Hey everyone! Alito here! Just got back from this awesome trip and had a blast at Universal Studios and Islands of adventure! Hell yeah! But anyway, I'm back to do this cool fanfic here. Now this one doesn't have fighting, but more so a growing plot for something to come in the future, so here it is.

Here we go!

*DISCLAIMER* I own nothing.

Chapter 10: The Coming Storm

JAPAN

UNKNOWN LOCATION

21:45 P.M.

After the failure of retrieving the parcel, Helena Douglas, Christie strolled into her luxurious hotel room, still dark with the moon slightly illuminating the otherwise dreary, dark room. She immediately zipped herself out of her cat suit and let her naked body embrace the cooler air. The beads of sweat slowly dripped down her chest, and her hands caressed every inch of her body.

She gave a light stretch before taking to her knees at her coffee table. She opened her lap as the room quickly lit up from the screen's light. Christie squinted her eyes for a moment, but quickly got use to it and continued from there.

She typed in an access code of a page and soon enough, a small video appeared before her along with the camera in her computer screen activated.

"What happened?" Asked a man sitting in a chair, looking rather irritated.

"My my, aren't you irritable tonight, Donavan." Christie smirked, "Bad day?"

"Not now, Christie!" Donovan sighed as he pushed his glasses back up, "I only want what I expected you to call me for."

"Ah yes. Retrieving Helena Douglas and tracking Dante, correct?" Christie remembered, "Well there's one of those issues solved."

"What do you mean?"

"I was interrupted in retrieving Ms. Helena Douglas by a little black pest of a ninja." Christie shrugged, "It appears that you've made the ninjas angry…again."

"Let those fools have their fits. I have no time for them." Donovan spat bitterly, "What matters is that you failed to apprehend her."

"I may not have the chef, but I have something more…" Christie reached into the brown handbag beside her and pulled out to show Donovan a grey laptop. She smiled dastardly at the item she's obtained. "…The recipes."

Donovan looked at the laptop in curiosity. It didn't seem to have any special value. It looked like any other standard laptop with a smooth flat covering and the brand of the company who made it on the left upper corner of it. No doubt those laptops don't go cheap, but compared to the millions Donovan makes, it was no more valuable then candy at a drugstore. This only further upset Donavan though, as he felt his precious time was being wasted.

"And what, prey tell, is that suppose to be?" Donovan asked.

"I don't know. " Christie teased playfully with a sardonic smirk as she examined the laptop herself, "Maybe it's something valuable…maybe it's not. Oh, what could it be? What could it be?"

"Don't test my patience, woman!" Donovan slammed his fist into his desk in anger and knocked his coffee over as well. "Either speak now, or hang up. Don't test my patience."

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist." Christie sighed playfully as she put the laptop down, "I'll gladly transfer the files to your computer…if you do something for me."

Donovan sighed and sat back in his chair, arms folded. "I'm listening..."

"It's simple; I give you the rest of DOATEC's information and in return…" Christie smiled, "I want my guns, and the one called Hunter no. 3; Barbatos."

Donovan cupped his chin in deep thought of this trade. He really wanted that data and felt it could contain info so that his experiments could go just as planned. Its fool proof if all is as it needs to be for him. Finally he left his train of thought and said, "So be it."

KYOTO

KOKORO'S HOME

22:05 P.M.

Dante, Kokoro, and Kasumi stood before the entrance of the large house, almost eager to enter into it. Dante may not have wanted to admit it, but he was the most curious one there as he's never actually seen the filthy riches of rich people. It did piss him off to see snobby people though, but he would have loved to go into their houses.

"Welcome you two; to my home." Kokoro introduced as she opened the door. The second that door opened, Dante and Kasumi felt as though they were in another world! They were greeted by a long stair case made of pure marble that lead to the upstairs level. The floors were also marbled in white and the table in front of the stairs holding a very beautiful bouquet of flowers that seem to bring great color to the almost OCD entrance room. At the top of the stairs was also a back door that seemed to lead to a small yard in the back. Where flowers were obviously growing.

"I'll admit, it's not all that…" Kokoro sighed.

"Not all that?-!" Kasumi and Dante exclaimed in their thoughts.

"S-So then, where might your mother be?" Kasumi asked.

