The night was dark, and one could here the city life go on. Tatara and Yumitsu Tomoe stood together atop an apartment building, talking quietly.
"Tomoe. All has gone correctly. I believe we may be nearing our goals very fast now."
"That's good to hear. We've worked so hard I would've been furious had we not moved forward." They were quiet for a couple moments. Their silence was interrupted by the quiet opening of an access door behind them. It was quiet enough that a human wouldn't have heard it. but the two ghouls both noticed it. Standing in the doorway was a young man, about 15-16 years old. He stared at the ghouls, frozen. His hand covered his face in an attempt to hid his identity.
All of a sudden, Tatara spoke.
"Tomoe, he is a ghoul. But, nonetheless, he has seen you mask less and heard our discussion. Get him out of here." She nodded, then sprinted towards the door. Giving a smell yelp in fear, the man ran out of the door, and leaped to another building, running away. Tomoe gave chase, jumping after him. He continued running, going from one building to the next, panting from fear. Eventually, Tomoe grew tired of this incessant chasing, and used her kagune to grab one of his legs, tripping him. He rolled onto his back, looking her in the eyes as she loomed over him. She gave a small smile as she spoke. "Wrong place, wrong time. Too bad you didn't put up a fight. I could've learned something." She drew her Quinque Katana, and prepared to cut into his head. She raised her blade, and swung downwards. The man raised his arm instinctively, and stopped the sword with his arm. She looked at him in surprise, and seizing her moment of shock, the man scooted backwards and rolled off the roof, into the alleyway. Tomoe ran over to the ledge and looked down, but didn't see him nor any trace of him. "Cliche," she huffed.
She returned to Tatara and told him what had happened. "Hmm. His arm blocked your sword? Maybe he could be of use. Hopefully we can find him again," Tatara murmured quietly.
Section 2
Sakai Toshio crouched on one of the porches that lined the walls of the apartment building. His heart raced, and he thought to himself, "Man, she was pretty. And she dropped her little notebook too." He thought for a second, knowing it was impolite to look through someone's belongings, even if they had just been trying to kill you. " Ah, whatever. Maybe I can find something out about her." He opened it and flipped through the pages, finding no words, just many sketches of flowers and plants. He closed it softly and put in his pocket, then leaned back, and gave a great sigh of both disappointment that the book hadn't provided any information, and relief that he had survived.
Two days pass, and Tatara and Tomoe find themselves on the same apartment building. This time, they sat facing the door, waiting to see if the man would show up. After about an hour of waiting and Tomoe's nonstop complaining, Tatara reasoned that he wasn't going to show up. Why would he, anyways? Just as they were going to leave, they saw the door open. Through the little sliver of light the door allowed through, they could see him standing there. He slowly opened the door more, and stepped outside cautiously. Today he wore a mouth mask and sunglasses, which only slightly covered his face more. He crept towards them, looking downwards, and shaking slightly. He pulled the notebook out of his pocket, and lifted it towards Tomoe. A small amount of surprise could be seen on her face, then confusion, then realization as she patted her pockets. She went and quickly took the book from him, to which he backed away quickly afterwards. She gave a quiet "Thanks," and turned away. Tatara leaned forward and said "Would you like to join Aogiri, young man? It's a very safe place, as long as you do your work."
Sakai spoke, saying " As long as I get to work with her, I'll join." Tomoe was confused by this, and tilted her head at him. "Are you some kind of spy? Someone working with the CCG?"
"No, no! I just, uh, wanna, work...with... a girl?" He said, drawing out his words as if he was making up the explanation on the spot. Tatara responded with, " Of course, you can work with Tomoe here. But, she is a capable captain, and if you two are going to form a team, we need to see how you can perform on the field."
