A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith

Author:Lindsay Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

CHAPTER TWELVE

I thought Aki’s interview with Suzuki went just fine, but she’s in rare form the whole way back to the inn. “Let me see the photos you took, Reiko.” She tries to yank my camera bag straight out of my hand. “I can’t trust Suzuki’s team to pick the ones that flatter “me most. They’re going to pick the ones that look best for her.”

I yank my camera bag right back. Anger crawls up the back of my neck, prickling the wispy hairs there. “They turned out perfect, as always. Leave me alone. And don’t you dare touch my bag again.”

Aki stops dead in her tracks, appalled that I could even think to defy her. “Excuse me?”

The heat of anger spreads like a rash. It gives me power and strength. Soon enough, this will all be over. And everyone will be sorry. “I said to leave me alone.”

The late autumn chatter of birds swells around us, thick as a fog. Tadashi, Kazuo, and Mariko all seem to take a step back. As if the world is nothing but me and Akiko, and this heavy, roaring quiet.

Then Akiko shrugs and plunges down the ryokan’s main path.

My anger keeps buzzing, tearing through me, swelling all around. I have to let it out. Normally I would cut, but this time I think I need another sensation. I need Miyu. I need to slip back into her life, live as someone else, escape from this panic and rage. It’s safe for me this way, I tell myself. A healthy outlet. I can spend just a little more time in Miyu’s life, learn a bit more, and then I can gather the information I need to help her. I can muster up the will to do what needs to be done in my own life.

Mr. Onagi’s face is as deep red as his bean paste when we return to the inn. He swoops from behind the counter and plants himself right in Akiko’s path.

“I know what you’ve been doing,” he says with deathly calm, his Japanese as ragged as a saw. “I know you’ve been sneaking out of my inn after curfew.”

Akiko blinks a couple times. “Huh?”

“You don’t understand, do you? The rules are there for a reason. Rules are meant to be obeyed.” Fear coats his words. “I can’t let you threaten the safety of my inn. “I’ll throw you out. I have no moral obligation to keep you here. If you can’t follow one simple rule—”

“Would you relax?” she snaps right back. “It’s not a big deal. This town is so dull, and your inn is so dull. Of course we have to go elsewhere for entertainment.”

“You have no idea what you’re messing with!” Mr. Onagi whispers. “The rule is here for a reason. And it must be observed!”

I suddenly remember I’m not supposed to be able to understand what they’re saying, so I turn toward Mariko, who’s hanging near the inn’s entrance with me as I unlace my boots. “What’s he so scared about?’’ I ask.

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