Faster than expected, and chapter 6 more than half done. Thanks to Vapor for fast proofing.

Chapter 5

"This house?" It was more a rhetorical question, and M-21 didn't wait for an answer before approaching the front door. A sudden tug at the back of the collar of his suit jacket made him stop in his tracks. "What?" He snapped at Tao.

M-21 felt the strain on his clothes disappear, and Tao took a step forward to stand at his side. The smile normally playing around Tao's lips had vanished, and a concentrated look had replaced it.

"Just make sure that you stay calm. If the guy is the stalker, don't raise your hand against him. It's up to the police to handle the case. Stalking is a crime. They can convict him for this."

"I don't trust the police," M-21 answered, his eyes fixed again at the single family home. He didn't pay attention to the lovingly planted front garden or the decorations. Some windows were alight, and he tried to figure out how many enemies they would face. More shadows than just one moved behind the curtains.

"The boss will make sure that they'll do their work. And you trust him, right?" Tao's voice was calm, but held a slightly patronizing tone. M-21 glared at him for a second but didn't say anything. Gritting his teeth, he once again tried to reach the front door of the house. This time Tao fell in steps beside him.

The house wasn't big, but it wasn't in a run-down neighborhood either. If you would ask the people living around here, they would be shocked to hear what this person did. It was always like this, and M-21 wondered how humans couldn't see the darkness in other people, blinded by pretended kindness.

Tao rang the bell, and M-21 could hear a person approach the front door. Heavy steps, too heavy to be seasoned fighter, but definitely the steps of a man. M-21 clenched his fists, and he felt his body go rigid. Only Tao's hand, warningly laid on his lower arm, kept him from forcefully slamming the door out of its hinges.

Seconds later the front door opened, revealing an elderly man. His hair was graying, and he was a bit on the chubby side. The amused glint in his eyes and the smile on his face wasn't something M-21 expected.

Tao greeted and started to explain why they visited, but M-21 fixed his glance on the person in the open door.

Was this the man who sent those letters? The man who looked at the child with possessive and impure thoughts? If she knew, she would be scared. Unwanted, the picture of the two crying girls on Tao's bed appeared before his mind's eyes, and it took all he had to not jump forward and kill this man right now, right here.

A arm in front of his chest kept him from taking another step closer. M-21 hadn't even noticed that he started moving. The old man now showed fear, and he would have closed the door if M-21 wouldn't have stopped his attempt with a hand pressed against the glass.

"Leave grandpa alone!"

M-21 only had enough time to catch the wooden block centimeters in front of his left cheek. Don't throw it back, don't break it with bare hands, was his almost instinctive thoughts. He was used to hiding his true powers from his Union days. As Tao couldn't stifle the chuckle, the urge to stuff the wooden block down his throat was harder to resist.

"We're not here to hurt your grandpa, kid. We just want to ask him a few questions about a credit card he owns." Tao's last words were directed at the older man, whom unconsciously had moved in front of his grandchild. Someone who stalked a girl to such an extent, would he protect another child like this without even thinking about it?

M-21 glanced around the other man's side at the boy armed with wooden toy blocks and forced his body to relax. A year ago he wouldn't have minded to kill in front of this child, but now? His attention snapped back to the other two men. Had he heard right? Did the house owner just invite them in for a cup of tea?

Twenty minutes later, M-21 found himself sitting at a comfortable dinner table, a cup of steaming tea in front of him. He still wondered how Tao had managed to talk the older man and him into this, but that was Tao for you.

A six-year old hid behind the door frame to the next room and tried to make him disappear just by glaring at him. It made him nervous to feel the little boy's stare at his back. A short inconspicuous movement, and his chair was turned so that he could keep track of the child out of the corner of his eyes. He saw the short, amused glance Tao gave him but decided to not react on it. Instead he turned his attention back to the man in front of him.

"Tell me where your credit card is."

"Please," added Tao to M-21's words with a smile everybody, but the people closest to him, would think was genuine. The older man turned his annoyed look from M-21 to Tao and returned the smile a bit warily. His look held something akin to pity, like he wanted to express his condolence to Tao for having such an rude partner. M-21 scowled and crossed his arms. He would leave the talking to his comrade and look for incoherent answers himself. At least for now. A walk through the house would be good, too. He didn't know much about stalkers, but shouldn't there be a picture of Suyi here?

"I lent the card to my daughter. She is... I love my daughter, but she isn't the most responsible person. That's the reason Ji-hoon lives with me and not her. I thought she just forgot to give the card back."

It was a lie. At least the last part of his words were untrue, M-21 could easily tell. Why lie because of that? He could just say she took the card with no intentions to give it back? Why protect a person who was using him?

"Why do you think she doesn't own the card any more?" Tao's question was calm and polite, but M-21 could see the calculating glance in his eyes. He was trying to distinguish between lie and truth, too. All the while, he possibly tried to calculate ahead and plan several ways the discussion could turn out.

"She would have used it more. There were no debits last month," the old man explained, his voice tinted with sadness and resignation. "What did they do with my card that you took it upon you to investigate?"

"Stalking a girl," M-21 snapped. Beating around the bush had never been his choice, and this careful approach was making him sick. Those words seemed to have an impact, perhaps the only reason all Tao did was give him a reprimanding look. The old man grew pale and silently shook his head. So much appalled surprise couldn't be pretended. M-21 could see hastened breathing and a cramped grasp around the warm tea cup as if he was looking for comfort.

"My daughter has..."

"Nothing to do with it," Tao appeased automatically. "You said that she would have used the card more, if it still would be in her possession. But we would like to speak to her, too. Perhaps she suspects someone of stealing the card?"

M-21 tuned out the rest of the conversation. He felt like throwing one of the temper tantrums he could provoke Regis into having. This should be solved by now! And it seemed like they were running around on a wild goose chase without real hints to follow. The worst wasn't that he felt helpless, although he hated this feeling. He was worried about Suyi. As long as the stalker was free, someone was following her, shadowing her. Takeo would keep her save, but M-21 didn't like it. Not one bit.