Author's Note: This is important please read this. So, I finally finished the chapter. I apologize for taking so long. Since this is the first chapter it is quite long as you can see. I hope everyone is having or had a great break and please enjoy the rest of chapter one. Happy Reading
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Borderlands. I own my original characters and backgrounds for some characters. This story will contain blood, gore, violence, and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.
Chapter One: The Onset of Insanity
Pain. Physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury. The word seemed to be an understatement to what he felt coursing through his entire being. The agonizing feeling that pulsed through his body every time his heart gave a pathetic beat couldn't have been pain. Pain was something that happened every once in a while. Whenever a person
accidently stubs their toe or get their feelings hurt. Even then it is just a brief sting before it subsides to a buzz or something/someone comes along to mend the broken spirit.
This was not pain. It lasted way too long. It never stopped coursing through him and never weakened. It was always there: every time he drew in a breath in through pained lungs and through a sore throat that had let out horrific screams, every time he moved an inch of his body his skin felt like he was on nails even though he was tiled floors that were supposed to be warm to the touch, but was now warm from his blood. This couldn't go away in an instant no matter how much you tried to heal it. It would take time for this to leave his body alone, but time he did not have. This was not pain, but something else no one should have to feel. But was there a word for this? No there wasn't a word thought up for this.
He stared up at the metal dome ceiling with strained violet eyes. The image was fuzzy and blurry due to the tears that filled his eyes and ran down his face to mix with the blood on the floor. He wondered why he had to be the one to go through this. Had he done something wrong deserve this?
"Get up boy! We're not done yet!"
The boy moved his gaze from the ceiling to the older ghoul that stood a few feet away from him. The older ghoul had a bloodied dagger in his left hand that he waved around as he spoke.
"You need to stop being such a pansy and fight me! Don't be weak!" The boy grunted as he rolled from his back to his stomach; the simple motion causing a burst of pain to shoot through his abdomen. He then spat the blood that filled his mouth onto the ground. Even though he got the horrid liquid out he still couldn't get out the salty copper taste it had left on his tongue. He began pushing himself up with his aching arms that were littered with cuts and bruises he had obtained from the older ghoul.
"C'mon I know you want to fight me. Why don't you get and do it already." he sneered, "Your mom told me you were strong, show me she was right!" This caused the boy's eyes to narrow and his breath to hitch.
His mother. The first person he loved to leave him forever. She wasn't going to come back he knew this, and the hole her death had left in the boy's heart was hurting. If his mother had said that he was strong, she had to be right. With a new feeling to prove his mother right he promptly pushed himself up. He grabbed one of the three daggers that was lodged in different parts of his body. The one he was pulling out of himself now was in his shoulder. He did his best to limit the pain by pulling it out as fast as he could. Once the blade was out, his shoulder let out a gush of blood that he ignored and stood up on shaky legs. He gripped the blood-coated dagger tightly in his small shaking hands.
"Yes, that's it." The older ghoul said. "Fight me!" The boy's mouth twisted into a snarl as his eyes changed and became those of an angered ghoul. He let out a shriek as he charged the older ghoul with the dagger outstretched. A smile formed on the older ghoul's face as easily dodge the swing and brought up his dagger. He swung back, and the sound of the two daggers meeting rang through the dome.
The younger ghoul strained against the strength of the elder and pushed the opposing blade away and coming at his opponent with another strike. It was blocked just like the first one, but this time the older ghoul struck out with a fist. The younger ghoul sloppily dodged the punch, ducking down. Every time he moved his body, the pain would become more intense and the daggers imbed in his left side and right thigh would rub against his muscles and scrap against his bones. He tried his best to keep fighting, he really did, but he was just so tired, and his body burned with each movement he made. It didn't take long before he slipped up.
He blocked a strike that would have stabbed him in the chest, but wasn't able to dodge the attack right after the blades collided. The older ghoul shoved his fingers right into the younger ghoul's eye sockets. The eyes popped like grapes as blood flowed out of his eye sockets like tears. He screamed as his vision was plunged into darkness. The dagger he had once gripped so tightly fell from his grasp to clatter against the floor. When the older ghoul retraced his fingers out of the younger ghoul's head the ghoul collapsed to his knees and hunched over. He began hyperventilating and traced his bloodied fingers over his empty eye sockets.
"Oh, well that's disappointing." He heard the older ghoul say with a sigh. He could feel the other's eyes glaring down at him with anger. "You were doing so well, Shuu. I guess you're not as strong as your mother said… Yet. Don't worry that's why I'm here, to help you unlock your full potential and become one of the strongest ghouls to ever live. It may take years until you reach that point, but I have all the time in the world."
The sound of skin breaking and matter forming caused Shuu to unintentionally hold his breath for a moment. He knew what that was. He began to feel around on the floor for the dagger he dropped, inside the black void he was trapped in. "Yes, it will be oh so excruciatingly painful and taxing, but that just makes it more entertaining for me." The chuckle the other ghoul let out chilled Shuu to the core. "Well, Shuu let's see how well you do blind. This will certainly be interesting." Shuu felt his fingers brush against the handle of the fallen dagger and he grasped it as tightly as he could.
Pain exploded throughout his entire abdomen as he felt the same sword-like kagune he came to fear stab him straight through. He couldn't stop the new rush of blood that shot out of his mouth as he coughed. The pain in his body increased once more as he felt himself screaming his heart out through pained lungs.
Why did he deserve this?
Shuu shot up in his bed so fast his pillows and covers were thrown astray. Sweat covered his body, causing his hair to cling to his face and dampen his clothing. He took in deep breaths like he had just ran a marathon, which caused his chest to heave up and down. His body felt like it was burning up with each breath he took. His eyes stung with the feeling of a released kakugan. He felt a familiar weight on his right shoulder blade and glanced down. In the darkness he could see the bright violet of his koukaku kagune. It tore through his night shirt and wrapped tightly around his arm. He tried to slow down his breath as he felt his heart pound in his chest.
"It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It wasn't real Shuu." He told himself as he began to take in slower breaths. He closed his eyes and let his ghoul side retreat inside himself. His kagune shrank into his back as the black veins around his eyes faded. He opened his eyes once more and hung his head in despair with a sigh. His violet eyes immediately widened. In the darkness he saw dark splotches that stained his covers and night shirt. He looked down at his chest to see his night shirt had been torn open with several buttons torn off. Multiple dark scratch marks covered his skin with dark rivulets traveling down his chest and sinking into his clothes. He brought his hands to his face to see his fingers covered in the same dark substance that stained everywhere else and pieces of matter stuck under his finger nails.
He promptly leaped from his huge bed, his heart racing once more. He ran to the bathroom door and practically kicked it open, the door slamming into the wall. He switched on the bathroom light in a swift movement and stopped in front of the mirror. He gave a horrified gasp as he saw his reflection.
His hair was a mess with strands of violet poking out in all directions. His eyes were pink, puffy, and watery as if he had been crying for hours. That wasn't the worst part. Blood stains were around his eyes that mimicked tears. Not to mention his face was deathly pale with blood stains all over it. As he suspected the dark substance that he had seen covering his body was his own blood. His chest looked like he had been attacked by a wild animal and it had used it claws to tear through his skin. Even though most of scratches were healing the blood still stained his pale skin. His night shirt didn't look any better, it being blood stained and shredded as well. His hands, mostly his fingers, were covered in crimson. The matter under his fingers was actually his own skin.
He turned on the water facet and cold water poured forth. He put his hands under the cool water, rubbing them together in hopes of washing off the blood that stained then. He then lowered his face under the sink and splashed water onto it. Rubbing his hands on his cheeks, he felt the blood flaking off. The cool water helped him calm down and relax. He turned off the water and looked at his reflection once again. This time his eyes looked sad and tired. He let out a heavy sigh as he felt his heart beat return to normal. He ran a hand through his messy violet locks, putting a few back down into place. He turned to look at the bathroom clock. The position of the clock's arms told him it was 5:47. He looked back into the mirror and stood up tall.
"C'mon Shuu, shake it off." He said to himself. "This isn't the first time you woke up like this. Get a grip." He gave another quick glance at the clock before saying, "It was about time for me to get up anyway." He looked down at his messy appearance. He was going to need a shower and some new night attire… Again.
He turned around and looked at his bed. All the sheets were going to have to be washed, but just the sheets. He never allowed anyone to move his mattress or clean under the bed. He knew that it would lead it to being dirty, but he didn't care about that. He knew he did it for a good reason. He walked over the wrecked bed and glanced down at the darkness that resided underneath it.
"Never again." He whispered under his breath. "You can't hurt me ever again."
The nightmares had been happening for some time at this point. Shuu had been calling them nightmares, but he could also call them… Well flashbacks. He didn't want to call them flashbacks though. When he called them nightmares it gave him the sense of that, he had never experienced the pain he had in his past. He had shoved those parts of his childhood to the back ends of his mind. He and everyone around him had done a great job of acting like the torment never happened and the monster that had lived with them never existed. He never thought he would be the one to resurrect the dead memories.
The first nightmare he had was with Kaneki's group. Most of the group's members decided to go out in the town for the night. The day had been a normal one with barely anything new or interesting happening, but Shuu felt the need to get his beauty sleep. He remembers the nightmare he had that night very clearly though he never wished to recall it. He had not handled it well at all. He was in such a state of paranoia and Shock that he had lost control of himself. He did not remember what he did during his state of hysteria.
What he did remember was waking up in the living room covered in bruises and blood leaning against somebody as they had their arms wrapped around him in a hug. He quickly passed out again after a few seconds. When he woke up the second time he found himself in back in his bed with a slight headache. The previous night's events had been cleaned up as if it never had happened. He went along with this and tried to live the day as if nothing had happened. But no matter how hard he tried to put the events from the past night into the back on his mind it just kept on popping up. He must have been acting strangely because it didn't take long for someone to ask him if something was wrong with him.
It had been Kaneki to walk up to him and ask him the question. He was surprised at first. Kaneki usually didn't seem to care about how he was feeling let alone asking if something was the matter with him. He had answered with his normal flamboyant personality in hopes of reassuring Kaneki of his doubts. Apparently, the answer he had given wasn't a good enough answer for Kaneki and he kept on pushing, asking him if he had gotten any sleep the previous night. Shuu had answered that he had a somewhat peaceful dream.
Kaneki had called him out on his lie by pointing out the dark bags that rested under his eyes. He did his best to make up an excuse, to say something that would make Kaneki believe him that nothing was wrong, but he couldn't think of anything. He had sighed and hung his head in defeat. Kaneki had then told him he knew what had happened last night and that he was the one to calm him down and get him back to bed.
Shuu should have known that the body he was leaning against was Kaneki due to the half-ghoul's unique scent. He knew Kaneki himself was going through tough times and he remembers calming down Kaneki one night. It made sense for Kaneki to do the same for him. He had asked Kaneki if anyone else knew and was relieved when Kaneki said no. He was happy that Kaneki was the only one who knew his issue and not anyone else. But when Kaneki had asked him what the nightmare was about he couldn't bring himself to tell. His past was supposed to be non-existent. Even people he knew from his past never talked about it in the present. That and he didn't want Kaneki's view of him to change.
Caught up in the moment of Kaneki knowing his freak out he forgot to ask about what he did when he blacked out the first time. When he had asked Kaneki about it he was hesitant. So Shuu had made a deal with Kaneki saying that if he told him what he did during his black out that he would tell him what his nightmare was about. Kaneki had agreed and told him that when he heard a loud noise from his room he went out to check it. When he tried to talk to Shuu, he had lashed out at him with his kagune and they had a scuffle before Kaneki could calm him down.