"She's probably in her room, doing work." Kokoro shrugged, "She's sometimes in there for hours on her computer."

"Well she is the leader of DOATEC for Japan." Kasumi figured.

"So there's really other DOATECs besides Helena's?" Dante asked.

"Some few, while others are larger." Kokoro answered. "Oka-sa—I mean mother, doesn't really talk about her private work life. She says it's nothing to do with me and I should enjoy my youth." Kokoro began to look depressed but still kept a slight smile, "I worry about her, you know. I don't like seeing my mom so tired and stressed out like that…It makes me scared that one day she might—"

"—I might what? Die? Far from it, dear."

All three looked up the stairs to see that an older woman walked down the steps. She was dressed in a black kimono and her black long hair was done in an up do style. She had dark brown eyes with small black bags under them, but not enough to take away from her perfect peach skin and flawless lush lips. Even the way she walked was just as graceful.

"Oka-san!" Kokoro said happily as she walked to her mother.

"Kokoro. Thank goodness you're okay." Miyako said in Japanese with worry as she placed her hand gently on Kokoro's cheek, "I saw the news about that large explosion in Tokyo. I was so worried."

"Don't worry, Oka-san. I'm just fine." Kokoro assured her mother in Japanese as well. "Though, my glasses were damaged and destroyed in the process."

"Such items can be replaced." Miyako smiled, "All that matters is that you're okay."

"Thank you, Oka-san…" Kokoro said humbly meeting her mother's smile which made her smile as well. Even though she did seem rather exhausted, Miyako was more than happy to discover her daughter's safety and to have her there safe and sound.

"Now then," Miyako finally turned to Kasumi and Dante to ask, "These must be the guest you told me about on the phone."

"Un! They are." Kokoro quickly ran behind Kasumi and pushed her forward, much to Kasumi's shyness. "This is Kasumi. I've known her from the DOA tournament."

"H-Hello." Kasumi said modestly in Japanese as she bowed respectfully, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miyako-san."

"Likewise." Miyako nodded, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Kokoro has told me much about you."

Then Kokoro finally wrapped an arm around the Tank top wearing black haired male (much to Miyako's surprise and Dante's chargin) and she said giddily, "And last but not least, recognize this guy? I think you do! He's—!"

"—Dante?"

Kokoro stopped and got off of Dante to look back at her mother to find that she wore a facially shocked expression on her beautiful self. She trotted down the stairs and walked right up to Dante, still keeping that surprised look.

"D-Dante. I-Is it really you?" Miyako said while placing a hand gently on Dante's cheek.

"Whoa there!" Dante said surprisingly as he nodded his head away from Miyako's hand. "Personal space here."

"O-Oh, I'm sorry." Miyako said apologetically. She couldn't help but stare at Dante with absolute astonishment weld up in her brown eyes. "My God…I can't believe it's really you again, Dante…"

"Uhh…what did she say?" Dante asked Kokoro.

Miyako was confused why he asked Kokoro on what was said, but then realized that Dante couldn't understand Japanese and therefore she needed to speak English with him. She cleared her throat and said in perfect English; "I apologize, Dante. I did not know you couldn't speak Japanese."

"Oh, no problem, I'm use to bein' in conversations that I have no idea are." Dante said as he eyed Kasumi dead center, which in turn, made her feel uncomfortable. Dante looked back at Miyako to ask, "And wait a sec; how do you know who I am? Kokoro didn't say my name to you on the phone."

"Eh? You don't remember?" Miyako said, "You don't remember coming here a long time ago?"

Dante replied by shrugging his shoulders to show he was stumped on all this.

"That's the thing too, mother." Kokoro said as she walked back to her Miyako. "He doesn't seem to remember much of when we were kids. I told him that we were friends back then, but he doesn't remember at all."

"You know, I'm quite curious of that as well." Kasumi stepped up to comment to Dante. "You never did specify that you actually visited Japan before. Care to explain why?"

"Like I said; I don't remember." Dante stressed, "How many times do I gotta say it?"

"Meningitis."

All three turned to Miyako in confusion, but Dante was the one to say, "What?"

"Meningitis. That must be why you don't remember." Miyako speculated with her hand on her chin in deep thinking.

"What's meningitis?" Dante questioned.

