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Chapter Sixteen: Kato:

July 21st, 1994. “You’re making a terrible mistake!” Kato pleaded to a twenty-nine year old Daisuke.

“No,” the younger man argued back. “Anna and I have to leave this place! It’s too boring!”

“Boring or not, you are safe in this village!” the older man yelled.

“That’s just it,” Daisuke pointed out. “It’s too safe. Besides, Anna needs to be around kids her age.” Kato paused uneasily.

“But what if your mother finds you and her?” he asked desperately. Daisuke shrugged and shook his head.

“I know,” he said. “But, I can’t keep Anna innocent in this village forever. That’s just not right.” Both men passed.

“But,” Daisuke finished. “I will wait until August. Anna will be done with classes then.” Kato nodded.

“Agreed,” he said. Both went quiet.

May 2009. “How’s your wrists?” Tsuzuki asked. He had taken Anna to a local café. The Shinigami ordered a glass of ice once they sat down. He took the cubes and wrapped them in a napkin. Anna held the cold wet paper to her wrists. She winced in pain the whole time. A waitress came over to them.

“Is she okay?” she asked. Tsuzuki nodded quickly.

“Yes,” he said. “Just a minor burn. We’ve got it under control now.” The waitress nodded and went away.

“Hey, could you get me some anpan while you’re at it?” he shouted. The waitress nodded. Tsuzuki turned back to Anna. That was eight minutes ago. The woman nodded now.

“The burning has stopped,” she said.

“Let me see your wrists,” Tsuzuki said in a low voice. Anna did so as she slowly removed the melting ice. The Shinigami inspected the burns. The blue light was gone. Powdery-white pink scar tissue had taken its place. Silence for a moment.

“They’ve healed nicely,” Tsuzuki said. Anna looked on in discomfort.

“Ugly sight, aren’t they?” she asked.

“Huh?” Tsuzuki asked. Anna sighed and shook her head.

“These burns…” she said in a low voice. “They are so ugly… don’t you think?” The Shinigami stared right at her. Anna looked up from her scars at Tsuzuki. She said nothing, but Tsuzuki saw the pain in her eyes. Someone in her family cut her deep. The Shinigami figured that the clan killed her like they did Daisuke, Hana, and many others. He tried to cheer her up again.

“No!” Tsuzuki said quickly. “They’ll not that bad…” Anna’s face didn’t change. She didn’t seem to believe that at all. Poor woman…

Then, somebody cleared their throat at them. The pair looked up at the source. Kato Iwao stood over them. Anna looked at him surprised. Tsuzuki went into defensive mode. Kato smiled at the pair.

“And how are my two favorite people?” he asked aloud. Anna gave off a small gasp.

“Kato-san!” she said.

“What the hell do you want?” Tsuzuki snapped. Kato gave him an innocent little smile.

“I just want to eat and talk with you guys,” he said gentleman-like. The Shinigami stared on at him.

“Why?” he asked. Kato didn’t answer. He just sat down with the pair. Silence followed. Tsuzuki observed Anna and Kato closely. Here was the chance to observe the relationship between Anna and Kato. The older man smiled at the woman.

“Anna-chan!” he said. “So good to see you again, alive and well.”

“Yes,” Anna said with an emotionless nod.

“How have you been?” Kato asked.

“Fine,” she said. “And you?”

“Good!”

“Have you found out what happened to your father yet?”

“No, I got killed instead.”

“But you’re still alive.”

“Yes, I am.” Tsuzuki listened and watched the whole time. Anna seemed distant towards Kato. She didn’t hate him, but yet, she was so stoic to him. To the Shinigami, this was a good light to express his suspicions about Kato to Anna.

Outside, Hisoka and the demon trio were watching them from outside invisibly. (Hisoka learned that Emiko, Hotaru, and Mike were demons on the way to check on Tsuzuki and Anna. No time for distrust at the moment.) They all had their eyes on Kato.

“Who’s that guy?” Emiko whispered. Hisoka shook his head. The butch demon watched on. They too had their suspicions about Kato. Who was he? What was his connection in all of this? Why was he so interested in Anna so much? The outside crew kept watching.

Kato looked at Tsuzuki for a moment and then turned back to Anna. A smile came onto his face.

“You’ve got a good man here,” he told her. “You two will be just perfect. Take care of each other and you both will survive.” Anna and Tsuzuki looked at him confused.

“Huh?” Tsuzuki asked.

“What are you insinuating, Kato-san?” Anna questioned him with an eyebrow raised. Kato shrugged.

“You both are smart people,” he said simply. “You will understand in time.” Both Shinigami and woman had no comment afterwards. Kato smiled again. Yes, these kids will be fine! Kato rose to his feet.

“Well,” he said. “Nice talking to you guys again. I hope we can share a meal together one day.” “/Don’t bank on it!/” Tsuzuki thought. The older man gracefully turned to leave. On his way out, Kato turned to the waitress.

“Miss,” he said. “Put whatever they order on my tab. Here’s my card.” The waitress nodded.

“Of course!” she said. She took the card and ran it through the cash register. Kato took back his card and left the café. Anna and Tsuzuki looked on at the older man confused.

Hisoka and the demon trio watched him leave. Kato looked up at the sky. He made contact with the young pair. Back to work now. “/Oh Daisuke,/” he thought. “/You shouldn’t have left the village…/” The old man began walking out of the city.

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