Daylight Specialist, 1/6
Title: Daylight Specialist
Rating: NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Nino/Jun/Sho (every possible combination)
Summary: When Ninomiya Kazunari takes a new job at the Amagasa Vampire Enclave, he expects it’ll be easy money. After all, the residents are asleep while he’s working. But when two residents in particular catch his eye, he learns that the world he’s entered is more dangerous and alluring than he’d bargained for.
Notes/Warnings: Vampire AU!!! Spoiler alert-Sho is the vampire. LMAO I couldn’t help myself! For this year’s ninoexchange. Contains sex, violence, blood, and occasional peril. Considerable inspiration from Anne Bishop’s Written in Red, and probably True Blood as well.
When Nino was in junior high school, he’d been bullied. There was a group of four boys who came from wealthy families and because of that wealth, they felt they were entitled to treat everyone else in the class like garbage. It had been him and another kid one day, Kohara. He and Kohara had been told to meet the bullies after school at Katsushika’s enclave, a block away from the Tokyo Detention House.
The bullies had made them a deal-you walk into the enclave’s lobby and whoever stays inside longer will be left alone. At first, he and Kohara had exchanged a rather thoughtful look. If they tied, maybe they’d both be left alone. But at thirteen years old, the thought of stepping foot inside was terrifying. Even a block away from the prison, where inmates on death row who had committed horrible crimes awaited their fate, it was still far more frightening to stand outside the multi-story apartment building, to peer through the glass door and see the lobby beyond.
The Katsushika enclave looked like almost any other apartment building in Tokyo, at least if you just glanced for a moment, the same concrete and glass like Nino’s own home. But there was the bright red sign on the front doors that denoted just what kind of place it was.
BUREAU OF UNDEAD MANAGEMENT
KATSUSHIKA VAMPIRE ENCLAVE
AUTHORIZED PERSONS ONLY
NO SOLICITORS
Sure, the Bureau of Undead Management had its name on the door, but everybody knew that the property itself belonged to the…people who lived inside. Japanese law didn’t apply once you set foot in an enclave or any business run by a vampire. It was just about the only thing that was entirely theirs, and they managed their own affairs.
Nino remembered staring at that bright red sign for what seemed like an eternity. He’d had two choices: chicken out and continue to get the shit kicked out of him when the bullies were in that sort of mood or go inside where the police couldn’t help him if something went wrong. One of the bullies had finally shoved him.
“Come on, Ninomiya. Go ask for directions. Ask for some extra rice, tell them your mom ran out.”
They’d been pushing Kohara too, but he’d turned and run as soon as they pushed him into the enclave wall, his arm hitting the concrete. Just touching it had sent Kohara, who was tall and sort of strong, running. Then it was just Nino and the four of them, standing outside.
“Come on, Ninomiya. We’ll tell all the girls in class you went inside, even if you piss your pants.”
And so he’d dropped his bookbag on the sidewalk. If he died while he was inside, he thought there ought to be something left of him for the police to find. He buttoned the jacket of his school uniform and ran his hand through his hair. As soon as he pulled on the door, tugging it open, he heard the footsteps-all four of the bullies had turned to flee, just like Kohara.
None of them had actually thought he’d be so stupid.
The lobby smelled like cleaning products, a harsh and bitter smell, like they’d used a bit too much to clean the lobby’s linoleum floor. It had been completely empty, at first, a long line of mailboxes and an elevator just beyond. It was daylight, after all, it wasn’t like any of them were awake. Somehow he’d been brave enough to walk up to the mailboxes, and he was just brushing his fingers across one of the nameplates on a mailbox when the elevator had chimed.
Nino had never run so fast in his life, nearly losing a shoe as he bolted from the building, barely remembering to grab his bookbag before running all the way home. The four bullies in class mostly left him alone after that, but Nino wasn’t even afraid of them any longer.
For years, he had nightmares. Quick little nightmares that always ended with the chime of the Katsushika enclave’s elevator.
To this day, he didn’t know who (or what) had been on the other side.
-
But, of course, that was years ago. Almost twenty years ago, in fact, and he wasn’t terribly surprised to discover that the enclave building before him now had a security camera pointed at the entrance. He was able to open the front door with no trouble, but in the entryway before the lobby proper there was another set of double doors, solid steel as far as he could tell, and he had to push the button on the intercom to announce himself.
He had no bookbag to leave outside this time, seeing as how he was turning thirty-two in a few weeks. Instead he was in a suit he hadn’t worn in a while and was grateful that he still remembered how to tie his tie. He hoped that he didn’t look too frightened, looking into the intercom’s video screen, knowing they were watching him.
Sunset was sometime just after 7:00 PM that evening, and it was 6:42 according to Nino’s watch. There was a buzzing sound as the double doors unlocked, and he let himself inside. There wasn’t the same pungent chemical smell he remembered from the Katsushika enclave. The location itself was far less intimidating, situated as it was in the middle of the mostly residential Ota Ward, in a small commercial district between a dental clinic and a family restaurant.
Amagasa was still a vampire enclave, though. It was seven or eight stories tall, dark brick with the requisite red signs announcing what it was. But inside wasn’t as empty, desolate, or stinky as Katsushika had been. Across the pristine white tile and to the right was an office of some sort, with a large glass window, a door just beyond, a bank of mailboxes, and a metal shutter that was pulled down onto a countertop and locked, but probably served as the reception window for the mail room. Beyond the mail area were two elevators, and Nino just hoped they wouldn’t have the same chime.
To the left of the entryway was a desk with a few bulky monitors. There was a person behind the desk who got to his feet as soon as Nino looked his way. He was a tall, lanky guy, maybe Nino’s age, clad in a navy blue security guard uniform.
“Yo!” the guard said, hurrying around his desk. “Come in, come in, don’t be shy.”
This is a vampire enclave, outside Japanese jurisdiction, Nino wanted to remind the guy, but he was here to make a good first impression with anyone he happened to meet. “Ninomiya Kazunari, I have an interview with Joshima-san?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course!” The guy approached him, as human as human could be. The security guard had bright, happy eyes and a smile to match. He stuck his hand out, and Nino couldn’t miss the Taser device holstered at his narrow waist. “I’m Aiba Masaki, Daylight Security for Amagasa. Nice to meet you.”
Nino shook his hand. “I’m sorry for coming early…”
Aiba settled his hands on his hips, still smiling. “Don’t worry about it, Joshima-san won’t mind. We’re really excited that you’re here.”
“Is that a fact?” Nino asked, a little uneasy. Were they excited because he’d willingly walked in the door and now they were going to eat him? Well, Aiba-san probably wouldn’t eat him. In fact, Aiba-san, a human security guard, had no visible bite marks on his nicely tanned neck, so perhaps the rumors weren’t all true. Perhaps the vampires really did trust and respect the human help they hired. But would Nino pass the test?
Aiba seemed almost thrilled for the company, and even though they’d been acquainted for less than a minute, he grabbed Nino by the hand and tugged him over to his security station, where he then explained in excruciatingly unnecessary detail where each of his security monitors pointed. There was the one at the front door, the one that had obviously seen Nino coming. There was the monitor for the intercom in the entryway. There was one at the elevator banks beyond the lobby, one under the building in the resident parking garage that steadily panned back and forth, and two more, one inside each elevator.
The more Aiba chatted away, the more Nino found him sort of annoyingly endearing. What kind of human willingly took a job at a vampire enclave, especially a security job that left you sitting in the lobby by yourself all day? Nino had been attracted to the position he was interviewing for because he liked the idea of not talking to anyone for most of the day - with the enclave residents asleep during the day, he’d be alone for hours, enjoying solitude.
But there’d probably not be a lot of solitude, he realized, if he’d be sharing the Amagasa lobby with Aiba Masaki.
Nino couldn’t help but wonder what the competition was like. He’d been applying for jobs for the better part of a year now, making it to second and third interviews and still coming up short. Well, having only one job-professional gamer-on your resume kind of made things difficult when you were applying for a regular office job. But after he’d been a little tipsy one night and had applied at Amagasa (mostly as a joke), he’d gotten a reply to set up an interview within an hour.
Since he and Aiba were already on the road to friendship (if Aiba’s cheerful laugh and unsolicited pats on the shoulder were anything to go on), he decided to see what information he could glean from him.
“Aiba-san?” he asked shortly after 7:00 PM. The lobby had small glass block windows, no full view of the outside, but Nino could see the slightest darkening of the light that filtered inside. The sun was on its way down for the night.
“Hmm?”
“I was wondering…and you don’t have to answer this, but I was wondering how many other candidates are up for this position? I don’t want to get my hopes up…”
Aiba had a rather strange laugh, a kind of wheezing chortle that Nino would probably get sick of in a month’s time, give or take. He laughed and laughed before finally wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “Ninomiya-san, you’re the only one who’s applied for it!”
In this economy, job security was vital. But it seemed most humans just wouldn’t cross that line. Working for vampires? Willingly? Nino wondered what this made him. A risk taker? Desperate? Stupid?
It was some time later that the elevator chimed, and Nino was really happy to discover that Amagasa’s sounded different.
