…Becky-chan did think that Anya was going to be the Bond Man.
"Anya thinks that we can both be Princess Honey." Anya pushed her fingers together and looked down at her shoes.
Becky stomped her foot. Anya looked up to see that Becky's eyes were wide. Her cheeks had turned red. "Anya-chan!" she cried out. She waved her hands by her face. "We can't both be Princess Honey! We have to be Princess Honey and the Bond Man!"
Anya shrunk in on herself and mumbled. "Anya thought that Becky-chan wanted to do a matching costume…" In her peripheral vision, she saw some other students turn to watch their conversation. She felt her face turn pink.
"Not the same costume!" Becky threw her hands up and turned away. "Anya-chan, that's not a matching costume! We need a Bond Man and a Princess Honey, not two Princess Honeys. And I won't be the Bond Man!" She set her lips in a pout.
"Eh, what's this?"
Anya jumped. "S-second son," she greeted.
Damian gave her an expression that she didn't understand. "Maa, Becky-chan, I can be the Bond Man. So can Emile." He puffed out his chest.
Emile jolted. "Damian-sama," he whispered. "I already have my costume. I'm going to be a red-billed stork."
What? Anya stared at Emile. She wanted to hear more about that costume. But the conversation moved on without him.
"Fine," Damian said. "Ewan can do it."
"Yes, of course!" Ewan's eyes started to tear up. 'I have to give up my dream of being a mailbox. I even made my own costume. I thought that next year I could be a mailman. But without working my way up, will I be ready for the challenge?'
Damian grinned at Anya with all his teeth. "See?" He said proudly. "You're welcome, Anya-chan."
'Anya is worried about Ewan.'
"You?" Becky-chan gave Damian a dubious look. "You would be the Bond Man?" 'He isn't cool enough to be the Bond Man. No way can he hang out with us. I'll tell him to go away!'
Oh, no! Anya felt her heart jolt at Becky-chan's thoughts. World Peace! Anya needed Damian for World Peace!
She interrupted before Becky-chan could say anything. "Anya thinks- Anya thinks that's very nice!" She made a fist. "Anya is very happy!"
"Eh…." Becky stalled. After a long second, she sighed. "Thank you, Damian-san," she said unhappily. "Let's sit down, Anya-chan. Class will start soon."
Anya waved at Damian before she went back to her desk. He was so nice sometimes!
When class started back up, Anya did her best to concentrate. But it was so hard. She listened to the teacher and looked at the blackboard. But every time she raised her hand, her answer was wrong. Her eyes were watering by the time class was over.
She cleared her desk and rushed to go home.
"Forger-san."
Anya went stiff. Slowly she looked up at her teacher. He beckoned her to the front if the classroom.
Becky-chan gave her an encouraging look from the classroom door. Anya trudged miserably to her teacher. "Yes, sensei?"
He barely looked at her. There was a rustling sound and then there were papers in her face.
She took them, blinking in confusion.
"Remedial math homework," Sensei explained. He made eye contact with her. "Forger-san, I can tell that you're trying really hard. I think you don't understand what we're doing right now. So here's some practice problems. If you can finish these, then tomorrow's class will be much easier for you." He smiled down at her. "Won't that be nice? I always appreciate it when you put your hand up."
Anya held the homework to her chest. She nodded slowly. "Thank you." She stole a glance. It looked like 10 problems. Anya could do ten problems!
She skipped off in a much better mood.
"That's great, Anya-chan," Becky gushed. She linked her elbow with Anya's as they walked towards the parking lot. "Tomorrow you'll understand all the problems!"
Anya perked up. "Anya will?"
She colored and hummed to herself on the bus. Mama was waiting when she got off.
Anya beamed up at her. "Guess what, Mama!"
Mama gave Anya a hug and then took her hand. "Oh…" She looked upwards. "Do you need a third costume for tomorrow?" She teased.
Anya shook her head. "Noooo," she giggled. That was silly. "Just the princess costume, the pumpkin, and then the snacks."
They stopped abruptly. "Sn-snacks?"
Anya swung their hands back and forth. "The refreshments," she pronounced carefully. "Baked goods!" Oh. She looked at Mama sideways from under her lashes. "Maybe Daddy should bake the cookies."
Mama made a low sound that Anya didn't understand. "Anyway, I got extra homework!" She fished it out of her bag with a flourish.
"Oh." Mama sounded strange, voice low. "That's wonderful Anya-chan!" She got cheerier. "Let's do it together!"
They got home and started working on it at the desk in Anya's room. "Okay!" Anya rallied. She put the tip of her pencil on tbe paper. "10 minus 8 times 2!"
Mama froze. "Ah… well. 10 minus 8 equals 2, and then times 2 is 4! The answer is 4!" She paused. "Unless this is a situation when you're supposed to do the multiplication first."
Anya paused in the middle of writing 4. She looked up at Mama. Mama was babbling now.
"If that's the case- oh, I forgot the numbers. Let's see. 8 and 2 makes 16. 10 minutes 16 is negative 6!"
Anya felt her eyebrows furrow.
knock knock
Anya jumped and looked up at the door with wide eyes. "Hello, ladies." Daddy's eyes crinkled when he smiled at them. "Dinner should be ready soon. How are my girls doing?" He leaned slightly into the room.
'Bad, Daddy.' Anya did not sigh. "Math."
Mama laughed and looked at Daddy. But she thought, 'Please give up on your costume idea, Loid! It's important to Anya-chan.'
