The group had a lively dinner together. Stories of their youth were shared between bites. Tamotsu didn't share much, to Illyana's lament.
"I went to a small highschool in this area. It was a mixed school with Demon and Human." Tamotsu would declare.
"That's amazing, there were no mixed schools where I lived in Tokyo." Illyana would frown. "I didn't meet my first Human until I was in university."
Tamotsu sat back, setting his chopsticks down on their rest. "That Witch girl, right? Cora Willow?" Illyana nodded, leaving Tamotsu to continue. "Well it was the only school in Kamakura that was mixed. My parents thought it would be good for me to go."
Liu had remained strangely quiet during the conversation. The young Chinese male felt it was probably best if Tamotsu told the tale, knowing well he had a rather difficult history...
For Tamotsu he had been a fly on the wall. He was often on his own, focused on his studies. He didn't have any hobbies and his only friend had been accepted to a more prodigious school. At that age he was quite thin. Being a homebody he never partook in sports or any other extracurricular activities. His quiet nature had a habit of drawing the attention of trouble makers and his tendency to ignore bullies stirred rumors of their shared delinquency. Were it up to Tamotsu he would have just stayed at home and been tutored, but his family were not wealthy. They lived off of hand-me-downs and the charity of their neighbors. The boy, though struggling, was privileged enough to have the help he needed. It wasn't until one day he was confronted by a young Demon woman. This girl soon learned why Tamotsu was considered a difficult person. When she attempted to create conflict with the Human boy he ignored her. She began to escalate her pranks, but he never responded. Eventually one of the pranks went too far and Tamotsu was severely injured. Rushed to the hospital he ended up having the whole of his right forearm amputated.
"But--" Lily spoke up. "Your arm is --?" She looked to his right arm, the limb that was tattooed with strange Hanzi.
Tamotsu shrugged and wiggled his fingers. "Magic." He dismissed. "But after that it was a bit difficult for me to handle girls and when I got older I was quite awkward around women in general."
"He really isn't a ladies man!" Liu laughed, groaning when, beneath the table, his foot was stomped down on. "Waah!"
Illyana looked to Liu, unsure why he was making noises. She looked under the table and saw Tamotsu's foot retreating. Unsure what that was about she looked back to her manager. "Do you know where that woman is now or did you never keep track of her after the incident?"
"Oh," Tamotsu chuckled. "No, I kept my eye on her. Every day. It got to a point where she just gave up. She couldn't handle seeing me at every corner, being reminded of what she had done. She was punished and had gotten a permanent mark on her identification showing she's had an incident in the past with violence. In the end she became something of a rival for me, you know someone who I always worked to be better than..."
Liu looked over to his beloved aniki, his chopsticks pressed to his lips. "You are quite ruthless."
The man in question would simply smile and finish his drink. He would stand and collect their dishes to place into the sink.
"What about Lily?" Tamotsu looked back towards her. "Does she have any interesting stories of her younger days?"
The woman hummed, sipping on a cup made of the red, mixed drink that he'd made for her. "Well, I do, but it's a little bit of a sad story."
Liu scooted his chair closer. "Come, come! Tamotan's story was quite pathetic in itself! You must certainly out do it!"
While Tamotsu washed the dishes he would raise his head while his hand moved to reach for the cleaver in the sink, but when he heard Illyana giggle he resumed washing the plate he had in his hand.
"Well, alright." Illyana would give in, seeing as they were curious.
When she was younger the woman had faced a lot of expectations through her mother. The older woman wanted to live the lavish life of a queen and Illyana could admit that a little of her desire to become a princess was in part due to her mother. But it came at a price. Illyana never spent a day in her life under her own power. Her mother took her to recitals and gave her the best tutors so she never went to school until Uni. She had to maintain a certain decorum. Her manners, her way of talking, even how she ate or sat was scrutinized and given a strict code of rules to follow. She felt more like a plaything than a daughter. Her mother's natural intensity as a Devil didn't help either and she grew up feeling anxious all the time, afraid to let her down or become the target of her frustrations. Verbal lashings they may be, but it still did her a great deal of harm. She's been working since she was fourteen and has never gone on a real holiday and had not left Tokyo until today.
"I'm really thankful that Tamotsu invited me over." She bowed her head to Liu as well. "Thank you for having me."
"What?" Liu was holding a handkerchief to his face. "That's so terrible Lily! Tamotan!" Liu turned as if expecting the man to do something. He appeared to shrug before Liu turned back to Illyana, pulling her into a hug. "Don't you worry! You can come sleep over whenever you want! We'll protect you!"
Lily would return his hug, giggling. He was so sweet. "I'd really like that, honestly. This has been so much fun. Especially at the supermarket."
