Check 14 - Most assumptions are wrong

Cass woke with the sunlight. After a night of more pleasant dreams than of car crashes and the like, she felt refreshed and ready for the day's activities, whatever they might be. After getting dressed, she peeked into Hiro's room, only to see him still sleeping. Well, chances were good he'd stay that way as long as they let him. And, with Baymax there, she didn't feel a need to worry any further. She doubted he'd end up going anywhere without someone noticing anyway. Not after yesterday's scare.

Once more, Katou was in the hallway when she exited her door. Part of her wondered if he hadn't been waiting of her as he greeting her and offered to escort her down to breakfast. "Two meals in a row," she chuckled. "I haven't been this spoiled in a long time.'

Perhaps Katou felt a bit embarrassed by her remark because he did color a little, but he seemed more attentive than he had been the night before, even going so far as to ask her how she slept and how she felt that morning. The answer, of course, was amazing on all levels. Like a million dollars. Whatever residual pain she'd felt from the previous day's activities was gone, along with the goose egg she'd had on the back of her head. It was nothing short of miraculous. Until one considered that something similar had happened to Hiro after he'd let Loki poke around in his head for a bit.

There was something to that thought that niggled, wanting her to figure out some deeper meaning but she couldn't quite grasp it. At the time, she'd been shocked that Hiro had jumped back up like a new person, while Loki had been incapacitated for the next twenty-four hours, or close enough to it. Maybe that was it. Instead of Hiro getting the boost, thanks to a shared connection of hands, she'd gotten the boost instead. After all, it sounded like she and Hiro had shared a moment similar to what he'd done with Loki. At least that's what she assumed after hearing some of the details from the others.

Before she knew it, they were entering the dining room, a place that was becoming as familiar to her as her own kitchen. She could probably make her way there in her sleep now, not that she wanted to test that theory.

"Thank you," she said as Haru pulled out her chair for her. This time breakfast appeared to be a more traditional menu, with grilled fish, a natto dish, and miso soup. There was also a rolled omelet and some steamed vegetables. She hadn't eaten this traditionally since moving out of her parents' house. Despite moving to the States, they had stayed traditional to the core. And there was a lot more than the previous day had provided.

After making sure Cass was seated, Katou took a seat next to hers, with the same offerings in front of him. She noticed a third place set out and wondered who it was for. She doubted it would be Hiro, as he was still out for the count. So that meant it was either for Suzue or Daisuke. As neither was yet in the room, she wasn't sure which.

Following the usual invocation of thanks, Cass began eating, noticing that Haru had done the same. He seemed unusually occupied, she thought, as she kept stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye. Why did he look so serious? "Something wrong?"

Katou paused, spoon midway to his mouth. He quickly put it back in his bowl lest he spill. "How's your nephew this morning?"

"Which one?" Cass couldn't help but smile. Despite his sour look, she couldn't find herself joining in his frustration.

Haru let out a sigh. "Hiro. He didn't seem to be doing too well last night."

It made sense. And the fact that she had miraculously recovered must also fill him with questions, most of which she couldn't even hope to answer. She had no idea how that kind of stuff worked outside of what Loki and Hiro had told her. "As far as I know, he's fine. I checked in on him before coming down. Last I saw, he was sleeping."

Before Haru Katou could get any further in his potential questioning, Suzue entered the room, yawning. She glanced around to see who all was there and then took the empty third setting. She offered her invocation of thanks and began eating as if distracted.

Cass couldn't help but lean towards the doorway. "No Daisuke today?"

Suzue looked up from her food, perhaps a bit too wide in the eyes, but otherwise normal for someone who might not be a morning person. "I tried to get him up but he told me he was going to sleep in today. I'm not sure when he plans on getting up."

"Kambe's sleeping in?" Katou sounded just as surprised as Cass felt. Apparently this was not a normal occurrence. "Shouldn't we have someone check in on him?"

Making a bit of a funny face, Cass turned her full attention to Suzue, who seemed to know Daisuke best. "Is it that unusual?"

Suzue seemed to be biting her lip. "He usually gets up when I wake him without issue. He may complain a little but it doesn't last long. In fact, the last time he was unhappy about my waking him was when he accidentally left his wallet and phone home after Mr. Katou asked him to help find a lost dog."

That seemed to illicit some amusing memory because Haru's lips turned up at the corners. This was all painting an interesting picture indeed. "I had no idea," Cass said in respond to all this. "Maybe he was just worn out after yesterday."