"An inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and extremely life threatening." Miyako explained, "If not treated a person could die from it because of the high temperature of the brain. However, one of the side effects after meningitis is memory loss. If I remember correctly, you were treated for that a long time ago back when you were six or seven. I guess the effects stuck with you."

"Ah, I see." Kokoro said in surprise, "so that's why you can't remember!"

"Huh. Kinda explains why I don't remember a damn thing before I was seven." Dante figured messaging the back of his head, "Still, how'd I even get this Meningitis?"

"There are a number of ways; each different from the next." Miyako said sadly, "I'm sorry you had to suffer through such a horrific event." She then looked up at Dante with a relieved smile, "But at least you're alive and that's what matters."

"Yeah…maybe that was the mistake…" Dante mumbled.

"What was that?" Miyako asked.

"Nothin'." Dante answered trying to change the subject, "So…that means that…I really was here as a kid?"

"Yes. You were." Miyako nodded.

"See?-! I told you!" Kokoro said happily.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on." Dante stopped hastefully, "When the hell did I even get to Japan? That's the question."

"Ah yes. You don't remember such things like that either." Miyako said, "Well, you see…you came here with…your mother."

Dante stared at Miyako with a perplexed expression on his face, trying to accept this strange memory in the first place. But when he heard the word "mother", suddenly he couldn't help but ask; "Mother…?"

"But of course. Everyone has a mother, Dante." Miyako smiled, "Even you."

Dante couldn't believe that his mother was actually alive. Or that he had a mother who actually cared for him. He slowly turned and paced back a bit to try and get everything figured out. This was a lot to suddenly take in what with Dante being reminded that he came to Kyoto years ago, and that he had a mother to boot. Hell, Dante wondered when he even learned Japanese to be able to communicate with Kokoro when they were young. Finally, he turned back to a worried Kokoro and Kasumi, and a concerned Miyako, and said, "I knew I had a mother, but…I didn't think that…she actually cared enough to take me all the way out to Japan."

"She did." Miyako smiled, "She'd travel here with you to Kyoto…to visit my daughter."

Dante looked directly at Kokoro, looking as though he wanted an answer from her, to which Kokoro nodded in confirmation with a smile as she said, "Mother's right. Your mom would visit us in the summer to let you and I play together." Kokoro then placed her finger on her chin in remembrance, "If I remember correctly, it's been such a way since we were at least four years old." She looked back at Dante as she walked to him with a humble smile. "And we've been friends since that day…till you had Meningitis. But now that's passed." Kokoro finally stood before Dante to try and touch his shoulder, but Dante pushed off from her with a concerned look on his face. "What matters now is that we're together again."

Dante felt a little bad that he couldn't remember any of this at all. There was so much that's been going on in his life that he couldn't bother to get himself to recall most of his life before the orphanage. In fact, the orphanage was the farthest he could actually remember. After that, it's nothing but a black haze to him.

Dante sighed it all out, and finally looked up again with a smile, "Well…that's good to know. Hell, I always assumed my parents didn't want me 'cause I saw demons."

"Far from it." Miyako said as she walked to Dante, "Your mother cared deeply for you. She couldn't bear to part from you at all." She finally stood before Dante, and smiled kindly, "She truly wanted you to be happy. And only wanted the best for you."

"Well she's got a weird way of showin' it with the life I got." Dante said irritable, but then asked, "So…do you know anything about her; Hair color? Favorite outfits? Or better yet, tell me this…where is she now?"

There it was. There's the question she knew Dante would ask at some point. She dreaded answering it for she knew exactly what happened to Dante's mother. She took a deep breath, knowing this would be a long story, but she felt Dante was old enough to know what happened. "Of course." Miyako nodded, "You ought to know now. " She looked solemnly towards Dante, "You see—"

"Oh wow! Look at the time!" Everyone suddenly turned to see Kasumi speaking out so suddenly. She looked towards the clock and said, "It's getting pretty late. I think we should quickly get to bed. Since we will be going to the same school as Kokoro."

Dante was at a loss for words. He stared daggers at Kasumi for once again holding him from learning important details about his past. It was bad enough she was holding secrets, but now no one else is allowed to tell him anything? "Seriously? You decide to talk now?"

