Venus Butterfly

Venus Butterfly

Chapter One: Catalyst Confession:

San Diego, California, July 1st, 2010, 11:00 p.m.

Allison Parkman sat in her dull, plush green recliner in her living room with company. Her mismatched blue and brown eyes looked dulled over with sentiment.

"I didn't know her too well," Allison said in a drunken haze as she held onto her glass of half-empty Scotch, "I felt so lonely after returning to America. I always wondered if I had stayed. He insisted that I leave." Allison chuckled to herself, "I never forgot about her, though. I always bought stuffed animals placed them in her room in this house as birthday present every year." She buried her head in her hands, "I only held her once in Japan."

Becky, who sat across from her on the couch, looked at her curiously. "What are you talking about, Ms. Parkman?" she asked.

Allison gave her a dazed-over look through her pale, bony fingers, "Anna," she said, "I'm her mother."

Becky's jaw dropped as her eyes widened. "What?!" she yelped.

"I am Anna's mother," Allison repeated. Usually, she spoke gibberish when drunk. This time, however, felt like a true confession of a deeper sort. Those words from Allison's mouth drove Becky Campbell to make that call.

—

Meifu, Japan, July 2nd, 2010, 3:15 p.m.

Anna's phone buzzed on the side table in the apartment living room. Tsuzuki had just walked in while his wife was down the hall in the shower when he noticed it.

"Anna-chan, your phone!" he shouted, "Anna-chan!" The phone kept buzzing.

"Anna-chan?" Tsuzuki asked. Suddenly, the phone stopped. Tsuzuki looked around, rather nervous. What should I do? His eyes trailed back to the phone as he bit his lower lip.

"Asato-kun?" he heard seconds later. The shinigami leapt around to see Anna standing in the hallway in a bathrobe.

"Oh, it's you," Tsuzuki said, calming down.

"Yes," Anna said looking puzzled, "You're home early."

"Yeah," he said, "I forgot something this morning." Anna still looked at him oddly.

"You look like you saw the devil, is something wrong?" she pointed out. Tsuzuki cleared his throat.

"You have a missed call," he pointed out.

"Hm?" his wife asked. She walked over and picked up her phone. Tsuzuki watched as she dialed her voicemail. The message lasted for five minutes and Anna lowered her phone with a pale face.

"Anna-chan?" Tsuzuki asked. His wife didn't speak; she wandered back to their bedroom. The shinigami's face filled with worry.

Anna-chan…, he thought, unaware of what was to unfold next.