Callie held Kō's hand as they walked back to the house. It had been several years since she had enjoyed a pure, honest romance, and she didn't want to do anything to mess it up. The last sweet, slow moving relationship she had experienced had been around the age of sixteen. Then her life was put on fast forward. There was no time to take things slow when she put herself on a fast track for securing a better future for her grandmother and herself. In retrospect, for the biggest part it had all worked out grandly, and she would be deemed a fabulous success. Her decisions had put her on the exact path she needed to be on to accomplish her momentous goals. Graduating from high school at an early age, going straight into nursing school thereafter, and then to also graduate at an accelerated pace from university into addition garnering the number one spot her class had been the best strategic moves she had ever made in this game called life.

However, In the arena of love, she had been a total loser - a tragic failure in every way. The heightened pace at which things were progressing with Kō was not unusual for her. She knew she should be keeping things slow and low key. But he was so sincere and honest with his emotions, making it easy for her to want to jump into love with both feet and go in over her head. She had told him that she was not the one for him in hopes of making him back off, yet he seemed determine to pursue a romantic relationship with her. She did not want to hurt him. Her relationships had a tendency to be like fireworks; they burned hot and fast, exploding into something beautiful and amazing . Also like fireworks, they could be dangerous and had the possibility of misfiring which caused everyone to get burned.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Kō asked her, pulling her to a stop at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the front porch.

"I'm okay. Why?" she inquired, immediately sensing the tenseness in her forehead. She raised her eyebrows to loosen the tension drawing them together over her nose.

"You just look sad. And a little angry," he admitted.

"I was just squinting because of the sun. Let's go inside," she suggested, twisting her wrist free of his grip to jog up the steps into the house.

Walking through the door, Callie was hit by a wall of heat. She glanced at Kei who was sitting cross legged on the floor typing on the keyboard like a madman while sweat poured down his face. The collar of his red t-shirt was soaked.

"It's like a freaking oven in here!" Kō exclaimed, fanning himself with his hand.

Callie kept her mouth shut because she was afraid of what obscenities might fly out. It was a damn miracle that the computer had not overheated and shut down. She rushed around the house, opening the doors to allow the winds coming from the sea to blow through the house. Turning on the fans also helped dispel the intense heat. Bringing the oscillating fan from her bedroom, she sat it down by the table and positioned it to blow directly on Kei and computer. If he suffered a heat stroke, she could always kill him so he would recover. The thought made her lips tilt into a sinister smirk. She would be willing to make an exception to her ingrained belief of preserving life at all cost for him and only him. It would be satisfying in a horrible way to murder that little shit. The computer, on the other hand, would be a little more difficult to salvage and get back to normal.

In the meantime, Kō had gone to the refrigerator to retrieve cold bottles of water for all of them. He gave her one first, then one to Kei, before opening his own to drink it.

Callie kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

"I see you two have gotten closer. Still a virgin, Kō?" Kei inquired without missing a keystroke while typing.

"Well, I see you're definitely still an asshole, Kei," he retorted hotly.

Callie snorted in an effort to hide her amusement but failed. She covered her mouth with her hand yet could not prevent the laughter from bubbling out. They were both correct on each account. Kō's virtue was still intact and Kei was still, well, being himself. Her eyes slid over Kō's lightly tanned physique, examining the ripples of the burgeoning musculature that made her shiver unexpectedly with a rush of desire. Suddenly heat engulfed her so rapidly she feared she might faint. Clearing her throat and finding no relief from the uncomfortable, choking sensation, she gulped down the bottle of water she was holding in her hand.

"Have you made any progress on finding an ally?" Callie asked when she was able to find her voice again. "Or ten?"

"I found a video of Satō revealing his latest plan of attack. He has a hit list containing eleven names, leaders of organizations that has anything to do with oppressing Ajins. The names were given to him by Tanaka. I'm going through the list now to find one who could be a possible candidate," he explained while continuing to tap the computer keys.

"Tanaka could be considered Satō's second in command. I'm sure you've seen the video of the Ajin being shot in the head at point blank range," Kō said, helpfully providing information although she had not asked a question. His willingness to offer unsolicited information could be a problem in the future if this was a habit of his.

Callie had seen that video. As a matter of fact, when she had begun her research on Ajins, it was the very first thing she had come across. Seeing that video had terrified her and disturbed so deeply she had barely been able to bear it. After watching it several times in a row, she had walked away from her computer to take several straight shots of whiskey to numb her brain. She had needed it all to stop before she picked up a gun and blew her brains out to make it stop. Besides, she would have just woken up again for the process to start all over. She laughed bitterly at the remembrance.

"So that was him, huh?" she muttered, thinking about the chilled white wine in the fridge that would be great right about now. "And he's one of grandfather's closest comrades. I suppose that's fitting."

