Markus did not know what was going on, but for some reason he felt on edge lately, it almost reminded him of the time where he was being stalked by Legionary Assassin Squads for quite some time after he completely and utterly fucked them over and had a shoot to kill policy on them.

He did not know why he felt like that, but it felt like it started a couple weeks ago when he was at Ichigo Productions waiting for Ai to finish up with her training for the day as he waited with Miyako, Aqua, and Ruby. For some reason unknown to him, Ruby seemed to have soften up a bit around him, while Aqua remain as prickly as ever, even though he tried to hide it.

But he swore ever since he got out of the place with Ai by his side, he felt someone following him and Ai, and he constantly looked over his shoulder whenever he could, but to his own annoyance and frustration, there was simply far too many people to keep track of that literally anyone could have been the people following him and Ai.

And because of that, he's been in a off mood all day today, and that was becoming apparent to several people that knew him quite well by now. "You okay Markus?" Wu-Fei asked with a concern tone, causing him to blink as he turned to the Chinese Owner, who had a concerned expression on his face. "You look like you're worried about something." He added in.

Markus looked around and saw that Ai was currently talking with Kai-Ming excitedly, and thus would prevent Ai from overhearing him. "Yeah, you can say that." Markus admitted, as Wu-Fi blinked at him in surprise. "I just got something of a bad feeling in my gut and it hasn't been leaving me alone today for the most part." He said to him.

"A Gut Instinct." Wu-Fei hummed as Markus nodded. "Usually, I wouldn't take that kind of talk seriously, but I have known people who have led…shall we say…exciting lives. They usually have a strong sense for this type of thing, if I were you Markus, I'd be on my toes and be careful." He warned.

Markus nodded. "Aye, that I will Wu-Fei." Markus acknowledged as Wu-Fei grunted as well and then turned back to his kitchen as Ai soon came up after leaving Kai-Ming giggling in amusement. "Hello Ai, liked talking with Kai-Ming?" He asked.

"I did!" Ai nodded her head happily. "Despite being a fan of mine, she really enjoyed everything that we at B-Komachi had to offer, despite all of our early failings and the likes and liked us simply for being us!" She said with a smile.

"Is that so?" Markus hummed. "Good on you, so I have to ask, what is it like to interact with your fans in a not so standard fan meeting?" He asked Ai, as he was actually kind of curious as to how she felt about it.

Ai had a strange yet complicated expression formed on her face that Markus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow behind his Lucky Shades. "It's…kind of familiar to be honest." She started off. "Several years back, I kind of got into a medical incident and had to meet a doctor, and he was also a fan of mine, but soon found myself bonding with him." She said with a complicated expression forming on her face.

"…I'm going to go out on a limb and say that something happened to him?" Markus asked, as he got a feeling as to where this was going. Personal Tragedies were something he was used to by now; the Mojave Wasteland had a dime a dozen worth of tragic tales all over the place for people to write a book on and then some.

"He vanished." Ai revealed to Markus as Markus paid attention. "He vanished before a big operation that he was supposed to lead on me, and his assistants had to do the work for him." She said to Markus. "To this very day I still don't know what happened to him or where he vanished for." She sighed out.

Markus was silent for a moment but inside his head, his thoughts were running hard and hot as he was running theoretical and hypothetical suggestions in his head. As far as he learned from Wu-Fei a doctor suddenly vanishing like that did not happen like normal, even more if the Doctor was scheduled for an operation of some kind.

Maybe it was just him being paranoid, but the idea of a doctor vanishing without a trace for Ai boded something ill will for her. And based on what he assumed so far, he can imagine the Doctor was some kind of Childcare or Child Birth Doctor, he honestly did not know the official title, and if he had vanished on the day that Ai was supposed to give birth then…

Markus just shrugged it off, it was only a theoretical, not like some of those insane theories he had were actually true. If he started thinking they were real, he might as well change his name to No Bark Ver II. Even if the mad guy had some level of intelligence that showed him that beneath his nutty exterior, he actually had a point about some stuff.

