A/N: Well, I've officially gotten into the world of Tokyo Ghoul. Wow, talk about your dark stuff...
...but one thing rankled me. Rize. She amused me greatly, but I feel that they got rid of her way too soon in the anime/manga as a whole. I mean a psychotic chick like that...wow. Just wow. She gave me a major idea for this...
As another note, this is a part of the standalone stories in the "Not Going Home" series as a whole, chronicling the adventures of our dimension hopping blond.
Therefore, before reading this, I SERIOUSLY suggest you stop and read that, first.
So, I've been going over reviews, and an anonymous reviewer said something that really resonated with me. I love to write. But sometimes, I feel that this gift owns me, rather than I, owning it. Its like a beast inside me, this urge to create, but I can't control it very well, which results in a LOT of new stories. So as of last night, and continuing throughout the week, I'm purging stories that won't be continued, or works that no one enjoys anymore.
Let me know which ones you feel should be continued, before its too late! Don't worry, many of the major ones will remain, but anything from 2008-2009 is likely going out the window with all the rest of the trash, never to be seen again. This may seem sudden I know, but I'm only purging the forgotten fics that no one cares for. Fear not, its not going to be immediate, but it WILL happen, I simply wanted to get this out as a forewarning.
FORTY MORE STORIES HAVE BEEN PURGED AS OF THE RELEASE OF THIS FIC! Literally, folks, for every new story/chapter I pump out, I'm deleting fics. It keeps my desires in check, and prevents so many fics from being backlogged for years and years and years. So, yup. Thirty more gone, now, and it won't be stopping until I get to the fics that are truly worthy of being kept.
This will be of very few new stories I plan to release, god willing. If I have an idea, I plan to make it a damn good one before I just toss it out there, as I devote myself to my other works, soon to number into the hundreds, and potentially dozens as I whittle them down. I need to reassess why I want to write, for the joy of it, and I can't do that by letting you guys down with old, crappy stories I wrote in my early days.
LET THE NEW ERA BEGIN! Also yes, I'm introducing what I hope is a new idea here, so..off we go! I proudly present DEVOUR!
...once again, this is a part of the Not Going Home Series! Also, you can expect an update for A Sage in Oz very soon! I also fully credit the awesome Platinumsabr for borrowing a paragraph of his!
"You taste...wonderful!"
~Rize.
Bite
I never understood why humans turn on one another.
Oh, we pray and preach and claim and denounce it, of course. Violence against your fellow man is wrong. You shouldn't hurt another human being. Talk about your feelings. Make love, not war. Blah, blah, blah. But on the inside we contemplate acts of violence every day. That punk, who cut in line ahead of you. The jerk who stole your parking spot. Those bratty co-workers who make your job a living hell. Your asshole of a landlord, who just. Won't. Get. Off! Your! Back!
You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Don't you just want to take a swing at them, sometimes?
We, people as a whole, think about violence every day. Most just don't act on those dangerous impulses. I do. Case in point; if an asshole hits a lady in front of me, I'm going to rip his head off. I see an opportunity for a prank? You bet your ass I'm going to go through with it. A beautiful woman asks me to go dancing, I'm going to do the cha-cha until the sun comes up.
Others act on them, too, these base emotions. Darker urges, darker desires.
Cannibals.
Take ghouls for example.
Who are they?
Where do they come from?
Why do they exist?
What makes them devour human flesh?
Why do these creatures, who for all intensive purposes appear human, act on their desires so much more readily than humans do? This is the fiftieth realm I've visited, and for once, I'm genuinely at a loss.
Why?
For the life of me, I don't understand them. When you've had an eternity to contemplate-and forget-things such as the meaning of life, you start to wonder, why? Why, why, WHY, would God ever create such a twisted creature in the first place? Not me, I'm talking about some other guy. I'll probably have to kill him once I'm done with this universe, too.
Because, much like a ghoul, I don't plan on leaving until I've eaten my fill...
Rize could feel him watching her. His eyes bored a hole into her back, a curious expression fixed on those whiskered cheeks.
She knew he was looking at her now; just as she'd been watching him for the last five minutes.
Like a predator and prey, neither willing to make the first move.
But which was which? Was she the predator, or the prey?
That was always the most exciting part for her.
Rize Kamishiro considered herself a woman of discerning taste; she knew what she wanted, and when she wanted something, she went after it with everything at her disposal. She wasn't above using her charms to get her way, using her body, even. The taste of human flesh, ahn, nothing could compare to it! She simply couldn't get enough~!
