Check 16 - If you want to know the future, look to the past

After watching two monster movies, one she hadn't seen before, Cass thought it might be wise to check in on Hiro. He'd had more than enough time to sleep in and she wanted to make sure he didn't need anything. So, after taking care of a few things in her room, she knocked on Hiro's door, entering while Suzue waited out in the hall.

Sunlight filtered in through the golden glass, accentuating the empty nest of bedding on the bed. A quick glance over at Baymax's charger told her the robot was also not there. Just to be sure, she peeked into the bathroom, whose door was wide open. It was also empty.

Cass exited the room, heading straight to the hallway. Chances were good Hiro hadn't gone far, but it never hurt to check. "Suzue, do you think you could check and see if you can find Hiro real quick? He's not in his room."

The woman pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen over her ear, activating the communication device embedded in her earring as she did. "HEUSC, do you know where Hiro and Master Daisuke are?" She'd taken the opportunity while Cass had been otherwise occupied to peek into the head of the house's room.

"Master Daisuke and the younger Hamada are both in the control room," HEUSC reported.

It made sense, all things considered. "Could you please ask them to come upstairs? Cass is asking after her nephew."

"As you wish, lady Suzue." There was a pause of several long seconds before the AI informed her that Daisuke and party intended to join them shortly.

Relaxing her stance, Suzue gave Cass a somewhat sheepish smile, accompanied with a slight shrug of the shoulders. "Apparently Hiro is with Master Daisuke, but they'll meet up downstairs."

Cass nodded, looking down the length of the far hallway. Realizing Suzue was waiting for her, she quickly returned her attention to the younger woman. "Excuse me."

"Something wrong?" Suzue inquired. She, too, glanced down the hallway as if to see what had distracted her companion.

The proprietress shook her head. "No. It's nothing. I just thought I saw something but it must have been my imagination. Probably from too many monster movies all at the same time."

But Suzue didn't quite look convinced as she gave that end of the hall another glance. It was possible they were all just getting a little jumpy, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There was one of the staff, coming out of a room with a duster in hand. Maybe Cass wasn't used to seeing such things, but she filed it away for later.

"I'm sure Master Daisuke and the others will be hungry," Suzue said, breaking the silence. After all, as far as she knew, they hadn't eaten any kind of breakfast.

That made Cass laugh a little. "Knowing Hiro, you're probably right. Once he gets into a project, or distracted, he doesn't even think about food."

With the ice broken, she followed Suzue back the way they'd come, towards the elevator.

…

They beat Suzue and Cass to the sitting room. It probably wasn't much of a race. Technically speaking, it wasn't one, but it was still amusing, all things considered. They must have used the elevator on the far side. That or they'd just missed them after getting off on the main floor. Anything was possible.

With all the excitement downstairs, Daisuke hadn't exactly finished his brunch and found he didn't mind the idea of joining the others for an early afternoon meal. If all his observations were correct, he doubted Hiro would mind either, so he put in the request for something not too heavy, possibly catering more to an American taste, not sure what the others would want to do for the rest of the day. He knew what he'd prefer doing.

When the two women did finally join them, Daisuke had almost decided it was worth the risk to run upstairs for a few personal items. But when he saw them enter, he decided that could wait. He glanced briefly over at Hiro, who was sitting on one of the sofas, Baymax behind him.

Cass made a beeline for Hiro, giving him perhaps the world's most gentle hug as she sat down next to him. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

Daisuke could tell by the expression on Hiro's face that this was a long standing question whenever something had happened to the teen. And, after his recent confession downstairs, he supposed he'd gotten that slight interrogation more times than he could count. The injuries the teen had sustained after his apparent kidnapping the year before had likely inspired the question on a daily basis for months. He didn't blame him for the look of long suffering when she wasn't able to see it. He occasionally felt the same way when Suzue got a little to motherly.

"A bit on the sore side," Hiro said with a strained voice, immediately prompting Cass to release her hold on him. Apparently he was used to trying to downplay any injuries he had, though it didn't look like she was buying it. She slid a bit to one side, giving him plenty of room.