"S-Sorry. I just thought it was something worth mentioning since we still have a mission to focus on." Kasumi reasoned calmly, "We must protect Kokoro and attend school with her to keep a better eye on her."

"Keep an eye on her, what do you mean?" Miyako questioned.

"There are…dangerous thugs after me, mother!" Kokoro lied, "They're trying to come after me because I'm the daughter of DOATEC Japan!"

"What?-! How shameless!" Miyako said angrily in Japanese, "How dare they hunt down my sweet daughter like this?-! It's unacceptable!" She placed her hands on Kokoro's shoulder with now a worried expression. "Are you sure you don't want to skip school until this is all settled?"

"Daijobuyo Oka-san . I have Dan-chan and Kasumi-san to watch over me." Kokoro assured her mother in Japanese, "I'll be fine. Yaksoku."

Kokoro may have promised her mother, but that still didn't make her worries go away. But it is better that her daughter have strong people with her at all times. She's seen Kasumi as a ninja of the Mugen Tenshin Ryu while Dane was still a mystery to his strength. Even so, this was the less conspicuous way she could make sure her daughter was safe, so she had no choice but to believe in her daughter. She slowly removed her hands from Kokoro's shoulder and said, "Okay...I trust you."

"Arigato, Oka-san." Kokoro thanked with a small bowed. She looked back at Dante and Kasumi and smiled, "Okay guys! I'll show you to your rooms." She said in English again. "Follow me."

JAPAN

UNKNOWN LOCATION

23:44 P.M.

Mila had just gotten use to the darkness of the secret halls that seemed to go on for minutes at a time. She saw nothing but bricks upon bricks leading further and further down a pathway with no actual end in sight. But at least it wasn't all bad for Mila. At least she had company to walk with; although that company happened to be a refined, katana holding, terrorist whom is also the brother of a dangerous public enemy in another city and the rest of the world.

"W-Wow. This tunnel goes on forever." Mila smiled nervously, "I bet it goes all the way to China when we reach the end! Heh heh…uhh…"

Vergil didn't respond. He didn't even crack a smile or laughed at all. Mila knew the joke was a bit tasteless, but not so tasteless that he doesn't even respond. That just made this awkward walk even more awkward for her, but Vergil seemed to not mind without a single word.

Mila decided to give it one last shot, or risk awkward time with Dante's "too-cool-to-talk" brother. "S-So anyway…"

"Mila Rodriguez, correct?"

Mila was caught off guard by Vergil suddenly speaking like that, but calmed down and said, "Y-Yeah, that's me."

"I see." Vergil nodded, "You're just like how he is. Your father, I mean."

"R-Really?-!" Mila stopped and asked impatiently, "Do you know where he is?-!"

"No, I don't. I've only heard rumors of your father."

Mila slumped with disappointment. "Oh…okay…"

"I apologize." Vergil said, "I didn't know that speaking of your father would strike a nerve."

"No, no. That's okay." Mila assured him, "It's just…I've been looking for him for a long time now."

"He ran out on you?" Vergil asked.

"Yes…and no." Mila said solemnly, "When I was young, my father said that he had to leave for some service in the army. This was back when I was about six or seven years old. He sent me to my grandparents to live, while he was gone. For years I waited for him to come back, but…he never did."

"And your mother?"

"She died giving birth to me." Mila answered with a hint of sadness still lingering in her voice. "All I had was my father. He really was a great man and a loving father to me…I didn't know what I'd do without him…till he left."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Vergil apologized, "Please, I didn't mean to bring up such painful memories."

"Oh, it's okay. I've gotten over it a long time ago." Mila assured Vergil, "But…Now I wanna know about my father. I know it's more than just the army he's doing. It's deeper than that, I can just feel it." She turned her glance to Vergil, who was still looking forward, "I wanna find my father once and for all!"

Though Vergil looked as though he wasn't paying attention, he couldn't help but feel a strange irony in Mila's longing for her father. Even so he questioned it no more and simply replied with; "And I'm sure you will find him…but if you ever need any help in doing so, you're more than able to ask."

"Thank you…by the way, what sort of rumors did you hear about my dad?" Mila asked.

Vergil stopped walking and Mila also stopped. She wondered while he suddenly halted or why the grip on his sword became tighter for some odd reason. Could it be she asked the wrong question? And if she did she worried as to what Vergil might do with that katana in his hand.

