TRUST ISSUES 1

The first thing that came to Yuki's mind the moment she saw Jaita in her room was Feturi's ominous words. Before her access to earth was restored to her, Feturi sat her down and narrated a tragic ending of a demon family because of their association with a human.

She in fact knew that it was just a tale she had made up to scare her, so she didn't really take it to heart. She had already been told over and over again, "humans are evil, they are betrayers, they do not mean well for us", but all she wanted was revenge and she was determined to get it, even though she had to have a relationship with a human.

She thought she had everything under control, she had set rules, she had set her boundaries with humans and most of all, she was well aware of how her brother ended up, so she had put everything in place to avoid such scenarios.

To her, this was not a big deal as she had already been around humans in the first place. All she needed to do was to remove her trust in Jaita and treat her the way she was taught to treat all humans. But the moment she saw Jaita in her room, she thought otherwise.

In Feturi's words, " humans love the feeling of superiority, they always want to be the head. Once they find out who we are, they'll do everything possible to know our secret and outperform us. That's why we were estranged in the first place."

When Yuki had first entered her house, she sensed the presence of someone and the first name that came to her mind was Feturi. Never in her wildest imagination would she had thought of seeing Jaita in her room, searching diligently for something.

"What are you doing here?!" She barked at Jaita to gain her attention.

Jaita was stunned to see Yuki suddenly. She did a slight throat adjustment and pointed towards the door. "How did you come in? I didn't hear the door open."

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Yuki asked again, still maintaining her glare.

"Well, I was looking for you," she replied as she saw that Yuki was not in a good mood.

Yuki scoffed. "You were looking for me?!" She shouted; "you've not even stayed up to a week and you're already looking for a way to outshine me?" In the blink of an eye she was in front of Jaita. Taking her neck in her right hand, she picked her up from the ground and pinned her to the wall.

Jaita uttered strained sounds as Yuki's grip on her neck tightened. She tried to wriggle herself free from Yuki's grasp but it was of no use. Yuki had taken her unawares so it was too late for her to get rid of her and besides, Jaita was no match for Yuki's brute force.

"What do you mean you were looking for me? Huh? Am I now small to fit in my drawers that you were looking for me there? Have you no manners at all? How dare you barge into my house like that?" Yuki questioned, but Jaita was becoming unresponsive, so she had to release her immediately.

She fell to the ground, coughing breathlessly and fanning herself with her hands.

"Now, tell me the truth," Yuki squatted down to face Jaita; "what were you doing in my room?"

Jaita gritted her teeth. "I told you I was looking for you."

"Liar!" Yuki exploded, "why would you be looking for me in this book?!" She stretched and picked up the last book Jaita was about to open before she arrived.

It was a black shiny leather book with a glittery orange bind. It looked surreal and was indeed not a normal book as it contained some informations and lessons about Mystika.

It was a book that no human was supposed to have access to, so was enraged when she saw Jaita with it.

"I was looking for a clue to your phone's password! And besides, the book refused to open." Jaita retorted.

"And why would you need my password?"

"Can you stop with the numerous questions?!" Jaita stood to her feet; "you're the one that's supposed to be answering my questions and not the other way round. You've not been around for three good days and you believe you don't owe me an explanation?" Jaita returned.

"Pfft!" She scoffed; "an explanation? For what exactly? Do I now need to report my whereabouts to you? Who are you to think that way?"

"Can you just calm down?! Why are you trying to play the victim here when I am clearly the victim!"

"Victim of what exactly? Your room was not barged into, your belongings are not scattered around, so tell me, what exactly are you a victim of?"

"What exactly do you claim I have I done to you? You almost strangled me to death few minutes ago, your mother or whoever she is also attempted to murder me this morning. So tell me, what did I ever do wrong? You were the one that asked to be my human acquaintance, why did your mum decide to send me packing all of a sudden?"

Yuki stepped back quietly after this revelation. After sometime, she spoke up.

