DISCLAIMER
The following is a fan-based
FICTION
Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Root A and Tokyo Ghoul:re and other products related to the TG Series are all owned by Sui Ishida, Shin Towada and Shueisha.
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Prologue: Starting with a loud bang (1)
The Commission of Counter Ghoul is an organisation that had long-lived many institutions of the post-WW2 Japanese period.
Founded in the late 19th century by the renowned Washuu Clan, the CCG prospered as a powerful political and jurisdictional company in Japan, superior in seniority and expertise to the police in cases regarding Ghouls.
Yet things were different than decades earlier.
As democracy replaced authoritarianism, the previous conscription system was replaced with a facultative two-years long preparation program established in the Ghoul Investigators Training Academy.
The tuition was cheap and with Tokyo's Ghoul stable population, every prior training was well accepted by the population.
"Ohi, are you doing another of your inner monologues?"
I blinked and stared in surprise to the one who interrupted my line of thoughts.
White hair, stiches, inquisitive red eyes.
Those were the main intriguing details that Juuzou Suzuya had that made him a curious individual to know.
"Ryo-kun?"
I sighed, tiredness getting some hold over my poor brain. "Sorry, Juuzou. I-It's just anxiety distracting me.."
The quirky boy nodded and returned to stare at the loud mass of graduates excitedly talking about the final exam.
My name is Ryouga Kaizo, 19, investigator-in-training, and I was not finding peace in the chaotic trail fiercely drilling on my mind.
While I had decided came here dressed formally (as everyone did for this important day), I would be a liar if I denied feeling slightly jealous with Juuzou's brave move of keeping the same outfit he would use every single day.
But my mouth didn't voice any of those unimportant thoughts, knowing full well that this kind of comments would have truly been cruel to say to my confident best friend.
It was no secret, having been close to the seemingly insane person that was white-haired teen since day one, that Juuzou was not treated properly by the Academy staff.
It was also no secret that there were was a nutjob among the teachers, those who were supposed to help them fight murderous monsters, and that nobody seemed to mind him playing mindgames with people.
Goumasa Tokage was a twisted man that lost some screw while working, and that was me being lenient with the man's description.
The bald man had been an important operative in some shady section of the organisation but somehow his doubtful sanity became reason for his supervisors to be concerned and soon the maniac was demoted to instructor.
There were rumors among those who have parents or relatives in the CCG that Arima himself had intervened in the case and pushed Goumasa into this position, one that was meant to be harmless.
If the White Reaper himself supported this change, then there was truly some big reason behind it.
Plus...
*Crack*
..there was that habit.
"Good morning, class. I hope you are ready for those.. tests."
The clearly unstable teacher started to hand over the paper for the exam and looked blankly to every student... except when was Juuzou's turn.
The man paused, his unnerving eyes staring fondly at the boy as a weird smile formed in his face.
"Good luck, Suzuya-kun."
A shiver spread in my back as his voice, coated in barely hidden hate, left his mouth.
The teacher seemingly broke the focus on the white-haired teen and returned to his task.
Once everyone received the paper, Goumasa returned to the front of the classroom.
"You have thirty minutes to finish the test. Good luck."
The last two words sounded ominous and left more dread in the graduates' mind.
I stared in surprise as Juuzou merely shrugged and silently started to compile his paper.
Shaking my head, I commenced my own test and started to answer the questions about Ghoul Biology, Ghoul Behavior and Quinque Studies.
Fifteen minutes later and few times returning back on some questions to add some more details to their answers, I blinked in surprise as I realised that I had finished the whole exam.
I, Ryouga Kaizo, an average student in the GITA, had finished what was supposed to be an incredibly difficult test so easily...
With as sigh I felt relief washing upon my body and, not having much to do, my eyes landed on my quirky friend's test.
...Was that a dog? And.. a cat? What the-
"Juuzou-kun?"
