AN: Slashy thoughts from Gauron in the chapter again - so I shall post the warning once again XD! If you don't like slash, there's a high chance you won't like the last part of this chapter! (Thanks so much Ubikono for the wonderful inspiration! I have the table flipping scene here - ohohoho!)

Because Mao had changed the plan of action for his current mission, Sousuke was now faced with a new dilemma. The supply of special "Baby" rations had run out. Sousuke reluctantly realized that it was now his responsibility to go outside and attempt to find a supplier of this item. In the process of doing so, he would also have to bring Baby Moesuke along, since the subject would not be safe from terrorists without his protection. The whole idea of this did not appeal to him. It would be a risky move, since it would put him and his subject at a risk of sniper attacks. But it had to be done. It was part of the special manual's requirements that a baby must be fed this food properly every day.

Sousuke braced himself, preparing his weaponry. He donned a ballistic vest underneath his shirt, and checked to make sure his automatic pistol was loaded properly. To be on the safe side, he armed himself with an M203 grenade launcher (which he hid in the pack he was bringing with him). Unfortunately, wearing appropriate head covering might be too conspicuous. Sousuke decided he would have to take the chance of braving a headshot.

Sousuke now turned his attention to Baby Moesuke. Although doubtful that the subject would be capable of handling the heavier artillery, Sousuke decided that it would be best if the subject was armed with at least a deterrent of some sort. Sousuke went to the mace cupboard and retrieved a can.

"Baby Moesuke, we will be going on a very dangerous mission soon. It is imperative that we stick together and are properly prepared for this. Here, take this can of mace. If you are faced with an enemy, press this and spray them in the face with it."

Baby Moesuke took the mace and held it with care. He listened carefully to Sousuke's instructions, and apparently understood the graveness of the situation.

This was war.

Sousuke walked carefully around the city, searching desperately for a special "Baby Food" store. He held Baby Moesuke in one arm, and kept his other hand on his automatic pistol, which he had hidden inside his pocket. As soon as he set foot outside of his apartment, he felt a horrible feeling of uneasiness. This stressful, tingling feeling got progressively worse the longer he explored the city. His instincts told him that someone was watching them from afar, and this realization was killing him.

Every now and then, Sousuke would abruptly stop and turn towards the general area he felt the watchful presence was coming from. And every time, the watchful presence seemed to dissipate. Whoever was following them was a pro, for sure. And this pro had fast reflexes, making it very difficult to pinpoint exactly where they are. The only thing keeping Sousuke from completely panicking was the fact that Sousuke sensed no blood lust or "killing spirit" in the air. He could feel it - whoever was tailing them was not harboring any desire to harm or kill them. Their main purpose seemed to be that of simply observing. Nevertheless, Sousuke knew that this mission was not going to be easy.

It also seemed to be impossible to find a "Baby Food" supplier without asking someone. There were no stores that seemed to specialize in carrying the supplies needed, and Sousuke had no wish to continue remaining in broad daylight at the mercy of the enemy. He stopped in front of two female civilians who were sitting on a bench, and proceeded to ask them where he might find the special ration.

As soon as Sousuke approached them, both girls seemed to tense, and eyed him in an odd way. They also seemed to turn a shade of red.

"Baby food? You can probably buy it at any grocery store. Just go to the "Baby" section and it should be there."

"You have my thanks." Sousuke replied curtly.

When he started to walk away, the other girl called out.

"Is that your baby brother? He's so cute! That's sweet of you to take care of him. Hey, you want us to go with you to find the baby food?"

Both girls giggled nervously at this.

"No, he is not. And it is... my duty to do so," Sousuke answered awkwardly. "The offer is appreciated."

"Your - your duty?" Both of the girls seemed horrified at this.

As Sousuke walked away, he could hear the girls mentioning something about how all the "lookers" were taken, and that it's shocking how young fathers can be. None of this made sense to him, and he quickly refocused his mind on the task ahead.

