Daylight Specialist, 2/6

[astrangestorm]

Today was the big day, his first day on the job. Joshima-san had stopped by Nino’s apartment just after sunset the previous night, officially handing over the keys to the mail room. Aiba had a copy and Joshima himself had a copy, but otherwise, the room was now Nino’s sole responsibility. There was also a toilet and sink in a small employee bathroom just behind the mail room near the elevators, and Nino and Aiba would share the key for it as well as the responsibility for keeping it clean.

His new sleep routine was a real pain in the ass. Though he hadn’t truly realized it until now, Nino had been keeping vampire hours for most of his twenties, staying up late playing in tournaments against people from around the world. But he was in his thirties now, and his body was quick to inform him that he was treating it poorly. And now he’d be waking before dawn every day, at the height of summer when the days were longest. Though he supposed if he fell asleep in the mail room, only Aiba would know.

It was just after 7:00 AM now and he’d managed to swallow down a rice ball Aiba had made him (“a celebratory onigiri for my new colleague!” he’d said with a straight face), letting coffee do the rest. He’d picked up a small coffee maker for the mail room the day before, and he was already pleased with his investment.

While most jobs gave you some sort of orientation period, he didn’t exactly have a supervisor now. Instead Nino had started his day brewing his coffee, trying to assess which part of the mail room he ought to tackle first. Aiba had helped him to unlock the metal shutter, which brought sunlight streaming into the mail room, but thankfully not too much because of the glass block windows. With the shutter up, he was officially open for business, although the mail room appeared to state otherwise.

Half the room was taken up with boxes, stacked almost to the ceiling. And where there weren’t boxes there were piles and piles of mail, magazines, flyers for restaurants. There was mail on the countertops, mail on the floor that he kept stepping on, and it took Nino at least ten minutes to clear enough paper away to discover that there was actually a computer in the mail room that was his to use. Thank god, he thought. Now he could go online most of the day.

It wasn’t completely quiet, of course, because Aiba wasn’t too far away. He seemed to be respecting Nino’s need to get settled so far, sitting at his desk and doing whatever it was he did. Every fifteen minutes or so he got up, walking the lobby, passing the glass window in the hall outside the mail room, heading to the elevator banks. And then he’d go back to his desk. Patrolling, at least that’s what Nino figured so far.

Nino booted up the computer and was thankful it didn’t have a password. He chalked that up to the fact that the previous person who held his position was elderly. But she wasn’t completely computer illiterate. There were several folders on the computer’s desktop, clearly labeled. Residents. Directory. Forms. He found spreadsheets with a listing of each apartment in the building and the people who lived there. He skimmed it quickly, making a note in the back of his head that unit 6B was home to Sakurai Sho and Matsumoto Jun. He closed the file, shaking his head.

The directory contained a very organized list of phone numbers and addresses, similar to the hard copy Joshima had presented him at the interview. And then in the forms folder, there were government documents, backups of documentation from the ward office, form letters. Half of them had “proxy” in the file name. He opened one, glancing briefly:

VAMPIRE PROXY AUTHORIZATION FORM - SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION (WITHDRAWAL/DEPOSIT)

I have been authorized by the Vampire ______________, Account Holder ____________, to withdraw ____________ from his/her account.

I have been authorized by the Vampire ______________, Account Holder ____________, to deposit ___________ to his/her account.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Misako-san, you’re amazing.”

Nino really didn’t need that much training, after all. His predecessor was organized and kept good records of everything she’d done. There were proxy forms for at least ten different banks, half a dozen credit card companies, several stockbrokers. Templates she’d made if he needed to create a new form. If one of the residents needed him, he just had to print the right form and he was halfway done already. He turned in the slightly squeaky office chair, looking at the piles of junk. Poor Misako-san, if she could see how the place had changed without her.

Come lunchtime, Aiba came over to the reception window, and unfortunately he’d found the small little service bell, dinging it to get Nino’s attention. “Service! Can I get some service here?”

He got to his feet, having made little headway into a stack of magazines. It was remarkable what vampires subscribed to - hiking enthusiast magazines, men’s fashion magazines, CD of the month clubs. If any of the residents got porn delivered, it seemed that they’d already come and claimed it, because Nino hadn’t found any yet.

“What’s up?” he asked, leaning on the counter, looking up into Aiba’s smiling face.

“Let’s order lunch, my treat.”

Nino liked the sound of that. “People deliver food here? When it’s not for a resident?”

Aiba nodded. “Of course, I think they prefer it, you know? I mean, you’ll get a BC ordering a pizza or ramen once in a while, but delivery places usually don’t want to come by if it’s after the sun goes down. Humans are cowardly.”

“Aiba-san…” He looked up, seeing that Aiba was thoroughly convinced the vampires of Amagasa were no threat. “Never mind. Let’s get some ramen then, if you’re treating.”

