Guide:

(F/C): Favourite Colour

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE--

"Oh that stupid alarm clock!" you muttered, rolling over on the bed and slamming the off button with your left hand. You slowly rose from your own bed, rubbing your eyes and yawning, focusing your sight on the beautiful day outside. The sun was out, the sky was blue, there were some white clouds in the sky, and the autumn leaves were slowly falling onto the ground below. It was a perfect kind of day--not too hot, not too cold, and most definitely, fresh and renewing.

"(Y/N)!" you heard Mr. Lacitier's droning voice call you up from downstairs. "Get up! Get up!"

You groaned again and got off the bed, changing into your favourite outfit--a (F/C) zip-up hoodie with a pair of black sweat pants and white socks. Putting your hair in a side ponytail, you raced down the stairs and saw Mr. Lacitier in the kitchen, clearly absorbed in his own cereal as he read the news.

"Good morning, Mr. Lacitier," you greeted him, smiling.

Mr. Lacitier took a good look at you and shook his head in disgust. "Now, look at you! What in the world are you wearing? This doesn't look like you at all! This isn't what girls are supposed to wear!"

"Says who?" you challenged. "It's getting colder out anyway. Can't I at least wear something warm?"

Mr. Lacitier let out a huff. "Alright, fine. You can wear this." He then turned his attention back to his newspapers.

Shrugging, you started to prepare a bowl of milk with cereal, and also grabbed a couple slices of bread and toasted them up, grabbing a jar of Nutella in the meanwhile. When the toast was done, you spread the bread with Nutella, put them all on a plate, and carried your plate of toast and your cereal to the table. To finish it off, you also grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and sliced it up, putting all the slices in another bowl and bringing it to the table.

"Ahh," you sighed contently, grabbing an apple slice and devouring it.

Mr. Lacitier looked surprised. "You...could make your own food?"

You shrugged. "What else can I do when my parents aren't around to help?"

"Oh," Mr. Lacitier said, a hint of mock surprise in his voice.

You shrugged again. "You have a problem with that?"

"Oh no! No! No no no, not at all," Mr. Lacitier insisted, shaking his head.

Huh.

You finished off your apples and started eating your toast and cereal, and Mr. Lacitier was still reading his newspaper. An uncomfortable air settled around you, and you winced as you felt a chill go down your spine.

Dang. Mr. Lacitier sure IS creepy.

"When do you leave for school?" Mr. Lacitier asked you, clearly bored.

"Oh, not for another half an hour," you replied, finishing off the last of your milk and washing all of your dishes.

"Do you always do your own chores?" Mr. Lacitier asked you with a slight tone of mock fascination now.

"Mhmm," you nodded, putting all of your dishes in the rack before heading upstairs to your room to reorganize your backpack and jam away to some awesome music. You failed to notice, however, that the moment you closed the door to your bedroom, Mr. Lacitier got up from the kitchen table and ran up to his room, grabbing a couple herbs and plants and liquids and several vials and beginning to mix and brew...something.

The sounds soon cut through your headphones, and you decided to head to the guest room to see what was happening. But when you reached the door, there was a sign taped there.

PLEASE DO NOT BOTHER ME
I'M BUSY
AND DON'T ASK WHAT I'M DOING

-MR. L

This was unusual. But it was a clue. It was a good piece of evidence. If Mr. Laticier didn't want you butting in, you could assume that he was doing something sinister behind that door.

"Mr. Lacitier?" you called out, just to be sure.

"You can head off to school now," he called back. "I'm busy!"

"What are you doing?" you asked innocently.

"Stuff," Mr. Lacitier replied. "I told you not to ask!"

You rolled your eyes. "Well, are you sure you're okay in there?"

"Yeah!" he called. "Now run along! You've got school, right?"

He clearly didn't want you nosing around in his business. Hmm. Something's fishy...

You went back to your room, picked up your bag, shouldered it, and texted Hiro and Melanie the same message at the same time.

(Y/N): Hey Hiro, Melanie--yes I'm sending a message to both of you at once. Can we meet in the Lucky Cat Cafe after school before 4:00? Hiro, you can invite the gang as well if you'd like. I've got something to discuss about Mr. Lacitier. You wouldn't believe it when I  

Suddenly, a foul smell wafted into your room, and you pinched your nose to stop yourself from inhanling the fumes. That was when you knew it. You quickly finished the text. 

tell you what I found out. Please don't freak out when I tell you. It wouldn't be pleasant.

You hit the send button, and both Hiro and Melanie got back to you at the same time.

Melanie: Oh my god! You found something? I bet it would help us further in this mystery. And for sure, we'll meet in the Cafe! We can work on our homework after that if you'd like, or if you're still working at the Cafe today I can help you out. See you at school today! And don't worry, we won't talk about it during lunch if you're not comfortable. :)

Hiro: Whoa, seems like someone's already on the ball with our theory. Haha, but it's good you found something. Yeah, I can ask the gang if they want to come. They were dying to see you! :) Anyway, yeah I'll see you after school. <3 Hiro

You smiled faintly at the heart that Hiro sent you, and let out a small chuckle of relief before heading downstairs, grabbing your jacket, putting on a pair of (S/F/C) Vans, and heading out not bothering to say goodbye to Mr. Lacitier since he probably couldn't hear you anyway.

