NB: I had hoped that this story would maintain a relatively light tone. I am not so sure this is possible given the remainder of the plot. At any rate, as a whole this chapter isn't as happening as the last chapter, but I suspect that's because Seishin isn't nearly as ridiculous as Toshio.

Triple points if you find the Sherlock Holmes reference.

Content warnings include some gore, a ton of dialogue, and some expletives. Sorry. I have a foul mouth. Please R & R. It makes me smile.

Crimson splashes marred the tiled floor and whitewashed walls. The stains bore the telltale signs of a hellish artist who'd crafted them in a blind rage. Seishin had only seen this kind of bloodshed in his own novels…and in Sotoba. Seven years had elapsed since he'd witnessed the evidence of such violence in person, and that fact did nothing but exacerbate his unease. The wet swaths of scarlet glittered ominously underneath the harsh, fluorescent light. He closed his eyes, trying to recall how he'd come to this place and what had happened here since he arrived.

Nothing.

Toshio slid into focus when he opened his eyes—the doctor's own gaze afire with what could only be called bloodlust. He grinned maniacally at the priest, looming over his form as he inched closer. Like the walls around them, Toshio too had been covered in blood. His lab coat was all but dyed scarlet. Given the knife that glinted in the doctor's right hand, Seishin concluded that Toshio was responsible for the state of the room. Seishin had been bound to what was unmistakably an operating table. How did he find me? Where am I? Tokyo? Sotoba? He struggled against the cloth straps that cut painfully into his wrists and ankles. Toshio only moved closer, tilting the overhead lamp to shine directly into the jinrou's face. Seishin closed his eyes against the blinding light. He kept his composure, however, knowing that just under Toshio's physician's façade was a darkness that could only be held at bay through the priest's soothing presence. Toshio was no angel; Seishin had never needed his religious training to realize that. But Toshio could be tamed, and Seishin had always known that.

So he spoke slowly and calmly when he addressed the man looming over him with a bloody knife. "How did I get here, Toshio? What are you doing?"

"You're a Shiki." The very words were an indictment. The jinrou didn't need Toshio to explain further. Indeed, his very form, the supernatural body that he had was a physical manifestation of his betrayal. He'd been forsaken by God sometime before he slit his wrist all those years ago. He'd been forsaken by his best friend when he chose Sunako over Toshio. And the latter had finally come for him. Seishin had always expected retribution.

"Toshio." He wanted to fight for his life, to explain his reasons for siding with the Shiki all those years ago, but the words died on his lips before he could speak them. Whatever his reasons, they'd resulted in his betrayal of his best friend. He looked again into the doctor's eyes. They conveyed equal parts sorrow and rage. Seishin's will to live crumbled beneath the weight of Toshio's stare. He hadn't had much will to live to begin with. "Just make it quick. For your old friend's sake. You cared about him, remember." He sighed. I've lived on borrowed time long enough, and I'd rather be killed by Toshio than anyone else.

Toshio's grin lengthened into a disturbing sickle-shaped smirk. He climbed up onto the table with all the agility of a much younger man. And then, he pressed himself into Seishin, sliding against him hotly and pushing his shirt up, exposing the taut, pale flesh beneath. Toshio lightly trailed the point of the knife along the captive man's chest, allowing it to come to rest at the waistband of his jeans. Seishin held his breath. Apparently the doctor had denied his request for mercy and had every intention of torturing him before he killed him. The werewolf resigned himself to the very worst, when without warning, his captor crushed rough, nicotine-laden lips against his, eliciting a surprised gasp from the bound man. In the heat of the moment, the knife pressed against Seishin's skin cut into his flesh, leaving a stinging sensation in its wake that he found strangely arousing. He moaned without wanting to do so. Toshio pulled away, leaving the both of them breathing shallow. The doctor's pupils were blown wide, but the ire that possessed him earlier was still very much present. Seishin could only be confounded by this latest bout of Toshio's behavior. Whatever modicum of composure the jinrou kept dissipated as he felt the other man's growing erection against his thigh.

"Are you trying to kill me or fuck me?" I'll take either.

