Author's Note:
Heyo, hope you had a good weekend everybody.
For those that wish to avoid brutality, just skip to end once you see the "?". I'll summarise in the end note.
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23rd of August, 1994
The walk across Sotoba had been anxious and uneventful. Every shadow was a demon in hiding and every lit window was a chance that the bloody duo would be found with perceived murder victims in their hands. Several times they had to stop and rest before quietly continuing their march to the Ozaki clinic. It wasn't a journey filled with chatter, the night had been challenging enough already without having to stomach talking with each other.
When they finally arrived in the Ozaki courtyard, Megumi gently lay the body she carried down as Tohru lumped his burden over his shoulder roughly with a crack of bones. "You should get out of here, ditch those clothes and have a shower. Make a plan to get out of town or find somewhere hidden to stay." The young man said before arranging the bodies side by side in full view of the front windows of the clinic.
"What, why?" She shook her head. "You will look like a psycho if you do this alone, at least with two of us they might pause before throwing us into an asylum."
"With how you look right now, I don't think it'll help." He said with a pointed looked at her blood-stained appearance. "Just go, if they put me away you absolutely must get out of Sotoba. Light your house on fire to convince your family to move if you have to, it's better than death."
"Fine, whatever. I won't argue if you want to take the hit." She barked before turning on her heel, anxious to get home. Gravel crunched under her sneakers as she walked away briskly before pausing slightly as she hit the road. "Don't die." She said over her shoulder.
"Yeah, you too." He said as he went back to work with a grimace.
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Watching the sunrise brought about a rare sense of peace in Tohru's life. He never appreciated the sunrise before, not until he was deprived of the sun did he truly relish the privilege he had as a human. The orange, reds and pinks that spread across the sky were beautiful, he would've loved to watch it for longer, but his plan wouldn't work if he waited for too long.
Hefting his hammer over his shoulder, he threw it as hard as he could through Ozaki's residential window and stood above the covered corpses, waiting. The glass shattered loudly, and muffled curses and shouting echoed from within the apartment built into the side of the clinic. Before long, Toshio's shaggy hair popped out of the broken window with a cigarette burning between his teeth. "What the hell is going here!" He barked angrily before his jaw slackened, the cigarette dropping from his mouth.
Moment of truth…
Sucking in a deep breath, Tohru grabbed a handful of the dolls dress and his own coat that covered the bodies and yanked them away. Immediately the flesh began to lightly fizzle, blister and pop in the early morning light. "Haven't you wondered about all the deaths lately?" No reaction came from the doctor who seemed to be frozen in place. "The family that moved into Kanemasa are okiagari, Doctor! Look, don't you see them burning in the sunlight?"
Ozaki's head disappeared from the window briefly before her reappeared out the front door of the clinic wearing a hastily thrown on robe and slippers before running over to the boy. "What have you done, Tohru?" he demanded before witnessing the flesh of each body combusting before his very eyes. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air, but there was no trace of petrol or any other accelerant to be detected. "I don't understand, okiagari don't exist."
"Doctor, please listen to me." Tohru pleaded. "They aren't human, they are blood suckers, vampires!" Shaking his head, "I know it is hard to believe, but look! They burn in the sunlight, they don't die until you destroy their heart and they drink blood."
"Okiagari? Vampires? Have you gone insane?"
"Listen, both Megumi Shimizu and Natsuno Yuuki can back me up! I protected them both from these things. You'll see the bite marks. Haven't you noticed insect bites on all the deaths lately?" He asked, pleased when recognition dawn on the doctor's face. "You have seen them! Every victim that you studied before their death, they were fatigued and were suffering from anaemia, right?" He continued. "Weren't you confused where the blood was going? These things," pointing at the bodies that had been fully consumed in fire by this point, "have been drinking it!"
Taking a step back shaking his head, Ozaki slowly drew a cigarette from his robes and lit it. "This is impossible." Taking a deep drag from his smoke and cutting Tohru off before he could speak again. "This is impossible, but so are spontaneously combusting bodies. Besides, I know his face." Pointing at Takatoshi with his cigarette. "He died a couple of weeks ago and now, here he is."
Tohru looked back to the sunrise to admire it where he noticed smoke rising across town. "Looks like Megumi took my advice."
Ozaki hummed before looking where Tohru was pointing. "What do you mean?"
"Okiagari can only enter homes when they've been invited. I killed the one that had access to hers but there was no telling if more had been invited or not, I suggested lighting it up and finding somewhere untainted to stay."
"They can't enter without being invited, what's next, crosses and garlic?" The doctor tried to joke grimly.
