Chapter Three | Run and Hide

A ghoul with a rinkaku type kagune manages to impale me through the shoulder. It tears from the muscle, spurting ribbons of blood as I detach it with my kagune and put distance between us. My body doubles over into a bow, clearly not use to this kind of abuse. This isn't good. I dig my fingers into the fabric of my uniform, very unhappy with this outcome. Several ghouls from Aogiri Tree surround me, each similar to the next. They're easy to figure out from the CCG, not because they are ghouls, but because of the unique clothing they wear; red cloaks and demon faced masks. Mine, regrettably lies broken into small shards on the concrete from my 6 foot drop to the second floor.

They all know I don't belong with them. Their group leader – the rinkaku ghoul – was able to tell the difference. I have a diverse scent. The moment they smelled it; the rich aroma of coffee, they took out their kagune and attacked me. I am compromised, and only because Touka failed to keep her emotions intact. Her worry over Kaneki got Nishiki and I both hurt. A ghoul with a ukaku type kagune had ambushed us near the roof. Nishiki protected Touka from their bullets, but I wasn't able to dodge in time. Two pierced me in the chest and stomach, knocking me over the side of the stairs. Now here I am, a story down and separated from the others.

I dodge and counter attack the rinkaku user, as they thrust their bright red tentacles at me. I manage to sever another, and push off the floor into a run. They swing at me again, but I cartwheel out of the way and thrust my own kagune at them. It takes off their head from the neck and sprays blood onto the floor. I watch their head bounce and roll from the body, revealing a youthful face as their mask falls away. Too bad; he had a sort life.

The others take no time at all to dispatch. I am lucky that none of them had a ukaku type kagune; their speed is hard to keep up with. Not to mention, their bullets seriously hurt. I pull the two from my chest and drop them onto the floor. They shatter and deteriorate into clouds of red dust. It's almost beautiful, if not for the amount of blood I am losing. The wound is rather shallow, but not to complicate matters, I tear off an arm from a dead ghoul and eat their meat. It tastes course and bitter, but my wounds will heal regardless.

I need to regroup with Touka and Nishiki now. After nearly 3 days of being inside Aogiri we have a clue on Kaneki. Yomo split us up, and last I heard, our group chose the roof in this building to start our search. By now, I assume the ghouls who attacked us are dead. The others should be waiting for me at the top. I kick off the second set of steps and use the momentum to bounce my way from wall to wall up the narrow staircase. I arrive quickly at the floor I fell from to see Nishiki surrounded by ghouls from Aogiri. Where is Touka?

The blond sees me almost immediately. He orders me to help Touka, who is on the roof. Her brother is the ghoul who shot me down. I hate to leave him, but I want to beat this brat myself. He's done more than enough to incite my anger with him. As I jump away from a ghoul who tries to attack me, I don't worry about wasting my time with them. I run at full speed to the roof just in time to see Touka and her brother are still there.

To my horror, Ayato is eating her kagune. She screams out in pain, clawing and kicking at the concrete as he tears pieces of her flesh and muscle from her shoulder. I can't allow him to continue this. I run at him, jumping onto his back once I am in range. Ayato quickly tries to pry my arms away from his neck, but I tighten my grip and bury my teeth into the soft flesh of his shoulder. He hisses in pain, grabbing a hand full of my hair as he jerks to his feet. This hurts so much; my scalp is on fire and the blood in my mouth tastes bitter and metallic. I hold on as long as I am able to, but the exhaustion quickly gets to me – my grip slowly loosens. Ayato uses his strength to pull me over his shoulder and throw me to the ground.

I manage to quickly pull myself onto my feet, wiping his blood from my lips. "You taste terrible, brat." I spit out his flesh.

He seems to recognize me by this and immediately draws his ukaku type kagune, shooting the vermillion colored bullets at high speed at me. My own kagune helps to block most of the shards, but a few lodge into my skin. The wounds are shallow, so I focus on dodging the bigger pieces for now. He doesn't let up, nor shows signs of becoming exhausted. I have to get closer in order to do harm to him, so I risk the chance and run at him, using my tail to knock away the bullets in my path.

Once I am close enough, I swing my tail at him. He is fast enough to block it with his wings, but I had planned for this. I connect a punch to his stomach, causing him to cough. He recovers quickly and swings at me, but I cross my arms in front of my face and keep his fist from hitting me. My fingers wrap around his slender wrist in order to pull him off balance. I split my tail into 2, feeling his kagune sink into my weakened tail. The balance of power to my kagune is off in this state, but I have no other choice. I may just lose part of it to Ayato's hardened wings, but I don't care. The second tail curls beneath my arms and impales him in the stomach. This seems to have the opposite effect I had in mind.

Ayato growls at me; kakugan flaring at me like fire. His wings pull from my kagune, shooting large and sharp bullets into my skin. He grabs my hair as I sink to the ground and roughly smashes his knee into my face. My nose is easily crushed. I cry out in absolute pain. This hurts like hell.

"Stupid weak bitch." A plethora of bullets pelt me. Ayato continues to attack me, even as I curl up on the ground unable to protect myself. The pieces feel like fire in my skin. But, the torture shortly ceases. Touka weakly calls out to me, begging her brother to stop.

