Hana slid open the front door, and took off her shoes, dragging Samantha close behind her. She stopped suddenly and gestured for Samantha to do the same, but the lack of translation only confused her. Hana rolled her eyes and bent over before taking Samantha's short boots off for her. Then she discarded them off to the side and placed large slippers in front of her.

The moment Samantha slid the slippers onto her cold feet, Hana grabbed her by her arm and pointed at one of the rooms, before uttering a sentence she could not understand.

In the room they stood, Samantha observed that it was decorated very nicely. There was a nice small dark wood dining table with small cluttered piles of paper on top, along with a tray of a teapot and teacups. The walls were covered in paintings and pictures of children, whom she thought were the woman's family.

She didn't know where she was, or why Kaito brought her here, but she couldn't help but feel a small amount of safety here than she did at Kaito's apartment.

Kaito followed closely behind not too long after the woman left Samantha in the dining room. "You should sit down." Kaito nudged her towards the table and sat in one of the chairs.

"Where is this place? And who is she?"

"She is my mother," Kaito answered monotonously, and grabbed the clutter of papers laying across from him. He studied them carefully, looking at all the numbers. They were bills. Big ones.

Before he left Japan for an assignment to assassinate another one of his targets, he made sure that his mother and brother were well off. So it was very surprising to see that his mother was struggling to pay bills for things he wasn't familiar with.

With all the work he had done, they had enough in savings to last them for another 10 years.

Samantha's heart almost stopped when he answered her. More questions began to rain on her mind, slamming harshly into her thoughts. The older woman was her mother-in-law, did she know Kaito's true occupation? Is that why Kaito brought her here? She had hoped to meet his family forever, but now it was at the worst time.

Samantha didn't know whether to feel happy or terrified. How could a mother let her son go around taking people's lives for the fun of it? "Why did you bring me here?" She hissed at him.

"There's something I have to do and finish." Kaito casually flipped over the statement he was reading. "I'll be gone for a few days, so you're going to have to stay here."

"You sick dastard." Samantha spat. "You're going to involve your mother and have her watch me? Anything to keep me from running, huh?"

Kaito sighed, growing annoyed at her assumptions. "I'm leaving here because there is no food at my apartment. Not that I have to answer to you." He stood and towered over her. "She runs a ramen shop next door, so you won't have the time to run even if you wanted. She will make sure you work for your food."

"What?" Samantha clenched her fists. "You expect me to stay here and work for someone working with you?"

"My occupation has nothing to do with her, and I'd prefer to keep it that way." Kaito grabbed Samantha by the collar of her shirt and snatched her forward.

"You m-mean, she doesn't know who you are and what you do?" Samantha gasped.

"If not for that file, and that spoiled friend of yours, you wouldn't know either," Kaito growled. "You can call me crazy, insane all you want. But one thing that pisses me off more than anything is when people assume that I am nothing more than a stupid criminal."

His tone sent shivers down her spine. He released his hold on her when Hana walked back into the dining room. Instead of giving her a threatening glare, his eyes and lips positioned themselves in a form that expressed a loving feeling. He pressed his lips against Samantha's cheek and pulled away quickly for his mother to see.

Samantha froze stiffly when she saw Hana with a sleeping Keiji in her arms. And then, she nudged Kaito out of her way before practically hopping across the room to reunite with her son. Hana handed the small boy over to Samantha, causing Keiji to open his eyes and start crying.

Samantha felt overwhelmed with so much emotion that she began to cry as well. Her baby boy was finally in her arms again, safe and sound. She hugged him close and brushed his soft curly hair to ease his cries.

The realization finally came to her that Kaito not only brought her to his mother's house to stay fed but also to see Keiji again. In its entirety, it felt like he was being considerate of her in silence. Was his plan to bring her here this whole time? Why did he make a fuss and threaten her so much?

What exactly did this assassin have on his mind? She glanced at him, only for him to respond by looking away and changing the subject with his mother.

He pointed at the bills in his hands. Hana lowered her head, obviously ashamed of her recent spending habits. While the two exchanged conversations in their native language, Keiji held out his arms and squirmed out of Samantha's hold.

"Papa!"

Kaito wrapped his hands around the boy's torso and lifted him into his arms. "Hey buddy," He smiled at the kid, and Samantha immediately could tell it was fake, he was putting on a show for his mother and his own child. It made her come to the hard truth that Kaito didn't love her or the little boy that called for him happily.

Keiji reached for Kaito's hair and brushed his fingers over it, surprised that he had cut it short. Kaito moved his head back in response and continued his conversation with Hana.

His time was running out, he knew that in some time, he had to meet with Haruka. He was going to have to discuss his mother's financial troubles later. Just as he put Keiji back in Hana's arms and began excusing himself, Hana stopped him. "Chotto matte! Sakini yūhan'o taberu."

"Mama..." Kaito groaned. He had business to attend to, and she was trying to keep him there to eat dinner.

"Hungry?" Hana turned to Samantha, and she glanced at Kaito.

"Don't answer to that." He shook his head.

Samantha nodded in response, and Hana smiled wide at the two. Kaito groaned in frustration, knowing that he wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. His mother was going to prepare them an entire feast.

