Spending the entire day drowning in the mire of my own worries was less enlightening than I had hoped. How much of me was James, and how much was Kuro? I simply didn’t have an answer. I couldn’t remember my past, neither Kuro’s nor James’.

  “How much of me is me?” Was I James with Kuro’s reflexes and memories left behind as I entered. Or was I Kuro with James' emotions and sensibilities plastered over top.

  I sat on the couch watching the skyline as the day bled away, bright midday light slowly changing from gold to pink as the sun set. Finally settling on the darkness that infested every corner of the room as night settled, a perfect reflection of my mental state.

  I had resolved to play the hero, but how would I do that? There were early game events that were not meant to be completed. The protagonist was too inexperienced and under leveled to handle hardened criminals.

  The events only existed to motivate the player into leveling quickly when the news aired showing the ramifications of crimes that went unanswered. I was a vampire now and had the strength to intervene, but it would require violence and Kuro was a deadly adversary.

  ‘Would I be able to hold back…Should I hold back? ‘

  Some would have supernatural powers, they would be dangerous to not go all out against and Kuro was a crime lord's son and heir to one of the strongest Yakuza elements in the city. They would try to kill him, either for being the Takamura heir or for getting in the way.

  Some after being arrested and sent to prison would have their crimes revealed. Many of these people committed heinous misdeeds and deserved to die, and too many could escape confinement using powers. They would be back on the streets doing terrible things if allowed to live.

  “Could I stomach killing these people? Could I live with myself if they end up back on the streets hurting others if I show mercy?” His musings were interrupted by a giant wolf made of ephemeral darkness coalescing in front of him. Shadow rested his oversized head in my lap looking up at me.

  The response that left my lips was instant, done over and over again till it was a habit. “At least I have you on my side.” More of Kuro bleeding through, or it was him escaping the cage that was James. It was impossible to know the difference, but as he ran his hands through Shadows fur he felt more at ease. Drowsiness that had accumulated without his knowledge forced him into dreamless oblivion.

  ***

  Wulf and Edgar showed up early in the afternoon to take me around town. I had spent all of the morning trying not to have an identity crisis again and made sure to feed shadow. I had gotten hungry again and knew I had to drink from the stock in the fridge. Going through them I found that every blood bag had come from the same donor. How anyone was donating enough blood to keep a vampire’s fridge so well stocked was beyond me.

  He left his apartment wearing track pants with a white line going up the side of the legs and a hoodie with nothing underneath. He had pulled out all the earrings from his ears this morning before showering.

  His ears were covered in holes and he assumed that if he lost the ear it would regrow without them. He was not gonna test that theory though no matter how muted his sense of pain was.

  Wulf took notice however. “Lil Boss, you removed all your earrings and you aren’t as dressed up as usual. There is no rush if you want to go back up and finish getting ready.”

  I put on a small fake smile. “It’s fine, I wanted to do away with the accessories as part of changing myself and my image. As for dressing up, we are going clothes shopping. I am going to wear out something we purchase today.”

  Edgar stood by watching the streets around us seemingly uncaring of the conversation, but for some reason I felt like he was uneasy. “Wulf is just worried about you, Young Master. We do not want to be late, we should head out.”

  Edgar shot a pointed look at Wulf, I did not know what it meant but the big man sighed and headed to a large black van parked across the street.

  Edgar opened the back door for him to get in, it felt second nature. ‘This must be another thing we have done in the past many times.’

  He sat in the back as the other two got in. He caught the way Wulf chewed on his lip with a worried look on his face in the rearview mirror.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  ‘What is wrong with him today?’

  ***

  The trio arrived outside a small barbershop named Horio’s cuts, and Kuro looked around. ‘This street feels familiar.’

  “You made the appointment Wulf, what is this place?.”

  “It is a Takamura syndicate business. Don't worry though Lil Boss, the lady who runs it is a truly talented hair dresser, she will see you right.”

  ‘Yea that figures, why go anywhere else when you have a person for something already.’ The other two went ahead of him through the door while he took one last look around. ‘Why does it feel so familiar? I have definitely been here before, but when?’

