Chapter Text
“Hiro! Mrs. Matsuda’s here!” Aunt Cass shouted up the stairs, listening for the sounds of Hiro stirring above. Sure enough, a few seconds later there was a quiet curse followed by a muffled thump as Hiro fell out of bed.
Shaking her head and huffing with quiet laughter, Aunt Cass returned back down to the living room where the old witch was sitting on the couch, sipping at a cup of tea. Mochi sat on the floor at her feet, lapping at a saucer of cream with his twin tails curled tightly against his side. Against the far wall rested a massive mortar and pestle, even though there should have been no way they should have fit through the door into the room.
“He’ll be a few minutes,” she reported with a laugh.
“This new blend is absolutely lovely,” Mrs. Matsuda told Cass as she joined the pair, grabbing a teacup for herself and a sugar cookie. “I must say. I really feel rejuvenated.”
“It’s all thanks to those raskovnik leaves you brought me to mix in,” Aunt Cass replied cheerfully. “They work wonders, I swear. I’ve never had so many happy customers. Well, I’ve never had so many customers in general, really.”
“The late hours aren’t bothering you, then?” Mrs. Matsuda asked, finishing off the last of her tea.
“Well, I’ll admit it’s taking some getting used to,” Aunt Cass said thoughtfully. She nibbled on her cookie, and then placed it down on the saucer of her teacup and shrugged. “But it’s only an extra hour a night, so it’s not so bad. And everyone seems to like the new menu. I’m even getting used to the glasses.”
“Yes, it is quite impressive that Hiro managed to shrink down that specterscope technology so small,” Mrs Matsuda hummed with a smile. “Although I’ve heard that’s something of a specialty of his. But yes, I’ve heard nothing but good things about your Lucky Cat Cafe Witching Hour. The fairies have been gossiping about it non-stop, and the kitsune are almost as bad. Why, just the other day I swear I even heard one of the local dragons talking about placing orders through the goblins, seeing as they can’t fit in the cafe themselves!”
“Honestly, I still can’t quite believe I’m serving coffee and baked goods to...ghosts and monsters and stuff,” Aunt Cass admitted hesitantly. “But really. After finding out about Hiro and Mochi and you...and Tadashi. I guess it’s just...something I’ll have to get used to.”
“And you’re doing a marvelous job,” Mrs. Matsuda assured her, reaching over to pat Aunt Cass on the hand comfortingly. Mochi looked up from his cream long enough to give Aunt Cass a nod of agreement, before bending his head once more. “Most mortals I find tend to mostly scream and cry when confronted with the world beyond the veil. You’ve handled yourself with such grace and dignity.”
“Yeah, well. You weren’t around for the screaming and crying,” Aunt Cass admitted ruefully. Mochi snorted cream up his nose and started sneezing harshly. The two women briefly abandoned their conversation to make sure the nekomata was okay, and then resumed. “Honestly. My voice was hoarse by the time I was finished shouting at Hiro. It was bad enough with the running around behind my back and becoming a superhero, but to find out about what else he’d been up to? I mean, yes, suddenly some things about their mother made a lot of sense in hindsight, and it’s nice to know that Hiro hasn’t gotten back into bot fighting, but I’m just worried you know? It sounds like the things they get up to are very dangerous. Even if Tadashi is still around in a way, Hiro is all I really have left.”
“I understand,” the old woman said with a sigh. “I had children myself, long ago.”
“You did?” Aunt Cass couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh yes. I ate a few of them, of course, but those were different times. Even still, you always worry about them, no matter what they get up to. That never changes.”
Aunt Cass paused a moment at Mrs. Matsuda’s off-handed but unnerving comment, before shaking it off and deciding she didn’t want to know. Instead she leaned forward and stared down at her hands. “He’s all grown up now, isn’t he?” she murmured quietly to herself. “I never really worried about Tadashi like this. He always seemed more responsible, more grown-up. I suppose it wasn’t really fair for him, he never really got the opportunity to be a kid like Hiro did. I needed his help too much. But I’ve gotten used to Hiro being my little boy, even when Tadashi was...gone, and now...he isn’t my little boy anymore. He’s all grown up and saving people and...I just don’t know how to handle this.”
