Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei

"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon."-Revelations, 13:11

Lamb, Dragon

June, 1906

-

"Daddy!"

Takashi rubbed his temple over the cup of tea he was sitting down to. It seemed like five minutes couldn't pass without a childish voice calling out to him. This particular time it was Ruka, as only she had the status of pampered favorite to exploit. Daiki at ten years was far too standoffish, growing into his maturity by calling Takashi "Father" in his stiff, best imitation of adult respect. The twins were barely aware of his existence, with their world made up of Aimi and Emiko, and his with keeping the train station afloat.

Twins. Nothing confirmed Ageo's suspicions that the family was cursed more than the birth of Hideyoshi and Hiroto three years ago. The fact that they were boys kept the townspeople from sending a few priests from the local shrine after them, but really. Twins. But then, the Tsuzuki family had already had the audacity to keep the purple-eyed freak, so it really wasn't surprising that they kept the harbingers of bad luck.

Takashi sighed. "The purple-eyed freak" also called him "Father" when he worked up the nerve to talk to Takashi at all. Takashi didn't know when or how, exactly, Asato had become aware of his father's aversion to him—Takashi was sure his wife wouldn't dream of putting a riff between them—but Asato had no illusions about his relationship with Takashi. The boy kept his eyes downcast, even over Aimi's admonishments, when speaking to his father, and Takashi was sure that none of his other children, nor any children he had ever known, apologized half so much as his second son. Asato had nearly burst into penitent tears when he'd upset a tatami mat a few days ago.

"Daddy!" Ruka's impatient voice called again, and her hotheaded seven-year-old footsteps were heard stomping outside the door.

"Ruka, you should know better than to be so rude," Takashi chided as Ruka pushed open the door. "Your mother is sleeping." Running after the twins was beginning to take its toll on Aimi's vivacity despite the woman only being twenty-six years of age.

"Daddy, Asato-otouto's crying," Ruka reported, ignoring the reprimand.

"What?"

"Them mean boys were hurting him again."

"Who are these boys?"

"Awful bad bullies, Daddy. Mommy knows about them," she added reproachfully.

"Is Emiko-kun not doing her job in taking care of you?"

"Emiko-san's washing clothes," Ruka informed her father. "And Daiki-niisan says he doesn't care."

For a fleeting moment Takashi wished he could say that he didn't care either, but the expectant eyes of his only daughter, Aimi's mirror image, prevented him.

"I'll look in on him," Takashi said, rising. "Where is he?"

"Outside." Ruka snatched her father's hand and pulled his reluctant body out of the room through the doorway leading into the backyard. Takashi shut the door behind him as Ruka dropped his hand and sprinted towards her younger brother. Asato was standing by the well, a bucket sitting precariously on the stone ledge.

"Asato-otouto, Daddy's here!" Ruka said cheerfully, taking hold of her favorite sibling's shoulder and pushing him around.

Takashi faltered at the image before him. His six-year-old son was holding a wet rag to his mouth, and as he lowered it Takashi could see the clot of blood on his upper lip and the swollen redness of the surrounding cheek. Asato's eyes, unnatural in color but as expressive as any other child's, held a mixture of fear and shame, before disappearing from sight as he ducked his head.

"Ruka-chan, go tell Emiko-kun to start preparing dinner. I'd like a word with your brother."

Asato twitched. Ruka looked quizzical but did not inquire further; she simply hugged her brother gracelessly and took off, screeching the maid's name.

For a moment both Asato and Takashi seemed unable to move. Takashi stared down at his son, who refused to meet his gaze.

"Why haven't I heard about these bullies, Asato?"

Asato winced again, still keeping his head down. "Mommy said not to tell you. I'm sorry, Father."

"And why not?" Takashi had a feeling that he already knew the reason.

"Mommy says you'd get upset, because they make fun of my eyes," Asato said, confirming Takashi's intuition.

"Is that what they were doing today?"

"Yeah, and…"

"And?"

"Nothing."

"Are you lying to me, Asato?"

Asato recoiled as his father stepped forward. "They called you and Mommy demons who should move to England because you're as good as for'ners."

"I see." Takashi often heard the same, more eloquently and circuitously, from who were no doubt the parents of these boys. "Is that why you fought them?"

"I'm really sorry, Father," Asato said miserably. "Emiko-san told me not to, but they hit me first, and then Ruka-nee said she'd fight them too, but I didn't want her to 'cause she's a girl, so we ran back home."

"Has Ruka done that before?" Ruka was, without doubt, the toughest of all five children, far exceeding Daiki in physical prowess.