Wringing her hands, Suzue seemed more worried than usual. "Oh, I hope so! I certainly hope nothing happened to make him ill."

By this time, Haru had practically stuffed his breakfast down his throat, something Cass was more accustomed to seeing Hiro do when he was in a hurry. "Why don't I go and see. With your permission," and he turned to Cass, "I can have that robot of yours scan him to be sure. He is a healthcare bot, right?"

Cass shrugged. "I don't see a problem with it."

It looked like Suzue was about to get up and join him but he motioned her back into her seat. "It's fine. You should take the time to enjoy your meal. Maybe you and Ms. Hamada can talk or something."

His actions were a bit on the suspicious side, much like when Hiro tried to hide some activity he knew she wouldn't like, but Haru was a grown man so Cass let it go. "That's right, we never did get to finish talking about the different types of food they have here." She gave a slight wave as Haru nodded in appreciation before leaving. "Why don't you tell me about that one place you mentioned before?"

….

This was too perfect, Haru thought as he made his way up to Hiro's assigned room. After the night before, he'd had some difficulty sleeping. Daisuke hadn't offered any further insights as to what had happened, as per usual. But the fact that the teen was still asleep… well, he wasn't sure if that was normal or not, but it certainly wasn't for Daisuke. Not after all he'd learned about him over the past year. But, this way, he was able to kill two birds with one stone.

Knocking softly on Hiro's door, the cop decided to just open the door and look in. Baymax was standing on what had to be some kind of charging base that faced the bed. He looked over upon hearing the door open. And that lump in the middle of the bed had to be Hiro under the covers. It did move like someone was sleeping underneath the coverlet.

A sleepy groan came from the bed, followed by a yawn. "Five more minutes," Hiro's voice came from the pile of bedding. His hand momentarily appeared before dropping back down to the bed. Haru doubted he'd actually been awake. It was probably more an automatic response than anything, as there were no further actions on the teen's part.

Motioning the robot over, mostly because he didn't feel it appropriate to enter a teen's room, male or not, without permission, Katou took a step back into the hallway. "I wondered if you could do a favor for me. Kambe's being just as morning-shy as Hiro is so I wondered if you could give him a quick look over just to be safe. Shouldn't take more than a minute."

Baymax tilted his head as if contemplating the request. He glanced back at Hiro for several long seconds before returning his attention to Haru. "I will come with you," he decided.

Not sure if the robot knew the way or not, Katou decided it best for him to lead the small party. "This way. Suzue says he didn't want to get up and was worried." He mentally kicked himself, not sure why he was talking to this giant, inflatable marshmallow. But the others did talk to him like he was a real person so he supposed it must have rubbed off on him.

"Are there any other reasons to cause you concern?" Baymax asked. His steps made a funny sound on the carpeted hallway.

Haru ran a hand through his hair as they walked. "I don't know. He's just been really secretive. I know it's probably because he's got a lot on his mind. It can't be easy being the head of a corporation and a family as big as this. Not to mention everything that happened yesterday. I guess I'm just worried about him."

It was possibly the first time he'd admitted that out loud to anyone who wasn't Suzue, or maybe Hoshino. And thinking of Hoshino brought up the late night call he'd gotten from his former partner in the first division. After asking him what he knew about the whole shooting the day before, it was Ryo's turn to tell Haru what he knew about the fire. It had pretty much been the same, though it was more an interview to get info from Haru. He'd had to leave out a lot of things, mostly because he either didn't know how to explain them or felt it wasn't his place. Sometimes it was best to let Daisuke handle family matters without outside influence.

"You seem to be deep in thought," Baymax observed. "How can I help?"

Katou snorted. "Tell Kambe to stop being such a jerk and explain what the hell is going on. I'm sure he knows more than he lets on." He paused, realizing what he'd just said, eyes wide. "Actually, it's better if you don't mention this conversation to anyone. Ever."

The robot tilted his head to one side, giving him a quizzical look. How could a face that looked more like a Japanese shrine bell than an actual face have so much emotion in it? "Is there a reason behind this request?"

Leave it to a robot to ask the tough questions. Baymax was so much like HEUSC, and yet not in so many ways. Baymax seemed to exude a curious nature, almost like a child, while HEUSC seemed more content to follow requests and orders. He supposed it had a lot to do with the coding. He had no idea who'd coded HEUSC, but, if memory served, he'd heard Hiro's older brother had created the programming that made Baymax, Baymax.

"It's just better that way," Haru finally answered. "Come on. I don't want to keep you away from Hiro for too long." He started back down the hallway, pausing when Baymax didn't immediately follow him. "Something wrong?"

