Chapter 1

What Comes, Must Go

There was a small black crowd in a small mansion somewhere in Fukuoka. Some were standing, some were kneeling. There were some whispers here and there. But most remained quiet. Some made eye contact, some didn't.

It was a dark day.

It was a sad day.

It was grandpa's day.

A man from the small crowd stood up and headed up to the black and white picture of Katsu's grandfather. For a moment, Jun stood there motionlessly, blankly staring at the picture of the man that no longer was.

He sighed.

He took a very deep bow. "Thank you for everything"

"We knew him well," Jun began and turned to the crowd. He gazed at the crowd. The words wouldn't come to him. He really wasn't sure what to say anymore. Not that there was nothing to say. He didn't know where to start.

Katsu's grandfather had done far more than anyone else could have ever done for both vampires and the vampire hunters. When Jun was born, he only caught a glimpse at the very end of grandpa's achievements. And just that was enough to make Jun realize how much respect this man deserved.

"We all knew him well," Jun repeated. "He had done so much for us. Words cannot describe how much we owe him. But...now he is gone. Gone like the founders of our organization. Perhaps not all of us know what he did in the past, but let me tell you: his achievements will never be forgotten!"

"May he rest in peace!" Jun gritted his teeth and lifted his cup of sake.

The crowd followed suit.

"May he rest in peace" the room echoed.

Jun gaze traveled across the crowd once more before he lowered himself. In the back he saw Katsu and Anju. He gave them a small smile.

They smiled back.

"Amazing," he thought to himself. "To think that vampire and human...well...I've seen them together plenty of times, but it still amazes me every time I see Katsu with Anju..."

Katsu was in the back with Anju next to him. She was holding his hand.

"Jun seems to be quite fond of your grandfather," Anju commented after Jun sat back down.

"Yeah," Katsu nodded. "I've never asked him, but it seems like he has enormous respect for the old man. Probably even more than I do."

Anju looked up at Katsu and gave him a small smile. She squeezed his hand lightly. Now that his grandfather was gone, it was just her and Katsu left.

Katsu smiled back.

No words were needed.

He knew what Anju wanted to tell him with that single smile.

It probably was something along the lines of 'I'll be there for you', Katsu guessed and he knew that he was more or less right. They had spend enough time together to sometimes even guess correctly what the other is thinking.

Over the years, Anju had gotten to know Katsu's grandfather better and better. And although it took a fair bit of persuasion from both Katsu and Jun, Anju gave some hair and blood samples to grandpa for him to research. He hoped to find a way to extent the human lifespan.

Anju never told anyone that she hoped that Katsu would be able to use this research and extent his lifespan so that they could grow old together.

Anju had hoped that he would be able to complete the research. But truth was, she never knew exactly where he had gotten with the research. Grandpa never revealed a single bit of information about his quest for a longer life

Not a single note. Or a fraction of a chemical formula.

Perhaps he felt that humans should live as long as their are supposed to.

Maybe that is why he did not use the information he gained from Anju to avoid the funeral right now. Assuming that he managed to find a way to extent the human life span using Anju's DNA samples.

Soon it was Katsu's turn. He let go of Anju's hand and stood up. Anju gave him a smile of encouragement. As his fiance, she felt that it was her responsibility to comfort him. To give him everything he needs to overcome the loss of the only family he had ever known.

Although now she was his family. His fiance. His wife.

Whatever you want to call it.

Anju watched Katsu go up to the portrait and take a deep bow. He then proceeded to giving his speech to the crowd.

Anju could see it on his face. None of it was going into his head. His mind was a blank.

He was speaking whatever words would come to his mind.

Katsu did not cry.

Not a single tear.

Perhaps he still couldn't believe that the old man that took care of him ever since he could remember was now gone.

Dead.

Dead, Katsu thought to himself. Such a simple word.

An hour later, the funeral service ended and the crowd dispersed as slow as it came together.

"I'm very sorry for your loss" was said countless times to Katsu, with Anju always by his side. Always holding his hand.

Katsu found it comforting to feel her warm, soft hand in his. Even though he had help hands with her countless times over the years, it was now that he realized how badly he needed her presence.

To feel the warmth of her hand.

The comfort of her smile.

The irony of her stoic voice and expression.

One by one, the men in black suits and women in white kimonos left. Until there were only Katsu, Anju and Jun left.

"Well," Jun exhaled. "That went well didn't it?"

"Yeah. Though it went on longer than I expected." Katsu replied.

A silence followed. Anju looked at Katsu, then at Jun and back to Katsu. She waited for either to say something.

She considered speaking up, but decided to keep silent.

"Well, don't hesitate to call me if you ever need something from me or the organization. You still have my number from back then right?" Jun scratched the back of his head.

"Yup," Katsu replied. "How can I ever forget that number. After the crate of weapons you sent into my poor little hostel room"

An air of awkwardness suddenly settled in.

Anju gave both men slightly awkward glances. She remembered that time well enough. She walked into Katsu's room, wanting to confess, but found anti-vampire weapons instead.

And then Katsu confessed to her.

Anju smiled at that memory.

"What are you so happy about?" Jun mused. "You find a certain joy in guns and grenades?"

"Not that specifically." Anju replied flatly.

Katsu tried to remember what happened after Anju found the weapons. She found the bullets, guns, coat, documents and everything else. Then he walked into the room. Then Anju screamed at him. And then...

"Oh." Katsu's eyes went wide.

"You remembered something?" Jun asked.