While Lily and Liu chattered Tamatsu was standing with his hands in the water-filled sink, his fist tightly gripping around the handle of the knife before he reached over and bent the blade, snapping it clean. Damn that woman. Illyana's mother.
She was Tamotsu's true rival. That bitch had the most control over Illyana, even more than he did! She put Illyana through hell and continued to keep her wrinkled thumb pressed down on her life. He has been trying for months to get approval for her to get a night off, but it always seemed she had some big, important show lined up whenever he called into the office. But maybe there was more he could do. He had already begun his interference by rewriting her schedules to make use of every second. He looked down to the broken blade and threw it in the refuse. Tamotsu would smile, his features darkening as his eyes pinched closed.
"No, no, this is a good idea." Turning he would clasp his wet hands together. "Hey Liu! How about we take Illyana with us to Hawaii next month?"
Liu leaned back, blinking owlishly at his blood brother. "But -- we've business to---" He looked at the man's pinched expression, recognizing that cunning look. "--attend, and will have nothing to do after so Lilytan would be a delight!"
"W-what?" Illyana turned her attention from Liu to Tamotsu. "But what about the show next month?!"
Tamotsu dried his hands before walking around the counter and towards the table. He came to a stop and would pinch his chin with his forefinger and thumb in a thoughtful pose.
"Well I was thinking that if you do well in that show I will call a friend to get you a special summer photoshoot on scene in Hawaii. That way Lily can come on our business trip. You see I know a photographer that is quite famous, but difficult to get a hold of for just any model. But, this is Lily. I'm sure he'd agree. She's too cute to pass up." He knew Illyana's mother wouldn't resist the chance to shit in Antik's backyard.
Antiks was a popular fashion magazine whose headquarters was located in the States, specifically Hawaii. There was a deep rivalry cut between the two companies as Antiks was formed by a former employee of Blood Moon who found his treatment lacking. They used not only their experience from Blood Moon to build their Empire in another country, but they had poached about half of their models and workers with promises of higher pay and more time off. Getting to rub in their faces that Illyana had an exclusive photoshoot with a hard-to-get photographer would all but force that woman's hand.
Besides, if there were any complaints he would be sure to have some strong words for Helel about keeping his whore on a tighter leash.
"I think we should have dessert in the sitting room and watch some television before bed." Tamotsu suggested, to Liu and Illyana's delight.
""Yey!!"" The two were quite immature, but Tamotsu was the sort of person who preferred people like that.
They didn't take themselves too seriously and knew when to get their shit together.
The group had a lively dinner together. Stories of their youth were shared between bites. Tamotsu didn't share much, to Illyana's lament.
"I went to a small highschool in this area. It was a mixed school with Demon and Human." Tamotsu would declare.
"That's amazing, there were no mixed schools where I lived in Tokyo." Illyana would frown. "I didn't meet my first Human until I was in university."
Tamotsu sat back, setting his chopsticks down on their rest. "That Witch girl, right? Cora Willow?" Illyana nodded, leaving Tamotsu to continue. "Well it was the only school in Kamakura that was mixed. My parents thought it would be good for me to go."
Liu had remained strangely quiet during the conversation. The young Chinese male felt it was probably best if Tamotsu told the tale, knowing well he had a rather difficult history...
For Tamotsu he had been a fly on the wall. He was often on his own, focused on his studies. He didn't have any hobbies and his only friend had been accepted to a more prodigious school. At that age he was quite thin. Being a homebody he never partook in sports or any other extracurricular activities. His quiet nature had a habit of drawing the attention of trouble makers and his tendency to ignore bullies stirred rumors of their shared delinquency. Were it up to Tamotsu he would have just stayed at home and been tutored, but his family were not wealthy. They lived off of hand-me-downs and the charity of their neighbors. The boy, though struggling, was privileged enough to have the help he needed. It wasn't until one day he was confronted by a young Demon woman. This girl soon learned why Tamotsu was considered a difficult person. When she attempted to create conflict with the Human boy he ignored her. She began to escalate her pranks, but he never responded. Eventually one of the pranks went too far and Tamotsu was severely injured. Rushed to the hospital he ended up having the whole of his right forearm amputated.
"But--" Lily spoke up. "Your arm is --?" She looked to his right arm, the limb that was tattooed with strange Hanzi.
Tamotsu shrugged and wiggled his fingers. "Magic." He dismissed. "But after that it was a bit difficult for me to handle girls and when I got older I was quite awkward around women in general."
"He really isn't a ladies man!" Liu laughed, groaning when, beneath the table, his foot was stomped down on. "Waah!"
Illyana looked to Liu, unsure why he was making noises. She looked under the table and saw Tamotsu's foot retreating. Unsure what that was about she looked back to her manager. "Do you know where that woman is now or did you never keep track of her after the incident?"
