Nobody drives you crazy like family (BH6 Aftermath Sequel)

by Marie Thompson

When the Hamadas get an invitation to visit the Kambe family, who they are related to through Cass, they decide to head to Japan. Awkward at first, Daisuke Kambe and the Hamadas start to bond when the party is attacked by enemies unknown. Not knowing who is the actual target is bad enough, but Daisuke begins uncover things about Hiro the teen would rather others not find out about.

16. Check 15 - Sometimes asking for help is

Check 15 - Sometimes asking for help is the bravest choice

When Hiro next came to, he found his body felt frozen. Any attempt to move filled him with agony, not that it was anything new, because it wasn't. Nor was it unexpected. It just sucked to high heaven.

"Good morning, Hiro," Baymax greeted from his charging base. "On a scale from one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

Letting out a grunt of frustration, mostly because he'd tried to sit up and couldn't, Hiro ground his teeth. "Seven," he almost spat out. "And I can't make my body move. I think I'm going to need a little help."

The robot seemed to contemplate this for a moment before his belly lit up momentarily with a text message icon. "I have sent for the requested help," he stated.

"Um…" Hiro wasn't sure what that meant. If he were back in San Fransokyo, he could probably expect to see one of his friends popping up within a reasonable amount of time. He might even expect to see Aunt Cass, now that he was being more open with her. Given the circumstances, he thought that the most likely at the moment. In the meantime, he expected Baymax to at least offer some kind of assistance.

Despite the expectation, Hiro found himself disappointed. Baymax, for whatever reason, decided to stay in his charger. Maybe the robot needed a little more energy in his battery. Whatever the reason, it wasn't exactly typical. He usually was quick to respond to any of Hiro's needs, assisting as much as his vinyl body would allow. Today, however, didn't seem to fall under that general rule.

Well, Hiro thought with a huff of breath that moved his unruly hair, he'd just have to wait and see who the robot had summoned. He still felt it was likely to be Aunt Cass. It was the only person who made sense, considering she knew his circumstances the best of anyone present, outside of Baymax. But if she were elsewhere in the mansion, it might take her a while to get there. At least his stomach wasn't currently complaining it was empty, though he definitely wouldn't mind a drink of water and more of those pain meds.

This reminded him a bit too much of his incarceration in that Hydra facility in the middle of nowhere. He'd been totally incapacitated then too, only with injuries much more serious than the ones he sported now. He'd also managed to practically destroy his muscle mass at the time, so there was another decided difference. He'd worked hard to rebuild what he'd lost. It was a work in progress, and he probably would never look as burly as Wasabi, but he could at least aim for something more like Tadashi's general build, that being the more likely.

With nothing to do but wait things out, Hiro found his mind wandering. Aunt Cass must be at the other side of the building, on the ground floor. That or she'd left her phone in her room, or was taking a nap. He had no idea what time it was, just that sunlight filtered in through the windows behind him. Since he couldn't really tell what direction the rays were coming from, he had no real way of telling. And he didn't have the current ability to reach for his cell phone, which sat on the bedside table to his right.

This sucked! He didn't want to think about all the recent developments. So he could delve into his Aunt's memories. Whoop-de-do. He had no idea how he'd done it, let alone how to do it again. It was almost like an instinctual thing, as automatic as breathing had been. Give his mind the right circumstances and it did it without thinking. Maybe. He wasn't sure that was actually how it worked but it helped him process the whole idea.

After who knew how long, someone knocked on the door and Hiro tried to look up, though the bedding was somewhat in the way. That and his hair had fallen into his eyes. He blew out to try and move it, with marginal success. "Come in!"

Whoever was on the other side opened the door. For whatever reason, Hiro couldn't sense who prior to that moment. Maybe his mind was just too overwhelmed to process. It was anyone's guess.

Footsteps sounded as whoever it was entered the room. "Imagine my surprise to get a text asking for help." Daisuke's voice filled the room with all the flavors of amusement, curiosity, and not exactly frustration, but Hiro didn't have a word for it.

The teen had to blink a few times as Daisuke seemed to materialize at the edge of the bed. "Baymax texted you?"

Daisuke's brows were raised, a somewhat bemused expression on his face, almost as if he was feeling a mix of amusement but confusion over the whole situation. "Apparently so. As to why, I haven't a clue. What do you need? His message wasn't very forthcoming."

The older man wore the typical button-down shirt and slacks, though he had yet to put on a tie or the typical waistcoat. In fact, it was probably the most dressed-down Hiro had ever seen him and he couldn't help but stare a bit, though the usual earring was in place in his left ear.

Hiro let out another burst of exhaled breath, moving his hair more this time with his frustration. Why in the world had Baymax thought it a good idea to ping Daisuke instead of Aunt Cass? He tried to turn his neck enough to look at the robot but couldn't, the pain expressing itself in some of the most unpleasant of ways. He momentarily contemplated trying to stubbornly make his muscles work but decided it was an exercise in futility.