"Well…" Vergil started calmly, "I don't know how to say this without you feeling hurt or anything…especially your longing to rekindle such severed bonds with him…"

"Then don't." Mila begged, "Tell me straight up. I wanna know about him, and what he's been doing no matter what." She reached for Vergil's gloved right hand and held it tightly for him to answer. "So please! Tell me what the rumors are!"

Vergil was caught off guard at first at how desperate she was in wanting to know about her own father, but at he soon realized that she's not had such an easy life with no actual father in her life to be there for her or support her at all. He felt that maybe him telling her these rumors would allow her to reach closure and maybe even be able to find him.

"Okay then." Vergil nodded, "I'll tell you."

"Thank you, Vergil." Mila smiled in appreciation. "I really do appreciate this."

"Of course…but…can you let go of my hand now?"

Mila had just noticed how tight she held Vergil's hand and quickly let go of it frantically. "O-Oh, I'm sorry!"

Vergil chuckled as he said, "Don't be." He took a deep breath to return to his callous stern self as he spoke; "Now. This only a rumor, but I've heard that your father is in league with an undercover cult that has a sole purpose to destroy big business from "controlling" people's lives. Such as DOATEC, so to speak."

" DOATEC? That's Helena's organization." Mila spoke out. "So, would that mean Christie's also part of that group my father's in?"

"I doubt it. This Christie seems to be working for someone else." Vergil pondered.

"Donavan." Mila said bitterly, "He's the reason for this. Because of him, Helena's hurt, and I can't do a thing to help."

"Don't worry. You've done plenty." Vergil said, "Now continuing with your father."

"Oh, sorry." Mila said, "Continue."

"As I was saying, your father is a sort of freedom fighter against the establishments that have a high stature in the business world. The reasons for his joining is still unknown, but it's highly speculated that it had something to do with the recent tournament of DOATEC three years ago."

"That's right! There was a tournament three years ago." Mila remembered, "And there was an explosion in the main building as well, and the tournament was pretty much canceled."

"It was canceled because of an attack on the building itself." Vergil said, "Don't worry though. It had nothing to do with your father or the organization he's now in; however there were some specified past battings between the past DOATEC president, Donovan, and the leader of this group."

"Who's the leader?" Mila asked.

"I don't know. That's just one of the questions I'm trying to find an answer to." Vergil explained. "But back to your father, I don't know specifically why he joined or what it had to do with the DOA tournament in itself, but I do know this much." He took a deep breath and answered, "Your father use to work specifically for Donovan."

Mila was absolutely devastated to hear that. Her own father? Working for such a man as Donovan? Such a thought couldn't even fathom in her mind! She couldn't accept that he use to work for him at all…but for some strange reason, she wasn't too surprised about such news. In a way, it was the answer she feared wouldn't be true deep in her mind.

"S-So…my father worked for Donovan?" Mila said heart broken by it still.

"Correction; he did work for Donovan." Vergil corrected, as he continued walking forward with Mila following him, "Now he's part of these freedom fighters, whose sole purpose is to cause destruction of bigger businesses…it's funny…we're a lot alike."

"We? You mean your group called "The Order", right?"

"Yes. We too want to break the hold on the people. However, as you've already guessed, our rebellion is against a darker force then higher anarchies as businesses."

"You mean the demons." Mila understood.

"Precisely." Vergil said "Now enough about that for a bit. Do you have any more questions?"

"For now, just one." Mila said, "Why would you help me?"

"You see the demons. You come in contact with them." Vergil explained, "Only…people like me, and my brother can be able to phase into the demon realm. Yet, you, Ms. Helena Douglas, and many others around the world can also phase into the demon realm as well. I want a human who's experienced this to do research."

"Why not ask that ninja guy then?" Mila brought up. "He's human…I think."

"Yes, Ryu is human." Vergil said. He also held a small smile on his face, "I must admit; humans are quite something. Ryu Hayabusa is proof of that. To be only human and perform feats beyond human capabilities is astounding. It almost makes me believe that humans would be able to truly fight the demons if such a time demons appeared to them…almost."

"Well humans can be just as strong as those demons." Mila said confidently, "I myself have fought a demon or two."