"I'm sure your grandfather sought him out. Just like he did me," Kei added under his breath as if ashamed of that fact.

"I met him too," Kō volunteered, physically shrinking back from her when her head snapped in his direction. "I had answered the call he had made to Ajins to join him, to fight those who want to capture us, to experiment on us...to find a way to kill us." He turned his back to her, walking away a few steps. "But I didn't like how he wanted to go about it. I didn't agree with him. He needs to be stopped. Then I somehow found this guy here." He jerked his chin toward Kei. "I've told you what happened after that."

Callie swung her eyes toward Kei. She studied the thin, pale young man noting how frail he looked. He would be completely useless in a physical fight. Things were bound to get physical at some point. Was she expected to be his bodyguard? "You know, you really should start working out a bit. I could teach you a few basic self-defense moves."

"No, thanks," he responded with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I provide the intelligence. Kō will do the grunt work and perhaps provide a modicum of protection. And you - "

Callie raised an eyebrow, her eyes meeting his when he looked up from the computer. "And me? What am I in all of this?"

"You are a combination of both brains and brawn. You possess both intelligence and physical strength. You're the bridge between Kō and myself that will hold us all together."

"Good answer," she commended him, giving him a smile. She walked to the kitchen to begin preparing lunch. "How does a green salad and cold noodles sound for lunch?"

"Great! Need help?" Kō asked eagerly, following her into the kitchen.

"Why don't you go take a shower?" she suggested, reaching into the refrigerator for one of the bottles of wine. She gasped when Kō's hand surrounded hers that was wrapped around the neck of the bottle.

"Do you really need this?"

"Does it matter? It's just a drink. Besides, it won't - "

"Yeah, I know," he interrupted, letting her hand go and stepping away from her. "It won't kill you. Aren't there other ways to ease the pain?"

Callie set the bottle down on the counter keeping her back to him. There were definitely other ways to numb the pain. Unfortunately, those ways sometimes extended beyond wreaking havoc on the body and boiled over into creating chaos with the emotions. A good orgasm or two was always helpful for relieving stress and finding a brief respite from the turmoil. But so was drowning her sorrows in the bottom of a glass of alcohol. She had no desire to toy with his emotions, or her own, by toying with his body.

"Callie?"

"Of course there are other ways. But I don't think you're ready for them. Not yet."

"I'm not a child," he snapped defensively.

"In some ways you are," she countered, pouring herself a glass of wine. "I don't want to hurt you."

"I'm willing to take a chance."

"What if I'm not?" She raised the glass to her lips, taking a sip before pivoting on the ball of her foot to face him. "Be patient. We have plenty of time. Let things happen as they will. Don't try to force it. You'll only succeed in pushing me away."

"You seemed ready enough when you kissed me," he retorted, taking the wine glass out of her hand. He drank the contents in one big gulp keeping his eyes locked on hers.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, sucking in a deep breath when he reached around her to set the glass on the counter.

"Taking a chance," he answered, smashing his lips against hers.

Callie clutched the edge of the counter behind her while he ravaged her mouth with a vehement kiss. If she touched him, she feared she would be doomed, that she would give into the urge that seized her body the first time she felt his soft lips under hers. When his lips lifted from hers, she kept her eyes closed while he hovered above her. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from reacting to the gentle stroking of his fingertips across her cheek.

"I'm not so sure that we have all the time in the world. Maybe we don't have a true immortality. What if it's like a cat having nine lives?" Kō presented the rhetorical question and paused as if waiting for her to answer.

"Cats don't actually have nine lives," she replied with a dismissive chuckle.

"I know that," he hissed, slamming his hand down on the counter behind her. "What if we're given a certain number of lives and that's it? We use them up and they're gone. When we die that tenth time, we're dead for good."

He had posed a good question that made her queasy when she considered the far reaching ramifications. What if their lives were finite after all? Would the number of lives differ from Ajin to Ajin or would it be the same amount for all? Would they somehow know if they were getting to the end of their lives? If they were truly immortal, were their other ways to kill them? In all of the experimentation on Ajins, had they found a way to kill one permanently? The questions tumbled one upon another, coming faster and faster until her head throbbed.

"Are you all right?" Kō asked her when she massaged her temples.

"Your question brings up so many others. So many we don't have the answers to. I just don't know what to think right now. We really don't know anything about what we are...about being Ajins. I'm..." Her voice broke and her words trailed off into nothingness. She leaned into him, pressing her cheek to his chest. A sigh passed through her parted lips when he put his arms around her to hold her. She sank into his arms, abandoning herself to his comforting embrace.

"Scared? Me too," he confessed, gathering her more securely into his arms. "But I'm not as afraid when I'm with you."