Carpe Noctem - Chapter 1

10th of September – Namimori, Japan

A Japanese superstition says that if one catches a crow's glance, something unfortunate will happen and Tsuna could not shake that thought off his head. By the time he had met the piercing yellow eyes of the raven that morning he had a gut feeling that bad luck was coming his way.

Said bad luck arrived later in his front yard in the form of the messenger of the gods. His winged sandals ceased flapping and the white clad young man landed on Tsuna's grass, while he was helping his mother with the laundry.

"Basil-kun?" he put the laundry basket down and approached the deity, bowing out of respect.

"Greetings, Sawada-dono. I have a message to convey to you and Nana-san."

"Ah, sure. Please come in."

Basil followed him inside the house and was immediately welcomed by the ever so friendly Sawada Nana and her kind smile. Once the freshly baked cookies were offered and the emissary had politely declined – explaining that he was in a hurry to deliver multiple messages – the three of them made it to the living room and Tsuna, still agonizing over the specific visit, encouraged him to reveal the purpose of his arrival.

Basil, being in a tight predicament, informed them that Iemitsu, Tsuna's father, would be judged for his crimes in about six months from then and that until the time of the trial comes, he would stay imprisoned.

Even though both Tsuna and Nana had known that this would happen someday, it was still a shock of heart to hear about it. Iemitsu was an Incubus, a male demon who sleeps with human women for the sake of pleasure and reproduction of his kind. However, Tsuna was born a human instead of a demon. Human children who bear the DNA of an Incubus are considered a high threat to the community of demons – for reasons still unknown to most people – and are supposed to be killed immediately. Keeping Tsuna's existence hidden for many years was a class-A crime for which he will receive a ruthless punishment.

Iemitsu had fallen in love with Nana. He got so romantically affected by her supporting yet independent nature that he wanted to offer her the great pleasure of being a mother. When they realized, however, that Tsuna was not a demon, Nana's heart would break if she had to kill her own child. Iemitsu did not want to let his wife go through such a gruesome act and took responsibility of keeping the boy.

Once the demons' community found out about Tsuna's existence, they demanded Iemitsu's trial. The judges of such an important trial would be none other than the Erinyes, female chthonic deities of vengeance whose duty is to give horrendous punishment to whoever defies either the moral code or the laws of nature.

Nana knew that her husband's punishment would probably end with death. She had selfishly hoped that they would be able to keep their secret forever, even though that was impossible. The community was not consisted of gods, but its members could not be fooled. Tsuna was also not the only crime Iemitsu held on his back. Nana was well aware of that. It could be her intuition or that she was smarter and more perceptive than she appeared to be. Whenever her husband was around his behavior would always be secretive and she could grasp that very well, but she never asked for an explanation because she knew he was only trying to protect her. The less she knew, the safer she would be. Seeing Iemitsu only once or twice a year was enough for her, for her love was loyal and humble.

The realization that she was going to lose that annual meeting with her husband brought sorrow in her heart and tears in her eyes. The amount of emotional strength she has shown over the years was astounding, but it had its limit.

Nana modestly thanked Basil for delivering the message and took the way to the bedroom she shared with her man, shaking from the struggle of keeping her tears away from her son's eyes.

Tsuna was a young man now, he understood way more than his parents would like to think and his intuition has never been sharper before. He had been waiting for the moment of his father's punishment with anxiety. Being able to see Iemitsu only once or twice a year, he never had the chance to grow close to him and he had formed mixed feelings for his father. However, he would not in a million years let his mother cry over him.

He needed explanations from Iemitsu and he was going to get them, even if he had no idea where to start or how to fight his way through the solution.

Basil's silence and soft expression showed empathy for the pain his words caused to the family. He took a step closer to the currently absent-minded Tsuna, "I've known Iemitsu-san for many years, Sawada-dono, and I would like to admit to you that… I've never respected any man that much," he spoke with honesty and Tsuna forced a bittersweet smile. "I have one more message for you," he eagerly revealed and a neat envelope was handed to Tsuna as his fingers hesitantly grasped it, giving the emissary a lost look.

Basil smiled kindly, and Tsuna thought he saw hope behind that smile, "I hope you succeed, Sawada-dono," and with those last words he hopped on his sandals and flew out of the living room's window. Tsuna's gaze followed the messenger until he became one with the colors of the sunset.

