Chapter Forty-Six: Get it Together:
This was not a
game anymore. It was time to stop this foolishness.
“I just got a
text from the guy you’re chasing,” Anna said.
“What do you
mean?” Tsuzuki asked. “How do you it’s them?”
“They invited me
to the park,” she said. “Tomorrow night.” Her words sounded so bitter coming out
of her mouth. She looked out the window, frowning.
“Do not go
anywhere. I will be right there,” Tsuzuki said. The couple hung up together.
---------
Mike sat alone
in the dark. He still felt the traces of his misery. This wasn’t him. Why was he
hung up on the past? The demon squeezed his eyes closed.
He could see
Vivian’s face.
Vivian…
Hotaru cut off
contact. Said he was too dangerous for her right now. Mike frowned. It hurt to
admit but Hotaru was right. No. It shouldn’t have to be like this.
“I want her
back,” he said.
The demon opened his
eyes. He knew what he had to do.
Mike frowned
again.
“I don’t know
how to do that,” the demon said. He looked up when there was a knock on the
door.
---------
Anna waited by
the front door. She looked up when she heard it open.
“I’m home,”
Tsuzuki said.
“Welcome back,”
she said. Anna handed him her phone.
“Thanks,” he
said. The shinigami read the latest text. His jaw dropped.
“No way,”
Tsuzuki said. He turned to his wife. “Let me see your wrists.” Anna’s eyes
widened.
“You can’t
mean…” she said.
“Just do it,”
Tsuzuki said. His wife rolled her sleeves and held out her wrists. Her husband
breathed out and dropped his shoulders.
“Thank
goodness,” Tsuzuki said. “It didn’t come back.”
“Then… why did
he come back?” Anna asked.
“I don’t know,”
Tsuzuki said. “But I might have an idea.” He pulled out his own phone.
“Watari,” he
said. “Has Hisoka sent you the knife? Great. What do you have?” He and Anna
waited as Watari started talking. Tsuzuki nodded.
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Uh-huh,” he said. “Okay, thanks. Can you send us the information? Great. Okay.
Thank you, goodbye.” Tsuzuki hung up with a dry smile.
“I’ll have the
data in a couple of minutes,” he said. The shinigami noticed the look on his
wife’s face.
“What is it?” he
asked. Anna pressed her lips together as she took back her phone.
“Do you think…?”
she began to ask. Tsuzuki took hold of her free hand.
“That is up to
you,” he said. “But whatever you choose, I will stand by you.” Anna started to
perk up. Suddenly, Tsuzuki’s phone buzzed.
“Excuse me,” he
said. The shinigami pulled out his phone. He opened up the text from Watari.
“Aha,” he said.
Anna took a look with him.
“So that’s it,”
she said.
“Yep,” Tsuzuki
said. “Just as we thought.”
---------
Hotaru poked her
head into Mike’s room.
“Hey,” she said.
“How are you doing?”
“Heh,” Mike
said. “I’ve been better. How’s Viv’s?” The loli demon walked inside.
“Good,” she
said. “She’s doing good.”
“I want to see
her again,” he said.
“Not yet,”
Hotaru said.
“When?”
“Let her focus
on herself. She doesn’t need your problems to derail you. That may be harsh, but
it’s true.”
Mike frowned in
his corner. Hotaru didn’t look fazed.
“You should not
be worried about Vivian-chan,” she said. “Focus on you. You are not ready to see
her again. You both need to work on yourselves. Give her some space for a while,
okay?”
Mike lowered his
shoulders. “Fine.”
“Do really
understand?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“Very good,” Hotaru said.