Holding up his end of the bargain, Shuu had given Kaneki an answer that was vague enough not to ruin his image, but had enough detail to satisfy Kaneki. He told Kaneki that he didn't have a great childhood. Yes, he was able to get close to his father, but there was someone else there that made his life a living hell. He had gone through somethings no child or teen should ever go through. He quickly reassured Kaneki that the person who caused his pain was long gone… Dead actually. This seemed to satisfy Kaneki as he didn't say much after that and simply walked away.
Shuu had moved to sleep at his place after that incident in hopes of his nightmares not bothering Kaneki. Kaneki still checked on him though; asking him if he had a good night's sleep or if anything terrible happened. Even though he changed his environment the nightmares never ceased. He kept on finding himself on the floor of his bedroom with the room trashed. He tried multiple things from tying himself to the bed to trying to stay awake or tie himself to the bed, neither of which worked. He would pass out from pure exhaustion every time he tried to stay awake and he would break the rope or snap the chains he used to tie himself to the bed.
To stop himself from destroying his room he used a different way to channel his hysteria. He focused all the anger and pain on himself. He clawed at his own skin with his nails and tore into his own flesh with his kagune. Self-harm basically. He stopped waking up with a wrecked room, but now with a ravaged and bleeding body. He had to heal himself and take a heavy shower in the morning before he went out of his place.
It didn't take long for his family and servants to find out about the nightmares. He had to get his sheets cleaned after all. The excuse of he was eating in bed fooled the servants, but not his father and Matsumae. He swore there was no secret he could hide from them. Matsumae had approached him calmly and told him to go into his father's office. He was in that office with Matsumae and his father for two minutes before he cracked. They were obviously worried about him and tried to help, but he stood up strong and said that he had to deal with his own problems with no help.
He still helped Kaneki accomplish his goals of course and was happy to be a part of the half-ghoul's group even though nightmares plagued his mind. The disbandment of the group nearly broke his heart in two, though he didn't show it. Kaneki had said that he had to go back to Aogiri for what would probably be the final time to get the last bit of information he needed. Even though the group was disbanding he was overjoyed when Kaneki had said he could still hang around him.
Though this filled his heart with all the joy in the world his father had misgivings about Shuu hanging around with Kaneki. To his father Kaneki was part of the problem. The nightmares had started when Shuu had become a part of Kaneki's group. It seemed logical to make him the scapegoat. This made Shuu, and his father to be on rough terms.
These events are what led Shuu to be here now. Walking down the decorated hallway to his father's office to have a well-deserved talk. He had taken a shower to clean himself and asked of his servants to clean his sheets, but not his mattress or under the bed of course. Kanae had been the one to ask him about his night to which he had replied with better than most nights, which was the truth. He stopped in front of the office door once he got to it. He didn't want to have a feud with his father. He loved his father greatly would rather like to have a loving relationship rather than a fighting one. He hoped this talk would help mend their strained relationship. He really hoped so. He let out a tired sigh and gave a couple of knocks on the wooden door.
"Who is it?" the calm voice of his father came from the other side of the painted wood.
"It's your son, Papa." Shuu answered.
"Come in Shuu."
Shuu's fingers danced over the piano keys with speed and grace. His posture was perfect with his back straight and feet planted firmly on the floor. His eyes were closed firmly, and his head tilted slightly upwards. The song he played was of fast tempo and had a strong resonance that reverberated through the huge room. The extreme force he hit the keys with made the piano's song evermore powerful. The song, he played by heart, was a perfect representation of how he felt right now: absolutely furious. The talk with his father had not gone well. Not well at all.
It had gone well at first, as their talks always started out, but as difficult topics and strong emotions boiled up their calm conversation turned into nonstop quarreling. His father had brought up the subject of Shuu's endearment for Kaneki. He had been stunned when his father had said the word "endearment" instead of the usual "obsession", but he had kept silent non-the less. His father kept on going saying that Shuu shouldn't let his feelings for Kaneki grow any further for the half-ghoul's sake and Shuu's owns, so when they break away it won't be that painful.
Shuu pressed on one of the piano's pedals and the piano let out a deep note.
At this point he was shocked and confused. He didn't understand why his father would even bring up the idea that he and Kaneki would break apart. Shuu had said that he would be the last, and final if may be, companion to stand by Kaneki's side. That and his feelings for Kaneki? Shuu was Kaneki's sword. Simple as that. He would always be by Kaneki's side, to help him with what ever he needed. He was Kaneki's ally in battle and that would never change. He didn't get why his father would say "endearment" or "feelings" when it was obvious that he was Kaneki's defender. While he grew angry at his father's accusation his father gave a bewildered look.
Shuu lightened up on the keys as he began to play a slower softer melody.
"You, don't see it, do you?" Mirumo said with slight disbelief in his voice. Shuu's angered glare towards his father lightened slightly at his father's question.
"I see it, Papa. I see the fact that you can't accept me as Kaneki's sword." At this Mirumo dropped his head and brought a hand up to message the bridge of his nose as he let out a soft sigh.
"No, that is not what I meant, Shuu." He brought up his head and the glare in his circular-framed glasses disappeared to show his dark brown eyes. "What I'm saying is that you don't understand your true feelings for Kaneki."
"Vrais sentiments, Pa-" (True Feelings)
"You don't just have feelings for him as a companion. It's much more than that." Shuu's breath stopped immediately. Was his father going where he thought he was going. "The feeling you have for Kaneki isn't just companionship it is also-" Mirumo's last words fell deaf on Shuu's ears as his violet eyes widened and his cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson.
Shuu went back to the fast-paced tempo he had been playing originally, only this time the song he played was of a darker tone.
"That's not it Papa!" Shuu screamed as he shot up from his seat and slammed his palms onto the desk. "You got it all wrong!"
"No, I don't Shuu." Mirumo's voice wasn't loud, but it had a firmness that demanded attention. "I believe you don't understand your true feelings."
"How do you know how I feel about Kaneki? You're not me."
"I don't need to be. The way you talk about him is the way I talk about your mother."
Shuu began to move his head to the rhythm of his music as the past memory kept on playing in his head.
"But… I," Shuu stuttered trying to find something to say back to his father.
"Do not deny it. It may not be that obvious to you now, but when you take into account that you keep a handkerchief that is stained with Kaneki's blood it becomes clearer." Shuu's pupils shrank and he looked away from his father as he took in short quickened breaths. Mirumo gave a frustrated sigh and placed his hands in his lap. "Whether you believe it or not Shuu, you will still l-"
"STOP SAYING THAT!" Tsukiyama screeched as he slammed his fist onto the desk.
The piano's song was filled with power and pure emotion as its keys nearly cracked when Shuu pressed down on them harder than ever before.
There was a loud boom as his fist splintered and cracked the furnished wood. Shuu's irises were a gleaming red as he glared at his father with ire. Mirumo didn't flinch at his son's outburst. He had his son snap at him like this before a long time ago and had come to keep his emotion of anger under wraps. What he didn't expect was his son's eyes to fill with tears. He stared aghast as his son looked down and shrank away from the desk as tears ran down his cheeks.
"Shuu," Mirumo said softly as he stood up from his seat and reached a hand out towards his son. "Papa didn't mean to upset you."
"NO!" Mirumo barely had time to register the kagune blade that shot out before it was placed against his neck. He froze instantly as he felt the sharp point press against his throat and stared at his son with wide eyes. Shuu was giving him that death glare again, but this time it was his full kakugan. His mouth was twisted into a snarl that showed his shinning white teeth.
Shuu shut his eyes tighter as he felt another wave of tears threaten to burn through.
"Don't say anything else, Papa! You are not going to make me believe your lies. You may think you are right, but you're not. If you don't believe what I say is true than I'll prove it to you." he began to laugh as more tears fell down his face. "I'm going to stay by Kaneki's side till the day I die and he's going to treasure me for it. I'm going to show you and him that I am the strongest sword there ever was. And you," a maniacal smile formed on his lips. "You're going to love me for it." With that Shuu spun around and ran out the door slamming it behind him.
The piano was practically screeching with sound as Shuu put his pain into each key he pressed down. Why had he done that?
"Master Shuu." Shuu, startled by the sudden voice behind him, missed the right keys to his song. The piano made a horrid sound as he pressed down on improper keys. He spun around to see one of his most trusted servants standing behind him. Matsumae stood with proper posture and had a relaxed expression. Shuu relaxed slightly as he addressed his servant:
"M-Mastame what are you doing here?" At his question the dark-eyed servant gave a bow.
"Pardon my intrusion, Master, but I came to check on you." She straightened herself back up, "May I take a sit next to you?" She gestured to the empty spot next to Shuu on the piano bench. He gave a heavy sigh and turned back to the piano.
"Yes, you may."
"Thank you, Master." She strutted over to the bench and sat beside him. He kept his head down and never made eye contact with her. After some silence between the two ghouls she brought her hand up to the piano's keys and began to play a simple tune. She hummed as her fingers pressed down softly on the abused keys. Her black eyes were closed, and she swayed her head to the calm tune.
"Matsumae," Shuu asked quietly, still not making eye contact. She rested her fingers on the keys, the piano ceasing his tranquil song.
"Yes, Master Shuu?"
"What's wrong with me?" Matsumae raised an eyebrow at her master's question.
"Master, I don't think that there's anything wrong-"
"Matsumae, I don't need your sweet words right now." He lifted his head and looked Matsumae in her darkened eyes. "You know what I did. You know what could of happen today. Don't act like everything's okay when it's not. Today I did something so horrible that I can't even believe I did it. I threatened my father!" his voice cracked slightly, and tears began to form in the corner of his eyes once more.
"Master Shuu," Matsumae tried to speak, but was quickly cut off by Shuu.
"I held my kagune to his throat and said that he would love me! I was just so angry and sad that I lost control and it wasn't because of a nightmare. I lashed out before because of my emotions, but I never attacked anyone close to me, especially not my father.
"I could have killed him! Ne vois-tu pas, Matsumae?! (Don't you see) If I had killed him I would never forgive myself. I don't think I can ever look at him again."
"Master Shuu, please calm yourself." As Matsumae said and this time she placed a gentle hand on top of Shuu's. This stopped him from ranting any further as he stared at her soft expression. She used her thumb to gently stroke his hand as she spoke:
"Just take a deep breath and calm down." He did as told, and took in a deep breath. When he exhaled he leaned forward and rested his head on his servant's chest. He tried to keep in his tears, but when Matsumae began to stroke his back he couldn't hold in his tears any longer. He gripped onto Matsumae's shoulders tightly and let his tears flow as he let out quiet sobs.
"Thank you, Matsumae, I needed that." He said into her chest then gave a deep sigh. "What should I do now?"
"Well, I believe that this can be fixed. You and your father just need to be in a calmer environment." Shuu lifted his head and looked up at her.
"What do you suggest?" he asked. Her face scrunched up slightly in thought.
"Hmm, I suggest that you two should discuss your issues over a nice dinner. That would be the best for the both of you."
"But what if-"
"Master, please do not stress yourself about that. I'll be there the moment if things go awry. There is no need for you to be worried, Master Shuu." Shuu looked away from her and rested the side of his head on her chest.
"Matsumae,"
"Yes, Master Shuu."
"Merci d'être elle pour moi." (Thank you, for being here with me) At this Matsumae gave a small smile.
"Votre accueil, Master Shuu." (Your welcome)
Shuu walked down a hallway to meet with his father once again. He had taken Matsumae's advice and organized a dinner with his father. She really was an intelligent ghoul. He had cleaned himself once again and put on a more formal attire. He wouldn't lie he was actually a bit nervous to confront his father again after what he had did to him, but that was all in the past now. He organized this meal to mend broken bonds. And to also admit that his father wasn't completely wrong about what he had said earlier.
As he got near to the end of the hallway to the big double doors he was greeted by two peculiar maids that stood on either side of the doors. The maid on the right had long, taffy pink colored, hair that was tied back into a loose ponytail and reached all the way to her hips. She had turquoise eyes that always seemed to be looking down. She had a slim form and smooth pale skin. She seemed to be hiding behind the few strands of pink hair that had not been tied back into the ponytail.
