It was 11 months ago…

Haise Sasaki was out on his first mission without Akira Mado, and he was loving it. Well, atleast he thought that was going to be the case.

"Are you going to just stand there!?"

The bustling noise of Tokyo's rush hour awakes Haise from a daydream he has far too often, "Sorry sir!" He says while removing himself from a middle-aged business man's path.

If it was one thing about his job that he didn't like, it's that he has to move around the city quite alot so (against his wishes) Sasaki has grown accustomed to both it's evening speed and nighttime briskness, like a true purebred Tokyo inhabitant.

He'd much rather curl up in a soft blanket with a good book by his side, but being out on the town is fun too. You can never guess who you'll see while roaming these streets, which can be both a plus and negative side to life in Japan's City of Lights.

Reasserting his mind back into work mode, Haise checks his watch-

4:15 PM, about 10 minutes until sunset, the time when his target comes out apparently. This whole case was pushed on him at the last possible minute, so the details are a tad bit fuzzy, but he's not the type to complain when push comes to shove.

Several investigators either ended up dead or missing while working this area, so the urgency level was moved up quickly and they needed someone proven in battle to handle it AKA Akira-Senpai, but because she wasn't here...you know the rest right? Just another use of Haise as the scapegoat, nothing particularly new. Haise knew and understood his position in CCG from day 1.

thud~ the sound Haise's coffee can makes as it leaves it's native vending machine. Sasaki makes a sigh as he opened it, the product of a bad habit formed from night-long steakouts with Akira, whom says she got it from her father.

"Such a long line of unhealthiness!" He laughs while emptying the can, it has actually become his preferred drink next to bottles of water. Soda and Haise's stomach don't get along very well, and sports drinks never really did him any good either.

Even though he reached drinking age a couple months ago, he still doesn't really know where to get that kind of stuff, so coffee it is!

…

"Hm…." Haise looks down at his suitcase, which was engrossing his quinque. It was the universal sign of approaching battle or danger, found in most CCG agents. A common rumor is that, if you look at your quinque more than ten times within a certain amount of minutes, death is imminent.

Checking his phone for a quick second; Haise throws the now emptied can aside while heading to an alley out of view, the kind of place people go where they don't want others to see what they're doing.

Darkness enveloped Sasaki, not the sweet darkness that accompanies sleep, but the fear-filled darkness that comes once you are near death. Haise has experienced both, so once again (against his wishes) he has grown accustomed to the darkness that society fears, if he wasn't able to operate pass his fears then CCG would've been the last possible career for him to do.

4:27 PM -Sunset, Haise's watch reads. clang! The sound of clashing metal correlates through the backstreets of downtown Tokyo. "I was wondering when you were gonna come out!" Haise proclaimed as he was suddenly being pushed by his opponent's blade, with his only safeguard being his suitcase. Though many people would have died at that very moment, if their reaction time were too dull, things weren't looking too bright for Sasaki either.

He analyzes the opponent within the time frame it'll take for his suitcase to collapse on itself. Z, that was the name dubbed to this Ghoul, is apparently very light on his feet and coupled with a powerful unidentified Kagune; this can prove to be a problem if this fight goes on too long.

Just as Haise was about to kick the purple-hooded Ghoul to gain space so he could activate his Kagune, Z back-steps and does half the work for him. Using the opportunity, Haise drops the case and accesses his Yukimura: a lance type sword consisting of a long,thin blade with no hilt, best for parlaying and charging attacks.

It has one downside though; since Yukimura is abnormally long, it doesn't do well in small locations like this alley Haise is currently in. Though he walked into this position himself, he quickly regrets the decision ands slap himself on the head like Akira does to him when he messes up.

Z doesn't wait for the Dove's internal debate to be over, he assaults the unknown investigator head on. "I was thinking!" Haise yells, obviously frustrated, he dodges the charge then uses parkour to get to the rooftop that was previously above the two adversaries.

I have to hold this guy off and come up with a battle plan…Haise thinks to himself as he begins jumping from rooftop to rooftop, it was a 50/50 chance whether or not his target was gonna follow. Haise honestly didn't know what'd he do if Z didn't pursue but, lucky for Haise, Z does go after him.

This definitely gives Sasaki the upper hand, he now has atleast a minute (before Z catches up) to weigh strategies, and the battlefield is now wide open rooftops, which is perfect for Yukimura.

First of all, there's some irregularities in Purple's battle style and the information Haise received. That unidentified Kagune, is supposedly Z's only and primary form of attack, but Z displays proficiency in sword-handling. If it wasn't for the countless days training with Arima, Z's initial attack definitely would've been the end of Haise. Though speed doesn't make a good swordsman, Haise could honestly tell that Z had some training due to the way he holds a sword.

Then that begs the question, if Z's Kagune is as powerful as Haise has heard, why has he trained the sword?

Haise is in mid-air, between rooftops, Z kicks Haise into a downward spiral heading for the ground and closes in by thrusting his blade. No matter how strong a person is, Gravity still rules over all. So this blade will enter Haise's flesh, there's no way to stop it- atleast that was Z's thinking at the time.

Haise, surprisely, clutches the incoming blade with his elbows and pulls Z down into the ground with him. The resulting impact was rough, well...atleast for Z, Haise switched their position at the last second and Z ends up on the bottom; absorbing the most damage.

"Just who are you?" Sasaki wonders out-loud while staring at Z's white fox mask. Z was definitely not Z, though the speed matches Z's battle profile he was still known for his offensive capabilities. This Z was on defense, and uses a style that absorbs and reflects damages, the real Z was a true berserker.

The mask cracks-

!