Chapter Ten: Karma Panic:

-June 13th, 2011-

Three whole days. The female shinigami rubbed her forehead.

“Oh no,” she muttered.

“We’ll find it,” Hisoka insisted. She looked at him, frowning.

“Come on, Aizawa-san,” he said. The shinigami then remember a nagging question in his head.

“Hey, Aizawa-san,” Hisoka said.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“What exactly is in this book?” he asked. “Why do you need it back so badly? Is something at stake here?” Aizawa-san pushed her bangs from her forehead.

“Yes!” she said. “I collected fifteen high-risk souls over many years. I kept them locked in that book. Only Enma-Daioh was supposed to open it.” Aizawa-san leaned against the wall.

“So… what do these souls do?” Hisoka asked.

“Disrupt the balance of Chijou,” she explained. “They extend lifespans past their expiration date, killing others around them. If they get out again, more will die.” Aizawa-san gritted her teeth and slammed her fist into the wall.

“This is bad. Really bad!” she said.

“Okay,” Hisoka said. “We just need to get your book back, right?” The female shinigami shook her head.

“It’s no good if it’s empty,” she said.

“We still have to find it,” Hisoka pointed out. Aizawa-san looked up at him, wide-eyed.

“You’re right,” she said. “We have to keep trying!”

“Where haven’t we looked?” Hisoka asked. The female shinigami tried to think. Only one word came out of her mouth.

“Library,” she said, opening her eyes wide.

“We’ll look there then,” Hisoka said. The pair disappeared from the hall.

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Five hours of searching in the library. Aizawa-san dove through stacks and stacks of books in various carts.

“Come on,” she muttered. “Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!” Hisoka picked up the books that she threw behind them.

“Remember to calm down and think,” he told her. Aizawa-san took a breath.

“Tell me again what your book looked like,” Hisoka said.

“Small, red and brown, red threads holding it together, and it smelled like wood and cardboard,” she said. Aizawa-san turned to Hisoka.

“I think there is one more spot we haven’t checked,” she said. The pair headed to the lost and found box. Aizawa-san looked through each item. Her heart raced when her fingertips touched the last item in the box.

“Here it is!” she shouted. However, the female shinigami paused.

“No…” she murmured. Aizawa-san opened the book and flipped through the blank pages. She trembled as she shook her head.

“No! No! No!” the female shinigami shouted. She turned to Hisoka.

“The souls,” Aizawa-san said. “They’re gone.” Hisoka’s eyes widened.

“You’re kidding,” he said.

“I wish I was,” she said. Hisoka sighed. Where are you, Tsuzuki?

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-3:00 p.m.-

Tsuzuki lay on his back, smiling.

“Give it to me, Anna-chan,” he commanded. His wife sat on top of him, smirking.