To Kill My Master

Prologue

Somewhere in Europe, Year 1566 in the Julian calendar

Leoric couldn’t stand still. There was something in the air that cold and misty night, and his heart hadn't stopped drumming. He took slow, deep breaths. He was just being silly, his imagination running wild again each time they entered the abbey. After all, a young man had no business being in a complex full of women. 

Leoric closed his eyes, imagining his lips tingled by cider before he went to sleep, when a sound extinguished the oil lamp he held. The full moon provided enough illumination at the abbey’s courtyard, but not enough to quell Leoric’s rising fears as he looked toward the large oak doors. 

“Did someone knock? At this time?” 

He strained to listen, a slight creak, before the sound of the metal knocker echoed like the church bells tolling in the morning. 

Then, a woman’s voice followed, “Sanctuary, sanctuary, lend me sanctuary!” 

Leoric almost ran to the door when he realized he shouldn’t be in the abbey in the first place. Whoever was seeking sanctuary was none of his business. 

“Lord Finnian!” 

He turned on his heel as he saw a line of glowing amber heading toward him. Lord Finnian’s fair skin glowed brighter than the moon. 

“My Lord,” Leoric curtsied. “I’m afraid we must leave in haste.” 

His sire didn’t answer, his eyes firmed at the door as the voice pleaded, “Sanctuary, please, please help.” 

The older nun, whom Leoric knew as Sister Marcela, was prepared to take over, but the lord stopped him with his arm. “I will see to this.” 

The other nuns behind him protested, but Lord Finnian didn’t listen. Leoric knew his lordship never listened. Men like him thinks their opinion matters above all else except for the King. The old man walked toward the door and instructed Leoric, “Open it.” 

Leoric could only nod, and a bone-chilling energy flowed in as he opened the door. Outside might be dark and eerie, but one couldn’t deny the beauty of the woman outside. High cheekbones and patrician nose, qualities expected those of noble lineage. However, her clothes revealed she came from a meager background. Her hands wrapped protectively around her bulging belly, while she appeared startled, probably wondering why men opened the door.

“Do you seek sanctuary?” asked Lord Finnian. 

The woman didn’t answer immediately, her eyes darted from Leoric to Lord Finnian and to the nuns behind them. 

“Do you think you have the time to dilly-dally?” asked Lord Finnian, and the woman looked behind her. The mist was thick with the general feeling of doom. Leoric couldn’t see anyone, but he could hear the neigh of horses and a few clanking. 

“Who could be chasing an unmarried and pregnant woman?” he thought.

“Aye,” replied the woman, and Leoric couldn’t place her accent. She sounded unsure whether she wanted to sound educated or some hooker. “Please lend us sanctuary.” 

It was only for a split second, but Leoric swore a tiniest ripple of smile broke Lord Finnian’s stony face. He couldn’t recall seeing his lordship smile, ever. Leoric even thought Lord Finnian was simply not capable of such an act. 

“We will grant you sanctuary on one condition—”

Leoric saw the nuns flabbergasted at the suggestion, but no one stepped in. 

“-- my wish is for your son to grow up and protect my offsprings.” 

It was Leoric’s turn to be gobsmacked for two reasons. First, how did Lord Finnian know the unborn was a boy? Second, as far as Leoric knew, Lord Finnian had no heirs or bastards to speak of. Which offspring was he referring to? 

The woman’s brow furrowed, she didn’t seem surprised Lord Finnian knew of her child’s gender, before she knelt to a deep bow. 

“Your wish is my command, sir.” 

“Gylda, will you please direct her to her room?” 

Gylda, the youngest of the four nuns behind Lord Finnian, stepped out of the darkness. Her delicate face was void of any expression, but she gave the pregnant woman her most sympathetic smile as she helped her inside. 

“And close the door, Leoric, we won’t be going home soon.” 

“Yes, sir.” Leoric closed the door, but not before the mist cleared out a bit, and he saw what seemed like a cavalry with their lances pointed at the door. 

“Good Lord, just who was that woman?”

Chapter 1

Present year, 2026 of the Gregorian calendar 

Hokuto hated the sound of fireworks, explosions, or anything remotely similar. The sounds made him squirm, so he needed to ground himself and move more quickly to make up for the seconds he wasted. He took a deep breath and focused his eyes on the prize. Hokuto knew there was no better time than now. He moved closer to his prey while trying to cancel the noise. The scent of beer and perfume followed him as he positioned himself behind his target and clicked. His target grew frozen, and everyone was too absorbed in the fireworks to notice the man next to them was no longer with them. Hokuto acted like an annoyed bystander who had to suffer because someone couldn’t handle their drink, and no one thought something was amiss as he irritably stepped away. 

“Quick and easy. Always.”

The fireworks continued, and Hokuto stopped by the toilet. He needed to drown the noise first, so he turned the faucet on full blast and tried his best to distract himself with the sound of gushing water. 

“Fucking fireworks, when will it be over?” 

His head started hurting, and his pulses were thumping loudly along his temples down to his neck. He made a mental note that moving forward, he would never accept a job on New Year’s Eve. It wasn’t like he needed the money that badly; it was definitely not passion either. 

“So why do you kill?” A little voice inside his head asked as Hokuto buried his fingers on his face.

“You can borrow this—”

It happened so fast before Hokuto could even open his eyes. He pinned the man’s lithe arms behind his back that made him bend at the waist and lean toward the sink. 

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

Hokuto found himself staring at a clearly angry man. 

“Insanely pretty for a man,” thought Hokuto. The man’s baseball cap couldn’t hide his androgynous features, while his flared nostrils were breathing fire as he glared at Hokuto through the mirror. 

“Unhand me–now!” 

Hokuto didn’t comply, of course, and the man could only try to thrash around while Hokuto kept his arms locked. 

“Who sent you?” 

“Who sent me?” The man repeated, definitely angrier now, “The fuck are you on about?” 

“Again, who—” Then, Hokuto noticed it. He was too preoccupied to see it, but he was wearing a black wireless headphones. 

“Oh!” The realization made Hokuto loosen his grip and set the man free. He grumbled while he massaged his arms and threw Hokuto daggers with his eyes. 

“This is what I get for being nice…” The man complained when the door opened and two men came in. Both were hammered, their faces red and their steps staggered as they went straight to the urinal. 

“You think that bloke died?” One asked. 

“Probably. Or maybe just very drunk?” 

Their conversation brought Hokuto back to the present. He should have left minutes ago, and so he did, taking the headphones with him, and leaving a speechless and fuming man. 

***

“My New Year’s resolution is that I’ll be nicer, but I’m taking that back now. No more Mr. Nice Guy,” complained Taiga. He was still incensed. Not only did his arms hurt, but he just been manhandled by a guy he tried to help. 

Kochi, his manager and confidante, checks his watch. “That was quick, can’t wait until we’re done with the shrine visit? Where are your headphones?” 

Taiga sighed. He waited for at least six months for those headphones, and he just gave them away to someone ungrateful. “You don’t want to know.” 

He now regrets agreeing to a fan meeting/new year countdown. He should have been a good son instead and eaten ozoni with his parents. But he felt compelled to please his loyal fans who never left him after last year’s fiasco that almost ended his career. If he were being honest about it, his career might never really take off. 

“By the way, did something happen in the next room?” There were paramedics, and Taiga thinks he also saw a couple of police officers when he was done at the toilet. He didn’t bother staying around; flashing lights in the colors of blue and green terrified him. 

“Seems like someone died at the private party next door.” 

“Oh…?” 

“Uhm, about that…” Kochi fidgeted and on his seat, and he could tell he wouldn’t like whatever Kochi would say next.

“We might have to go to the police station tomorrow.”

Taiga was just as stunned as he was bent over his waist earlier. “W-what?” 

“Well, you see, the police wanted everyone on the floor to be interviewed about the guy who just died.” 

Taiga still didn’t get it. “Didn’t that person die next door?” 

“Uhm, yeah, they just wanted everyone’s testimonies but–” Kochi said quickly upon seeing Taiga’s mounting anger, “-- if the forensics ruled it as natural death, there’s no need for us to come.” 

Taiga let out a sigh of relief. Dealing with the police was something he didn’t enjoy, and he didn’t think anyone enjoyed it either unless they were Detective Conan.

