The Light of my Life

The group settled in the sitting area and enjoyed their dessert. They were seated around the low table, settled on comfortable cushions. The engawa door had been slid open, letting a warm summer breeze float through.

The engawa was made of bamboo and led out into the garden of the back portion of Tamotsu's property. Stepping stones led one through the garden which was surrounded by gravel, separating the flower beds with larger garden stones. Within the garden were ornamental shrubs and colorful plants that seemed to pop during the warmer months. In the city, Illyana had never been able to enjoy such a view from her balcony. It made her feel oddly nostalgic, even though this had never been something she's experienced herself. Maybe in a past life she had followed a much simpler path. She glanced over to Tamotsu who relaxed, enjoying such a simple thing.

Today's dessert was a freshly made egg custard. They chatted away, but curiosity would eventually tickle their guest.

"What about you, Liu? Do you have something to share?" Illyana's question was gentle, innocent, yet given they were telling stories of youth, which had become increasingly dark, it was up to Liu to step up the game.

The man turned his head and coughed, trying not to choke on his bite. Tamotsu did not seem to show a reaction or concern towards his violent hacking. He felt it was karma working its magic. A small corner of the man's lip curled up as he spooned another serving of custard into his mouth.

"M-me?!" He coughed out the struggling breaths. "I have many tales, but I do not wish to burden Lilytan with such things!" He'd proclaim.

"Oh?" Tamotsu piped up, his brow curling. "You don't want to show Lily your pathetic side? Sounds cowardly seeing as we laid ourselves bare."

Lily had looked at Tamotsu when he interjected. She turned to Liu, nodding. "He's right! We shared, it's only fair!"

Clearing his throat into his fist he would settle his shoulders. "Very well, but do not say I did not warn you of the terrors to come!"

Liu himself came from quite a close and lovey dovey family, but it wasn't all sunshine. Despite their close relationship there were many people vying for the power their family had in reputable market businesses. They had rivals who were more ruthless than the dark societies themselves! There was one family who had a vendetta against them since his grandfather's time. A deal the two groups made had gone south and because of this failure that family was blamed for what ended up being over 210 million yen worth of property damage after an experimental construction technique had come to a catastrophic end, injuring many as a result. The company further lost money as they had to pay for damages to the injured of the families who had signed on under the guarantee that everything was safe. Liu's family had been the ones to propose the technique, but it was their former sister company that had proceeded with the plans.

That company was Dynamis. Their continued mismanagement of their assets eventually pushed them into complete bankruptcy. Angry and resentful, the Dynamis hired assassins to take out his father, who was the current head of the company. As a result his sister had died. They had slipped difficult to detect poison into his father's drink, but he had given it to his daughter who had been working under the sun all day that earlier morning, on the set of a movie.

Illyana put her hand to her mouth. "Your sister is Ju Xie?!"

"Yes! Do you know of nee-san?" Liu smiled. "I was quite fortunate to have her as an older sister for as long as I was able. I do still miss her, but father was able to pay them back for their crimes." He would nod.

Illyana was surprised, to be honest. "She was a role model for me for a long time."

While the pair spoke of their memories of Ju Xie, Tamotsu could only lament his time with her. He was unable to do much for her. Dynamis had strict rules on how much a manager could interfere with the model's life. It was a manager's job to do everything from book them jobs to organizing appearances. It was all for the sake of furthering his or her career in the industry. He wanted to do for Illyana what he was unable to do for Ju. He was glad Blood Moon gave more freedom to their managers, but the hours Moon's employees had to work were just short of cruel and illegal.

Soon the three would fall asleep. With full stomachs and the warm breeze ebbing through the room they had laid down to talk or play on their phones. One by one they fell into slumber. Liu would eventually roll into Tamotsu and hug his leg. The man sneered in his sleep, but was otherwise dead to the world. Illyana had rolled herself onto Tamotsu's chest, as it was the warmest spot. Nuki had climbed themselves onto the table to lick clean what remained of their custard. Even though he had been fed his dinner, the ever-hungry mammal was on the search for treats. The greedy little Tanuki licked the bowls clean, but the forceful push of his tongue slurping the eggy snack ended up forcing the bowl to the table's edge where it came tumbling down.

~thunk~

"Ow..." The bowl bounced off Illyana's leg before rolling to the floor. She sat up, her hand pressing against Tamotsu's chest to help. "Hey..." Now that she was awake she could feel it. "Momo..." She said through her yawn. "Where's the toilet?"

