A/N: Yami No Matsuei does not belong to me and never will, much to my dismay. Enjoy!

[UPDATE: (1/18/13) Yes, I'm totally rewriting this but for those who might JUST cuing in, be kind if you read ahead and I haven't gotten to a certain chapter. You'll know because I'll have an updated note at the top. Just like this.]

Ghost

Prologue

Your curiosity lead you to me. The words are having trouble forming in your throat but I can tell why you have come to me. Before the words even begin to take shape, I begin without you. I know what your first question will be anyway…

For more than ten years, Kou Kaku Rou has been my haven, my domain to rule…as well as it's prisoner.

I bring to life the fantasies of my guests, give them willing, beautiful flesh to be pleasured by and yet, it burdens my very soul.

Buying women from numerous human trafficking rackets and owning the lives of these innocent souls has cost me my very soul.

Can I really be so melancholy about my fate? After all, I could have walked away from centuries of tradition. I could have cast away my family's legacy and become a legitimate business owner. What was in it for me to gain being in this world? Well, that's simple:

I was born for it.

I am a man of strong body and mind; being both accountant and bouncer, when things would become…complicated. I was taught by the best to be ruthless, as well as benevolent.

To the untrained eye, I am a slave owner and a monster. What those who do not understand is… my girls are my family. If they behave, do their job, and treat me with respect, I will protect them at all costs. I am not so shy as to turn a blind eye when some drunken businessman over-steps my rules and harms any of my girls. To say I'm over-protective of my flock is an understatement.

However, those whom I possess… I will not hesitate to eliminate if they jeopardize my business. I will do what I must to preserve the name Kou Kaku Rou. I am not so kind as to let live a disobedient worker. I am capable of being quite petty, you see. I do not forgive and forget.

Oh, forgive me.

That previous statement is not…accurate.

I MOSTLY do not forgive or forget.

There is one person that, for some ungodly reason, I always forgive. I always forgive HIM. How could I not?

How could I not, you query, after all the vile deeds he has done? How could I ever forgive his sins?!

I often question that myself. But I allow the murky answers and muddled questions created to not hinder my abilities to move forward.

You press me further for an answer: Why?!

To put it simply: Because I was built to; I was raised to turn a blind eye from such horrors, I was bred from such vile, vicious actions. My own evil deeds and horrid past are akin with his sins. Though, no matter the cost, I am able to be the neutral party that I am.

And so, I remain as such.

Oh? There must be more to it than that?

I suppose there is.

Will it satisfy you to learn that I do care for HIM; that, despite all his heinous crimes, his mad experiments and devious ways, I do, in fact, care for that alabaster clad man? Yes, that man holds a place in my heart and I cannot evict him from it, even if I tried.

Why am I so loyal?

Why is a dog so loyal to its master, even if it's master is a cruel madman?

…Yes, I did just refer to myself as a dog. I am unashamed about this. I won't lie, it had bothered me at one point. You will learn that…many will grow to accept their given fate.

You see, I watch monsters and ghouls in human flesh stumble their way through my domain with neutral eyes, my in-between realm is a haven for both the damned and the divine. Angels service the devils with drink and their flesh. These eyes have seen too much to know that my business, my home, is beyond your understanding as a mere visitor to my world.

Hm? If the women are angels and the customers are monsters, then what am I?

That is simply: I know only what I was born for, what I was raised to do and who I was meant to become. I am incapable of changing within this domain. Yes, I am, simply, a ghost.

Now, who I am, is another question entirely…

I am the ghost master of this murky domain.

I am the sole heir to my family's legacy.

I am the madman's dog.

I am Mibu Oriya.