Mrs. Matsuda seemed to consider this for a moment, before leaning down to Mochi and giving him a hard look. “Go and see what’s taking that boy so long, won’t you?” she asked the cat, though they both knew it wasn’t really a request. With a haughty sniff that only cats are truly capable of, Mochi abandoned his cream to waddle his way towards the stairs.
“Now. Listen to me,” Mrs. Matsuda told Aunt Cass the moment Mochi was gone. “You have nothing to be worried about. You have done a fine job raising him. He may be more of a man than a boy now, but that’s thanks to you. You and Tadashi. You’ve done well by him, and it shows. He’s a good person, and you should be proud of him.”
“I am, I am so proud of him,” Aunt Cass said, so heartfelt that tears gathered in her eyes. “I’m so proud of both of them.”
“And you have nothing to fear. They are well protected. They are beloved in this city because of who they are, and they are who they are because of you. You’ve helped them become the men they are today, and because of that, should any harm befall either of them, there would be hell to pay. Look at what happened with Tadashi! The dragons were up in arms! The Kappas were willing to break an age-old tradition of mistrust with the trolls to help search for any sign of him! I myself returned from the old countries as fast as I could, though I was too late to be of much help. They are protected.”
“Maybe. But what about when they’re just doing their regular superhero stuff?” Aunt Cass couldn’t help but ask. Her hands were locked together tightly, and she squeezed them reflexively as she fretted.
“As if anything could get past those friends of his. They willingly faced down an Onryo to support him, twice might I add. And if they can’t protect him, that robot will. And if not him, then - ”
Mrs. Matsuda was cut off by the sound of footsteps thundering down the stairs. Hiro rushed into the room, nearly tripping over Mochi who lead him in his haste, and came to a halt in front of the two women. His hair was unbrushed, his shirt wrinkled, and his socks didn’t match, but at least he was dressed this time. Mrs. Matsuda looked him over and cackled.
“Ready, then?” she asked, pushing herself to her feet with a creak of old joints. “About time.”
“Sorry, we were out late last night dealing with a fight between a yuki-onna and a wendigo that almost got messy until Fred got involved and basically distracted them with sign-flipping tricks for ten minutes, and then when we got in Tadashi and I ended up staying up and talking for a while, and Baymax needed some tune ups, aaaand…” He took in her raised eyebrow, the way her gnarled old hand was clenched on the back of the couch. “...and you probably don’t care about any of that. Anyways, I’m here. We’re here,” he corrected quickly, jerking his head towards his right.
Taking the hint, Aunt Cass grabbed her ever-present glasses and slipped them on. Giving the technology a moment to boot up, she aimed her eyes to where Hiro had gestured. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the glasses formed a target over the space, and a stream of information scrolled across the glass, identifying the presence as Tadashi. The glasses could just barely make the three hitodama visible, as well as a faint outline.
Hiro told her that the first prototypes of the specterscope couldn’t even see that much, and could only target supernatural creatures. Now that he’d managed to miniaturize the technology, his next step was making it so that normal people could see exactly what he could. It was a work in progress.
For Cass, who thought she’d never get the chance to see her eldest nephew again, even the fuzzy outline was the best thing she could have ever seen.
Adjusting the glasses so that they sat straight on her nose, Aunt Cass rose out of her own seat. She kept her distance, though, knowing that it had been a while since Hiro had flown out with Baymax to the spirit well to recharge. She didn’t want to take away his powers right before a lesson, after all.
“You’ll be good for Mrs. Matsuda, won’t you?” she asked Hiro warningly. “I don’t want to hear about another exploding potion incident. I don’t care how Honey Lemon does it, you follow Mrs. Matsuda’s directions next time.”
Hiro rolled his eyes good-naturedly, giving Aunt Cass a look. “One time, it happened one time. Besides, Tadashi was distracting me.”
“Yes, well. Tadashi had better be on his best behaviour as well.” Aunt Cass gave a pointed look to Tadashi’s blurry outline. She saw him duck his head sheepishly.
“He says he will,” Hiro translated faithfully. “Besides, Mrs. Matsuda always keeps us in line.”
“You’re damn right I do,” Mrs. Matsuda sniffed. “None of this willy-nilly training that old furball had you going through. You’re learning real magic now, not your natural medium powers. You can’t get by with raw talent anymore.”