"So, you made friends with a doctor that vanished, eh?" Markus said as he returned to the talk as Ai nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that Ai, maybe he was dealing with a family emergency or what not? At the very least you made it out okay." He pointed out as Ai nodded at that.

"I was actually kind of lucky." Ai admitted. "From what I've been told in that circumstance I got off as lucky as I did, I guess I'm tougher than I look right~?" She said with a wink and a cute attempt to flex her arms towards Markus, causing him to sigh at her unnecessary actions.

"Yes, yes, we both know you're tough, else you wouldn't have made it far into the Idol Industry." Markus relaxedly said to Ai, who pouted at how utterly unimpressed Markus was with her in that moment.

"You are never impressed with me no matter what I try to do." She huffed at Markus, who simply chuckled at that. "Stop mocking me!" She pouted at him as she poked at him.

"Sorry not mocking you." Markus said as Ai did not believe. "Honest, was not mocking you." He said with a smile. "Just can't believe that you forgot about that time we did karaoke night and you completely and utterly stomped me." He said as Ai's eyes brightened at that as she started giggling heavily at that.

"You are such a terrible singer, Markus!" Ai snickered heavily as Markus sighed in exasperation. "I never heard someone so bad at singing, it was like listening to a cat screeching and clashing with trash cans from some of those old comedy movies from America!" She said while barely able to stay standing as Markus let Ai had her fifteen seconds of amusement at his expense.

It wasn't his fault that he was a shit singer, there was literally very few places that had time or money to have actual singers for their show, and most of them were in New Vegas. And he was a Courier/Mercenary/part time Doctor/ Mechanic/ Negotiator/…okay he was a lot of damn things, but a singer wasn't one of them. And it showed quite clear as to how bad he was at singing or doing anything like that.

They just went out to do some karaoke and rented out a room to do so, and when Ai went first, she did her group's famous Song, "Sign Wa B!" and got a Perfect score on that. But when Markus went next, he tried to find any Western Songs or what not but couldn't find any exactly, so he relented and tried to do a song and he honestly did try his best…except his best wasn't nowhere near acceptable enough.

He got a shit score of a measly one and was so bad, that he cringed at his own voice and gave up a quarter of the way through when he saw how Ai was wincing at his voice. After that though, Ai started laughing hysterically at his expense for how poor he was at singing, she swore in her life that she had never heard anyone that bad at singing until she met him.

Anyways, back to the present, Markus just sighed as Ai still continued to laugh at his expense. "You going to be done anytime soon?" He asked as Ai started slowly down her laughter and groaned as he had help hold her still. "Try not to take quick breaths, deep breaths and try to calm yourself down." He advised as he slowly helped calm down Ai from her amusement at him.

"I'm sorry." Ai started off before she snorted. "No not really, your failure at singing will forever be a precious memory of mine to handle, and no number of memories from my past will overwrite that." She said as she snickered at him, causing him to sigh again, he was doing that a lot today.

"Well, if you are good enough to remain stable, maybe I should just let you go now." Markus said as he let go of Ai, causing her to yelp as she nearly lost her footing and tripped for a bit until she held onto a streetlamp for security as she let out a sigh of relief of not falling and then glared cutely at Markus, who simply smirked back at him. "I thought being an Idol who has to dance a lot means you would be quick on your feet, yes?" He asked with a shit eating grin on his face.

Never let it be said that Markus wasn't petty and takes petty revenge on people that annoyed him or pissed him off.

"You're mean Markus!" Ai huffed at him again with a pouty look, only for said look to die when Markus started patting her on the head in a mocking sweet gesture, causing her to turn red in embarrassment.

"Mean? I am not mean." He said as Ai looked at him in disbelief. "Petty beyond belief? Absolutely." He corrected her as Ai's eyes twitched at that.