Within half an hour a local place had delivered, and the middle aged delivery man had been shaking in his shoes when Aiba buzzed him into the lobby, though he visibly relaxed when he saw that it was just Aiba and Nino there to greet him. Aiba had joined him in the mail room at the part of the table Nino had managed to clear off that morning. He got up to check his monitors every few minutes, but otherwise it was a good meal they shared, and Aiba was actually impressed with how much information about the job he’d been able to glean just from booting up the computer.

“Why haven’t we gotten any mail yet today?” Nino asked between slurps of the tasty ramen broth. “Or deliveries?”

Aiba smiled. “That’s my fault, actually. The mail usually comes around 2 PM, that’s standard, but I called the delivery places, the usual ones that come by, asked them to hold off until the afternoon. Since we’ve got a new Daylight Specialist and I wanted you to be ready. And so they can all meet you.”

Nino rolled his eyes. “They’re all going to show up at the same time, and I’ll have to sign for a dozen packages at once.”

“Well, probably,” Aiba said with a laugh, “but they’re all good guys. We’re not the only enclave they visit either, so they get it.”

They finished their lunch, and Nino got back to work. He spent the first half of the afternoon starting to organize some of the mail piles by floor. It helped him start to learn names, too, which could only help him in the long run. Instead of upending the bags of mail and getting all of it organized first, he was just going to start dumping it in their mailboxes bit by bit. If it was old or irrelevant, the vampires could recycle it themselves. Eventually the piles would thin out, and he could take more time on sorting new mail, coming up with a better system.

He was interrupted by a quick succession of delivery men. Aiba was responsible for buzzing them in, but it was important for Nino to recognize and acknowledge them too. In case Aiba was out sick, it would be Nino’s job to help Aiba’s replacement to confirm that anyone wanting to be buzzed in was legitimate. He signed for four packages from a chatty delivery man with colorful glasses from Black Cat, Yashima-san. Another two from a quiet, kind of grumpy guy from Japan Express with a buzzcut named Shibutani. Tall and friendly Nakajima from Super Delicate Deliveries. Tall and sleepy Ohkura from Infinity Overnight. And then the neighborhood mail carrier Kazama, who was apparently good friends with Aiba. He’d given Nino a quick handshake in greeting, dumped a heavy stack of mail on the counter, and then he and Aiba started chatting like two housewives who’d gone a whole week without gossiping.

Nino just rolled his eyes, taking the mail to the table. Bills, flyers, and even more magazines. He’d watched the past few nights as some of the vampires left the enclave. He wondered how many of them didn’t, which probably explained why there were so many magazines and packages from booksellers that got delivered. There were homebody vampires just like there were homebody humans. Nino was kind of amused to discover that there were vampires who probably shared personality traits with him. All Nino was missing was a craving for blood.

With all the mail to sort and computer forms to familiarize himself with, Nino was pleased with how quickly the day had passed. He was also pleased with how much progress he’d made. Once the day’s packages had been delivered to the building, Aiba had helped him unearth a mail cart from behind a stack of boxes that Misako-san had used. He’d piled it high with some of the packages he’d already gone through, had taken the elevator up and dropped them off in front of the apartment doors. It had been a little eerie going up to the quiet floors, wondering if the wheels of the cart were waking any of the residents up. But things had gone without a hitch, and it had helped clear quite a bit of space already.

By sunset, he was tired, but a good kind of tired. An accomplished kind of tired. Aside from Aiba’s long chat with Kazama-san and his occasional visits to ding the service bell, Nino had been able to work quietly the entire day. He supposed things would get tougher if he had to actually go out and run errands for the residents, but the concept of a day’s work in an enclave hadn’t really been that terrifying. He actually felt an odd sort of pride, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He was just about to lock up for the night when the bell at the already locked reception window dinged. He pulled his keys from his pocket, wondering why Aiba didn’t just go to the door or knock on the window glass. He unlocked the shutter and pushed it up only to find someone he didn’t recognize.

There was a pale, angry face staring at him, a man holding a package. Nino’s eyes quickly darted over the vampire’s shoulder, seeing that Aiba had already gone home. The enclave didn’t have any security at night-nobody would dare to break in when the vampires were actually awake. So Nino was alone to introduce himself.

“Hello, I’m Ninomiya. Your new Daylight Specialist.”

The vampire scowled at him. “What’s with this?” the vampire complained, shoving the box across the counter so hard it thumped Nino in the chest. He tried not to react, reminding himself that it was his first day, and he couldn’t screw this up.

He looked down at the package, saw that it was addressed to a ‘Yokoyama Yu-sama’ in unit 3A. “Are you Yokoyama-san? Did I make an error?”

“I’m Yokoyama,” the guy complained, crossing his arms. “Open it and guess why I’m here.”

Nino swallowed, nodding with a nervous smile as he opened the box. He remembered dropping it off earlier in the day. He looked inside and realized his mistake. The box was full of vampire “treats,” blood-flavored chips and cookies that had enough blood content to work through a vampire’s system and not make him ill. The first packet he took out of the box was long past its expiration date. He expected the others were too.