"About that." He worked his lips, chewing on them a bit as he looked away from his older cousin. "Thanks to last night's…. activities, I find myself having a little bit of difficulty this morning." Was it actually still morning, though, his mind asked. He had no idea.

A sort of laugh escaped Daisuke's lips. "And now you can't move your body."

"Yeah." The teen deflated his lungs at having to admit it.

Hiro could practically feel Daisuke's presence looming over him, even though the man hadn't moved."And what do you want me to do about it?"

The teen pressed his lips together, resisting the urge to cuss. Seriously. What in the world had Baymax been thinking? "You know what, it's fine. I'll figure it out myself. Go do… whatever it is you do. I'll just wait for Aunt Cass." If he could convince Baymax to let his aunt know, otherwise he might end up waiting a long time.

"If you need help, all you have to do is ask."

Head almost managing to whip around in Daisuke's direction at that comment, Hiro's face scrunched up. Pain flared up along his back, traveling down his spine, stronger than what he'd managed to ignore for now. His breathing came a bit more quickly as a result and he had to close his eyes. "Help."

"There. Was that so hard?"

An almost seismic wave seemed to surround him as Daisuke moved close enough to slide Hiro towards the edge of the bed. The teen cried out as muscles were engaged and bruises compressed. Thankfully that stopped shortly after he'd been pulled towards the older man. If the bed had been any bigger, things would have probably looked a lot more awkward, which begged to question why his cousin was more than willing to help out instead of calling a servant or their aunt to do it for him.

Panting, Hiro found he'd been rotated around so that he was now sitting upright, Daisuke sitting next to him, the man supporting him with one arm across the back of his shoulders. His legs dangled off the side of the bed.

"HEUSC, please ask one of the staff to bring Hiro some pain medication and a glass of water," Daisuke instructed. It was hard to miss Hiro's trembling under his supporting arm. The day after any kind of strenuous activity was always the worst, especially if it went above and beyond the typical. But Hiro's pain likely went above and beyond the normal overused muscles. He couldn't forget Baymax had reported massive contusions, along with the mild concussion.

"Right away, sir."

It took at least a minute for Hiro to regain a proper breathing rhythm. By that time, someone had brought in the requested medicine, which he downed with Daisuke's help. And all this time, Baymax stayed back, as if waiting to see what would happen.

Flexing fingers, Hiro managed to move his arms enough to try and drink from the provided glass. It felt much like he believed a butterfly might feel breaking free from its cocoon after literally every part of it liquefied and reformed into its new form. Except he hadn't exactly reformed, though the whole liquefied part certainly felt accurate. Maybe not from that exact experience, but certainly from others.

"Something tells me this isn't something you usually do," Hiro spoke up, trying to break the awkward silence. Well, awkward for him. He wasn't sure what was going on through Daisuke's thoughts. The man was an enigma in many ways.

Daisuke laughed a bit, which jostled his cousin, but it couldn't be helped. "No, it's not. But I am trying to expand my horizons. And since the others all appear to be busy, I find myself with more than the usual amount of time for it."

Well that made him feel tons better, Hiro thought with an eye roll. Maybe it wasn't how Daisuke had meant it, but he kind of felt like an afterthought, a way to ease boredom. Well, it wouldn't be the first time, and probably not the last either.

"I kinda figured you'd be working with that Katou guy to try and figure things out," Hiro admitted. While the two did have somewhat clashing personalities, he could feel the harmony between them as well. It was almost like a dance, impromptu, and Daisuke definitely taking the lead, but someone had to. "I'm sure your AI has already uncovered a lot of things for you. In fact, I'd be surprised if you hadn't done a lot of digging into both me and Aunt Cass."

Daisuke removed his arm from Hiro's shoulders, forcing the teen to support himself. "I have. You haven't exactly made it easy on me. There are a lot of unexplained things I wouldn't mind knowing."

Resisting the urge to lean towards the nearest thing tall enough for the job, mainly his cousin, Hiro pushed through the pain and remained upright. Flopping back down was not an option as he worked his hands, forcing the muscles and blood to move. He even went so far as to wiggle his toes before pressing them against the floor to test his ability to stand.

Curiosity was understandable, though Daisuke's interest had to go beyond that. If he were in his shoes, Hiro knew he'd feel the same way. Experience told him that whatever experiences he'd gone through in the last twenty-four hours probably had something to do with whatever deeper mysteries were going on about them. He just had no idea how or why. But it never hurt to get some insight through a different perspective. And there was no way he was going upside down for a while.

"I guess I don't mind telling you a few things," Hiro allowed. "In exchange, there are things I'd like to know about you too. And I wouldn't mind going down to that giant computer room you have in your basement."

