Dan: Okay guys here's chapter 2 I hope you guys enjoy and here's a BIG thanks to our little sis Vane-chan for being the first to review this story it means a lot to us.
Dan: Well on with the story.
"A….Blue-Eyed Ghoul?" Mato said astonished.
Sure she'd heard about the One-Eyed Ghouls before but she had ridden them off as nothing but an urban legend, but to actually have one standing in front of her was something else and the fact that he had smelled so human just a few minutes ago was also rather unsettling.
His Kakugan is blue?! Just what is this guy? Mato thought as she took up a defensive stance and activated her own Kakugan while Rin just kept staring at her while salivating and panting, he looked like some kind of rabid dog that was cautiously watching this new prescence.
(A/N: For this Ghoul slug fest we recommend that you play Tokyo Ghoul OST – Symphony.)
The two teens just continued to stare at each other until Mato blinked and in that slip second Rin was directly above her with his hands joined together. Mato back-dashed as he brought his hands down creating yet another crater in the ground. What the hell's going on?! Rinkaku Ghoul's aren't usually that fast. Mato thought.
Before the smoke created by Rin's strike even cleared, three azure tentacles shot out like bullets but Mato was charged forward without a shred of fear and skill fully moved her head and torso so that the tentacles barely grazed her as she continued to bolt towards who in turn ran on all fours towards her with the same deranged stare.
"GGGGGGGGRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Rin growled reaching out his hands trying to grab the girl but Mato merely jumped over him. When she landed Rin bellowed in pain when he suddenly felt his entire body rack with pain he checked his arms and found that his entire body had been covered in small but deep cuts.
What is he thinking? Leaving himself open like that, it's like he's asking to be killed. Mato thought but was shocked when she turned and saw that all of the cuts had vanished. What? His wounds have healed already?! I know Rinkaku Ghouls heal quicker than others but this is ridiculous, he can even heal faster than Saya. Guess I have no choice but to get serious if I'm gonna stop this guy. Mato thought before suddenly two wings sprouted from the pig tailed girl's back, they were both equal in length and looked a little longer than her arms. The wings colour was a mixture of navy blue fading to black at the tips. The wings constantly danced and flickered like a flame. Over all she had the appearance of a dark angel.
Rin didn't seem to take much notice of the girl's new features and continued to make animalistic grunts. Mato charged at him while Rin sent his tentacles out again though instead of firing them like spears his objective seemed to be trapping the girl rather than impaling her.
Mato was able to knock most of his attempts away with her Kagune however one tentacle managed to wrap itself around her right hand and Mato could feel a stinging pain in her wrist like she was being stuck with several needles.
Similar to what he did with Saya, Rin used his strength to pull the girl in and prepared to send his fist right through her skull. Mato however used the strength of his tug to her advantaged and used it to launch herself off of the ground and with a few flaps of her wings she changed her trajectory and managed to plant her heel into Rin's cheek.
Her kick's power was strengthened by the extra momentum and the force of it sent Rin flying into a wall. Mato looked at the wrist that was previously in Rin's grip and saw that it was burned though it didn't look too severe but that only confused Mato even more, the burn wasn't bad so why was it taking so long to heal and since when could a Kagune leave burns? Could it have something to do with that blue Kakugan? Mato thought but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard another feral below. She looked up and saw the beast that was Rin Okumura standing on some scaffolding, a light scar barely visible on his cheek causing Mato's eyes to widen slightly at the boy's regenerative powers.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rin roared and this time instead of using his tentacles as spears or to ensnare his prey he instead used his vantage point to use his Kagune to try and crush her with the midsection of the tentacles instead of the sharp tips. The annoying little fly was beginning to annoy him.
Mato merely cartwheeled and back flipped out of the aqua coloured Kagune's destructive path.
Mato then jumped onto one of the tentacles and ran along it before jumping off of it and used her razor sharp wings to slice the scaffolding underneath Rin to pieces.
Beginning to feel a bit of fatigue from the battles unexpectedly long duration, Mato knew that she had to end this soon otherwise she'd end up as this mad dog's next meal.
As soon as Rin emerged from the pile of steel beams Mato fired several crystal like projectiles from her wings. Rin curled his Kagune in front of him to protect himself but Mato wasn't aiming for his body but rather his clothing. The projectiles caught on the edges of Rin's sleeves and jeans effectively pinning him against a stone wall a few feet behind him.
