CHAPTER TEN

What Naomi said kept running through my head like a broken record. Was I really giving Reina too much credit? She hadn’t exactly shown me she was worth keeping around. Between her untuned meta and the way she’d been handling herself since we got here, she’d given me all the reason in the world to vote her out. But I couldn't be reckless. While Naomi was sure we could vote her out, I wasn't so confident that was an option for us. We were invited here outside of normal channels, through a VIP ticket, sorta' speak. And I bet that if Reina got voted off the island, there'd be no island. Aside from my own personal agenda, I couldn’t be selfish with Reina. I wasn’t raised like that. Despite her shortcomings, I had to remember that without her, I wouldn’t have been a hunter.

Well, not officially. Not yet. We still had to pass evaluations, which was why Reina, Naomi, and I were following a trail. I gave Naomi a hint that shadow walkers usually liked to keep their trophies close. The real arrogant ones loved the thrill of the chase, trying to test hunter insight. They called it hiding in plain sight, and they got off of stumping hunters on a regular basis. Another reason for stashing or tossing bodies nearby was to bait out hunters. I had the strongest feeling this was the case here, but that didn’t stop us from searching.

“We are getting nowhere fast!” Reina complained. “This would make much more sense if we had a decent lead. But we don’t. So all we are doing is wasting precious time.”

“Quit complaining,” Naomi said smoothly. “Do you honestly think that real hunters base their hunts purely on leads? There’s an active threat in the area. We scope it out by any means necessary. Until our mentor tells us otherwise, we keep searching.”

Not too far from the farmer’s square was a quaint little bakery across the street—Yumi’s I read, under the big white Japanese symbols along the storefront. There were a lot of people there, browsing and eating, Reina insisting we searched there. Another food run, I thought. Not gonna lie, I was hungry, too. I suspected the reason why the fridge back home was empty was because kitty cat Ash had emptied it last night. Foraging for basic necessities was part of the hunter package, and after our care package was exhausted, we were left to spend more of that starter money.

Sweet buns and pastries lined the window display like precious edible artifacts, bathed in the warm light of morning sun. Each treat was a miniature work of art, crafted with layers of dough, icing, and fillings that immediately grabbed my attention. An aroma of baked sweetness and cooked yeast wafted from the bakery, so strong that we’d smelt it from a block down. Unlike the last time Reina had trailed off, I didn’t stop her, my nose locked on heaven food like I was hypnotized.

Ranging from flaky croissants filled with velvety chocolate to custard cream red bean buns dusted with snowy powdered sugar, Yumi’s confectionery creations were far from ordinary. There were Danishes topped with berries whose colors popped against their golden crusts, and shiny Japanese milk bread sparkling under the display lights. Then there were tantalizing crispy cream puffs, mint swirls, custard filled Shu, and even mochi—my mouth was watering already...

“Man, why does everything look so cute in Japan?” I said admiringly as I stared through the store front window, until Reina walked in, the door chime ringing after Naomi. I followed the girls inside, Reina already browsing down the rows of food.

“Melonpan looks nice,” she whispered to herself. “They even have Daifuku.”

“I’m getting the crispy cream puffs for sure,” I said, then turned to Naomi with a warm smile. “Aren’t you getting anything?”

“No thanks,” she said flatly.

“Why? Not hungry? I didn’t see you having breakfast.”

“Breakfast isn’t really my thing.”

I chuckled. “I hope you’re not saying that because we are on an allowance. Come on, my treat.”

She flashed her pupils my way while the rest of her body made no movement. I could tell that I’d enticed her, the petite ivory-haired girl finally accepting my offer, “I’ll take the milk bread.”

When we went up to the counter, I paid for our food including a small cup of brown sugar bubble tea for Naomi, Reina looking at me funny from the corner of my eye. We took a seat outside since it was so nice out, the girls taking a seat while I reeled an extra from the table behind us.

“I thought you were paying for my dinner?” Reina asked me.

“That hasn’t changed.” I smirked. “I’m not cheap like you.”

She rolled her eyes and picked at her Melonpan before I took a bite of my own treat, the sweet, fluffy pastry melting in my mouth. I could see why this bakery was so popular among locals and tourists alike. Yumi truly was an artisan in the delicious craft of baking.

“Mmm, damn, you have to give this a try,” I said, breaking off a piece for Reina and offering it to her.

“No thanks, I’m very content with what I have. Besides, that is no way to offer a woman a piece of your food. Where were you raised, in a barn?”

“Aw, seriously? It’s really good! Come on, just a taste. Trust me, you’re missing out! Here comes the itty bitty plane for the hangar!” I teased, whizzing my hand back and forth while Reina’s face went beat red.

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“Cut it out!” she cried, back-handing my offering before it inched toward her cheek. She then propped her elbow on the table and hid her face in shame, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re such an absolute embarrassment, you know that?”

“Hah, you need to learn to loosen up a little, Reina.”

“It’s bad enough that it looks like we’re a couple on a date.”

“How so? There’s three of us here. What does that make Naomi? My associate?”

Reina sighed. “And I’m the sheltered one….”

“Heh, though, that’s kind of you to think of me like that, Reina.”

“Oh, quit stroking your own ego.”

Naomi, who had been quietly enjoying her milk bread until then, looked up at our antics, her eyes curious. “You two seem awfully friendly for people who routinely hate each other.”