The slight stiffening as Daisuke registered surprise was not unexpected but amusing. It did make sense, though, considering he had no idea Hiro could practically delve into electrical current, especially when it was connected to some kind device. Having merged with several computer systems, some more basic than others, he knew he wasn't wrong. It just amused him that Daisuke was so taken by surprise about him knowing about that room.

Consternation showed on Daisuke's face. Chances were good he was trying to figure out just how the teen had found out about that. Well, maybe he'd explain it to him at some point down the road. After all, it did stand to reason there would be some kind of central information hub, a series of servers to store HEUSC's main code and operations. That was standard. And it made sense that it would reside at Daisuke's residence. Fred would call that a no-brainer.

"Fine." While his tone wasn't exactly happy about it, at least he'd agreed. It was a win Hiro was more than willing to take.

As a sign of good will, Hiro thought it best to lead by example. But first, he had some pressing business that required more help than he cared to admit. And, for that, he practically demanded Baymax's help. There were some things relatives, even if they were of the same gender, didn't need to be a part of, no matter how much they were bonding.

…

Daisuke decided to wait outside of Hiro's room while he took care of whatever it was he had to in the bathroom. He felt a sense of relief that Baymax had decided to step in for that. While he felt a decided sense of something towards his cousin, he wasn't ready to go above and beyond in ways sure to embarrass them both.

While the teen was thus occupied, Daisuke took the opportunity to check in with HEUSC to see where everyone else was. He had yet to look over the reports he'd asked for the night before. Baymax had requested his presence as he was getting ready for the day so he hadn't yet taken the opportunity. The fact that he'd slept in much later than was even typical for him wasn't lost on the man. But circumstances were less than usual so he let it slide.

After a decent amount of time, the door to Hiro's room opened and the teen sort of shuffled out, much as he'd done the night before. Except this time he wasn't using the wall for support, though Baymax did follow close enough behind he could catch him should he stumble.

"Not going to be carried this morning?" Daisuke inquired, hoping he sounded polite. He wondered how far the teen would take things, seeing how much he struggled. Was it out of pure stubbornness or pride? It was possible and he found the idea amused him.

Hiro grunted out some kind of reply before taking a moment to pause in his exertions. They'd made it a few paces down the hallway. "I once had a masochistic physical therapist who once told me that when it hurts the most I should try the hardest and I'd thank her later."

Waiting politely for him to regain his breath, and perhaps his nerve, Daisuke found this an interesting turn. "And did you? Thank her later, that is."

A low chuckle escaped Hiro's lips. "No. But she wasn't wrong. I was able to push through the pain, hating every minute of it, cursing her under my breath. But our next session wasn't so bad. It helped that I wanted to prove to her she was mistaken about my lack of determination."

It was a stubborn sort of pride, Daisuke supposed with a smile. It took grit and determination to keep going when you felt like throwing in the towel. Sometimes all it took was the opportunity to prove someone wrong, especially when all other motivations failed.

Upon reaching the elevator, however, Hiro seemed more than fine with the idea of leaning against Baymax for support. The walk so far had indeed been more than a little challenging, taking at least twice as long as it would normally. Under different circumstances, Daisuke knew he'd be more than a little impatient. He was used to charging in and getting things done, with careful consideration offered on the go. But it didn't hurt to take things slower sometimes.

Daisuke reached for the floor button, debating. He'd put in a request for brunch for two, the time being much closer to lunch time than breakfast. But there were repercussions to the thoughts running in his head. If they went to the dining room, just anyone could drop in on them. If he took Hiro downstairs, Katou was there and he'd have to invent a task for him, sure Hiro wouldn't divulge the majority of what he wished to know with another party there.

Choice made, the elevator car carried the three down, Hiro glancing up at the realization they were going to a level much lower than the main floor. The surprise didn't last long, however, the teen accepting the decision. The extra few seconds gave him the time to steady himself once more.

When the doors open, Daisuke half expected Hiro's eyes to widen in surprise but they didn't. He was as unfazed about the giant room and it's almost floor to ceiling bank of monitors that curved around the one wall. Either the setup didn't impress him much or he was keeping things close to the vest, having regained mastery of his expressions.

"This way," Daisuke indicated, heading towards the console where Katou was sitting in the only visible chair. A small table sat off to the man's left, though it was currently empty.

Katou looked up upon hearing his voice, turning away from whatever it was he was doing. His eyes widened at the sight of Daisuke's companions and he gave Daisuke a questioning look. "Look who finally got out of bed," the man said, sounding more than a little patronizing, perhaps in a bid to hide his confusion.

Mouth turning down, Daisuke stopped short, making sure Hiro and Baymax were safely only a few steps away. "I've been awake," he retorted.

