Akira did not know about the drama brewing in the Yamazaki family. She was on the road with Kaito fiddling with the radio of the old car. The vehicle had probably been there when the dinosaurs were treading the planet.

"I want my phone back. This old car can't even play music!" She sat back in the passenger seat after giving up on the analogue radio.

Kaito smiled. "This is not an old car. It is a classic. And how can we bond when you have your phone? Young people are so addicted to the internet these days."

Akira crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance and looked at the passing landscape.

"When I was growing up in the mountains, we did not have modern conveniences. We did not have even a TV or this radio you are disparaging." Kaito added with a sigh.

Akira's interest was captured. It was not every day that one got to hear about the life of a world-famous assassin.

"What did you do for fun, Uncle Kaito?" She asked with some humour.

"You would like to know that, wouldn't you?" He laughed.

"Yes, that is why I asked. You said shutting off our phones would make the trip more fun. If you won't talk, I will just sleep." Akira closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

"Fine, fine. I will entertain you. Where was I?"

"You were growing up in the mountains together with the dinosaurs and your ancient car."

"You laugh, but we did not have much in the way of advanced products. We had to entertain ourselves with whatever we created or was available. We would make up games and play to our hearts contents. I did not know people bought toys until I was an adult." Kaito said.

Akira did not believe him, but she decided to go with the flow.

"Who did you grow up with?" She asked.

"When my parents died, I was adopted by a kind man. I was only two years old, so I don't know the particulars. But he adopted a lot of kids from the villages who did not have parents or were abandoned. So, we were quite a number."

Akira's mind churned. Did that mean that there were more assassins like Kaito? Did the Immortal Sword Brigade know about them?

After a moment, she calmed down. They probably were aware of Kaito's connections. And if they did not, it was not her concern. She was not an active agent at the moment. She was only watching Kaito as a favour to the Chief.

"Do you know what happened to your parents?" Akira asked.

Kaito's eyes flashed with some cold grief. He never cared about his parents in the past. He did not even insist on knowing how his teacher rescued him from that horrible car crash.

However, after spending some time in Mountain Ridge, he had begun to think of his parents as real people, even though he did not remember them. When he saw photographs and videos of them holding him and spoiling him, something like loss and bitterness filled him.

He did not intend to avenge his parents in the beginning. But each and every image of the past preserved by his grandmother was like a nail driven in his heart. He saw a life he could have had if they were not murdered by his uncle.

"They died in a car crash." They were killed.

Akira realised that she had touched a sensitive subject. She did not know how to comfort him. After all, what could one truly say to make another feel better after facing a tragedy like that?

"What about you? Where did you grow up?" Kaito changed his morose face into one of casual curiosity.

"Well, according to what I have found out over the years, I was kidnapped from the Yamazaki home when I was four years. Then, my kidnapper discarded me with another person. And then that other person left me to an institution." She responded self-deprecatingly.

"Your story is way worse than mine." Kaito joked.

"Not everyone can say that their kidnapper realised that they were too much of a burden to keep." She laughed. "I guess I am not a very attractive target."

Kaito felt a little sorry for asking. He pieced together the information he gathered before with this story to understand the intricacies of her life. If he was not wrong, that evil Dr Harriet Brown was the one who kidnapped Akira when she was a small child.

Then, she had probably left her with her twin sister, Helen Brown, after realising that she did not want to take care of the child. Then, Helen Brown probably joined the International Health Alliance after a few years and travelled to Antarctica to head up the lab where Hu Lei was held.

The only unclear thing was the institution that Akira mentioned. It was probably the key to Akira's identity, and how she was able to avoid detection by the Yamazaki family in the past. This secret intrigued Kaito.

However, he did not prod more.

"To me, you are the most attractive target," Kaito responded.

Akira smiled a little with some happiness in her heart. She knew that she was a little sensitive to rejection due to her past, especially because her other mother left her so suddenly. Therefore, she was a little touched by the creepy declaration.

However, after a moment, she remembered that Kaito was an assassin. Was being his target a good thing?

"Should I be happy with that?" She asked with a lifted brow.

"Of course. Not everyone has the pleasure of being my target." He responded.

After the end of this depressing discussion, the two did not broach the subject of their pasts again. Instead, they bantered about random things, especially the strange elite of Mountain Ridge and the overinflated sense of self.

After a long drive, they arrived at a cottage next to the sea. Kaito pulled into the driveway and packed his 'classic' red car outside the house.

When Akira stepped out, she felt the saline breeze on her face. He arms stretched out as she soaked in the sun and fresh air.

Kaito went around the vehicle and attacked her ribs with wiggling fingers. Immediately, Akira squealed as she tried to get away from him. However, Kaito caught her by the waist and picked her from the ground before she could escape.

"What are we doing here? You are not planning on doing anything strange to me, are you?" Akira asked as she calmed down, and her feet touched the ground again.

"We are here for psicobloc. But I can arrange for us to do something strange if you like." Kaito teased as he bent and bit her ear gently.

Akira pushed him away. "Psicobloc?"

"Deep-water soloing. In other words, we are going to scale the cliff."