  He stepped in to find a waiting area with several couches and lounge chairs, three other people were sitting and waiting patiently while Wulf chatted up an old lady who was cutting a young boy's hair. There was only one chair for cutting hair and no one else seemed to work here.

  The woman appeared to easily be in her 70’s and had orange hair that had mostly turned white with age, green eyes, and darker bronze skin. She wore a constant smile while talking to Wulf, they seemed to know each other well. Edgar sat on a couch to the side and he decided to sit with the disguised skeleton.

  “Does she know what we use her business for?” I whispered while leaning towards the undead.

  “No, we provided her the funds to keep her late husband's shop open. She pays a portion of her profits as kickback and sends us her books at the end of every 2 weeks. We then make a spoofed copy showing a much higher income than listed to wash dirty money. Then we file and pay the taxes on the discrepancy.”

  ‘There are worse things in the world than keeping a family's business going.’ He understood that it was for the syndicate's personal profit to clean the money from other more illicit dealings but this was still a good thing.

  Soon it was his turn for the chair after everyone else had left. It would take a long time to remove the dye.

  ‘Hopefully she is going to be paid well for how long this will take. “Alright sweetie, Mister Wulfrick says we are removing dye from white hair today?”

  “Yes ma’am, I was also hoping to have it cut shorter.”

  “Any style in particular you want?” She leaned the chair back resting my hair over a sink.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Wulf tap Edgar on the shoulder and gesture to step outside with him. ‘Seriously what are they up to?’

  “Yea I had an idea for a look I can pull off Mrs…?”

  “You can just call me Mrs. Horio sweetie. It is good for business for people to know me by the name of the shop.”

  I nodded and showed her a look I found online this morning.

  ***

  It was nearly 3 hours of treating his hair to pull out the dyes, trim the hair, treat it again, and adjust how short he wanted it in different places. After it was all over he looked into the mirror, his heart sank as sadness overtook him. Snow white hair, trimmed shorter on the sides and left a medium length on top and in the front as she swept the bangs up and to the side. It was a good look, everything he wanted, but that memory came again slightly clearer. Sitting in a garden of roses with his mother, her soft voice was saying something but he couldn’t hear the words.

  He returned to the moment, Mrs. Horio looked worried at his reaction. “Thank you, this was everything I could have hoped for and more.”

  He was doing his best to ease her worries. “Let me pay you a little extra for your time.”

  “That is very kind of you young man but are you alright?”

  “Yes, my hair is the same color as my mothers. I am occasionally reminded of her in my reflection and her loss still gets to me.”

  The woman nodded with understanding. “Losing a loved one gets easier with time but the pain never fully goes away.”

  It was a small comfort to have someone to relate with. The time he spent letting her fuss over his hair left him with an itching that he knew her somehow. This woman, the storefront, the area, it all felt vaguely familiar. It was bugging him that he could not place why he knew it.

  He left the woman's shop in a more somber mood than he hoped, Wulf saw him first, he must have detected his mood because he tried to cheer me up.

  “Wow Lil Boss your new hairstyle looks incredible, a truly tasteful choice that will make you popular with the ladies. Isn’t that right Bonehead?”

  Edgar gave a small nod. “Truly dashing Young Master.”

  “Thanks, especially you Wulf she was great at her work, let's go buy me some new clothes. I need a new look to go with the new hair”

  “I am glad you liked Mrs. Horacio, I have been letting her and her late husband take care of me since I came to this country to work for your father.”

  My blood ran cold. “Wait. Horacio?”

  Wulf furrowed his brow in confusion. “Yea Horio was the name the old man came up with by removing letters out of his name cause he thought it sounded better.”

  I spun around taking another look at my surroundings as all the pieces started falling into place. Horacio was the family name of one of the games main love interest, she came from a line of weretigers and later in the story she brings you here to see the shop her grandma lost when their debts started catching up with them.

  An event that happens over two years from now, an unavoidable outcome because you cannot get closer to her until the second year of school after her family's downfall has already begun. Yet here I am at that very place as it continues to operate. So what happens between now and then for her family to lose it all?