"Uh huh," Katou responded, looking less than convinced. He seemed to notice Hiro's proximity at that moment, possibly noting the teen's pale complexion, because he quickly stood and offered Hiro his chair. "So what gives?" He shifted one shoulder to indicate their unusual guest.

Daisuke gave the monitors a quick once over, looking to see what Katou had been working on. From what he could see, it mostly pertained to the incidents of the day before, primarily the fire and the shooting. That was expected. He thought he caught a glimpse of a few more in-depth searches involving the Hamadas but chose to ignore them for now. HEUSC had likely limited Katou's access to anything Daisuke had looked into the night before concerning the two.

Straightening his clothes, Daisuke took a thoughtful stance. Maybe it would be a good idea to get a few more swivel chairs in the room. "Hiro has volunteered to help with the investigation."

The teen gave that almost deer-in-headlights uncertain smile as Katou gave him his full attention. Under the scrutiny of such an imposing expression, Daisuke didn't blame him. "Oh he did, did he? You certain you didn't do a little coercing?"

Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Nothing of the sort. We have a mutual understanding." Let him think what he willed about that. He wasn't going to bribe a child, especially not this one. He'd already tried and it had backfired. Okay, tried was probably the wrong word. He'd made the offer but had been turned down. There, that sounded better.

Katou still didn't look quite convinced but that was fine with him. He wasn't looking for the man's approval.

"I did volunteer," Hiro spoke up. "I figured there might be a few things that would help, though I'm sure Aunt Cass has a few more things she could add that even she doesn't realize. You see, it's all connected."

What an interesting thing for him to say, Daisuke thought. He wasn't wrong though. Chances were good everything was connected in one way or another. The sequence of events seemed far too coincidental for anything else. The question was how did they connect, and to what.

As if having read his mind, one of the inner staff appeared with another rolling chair, arriving via the other elevator. Behind him, the butler carried a tray, which he placed on the small table. The tray was a bit larger than the tabletop, but that wasn't much of a problem. It did typically serve as a residence for Suzue's tea, or an occasional snack. An under butler followed with a second small table, where he deposited a pot of tea and matching cups and saucers. There was also a small selection of cream, lemon, and sugar should anyone choose to add them.

"Eggs Benedict, paired with a green salad and Greek yogurt parfait," the butler announced as he removed the cover, revealing two filled plates and parfait cups inside.

Katou looked from Daisuke to Hiro, then back to the food on the tray. He wisely chose not to comment as the two cousins' stomachs seemed to growl in unison.

Giving an embarrassed half laugh, Hiro reached for the plate nearest him. There was nothing for it, Daisuke supposed and accepted the second chair, bringing it towards the other side of the two tables. It was perhaps a bit rude to eat in front of Katou but the man had already, presumably, had breakfast so he found he didn't care that much.

"I can see I'll only be a third wheel if I stick around," Katou decided. Perhaps he figured no information would be forthcoming while they ate. He might be right, but there was always the possibility he wasn't.

Smirking, Daisuke chose to start by preparing a cup of tea. "Or you could join us. I can have another serving brought down."

Katou folded his arms over his chest, frowning. It was obvious he was debating his options. "I suppose I could use some tea."

Daisuke turned to the butler, who had not yet left the room. "Another cup and saucer," he ordered.

Before the man could leave for the requested items, however, Hiro perked up. "Actually, if you don't mind, could you make that some orange juice instead? I'm not a huge fan of tea."

The butler gave Daisuke a somewhat quizzical look but bowed when the master of the house nodded. "Very good, sir." He left to get the requested beverage. He returned with the juice just as Katou had finished preparing his own cup of tea, along with another servant pushing in a third wheeled chair.

It probably had been rude to not offer the second chair to Haru, another mark against his manners that day, but Daisuke figured the third chair made up for it. At least he'd managed to keep the man from exploding in some fit of emotion. Part of him did wonder if he'd try something in retaliation for the pillow incident earlier that morning though.

Hiro paused what he was doing as he stared at the large display in front of them all. He pointed to one section of screen that seemed to contain some kind of report. "Is that from the fire?" he asked, now looking at Katou.

"Yeah," Katou confirmed, drawing Daisuke's attention to the section in question as well. "They just updated it with the cause. Apparently the lanterns closest to the shrine contained some form of compact bomb. The rest appeared to have some kind of accelerant saturating the paper. It's a miracle only a few of them actually caught fire."

Daisuke wasn't sure he believed in miracles but didn't comment as he scrutinized the information. From what he could tell, there might have been a timer involved, with a chain relay to the other bombs, of which there appeared to be ten. Since those lanterns had been closer together than the others, it made sense. The payload wasn't enough to create too large of a crater, but their combined might had definitely packed a punch. Combine that with the accelerant, it was a recipe for disaster. But why had they only gone off after the sun had set?

