Her words took a while to process inside both minds that were inside the little security cavern. Albeit of a concerning while, but once it finally clicked, both Y/n and Hiro whipped their heads towards one another with mortified looks on their faces. Then within the next second the two were scrambling over each other to reach the door, rushing out of the room, and sprinting towards the commotion that was attracting a significant crowd within the courtyard of the college.

It was chaotic outside, campus security guards, a group of three, were all trying to corner the poor animal who was looking left and right. Surrounded by students who held their phones up towards him, gasps and loud words being exchanged as they pointed towards the canine. The black wolf-hybrid was quiet, single eye scanning the entirety of the campus in complete silence, he took a couple of steps forward and the campus guards yelled, forcing the canine to stay still again, and lower his body slightly, on the defensive.

Hiro glanced over at Y/n, whose eyes were wide as she looked in the direction of where her pet was, who was surrounded by the crowd of students. Then he watched as her anxious expression morphed into an incredibly furious one, a dark scowl crossing her features and curling her lips as she stalked towards the group.
"Get away from Cerberus, all of you!"

She spoke aloud, unafraid, and like magic, the crowd started to split like the red sea, meaning the wolf in question could see her, and the boy behind her. Both of them ran towards the half-wolf, who barked loudly and ran towards the girl, weaving his way past the hefty men in order to get to his guardian who held her arms open. Cerberus stopped in front of Y/n, expression as serious as it usually was, and then with extreme care, he lowered his head to the ground. It was then that the two teenagers noticed what he had placed on the floor in front of them.

Hiro crouched down to pick up the bottle and examine it whilst Y/n consoled the canine. It was spherical, and red in colour, and as he squinted it at it the raven-haired boy suddenly gasped, fumbling with the bottle as he looked to Y/n.
"The perfume bottle from the stall."
He told her and Y/n's thoughts clicked together instantaneously as she looked at it. Then she looked at Cerberus, who was wagging his tail.

With a laugh, Y/n thoroughly scratched her dogs head, ruffling his fur with adoration as she looked at him.
"Good boy Cerberus! You found a perfume! Oh goodness you're amazing!"
She kissed the top of his head before standing up, glancing back to the bottle in Hiro's hands.

"It must have been Pisces." Y/n took the bottle from his hands, nose twitching in disdain slightly as she examined it before giving it back to the raven-haired boy.
"The perfume is probably laced with hallucagenic components which affect our dreams."

Hiro bit the inside of his cheek in thought, tossing the apple-shaped bottle between his hands.
"So it's this shit in our bloodstream?"
He glanced over to Y/n, who crouched down to Cerberus' height again, expression stern as he looked at the bottle in his hand.
"We either find an antidote, or we make one. Find Honey Lemon."

__________  💜  __________

"Cerberus knows his way home so he should be fine."
I sighed, leaning against the door to the Security Cavern once everyone met up with me and Hiro. After the fiasco with Cerberus running onto school grounds, it had taken way too long to move everyone along once I instructed Cerberus to go home. Only then were we able to finally get away. Thanks to Granville's intervention however, and her help, we were able to slip away undetected and find everyone.
"He must have picked up the scent of it and realised something was off."

Hiro passed the perfume bottle to Honey Lemon, who placed it into a zip-lock bag, before he stood next to me again in front of Baymax.
"The fastest way to know what's in there is if Baymax scans us so, do your thing."
The two of us stayed still as Baymax' head glanced down briefly, and then two screens showed up on his stomach. Both the screens held images of our brain activity, where we noticed several anomalies.

"I have detected traces of dimethyltryptamine, Galanthus and, mugwort. All components which increase likelihood of, intense dreams."
He increased the magnification on both the screens, showcasing the neuron activity which looked normal at first until we saw the pulsating red orbs that were attached to each neuron receptor.
"However, there seems to be an unidentifiable substance attached to the brain stem and temporal lobe."

"That's probably what's causing the nightmares."
Hiro pointed to the pulsing red points on the diagram. They looked eerily threatening, dark, pulsing points as though they were time-bombs waiting to explode inside of our minds. Unaware on how many nights it takes before people start ending up in those comatose states.