However before Rin had a chance to break free Mato was already in front of him and gave his mid torso a very hard punch causing the boy to cough up blood before he passed out.
Both of the teens Kagune faded away and their eyes returned to normal with Rin still pinned against the wall.
"Well at least it's finally over now. Never thought a One-Eyed Ghoul actually existed let alone a Blue-Eyed one." Mato said stretching her shoulders before looking at the still pinned Rin. "You could end up being a problem. It seems that you don't have much self-control and if I just leave you alone than you might end up causing the Doves to come here and that's something I can't allow not if I'm going to keep everyone safe." Mato said wrapping her hands around the boy's neck in order to crush it.
"I'm sorry, please don't resent me but in this twisted world you just need to do what you've got to do to survive." Mato said but before she could apply any pressure to his windpipe she felt some kind of moisture fall onto her hands. She looked up and was shocked when she saw tears streaming down the boys cheeks even though he was still out cold.
Her gaze softened at the sight, he looked so….innocent. Was this really the insane monster she had just fought with? She removed her hands from his neck and then took him down from the wall and wrapped her arm around his waist and slung his arm over her shoulder.
"Hmph, well I guess Yoshimura would like to know more about you and who knows you might actually be better off alive." Mato said with a smile as she carried him away.
3 HOURS LATER RIN POV
"Ugh, what happened?" Rin said groggily as he opened his eyes and saw that he was on a sofa with a blanket wrapped over him. He looked around and he seemed to be in some kind of storage room at least that's what it looked like with all the boxes everywhere and for some reason the whole place had this over powering smell of coffee.
"Hey there, about time you joined us." A familiar voice said, Rin turned to where he heard the voice and saw none other than his father leaning against the only door in the small room. "D-dad what are you doing here? Where are we?" Rin asked sitting up. "We're in a café called Anteiku the owner's an old friend of mine." Shiro said walking over to his son. "Anteiku? You know the owner of this place? Anyway what happened to me?" Rin asked but his father just sighed before answering.
"Well you see you were attacked." Shiro began but he could tell just by looking into Rin's eyes that he recalled everything after hearing attacked. "That's right, that Saya girl was a Ghoul and she tried to kill me. Last thing I remember I was running from her and she stabbed me with one of those weird tentacle things after that it's all blank." Rin was very confused how was he not dead?
Whenever anyone's attacked by a Ghoul that's it you're done, but he was still alive…..how? "Oh I get it! You saved me didn't you Old man? Man I guess I owe you big time after thi-"I'm not the one who saved you." Shiro interrupted with an unusually serious tone. "O-okay then who did?" Rin asked. "You saved yourself." Shiro said in that same serious tone.
"Wh-what are ya sayin' Old man? I passed out while she was chasing me and how could I go up against a Ghoul?" Rin said with a nervous chuckle.
"Because you aren't human." Shiro said plainly as if were nothing but those four words alone simply brought Rin's whole world crashing down.
"N-not human? What kind of sick joke is this?!" Rin yelled in disbelief. "I'm sorry but it is true you're only half human the other half is Ghoul." Shiro said.
Rin felt like he was going to break at any moment, he just did his best to understand what his father was telling him but all he was able to do was repeat those four words over and over again in his head.
Shiro just sighed before pulling up a chair and sitting opposite to his distressed son. "Well you're overdue for an explanation so I guess that I should start at the beginning. You see it all started with your mother Yuri." Shiro said, the mention of his mother's name succeeded in snapping Rin out of his panic attack. "W-with Mom?" Rin asked in confusion and Shiro gave him a nod.
"That's right, you already know that your Mom and me have been friends ever since we were kids. She always seemed like a special one." Shiro paused, fondly recalling his memories of the woman who had blessed him with his two sons before once again turning serious. "But it turns out there really was something special about her. You see your biological father is actually a Ghoul." Rin's eyes widened at Shiro's revelation.
"Even though he was a Ghoul he never said or did anything that harmed Yuri which was probably the only good thing about him and she seemed to care about him very much. There's a one in a million chance for a human to become pregnant with a Ghoul's spawn but it isn't impossible and as if by fate's decree Yuri became pregnant with you and Yukio from what I know Yuri's Ghoul lover disappeared shortly after she was pregnant to this day I have no idea if he's even still alive." Shiro said.