"Both." The doctor looked hysterical as he undid Seishin's jeans, trailing the knife lower and lower down his exposed skin. Panic rushed along Seishin's veins as he realized what Toshio intended to do. He struggled against his bindings to no avail. Maniacal laughter echoed in the room, and as he realized how very wrong he was to think that Toshio could be tamed, could be claimed, Seishin let out a desperate scream that he knew would fall upon deaf ears.

He woke with a start, his blood rushing in his ears and a cold sweat making his pajamas stick to his body. His fangs cut painfully into his lips; the dark droplets of blood glittered blue against his bedding in the moonlight. "Goddamnit." Seishin scrubbed his hands through his hair. He'd had a nightmare. It hadn't been the first of its kind, but the intensity and the verisimilitude had only increased since his night with Toshio in Signa. He could still taste the nicotine on his lips as he drew one shaky breath after another. Seishin shook his head, trying to dispel the dream. He sat up slowly and decided to spend the rest of the night planning the finer points of his next novel. Sleep was unlikely to come now. It was then that he caught Sunako maintaining her silent vigil across the room. She often stole into his room on the very rare nights that he slept. He'd always supposed she did this because she needed the reassurance of his physical presence. The remnants of the dream shook him still, but he pinned a soft smile to his face as he diverted his attention to her.

"You had a nightmare." She'd not meant it to sound accusatory, he knew, but he felt guilty anyway—as if simply dreaming about Toshio was treason to the home he'd built with her.

"Do you never have nightmares?" He tried to shift the focus of the conversation. He'd talk about anything, including vampire physiology, so long as he didn't have to talk about the contents of his nightmare. Sunako had developed a disturbing curiosity about the doctor lately, and Seishin found all her inquiries about their past entirely too wearying. He wanted to put it firmly behind him, to move forward, but she could be rather insistent, and he could never deny her.

"No. You know my sleep is a complete, all-encompassing sleep; it's a daily death, if you will. I cannot dream." She inclined her head. "But given your current state, I daresay that is not a loss." The corners of her lips curved down in the barest hint of a frown.

"I'm fine." He lied. The dream had rattled him more than he'd care to admit. Something about the way Toshio looked over him with a combination of menace and want left him undone. He would dream of that look for some time to come. It was a blessing that he did not need sleep very often.

"You never used to lie to me." Sunako had become increasingly distant since that night in Signa, but her proclivity to state the truth in an unnervingly neutral tone of voice remained unchanged. Seishin suspected that part of the growing rift between them had been caused by his tryst with the doctor. That he didn't regret it despite all that had transpired since was a testament to his lingering affection for the other man. Even when he's not around, he still manages to disrupt my life. Will I never be rid of him completely?

"I never had need until now." The words hung in the air. He let them linger, but Seishin didn't mean them. He only spoke them because he felt like he was being interrogated. She said nothing in response, and the silence stretched uncomfortably between them. Finally, he relented. "I'm sorry. I'm just so very tired of Toshio." He sighed.

"It seems your sleeping unconscious is not." He did not ask how she guessed the subject of his nightmare. She was eerily perceptive; she'd likely known that he'd been dreaming about Toshio for quite some time now. Sunako stood and approached the bed, her step as silent as ever. He shifted aside to make room. She slid in, slipping one arm around his waist as she leaned her head against his chest. The beating of his heart had slowed to its normal pace, and she sighed contentedly as she listened to its steady rhythm. He's alive. Immortal, yes, but very much alive. He slipped his fingers through her hair in a fatherly fashion, appreciating the irony in the gesture. And yet he doesn't live. "I think it would be easier for you if you'd let him back into your life."

"What, precisely, would be easier?" He was talking to fill the silence now, not really paying attention to the trajectory of the conversation, although he knew eventually they'd land upon his dysfunctional relationship with his childhood friend.

"Missing him." Sunako opted for candor. Seishin huffed.

"Yes, it is difficult to miss someone when they're not gone." He grinned almost mischievously. The young village priest had not been known for his sense of humor, but having been unfettered for years now, Seishin found that he'd developed a subtle sarcasm in his cadence. He liked this; it suited him.

Sunako laughed her tinkling laugh and tightened her arm around him. The earlier tension between them melted away as suddenly as it had appeared. "It doesn't have to be me or him, you know. You can have us both."