"HEUSC, pull up the security footage for the time of the fire." He took the opportunity to take a bite or two of his parfait while his request was granted. The AI displayed it as a section overlying the actual report, which Daisuke didn't quite appreciate but supposed it couldn't be helped.

The footage began to play, giving Daisuke a brief moment of panic as he realized Hiro might be visible on the recording, wearing his armor. His tension was eased as he remembered not even he'd been able to tell without enhancing the video and having HEUSC outline the faint shadows of the teen and his companion.

"Freeze frame."

White light dominated the majority of the screen. And down near the bottom, where it indicated the security camera from whence the footage came, there was the time stamp. Unless he was mistaken, and somehow managed to knock things about in his own mind with other thoughts, the time indicated was the time they'd originally intended to end the day's festivities with one more visit to the area in question.

At the time, he hadn't thought about the schedule of events. Suzue had helped him plan things out, with the culmination of "welcoming the spirits back to their realm" occurring more or less in that window presented. It might not have been precise, but would have likely happened while they were all originally supposed to be gathered there, pending on everyone's walking pace. If it hadn't been for incidents earlier in the day, there would have been a lot more injured people, possibly a few dead ones as well.

Sitting back in his chair, Daisuke absently put his parfait down. Was it a precautionary tactic on their part? Whoever they were. Or was it the intended main event? Was the shooting impromptu or planned? The fact that there were timers likely in use with the bombs suggested prior planning on someone's part. But how had no one noticed them?

"Remind me where the lanterns used came from," Daisuke requested. Something about the whole thing bothered him. Actually, pretty much the whole thing bothered him. Whoever had set them out should have seen something, noticed something. Why hadn't even HEUSC noticed something was off?

Various records appeared on the screen, replacing the security footage. "The paper lanterns were ordered from Chochin Lantern Company near Ginza. They were delivered by a third party."

A third party, Daisuke mused. "Which company was used to deliver them?"

"I cannot answer that."

Daisuke's brows drew closer together. "Who delivered them?"

"I cannot answer that."

Out of the corner of his eye, Daisuke saw Katou put his tea cup down. "Kambe, asking the same question over and over again isn't going to change the result."

Daisuke slammed a fist against the console in front of him, consciously avoiding doing so to either table nearby, as it would send dishes and food everywhere. He'd forgotten Hiro was there for the briefest of moments, until he noticed him wincing after the loud noise had startled him. He'd have to do better at keeping his temper in check for the foreseeable future.

"I apologize for my outburst," he said, tone tightly controlled.

Hiro gave a weak smile. "It's okay. Your frustration is understandable. What about any footage of everything being set up? Maybe that will help?"

Without Daisuke prompting it, which was probably just as well, HEUSC displayed the footage in question. There were several workers in coveralls setting up the lanterns, taking them from a truck parked at the villa. Those workers carried them from the location of an unmarked truck, lining the entire walkway.

A basic scan of all the camera angles didn't really reveal anything. And when he tried to pull up an image of the license plate on the truck, Daisuke found it somehow blacked out. Whoever owned that vehicle had to have used some kind of device. Or maybe one of those covers that darkened the number plate, making it impossible for a camera to read it.

How on earth had this slipped through the cracks until now? And why hadn't HEUSC flagged it? Except footage suggested they were just the run of the mill paper lanterns he'd expected. There were even angles to suggest the candles had been added later.

"HEUSC, comb through the footage and look for any irregularities in regards to those lanterns. Someone had to have added those bombs after the lanterns were placed."

"As you wish, sir."

Cutlery clattered slightly as Hiro finished off his food and put his utensils down, reminding Daisuke he had yet to finish his serving. He corrected that oversight by slicing his eggs benedict and consuming it. "From the look of things, it was pretty early in the morning when the lanterns were set up. Chances are good they were probably already treated with the accelerant before being brought," the teen mused.

It was a fair point. Already, his cousin was being more helpful than he'd anticipated. This was why two sets of eyes were better than one, even if one had an AI keeping tabs on things. They didn't have the same finesse a human did.

Hiro shivered all the sudden, his expression not one of pain, exactly, but one to cause concern. Daisuke looked over, not sure what to make of the look on his face.

"Your energy levels experienced a sudden spike," Baymax observed. "However, the expected reaction did not occur."

The teen tasted bile in his mouth as stomach acid threatened to worm its way up his throat. The shudder had definitely not been caused by the ambient temperature. "Pause the video," he said, his voice sounding strained. "Rewind about thirty seven seconds."

"As you wish."

The footage reversed, stopping at the desired time. Another shudder ran down Hiro's spine and he leaned forward, ignoring the pings of his muscles. Maybe he'd take advantage of the tub he'd seen in his bathroom later. The shower he'd managed the night before hadn't helped that much.

