Sinner and a Savior

Ch. 5 - A Father's Demon

Toji Fushiguro's job didn't always include the killing of a jujutsu sorcerer. He felt as though that was too limiting. Each night he'd find himself in a different part of town, taking someone's, anyone's, life for a lump sum. He found himself trapped deep into the dark side of Japan, too deep to find his way out to become a proper father to his son; it was his only regret.
Sleeping during the day and hunting at night, he hardly knew any sense of normalcy. But that was mostly thanks to his former family. He had big plans for them, what he'd hope would be his final performance.

After his kill of the night, Toji sat on the edge of a crummy love hotel's bathtub, rinsing his weapon of choice under the water with a grimace on his face, grinding his teeth with guilt. It was a side of him that he'd show to no one. Those around him only knew him as the cocky "sorcerer killer" and "cocky sorcerer killer" he'd remain.
His worm-like cursed spirit that took a liking to him and he used as a storage mechanism wriggled about on the tiled bathroom floor, waiting for the weapon to be deposited back into its mouth.

The light in the bathroom annoyingly flickered in an unpredictable pattern, causing Toji even more irritation.
His mind was focused on his son as he cleaned up from his job. Yet another nanny had been assigned to him after the last was canned. He recognized that his son needed consistency, especially without his mother. And it was all his fault the nannies that cared for him continuously were replaced. But he just couldn't give him up, it was the last piece he had of her. For him, nanny after nanny could "disappear." No matter how many were replaced, it could never amount to the love he once had for Megumi's mother.

But after hearing this particular nanny's situation...she had a daughter... He now realized, in depth, that these were people's lives he was messing with. Those with similar situations to his. Why would a woman with a child sign up for a live-in job with a family known to be dangerous? Not to mention, present him with an option to see his son without the two of them getting into trouble. What was her prerogative?!
He shook his head vigorously to get her out of his mind, let alone the image of her figure in a silk nightgown. 

With the weapon now cleaned, he fed the large knife to the reddish brown worm. The worm then contorted itself into a small sphere, to which Toji slipped down his own throat while containing the urge to vomit.

He then slipped his blood-stained, black shirt over his head and threw on a new one. As usual, he'd freshen up and then hit a local bar in search for his next gratification. In a short time, he found himself back on the streets of Kabukicho.
He'd walk through the crowds of sleepy, drunk salarymen and overly excited and very lost tourists to get to a street lined with host clubs. The late nights in the city was where he considered home. He'd jump from host club to host club over a period of time, usually to woo one girl at a time - tricking her into a relationship until she became suspicious of her missing possessions. Once she would catch on, he'd disappear until his presence was forgotten. He was simply a shadow in the lives of others.

"Ahh," a soothing feminine voice greeted as he entered the host club. "Fushiguro-sama," her lascivious smile pointed in his direction as his own lazy expression gave a single nod. "Here for Akane-chan, as usual?" He nodded again.

Without another word, the bartender moved around the bar to lead Toji to his regularly scheduled hostess.
She was already seated in the furthest corner seat of a booth, two fresh drinks already laid out as if she were expected his imminent arrival -- one with whiskey and one with water. Strangely enough, the water was for Toji, a man who hated alcohol. As rough around the edges as he was, he hated the stuff.

"Toji-sama," Akane greeted happily, already on a first-name basis with her customer. "I've missed you!" She exclaimed softly, leaning toward the empty part of the seat next to her as if to urge him closer.

He maintained a flat face as he slid into the booth, the bartender leaving the two of them to their own devices.
Right away Akane put her hands on him, a broken rule. It was a rule he refused to break, never laying a hand on Akane or any of the other hostesses until they were off club premises. But that never stopped Akane, she was ready and very willing to break the rules when it came to Toji.

Her delicately manicured hand ran up his thigh, leaning her weight on it until she was closer to his cheek. Meanwhile, he was taking a long sip of water as a way to start to take the edge off -- as if water even had that property, but he was dehydrated after his escapades that it was at least something.
She pressed a prolonged peck against his cheek as he put his glass down.

"You seem more distracted than usual today," she pointed out as she pulled away. He still hadn't made eye contact with her, which was telling that he seemed lost in thought.

"I've got a lot going on personally," he mumbled, spinning the glass slowly on the table between his index and thumb. He remained focused on the glass, the melting ice shifting suddenly.

"Tell Akane all about it," she leaned back into him, targeting his neck. The booth they were in was private enough to get away with this type of behavior. Not to mention, the manager knew Toji enough to not care in the first place.

"It's unimportant to you," he continued mumbling, picking up the glass again to finish.

She had continued sucking on his neck between happy mumblings of how her day was going, asking questions that went unanswered. It was a wonder what made unresponsive Toji so fascinating to her. It was as if he had some kind of pheromone that attracted vulnerable women to him. He himself was unsure, but he certainly took advantage of it.

The next thing they knew, they were back at her apartment not so far off after her shift had ended. It was the wee hours of the morning by the time Toji rolled out of her bed.
She laid on her stomach, her exposed bare back lit by the moonlight of the nearby window. He took a glance back at her and sighed, then leaned down to pick up his drawers.

From there he went over to where she kept her personal belongings, a small safe she always left open at the bottom of her closet. Inside was her purse and other personal objects such as identification card, passport, etc. As usual, he searched her things to see what cash she had on her, making sure to shove it in his pants' pocket before leaving.

This was their ninth or so meeting, she would soon tire of his behavior. He knew he'd need to find a new mistress at some point. But he wasn't sure how much energy he had left. All that he knew was that he was eager to return to the estate to see what you had to offer him.