The maid on the left stood up straight and radiated confidence. Her hair was put into a bun that was hidden behind her maid's bonnet, but from what Shuu could see she had dark brown hair. Her eyes were hidden behind rectangular-framed glasses that had a heavy glare. She was well-built and had small rippling muscles. Her skin was pale which only highlighted her muscles more. As Shuu approached her strong form didn't falter.
It wasn't the same deal with the other maid though. She was practically shaking by the time he got to them. He stopped before them and had a skeptical look on his face as each maid grabbed a door handle.
"H-have a great meal sir." The pink haired maid stuttered out so quietly that he bet he wouldn't have heard her if he hadn't of had super hearing. He looked down at the maid with narrowed eyes. This only caused the maid to shake more, causing the metal door handle in her hands to rattle.
"Is there something the matter, Master Shuu?" the other maid asked, her voice not quivering in the slightest. He turned his gaze towards her.
"Oh, non. It's just that I don't remember ever seeing you two before." He hummed and turned his gaze back to the doors as the maids opened them. He promptly walked inside the dinning room with the doors shutting closed behind him. The dinning room was massive with lights lining the red walls. The dinning table was way smaller than usual being the same size of a normal sized family dinning table than the usual long table. His father sat on the other end of the table.
"Bonsoir, Papa." Shuu addressed his father and began to walk towards the table. "I hope that we can-" he stopped in his tracks once he got a second look at his father or what should have been his father.
The male ghoul that sat at the other end of the table had black hair with a thick white streak running through the left front side. It was in a hair style that was similar to Shuu's only that all the hair wasn't combed done and it spiked at the ends. His skin abnormally pale glistened in the light. He wore a formal black suit with a red tie. His eyes were a bloody crimson that almost seemed to be glowing. A long red scar was slashed across his right eye causing the pupil to be a dark red. He looked remarkably similar to Shuu, but more of a slightly older version with sharper facial features. Shuu could only stare wide-eyed as the male ghoul smiled at him and revealed stunning white teeth with canines sharpened to points.
"Wow, look at you, all grown up." The male ghoul said with awe. "You look just like my sister." Shuu's heart rate went through the roof as he felt time stop around him.
"S-Slade." Was the only word he could stutter out in his shock. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. He could barely process who was sitting in front of him. But here he was.
His maternal uncle. Slade Tsukiyama.
"In the living flesh." Slade looked at Shuu's shocked expression and chuckled. "You look surprised to see me. Not that I blame you, it has been a while since I came back to Tokyo."
"You're supposed to be dead." Shuu said still shocked. "I pushed you off that building and you fell to your death." His eyes narrowed, and he gave an angered expression as he screamed, "I. Killed. You!" Slade rolled his eyes and said:
"Oh, Shuu, I thought you were smarter than that. Yes, you may have," he brought up a hand to gently rub the scar on his face, "wounded me, but it's going to take more than a tumble and fall to kill me." He put his hand down and gently tapped the table with a black-nailed finger as his eyes narrowed. "Did you really think you could get rid of me?"
Shuu turned around immediately and grabbed the doorknob, but when he tried to turn it, it wouldn't budge. It was locked. Those maids! He stepped back from the door and prepared to kick it down with all his ghoul strength.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Slade said moments before Shuu's foot could make contact with the door. He looked over his shoulder at Slade. "If you kick down that door, well then I'm going to just have to immobilize you and make you have dinner with me." Slade gave a small chuckle. "Your choice Shuu." Knowing his odds, he put down his leg down and turned to the table at which his uncle sat at.
"Good boy. Now come sit in your seat." Shuu shuffled towards the seat nervously. His heart was still beating rapidly. "Now boy!" Slade screamed when Shuu took to long. Shuu instantly ran over to the table and leaped into his seat without a word. Slade smirked at this. "Nice to see you can still follow my instructions." Shuu hated how his body still remembered how to obey his uncle's commands. The table was set with shinning silverware, cups filled with a thick red substance, and ornate napkins, but there was no plate with the food he had specifically asked for.
He straightened himself up and gave a stern expression. He was older now, stronger. There was no need to cower in front of his uncle. He just needed to wait for his father and the servants to get here then they could help him deal with his uncle. For now, he would just play along with Slade's dinner. He was going to be okay. "Never again." He whispered under his breath. "You can't hurt me ever again."
"If you're wondering where the food is," Slade spoke up, "I was saving it for your arrival." He clapped his hands together twice and the door behind him opened with a clatter. Two male servants wearing white porcelain masks walked in each caring a plate with a silver round top covering the food. They set the food down in front of the relatives before leaving the room through the door entering and closing it behind them and locking it. Shuu looked at the covered dish before him skeptically.
"Go on." Slade said with a smile on his face. "Open it." Shuu looked at his uncle than at the plate. Taking a deep breath Shuu grabbed the handle of the covering and took it off and set it beside his plate. The dish before him was two cuts of square cooked meat leaning against each other that had blood covering it as a sauce and was topped off with eyeball slices. Shuu stared aghast at the plate. He had been expecting something way worse. He looked up at his uncle with a raised eyebrow.
"I found out that you were the infamous Gourmet," Slade said. "so, I had your food prepared in a more… elaborate fashion than what I usually eat." He took off his own covering to reveal two big pieces of raw meat, in some places Shuu could even see white skin, blood covered the meat and puddled on the plate, it was topped off with a single blue eyeball. Slade ran his tongue over his sharpened canine as he stared down at his meal. Shuu looked down at the food before him with a doubtful expression.
"C'mon eat your food, Shuu." Slade urged his nephew. "Or am I going to have to shove it down your throat again." The way he had said it made it sound like it was a normal thing. Shuu gave a small gulp and picked up his fork and knife. He put his knife and fork into the one of the pieces of meat. He cut himself a piece of meat and lifted it to his mouth. During this whole process his uncle was staring at him intently. He put the meat in his mouth and chewed slowly.
The meat was course and rough in texture and the blood had a sour taste. He had no doubt in his mind that he was eating the meat of a ghoul. He wasn't surprised. He had been fed ghoul meat before by his uncle, actually that was the only thing he gave him. He did his best not to gag as he forcefully swallowed the meat.
"How is it?" Slade asked. Shuu looked up at his uncle. He didn't want him to get enraged, so he lied:
"It's not bad."
"Perfect." With that Slade dug into his own meal. Eating the eyeball first; it popped in his mouth like a grape. He then began cutting of big pieces of meat and putting it into his mouth where he chewed quickly before swallowing. Even with the way he ate he barely made a mess. Shuu just assumed that he didn't make a mess because he had eaten like that for years and learned how not to be messy. Shuu picked up his glass cup and asked:
"Where did you get this ghoul anyway?" he put the cup to his lips and began to drink. He was rewarded with the same sour taste. Slade swallowed the meat in his mouth, grabbed his napkin and wiped off the few droplets of blood that had escaped his mouth. He smiled showing his blood-stained teeth.
"Well, as I tried to get in here unseen one of your servants saw me and, so I decapitated him and used his remains for tonight's dinner." Shuu's eyes widened and he chocked on his drink. He was cannibalizing one of his servants. He instantly spat out the blood and coughed as he tried to get it all out of his mouth. He grabbed his napkin and fiercely wiped the blood from his mouth. He slammed his hands on the table shouting:
"Quel est le problème avec vous?!" Slade's eyes narrowed at his nephew's shout.
"There is nothing wrong with me, Shuu. I fed you servants before, you shouldn't be upset at this point."
"Enough of this. Why are you here Slade?" Looking at his nephew's stern expression he sighed.
"So, much for a dinner." He muttered, straightening himself up. "After you, Arata, and that other ukaku ghoul… Yomo, I believe his name was, ran me out of Tokyo I retreated back to the Ghoul Kingdom." Internally Shuu gasped. Slade would always tell him stories of how he was a part of the King of Ghouls, elite force and the Ghoul Kingdom that resided in North America. The majority of Tokyo didn't know about the Kingdom. Tokyo's people, having its own ghoul problems and being far away from the Americas, didn't have the time or patience to worry about the America's ghoul problems.
"There I healed my wounds, well most of them anyway, and became stronger. I made new allies recently, our cousins Diane and Lydia." Shuu's eyes widened at this.
"Those two! I thought that-" Slade raised a hand and the younger ghoul shut his mouth. Slade continued.
"With them the ghouls had been able to beat back the humans. I hate to admit it, but even with all the resources we have we're slow. That's why the king and queen have come to a grand decision to speed up the process… We're going to come here to start taking over Tokyo." Shuu's couldn't hold back his small squeak of surprise.
"T'es sérieux?" He asked.
"Of course, I'm serious. We're starting tonight actually." He should have known that Slade wouldn't have come alone. But despite the situation he was in, if he could just stall Slade just a little bit longer and wait for help to come they could take out the threat before it could spread.
"Where are you going to start at?" he asked. Slade grabbed his drink and took a couple of sips.
"Well, were going to start in two places actually. One of the places we're going to strike is Aogiri Tree." As soon as Slade said that one person rushed through Shuu's thoughts. Kaneki. "Yes, the king and the princess will strike Aogiri and will take out its leader Eto and her two subordinates, Tatara and Noro." Shuu gave a sigh of relief in his head. "Oh, and I do believe that they may have to take out the executives of the organization." Shuu gripped the sliver knife on the table with his hand. He needed to stay in control of himself. "I have no doubts that they will take over Aogiri, even with Eto at the top."
"If you don't mind me asking," Shuu spoke up. "where is your second target?" he already had a thought in mind of what the place was, but he was just waiting for a reason to strike. The smirk that formed on Slade's face only confirmed his suspicion.
"I'm already here." That's all Shuu needed to attack. He stood up from his seat and hurled the knife point first at Slade. It only took half a second for the knife to travel between the distance of Shuu and his uncle. The other caught the knife with a single motion of his hand in front of his scared eye. Shuu's heart sank. Slade looked at the knife in his hand and laughed. His shoulders bounced, and his hair swayed. Shuu remembered that laugh so well.
"Oh, Shuu," Slade chuckled, "you thought I wasn't prepared for that." He began to twirl the knife between his fingers. "You know I told you all that because I was going to give you the option to join me, but you have clearly shown me that you're not going to come with me willingly," he stood up from his seat and slammed the knife into the furnished wood of the table, "Looks like I'm just going to have to make you come with me."
The table exploded; large pieces of wood went flying everywhere, the table's contents being thrown to collided with the floor, and the table covering was shredded to pieces. Shuu's instincts kicked in before the attack happened and he had leaped away from the table to the other end of the room. Slade stood above the remains of the dinner table with his left blazer sleeved torn.
"I thought I had you there for a second." Slade said. "But I'm happy to see that you still kept my lessons in mind." Shuu threw off his purple blazer to reveal a red dress shirt and black tie. He sneered and got into the fighting stance he used before he fought Kaneki during their sparing practices. If help wasn't here he was going to have to fight Slade himself. Slade looked a him with a raised eyebrow before beckoning him forward with a hand. Shuu charged forward at full speed with anger as his fuel. He swung his fist at Slade's face in a punch. The older ghoul simply leaned back as the punch flew millimeters from his face. Shuu came at him with another punch from the opposite side. This time Slade caught it with a hand.
"Oh, come on, Shuu." Slade said fiercely, crushing Shuu's fist in his iron grip. He then socked his nephew in the face with a fist. The punch carried enough force behind it to cause Shuu to fly across the room and collide with the wall. "You're faster than that, Shuu. Have you gone that soft?" Shuu wiped off the blood that traveled down his chin with the back of his hand before getting back up. He came at his uncle again, but this time kicked at his legs in an attempt to knock him off balance. Slade jumped backwards and dodged the attack.
