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Chapter Eight: Ask Questions:

Tsuzuki came by Watari's lab the next afternoon and knocked on the door.

"Watari," he said. "I have something to ask you. Are you too busy right now?" He backed up when the door opened. Watari peeked out and grinned.

"Ah, Tsuzuki," he said. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"Why?" his friend asked. Watari moved closer into his face.

"I want to show you something!" he said. Tsuzuki raised an eyebrow.

"Look," he said. "If this is another weird experiment of yours…"

"No, no!" the blonde scientist said. "You'll want to see this. Come on!" Watari pulled him inside before he could protest.

"What is this?" he asked. Watari grinned and showed him the computer screen. His friend saw a soul with a bright white light in the chest.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Look familiar?" Watari asked. Tsuzuki tilted his head, narrowing his eyes.

"No…" he said.

"Well, look at this," Watari said. He pulled up another file on his laptop. Tsuzuki looked to see the same picture as the first.

"Okay…" he said. "So?"

"Look at the name," Watari said. His friend did so and his eyes widened.

"Kimoto Anna?" he asked.

"Yes," the scientist said. He pulled up the first file. "This is from the file of that hostess in Kabukicho." Tsuzuki turned to him.

"You mean, she…" he started to say.

"To be honest," Watari said. "I don't have the full details yet. I will need to bring that girl in for further testing."

"I don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Are you familiar with the core case that my section is investigating?" Watari asked in a serious tone.

"The core harvesting case," Tsuzuki said. "Right." Watari tapped his laptop screen.

"This is the breakthrough that I was looking for," he said. "That's not only will we stop the harvesting process, I will finally get to study the core for more answers."

"I see."

"Is there something you wanted?"

"Huh?"

"You said you had a question about something," the scientist said. "So, what is it?" It took Tsuzuki a moment to get the question.

"Oh," he said. The older shinigami looked Watari in the eye. "Take a sample of my blood." Watari fought to keep down his excitement.

"May I ask why?" he asked. Tsuzuki's eyes shifted left and right.

"Promise you won't tell anyone yet?" he whispered.

"Okay," the scientist said. "What is it?" Tsuzuki spotted a scalpel nearby on the counter and picked it up. Watari's eyes widened.

"Tsuzuki!" he shouted as his friend cut his own hand. Tsuzuki threw down the scalpel.

"Look at it!" he said. "Look at it!" Watari looked down at the cut. It didn't take him long to see what Tsuzuki was getting at.

"Why isn't it healing now?" he asked.

"That's the problem," Tsuzuki said.

"How long has it been like this?"

"A few days."

"A few days?"

"You don't think her kitsune's starting to feed, do you? I hope not."

"And that's why you want a test to see."

"Yes."

"I understand," Watari said. "Come with me." Tsuzuki followed behind.

Watari wiped a fresh syringe clean. Tsuzuki sat on the other side of the room with his right sleeve rolled up. He drew in a deep breath.

"How long will this take?" he asked.

"Not long," Watari replied. "Just relax, will you?" Tsuzuki bit his lower lip, nodding. The scientist shinigami walked up to his old friend.

"Now, look that way," Watari said as he pointed to the left. Tsuzuki complied as his stomach turned. The scientist wiped down the skin with rubbing alcohol and drew blood from his right arm. Tsuzuki whimpered and shut his eyes. Watari drew out his needle.

"I'm done," he said. His friend looked up with a little smile.

"So, how long before I get the results back?" he asked.

"Three days," Watari said. His friend chuckled. Oh boy… That seemed rather long.