The grocery store was crowded, and Sousuke was having a hard time finding the "Baby" section. It was infuriating how hard this task was. As Sousuke passed an aisle containing toys, he felt Baby Moesuke suddenly start to struggle.

"Ma Ma! Ma Ma!" Baby Moesuke cried out, as he pointed to a toy pistol hanging from a rack they passed.

"Please, keep quiet Baby Moesuke. We're almost there," Sousuke whispered.

After walking to the far end of the store, Sousuke realized that they had finally reached the "Baby" section, which contained several jars of rations. Sousuke set Baby Moesuke down and got to work on stocking up on the baby food. Unfortunately, he was now faced with a new dilemma: there were so many different kinds of jars. Which was the correct kind? Was the proper kind "Krazy Krunchy Karrot"? Was it "Mushy Wushy Peas"? Many of these sounded highly untrustworthy, and any wrong move on his part might spell doom for his subject. No, Sousuke had to be cautious. This was a delicate task - much like when he chooses which color wire he must cut when defusing a bomb. Sousuke was sweating bullets now.

Going through them, Sousuke finally recognized and picked out the correct ones. They were the exact same as the ones Mao had provided him, and Sousuke felt accomplished for managing to pass the test and choose wisely. So focused was he on the task at hand, it was only after he finished and turned around that he realized Baby Moesuke was gone.

Baby Moesuke wriggled and crawled his way through the crowds of towering people, slowly getting to the place where he saw the pretty, orange weapon. He felt sure that he would be able to protect Ma Ma from bad people if he were to get his hands on that. Ma Ma told him that things were dangerous and serious now, and what Ma Ma gave him might not be enough. Baby Moesuke needed that special weapon Ma Ma called a "gun."

Unfortunately, when Baby Moesuke got to it, he found himself too short to reach it. Pathetic. Baby Moesuke felt so useless. He found tears welling up in his eyes, and he had a hard time suppressing them. He started to whimper.

"Hey, who left their baby here? The kid is crying, too." A fat, middle age man approached Baby Moesuke. "Parents like that should be sued. Horrible."

The man knelt next to Baby Moesuke, telling him something about how he'll take him to the front desk. At that, the man reached out to grab Baby Moesuke.

"Ma Ma! MA MA!" Baby Moesuke cried out, finding himself increasingly frightened by this man.

The man yelped as he was punched in the face. Once he fell over onto the ground, he was held down in an armlock.

"Don't move a muscle, or your brains will be splattered across the floor."

It was Ma Ma! Ma Ma had come to save him from the scary man. She looked very intense as she held her gun to the man's head, and Baby Moesuke thought she looked so cool.

The man was scared stiff.

"Who are you? Why did you punch me? My god, that's not real, is it? Th- That's not even legal!" he stammered.

Ma Ma dug her gun harder into the man's head.

"Shut up. So you were targeting him. Who sent you? What do you want with him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, you psycho! And if you don't let go now, I - I'll sue you!" The man was all but shrieking now.

Ma Ma observed the man for a bit, then let him go. As soon as she let go, the man made a dart for the exit, and ran far faster than Baby Moesuke imagined he could.

Ma Ma looked angry. Very angry.

"If you want to make it out of this alive, didn't I say that we had to stay together? You were lucky that that man was a small fry - someone ignorant to our enemy's master plan. Don't go with strange old men that want to take you anywhere! Even if they offer you things like ammunition or food supplies - Got that?" Baby Moesuke noticed that by Ma Ma's tone, she seemed to be referring to a particular person in that last sentence. Whoever it was that Ma Ma was referring to, Ma Ma seemed to feel disgusted talking about them. Or perhaps it was Baby Moesuke over thinking.

After the encounter, Baby Moesuke realized how important it was that he should stay by Ma Ma's side. What use was going off to search for weapons if he wasn't even with Ma Ma? With them split up, it would be easier for the bad people to hurt either of them. Baby Moesuke realized this only after that scary situation had passed. It had served as a warning, and Baby Moesuke was ashamed he had caused Ma Ma such grief by not thinking like a rational soldier.