-
“I’m only one floor up, but I’d rather not take the stairs just after I get up for the day. Aiba-kun says that makes me sound rather old…”
Nino only nodded as the elevator chimed on the next floor and the doors opened. He followed the vampire down the corridor. It seemed there were four apartments to each floor, two to either side of the elevator banks across from each other. Joshima-san, Joshima Shigeru he’d introduced himself, led Nino to the first one to the left, turning the doorknob. He hadn’t felt the need to lock it before heading down to the lobby, which said a lot about his trust in Aiba as a security guard-and which said a lot about the other residents.
“Please, go right ahead.”
Joshima appeared to be a man in his forties, with a gentle, kind face (though Aiba had implied that he’d been a vampire for a very long time). He reminded Nino of the kind of salarymen who went to stand-up bars, staring at the rim of their beer glasses in peaceful solitude while the noisy world rambled on around them. For Nino’s benefit, Joshima had said that he would breathe. Apparently most humans who encountered vampires found their lack of respiration to be scarier than the threat of the bite. Joshima explained that most vampires by now had adapted to it, to breathing again, in their own way. Nino didn’t know why he’d expected the man to dress a certain way. He wasn’t in a Dracula cape or anything, but a t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops, and the apartment he brought Nino inside was rather spartan, but not abnormal.
Downstairs, Aiba had mentioned to him in the midst of his lengthy security camera story that Amagasa Vampire Enclave had been a normal apartment building until the mid-70’s when Joshima had purchased it. For centuries, most Japanese enclaves had been on the outskirts of towns or in undesirable neighborhoods, near industrial complexes or noisy airports. Joshima had long been an advocate for peaceful relations between his kind and humans, and though there’d been a lot of fuss at first, Amagasa was now part of the community. Would they ever be fully accepted? No, but Amagasa gave the neighborhood little trouble and thus they were mostly left alone.
Though Nino had noticed more of the glass block windows on the building’s exterior before entering, he saw that they were boarded up on the inside of Joshima’s apartment, covered with heavy curtains. “Let me give you a tour, just to let you know a little about how we live.”
Nino felt way overdressed in his suit and tie as Joshima eased out of his flip flops and led Nino around his apartment. The kitchen had appliances and fixtures like any apartment, but the counters were bare. Joshima merely tapped on his refrigerator door. “Don’t worry, Ninomiya-san, I’ve already had my breakfast.”
A chill raced down Nino’s spine, even though Joshima hadn’t come within five feet of him save for their brief elevator ride together. Much as the vampire was trying to put him at ease, there was no denying what he was. Someone who had blood in his refrigerator. Nino smiled politely, trying not to let his unease show as Joshima continued the little tour. There was a low table and cushions, a small TV set and a bookshelf in the living area, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Although there was no bed or futon to speak of, not in the normal sense.
Nino had done some research about enclaves on the Internet, and there was a surprising amount of information out there about “vampire coffins.” Not that vampires slept in actual coffins, that was just the old stereotype. In olden times, they’d merely burrowed themselves in the dirt to wait out the day, but Japan’s love of technology knew no bounds. Joshima’s bedroom housed a dark, crate-like “modern vamp sleep unit,” which had a long, thick cord that was plugged into the wall and had a computer panel on the side.
Joshima tapped in a combination and the thing opened quietly, almost like a bathtub lid if it was remote controlled. Joshima encouraged Nino to peer inside. He found a few pillows and blankets. “Temperature-controlled, sound-proof, completely dark, works on a timer. It’s a dream,” Joshima explained, cheerily patting the sleep unit with his hand. “You know, there are humans that have these now, can you believe it? There’s a market for it, some of the capsule hotels are thinking of investing. Aiba-kun almost bought one, but his girlfriend wasn’t too fond of the idea…”
Nino waited until Joshima turned back to the sleep unit’s control panel to hide a smile in the crook of his arm. Working for vampires was definitely rubbing off on the security guard downstairs.
“What happens if the power goes out? You don’t get locked inside, do you?”
Joshima chuckled warmly. “The lock disengages if power to the unit is disconnected. Then it just becomes a bed with a lid on it, you could say. We’re not a claustrophobic sort. You really can’t be, you know?”
Nino laughed in return. He’d stayed in a capsule hotel once or twice, slept more than his fair share of nights in a tiny cubicle at a manga cafe, but something about the sleep unit still weirded him out.
Joshima led him back into his small living room, and Nino joined him on the floor, sitting on one of the cushions. Yeah, he definitely had overdressed for this interview. Joshima produced a thick manila file folder from his bookshelf, sliding it across the table for Nino to peruse.
“I know the ad was a little vague about all the duties of the position. We don’t really like to give out too much information about what goes on in our enclaves,” Joshima said, sitting cross-legged, tapping his fingers on his knees.
Nino opened the folder, finding addresses and contact information for several package delivery services in the area, contact details for the Tokyo branch of the Bureau of Undead Management, lists of dentists and doctors, delivery places of all sorts-from food to furniture to consumer electronics.
“That’s a current directory of everyone who has done business with Amagasa in the last few years. They know us, and we know them,” Joshima explained. “As our Daylight Specialist, you’d be doing a lot of the work we can’t get done because of the strange hours we keep.”
Mail distribution, signing for packages and other deliveries, running errands. Joshima went on and on, making Nino’s head spin. He thought he’d just be sitting quietly in that office most of the day, earning an easy paycheck. But no, the “Daylight Specialist” position, a bizarre job title if Nino ever heard one, required him to go out too. To go to the bank and make withdrawals or deposits during business hours on residents’ behalf. To fetch groceries. To drive the Amagasa enclave’s car if needed to drive BCs to and from appointments…
“Wait,” Nino interrupted, closing the folder. “BCs? You have BCs here?”
Joshima smiled. “I know it seems a little old fashioned, but yes, some of our residents do maintain live-in BCs on premises. You’d be responsible for escorting them if they have to leave the building during daylight hours. Doctor’s appointment, a pre-arranged visit with their families or friends. They’re usually smart about it, they’ll give you notice.”
BC, taken from the English phrase “blood contract.” Nino didn’t even know it was still legal, but then again, most people didn’t take a very close look at vampires too often. It was easier to just leave them alone. Blood contracts these days were a popular plot for a fantasy drama series, for a trashy novel. But apparently it still happened, even in the 21st century. Humans who willingly agreed to serve as a source of blood for a vampire, staying with them for an agreed upon period of time. Completely under their sway. Centuries earlier, there’d been no contracts-vampires had abducted humans, kept them as blood slaves.
When Japan opened to the west, the oh-so-civilized “blood contract” came with them. Instead of kidnapping and forced imprisonment, a BC moved into the vampire’s enclave, lived with him, came under his protection. In exchange for the BC’s blood, to be taken at any time, the vampire provided them with food, shelter, and monetary compensation. In theory, it was supposed to make the vampires less scary, if they went “monogamous” with a human instead of prowling the streets when the hunger struck. Most didn’t see it that way though. “Blood whore” was the phrase that got bandied about back in Nino’s school days, if it was discovered your older sister, a cousin, an uncle, your mother, was a cabaret club girl or a host. It was just the first step on a journey to being a BC, people said. First they pay for your time. Then your body. Then if you’re really desperate for money, you let them pay for your blood.
Joshima was looking at him, raising an eyebrow. “Does that make you uncomfortable, Ninomiya-san? I can assure you that all of the BCs at Amagasa are decent people. They simply made a choice that most of your kind don’t agree with.”
“No,” he said, swallowing his curiosity. “No, I’m fine with it.” Hell, he was all set to take a job for the vampires. He would take their money, do his job, and just have to hope that they wouldn’t ask for much more.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Joshima admitted. “There’s enough judgment in our own community about the practice. Amagasa is one of the more tolerant enclaves in the country, I’ll say that much. Most other enclaves just tell their residents to go to the bank these days. Keeping human BCs on property is riskier.”
There were “blood banks” popping up all over the country lately, the vampire world equivalent of love hotels. Blindfolded and closely monitored vampires paid thousands of yen to drink from a willing human. They were all about anonymity, open only at night on vampire time. You’d go, make your money, take a few days off work until your neck healed (or just ask them to bite you where nobody would see). Nobody would know. Nino hadn’t done it, but he’d dated someone who had. “Quickest money I ever made.” And apparently it felt amazing, having the blood sucked from your body, though Nino had mostly written it off as a quirky kink for masochists.
If you had a thing for vampires, or just got sucked once in a while for the thrill, you could keep it quiet. It was all very Japanese, very discreet and hush hush. But if you were a BC, everyone knew-you had to quit your job, leave everything behind, and move in to the vampire’s enclave. And some of those people lived here, at Amagasa, and it would be Nino’s job to help them.