"Emiko-san told her not to fight, too, but Ruka-nee gets mad. She says it's bad of them."

"It is bad of them, and of you and your sister. I don't want to hear of you fighting anymore, do you hear?"

"Yes sir," Tsuzuki said, eyes brimming. "I'm sorry. I mean it. I'm really sorry."

"Stop apologizing, for God's sake!" Takashi yelled, louder than he meant to, and he regretted it when Asato visibly flinched.

"Takashi? What's wrong?"

Takashi whipped around to see Aimi leaning out of their yard-bound bedroom door. She was tying off her obi, and her hair was still messy from sleep. Asato quickly rubbed his eyes with his arm and sucked the bleeding part of his lip into his mouth.

"Asato has been involved in an altercation," Takashi said steely. "Apparently some neighborhood boys have been insulting us."

"Asato, I told you not to fight!" Aimi scolded, now fully awake as she crossed the yard to her son.

"I'm sorry," Asato said, with a nervous glance at his father. "But they said bad things about you—"

"That doesn't matter," Aimi interrupted. "Mommy doesn't care what those boys say about her. You do not fight, you hear?"

"Yes, Mommy. I'm sorry."

"It's fine; just don't let me catch you fighting again." Aimi knelt down and inspected her son's face. "How awful," she said, lightly touching his swollen cheek. "Here, give me that." She took the damp rag from Asato's hand and dabbed at his cut lip. "This should stop bleeding quick enough. You hold this to your lip and go find Emiko-kun, okay? Tell her to give you some ice."

"Father wants Emiko-san to make dinner," Asato said, and Takashi was taken aback at the matter-of-fact protest in Asato's voice.

"Then go find Tomoko-kun," Aimi said. "She should probably get used to this anyway." The new maid had only been with the family for a few days. "And no tears, hmm?" She flicked his nose and smiled gently. "Be a little man for me, yes?"

Asato nodded and smiled weakly underneath his mother's beaming grin. Aimi pulled him into a hug and kissed his forehead, before mussing his hair and gently pushing him in the general direction of the house.

"How long has this been going on, Aimi?" Takashi asked, as she rose and Asato disappeared inside.

"For about a year," Aimi said, brushing off her kimono.

"And why did you deem it necessary to keep me in the dark about this?"

"Because I knew that you would react this way."

"What way?"

"Badly."

"Pardon?" Takashi growled.

"For Heaven's sake, Takashi, the boy is getting beaten by neighborhood brats and all you can think to do is yell at him for apologizing?" Aimi flung at her husband.

"Do not saddle me with this mess. We both knew what would happen if we kept him."

"Oh, so he deserves it, then? Well, I suppose it'd be fine if I rectified that particular mistake. Oh, and I'll throw in our daughter and one of the twins, too. They're no good, either. Which one should we keep, Takashi? Hideyoshi's the smaller one, but he might be a bit smarter…"

"Stop being irrational."

"What's irrational is how poorly you've been treating our son ever since he was born! Do you know that he thinks you hate him, Takashi? How is that any way for a son to feel about his father?"

"I can't treat him like a son, Aimi!"

"And why not?"

"Because he is not my son!"

The sound of ceramic breaking caught both their attentions. Aimi gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, and Takashi inwardly flagellated himself.

"Asato, I told you to find Tomoko-kun," Aimi said tightly.

"F-Father left his tea," Asato said, looking down at the broken green pieces covered in lukewarm water at his feet. "I th-…thought he might've wanted it. I'm sorry…I broke the cup."

"Asato…"

The boy disappeared before Aimi uttered the last syllable of his name. Face red, eyes glittering, Aimi whipped around and slapped Takashi, hard, across the face.

"Bastard," she hissed, before turning on her heel and fleeing the scene before she cried in front of her husband. She had never struck him, nor he her, for the entirety of their marriage, and with that one slap she felt like their world was crashing down about her ankles.

"That's just silly. Of course you're their son. How else can you be my brother?"

"Maybe I'm not."

"Well, then, what are you?" Ruka demanded. "And Tomoko-san said to keep that on your face!" She pushed the ice-filed pouch up against her brother's cheek.

"Those boys say I'm a demon…"

"Those boys are stupid," Ruka said conclusively. "And besides, Mommy is always telling people you're her son."

"Maybe I'm only Mommy's son."

"Mommy wouldn't cheat on Daddy!" Ruka exclaimed, scandalized. The two had no ideas of the mechanics of conception; they only knew it required two adults of opposite gender to make a baby, and making a baby with someone who wasn't your spouse was called "cheating".

"Why are you talking about Mother cheating on Father?"