"So, until Honey manages to make an antidote, or we catch Pisces..."
Gogo trailed off as she looked to both me and Hiro. The two of us exchanged a similar look between ourselves before looking back towards the group and nodding.

"We can't sleep until we get the antidote."
Hiro shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.
"We aren't the only ones going through this. Apparently, people across the city have been falling into comatose states."
He said, referring to the news articles that I had been showing him just earlier before Cerberus made his appearance on campus grounds.

I nodded my head quietly at his words, pressing a finger to my bottom lip as I thought hard about the situation we were in. There was no way that we would be able to survive long without any sleep at all. I had a higher chance, but Hiro definitely did not. There was the possibility that naps could help replenish our energy, without falling into the fourth or fifth stage of the sleep cycle where we experience REM sleep, however I wasn't sure if it was a risk would could afford to take considering we've already slept for two nights, and don't know which night would send us into a coma.
"We don't know if it's deep sleep that would trigger the nightmares, or even a nap, but I don't think we can risk it."

I pointed out audibly, before sighing and resigning myself to a bleak shrug.
"We'll have to last as long as we can."

"So, you two are sticking togather, right?"
Fred looked towards both me and Hiro, and I looked over at him. Pressing my lips into a thin line, I considered his words, it would be effective for me and Hiro to remain together during the nights since neither of us would be sleeping, and it would increase the chances of neither of us accidentally falling asleep either.

"Possibly."
I shrugged, and then pressed my finger to my lips once more.
"It would help both of us keep the other awake."
Unfortunately I won't be able to go out as Glitch if he's with me, dammit.

"Woah what?"
I heard Hiro yelped from besides me, and I turned around to face him, feeling myself pull a questioning expression.

"Wouldn't it be smarter for you to spend the night at my house since we're not falling asleep? Also my house is bigger."
I pointed out again, but oddly enough I wasn't receiving much of a response from Hiro. He seemed to be a little lost in thought as I expressed my ideas, despite having direct eye contact with me.
"Unless you want me to stay at yours, it would be easier without my siblings around."

He shrugged, not really giving me a response, and rubbed the back of his neck
"I don't mind...either?"
Yeah well act like it

I sighed and turned back to the others.
"Then I guess we can stay at mine then. Dad can take us to SFIT since I refuse for you to use your bike when sleep deprived."

"Now our next problem is Pisces."
Gogo bought our attention to the villain who caused this whole problem, leaning against my desk.

Wasabi nodded, glancing over to her before looking around at the rest of us.
"Yeah, how do we find him? Usually we wait till they come out."

I perked up with a smile, only to quickly falter with acute frustration.
"We know where their hideout is, but they're all there. So we can't risk going down there."

"You said that Pisces sprayed you guys in the mall, right?"
Fred pointed out, and it was then then that I realised he had been unusually quiet. He split into a grin, adjusted his beanie, and I was prepared for his theatric monologue as he cleared his throat.
"If you remember from the seventh edition of Capybara Hennessey, when he needed to sneak into the Goose Corporation, the foolproof method he used was-"
He paused, for dramatic effect, but from the way all of us were looking at him tiredly, he sped it up.
"Guys, disguises? Duh."

"That...is a pretty good idea."
Wasabi responded to his quip first, then looked over to Honey Lemon who was already holding a wide smile on her face.
"And Honey is good at disguises...yeah."
He looked over to me and Hiro, the whole group did, and I didn't like the smiles they were giving us.

"You two, try not to fall asleep, maybe you guys can try and find out how many people have been put under the effect of the perfume?"

It was reasonable plan, I twitched my nose slightly at the thought of having to try and cover my tracks as Glitch to the best of my abilities. I won't be able to go out if I'm with Hiro constantly, but it seems as though I have no other option right now than to roll with the situation I was currently in.

"I'll get started on the antidote over at the hideout."
Honey clapped her hands, and like that, the plan was set into motion. 

