Twelve years... It's been twelve years since I last saw my parents, and the lingering pain of loss drilled a slightly bigger hole in my heart with each passing year. Life during that time when they where still around was amazing. My father, a respectable man who taught me a thing or two about the medical field, and my mother, a lady of a more... 'refined palette', let's say.
Twelve years since that dreadful day that they died, mother died trying to protect father against a pack of ghouls, and father was eaten alive right in front of me. That might've been a bit much even if they decided to kill me too, but as I would soon learn, it's more tortuous to let a person live with the trauma over just killing them. As much as I'd like to forget, I need to hold on to as many memories of my folks as possible, I need to remember what they taught me, their morals, and to live on for them.
I lived in a abandoned building, I think it was used as a workplace for people who made eroge stuff (the term for Japanese pornographic games/books/animation for the uninformed). I found three posters and six books, unfortunately, I needed these. Posters for a makeshift blanket and 'entertaining' myself with the books, I've read "Please don't stop" so many times now, I can mentally hear it every five minutes. It's a disgusting place, but it's home. Slinging on my coat, I take a look outside one of the broken windows and hear something.
BGM: A Besieged City - Stuart Chatwood
"Get away from me!" A woman screamed.
For some reason, likely my stomach replacing my brain for a moment, I smiled. Pulling my hood up, I jumped out the window and hopped from building to building until I was close enough to assess the situation.
"C'mon lady, we just wanna see yer tits!" One of the two thugs said, unfolding a butterfly knife.
"Leave me alone, please!" She screamed again.
It wasn't long before the other guy pounced on her, tearing off her shirt and making his way to her bra. 'Enough is enough', I thought, before slipping on the ski tube I found (and by found, I mean stole), jumping down quietly before clearing my throat to catch their attention.
"You, please help me!" The woman shouted.
"Shut it, hoe!" One of the thugs shouted.
The one closest to me zipped up his pants before turning to look my direction. I could clearly see the disappointed grimace on his hideous face.
"The hell are you looking at, kid? This ain't a show, so get lost!" He said.
I remained quiet.
"What, are you deaf? Beat it, dumbass!"
Closer, just a little bit closer... I'm licking my lips in anticipation.
He just rolled his eyes before running at me with his knife. Before he was within a meter of me, I activated my kagune, forming a caripace of black flesh, spikes, glowing blue tubes, and metallic clawed hands on both of my arms. As well as my eye going grey and red.
"Oh shit! He's a ghoul!" The guy still holding the woman shouted.
"So what? He's just one, we can take him!" The guy with the knife said before getting within stabbing range.
I lifted my right arm to block his attack, but he feinted at the last second and managed to get a hit in. Couldn't feel it anyway, but I let him have his satisfaction for the brief seconds I was letting him live. Swiftly, I grabbed his head with my left hand and crushed his skull in my palm, throwing him to the side. His head looks like a deflated sports ball that went through a can of meat and tomato sauce. His friend didn't even bother trying to fight, he just ran. I caught up with him and severed his top half from his bottom half. The woman sat close to the ground, trying to cover herself, I deactivated my kagune and came up behind her, handing her the jacket she was wearing before. She took it and backed away.
"Sorry you had to see that, but a guy's gotta eat. Get home safe." I said before taking a trash bag out of my coat pocket.
I hummed to myself while I sliced them into smaller pieces, when I was done, I slung the bag over my shoulder and headed back home. Reaching the third floor of the building, I threw the bag onto one of the tables that were lying around, making a lovely SPLAT noise as it landed.
"Bon appetit..." I mumbled to myself as I untied the bag and pulled out a severed arm.
My mouth is watering already, I haven't eaten in days! It's hard to find a catch this easy, before any of the others get to the good ones first. I took one look at the forearm and bit into it, taste like what I assume beef ragu to taste like. Halfway through the second guy, I could smell something else in the building with me.
"A lone ghoul taking the role of heroic vigilante, it's rare to find someone who thinks like that."
I turn my head to the side, in my peripheral vision, there is a old man in a black vest and fancy shirt, his eyes shut. Next to him is a girl that is a good five inches shorter than me, she has short indigo hair that covered half of her face, and wore a black turtleneck with denim short shorts, ripped violet stockings, and camo combat boots.
"What do you want? If it's food you want, tough luck, I ain't sharing." I said in a low voice.
"I came to offer you a better place to live, young man." He answered.
Young man? Now he's patronizing me. I stood up and completely faced them.