Suzue tried her best to ignore the situation, it seemed, as she made her way to the middle sofa and took a seat. "Where's Mr. Katou?" She looked around the room as if he would suddenly materialize.

Adjusting cuff links, or trying to because he realized last second he'd left them upstairs with his other belongs, Daisuke took up the couch facing the Hamadas. "Katou decided to head to the precinct to do some investigating from there. I'm not sure how far he'll get with the injunction to stay out of it, but he's resourceful enough. It should be fine."

That seemed to relieve whatever anxiety she felt, until she realized something. "But what about—"She stole a quick glance over at Cass and Hiro, Cass fussing a bit over Hiro's hair.

"I was going to ask if you'd be willing," Daisuke replied. "I should be fine," he added, stalling any further questions that might involve his safety. After all, he was the one who'd managed to keep disaster from happening the day before.

Suzue bit her lip but then gave a decisive nod. Cass wasn't much of a burden, and it was obvious his female cousin liked his aunt. Perhaps they shared a love for kaiju monsters, one Suzue probably didn't realize Daisuke knew about.

At that moment, Cass pointedly turned to look at the two Kambes. "Hiro just told me you think I might know something that could help with the investigation."

That was turning things around a bit, Daisuke thought as he gave Hiro a calculating look. It was technically Hiro who had mentioned that possibility, but with no context as to how. Best to roll with it. "Yes," he confirmed. "It seems that something about yesterday triggered a memory you may have previously forgotten. It's possible that might have some helpful information."

It certainly made sense, if that were the case. And it might very well be what Hiro had hinted at. She'd had two incidents where her memory had apparently been triggered, the first being that initial swooning in the dining room.

Cass seemed to turn inward a bit as she thought about it. Her face contorted, brows moving closer together as her mouth puckered a little. She even tilted her head slightly to one side, in a manner similar to Baymax, if he was being honest. She even moved one leg so that she now sat on it, the other still hanging over the lip of the cushion.

"The only thing I can come up with is what I was thinking about at the time," she confessed. "When Suzue broke that vase, I remembered the day Haruto and Nozomi died. It was exactly like it was happening at that moment, so I apologize if I concerned anyone."

Having had similar instances regarding his mother's death, Daisuke felt the need to let her know such apologies was not necessary. "Was there anything specific you may have noticed? Something that stood out more than might be considered normal?'

It seemed that Hiro was more intent on this portion of the conversation as well. Since he had apparently lived part of at least some of her memories, Daisuke couldn't help but wonder how it related, and if it was the same for him as it had been for Cass.

Cass paused to take in a fortifying breath. Just thinking about it seemed to call up all kinds of emotions, which was understandable. The slight hint of doubt he saw flash in her eyes, the questioning that went beyond just trying to remember something, surprised him. It resonated with some of his own feelings from years ago.

After escaping the clutches of his controlling grandmother, something he hadn't admitted to himself until recently, he'd jumped from one fire into another. School in Japan had been easier to handle, with Suzue's constant nagging, perhaps in an attempt to be a mother figure for him since his was gone. Well, he knew that wasn't the real reason but the thought had crossed his mind at the time. But because of her, he'd survived high school. But university had been different.

In England, he'd attended some of the most prestigious schools money could afford, and hated almost every minute of it. Gone were the familiar restrictions, replaced with different ones, and a mindless freedom that felt more like a cage than home had. There, he had time to think, to feel, and feeling, remembering, hurt.

There had been a few moments of weakness where he'd probably hung with the wrong crowd, tried a few things to numb the pain that he should have left alone. Again, if it hadn't been for Suzue, he probably would have spiraled and fallen into even more things he needn't ever touch. But it was thanks to her that he'd found purpose again, a place to put the feelings that something wasn't quite right, that the whole investigation into his mother's death was somehow just swept under the rug. Too many whispers in the night, too many demons. But having a purpose had solved almost all of that.

