"Ah, so you two are back now." Kaguya said as Markus and Ai returned to the room after the majority of the group had a fun time studying the Fist of Rawr. And Kaguya instantly noticed the body posture of the two adults as they came in and she smiled at them. "I see." She hummed in interest. "You two are now dating!" Kaguya said in excitement as a number of the group look at the duo in interest and excitement and, to their joy, saw Ai blushing happily as Markus simply nodded at that.
"No way! It finally happened while you two were away, and I didn't get to see it?" Nino said in both excitement and frustration as she pouted at Ai before she smiled happily at her. "Well, I will try to keep quiet about this with Ichigo, but congratulations Ai, I will be rooting for you all the way." She said to Ai, who simply smiled back happily at her. Then Nino turned her look onto Markus and gained a serious look. "You break her heart or anything like that, then you answer to me." Nino said pointing at Markus.
"I have no intention of being a terribly boyfriend, your concern is quite unnecessary but understandable." Markus replied casually to Nino, while maintaining his calm before he swapped to another subject. "I think it's time we should go back to discussing the matter relating involving those infiltrators I mentioned." The mention of the synthetics brought down the mood and darkened it as it was a reminder of what they were actually here for.
"Right, these…synthetic infiltrators." Daichi said with a frown as he looked to Markus. "Can we just call them Terminators?" He asked as Markus raised an eyebrow in confusion at that. "Right, you wouldn't know, but these things are like the antagonist of a movie franchise that involves machines disguised as humans." He quickly explained.
"That would be too on the nose and could cause some unsuspecting infiltrators to catch on." Maho pointed out. "Let's just call them Synths." She spoke.
"Not really important, but okay I guess?" Markus said sounding confused at the need to name the enemy a movie reference or whatever. "At any rate." He said, deciding to move on. "So far we have identified two targets so far, the first is Ai." He said pointing to his new girlfriend who gulped and nodded. "The second target is Chika." He then pointed to Chika, who looked both nervous and worried. "What we need to find is the commonality between the two of them or reasons for why they were targeted to begin with. Knowing what our enemy does what hey do, would allow us to make a plan to either counter them or use it against them." Markus explained to the group.
"I know why I was captured." Chika started off as she felt herself shaking a bit as both Daichi and Maho went to their daughter and tenderly held their girl. "I was supposed to be some kind of hostage for them to force my parents into something." She said as Markus nodded at that.
"I imagine if the Synths can look like people, I imagine that they would try to have taken the place of you two, considering the both of you are politicians, that would grant them some extra leeway for whatever it was that they were doing." Markus said to the Fujiwara Family as all of them grimaced at that as it made a great deal of sense.
"So why would Ai be targeted then?" Nino soon spoke up as everyone tried their hardest to think of a reason for why Ai would be targeted. "Don't get me wrong Ai, but compared to Chika's value, you're just an Idol, and a popular one at that, trying to get rid of you would be drawing too much attention to themselves. And if they tried to replace you, that would be incredibly difficult to do, due to a number of reasons." Nino said apologetically to Ai who simply waved her off.
"I don't mind really, but Nino has a point though." Ai said as she turned to Markus. "Compared to what value Chika has, I hold no such value, and unlike Chika, Hikaru just tried to…kill me." She said anxiously but soothed down once Markus put his arm around her. "I wasn't to be captured…just dealt with, and they tried two times to do so." She said in a tone that clearly showed she was not dealing with it well and leaned in deeper to Markus.
And Markus, on the other hand, was silent trying to figure out the reasoning or logic for why they would try and kill Ai. Logically speaking, trying to kill Ai is rather irrational move so the question that Markus had, was why they had tried to deal with Ai. As Markus was silent, he then remembered the talk that he and Ai had shared about the twins' real father and remembered something. "Ai." He spoke up as Ai turned to him. "I know this may be hard but…do you know anything about what Hikaru was like before you met him again?" He asked.
