Chapter 3: "Scrambled Slice of Life"

I walk out into the dining room, having washed my body and calmed myself down. I do feel better. A hot bath or shower is something I truly enjoy, for it allows me to absorb high amounts of heat. Even without having to support Nii-san's life anymore, I still prefer to be as warm as possible. I no longer have the chills or spasms that I did before, but this is, once again, a habit I have had for almost nine years now. Such a habit is difficult to break.

That said... I do enjoy a breeze on my skin sometimes, especially when I am too warm, which does happen on occasion. Usually, it occurs after a long soak in the bathtub.

Feeling a cool breeze taking my body heat away... is an oddly pleasant feeling.

Many times I think of this as I close my eyes, feeling the cool wind against my skin as I listen to the rustle of autumn leaves swirl in the evening air. It is a very pleasant sensation and experience, fitting for a woman named Akiha, I think.

It is easy for me to plunder heat from things, but getting rid of such heat, I am like any human — I can only do it so fast. It can be accelerated by cool things such as a breeze or ice, but I cannot absorb cold out of an ice cube. My abilities simply do not work that way.

A small black object in a chair catches my eye. I turn to it.

"Ah. Len."

The child succubus familiar looks up at me, in her cat form. She blinks wordlessly.

Let it be said right now that I generally dislike cats. Initially, I also disliked Len due to her nature. However, she cannot help either of those things. It is not as if she had chosen to be a familiar, or a succubus, or even revived. Therefore, I cannot hate her for what she cannot control. Her existence, like mine, was something neither of us requested — we are both of cursed blood, and both of us must live with this fact.

Therefore, it would be hypocritical of me to abhor her so. After all, I am just as much a product of an unnatural union as she is.

This makes her probably the only "cat" I shall ever tolerate in my life. But, it is not just for that reason. It is because she is also Nii-san's familiar.

Nii-san had gotten her last summer, after Arcueid-san requested he look after her. She has since become a member of our household as much as the rest of us. Although still a generally silent child, she does speak on occasion if it is necessary to do so, having slowly began to learn how to speak. Reading Len is much like reading Hisui, only if Hisui were silent. It is quite possible to tell what she is saying after you know her for awhile. Like Hisui, it is becoming easier as she learns to adjust — in Hisui's case, in simply opening her emotions; in Len's case, it is her being able to associate words with emotions. "Happy" is currently her favorite.

Nii-san and her are very close, as a matter of necessity. A succubus lives on the sexual fluids of others, ideally their master. As Nii-san is her master... well, it is obvious they have sex.

Still... she is smaller than me. And even flatter-chested. How can he like her, but not—

I shake my head. No, Tohno Akiha. Stop thinking about such jealousy. The contract between Len and Nii-san is mostly a platonic one, being sexual only for the purposes of restoring her prana. Besides, you know he loves Kohaku as a partner, not Len.

I walk up and gently scratch the underside of her chin. She purrs slightly.

"Len, I am hungry. I am going to make something to eat. Would you like to share some breakfast with me?"

The cat wordlessly hops off the chair and walks towards the kitchen, agreeing to my request. I can hardly blame her; it is impolite to turn down a meal when offered.

Kohaku is likely to be doing shopping for the week or some other errand, so I have learned how to at least prepare small meals for myself. I am not as good a cook as Kohaku is, but I know enough so that I do not have to give Hisui the terrible task of cooking anything overly complex, nor do I have to force Nii-san to stay home just so we can eat. A Tohno must be self-sufficient, if nothing else. Granted, I am not sure if I could simply eat cold sandwiches day after day, or if I could tolerate ramen night after night as Nii-san could. My palate is constantly changing, and after a day or two of even my favorite foods it would be dead to it for a little while.

So, I cook. It is nothing much, really — A western-style breakfast today. I do not eat western-style food very often, but it is far simpler to scramble some eggs than it is to prepare a traditional Japanese breakfast. One starts small, and then works their way up. I could not run before I could walk, I could not walk before I could crawl, and I could not crawl before I could hoist myself onto my hands and knees.

Attempting to cook a Japanese breakfast would probably result in me burning the mansion down. Hisui would perhaps just make it full of smoke. Either way, it would be very inconvenient, and very costly. As proud as I am, I know my limits, and dare not cross them.

"Len, do you like scrambled eggs?"

She tilts her head slightly. Her way of saying she is not sure, or she does not know, or a variety of other responses based upon the context. In this case, it is "I do not know."

"If you will like, I will give you some to try," I say as I begin gathering what I need to cook.

She nods a bit, assenting. This gives me extra motivation to make my cooking turn out acceptable to her palate.

I throw myself wholly into the work. Getting the eggs out. Cracking them lightly on the counter. Opening the shell so they drop into the bowl. Whisking the eggs. Adding milk. More whisking. Buttering the pan. Pouring them into the pan. Carefully turning the eggs with a spatula.

Before long, I have a pan full of scrambled eggs. It looks... quite good, honestly. Nearly as good as when Kohaku makes them. They are a very light yellow color, with slight white marbling streaks due to the milk.