Shaking his head Tohru replied, "Some things are true, some are not. We have a lot to talk about, Doctor."
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Hours later, the bodies had burned down to skeletons and were carefully disposed of with the Doctor's help. The doctor offered the use of his shower and incinerated his bloody clothes, offering surgical scrubs for him to use and clinic bed to catch up some sleep while he could.
Before long, the Shimizu family arrived covered in ash with tears in their eyes. Ozaki had taken them all away for inspection, before sending Megumi out again after her inspection was finished. She simply gave him a nod before taking another clinic bed and falling asleep in her exhaustion.
When all the staff arrived in the morning to find Tohru and Megumi unconscious, Mr Mutou rushed to his son's bedside. "Tohru! Tohru, are you alright?" Shaking his son awake with both hands.
The boy startled awake, eyes wild before recognising his father. "Wh-What! Oh, hey Dad." His mouth turned up into a sheepish grin. "What's up?"
Takeshi Mutou was a patient man, he was not an irrational man. He wasn't one who gave into bouts of emotion. "Do you have any idea how worried I was when we realised you weren't at the house, young man!" Tohru was about to answer when his father cut him off with a raised finger. "Imagine waking up to find your son missing with a fire going on nearby! How could you be so irresponsible?"
Tohru had no idea how to explain away his whereabouts. He simply blinked owlishly before letting out, "I went for a walk."
"You went for a walk…" Mutou stood disbelieving before his son and his lack of explanation. "Why the hell would you go for a walk that early in the morning, why are you here wearing scrubs?"
With a chuckle, the good doctor entered the room rubbing his stubble. "I can answer that for you, Mr Mutou." He planted a friendly hand on his accountant's shoulder, leaned in and stage whispered. "I woke up this morning to the boy on my doorstep kneeling with his forehead on the ground begging me to hire him as an orderly. Said he wanted to do his part for the community." He finished with a smirk toward Tohru and winked.
Mutou looked dumbfounded, before he slowly turned to his son. "I am so proud of you son." He said with a hitch in his voice before leaning in for a hug. "You are in so much trouble, young man." He promised into Tohru's ear.
Turning to the girl in the bed besides Tohru's, Ozaki continued. "Also, Megumi." Her head poked out for the blankets blearily. "I've organised with your family that while your new house is being built you will also be working as my orderly. You can both stay here as you will be working late nights after school, if that's okay with you Mutou?"
"Yeah, this is an excellent opportunity for the boy to learn some responsibility." He assented whilst his arm tightened painfully on Tohru's neck.
"Good, I'm glad we got that all worked out." Smirked Ozaki before wandering out of the room.
"This has nothing to do with nurse Ritsuko, hmmmmm?" Growled Takeshi as he rubbed his fist through his son's ahir.
Oh yeah… Maybe you aren't so bad, Doc.
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The day was painful to say the least. His father forced him to go to school, leaving Megumi behind after her 'tragic ordeal'. He proceeded to spend the day sleeping through his lessons secure in the knowledge that Ozaki promised to admit Natsuno and his mother into the clinic. He believed that a blood transfusion would speed up their recovery and keep them safe within an untainted residence. Mr Yuuki would put up heavy resistance at first, but the doctor would bring him around, especially with an offer to let him come too.
They would be safe for the night at the very least, and with their cover as orderlies, Megumi and Tohru would work with the doctor to stamp out the corruption over running Sotoba. With a content smile he rested against a tree enjoying the sun of the school courtyard before a shadow passed over him. "Hey Masao, can't you see I'm trying to nap here?"
"Hey" chirped a friendly voice, instantly causing his heart to clench. "Sorry to wake you." He opened his eyes to man he feared most.
Tatsumi
"Here, allow me to make it up to you." He smiled before bringing his boot down like a tonne of bricks.
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?
He had no perception of time down here, it could have been days or hours for all he knew. He recognised the brick walls and the lone staircase in the dim light provided by a solitary flickering cancel in the middle of the Kirishiki basement. A lone, small figure sat on a crimson velvet couch casually flipping through a book as she had done for as long as he had been here, paying no particular attention to him. She hadn't spoken to him yet, and he felt no need to speak to her. He knew he would die here, there was no need to provoke a more painful death, however. She never left the room, and no one ever entered, so it couldn't have been more than a night for she hadn't slept nor fed. Although, he suspected that was what he was here for.
His mind felt groggy, slow as if he had stayed up for a full night playing videogames. He didn't feel as if he had been bitten, that was a different feeling entirely. Shiki venom felt more like a heavy blanket being thrown over his head than this. Despite the discomfort, he was actually glad for the haziness of his mind. It took away from the pain his body was in.