While in the air he reached underneath his black blazer and pulled out a metallic object. Before Shuu knew it, a sharp projectile was lodged in his right arm. He stumbled back and held his wounded arm. He looked at his arm to see the black arched handle of a dagger. Once Slade landed he did not have a happy expression.
"You really think you have a chance of killing me when you fight like that?" he gave a dry laugh, "Hah, no wonder you've been pushed around by that one-eyed ghoul." Shuu's eyes widened.
"You kno-"
"Of course, I know about him. It was hard not to with you following him around like a lap dog. It's pathetic how you put yourself down like you do. When I was here you were the most feared ghoul on the street. Now here you are running errands for some one-eyed freak with mental issues. It's sickening how much you care for him." Shuu gritted his teeth and grabbed the handle protruding from his arm.
In one strong tug he ripped the dagger out of his flesh and held it in front of him, ignoring the pain in his arm. Slade looked at the weapon with disinterest. He scoffed and threw open his blazer. Strapped to his blazer were three rows of daggers. Each row of daggers was different. The top row of daggers had short blades that were straight and didn't curve. The second row of daggers had semi-long blades that were barbed at the end. The final row of daggers had long blades with razor edges. Each of them had the same black arched handle with a rose engraved on it.
Shuu looked at the dagger in his hands and realized that he had a long-bladed dagger. He stared at the blade. He knew how to use it, but by using it he would be giving into what his uncle wanted. He tossed the dagger away. He didn't need that he had his own blade. His eyes succumbed to his ghoul side as his kakugan activated. His kagune tore through his shirt from his back and twisted around his right arm. He focused on his kagune and it formed a pointed up within moments, a sword. He didn't wait to attack, immediately charging and swinging his kagune. Slade dodged the first strike and the second then kicked Shuu in the chest when he tried to kick him.
He stumbled back, but recovered quickly. Slade gave an angered expression before taking one of his barbed daggers and throwing it at his nephew. He blocked it with his kagune, the dagger ricocheting off, before continuing his assault of strikes. He was becoming frustrated at Slade's superior speed and ability to dodge every attack he tried to hit him with. Slade was becoming frustrated also at his nephew's resistance and the poor fighting skills he used. He had not taught him that.
"Enough, Shuu!" Slade yelled, catching the violet blade in his hands before it could strike him. Shuu's eyes widened as he saw Slade's eyes fill with darkness and his irises and pupils become crimson. The sound of flesh opening and a kagune forming was deafening. He didn't see the attack coming before he was hit. He collided with the wall and his kagune shattered, but this time he didn't fall back to the ground. Pain coursed through his abdomen as he tried to move only to feel something in him and pinning him to the wall.
He felt blood rising in his throat and tried to keep it down, but as it started to choke him he coughed and the blood shout out of his mouth. He groaned and looked down through watery eyes to see what had stabbed him. He saw the thick silver and red kagune of his uncle. The four-sharp points went through his abdomen and the wall to pin him there. When he tried to move the serrated edges of the kagune would slice through his insides and cause more damage. He put hands on the kagune to try and stabilize himself and planted his feet against the wall. He looked up at Slade who hadn't moved at all. His koukaku kagune was split into four limbs with serrated edges and barbed ends. It had a design similar to Shuu's only it was silver instead of violet. He looked upon his nephew with a disappointed look.
"One of the most powerful ghouls in Tokyo is now some pathetic S rated ghoul with a picky appetite." Slade said as he began to walk closer. "Oh, that's just disappointing. I thought you wouldn't go so soft when I left Tokyo. Well, that's one of the reasons I'm here. To help fix a broken warrior." The next step he took there was the sound of plastic crunching under his foot. They both looked down to see a plastic ziplocked bag with a bloodied handkerchief inside. Shuu felt his breath catch in his throat as Slade picked it up and looked at it curiously. He tore open the plastic bag and let it fall to the ground as he held the handkerchief.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Shuu screeched, his voice sounding animalistic, trying to claw at Slade who was too far away. Slade silenced him by rotating his kagune 90 degrees. There was a wet sloshing sound as Shuu's intestines were shredded. He coughed up another gout of blood. Slade lifted the handkerchief to his nose and gave a strong inhale through his nose. His red eyes widened as the scent of the blood went into his nose. He then looked at Shuu and laughed.
"Oh, you really did this." He said between laughs. "I knew you cared for the half-ghoul, but not to the point where you would keep his blood on a tissue." He stopped laughing and gave a stern expression. "You know he's going to die right? With the king and princess both attacking Aogiri he's basically dead meat."
"No… he's… not." Shuu said through labored breaths.
"Oh, really." Slade grabbed both ends of the handkerchief and tugged. "You shouldn't have gotten so close to Kaneki, Shuu." He tugged harder and the first couple of seems split. Shuu's eyes widened as he straightened himself. "Caring for someone in that kind of way isn't just pathetic for you Shuu, it's making you weak." He gave another firm tug and the handkerchief split half way.
"Wait…"
"Lucky for you, your dear Kaneki, the one person that is holding you back from your full potential, will have well, bitten the dust." He then tore the handkerchief to shreds with several twists of his hands. Shuu could only watch helplessly as his single memento of Kaneki was destroyed before his eyes. His breath became shallow and his eyes became the size of pinpricks. He looked down and his face was shrouded in shadows. "Never again." He whispered under his breath. "You can't hurt me ever again." Shuu put his hands on the Slade's kagune and attempted to push it out of him. Slade raised an eyebrow at this and smiled.
"Oh, look at you trying to fight back. I bet-" Shuu's fingers dug into Slade's kagune with a crunch. In one burst of pure force he pushed Slade's out of the wall and himself. Such was the force that Slade was sent skidding back a couple of feet. Shuu was a blur of motion as he ran towards Slade. He bent down and grabbed the dagger he had thrown away as he ran past it. He gave an enraged scream as he thrusted the dagger into Slade's scarred widened eye. Blood spurted out of the eye socket due to the pure force behind the attack. Shuu's eyes burned with furry and tears as he pushed the dagger deeper into Slade's eye.
Slade had a counter attack. As Shuu looked to his right he could only stare wide-eyed at the blade that came at his face.
The kagune struck with force and unnatural strength, making a deep vertical gash down Shuu's face. Shuu screamed as he fell in a heap on the ground. He tugged in his legs and he wrapped an arm around the wound on his stomach. The left side of his face burned with every facial movement he made, and his left eye's vision was blocked by the blood invading it. He pitifully looked up at Slade with a strained expression. As he looked up at his uncle who had his kagune unleashed, he felt like he was a little kid again, bleeding out on the training room floor.
Slade's kagune was wrapped around his left arm like a coil with small serrated edges jutting out and following the flow of the coil. There was a large serrated blade at the end of the coil that gleamed from the light in the room. It was a brilliant silver with darker lines swirling around its length. Slade tightly gripped the handle of the dagger with a hand before yanking it out of his eye socket. Blood gushed out of the wound as he placed a hand over it.
"There we go!" Slade exclaimed. "I knew that savage side of you was still in there. Took a while for you to show it though." The gushing from his eye socket stopped and he removed his hand. The kakugan was healed with the excess blood surrounding it. "But all it took to bring it back was," he looked down at the handkerchief shreds that were scattered across the bloody floor, "destroying the entity that was marked by your dear Kaneki. Ken Kaneki." He crouched down next to Shuu and they were almost eye level, but due to Slade's height Shuu had to crane his neck to look up at his uncle. Slade reached out a hand and grabbed Shuu's chin even though the other tried to lean away. Slade gave a small smile and cocked his head to the side.
"It's tragic really. To love someone so dearly only for them to be taken away from you in an instant and there's nothing you can do about. That was what happened to me when you and Arata tried to kill me."
The doors behind Shuu were torn apart and the sound of splintering wood sounded behind him. From the wreckage six vine like tentacles shot out. Instinctively Slade leaped back upon seeing the new kagune. The tentacles wrapped around Shuu's huddled form and picked him off the ground. He was promptly brought out of the dinning room and into the hallway. His eyes were closed as he felt himself be cradled by the kagune and rushed down the hall.
"Don't worry Master Shuu!" the worried voice of Kanae reached his ears. "You're going to be okay."
"Kanae… you came." Shuu said weakly as he coughed.
"Of course, we came for you Master Shuu." The calming voice of Matsumae sounded beside him. "I apologize for not getting to you sooner. I failed you." He peeked open his one good eye and through the blurry image saw Matsumae's down cast expression as she jogged beside Kanae.
"Don't blame… yourself. You… tried." Shuu responded between gasps. Matsumae's expression brightened up slightly, but her dark eyes still held deep sorrow. They rounded a corner and Matsumae ran in front of Kanae and threw open the set of doors in front of them. Kanae ran inside with Shuu and Matsumae quickly followed after them. She closed the doors shut and locked them. Kanae gently laid down a wounded Shuu on the couch in the small lounge room. He immediately retracted his kagune and ran to his master's side. He knelt down by his side and looked over his injuries with horror.
"Oh, Master Shuu what have they done to you!" He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe off the blood on his face. Shuu's abdomen wound was in the process of healing; he felt his innards shift inside of him painfully as they realigned themselves. The wound on his face burned and wasn't doing so well as it was barely healing.
"Ich werde den Ghul töten, der das getan hat, sobald ich Sie in die Hände bekommen habe." Kanae hissed under his breath as he pulled the bloodied handkerchief away and combed a hand through Shuu's disheveled hair. "You need to eat Master Shuu!" Kanae said as he rolled up his sleeve and put up his arm. "Here you can-"
"No, Kanae." Shuu said sternly as he pushed his servant's arm away. Kanae gave a surprised look.
"But, Master Shuu you need to heal."
"And I will. I've eaten enough ghoul today Kanae, I don't need to take a bite out of you."
Kanae's expression faded and he pulled his sleeve back up. Matsumae walked over to the pair and knelt down next to Kanae. Shuu took in a deep breath and pushed himself up, being careful of the wound on his abdomen. He looked at his two loyal servants with a stern expression.
"Where's my father?" Matsumae answered before Kanae could speak.
"I was told by a maid that the dinner was going to be moved to a different room. So, I walked with Master Mirumo to the new assigned room. We were ambushed by ghouls once we got inside the room. I fought the other ghouls to protect Master Mirumo and it didn't take long for another to hear the commotion and help. With Kanae's assistance we killed the other ghouls. Master Mirumo then told us to go look for you while he went to go look for the person responsible for the attack. As we went to go look for you we ran into more opposing ghouls along the way which slowed us down."
"But Papa's okay right?" Shuu asked quickly.
"I'm not sure Master Shuu." Matsumae said solemnly. His pupil shrank at this and he looked down as he stifled a whimper. He couldn't lose his father yet. He hadn't apologized to him for his outburst yet. Seeing his hurt expression Kanae quickly said:
"But I'm sure he's okay Master Shuu. He's stronger than those ghouls out there."
"But is he stronger than Slade, Kanae?" Shuu ask coldly. "Cause that's the ghoul responsible for all of this." Kanae tilted her head at this and Matsumae did her best to keep her surprise hidden.
"Slade's dead Master Shuu." Kanae said slowly. "You told us so."
"I thought he was. He's even stronger than I thought to be able to survive that fall in the condition he was in. Now that he's back he's planning to take over Tokyo. C'est si mauvais." (This is so bad) He put a hand on the uninjured side of his face and he shook his head. The Tsukiyama family was under attack, he was separated from his father, and the ghoul that caused his life to be a living hell in the past was back with the intent of taking everything he had from him. Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn't he live a happy life with his family? Why did he have to be punished?
"Master Shuu." Shuu looked up when Matsumae spoke. Her calm demeanor had not changed one bit. "You and Master Mirumo have to get out of here." Shuu gave his servant a surprised look.