Joshima let Nino hold on to the folder, and together they headed back down to the lobby. The vampire produced a set of keys and unlocked the door to the mail room. He turned on the light, and Nino frowned at the state of the place. “Your predecessor, if you will, passed away a few months back. And before you ask, it was natural causes. Misako-san was in her mid-seventies and she’d been helping out here for years.” Nino sidestepped a few garbage bags, overflowing with piles of junk mail. “Aiba-kun usually works in here for a little while each day, just to make sure we’ve got important things like bills and such, but as you can see, there’s boxes that haven’t gotten to their owners yet, some magazine subscriptions, things like that.”
From the piles and piles of things littering the mail room’s countertops and the table in the center of the room, Aiba hadn’t exactly put much effort into keeping things organized.
“Aiba-kun knows the delivery people, and the people from the post office, so he’ll let them in, but it would be your job from there to get things where they have to go. And then the rest of the time you’d be helping out with our daytime business.” Joshima leaned back against the counter, offering a wary smile. “You’re very brave for applying, even more for coming inside to talk with me. Could you be honest and tell me why you want to work for us?”
Nino decided a brutally honest answer was the best answer. It had obviously kept him from making it very far on other interviews, but lying to a vampire’s face was not something he wanted to do. “I’ve been told that enclaves pay very well for human staff. Also, the building I’m living in right now is about to convert from rentals into condominiums for purchase, and much as it would be a good thing to invest in property, my savings should be savings for the future, not the present. I have no income right now, and your job posting noted that company housing was included in the compensation package. You’d be saving me a lot of trouble.”
Joshima didn’t react negatively to this, at least as far as Nino could tell. He just nodded, mumbling “hmm, is that so?”
“That’s not to say I wouldn’t take the job seriously,” Nino said, holding up his hands. “I’m a quick study, and if you read my resume, I think I’d be good at…mail sorting. Nimble fingers, you know. From being a gamer.”
“Professional video game player,” Joshima said. “Why are you no longer in that profession?”
Nino swallowed. He didn’t exactly want to admit that the younger, up and coming players had all but forced him out. Nimbler fingers. “Looking for new opportunities.”
Joshima grabbed one of the junk mail envelopes from the table, taking a pen from a cup near the metal shutter at the reception window. He turned his back, writing something down. When he turned, his face was more serious than it had been until now.
“Company housing is just another name for the apartments upstairs from the restaurant next door. There are two of them. Aiba-kun lives in one, you’d be in the other. Since you aren’t BCs, you’re under no obligation to live in the enclave. We do have an empty one on the fifth floor right now, but the agent from the Bureau of Undead Management would probably not allow it unless you made a good case for it. Utilities, Internet, TV hook-up, water, that’s all included.”
Nino nodded. Being next door would give Nino a longer “commute” than he was used to, since he usually just went online from his console to participate in tournaments, but this wasn’t half bad. “Those terms seem acceptable.”
“There’s a stigma attached to working for us. Getting a job elsewhere with an enclave on your resume will be almost impossible. Please keep that in mind. In addition,” Joshima explained, “your shift is sunrise to sunset, if that wasn’t obvious. You’ll work longer hours in the summer, shorter in winter. You don’t get sick days. If you’re unwell, simply stay home and Aiba-kun will cover the desk for you. Please do not abuse this privilege. Vacation time needs to be worked out as far in advance as you can manage. If Aiba-kun is on vacation or ill, we have someone come from one of the other enclaves to cover for him. You will not be expected to perform his duties beyond due diligence in protecting the privacy of our residents.”
Before Nino could blink, Joshima was across the room, beside him, with a hand around his throat. Nino gasped for air, thoroughly stunned. Vampires were quick, quicker than he’d even imagined. Had this all been one elaborate prank? Had this cheerful uncle just been messing with him and now he was going to be a snack? He whimpered pathetically.
But Joshima’s grip relaxed slightly, even as his eyes refused to leave Nino’s. “We’ll pay you well, human, and so long as you’re inside this building, you are under my protection. We really aren’t asking that much from you besides your discretion. Your friends don’t come here. You don’t tell anyone who lives here. You are our daytime liaison with the government, and we’ll expect you to have our interests in mind.” Joshima leaned even closer, and Nino could smell the coppery tang of blood on his breath. He suspected that was intentional. “Inside these walls, you are under my protection, but if you betray us in any way, just remember that we are the law inside here as well. Is that clear?”
Nino was barely able to nod, on the verge of wetting himself. Was Aiba out in the hall watching through the glass? It was after dark now, were the other vampires listening in?
“I have worked too long and too hard to be nice to your kind and to create a safe haven for my people at the same time. I have defied my very nature to abide by human laws. Do know that there are humans out there who hate us, curse us, and want us dead. They’d use someone like you to get at us. Amagasa is not a place for you to brag about or check off a bucket list,” Joshima told him. “So help me, if you violate the trust we place in you, you will regret it.”
The vampire let him go, and Nino exhaled, shaking in terror as he leaned back against the countertop, wanting to flee. And yet…and yet…when Joshima said that Nino would be under his protection, he’d meant it. Nino felt it all the way to his bones. Talk about job security.
Joshima set down the piece of mail he’d written on, tapping the counter with his knuckles. “Your salary, if you choose to accept the position. I’ll be out in the lobby, so please consider your answer carefully.” The slightly sheepish look he’d worn upon greeting him was back. “This is my home, Ninomiya-san. You have to understand how serious this is. I get that you’re in it for the money, there’s no shame in it. But we will expect you to earn it.”
The vampire left him alone, and without even having to check, Nino knew that his neck would soon purple and bruise, the outline of fingers marked on his skin for days whether he said yes or no to Joshima.
He remembered being a dumb kid, pulling open the door to an enclave lobby, walking inside without so much as a ‘pardon my intrusion.’ Entering a home that wasn’t his because he selfishly believed it would prove something to those bullies. Vampires didn’t barge into human homes. Vampires were second-class citizens in Japan. They willingly lived in their enclaves, let the government count them. They wore red badges or armbands whenever they left their enclaves at night. As Joshima said, they stifled their natures to live as peacefully among humans as they could. They even breathed to put humans at ease. Joshima only wanted to protect his people, and yet Nino had applied for the job as a joke.
Well, it seemed that this job wasn’t a joking matter after all.
He took a deep breath before picking up the envelope Joshima had written on, turning it over. His eyes bulged at the number of zeroes.
“Holy shit.”
-
They were giving him time to move in and get settled before expecting him to get to work. He broke out of his lease agreement for his apartment in Kawasaki. With the money Amagasa would be paying him, apparently a salary that Joshima and all the residents of Amagasa contributed to, breaking his lease early wouldn’t really cost him that much in the end. Joshima even paid his moving costs, so long as he worked with a moving company that was trusted in the vampire community. Aiba helped too, so eager was he to finally have a next door neighbor above the restaurant. He had a replacement covering Amagasa security for him that day, which Nino thought was awfully kind of him.
Nino’s new apartment wasn’t much bigger than the one he was leaving, but there was enough room for all his TVs and gaming systems, which was the main point. As the movers brought in his boxes and furniture, he made sure to talk to the head of the crew. Yamaguchi-san from TOKIO Movers had been friends with Joshima for years, and he coordinated almost every move at Amagasa, whether it was a BC coming or going or a resident moving in from another enclave. It was important for Nino to know him, for them to trust one another.
“You’re a lot younger than the last Daylight Specialist,” Yamaguchi teased, chatting with Nino in his new kitchen as two of his crew worked to get Nino’s loveseat up the stairs. “Misako-san was a very kind woman.”
“Do you know why she worked for vampires, an old lady like that?”
Yamaguchi had a round face and an easy smile, but his expression grew solemn. “Her son was turned. It was rough on her. I think working at Amagasa gave her some deal of comfort.”
New vampires were usually cut off immediately by their families. It was the law that vampires had to live in enclaves, for the safety of the human majority, so whether the family kicked you out first or not, it didn’t much matter. You had to leave. And with humans all but banned from enclaves except in special circumstances like Nino’s job, it was unlikely a mother would have seen her vampire son too often, even if she’d still wanted to.
“Well, I hope I can do a decent job in her place.”
“They all liked her. She was very no-nonsense. Vampires prefer the straightforward sort, so I’m sure you are too. Otherwise Leader wouldn’t have hired you.”
“Leader?”
Yamaguchi chuckled. “They all call Joshima that, the Amagasa vampires. He’s their leader, really. If Joshima likes you, Ninomiya-san, then I don’t think you have much to worry about. They follow his lead when it comes to humans.”
Aiba came huffing and puffing into the apartment, carrying bags of groceries. “Oi, Ninomiya-kun! I’m going to stock your fridge!”
“But I don’t cook,” he mumbled, even as Aiba elbowed him aside rudely and pulled his refrigerator open and started unloading his bags. Fruits, veggies, salads…nothing Nino really made much effort to eat when there were things like milk bread and hamburgers in the world.
Yamaguchi patted Aiba on the head, ruffling his messy brown hair. “Those vampires just love this one. Probably because he’s no threat.”
“I’m a security guard,” Aiba protested, straightening up and trying to puff out his chest. Aiba wasn’t exactly a bulky sort, not that Nino was either. “Of course I’m threatening!”
Yamaguchi only laughed harder. “Alright, I’m going back to the truck, see what’s left.”
