Samantha wanted nothing more than to go back in time before she found out the man she loved was a crazed killer. She wanted to be back in her warm bed, wrapped in silk sheets, in a warmer town. But this area of Osaka was cold, damp, and gloomy. The worse part was that she was dragged almost 4 blocks away in the cold and forced to shop with Kaito.

She resisted him as much as she could, before driving Kaito over the edge with annoyance. It wasn't until he started threatening to take Keiji away again that she walked with him willingly. Samantha couldn't tell if his threat was empty or not, and after their first interaction of the morning, she didn't want to find out.

Leo Takemi was always so helpful, but Kaito was the polar opposite. His true colors had finally been revealed. He lacked the want to care to help her, offering her loose translations of a small list of groceries that Hana gave to him. It made Samantha's blood boil.

Samantha would ask him to translate the banners and signs hanging in between isles, and so many of her questions began to annoy Kaito. All he wanted to do was buy the ingredients needed and get back home to gather those bills for Haruka to see.

After about 2 hours, the two finally walked out of the market with a bag full of the ingredients Hana asked them to get for her. Samantha started to question Kaito's motives for helping his mother and hiding his real occupation from her.

For a man who boasted about not caring about anyone, it seemed that he was very close to his mother.

Kaito appeared to be calm in their current environment. So she wondered about his story. How exactly did he end up in Cartersville? Why was he posing as a cafe owner? Who was the target he was looking out for?

She regretted not looking deeper into that file Isabella sent her. She forgot the main step of being a journalist, to capture and view as much information as possible before drawing a false conclusion.

"Is your mother going to cook for customers today?" Samantha tapped onto Kaito's shoulder. He didn't even spare a glance her way and continued walking in the direction of the Ramen shop. His eyes were focused dead ahead.

"Mhmm."

"Her cooking is delicious," Samantha mumbled. "Keiji likes it too, and he's really fond of his grandmother."

"Mhmm."

"Are you even paying attention to me?" Samantha growled and snatched Kaito's arm. "I'm talking about Keiji, show some respect." She snapped her fingers in front of him and he finally looked at her.

"I heard you." He began, but an eerie feeling crept up his spine. He knew they were being watched. Someone in the crowd was following them.

"You heard me, but were you listening?" Samantha scoffed. "You like to mention how the both of us made Keiji, but the way you act is so disgusting. You don't even love—"

"Hershey, be quiet for a sec."

"Excuse me?"

"Shut up!" Kaito sneered at her. He was looking over his shoulder and around the street. Kaito knew what it was like to be tailed. There were still many Yakuza families who were after him.

Kaito spotted a strange man across the street. He was dressed full of vibrant color, with a thick mustache and glasses. To anyone else, he would be thought of as nothing but an expressive local. But Kaito noticed one flaw that made him suspicious.

Under the glasses was an ugly scar that began under the man's eye to the top of his eyebrow. "Asuka.." Kaito mumbled under his breath. It was one of Asuka's lackeys, and he had probably been following them the moment they walked into the market.

Kaito knew he needed to call Haruka for backup, but he needed to get Samantha out of the way before Asuka would find out about her.

"If you want me to shut up, then lead the way back." Samantha spat. "I'll be out of your sight soon. I didn't ask to be here, you dragged me along, remember that. So don't throw a hissy fit. What are you even looking at—" Before Samantha could look at the strange man, Kaito grabbed her by her arm and lead her over to another market across the street. "Ow! Kaito!"

"She needed milk." Kaito changed the subject. "You should go and buy some."

"You told me that we finished gathering everything!" Samantha whined. "Take me back, Keiji has to eat breakfast."

"We can't go back right now."

"Why not!? Let go!" Samantha tried her best to pry his fingers off her forearm. She had enough of being dragged around as if she were a cat on a leash.

Kaito lead Samantha into an alleyway, next to a convenience store. But to his dismay, the man was still following closely.

He had no other choice but to confront the creep who watched them. He released his hold on Samantha and gestured for her to go inside the building. "Go and look for milk."

"We checked everything off the list." Samantha groaned. "You're telling me to do something that I can't, I don't know how to read Japanese. Where will I even start to look?"