"You shouldn't be so petty like that Markus, especially if it hurts a lady's feelings or cause herself to feel embarrassed!" Ai lambasted as she hit him with weak blows on his tough body as Markus raised an eyebrow as he casually started looking around. "What are you doing that for?" Ai asked curiously at his actions.

"Trying to find a lady, and I do not see one anywhere no matter where I look, so it seems your point about me hurting a Lady's feelings are for naught." Markus said dryly as Ai started to develop a twitch at that.

"I am a lady!" Ai snapped at Markus as he took a nice long look at her and snorted at that, causing her to fume. "Markus!" She yelled at him.

Markus started chuckling in amusement at that. "You are far too easy to mess around with Ai." He chuckled out as Ai fumed at him for that. "Sorry, sorry about that." He eventually apologized as he swore that Ai looked close to crying out of embarrassment. "But consider it my petty revenge for the singing comment." He said flatly, giving her a look that made Ai kind of sheepish now.

"I supposed I took it a bit far when I laughed at you for a bit when I remembered your failed singing attempt." Ai said looking kind of shy now as Markus snorted at that.

"And I got my revenge on you for that, so you can call us even now." He said to her, as Ai smiled at that and they continued their excursion of walking together for the time being. And then he suddenly remembered something that he had to ask. "Hey Ai, if I'm correct, your birthday is coming up soon, am I correct?" Markus asked Ai suddenly as she blinked at the random subject before, she beamed happily.

"That's right, my birthday is coming up soon." She nodded at Markus who nodded at that and hummed to himself thoughtfully. "Why do you, do you have something you want to do with or for me?" She asked with a teasing smile at Markus, which naturally fails as it always had.

"Maybe." He grunted out to her. "But depending on my schedule that day, I may have to get your birthday gift either early as I can or, may be be late about it the next day, depends." He explained to her as she nodded. "That…and I actually need to get you a birthday gift for that day." He said as Ai smiled at that.

"Well, I look forward to your gift then Markus~!" Ai said cheerfully as they enjoyed their then silent walk before Ai had to go home now, and Markus started thinking about a birthday gift for Ai, as he wondered what would she like for her birthday or what not.

Along the way home, he stopped as he saw a couple of rabbit figures inside a store and he tilted his head as he took a closer look at them and hummed thoughtfully. They were on the very small side, measuring about a part of his thumb digit and then he got an idea and went inside the store and bought them as he now had an idea for a birthday gift.

All the meanwhile Markus's instincts were telling him about someone keeping an eye on him, as said someone wasn't just one person, but a group of people eyeing him with malicious intent.

"So, you saw him, right? The Whore's boytoy from the looks of it?"

"Hard not to see the fucker crawling all over our so called would be good Idol, bastard's probably the one knock her up to begin with."

"He's going to pay, just like the damn whore's going to pay for her sins."

"We have to be careful; the fucker looks like he actually goes to the gym, probably going to need more than one to actually take him down."

"Which leaves the question of who's going to take care of the whore?"

"I will do it, I've taken care of the damned doctor of hers, I can take care of her."

"…If you say so, we will leave it to you then, now back to the fucker in question."

"We need to observe his daily routine, once we get an idea, find a nice ambush spot and gut him like a fish."

"Can't do it in the Chinese Districts, those Chinese Fuckers will try to protect him though."

"It won't matter, he leaves the Chinese District plenty of times, there will be a moment that we can take advantage of."

"Then it's settled then."

"The Whore Idol Ai and her Boytoy will die!"

"Okay now, just need to add the finishing touches here, and done!" Markus said with a smirk as he finally completed the gift that he was going to gift Ai for her birthday. A handmade Music Box that held several songs, but more importantly, had two rabbit figures inside that he bought that day, that when the top opens start dancing together.

