Yuki "Tatsuo"

About

Yuki is a man who was found and rescued by Matsu during a heavy snowfall, who also treated the wound on his neck. He refuses to tell Matsu his real name, accepting the name "Yuki" from him. He takes everything in stride, though Matsu's comments about being a freeloader and not being good at anything except holding a sword, do get to him. Eventually, Matsu learns of his real name, "Tatsuo", from Sakichi, but, when Yuki asks if Matsu wants to know his real name, Matsu replies that, to him, he is "Yuki".

Yuki is bad at cooking and gets insecure about Matsu's feelings for him, despite Matsu being open that he loves him. He is often forced to defend either himself or Matsu from yakuza who come after them. He only knows a few kanji, mostly taught to him by Sakichi. He usually wears a scarf around his neck to hide the scar.

Before becoming "Yuki", Tatsuo used to be an assassin for the Shoten Gang. When the boss ordered his murder, Tatsuo's aniki (superior), Sakichi, slit his throat and abandoned him in the woods to fake his death. When Sakichi reappears with the proposal to overturn their boss together, Tatsuo refuses and goes back to Matsu, accepting his new identity as "Yuki".


Tatsuo was born in the red light district, not knowing who his father was. His mother died in a double suicide with a customer, leaving Tatsuo behind to pay off her debt through prostitution, under the feminine name of "Otatsu". Wanting to escape that life, Tatsuo turned to the yakuza and gained the nickname "Tatsuo the Doll", carrying out several assassinations under the supervision of Sakichi, who was both his superior and his lover. As he lay in the snow after Sakichi slit his throat, Tatsuo wished to die with him.