“As much as I hate death, I hope that person died of natural causes.” 

“I hope so, too,” agreed Kochi. “By the way, an offer came. A Netflix drama.” 

Taiga’s mood instantly changed. The rude guy and the threat of visiting the police station were lightyears away from his mind. 

“I don’t know what it is, but I’m agreeing now. You may say yes.” 

Kochi didn’t even appear surprised that Taiga agreed so readily. Kochi understood Taiga’s thirst for work. It was never about the money; it was all about passion. 

“Are you sure?” 

Taiga nodded. “Never been sure about anything.” 

Kochi took out his phone, and after a few taps, he showed Taiga his DMs. “This is the producer, do you know him?”

Taiga checked the name, and his eyes widened. “Fuck.”

Kochi smirked, satisfied with Taiga’s reaction. “Don’t worry, you won’t get fuck here. He promised it’ll be a very wholesome Boys Love.” 

Taiga shut his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he received a BL offer. His looks and body ticked all the boxes of an uke stereotype. But as he repeatedly told anyone, if anyone is doing the giving, it would be him. 

“Kill me,” muttered Taiga. 

“How did you know the title?” 

He opened his eyes. “What do you mean?” 

“The title,” Kochi repeated. “Kill me, Heal me.” 

***

“Thank you for healing me, sensei.”

“I didn’t do anything special,” said Hokuto as he closed a hand on his patient. “But please don’t play with knives ever.”

The kid nodded, and his eyes became teary again. He left the dressing to the nurse, finished all his Doctor's Notes in the EMR, and then went back to the sleeping quarters. He felt like a resident again, working his ass off during all the long holidays while his seniors enjoyed the New Year holiday with their families. 

“Family, huh?” He just recalled why he’d rather work his ass off. He had no family to return to for the holidays. The sleeping quarters were empty for a change, but it still smelled of struggle and body odor. He eyed the wireless black headphones sitting on the shared desk. He should give it back. Upon searching, he learned that the headphones were a customized kind. The owner’s hearing capabilities and sensitivities were assessed for maximum comfort and listening. 

“Should I ask someone to locate him? I really don’t like asking this kind of favor.” He thought when the door opened and Hokuto smiled sleazily. 

“You’re the senior resident tonight?” asked Hokuto. 

“You’re the fellow?” Shintaro clarified, punching Hokuto lightly on the shoulder. 

Hokuto sneered. “Not anymore. I’ve been working for like 24 hrs, I’m going home.” He started changing clothes when he realized Shintaro had been staring intently at him.

“Sorry, I’m not a fan of office romance,” he joked.

Shintaro slapped his shoulder again, a bit harder this time. “Were you at Toranomon Hills on New Year’s Eve? There’s a sky bar there.” 

Hokuto pulled a fresh shirt over his head and gave Shintaro a confused look. “Do I look like I was partying last night? Oh…the ozoni Mita-san made tasted like it had sake in it.”

Shintaro giggled. “Knowing Mita-san…” he said about the ED’s head nurse, “...it probably has, and yeah, it couldn’t have been you. Do you even know how to party?”

Everyone at the hospital knew about Hokuto’s introverted ass, and he decided to continue the pity route. “So you were partying at some sky bar, huh? While I’m–I’m back to being a slave.” They used to joke that in the hospital hierarchy, residents are the slaves, while the fellows are the semi-slaves. Their professions looked good on paper, but their working conditions were just pure slavery. 

“Nah!” Shintaro denied. “I was just there to support my brother for his, like, comeback.” 

Hokuto felt like a cad. “Oh…brother.” So Shintaro has a brother. Hokuto was never to type to ask about one’s family for the sole reason that he didn’t want the question returned to him. 

“Comeback? Is your brother in K-pop?” 

Shintaro gasped and started slow clapping. 

Hokuto placed a hand on his chest. “Should I be insulted?”

“Sorry,” said Shintaro, still smiling widely, “But I never, in a million years, would think you’ll connect comeback and K-pop.”

Hokuto decided he should be insulted. “I do have a life,” he argued when, in reality, he just overheard the nurses talking about a comeback stage of some K-pop group. 

Someone knocked on the door before it revealed a mousy-looking resident who needed Shintaro. They said quick goodbyes, and Hokuto was on his way out when his work phone pinged. It was Juri, his handler at what he called his side job. 

“New assignment.” The email subject reads. Hokuto clicked the email with an attachment of his next target. Hokuto downloaded the jpeg file, and all the fatigue left his body. 

“Hokuto!” 

He turned and saw Shintaro hurrying with a brown bag. “Happy New Year!” 

“You shouldn’t have–”

“Take it,” said Shintaro, practically shoving the bag at him. “So, do you have plans tomorrow?” 

He clenched his hand on his phone. “Ah, yeah, I’ve got to return these headphones to its owner.”

Somewhere in Europe, Year 1567-1583 in the Julian and Gregorian calendars (1582)

Leoric watched not only the changing of seasons but also the birth of the chosen son six months later. The then woman is now called Sarah, a name she chose after she was baptized, and she decided to name her newborn after Lord Finnian. Leoric didn’t think it was right, but the name fits the baby more than his lordship. “Finnian” means “fair” and “white", and the boy is white as snow. Later that year, his lordship married a woman 20 years younger than him. Her ladyship went on to give Lord Finnian a girl the following year, followed by two boys and another girl to complete Lord Finnian’s family. 

Leoric watched the kids grow up side-by-side, but one couldn’t deny his lordship’s affection for the little Finnian, or as he preferred to be called, Finn. Eventually, and as Leoric expected, Lord Finnian’s kids developed a visceral jealousy toward Finn. Leoric couldn’t blame them. Finn grew up with dashing good looks and a brain that even the most snobbish school offered him a placement. Finn wasn't brought up like a servant that was expected of him, but he was given the education only reserved for the nobility. And it was no surprise that Lord Finnian's kids bullied Finn each time they got the chance, and Finn never breathed a word of complaint. Leoric decided to be the narc and told the lord about it, and he was surprised by his response, “Let it be, it would make him stronger.” 

When Finn turned 16, Lord Finnian announced that he and Finn would be going on a one-year trip. The biological kids all hated it, but none of them could stop it. Leoric also went with them, and both he and Finn had no idea where they were headed. It was a long, grueling journey that  Leoric could only thank the heavens for making it alive.

 “Where are we, my Lord?” asked Finn after they got off the ship. 

“In a place where you’ll be finally fulfilling your role.” 

Leoric frowned. Finn’s role is to protect Lord Finnian’s kids, and none of those kids are with them now, unless…

Not far from them stood a mother and son. Except for the almond eyes, the boy was the spitting image of younger Lord Finnian, from angular jaw to celestial nose. 

Leoric thought he knew his lordship well, but he guessed he didn’t know Lord Finnian at all. 

The mother prodded her son to step forward. The kid might be the same age as Finn, but shorter and thinner. He took his time reaching Lord Finnian until they were a couple of steps apart. 

“F-father?” The boy said, his accent rugged. 

Lord Finnian acknowledged him with a nod and turned to Finn. “Finn, this is my sole heir, whom you will serve from now on.”

***

Present year, 2026

“Ignorance is bliss” was how Hokuto operated as a contract killer. The less he knew, the better. He didn’t enter this world with a vendetta or a strong sense of justice. Outcast from his family, he needed a high-paying job to finance his studies, and an opportunity came. People think John Wick is cool, but he’s just a hitman like Hokuto is, and there’s nothing glamorous about it. Having someone else’s blood on your hands was nothing worth romanticizing. 

“Hmmm, this is the first time you asked about your assignment,” said Juri. Hokuto could picture his handler smirking. Juri might even find his curiosity cute. 

In their world, there are four levels of hierarchy; the fourth one is their assignment, their target, and as represented by the kanji shi (死). Third in the hierarchy are the contractors to which Hokuto belonged; second are the handlers, such as Juri, and the spotters, who are responsible for the recruits. First on the hierarchy are those whom they call the “Patriarchs”, a group of 9 men, or women, probably, who control the entire organization. 