**********************

"Hey Hiro!" you greeted Hiro as you and Melanie entered the Cafe after school, as promised. 

"Hey (Y/N)!" Hiro cried, running over to you and giving you a really tight hug. Then he even gave Melanie a hug, which surprised you. "Hey Melanie."

"Hey Hiro," Melanie smiled, letting go quickly.

"(Y/N)!" you heard Aunt Cass call out to you, and you waved. 

"Hi Aunt Cass," you greeted her, approaching her by the counter, Melanie and Hiro following you. "Oh, this is my friend Melanie. She's new to San Fransokyo High. Melanie, this is Aunt Cass. She's my employer and Hiro's aunt."

"Hi Melanie!" Aunt Cass chirped to her. "Anything you would like to order?"

"Thanks Aunt Cass," Melanie smiled. "I'd like a plate of chocolate glazed doughnuts, and perhaps some double chocolate chip cookies--for all of us."

"Alright!" Aunt Cass beamed as she got the plate for Melanie and filled the plate with Melanie's preferences. "And it's on the house."

Melanie's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yep! A friend of Hiro's is a friend of mine!" she smiled.

Melanie took the plate. "Thanks, Aunt Cass!"

The three of you then hung out at a table, chowing down on doughnuts and waiting for the rest of the gang to show up. 

"So how was school?" Hiro asked you.

"Not bad," you smiled. "At least Trudy stopped bugging me. For a while, anyway. Who knows if she's going to start at it again, anyway."

"Not to mention that we've all started to get busier and busier with stuff," Melanie added. "I've got a Science project to prepare for--and let's get straight to the point, I don't like biology!"

"Me neither," you admitted, sticking your tongue out in disgust. "For me, I've got some English book report to finish. Not like I hate English, but sometimes I wonder why I'm taking it. It's pointless."

"Guys, you're talking to a college student," Hiro reminded you two. "I'm practically riding above the waves with all of my projects, but once in a while I would still help others out because my brother wanted me to...use that big brain of mine."

The last words came out softly.

"We're really sorry, we really are," Melanie whispered.

You nodded. "Tadashi is here. He always will be."

Hiro smiled at both of you. "Yeah. That's why I helped out. I guess that's my brother getting to me."

You wrapped your arms around him. "My parents will be too. Here, I mean."

"And my younger sister," Melanie whispered, leaning her head on Hiro's shoulder. And that was how the three of you stayed until the door opened with the melodious tinkling of bells and the gang walked in.

"Hey...guys?" you heard Honey Lemon call out.

You immediately removed your arms from Hiro and waved. "Oh, um, hi Honey Lemon!"

Honey Lemon ran to you and gave you a quick hug. "Are you okay? I'm really really sorry about your mom."

You nodded. "She's in a better place now, away from depression. I'm actually okay with it. If it makes her happy, I'll let her go."

"That's the spirit," Gogo praised you. "Woman up, right?"

You nodded.

"Hey Melanie," Wasabi greeted your friend, and Melanie grinned and waved at Wasabi.

"Hey Wasabi," she said, and then she got off of Hiro's shoulder and gave Fred a fist bump.

"Okay guys, we need to talk," you said. 

The four of them sat down and everyone looked at you intently.

"Hiro, did you fill them in on my new guardian?" you asked him.

Hiro nodded. "They know everything about Mr. Lacitier now."

"What kind of name is Lacitier anyway?" Fred asked. "Heathcliff always complained about his own name, but I gotta admit, Lacitier is worse."

"I guess we all agreed," you nodded. 

"Whoever this guy is, he sounds creepy," Wasabi noted. "I mean, from the way Hiro told us about him, he doesn't sound like he has good intentions."

"And he doesn't," you agreed, smiling at the fact that Wasabi laid out a very good platform for you to present your evidence. "This morning, I just found out something...rather weird. I was just jamming away on my music before school when I heard some weird noises coming from the guest room. When I went over to see what was going on, there was a sign basically like 'KEEP OUT' and so I asked Mr. Laticier if everything was okay. He said he was just doing stuff and he was okay. So I left and texted Melanie and Hiro, but as I was doing so, I smelled something...foul." You took a deep breath and then put forth your first trace of evidence. "I think Mr. Laticier brewed a poison so strong that he managed to kill my dad off in a couple hours. How that would be, however...I am not too sure."

The group went silent.

I'm ending it here before this goes on and on and on and on! Besides, the group reactions would come along a bit later. If I put it in now it would be a bit...well...LONG.

Anyway, that's it from me for now. Peace out.

-clara_hamada