"What?" he asked. Matsumae continued.
"If you both are to survive you have to escape."
"But how are we supposed to do that with Slade here?"
"It's simple Master Shuu, Kanae and I are going to hold him off." Shuu's eyes widened and he sat up further.
"No." he said fiercely. "You can't do that, he'll kill both of you."
"I know he will, but if it means you and Master Mirumo live it is worth it."
"But I can't lose any of you. I care about you too much." He cried out. Kanae kept his gaze down while Matsumae continued to look in the eyes.
"I know you do and we care about you too, but it is the way of the servant to protect the master." When Shuu kept looking at her with a panicked expression she put a hand on his shoulder. "Master Shuu, if you die you won't be able to be Kaneki's sword." Shuu's pupil narrowed at this and he cast his gaze downward. Kanae's head shot up and he glared at Matsumae. The other didn't react to his glare continuing to look at her master. "Just think about it. How will you ever be able to be by Kaneki's side if you're dead." She knew she was putting Shuu in a hard spot and she was doing it on purpose. She wanted Shuu to survive. She needed to give her master a reason to live.
"Master Shuu you don't have to listen to Matsumae." Kanae said quickly. Matsumae only gave a quick glance at Kanae before looking back at Shuu. "We can think of another way. Maybe we can-" Kanae's rant fell deaf on Shuu's ears as he contemplated Matsumae's words.
She was right. If he died he wouldn't be there to protect Kaneki, to be his sword. Kaneki was in danger this very moment if what Slade said was true. He had to be there to save Kaneki. He would die for him if necessary. That's when it clicked in his head. He would die for Kaneki because he loved him. Matsumae was willing to die for Shuu because she loved him. He would do anything to make sure Kaneki survived and Matsumae would do anything for him. If he wanted to save Kaneki he would have to escape. If he wanted to escape he was going to have to fight. He closed his eye and took a deep breath. He focused on the wound that was on his abdomen and the torn apart flesh. He forced his flesh to come together and mend the ripped fibers. He let out a breath he had been holding and sat up completely as he felt the last layer skin roll over his stomach. He opened his eye and glared at Kanae.
"Kanae stop talking." Shuu said firmly. Kanae shut his mouth when his master spoke. "Matsumae is right. My father and I have to get out of here if we're going to survive." He then stood up and dusted himself off. Matsumae and Kanae stood up as well. Before anyone of them could do anything, they were both pulled into a tight embrace by Shuu. Matsumae smiled and hugged back while Kanae buried his face into Shuu's shoulder and hugged him tightly.
"Please know that I love both of you." Shuu said softly. He gave one final squeeze before letting go. He walked over to the door and opened them. He ran to the end of the hallway with the others following close behind him. There was a break in hallway where it turned to the right and to the left. Shuu went to the left while Matsumae and Kanae went to the right. They stopped and turned to each other. The two servants bowed one final time, showing respect to their master.
"It was an honor serving you Master Shuu." Matsumae said. Shuu looked over his beloved servants one last time and said:
"Puissiez-vous tous les deux tomber dans la bataille en tant que héros glorieux à votre maître Matsumae et Kanae." (May you both fall in battle as glorious heroes to your master Matsumae and Kanae.) With those final words he turned around and ran down the hallway. Matsumae and Kanae got up from their bowed positions and ran down their hallway.
"Matsumae-san." Kanae said as he turned to his fellow servant. Matsumae looked at him.
"Yes, Kanae-san?"
"Was it really a good idea to let Master Shuu go by himself? He was highly injured when we found him, who's to say it won't happen again?" Matsumae smiled at Kanae's question.
"He won't let that happen to himself again. Did you forget what he was like when he was younger? I know that he's going to use Slade's teachings even though it pains him to do so." The other looked skeptical.
"Please trust me Kanae-san when I say," she turned her head to look forwards, "he is one of the strongest ghouls you and I have ever met in our lives."
Shuu threw open the door to his bedroom with a slam and closed it quickly behind, locking it. He ran into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. The wound on his face wasn't healing. The wound on his face was a vertical bloody gash that started at the bottom of his left eye and ended at his jawline. He was able to open his eye again, though it was pink and puffy. No matter how hard he had tried to heal it, it didn't heal. He was worried about it being a nuisance and didn't have the time to stand around and wait for it to heal, so he had to take care of it.
He turned on the facet and stuck is face under the cool water. It burned terrible and hissed in pain, but he continued to wash it. Once he was done he turned off the facet and brought his soaked face up. He grabbed a rag and gently pat down his face, the rag becoming wet with water and blood. He put the rag down and ran back into his bedroom. He went to his dresser and opened a drawer, fumbling around for a couple of seconds before finding what he needed. He pulled out a silver needle and a roll of violet thread. He ran back into the bathroom and set down the thread on the sink counter
He gripped the needle in one hand and grabbed the end of the thread with the other. He brought both close up to his face and with careful hands put the thread through the eye of the needle. He promptly tied a knot and got closer to the mirror. Brought the needle to the bottom of his chin where the wound ended.
"This is going to be painful." Shuu said quietly to himself as he prepared to plunge the need into his skin. "But I had worse."
He dug the needle underneath the first layer of skin then pushed it to the side, so the point stuck out where his skin stopped and revealed raw flesh. He readjusted his hands so that he could grab the end of the needle with his fingers and pull it all the way through. To save time he brought the needle up at a diagonal angle instead of straight across. He dug the needle underneath his skin once more and pushed it at an upwards angle, so the point popped up from underneath his skin. He pulled the needle lightly and the string closed part of the wound.
He continued this pattern again and again. Burring the needle into his skin to only bring it back and pull his wound close. He made barely any sounds as all of his concentration was on not messing up and plunging the needle into his wound instead of his skin. Regaurdless of him doing his best his face still burned as the wounded flesh was forced to move. Blood coated his fingers once more as he continued to stick up his wound. Once he made it to right at the bottom of his eye he gave one final tug. The last part of the wound came together. He broke off the end of the string and set the bloodied needle down on the counter.
He took a deep breath and admired his handy work. The stitching was not in its traditional style instead it took the form of large zig-zags that mimicked a lightning bolt. A dark red streak took the place of where his opened wound was, and a couple of blood rivulets ran down the mark. The skin around the stiches had a pink tint to them and looked irritated. He ran his fingers over the purple stiches slowly as he stared at himself at the mirror.
Now that his wound was taken care it was time for him to find his father. He knew if he wanted to get out of here with his father alive was going to have to step up his game. He had been defeated by his uncle to easy. If he were in this situation in the past, he would have been able to injure Slade and escape on his own without the help from his servants. If he were in the past, he would have already escaped with his father.
If he were in the past…
The sudden idea that popped into his head made him sick. He had changed for a reason. To go back to his first fighting style would go against his personal code and give Slade what he wanted… but desperate times called for desperate measures. Making his decision he then looked over to his bed and the dark shadows underneath. He slowly walked over to his bed his breath quivering. Once he got to the side of his bed he got down on his knees and sat on his shins. He reached under his bed and began to feel underneath it.
It didn't take long for his hands to run into the familiar wooden object. He grabbed the object and pulled it from the darkness underneath the bed and into the light of his bedroom. The thing hiding under his bed was a chest. Dust covered the chest from years of neglect and its colors had faded. It was a small wooden chest that was painted a dark violet. It had a silver and purple trimming around it's perimeter. On the top of the chest was a painted violet rose with dark green vines and crimson thorns. He ran his hands over the old chest brushing off the dust that covered it.
"I never thought that I would ever see this again, let alone plan to use it." He put his hand over the latch and opened it. There was a click as the latch snapped open and the top of the chest lifted upwards. He opened the chest slowly, the hinges squealing with rust. He looked down at the contents of the chest and felt a sense of déjà vu fill his being. At the bottom was a leather fabric that was a dark violet almost black in color. On top of that was a set of daggers varying in size and blade design. The handles of the daggers were a dark violet and had a rose engraved on the side.
The final object inside the chest was a mask. The mask was made out of a metallic material and covered the top part of a face and arched downwards to the left side to cover half of the bottom of it, it had a resemblance to his present crescent moon mask. It was a licorice black with sinisterly made eye holes. A violet-colored rose was on the left side of the mask and had dark green vines with red thorns that twisted down the mask. He picked up the mask and gently set it beside him and he did the same with the daggers. He picked up the leather fabric and shook it out.
It unfolded and revealed itself too be a long trench coat with a v neck and thick leather strap going around the lower waist line. On the left upper breast was an embroidery of a violet rose. The most surprising details about it were the two big holes on the back that were located in the shoulder blade area and the lower back. He set the coat down and picked up the mask. He looked at the mask one last time, taking in the familiar design and violet rose.
"For the greater good." He said to himself determined. He flipped it around and placed the old mask onto his face.
Running down the hallways in his old outfit felt strange yet so natural at the same time. The outfit had been made larger for his younger body, so he could grow into it. The coat fit his broad body perfectly and a set of deadly daggers lay beneath waiting to be used. The mask covered up his stiches irritating his wound further, but he ignored it. He almost felt as if he had gone back in time wearing the outfit. It made him enraged, but the thought of getting out with his father by his side kept his feelings of ire at bay. He hoped that he wouldn't run into any ghouls, but his hopes were crushed when he heard the footsteps of another around the corner. He rounded the corner and came face to face with an enemy.
The ghoul wore a black cloak with the hood pulled up. The ghoul's mask was white and carried the expression of a fanged monster, the red eyes only gave it a more frightening look. They stopped in their tracks out of surprise when they saw Shuu. Shuu stopped also, his heart racing. The ghoul gave a deep growl and the eyes seemed to give an angry flash. From the ghoul's backside their kagune erupted forth with a whip-like sound and a burst of colors.
The ghoul's kagune was a bikaku and took the form of a dark red snake-light appendage that wagged around him like a tail. Once they unleashed their kagune they immediately charged Shuu. Shuu responded appropriately charging forwards. He noticed with delight that he was faster than the bikaku ghoul. The red appendage thrashed around like a whip and shot out to strike at Shuu. Shuu felt time slow down as he ran towards the ghoul and their outstretched kagune. As he prepared his assault, he felt memories from his past he usually would try to push away, but this time he let the memories flow through and take form in his mind.
Shuu tightened his koukaku sword around his arm as he hit the ground with a hard thud. He groaned and pushed himself up even with the weight of the his kagune dragging his small body down. Across from him was a larger ghoul and much older than himself. The ghoul's thick tail-like kagune waved around him threateningly.
"Bikaku ghouls typically have a kagune that has a tail-like appearance and is released around the coccyx." The booming sound of his uncle sounded through the large training room. he stood aside from the fighting area Shuu and the other ghoul and observed with narrowed eyes.
"Their kagune can overpower a weaker ghoul due to the force they pack in their attacks. They are also able to move at incredible speeds when needed to finish an opponent or get out of the way of an attack. Also, since their kagune's are thick they can use this to defend vital parts of their body. they seem unstoppable… To the untrained eye." The ghoul looked at him and with a nod from Slade the ghoul charged.
Shuu jumped at the last moment and flipped over the cloaked ghoul looking down. His coat fluttered around him and his violet hair waved across his face. His scleras harbored darkness while his irises gleamed a shining crimson. The ghoul looked up at him and underneath the white mask he knew the ghoul had a look of surprise.
Shuu retracted his kagune and focused purely on dodging and weaving through the powerful attacks of the bikaku. As he dodged he listed carefully to his uncle as he spoke.
"The ukaku ghoul is the ghoul with the naturally built kagune to deal with bikakus. They use high speed attacks and projectiles produced from their kagune to slip through the cracks of a bikaku's defense. You and I are koukakus and thus can't attack the same way an ukaku would attack, but you can think like one. They look for any openings or gaps a bikaku may have and once they catch of glimpse of it they use it to they're advantaged to strike their opponents down. We may not be ukaku ghouls, but that does not hinder our ability to take one of these ghouls down."