Aiba was still putting stuff in the fridge, grumbling under his breath. “I’m tough, you know.”
“I’m sure you are, Aiba-san,” Nino said, hoping he sounded serious. If he was going to have to be Aiba’s neighbor and also sit in the lobby of Amagasa with him all day, they had to get along. He supposed there were worse people in the world to work with.
The movers got everything inside, and that left the rest of the afternoon for Nino to unpack, settle in. When Aiba got bored watching Nino get his games unpacked and hooked up in lieu of even unboxing his clothes, he headed for all the groceries he’d put in the fridge and volunteered to cook them something. Nino could definitely get used to this. The Amagasa salary, a neighbor who’d cook for him. Not bad at all.
When the sun set and the dirty dishes lingered in the sink hours later, Aiba went over to Nino’s window, which faced out onto the street below. Aiba’s fingers jammed in the blinds, tugging them open a bit. “Here, look. Look, some of them are heading out.”
It was a Friday night, and it had been a hot summer day, but things were finally starting to cool down. It shouldn’t have surprised him that the Amagasa vampires were no different from most people in Tokyo, going out to celebrate the weekend. He got to his feet, padding over to the window. But where he expected a steady stream of people in casual clothes, he saw a few men and women in business attire pass under the window, heading in the direction of the train station. Ah, no wonder, Nino realized. Any vampires who ran businesses or worked for other vampire establishments started their jobs after the sun went down.
Aiba helpfully supplied some names, giving Nino an early start on some of the residents he’d be helping in his new job. Amagasa mainly housed male vampires. There were many larger enclaves in the Tokyo metropolitan area that were more suitable for women, for those in relationships. Amagasa’s apartments weren’t very large, so most people lived alone or with one other person, a BC or vampire roommate.
“That’s Hina,” Aiba explained, pointing and smearing Nino’s window glass. Nino bit his tongue to keep from scolding him. Aiba pointed to a vampire who’d just pulled out from Amagasa’s underground garage in a garish purple Mercedes. “Murakami, he actually runs a blood bank in Kabukicho. You ever heard of the Kyu Jo Show Club?”
He shook his head.
“Well, I guess it’s a fancy blood bank. He’s filthy rich,” Aiba whined. “But he’s so cheap, you know! I ordered this soccer DVD for him that he wanted, since it was an overseas seller that wouldn’t sell to vampires, so I went to all this trouble. And then he wouldn’t even give me the money for the shipping, just face value for the DVD. ‘That’s human nonsense, the shipping cost, Aiba-chan,’ he tells me. What a jerk!”
Nino rolled his eyes. Yamaguchi had definitely been right-Aiba certainly wasn’t a threat, if the vampires were walking all over him. Nino couldn’t let them do the same to him. If he was ordering DVDs, he wasn’t paying for anything with his own money.
While Aiba continued to babble on about this Murakami and his thriftiness, a quality Nino tended to admire in people, two people stopped right under his window, the street light streaming down on them, bathing them in its warm glow. With the air conditioning on in the apartment, he couldn’t understand what they were saying. It was two men in business attire, and though this wasn’t so uncommon a sight in Tokyo, Nino felt a rather strange tug at the sight of them.
The first one was in a gray suit, holding a briefcase. He had a round, almost boyishly cute face with dark hair. Handsome, but with something more that Nino couldn’t quite pinpoint just by looking at him. He was pointing to his watch, looking a little impatient as he talked to the man with him. Now this man, Nino realized, his breath catching, was distractingly attractive. Absurdly perfect bone structure, tousled black hair, broad shouldered, with his shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows and holding his suit jacket over his arm. He was clearly arguing, pointing back at Amagasa emphatically.
“Who…” Nino was embarrassed at how his voice cracked, but Aiba didn’t seem to notice. “Who are they?”
The guy with the watch seemed to finally relent, throwing his hands up as his companion went racing back into the enclave.
“Aiba-kun,” Nino repeated, trying to catch Aiba by his shirt sleeve. “Who are they?”
He couldn’t stop staring, watching the man in the suit reach his hand up to scratch at the back of his neck. Before Nino could let go of the blinds, back away, the man looked up and their eyes met, locked.
“Oh god,” Nino mumbled, feeling weak in the knees.
Even though it was obvious that his friend was the one who could pass for a movie star, it was the gaze of this other man upon him that changed everything. Nino felt something awaken inside him that he hadn’t known was there. And he wasn’t the sort of person who was prone to having things suddenly “awaken inside him” either. He was too pragmatic for concepts like love at first sight, or, in this case, irresponsible lustful feelings at first sight. And yet, here it was, this urgent need, keeping him locked in place, unable to even blink as the man stared up at him.
The man didn’t look away, and Nino wondered if even through the glass and one story down this man had cast a spell on him. Now that he was looking closer, caught in his awkward stare, he realized that the man’s eyes were gorgeous, calculating, seeming to assess Nino’s worth in an instant. His tongue poked out of his mouth for just an instant, brushing along his plump bottom lip. The man then brought up his hand, waving, and Aiba waving back at him finally broke the strange tension.
“Hey! Hey Sho-chan!” Aiba called, oblivious.
Nino stepped back from the window, nearly tripping over a box. It was like a tether had snapped, some invisible cord that had wrapped around his heart, squeezing hard. Aiba turned, releasing the blinds.
“Ninomiya-kun, what’s wrong?”
He sat down awkwardly on his loveseat. “There were two of them, that guy you just waved to and the other one. Are they both…are they both…?”
Until that moment, Nino had still only met one vampire in his life, and that was Joshima-san. Nino had been petrified of him briefly, down in the mail room the day he’d been hired, but the rest of the time he’d been like any other person. But from the instant he’d seen the two men downstairs, the hair on his arms had stood up, his throat had gone dry.
“Are they both what?” Aiba asked before laughing. “Oh, you mean are they both vampires? Sho-chan is.”
“Sho-chan?”
“Ah, he’d probably be mad if he heard me tell someone that’s his name. He’s a proper businessman, as I’m sure he’d tell you. Sakurai Sho-san, he was the person I waved to. He’s a vampire.”
“He was looking at me.”
Aiba cocked his head. “Probably because you were staring at him through your blinds like a pervert.”
Nino bit the inside of his cheek to keep from reminding Aiba that he’d been the one to go creeping on people through the blinds in the first place. Sakurai Sho, in his crisp suit, with his fancy briefcase. He was a vampire. But there was more to it than that, wasn’t there? Because if Nino had been staring, Sakurai Sho had been staring right back. Why?
“And his…the other guy?”
“Other guy? Oh, you mean Jun-kun.”
That Aiba was on a first name or nickname basis with vampires said a lot about who he was. “Yeah, the other man. He went back inside.”
Aiba went back to peeking outside. “Oh, they’re gone already. Well, if he went inside, he already found what he wanted. Maybe he forgot his dinner. Jun-kun’s always taking food with him to work.”
“Food?” Nino asked curiously. “What kind of vampire eats food?”
Aiba shook his head. “No, no. I said Sho-chan’s the vampire. Jun-kun is his BC. Matsumoto Jun-kun, he’s as human as you and me.”
Nino felt like he’d just been punched in the gut. Sakurai had probably just been looking at Nino like a forbidden meal, if he had his own blood contract. He sat back further against the loveseat cushions, confused and intrigued and sick to his stomach all at once, which was rather impressive, he had to admit. The man in the suit was a vampire, and the man he was with, this Matsumoto Jun, lived with him. Let him drink his blood, whenever he had a craving for it. And how often was that?
He gazed blankly at the wall while Aiba puttered around the kitchen, washing the dishes and humming off-key to himself. It had been less than a minute, mere seconds staring out the window and watching the two of them. A vampire and his blood contract. But they’d seemed so normal, if a bit perfect. Like drama lead or idol perfect. They’d been standing there having a quick little argument like anyone, and yet Matsumoto had given up whatever life he’d had to live with Sakurai.
What could compel someone to do something like that, to throw everything away to live in an enclave, surrounded by creatures whose survival depended on blood? But then Nino thought of the way Sakurai had looked at him, like he was burrowing inside and taking up residence, seeing through Nino despite the distance between them. Was it a trick? Was it coercion? Was Matsumoto Jun under Sakurai’s…glamor or something too?
Much as he was curious about Sakurai, Matsumoto, and all the other residents he’d be working with, he decided not to bother Aiba any longer. Nino had a new sleep schedule to adjust to and he was not looking forward to it. In two days he’d be starting his new position as Amagasa’s Daylight Specialist. The newness of vampires, of being in a building where they slept all day, these deadly creatures, that was what had him weirded out. Soon enough, he’d be as comfortable with them as Aiba was.
Right?
He said farewell to his new friend for the night, finding himself turning both of his door locks and putting the chain on. He’d lived in a world that vampires walked since he was born, but now that he lived next door, he couldn’t help but want to be safe. He’d work for the vampires, sure. He’d do a good job. But he couldn’t allow himself to forget who they were, and what they could do to him if he didn’t tread carefully.
