The suitcase was really heavy. Mizuki would growl curses at Mr. T at every step she had to take while dragging that thing around the dark building. Just as he had suggested, it was a gun room. Through the long corridors, Mizuki saw several old guns hanging on the walls as decoration. She even caught glance of an old fashioned bazooka.

The new prototype that would allow the agency to scan the building had to be right at its center in order for it to work. The building had 6 floors, so the big heavy cube had to be taken up all the way to the third floor and placed in the middle of it.

"Only one more set of stairs...and it will be done..." she heaved a sigh, pulling up the case and pausing to rest just for a moment. She looked at the last stairs, her vision blurring for a moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before straightening back up. She had to finish this one job before Volk arrived.

With newfound motivation, she grabbed the case's handle once again.

Madara hid the car at the back of the building and closed his eyes before resting his back against his seat. The half hour would begin the moment Volk and Gwen arrived. The building appeared to be deserted when they came, and Madara sighed in relief. Now it was up to Mizuki.

She had taken the suitcase with her, again. What's in there that she needs that badly?, he thought with a frown. Maybe he should have asked her to show him.
The moment she pulled the suitcase out of the backseat, the car moved slightly upwards. Madara tried to hide the widening of his eyes by looking away. How did she even lift that thing up?

"Those are definitely not weights..." he muttered to himself, looking up at the building through one of its broken windows. "What are you planning to do, Mizuki?"

The girl finished setting up Mr. T's prototype and let herself fall in the floor in a huff. She was tired after dragging it up and had almost run out of breath. She set a connection between her phone and the box, so that it could send the blueprint to her mobile after it's done.

Taking a small box from her pocket, she took out of it two small magnets and placed them behind her ear. "Everything's set up, Mr. T." She spoke calmly, waiting for further instructions.

"Good. I'll take it from here Mizuki, thanks for everything."

Mizuki hummed in satisfaction, heading down the stairs in a slow pace. Her muscles still hurt after dragging that thing, but she still had to take care of the most important part: meeting her mother.

She didn't know what to expect from that woman. She didn't even know if she would recognize her, the last time she saw her she was a kid.

After arriving once again at the first floor, Mizuki sat down at the entrance. Fifteen minutes passed, and another car stopped in front of the building. She recognized Volk's figure emerging from the driver's door. He looked at her and smirked slightly before walking around the car towards the passenger seat. Mizuki felt her breath hitch when he opened the door and a woman, not older than 40, stepped out. Mizuki stood up and felt her insides twist when she made eye contact with the woman.

Her long silky black hair just like hers, her gray shiny eyes. This was her. This was Gwen Kira. This was her mother.

Mizuki's eyes softened and she made her way towards her. The woman smiled at her and opened her arms to receive her. Mizuki hurried her pace, but she stopped right before touching her. Gwen tilted her head in confusion but seemed to understand her daughters doubt all of a sudden. "Mizuki?"

The girl recognized that voice from her childhood. This was really her mother, but she was also the woman she had to be careful of. This was also an enemy of the agency, and she had to stay calm and collected no matter the hurricane of emotions that hurled inside of her.

The half hour started to tick at that moment. She only had so much time before Madara interrupted their meeting and things heated up despite her not wanting him to butt in. Her mother was out for his head, that much had been confirmed by Mr. T. She tried to warn him, but Madara didn't want to listen.

Volk approached the two women and motioned them to the building. "We should take this beautiful meeting inside, don't you girls think?" The smile he gave them made Mizuki's insides churn. She looked at her mother with questioning eyes.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

Gwen took a deep breath, pushing her black hair behind her ear and looking at her daughter with her bright gray eyes. "I will explain everything to you, sweetie. Let's go inside."

Mizuki narrowed her eyes but nodded.

* * *

"How did you guys meet each other?" Mizuki broke the ice after they had spent a few minutes in silence. Volk had brought them to the basement of the building, casually the place where most guns were. It put Mizuki on edge.

Gwen took a deep breath and smiled, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "If you want to cut straight to the chase, Mizuki, you give me no choice but to do it too." The girl frowned at her choice of words. The look on Gwen's face became serious. "I know you still work for the agency. You can't fool me Mizu, you still work for your father. You have always been daddy's little girl." She smiled. "I admire your determination to fool Madara in order to get information out of him, I must admit, but I want to make you a special offer."

"What kind of offer?" Mizuki gulped. Her mother was definitely not up to anything good.

Gwen extended a hand towards her and smiled widely. "Join me, Mizuki. You and I, together, can bring down both Madara and the agency." Her smirk widened and became tainted with evil. "Help me get back at them for everything they did to me!"