Daisuke was called back to the present by Cass making a funny noise in her throat, possibly her clearing it. There was moisture in her eyes. Part of him felt bad for making her relive that event again, but it might prove important.

"Everything happened so fast," Cass admitted. "Even when I flashed back to it. The car driving down the road was all over the place. I only saw it for a moment before I realized where it was going. I tried to reach out, to warn my brother, to maybe push them out of the way. They'd just put Hiro in the car and were talking. I don't know if they even knew what was happening. And then there was the sound of breaking glass and grinding metal."

At this point, she was staring out into space, distant from the present, something Daisuke, again, understood. Reliving things like that was hard. It took a lot of energy to not fall back into it, to let the dark shadows overtake you.

Cass shuddered, Hiro reaching out a hesitant hand, though he didn't move any closer to her, possibly afraid of being pulled back into her memories. "There was so much confusion," she related. "People were running, screaming. I couldn't make myself move. Their bodies…" she swallowed, now looking paler than before. "I couldn't look away."

It was understandable. The only thing that had gotten a young Daisuke to look away from the grisly sight of his father standing over his mother's body was the flash of lightning he feared had revealed his presence there. He'd quickly ducked out of sight, out of breath, disoriented.

"Someone went to the one car and pulled the driver out," Cass continued. "He checked for a pulse, looked around, and then disappeared. I don't recall seeing him again."

That was an interesting tidbit. Most Good Samaritans didn't act that way. Yes, they might try and pull any victims from the vehicle, just in case, but to immediately see if they were alive, only to run off wasn't exactly usual.

A few tears leaked out of Cass's eyes. "Tadashi— he was standing next to me. He'd just finished giving me a goodbye hug right before it happened. And then he was running for the car, trying to get Hiro out."

It was possible things were coming out a bit disjointed. Her hitched breath indicated that as a possibility. Apparently Baymax felt the need to move closer and give her a physical anchor because the robot waddled behind the sofa to place a hand on her shoulder. Suzue seemed in too much shock to do anything.

"I gathered the boys up into my arms once they were free from the wreckage. And that's when I felt it." Whatever it was, it created an intense physical reaction, the proprietress looking more than a little spooked. "Something was watching me. It felt just like yesterday morning, menacing. I don't scare easily," she added, looking almost defensive, arms crossed over her chest as if holding herself together. "But that scared the living daylights out of me."

Daisuke put one hand to his chin in thought. That might have been the reason behind such a trigger. Living in two worlds, he was no stranger to danger. But there were some feelings that were as unique as fingerprints. If she had felt such a fear, it definitely warranted investigation.

"I think you should know," Hiro spoke up, "last night, when I somehow slipped into Aunt Cass's memories, I saw the man behind the wheel as it came down the street. He wasn't conscious. In fact, I don't think he was even alive."

Several pairs of eyes looked sharply at the young man, Daisuke's among them. "Are you certain?"

Under normal circumstances, one would expect such scrutiny to make the teen uncomfortable. He'd seen it a few times, that deer-in-headlights look when unwanted attention turned his way, but this moment wasn't like that. Hiro's expression was serious, almost deadpan. He wasn't talking as the typical teen, but as something else. "Yes. I saw him as clearly as I see you now. His hands weren't even on the wheel. And something about him didn't look right."

Daisuke and Suzue exchanged looks. This changed a lot of things, opening up the realm of so many possibilities. He'd thought there were a few discrepancies in the police report he'd looked over the night before, but now he was sure of it. It was not unheard of for some criminal organization to use similar means to get rid of someone. He'd studied a case or two back when he was in England. Staged deaths were elaborate, definitely premeditated. This was looking more and more like a murder.

He couldn't forget that Cass had said she'd felt that same intent only the day before. It wasn't too far a stretch to reason that she'd forgotten about that, pushed it to the back of her mind after so many years, only to have it come flooding back. The mind was an amazing tool, but the way it worked was as unique as each individual. So the question was why had she felt that again now? And it it was from the same person, or people, why were they here?

