Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei
Historical and Fictional Information: I'm working with Tsuzuki's birthday as March 5th, 1900. Astrologically, it just works out better than February 24th.
It takes about six weeks after giving birth for a woman's reproductive system to be ready for pregnancy again. Some cultures have a period of isolation for mothers and newborns during these six weeks, to let them rest and bond. I'm not sure if Japan is one of those cultures, but I'm going to pretend it's at least a practice in the Tsuzuki family.
A mikudori-han is a letter of divorce. So long as the wife's dowry property was returned to her, a man could freely issue one of these writs.
An oni is a demon.
1870s/1880s Japan was quite accepting of foreigners and foreign imports. 1902 saw an alliance with England. However, by the 1890s Japan was beginning to view westernization as detrimental to Japanese nationalism, even as they sought "western" science.
The Satsuma Rebellion was a failed rebellion of samurai in the early Meiji era (1877).
Matsushita says Tsuzuki was born in Tokyo. I'll buy that. However, I'm going to say he didn't live in the actual city, but in the Greater Tokyo Area. He lives in the town of Ageo. His family runs the train station there.
The Diet is the Japanese parliament.
There is a reason why Takashi refers to God in the singular, that will become a plot point later on.
VERY IMPORTANT STORY NOTE: "Oni no Ko" is the official Tsuzuki prologue to "'Til Second Death Do Us Part". However, there are certain things that simply don't match up. I realize this. It's because my theories about Tsuzuki, including his social status and the number of his siblings, have changed in the year and a half since I wrote the original story. Yes, eventually I will get around to editing "Second Death" and "Southeast of Eden" to make everything match up. Don't worry; there's nothing in "Oni" that would change the overall plot to "Second Death" or "Eden"—just minor details, or details that can easily be rearranged. They were both due for editing, anyway.
Message to my fans: I am not abandoning "Filial Piety", but it is going on hiatus. I want to work on some other YnM ideas I have, as well as my original novel. Don't worry; I promise I will finish it. My muses are jut a little tired of it right now.
Oya ni ninu ko wa oni no ko
"A child that does not resemble its parents is the child of a demon." – Japanese proverb
Early June, 1899
-
Aimi glanced up and then quickly looked down again, busying herself by fidgeting with the skirt of her kimono. Takashi was equally ardent in ignoring catching the eye of his spouse. They had been like this for nearly a week, ever since what should have been a bout of lovemaking celebrating the end of her isolation after the successful birth of a second child six weeks ago had turned into Aimi's worst nightmare.
Aimi clutched the fabric of her kimono and squinted back tears at the memory. She had been so lucky in Takashi. He was close in age to her, wealthy, cultured, loving, selfless, refusing to take a concubine even when she was pregnant. He was respectful and respectable, and despite having not known him before their wedding she had come to adore him by the time Daiki was born, within the first year of their marriage.
And then, in the middle of congratulatory copulation, everything she thought about him had been upended and scattered on the floor to be trampled on.
The color of his eyes changed, from their usual intelligent, noble black to a shade of violet Aimi had never seen on a human before. Soft kisses turned into savage bites, coitus to sadistic penetration. It was the first time since their first night together that fear kept her from pleasure, though the nerves of a new bride were nothing in comparison to the terror she felt upon seeing her husband draw her blood and laugh.
"Aimi, we can't go on like this."
Aimi's head snapped up. Takashi had ceased pacing back and forth across the room though refused to come any nearer to the table Aimi knelt at.
"Do you want a mikudori-han?" Takashi continued, a pained look on his face.
"No!" Aimi gasped, aghast, standing up. "A divorce won't help anything. Takashi, what happened? Are you…" she hesitated at the awful suggestion. "Are you upset that I had…a girl?"
"Of course not! I love our daughter. How could you even—"
"It's the only thing I can think of!" Aimi said, near tears, trying not to raise her voice. "That you would punish me for wanting to keep Ruka when we already have a son…a drain on our finances…"
"I'm one of the richest men in this country. I don't have to worry about such things." Takashi resumed pacing.
"Then what is it? Did I anger you in some way? I don't understand, Takashi!"
"I don't either, Aimi!" He stopped suddenly, looking torn, and turned his back on his wife.
"Takashi?" Aimi asked gently after a few seconds of silence.
"When I was…I heard something," Takashi said, refusing to turn around. "A voice…in my head. And all of a sudden I wasn't in control of myself anymore. I could see what I was doing, but it wasn't…myself who was doing it. I wanted to scream, but I laughed. I wanted to cry, but I smiled. It was like…someone had taken control of me…with the specific intent to harm you."
"Like an…an oni?"
"God forbid…but yes. Like an oni."
"Who would want to—?"
"We have enemies. Anyone in Ageo could want to set one on us."