They were now lined up at the cash register, and Ma Ma was holding Baby Moesuke over her shoulder. Baby Moesuke noticed a middle age woman eyeing his Ma Ma strangely. She kept staring at Ma Ma. Baby Moesuke didn't like it. Perhaps part of it was his possessiveness of his beautiful Ma Ma, or perhaps part of it was his renewed paranoia of strange people. But Baby Moesuke found himself increasingly suspicious of this woman. These feelings reached a boiling point when Baby Moesuke noticed her secretly peering at Ma Ma from behind a magazine she was "reading." Baby Moesuke took out his mace (which he had skillfully hid inside his diaper) and sprayed her with it when she got too close to Ma Ma.

The shriek was loud, but Baby Moesuke felt she had deserved it.

"WHAT THE - OW, GOD, What did that brat just spray me with? My eyes - they sting! I'M BLIND!"

At this, Ma Ma turned around.

"Dammit - your baby - he sprayed me with some poison! What are you going to do about it? I'm taking you to the police - I swear!"

"Ah - it's just mace. It should stop stinging after half an hour to two hours." Ma Ma replied calmly.

"JUST MACE? What the hell is wrong with you? I demand compensation! I demand - "

At this, Ma Ma replied in a soft spoken voice, "I apologize. The subject in my care - I mean, my baby - he is not clear on how to properly treat a - errr... a beautiful lady. Can you forgive this?"

The woman seemed less angry after Ma Ma said that, surprisingly.

"W-well, I suppose it's a common mistake..." she said, eyes twitching in pain, but obviously mesmerized by Ma Ma's voice. It made Baby Moesuke disgusted. Yes, this woman definitely deserved it.

She was still staring (sort of - as she had bouts of pain from the mace every second or so) admiringly at Ma Ma as they left the store.

Ma Ma let out a deep breath once they were outside the store. "For once, Kurz was actually right. When you add that word to any sentence when talking with an angry female, she becomes less hostile. I was reluctant to believe it since it never seemed to work for him, but..."

She now looked more serious, and looked Baby Moesuke in the eye.

"Baby Moesuke... it's good to be alert and cautious. However, I'm not certain that the person just now was a terrorist. Next time, it would be wiser not to alert your enemies by macing them. It's best to keep them ignorant that you have hostile intentions toward them. Never lick your lips in front of your prey. Only amateurs do that. If you're going to strike, go all the way. And if there is no reason to strike, don't do it at all."

Ma Ma's face relaxed, and her lips turned ever so slightly up. That was the closest thing Baby Moesuke had seen Ma Ma come to smiling. "However, your technique of macing is quite impressive. Very stealthy and quick. Not the work of an amateur. I hardly felt it when you did it. You're becoming a more and more capable soldier."

And that comment from Ma Ma was enough to make Baby Moesuke feel better about everything.

Gauron was having a tasty meal in his hotel room. The hotel was certainly a luxury resort. They provided the finest and most expensive of meals right to the room, and they certainly had exquisite wine. But what made this meal especially good to Gauron was not how expensive or classy it was. It could have just as easily been a hotdog from a street vendor, instead of the insanely expensive steak.

What made this meal so special was that it was flavored with the taste of anticipation. He had tied up loose ends (and eliminated a few idiots) with his job, and he was going to go see his honey the day after tomorrow. He felt like he was on cloud nine.

There was a knock on his room door.

"Yu Lan, you should know by now that there's no need to knock on the door."

Yu Lan opened the door and came in. "Pardon me, Sensei - my sister has sent back a report on Kashim."

"Well now, what is that precious boy of mine up to?" Gauron grinned and seemed to look far away, almost dreamily.

"Kashim has finally left the apartment. He was looking for a particular place. He seemed to be aware that sister was following him, but... sister is certain that he didn't see her or know who or where exactly she was."