~

Kaito kept his eyes on his cell phone screen practically the entire time he ate. Hana asked him some usual questions, about his relationship and about his job. Thankfully, his mother couldn't understand much English so she couldn't tell that he was lying to her.

Samantha noticed how aloof he was at the dinner table. But she was distracted by Keiji who kept trying to take all of the rice and grilled fish for himself. It was obvious that the boy was tired. It was getting late, already past his bedtime.

"Kaito, I don't mean to interrupt you both," Samantha tapped him on the shoulder. "He's sleepy."

Kaito looked to Keiji who tried squirming out of Samantha's arms and sighed. Then he looked at his mother and excused himself properly, letting her know that he had to leave for work. He also lied about Samantha, saying he wanted to leave her there because she was unfamiliar with the area.

Hana nodded and reached over the table to grab Keiji, who hesitantly went into her arms, and let his grandmother carry him away into the other room.

"I don't understand you," Samantha stated once Hana was completely out of sight. "I thought you would've been the type of person who didn't care about your family. Your file described you as ruthless and dangerous, but watching you in front of your mother proves otherwise."

"You don't have to understand me." Kaito sneered at her. "Play along until I'm finished."

"How long is that supposed to take? I want to go back to the States." Samantha frowned. "I don't understand why you didn't kill me or Keiji. You've already told me that you don't love me."

"I am starting to regret that I didn't get rid of you, now that you're asking so many questions." Kaito stood and pushed his empty rice bowl to the middle of the table.

"Then why don't you?" Samantha stood as well and challenged him. "You're a man who doesn't have a second thought about eliminating a target. You escaped Queenstown penitentiary, took advantage of me, and I want to know exactly why. Why would a hunter like you, spare me, a woman who means nothing to you? Who are you?"

"You're testing my patience, Hershey." He smiled at her and flicked her nose. "Cute, using your journalist traits to get to me. You read a biased file, which tells me a lot about you. You don't know shite about me." He leaned closer to her and slid his fingers across her jawline and raised her chin so she could eye him directly. "I suggest you back off, and let me do things my way. Stop studying every little thing I do."

"I can't believe you tricked me, into marrying you... into loving you." Samantha swallowed hard.

"I never tricked you." Kaito shrugged. "I simply didn't tell you my real identity, and you were dumb enough to tag along."

"I don't understand what was so bad about you being a loving husband and father who took care of his family."

"Loving husband and father don't exactly fit in my dictionary." Kaito rolled his eyes. His phone buzzed, and he knew it was a message from Haruka. He needed to leave now, or Haruka would cut his pay or do something stupid to discipline him. "I have to go. Make sure to do whatever my mother asks of you, and don't wander away from here. If you try to run to the police, I'll know."

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Samantha teased him.

Before he could respond, Hana walked back into the dining room, so Kaito quickly dipped his head down and stole a quick kiss from Samantha, surprising her. "If you test me, you'll find out," Kaito whispered in her ear, before standing straight and giving his last greetings to his mother.

~

"There were 9 dead men found at Teppan this morning. Asuka was nowhere to be seen. Rather than assuming, I want to hear from you exactly what happened." Haruka paced back and forth angrily.

"I went to meet Asuka.. and he gave me the intel that he knew." Kaito leaned against the wall casually and exhaled out a puff of smoke.

"And...?" Haruka was a second away from snapping.

"And, he tried to kill me." Kaito shrugged.

"Did you kill any of the men we found dead this morning?"

"I did." Kaito huffed.

"Are you crazy?!" Haruka roared at him. "Do you know how much paperwork and investigating is going on? I told you not to kill anyone! That was part of our deal!"

"I barely escaped with my own life." Kaito shot back. "I was stabbed! And when I tried to run, I was ambushed by a group of Asuka's men. He forced me to take matters into my own hands, and besides, Asuka was starting to grow suspicious of me for sparring him. It's better for those dastards to die than see my body chopped in pieces in a box delivered to you."

Haruka had enough of Kaito's disruptive behavior. Marrying Samantha and even having a child irked him, he'd never forgive himself for allowing that to happen to an innocent citizen. But killing people, was the last straw. He'd had enough. Haruka brought his arm back and with full force, punched Kaito in the jaw.

Kaito dropped his cigarette and chuckled after the hit. "You made me waste my cigarette."

"I've told you numerous times about that bad habit—" Haruka was cut off mid-sentence by a punch sent his way. Kaito rammed his fist into Haruka's stomach, and the two broke out into a full fist fight. "Kaito Takashi. You are under arrest for the mass murders of 9 Japanese citizens!" Haruka pulled out his handcuffs, but it was quickly knocked out of his hands by Kaito's quick reflexes.

"Oh, really?" Kaito snorted. "Then catch me if you can old man."

"You selfish brat! On top of that, striking an officer adds to your sentence!" Haruka pulled out his gun and aimed it high. Kaito grabbed onto Haruka's wielding hand and dragged him down and flipped him over his shoulder, tearing off the stitches done on his torso.

Kaito grunted and fell over from the pain.