"Really?" Vergil said, "Was it a weak one…or a full blooded creature that will kill without warning?"

Mila had nothing to say to that. She had fought a smaller one that was her size…but compared to the one she saw in New York…she wondered if humans really could take care of themselves if demon ever broke free. The thought worried her.

However her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival into another smaller room with hanging lights dangling from above. All of them shined down to the middle of the entire room where layed out on an examining table was the blond French woman, Helena. She was still unconscious, but seemed to be less pale in the light. On the side of that table was another female who looked as though she was doing something with Helena's arm. The girl felt Helena's palm with a single tattooed finger and slowly traced it to Helena's veins on her wrist to test for a pulse.

"Um…excuse me." Mila asked meekly.

The girl stopped her examining and slowly placed Helena's hand down, to look over her shoulder and see Mila, and Vergil had entered the room.

"O-Oh. Hello." The girl said politely as she turned around and placed her hands behind her.

Mila got a good look at the girl to see she had her black blue hoodie over her head so she couldn't see much of her face, but she did notice her firm lips and dark brown bangs falling onto her shoulders. She also wore denim shorts that seemed a bit too short for her age (though not short enough to show anything revealing) and black boots were donned on her feet as well.

"Mila, this is Kat." Vergil introduced, "She's a physic, and the wiccan doctor for our organization."

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Mila Rodriguez." Kat bowed.

"Oh, you too." Mila replied with a bow.

"Well I'll let you two get acquainted." Vergil said turning on the heel, "I've got more research to do."

"But wait, I still have more questions!" Mila quickly turned to say.

"And they will be answered in a later time." Vergil answered with his back to her. "There's much for me to do. Besides…" He looked over his shoulder with a smile as he said, "You look as though you could use a fellow female to talk to…goodbye for now."

Vergil walked out of the room, and only left an awkward silence between the hooded girl named Kat and Mila herself. Neither really moved much apart from Kat dropping her hands to her sides. Other than that, both were just standing there, turning their attention to other things or just fidgeting their fingers.

Finally, Mila decided to say "So um…how's Helena gonna be?"

"O-Oh, she'll be fine…" Kat answered quickly, "So..um…Vergil said that you met Dante…right?"

"Oh, yeah I did." Mila nodded.

"Well…tell me what he's like."

KYOTO

KOKORO'S HOME

3:04 A.M.

The city slept in the night filled with stars in the sky as the moon shined its half glow upon the historically preserved city streets. Deep within the home that stood as the most wealthiest in Kyoto, the Dante and Kasumi were fast asleep within spare rooms that had a great view of Kyoto, while Kokoro was asleep in her own room. However, though everyone was enjoying their peace with the rest and drifting off to the dream realm in their minds, one female couldn't exactly travel to such a place so easily. Especially with something troubling on her mind on top of that.

"Why…? I can't believe I was going to lie to him…how could I…?" The woman said, clutching her robes tightly. "Damnit…I just need more time…that's all I—"

"Miyako-san."

Miyako was startled by the sudden appearance of someone from the shadows of the corner of her dark room that she whirled around and kept her distance from the corner of that wall in caution.

"Who's there?-!" Miyako ordered in Japanese, "Jibun o Miseru! "

Slowly from the silhouetted darkness of the shadows, a figure walked out of the darkness and into the half-lit light of the sun through the opened window. A small breeze rolled into the room as the girl's orange hair and knight gown slightly fly in the small wind, making her hands calm both.

"K-Kasumi-san!" Miyako exclaimed, "What are you doing in here?-!"

"Never mind that for the moment." Kasumi said sternly with a matching expression. "What matters now is the part you play in all this, and your reasons."

"Reasons? Part? What are you talking about?" Miyako said confusingly.

"Simple; why did you lie to Dante?" Kasumi questioned.

"W-What?"

"Admit it. Dante doesn't have meningitis and you know it." Kasumi interrogated, "Meningitis is a human infection, and Dante's not human. And don't even think about playing dumb with me, because I know full well that you knew his mother more then you were going to tell him. Am I right?"