Ayato leaves me alone. I force my body to move, just enough to see around myself. The shards make it hard to do this comfortably; some of them dig further into me. I see Touka on her side. Ayato is kneeled down in front of her, just watching her with a soft expression. Does he mean to kill her? No, it seems like he doesn't want to. His kagune spreads behind him and slowly crystalizes. I realize I am wrong.

"Don't do it," I cry out. My body feels numb and cold. I can tell that my kagune is ascending. It slowly twists and crawls up my back, forming the armor I am not supposed to use. I can't stop it, but I really want to protect Touka from him. Sadly, I do not.

Ayato shoots the familiar bullets at her, but before they hit their intended target, Touka vanishes. A figure appears near me, carrying Touka in their arms. I recognize them as Kaneki. What happened to him? His hair is stark white, and his posture is anything but scared. He almost smells like me; like gutter filth and blood.

Kaneki speaks with Touka until she passes out in his arms. At this time, Ayato shoots him in the shoulders. I call out to him, hearing Nishiki do the same. However, Kaneki brushes it off as nothing and tells us that he's alright. He puts Touka down beside me, and asks us to take care of her. I grab her hand, wanting nothing more than this to be over. I am nothing more than a worthless excuse for a ghoul. Tears sting at my eyes. This can't be.

I have no clue how the battle with Kaneki and Ayato begins, or even if Kaneki is winning. My pride is hurt; everything hurts. I cry in annoyance, punching my fist into the concrete. The pain is nothing compared to how I feel. How am I supposed to protect anyone like this?

At some point during this night, Yomo finds us. He lifts Touka, placing her on his back. Nishiki helps me to stand, despite his injuries. He and I help one another walk to the meeting place Yoshimura set up for us. We regroup with the others, but I feel unhappy with myself. My family is alive, but I almost don't care. What good did this do? We didn't even save Kaneki; he saved himself. I sit on the ground and begin to pull the bullets from my skin. Each one hurts worse than the other.

Banjou meets up with us soon after. The group talks amongst themselves, but I don't listen. Each bullet I take out makes me more and more angry. It's not until I hear Touka ask Kaneki about his hair do I listen. His reply shocks me.

"I'm not going back to Anteiku. There are things I want to do." The hell was the point in all this? We should have just left him. He looks out onto the remains of the Aogiri Tree hideout and continues. "I need to prepare for that, and I'm going to get stronger. There are also lots of things I want to find out. I just don't have enough time."

Banjou calls his name. "This time we were saved thanks to you. I would like to help you too. Whether I'm being a shield or a gofer, anything is fine. You probably don't need me though."

I am surprised to see that Kaneki agrees to take his help. The man known as Tsukiyama also offers to help. The once shy make allows him too. I wonder if he will agree to let me join as well? I need the chance to become stronger. I crave it.

Before I have the opportunity to ask, Touka beats me to it. I figure if she does join, then I will be able to as well. I wait my turn to ask, but Kaneki makes this decision for me. He tells us no. I am shocked. Why the hell am I not allowed to go with him? He tells Touka and I that the café will be short staffed without him – Nishiki is shot down too. Touka leaves in anger, but I won't have it. I stand and glare at him.

"The hell is wrong with you?" I notice that his eyes go soft at this. "Touka cares for you, idiot. She only wants to help. There's no reason to abandon her like that brat did."

Kaneki smiles at me. I know it's fake. "Take care of her for me, Mirai. She has you at her side."

I hate this. Tears again sting at my eyes. Am I upset because of this, or am I about to cry because I am being forced to stay back? I believe it's the latter.

I turn and walk away, going the opposite way of Touka and the others. I need time to think this over. Weakness is not appealing; it hurts terribly. I only want to get rid of it. I want to continue to live. Somehow, I will find a way to become stronger.

"Fancy seeing you here, Mirai-chan." A familiar voice pulls me from my thoughts. The feminine man from Aogiri stands before me. Instantly, I fear the worse and activate my kagune. He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and waves his finger at me. "As much as I'd enjoy it, I'm afraid that I have no time to play with you. My name is Nico by the way. It's a pleasure.

"What do you want?"

He ignores my question and slowly circles me. I have no idea what he's doing, but I have an odd feeling he's sizing me up. "You're too cute, Mirai-chan. I really should have kept my mouth shut about you."

I narrow my eyes, following him as he moves in front of me. The hell is he talking about? I assume he knows what I intend to ask, because he clarifies it for me.

"Some big name ghouls are eager to meet you," he says with a smile. Nico leans forward and runs his fingers through my hair, scratching at my scalp with his sharp elegant nails. I have to reframe from biting at him. "That's a good girl, pussy cat."

My stomach feels ill at the mention of this. He's referring to my name; the one the CCG calls me – Alley Cat. How did he find out? I need to keep him away from me. I curl my nails and strike at him, but he dodges and puts some distance between us. At least I don't feel as nervous now.

Nico laughs at me. "I want you for myself, but I'm patient. For now I'll leave you with some advice; run and hide. Aogiri Tree is coming for you."

Fear sends cold chills through my body. I want to know what Nico knows about me. How did he figure me out? I've been cautious. But now, Aogiri knows. What could they want with me? I am curious, but not enough to go searching for answers. Run and hide; I plan to do just as Nico suggests.