At Keiji’s home…
The vamp-boy was busy in his kitchen preparing some sort of food for when everyone returned to school after winter break. Flour was all over the place, but he seemed to know what he was doing even as he watched the deep fryer do its job.
“This should do the trick. Human technology really works wonders…”
Tap-tap-tap.
There was a sudden knock at his door. Keiji turned off the fryer, and went over to answer it. “Sup?”
Spoiled Rich was standing there with her sparkling purple purse slung over her shoulder. “Ah. Good thing I finally caught you. I’ve been meaning to give you a little something for accomplishing that little task I asked of you.”
“Really?” Keiji tilted his head in confusion. He had already been paid the money he was needed. What else could there be?
Spoiled reached into her purse and pulled out three small, wrapped gift boxes. “Here. Open them once I leave, please. And before I go, I want to ask you something.”
The boy accepted the boxes, and placed them on a nearby vanity. “Sure. What’s up?”
“...Do you think you’d be willing to accept a full-time position?” she offered, her stern expression fading in favor of a much more relaxed one, “I don’t know what it is, but you’ve seemed to have helped my daughter relax and be more outgoing towards others. In fact, she was asking me about possibly seeing you again.”
“Huh…” Keiji folded his arms as he walked back over to the front door. “Never thought I’d hear something like that. Guess she doesn’t hate me after all. Feels hella foreign, but I can dig it.” He looked up at the businesswoman and flashed her a small grin. “Hm. I might be willing to take you up on that.”
“Oh thank you!” the woman squealed as she reached down to pat him on the head. “I knew I could count on--”
Slap.
But Keiji whacked her hand away with his own and gave her an ultimatum. “However, if I’m going to be doing such a thing for you, you’ll have to abide by a request that I have.”
“Oh…and what might that be?”
“Communicate with your husband,” Keiji demanded as he stared her down right in the eyes, “Start talking with him some more in a calm way so you guys can sort your shit. Or go to therapy or something, I dunno.”
Spoiled rolled her eyes then sighed. “...I’m afraid you don’t quite understand what it’s like when adults argue. There’s a lot of…complex emotions that go down on both sides. A simple talk won’t fix everything.”
Oh, little did Spoiled Rich know…
“I’m afraid I do understand, actually,” he replied as cold as the winter’s air, “It’s a painful thing watching your parents fight.”
Despite his words, the older woman continued to downplay his problems. “Even so, you should count yourself lucky. Your parents are no longer around so…”
“That’s the exact reason why they’re not around,” he went on with a sigh, “Or rather, the reason why I’m no longer around them. They could never get their shit together and ultimately, it fell back onto me because I was used as a petty revenge tactic. Is that where you wanna end up? Huh??” His voice became louder as he took a step closer to her.
Which Spoiled reacted to with scorn. “Uch--wh--don’t you raise your voice at me young man. Do you have no respect for those above you?”
“Clearly you don’t have any respect for those below you,” he spat back, glaring into her soul as his eyes narrowed. “Otherwise, you’d be thinking more of your daughter than yourself.”
Now verbally backed into a corner, Spoiled vehemently avoided eye contact with the boy as much as possible. “I…I have somewhere else I need to--”
But Keiji wasn’t going to accept that.
Yoink!
He grabbed her by the middle of her suit, and pulled her down to where she was forced to bend over. “You listen here and listen well, woman.” With his other hand, he lifted his shirt to expose the old scarring and sealed wounds that were on his body. “My parents caused this. Do you wanna put your daughter through something similar or worse even?!”
Spoiled simply stared at the boy’s old wounds in a state of saddened horror--her eyes welling up with tears, though she didn’t let them fall. “...you…how did…?”
“They kept fighting,” Keiji continued, “And they never stopped until my mom decided to throw me under the bus to get back at my dad. Is that what you want? Do you wanna go down that path?”
The older woman was unable to answer. “...”
With a snap of the fabric, Keiji let go of her suit. “The next time you and your husband have a long-winded argument. Think of your daughter. Think of each other. Because I swear, if I see that either of you are gonna start throwing hands…I’m gonna step in and I don’t think you’d want that.”
Somehow, his boldness spoke to her, resonating as Spoiled covered her face with her hand. “You…” Ultimately, she gave up as she couldn’t come up with a response in that moment. “...Fair enough. For Tiara’s sake as well as yours…I’ll work on it.”
“That’s better,” he replied with a nod, “Now start thinking about how you’ll take things in a more positive direction once you get home, alright?”
“...I’ll do my best. No promises, though.”
And with that, she took her leave down the hall and out of the building.
Keiji sighed as he closed the door back and started to massage his forehead with his hand. “...Dammit. Did I lay it on too thick? Was showing her the pain I’ve felt too much?” He started walking back towards the kitchen when…
Tap-tap-tap.
There was yet another knock at the door.
“Hm? Is that her again?” Curious, he walked back over and opened it.
But no, it wasn’t the landlady he knew. Instead, it was…the three girls from school! Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were standing there. Adagio had on her santa dress with a red sack over her shoulder, Aria had on a sleek, gingerbread-pattered brown and pink skirt with matching leggings, and Sonata was dressed in a full-body reindeer suit complete with antlers.
“Merry Christmas, Keiji!”
“...”