Chapter Twenty-Eight: Misunderstanding to Love:

Anna came home at ten a.m. As she took off her shoes at the front door, she noticed a pair of men's black dress shoes. Anna recognized them and smiled. Asato-kun! She made her way down the hall.

"Aww, that's so sweet of you, Asato-kun," she called as she made it to her room. "Coming all the way here to check on�" Suddenly, she stopped when she felt no warmth from her man this morning. He was pissed, in fact. Anna's own girlish excitement drew back.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asked. Tsuzuki didn't speak as he held up her notes. Anna's stomach dropped.

"Oh shit," she mumbled. "I knew I forgot something this morning." Tsuzuki glared at her.

"How could you?" he asked. Anna tried to stay calm.

"I wanted to defend myself," she reasoned.

"And you're using all of this?" he shouted.

"Well� yes," she said.

"Why?" Tsuzuki barked.

"Well, I want to defend myself," she said. "In order to do that, I have to fight fire with fire." Her argument didn't sway him. "What?" Anna asked. Tsuzuki all but scoffed at the idea.

"You'll break Daisuke's shield," he said.

"I know."

"He would not want that, you know that."

"Papa would want me to protect myself in any way."

"But not like this!"

Anna herself became agitated. "Well, what am I supposed to do?"

Tsuzuki tried to calm down. "Yes, I want you to be able to protect yourself too. But, you don't need to do all of this."

"Yes, I do," she countered.

"And how do you know that?" he challenged. Anna shook her head.

"I don't," she said.

"See?" her fianc� said. "Even you aren't sure of that!"

"But it wouldn't hurt to see, would it?" she asked.

"It's not worth it!" Tsuzuki argued.

"So it's not worth not being a victim either!" Anna shouted.

"I don't want you to be a victim either," he said. "That's why you have all of us."

"But what if you aren't there when I need you?" she asked. "You can't protect me 24/7. I have to fight back at times."

"But you never ask for our help," Tsuzuki pointed out. "Why didn't you just ask me for help? Don't fight this battle on your own anymore. We will be married soon. So please, don't do this alone with so many dangerous risks!" Anna found herself at a loss for words.

"Uh� well�" she said. Her eyes lowered to her feet. Tsuzuki sighed and shook his head.

"Unbelievable," he said. The shinigami got off the futon and began collecting the rest of the notes. Anna looked on confused.

"What are you doing with my notes?" she asked. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to destroy them," he said. "This is for your own good." Startled anger came over her.

"But� But�" Anna cried.

"No arguments!" Tsuzuki yelled. "I will not risk losing you to them!"

"But I need my notes!" she cried. Tsuzuki didn't listen as he picked up the last of them. Anna ran over to try and stop him, but she received a shock to the chest.

"A shield? Really?" she snapped.

"It's for your own good," he said. Tsuzuki he went out the door. Anna stood there and pouted.

"Damn you, jerk," she mumbled under her breath.

-------

However when he got back to Ju-Oh-Cho to make the report, Tsuzuki happened to look down at Anna's notes. The list of topics to learn drew him to the very top.

"Spells to Protect Someone You Love," he read to himself. Tsuzuki froze in shock as her motives made sense. It's not just herself� He teleported back to Kimoto Manor. The shinigami knocked on the door. To his disappointment, Willow opened the door. Tsuzuki's face dropped.

"Where's Anna?" he asked. Willow gave him a small curious look.

"Oh, you're her boyfriend," she said.

"Yes! Where's Anna? I need to talk to her!" he pleaded. Willow blinked at him.

"Why?" she asked.

"I have to talk to her!" the shinigami said. "Now where is she?"

"She left," her friend answered.

"Left?" Tsuzuki asked. "Left where?"

"An old guy came by the house, and Anna left with him," Willow said. Tsuzuki automatically knew what that meant.

"Do you know where they went?" he shouted. Willow shook her head.

"No," she said. Tsuzuki raced off to find his ladylove. The American woman looked on lost.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked. The shinigami was too far ahead to hear her questions.