The deep voice called out again. “Wakey wakey, Lil Boss or the big bad wolf will blow your house down hahaha.”

  ‘They just had to show up now of all times. At least the blood is gone.’ He had to keep them from going into the kitchen and seeing the dagger.

  Walking out the bathroom leaving the bloody mop and bucket behind he went down the hall. Two men were standing in his living room looking around; they seemed as unfamiliar with it as he was. He had been too preoccupied with cleaning to pay much attention to the room, it did not have much in it. There was a long wrap around couch that could easily seat upwards of 8 people positioned around a large, low to the ground square table.

  The floor was carpeted and he could only be thankful he avoided the room earlier and didn’t get any blood on it. Several large windows went from floor to ceiling, allowing plenty of natural light to filter in from outside and overlooked much of the area.

  The larger of the two was a 6’8 behemoth of a man with green eyes, dark brown short hair, and a thick but well trimmed beard. He was wearing a white dress shirt with the top buttons undone revealing his hairy chest with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his equally hairy arms, and black dress pants.

  The other was a smaller man who was unnervingly skinny, appearing emaciated. He was bald and didn't have facial hair, all sunken skin that hugged bones with deep grey eyes that featured dark bags on otherwise unblemished sickly white skin. He wore a clean black suit and tie.

  They were the two men that Kuro’s father Raiyu assigned to watch over him. Kuro had grown up with the pair after his mother died; these two were the ones that most often took care of him. In Supernatural School Days, these were Kuro’s goons and the preamble to his boss fight.

  The first was Wulfrick Graham, a lycanthrope. Unlike how his name suggested, he wasn’t a werewolf. He was in fact a werebear, he still could see the transformation from his boss fight in game. Wulfrick would turn into a giant bear the size of a tank with a nearly impenetrable hide and insane strength. Kuro often referred to him as “Wulf”

  The smaller man was Edgar Black. His true appearance was an undead skeleton with obsidian bones, and despite his smaller stature of only 5’8 was the more dangerous of the two. He wielded devastating shadow magic that could weave illusions, bind foes, and create physical manifestations to harm people. He also had the power to create shadows using the spirits of the dead to serve him.

  “Wulf, Edgar, why are you two here?” Kuro called out as he approached the pair.

  Edgar turned around at the sound of his voice. “Young master, your father heard about the scuffle you got into and asked us to come check in. You are meant to be reflecting on your behavior, not doubling down on it.”

  He had said it in a monotone voice that lacked the emotion of the living, but from the way he furrowed his eyebrows Kuro knew he was annoyed by his flippant behavior.

  “BAHAHAHA.” Kuro could swear the windows shook from the force of Wulf’s laughter. “Scuffle? I heard lil Boss sent that kid to the hospital, honestly great job boy. You need to make sure everyone knows how strong you are.”

  ‘One is trying to scold me and the other is encouraging my violent tendencies. These two should have reigned in Kuro a long time ago.’

  Unfortunately they were unbreakably loyal to Kuro's father, and cared deeply for Kuro like their own family. They would always acquiesce to Kuro’s malevolent whims and helped him avoid the ramifications of his actions.

  Edgar continued his tirade. “You are heir to one of the most powerful groups in the city, you’re meant to be learning how to lead and preparing to undertake more responsibility. It is time to make a change and cease allowing your anger to control you. For how long do you intend to disappoint the Leader, you need to…”

  “Alright.” He did not want to listen to Edgar scold him on changes he was gonna make anyways.

  “...Excuse me?”

  “I said alright. You’re right Edgar, it is time to stop with the senseless violence. I need to control myself better, being sent to stay here has put some things into perspective. I have been conducting myself like some kind of lowlife nobody and I cannot continue living that way, I wanna better myself. You all deserve better from me.”

  Wulf shook his head. “What are you planning now boy? If you are just gonna lay low until you can do worse things to that kid you hospitalized then your father will not be pleased.”

  It was frustrating that they did not believe me but he also couldn’t blame them. Kuro had done exactly that in the past, making promises to change while getting others to do his dirty work until he could go back to tormenting people.

  He sighed “I am being serious, I am gonna try to cause less trouble. I am tired of always being angry, tired of the disappointed looks, tired of being scolded and rebuked. I just wanna lay low, keep to myself. Try being an average person my age.” He did his best to look and sound repentant.

