Chapter 43

Sam was sitting in the living room with Power. A maid came and served them tea. He must admit, Power had made quite a fortune as a motivational guru, like anyone in the 2000s.

"As you can see, my book became so popular after the first few sales. Many people started sending me letters..."

Power was bragging, but Sam's mind was somewhere else.

After hearing what Power had said about Makima, he was uneasy.

Makima was the one to tell Power to publish his book under her name, and Makima never believed in his death.

Yet she let the news of his death run.

So it meant that she knew he was alive, and he might be hiding somewhere because he was feeling insecure about getting back.

But he could give her credit for finding out that he was alive.

'Right. Her sense of smell is better than dogs.'

'And I walked right into her trap. Apparently, she knew that I would come back immediately after I heard about Power.'

'Hope she is not angry. I mean, how long haven't I seen her? Three months, four maybe? Would she be angry that I didn't call her? I mean... she's quite sweet, bought me a PS2, watched me play and all, and I turned my back on her.'

Sam sipped his tea, and it tasted sour. 'Never mind. I'll Van Diesel it again.'

"Hello. Earth to Sam. Are you hearing what I am saying?" Power waved her hand in front of Sam's face.

Sam smiled at her, and he said. "I'm happy that you were doing fine. Also, I'm proud of you for turning into a little version of me."

"I'm not little compared to you."

"Whatever you say." Sam looked left and right. "So where would I live?"

Putting a finger under her lip, she raised her eyes and thought for a moment before saying. "Next to the maid's room. I guess I'd call it the househusband's house."

Sam suppressed his urge to chuckle. He could live in a better apartment without her nagging him. But it didn't feel right to let her enjoy the benefits of his life's work without getting something back.

He patted her head and played with her horns. With a wide smile, he said. "You know Power, for stealing my book, I can sue you for all of your property."

Power patted his head back and exhaled a nervous chuckle. "Just kidding. I have a big room. I can't use all of the space alone."

"That's my girl." Sam messed up her hair.

"So, do you want to make up? I don't have much to do around this time unless I'm called for a job. So, you know."

"Leave it for later." Sam shook his head and looked out the window. He had a feeling that he was being watched.

"Why?"

Sam looked back at her. "You don't turn your back on family."

"But you love when I turn my back to you, don't you?" Power asked in a wondering tone.

Sam chuckled. "I just have to visit Makima first, re-announce that I'm alive. And then, I'll slowly get back to my previous life."

"Oh, I see." Replied Power as she lay down. "Until then, I'll watch TV."

"See you later then." Sam stood up and excused himself.

-x-X-x- 

Sam stood in front of Makima's apartment and knocked on the door gently. The door opened.

What welcomed Sam wasn't a devil but a dog that had just opened the door.

Sam tilted his head, confused for a moment, before walking inside.

Inside the house, Makima was lying on her couch while hugging a small dog with her right arm.

He entered and pointed at himself with two thumbs. "Hey, Makima San. Your favorite devil hunter is back."

She gave him a side glance before turning on her TV and not saying a single word.

'She's so angry at me.'

Sam walked and sat next to her on the left side. He crossed one leg over the other and said, "So, how were the last three months? We have some catching up to do, don't we?"

No response.

Sam stretched his arm and put it around her shoulder. Seeing that she didn't stop him, he pulled her down for a hug.

"How long were you willing to make me wait?"

"You know that was something out of my control," Sam shrugged.

"You kept hiding in Kyoto for three months," she said coldly. "Not even a single call."

Sam sighed. Apparently, she knew. Even if the Fox Devil was good at keeping secrets, she wasn't out of the reach of Makima's controlling power.

No wonder she was acting angry now.

"You know why I've been hiding?" he asked.

"Seeing that you didn't contact me, I assume that you put me on your suspect list," she said, her gaze tightening.

"Never!" Sam exclaimed. "I just couldn't reveal myself."

Then he looked around. He noticed that there were a few plane tickets here and there for two people, and they were expired. 'Shit. She happened to be planning for activities, didn't she?'

"And why is that?"

"First, I've lost my phone," Sam said. "And my memory sucks. And if I call you, that would have put you in danger."

"Danger? "

"I suspected the one who wanted me dead may be the National Security Council, NSCJ," Sam lowered his head. "Unfortunately, that doubt is growing stronger and stronger. If it's them, then any call would be under watch."

Makima turned her head to him and stared into his eyes for the first time. "But you could've come to me to hide you. Or you don't trust your family?"

"That would have put you in danger," Sam said, hugging her closer. "You know, many people thought that they could kidnap me to use you. The NSCJ may have seen this as a danger, so they decided to get rid of me."

"If you came to me, I would never let anyone hurt you."

"But you'd get hurt."

Makima chuckled. "That's cute."

Sam pointed at her mouth. "Is that a smile I'm seeing?"

"You little bastard." Instead of saying anything, Makima took her hand off the dog, and she hugged him strongly.

Sam closed his eyes and enjoyed the hug.

The next words of Makima made his heart skip a beat more than the sight of the hottest girl he'd ever seen.

"If you ever do that to me, I'll kill you," she said while giving him pats on her back.

"Hahaha..." Sam laughed a bit. The joke was so bad that he couldn't enjoy having his chest pressed against her chest.

"It's not a joke," Makima confirmed.

Releasing a long breath, Sam said, "Don't worry. The next time, I won't fake my death. I'll die for real."

"Then I'll bring you back to life and kill you again," Makima said.

"So there is no escape," Sam said.

"No."

He replied with a sigh. "So this is a family hug."

She then released him from the hug. "Are you hungry?"

"No."

"You should eat something. You only smell like alcohol and ice cream," Makima said, standing up and walking to her fridge. "I've only got meat and blood. So what do you want?"

"I'll figure it out later," Sam lied down. "I want to talk about getting back to my previous spot."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I want only the higher-ups to know that," Sam said. "In that case, I can confirm if they were the ones after me."

"You're waiting for them to send an assassin."

"Yes. If it's only them who know, then that would confirm my doubt."

"Aren't there others who know?"

"Who? Power? Himeno? I can suspect the Illuminati more than them," Sam held back his urge.

"And me?" Makima asked.

"We don't point fingers at family," Sam closed his eyes. "Anyway, I'm taking a nap."

"I'll wake you up when I'm done," Makima said.

Sam closed his eyes. 'Let's hope that I'm still in this place after I wake up.'