I take the pan and carefully dish out the eggs onto a larger plate for me, and a smaller plate for Len, then I set her plate down on the floor. She takes a few sniffs, then a cautious nibble, and then more fully immerses herself into eating the food.

...Well, it is not poisonous, at least. Although even if it were, she would have been quite unlikely to fall stone dead from it. She would likely have a very nasty stomachache and be in a very bad mood, however.

I take a fork and hold onto my plate as I lean back slightly against the counter. Saying "Itadakimasu"* to nobody in particular, I begin to eat my own eggs.

...

...Well, it is certainly the best batch I have made yet. My first attempt was a horribly unappealing, almost rubberlike congealed mass. I ate them anyway, even as I did my best to avoid vomiting them back up, as it is a waste of food otherwise, and it gave quite a good deal of encouragement to remember that one must butter the pan BEFORE putting the eggs in, not after. I told myself this with every forced swallow of egg, and especially with every forced swallow of partially digested egg trying to make its egress from my mouth.

I have not made the same mistake since.

These, however, are quite good. I do not have eggs very often, but Kohaku has made them several times before, and I think these are nearly as good as her cooking. I smile slightly with inner pride, feeling more confident that my lessons in cooking are beginning to pay off.

Len finishes her eggs before too long. She must have been fairly hungry. She walks up and rubs herself slightly against my legs and ankles. Her way of saying "thank you" usually.

I squat carefully to pet her with my hand after setting down my fork and dish. She purrs slightly, and walks out of the kitchen, leaving me to finish my eggs in solitude.

I finish quietly and neatly, and after dabbing my lips with a napkin, I wash my dish and fork and place them in the draining board to dry. After discarding the napkin into the garbage, I decide to read the news.

Kohaku or Hisui has left it where I always seek it, on one of the small tables in the sitting room. I sit down and begin to read it, with the first section I read always being the financial section. As expected, our stock has gone up approximately 26.5 points in the last week. A very good growth.

My eyes now turn to the general news. "All-time low in murder rates in the city." I laugh slightly to myself. If only they knew why...

It is because of the four of us, of course. Myself, Nii-san, Arcueid-san, and Ciel-san. We do a little bit of patrolling now and again. Usually it is Arcueid-san and Ciel-san, but if they need help or backup, they call upon myself and Nii-san. Arcueid-san naturally takes the most dangerous jobs due to her immortality. Ciel-san is second; she is likewise immortal for reasons we are not sure of. She should no longer be after the events of last year, but she still is, somehow. This depressed her for awhile, but Nii-san cheered her up quite effectively, leading her to view it as less of a damning curse and more of something she can use to do some good.

This then leaves myself and Nii-san. While we both, of course, have our powers — that is, Nii-san's eyes and my origami abilities — we are considerably easier to kill, in theoretical terms, at least. Realistically a foe would find us much the same difficulty as Ciel-san, in terms of how difficult it is to strike a fatal blow. But while she would rise again, we would not. Arcueid-san, of course, is a different matter entirely. It is rare for one to exist who could kill her — permanently, anyway. Nii-san could by stabbing her point, but obviously he has no desire to do so, and I would be quite angry with him if he did. Arcueid-san is a very valuable ally, and the Tohno need all the allies we can get.

I relish the ability to go out and do a patrol, truthfully. I am usually quite busy here at my home, keeping up my public image of a regular teenaged girl, or attending to any of a myriad of duties, but this city is still my birthplace, and I do feel a sense of patriotism towards it. I often find the walks during the night to be excellent for my mental health – they seem to be the perfect medicine for clearing up whatever is bothering Tohno Akiha's mind.

But more than that, it also allows me to practice my abilities — and more importantly, my ability to keep them in complete control even as I allow my demon blood to take higher control of my senses and thoughts. Any sort of supernatural enemy who takes up residence here will find not just one, but several capable foes here who are all powerful enough to bring them down.

Arcueid-san, by her sheer overwhelming power and force.

Ciel-san, by damning them with the Seventh Holy Scripture. Or "Nanako" as Inui-san calls it.

Nii-san, by cutting or stabbing their lines or points, thus cleaving them or destroying their entire concept.

...Or myself, by literally sucking all of the heat from their body in a matter of moments.

While initially I could not stand Arcueid-san or Ciel-san for being influences on Nii-san's life, I have changed over the last year. It has gone from nonacceptance, to dislike, to tolerance, to acceptance. I will not say I have admiration yet, but I do have high respect for the work they put in, as well as their assistance, and obviously it is naturally better for us all if we can keep our city safe from mutual enemies. There are few people whom I would rather be back-to-back with in a fight than Arcueid-san and Ciel-san.

Nii-san... is a different story. Not only because I would panic if he got severely attacked and risk being taken over, but...

...Well... it would be our rears. And we are family.