Even if they had gorgeous brown eyes and kissable lips, a vampire was a vampire.
part two
Rating: NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Nino/Jun/Sho (every possible combination)
Summary: When Ninomiya Kazunari takes a new job at the Amagasa Vampire Enclave, he expects it’ll be easy money. After all, the residents are asleep while he’s working. But when two residents in particular catch his eye, he learns that the world he’s entered is more dangerous and alluring than he’d bargained for.
Notes/Warnings: Vampire AU!!! Spoiler alert-Sho is the vampire. LMAO I couldn’t help myself! For this year’s ninoexchange. Contains sex, violence, blood, and occasional peril. Considerable inspiration from Anne Bishop’s Written in Red, and probably True Blood as well.
When Nino was in junior high school, he’d been bullied. There was a group of four boys who came from wealthy families and because of that wealth, they felt they were entitled to treat everyone else in the class like garbage. It had been him and another kid one day, Kohara. He and Kohara had been told to meet the bullies after school at Katsushika’s enclave, a block away from the Tokyo Detention House.
The bullies had made them a deal-you walk into the enclave’s lobby and whoever stays inside longer will be left alone. At first, he and Kohara had exchanged a rather thoughtful look. If they tied, maybe they’d both be left alone. But at thirteen years old, the thought of stepping foot inside was terrifying. Even a block away from the prison, where inmates on death row who had committed horrible crimes awaited their fate, it was still far more frightening to stand outside the multi-story apartment building, to peer through the glass door and see the lobby beyond.
The Katsushika enclave looked like almost any other apartment building in Tokyo, at least if you just glanced for a moment, the same concrete and glass like Nino’s own home. But there was the bright red sign on the front doors that denoted just what kind of place it was.
BUREAU OF UNDEAD MANAGEMENT
KATSUSHIKA VAMPIRE ENCLAVE
AUTHORIZED PERSONS ONLY
NO SOLICITORS
Sure, the Bureau of Undead Management had its name on the door, but everybody knew that the property itself belonged to the…people who lived inside. Japanese law didn’t apply once you set foot in an enclave or any business run by a vampire. It was just about the only thing that was entirely theirs, and they managed their own affairs.
Nino remembered staring at that bright red sign for what seemed like an eternity. He’d had two choices: chicken out and continue to get the shit kicked out of him when the bullies were in that sort of mood or go inside where the police couldn’t help him if something went wrong. One of the bullies had finally shoved him.
“Come on, Ninomiya. Go ask for directions. Ask for some extra rice, tell them your mom ran out.”
They’d been pushing Kohara too, but he’d turned and run as soon as they pushed him into the enclave wall, his arm hitting the concrete. Just touching it had sent Kohara, who was tall and sort of strong, running. Then it was just Nino and the four of them, standing outside.
“Come on, Ninomiya. We’ll tell all the girls in class you went inside, even if you piss your pants.”
And so he’d dropped his bookbag on the sidewalk. If he died while he was inside, he thought there ought to be something left of him for the police to find. He buttoned the jacket of his school uniform and ran his hand through his hair. As soon as he pulled on the door, tugging it open, he heard the footsteps-all four of the bullies had turned to flee, just like Kohara.
None of them had actually thought he’d be so stupid.
The lobby smelled like cleaning products, a harsh and bitter smell, like they’d used a bit too much to clean the lobby’s linoleum floor. It had been completely empty, at first, a long line of mailboxes and an elevator just beyond. It was daylight, after all, it wasn’t like any of them were awake. Somehow he’d been brave enough to walk up to the mailboxes, and he was just brushing his fingers across one of the nameplates on a mailbox when the elevator had chimed.
Nino had never run so fast in his life, nearly losing a shoe as he bolted from the building, barely remembering to grab his bookbag before running all the way home. The four bullies in class mostly left him alone after that, but Nino wasn’t even afraid of them any longer.
For years, he had nightmares. Quick little nightmares that always ended with the chime of the Katsushika enclave’s elevator.
To this day, he didn’t know who (or what) had been on the other side.
-
But, of course, that was years ago. Almost twenty years ago, in fact, and he wasn’t terribly surprised to discover that the enclave building before him now had a security camera pointed at the entrance. He was able to open the front door with no trouble, but in the entryway before the lobby proper there was another set of double doors, solid steel as far as he could tell, and he had to push the button on the intercom to announce himself.
He had no bookbag to leave outside this time, seeing as how he was turning thirty-two in a few weeks. Instead he was in a suit he hadn’t worn in a while and was grateful that he still remembered how to tie his tie. He hoped that he didn’t look too frightened, looking into the intercom’s video screen, knowing they were watching him.
Sunset was sometime just after 7:00 PM that evening, and it was 6:42 according to Nino’s watch. There was a buzzing sound as the double doors unlocked, and he let himself inside. There wasn’t the same pungent chemical smell he remembered from the Katsushika enclave. The location itself was far less intimidating, situated as it was in the middle of the mostly residential Ota Ward, in a small commercial district between a dental clinic and a family restaurant.
Amagasa was still a vampire enclave, though. It was seven or eight stories tall, dark brick with the requisite red signs announcing what it was. But inside wasn’t as empty, desolate, or stinky as Katsushika had been. Across the pristine white tile and to the right was an office of some sort, with a large glass window, a door just beyond, a bank of mailboxes, and a metal shutter that was pulled down onto a countertop and locked, but probably served as the reception window for the mail room. Beyond the mail area were two elevators, and Nino just hoped they wouldn’t have the same chime.
To the left of the entryway was a desk with a few bulky monitors. There was a person behind the desk who got to his feet as soon as Nino looked his way. He was a tall, lanky guy, maybe Nino’s age, clad in a navy blue security guard uniform.
“Yo!” the guard said, hurrying around his desk. “Come in, come in, don’t be shy.”
This is a vampire enclave, outside Japanese jurisdiction, Nino wanted to remind the guy, but he was here to make a good first impression with anyone he happened to meet. “Ninomiya Kazunari, I have an interview with Joshima-san?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course!” The guy approached him, as human as human could be. The security guard had bright, happy eyes and a smile to match. He stuck his hand out, and Nino couldn’t miss the Taser device holstered at his narrow waist. “I’m Aiba Masaki, Daylight Security for Amagasa. Nice to meet you.”
Nino shook his hand. “I’m sorry for coming early…”
Aiba settled his hands on his hips, still smiling. “Don’t worry about it, Joshima-san won’t mind. We’re really excited that you’re here.”
“Is that a fact?” Nino asked, a little uneasy. Were they excited because he’d willingly walked in the door and now they were going to eat him? Well, Aiba-san probably wouldn’t eat him. In fact, Aiba-san, a human security guard, had no visible bite marks on his nicely tanned neck, so perhaps the rumors weren’t all true. Perhaps the vampires really did trust and respect the human help they hired. But would Nino pass the test?
Aiba seemed almost thrilled for the company, and even though they’d been acquainted for less than a minute, he grabbed Nino by the hand and tugged him over to his security station, where he then explained in excruciatingly unnecessary detail where each of his security monitors pointed. There was the one at the front door, the one that had obviously seen Nino coming. There was the monitor for the intercom in the entryway. There was one at the elevator banks beyond the lobby, one under the building in the resident parking garage that steadily panned back and forth, and two more, one inside each elevator.
The more Aiba chatted away, the more Nino found him sort of annoyingly endearing. What kind of human willingly took a job at a vampire enclave, especially a security job that left you sitting in the lobby by yourself all day? Nino had been attracted to the position he was interviewing for because he liked the idea of not talking to anyone for most of the day - with the enclave residents asleep during the day, he’d be alone for hours, enjoying solitude.
But there’d probably not be a lot of solitude, he realized, if he’d be sharing the Amagasa lobby with Aiba Masaki.
Nino couldn’t help but wonder what the competition was like. He’d been applying for jobs for the better part of a year now, making it to second and third interviews and still coming up short. Well, having only one job-professional gamer-on your resume kind of made things difficult when you were applying for a regular office job. But after he’d been a little tipsy one night and had applied at Amagasa (mostly as a joke), he’d gotten a reply to set up an interview within an hour.
Since he and Aiba were already on the road to friendship (if Aiba’s cheerful laugh and unsolicited pats on the shoulder were anything to go on), he decided to see what information he could glean from him.
“Aiba-san?” he asked shortly after 7:00 PM. The lobby had small glass block windows, no full view of the outside, but Nino could see the slightest darkening of the light that filtered inside. The sun was on its way down for the night.
“Hmm?”
“I was wondering…and you don’t have to answer this, but I was wondering how many other candidates are up for this position? I don’t want to get my hopes up…”
Aiba had a rather strange laugh, a kind of wheezing chortle that Nino would probably get sick of in a month’s time, give or take. He laughed and laughed before finally wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “Ninomiya-san, you’re the only one who’s applied for it!”
In this economy, job security was vital. But it seemed most humans just wouldn’t cross that line. Working for vampires? Willingly? Nino wondered what this made him. A risk taker? Desperate? Stupid?
It was some time later that the elevator chimed, and Nino was really happy to discover that Amagasa’s sounded different.