Aimi looked down again, clasping her hands. She knew full well the extent of the neighborhood's contempt for them, for any number of reasons. Her husband asked her opinion and took her advice. They allowed English businessmen in their home, offending the local patriots. Survivors of Satsuma twenty-two years earlier resented them for their retained wealth despite their samurai descent. Actually, half the town resented them for their wealth.
"Or perhaps it was looking for some fun, and we were there…ready for it," Takashi said, sensing his gregarious wife's displeasure at being reminded of their unpopularity.
"Takashi."
Something in his wife's voice made Takashi turn to face her, suddenly frightened as to what she had to say.
"What?"
"Takashi, I…" She stopped.
"You're ill," Takashi said, finally stepping forward at the paleness of Aimi's face.
"No," Aimi said, stepping backwards. "I'm not ill, but I…"
"What? Aimi—"
"Takashi, I'm going to have another baby," Aimi said, quietly but clearly.
Neither Takashi nor Aimi moved or talked for what felt like an eternity, except for Aimi's compulsive bunching up of her skirt to the point of almost ripping the fabric.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I've missed my time completely. Today should have been the end of my bleeding…if it had started to begin with."
Suddenly standing on shaking legs, Aimi slowly, painstakingly lowered herself back to kneeling on the table.
"Well…" Takashi started.
Aimi buried her face in her hands with a small sob.
"What should we do? If you want to rid us of it, I won't stop you."
"That's illegal," Aimi said through her hands and tears. "We can't afford a scandal like that in our position."
"There's any number of women in Ageo we could bribe to give you something and not say anything."
"You trust these women? They despise me. They'd just as like poison me and say it was an accident. You could handle Daiki alone, but Ruka still needs me."
"I couldn't handle Daiki without you," Takashi said quietly.
"Thank you," Aimi said, wiping away her tears and finally looking up at her husband with a weak smile. Takashi returned the smile with even less enthusiasm, and knelt opposite to her.
"I suppose since you do not want to go ahead with the poisons…"
"I'll have to bear it all the way through," Aimi finished for him.
"What then? How do you want to dispose of it? If there is someone who'll take it…"
"There's no one who will take it."
"Then…suffocation? Exposure?"
"I suppose. I don't know. I don't want to think about this now." Aimi stood, slamming her hands on the table as she did. "You're the head of this household, aren't you? You're supposed to tell me what to do." She walked away, wanting to pace as Takashi had earlier. "You're supposed to make me drink the poisons or expose it to the elements. You're supposed to not care how I feel about what you do to me in our bedroom. We shouldn't even be having this conversation. Takashi, why are you so good?"
"The English," Takashi said, allowing a hint of amusement. "I spent too much time in school overseas. It's made me very un-Japanese."
"Don't let the patriots in town hear you say that," Aimi said, allowing herself to reciprocate the tone. She ceased her pacing and returned to kneeling at the table.
"So…" Takashi said.
"We'll decide what to do once this…it is born."
Takashi reached out his hand to cover his wife's. Aimi bent over the table, leaning her head against his hand.
March 5th, 1900
-
"This is utterly ridiculous."
Takashi paused. A servant, bearing Ruka and Daiki, also stopped obediently behind him. A doctor he recognized as the one to tend to Aimi was some distance away from him, conversing with another doctor, loud enough to be in earshot.
"Completely and utterly ridiculous," he repeated. "The woman refuses to see reason. She's seen the little monster's eyes, and still she won't let me dispose of it. She had me treat it as if it were any other baby!"
"Eyes?"
"That thing she's just borne has the most unnatural purple eyes."
"I've never known anyone in Japan to have purple eyes."
"It sounds foreign. That Tsuzuki family always has Englishmen in the house. Stupid woman, keeping the proof of her infidelity…"
"I will not hear an insulting word against my wife," Takashi called, loud and dignified, effectively silencing the two doctors. "Don't forget who's keeping you in business. One complaint to my friends in the Diet…"
The two doctors quickly bowed away, excusing themselves. Takashi smirked at their subservience before frowning at their news. He stepped forward, opening the sliding door, and allowed his children and servant into the room before shutting the door behind them.
"You stupid, silly woman."
"I knew you would say that," Aimi said, smiling weakly and defiantly at the same time. Her kimono was pulled open at the collar. The newborn was suckling hungrily at her breast.
"The doctor says that it has purple eyes."
"Yes, he does," Aimi said, moving her arm supporting the infant protectively.
"So everything that we spoke of?"
"It is not going to happen," Aimi said firmly.
"You didn't even think to consult me on this?" Takashi demanded.
"The mother is supposed to feed immediately to prevent bleeding," Aimi explained. "I decided to do what I'd done with Daiki and Ruka, and…well…"
"You want to keep this reminder of—" He stopped abruptly, feeling the presence of their servant and other children. "Fine."
"Takashi?"
"Whatever you wish," he said, feigning apathy. He put his hand on the maid's back and pushed her forward. "The children want to see you."
