Chapter Twenty-Four: Annabelle Katou:

A woman walked into the hallway looking at everyone. The first thing everyone noticed her bright blonde wavy hair to her shoulders. Her big green eyes seemed to sparkle. Her black sweater and jeans hid her figure. The light brown scarf hid her neck. Her face looked like a china doll.

“Baby, who are these people?” the woman asked. Shouto grinned at her.

“These are my friends Asato Tsuzuki, his beautiful wife Anna, and their cute little daughter Kirika-chan,” he said. Shouto put his arm around the woman’s shoulders.

“Everyone, this is my wife, Annabelle,” he said.

“Hi,” Annabelle said, waving.

“Hello,” Anna said. Shouto looked between the two women.

“Would you look at that?” he asked. “Two Annas! Both so pretty too. Isn’t that something?”

“Yeah…” Anna said.

“Hey, have you eaten yet?” Shouto asked.

“No,” Tsuzuki said. His friend clapped his hands together.

“Excellent,” he said. “Let’s go out for lunch.”

“Yay!” Tsuzuki said.

“Wait,” Anna said. “Don’t you have work or something?”

“Anna,” Tsuzuki said.

“It’s fine,” the other shinigami said. “I’m on my lunch break. I just teleported here from work.”

“Right…” she said. “Where do you want to go?” Shouto turned to Annabelle.

“Dear?” he asked. “Where should we eat?” Annabelle took a moment to think.

“Hm,” she said. Anna noticed that she spoke English. Can she speak Japanese? Did she even know the truth?

“Olive Garden!” Annabelle said. Her husband chuckled.

“Alright! Olive Garden it is,” he said.

“Yay!” Tsuzuki said. Anna kind of smile.

“Alright,” she said. Lunch sounded good after all. Shouto was still grinning.

-------

The four of them sat at a table. Tsuzuki had his arm around Anna.

“How did you two meet?” he asked. Shouto grinned with his arm around Annabelle’s shoulders.

“It was at a host club downtown,” he said. “It was her shift. I cam in for a drink. It was a long day. I was single at the time. She came over to my table and served me a drink. When I saw her, I had to have her. So I invited her to sit with me for most of the night.” Annabelle giggled.

“He was so hot, no?” she said. Shouto kissed her on the cheek. Anna gave them a strange look.

“He asked me back to his place after work,” Annabelle said in English. “I told him no because I had to work. He didn’t give up.”

“Night after night I would show up,” Shouto added. “I would request her personally. We would just talk and I would drink. I always ask her out on a date and she’s turn me down.” Anna blinked at him with a blank look on her face. Were these people insane or something? He sounded so creepy right now. Was she the only one seeing red flags here? She couldn’t be the only one, right?

“I finally wore her down,” Shouto said. “She said yes and the rest is history. We got married a month later.”

“How long have you two been married?” Tsuzuki asked. Shouto counted up in his head.

“Four years in a couple of months,” he said.

“Wow!” the shinigami said.

“How about you?” his friend asked.

“Three years in March,” the older shinigami said.

“Wow!” Annabelle shouted.

“Yeah…” Anna said a low voice. Annabelle kissed her husband on the cheek. Shouto turned and kissed her on the lips. Anna paused as she felt Tsuzuki’s hand on her knee. She turned to see him smiling at her. Anna forced herself to smile. What kind of weird situation am I in?

Everything broke up when someone cleared their throat. The foursome looked up to see a waiter staring at them disapprovingly.

“Are you ready to order?” he asked. Shouto stood up straight.

“Why yes,” he said. He turned to his party.

“Lunch is on me,” he said. “Order what you want.” The waiter’s mood instantly changed. He started to smile.

“Welcome to Olive Garden,” the waiter said. “My name is Chris and I will be your server today. What can I get you to drink?”