“Nah, you got it wrong. I don’t hate Reina. She’s just annoying as shit,” I teased.

“And you’re no walking ray of sunshine, either, you awkward, play card-slinging, cosplay-wearing, anime-obsessed, socially inept manchild,” Reina retorted, her voice full of spite.

I laughed, surprising even myself with how genuine it sounded. “Well, when you put it like that, I sound downright charming.”

She growled. “Down right unbearable, is more like it.” She hissed, before I turned my eyes to Naomi, about to ask her what she thought about her bubble tea before I noticed her focusing on a couple a few feet away from us. The girl was a bombshell, long black hair with pretty big eyes and a smile that was brighter than the afternoon sun, while the man accompanying her was tall and dressed in a spiffy outfit, looking every bit as dashing as the girl was enchanting.

He gave off wealthy charisma, and he was a pretty good smooth talker, too. I couldn’t understand a lick of what he was saying in Japanese, but judging by that girl’s constant giggling and blushing, he was definitely flattering her. The chad was doing a pretty successful job at working her up. He leaned in, whispering something into her ear, causing her to brush her bangs and playfully swat at his arm.

I turned my gaze back to Naomi, who was still watching them from the corner of her eyes, her bubble tea untouched. Her expression was unreadable; was she focused on their conversation or just admiring the couple? I couldn’t tell which.

“Naomi,” I murmured, leaning slightly toward her side of the table.

She blinked and turned her head, finally breaking contact with the couple to look at me. There was a stern seriousness in her eyes that disappeared once she looked away. Quickly, she lifted her bubble tea and took a long sip.

I followed Naomi’s gaze and then whispered, “Hey, Naomi, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t say anything back, but now, my curiosity was invested. I looked at the man again, his square jaw, broad shoulders, and overall sex appeal. To be honest, he was the kind of man that girls sighed for in romance novels, and yet Naomi seemed less impressed and more bothered.

“What are you two staring at?” Reina asked, and just as she spoke, Naomi turned her eyes back to her food.

“Nothing,” Naomi whispered, but I knew something was up. The longer I looked at the guy the more I felt like Naomi thought he was the culprit. I wasn’t sure how she knew, maybe it was his vibe. We couldn’t know for sure, but there was something about him that was throwing me off now, too. I guess the more hunts I went on the more I’d get a sixth sense for this thing. That being said, my speculations were just that, speculations, until his date slipped up and cut her thumb with a knife she was using to eat, the man staring at the gash like she’d just pulled out a diamond the size of her fist.

He grabbed her wrist to help ease her into cleaning it right up, but at the same time, he was hiding the fact that he was applying pressure on that thumb, making the blood gush out faster. His eyes never left that spot as he pulled out a handkerchief to dab the pooling blood, his expression churning my stomach.

“Oh God, is that a shadow-walker?” Reina whispered in a hushed tone before she flung her head back at us. However, it didn’t matter how softly she’d said that, the bastard acknowledged us, looking our way along the corner of his stare.

He eyed Reina, the fox girl holding her breath when that cold glare wouldn’t let her go for a whole two seconds. After that, he waved down the waitress and dropped a few bills on the table, all of a sudden in a hurry to leave with the girl in his hand.

Reina shot up right off her seat, Naomi immediately hissing at her, “Sit down.”

“We cannot idly sit by and—”

“Reina,” she said, tucking in a growl. “Take a seat.”

“They’re on the move…” I whispered, watching as they left the table.

“I can’t!” Reina insisted, and then stormed right up to the couple and interjected them. “Excuse me, miss. But there’s an important call waiting for you inside the bakery.”

The tall woman looked at her confused and shook her head. “Nani?”

“Denwa, naibu.”

My eyes went wide. “Reina could speak Japanese?”

“She’s half Japanese,” Naomi confessed. “And half idiot.”

“Seriously, she doesn’t know what you’re talking about,” the guy said in near perfect English, shaking his hand refusing Reina’s help. “Thanks, but we’re good.”

“You don’t have the right to speak on her behalf!” Reina retorted. “I suggest you let her go so she could handle her business inside! The call is urgent!”

“No phone call,” the girl said, pulling out her cell phone for Reina. “See?”

“Your signal is atrocious!” Reina gasped. “No wonder you couldn’t pick up. Here, I’ll walk you over. The sooner you answer this emergency, the sooner you can—” Reina was cut short, the guy standing in between both girls with a mean look locked on Reina.

“Hey, what the hell is your problem, anyway? Can’t take no for an answer?” he whispered, his threatening voice about ready to make me leap out of my seat. Naomi on the other hand suddenly looked unbothered as she sipped the last drops of her bubble tea, the noise slurping through the straw uncharacteristically deafening in the tense silence.

A chill ran down my spine as I watched the shadow walker's eyes narrow, his grip on the girl’s wrist tightening. He said his next words in such a low growl that even I, sitting at a close enough distance, could barely make them out. But by the way Reina recoiled, I knew he’d said something offensive.

“I’m not going to say it again,” the man followed with a growl, his tone almost inaudible. “Back off.”

Desperate, Reina finally played the D-card, and as soon as she labeled him a demon, the guy’s girl friend screamed, and Naomi shot right off her seat.