The trip lasted a full week, enough for Julius to consider it a proper break and enough for Gabriel to become increasingly anxious that Julius might decide to interfere with the ongoing investigation.
By the end of the seventh day, Gabriel had made it clear several times that the case in Japan fell strictly under Revenant Knight jurisdiction. He wanted Julius far from it. And so, Gabriel stayed behind in Japan while Julius, Isolde, and Anneliese boarded their flight home.
Anneliese sat in her seat. Her legs were too short to reach the floor, so she let them swing back and forth while wearing a bright Pokémon hat.
Half her tiny body was buried under the mountain of anime merchandise she had insisted on carrying herself.
Julius placed his carry–on in the overhead compartment and glanced down at her. She was humming, completely absorbed in adjusting the hat so Pikachu's ears were at the perfect angle.
