Meanwhile, Mio had taken a self-driving Taxi to her parents house. She sent the taxi off and knocked on the door. Miku was the one to answer it and seeing Mio, the younger sister's face first fills with joy and then with worry as she sees Mio's broken arm. She says, "Mio! What happened to your arm?" Mio enters the house and hugs her sister. She says, "I got hurt on one of my missions. The doctor says it will heal though so don't worry. I'm sorry for missing your 18th Birthday. I was in some trouble. I wanted to call and wish you happy birthday but the phones weren't working. I was really worried about you. I got this for you." Mio hands Miku a wrapped gift. She suggests, "Open it" Meanwhile, the other members of Mio's family gather around. The mother says, "Mio. You're here. You missed Miku's birthday. She was really sad you didn't come." Miku looks a bit guilty. Mio doesn't respond.
Miku opens the present and pulls out an bunch of music albums. Mio says, "I know you liked this band so I got you a bunch of their albums." Miku looks at the box of music albums. She is clearly happy about the gift but she is still worried about her big sister. Mio turns to her mother and says, "I tried but I couldn't get in touch. What happened?" "A few days ago, there was this weird thing where all our electronics stopped working. We haven't had time to get new phones yet." Mio looks a bit guilty but doesn't say anything. Miku can feel something is wrong but she doesn't know if she should say anything. She just stares at her big sister. Meanwhile Mio's eyes dart among the people around her and notice that the only ones missing are Kyouko and her father. She asks, "Hey Mom, where's dad? What about Kyouko?" Her mother responds, "Your father had a headache so Kyouko went and get him from the hospital." Mio nods and says, "So... about the phones... why didn't you get a new phone yet?" "Well..." Her mother says with a bit of shame, "We didn't have the money for it." Mio sighs and says, "I gave you the money not too long ago. What did you guys do with it?" She sighs and adds, "You know, never mind. It doesn't matter anyway." Mokuba wanted to say something but he detects the air of tension hanging around Mio and doesn't speak. The uncle says, "Mio, honey, are you going to be spending the night here?" Mio shakes her head. "I'm sorry but my current work is a bit more hectic than normal. I can't stay here. I'm busy now. I will definitely come and stay a few days once this job is over. I promise." Miku feels a sense of sadness welling up in her as her sister makes that promise. Miku had always been very close to Mio. She could tell that her sister wasn't confident that she could keep this promise. The implications of that were things Miku didn't want to think about. She just looks down.
Mio's mother says, "Mio! Is this job why your arm is in a cast? For god's sake, Mio. Get out of this dangerous line of work. No matter what you think about the metal in your face, you're still young and beautiful. If we look hard enough, I'm certain we can find a rich corp officer that would love nothing more than to marry you. You won't have to work anymore? You don't have to keep putting yourself in danger. You can just live comfortably for the rest of your life as his wife." Something at that point snapped in Mio and she screams, "And then what? You think he's going to feed the whole family? Did you forget the reason I'm doing this is so that the family can stay off the streets?" Her mom goes silent. Mio continues, "And you want me to live off of someone else's income all my life? What about what grandpa taught me? What would he think if he heard you suggest that? Grandpa always told me that there is nothing more dishonorable than living under someone else's thumb all our adult life just because we have no power of our own beyond leeching off of someone else's income. I would rather sell my body before I do something like that!" Her uncle shouts, "MIO! Who do you think you are!? You can't speak to your mother like that!" Mio started walking out the house. Her uncle shouted behind her, "Mio! Where are you going! Get back her right now you ungrateful little..." With a loud slam, Mio shuts the door and leaves. Her aunt begins to comfort her mother. Miku looks at the shut door while doing her best to hold back tears. She was really worried about her sister's well-being.