Tomoe stood in front of Sakai, drew her katana, then got into a fighting pose. Not taking long to understand what was happening, and seeing how it was unavoidable, Sakai slowly got into a fighting pose as well. There was a still, where neither of them moved, until Tomoe sprung forward and swung vertically down. Sakai didn't sidestep, he straight up grabbed the blade, yanked it down, then elbowed her in the nose. She recoiled from the blow, and made to swing again but was interrupted by a knee to the stomach. She doubled over, and was struck once more on the back of the head, knocking her out. Tatara's usually blank face showed a hint of impression, then returned to it's expected expression. "Respectable. What is your name, may I ask?"
Sakai panted a little, and looked a little worried about Tomoe's lack of consciousness. He kneeled next to her and said "Um, Sakai. Sakai Toshio."
Tatara nodded and said "We ought to get you a mask. I'll have Tomoe take you to get one tomorrow. Do you mind carrying her? I'll take you to our base of operations. Luckily it's in this Ward." Sakai picked up Tomoe and slung her over his shoulder, then followed Tatara to the Aogiri base.
Sakai laid Tomoe down on her bed, and stared at her for a little while. "Should I undress her? It would be bad if she slept in that cloak. But what if that's all she's wearing?" Sakai decided to slowly pull down her cloak, and was again disappointed/relieved that she was wearing a shirt and shorts underneath. He pulled a blanket over her, and was then struck with the crushing realization that he hadn't been given somewhere to stay. He panicked, not knowing what to do. "I certainly can't go back home, but I don't want to bother Tatara-san anymore." Looking around the room, he finally chose to sit in the corner as for away from Tomoe's bed as possible as to not disturb her in sleep or when she woke up. After a couple minutes of thinking to himself about the flurry of events that had happened the past couple of days, he dozed off.
Section 3
Tomoe slowly woke up and laid in her bed, feeling her bruises from the spar last night. She was smart enough to believe and understand that she had been knocked out, but was still surprised it had been done so easily. "He hits so hard. Jeez, it felt like a cannonball hit me." She slowly opened her eyes, and looked at the ceiling. "Tatara must've brought me back. I wonder what happened to that man, though." She propped herself up on her elbows and sighed. She went to lift her shirt up to get changed and check her stomach, but then realized her cloak had been taken off. "Aww, that's nice of Tatara." She took off her shirt, and checked her stomach. There was no bruise, her healing had taken care of that, but it was still tender. Only then did she look and see Sakai asleep in the corner. She gave a shriek and covered her chest, but realized he was still asleep. She quickly put her shirt back on and walked over to him curiously. She crouched in front of him, and poked his forehead. Unexpectedly, his eyes shot open instantly, and stared at her. His eyes were lavender, and looked beautiful with his dark grey hair. They stared at each other for a couple seconds before Tomoe calmly asked "Why are you in my room? Why are you asleep in my room? Actually, more importantly, why am I undressed with you in my room?
"Uh, Tatara told me to bring you to your room. You were unconscious last night. But, then he left before he could tell me anything else. I didn't want to bother him any further. And I uh, thought it wouldn't be good for you to sleep in that cloak. I didn't look to be very comfortable to sleep in."
"Huh. Well, you're lucky I wore clothes under it last night. Don't do that again," she said sternly. " I'm assuming you've joined now. Follow me, I'll get you sorted out with Tatara and some other people. What's your name by the way?" Sakai nodded and said "Sakai Toshio," but was distracted by the idea that Tomoe might sometimes not wear clothes under her cloak. "Sakai, huh? I'm Yumitsu Tomoe. The CCG calls me Grave Robber, so that's what you'll call me on the field. Do you have a nick name? Sakai shook his head and said "I try not to bother the CCG too much. They haven't picked up on me. I don't even have a mask."
Tomoe responded with "Well, that's going to change. Everything for you's going to change now. Welcome to Aogiri." She gave a small smile, which in turn caused Sakai to smile just from seeing her face like that. She frowned at him, then stood up. "Now step outside for a little bit, perv. I need to get dressed, then we'll go." Sakai nodded eagerly and stumbled over himself to get outside. He closed the door and leaned back against the wall next to it. Tomoe gave an exasperated look at the door, and began to get dressed.