Tamotsu motioned his hand. "Down that hall... right." He rolled onto his side, pushing Liu off his leg.

"Kaaaay." Wobbling to her feet she would head down the hall Tamotsu had pointed down.

Making her way through the hall Illyana would make note of the pictures hung on the wall. It was of Tamotsu and his adoptive family. It was very clear that they were not related, but in the pictures one wouldn't have ever known. They were so close. Camping trips, holidays, even family portraits. There weren't any of them where Tamotsu wasn't smiling. If all those office hens saw these pictures they'd surely take back what they said of him being heartless or always unhappy. But maybe it was best they didn't know that side of him. It was a side of him she was lucky enough to see. He trusted her enough to show that part of him. She became lost in her thoughts, but she would feel the urge again and would hurry to the toilet.

It felt much better having an empty bladder! Stepping out of the washcloset, hands dried up from the hand towel she would find herself in the dark hall, but not alone. Sitting by the door was their pet Tanuki, Nuki. She was sure Tamotsu had named it! Kneeling down she would reach her hand to the critter. He was a bit chunky, but otherwise a healthy looking animal. They would lower their head to receive a pet, chewing their latest catch in between their jaws.

"You're so sweet." While she crouched there, relishing in the soft fur, the treat would catch her eye. "Huh, what is that?" It didn't look like food, and not wanting the animal to be hurt or get sick she would reach for it.

Luckily for her it relinquished the item without a fight, parting their jaws. Examining it, Illyana would notice that it was a package of dried herrings.

"Where did you get this from?" She peeled open the packaging so the Tanuki could safely eat it without ingesting the wrapper.

Gladly stuffing their face, Nuki glanced up to her. It realized the Human had thumbs and could open the big big door. Flaring its little nostrils it would jump and start waddling off. Stopping, Nuki looked back to Illyana, waiting for her to follow.

"Oh? Are you gunna show me something?" The Vampir had noticed a scent on the packaging, but the fish smell was much stronger so overpowered it.

She stood to her feet, moving to follow the canine as it bounced a few more feet down the hall to a door on the left. The door wasn't completely closed, but the edge touched the molding enough to give the appearance that it was closed. Standing on their haunches Nuki would scrape his paws on the door and pull it open. It opened just enough for Nuki to squeeze in. Illyana fully opened the door and peeked inside. It looked to be an ordinary storage room. She could smell Liu, Tamotsu, and what she assumed to be their Grandfather's scent in here. Nuki fumbled through the maze of boxes. Being quite athletic Illyana had no problem following the creature.

She was finally able to catch up with him. Nuki had stopped in front of a door which had a sign that simply read: 'craft room'. Nuki had their paw pressed to the door and chuffed up towards Illyana. Stepping forward she would be assaulted by a heavy wave of Tamotsu's scent. The Vampir felt her body shiver. It was likely Tamotsu spent time in this room, but it didn't look like a bedroom, tucked away in storage. Craft room. Did Tamotsu do crafts? The door appeared to be locked though.

"What's in here little guy?" She looked down as the critter nosed the underside of the door. "Treats?" Nuki perked up at the golden word. "Let's try -- this."

As Illyana spoke she turned the handle of the door with a sharp enough twist that the lock popped, or broke, it really depended on perspective. Nuki tumbled in and rushed beneath the nearby table to bury his face in the refuse bin where there looked to be an old, discarded bento tray. He would lick it to get all the remaining scrum off. Illyana on the other hand was in shock. The room was full of shelves, display cases, and mounts putting on display a most disgustingly vivid collection. She walked deeper into the room, her gaze focused on a glass enclosed display case. Reaching her hand up she would let her finger tips touch the glass.

~click~

Illyana bristled when she heard the door suddenly close behind her. Looking back over her shoulder she would see Tamotsu standing with his back against the door, hands pressed flat on its surface as his head hung low. She couldn't see his eyes. There was a strange feeling radiating off him. She suddenly felt a thick aura of killing intent. Liu could be heard banging on the door behind them.

~bang, bang, bang!~

"Do not act rashly Tamotan! Tamotan?!"

Tamotsu exhaled, but he still didn't look up to Illyana. "L-Lily..." His voice sounded hurt, broken as his words trembled. "A woman s-should never enter a man's sanctuary...." He slowly looked up, his eyes dark and a mouth full of fangs. "You've seen something filthy..." He took a step forward, his right arm twisted in a monstrous form: covered in a russet fur with black on his fingers, tipped with deadly claws.