The robot had turned slightly to face back the way they had come. After staring intently for several very long seconds, he returned to facing forward. "Please lead the way."

All this fricking technology. There was no rhyme or reason to it, Haru sighed. No matter how much he'd played with all the toys, he still didn't understand half of how they all worked. That was more Suzue's thing, since she seemed to be the one coming up with all the ideas. At least Daisuke seemed to know how it all functioned; though sometimes he got the impression Kambe was just yanking him around. That jerk.

With these thoughts running through his mind, Katou continued on to Daisuke's room, stopping just outside the doors. Unlike the guest rooms, the master bedroom had two doors that opened much like French-style doors. The why behind it was lost to Haru but it wasn't like it was his to worry about.

Knocking loudly, he pushed the nearest door open. "I'm coming in. I hope you're decent," he added under his breath. He'd never interrupted Daisuke when the man was supposedly in bed. It was rude. That and he wasn't sure if the man slept wearing pajamas or something less—no he wouldn't even think about that possibility. But he'd heard there were people who slept that way.

"Go away," Daisuke said from under the cover. Like Hiro, he was a sort of lump in the middle of the enormous bed. Who needed a bed that big anyway? "I thought I told Suzue I planned to sleep in."

Haru could feel Baymax moving up behind him and so stepped to one side, just in case he needed a clear line of sight. Just how close did the robot have to be to scan his patients? Hopefully not too close because Daisuke sounded downright testy. "I know we were all up late last night, but this is weird, even for you."

One of several pillows moved to cover Daisuke's head, burying it beneath what was likely a feather-filled pouch. "I said go away." His voice was muffled due to the pillow, but came out as grumpy as ever.

"Scan complete," Baymax announced. "Daisuke appears to not have gotten the recommended amount of sleep. His hormonal levels are fluctuating, indicating potential mood swings."

Another pillow sailed across the room, hitting Haru square in the face, Daisuke now sitting up partially in the bed, his expression dark enough to curdle milk. "Satisfied? Now let me sleep!" He sort of dived back under the covers, head disappearing again under the pillow.

Believing it best to do as he'd been told, Haru pushed Baymax back out of the doorway and closed the door behind them. "I think that's the first time he's ever actually done something like," he said to no one in particular. But at least he knew there wasn't anything actually wrong with his companion. There was a sense of relief in knowing that. Though it did make sense that he'd be tired. He doubted the man had actually slept the night before, or even the one before that. He supposed he should have thought about that before dragging Baymax halfway across the manor to find out.

Like a man who'd been pardoned at the last minute, Katou led Baymax back to Hiro's room. On the way there, he ran into Suzue and Cass. "Everything all right?" the Kambe woman asked the moment she saw the two heading towards her and the aunt.

It was to be expected, he supposed. Looking more than a little sheepish, Katou rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah. It's just as he said. He just wants to sleep in. Outside of being a bit testy, he's fine."

Baymax politely went around those gathered in the hallway to re-enter Hiro's room, closing the door behind him. "Well, at least there's that," Cass commented as she watched her nephew's robot waddle out of sight. "I don't suppose there were any plans for today, were there?"

Now that concern for Kambe's well-being was out of the way, Haru focused his attention back to Cass. He'd been tasked as her pseudo bodyguard less than twelve hours prior. He felt pretty sure, especially after that display in Daisuke's room, that the man of the house would not be pleased if he let Cass just run around without protection. Especially not after he'd heard they were on lockdown.

"Maybe it would be a good idea to find something you can do on the grounds," he suggested. "I don't think going outside the gates would be a good idea right now."

Suzue seemed to think about that a moment, hand to chin. "I'm not entirely sure what all Master Daisuke had planned while you were here, but Mr. Katou's right. It would be best not to leave the grounds until he says it's okay. Maybe I could interest you in a monster movie marathon?"

At the words "monster movie marathon", Cass seemed to perk up like a kid staring at a pile of presents. "I LOVE monster movies!" she exclaimed.

If they were going to hole up in some room with a movie or three, that left Katou free to do other things. "You can count me out," he decided. Maybe he could get HEUSC to help him look up a few things while Daisuke got his beauty sleep instead.

Katou stepped aside as Suzue took Cass by the shoulders. "We have quite the collection," she began telling her hostage. Well, better her than me, Haru thought as he watched them head down the hallway. Satisfied they were occupied, at least for a while, he headed towards the elevator and the control room in the lower levels.