Despite living in Nightingorge, Tomura lived a very quiet and peaceful life while there. He had a sweet and gentle mother and a loud jovial father. His parents sheltered him and protected Tomura from the shadows and demons of Nightingorge. They loved their son and doted on him as much as they could.

That all suddenly ended one night. Tomura was with his mom when disaster struck. A mugging gone too far. The man threatened Tomura and his mother took the hit for him. The man ran and his mom gave everything for her baby boy. She was smiling as the life faded from her eyes. After his wife’s death, Tomura’s father was a wreck. He was upset and angry with the world. He blamed the sick town, himself, but mostly his son.

He wasn’t in his right mind when he hit Tomura, the boy knew that, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. Tomura never blamed his dad for this though. He had suffered so much loss, and heartache that he was drowning in it. Tomura ran away a couple times from The Gorge, but as he had nowhere to go, he always came back. His father never really noticed his absences anyways.

On one of his runaways, Tomura met Cremate. He was a goomdrop left to wallow in a gutter. The goom became Tomura’s best friend and his light in the endless void. The two relied on one another for a long time.

It wasn’t until he was 17 that Tomura escaped Nightingorge for good. Tomura's dad was especially violent that day, and Tomura... he hadn't felt more terrified in his life. He was drunk off his mind and the teen couldn't even recognize him when the adult smashed a glass bottle to his son's head. Bleeding and terrified, Tomura rushed out of his home with Creme following close behind. After that final encounter, Tomura didn't want to go home. He was scared of his dad and couldn't take the abuse anymore. He decided that he would leave the gorge and never come back.

He was living on his own and barely surviving for over half a year when he was found by Vern Kassidy. The Sheriff terrified Tomura at first, the younger barely letting the older anywhere near him. It took awhile for Vern to earn the teen's trust, and took him in. Tomura was a shut in for quite awhile after he moved in with Vern. They lived in a busier city, so he was terrified of being around so many strangers. The two eventually moved to the bayside town of Quailpoint for a change of environment.

It was in Quailpoint that Tomura started to come out of his shell. He left his room more often and sometimes talked with some of Vern's bar patrons. It wasn't until a couple weeks later that he learned that his cousins, his mom's sister's kids, lived in Quailpoint too. He had seen them a handful of times before his mother died, but a familiar and friendly face was welcomed with open arms. Rascal was a sturdy comfort and Mel was a bright motivator. Mel and Rascal readily welcomed Tomura back. While he wasn't ready to share what happened in the years they hadn't seen one another, his cousins knew he would come around with time. And that was enough.