Mochi looked rather offended at the nickname, but didn’t say anything. Aunt Cass knew it was for her benefit, and was pathetically grateful. She was still slightly in shock about the beloved family pet cat turning out to be an ancient and powerful creature that had served a clan of human mediums for centuries, the talking was a bit more than she could handle. So Mochi respectfully kept his mouth shut around her. For now.
Hiro groaned. “Aw, man. Mrs. Matsuda, you’re working me to the bone. I swear I’m trying.”
“I know it might be a bit hard for you, considering how easily things come to you sometimes,” Aunt Cass spoke up, giving Hiro a tight smile, “But I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”
Hiro tilted his head to the side for a moment, as if listening to someone speaking, and then a wry grin grew on his face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he admitted slowly to the space beside him. Then he looked up at Aunt Cass. “Tadashi is just being his usual cheesy self. You know how he is. And thanks Aunt Cass.”
“I can imagine,” she said, and she honestly could. She could practically hear Tadashi saying ‘we’re not giving up on you’ and for a moment she pretended she actually had heard it.
“Well then, have you got everything?” Mrs. Matsuda cut in, squinting at Hiro. “Spellbook? Potions? Chalk?”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” Hiro answered. “And I remembered the pewter goblet.”
“Very good. We’d best be off then, we’re already running late. Not to worry, though, my dear,” she patted Aunt Cass on the shoulder as she headed towards the mortar and pestle leaning against the wall. “I’ll have him back in time for the witching hour. I know you’ll be busy and can use the extra hands.”
“Thank you,” Aunt Cass said. Then, to her nephews, “Be good boys! Learn lots of good magic!”
Hiro waved at her as he helped Mrs. Matsuda carry the mortar and pestle down the stairs towards the back door, the old stone somehow fitting easily between the walls even though moments ago they would have been too wide by a foot at least. The old hag was heckling Hiro about his thin bony arms while Hiro shot back sarcastic retorts. Used to this, Aunt Cass simply started gathering up the used teacups and leftover cookies, humming softly to herself.
She was a nullifier, or at least that was what Hiro had told her, and therefore she shouldn’t have been able to feel any ghostly energy. It should have been sucked up around her without her even noticing. But there was always something about Tadashi that was different. She somehow just always knew when he was around now.
Which was why when she stood up and turned around, she knew he would be standing there behind her. Sure enough, Hiro was in the middle of the room, his eyes an eerie golden and his shoulders thrown back in Tadashi’s usual posture.
Even though she’d only seen her boys do this a handful of times, she fought down her initial unease to face them fully, her hand on her hip. “Hey, Tadashi. What’s up? Did you need something?”
Hiro’s body seemed to hesitate for a moment, and Aunt Cass felt a brief flash of concern, but then suddenly he was rushing towards her. There was a whisper of fire against her skin that she knew must be Tadashi’s hidden hitodama as thin arms threw themselves around her in a hug. Caught off guard, Aunt Cass could only bring her own arms up to support him.
“Tadashi?” she asked carefully.
“I just wanted to say hi, Aunt Cass,” Tadashi whispered against her shoulder, squeezing her tightly. “And thank you. For everything.”
Aunt Cass only paused a moment more, and then melted into the hug. “I love you boys,” she told him gently. “And I’m so glad you’re still here.”
They hugged a second longer, and then Tadashi was pulling back. He gave her a smile that looked so familiar even on Hiro’s face that for a moment it was like he had never died, and he was still there with her. But then the moment was gone and Hiro’s body was stiffening and his eyes going wide as Tadashi left his body and gave him back control.
Hiro came back to himself, seemed to realize where he was, and the swore. “Damnit, Tadashi! You’re gonna make me even more late, and Mrs. Matsuda’s going to make me wash out the cauldron again!”
Without waiting any longer, Hiro charged back down the stairs, a string of curses and a ghostly shadow following in his wake. Aunt Cass watched them both go with a fond expression, taking her glasses off for a moment to wipe a tear from her eye.
And then she got back to work clearing the dishes. She had a lot of work to do, especially with preparing for the influx of supernatural customers in the evening, and she wasn’t going to get it done by standing around and crying.
Humming an old folk tune from her childhood to herself, she headed down to the kitchen to start baking.