"Wait hold on a sec! So this Ghoul guy got Mom pregnant and he split after that, I get that part but something doesn't add up. I thought that Ghoul's were incapable of eating anything besides people you see it all the time on those emergency broadcasts but I've been able to eat anything a regular person can just fine! Why is that?! Is it because I'm half human?" Rin asked.
"Calm down Rin, I was just getting to that. No it isn't because you're half human whether you're a half Ghoul or a full one it would still be impossible for you to consume anything besides human flesh without puking. As to how you've been able to eat other things, that's all thanks to Yuri." Shiro said but Rin only seemed more confused by this.
"You see one of the things that makes Ghouls and humans different is our Rc factor. The average healthy human has an Rc level of about 200-500, a Ghouls Rc level however is about 1000-8000. But Yuri had a very rare and special blood type which was very repressive to unnecessary Rc cells. You inherited her unique blood type and because of this all of your excess Rc cells were converted into harmless protein and because of this your body was only able to function as a regular human. However even though your Rc cells were repressed that still didn't get rid of the Ghoul blood and organs you inherited from your biological father. Take your strength for example, ever since your were a toddler you've always had that incredible physical power. That came from you're Ghoul side." Shiro said, slowly but surely Rin was beginning to understand the situation.
Now that he thought about it this could explain everything that always seemed strange in his life. The reason behind his monster strength, why he always seemed separate from everyone around him, the constant feeling of being different it all made sense now. "The reason why you've suddenly changed is because of this recent attack. When Saya-san tried to kill you, you must have been on the edge of death and that physical and mental desperation must have caused your dormant Ghoul side to awaken with a vengeance. The sudden surge of Rc cells must have been too much for your blood to convert and it resulted in your consciousness being overpowered. The whole time you blacked out you probably just acted like an animal on instinct." Shiro said.
"I see…What about Yukio?! Is he a Ghoul too?" Rin asked, the last thing he wanted was for his little brother to be dragged into hell with him. "No he isn't Yukio was simple born too frail for the excess Rc cells, I actually tested him several times over the years but there are no traces of any Ghoul genes in him. Only you inherited these abilities." Shiro said, Rin was relieved to hear that Yukio's life wasn't going to be messed up like his.
"So I'm guessing that I can't go back to being a regular human just because I'm out of danger?" Rin asked a little pleadingly. "Well let's find out." Shiro said bringing a bowl over and then pulled out a simple meat bun. "Here eat this, if you can swallow it without throwing up then that means you're still able to eat other foods besides human flesh if you can't then…..well I'm sure I don't have to tell you." Shiro said in a sad tone. Rin reluctantly took the meat bun fromhis father's hand and just stared at it for a few moments, this tiny morsel of food could end up changing his entire life for better or worse.
Rin gulped before taking a small bite almost as soon as it entered his mouth Rin was already wrenching into the bowl with Shiro rubbing his back to comfort him. "W-well guess that answers that huh?" Rin said wiping his mouth with his arm, "Though anything you serve me ends up making me puke anyway." Rin said with a weak grin which surprised Shiro. This boy's whole way of life was never be the same if he didn't adapt fast then he could very well die, yet here he was with that same silly grin he always pulled. Shiro just sighed, Rin did seem like the kind of person who'd still be able to smile in the middle of a crisis.
"You can come in now." Shiro called out causing Rin to raise an eyebrow in confusion. The door to the room they were currently occupying opened and through walked a tall, late-middle aged man in a formal waiter uniform. His eyes were narrowed so much so that it looked like they were closed but he had a warm smile on his face that seemed to make Rin feel more at ease.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Rin-kun, Shiro-kun has told me so much about you. I am the manager of Anteiku you can call me Yoshimura." Yoshimura said with a polite bow. "There's no need to be so polite around him Yoshimura this kid can barely remember his table manners." Shiro joked earning a glare from his son. "Well in that case he's better than you Shiro-kun. You don't have any table manners at all." Yoshimura said with the same smile. "HAHAHAHA! You totally got burned Old man!" Rin said laughing while Shiro just huffed turning away with red tinted cheeks before once agai turning serious. "Rin just so you know, Yoshimura here's a Ghoul." Shiro said causing Rin to give Yoshimura a worrying stare. "There's no need to worry I'd never do anything to hurt you or Shiro-kun, not that he could do much about it if I wanted to." Yoshimura teased which caught Shiro's attention.