He stared at the envelope with curiosity. He had never received a letter before and he doubted there were any people out there that would want to correspond with him. The golden flowers decorating its outlines made it seem like someone important had sent it, someone prosperous or even royal perhaps?

He opened the envelope, drew out the folded piece of paper and read through the calligraphically written English words.

"You and I are going to save your father. As his closest colleague and friend I won't let the trial turn against him. You are coming with me on the big journey to the prison he is currently being kept. I won't take no for an answer. Meet me at the Namimori Shrine on the 14th of September at 7 PM. You better gather allies; I'm bringing mine as well."

Feeling panicked and unprepared because of the arrogant manner the letter was written in, Tsuna checked the sign at the bottom of the letter.

"Reborn – the most powerful vampire in the world"

Reborn… Tsuna was positive that he had heard that name before but was unable to recall the memory of it. He was alone at the living room of his own house yet he felt like he was standing in a spotlight and the coiling feeling in his stomach would easily resemble a stage fright. He had never left Namimori before; he had never explored what other ghastly creatures the world gave home to.

He had already come close to an unpredictable vampire and now another one was coming for him. He thought he was having a panic attack right there and then, the air felt like it had turn to poisonous gas and his clothes became too tight on his shaking body. Anxiously wiping the dripping sweat off his forehead he made it to the bathroom and washed his face with freezing cold water. He looked himself in the mirror and wondered if a weak human like him would ever be able to fight against an entire demon community, and if his father was even worth fighting for.

Nana's sobs reached Tsuna's ears through the walls. Those painful sounds were all he needed to gather up what little courage he had and go meet that mysterious vampire. He exited the bathroom with decisiveness and abruptly entered his mother's bedroom, startling her.

"Mum," he began and Nana hastily wiped her tears away in shame, "I am going to meet father. And I will either bring him back to you… or let him accept his judgment."

Nana was left shocked until Tsuna wordlessly handed her the letter he received. She quickly read through it and her breathing calmed down. She smiled genuinely at the piece of paper and peace seemed to flood her being again.

"I see," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked up and admired her son's rare expression of determination. She wanted to hug him and spill tears of parental pride on his shoulders but she was not going to do that. She wasn't going to ruin his moment of strength with her weakness and she most definitely wasn't going to stop him from making his own choices. "Will you please… take Lambo with you?"

"I will," he said and left the room. Nana smashed the envelope between her arms and chest in a moment of a shy hope that was begging to rise again inside her. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep Lambo from joining Tsuna on his trip so why not give them her faith instead? Lambo might be able to protect Tsuna in some cases. The little devilishly annoying child had grown to become a calm teenager, an adopted family member and Tsuna's most certain guardian.

That's why Tsuna wasn't going to leave him behind. He took the stairs down to the basement and waited next to the velvety dark red coffin for the sun to set completely so Lambo could get out. While waiting, the words of the letter came back in his mind;

"You better gather allies; I'm bringing mine as well."

He hesitantly drew his mobile out of his pocket and called a specific number. The phone rang for a couple of times and Tsuna was about to lose his motivation and hung up, until the receiver finally picked up.

"Tsuna?"

"Hello? Yamamoto…?"

11th of September – Crotone, Italy

The rising sun gave light to the woman sobbing loudly, with her knees buried in the semi-wet sand. Bianchi clawed at her shirt in emotional pain as the tears poured uncontrollably from her eyes, creating temporary potholes on the sand. She was not crying from sorrow but from anger, and her anger had a face, a name, wings, a bow and heart-shaped arrows.

She punched the sand over and over again hoping that her killing intent would relent. But it didn't. So, she dynamically stood on her feet again, wiped the tears away with her hand and screamed the name of the winged deity. Her voice was filled with hatred and resentment and it seemed to resonate more than usual, its reverberating sounds echoing above the restless sea. "Romeo" was the name she called. She knew he could hear her, she knew he was somewhere hidden among the clouds feeling satisfied with the pain he caused her.

Romeo had taken revenge on Bianchi and a very rancorous one. The beautiful woman, who once was his lover, had regretted poisoning him while he was still human. And when his soul craved for revenge, god Eros granted that wish, making Romeo his representative by supplying him with the fateful pair of the glittering bow and arrows.

Unrequited love – that was the price she had to pay. Romeo's arrow of love had pierced Bianchi's chest so brutally she thought it wasn't possible to feel any more pain than that. Back then she had to remove the arrow on her own and clean the bloody mess before anyone would notice. But before she could pull it out of her chest, the arrow became red glitter and disappeared along with the puddle of blood, the physical pain and the wound.