“What’s the point, man?” Yokoyama complained, his fist pounding on the counter. “I gave these up for lost after Misako-san died and I’d gotten over it. And then you just drop these at my door, what’s wrong with you?”

Nino tried not to laugh. Laughing at a vampire was a bad choice, he knew that much. But was he really that angry about some expired snacks? Couldn’t he just buy some at stores that specialized in vampire treats? “I’m sorry, Yokoyama-san, but to be fair, the box itself didn’t have an expiration date.”

Yokoyama leaned over the counter, and Nino reflexively jumped back. The vampire sighed, taking the box in his hands, chuckling at Nino’s fright. “It says ‘perishable’ on it, you dumbass. And the box was mailed out two months ago, look at the damn stamp. You know what ‘perishable’ means?”

“I’m familiar…”

“Not familiar enough. Are you doing this job seriously?”

“It’s, uh, my first…my first day…”

“This is really a dumb mistake,” Yokoyama pressed, and Nino was just waiting for him to bare his fangs, but then there was a quick interruption.

“Yoko, that’s enough.”

It was an unfamiliar voice, but soon enough he learned who it belonged to. It was Sakurai Sho, in another one of his suits, patting Yokoyama on the shoulder. He turned to look at Nino, and thankfully this time it didn’t make him feel like collapsing into a puddle of goo. Even so he was better looking up close, if a little…dorkier? Maybe he wasn’t using his fancy vampire glamor and this was what he really looked like. Your average salaryman, if a bit pale.

“He gave me an expired box of treats, Sho-kun.”

Sakurai took the box from Yokoyama’s hands, peering inside. “Ah, that’s too bad, but you know how things have been the last few months. You should be glad our new guy’s at least trying to clean up the mess in there. It’s not like we’ve done anything about it ourselves.”

Nino decided then and there that there were many things to like about vampires, at least ones in suits with rather perfect hair.

“If you’d like, Yokoyama-san, I could throw that away for you,” Nino offered, barely able to look Sakurai in the face. It was almost easier to look at Yokoyama’s surly sneer.

“You’d better!” the vampire complained before stomping off, leaving the box behind.

Sakurai leaned against the counter as soon as Yokoyama was gone, and then it truly was all over. Nino’s life as a person with normal sexual attractions, that is. Sakurai had a mouth full of gleaming white teeth, and they all seemed to show when he smiled. Well, except the fangs, those weren’t out right now.

“I’m sorry about him. He complains just to complain, comes with being a relatively new vampire. He’s only been here a few years, and it happens to all of us. Kind of like a teenage hormone imbalance. And he’s forgetful, too. He’s pretty bad about paying bills, he drops things everywhere, and I think Misako-san kept a file on him,” Sakurai explained, pointing one of his perfect, pale vampire fingers past Nino to the computer. “Like, to give Yoko a reminder that he hasn’t paid his Internet bill yet. He’s had the power go out on him once or twice too, and it’s not pleasant to be around him when that happens.”

“I see,” Nino said, nodding quickly and hoping Sakurai couldn’t smell the strange sweaty combination of fear and attraction that was probably radiating from him in waves. “I’ll..I’ll remember that, thank you.”

Sakurai smiled again, setting his briefcase on the counter and opening it. He pulled out a business card, holding it out. Nino took it with both hands. Sakurai Sho, Starlight Kiss Tours. What the heck was that? “I’m Sho, I’m in 6B. Although you probably know that already since you dropped off some things for us earlier.”

Nino didn’t bother to ask who “us” was because Sakurai was soon joined at the reception window by the man from the other night. Who was definitely better looking up close than he’d been from one floor up. Matsumoto Jun was human, but he seemed to have no shame about who he was and his place here in the enclave. Haughty, proud, words Nino wouldn’t have associated with a blood contract until now. Matsumoto Jun, all business, was maybe an inch or two taller than Sakurai and definitely a few inches taller than Nino.

He didn’t shrink or cower in Sakurai’s presence. He stood at his side almost like an equal, which Nino thought was kind of crazy. Just what kind of relationship did these two have?

“Matsumoto-kun, I was just introducing myself to our new Daylight Specialist…”

“Nino.”

“Nino?” Matsumoto asked, his voice a lot less friendly than the vampire who, in effect, owned him. There was a cynicism, a harshness in his entire demeanor that made Nino intensely curious about what his life was like, being a BC, living with a vampire by choice.

“I mean Ninomiya,” Nino stuttered, unsure where he was even supposed to look. He was usually really good with people, even if he didn’t like most people. He could carry on a conversation with almost anyone. Apparently that skill had not followed him into the Amagasa Vampire Enclave. “My name’s Ninomiya. Ninomiya Kazunari. But people call me Nino. I don’t mind it. It’s…it’s easier. Fewer…syllables to memorize.”

