Chapter Twelve: My Dear Friends:
At ten a.m.,
everyone looked up when they heard footsteps. Becky Campbell and the girls stood
in the doorway. Tatsumi squinted at her for a better look.
"Who are you?"
he asked.
"Where's Anna?"
she asked. Tatsumi looked at her closer.
"Why?" he asked.
Willow lifted her head.
"Becky!" she
said. "You made it!" That statement triggered something in Tatsumi's brain.
These are Anna's American friends!
Becky turned behind her to the other girls.
"I found the
room, girls!" she yelled. Tatsumi cut Willow a heated glare as the others walked
into the room. She trembled as she gave him a little shrug.
"Willow, can I
talk to you for a second?" he asked through clenched teeth. The color drained
from her face.
"Now," the
secretary hissed. The woman swallowed hard. She quietly got up and followed him
out the door.
"What are they
doing here?" Tatsumi barked at her on the roof.
"I called them
here!" Willow whimpered.
"Why?" he
snapped. She fidgeted a bit at first. Tatsumi's mood burned faster.
"Tell me why!"
he shouted. Willow shut her eyes.
"They are her
friends!" she yelled. "They deserve to know what happened to her!"
"She's supposed
to be dead by her uncle's hand months ago, remember?" the kagetsukai snapped.
"Or did that little fact slip your mind?"
"They had to
know!" she whimpered.
"Don't you
realize you just made things worse by doing so?" he yelled. The woman's voice
disappeared in murmurs. Tatsumi took a heavy breath. Lucky that hospital
security was on break right on.
"I'll deal with
you later," he grumbled. He turned to the door.
"They have to go
ASAP, understand?" Tatsumi asked. Willow swallowed and nodded.
"Good," the
secretary replied. "Come along and hand over your phone." The slender redhead's
face paled at the last command.
"What?" she
cried. Tatsumi glanced over at her.
"Is there a
problem?" he asked. Willow stiffened up fast. Her dark berry sweater and jeans
had more color than her complexion now.
"No!" she yelped
in a small voice. She guiltily reached into her pocket and held out her phone to
him as she walked over. Tatsumi grabbed it and stashed it into his jacket.
Without any words, the pair headed back into the hospital out of the morning
cold.
"Be easy on her,
Tatsumi. She's just worried about Anna as much as we all are."
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Back in Anna's
room, Hisoka and Watari looked at all of Anna's American friends. The girls
whispered to each other about guesses to what happened to their friend from what
the boys could gather.
"What do we do
with them?" Hisoka whispered to Watari. The blonde scientist shrugged his
shoulders.
"I'm looking up
about them right now," he said.
"Huh?" the boy
asked. Watari turned his laptop to him. Hisoka looked on with him. He raised an
eyebrow at the screen.
"Their Facebook
profiles?" he asked.
"Yeah," Watari
replied. "I hacked into Anna's account and got plenty of information." First
profile.
"Becky Campbell.
Leader of the group and native of San Diego, California. Total people-person and
loves to talk!" Watari clicked on the next profile. "Of course, we already met
Willow Mayer. Crazy girl from Sacramento, California. Got her B.S. in Modern
Art." He clicked on the next profile. "And here we have�"
"Oi!" they heard
a woman yell at them. The boys quickly looked up. A woman with wavy dirt blonde
hair to her waist gave them a hawk-like look in her eyes.
"If you want to
get to know us so badly," she barked. "Talk to us; don't look us up on
Facebook!"
"Okay," Watari
said. "What are your names?" The blonde drew back.
"Angie Waters,"
she said. "I'm Italian-American and this is my daughter, Sarah." She shoved
forward a little girl about Yoko-chan's age with baby blonde hair.
"Hi�" Sarah
mumbled as she gave a little wave.
"Gillian
Gilbert," a woman with a Pink Floyd t-shirt said. "I got my B.S. in music
history and I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan."
"Clare
Ainsworth," a skinny blonde replied. "Going into grad school for my masters at
long last. Type-one diabetic and I hate it."
"Lisa
Meriwether," a purple-haired woman said. "Art teacher assistant for a
kindergarten class in San Diego. Nice to meet you."
"Edith
Carpenter," a short-haired brunette said. "Married to a fine cop for Los Angles.
Pleased to meet you."
"Amy McCarthy,"
a Chinese-American woman said. "I'm a DJ in Los Angles. How's it hanging?" The
Shinigami gave her a little wave.
"Nice to meet
you�" Hisoka mumbled. How did you all
manage to get to this part of the hospital without security turning you away?
Now how to get rid of them�
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Back inside for round three