Full Summary:
"In the eve of the Sunlit, oh how the children do cry."
Lack of an education, out-of-place one-liners and a terrible sense of justice are just some of the few things that make Lorenz Ilse a terrible Ghoul Investigator. Despite all of this, at the age of twenty-four, she is promoted to Rank 1 Investigator. Also, trying too hard to impress her older brother and failing to control her younger brother are just another of the few things that make Lorenz Ilse the best damn Investigator in the whole of Tokyo! Or rather, things begin to tear at the seams when the cute boy Lorenz Ilse sits behind in English Lit suddenly shows up to class with an eyepatch and an apparent new set of taste buds.
COMPLETE Manga Spoilers for Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul: Re.
Violence, cannibalism, sexual themes, swearing, and other standard Tokyo Ghoul themes. You have been warned.
Despite the heavy rain, cracks of thunder, and strong winds that had ripped the umbrella out of her hands an [embarrassing] number of times; Lorenz Ilse was having a good day. The dark, damp grey trench-coat engulfed her thin frame, sticking slightly to her in an uncomfortable way. Her pale fingers gripped her umbrella's handle tight, making sure not to let go this time, as she walked down the busy streets of the 1st Ward.
Unlike most Wards, the 1st was typically quite lacking in a general public. Due to it being the home of the main CCG Office, most would think it would be a hotspot for civilians, as the Ward was easily the safest out of all of them. But, apparently, being around the almost military-like Investigators brought upon a lot of discomfort in the general public.
The people were afraid of them. Not the Ghouls. Them. The good guys! Or so, most Investigators liked to believe. Ilse, personally, didn't really care much about morals or the fight of good against evil. All she really wanted was a nice big, fat paycheck to provide for her meals and easy life [well, a life as easy as it can get when you fight the living embodiment of the monster in a child's closet. Seriously, why does no one ever talk about how horrific looking Ghouls are?] But, Ghoul Investigators tended to have a kind of presence to them. Like they've stared into the gates of Hell, and the gates of Hell stared right back up at them. Either way, Ilse didn't mind, all it meant was that no one would to bother her so long as she wore her big, puffy coat and carried her Quinque by her side.
"Lorenz-san!"
The woman halted, glancing back over her shoulder and brushing back the blonde hair that stuck to her cheek, reaching down to her shoulders. Her green eyes peered curiously down the street she had been walking, landing on another Investigator as he ran towards her. He stopped before her, hands clutching his knees as he breathed out heavily. Ilse tilted her head, 'Wow. Dude's really gotta work out.'
"Lorenz-san!" He stood up straight, smiling in relief. "I'm so glad I caught up with you before you left. Special Class Arima-san has returned and, well, you asked me to inform you of when—"
Ilse cut him off, a smile widening on her freckled cheeks as she reached out and grabbed his hands. "Thanks, man!" She shook his hand wildly, leaning forward a little too far into his personal space. "I owe you one!"
He quickly drew his hand back, spluttering awkwardly. "It's... It's no issue, Lorenz-san. I—"
She interjected once more, hands falling to her hips. "Hey, while I've got ya, what was the name of the next operation? The one by the sea?"
"Operation A-64," he peered down at her in confusion. "S3 has been assigned to it. Weren't you at the briefing, Lorenz-san?"
"Yeah, but I fell asleep." She straightened up, smiling again. "Thanks, that must be what Kishou wants."
The other Investigator seemed almost offended by how casually Ilse addressed her superior officer, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. Only holding her hand out to give him one last enthusiastic handshake, using both her hands. "Thanks, I'll sea you later." She winked, before quickly dashing off, chuckling into her enclosed fist.
She briefly heard the investigator whisper, "They keep getting younger and younger." Likely thinking she wouldn't hear him from such a distant, but she did and smiled a little wider.
Now having turned around to walk back to the 1st Ward's Office, she found herself walking down the familiar path. The wind was already beginning to settle down, the rain reduced to a soft pitter against her bright yellow umbrella, and the storm cloud had begun to shift overhead. Still, she clutched the handle tight, definitely not wanting another recap of earlier. As she approached the entrance, many unfamiliar Investigators greeted her, to which she would bow lowly as she had been taught. This usually left them quite flustered, but she would simply smile and continue on. People who did know her seemed to avoid greeting her, but Ilse didn't notice them, already having spotted the familiar shock of white hair.
Her smile widened. 'Brother!'
She wanted to call out but knew she wasn't allowed, any blood relation to any of her half-siblings was strictly kept between the family and no one else. It upset Ilse; that her family wasn't a real family. But to her, despite having [probably] hundreds of half-siblings, only two of them were ever her real family. One of which, her own personal certified badass, was the older man she currently half-jogged towards.