Only when her father's young colleague entered the room to check what the painful scream was about did she feel all the pain coiling again in her body in the form of emotion. The love she felt for that man had suddenly grew so much stronger that it only ended in sorrow. Because she knew, that this man being often nicknamed as "the strongest vampire in the world" had his heart following another woman and his dedication his job. The feeling that she had no place in his life was enhanced too much after the pierce of the arrow.

And that's how Bianchi ended up losing her favorite game. She loved love, but love didn't love her back anymore. She had always been romantic, but romance wasn't working for her anymore.

And as her mind was awhirl in the memories of her love-accident, she screamed that hateful name that caused her all this pain.

"ROMEOOO! I swear I'll kill you again and again, you bastard!" she cursed and threatened, letting the waters and cloudy sky know of her resentful feelings. Her voice was very loud, louder than usual and could be heard surprisingly miles away, but in the frenzy of her anger she didn't notice and kept stating threats while searching the clouds for the damned deity.

Her feet kept pounding the sand, her claws pulling the shirt and her teeth gritting more than ever. Lost in her own outburst she did not notice her brother until he pounced on her and put his hands on her shoulders trying to shake her and calm her down.

"Bianchi! Bianchi, snap out of it!" Gokudera's voice was nowhere near as loud as his sister's even though he put all his effort in it. But she heard him and immediately fell in his arms, crying her eyes out with relentless sobs. Gokudera had no idea how to handle the situation. He had never seen Bianchi react that way ever before and even though he knew the whole story of being pierced by the arrow of love, he still believed his sister was stronger than that.

Bianchi had always been optimistic when he was pessimistic, patient when he was impatient, faithful when he was doubtful, strong when he was weak. Having the one person he secretly admired so deeply breaking down in his arms was something he could not accept. He shook her by the shoulders one last time and called for her attention.

"Listen to me, listen! Did you really need that imitation of an arrow to tell you that you're in love with that man?" He looked desperate and the fierce expression on his features was just a façade.

"No…" she whispered while biting her bottom lip.

"You knew it from the start, didn't you?! You've been in love with him since you met him, right?!"

She nodded affirmatively and tried to silence her sobs, finally getting a hold of herself.

"Then it's alright. You're gonna make it. You will get over him! I may know nothing about love but I will not let you lose your nature!" His grip on her shoulders tightened with each word and she was at a loss of words.

She knew very well that her brother was right and that her current behavior was against her nature. The tears in her eyes were creating a mask; a mask the specific woman should only wear during carnivals and Halloween where everyone gets to dress up as something they could never be. And Bianchi, she could never be that little girl who loses control over her life because of two men. This kind of mask was so unnatural for her that even Gokudera was not getting a stomachache while watching her.

"Wanna walk for a bit?" he placed a hand on her back in a comforting manner which was also out of his own nature and Bianchi acknowledged that with a small smile. She nodded and took the first step towards the other side of the shore.

"Why did you even come to the beach? You know I looked almost everywhere?"

"I saw Romeo flying this way…" she lied. Gokudera heaved a heavy sigh and internally cursed god Eros for choosing such an asshole of representative.

"Do you have any idea how loudly you were screaming? I could hear you from father's headquarters," he pushed a hand through his hair that was messy because of the wind. He took a glance of the cloudy sky and knew it was a matter of minutes to start raining.

"Really?"

"Yeah, since when was your voice so loud?"

"I don't know. Maybe the news got me too desperate," she slowed her pace down and stared at the sand in shame. Having her brother announcing that she'd have to take a huge trip along with him and the man she one-sidedly loved was not a very comfortable situation, especially when she was just getting into the idea of finding a way to escape Romeo's love spell.

Her previous outburst was a result of her thoughts about this upcoming trip. How would she ever be able to get over this man when she'd have to travel, eat, sleep and fight alongside him all the time? How can you ever get over someone with whom you spend so much time with?

She believed that this trip would be the death of her. She was only going to fall for him even more.

"We should go back… it's going to rain soon," Hayato turned around and gave Bianchi's elbow a nudge so she would follow him. Bianchi though stayed put and slightly pulled his sleeve to make him turn again.

"Is that a woman?" she pointed at what appeared to be a human body in the distance. "Maybe she needs help."

Hayato squeezed his eyes to make out whether the woman was actually in trouble or not but before he could express his conclusion Bianchi was already running to her.