"No, No. It's just a memory from back then. You know, when I first came to Tokyo."

"Ah yes. Yes. Good times. How long has it been? Five? Six years? Time flies doesn't it? A hell lot has happened since then."

Katsu and Anju both nodded in agreement.

"Well then," Jun sighed and picked up his coat and hat. "I'll be seeing you then. Call me if you ever feel like making use of the pockets of that coat I gave you back then. " He gave Katsu a wide grin before he stepped out onto the street and vanished around the corner.

Katsu exhaled and waved. And continued to wave even after Jun was gone. He wondered when he was going to see Jun again. He had also grown quite close to Jun over the years.

He still remembered the first time Jun had visited him in the hostel. Those were some times. If it wasn't for Jun, he would have never 'approached' Anju.

In the most ironic way, besides grandpa, Katsu would have to thank Jun for causing him to ever meet Anju.

"Let's go home," Anju looked up at him.

Katsu nodded and walked back into grandpa's mansion. He turned off all the lights and made sure all the windows were closed. He closed the doors to the cabinet that contained grandpa's portrait and blew out the scent sticks.

He turned around and took one last glance into the house. So many years had he spent here with grandpa.

And now, after all these years, he was leaving this place.

"See you old man." Katsu sighed and closed the door. He locked the doors for good and slipped the keys into his pocket.

He wasn't going to use them for a long time.

Anju was waiting for him outside.

"Let's go home," Katsu smiled slightly and hand in hand they walked on.

For a while they walked in silence. Anju could feel Katsu's warmth against her arms. So many times had she walked like this with Katsu ever since becoming his fiance. Or his wife. Or girlfriend.

She felt her fingers locked with his. It was such a comforting feeling. This physical bond made her feel save. It gave her the absolute feeling that Katsu would always be by her side.

Even though she knew that was not possible.

"Say," Anju began. "what did your grandpa do with the samples that I gave to him a few years ago?"

Katsu thought for a moment.

"I don't know actually. He never told me what he did with them. I don't know why. He never talked about his research. And whenever I asked him, he always managed to dodge it somehow. And when I pressed harder, he said that it wasn't time for it yet."

Anju's gaze was fixed to the ground, her silver tresses swaying slightly as she continued to walk. She nodded slightly.

Over the years, her hair had become even longer. Anju knew that Katsu loved her hair, especially her elegant tresses. He loved her hair so much, almost as if it was another being itself, but Anju knew he loved it has part of her as a whole.

Often, he would embrace her from behind, spending some minutes nuzzling his nose in her hair, feeling the silky smoothness of it.

Suddenly, Katsu let go of her hand, and for a fleeting moment Anju half tried to take his hand back into hers.

He put his arms around her shoulder. He pulled her close as they continued to walk home.

Surprised, Anju looked up at him.

Her eyes widened as she saw the pained expression in his eyes. She could almost herself feel the pain that was stabbing Katsu.

Finally, the numbness that he felt during the funeral was fading away.

The real pain was surfacing.

His hand grabbed her shoulder tighter. Anju could feel that he was restraining himself, as not to hurt her.

Katsu felt his throat tighten. And then finally, his vision blurred.

For a moment, Anju watched him cry. It had been so many years since she had last seen Katsu cry. Seeing him so vulnerable was rare.

Seeing these pained tears coming from Katsu was a first time.

She separated herself from Katsu's grip and placed herself in front of him.

With gentle smile, she wiped the tears off his cheek.

And without noticing, a tear rolled down her cheek too.

Perhaps she had grown fonder of that older man than she would like to admit to herself. After all, he was the only family Katsu had known before her.

Now she was his family.

His wife.

Wife. Quite the odd word isn't it.

"Sorry about that," Katsu apologized with almost a light laugh when he calmed down. It felt so odd. It had been such a long time since he felt so much emotion come out of him.

"Katsu...Katsu," Anju simply replied.

She smiled at him.

Looking him him into the eyes, she raised her head a little higher and raised herself to kiss him.

They closed their eyes as their lips met.

Almost instinctively, Katsu reached behind and lightly caressed Anju's silver tresses. It had become a second nature to him.

Minutes later, they separated. They couldn't but just to smile a little at each other.

After that, hand in hand, they walked on for a few more minutes until they stopped in front of a house.

Home.

Well...after such a long time away from fanfiction and concentrating on original fiction...I just thought "what the hell" and decided to dip into fanfiction one last time.

I reviewed everything I wrote and I discovered that there was one thing I hated about it: its clunkiness. The text felt blocky, slow. One word came to my mind: streamline. I needed to find a way to streamline my writing style. To make it read easier, faster. More enjoyable.

And then came light novels.

Not many have been translated into English, but those few that were (e.g Spice and Wolf), were enough to make be realize what I could do. The writing style was so much simpler. Sentences and paragraphs were shorter. Descriptions were simpler, yet at the same time the story seems so sophisticated.

And this is what I'm trying to do here.

And plus, I'm trying out something completely new: slice of life.

After reading and watching Hanbun, I felt that the Slice-of-Life genre is virtually unknown outside Asia and above all, very difficult to write for. As the name says, slice of life tells stories that could happen every day, using every day events to tell the stories of the characters. It can be very hard to make it interesting, but if one can do it, it can become an addictive masterpiece.

And this is what I have tried to do here. I don't know wether or not I have succeeded in writing out the peaceful atmosphere and mood of slice of life, but I think for a first effort, it isn't too bad.

Thanks for reading!

-Chris Bachman