"Kishou!" She smiled up at him. Just because she couldn't call him brother, didn't mean she was going to call him by a surname they didn't share.
He spun around in a fluid motion, the faintest of smiles appearing on his face, it made Ilse giddy at the sight of it, but she resisted the urge to tackle him in public in congratulations [for being a real human being, good on you Kishou!]. Besides, Koori Ui had already begun glaring her down.
"Rank 1 Lorenz, hello." His cool voice cut the silence, dark eyes regarding anything that wasn't his Hairu Ihei with hostility and suspicion.
"Associate Special Class Koori, hello." Ilse mocked, unintentionally. She was surprised when Ui's lips curled up in distaste, as she had only done it to be proper.
"Ilse," Kishou spoke with as much affection as he could manage, which was basically his normal monotone voice to anyone who didn't know him. Fortunately [or unfortunately] Ui did and looked agitated by it.
"You sent some random investigator," Ilse joked, hands innocently clasping behind her back. His grey eyes judged her cooly from behind his glasses, slowly gliding over her figure and down to the puddle of rainwater she had left in her wake.
"You're soaking wet." He stated, arms moving to cross over his chest.
Ilse beamed up at him, "Yes, but on the bright side; free cleaning service!" She thrust her arms up, waves of blonde hair bouncing gently as she did.
Ui let out a loud sigh, pinching the bridge between his brows as he rested his elbow in other his hand. By this point, a few investigators had stopped to stare quizzically at the soaked investigator who was beginning to resemble a wet mutt. Most of them moved on, however, when they noticed their Reaper standing casually in amongst the middle of it all.
Kishou said nothing, simply holding out his hand, open palm faced upwards. Ui stared at it curiously, while Ilse sighed. She looked down to her coat and began unbuttoning it, her teeth chattering from the cold; a mix between her soaked rags and the blasting aircon. She pulled off the coat, crinkling her nose in disgust as it stuck to her skin, before holding it out to Kishou and placing it in his hand.
A few people gawked at this, a few others saw nothing out of the ordinary. Ui sighed again, not caring if anyone heard, full well knowing he would be here for a while if Kishou was about to start 'mothering' Ilse. The twenty-four-year-old woman was a bit immature at times, but Ui had always known her to be independent. Arima, however, seemed to still see her as the awkward looking teen from the Academy; one that constantly needed his attention and mothering.
Ilse found it cute; Kishou mothered her, and she mothered her younger brother. It was a weird mother-hen chain, one that sadly ended with her slightly [very] psychopathic little brother; who could barely mother himself let alone another human life.
Ilse had been reduced to her white button-up shirt, that was tucked into her simple dress pants. Even with her rolled up sleeves, exposing her freckled skin, she would have looked quite professional. That would be the case if not for her thick leather boots that completely ruined the look. But Ilse loved those boots, and so those boots stayed.
All could have been left there, except Ilse had poorly chosen to wear a brightly coloured dotted brassiere to work today. Added with the soaked thin shirt; she found Ui turning away in embarrassment. Ilse wouldn't mind walking home in such a state, especially when it earned such amusing reactions from people, but Kishou would not. He handed her his own coat, which he usually had tucked under his arm. She smiled up at him in gratitude, quickly slipping inside for warmth, which it quickly provided. Ilse imagined she looked quite comical, standing in Kishou's oversized coat, and giggled at the thought [something that definitely looked creepy to others].
If they had been in any other Ward, the action of Kishou [silently] fussing over Ilse would have earned a mass number of onlookers. But within the 1st Ward, where Kishou and Ilse were both typically stationed, Kishou's random bursts of affection [which were limited to an awkward pat on the head for a job well done] were not uncommon. To others, they seemed like close friends. To Ilse, every head pat was another step further to having a genuine sibling relationship with Kishou, who, after everything he'd been through, deserved nothing less.
"Thanks, Kishou." Ilse smiled up at him, words muffled behind her collar. Ui bristled at the informality but knew Arima didn't mind. In fact, Kishou gave Ilse another one of his famously awkward head pats, which caused her expression to brighten.
"Arima-san," Ui cut in, painfully politely. "The meeting will begin soon."
"Ah!" Ilse perked up. "What'd you want again?"
Kishou shook his head silently. Handing back her coat and umbrella [that he had so graciously offered to hold]. "Go home," he told her simply. "I'll inform you later."
"Eh?" Ilse blinked, lips forming into a pout. "So I came all the way back here for nothing?"
He lifted up her coat slightly in a silent message, and she sighed, nodding. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Ilse took back the coat, "You got me there, Kishou."
Ilse's shoulders slumped in defeat before she suddenly perked back up. "Hey, have you heard from Souta? He's not texting me back."