Which made the stranger's-her meal, that is-arrival here all the more timely.
Anteiku was the perfect place to observe her meals. Human meals. She didn't care for her other kind, whether they worked here or not. They tasted far too bland. After all, Rize preferred most of her meals raw and wet, still wriggling with fear. Savoring their terrified expression often proved even more delicious than the meal itself. None of that applied until she'd found just the right victim. So when she first laid eyes on the young man at the counter and saw him return her gaze, she knew she'd found what she'd been searching for.
Spiky blond hair, framing whiskered cheeks and blue eyes, a scar running lengthwise over the right, suggesting he might well be blind on that side. Interesting. The tan of his skin told her he wasn't the indoors type like that bibliophile sitting across the way; and the manner in which he held himself told her everything else she needed to know. Casual clothes, blue jeans, and a battered black jacket. Thin lips pursed now as he devoured a cup of ramen noodles with dogged determination.
And were those horns on his head? Bah, didn't matter. Cosplayer or not...
Rize knew she wanted him.
Not too much muscle, but juuuust enough meat on the bone to give it the extra kick she loved. He looked so, so, sooooo tasty~! Perfect, even. A fine specimen indeed. Her mouth began to water at the thought, hunger rearing its ugly head despite her best efforts to control herself. Her hand rose almost imperceptibly, adjusting her glasses. Her tongue flitted out, licking her lips.
There was just one, tiny little problem. One thing that kept her from going over there and approaching him outright.
Why hadn't she seen him here before?
She very much doubted he was an investigator, but she'd been coming to this cafe for ages, and the sudden arrival of a stranger seldom boded well for a ghoul such as her. Her suspicion was almost enough to slake her hunger. Almost, but not quite. He smelled absolutely delicious and she wanted him.
Badly.
Was it worth the risk, though?
Sometimes she'd make a mistake and wind up with a fighter; someone who thought they could stand up to her, just before she devoured them. She supposed this would be another one of those but then again, she was in the mood for defiance today. Enough waiting.
Rising from her seat, she approached him.
The blond didn't take notice of her until she was almost on top of him; even then he seemed almost disinterested, finishing off his ramen as she neared, topping it off with a bit of coffee.
"Excuse me," she began in a deliberate, delicate voice, "Is this seat taken?"
Blue eyes swiveled towards her. Hmm. Not blind, then.
"Not at all."
She swept into the chair opposite him, smiling.
"Was there something you wanted?" he asked.
Rize smiled. "Nothing, really."
"Seems like an awful lot of something for you to come all the way over here." the blond drawled, resting his chin in a hand. His horned head tilted slightly, pearly whites flashing in the sunlight. It was the smile of a kind person she thought. A naive one. Oh, how little she knew.
"Do you have a name?"
"Rize."
Blue eyes fluttered open and shut.
"Naruto."
"Well, Naruto, I happen to know this wonderful place that serves the best ramen, and I thought you might be interested...
The subsequent smile lit up his face.
"Its a date, then."
Hours later, Rize's appetite finally got the better of her.
Naruto had proven an easy mark for someone who seemed so dangerous. He'd accepted her excuses for not eating much and hadn't asked very many questions until now. Even now, well after dusk, he remained happy and affable, amusing her with lighthearted jokes and the like. His
Just the way she wanted it.
It was so easy playing the weakness cared; just shed a few tears, pretend to be afraid, and men tripped all over themselves to help you. Naruto was no different, offering to walk her home without so much as a second thought. Pity he was so gullible It was almost enough to make her feel sorry for him tonight. Almost...almost...
So when she finally got him alone, when she'd finally led him away from everyone, from the lights of the city, from anyone who could see...she knew it was time. In the distance, the loud rattle of a passing train pushed itself through her ears, as though the heavens themselves were telling her it was time to act. The thought made her smile and, spinning, she turned to face him.
"Naruto-kun."
"Hmm?"
Rize deliberately leaned the full weight of her body against the baffled blond, placing her head just beneath his chin. Her fingers curled around the hardened fabric of his jacket, holding fast. There would be no escape for him now. Still she buried her head further into the hardened plane of his chest, playing up the part of an embarassed schoolgirl harping on her crush.
"I like you."
"...Neat."
Rize nearly faltered at his stoic expression, jerking away from him. "N-Neat?" she wasn't entirely sure why, but his nonchalance offended her.
"Yeah, neat." he yawned, scratching at his head. "You're hardly the first to confess to me; just the first in this universe, I guess. It starts to lose its luster after awhile, ya know? I mean, I barely even know you."