Ai blinked at that question as she tried to remember something and grimaced at some memories shared with him. "…Hikaru was a…troubled person." She started off as everyone focused on Ai, making his squirm a bit. "He was normal and didn't have trouble socializing with others but…he never willingly opened up to others if possible…not after what happened with Airi." She said as Markus raised an eyebrow.
"I have questions about that but sadly that is ultimately irrelevant right now." Markus said before any of them could go off topic. "So basically, even before he met this Airi, would it be safe to say that Hikaru wasn't exactly the kind of person to openly trust others?" He asked as Ai hesitantly eventually shrugged her head as a no answer as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"I don't exactly know for sure, but…while he was perfectly capable of interacting with others, at the very least in the time that we knew each other. He was troubled and had plenty of issues, all if it which related to Airi. But because we had sort of similar backgrounds that allowed for us to interact with each other." Ai explained, while keeping what happened to Hikaru silent for the time being since it wasn't relevant right now.
"But he did trust you to an extent, right?" Markus questioned as while it sounded like that, mentally however, he was asking a different kind of question. 'Did he love you enough that you two were willing to sleep together?' Markus wasn't being accusing or jealous Ai with his eyes, rather he was actually curious as to how far Hikaru trusted or cared about Ai.
"He did trust me…in fact you can say that I was one of the few to see him for who he was, and not the persona that he put up in front of others. So, in a way…I actually knew the real Hikaru while many only saw a mask that he put out." Ai explained but was also mentally saying this. 'He did love me, he loved me so much that he felt like that he was incomplete without me and became extremely focused on me.'
"But you two were never going to stay, he had responsibilities, and you had your responsibilities as an Idol though." Nino soon spoke up as everyone turned to her as she squirmed a bit but continued. "And when you decided to go your own way, he didn't take it too well did he?" She said glumly, having seen the results so far.
"He didn't." Ai confirmed. "He looked as though his world was shattered despite the short time we spent together." She said as Markus suddenly realized something, a reason for why Ai may have been targeted by those Synths, or rather why they were so focused on her.
"Would you say he closed himself off and never openly trusted anyone again?" Markus asked sharply as everyone blinked and Ai nodded. "That explains it, that explains why Hikaru targeted you, or at least the fake Synth version." He muttered aloud, catching everyone's attention.
"What do you mean by that Markus?" Miyuki asked uneasily.
Markus then looked composed as he spoke. "Think about it like this. What would say, a terrorist for example, want against a nation said terrorist hates." He started off to get them thinking.
"To destroy their way of life or to bring down the government." Kaguya quickly answered.
"Think more methods and means rather than the end goal." Markus then said as Maho realized something.
"You think whoever these Synths were, were trying to replace the identities of people to infiltrate our society." She said as Markus nodded at that.
"It's been done before, just that the means and methods change all the time, but ideally? The kind of person that a spy would want to replace is someone alone and isolated, so nobody would question why they're acting differently all of a sudden since they would have no frame of reference." He said as Ai's eyes widened as Markus turned to her. "Remember what you said to Hikaru that time?" He pointed out to her.
"I said to Hikaru he was acting differently when last I saw him." Ai said to Markus, who nodded at that.
"You knew Hikaru, you knew how different the past and present versions of him were, you were a threat to their secrecy Ai. That is why Hikaru tried to kill you, you could have potentially revealed him to others, putting their secrecy at risk. That is why Hikaru tried to kill you two times. You were a security risk for them." Markus said to the shocked silence of the room.
Ai couldn't help but gulp a bit at what Markus said. "I was a risk to them?" She questioned as Markus nodded grimly at that.
"It's the only reason that makes any amount of sense, especially considering and taking into account the situation of what we learned so far." Markus said with a frown as the others focused on him and he elaborated. "The first attempted assassination on Ai failed and the guy against you vanished without a trace." He started off, as he raised one finger, before he pointed out Chika. "The warehouse that was used to hold us, suddenly went up in flames. And anyone can tell you that fire is a highly effective way of destroying evidence." He pointed out to them.