"Wait! Don't approach without me she might be dangerous!" He tried to warn his sister but she had already reached her.

"Does she look dangerous to you?" Bianchi kneeled next to the woman. She was lying on the sand, completely naked, with her eyes closed.

"Is she dead?" Gokudera kneeled too and inspected the female closely.

"No, she's breathing," Bianchi had her ear over the stranger's mouth, "I think she's sleeping."

The two siblings looked at each other in a loss of ideas. It was indeed going to rain soon and the woman looked helpless. She had no clothes and probably no shelter – judging by the fact that she was sleeping at the beach and there were no garments scattered anywhere.

"What should we do?"

"Shouldn't we wake her up at least?"

Bianchi and Gokudera turned to each other and began a hasty conversation about how they should act, whispering in a conspiratorial manner. In the meantime, the woman's eyelids fluttered open and she found herself listening to a discussion in a language she could not comprehend. She slowly sat up, crossed her legs to cover what she could of her genitals and wrapped her arms around her exposed breasts.

"Buongiorno," she wished them good morning, being one of the few Italian words she knew. The siblings got astonished and abruptly stopped talking to one another so they would take a good look at the woman who was struggling to cover herself. "Are you Italians? Am I in Italy yet?" she spoke in English this time.

"Yes, this is Crotone. You are in Italy," Bianchi replied, also in English. The woman sighed in relief and muttered a few words in a language they could not recognize. Gokudera was left staring at her (probably because he had never seen the female body exposed from so close before) but his silence was making him appear rude.

"Give her your jacket," Bianchi nudged her brother and he slightly shook his head, snapping out of his daze. He took off the black piece of clothing and quickly wrapped it around the woman's shoulders. She smiled in gratitude, muttered a low "thank you" and put it on properly, pulling the zipper up to her neck.

"Did something happen? Do you need help?" Bianchi pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, an action which caught the female's attention.

"I'm fine. I must have fallen asleep without realizing. I was exhausted swimming all night," she explained, still smiling kindly.

A few seconds of silence followed as the woman took a good look of the two foreigners in front of her. She found them both to be exceptionally beautiful but she was under the impression that if she expressed that thought they would think she's strange and uncomfortably straightforward. But at the same time the siblings were surprised to find out that she was young, just like them or maybe even younger. In contrast to her sweet face, her body looked strong and athletic. She had lean, slender legs, narrow hips, a thin waist but not the flattest stomach, broad shoulders and eye-catching large breasts. She mentioned that she had been swimming all night and indeed her body type fitted perfectly the one of a swimmer.

"You were swimming around here?" Gokudera was curious and doubtful. Who spends an entire night swimming, without even having at least some clothes at the beach?

"No, I swam all the way here from Greece," she revealed casually.

"What?" they both asked in unison. While Gokudera scoffed in disbelief, Bianchi looked positively astonished and thrilled and that's because she understood something about the young woman that her brother couldn't. Bianchi realized she had something unique in common with her, but her brother must not find out about it, not yet at least. At first the young woman was delighted to see that Bianchi seemed to read between the lines, but when Hayato made a grimace in wry amusement she was discouraged. She noticed Bianchi giving her silent signals by shaking her eyebrows upwards. The young woman picked up Bianchi's warning and came up with a story to cover up her previous statement.

"I-I mean… I was using a boat but something hit it from underwater and it eventually sunk so I had no choice but to keep swimming till I reached a destination… good thing I'm a regular swimmer, huh?" she smiled nervously at Hayato. Bianchi gave her the thumbs up behind Gokudera's back. The man was still doubtful but he found it pointless to dig in any longer. It was none of his business and he honestly didn't care, he had much more urgent matters to take care of. He was going to just stand up and walk home, until the woman spoke again.

"Actually I was hoping you could help me with something," she started, talking shyly, "I have to find a specific person and I heard he is widely popular here. Do you perhaps know anyone named 'Reborn'?"

The Italians perked up at the mention of the name and their thoughts got immediately mixed.

"What do you want with him?" Gokudera spat rudely with a scowl plastered on his face, for which he immediately gained a glare from his sister, but she didn't confront him verbally for it because she wanted to hear the answer as well. Hayato's hast reaction made the young woman realize that he truly knew the guy she was looking for and hopefulness rose in her eyes.

"He's flying to Japan in a couple of days and I need to go with him!"