After a couple minutes, Tomoe stepped outside in jeans, a red t-shirt, and a black jacket. She motioned to Sakai to follow her, and began to walk down the hall. Sakai quickly towed behind her. They arrived at a door, to which Tomoe knocked once on. A quiet "Come in," replied, and Tomoe opened the door. Inside was Tatara sitting at a desk, a notebook and pen in his hands. "What's the deal for today Tatara?"
"Okay, you will be taking Sakai here to the 4th Ward to get a mask for him. After that I would like for the both of you pay a visit to a certain coffee shop in the 20th Ward. Anteiku. You're not going to cause a ruckus, just give the manager this," he said, and handed an envelope to Tomoe. "Feel free to take your time there, we're in no rush. Rush tends to lessen the quality of plans, too. That is all." Tomoe nodded, put the envelope in her jacket pocket, then led Sakai out of the room. "You ever been to the 4th Ward, before?" Tomoe asks Sakai. He nods and says "Once. I don't really remember it though."
"Well, you're going to enjoy it. I do, at least. There's a lot of action around there," she says, grinning widely.
They arrived at HySy ArtMask Studio, and walked in. Sakai looked around, impressed by the masks. Uta sat in his chair, and greeted the two. "Tomoe, good to see you. And who is your friend?" Tomoe waved back and said "This is Sakai. He needs a mask."
"Well, masks are what I make. Let's see. Sit here," he said, pointing to a chair. Sakai sat down, and Uta measured his head while Tomoe browsed the masks on the displays. "So, Sakai. What kind of mask do you want? Face mask, mouth mask, perhaps something else?"
"I don't know. I've heard that some masks represent a ghoul's personality."
"Indeed. Well, let me ask you some questions. What do you think of Tomoe?"
"Her? Well, um, she's pretty. And she's a good fighter."
"Oh? Does she know that you feel this way?"
"Uh, no. I don't think I want her to." Uta laughed at that, and stood Sakai up. "I think I know what mask would fit you. Come back tomorrow, and I'll have it for you."
Tomoe nodded at Sakai and said "Next, to the 20th Ward," and left the shop. When they arrived at Anteiku, Tomoe opened the door, and was greeted by Touka working the bar. She greeted them warmly, but gave them a piercing look. Sakai sat down and ordered a cup of coffee, but Tomoe remained standing. "Is there something I can do for you?" Touka asked. Tomoe replied with "I need to give something to your manager," and pulled out the envelope. "From who?" Touka asked suspiciously. "From Aogiri," she stated blatantly. Touka looked surprised, then slowly left to get the Manager. Sakai motioned for Tomoe to sit down, but she shook her head no. Touka came back with the Manager, who took the envelope from Tomoe. He opened it and read the letter, then put it in his pocket. He nodded his head to her and said "Thank you for informing us beforehand. It's very polite of you." Tomoe nodded back, then turned and left the shop. Sakai stood up, but then shrugged and sat back down. He drank his coffee for a few moments before suddenly realizing something. He drank the rest of his cup in one gulp, thanked Touka and the Manager, then sprinted out the door.
"Tomoe-san! Tomoe-san!" Sakai shouted after her as he ran. Hearing his hysterical cries, she turned around quickly, expecting something horrible. "What!? What happened?"
"We need to go to my house to get my stuff if I'm going to be living with Aogiri now." Tomoe gave Sakai the dirtiest look imaginable. Her red eyes were practically glowing with exasperation.
"That's all? I thought somebody had attacked you. Don't ever do that again.'
"Yeah, sorry." He looked at her sheepishly, blushing a little. "My house is that way," he said, taking her hand and starting to walk. Noticing what he had done, Sakai stopped and tried to let go of her hand. But when he tried to, her hand stayed gripped tightly to his. He looked back at her, and saw her looking at the ground. "Are we gonna go?" she said quietly without looking up. "Uh, yeah," Sakai said, and began walking again.
