Page 32 of Spider Demon's Kiss

“Mr. Ricci,” she said with a humble bow.

Everything about her was polite. Everything except her actions.

“You’re my sister, now. You can call me Dante.”

“Very well, Dante.”

She stood until I got up and pulled out the seat for her. She then sat quietly staring at me until I had called the server over and had allowed her to order. She was not what I had expected.

“So, your brother, what’s his deal?”

“You will have to be more specific,” she said never taking her eyes off of me.

“Your father send him to kill me, or what?”

“That is something that you will have to talk to Kuroi or my father about.”

“Right,” I said not knowing what I was supposed to ask. “Okay, listen. You know your brother.”

“I am familiar with him.”

“And you know about his reputation.”

“I’m not sure which reputation you’re referring to.”

“I’m talking about the spider demon, one.”

Yuki shifted uncomfortably.

“You know, the one where all of his lovers end up dead.”

She stared at me without reply.

“Anyway, you know what I’m referring to. But you may also know that whatever shit he’s gotten away with in the past, he won’t be able to with me.”

“If that is the case, then what are you doing here?”

I stared back at her unflinching glare and released my building anger with a chuckle.

“Look, in spite of being, how do I say this? Being surprised by our wedding, I want to make this work. At the very least, I don’t want to have to kill him and I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night with a knife in my throat.”

“Or not wake up at all,” she added.

“Right. So, anything you can tell me about how to handle him or what his deal is, I would be appreciative.”

Yuki said nothing else for a while. I knew this negotiation technique. Whoever spoke next lost. That wasn’t going to be me. But feeling the pressure, it could have been.

“Are you familiar with the Edo period in Japan, Mr. Ricci?”

I laughed. “No, I might have missed that day in history class. And call me Dante.”

“Well, Dante. The Edo period has been popularized by America’s fascination with Samurai.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah. That’s the time with samurai and ninjas and shit. What about it?”

“The Samurai were expected to maintain their honor above all else. And to visit a brothel was considered beneath them. However, what was considered a status symbol was for them to take on a kagema.”

“What’s a kagema?”

---