“I see,” Sakurai said, chuckling quietly as he shut his briefcase. He nudged his companion.

“Matsumoto Jun.” He bowed politely, almost too formally. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” he managed to mumble in reply.

“Keep up the good work. Don’t let Yoko get to you or you’ll never get anything done. Thanks for helping us out,” Sakurai said before giving Matsumoto a quick nod.

Without words, the two of them headed for the exit, Sakurai with his briefcase and Matsumoto with a surprisingly adorable Funasshi bento box.

Nino didn’t know how long he stood at the counter, unable to breathe normally, before he finally remembered to pull down the shutter again to lock it.

-

It was four days in to his new job that the Bureau of Undead Management came calling. Aiba took his “friendly security guy” shtick down a few notches, looking professional as he stood at attention upon buzzing in the woman in the entryway. She had an enigmatic air, with long dark hair and an odd little quirk to her mouth as she entered the Amagasa lobby.

Aiba moved to greet her with a nod of his head, and Nino didn’t know if he was expected to come out of the mail room. He stayed at his reception window, hoping he looked passingly competent. Aiba walked with the woman over to him. She set down a briefcase at her feet, her hand shooting out to him.

“Agent Yoshitaka Yuriko, Bureau of Undead Management.” She cocked her head. “You must be the new Daylight Specialist here.”

Nino shook her hand. It was freezing cold, but otherwise there was a real steadiness to her. Probably came with who she was, part of the government department that monitored the vampire population. Aiba had given Nino the quick and dirty overview, that Agent Yoshitaka (no cute Aiba nickname) had been visiting Amagasa for at least three years now. She appeared weekly for inspections and was the only legal recourse the vampires had if they wished to file a complaint about human harassment or against another enclave.

The government had been tracking vampire numbers since the Meiji period to some extent, an era when they’d been far less cooperative. Now they had agents who inspected enclaves week to week, checking to make sure their counts were correct. In case new vampires had been sired and not yet reported to the ward office. In case a new blood contract moved in. In case fugitive vampires who didn’t like to play by the rules were being harbored on site. In exchange for the vampires’ cooperation, the Bureau of Undead Management “allowed” vampires to operate businesses of their own, to have bank accounts and get driver’s licenses. Even travel, although it was strictly regulated and heavily tracked. And yet Japan was considered pretty lax, at least compared to some nations in Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe that microchipped vampires to keep an eye on them.

“Ninomiya Kazunari. Nice to meet you.”

Agent Yoshitaka withdrew her hand. “Since you’re new, I’ll tell you how this works.” Her head disappeared as she started digging around in her briefcase and then she popped up again with a swish of her long, straight hair. She was a bit unnerving, a little strange in her movements. Like she was from another planet and still getting used to her human suit. Well, at least that was how Aiba had described her, and he was surprisingly accurate.

She had a tablet computer, opening a document that had a list of names and apartment numbers. “This is the current list of residents for Amagasa.” By now, the names looked rather familiar to Nino, and he nodded. “Aiba-san has been filling in for the last few months, but now it’s on you to tell me if there have been any changes.” She looked up with curious, almost too serious eyes. “Have there been any changes?”

“No.”

She jotted something down on her tablet. “If you lie to me for any reason, ever, it’s a treasonable offense.”

“Seriously?” he mumbled, and she looked up at him again, quite sharply.

“Vampires that are not accounted for pose a threat to national security, Ninomiya-san.” She offered him a kind of creepy smile. “So please be a dear and always tell the truth. We’ll be friends that way, you and I.”

“That sounds lovely,” he said, swallowing down his fear. So far Agent Yoshitaka Yuriko, Bureau of Undead Management, was almost as scary as the enclave’s residents. Treason? Yikes.

“In addition to tracking the populace here, I will expect to be informed of any abnormal circumstances. Is someone going out of town? Has anyone given notice about moving in the next few months? Is anyone behaving strangely…”

“They’re vampires, Agent Yoshitaka.” She raised an eyebrow, and he cleared his throat. “I mean, everything about them is still a bit strange to me.”

“Well then tell me everything, and I’ll decide what qualifies as something the government needs to know. Please follow me, and we’ll begin the inspections.”

Behind her, Aiba was giving a thumbs up at his desk. Nino quickly hurried from the mail room, locking the door behind him. The inspection part of Agent Yoshitaka’s visit didn’t sit well with him. It wasn’t enough that the vampires wore badges or armbands once they left home. It wasn’t enough that Nino told her there were no changes, aside from him being hired. And that still wasn’t enough. No, the inspections were mandatory. Yoshitaka would enter every single Amagasa apartment to confirm the presence of each vampire (and each BC). It seemed like a huge violation of privacy, especially since it happened during daytime when the vampires were most vulnerable. But they had no choice. It was the law.