The white-haired teen paused his action to turn his innocent eyes on me.
"Yes, Ryo-kun?"
At first my voice lacked the strength to formulate the question in my mind but I finally managed to release some stuttered words at what I was seeing there.
"Y-You are.. w-why are you doodling?"
Several kitty faces were drawn here and there in the blank spots where the answers were supposed to be written in.
He blinked once, before shrugging silently and returning to his exam.
Classic Juuzou's move..
I continued to stare at him in shock before returning to stare once more at his papers and...
"He didn't give you the proper exam.."
Juuzou kept drawing distractedly but nodded absently at my affirmation and my concern about his quirky friend's chances of passing the year started to rage in my aching brain.
Quick fragments of the previous days echoed in my head as I remembered the cheerful pitch in the fellow orphan's words when we discussed about our graduation.
"Do you think we will share the same senior investigator, Ryo-kun?"
My brows rose as I stared blankly at the 'innocent' red orbs of the extrovert friend.
"Juuzou-kun, you know that it's always a 2-men team composition when they make the squads."
I rolled as the slightly older, but less mature schoolmate of mine huffed childishly.
"But then we wouldn't be having fun like always."
The whine wasn't onesided somehow for me.
It wouldn't have been bad to be in a team Juuzou but... it would harm the two of us if we didn't stop for a second to realise the harsh reality and focus to open up with the other colleagues.
"Don't worry, we would still do the Saturday's Pizza Day."
His eyes glowed in remembrance. "And Sunday's Horror Night?"
I nodded, a small smile tingling in my face as we both exchanged a loud chuckle.
"Juuzou-kun.." The white-haired teen paused once more as he noticed the distinct new tone in my voice. "Pass me your paper."
Juuzou blinked, glanced for a moment the paper, and complied with some hesitancy.
At least Juuzou will be able to pass.
Those were the words that kept me from actually go full-depressed on that situation.
Goumasa will not try to call out the switch, knowing full well that he would have been exposed with that stupid trick of his.
I sighed as I remembered that life wasn't fair.
In a single moment I choose that the very friend that had been eager to pass with me should be the one to be happy.
The air was getting heavy as it had just stopped to rain in the 4th Ward and I hoped I wouldn't get some cold from the lack of anything relatively warm other than the jacket of the formal suit.
I was in my merry way to the flat partly paid by the CCG when I heard several gunshots echoing near where I was.
I stopped a brief moment to remember if I there had been some raids announced for today. I blinked as I was sure today was meant to be a normal day.
Against my best judgement and sense of self-preservation, I decided to investigate, ignoring the small crowds running away from the heated zone.
Six Ghouls. Red cloaks hid their features, their Kagunes being the only identifiable elements as they teared throught the small squadron of CCG's enforcers almost effortlessly.
Why was the group alone? Generally there should have been at least two.. inve-stigators!
I stared at the lifeless corpses of two men carrying Quinque cases, their chest pierced and, from their permanent shocked expression, they had been stabbed in a sneak attack possibly from the same aggressor.
In that very moment I felt I had been put in a very difficult decision: I know how to use Quinques, everyone that was part of the Academy knew how to use them. The two cases were relatively close and the team had small chances of getting out of there alive.
I weighted the pros and cons of the situation, trying to ignore the grunts of pain from the men as I finally made my choice.
My legs hurted as I strained them to go at faster pace than I would usually run with and I knew the wet ground and my quick steps would alert some of the Aogiri's grunts on my presence.
I felt wind coming towards me and slided downards as several shards from an Ukaku tried to kill me from long range.
I reached the bodies and took the two Quinques out, grimacing a little at the choice I had been presented with.
One of the cases.. broken and thus I was forced to rely on the remaining weapon to defend myself from the approaching pack.
Yukimaru 1/3, this muramasa-katana Quinque was supposed to have been replaced by now, being too much unreliable in its abilities and qualities.