"Your heart rate has increased dramatically," Baymax reported.

Hiro could feel both Daisuke and Katou's eyes on him. He had other things he needed to focus on, though, like the image on the screen. What was it about that image that had caused his body to react like this? No. Not an image, an essence. It was there, something he'd felt or sensed before, and recently. It was miraculous the soul energy had been caught in the first place.

Focus. He had to focus. The teen closed his eyes, trying to control his respirations. It would be so much easier if his heart wasn't trying to make its way out of his chest. Gotta slow that down, he thought, and then pushed that thought aside as his mind reached out to what he felt coming off the monitor.

The image itself wasn't that remarkable. It showed several workers putting out the lanterns. Their coveralls were unremarkable. But there was still something off about it all. Push past the image. Look for the essence. Only that mattered.

And then he found it, thin, like spider silk, but there. It wasn't the first time he'd looked for something that difficult to find, like a needle in a haystack, but he was learning how to become a lightning rod, drawing that energy towards himself, slowly. Slowly, or it will break.

Inky black, with hints of deepest green, so dark it was almost indiscernible. He'd felt it before. Recently. Where had he felt it before?

Memories of a dark void, of falling, threatened to invade his mind and he had to press both hands against his temples to keep his head from splitting apart. He would not let it happen again.

Hiro took in a deep breath and slowly released it, forcing all the air out of his lungs, no matter how much it hurt. He did it a second time, and then a third while the two older men watched in growing variations of concern and consternation. And then everything seemed to sharpen, as if someone had spun the focus knob on a telescope. Except he wasn't looking out into the night sky, but into the past.

He was in control. And with that knowledge, he sped up time in his mind, watching the events unfold through the camera lens.

On the screen, the security footage also sped up to match his pace. It had to be more than a little disorienting to Katou and Daisuke, but he couldn't worry about that now. He was one with the data, and he had to follow it to its inevitable end.

"Aunt Cass saw him," he said, eyes still closed. "She saw him there. He was off to one side, watching the memorial. I can feel his presence there, waiting. He hadn't noticed him there in real time because his mind wasn't in the right frame to be receptive. But now it was. "He'd been waiting for something. I don't know what."

Daisuke and Katou exchanged glances. The human mind was an amazing thing. And there were tales of those who had extra sensory abilities, but this was bordering on the insane. And yet there it was. It was almost as if Hiro had somehow managed to channel into at least the emotional memories of the person behind this.

Breath coming a bit quicker again, Hiro's hands moved down to his side, clasping the armrests of the chair. His breath caught in his throat for a moment and it took him a moment to regain it. "No." He'd made a mistake. How could he have thought the inky energy was just one? It wasn't just black. It wasn't deep green. It was a mix of deepest green and darkest blue. There had been two of them there. And then they were somehow just gone.

Clenching his teeth for a moment, Hiro allowed his body to relax as he mentally snipped his connection with the footage. It probably wasn't as simple as that, but he had no other way to describe what had just happened. When he opened his eyes, the surveillance tape had paused halfway through the monk's prayers at the shrine.

Not sure what to expect this time around, or if this was even remotely similar to what had happened the night before, Daisuke had quietly asked HEUSC to monitor Hiro's vitals. It wasn't that he didn't trust Baymax. The robot just didn't seem inclined to share anything more than what he already had. He'd tried to keep an eye on both the small section of the huge monitor detailing those statistics while keeping a physical eye on the teen, on top of watching the rapid-fire footage on the main display area. It was a lot to take in.

When Hiro seemed to disconnect from whatever it was he'd been doing, Daisuke found he, too, relaxed. Watching whatever it was that had happened was no easier than it had been the night before, even if it was different. Giving Hiro a few minutes to gather himself, the older man looked over at Katou to see how he was taking this.

Understandably, Katou looked out of sorts. It was probably a good thing he'd been sitting, though it appeared as though he'd thought about vacating his seat and had thought better of it. "I have no idea what that was all about just now but it was as freaky as I'll get out. I don't even have words. Please tell me your cousin isn't some kind of ghost, or inhabited by one because there is absolutely no way that was coincidental, let alone normal."

While it was a plausible theory, Daisuke supposed, the chances Hiro was somehow possessed were not as high as Katou seemed to imply. Considering all he'd learned over the past little while, the chances weren't zero, but somehow Kambe doubted it. He still favored other theories over that one. "I highly doubt it," he answered, noting HEUSC's report on Hiro's vitals was more within normal parameters once again.

"Then how do you explain that?" Katou pressed, pointing at the screen.

A slight shrug lifted Daisuke's shoulders. "I cannot." Without going into the possibility he had yet to confirm, something he hoped he'd get more insight into later, Hiro willing. That was.

