Chapter Eleven: Victoria’s Scheme:

February 8th, 2011.

7:00 a.m.

Anna cut Kyoko a cold glare.

“Go on,” she said. The old lady nervously laughed.

“Well…” she said.

“I ran away from home,” Victoria said.

“What?” Anna asked. Her cousin set down her glass.

“My dad’s gone crazy,” she said. “I couldn’t stay in that house anymore. So, I snuck out in the middle of the night and ran away.”

“Why come here?” the older cousin asked. “How did you know I was here?”

“I could sense the Mother,” Victoria said. Anna gritted her teeth.

Fuck.

“So… Are you going to stay here?” Tsuzuki asked.

“Yeah,” Victoria said.

“But we’re leaving,” Anna said.

“So?” her cousin asked. Anna eyed her.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

The older cousin opened her mouth to speak, but Tsuzuki grabbed her shoulder. She turned her head, mouth open. Her husband shook his head. Anna drew her mouth closed. Instead, she turned to Kyoko.

“You be careful,” her eyes said. “She is dangerous.” The old lady bowed her head.

“I could leave you here with them,” Tsuzuki whispered. Anna shook her head.

“You sure?” her husband asked.

“It’s fine,” Kyoko said. “You all go home. I will be careful.”

“Kyoko-san…” Anna said.

“Go,” she said. “I brought her in anyway.” The older cousin sighed and dropped her shoulders. She looked at Tsuzuki.

“I’ll do what you want us to do,” he said. His wife turned back to Victoria. The teenage girl shrugged.

“Why can’t I go with you?” she asked.

“You’re not dead,” Tsuzuki pointed out.

“Neither is Anna,” she said.

“Well, she’s a special case,” he said.

“That’s not the point,” Anna cut in. “I don’t trust you anywhere.” Victoria pouted.

“That’s just harsh,” she said.

“I’m not going lie,” the older cousin said. “I don’t know what you are up to, but I don’t like it. You can stay for now, but I will have people watching you.” The teenager eyed her.

“Will you now?” she asked. Her cousin turned to Kyoko.

“We’ll leave her in your care,” she said.

“You sure?” the old lady asked. Anna clenched her fists by her sides.

“If I have to look at her face, I might end up strangling her,” she said. “Believe me, I hate this. But what else can we do?” Victoria smirked as Tsuzuki rested his hand on his wife’s shoulder. Anna took a deep breath.

“We’ll call you when we get home,” she said. “Call us if she tries anything fishy.” Kyoko bowed her head. Anna returned her focus toward Victoria.

“You!” she said. “Behave yourself!” Victoria looked at her as innocent as she can be.

“Sure,” she said. That smile made her older cousin sneer. Tsuzuki had to pull her away. He bowed in apologize for his wife.

“It’s okay,” Kyoko mouthed. The shinigami hurried out the door.

“Is that breakfast?” Victoria asked when the front door closed. Kyoko quickly turned her head.

“Hm? Oh, yes. Here you are,” Kyoko said. She handed the tray to the teenage girl. Victoria opened the lid and picked up a spoon.

“Thanks for breakfast,” she said. Kyoko clenched her bag of salt as the girl began to eat.