I was half-tempted to try my fate by beating the crap out of the incoming Ghouls with the cases but.. beggars can't be choosers.
The first one to attack was a Koukaku with a cone-like lance that formed around his arm. I was certain that the small green plaques would have resisted to the old blade and thus I made a small bet.
If the two grunts didn't knew I was part of the Academy, my feint and dodge would be rewarded big time. If this failed, I was good as dead.
He tried to spearhead me, a yell dripping off bloodlust and amusement was cut short as Yukimaru did its job and cut cleanly his arm off, exploiting the small gap between the Kagune and his armpit.
A shriek of pain sounded beautifully as I engaged my second opponent, a Bikaku with a purple, baseball bat top.
This one was actually reluctant to show any opening in his stance and thus I had to make some feints to expose his weak points.
His Kagune was slow and the young man tried to use his fists and kicks to make an edge out of that disadvantage.
A wrong move to engage a quinque specialised in close-range with something pretty average like a Bikaku.
Yukimaru drew blood on the inexperienced thug and, while he tried to retreat away by using his kagune as a distraction, I decided that he had to come to me.
I let the Kagune miss my body, letting the blade in my hand stab it vertically, making the Ghoul pause in his attempts to run.
With a vigorous yell, I pulled the kagune backwards, propelling the cowards towards me and... into the malfunctioning case.
As soon as the AT member's face crashed on the steel-like case, the Quinque inside it was activated, revealing a prepped up Douhi.
The long-range quinque quickly blasted the head off the second opponent, leaving just the two Ukakus that were witnessing the scene in utter fear.
Some of them were ready to leave when several bullets slammed on their bodies, some of those reaching their heads and brain. A lead domination, I mused darkly as the two Quinques returned to their case forms.
I approached the wounded survivors of the enforcers and I was greeted by several bleeding men, everyone with a small smile in their face. "Thank God HQ actually sent some reinforcements."
I was tempted to disprove the speaker but... "What is the situation?"
"The 4th Ward is being attacked by a large group of Aogiri Tree. Several patrol posts were attacked and we suspect some are even storming towards the ward's HQ."
"Can you hold up until medics arrive?" The man that had spoken to me removed his helmet, nodding. "We sure will hold here, lad."
I nodded at them and with a small prayer I decided to go against my morale, the idea of dropping everything and not caring about this crisis.
"Attacking the 4th Ward so brazenly. I don't think this was a good idea."
If there was one thing Tatara was sure it was that his boss was a mad genius.
Crafty and subtle in dealing efficiently with the CCG's plans to obstacle them but also incredibly passionate and sometimes even suicidal when making those kind of plans.
"Mah! It's not that bad." The mummy-like Ghoul exclaimed with a calm tone. "We are just showing to the CCG to keep their guard up always and.. we are also getting some fresh popularity with the rookies."
He sighed, knowing that their recruitment efforts had grown stale in the last month and.. this chaos might work to their advantage.
"How do you plan to 'deal with Arima'?"
The Owl paused before mumbling something to herself. Then she nodded. "We will think of something on the spot. Kishou is, afterall, a good liar."
Such was the fate of a simple chinese Ghoul with a dream of revenge: to be the sidekick of someone incredibly shorter, crazier and more passionate to the very cause that he had esposed.
Yet the very moment of calm passed as his eyes catched a familiar burst of flames.
"I.. I will be checking around." The short Ghoul stopped staring at the mayhem she had just caused with a mere order as her hidden eyes looked at her subordinate.
"Something catched your attention?"
The white-haired paused, continuing to stare in the distance from the skyscraper they were witnessing all of this.
"Yes."
AN
I think this is one of the very few fanfics (if not the only one) to potray an OC protagonist that is part of the CCG.
Ryouga is... complex. Far more than any I had written, there is something hidden in every shard of his persona I will show in the following chapters?
Don't believe me? Then wait and watch as I create something out of nothing!