Markus smirked at the bright red, yet well decorated music box as he finished installing the last touch, which was a star like latch so it can keep the music box locked up unless she wants to keep it open. As Markus tested the latch, he was satisfied with what he was able to build.

Trying to build the box in question wasn't that hard, but trying to make sure the gears fit together took a lot of his patience and steady hands. The music notes though were an entirely different issue, and he had to go outside of his usual stomping ground to find a place where the music notes for a Music Box can be found and created. After paying for the music notes he got the order today and inserted them into the music box and is happy to know it worked.

But with the finishing touch in place, he closed the music box and opened it up to start it up and closed his eyes in satisfaction as it was playing music. He didn't pick any of B-Komachi's songs for this, rather he was suggested by Kai-Ming to pick music from an animation studio called Studio Ghibli as they apparently had some amazing musical scores for music boxes.

After nodding in satisfaction with what he had manage to create, he picked up a box and took a bunch of newspapers and tore it up as he shoved them into said box and after he was satisfied with the amount of newspaper acting as a cushion. He gently placed the music box into the larger box and put the top on top of it.

From there, he grabbed some festive present wrapping that was given to him by one of the locals and as he unwrapped a role of wrapping, he expertly cut the paper and began folding it around the box until it was completely covered. Then he grabbed the scotch tape and sealed the loose ends so it will not come apart and be revealed so easily.

Then to add to the finishing touch, he grabbed a ribbon and started tying up the ribbon strings around the box and made it into a decent looking ribbon bow on top and nodded in satisfaction.

Checking the time, he had plenty of time before his next appointment called for him, so he decided to use the time he did have to drop off the present box at Ichigo Productions and maybe either Ichigo, Miyako, or perhaps one of Ai's Idol companions can pick it up and deliver it to her.

Leaving his bedroom/workshop, he put on his usual attire and grabbed his work kit and placed it inside his bag, as he figured since he was going to be walking, he might as well carry his bag so he didn't have to rush back home to get it before rushing to his next appointment.

As Markus passed by the Chinese Residents and greeted them like the good neighbor he tried to be, he started to feel an odd feeling in his guts, the moment he got out of the Chinese District. Honestly at first, he was rather worried about it, but now that he's been here and it's been several days, the anxiety just died down and now he felt annoyed.

Also, there was also the fact that there were literally too many people for him to keep track of as well. Meaning he cannot simply just pick someone likely to be following him or what not, or it could be a group for all he knew. As he walked on the streets the feeling simply got stronger, though Markus tried not to show it on his face though.

And then feeling escalated as he took his usual alley shortcut to Ichigo Production's building, and then there his instincts was finally screaming at him and then he stopped walking before he could have made a turn and soon enough, a bunch of unwashed looking thugs came out from around the corner and from what he heard behind him, there was more thugs coming behind him as well.

"You guys are a walking cliché." Markus deadpanned at them, causing them to pause and look absolutely baffled at his words. "I mean, really? Ambush in the alleyway, a bunch of unwashed and dirty as sin thugs from front and back, and I imagine all of you are armed to some extent." He commented at them as Markus slowly dug his hand into his workbag.

"…Are you making fun of us?" One of them growled as they started to reveal weapons on them like kitchen knives, cleavers, and other bladed implements.

"You guys make it far too easy." Markus retorted. "Also is this even necessary? I'm just a Handyman, I don't have the kind of money you idiots desperately crave for." He said as the thugs all growled as one, causing Markus to roll his eyes. 'Possibly share their little amount of brain cells in this group.' He thought derisively.

"You're going to die for your sins." The head thug snarled as he aimed his knife at him. "Now fucking die!" He shouted as he charged and the other thugs charged at him.

At that Markus let out a sigh. "I tried." He muttered in annoyance as he estimated the distance and speed they were going at. So far, he counted eight thugs, four in the front and four in the back, all of them were running on a murderous spree, none of them ever actually knew how to fight, and his plan was made in his head.

