Chapter Nineteen: Victoria’s Scheme:

Valentine’s Day.

Victoria lay in her futon, staring at the ceiling and frowning. Running away from home was easy. She wasted no time plotting her next move. Sosuke propped his head down next to her.

“What’s on your mind now?” he whispered. His master glanced over at him.

“What comes next?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” the kitsune asked.

“We’ve left that place, now what do we do?”

“Stay here for a while?”

“Be serious, Sosuke.” Victoria had a stern look on her face. Victoria had a stern look on her face. “You feel it too, right?”

“Yeah… Something isn’t right. Even the over kitsune are scared.”

“Exactly.”

“Wait, you aren’t thinking…”

“What else can it be?” Victoria rolled over onto her stomach. “Which is why we need a plan.”

“I see where you’re going.”

“Staying here is good, but what if they come for us here?”

“Who?”

Victoria shrugged. “I don’t know, whoever’s coming to kill us.”

“Who, exactly? Them or those people?”

“All of them.”

“So who can we trust?”

“Each other. Dad’s gone crazy and that old lady gives me dirty looks.”

“What about that boyfriend of yours?”

“What boyfriend?”

“You know, that guy. He’s got that motorcycle you like and all."

“Oh, Hajime-kun?”

“Yeah.”

Victoria rolled over onto her back. “This is bigger than him.”

“So?”

“So, he doesn’t need this shit. His dad already hates me.”

“Nightmare.”

“Yeah.”

“So… What are we doing?”

“Staying for now. When they come to this area…”

“What?”

“Split and run like hell.”

“That’s not much of a plan.” Sosuke frowned as he spoke.

“That’s all we have right now.”

“What about your dad?”

“What about him?”

“What if he comes after you when he notices you’re gone?”

“You’re guess is as good as mine. Who cares about that asshole anyway?”

“But he’s your father.”

“So? That is useless to me. He isn’t much of a dad anymore.” The words felt bitter coming out of her mouth. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

“Alright. What do you want to talk about?”

Victoria didn’t have to think about that question. “Nothing. I just want to go to sleep.” She rolled over onto her side.

“Just one more thing,” Sosuke said.

“What?” Victoria asked.

“What do we do about Haruka? Can’t we turn to her for help?”

“Grandma’s got too much to deal with on her own. We can’t rely on her for now. It’s just going to be you and I.” Victoria said no more as she dozed off. Jin rested his head on her shoulder.

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All the while in her room, Kyoko clutched her bag of salt as she listened through the wall.