Miki is my name. Doesn't matter if I have a last name or not because I am a ghoul, and ghouls are exterminated for merely existing. Well, of course, we do kill people for food, so I suppose that has something to do with it. Men can kill their own kind, but we will always be the monsters in their eyes. Good luck to them I say. Ghouls will always exist, and ghouls will always fight. Men will fight back.
"Miki-san," a loud voice complains next to me. I glare hard at the voice of Nishiki, stirring my coffee for no reason other than that I'm bored. "Miiiikkkkkkkiiiii-ssssssaaaaaannnnn!" I glance over sharply, my hand curled in a fist. Ever since he started working at Anteiku, he's gotten to be around more and he's become even more annoying. Does he ever shut up?
"The hell do you want?!" I nearly shout, conscious of Hinami. Touka and Kaneki look over to see what's happening. I suppose I'm a bit infamous for attacking Nishiki. It is during a fight Kaneki and I met, and Touka has been around us both for a long, long time. Nishiki grins. "I swear to the hell I'll be reborn into, if you say 'hi' as the only reason for gathering my attention, I will kill you. Honest this time."
Nishiki grins. "Hi." I jump out of my seat, tackling him to the ground. My hands wrap around his neck, but his also wraps around mine. I squeeze, adding more pressure as he does. Then the high school and college students force us apart, black dots in my vision. I spit in his direction. "You know, you always fight before you really think about it."
"Exactly why I'm supposed to stay underground." I can't help it as a grin splits both of our lips. "You're going to die one day. I hope it's soon." The words are true most of the time, but Nishiki and I today are on solid ground in our relationship. We are still in the early stages of our new murder plots of each other, which means we're not on edge and not hiding a bunch of items we plan to use that will probably, most likely, definitely fail in their use.
"I hope you die soon, too." We're released, and Touka sighs under her breath, muttering something about us being a couple of nuisances. "So, you need to be careful up top. I don't want a Dove to kill you before I can."
I make a dramatic sigh, sitting in my chair and falling over into Hinami's lap to make her giggle. "He has absolutely no faith in me! Can you believe him, Hinami-chan?!" She does giggle, though it isn't as much as she would have when her parents were alive. But it's my job to make sure she stays out of sight where neither of them Doves can find her. It's the reason I'm not underground at the mask shop with Uta.
The door opens, and in walks Hide, Kaneki's pal. I wave at him then look at Hinami. "So, what do you want to do? We can go shopping, go watch a movie, or maybe play a game."
"I thought I wasn't supposed to leave," Hinami says, tears filling her eyes just the slightest.
I lean forward, lowering my voice. "They never said that. So, are you up for it?" Hinami nods hesitantly, and I know we'll only be out for a short while, an hour at most. I stand, holding my hand out for her to grab. She does so, already dressed for a day to go outside and enjoy the sun. I hope she does enjoy the sun. Damn those Doves for taking it all away from her. Damn the ghouls who make them do it. Damn me for damning them. Ha. I already am damned.
"Hinami, I'm out of cash, hon. We gotta head back to the shop," I call out in the shop. It's her favorite shop, filled with candies and cute clothing, so I obviously took her here. I don't get an answer, flipping through a magazine that was next to the cashier. I wait, listening carefully. "Hinami!" The door opens, and in walks some crazy looking guy with white hair and a bigger, buff guy. But I recognize the cases. "Hinami, come on!"
"In a minute!" she calls back to me. I swallow, keeping an eye on the duo of Doves as they come near where I'm standing to talk to the clerk. "I think I found a book Kaneki-nii-san was telling me about, but I can't reach it!"
"Hinami, I told you I'm out of cash. You've used my last nickel." I make my way towards her, brushing past the larger of the Doves. "Sorry, sir. Hinami!" She doesn't make another response, but I do hear her nearly fall. "Damn it, Hinami," I mumble, rushing towards the back. Hinami looks at me as soon as I come upon her, then she looks past me at the pair of Doves. "C'mon, let's go." I don't give her the chance to freeze up.
I wave at the clerk. "See ya, Markus." He waves back with a smile, a 'come back again' following us. "Hurry up," I order Hinami. "Pretty soon they'll be on our tail. We have to be out of sight. Shit, I shouldn't have come out here." I turn around, pushing Hinami ahead of me just a little. "Skip like a happy little girl. Don't listen to a damn word I say, and get your ass to the shop." She does so, but I can hear the clicking of their heels as they hurry towards me.
The old man is the one who catches my attention, crooning at me, "Miss?" I turn around with a questioning look, praying my loathing and disgust don't show on my face. "Hinami! Wait a moment!" She ignores me on purpose. "Hina- Oh, please excuse me. My sister is hard of hearing, and she-"
"It will only take a moment," the older man says, while the buff one narrows his eyes at me. "I have some questions to ask you, especially concerning your little girl."
"Sir, please, I need to get her home. I've pushed the limit with my mom and dad as far as keeping my sister in public rather than at home. See, my ma's sick, and my sister doesn't like seeing her sick. So I took her out, and now that I've 'paid attention to the time' I should really get going." I turn back to Hinami. "Hinami, wait a minute!"
But he seems to ignore my words, likely seeing through the lies if I know any Doves. "Your mother is sick, is she?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'm sorry. What has she come down with?"
"We don't know. She usually does this once a year. She'll get a bad fever, throw up a few times. It's nothing unusual, but it's still... disturbing to my sister. Like ghoul attacks." I hope it works as some type of joke between us. But it doesn't, as neither of them even crack a grin. So I turn, looking for my sister. "Shit. Hinami! Damn it. Where did she go?" I wander away from him, hoping to get out of it unscathed.
But the old man is still talking to me. "Do you know what happens during a ghoul attack?" he asks. I ignore him, striding forward to find Hinami so we can make a dash for the shop and keep out of sight for a few days.
"Shit, that was close," I say as I make it back inside the shop. "Where's Hinami?"
Touka nods to upstairs. "What happened? She made a beeline for her room."
I shake my head, wanting to forget that I can't do anything to them. "We saw them. The Doves who killed her mother. I don't think they know it was us. I sent her ahead so they wouldn't see her." Touka nods, just as on edge about it was I am. I go up the stairs to find her door locked. I can't blame her, so I sit down, drawing my knees to my chest.
Neither of us say anything else the whole night through. I don't know what she was thinking, but I know what went through my mind. Why didn't a follow them as soon as I knew they lost me? Why didn't I lash out like I always do? Why did they want to know about Hinami? What did they want to know about her? Why were they there? What purpose did they have for being at that little antique shop?
Did they see Hinami?
