Hunter Kieff's Home

Airi smiled back at him.''I'll try not to.''she said while picking up and washing the dishes she used. She placed them in the drainer and put the left overs in the fridge. Airi sat at the table drinking her tea, quietly. She placed one of her sketch books on the table and started drawling, a lonely wolf.

Mattias traced the phone, as to make sure Hunter was at home. He drove over to his house, knocked, and walked through the door, not really bothering to wait for someone to answer; it was his house, anyway. "Evening, ladies and gentlemen, smells heavenly. I figured I'd fill you in what we'll be doing next by coming to you, instead of having you meet me in a club somewhere." He took a seat in one of the chairs in the living room.

Hunter flipped a hand into his pocket when the front door opened and relaxed one he saw it was Mattias, "That was rude of you." he said as the man sat in one of the chairs, "I could have been naked for all you know."

Airi peeked into the living room when she heard someone knock. She smiled when she saw Kasami. She walked in the living room and sat on the couch.''Hi Kasami.''she said cheerfully.

"....Well then you'd be naked in my house. Soo....ANYWAY. It's nice to see the both of you. We can do one of two things. One, we can move on with the next phase...or two, take a break, and wait for our opponent to move first. I think I actually have a plan going, instead of just playing it by ear. Of course it would be a lot easier if Kira actually made a few moves, but we'll just take things one enemy at a time, I suppose."

Airi stares at Kasami then at Hunter.''I guess i'll pick whatever Damien wants but i'd really think Damien should pick the break because he's been looking tired lately.''she says to Kasami with a smile on her face.

Hunter waved a dismissive hand at Mattias's comment, "I agree with Airi." he said, "I've been working every day around the clock on a cover job at a small family owned cafe type of thing; and it took a fair amount of planning/ favor pulling in order to get the explosives. You may be an influential person and all; but with asking for c4 and having a large building going down all signs would point to you and a bit of foul play." He thought about the comment about this not being his home and nodded, "That's true... So if it's a problem I'll take the few things I brought and get out of your hair. I find it very disturbing to have someone popping in whenever they feel like it. Things can go very wrong when I'm surprised and sleepy."

"I'm just messing with your head. About the house thing. But, don't think blowing up the apartment was out of whim, it'll lead to a much more important part of the plan. I understand right now my methods are...well questionable...but it'll work out if everything goes our way. Which of course it won't, but it should, mostly. And to the explosives, that was my fault, I should have supplied you. I'll try to be better with that."

Airi listens to what Kasami has to say then says,''Kasami do you want something to eat? I made some delicious food or at least Damien is saying it's delicious just to be nice.''She stares over at Hunter with evil eyes.

Hunter finched when she shot the look at him and brought his hands up, palms facing her, "It was really good!" he said; a nervous bead of sweat dropping down his forehead, "I can find better things to lie about than food."

Airi walks over to him and wipes the tear off his forehead. Her whole expression fierce.''Your lieing arn't you. It's not nice to lie, you know. So is my food really that bad? When you get nervous like that I can't help but think your lieing...''Airi's expression turns soft. She smiles and starts to laugh.''You really think because someone might think my cooking is bad, it might effect me? If I act mean im only playing. I dont get mad at unreasonable things like cooking. Oh and sorry about that. When you started to sweat I could help but see what you'd do next. I never saw you get so worried like that before.''

Hunter breathed a sigh of relief once he realized that she was only messing around and looked over to the window in an attempt to avoid eye contact, "There are some things that I can endure without flinching." he said, "But an angry woman is not one of them." he brought up a hand and scratched the tip of his nose with an index finger, his familiar nervous habit, and reached into his pocket, drawing a cigarette from the hidden pack and lighting it on the stove, "But cooking is a very strange thing to get upset about." he said before taking a long drag on his light, the smoke curling slowly from his lips and dissipating before it reached the ceiling.

Airi watched Hunter stare over at the window with a smile on her face.''I understand what your saying. I guess it would be quiet strange to get upset over cooking. Its never happened to me and I'v never known someone that would stress out about cooking so I never thought about it.''Airi stood in next to Hunter then hugged him. She let go and headed towards the bathroom, to find an empty room. While she walked away she said,''Good night Damien, good night Kasami. I have extra food to make breakfast in the morning, so look forward to a nice meal in the morning.''

Hunter hugged her back and smiled wryly, "Good night Airi." he said while watching her walk to the spare room, "And that breakfast in the morning sounds pretty good!" he called out. Once she was out of sight he opened the fridge and poured himself a shot of Vodka, "Want any, man?" he asked Mattias; shaking the bottle.