-
“I’m only one floor up, but I’d rather not take the stairs just after I get up for the day. Aiba-kun says that makes me sound rather old…”
Nino only nodded as the elevator chimed on the next floor and the doors opened. He followed the vampire down the corridor. It seemed there were four apartments to each floor, two to either side of the elevator banks across from each other. Joshima-san, Joshima Shigeru he’d introduced himself, led Nino to the first one to the left, turning the doorknob. He hadn’t felt the need to lock it before heading down to the lobby, which said a lot about his trust in Aiba as a security guard-and which said a lot about the other residents.
“Please, go right ahead.”
Joshima appeared to be a man in his forties, with a gentle, kind face (though Aiba had implied that he’d been a vampire for a very long time). He reminded Nino of the kind of salarymen who went to stand-up bars, staring at the rim of their beer glasses in peaceful solitude while the noisy world rambled on around them. For Nino’s benefit, Joshima had said that he would breathe. Apparently most humans who encountered vampires found their lack of respiration to be scarier than the threat of the bite. Joshima explained that most vampires by now had adapted to it, to breathing again, in their own way. Nino didn’t know why he’d expected the man to dress a certain way. He wasn’t in a Dracula cape or anything, but a t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops, and the apartment he brought Nino inside was rather spartan, but not abnormal.
Downstairs, Aiba had mentioned to him in the midst of his lengthy security camera story that Amagasa Vampire Enclave had been a normal apartment building until the mid-70’s when Joshima had purchased it. For centuries, most Japanese enclaves had been on the outskirts of towns or in undesirable neighborhoods, near industrial complexes or noisy airports. Joshima had long been an advocate for peaceful relations between his kind and humans, and though there’d been a lot of fuss at first, Amagasa was now part of the community. Would they ever be fully accepted? No, but Amagasa gave the neighborhood little trouble and thus they were mostly left alone.
Though Nino had noticed more of the glass block windows on the building’s exterior before entering, he saw that they were boarded up on the inside of Joshima’s apartment, covered with heavy curtains. “Let me give you a tour, just to let you know a little about how we live.”
Nino felt way overdressed in his suit and tie as Joshima eased out of his flip flops and led Nino around his apartment. The kitchen had appliances and fixtures like any apartment, but the counters were bare. Joshima merely tapped on his refrigerator door. “Don’t worry, Ninomiya-san, I’ve already had my breakfast.”
A chill raced down Nino’s spine, even though Joshima hadn’t come within five feet of him save for their brief elevator ride together. Much as the vampire was trying to put him at ease, there was no denying what he was. Someone who had blood in his refrigerator. Nino smiled politely, trying not to let his unease show as Joshima continued the little tour. There was a low table and cushions, a small TV set and a bookshelf in the living area, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Although there was no bed or futon to speak of, not in the normal sense.
Nino had done some research about enclaves on the Internet, and there was a surprising amount of information out there about “vampire coffins.” Not that vampires slept in actual coffins, that was just the old stereotype. In olden times, they’d merely burrowed themselves in the dirt to wait out the day, but Japan’s love of technology knew no bounds. Joshima’s bedroom housed a dark, crate-like “modern vamp sleep unit,” which had a long, thick cord that was plugged into the wall and had a computer panel on the side.
Joshima tapped in a combination and the thing opened quietly, almost like a bathtub lid if it was remote controlled. Joshima encouraged Nino to peer inside. He found a few pillows and blankets. “Temperature-controlled, sound-proof, completely dark, works on a timer. It’s a dream,” Joshima explained, cheerily patting the sleep unit with his hand. “You know, there are humans that have these now, can you believe it? There’s a market for it, some of the capsule hotels are thinking of investing. Aiba-kun almost bought one, but his girlfriend wasn’t too fond of the idea…”
Nino waited until Joshima turned back to the sleep unit’s control panel to hide a smile in the crook of his arm. Working for vampires was definitely rubbing off on the security guard downstairs.
“What happens if the power goes out? You don’t get locked inside, do you?”
Joshima chuckled warmly. “The lock disengages if power to the unit is disconnected. Then it just becomes a bed with a lid on it, you could say. We’re not a claustrophobic sort. You really can’t be, you know?”
Nino laughed in return. He’d stayed in a capsule hotel once or twice, slept more than his fair share of nights in a tiny cubicle at a manga cafe, but something about the sleep unit still weirded him out.
Joshima led him back into his small living room, and Nino joined him on the floor, sitting on one of the cushions. Yeah, he definitely had overdressed for this interview. Joshima produced a thick manila file folder from his bookshelf, sliding it across the table for Nino to peruse.
“I know the ad was a little vague about all the duties of the position. We don’t really like to give out too much information about what goes on in our enclaves,” Joshima said, sitting cross-legged, tapping his fingers on his knees.
Nino opened the folder, finding addresses and contact information for several package delivery services in the area, contact details for the Tokyo branch of the Bureau of Undead Management, lists of dentists and doctors, delivery places of all sorts-from food to furniture to consumer electronics.
“That’s a current directory of everyone who has done business with Amagasa in the last few years. They know us, and we know them,” Joshima explained. “As our Daylight Specialist, you’d be doing a lot of the work we can’t get done because of the strange hours we keep.”
Mail distribution, signing for packages and other deliveries, running errands. Joshima went on and on, making Nino’s head spin. He thought he’d just be sitting quietly in that office most of the day, earning an easy paycheck. But no, the “Daylight Specialist” position, a bizarre job title if Nino ever heard one, required him to go out too. To go to the bank and make withdrawals or deposits during business hours on residents’ behalf. To fetch groceries. To drive the Amagasa enclave’s car if needed to drive BCs to and from appointments…
“Wait,” Nino interrupted, closing the folder. “BCs? You have BCs here?”
Joshima smiled. “I know it seems a little old fashioned, but yes, some of our residents do maintain live-in BCs on premises. You’d be responsible for escorting them if they have to leave the building during daylight hours. Doctor’s appointment, a pre-arranged visit with their families or friends. They’re usually smart about it, they’ll give you notice.”
BC, taken from the English phrase “blood contract.” Nino didn’t even know it was still legal, but then again, most people didn’t take a very close look at vampires too often. It was easier to just leave them alone. Blood contracts these days were a popular plot for a fantasy drama series, for a trashy novel. But apparently it still happened, even in the 21st century. Humans who willingly agreed to serve as a source of blood for a vampire, staying with them for an agreed upon period of time. Completely under their sway. Centuries earlier, there’d been no contracts-vampires had abducted humans, kept them as blood slaves.
When Japan opened to the west, the oh-so-civilized “blood contract” came with them. Instead of kidnapping and forced imprisonment, a BC moved into the vampire’s enclave, lived with him, came under his protection. In exchange for the BC’s blood, to be taken at any time, the vampire provided them with food, shelter, and monetary compensation. In theory, it was supposed to make the vampires less scary, if they went “monogamous” with a human instead of prowling the streets when the hunger struck. Most didn’t see it that way though. “Blood whore” was the phrase that got bandied about back in Nino’s school days, if it was discovered your older sister, a cousin, an uncle, your mother, was a cabaret club girl or a host. It was just the first step on a journey to being a BC, people said. First they pay for your time. Then your body. Then if you’re really desperate for money, you let them pay for your blood.
Joshima was looking at him, raising an eyebrow. “Does that make you uncomfortable, Ninomiya-san? I can assure you that all of the BCs at Amagasa are decent people. They simply made a choice that most of your kind don’t agree with.”
“No,” he said, swallowing his curiosity. “No, I’m fine with it.” Hell, he was all set to take a job for the vampires. He would take their money, do his job, and just have to hope that they wouldn’t ask for much more.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Joshima admitted. “There’s enough judgment in our own community about the practice. Amagasa is one of the more tolerant enclaves in the country, I’ll say that much. Most other enclaves just tell their residents to go to the bank these days. Keeping human BCs on property is riskier.”
There were “blood banks” popping up all over the country lately, the vampire world equivalent of love hotels. Blindfolded and closely monitored vampires paid thousands of yen to drink from a willing human. They were all about anonymity, open only at night on vampire time. You’d go, make your money, take a few days off work until your neck healed (or just ask them to bite you where nobody would see). Nobody would know. Nino hadn’t done it, but he’d dated someone who had. “Quickest money I ever made.” And apparently it felt amazing, having the blood sucked from your body, though Nino had mostly written it off as a quirky kink for masochists.
If you had a thing for vampires, or just got sucked once in a while for the thrill, you could keep it quiet. It was all very Japanese, very discreet and hush hush. But if you were a BC, everyone knew-you had to quit your job, leave everything behind, and move in to the vampire’s enclave. And some of those people lived here, at Amagasa, and it would be Nino’s job to help them.
Joshima let Nino hold on to the folder, and together they headed back down to the lobby. The vampire produced a set of keys and unlocked the door to the mail room. He turned on the light, and Nino frowned at the state of the place. “Your predecessor, if you will, passed away a few months back. And before you ask, it was natural causes. Misako-san was in her mid-seventies and she’d been helping out here for years.” Nino sidestepped a few garbage bags, overflowing with piles of junk mail. “Aiba-kun usually works in here for a little while each day, just to make sure we’ve got important things like bills and such, but as you can see, there’s boxes that haven’t gotten to their owners yet, some magazine subscriptions, things like that.”
