Toru watched as the young man hugged Azusa and kissed her cheeks before he took a seat between the both of them.

"Nice to meet you, everyone. My sister has been telling me all about you guys, and I couldn't wait to see you." He then put his arm around Azusa's shoulder. "That's why I rushed here after I finished my job, to see how my beloved sister is doing."

"Oh? What's your job young man? And how long are you going to stay here?" Chiori asked Azuma who continued to shove food into his mouth.

"I'm a… hunter." He smiled as Azusa looked flustered.

"What kind of animals do you hunt?" Genji suddenly sounded interested. He was also an avid hunter too when he was young – and when he had free time – and he loved to feel the rush of adrenaline that went together with hunting larger prey like a deer, or a boar.

"I hunt all kinds of animals, Sir. Four legs, two legs, humans, non-humans, and everything in between." Azuma grinned and Azusa elbowed him on the ribs.

"What he meant was that he's actually a bounty hunter, Genji-san." Azusa explained it to the older man. "He looks for people who ran away from their court appointment and brings them back. Not as glamorous as you thought." She glared at her brother.

"Mm, what she said." Azuma smirked and continued to eat.

"We need to talk." Azusa gritted her teeth and whispered to her brother – who waved his hand like nothing happened.

"Later sis, let me eat and get to know the people you are acquainted with first, eh? And you Toru, I think I've seen you around. Are you a cop?"

Toru observed Azuma closely.

A bounty hunter, huh?

He knew several of them, and most of them had a good relationship with the cops – the rest of them? Well, let's just say that they were thugs with a license to do harm to other thugs. He didn't know which category this man was, because he never saw him around.

"Major Crimes, Division Five." He nodded and Azuma grinned.

"Ah, the famous Toru Hasegawa, youngest captain of Major Crimes. That's why I remember you." He took a piece of a crispy tempura and put it on his plate. "Please eat, brother-in-law."

Toru choked on his food when he heard the term of endearment from the twin brother of the woman he liked, and it made Azusa pat his back and gave him a glass of green tea while she glared at her brother.

"What?" He smirked at her. "I thought you guys already progressed that fast?" He put another piece of food into his mouth. "But be careful, brother, my sis may look docile and sweet when she actually is a…"

"Excuse me, but I need to… talk to my brother." She grabbed his collar, put her hand on his mouth to stop him from talking, and dragged him to the second level where her temporary living quarters were located.

She threw him inside and then locked the door before she sighed heavily.

"Okay, now spill, why are you really here?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Did Noah tell you to check on me? I told him that I will be able to handle this myself."

"No, I just finished clearing the chupacabra nest and put some poor souls to rest, and I have some spare time so I decided to visit my sister and give her a back up if she needs it. Not that you need it, obviously." Azuma put his hands up in a surrender gesture. "And well, Noah may have mentioned that he's worried about you, you know with your… condition, and all."

"I knew it." She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe Noah didn't trust me to do this alone."

"Well, at least you have to be grateful it's me that he sent instead of that psycho Byakuya."

Azusa looked at him in horror.

Byakuya was one of Noah's latest acquisitions, the heir of the Dark Phoenix clan who refused to obey his grandfather – the present patriarch – and instead he joined Noah's Purgatory, the merry band of Exorcists and Demon Hunters.

And he had a tendency to kill and destroy everything first then ask questions later.

"Exactly." Azuma sat on the bed and tested its bounciness.

"God. It's only been a week and you guys are all twitchy. Have you ever done a long job before? Huh?" She poked Azuma's chest with such a force that he fell back on the bed.

"The longest job I have is like three days and it's only because Ben insisted that I take my time and be patient, otherwise I would finish it in a day. Just like Noah did."

Azuma idolized Noah St.Claire and he looked him up like a big brother and a deity who could do nothing wrong, although their physical ages were not that far apart.

"Oh, by the way, last night someone was sneaking in here, but since I forgot to wear my necklace… well, you know how it went." He then lied down on the bed and closed his eyes.

"What? Who?" Azusa pinched her brother's waist. "Did you play with the burner again?"

"Ow! That hurts! And what do you mean playing with the burner? I was just testing the water!"

"Keep your hands out of my belongings or I swear I will sic Byakuya on you." She pointed her finger to him in a menacing manner. "And don't you ever say anything to Toru again that will compromise me."

"Aye aye boss." Azuma gave her a salute and then she went back down to meet the others again.

When she reached the table, everyone was still talking, and unfortunately she saw that Karen was sitting in her previous seating.

Toru looked very uncomfortable, but Karen did not seem to care judging by how close she sat to him and how touchy she was to the point of molestation.

When Toru saw her come down, he looked very relieved and eagerly stood up and walked to her.

"Quick, save me from the horny monster." He whispered to her – his face flustered – and she giggled.

"Oh? My service is not cheap, you know. Especially if the opponent is someone like her."

"I will give you anything." Toru paled as he saw Karen follow him. "Anything you want."

"Mmm…" She thought for a second. "Kiss me." She said it and then she pulled him closer. "And make it look like you mean it."

It only took Toru a second to register what she said and the next second his instinct seemed to take over his body.

He touched Azusa's bare face with his right hand to caress her cheek, and circled his left arm around her waist as he pulled her closer, tilted her chin up, and kissed her.

It was soft at first, only two pairs of lips touching – testing the water.

But soon it felt like he had found his oasis and he could taste the sweet nectar from Azusa's lips, and he realized that he was deprived for so long. That was when he deepened his kiss and opened her mouth with his tongue, and started to explore her.

Karen looked at the view in front of her with rage all over her body – smoke was practically out of her ears.

She came to seduce Toru while the bitch was not there, but the man looked like he was having constipation just by seeing her. And yet when Azusa appeared, she could see clearly that he was beaming, before he left her to greet the bitch.

She was about to claim her stake by warning the bitch to back off of her man, when she saw he lowered his head and then… kissed her.

The voice whispered to her again – this time it's telling her to do something about this situation – and she was glad to follow it because she wanted to rip the bitch's face off.

HOW DARE SHE TOOK HIM FROM US! PUNISH HER!

But when she took another step forward she was stopped by Genji – Toru's father.

"I suggest that you think long and hard, before you do what you're going to do, Karen." His voice was soft, but she could hear the steel behind it.

She watched again as the two people in front of her continued kissing – unaware of her hatred gaze, or anyone else's. They were too into each other to care about anything else. And when Toru deepened his kiss as he was about to devour the woman in front of him, Karen snapped back to reality and she couldn't help but let an involuntary tear fall down on her cheek.

She wiped it furiously and turned around to get out of the bar before she embarrassed herself further, and she took out her phone then she dialed a number on her speed dial.

"Yeah, it's me. I need you here ASAP. Bring friends and let me know if you've arrived."