Tatsumi's size 9 definitely left a mark on his face. He couldn't breath through his nose which was without a doubt broken, yet he couldn't check. His hands were in the worst shape, what with the railway spike penetrated through them both into the stone wall behind him, forcing him to half stand. Sunako had silently put him in that situation when he first awoke in the cellar, not acknowledging his screams or her short stature which didn't allow her to stake his hands to the wall at a comfortable height. This left him without a moment of rest. He could not stand straight without rotating his hands around the spike, but he couldn't sit down either for it was too high. If he were to try, he would split his hands in half.
In short, not a fun place to be.
The girl seemed content enough to leave him be which at first seemed like a blessing, but it had very quickly proved to be false. She was torturing him, he just didn't realise it until his legs started to tire. She didn't need to hit him with more spikes or peel each of his fingers like bananas, all she needed was the one railroad spike and time. Flipping another page of her thick, leather bound book her eyes flashed up to him and back again almost imperceptibly.
What was she waiting for, and why was she starting to show impatience? He was the one with his hands mangled above him.
Again, another flicker.
With a deafening thud, the book slammed closed before being discarded onto the knee height coffee table beside her as she jumped onto her feet. She strode slowly, quietly toward him with frustration plain on her face. Lifting his face by the chin, she drew his eyes up to meet her own. "Where is Chizuru?"
Probably in a junkyard somewhere being picked apart by seagulls?
"Who is that?" He dared to bluff. It mustn't have been very convincing as her eyes narrowed and reach up with her free hand to tug sharply on one of his arms. Flaming hot pain lanced from his hand at the spike cut through flesh and bone.
"Where is my daughter, Hunter!" she hissed, red eyes flaming with a hatred he had never seen in his previous life. She had always been gracious toward him, but right now she was livid. Where Tatsumi would've jumped right into the torture with glee, she almost seemed to hate it. Maybe she would stop if he simply told the truth?
After his screams finally died down and he could spit the bile that filled his throat out, he answered. "She's gone."
Sunako threw his head back, impacting the with the brickwork behind him. Though his world was reeling from the blow, he could just make out the tears prickling her eyes as she paced back and forth across the room. "And her body?" She whispered.
"Gone, taken away by a dump truck." He admitted defeated. He just hoped she would make it quick.
"I see." She said, her voice flat. Dead.
Before he realised she had moved, she was on him. Cold lips pressed against his neck, fangs searing into his muscles deeply before she pushed herself off him just as quickly. He could feel the venom tearing its way through his system before the thick fog passed over his mind, dulling the burning in his hands even further.
"You will make no attempt to escape, nor to harm myself nor my family. Is that understood?" Her voice rang from her mouth, her eyes, his own mind.
"I understand." He could do nothing but drone obediently.
"Good, now come with me. Now." She commanded before walking up the staircase in the corner of the room, back to the surface.
No! Don't do it!
With slow, sluggish steps his feet shifted below him before his knees straightened, lifting him to full standing height. The mechanic movement of his body and the lack of a physical reaction were purely external. His mind shook with pure horror and excruciating pain as his hands ground against the spike mounting him to the wall like a trophy. His blood ran thickly down the cobbled brick work, slowly running along the grooves to pool on the floor in an ever-widening puddle.
No matter how hard he tried, Tohru couldn't stop his body from obeying its commands. His feet shambled away from the wall, not caring for the resistance his hands found. Bone and meat gave way to cold unyielding metal as he moved from his open cell.
His body continued to walk in a trance as his mind shut off, hands dangling at his sides after being torn in half. Up the stairs the living corpse went where it found Sunako standing beside several bound people who he would have once recognised as family.
"You took family from me, young man." She seethed at the flesh puppet. "Is it not fair that I take yours from you?"
"It sounds completely fair." The body droned.
"I'm glad you agree. Kill them."
As commanded, the body did the demon's bidding. It shambled forth with mutilated hands and blank, expressionless eyes. They were the last thing each member of his family saw as he performed his grim task.
When all was over, even Sunako looked sick with disgust. Vengeance hadn't provided relief, nor did it provide escape from her grief. With a shake of her head she simply left the room, requesting that Tatsumi clean up after her.
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Author's Notes:
TL;DR: Tohru gets tortured, compelled to kill his family and killed by Tatsumi.
Ah, the loop was going so well for you too, Mate!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, dark as it is.
Tohru must take some L's I'm afraid before he can earn some W's.
An eye for an eye never leaves you satisfied as Sunako finds, all it does is bring you down as well.