"Oh," Tamotsu chuckled. "No, I kept my eye on her. Every day. It got to a point where she just gave up. She couldn't handle seeing me at every corner, being reminded of what she had done. She was punished and had gotten a permanent mark on her identification showing she's had an incident in the past with violence. In the end she became something of a rival for me, you know someone who I always worked to be better than..."
Liu looked over to his beloved aniki, his chopsticks pressed to his lips. "You are quite ruthless."
The man in question would simply smile and finish his drink. He would stand and collect their dishes to place into the sink.
"What about Lily?" Tamotsu looked back towards her. "Does she have any interesting stories of her younger days?"
The woman hummed, sipping on a cup made of the red, mixed drink that he'd made for her. "Well, I do, but it's a little bit of a sad story."
Liu scooted his chair closer. "Come, come! Tamotan's story was quite pathetic in itself! You must certainly out do it!"
While Tamotsu washed the dishes he would raise his head while his hand moved to reach for the cleaver in the sink, but when he heard Illyana giggle he resumed washing the plate he had in his hand.
"Well, alright." Illyana would give in, seeing as they were curious.
When she was younger the woman had faced a lot of expectations through her mother. The older woman wanted to live the lavish life of a queen and Illyana could admit that a little of her desire to become a princess was in part due to her mother. But it came at a price. Illyana never spent a day in her life under her own power. Her mother took her to recitals and gave her the best tutors so she never went to school until Uni. She had to maintain a certain decorum. Her manners, her way of talking, even how she ate or sat was scrutinized and given a strict code of rules to follow. She felt more like a plaything than a daughter. Her mother's natural intensity as a Devil didn't help either and she grew up feeling anxious all the time, afraid to let her down or become the target of her frustrations. Verbal lashings they may be, but it still did her a great deal of harm. She's been working since she was fourteen and has never gone on a real holiday and had not left Tokyo until today.
"I'm really thankful that Tamotsu invited me over." She bowed her head to Liu as well. "Thank you for having me."
"What?" Liu was holding a handkerchief to his face. "That's so terrible Lily! Tamotan!" Liu turned as if expecting the man to do something. He appeared to shrug before Liu turned back to Illyana, pulling her into a hug. "Don't you worry! You can come sleep over whenever you want! We'll protect you!"
Lily would return his hug, giggling. He was so sweet. "I'd really like that, honestly. This has been so much fun. Especially at the supermarket."
While Lily and Liu chattered Tamatsu was standing with his hands in the water-filled sink, his fist tightly gripping around the handle of the knife before he reached over and bent the blade, snapping it clean. Damn that woman. Illyana's mother.
She was Tamotsu's true rival. That bitch had the most control over Illyana, even more than he did! She put Illyana through hell and continued to keep her wrinkled thumb pressed down on her life. He has been trying for months to get approval for her to get a night off, but it always seemed she had some big, important show lined up whenever he called into the office. But maybe there was more he could do. He had already begun his interference by rewriting her schedules to make use of every second. He looked down to the broken blade and threw it in the refuse. Tamotsu would smile, his features darkening as his eyes pinched closed.
"No, no, this is a good idea." Turning he would clasp his wet hands together. "Hey Liu! How about we take Illyana with us to Hawaii next month?"
Liu leaned back, blinking owlishly at his blood brother. "But -- we've business to---" He looked at the man's pinched expression, recognizing that cunning look. "--attend, and will have nothing to do after so Lilytan would be a delight!"
"W-what?" Illyana turned her attention from Liu to Tamotsu. "But what about the show next month?!"
Tamotsu dried his hands before walking around the counter and towards the table. He came to a stop and would pinch his chin with his forefinger and thumb in a thoughtful pose.
"Well I was thinking that if you do well in that show I will call a friend to get you a special summer photoshoot on scene in Hawaii. That way Lily can come on our business trip. You see I know a photographer that is quite famous, but difficult to get a hold of for just any model. But, this is Lily. I'm sure he'd agree. She's too cute to pass up." He knew Illyana's mother wouldn't resist the chance to shit in Antik's backyard.
Antiks was a popular fashion magazine whose headquarters was located in the States, specifically Hawaii. There was a deep rivalry cut between the two companies as Antiks was formed by a former employee of Blood Moon who found his treatment lacking. They used not only their experience from Blood Moon to build their Empire in another country, but they had poached about half of their models and workers with promises of higher pay and more time off. Getting to rub in their faces that Illyana had an exclusive photoshoot with a hard-to-get photographer would all but force that woman's hand.
Besides, if there were any complaints he would be sure to have some strong words for Helel about keeping his whore on a tighter leash.
"I think we should have dessert in the sitting room and watch some television before bed." Tamotsu suggested, to Liu and Illyana's delight.
""Yey!!"" The two were quite immature, but Tamotsu was the sort of person who preferred people like that.
They didn't take themselves too seriously and knew when to get their shit together.