Speaking of Hiro, the teen took another deep breath, more pronounced this time, before opening his eyes. "That was not my definition of fun." He tilted his head back to look up at Baymax, who was leaning towards him from behind the chair. "Looks like I managed to make it back without your help this time. Not even sure if I actually left my body though."

Katou did stand this time. "Okay. What? No." His face ran through a variety of different emotions as he swept one arm out in front of him as if to ward away a flying insect. "Just so much no. I'm trying really hard to not freak out here and I just… I can't."

A hint of teeth showed between Hiro's lips as he seemed to realize what was going on and that he'd let something slip that he hadn't meant to. "About that…. I can explain. Really I can. It's just that, well, it's complicated."

But Katou put up his hands. "You know what, I'm not even sure I want to know. There are some mysteries best left unexplained. If I think of this as a dream, it's a lot more probable."

The unintentional slipup did make sense, though, Daisuke mused. If Hiro had somehow had some kind of dream within a dream earlier, who was to say something similar hadn't happened here? Except this seemed more controlled for some reason, than the events he'd previously witnessed. "Just calm down, Katou. Drink your tea."

Reminded of the now cold beverage, the police detective picked up his cup and took a sip. The brew had gone bitter and he shuddered.

Hiro chewed the inside of his cheek, possibly contemplating how to salvage things. It's what Daisuke would do, given the circumstances. Apparently he'd come across something because he opened his mouth. "When I was fourteen, I witnessed what I later learned was the murder of my older brother. When I found out the fire that had killed him was intentionally set by a professor we both respected in order to steal one of my inventions, and that he didn't even care that Tadashi had died trying to save him, I lost it. It was if something broke deep inside me."

Though not quite the same, Daisuke felt a similar sense of loss resonate within himself. At the time, he'd had no evidence to dispute the notion that his father was the one who had murdered his mother. He hadn't seen the actual event, but he'd seen his father standing over his mother's body, the knife in his hand. Afraid he'd been seen, and possibly killed too, he'd quickly turned away and had missed Hattori, the family butler, appearing out of the shadows, the real man behind the murder.

As a young child, he'd had a hard time processing what he'd seen that stormy night. All he'd wanted to do was see his mother, someone he hadn't see for about two months, not since she'd left after a fight with his father about Adollium. He'd managed to sneak out of the manor with none the wiser. And after seeing what he had, he'd somehow managed to make his way back, though it changed everything.

For the longest time, he wasn't sure what to believe and had shut down a part of himself. It was almost a relief to be sent abroad for school. England had given him the opportunity to not only study business, technology, and law, but special training as well. It was thanks to Suzue that his suspicions there was more to the murder were confirmed. And it was with her continued research that he found purpose again.

There was silence as Hiro either let what he'd said so far sink in or, or he was regaining control over his emotions. There had been a slight spike in vitals, Daisuke noticed, so either was possible. If he hadn't learned how to stay calm in most situations, he'd likely have lost it too.

Hiro took a somewhat halted breath, indicating the heightened state Daisuke had observed. "Thanks to my friends, I was able to mostly come to terms with things, but it was still hard. And then, six or so months after that, strange things began to happen. Someone shot down part of an asteroid, whose debris fell over San Fransokyo, causing isolated earthquakes. Maybe it was because of that, some kind of radiation they gave off, or something else, but I found my mind would somehow wander off, showing me things no one else could see. True things."

Leaning back in his chair, Daisuke contemplated this new information. There had indeed been reports of odd seismic activity from that area so it was entirely plausible that Hiro was telling the truth. That and his vitals indicated a steady heart rate, indicating he wasn't lying. That or he was just really good at it.

"I didn't tell anyone for the longest time," Hiro admitted. "Well, except for Baymax. My friends knew something had happened to me but I had no way of explaining it and so I didn't. About another eight or so month after that, I was attending a tech expo in New York when I was kidnapped, along with another student. They wanted someone to build a robot similar to Baymax. I was good at the physical stuff, while the other was good at coding. They figured kidnapping younger students would make it easier to control us I guess."

Baymax had placed both hands on the back of the chair, for what reason, Daisuke wasn't sure, but it looked like he was offering some kind of support. He supposed it made sense. The teen looked lost in the memories, eyes distant.

Hiro closed his eyes, swallowing hard. "In the process of making our escape, I was badly injured, complicating things. But, thanks to Tony Stark and some of his friends we were staying with, we were able to get away. But that experience changed things again, somehow heightening whatever it is I can do now. I still can't control it most of the time, but there you have it." He finished with a more controlled voice, trying to sound nonchalant.

Something said there was a lot more to it than what the teen had just divulged, but it certainly made sense. There were indeed cases of people who had experienced a great deal of trauma being able to do extraordinary things. Why should this be any different? Except, again, Daisuke felt this was only the tip of the ice berg. But now that he had more information to go on, he could better research events.