"That does make sense." Miyuki said suddenly. "If someone can point out inconsistencies or figure out enough inconsistencies then that would attract attention. And considering the amount of effort they went into hiding and covering up their very existence, they reacted about as well as expected." He said before he frowned. "The question is, what will they do now? They failed twice with Ai, and once with Chika, and at the core of all three incidents, they got foiled by you Markus." Miyuki then pointed out.
"Meaning that with my involvement I am going to be their highest priority target." Markus said calmly and Ai felt a spike of terror down her spine at the thought of Markus being in danger. "Well, it seems like it's a good thing I don't have anything for them to work with." Markus said and soon Ai was reminded of Markus's current status and felt herself relaxed a bit.
"What do you mean by that Markus?" Hayasaka asked curiously.
"You do remember that I am an outworlder right?" He pointed out to Hayasaka as she nodded. "Which means I have no official government ID of any kind." He then added in as Hayasaka suddenly comprehended Markus's point. "It's going to be hard to track down someone who doesn't even have an official address, ID, or any thing that can be used to identify them." Markus pointed out.
"That's right, you lived among the Chinese Immigrants." Ai suddenly remembered as the others blinked at Markus in surprise. "Those people wouldn't sell you out now after you became part of the community." Ai said as she remembered the way that Markus is treated with respect among the Chinese.
"Wait a minute, you're an American Post Nuke Survivor that lives among the Chinese, when back in your old world, the two nations hated each other?" Miyuki questioned in total confusion at Markus nodded at that. "How?" He couldn't help but ask.
"I actually know two languages before I came here, English and Chinese, as for the latter as to why I know it. Well…I don't exactly know how I know Chinese; I just know that I knew it before I took my fatal delivery." Markus said with a shrug. "Proved helpful when I want to just speak to myself or clear my thoughts out, and people assume I'm drunk because I'm not speaking English." Markus explained.
"Wait, then how did you learn how to speak Japanese?" Chika asked curiously.
"Easy, when I first got here, I walked for a bit until I found a bookstore, set up a distraction, stole an English/Japanese Dictionary, then lived among the homeless for a bit until I could speak passable and actual Japanese." Markus revealed as Ai couldn't help but gawk at Markus, as did everyone else.
"You learned how to speak Japanese, an entirely different language, just by using a dictionary and speaking with the locals?!" Daichi gasped out in surprise.
"It was kind of a pain, but after nine weeks or so, I managed to make it work and started speaking more like a native." Markus sighed out as though frustrated, but in reality, that was insanely difficult with what Markus did.
"And people called me a genius." Miyuki said in genuine surprise as the entire group nodded in agreement. Learning language is an exceptionally difficult task and for him to have learned enough of a language to speak it adequately in roughly nine weeks was a serious achievement.
"Anyways, moving on." Markus soon spoke up getting everyone's attention. "Now that most of us…or at least Chika, Ai, Nino, Hayasaka, and myself have seen or potentially been exposed, we need to play it safe and stay out of harm's way as much as possible." Markus said before he frowned. "Though admittingly there's very little we can do on the defensive like this." He grudgingly said.
"Is there nothing we can do?" Ai suddenly asked, a bit desperately, while she was absolutely scared for herself. What she was even more scared for was how Aqua and Ruby will be put into potential danger as long as she remains a target that threatens their secrecy. "I mean Markus, you hail from a relatively more advanced time than us, didn't you? So don't you have any sort of neat gadget that could be used to help track down Hikaru and the others?" She nearly pleaded.
However, to Ai's personal dismay, Markus simply shook his head. "I'm sorry Ai, but I honestly do not have anything convenient like that lying around. Even if I did have some advanced tech on my person. Most of it, isn't exactly ideal for tracking down a random group of unknown strangers." He said to Ai, who could only look down as Markus grimaced at that. "The circumstances that led me to this world and era was a complete accident, and it's not one that I can possibly hope to replicate."
