Chapter Thirty-Three: Cut Off the Monster’s Hands:
Anna held
Kirika-chan as she stood in the crowded living room. Victoria sat on the couch
glaring at her. The two men and woman dressed in black cloaks eyed Victoria.
Tsuzuki stood off in corner unsure of what to think. He turned to his wife with
a forced smile on his face.
“Honey, can we
talk?” the shinigami asked. Anna turned and walked into the kitchen. Tsuzuki
followed behind.
Who was going to
speak first? The couple stared each other down.
“Why is Victoria
here?” Tsuzuki finally asked. Anna clenched her teeth.
“She’s on the
run,” she said.
“From Minori’s
people?”
“Yes.”
“Oh crap!”
Tsuzuki pressed his hand to his forehead.
“Yeah…”
“Why did you let
her in?”
“I don’t know…”
“Seriously?”
“Do you think
she would leave easily?”
Tsuzuki thought
about that for a second. “Good point.”
“Exactly.”
“So… What do we
do with her?”
“I don’t know!”
“Wait… what?”
“Please don’t…”
She eyed her husband. “Speaking of which, who were those people with you?”
Tsuzuki
nervously laughed. “Uh… Well…” Anna slammed her hand against her forehead.
“Damn it,
Asato-kun!” she shouted.
“They just
followed me here,” he said. “I didn’t see them until the last minute!” Anna
frowned.
“I know that’s
not a good excuse,” the shinigami said.
“Never mind
that,” his wife said. “What are we going to do with all these people?”
“They won’t
leave,” Tsuzuki said.
“Yes, I know. I
don’t want to have to haul a body of the apartment!”
“Neither do I,
but we can’t let them stay here.” Tsuzuki and Anna looked into their living
room. The couple smiled and waved.
---------
Victoria glared
at the other guests on the other side of the room.
“I don’t like
these people,” Sosuke whispered. Victoria shook her head. The kitsune glared at
the guests in their black cloaks.
“Shall I kill
them?” he asked.
“No,” Victoria
said. Sosuke gave her a puzzled like.
“No?”
“They could
attack back and kill us both.”
“So?”
“I don’t want to
die.”
“We’re going to
die soon anyway.”
Victoria glanced
over at him. “What did you say?”
Her kitsune
cursed himself. I should not have said
that.
“Nothing,”
Sosuke lied. His master gave him frosty look.
“What?” the
kitsune asked.
“Don’t lie,”
Victoria said.
“What are you
talking about? I’m lying.”
“Don’t let to
me. Tell me what’s going on.” Her eyes could burn a hole through the soul.
Sosuke sighed and rolled his eyes. I
didn’t want to come to this. The kitsune looked at his master. He sighed
again.
“This will take
a while,” Sosuke said.
Meanwhile, the
guests in cloaks stared Victoria and her kitsune. The woman in the group slowly
moved her lips. Her boys quickly nodded. The youngest, an adolescent boy, took
out a really thin piece of paper. Writing appeared on the front and back before
it disappeared again. The paper broke down into dust. The boy moved his eyes
back and forth, saying it was done.
That should do
it.
Tsuzuki and Anna
walked back into the living room. The wife clapped her hands together.
“Okay,” she said. “Who’s staying for dinner?”