Shuichi

The one-shot gives little away about how Shuichi looks, and what stands out most is his age. Gunpei Kamafusa compares him to a man of about seventy, implying he is many years, quite possibly decades, senior to Naoko.

The story reveals only glimpses of Shuichi, but his concern for his bride-to-be, Naoko, is unmistakable. Hearing her cry out from inside the house, he grows uneasy and opens the door, then pulls back in embarrassment once he sees she is apparently fine, aside from the blood-drinking she conceals, and realizes he has intruded uninvited. His worry that someone else might be with her hints at jealousy or fear, and a possessive streak surfaces as well: entrusted with a spare key, he feels free to loiter at her door and propose that the two of them share some time alone, even though their bond carries little real passion.

An arrangement between their families set Shuichi and Naoko to wed once she finished college, a plan laid down long before this tale unfolds. He cared for her, yet her heart belonged to her real boyfriend, Gunpei Kamafusa. Their years together proved happy all the same, and though little passion burned between them, the couple raised two children. What Shuichi never discovers is that neither child is his; Naoko conceived them both with Gunpei's corpse, stashed away in a concealed space over the bedroom closet.