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Chapter Twenty-Seven: It’s Not Over Yet:

January 8th, 1984.

Police crawled all over the Ogami-Kimoto house by morning. Ami was carried out in a body bag. Amaya and Shichiro put on a Golden Globe-worthy show.

"We don't know what happened!" Amaya lied. "I went to her room to serve her breakfast. When I found the door wide-open, I went in to investigate. I looked in and found her lying on the floor. The blood flowed out of her mouth! I didn't know what to do!" Ami's body was taken to autopsy. The doctor made the insinuation. One look inside made him and his assistant look like mindless corpses themselves. Ami's insides were just blood and mush. That's when they saw the burns on her wrists.

August 25, 2009.

Police gathered around Kyoto Psychology Center by noon. Miyazaki-sensei was taken away in a body bag while police talked to the shaking secretary.

"There was blood flowing out of his mouth!" she cried. "I've never seen anything like it! It's the Eda-Kimoto curse, I know it! It was just like when that Hong Kong girl died years ago! Please let me go home! I don't want to be next!" The shinigami and women watched from the crowd.

"They got him too," Watari whispered.

"He was just a pawn to be used," Stella muttered with a snort. Anna only shook her head. She happened to look and see that girl and man again. They too watched from the crowd as they headed to school. Bruises covered the girl’s arms and legs. She looked as if she would throw up at any given moment. The poor child could barely walk straight. Anna burned inside watching her. She wanted to do something, but a hand rested on her shoulder. Her eyes glanced behind her to see Tsuzuki shaking his head at her. Anna whipped around to him.

"But I can't stand by and do nothing!" the look in her eyes protested. He put his arm around her and walked her away from the crowd. For the longest time, she held her tongue as they came into the city. Once in the open, she couldn't hold back.

"I saw them again!" Anna wailed.

"I know," he said. Her fists began to tremble at her sides.

"I can't stand by and do nothing," she said. "That girl needs my help."

"I know," Tsuzuki repeated. Anna let out a frustrated groan. The shinigami watched her in another mental storm. Tsuzuki looked for a way to alleviate the situation. Two monks had just left a modern coffee shop across the street with green tea in their hands. Tsuzuki turned back to his girl with a calm smile on his face.

"Let's visit a temple," the shinigami perked up. Anna's mental storm faded into confusion.

"Huh?" she asked. Tsuzuki grabbed her by the hand teleported out of the city. They appeared in front of Nishi Honganji. Anna looked around.

"Why are we here?" she asked. Tsuzuki gave her a little shrug.

"Felt like it," he said.

"But what about Miyazaki-sensei?" his girlfriend asked.

"We'll get back to him later," he answered. “Hisoka and everyone else are still at the center.”

"But…" Anna murmured. Tsuzuki gently put his finger to her lips.

"Shhh," he whispered. Anna opened her mouth to speak, but Tsuzuki shushed her again. This went on one more time before she gave up. Tsuzuki smiled at her.

"I needed to pull you away from there," he explained. "I won't let you do anything stupid, okay?" Anna frowned at him, but nodded reluctantly. Tsuzuki kissed her on the forehead.

"I know you want to help that girl because I want to do the same," he whispered. "We can't do that with you worked up like that, understand?"

"Whatever," she mumbled. Her boyfriend patted her on the shoulders.

"Okay," he said. The man led her into the temple.

Inside, Tsuzuki thought he was seeing things at first when two women at the altar caught his attention. The more he looked, the more it became apparent to him. One woman was dressed like a dude with jeans and a white man's shirt while the other one looked like a loli Goth. Tsuzuki's mind went into alarm.

"Anna," he whispered.

"Yes?" she whispered.

"Is that…?" her boyfriend began to ask. She nodded with pale face. Suddenly, Hotaru looked up and smiled at them.

"Hiya!" she cheered. She nudged her girlfriend on the arm. "Emiko-sama, look!" she said, loudly. The butch demon looked up and saw Tsuzuki and Anna staring at them. Emiko began to smile and wave. Shock became puzzlement.

"Wait a minute!" Tsuzuki said. "What are you two doing here?" Hotaru flipped back her ponytails.

"Oh," she said. "Just here for a little purification."

"Huh?" Anna asked. Hotaru giggled.

"The others have been straying a bit," she explained. "So, I brought the crew to clean them up." She put her arm around Emiko. "Isn't that right, baby?" she asked. Her woman nodded. Anna blinked.

"What's with her?" she asked.

"This was her day for cleansing," Hotaru answered. "Kazue was first, then Mike, and now my Emiko-sama." The other couple nodded, uneasily.

Hotaru led Emiko, Tsuzuki, and Anna walked through the temple like tour guide with a group. The other three went along with it without any questions and tried to look okay with this deal. Anna looked around and spotted her again. The same girl at KU was sitting alone on the bench, crying. The woman's rage reawaked. This was a bright girl with so much potential. Yet, the monster she was living with was raping and drugging her up. She had to do something.

Anna looked behind her. Tsuzuki went over with the demons further into the temple on the tour. They didn't seem to notice that she wasn’t with them. Anna smiled at her opportunity. The woman turned back to the girl and saw her getting up to leave. She took one more look behind her before going after the girl.

Hours later, Tsuzuki, Emiko, and Hotaru returned to find Anna nowhere in their sight. Tsuzuki looked around for bright russet hair. When he didn't see the color anywhere among the crowd, he turned to the demons.

"Where's Anna?" he asked. Hotaru shrugged as she looked around.

"Don't know," she said. "Wasn't she with us earlier?" That question gave Tsuzuki the exact clue he needed. He ran all the way out of the temple.

"Tsuzuki!" Hotaru yelled. "Where are you going?"

"To stop Anna-chan from screwing up!" he yelled.

"What?" the loli Goth shouted. Tsuzuki was too far gone to hear her. Hotaru stood there with a blank look on her face. Meanwhile, Anna followed the girl home.