  “Don’t let anyone walk over you boy, you are not an average person your age.” Wulf’s voice took on a hard edge. “People do not forget weakness, down the line people need to respect you and have a healthy fear of crossing you once you sit in Bosses spot. You only need to ensure you do not take it too far.”

  ‘That won’t be a problem since I don’t intend on being the leader of a Yakuza family. I can not tell him that though.’

  “I do not plan to, there is a difference between picking fights for no reason and putting someone in their place.” It was meant to be a placating lie. Something deep within me, something vile, meant the words however.

  Wulf’s face broke out into a huge grin. “Hey Bonehead, I think Lil Boss is starting to mature.”

  “We will see.” Edgar sounded more skeptical as he shook his head.

  “Yea, you will.” I met his eyes and held his gaze for several long moments before he nodded slightly and looked away. A small victory.

  “Wulf do you want anything to drink?” I needed a reason to slip away and hide the dagger and Edgar couldn't eat or drink, leaving Wulf the only excuse I could use.

  “No we won’t be here long, we just came to remind you to stay outta trouble. We also walked Shadow while you were sleeping. Cute fella slipped under the door when we knocked so we killed some time waiting on you.” The large man turned to look at the shadow beneath his feet.

  ‘Right he did say that when they came in.’ In his rush to ensure they did not head to the kitchen by themselves he had forgotten about Kuro’s pet.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  After a moment it became obvious nothing was gonna happen, then a loud “Wau” came from the kitchen.

  The big man perked up. “Ah he slipped away into the kitchen, must be hungry. I’ll feed him for ya.”

  I quickly jumped into his way. “N-no need. I will take care of him. Don’t leave yet though I want your help with something.”

  “You aren’t gonna ask me to pay that guy in the hospital a “visit” are you?” Wulf looked a little disappointed. He was assuming I was gonna have him do my dirty work after having just promised to do better.

  “What, no! Why would you assume that? Just wait here a bit and I will be right back.” It was infuriating that they did trust my word but they would see in time that I am not the same as before.

  I slipped through the open archway to the kitchen and found my dog. I didn’t realize Kuro was keeping his companion from the boss fight with him at home. That should have been in my new memories, but I could not shake the relevant knowledge out.

  Shadow was LARGE, both in game during boss fights and now in real life too. Standing on his hind legs was a 4 foot tall and 7 foot long pitch black wolf with amber eyes, he was currently sniffing the dagger I had left on the counter surrounded by broken glass shards.

  I wrapped my arms around him. “Sorry boy, you can’t play with that.” It was disturbingly easy to lift the hound by the chest and set him on the floor.

  ‘The hell, how strong is this body? He should weigh over two hundred pounds easily.’ I quickly opened a drawer which turned out to be empty and tucked the blade away into the back where no one would ever find it.

  Then using his hands to sweep the glass off the floor. They dug into his skin and sliced his palm and fingers. That was fine though, he would not bleed and the cuts healed almost as quickly as they opened. He practically threw the tiny pits of glass into the same drawer and closed it.

  “Are you hungry?” The giant wolf sat down on the floor and turned his head towards the fridge. Something wiggled in my memory, in my awakening haze I had ignored the drawers underneath the shelves of blood bags. Drawers that contained large several pound hunks of raw meat.

  Taking one out he discovered they were sealed in wrapping plastic and had stickers on them. “Boneless Prime Rib Roast, 7.5 pounds. $239.99”

  “Wow that is a lot, how many of these do you eat?” I looked back at him but he just tilted his head at me and stared at the meat in my hand.

  “Alright, alright here you go.” I didn’t see any giant dog bowls anywhere but after checking a few cabinets I found a large baking tray to sit it on.

  Shadow wasted no time tearing the meat apart, the giant wolf rested his big paws on the meat and tore it apart with his jaws. Whatever walk Wulf and Edgar took him on had made him really hungry, he would hate to see what such a large beast could do to a person. It would be messy if the blood slowly getting all over his paws and muzzle were anything to go by.

  When the large monster of meat grinding was done with its meal it strode over and bumped his head into my stomach. My hands moved instinctively into petting the sides of his head, my heart slowed as I pulled the blood from the fur around his face and paws and flicked it down the sink drain.

  ‘Huh, didn’t know I inherited Kuro’s muscle memory. I might not need to worry as much about learning how to fight in the future then. That is also likely why there is no big dog bowl if it is that easy to clean up the mess, still should wash that though.’ He sat the baking tray into the dishwasher.