First Markus dropped his bag and pulled out a wrench and a hammer. Then he ran straight to the closest thug, which was the main speaker of the group. The sudden decline in distance between him and the thug, clearly caught the fool off guard. Then Markus acted as he used his wrench to parry his kitchen knife then quickly smashed him in the lower jaw with his hammer and knocking out several teeth and hearing bones breaking.

The thugs paused in shock at what just happened as Markus took the initiative again and struck the next closest thug and brained him hard in the head with a solid smack from his wrench, and Markus swore he heard something cracking and then just to make sure, kicked him straight in the leg in the opposite direction and broke his bone, causing him no end of agony.

Then Markus turned his attention to the final two thugs in front of him and were backed up against a wall of some kind, allowing Markus to act as he rushed forward towards them like a rampaging Deathclaw. The frontal thug panicked and swung his cleaver at him too early while the other one, in panic, threw his boxcutter at Markus, which he easily dodged.

Then Markus raised his leg and using his unnatural strength to kick the thug into the other thug and sent them crashing into the wall. Then Markus raised both hands and dropped them down on the heads of the two thugs in front of him and knocked them out cold. Then he turned his attention to the four final thugs that was now in front of him, and they looked terrified.

"M-m-monster! You're a fucking monster!" One of the remaining thugs shrieked out. "No wonder you and that damn whore Idol go so well together!" He shouted and at that, everything went silent as the thugs noticed that the air around Markus changed…and he looked…angry to them now.

"I'm sorry." Markus started calmly, terrifying the thugs even more. "But I believed I misheard you, so I will give you a chance to clarify and tell me. What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Talking. About?" Markus asked pleasantly even as in his mind, he focused on the word of the thug that said Idol, as Markus knew only one Idol, and that…worried him. "What do you mean by Idol?"

"Don't you fucking mock us you asshole!" One of the thugs shouted, getting some steam built up. "You think we wouldn't know!? You think that nobody would have found out!? You wouldn't think that we devoted fans of Ai wouldn't find out about your transgression with Ai and how that whore betrayed us?!"

And like that, Markus's blood ran cold, the fuckers before him weren't some two-bit thug wannabes, they were out to kill him. Even worse still was that they had knowledge about his interactions with Ai, and judging from the amount of venom they had, they were going to kill or do some grievous form of harm to her. Just as he was going to question what their plan was for Ai, they answered it for him.

"While we're dealing with you, the guy that wrangled us all up is going to take care of that bitch and make her suffer!" The thug snapped at Markus as his mind cleared of all panic and his goal became very clear now.

Moving his hand holding the hammer, he launched it with such force that the hammerhead smashed throat first into the ranting thug, and collapsed his throat and he started choking to death and then collapsed to the ground dead.

The thugs were in shock and turned to Markus who looked angry and pissed. "Congratulations all of you." He said mockingly as the thugs winced at his words, and then they paled as Markus moved to the thugs down on the ground. "You manage to make me feel a certain emotion I haven't felt for some time since I got here." He said calmly as he lifted a leg and stomped hard on the throat of a downed thug, snapping his neck and instantly killing him. "You. Managed. To. Piss. Me. Off." He stated.

Then acting very calmly, he repeated this action, three more times with the other three downed thugs, each of them died with a brutal and deadly snap causing them all to flinch as they felt fear. Yet were unable to do anything to make themselves fall back and retreat as Markus gave them his full attention now.

"I was just going to beat you all up and leave you to the police, but I think that's too good for you lot now. After all, you managed to piss me off, and I can't let any innocent life come to harm with any of you roaming around." He said calmly as he started walking to them, as the thugs flinched in terror. "But I can't kill all of you, since I still need some info. But don't worry." He said with a malicious smile. "I only need one of you alive." He said as he sprinted to them.