"If you see freezers you know you're close."

"I don't have time for this—" Samantha disregarded his words and started to walk by Kaito, but he snatched her back.

"Don't be a shrew and do what I tell you. Keiji can wait!" He was trying not to lose his cool in front of her, but the man had already taken a peek at Samantha. "Shite, screw this," Kaito grumbled and whipped around quickly, throwing a hard blow to the man's face.

He flew to the ground and hit his head against the brick wall. Samantha gasped in horror.

"What was that for!? Why did you hit him!?" She shrieked.

"I told you to go inside." Kaito balled his fists angrily. The man was knocked out cold, so Kaito reached down and searched his bright jacket.

"What are you doing?" Samantha coughed. She thought that he was going to kill him right then and there, out in the open.

"I don't like idiots who trail me." Kaito took out a wallet from his pocket and opened it. He predicted that the ID inside was fake. This was definitely a member of the Watanabe family. "Let's go." Kaito tossed the wallet aside and grabbed Samantha by the hand.

"No! Take me back! You can do your job while I'm not here, I refuse to be an accomplice." Samantha threw her hands up in defense.

"What job are you talking about?" Kaito spat. "Are you stupid enough to think I'd kill someone in broad daylight? I'm a professional, sweetheart." He smirked at her. "And I don't typically leave witnesses alive to see my face."

Samantha tried everything in her power to hold back her tears. Before she could respond, a group of men approached them from the opposite side of the alley, and Kaito's face changed when he identified them.

"Bijin'!" One of them looked Samantha up and down with an evil smile. "Pretty lady." He said in English, his accent being smooth like peanut butter. "Never expected to see you involved with a woman, especially a foreigner."

Kaito did some calculations in his mind. He needed to make a way for Samantha to high tail it out of here, but fending off 5 men at once was going to be a bit difficult, especially since his wound hasn't healed.

"Who's the beauty?" Another one of them licked his lips as they sauntered closer to the two. Kaito wasted no time in attacking first. He ran at them at full speed and punched two men in the stomach. As the others began to fight, he kicked the other two into the brick wall and backhanded the fifth man to the ground.

"Go!" Kaito seethed and barely got a chance to look at Samantha before he was tackled to the ground and punched repeatedly. The man who he backhanded placed his hands around Kaito's neck, pushing all his body weight to cut off his air faster.

Samantha watched the scene unfold and was too afraid to move. Who exactly were these men? Obviously, they were a part of the Yakuza, but why were they attacking Kaito, if he was working with them?

"Hershey, run!" Kaito roared as he kicked the man off of him, only to be tackled by another from behind. Samantha bolted past the group, only to be stopped when one of them grabbed her by her hair and dragged her back to the wall.

She kicked and punched everywhere until she hit the man who grabbed her dead in the middle of his face, breaking his nose in the process while also hurting her fist tremendously. When he released her, she took off running.

"I'm going to kill her!" The man whose nose was now bleeding spat out in a fit of rage.

"Leave her." Kaito heaved venomously. "She has nothing to do with me, Asuka sent you all to hunt me down." He was holding back using his full strength only because he didn't want Haruka to whine about him killing any more men. Without his wound, and without that rule, he would've snapped all their necks within a few minutes.

He was only making sure they wouldn't put their dirty hands on her. Once Samantha was out of sight, he took action. He knocked 4 of the men out cold by slamming two against each other and ramming his foot into the other's heads. Only one man was standing.

"That was easy." Kaito rolled his shoulders and neck to stretch. It had been a while since he fought like this.

"I'm not here because of Asuka." The man still conscious snorted. "Last night, you killed my brother. I'm here to end your life in the same way." He pulled out a pistol from his pocket and aimed directly for Kaito's head.

Instead of reacting as usual when confronted with a weapon, he decided to be snide today. "Are you talking about the idiot who stabbed me?" Kaito laughed. "He deserved his fate. I don't show mercy to those who think it's okay to inflict harm or attempt to kill me. We've been in this business for years now. You know what I'm capable of when you cross me."