...Only because we both choose to be, but I still call him Nii-san, and once in a great while he will call me "Imouto."** Usually he simply calls me by my name, Akiha, but that is fine — he is, after all, my older brother, and so does not have to use such honorifics.

But... besides that... I enjoy hearing how he says it. How he clearly pronounces the "ha" instead of slurring it slightly. A-ki-HA. I will never tire of hearing my name as long as it comes from the lips of Nii-san.

...Plus, speaking of lips... I think about him all the time romantically. If Nii-san were to be touching my rear, I would rather he be doing it with his hands—

I blush furiously and feel something drool down my upper lip. Blood. A nosebleed.

Gah! I, I excited myself it seems. I sniff hard, and swallow the blood that slides down my throat as a result. I get a tissue from the table, wiping my lip and pinching my nose shut with the tissue in place as I tilt my head forward.

...I know it is wrong to love him that way if I truly consider him my brother... but I cannot help it. I love him. I love him with every single cell of my being.

I think, in this situation, one would not be able to help but feel this way for someone. It seems to be a natural reaction, to love someone and want to be one with them, after they do such a tremendous thing as save your life. The only difference is... this was Nii-san. Even though my love for him would override so, so much of what I would otherwise never break... society would never accept, nor understand such a relationship, even with what occurred. To them, the "fact" we are siblings would overrule all other reasons for such a relationship... even if we are not brother and sister by blood, us believing ourselves and reaffirming that we are makes it just as incestuous to society as if it were by blood.

But... to me, none of that matters. All that matters is that ever since he saved my life, I have had these feelings. To most people, this boy is named Tohno Shiki, and always was.

But not to me. After all, I know the truth. And that truth is the day I lost "him" I gained Nii-san. A very good trade, if I may say so.

I unpinch my nose and wipe the inside of my right nostril slightly with the tissue. Seeing no liquid blood on it, I get up and walk over to the wastepaper basket, discarding the used tissue into the garbage. I then sniff slightly once more just to be completely sure the blood has stopped flowing as I walk over and pick up the paper again, sitting down in my chair. How are our business rivals doing, I wonder...?

My thoughts are interrupted as the phone rings — naturally, right after I had sat down. I get up from the chair with a sigh of displeasure and set aside the paper, and then I answer the phone, calmly.

"Tohno residence. Tohno Akiha speaking."

"Ah, Tohno-senpai!" It is Seo Akira.

I glance slightly at the clock. It is shortly after noon. "Good afternoon, Seo. What is it?"

"Ah, well, Souka-san and Hanei-san and I were going to go out to go shopping, since it's a nice day out. But ah, you probably wouldn't be able to, would you, Tohno-senpai? You're awfully tied up in work and stuff, right?"

Hmph. The fat is indeed going to her head after all, if Seo is assuming I am some kind of deviant workaholic! Well, good, less for her chest I suppose.

"Actually, I have finished my work last night," I state. Well, it cannot be a lie, since the papers were done, and the handwriting was definitely mine. Perhaps I "spaced out" as Kohaku put it, and simply do not remember finishing it upon awakening. "Where are you three going to be? I shall meet you there."

"Oh?" She sounds a little surprised.

I almost wish I could reach through the phone and choke her, just a little. She acts as if I never go anywhere or do anything! I am not a hermit, after all — that would be Kishima Kouma.

"Ah, well, we should be at the Midori-chou Mall in about a hour or so," Seo states.

"Alright," I tell her. "I shall be there. Thank you for informing me, Seo."

"Yeah! See you soon, Tohno-senpai!"

She hangs up, as do I. I sigh a bit.

We will have to do our best to keep a good eye on Seo inside of the mall — if she finds something she likes, then we will have to make sure she does not run so far ahead of us that we lose her, and force us to track her down. This is one of the downsides of Seo's excitable personality. Hopefully Hanei and Souka can assist me in reeling her in.

I finish reading the paper, and prepare for my trip.

I go to my room and unlock the safe inside, gathering some money. Since it is only a small trip, I see no reason that I should need more than 50,000 yen, but just in case, I take one of my bank cards as well. It cannot hurt.

I make sure my clothing is perfect. My sweater has no creases in it, my dress is not skewed, my hairband is not allowing my hair to stick out at odd angles. Nothing else will do.

I gather a small purse and put the money and my bank card inside. It is unlikely to be snatched, and if it is, well... that thief had better hope they run into a maze immediately after they do, because if I see them, they will immediately regret taking my purse.

After leaving Hisui and Kohaku a note, I call my driver and await him outside in front of the gate.

It is a nice day today — not too cool, not too warm. Just right. A perfectly flawless late autumn day.

I will cherish every second of it.

* Itadakimasu: Literally "I (humbly) receive." Often said when eating food prepared by another, especially to the cook.

** Imouto: Literally "Little Sister." When written with different kanji, the same word can also mean "Younger sister-in-law."

Though reality for all is relatively relative,
I can have at least the illusion of normalcy.
That, alone, is enough to keep me alive...

Next Week (6/27/10) - Chapter 4: "To Good Friends..."