Shuu grit his teeth as a blow grazed his side. He threw himself to the ground and towards the other ghoul. He then rolled as the kagune crush the ground he had laid on moments before. As he came out of his roll he landed right in front of the other ghoul. He simultaneously unleashed his kagune and used the momentum from the roll to thrust it forward. The ghoul could only stare wide-eyed at Shuu as the smaller ghoul's kagune pierced his heart.
Still in the air Shuu reached inside his coat and pulled out two gleaming daggers. He hurled them at the ghoul and the imbedded themselves in the ghoul's eye and throat. Shuu landed behind the ghoul who was now making horrid gurgling sounds as his kagune thrashed around him franticly. Shuu sprinted forwards once more narrowly dodge the thrashes of the bikaku. He held out his arm and his trademark violet koukaku came forth to create a brilliant sword.
Too busy clawing at the daggers that were in them, the ghoul had no way to stop the fatal blow the sword delivered to the back of their head. The back of their skull shattered and Shuu could see brain matter as he pushed his kagune all the way through the ghoul's head. He felt a rush of shock and excitement as he brought down the other ghoul. He would usually sneak some of the moves he learned in the past into his present fighting style but using it all together gave him a burst of adrenaline.
The ghoul stilled, their kagune disintegrating into a red mist as they both died. Shuu brought his kagune out of the ghoul's head and their corpse collapsed on the ground. Shuu looked on the back of the cloak and saw that an azure-colored arch had been stitched into the black fabric. He gave a worried expression as he looked at the symbol.
"This is more serious than I thought." With that Shuu spun around and continued to run down the hallway. The rush from his last kill still flowing through his body. He had to keep going. He wasn't so surprised the next time he rounded a corner and saw another enemy in the hallway. Only this time the outfit was different. It had the same color and concept, but the ghoul wore a suit of black armor instead of a cloak and the azure arch was engraved on the upper left part of his chest. His short black hair stuck out behind the white mask.
Upon seeing Shuu the ghoul released his ukaku kagune which took the form of two red insect- like wings that had small spikes on the rims. He spread his wings and Shuu could see it crystalizing and preparing to shoot out crystal shards. Shuu felt himself smile as he saw the ghoul release a barrage of red crystal shards towards him.
Shuu jumped back as red crystal shards imbedded themselves into the ground where he once stood. The ghoul in front of him cursed angrily and sent out another barrage of shards from his ukaku kagune. Shuu sprang to the side to dodge the shards once more. As he continued to dodge shards he paid close attention to his uncle's words as he spoke.
"As you can see the ukaku ghoul has a kagune that is released in the shoulder area. It is mostly used for high speed attacks and the user themselves can move at high speeds. They also have the ability to crystalize their kagune and send out crystal projectiles. They usual do long range attacks do to this ability and short-range attacks can be an ukaku's weaknesses. But it's not just short-range attacks, since they disperse a large amount of Rc cells they tire faster than other ghouls." Shuu brought up his kagune to block a couple of shards that would have decapitated him. The shards shattered the instant they collided with the koukaku kagune.
"Lucky for us Shuu these ghoul's kagune are inferior to our koukaku kagune. We're able to use our kagune's to defend against the projectiles shot at us until the ukaku tires themselves out, but time is a very valuable thing in battle and taking the time to wait for an ukaku to tire can be a life or death decision. So, its best to use the ukaku's weakness of short range attacks to finish them off."
By now Shuu could see the strain on the older ghoul's face as he desperately tried to hit Shuu. The younger ghoul used this to his advantage to sprint forward towards the ghoul. The ghoul sent out one last barrage of shards, but there were fewer and came at him at a lesser speed. He rolled under the shards and between the ghoul's legs to bring himself behind the other ghoul. Before the ghoul could even turn around Shuu already had his kagune half way through his brain.
Shuu brought his kagune in front of him and widened the band to protect his upper half. The projectiles collided against the koukaku shield and shattered against the harder surface. Once the barrage ended Shuu sprinted forwards with his kagune raised. The ghoul continued to fire barrages of shards and Shuu blocked each barrage with his kagune. Once the ghoul was in striking range Shuu attacked, swinging his sword in arch to cut the ghoul in half. The ukaku ghoul lept backwards to doge the strike, but what he couldn't dodge was the three gleaming daggers that were thrown at him by Shuu.
Shuu stared down at the ghoul he had just slain with an expressionless face.
"Well done Shuu." His uncle congratulated him. "You remind me of myself when I was younger." Shuu continued to stare at the corpse and the last horrified face it made before he splattered its brains across the training room floor. "Shuu look at me." Hearing his uncles voice so close he turned to look up and his uncle who in turn looked down at him. "Even though we have the upper hand on ukaku ghouls not all ukakus can be easily defeated." Shuu gave a slight tilt of his head but didn't say anything. "When you get older you are going to meet a family of ukaku ghouls and they… they are going to be the strongest ukakus you will ever meet. You cannot underestimate them in the slightest or you will die. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir." Was Shuu's immediate reply. "Do you know who they are?" he dared to ask. Instead of the usual slap to the face for questioning his uncle, his uncle gave a smile that made him cringe.
"Of course, I do. They're the Kirishimas."
The ghoul fell from the air and landed on the ground as a corpse. Shuu strutted over to the corpse and tore out the daggers that were stuck in it. He slid the bloodied daggers back inside his coat before taking off once more. He was slowly turning back into the monster he was when he was younger. Did he hate that? He wasn't quite sure yet. Another turn around a corner, another ghoul in his path. This ghoul wore the same cloak as the first ghoul he encountered, but the white mask only covered the upper half of the ghoul's face.
Shuu watched as the ghoul snarled and released his crimson rinkaku kagune that took the form of four slim tentacles that had claws at their ends. Shuu stared at the kagune and the thought of Kaneki flooded into his mind. He remembered the words Slade had said about Kaneki and felt his emotions began to bubble up. His body tensed up and his hands curled into fists as his kakugan flared. The ghoul noticed Shuu's tense form and made to attack him, sending out his clawed tentacles.
Shuu stared in horror at the monster that stood before him. It caused his stomach to turn and his pupils to shrink. He had faced kakujas before, either by his uncle who had brought them for him to fight for training or he had run into them on his nights out. But this kakuja, the one snarling before him now was no doubt the most terrifying he had ever seen. He felt his kagune tighten around his arm out of dread and his heart pound in his ears. The kakuja made the first move, hurdling his two mutated tentacles forward with a twisted grin on his face.
Shuu leapt backwards, narrowly dodging the tentacles as they buried themselves into the ground he had stood moments before. Shuu landed hastily on his feet looked up at the kakuja. The kakuja screeched, charging forward like an animal, kagune thrashing. Shuu narrowed his eyes and widened his stance. With another ear-piercing screech, the kakuja swung his left tentacle at Shuu who brought up his kagune to block the attack. There where was a loud crack as the kagunes collided and Shuu was almost sent tumbling back from the force, but he kept his stance. He moved quickly to block the follow up attack from the kakuja then ducked when his attacker tried to decapitate him with a kick.
This however left an opening for Shuu to strike and once he saw it he took the chance to strike his opponent. He swung his sword and cut clean across the kakuja's side. The kakuja screamed in pain as blood gushed from his wound. His face twisted into a grimace behind his malformed mask and stumbled back. Shuu could hear incoherent threats the kakuja hissed between his clenched teeth. As the kakuja faced him raising his tentacles preparing to attack, Shuu couldn't help, but look into the eyes of the demon. The single point of crimson gleamed back at him, unwavering.
Shuu reacted to the attack slower than he was comfortable with. He had a second to slash the tentacles before they could harm him. But in his hastens he missed one and it buried itself in his chest. He hissed in pain as he stumbled back. Seeing as if he had the upper hand the ghoul charged Shuu head on with his single remaining tentacle aimed towards Shuu's head. Though as he got closer his opponent looked up at him and gave a smug grin. To late he realized the mistake he had made and felt-
Shuu hadn't moved when he should of have. He had felt glued to the floor and his body ceased to obey his commands to move. The blow that had been delivered to his side had been devastating and the pain that still lingered was agonizing. This is how he found himself here. Sitting on the cold floor with his back against the wall he had been slammed into, with the kakuja on top of him with his tentacles imbedded in his sides, his bloodied fingers in his back piercing his kakuhou, and the set of fierce teeth that tore into the crook of his neck. He struggling to breath as the kakuja bit down harder with a muffled chuckle.
In one yank of his head the kakuja tore out a chunk of Shuu's flesh. Pain shot through his shoulder and he bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming. He watched the kakuja greedily devour the flesh in his mouth. The kakuja hummed as he licked the excess blood off his lips and went back to take another bite. Though as his teeth sunk into the others flesh he felt a pair of arms embrace him. He froze as a hand began to gently rub his back and another stroke through his stringy white hair.
"It's fine." Shuu said hoarsely as he forced his body to relax. "It's fine if you're hungry and want to eat me mon porteur, I won't mind. I am here to serve you am I not?" No response came from the kakuja, so he continued. "I'm here to catch you when you fall and pick you up when you crash down no matter what. That is what I promised you and I intend to fulfill that promise to the end of my days... but if you do eat me I won't be able to do any of those or be your sword anymore... So, please choose wisely."
There was a moment of silence and Shuu thought that the kakuja was going to continue eating him, but to his surprise the teeth gripping him let go, the fingers tearing into his back dug themselves out, and the tentacles imbedded in him began to pull themselves out and disintegrate. The kakuja unwrapped his arm from Shuu and placed them limply in his lap and sat back. Shuu looked at the kakuja as he tilted his head up to look at him. The malformed mask on the kakuja's face had begun to break and fracture. Shuu brought a hand up to the kakuja's face and batted away the rest of the crumpling mask to reveal the face behind it. Though what stood out most about the kakuja's face were his eyes.
One a fading crimson, the other a dull silver, both filled with tears that cascaded down bloodied cheeks. Shuu leaned in close to him and placed his warm hands the others damp cheeks. He ran his thumbs over them to wipe off the blood and tears. He looked into the once fierce eyes of the kakuja that now showed the emotion of shock and sadness as they stared back into Shuu's violet ones. Then Shuu spoke, and his voice carried the softness of an angel.
"Are you ready to come back to me, Kaneki-kun?"
Shuu stared down at the headless corpse of the rinkaku ghoul. It had taken one swift move of his kagune sword to slice off the ghoul's head. The wound on his chest healed leaving leftover blood on his skin. The memory of him and Kaneki was still fresh in his mind. He had to get out of here. He had to find his father before Slade did. Sadly, he knew his servants couldn't hold off the monster for long. He sprinted once again, determination ragging in his heart. He turned the corner and expected to see the usually hallway with an enemy ghoul ready to fight. He couldn't have been more wrong.
He had reached the end of the hallway and it opened up to a large room with the hallway continuing on the other side of it. He came to a standstill as he took in the complete view of the room and stared at it in horror. The room's décor was trashed with the expensive paintings and wall decorations destroyed and scattered across the floor. Blood was splattered across the walls in a sloppy fashion. Multiple rivulets dripped down the wall slowly.
Though what stood out most were the bloodied corpses of servants that littered the room and the ghoul that stood at the center of the ring of corpses. Shuu gasped as he recognized the faces of some of the corpses. He recognized the bright eyes of Aliza as her decapitated head stared up at him. He recognized the dark hair of the upper half of Yuma's corpse. He didn't just recognized corpses, but he also recognized the ghoul that stood at the center of the room.