"And I've been living on my own for twelve years, what's another eighty-six?" I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"We're giving you an offer that others hardly can get, why do you gotta be such a pain in the ass?" The girl said.
I glared at the both of them. What was my one rule? Don't trust anyone. So, I'm obviously skeptical, especially after I caught word that some ghouls have resorted to hunting other ghouls. As if we weren't as cannibalistic as a species could get.
"Sorry but I'm going to give you one warning, leave now." I said coldly.
They didn't budge.
"Don't say I didn't warn ya." I said before morphing my right arm into a short blade, I whipped my hand forward and the blade extended into a long tendril covered in smaller blades, but before it could connect with the old geezer, the girl jumped in the way and blocked it with what I assume is her kagune, a large red crystalline wing.
"Ooh, this might prove to be more fun than I originally hoped!" I exclaimed before retracting my whip and morphing it into a blade like tying a surfboard to my arm.
BGM: Breathe - Leo Moracchioli
She turned to the old man, "Mind if I knock some sense into him?"
"Be my guest…" He shrugged with folded arms before stepping aside.
But I was already close enough, I drop-kicked her out of the window and dashed after her. Landing a few feet away from her, I crouched and held my blade behind me. The girl jumped out of the crater she formed and swung her arm at me, the wing on her shoulder clashing with my arm. Shaking her off, I took a swing at her which she somehow managed to dodge.
"Impressive, now let's see if you can adapt!" I shouted.
I morphed my arms into a multitude of tendrils and grabbed two dumpsters behind me.
"Here, catch!" I sarcastically said as I tossed both of the oversized trash cans, as expected, she sliced through both of them.
I morphed my hands into giant stone like fists, practically throwing myself in the woman's direction, slamming both my hands down and creating a shock wave powerful enough to knock her off her feet. I preformed a roundhouse kick to get some distance from her, turning my arm into a whip-blade again and grappling her leg, slamming her onto the ground over and over.
"You gonna get serious? Or am I gonna have to cut our fun short?" I said.
She smirked and raised her wing, several points at the end extending.
"I'm just getting started." She said before firing a barrage of crystal shots at me.
Morphing again, this time I'll play more defensively. I made my arms into spiked shields and had my front covered, keeping a crack in between them so I can actually see what's going on. When she noticed the spiked tortoise shells attached to my arms, she leapt in front of me and tried to force them open! That's the brutality I was looking for! I got the claws out and swung my arms down, getting her to make a larger gap between us. I lunged at her, actually managing to scratch her, blood trickled down her face immediately.
"That does it!" She roared, her kagune glowing as if it were fire.
I gulped as I prepped for another attack, but she moved too damn fast! Immediately pummeling me again and again and you get the idea. It actually hurt, that's the scary part. It made me think, 'Hey, I might actually fucking die here'. If I didn't do something, this would be one short brawl. I kicked her off of me and started punching her, delivering a hard knock to her gut before slamming her chin into my knee. The girl backed away before I had a chance to attack, wiping the blood from her mouth.
"Damn, you're good, too good..." She cursed under her breath.
"Ready to surrender?" I demanded.
She glanced at me before performing a spin kick to my face, unfortunately, I grabbed her leg, pulling her towards me and slamming her down with an overhead punch. She knows how to show a good time, I'll give her that. But I don't want it to end yet, but if I don't, these guys will either alert other ghouls to me or worse, the CCG, or they'll eat me themselves. Without another thought, I formed my claws again and got ready to pounce, but she sweeped my legs and immediately dominated the situation.
"You need to keep your legs spaced farther apart next time, fighting 101." She said.
She stared at me for a bit, making me incredibly uncomfortable.
"Your eye, it's just the one that's red. You're a half ghoul." She said, I could practically smell the venom in her tone.
"You couldn't smell me? I thought ghouls were good at deciphering their own kind." I smirked.
"Sorry, but your stench of trash masked it!" She yelled.
"Or are you just embarrassed to admit that a half blood kicked your ass?!" I'm just nailing all the buttons with a hammer, aren't I?
The old man walked up to us, motioned for the girl to get off me, and gave me a hand up.
"Your skills and strength are formidable, but that alone won't carry you far." He said.
I looked at him like he was crazy, who wouldn't? Skill and power is how I survived this long. I've stolen, killed, and sabotaged to get this far, and now this fart-knocker starts wagging his finger at me?!
"Then give me one good reason why I should accept your 'hospitality'." I grumbled.