As Daylight Specialist, it was Nino’s job to accompany her on her inspections. Joshima’s words from his job interview were ringing in his ears. How this was his home, how he wanted to protect his people. He was placing complete trust in Nino, and he realized just what that meant. This woman was entering their apartments, and it was Nino’s duty to make sure she didn’t do anything harmful.

Aiba had a master set of keys for the building locked up at his workstation, and he handed the massive keyring over. “You’re doing fine,” he whispered. “She’s weird, but she’s not really that bad.”

He walked back to Yoshitaka, who left her briefcase behind and only took her tablet with her to the elevator. Over the next hour they went door to door, Nino unlocking each apartment without knocking or announcing himself first. But truth be told, Agent Yoshitaka was as professional as one could possibly be when entering a citizen’s apartment. She removed her shoes every time in the apartment’s genkan, and though she didn’t join Nino in mumbling a “pardon my intrusion” upon stepping inside fully, she was quick and efficient.

She didn’t touch any of the residents’ belongings, merely going straight to the bedroom to take a look at their sleep units, confirming the resident was inside. The computer panels on the side noted that the units were occupied, so she thankfully didn’t have to roll down the lids and peek inside. Nino followed right behind her, and her speed nearly got him knocked over a few times because he miscalculated her route through the apartments. Once each apartment was locked up again, Yoshitaka merely tapped something on her tablet. A confirmation of sorts, Nino guessed.

He still wasn’t familiar with every resident besides their names or maybe their magazine subscriptions, but it still felt awkward to enter their apartments. Everyone knew what day Yoshitaka was coming though, Aiba had told him. Most of the residents tidied up a little. Some even left little post-it notes. “Welcome, Big Brother!” had been written on a post-it on Murakami’s fridge. Ohno and Maruyama, vampire roommates, had even left their door unlocked, which got another creepy smile from Agent Yoshitaka. Nino had still locked it behind him, feeling guilty.

Nino had felt worst of all when they’d gotten to 6B. Yoshitaka hadn’t said anything when Nino’s fingers had fumbled nervously upon turning the key in the lock. Even resting, vampires could probably still awaken and cause damage if provoked. Maybe she just thought he was afraid. Sakurai and Matsumoto’s apartment was the second one they visited that contained a vampire and their human BC.

A floor below them, the bedroom hadn’t contained a sleep unit like the one in Joshima’s apartment, or like most of the others they’d entered. In that apartment, there’d been two futons side by side, and Nino hadn’t even known which of the residents was the vampire. They’d simply been two people, asleep, in an apartment where all natural light was completely blocked out. There’d been a small night-light plugged in, ostensibly so Yoshitaka could make visual confirmation that the residents were present, but otherwise it looked like two normal people, asleep.

Yoshitaka, tablet in hand, stepped right on in to Sakurai’s apartment. Nino tried not to look too closely, but it was hard not to take the place in. It was one of the larger apartments in the building, with furniture that wasn’t brand new, but looked cozy. A sofa in the living room with a nice TV, bookshelves almost overflowing. A kitchen that for once seemed to contain food. A knife block, pots and pans hanging from a rack that had been suspended from the ceiling. Nino couldn’t bear to follow Yoshitaka to the bedroom, even if he was intensely curious about the sleeping arrangements. Two sleep units? Two futons? One big bed with two hot guys spooning?

Sakurai and Matsumoto didn’t seem to leave at the same time every night, and Nino had only seen them once more since the first night. They’d merely greeted him politely before heading out the door, to work, Nino assumed. They walked side by side but didn’t hold hands or physically touch. Although it was hard to really know anything from observing someone a grand total of five minutes. Were they dating? Was Matsumoto’s BC status more of a business deal? Why did this even matter? Nino lingered in the space between their living area and the kitchen, spying a photograph of two people on the refrigerator.

Ah, now he was getting somewhere. “Sorry,” he muttered quietly, wondering if vampires had super hearing, even in their rest times. He was just about to get a good look at the picture when Yoshitaka came out of the bedroom, not bothering to muffle the sound of her socked feet sliding across the hardwood floors.

“Ninomiya-san, that’s rude.”

He looked away from the photo. “Ah, right. You’re right,” he said, even if he wasn’t the person checking vampires off a damn list. He followed her out of 6B and locked the door.

The photograph had been of Matsumoto and someone who wasn’t Sakurai Sho. The other person had been a woman, a little younger than him, with long black hair. The both of them had been directing peace signs at the camera, Matsumoto’s arm wrapped comfortably around her shoulder. Behind them, a bright sunny day, a sandy beach.

And Matsumoto Jun had been smiling.

-

By the end of his second week on the job, Nino had set up an official work email account in hopes of streamlining his duties. When he was off the clock, he’d still get a notice on his phone and could at least try to assist if there was an emergency. If there was one thing he’d learned so far, it was that communicating with people on a completely opposite sleep schedule was a problem. In the mornings he’d come into the mail room to find notes jammed under the door.