  Shadow as his name suggested was just that. A large creature made of intangible darkness, he could give himself a physical form that provided real weight when fighting. He had been a real living wolf at one point, Kuro’s childhood pet. When he died Edgar turned him into an undead at Kuro’s pleas.

  “Good boy.” Shadow licked my hand and rounded behind me before exploding into a cloud of ink that was sucked into my shadow like a vacuum as it deepened in color, grey shifted into a pitch black silhouette under me.

  Stepping back into the living room I found Edgar staring out the window down at the city streets below, and Wulfrick lounging on the couch arms across the back.

  “So are you two doing anything today? If you could drive me around it would make my to-do list quicker.”

  Wulf tilted his head curiously, much like shadow had. “To-do list?”

  “No Young Master, we are not running any errands for the Leader until this evening.” Edgar also looked intrigued by what I meant but did not ask.

  “Make me an appointment at a hair salon, I am getting a haircut and having the color changed.”

  “Great idea lil Boss, you should get it done pitch black like shadows fur. You’d appear really frightening then.” Wulf seemed excited and pleased with himself sharing an idea that honestly would have been good if he did not have other plans.

  “No, I am having the hair dye removed.” The words came out more solemn than I had anticipated. Some part of me did not want the white hair back, some part of where I ended and Kuro began.

  Wulf and Edgar shared a concerned glance before Edgar broached the subject. “Are you sure Young Master, we know you were avoiding reminders of… Her.” He was doing his best to skirt around the subject. Likely hoping to curb any outbursts I might have.

  My mood shifted to a lingering sadness I had not experienced since I was orphaned as a kid. Something I had moved past but Kuro never did, as his emotions and traumas bled into my own.

  Images of long white hair, kind blue eyes, and the smell of roses came from the fog of my new memories. A vague reminiscence of Kuro’s mother. I took a moment staring at the floor while my two shadows awaited my answer.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” It came out barely above a whisper, but with Wulf's supernatural hearing he caught it.

  “Alright lil Boss, I will make you an appointment somewhere good. It will need to wait until tomorrow so we can find a place with the right chemicals to remove the dye properly. Don’t want any color to linger in your white hair.”

  I nodded. “That is fine, thanks Wulf.”

  He spoke to me in a soft voice, as if he were consoling a small child. “No problem lil Boss. Is there anything else we can do for you today?”

  “I want to have a lot of my wardrobe replaced, I’d prefer more modest and reasonable clothes. A lot of what I currently own is not appropriate for the changes to myself I am making.”

  It was Edgar's turn to speak up. “We can take you to the mall and shop around after your haircut or I can have the entire thing prepared for your return tomorrow while we are out.” Edgar definitely preferred not to go shopping, he offered the trip in the usual dead voice that held no emotion. The fact he even volunteered the idea at all showed how much care he was putting into looking after me.

  “I would like to pick out my own clothes, a trip to the mall would be fantastic.” He was sure Edgar, being as practical as he was, would likely pick out the most bland clothes to fill his closet. Everything would probably be copies of the same couple outfits to wear everyday.

  Wulf stood from the couch ushering Edgar to the door. “Then it is settled, we will come tomorrow afternoon after our business with Big Boss is finished for the day to take you out.”

  He had wanted to get it done today but this was probably better. He had not realized how deeply he was now connected to Kuro, going as far as to experience his muscle memories and feel his emotions about his mother.

  It was a terrifying thought, to come to terms with the idea that he was no longer completely himself. If he was being honest, he knew the only reason he wanted to stay so busy was from shock. He was doing too much, he had just awoken to this new life today and did not want to stop doing things long enough to ponder his current predicament deeply.

  In the end after standing there for several long moments with Edgar waiting by the door and Wulf watching him closely he finally relented. “Thank you guys, really. This was not as easy of a choice as I made it out to be.”

  “I figured. Take it easy kid, we will see you tomorrow.” The giant man patted the top of my head. His large hand covered my entire scalp like I was a small boy. It was a comfort that helped settle the rising turmoil in my heart.

  I was unsure if it was because that was how Kuro felt or if it was me enjoying a closeness I didn’t get to have. The last 20 minutes only proved that the line between where Kuro ended and I began was not as clear as I had initially believed.

  If I hadn’t been looking at the floor, then I would have noticed the worried way he looked at my arm covered by my sleeve before leaving.