"I'll see you in hell." The man placed his finger on the trigger but was abruptly knocked to the ground after a large glass bottle of rice wine smacked against the back of his head. The bottle smashed into pieces, flying to the concrete, along with the man.

Samantha stood there, huffing heavily and trying to catch her breath. She dropped the remains of the bottle and looked Kaito in the eye. Kaito was surprised. He didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't at all for Samantha to come back to use violence.

In that moment though, his attraction for her went through the roof. Her expression as she knocked the man attempting to kill him was so aggressive and he felt that she never looked hotter.

Samantha didn't know why she came running back to help a crazed killer. She looked at her hands and then back at Kaito, who only smiled at her in response.

"Looks like we're gonna have to buy some more mirin." Kaito hummed.

"I... I killed him!" Samantha cried. "Is he dead!?"

Kaito used his foot to turn the man over, and Samantha whimpered as she saw all the blood running down his face. Kaito examined the man closely and placed his foot on the man's chest. It was still rising and lowering steadily, indicating he was still breathing.

Kaito threw his head back in laughter, only stirring confusion within Samantha's mind. "Why are you laughing!? I just killed a man!" She sobbed.

"He is alive. I bet he didn't think a little girl like you could have so much brute strength inside."

"He's alive?" Samantha's lips quivered.

"Of course." Kaito kneeled over the unconscious man's frame. "You couldn't kill anyone even if you tried. You knocked the wind out of him for sure though. If you really wanted to kill him, you could've crushed the bottle first and then used the glass shard and—"

"I don't want to hear it!" Samantha covered her ears.

"Even if you did attempt, I wouldn't let you murder someone in front of me, don't worry." Kaito rolled his eyes and took the pistol out of the man's hands. "Someone has to look after Keiji while I'm gone." He mumbled the last part to himself and stood back up.

Samantha flinched when she saw the pistol. "Are you going to kill him?" She frowned.

"Course not." Kaito started to unload the gun, but he was kicked to the ground, startling even Samantha. The man who was knocked about by the bottle woke up with fire in his eyes and climbed on top of Kaito.

Then he reached for the gun, only to be shoved off by Kaito. Kaito grunted because he felt the ache in his stab wound. This time, he refused to let this idiot reopen it. "Alright!" He snarled and sucker-punched the man. "Now you're really pissing me off! If I hit you, stay down!" Kaito grabbed the pistol and swiftly rolled away from the man.

He aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, and a bullet went for the man's leg, and so he fell over. He wasn't going to be able to walk.

Samantha screamed and covered her eyes at the sound of the gun going off, thinking that Kaito ended him then and there.

Kaito unloaded the rest of the gun and cast it aside before stepping on the man's injured leg, causing immense pain. The man groaned and hollered, but Kaito didn't care. "If you want to live, you're going to stop tailing me. Send the word to the Watanabe family." Kaito crouched down. "You're going to pretend you saw nothing today. If I find out any rumors of this woman existing, I will make sure you die a slow and painful death. I'm only sparing you now because I am tired and in a bad mood. Any other time I would've enjoyed the thrill of ripping your throat out."

"H-hai." The man nodded in agreement, begging Kaito with his eyes to step off his injured leg.

"Perhaps you all forgot who I am." Kaito pulled up his sleeve, revealing the XO tattoo on his wrist. "I'm sure the Watanabe's wouldn't like to be reminded that if I wanted, I could wipe out your entire clan. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

"N-no."

"Great. Then we have a mutual understanding." Kaito tapped his shoulder before backhanding him, knocking him completely out. Samantha was still standing away from him, her eyes closed and ears covered. So he grabbed one of her arms and tugged her along as they went back to Hana's house.

"Did you kill him?" Samantha trembled as she allowed herself to be pulled by the arm.

"If I told you, then I'd have to kill you." Kaito winked at her.

"I... I'm going to throw up." Samantha felt light-headed. She wasn't used to all the action. Her adrenaline was draining, and her state of mind returned back to normal. She felt extremely dizzy all of a sudden.

"Relax, he's not dead," Kaito stated. He looked at his phone and texted Haruka briefly about the current situation.