Chapter 13

Anger. Disdain. Hatred. Irritation. Agitation. Every synonym of ‘annoyed.’ Those emotions all flashed onto Marie’s face one after the other before she fought herself to return to her normal stoic, emotionless expression. She sat there, hair disheveled, sleep still in her eyes, and still in her loose-fitting T-shirt and shorts she slept in as she stared at the new, unwanted, guests in her home. She watched them move to every new thing that caught their eye like children let loose in a market. The pink haired one bobbed from corner to corner, snooping about each area again. The other, a hunched over, unhealthy looking man, was scrounging through every drawer and cabinet he could. Marie closed her eyes and rested her head back, letting out a deep sigh.

“Why have you betrayed me like this, Ryu?”

***

I exited the bathroom after having a shower and saw that Marie had awoken and came into the main room. She had her head back sitting on one of the couches, and I heard her let out a deep sigh. I was going to explain everything to her tomorrow so as not to interrupt her recovery, but I could already guess that our two new guests were making too much noise and woke her up. I opened the fridge and grabbed a milk tea and handed it to Marie before sitting down next to her.

“Sorry, I was going to tell you, but I wanted to let you rest.”

Marie took the tea and glared at me. Her eyes didn’t narrow and they looked expressionless, but I could tell. She was definitely upset with me.

“Why is that man here? Is he not from the Secular?”

“Yeah... he is. It’s a bit of a long stor-”

“We have time.”

“I was just about to head to-”

“We have time.”

She stared at me, and I knew I couldn’t escape her when she was like this; determined. I let out a defeated sigh and explained Ichiro’s situation and the predicament at hand.

“And you believed him? Are you a fool? An idiot? I should kill him.” Marie said, reaching under the table to grab the combat knife again. I grabbed her arm and forced it back to her side, asking her to calm down and trust me.

“Look, I can’t explain it, but I trust and believe that guy. Something just says to trust him.” I tried to explain to her. But she just stared at me in bewilderment, flashes of annoyance hitting her face in intervals.

“I’m going back to bed. Thank you for the milk tea.” Marie got up and went back into her room, closed the door, and locked it.

“Dammit, she’s pissed.” I say in a sigh.

“How do you know?” A cheerful voice whispered into my ear. I jumped in surprise and looked over my shoulder to see Tsuki resting her head on her arms on the back of the couch.

“Because she locked her door. She never locks it.” I let out another defeated sigh. “Anyway, you guys are lucky we made two spare rooms in this place. I’ll show you to them.”

“If only we were luckier and you only had one.” Ichiro said in a monotone voice. Tsuki just stared at him with obvious disgust.

“Ichiro, you should learn when not to say things that enter your head.”

“Yea, you’re a freak, Ichiro.” Tsuki said, sticking her tongue out.

“I don’t get it. I thought you wanted to get closer to Ryuki, Tsuki? That would have been an excuse to sleep in his room.” Ichiro said, tilting his head quizzically.

“Oh, that’s what you meant... Yea, Ichiro is right, this is unlucky.” Tsuki pouted.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and said nothing as I brought the two to down a flight of stairs. We walked past an entranceway that led to a wide-open room. Tsuki poked her head inside it, but I quickly grabbed her shoulder and dragged her to follow. She asked several times over what the empty room was for, but I ignored her and continued down the hallway until we reached the end.

“Okay, here we are. These two on the left are the bedrooms. Don’t expect much other than the basics in them. We didn’t really plan for guests yet. The one next to it is a bathroom.”

“What’s in that one?” Tsuki said, pointing to the last door.

“Nothing.”

“Oooh, intriguing.” Tsuki said, her eyes glittering.

“No, really, it’s nothing. It's an empty closet.” I said, opening the door. It was a standard storage closet, not every big, and had nothing inside it. “See?”

“Oh. Boo.” Tsuki pouted. But, then her face perked up as if she suddenly had an epiphany, but she just smiled and bowed. “Thank you, Ryuki~! I will make myself at home. I’m gonna take this room on the right. Have a good night!” Tsuki then went inside and closed the door. I turned to Ichiro, confusion clear on my face as he just shrugged at me in response.

“Guess I’ll take this one.” He then paused, turned to me, and slightly bowed. “Thank you, Ryuki~! Good night!”

“Don’t mimic her.”

***

Late at night, I shuffled in my bed, startling awake as I felt the presence of someone near. In my doorway I saw the shadow of someone standing there. I quickly conjured a small flame in my hand to illuminate the room. It was Tsuki, standing there, dressed just a t-shirt. Her face was blushing hard, and she was fidgeting with her fingers. My eyes widened in surprise. I knew she was playfully flirty with me, but I never actually imagined she would take it to these lengths and so soon. I swallowed hard as I spoke out to her, my voice hoarse from just waking up.

“Tsuki, what are you doing?”

“I’m-I’m sorry to wake you so late, but... I need you to help me with something in my room.”

“Uh... I get that you like me, but-”

“Oh! N-no, it’s not like that. Nothing as lewd as that... we just met...” She turned her head away playfully. “No, there’s something wrong with my bed that I need your help with. I still can’t use magic, remember?” She pointed to the chain still around her neck.

“And you just so happen to be dressed like that to ask me that?”

She looked down at herself before crossing her arms over herself. “O-oh, I didn’t want to sleep in my clothes. Sorry, I kinda spaced out.”

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh before getting out of bed. “Alright, show me what you need. I wish you told me this earlier... what time even is it?”

“I don’t know.” She said in a hushed tone, stepping aside to let me lead.

I opened the door to her room and looked inside. Her bed was a complete mess; the sheets and pillows scattered about. The chair for the table was knocked over and the lamp was hanging off the desk.

“Tsuki, what happ-”

Before I could finish, I was forcefully grabbed and thrown into the empty storage closet. I started to conjure my manifestation, but Tsuki’s hand slammed against my wrist, pinning it against the wall, cancelling it. Then, she closed the door. Her golden eyes were shining in the pitch-dark room. The only other part of her I could see was her wicked, sharp-toothed smile as she stared at me like a wolf about to eat its prey.