“Need a plumber ASAP, leaking shower!”

“My shower is still leaking!”

“What the hell is your damn phone number, Ninomiya?!”

“I fixed it.”

And those were all from one person, who had apparently gone up and down in the elevator each time to complain, even though Nino wasn’t there. Kokubun Taichi-san, his most consistent complainer after Yokoyama.

He was proud of his new email account, putting a notice in everyone’s mailbox and posting a flyer on the cork board in the elevator bank. His flyer was kind of a welcome change from the ones about XYZ blood bank that apparently was lax in testing for certain diseases, so stay away, or a “hate watch” night taking place at a vampire-owned movie theater in Shibuya (this week’s showing: Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part One).

Getting emails would also be a good workaround for those vampires who had terrible handwriting. For ones that left massive envelopes of cash in their mailboxes, expecting Nino to know precisely which bank they wanted it deposited in. It would be a much better paper trail to present to Agent Yoshitaka on her visits, if she wanted to know anything that damn specific.

Nino had also been asked to leave the premises a few times beyond standard bank trips. He’d gotten to take the little Toyota hatchback in the garage for a spin, driving one of the BCs to a lunch date with her mother. Erika had a blood contract with Murakami, though from Erika’s frank complaints about him in the car, theirs was not a romantic arrangement. Although Nino suspected that it might have been in the past. Nino didn’t ask many questions, merely chaperoning Erika to her meal and waiting just outside. According to the rules, he was supposed to stay within ten feet of her at all times (“protecting the merchandise,” Aiba had teased), but she and her mother had kindly had their meal by the restaurant’s window, within Nino’s sight. He’d felt a little creepy, sitting outside, but it had actually been kind of nice to get out of Ota Ward during the day. To get out of his little mail room and the finally thinning piles of junk mail.

When they’d pulled back onto their street, Erika had stopped him with a hand to his wrist. “Wait.”

He’d pulled over, parked. “Hmm?”

She’d sat in the car, closing her eyes, breathing in and out calmly for a few minutes. He couldn’t help but let his gaze wander to her neck, where there was a small bandage. A reminder of what she was. Erika had caught him staring but hadn’t yelled at him. “It’s just nice to get outside once in a while. When the sun’s out.”

Nino wondered if Matsumoto Jun felt that way. Nino had snuck another peek at the refrigerator in his and Sakurai’s apartment when Agent Yoshitaka had visited again, but there wasn’t much more to glean from the photograph of Matsumoto and that woman. If it was a girlfriend or something, Nino wondered what Sakurai thought about Matsumoto displaying it so openly in the home they shared. But if it was just a sister, a friend, did it hurt Matsumoto to see it? The reminder of a life he didn’t have now?

As much as it wasn’t his business, Nino had spent his idle time trying to learn more about Matsumoto, about Sakurai. Nino had Sakurai’s business card and had looked up Starlight Kiss Tours on the Internet. It was a travel agency for vampires. Sakurai organized tours for small groups, within Japan and overseas. Presumably Matsumoto worked with him, since they left Amagasa together in business attire on most nights. The website had been a little simple, and there wasn’t much to be said about a bunch of pictures of famous places taken at night when nobody else was around. Night view from the Sapporo TV Tower. Night view from Kiyomizudera in Kyoto. Night view from what was apparently the Brooklyn Bridge.

It seemed like a nice service, but Nino was a little saddened by an announcement that appeared on the website when he’d refreshed it that morning.

“The government of Cambodia has once again declined our request for entry visas. It is with regret that Starlight Kiss is canceling the August tour to Angkor Wat and Siem Reap. We deeply apologize and will issue full refunds to those who have already reserved places.”

Nino knew exactly why the entry visas were declined, and not for the first time, he found himself feeling angry on behalf of the vampires. He wondered how Sakurai dealt with such a stressful and irritating job. All the effort that went into planning a trip, especially for his kind, only to have to cancel when a government or a hotel or a tourism bureau got cold feet.

The bell at the reception window dinged, startling Nino out of his reverie. He was spending way too much time worrying about the trials and tribulations of Sakurai Sho and Matsumoto Jun, for someone who didn’t say more than a handful of words to them when he saw them. He was just the guy who put their mail in their box, who waved ‘goodbye’ to them if he was still on duty when they left for the evening.

He hurriedly minimized the Starlight Kiss website, getting to his feet. Without realizing it, it was already after 8:00 PM. Some nights he ended up staying late in the mail room, surfing the Web or enduring one of Yokoyama’s complaints. By this point, Nino thought Yokoyama just enjoyed coming downstairs to argue with him about stupid shit.

Nino tried to keep his expression neutral, but that was getting increasingly difficult whenever Maruyama Ryuhei was standing at the window dinging the bell.

Maru was a vampire, but a strange one. Well, they were all pretty damn strange in their own ways, but Maru was particularly weird. He stood stiffly at the window, staring at the countertop. “Hey Maru, what do you want tonight?” Nino asked. “Were you expecting any deliveries today?”