Mio was sitting on the backseat of a taxi with her head in her hand. She was regretting screaming at her mother and storming off. She felt extremely guilty since she felt this might be the last time she would be able to see her family. There were many things that were worrying her. What if the Chinese Elite Assassins become too much for her? What if they find out where her family lives? She could never forgive herself if something happened to her family because of her, which made her scared to visit more often. She also didn't want her family's last memory of her to be her screaming at them and storming off. While she is stewing in bunch of different worries, she receives a phone call from a public telephone. She picks up and Miku's worried voice greets her. "Mio? Will you really be alright?" "Miku? Look, I'm sorry for storming off like that. I was under a lot of stress and I kind of just exploded there. I'm really sorry." "Sis?" Mio detects the sadness in Miku's shaky voice. "Miku... what's wrong. Why is your voice so shaky?" "Mio.... I'm worried about you. I'm not telling you to quit your line of work but... can you please drop this job?" Mio was going to say something but Miku cuts her off, "Sister, please! I don't want to lose you." "I... I will be fine. I will come back to visit." "Sis! I know you aren't confident in that promise. I grew up with you. I know when you aren't sure of yourself. I know when you're scared. Just... Can you just at least consider dropping this job. The money isn't worth it. Just take a different job. Do it for me, please." Mio goes quiet. "Sis?" "Y-yeah I'm here. I'll... I'll consider it." "Please try your best Sis. I don't know what we would do if we lost you. We need you. I need you. If this job is really that dangerous please drop it and come back home. Dad is..." Miku pauses, having stopped herself from saying something she didn't want to. Mio says, "Dad... isn't at the hospital is he? It wasn't a headache at all was it?" "N-No... It was" Mio interrupts, "Stop. I don't want to hear it. Just... Take care Miku. I will keep in touch. As soon as someone gets a phone, let me know okay? Bye." Mio sighs and slumps back in the seat. She didn't want to admit it about her dad but deep down, she knew it was true, she just didn't want to accept it. Her dad was no longer the upstanding family man he used to be. His dad used to be a high paid employee of a very expensive and very posh hotel. Then one day, he inherited a small fortune after his father passed away. One of the people he worked with, someone he considered his best friend convinced him to go into business with the inheritance money. So, Mr. Shimura quit his job and started a business with his best friend and former colleague. The business bombed hard. His business partner, the colleague who convinced him to start the business, the man he considered his best friend, sued him for the remaining funds. Mio's dad lost the case and spent time in jail. His wife paid off the bail and got him out. However, due to his failed business, he was wracked in debt and Mio's mother and her grandfather lost their money paying off those debts. The Shimura family was finished financially. Miku was still young. Kyouko started working as a reporter but her salary was not enough. 16 year old Mio went off to become a solo to support her family. Meanwhile her father, a already broken man, just kept spiraling down. He took to alcohol and later got mixed with bad company. That said bad company got him hooked on gambling. That's where he was right now. Kyouko went to the casino to bail her uncle out. Mio knew all this but she just didn't want to accept this. She didn't want to accept that the upstanding family man she looked up to growing up was gone. She didn't want to accept her father's sorry state that worsened as the days passed. She knew the money she was sending was being blown away on cards and booze but she didn't want to admit it.
In the backseat of the self-driving taxi, Mio remained slumped. Her eyes were closed and her mind was racing. tears rolled down from her eyes and soaked her metal jaw but there was no one there to notice. Mio always tried her best to not think about these troubles. In a way, keeping reality at bay by refusing to connect the dots and denying the facts. However sometimes reality would come crashing down on her by breaking though the barriers of ignorance she set up for herself. It was at these moments she felt the most alone and helpless. That night, sitting at the backseat of the car while tears continued to soak her, she made a decision. She will not let herself be killed by the assassins. She will do whatever it takes to survive, not for her own sake, but for the sake of those that depend on her. She won't let the memory of her storming off be the last memory of her that her family has. She will return. She will apologize to her mother and she will see Miku and Kyouko again. With this determination, she wiped away her tears and ordered the Taxi to take a detour. She would buy some smoke grenades. However, these aren't normal smoke grenades. These are teargas shells. Her mask was specially good at rendering her highly resistant to teargas. Due to the technology at the time, it would make sense for super soldiers to be resistant to teargas. So the mask was designed to protect the soldier from it. Now the mask is outdated and has found its way to Mio's face rather than the face of a experimental super soldier like it was intended for. Her best bet would be to hope that the Chinese Assassins weren't resistant to teargas as well. For good measure, she bought some frag grenades and some regular smoke grenades as well. If the assassins could dodge bullets, it wasn't likely they wouldn't be able to avoid grenades but maybe she could use it to her advantage somehow.