From the piles and piles of things littering the mail room’s countertops and the table in the center of the room, Aiba hadn’t exactly put much effort into keeping things organized.
“Aiba-kun knows the delivery people, and the people from the post office, so he’ll let them in, but it would be your job from there to get things where they have to go. And then the rest of the time you’d be helping out with our daytime business.” Joshima leaned back against the counter, offering a wary smile. “You’re very brave for applying, even more for coming inside to talk with me. Could you be honest and tell me why you want to work for us?”
Nino decided a brutally honest answer was the best answer. It had obviously kept him from making it very far on other interviews, but lying to a vampire’s face was not something he wanted to do. “I’ve been told that enclaves pay very well for human staff. Also, the building I’m living in right now is about to convert from rentals into condominiums for purchase, and much as it would be a good thing to invest in property, my savings should be savings for the future, not the present. I have no income right now, and your job posting noted that company housing was included in the compensation package. You’d be saving me a lot of trouble.”
Joshima didn’t react negatively to this, at least as far as Nino could tell. He just nodded, mumbling “hmm, is that so?”
“That’s not to say I wouldn’t take the job seriously,” Nino said, holding up his hands. “I’m a quick study, and if you read my resume, I think I’d be good at…mail sorting. Nimble fingers, you know. From being a gamer.”
“Professional video game player,” Joshima said. “Why are you no longer in that profession?”
Nino swallowed. He didn’t exactly want to admit that the younger, up and coming players had all but forced him out. Nimbler fingers. “Looking for new opportunities.”
Joshima grabbed one of the junk mail envelopes from the table, taking a pen from a cup near the metal shutter at the reception window. He turned his back, writing something down. When he turned, his face was more serious than it had been until now.
“Company housing is just another name for the apartments upstairs from the restaurant next door. There are two of them. Aiba-kun lives in one, you’d be in the other. Since you aren’t BCs, you’re under no obligation to live in the enclave. We do have an empty one on the fifth floor right now, but the agent from the Bureau of Undead Management would probably not allow it unless you made a good case for it. Utilities, Internet, TV hook-up, water, that’s all included.”
Nino nodded. Being next door would give Nino a longer “commute” than he was used to, since he usually just went online from his console to participate in tournaments, but this wasn’t half bad. “Those terms seem acceptable.”
“There’s a stigma attached to working for us. Getting a job elsewhere with an enclave on your resume will be almost impossible. Please keep that in mind. In addition,” Joshima explained, “your shift is sunrise to sunset, if that wasn’t obvious. You’ll work longer hours in the summer, shorter in winter. You don’t get sick days. If you’re unwell, simply stay home and Aiba-kun will cover the desk for you. Please do not abuse this privilege. Vacation time needs to be worked out as far in advance as you can manage. If Aiba-kun is on vacation or ill, we have someone come from one of the other enclaves to cover for him. You will not be expected to perform his duties beyond due diligence in protecting the privacy of our residents.”
Before Nino could blink, Joshima was across the room, beside him, with a hand around his throat. Nino gasped for air, thoroughly stunned. Vampires were quick, quicker than he’d even imagined. Had this all been one elaborate prank? Had this cheerful uncle just been messing with him and now he was going to be a snack? He whimpered pathetically.
But Joshima’s grip relaxed slightly, even as his eyes refused to leave Nino’s. “We’ll pay you well, human, and so long as you’re inside this building, you are under my protection. We really aren’t asking that much from you besides your discretion. Your friends don’t come here. You don’t tell anyone who lives here. You are our daytime liaison with the government, and we’ll expect you to have our interests in mind.” Joshima leaned even closer, and Nino could smell the coppery tang of blood on his breath. He suspected that was intentional. “Inside these walls, you are under my protection, but if you betray us in any way, just remember that we are the law inside here as well. Is that clear?”
Nino was barely able to nod, on the verge of wetting himself. Was Aiba out in the hall watching through the glass? It was after dark now, were the other vampires listening in?
“I have worked too long and too hard to be nice to your kind and to create a safe haven for my people at the same time. I have defied my very nature to abide by human laws. Do know that there are humans out there who hate us, curse us, and want us dead. They’d use someone like you to get at us. Amagasa is not a place for you to brag about or check off a bucket list,” Joshima told him. “So help me, if you violate the trust we place in you, you will regret it.”
The vampire let him go, and Nino exhaled, shaking in terror as he leaned back against the countertop, wanting to flee. And yet…and yet…when Joshima said that Nino would be under his protection, he’d meant it. Nino felt it all the way to his bones. Talk about job security.
Joshima set down the piece of mail he’d written on, tapping the counter with his knuckles. “Your salary, if you choose to accept the position. I’ll be out in the lobby, so please consider your answer carefully.” The slightly sheepish look he’d worn upon greeting him was back. “This is my home, Ninomiya-san. You have to understand how serious this is. I get that you’re in it for the money, there’s no shame in it. But we will expect you to earn it.”
The vampire left him alone, and without even having to check, Nino knew that his neck would soon purple and bruise, the outline of fingers marked on his skin for days whether he said yes or no to Joshima.
He remembered being a dumb kid, pulling open the door to an enclave lobby, walking inside without so much as a ‘pardon my intrusion.’ Entering a home that wasn’t his because he selfishly believed it would prove something to those bullies. Vampires didn’t barge into human homes. Vampires were second-class citizens in Japan. They willingly lived in their enclaves, let the government count them. They wore red badges or armbands whenever they left their enclaves at night. As Joshima said, they stifled their natures to live as peacefully among humans as they could. They even breathed to put humans at ease. Joshima only wanted to protect his people, and yet Nino had applied for the job as a joke.
Well, it seemed that this job wasn’t a joking matter after all.
He took a deep breath before picking up the envelope Joshima had written on, turning it over. His eyes bulged at the number of zeroes.
“Holy shit.”
-
They were giving him time to move in and get settled before expecting him to get to work. He broke out of his lease agreement for his apartment in Kawasaki. With the money Amagasa would be paying him, apparently a salary that Joshima and all the residents of Amagasa contributed to, breaking his lease early wouldn’t really cost him that much in the end. Joshima even paid his moving costs, so long as he worked with a moving company that was trusted in the vampire community. Aiba helped too, so eager was he to finally have a next door neighbor above the restaurant. He had a replacement covering Amagasa security for him that day, which Nino thought was awfully kind of him.
Nino’s new apartment wasn’t much bigger than the one he was leaving, but there was enough room for all his TVs and gaming systems, which was the main point. As the movers brought in his boxes and furniture, he made sure to talk to the head of the crew. Yamaguchi-san from TOKIO Movers had been friends with Joshima for years, and he coordinated almost every move at Amagasa, whether it was a BC coming or going or a resident moving in from another enclave. It was important for Nino to know him, for them to trust one another.
“You’re a lot younger than the last Daylight Specialist,” Yamaguchi teased, chatting with Nino in his new kitchen as two of his crew worked to get Nino’s loveseat up the stairs. “Misako-san was a very kind woman.”
“Do you know why she worked for vampires, an old lady like that?”
Yamaguchi had a round face and an easy smile, but his expression grew solemn. “Her son was turned. It was rough on her. I think working at Amagasa gave her some deal of comfort.”
New vampires were usually cut off immediately by their families. It was the law that vampires had to live in enclaves, for the safety of the human majority, so whether the family kicked you out first or not, it didn’t much matter. You had to leave. And with humans all but banned from enclaves except in special circumstances like Nino’s job, it was unlikely a mother would have seen her vampire son too often, even if she’d still wanted to.
“Well, I hope I can do a decent job in her place.”
“They all liked her. She was very no-nonsense. Vampires prefer the straightforward sort, so I’m sure you are too. Otherwise Leader wouldn’t have hired you.”
“Leader?”
Yamaguchi chuckled. “They all call Joshima that, the Amagasa vampires. He’s their leader, really. If Joshima likes you, Ninomiya-san, then I don’t think you have much to worry about. They follow his lead when it comes to humans.”
Aiba came huffing and puffing into the apartment, carrying bags of groceries. “Oi, Ninomiya-kun! I’m going to stock your fridge!”
“But I don’t cook,” he mumbled, even as Aiba elbowed him aside rudely and pulled his refrigerator open and started unloading his bags. Fruits, veggies, salads…nothing Nino really made much effort to eat when there were things like milk bread and hamburgers in the world.
Yamaguchi patted Aiba on the head, ruffling his messy brown hair. “Those vampires just love this one. Probably because he’s no threat.”
“I’m a security guard,” Aiba protested, straightening up and trying to puff out his chest. Aiba wasn’t exactly a bulky sort, not that Nino was either. “Of course I’m threatening!”
Yamaguchi only laughed harder. “Alright, I’m going back to the truck, see what’s left.”
