Chapter Twenty-One: Sadomasochism:

March 2nd, 2010.

9:27 p.m.

The wedding night, marriage isn't complete without it. A man takes his wife to bed and becomes one with her. Tsuzuki already had that idea in mind tonight. The shinigami walked his bride to their room after the wedding dinner. His strong arms embraced her from behind. Anna felt her knees turn to jelly as his hot breath touched her ear lobe.

"I want to treat you like a virgin tonight," he whispered. The tip of his tongue met with her bare nape. Anna closed her eyes, panting.

"Yes," she whimpered. Tsuzuki's heart did a little leap.

"You will always be my good girl," he whispered. He gave her a light butterfly kiss on the nape. He took in her trembling in his arms before opening the door and leading her inside.

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April 8th, 2010.

9:00 a.m.

A young new miko came to the shrine to make an offering. Please let me do a good job today, she prayed. She clapped three times and dropped in three yen coins. First job of the day? The young miko headed out to the artificial garden behind the shrine. She had to take a step back from so much green.

"Ah!" she said as she shielded her eyes. The miko gathered herself up and went inside. She started off by trimming the grass on the ground. The whole set-up made no sense to her. Why is there even a garden here? It's too much of a pain to manage here. Rather pointless if you ask me. Her foot tapped another in the growing moss. The miko paused with a jump.

"What was that?" she asked. The miko knelt down for a closer look. Her eyes widened as she crawled backwards with horror. Neko-chan and her boyfriend lay dead in the moss dressed in black with a bitten apple between them. The miko covered her as she struggled to get up.

"Help!" she screamed. "Somebody help!"

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10:07 a.m.

The police and crowd filled the shrine. Tsuzuki, Hisoka, and Tatsumi watched from the very back.

"That makes three couples total," Tsuzuki whispered.

"Why is the killer doing this?" Hisoka asked.

"Tana-san suggested a lust murder," Tatsumi threw in at random. The other two shinigami looked at him.

"You told her about this case?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I had to," his former partner said.

"Why?"

"To monitor your progress."

"I knew it! You were spying on me!"

"With good reason, mind you."

Tsuzuki raised an eyebrow at him. "You think I'm going to cheat, huh?"

"I didn't say any of that."

Tsuzuki gave him a sharp glance. "What are you trying to say?"

Tatsumi shook his head. "Do I really need to repeat that? Because if I do, you're clearly not ready for marriage."

Tsuzuki clenched his teeth. "Shut up, will ya?"

"But it's the truth!"

While the two men argued, Hisoka looked behind them at the people passing by. Nobody special, just a bunch of nosy people looking into the crowd. He froze when he noticed a familiar face. He grabbed onto Tsuzuki's trench coat.

"What is it now?" Tsuzuki asked. Hisoka pointed forward. His partner�s jaw dropped at who he saw.

"Anna-chan?" he gasped. The shinigami pushed through the crowd to get to the woman in question.

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked aloud. The shinigami didn't even turn around or listen. Tatsumi frowned as he watched.

"This was what I was afraid of," he muttered. The shinigami took off after him.

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Anna had just arrived in Kabukicho. Already she and Lucy had seen some action in broad daylight.

"Lucy, look!" Anna said. The goth looked and saw the crowd. The women walked over for a closer look.

"What's going on up there?" Anna asked.

"No idea," her goth pal said. They continued to watch the action unfolding before them, but the surprises had just started.

"Anna-chan!" the women heard from the crowd. Anna looked up to see Tsuzuki running towards her. Her eyes grew big as if she was seeing a truck racing towards her.

"Asato?" she asked as her husband stood inches from her. He paused to catch his breath. Anna and Lucy looked at him, puzzled.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked. Tsuzuki looked at the crowd.

"It's another couple murdered on our case," he replied. Lucy's eyes lit up as she leaned in.

"Really now?" she asked. "Spill it; tell us everything!" Hisoka and Tatsumi made it over to the trio. The latter frowned for she knew that the real test had just begun.