The Encyclopedia on Underworld Denizens (Private)

Of course Sharaku saw right through him. It wasn’t like his timing had been subtle. “I can read at home.” Though at this rate he was more likely to go back to the bat cave. He had a small set up there that was comfortable enough for reading.

Ozaki could feel anger start to bubble up at Sharaku’s amused expression. It was easy for him to stay above this. Did he even care about Nyx at all? Of course he could remain calm. He’d been permitted to grow into a body that wasn’t forever stuck in a state where Ozaki didn’t keep constant vigilance, he was bound to be set off into a mood swing. Hell he was likely already in one- just keeping a damn close hold on it so he didn’t go off and make a fool of himself. Ozaki wanted to leave before he ended up making a fool of himself.

It wasn’t that Sharaku was wrong. Ozaki knew this. Hearing those words out loud hurt though. Alise seemed to be thinking that even if Nyx regained her memories, there’d still be the her that had liked him but… Even if that were the case, she’d be a completely different person. This Nyx would be gone.

By Dracula’s fangs he’d be damned if he ended up crying up in public over this, never mind in front of Sharaku who’d just find it the damn funniest thing. At which point Ozaki might fling the books he had just picked up at the man. He started walking away with the books to check them out.

Keep calm. Keep calm. You don’t want to loose your temper, do you Ozaki? He was trying to keep level headed here. But this wasn’t exactly a topic he could be so for. He’d stayed at the library so he could avoid being alone with his thoughts. Now instead of alone with his thoughts he was being scolded for them.

Despite himself Ozaki could not help but bite back at Sharaku’s words with a retort. “Is there any point in talking to you?” He already had plans on talking to Dawn about all of this. This just added another thing on his list to talk about… But this was a weird topic. Would Dawn care that she was going to change? The Majin was already on the violent side anyways. She’d probably be thrilled to have an assistant or whatever. Meanwhile Ozaki would be loosing the part of Nyx that he adored. He knew he couldn’t and shouldn’t stop her from remembering.

There wasn’t any point in talking to anyone about this. He’d talked to Alise and while her words had been of comfort… Sharaku was probably more on the right of it. Whatever happened Nyx wouldn’t be the same person anyways. “I won’t run away from her… There’s just no point in talking to you about this.”

Well that was another thing that Sharaku wasn’t wrong about. He wasn’t wrong about a single thing he said, and that was probably what was driving the vampire so up the damn wall. That the were-vampire could be so calm about it while he was a bloody mess. He was a Carmilla damned powder keg ready to blow. Though those words did do a little to take the wind out of his sails a little bit.

He wanted to just leave right now. Odds were Sharaku would think he was just a coward running away from this. But there were worse things than being called a coward. Sharaku was not the best person to talk to, he was right there along with every bloody thing else. But who else was Ozaki going to talk to? Alise again? She wouldn’t have anything new to say, even if what she had said had been insightful. And while he did love his bats, they were still just animals. They couldn’t really weigh in on this. Ozaki put the books down back on the table, hoping that’d somewhat decrease his temptation to chuck them at the man.

If only he could think about it without being stressed about it. But he wasn’t the type of calm collected person Sharaku was. Fact of the matter was he envied those kinds of people. Though he was also hating how Sharaku could be like that about such a matter as this. Damn it now he wanted to cry again. He should just leave before anything could happen.

But again, Sharaku wasn’t wrong about a single thing here. “What do you want me to say? I don’t know what to do.” He almost didn’t even quite understand what Sharaku meant by not taking care of himself. Ozaki got the basic jist. But it was still a bit of a foreign concept in the way the were-vampire was bringing it up. Ozaki took care of himself just fine. Right?

There were reasons that Ozaki had felt attached to her so quickly. Amongst his many reasons, he could not foresee himself sharing even a quarter of them with Sharaku.

Right now she was like a puppy. Small, adorable, and she needed protecting... kind of. Well she at least gave off the impression she needed protecting. But then again, who had been the one to save him when Yuuto had managed to catch up to him? A thing he’d only managed to do in the first place because Ozaki had been caught up with Nyx wandering on her own. He’d been worried if Yuuto came across her he might just take the opportunity kill, assuming he had lost track of Ozaki anyway... So might as well just go for the blood devil in the area that happened to get in his way.

Then there was how Nyx had taken on Pai at the Blood Devil’s island. She hadn’t fought him, but she had managed to dodge every hit aimed her way. An impressive feat that mere instinct alone could not explain. Fact of the matter was she was no mere pup like he had been hoping. She was a wolf, it was only a matter of time before she both remembered, then accepted that. Then the Nyx he’d grown to love would be gone.

Which he’d have to accept. But that didn’t mean he could just abandon her. That’d make him more uncomfortable than anything. And somehow he had a sneaking suspicion that that wasn’t was Sharaku was going for. He’d go for a vague, but true, answer to Sharaku’s question. “I guess it’s because... I don’t know. I just felt like she reminded me a lot of myself when I was that age.... Or rather, back when I was an actual kid anyhow.” Right from the get go somehow. The more he got to know her the more and less this seemed to apply.

Yah. He’d revealed a lot more than he had meant to with that… But what really could be done there now? “Guess that’s the case.” He muttered. “Though I did have plans to try and add conflict back into her life… I did recognize that she’d likely have to have violence in her life if she were to actually be…” Be happy? Be stable? “I don't know. But I do know you can’t just ignore what you are. I had plans for that. Seems I might not need those though.”

There was a way to integrate even a blood devil into society, even with their killing instinct. But Fluffy? She was… Well she was something else. Someone Ozaki didn’t know anything about other than what he had seen.

He had recognized that as a blood devil violence would likely have to be part of her life. But he just hadn’t realized until the other day that it was literally painful for her to do otherwise.

Well this was an area of conversation that he was going to tread carefully on. Ozaki in general tried his best to not let his words or actions betray certain things about himself. But situations like this, and those in which he acted rashly based in fear were very telling. “I do hunt.” Both his job and his species dictated that he must. Well, his fieldwork in his job any how. His species did not necessarily dictate he kill, but even fifteen years in he had not yet figured out how to actually feed directly from someone without killing them.

It’d been thirteen years since he’d last bitten someone. He didn’t need to do that though. He had his blood packs, he knew how to drain the blood using needles. Ozaki had a system and it worked, he didn't need anything else. Even if the blood from them did taste dreadfully stale and lackluster even under the best of conditions... He could still live with that. “But I tend to make much less of a mess.”

He had a mastery in hunting himself, the way Ozaki used his training was more as an actual hunter than combat oriented. He could of course do that but… He had his obvious preferences. Ozaki reached into one of his pouches on his belt and pulled out a blood filled dart. “Easier to kill something using a dart they never saw coming than engage it in needless combat. But if… No, since that’s what Nyx needs… I would try and help her if I could.”

“Its not like I have to kill them with my methods either. I go non-lethal unless the job requires it.” Ozaki would prefer to have less blood on his hands if he were able. The vampire put the dart back into his pouch, one of his hands now absentmindedly touching the frayed corner of one of the books he had put down. “I just think its easier my way, and it is.”

He could perhaps fight them head on. It wasn’t like he didn’t usually carry a pair of daggers on him just in case such a thing came up and he had to. But this way was overall just less messy. Who needed the terror of fighting for one’s life when it could just be snuffed out without ever having even felt it coming in the first place? Out like a light. It was quicker, more merciful that way. This was at least the way Ozaki saw it.

Not that he expected others to agree.