Hokuto put down his phone. Kyomoto Taiga was easily searchable on Google. He even has his own Wikipedia page. A second-generation actor, he debuted in one of his father’s movies at 16 years old. Taiga went on to star in supporting roles in different dramas and movies, and it looked like he would just continue doing so until his tearjerker movie, where he starred as a dying second-male lead, caught everyone’s heart. Since then, he became a lead in dramas, joined a popular drama franchise, and hosted a midnight radio show where his unhinged MC style became a hit. However, Taiga’s just-blossomed career met a setback when an actress was found dead at his apartment. He was acquitted of murder, but the public hasn’t warmed up to him yet.

“Let’s just say that I sort of owe him,” said Hokuto as he twirled the headphones around his finger. So far, all of Hokuto’s targets were unknown to him, and Taiga would be the first. Not an acquaintance, but not a stranger either. 

“So you’re having doubts?” Juri challenged. 

“Have I ever turned down a job?” He challenged back. He never turned down a job, and he didn’t want to find out what would happen if he ever did. 

There was silence at the other line, and Hokuto thought Juri was gone until Juri cleared his throat. “I trust you, Hokuto,” said Juri, and Hokuto could detectthat  Juri’s trust was laced with threat. 

“Anyway, you fucked up your last job,” added Juri.  

He straightened in his seat. “I never fucked up,” he argued, insulted. 

“Kyomoto went back to the location to review the CCTV. My source says he was clearly looking for you.” 

Hokuto looked at the headphones and sighed. “He could just be looking for me because of the headphones.” 

“What headphones?” 

“Long story.” 

“Whatever, I don’t make the calls, Hokuto. Kyomoto was ordered to be gone. If you don’t do it, someone else surely will, so what’s your call?” 

Hokuto sighed again. His moment of weakness because of the bloody fireworks would be someone else’s demise. A foreign feeling crept up his chest, but he quickly shook it off. It was just a job, nothing personal. 

“As I’ve said earlier, I never fucked up.” 

***

“Has this man been here to give his statement?” asked Taiga before he glared at Kochi for kicking his shin. They just arrived at the police station for voluntary questioning on what happened on New Year’s day but Taiga only had one goal; he realized he wanted his headphones back. 

“I like you better when you don’t want to step in here,” said Kochi in gritted teeth. Taiga avoided anything police-related after that ordeal. Being questioned by the police traumatized him more than the crime they were accusing him of. 

“Can’t you just buy another one?” Kochi prodded. 

“I checked, the waiting time is now 8 months, so no.” 

“Who am I looking at?” asked the sleepy-looking police officer, or maybe he was sleeping while on the job, judging from his tangled shirt.

“He took my headphones.” 

“And you want to file a complaint–”

“Oh no, not that. Let’s just say I let him borrow it, but I didn’t get his name, so I was wondering…maybe?” 

The police officer raised an eyebrow while he mixed his instant coffee using what looked like a ruler. 

“Do you know how many people were next door?”

“Uhm, a hundred?” He guessed.

“Two hundred. They exceeded the 150 capacity, and if those 200 would come here, do you think I could recall every name and face?”

Taiga lightly shook his head.

“And if ever I can recall who is who, do you think I will just give you their contact details?”

“Well, I was hoping–” 

“I apologize on his behalf, officer,” Kochi cuts in, forcing him to back off with another kick on his shin. 

“But–”

“We’ve wasted your time, we’re leaving.”

“Aren’t we supposed to give our statement of that night?” asked Taiga. 

“Oh yeah,” replied Kochi, looking deflated, they still had to stay. 

The officer sighed, his face screamed he’d rather have his morning coffee than deal with two psychos. “You guys were in the next room, right?” He asked, dragging his voice.

Taiga nodded.

“Did you, any time before or during the fireworks, go out of the room, and have a chance to see the deceased?” The officer pulled two photographs from his drawer. One is a blow-up of his driver’s license, while the other is a crop from someone else’s SNS post that night. Taiga didn’t want to speak ill of the dead, but there was nothing that stood out about the man except for his emerald Rolex watch that Taiga’s dad also owned. Taiga surmised that he could have seen the man, and his attention would be on his watch and not his face. 

Kochi answered first, “I stayed in the room until after the fireworks, and when I went out before the fireworks, I don’t recall running into him.”

“Same,” said Taiga. “I went out during the fireworks where I saw him,” he said instead, raising the CCTV shot outside the men’s toilet.

The officer ignored his quip and asked, “Did you two see anyone you think looks suspicious?”

“Suspicious?” Kochi clarified, and a light bulb turned on in Taiga’s head.

“Was he killed?” He gasped.

The officer showed no signs that Taiga was correct. “We don’t suspect foul play, and we’ve received nothing from forensics yet.”

“Ah…” he mumbled.

“So did you see anyone suspicious?”

Taiga wanted to say that thinking someone is suspicious is very judgmental, but he held his tongue. “I don’t think anyone is suspicious. We were all there to welcome the New Year.”

“Okay,” the officer turned to the foreign-looking chap next to him. The man’s skin is as fair as Taiga’s, but unlike Taiga, the man is so buff that the thread of his sleeves was fighting to survive until Lunar New Year. 

“Lewis, give them forms to fill out their contact details so they can be on their way.”

“Yes, sergeant!” 

“Lewis? Is he half-Japanese?” thought Taiga as the robust man handed them forms and pens. When they were done, Kochi literally dragged him away until they reached their car.

“I knew you were up to something when you wanted to go to the police,” muttered Kochi. “And when did you go there to check their CCTV? How did you even get that?” 

“The staff were fans of my dad,” he said glumly. He was still feeling dejected; everything he did was for naught.

“Let’s just buy another pair of headphones, please, let’s avoid a scandal–” They both turned when someone knocked on Taiga’s window. 

“Officer Lewis?” Taiga asked as he opened his door. “Did we forget something?”

“Ah, no, uhm,” Lewis looked around him before continuing. “By the way, let’s not be formal and just call me Jesse.”

Taiga and Kochi exchanged wary glances. “O-kay, Jesse.”

“Uhm, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop earlier, but about the CCTV photo you showed…”

Hope soared in Taiga as he pulled out the photo again. “Have you seen him?!”

“I think he looks familiar, but I need to check again.”

“You can take it,” he said, shoving the pictures into his hands. 

“Uhm, okay, and here’s my card–”

Kochi took the card before Taiga could grab it. “Just contact me if there’s anything related to that man,” said Kochi, handing Jesse his card.

Jesse studied his card and said, “Okay, I’ll give you a call then.” 

“You will tell me if he calls, right?” asked Taiga. 

“I will tell you, but I’ll deal with this moving forward.”

“Kochi, it’s just a stranger and my headphones, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Kochi caught his eyes through the rearview mirror. “What’s the worst that could happen? Have you forgotten what happened?” 

Taiga avoided Kochi’s eyes. A distant memory of crimson blood on his white tiles flashed in his mind. “Fine. I’ll leave it to you.”

 ***

Quick and easy is how Hokuto operates. Some contract killers would leave their signature on the job, but if Hokuto could disappear like a ghost, he would have done it. In the three days that Hokuto followed Taiga, he concluded that approaching him again would be the best move.

“If I knew this would happen, I would have killed him back in the toilet.” 

Taiga rarely went out of his apartment, and if he did, it was for work, and he was always with his manager, who also chauffeured him around. Although there were times when Taiga went out for a meal on his own, he always went to restaurants with few customers, so there would be no chance for Hokuto to accidentally bump into him and kill him. Hokuto also noticed that Taiga was very cautious; he never strayed to a dark alley, he always surveyed a place before entering, and, unlike most people nowadays, Hokuto never saw Taiga on his phone when he walked or ate. It was like going out was a chore for Taiga, and he needed it to be over with, no room for distractions or whatsoever.

“Was he always careful, or did that scandal change him?” Hokuto thought as he watched Taiga get out of his service car, and he waited until Taiga was inside his apartment building. 

“Game.” Hokuto wore Taiga’s headphones, linked them to his phone, and King Gnu’s “Chameleon” flowed swiftly to his ears. Just like a chameleon, Hokuto isn’t a doctor who moonlights as an assassin, but he’s one of the crew of ‘Move It’ that would be helping their client move in 6S. 

And Taiga living next door is just a fortunate accident. 

“Serendipity, is that what fools call it?”

Present year, 2026...

“Taiga, you’re my son, and you should always remember that not everyone who approaches you has good intentions.”

