Chapter 8

The next day, both Sharon and Yukiko arrived at my house and we started our lessons.

They were sitting before me as I started explaining "When we disguise as someone, the first thing we need to make note of are his features and any special marks like moles, scars or birth marks.

Since these details aren't that important in movies, we can skip this and go to the first main thing.

I will now show you how to wear a mask yourself and how to make it look like the other person..."

The class continued till night 9 pm, with only short breaks for food. I didn't want to waste time with them.

I wanted to get some with them and run to our vacation. To save time for travelling, I even asked them to stay at my house.

"We will conclude our lesson for today. You can take bath if you want till I prepare dinner." I said and Yukiko left to take a bath.

Sharon wasn't Asian, but since we worked on masks, she also wanted to take a bath.

I just baked a pizza, as that's the best food you can make quickly.

I waited for the pizza to cook while I was watching the news.

The news reporter reported "There seems to be a new thief who has targetted all the precious artefacts owned by many rich people.

He sends a card with riddles as to when he would steal the item. He calls himself the 'Phantom Thief'.

Police speculate that this thief is someone imitating the ways of the dead thief 'Phantom lady'."

After this, the reporter went on with the sports news, but Phantom theif caught my interest, but I still didn't care much about it.

Mom already retired from being the Phantom lady, so there would be many who would want to carry on what she did or, try to imitate her.

In this span of three years, 2 fake Phantom ladies were caught by the police, who tried to use her name and fame in the underworld to earn money.

I changed the channel to a detective show that had been airing for a month. I liked it and never missed an episode since then.

Yukiko and Sharon, who just finished bathing and were in their pajamas, walked up to him and Yukiko said "Itsuki, you also watch this show. I love detective stuff. I also watch this everyday."

I let them call me by my name as I was around the same age, actually three years younger.

Yukiko ran to her bag and took out a book. The title of the book read "Night Baron" and the author was someone named Yusaku Kudo.

She said while jumping "This is a mystery novel and the writer is someone from my school, even though we haven't even met each other.

This book is amazing. I immediately fell in love with it after reading it."

I smiled and said "Fine, I will read it when I am free. I am going to take bath now. The pizza is in the oven. Remember to remove it after three minutes."

The bathroom in my house was on the same floor as the kitchen and not that far from each other.

I relaxed in the bathtub for almost 20 minutes and got out after that. Although the death energy and the life energy keep me energized throughout the day and prevent fatigue, I still like the feeling I get while bathing.

I came out, with a towel wrapped around my waist and immediately smelled something burn.

My senses had also increased a little. I ran towards the kitchen and there was smoke coming out of the kitchen.

When I went in, I saw Yukiko and Sharon with tears and wobbly legs. They took the support of the chair and dining table to even stand.

I ran to the oven and opened it after turning it off. The whole kitchen was filled with smoke. I opened the windows and ran out, with Yukiko and Sharon dragging themselves behind me.

"What happened here?" I asked as I supported their weak bodies.

Yukiko came closer to me and said "Nothing, I just feel weak." and Sharon came closer and nodded.

I took them to their rooms and laid them on their beds.

I said "I will get you both something to eat. Rest for now." and went to get some food.

There was a Mexican restaurant nearby and I loved it. So, I ordered some tacos and brought them home.

I took the food to their room and they are it silently. They didn't speak a single word the whole night. I thought that it was a ladies problem, so I didn't question much and left their room.

The next day, I was working out in my lawn. This had become my usual routine as my body felt sore everytime I dislocated my joints to disguise as someone shorter.

I was already 5 feet 11 inches tall and was already taller than the average people.

I went into the house. Yukiko and Sharon just left their room and were walking towards the kitchen.

I was also heading to the kitchen for water. As I got closer to them, I waved at them and asked "Did you get enough rest. We can cancel today's classes of you are still not feeling well."

Yukiko shook her head and said "No, we are fine." and slowly moved closer to me as we walked towards the kitchen.

I would have blamed the narrow hallway, but something felt weird, as even Sharon moved closer to me.

And I can't tell what this woman is thinking. She has an expressionless face everytime.

We turned to get into the kitchen, and I swore I saw a smile on Sharon's face. It did disappear immediately though.

The rest of the day went as usual, I taught them and at night, I left the house to get some groceries to cook dinner.

When I returned, it felt strange, as the whole house was silent.

I slowly dropped the groceries and looked around while slowly moving towards the kitchen, where I last saw Yukiko and Sharon.

As soon as I entered the kitchen, I found many things scattered everywhere. This just meant one thing, 'Something definitely happened here.'

I looked around to find anything that could be helpful, and found milk splashed everywhere and the chairs flipped down away from the table.

The kitchen knife was also missing. As I kept looking, I found a note that read "When the night is painted bright as the day, the dead rise from their graves. If you want to see these two women, come to the graveyard and meet the death god."

I didn't know what to think of the person who wrote this. It felt both childish and serious at the same time.

I started decoding the weird riddle. As this was happening, somewhere else,

A man in his 40s entered a room, which wasn't properly lit. There were two men standing inside the room.

The man asked them "Did everything go as planned?"

They replied "Boss, looks like she also received training for self defense. She stabbed one of our men in his arm and knocked out another with a kick to his lower jaw. The other woman wasn't that hard to deal with." pointing to a blonde unconscious woman.

The boss man turned to leave and said "Don't feel sad. We only need them to lure that kid here. After that, you can do whatever you want with them. They also look beautiful."

Both those men standing in the room were happy when they heard that. They both looked at Yukiko and Sharon, who were unconscious.

They both giggled and left the room while arguing who gets whom.

Yukiko then opened her eyes and asked Sharon "Sharon, this is obviously a trap to lure Itsuki here and he might have also realised that by now. Do you think he will come for us. He hardly knows us for two days."

Sharon opened her eyes and looked at the worried face of Yukiko. She said "Don't worry, I have a feeling that he will definitely come, but I don't know why though."

Yukiko smiled when she heard this. She said in a playful tone "Oh my, I never thought that the cold princess could also fall in love."

"Did you forget the situation we are in?" Sharon asked and Yukiko replied "Don't worry, even I have a feeling that Itsuki will come. If he doesn't, this would be the last moments of our life. I don't want to waste them crying."