A dangerous smile plucked at the corners of her mouth.
"Do you know what I like most?"
"What?" he sighed, annoyed.
"Your scent."
"My wha-
In a lightning-fast move her neck arched up and her mouth found his shoulder, biting down with all her might. Instead of tasting flesh and blood however, Rize felt her teeth crunch down on bland metal. Yuck! Hissing in surprise she drew back, trying to get that foul taste out of her mouth. Her date recoiled, aghast.
"Hey! No biting until the second date, dattebayo!"
"What the hell are you made off?!" she exclaimed!
"Iron, at the moment." he grinned, rubbing his shoulder. "I'm afraid I'm not your usual meal. Awh, what~?" he reached out, twining a strand of her violet hair on his finger, azure eyes glittering merrily into her red. "Did ya really think you'd be able to devour a god like me if I didn't want you to?"
...you can't be serious. Aren't you afraid?"
"Not particularly, no. Freaked out? Pretty much."
Desire compelled what sh did next.
"I'm going to gently scramble up your insides for you now, okay?" she purred. "Hold still."
A hand closed on her wrist, locking down with surprising strength.
"Only if you let me screw your brains out, first."
She couldn't help herself after that; laughter bubbled up, mad and mirthful, tearing itself free in a delighted cackle.
"There's something I like even more than your scent. Know what it is? Its pulling out all the organs of someone who isn't trying to run away from me~!"
"I don't see anyone trying to-
Her kagune arced out, skewering him in the unprotected neck. His body went limp, hanging loosely on the scarlet tendril. It was a very good hit Rize thought, obliterating his jugular utterly, a clean through and through right in the windpipe. Impaled on her Kagune, he could only hang there, gurgling.
"Well, that's gonna scar...
Rize laughed at that, tossing him into another steel girder. "Oh, I like you~!"
"Feeling's mutual, ya know." he gurgled through a mouthful of blood, just before she smacked him down for a second time.
"Tag~!"
This time, he did not rise again.
"Ara," she frowned, "Did I kill you by accident?"
...not quite."
She wasn't expecting him to get back up.
"Hmm?"
Her gaze slid to the supposed corpse, her lips quirking slightly as it twitched. And then it spoke.
"Well, breaking the neck was an ultimately fruitless effort. But if its any consolation...
Naruto stood slowly, drunkenly, swaying on his feet. His head lay at an awkward angle, hanging loose. Disjointed. Slowly, jerkily, his arms reached up and snapped it back into place with a wet pop. Quietly, he pulled an immense piece of jagged iron from his stomach, uncaring for the blood that flowed forth from the wound. The scent of it nearly made her mouth water. Devour! That desire shriveled up as he turned his head, eerie eyes of golden amber boring into hers with terrifying temerity.
...that hurt like hell."
A glimmer of confusion danced in Rize's eyes as he started forward her, a seed of anxiety planting itself in her heart.
"What are you?"
"Just a guy who loves ramen."
That was all she heard before he buried her in a wall.
Gack!
Breath burst out of her lungs in an unexpected rush of gore; a bloody shower exploding from her lips as her spine crunched against steel. The sheer force of his punch blasted a hole right through her stomach, atomizing the flesh and carving itself into her body. "Rasengan!" In the next instant a spiraling sphere-plunged into her wound, tearing at her body and, launching her away into the dirt. An attack like that would have butchered a human. Indeed, it likely would've destroyed an average ghoul...
...but not Rize.
By the time she landed she was already healing, the holes in her body stitching themselves shut to leave the crimson stains on her dress. Now she was well and truly hungry. Clamoring to her feet, she watched her prey climb down after her, alighting neatly on a nearby pipe.
"Okay, you're durable." Naruto blinked. "Probably shouldn't have held back, there."
Laughing, giggling madly, she leaped at him!
"Na~ru~to~kun~!"
"Okay, whoa! You're all kinds of crazy!" His body bent at an impossible angle, the four tentacles of her kagune sweeping harmless past his head as he rebuked her. Her heel shot out, only to find itself trapped in his fist, the rest of her leg following shortly thereafter. She struggled mightily but his grip was like a vice, refusing to let go.
"So this is a ghoul." Naruto drawled. "Gotta admit, I was really curious about ya'll. But now...
"Now?"
...I'm kinda disappointed." Then his arm slammed forward, dragging the rest of her body, kagune and all, with it.
Ground.