"What did they do to you?" Mizuki narrowed her eyes. "The agency would never turn their backs on one of their own! It was you who left!" Tears threatened to fill Mizuki's eyes but she managed to stay put. Her palms were hurting, and she realized she had been clenching her fists tightly enough to dig her nails into her skin.

Gwen's grin disappeared and she lowered her extended arm slowly. "It's that what Aki told you? That I left?" She let out a dry laugh. "It's that what you honestly think of me, Mizuki?" She huffed again. "Of course, he didn't tell you anything. He probably made me look like the bad one. It's something he would do to avoid causing you more pain than necessary."

"What are you talking about?" Mizuki narrowed her eyes. "What's your version then?"

Gwen took a deep breath and looked at her daughter with soft eyes. "They kicked me out of course. They became impatient and accused me of clinging into only one case and slacking off on the rest. But they didn't understand that this one case would solve probably one of the biggest puzzles in the Mafia." Mizuki looked at the ground. "After having experienced it first hand you must know how it all works now. You must know Madara's dirty secret. He is indeed one of the most wanted mobsters in the world."

"You're working with the agency on an infiltration mission in order to gather information about him, aren't you?" Volk spoke for the first time while inside. "Level 2, assassination specialist Mizuki Kira."

"So, after kicking me out they finally realized I was right all along..." Gwen rolled her eyes. "Those idiots, slow as always. Perhaps they should begin by merging all divisions into one called the Sloth."

"My mission is none of your business." Mizuki retorted. "I came here to discuss your plans, not mine."

"I only want to make you an offer. And this is the only chance I'll give you to pick the winning side, Mizuki. Come with me." Her mother's tone had become more stern.

Mizuki took a deep breath. "No. I already gave Volk an answer at the ball." She narrowed her eyes at her mother. "I'm sorry but I don't share your vision. I will continue to work for the agency until I die."

Gwen smiled slightly before pulling out a gun from her waist band. She aimed it towards her daughter, "I'm sorry but I can't let you leave like this."

Mizuki was stunned. She put her hands up and gulped at the gun in her mothers hands. "Put the gun down, Gwen." Madara's voice echoed through the building. Mizuki panicked, how long had he been waiting around? How much did he hear?

"Oh? Prince Charming just arrived." She mocked. Madara walked from around the corner and glared at the woman in front of him. Mizuki stared at him in awe. His eyes had turned an intense red color, a trait only ever observed in pure blooded members of the Uchiha Clan. Mizuki had never had a chance of seeing this rare event after the clan had been massacred by Itachi almost five years earlier. So, she couldn't help but stare.

"I don't like to repeat myself, Gwen Kira. Please, put the gun down." Madara spoke slowly, his voice lacing with threats.

Gwen smiled slightly. "Fine. Only because you asked nicely. And it's obvious this was difficult for you as well." She did put the gun down, but kept that ugly smirk on her face. "What are you doing here, Madara? You're not taking advantage of my daughter now, are you?"

Madara huffed, crossing his arms in front his chest and looking at Gwen with a glare. "Why would you even mind? You don't care about your daughter."

Gwen was filled with rage in a second and aimed the gun at him. Mizuki tried to move but now it was Volk who had a weapon aimed in her direction.

"Don't even think I would let you intervene." He said with a maniac grin. "This is one chance in a lifetime."

Mizuki looked at the black haired man with concerned eyes. Her mother already had a finger in the trigger and had taken off the safety lock.

"Who are you to decide how I feel about my own child?!" Her voice was firm, but even her stance wavered as she looked from Madara to Mizuki, and back to Madara again.

The Uchiha just smirked and let his arms fall to his sides. "Your daughter's with me. If you have a problem with me, then deal with me." His face became serious. "But let her out of this."

Gwen aimed the gun back at her daughter. Her eyes softened. "I can't let you be with this monster, sweetheart." She let out a dry chuckle, and pressed her lips into a thin line. "Because of him and his selfish means, a whole clan perished."

Madara growled only loud enough for them to barely hear him. Mizuki looked at him with confused eyes, silently demanding an explanation. But he wouldn't even look at her.

Gwen took a breath and put the gun down, Volk following her lead. "It looks like you don't know the whole story yet." She smiled slightly, giving Madara a victorious smirk. She knew this piece of information might be vital to let Mizuki pick her side.

"Let me tell you the story," she continued. "Of how the Uchiha Clan met its demise five years ago."

Mizuki was starting to feel an unending dread in her heart as she took short breaths. Madara seemed to be very uncomfortable with the situation but she couldn't help feeling curious about his story and the story of his family.

"Mizuki," Mr. T's words interrupted her thoughts. "The cube. You don't have signal. I need you to draw them to a place where your phone can connect."

Mizuki looked around and weighed her options.

Shit.