___________  💙  ___________

"So let me get this straight."
Hiro and I sat down awkwardly on the couch, Dad sitting opposite us with a slightly distressed expression on his face. He started listening to our current issue with a calm expression, but it was evident that he looked exhausted when we explained the details.
"You've both been sprayed with a perfume that will give you severe nightmares and eventually put you into a coma."
It sounds, terrible, when he put it like that, but unfortunately that was the reality that the two of us had to accept.

"Yes, Dad, I've told you, three times now."
I sighed, playing with the rings that were on my fingers.
"Honey Lemon is trying to make an antidote, but Hiro will be staying with us so we can work out who else has been sprayed, and how to locate Pisces."

There was an obnoxiously loud crunch from besides us, and I shot a glare over to Isla who was standing by the kitchen door with am atrociously large bucket of popcorn in her arms, a devilish grin on her face, and several popcorn pieces stuck around her mouth.
"Damn sis, sounds wild."

Dad took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and rubbed his hands over his face.
"I don't even know what to say to this...why do you always get into these situations sweetheart, you're giving me grey hairs."
For the first time...Well...ever, Dad didn't have an adequate response to give the both of us and simply scooped Sorei up from the couch that he was sitting on.
"You know what, it's still early in the afternoon, I'm gonna talk to Cass about this."
We both watched, almost remorseful as Dad got Sorei ready, called for Isla to get her coat on, and then with his free hand he plucked Hayan from the couch.
"Just, I, I need to talk to another adult."
He nodded his head at the both of us, and like that, he closed the door, leaving me and Hiro alone, with Cerberus, to watch as the muffled noises of the rest of my family leaving, faded.

We were immersed in a shocking silence, whilst it was one thing that my Dad was starting to feel the toll of having his eldest daughter tossed into a situation ever three business days, other thoughts were occupying my mind as well. Like the fact that I couldn't go out as Glitch since me and Hiro were staying together until Honey made an antidote, and I had to deal with him for consecutive days and nights.

"I kinda feel bad for him."
Hiro finally spoke up from next to me, and I sighed, pulling my hair up into a lazy bun.

"Honestly...same."
I scrunched my nose slightly, then sighed and stood up.
"Well, things can't be helped."
There was a lot on my mind, and I needed to try and talk to Rem alone about it. The more I thought about the fact Hiro was staying at my house for the week, the more I was beginning to regret my decision. Not only would I not be able to complete any Glitch related activities, but now I also had-
"Hiro why are you following me into the kitchen?"
I turned around when I heard not four, but six footsteps behind me, and looked over my shoulder incredulously to see that Cerberus and Hiro had followed me into the kitchen.

He shrugged,
"Wanna know what you're doing."

And I thought Cerberus had attachment issues

"...whilst I have my job as a hacker, I also live here, and as such, I have chores."
I spoke slowly, giving him a slightly concerned look as Hiro continued to stand there calmly.

"Okay. Need help?"

I blinked slowly and shook my head. What a preposterous question. Does he think I'm incapable of doing this by myself? Me? Help with chores? Absolutely not.

"No... thank you?"
He still didn't move.
"You can...uhm...sit down?"

"Sure."
I wasn't quite sure what to think when I watched Hiro sit himself up on one of the stools in the kitchen whilst I cleaned up the kitchen and out the dishes away in their places. It felt rather awkward having Hiro watch my every move for some reason, and if that wasn't bad enough then when I moved rooms, he moved with me. I walked upstairs, and he followed me as I went into my Dad's room to iron the clothes, and he sat down on a chair in the room as I tried to ignore him. Then he followed me around as I was putting the clothes on hangers and in everyone's wardrobes and drawers. I quickly told him to stay put when it came down to me putting my clothes away, because there was no way in heaven or hell that I would allow Hiro to look into my wardrobe, or potentially get a glimpse of any undergarments.

He's a boy first, then he's my friend.

"Your blood pressure level is elevated."
I whipped my head around to Baymax, who was hanging out with Rem as he charged up.
"This indicates, irritation."