"Why are you so determined to befriend Toshio Ozaki? Do you suppose you'll find redemption if you make peace with the man who tried to kill you?" He was curious about that. The jinrou had considered the situation from every possible angle, yet he could not determine why Sunako would seek rapprochement with Toshio. It simply made no sense.

"I've been beyond redemption for a long time. But you're not."

"I don't understand."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't. You've only been a jinrou for seven years. You don't realize yet that immortality is its own Hell. I've lived over a hundred years, lamenting the fact that each day is exactly like the last. I have felt love, hate, joy, and despair, but these emotions lack all gravitas when you discover the fleeting nature of all things. In another hundred years' time, even my love for you will be but a shadow of what I feel now."

An arctic chill seemed to creep into the room, but he knew that he was impervious to such ambient changes. "I don't believe that. We understand each other too well to drift apart."

"We've already drifted apart. Or have you not noticed?" He could only shake his head in denial, but he knew she was right. Over the last year in particular, walls had been erected between them. He'd not noticed until it was too late, and even then, he was helpless against them. "Seishin, you do not know what it's like to be faced with a future wherein everything is ravaged by time. Everything but you, that is. When you learn that, you will know why I was determined to die in that burning church seven years ago. Death is terrible, yes. But death also renders life meaningful. It keeps us from taking things for granted."

"But you came to Sotoba to carve out a life for yourself. You killed the villagers to survive. You could have let yourself die when you were turned. Instead, you fought for your right to exist." His confusion doubled.

She smiled sadly. "Yes, I wanted a place where Shiki could live freely. I wanted to survive. But when that dream was crushed under Ozaki's foot, I no longer had anything left to fight for. I'd committed innumerable sins all in pursuit of a utopia that never materialized. That only serves to illustrate my point. Everything is fleeting. Even dreams. And especially utopias."

"That's why…" The pieces were falling into place now, and his mind worked furiously to put his thoughts into some semblance of order.

"Yes. That's why I wanted to burn with the village. What is the point of living in a world without meaning?" He remembered their conversation in that crumbling church the night Sotoba went up in flames. Her despair was evident even then. He never thought that such despair would be permanent, preferring instead to believe that her acute feelings of hopelessness in the past had been a result of watching her family and friends die.

"But you came with me." Seishin wanted desperately to understand, but he did not doubt her assertion. The burden of immortality would not weigh upon him for many years yet. He was still young, after all.

"Indeed. I came with you because I loved you, and because I couldn't bear the thought of you facing your new life alone. You'd already lived thirty-two years in isolation. I wanted to spare you from any further loneliness."

"You came for my sake?"

"You would have done the same. You came to Kanemasa to die, did you not? But when you realized that I needed you, you kept yourself alive to protect me." Seishin noticed a sobering feeling of contrition work its way up his spine. Sunako spent all this time as his companion because she knew that he'd be incapable of surviving on his own. He felt a heaviness setting upon him, leaving a dull throb in his chest. He hated that she'd existed only for his sake, but even so, he could not bring himself to set her free. An existence without her was not an existence that he was willing to have. Seishin pulled her closer, hoping that the gesture would convey not only his gratitude, but also his determination to give her something to live for again. Even a Shiki's existence could have meaning. He would prove it. Sunako quietly cataloged the various emotions flitting across his face before she spoke again. She knew in the way that she simply knew things that he would spend the rest of their life demonstrating to her that immortality need not be a curse. I've failed again, haven't I? He is determined to sacrifice his own happiness for mine, to live for me instead of himself. "There is no need for guilt. Consider us even." He would feel guilty anyway, of that she was certain.

"What does all of this have to do with Toshio, though?" He asked softly. "I am as immortal as you. If your feelings are ephemeral, so too are mine. My love for him will diminish, and eventually he will die. I will move on. With you."

She would have laughed if she didn't know that he was being serious. "No, not you. You have a lingering respect for life, and an even more abiding love for Toshio Ozaki. You love him even though he tried to kill you." He did not contradict her, so she continued. "I'm sure that eventually, your feelings will be desensitized by the passing of time, but I doubt very seriously that you will ever be able to shed your humanity fully. I've seen it before. Chizuru was the same."