"The hell are ya talkin' about?! I could kick your ass any day of the week!" Shiro exclaimed pointing at Yoshimura who merely chuckled at his reaction. "What are ya laughin' at?!" Shiro asked fairly annoyed. Rin just looked back and forth between the two men, it was rare for him to see Shiro act so casual in front of anyone other than a small group of friends of his that he and Yukio had known all of their lives. This guy must be okay for the Old man to be acting so cool around him. Rin thought.
"Hold on Dad I don't get it. You're one of CCG's best investigators so how can you be friends with a Ghoul?" Rin asked, it was a fair question killing Ghouls was Shiro's job after all so it was rather strange to be on such good terms with someone who was meant to be his sworn enemy. "Well that's kind of….complicated. Well you see it all started about twenty years. You see one of the reasons why I'm so well known as a Ghoul Investigator is because I'm probably the only one who's been able to kill as many Ghouls as I have without the use of a Quinque." Shiro said.
"Quinque?" Rin asked, "A Quinque is the main weapon the investigators use to combat the Ghouls, they're weapon made from the Kagune's of dead or captured Ghouls." Shiro continued to explain, "Since you probably don't know this I'll tell you, Kagune's are a Ghouls greatest asset it allows us to manipulate the Rc cells inside of us and create predatory organs which function as our weapons or claws." Yoshimura said. "You mean like those weird tentacle things?" Rin asked earning a nod from Yoshimura.
"Back then I had just become an authorized Ghoul Investigator, even then I refused to use a Quinque at the time it was just because I thought they were creepy as hell I mean who wants something that moves around as a weapon? Anyway I was sent with a team to kill a group of Ghouls that had been reported by some civilians. In order to get the job done we all slit up there were three targets in total. The other investigators took care of the first two, eventually I found mine but…it was just a little kid." Shiro said his tone changed more and more as he spoke.
"The other targets were the kid's parents, he himself had already been injured….badly. Even for a Ghoul there are some wounds that are simply beyond healing. So I did what anyone else would've done I sat with him and held his hand until his time came. I tried to comfort him by saying that he'd be with his Mom and Dad in Heaven but he just smiled at me. He said that I didn't have to make up stories to make him feel better. He said that…he was ready to die. Six years old and ready to die, dammit." Shiro said his fists clenching when he reached the end of his story.
"After that I saw that there really wasn't that much difference between humans and Ghouls at all. From that day forward I researched all of my targets thoroughly before I killed them. I made sure that they killed innocent people indiscriminately without any remorse and that they truly deserved to die. Eventually I met Yoshimura and I've been working with him to make sure that the innocent or remorseful Ghouls actually get a shot at living." Shiro explained.
"Shiro-kun leaks information about the investigators movements and what their big plans are this allows us to know when to be cautious and when we need to remove any elements that may draw unwanted attention." Yoshimura said.
Rin was in a word, amazed. It went without saying that he had always looked up to his father, but now he was just blown away by his old man's selflessness.
"I'm sorry you two but I actually have some rather unsettling news for the two of you." Yoshimura said in a sombre tone getting Rin and Shiro's attention. "You see I had just spoken to Mato-chan, the Ghoul that subdued you and then brought you here." Hearing the familiar name made Rin's eyes widen. That Mato girl's a Ghoul too? Rin thought.
"Apparently while she was fighting you she could distinctly smell Saya-san's scent on your breath." Yoshimura said causing Rin's eyes to widen in horror. "Wait a minute! You mean I was fighting that girl?! Is she okay? I didn't hurt her too bad did I?!" Rin asked, it made him sick to think that he had hurt the kind, cheerful waitress he had met the other day. "There's no need to trouble yourself Rin-kun. Mato-chan is very strong and apart from a small burn there wasn't a scratch on her." Yoshimura said with his signature sincere smile.
Rin sighed in relief but he became distressed when he recalled what Yoshimura had said. "Hold on, you said that I had Saya's scent on my breath does that mean I…...ate her?" Rin asked whispering the last part. "According to what Mato-chan said the scent wasn't strong enough for you to have eaten her completely, my guess is that you probably just ate a portion of her besisdes there wasn't enough blood at the scene for you to have killed her so I'm sure she's alive. It's always the nuisances that survive." Yoshimura said.