Ui's face visibly contorted into a look of confusion at the unfamiliar name. If Kishou was anyone else but Kishou, he would have become annoyed by Ilse's casual break of the Garden's rules; but he didn't. Simply shaking his head to his sister's question.
Ilse's face fell. Sighing, "I didn't think so."
"I just hope that stupid clown has gotten himself killed," she puckered her lips in annoyance. Then, Ilse lifted up her arm, holding up the wet cloak in her hands. "Now, Jester me to a coatrack that I can hang this on."
Ui let out a deep sigh, "Arima-san."
Kishou didn't respond, while Ilse grinned proudly. He reached out to pat her head once more, before dropping it back to his side. "Go home," he ordered her, the same authorial tone he used during operations. Ilse nodded, before turning to Ui and giving the man a deep bow. She winked at Kishou, before spinning around and rushing off, ignoring the trail of water she left behind.
Once she was out of the building, she whipped out her phone and opened her contacts. She clicked into favourites, eyes gliding passed 'Badassiest Brother!' and landing on 'SOUTAAAAA' [equipped with several brightly coloured heart symbols]. She opened up the chat, fingers tapping on the touchscreen as she typed.
5:43 PM: ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW OR I'M CALLING MUM
The reply was almost instant.
5:44 PM: ME
Ilse clicked her tongue, picturing his mocking grin behind the screen. Souta had always been far too good at manipulating people, and unfortunately, his ever-doting elder sister was the perfect target for his boredom. Thankfully, Souta didn't get bored too often.
A bored Souta was a dangerous Souta.
5:44 PM: Why have you been ignoring me?
Again, his reply was lightning fast.
5:45 PM: I do happen to live a life outside of your own, sister dear.
Even when he texted, he still used that stupid nickname. What had once been an endearing title when he was cute and harmless, now had become the bane of her existence. He was sassing her, and he knew she hated that more than anything.
'Two can play at that game.'
5:47 PM: Busy stalking Rize again?
This time, his reply wasn't as fast. The three bouncing bubbles continued to appear and disappear. Besides Kishou, Souta was the only person who knew Ilse better than herself. However, the same worked in reverse. Ilse had practically raised Souta, which meant she had more dirt on him than anyone else. He knew how to push her buttons, but she knew how to completely destroy his. Just as she was beginning to regret being so harsh, he texted back.
5:53 PM: Watch out for falling beams.
Ilse couldn't deny the chill that ran down her spine. 'Falling beams? What the hell is that supposed to mean?'
5:53 PM: What are you on about?
No response.
5:54 PM: Tell me Souta
5:54 PM: Souta
5:54 PM: Souta!
5:55 PM: WASHUU FURUTA SOUTA ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW
Ilse was known to be a dramatic texter, but even she regretted that message the moment she had sent it. She huffed, the sudden urge to throw her phone across the street was strong but she resisted it. She would get no further response from Souta tonight, especially since she not only used his real name but his full name. Souta hated the name Souta, but more than that he hated the name Furuta.
A bastard's name for a bastard child.
Despite knowing it was best to let Souta calm down, especially considering he became a bit murder-y when he was angry, Ilse knew she couldn't do it. With anyone else, definitely, but not with Souta. The guilt would eat her alive.
6:01 PM: Goodnight Kichimura.
'There,' she smiled. 'Hopefully using his given name will make him a little happier.'
Now, all Ilse had to do was watch out for falling beams, and the laughing clown behind them.
"And now, I have to worry about Rize all over again." She sighed, yellow umbrella up and above her head as she walked down the street, the sun beginning to set up ahead. "I thought I got rid of that psycho years ago." If only her little brother could love nice, sane women. But maybe that was asking too much, considering her little brother isn't the sanest of men.
She lifted up her trench-coat, opening up one of the pockets and pulling out a slightly damp flyer. The bold writing clearly printed across the front, she read it with a frown.
'KAMII UNIVERSITY OPEN DAY'
All Ilse had wanted to do was tell Kishou about the open day, but now she had more important things to do. First her work with CCG, and now this. It seemed Ilse couldn't catch a break.
'Maybe I'm not cut out for Uni. This is probably some freaky sign.'
Sighing, Ilse scrunched up the flyer, and as she continued on forward, she threw it into the nearest trash can. Looking away just as it shrivelled up, ink dripping away with the rain.
It's 3rd POV, told from Ilse's perspective. Meaning: when she learns something, you guys learn something.
Ilse's name is German [technically Latin]. Therefore she is German. Please, no comments about the non-Japanese name. Yes, I am aware it isn't a Japanese name, it isn't supposed to be. She isn't Japanese.
Ilse pronounced IHL-SAH