“It’s a kind of magic to wake-up exactly before you arrive at home,” thought Taiga after he opened his eyes and saw the van alight at his apartment. He stretched his arms above and wide, forcing his blood to wake. 

“I had a weird dream about my dad,” he told Kochi as he stretched his neck. 

“Maybe it’s a sign that you should call your parents.” 

“I called them last New Year,” he said and changed the topic, “Will you tell me everything about your meeting with Jesse?”

“I will even record it for you,” replied Kochi without looking up from his phone. 

“Can’t I just–?”

“No,” said Kochi firmly. “We’ve talked about this.” 

Taiga sighed. Kochi usually spoils him, but he can be really strict when it matters. 

“Just take a rest, you have a chemistry read tomorrow with your potential co-stars.”

Taiga sighed again. He still didn’t want to do the BL movie, but arguing with Kochi wouldn’t raise his chances of joining the meeting with Jesse. 

“Fine, but promise you will call me?” 

“I will, I will,” Kochi repeated with impatience. 

Taiga also bid his stylist goodbye before going down. He saw a movers truck and hoped whoever it was, it wouldn’t be moving next door to him. He finally had a moment of peace after his neighbor finally had an epiphany that maybe being a violin player wasn’t his calling. 

He reached his floor and all his hopes collapsed. The new tenant is not only moving right next to him, but judging from the strollers, cribs, and play mats, Taiga would have to deal with kids this time around. He could only shake his head as he approached his unit and saw that one of the movers was wearing something similar to his headphones, and before he could turn in his key, he gave the mover another look. 

The man stood a few inches taller than him; he had broad shoulders, and he couldn’t see his hair because of the bonnet he wore, but the headphones seemed to be calling Taiga. The man turned to his side, and seeing the man’s slim nose and angular jaw, Taiga gasped. 

“You!” 

His voice must have been louder than he intended, because the man glanced back at him.

“Oh!” He pushed one ear of the headphones back. “It’s you.”

Taiga found the casualness irritating. He crossed his arms and said, “I see that you’re making good use of my headphones.” 

“The sound is good.”

“Of course it is, now, hand it over.”

The man looked confused. “Didn’t you give this to me?”

Taiga blinked twice, dumbfounded at the audacity. “Most definitely not! That headphone had been customized for me–”

The man giggled and removed the headphones fully. “Just kidding. I’m glad to run into you. Do you live here?” He asked, looking at Taiga’s keys in his hand.

“Yeah, I do. Here in 6T.”

“I see, can I use your toilet for a bit?”

Taiga frowned. Does their need for a toilet somehow connect them?  “Why don’t you pee there?” He asked, pointing at 6S’s door. 

“I think the toilet is clogged.”

“Eew, okay, but hand me my head–” He didn’t get to finish what he had to say as the man placed his headphones on Taiga’s head.

“Unusual song choice,” he said upon hearing The Carpenters ‘Close to You’. The man just smiled and patted the headband part of his headphones.

Taiga turned to open his door. “Toilet is just over there…” He didn’t get to continue as color drained from his face. 

***

Hokuto made more customization with Taiga’s headphones. All Hokuto needed was a tiny compartment to hold a nerve agent, which would be released once he pressed it on Taiga’s head. 

“And I just have to make sure he’s dead.” 

“Toilet is just over there–”

Hokuto’s vision doubled as he clutched his chest. Ice seemed to replace his blood as his body grew rigid. He felt like, one by one, his body would shut down. He didn’t have time for fear as he willed himself to think critically. He looked at his hands; he wore double sterile gloves underneath the heavy-duty gloves given for the movers. He’d been very careful not to touch the nerve agent, so why was he also experiencing the effects? Could he have inhaled some of it?

“Are you okay?” asked Taiga, fear evident in his voice.

He looked at Taiga as Hokuto’s body grew too heavy for him to stand, and he let himself fall. 

“Why is he okay? What is happening?” 

“A-a-are you o-okay?”

Hokuto didn’t know why Taiga started stuttering. He doubted it was the effect of the nerve agent. Taiga looked doubly horrified that his already pale color became ashen.

“Oh g-god, not again, w-what s-should I d-do? A-ah, I s-should c-c-call–”

Hokuto used his remaining strength to hold Taiga’s face and make him focus. Taiga looked in more distress than Hokuto was, and Hokuto was the one dying. 

“Don’t call…” He felt like a brick was added to his chest at each word. 

“Throw this…Pocket…Inject…Thigh…”

Taiga shook his head. His eyes said he had given up.

“Can..do…it…” 

Taiga was close to tears; his hands continued to shake as he reached into Hokuto’s pockets. Two pre-filled syringes; two antidotes, Hokuto’s only lifeline.

“NOW!”

Taiga closed his eyes and plunged the syringe as though he stabbed Hokuto with a knife.

***

Taiga had no idea what time it was, but he remained huddled next to the man. They were still on the floor, the thermostat on maximum, but both of them were covered with Taiga’s thickest blanket. 

“He’s alive…still alive,” Taiga said with a bit of relief. He’d been checking the man’s pulse and listening to his heart since he injected whatever were those he told Taiga to do so. The man’s color has improved, but he still feels cold, and he hasn’t moved an inch or made a sound. Taiga wanted to call Shintaro, his brother from another mother, for help, but this man just used his last remaining ounce of strength to tell Taiga, “Don’t call”, and he wanted to honor that. He even threw in his customized headphones.

“Is he sick? That doesn’t look like a seizure, though.” His ruminations were interrupted by his phone ringing. He totally forgot he had a phone and was surprised to see it was almost 9 in the evening. He took a deep breath, he was still trembling, and he didn’t want Kochi to catch that. 

“Kochi…how’s your meeting?”

“Taiga! Sorry, I didn’t call you sooner. I had a Zoom meeting after I met with the police.”

“It’s okay…” He was thankful that Kochi delayed his call. Taiga didn’t think he would understand anything if Kochi called earlier.

“Cool, you sound…sad? Are you okay?”

“Just sleepy,” he lied. He rose slowly and went to his balcony. “I just had ramen. So how did it go?”

“At 9 pm?! Anyway, I didn’t get to record; Jesse forbade it. About that man…”

Taiga glanced at that man, who remained buried under his blankets.

“...his name is Matsumura Hokuto.”

“Matsumura Hokuto,” Taiga repeated.

“Yep, and about him, Jesse remembered him because he was ordered to look for someone from their missing persons directory, and that was where he saw this Matsumura, only younger and more tanned.”

That bit surprised Taiga. “He is missing?”

“Well, that was what drew Jesse to his case. His family reported him missing when he was 13, but the police thought he just ran away. They never found him, and 7 years later, his family returned to say they wanted the case closed. When asked if Matsumura had been found, who by then was already an adult, they said it was a false report because there was no Matsumura Hokuto in their family in the first place.”

“Huh? What does that even mean?” 

“Weird, right? Jesse said the police just assumed it was their way of saying that Hokuto had been disowned.”

“Oh…” He looked sadly at Hokuto. Taiga was well-loved by his parents, and he couldn’t imagine his own parents disowning him.

“Yeah… oh…and those Matsumuras were filthy rich. Like Richie Rich rich. They were part of Milestones Holdings Inc.”

“Sounds familiar…” 

“It should be, they’re also in real estate, and the building where you lived is owned by them.”

“Oh…” He grew sadder. Hokuto not only has to work as a mover at a building his family owns, but he probably also has a debilitating disease.

“Speaking of the Matsumuras, do you know if their family has been sick?”

“What do you mean, sick?”

“You know, like those diseases that you can inherit, or so?”

“Ahh…that kind…Jesse didn’t say anything. Why?”

“Uhm, nothing, just curious.”

“Okay, well, that’s all I have on him. What’s your next move? I’m now checking if he has any SNS, so maybe you can message him to get your headphones back.”

Taiga swallowed hard. His headphones are now in the trash, and Hokuto is cold on the floor.

“It’s okay, Kochi, uhm, I-I’ve already placed an order for new headphones,” he lied.

“What?! Are you that fickle-minded?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, mentally reminding himself that he might as well order one. He feigned a yawn and quickly made an excuse for needing to sleep. He ended the call and almost yelped when he found Hokuto standing behind him.