They panicked and tried to run away, But Markus wasn't feeling inclined to let any of them go, so with one twirl he threw his wench at one of them in the head, concussing him and knocking him down to the ground. He reactively slid by his work bag and drew two more wrenches and threw them like his old Throwing Blades and had them smack the two remaining thugs on the head and neck, one squealed and fell down, still conscious, the other had the misfortune to trip and smack his face against the wall.

Going to the only still conscious thug, Markus grabbed him by the collar. "So then, you live, now you're going to tell me exactly what I want to hear or else I'm going to have to show you how creative I can get with my tools." Markus warned as the thug, being a normal civilian, snapped and told Markus everything he wanted before Markus snapped his neck and then killed the remaining two thugs.

After he collected his tools, he opened up a sewer entrance and dumped the bodies inside the sewer waters before closing it up again and using his knowledge that he gained from the thug, he rushed to where Ai lived, where the final no good for nothing scum was at. And he was also trying to call Ai as well to warn her, but so far, she hasn't picked it up.

'Come on Ai, please pick up or stay safe.' Markus pleaded mentally in his mind as he made his way to Ai's apartment as fast as possible.

At her home, Ai was humming to herself as she was working on some laundry for her children, unaware that her cell was going off as it was in silent mode and on the bed, so the vibration it made to set some sound off was canceled by the covers of her bed.

As she hummed to herself, she couldn't help but beam in joy of the memories she was able to make with Markus, who had proven to be interesting fellow, even as he adapted to her needs so they can spend the most amount of time efficiently.

Her good mood was even noticed by her children even as they sometimes stare away from the tv that they're watching on to look at Ai in befuddlement. Ai couldn't help it though, spending time with Markus was something new, something strange, something exciting, and she couldn't help but smile at the idea of spending more time with Markus in the future.

Ai also hoped that her kids grow to like Markus more, because eventually at some point, Markus was going to figure out Ruby and Aqua were her kids. And if she wanted to spend more time with Markus or get to know him better, than her kids have to like him enough to want to spend more time with him too.

Well at the very least, they seem to be taken well enough with the stuffed animals that Markus got for them, Aqua seems to like his turtle, while Ruby just adored her clownfish stuffed animal. And constantly carried it around with her in the entire house, including right now as they were watching a foreign movie overseas revolving around a clownfish dad and son.

"Ah those turtles are so cool!" Ruby soon gushed over the sea turtles as they saw the Clownfish dad interact with the sea turtles as she turned to Aqua. "Big bro, go and get your sea turtle so we can replicate the scene of clownfish riding on top of a big sea turtle." Ruby ordered, causing Ai to giggle at her daughter's behavior.

"Why do I have to go get it?" Aqua questioned in an apathetic tone as he tried to watch the movie, only for that to become harder as Ruby grabbed him and started shaking him. "Ah stop it!" He yelled.

"Because I don't know where you put turtle and I will not stop until you do so!" Ruby said as she continued to shake Aqua until he finally got out of her grasp.

"Fine, I will do it, just let me go and stop shaking me!" Aqua said in annoyance as he did just that as Ruby giggled at her apparent victory now.

Ai simply giggled at the sight as Aqua walked off to her room where he had last put his turtle on the bed, and at the same time, a doorbell was ringing on her door. Ai decided to finish the laundry first and set them all up in the laundry basket since she was almost done, even as the doorbell ring several more times.

"Coming!" Ai said as she finished up folding the laundry and was walked towards the door. "Just be patient." She said as she smiled at her daughter and patted her gently on the head and her smiled became bigger as her daughter leaned into said pat.

As she made her way to the door, Aqua's voice was soon heard. "Ai, you left your phone on the bed and it was ringing a lot!" Aqua said as Ai paused, wondering who it was that was trying to call her. "It's from Markus!" He added in, as Ai's eyes brightened up at that.

"Okay then, just bring me my phone and receive the call and put it on speaker." Ai said as she knew Aqua is smart enough to figure out to work a phone. And then Aqua gave an assurance as she continued to walk towards the door as the doorbell was still ringing and just as she was about to answer it, Markus's loud voice came through.