Maruyama shook his head. For someone who was tall and muscular, he certainly wasn’t very tough. “H-hey Ninomiya-kun…hey.”

For almost a week now, Maru kept coming downstairs when the sun had barely set, dinging the bell but then having nothing to say. “You need something?”

Maru laughed, a bit too loudly, scratching at the back of his head. “Get a lot of packages in today?”

“Uh, the usual amount?”

“Hahaha, great!”

Nino crossed his arms, trying to keep from laughing. If Nino didn’t know any better, he’d think Maruyama had a crush on him. Mercifully, Nino’s savior arrived earlier than usual. Ohno Satoshi was the vampire who had actually sired Maruyama about a year and a half earlier, and Nino kind of got the impression that Ohno slightly regretted his choice. Ohno was a bit sluggish and lethargic for a vampire, and he strolled into the lobby with his usual gear: fishing rod, tackle box, baseball cap. He and his buddy from another enclave, Matsuoka, ran night fishing tours out on Tokyo Bay. Maru apparently went with him for lack of much else to do as a fairly new vampire. Nino had never known there were so many fishing magazines in the world, as Ohno Satoshi appeared to subscribe to every single one. It seemed like a new one was arriving every day.

“Maru, leave him alone,” Ohno complained, setting down his tackle box on the counter. Nino pressed his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing when Ohno punched his roommate in the arm. “Oi, why do you keep doing this? You’re so disgusting.”

“It’s fine, Ohno-san. Maru and I were just talking about the deliveries.”

Ohno shoved his fishing rod into Maruyama’s hand. “Totally disgusting. You’re going to make him quit if you keep bothering him.” Ohno inclined his head apologetically. “Nino, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Nino repeated, seeing Maru’s pale face redden in embarrassment. “Really, it’s fine.”

“Oh-chan, maybe if Nino and I just exchanged numbers…”

Ohno’s peaceful face contorted into something rather ugly, and Nino wanted to crawl behind his counter and laugh until his belly ached. “Let’s go, the sea bass aren’t going to catch themselves.”

Ohno offered one last apology before giving Maruyama a light kick in the ass, grabbing his tackle box and heading out into the night. Once the door closed, Nino doubled over, laughing. Maruyama was a young vampire, Nino tried to remind himself. He wasn’t in complete control of himself yet. It wasn’t right to make fun of him…

“Something funny?”

He looked up at the sound of Matsumoto Jun’s voice, his laughter coming to a swift end. It was a Saturday night, and Matsumoto wasn’t in his usual dress shirt, tie, and slacks. He was in a tight-fitting white v-neck t-shirt that made Nino really glad that there was a counter separating them. And he was especially glad that said counter came all the way up to his waist.

“Matsumoto-san, good evening,” he said, nodding his head.

He didn’t expect Matsumoto to then fling a magazine at him, and he ducked. Well, not fast enough. It still smacked him in the shoulder. He was shaking a bit when he picked it up from the floor. He set it down, examining it. “Does Sakurai-san not actually subscribe to Travel Planner Monthly? If you’ve been billed for this in error, I can give the publisher a call and…”

“Do you pay attention to what you’re doing?” Matsumoto asked, a coldness in his voice that got Nino to quit babbling immediately. There was fury in his dark, expressive eyes. Like it was taking everything in his power not to leap over the counter and choke Nino. He was glad that Matsumoto was still human and thus had limited potential as far as neck snapping went. “Do you?”

“Wh-what do you mean?” he managed to squeak out in reply. Not his finest moment on the job, by far. Although it was after hours, and he really ought to go home.

Matsumoto thumped the counter with his index finger. “Open the fucking thing.”

Nino swallowed, opening the cover. He was greeted with an advertisement encouraging him to consider the Maldives for his next summer holiday. He looked up, seeing Matsumoto’s rage had not yet dissipated.

“Keep going.”

Nino turned another page and frowned. “DIE VAMPIRE” was written in heavy black ink. He looked up. Matsumoto raised one of his thick eyebrows. Nino turned another page. “DIE VAMPIRE.” Another. “DIE VAMPIRE.” Another.

He shut the magazine and lowered his head to Matsumoto. “I’m very, very sorry.”

“So you just take in whatever mail gets delivered and shove it in the box and that’s it, huh?” Matsumoto continued. He was almost shaking in his anger. “You think that sort of thing is okay?”

“I…I didn’t write that in there, if that’s what you’re saying.”

“That is not what I’m saying,” Matsumoto hissed at him. “I’m asking if you pay attention. At all.”

“I don’t read the mail that gets delivered here, it’s none of my business.”

“It’s full of death threats!” Matsumoto shouted, and this time he pounded his fist on the counter. The bell let out a pathetic little ding that would have been comical at any other time. Matsumoto reached a hand out, flipped the magazine over. While Travel Planner Monthly’s cover was clean, DIE VAMPIRE had been written quite plainly on the back of the thing. “He could have seen this!”

