Naki slowly made his way down his trellis. It was the middle of the night, and crickets chirped in the nearby woods. It was almost pitch black, minus a single beam of light that shone on a bench on the opposite side of the courtyard that he now stood in; like a spotlight.
His nose detected the scent of blood, and with a jolt, he realized the bench was occupied. Horrified, he ran toward the bench, but he felt as if he couldn't get there fast enough.
He collapsed at the bench. A young woman in a servant's outfit with brown hair and bangs lay out on the stone, with her hands clasped funeral style. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful, like she was sleeping. Her silky soft skin glowed in the light coming from above. A light breeze caught strands of her long brown hair, and the wisps swirled around her beautiful face. Her delicate hands were clasped so formally that Naki expected her to rise from her sleeping slight and curtsey. Her white dress shirt was buttoned up to the top button, and the collar was stiff. Her brown skirt fell perfectly around her unmoving, slender legs. No shoes adorned her small feet. Her pink lips were slightly parted, and her dark lashes did not flutter.
Naki would have considered the scene in front of him as beauty itself, if it weren't for the giant hole ripped in the woman's stomach.
"Ju San," Naki said softly to her. He didn't care he was ruining his best white slacks by kneeling in the dirt.
Her eyes slowly opened. They were wide and beautiful. They were a deep brown, but it seemed as if every star in the universe sparkled in them.
"Naki," she said, voice full of pain.
"Ju San, what happened?" Naki asked, panic stricken. Tears began to run down his face. "What happened?"
"You didn't protect me," the servant said sadly. She turned her head a little so that her brilliant doe eyes could meet Naki's blood red eyes. "Y—you promised you weren't leaving. But you did. You left me all alone, Naki. All alone."
"No!" Naki cried out. "Please, I didn't want this to happen! You can't go!"
The blood from the hole in her stomach was spreading to the rest of her collared white shirt. There was no way someone living on as much flesh as she was could survive this wound.
"Goodnight Naki," Ju San said, closing her eyes and taking one final breath.
"No!" Naki screamed. Tears were everywhere. "No, not you! Not my Ju San!"
But she was gone.
Naki crumpled and hung his head, violent sobs shaking his body. He only looked up when he heard footsteps. Eto Yoshimura now stood on the opposite side of the bench. She was smiling cruelly down at Naki, and her clothes were splattered with blood. Naki, horrified, realized her hands were completely soaked with blood.
"Y—you did this!" he screamed. "You killed my beautiful Ju San!"
"Of course I did," Eto said, cruel smile not disappearing. "Did you honestly think that I wouldn't find out?"
"Find out about what?" Naki roared.
"You love her, don't you?" Eto asked, narrowing her eyes. "You love your servant."
"Shut up!" Naki screamed. "You don't know anything!"
"Oh poor Naki," Eto giggled. "Couldn't protect his precious Ju San."
Naki just screamed and screamed, and he cried so hard he felt dizzy. His world seemed to be spinning, and he closed his eyes tight. Eto laughed and laughed, cackles ringing in Naki's ears.
Naki opened his eyes in cold sweat. He stared at the ceiling of his bedroom and groaned. He had been having that dream pretty much every night now, and it had gotten more realistic each time.
He looked over at Eto, who was sleeping soundly beside him. Naki still had the chills from the dream, and the only way he knew to get rid of them was a hot shower. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked at the clock. It was 3:48 in the morning. Naki groaned and climbed out of bed. Both he and Eto had neglected to put on clothes after the night's events, so he shivered and hurried quickly into the bathroom, closing the door behind him so the running water would not wake the sleeping half ghoul.
He turned on the shower and stared at himself in the mirror while he waited for the water to get hot.
What the hell am I doing?
He stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over his body, relaxing his tense muscles. As he grabbed the soap, he allowed himself to think of the reason he had joined Aogiri and became 'Master Naki'. Not the lie he had fed Ju San, but the real reason…
"Boss Yamori?" Naki asked, approaching the larger man.
It was after the servant's lights out time, and Yamori had requested Naki's presence in the dining hall.
"Sit down," Yamori said gruffly, pointing to the chair next to him.
Naki did as he was told and stared at his boss, waiting for the older ghoul to speak.
"So," Yamori said, cracking a knuckle. "You said that you 'weren't ready' to join Aogiri yet. I understood, and said I would give you a bit longer. Well, it's been a bit longer. I promised you to Aogiri. You turning down their offer was a huge embarrassment to me."
"I'm sorry," Naki said, lowering his head. Tears began to well in his eyes.
"So you will join Aogiri now," Yamori said. "I know why you turned down joining Aogiri. It's because that little servant girl, the one you wanna bang."
"I—I don't wanna do that," whimpered Naki.
"Well it's because of her," Yamori said, cracking another finger. "So I'm telling you this now. We have a meeting tomorrow, and Aogiri is going to offer you a place again. If you say no, I will kill your precious friend in the most painful way you can imagine. And I will make you watch."
Naki's eyes widened, and his heart throbbed in his chest. He couldn't let that happen to her.
"And if you say yes," Yamori continued. "No more, well, anything, with that girl. Because you will become a Master like me. And if I catch you two, I will kill her."
"S—so no more Ju San either way," Naki said, tears flowing down his face.
"Yes. But one way she lives, and one way she dies horribly. So what will it be?"
Naki stared at his Boss. "I'll join Aogiri."
"Good job, Naki," Yamori said, smiling a bit. "Oh, and one more thing. If you tell anyone, especially that servant girl, about this talk, she will die."
"Yes Boss," Naki said quietly.
Naki sighed and shut off the water. What he was doing with Eto wasn't helping. He thought that maybe, by screwing someone, he would forget all about the servant. He hadn't. But it was years to late to fix things with the doe eyed girl. So he would continue to be Master Naki. That was the way things were now, and he was happy this way. Or so he told himself.