A Demon's Lapse

Nora went for a walk the next day. It was nice to be out in the sunshine. The fresh ocean air cleansed all the bad auras off of her. She walked along the beach and looked out into the sea. Rosie would love it here.

Matsuda had escorted her. She gently asked how long he had been working with Kiyohira. Although he wasn't the most sociable person, Matsuda opened up slightly and told her how he had been with Kimura Group since he was young and witnessed Kiyohira's ascension.

"Why is Mr. Kimura such a grump," Nora asked. She thought back to the photograph of him as a baby and the stark contrast.

"Young lady, you will watch your mouth," Matsuda scolded.

Nora giggled, "Okay sorry!"

Matsuda grumbled and continued, "Master Kiyohira's family has had a troubled history. Master's father was very strict so to speak. He also lost his mother when he was a boy. I can't say too much about it," he said.

Nora felt her heart sink at the revelation that Mr. Kimura had lost one of his parents. The conversation triggered a faint memory. She remembered that a few years ago there was some sort of reorganization of Kimura Group that she heard about in the news. The former president, Takeshi Kimura, had been succeeded by his son.

Her curiosity about Mr. Kimura's demonic side couldn't be extinguished so she asked Matsuda once more about it.

Surprisingly, this time he didn't pivot away from the subject and answered her.

"When the boss was in his early twenties, he traveled the world and got into many fights in underground fight matches. He did it as a way to rebel against and also get away from his late father. One time, I accompanied him to a match that he had in Kazakhstan. He fought against a ruthless brute of a man. The man ended up killing the Master," Matsuda told her.

Nora's eyes widened in shock.

He continued, "I remember seeing the Master lying on the floor. I went over to him to check and surely, he was dead. Something happened though, something unexplainable. His body had transformed from that of a human into a demonic creature like you have seen before. He got up and wiped the blood off of his face and killed his opponent. There was a fury and red glow in his eyes that I had never seen before. He was never the same afterward. Later on, I asked him what happened. He told me that he went to hell, but his hatred against his father was so great that he fought his way back to life."

Nora was stunned and in disbelief but at the same time she knew it was the truth. She couldn't imagine the amount of hatred one had to have in order to cheat death. Her chest hurt faintly for him. She couldn't help feeling sorry for him, despite his behavior towards Rosie and her.

Nora asked Matsuda if she could speak with Mr. Kimura but he refused, saying that he did not want to be disturbed. She made her puppy-eyes and convinced him.

Nora entered the gym. A shirtless Kiyohira was throwing hits and kicks at a punching bag. He finally regained strength to move about the house. He wore black gym shorts and had bandages wrapped around his hands and feet. His hair was messy covering his face. Nora had only seen him with his hair perfectly styled until now. She couldn't help but notice his rippling muscles moving every time he punched the bag.

"What do you want," he asked without even looking up at her.

"Hello Mr. Kimura, I just wanted to know if you had any books I could read," she twiddled her thumbs nervously.

She couldn't resist seeing Kiyohira in a new light with the information that Matsuda had just shared with her. He finally looked at her with an annoyed expression, wiping sweat off his brow, "You have television in your room, that should be enough."

"I don't like watching TV. I'd rather much read, and since you took my phone away I can't really do that."

He grumbled.

"Please, I swear this will be the last thing I ask of you. Promise," she smiled weakly.

Kiyohira groaned and grabbed a towel to put around his neck. He went over to put his uwabaki, or slippers, and robe on and proceeded to walk out of the room.

"What are you doing? Follow me," he ordered her.

She quickly leapt over toward him and pursued him. They walked downstairs into the hallway opposite of where Nora's old quarters were. At the end, there was a spiral staircase that went down into a library. The walls were covered in shelves of so many books. Her eyes widened in awe. She slowly spun around taking it all in.

"Is this enough for you," Kiyohira rudely interrupted.

With her mouth agape, she looked at him and nodded slowly.

"Are all of these yours," she asked him. He blinked at her. She rolled her eyes with her eyes closed but nonetheless appreciated the silent admission. Tracing the book spines, she walked along the shelves.

"It's nice to know that we can have a book club then," she giggled. She looked at Kiyohira but he was unamused. "I'm joking," she said.

He let out a faint chuckle while he had his arms crossed over his defined chest.

She climbed up a ladder on the shelf to see the books that were higher up. A collection of works by Pablo Neruda, one of her favorite writers of all time, caught her eye but it was a bit far from her reach. She thought if she just stretched out her arm enough she'd be able to get it but she miscalculated and fell off the ladder. Closing her eyes, she yelped, expecting the landing to hurt but nothing happened. Her body was suspended horizontally and she realized that Kiyohira caught her. They looked each other in the eyes for what felt like an eternity. Nora blushed. He put her down, clearing his throat.

"What were you thinking? You could've hurt yourself," he scolded.

She was too flustered to say anything.

"I have to go now, I can't be babysitting, don't do anything stupid," he said, leaving the room.

Nora placed her hand on her heart and felt it beat.