Yes, that was true. Anya looked expectantly at Daddy.
'No! I have not given up!'
Anya had to convince him! Anya made her eyes as big as possible. "Daddy," she said, math entirely forgotten. "Anya is so, so happy that we can be the Spy Wars family together!" She bounced in her seat. 'Please, please be Bondman!'
Daddy looked like a scared alley cat.
Oh no. "Mama showed me her costume," Anya babbled. "She's going to be Candy Dancer! She doesn't have a real bazooka so she's going to make one today when you take me to the reversal!" She fidgeted, poking her fingers together.
"Rehearsal. Ah- she is?" She could see that Daddy was conflicted.
'I really don't want to wear that costume. Surely if she saw what I designed, Anya would love it.'
Anya shook her head. "Anya only loves Spy Wars!" She clutched her hands to her chest and tried to make her eyes cry. "Anya is so happy!"
'...I can't tell her now.'
Yay! Anya won!
"Yes, I hope that's alright." Mama sounded nervous. "I have done some arts and crafts projects before. I'm sorry to leave you on your own, but I don't know how much time I'll need to make a bazooka." 'Can I use a real one and pretend it's a toy? No. Something might go wrong.'
Anya jolted. Mama had a real bazooka? Anya wanted to try it!
'I don't want Yor-san to have to do too much work… To save her the effort I could borrow a bazooka from work. Yor-san wouldn't know the difference…No, would that be too risky?'
Anya's mouth fell open. Daddy could get one too? 'Anya wants one for Christmas!'
She stopped listening to the adults, visions of launching rockets playing through her mind. She could blow up the school! Wait. Anya slumped. 'Anya would get a demerit if she blew up the school. But Anya wants to show Becky-chan a bazooka…'
Homework was a lost cause after that. She got nothing more done until Daddy called them for dinner. When they were all seated, he cleared his throat.
"Anya-chan, there's something I would like to show you."
She looked up at him over her glass of milk and blinked.
Daddy coughed and looked away from Mama. That caught Anya's attention, because they were always looking at each other. "I actually had another idea for costumes. Yours is still a princess. It's very cute!"
Wait. Anya stopped listening. There was someone thinking very loudly outside. No- it wasn't loud. She strained to listen, feeling her shoulders tense up. It was a very weird voice. It didn't sound like any other voice she'd heard… it was like static on T.V., kinda.
'This is where that woman lives? It's not the life I imagined for an assassin. This looks like a normal building. I still can't believe she works in a city office like a normal member of society. She's a danger to us all.'
…They were thinking about Mama? Anya frowned. Daddy was talking but she didn't really hear it because-
'She dismissed me so easily. I'll kill her family and make her watch before I kill her, too. She can't do anything to me now that I'm dead.'
What? Anya felt all the blood rush out of her face. What- Mama killed somebody? He wanted to kill them?
'They have to leave sometime. I'll stay out here until the little girl goes to school if I have to.'
'He wants to kill Anya! It's too scary! Anya can't go to school tomorrow!' "Anya doesn't feel well!" She shrieked. 'We can all just stay here until he goes away!'
Mama dropped her spoon on the table. She looked so worried.
'No, wait. I'll knock on the door and kill whoever answers it.'
AH.
No one can answer the door! But Mama always answers the door if she's home. Anya thought fast.
She couldn't sit at the table. She had to do something to protect her family. Anya stood from her chair. "Anya thinks- may Anya- music!" Her hands were shaking. She squeezed them hard to make it stop. "Anya thinks- that music would help her feel better! Can Anya turn on Mama's radio?" She stared at Mama and tried to look normal.
Mama blinked at her. "Ah… of course," she said. She pushed her chair back. "I'll-"
"Anya wants to do it!" She ran across the room and flicked on the radio. The music from the elevators began to play. But it wasn't enough! They'd hear the bad man if he knocked! "It's too quiet!" Anya stole a glance at the door, heart pounding so hard that her tummy felt sick. She turned the volume to the right until it stopped moving. Was it loud enough? Anya breathed hard, scared.
'What is that racket?'
THE BAD MAN. He was already in the stairwell!
She saw Daddy frown. His mouth moved.
'Anya has to seem normal! They can't turn down the music!'
She pretended she didn't see Daddy talking and yelped out, "Anya loves this song!" She began dancing and singing along with it, making up words.
'It's coming from their apartment? They can't hear me?'
Anya danced harder, banging her head back and forth until it started to feel like a drum. When that grew too hard she started running in circles and making leaps. She stole a glance at the kitchen. Daddy had his head down on the table. Mama was dancing a little in her chair as she ate dessert.
'Answer your door, wretch! How is this lunatic living in normal society when she acts this way? Her neighbors must hate her.'
Anya felt her smile grow fixed. Oh no. She didn't want to annoy the neighbors. She did a fancy spin like a ballerina would do and wobbled.
'This is embarrassing… Should I try again later?'
'No!' Anya thought fiercely. She pouted. 'Just go away and don't come back!'
She felt sweat trickle down her forehead. He had to give up, soon. Her parents were going to take her to pumpkin choir reversal at the school.
Luckily, he seemed to be gone. 'Anya thinks it's safe now.' Anya waited a while before turning the music down.
Mama was humming the music. Daddy lifted his face off of the table with a small funny smile.
"Okay," she said, wanting everyone to forget about her homework. "Let's go to choir reversal!"
"Rehearsal."
