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Chapter Forty-Nine: Mother's Release:

For twenty-two years, the kitsune had been trapped in the shield Daisuke created. Naturally, it pissed her off. Luckily for her, over the years, the shield had been crumbling bit by bit. Today, only a little piece remained. The mother licked her lips.

/Just a little bit longer/, she thought.

March 31st, 2010.

Anna lowered her phone looking pale.

"Is something wrong?" Tsuzuki asked. His love held her phone to her ear.

"Where are you?" she asked in a low voice.

"Look up," the voice commanded. Anna complied and saw Nobu standing inches away from her.

"Hello there, my niece," he said. Anna stared at the older couple.

"What do you want?" she asked. Nobu snickered.

"Nothing personal, really," he said. Tsuzuki's eyes widened.

"Anna-chan," he said, trying to stay calm. Her eyes moved towards him as he tightly squeezed her hand.

"Let me deal with him," the shinigami said.

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't think you can handle him," Tsuzuki whispered.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I have fought against him twice before." The shinigami shook his head.

"It's not the same," he said.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Look at him," the shinigami told her. His beloved turned her confused focus towards Nobu. Her uncle's eyes looked violently hungry. She saw his right hand give way to trimmers. The heavy breathing confirmed Tsuzuki's concerns. Anna turned to her beloved.

"What is…" she began to ask.

"I'm not sure…" Tsuzuki mumbled. Nobu frowned at the couple.

"Fight me!" he yelled. "Fight me! Fight me!" Sharon clung to his body, tried to restrain him.

"Baby!" she wailed. "Just let them go, please! Let's just go home and forget about this. Please!" Nobu gritted his teeth.

"Shut up, woman!" he barked as he shoved her to the ground. Sharon fell back onto the sidewalk. Tsuzuki clenched his fists.

"That was uncalled for!" he barked.

"What's it to you?" the other man asked. "This does not concern you!"

"Yes, it does!" Tsuzuki barked. "As long as Anna keeps getting dragged in by you guys, it's my concern!" Nobu grabbed his right wrist.

"So you say," he said. "But, she has to die. The mother is killing us all." Tsuzuki drew out his fuda.

"I will not let you do that," he said. Nobu belted out choked-up laugh.

"Well then," he said. "I'll have to cut you down to kill her!" Tsuzuki glanced behind him.

"Now will you let me take him for you?" his eyes asked. Anna pressed her lips together.

"Be very careful," she mumbled. He stuck up a V for victory sign as he turned back to Nobu. The other man held up his hand.

"Yayoi, go!" he commanded. The kitsune sailed towards the shinigami. Tsuzuki held up his fuda.

"Suzaku!" he yelled. The fire phoenix sailed out to the battle. Yayoi seemed more stable than her master. In fact at some points, she acted on her own will. Suzaku flew down to the kitsune's back. Tsuzuki was sure that Nobu noticed it too, but it was hard to tell by his face.

The mother watched the battle. She felt every blow Yayoi took, but she smiled with the pain. For Anna's emotions ran through her elegant body in waves. Her anger broke down each bar of the cage. Now, only one pole remained. Daisuke had buried the core of the curse here. With that gone, she could be free. Come on/, the mother thought. /Give me a little bit more. Come on. You can do it!

Sharon sat on the pavement of the abandoned street, staring. Her hand trembled at her mouth. Flashes of fear danced in her eyes. What have I done? Anna kept her eyes on her aunt. The niece saw the bruises and marks on her arm. A look of contempt clouded Anna's face.

Oh, I get it/, she thought. /This woman told on me to her husband to have me killed in her stead. /Usually Anna sympathized with abuse victims, but this case had rotted with malice from the inside out. Whether it was intended or not didn't matter. Anna clenched her fists. /That woman… After all of what her husband put her through, she uses him to get her life back! I won't allow this! She felt the burn build up in her chest. If I had my way/, she thought. /I'd have women like her burned to death! Snap!

The battle broke up when both parties heard a scream. Nobu turned and saw his wife falling back onto the pavement with her body engulfed in flames.

"Sharon-chan!" her husband cried. The woman cried as she flailed about from internal combustion. The man ran over to his burning wife.

"Sharon!" he cried. Tsuzuki turned to a stunned Anna.

"What did you do?!" he yelled. Anna just stood there, blinking. Nobu tried desperately to put out his wife. All of his efforts just made the fire worse on the now silent woman.

"Make it stop!" Nobu shouted. Anna shook her head. The flames kept eating at Sharon's flesh. Tsuzuki finally drew out another fuda and ran over to Anna. He pressed it against her chest and chanted a quick spell. The fire Sharon's body ate at her bones now. Come on/, Tsuzuki thought. /Stop this, Anna-chan. Let her go, she has nothing to do with this. You can stop this now. The flames vanished, leaving ashes and bones. Tsuzuki collapsed at Anna's feet. The woman looked on lost as Nobu cried over his wife's remains. Her uncle froze and looked up with death in his eyes.

"I will get you for this!" the man yelled. He gathered up the remains and ran off with Yayoi. Anna's mind didn't really come back until she heard footsteps. She looked up to see the shinigami running towards her.