"Do you think you could recognize any faces from back then?" Daisuke inquired. Each person's memory worked differently, so he wasn't sure how she'd answer, but there were other ways of getting around things. His ability to finally find his mother's real murderer stood as testament to that.

But Cass shook her head. "It was so long ago. And I never saw the person who was staring at me. I just felt it."

Perhaps anticipating Daisuke's next question, Hiro spoke up. "I didn't see the person who pulled that driver out of the car. The memory I saw was disjointed. Near the end, before I was kicked out, I was focused on the image of my parents—" he didn't seem able to finish the sentence, which was more than understandable.

Suzue cleared her throat, crossing her legs. "There's something I don't understand," she admitted. "I know we're talking about what happened last night, but it sounds like you're saying Hiro somehow saw his aunt's memories when they both had that reaction."

"It's because he did," Daisuke stated before Hiro could say anything. "He managed to tap into her trauma. What to us looked like some bizarre episode was their minds somehow connecting with each other." He'd have to trust she either understood or would let it rest for now. There were too many unanswered questions floating around at the moment and he didn't want to spare the brain power to add any more.

The butler entered the room, announcing that lunch was ready, forestalling in further discussion for the moment. It was just as well. Both Hiro and Cass looked like they could use a break. Daisuke wasn't certain he could get any other useful details from his aunt at the moment anyway.

Suzue was the first to stand, still looking uncertain, but she seemed to accept the unspoken command from her older cousin. "Lunch would be amazing." She turned to Cass, offering her hand to the older woman. "Don't you agree?"

With only a moment of hesitation, Cass accepted the help to stand. A sort of smile crossed her face as she tried to rally herself. "I could eat," she admitted. Daisuke would have to find a way to help her unwind a bit later. He supposed Suzue wouldn't mind watching more monster movies with her, but they'd work that out later.

"Ow," Hiro said under his breath as he slid to the edge of the couch. He winced, reminding Daisuke of his earlier observations. So many possibilities swirled there and he instinctually felt a need to keep an eye on him. But before Daisuke could offer any help, the teen stood under his own power.

Cass, who had made it partially across the room, turned at Hiro's exclamation. "Are you okay?" she asked, hesitating.

Taking a deep breath, perhaps fortifying himself, Hiro nodded. "Yeah. I'm good."

Resisting an urge to roll his eyes, Daisuke watched to see what would happen. The teen strode, not exactly purposefully, but with determination towards his aunt. This kid definitely had guts, he'd give him that. Sure there was no immediate need for concern, he chose to follow the example of his cousin, heading towards the dining room.

...

Cass hadn't felt this emotionally exhausted in a long time. All the issues she'd dealt with regarding Hiro and the changes he was experiencing were not the same as reliving a trauma over and over. But it sounded like the discomfort was worth it, though she wasn't excited over the idea that her brother's death had been intentional. There were likely going to be repercussions from that realization. She now felt she understood how Hiro had felt when he'd found out Callaghan had been responsible for Tadashi's death, though she couldn't be sure.

When she entered the dining room, she half expected another fancy meal but was pleasantly surprised to find something far more casual than they'd had previously. There appeared to be an assortment of finger sandwiches, raw vegetables with various dips, and what looked like homemade potato chips. It wasn't hamburgers, which she was sure Hiro might have preferred, but it was the least Japanese thing she'd seen served there so far. And they were all being served buffet style at a table that had to have surely been brought in for the purpose.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daisuke give the butler a look but didn't comment. Apparently he'd put in a request and hadn't quite gotten what he'd expected. But it did all look quite tasty so she hoped it would be fine. Seeing him decide to go with it and take his plate to the smaller table told her he had at least accepted it. She heard he'd spent some time in England, so maybe it would remind him of a good afternoon tea or something.

"This looks so good," Hiro spoke up as he followed Daisuke's example. He waited patiently while his older cousin seemed to hem and haw over which sandwich triangles to add to his plate, though it was obvious he was more than ready to fill his. Whatever snack he might have had earlier apparently hadn't been enough.