"Daddy said Asato-otouto's not his son," Ruka said, as both she and Asato turned their heads to see their older brother standing behind them.

"Well, you don't really look like him," Daiki, the spitting image of Takashi, reasoned, sitting down on the other side of Asato.

"But he looks like Mommy," Ruka said, "so he wouldn't have a different daddy."

"Where'd he get his eyes, though?" Daiki said, pointing at the objects in question.

Ruka shrugged. "Don't matter."

"Time for dinner!" a little voice called out from behind the three.

"Time for dinner!" another resounded, as twin sets of feet pattered out from the house. Hideyoshi and Hiroto slung their arms about Asato's neck and pulled him forward, nearly dragging him and themselves down the steps.

"Emiko-san says it's time for dinner!" the twins chorused.

"Don't strangle Asato-otouto!" Ruka scolded.

"Listen to your sister," a hard, masculine voice said from behind, and five faces turned upwards to view their father. The twins immediately released Asato. "Daiki, take Hideyoshi and Hiroto to Tomoko-kun. They need to get washed up."

"Yes, Father," Daiki said, grabbing the twins' wrists and awkwardly jerking them into the house.

"Daddy, Asato-otouto's really your son, right?" Ruka questioned anxiously, standing as Asato turned his face away.

"Ruka, go inside," Takashi said, putting his hand on her head and attempting to pull her forward. She wriggled out of his hold and turned back to her younger brother.

"You're my best brother, no matter what," she whispered loudly in his ear, before planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek and taking off in obedience of their father.

Takashi hesitated, and then took his seat next to Aimi's third-born. Asato moved sideways to make room, still refusing to transfer his gaze to Takashi.

"I want to apologize to you about what I said earlier," Takashi said stiffly. "I was wrong to get angry about you being sorry."

"Did you…did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" Takashi asked, unnecessarily.

"That I'm not…your son?"

Takashi allowed for a long silence. Asato traced circles and infinities with his finger against the wood floor, and leaned his face against his leg and bit his knee.

"You are Aimi's son," Takashi said. "Through no wrongdoing of her own."

"But—"

"That's all I am going to say on the subject."

Asato nodded, catching the utter finality of the statement. Curiosity, the awful thirst for knowledge, reared its head in a different direction.

"D-do you…hate me?"

Takashi vacillated at the small voice's question. Aimi had told him of her son's suspicions, but hearing them spilling from the boy's mouth suddenly made him feel as if Christ crucified looked down and asked likewise.

"I…do not…hate you, exactly," Takashi said, not knowing from where he drew his answer. "But I will not lie to you…given the circumstances in which you came into being…I wish you hadn't been born."

The moment the words left his mouth Takashi felt a part of himself completely empty out, as if he could see Asato begin to whither under the weight of those words.

"Y-yeah…m-me, too."

The agreement struck Takashi like a rock to the face. Remorse flooded him like water fills a drowning man. He could only thank whatever passing angels there were around them that he had not gone further into the explanation.

"S-sorry you gotta raise me," Asato continued, smiling self-deprecatingly with trembling lower lip. "Daiki-niisan says I'm a pain."

"Your brother thinks everything is a pain."

"H-hey, maybe…if I…run away…"

"Enough," Takashi said, voice hoarse, barely controlling the shaking inside him at the six-year-old's self-loathing. He stood abruptly, making the boy flinch. "We won't speak of this again, Asato. To anyone. It'll be as if this never happened."

"Yes sir." Asato scrambled to his feet as Takashi rose, feeling significantly weaker than when he sat. Asato hung back, unsure of what his next move should be.

"Go," Takashi said, unable to look at his wife's son. "Just…go to dinner."

Ruka's impatient voice beckoned from within the house and Asato ran for it.

"Are you coming, Daddy?" Ruka called, taking her brother's hand.

"We'll both be there in a few moments, Ruka," a feminine voice said, and Takashi turned to see his wife approaching him from the yard. "Go sit down, all of you, and wait for us."

Ruka took off, dragging Asato after her. Aimi took her son's place at the threshold.

"I'm sorry I hit you."

Takashi shook his head. "I deserved it."

"Still." She raised her hand and gently stroke where she had earlier struck. "How much did you tell him?" she asked after a silence.

"Everything except who his real father is."

She dropped her hand and sighed. "I guess he would have heard the rumors eventually. What does he know about your feelings toward him?"

"The truth."

Aimi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I hope that changes."

"It will take drastic measures."

"You are nothing if not honest," Aimi said resignedly. "Well, come on, then. They can't eat without us."