“Matsumura-san, h-how are you feeling?” Hokuto still looked like death to Taiga, but his eyes were on fire. Hokuto didn’t seem surprised that Taiga knew his name, and before Taiga could say more, a faint smell of metal wafted toward him. 

“Sorry,” whispered Hokuto; his voice might still be weak, but his hold on Taiga was strong as he pinned him on the balcony’s sliding doors. “I need to finish the job.”

Taiga glanced down, blood dripped to his fingertips, and before darkness consumed him, he thought he saw Hokuto shed a tear.

At Present, Year 2026

“I’ve never seen you this sick.”

“Me either.” Hokuto kept his head on the bin after another bout of vomiting. It had been 24 hours, and he thought that he had started seeing the light – to hell that is. 

“What happened?” asked Juri. “Why is Kyomoto still alive?” He didn’t sound angry, just genuinely curious. It had been 6 years since Hokuto started this job, and he had yet to fail. He didn’t even think failing was an option. 

Hokuto sighed as he injected an ampule of painkillers and antiemetics into his IV. 

“Would you believe me if I said I have no idea either?” He sat back on his bed and stared at his bandaged left arm. He closed his eyes and replayed the events of last night. Everything felt like a fever dream, aside from him running a literal fever. Being an ED and Trauma Fellow never prepared him for what he did last night. He had to hurt himself again by cutting his arm open so the severed muscle inside could be stitched back. Otherwise, how could he explain having bleeding and a severed muscle underneath a closed skin? 

“I stabbed him; he bled, but I suffered all the consequences.” 

“Are you telling me or are you talking to yourself?” asked Juri. Hokuto didn’t bother telling him the whole story because the truth was just mad. 

“Both?” Hokuto never felt so unsure in his life. 

“Maybe you’re having the after effects of the nerve agent, which, by the way, was so reckless of you to use one. You could have been a goner!”

“I think I’m already a goner,” Hokuto lamented. A thousand questions were running through his head, and he couldn’t find a single rational answer. 

“If it makes you feel better, Kyomoto hasn’t reached out to the police yet.”

Hokuto didn’t think Taiga would even report to the police. He had the impression that Taiga didn’t like the police after his scandal. Moreover, Hokuto also didn’t think Taiga was fully aware of what happened. 

“It’s really a good thing you were carrying antidotes, uhm, you carried those for yourself, right?”

Hokuto still had the strength to glare at Juri. “Duh, of course they were for me.”

“Okay, no need to be mad.”

Hokuto sighed. He is still tired, and being questioned made him cranky. “Look, I’m sorry I raised my voice, but if you can talk to the higher-ups, will you tell them that Kyomoto is mine and mine alone? If they send anyone to him, I’ll kill them. No one can have Kyomoto but me.”

Juri raised an eyebrow. “Is that a love declaration?”

“Piss off!” 

Juri laughed. “Okay, I’ll talk to them. Anything else?”

Hokuto paused for a bit. What happened between Taiga and him couldn’t be explained by logic, but somewhere in Hokuto’s mind, a hypothesis started forming, and a familiar voice told him, “Hokuto, any pain you try to inflict will come back to you in twofold.” 

He inwardly shook his head. He wouldn’t go to that territory. He fought hard to run away from them; there was no going back. 

“Hokuto? Are you okay?” 

“Huh? Yeah, uhm, sorry, I really just want to sleep,” he said as an excuse. 

“Very well. Expect an answer within this week. For now, rest.”

Hokuto closed his eyes, and sleep came easily.

***

If Hokuto slept a lot, Taiga couldn’t have a proper wink. He arrived for his chemistry read looking like a ghost, and no make-up could salvage it. It didn’t help that the lines he needed to read were cheesy and creepy, and with his lack of sleep, he sounded like a pissed marionette. 

“Thank you for not even trying,” said Kochi sarcastically after he dropped him off. 

“I’m really sorry. I’m just so tired, but I promise it’ll be better tomorrow.” 

“It should be, or else,” muttered Kochi before gesturing to cutting off Taiga’s neck. He could only sigh as he watched the rear lights grow smaller before he entered his building. 

“Did he try to kill me?” He asked himself over and over again each time he would see the cut on his left arm. The cut was so clean and refined that when he told Shintaro about it, he didn’t believe that Taiga had been stabbed. Shintaro ordered an X-ray and an MRI, and both came out normal. Not a single severed muscle, tendon, or vein to suggest a stab wound. 

“Were you drunk? Maybe you just scratched yourself and dreamt you were stabbed?” asked Shintaro, and his doubts could have influenced Taiga if it weren’t for the presence of his blood-stained shirt. 

“If he tried to kill me, shouldn’t I be calling the police?” He mumbled as he opened his door, “But why would he kill me?” 

Hokuto was gone when Taiga woke up. He was lying on his sofa, and he promptly checked his arm; the blood had dried, and the cut had healed. He’d never been stabbed, but he was quite sure it wouldn’t heal that quickly. Moreover, the blood he saw running down his arm, before he passed out, was no joke. 

He opened his balcony and embraced the chill. The last time something horrifying happened in his apartment, he moved immediately, and it was weird that he didn’t feel scared staying in the same apartment. Maybe because no one really died there yet, or maybe he was hoping Hokuto would be back. 

“Where are you, Matsumura Hokuto?” 

 ***

“What’s that?” 

Hokuto stashed his MRI results in his bag before Shintaro could look more into it. 

“What happened to your arm?” asked Shintaro and gently poked him.

“Burn injury,” he lied. 

“From what?” 

“C-cooking.”

Shintaro was not buying it. “Cooking? You cook?”

Hokuto knew whatever he said would be nothing but bullshit, but he couldn’t back down. “Yeah, I was trying to make this…vodka ala penne and when I put on the vodka, the fire just woosh, like a geyser!” 

“Ooooh,” Shintaro did look a tad bit convinced. “That could happen.” 

“Yeah. It really did.”

“Arm injuries are kinda common lately, my brother was here yesterday wanting an MRI for a fucking scratch.”

“Your brother might be a hypochondriac,” said Hokuto as he thought of Taiga. He wondered what Taiga thought of having just a scratch after Hokuto stabbed him. 

“Tell me about it! So, you’re taking a leave?”

“Just for a week. Please take care of the ED.” 

Shintaro did a salute before saying, “Yes, captain!” 

“Baka.”

“Oh, were you able to return those headphones?” 

“I did, but the owner threw it away.” Hokuto burned the nerve-agent-laced headphones. 

“Then, he should have just given it to you.” 

Hokuto just shrugged as they reached outside. “I don’t want it anyway, so I’ll see you next week!”

Instead of answering, Shintaro pulled him into a hug. “Nothing weird, I just feel like you needed a hug.” 

Hokuto stood frozen as Shintaro playfully tried to squeeze him. Did he look that sad? Shintaro smelled like garlic, but his body was like a bear's. Being warmed by another human felt so foreign to Hokuto, but it also felt nice. 

Hokut broke off the hug; he recalled that someone like him didn’t deserve such fondness. Someone who takes someone’s light doesn't deserve to bask in it. 

From the hospital, Hokuto dropped by the laundromat where he had Taiga’s blankets dry-cleaned. Hokuto must be shivering so badly that Taiga decided three layers of his thickest blanket is the answer. The blankets now smelled of Hokuto’s favorite fabric softener, and he booked a courier to send them back. He promised Juri he wouldn't try to see Taiga until they heard from their bosses. But he knew that wasn’t the sole reason, and he was scared to admit it. He only met Taiga last week, but unknown to him, he already has a noose around Hokuto’s neck. 

And that scares him.

Present year...

“Everyone thinks I’m brave, that I’m scary, but I’m scared of a lot of things. Despite that, I will still go out of the sun and burn rather than forever hide in the darkness and not see you.” Taiga fought hard not to roll his eyes after reading his lines. They used to make him a variety of scripts, but for today, the writer finally agreed to use the actual script for the chemistry read. The writer was scared her work would be plagiarized before filming began, but as Taiga saw it, there was nothing worth plagiarizing. He hated the plot, and his character is soulless, literally. He threw darting glances toward Kochi, whose face was all red from laughing at Taiga’s pain.

“I didn’t know that I’m a vampire.” He wasn’t informed there would be fangs.