Breath burst out of Rize's lungs as her face became intimate with the hardened soil in a way that no self-respecting ghoul would possibly desire. She struck the soil with such force that her body actually bounced; only to snap back again as Naruto whipped her into the ground again, and again and again, until she was left lying in a human-sized depression in the earth. A small, squeaking groan escaped her lungs-overshadowed now by a gruff grunt as her adversary reached back down for her.
"Puny ghoul."
After that, Rize found herself in something akin to an out-of-body experience as she watched herself get pounded every which way by the blond...
...with almost no effort involved whatsoever.
Oh she felt the pain, felt the forces push her body in the decreed direction, but in her shock, she couldn't process any of it, much less counter. A punch to her right cheek cratered her face, and was immediately followed by one to her left, which flowed into yet another strike to her stomach, and to that a chop to the now-exposed back of her neck, summarily sending her to her knees only to be blasted backwards by the merciless kick to her face once there.
"What's wrong? I thought you were going to eat me?"
"Die!"
Her kagune lashed out, only to shatter harmlessly against his chest. In recompense for her temerity another hand cracked out, burying itself in her chest and launching her away. A moment later a storm of steel girders dropped down on the blond from on high. Through bleary eyes she watched them ricochet away, as though deflected by some invisible shield-and were his eyes violet, just now? She couldn't tell, everything was moving so slowly, her head spinning wildly.
"Feisty!" he laughed, stalking towards her. "I think I'll keep you."
Rize lay there for a long moment, choking on her own blood.
"K...eep?"
"Yeah, I've dealt with crazy before, but you fit the bill." Before she could finish, he thrust an arm into her face.
"Here. Eat. Think of it as a reward."
She glowered up at him in disbelief, almost unable to believe what he was offering her. Red eyes snapped to his blue, then down to his arm, and back again. In the end her hunger, and her curiosity, won out. She made a small mewling sound and sank her teeth into the flesh of his wrist, biting down hungrily. Chomp! Naruto shuddered slightly as her teeth drew first blood, but otherwise offered no protest as she devoured his arm. Rize gasped at the flavor flooding her mouth, distantly aware of the blond's pleased sigh.
"Ah, that's a good girl."
She just couldn't eat him fast enough; he simply regenerated whatever she ate. Like a glutton at a feast, she simply couldn't bring herself to stop.
Delicious.
For Rize, his flesh tasted better than the finest culinary cuisine; nothing could compare to it. She wanted more! More, more, more more more more more moremoremoremoreMOOOOORE! Euphoric, addictive, she found herself hooked from that first, fateful bite. It was impossible not to want it. He surpassed any meal she'd ever had before him, and would ever have again. He wasn't human. Couldn't be. Humans didn't taste like this-all her past meals were dirt by comparison.
Naruto laughed.
"I take it you enjoyed the meal."
Rize purred softly. "I...you...what are you?"
"Like I said, just a godly guy who likes ramen. Now...
"Now?"
His eyes spun, grinning madly.
...we paint the town orange."
She would only later realize that he'd been quite literal about those words.
A/N: WHOOOOOOAAAAAAAA BOY! Major shakeup here! Kaneki and Rize never happened, she went after Naruto that day instead of him. End result: they never went on that ill-fated date-never had that "accident" which means he never became a one-eyed ghoul. Which means...what exactly? Easy. All kinds of hell can happen, ESPECIALLY WITH RIZE AROUND...
So...in the immortal words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly? OR RIZE-CHAN'S GONNA EAT YA! And of course, enjoy the preview!
(Preview)
Naruto facepalmed.
"Oi, Rize...
"Hmm?"
"What did I say about mid-afternoon snacks? If you're hungry, you can just eat me." They glowered at one another for a long moment, two killers, neither willing to yield. At last, Rize averted her eyes, pouting.
"I was looking for something new." she sighed, licking her lips. "Not that bland synthetic stuff you're trying to make, either." An ambitionless waif like her had no interest in this peaceful society he was trying to create; the only thing that kept her tied to him was the delicious taste of his flesh...
..and his strange affinity for pranking the hell out of whomever proved unlucky enough to cross his path. Sometimes he even did it on a whim.
Like painting the entire CCG orange. Replacing all the investigator's quinque with panties and giant dildos.
Or flooding the streets with ramen and noodley broth.
Yes, she told herself, she stayed for his flesh...
...and the laughs.
"You're drooling, again." Naruto pointed out.
Rize blinked. "Ara, I suppose I am."
A blond brow was arched.
"So? Did he taste better than me?"
The purplette shrugged and nudged Mado's mutilated body with her toe. As expected, the investigator didn't budge.
"Not really."
What insanity is to come?! Stay tuned to find out! R&R~! =D