The groceries came out of the bag onto the kotatsu one by one while dark mist drifted slowly upward behind him.
Bread.
Ham.
Cheese.
Lettuce.
Tomatoes.
Butter.
Mayo.
Shizuka's head was still regrowing.
The lower jaw pushed gradually out from the neck stump first, skin knitting itself smoothly over forming bone while black vapor curled lazily through the room.
Silver hair spread slowly back across the floorboards last.
Kai ignored it and started making sandwiches.
Ham flat across the bread.
Cheese torn apart instead of layered.
Lettuce pressed down carefully. Tomato slices. Mayo in a thin line across the top slice.
More ham.
Because she always stole extra from his otherwise.
His own sandwich got half the effort.
In front of him, the dark energy in the room shifted.
Shizuka's eyes opened.
The temperature dropped instantly.
She sat upright so fast the kotatsu rattled.
"What the FUCK, Kai!?"
Dark mist burst violently from around her shoulders.