"What do you mean my mother came here?" She asked.

"Someone much older than you came by today. She looked like someone in her early fifties but I guess she would be thousands of years old. She almost killed me, in fact she left me unconscious and even warned me to stay away from you."

"What does she look like?" Yuki asked.

"Her hair was long and silvery, and she has a blue fire tattoo on her forehead," Jaita recalled.

Yuki eyes narrowed as Jaita described her. She knew immediately that it was Feturi.

"That's not a tattoo," she corrected. "It's a mark that identifies her with her clan."

"That is not my concern right now. You have a lot of explaining to do. But let's start with where you were all this while," Jaita began.

"That's none of your business. What were you doing in my room? I'm still not satisfied with the answer you gave me."

"I asked you first," Jaita protested.

"Answer me honestly, then I'll tell you." Yuki replied.

"It's just as I've told you before, I was looking for you. You've not been at home since and you texted us in the office today, so I was expecting to see you at home, but you were nowhere to be found and your door was not locked. I just met your phone lying on the bed there," she pointed towards Yuki's bed.

"I texted you?" Yuki strode towards her bed and picked her phone up. She went through her phone but did not find any message in her phone.

"Look," she turned the phone to Jaita, "I didn't text you."

"But we received a text message from you, twice. You can ask your secretary if you doubt me. It was her phone that received the text." Jaita argued.

Yuki just nodded and cleared her throat. "Don't ever come into my house again!" She warned; "and don't go through my things and most importantly!" she raised the book in her hand, "don't ever come near this book again! Is that clear?"

"You've not told me where you were?" Jaita asked instead.

"Have I made myself clear, Jaita?" Yuki asked back.

"Yes, I totally understand you. So where were you?"

"Don't let that bother you. Just leave my room now and don't come back again."

"You didn't keep your promise. You were supposed to tell me where you've been after I answered you.

"I don't remember promising you anything," Yuki replied and held her door open; "now, leave," she gestured towards the door.

Jaita sighed in defeat, Feturi's warning ringing clearly in her head once more: "she will dump you like she never signed a contract with you, once she gets everything she wants."

"Feturi," Yuki said suddenly, as Jaita got to the doorway. "Feturi," she said again as Jaita turned to her for clarification; "that's the name of the woman that confronted you today. She's my guardian not my mother."

Jaita just nodded and walked away.

"Don't come into my house again!" Yuki called out after her.

"I've heard you!" she replied.

"And sorry for whatever she did to you today." Yuki added.

Jaita paused in surprise. It was strange for Yuki to ever apologise, so she decided to confirm what she had heard but as she turned to reply her, Yuki closed the door, leaving her all to herself in the hallway.

Jaita walked back to her flat, massaging the tender spot in her neck gently, as she was beginning to feel the effect of Yuki's grip on her neck. She sighed and poured herself a glass of chilled water.

She had escaped death twice that day and was beginning to doubt if she could even make it alive before Yuki gets to accomplish her mission.

She picked up her laptop and began to search for any recent murder case between a married couple. Even though Yuki had not yet told her her real intentions, Feturi had already given her heads up about the matter.

She wanted to verify the authenticity of Feturi's words but when she searched online, she found nothing. She spent hours on her laptop, going through every murder case the search engine brought up, but none of them contained any case between a married couple.

'Could it be that Feturi lied about that to scare her away?' She thought as she could not find anything related to what Feturi had told her.

She groaned loudly in frustration and shut down her computer. She was about to call her aunty, who was a lawyer to ask about it when her doorbell interrupted her. She dropped her phone and walked to her parlour to answer the door.

"Yuki?" She asked in surprise as she saw Yuki standing in front of the door.

"What? Are you surprised? Who else knows this place other than me?" Yuki asked.

Jaita rolled her eyes at Yuki. She knew she was right, so she didn't argue back. "What do you want?" She asked instead.

Yuki held up a rolled parchment. "There's something I need to show you," she replied.