Miyako held a shocked expression on her face, before finally dropping her charade and donning a more callous look in her eyes. "Humph. You ninja do always poke your noses into other's business." Miyako said bitterly, "Okay fine, I'll admit I was lying to Dante, but you and I both know that he must not know of his family! Both mother and father must be kept shrouded from him! Besides, I thought you yourself wanted it this way. Dante not knowing who he is so that he can be wrapped around your little finger."

"What I'm doing is for the greater good. I must keep Dante with me until I can find Alpha." Kasumi said, "That's all that matters to me. And if protecting your daughter can give me more of a lead to finding her, then I'll keep a sharp eye on Kokoro-san post-haste."

"Alpha?" Miyako questioned, "Who is this Alpha you—?"

"I said don't play dumb!" Kasumi exclaimed as she slipped from the folds of her gown, a small kunai knife and swiftly threw it towards the robed woman! However, the kunai's path was altered and it was suddenly sent right into the wall with a small thud of the blade piercing through.

Kasumi stood surprised at what had just happened! She was sure that the knife was aimed right at Miyako, but…it seemed like something got in the way and changed the trajectory of the knife. Kasumi looked cautiously towards Miyako. "You…! What did you—?"

"It's only natural. For I am a 13th generation martial artist of the Ba Ji Quan." Miyako confirmed, "However, I have went through…"adjustments" as appose to my daughter."

"Adjustments…?"

"Correct. Taken right from the very thing you seek to destroy." Miyako said dastardly. "Yes…Alpha's blood flows through me."

Kasumi looked at Miyako in absolute discuss and anger that she would do something like that to herself. She couldn't help but want to grab another kunai and lodge it right into her neck once and for all. Her hands trembled into a fist, and her eyes darted right at the mother with an intense stare towards her.

"You…! You monster!" Kasumi exclaimed, "You have a daughter for God sake! Think about her! You possessing this power could put both you and her in danger!"

"Don't worry. My daughter knows nothing of this at all, nor will any harm come to her." Miyako said stone-faced into a stern expression. "So long as you say nothing of the sort to Dante, or Kokoro."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me correctly." Miyako explained, "You will not say a word of this power to neither Kokoro nor Dante. This secret stays between you and I. And in return I promise to not go into detail of Dante's true life, and thus keeping him under your leash. Sounds fair enough correct? After all, you do need him correct?" She then smiled quite wickedly upon her next sentence seeping off her lips, "He is after all, the key to your objective, is he not?"

Kasumi was at a lost for disagreeing. She needed Dante to, as ashamed to admit it as she was, be obedient to her whim, otherwise he'll go off on his own and she'll have to find another way to release Alpha to defeat her. In the end Kasumi had no other choice in the matter, and frankly not enough resources to be able to rely on. It was either this, or nothing.

She dropped her fists, and sighed in defeat; "Yes…okay then. It's a deal."

"I knew you'd see things my wa—"

"However…" Kasumi then quickly walked to Miyako and stood before her, face to face in an intimidating way. Her eyes pierced into the black haired mother's cold eyes as Kasumi's words were spoken; "…you will not lay a finger on Dante or tell Donovan he's here. And I won't let slip that you're a monster to Kokoro. Seems like a simple trade." She grabbed her kunai, and forced it off the wall while still staring at Miyako eye-to-eye. "So, is it a deal?"

Miyako did not waver upon the copper haired ninja's burning gaze, nor was she frightened of the knife in this ninja's hand either. To be honest, she was rather excited to be in the presence of such passion and fire burning all in one stare. It had been so long since she herself had such vigor in quite some time, and to see it in such a strong girl as Kasumi made her feel quite good inside. Like she's known her for years and can see herself in her. However Miyako realized that these could just be early signs of the side effects from being injected with Alpha's blood. Since Alpha was Kasumi's twin, it was only natural of the strange connection.

Even so, Miyako smiled contently and strolled from Kasumi's glance and simply said, "Very well. We have a deal." She then opened the door to her room, and showed her the way out. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed."

Kasumi nodded, "Shitsurei." And with that, Kasumi finally left her room with one last glance towards her as she stepped out. The door slowly closed behind her, as she stood in the hallway, contemplating her next move. Things were getting more and more complicated for her to figure out so soon that she felt as if she'd never be able to figure this all out so soon.

"I must act quickly…" Kasumi muttered, "Too much is standing in my way…"