"No way." Ai said looking down, even though she took comfort in Markus's warmth.
"I was actually moving out of my original home and into a new one, which meant I was moving a lot of my stuff out actually." Markus said casually. "After you do what I did, people have expectations of being that one guy who will help keep the peace for the future. And since I took care of most of my affairs, I started reducing the number of tools and weapons I carry on hand, even other useful items, so I only came here with the minimal number of tools I would normally carry." He explained.
Ai could only simply nod at that. "So, I guess that means we will have to play it safe then?" She stated more than asked.
"Yes." Markus nodded. "And that means, staying in public places where there's too many people, always traveling in groups whenever possible, try not to be by yourself and if you are, be in a rather public place with lots of witnesses." Markus advised as he grimaced. "Unfortunately, there's not a lot of advice that I can offer that will help right now, so until an opportunity is shown, we simply have to play it safe." He said to her.
"I suppose that is all we can do." Ai sighed as everyone else looked at her sympathy for her situation, with only Nino and Markus really knowing how bad it is for her personal life.
"We'll get through it, Ai. It will be a tough and hard road, but I assure you, there is a light at the end of this tunnel, you just have to take it one step at a time, and even if you falter and fall down. You get right back up and continue walking, even if you must grit your teeth." Markus assured her, as Ai smiled back at that.
Even when the situation is as bad, Markus had a way with words that made you feel calm or relaxed. Ai knew Markus is very good with his words, his words were the first to affect her heart, her mind, and her very beliefs to such an extent. And to know that he genuinely believed that there is a work around this current issue was more than enough to inspire her to keep on going.
Especially when she had to consider her two babies caught up in this insanity.
"Well with everything said and done, this is all we can do for now." Markus sighed out as all of them nodded. "Guess we should end the meeting, and if anything, new does show up, do try to contact me or try to let me know somehow, as I might be able to do something about it." Markus said as all of them nodded and soon many of them started to leave. Also due to how Nino was friends with Ai, she decided to join him and Ai as part of their group.
It was a rather hectic day, and also, he needed to take Ai and the kids back home with him now, it was getting late and he couldn't afford to let them stay at the school for much longer. So, as they passed by the Student Council Room to pick up the kids, Markus couldn't help but notice the way that Aqua and Frill were getting along quite well. While he doubted it meant anything like romance or whatever, it could be a potential sign. And as potentially Aqua's stepdad, this was something he had to take note of.
"Take care Aqua, take care Ruby see you two when I see you." Frill said with a smile as she waved Aqua and Ruby goodbye, while the twins waved back to Frill happily as well as they left with Markus and Ai.
The moment that they were far away, Nino asked a question that nearly made the twins trip up. "So, these are your kids, right Ai?" Nino asked as Aqua and Ruby gasped in shock at her, Markus had to hold back a snort.
Ai looked ready about to protest, but seeing the current situation and the likes, she simply sighed. "How did you know?" She asked as Nino raised an eyebrow at her curiously before she decided to continue.
"Well for one thing, you did vanish for nearly a year, and that's usually the expected runtime of kids." Nino said raising one finger. "I've also seen Aqua and Ruby around despite what both Ichigo and Miyako said about them being their kids, they look nothing like them." She said as she raised a second finger. "Thirdly, Aqua and Ruby resemble you and that Hikaru guy a lot more, and you mentioned that the two of you were close." She said as she raised a third finger. "Lastly, there's no way that Markus would simply bring with him two random kids anywhere, so those kids would have to be close. And I don't know about you, but Markus doesn't give a fudge about either Ichigo or Miyako." Nino said, finishing her explanation, as she raised her fourth and last finger.
Again, Markus snorted, because it was apparent that Ai was not the only "Genuis Idol" in B-Komachi, also he should have been worried, but some gut instinct of his, told him that Nino was not going to place either Ai or the kids in danger. "Well, aren't you a smart lass?" Markus said as Nino preened a bit before his aura got more serious. "That said, what did you plan to do with such info?" Markus questioned.