"DON'T OPEN THE DOOR AI!" The voice was loud enough and in a great enough panic to make Aqua drop the phone in surprise as Ai turned back in shock with wide eyes as she barely stopped herself from opening the door. She knew that voice to be Markus's but this was the first time she ever heard him some so panicked and worried about anything and then he spoke again. "Listen Ai, there's someone after you, they're tying to get to you, so don't open the door!" He yelled through the phone as panting could be heard.

"What?" She said numbly as then loud knocking on the door was heard, causing her to yelp and she paled a bit as she heard someone trying to break in. Looking at the door chain, she quickly put it on and pushed a chair against it as a brace just in case and quickly grabbed Ruby and Aqua and placed them in the bathroom as Markus was trying to talk to her still but she didn't respond.

"Ai, listen to me, are you there? Whatever you do, do not open that door!" Markus's voice was heard as Ai suddenly rushed to grab her phone and then she heard yelling from outside her door.

"Open up you slut! I know you and your brats are in there! You think you can get away with lying to us like this!? You think you can just go ahead and fuck some guy and have his kids while leaving us in the damned dark!?" The voice said maliciously as Ai's heart stopped at that, the one outside knew about her kids, knew her home, and most definitely had malicious intent for her.

Tightening the grip on her phone as she stared at the door in genuine fright, she spoke the first words that come to mind. "Markus…help me, please!" She whimpered in fear as her heart pounded faster and faster with every bump against the door.

Markus's voice was thankfully very calm now that he heard her. "Ai, calm down, I'm almost there, you will be kept safe, I assure, keep away from the front door and breath, panicking won't help you here." He said calmly and soothingly as he could while running towards her, and it helped a lot right about now.

And she gave her noise of assent as she kept an eye on the door and went to the kitchen to grab a knife with shaky hands in case, she needed to…act. And as the Stalker tried to break in, she heard someone rushing and stopping as the Stalker seemingly stopped as well, and the voice that came out was a relief to Ai as it was Markus's voice.

"Hey Fucker, get away from the door and put down the knife." He commanded the Stalker as Ai's heart stopped at the fact that the Stalker had a knife on him. "Enough is enough, I will retaliate if you do not do as I order." Markus's voice said sternly coldly.

The Stalker apparently didn't do as Markus commanded. "So, you're the whore's boytoy huh? You think you can fuck with me? You think you can knock up the bitch like it's nothing and get her pregnant with kids and leave the rest us blind to your actions?!" Ai closed her eyes at that as Markus now knew her deepest secret.

"That has nothing to do with this, all I'm doing is trying to keep an innocent woman safe, and now two more innocent kids safe as well." Markus said calmly. "So, I will not ask again, step away from the door and drop your knife or I swear I will do whatever I must to stop you." He said firmly to the Stalker.

"Go to Hell!" The Stalker shouted before roaring and charging at Markus as Ai's heart froze the idea of Markus being put into danger for her sake.

Markus grunted as the fucker in front of him threw the white flowers in his face, in hopes of using it as a feint but Markus was no amateur in combat as he calmly dropped to his knee as the stalker swung his knife in a wide arm in front of him and then jabbed straight into the fucker's jaw, causing hm to spin backwards away from him as Markus narrowed his eyes as he got into an unarmed fighting stance.

While Markus had no problem with killing, he knew that as this particular fool was responsible for gathering the thugs, that made him a bigger target to capture since he would have to know where Ai lived and about her kids from someone. The Stalker didn't strike him as being intelligent or skilled enough to figure that out on his own. Meaning someone had to have been intentionally targeting Ai for a reason.

As a result of that, Markus needed this one alive, but he can hurt him badly still, as he rushed forward and started launching a series of blows on the Stalker with his bare hands. As he punched him several times in the face, kneed him in the groin, bash him in the head with his own head, and grabbed the arm holding the knife and forcing him to drop it as he jabbed straight into solar plexus and caused him no end of pain.