Baymax observed everyone from somewhere between the two tables. "Do not forget to choose a balanced variety," the robot reminded, which earned him a slightly sour expression from more than one person.

When it finally came to her turn, Cass noticed the different varieties of sandwich filling. There appeared to be several salad-based fillings, mostly egg or shredded chicken. But there were a few others as well, such as cold cuts with the higher end cheeses and lettuce. Some had tomato, others did not. She even thought she saw a few with either prosciutto or bacon, which she knew Hiro had probably generously helped himself to, that particular offering being more depleted than the others. At least she could guarantee he'd not neglected his veggies.

Despite the more casual theme of the food, each place at the table still afforded the usual knife and fork set, with a smaller fork placed at the top, near the cup, presumably for a dessert yet to be delivered. There was also the usual linen napkin, which Cass placed on her lap after sitting down.

Regardless of their interrupted conversation, Cass couldn't help but wonder how this was all affecting Hiro. He'd seemed a bit choked up, admitting he'd seen his parents' potentially mangled bodies in her memories. But it could have just as easily have been because of what he saw instead of who. It was no secret that he had little memory of his earlier years, probably mostly due to age. All the same, she wasn't sure what kind of repercussions she might expect on his end.

Perhaps sensing some tension in the air, mostly because no one seemed inclined to talk at the moment, Daisuke cleared his throat. "I had originally planned an outing for this afternoon," he admitted. "But, under the circumstances, that's probably unwise."

"I agree," Suzue chimed in, looking up from one of her sandwiches. She wiped her fingers on her napkin, looking around the table as if to judge the reactions to that.

After all the discussions of various restaurants and the like in the area, Cass understandably felt a bit disappointed about that. It was spring time as well, and she had hoped to visit some of the famous stretches of sakura, the Japanese cherry trees she'd loved so much as a child. And, while San Fransokyo had many lovely gardens with trees that had been imported over, it wasn't quite the same. She'd seen some near the traditional mansion but wasn't sure it would be permitted, considering a decent area in and near it was considered a crime scene. That and she felt a little odd at the idea of going over there, though she wasn't exactly sure why, outside of almost being shot with a dart.

Hiro finished one of his sandwich triangles and took a healthy swing of water. "I was wondering if there wasn't some kind of gym maybe I could work on some stretches with Baymax," he spoke up. "Maybe it will help."

The teen's physical therapist had mentioned that he could use many of the exercises he'd been taught at home should he feel the need and so Cass applauded the idea. If they could help at least work out some of the kinks he was obviously feeling, so much the better, though there was no getting around the bruises Baymax had reported. And she knew he'd need to take things easy with the concussion as well. He hadn't shown any real reasons for concern, but overdoing things would definitely not be a good idea.

"I can show you after lunch, "Suzue stated.

But Daisuke waved a hand to dismiss the idea. "No. I think you and Aunt Cass should finish your monster movies. I can show him. I feel a need to practice after everything that's happened."

Cass saw Suzue mull over that for a moment before nodding in acceptance. "Of course, Master Daisuke. I would love to finish the series we started." Her expression softened as her focus turned to the aunt. "If that's all right with you."

"Yeah," Cass said quickly, slightly confused at the exchange she thought she'd seen between the two Kambes. Well, whatever it was, it wasn't any of her business. And she had wanted to see how the whole series ended. "I'm okay with." She bit into a carrot stick she'd dipped in some kind of hummus, surprised at the taste. It was unlike the usual store bought spreads she'd had the chance to sample. "Just as long as we can have some popcorn with it."

Suzue smiled, brushing her hair back behind one ear. It seemed to like to fall over it a lot. "I'm sure we can find some."

With that seemingly settled, the rest of the meal went relatively smoothly. Conversation turned to the weather, life in San Fransokyo versus Japan. And Cass soon found herself talking about all the more traditional places in the city she now called home.