“Yes,” said the director, “It was a last-minute decision to go the fantasy route. You were originally supposed to have multiple personalities, but we didn’t think your acting range could handle it.”

“How nice of you,” he muttered under his breath. 

“Oh, food is here, why don’t we all take a break?” The director announced, and Taiga went back to his van to eat. The director had told him to lose weight, so he decided to eat his meals somewhere private. 

“Instant noodles won’t make you lose weight,” muttered Kochi, but he still handed him a cup of noodles. 

“I’ll lose weight when they’ve found my co-star.” He slurped the red-hot noodles, and the burn on his tongue was satisfying. 

“Oooh, that was good,” he moaned in pleasure and took another slurp. 

“Make sure to moan like that during your love scenes.” 

Taiga almost spat out the sodium-filled broth. “I thought this was a wholesome BL?”

“Having a vampire as a lead should have been your clue. Have you seen a wholesome vampire? All that blood-sucking has to be sexy.”

“Well, can’t I be the first wholesome vampire?” He lost all his appetite and perused the still unfinished script. “What page?”

“Around 100 or so…?”

Taiga skimmed to page 103, and he had to wear his glasses because he couldn’t believe what he just read. A love scene between his character, Morcant, and his human lover, Ranulf. 

“Fade in. Interior. Castle Verona - Morcant - Evening - 

The First Feast

Close up on Ranulf, his eyes close in ecstatic concentration and as he moans. Camera pulls back to reveal Morcant fangs buried on the nook of Ranulf’s neck, while Morcant’s thin and long fingers moved lower until it reached Ranulf’s pants, Morcant unzip’s Ranulf’s pants and slid his hand in.”

 

Taiga felt cold sweat gathering on his brow. He was partly appalled at what he had to do, but he had to admit that the dialogues were lame; however, these scenes could revive the dead. 

He turned another page. 

“Interior. Ranulf’s apartment - bedroom - Bossa Nova music in BG. 

Close up on Morcant’s face, his eyes change color to radioactive green as he bites Ranulf’s neck while continuing to pound him. Ranulf screams with pain and pleasure. 

Close up Ranulf’s face, with glowing blue eyes. 

Ranulf moans and screams to Morcant, ‘Harder!’. 

The wall is being pounded hard, and the frames that line the wall start trembling.” 

Taiga felt his face grow hot, and he knew it wasn’t because of the spicy noodles. He turned another page.

“Close up of their hips intertwined, sweaty and glowing.”

And another page…

“Morcant pushed Ranulf down the table, face down…”

And another page…

“Close up on Ranulf’s abs, oil dripping before Morcant spread it using his hands….”

“Six pages and I don’t have a single line,” bemused Taiga. 

“Well, you were too busy pounding someone,” said Kochi with a malicious grin. “But look, at least you’re not a bottom.”

Taiga sighed. Not being at the bottom is the least of his problems. “This is literally, PWP, I’m pretty sure I’ll ruin my career with this one,” he said. 

“You won’t,” said Kochi and Taiga didn’t know where Kochi got his confidence. “It’s all the rage now.”

Taiga sighed. “The sex will surely sell, but I don’t think we can attract the kind of audience who will support me for a long time. Is there a way to improve the plot?” He couldn’t believe he was finding a way to continue doing this. 

Kochi smirked. “As long as you’re not quitting, I’ll see what I can do with the plot. Eat proper food,” he handed Taiga a tuna mayo onigiri, which he quickly unwrapped. 

Kochi left, while he started munching while checking some of his games on his phone. He became engrossed in playing; he only noticed something was off when he started smelling something nutty, like an almond. He sniffed his onigiri, thinking it might have gone bad when he noticed white smoke hissing into his van. He quickly ran and tried to open the door, but it was locked. 

“Help!” He shouted while he banged on his window. 

A staff member quickly alerted everyone and saw Kochi and some of the crew running toward his van. Kochi tried to open using his keys, while some of the crew were poised to break the window. 

“Stay back!” someone shouted, and Taiga stepped farther from the door. White smoke almost filled the van; his visibility was limited, and while he could breathe normally, he’d been feeling sleepy, and before he closed his eyes, he heard the glass shatter. 

***

Hokuto didn’t particularly like gum, but chewing one seemed apt in his role as a bored janitor. The start-up office called “GOLD” was empty; everyone was out for lunch, save for one employee inside his glass-walled office. Hokuto increased the volume of his phone; he’d been listening to last Sunday’s midnight ANN, and the jokes were becoming naughty as he emptied the bins one by one.

“These people don’t recycle, huh?” He complained as he reached the glass office. He didn’t bother knocking, and the employee with thick-rimmed glasses didn’t pay Hokuto any heed as he emptied his bin and replaced the plastic. And the man’s full attention remained on his monitor as Hokuto made his way out. 

“People are so busy, they didn’t even notice their lattes were switched.” He stopped at one desk and pretended to clean. He had a good view of the glass office through the heart-shaped mirror, and his face remained stoic as he watched the man place both of his hands on his throat, gasping, before falling backwards.

He reached the service elevator just as the employees' elevator opened, and three women went out, all holding the same brand of coffee that killed his assignment. He ditched his uniform as he reached the lower ground floor and switched to something preppy and befitting of an office intern. The ground floor bustled with life when he arrived. Most employees were just returning from their lunch, some idling at the lobby, while others were receiving their online deliveries. He passed by TV monitors that were streaming various news and business channels, but one monitor caught his attention. It was a monitor showing what was trending on X, and he quickly saw Taiga’s name on Top 6. 

He felt his throat constricting as he used his work phone to search for Taiga. Major news sources called it a “developing story” and said they were still trying to reach out to Taiga’s agency. However, Hokuto didn’t miss one piece of information that was shared, “White smoke filled the actor’s van…” He muttered expletives before he hailed a taxi. 

***

Taiga could taste metal as he opened the door, while the air was thick with something unexplainable. He called for her name as he went toward the guest room, but something stopped his tracks, crimson dots leading to his bedroom. He ignored that voice in his head telling him to leave, his footsteps drowned by the drum beats in his heart, and when he reached his bedroom, he wished he would just drop dead. 

“Someone is trying to kill me” was the first thing Taiga thought as he opened his eyes and saw Kochi and his stylist’s relieved faces. 

“Thank God you’ve finally woken up,” Kochi said with a sigh. “How are you feeling?” 

“Did I–” Taiga realized he was wearing an oxygen mask, so he lifted it before speaking, “What happened?”

“Can’t you remember?” Kochi asked, his youthful face went from relieved to worried.

Taiga frowned and yelped. “White smoke in the van!”

“Yeah, and then, you passed out,” added Kochi.

“For how long?”

His stylist answered, glancing at her watch, “Roughly 2 hours.” 

“So what happened, and can I remove this?” He asked about the oxygen mask. 

Kochi replied, “The police are still investigating, but the doctor, your friend Shintaro, said that it’s likely chemical poisoning. Anyway…” He turned to the stylist, “Call the president and say he’s awake, and I’ll inform his parents and the doctors.” The stylist went out of his room, and Kochi gave him a stare. “Stay put.” 

“Chemical poisoning, huh?” He covered his eyes with his arm. The idea of him getting assassinated used to be a silly presumption, but the shred of doubt started to ebb away. 

“And it’s probably not the first time,” he murmured. He could still recall how his blue bedsheets turned dark brown from so much blood. A sinister reminder to him that nightmares happen when one is awake. 

“But why? Why would anyone want to kill me?”

He tried to sit up and was relieved he wasn't dizzy. He needed a wee, but not only was he hooked on oxygen, but he also had three IV bags beside him. One bag caught his eye; it had a red sticker labeled, “Drugs Added” and the last five letters interested him.

“OXIME.” His mind rewinded to when Hokuto instructed him to give him 2 injections. Taiga was too distraught back then, and he couldn’t recall the exact name, but he was quite sure one of those injections was labeled “oxime”. 

He racked his brains, and even the urge to urinate was gone. When Hokuto stabbed him and said, “I need to finish the job”, did that mean he failed the first time? 

The door slid open, Taiga turned, and his eyes widened. 

“The devil.” 