Aiba was still putting stuff in the fridge, grumbling under his breath. “I’m tough, you know.”
“I’m sure you are, Aiba-san,” Nino said, hoping he sounded serious. If he was going to have to be Aiba’s neighbor and also sit in the lobby of Amagasa with him all day, they had to get along. He supposed there were worse people in the world to work with.
The movers got everything inside, and that left the rest of the afternoon for Nino to unpack, settle in. When Aiba got bored watching Nino get his games unpacked and hooked up in lieu of even unboxing his clothes, he headed for all the groceries he’d put in the fridge and volunteered to cook them something. Nino could definitely get used to this. The Amagasa salary, a neighbor who’d cook for him. Not bad at all.
When the sun set and the dirty dishes lingered in the sink hours later, Aiba went over to Nino’s window, which faced out onto the street below. Aiba’s fingers jammed in the blinds, tugging them open a bit. “Here, look. Look, some of them are heading out.”
It was a Friday night, and it had been a hot summer day, but things were finally starting to cool down. It shouldn’t have surprised him that the Amagasa vampires were no different from most people in Tokyo, going out to celebrate the weekend. He got to his feet, padding over to the window. But where he expected a steady stream of people in casual clothes, he saw a few men and women in business attire pass under the window, heading in the direction of the train station. Ah, no wonder, Nino realized. Any vampires who ran businesses or worked for other vampire establishments started their jobs after the sun went down.
Aiba helpfully supplied some names, giving Nino an early start on some of the residents he’d be helping in his new job. Amagasa mainly housed male vampires. There were many larger enclaves in the Tokyo metropolitan area that were more suitable for women, for those in relationships. Amagasa’s apartments weren’t very large, so most people lived alone or with one other person, a BC or vampire roommate.
“That’s Hina,” Aiba explained, pointing and smearing Nino’s window glass. Nino bit his tongue to keep from scolding him. Aiba pointed to a vampire who’d just pulled out from Amagasa’s underground garage in a garish purple Mercedes. “Murakami, he actually runs a blood bank in Kabukicho. You ever heard of the Kyu Jo Show Club?”
He shook his head.
“Well, I guess it’s a fancy blood bank. He’s filthy rich,” Aiba whined. “But he’s so cheap, you know! I ordered this soccer DVD for him that he wanted, since it was an overseas seller that wouldn’t sell to vampires, so I went to all this trouble. And then he wouldn’t even give me the money for the shipping, just face value for the DVD. ‘That’s human nonsense, the shipping cost, Aiba-chan,’ he tells me. What a jerk!”
Nino rolled his eyes. Yamaguchi had definitely been right-Aiba certainly wasn’t a threat, if the vampires were walking all over him. Nino couldn’t let them do the same to him. If he was ordering DVDs, he wasn’t paying for anything with his own money.
While Aiba continued to babble on about this Murakami and his thriftiness, a quality Nino tended to admire in people, two people stopped right under his window, the street light streaming down on them, bathing them in its warm glow. With the air conditioning on in the apartment, he couldn’t understand what they were saying. It was two men in business attire, and though this wasn’t so uncommon a sight in Tokyo, Nino felt a rather strange tug at the sight of them.
The first one was in a gray suit, holding a briefcase. He had a round, almost boyishly cute face with dark hair. Handsome, but with something more that Nino couldn’t quite pinpoint just by looking at him. He was pointing to his watch, looking a little impatient as he talked to the man with him. Now this man, Nino realized, his breath catching, was distractingly attractive. Absurdly perfect bone structure, tousled black hair, broad shouldered, with his shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows and holding his suit jacket over his arm. He was clearly arguing, pointing back at Amagasa emphatically.
“Who…” Nino was embarrassed at how his voice cracked, but Aiba didn’t seem to notice. “Who are they?”
The guy with the watch seemed to finally relent, throwing his hands up as his companion went racing back into the enclave.
“Aiba-kun,” Nino repeated, trying to catch Aiba by his shirt sleeve. “Who are they?”
He couldn’t stop staring, watching the man in the suit reach his hand up to scratch at the back of his neck. Before Nino could let go of the blinds, back away, the man looked up and their eyes met, locked.
“Oh god,” Nino mumbled, feeling weak in the knees.
Even though it was obvious that his friend was the one who could pass for a movie star, it was the gaze of this other man upon him that changed everything. Nino felt something awaken inside him that he hadn’t known was there. And he wasn’t the sort of person who was prone to having things suddenly “awaken inside him” either. He was too pragmatic for concepts like love at first sight, or, in this case, irresponsible lustful feelings at first sight. And yet, here it was, this urgent need, keeping him locked in place, unable to even blink as the man stared up at him.
The man didn’t look away, and Nino wondered if even through the glass and one story down this man had cast a spell on him. Now that he was looking closer, caught in his awkward stare, he realized that the man’s eyes were gorgeous, calculating, seeming to assess Nino’s worth in an instant. His tongue poked out of his mouth for just an instant, brushing along his plump bottom lip. The man then brought up his hand, waving, and Aiba waving back at him finally broke the strange tension.
“Hey! Hey Sho-chan!” Aiba called, oblivious.
Nino stepped back from the window, nearly tripping over a box. It was like a tether had snapped, some invisible cord that had wrapped around his heart, squeezing hard. Aiba turned, releasing the blinds.
“Ninomiya-kun, what’s wrong?”
He sat down awkwardly on his loveseat. “There were two of them, that guy you just waved to and the other one. Are they both…are they both…?”
Until that moment, Nino had still only met one vampire in his life, and that was Joshima-san. Nino had been petrified of him briefly, down in the mail room the day he’d been hired, but the rest of the time he’d been like any other person. But from the instant he’d seen the two men downstairs, the hair on his arms had stood up, his throat had gone dry.
“Are they both what?” Aiba asked before laughing. “Oh, you mean are they both vampires? Sho-chan is.”
“Sho-chan?”
“Ah, he’d probably be mad if he heard me tell someone that’s his name. He’s a proper businessman, as I’m sure he’d tell you. Sakurai Sho-san, he was the person I waved to. He’s a vampire.”
“He was looking at me.”
Aiba cocked his head. “Probably because you were staring at him through your blinds like a pervert.”
Nino bit the inside of his cheek to keep from reminding Aiba that he’d been the one to go creeping on people through the blinds in the first place. Sakurai Sho, in his crisp suit, with his fancy briefcase. He was a vampire. But there was more to it than that, wasn’t there? Because if Nino had been staring, Sakurai Sho had been staring right back. Why?
“And his…the other guy?”
“Other guy? Oh, you mean Jun-kun.”
That Aiba was on a first name or nickname basis with vampires said a lot about who he was. “Yeah, the other man. He went back inside.”
Aiba went back to peeking outside. “Oh, they’re gone already. Well, if he went inside, he already found what he wanted. Maybe he forgot his dinner. Jun-kun’s always taking food with him to work.”
“Food?” Nino asked curiously. “What kind of vampire eats food?”
Aiba shook his head. “No, no. I said Sho-chan’s the vampire. Jun-kun is his BC. Matsumoto Jun-kun, he’s as human as you and me.”
Nino felt like he’d just been punched in the gut. Sakurai had probably just been looking at Nino like a forbidden meal, if he had his own blood contract. He sat back further against the loveseat cushions, confused and intrigued and sick to his stomach all at once, which was rather impressive, he had to admit. The man in the suit was a vampire, and the man he was with, this Matsumoto Jun, lived with him. Let him drink his blood, whenever he had a craving for it. And how often was that?
He gazed blankly at the wall while Aiba puttered around the kitchen, washing the dishes and humming off-key to himself. It had been less than a minute, mere seconds staring out the window and watching the two of them. A vampire and his blood contract. But they’d seemed so normal, if a bit perfect. Like drama lead or idol perfect. They’d been standing there having a quick little argument like anyone, and yet Matsumoto had given up whatever life he’d had to live with Sakurai.
What could compel someone to do something like that, to throw everything away to live in an enclave, surrounded by creatures whose survival depended on blood? But then Nino thought of the way Sakurai had looked at him, like he was burrowing inside and taking up residence, seeing through Nino despite the distance between them. Was it a trick? Was it coercion? Was Matsumoto Jun under Sakurai’s…glamor or something too?
Much as he was curious about Sakurai, Matsumoto, and all the other residents he’d be working with, he decided not to bother Aiba any longer. Nino had a new sleep schedule to adjust to and he was not looking forward to it. In two days he’d be starting his new position as Amagasa’s Daylight Specialist. The newness of vampires, of being in a building where they slept all day, these deadly creatures, that was what had him weirded out. Soon enough, he’d be as comfortable with them as Aiba was.
Right?
He said farewell to his new friend for the night, finding himself turning both of his door locks and putting the chain on. He’d lived in a world that vampires walked since he was born, but now that he lived next door, he couldn’t help but want to be safe. He’d work for the vampires, sure. He’d do a good job. But he couldn’t allow himself to forget who they were, and what they could do to him if he didn’t tread carefully.
Even if they had gorgeous brown eyes and kissable lips, a vampire was a vampire.
part two