasn't talking about. Apart from the ring, nothing seemed to change about her, or even between her and Fred. It was fitting, and the predictableness of human nature felt like a comfort when compared to all the chaos around us. But maybe it was human nature that made this mess so confusing. I didn't know him as well as Hiro, but it still didn't make sense for Callaghan to snap like this.

What was he hoping to accomplish? Or was it just a matter of the man going insane after so much time in prison? I didn't know, but I hoped someone would get to the bottom of it soon. For Hiro's sake especially…

But speaking of human nature, Honey Lemon suddenly burst through the door like a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning.

"Good morning!" she beamed as she flitted over to us.

We mumbled out sleepy replies before she wrapped us both in a hug. "Just look at you two, you're both practically glowing!"

Gogo rolled her eyes. "In San Fransokyo that's probably just background radiation."

"Oh, Gogo, you're so funny! Now, let me see the ring again, it's so beautiful I can't get enough of it!"

"This is a 'no gush' zone," Gogo muttered back, almost looking sick.

But Honey Lemon didn't even know the meaning of the phrase. I had to smile at that. Awkward or not, it was nice to focus on something positive for a while. Something normal, that didn't involve some creepy evil plot.

Aunt Cass whistled as she walked over with Honey Lemon's typical latte. "You're not kidding either, that rock is gorgeous!"

I chuckled as I watched Gogo slip further and further under the table. "This is the smaller one…" she mumbled, catching us all by surprise.

"Smaller?" I asked.

She huffed out a sigh. "Yeah, you know Fred, he always assumes bigger is better. I had to explain that bigger sometimes just means way tackier…"

"Aww, that's so sweet," Honey Lemon gushed, yes gushed. "He was worried about impressing you!"

"I think I'm dying…" Gogo mumbled before she almost completely disappeared under the table.

I could relate more than she realized. I'd had more than my share of awkward moments lately. A part of me still wanted to fight against that, but the rest of me had to admit it was kinda nice.

I noticed Aunt Cass smile at me before she slipped back behind the counter. This is what it was like to have friends, to have family. To belong inside the circle.

No matter what else happened in this crazy world, that was all that really mattered. It was something so precious that I was determined never to take it for granted.

We all glanced toward the door when we heard bells chiming against them. I smirked as I noticed Hiro and Baymax walking casually toward our table.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in?" I quipped.

Hiro smiled at me, that typical sleepy dazed look on his face. "This early it feels more like what the cat coughed up." Then he glanced up at his Aunt. "I think I need a double shot this morning."

She smirked. "Coming right up, Sweetie."

He pulled out a chair beside me, and I elbowed him in the side. "A double shot, really? You seriously have to rub it in my caffeine-deprived face that much?"

He shrugged. "Sorry, Karm, but this is an emergency..."

"What's up?" Gogo asked, suspiciously.

But Hiro just buried his face in his arms. "I am, that's the problem…"

Honey Lemon smiled understandingly. "You shouldn't push yourself too hard, you've been under a lot of stress lately."

A slightly somber look drifted to his face as he sat up again. "I know, but it was another dead end with the investigation last night…. Not to mention, did you notice the news, Krei's crazy chip is getting popped into more heads with each passing day."

"I do not recommend it," Baymax added, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, no kidding," Hiro whispered as Gogo nodded along.

"I saw the article. They're running a promo to give people free Yaki Tacos if they get one. Are people seriously not suspicious of this?"

"Too bad Krei isn't smart enough to be, he's the only one who could pull the plug at this point," I added.

"Slim chance of that," Hiro mumbled, as he took a sip of the coffee Aunt Cass had just delivered. When he didn't bother pouring a couple dozen packs of sugar into it, I was borderline worried about him.

The situation was even worrisome enough to get a small frown out of Honey Lemon. "I agree, we need to do what we can to be prepared, no matter what happens."

We all agreed with that, but it was easier said than done. How did you prepare for something you didn't even fully understand? Were the chips really nefarious? What was Watashi's true connection to Enkei? And of course, how did Callaghan factor into it? Those were just some of the questions I knew he was obsessing over. Still, I tried to steer the conversation away from it all, at least for a while. Gogo and Honey Lemon seemed to get that too, and so we spent another hour in mostly small talk.

It was nice, I could see him lighten up, even if just a little. After a while, Honey Lemon and Gogo headed out, and Baymax started helping Aunt Cass like he usually did. His first task was the lighting of the oh-so-infamous scented candles scattered around each table. When he got around to ours I had to smile as I stared into the flame. Baymax waddled away and I elbowed Hiro again.

"Well, here's the perfect opportunity, got anything sentimental to say, Nerd Boy?"

His face softened a little. "Are you kidding, where would I even start?"

I smirked. "Well, now you're scaring me."

"How about thank you," he finally whispered.

I just looked at him, not expecting that. "For what?"

He reached to squeeze my hand. "Pretty much everything."