"What do you mean by that?" Rin asked, "Saya was an S-Class Ghoul known as the Glutton. She's the kind of Ghoul that I consider my enemies and by that I mean she continually kills and eats innocent people without any regret, in fact I think she did it for pleasure rather than out of hunger." Shiro said crossing his arms.
"As I was saying, I believe that the portion of Saya you consumed was probably her Kagune. Saya is a rather special Ghoul her ability to heal is incredible and it is my belief that when you ate her Kagune the source of her strength it changed you." Yoshimura said confusing both Rin and Shiro.
"Your mother's unique blood type, Saya's special Kagune and your already existing Ghoul genes. When these three factors came together it caused a mutation unlike anything anyone has ever seen." Yoshimura declared startling both father and son. "How can you be so sure of this?" Shiro asked sceptically, "According to Mato-chan his Kakugan was blue." Yoshimura stated, his words clearly shocked Shiro but confused Rin. "His Kakugan was blue?! Are you sure?" Shiro asked and Yoshimura nodded. "Yes I could tell from Mato-chan's tone during her description that she wasn't mistaken." Yoshimura said.
"Um hey guys what's all this stuff about Kakugans?" Rin asked unsure of why Shiro was suddenly do uneasy. "The Kakugan's are the eyes of the Ghouls, you see they are always a mixture of red pupils and black sclera." Yoshimura said opening his narrowed eyes revealing his own Kakugan to illustrate his point. "You see even the rare One-Eyed Ghouls, who as their name implies only possess a single Kakugan, are not exempt from this it's just the way Ghouls are but there has never ever been someone like you before." Yoshimura said narrowing his eyes once more.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room before Rin broke it with a rather dark low chuckle. "I get it, I'm not a human and I'm not a Ghoul either, there's no place for me anywhere anymore." Rin said finally breaking down as tears fell down his cheeks. "THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Shiro yelled putting a halt to Rin's sobs. "You're both human and Ghoul. You are the one and only person who can understand what it's like to live as both and you're the only one who can be a part of both worlds." Shiro said firmly grabbing Rin's shoulders and looking at him directly in the eye. Rin wiped his tears away before giving his father a nod.
Yoshimura stared fondly at the sight. "You know Rin-kun you should join Anteiku. I'm sure it'll allow you to understand us Ghouls better like your father has. I want you to see with your own eyes whether or not we are just ravenous beasts. So what do you say?" Yoshimura asked, Rin looked as his father who grinned at him before turning to Yoshimura. "I'm in." Rin said with a determined look in his eyes.
MEANWHILE
Outside it was raining rather mildly and on the outside complex of the Sumida two fugure stood on a staircase. One was a middle-aged man with sunken cheeks and long white hair. He was wearing a long grey coat with white gloves, he had a wide grin painted across his face.
The other was a young man in his teens who had light teal eyes and chocolate brown hair, he wore a black coat along with glasses over his eyes. He also had two moles beneath his left eye and another on the lower right half of his face.
"Splendid rain don't you think? Rain makes their senses duller. This is the perfect weather for us to work in isn't it?" The older man said, "According to the 20th ward Branch's report about two days ago, there was a predatory incident in which they believe Glutton was in this building. At the same time, there were eyewitness reports of Jason being sighted as well." The boy said looking out at the grey sky.
"Glutton and Jason huh?" The man said, "Could it have been interaction between two S-Class subjects?" The boy asked turning to look at the man. "Who can say, I doubt they were kindly sharing a meal though." The man said before suddenly looking around him his grin widening even further.
"Mado-san?" The boy asked, the man didn't respond and jumped off of the stairs and onto some railing below. "Mado-san?!" The boy called again before the man named Mado finally faced him holding what looked like a wrench.
"Yukio-kun! You see? I knew it! If I had to offer one drawback to this rain it would be that I can't hear the scumbag's screams of death!" Mado said with a laugh while Yukio smiled at the man before again looking at the grey sky. "Yes that is indeed a shame." Yukio said with his smile still in place.
Oh! So Yukio is Mado's partner? How did that happen, keep reading to find out! Please R&R they are very helpful to us.