"You don't know that. Even I can't predict how the world will change me."

"Perhaps, but I can venture a guess. After all, you do not kill when you hunt." Seishin inhaled sharply. He'd never hid the fact that he only took a small amount of blood from each of his victims and then hypnotized them into forgetting him, but that she'd drawn such deeply personal conclusions from his actions left him uneasy. Sunako studied him again. He remained silent, but he certainly seemed to be in a great deal of distress. His green eyes glazed over and his lips became a tight line. "There is no shame in it, Seishin. Ozaki matters to you, very much in fact. You should reap what little happiness can be gained from this world. Regrets are particularly cruel when you have an eternity to contemplate them."

She concluded the conversation then, sure that he'd be lost in his own thoughts for the remainder of the night. After placing a kiss on his cheek, she slipped out of his arms. Seishin barely noticed. Sunako padded across the room to the door, giving him a final, momentary glance before she left. His head was bowed and a crease was forming between his brows; she could see the shadows playing across his face in the moonlight. If she were a kinder woman, she might have regretted leaving him in such a state. But she'd seen what happened to Shiki who'd not thought through the implications of their own immortality. Indeed, many of those who died in Sotoba had been wallowing in remorse for decades. Perhaps that was why they were so eager to undertake such a risky plan. Maybe they knew it would ultimately result in their deaths. At the very least, a war with humans would provide a reprieve from the monotony of their existence. A rare spark of light danced in her eyes as she thought of them. Well, war is definitely preferable to boredom, isn't it Tatsumi? She made her way down the hallway, past her own room and the library, finally exiting the front door and stepping out into the night. A solitary light came on in Seishin's bedroom as she turned to face the house again. "You deserve to be happy. You've denied yourself for too long." The words were barely a whisper, and they were lost on the wind before Seishin's preternatural hearing could catch them.

The jinrou spent the next morning in a bit of a daze. He'd seen Sunako to bed after she returned from hunting. Seishin had never gotten accustomed to placing her tiny body into a coffin. The sight of her child's form lying deathly still continued to disturb him even though it had been a daily ritual for years. He made his way to the library and settled himself behind his desk. Like the home in Signa, his writing space afforded a view of the hills outside. Dawn was quickly approaching, and he rather liked watching the sunrise each morning. There was something comforting in being the first to see the sun emerge from behind the hills. In Japan, however, the hills looked too much like the mountains surrounding Sotoba. This was one of the reasons he typically remained in Italy as long as possible each year. But like so much in his life, the Japanese hills seemed to have a pull on him which he could not escape, and eventually he'd yield, much like a sailor snared by a siren's song. Maybe Toshio was right. Maybe I'd have been a caged bird anywhere.

The doctor had been on his mind quite a lot lately. He would have liked to blame that fact on their night together those many months ago, or on his increasingly frustrating conversations with Sunako wherein his own happiness was always correlated with Toshio. But the other man's imposition on his thoughts was as a result of Toshio's own machinations. He had once again weaseled his way into the jinrou's life. He'd bought Seishin's villa in Signa. Why he had decided to move to Italy despite having a flourishing career at a leading hospital in Tokyo, Seishin couldn't guess at the time. He'd simply treated the transaction like any other real estate deal and asked his lawyer broker the contract. He'd assumed that the physician was looking for novel ways to torture him, but then he'd received the final paperwork on the villa's sale. A small envelope arrived with the payment. Seishin had known before opening it that he'd find Toshio's untidy scrawl within. He opened it anyway:

Seishin,

I suspect you'll think that my buying your house is my way of stalking you or trying to claim you again. I guess I haven't given you much reason to think otherwise. I'm sorry for that. I wish I could restore your faith in me.

You should know that I bought this villa because it reminded me of you, and because I don't want to be too far away for you to find me. You probably won't believe that either, so I'll admit that I also got into a bit of trouble at work involving a busty resident and a sexual harassment claim. It wasn't my fault, but I figured it might be a good time to move anyway. The patients in Italy are much nicer and all my new colleagues are entirely too unattractive to lead to any trouble. And the wine is better. Much better.

I miss you.

-Toshio

PS: Why didn't you tell me about the pool table?