“What do you mean?”

“Sho-kun,” Matsumoto said. “We got home late yesterday, so we hadn’t gone through our mail yet. I saw this before he did. And I’m glad I did.”

Nino felt like the floor was about to drop out from under him. He lowered his head once again. “I’m truly sorry, Matsumoto-san. I’ll be more careful with the magazines from now on. I swear to you. I swear.”

“I want to file a complaint with the Bureau,” Matsumoto said. “This is unacceptable. This got past the post office and it got past you. Completely unacceptable.”

“I agree,” Nino said, shutting his eyes. He hated that this was the longest conversation he’d had thus far with Matsumoto Jun. “I’m sorry. But since the magazine was intended for Sakurai-san, it might gain more traction if he filed the complaint himself…”

“You want me to go upstairs and tell him someone wants him dead? Is that what you want me to do?”

He looked up, shaking his head. Nino doubted that the threat was specifically against Sakurai, since it didn’t call him out by name. People weren’t stupid. The enclave was out in the open. “I…I don’t know what you want me to do, Matsumoto-san. I’ve apologized. I’ve told you exactly what Agent Yoshitaka at the Bureau would probably tell you. If you…if you want to take action, then you’ll have to go about it the right way. And…and why don’t you want Sakurai-san to know?”

Matsumoto looked aside, trying to calm down. When he met Nino’s eyes again, the rage had mostly been replaced with fear. “I don’t want anything to happen to him. I don’t want anyone to hurt him.”

Nino was quickly realizing that the blood contract between Matsumoto and Sakurai was probably not a simple business arrangement. Not with the sincerity, the depth of feeling in Matsumoto’s eyes. “I understand that…”

“I don’t think you do. I don’t think you possibly can,” Matsumoto said. He looked down, wincing. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this…”

“What?”

“Sho-kun trusts humans. He believes that humans, by default, are good. But this magazine is proof that we’re not.”

Nino crossed his arms, leaning on the counter. “Matsumoto-san, is it really your place to keep this from him? He’s a vampire, surely he can look after himself.”

Matsumoto took the magazine back, rolling it up in his hands. Nino almost wished he’d get angry again. He wasn’t sure what to think of this frightened man standing before him. For the first time, Nino took a close look at him, at something besides his face, the shape of his body. There was no bandaging on Matsumoto Jun’s neck. Instead he saw the red scarring there on Matsumoto’s otherwise pale skin, the two freshest puncture wounds that had scabbed over, and the remnants of wounds from months before, maybe even years. Sakurai didn’t always hit the same spot, but he came pretty damn close. Matsumoto didn’t hide them.

“If the only way the Bureau will listen is if he files the complaint himself, then I’ll see what I can do to convince him. He’s not the only one who’s gotten stuff like this around here.”

“Recently?” Nino asked in surprise, wondering just how many magazines he’d let slip by him. He felt terrible.

“No,” Matsumoto replied quickly, and Nino wished he could exhale in relief. “No, it’s been months. At least that I’m aware of. They don’t…they never like to talk about it. Maybe it’s as you say, that they can look after themselves but…”

“I’m sorry, Matsumoto-san. For my carelessness. If Sakurai-san needs my help, he can contact me at any time.” Which was a line he’d been preparing for a while now, even if he hadn’t expected to have a reason to use it. “You both can. Whatever you need. I’m here to help, I promise.”

Matsumoto said nothing else, twisting the magazine in his hands as he slowly walked back to the elevator bank.

Nino had difficulty sleeping that night. All he could think about was the heavy writing on all those pages. DIE VAMPIRE. He imagined being Matsumoto Jun, seeing such a horrible threat aimed at his…aimed at his what, exactly? His roommate? His friend? His…

Nino turned over, scrunching the blankets around himself and sighing. It was none of his business, whatever they were to each other. But even when he shut his eyes, he could see the scarring on Matsumoto’s neck, proof that again and again he let Sakurai drink from him. The intimacy of that, the trust inherent in that-trusting that Sakurai would take only enough to ease his hunger, over and over. That in itself had to forge a strong bond between two people, between vampire and BC.

Matsumoto trusted Sakurai in ways Nino couldn’t even imagine. No wonder he’d been so upset. And it was Nino’s fault that he was upset at all.

Finally he flung his covers off, reaching only for his keys and his sneakers, not caring if anyone saw his bed hair or the t-shirt and trunks he slept in. He went back to work at 3:30 in the morning, eyes squinting in the darkness of the mail room as he booted up the computer, went through his form letter templates. He got one ready, in case Sakurai wanted to use it. Official complaint form - Harassment.

Amagasa’s vampires could probably kill you in seconds. But even vampires needed protecting. Nino decided then and there that he would be that protector.

part three