"I don't plan to do anything!" Nino said quickly upon noticing the tone that Markus's voice took. "I was just curious is all, that it." She swore as Markus relaxed a bit and the Hoshino Family let out a sigh of relief at that. "Besides, Ai is my friend, I wouldn't betray her like that." She added in.
"Nino." Ai smiled happily as the twins looked at her in awe and soon enough, Ruby rushed to hug Nino, making Nino giggle at the experience as she smiled more tenderly as Ruby hugged her happily. "Ah, is Nino now your favorite B-Komachi Idol now Ruby?" Ai asked playfully.
Ruby vehemently shook her head. "No! Mama is still my favorite Idol, but Nino is now number two." She declared as Nino and Ai giggled at that. Markus could only look amused by what he saw as he simply watched while Aqua had a more deadpanned look to his face now.
"Well, I suppose with that matter settled, next question is, Nino want to come with us?" Markus asked as Nino blinked in confusion. "As in do you want to spend some time with Ai at my home?" He clarified for her as she widened her eyes in surprise.
"I…I would like to but…are you actually okay with me entering your home?" She asked hesitantly. "I am just a stranger after all, and I could easily or accidentally give away yours and Ai's location away if I ever get caught." She added in.
"You're Ai's friend, so I got nothing against you at all, besides you answered the call from me when Ai was in danger, so you're a good reliable friend, so yes I am okay with you." Markus answered as Nino smiled at that as did Ai and Nino turned to Ai who simply nodded excitedly at her.
As they continued to walk and soon exited the Student Council Building, where they headed out, Markus couldn't help but now feel as though he was being under watch. He knew he couldn't exactly do anything foolhardy, especially with his companions. And as he wondered where the observers were coming from, the question he had for that soon answered themselves when the group suddenly stopped in front of parked cars with suited men staring at them.
Markus stepped up in front of the two idols and kids and simply stared back at them. "Can I help you?" He asked them.
The men there turned to each other and a silent conversation was happening in their eyes until all of them nodded and one of them stepped forward. This one…looked more important as he had a fancier suit, grey hair and a scar on his face. "Would you…happen to be the man involved in the sudden shootout that happened there recently?" He questioned as Markus suddenly tensed up and Ai and Nino pulled the kids behind them to safety hopefully.
"Is there a reason for this questioning?" Markus asked calmly as the man simply pulled out something from inside his suit and it was a…envelope of some kind and he threw it at Markus like a throwing weapon, which he expertly caught. "Is there something that's supposed to be inside here?" He soon asked.
"We have a common enemy sir, and you will know why as soon as you opened that up." The man said as Markus frowned as he unsealed the envelope and soon pulled out some pictures? Then Markus saw who was on the photos and his eyes widened in surprise as on them was the merc that he had fought twice now.
"This is…" Markus trailed off in surprise as both Nino and Ai looked over and looked confused. "…The man who aided Hikaru." He then said as both Nino and Ai looked surprised at hearing that.
"We saw the chase." The man up front spoke. "And that man in the photo is, what you would call an opportunist getting himself involved with our matter, and we saw the recordings as well." The man said as Markus tensed up at that. "Do not worry, we purge the recording of what happened, but right now, you are currently our best chance of knowing what is going on and as such…we do need your help." The man said hesitantly.
"My help?" Markus said with a raised eyebrow.
"You seem to know more about them then we do, and it is rather difficult to find information, and despite how well they hide themselves, there's always witnesses and those who speaks. Even if there are those that try to keep those secrets silent." The man said.
Markus was silent for a moment before he decided to ask his next question. "Who are you people?" He then asked.
The man straightened up and spoke. "We are of the Tojo Clan." He declared as Ai and Nino gasped in shock and Markus raised an eyebrow in surprise. "So, you know of us, not surprising." He spoke.
"You have me at a disadvantage still." Markus replied back.
