Stage 24: Smiles All Round
"You've made a huge mess of my room," Tamaki said.
Hair brushed back and eyes shining, his eyes circled the area and fell on me. The two guards assisting him carried heavy guns, fingers twitching over the triggers.
Dead? In my mind, I repeated the word over and over. Why did I suddenly feel so shocked and hollow? Despite the fact I didn't know Ganta and never had done, there was a painful, guilty feeling that had begun to gnaw away at my insides.
Tamaki's grin never faltered, apart from when he was interested in something, in which case it transformed into a mix between a light smirk and enquiring stare. "Oh? You seem to be sad about it, Weaver Bird. Didn't Crow tell you?" His eyes travelled to the man next to me.
Due to the new arrival, I hadn't managed to shoot a glance at Crow, but when I did I was slightly taken aback at the look of intense hate that had dominated his face. His expression revealed nothing but contempt in the form of a hard glare that was aimed directly at Deadman Wonderland's director.
"I know, I'll sign you up to fight him, the one who killed Woodpecker," Tamaki said, still addressing me. "Then you can get you revenge. Ooh, it's like something out of a film! Or a book…"
With these words, I snapped back into focus. "What?" Was he suggesting that I fight again? Of course, it was something that I knew would eventually have to happen, but did it have to be so soon? Yet when I thought about it, I'd been relying on Crow's kindness and surplus of Cast Points for far too long- I had to begin supporting myself. These past few weeks, I'd been acting like a featherless bird in a nest, counting on its mother to feed it and keep it warm. It was time for me to fledge.
My accepting nod almost sent Tamaki into convulsions.
"So exciting, so exciting!" he chanted. "Weaver versus… Wait, it would be even more fun if I didn't tell you who it is. That would just triple the suspense."
As he spoke, he moved his hands in the same way someone would when telling a story to children, illustrating the speech with wiggling fingers and the occasional light clap. All in all, he looked like a television entertainer for pre- schoolers, though there was an underlying dark edge, an unstableness that could lash out at any time and made me think that he was nowhere near safe enough to have around people, let alone young children.
Once he'd calmed down, Tamaki's grin fell to a normal smile. "Sorry my visit was so short and spontaneous, but there are other matters that require my attention at this moment. Until tomorrow, Weaver- I shall be seeing you at the Carnival. And what a Carnival it shall be."
He stepped back and began to lead the guards away, but before completely disappearing from view, he turned back to us.
"I'm not an easily- angered person Crow, but if I were you, I'd stop staring at me like that. We wouldn't want to lose our other eye now, would we?"