"Well, I believe that it has been a long standing rule to help your fellow men and women in need. You should accept because we offer you a place to avoid prying eyes, flesh when you need it, and good company. In return, you must work at my coffee shop." He said, a smile forming on his face.
Well, that's as compelling an argument I'm going to get, isn't it? You know what, why the hell not? I could use a softer place to rest my head. I nodded in agreement, he placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Then allow us to introduce ourselves, my name is Yoshimura, and the young lady you sparred with is Touka Kirishima."
She looked up and gave me a half wave, "Sup? You really pack a punch, you know that?"
I scratched the back of my head and smirked, "Aw, keep it up with that sweet talk and you're gonna make me blush."
Of course, she glared at me, there goes that first flirting attempt. Just wait until I up my game, Kirishima. Maybe this is a good opportunity for me, maybe I could get those one-way boomerang pies I keep hearing about.
"But, first things first, what is your name?" Yoshimura asked.
I looked at them both, before smiling like a punk.
"Kaneda. Otto Kaneda."
As we reached the shop, I tried to make some small talk with Kirishima. Not so much with Yoshimura, as he left to take care of something. I spaced out when he brought it up, so what it was he left for, I don't know.
"So, how long have you been living like that?" Touka asked, snapping me out of my trance.
"On my own? For about twelve years." I answered.
Please drop the subject, I'd rather not talk about it.
"Wow, that long? What happened?" She asked.
After mentally punching myself in the stomach, I audibly sighed before turning to her and staring blankly.
"I'm not gonna get into details, but something bad with my parents happened." Thank Christ that she didn't ask anymore questions after that.
I'm bursting at the seems here! Luckily, we were already at this cafe place.
"Another question, what's up with your kagune? I've never seen one like it." Touka now looks at me with a studying expression, what little of one she can make.
"Half ghoul, remember? I can't make the required amount of RC cells to make just the weapon, so what little I have fuses with my arms, flesh and bones become stone and metal. It's fuckin' painful, but I've been getting used to it." I answered.
"Oh, sorry to bring it up." She replied before opening the door.
This place looks cozy enough, a good place to sit down and have a drink. Instead of giving me the tour, Touka lead me into a vacant room and shoved me in the shower.
"There should be some soap already in there." Touka said, closing the door in my face. "Leave your clothes out here, I'll wash them for you. Yoshimura should be back with some pajamas by the time you're done."
Rolling my eyes, I undressed and ducked into the washroom. It's been a long while since I had a shower, I don't sweat much, but that doesn't stop my clothes from getting dirty in other ways (interior bodily fluids, dirt, etc.). Nice and warm, at least now I can straighten out my hair, I've got the worst bedhead in the world. My hair now making a canopy over my face, a chocolate brown over peach colored flesh and blue retinas.
What's that? You want a description of what's below the waist? Well...
Fuck You!
BGM: A muffled Herald of Gargos plays in the background
Ah, the seemingly emotionless girl listens to death metal, hurrah. It's surprising how loud that is, you could even feel the floor shake it was that loud. After a while, I finished washing up and found a clean shirt and sweatpants. But what caught my eye was a stuffed doll on the sink.
"Kibbles?" I asked.
There sat a stuffed raccoon. I touched his fur and held him close, my only friend. He was all I had when I was alone, wandering the streets as an orphan, Kibbles helped me when I needed encouragement, he was there when I needed him most.
"Hey, are you done yet?" Touka let herself into the room and knocked on the bathroom door.
"Give me a second." I said.
After wiping away the nostalgia tears, I put my pajamas on and walked out to the room, Touka was sitting at a small table, drumming her fingers on it. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a pink rabbit on it and grey sweatpants.
"Thanks for cleaning him." I said, referring to Kibbles.
"Oh, that?" She got up and stroked it's ears. "It finished washing first, so I fluffed him up and left it there for you."
"Thank you, it..." Touka glanced up at me before giving a little half smile.
"So, what's up with this? You like raccoons." She asked.
"Ever since I was a kid. He was my only friend for a long time." Touka tugged at Kibbles' whiskers before taking a step back.
"What changed that?"
"I got you and Yoshimura as friends, right?" I said all innocent-like.
Touka's face turned a little pink before she darted from the room.
"Well, g-g'night!" She said before I heard her door slam shut.
I yawned after looking at the nicely made bed in the corner, just thinking about it makes me tired. Running my hands over the sheets, my body magnetized itself to the bed and I immediately passed out. Best sleep I had in years.