"Daiki, is that you?" Aimi cooed, seeing the four-year-old at the side of his nanny. "How was he behaving, Emiko?"
"Well, Aimi-sama," Emiko replied, tugging Daiki's hand to urge him toward his mother. "And the young miss decided to try walking as we waited for you."
"Ruka!" Aimi gasped at the squirming eleven-month-old cradled in Emiko's left arm. "Did you do that? Were you so eager to see your new brother?"
Takashi stepped back. He suddenly needed the aid of the wall to support him.
"He's ugly," Daiki said plainly.
"No he's not," Aimi said, sticking her tongue out at her firstborn. "He's your brother. And any brother of yours has got to be handsome, right?" Daiki beamed under the praise.
Apparently annoyed at being ignored, Ruka stretched out her pudgy hand and grabbed her younger brother's ear. Emiko gasped, but unnecessarily; Ruka seemed content just to hold her possession and the newborn was unperturbed.
"Ruka and this one are going to be close," Aimi said, laughing, tapping Ruka's nose with the index finger of her free hand and then gently prying Ruka's hand off the infant's ear. "Not so much with Daiki, I suppose," she added, looking down at her uninterested eldest.
"That'll change when they get older," Emiko promised, smiling.
"Emiko-kun, could you take the children out of here?" Takashi suddenly interrupted.
"Sir?" Emiko turned her head to her master.
"I wish to speak with my wife. Don't question me; just do as I say!"
"Yes, Takashi-sama," Emiko said hurriedly, stepping away and dragging Daiki across the room.
"Don't yell at her," Aimi said as Emiko shut the door. "She has nothing to do with this."
"For heaven's sake, Aimi, that thing has purple eyes! It's a demon's child!"
"He's my child. And he's yours, too, if you'll have him."
"Those doctors think you've been unfaithful. Most of Ageo will think the same."
"Most of Ageo hates me, anyway. Let them talk."
"Damn it, Aimi!" Takashi slammed his fist against the wall. "If I told you to get rid of it, you would."
"That isn't true, Takashi."
"Woman, I am your husband. I have the right to force you."
"But you wouldn't."
Satisfied, the baby extricated himself from his food source and made a contented noise, cutting across any reply Takashi might have made, had he thought of one. Aimi gently adjusted the small bundle in her arms, turning her attention from her husband to her son.
"I knew I let you have too much freedom," Takashi grumbled, his heart not in the admonition.
"That's my good boy," Aimi praised, kissing her son's head, and then looked back at her husband. "Then you aren't going to insist I get rid of him?"
"Do as you see fit," Takashi said, defeated.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. You would do things your way with or without my say-so."
Aimi smiled. "Takashi, you should come greet your son."
"He's not my son."
"Yes he is. Now he is. We can't have a peaceful home if you don't love him, Takashi."
"Aimi…"
"It's not his fault. Please, Takashi. Come greet him. Do it for me, at least, if not for him."
Aimi refused to take her eyes away from her husband. Takashi felt her gaze acutely, as if it were some gravitational force pulling him to her bedside.
"What do you want to call…him?" Takashi asked with difficulty.
"I hadn't been planning to name him anything," Aimi said weakly. "I think we should give him the name we'd decided for Ruka had she been a boy."
"Asato, then," Takashi said. He cleared his throat and glanced down cautiously at the infant, expecting some hideous being to meet his eyes. Almost to his surprise, the boy looked no different than his siblings had post-natal, with one exception: his eyes, unlike Ruka and Daiki's brown, were dark purple.
"Hold him," Aimi said, lifting her arm.
"I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Of course it's a good idea, you're his father. Take him."
Aimi practically thrust Asato into Takashi's arms, so much so that he nearly dropped the baby. For a moment Takashi was tempted to loosen his hold and let the boy fall, but the delight in Aimi's eyes halted that particular thought process. Asato fussed and wriggled in his tense arms, unhappy with the separation from Aimi, and let out a robust wail.
"Nothing abnormal with his lungs," Takashi said uncomfortably.
"There's nothing abnormal with him at all, except his eyes," Aimi reported, protectively snatching back her newborn. "He wasn't even any more difficult to deliver than the other two."
Takashi mentally noted wryly that the fact didn't mean much. Her previous deliveries had been agony for the small-boned woman.
"Speaking of my other two children…" Aimi said, rocking Asato back and forth to soothe him, successfully.
"I'll send for Emiko to bring them in," Takashi said listlessly, crossing the room for the door.
"Takashi?"
"Yes?" He paused.
"Are you angry at me?"
"No," he said without turning around or stopping, and stepped out into the hall and slid the door shut. "I'm angry at myself for letting this happen."
"Sir?" Emiko asked.
Takashi shook his head. "Take them in to see her."
"Yes, sir," Emiko said, bearing her two charges past her inert master.