"And why is that?" Gokudera pressed, still angry. The woman looked hesitant to reveal anything else.

"Reborn is our boss, we work for him," Bianchi reassured her with a smile despite her brother's protests and the woman's delight became evident.

"Then you must know! About Mr. Iemitsu's trial? I have to testify for him at the court!"

The siblings were at a loss of words and Gokudera was about to snap from confusion and doubtfulness. Bianchi on the other hand knew she could trust this woman who swam all the way from Greece to Italy in one night, or maybe she wanted to trust her so she could flood her with questions about their shared secret later.

"Is Reborn expecting you?" she asked, in an attempt to make things easier.

"No, we don't even know each other. But he knows my boss and she is the one who sent me to help him. If I talk to him about her he will understand," the woman disclosed and Bianchi thought it was a pretty believable explanation. Reborn had all-time allies since forever and another one being added on the list was not a problem.

"Hayato, pick her up," she demanded. Gokudera was still with the scowl but if there was any chance that the woman was telling the truth he wouldn't want to get in trouble for it later.

"Are you taking me to him?" she asked with hope and delight.

"Yes, we are," he replied and hesitantly picked her up, assuming she would be too tired to walk after swimming all night. He was internally feeling completely uncomfortable for touching a female's bare skin under the specific circumstances and he sure tried to avoid taking glimpses of her exposed areas.

"Ah sweet!" she brightened up, feeling absolutely lucky that she didn't have to look for the man. Bianchi smiled at her kindly and tried to appear friendly as they took the way back to their father's headquarters.

"So what's your name?

"I'm Iesha. And you?"

"I'm Bianchi and this is my idiot brother, Hayato."

"Hey!" he protested.

11th of September – Namimori, Japan

The ringing sound of the clock-tower echoed through the entire city, reminding the citizens of the hour change. Getting rescued from the intricate threads of the tangled up thoughts that had been busying his mind lately, Yamamoto blinked a few times, adjusting back to reality. The recent oil leakage in the Japanese seas had been troubling him significantly. Due to a terroristic attack, bombs exploded in four tanker ships and all the harmful liquids they carried were released in the ocean. His father's sushi business would go under if he didn't find a solution to the matter and quickly. However, it was past midnight and he had other priorities at that time.

As he stood in front of the large window, the glass-enclosed female - lit by bulbs in the colour of more hot pink than red - crossed her legs seductively, eyeing him in a suggestive manner. Keeping a cell phone mashed against her head she looked more like a regular civilian waiting for the bus ride rather than a real sex-worker.

Yamamoto averted his gaze away from her. He attempted to maneuver the street brimming with clusters of randy, intoxicated men encroaching upon his personal space and sense of safety, until he reached the window he was heading for. One woman, rather new to the scene, was standing behind it, posing for the viewing pleasure of passers-by. She had one hand pressed against the pane of glass, the other hand diddling with the front waistband of her lace-adorned panties. She shyly stopped the movement once her eyes fell on him.

Yamamoto always had mixed feelings while watching this woman. One would usually feel their heart flutter at the sight of the person they're in love with. But Takeshi, he acknowledged more fear in his being than excitement. Fear for the woman's safety, that is. Sure, he was in love with her - that part was real. So real in fact, that he had been spending all his money visiting her every night for at least a couple of months. He was rather possessive of her, the image of any other man touching and sliding inside her making him lose control over his canine instincts.

The woman offered him a small smile and retreated from her position behind the window. Yamamoto entered the dark building, following her to the bedroom while avoiding the judging gazes of the people sitting around the reception.

By the time he closed the bedroom door behind them she had her arms languidly wrapped around him.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come tonight… Where have you been?" she sobbed slightly as if she was struggling to keep the tears to herself while men were sight-seeing in front of her window.

"I'm sorry love, my pops needed me to carry some extra crates of fish after work," he brushed a hand through the woman's long hair before gently grabbing her cheek, tilting her head up to look in her slightly teary eyes. "You know I wouldn't leave you, right?"

She blinked the tears away and nodded with a smile. Yamamoto thought he should be some sort of psychopath to find his lover's sobs beautiful and enticing. Then again, it had made quite a ruckus – her beauty. Her presence would draw all the attention away from the other sex-workers as if the potential clients were under some sort of hypnosis.

Takeshi was not sure if it was her large eyes, slender legs, full breasts, broad shoulders or her thick hair in the color of a smoked cigarette filter, but he knew that much was true; he was the one under the worst hypnosis of them all. And he acknowledged that fact for himself as he leaned down to trace his lips from the woman's cheek to her neck, each kiss lasting a little longer than its previous one.