Gauron found this amusing. "Hmm hmmm... Kashim is alert as ever, isn't he? It's nice that he never lets his guard down or allows his skills to get rusty. It makes all of this so much more fun."

"Kashim went to a grocery store. He assaulted a man there, and interrogated him. He was apparently provoked to do so after the man tried to take his baby away. He then had a woman behind him assaulted with mace. He left the store after he purchased thirty jars of baby food. On the way back to his apartment, he beat up five men because they looked suspicious, and used a grenade launcher to destroy a tree. My sister says he did so because he thought she was hiding behind it. She was actually hiding behind a different tree nearby."

Gauron chuckled. This was even more amusing to him. "Oooh, Kashim, Kashim, Kashim. You never fail to amuse. There really is no one else like you. That's just like him to leave beautiful destruction in his wake. And shitty people over there just don't appreciate beauty when they see it. Heh heh... so he assaulted a man when the fool tried to take his - "

There was a beat. Gauron turned to look at Yu Lan.

"Yu Lan. Tell me - did you just say his baby?"

Although she didn't outwardly show it, Yu Lan was wincing on the inside. She braced herself.

"Yes, Sensei. Kashim's baby. He... he said so himself."

Gauron looked blank as he digested this information. It was rare for Yu Lan to see her Sensei look blank, and it scared her.

And then he started to laugh. The laugh went from a light chuckle to full blown maniacal laughter.

"So Kashim finally did it! That beautiful saint finally went with some shitty bimbo and had a little baby together. Isn't that sweet. How nice of him to finally settle down and have a warm, beautiful little family. It brings tears to my eyes."

There was a loud, explosive noise that resounded inside the room. Gauron had hit the table. Hard. Plates clattered, and the fine wine spilled across the table, leaving blood-like stains on the tablecloth.

"TO HELL WITH THIS! THAT WHORE! HE'S A LITTLE WHORE! HOW COULD HE DO THIS? HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO ME? HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO US?" Gauron roared.

He proceeded to flip the table over, the pricey meal spilling onto the floor.

And with the destruction of the table, it became very obvious that his good humor was gone.

"Kashim, you know I won't allow this. This special tie we have between us... it won't just go away if you go and have some shitty sweet little family. I won't let you. None of them know you like I do. You're a killer. You're not some boring, ordinary citizen that has children with a stupid, ignorant woman and tries to settle down. Shit - dammit! Kashim, I won't forgive you for this. I'll kill her. So you'll never think of betraying me like this again. And that little baby of yours, too. I'll make it so you have no one but me. No - ever since the beginning, you've had no one but me. You just never wanted to believe it."

Gauron was ranting now. And Yu Lan felt unnerved. Although Sensei was well known for his violent outbursts when people cross him, it was rarely as passionate or filled with rage as this time. Kashim has power over Sensei. This fact was more pronounced than ever to Yu Lan.

"Sensei... perhaps the child is not his? It is possible that - "

Gauron's voice was now dripping with sarcasm. "Yes, because Kashim has now decided to become a good samaritan and do wonderful community work like babysitting cute little kids. No, Kashim wouldn't do that. He's a killer - a mercenary. A warrior. He has no time for taking care of some random fucking kid. I know him - right now, he was probably led astray by some bitch. Thinks he's going to be a normal man or something. He can't manage it though. I'll have to teach him that."

Yu Lan realized that what Sensei was saying was true. It was highly unlikely that the child would not be Kashim's. There would be no reason for him to do such a thing.

Gauron was every bit as angry as before, although less violent now. Dark sentiments were burning in his eyes, and after a long while, he spoke.

"Yu Lan. I'm going to him. Tonight."

"Yes, Sensei. I shall make arrangements now." Yu Lan replied calmly, although Gauron's sudden resolve surprised her.

As she left the room and closed the door, Yu Lan heard her Sensei mutter darkly -

"You're mine, Kashim. I won't allow it."