For a second, I didn't know what to say. Maybe in a way, I hadn't even wrapped my mind around everything that had happened. Because sitting there, I could have believed we were still the same kids. The same as we'd always been…

And for all the ways that we were, I also realized the ways we weren't. We were growing and changing little by little. Life was pushing and pulling us, challenging us in ways we'd never expected. And yet…

"I'm proud of you, Hiro… I…" Candle or no, the words weren't always easy for me to find. But I desperately wanted to try. "You've faced so much lately, probably the worst kind of things imaginable, but you're still hanging on. You're not letting it destroy you."

For a second, I could see right through him, down to the pain he'd been pushing deeper. For just a moment I saw everything Callaghan was doing to him. But mingled with the pain was also a strength, an acceptance that seemed so beautiful.

"Hey, I've had a lot of help." He smiled. "After all, you give me a lot to live for. I um…" He almost seemed shy suddenly. "Each time I wanna get lost in the past, I realize I can't." He met my eyes softly. "Because people like you, only live in the future, and I…really need to be wherever you are."

He broke away from my stare and glanced down into his coffee cup. Tracing his finger around the rim he smiled to himself. "Now I keep wondering what they'll be like. What's the chance they inherit my messy hair or your eyes? And little by little, I find myself not only imagining the future but really wanting to be there."

He looked over at me honestly. "I…never really felt that way before. I just wanted to go back, to fix the past somehow. But now I…" The rest of what he had to say seemed lost behind a wave of emotion he choked down, always trying to play it cool. But I saw it as clearly as if he'd explained.

"Don't be such a dork…" I whispered as I reached to pull him into my arms. "You don't have to thank me for anything." I pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. "I was always lost in that future, trying to plan and direct it to be exactly what I wanted. What I thought would make me good enough. But now…" I smiled at him. "You showed me how to enjoy the present."

For a moment, neither of us said anything, we just let the meaning linger between us. All the differences that drove us apart at the beginning were the very things that now held us together.

Life was just that way, always teaching you things you could never imagine. I didn't know what the future held for us any more than I knew how the wounds of the past might come back to haunt us, but I did know one thing clearly…

To just be here now, with him, it meant everything…

It didn't matter what happened next, nothing could take that from us.

Nothing at all.

After a while, we drifted from the Lucky Cat and fell into a casual rhythm as we walked home. A few dark clouds dropped a scattering of raindrops before we could duck inside our apartment. Baymax did his best to hover over us and block out the rain, but I didn't mind a little water. Something was refreshing about the scent of rain as it mingled with the city sidewalks.

The rest of the day we spent in mostly quiet mediocrity. I took the time to review a few papers related to my latest experiment, but Hiro was quick to remind me it was a Saturday and tried to pull me into wasting time with him in front of the TV.

All in all, I wasn't a fan of wasting time, but today I was in a good enough mood to let it go. Once he'd grabbed a bowl of popcorn Hiro slid between Baymax and me on the tiny cramped sofa. The movie plot was mostly predictable and the writing was horrible, but it didn't matter. I was happy enough just to be here.

As the hours droned on and the sun set outside, my mind relaxed to the point that I was tempted to fall asleep. In fact, I was positive I had when I heard the familiar sound of Hiro's phone ringing. The noise roused me just enough to notice, that I wasn't the only one bored by this plot. Hiro was fast asleep on my shoulder. I smiled a little as I decided to just let the phone ring. In a way, I wanted to keep the world out of this moment… To savor it as much as I possibly could. But not five minutes later the rang again, and this time his eyes flickered open.

"What happened…?" he muttered as he glanced at the credits rolling on the TV screen.

I smirked. "Who cares with a plot that weak? Anyway, someone keeps calling you, this is the second time. You better check it, it might be important."

He yawned, running a hand through his hair. "I really hope it's nothing…" We both hoped that, but neither of us was going to get our wish…

Pulling the phone out of his pocket he glanced down at the screen. "It's Aunt Cass, better call back just in case."

I felt a little relieved at first, after all, she wasn't likely to be the one to call Hiro when some new Kaiju or freak started destroying the city. That was more Gogo or Wasabi's job, but still, something didn't sit right with me as I watched him tap the call back.

The seconds ticked by as the video feed loaded and the screen filled with Aunt Cass' face. Just one look at her was all it took to turn my heart to ice.

"H-Hiro…" she whispered, the fear obvious in her tone.

"What's wrong, are you alright?!" he asked frantically.

"She's fine, for now," a familiar voice echoed as a new face filled the screen.

There, with his jaw set in a sad but defiant frown was none other than Robert Callaghan.

I heard the air stall in Hiro's chest as he held his breath. "C-Callaghan," he trembled as his voice shook with some heartbreaking mix of fear and rage.

"Don't speak Hiro…" Callaghan whispered. "Just listen to me. All this time… All this back and forth is getting us nowhere. It's time I finally explain…" He stared out at Hiro with eyes filled with emotion nearly impossible to place. "Come alone, that's all I ask… Just come alone."

"Wait, C-Callaghan!" Hiro shouted into the tense air as the line went dead. In its place was a single text message from Aunt Cass that said nothing more than two words…

Akuma Island.