He stepped back in haste, dragging his IVs with him, and until the oxygen tubing was dislodged. He wanted to scream, but he couldn’t find his voice seeing Hokuto’s eyes sharp with daggers. Hokuto slammed both arms on the wall, practically cornering Taiga.

“You’re alive,” said Hokuto and Taiga didn’t know whether to interpret it as relief or disappointment. How did Hokuto even know where he was? 

“You tried to kill me,” Taiga whispered, all doubt now gone.

“I couldn’t,” said Hokuto. 

Taiga’s jaw dropped at the arrogance to admit Hokuto did try to end his life.

“But why?” he asked, punching all his confusion and frustration. 

“Because of this.”

When Taiga asked, “But why”, he meant “Why did Hokuto want to kill him?”, not “Why didn't Hokuto successfully kill him?”, because nothing made sense as Hokuto bit the nook of his neck. Bit him like the vampire that Taiga would become in his movie. And just like the unfortunate souls Taiga had bitten, he stood frozen while Hokuto’s teeth sank deeper. Leaving his mark and drinking any shred of rationality from Taiga’s body.  

“There.” 

“Hmmm?” mumbled Taiga, he wasn’t dizzy, but he was acting like one.

“Look at my neck,” Hokuto instructed, tilting his head to show his long, smooth neck as though he was inviting Taiga for a bite. 

He swallowed the lump in his throat. The scenes he read earlier were doing something to his mind. 

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do–” Then, he saw the nook of Hokuto reddened as a tooth mark appeared. He took Hokuto’s arm and pushed his sleeves back. His left arm was all bandaged. 

“How did you get injured?” Taiga looked at his own left arm; the scratch from Hokuto’s stab had become faint. “Can you explain?”

“I’m still trying to find out,” said Hokuto, ever so casually, like how he admitted he tried to kill him. “But for now, stay alive for me.”

His jaw dropped at the audacity, “I’ll do that even without you telling me. And why, so you could–”

“Sorry, I can’t talk much. I got a detour. Take care.” 

And just like that, Hokuto left. Taiga searched for his phone and quickly dialed 110. His chest heaved while he waited for an answer, and when he heard the operator, he couldn’t say anything but sorry and hang up. 

***

In Hokuto’s side job, “Detour” means killing someone who’s not in their assignment. And at that moment, Hokuto was trying to kill his fellow contractor. 

“Which part of ‘he’s mine’ did you guys not understand?” Hokuto grilled his supposedly senpai. White smoke is Max’s signature; he killed his assignments with concoctions he developed. 

“Fuck you,” Max muttered as he pressed a hand on his neck that Hokuto slashed. Hokuto severed a major artery, and the countdown to Max's death has started.

“Who gave you the order?”

Max still had the energy to scoff. “Why? You think you can take the Patriarch?”

Hokuto didn’t want to admit that he didn’t even know any of the Patriarch, but he wouldn’t back down.

“Time is ticking, Max, just say the name, and I can still save you.” He wasn’t working in the ED with Trauma as his specialty for nothing. 

“Is that guy your lover or something?”

Hokuto sighed. Did he really expect his fellow contractors to give in that easily?

“I’m fine even with initials,” he bargained and Max smirked.

“He could one day be the reason for your death.”

He glanced at his injured arm. “Oh, Max, you have no idea.” 

The countdown ended, and Hokuto grudgingly reached for his bag. “You’re lucky I’m not so evil.” 

He started wearing his gloves when Max spoke, “You should be if you want to win against your family.” 

His hand hung in the air. “You know about my family?” He wouldn’t be surprised if Juri or any of the Patriarch knew about his background, but not his co-contractors. 

Max had this look that it was too late to backtrack now, so he replied instead, “Running away from your fate is doing that person more harm than good.”

Hokuto rolled his eyes. He wasn’t feeling too keen on saving Max. “I don’t know who that person is, but as long as it’s not me, I don’t care,” he muttered, trying his best to quell the rising anger inside him. All his family’s “teachings” about so and so that were drilled into him as soon as he learned to walk came back to him, and he hated it. Most of all, he hated that they still could control him this way. 

“I decide on what to do with my life, and no one else will have a say,” he reiterated. 

Max looked at him with pity and added, “You don’t know the whole picture yet.” 

“What do you mean–?” Hokuto heard a woosh. He glanced back quickly and saw a retreating figure in black. He was about to give it a chase when Max fell.

“Max!” He ran and saw a wooden dart on the uninjured side of Max’s neck. He slowly pulled it out, and even without confirming, he was sure it was poisoned. 

“Silenced by a blowdart pipe.” Hokuto had no idea whose signature it was, but he was sure of one thing, it’s not just him who is out for Taiga’s neck.

At Present, Year 2026

“I understood why you moved last time,” said Kochi as he helped unload some of Taiga’s belongings. “But why are you moving again?” 

Taiga sighed as he placed another crate on the floor. “I told you, my new neighbors’ kids are pretty hellish. Is that all the boxes?” He asked, changing the topic.

“I’ll go check.”

Taiga watched Kochi leave, while a few of his new neighbors tried to be subtle in checking out the newest resident through the gap in the open door. Taiga walked to his door to close it before popping a bottle of red wine. 

Taiga thinks Kochi will be more understanding if he just tells him the truth, but the truth is far from simple. It was also the main reason why Taiga couldn’t go to the police, aside from the fact that he hated the police, but what would he say? That a certain Matsumura Hokuto tried to kill him thrice? And what was his proof? A faded linear scar on his arm that he claimed was a stab wound? And what about the thing Hokuto showed him? Taiga couldn’t even put a name to it. It was just weird, and the police would brand him crazy…again. What did they call him last time he was at their mercy? 

A nepobaby who never had to work hard and thinks he can just kill anyone.

He shook his head and drank straight from the bottle. The wine tasted like despair.

“I paid the movers and this–” Kochi paused and raised an eyebrow at him and the wine, “You’ve been drinking a lot lately. Is everything okay?” 

Taiga wiped his lips with the back of his hand. The wine helped him not to think much, or he would have gone mad. 

“It keeps me warm,” he said as an excuse. “It’s still winter.” 

Kochi shook his head and sighed. Taiga knew that look, Kochi would let this one bottle pass. “You always choose the top floor, why are you on the 2nd floor now?”

Taiga put a lot of thought into his new apartment; he chose a loft-style with high ceilings and a wider space that gave him a view of every corner. 

“For a change,” he said and joined Kochi in his living room. He chose the 2nd floor because it’s easier to escape, just one floor below. He also hoped that those downstairs would hear a struggle if someone tried to kill him. He really put a lot of thought into how he will survive or how he can ask for help if someone tries to murder him. 

“You also like balconies and a cityscape view, but I guess you prefer something more suburban now, just rows of houses and the sky,” Kochi observed. 

Taiga drank again. He debated heavily on balconies. The balcony could be another means of escape if he couldn’t reach the stairs or elevator. The second floor wasn’t that high either, but he could still be pushed off to his incapacitation. However, the balcony could be an alternate entrance for his assassin, so he thought it would be safer not to have an outer balcony. And as for the cityscape, a sniper could easily position themselves in one of the buildings for a shot at his head.  

“Is it me, or are the windows thicker?” 

“They’re bulletproof,” said Taiga. The realtor was mum on the previous tenant, so Taiga assumed it was someone dangerous, influential, paranoid, or all three. “They’re also covered with a mirror film, so no one can see me inside.”

Kochi looked at him as though that was pretty excessive. “Is this about the man who tampered with the car? The police already caught him.”

“I don’t believe it’s him,” he said as he sat on his L-shaped couch. The police caught someone who admitted he had masterminded everything, because he still believed Taiga killed that actress and got away with nothing. 

“I believe he’s a crazy fan who's obsessed with her, but I doubt he has the ingenuity to kill me. You’ve also seen his place, his floor to ceiling was covered with her face, he would have died there mixing chemicals he claimed he formulated.” 

“And who do you suspect? And why would they kill you?” asked Kochi. 

The answer was immediate, “Matsumura Hokuto”, but he could only say it in his head. 

“I always go back to why, why would someone want me dead?” He never had business with loan sharks. His dating history is so poor that it would be difficult to find a line of disgruntled ex-girlfriends, or even boyfriends, and he hasn't encountered stalkers and indecent proposals that thought of him as their property.