The ghoul was female who was tall, had a well-built physique, and had a skin tone similar to Shuu's. Her attire was different from the other ghoul's. Instead of a black cloak the she-ghoul wore a business type attire. Wearing a white button up shirt with a black blazer, a black pencil skirt with dark grey tights and black flats. Around her neck was a violet tie with intricate lines. She had a rather attractive face even though her face held no emotion and looked relaxed with her eyelids lowered slightly. She had velvet purple hair that went to her shoulders with the bangs cut short which allowed her pale green eyes to show. Shuu sneered at the ghoul while the other looked him up and down calmly.
"You look older." The she-ghoul said in a calm monotonous voice, her neutral expression never changing. "Actually, you look like your mother, Tsukiyama-san."
"Well, you haven't changed a bit, Lydia-san." Shuu retorted to Lydia's comment. "Looks like you had some fun killing my servants, sale porc." (You, filthy pig) At this Lydia gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and said:
"Not really. They got in my way, so I simply disposed of them. It wasn't exactly fun, but I wasn't bored doing it. Were you attached to them?" Lydia asked.
"I knew most of them since I was a child." Shuu hissed.
"Well, just know they died for your sake. Though I really can't see why. With all you have done, they're probably burring in hell because they fought for you." Shuu grit his teeth and with a flurry of rage his sword was formed at his side. He leveled it at Lydia and said:
"Know this Lydia-san, just because we're related doesn't mean I have any qualms slaughtering you." Lydia looked at Shuu's kagune lazily. The back of Lydia's outfit was torn open as her koukaku kagune broke through. It wrapped around her arms like a silver snake before straightening out past her finger tips to form into katana-like blades. Her red eyes still held no emotion as she got her twin blades into a battle-ready position.
"The feeling is mutual, Tsukiyama-san." With those words said Shuu threw himself at Lydia with powerful push of his legs. He swung his sword downward at Lydia who brought up her blades to block the strike. She pushed the offending kagune back before ducking to avoid the follow up strike. She then caught him off guard by kicking him in the gut which caused him to stumble back.
"A little rusty aren't you." Lydia commented nonchalantly. Shuu growled and straightened himself back up.
"I'm just getting started." He retorted preparing to strike again.
Shuu did his best to push against the larger koukaku kagune with his own but was quickly pushed to the ground. He looked up at his uncle as the older ghoul towered over him, his kakugan blazing with anger and kagune held up threateningly.
"That's not how you do it, Shuu!" the older ghoul screamed with rage. Shuu flinched as Slade took a step closer to him. "At your age I was already able to do ten times the things you can do. Are you retarded?!" He raised his kagune getting ready to send it down and Shuu through his kagune over his face to shield his eyes, preparing for the pain. But the pain never did come. He moved his kagune and looked back up to his uncle taking in deep breaths and shaking in fear.
"No." Slade said quietly and closed his eyes as the anger faded from his face. "No, that's not the problem." Shuu never liked it when his uncle went quiet. The calm before the storm. "The problem is I'm not teaching you correctly." Slade opened his eyes and Shuu felt his heart skip a beat at the twisted smile that formed on Slade's face. "I need to use a different method to get it through your thick skull." Shuu's eyes widened and he sat up.
"N-No you don't!" he cried pitifully. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do what you told me. I-I'll try harder, I promise."
"Shut up!" at his uncle's sharp voice he immediately shut his mouth. "I don't want to hear your pitiful whining. Pleading is for the weak. Now get up."
"B-But," Shuu stuttered.
"Now boy!" not a moment later Shuu stood up as his uncle ordered. He felt himself shaking out of fear as he gazed up in horror at his uncle. He didn't even see his uncle move before the first attack struck hit him. It shattered his kagune and the pieces quickly dissolved in a red mist. He tumbled on the ground as he was sent reeling backwards. As he landed on his side with his vison blurred by pain and tears he could hear the cruel voice of his uncle as he spoke.
Shuu's sword collided with Lydia's blades numerous times as they dueled. Lydia was fast and strong enough to fend of Shuu's attacks and was even able to strike at him, but they never hit. He either blocked them with his kagune or dodged them completely. She also did the same for his attacks dodging and blocking but noticed with dismay that his attacks were getting stronger.
"Koukaku ghouls have a kagune that is released below the shoulder blade. Normally for defense, they are shaped into armors or shields, however the shape for offense, is a different story." Slade slammed his kagune into Shuu again. And again, and again. Shuu felt like a rag doll as he was thrown around by his uncle. As he was savagely thrown around he could help but hear his uncle's taunting voice ring through his head.
"They can be shaped like melee weapons such as drills, hammers, blades, and of course swords. But due to its high density of Rc cells, it is heavy and extremely robust, giving it the greatest sturdiness and making them very well suited for defense. Therefore, koukakus are slow and can be taken down by a faster ghoul.
Lydia ducked an attack at the last moment and felt Shuu's kagune slice through her shoulder like butter. She stumbled back as blood poured from her wound, though no pain showed on her face. She quickly lifted up her blades to block Shuu's sword from wounding her again. Shuu pushed against Lydia's kagune and the two kagunes screeched against each other as Lydia pushed back as well. Shuu bared his teeth as he noticed Lydia's wound already starting to heal. He suddenly stepped back causing her to fall forwards. He took this chance to deliver a kick to her chest and with the sound of bone crunching she was sent flying back.
"But not us! We are a superior breed of ghouls and will not succumb to the weaknesses of lower ghouls. No lesser ghoul should be able to challenge our might. They crawl on the ground as insects scavenging scraps while we sit on thrones and eat like kings." Slade slammed his nephew into the ground one more time before picking up Shuu's broken body by the neck and bringing him up to his face. "Which is why my dear Shuu that you need to get stronger. Not just to carry the weight of your kagune, but also because there are ghouls out there that are stronger than you. You have to be stronger than them or they will kill you, and then you will be nothing more than a pathetic corpse. But… you cannot just be the stronger ghoul.
Shuu didn't end his assault. He charged her the moment she hit the floor. He came at her swinging with his kagune and she brought up her blades to block the attack. Though when the two kagunes collided she felt her kagune shatter under the force of Shuu's sword. She stared at him wide-eyed as he raised his sword once more and brought it down.
"You need to be the strongest ghoul."
Lydia didn't scream or thrash as she was impaled by Shuu's sword. She was pinned to the ground through her abdomen by her opponents kagune. No pain showed on her face and she simply looked up at him she with a calm expression. Shuu glared down at her with hatred.
"You really thought that you could kill me, Lydia-san?" he asked. "Please I have fought foes greater than you." At this the impaled ghoul raised an eyebrow. Her reaction to his words puzzled him.
"Who said I was trying to kill you? I was just stalling you until reinforcements arrived."
Not a moment had past after she said that before the sound of an ukaku kagune firing hit his ears. He turned around to see a large barrage of cerulean blue crystal shards race towards him. He instinctively tried to bring up his kagune to block the shards, but he couldn't move it. He looked down to see Lydia had grabbed onto to his kagune in a death grip. Before he could tear her fingers off the shards imbedded themselves deep into his flesh. He bit down on his tongue to not scream as he felt his kakuhou get ripped apart. His kagune broke into pieces which dissolved in a red mist.
Once the barrage ended Shuu weakly stumbled to the side and hunched over in pain. Lydia took this chance and kicked him in the side which sent him colliding with the back wall. He crumpled to the ground and coughed up a gout a blood that had made its way up his throat. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and leaned on the wall for support. He looked up to see a swarm of cloaked ghouls rush in through the hallway he had entered. At the front of the group was a feel ghoul dressed in black combat gear with the azure arch imprinted on the upper left breast. She wore a black mask that covered her entire face. Though for the eyeholes there were two red circular lenses that glowed brightly. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail which reach her shoulder blades. What stood out about her hair was that it had cerulean blue highlights which caused most of her ponytail to be a bright color.
It didn't take long before Shuu was cornered by the new group of ghouls. The she-ghoul that had led the group didn't confront him right away. Instead she ran over to Lydia who was trying to stand up. She held out her gloved hand to Lydia, which she took, and pulled her up. Once standing Lydia dusted off her clothes and looked at the masked ghoul.
"You're late." Was all she said before walking in front off the group of ghouls that surrounded Shuu. The other ghoul made a shocked sound behind her mask and said in a distorted voice:
"Was that supposed to be a 'thank you', cause it didn't sound like it." The ghoul huffed before joining Lydia at her side. She crossed her arms and tilted her head as she looked at Shuu. "So, this is the general's nephew I heard so much about. Huh, looks like Midnight." Shuu grunted and pushed himself up into a standing position and put a hand on the wall to keep himself upright. "Oh, look he's still got some fight in him."
"I suggest you stay down Shuu." Shuu turned his gaze to Lydia, the one who had spoken. "You're just delaying the inevitable." At this Shuu gave hard laugh.
"You're asking me to surrender, Lydia-san?" he cracked a small smile. "Surrendering is for the weak. If you want to take me you're going to have to defeat me first." The masked she-ghoul seemed to beam at this. Promptly uncrossing her arms to bring them in front of her in a fighting position.
"Oh, I'm going to have fun taking you down." she said happily.
"Erin-, don't under estimate him." Lydia said also getting into a fighting stance. Erin scoffed.
"Don't think so little of me, Lydia." Shuu looked between the two she-ghouls and felt his heart race. He knew he was weakened from the attack Erin delivered and couldn't release his kagune. He felt his kakuhou healing, but he knew it wouldn't heal in time. Well, he did say he was going to go down fighting and he planned to stick to his words. He reached one hand into his coat and gripped the handle of a dagger. This motion triggered Erin and he couldn't see her lean back and prepare to jump him. He gripped the dagger tighter and prepared to fight with all his might.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
Without warning there was a loud boom as the ghouls standing behind the two she-ghouls were suddenly sent flying in all directions by an unknown force. The two she-ghouls turned around only to be cut down by a large kagune that took the form of a barbed sword. As the two ghouls hit the ground Shuu was able to see who had saved him.
"Papa!" he cried happily as he saw his father. Mirumo seemed to have fought his way to his son as his hair was disheveled and his clothes had blood spatters on it. His glasses were missing showing his glowing kakugan as he glared down at the two she ghouls.
"How dare you come into my home and hurt my son." He said his voice filled with anger. "You shall pay for your arrogance." He attacked again, going to strike Erin who surprisingly had enough energy to jump and dodge the attack.
"You're still alive?" she asked with true shock. The moment her feet touched the ground Mirumo rushed her. He thrusted his sword at her which she dodged by leaning to the side. "Hah, too slow old-" her boasting sentence was cut off when he brought his sword back. He had angled it so when he brought it back the barbed end stabbed her through the back from behind. She gave a startled gasp and couldn't stop Mirumo from slamming her into the ground with a sickening crunch before flinging her off. He then spun around with his kagune raised to block Lydia's kagune.
"You are making a mistake, Mirumo-san." Lydia said.
"You made a mistake coming back to Tokyo." Mirumo replied. He then kneed her in her still healing gut. She gave a horrid cough and stumbled back. He slammed his kagune into her side and sent her flying into the wall. The wall formed cracks to the force of the blow. Her kagune dissolved and she crumpled to the floor. "Filthy pigs." He hissed under his breath.
"Papa?" the voice of his son caused him to turn around and let his kagune dissolve. The moment he turned around he almost fell over when his son crashed into him. Shuu had put his mask in his coat and hugged his father tightly. He buried his face in his father's chest and cried out with tears falling down his face:
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Papa! I didn't mean to hurt you earlier. I was just upset and lashed out. I didn't mean it at all. Please forgive me!" after he finished his apology he still continued to shed tears. He felt an arm warp around him and a hand stroke through his disheveled hair. He looked up at his father with violet eyes. His father down at with his brown eyes and Shuu was startled once he realized his father too was shedding tears.
"Of course, Papa forgives you. Papa's sorry too. I shouldn't have pushed you."