The man simply chuckled. "My apologies for my rudeness, but I am Kashiwagi Osamu, Patriarch of the Kazuma Family." He said as he narrowed his eyes. "I know I am asking a lot of you, especially as you are surrounded by women and children, but I do need to talk to you." Kashiwagi said.
Markus was silent before he spoke again. "If I am to go with you, I have demands that must be followed." He said firmly as Kashiwagi raised an eyebrow at him.
"And they are?" He questioned.
"The first, the people with me stay out of this." Markus said firmly. "I want them to have no involvement, and the second thing I want is this. Your men will escort them to their destination and guard them while doing so. After that, they leave, no questions asked." Markus said making his second demand. "Third and finally, if I am to go with you, you will answer the questions I have and you will not hide anything from me." He said as Kashiwagi raised an eyebrow at him.
"And the consequences for breaking any of these demands?" Kashiwagi questioned.
Markus simply narrowed his eyes at them as a certain aura was felt by the Tojo Yakuza as some of them shivered and Kashiwagi remain firm and calm, but tensed up now. "If any of them break, then you will learn exactly why I was dubbed the Terror of the West by those that feared me, many of them are no longer around." Markus said with a terrifying glare.
The Terror of the West, the title that Caesar's Legion gave to him for rampaging and slaughtering their forces like a Deathclaw with fresh victims. A title that was picked up by Fiends, Raiders, White Legs, Powder Gangers, and more. A Hero of the West by those that saw him as a friend and a Nightmare to those that became his foe.
Kashiwagi, instead of being angered or annoyed, somehow looked more…reminiscent? As he muttered something quietly to himself about…Kiryu if he heard correctly? Then as if shaking himself out of better memories, Kashiwagi simply smiled at him and nodded at his men and they bowed to him and stood at attention now. "Your demands are reasonable, I accept." He said as he motioned for his men to act and they opened up a car door. "That one is for your companions." He said to Markus.
Markus nodded and turned to Ai and Nino. "Ai, take Nino and the kids with you back to my place, stay there for the time being, you will be safe there." He said softly enough to the point that only Ai and Nino could hear him.
"Markus, this is too dangerous." She protested back to him. "I may not know too many things, but even I know about the Tojo Clan, they're one of Japan's biggest Yakuza organizations, and that guy over there is a Patriarch, he's a high-level criminal." She said as she tightened her grip on Markus. "You're throwing yourself in danger again." She said sadly.
Markus simply smiled back. "Throwing myself into danger is what I used to do on a daily basis, there's nothing wrong with wanting to help out others I say. But even so, I need to do this because I want to keep you all safe." Markus said to her as Ai smiled a bit. "If you're worried about me, then trust me when I say this. I promise to come back you alive and as well as possible." He said to her.
"You're supposed to say alive and perfectly fine Markus." Ai complained as Markus snorted and Ai giggled a bit before the happiness left her. "I suppose this is the best I can ask for right now." Ai stated to Markus as he nodded. "Then stay safe, I don't want to lose you." She said as she then kissed Markus and led, Nino, Aqua, and Ruby into a Yakuza Car and then they drove off, leaving Markus alone with Kashiwagi and some of his men.
Markus then focused his full attention on the man, who had a smile and knowing look. "She's a special woman there Markus, I advise you to never let her go, since women like her are a rarity." Kashiwagi commented to Markus.
"Enough about her, this is about you and I, right now." Markus said firmly. "So, what do you want to know?" He questioned.
Kashiwagi simply shook his head. "Not here, too exposed, we will take the car and then we will talk, I will risk no more potential eavesdropper than I already have." Kashiwagi said firmly as well, matching Markus in his own determination.
"…So be it." Markus said reluctantly as another Yakuza opened up the car door behind Kashiwagi and got inside and seated himself.
"Come inside, we have much to talk about." Kashiwagi all but commanded as Markus reluctantly got inside with a Yakuza and once inside, the door closed behind him and he buckled himself up for both a long ride and a talk.