“You’re scaring me,” Kochi looked genuinely worried. “Do you need a bodyguard? Should I move in with you?” 

“Shintaro will move in with me,” he replied with confidence, but Kochi appeared doubtful. 

“He agreed to that?” 

“Why not? It’s free rent.” Shintaro hasn’t agreed yet, but Taiga just needed a bit more push. 

Kochi made a sweeping look upstairs. “That’s why you have two rooms…Shintaro’s taking the room below?”

“He will, and I’ll sleep in the loft.” If someone wants to kill him, they’ll check the downstairs room first, not that he’s sacrificing his brother, but Shintaro is beefier than him. 

“But isn’t Shintaro a doctor? He works odd hours.” 

“So am I when filming starts.” 

“About that, the director also agreed the script needs revising.”

“Thank you for talking sense to him,” said Taiga with relief. 

“So the chemistry read will be paused for a bit, and have you thought of doing musicals?” 

“Someone wants me in a musical?” He asked, skeptical.

“Why not? You can sing. You released a digital single that got on the Billboard Top 100.” 

“Yeah, but acting while singing? Live? What if no one shows up to see it?” He started imagining an empty theater, the audience booing him, messing up his lines, losing his voice, and the list goes on. 

“You’re overthinking this, just go for an audition while you’re free. It’s also a supporting role, so blame the lead if the theater is empty.” 

“Hmmm, I don’t know, Kochi.” 

“If you go for an audition, I’ll grant you one favor. Anything.”

Taiga pretended to think about it. Kochi really knew when to dangle a carrot on a stick in front of his face. 

“Okay. I’ll go for an audition.” 

“You really will?” asked Kochi, incredulous. 

“In exchange, I want to meet with that police officer you talked to, Jesse?” 

“Why? Is this about whoever you think wants to kill you?” 

Sort of. “Yeah, I want to talk to the guy they caught.” 

“What?! Are you insane?” 

Taiga took another gulp of his red wine. “I’m this close to insanity, so let me speak to him.” 

***

“I thought you preferred to be discreet, quick, and easy,” said Juri, referring to Hokuto’s detour. “You did Max pretty dirty, and his replacement was ridiculously expensive.” 

Hokuto had no idea how they found someone who was actually planning to hurt Taiga, but the Patriarch is nothing but thorough. 

“He wasn’t supposed to die; someone got him before I could stitch him up,” explained Hokuto. He is pretty used to death from both of his jobs, and it always unnerves him when things go out of control. And things haven't been in his control lately, from failing to kill Taiga, and now Max.

“And I also thought I said Kyomoto is mine,” he turned to Juri, glowering. 

“The Patriarch informed me that they didn’t send Max to Kyomoto,” said Juri, looking back straight at Hokuto, “And don’t try to intimidate me, people might joke I’m a walking stick, but I can still pierce someone like a yakitori.” 

Hokuto looked away and concentrated on the nearly empty underground hospital parking lot. Juri loved visiting him at his workplace to either give him an assignment or an assessment. Hokuto always saw it as a subtle threat from Juri that he knew everything about Hokuto and that he could be a menace to his other world. 

“Does that mean I have the Patriarch’s permission to decide when to kill Kyomoto?” He asked after a while. 

“It’s not infinite, you have only until his birthday.”

“And when would that be?”

“Dec 3rd. You have quite a lot of time to unravel whatever that is.” 

Hokuto sighed. December was so far, so he was giving himself a personal deadline, which was before his own birthday, June 18th. 

“Thank you,” he said, grateful to Juri. “About Max, is he a double-agent?” Hokuto was cautioned against being a double-agent earlier in his hitman career; it was a dangerous game, and riskier than what his job already entailed.  

“They’re still checking. Max had been working longer than both of us, so everyone was just as shocked that he could be on someone else’s payroll.” 

Hokuto hadn’t been truthful to his company; he didn’t tell them his final conversation with Max about his family. He could be quite touchy when the topic involved those in his family tree, and the thought that anyone from his family could be involved was something he’d rather personally crack. 

“And this is your new assignment.” Juri handed him an envelope containing his target’s name and where he could find him. “The deadline is this weekend, if you can do it before Friday, you get an additional 20%.”

“Okay,” he said, placing the envelope in his breast pocket. “But I’ll probably do this by the weekend, because I’m busy packing. So, goodbye 20% bonus.” 

“Packing? Are you traveling?” 

“No, I’m moving.”

“Moving? You haven’t moved since I knew you. May I ask where?”

“My kouhai invited me to move in with his brother– rent-free! I couldn’t say no to free rent, could I?”

“No wonder you don’t need the 20% bonus,” said Juri. “Lucky duck.”

Hokuto smirked. “Yeah, I’m really lucky.”

***

The room could be as warm as a furnace, but Taiga could feel the chill seeping into his bones. He never felt this nervous, and he could only blame himself for agreeing with Kochi to audition for a musical. There were only three of them in the room: 2 men and 1 woman. Taiga was familiar with both men; he’d seen their works. One was in “Death Note the Musical” and the other in “Kinky Boots”. Both were veterans, and Taiga never felt so out of place. 

“Just fucking sing, at least, I did my best. Kochi can’t blame me for that.”

The door opened, and another familiar man walked in. Taiga knew him as a famous rapper and songwriter, and based on the clips of the musical he’d seen, it made sense why this rapper would also audition.

“Yo!” said the rapper and sat next to him. He’s as thin as he was on TV, and Taiga wondered if his gold necklaces helped to keep him steady when the wind blew. 

“Juri,” he introduced himself, offering his hand for a handshake. 

Taiga reluctantly took his offered hand. It was so rare for his fellow artists to greet him, especially after his scandal. 

“Kyo…T-taiga,” he replied.

Juri grinned. “I know I go by just ‘Juri’, but I’m pretty sure you have a last name.”

Taiga smiled. “Kyomoto Taiga.”

“Kyomoto…lemme guess, you’re auditioning for Christian?” 

Taiga was amazed. “How did you know?” 

Juri waved his hand in front of his face. “Your looks fit the role.” 

“I see,” he said, tucking a hair behind his ear. “How about you? Cyrano?” It only made sense that Juri would play the role; his ripostes and repartees would be a runway winner. 

“Cyrano, huh? Cyrano, who decided to be a bridge between Christian and Roxanne?”

Taiga nodded, although he was unsure why there was a whiff that Juri was talking about something else entirely. 

“I don’t like to build bridges, though; some things are better not to be connected.”

Taiga had no idea what Juri was talking about. His earlier friendly persona shifted to something filled with rancor. 

“If this is rapper slang, I’m unfamiliar with it.” 

“And I hope it stays that way,” said Juri. “I kinda see why he has taken a liking to you, but luck won’t favor the both of you.” 

Taiga still had no idea what Juri had been wanging on. 

“Anyway, just want to check you out. It was nice meeting you, Kyomo.” Juri bowed, Taiga did too, and when Juri left, he had to ask the nearest auditionee if that happened or if he was just hallucinating. 

***

Taiga made one wrong calculation with his loft situation, and that was that he needed to run downstairs to heed nature's call. He was a bit hungover; he couldn’t recall what time Kochi left, or how he got up in his room.

“I should cut off my drinking a bit.” He could hear the shower running inside the bathroom and thought it was Kochi. 

“Excuse me, got to pee…” The bathroom smelled of vanilla and coconut, both of which he was sure he didn’t own, as he pulled down his pants and lifted the seat. 

“I thought you went home last night.” He could only see Kochi’s silhouette from the frosted glass while he finished his business. “Don’t scold me, but I can’t remember anything last night. Did you send me up to my room? All that wine muddled my memory.” His head throbbed a bit, and the area he massaged felt tender. 

He just finished his business as Kochi turned off the shower. Taiga grabbed the towel and posed like a butler handing his master the towel.

“Your towel, master–” 

“Gee, thanks!” Hokuto took the towel from him before squeezing excess water from his hair.

Taiga looked at the man, who was trying to run away from head to toe. 

“Am I still drunk?”

Hokuto looked at him as though Taiga was a nagging thought and said, “I hope not. Carrying you upstairs was such a pain, and also, do you have a vampire kink? Look what you did to my neck.”

Taiga is 100% awake now, heat surged to his face as the bathroom became filled with his screams.