''Put the vodka away!! Please and thank you.''Airi called from the spare room.''Dont you have to work tomorrow? No wonder your always tired. You drink to much alcohol and you stay up half the night.''Airi shut the door to the spare room and layed on the bed. She stared at the ceiling and thought about her parents. Airi remembered the promise she made to Sped, so she didnt cry but in the inside she was crying a river of tears.

"Well, I would. But seeing how upset it makes Airi over there, I think I'll pass." Mattias shuffled around in his chair a bit, "You might want to go check up on here, we can't have fighting going on if I want you two to do my jobs right."

Hunter flinched once again when she yelled and put the bottle back into the freezer, leaving the shot on the counter just in case, "Yeah... Had a feeling that something was up." he said and turned down the hallway to the spare room. He rapped on the door a couple of times and said, "Hey Airi... You okay in there?"

Airi brought her attention to the door. She stared at it for a moment then turned over so her back was facing the door.''Im fine. Everything is alright.''she said staring at the wall. She throw the covers over her and layed there quietly. Slowly, memories of her parents came to her.

Hunter sighed quietly and said, "Hey if there's anything that you need to talk about; I'm here to listen. Whenever you want to say something I'll with be in my room or watching t.v." He turned back to walk down the hall to the kitchen to finish his drink but stopped midway, "You can even come out and have a drink if you want. I promise not to get drunk or anything."

Airi got up from the bed and opened the door. She walked to the kitchen and sat in a chair.''Tomorrow is the day my parents died. Some of the doctors believed they died from chronic illness, others like the villagers believed they died because of me. Everyone considered me as a curse.''she said mostly to herself. Airi walked to the counter and poured the shot in the sink. She stood there and said,''I remember my parents lieing in bed ill. They didnt like hospitals, so they payed doctors to come to our house. I remember seeing doctors coming in all the time. Checking on my parents and their health. One day a doctor went into the room and didnt come out for a very long time. When he finally came out, his expression was expressionless. My grandparents were there, too. My grandparents were talking to the doctor, then started crieing. Right there I knew my parents were dead.''

Hunter took a seat next to her and listened to what she had to say, her story dampening his mood as it went by, "I never was one to believe in curses..." he said, watching her as she poured his drink down the sink Dammit! "But I know what it's like to lose family. My mom, my dad, and my little brother were all killed. My mother committed suicide, my little brother was killed by my father. And in return I killed him." he leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette, taking a drag, "There isn't a day that goes by in which I don't think about him. I still blame myself for it; I wasn't there when he needed me." he took another drag and exhaled the smoke as he spoke, "But the main reason why I use Damien as a false name is because it's the only way I can find to honor his memory."

Airi moved to his side in an instant.''Im sorry to hear that. Your brother is watching you now as we speak. You know he doesnt want you to blame yourself. So why do you? It wasnt your fault because you werent there when he needed you. If you keep believing your the blame, you start to become weak. He needs you to be strong now and the least you can do for your brother is stop blaming your self. I hate when people blame their selves and I even hate myself for blaming my self. Blaming yourself makes things worst. Damien promise me, you'll never to blame yourself again!''she said staring at Hunter. Her eyes got watery. She turned around and ran to the spare room, shutting the door behind her. She leaned against the door, breathing hard.

Hunter watched her as she ran off and stood abruptly. He flipped the butt of the cigarette into the sink and followed her to the room, he was about to step in when the door slammed right in his face knocking his head back, "Ow." he said, dabbing a finger directly under a nostril and rubbed it on the thumb, Nosebleed. After waiting for a second he knocked on the door and said, "Airi... Airi open up. I know it's hard and everything but it will help if you talk to someone about it."

Airi moved from the door and opened it. She sat on the bed and kept her head down, staring at the floor. She didnt say anything. She kept wiping her eyes, to stop from crieing.

Hunter took a seat next to Airi and put his arm across her shoulders, "It's okay to cry you know." he said, "There are some people who say that crying makes you look weak, but holding it all in will only make it harder to deal with. After I lost my family I cried. When I was sent to prison I cried. But when I was in prison I didn't cry. There is a time and place for everything, and when you're with a friend like me I won't judge you for it." Hunter patted the shoulder and continued, "Keeping emotions in is like forcing air into a glass bottle; the pressure will keep building and building until finally it explodes harming the holder, you, and the people surrounding the bottle. You don't need to let it all out at once but there is a time for mourning and a time for happiness. I have mourned for seven long and lonely years. I think it's time for you and me both to find our happiness."