"Non, it's okay. You were just trying to help. I overreacted." He hugged his father tighter. Taking in his warmth as much as he could. His father hugged back.
"Papa is so happy you're okay. I thought I came too late."
"Non, you came just in time." Shuu's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered his goal. He pulled back from his father and looked him in the eyes. "We have to go now, Papa. Slade survived and has returned with more ghouls than I can imagine. Matsumae and Kanae went to hold him off, but they can't hold him off for long. We have to go before he comes to get us." His father seemed to process this slowly as he crossed his arms over his chest and one hand came up to massage the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and gave a sigh through his nose.
"So, the time has finally come." He said under his breath.
"Papa, what are you talking about?" Shuu asked taking a step closer to his father. His father looked at him with a thoughtful gaze and said:
"You're right we need to go, but Papa needs to show you something first."
Before Shuu could reply his father grabbed his hand and led his running down the other hallway. He was dragged through the hallway by his father. He had no idea where he was going or what his father thought was so important that he needed to show him at a time like this. They made twists and turns and ran up a floor higher.
Shuu wasn't surprised when they ran into enemy ghouls, but he didn't have to worry. His father would promptly dispose of the ghoul. He would simply swipe his kagune in an arch and the ghouls would be cut down like wood. Shuu was astonished by his father's fierceness and skill with his kagune. He never saw him like this. They, finally ran down a dead-end hallway and at the end of it was wooden door. The left wall had a row of windows and he could see it was pouring outside. The pounding of the rain almost drowned out the scream of servants as they tried to survive against the sudden enemy.
"Papa," he said, "what do you need to show me?" His father turned his head to answer, but suddenly snapped his head to the right and his eyes widened. He suddenly came to a stop right before the wall exploded. Chunks of wall were sent flying everywhere and Mirumo put his body in front of Shuu to protect him. Through the dust a figure was thrown through the newly created hole and collided with the wall and crumpled to the floor. Shuu gasped in horror when he realized who it was.
"Matsumae!" it was indeed her, but she looked completely beat up. Her attire was torn and drenched in blood, cuts and bruises covered her body, but was most horrifying was that her left arm was missing; blood dripped out from the large room. She was slumped over in a sitting position and wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. A malevolent chuckle turned his gaze back to the hole in the wall. His eyes widened as he saw his uncle strut into the hallway through the hole. He too was covered in blood, though Shuu doubted any of it was his own, his silver sword was formed and had evidence on it that it had sliced through flesh and bone. He looked at Shuu was a gleaming kakugan as he stood in front of Shuu and Mirumo. Mirumo stood protectively in front of his son and was prepared for anything.
"So, "brother" its been a while." Slade said with bared teeth. "Thought that you could push me away and never hear from me again?"
"You don't belong her, demon." Was Mirumo's fierce reply.
"Don't belong here?" Slade asked putting a hand to his chest. "Dear "brother" I am a part of this family just as much as you are and just because you don't believe that doesn't mean it's not a fact."
"You might be my wife's brother, but that doesn't make us family and if she saw you now she would say the same." At this Slade's eyes narrowed threateningly, but as soon as they changed, they went back to normal and a smile formed on his face.
"You know Mirumo for a ghoul of your strength your words always seem to hurt the most and frankly that's what I think makes you a weak family tie. This family deserves better than you. Shuu deserves better than you." Shuu gripped his father tighter. "My "brother" have you forgotten what the ghouls used to call me while I was here. Master Slade." He then leveled his sword at Mirumo and Shuu. "I will be called that again." Slade then prepared to attack and Mirumo prepared to shield his son, however Slade never got the chance.
A sword had pierced his way through his chest and poked out. All the ghouls made a startled expression and looked to see who had stabbed Slade. A beaten and bloodied Matsumae stood behind him with her kakugan flaring and breathing heavily.
"Do not… turn your back on the Tsukiyama Knight. I'm not dead yet." He growled.
"You little snake." As he went to confront Matsumae a javelin like projectile shot through the hole and stabbed him through his side. He grunted in anger and lashed out at her with a kick. She pulled her sword out of him and jumped back to avoid the attack. The next attack that came at Slade was a set of rinkaku tentacles that struck him in the side and sent him collided with the wall. Mirumo and Shuu took this chance to run past him and behind Matsumae. Kanae and Mairo came running through the hole in the wall both beaten and bloodied but continuing to fight. All three servants stood in front of their master ready to defend them to the end.
"Masters," Matsumae said, "we'll hold him off for as long as we can." Slade grunted as he brought himself back up into a standing position.
"I'm impressed that you all are so loyal." He said. "You all wouldn't have made great soldiers."
"Come on Shuu." Mirumo said as he opened the door and dragged his son inside. The room looked like a large storage room with multiple boxes cardboard boxes. There was a single light at the center of the room giving some illumination. A window was on the left wall which also light up the room when lightning flashed. Mirumo went deeper into the room with Shuu close behind. Mirumo began looking at all the boxes. Pushing ones over to look at others before moving on to the next pile. While he searched the sound of battle sounded through the other side of the door. They didn't have much time.
"Found it." He said after searching through a pile. He pulled out a box and promptly tore it open. What Shuu saw made his eyes widen. The box was filled with clothes, tapes, and at the top was a diary book. Though what was special about the objects were they all had the same symbol: a purple rose. "This was your mother's, Shuu." Shuu looked at his father august.
"Why show me this now?" he asked still in shock.
"Because," Mirumo reached in and grabbed the diary which was black and had the picture of a purple rose at the center. He handed it to Shuu who held it close. "you're going to need this for your journey without me." Shuu felt his heart stop and his eyes shrink.
"What?" he said already feeling the tears coming.
"Shuu, please listen to me." Mirumo said putting his hands on his son's cheeks. "You have to-"
"No!" he was cut off by his son's scream. "No, no, no! You can't leave me alone Papa. I'm already going to lose everything else I can't lose you to." The tears began to flow again. His body shaking as he tried to keep himself from sobbing. A loud boom came from the other side of the door and Mirumo knew what was coming soon. "There has to be another way." Shuu continued. "We'll fight him together we'll-"
"Shuu, I'm sorry, but you are the heir, you are my son. I'm willing to lie down my life for you."
"But I'm not willing to let you go. Please, Papa." Another loud boom followed by the sound of shattering wood. Shuu ignored it as he continued to stare into his father's brown eyes. Mirumo smiled and said his final words to Shuu:
"Papa loves you."
With that all Shuu could do was watch as his father pushed him and sent him flying out the window. Time seemed to slow down as he reached out a hand for his father. His fingertips grazed his father's hand as he attempted to grab it but to no avail. He felt the cold raindrops hit him and before he knew it he was falling. The last he saw of his father was him turning to face his uncle. Shards of glass and water droplets fell with him, but he didn't notice. He felt numb as he continued to fall. He didn't feel the rush of air nor the fear of colliding with the ground. He still held his hand out as if he could still grab the window sill that was rapidly shrinking by the second. He didn't feel his body collide with the wet ground.
Shuu had escaped. He had escaped death. He had escaped his abusive uncle. He had escaped from being captured. He had escaped and found sanctuary under a tree far from his home. The rain still poured down and the water slipped through the branches of the tree to land on his broken form. He sat on the wet ground hunched over. He was drenched, washing off most of the blood that had accumulated on his person and causing his bangs to droop down covering his eyes. His stared blankly at the ground as tears dropped off his nose to fall into the puddle that had formed. He had escaped… But at what cost. He lost his home, his wealth, his family. All in the course of a single night.
He had tried to make himself feel better. He had opened his mother's diary and hunched over it to protect it from the rain. The first thing he had seen when he opened it was a picture that was tapped to the inside cover of the book with words underneath it that read: Property of Carina Tsukiyama. The picture was of his family when he was only a small boy. He stood proudly with a shining smile on his face and dressed up nicely with his hair done. His father stood behind him on to the right and had a hand on his shoulder. He was dressed in a formal suit and trademark glasses, but the glare was nonexistent revealing his brown eyes.
His mother stood to the left of him. She looked perfect. She was slender but had a well-built form. Her smooth pale skin shone where her clothing didn't cover. She wore a long sleeved violet dress that hugged her form perfectly. She had a silver chain necklace around her neck that had a red rose as a charm. Her face was beautiful with violet eyes and smooth lips. Her hair was a bright violet that went to her shoulders and had a bang that was combed to the right. Similar to his own hairstyle. Seeing the picture of his mother had been what led him to stare at the ground.
He looked at his mother's beautiful face than looked at his reflection in the puddle on the ground. He didn't look like his mom. Where his mother's face had not a single scratch, his own face had a large wound running down it. He didn't know if he could call it a wound anymore though. No matter how hard he tried or how long he waited it wouldn't go away. He thought he would be happy looking at the loved ones he lost. He thought he would have something to look to in his time of grief of anguish. But it was only a reminder of another thing his uncle took from him.
His uncle. He had thought that he had already defeated him. That he was spared from the torment and pain. But of course, the world didn't work that way. It never did. He was an idiot for thinking that he could live a happy life. He felt an emotion boil up inside of him. Hate. He hated his uncle. He hated how he was useless in protecting his family. He hated how he lost everything and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He gripped the diary tighter as hate boiled into anger. He knew the emotion was anger, but it felt stronger than ever before. He slammed the diary shut and stuffed it in his coat. His anger burned inside of him making his stomach twist and head spin. Then suddenly it began to hurt.
Another day alone,
Another night,
Another knife,
I guess I'm on my own,
The lights are on
My eyes are closed,
And no one understands,
The dark I'm dealing with,
And all the people in my life
Are way to blind to see the vice
His insides began to burn, and his vison became blurry. He gripped his head and hissed in pain, closing his eyes tightly. He was losing his grip. Loosing his grip on his body as it began to change against his will. All his anger, hate, and despair were beating down his mind causing it to shatter and mold into something vile.
All these scars,
All these scars,
From the war against ourselves,
The war against ourselves
The fibers in his hair began to shift and change. His luminous violet hair got a shade paler. A thick streak of pure white ran down his left bang like a wave and a pitch-black streak followed suit on the right. His fingernails too changed color to a pitch-black. His back writhed, bubbling up as Rc cells threatened to break through. It hurt. Feeling his body distort and shift against his will was one of the most painful things he had experienced.
All these scars,
All these scars,
I'm living in a hell,
It's what is real
He screamed as his back opened up with the sickening sound of flesh ripping open. He felt the released cells begin to solidify and take form around him. The pain stopped. He breathed heavily as his body shook, his kagune was pulsing around him. He knew it wasn't his sword. He opened his eyes and stared down at his reflection in the puddle. He looked at it blankly as something clicked in his head.
They break me down,
I can't block the sound,
So, I turn to the one thing,
I know will not let me down
He was going to get revenge. Revenge for everything his uncle did to him and his family. How? Well it was simple. He was going to devour him. He was going to eat him up until nothing remained of the demon. But by going on this path would be going against what he had vowed to Kaneki. Then again, the answer was simple. Kaneki was not to be followed. He was to be treasured and kept as a prize for his own victory. And he would kill anyone who got in his way.
People don't think to ask what's wrong,
I stop and go to the beat,
Of the broken flow in blood
He felt the corners of his mouth pull up into a wicked smile, the wound on his face stretching. It was quiet at first, barely audible over the sound of the rain. It then quickly grew louder as he began to cackle. He shook as he laughed. He laughed at how he was going to get his revenge and his prize all in one go. It was all too perfect. His laughter subsided, and he let out a heavy sigh. But before he could get his revenge, he had to make sure his prize was safe, and he knew just where to go to find him.
All these scars,
All these scars,
From the war against myself,
I'm a walking hell,
I won't starve myself of the dark,
Listen to me scream and shout,
But do not say a word