The Stalker pushed himself away from Markus as he stared at him in fear as his face became a pile of bruises and a broken nose as Markus still held firm. Markus simply approached the Stalker, and he flinched, he took another step, and he started moving away and Markus snarled at the cowardly little rat before him, and that was enough to send him running, causing Markus to pursue him.

As the Stalker fumbled down the stairs, Markus took a more direct route and jumped off the second floor and onto the ground, as his body's modifications allowed him to endure it and started chasing after the Stalker who started running even faster in terror as Markus was catching up to him.

But what the Stalker and Markus failed to notice was that due to how the Stalker was running in a panic, he stumbled into a construction site and tripped over some building material where he fell on a piece of rebar sticking out and accidentally killed himself and it was something neither Markus nor the Stalker could believe as their eyes were just left wide eyed at what happened.

Markus scowled as he saw the light from the Stalker's eyes vanished and he turned back to where Ai and the kids were. He had to move them out of there now, there was no telling who else was going to be sent after them.

He needed a safe place for them, a place where nobody would suspect an Idol and two kids would be hanging out at, and more importantly a place where there was plenty of bystanders to make it impossible to try anything.

Ai stared at the door waiting with caution as she heard footsteps approach and knocked on the door, causing her to flinch, but when the one who knocked on the door spoke up, Ai sighed in relief. "It's me Ai." Markus said. "You're okay, the Stalker isn't going to hurt you anymore ever again." He said soothingly.

"Oh, thank you Markus." Ai said with honest relief and joy as she pushed the chair away and opened the door to see Markus, and as he was about to say something else, he paused as Ai rushed to him and hugged him tightly as tears started to fall from her eyes.

Markus stayed silent as he then returned the hug as he no doubt noticed her trembling form when she hugged him. "I was so scared." Ai whimpered out. "I never been that close to death before in my entire life, had you not called I could have been stabbed to death. So, thank you Markus, thank you so much for saving me." She said gratefully in tears.

Markus didn't say anything, but what he did was simply hugged her tighter and more gently as he could. Ai was grateful for that, he let her get out her fears in silence without being judged at all. But more importantly was one major thought that crossed Ai's mind as she hugged Markus.

'He feels so warm and leaves me feeling safe.'

"Ai." Markus's soft warm voice spoke up after a few moments. "I'm sorry to say this, but we need to get you and the children out of here, it's not safe, someone knows about your location so we need to get you and them out." He said rationally as he gently turned her around to see the faces of her shocked kids.

"Ruby, Aqua." Ai gasped out as she rushed to hug them tenderly in her arms, and she turned her head back to Markus. "But where are we going to stay then?" She asked him.

"That's easy, you three will be staying with me." He said as Ruby gasped at that and Aqua stiffened in Ai's arms as Ai's own eyes went wide at that, seeing her look, Markus elaborated further. "I live in the Chinese District, we're part of a close-knit community, and as a resident who built up quite the rep as a good neighbor, nobody there's going to sell me out, and that by default also means you and your kids." Markus explained to her.

"But what if someone else tries to attack me again?" Ai asked as Ruby and Aqua are both stiff with fear and worry, but Markus's calm look told her he had an answer.

"Not a lot of Japanese people enter our block, and as such, they will stand out, and I promise you, I will protect you with everything I got, but we need to get out of here, as there's no telling who else might have their eyes on this place." Markus said to her as Ai stared at him trying to think of the ups and downs.

The only thing she can really think of as a down is that she needs to tell Ichigo and Miyako about this when she gets to Markus's place.

Ai nodded. "Okay, just let us pack up what we need and we will go." She requested of him as Markus nodded.

"As you wish." Markus said as Ai went to start packing clothes and other essentials away from their home and into Markus's home.