I woke to a most wonderful sight, a small girl giving me the most adorable of stares. She was short, had light brown hair, and wore a white parka.
"Um, can I help you?" I said groggily.
"Are you new here? I've never seen you before." The girl asked, tilted her head to the side.
I yawned loudly before sitting up properly with Kibbles in my lap.
"So, what? You want a cookie or something?" I dryly said.
The girl started mumbling, what, is she diabetic or something? Then it hit me, she's a ghoul. They can't eat like I can. For some reason, I've been able to eat people food without throwing up. Father said that it might've been close to a birth defect, instead of making me hideous, it lets me eat something other than people. Just, one teeny tiny itty bitty catastrophically gargantuan problem, and that would be that I can't live off of people food! My body doesn't take in, or even register at all, the proper nutrients that I need to keep doing this whole cloak and claw shtick. But still, it's nice to be able to taste the things that I know that other ghouls will never experience.
"Ok, I get it. Did Touka send you?" I asked in my nicest tone possible.
"Yeah, big sis said that I'm allowed to punch you if you didn't wake up." The girl said in a happy voice.
That woman is pure evil! Sending a child to beat me in my sleep, how cruel! But to be honest, I wouldn't mind if Touka was the one doing the beating, if you catch my drift.
Am I a masochist? Maybe, but let's not get into serious details yet.
"Maybe I shouldn't lounge around in bed all day." I grumbled.
After making a head first collision with the floor, I dragged myself downstairs. Seems like the café hasn't opened yet, though Yoshimura is behind the counter with a cup of coffee and a plate of what looks like a medium-rare steak. The smell let's me know that it is cooked flesh, maybe to look less suspicious. Kirishima is studying with a sheet of paper in one of the booths, a look of frustration on her face.
"Good morning, Otto. You should eat before we discuss anything further." Yoshimura said.
With that, I ate quickly. What little I could taste reminded me of these filet mignon things I'd read about. Steaks wrapped in a single strip of bacon, those girls in those books where good at two things, you already know the first, now guess the second.
Anyway, after breakfast, Yoshimura said that I'm going to need more clothes if I'm going to contribute.
"Can't just keep going around in the same trench coat and beat-up shoes everyday, huh?" I asked.
Touka laughed and Yoshimura kept smiling, then continued.
"We also need to get your measurements taken." He added.
"A uniform? Sure, why not." I smiled at the thought of being like those guys in the mangas who look way to good in a suit, chicks going absolutely wild over him.
'It's Otto, oh my gosh!'
'He's sooooo cute!'
'Be the father of my children!'
I was stuck in my fantasies, giggling like a schoolgirl to myself. Leave to a smack in the face from Touka to get me out.
"Quit it, you're freaking me out!" She said.
"Anything for you, m'lady." I said condescendingly and did a graceful bow.
She blushed a dark red before running back to her booth. Yoshimura chuckled and I shot him a glare.
"You should put on something light, you and Kirishima will do the shopping for today."
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask, but who is the girl who woke me up? She's one of us, right?" I asked.
"Her Mother is a frequent costumer here, we babysit her while she works." Touka chimed in.
So, this place is kind of like a safe haven. I heard that one of the only human foods a ghoul can consume is coffee, not a bad plan Yoshimura, hiding under the guise of a cafe. About an hour and some small talk later, I threw on my blue shirt, jeans, and black shoes. Thank the almighty Buddha that these were cleaned last night, the smell was getting more and more noticeable by the hour.
"Are you going to just stare at the wall, or are we going to get our work done?" Touka smacked me in the back while walking towards the door.
"Right..." I groaned, stuffing the cash Yoshimura gave me in my pocket.
"Okay, we'll browse some stores and I'll try on whatever they have in blue." I mumbled.
Touka looked at me with a puzzled face, I glanced into her eye, beautiful cerulean... Stop it, Otto.
"What's your question?" I asked.
"You really like blue, don't you?" She responds.
"Well, duh! It's my favorite color." I answered.
"Mine too..." Touka mumbled.
I stared at her after hearing that, was that... legitimate embarrassment? Not the 'stop flirting with me' kind, the 'it's weird that we have something as stupid as that in common' variety.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Touka asked.
"You're cute..." I said, receiving a punch in the shoulder.
Okay, I get the whole 'how dare you exploit a minor weakness' thing. But if flirting is her weakness... Oh, the fun I'll have.
Like a certain red clad vampire, I decided to give our little King of Marrow a Twitter account, follow Otto at KanedaOtto, let him know if he should make one for Touka