The moment she noticed his breathing getting exceptionally heavier, she stuffed her hand with the hair on the back of his neck and pulled his head away from her collarbone.

"Bad dog," she smirked lecherously, "Don't go all wolfy on me now~"

"You know I can barely control myself around you," he breathed on her lips before connecting them in an affectionate kiss. She responded for a brief second but ended up pushing him softly to stop the action.

"What is it? Alexia?" Yamamoto now looked concerned.

"We have to discuss something…" She sat on the king-sized bed and threw a jacket over her exposed shoulders.

"Is there something wron-"

"I'm pregnant."

"What?" Takeshi froze. How did this happen? They always used protection no matter how many times he thought of discarding the condom to feel his lover completely skin to skin. He sat next to her looking lost, like the machine had popped the "game-over" sign a bit too early. "Is… is it mine?"

"You're my only client for the past two months! I haven't had intercourse with any other man and I think you're the one who made sure of that…"Alexia pulled the zipper of her jacket up in an exasperated manner, feeling hurt that the man who had been so possessive over her would even ask something like that.

Indeed, Yamamoto had made sure that no other male would touch her. He was there every night from the beginning of her shift till the end. He was paying her accordingly every time, not because she had sex with him. He was selfishly taking over her work hours and the woman had to live somehow.

"Right… right."

"I'm thinking of having an abortion…"

"Forget it."

"Takeshi… I'm broke, I'm a sex-worker and I'm older than you."

"By only four years, I don't care about it! And I'll take care of the money. I… I'll find a way. I'll make sure you have everything, nothing will be missing!" He held her tightly on his chest as he made his resolutions clear.

Yamamoto was taught to do anything and everything for his family. Despite staying aghast once the announcement was made, the option of abortion didn't even cross his mind. He loved the woman and that was all he needed to get himself motivated to make everything work. He is the kind of man that gets infatuated and blinded by love.

"Oh baby, how in the world do you think you can find so much money for a family to get by?"

"Listen, I have a friend, Tsuna. He called me yesterday to tell me he's going on a long trip starting in a few days. I wasn't sure earlier but now I made my mind. I will go with him. I'll travel all around the world and gather money! I'll definitely come across many chances; we will have to contact several prosperous people."

Alexia was left looking at him with curiosity. Takeshi hadn't revealed exactly what he had in mind. How would those prosperous people be able to help him financially? Would they offer him a job? That's highly unlikely. He was just a poor fisherman and waiter in his father's sushi shop, none of his skills would ever be useful to the royals they would meet. And with the latest oil leakage around Japan's waters the regional marine life was disturbingly affected. Unable to sell healthy fish, the locals had an unfortunate decrease in income, Mr. Yamamoto's sushi restaurant included.

She had an idea of what her lover was thinking about. Combine all these factors plus the sudden pregnancy announcement and you'll get a hold of how Takeshi was feeling. He must be getting desperate, that's what Alexia thought. And desperation can lead to doubtful solutions, but she wasn't going to clarify that for him. She didn't want to know what his desperation would make him capable of doing. Working as an illegal sex-worker herself, her morality had faded. So, putting away all the thoughts of the countless ways Yamamoto could earn money, she had only one concern.

"How… long will you be gone?"

Takeshi identified the hopeful look she was giving him but he found it hard to lie to her. He would be gone for months. He wouldn't be next to her during her pregnancy. But he couldn't think of any other way. He was making sure that his son – he didn't know the baby's gender but he sort of hoped it was a boy – would live a satisfying childhood stripped from poverty.

"Months…" he nodded hesitantly, voice soft, "I'll make sure it'll be only nine of them."

Just when her eyes began watering again he pressed a soft kiss on her lips and smiled warmly, "In the meantime, you'll have to leave this place, alright?" She nodded in silence. "You'll stay with my pops, at home, and you can help in my place at the restaurant for a little while."

Another nod. Yamamoto sighed and hugged her comfortingly.

"Will you be safe?" she asked. This time he found it easier to lie.

"Of course I'll be safe. I am well trained and as long as I have a family waiting for me, I won't let anyone get in the way…" he spoke with decisiveness and spirit. Alexia took a few seconds to appreciate the look of determination on his features and then smiled, before falling once again in his strong arms, devastated.