"No shit!"
I couldn't stop myself from snapping and slammed my wardrobe door closed after putting all my clothes away.
"I feel like I'm not going to have any alone time this week."
I hissed furiously, despite the fact that my room was soundproof, knowing that Hiro stood waiting behind the door, probably. I sighed again, then glanced to Rem who was now fully charged. I really needed to talk to him about the Glitch situation, but we had both Baymax and Hiro to stay quiet around, and neither of them seemed to leave either of us alone. I took a deep breath, then took another one, much deeper as I heard a voice call.

"How long does it take for you to put clothes away?"

"You're being clingy Hiro!"
I called back loudly from the room, marching to the door and swinging it open. He gasped, scoffed, and folded his arms.

"I am not being clingy."

I raised a brow at him skeptically.
"You just waited for me to put clothes away, outside my room."

His mouth dropped open slightly, and it was an acute sense of smugness that I realised that I had got one over him. Hiro raised his hand, pointing a finger at me as he attempted to think of a sentence to combat my words with, but alas, he failed.
"In my defense, I'm bored. When do we get to the crime solving."

This time, my jaw dropped slightly.
"You've been following me around this entire time waiting for me to start my computers up so we could track Pisces?"

Hiro nodded.
"That, and I don't know what to do here."
He looked behind him to the stairs, then back in front of me to peer into the room.
"Does Min-Jae have video games? Or can I use your computer?"

If it wasn't for the fact, I was still bristling with annoyance I would have thought his blank stare and absentminded pout to be quite endearing. Then I remembered that this was Hiro and this endearing side to him never lasted long, and I quickly let my face steel over once more before I sighed. Clicking my fingers, Rem flew to my side immediately, and we both looked over at Hiro.
"My house, my rules. Work gets done first, so finish any assignments for the week, Rem will stay with you, the spare room has a desk."
I wasn't surprised to hear a complaint from him immediately.
"The sooner you finish those assignments, the sooner we trace the perfume."

"What are you gonna do in the meanwhile?"

"Train Cerberus."
I stated with a grin as I felt my dog leap up to rub his head against my shoulder happily. Reaching down, I rubbed his head, pursing my lips slightly as Cerberus licked my face.
"Isn't that right Cerbi? Shall we go training?"

Cerberus was happily barking his agreement and shot downstairs like a rocket. It was one of his trigger words, like walk for Hayan, training sent my dear wolf-dog absolutely crazy.

Unfortunately (but not to my surprise) Hiro was less enthusiastic at my proposal.
"Can't I see you train Cerberus?"

I shook my head firmly.
"Hiro you're living with me until Honey makes an antidote. You can watch me train Cerberus any day."
I pointed out with a weird look on my face. It really confused me as to why he was being so insistent on staying by my side all day today. You'd have thought Hiro would be the one who wanted to stay away judging from his initial reaction to the idea this morning.

"Come on Hiro! You'll get your work done in no time!"
Luckily for me, Rem came to my rescue and forcefully dragged Hiro away by picking him up from the back of his clothes, a rather amusing sight to behold. Especially with Baymax waddling after them as they went to the spare room. With a sigh once they disappeared, I looked down to Cerberus, already feeling exhausted.

"This...is going to be a long week."

___________  💜  __________

Things got a lot better once my family came home. Hiro was getting pulled left and right by my siblings, with Hayan rolling by his feet, distracting him long enough for me to get some Glitch work done quickly despite the fact I couldn't fully go outside. Then the night arrived, and everyone was tucked away into bed. Hayan slept soundly in Isla's room, and Cerberus in mine, and me and Hiro were sitting at my desk as we finished up with our tasks for Pisces for the day.

Illuminous was definitely smarter than we gave him credit for. Gogo and Fred went into the mall in disguise today, only to discover that Pisces wasn't there. The perfume stall was missing, which meant that he had either left, or he was switching destinations. I let Hiro at my computers (under heavy supervision) to try and locate CCTV footage over the days that Pisces had been in the mall whilst I used my facial recognition device to find out