Katou sat there, apparently at a loss for words, slumped back in his chair. "I have no words," he admitted. "And you're only sixteen?"

"Almost seventeen," Hiro corrected with a humorless laugh. "Last night, before dinner, I had one of those disconnects where I felt a need to go to the shrine. I didn't question it, just followed what my gut told me I needed to do. And that's how I ended up out there in the initial blast. Thankfully Baymax was with me or I'd be in a different world of pain."

Now Daisuke knew Hiro was editing things, probably more for Katou's sake than for his. There was no mention of the strange armor, or how he'd gotten past all the security, especially not in such a short amount of time. Thinking back, reason dictated that Hiro had to have flown over on Baymax's back. After all, the robot had returned to the manor in a similar fashion, probably using some kind of thrusters in his armor's boots. But it didn't explain how he'd managed to evade the cameras and the drones.

The detective took in a deep breath and slowly let it out as he ran one hand through his hair. While it was a more plausible story than possession by ghosts, he still wasn't sure how to take things and it showed. "And what about this?" He indicated the room at large. "Just now?"

Hiro worked his mouth a bit before taking a swig of his previously forgotten juice. His movements were getting stiff again and he winced as he returned to a more reclined position. "When you were going through that footage, it somehow reminded me of something I felt before the explosion. Sometimes I can follow the thread of those feelings and go back into my memories to look for it. It's kind of like watching a movie, except I'm literally moving around in it as an independent party."

It was Daisuke's turn to comment as he leaned towards the teen. "Near the end, you said "no", though I'm not sure what you meant by that." He watched the teen's expressions intently, evaluating things. If this event had burned up a similar amount of energy, it was possible it had also accelerated the pain medicine the teen had taken, making it wear off faster.

"About that," Hiro hedged, now looking like he was actually hiding something. "I was wrong. I thought there was only one person there, but there were two. But they somehow disappeared shortly after Aunt Cass seemed to notice them. But I'm sure at least one of them is responsible for the bombs in the lanterns. The other was likely responsible for the dart."

Daisuke turned his attention to the monitors. "HEUSC, with this new information, see what you can do to make any connections that might corroborate this theory."

"Right away, sir." There was a brief pause before HEUSC spoke again. "Lady Suzue has inquired after the younger Hamada. It would seem that Miss Hamada is looking for him."

All things considered, it was not unexpected. They had been downstairs for over an hour at this point, possibly closer to two. And there was no way of knowing just how long the two women had been watching movies before deciding it was time to check in on the others. Cass had probably decided to do so closer to lunch, which was an accurate assessment of the current time. But, not finding Hiro in his room, had likely asked Suzue to look into the matter. He hoped Cass hadn't had another panic episode.

Pushing away from the consol area, Daisuke stood. "Perhaps we'd better table this for now," he suggested. "There's not much else we can do at the moment so it might be best to rejoin the others."

Katou gave him a funny look but didn't question it. After Cass's freak out the night before, he supposed it was justified. "If you're okay with it, I might drop by the precinct to see if Hoshino and the others in the first division have come up with anything. They might have found something we haven't yet."

That was doubtful, Daisuke thought, but it was an understandable reaction. Distance was likely needed in order to process. "I'm sure it goes without saying, but it's probably best to keep what Hiro told us between us. I'm sure there's a reason behind the original secrecy."

"I wouldn't even know how to begin to explain this," Katou said with a bit of a huff. "I still can't wrap my head around it and I was right here, watching it. All the same, I promise."

Daisuke nodded firmly. "I'll have Suzue stick with Aunt Cass until you get back. We still don't know who the actual target is and I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Agreeing to the plan, Katou excused himself and left the room.

"We should head upstairs," Daisuke continued, now looking at his cousin. "I haven't known Aunt Cass long, but I'm willing to bet her temper is formidable."

Hiro had to laugh a bit at that. And while he'd eaten fairly recently, he found this whole incident had left him needing more. It sucked that channeling this kind of power usually took so much out of him. At least the head-splitting headache had subsided to a more acceptable throbbing one, but the painkillers seemed to have all but worn off already and that wasn't cool. "You have no idea."

A smile tugged at Daisuke's lips and he moved out of the way so Hiro could stand. He kept an eye on him to make sure he'd be able to handle the exercise, only mildly surprised when the teen didn't even reach out for stability. Perhaps he'd been wrong about his current condition. That or the teen was making a good effort at covering it up. Since either was possible, Daisuke felt it best to leave him to it, at least until he asked for help again.

Leaving the two tables for the staff to take care of, Daisuke led the way towards the elevator they'd come down in. Behind him, Hiro's shoes made a soft scuffing sound on the floor, followed closely by the faint squeak of Baymax's vinyl.