Seishin's heart had clenched when he read the note, particularly the bit about Toshio's desire to remain within reach. He'd never expected the other man to do anything like this. The doctor had always been reckless, rushing headlong into a course of action before thinking it through. But it seemed that had checked all those impulses for Seishin's sake, just this once. Indeed, Toshio could have easily traced him back to his home in Japan through the paperwork associated with the sale of the house in Signa. But he'd not done so. He'd given Seishin the opportunity to make a move…or not to make a move. The jinrou chose the latter option.

That was two months ago, and Toshio had been true to his word. He'd not contacted the jinrou at all except through his lawyer, although he did not change Seishin's old phone number and included it on every piece of correspondence that the jinrou received. It was clear that Toshio did want to be found, and given the fallout from his conversation with Sunako last night, Seishin wanted to find him. But he did not seek him for reasons of reconciliation. At least not yet. He had a litany of questions he wanted to ask Toshio, including why the doctor thought it would be smart to jeopardize the werewolf's career. A genuine smile tugged at his lips as he thought of how Toshio's disjointed baritone had floated through his headphones during his interview with TPR. That idiot. He'd forgiven the other man for his antics not long after the mishap, particularly after Sunako's prediction came to pass. His drunken outburst had made Seishin a literary sensation. Maybe I ought to thank him. He laughed outright then, realizing that he'd been missing his friend more than usual lately. Would it be so bad to say hello? He picked up the phone and dialed the number in one swift motion, making certain that he did not allow himself time to change his mind. It was his turn to act solely upon impulse.

"Dr. Toshio Ozaki speaking." Toshio answered in surprisingly good Italian. It was not nearly as fluent as Seishin's, of course, but still quite impressive for only a few months' immersion. He sounded like he'd just been roused from sleep. That's when Seishin realized the seven hour time difference between Japan and Italy. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Shit. "Seishin?"

He thought briefly about disconnecting the line, but the hint of hopefulness in the other man's tone kept him from doing so. He found it difficult to disappoint the doctor, even now. "I'm sorry. I'd forgotten about the time difference."

"No worries. I wouldn't expect a jinrou to be mindful of a mere mortal's sleep schedule anyway." Seishin chuckled at that, but not quite loudly enough for the other man to hear. Toshio could be so very charming when he wanted to be, but the werewolf had no intention of divulging that information to him.

"Toshio."

"Yes."

"What's this about you being sued for sexual harassment?" It was the first thing that came to mind. He couldn't just ask about Sotoba without warning, after all. Such questions require a set up. He'd written enough dialogue to know that.

The doctor groaned exasperatedly and then sighed in resignation as though he'd spent the last several months of his life answering this very question over and over again. "I swear she took advantage of me while I was drunk. No one believes me when I tell them that."

"I wonder why…"

"You know, sarcasm is unbecoming of you. I've been traumatized. Can you at least try to be sympathetic?"

"You didn't sound particularly traumatized when you called the radio station during my interview."

Toshio's breath caught at that, but he maintained his genial tone nevertheless. "Touché. Did you call me to bicker?" Then the doctor's voice softened into something more apologetic. "I'd deserve no less."

Seishin had not called simply to cast blame, so he replied in as mollifying a manner as possible. "Just the opposite, in fact. I've been on the international best seller list for the past eight months straight."

"You're welcome. Be sure to send me my share of the royalties." They both laughed at that, but the laughter eventually died out and an inordinately uncomfortable silence took its place.

"Hey Toshio?"

"Yes." The jinrou sounded sorrowful, Toshio realized, and he wondered what had finally driven the other man to pick up the phone. He knew he'd not like it, whatever it was. Seishin's tone was no longer the one he adopted for casual conversation. They would undoubtedly move on to weightier matters. Tension crept between the doctor's shoulder blades, but he did not dare disarm the situation with an inappropriate joke or abrupt change of topic. I can be your crutch too. I'll prove it.

"Would you have done to me what you did to Kyouko if you'd caught me back then?"

"Seishin," He paused and closed his eyes. Yes. I would have. But you know that. What is it you really want to know? "That's a very long conversation." And you will hate me when it's over.

"I have time….I have nothing but time."

"Okay. Just let me find my cigarettes."